Hong Kong: Tse Chin-wan visits bay area

Secretary for Environment & Ecology Tse Chin-wan today visited the energy facilities of the China Southern Power Grid in Zhuhai and Nansha, Guangzhou, in the Greater Bay Area.

At the Guishan Offshore Wind Farm in Zhuhai, Mr Tse received a briefing on the development background and operation of the facilities.

He then proceeded to Nansha, Guangzhou, to view the Multi-in-One micro energy grid - the first demonstration project of China-Finland energy co-operation.

Commissioned in 2022, the project is equipped with facilities such as solid oxide fuel cells, a solar thermal heating system and a bedrock energy storage system, that enable it to contribute to the research and improvement of energy utilisation efficiency. The ultimate aim is to achieve energy saving and carbon emission reduction.

Mr Tse also visited the Xiaohu Island Electric Hydrogen Smart Energy Station in Nansha, Guangzhou.

In operation since March last year, the station is a demonstration project under the National Key Research & Development Programme.

It is also the first grid-side energy storage type hydrogen refueling station on the Mainland to utilise solid-state hydrogen storage technology.

The environment chief also exchanged experiences with the relevant staff on the applications of the energy facilities that he visited today.

He returned to Hong Kong in the evening.

This story has been published on: 2024-03-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Xizang set to build world's largest national park by 2025

08:36, March 07, 2024 By Cui Jia ( Chinadaily.com.cn

The delegation from Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region to the second session of the 14th National People's Congress holds an open panel discussion on March 6, 2024. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Xizang autonomous region plans to build the highest and largest national park in the world by 2025, the chairman of the regional government said on Wednesday.

The planned Chang Tang National Park on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau will cover an area of 298,000 square kilometers, which is about 37 times the size of the famous Yellow Stone National Park in the United States, Yan Jinhai, chairman of the regional government, said during a deliberation session of the Xizang delegation to the 14th National People's Congress on Wednesday.

"Once established, the Changtang National Park would be the highest and largest national park in the world," Yan said at the session that was opened to the press.

He added that Xizang is one of the regions that have kept the best eco-environment in the world, with the region attaching great importance to the protection of its environment and biodiversity.

About 36 percent of the region's land has been listed as natural reserves. Furthermore, eco-environmental conservation has always been seen as the top priority for Xizang, Yan said.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
The following are the schedules for the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) and the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on Thursday.

-- The second session of the 14th NPC will hold group meetings of deputies, who will examine reports and drafts on budgets and economic and social development plans in the morning and deliberate a draft revision to the Organic Law of the State Council in the afternoon.

The NPC Financial and Economic Affairs Committee will review reports and drafts on budgets and economic and social development plans.

The NPC Constitution and Law Committee will review a draft revision to the Organic Law of the State Council.

-- The second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee will hold its second plenary meeting in the morning. In the afternoon, political advisors of certain sectors will hold group consultations, and political advisors of other sectors will hold group meetings.

-- At 10 a.m., Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, will meet the press.
This article appears in the March 8, 2024 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

October 21, 2013

Art, Science & Sense-Perception

[Print version of this article]

Editors Note: This article first appeared in EIR Vol. 40, No. 42, October 25, 2013, pp. 41-51.

I now continue the examination of those topics which I had first introduced in my June 10, 2013 report, topics introduced under the title of Nicholas of Cusa, Kepler & Shakespeare. To which, I had later added those supplementary references which had been published in my September 21, 2013, Contemporary Pseudo-Morality. I now go on, to resume the process of this discussion from the point where I had left off in the course of producing those two earlier items. My subject here and now, has brought us to the fact, that any notion of sense-perception taken literally, presents us with a mere shadow of the actual relationships among mankind, up to the point at which people are being presented with what appear to be, physically, shadowy effects, effects which are based on mere sense-perceptions as such.

Consequently, the set of actual relationships being treated by me here as the subject for our examination of matters, is located presently in ideas which are associated with an essentially misguided, but a still popular delusion, one which is rooted in a stubborn error of belief in mere sense-perception as such. In fact, sense-perception represents a dubious form of dependency on a certain, cultivated system of belief which had been premised on presumptions situated within the essentially imaginary, and often dubious limits, of presumptions which are to be attributed to any set of mere sense-perceptions as such. Some sense-perceptions are to be regarded as the likeness of a set of the footprints which had been apparently cast on the mind as if they had been merely pains without substance.

I explain. Sense-perceptions are to be properly defined as being merely a kind of shadows, and should be recognized as such, if and when they are treated according to a higher order of reality. That had been done by those from among the greatest figures of modern science, such as Nicholas of Cusa and his discoveries, as in his De Docta Ignorantia (1440), in which he had already demonstrated that to be the case. I mean the actual reality of the proof of the discovery made by mans creative demonstration of all that are properly known as being universal physical principles, as this was demonstrated implicitly in such exceptions as the work of both Max Planck and Albert Einstein, in particular. The basis for that class of true knowledge, corresponds implicitly to the precedents of the opening statements by Bernhard Riemann, as in the opening statement of the plan of his hypotheses respecting the founding of what had been actually a physical geometry, in his habilitation dissertation.

In the ideas of the physical principles of inter-action as such, there are those ideas which reference such phenomena as being reflections of actually Classical compositions, even in our notions of the experience of our own living bodies. That subject-matter is to be treated presently, as being an extension of the themes which I had introduced earlier, since June 10 of this present year.

Now, the time had come, even before mankind had set foot on neighboring planets (notably, such as Mars, or some asteroids, or a return to a landing on the Moon, or acts to bring some menacing asteroids under control). There comes a time when it is already necessary to lessen what had been our customary attachments to hitherto admired presumptions, based on biological experiences premised upon mere human sense-perceptions as such. The time has come, to shift attentions less upon human sense-perception (in the customary sense), and more to our role in acting with foresight into the actual future, within the relations of the identity of the mind of the human individual within the universe, as much as we might presently come to know that universe.

By stating that, as just done, I am implicitly arguing here for the establishment of a newly incorporated, fourth state of maturation of the members of our human species: the realization of a newly added, higher category (a fourth) of the human mind: (foetus, child, post-adolescent, and transcendental): e.g., forethought, noetic. By this use of the term otherwise knowable as transcendental, I mean that we are to be considered heretofore as prisoners of the kind of immature, mistaken state of belief, the dubious belief that mere sense-perception is the author of reality.

By transcendental, I am now indicating, as I often had in times past, for emphasis: the notion of the human individual identity, as no longer a prisoner of mere sense-perception; but, rather, that we need to emphasize the fact, that it is the specifically human mind which is the actually existent personality which must be properly associated with the notion of a human individuals personality: the domain within which both science and Classical artistic composition combine, in effect, as noetic: the only true substance of the actually living human personality. Or, might we not say: Soul?

Then, this much now said, if sense perceptions are merely shadows, what is reality? The answer? Discovered physical principles, such as the discoveries in niches of physical science where we are confronted by such as the discoveries of such as Max Planck and Albert Einstein, (or, earlier) Nicholas of Cusa, Johannes Kepler, and, later, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, and Wilhelm Furtwangler, et al., all expressed in the principles of Classical music, and, also, principles of truly Classical dramatic composition for the stage, the latter as in contrast to the centuries of such bad examples as Aristotle and Euclid.

Creation works as if from above: creation is, actually, nothing less than the uniquely human prescience of the future!

I.

Rejecting Bad Habits

There should be no reasonable adults personal objection to the claim, that the human species represents a quality of life absolutely distinct from all other living species presently known to us. Unfortunately, there could be very many persons, thus far, who would agree to that use of language, but, unfortunately, almost none of those who would literally speak such words, would correctly identify what those words should be understood to signify.

I explain my report on this subject-matter, as follows (I therefore repeat the following point):

The most critical, and also most common error of presumption among human beings presently known to cultures with which I am familiar, is the widespread, but gravely mistaken presumption, that sense-perception, as such, is the elementary waiting-room of fact, within whose bounds the discovery of primary actual human knowledge lies. That belief in such a merely deductive sense-perception, had been freshly exposed, notably, as being shown to have been a fallacy, as since modern civilizations discoveries of such works as Nicholas of Cusas De Docta Ignorantia, and the subsequent work of his outstanding follower in such matters of physical science, Johannes Kepler. In fact, Nicholas of Cusa, like the latters most notable follower in science, Kepler, had recognized the essential foolishness of any a-priorist, so-called practical mans brutishly pro-oligarchist attempt to substitute something else for the essential principle of human reason. I mean: the unique principle of the presently, actually rarely understood principle of human reason: the actual foreseeing of the future.

The crucial evidence pertains to the manifest foresights expressed, chiefly, among exceptionally gifted thinkers: including such relatively outstanding moderns as Max Planck and Albert Einstein.

I continue that argument as follows.

For the purposes of the appropriate pedagogy respecting this subject immediately, the simplest demonstration of the absurdities of much of presumably educated scientific principles, can be best found through a rigorous study of the foolish doctrine of so-called sense-certainty, a fraud which is suitably illustrated by the reductionists hoax which is named Euclidian geometry. What should have been considered as the obvious correction needed? What should have been the only truthful principle of physical science, would have taken its origin from a certain, special quality of knowable subject, from mankinds converging practical, wider experience of the universe: the principle of a converging expansion in, specifically, that quality of knowledge. Take the following illustration into account for this purpose.

Mankind, a Unique Species

Take known history, as if from the top, down.

Mankind, according to my presently known evidence, bears evidence specific to those among our own living species, and its unique relationship to the function of the included principle of fire. Fire, so defined, is directed according to mans mustering of successively higher orders of fire (e.g., energy-flux density), which is to be used as the power which man employs as our species process of climbing upward, as by discrete intervals, towards goals of ever-higher orders (e.g, leaps) of mans selection and employment of energy-flux density as a method: as mankinds own, practically universal meaning of fire. The ordering of successively higher ranges of energy-flux density, in discrete, rather than merely gradual leaps forward in chemistry, is a convenient definition of the function associated with mankinds practiced use of fire, so estimated.

So far, a prevalent textbook quality of what is actually best identified as misleadership, the which is common among the nations of mankind, has acted to block against permitting the practiced notion of a systemic increase of energy-flux density into that realm of the thermonuclear fusion which had been already implicit in the extension of the intervals of leaps in progress of such as Bernhard Riemann, Max Planck, and Albert Einstein (and others)and of Nicholas of Cusa and Johannes Kepler before them. That limitation must now be breached, despite the leading opponent of mankinds progress, that Anglo-Dutch empire, which opposes mankinds opportunities for what is presently, even desperately urgently needed progress: e.g., defeating the green disease imposed by the Anglo-Dutch imperium.

The evil expressed, that as a more or less world-wide corruption spread, most notably, by the Anglo-Dutch imperium, is not unique in the known history of the human species. In general, for the known history of mankind, our species own knowledge of a recorded history of that species itself, has been dominated by what modern evidence identifies as imperialist systems. These have been systems which have been indicated as being (usually) a relative minority engaged in crushing a subjected majority, as the Roman empire, and also the contemporary Anglo-Dutch imperium, demonstrate this in practice, currently.

What has remained the most notable, particular achievement of Nicholas of Cusa, had been to have sought to free the brutally subjected victims of Mediterranean-centered imperialist systems, which Cusa did by charging his heirs-in-principle to direct the way across the great oceans, and thus away from the virtual captivity of political and cultural foolishness prevailing through the means of the imperialism which had usually occupied the Eurasian territories over prolonged intervals. That achievement had been expressed as the deeply embedded intent of Cusa, the intent to permit the human species to escape from the imprisonment of oligarchical systems, such as those systems which had long imprisoned nations of continental Europe, as presently and at the time of Columbus adoption of the pledged intention of Cusa. The original creation of our United States, by Cusa and his followers in this effort, had thus been the principal instrument created with the intention to free the nations from the oligarchical tyrannies of the imperialist-dominated systems of Eurasia.

It might be difficult, although not impossible, to scrutinize the effect of the colonization of the Americas by Cusas specific influence, in inspiring European and other resistance to the depravity ongoing in Europe which Cusas devotion had bestirred at that time. However, that devotion of the mission to the Americas, has been, in effect, crucial up to the effects of the aftermath of two world wars and their sequels since the time of the ouster of Germanys Chancellor Bismarck.

Thus, Cusa and Columbus did succeed, at least most significantly, in their respectively intended missions, but mainly also within imposed exterior limits. Nonetheless, the emergence of, first, the successes which did succeed, temporarily, in the Massachusetts Bay achievements until the Nazi-like, Dutch mass-murderous attacks of the 1640s, had ignited the spark ignited by Cusa, which led, in turn, to the later centurys creation of the United States, which had, in turn, thus, achieved the moments of our republics successes in its mission, up to the presently perilous times.

The typical instrument of imperialist practice, as in Europe, has been the oligarchical principle which is currently typified by the same Anglo-Dutch imperium now tyrannizing a great part of the subjected human species, as throughout a great part of Europe, presently, and now also the foreign, imperialism-directed elements of leadership of the United States itself, especially since the repeal of the Glass-Steagall law. The murderous ideologies typically expressed by the oligarchical types of subjection of the majorities of the Mediterranean-centered peoples to the systems of Aristotle and Euclidean dogmas, typify the systemic practices of the imperialist systems generally, such as those associated with the Anglo-Dutch imperialism and its present, tyrannical, Saudi-Arabian lackeys which had been employed in the terror launched in the U.S.A. called 9-11.

Imperial tyrannies have thus been superimposed upon the human species generally. Aristotle and Euclid are merely typical of this evil, as was Ancient Rome: all such had been typical of imperialist ideology and its associated practices. Todays nominally British (i.e., Anglo-Dutch) empire, as expressed in the mass-murderous rampages of its Wall Street puppet, is among the archetypes of evil in the world for today.

The foregoing summary points, are those which I continue to emphasize up to my delivery to you of this present report. It is the most relevant fact, that those wicked such misconceptions often adopted in the abused name of science, such as the cults of Aristotle and Euclid, are typical of the evil of the cults which are at the root of the threatened extinction of civilization immediately threatened now. Once we had cleared our heads of those ideological delusions traced to the legacy of the cultural depravity which had been typified by the Roman Empire, and which had also been the enemy of the Christians (and others), the way could be cleared for the necessary discovery of a true physical science. However, until we rid mankind of the pestilences of the oligarchical ideology of the ironically, appropriately titled Netherlands, (and of London and Saudi Arabia), it were likely that the human species might probably soon be rendered extinct.

The Fallacy of Mere Sense-Perception

Real history shows that mankind, and the human mind, have been created and developed within the Solar system accordingly: not according to the dogma mustered to generate the interpretation of the human mind according to some farce such as the British-like legend of the alleged evolution of the human brain. The true case of the actual human mind, is clearly implicit in the history of the evolutionary process of development of living species; human history itself, properly conceived, is determining, as the source of the uniquely specific evolutionary progress of the human species demonstrates this with a certain relative finality.

As the relevant chemistry of energy-flux density demonstrates, human progress evolves along an evolutionary track of biochemistry: that of higher rates of concentration of energy-flux density. The evolution of the chemistry of the human evolution along such a track of roughly rising energy-flux density, has been, in turn, willfully driven by the absolutely essential role of the human noetic quality of will. Somewhat analogously, living processes generally, and also their evolution have the form of an expression of willful evolution of species. Contrary to all reductionist opinion respecting living processes, continued human existence is, most explicitly, willfully upwardly evolution-driven. Mankind is the one different species presently known to us; it is the willful aspect of human life, which generates the basis for the specific characteristics underlying the functions of the human will, unless that is resisted, or even willfully reversed. The direction is given, not by the species as such, but by the potential shaped along the track followed by the species. The specifically human expression of this, is that human evolution has been conditioned by the course taken by the human wills impact on the direction of the other species.

II.

What Dooms Wall Street Now?

The lesson urgently to be learned here, is typified by the fact that the Roman empire was thoroughly evil, top-most down, that like the evil Zeus throughout his fabled existence as a satanic emperor-in-fact who called himself God. That evil was then typified by the genocide at Troy. The very notoriety of the name Satanic, is, by no means, an unjustified charge to be made against Zeus himself, or, more important, his likeness on that account to the present day.

Satanic is a charge to be placed against all truly imperialist systems, such as European Anglo-Dutch, imperial system, especially at this present time when genocide even worse than that by Adolf Hitler, is the frankly expressed intention of the present reigning command of the so-called British empire which has been, most certainly, no exception to that wicked legacy. Queen Elizabeth II, has made that claim repeatedly and publicly in recent years: it has been her stated policy for the planet, as expressed by the so-called green policy of population reduction of the human population, from approximately seven billions persons, to no more than one billion; that policy is currently in accelerated practice, as, presently, under the Queens own Barack Obama.

An evil of similar characteristics to that Queens stated intentions, is to be readily encountered among the monetarist oligarchy operating against our U.S. Constitution, within our own, present United States. This represents an evil of modern times which had been always, chiefly, a product of the subversive influence of the so-called British monetarist (i.e. Anglo-Dutch) system of asserted world empire, as its extended banking systems have polluted our United States repeatedly, not only since its founding, but by the Dutch tyranny which had supplied the actually presently reigning foundations of the so-called British empire. That, in turn, is to be contrasted to the truly lawful constitutional principle on which the creation of the United States had originally depended, upon the principle which has depended upon the codified form of the U.S. Constitutions definition of a credit system (rather than an intrinsically corrupt monetarist system), and upon the role which the economic genius Alexander Hamilton showed in making possible the establishment of a functioning U.S. republic under our first President, George Washington.

The center of the monetarist corruption of the presently current abuses wielded against that Constitution, was centered, early on, on the nominally British-Empire-controlled monetarist system: the system of evil which had been represented by the intrinsically treasonous and thoroughly evil British agent, Aaron Burr, and such dupes and followers and tools of Burr, and of his legacy, as that was continued by such U.S. Presidents as, in fact, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, James Buchanan, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Harry S Truman, Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Jr., and an especially weird and vicious fanatic, the British imperial puppet Barack Obama. Even more horrid cases than those can be often found, similarly, in Europe, as in the British system, and in the Dutch system of which the British system has been a continuing outgrowth, and so on, and on, thus far.

Particular notice must be given to the crucially significant role of assassinations of such as a relevant selection of our very best Presidents, including such as President John F. Kennedy, and that of his brother Robert. So also to similar efforts against our nations military and other professional leaders of outstanding quality, throughout their careers in both service and retirement, such as the General Douglas MacArthur who, according to the best of my present information, did live out the allotted span of his life peacefully, despite the assassination of MacArthurs personal associate, President John F. Kennedy.

The particular point which I emphasize most pointedly in this immediate report, is to be placed upon the assassination of Alexander Hamilton by the British spy and frequent murderer, Aaron Burr, and upon crimes by other British tools sharing Burrs pro-satanic affinities and actions. Wall Street, like the silly and obscene board-game named Monopoly, has, had, generally, the same, essentially treasonous qualities in principle of practice respecting our United States, as that had been done earlier, in the train of the purely evil, British agent Aaron Burr, and his legacy.

The Sheer Evil of Monetarism

The most often overlooked concept implicit in the adoption of the U.S. Federal Constitution (which that Constitution had then required), lay in the distinction of the intended principle of a credit system, as systemically opposed to a foreign monetarist system. The distinction, respecting the notion of that precious principle, is that the essential, also intrinsic evil characteristic of a monetarist system, is what is identifiable as gambling, as typified by the U.S.A.s pestilence known as Wall Street. That connection requires strict attention to the principle of credit, rather than the intrinsically thieving monetarists predatory rules. In short: the value of the exchange lies in the standards for an increase of social productivity (which depends upon a credit system, like that of our original Constitution), rather than a money-system.

This monetarist model, as opposed to the crucially needed standard of a credit system, is a fraud which became, often, the means to pollute, and thus ruin, the intercourse between the United States and the systemically inferior qualities of the design of the presently ruined European monetarist systems presently: the so-called Euro System which had been thrust virtually down the throats of subsequently looted nations of continental Europe, that done by the leading combination of Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, George H.W. Bush, and the President of France, Francois Mitterrandand beyond. Europe is now being destroyed by means tantamount to mass-murder among the populations of the Euro system.

Thus, the proper intention of the increase of the per-capita, net physical productivity of the human species and its properly sovereign governments, lies within the per-capita usefulness of both the product, and of its use, rather than a mere profit from the price. The original economic policy of the United States, was led in its time by the genius of President George Washingtons Alexander Hamilton, who was its founder, as later by such among later Presidents as the bold and masterly James Monroe, and then the organizer of the system of Federal States of the territorial organization of the economy of both the then-present and future states, and the greatest in his own lifetime, John Quincy Adams; and, then, such later greatest Presidents as (the assassinated) Abraham Lincoln; (the also assassinated) William McKinley; Franklin Roosevelt, a notable true leader; a President Eisenhower whom I had personally admired as a prospective replacement for the wretched President Harry S Truman; and, then, the assassinated President John F. Kennedy. President Ronald Reagan, if permitted, could have become known as a much needed, and accomplished President, but for the presence of such as his Vice-President George H.W. Bush, who had been a wretched choice of Vice-President, and a terrible President, while his son President George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, have proven themselves to have been the worst so far (if there would be any to follow in that office). The U.S.A. had been created as a great nation, but for its recurring burden of all-too-many British agents and kindred calamities tossed into the collection.

View full size

John Trumbull Alexander Hamilton View full size

Samuel F.B. Morse James Monroe View full size

Charles Robert Leslie John Quincy Adams

That much said, to serve as a point of reference here: the increase must be in physical economy, not a monetarist system. A more efficient growth of physical production and related processes, is now a matter of life-or-death for this republic (and also of other nations). Technological and productive improvements in scale. The question thus posed, lies with the active fertility of the product generated. An urgently required measure, is the notion of increase of energy-flux density obtained through a better product and a better intrinsic factor of growth of the United States itself, and its needed relatively immediate participation in physically efficient increase in consequent productivity through aid of thermonuclear-fusions required, particular role of spanning the region concentrated from the United States, westward from the Mississippi River across the Pacific and the Bering Strait, deep into the regions of East, North, and South Asia: all to be done as President John Quincy Adams would have done, and as he did, during and beyond his own incumbency in the Presidency.

To restate the same point in a necessary choice of terms, it is the rate of gain by the society per se, not merely the matter of price, which must be considered as a determining consideration. The defining words for such missions, are better and more. To restate the point, the transformation to become greater and better, as in keeping with the principle of human existence.

That which I have just emphasized can be better understood in terms of public works, rather than quantity and quality of specific kinds of salable goods. Stated otherwise, that means a commitment to a higher quality of the conditions of existence of the human population, rather than a competitive price of product. It is in that distinction, that the worst evils of monetarist practice have continued to reveal themselves on this account. This, therefore, requires a competent economics entirely outside of the domain of simplistic notions of mere competition. There, economic sanity, properly considered, begins. At this point, biology intervenes to assist us in clarifying the nature of the challenge to the proof of mankinds ability to succeed as a species. The story is not just about biology; it is about willful self-evolution upwards by means of the increase of humanitys energy-flux density per-capita, and per-unit of area, as expressed by progress in the self-improvement of living species, especially that of the human species itself, but, most essentially in terms of the directedness of the increase of energy-flux density per-capita. The needed measures are expressed, in effect, in relative degrees of energy-flux density, as, for example, now, the prospect of thermonuclear fusion.

Reductionism is much worse than being merely bunk. It is systemic mass-murder among the population of the United States, now already continued at intended accelerating rates, already under way in a typical U.S. community, as in the City of Detroit, presently.

III.

Man Beyond Earth

With this present chapter of this report, the time has come when we must have proposed to cease to limit our discussion to the confinement of the human species to an intellectual prison defined to be within the habitations of Earth. With this change, we will have finally been freed from the degree of reliance on the mere sense-perception to which we had been confined by the effect of confinement to Earth earlier. Henceforth, we must intend to live soon in an expanding commitment to humanitys now indispensable roles for entirely new tasks beyond the bounds of Earth itself, thus locating mankinds existence, as still on Earth, in effect, but in exerting effective management over an expanding role of developments within the Solar system beyond the more nearby role of Earth itself.

The resulting experience will be unique, in and of itself. However, there is an added chapter, yet to come.

Reality has already beckoned our Basement teams practical concerns. True facts have already depended upon the exploration of the compelling imagination. The fault of the motion-picture has been, that it never actually represented actual human progress in and of itself.

Imagine Mars celebrated role as reflecting that of Curiosity on Mars now. Arriving there, Man had conceived Curiosity, and placed Curiosity on Mars, but not mankind. Man is now as assigned to planning for work on Mars under mans control, a control exercised, primarily, from Earth. Barring encounters with presently unknown cases of living species on some planets within the system, and given the graces which might permit temporary or other human habitation on Mars, the image of a human landing on Mars has been a necessary image for purposes of orientation, as I had expressed that point, myself, in my Woman on Mars feature: but, that is not the essential next step for dealing with nearby Solar space. It should now be made clear, that the deployment of human beings to the Moon, will be a necessary, included feature of our approach to the options for mankinds ability to organize a system of mechanized productive occupation on Mars, in particular. Thermonuclear-fusion propulsion must be the means deployed from Earth, which must come before actual human occupation.

For example:

With the placing of assigned synthetic creatures, such as Curiosity working in place, a new freedom of mankind, one ironically echoing Bernhard Riemanns opening statement of the opening plan of the famous hypotheses of his habilitation dissertation, springs forth in the necessarily provoked imagination, bringing our species into an active role within relatively nearby regions of Solar space, and, also, inevitably far beyond.

I restate the point.

This remark of mine should not imply any immediate intentions for committing human beings to actually dwelling on locations such as Mars. It does mean that mankind on Earth must assume direction in control over a relevant, and expanding zone of responsibility for exerting useful activities governing security and progress respecting Mars and the system of asteroids over which mankind must exert control from headquarters Earth. Mankind will remain inhabitants of Earth; but the mind of mankind will be permitted to return home (spiritually) at Solar dusk. It is the Solar system as such which should be the target of our sense of mission.

This prospect shall, therefore, compel us, to distance ourselves from what had been heretofore the intellectual confinements of mere Earthly sense-perception. The fact which we come to recognize will be that what human sense-perception is, in practical effect, will be merely an auxiliary agency intended for the virtual childhood of our future role in nearby space, a kind of robotics of a currently still naive human species. That, will bring mankind towards an ending of that strict worship of the limited usefulness of merely, Earth-oriented sense-perception as such. What I have emphasized, as I do here, respecting the need of mankind to loosen the chains of confinement of the species by the merely auxiliary sense of sense-perception, has been implicitly an essential step which mankind must ultimately achieve, if we are to come to understand the expanding ranges of the Solar system which we implicitly soon will begin to occupy.

The defense of Earth against the threat of asteroids and related conditions must be considered as primary.

What should be readily obvious to thoughtful scientists now, or relatively soon, is the highly practical consideration, that to deal with our Solar systems requirements of us, we must achieve an acceptance of those kinds of challenges which relatively nearby Solar space will demand of us, increasingly. The experience of having learned to fly in aircraft, should illustrate the point, as the problems of meeting the requirements of flight into within, and beyond the range of scramjets might suggest.

Among those of my associates who are giving attention to the special problem of defense against threats from such as comets beyond the mode of asteroids, we are confronted with study respecting more challenging than threats from more distant regions.

IV.

The Logic of Sense-Deception

Creation works as if from above: creation is, actually, nothing less than the uniquely human prescience and passion of the actual future!

A return, thus, to where this report had begun.

As I had stated here, from the start, the quality of human existence, and its development, proceeds as if from action on the future, toward what had been a view from ones re-examination of the past. The very idea of the co-existence of both a present and future, depends upon a human conception of mankinds experience taken from a contrasting astronomical experience of an existing notion of an actual future, shared most intimately with a contemplated past. Any contrary judgment bespeaks a poor, foolish, practical mans flat Earth mentality. In other words, we must consider ourselves responsible, concurrently, for both our own present and our past.

Admittedly, what I have stated in the paragraph immediately above, does not accord, at first blush, with customary opinion respecting the functional relationship between past and present. The customary mistake is to treat the two as essentially being separated categorically. Actually, for qualified observers, there is a difference in polarity, but both are actually of the same body; they are not actually separable. Acknowledged, that popular opinion does not recognize the distinction which I have just identified. That is not actually a separable state of affairs; the apparent separation is often simply a commonplace incompetence of what pass for popular opinions. Cultures generally are filled with such incompetencies as that which I have just identified and properly blamed.

There is little that matches that case better than a view of warfare viewed from a Classical view of its past. Ah! But, only the worst of all imaginable nitwits would consider entering modern thermonuclear warfare at this present time in world history. Indeed, those who seek modern warfare, are intrinsically depraved creatures, as the policies of U.S. President Barack Obamas behavior, and that of the Anglo-Dutch tyrants, have brought all mankind close to a true vision of the horrors of an extinction in a thermonuclear Hell.

To reduce that discussion to a seemingly suitable conclusion, the problem which I have just summarized, above, finds its relevance in a certain, but nonetheless tumultuous, synchronisms of a past and present, or Heaven and Hell. There is nothing in what I have now written here, which does not correspond to the reality of mankinds role within our Solar system as a whole, or higher realms beyond. On that account, it would be not unfair to regard mankind, as it often behaves presently, as often, perhaps, the greatest fool in the galaxy, if, perhaps, the greater fool were simply the likes of an inherently wretched Wall Street.

There is a higher mission, which presents an alternate outlook on the meaning of mankinds future. The distinctions among such clinical cases as notions of such as a not-living, or living universe, demand a truthful quality of prescience respecting the intention which members of our species should perceive as the meaning of our personal existence within a society embracing such subject-matters as its sense of a living of a true intention, or, at the least, a fair and active outlook on issues of policy situated not only within our nearby view of the immediate relationship to the Solar system. We are obliged, when we have reached one such more immediate choice of goal, to extend ourselves, ever-relentlessly, to embrace a higher order of category according to this meaning. The failure to adopt that perspective, would leave us in, perhaps, a monstrously fearful state of existential uncertainty. The resolution of that implied paradox, is to be found in an outwardly unfolding quality of limitless universality.

The true mission which actually lies ever before us, is, thus, the true meaning of our proper existence.

I have chosen the immediately foregoing ironies, chiefly because they are in accord with the actual facts which are customarily overlooked by most commonplace contemporary opinion. For such a case, it is established conventions and related popular opinions which are the mistakes committed, the mistakes which are rooted in the rejection of even elementary sanity. The histories of both ancient and modern cultures are ripe with such devotions to an errant notion of both the present and the past. It is precisely the commonplaces which are the customarily criminal intentions which have both the power and inclinations to bring destruction upon the allegedly true believer.

Consider, for example, the case of contemporary practices of what is called (fraudulently enough) environmentalism. There has been virtually no truth in what is currently professed to be environmentalism; in fact, the effects have been clearly insane in effects. As I have often enjoyed the effect of making the relevant point, the important fact is the effect. The environmentalists are driven largely by motives which are evil in their characteristic effects. There are also the evils which are the fruit of stubbornly habitual social traditions brought forth from lack of profound changes.

Obviously, my concern on such accounts is the consequences for the future, either of the achievement, or of the ghastly errors of prevalent opinions, such as, for example, the outcome of the Hitler regime, or the Anglo-Dutch. There is also a much more sophisticated approach to be taken on the account of my central argument in this present case: the always urgent evidence of necessity.

However, in looking over the accounts of human history within the Solar system this far, the chiefly required changes are those which promote higher qualities of net outcomes in terms of solutions derived from relevant applications of higher energy-flux densities. The case of the presently urgent realization of applications of general promotion of net energy-flux densities of applied thermonuclear fusion, is a case urgently wanted on the worlds table now.
This editorial appears in the March 8, 2024 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

[Print version of this editorial]

EDITORIAL

Explosive Audio Reveals NATO Is in Ukraine Plotting Attacks on Russia

March 3RT and Sputnik released on March 1 a dynamite, leaked recording and transcript of a Feb. 19 exchange among four top German military officials discussing operations for long-range missiles in Ukraine, and potential attacks on Russian arms depots and the Kerch Strait Bridge, which connects Crimea to the Russian mainland. The conversation makes clear that the United States, the U.K. and France all have military personnel in Ukraine now, carrying out their functions. The discussants confer in detail on options for how the Bundeswehr might carry out tasks related to missile logistics and training, without appearing to do so.

Both Russian publications carefully used conditional terms for the authenticity of the recording, such as alleged, and purported, but qualified listeners regard the taped conversation as genuine, beyond what even top AI could produce. Sputniks breaking headlines March 1 were: Leaked Audio: German Top Brass Said To Implicate Brits in Plot Targeting Crimean Bridge and Full Transcript of German Top Military Officials Leaked Plot to Attack Crimean Bridge.

The four military men in the leaked audio are identified as Brig. Gen. Frank Grafe, Department Director for Operations and Exercises at the Air Force Command in Berlin; Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz, Inspector of the Luftwaffe, and two officials at the air operations center of the Bundeswehr Space Command.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova commented March 1 on the leaked audio by pointing out, as Sputnik reported, The hybrid war unleashed by the West against Russia is currently in full swing.

The officials are heard discussing the details of the two battle plans they are trying to work out, striking Russian arms depots and knocking out the Kerch Bridge. For example, one says:

I would like to add something regarding the destruction of the bridge. Weve been intensely studying this issue, and unfortunately, weve come to the conclusion that due to its size, the bridge is akin to a runway. Therefore, it may require more than 10, or even 20 missiles.

They confer on the problems of how to train Ukrainians in operations for the new missiles, without going to Ukraine personally. One idea:

Direct communication with Ukraine will only be through MBDA [the German missile manufacturer], which is much better than if such communication exists with our Air Force.

Another responds,

We have to make sure that there is no language that makes us a party to the conflict.

He also mentions they cant be seen going by car through Poland. In the course of their discussion, they clearly refer to the American, British and French personnel already on the ground in Ukraine.

Potentially Criminal under German Law

Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche stressed, within hours of the tapes release, that these revelations are a game changer. They are a monkey wrench in the works of the entire NATO war-making operations: They are really big!

She pointed out that for Germany, the conduct of these kinds of operations is potentially criminal. Germany itself is not under attack, and so cannot be said to be lawfully planning a counter-attack. The actions of Germany described on the recording cannot be called defensive. Germany has not declared war, and is not a party to war, and so cannot be said to be lawfully engaged in war-making activity. This is according to German law. In addition, the UN Charter and all codes of international relations are conspicuously violated.

The unfolding scandal exposed in this recording highlights the point of the call going out from the International Peace Coalition. At its 39th weekly meeting March 1, leaders from many nations, organizations, and faiths appealed to citizens, groups, and nations to mobilize against the war paradigm, which is causing genocide in Gaza, the two-year toll of destruction and death in Ukraine, and the extreme danger of spreading to potentially ignite all-out nuclear war.

There are dramatic expressions of people responding to the call to end the madness. In Britain Feb. 29, former MP George Galloway, long-time anti-war leader, was resoundingly re-elected to the House of Commons in a special by-election to fill a seat made vacant by the death of the incumbent. Galloway is a prominent leader of No to NATO, and is outspoken against the war machine.

Anti-War Voices Get Bigger and Louder

In the United States, look at the Michigan Democratic Party primary election on Tuesday, Feb. 27, in which well over 100,000 people voted for uncommitted against the Biden/Washington war machine. On Saturday, March 2, a meeting convened in Detroit at the historic New Bethel Baptist Church for a program titled, Emergency Conference for Peace in Gaza: The Children of God Call for Justice! The audience included people from the interfaith community of Dearborn and the civil rights network of Detroit. Anastasia Battle, coordinator of the International Peace Coalition, was mistress of ceremonies. Among the speakers were two independent candidates from New YorkU.S. Senate candidate Diane Sare and Jose Vega from C.D. 15 in the Bronxseeking to rapidly further national and international opposition to the worsening nuclear war danger, and to stop the genocide in Gaza.

The advance notice for the event stated in part,

We, the citizens of the world, bring our people together above our nations, our ideologies and our differences for the common good of humanity. The acts of Genocide upon the people of Gaza by Israel have brought the world before the stage of history and we cry out for Justice. The International Court of Justice has declared Israel must end their acts of Genocide upon the people of Gaza. Have they? The United States has played a complicit role thus far in allowing such an atrocity to happen which we swore to the world, Never Again. We gather together not only to declare the moral courage of our people but to assert the universal thread that connects us all, the love of ALL mankind. Humanity was born for that which is better!

Other actions in the United States included rallies March 2 and 3 in many cities, for ceasefire, justice and emergency humanitarian intervention in Gaza. The rallying cry at most of them was, Hands off Rafah! Ceasefire Now! Stop the Genocide! Advance plans for the demonstrations were publicized on CGTN TV on the eve of the rallies by Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK. Appearing on the World Today program, she was asked about the impact of all these actions. Benjamin answered, Do these add up? Yes, they do. Are they enough? No.

Now is the time to mobilize ever more strongly, and to succeed in making a world shift to peace-building, by backing the Oasis Plan approach to stop the genocide in Gaza and resolve the Palestine-Israel crisis. The same principle is required worldwide, for pursuing common development projects to build the future together. Long advocated by Lyndon LaRouche, the principle is, Development is the name for peace.
Four-year-old Omar Abu Kuwaik is from the Gaza Strip, but in the last several weeks, he has spent time in Egypt, New York City, and Philadelphia before returning to Egypt.

Why did he travel so far from home?

He came for medical operations on his skin and to receive a prosthetic arm.

He is one of the few Gazans to have made it out of the war zone. But his family was not so lucky.

Omar was wounded during an Israeli airstrike in December that also killed a number of his family members, including his parents and a sister.

Anywhere is better

A charity group called the Global Medical Relief Fund found out about Omar and provided for his medical care in the U.S. Elissa Montanti started the organization. She has spent 25 years getting hundreds of children free medical care after they lost arms and legs to wars or disasters, including wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Montanti said she knew she would have to help the Gazan children when the conflict started between Hamas and Israel last October. But, she wondered, How? How will I ever get these kids out when they cant even get out of Gaza?

Another group, Rahma Worldwide, a U.S.-based charity, learned about Omars injuries. The group got him and his aunt into Egypt, provided them with new passports and airplane tickets to the United States in January.

Omar was getting only simple medical care in Gaza.

Adib Chouiki is vice president of Rahma Worldwide. Chouiki knew his group needed to get the boy to a place where he could get help.

Our view was, anywhere is better for him than being in Gaza, Chouiki said.

The United Nations says there are many more men, women and children like Omar waiting for medical care. About 4,000 wounded people and their families  such as Omars aunt  have been permitted to leave Gaza to get medical help. But the U.N. refugee agency says there are still 8,000 people on a medical waiting list.

Gazas health ministry, which is controlled by the territorys Hamas rulers, said 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza, and 70,000 wounded. The ministry said about two-thirds of those killed have been women and children.

To the United States

Omar went with his aunt, Maha on a flight from Egypt to New York City. Maha left her husband and children behind in Gaza.

Along the way, Omar saw the airline pilots getting ready to start the flight and he said, When I grow up, I want to be a pilot, so I can bring people places.

Once in the U.S., the Global Medical Relief Fund sent Omar to Shriners Childrens Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for treatment. He received pieces of new skin, called grafts, to repair the burns on his leg. Medical workers also fitted him for a prosthetic arm.

As he recovered, he learned how to use his new arm. He stayed in a home owned by the Global Medical Relief Fund in the Staten Island area of New York City.

His arm was cut off just below the elbow. As he received treatment, he could see his new arm. He looked forward to learning how to use it. One day, he reached out to touch it. My arm is nice, he said.

Montanti said getting a prosthetic limb is important for children who have been wounded in a war. Even if they will never be the same, The kids, they feel whole, she said, Psychologically, it means so much.

The hospital in Philadelphia is currently treating two children who have been removed from Gaza. One is an American, who was trapped when the war started. Another child, a two-year-old boy, is supposed to come soon.

One day after Omar got his arm, he and his aunt got on a plane to return to Egypt. Maha said she was concerned about what would happen to Omar and the rest of her family when they arrived. Their relatives are living in tents.

After coming back to Egypt, Omar and his aunts futures are unclear; they might remain in exile.

For Maha Abu Kuwaik and Omar, there might never be a home to return to.

She said she could not imagine going back to Gaza. What would his life be? Where is his future? she wondered.

Im Dan Friedell. And Im Gena Bennett.

Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press.

_______________________________________________

Words in This Story

prosthetic n. a device meant to take the place of a part of the body that is missing or injured

zone n. a place that is set apart and subject to special rules or restrictions

charity n. an organization that takes donations and usually uses that donations for a cause that is meant to help people

limb n. an arm or leg

psychologically adv. relating to the mind, how it works and how people think about things

We want to hear from you. What do you think about the boys experience? What do you imagine for his future?
The Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.) is looking to expand operations to dig, or drill, for oil. The central African country is known for its mineral riches. Currently, drilling is limited to just a small area along the Atlantic Ocean and out in the water. But that is expected to change if the government carries out its plan to sell 30 pieces of land for oil and gas exploration across the country.

Leaders say the plan will grow the economy. They say such growth is necessary for the poor people of Congo. But communities, rights groups, and environmentalist groups warn that expanded drilling will harm the environment and human health.

In the Moanda area of the D.R.C., locals say pollution has worsened since a French company began drilling there in 2000. They say spills and leaks from operations are destroying the soil. The work includes flaring --- the burning of natural gas near drilling sites. Locals report that the flaring is dirtying the air they breathe. Flaring is also wasteful as the energy goes unused.

And, critics say, the Congolese government does not supervise the oil drilling operations well enough.

The company, Perenco, says it follows accepted international measures in its extraction methods. It said its operation does not create health risks and that any pollution it causes is low-level. The company also said it offered to support a power plant that would make use of the natural gas and reduce flaring that way.

The government did not respond to questions about the proposed plant.

Congos minister overseeing oil and gas, Didier Budimbu, said the government plans to protect the environment.

Natural areas in Congo, including the Congo Basin rainforest, capture large amounts of carbon dioxide  about 1.5 billion tons a year, or about 3 percent of what the world produces each year. More than 12 of the extraction areas for sale include land in government-protected wild areas.

The government said the 27 properties for sale hold an estimated 22 billion barrels of oil. Environmental groups say that selling more land to drill would have harmful effects in the D.R.C. and in other countries.

Any new oil and gas project, anywhere in the world, is fueling the climate and nature crisis that were in, said Mbong Akiy Fokwa Tsafak, program director for Greenpeace Africa. She said Perencos operations have done nothing in respect to the poor and instead harm the environment and the lives of communities.

Environmentalists say Congo has a strong possibility to instead develop renewable energy.

Budimbu said now is not the time to move away from fossil fuels when the country still depends on them. He said the D.R.C. will move away from fossil fuel dependency over the long term.

Perenco has faced criticism for years. Local researchers, aid groups, and Congos Senate have made multiple reports of pollution dating back more than ten years. Two organizations, Sherpa and Friends of the Earth France, opened a legal action against the company in 2022, accusing Perenco of polluting.

Adore Ngakas lives in the village of Tshiende. Oil drills can be seen up the road from his home. Ngaka says they remind him every day of all that he has lost. The extraction processes have polluted the soil, hurt his crops, and forced the family to use all their savings to survive, he said.

He pointed to an ear of corn he grew. The 27-year-old farmer said the vegetable is about half the size of those that grew before the drilling began ten years ago.

He said, Its bringing us to poverty.

Im Caty Weaver.

Sam Mednick reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.

________________________________________________

Words in This Story

drill  v. to try to get oil or water by digging through land or sea bed

extract  v. to remove or obtain a substance from something, for example by using an industrial or a chemical process

barrel  n. the contents of or the amount contained in a barrel; a unit of measurement in the oil industry equal to between 120 and 159 litres

fossil fuel  n. fuel such as coal or oil that was formed over millions of years from parts of dead animals or plants
State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada

Zip Code
The body of Lesley Whittle, the 17-year-old heiress kidnapped from her Shropshire home 52 days ago, has been found at the bottom of a drain shaft.

Police made the discovery after a three-day intensive search of Bathpool Park at Kidsgrove in Staffordshire, where Lesleys brother Ronald Whittle had tried to meet the kidnapper some seven weeks earlier. It is thought she had been strangled.

Police investigating the disappearance of Lesley, a student left 82,000 by her father when he died five years ago, have said they are convinced she was taken by the killer known as the Black Panther because of his dark clothing.

He is already wanted in connection with murders at sub-post offices in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Worcestershire, and the wounding of a security guard at Dudley.

The Dudley shooting happened two nights after the kidnapping and a car found later abandoned in the town contained Miss Whittles slippers and some office tape.

A white tent now marks the spot where Lesleys body was found. It is less than 200 yards (183m) from the spot where her brother was supposed to hand over the 50,000 ransom.

Questions are now being asked about why it took police so long to search the park.

Assistant Chief Constable of West Mercia, Frederick Hodges, told a news conference, The visit made by Mr Whittle to Kidsgrove on 16 January was made with the full knowledge and under the operational control of the police. []

Ronald Whittle, 31, had been waiting with his wife and mother at the family home at Highley, from where Lesley was snatched.

He told the BBC the kidnapper had left tape-recorded instructions for him to hand over the ransom money at a rendez-vouz in Bathpool Park. He was to find the exact location by following the light of a flashing torch. []

The meeting never took place.

Courtesy BBC News

In context

Donald Neilson alias the Black Panther, a jobbing builder from Bradford, was convicted of Lesley Whittles murder and given five life sentences in June 1976.

He was caught by police who saw him acting suspiciously outside a post office near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire in December 1975. When officers tried to question him he tried to hijack the patrol car and shot one of them.

The Oxford court heard how he had meticulously planned the kidnapping for three years after reading in the press about a court case over a disputed will involving the Whittle family.

He was also convicted for murders following raids on four post offices in Barnsley, Harrogate, Accrington and Langley, West Midlands and for the attempted murder of two others.
The crucial role of reform has been accentuated in a vital report submitted to the ongoing session of China's national legislature for deliberation.

The government work report was unveiled Tuesday at the opening meeting of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), setting the tone for government work in 2024.

"Ultimately, high-quality development depends on reform. We should deepen reform and opening up with greater resolve and effort, promote better interplay between an efficient market and a well-functioning government, further stimulate and boost the vitality of our society, and strive to make greater progress in pursuing high-quality development," read the report.

At the ongoing "two sessions," which also include the annual session of the top political advisory body, national lawmakers and political advisors believe it is necessary to continue to focus on reform measures conducive to expanding domestic demand. These measures should optimize structure, boost confidence, ensure people's livelihoods, prevent and defuse risks, and tackle pressing issues that concern the people.

In response to the new requirements of advancing China's modernization, a series of reform measures have provided momentum and vitality for a new journey.

For better livelihood

This year is another important year of comprehensively deepening reform, according to the fourth meeting of the central commission for deepening overall reform of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Feb. 19.

Such meetings serve as a platform for comprehensive discussions on a wide range of issues, reflecting the government's commitment to enhancing the intrinsic dynamism of development through comprehensive reform and high-standard opening up.

In particular, addressing the people's urgent needs and responding to societal concerns are the focal points for reform.

Employment has been set by local governments as a top priority in 2024, highlighting an emphasis on employment-first policies. Areas such as pension security and childbirth support have also become key issues.

Many believe that the solution to the employment issue lies in high-quality development. Thus, increasing investment projects, providing a better environment for private enterprises, and vigorously developing the service industry are seen as great new opportunities to increase employment.

Pan Dongxu, an NPC deputy and mayor of Lu'an, Anhui Province, emphasized that the ultimate goal of high-quality development is to improve people's well-being.

A major challenge is the inadequacy of effective demand, he said, suggesting that fiscal expansion oriented toward improving livelihoods and consumption plays a role in social security, income distribution adjustment and stimulating consumption demand while supporting low-income groups.

From a macro perspective, effectively addressing livelihood issues can boost expectations and provide stronger support for the economy.

For stronger private economy

In 1991, with only 500 yuan (about 70 U.S. dollars) in his pocket, Chen Zhilie arrived in Guangdong, a pioneer province of reform and opening up in China. Today, the company he founded in Shenzhen, EVOC Hi-tech Holding Group, ranks among the top 500 Chinese enterprises, with an annual revenue of over 70 billion yuan in 2023.

"Without reform and opening up, there would be no Shenzhen, let alone the company I founded. It is reform and opening up that has given us the opportunity to grow and thrive," said Chen, also an NPC deputy.

He stated that entrepreneurs remain optimistic despite the unprecedented changes facing the world. "In the new era, a series of reform measures have brought greater opportunities for business development and improved people's livelihoods."

For example, a series of measures for the integrated development of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have created more development opportunities for enterprises.

"I believe that by fully unleashing the dividends of reform, Shenzhen will continue to provide fertile soil for entrepreneurs," Chen added.

Gao Zicheng, an NPC deputy and president of the All China Lawyers Association, highlighted the significance of private enterprises as vital driving forces for China's high-quality development and active contributors to deepening reforms.

Yuan Da, a senior official with the National Development and Reform Commission, recently stated that it is necessary to accelerate the legislative process of promoting the development of the private economy.

Gu Junyan, a national political advisor and vice mayor of Baise, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said that work must be done to continuously optimize the business environment, increase policy support, improve the efficiency of government services, build a cordial and clean relationship between government and business, and timely solve the difficulties faced by enterprises.

For more innovation

China's reform agenda has focused on deepening structural reforms across various domains, such as promoting scientific innovation.

The government's approach involved consolidating efforts to bolster the innovation ecosystem, aligning policies with national strategies, and nurturing talent to support critical technological advancements.

Anhui Forklift Group, with over 60 years of history, has been a strong player in the global industrial vehicle industry, thanks to its efforts to develop personalized and differentiated products through continuous technological innovation.

In 2023, the company further attuned its strategy to new energy, with electric products accounting for approximately 57 percent of the total, an increase of 6.2 percentage points from 2022. It also took the lead in launching a variety of hydrogen fuel forklift products and applied for 23 related patents.

Yang Anguo, the group's chairman and general manager, attributed the performance last year to an emphasis on technological innovation, the transformation toward high-end, intelligent and green production, and the magic of new quality productive forces.

China's path of reform has entered a new phase of solid progress, marked by a series of strategic policies and measures aimed at fortifying the nation's resilience and competitiveness on both domestic and global fronts.

With a multifaceted approach spanning economic restructuring, technological innovation and institutional reform, China's reform agenda reflects a commitment to propelling the nation toward sustainable growth and high-quality development.
China has plenty of room to maneuver to attain its annual target for robust economic growth of about 5% after a strong start for the year, top economic officials said yesterday, though they acknowledged its a challenge.

Chinas exports rose about 10% in the first two months of the year from a year earlier, while medium- and long-term loans from banks jumped more than 30%, said Chinas top planning official, Zheng Shanjie, who heads the National Development and Reform Commission.

Zheng said the priority will be on supporting scientific and technological innovation, integrated development of urban and rural regions, food security and energy security, among other areas.

The potential construction demand in these areas is huge and the investment cycle is long. Its hard to fully meet needs using existing funding channels and theres an urgent need to increase support, he said at a news conference on the sidelines of the National Peoples Congress.

Premier Li Qiang announced the around 5% growth target for the year Tuesday at the opening of the congress, which runs for about a week and mostly just endorses policies set by top leaders of the ruling Communist Party.

Chinas economy, the worlds second largest, grew at a 5.2% pace in 2023, but that was from a relatively low pace since it expanded only 3% the year before, one of the lowest rates since the 1970s. Growth of around 5% would be cause for rejoicing in the U.S. and other major economies, but its moderate for a developing economy with a huge population like Chinas.

Pan Gongsheng, the head of Chinas central bank, and the other senior economic planners speaking on the sidelines of the congress said Beijing has more policy tools it can turn to, such as reducing the reserve ratio requirement, or the amount of funds banks must keep in reserves.

They emphasized Beijings determination to put 1 trillion yuan (about $140 billion) in special, ultra long-term bonds to productive use to upgrade industries and advance technologies in key areas such as clean energy.

The market for modernizing factory equipment amounts to about 5 trillion yuan (nearly $700 billion), Zheng said. That compares with the $649 billion the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden says private companies have committed to investing in such areas as clean energy, electric vehicles and semiconductors and electronics.

Despite robust growth in Chinas exports in the first two months of the year, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said global demand may remain muted given the recent trend toward protectionist measures.

Trade in goods and services rose a mere 0.2% in 2023, according to the World Trade Organization, and will increase this year but not to levels seen before the pandemic.

Chinas own exports fell last year, adding to drags on the economy from weak consumer demand and a downturn in the property market, a major contributor to demand for construction, appliances and many other industries.

China plans to do more to promote exports of higher-value products and to support smaller and mid-sized companies in tapping world markets, he said.

We are confident about consolidating the fundamentals of foreign trade and foreign investment, Wang said.

To help spur more consumer spending, an increasingly important driver for growth as China becomes wealthier, the government plans to use tax policies and other incentives to encourage families to scrap their older vehicles, replace aging appliances and redecorate their apartments, the officials said.

In other comments, the chairman of Chinas Securities Regulatory Commission, Wu Qing, acknowledged intervening in the financial markets at times when authorities deemed it necessary.

Chinas stock markets languished from late last year, though they have recovered somewhat in recent weeks following a crackdown on price manipulation and insider trading among other confidence-boosting measures.

Hong Kongs Hang Seng index is still 20% below where it stood a year ago, while the Shanghai Composite index has lost 8.5% at a time when many other world markets are breaching record highs.

Normally there should be no intervention in the markets, but at times when they sharply deviate from fundamentals, show irrational and severe volatility, an extreme lack of liquidity, market panics or a severe lack of confidence, we should act decisively to correct market failures, Wu said. ELAINE KURTENBACH, BEIJING, MDT/AP
Analysis

The integration of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has made significant progress, supported by various policies promoting cross-border connections.

Liu Jieyi, the spokesperson for the 14th National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), highlighted this at a press conference prior to the annual session. He emphasized that the CPPCC has consistently focused on the economic and social development of Hong Kong, Macau, and the Greater Bay Area through consultations and discussions.

According to Liu, national political advisers have offered suggestions and proposals to facilitate the integration of the Greater Bay Area market. These recommendations include improving cross-border compliance systems for financial data, promoting digitalization across industries, and establishing mechanisms for talent sharing among different regions.

CPPCC National Committee members from Hong Kong and Macau have also conducted research visits to various locations in Guangdong province. Their focus has been on exploring cooperation and developing platforms between areas such as Hengqin, Qianhai, and Nansha.

These collective efforts have yielded positive results.

Data from Guangdongs Development and Reform Commission indicates that the Bay Area, with a population of 87 million, is projected to achieve an economic output of over 13.6 trillion yuan in 2023. This represents an increase of 1 trillion yuan compared to 2021.

The integration has been facilitated by extensive infrastructure projects linking Hong Kong with the Pearl River estuary, as well as effective policy coordination. Notable projects include the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, which spans 55 kilometers and is the longest bridge-tunnel sea-crossing in the world. Additionally, express rail links, special cooperation zones, and significant real estate investments have contributed to the seamless flow of people, capital, logistics, and information across borders.

To further enhance the soft connections among the 11-city cluster, initiatives such as the northbound travel program for Hong Kong vehicles have been implemented. This program allows eligible Hong Kong private cars to travel between Hong Kong and Guangdong via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge without regular quotas.

Another example, is the seamless integration between Macau and the Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin.

The island in Guangdong Province on March 1 started to allow most goods to be moved there tax-free from the neighboring Macau Special Administrative Region.

The new customs operation became effective at midnight in the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, in the city of Zhuhai. The zone covers the 106-square-km island of Hengqin that sits between Macau and the Chinese mainland.

Under the new mechanism, tariffs will be generally lifted for goods entering Hengqin from Macao, while goods moving from Hengqin to the Chinese mainland will now be subject to import duties, if they are not eligible for added-value tax exemption.

Similar tax exemptions also apply to luggage and parcels entering Hengqin from Macau.

The new policy is seen as a major arrangement to enrich the practice of One country, two systems in Macau and boost economic diversification of the SAR, which has a land area of only 32.8 square km.

Li Weinong, director of the zones executive committee, said the customs rearrangement also aims to make it easier for Macau residents to live and work in the zone.

By the end of 2023, there were 11,500 Macau residents working or living in Hengqin, an annual increase of over 7%, according to the zones statistics bureau.

Xuan Jianguo, secretary-general of the Hengqin Institute of Innovation and Development, said the customs reform will greatly boost the integration of Hengqin and Macau.

Hengqin has completed a key step toward fulfilling its two main goals, which are promoting the diversification of Macaos economy and creating a new home for Macau residents to live and work, Xuan said.
For this spring season, MGM offers an exclusive taste of Japan in March and April for all gastronomic enthusiasts. The time-limited collaborations at MGM MACAU feature delights from Tokyos acclaimed Edomae sushi house Hakkoku,and Hakatas renowned tonkotsu ramen from Hide-Chan in Kyushu.

Acclaimed Sushi Master Returns for Four-Handed Collaboration

Hiroyuki Sato, the owner and sushi master of one of Tokyos most sought-after Edomae sushi house, Hakkoku, will make a return to MGM, joining forces with his protege, Manato Ueno, Chef de Cuisine of SUSHIDAN at Rossio from March 12 to 16, for a limited five-day omakase pop-up experience.

As one of the youngest sushi chefs to have garnered a Michelin star in Japan, Chef Sato expanded his culinary vision in 2018 and 2020 by opening his own Edomae sushi restaurants Hakkoku and SUSHIDAN respectively in Tokyo. And In 2022, he opened the first overseas branch of SUSHIDAN, known as SUSHIDAN at Rossio in MGM MACAU. Sato is known for his signature Akazu seasonedShari (sushi rice), which is blended with different types of aged red vinegars that complement the umami of the top-quality seasonalNeta (seafood topping). Chef Satos finest craftsmanship of Edomae sushi is also reflected in his fish-aging and curing skills that elicit the distinctive flavor of every piece of sushi with the perfect balance. The five-day limited omakase experience is priced at MOP2,188* per guest, with premium sake pairing available for an additional MOP550* per guest.

Renowned Hakata Hide-Chan Ramens First Debut in Macau

From March 21 to April 7, at Rossio, the Michelin Bib Gourmand recommended Hide-Chan Ramen from Fukuoka of Kyushu makes its first debut in Macau, with founder Hideto Kawahara presenting his signature tonkotsu pork bone ramen which have captivated Japan and the world.

Born into a family of the top three ramen restaurants in Kyushu, for over 30 years, Kawahara-san has been upholding the traditional craftsmanship as a ramen artisan and injecting innovations. Hide-Chans broth is meticulously prepared by simmering over 40 kg of pork bones from the collagen-rich rear leg cuts for at least 10 hours daily with utmost precision, with strict control on acid-alkaline balance and purification. Its secret recipe and pursuit of perfection sets off a new wave of Kyushus tonkotsu ramen with ultimate flavor fusion. In addition to its signature ramen options, Chef Kawahara will present an exclusive ramen for the first time at Macaus pop-up. Hide-Chans pop-up ramen options at Rossio are priced from MOP 128* each.

For enquiry and reservations, please contact (853) 8802 3888 or visit MGMs official website for more information.

*Subject to 10% service charge.
The unreasonable arrangement of bus routes in Macau is a problem of utmost importance and should be handled as a priority, a new traffic concern group has said, according to several news reports.

Referred to as the Macau Public Transport Concern Group, the group has been formed by the Association of Synergies of Macau and a group of local residents concerned with the matter for a long period of time. The group of residents was represented by Dickson Lau at a recent press briefing.

At the briefing, the group cited data to reveal that the city has 93 bus routes, serving a daily average of passengers ranging from 587,000 to 762,700. It also pointed out that some bus routes, such as Nos 21A and 26, have as many as 75 stops.

It also listed the problems with local public bus services, including circuitous and overlapping routes, crowding at bus stops and packed bus carriages.

Explaining its views on the causes of these problems, the group blamed tourists being unfamiliar with payment methods, slow boarding, bus stops serving too many routes, and the environment of the neighborhood among other reasons.

The group also referred to long queues of buses at a variety of districts over the past Lunar New Year to prove the problems were more severe during peak seasons or longer holidays.

In response to the existing problems, the group also suggested local bus routes be separated into five categories and bus stops into three tiers.

The five categories would consist of express bus lines, main lines, essential lines, auxiliary lines and branch lines. As such, buses will operate at higher efficiency.

As for the three tiers, bus stops could be separated into main hubs or transit stations, bay bus stops and traffic lane bus stops.

The group also recommended some buses skip certain stops during hours or days with high demand, or that they should be diverted to non-core bus stops or stops that are further from older neighborhoods, such as the Taipa Village.
The Judiciary Police (PJ) has issued a warning about growing trends involving online part-time job scams that result in the theft of applicants MPay accounts.

In a statement, the PJ said it had received, in the past few days, several complaints from citizens who, through social media, had applied for part-time jobs.

These alleged jobs involved buying point cards online and, initially, those involved managed to earn small commissions. They later found, however, that the funds in their Mpay accounts had been stolen.

According to the same police force, victims had reported losses ranging from a few thousand to several tens of thousands of patacas.

The victims claimed to have found, through social media posts, advertisements for the recruitment of purchasing assistants that claimed that salary payments would be made the same day.

The same ads also claimed the jobs to be safe and legal and did not call for any investment or advance payments from the recruits.

After applicants clicked on the ad, they were forwarded to a designated website to buy points cards of a certain value.

After the job, the applicants would receive a small amount through MPay, as a commission for the transaction and payment for the purchased items.

During the purchase of the point cards, the website would direct users to a fake MPay page that, in reality, was a phishing website where the victims are tricked into entering their username, login password, and transaction password from MPay to complete payment for the acquisition of the point cards.

These actions would allow the scammers to later access the users MPay accounts and transfer the funds in them.

The PJ warned the public that, in general, all online job advertisements that involve liking pages and posts, promoting pages or posts and similar are usually false.

They aim to redirect victims to phishing websites that steal their personal information, including electronic payment or bank account information, causing them financial loss.
A man allegedly involved in at least four in-flight thefts was arrested at the airport upon entering Macau on March 3, the Judiciary Police (PJ) has announced.

Following his arrest, the police found over JPY890,000 cash and several hundred in undisclosed currencies.

The suspect, 46, reportedly works as a laborer. The police did not disclose his nationality.

The initial case that the police believe to be connected to the man was reported to the police on April 14, 2011.

A male visitor had reported having lost HKD38,000 and RMB2,900  enclosed separately in two envelopes  during his flight from Shanghai to Macau. The envelopes were replaced with two air-sickness bags.

On Jan. 15 this year, the police received a report on a similar theft in which a visitor reported having lost HKD11,000 and MYR9,000 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Macau.

A local man reported over the phone on Nov. 14 last year that his luggage in the in-flight overhead compartment was touched and moved around. He said he stopped the act immediately before retrieving his luggage.

After receiving the report in November last year, the police started investigations which pointed to the suspect. The police later discovered the suspect was on the same Kuala Lumpur to Macau flight. While interrogating the suspect, another report from the same flight on March 3 was received. A passenger reported losing JPY200,000 and a pair of Bluetooth headphones.

These details led the police to connect the suspect to the latest case.

Fingerprints on the paper bags in the first case matched those of the suspect, and the police considered the suspect as having been involved in all four cases. However, the suspect declined to cooperate with the investigation.

In another case, the police arrested three men on allegations of two burglary cases. The trio was arrested at Border Gate upon entering Macau. The police said that they fled to mainland China after committing the crime.

Two men were involved in a burglary that concerned a loss of property worth MOP380,000. This case happened on Dec. 22 last year. The resident of an apartment in Fai Chi Kei told the police that the door of the apartment had signs of being pried open when they returned home in the evening.

Investigations revealed the two people had purchased tools in the neighborhood and left Macau the same evening.

In another case that concerned a loss of property worth MOP97,000, which took place on Nov. 6 last year in an apartment in Taipa, a victim reported signs their apartment had been searched, which they noticed when they returned home in the evening. This case concerned the remaining suspect.

The man is believed to have snuck in through the impluvium. He also left Macau that same evening.

The police found gloves and screwdrivers on the men, which they believed had been used in the crimes, and could not rule out that they had re-entered Macau to commit further crimes.

The police did not disclose whether they have found clues leading them to connect the three people.

HK Taxi driver suspected passing off MOP10 as HKD100

A new deceptive practice targeting unsuspecting passengers has surfaced in Hong Kong after a passenger took to social media about a taxi driver who passed off a MOP10 for a HKD100.

According to the female passenger, as cited on the social media platform, Xiaohongshu, after paying for her ride, the driver allegedly cleverly included a MOP10 note, which has a similar color to the HKD100 bill, among the genuine Hong Kong currency he gave her as change.

She described this incident as a new type of scam involving the exchange of visually similar banknotes.

The red-colored MOP10 note closely resembles the higher-valued Hong Kong banknote, making it easy to confuse them at a quick glance. However, upon closer examination, the differences in design and currency value can be discerned.

The complaint quickly triggered online discussion, eliciting mixed reactions from netizens.

Several comments expressed dissatisfaction with Hong Kongs taxi industry, considering cash transactions that they considered outdated in 2024.
Sands China Ltd. recently hosted a Responsible Gaming Hong Kong Training Tour, aimed at supporting the SAR governments Seeking Help for Winning the Future responsible gaming initiatives.

The training itinerary with 55 participating Responsible Gaming Ambassadors included an introduction to Even Centre and a site visit, familiarizing the participants with Hong Kongs responsible gaming efforts.

Wilfred Wong, executive vice chairman of Sands China Ltd., said, Sands China is committed to promoting responsible gaming and ensuring the well-being of our guests and team members. We were therefore pleased to organize the Responsible Gaming Hong Kong Training Tour for our Responsible Gaming Ambassadors, equipping them with invaluable knowledge and insights into best practices.

As part of the tour, participants had the opportunity to exchange ideas on the causes and effects of gambling disorders. They also learned about the financial and debt management strategies employed by Even Centre to assist those affected by the disorder.
Australias prime minister expressed concerns yesterday over unsafe and destabilizing behavior in the South China Sea, citing the collision between Chinese and Philippine ships the previous day.

Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses remarks came as his country wrapped up a three-day summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that failed to explicitly call China out over a series of incidents in the disputed waters.

Instead, ASEAN leaders urged for disputes to be resolved through dialogue rather than threats, a day after Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels collided near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea and four Filipino crew members were injured in the confrontations.

Chinese and Philippines officials traded blame for the incident. The disputed area has been site of several tense skirmishes between Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships last year.

Albanese, who co-chaired the summit with Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, said Tuesdays clash was concerning for Australia.

It is dangerous and it creates risks of miscalculation, which can then lead to escalation, he said.

Australia had backed the Philippines push to have the ASEAN declaration adopted at the end of summit cite a 2016 arbitration ruling in The Hague, Netherlands, that invalidated Beijings vast territorial claims in the South China Sea, which conflict with the claims of several ASEAN states. China did not accept the ruling.

The Melbourne Declaration, released last night, did not mention the 2016 ruling. The summit was held in the Australian city to mark 50 years since Australia became the first external ASEAN partner.

The declaration called for peaceful resolution of disputes through legal and diplomatic processes without resorting to the threat or use of force in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

We encourage all countries to avoid any unilateral actions that endanger peace, security and stability in the region, it said.

Albanese said compromises had to made to find words that ASEAN leaders at the summit could agree on.

There is a general recognition that we need to make sure that activity in the South China Sea alleviates any tension and doesnt add to it, Albanese said.

Deakin University Southeast Asia expert Damien Kingsbury said the declarations failure to explicitly mention China was a nod to countries that are close to Beijing  Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar  and also to Malaysias more conciliatory approach to the Chinese.

Its a veiled criticism of China, which is about as strong as consensus would allow, Kingsbury said.

East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao also attended the summit as an official observer after ASEAN agreed in principle to admit Asias newest country. MDT/AP
The University of Macau (UM) has introduced a new service for testing Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) specifically designed for manufacturers and companies based in Macau.The purpose of this initiative is to obtain additional official certifications from the China National Accreditation Service (CNAS), and it will be carried out through trial operations managed by the Macao Centre for Testing of Chinese Medicine (MCTCM). Professor Li Shaoping, the director of MCTCM, as cited in a report by media outlet Journal Tribuna de Macau, has emphasized that the establishment of this center will contribute to the growth of the Chinese medicine industry in Macau, aligning with the governments strategy to diversify the economy.

Related
A U.S. destroyer shot down drones and a missile launched by Yemens Houthi rebels toward it in the Red Sea, officials said yesterday, as the Indian navy released images of it fighting a fire aboard a container ship earlier targeted by the Houthis.

The assault Tuesday apparently targeted the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has been involved in the American campaign against the rebels, who have launched attacks over Israels war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Another suspected Houthi attack on shipping was reported.

Meanwhile, Iran announced yesterday it would confiscate a $50 million cargo of Kuwaiti crude oil for American energy firm Chevron Corp. aboard a tanker it seized nearly a year earlier. It marks the latest twist in a yearslong shadow war playing out in the Mideasts waterways even before the Houthi attacks began.

The Houthi attack on the Carney on Tuesday involved bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, the U.S. militarys Central Command said.

The U.S. later launched an airstrike destroying three anti-ship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats, the Central Command said.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesperson, acknowledged the attack, but claimed its forces targeted two American warships, without elaborating.

The Houthis will not stop until the aggression is stopped and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted, Saree said.

Saree did not acknowledge the later U.S. airstrikes. The Houthis have not offered any assessment of the damage theyve suffered in the American-led strikes that began in January, though they have said at least 22 of their fighters have been killed.

Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over the Israel-Hamas war. Those vessels have included at least one with cargo bound for Iran, the Houthis main benefactor, and an aid ship later bound for Houthi-controlled territory.

Despite more than a month and a half of U.S.-led airstrikes, Houthi rebels have remained capable of launching significant attacks. They include the attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertilizer, the Rubymar, which sank on Saturday after drifting for several days, and the downing of an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars.

The Houthis have been hailing ships over the radio in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden as well since launching their attacks. The British militarys United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported Wednesday that a new round of similar radio messages went out to a ship, and urged crews to report any suspicious activity.

A short time later, the UKMTO reported a suspected attack in the area. Private security firm Ambrey said an explosion was reported near the vessel apparently hailed in the radio call, but there were few other details immediately known.

Meanwhile, the Indian navy released a video of its sailors from the INS Kolkata fighting a fire aboard the MSC Sky II, which had been targeted by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden on Monday. Smoke poured out of one container aboard the vessel, which also showed scorch marks from the impact of a Houthi missile.

The Mediterranean Shipping Co., a Switzerland-based company, said the missile struck the ship as it was traveling from Singapore to Djibouti.

The missile caused a small fire that has been extinguished while no crew were injured, the company said.

Iran separately announced the seizure of the crude oil aboard the Advantage Sweet through an announcement carried by the judiciarys state-run Mizan news agency. At the time, Iranian commandos rappelled from a helicopter onto the vessel, which it alleged collided with another ship, without offering any evidence.

The court order for the seizure offered an entirely different reason for the confiscation. Mizan said it was part of a court order over U.S. sanctions it alleged barred the importation of a Swedish medicine used to treat patients suffering from epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic condition that causes blisters all over the body and eyes. It did not reconcile the different reasons for the seizure.

The Advantage Sweet had been in the Persian Gulf in late April, but its track showed no unusual behavior as it transited through the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of all traded oil passes. Iran has made allegations in other seizures that later fell apart as it became clear Tehran was trying to leverage the capture as a chip to negotiate with foreign nations.

Chevron, based in San Ramon, California, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ship seizures and explosions have roiled the region since 2019. The incidents began after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from Irans nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

The U.S. Navy also has blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a fatal drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021. Tehran denies carrying out the attacks. JON GAMBRELL, DUBAI, MDT/AP
Liu Qingfeng, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress and chairman of iFLYTEK. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

As Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) becomes a key battleground in the global tech race, it's also a hot topic at China's 2024 "two sessions", which started on March 4. Liu Qingfeng, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), has proposed a national development plan to expediate China's AGI development, aiming to place the country at the forefront of this cutting-edge field.

"China must acknowledge the existing gaps and focus on developing autonomous and controllable large-scale models. By concentrating resources at the national level, we can catch up more quickly while systematically building a general AI ecosystem and applications to create a comprehensive advantage," Liu stated, who is also the chairman of iFLYTEK, China's leading AI and speech technology company.

Liu addressed the current state of China's homegrown AI-powered large models, citing iFlytek's Spark Desk as an example, which is expected to reach functionality that would rival GPT-4 within six months. However, with the release of GPT-5, this gap could widen, he said. However, Liu remained optimistic that with focused efforts in computing power, data, and model training, China could bridge this gap in one to two years, noting China has advantages in areas like voice and medical large models.

Liu emphasized the solid foundation China has built in cognitive intelligence since the release of the New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan in 2017.

Based on this 2017 development plan, he recommended that the new national plan should address key areas for improvement in China's general AI development, such as building an independent computing power ecosystem, sharing high-quality data, establishing scientific evaluation standards, conducting foundational technology research, nurturing talent, and developing legal and ethical frameworks.

By implementing a systematic national strategy for general AI development, China will narrow the gap with international AI industries in foundational platforms and create comparative advantages in industry applications, Liu said.
President Xi Jinping highlighted this week the need to develop new quality productive forces tailored to local conditions for high-quality development, amid a new round of technological and industrial transformation.

While taking part in a deliberation with his fellow deputies from the delegation of Jiangsu province at the second session of the 14th National Peoples Congress, Chinas top legislature, Xi emphasized that developing new quality productive forces does not imply neglecting or abandoning traditional industries.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, cautioned against herd behavior or speculative bubbles in developing the new quality productive forces. He also called for selective promotion of new industries, models and new driving forces based on local resources, industrial foundations and research conditions.

Xi also underscored the importance of leveraging new technologies to upgrade traditional industries, promoting the high-end, intelligent and green transformation of industries.

The country must seize opportunities to intensify innovation, nurture and strengthen emerging industries, and foster future industries with forward-looking planning, he said.

Xi first proposed the concept of new quality productive forces during an inspection tour in Heilongjiang province in September. With innovation leading, new quality productive forces means advanced productivity freed from traditional economic growth models. It features high technology, high efficiency and high quality, and aligns with the countrys new development philosophy.

The term refers to new productive forces that emerge from continuous advances in science and technology, driving strategic future and emerging industries that could introduce breakthrough technological advancements in an era of intelligent information.

During Tuesdays meeting, Xi said that Jiangsu has favorable conditions and capabilities for developing new quality productive forces. He emphasized the need for the province to focus on building a modern industrial system with advanced manufacturing as the backbone.

As one of Chinas economic powerhouses, Jiangsu saw its regional gross domestic product increase 5.8% year-on-year to 12.82 trillion yuan ($1.78 trillion) in 2023, ranking second among 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, following Guangdong province.

Xi called for a deeper integration of technological and industrial innovation, consolidating the leading position of traditional industries and accelerating the creation of strategically competitive emerging industry clusters in order to make Jiangsu an important stronghold for developing new quality productive forces.

The president also emphasized the need to plan for further comprehensive deepening of major reforms to inject stronger impetus into high-quality development and propel sustained momentum for Chinese modernization.

In order to promote the high-level socialist market economy system, efforts should be made to improve systems in terms of property rights protection, market access, fair competition and social credit, and support the growth of the private economy and private enterprises, Xi said.

It is essential to deepen reforms in the scientific and technological system and the education and talent systems, and remove obstacles to the development of new quality productive forces, he said.

Xi reiterated the necessity to continuously promote a market-based, world-class business environment governed by a sound legal framework, thereby shaping new advantages for a higher level of open economy.

He urged Jiangsu to be fully involved in the regional development strategy of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Yangtze River Delta, and to enhance coordination with other regional development strategies and build innovation, industry and supply chains with a larger scope to better leverage the radiating driving force of an economically powerful province for regional and national development.

Efforts should also be made to continue consolidating and enhancing the positive trend of economic recovery and to boost the confidence of the entire society in development, Xi said.

Yesterday, President Xi called on Chinese political advisors to build broad consensus to contribute to Chinese modernization, when he participated in a joint group meeting during the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

MDT/China Daily/Xinhua
Madison isnt hurting for Indian restaurants, but theres been a lot of interest in the newest, Rajni Indian Cuisine, on the Far West Side.

I know from how many people have asked me about it and how crowded it's been during two recent visits. And after trying it myself, it's fair to say, the excitement is warranted.

The restaurant opened Jan. 14 on Commerce Drive, west of the Beltline at Mineral Point Road, across from Menards, in the former Happy Wok.

The dining room is spacious, with red, cushiony, comfortable seating, and some cool, curved booths. The menu is overwhelmingly large, so two friends and I were glad we found our way to the fish tawa ($15) from the appetizer menu. It was an absolute marvel.

The dish comes in pod chapa form, as three marinated and sauteed filets, or in karimeen form, as a full fish with its head on. We ordered it the first way, and the flaky tilapia was treated with a complex spice mixture and blackened.

We were more mixed on another starter, vadas ($7), which were three savory donut-type pastries made with gram, or chickpea flour. It was the right amount for our party and the vada were a nice vehicle for two great sauces and a little silver bowl of dal.

In contrast, a thin masala omelet ($5), loaded with onions, was fine, but didn't stand out.

Looking back, I should've talked my friends out of ordering the goat nanjilnadu ($19), which the menu describes as a signature goat curry. The meat was gristly and there was lots of bone.

"I didn't know how hard it would be to debone a goat, but Id rather not do it on the plate because its kind of messy," said one friend. The other stuck up for it and deemed the meat tender. We all liked the tomato-based curry sauce.

The garlic naan ($4), loaded with fresh, chopped garlic, was a huge hit.

On an earlier visit, a friend and I ordered two soups because so many of the appetizers were deep-fried and we wanted a healthy meal.

Ive only ordered soup once before in an Indian restaurant and it was such a big mistake, I've never done it again.

The sweet corn soup ($5), described on Rajni's menu as "comforting and delicious," tasted like somebody dumped canned soup in a bowl with its accompanying water, and heated it up.

The other soup we ordered, milagu rasam, also billed as comforting, was anything but. The menu said the south Indian soup is known for its spicy, tangy flavors. And that it was  to a surprising degree, causing my friend to cough his way through it.

Still, it was compelling, so we wound up sharing the soups and alternating back and forth between the fiery and the mild.

"I can handle spice, but this is almost over the top," my friend said as he pulled out two whole peppers.

He found the palak paneer ($15) nice and rich, with cubes of Indian cheese buried in creamed spinach, but I compare all restaurant versions to the Trader Joe's frozen dinner, which I've been eating for probably 15 years. And at $3.99, it's an unbeatable meal. Rajni's was fine, but is keeping my quest of finding a better one alive.

The chicken milagu kozhambu ($15) was the highlight of this initial meal at Rajni. Described as a south Indian-style curry with black pepper, it had loads of delicious shredded chicken in a delightful, light sauce with subtle flavors and cilantro on top.

My friend was disappointed that the restaurant doesn't serve alcohol because he would've liked a beer. But he made do, splitting my tall, beautifully presented mango lassi ($4), one of the best uses of drinkable yogurt.

Rajni doesn't have a lunch buffet, but the thali is as good a value and only available at lunchtime for dine-in.

The non-vegetarian "business" version ($17), offered Monday through Thursday, was a bonanza of a meal: a round metal platter with rice; papadum, the crisp flatbread; and a chapati flatbread in the middle.

Surrounding it were 10 silver cups with various chicken, vegetable and rice dishes, plus soups, hot sauce, plain yogurt, and ashoka halwa, a baby-food textured dessert made with mung dal, sugar and ghee. The big surprise was that one of the cups was filled with four pieces of the unforgettable fish tawa from my earlier visit.

After a few attempts to find out who owns Rajni and getting nowhere by phone or email, I returned to the restaurant and discovered that the owner, Jeyakumar "Jey" Marichamy, lives in Parsippany, New Jersey, where he opened his first Rajni in 2011.

He said he opened a second, in Suwanee, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb, a month before Madison's. He said he did market research and started working on the Madison restaurant in September.

Marichamy said he has a friend in Madison who's a scientist and that's what led him to open the restaurant here. He said there's no authentic south Indian food in Madison and Indians who live here have to travel to Chicago to get it.

I told him that's patently false, to which he said, "OK, OK, OK," then clarified with "not a lot of good south Indian food ... There's not a lot of good variety of south Indian food." Then he talked up all the dosas Rajni serves.

However, Rajni isn't the only restaurant in Madison to serve the thin, savory crepes which seemed popular when I was there.

Marichamy, who owns the restaurant with two local partners he declined to name, said the restaurant is named for the Indian movie star Rajinikanth.

"The name in India has magnetic power," he said. "They say that the word has magic in it."

And I say some of the food at Rajni has magic in it. I'm thinking of you, fish tawa.

Diner's scorecard Restaurant: Rajni Indian Cuisine Location: 429 Commerce Drive Phone: 608-821-3362 Website: rajnimadison.com Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 9:30 p.m. daily Prices: Appetizers $5 to $19, soups $5 to $7, tandoor $16 to $20, breads $3 to $10, entrees $9 to $20, desserts $6 and $9 Reservations: No Noise level: Medium Credit cards: Yes Accessibility: Yes Outdoor dining: No Delivery: Yes, through third-party apps Online ordering: Yes Drinks: No alcohol Gluten-free: About 10 dishes Vegetarian offerings: Many Kids menu: No Parking: Medium-size lot Service: Good Bottom line: Large menu, pleasant atmosphere, and some excellent dishes make Rajni a good bet when you're craving Indian food.
Authorities continued to search Wednesday for a 3-year-old Wisconsin Dells boy who has been missing for two weeks, while police examine camera footage from a vehicle of interest impounded Monday.

Elijah Vue was reported missing Feb. 20 in Two Rivers in Manitowoc County, where his mother, Katrina Baur, had left him with her boyfriend, Jesse Vang.

Baur, 31, and Vang, 39, are both being held in the Manitowoc County Jail on charges of child neglect.

Vang reported he had fallen asleep around 8 a.m. on Feb. 20 and woke up three hours later to find Elijah gone from his residence. Baur sent Elijah to Vangs house on Feb. 12 to help her correct perceived bad behavior, according to criminal complaints.

On Monday, the Two Rivers Police Department impounded a beige 1994 Nissan Altima it called a vehicle of interest in the case. The vehicle is not owned by Vang or Baur. The owner of the vehicle is not a person of interest in the case, police said.

Police said they are examining camera footage from the vehicle from 2 to 9 p.m. on Feb. 19, and are requesting home and business owners in the area and beyond look through and property surveillance footage they might have from that time period as well.

Elijah is about 3 feet tall, weighs 35 to 40 pounds, has sandy hair and brown eyes, and has a birthmark on his left knee. He was last seen wearing gray sweatpants, a long-sleeve dark shirt, and red and green slip-on shoes with dinosaurs on them, according to a missing child post.

Search efforts have involved multiple law enforcement agencies, the FBI, National Guard, city, county, and state government agencies, volunteers and community groups.

Leads, investigations, and everything we have taken as tips have led to us searching our neighborhoods, searching our waterways, foot canvasses urban and rural, throughout Manitowoc County and even beyond, Two Rivers Police Chief Ben Meinnert said in a Feb. 27 press conference, adding that leads have also come from Wisconsin Dells.

Rural and urban areas have been searched, as well as waterways, sewer systems and the Lake Michigan shoreline in Manitowoc County, Meinnert said.

Meinnert said Elijahs father, Jimmy Vue, is incarcerated in Oshkosh on unrelated charges. Court records indicate Vue was convicted of multiple charges related to domestic and child abuse in 2021.

Linda Vue, Elijahs aunt, said at the press conference his disappearance is a torment no family should have to face and the pain is indescribable.

She described Elijah as a joyful and curious boy, full of life and love.

We believe that with the help of the community, we can bring Elijah back home together, Linda Vue said.

Two Facebook groups have been started since Elijah went missing, Find Elijah Vue Discussion and Where is Elijah Vue? The groups have more than 16,000 and 9,000 members, respectively.

The FBI is offering a $15,000 reward for any information that leads to Elijahs location and return, and/or the arrest of other individuals involved in his disappearance. Manitowoc County Crime Stoppers also has increased a reward it is offering from $1,000 to $10,000.

The Two Rivers Police Department also is accepting donations for the search effort online at www.two-rivers.org/police and in person during business hours. Donations can go to either the police or volunteer search efforts. Anyone with tips or leads in the case can contact the Two Rivers Police Department tip line at 844-267-6648.
Responses to the Wisconsin State Journals candidate questionnaire. District 4 copnsists of the northwestern quadrant of the city. The election is April 2.

Cassi Benedict

Age: 32

Family: Husband Alex; two children

Job: School administration consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

Prior elected office: None

Other public service: Sun Prairie United Methodist Church Reconciling Committee Member, 2018-present; Sun Prairie Utilities Commissioner, 2022-present; Sun Prairie Pride Fest Event Planning Team Member, 2023-present; Sun Prairie Housing Coalition Member, 2023-present; DPI State Superintendents Affirmative Action Advisory Committee historian, 2019-2022; DPI Strategic Planning Steering Committee Member, 2023-present

Education: Masters of education in measurement, evaluation, statistics, and assessment from the University of Illinois-Chicago; bachelors degree in political science with a minor in history and certification of culture and communities from UW-Milwaukee

David Virgell

Age: 55

Family: Kasia Virgell

Job: Client relations manager, East Madison Toyota

Prior elected office: City Council, 2022-present

Other public service: Board Of Review, one year; Public Safety Committee, one year; Public Works, Youth and Family, one year; Planning Commission, two years; Personnel Committee, two years

Education: Forest Park Senior High, Baltimore, Maryland

Q&A

What unique expertise or experience would you bring to this office?

Benedict: My experience working for state agencies and as a commissioner for the Sun Prairie Utilities has equipped me with a deep understanding of governmental bureaucracies. Additionally, my lived experiences from struggling with housing insecurities and poverty to now being a homeowner has provided me with a unique perspective for the potential for positive impact that lies within local communities.

Virgell: Driven by a diverse background, determination and a passion for impact, I excel in governance with strong collaboration, communication and problem-solving skills. As an alderman, client relations manager, mentor and activist, I inspire and empower, aiming to uplift and foster positive change. This spirit of empowerment is key to leading Sun Prairie to a brighter, inclusive future.

What is the most pressing problem facing the community, and how would you fix it?

Benedict: Sun Prairie continues to have challenges brought about by rapid growth and housing shortages. I understand the importance of effective policies and zoning laws in ensuring affordable housing for all members of the community and want to use my professional and lived experiences to assist in the updates to the current zoning laws to ensure not only effectiveness but also consistency.

Virgell: The pressing issue is inclusive growth. We need affordable housing, support for small businesses and better access to education. By fostering inclusivity, we ensure everyone can thrive.

What do you most want for your community?

Benedict: I want Sun Prairie to be a welcoming and supportive community to anyone who wants to make Sun Prairie their home. As Sun Prairie grows, we need to ensure that we have services that meet the needs of our community. I will continue to advocate for programs that support an inclusive community to all by uplifting the voices of those most underserved in our community.

Virgell: I want a vibrant, inclusive community where everyone feels valued and has opportunities to succeed.
Two blocks away from the house where he died in a police shooting, Tony Robinson Jr. stares out at passersby in shades of purple and blue, memorialized in a newly hung mural at McPike Park.

On Wednesday, the ninth anniversary of Robinsons death, dozens gathered at the park to celebrate the mural, sharing words and songs as Robinsons blue, white and purple visage rattled against the chain link fence where it will hang for the next year. After that, it will be moved to a building on Williamson Street.

The mural, originally painted by Madison artists Amira Caire and Danielle Mielke, was approved for display at the park by the Parks Board in September. Its composed of three sections of lightweight aluminum each measuring 7 feet by 4 feet.

This is a park that Tony and his friends frequented, the proposal stated. They were all looking forward to the opening of the skatepark, as they were often seen boarding around the neighborhood.

Lilac shadows darken the lower parts of Robinsons face, contouring his cheeks and lips. Hes flanked by quotes about immortality and changing the world, his own words, spoken in the weeks before he died. In his grandmothers eyes, its a masterpiece.

(The artists) got this picture of him up there with these big cheeks. Hes looking out at you, said Sharon Irwin-Henry. He always had that goofy look  hes about ready to smile all the time.

The sun was on its way down by the memorial events 5 p.m. kickoff. As she spoke about her goofy boy, Irwin-Henry admired the way the shadows danced on his face.

Fateful day

On March 6, 2015, Madison police officer Matt Kenny was dispatched to a Williamson Street apartment to check on the 19-year-old Robinson, who was high on a mixture of hallucinogenic mushrooms, marijuana and an anti-anxiety medication, and was exhibiting violent, erratic behavior.

Kenny was the first officer to arrive and told investigators he entered the building alone instead of waiting for backup after he heard a disturbance coming from the upstairs apartment and believed Robinson was inside assaulting another person. Officers later learned Robinson was alone in the home.

Kenny has said he was most of the way up the narrow stairway when Robinson came out of the apartment and punched him in the side of the head, knocking him into a nearby wall. He said Robinson continued swinging, moving toward Kenny and down the stairway, prompting Kenny to shoot him seven times at close range.

Backup officers can be seen on a squad dashcam arriving within seconds of the shooting.

Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne cleared Kenny of any criminal wrongdoing. The Madison Police Departments internal review found that Kenny followed department policies during the incident.

Irwin-Henry has long sought to have the case reopened. In February 2017, the citys insurer agreed to a $3.35 million civil settlement with Robinsons family. The city did not admit to any wrongdoing.

The crowd at the park Wednesday turned into a procession around 6 p.m., people chanting in the streets as they marched to the Williamson Street house where Robinson was killed, gathering in front of it. Bathed in the red and blue lights of the police cars blocking the street, people decried the citys refusal to fire Kenny, chanting Black lives matter, and No justice, no peace.

Madison police spokesperson Stephanie Fryer told the State Journal Wednesday that the department wanted the focus of today to be on the mural dedication and the familys continued healing, adding that the Madison Police Department works daily to establish and nurture relationships in our community.

Just a beautiful kid

Irwin-Henry first saw the portrait that hangs in McPike Park in 2020, when the fresh paint was still settling into its plywood canvas. Such art pieces were ubiquitous in the Downtown area after plywood went up to protect or replace broken storefront windows in the aftermath of Black Lives Matter protests.

Her love for the artists rendition remains the same today as it did four years ago. Her Terrell, her Tony, her goofy boy brought back to life in a small way.

Im thinking to myself, (The artist) captured my goofy boy, she said. She captured him in ways that nobody else did. It showed his smiling eyes. I was like, Holy cow, thats my Rell!

Joining Irwin-Henry was Kristin Mathews, a Social Justice Center board member who worked with the Parks Department to have the mural installed.

Weve waited for this day for a year now, Mathews said. I cant tell you how many times we changed the size, the dimensions, how it was going to look, where it was going to go.

Funding for the mural came from grants, the Marquette Neighborhood Association, the Madison Arts Commission and the Wisconsin Arts Board, with fiscal sponsorship from the Social Justice Center, according to Mathews.

Irwin-Henry looks into the unblinking eyes in the mural and sees her 6-foot-5 grandson cast in the glow of the refrigerator at 2 a.m., spoon in hand, digging through leftovers. She remembers his love of dancing, his fear of the dark, his bear hugs.

Those are memories that wont ever leave me, Irwin-Henry said. He was just a beautiful kid.

Photos: Remembering the Tony Robinson shooting protests in Madison
Dane County legislative districts are typically safe seats for Democrats, and most will continue to be under new legislative maps Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed into law in February.

But a couple of Dane County-area Republican seats could flip, making them key to Democrats efforts to take control of the state Legislature.

Heres how Assembly and Senate districts will change ahead of the August primary and November general election, and which party is likely to prevail based on voting patterns in several recent statewide elections.

Assembly District 42

Stretching north from the Dane County Regional Airport to much of Columbia County, the 42nd Assembly District is a Republican-held seat that Democrats are highly likely to flip.

Under the new maps, the district is projected to vote about 58.5% Democratic and 40% Republican, according to Daves Redistricting, which collects and analyzes the impact of proposed legislative and congressional maps.

Two Republican representatives were drawn into the new district under the new maps: William Penterman of Columbus and Jon Plumer of Lodi.

Assembly District 46

Covering the area around Cottage Grove, Lake Mills and Fort Atkinson, the 46th Assembly District is a Democratic-held seat that the party is likely to maintain.

Under Evers map, the district is projected to vote nearly 55% Democratic and about 43.5% Republican, according to Daves Redistricting.

Rep. Melissa Ratcliff, D-Cottage Grove, represents the district currently and remains within its boundaries under the new maps.

Assembly District 47

The 47th Assembly District covers Stoughton, McFarland and Fitchburg.

Under the new maps, the district is projected to vote nearly 72% Democratic and about 27% Republican, according to the map analysis.

Rep. Jimmy Anderson, D-Fitchburg, represents the district but announced a Senate run, leaving an open race for a likely Democratic seat.

Assembly District 48

Stretching from the eastern part of Madison to Sun Prairie and parts of Columbus, the 48th Assembly District is another firmly Democratic district.

The district is projected to vote nearly 68% Democratic and about 31% Republican, according to the map analysis.

Rep. Samba Baldeh, D-Madison, represents the district currently and remains within the boundaries under the new maps.

Assembly District 50

The 50th Assembly District goes from New Glarus, Oregon and Mount Vernon down to cover all of Green County.

Under the map, the district is projected to vote nearly 59% Democratic and about 40% Republican, according to the redistricting analysis.

Rep. Jenna Jacobson, D-Oregon, is drawn into the district under the new maps, from the 43rd Assembly District.

Assembly District 51

Covering Mount Horeb along with all of Iowa County and Lafayette County, the 51st Assembly District is another Republican-held district that Democrats are likely to flip.

With Evers map, the district is projected to vote nearly 55.5% Democratic and about 43.3% Republican.

Rep. Todd Novak, R-Dodgeville, has represented the district since 2015 and remains within its boundaries.

Assembly District 76

Covering between the Capitol and the airport, the 76th Assembly District is among the most Democratic districts statewide.

Under Evers map, the district is projected to vote nearly 90% Democratic and about 8.5% Republican.

Its currently represented by Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, who remains in the district.

Assembly District 77

Another heavily Democratic district, the 77th covers Shorewood Hills and much of the UW-Madison campus.

Under the new maps, the district is projected to vote nearly 85% Democratic and about 13.3% Republican.

Theres no incumbent lawmaker currently living in the district.

Assembly District 78

Covering parts of South Madison, Monona and some of McFarland, the 78th Assembly District is also likely to remain in Democrats hands.

The district is projected to vote nearly 80.7% Democratic and about 18% Republican, according to the map analysis.

Rep. Shelia Stubbs, D-Madison, who formerly represented the 77th district, now lives in the 78th.

Assembly District 79

Covering west Madison, the 79th Assembly District is a Democratic-held seat highly unlikely to swing to Republicans any time soon.

Under the new boundaries, the district is projected to vote nearly 85% Democratic and about 13.5% Republican.

Rep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison, lives in the district. She was formerly in the 78th district.

Assembly District 80

Another heavily Democratic seat, the 80th Assembly District covers Verona and Cross Plains.

Under Evers map, the district is projected to vote nearly 73% Democratic and about 25% Republican.

Democratic Reps. Alex Joers of Middleton, who formerly lived in the 79th District, and Mike Bare of Verona, are drawn into the seat. But only Bare is running for the seat.

Assembly District 81

Among the larger Dane County Assembly districts, the 81st covers Middleton, Waunakee, Mazomanie, Roxbury and Black Earth.

Under Evers map, the district is projected to vote nearly 69% Democratic and about 29.5% Republican.

No incumbent lives in the 81st, but Joers announced hes running for the seat.

Senate District 14

One of the Senate seats Democrats are likeliest to flip, the 14th Senate District covers a large area north and west of Dane County, from Spring Green to Richland Center and Baraboo, then going as far east as Columbus. It stretches into DeForest and the land around the Dane County Airport as well.

The district is now 53% Democratic and 45.7% Republican, according to Daves Redistricting.

The incumbent is Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, who co-chairs the Legislatures budget committee. The seat is up for election this November along with all even-numbered Senate districts.

Senate District 16

Covering Sun Prairie, Fitchburg, Fort Atkinson and part of Columbus, the 16th Senate District is represented by a Democrat and highly likely to remain Democratic under the new maps.

Under the new maps the seat is projected to vote about 65% Democratic and 34% Republican.

Theres no Senate incumbent living in the new district. It was represented by Sen. Melissa Agard, D-Madison, who was drawn out of the district but is mounting a Dane County executive bid. Anderson is running for the seat.

Senate District 17

Among the largest districts in southern Wisconsin, the 17th Senate District stretches from Oregon and Mount Horeb down to the Illinois border and west to the Iowa border.

Under Evers maps the seat is projected to vote about 54% Democratic and 45% Republican.

No incumbent lives in the 17th Senate District, which isnt up for election until 2026. It was represented by Marklein, whos now in the 14th district.

Senate District 26

Covering Madison and Monona, the 26th Senate District is one of the most Democratic seats under the new maps.

Under the new boundaries the seat is projected to vote about 85% Democratic and 13% Republican.

Agard and Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, both live in the district, which is up for election this fall.

Senate District 27

The heavily Democratic 27th Senate District covers Middleton, Cross Plains, Verona, Roxbury and Mazomanie.

Under the new maps the seat is projected to vote about 76% Democratic and 23% Republican.

Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, lives in the district.

Today in sports history: March 4 1968: Joe Frazier wins the vacant New York world heavyweight title 1990: Hank Gathers dies after collapsing during Loyola Marymounts WCC tournament game 2012: Deron Williams scores a Nets franchise-record 57 points 2013: Brittney Griner scores a Big 12 single-game record 50 points 2015: Russell Westbrook becomes first player since Michael Jordan to have 4 straight triple-doubles 2017: Marcel Hirscher stuns world of Alpine skiing by locking up 6th straight World Cup title 2017: UConn women extend NCAA-record winning streak to 105 games
THROUGH MARCH 29

Art Exhibit The Full Moon Gallery, 195 River Vista Place in Twin Falls, presents the dual exhibitions of Thaw and Gobs & Blobs: Artistic Expressions.

THURSDAY-SATURDAY

Beauty and the Beast The Minico High School Music Department will present Disneys Beauty and the Beast at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, along with a 1 p.m. Saturday matinee. Purchase tickets at https://shorturl.at/copqP.

Guys and Dolls Step back in time to the streets of 1930s New York with the Declo High School Drama Department presentation of Guys & Dolls. Production begins at 7 p.m. at the high school each day and tickets can be purchased at successfund.com/GuysandDolls2024.

THURSDAY

Hiring Event Up to 30 employers will be in attendance at a hiring event from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Twin Falls Reformed Church, 1631 Grandview Drive N., to provide general information about their industry and recruit for current job openings. Job seekers are encouraged to bring their resume and be prepared for on-site interviews. This event is free and open to the public.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

CSI Intercollegiate

Rodeo The 47th Annual CSI Intercollegiate Rodeo takes place at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Eldon Evans Expo Center in Twin Falls. Purchase tickets online at www.csi.rodeo or at Vickers Western Store in Twin Falls and the Shoe & Tack Shop, Jerome.

Craft Show Grandys Craft Show, a collection of all things handmade, will feature 50 crafters. Event is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at the Twin Falls County Fairgrounds Merchant Building No. 3 in Filer.

FRIDAY

Live Music EllieMae will perform at 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Redhawk Gastropub, 330 Canyon Crest Dr., Twin Falls.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

Easter Cantata An Easter cantata will be presented at 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday by the Kimberly Idaho Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 3850 N. 3500 E. in Kimberly. A 65-member choir and a 20-member orchestra will perform, accompanied by a presentation of more than 90 pictures drawn by artists of different faiths depicting the life of Christ. Free admission.

Spring Vendor Event The Spring Vendor Event takes place from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Magic Valley Mall in Twin Falls.

Live Music NOT.GREENDAY will perform at 8 p.m. at Koto Brewing Company in Twin Falls. Free admission.

SATURDAY

Furrball Fundraiser The annual fundraiser for the Twin Falls Animal Shelter is from 6 to 10 a.m. at the Canyon Crest Event Center in Twin Falls. Presented by Wills Toyota and Rustic Ridge Landscape & Irrigation. Enjoy a night of music, dancing, and food. There will be a large selection of raffle baskets and silent dessert auctions. All proceeds go to the Twin Falls Animal Shelters medical care fund, providing for vaccinations, spaying/neutering, bloodwork, foster care, and animal nutrition. Purchase tickets for $60 each online or in person at the Twin Falls Animal Shelter.

Magic Valley Youth Orchestra Concert The Magic Valley Youth Orchestra will perform its 2024 Winter Concert at 3 p.m. at the CSI Fine Arts Auditorium. Donations are accepted. The Magic Valley Youth Orchestra is a community-based, nonprofit organization created 25 years ago to provide orchestral music experience for the youth of Magic Valley.

Youth Art Class Bring your children to a drop-in art class for kids at the Magic Valley Arts Council in Twin Falls. As part of our Second Saturday at the Gallery event, we will be hosting a free drop-in story time and themed art classes for kids. Three local childrens book authors will be reading from their books, with a themed craft experience to follow. Authors will read every 45 minutes, beginning at 10 a.m. Come for all three books, or just one  your choice. Featured authors are Bev Stone, Richard Aldama and Travis Gadsby. All supplies will be provided by the Magic Valley Arts Council. Attendance is at no charge, but RSVP online or by calling 208-734-ARTS (2787).

Adult Art Class Second Saturday at the Full Moon Gallery presents THAWED, a watercolor landscape course with Leslie Lambert. Join her as she walks you through a late winter/early spring landscape in watercolor. This class is open to all skill levels, and ages 14 and up. Supplies will be provided by Magic Valley Arts Council. Register online here: https://magicvalleyartscouncil.org/.../thawed-the-art-of.../ or call MVAC at 208-734-ARTS (2787), or stop in to sign up.

Magic Valley Market Local vendors, including a few children, will sell their wares from 10 to 2 p.m. at the third annual Magic Valley Market at Twin Falls High School, First 50 adults in the door will get a grab bag. Admission is $1 for 10-year-olds and up.

Live Music Crazy Love Duo will perform from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Redhawk Gastropub, 330 Canyon Crest Dr., Twin Falls.

Spring Fling There will be a variety of vendors and crafters selling goods from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the 12th annual Spring Fling at the La Quinta Inn conference room, 539 Pole Line Road East in Twin Falls. Door prize drawings every 15 to 20 minutes throughout the day and you can register for the grand prize of a $50 shopping card to Fred Meyer.

Writers of Twin Falls Work on your current writing project in a judgment-free space from 3 to 4 p.m. at Java Blue Lakes, 228 Blue Lakes Blvd. N. in Twin Falls. Optional writing prompts will be provided, should you need the extra creative boost.

Karaoke The GR, 2128 Kimberly Rd, Twin Falls, will host karaoke at 8 p.m.

SUNDAY

Oscar Party The Lamphouse Theatre in Twin Falls is having an Oscar party starting at 6 p.m. Pick the winners in each category. The person with the most correct will win a $100 gift card. Watch the Academy Awards on the big screen.

Free Community Meal Everybody House will celebrate St. Pattys Day with Chef Partner Matthew Meilleur at First United Methodist Church, 360 Shoshone St. E. in Twin Falls. He will teach how to make a health-conscious shepherds pie. Volunteers/learners 10:30 a.m. Food served at 12:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome. Everybody House is a community based non-profit in Twin Falls.

MONDAY

Luck of the Irish Paint Party This in-person step-by-step painting jamboree will be taught from 5 to 7 p.m. at 2nd South Market in Twin Falls. All materials will be provided at the event. Cost is $35 per person. Event is pre-pay. Purchase tickets at soireepartybox.com/shop.

TUESDAY

Mini-Cassia Al-Anon Family Group Meeting Mini-Cassia Al-Anon Family Group Meeting takes place at 6:30 at 450 E. 27th St., Burley. No fees to attend. Use the West entrance.

WEDNESDAY

Digital Art Class Ready to move beyond the basics of Digital Art? Join us from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Twin Falls Public Library for an intermediate level class where youll learn more advanced techniques and software to create digital art.
There is sometimes an international flair in the air at the University of Idahos Aquaculture Research Institutes Fish Culture Experiment Station near Hagerman.

This week, ARI Associate Director Matt Powell flew to Spain with a group of graduate students to examine that countrys aquaculture industry. In May, there will be a trip to Ireland.

Such trips expand the horizon of students, promote aquaculture and potentially open markets for the U.S. aquaculture industry.

Later this month, the Hagerman facility will get some visitors of its own, as 10 farmers from the country of Georgia, along with representatives from the countrys new Extension center and other officials, will spend a week at the center learning about trout production.

We do a fair amount of international work, Powell said. The Aquaculture Research Institute hasnt forgotten about local fish farmers, even smaller ones  we try to do as much for them as anybody else, he said, but we also try to promote aquaculture in general throughout not only the U.S. but abroad.

The project with Georgia farmers got its start years ago when the U.S. Department of Agricultures Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) saw trout production as a sector which is poised to expand in Georgia, and they turned to the University of Idaho researchers working in the region that Powell describes as the epicenter of trout farming.

An estimated 70% of trout raised domestically are from southern Idaho, where fish farmers have access to high-quality spring water that is the perfect temperature for rainbow trout.

Jacob Bledsoe, a U of I assistant professor and aquaculture research and Extension specialist, has, along with other members of the Caucasus Agricultural Development Initiative team, traveled to Georgia three times, the first one in 2022 to survey the existing fish farms  trying to understand what kind of conditions they had and what range of farmers could be found there.

Bledsoe found a wide range of farms, some modern, some more rudimentary.

But they have a lot of potential. Georgia has the natural resources but industry workers there need expert help.

Something I have noticed domestically and now internationally, there are some of these trout production meccas around the world that have some similarities, Bledsoe said.

Georgias Adjara region, the area the aquaculture project is focused on, boasts mountain ranges, and hatcheries there have access to pristine spring water, similar to what Magic Valley farmers take advantage of.

But some of those springs arent as well protected, Bledsoe said, and fish farmers in Georgia sometimes use surface water instead of spring water, diverting it from streams and rivers.

U of I institute a big fish in aquaculture In 1996, U of I leased a mothballed fish nutrition lab and 4 acres of property in Magic Valley

With the surface water comes considerations for disease management, Bledsoe said, due to the increased number of organisms that live in surface water.

The Adjara region is a popular tourist destination bordering the Black Sea.

Trout is popular fare for tourists, and fish farmers are hoping to supply more of the need for whole-body, head-on gutted trout.

The region has depended much on nearby Turkey, a country also noted for its trout production, to supply the need.

The project, made possible through a USDA-FAS grant for up to $1 million over five years, is bolstering Georgias aquaculture industry, Bledsoe said, and filling gaps in education many Georgian fish farmers didnt have.

I think we have helped them quite a bit, he said.

And Bledsoe is hoping for more noticeable improvements in the years ahead, as ARI educates Georgia fish farmers to train others through a nonprofit outreach called Farmer of the Future.

If we can train one trainer, we can exponentiate the number of people we can reach in the country, he said.

Disease diagnostics have been an area of focus of the aquaculture project and Georgian fish farmers have been provided with equipment and supplies such as microscopes to aid in diagnosing diseases and kits for testing water quality.

A research project was launched to bulk sequence DNA swabs from Georgian fish farms to identify the major bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites of concern.

Swabs were taken from healthy fish, sick fish and surfaces around the farm.

We do expect to find some of the same culprits (as what southern Idaho fish farmers deal with), Bledsoe said, but the project is modernizing diagnostic capabilities.

Based on the findings of the study, the team aims to identify the most appropriate medications before working with importers and regulators to help make them available for Georgian farmers.

Theyve also provided data loggers, which will be placed at selected fish farms to remotely monitor water quality over the course of a year. Interns from a newly created Aquaculture Extension Center will travel to farms and oversee data collection.

Bledsoe said the effort with Georgia has the potential of opening up a trade partnership.

We are eager for the potential to send trout eggs into the country, he said.

In addition, the team could open markets for U.S. aquaculture germplasms, soybeans and fish feed suppliers, Bledsoe said.

While we are helping them out, I would say this project also helps us.

Your news on your smartphone Your story lives in the Magic Valley, and our new mobile app is designed to make sure you dont miss breaking news, the latest scores, the weather forecast and more. From easy navigation with the swipe of a finger to personalized content based on your preferences to customized text sizes, the Times-News app is built for you and your life. Dont have the app? Download it today from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Students from the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind to tour State Capitol

McCall based Courageous Kids Climbing, a nonprofit corporation, announced they are coordinating a guided tour for twelve students from the Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind in Gooding from 10 a.m. to 2p.m., March 12 at the Idaho State Capitol.

All 12 of the students are blind and are in the U.S. History and Government program at the school. The students are from the counties of Kootenai, Canyon, Twin Falls, Jerome, Minidoka, Bannock and Bingham.

While at the capitol, they will learn how the state government works and will also spend time in both the House and Senate chambers where they will meet with representatives and senators.

The tour is part of a Courageous Kids Climbing program called Climbing On Stuff. This program provides opportunities for school age kids who are blind or visually challenged.

For more information, contact Courageous Kids Climbing at courageouskidsclimbing@gmail.com.

Also:

The Idaho Department of Education is hosting a career fair event for interested community members to learn about routes to become a teacher in Idaho and/or explore career opportunities with local public school districts and charter schools. The public information session will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m., March 13, at the Hampton Inn in Twin Falls. The career fair will be at 6 to 7:30 p.m., March 14 at the Hampton Inn. To register, go to https://www.sde.idaho.gov/events/career-fair/index.html.

is hosting a career fair event for interested community members to learn about routes to become a teacher in Idaho and/or explore career opportunities with local public school districts and charter schools. The public information session will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m., March 13, at the Hampton Inn in Twin Falls. The career fair will be at 6 to 7:30 p.m., March 14 at the Hampton Inn. To register, go to https://www.sde.idaho.gov/events/career-fair/index.html. The federal governments free at-home COVID-19 test program will be suspended March 8 after a drop in respiratory diseases. All orders placed on or before March 8 will be delivered. If rates of respiratory diseases increase, the program could be brought back. To get free COVID tests, go to https://special.usps.com/testkits. The application is also in Spanish.

will be suspended March 8 after a drop in respiratory diseases. All orders placed on or before March 8 will be delivered. If rates of respiratory diseases increase, the program could be brought back. To get free COVID tests, go to https://special.usps.com/testkits. The application is also in Spanish. The American Cancer Society National Colorectal Cancer roundtable honors Family Health Services for their Effort to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screenings. Family Health Services is a non-profit Federally Qualified Health Center that has served the people of south-central Idaho since 1982. According to the American Cancer Society, the number of colorectal cancers in the US for 2024 are estimated to be about 106,590 new cases of colon cancer (54,210 in men and 52,380 in women) and about 46,220 new cases of rectal cancer (27,330 in men and 18,890 in women). For more information about FHS, go to fhsid.org.

roundtable honors for their Effort to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screenings. Family Health Services is a non-profit Federally Qualified Health Center that has served the people of south-central Idaho since 1982. According to the American Cancer Society, the number of colorectal cancers in the US for 2024 are estimated to be about 106,590 new cases of colon cancer (54,210 in men and 52,380 in women) and about 46,220 new cases of rectal cancer (27,330 in men and 18,890 in women). For more information about FHS, go to fhsid.org. Infiniti Mobile has applied to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission to receive designation as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier to offer Lifeline service and receive reimbursement from an assistance program. If approved, Infiniti Mobile will provide Lifeline service to qualifying Idaho customers across the state, including customers on federally recognized tribal lands. The commission is taking written comments on Infinitis application until March 25. To submit comments using the commission website, please visit puc.idaho.gov and click on the Case Comment Form link on the upper left side of the page.

has applied to the to receive designation as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier to offer Lifeline service and receive reimbursement from an assistance program. If approved, Infiniti Mobile will provide Lifeline service to qualifying Idaho customers across the state, including customers on federally recognized tribal lands. The commission is taking written comments on Infinitis application until March 25. To submit comments using the commission website, please visit puc.idaho.gov and click on the Case Comment Form link on the upper left side of the page. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) joined Senator Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) and 15 additional colleagues to introduce the Supporting Farm Operations Act of 2024, which would revert the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) to the December 2023 rate through the end of the 2025 growing season. An increased AEWR went into effect on Jan. 1. Nationally, the rate increased by 5.6 percent, and the rate in Idaho increased by five percent, from $15.68 per hour to $16.54 per hour. For more about this bill, go to https://www.crapo.senate.gov/download/aewrfreeze03042024.

 Times-News
Every business, interest group, civic organization, legal group, education entity, government agency and living-and-breathing human being in the Gem State should take heed of the chronic shortage of experienced and competent lawyers seeking to be district judges. It has become harder each year to recruit good candidates for district court positions because of a variety of factors  low pay, high stress, burnout and the prospect of having to gain the office through a contested election. The situation will only get worse if Senate Bill 1347 is approved by the Legislature this session.

For those who may not know how Idahos court system is organized, there are three components. Magistrate courts, which currently have 101 magistrate judges, handle civil trials where up to $10,000 is at stake, plus domestic, traffic, estate, misdemeanor and a variety of other cases. District courts, with 49 district judges, handle the full range of felony and higher-stake civil trials. The appellate courts, with a total of 9 judges, handle and decide appeals from the two trial court components.

Candidates for magistrate judge are thoroughly vetted and appointed by regional magistrate commissions. Lawyers seeking positions on the district and appellate court are vetted by the Idaho Judicial Council, which sends a list of the best candidates to the Governor, who appoints from the list. These largely non-political appointment mechanisms have made Idahos court system one of the best in the nation.

Former Governor Otter reported on numerous occasions that he regularly received praise from other state governors about the high quality of Idahos judiciary. Former Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Burdick also received accolades from his counterparts in other states for the recognized excellence of Idaho judges.

To keep an excellent judiciary up and running, lawyers must be incentivized to step forward and apply for judicial positions. Most will take a pay cut of more than 50% from what they can make in private law practice for the privilege of serving as a judge. I did and I do not regret it.

But, if it appears to potential applicants that the burdens of the job substantially outweigh the privilege of being able to perform public service, few would be willing to step forward. That is where Idaho is with district court positions.

Appellate positions  the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals  still have enough well-qualified applicants to fill court vacancies, despite the bargain basement compensation package. The same applies to the magistrate courts. The district courts simply dont have enough competent, seasoned applicants to fill and replenish their ranks. That poses a serious danger to the ability of the district courts to do their work, and to the public that depends on those courts to decide cases quickly and competently.

Magistrate judge openings often get at least twice as many applicants as district judge openings because they are assured of a merit-based appointment process, the pay disparity is not substantial and magistrate judges do not have to face the prospect of an election contest. On the other hand, district judges presently have a merit-based selection process that the sponsor of Senate Bill 1347 wants to largely disable by requiring district and appellate openings to be filled through contested elections. The sponsor wants to eliminate a retirement benefit that was put in place in 2000 as a recruitment incentive for district and appellate judges, even though she would leave in place a similar recruitment incentive that was adopted for magistrate judges in 2006.

Lawyers could be excused for not wanting to apply for a district court position under such uncertainty as to job benefits and whether the benefits would be subject to future revision during their service. The failure of the Legislature to give all Idaho judges the 7% cost-of-living increase that all other state employees received in 2022 did not go unnoticed by those lawyers.

But there is yet another significant consideration for district courts  the workload. District judges have the highest-pressure job in Idahos court system. They deal with heavy-duty felonies, like the Daybell and Kohberger murder cases, as well as complicated and high-dollar civil disputes that are litigated to the nth degree by deep-pocket parties. Handling the everyday work of managing a complex case and responding to the incessant demands of the lawyers involved takes long hours nights and weekends, which leads to stress and burnout. Who would want to take a pay cut of more than 50% for that kind of miserable job?

Legislators should be considering measures to make all court positions more attractive to a broader range of competent, seasoned lawyers. Special emphasis should be placed on getting more applicants for district court positions, because that is where the recruitment problem has reached crisis proportions.

Pursuing measures designed to discourage accomplished lawyers from applying for district court positions, where they are needed the most, does not make sense. The Stand up for Courts group, composed of Butch Otter, Patti Anne Lodge, Denton Darrington, Phil Reberger and a host of other concerned citizens, is urging that Senate Bill 1347 be stopped in its tracks in the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee to help preserve Idahos excellent judiciary.
Three national political advisors have jointly initiated a proposal that calls for the establishment of a regional science and technology innovation center in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, aiming to advance the development of Central Asia.

A photovoltaic power project is shown in the Kazak Autonomous County of Mori, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. [Photo/Xinhua]

During the ongoing second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Liang Yong, a member of the 14th CPPCC National Committee and a local official responsible for the development of the cotton industry in Xinjiang, together with two other political advisors, Deng Mingjiang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Xiao Wenjiao, a fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, co-signed the proposal.

In the proposal, they requested that relevant national departments include the development of a science and technology innovation center in Xinjiang, aimed at benefiting Central Asia, into the regional science and technology innovation system.

Citing the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035, which supports the construction of regional science and technology innovation centers in suitable locations, they highlighted Xinjiang's significant geographical advantages. They argued that establishing such a center in Xinjiang, aimed at Central Asia, aligns with the Belt and Road Initiative. This move would fully utilize Xinjiang's unique geographical position and the benefits of its free trade pilot zone, fostering technological cooperation and economic exchanges with Central Asian countries. This would help Xinjiang develop and better integrate into China's broader strategy of westward opening-up. It would also help Xinjiang attract diverse, innovative resources from within China and around the world, such as technologies, skilled professionals and projects. This would enhance Xinjiang's scientific and technological innovation capabilities, support its technological self-reliance, and promote regional coordinated development.

They recommended focusing on Xinjiang's strategic positioning and optimizing its layout in scientific and technological innovation. They called for tailored reform policies and support measures from the Ministry of Science and Technology and other relevant departments to address areas such as talent, taxation, funding for science and technology, enterprises, and intellectual property rights. Their goal is to encourage innovation-driven development along the Silk Road Economic Belt, including building specialized industrial innovation centers in Xinjiang that would benefit key cities in both southern and northern Xinjiang, as well as partner countries in Central Asia, thus facilitating cross-regional coordinated development.

They also proposed enhancing the coordination mechanism for scientific and technological assistance to Xinjiang. Moreover, they urged reciprocal scientific and technological cooperation with Central Asian countries, participation in the national Belt and Road science and technology innovation action plan, pragmatic and in-depth exchanges, and cooperation in various fields. This would include the establishment of a China-Central Asia scientific and technological innovation community. These efforts would provide technological support for constructing the China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor and enhance the well-being of both Xinjiang and the Central Asian regions.

Furthermore, they suggested establishing a government-led, multi-channel scientific and technological investment model that includes diversified crowdfunding and innovating the financial mechanism for scientific and technological investment. Additionally, they recommended implementing a national-level talent assistance project to provide intellectual support for enhancing Xinjiang's development momentum.

Xinjiang is home to national-level research institutes, universities with strong research capabilities, and 12 state-level bases for international sci-tech cooperation. The region excels in equipment manufacturing, coal chemicals, mineral resources, new materials, modern agriculture, and pharmaceutical R&D. Xinjiang is a global leader in technologies like ultra-low wind speed turbines and photovoltaic power station integration. The region leads the nation in various technologies, including solar and wind energy, dry air energy, high-voltage electrical transmission, oil and gas exploration, and cotton cultivation.

"Xinjiang and Central Asia possess clear complementary advantages in industrial cooperation. There are broad prospects for scientific and technological cooperation in areas such as water resource utilization, mineral development, green energy, modern agriculture, ecological protection, and healthcare. These have made Xinjiang a hub of industrial and technological innovation in Central Asia. The region's technological accumulation has already established significant scientific and technological advantages for Central Asia, providing a solid foundation for international scientific and technological cooperation with evident outward effects," said Liang Yong, also a member of the China Association for Promoting Democracy. He also advocated the establishment of a cotton common market within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in another one of his proposals during this year's "two sessions."
- Advertisement -

EastWest Bank (EW) said Thursday its net income grew 32 percent in 2023 to P6.1 billion from a year ago on the back of sustained consumer loan growth and strong deposit generation.

Return on equity (ROE) stood at 9.5 percent, the bank said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

Net revenues increased 26 percent to P35.7 billion, led by its consumer lending portfolio, which grew by 25 percent.

We witnessed significant growth in our major assets, our consumer loans portfolio. This translated to a remarkable jump in our net income as we doubled down on our strength in consumer lending. We reversed our 2 years of continuous decline and resumed our quest to be one of the top consumer banks in the country, said EW president Jackie Fernandez.

EWs consumer lending portfolio accounted for 80 percent of total loans, the highest proportion among its peer banks.

- Advertisement -

This was supported by stable funding sources as total deposits grew by 8 percent to P356.5 billion, accounted for mainly by CASA (current account saving account) deposits which increase 12 percent or P31.5 billion to P292.4 billion.

The bank attributed the increase in CASA to renewed focus on cash management services, specifically geared towards the micro, small and medium enterprises sector. This allowed the bank to sustain its net interest margin of 7.6 percent.

We entered 2024 with good momentum, but much work still needs to be done in growing and improving the bank. We need to rise further, face the challenges and potential headwinds. Our goal is clear, to become one of the top consumer banks in the Philippines, said EW chief executive Jerry Ngo.

Non-interest income grew by 51 percent to P7.4 billion. Fees and commission increased by 26 percent to P4.8 billion as banking transactions grew in line with lending growth.

Trading income also contributed P993.6 million to non-interest income growth, increasing more than five times from 2022.

Total assets as of end-2023 reached P464.2 billion, up by 10 percent from 2022, while total loans and receivables grew 15 percent to P296.6 billion, as the bank benefited from the strong demand for consumer loans.

Total deposits grew 8 percent to P356.5 billion. Capital adequacy ratios was healthy at 13.8 percent, while common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio was at 13.0 percent, still above the regulatory requirements.
- Advertisement -

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMP) said Thursday it contributed P44 billion in duties and taxes to the national coffers in 2023, or 27.2 percent higher P34.59 billion it shared in 2022.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) cited TMP as the countrys second-highest importer by the sheer volume of duties it pays the government.

The BOC awarded TMP the authorized economic operator (AEO) level 2 accreditation during the 122nd BOC founding anniversary.

The AEO program, established by the World Customs Organization (WCO), aims to facilitate legitimate trade by fostering cooperation between customs authorities and businesses.

Earning AEO Level 2 signifies that TMP has undergone a comprehensive assessment and adheres to the WCO SAFE Framework standards for secure and efficient international trade.

- Advertisement -

The accreditation streamlines TMPs customs procedures through various benefits, including simplified customs processes and priority lanes, advance cargo clearance, periodic lodgment, one-time exemption certificates and expedited export clearance

TMPs received its AEO Level 1 certification in 2022, earning benefits such as self-assessment of duties and taxes, exemption from BOC accreditation renewal and access to a dedicated help desk.

As the countrys leading automotive manufacturer, seller and distributor, TMP uses several major BOC ports, including the Port of Batangas (POB), Manila International Container Port and Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The POB, located near TMPs Batangas Vehicle Center, serves as a crucial import hub for Toyota and Lexus vehicles, multi-sourced production parts and service parts from the Asia Pacific region.

It also plays a vital role in Toyotas supply chain by distributing automotive products to dealerships in Visayas and Mindanao and exporting OEM parts and components made by TMPs suppliers.
- Advertisement -

A Houthi missile attack killed three seafarers on a Red Sea merchant ship, two of them were Filipinos, according to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).

The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, which set the Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence ablaze about 50 nautical miles off the coast of Yemens port of Aden.

In a statement, the DMW expressed sadness over the incident. The department extended its condolences to the family and kin of the slain seafarers. For reasons of privacy, information on their names and identities have been withheld.

We are also informed that two other Filipino crewmen were severely injured in the attack on their ship. We pray for their immediate recovery, the DMW added in its statement.

President Marcos also extended his full support and assistance to the families of the Filipino seafarers.

- Advertisement -

The DMW said it is in touch with the ships manning agency and shipowner to determine the conditions of the rest of the ships crew, particularly the remaining Filipinos onboard. The department is also coordinating their repatriation.

The government reiterates its call to shipowners with ships navigating the volatile Red Sea-Gulf of Aden sea lanes to comply strictly with the expanded high risk areas designation and to implement appropriate risk mitigation measures, such as rerouting vessels and deploying armed security personnel onboard such vessels.

The DMW also called for continued diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions and to address the causes of the current conflict in the Middle East.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree wrote on social media that the True Confidence was targeted with missiles after the ships crew rejected warning messages from the rebels.

The Iran-backed group began attacking ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea last November, a campaign they say is intended to signal solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Manila is still seeking the release of 17 Filipinos taken hostage by the Houthis in November after the rebels seized their ship in the Red Sea.  With AFP
- Advertisement -

The congregation of Central United Methodist Church (CUMC) is

celebrating its 125th founding anniversary this month of March as the first Protestant church in the Philippines located along T.M. Kalaw

Street, Ermita, Manila. It was established on March 5, 1899, during

the American Occupation when it was originally named Central Methodist Episcopal Church. It was referred to as The American Church or the first ever English-speaking Church in the Philippines.

The anniversary program is inspired by a theme, Celebrating 125 Years of Methodism: In Continuous Pursuit of Great Commission, that will be celebrated on March 17, 2024, as the culminating Sunday at 9:00 AM with lawyer Felipe L. Gozon, chairman of GMA Network Inc., delivering the spiritual message for the 125th founding anniversary of CUMC.

This was the same church where Gozon received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) on March 20, 2022 from the Wesleyan University Philippines (WUP). Past recipients of this honorary degree were former president Fidel Ramos, Justice Reynato Puno, Methodist Bishop Emerito Nacpil, and other accomplished persons in government, academia, religion, and business.

Gozon is the current chairman and adviser of the board of GMA Network Inc, one of the largest media conglomerates in the Philippines. He recently retired as CEO of GMA Network last Dec. 31, 2023, after making the network the number one TV station in the Philippines. Gozon is a man of faith who attends worship services with his family in a Protestant church in Manila.

CUMC kicked off its anniversary celebration with an out-of-town Family Day at Torres Farm and Resort, Naic Cavite last Feb. 17, 2024, and will continue in the next succeeding weekends. On

- Advertisement -

March 8, the churchs Outreach team will head north to Anda,

Pangasinan for their medical and dental mission in partnership with

Dr. Nicanor D. Montoya Foundation.

On March 10, CUMC will have its International Womens Sunday to

celebrate International Womens Day, an annual global holiday to give

honor to all the women that will feature prominent women as guest

speakers to deliver spiritual messages in all worship services.

During this years celebration, CUMC will go full blast in its

fundraising campaign for the ongoing construction of the multi-purpose

building which just started late last year. It is a 4 story building

to add space to its churchs ongoing ministerial work on feeding and

sheltering the street people within the community, a meeting venue for

job applicants including OFWs and seamen nearby, a facility for

medical missions, a repository of donations for calamity affected

areas and other charitable activities.

This fundraising campaign shall have its Thanksgiving Dinner to be

held at the Philippine Christian University Auditorium on May 25. It

will be a musical dinner that will feature the homegrown talents of

CUMC. Aside from its ongoing celebrations, the church will provide a

bazaar on the church lawn which includes the sale of food and snacks,

agricultural products, and souvenir items. Proceeds from the bazaar

shall go to the churchs ministry fund.

For other information and church schedule, pls refer to Facebook:

Central United Methodist Church and YouTube Channel: Central United

Methodist Church (Manila), or you may contact the church via email,

centralumcmanila@gmail.com and through these numbers 8525-7329 and 8525-7590.
- Advertisement -

Tokyo, JapanUS tech giant Google said Thursday it opened a new cyberdefense hub in Tokyo as the region faces growing digital security threats from China.

The new hub, christened the Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, aims to spearhead research and train tech talent to counter the threat of cyberattacks, Google said.

We are officially launching the Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in Japan, aiming to connect leading security specialists, researchers, and partners, Google said in a statement to AFP.

The center will invite tech experts from countries including India, Australia and South Korea to jointly study measures against cyberattacks, the Nikkei business daily said, adding that it is Googles first such hub in Asia.

The move comes after Google warned in October that the Asia-Pacific faces more cyberattacks than any other region, attributing its vulnerability in part to chronic talent shortage.

- Advertisement -

Japanese authorities have also echoed the concerns.

In September, the National Police Agency (NPA) joined its American counterparts, including the FBI, in warning of widespread malware attacks by China-linked cyber actors known as BlackTech.

BlackTech has targeted government, industrial, technology, media, electronics, and telecommunication sectors, including entities that support the militaries of the US and Japan, the NPA said in a joint statement.

With security threats on the rise, the new center will aim to enhance Japans cybersecurity infrastructure by leveraging cutting-edge technologies and insightful collaborations, Junichiro Uchiyama, interim lead of the new center, said in a statement.

Washington has warned that China represents the broadest, most active, and persistent cyber espionage threat to its government and private sector.

Beijing, for its part, accuses Washington of being the worlds biggest hacking empire, citing its well-documented forays into cyber warfare, online surveillance and hacking.
- Advertisement -

Tokyo, JapanVisitors will be banned from entering private alleys in Kyotos famous geisha district, a local representative said on Thursday, as the ancient city tackles overtourism after the pandemic.

Kyoto residents have long expressed frustration with tourists behaving badly, especially in the citys Gion district, home to teahouses where geikoas geisha are locally knownand their young maiko apprentices perform.

In December, a Gion district council comprised of residents urged Kyoto City to tackle the issue, saying their neighborhood is not a theme park.

One member previously told Japanese media about an instance of a maikos kimono being torn and another who had a cigarette butt put in her collar.

With the problem ongoing, the council decided to step up its response.

- Advertisement -

We will ask tourists to refrain from entering narrow private streets in or after April, Isokazu Ota, an executive member of the council, told Agence France Presse (AFP).

We dont want to do this, but were desperate, he said, adding that they will put up signs.

Gions main Hanamikoji Street, which is public, will remain open to tourists.

Ota said groups of tourists sometimes act like paparazzi when geisha emerge from narrow streets, which are just one or two meters (3-6.5 feet) wide.

In 2019, the Gion district council put up signs saying no photography on private roads warning of fines of up to 10,000 yen ($67 at todays rates).

Despite common misconceptions, geishas are not prostitutes, but rather entertainers and raconteurs highly skilled in traditional Japanese dance, musical instruments and games.

Tourism to Japan has been booming since pandemic-era border restrictions were lifted, and other major attractions are also taking steps against overtourism.

This summer, hikers using the most popular route to climb Mount Fuji will be charged $13 each, with numbers capped to ease congestion and improve safety.
- Advertisement -

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) should declare Australian Senator Janet Rice persona non grata in the Philippines for protesting human rights abuses in the country during

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.s address to the Parliament of Australia, Senator Robin Padilla said.

Padilla, who filed proposed Senate Resolution 944, said that Rice engaged in unparliamentary behavior by expressing her dissent through an act of protest during the proceedings.

As reflected in the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the Australian Parliament, Senator Rice was directed to leave the Chamber for disorderly behavior, Padilla wrote.

Resolved by the Senate, as it is hereby resolved, to condemn Australian Senator Janet Rice and to urge the Department of Foreign Affairs to declare her as persona non grata for her unparliamentary behavior during President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr.s address

- Advertisement -

before the Australian Parliament in Canberra, he stated.

If Padillas resolution is adopted, a copy of it will be furnished to the office of DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo for his information and appropriate action.

Padillas resolution was referred to the Senate Committee on Rules, which will decide if it will be tackled on the plenary for adoption, GMA News reported.

Last week, Rice and three other members of the Australian Parliament staged protests against President Marcos while Marcos was delivering his speech.

Rice flashed a placard bearing the message, Stop Human Rights Abuses, while the President was speaking.

In a subsequent post on X (formerly Twitter), Rice said that it was a shame to invite Marcos to speak before the Parliament, GMA News further reported.

Under President Marcos Jr, corruption in the Philippines is getting worse. There are hundreds of political prisoners and anti-terrorism laws are used as legal cover for extrajudicial killings. Yet the Australian Government invited him to address the Parliament today. Shame, Rice said.

Senator Jordon Steele-John, meanwhile, protested outside the Parliament while Mr. Marcos was delivering his speech.

While President Marcos Jr gave a speech to the parliament today, I was proud to protest in solidarity with the Australian-Filipino community outside parliament! Stop the human rights abuses! he said on Instagram.

Australian Senators Barbara Pocock also took to X to express her displeasure about Mr. Marcos visit to her country, while Senator David Shoebridge lamented that the Australian Parliament is once more being used to launder the political reputation of those involved in serious human rights abuses.
- Advertisement -

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti  The UN Security Council expressed its concern over the deteriorating situation in violence-gripped Haiti on Wednesday, as Washington ramped up pressure on absent Prime Minister Ariel Henry to secure a political settlement.

Armed gangs who control swaths of the country launched a coordinated effort to oust Henry last week, attacking the airport, prisons and police stations, while threatening a full-scale civil war.

The United States on Wednesday called for Henry to take steps to finalize a political accord, but did not urge his resignation  a key demand of powerful gang leader Jimmy Barbecue Cherizier.

In power since the 2021 assassination of president Jovenel Moise, Henry was due to leave office in February but instead agreed to a power-sharing deal with the opposition until new elections are held.

Cherizier warned Tuesday that the worsening chaos would lead to civil war and mass bloodshed unless Henry stood down.

- Advertisement -

At least 15,000 people have fled the worst-hit parts of Port-au-Prince.

One displaced man told AFP on Wednesday that he had been forced to flee after a gang attack.

In my case, I ran away from my house, abandoning everything I own, Jhonnyy Desmion said.

United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said Wednesday the situation was beyond untenable with 1,193 people killed countrywide this year by gang violence.

Maltas UN ambassador Vanessa Frazier said that every Security Council member shared the same concerns, that the security situation is obviously concerning.

Amid the latest unrest, Henry has been unable to return home.

He was in Kenya to push for the deployment of a UN-backed multinational police mission to help stabilize his country when the attempt to oust him began.

The situation requires the deployment of a mission as soon as possible, Ecuadors UN ambassador Jose Javier De La Gasca Lopez-Dominguez said.

Gunfire has shut down some flights at Toussaint Louverture International Airport, and Henry was denied permission to land in neighboring Dominican Republic on Tuesday.

He later touched down in the US territory of Puerto Rico, a spokesperson for the islands governor said, although it was not clear how long he would stay.

Regional Caribbean bloc CARICOM warned that the spiraling crisis was compounded by the absence of key institutions functioning, such as the presidency and the parliament.

There must be a political solution to anchor any stabilization of security and humanitarian efforts, said Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Guyanas president and the current chairman of CARICOM.

Haitian officials have been pleading for months for international assistance to help their overwhelmed security forces, as gangs push beyond the capital city and into rural areas.

The government has declared a state of emergency and a nighttime curfew, which has been extended through Wednesday.

As the evening drew in, heavily-armed security forces wearing ballistic helmets stood guard at key points in Port-au-Prince, which was quieter than usual.

We have no authorities, no leaders, we have no one, we have nothing, Linda Antoine, a shopkeeper in the city told AFP. Its every man for himself.

Citing the rapidly deteriorating security situation, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had called this week for urgent financial support for the multinational police mission.

Hundreds of thousands of children and families are displaced and cut off from lifesaving services and aid as armed groups rule the streets, Catherine Russell, head of UNICEF, said Tuesday. The world must not stand idle.

Haiti, the Western hemispheres poorest nation, has been in turmoil for years, and Moises assassination plunged the country further into chaos.

No elections have taken place since 2016 and the presidency remains vacant.

Although there is rising pressure on Henry from the United States, we are definitely not pushing for the prime minister to resign, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

But we have underscored that now is the time to finalize a political accord to help set Haiti on a path to a better future.

She added the United States would not assist Henry to return to his country, or discuss his travels.

Between violence, the political crisis and years of drought, some 5.5 million Haitians  about half the population  need humanitarian assistance.

After months of delays, the UN Security Council finally gave its greenlight in October for a multinational policing mission led by Kenya.

But that deployment has been stalled by Kenyan courts.

Nairobi and Port-au-Prince signed a bilateral agreement on Friday on the mission, but it remains without a firm start date. AFP
- Advertisement -

China calls for immediate ceasefire

Palestinian Territories  China described the war in Gaza as a disgrace to civiliZation and called on Thursday for an immediate ceasefire as the conflict stretched into its sixth month despite efforts by mediators to reach a truce.

US President Joe Biden has urged Hamas to accept a ceasefire plan with Israel before the Muslim fasting month begins, which could be as early as Sunday depending on the sighting of the crescent moon.

However, mediators in Egypt have struggled to overcome tough obstacles in their attempts to negotiate a pause, while the United Nations has warned that famine looms for Palestinians trapped by the fighting.

It is a tragedy for humankind and a disgrace for civilization that today, in the 21st century, this humanitarian disaster cannot be stopped, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a news conference in Beijing.

China, historically sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, has been calling for a ceasefire since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

- Advertisement -

The international community must act urgently, making an immediate ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities an overriding priority, and ensuring humanitarian relief an urgent moral responsibility, Wang said.

The war has reduced vast stretches of Gaza to a wasteland of gutted buildings and rubble and sparked a humanitarian disaster for its 2.4 million people.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Wednesday that 20 people have died of malnutrition and dehydration, at least half of them children.

Only limited aid has reached Gazas north, where the UNs World Food Program has warned that hunger has reached catastrophic levels in northern Gaza, where aid has been limited.

Children are dying of hunger-related diseases and suffering severe levels of malnutrition, the WFP said.

According to Gazas health ministry, one of the latest victims was a 15-year-old girl who died at Gaza Citys Al-Shifa Hospital.

Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said the famine in northern Gaza has reached lethal levels and could claim thousands of lives unless Gaza receives more aid and medical supplies.

Gazans were waiting to collect bags of flour outside a UN refugee agency office in the southern city of Rafah, now home to nearly 1.5 million Palestinians, most of them displaced by the war.

The flour they provide is not enough, said displaced man Muhammad Abu Odeh.

They do not provide us with sugar or anything else except flour.

In Khan Yunis, southern Gazas largest city, dozens of people went to inspect their homes and take what belongings they could recover after Israeli forces pulled out of the city center, an AFP correspondent said.

The army has yet to respond to an AFP request to confirm such a withdrawal.

The war began after Hamas launched the October 7 attack on southern Israel that resulted in about 1,160 deaths, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

The militants also took around 250 hostages. Israel believes 99 of them remain alive in Gaza and that 31 have died.

Israels retaliatory offensive has killed at least 30,717 people, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to push on with the campaign to destroy Hamas, before or after any truce deal.

Biden called on Hamas on Tuesday to accept a truce plan brokered by US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators, saying its in the hands of Hamas right now.

The proposed deal would pause fighting for at least six weeks, see the release of sick, wounded, elderly and women hostages and allow for a surge of humanitarian assistance, the White House said.

One known sticking point centres on an Israeli demand for Hamas to provide a list of hostages still being held, a task Hamas says it is unable to complete while Israeli bombing continues.

The Palestinian Islamist group said in a statement it had shown the required flexibility with the aim of reaching an agreement, insisting on a complete halt to the fighting.

Violence has flared in past years during Ramadan in annexed east Jerusalems Al-Aqsa mosque compound  Islams third-holiest site and Judaisms most sacred, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.

Hamas has urged Muslims to flock there in great numbers, as they do every year, while some Israeli far-right politicians have urged restrictions.

Israel has said Muslims will initially be allowed into the site in similar numbers as in recent years, followed by a weekly situation assessment.

Jordanian, US and other planes have repeatedly airdropped food into Gaza but WFP deputy chief Carl Skau said airdrops are a last resort and will not avert famine.

South Africa petitioned the International Court of Justice on Wednesday to impose more emergency measures against Israel over what it described as widespread starvation in Gaza.

British Foreign Minister David Cameron also pressed Israel on Wednesday to increase the flow of aid into Gaza.

More than 100 people were reported killed in bloody chaos last week when thousands of people swarmed aid trucks. Gaza officials blamed the deaths on Israeli gunfire, while the army insisted most were trampled or run over.

Another truck convoy was diverted by Israeli troops within Gaza late on Tuesday and then stopped by a large crowd of desperate people who looted the food, the WFP said.

Israel, which has recalled its UN envoy in a sign of growing tensions, said the UN Security Council should designate Hamas immediately as a terrorist organization and impose sanctions on it. AFP
- Advertisement -

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will fly to Germany and the Czech Republic next week for state visits to the two central European nations upon the invitation of their respective leaders.

Mr. Marcos and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos received an invitation from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for a working visit and from Czech Republic President Petr Pavel for a state visit.

These consecutive visits are scheduled from March 11 to March 15. This would be the third foreign travel of the President in less than 30 days.

These visits mark significant development as the Philippines recently celebrated 50 years of bilateral relations with the Czech Republic and is set to mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties with Germany this year.

Mr. Marcos recently concluded his state visit to Australia at Canberra from Feb. 28 to 29 and his participation in the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)  Australia Special Summit in Melbourne from March 4 to 6.

- Advertisement -

The President is set to engage in discussions with Chancellor Scholz in Berlin.

Meanwhile, in the Czech Republic, he will hold meetings with the heads of government, including President Pavel and Prime Minister Petr Fiala, alongside the leaders of the Czech Parliament, namely Senate President Milos Vystrcil and President of the Chamber of Deputies Marketa Pekarova Adamova.

The Presidents visits to Germany and the Czech Republic are part of a series of engagements with the two European partners, following the trips of the Czech Prime Minister in April 2023 and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in January 2024 to Manila.

Mr. Marcos will also meet with prominent business leaders to explore trade and investment opportunities during his stay in both countries.

Moreover, he will take the chance to interact with Filipino communities living in Germany and the Czech Republic, the Palace said in a statement.
- Advertisement -

Two Filipino crew members were among those killed in a missile attack by Yemens Huthi rebels on a ship in the Gulf of Aden, the government said Thursday.

Those killed in the attack on Wednesday appear to be the first deaths resulting from Huthi attacks on merchant vessels transiting the key Red Sea trade route.

With great sadness, the Department of Migrant Workers confirms the deaths of two Filipino seafarers in the most recent attack

by Houthi rebels on ships plying the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the agency said in a statement.

We are also informed that two other Filipino crewmen were severely injured in the attack on their ship, it added.

- Advertisement -

Manila is liaising with the ship owners and its crewing agency to ascertain the conditions of the rest of the ships crew and to repatriate them, the department said.

An anti-ship ballistic missile struck the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned M/V True Confidence, after which its crew reported three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition, and significant damage to the ship, the US Central Command said in a statement.

Huthi military spokesman Yahya Saree wrote on social media that the True Confidence was targeted with missiles after the ships crew rejected warning messages from the rebels.

The Iran-backed group began attacking ships in the Gulf of Aden andthe Red Sea last November, a campaign they say is intended to signal solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Manila is still seeking the release of 17 Filipinos taken hostage by the Huthis in November after the rebels seized their ship in the Red Sea.

The Huthis have been targeting merchant vessels transiting the vital Red Sea trade route for months, but Wednesdays deaths were the first reported fatalities resulting from such an attack.

The crew abandoned the ship and coalition warships responded and are assessing the situation, it said, noting the attack was the fifth time the Huthis had launched an anti-ship ballistic missile in two days.

These reckless attacks by the Huthis have disrupted global trade and taken the lives of international seafarers, CENTCOM said.The Indian Navy said, in a post on social media platform X, that it rescued 21 crew members, including an Indian national.It published video footage of the rescue operation, saying eight people were winched to safety by helicopter while others were evacuated to hospitals in Djibouti.CENTCOM said several hours after the True Confidence was hit that it had carried out strikes against two unmanned aerial vehicles in a Huthi-controlled area of Yemen that presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships.These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US Navy and merchant vessels, it said in a separate statement without elaborating.The United States and Britain have launched repeated strikes on Huthi targets in Yemen since January in response to the ship attacks but the rebels have continued to target merchant vessels.The British embassy in Sanaa said earlier the death toll on board the True Confidence was at least two, describing the loss of life as the sad but inevitable consequence of the Huthis recklessly firing missiles at international shipping.British Foreign Secretary David Cameron promised that we will continue to stand up for freedom of navigation and back our words with actions.The Huthis began attacking ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea in November, a campaign they say is intended to signal solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.They have vowed to strike Israeli, British, and American ships, as well as vessels heading to Israeli ports, disrupting traffic through the vital trade route off Yemens shores.The latest incident comes after a Belize-flagged, Lebanese-operated ship sank on Saturday with 21,000 metric tonnes of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer on board.The ship, called the Rubymar, had been taking on water since it was hit by a Huthi missile on Feb. 18 that damaged its hull and forced the evacuation of its crew to Djibouti.The flurry of Huthi strikes has caused several major shipping firms to suspend passage through the Red Sea, which usually carries around 12 percent of global trade. AFP
- Advertisement -

The Philippines is open to the possible inclusion of Australia into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), President Marcos said.

I cannot see why that would not be a good idea. Australia has already been a very active part of ASEAN, he said in a media interview before leaving Melbourne on Wednesday.

For all intents and purposes, really, in all but name, they are already a member of ASEAN. I think they would be very welcome to join ASEAN, he added.

Mr. Marcos made the remarks after Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ebrahim expressed his openness to Australias membership in ASEAN.

Australia, which was ASEANs first dialogue partner in 1974, successfully hosted the special summit to commemorate the 50th anniversary of dialogue relations.

- Advertisement -

Canberra considers ASEAN as a key trading partner, with two-way trade with the regional bloc expected to reach $400 billion by 2040.

The current ASEAN member-states are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Timor-Leste was admitted in principle in 2022 as the regional blocs 11th member but its full membership remains pending. It applied to become an official ASEAN member-state in 2011.
- Advertisement -

Paris, FranceThe worlds most popular AI tools are powered by programs from OpenAI and Meta that show prejudice against women, according to a study launched on Thursday by the UNs cultural organisation UNESCO.

The biggest players in the multibillion-dollar AI field train their algorithms on vast amounts of data largely pulled from the internet, which enables their tools to write in the style of Oscar Wilde or create Salvador Dali-inspired images.

But their outputs have often been criticized for reflecting racial and sexist stereotypes, as well as using copyrighted material without permission.

UNESCO experts tested Metas Llama 2 algorithm and OpenAIs GPT-2 and GPT-3.5, the program that powers the free version of popular chatbot ChatGPT.

The study found that each algorithmknown in the industry as Large Language Models (LLMs)showed unequivocal evidence of prejudice against women.

- Advertisement -

The programs generated texts that associated womens names with words such as home, family or children, but mens names were linked with business, salary or career.

While men were portrayed in high-status jobs like teachers, lawyers and doctors, women were frequently prostitutes, cooks or domestic servants.

GPT-3.5 was found to be less biased than the other two models.

However, the authors praised Llama 2 and GPT-2 for being open source, allowing these problems to be scrutinized, unlike GPT-3.5, which is a closed model.

AI companies are really not serving all of their users, Leona Verdadero, a UNESCO specialist in digital policies, told Agence France Presse (AFP).

Audrey Azoulay, UNESCOs director general, said the general public were increasingly using AI tools in their everyday lives.

These new AI applications have the power to subtly shape the perceptions of millions of people, so even small gender biases in their content can significantly amplify inequalities in the real world, she said.

UNESCO, releasing the report to mark International Womens Day, recommended AI companies hire more women and minorities and called on governments to ensure ethical AI through regulation.
- Advertisement -

Will we succumb to the darkness that lurks beneath the waves, or will we stand together in solidarity and defiance against the tyranny of aggression?

In the turbulent waters of the West Philippine Sea, a sinister dance unfolds between giants and underdogs, as Chinas aggression casts a pall over the region, leaving destruction and discord in its wake.

The recent collision between vessels operated by the Chinese and Philippine coast guards is not merely an isolated incident; it is a chilling symptom of a much deeper malaisea malaise born of Chinas insatiable thirst for dominance and its disdain for international law and order.

The facts are stark and undeniable.

The Philippine Coast Guard, engaged in a routine resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal, found themselves besieged by Chinese vessels  vessels hell-bent on intimidation and coercion.

Dangerous maneuvers, reckless actions, and the deployment of water cannons became the weapons of choice in Chinas arsenal of aggression, leaving the brave Filipino sailors battered and bruised, their vessel scarred by the collision.

- Advertisement -

But the wounds run deeper than mere physical damage.

They cut to the heart of sovereignty, of justice, and of the fundamental rights of nations to exist free from fear and coercion.

The Philippine National Security Council speaks with righteous indignation, condemning Chinas actions as unprovoked and unwarranted.

They speak of lives endangered, of Filipinos injured, and of territorial integrity threatened by Chinas belligerence.

Yet, in the face of these grave provocations, China remains defiant, cloaking its actions in the guise of legality while trampling upon the rights of its neighbors with impunity.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, in a display of brazen hypocrisy, accuses the Philippines of trespassing into Chinese territory  a claim as ludicrous as it is baseless.

Her words ring hollow, devoid of truth and morality, as China seeks to justify its aggression through deception and deceit.

But let us not be deceived.

Let us not be swayed by the siren song of Chinas propaganda machine.

Let us instead heed the call of justice and stand in solidarity with the Philippines as they confront the tyranny of Chinas expansionist ambitions.

Let us demand accountability, not appeasement; justice, not justification.

The international community must rise to the occasion and hold China accountable for its actions.

The 2016 ruling by an international tribunal in The Hague must be upheld and enforced, for it represents the beacon of hope in a sea of uncertainty  a beacon that guides us towards a future where the rule of law prevails over the rule of might.

But let us not stop there.

Let us go further and forge a path towards lasting peace and stability in the South China Sea.

Let us work tirelessly to establish a code of conduct with Beijing  a code that respects the rights of all nations, big and small, and ensures that disputes are resolved through dialogue, not coercion.

In the end, the choice is ours to make.

Will we succumb to the darkness that lurks beneath the waves, or will we stand together in solidarity and defiance against the tyranny of aggression?

The answer lies in our hands, and the time to act is now.

Let justice be our guide, and let peace be our reward.
- Advertisement -

Summer may be just around the corner but Yellow Cab Pizza Co. made it rain pizzas in BGC, with its Best Ever Pizza Party, a groundbreaking event that celebrated the launch of its newest culinary creation: the Half Moon Pizzas.

Held on February 24, 2024, at the vibrant Papa Bear Area, 9th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, the event was a fusion of flavors, music, and unparalleled fun, free for all attendees who pre-registered for a Pizza Party of a lifetime.

The event was not only a platform to showcase Yellow Cabs newest offering but also an opportunity to introduce the enhanced recipes of their Best Ever Pizzas. These pizzas, now cheesier, meatier, and tastier, feature freshly made dough, premium ingredients, and real mozzarella cheese, elevating the standard for quality pizza.

With pizzas in hand, attendees also got to enjoy several side activities, including a photobooth station, the Half Moon Serve and Topping Throw. Those who completed the activities got the chance to join the Pizza Party raffle, where five (5) lucky winners won boxes and boxes of Yellow Cabs Best Ever Pizzas so they can host their very own pizza party for their squad.

The highlight of the event was the unveiling of the Half Moon Pizzas, a unique offering designed to cater to individual tastes and preferences. Available in the fan-favorite Pepperoni and Hawaiian flavors, these pizzas offer a perfect just-for-you size, embodying the essence of convenience without compromising on flavor. Starting at just P159, the Half Moon Pizzas come with a variety of add-ons, including soda, pasta, or chicken, allowing you to customize your meal for a complete dining experience.

- Advertisement -

The Best Ever Pizza Party likewise featured a collaboration with Multimedia creator Raco Ruiz who designed the events postercapturing the spirit of youth and passion. Lifestyle brand Syndrome Supply, by Anton and Inigo Cruz, meanwhile released limited-edition tees and tote bags bearing the partys logo.

And whats a party without music? Making the evening truly memorable were performances from Clara Benin, Lola Amour, and DJ Margachi.

Clara Benin, touted as the indie darling of the Philippines brought a unique vibe to the party with her unique voice and talented acoustic guitar playing. Her experience in collaborations with artists across Southeast Asia and in playing in various music festival in the region, not to mention her own solo concerts, was a great start for a night thats truly one for the books.

Lola Amour, who made headlines as they performed with Coldplay during the latters concert in the country, then took the stage, bringing their one-of-a-kind, jazzy, alt-pop sound. The band kept the crowd on their feet as they performed their most popular songs. The energy quickly transformed into a sing-along concert, with the audience joining in as the band delivered their hits culminating their set with their massive hit Raining in Manila, a song that dominated the airwaves and held one of the biggest, if not the biggest, weekly stream records on Spotify Philippines upon its release.

DJ Margachi then capped of the evening with a set that kept the energy high until the very end.

Her stints playing in bars, parties, and festivals in the region built up to dance-inducing beats that

captured the essence of the Best Ever Pizza Party and bringing everyone together one last time at the dance floor.

Pizza and parties share a bond thats as timeless and universal as any in the culinary world and Yellow Cabs Best Ever Pizza Party proved that this iconic pairing brings people together in a celebration of taste, joy, and community.

Yellow Cabs Best Ever Pizza Party was made possible in partnership with Mountain Dew and Pepsi, ensuring that guests had the best refreshments to accompany their pizza feast. The success of the event has set the stage for future Best Ever Pizza Parties, with more legs to be announced on Yellow Cab Pizza Co.s social media pages.
- Advertisement -

Inverter air conditioners are unlike traditional ones which operate at full power until a specific space is cool enough and then shut down. These energy-efficient appliances run with special motors that can adjust their speed, maintaining a rooms temperature without the energy-consuming process of constantly turning it on and off.

You can experience this incredible feature with models like the Carrier 1.0HP Inverter Window Type Air Conditioner and the Samsung 1.0HP WindFree Split Type Inverter Air Conditioner that offer remarkable cooling to combat the summer heat while also prioritizing energy efficiency.

Keep your refreshments cool with inverter refrigerators

Like inverter air conditioners, refrigerators equipped with this technology boast enhanced energy efficiency thanks to a motor that automatically changes its speed to match the cooling needspreventing unnecessary on-and-off cycles. When the temperature inside the refrigerator rises above the set point, the compressor slows down, maintaining consistent cooling while minimizing energy consumption.

For those in search of inverter refrigerators to keep their daily refreshments and food supplies cool even in intense heat without the concern of higher electricity bills, consider options such as the Panasonic Two Door No Frost Inverter with Econavi Technology Refrigerator (9.5 cu ft) and the LG 7.2 cu ft Two Door Smart Inverter No Frost Refrigerator.

- Advertisement -

Optimize your laundry routine with inverter washing machines

To take your pursuit of energy efficiency to the next level, you can also incorporate inverter washing machines into your laundry routine. With inverter technology, their performance adapts to the size and type of laundry, enabling you to use only the necessary amount of water and energy for each load.

You can enjoy this performance from the likes of Whirlpool 8.5kg Top Load Inverter Washing Machine and LG 7.5kg Top Load Smart Inverter Washing Machine. By utilizing inverter washing machines, you can further advance your energy-efficient goals.

Watch out for exciting deals this summer season!

This upcoming summer season, Home Credit is offering fantastic deals to help you realize these inverter appliances, starting March 15 to May 31, 2024. Be sure to mark your calendars to not miss this incredible opportunity.

Stay tuned for installment deals on a range of products, including air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, and more. These exciting offers will be available on Shoppingmall.ph.

To know more about the latest updates from Home Credit Philippines, visit its official website, www.homecredit.ph. You may also follow its official Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok accounts. Customers are also encouraged to download the My Home Credit App on Google Play to learn more about the latest promos and see whats new in the Shoppingmall.ph.

Home Credit Philippines is a financing company duly licensed and supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Patrick & Henry Community College (P&HCC) has received laptops to provide to students who are veterans or spouses of veterans from the Virginia department of Veterans Services (VDS) Military Education and Workforce Initiative (MEWI).

The Virginia Veteran Laptop Project has been established by the MEWI in an effort to make laptop computer available to veterans and their spouses who are currently enrolled at a Virginia community college and taking classes. The program is open to any veteran or military spouse regardless of discharge status.

This project is not just to bring computers to students, but also to provide them with all the other knowledge that VDS has to offer them about services  from care services to benefits and claims, said MEWI Program Manager John Hall in a release. VDS offers all that benefit free of charge.

Hall and Tech for Troops Business Development Lead Jack Raymondson visited P&HCC this week to present the laptops to Rosemary Bowers, P&HCC veterans coordinator and Jack Hanbury, P&HCC vice president for financial and administrative services.

In the 2023-24 school year, P&HCC had 22 veterans and spouses participating in GI Bill student services.

Its exciting to be able to bring this opportunity to our veterans and spouses that are attending here at Patrick & Henry Community College, said Bowers in the release.
The Governors School of North Carolina is the oldest statewide summer residential program for gifted and talented high school students in the nation. The program is administered by the state Board of Education and North Carolina Department of Public Instruction through the Office of Advanced Learning & Gifted Education. Each summer, selected students are invited to Governors School to help build a learning community during a four-week residential session.

N.C. high school juniors undergo a local and state nomination process to attend Governors School. Students apply locally to be nominated at the district level. Then, district nominees compete against more than 1,500 nominees across the state to be selected for the 800 prestigious seats available at Governors School. At Governors School, students are encouraged to explore and ask questions, with the purpose of learning for its own sake and discovering new possibilities that complement their high school instruction, without the regular pressures of tests, scores and grade-point averages.

This year, McDowell County Schools nominated six deserving juniors to participate in Governors School. Students were required to choose an academic or arts discipline as their focus for their experience, with choices including: English, mathematics, natural science, social science, Spanish, choral music, dance, instrumental music, theater or visual art.

Courtney Buchanan, junior at MEC, chose visual art as her discipline. Her application for Governors School included a portfolio of curated pieces of her art using various mediums. Buchanan stated in her essay, Art possesses the capacity to unleash the potential of creativity to mend and invigorate lives in the 21st century and beyond.

Lilly Hughes, junior at MHS, wants to use her experience at Governors School to explore the evolving relationship within Forensics between natural science and machines. Her selected discipline was natural science.

Social science is the chosen academic discipline of MHS junior Elise Pritchard. Her studies at Governors School would allow her to further explore her interest in media and democracy where she believes, it is imperative that we gain the trust of young voters and find a way to address the issues surrounding media to ensure the future of American democracy.

Kevin Rodriguez-Ramirez, MEC junior, wants the chance to further study mathematics at Governors School. As a future STEM major, he not only enjoys the fact that math has one concrete answer but also is intrigued by the new methods and techniques in mathematical fields such as cryptography and engineering.

Math is also of interest to another MEC junior, Adeline Thomas. For her, math is also straightforward and logical, and she wants to use her time at Governors School to study how AI and data are used around the globe to solve problems.

Evangeline Thomas, junior at MEC, has been locally nominated for Governors School in the academic discipline of natural science. She is hoping that this experience will help her learn more about the ethical conversations and debates surrounding new scientific advancements which will shape and guide [her] future medical career.

Governors School is a fully immersive residential learning experience with a rich schedule of events and time for students to interact and learn from each other. Classes are held Monday-Saturday. The emphasis in all disciplines is on contemporary texts, compositions, artistic expressions, issues and ideas and the theories that flow from them. Additionally, students are asked to reflect and pursue their own learning, and investigate the very nature of thought and of the mind. Finally, through their coursework studies students learn to examine and articulate their opinions and listen to the perspectives of others.

Students who are selected to participate in Governors School for the 2024 summer will spend four weeks on one of two North Carolina University campuses. Governors School East will be hosted at Meredith College in Raleigh, and Governors School West will be hosted at Greensboro College in Greensboro. For most of the participants from across the state, this is their first college-like experience, where they are housed in residence halls on campus and provided daily meals at the colleges dining hall.

Several McDowell County Schools seniors and super seniors, including Haley Clark, Xander Gouge, Christian Richter and McKinna Young, shared their positive Governors School experiences with this years nominees.

Young, a Governors School West participant, expressed the experience gave [her] a positive insight into college campus life and classes. The social science discipline, which focused on exploring recent ideas, concepts and theories, helped [her] gain confidence while learning from other N.C. students.

Richter, an instrumental music student, stated, Being pushed out of my comfort zone, working with others who shared a passion for music and the arts, being given a creative freedom I had never experienced before, all left a lasting impression on me. I discovered what lifelong learning is meant to be: approaching the familiar from new angles, questioning what I know, and learning from each new experience.

Selection notifications for Governors School 2024 will be made in early March. McDowell County Schools would like to wish our six nominees the best of luck!

If you have any questions about Governors School and our local nomination process, contact Nikki Holland, McDowell County Schools advanced learning specialist for high schools.
Liberias President Joseph Boakai has established a task force aimed at combating corruption and reclaiming misappropriated state resources.

Boakai mandated the task force to uncover and prosecute any high-ranking officials implicated in corruption, spanning both current and past administrations. In an executive decree, he emphasized the imperative to recover assets acquired through illicit means at the expense of Liberias government and citizens, labeling corruption as a pressing menace gripping the nation. Those found to have unlawfully acquired government assets are obligated to return them, with measures in place to enforce compliance, including potential extradition for individuals residing outside Liberia. Adequate funding has been allocated to facilitate the task forces immediate commencement of operations.

Boakais anti-corruption initiative aligns with his campaign promises to address corruption, a commitment that resonated with voters during his successful bid for the presidency, securing victory over former President George Weah. Weahs administration faced widespread allegations of corruption and drew criticism for the lavish lifestyles of senior officials.

Following Boakais inauguration, he urged former officials to promptly surrender any government assets in their possession, underscoring the urgency of the matter.
Senegals government announced a new date, March 24, for the delayed presidential election after President Macky Salls earlier decision to postpone it by 10 months sparked opposition protests and Constitutional Council intervention.

The president, ineligible for re-election due to term limits, cited controversies over the candidate list as a reason for the delay, emphasizing the need for stability. The Council of Ministers also revealed the governments dissolution and the appointment of a new prime minister, Sidiki Kaba, replacing Amadou Ba.

Despite proposals from civic, political, and religious leaders for a June 2 election, the Constitutional Council rejected the idea. With less than three weeks until the vote, concerns persist over a smooth transition as President Sall plans to step down by April 2. The opposition labeled the delay a constitutional coup, alleging Salls bid to extend his tenure, a claim he refuted in an interview with The Associated Press.

Senegals reputation for democratic stability faces scrutiny amid regional challenges, signaling a potential democratic decline in West Africa, traditionally viewed as a democratic stronghold.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

For nurse Judy Schmidt, the beeping monitors hooked up to critical patients at the Community Medical Center in Toms River, New Jersey, were just a normal part of the whirlwind of activity in the intensive care unit.

But looking back on her work about a decade ago, Schmidt said she realizes those machines were using early versions of artificial intelligence to help analyze and track the patients' health.

Artificial intelligence has been used in health care settings for years, even before the public became familiar with the technology, said Schmidt, CEO of the New Jersey State Nurses Association, a professional organization.

Today, some electronic health records are programmed to alert providers when patients could be having symptoms of a major illness. And in medical education, professors are depending more on simulations using mannequins, such as those programmed to mimic a birth, she said.

But the fast-paced development of these systemsto the point where robotics are being used in surgeryraises practical and ethical questions for the providers who work with that technology, Schmidt said.

Some experts say AI technology can improve the health care industry by automating administrative work, offering virtual nursing assistance and more. AI systems can predict whether a patient is likely to get sicker while in the hospital. Virtual assistant chatbots in telehealth services enable remote consultations. And more health care providers could start using robotics in the examination room.

But some nurses are concerned that the scarcity of laws regarding AI's use in hospitals and beyond means a lack of protections for individuals who could suffer from the technology's mistakes.

"In the long run, whatever artificial intelligence we use, it's still the humanthe personthat has to take that data, and the interpretation of that data in some respects, and apply it to the real person that's in the bed, the nursing home or the home of that person," Schmidt said.

State legislators are lagging on creating regulations for the use of AI, said Richard Ridge, an assistant professor of nursing at the University of Virginia. As the technology becomes more advanced, most health care workers are relying on policies set by their own hospital or practice, which can vary.

Legislators not only need to educate themselves about AI but also consider protections for patients within systems that use the technology, said Ridge, who added that nurses should be a part of those conversations.

"The value nurses bring to the table in any health care discussion is helping policymakers and decision-makers see things from the patient's point of view and the patient's perspective," Ridge said.

"I wouldn't want to read something [policy] about AI in health care and it not have anything to say about nurses," added Ridge, who also heads a panel on workforce issues for the professional group the Virginia Nurses Association.

Lawmakers in several states have introduced bills on artificial intelligence in health care, but a Stateline survey found only one that has been enacted: a Georgia law that allows the use of artificial intelligence devices in eye exams.

One Pennsylvania bill that's sitting in a House committee would require insurers to disclose whether they are using AI-based algorithms when reviewing claims to determine whether medical procedures are necessary.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Arvind Venkat, a Democrat sponsoring the bill and a physician, said the growth of artificial intelligence means it can be used to determine whether treatments or medications aren't covered by a patient's insurance.

"One of the problems we've seen with AI is that the data goes into the AI platform, it makes a decision, and it gets spit out, but that decision is only as good as the data being used to train the platform," Venkat said. "Existing biases are being reinforced by the use of artificial intelligence, and especially in the area of health insurance."

An Illinois bill would set the maximum number of patients that may be assigned to a registered nurse in specified situations. For health care facilities that use AI, nurses could override the technology's recommendations if they deem it in the patient's best interest.

The American Nurses Association's code of ethics, followed by all nurses in the country, states that advanced technologies, including AI, do not replace nursing skills or judgment.

In a position statement, the organization said nurses "are responsible for being informed about and ensuring the appropriate use of AI" for their patients. It also said it's essential for nurses to be a part of efforts to advocate for an AI governance framework that holds technology developers accountable.

Dan Weberg, the vice president of the American Nurses AssociationCalifornia and an expert in the connection between technology and nursing, said rapid advances in AI are making the issues more complicated.

"We've been using algorithms and machine-generated insights for a number of years," Weberg said, "but now, it's sort of getting more pressing with the complexity. It's getting more refined with more tools and that kind of stuff."

Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a nonprofit organization that advocates for privacy rights in the use of new technologies, said that in the absence of federal rules, he hopes state and local policymakers will begin to create policies modeled after that of the European Union.

The EU AI Act, which is set to become the world's first set of laws to govern artificial intelligence, could become the global standard for AI governance. It attempts to define artificial intelligence and would set rules for regulating the technology across the EU, including prohibited AI practices.

While acknowledging that the technology has major benefits, the legislation establishes rules for public and private entitiesincluding the health care sectorto use risk assessments, testing and more to ensure AI systems are working properly and protecting the rights of its users.

The EU's artificial intelligence liability directive, which was proposed in September 2022, would ease the burden of proof for victims to show damage caused by an AI system.

It's a really alarming moment for people in technology policy, Cahn said. There are new AI systems being deployed across industries, including health care, but without the laws in place to protect individuals in case something goes wrong, he said.

That doesn't mean AI systems should be scrapped, Cahn said, but ignoring the dangers of these systems would be a mistake. Policymakers should look at the impact of AI from every standpoint, he added, including the datasets used to train artificial intelligence that could hold implicit biases and lead to discrimination.

One challenge as AI advances is maintaining trust between providers and patients. Many patients fear that they're dealing with a robot rather than their practitioner, said Jennifer Shepherd, vice president of the Virginia Nurses Association. Providers must work with AI systems from a human-centered perspective, she added.

"One of the things we've thought about and what a lot of our focus is on is instead of just calling it 'AI in health care' or 'evidence-based AI,' what if we start using the term 'human-centered AI?'" said Shepherd. "Focusing in on that, it's not so scary."

2024 States Newsroom. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

One in four older adults take aspirin at least three times a week, mostly in hopes of preventing heart attacks and strokes, a new poll shows.

However, the findings from the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging suggest that many people aged 50 to 80 who said they take aspirin may not need to.

In all, 57% of people aged 50 to 80 who say they take aspirin regularly also said they don't have a history of cardiovascular disease. Such people should have a conversation with their health care provider about what's best for them before stopping or starting aspirin use.

National guidelines have changed in recent years for using aspirin for prevention because of new knowledge about who actually gets the most benefit from its ability to reduce the risk of blood clots and who faces a risk of bleeding.

Now, guidelines mostly focus on aspirin use in those who already have cardiovascular diseaseincluding those who have survived a heart attack or strokeand those who face a high risk of it because of their personal health and family history.

The poll shows that 14% of all adults aged 50 to 80 are taking aspirin even though they have no history of cardiovascular issues.

Whether or not someone has a cardiovascular history, aspirin does pose a bleeding risk that increases with age. That has led to guidelines that advise against routine aspirin use after age 70 or suggest that it may be reasonable to consider stopping around age 75 in those without cardiovascular disease.

The poll finds that 42% of all adults aged 75 to 80 are taking aspirin. Meanwhile, 31% of all older adults aged 50 to 80 who take aspirin don't appear to know about the bleeding risk associated with it.

The poll is based at the U-M Institute for Health care Policy and Innovation and is supported by AARP and Michigan Medicine, U-M's academic medical center. The poll team asked a national sample of adults aged 50 to 80 about their health history and use of aspirin; those who take it were also asked about why.

"Aspirin is no longer a one-size-fits-all preventive tool for older adults, which for decades it was touted as," says Jordan Schaefer, M.D., M.Sc., a hematologist at Michigan Medicine, who worked with the poll team. "This poll shows we have a long way to go to make sure aspirin use is consistent with current knowledge."

Adds Geoffrey Barnes, M.D., M.Sc., a Michigan Medicine cardiologist who also worked on the poll, "As guidelines change, it's important for everyone over 40 to talk with their health care provider about their individual cardiovascular risk based on their family history, past health issues, current medications, recent test results like blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar, and lifestyle factors like smoking, physical activity, and eating habits. Preventive aspirin use should be based on age plus these factors."

Updated knowledge and guidance

In all, the poll finds 71% of older adults who take aspirin started four or more years ago, which could mean that they and their health care provider may be basing their use on old advice.

Schaefer and Barnes note that because of continuing research on aspirin, two major guidelines changed in recent years for older adults who don't have a history of cardiovascular disease. In such people, taking aspirin is called primary prevention.

The American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association together say that daily low-dose aspirin use might be considered for the prevention of cardiovascular disease for select adults 40 to 70 of age who are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but not bleeding, based on a guideline updated in 2019. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which advises the federal government updated its guideline in 2022, and recommends against initiating aspirin for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in adults 60 years or older.

The AHA and ACC offer online calculators to help clinicians estimate a person's 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease if they don't already have it. Adults age 40-70 at higher cardiovascular disease risk may be good candidates for aspirin as primary prevention but should always talk with a health care provider before starting to take it.

Meanwhile, for people who have already had a heart attack, some types of stroke, or other cardiovascular diagnoses, the use of aspirin is still generally recommended unless the person is unable to tolerate it or has an unacceptable bleeding risk. This is called secondary prevention and should be done only under the supervision of a health care provider.

More dialogue needed

The poll shows the importance of open communication between health care providers and their older patients about all types of medication and supplements, including those like aspirin that are available 'over the counter' without a prescription.

The poll finds that 96% of those who take aspirin and have a cardiovascular history said their health care provider had recommended it. However, 77% of those who take aspirin and have no cardiovascular history said the samesuggesting a need for a discussion about updated guidelines. Also, among those who take aspirin but have no cardiovascular disease history, 20% said they started doing it on their own, and 5% said friends and family had advised them.

"Thanks to updated knowledge and reductions in other major risk factors such as smoking, we can use aspirin more precisely, focusing on those who need this inexpensive and easy-to-obtain preventive medication most and avoiding unnecessary risks for others," said poll director Jeffrey Kullgren, M.D., M.P.H., M.S. "These poll findings should spur more conversations between health care providers and patients about what's right for them."

Kullgren is a primary care physician at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and associate professor of internal medicine at U-M.

The poll report is based on findings from a nationally representative survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for IHPI and administered online and via phone in July and August 2023 among 2,657 adults aged 50 to 80, with an oversample of non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic populations. The sample was subsequently weighted to reflect the U.S. population. Read past National Poll on Healthy Aging reports and about the poll methodology.
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:

Tet2-deficient macrophages are hyperinflammatory in early ischemic kidney injury. Credit: Nature Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-02854-6

A U.S.-Canadian research collaboration led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center has identified common, age-associated changes in the blood as a risk factor for acute kidney injury (AKI), which occurs in more than 1 in 5 hospitalized adults worldwide.

This discovery, reported in the journal Nature Medicine, could open the door to new, more effective treatments for AKI and a way to prevent its progression to end-stage renal disease requiring kidney dialysis.

The focus of this investigation was clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), somatic (noninherited) mutations in blood stem cells that can trigger explosive, clonal expansions of abnormal cells.

CHIP, which affects 1020% of people ages 65 and older, is associated with an estimated 40% greater risk of death from cardiovascular, lung and liver disease, and other inflammatory conditions. This age group is also especially vulnerable to AKI.

"In addition to known causes for AKI, identification of an association with CHIP provides new insight into the increased risk and underlying mechanisms for the development of AKI among the older population," said Raymond Harris, MD, co-corresponding author of the paper with Alexander Bick, MD, Ph.D.

"We commonly think about how a chronic inflammation caused by CHIP can cause chronic diseases, but I was quite surprised at the effect CHIP had on an acute inflammation," Bick added.

Bick, an assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Genetic Medicine, has pioneered methods for determining the presence of CHIP and the mechanisms by which it leads to disease.

CHIP is associated with impaired recovery from AKI in the ASSESS-AKI and BioVU cohorts. a, Prevalence of CHIP among individuals with a resolving AKI pattern in ASSESS-AKI (n = 191) and BioVU (n = 88) compared to a nonresolving AKI pattern (n = 130 for ASSESS-AKI and n = 366 for BioVU), as defined by Bhatraju et al. b, Odds of nonresolving AKI pattern according to CHIP status, adjusted for age, sex, baseline creatinine, AKI stage, smoking status, ethnicity and history of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. c, Risk of significant kidney function impairment (primary study composite outcome of ESKD or eGFR decline by 50%) over 5 years of follow-up among ASSESS-AKI participants with baseline AKI according to CHIP status, adjusted for age, sex, baseline creatinine, AKI stage, smoking status, ethnicity and history of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. *P Nature Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-02854-6

Harris, the Ann and Roscoe R. Robinson Professor of Medicine, and director of research in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, is internationally known for his investigations of acute and chronic renal injury.

Researchers from Canada and across the United States contributed to the study, which was supervised by Bick, Harris and Cassianne Robinson-Cohen, Ph.D., associate professor of Medicine at VUMC. The study was led by first author Caitlyn Vlasschaert, MD, a resident physician in Medicine at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, who was previously a visiting research scholar at VUMC.

The researchers first showed that CHIP was associated with AKI in a meta-analysis of three population-based cohorts totaling more than 440,000 individuals from the UK (United Kingdom) Biobank, and two long-running studies in the United States.

The CHIP-AKI association was more pronounced in patients who required dialysis and in individuals with mutations other than in the DNMT3A gene, including the Tet2 and Jak2 genes.

Pursuing this finding, the researchers created mouse models of CHIP in which both Tet2 and Jak2 were mutated. They observed more severe AKI, greater infiltration of pro-inflammatory macrophages, a type of immune cell, in the kidneys, impaired recovery from AKI, and greater post-AKI fibrosis, or scarring.

These results suggest that CHIP inhibits recovery from AKI by inducing a pro-inflammatory response by mutant, infiltrating macrophages. It therefore may be possible to reduce this risk by targeting elements of the innate immune system that initiate and fan the flames of inflammation in the kidney, the researchers concluded.

"It was a privilege to closely collaborate with Dr. Harris's research group on this effort," Bick said. "It was remarkable to see how well our biobank scale observations were recapitulated by Dr. Harris's mechanistic experiments."

More information: Caitlyn Vlasschaert et al, Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential is associated with acute kidney injury, Nature Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-02854-6
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Aging baby boomers are swelling the ranks of elderly across the Western world, with Norway no exception.

We know Norway's elderly population will increase, and it's likely there will be far fewer health care professionals to take care of them. The last 20 years have seen the population of Norwegians over the age of 80 increase by 40,000; the percentage of people aged 6779 has grown by 37.9% over the last 10 years.

Over the next 20 years, there will be 250,000 more Norwegians over the age of 80.

The aging crisis has been predicted for a long time, but the country still doesn't appear to be prepared.

Research now shows that elderly people living in rural areas have higher mortality rates if they are discharged to a municipality under pressure.

Elderly people over the age of 70 who live in a municipality with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants are particularly vulnerable.

More than 350,000 elderly people involved in the study

Gudrun Maria Waaler Bjrnelv is an associate professor of Health Economics at NTNU. Her work has her concerned that municipal authorities in Norway may not be prepared for an aging population.

Working with a research team from NTNU, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim Municipal Authority and SINTEF, she has studied all Norwegians over the age of 70 who were admitted to emergency departments from 2012 to 2016.

That amounted to just over 350,000 people.

This group of elderly people had almost 900,000 emergency hospital admissions during this period. The researchers followed them for 30 days after the day they were admitted. The research is published in the Nordic Journal of Health Economics.

Nursing and care services that were under pressure led to increased mortality in elderly who were under their care, and that elderly people in small municipalities had the highest mortality rate.

A small municipality was defined as having fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. According to Statistics Norway, 70% of Norwegian municipalities in 2016 had fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. In total, 17% of the population lives in a small municipality.

Increased mortality rates in pressured municipalities

"Previously, it was thought that small municipalities do better than large municipalities, because they have fewer patients in hospitals waiting to be discharged to the municipal services. Our findings, however, indicate that small municipalities are more vulnerable during periods when the demand for nursing and care services is higher than the municipality can supply," says Bjrnelv.

She points out that small municipalities may experience more pressure regarding demand for available nursing home places and health professionals.

"This may make them more vulnerable to fluctuations and pressure on health services," Bjrnelv said.

To investigate how mortality rates among patients changed, the researchers relied on information regarding the amount of pressure individual municipalities were under.

The process is as follows:

As soon as a person is ready to be discharged from a hospital, the home municipality of the patient must either receive the patient in that municipality or pay a daily fee to the hospital until the patient is moved home to the municipality.

Need to know more about municipalities under pressure

"If there is a build-up of patients who are ready to be discharged from hospital to one municipality, this suggests that the municipal services such as home care and nursing homes are under pressure. It shows that they do not have the capacity to receive these patients," says Bjrnelv.

The study investigated how mortality rates changed if people were admitted to emergency departments during periods of increased pressure in the municipality. That would be during periods where many people from the same municipality as the acutely admitted patient were waiting to be discharged from hospital.

"We need to take a closer look at the municipal services, and it needs to happen now," says Bjrnelv. She believes that we must find out more about what happens when a municipality is under pressure.

"Is there a greater tendency to move some people home after hospitalization rather than to a municipal short-term care facility if the municipality is under pressure? Is it better for elderly people from a pressured municipality to longer in the hospitalwithout the municipality having to pay a 'fine' to the hospital? What is best for the patient?" Bjrnelv said.

More information: Gudrun Bjrnelv et al, Mortality and subsequent healthcare use among older patients discharged to a municipality with excess demand for elderly care, Nordic Journal of Health Economics (2024). DOI: 10.5617/njhe.10145
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:

Effect of ICV delivered CAR-T cells for UPN145 and patient overall survival and quality-of-life evaluations. Credit: Nature Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-02875-1

A pioneering Phase I CAR T cell therapy trial for the treatment of glioblastoma at City of Hope demonstrates promising clinical activity against incurable brain tumors, according to research published in Nature Medicine.

The study, which is the largest reported trial to date of CAR T therapy for solid tumors, evaluated CAR T cells engineered to target the tumor-associated antigen interleukin-13 receptor alpha 2 (IL13R2), a product invented at City of Hope and exclusively licensed by Mustang Bio Inc., a Fortress Biotech Inc. Company.

One of the main challenges for treating brain cancer is that medications have difficulty crossing the blood-brain barrier. To overcome that barrier, the trial delivered CAR T cells directly into the brain tumor and the cerebrospinal fluid, the fluid that protects and surrounds the brain and spinal cord.

Twenty-nine of the 58 patients with recurrent high-grade glioma brain tumors, mostly glioblastoma, achieved stable disease after treatment with CAR T cells for at least two months. There were two partial responses, one complete response and a second complete response after additional CAR T cell therapy cycles were delivered under compassionate use. The case was reported in New England Journal of Medicine in 2016.

"Glioblastomas are extremely aggressive tumors that leave patients with very limited treatment options, especially after they have relapsed, but this study shows the potential of CAR T cell therapy in treating brain cancer," said Christine Brown, Ph.D., The Heritage Provider Network Professor in Immunotherapy and deputy director of the T Cell Therapeutics Research Laboratories at City of Hope, who developed IL13R2-targeting CAR T cell therapy.

"This study is also the most extensive evaluation of delivering CAR T cells directly to a brain tumor, which we pioneered at City of Hope, and sets the foundation for other studies to utilize this approach."

Participants, all of whom had relapsed after prior treatment for GBM with surgery, chemotherapy or radiation, or all of these therapies, received intracranial injections of CAR T cells that target IL13R2, which is overexpressed in most glioblastomas.

Doses of the therapy were escalated as the trial progressed and all doses tested were well-tolerated. Three routes of administration were evaluated: direct injection to the tumor site, infusion into the cerebrospinal fluid or injection into both areas.

The median overall survival for all patients was eight months. The trial culminated in treating a patient cohort that used an optimized manufacturing process and injected CAR T cells at both the tumor site and into the cerebrospinal fluid.

For this final patient cohort, researchers were able to establish a maximal feasible dose and found that these patients had the best median overall survival of 10.2 months, which was higher than the expected survival rate of six months in patients with recurrent glioblastoma.

"These were heavily pretreated patients so we were not sure how they would do with CAR T cell therapy," said Behnam Badie, M.D., The Heritage Provider Network Professor in Gene Therapy, chief of neurosurgery at City of Hope and the study's senior author. "But some of them even did better than how they initially responded to standard of care treatments."

Peter Valadez, 58, of Ontario, California, is one of the patients who achieved complete remission. A former advertising executive and father of three, he was diagnosed with a high-grade glioma in 2014. The tumor on the right side of his brain was surgically removed three times. After his last surgery, non-City of Hope doctors told him the tumor could not be removed again.

"One doctor told me to get my affairs in order because I only had a few months to live," Valadez said. "She also told me to look into receiving CAR T cell therapy at City of Hope. I did, and that is why I am still here today."

Valadez received the CAR T cell therapy in July 2018 with minimal side effects. He did experience wound-related complications, likely the result of having several surgeries and prior radiation therapy to treat his tumor. The left side of his body is partially paralyzed.

The father of three grown children and a 5-year-old granddaughter has not received any other therapies since the CAR T therapy over five and a half years ago.

In addition to evaluating the safety and feasibility of IL13R2 CAR T cells delivered locally for this trial, Brown, Badie and the team also wanted to learn more about which patients might respond best to the therapy. By sampling tumors and cerebrospinal fluid at the delivery sites, they found certain markers that were positively associated with survival and with CAR T cell administration and bioactivity, respectively.

"The idea that you can deliver a therapy and sample the environment at the same time to analyze changes in the brain is very unique and could have a huge impact on the field," said Badie. "I think people will be adopting these technologies that can help us recognize potential mechanisms of resistance to or failure of therapy."

The trial results build on more than a decade of collaborative work between Brown, Badie, Stephen J. Forman, M.D., director of the T Cell Therapeutics Research Laboratories, and other City of Hope researchers on IL13R2-CAR T cells.

"This was an in-house translation of scientific findings to human trialsa clear example of how you can test a novel therapy in patients, go to the lab to improve it and then return to the clinic with a more effective therapy," said Badie.

"I think that back and forth is really unique to City of Hope and is only possible due to the incredible collaboration between our different teams and the capability City of Hope has to produce the CAR T cells on-site."

City of Hope, with its clinical, research and production facilities all on one campus, is uniquely positioned to harness the "bench to bedside" resources necessary for the discovery, development, manufacturing, quality assurance, testing and deployment of leading-edge treatments.

Next, the team says that future randomized studies in larger patient cohorts will be needed to confirm and expand their findings related to the critical parameters for successful CAR T therapy.

Brown says they are also excited to start a trial to engineer CAR T cells to be resistant to transforming growth factor-beta, a dominant tumor suppressor, as well as a study to combine different CARs that can target multiple antigens and build new bispecific CARs that could engage two disease targets instead of just one.

"Between the positive outcomes we saw in our Phase I study and the new avenues we are exploring, we hope our work can have a dramatic impact on the field of immunotherapy and the lives of cancers patients around the world," she said.

The study team also included researchers from Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, which is part of City of Hope.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

The COVID-19 virus can persist in the blood and tissue of patients for more than a year after the acute phase of the illness has ended, according to new research from UC San Francisco that offers potential clues to why some people develop long COVID.

The scientists found pieces of SARS-CoV-2, referred to as COVID antigens, lingering in the blood up to 14 months after infection and for more than two years in tissue samples from people who had COVID.

"These two studies provide some of the strongest evidence so far that COVID antigens can persist in some people, even though we think they have normal immune responses," said Michael Peluso, MD, an infectious disease researcher in the UCSF School of Medicine, who led both studies.

The findings were presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), which was held March 3 to 6, 2024, in Denver, Colorado.

Evidence of long-term infection

Early in the pandemic, COVID-19 was thought to be a transient illness. But a growing number of patients, even those who had previously been healthy, continued having symptoms, such as, brain fog, digestive problems and vascular issues, for months or even years.

The researchers looked at blood samples from 171 people who had been infected with COVID. Using an ultra-sensitive test for the COVID "spike" protein, which helps the virus break into human cells, the scientists found the virus was still present up to 14 months later in some people.

Among those who were hospitalized for COVID, the likelihood of detecting the COVID antigens was about twice as high as it was for those who were not. It was also higher for those who reported being sicker, but were not hospitalized.

"As a clinician, these associations convince me that we are on to something, because it makes sense that someone who had been sicker with COVID would have more antigen that can stick around," Peluso said.

Virus persists up to two years in tissue

Since the virus is believed to persist in the tissue reservoirs, the scientists turned to UCSF's Long COVID Tissue Bank, which contains samples donated by patients with and without long COVID.

They detected portions of viral RNA for up to two years after infection, although there was no evidence that the person had become reinfected. They found it in the connective tissue where immune cells are located, suggesting that the viral fragments were causing the immune system to attack. In some of the samples, the researchers found that the virus could be active.

Peluso said more research is needed to determine whether the persistence of these fragments drives long COVID and such associated risks as heart attack and stroke.

But, based on these findings, Peluso's team at UCSF is involved in multiple clinical trials that are testing whether monoclonal antibodies or antiviral drugs can remove the virus and improve the health of people with long COVID.

"There is a lot more work to be done, but I feel like we are making progress in really understanding the long-term consequences of this infection," Peluso said.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

In the four years after the border wall height was increased from 17 feet to 30 feet along the US-Mexican border, drowning deaths of migrants in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego increased by 3200%, according to a new study published in JAMA.

Co-authors Anna Lussier, M.D, Ph.D. student in the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, and Peter Lindholm, M.D., Ph.D., Gurnee Endowed Chair of Hyperbaric and Diving Medicine Research and professor in residence in the Department of Emergency Medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine, hypothesized that the change in wall-height may have resulted in an increase in marine and maritime migration attempts, resulting in more frequent drownings.

The study relied largely on publicly available data from the Missing Migrants Project (MMP), an initiative of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which coordinates the UN network on migration and compiles data on migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers who die during migration journeys.

The researchers analyzed MMP data across two 4-year periods: 20162019, before the 30-foot wall was completed, and 20202023, after construction was finished. They categorized deaths according to the body of water in which they occurredthe San Diego region of the Pacific Ocean; canals; and other bodies of water, such as lakes, streams, or drainage ditches. These were compared against drowning rates in the Rio Grande, where the wall is largely absent.

Contrasting before-and-after rates, drowning in the San Diego region of the Pacific Ocean rose from 1 in the four years prior to the wall height change to 33 in the four years after, a net increase of 3200%. In canals, that figure rose from 49 to 64 drownings, an increase of 30.6%, and in other bodies of water, from 15 to 35, an increase of 133.3%. Along the Rio Grande, those numbers remained relatively stable across both periods, with 97 drownings prior to 2020, and 96 drownings after, for a net decrease of 1.03%.

Lindholm explains, "Looking at the numbers, you can see that it's about the same in the Rio Grande, and it's a little more but not extraordinarily more in the ditches and canals. We don't have absolute data on how many people migrated, but if the number of drownings was related to the rate of migration, you would probably have a similar increase at all places."

The impetus for the paper came when Lussier discovered an information gap on migrant drowning deaths. She and Lindholm had been looking into the occupational health of people who work in the maritime environment in San Diego, such as lifeguards exposed to pollution and marine contamination.

"The lifeguards showed us a presentation on migrant rescues they were performing because of potential human smuggling," said Lussier, who is also a doctoral student at UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, whose Ph.D. studies focus on global public health. "Their stories weren't showing up in the news, and the numbers struck me as odd."

To fill the information gap, Lussier searched government datasets for data on marine migration and migrant drowning death. The data she was looking for was not readily available and often lacked critical factors, such as the baseline number of people who tried migratingwhat Lussier refers to as "the missing denominator."

Lussier eventually chose the MMP, which records the date and coordinates of each drowning and the number of people who drowned. That enabled her and Lindholm to compile a snapshot of migrant drowning deaths before and after the wall was augmented.

Maritime migration is a growing public health issue, and both Lussier and Lindholm feel that their unusual collaboration, which marries global public health with marine and undersea medicine, gives them a unique perspective that will enable them to make innovative contributions to the field.

They're currently working on a more granular view of their before-and-after picture, teasing apart the numbers to discern their meaning in greater detail. For instance, "drowning" is a bit of a gray zone, said Lindholm. "Drowning is the endpoint of death in the water, but we're trying to determine the actual cause of death: hypothermia? Hypoxia? Swimming-induced pulmonary edema?"

Lussier says they want to expand their dataset to multiple regions and other factors that may be involved, such as weather and water temperature. "Are more people drowning at a certain time of year, for instance? Can other sources give us information about the missing denominator of how many people tried migrating? Basically, we have this one data point, and now we want to understand what's happening beyond this simple change in numbers."

One of their end goals is to understand better medical outcomes among migrants who survive drowning, such as infections from contaminated water and lung injurieseven impacts on mental health. The scientists are also hoping to provide data that can inform decision-making for policymakers and EMS systems, as well as those who provide medical care to migrants who survive marine migrations.

More information: Anna Lussier et al, Rate of Aquatic and Maritime Drowning Deaths After US-Mexico Border Wall Height Increase, JAMA (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jama.2024.1275. jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/  cle-abstract/2816211
Heres a quick guide to some upcoming arts and cultural events happening around Missoula in the coming week.

An MCT comedy goes off the rails

(March 8-10, 14-17)

Missoula Community Theatres latest production is a humorous farce called The Play That Goes Wrong.

The show within the show is called The Murder at Haversham Manor that apparently experiences total breakdowns. If youve seen Noises Off! youll know that this type of meta play can be very funny.

The shows pretty young in theater years, too, dating back to 2012. Brought to life by the producers of Avenue Q, it won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 2015, and The New York Times described the Broadway version as a Monty Python-esque murder mystery farce.

The director is Sarah Walker Thornton, an MCT staffer who directed The 39 Steps during her tenure as artistic director of the Cloverdale Playhouse in Montgomery, Alabama.

Details: March 8-10, 14-17, MCT Center for the Performing Arts, tickets at mctinc.org. Equivalent of a PG rating.

UM arts fundraiser with Hank Green

(Saturday, March 9)

Each year, the UM College of Arts and Media holds a fundraiser, Odyssey of Our Stars, that throws the spotlight on the achievements of an alum. The list is fascinating, indeed. There are visual artists like Monte Dolack and Beth Lo, or an actor like JK Simmons. Some may not realize the connection between Friends and Missoula, but production designer John Shaffner designed the famous apartment. (It just so happens hell be emcee this year.)

For 2024, theyve selected online science Renaissance man, Hank Green. The SciShow YouTube impresario, novelist and all-around smart guy will get the star treatment with student and faculty performances. Theyll range from the School of Musics new Commercial Music Ensemble to a scene from the recent production of Midsummer Nights Dream.

Details: 7:30 p.m., Montana Theatre, PAR/TV Center. Tickets at umt.edu/arts-media/odyssey.

Bare Bait Dances next moves

(March 8-10, 15-16)

The contemporary dance company's new show, A Small Shift in an Uncomfortable Place," features a diverse playlist of moves: One piece is improvised. Another, which uses the Westside Theater's aerial harnesses, was developed with a guest choreographer from Seattle, Rachael Lincoln. The centerpiece, clocking in at around 40 minutes, was developed by the dancers themselves.

Details: Westside Theater, 1200 Shakespeare St. Tickets are $32/$36 adults advance/day of and $25-$28 students, seniors and military. Go to thewestsidetheater.com.

UM piano professor duets with her mother

(Sunday, March 10)

Margery McDuffie Whatley, a piano professor at the UM School of Music, has classical music running through the family tree back in her home state of Georgia. Her brother is Robert McDuffie, a star violinist, who came to town in 2022 so the two of them could perform with the Missoula Symphony Orchestra.

This weekend, their mother, Susan T. McDuffie, is coming to campus for a piano concert. She attended Wesleyan College and later taught there as a faculty member, and was active around the Macon music world, performing classical as well as jazz.

The two will perform solos and duets by composers such as Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, Gershwin, Piazzolla and more, according to an email from McDuffie Whatley.

Details: 3 p.m., UM School of Music Recital Hall, tickets at griztix.com or at the door.

Quick hits

Neko Case at the Wilma: The high-powered vocalist with equally formidable lyrical skills is back for another show at the citys No. 1 venue. Shell play the Wilma on Wednesday, March 13, with opener Riddy Arman. Tickets are $28-$46, all ages.

LGBTQ Centers Oscar watch party: The local center, which sponsors the now sprawling Missoula Pride, will host Lights, Camera, SASS, at the ZACC Show Room, where you can watch the Academy Awards to see if Lily Gladstone potentially makes another historic awards night win. Sunday, March 10. Doors at 4:30 p.m., show starts at 5 p.m. Free, formal attire encouraged.
A trial in Lake County for the woman suspected of killing Mika Westwolf last year was rescheduled for this upcoming fall.

Sunny K. White is facing five felony charges, including vehicular homicide, in connection to the death of Westwolf, a young Indigenous woman who was hit and killed by a car along Highway 93 near Arlee last year. March 31 will be the one-year anniversary of Westwolfs death.

A tribal police officer was on duty when he found Westwolfs body on the highway around 4:15 a.m. on the morning of March 31, 2023. Authorities tracked down White, according to the crash report, and found the suspect's Cadillac Escalade in Polson roughly an hour later using a description of damage the vehicle sustained from the collision. White reportedly told troopers she thought she struck a deer, according to charging documents.

She had her two young children, named Aryan and Nation, in the car, according to the crash report and case affidavit. Their ages were 2 and 4.

Evidence collected from the crash site indicates Westwolf was walking in the northbound lane of traffic when she was struck. She was hit head-on by the cars passenger side, the case affidavit states. Westwolf died on scene from multiple blunt-force injuries.

White, who previously pleaded not guilty to all five charges, originally had a jury trial scheduled for May, but court filings show the trial is now scheduled to start on Sept. 30, 2024. Court documents also show White has a new attorney, Public Defender Meghan Benson. She was previously represented by Sterling Laudon from the Montana Office of Public Defenders.

Following Whites arraignment in November, Carissa Heavy Runner, Westwolfs mother, vocalized wanting the case to go to trial as opposed to White being offered a plea deal by prosecutors.

The news of Westwolfs death has drawn national attention. Westwolfs family led a statewide campaign, with awareness walks, rallies and other events, calling for justice and awareness in her case as well as other cases of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

Whites next hearing is scheduled for April 10. Lake County Attorney James Lapotka is prosecuting for the state.
You are here: Travel

 Flash

China will adopt a visa-free policy for Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg on a trial basis, starting March 14, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

"We hope more countries will also offer Chinese citizens visa facilitation and work with us to build fast-track networks for cross-border travels and encourage speedy resumption of international passenger flights," Wang told a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress, China's national legislature.

This will make it more convenient for Chinese citizens to travel abroad, and make foreign friends feel at home in China, he said.




Family Promise of Greater Helena, Townsend and Broadwater County plans to build a new shelter for homeless families in Helena at its at 2814 N. Cooke St. site and be able to house 18 families at a time with its rotational system.

This project is significant for Family Promise. Without this extra space we were really challenged in trying to serve other families in the community, Executive Director Renee Bauer said.

And Family Promise said on Feb. 29 it bought the First Christian Church at 311 Power St. for $1, and plans on using sparsely used space within the church for its offices and other activities, officials with the nonprofit said.

Family Promise leased the building back to the church congregation for 80 years and can be renewed for another 80 years, so Bauer said the church and its congregation are not going anywhere.

The Cooke Street project will cost the organization roughly $1.25 million, but it received $250,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds from the city. The organization will rely heavily on donations and support from the community and businesses that want to see a solution for helping the homeless population.

The new shelter will be two stories and fit with parking and a stronger foundation on the 5,500-square-foot plot of land where the day center is located. Bauer and the organization are working with CJP Construction, which said Family Promise could break ground in the next 30 to 45 days.

Based on recent evaluations, the construction company and the organization believe the project could be finished by December, but Family Promise will need to apply for demolition permits before the project can start.

Bauer said the organization is working on getting the building permits, but has to make "minor" modifications to the blueprints before resubmitting in about two weeks. She said they will apply for the demolition permit after the approval of the building permits.

I think that the community of Helena really understands that we are at a critical point with our homeless population and that we need to have more adequate shelter space, Bauer said.

Family Promise is open to any families in need, but it is not a drop-in shelter, but a program, Bauer said. Currently the organization can house four families at once, but homeless numbers have risen at a frightening pace, Bauer said.

Church Pastor Gloria Soja said everyone is background checked before being admitted to the Family Promise program.

It is a program with educational life skills, job development, basically anything a family would need to get back on their feet, Soja said.

Bauer said the organization served 205 families and 502 children in 2023.

Family Promises partners include 14 churches, including First Christian, and Carroll College, which all contribute to helping the organization with its efforts in helping others. The church is planning a community gathering for April 7 at the church offering tours and opening the building to the community.

Family Promise offers courses as a part of its program for families at risk of being evicted or simply needing a place to live for a short period. The program offers financial advisory courses to educate families on how to live within their means.

I think the difference between Family Promise and other organizations and shelters is that this organization shelters families and children. I think peoples hearts are always open to that, Family Promise board member Cindy Stevens said.

Another course Family Promise offers is a prevention and diversion program that helps families with addictions as well as other at-risk factors. The current programs and meetings held at the church include narcotics anonymous and alcoholics anonymous, which will continue to be held at the church.

Bauer said the organization has roughly 15 families in its prevention and diversion program per month and was dealing with 28 families with children living in their cars in February. Family Promise works with Helena Public Schools homeless liaison Michele Zentz for families with school-age children.

Graduates of the program receive follow-up check-ins from the organization for up to two years, so that it can make sure the families are doing well and staying on the right track.

This is why our graduates and programs are so successful in the community, Bauer said. She added that she feels the community of Helena wants to see solutions to the growing homeless population resulting in people being helped and put in successful situations.

Due to a great relationship with the church, Bauer said the organization was able to purchase the church for $1, which she borrowed from the churchs vice moderator John Bennett, even though the property was valued at $5 million by a local Realtor.

We sold the building to Family Promise, but our church, our congregation is 100% active and worshiping and will continue to worship in the sanctuary as the oldest continually running congregation in Montana, Soja said. The congregation has been running for 140 years.

The pastor added that the building will now be used for something much more helpful in the community and will have a great new purpose.

Stevens said what makes the process so significant is that the First Christian Church was the first church to work with Family Promise since its inception in 2010 in Helena.

The church was built in 1857, with a Sunday school wing built 100 years later in 1957. The church has been remodeled over the years with the new wing, but also the changing of the main entrance from the front of the church to the side.

The church was designed to support the Sunday school with classrooms for the Helena Christian School, according to Soja, and she said thats why it will be an easy transition to offices and workspaces.

By purchasing the building for $1, Bauer said the organization can help the church pay for utilities and deferred maintenance projects over time with the help of community donations to keep the church running efficiently.

Family Promise needed space during the COVID-19 pandemic because space was limited or considered unsafe, according to Barb Lancaster, chairperson of worship for the church.

We realized that our building had not been used for many years by the church. We havent had Sunday school classes in several years and it was an opportunity to see that this building has a lot of good space, Lancaster said.

For those wishing to contribute to this project through donations or have questions, can contact Family Promise at: https://bit.ly/436mkx6 or email at: advocate@familypromisehelena.org.
March 8 is International Womens Day. It is a time to celebrate women's social, economic, cultural, and political achievements and mark a call to action to accelerate womens equality.

This day is significant for us at the Womens Foundation of Montana as our work focuses on providing individuals across the state with the tools and opportunity to shape a future for themselves that isnt held back by their gender.

We are excited that this year marks our 25th anniversary. As we look back on the past 25 years of our work and women's lives then and now, it is no surprise that women face different challenges than they did decades ago.

In some ways, the lives of women are significantly better. Since 1999, Montana passed laws better protecting women who have been victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Advocates fought for and won better legal protections for nursing mothers. Montana removed offensive terms referring to women from state lands. In 2010, voters approved a rate cap on payday loans, an industry where single moms are overrepresented as customers. And in 2023, Montana policymakers invested $14 million to help make child care more affordable for families and expanded Medicaid to include 12 months of postpartum care.

This is meaningful progress. However, in the past few years, we have experienced events that heightened the inequalities that women face at home and in the workplace. By this time in history and our lives, women should be equal to men in every part of society, yet we are still held back in many aspects of life.

Most women in Montana still do not have paid family leave, whether to care for a new baby or an aging parent. We still have a significant gender pay gap, partially caused by womens lack of access to capital and overrepresentation in lower-paying jobs. Every county in Montana needs more quality, affordable childcare. Indigenous women continue to face severe maternal health disparities. We need to continue to protect access to the full range of reproductive health care, including abortion.

While the work that needs to be done can feel overwhelming, there are incredible organizations and leaders around the state committed to improving the lives of women. The Womens Foundation of Montana is proud to witness this dedication, and we are proud to fund many women-led organizations doing the work that will impact women and children for generations to come.

As we acknowledge a day like International Womens Day, celebrating might feel complicated. However, I have hope for brighter years ahead. The Montana I know is filled with women who do the hard work of caring for their families, neighbors, and communities every day. The Montana I know values the gifts residents bring to our state regardless of their gender.

Its time to bring women back together to make our collective voices heard. When elected leaders and community members hear directly from women, especially those with diverse perspectives often not heard in the media or the halls of government, attitudes and opinions change.

I ask all fellow Montanans to deepen your support of the women in our state. Make a special effort to frequent women-owned businesses. Channel your charitable dollars to women-led nonprofits working to make the future brighter for the women and girls in our state. And support women as they step into local and state government leadership positions.

Every corner of Montana will benefit when we all can learn from the talents, experience, and leadership of women.
Most Wanted List

Donations of new or gently used copies of any of the best-selling titles are most appreciated. To date, the library has received 1,034 of these most wanted books.

Current New York Times Best Sellers and NC Cardinal Consortium Holds

1. The Women by Kristin Hannah  1,270 holds

2. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros  140 holds

3. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros  119 holds

4. The Teacher by Frieda McFadden  193 holds

5. The Chaos Agent by Mark Greaney  48 holds

6. House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas  38 holds

7. Bride by Ali Hazelwood  43 holds

8. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride  490 holds

9. Icebreaker by Hannah Grace  55 holds

10. A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas  13 holds

Adult programming

Needlework in the Morning, Friday, Mar. 8, at 10 a.m. at Little Guatemala. No registration is required. Join us for a musical journey as Andrew Finn Magill presents Connections between Irish, Scottish, and Appalachian Fiddling, on Saturday, Mar. 9, at 2 p.m. at the Morganton Public Library. Andrew Finn Magill is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist composer, performer, and educator from Asheville, North Carolina. The performance is free to attend due to the generous support of the Library Foundation of Burke County. The Bibliomaniacs subscription box for adults will be available on a first-come, first-served basis on Monday, Mar. 11, at all three Burke County Public Library locations. The program is for adults only. Vaya Educational Lunch Series, PTSD: Healing the Emotional Wound, is on Wednesday, Mar. 13, at 12 p.m. at the Morganton Public Library. Bottled water and snacks will be available, as well as CEUs for anyone who needs them. Pop-Up Craft on Thursday, Mar. 14, at 5:30 p.m. at the Valdese Public Library. Pre-registration is required to attend. For more information please call Danielle at 828-764-9269 or email danielle.townsend@burkenc.org. All programs are for adults only unless otherwise stated.

Young adult programming

Ready to get geeky? Join us on Monday, Mar. 11, at the C.B. Hildebrand Public Library at 6 p.m. for DIY Pokeball Terrariums! Pre-registration is encouraged to ensure enough supplies are available. Tuesday, Mar. 12, at 5 p.m. is our Canvas Art & Movie Night at the Valdese Public Library featuring the film The Hunger Games: A Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (PG-13  158 min.). No pre-registration is required to attend. Canvas, paint, and snacks are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Thursday, Mar. 14, at 4 p.m. is Game Night at the Morganton Public Library. Snacks and games are provided! No pre-registration is required, and teens are encouraged to bring their own games to share. Finally, on Friday, Mar. 15, at 4 p.m. online via Discord is D&D. This session is for our beginners players group. Pre-registration, Discord, and Roll20.net access is required to attend. For more information on programs, registration, and Discord access contact Lizzie at 828-764-9273 or by email at lizzie.whisnant@burkenc.org.

Childrens programming

Looking for a unique, cultural experience for your family today? A Musical Afternoon with Andrew Finn Magill will be held at 2:00 p.m. at the Morganton Public Library. Magill is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist composer, performer, and educator from Asheville, NC. Bring the family out for this experience!

Have you found the Seek-and-Find Aquarium at the Valdese Public Library yet? It is located in the Childrens Room, and the challenge changes each month. Kids in 5th grade and under are invited to find the listed items and redeem their sheets for a prize! (One prize per child per month.)

Mark your calendars for the Tots and Pals Discovery Lab next Saturday, Mar. 16, from 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. at the Morganton Public Library. Children aged 1-5 are invited to come explore, create, tinker and learn while using Duplo and other building materials.

Time is running out to sign up for the Neighborhood Forest Free Trees for Children program with the Morganton Public Library! You are invited to register your child to receive a free tree sapling just in time for Earth Day. Registration is available through Mar. 14, and the free saplings will be delivered in April. If you would like to register your child, visit https://www.neighborhoodforest.org/. Click the Get Free Trees button at the top and select Burke County Public Library as your institution. From there, just follow the directions to register your child. If you have any questions or need help, feel free to contact the Youth Services desk at 828-764-9274.

Volunteer opportunities

Volunteers are needed at the Morganton Public Library to assist with landscape maintenance. We need some folks to help us keep our newly landscaped areas free of weeds and debris. If you would like to help call Library Director Jim Wilson at 764-9276 or email at jwilson@bcpls.org.

eBooks @ your library

So far, 4,871 Burke County Public Library users have registered to use the librarys digital collection available through the e-iNC consortium and NC Kids Digital Library. This digital collection includes eBooks, audiobooks, and streaming video available to Burke County Public Library cardholders. Apps are available for download for a variety of devices including Kindle, iPhone, and Android phones. Go to http://omc.overdrive.com to see the apps. To access the collection and download items go to http://e-inc.lib.overdrive.com and follow the instructions to set up an account. You will need to know your library card number and your PIN. Please contact the library if you need any assistance.

Find us on the web

Go to www.bcpls.org for a list of programs and events. Unless noted otherwise, all library programs are free. Some programs have pre-registration and age requirements.
Butte's Irish jumped on the Irish Victory Drive for the Freedom of Ireland band wagon on April 30, 1916. It was reported in The Anaconda Standard that an estimated thousand Irish and Irish-Americans descended on Hibernia Hall in Centerville, ready and willing to do their part. That first day, $2,476 was collected in cash and pledges. That amount was nothing to sneeze at. In today's market, it would be the equivalent of about $69,323.
Additional noteworthy nuggets

 Hoovestal told jurors during opening statements Tuesday that Hubber would take the stand and testify during the trial.

 Though not a common practice in Butte-Silver Bow County, people attending this trial must go through metal detectors to get inside the courtroom.

Several witnesses have had run-ins with the law. One is at the Montana State Prison and Sandoval is serving part of a sentence at a pre-release center in Helena.

 Before the trial got underway Tuesday, the number of jurors went from 12 and three alternates to 12 and two alternates.

The jurors were selected Monday but later that night, one called a probation officer and said she was terrified of law enforcement and had relatives in jail.

Lead prosecutor Kelli Fivey informed the court of that Tuesday morning and the juror was scratched. On Wednesday, there were 12 jurors and just one alternate.

 At least a few dozen people have attended the first two days of the trial. They include relatives and friends of the defendants and of Harris.

Judge Whelan said everyone was welcome but the trial would include emotional moments for some.

"If there are any outbursts or comments from the gallery, you will be removed," Whelan said, adding they would not be allowed back.

 Hoovestal has noted several times that Hubber sought police assistance in apprehending Sandoval before and on Dec. 19 and got no help.

Officers met Hubber at one location before Dec. 19 but said they could only arrest Sandoval if he was outside. Hubber called police dispatch on Dec. 19 and said he was going to apprehend Sandoval at the house on Main Street, Hoovestal said, but an officer balked at helping Hubber.

The officer testified that he didn't trust Hubber's information or approve of bounty hunting tactics he used, but Hoovestal says Sandoval's bench warrants were court orders that he be arrested. He has suggested the deadly events would not have occurred if police had served the warrants.

"You have a duty to enforce the law," Hoovestal told the officer. "You have a duty to protect the public."
Representatives from the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services met with the Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board on Monday about conditions at the tribal jail.

For decades, the tribal jail in Poplar has operated under whats called a 638 contract, which means that the tribes run the jail and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) oversees and funds it. In 2023, the BIA allocated $3.9 million to the Fort Peck Correctional Program. While the tribes run the jail, employees must operate within BIA guidelines.

After a 25-year-old died while in custody, Lee Montana News in February spoke with 12 people who were recently incarcerated in the Fort Peck Adult Corrections Facility, six family members of those who have been incarcerated and one former corrections employee.

Community members alleged instances of unwarranted use of force, medical neglect and poor hygiene conditions at the jail. A former employee confirmed these allegations. And several people, including the former employee, claimed some corrections officers did not receive the required federal certification. As of Monday, the tribal jail housed 82 inmates.

According to council meeting minutes, Office of Justice Services representative Brandon Mikkanen said the federal agency could assist the tribes in training and recruiting corrections officers, though the tribes would have to pay for this assistance. Mikkanen also reportedly suggested the tribes use some of their 638 contract funds to support mental health training or resources in the jail.

Chairman Justin Gray Hawk, according to meeting minutes, said having senior corrections officers would be beneficial, and Mikkanen said his office could get involved right away. Gray Hawk and other tribal executive board members did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
When Karen Knudsen moved to Missoula more than three decades ago, she was dismayed to learn that many people didn't go into the river that cut through the heart of town because of how contaminated it was.

It's hard to imagine today, when the river fills each summer with people floating, surfing and fishing. For Knudsen, it was all in a life's work.

After a 31-year career at the Clark Fork Coalition  and the past 17 years as its executive director  she is retiring. Her final day will be May 15. Brian Chaffin, currently a tenured professor of water, natural resource and climate policy at University of Montana, will leave that role to become the nonprofit's next director beginning June 3. An interim director will bridge the gap between the two.

In Knudsen's time with the group, the Milltown Dam was removed and the former reservoir it created was returned to a natural waterway. Contamination from historical mining in the upper Clark Fork near Butte and Anaconda has been addressed under federal Superfund designation, particularly where it had accumulated behind the dam. Billions of gallons of water flow have been returned to the Clark Fork basin through work on dozens of tributaries.

Thousands of people annually now flock to the former dam site near the Blackfoot-Clark Fork confluence and downstream through town. And all those floaters, anglers and surfers created a new need for recreation management along the once blighted river.

At the helm of the Clark Fork Coalition, Knudsen, now 61, prodded industry, agriculture and government, and convened the same groups as stakeholders. She oversaw an expansion of the nonprofit's mission to include actual work projects and, later, outreach around recreation management alongside advocacy. She led a strategic refocusing on improving water quantity, not just quality, in the era of climate change.

Her aggressive push for cleanup and rehab as soon as possible, such as with buried toxic sludge at the former Smurfit-Stone cardboard container plant near Frenchtown, was sometimes at odds with slower moving government entities, like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. And, particularly at Smurfit, she advocated for a more comprehensive cleanup than what the EPA has committed to. Her persistence burnished the coalition's reputation as a leading regional advocate for a crucial western Montana waterway.

"This river sustains us," she said Tuesday, "this is the backbone of our economy."

Tracy Stone-Manning, Knudsen's predecessor as executive director from 1999 to 2007 and now the director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, said in a phone call Tuesday that Knudsen "has left that river and that watershed better off than she found it, and thats a beautiful gift to us all."

"For Karen and what shes given to the Clark Fork basin, its been a vocation and a remarkably beautiful one. She is deeply grounded and committed to place," Stone-Manning said. "We all hope that our work matters, right? And I know that when people look at her they say, 'Her work has mattered. The river is literally better off.'"

Stone-Manning remembered encouraging Knudsen to apply for the director position as Stone-Manning was leaving it. And, having worked with her for years, she was pleased the "whip-smart" Knudsen became her successor.

"I recall her standing in my house in 2003 when we were all raising a glass to her to celebrate her 10 years," Stone-Manning said. "Little did we know that wed be raising a glass to her 21 years later celebrating her tenure. Its just a great thing."

Those years somewhat blend together, Knudsen said, because the organization is so often focused on long-term goals with multi-generational strategies. But when she became the coalition's leader in 2007, having previously worked as business manager and communications director, it was a time of tangible victory.

"When I think about 2007, I think about success with the Milltown Dam removal decision," she said. "It was rainbows and backflips and ice cream happening with our office."

But there was a problem: How would an organization that built its identity around the Milltown Dam remain relevant once the dam was gone? That existential worry spurred Knudsen to expand the organization's mission to include actual stream restoration work projects across the greater basin alongside outreach and advocacy.

"Under Karens leadership, she understood that the problems of the future are water quantity, and she dove in," Stone-Manning said. "Given a changing climate, working tributary by tributary, ensuring that water is staying in the system  not sexy work, not banner headlines in the Missoulian work," but critical nonetheless.

"She saw that and she didn't give up."

The stream restoration team now has seven staffers and its projects have shown measurable improvement on 22 tributaries to the Clark Fork, Knudsen said, including 10 billion gallons more water reaching the Clark Fork annually, seven tributaries reconnected to main streams and miles of revegetated riparian habitat. And a 2010 merger with the Montana Water Trust allowed the coalition to amass in-stream-flow water rights aimed at protecting water quantity.

"Theres many little projects that, when you complete them and stack them up, you do see impacts that are as significant as the removal of a dam at the confluence of rivers," she said. "Were doing a lot of work on the plumbing of three headwaters sub-basins. We took a threat, turned it into an opportunity, got to work and turned it into key results."

It's work that Chaffin, 42, hopes to continue when he takes over from Knudsen. He's been shadowing the outgoing director while wrapping up his final semester at UM. But his involvement with the nonprofit began when it contacted him around 2018 or '19 "for a variety of reasons," he said Tuesday, including water research, irrigation water and facilitating stakeholder meetings such as with the EPA's Smurfit-Stone Community Advisory Group.

Chaffin moved West to Moscow, Idaho, for college from Cincinnati, Ohio, three days after he turned 18, he said. He holds a Ph.D. from Oregon State University and conducted post-doctorate work at the EPA's offices of water, and research and development. He has worked as a commercial river guide and a Forest Service river ranger. He said his nine years at UM, which also included conducting research and teaching a graduate course on social-ecological systems, and his previous jobs prepared him for the jump to the Clark Fork Coalition.

"Rivers definitely flow through the whole career trajectory," he said, adding later that "Ive been really fortunate since moving to Missoula and the University of Montana to be really integrated into the water policy circle," whether its regulators, landowners, nonprofits or others. "Theres a lot of readymade relationships that we can call on to get the work done."

Knudsen noted, "In our shadowing this morning Brian already knew everybody."

Chaffin said he hoped to continue a collaborative approach to improving and protecting the Clark Fork while also advocating for its communities.

"We have that hammer of advocacy and even litigation if necessary, but the foundations of what Karen has built are built on collaboration," he said, "and listening to the river to understand what it needs, and the communities that live along the river."

For Knudsen, the transition marks her move to retired life: "The big picture is I shut down my computer, I hand the keys to Brian, and then I pursue learning activities, outdoor activities with friends and families, with reckless abandon."

But after "about three months of fun," she added, "I will be putting my citizen activist hat on in Missoula."
Right now, if someone living on a reservation in Montana wanted to access addiction treatment, they would likely have to leave their community and possibly the state to get the care they need.

On Tuesday, tribal leaders from across the state gathered in Great Falls, where they urged a new commission of lawmakers and state health leaders to invest in a regional Indigenous treatment facility.

Established by the 2023 Legislature, the statewide Behavioral Health System for Future Generations Commission is tasked with recommending to the governor how a historic $300 million investment should be spent. The group is led by Rep. Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, and state health department Director Charlie Brereton. While previous meetings focused on behavioral health in the criminal justice system, developmental disabilities and children's issues, Tuesday's meeting was dedicated to understanding the behavioral health landscape in Indian Country.

While several treatment facilities  such as Crystal Creek Lodge Treatment Center on the Blackfeet Reservation or Spotted Bull Recovery Resource Center on the Fort Peck Reservation  offer inpatient or outpatient services, community members say the facilities are almost always at capacity.

Sometimes, people can get a bed elsewhere in cities like Butte, Great Falls or Billings. But those facilities are also often full. And tribal health experts say when individuals return to their communities without necessary support or whats called an aftercare plan, they often relapse.

Because its hard to get treatment in Montana, providers in tribal communities began referring people out of state for treatment in places like Arizona or California. For a lot of people, this option felt like a godsend because it meant someone seeking treatment could access it immediately.

But last summer, news broke that treatment centers in Arizona conducted a widespread Medicaid fraud scheme where facilities billed for services that were not actually provided. The scandal specifically took advantage of Indigenous people from Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota with the false promise of culturally sensitive care.

The problem has gotten so bad that in some tribal communities, people say the only reliable way to ensure a loved one is safe from addiction is to get them put in jail. But of course, that's not a good option either. Corrections officers are not addiction specialists, and community members have condemned conditions at several tribal jails in the state. Making matters worse, Montanas state-run psychiatric hospital in Warm Springs, reached its "legally authorized capacity" last month.

In Montana, where Native Americans make up 6.7% of the states population, Indigenous people, on average, die 17 years younger than their white neighbors. Native Americans are seven times more likely to die of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis than non-Natives and 3.5 times more likely to die of kidney disease, all of which can be related to substance abuse.

While plans for a regional Indigenous treatment center are in the early stages, tribal leaders said the center would ideally provide inpatient, outpatient, detox and family services while incorporating culturally relevant care. At Tuesday's meeting, tribal leaders said they need support from the state as well as significant financial investment.

At Tuesdays meeting, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Councilwoman Carole Lankford said setting aside money for a regional treatment center would validate tribal sovereignty and allow tribes to determine the services that meet their own members' needs.

Dana Buckles, Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board member, said his community needs a detox center.

We have a treatment center back home, but you have to wait a month to get sent off somewhere, he said. The system just seems like its not working at times. We have one or two behavioral health (clinicians) for our whole reservation of more than 10,000 people.

Joel Rosette, CEO of the Rocky Boy Health Center, said a regional treatment facility would allow tribes to work together, rather than fighting over resources.

Thats what happens with the Indian Health Service and grants, he said. They pit us tribes against each other. This (treatment center) makes it so that were not fighting over crumbs. Thats how the structure of it came about.

Several people emphasized the importance of culturally sensitive care, saying connecting with culture and language fosters a sense of identity and builds confidence.

As Indigenous people, were trying to fit into this Western system, Rosette explained. And its important to return to traditional healing practices as well. Our language and culture are part of that  some people felt shame speaking our language or shame in being Indigenous. If we have our language and culture, as Indigenous people, we are a lot healthier.

Tribal leaders told the commission that funding needs are simply not met in tribal communities. In its last budget report, the Indian Health Service said it would need nearly $50 billion to be sufficiently funded. The Biden administration last year allocated $9.3 billion to the agency  $40 billion short of the request but still the largest investment in IHS to date. Urban Indian health organization leaders told state officials they receive about 1% of the IHS budget, which falls significantly short of their needs.

Molly Wendland, director of operations for the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana, put it simply for the commission: Tribes need capital investment in cultural care.

The next Behavioral Health System for Future Generations Commission meeting will be March 28 and 29 in Havre. For more information, visit DPHHS.mt.gov.
The state argued Wednesday before the Montana Supreme Court that a Helena judge was wrong last year when he struck down a parental consent law for minors seeking abortions, saying minors are not entitled to the same privacy rights as adults and that the lower judge should have focused on balancing what privacy rights minors do have against the state's interest in protecting them.

But the lawyer for Planned Parenthood of Montana countered that the state has not proved it should have the ability to restrict the rights of minors to access abortions.

Wednesdays hearing marked another step in the more-than-a-decade-long case over parental involvement abortion laws in Montana. The Notification Act was put into place by voters through a ballot issue in 2012 and the Consent Act was created by lawmakers shortly after, and Planned Parenthood of Montana later sued. Last February after years of delay, a Helena judge struck down the states parental consent law, saying it conflicted with the individual right to privacy established in the states Constitution.

The district court judge also ordered a trial over the notification act, saying there were genuine disputes of fact in court debate over the law. The notification requirement has been in place while the litigation plays out.

Abortion is legal in Montana under the 1999 state Supreme Court order known as Armstrong that found the Montana Constitutions right to privacy protected access to the point of viability. Republicans have long had their sights on overturning Armstrong, and have said following the fall of Roe v. Wade at the federal level, Montanas protections should also go. However, courts have found repeatedly Montanas right to privacy is one of the strongest in the nation. Several laws limiting access to abortion in recent legislative sessions have stalled out in the courts.

The Montana Constitution, Montana law in this court's precedents recognize the basic truth that children are different from adults and require protection, argued Brent Mead, a lawyer representing the state Department of Justice on Wednesday.

A portion of the hearing focused on the district court judges strict scrutiny of the case, or determining if the consent law was the least-invasive way possible to implement the governments interests in protecting minors. Where Mead said the state felt that parental identification requirements in the consent act cleared up a loophole where someone other than a minors parent could be contacted to consent to the abortion, Justice Jim Shea asked what would prevent the notification act from being updated to include the same identification provisions  resulting in a less-restrictive measure.

Mead's arguments also included the claims that minors who obtain abortions face risks to their physical and mental health.

The plaintiffs don't require follow-up care on a minor who obtains an abortion. And so the parental involvement provision is there to ensure that there is someone who is observing the minor for the symptoms when they manifest either in the case of some physical symptoms like internal bleeding, if that manifest two or four days later, there is someone there who knows what happened, Mead said.   Parental involvement furthers the fundamental rights of parents to care and nurture their children.

But Tanis Holm, the lawyer representing Planned Parenthood of Montana, countered that point.

This court has found in numerous cases that abortion is exceedingly safe. Holm argued.   It's important that to know that minors who seek abortion care, they're not left on an island by themselves to navigate the abortion process. They nearly always involve an adult in the process, whether that be a parent, a guardian or another trusted adult. ... How would  giving a parent veto power over their child's decision to have an abortion, how would that protect a minor against psychological harm? (The state hasn't) pointed to any evidence in their briefing."

While the state argued that parental notification would inform parents of possible abuse situations, Holm said the state already has mandatory reporting laws related to sexual abuse of minors.

Minors  can get birth control, minors can proceed  through their pregnancy, minors can have a C-section, minors can get treatment for STD, all without telling their parents or receiving consent from their parents. If they can do that ... why can't they do that with abortion? Holm argued.

Holm also argued the state had not presented evidence that showed abortion would create medically bonafide health risks that gave the state the ability to intervene and curtail the rights of minors.

A brief submitted by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the American Medical Association, the Montana Medical Association, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Society of Family Planning found that major complications occur in just 0.23% to 0.5% of abortions across all gestational ages and methods.

Mead said while Article 2, Section 15 of the Montana Constitution gives equal footing for privacy rights to adults and children, a preclusion clause carves out exceptions he said apply in this case.

If the state satisfies the prerequisite to Article 2, Section 15 that the law is intended to protect minors, then it becomes a rights-balancing analysis where you look to the nature of the state's infringement of the right versus the nature of the state's protected interest, and in this case, the fundamental rights of parents to care for their children, Mead argued.

Holm countered that argument, saying minors had a right to access abortion care in Montana.

For minors, just like adult women, being forced by others to carry their pregnancy to term will have life-altering impact. It unquestionably infringes on their right to privacy, and despite this, the state argues that you should take away that ingrained right to privacy and apply this balancing test, which would be a novel approach. It has never been done by this court in terms of a fundamental right, Holm argued.

It is stepping into the shoes of parents, trying to regulate the relationship with the family, singling out abortion as opposed to all other health care services, Holm continued.

While Mead also frequently pointed to judicial bypass provisions in the consent law, saying it would offer options and protections for a child with parents who may be their child's abuser or close to their abuser, Holm said the carve-out only delays access to care, causing stress and delays that could pose health risks. The process is also hard to navigate, especially for a minor, Holm argued.

Back in 2012 voters approved the Parental Notice of Abortion Act, and it became law a year later. It requires medical care providers to give notice to a parent at least 48 hours before performing an abortion on a minor under the age of 16 and allows for exceptions in some cases.

Also in 2013, the Legislature passed the Parental Consent for Abortion Act, which is more restrictive than the Notice Act. A doctor must get notarized and written consent to perform an abortion for a minor until the age of 18, along with getting consent through a complex form developed by the state health department, in addition to documentation that someone is a parent or legal guardian.
Sarah Powell gripped an ulu to scrape the stretched hide. She performed this Stone Age task with the crescent-shaped blade while on the cusp of returning reluctantly to the conventional world of time clocks, memos, flipcharts and emails.

Powell planned to make just enough money as an information technology maven to backtrack in short order to Green University  an oasis of the ancestral, perched along the Jefferson River near Cardwell.

The hide she worked last week came from the domestic Icelandic sheep whose life she had taken with facility and respect.

Powell enrolled at Green University in September as an immersion student. She came from San Diego.

I just wanted to get out, literally and figuratively, she said.

The schools Immersion Program advises: Break free from the machine to walk your own path. Learn to skin a deer and make your own buckskin clothing. Learn how to travel, camp and forage in the wilderness of rural and urban landscapes, exploring and living beyond the artificial boundaries of civilization.

Immersion semesters vary from six months to a year.

The fierce wind that raked the River Camp on Feb. 28 would have bedeviled Lewis and Clarks Corps of Discovery as the expedition traveled against the current of the Jefferson River during the summer of 1805.

But its members would have found kindred spirits at Green Universitys River Camp, where students, instructors and facilitators learn and practice ancestral and wilderness skills that helped sustain Indigenous peoples for thousands of years, as well as the trappers, mountain men and early settlers who arrived in due time.

A brief walk from the plywood yurt occupied by Powell found three young adults at the camps cook shack engaged in hunter-gatherer activities  enlisting skills long ago lost to the average urbanite, suburbanite and those shackled to Walmart for contemporary essentials.

Jake Coleman, 22, a Green University intern from Idaho, prepared a butchered sheeps liver for dinner. Shelby Kolar, 31, a facilitator who lives in a Mongolian ger at the River Camp, prepared a reticulum  the second stomach of a ruminant  for bark tanning and future use as a sack. And Raye Schmalstig, 22, a Wisconsin native who is a student and soon-to-be instructor at Green University, was preparing the hide from a stillborn lamb for tanning.

Schmalstig said her interest in wilderness skills and living off the land sparked in fifth grade when reading My Side of the Mountain. The book, by celebrated young readers author Jean Craighead George, describes a boys determined quest to live on his own in the Catskill Mountains. His foraging included stealing the carcasses of illegally killed deer.

The community at Green University sometimes collects road-killed deer, which they skin for hides and butcher for meat.

Schmalstig told a weekly paper in Wisconsin that her first experience processing a road-killed deer tested her tolerance. Today, according to the Green University website, Raye loves the confidence and sense of freedom animal processing and hide tanning inspires in people.

Tom Elpel founded Green University in 2004 and serves as its director.

When Elpel was a child his grandmother, Josie Jewett, taught him about native plants and their uses, knowledge that stirred a desire to learn more about nature and primitive skills.

At Green University, he is a mentor whose work is augmented by instructors and elders. The learning structure is not hierarchical, Elpel said. Everyone in the community is both student and teacher.

Were heavily focused on hunter-gatherer skills, Elpel said, that can evolve into homesteading skills and even green business entrepreneurism.

He said prospective students ought to be capable of living in tight quarters with other people for long periods. A 34-foot-diameter earthen lodge often houses several students during a semester.

The 21-acre River Camp also includes several wickiups, a grass hut, teepees and more.

Schmalstig said learning and working with kindred spirits played a key role in her appreciation for Green University.

Being in an awesome environment, doing all these skills and being surrounded by other people doing all these skills is great, she said.

Coleman, Kolar and Schmalstig were less enthusiastic about the prospect of someday living a conventional life. Schmalstig said she might shoulder that lifestyle long enough to raise money to go back to the land.

Marie-Christine Bouvet and Eric Petitclerc, originally from Quebec, traveled to Green University from British Columbia. They began as immersion students in September and were packing up at semesters end, Feb. 28, for a return to British Columbia.

The couple said their focus is sustainable living and passing along ancestral skills to the next generation.

During their stay, among a host of other activities, Bouvet and Petitclerc brain tanned numerous deer hides to make clothing. Petitclerc completed a buckskin vest and Bouvet is working on a pair of buckskin shorts.

Both tanned bison hides to yield buffalo robes. Petitclerc made a buffalo drum from a bison hide provided by a Green University instructor.

The couple said they savored observing the wildlife in southwest Montana, from ungulates to birds.

Elpel, who once paddled the Missouri River in a dugout canoe from Three Forks to St. Louis, has written or produced a host of books and other instructional media, published by his HOPS Press, that focus on botany, wilderness skills, sustainable living and more. Elpels book Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification has been his best seller.

The slogan at Green University exhorts, Break free from the Machine. Discover your own Path.

Elpel said the machine never really captured him.

Ive kind of done my own thing my whole life, he said.

Self-sufficiency. Self-reliance. Foraging. A lifestyle of not needing much. Animal blood on calloused hands. The grit and grace of life honed to its fundamentals.

That, it seems, is Green University.

For information about Green University LLC, including details about classes, programs, registration for classes, tuition and more go to www.greenuniversity.com.
 Flash

Senegalese President Macky Sall has set March 24 as the new date of the first round of the presidential election, said a press release of the Council of Ministers published Wednesday evening.

The announcement came after the Constitutional Council ruled Wednesday evening that any date for the presidential election after April 2 is contrary to the Constitution, and noted that the current president's term cannot exceed this date.

During the meeting of Council of Ministers, Sall also announced the dissolution of the government and appointed Sidiki Kaba as the new prime minister, replacing Amadou Ba.
East Sac County High School in Lake View, Iowa. (Photo via Google Earth)

A federal lawsuit has been filed against the East Sac County Community School District by the mother of a student who was sexually abused by a teacher.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of a woman identified in court papers as Jane Roe, and her son, John Doe, names the school district, Superintendent Jeffrey Kruse and East Sac County High School Principal Kevin Litterer as defendants.

The court petition is based on what it calls a shocking and egregious case of sexual assault, harassment, abuse, and exploitation of a minor student by Stefanie Regine Kelsey, who was a special education teacher at the time of the abuse. Kelsey is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for the abuse.

According to the lawsuit, Kelseys classroom at the high school was located on the third floor of the building where there were no video cameras. Her classroom had a lock on the door, and the window on the door had been completely covered with cardboard and paper.

The lawsuit alleges that during the 2021-22 school year, Doe, who was a 14-year-old freshman and was not a special education student, was frequently absent from classes he was scheduled to attend. Those absences were the result of Doe meeting Kelsey in her classroom, where the two engaged in sex on several occasions, the lawsuit alleges. No school official ever searched for him or followed up with him or his classroom teachers about where he was or what he was doing, the lawsuit claims.

Sometime in December of 2021, Kelsey began sending dozens of nude photos of herself to Doe, the lawsuit alleges. At one point, she pulled Doe into her classroom and kissed him, the petition states. Other students observed full-frontal, lengthy hugs by the two, and saw Kelsey putting her head on Does shoulder, the lawsuit claims.

The petition alleges that from December 2021 through the first week of March 2022, the two engaged in sex one to three times per week, with at least five such incidents taking place inside Kelseys locked classroom. Kelsey prepared a paper record of their activities, labeled it K and S, and marked her desk calendar with hearts for each time they had sex, and both items were openly displayed on her desk during school hours, the lawsuit claims.

Mark Jansma, a member of East Sac Countys school board at the time, was also a police officer during the 2021-22 school year and, according to the lawsuit, was told by his daughter, a student in the district, about rumors that Doe and Kelsey were having sex. Jansma advised his daughter that nothing could be done without concrete proof, the lawsuit alleges.

In addition, the lawsuit claims that Kelseys teaching aide, Alexis Lietz, overheard students talking about nude photos Kelsey had sent to Doe, and although she reportedly asked Kelsey about the rumors, she did not report them.

In January and February 2022, the lawsuit claims, at least two parents called school officials about the growing rumors of a sexual relationship between Kelsey and Doe. Litterer and Kruse spoke to Kelsey in January or February about the rumors, which Kelsey denied, the lawsuit states.

Jane Roe learned of the rumors from the mother of one of her sons friends, according to the lawsuit, and contacted the school. The petition alleges that on March 9, Litterer called Roe and left a voicemail stating we know Stefanie and [Doe] have a special relationship.

The same day, the mother who informed Roe of the rumors examined her sons phone and found messages suggesting Doe was having sex with Kelsey, the lawsuit claims. She sent screenshots of the messages to Does mother, who then went to the Sac County Sheriffs Department to report her concerns, according to the lawsuit.

The next day, the lawsuit claims, Doe told authorities he and Kelsey had engaged in sexual intercourse several times in her classroom and other locations away from school. When questioned, the lawsuit alleges, Kelsey confessed to the sexual activity and to sending the teenager nude photos via the Snapchat messaging platform and through text messages. She was immediately arrested and charged with three counts of sexual abuse in the third degree.

Court records indicate that a few weeks later, the case was amended to include eight counts of sexual abuse and one count of sexual exploitation. In February 2023, Kelsey pleaded guilty to sexual abuse in the third degree and sexual exploitation by a school employee and was sentenced to prison for a term of no more than 10 years.

The lawsuit alleges that in the wake of the arrest, the Sac County community became a hostile environment for Doe and his mother, with the teenager being called names while out in public. As part of her lawsuit, Roe alleges she was at a county fair when she mentioned to others her need to check in with her son was advised he was probably off f-ing a teacher.

In the petition, Roe alleges she now goes out of town to buy groceries, does not attend community events, and limits all her interactions with community members. According to the lawsuit, Kelseys husband harassed Does family to such an extent that a civil restraining order was issued by the court.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for violations of Does constitutional rights, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, emotional distress, loss of consortium and negligent supervision.

The lawsuit was originally filed in state court before being filed this week in federal court. The defendants have yet to file a response.

PHOTOS: Northern Iowa vs. Wisconsin wrestling, Feb. 25, 2024
DES MOINES  Iowa House Republicans are proposing a $3 million grant program schools could use to pay for firearms and training for staff under a bill advancing in the state Legislature.

A committee approved House Study Bill 692 on Wednesday, amending it to create a grant program that schools can use to purchase guns, infrastructure, pay for training and provide stipends to staff who participate in training to receive a permit to carry weapons on school grounds.

The bill originally would have used that $3 million to allow schools to purchase radio equipment that would communicate with a statewide emergency response system.

That program will be replaced by federal funding, said Rep. Carter Nordman, a Republican from Panora.

Gov. Kim Reynolds devoted $6 million to emergency communication radios for school districts as part of a $100 million school safety initiative in 2022 using federal COVID-19 relief money. All radios purchased with that program have been delivered to schools and 90% have been installed, her spokesperson Kollin Crompton said. Crompton said Reynolds will reopen the program for any schools that did not participate.

The $3 million in state funds would instead be used to implement a new permitting process House lawmakers hope to create under a separate bill, House File 2586, to create a permitting process for staff to carry firearms at public and private schools.

Iowa law already allows for approved staff to carry a gun on school grounds, but insurers are hesitant to cover schools with armed staff. Two districts in northwest Iowa rescinded plans to allow teachers to carry handguns last year after their insurance carrier threatened to drop their coverage.

The bills were introduced this year by House Republicans in the wake of the fatal shooting at Perry High School in January, just days before the start of the session. Eleven-year-old Ahmir Jolliff and Principal Dan Marurger were killed in the shooting, and the 17-year-old shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Six others were injured.

Republicans who support the move to allow teachers to carry guns say that professionally trained staff are the fastest and most effective way of responding to a school shooting.

Rep. Steve Holt, R-Denison, referenced a 2019 shooting at West Freeway Church in Texas, which lasted only six seconds before a member of the churchs volunteer security team fatally shot the shooter.

Six seconds is how long it took in Texas for someone with character using the gun the right way to eliminate the threat in that church and prevent further loss of life, he said. It is not about the gun, it is about the character of the person holding the gun.

Democrats decried the decision to devote state funds to purchase guns in schools, saying stricter gun control measures were needed to prevent shootings. While Democrats supported the bill in subcommittee, they ultimately voted against it in Wednesdays committee meeting after the change was made.

Rep. Adam Zabner, D-Iowa City, said lawmakers should be focusing on bills Democrats have introduced to curb access to guns.

The solution to school shootings cannot be state money to put more guns in schools, Zabner said. That is ridiculous, it is shameful, its not a solution to the problem.

What else is in the bill?

House Study Bill 692 would also require school public and private school districts to conduct a comprehensive review of their ability to keep students safe in active shooter scenarios.

The bill calls for creating a task force including different state and local safety and education agencies that would make recommendations for updated school infrastructure building codes, which new buildings would need to follow.

The bill would set up a pilot program for the state to provide three schools with grants to set up firearm detection software that would be able to detect firearms using a schools existing security camera system. Those districts would then need to submit a report about the effectiveness of the system to the Legislature by the end of this year.

The bill would also require that school districts have a radio used to communicate with the Statewide Interoperable Communication System, which is used by law enforcement to respond to emergencies.

Senate Republicans advance bill making it easier to arm school staff

Senate Republicans on Wednesday advanced House Republicans bill that would create a new permitting process for Iowa school districts to voluntarily arm trained staff.

A three-member Senate subcommittee voted 2-1 to send House File 2586 to the full Senate Education Committee after listening to critics and supporters. House Republicans passed the bill out of the chamber last week.

Jodi Thomas, board president of the Cherokee school district, said the bill provides more safety and response support than is currently available to some Iowa school districts. The school district, along with Spirit Lake Community School District, put in place, but later rescinded, a policy to arm school staff to avoid being dropped by their insurance carrier.

Critics cited risks to staff and students. A study by the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence found more than 100 publicly reported incidents of mishandled guns at schools in the last five years.

Opponents said an armed teacher is much more likely to shoot a student bystander, or get in the way of responding law enforcement than to be an effective solution to an active shooter in a school.

Rather, they said, lawmakers should instead pursue evidence-based intervention strategies and a comprehensive approach that addresses school gun violence, including increasing student belonging, mental health supports, de-escalation techniques and school-based crisis intervention programs.

I know that this bill for me makes me feel unsafe, Trey Jackson, a senior at Roosevelt High School and volunteer legislative coordinator with the Iowa Chapter of Brady United Against Gun Violence.

Jackson cited examples from other states of firearms left unattended in bathrooms and a teacher workroom by school resource officers, security guards, a teacher and a vice principal.

It means that this bill is going to put more guns in the hands of students, and frankly I find that profoundly nonsensical, he told lawmakers. I don't understand why that is why we're focusing on reactionary policies  why we're saying school shootings are always going to happen at such a high rate that we might as well just put guns in schools.  So I ask that we focus more on preventative policies rather than reactionary.

In order to receive a professional permit to carry weapons, employees would have to pass an annual background check and complete a firearms safety course, in addition to one-time legal training, as well as annual communication and emergency medical trainings approved by the Iowa Department of Public Safety, plus quarterly live firearms training.

Clint Profit, an employee at Spirit Lake Community School District, said school staff trained with local police for various active shooter scenarios and ran numerous drills in an abandoned school, with a goal of confronting an armed intruder within 30 seconds. Profit noted it took law enforcement about seven minutes to respond to the Perry High School shooting.

Six to seven minutes down to 30 seconds. That's gonna save lives, Profit said.

When the shooting starts, we're trained to run towards the fire, just like the Perry principal did, he told lawmakers. What I'm asking you is to give us the tools so that when we get there we can do something about it.
On Wednesday, there was drama in Nairobi after Bishop Margaret Wanjirus church was demolished by unknown people.

The former Nairobi gubernatorial candidate cried betrayal by the regime, having been a big supporter of President Ruto and UDA in the last general election.

I wasnt campaigning to be repaid like this. Sadly, this is the government that we campaigned for. I am yet to believe that they can do this to me. I am the one who sold UDA in Nairobi, she told reporters.

Bishop Wanjiru claimed that she was attacked, with dramatic photos of her in a hospital going viral.

This is not the first time an attempt has been made to demolish the church. Last month, an ongoing wedding ceremony forced another group of people to abandon their plan to demolish it.

The land on which the church stands on has been contested for many years, with allegations that it was grabbed from Kenya Railways.

Hers is not the only church alleged to be built on Railway lands. Another famous pastor, James Nganga, may soon be on the chopping board as the government seeks to redevelop the entire area.

Pastor Nganga has also been fighting an eviction notice from Railways for several years.

In 2020, he received a letter stating, You are hereby requested to surrender all documents relating to the irregular allocation of the above-referenced property to the corporation.

Historical records in our possession indicate that the land bound by Haile Selassie Avenue, Uhuru Highway and Bunyala Road in which various railway infrastructure are contained was reserved for railway use.

It has, however, been established that new grants on portions of the land were issued by the Commissioner of Lands in around 1994 without the consent of the corporation.

Last year, President Ruto officiated the groundbreaking of Nairobis Railway City, a project that is expected to change the face of the Haile Selasie area, and modernize Nairobis railway commuter connectivity.

The UK funded project is expected to cover 425 acres of Railway land, part of which the two televangelist churches are reportedly built. The project is expected to cover the areas between Haile Sellasie Avenue, Uhuru Highway, Landhies Road and Bunyala Road, essentially creating a new business district for the city.

However, since the groundbreaking that was graced by UK Foreign Minister James Cleverly, there has been no progress, and no word on why it stalled.

Just a day before Bishop Wanjirus church was demolished, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, who is overseeing the project, met with British High Commissioner to Kenya Neil Wigan, to discuss ways in which the project can be expedited.

Had the honor of hosting Neil Wigan OBE, the British High Commissioner to Kenya, at the Railways HQ offices. We discussed the modalities for expediting the Nairobi Railway City Project, a flagship Green Investment project showcasing the robust development cooperation between pic.twitter.com/Wcj7cZPG9V  Musalia W Mudavadi (@MusaliaMudavadi) March 5, 2024

If clearing the land has been the reason for the slow progress, perhaps Pastor Nganga should start getting ready for the same fate.

These are the design renders for the Nairobi Railway City station, which is the central core of the entire project that will also include thousands of new housing, commercial district and a promenade.
The Kenyan government, through the ministry of health, has announced the imminent commencement of registration for the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), set to begin on Friday.

This announcement was made by Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha who was speaking in Kisumu on Wednesday, highlighting a significant step towards the implementation of the highly controversial universal health coverage program, after months of delays.

Nakhumicha confirmed that the SHIF regulations have been finalized and submitted to the Office of the Attorney General for gazettement.

The regulations are set to be published on Friday, and then immediately followed by the registration process.

It is no longer a story but after the regulations are gazetted on Friday, we begin the journey on registration and begin deductions of the 2.75 percent to take care of Kenyans, Nakhumicha was quoted by Business Daily, emphasizing the governments commitment to fulfilling one of the pillars of the UDA manifesto.

Under the new scheme and within 90 days of its activation, all Kenyans, both employed or unemployed; formal or informal, will be required to register as SHIF members to benefit from the universal health programme.

The Cabinet Secretary promised transparency and efficiency in the handling of the funds, aiming to eradicate previous mismanagements within the Ministry of Health and NHIF in particular.

I want to commit to Kenyans that we are going to put that money to good use. The pilferage, the thuggery that has been there at the Ministry of Health will be a thing of the past, she affirmed.

CS Nakhumicha further explained the shift in financing model, from the current system to a more inclusive model.

From the current contribution of a maximum of Sh1,700 per month and a minimum contribution of Sh500, we are going to have every household contribute 2.75 per cent of their monthly income, she explained.

While it is unclear what model the government will use to identify the poorest Kenyans, they have committed to paying into the fund for the millions who cannot afford.

The CS was speaking at the commissioning of the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority Kisumu regional distribution centre, part of the governments broader efforts to enhance healthcare delivery across the country.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has acknowledged discrepancies within their recent teacher promotion list.

Officials from Kenyas largest teachers employer however consider such errors a typical occurrence in large-scale promotional exercises and assured that they do not undermine the integrity of the process.

The TSC published an extensive 724-page document on its website on Wednesday, detailing the promotion of 36,505 teachers based on interviews conducted in December and January.

Despite this effort, a portion of the educational community remains unconvinced, harboring doubts about the credibility of the published results.

Teachers awaiting promotion have been advised to look out for official TSC promotion letters, which are expected to rectify the noted discrepancies.

In addition, successful candidates will receive text messages from TSC County and Sub-County offices, inviting them to retrieve their promotion letters.

To foster a culture of clarity and trust, education unions such as Knut and Kuppet have called on the TSC to publicize the names of the promoted educators along with their respective counties and sub-counties.

This act is anticipated to alleviate concerns and instill confidence in the promotion process.

The 36,505 successful teachers will soon receive promotional letters and must submit five Chapter six documents in line with the Kenyan Constitutions stipulations on leadership and integrity.

These include a Valid Certificate of Good Conduct from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (costing 1,050/-), a free Clearance Certificate from the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), a free Tax Compliance Certificate from Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), a free Clearance from Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), and a Clearance Certificate from an approved Credit Reference Bureau (costing 2,200/-).

Those who did not make the cut will be issued regret letters, serving as formal confirmation of their participation and attendance of the interviews.

The promotion interviews were conducted in December last year for primary school teachers and January for Secondary school and Teacher Training College tutors. This followed an announcement of vacancies in September,

The turnout was quite impressive, with over one hundred and fifty thousand educators shortlisted.

Heres a PDF with all successful applicants, listed by TSC no.

SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS FOR ADVERT 46-2023 to 69-2023
The American Canyon City Council adopted a warehouse approval measure rather than send it to voters, reasoning that it mainly applies to an already-approved warehouse project that's being delayed by a lawsuit.

Buzz Oates development won approval for the Giovannoni Logistics Center from the City Council last year. Two entities are suing the city to stop the project  Vallejo because of a water dispute with the city, and the Center for Biological Diversity because of environmental concerns.

Resident Fran Lemos sponsored a Measure K petition for Buzz Oates that would grant automatic approval to warehouse projects meeting certain criteria, with no public hearings or appeals or environmental lawsuits possible. The Giovannoni project meets Measure K criteria.

Measure K proponents gathered enough signatures from registered voters to qualify the measure. Under California law, the City Council law had the choice on Tuesday of either adopting Measure K as written or putting it on the ballot.

By a 4-1 vote, the City Council adopted Measure K outright. Mayor Leon Garcia and Councilmembers Mark Joseph, David Oro and Pierre Washington voted in support. Councilmember Mariam Aboudamous dissented.

Those voting yes expressed frustration that a project approved unanimously by the City Council is being held up in the courts. The lawsuits against Giovannoni challenge parts of the project's environmental impact report.

Development of Giovannoni is to take place on 163 acres of a 208-acre site in Green Island Business Park. The complex could ultimately have up to 2.4 million square feet of space.

Warehouse projects approved automatically by staff under Measure K would be exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act. Staff would be unable to turn down applications meeting the Measure K criteria.

Joe Livaich of Buzz Oates urged the council to simply adopt Measure K, allowing the Giovannoni project to apply for staff approval and to avoid the lawsuits.

We dont want to give up on this project and we dont want to give up on American Canyon," he told the council. "... Market conditions have deteriorated significantly over the last year and a half and we feel we cant delay further.

James Moose, an attorney representing Buzz Oates, said the Center for Biological Diversity is a sincere environmental group. But plaintiffs have all the leverage in CEQA settlement talks because lawsuits can go on for years, he said.

He described the passage of Measure K as giving the defendants leverage, since Buzz Oates could simply obtain ministerial approval from the city that couldn't be challenged in court, if no settlement is reached.

Hallie Kutak of the Center for Biological Diversity had another view.

Let this go to the ballot. Allow the citizens of American Canyon to be heard and considered," she told the council.

A resident agreed during public comments, saying that simply passing Measure K "gives developers a blank check to build warehouses in American Canyon without risk to them."

Garcia noted that a majority of the City Council can repeal the measure after 2029.

This is brand new. This is a trial, he said as councilmembers discussed the matter.

Joseph said he understands wanting to put the matter to voters. But he voiced frustration that the Giovannoni project is being delayed by lawsuits filed by parties based outside of the city, saying the property is on industrially zoned land surrounded by similar industrial land.

It is not precious open space," Joseph said. "It's vacant industrial land waiting for a development so as to generate a revenue stream and jobs and opportunities.

Aboudamous had similar concerns, but still wanted to put Measure K before voters and opposed simply having the City Council adopt it.

The reason I am voting 'no' is it's very hard for me to take away from the people the right to have their voices heard, Aboudamous said.

Councilmembers Pierre Washington and David Oro said that the council is elected by the voters to make complicated decisions.

Measure K requires city staff to approve warehouses in the citys general industrial zoning district, if the application meets a list of standards. Among them are standards for preserving wetlands, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and addressing traffic impacts.

The city's general industrial zoning district has 261 vacant acres. Of that, 207 acres are the Giovannoni property, 28 acres a Napa Vallejo Waste Management Authority property, 23 acres a Lemos family property, and 2.3 acres a property approved for Bell Products, according to a city report.

Another 100 acres are developed but could be further developed. Of these, 20 acres are the Copart property, 13 acres the Central Valley Building Materials property, 10 acres the All Bay Lumber property, 8 acres the Kolkka furniture property, and 5.75 acres the Crown Hill Supply property, the report said.

Most remaining properties are smaller than 2 acres.

A property owner could remove an existing development and build a warehouse under Measure K. Whether pragmatically this would occur is speculation, the report said.

PHOTOS: Election Day in Napa County, March 5, 2024
Proposition 1, a statewide bond measure that Gov. Gavin Newsom championed as critical to solving the state's mental health and homelessness crisis, holds a narrow lead in California's primary election, but the contest was too close to call Wednesday with votes still being counted across the state.

The measure redirects an existing tax on the rich under the state's 20-year-old Mental Health Services Act to fund services for people with substance abuse disorders and includes a $6.4 billion bond to build more than 10,000 treatment beds.

Newsom campaigned from San Francisco to San Diego in the lead-up to Tuesday's primary election, urging voters to pass the measure to address the most vexing problem of his governorship and the most visible challenge in his home state, where voters have become alarmed by the number of people living in tents and under freeways in cities large and small.

At rallies and in ads, Newsom portrayed Prop. 1 as an opportunity to correct mistakes of the past when the state shuttered state mental health hospitals in the 1960s without boosting local services, "leading to decades of neglect."

"Prop. 1 finally writes a new chapter," Newsom said. "Prop. 1 rights a historic wrong."

About 181,000 people statewide are homeless, including 506 people recorded in Napa County's annual point-in-time survey, according to 2023 counts. As much as 82% of unhoused individuals have experienced a serious mental health condition, and nearly two-thirds have at some point regularly used illicit drugs, according to a recent survey by UC San Francisco.

Prop. 1 complements those efforts by revamping the Mental Health Services Act, which was approved by voters in 2004, to include treatment for those with substance use disorders regardless of whether they are suffering from a mental health condition. The act imposes a 1% tax on incomes in excess of $1 million to fund the expansion of mental health treatment options in California, which will be redirected under Prop. 1. The measure also increases state oversight of county spending on behavioral health at a time when Newsom has repeatedly questioned the resolve of local governments to fix the problem.

But each step Newsom takes receives pushback from the right and the left.

Liberal organizations worry Newsom's policies, such as CARE Court and expanding conservatorship, could infringe on civil rights, deter people from seeking help for fear of being forced into care and consign people to harsher treatment settings than necessary. Local governments have raised concerns about their ability to fund the governor's more ambitious policy directives and to quickly train police and other personnel to abide by the new laws.

Meanwhile, voters are frustrated over the lack of progress and Republicans contend that unchecked liberal rule in California caused the crisis.

Opponents of Prop. 1 called out the large price tag as one reason they wanted voters to reject the measure.

The California Department of Finance estimates that the Behavioral Health Infrastructure Bond within Prop. 1 would cost a total of $14 billion. Bonds, which are bought by investors, act as loans that the state pays back with interest.

Two bills that sent the measure to the March ballot received rare bipartisan support in the state Legislature, with Republicans and Democrats leaving their party corners to provide voters with a potential solution to an issue plaguing the state. But voters didn't appear to share the bipartisan spirit by election day.

The measure teetered with only 50% support in a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times that was conducted in late February. A large majority of Republican voters opposed the measure, raising concerns about how Prop. 1 would fare in an election with higher GOP turnout.

On Wednesday as the race tightened, the Californians Against Proposition 1 campaign called the measure a "monumental mistake" and teased the possibility that Newsom's "lavishly funded grandiose" ballot effort could go down. Newsom's side pulled in more than $20 million for the contest, while the opposition struggled to raise money.

"Gov. Newsom may now face one of his worst public defeats ever, failing at a time when he's been auditioning for a greater role nationally," said Paul Simmons, a director of Californians Against Proposition 1 campaign, in a statement.

He blamed "poor strategy and decision making by the governor," if it fails, he said.

Anthony York, a spokesperson for the Yes on 1 campaign, said Newsom's team remains optimistic with more than 2 million ballots still uncounted statewide, including many from urban counties such as Los Angeles, Alameda and Santa Clara.

Newsom's campaign pointed out that early votes favored Prop. 1 and Democrats in other races, while the next wave of tallies from votes cast on election day flipped against them. The campaign expects the outstanding votes to favor the measure and expand the lead in the days ahead. Late-arriving mail-in and drop-off ballots cast before the election trend more liberal in typical election cycles.

"It was clear heading into Election Day that, despite the bipartisan coalition of first responders, health care workers, veterans, public safety and families supporting Prop. 1, this was going to be a tough fight," York said in a statement. "But we know in California that elections aren't settled on Election Day."

In a memo written by pollster David Binder before the election, the campaign said high turnout among Republicans and low turnout among Democratic and independent voters would make the race close. Binder also noted a shift among Republicans since 2020 from early voting to voting on election day, and the reality that ballot measures seen as "increasing debt or taxes typically bleed support as we get closer to Election Day."

Binder predicted the measure could end up passing in the low 50s.

PHOTOS: Napa County conducts point-in-time count of homeless population Point in Time Count 10 Point in Time Count 1 Point in Time Count 4 Point in Time Count 3 Point in Time Count 2 Point in Time Count 5 Point in Time Count 6 Point in Time Count 9 Point in Time Count 7 Point in Time Count 8 Point in Time Count 11 Point in Time Count 12 Point in Time Count 13 Point in Time Count 14
Bangladesh, which is home to 170 million people, is important for its strategic location in the Bay of Bengal. It is one of the largest contributors to the UN peacekeeping forces and also a garment power house. The election was crucial for the world too especially for the Indo-pacific region as Bangladesh has a 500 km-long Indian Ocean coast.

Dhakas trusted partner has long been New Delhi. But in the last one decade, more regional and global powers have developed stakes in the country. The US policy towards Bangladesh is governed by its global as well as regional interests. In December 2021, the US government imposed visa restrictions and Global Magnitsky human rights sanctions on six senior officials of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and former police Chief Benazir Ahmed for alleged human rights violations.

In September 2023, the US announced that it would enforce more visa restrictions on government officials and politicians trying to undermine democratic election process in Bangladesh. The US has also blocked the entry of Bangladesh of its Democracy Summits.

Some quarters are of the opinion that the US is targeting Bangladesh to send a broad message of its policy priority of promoting democratic governance across the world, while others believe that its immediate purpose is to put pressure on Bangladesh to embrace its Asia-Pacific Strategy and keep the South Asian country away from Chinas influence in the region. The Hasina government is pursuing a neutral foreign policy with respect to China, India and the US and has refrained from forging security alliance with any of them.

Notwithstanding its bids to chart an independent course in the domain of foreign policy, critics maintain that in addition to gross violation of human rights, democratic norms and practices have been undermined in Bangladesh since Hasinas assumption of power in 2009. They allege that Hasinas rule has been marked by repressive authoritarian measures against her political opponents, detractors and the media. The rights groups are concerned over the exponentially high number of arrests and convictions. They have also documented hundreds of cases of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings by the security forces for more than a decade.

The Hasina government has fully denied the charges of abuses and killings but it also severely restricts entry of foreign journalists who want to investigate these allegations. Local journalists have refrained from investigating such allegations fearing for their safety. Reports suggest that the number of extra-judicial killings has dropped significantly after 2021 when the US government imposed sanctions on the RAB Bangladeshs notorious storm troopers. However, the limited US sanctions have not improved the overall human rights situation in Bangladesh. Hence, some opposition leaders have called for tougher action by the Western countries.

Bangladeshi rights activists say there is an ambience of fear, particularly while expressing dissent on any digital platform as the government invokes the draconian Digital Security Act (DSA) to imprison people. The DSA has often been used to silence critics and stifle free expression. Reports say more than a thousand cases are being registered against journalists, political opponents and rights activists since it was enacted in 2018. After strident opposition from various quarters, including the UNO, the AL government recently replaced the DSA with a new Cyber Security Act. But the rights activists have pointed out that the new act still retains repressive measures.

The increasing authoritarianism in Bangladesh under Hasinas rule has been a key concern for the Western countries and international human rights groups. Bangladesh is not in a position to incur the wrath of the US and its allies for obvious reasons. The countrys booming readymade garment (RMG) industry is highly dependent on the US and EU for its sustenance. Any Western embargo will hit Bangladeshs economy hard. The US has already hinted about the impending scenario.

Bangladeshs RMG sector accounts for about 85% of the countrys total exports. The US is among the top export destination with around 20% of Bangladeshs garments are sold every year. A member of the EU Parliament also said that the EU should hold Bangladesh accountable on the worsening democratic situation and considers withdrawing tariff-free access provided to products from the South Asian country. Bangladesh is the second-largest RMG exporter after China. As per reports, in 2023, it exported more than $45 billion worth of RMG, mainly to the EU and US.

Bangladesh apprehends that more sanctions could be imposed on its flourishing RMG sector contributing around 10% of the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) and the industry also employs over four million workers. Therefore, sanctions will not only adversely impact Bangladeshs economy but also affect the geo-political balance in the region. As the threats of sanctions on Bangladeshs labour issues loom large, there is a growing concern among the AL government, policy makers, garment manufacturers and industrial organisations.

Reports indicate that most of Bangladeshs RMG factories have either failed or partially implemented international compliances and ethical practices, which triggered intense labour unrest in recent months. Bangladesh has experienced violent protests related to wage disputes in garment factories. The labour groups rejected the new wage structure set by the Bangladesh governments Wage Board due to its lacunae in addressing their financial needs.

The garment workers agitation coincided with other anti-government demonstrations calling for Hasinas resignation, cancellation of election schedule and holding of parliamentary polls under a non-partisan caretaker administration. Amid rising unrest in the country, the US expressed concerns over the prevailing repression of workers and trade union groups.

While delivering a speech at the Rollout of the Presidential Memorandum on Advancing Workers Empowerment, Rights, and High Labour Standards Globally, at San Francisco on November 16, 2023, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken hinted at sanctions on Bangladesh for poor labour rights. Blinkens strongly-worded statement was made at a time when Bangladeshi RMG workers were clashing with the police and other law enforcement agencies demanding higher monthly wage.

In another development on November 20, the Bangladesh Embassy in Washington DC reportedly issued a warning to Dhaka that the country might face stringent measures, including sanctions, trade penalties and visa restrictions outlined in the US Presidential Memorandum on labour rights. During a recent visit to Dhaka, a team of EU also warned of tough measure on labour issues.

On November 13, a delegation of the European External Service (EEAS), Asia-Pacific Division, expressed extreme displeasure on labour rights standards during a meeting with Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. This is an ominous sign for Bangladesh which highly relies on the EU for sale of its RMG products.

The EU is the largest importer accounting for 58% of its total exports and 64% of the total apparel exports from Bangladesh which has been enjoying zero-tariff benefits under the EUs Generalised System of Preference (GSP), which is a unilateral scheme wherein custom duty preferences or concessions are granted by developed countries to export of specified products from developing countries. Some quarters have raised the question why the Western nations that have enormous economic clout, allow the Hasina government to act with impunity while systematically undermining democratic institutions.
Zhoghovurd newspaper of Armenia writes: The closed meetings of [PM] Nikol Pashinyan and the CC [i.e. ruling Civil Contract Party] members take place in series.

Zhoghovurd daily informed that today the prime minister and the ministers will again go to the parliament for a closed meeting with the MPs of the ruling wing.

This is already the third meeting of the CC members and Nikol Pashinyan in recent days.

And what do the authorities discuss during these intensive meetings?

According to our sources, [Armenia] becoming a candidate for European Union membership is the agenda topic at the CC these days, and they discuss this matter during meetings with the prime minister.

This matter was also on the agenda of the meeting with SC [i.e. Security Council] Secretary Armen Grigoryan yesterday.

According to our information, the SC Secretary will be the main curator of the process of [Armenia] becoming a candidate for EU membership.

As our sources report, Nikol Pashinyan intends to finish this matter very quickly, so it is not excluded that Armenia will submit an application to become a candidate for European Union membership in a short period of time. But it is difficult to say how long it will wait in that line.
High-tech minister on removing Russia TV channels from multiplex: Armenia's dignity is at core of decisions

Apple has already started production of new generation AirPods When will they go on sale?

Armenia, Kazakhstan FMs discuss new logistical opportunities

Armenia 2041 Foundation launches Galvanizing Diaspora program

Kazakhstan FM notes Armenias Crossroads of Peace projects importance for Middle Corridor

Armenia, Kazakhstan FMs sign 2024/25 action plan

Armenia PM is in Tavush Province, meeting with residents of Voskepar, Baghanis, neighboring villages

Archaeologists find inscription of King Antiochus I of Armenian Yervanduni Dynasty, in Turkey

Kazakhstan FM is in Armenia (PHOTOS)

Kim, Kourtney, Khloe Kardashian congratulate brother Rob on birthday: The best brother in the world

It works for 744 hours without recharging and costs $96: Blackview introduced Oscal Modern 8 smartphone

Rolls-Royce Ghost to be retired and replaced by new Alpina sedan

Ardshinbank cardholders can now enjoy a 10% cashback!

Celine Dion does not give up, continues to fight rare disease

Withdrawal from lawsuits against Azerbaijan in international courts will cause irreparable damage to Armenia, Armenians

165 cases of measles recorded in Armenia so far in 2024

Barely dressed Bianca Censori goes for walk with her mother

EU Council to discuss assistance to Armenia, Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization

SpaceX is building network of hundreds of spy satellites for US intelligence

7,825 Karabakh residents who left Armenia since September 2023 have not returned, new data say

Armenia to submit application for EU membership?

La Liga: Barca beat Atletico

Ligue 1: PSG win 6-2, Mbappe scores hat-trick

Serie A: Inter, with Mkhitaryan, play draw with Napoli

Archaeologists discover where legendary British warship that disappeared in 17th century sank

Large number of Russians came from Georgia to Armenia to vote in presidential election, envoy says

Stoltenberg: NATO hopes to have stable peace between Azerbaijan, Armenia

"Girona" lost to "Getafe" and 10 points behind Real Madrid (video)

"Tottenham" suffered a defeat (video)

FA Cup: Manchester City reach the semi-finals (video)

Belgorod attacked by two rockets during the day: there are dead and injured

Media: Elon Musk's company is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites for US intelligence

Premier League: Ten most expensive clubs

Shooting in Pennsylvania: at least three dead, gunman took hostages

"Real" was stronger than "Osasuna", Vinicius' double (video)

MEPs appeal to EU leadership to protect cultural heritage of Artsakh Armenians

Bayern's willful victory (video)

New talks between Israel and Hamas are scheduled in Qatar on Sunday

FA Cup Coventry's sensational win (video)

Mobile app that helps prevent diabetic ulcers is developed

"Pyunik" defeated BKMA and became the first (video)

"Urartu" defeated "Alashkert" (video)

India's national elections will be held from 19 April to 1 June

Specialised MRI can predict who will develop treatment-resistant schizophrenia - study

Aliyev: Azerbaijan and Georgia have always supported each other's sovereignty

Iran calls for formation of international coalition against Israel

Biden told Aliyev of US commitment to peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Khachanov and Agassi meet in Glendale (photo)

Stoltenberg will meet in Yerevan with the President and Prime-minister of Armenia

America's Cup. Levon Aronian advances to the final

Turkish Foreign Ministry issues anti-Russian statement on Crimea issue

How Armenian Vardavar became topic for Disney? Kathleen Sarnelli Kapukchyan on Mickey Mouse Funhouse's recent episode, her inspirations

Zakharova: There is a historical answer to Armenia's doubts about sincerity of Russia's intentions

Zakharova: Moscow discusses with Armenia dragging Yerevan into anti-Russian course

Zakharova: Armenia's withdrawal from CSTO should be based on real needs of the country, not on "flirting" with West

An American man has a tapeworm in his brain

Arsen Zakharyan's first goal for Real Sociedad (video)

Ronaldo's goal brings victory for Al Nasr (video)

Amazon and Microsoft suspend their cloud products in Russia

NASA completes tests of 3 lunar probes that will be sent to Moon together with Nova-C module

James Webb discovers the first pair of merging galaxies, a phenomenon that should not have happened at the time

Dollar, euro lose value in Armenia

Armenia deputy FM: There has been considerable regress regarding visa facilitation with EU

Deputy FM: As landlocked country, Armenia recognizes vital importance of inclusive connectivity, open borders

FM: Armenia made every effort to prevent de-Armenianization in Karabakh

Painter Frida Kahlos personal notes used in new documentary about her

Brain Communications journal: Improving sleep quality reduces migraine frequency, research shows

What should you pay attention to when buying a smartphone?

FM to reporters: You will be the first to know when Armenia intends to apply for EU membership

Champions League: Quarterfinal pairs are known

Ararat Mirzoyan: All Armenia authorities have negotiated on territorial concessions to Azerbaijan

Google mocks iPhone for not having Circle to Search feature

Jessica Biel prefers to tell sons the truth about periods

FM: Deepening of Armenia's relations with the West, EU not directed against Russia

Mirzoyan: Unprecedented number of senior French officials visited Armenia in 2023

Ararat Mirzoyan: Armenia, Azerbaijan are close to mutual understanding on recognition of 1991 borders

Armenia made very active efforts to have minimal mutually acceptable wording with CSTO partners, FM assures

FM: Georgia ready to contribute to process of establishing peace in South Caucasus

Armenia FM: Events have occurred that have made it impossible to do certain things

Cartier presents carbine watches studded with diamonds

Armenia FM: Ultimate goal not materialized yet in relations with Turkey

FM: There are international players interested in Armenia ceasing to exist

Mirzoyan: No agreement between Armenia, Azerbaijan to withdraw international lawsuits against each other

Armenia FM reiterates PM's arguments on handover of 4 villages in Tavush Province to Azerbaijan

FM: Armenia still doesnt understand how CSTO partners present their area of responsibility in South Caucasus

Kylie Jenner wears stunning red dress

Mirzoyan: EU monitoring mission in Armenia has become factor of stability on Azerbaijan border

Dennis Francis: UN hopes for signing of Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty

FM: 23 Armenians still kept in custody in Azerbaijan

Khloe Kardashian goes too far with filters in new photo

Why do iPhone 15 prices continue to decrease in China?

Autism journal: Generosity toward strangers linked to autism spectrum disorder, study finds

Armenia FM: Still not many tangible results on fundamental issues, we are still negotiating with Azerbaijan

Tom Cruise looking for replacement for Russian socialite Elsina Khayrova

European Commission official underscores provision of assistance to people affected by Karabakh conflict

Jeff Bezos gives $50M each to Eva Longoria, Admiral Bill McRaven

Indian Wells Masters: Semifinal pairings decided

Britney Spears shares series of provocative nude photos

Peter Stano: Armenia can apply for EU membership

MFA: Genocide prevention agenda is among Armenias priorities
 Flash

Warplanes of the United States and Britain launched two airstrikes on Hodeidah International Airport in western Yemen on Wednesday, the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.

The airport and the port city at large have been under Houthi control since the Houthis reached a truce agreement with the internationally recognized Yemeni government in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2018.

The U.S.-British coalition has not yet commented on the alleged strikes.

This came hours after the Houthi group launched missile attacks against Barbados-flagged True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden, killing at least two sailors, claiming it to be a U.S.-owned vessel, according to sources at the Yemeni Coast Guard in the southern port city of Aden.

The ship was damaged and caught on fire following the attacks, said the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency.

The crew fled the ship using lifeboats as the U.S.-British naval forces stationed in the Red Sea rushed to the scene to assist, said the UKMTO.

The Houthi group has launched a series of missile attacks against commercial vessels, particularly those with suspected links to Israel, in the international shipping lane in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November last year, in what the group said was an act of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

In response, the U.S. and Britain launched attacks on Houthi targets starting in mid-January to deter the group. However, the Houthis have escalated their strikes by targeting more commercial vessels as well as U.S. and British Navy ships.

The Houthi group has maintained control over significant portions of northern Yemen since the onset of the Yemeni civil war in late 2014.
High-tech minister on removing Russia TV channels from multiplex: Armenia's dignity is at core of decisions

Armenia, Kazakhstan FMs discuss new logistical opportunities

Armenia 2041 Foundation launches Galvanizing Diaspora program

Kazakhstan FM notes Armenias Crossroads of Peace projects importance for Middle Corridor

Armenia, Kazakhstan FMs sign 2024/25 action plan

Armenia PM is in Tavush Province, meeting with residents of Voskepar, Baghanis, neighboring villages

Archaeologists find inscription of King Antiochus I of Armenian Yervanduni Dynasty, in Turkey

Kazakhstan FM is in Armenia (PHOTOS)

Rolls-Royce Ghost to be retired and replaced by new Alpina sedan

Ardshinbank cardholders can now enjoy a 10% cashback!

Withdrawal from lawsuits against Azerbaijan in international courts will cause irreparable damage to Armenia, Armenians

EU Council to discuss assistance to Armenia, Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization

7,825 Karabakh residents who left Armenia since September 2023 have not returned, new data say

Armenia to submit application for EU membership?

Archaeologists discover where legendary British warship that disappeared in 17th century sank

Large number of Russians came from Georgia to Armenia to vote in presidential election, envoy says

Stoltenberg: NATO hopes to have stable peace between Azerbaijan, Armenia

Belgorod attacked by two rockets during the day: there are dead and injured

Media: Elon Musk's company is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites for US intelligence

Shooting in Pennsylvania: at least three dead, gunman took hostages

MEPs appeal to EU leadership to protect cultural heritage of Artsakh Armenians

New talks between Israel and Hamas are scheduled in Qatar on Sunday

India's national elections will be held from 19 April to 1 June

Aliyev: Azerbaijan and Georgia have always supported each other's sovereignty

Iran calls for formation of international coalition against Israel

Biden told Aliyev of US commitment to peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Stoltenberg will meet in Yerevan with the President and Prime-minister of Armenia

Turkish Foreign Ministry issues anti-Russian statement on Crimea issue

Zakharova: There is a historical answer to Armenia's doubts about sincerity of Russia's intentions

Zakharova: Moscow discusses with Armenia dragging Yerevan into anti-Russian course

Zakharova: Armenia's withdrawal from CSTO should be based on real needs of the country, not on "flirting" with West

Amazon and Microsoft suspend their cloud products in Russia

Dollar, euro lose value in Armenia

Armenia deputy FM: There has been considerable regress regarding visa facilitation with EU

Deputy FM: As landlocked country, Armenia recognizes vital importance of inclusive connectivity, open borders

FM: Armenia made every effort to prevent de-Armenianization in Karabakh

FM to reporters: You will be the first to know when Armenia intends to apply for EU membership

Ararat Mirzoyan: All Armenia authorities have negotiated on territorial concessions to Azerbaijan

FM: Deepening of Armenia's relations with the West, EU not directed against Russia

Mirzoyan: Unprecedented number of senior French officials visited Armenia in 2023

Ararat Mirzoyan: Armenia, Azerbaijan are close to mutual understanding on recognition of 1991 borders

Armenia made very active efforts to have minimal mutually acceptable wording with CSTO partners, FM assures

FM: Georgia ready to contribute to process of establishing peace in South Caucasus

Armenia FM: Events have occurred that have made it impossible to do certain things

Armenia FM: Ultimate goal not materialized yet in relations with Turkey

FM: There are international players interested in Armenia ceasing to exist

Mirzoyan: No agreement between Armenia, Azerbaijan to withdraw international lawsuits against each other

Armenia FM reiterates PM's arguments on handover of 4 villages in Tavush Province to Azerbaijan

FM: Armenia still doesnt understand how CSTO partners present their area of responsibility in South Caucasus

Mirzoyan: EU monitoring mission in Armenia has become factor of stability on Azerbaijan border

Dennis Francis: UN hopes for signing of Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty

FM: 23 Armenians still kept in custody in Azerbaijan

Armenia FM: Still not many tangible results on fundamental issues, we are still negotiating with Azerbaijan

European Commission official underscores provision of assistance to people affected by Karabakh conflict

Peter Stano: Armenia can apply for EU membership

MFA: Genocide prevention agenda is among Armenias priorities

Russia holding presidential elections

US intelligence warns of potentially devastating new pandemic

Newspaper: Birth rate in Armenia 19% lower than last year

Stoltenberg: NATO sought to maintain stronger relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan

Georgian Prime Minister to visit Armenia

Premier receives IMF Armenia mission chief

Anne-Laurence Petel-led delegation to arrive in Armenia

FM: Armenia looks into prospects of further deepening partnership with EU

New technologies at the core of rural infrastructure development

Russia is world leader in nuclear technology, Putin says

Vardges Sureniants Salome painting returns to National Gallery of Armenia exhibition

Dollar drops, euro rises in Armenia

Sunak: There is historic opportunity to put an end to Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict

Armenia authorities, who paid $6M for Snoop Dogg concert, still dont know when this postponed event will be held

Deputy economy minister: Matter of opening India-Iran-Armenia trade corridor being discussed

Armenia official: Trade with India amounted to $380M in 2023

ICC NCA head: India considers Armenia an important bridge to enter larger markets

Anne-Laurence Petel welcomes resolution on EU-Armenia relations

India ambassador: We are happy that our relations with Armenia are developing in defense sector also

Indians are now 2nd largest community in Armenia after Russians, envoy says

India-Armenia business forum kicks off in Yerevan

Armenia parliament speaker on European Parliament resolution: We thank European partners for this important step

PM: European Parliament resolution is another opportunity to discuss vision of Armenia's future

Azerbaijans next target in Karabakh is Artsakh State University
Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani and his Armenian counterpart Suren Papikyan held a meeting in Tehran on Wednesday to discuss the issues related to regional security, Mehr reports.

Strengthening relations with all neighbors is one of the principles of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ashtiani said, adding that Iran attaches great importance to its relations with Armenia.

The relations between the two countries in different areas have always been on a growing track since the independence of Armenia, he added.

The Iranian minister expressed Iran's support for regional peace and cited,

"The decisive position of the Islamic Republic of Iran is to support the territorial integrity of the countries of the region and their right to sovereignty over their entire territory and not to change the internationally recognized borders."

He further stressed that regarding the Caucasus region, Iran will remain adherent to this policy and will back direct negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Regarding the security of the region, he said that regional security should be maintained by the countries of the region and any approach contrary to this policy is not acceptable in any way.

Suren Papikyan, for his part, said, "It is very important for us that both countries have the same attitude on stability in the region."

Also, he called for bringing the bilateral relations between Tehran and Yerevan closer.
High-tech minister on removing Russia TV channels from multiplex: Armenia's dignity is at core of decisions

Armenia, Kazakhstan FMs discuss new logistical opportunities

Armenia 2041 Foundation launches Galvanizing Diaspora program

Kazakhstan FM notes Armenias Crossroads of Peace projects importance for Middle Corridor

Armenia, Kazakhstan FMs sign 2024/25 action plan

Armenia PM is in Tavush Province, meeting with residents of Voskepar, Baghanis, neighboring villages

Archaeologists find inscription of King Antiochus I of Armenian Yervanduni Dynasty, in Turkey

Kazakhstan FM is in Armenia (PHOTOS)

Rolls-Royce Ghost to be retired and replaced by new Alpina sedan

Ardshinbank cardholders can now enjoy a 10% cashback!

Withdrawal from lawsuits against Azerbaijan in international courts will cause irreparable damage to Armenia, Armenians

EU Council to discuss assistance to Armenia, Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization

7,825 Karabakh residents who left Armenia since September 2023 have not returned, new data say

Armenia to submit application for EU membership?

Archaeologists discover where legendary British warship that disappeared in 17th century sank

Large number of Russians came from Georgia to Armenia to vote in presidential election, envoy says

Stoltenberg: NATO hopes to have stable peace between Azerbaijan, Armenia

Belgorod attacked by two rockets during the day: there are dead and injured

Media: Elon Musk's company is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites for US intelligence

Shooting in Pennsylvania: at least three dead, gunman took hostages

MEPs appeal to EU leadership to protect cultural heritage of Artsakh Armenians

New talks between Israel and Hamas are scheduled in Qatar on Sunday

India's national elections will be held from 19 April to 1 June

Aliyev: Azerbaijan and Georgia have always supported each other's sovereignty

Iran calls for formation of international coalition against Israel

Biden told Aliyev of US commitment to peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Stoltenberg will meet in Yerevan with the President and Prime-minister of Armenia

Turkish Foreign Ministry issues anti-Russian statement on Crimea issue

Zakharova: There is a historical answer to Armenia's doubts about sincerity of Russia's intentions

Zakharova: Moscow discusses with Armenia dragging Yerevan into anti-Russian course

Zakharova: Armenia's withdrawal from CSTO should be based on real needs of the country, not on "flirting" with West

Amazon and Microsoft suspend their cloud products in Russia

Dollar, euro lose value in Armenia

Armenia deputy FM: There has been considerable regress regarding visa facilitation with EU

Deputy FM: As landlocked country, Armenia recognizes vital importance of inclusive connectivity, open borders

FM: Armenia made every effort to prevent de-Armenianization in Karabakh

FM to reporters: You will be the first to know when Armenia intends to apply for EU membership

Ararat Mirzoyan: All Armenia authorities have negotiated on territorial concessions to Azerbaijan

FM: Deepening of Armenia's relations with the West, EU not directed against Russia

Mirzoyan: Unprecedented number of senior French officials visited Armenia in 2023

Ararat Mirzoyan: Armenia, Azerbaijan are close to mutual understanding on recognition of 1991 borders

Armenia made very active efforts to have minimal mutually acceptable wording with CSTO partners, FM assures

FM: Georgia ready to contribute to process of establishing peace in South Caucasus

Armenia FM: Events have occurred that have made it impossible to do certain things

Armenia FM: Ultimate goal not materialized yet in relations with Turkey

FM: There are international players interested in Armenia ceasing to exist

Mirzoyan: No agreement between Armenia, Azerbaijan to withdraw international lawsuits against each other

Armenia FM reiterates PM's arguments on handover of 4 villages in Tavush Province to Azerbaijan

FM: Armenia still doesnt understand how CSTO partners present their area of responsibility in South Caucasus

Mirzoyan: EU monitoring mission in Armenia has become factor of stability on Azerbaijan border

Dennis Francis: UN hopes for signing of Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty

FM: 23 Armenians still kept in custody in Azerbaijan

Armenia FM: Still not many tangible results on fundamental issues, we are still negotiating with Azerbaijan

European Commission official underscores provision of assistance to people affected by Karabakh conflict

Peter Stano: Armenia can apply for EU membership

MFA: Genocide prevention agenda is among Armenias priorities

Russia holding presidential elections

US intelligence warns of potentially devastating new pandemic

Newspaper: Birth rate in Armenia 19% lower than last year

Stoltenberg: NATO sought to maintain stronger relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan

Georgian Prime Minister to visit Armenia

Premier receives IMF Armenia mission chief

Anne-Laurence Petel-led delegation to arrive in Armenia

FM: Armenia looks into prospects of further deepening partnership with EU

New technologies at the core of rural infrastructure development

Russia is world leader in nuclear technology, Putin says

Vardges Sureniants Salome painting returns to National Gallery of Armenia exhibition

Dollar drops, euro rises in Armenia

Sunak: There is historic opportunity to put an end to Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict

Armenia authorities, who paid $6M for Snoop Dogg concert, still dont know when this postponed event will be held

Deputy economy minister: Matter of opening India-Iran-Armenia trade corridor being discussed

Armenia official: Trade with India amounted to $380M in 2023

ICC NCA head: India considers Armenia an important bridge to enter larger markets

Anne-Laurence Petel welcomes resolution on EU-Armenia relations

India ambassador: We are happy that our relations with Armenia are developing in defense sector also

Indians are now 2nd largest community in Armenia after Russians, envoy says

India-Armenia business forum kicks off in Yerevan

Armenia parliament speaker on European Parliament resolution: We thank European partners for this important step

PM: European Parliament resolution is another opportunity to discuss vision of Armenia's future

Azerbaijans next target in Karabakh is Artsakh State University

Russia deputy FM in Turkey, discusses process of normalizing Armenia-Azerbaijan relations

14-karat gold LEGO piece sells for over $18,000

Newspaper: Armenia to leave CSTO on Putin's reelection day?

Young lords 1,200-year-old tomb with treasure discovered in Panama

European Parliament resolution demands Azerbaijan troops withdrawal from Armenia territory

European Parliament adopts resolution proposing to consider possibility of Armenia's candidacy for EU membership

Russia MFA spox: We are concerned by Armenia leaderships sometimes offensive rhetoric on CSTO topics

Armenia government plans to have Kapan city airport serve international flights as well

Zakharova on Russian border guards removal from Yerevan airport: Hardly meets Armenia security interests

Armenia defense minister, Austria envoy, military attache discuss enhancing cooperation (PHOTOS)

Armenia official: Those 4 villages in Tavush Province are not in our administrative territorial division

European Parliament passes resolution proposing to consider possibility of EU membership candidacy to Armenia

The Kremlin comments on PM Pashinyan's statements about possibility of Armenia leaving CSTO

US envoy to Armenia underscores empowering women to participate meaningfully at all levels of conflict prevention

RFE/RL: Armenia ready to find solutions, including in most problematic areas of Tavush Province, government says

The number of Team mobile subscribers is over 1 million

French writer Sylvain Tesson to visit Armenia

Spain MP: Addressing Karabakh Armenians rights should always be at international community focus

Mirzoyan, Bono confer about discussions on Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty

EU monitoring mission in Armenia hosts Austria ambassador to Georgia, defense attache
Irans Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani in a meeting with his visiting Armenian counterpart Suren Papikyan on Wednesday night said the Caucasus region should not allow it to become a competition ground for others, IRNA reports.

Brigadier General Amir Ashtiani argued in support of his remarks that seeking security outside the region has the opposite outcome, turns the region into a place of power conflict and brings about more challenges to regional peace and stability.

Ashtiani, in the meeting with Papikyan at the headquarters of the Iranian Ministry of Defense, exchanged views on a wide range of issues, including bilateral relations between Tehran and Yerevan.

Strengthening relations with all its neighbors is part of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic but Armenia enjoys special importance and the relations between the two have been growing in different areas ever since Armenias independence, he said.

The Iranian defense minister also said that Iran has always supported comprehensive peace and stability in the region.

The decisive stance of the Islamic Republic is to support the territorial integrity of the countries in the region and their right to sovereignty over their land and no change to the internationally-recognized borders, Ashtiani emphasized, adding that Iran adheres to this policy in the Caucasus region, support direct negotiations between its two neighbors Azerbaijan and Armenia and consider it a basis for peace, progress, and development.

The Armenia defense minister, for his part, hailed his countrys historical ties and friendship with Iran and expressed Yerevans readiness to further boost bilateral relations.

It is very important that both countries have similar views on regional stability, we should strive for closer relations in order to develop and achieve regional security, Papikyan added.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan explained how Yerevan informed Moscow about the matter of the Russian border guards at Zvartnots International Airport of the Armenian capital city of Yerevan.

At Thursdays press conference, the FM confirmed the statement by the secretary of the Council of Armenia regarding the aforementioned matter, and stated that the Russian side was informed about the initiative to remove the Russian border guards from Zvartnots airport.

According to Mirzoyan, at the beginning it was planned that the Russian border guards presence at a number of border checkpoints of Armenia, including Zvartnots airport, was thought of as support for independent Armenia, and it was planned that they would be present as long as Armenia needs them, and when it will have its own institutional capabilities, it will start performing those functions.

"Now we believe that Armenia is institutionally capable of independently implementing border guard service at the [Yerevan] airport, about which we have informed the Russian side. I believe that this will be enough for the Russian side and the matter will be over," Mirzoyan noted, adding that it is about the entire package of jurisdiction at the airport.

"The Armenian side has informed [the Russian side] that it does not need [anymore] the border guard service of Russian border guards at the airport; of course, thanking the Russian side," Mirzoyan informed, adding that the respective notification was delivered through the relevant service, and therefore he did not go into technical details.

To the question about the presence of Russian border guards in other places in Armenia, for example on the Turkish border, the minister responded that the matter is only about Zvartnots airport.

"Therefore, we are talking only about the airport," added the Armenian FM.
We are obligated to oppose aggression and support Armenia. Visiting Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos stated this at a joint press conference with his Armenian colleague, Ararat Mirzoyan, in Yerevan Thursday.

The Cypriot FM reminded that his country assisted Armenia after the forcible displacement of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh and sent humanitarian aid to these refugees. On behalf of the Cypriot government, Kombos informed about the project of constructing ten greenhouses in Armenia and confirmed that Cyprus is ready to host the displaced children of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Aggression, revisionism, displacement, all this is unacceptable for the international community. Coercion and the use of force cannot be an alternative to dialogue. Sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected in accordance with international law and the UN Charter. We are obliged to oppose aggression and support Armenia, both politically and materially, the Cypriot FM said, and welcomed all efforts to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

They fully support their Armenian colleagues, Kombos emphasized, adding that Cyprus has been and remains Armenia's reliable partner.

To the question about the actions by the international community in the conditions of Azerbaijan's continued aggression, the Cypriot official responded that everyone should respect international law, there is no alternative, and respect sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Also, Constantinos Kombos recalled that Cyprus itself has been a victim of aggression and illegal invasion for 50 years by Turkey.
Chinese-made C919, ARJ21 jetliners on show in Cambodia

Xinhua) 09:07, March 07, 2024

PHNOM PENH, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese state-owned aircraft manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC) on Wednesday carried out a static display of its C919 aircraft and a demonstration flight of its ARJ21 jetliner in Cambodia.

The COMAC held the static display of the C919 passenger aircraft at the Phnom Penh International Airport before conducting a fantastic demo flight of the ARJ21 passenger jetliner on the round-trip route from the capital Phnom Penh to the tourist province of Siem Reap.

The event attracted dozens of civil aviation officials and representatives of airline companies.

The single-aisle C919 is a narrow-body passenger aircraft with a maximum capacity of 192 seats, while the ARJ21 is a twin-engined jet with a maximum of 90 seats.

The COMAC began to showcase its self-developed C919 and ARJ21 jets in Southeast Asia after finishing the Singapore Airshow 2024 late last month, marking the first display of the two jetliners outside China.

After the airshow, the two homegrown jetliners had flown from Singapore to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and their next showcase flights will be in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Cambodia's State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA)'s Undersecretary of State and Spokesman Sinn Chanserey Vutha said Cambodia supported the entry of C919 and ARJ21 jets into the aircraft market.

"This is a good sign for the aircraft market," he told Xinhua while attending the demo flight event.

Chanserey Vutha said C919 and ARJ21 jets will provide more options to airline operators and that the Chinese planes have been manufactured with the latest modern technologies.

"The airliners can consider whether they should buy or should lease the aircraft," he said.

"We hope this aircraft will enter the Southeast Asian market soon, so we expect that our Cambodian airlines also express their interest for this type of aircraft."

During the demo flight, passengers said they experienced a comfortable ride because they did not hear much noise, and the plane's aisle and seats are spacious.

"I like this plane's seat. It is very economic, strong, and slim," SSCA's permanent secretary of state Chea Aun told Xinhua while attending the event.

According to the Shanghai-headquartered COMAC, the demo flights aimed to verify the planes' adaptabilities to airports and routes in the Southeast Asian countries, laying a foundation for the company's future exploration of the Southeast Asian market.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Despite the verbal agreements, Armenia and Azerbaijan have not yet reached an agreement on specifying the three main principles in the peace treaty. This was announced by Sargis Khandanyan, an MP of the ruling majority Civil Contract Faction and Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly of Armenia, reports the RFE/RL Armenian Service.

According to him, if there were such an agreement, Armenia's assessments would be optimistic.

"If those three principles are recorded in the [peace treaty] text in the form that we imagine and there was a verbal agreement, the rest is a matter of legal technique, so to speak, already. It is a matter of finalizing the legal wording and some other provisions, some of which have already been agreed upon," said Khandanyan.

Those principles are the complete recognition of each other's territorial integrity based on the Alma Ata declaration of 1991, the latter should be the basis of the border delimitation process, and regional communications should be opened by respecting the principles of sovereignty, jurisdiction, equality, and reciprocity of the countries.

Sargis Khandanyan said that some progress has been made in the recent two-day negotiations between the Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs, but he did not open any brackets in this regard.

"It became possible to make some progress on some issues. But still, if the progress had been such that it would have been possible to talk about a possible signing, about the timeframes, then there would have been comments about it. But at the moment I assume and find that there is need for additional work and there is a need for new meetings," said the MP of the Armenian ruling force.
China to offer visa-free travel for 6 European nations

China to offer visa-free travel for 6 European nations

China will offer visa-free travel to nationals from six European countries  Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg and Switzerland  from March 14, Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced on Thursday.



He also said the move will make it more convenient for Chinese citizens to travel abroad.



"We hope more countries will also offer Chinese citizens visa facilitation and work with us to build fast-track networks for cross-border travels and encourage speedy resumption of international passenger flights," Wang told a press conference in Beijing.



Amid tensions with the European Union (EU) over trade, technology and other issues, the foreign minister said the EU's position on China is "not factual or feasible".



Referring to the EU's portrayal of Beijing as a "partner, competitor and institutional rival", Wang said: "This triple positioning is not factual or feasible, and has actually brought unnecessary interference and obstacles to the development of China-EU ties".



On the war in Ukraine, he said China wants peace talks between Russia and Ukraine to be held as soon as possible.



The earlier the talks start, the sooner peace will arrive, he said.



On the Gaza conflict, Wang said an immediate ceasefire should be the priority of the international community.



"There is no distinction between noble and humble lives, and life should not be labelled by race or religion. The failure to end this humanitarian disaster today in the 21st century is a tragedy for humanity and a disgrace for civilisation."



Wang said China supports United Nations membership for a Palestinian state. (Additional reporting by AFP)
VMPL Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], March 7: JLL, a global leader in real estate services, announced its inaugural exhibition cum fair on Sustainability and Innovation, marking a monumental stride in the company's dedication in reshaping environment for better future. This pioneering event held at Conrad Bengaluru on 29th February 2024 signifies a pivotal moment in JLL's journey towards fostering positive change, as it brings together the esteemed industry professionals, visionaries, and pioneers to showcase the symbiotic relationship between sustainability and innovation in the real estate sector. The event demonstrated how sustainability principles can be integrated into innovative technologies, building design, and operational practices. Attendees got the opportunity to witness firsthand how cutting-edge solutions, such as smart buildings, renewable energy systems, and circular economy models, are driving sustainability while fostering efficiency, productivity, and resilience. Commenting on the event, Sandeep Sethi, Divisional President JLL WD APAC said: 'We, at JLL, have sustainability at its core. We have embraced sustainability and innovation as crucial drivers for long-term success and positive environmental impact. JLL's pioneering exhibition and fair on sustainability and innovation is a successful attempt to establish a standard for the real estate industry's commitment towards positive change. JLL has built a platform that propels the industry towards sustainable innovations, encouraging collaboration, inspiring sustainable investments, and empowering knowledge sharing. This remarkable event not only highlights JLL's commitment towards a better future, but also inspires stakeholders around the world to embrace sustainability and innovation as core values in shaping a better built environment for future generations." The exhibition was followed by JLL's annual Partner Summit 2024. The summit was hosted by the organization to reward and recognize its partners for their significant contributions to the organization's success. The summit witnessed participation from, 237 partners. This program plays a significant role in creating a positive work environment, inspiring excellence, and increasing partner engagement. Beyond individual accolades, this program also serves as a catalyst for fostering a culture of excellence, collaboration, and engagement, reaffirming JLL's steadfast commitment to nurturing its greatest asset--the talented individuals who propel its success. For over 200 years, JLL (NYSE: JLL), a leading global commercial real estate and investment management company, has helped clients buy, build, occupy, manage and invest in a variety of commercial, industrial, hotel, residential and retail properties. A Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $20.8 billion and operations in over 80 countries around the world, our more than 106,000 employees bring the power of a global platform combined with local expertise. Driven by our purpose to shape the future of real estate for a better world, we help our clients, people and communities SEE A BRIGHTER WAYSM. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com. JLL is India's premier and largest professional services firm specializing in real estate. The Firm has grown from strength to strength in India for the past two decades. JLL India has an extensive presence across 10 major cities (Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Kochi and Coimbatore) and over 130 tier-II and III markets with a cumulative strength of over 14000 professionals. The Firm provides investors, developers, local corporates and multinational companies with a comprehensive range of services. These include leasing, capital markets, research & advisory, transaction management, project development, facility management and property & asset management. These services cover various asset classes such as commercial, industrial, warehouse and logistics, data centers, residential, retail, hospitality, healthcare, senior living, and education. For further information, please visit jll.co.in Contact: Vatsala Sharma Phone: +91 81717 17989 Email: vatsala.sharma@bcw-global.com (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
NewsVoir New Delhi [India], March 7: Netplus Broadband, one of the leading broadband service providers in India under the dynamic leadership of Gurdeep Singh, has been honored with the prestigious recognition as the "Best company in the broadband and video industry for the year 2023" by the Times Group. Dr. Prem Ojha, CEO of Netplus Broadband, graciously accepted the distinguished award, acknowledging the collective commitment, innovation, and steadfast dedication to excellence exhibited by the entire Netplus Broadband team. This award recognizes the devotion, ingenuity, and unwavering pursuit of excellence demonstrated by the whole Netplus Broadband team. Netplus Broadband has consistently pushed the boundaries of technology and service delivery to provide seamless internet connectivity and high-quality video streaming experiences to its customers across the country. Through its cutting-edge infrastructure, customer-centric approach, and unwavering commitment to exceeding expectations, Netplus has established itself as a leader in the broadband industry. Gurdeep Singh, the visionary Chairman & Founder of Netplus Broadband & Fastway, expressed his gratitude for the recognition and credited the achievement to the collective efforts of the entire team. In a statement, Singh said, "We are profoundly honored to receive this prestigious award, a testament to the unwavering dedication and relentless pursuit of excellence that defines our team. This recognition is not just a reflection of my vision as the founder but a celebration of the collective passion, hard work, and innovation that every member has contributed to our journey." Further, he added "Winning this award validates our commitment to pushing boundaries, fostering innovation, and making a positive impact. It serves as a source of inspiration to continue our quest for excellence and reinforces our belief that with determination and a dedicated team, we can achieve remarkable milestones. This accolade is not just a recognition of past achievements but a catalyst propelling us forward into a future where we will continue to innovate, inspire, and make a meaningful difference in our industry and beyond." In addition to being recognized as the best company in its industry, Netplus Broadband has also achieved the remarkable feat of becoming the fastest-growing broadband service provider in the country. This growth trajectory is a result of the company's relentless focus on innovation, customer satisfaction, and operational excellence. Netplus Broadband has consistently demonstrated its commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction, earning the trust and loyalty of millions of customers across the country. With its robust infrastructure, advanced technology solutions, and customer-centric approach, Netplus is poised to continue leading the way in the broadband and video industry. Netplus Broadband is a leading broadband service provider in India, offering high-speed internet connectivity and video streaming services to residential and commercial customers. With a focus on innovation, quality, and customer satisfaction, Netplus has emerged as a trusted partner for millions of customers across the country. Revered for its superfast connection speeds and high customer retention rate, Netplus Broadband is the dominant and fastest growing ISP in the region, providing next-gen services such as High Speed Broadband, Smart Telephony & OTT. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
Being organized in association with IBM Software, the Generative AI Conference will be held at Kochi on July 11-12, he revealed, after conferring IBM Software Senior Vice-President (Products) Dinesh Nirmal with the first-ever Business Investment Promotion award in acknowledgement of his services to the state's investment ecosystem.

The award is in special recognition of Nirmal's efforts towards opening and enhancing the company's services in Kochi over the past five months, enabling Kerala to be presented as an IT destination at the international level, the Minister said.

Nirmal is responsible for the company's new products and innovation, besides its technology direction, location strategy and support and ecosystem development.

The July conclave, which will have higher-education institutions, startups and industries as partners, will be addressed by around 1,000 speakers of international repute, Rajeev revealed.

Further, an International Robotics Conference will be held in August.

"The idea is to make Kochi a global hub of IT and new-generation technology," the Minister said.

Nirmal, expressing pleasure in the government honour, said Kerala is of late witnessing a reverse brain-drain of IT professionals.

"The return of each such hand will generate 10 jobs in the state," he added.

The function was attended by Industries Director S Harikishore, who is also Managing Director of KSIDC, and KSIDC General Manager Varghese Malakkaran. (ANI)
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Tejasvi Surya warned of protests in front of Vidhana Soudha if the Congress government in Karnataka failed to address the drinking water crisis in Bengaluru soon. Following a meeting with Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) chairman Ram Prasath Manohar, Surya said that if the water problem is not resolved within a week, the Karnataka BJP brass would lead protests at Vidhana Soudha. "The government, despite being aware of having to face this situation, failed to take up precautionary measures. As a result of this negligence, today, the people of Bengaluru are facing this tough water crisis," he said in a statement. "This shows sheer neglect of the decision makers and their irresponsibility towards Bengaluru." "In the event that these measures are not taken up within one week, the BJP will lead protests in front of Vidhana Soudha demanding the government to respond to the pressing needs of the people," Surya said. Lambasting the Siddaramaiah government for attempting to address the issue "unscientifically", Surya in a Tweet also offered suggestions to the BWSSB for quick redressal of the issue. "1) Treated water must be provided for non-potable usage for bulk users like industries & in the construction sector. "2) Drinking water must be redistributed to places where there is stress. "3) About 1,300 MLD of available treated water must be diverted towards lakes for recharging aquifers. "4) Geologists must be consulted on locations where new borewells can be dug up. "5) On a war footing, redrill/flush existing borewells which have witnessed reduced yields in the last few months. "6) Instead of disrupting existing contractual water tanker supply, water distribution must be done by efficiently managing other water tankers. "7) Cauvery Stage-5 must be completed at the earliest through which water availability at the proposed regions can be addressed." About 10 days ago also, Surya highlighted the looming water shortage in the city and urged the government to work with citizens to address the problem. (ANI)
In a major legal development against the child marriage in Assam, a district court in Morigaon has delivered a historic verdict by sentencing one man to life imprisonment while another has received a 20-year jail term in a child marriage case. Samiran Baishya, Additional Superintendent of Police of Morigaon district said that, on March 6, in a judgement in connection with Moirabari police station Case No-182/21, under Section 120(B)/376DA IPC R/W-Sec 6 of POCSO Act and R/W sec 9/10/11 of prohibition of Child marriage Act, accused Amir Ali has been convicted rigorous Imprisonment for life and accused Ferdus Alom has been convicted for 20 years of Rigorous Imprisonment by the Additional Sessions Judge cum Special Judge (POCSO), Morigaon. "It is to be mentioned here that while monitoring the process of trial it has came to light that one person, Merajul Islam, had threatened the victim and other witnesses to depose evidence in favour of the accused and also offered gratification. Accordingly he was arrested from the court premises and forwarded to judicial custody. Case reference Morigaon police station case number 14/ 24 U/S 195A/214/506 IPC," Baishya said. Earlier, the Assam government led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had launched a massive crackdown against child marriage with police arresting more than 4000 people across the state. Recently, the Assam government repealed the Assam Muslim Marriages & Divorces Registration Act, 1935. Meanwhile, CM Sarma had pledged that he will not allow child marriages in Assam as long as he is alive. Earlier in a rousing speech in the Assembly, he challenged his political opponents, saying, "I would like to challenge you politically. I will shut down this shop before 2026." "Hear me carefully, as long as I am alive, I will not let child marriage take place in Assam. This will not be allowed to happen as long as Himanta Biswa Sarma is alive. I would like to challenge you politically, I will shut down this shop before 2026," he had said. The Assam CM has vowed to eradicate child marriage in the state by 2026. (ANI)
Twenty-four retired civil services officers from the IAS, IPS, IFS and the IRS wrote a letter on Wednesday to Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar urging him to not administer the oath of office to newly elected Rajya Sabha member Naseer Hussain till the completion of judicial proceedings on the raising of "Pakistan Zindabad" slogans are complete. These slogans were made during Hussain's victory celebration in the Karnataka Assembly premises. "It has come to our notice through the press that upon the results of the recent Rajya Sabha Elections by the Election Commission of India declaring Syed Naseer Hussain to have been elected to Parliament from the State of Karnataka, some of the chosen supports of Syed Naseer Hussain, openly proclaimed 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans in celebration after he won the Rajya Sabha elections inside the Vidhana Soudha, a sacred temple of Democracy, which is a protected area. All supporters who accompanied Syed Naseer Hussain to celebrate his election victory inside the protected area of the State Legislature Building Vidhana Soudha had entered the building through his recommendation and knowledge," the letter read. "Therefore, we sincerely request your kind self to put the administration of the Oath to the newly elected member of Rajya Sabha Syed Naseer Hussain on hold till the completion of judicial proceedings and absolve said member of his involvement in the entire episode. We request your kind self to initiate appropriate action in this regard on priority." the letter further said. Earlier on Tuesday, The Bengaluru Court granted three days of police custody to the three people arrested in connection with the alleged pro-Pakistan slogan at Vidhana Soudha in Karnataka. On March 4, the Bengaluru police, had arrested three people for allegedly raising "Pakistan Zindabad" slogans during the victory celebrations of Naseer Hussain. Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Police, Central Division, Shekhar H.T., confirmed that the arrest was based on the FSL report, circumstantial evidence and statements of the witnesses gathered at the event. "On the basis of FSL report, circumstantial evidence, statements of witnesses and available evidence, three accused persons were arrested and legal action was initiated against them," the press release from the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Division of Bangalore City, said. The accused have been identified as Iltaz from Delhi, Munawar from RT Nagar in Bengaluru and Mohammed Shafi Nashipudi from Byadagi in Haveri district. Karnataka Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara said that the FSL report had confirmed that slogans of Pakistan Zindabad were raised during the victory celebration of Naseer Hussain at the Vidhan Soudha complex. (ANI)
The chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Priyank Kanoongo has said that the commission has given a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government to take action against the Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband based in Saharanpur district for allegedly 'glorifying Gazwa-e-Hind through a fatwa'. Speaking to ANI, the NCPCR Chairperson said that the NCPCR has summoned Collector and SP Saharanpur to Delhi and asked for a report and clarification. "In Saharanpur, at the place called Deoband, there is a Madrasa called Darul Uloom. It controls the Madrasa education system in South Asia. They glorified Gazwa-e-Hind through a fatwa. We gave a notice to the UP government to take action against them. UP Government said that this fatwa was issued in 2008. The fatwa taught that whoever gets killed during Gazwa-e-Hind will be considered a martyr," he said. Kanoongo further claimed that the fatwa was issued on December 1, 2008, just after the 26/11 attacks. "It was issued on December 1, 2008, just after the 26/11 attacks. We have summoned Collector and SP Saharanpur to Delhi and asked for a report and clarification. Darul Uloom manages a vast educational area globally. Children can get into inappropriate activities by being influenced by Deoband," he added. He further claimed that the madrasa funds Pakistan. "Maulanas related to Darul Uloom receive crores of funding from Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind UK. This organisation funds Pakistan too... Are they trying to portray Ajmal Kasab as a martyr in the eyes of the children?" Priyank Kanoongo said. Earlier in October 2023, following an action by the NCPCR, the Islamic seminary was compelled to remove the controversial book Bahishti Zevar prescribed by it from its curriculum, which violated the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The book Bahishti Zevar by Maulana Ali Thanvi, which contained objectionable, improper, and illegal content on children, was removed from the curriculum after the NCPCR wrote to the district administration of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh to inquire into the matter earlier in July last year. (ANI)
Launching an attack on the Uttar Pradesh government over lawlessness in the state, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Thursday claimed that two minor girls who were victims of gang rape, died by suicide in Kanpur. In a social media post on X, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said, "Two minor girls, victims of gang rape, committed suicide in Kanpur. Now the father of those girls has also committed suicide." Comparing the case with that of Hathras and Unnao, the Congress leader claimed that the 'victim's family was put under pressure to compromise.' "In Uttar Pradesh, if victimized girls and women ask for justice, it has become a rule to destroy their families. From Unnao, Hathras to Kanpur - wherever women were tortured, their families were destroyed. Being a woman has become a crime in this jungle raj where there is no such thing as law left. After all, what should crores of women in the state do, and where should they go?" Priyanka Gandhi added. Former Union Minister and Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal also took a dig at the 'double engine government' in Uttar Pradesh over the rape case incident in Kanpur. "The Kanpur rape case has put humanity to shame. It shows that the 'double engine government' in UP has bowed down to criminals!" Bansal stated in a post on X. Questioning the silence of women welfare departments, he asked, "Where is the National Commission for Women? Does the Women and Child Development Minister take it seriously? Is the 150 per cent increase in cases of rape of minor girls across the country during the BJP regime of any significance to the national media?" "Why are rapists and molesters protected?," the Congress leader asked the BJP. Meanwhile, Congress leader Bharat Solanki questioned the silence of the media on the incident. "The heart-wrenching incident of Kanpur gang-rape has shaken souls of people not just from Uttar Pradesh, but across the country. While attacks on women and minor girls have drastically increased during BJP regime, silence of the national media is deafening," Congress' Solanki said in a post on X. (ANI)
The Cyberabad Special Operation Team (SOT) arrested a man on Thursday who was transporting 50 lakhs of Hawala money from Secunderabad to Gulbarga under Raidurgam police station limits, a police official said. The accused was identified as Vikram. According to the Raidurgam police inspector, Ch. Venkanna, "an accused was going from Secunderabad to Gulbarga. We caught 50 lakhs of Hawala money from him. He did not give any details about the money; that's why we are going to send him to the income tax officials. The probe is on." Earlier on March 1, the Hyderabad Police arrested two people for allegedly cloning the fingerprints of sanitation workers and using them to carry out unauthorised transactions, the officials said. The arrested persons, identified as Shivaiah Umesh and J. Shivaram, are sanitation field assistants of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. According to the police, the accused were illegally claiming the salaries of absent sanitation workers by using their cloned finger prints. The accused have hatched a plan to illegally claim the wages of sanitation workers who were absent by cloning their thumb impressions. The police further said that several workers were not physically attending duties but their attendance was being marked regularly. The accused persons made the sanitation workers press their thumbs on a layer of candle wax and then poured gum on it to capture the print. The layer of gum, containing the fingerprint of the worker, was pressed against the biometric scanner to record the attendance of the absentee. On the same day the accused persons, and seized 35 synthetic finger prints and two attendance biometric devices, were handed over to the SHO of Amberpeat Police Station. A case under sections 467, 468, 471, 419, 420, and 409 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered. (ANI)
Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Thursday asserted that a thorough investigation on the Rajasthan paper leak and employment gained by unfair means will be taken up by the state government. BJP leader Gajendra Singh Shekhawat while speaking to the media said that initial steps have been taken to tackle the paper leak scandal as part of which Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) and various political leaders have been brought into questioning. "We are in the early stages of the investigation, and we have reached out to the RPSC and various political leaders. It remains to be seen who all are involved, and all the details will come to light soon," said Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat "Not only those who are involved in paper leak, but also those who are recruited in jobs by using unfair means will also face trouble. Just keep seeing which faces get revealed in the scam," he said. Earlier, on Monday, fifteen trainee Rajasthan Police sub-inspectors, including the one who topped the recruitment exam, were detained for allegedly clearing the test in 2021 by using unfair means, police said. As per the Rajasthan Police, the arrested trainee was accused of passing the examinations through the utilization of leaked question papers and the involvement of substitute candidates. "Concrete action is being taken by the SIT to curb paper leaks. SIT has also issued a helpline number- 9530429258. Major action by the Rajasthan Police in Sub-Inspector Recruitment Exam paper leak," the Rajasthan Police said in a post X on Tuesday. Taking to social media platform 'X' (formerly Twitter), Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, on Tuesday said, "Paper leaks incidents are being controlled in the new Rajasthan of new India. An SIT formed to prevent paper leak gets major success." (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday hit out at the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal alleging that the state government was corrupt and indulging in rampant appeasement. Speaking at the Republic TV Summit 2024, the Union Home Minister said "The governance in Bengal is corrupt, with appeasement based on religion which is unjust. It is very important for the security of the country that there should be change, and BJP is fighting for that change. I also request the people of Bengal to support us. People should elect a strong representation from Bengal under the leadership of Modi ji. We want to make Bengal Sonar Bangla again." "The country needs to stand with Bengal. There is a serious problem there. Awareness has come in Bengal also. Last time we won 18 seats there, this time we are moving towards perfection by crossing the figure of 25. Earlier we had 2 MLAs there, now we have 77 MLAs. We are playing our role as a strong opposition." he added. In a sharp attack, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah categorically stated that infiltration in Bengal is state-sponsored infiltration. "Bengal is a border state. We all know that the problem of infiltration is the worst in Bengal. Based on facts, I am telling the people of the country that the infiltration that takes place in Bengal is state-sponsored infiltration. National security is being put at stake there to increase their vote bank and for political mileage," said Amit Shah. "In pursuit of vote bank politics, they are ready to jeopardise national security. We need to stand in solidarity with Bengal. Bengal is in dire need of transformation. We must save people from misrule by the state. Trust us and we will make Bengal 'Sonar Bangla' again." the Home Minister added. Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah said, "In a democracy, the people of the country answer every question raised against the government. Leaders who scammed the citizens are now absconding. In 23 years of Modi ji's tenure, first as the Chief Minister and then as the Prime Minister, there has not been a single allegation against him. Even the opposition cannot blame Modi Ji for anything, such is the transparency with which he works" "We have had our government at the Center for 10 years. But even our opponents cannot blame Modi ji for even 4 annas worth of corruption. We have governed with transparency." The Home Minister also reiterated that the Citizenship Amendment Act will be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 was passed by the Parliament in December 2019, The Union Home Minister said, "This will be implemented before the elections...this is the law of the country, no one can stop it, this is set in stone, this is the reality." Home Minister Amit Shah also batted for the Uniform Civil Code saying that this is not just the agenda of the BJP, but also the vision of constitutional assembly and included in Article 44 of the constitution. "Unfortunately, UCC has been associated with religion. Today I want to tell the people of the country that UCC is not just the agenda of BJP, but since 1950 we have been saying that when we come to power, we will bring UCC to this country. Since 1950, 'Uniform Civil Code' has been a part of our manifesto. If you expect the State to be secular, then the laws of the State must also be secular. Personal laws based on religious domination can never give us a secular State," Home Minister Amit Shah said. (ANI)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday paid tribute to the freedom fighter and first Chief Minister of the state Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant on his death anniversary and said, "I bow down to his memories and pay tribute on behalf of the people of the state." Praising his contribution to the freedom struggle of India, he said, "He was a great son of India. He played a significant role in Mahatma Gandhi's freedom movement. During his administrative and political career, he was the Premier of the United Provinces in 1937." "After the death of Sardar Patel, Pant was made the Home Minister in the Union Government. During his tenure (1955-1961), he championed the cause of Hindi as the national language," the CM Yogi further said in a speech. "He was awarded the highest civilian award the 'Bharat Ratna' for his role in the freedom struggle in 1957," he further said. Earlier, in his post on X the Uttar Pradesh CM said "'Bharat Ratna' Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant was a great son of Mother India. He played a leading role in the movements launched from time to time for the independence of the country. Humble tribute on his death anniversary today" Born on September 10, 1887, Pant became the first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1950. He later served as the Minister of Home Affairs from 1955 till his death in 1961. As the first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Pandit Pant is credited with providing a stable government and ensuring communal harmony in the state in the post-Independence years. (ANI)
A team of personnel of police's Anti-Auto Theft Squad (AATS), Dwaraka engaged in an exchange of gunfire with the culprits who attempted to flee, police said on Thursday.

The accused were identified as Satish Saka (35) and Sonu (25) both residents of Lakhan Pana Badli, a village in the Badli district of Jhajjar, Haryana.

On March 3, an incident of gold chain and mobile phone robbery was reported at Chhawla police station and a case was registered as per the statement of the complainant.

Following the complaint, a dedicated team of the Anti-Auto Theft Squad Dwraka was constituted to nab the culprits.

According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Dwarka, Ankit Singh, technical and manual surveillance was used to identify the culprits and the motorcycle used in the theft.

While searching for the accused in Paprawat village, the AATS team noticed the same motorcycle and began pursuing it when the riders refused to stop.

In the course of the chase, the accused fired at the police, resulting in a brief exchange of gunfire. Subsequently, both individuals were captured. Satish Saka, one of the accused, suffered a gunshot wound to his leg.

The police has seized the motorcycle and several other items including a sophisticated pistol, a single-round pistol, a live cartridge and three used cartridges, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Dwarka, said.

The arrested individuals, Satish and Sonu, are reported to be associates of the absconding gangster Mainpal, wanted in several murder cases. Earlier, the Haryana Police announced a reward of Rs 7 lakh upon their arrest. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah while speaking at the Republic TV Summit 2024 on Thursday emphasised the good work put in by the government in the last 10 years and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will continue to govern for the next ten years. Asked about the political outlook for the next ten years Home Minister Amit said, "There is a dynamic democracy in our country which evaluates performances and gives its mandate depending on that. The mood and mandate in the past used to be based on caste, creed and religion and on the basis of appeasement. Now PM Modi has established politics of performance. Performance will determine who stays in power, the country will give an opportunity to those who perform. If we perform well, we will stay in power, if we do not control our drawbacks then we will not win. Because you have asked about the next 10 years, I can tell you that for the next 10 years it will be Prime Minister Narendra Modi only." The Home Minister also hit out at RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav for raising question on the absence of the Prime Minister's family "People who are trying to lower the level of country's politics by talking nonsense, the public is giving them a befitting reply each time. I have seen Modi ji very closely, have worked with him for a long time. In a sense, Lalu ji has rightly said that Modi ji has no family. Because those who have families, try to make their sons and daughters Prime Ministers and Chief Ministers" Amit Shah said "Modi ji has worked only and only for the people of the country for 40 years. Even after being Chief Minister and Prime Minister for 23 years, I have not seen him taking leave. I have seen PM Modi working diligently from 5 am in the morning to 1 am in the night. And it is a result of that there is such a large cadre with him" the Home Minister added. Amit Shah further said there has never been any allegations of corruption against PM Modi. "In a democracy, the people of the country answer every question raised against the government. Leaders who scammed the citizens are now absconding. In 23 years of Modi ji's tenure, first as the Chief Minister and then as the Prime Minister, there has not been a single allegation against him. Even the opposition cannot blame Modi ji for anything, such is the transparency with which he works" Amit Shah said "We have had our government at the centre for 10 years. But even our opponents cannot blame Modi ji for even 4 annas worth of corruption. We have governed with transparency," Amit Shah added. The Home Minister stressed that the Prime Minister and the BJP were working to realise the dreams of all Indians. "Ever since the formation of our party, since independence, the dreams of Indians have remained our political agenda. People did not sacrifice their lives for an India which is poor, unsafe or does not have a standing in the world. People were martyred for the dream of a strong and prosperous India. That dream was, is, and will remain our mission and vision for India" he said. The Home Minister emphasised that in 2047, India would transform into a developed nation. He also reiterated that the Citizenship Amendment Act will be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 was passed by the Parliament in December 2019. The Union Home Minister said, "This will be implemented before the elections...this is the law of the country, no one can stop it, this is set in stone, this is the reality." Shah also batted for the Uniform Civil Code saying that this is not only the agenda of the BJP, but also the vision of constitutional assembly and included in Article 44 of the constitution. "Unfortunately, UCC has been associated with religion. Today I want to tell the people of the country that UCC is not just the agenda of BJP, but since 1950 we have been saying that when we come to power, we will bring UCC to this country. Since 1950, 'Uniform Civil Code' has been a part of our manifesto. If you expect the State to be secular, then the laws of the State must also be secular. Personal laws based on religious domination can never give us a secular State," Home Minister Amit Shah said. Amit Shah also hit out at the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal alleging that the state government was corrupt and indulging in rampant appeasement. The Union Home Minister said "The governance in Bengal is corrupt, with appeasement based on unjust religion. It is very important for the security of the country that there should be change, and the BJP is fighting for that change. I also request the people of Bengal to support us. People should elect a strong representation from Bengal under the leadership of Modi ji. We want to make Bengal Sonar Bangla again." (ANI)
The Special Cell of Delhi Police on Thursday moved to the Patiala House Court with an application seeking 90 days to complete the investigation in the Parliament security breach case. Special public prosecutor Akhand Pratap Singh while moving the application before the court stated that the case is sensitive and certain reports are awaited. Digital data is also voluminous. Noting the submissions, additional sessions judge Dr Hardeep Kaur issued notice to all accused and fixed the matter for March 11, 2024. Earlier, the court while dismissing the bail plea of one of the accused Neelam Azad stated that "considering the nature and seriousness of allegations levelled against the applicant /accused and the initial stage of investigation, I do not find it to be a fit case to release the applicant/accused on bail. The present bail application stands dismissed." The court noted that FIR in the present case has been registered under section 186/353/452/153/34/120B IPC read with section 16/18 of UAPA. Investigation in the present case is at a nascent stage. The allegations against the applicant/accused are serious as she is alleged to be involved in disrupting the sovereignty and integrity of India along with other co-accused persons. On January 16, during arguments, Delhi Police stated that the material, evidence and other documentary evidence show her complicity in the offence and thus, disentitle her to be released on bail. Prima facie there are reasonable grounds against the accused person which negate the enlargement on bail because the investigation is pending, said Delhi Police. The accused persons are powerful and influential which is detrimental to the investigating agency if released on bail. The nature of the offence or gravity of the offence and severity of punishment are also relevant considerations at the stage of consideration of bail, further stated Delhi Police. This case pertains to a security breach at parliament on the anniversary of the Parliament attack case on December 13, 2023. All six persons are presently in judicial custody. (ANI)
PM Modi, in a post on X, shared the photographs of him looking at the Shankaracharya Hill.

https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1765634814869197203

Sharing a set of pictures of himself admiring the breathtaking view, PM Modi said, "Upon reaching Srinagar a short while ago, had the opportunity to see the majestic Shankaracharya Hill from a distance."

The Prime Minister's visit holds particular significance as it marks his first rally in Kashmir since 2019 and is anticipated to be the largest political gathering in the region since the scrapping of Article 370 five years ago. The event is set to take place at Bakshi Stadium.

This unplanned visit of PM Modi underscored the Prime Minister's push for local tourism and his commitment to connecting with the country's diverse cultural fabric.

Recently, there was fury and a sharp downturn in ties with neighbouring Maldives over viral social media posts by the country's junior ministers mocking PM Modi's visit to Lakshadweep.

Ridiculing PM Modi and his call to promote Lakshadweep as a destination for beach tourism, several junior ministers and government officials in Maldives made disparaging and distasteful remarks against him.

The matter snowballed into a major diplomatic row, with New Delhi summoning the Maldivian envoy to the South Block and registering a strong protest against the viral posts. (ANI)
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday held a grand roadshow organised from Tyagi Road in Dehradun to Bannu School Ground under 'Nari Shakti Mahotsav'. During the roadshow, thousands of people gathered on the streets to welcome the Chief Minister. Visuals showed people showering flowers, and chanting slogans in support of CM Dhami and BJP. The Chief Minister also reciprocated by showering flowers on the people and waving at them. Earlier in the day, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed his happiness over the Railway Ministry's approval for the operation of the new weekly train service between Tanakpur-Dehradun. Expressing his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, the Chief Minister said that the operation of this train will provide a lot of convenience to the people in transportation. "Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has expressed happiness over the Railway Ministry's approval for the operation of the new train between Tanakpur-Dehradun. Expressing his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, the Chief Minister said that the operation of this train will provide a lot of convenience to the people in transportation," CMO. On Wednesday, Dhami gave instructions to present the proposal to implement service sector policy in the state in the upcoming cabinet. In the second board meeting of Uttarakhand Investment and Infrastructure Development Board (UIIDB) at the Secretariat on Wednesday, the Chief Minister gave instructions to speed up the schemes being run under the Board, saying that the appointment process should be started soon on the sanctioned posts for conducting the work of the Board. Apart from this, to speed up the work, instructions have also been given to make decisions at the departmental level on other issues except policy matters and to complete the work quickly. (ANI)
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha asserted on Thursday that the state will soon achieve 'Ek Tripura Shrestha Tripura' following the signing of the crucial tripartite agreement with the central government and the Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) Motha, also known as Tipra Motha Party. "We have already thanked the PM and the Union Home Minister for this historical accord that has been signed. Two new ministers including an MoS have joined the Tripura govt today. What we earlier used to say to make 'Ek Tripura Shrestha Tripura', I hope we'll achieve it soon," CM Saha said. The central government on Saturday signed the crucial tripartite agreement with the Tripura government and the TIPRA Motha in the national capital. Under the pact, it was agreed to amicably resolve all issues of the indigenous people of Tripura relating to history, land and political rights, economic development, identity, culture and language. Along with this, it was agreed to constitute a Joint Working Group/Committee to work out and implement the mutually agreed points on all the above-mentioned issues in a time-bound manner to ensure a solution. In order to maintain a conducive atmosphere for the implementation of the pact, all stakeholders shall refrain from resorting to any form of protest/agitation, starting from the day of signing of the agreement, the pact said. Responding to former Calcutta HC judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay joining the BJP, CM Saha said, "He has joined the BJP because of the BJP's thinking and ideology and so I welcome him." Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay was formally inducted into the party in West Bengal in the presence of state party chief Sukanta Majumdar, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and others in Kolkata. Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who stepped down as a Judge of the Calcutta High Court earlier in the month had announced that he would join the BJP. (ANI)
Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda visited Jhajjar in Haryana as part of the 'Ghar-Ghar Congress' campaign ahead of the Lok Sabha elections on Thursday. The people of the area warmly welcomed him as he visited shops and met with the residents of the main in city to seek support for his party. Launching a scathing attack on the BJP, Deepender Hooda told ANI, "Haryana has fallen off the track of development in 10 years. No development work has been carried out in the area. Now, the people of Haryana have a chance to bring new development to the state by voting in the elections." When asked about Randeep Hooda's candidature in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Congress leader said, "BJP has not been able to decide candidatures and even ticket takers in BJP do not know whose ticket it is." On March 2, the Bharatiya Janata Party released its first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi again. Of 195 candidates, 34 are ministers from the Centre and States while two are former Chief Ministers who are in the list.Home Minister Amit Shah will contest from Gandhinagar while Mansukh Mandaviya will contest from Porbandar. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar will contest from Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram. Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will contest from Dibrugarh, Kiren Rijiju from Arunachal Pradesh. Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's daughter Bansuri Swaraj has been fielded from New Delhi. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will contest from Lucknow, and Smriti Irani will again contest from Amethi. (ANI)
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday released booklets related to the action plan prepared in connection with the preparation of Strong Uttarakhand Road Map - Short, Medium and Long Term Departmental Action Plans and Strong Uttarakhand in the camp office auditorium. While addressing the booklet release programme, the Chief Minister said that under the ambitious vision and strong guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Uttarakhand government is fully dedicated to the inclusive development of the state. He said, "A thinking camp was organised in Mussoorie last November, as a result of which today we have roadmaps of all the departments ready for the short-term, medium-term and long-term development of the state, for which the officers deserve praise." He said that the officers should ensure continuous concurrent monitoring through these road maps and should ensure to start working from now on to implement the short-term and long-term plans mentioned in these booklets. Earlier in the day, all the priests of Chardham conveyed their gratitude to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami for the passage of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill in Uttarakhand. The meeting took place at the Secretariat, where the priests emphasised the necessity of a uniform civil code, stating that it is the need of the hour to give equal rights to the citizens of the state and to maintain the original nature of Uttarakhand. The Uttarakhand government introduced the UCC Bill on February 6, emphasising its importance. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reaffirmed the government's commitment and said," We are committed to preserving the cultural pride and rich traditions of Devbhoomi, Uttarakhand." During the interaction, the Chief Minister also extended his heartfelt gratitude for the blessings received from the revered pilgrimage priests. (ANI)
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday asserted that everything is going well between the Mahayuti Alliance in the state and discussion is still underway on two or three seats that will be resolved soon. Addressing a press conference here today, Fadnavis said whenever it comes to ticket distribution for the Lok Sabha, it is based on the ground reality only. "Everything is going well between the three parties of our alliance. Discussion is still going on two or three seats on which there was a deadlock but that too will be resolved soon. There is no dispute of any kind between us. There should not be any speculation about the seats before the announcement because it seems incorrect. Whatever decision will be taken will come before you in a day or two," he said. The Mahayuti Alliance include the Bharatiya Janata Party, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party-Ajit Pawar faction. "Whenever it comes to ticket distribution for Lok Sabha, any party or any leader can make any demand, but when the decision on ticket distribution is taken, it will be based on the ground reality only," he added. Further, responding to Sharad Pawar accusing NCP Ajit Pawar faction MLA Sunil Shelke of threatening the workers of his faction, Fadnavis said that it does not suit a senior leader like Sharad Pawar to threaten any MLA. "Sharad Pawar ji is a very senior leader, whatever his age is, it does not suit a leader of his age to threaten an MLA in this manner. I am not old enough to give any advice to Sharad Pawar but still, I would like to say that threatening any MLA or leader in this manner does not suit him," he said. The Maharashtra Deputy CM also mentioned that the central government has appreciated the solar model of Maharashtra. "We will transform the electricity provided to farmers to solar in three years. This will save pollution, save money and we will be able to rationalize the burden that used to fall on the industry," he said. "Today, Maharashtra has taken a very important decision. We have given a letter of award for the transition of 50% or 9000 MW supplied to the farmers to solar power... This is a record. This has happened nowhere in the country. The central government has appreciated this model... In three years, we will transform all power supplied to farmers, to solar...," he added. (ANI)
Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda on Thursday spoke about the grand old party's door-to-door campaign and asserted that the 'Ghar-Ghar Congress, Har Ghar Congress' campaign has been receiving a good response from the people of the state. While speaking to ANI in Jhajjar on Thursday, the Congress MP said, "We are getting a very good response... Our 'Ghar Ghar Congress' campaign has been underway for the last 6 months in Haryana and the complete Lok Sabha constituency." The 'Ghar-Ghar Congress, Har Ghar Congress' campaign was launched by former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Jind on January 15. Dignitaries and social groups had extended their support to the Congress and said they would support making the new Congress' campaign successful earlier. Many people, including traders, were assured of full support from Congress. During a public address in January earlier, people told Hooda the entire state is tormented by the policies of BJP-JJP, unnecessary portals like family ID, and property ID, lack of communication and complete lack of sensitivity. People of Jind also expressed their anger over the lack of basic civic amenities like roads, electricity and water. Hooda had said that people had made up their minds to bring Congress to power this time. Meanwhile, ahead of the much-awaited Lok Sabha polls, Congress will hold a discussion on candidates for ten States in the party's Central Election Committee meeting on Thursday, sources said. According to sources, the states of Chattisgarh, Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim and Manipur will be put for discussion. As per the sources, discussion can likely take place on a total of 60 seats among these states. According to sources, it is worth mentioning that discussions will be not held for the seats of Amethi and Rai Bareli discussion today. As per the seat-sharing arrangement of the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress will field a total of 17 candidates out of 80 Lok Sabha seats. The Lok Sabha polls are likely to be held in April-May this year. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that the incidents of Sandeshkhali have exposed the Bengal government and the manner in which women have been exploited on the basis of religion under the rule of a women Chief Minister cannot be tolerated. Speaking at the Republic Summit 2024, Amit Shah said that the Bharatiya Janata Party will fight against this with full force and bring a change in Bengal. "The incidents of Sandeshkhali have exposed the Bengal government 100 per cent. The manner in which women have been exploited on the basis of religion under the rule of a women CM cannot be tolerated. We will fight against this with full force and we will bring about change in Bengal," he said. "Today, if any state has the biggest problem of infiltration, it is in Bengal. I am telling you on the basis of facts that the infiltration that takes place in Bengal is state sponsored. To increase vote bank, national security is being ignored. Today the country needs to stand with Bengal. Our graph has increased in Bengal and this time we will cross the figure of 25. Earlier, we had two MLAs, today 77 have been made. The government of Bengal is corrupt and does appeasement on the basis of religion. We want to make Bengal 'Sonar Bangla' again," Amit Shah added. Further, speaking on RJD chief Lalu Yadav 'no family' remarks on PM Modi, the Home Minister said that the Prime Minister has worked for the people of the country for over 40 years and those who have family, tries to make them the PM or CM. "Such things can be said only by people who have no other way out. Every time the public responds to the work that these people are doing to bring down the level of politics in the country by talking such things. I have seen Modi ji very closely. Lalu Yadav is right in saying that Modi ji has no family because those who have sons and daughters they try to make them the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers. PM Modi has worked for the people of the country for 40 years. I have seen that he did not take even a single day off during his 23 years of service as the CM," he said. He also mentioned that the aim of these people has never been the country, the poor and the people. But only to work for their family. They cannot tolerate that a poor man's son can become PM. The Union Home Minister emphasized that when his party was formed in 1950 (Jan Sangh at that time), they kept their agenda in front of the people, then to compensate for this, when the people of the country formed the government of Narendra Modi, they achieved success in these 10 years. "These 10 years since independence have been the golden period of India in terms of its development and security," Amit Shah said. (ANI)
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Jammu and Kashmir today, former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Thursday said that it is a moment of pride for all of us but if Article 370 was this bad, then how did the Union Territory made progress earlier. "I am glad that PM visited Kashmir after five years. It is a moment of pride for all of us. This Dynastic rule is a kind of common voice I heard also in the Parliament. In every speech that PM makes he makes a particular target on it. If Article 370 was this bad, I would like the Prime Minister to re-hear the speech made in the Rajya Sabha by the then Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad in which he compared two seats. He compared Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir in terms of progress when Article 370 was there," he said. "Now, if Article 370 and nepotism are responsible, then how did we made that progress? It is the people's rule, I lost the election as a chief minister. So, where is the dynastic rule?" Farooq Abdullah asked. The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference also pointed out that when Article 370 was there, education from the level of primary schools to universities was free. "Today, education is only free up to the 14th class. In the universities, you have to pay now. An honest commission has to be put to see what was there before the revoke of Article 370 and what was is thereafter," Abdullah said. Further, he mentioned that the Prime Minister represents everyone, even those who have not voted for him. Emphasizing that for every Prime Minister, the people of the nation represents PM's family, he said,"Every Prime Minister's 'parivaar' (family) is his nation. Whether it was Nehru, Shastri, Bajpayee or Manmohan Singh." He also highlighted that India has moved from a country that used to borrow everything from abroad to a country that produces everything now. "Progress is a continuous game. So, India has progressed in many ways but the base was laid by the Prime Minister who was there before. Every Prime Minister did what was best for the nation," Farooq Abdullah said. Meanwhile, noting that Jammu and Kashmir is touching new heights of development and is breathing freely today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that freedom from restrictions has come after the abrogation of Article 370 which was being used by some political families for their benefit. This was the first visit of PM Modi to Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 by his government in 2019. "For decades, for political gains, Congress and its allies misled the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the name of 370 and misled the country. Did Jammu and Kashmir benefit from Article 370 or were only a few political families taking advantage of it? The people of Jammu and Kashmir have come to know the truth that they were misled. Jammu and Kashmir was kept in chains for the benefit of a few families. Today there is no Article 370, hence the talent of the youth of J&K is being fully respected and they are getting new opportunities. Today there are equal rights and equal opportunities for everyone here," PM Modi said. (ANI)
Talking to reporters after a meeting of the union cabinet, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters that the beneficiaries will get the subsidy directly in their accounts.

The total expenditure for 2024-25 is expected to be Rs.12,000 crore.

Goyal said the decision has come a day before the International Women's Day.

The Union Cabinet had in September last year approved the extension of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana for release of 75 lakh LPG connections over three years from 2023-24 to 2025-26. Provisioning of 75 lakh additional Ujjwala connections will take the total number of PMUY beneficiaries to 10.35 crore.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was started in May 2016 with an objective to provide clean cooking fuel to poor households across the country. Under PMUY, a deposit-free LPG connection is provided to adult women from poor households. (ANI)
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi claimed that President Droupadi Murmu was 'not allowed' to enter the Ram Temple as "she comes from the Adivasi community". While addressing a public rally during Congress' Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Rajasthan's Banswara, Rahul Gandhi questioned President Murmu's absence from the pran pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla held in Ayodhya. "Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs and the Minority constitute approx 90 per cent of India's population. But, if we see the institutions and the budget, these people have no participation. Whenever the Congress party will come to power. The President is an Adivasi, and when the Ram Temple was inaugurated, did you see her face on television? No, because she is an Adivasi. Message was conveyed to her that you may be the President but you won't be allowed to enter the Ram Temple," the Congress MP said. "No poor, unemployed, farmer, or labourer was there at the inauguration. There are two India, one is of 5 per cent and one is of the rest," he said. The Congress leader vowed to implement MSP legal guarantee for farmers highlighting the party's manifesto in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. "In our manifesto, we have provided a legal guarantee for the MSP," Rahul Gandhi said. "If you strengthen BJP, you will weaken the country. A recruitment guarantee is the first point, this is our guarantee. Second point, Agniveer is making the first job permanent for three to four years. We will give you a permanent job. The third point is freedom from paper leaks," he said. Earlier on March 6, while addressing a rally in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress leader took a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party stating that they (BJP) have started calling tribals Vanvashi (forest dwellers) but tribals are the first owners of the country. "They (BJP) have started calling Adivasis (tribal) as 'Vanvasi'...Adivasis means those persons who are the first owners of this land...These people (BJP) do not tell you but there was a time when tribal people lived in this entire country. You are the first owner of the country. These people (BJP) don't want you to know this because if they call you Adivasis then they will have to give you jungle, water and land rights," Rahul Gandhi said. The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered Rajasthan earlier today. The Congress's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', after the party's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', aims to cover 6,700 km through 15 states, with Lok Sabha polls around the corner. The Lok Sabha polls are slated to be held in April-May this year. (ANI)
President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday said that the need for supporting the Indian Navy through efficient logistic management using the most advanced technology cannot be over-emphasised in times when India is emerging as a global power. Addressing a group of naval officers, President Murmu said, "With India emerging as a global power, the need for supporting the Indian Navy through efficient logistic management using the most advanced technology, cannot be over-emphasized. Both these services are vital for the smooth functioning of the Indian Navy, especially during these times of geo-political churning." The officers of the Indian Naval Material Management Service (2019, 2020 and 2021 batches) and Indian Naval Armament Service (2023 batch) called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Thursday. The President further said in her address that they have to play a key role in ensuring the safety and security of the nation by equipping the Indian Navy with armament and other material resources at all times. Therefore, they all must feel proud to be selected as the managers of logistic support and armament supply for the guardians of the country's maritime interests, she said. The President said that these days, countries worldwide, are paying greater attention than ever to their maritime goals and are expanding maritime cooperation and undertaking joint exercises. "The Indian Naval Material Management Service officers have a major role to play in ensuring the availability of material from time to time, to facilitate operational readiness of the Indian Navy and that they must make effective use of the latest technology to improve the service delivery system," said the President. She further urged officers to come up with innovative approaches to make inventory management and service delivery super-efficient and seamless. The President told officers that while undertaking various projects, they should ensure that the projects are energy efficient, eco-friendly and sustainable. She stated that we all are bound to give a healthy, safe and happy planet to our future generations. As engineers, they are the ones who can play a huge role in ensuring this by conceiving and implementing environmentally sound initiatives. President also said she was happy to note that women officers are joining these naval services. "Women are now entering unexplored fields and making a mark. It is heartening to note that our defence forces are also encouraging more women to join and giving them new opportunities to rise in their careers. I am happy to know that the Indian Navy has opened doors of all branches of officer cadre for women and is also taking other initiatives for gender equality," she said. Murmu said she was confident "that the women officers present here today will inspire many more women to join these services". She also highlighted the officers' responsibility towards the environment. "While undertaking various projects, you should ensure that the projects are energy-efficient, eco-friendly and sustainable. We all are bound to give a healthy, safe and happy planet to our future generations," the President said. (ANI)
After her name did not figure in the BJP's first list of Lok Sabha candidates,Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Uma Bharti on Thursday and said that she wants to focus on her work for the rejuvenation and cleanliness of the River Ganga. "If I contest Lok Sabha elections, then the responsibility of my constituency and the work for river Ganga cannot be done together. I want complete independence for two years to complete the work related to 'Maa Ganga'," Bharti said while speaking to the media in Bhopal. "There is no dispute with Ganga regarding caste, community, or political parties. The whole plan is ready, all the permissions have been received, and only the speed has slowed down... PM Modi is also dedicated to Ganga," she added. However, the veteran BJP leader said that she would participate in the campaign if required. "I will participate in the campaign if needed but I will not contest the elections. We want BJP to win more than 400 seats... Earlier, I had declared that I would stand in the elections but now nothing matters to me more than River Ganga," she said. Uma Bharti, 65, served as the Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed the reins of the government in 2014, and held this office until September 2017. Under the ministry, the 'Namami Gange Programme' was launched which is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as a 'Flagship Programme' by the Union Government in June 2014 with a budget outlay of Rs. 20,000 Crore to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga. Bharti represented the Jhansi constituency from 2014 to 2019, which is currently represented by BJP's Anurag Sharma. Meanwhile, the BJP is yet to declare its candidate from the Jhansi constituency. Out of 29, the party has declared 24 candidates from Madhya Pradesh for the coming Lok Sabha polls. The BJP, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, bagged 28 seats except for Chhindwara, which is currently held by Congress's Nakul Nath. The first list of candidates includes 34 ministers from both the Union and state levels, along with the name of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. The announced names included those for 51 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 20 in West Bengal and five in Delhi. Eight women and 47 young leaders feature in the party's first list of candidates for 16 States and Union Territories, including 57 candidates from Other Backward Classes (OBC), 27 from Scheduled Castes (SC) and 17 from Scheduled Tribes (ST). Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will fight again from Kota in Rajasthan and Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya from Porbandar. However, other Union Ministers whose names have been announced by the BJP in the first list of candidates include Rajnath Singh, Mansukh Mandaviya, Jitendra Singh, Sarbananda Sonowal, Gajendra Shekhawat, Bhupender Yadav, G Kishan Reddy, Kiren Rijiju, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Arjun Munda. The BJP has re-nominated Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for the Lucknow constituency and Union Minister Smriti Irani for Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. The party has also chosen to field actor-politician Hema Malini, MoS Home Affairs Ajay Mishra Teni, Mahesh Sharma, SPS Baghel, and Sakshi Maharaj once more in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from UP. Earlier in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP-led National Democratic (NDA) won a total of 303 seats, leaving the Congress behind at 52 seats. The Lok Sabha polls are slated to be held in April-May this year. (ANI)
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Thursday clarified that it has not issued eviction notices to slum dwellers of Sector 12 R K Puram. "Allegations have been made today in the media by certain public representatives that Delhi Development Authority has issued notice to jhuggi jhopri dwellers of Sector 12 R K Puram to vacate their houses within 7 days as they were living illegally. These allegations are false and not borne by facts. DDA has not issued any notice to dwellers of Sector 12 R K Puram," as per a Delhi Development Authority press release. As regards the issue of alleged targeting JJ dwellers with the specific intent of uprooting them, it is to be seen that rehabilitation and relocation of Jhuggi Jhopri dwellers of Delhi is administered by Delhi Slum & Jhuggi Jhopri Rehabilitation & Relocation Policy 2015 of DUSIB (GNCTD). Claims made on the contrary are only aimed at misleading people. "Within the overarching framework of this statutory policy of Delhi Government, DDA has been entrusted with rehabilitation and relocation of eligible Jhuggi Dwellers of DUSIB-identified JJ clusters falling on DDA & Central Government land," as per the release. Currently DDA has undertaken 3 In Situ Slum Rehabilitation projects at Kalkaji extension, Jailorwala Bagh and Kathputli Colony wherein more than 35,000 persons are being rehabilitated. In these projects, the flats are provided with all modern amenities along with adequate social & physical infrastructure. "Wherever In situ slum rehabilitation is not feasible, in terms of the Delhi Govt's ibid Policy, JJ Dwellers are relocated by DDA. Therefore the question of 'tageting' or 'demolishing' or 'eviction' as being alleged, does not arise and the assertions to this effect are patently false. Any such exercise undertaken, as and when and if at all, is done as per the policy of Delhi Government," the release stated. Regarding issue of demolition at Majnu Ka Tila, which has been raised in the media, the area comes under Yamuna flood plains. National Green Tribunal in its order dated October 17, 2019 in OA NO. 622/2019 has directed that flood plains of river cannot be allowed to be occupied because such an occupation may damage the ecology of the river. In an order dated January 29, 2024, NGT has imposed a fine of Rs 25000 on DDA for non-compliance giving 4-weeks' time to file action taken report, failing which VC DDA had been directed to appear personally. However, any eviction exercise at the location has been postponed. (ANI)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Thursday, said that the arrival of Lord Shri Ram in Ayodhya heralds an era of an end to the criminal activities in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Addressing farmers at the 'Sankalp Se Siddhi' program, marking the provision of free electricity to farmers at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Gomti Nagar, he said, "In Uttar Pradesh, everything is being done in the name of Lord Ram, so there is no need for farmers to worry." He remarked, "This is the same Uttar Pradesh where before 2017, farmers were not safe, their crops were not secure, there was no electricity, no respect for farmers, no availability of seeds, fertilizers, and water. But today, under the leadership of PM Modi, the government is always ready to take care of farmer's interests." Addressing farmer and farmer union members from across the state, the Chief Minister said that today the double engine government is working to realize the Prime Minister's vision through this program of electricity bill waiver. He congratulated the farmers and extended good wishes for their future endeavours. CM Yogi further said, "Today, the state's Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister, Energy Minister, Chief Secretary, Electricity Department officials, and leaders of the farmer union are all present here. It is rare to see such a gathering. The Chief Minister further said that Uttar Pradesh is the heartland of the country, endowed with the world's most fertile land and the best water resources. "Besides, the farmers are hardworking and dedicated. It is the result of their hard work and dedication that Uttar Pradesh is number one in foodgrain production in the country", he stated. "All of this was there before, we had the capability, but farmers were neglected by the previous governments. Farmers were never a part of the government's agenda. However, after the advent of the double-engine government in the state, the results of the initiatives started today are evident before us. Today, we are all here to give new heights to the same efforts", CM Yogi added. The Chief Minister mentioned that as many as 1,478,591 farmers in the state have private tube wells. Among these, 1,348,093 private tube wells have a power capacity of 10 horsepower or less. There are 128,944 tube wells with a capacity of 10 to 15 horsepower. Similarly, 8,923 tube wells have a capacity of more than 15 horsepower. All these are being linked with the bill waiver scheme, he pointed out. "We have implemented the scheme with retrospective effect from April 1, 2023. For this, the government allocated a budget of Rs 1500 crore last year, and this time, a provision of Rs 2400 crore has been made. We express our gratitude to the farmers. We have fulfilled the promise made to them," the Chief Minister said. On this occasion, CM Yogi urged farmers to join the PM-KUSUM Yojana. He mentioned that under this scheme, farmers can install solar panels on tube wells to generate electricity. "After using the electricity they need, the remaining power can be sold back to the government. This not only provides additional income for farmers but also helps fulfil their electricity needs. Subsidies are being provided by the Agriculture and Energy Departments for this initiative", he pointed out. "Efforts should be made to connect approximately 1,478,000 farmers in the state with the PM-KUSUM Yojana on a priority basis. This will directly benefit around 65 lakh members of nearly 15 lakh farmer families in the state," CM Yogi added. CM Yogi Adityanath further mentioned that the Prime Minister's intention behind the PM-KUSUM Yojana is to ensure that farmers become self-reliant and prosperous by 2047 to realize the dream of 'Viksit Bharat'. "As long as our farmers are not happy, India cannot be prosperous", he asserted. The Chief Minister emphasized that the double-engine government prioritizes the welfare of farmers. "After coming to power in 2017, our first step was to waive the loan of Rs 36,000 crore of 86 lakh farmers", he said. He also extended advanced greetings to the farmers for Mahashivratri and Holi. On this occasion, Deputy Chief Ministers Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya, Finance Minister Suresh Khanna, Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi, Energy Minister AK Sharma, Minister of State for Agriculture Baldev Singh Aulakh, Minister of State for Energy Somendra Tomar, Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra, Additional Chief Secretary Energy Department Mahesh Kumar Gupta, State President of BJP Kisan Morcha Kameshwar Singh and a large number of farmers and other dignitaries from across the state were present. (ANI)
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said on Thursday that the participation of Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) Motha MLAs in the state government will pave the way for inclusive development and contribute to achieving 'Ek Tripura, Shrestha Tripura, and Unnata Tripura'. TIPRA Motha MLAs Animesh Debbarma and Brishaketu Debbarma took oaths as Minister and Minister of State at Raj Bhavan earlier in the day. "Both tribal and non-tribal communities are working together to make Tripura Srestha Tripura. This participation will facilitate inclusive development and contribute to realizing our vision of 'Ek Tripura, Shrestha Tripura, Unnata Tripura'," CM Saha said. In a post on X earlier in the day, CM Saha said, "I welcome @tipra_official (the main opposition in #Tripura) to the journey of #ViksitBharat under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. I also thank HM Amit Shah, who consistently guided and facilitated the way for the alliance." CM Saha extended congratulations to Animesh Debbarma and Brishaketu Debbarma for taking the oath as Minister and Minister of State, respectively, on Thursday at Raj Bhawan in Agartala. The central government signed the crucial tripartite agreement with the Tripura government and the TIPRA Motha in the national capital on Saturday for the development of the state's indigenous population. The accord was signed in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha and TIPRA Motha chief Pradyot Kishore. Under the pact, it was agreed to amicably resolve all issues of the indigenous people of Tripura relating to history, land and political rights, economic development, identity, culture and language. Along with this, it was agreed to constitute a Joint Working Group/Committee to work out and implement the mutually agreed points on all the above-mentioned issues in a time-bound manner to ensure a solution. To maintain a conducive atmosphere for the implementation of the pact, all stakeholders shall refrain from resorting to any form of protest/agitation, starting from the day of signing of the agreement, the pact said. (ANI)
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Thursday inaugurated the newly formed Bichom district - carved out of West Kameng and East Kameng districts - in the presence of Union Minister for Earth Science Kiren Rijiju. He handed over the insignias bearing Deputy Commissioner (DC) and Superintendent of Police (SP) logos signifying the transfer of responsibilities for the new district to DC Akriti Sagar and SP Sudhanshu Dhama. He laid the foundation for the district headquarters at Napangphung. Congratulating the people of the newly created district, Khandu said that the aspiration, which had been lingering since 1984 has been fulfilled today. "Honouring voices of diverse communities, we have fulfilled the longstanding demand of creation of the district, pending since 1984," he said. Recounting the past, Khandu informed that the demand for the Bichom district originated in 1984, however, it came officially to the fore after the formation of the Bichom District Demand Committee in 1996 under the chairmanship of Kiren Rijiju, who hails from Nafra. "While the Bichom district issue kept pending, we created four new districts elsewhere. These are Pakkekessang, Kamle, Leparada and Shi Yomi. I must acknowledge and commend the contributions of MLAs Mama Natung, Goruk Pordung and Dongru Siongju that finally made Bichom district a reality," he said. Khandu assured support in the creation of infrastructure for the new district headquarters and also promised that all existing infrastructure and assets now being transferred to the Bichom district from East Kameng will be replaced with new ones. In February last, the state Assembly passed the Arunachal Pradesh (Re-Organisation of Districts) (Amendment) Bill, 2024 for the creation of Bichom district along with Keyi Panyor. The new district will bring far-flung areas under easy accessibility and accelerate economic development through various government initiatives benefitting the Miji, Sajolang, Aka (Koro) and Puroik communities. Reportedly, 27 villages of West Kameng will be merged with Bichom district from Nafra, Khazalang and Sirilang circles and 28 villages from East Kameng from Lada and Bana circles. Khandu informed that one village that was left out of the Bichom district in the original amendment has been rectified through an Ordinance and will now be a part of the new district Bichom. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister flagged off vehicles distributed to beneficiary SHGs under Arunachal Grameen Express Yojana besides laying the foundation of 18 projects and inaugurating an equal number of projects. A Multi Technology Testing Centre and Administrative Building of Central Agricultural University (Imphal) was also inaugurated and houses distributed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Cabinet minister Mama Natung, MLAs Dongru Siongju, Goruk Pordung, Hayeng Mangfi, Nyato Dukam, Phurpa Tsering, Kumsi Sidisow and Dorjee Wangdi Kharma, representatives of Sajolang Elite Society, Aka Welfare Society, Puroik Welfare Society and East Kameng Social Welfare and Cultural Organisation were also present. (ANI)
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday approved the proposal of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade for Uttar Poorva Transformative Industrialization Scheme, 2024 (UNNATI - 2024) for a period of 10 years from the date of notification along with eight years for committed liabilities at a total cost of Rs 10,037 crore. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told the media after a meeting of the union cabinet that the scheme is proposed to be divided into two parts. Part, A caters to the incentives to the eligible units (Rs. 9737 crore), and Part B, is for implementation and institutional arrangements for the scheme. (Rs. 300 crore). The proposed scheme envisages approximately 2180 applications, and it is anticipated that direct employment opportunities of about 83,000 will be generated during the scheme period. A significant number of indirect employment is also expected to be generated, an official release said. The scheme will be effective from the date of notification and up to March 31, 2034 along with eight years of committed liabilities. DPIIT will implement the scheme in cooperation with the states. The release said that the Centre has formulated New Industrial Development Scheme, UNNATI (Uttar Poorva Transformative Industrialization Scheme), 2024 as a central sector scheme for the development of industries and generation of employment in the states of North East Region. "The scheme's main objective is to generate gainful employment, which will lead to the area's overall socio-economic development. It will create productive economic activity in the manufacturing and service sectors," the release said. "Industrial development in the NER needs to be given a fresh thrust with emphasis on job creation, skill development, and sustainable development by attracting new investments and nurturing existing ones. However, to maintain a proper balance between the industrial growth and pristine environment of the NER, certain industries are kept in positive list such as Renewable energy, EV charging stations etc and there is a negative list for certain sectors which may hamper the environment such as cement, plastic etc," it added. (ANI)
According to research, people with essential tremor, a movement disease characterized by involuntary shaking, may be three times more likely to develop dementia than the general population. The findings will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 76th Annual Meeting, which will be held both in Denver and online from April 13-18, 2024. Essential tremor is the most common tremor ailment, even more prevalent than Parkinson's disease. In addition to arm and hand tremors, individuals may experience uncontrollable shaking of the head, jaw, and voice. "While many people living with essential tremor experience mild tremor, in some individuals, the tremor can be quite severe," said study author Elan D. Louis, MD, MSc, at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. "Not only do tremors affect a person's ability to complete daily tasks such writing and eating, our study suggests that people with essential tremor also have an increased risk of developing dementia." The study involved 222 people with essential tremor who had an average age of 79 at the start of the study. They took thinking and memory tests to determine whether they had normal cognitive skills, mild cognitive impairment or dementia at the start of the study. Participants then had follow-up exams every 1.5 years for an average of five years. Of this group, 168 people had normal cognitive skills, 35 had mild cognitive impairment and 19 had dementia at the start of the study. During the study, 59 developed mild cognitive impairment and 41 developed dementia. Researchers then compared the rate at which people developed mild cognitive impairment and dementia, as well as the prevalence of these conditions, to the rates and prevalence for the general population. They also compared participants to the rates and prevalence for people with Parkinson's disease. Researchers found 19% of participants had or developed dementia during the study, and each year an average of 12% of people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment went on to develop dementia. These rates were three times higher than the rates in the general population. However, the rates were lower than those seen in people with Parkinson's disease, a population for which dementia is more prevalent. Researchers also found that 27% of participants had or developed mild cognitive impairment during the study, a rate almost double that of the rate of 14.5% for the general population, but less than the rate of 40% for people with Parkinson's disease. "While the majority of people with essential tremor will not develop dementia, our findings provide the basis for physicians to educate people with essential tremor and their families about the heightened risk, and any potential life changes likely to accompany this diagnosis," Louis said. (ANI)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on Wednesday that he has no plans to donate money to either candidate for US President. In a post on X, Musk wrote, "Just to be super clear, I am not donating money to either candidate for US President." https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1765397025967710542?s=20 Notably, Musk's post came two days after he reportedly met former US President Donald Trump in Florida. According to New York Times, the billionaire and a few wealthy Republican donors met with Donald Trump on Sunday in Palm Beach, Florida, to discuss a private matter, according to three people briefed on the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, Trump's aides have not responded to Musk's social media remarks. In the past, Musk has contributed to both Republicans and Democrats, much like many other business titans. He has not heavily invested in a presidential campaign, in contrast to other American billionaires, and over the years, he has divided his contributions roughly equally between Republicans and Democrats, according to New York Times. In a recent development regarding the US Presidential race, Republican candidate, Nikki Haley formally announced on Wednesday to end her presidential candidate campaign. "The time has now come to suspend my campaign. I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done that. I have no regrets," she said Wednesday in South Carolina. "Although I will no longer be a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in," she said while speaking from Charleston, South Carolina. Nikki Haley congratulated former President Donald Trump during her announcement ending her presidential campaign but didn't endorse him. "In all likelihood, Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee when our party convention meets in July. I congratulate him and wish him well. I wish anyone well who would be America's president. Our country is too precious to let our differences divide us," Haley said. Haley added, "It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that." According to the report, Haley had emerged as former President Donald Trump's sole rival in the Republican presidential primary campaign, and while he rolled to victory in 14 of the 15 GOP contests on Super Tuesday, she foiled a possible clean sweep by winning in Vermont. Across the Republican primaries on Super Tuesday, Haley won just 43 of the Republican delegates, while Trump won 764. Meanwhile, President Biden and former President Donald J Trump emerged from Super Tuesday having amassed huge delegate hauls in California, Texas, and beyond, moving closer to their parties' nominations and setting up a rematch for the White House in November. (ANI)
Terming the quality of education of Indian nurses as "very high", visiting Danish Minister of Higher Education and Science Christina Egelund said the recruitment of Indian health workers in Denmark could be a "genuine mutual benefit" from a possible agreement between the two countries. She also noted that the "English-speaking" nature of Indians would add to the ease of recruitment in Denmark. "Actually the quality of education of nurses, et cetera, here in India is very, very high. So I think that there could be a genuine mutual benefit from a possible agreement between our two countries when it comes to offering career opportunities of working in Denmark," the minister said while speaking to ANI. Describing her India visit as "fruitful", the Danish Minister said she met the Indian Minister of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday and had the opportunity to discuss in more detail "how a possible partnership between my country Denmark and India on the recruitment and education of healthcare workers could be." "India is the first country that we have a discussion, where we are negotiating with or having discussions to complete such a partnership. So, India is a very well-educated society, specifically when it comes to health care, so, that is the number one reason. The other reason is that it is also an English-speaking country which of course, levels the language barrier that might be between the two countries, especially for the individual who had to move to another country and also make a life for itself. I mean, taking on a job in a different country is not only about the working conditions, it is also about the life that you create for yourself there. The ability to actually make friends and be included in social networks...," the Danish Minister told ANI. However, she stated, "Well, it would in the sense that so Denmark, like many other European countries, are challenged when it comes to recruiting personnel to our welfare system, more particularly the healthcare system. So we have a recruitment issue in Europe when it comes to that." On her visit to Delhi, Egelund said, "Overall it was an overwhelming processive experience I had in Delhi for the last 4 days. We visited many research and educational institutions." "It's been a very positive, very fruitful visit to Delhi, and I'm stunned by the sense of optimism that I feel is dominating in this country," she added. Earlier, Danish Ambassador Freddy Svane expressed the strength of the India-Denmark relationship, emphasising shared values and a commitment to global sustainability. "We have worked hard. Denmark and India, and India and Denmark, we are the best friends ever. We work together. We are, let's say, guided by five S's - scale of India is not how many people you are. That's really the size of your potential. The largest of your potential goes. What India and Denmark do together has to be also to the rest of the world and sustainability, green development," Ambassador Svane told ANI. He highlighted the significance of their collaborative efforts, particularly in the Sundarbans region, where the topsoil family from Denmark has played a pivotal role in supporting the area's development. Notably, India and Denmark established diplomatic relations in September 1949. Bilateral relations were elevated to the level of "Green Strategic Partnership" during the Virtual Summit held on September 28, 2020, between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen. The current development of renewed India-Denmark relations has been guided by the "Green Strategic Partnership". (ANI)
Dubai [UAE], March 7 (ANI/WAM): The Dubai Model Centre, part of the General Secretariat of The Executive Council of Dubai, announced the list of entities that have been shortlisted to win the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Programme for Government Services Flag. A total of seven government entities in Dubai participated in the programme and were assessed based on their efforts to enhance service quality and their commitment to the 'Services 360' policy, which outlines a roadmap for improving government services. The announcement was made following the conclusion of the latest assessment cycle. The shortlisted government entities include the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Public Prosecution, Dubai Police, Dubai Roads and Transport Authority, and the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation. The programme aims to boost customer experience by supporting government entities in consistently raising the quality of their services, in line with Dubai's aspirations to become a global leader in this domain. The shortlisted entities were evaluated based on five criteria: results and impact, adoption of a whole-of-government approach, innovation, service culture and sustainability of results. Subsequently, the seven entities will undergo customer evaluation, during which customers will provide feedback on their experiences with these entities over the coming weeks. Eman Al Suwaidi, Senior Director of the Dubai Model Centre, said, "The Dubai Model Centre is committed to strengthening Dubai's position as a global leader in delivering outstanding government services through implementing the 'Services 360' policy. This aligns with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and the directives of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, to provide integrated and seamless government services that enhance the quality of life in Dubai. Each participating entity in the programme has showcased remarkable excellence and leadership in enhancing their services." She continued, "Since launching the 'Services 360' policy, developed by the Dubai Model Centre in collaboration with the Digital Dubai Authority and other relevant entities, we have witnessed the relentless efforts of all government entities to achieve higher levels of excellence in this domain. We are pleased to acknowledge these efforts through the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Programme for Government Services and awarding the winning entity with the initiative's Flag." The final stage of assessment involves customers sharing their feedback on the shortlisted entities. In the coming weeks, the entities will distribute independent surveys to users who will assess the services based on their experiences. Based on the survey results, one government entity will be awarded the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Programme for Government Services for the year 2023 Flag. Dubai's 'Services 360' policy outlines a roadmap for the future of government services in the emirate, aiming for 100 percent automation, 90 percent integration, and 90 percent digital services. The policy is anticipated to yield annual savings exceeding AED1 billion by 2025, while also eliminating nine million physical customer visits and freeing up over 300,000 working hours annually. (ANI/WAM)
Claiming that certain foreign and local parties were always intent on ousting him from power, former Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said that foreign intervention has become "more common in Sri Lanka today", News Wire reported. In a media release on Wednesday, Gotabaya announced the publication of his book titled "The conspiracy to oust me from the Presidency," and stated that it explains the first-hand experience of an internationally sponsored regime change operation. News Wire is a Sri Lanka-based media publication. "From the time I was elected President in November 2019, certain foreign and local parties were intent on removing me from power. The entirety of my two and a half year tenure in power was spent combating the COVID-19 pandemic that swept through Sri Lanka and the whole world soon after I took office," the release quoted the former Sri Lankan President as saying. "Conspiratorial forces commenced the political campaign to oust me from the presidency at the end of March 2022 after the pandemic had been brought under control, the vaccination campaign had been concluded and just when the economy was beginning to recover," he said, according to News Wire. According to Gotabaya, foreign meddling in domestic affairs and intervention has become "more common in Sri Lanka today" than they were during the nation's first sixty years of independence. "The political campaign to oust me brought a new element into the politics of Sri Lanka which has since independence experienced only peaceful transfers of power following elections. As such the events of 2022 are fraught with serious implications for the future of this country. What this book explains is the first-hand experience of an internationally sponsored regime change operation," Gotabaya said. The onetime leader fled Sri Lanka as the country's economic crisis fuelled angry protests. Rajapaksa resigned after protesters angered by a debilitating economic crisis stormed his office and residence. Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka in the early hours of July 13, 2022. He resigned as president after reaching Singapore, where he was issued a 14-day visit pass. He had fled to Singapore via the Maldives. After his stay in Singapore, he fled to Thailand. Gotabaya returned to Sri Lanka in September 2022 after fleeing the country in July 2022. (ANI)
Both sons of three-time Pakistan Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif have approached the accountability court, seeking the suspension of their arrest warrants in three corruption references related to the Panama Papers, enabling them to surrender before the court on March 12, Dawn reported. Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz, through their counsel Qazi Misbahul Hassan, filed an application in the Islamabad accountability court, seeking the suspension of their perpetual arrest warrants issued in the Avenfield Apartments, Al-Azizia, and Flagship Investment references. Accountability Judge Nasir Javed Rana took up the applications of Hussain and Hassan Nawaz. The counsel informed the judge that they are residents of Saudi Arabia and the UK, respectively, and were nominated as accused persons in these references along with the PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, daughter Maryam Nawaz, and retired Captain Safdar. He said that the trial in these references commenced when both of them were not in Pakistan. Advocate Qazi Misbah said that they were unaware of the formal legal process, and the state never attempted to adopt the due course to serve the legal process, which included the issuance of notices, arrest warrants, and proclamations, as reported by Dawn. He further stated that Hussain and Hassan have now decided to surrender before the court to face the trial proceedings. According to the counsel, both sons of the former premier are set to reach Islamabad on March 12. The two requested the court to suspend their arrest warrants so that they could reach the court to surrender. Notably, Nawaz Sharif and her daughter Maryam Nawaz were both convicted in the Avenfield reference days before the previous general election. The PML-N supremo was also convicted in the Al-Azizia reference in December 2018 but acquitted in the Flagship Investment reference. Nawaz, Maryam, and her husband retired Capt Safdar challenged their conviction in the Avenfield reference before the Islamabad High Court. the three-time premier also challenged the conviction in the Al-Azizia reference. However, when Sharif went abroad and did not return, the Islamabad High Court declared him a "proclaimed offender". While he was in the UK, Maryam and Safdar pursued the case, and the Islamabad HC finally set aside their conviction. Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan in October last year, and his appeals against convictions were revived, leading to the IHC setting aside his conviction in both cases as well, Dawn reported. (ANI)
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was honoured with a special tribute at the e GG2 Leadership and Diversity Awards in London on Tuesday. Sunak was honoured for his leadership and commitment towards fostering diversity as the premier. The GG2 Leadership & Diversity Awards were founded in 1999 by Asian Media Group, to shine a spotlight on Britain's most enterprising and talented black, Asian and minority ethnic high achievers. The event was organized under the stewardship of Kalpesh and Shailesh Solankiin London on March 5. The ceremony brought together luminaries from various sectors to honour exceptional leaders contributing to diversity and excellence. "The highlight of the evening was the special tribute extended to Rishi Sunak, the esteemed Prime Minister of England, for his remarkable leadership and commitment to fostering diversity," an official statement read. The accolade was bestowed upon him by Rajarajeshwar Guruji, the founder of Siddhashram Dham and an eminent exponent of Sanatana Dharma. Rajarajeshwar Guruji presented PM Sunak with a Rudraksha mala, adorned with a 'Sri Yantra'. This symbolic gesture carried profound blessings, signifying not only a token of appreciation but also a wish for prosperity and success. "In honouring Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the GG2 Leadership and Diversity Awards, we acknowledge not only his exemplary leadership but also the profound connection between spiritual values and the diverse tapestry of our shared existence. May the Rudraksha mala and Sri Yantra serve as symbols of prosperity and harmony, fostering a future where leadership is guided by both worldly acumen and spiritual insight," Guruji remarked while reflecting on the ceremony. The evening was a testament to the interconnectedness of leadership and spirituality, showcasing the significance of acknowledging and celebrating diversity in all its forms. It concluded with Mahashivratri greetings extended to all the attendees. In an interaction with ANI last September, Sunak called had himself "a proud Hindu", adding that his faith is something very important as it gives strength and resilience during stress. "It is something that is important to me. I think faith is something that helps everybody who has faith in their lives, particularly when you have these stressful jobs like I do. Having faith gives you resilience, gives you strength that is important and it provides an outlook on life which I find particularly valuable," Sunak added. During his stay in India for the G20 Summit in New Delhi, he had also visited and offered prayers at the Akshardham temple with his wife Akshata Murthy. In August last year, Rishi Sunak attended the Ramayana recitation by spiritual leader Morari Bapu at Cambridge University. Starting his address with a chant of "Jai Siya Ram", he said that he was present there as a Hindu and not as a Prime Minister. "For me, Lord Rama will always be an inspirational figure, to face life's challenges with courage, to govern with humility and to work selflessly," he said. "Bapu with your blessings, I aspire to lead in equivalence with how our scriptures have taught leaders to lead." (ANI)
Nepal is holding diplomatic talks with Russia to repatriate those recruited, killed and injured in the Russian Army as well as for the release of those captured by Ukrainian forces, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal announced. Addressing the meeting of the House of Representatives after a recent change in government, the Prime Minister conveyed that a diplomatic attempt with Russia as well as Ukraine is underway. Nepal PM highlighted that they have heightened their diplomatic efforts to stop the recruitment of Nepal citizens into the Russian Army. "Recruitment of Nepali citizens in Russian military is illegal, has been conveyed to the Russian government. We have heightened our diplomatic efforts to stop the recruitment of Nepali in the Russian Army and repatriate those already recruited in the (Russian) force. Repatriation of the bodies of those who lost their lives while fighting from the Russian Army's side and compensation for the families, as well as those injured and the release of Nepali being held captive by the Ukrainian Army, dialogues is underway with concerned authorities of respective countries," Dahal said. Meanwhile, he also informed the parliament that Russia has agreed to pay the compensation as well as the insurance money to the families of those killed in the combat zone while fighting for Russia. "In recent times, Russia has expressed its willingness to release the compensation and the insurance money to the families of those killed via the Nepali Embassy to the Consular Department," he said. "Also, I would like to inform the parliament that for the first time at the ministerial level, the Foreign Minister of Nepal and their Russian counterpart are holding discussions. I hope the efforts will result in resolution of the issue," he added. With the formal start of the war between Ukraine and Russia, the latter tried to evade and capture areas of Ukraine, and hence, started to recruit foreign nationals on its military. According to the reports, recruits from foreign nations are promised a hefty amount and citizenship after a certain period of time. The scheme of Russia to recruit foreign nationals got overwhelming admission for which Nepali youth also travelled to various parts of Europe and got into Russia to get recruited. Hundreds of Nepalis are believed to have been recruited into the Russian Army, however, at least a dozen have been killed and scores injured at the time of deployment along the front line of war. The escalating unlawful engagement of Nepali youths within the Russian Army has led the government to escalate warnings against travel to Russia for military involvement. Travelers to Russia are mandated to obtain a No Objection Letter (NOL) from the Consular Service Department. Additionally, Nepali nationals residing abroad and planning visits to Russia must secure an NOL from the respective embassies located in their countries. The Foreign Ministry of the Himalayan Nation has also been asking the public not to sign up for recruitment through illegal or informal channels in any of the security forces around the globe. Nepal only allows its citizens to get recruited in British and Indian Forces under the bilateral agreement signed with these countries. (ANI)
Pakistan United Nations Ambassador Munir Akram said on Wednesday that no forced deportations of Afghans were taken out of Pakistan and emphasized that 98 per cent of people went back to Afghanistan voluntarily, Dawn reported. According to the report, a Pak envoy addressing a special security council session on Afghanistan emphasized that characterizing the protection environment for Afghans in Pakistan as unfavourable is inaccurate and offensive. This comes a long time after Pakistan conducted a mass deportation drive of illegal Afghan citizens residing in the country on the order of then-caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar. Under the deportation drive, undocumented Afghan citizens were deported from the country and taken into deportation camps. The Pakistan envoy stated that after Pakistan announced its plan to enforce laws on illegal aliens, 500,000 undocumented Afghans voluntarily returned to Afghanistan. He noted that 98 per cent of these returns were voluntary, with the remaining 2 per cent involving individuals engaged in terrorism, drug smuggling, or other crimes, Dawn reported. Ambassador Akram expressed displeasure with a UN report claiming an unfavourable protection environment in Pakistan, highlighting the country's four-decade-long sheltering of almost five million Afghan refugees. "Even today, over one million undocumented Afghans remain in Pakistan. They should return forthwith. We have made several exceptions for those with Afghan ID cards, POR cards, for those who may be 'vulnerable' if they return," he said. Dawn reported that as the session began, the UN envoy for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva reiterated a call for the Taliban to lift restrictions on women and girls, warning of worsening human rights violations if the constraints persist. She said that the recent arbitrary arrest of Afghan women for alleged Islamic dress code violations was having a chilling effect on the wider female population, "many of whom are now afraid to move in public". The UN envoy added, "The denial of women and girls' access to education and work, and their removal from many aspects of public life, has caused immense harm to mental and physical health, and livelihoods." "The violation of these principles and norms is not in the immediate or long-term interests of Afghanistan," Ambassador Akram said. "Pakistan considers sustained engagement with the Afghan interim government to be essential to normalise the situation in Afghanistan," he added. Over 500,000 Afghan immigrants had been sent home as a result of the government's deportation campaign against them, Pakistan's Interior Ministry told the Senate on Tuesday, according to Dawn. All illegal immigrants were given an ultimatum by the government in October to depart Pakistan by October 31 or face incarceration and deportation to their home countries. The caretaker administration formally launched a national drive to remove unauthorised foreign nationals, most of whom are Afghans, after the deadline passed. Human rights organisations and Afghanistan both criticised the action, but the government stood its own and insisted that it was not directed at any one ethnic community, reported Dawn. (ANI)
A Russian missile struck close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis while they were visiting the Black Sea port city of Odesa on Wednesday, CNN reported. The shocking incident unfolded with the group feeling the impact of the strike and witnessing a disconcerting "mushroom cloud" of smoke, placing the location of the explosion merely 500 meters from the convoy. The strike resulted in the loss of five lives, with numerous others sustaining injuries, as reported by Dmytro Pletenchuk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, however, both Zelenskyy and Mitsotakis emerged unscathed despite the proximity of the missile explosion, according to CNN. Zelenskyy, known for his daring trips to the front lines and hosting numerous world leaders amid the ongoing conflict with Russia, faced what could be considered one of his closest calls yet. Expressing the intensity of the situation, Zelenskyy, who was close enough to witness and hear the strike, emphasised the indiscriminate nature of the attacks. "We saw this strike today. You can see who we are dealing with; they don't care where they strike," he declared solemnly from Odesa. The gravity of the situation was underscored by Mitsotakis, the leader of a NATO member state, acknowledging the dangers inherent in such visits and the potential global repercussions of the escalating conflict. Reflecting on the near-miss, Zelenskyy called for a robust air defence system to safeguard against future attacks. "We need to defend ourselves first and foremost. The best way to do that is with an air defence system," he asserted, emphasising the urgency of bolstering the nation's defences. Mitsotakis shared his account of the incident, recounting a tour of the beleaguered southern city provided by Zelenskyy. The city, ravaged by months of Russian strikes, bore witness to yet another reminder of the ongoing war. "Shortly after, as we were getting into our cars, we heard a big explosion," Mitsotakis stated, acknowledging the stark reality that war isn't confined to the front lines but impacts innocent civilians daily, as reported by CNN. Strategically located at the mouth of the Danube River, Odesa holds crucial importance for Ukraine's grain exports, a target that Russia has persistently sought to disrupt since the onset of its invasion. Additionally, Odesa serves as the main base for Ukraine's navy, making it a focal point in the conflict. The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed the missile strike at 11:40 am (Moscow time), targeting a hangar in the industrial port district where preparations for the combat use of unmanned boats were underway. While Russia's intensified strikes on the region have raised concerns, Saturday's drone attack on an apartment block in Odesa resulted in the tragic loss of 12 lives, including five children. Zelenskyy, in response to these incidents, emphasised the critical need for reinforcing the country's air defences, urging the international community to provide additional support. As the situation escalated, the White House seized on the opportunity to press for urgent military assistance to Ukraine. With President Joe Biden's USD60 billion aid request stalled, a National Security Council spokesperson highlighted the strike as another stark reminder of Russia's relentless attacks, urging House Speaker Mike Johnson to expedite a vote on the aid package. European Council President Charles Michel condemned the strike as a manifestation of Russia's "cowardly tactics," asserting that they were "below even the Kremlin's playbook." Michel, who himself experienced the impact of Russian aggression in Odesa back in May 2022, emphasised the gravity of the situation, calling for a united front against Russia's belligerence, as reported by CNN. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar conveyed the importance of exploring innovative avenues and revitalising the partnership between India and Japan as the two nations celebrate the 10th year of their special strategic and global partnership. The remarks were made during the 16th India-Japan Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue held in Tokyo today with his Japanese counterpart, Yoko Kamikawa. Expressing gratitude for the warm hospitality, Jaishankar began by offering condolences for recent losses and destruction. "First of all, a very good evening and thank you for the warm hospitality. Let me begin by offering once again the deepest condolences for the loss of life and destruction. We see Japan as a natural partner in India's journey of development and transformation and in our quest for peace, prosperity, and stability," said EAM S Jaishankar. The year 2023, according to Jaishankar, has been a "landmark" in India-Japan bilateral relations, witnessing "government-to-government, business-to-business, and people-to-people exchanges thrive across various sectors". Highlighting key interactions, Jaishankar noted the meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Kishida in Delhi in March. "I take the opportunity to also appreciate Japan's cooperation for a successful G20 presidency this year," the EAM added. As both nations navigated the 10th year of their special strategic and global partnership, Jaishankar emphasised the need for finding new ways to enhance collaboration and imparting fresh momentum to the existing partnership. "So, it is important that we find new ways, give new momentum to our partnership, and deepen our understanding of progression. I look forward to having discussions with you during our talks today to review the progress as well as in charting out further steps," Jaishankar also said. Prior to addressing the India-Japan Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue, Jaishankar met Taro Aso, a Japanese politician serving as the Vice President of the Liberal Democratic Party. "A pleasure to meet LDP Vice-President Taro Aso today. A wide ranging conversation that covered politics, security and economic issues. Appreciate his strong support for the India-Japan strategic partnership," said the EAM in a post on X. Jaishankar is on a visit to Japan from March 6-8. Before this, he visited South Korea, where he met the top leaders during his stay. (ANI)
"Thank you @narendramodi for felicitations on my election as the Prime Minister of Pakistan," Shehbaz Sharif posted on X.

PM Modi had on Tuesday congratulated Shehbaz Sharif on his taking oath as Pakistan Prime Minister.

"Congratulations to @CMShehbaz on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan," PM Modi said in a post on X.

Shehbaz Sharif was sworn in as the 24th Prime Minister of Pakistan on Monday This is his second term in office.

The swearing-in took place amid protests in different parts of the country by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which has alleged rigging in the general elections on February 8.

Pakistan President Arif Alvi administered oath to Shehbaz Sharif at the Aiwan-i-Sadr.

Shehbaz Sharif was elected as Pakistan's PM after he secured 201 votes in the National Assembly on Sunday defeating his rival Omar Ayub Khan who was backed by PTI. There were protracted talks for government formation and PML-N held talks with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and other parties, including MQM-P, PML-Q, BAP, PML-Z and IPP.

Pakistan held its 12th national general election on February 8 amid allegations of rigging and the shutdown of cellular and internet services. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has held nationwide protests against the alleged rigging in the polls.

Shahbaz Sharif, who is brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, earlier became PM in 2022 after Imran Khan was ousted from the post and PML-N and PPP formed a coalition government. (ANI)
In a relief for the sons of Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the accountability court on Thursday suspended the arrest warrants of Hasan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz in the Al Azizia, Flagship and Avenfield case, Geo News reported on Thursday. According to the report, the accountability court judge Nasir Javed Rana reserved his verdict earlier today. The warrants have been suspended until March 14, as per the verdict. The warrants for the brothers were issued seven years ago, when the court declared them absconders. Geo news reported that in today's hearing, both brothers were represented in the case by their lawyer Qazi Misbah, while National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutors Sardar Muzaffar, Usman Masood and Sohail Arif also appeared in the court. The plea seeking suspension of the warrants was filed as both brothers are planning to return to Pakistan on March 12. Their lawyer, Misbah, revealed the development during the hearing of the Toshakhana reference filed against Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani wherein the politicians are accused of having kept various vehicles in violation of the Toshakhana rules. Misbah, while presenting his arguments, said that both brothers were declared absconders in the case, while perpetual warrants were also issued against them. He told the court that all the other accused were acquitted in these three references. The lawyer added that both Hasan and Hussain want to return to Pakistan this month and request the court to suspend their perpetual warrants. "There were five accused in the Avenfield [reference], three were convicted by the accountability court. Islamabad High Court acquitted three accused," he maintained. Arif, an NAB prosecutor, said that the accused should appear in court, as per the law. "[They] will have to appear, [as] without it the warrant of arrest cannot be suspended." He added that the purpose of the warrant is to bring the accused to court, insisting that both brothers should be given a chance to appear before the accountability court. Following the completion of arguments by both sides, the accountability court reserved its decision on the petitions. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that the two sides are seeking to realise their shared target of 5 trillion Yen in terms of overall investment. "In economic cooperation, we see a lot of potential for quantum jump of Japanese investment into India, especially from SMEs, as we enter a decade of take-off growth. We are again, as the Minister underlined, seeking to realise our shared target of 5 trillion Yen in terms of overall investment. Government of India remains committed to the continuous improvement in our infrastructure environment. I underlined the importance we attach to the timely execution of flagship projects like the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Railway, which is India's first shinkansen project," said Jaishankar in a joint press statement with his Japanese counterpart, Yoko Kamikawa. The remarks of Jaishankar came after the 16th India-Japan Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue. It covered diverse aspects of bilateral relations and set the stage for discussions on major regional and global issues in the remaining sessions. He also welcomed Japan's development role in India's Northeast, which is crucial in transforming the connectivity and industrial landscape of that region. "It will benefit not only our two countries but also other countries in the neighbourhood through a network of forward and backward linkages. We further agreed to explore coordinated development partnership initiatives by our agencies in third countries," said the EAM. He also underscored the need to work together to enhance each other's economic security and supply chain resilience by taking a strategic view of trade and technology. "In this context, we discussed possibilities in the semiconductor ecosystem, green technologies and digital payments by leveraging our complementary strengths," said Jaishankar. In his address, Jaishankar highlighted the need for new steps to adapt the relationship to emerging geopolitical, geoeconomic, and geo-technological trends. "Today, our meeting allowed us to take stock of various ongoing lines of effort. Since the dialogue was last held in July in New Delhi, we agreed on the need for new steps, many of which my colleague the minister spoke about, for which to make this relationship prepared for and responsive to emerging geopolitical, geo-economic and geo-technological trends, and as well to the growing demands of the people of the two countries to get to know each other better," said Jaishankar. Both ministers emphasised the importance of responding to the growing demands of their citizens for deeper mutual understanding. The strategic guidance provided during the talks aimed to realise the vision of the India-Japan Special Strategic Global Partnership and align with the expectations of their leaders. A significant milestone was acknowledged in the "good progress" of defence and security relations, which both ministers welcomed. "We have made good progress in our defence and security relations and which we both welcomed today," noted EAM Jaishankar. Notably, the Indian Army is currently engaged in joint exercises with the Japanese self-defence force in the Rajasthan state of India, showcasing the depth of military collaboration. "The three branches of our military and coast guard are productively engaged with the Japanese counterparts with greater ease," he said. "Through the newly operationalised reciprocal partnership arrangement. There have been exchanges about cooperation possibilities in areas of jointness and new domains like cyber and space." The dialogue, according to the EAM, also witnessed exchanges on cooperation possibilities in areas of jointness, as well as in new domains such as cyber and space. Progress in the defence, equipment, and technology cooperation framework was reviewed, indicating a commitment to advancing collaboration in critical domains. Notably, Jaishankar is on a visit to Japan from March 6-8. Before this, he visited South Korea, where he met the top leaders during his stay. (ANI)
The Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), organized a virtual discussion to highlight mass arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, mass surveillance, cultural and religious persecution, separation of families, forced labor, sexual violence, and violations of reproductive rights of Uyghurs in China. The discussion held on Wednesday witnessed the participation of several experts and representatives of social rights organizations from around the world like, Abduweli Ayup, Hena Zuberi, and Elfidar Iltebir, who spoke at length about the issues faced by the women belonging to the Uyghur ethnic minority. Observed on the sidelines of International Women's Day the discussion 'Atrocities Against Women in East Turkistan: Uyghur Women and Religious Persecution' discussed the various ways of strategic persecution used by China. The virtual discussion was based upon a recent report published by the UHRP named 'Twenty Years for Learning the Quran: Uyghur Women and Religious Persecution' which highlighted the ongoing atrocities against Uyghur and other Turkic women in East Turkistan. Quoting the report of UHRP, Henryk Szadziewski the Director of Research at the Uyghur Human Rights Project stated, "20 years for learning the Quran, Uyghur Women and Religious Persecution presents compelling evidence of the systematic oppression faced by Uyghur women, revealing a stark picture of abuses based on religion. However, it also breaks new ground in concluding that Uyghur and other Turkic women face multiple forms of discrimination and are subject to horrific human rights abuses based on their ethnic identity and gender." When asked about the Uyghur society and the overall atrocities faced by the ethnic minorities in China and its territories, Abduweli Ayup, a writer, journalist, and linguistic expert specializing in Uyghur language education, stated, "Since 2019, I started to document Uyghur religious scholars arrested in China, we call them Imams. At that time, we documented about 630 Imams got arrested. And we were able to document them easily because half of them worked for government agencies." He added, "We have Islamic Associations on every level in other countries. So, these persecuted Imams were documented because they have names in the records. When we talked about 2020, some scholars mentioned how Uyghur women were targeted and what happened to them. It was challenging because there is no such organization as the Xinjiang Islamic Association or Chinese Islamic Association. They (China) don't see Uyghur religious community leaders as leaders, members, or staff." Elfidar Iltebir, the President of the Uyghur American Association (UAA), who immigrated to the US in 2000 from East Turkistan highlighted the broader context of the Chinese government's violations that are targeted at Uyghur women. In her statement stated, "Starting in 2005, China was specifically transferring young married women to inner China. The purpose is to keep the young generation away from their homeland, to send them to work in the factories, to stop them from giving birth and to keep them away from their homeland and their kids." She further stated, "As you know, when genocide started, these numbers increased previously it was 1.6 million, but the recent report says it has increased in 2023 by 38 per cent. So we're talking about millions. When you keep the parents away, the kids are raised in state-run orphanages, away from their familial bonds. So it means they're away from their culture, their religion, their identity and their world. And they're raised as a loyal Sisyphus subject. We were looking as Han Chinese kids". Further, during the virtual discussion Hena Zuberi the Director of Justice for All, mentioned that she met a Quran teacher, the first Uyghur woman in Los Angeles and she described the story of Uyghur religious repression in China. "She told me that she was not allowed to learn about Islam in her village because her parents were scared that she would be taken away from them if authorities found out. This repression has been going on for years," said Zuberi. Zuberi further divulged that the girl remembered her parents whispering in the middle of the night in their room, probably praying in secret during Ramadan. And then she finally learned Islam from meeting other Muslims at Beijing universities, from other countries. She also mentioned, "China, projects this image of being very close to Muslim countries. And so you'll see Muslims in major cities in China being able to go to the mosque and pray and do all of that. And so people don't believe that this kind of religious repression is taking place in East Turkestan. Over the past few years, there have been, reports from human rights organizations, and testimonies from Uyghurs, many of whom I have interviewed and sat with myself. And satellite imagery has exposed a grim situation of mass detention camps." "And as Iltebir talked about forced labour, forced sterilization and cultural repression targeting Uyghurs, this is considered a crime against humanity and genocide by the US government. But the unique nature of oppression against Uyghur women by the government of China, because of their ethnicity and religion is also, enhanced by their gender vulnerability as women. So, you know, there's the experience of being enslaved or raped, in an organized, systematic way, sold into sexual slavery, forced marriages, or separated from your children. This impact on your religious life is astronomical because, so it's not only that the genocide is causing the religious repression, the religious repression is also causing the genocide," she added. (ANI)
Danish Parliament Speaker Soren Gade Jensen paid tribute to the victims of the infamous 26/11 terror attacks at Taj Palace that shook Mumbai in 2008. Standing in solidarity with the nation, the Danish ambassador to India, Freddy Svane, echoed the sentiment that terror in any form must be condemned and fought against. "Never again. At the memorial for those who lost their lives in the terror attack on November 26, 2008, in Mumbai. Terror in any form must be condemned and fought against. Denmark's speaker placed a wreath at Taj Mahal Palace," said Danish Ambassador to India, Freddy Svane, in a post on X. The Danish Parliament Speaker also expressed deep admiration for India's remarkable progress over the past decades. "I come from a small country, Denmark, but we have had a relationship, a friendly relationship with India for 75 years, and that's something to celebrate," he told ANI. Acknowledging India's transformative efforts, Gade continued, "You have taken hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, provided public health services, and offered education to many. Soon, India will become the third biggest economy in the world." Gade's remarks reflected the strong bilateral ties between the two nations. "We have more than 160 companies in Denmark creating 100,000 jobs. And hopefully, we can inspire each other on the green transition. We can help India, but India can certainly also help Denmark," he emphasized. As part of the commemoration, the speaker of the Danish Parliament laid a wreath at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, a poignant gesture symbolising solidarity, remembrance, and the shared commitment to ensuring that such acts of terror are never repeated. Commonly referred to as 26/11, a series of coordinated assaults by a group of 10 terrorists created massive chaos on the streets of Mumbai and sent shockwaves through the nation and the world. Terrorists from the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group entered the city of Mumbai on the night of November 26, 2008. Over the course of four days, they killed 166 people and injured 300. (ANI)
Moshe Arbel, the Israeli interior minister, visited India to pay tribute to Patnibin Maxwell, an Indian killed by a Hezbollah rocket while working on a farm. Ambassador of Israel to India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, Naor Gilon, took to Twitter to announce the Israeli interior minister's visit and express condolences to the Maxwell family and the Indian nation. https://twitter.com/naorgilon/status/1765733061876924463?s=46 In an official tweet on X, Naor Gilon tweeted, "A high-level delegation from @IsraelMFA Ministry of Agriculture, led by Minister of Interior, Moshe Arbel, and his senior team, went to pay respects to Patnibin Maxwell, the Indian national who was killed by Hezbollah rocket while working in a farm. Om Shanti" The visit underscores the deep ties between Israel and India, as well as the shared commitment to honouring the memory of those affected by acts of violence and terrorism. The Israeli embassy confirmed on March 5 that the deceased has been identified as 31-year-old Pat Nibin Maxwell, son of Pathrose Maxwell, from Kollam district in Kerala. Maxwell had arrived in Israel two months ago and was working on a farm there. In its statement, the Israeli embassy said, "We are deeply shocked and saddened by the death of one Indian national and the injury of two others due to a cowardly terror attack launched by Shia terror organization Hezbollah, on peaceful agriculture workers who were cultivating an orchard at the northern village of Margaliot yesterday early afternoon. Our prayers and thoughts naturally go to the families of the bereaved and those of the injured." "Israeli medical institutions are completely at the service of the injured, who are being treated by our very best medical staff. Israel regards equally all nationals, Israeli or foreign, who are injured or killed due to terrorism. We will be there to support the families and assist them. Our countries, who are sadly well versed in civilian loss, stand united in hopes of a speedy recovery for the injured and solace for the families of the bereaved," the Israeli embassy in India said. Meanwhile, the Times of Israel reported that Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets at northern Israel on Monday night, resulting in damage that knocked out power in several towns, as the military struck targets in Lebanon following a deadly cross-border attack by the terror group earlier in the day. According to the Israel Defense Forces, at least 10 rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Western Galilee. Some of the projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defence system. Fighting also continues in Gaza, with the Israeli Defense Forces claiming that they eliminated Islamic Jihad terrorists who fired rockets toward Kibbutz Be'eri and Kibbutz Hatzerim. Fifteen terrorists were eliminated using snipers, tanks and aerial fire. IDF forces also struck terrorist targets and eliminated terrorists operating from civilian areas in Western Khan Yunis. (ANI)
https://twitter.com/meaindia/status/1765736673001029732?s=46&t=TbrKHKgG29uXA1CMFN38Pw

In a post on X, Randhir Jaiswal @MEAIndia tweets, "Panama becomes the 97th member to ratify the ISA. Panama handed over the Instrument of @isolaralliance Ratification, during the meeting of Ambassador Yasiel Burillo of Panama to India, with Joint Secretary (Economic Diplomacy) @Abhishekifs in New Delhi today."

Panama's commitment to sustainable energy was underscored as Ambassador Yasiel Burillo presented the Instrument of Ratification to Joint Secretary (Economic Diplomacy) Abhishekifs during a meeting in New Delhi today.

This formal act solidifies Panama's pledge to collaborate within the framework of the ISA, joining other nations in the pursuit of harnessing solar energy for a greener future.

Joint Secretary (ED & MER), MEA Abhishek Singh expressed gratitude for Panama's commitment, highlighting the importance of international collaboration in advancing renewable energy solutions.

Moreover, on March 5, Malta became the 119th country to join the International Solar Alliance, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

ISA was conceived as a joint effort by India and France. Currently, 116 countries are signatories to the ISA Framework Agreement.

"The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an action-oriented, member-driven, collaborative platform for increased deployment of solar energy technologies as a means for bringing energy access, ensuring energy security, and driving energy transition in its member countries," the ISA website reads.

Notably, the sixth assembly of the International Solar Alliance was hosted at 'Bharat Mandapam,' Pragati Maidan in the national capital on October 31.

ISA Director General Ajay Mathur had said that the investment in solar is expected to be 380 billion dollars this year, as last year witnessed an investment of 310 billion.

He also said that the ISA is supporting the growth of 9.5 GW of solar energy in projects across the world. (ANI)
The Pashupatinath Temple in Nepal is radiating a vibrant aura as it underwent a transformation in anticipation of the Maha Shivaratri festival, to be celebrated Friday. Elaborate decorations adorn the temple surroundings, with Saints and Sadhus, including the revered Naga Babas, establishing camps in various locations. This year, the Pashupati Area Development Trust will extend a warm welcome to over 500 saints from both Nepal and neighbouring India. "The scenario in and around Pashupatinath temple is joyous, it's more brimming than the earlier year. While I made up to the viewpoint, I saw numerous Sadhu camped on all the way. The only bridge that leads to here was packed with people, me and my friend managed to get through that crowd," Avash Simkhada, a devotee, told ANI. Sadhus, hailing from diverse regions of India and Nepal, find accommodation at Annapurna Bhandar, Swargadwari Ashram, Nirmala Akhada, and Parmananda Ashram within the renowned Pashupatinath Temple premises. The Maha Shivaratri, a night dedicated to Lord Shiva, the preserver, falls on Friday, March 8, this year, drawing an estimated one million pilgrims to the sacred temple. Maha Shivaratri, known as the Night of Lord Shiva, is observed with immense fervour not only in Nepal but also in India and other Hindu-majority countries. Typically occurring on the 13th night or 14th day of the lunisolar month according to the Lunar Calendar, this day sees a multitude of devotees thronging every temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. As one of Nepal's major festivals, Maha Shivaratri, translating to the "Night of Shiva," is celebrated on the 14th day of the dark fortnight of the Magha month in the Hindu lunar calendar. Believers hold that on this day, the stars in the Northern Hemisphere align in an optimal position to elevate one's spiritual energy, with the Shiva principle being particularly active during this auspicious time. Maha Shivaratri signifies the convergence of Shiva and Shakti, commemorating the night when Lord Shiva performed the "Tandav," the cosmic dance. Hundreds of thousands of devotees make pilgrimages to the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, regarded as one of the holiest Hindu shrines. Pashupatinath is revered as the Guardian and Protector of the Kathmandu Valley and Nepal. (ANI)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticised the United States for its "bewildering" trade policy, describing it as a series of "unfathomable absurdities," CNN reported. In a press conference held on the sidelines of a political gathering in Beijing, Wang accused Washington of employing various tactics to suppress China, highlighting the growing list of unilateral sanctions as reaching "bewildering levels of unfathomable absurdity." Wang questioned the confidence of the United States as a major country, stating, "If it gets jittery whenever it hears the word China, where is its confidence as a major country?" He further disparaged the US for pursuing its prosperity while denying other countries legitimate development, raising concerns about international fairness. Wang also pointed out the US' persistent efforts to monopolise the high end of the value chain, leaving China at the low end, questioning the principles of fairness and competition, as reported by CNN. The Chinese diplomat's remarks were delivered during the annual Foreign Minister's briefing, a highly choreographed event that provides a platform for China to express its foreign policy vision to a global audience. Wang's comments on the US come amidst ongoing efforts by Washington to restrict China's access to high-end technology. The White House has recently tightened controls on the types of semiconductors that US companies can sell to China, aiming to prevent American technology from being used to support the Chinese military. The US has also imposed sanctions on Chinese entities over various issues, including allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, involvement in the illicit fentanyl trade, and support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Wang's remarks underscored the challenges in the US-China relationship, even as he acknowledged "some improvements" since the summit between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in November, CNN reported. In a notable contrast to his criticism of the US, Wang praised China's growing relationship and record trade with Russia, emphasising this positive aspect early in the press conference when the first question was taken from a Russian state media reporter. Wang's comments coincided with a period of relative stability in US-China relations. While adopting a softer tone at times, he called on Washington to collaborate with Beijing and bring the relationship back on track for stable, sound, and sustainable development. During the political gathering, China emphasised its commitment to bolstering self-reliance and strength in science and technology. The government announced plans to increase the annual budget for science and technology by 10 per cent, reaching an unprecedented 370.8 billion yuan (USD 51.6 billion). This significant boost reflects China's determination to enhance self-reliance in the face of technological frictions with the US. Wang also addressed simmering tensions in the disputed South China Sea, where recent non-lethal but increasingly tense clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels have raised concerns about the potential for conflict. Wang urged certain countries outside the region not to provoke or stir up troubles, seemingly directing a jab at the US presence in the area. Regarding Taiwan, Wang's comments caught the attention of observers closely monitoring any shifts in Chinese policy. While Premier Li Qiang's report on Tuesday used the phrase "China's reunification," Wang emphasised the importance of "peaceful reunification" in response to a question about Taiwan's recent election of Lai Ching-te. Wang reiterated China's opposition to any support for Taiwan independence, warning that those who support it will "get burned for playing with fire," CNN reported. (ANI)
Calling on the Taliban to reverse the restrictions on women and girls, the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva warned that the longer these restrictions remain in place, "the more damage will be done," according to TOLOnews. She said the question of recognition and the function of the special envoy to Afghanistan are on the agenda. Otunbayeva said in a press conference following the end of the UN Security Council meeting on the state of affairs in Afghanistan that they anticipate keeping up the recognition issue and the special envoy's function in the third meeting in Doha. A few members of the Security Council and the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for the full observance of women's and girls' rights in Afghanistan also underlined the importance of human rights problems, one of the meeting's primary agenda items, according to TOLOnews. "Many women are currently afraid to move in public places. I take this opportunity to call again on the de facto authorities to reverse these restrictions. The longer these restrictions on women and girls continue, the more damage will be done," stated Roza Otunbayeva. Otunbayeva, thinks the third Doha meeting on Afghanistan is scheduled to take place in June this year. "We are approaching another Doha meeting in the future, and I hope to maintain the issue of recognition and the role of the special envoy, which is now on the agenda. This is exactly how to work on this unity," said Otunbayeva. Meanwhile, Robert Wood, Deputy Permanent Representative of the US to the UN, claimed that the Taliban is also detaining women who are not legally required to wear a hijab. He said, "The Taliban are also detaining women who are not legally required to wear a hijab. The United States is working with Afghan women to be ready for the day when they can fully participate in society," TOLOnews reported. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, in December last year urged the Taliban to lift the ban on women working in non-governmental organisations. He stressed that women are crucial to the economy and that their contributions are essential for the well-being and progress of Afghan society. In a post shared on X, Richard Bennett stated, "One year ago,Taliban banned women from working in NGOs. Once again, I urge the lifting of the ban. Education and work are vital to a full and dignified life, women are crucial for the economy; and their contributions are essential for the well-being and progress of Afghan society." The Taliban has restricted media freedoms and banned women from public places like parks and gyms. The actions have sparked a harsh international backlash, further isolating the country at a time when its economy is in free fall and escalating a humanitarian crisis. Notably, ever since the takeover, Taliban leadership has consistently issued severe decrees restricting Afghan women and girls' access to education and employment. Since the Taliban regained power in August 2021 after the US exit from the country, women are not allowed to work in the fields of education with domestic and international organisations, in gyms, or in public spaces. (ANI)
When Donald Trump declared victory in nearly all of the Super Tuesday states holding Republican presidential primaries, he made clear that once again immigration would be an integral theme in his general election campaign.

And he was quick to invoke the imagery that Gov. Greg Abbott has been generously supplying in his own efforts to secure the southern border.

"We're going to close our borders," Trump said in a speech from a ballroom in his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort that was carried live in prime time by several cable outlets. "We're going to have to deport a lot of people, a lot of bad people. Our cities are choking to death. Our states are dying."

The references to cities "choking" and "dying" likely resonated not only with Trump's supporters but also with people across the country feeling the effects of Abbott's policy of busing or flying migrants from Texas to "sanctuary cities"  Democratic-run cities, such as New York City, Chicago, Denver and Washington, where local resources are being strained and officials are pleading with the federal government to provide aid.

Former President Donald Trump is greeted by Gov. Greg Abbott upon arriving in Eagle Pass last month.

Just as they did in 2016 when Trump launched his first bid for president promising a hard-line approach to unlawful immigration, polls this cycle show that border security is a top motivator for voters, said Joshua Blank, research director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas. Trump's promise to "build a wall" was something of an abstract notion eight years ago, and the optics of his border actions were often dominated by images of family separations and children being detained without their parents inside cage-like, chain-link fencing.

Abbott's $11 billion Operation Lone Star, a Texas border security initiative launched in the weeks after Democratic President Joe Biden began rolling back Trump's initiatives, came with all-new visuals of armed National Guard soldiers and razor wire along the Rio Grande that make Biden's border security and immigration policies look ineffective but also showed the governor taking action more swiftly than Trump had done, Blank said.

"One of the things that's clear is that in some ways Abbott was in a better position to deliver on the rhetoric that Trump was supplying," Blank said. "Ultimately, Trump became president (but) he did not have control over the federal government in the way that I think Abbott has control over Texas state government.

"Abbott not only has all the powers of the executive branch, limited though they are in Texas, but you combine that with a Legislature that is completely pliant to any demand as long as it's attached to immigration or border security."

Luke Twombly, a GOP strategist and a former communications director for the Texas Republican Party, said Trump is well positioned to, in effect, adopt Abbott's visuals and amplify them for his own benefit to a national audience in the expected upcoming rematch between the former president and the incumbent.

More: In Eagle Pass, Greg Abbott and GOP governors strike familiar themes about border unrest

"With the migration crisis being at such a peak, and that the fact that it's Biden's worst issue consistently in the polls, I think it's going to show that a heavy-handed response is what the country wants, and definitely what Trump wants," Twombly said. "So he's thrown out red meat to his people, and I think it's going to work out and get them to the polls."

More: A rematch nobody wanted: But some big differences define Biden vs. Trump in 2024

Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, an immigration lawyer in Austin who represented numerous migrants held in detention during the Trump years, worries that Twombly's assessment is correct.

Texas National Guard look south towards Mexico from atop commercial containers at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas during former president Donald Trump's visit to Eagle Pass, Texas on Feb. 29, 2024,

"I'm super concerned," Lincoln-Goldfinch said. "I'm gearing up for another presidency and horrific enforcement measures against immigrants. We're getting a flavor of all of this right now in Texas, certainly with the actions of Abbott and the Senate Bill 4 law (a state law that allows officers to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing into Texas). And so immigrants are very on high alert. They're feeling very anxious. Many people that I've talked to are planning to leave the state of Texas."

Blank, of the Texas Politics Project, said Trump likely benefits from Abbott's border initiative with constituencies outside of the Republican base.

"As much as Democrats will hate this, Greg Abbott deserves a lot of credit for raising the issue of immigration and the border  among Democrats," Blank said. "And not in the sense that you would normally think about  human rights abuses or what have you. But in the sense of otherwise progressive Democratic mayors in otherwise very progressive cities having to practically deal with the regular arrival of thousands of migrants."

Abbott's alliance with Trump on border and immigration matters have heightened speculation that the three-term Texas governor might become the Republican vice presidential nominee. When both men were in the border city of Eagle Pass last week, Trump said Abbott is on the list.

Without slamming and locking the door on the question, Abbott has made clear he wants to remain in Texas and has already announced plans to seek a fourth term in 2026.

Blank said that Trump, who turns 78 in June, might have once seen Abbott as a would-be challenger but that is likely no longer the case. And that could make the governor more valuable in Austin than in Washington, Blank added

"Because Abbott has made so clear his disinterest in challenging Trump or even really being president, I think in him he probably sees an ally, someone who he can work with more effectively than he's likely to be able to work with the Congress," Blank said. "Whatever the (partisan) makeup."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 2024 elections: Will Trump use Abbott's border plan to help his run?
Haiti imposed a month-long state of the emergency and curfew on Thursday for the capital of Port-au-Prince, after armed gangs continued their assault on critical government infrastructures. Another police substation was attacked overnight, along with a facility at the main seaport.

The order, an extension of a 72-hour state of emergency first enacted on Sunday, was issued by Finance Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert, who has been acting as prime minister while the countrys current head of government, Ariel Henry, remains unable to get back into Haiti.

With the situation growing increasingly chaotic by the hour, gangs targeted the shipping handlers for the National Port Authority and began looting the premises. Several armored vehicles belonging to customers were among the things stolen during looting that went into Thursday, sources confirmed to the Miami Herald.

The renewed attacks on the seaport began last week, when gangs sabotaged a five-megawatt power plant and then returned on Saturday to finish cutting off the electricity. Hundreds of containers, now believed to have been looted, were left without refrigeration.

On Thursday, Boisvert announced that the government is extending the state of emergency and ordered the Haitian national police to take appropriate measures to regain control of the situation throughout this territory. The curfew is from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. weekdays and is valid for all of Port-au-Prince and surrounding cities that are part of the west regional departments. On Saturdays and Sundays, the curfew will begin at 8 p.m.

More than 80% of the Port-au-Prince region is under the control of gangs, which in the last week have becoming more united as they launched a series of coordinated attacks in the capital.

During the period of the state of emergency, all demonstrations on public roads are prohibited, day or night in the West department, Boisvert said. The police were ordered to use all legal means at their disposal to enforce the curfew and apprehend all offenders.

Street vendors run during clashes between police and gangs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, told reporters in New York on Thursday that the alarming escalation in violence has forced the World Food Program to suspend its transport service into Haiti. With armed gangs controlling access roads, the WFP is the only means of transporting food and medical supplies for humanitarian organizations outside the capital.

There are currently 24 trucks with equipment, medical supplies and other food trucks stuck at the port in Port-au-Prince, he said. WFPs air service is also grounded due to the activities at the airport.

Dujarric said since March 3 the World Food Program has delivered more than 7,600 hot meals to displaced men, women and children who have been forced out of their homes by gangs. The U.N. International Organization for Migration has also been distributing shelter materials to families.

Despite the access issues, Dujarrric said, we and our partners are using every window of opportunity to deliver aid.

Schools across the capital remain closed, and a more in-depth assessment is under way to determine the situation in the capital, Dujarric said.

The humanitarian community continues to call on all parties to stop the violence, to allow for safe unimpeded access of humanitarian assistance to everyone who needs it  and a lot of people need it urgently, he said.

Dujarric said a $674 million humanitarian response plan launched by the U.N. for Haiti is only 2.5% funded. Thats only $17 million dollars, he said.

On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council met in a private meeting to discuss the Haiti crisis. They were briefed by Maria Isabel Salvador, Guterres special representative and head of the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti. During the three-hour meeting, Salvador appealed for urgent action with the deployment of the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission to prevent the country from plunging further into chaos.

Dujarric said the U.N. has not yet received official notification from the Kenyan government about the deployment of the multinational mission. Kenya President William Ruto has publicly said that his country is ready to deploy its forces.
Authorities are asking the public for information about a suspect wanted in a robbery Wednesday at a Chase Bank branch in Colleyville.

At around 11:25 a.m. Wednesday, officers responded to the robbery at the Chase Bank located in the 3900 block of Glade Road.

The robber displayed a handgun while demanding cash from the bank teller, according to Colleyville police.

The suspect is described by police as an approximately 30-year-old man who wore a black hoodie with the hood on, a black ski mask, black pants, black and white Nike shoes and gray gloves.

Witnesses told police the robber left the bank in a black Lincoln SUV without a license plate, last seen traveling eastbound on Glade Road toward Texas 121.

Today's top stories:

 Man nearly decapitated wife, told police she cut herself: affidavit

 Fort Worth considers new fee on homeowners, businesses to pay for roads

 DFW Airport car thefts nearly doubled. How many were recovered?

Get free alerts when news breaks.

No one was injured in the robbery, police say.

Investigators with the FBI in Dallas-Fort Worth are leading the case.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to contact the FBI Dallas Division at 972-559-5000. Tips can also be submitted at tips.fbi.gov, where tipsters can remain anonymous.
During his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden will order the U.S. military to establish a temporary port in Gaza so more humanitarian aid can get to Palestinians in need, three senior administration officials said Thursday.

The U.S. military has unique capabilities that allow it to construct a port or causeway without having to send forces to Gazas shores, said one of the officials. We're not planning for this to be an operation that would require U.S. boots on the ground, said a second one. All were granted anonymity to preview the presidents announcement.

The move will help ships dock on the enclaves coast to deliver food, water, medicine and other assistance. The Biden administration is working with governments and commercial partners to establish a maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza that will supplement aid already being delivered via airdrops and land routes.

The U.S. is resorting to this military mission because Israel isnt letting in enough aid to alleviate the humanitarian crisis caused by the Israel-Hamas war plaguing 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza, officials said.



Biden will also announce the opening of a third land crossing into Gaza, which the United Nations confirmed Thursday will allow aid to flow into the northern part of the territory. The U.S. continues to push on Israel to open more land routes which allow for more assistance to reach people in needed more quickly and efficiently than via other avenues.

We're not waiting on the Israelis. This is a moment for American leadership, and we are building a coalition of countries to address this urgent need, said the second administration official.

While the plan is still coming together, it appears that in the short term, it wont involve Navy ships that specialize in humanitarian relief missions.

Three amphibious ships with hundreds of Marines aboard left the Mediterranean this week to head home, wrapping up an extended eight-month deployment that cut across the Persian Gulf and Eastern Mediterranean.

The ships of the USS Bataan Amphibious Ready Group will not immediately be replaced in the Middle East due to a litany of mechanical issues suffered by the USS Boxer, which is still preparing for a future deployment in San Diego despite earlier plans to go to sea in November.

While the Boxers sailors and Marines are trained to perform humanitarian missions, they remain in the U.S. "because the Marines couldn't get a ride," a Defense Department official said.

"If the maintenance plan for the USS Boxer wasn't completely mismanaged by the Navy for months, we could have a ship and Marines out there," the DOD official said.

The Marines have been unable to support other missions such as the earthquake in Turkey last year because the Navy was unable to get ships and Marines to sea.

As for the maritime corridor, the plan faces a host of challenges, namely how to offload, secure and distribute the aid.

Four other U.S., European and Middle Eastern officials said many elements remain up for discussion. Smaller packages will soon come in by sea. But once a coordinated plan is in place, it would take 45 to 60 days before theres a regular cadence of large assistance packages shipping across the Mediterranean.

The aid will initially flow through the Larnaca port in Cyprus, located about 230 miles from Gaza. Its already fitted with high-tech screening equipment that allows Israeli officials stationed in Cyprus to check whats inside the deliveries.

Gaza has no working port, which is why Biden has ordered the U.S. military to help establish the temporary pier. Its unclear what role other partners will play in its creation.

The aid needs to be protected once it's ashore, and crowds clamoring for assistance have to be managed. U.S. officials said Israel has not yet agreed to a security and crowd-control mission on the beachhead and that negotiations are ongoing, including whether Israeli forces would also be responsible for demining staging areas for the aid.

Arguably the hardest part is dispersing the aid throughout the whole of Gaza. The multinational coalition will rely on the United Nations, non-governmental organizations and other groups to ensure the assistance gets to the right places.

Gaza remains an active war zone and much of the enclave poses security risks to aid workers, which will complicate any efforts to get food, water, medicine and other assistance to those in need.

The biggest outstanding issue is who will synchronize all of these efforts.

The goal here is to find a way to bring synergy to every one initiative, said a third senior Biden administration official. Its unclear if that responsibility will fall to one nation or a group of them. We will need something like that so that we can actually build connective tissue between our planners, our development professionals, etc. to work out some of the details.

The United Arab Emirates and Qatar are in talks with the Cypriots about how they can contribute to the maritime corridor, the official added. Officials from both governments didnt respond to a request for comment, though theres reporting of UAE-funded aid arriving in Gaza next week.

Paul McLeary contributed to this report.
Black faculty and activists say that an Indiana Senate bill could disproportionately penalize faculty of color and hinder open discussions of racism and racial history at Indianas public universities.

Senate Bill 202, which recently cleared both chambers and now awaits a decision from Gov. Eric Holcomb, seeks to institute 5-year reviews of tenured professors, bar universities from requiring statements related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and establish new student programming on engaging with a diverse range of topics at Indianas public universities.

The Indiana NAACP State Conference, Indianapolis Urban League, and 49 other state organizations signed a letter speaking out against the bill, saying the bills language surrounding intellectual diversity would disproportionately affect faculty of color who teach sensitive subjects like racism and slavery.

Any time you talk about diversity, equity and inclusion, youre usually talking about gender or race, said Gwen Kelley, a member of the Indiana NAACP State Conferences education committee. So, if you say I cant address race, youve taken away that part of my community, and part of my history.

SB 202 makes no mention of racism or specific political and historical topics. Critics argue the bill feeds into a larger trend of Republican higher education reform bills that seek to eliminate DEI programs and instruction of topics like Critical Race Theory and LGBTQ+ studies  including a failed attempt in Indiana to ban divisive topics in K-12.

Sen. Spencer Deery, who authored the bill, said hes an education advocate and was careful to use language like intellectual diversity in the bill to avoid dismantling or defunding DEI programs as other bills have done. The University of Florida this month eliminated all of its DEI positions after a similar state law barred public funding of such programs.

I expanded the definition to make it clear that diversity includes both cultural diversity, but also intellectual diversity as well. So theres nothing in this bill that limits DEI initiatives, Deery said.

Rev. David Greene of Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis is one of several Black faith leaders speaking out against SB 202.

Critics argue the intellectual diversity language still puts faculty of color at risk.

Theyre just wrapping words around it, said Rev. David Greene, senior pastor of Second Baptist Church and president of the activist group Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis. Intellectual diversity is really gonna be driven by conversations around diversity, and its gonna be Black professors who are going before these boards.

Critics say reporting system will target faculty of color

Critics of the bill argue a provision outlining a reporting system where students can file complaints about faculty they believe arent welcoming expression of different opinions and ideologies will lead to faculty of color being reported the most.

Russ Skiba, a former Indiana University professor and co-founder of the University Alliance for Racial Justice, said faculty of color will receive the most complaints because theyre often explicitly tasked with teaching classes on diversity.

Russ Skiba is a professor emeritus in the department of counseling and educational psychology at Indiana University.

For better or worse, universities tend to nudge their faculty of color into teaching the diversity class, Skiba said. Whats going to happen when we have a reporting system in place? It will clearly target and affect faculty of color much more than it will affect others.

A 2023 study on the impact of student complaints on faculty work found faculty of color were more likely to report having received a student complaint than their white peers, and respondents reported dropping or limiting classes on racial subjects for fear of retaliation from administration.

This is a very blatant effort to inject race into our everyday activities, while self-righteously claiming that their ultimate objective is to rid the country of racial considerations, said Mark Russell, director of advocacy for the Indianapolis Urban League.

Concerns for impact on education statewide and at all levels

While SB202 concerns higher education, Kelley warns its impact could be felt in K-12 education throughout Indiana.

What happens in higher ed impacts K-12, because these are the future teachers that are going to be coming into our pool of educators, Kelley said.

In 2023, less than 20% of Black students in Indiana passed their ILEARN math and reading proficiency test, compared to 47.5% of white students.

Kelley says training culturally responsive teachers and classrooms is a key element of the NAACPs strategic plan to narrow Indianas Black-white achievement gap. If candid discussions on race arent occurring in college classrooms, Kelley argues, teachers wont be equipped to understand and address racial barriers when teaching K-12.

Were already losing teachers, and in the midst of all this turmoil, you cant even tell the truth as youre teaching, Kelley said. Its the exact opposite of what we wouldve hoped for.

Deery maintains his bill will work to protect and increase discussions of race and other difficult topics in higher education, and was inspired by the 2023 Indiana Free Speech Report that found Black and conservative students at Indianas public universities similarly felt marginalized from speaking their mind on campus.

Deery says the bill was written with measured language to protect faculty, including a provision that says faculty members cannot be prevented from teaching, researching, or writing publications about diversity, equity, and inclusion or other topics.

It would be illegal if they did, Deery said. If you look into it, it makes it clear that if you base your report on the content of their research or their political views or commentary, thats illegal.

But Kelley argues the mere existence of such a reporting method, coupled with the bills provisions on tenure review, would create a chilling effect for faculty of color.

Even if it doesnt go that far, just because its out there, people are going to be afraid, Kelley said.

Reach Brian Rosenzweig at brian@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Black faculty, activists concerned about Indiana higher ed bill
Students from Dover elementary schools lead the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance at Monday's Dover City Council meeting.

DOVER  At Monday's council meeting, members approved a $72 million budget for the city for 2024 and honored former Dover officials. Here are the highlights:

The 2024 budget includes $1.1 million for street and alley paving, one of the largest amounts every earmarked for paving. Dover will also be spending $24,000 for bulletproof vests for the police department; $780,000 to upgrade traffic signals at Slingluff Avenue and Walnut Street near Maple Grove Cemetery and Walnut Street and WestThird Street and will put $170,000 into a sinking fund to build a new mausoleum at Dover Burial Park.

Council passed resolutions honoring former council members Greg Bair, Sandy Moss and Robert Mueller, as well as former Law Director Doug O'Meara and Safety/Human Resources Director Gerry Mroczkowski. Bair and Moss both attended the session and received a standing ovation from those present.

Mayor Shane Gunnoe reported the city received two applications for the housing demolition program funded through the Ohio Department of Development. The locations are 39 S. Johnson Ave. and the former Midway Lumber building next to the Tuscarawas County Fairgrounds on South Tuscarawas Avenue. These applications will be forwarded to the county and the Ohio Department of Development for further review.

Council authorized the distribution of $3,500 in bed tax dollars to Caleb Fell Group for a mural on the outside of its building at 116 W. Third St.

Council also authorized the mayor to provide free passes to the city swimming pool this summer for children participating in the TUFF Bags program, sponsored by the United Way of Tuscarawas County and the local Tuscarawas United  Feeding Our Future (TUFF) program.

Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Dover to spend $1.1 million on street and alley paving in 2024
Oklahoma death row inmate Michael D. Smith gets emotional as he speaks during his clemency hearing on Wednesday.

Death row inmate Michael DeWayne Smith wept Wednesday as he pleaded for mercy, saying again he is innocent of two 2002 murders despite confessing to police.

"I didn't commit these crimes. I didn't kill these people. I was high on drugs," he told the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board by video.

More: Oklahoma prisons chief wants executions every 90 days to relieve burden on staff

"I don't know who did these crimes. I can't point the finger at nobody. I don't remember anything."

The parole board was not swayed, voting 4-1 to deny clemency. Smith, 40, is scheduled to be executed for both murders on April 4 at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

"Justice will finally be served for their tragic loss," Attorney General Gentner Drummond said after the vote.

Smith also is serving a life sentence for a 2001 murder.

He could still avoid execution if he gets a stay as he seeks to get DNA testing on evidence. His emergency request for a stay is now before the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.

Smith told the parole board he was hallucinating from his drug use when he confessed to police. "Somebody told me something when I was high," he said.

Oklahoma death row inmate Michael D. Smith speaks during his clemency hearing on Wednesday.

His attorney, Mark Henricksen, told the parole board Smith is intellectually disabled. He contended Smith would have been spared from execution for that reason if his original attorneys had done their job.

Smith was convicted at trial of first-degree murder for two fatal shootings in Oklahoma City on Feb. 22, 2002. Jurors agreed he should be executed for both deaths.

The first victim, Janet Moore, 40, was shot once at her apartment. The second victim, Sharath Babu Pulluru, 24, was shot nine times at a convenience store where he was filling in for a friend.

Neither was Smith's original target, according to testimony at the trial.

At the time, he was 19 and a member of a street gang in Oklahoma City known as the Oak Grove Posse. He also was high on PCP and hiding from police, who had a warrant for his arrest on the 2001 murder case.

Prosecutors alleged after his arrest he was known as "Hoover Killer" or "HK."

The parole board was told Smith actually was looking for Moore's son, Phillip Zachary, because he thought Zachary was a snitch.

He had mistook a maintenance man knocking on his apartment door for the police and blamed Zachary, an assistant attorney general said.

He told police Moore "was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"It's her fault she died, you know what I'm saying," he told police. "She panicked and she got shot. ... She like, 'Help! Help!' I'm like, I had to. I had no choice."

The parole board was told Smith next went to the A&Z Food Mart to shoot a worker over comments to the newspaper about a robbery next door.

He instead killed Pulluru, Assistant Attorney General Aspen Layman said. "He was on a mission."

Pulluru was shot with two guns, then doused with lighter fluid and set on fire. Smith told police, "Whatever was in there. I let it all go. ... It was like he wouldn't die. That's why I shot him so many times. ... He like, 'What did I do?' ... Before he died I let him know, like, this is for my little homie that's dead."

The parole board was told Smith was upset because a clerk at the Trans Food Mart had killed a fellow gang member during a robbery on Nov. 8, 2000. The trial for two other gang members involved in the robbery was set to begin on Feb. 25, 2002.

The parole board was told Smith had recruited all three to the Oak Grove Posse.

A worker at the A&Z Food Mart had told The Oklahoman in 2000 he was proud of his neighbor.

"The rest of the kids will learn a lesson by him being dead and stop doing these things," the clerk had said.

Smith also confessed to his roommate and a neighbor, according to their testimony at his trial. His attorney on Wednesday called into question that testimony, saying police had "monkeyed" with the case to make certain a conviction was obtained.

Smith was convicted at a separate trial of second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of Otis Payne outside an Oklahoma City club on Nov. 24, 2001. He had admitted to police that he handed the gun to the shooter, David Burns.

The vote Wednesday means Gov. Kevin Stitt cannot grant clemency to Smith. The governor can only commute a death sentence if the parole board recommends clemency.

The attorney general called Smith a ruthless killer. His news release noted that only 10% of death row inmates in the United States have killed multiple times.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Board votes 4-1 to deny death row inmate Michael DeWayne Smith clemency
A missing mans car hidden in the woods led to the discovery of his body in a shallow grave, Alabama authorities said.

Now, homicide investigators are searching for those responsible.

Jewel Bendolph, 38, was involved in an argument before he disappeared the early morning of March 2, the Birmingham Police Department said in a missing person alert.

Police believed him to be in danger.

His family put out pleas for information and organized search parties.

If you know something please let me know, his sister, Monica Bendolph, wrote on Facebook. If you want money Ill give you everything I have!!! Money isnt an issue with me nor my family we just want Jewel.

Deputies with the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office said they responded to a call about an abandoned car in the woods shortly after 4 p.m. March 5.

They found Bendolphs silver Honda Civic, which appeared to have been intentionally covered to conceal it, deputies said in a March 6 news release.

A cadaver dog was bought in, and human remains were found in a shallow, clandestine grave, officials said.

The Jefferson County coroner used fingerprints to confirm the remains belonged to Bendolph, according to a news release. His cause of death has not been released at this time.

The Birmingham man was found more than 20 miles from the BP gas station where he was last seen alive.

What a bond to break, his sister wrote on Facebook. My brother would give you the shirt off his back.

Detectives with the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office and Birmingham Police Department are coordinating to identify suspects in what they are calling a homicide.

He was a guy that liked to have a lot of fun, laughing, loved his family but when he left here, I had no idea he would not return, his grandmother, Patricia Lewis, told WVTM.

His body was found in Pinson, about a 15-mile drive northeast from downtown Birmingham.

Lumber truck found at bottom of hill after crash, WV cops say. Now driver is missing

Two boaters go overboard and drown within days on same Georgia lake, officials say

Woman got out of a vehicle in 2022  and vanished. Remains now identified in Colorado

Missing woman who didnt show up to salon was likely kidnapped, Washington cops say
Israel will be represented by Eden Golan at this year's contest

Israel will be allowed to compete at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 after changing the lyrics to its song, organisers have confirmed.

Eden Golan will represent the country at the contest in Sweden this May.

Her original song, October Rain, was thought to reference the Hamas attacks of 7 October and had been barred for breaking rules on political neutrality.

Israel's public broadcaster agreed to amend the song, now titled Hurricane, and will unveil it this weekend.

In a statement, The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) - which organises the contest - said earlier: "The EBU can confirm that the official submission from its Israeli Member Kan has been deemed eligible to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest in May.

"The Contest's Reference Group, its governing board, made the decision to accept the song 'Hurricane' for the upcoming competition after careful scrutiny of the lyrics.

"It was agreed that 'Hurricane' met the necessary criteria for participation in accordance with the rules of the competition."

Israeli broadcaster Kan had previously pledged not to alter the lyrics, but the country's President Isaac Herzog later called for "necessary adjustments" to ensure Israel can take part in the contest.

The original lyrics of October Rain - written in English - were published on Kan's website last month.

They included the lines "They were all good children, every one of them" and "Who told you boys don't cry/ Hours and hours/ And flowers/ Life is not a game for the cowards."

On Wednesday, Belgium's French-speaking Culture Minister Benedicte Linard called for Israel to be banned from Eurovision as long as the war in Gaza continues.

"Just like Russia has been excluded from competitions and Eurovision following its invasion of Ukraine, Israel should be excluded until it puts an end to its flagrant violations of international law, which are causing thousands of victims, especially children," she wrote on X.

Israel insists that its ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza is being carried out in line with international law. Its military has repeatedly said that it goes out of its way to try to avoid harming civilians.

Ms Linard also told parliament on Wednesday that she would ask public broadcaster RTBF, which is organising Belgium's entry to Eurovision, to voice the concerns to the EBU.

Her Flemish counterpart, Benjamin Dalle, said an Israeli suspension would be appropriate while so many Palestinian civilians were suffering, according to a report by Flemish broadcaster VRT.

Musicians in several countries have called for Israel to be suspended from the contest.

In December, Iceland's Association of Composers and Lyricists published a statement saying Israel's military action in Gaza made its participation incompatible with an event "characterised by joy and optimism".

In Finland, a petition signed by more than 1,400 music industry professionals accused their national broadcaster Yle of double standards, saying it was among the first to demand the ban on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The EBU soon after banned Russia from participating.

Before he was selected to represent the UK, Olly Alexander also endorsed a statement accusing Israel of genocide.

An Israeli official later told the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper the arguments were "absurd" and accused Alexander and his fellow signatories of "anti-Israel bias".

Israel has won the Eurovision Song Contest four times before.

Its military launched an air and ground campaign in Gaza after Hamas's attacks on Israel on 7 October, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 253 others were taken hostage.

More than 30,800 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the territory's Hamas-run health ministry says.
BROCKTON  Four Brockton School Committee members set off a national firestorm by requesting that Massachusetts National Guard soldiers be deployed to Brockton High School  a school that has a student population thats 63% Black and 85% students of color, according to Brockton Public Schools Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

The historical overtones of such a move are related to the fact that the National Guard was used to force Southern states to comply with racial integration," said Bridgewater State University political science Prof. Brian Frederick.

"This was the first time that Ive ever heard of a local district asking the state to provide National Guard help. It's very rare in the history of Massachusetts and around the country, he said.

'Makes students of color feel less safe' Brockton National Guard request especially hurtful in 'Blackest city' in MA, opponents say

The fact that the request was floated as a serious possibility raises a difficult question, he says. "Why is this particular solution, which is one many might view as an extreme step to try to maintain control of the school, being used for a school that has a majority population of students of color?"

Historically, National Guard troops have been deployed in schools at least three times to deal with civil rights issues, including at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas from 1957-58; at the University of Mississippi in 1962; and at the University of Alabama in 1963.

Called 16 times by the federal gov.: National Guard was activated most often during the Civil Rights Era

Desegregation of Central High School and the Little Rock crisis (1957)

In September of 1957, three years after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered U.S. public schools be desegregated, nine Black students attempted to enroll at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

However, the Arkansas National Guard, who had been called out by Gov. Orval Faubus, denied the Black students entry, according to the National Archives.

Brockton on Fox News Brockton thrust into national spotlight over call to deploy National Guard at high school

President Dwight D. Eisenhower got involved, suggesting that Faubus continue to deploy the National Guard troops but to allow the Black students to enter the school. Instead, Faubus withdrew the troops entirely. Without the troops' presence, a full-scale riot erupted when the nine students attempted to re-enter the school and they were forced to evacuate, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10730, placing the Arkansas National Guard under federal control, and sent 1,000 U.S. Army paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division to assist in restoring order in Little Rock, according to the National Archives.

The next day, on Sept. 25, the nine Black students successfully entered the school under the protection of the Arkansas National Guard.

'Bring him back' At explosive Brockton school board meeting superintendent tears into mayor

Desegregation of the University of Mississippi and the Ole Miss riot (1962)

James H. Meredith, a former serviceman in the U.S. Air Force and a student at the all-Black Jackson State College, applied and was accepted to the University of Mississippi in 1962. But when Meredith attempted to register for classes, he was denied entry by Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett, according to reporting by History.com.

Two days later, U.S. Marshals attempted to escort Meredith onto the Ole Miss campus, but he was turned back by a deadly riot that killed two men and injured more than 300, according to NPR.

James H. Meredith, center, 29, who wants to enroll at the University of Mississippi, is shown with R. Jess Brown, Meredith's attorney, left, and Medgar Evers, field secretary of the National Association for Advancement of Colored People, Sept. 25, 1962.

President John F. Kennedy activated the Mississippi National Guard and called in Army troops from Memphis, Tennessee to stop the violence. The next day, Meredith returned to the school and successfully began classes.

'You failed at your jobs' Brockton parents tear into school board over deficit

Desegregation at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa (1963)

On May 16, 1963, a federal district court in Alabama ordered the University of Alabama to admit Black students Vivien Malone and James Hood to its summer session.

Under the authority of President John F. Kennedy, Malone and Hood were accompanied by the Alabama National Guard and federal marshals as they registered for classes, according to the Civil Rights Digital Library.

When the two students tried to enter the Foster Auditorium building to register, Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace, who had campaigned against the U.S. Supreme Courts desegregation ruling, refused them entry by physically blocking the entrance.

When Wallace refused the students entry, Kennedy authorized the National Guard to remove him and the students were able to successfully register.

.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: National Guard deployed to help  and hinder  school desegregation
When a former inmate was arrested Wednesday for using drones to smuggle contraband into a prison in Columbia, it wasnt the first time he was accused of committing that crime, the South Carolina Department of Corrections said in a news release.

Quintin Alexander Douglas was already out on bond from charges of flying drones carrying contraband into another South Carolina prison, according to the release.

On Wednesday, the 28-year-old Bethune resident was charged with four counts of criminal conspiracy for flying drones carrying contraband into Broad River Correctional Institution, the S.C. Department of Corrections said.

Those charges stem from four incidents in April and July of 2023, according to the release.

Broad River Correctional Institution is a prison in Richland County on Broad River Road, near the junction with Interstate 20.

It is a male-only close (high-security) and medium-security facility designed primarily to house violent offenders with longer sentences, and inmates who exhibit behavioral problems, according to the S.C. Department of Corrections.

Douglas had previously been charged with multiple crimes in August 2023 for flying a drone carrying contraband into McCormick Correctional Institution earlier in the year, the S.C. Department of Corrections said.

When he was arrested last year, Douglas was charged with providing contraband to prisoners, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and criminal conspiracy, according to the S.C. Department of Corrections.

In the incident that happened in January 2023, Douglas is accused of flying a drone containing tobacco, marijuana, cellphones and other contraband items onto the prison yard at McCormick Correctional, the S.C. Department of Corrections said.

McCormick Correctional is also a mens-only, high-security institution, according to the S.C. Department of Corrections. Its about 80 miles west of Columbia.

In 2018, Douglas pleaded guilty to a burglary charge and 10 counts of larceny, Kershaw County court records show. He was sentenced to five years in prison, but after serving two years the rest of the incarceration was to be suspended, according to court records.
France's lower house has passed a bill which will provide recognition and compensation for people convicted of homosexuality between 1942 and 1982.

The anti-gay law was originally introduced by the Vichy government during World War Two, when France was occupied by Nazi Germany.

Before then, homosexuality had been legal since 1791.

The new bill proposes to reimburse people who were fined for homosexual crimes.

It will also compensate anyone imprisoned for being gay.

The lower house of parliament unanimously approved the bill overnight, but it must now be examined by the Senate.

"Sorry, sorry to the people, the homosexual people of France who for 40 years suffered this totally unfair repression," Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti told the National Assembly.

The anti-gay law remained in place after the end of World War Two.

An estimated 10,000 people - mostly gay men - were convicted between 1942 and 1982.

Many of those convicted are now dead or very old, meaning few are likely to come forward for any reparations.

Socialist lawmaker Herve Saulignac estimates that 200 to 400 people could be eligible for compensation.

Michel Chomarat, 75, was arrested during a raid on a Paris gay bar in 1977 and convicted under the law. He told the AFP news agency that he was "very moved" by the news.

"I've been fighting for almost 50 years because I never accepted being arrested and sentenced," he said.
Super Tuesday boosted Republicans hopes of keeping the House majority.

It also inflamed their fears of being unable to actually control it.

Party leaders have worked overtime to elevate electable candidates across key swing seats. Thanks to that maneuvering, those contenders are now well-positioned for November. But Tuesdays races also saw far-right candidates prevail in deep-red seats in Texas and North Carolina  despite spending to stop them  deepening concerns that the House's disorder and dysfunction of the past year will only intensify.

The tension between the success of the battleground strategy and the hand-wringing over the safe-seat outcomes was on full display this week.

National Republicans successfully blocked Sandy Smith, a repeat candidate with a litany of abuse allegations, from winning the nomination in a North Carolina swing seat. In California, a barrage of spending by a top GOP super PAC appears to have helped Rep. David Valadao, who is likely the only Republican able to hold his Democratic-leaning central California battleground. Meanwhile, Ohio Republican JR Majewski, who lost a 2022 bid after he was accused of misrepresenting his military service, formally ended his comeback bid on Wednesday after careful maneuvering by House GOP leaders to nudge him out.

Its a much-needed course correction for a party that saw a slew of controversial nominees blow crucial races in the midterms, leaving them with a precariously small majority.

We learned last cycle your primary should be about who can win in the general," said GOP Rep. Don Bacon, who has held an Omaha-based swing seat since 2017 and faces his own potentially challenging primary later this spring. "Why elect someone who cant win in the general?"

But the conference also appears set to inch further right through safe-seat primaries, underscoring an emerging new reality in Republican politics: Its becoming harder each year for party strategists to persuade voters not to elevate the most extreme candidate.

Brandon Gill, a 30-year-old candidate who helped market his father-in-law Dinesh DSouzas conspiracy theory documentary, won an open safe seat in northeast Texas on Tuesday. Mark Harris, the pastor whose apparent 2018 victory was tossed out after voter fraud allegations, won in North Carolina. Rep. Barry Moore, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, bested the more moderate Rep. Jerry Carl in an Alabama member-on-member matchup created by redistricting.

And Rep. Tony Gonzales  who was censured by Texas Republicans for bucking the party line on gun control and border security  failed to avoid a runoff in his sprawling West Texas district. He will face Brandon Herrera, a firearms manufacturer known as The AK Guy who runs a pro-gun YouTube channel and has said he would have voted to oust Kevin McCarthy. That has spurred worry that the House could prove just as unwieldy next year, if not worse. Rogue members could grind the legislative agenda to a halt or oust a speaker, as eight of them did to McCarthy.

That really proved that we do need to have the right people in these seats, said Sarah Chamberlain, the president of the pragmatic Republican Main Street Partnership. That's extremely important, probably more so than ever. We have to have a functioning government.

Fights over the direction of the party are not new, but they intensified after the 2022 midterms, when baggage-laden candidates  many of them MAGA-aligned and seizing on former President Donald Trumps false claims of a rigged 2020 election  led to a smaller-than-expected Republican majority in the House.

Republican strategists are determined not to let it happen again. The Congressional Leadership Fund, the top House GOP super PAC, which is aligned with Speaker Mike Johnson, has made boosting top-tier battleground candidates a priority  despite some pushback and tense exchanges behind closed doors.

CLF President Dan Conston was giving a political briefing to members in February at a Miami retreat when he was asked a question by House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good (R-Va.). Good wanted to know why the group was spending to block a conservative candidate like Smith in North Carolina, according to two people who witnessed the exchange.

Smith could not win a general election, Conston replied, noting the list of domestic abuse allegations against her. (Among them: menacing her ex-husband with a frying pan and threatening to run him over with her car.) She also had a bad electoral track record: She already lost to Democratic Rep. Don Davis in 2022.

CLFs gambit was ultimately successful. Retired Army Col. Laurie Buckhout, seen by GOP leadership as a far stronger candidate to take out Davis this year, edged out Smith on Tuesday night for the Republican nomination.

It was just one of several races where House Republicans have forcefully waded into GOP primaries to block problematic candidates from threatening their chances in crucial battlegrounds.

In California, Republicans fretted that Valadao would get shut out of the 22nd District  either getting overtaken by Chris Mathys, who was running to his right, or if two Democrats prevailed in the primary.

CLF polled multiple times in Valadaos district to monitor his prospects, according to a person familiar with the data. In early February a survey showed, among voters in the district who identified as conservatives, Mathys had inched in front of the incumbent by 3 points. The group quickly dropped $1 million on ads. When it polled again a few weeks later, Valadao led 53 percent to 28 percent among conservative voters.

The race has not yet been called, but as of Thursday afternoon, Valadao remained the top vote-getter with 12 points between him and Mathys, who is in third place.

It was a great night for the majority, Conston said. Getting David Valadao again is the key to us holding that seat. Were writing the seat off otherwise.

CLF strictly limits its involvement in primaries to swing seats that will build the majority, per its pact with the anti-tax Club for Growth. But as establishment fears mounted over troublesome candidates in deep-red seats, intervention there fell to two newly formed super PACs, backed by GOP megadonors.

Those groups  Conservatives for American Excellence, bankrolled by hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin and investment banker Warren Stephens, and America Leads Action, backed by wealthy donors Jay Faison and Rob Walton  spent a combined $6 million ahead of Super Tuesday in Alabama, North Carolina and Texas to block those candidates.

They had mixed results.

Gill, D'Souza's son-in-law, had a more than 40-point margin over the runner-up. Harris avoided a runoff and secured the nomination outright for the safe seat. Moore pulled off a surprising win in the newly drawn Alabama district. All three had the backing of the House Freedom Caucus political arm.

But the establishment forces did manage to thwart Bo Hines, a repeat candidate who lost a swing seat general election during the midterms, in North Carolina.

The Club for Growth, a powerful conservative group, backed several of the candidates, including Gill, Moore and Hines. David McIntosh, the groups president, said Republican primary voters want hard-liners. Working with Democrats, he noted, is the move that ultimately doomed McCarthys speakership.

I noticed that Mark Harris used these attacks as proof with the base that he was going to go fight the liberal establishment in Washington, McIntosh said. In some ways, it's creating this boomerang effect and helping the conservatives prove their bona fides.

He said he planned to reach out to people behind the two super PACs and urge them to stop wasting your money. He hopes theyll join CLF in staying out of open safe-seat primaries.

But for now, the tension remains.

Establishment Republicans will have another shot to get their preferred candidates in two Texas districts that are headed to runoffs. Conservatives for American Excellence has spent against John OShea, a far-right candidate running for the open seat in Texas ruby-red 12th District who is facing the more moderate state Rep. Craig Goldman.

And Gonzales will almost certainly need help if he is to defeat Herrera, who will now have the opportunity to consolidate the anti-incumbent voters in a lower-turnout, one-on-one matchup in late May.

Texas 23 is the toughest district in America, said Gonzales, who expressed confidence in his runoff chances. I'm going to make the case for all the things that I've done in my time in office these three years.

The next safe-seat test will come March 19 in Illinois, when Rep. Mike Bost faces a far-right primary challenge from Darren Bailey, a 2022 gubernatorial candidate backed by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). Bost, a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, has touted his willingness to find solutions and legislate and cast Bailey as a rabble-rouser.

We need people to govern, Bost said.

Olivia Beavers contributed to this report.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham vetoed a measure to exempt New Mexicos smaller oil and gas wells from taxes paid on fossil fuels extracted, drawing the ire of Republicans and industry supporters.

Senate Bill 64, sponsored by Sen. Ron Griggs (R-34) of Alamogordo would have exempted low-performing or stripper wells from severance taxes operators pay to produce oil and gas in New Mexico.

It was intended to reduce expenses for small oil and gas companies in New Mexico, and specified the money saved would go to bringing these wells into compliance with state environmental rules.

More: Tax package could expand renewable energy in New Mexico; Fossil fuels also supported

SB 64 was added to House 252, a package of tax bills that passed both the House and Senate and sent to Lujan Grishams desk for signature into law. Before she did that, Lujan Grisham removed SB 64s language via a line-item veto that allows governors to reject specific portions of bills before they become law.

The Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico, which represents smaller producers, slammed the veto immediately as it was announced. President Jim Winchester said Lujan Grisham unfairly penalized oil companies that were already struggling to stay afloat.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham continues her assault on small-business independent producers with her veto of the stripper well tax provision, which had bipartisan backing, Winchester said. This carefully crafted tax treatment would have provided measurable benefits to the environment by substantially reducing emissions from small producers low-production wells.

More: New Mexico capital outlay: Here's what your county and city gets

In a message to lawmakers, Lujan Grisham argued the language only exempted certain wells based on their oil and gas production levels, wells that could be owned by large companies. Large oil companies often drill wells and then sell them to smaller companies when the wells reach the end of their lifetime.

But many large companies still own wells that would qualify as stripper wells, typically producing up to 15 barrels of oil per day, Lujan Grisham argued, meaning the tax exemption might not meet its purported purpose of supporting small businesses.

Although I appreciate the intent behind this measure (i.e. to encourage stripper well operators to come into compliance with current regulations), the exemption should be limited to small and independent operators, Lujan Grisham wrote.

President Joe Biden greets Gov. Lujan Grisham, center, along with Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., back left, upon arrival at Kirtland Air Force Base, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Albuquerque, N.M. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

More: New Mexico Democrats criticized for inaction on fentanyl bills

She pointed to the bills applicability, as written, to the operator of a well that Lujan Grisham contended could mean large companies that own small wells. She also said the bill needed additional language to limit the states revenue loss should the exemption be enacted.

This would disproportionately benefit larger companies, substantially decrease state revenue, and work to counter my administrations climate change goals, Lujan Grisham wrote.

She said she hoped to continue working on the language to reach a compromise on the matter ahead of next year's 60-day legislative session, in a statement emailed to the Carlsbad Current-Argus.

Im thankful to Senator Griggs for his leadership on this issue and Im looking forward to tightening the language around stripper and small-producing wells ahead of the 60-day session," Lujan Grisham said.

Griggs maintained the tax exemption he sponsored was needed to bring stripper wells, often perceived as struggling to meet state requirements on air pollution emissions and other environmental impacts, into compliance with state law. He said those opposing the bill were enemies of the oil and gas industry.

More: 'Renewable' geothermal energy boosted by bill passed by New Mexico House

It would appear that the whole goal is to do away with fossil fuel, Griggs said. If you produce energy cleanly, how can you say its bad for New Mexico?

Oil and gas revenue made up about 40 percent of New Mexicos revenue in the last fiscal year and was credited with driving a recent $3.5 billion budget surplus lawmakers were tasked with spending for Fiscal Year 2025.

Griggs said the industry was needed to support New Mexicos economy, and benefits were irreplaceable by renewable energy sources like wind and solar which the final version of the tax package appeared to prop up.

More: 'Clean fuels' bill advances in New Mexico Senate, to make oil companies pay for pollution

The revenue generated by oil and gas will not be replaced by wind and solar, Griggs said. The state of New Mexico could produce clean energy, be it from wind, solar or oil and gas. It looks to me like a win-win across the board.

New Mexico Sen. Ron Griggs (R-34)

Environmental groups disagreed. They championed the tax package including the governors veto, as a bill that would boost renewable energy and electric vehicles, and aid New Mexicos transition to decarbonized energy.

Kayley Shoup with Carlsbad-based environmental group Citizens Caring for the Future said vetoing the oil and gas exemption would force the industry to maintain a fair financial burden to continue operating in New Mexico.

More: 2024 Legislative session wrap up: Here's how energy and environment bills fared

Oil and gas operatorsnot the publicshould pay the compliance costs of reducing methane emissions from oil and gas operations to protect our climate and to reduce toxic air pollutants that harm public health, Shoup said. A tax break to the industry that is polluting the air where my neighbors and I live in the Permian Basin was simply not warranted.

The package, as signed, included tax credits for solar and wind installations, electric vehicles and charging units and geothermal electricity production. It also adjusted New Mexicos income tax brackets, reducing taxes for low- to middle-income levels, enacted a gross receipts tax deduction for child care services and added tax credits for families recovering from the Calf Canyon Hermits Peak Fire in 2022  the larges wildfire in the states history.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Lujan Grisham says no to oil and gas well tax exemption, vetoes bill
Recently, I introduced three bills not just because they are important on their own but also because I believe strongly in good government and transparency. For a number of years, in multiple surveys and studies, Delawares grades for good government and transparency have consistently been a D or an F. Also, according to multiple polls, Americans faith in government and electoral politics is at an all-time low. We cannot just talk the talk. We must walk the walk and institute laws in these areas to work towards better government and electoral processes.

Once per year in non-election years and several times per year in election years, candidates for public office  including elected officials  submit campaign finance reports detailing contributions and expenditures. Ive introduced House Bill 292 requires that all such reports be reviewed by the Department of Elections, or DOE, for any violations of campaign finance rules. Currently, a candidate submits a campaign finance report and it immediately appears on the DOE public website after undergoing only a few high-level system checks. Per HB 292, reports would appear on the website immediately but the would show in Submitted But Not Reviewed status.

Then, the report would be reviewed by DOE employees. If no violations or suspicious patterns of contributions or expenditures are found, the report status is updated to Reviewed and Final. If issues are found, the DOE works with the candidate to rectify the situation and submit an amended report. If violations are found that are not simply mistakes, the DOE refers the case to the Attorney Generals office. It is unfathomable to me that candidates reports currently undergo no eyes-on scrutiny.

Ive also introduced HB 291 which does three things. First, it requires that candidates campaign finance reports include the names of donors employers and the donors job titles. This is already required in 38 other states and at the federal level. These two pieces of information will be retained by the DOE behind the scenes. The information will not appear on campaign finance reports or be subject to FOIA requests. Donors employers and job titles raise a flag for the DOE regarding possible campaign finance violations. (See the information below about the infamous Tigani case.)

Legislators mingle in advance of Gov. John Carney's State of the State Address at Legislative Hall in Dover, Tuesday, March 5, 2024. The event was rescheduled from January after Carney fell ill.

Second, HB 291 requires that when a candidate unintentionally accepts more money from an individual or entity than they are allowed, they must return that surplus money to the donor. It prohibits such candidates from donating the surplus money to a charitable organization (which they may currently do) so they cannot make such those donations public and gain political mileage from them. Third, HB 291 requires the DOE to maintain a specific telephone number and area on their website through which individuals may report suspected campaign finance violations.

These three parts of HB 291 came from a 2013 report written by E. Normal Veasey. At the time, he was a Special Deputy Attorney General. Later, he served as the Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court. Veasy served as Independent Council in a case in which the owner of NKS Distributors, Christopher J. Tigani, plead guilty to violating federal and state campaign finance and tax laws and was sentenced to two years in prison. Tigani had been giving money to his employees to donate to certain candidates for public office  known as pass-through donations.

In the 107-page report, Veasy included various recommendations on how to improve campaign finance laws in Delaware. Unfortunately, hardly any of those recommendations have been instituted since the report was issued eleven years ago. It is not just me  and other legislators including Republicans who have signed onto my bill  who know we need HB 291. It is also a former Special Deputy Attorney General and former Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court who served as Independent Council for the most notorious case of campaign finance rules in Delaware history.

Rep. Eric Morrison

Finally, Ive introduced HB 319 to address nepotism in state government, having worked with the Delaware Department of Human Resources, or DHR, on this effort. DHR recently instituted a much more restrictive nepotism policy than their previous one, but it does not apply to all state employees including the judiciary, executive, and legislative branches. HB 319 mandates that these branches of governments and other state agencies must draft and implement nepotism policies that are at least as restrictive as the new DHR policy. Otherwise, the DHR policy applies to those governmental branches and state agencies.

I hope that my colleagues in Dover will support all three of these important bills.

Eric Morrison is state representative for the 27th District which includes parts of Newark, Bear and Middletown.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Delaware government transparency: How to improve
Kim Jong-un has ordered North Korea to prepare for war as he visited a key military training facility in the western region of the country on Wednesday, state media reported.

The North Korean leader was seen dressed in a black leather jacket and handling a gun as he oversaw training exercises of military units and urged the army to intensify actual war drills, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) report said.

The visit comes during the ongoing annual joint Freedom Shield military exercises by the United States and South Korea forces that began on 4 March. The US and its regional allies say they have no choice but to conduct such drills given the aggressive rhetoric from Pyongyang and Mr Kims determination to pursue a UN-sanctioned nuclear weapons programme.

Accompanied by high-ranking military officials, Mr Kim reportedly emphasised the importance of using the training facilities to enhance the combat readiness and capabilities of the Korean Peoples Army (KPA).

KCNA stated that Mr Kim praised the practical construction of training facilities for high-intensity drills in a realistic war environment, in line with military policies from the Party Central Committee. He reportedly also stressed the need for intensified training and practical drills to prepare for victory in any potential conflict, ensuring the army remains ready in the face of evolving modern warfare challenges.

Our army should ... steadily intensify the actual war drills aimed at rapidly improving its combat capabilities for perfect war preparedness, the report quoted Mr Kim as telling the troops.

It also published photos of the exercises, showing soldiers and helicopters practising to capture a position resembling those found on the South Korean side of the border.

South Korea and the US kicked off their large military exercise on Monday to display joint readiness against increasing threats of a nuclear attack from North Korea as tensions escalated between the nations sharing hostile ties in the Korean peninsula.

North Korea has labelled the drills as a plot to invade its territory and threatened to take unspecified responsible military actions in retaliation.

In a statement carried by state media, the Norths Defense Ministry said it strongly denounces the reckless military drills of the US and (South Korea) for getting more undisguised in their military threat to a sovereign state and attempt for invading it.

Last week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea announced that this years military exercises with the United States aim to counter North Korean nuclear threats and will include live-firing, bombing, air assault, and missile interception drills.

The US has repeatedly confirmed they have no intention of attacking North Korea.

North Koreas latest response to the South and the USs joint military exercises in the Peninsula is a repeat of its aggressive stance towards regional defensive measures taken by South Korea which has seen Pyongyang launch over a hundred missile tests in two years.

The tests included the firing of an inter-continental ballistic missile in July last year, where North Korea claimed the nuclear-capable weapon can reach a range of anywhere in the US and in its neighbouring nations of South Korea and Japan.

Additional reporting with agencies
A three-day state of emergency has now been extended by a month

Haiti's main port says it is suspending operations due to sabotage and vandalism as the capital city descends further into violence and chaos.

Local media report that armed men broke into the port in capital Port-au-Prince, looting containers.

It follows attacks by gangs on the airport, police stations and prisons this week. They are pushing for Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry's removal.

A three-day state of emergency has now been extended by a month.

Caribbean Port Services, the operator of the port, cited "malicious acts of sabotage and vandalism" as it announced the decision to suspend all services.

More than 20 trucks carrying vital equipment, medical supplies and food are stuck at the port, according to the UN's World Food Programme, which said it had suspended its maritime transport service, citing "insecurity".

The UN humanitarian affairs agency has warned that the country's health system is "nearing collapse".

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Mr Henry to ask for an "urgent" political transition, a senior US official said.

Mr Blinken spoke with the Haitian prime minister about "the urgent need to accelerate transition to a broader, more inclusive government today," Brian Nichols, US assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said at an event on Thursday.

The gangs in the violence-wracked city stepped up their attacks when Mr Henry left for a regional summit last week.

Mr Henry attempted to fly back to Port-au-Prince on Tuesday but ended up in the US territory of Puerto Rico instead.

He could not land in the Haitian capital because its international airport was closed as soldiers repelled attempts by gunmen to seize it.

Civil aviation authorities in the neighbouring Dominican Republic also turned the prime minister's plane away, saying that they had not been provided with the necessary flight plan.

Mr Henry has not given any public statements since he visited Kenya, where he met President William Ruto to salvage a deal for the east African country to lead a multi-national force to help restore order in Haiti.

The two leaders signed a reciprocal agreement which paves the way for 2,000 Kenyan police officers to be sent to Haiti but a Kenyan opposition politician says he will challenge the deal in court.

Meanwhile, several Kenyan police officers who had volunteered for the deployment have opted out for their safety.

Gangs in Port-au-Prince have taken advantage of Prime Minister Ariel Henry's absence to unleash a series of co-ordinated attacks.

Among their targets was the airport - which they want to control to prevent Mr Henry from flying back in - and two prisons, from which they freed thousands of inmates.

At least six police officers have been killed while the National Police Academy has also been destroyed.

The bodies of several prisoners were also left lying on the streets after the storming of the National Penitentiary.

The violence has caused Haiti's humanitarian crisis to deteriorate even further.

Aid groups estimate that more than 15,000 people have fled their homes in the past week.

The gangs have not said what their aim is beyond the ouster of Mr Henry.

Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier, a former police officer who leads an alliance of gangs called G9, has threatened that if Mr Henry does not step down there will be a "civil war" which he said could end in "genocide".

Aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres estimates that at least 2,300 people were killed in the violence in 2023 in the Port-au-Prince neighbourhood of Cite Soleil alone, home to 9% of the capital's population.
NEWPORT  A multimillion-dollar federal appropriation could put the city closer to repairing the popular Cliff Walk.

Congressman Gabe Amo announced Wednesday the U.S. House approved $20,075,769 in federal Community Project Funding for Rhode Islands First Congressional District, including a $5 million appropriation for the Cliff Walk.

I am incredibly grateful former Congressman David Cicilline initiated these projects that I can now carry forward because they will have a profound impact on communities across our First Congressional District, Amo said in a statement. The over $20 million in direct federal funding for these projects will make a real difference in the lives of countless Rhode Islanders. Across our great district, these federal investments will expand affordable housing options, improve public safety, revitalize our public spaces, and support the next generation of learners. Despite the delays, I am glad to have voted on a bipartisan resolution on our 2024 budget.

Signs and fencing warn walkers about continuing on the Cliff Walk at Webster Avenue.

The funding requests will next go to the Senate, then to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

The Newport City Council recently retained the services of an engineering firm to provide design and construction administration for repairs to the Cliff Walk.

The contract with Providence-based GZA Geoenvironmental provides for the designing and overseeing the construction of the needed repair work to the Cliff Walk. However, work can't begin until the city secures the nearly $14 million estimated for the repairs.

"Were glad that Congress is voting on this and we look forward to the President signing the appropriations bills into law. Were grateful for the delegations support and well work with them on next steps to begin repairs as soon as possible," City of Newport Communications Manager Tom Shevlin said.

In addition to the anticipated federal funds, Gov. Dan McKee has proposed a $50 million "green" bond that earmarks $8 million for Cliff Walk repairs. That bond would be put before voters in November.

The collapse and previous funding requests

A portion of the iconic walking trail along the coast of Easton Bay collapsed in March 2022 and sustained further damage later that year in December.

Another portion of the Cliff Walk between Narragansett Avenue and Webster Avenue collapsed following winter storms in late December 2022.

Since then, the city has been trying to secure funding to fix the tourist attraction through state and federal grants. In June 2023, McKee issued an emergency disaster declaration at the request of the City Council, which hoped the declaration could help the city acquire up to $10 million in federal disaster relief money to fund the project. In the press release announcing McKees declaration, the state estimated comprehensive repairs would cost $13.75 million. That attempt for funding, however, was denied at the federal level.

While the collapsed section of the trail is closed to the public, a detour taking walkers around the area is in place.

What the contract with GZA covers

The city previously had a $154,315 contract with GZA Geoenvironmental to conduct pre-design investigations and schematic-level engineering design services for the collapsed area, which was approved by the council in April 2022. GZA will now be responsible for 30%, 60% and 100% design schematics for repairs to the Cliff Walk, solicit a contractor for the construction work and provide engineering and construction oversight on the project.

The contract does not mention an estimated cost for the actual repairs nor a schedule for their completion, but notes that GZA will re-evaluate the cost and schedule of the project to include any updates to the design and to incorporate cost related to construction sequencing.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Cliff Walk repairs could be aided with $5 million in federal funds
Gov. Laura Kelly spoke about Medicaid Expansion, her top priority for this session, at the 2024 Rally for Medicaid Expansion at the Statehouse on Wednesday.

Kelly unveiled her Medicaid expansion plan in December, which is the sixth time she's introduced a bill to expand Medicaid. The bill, dubbed the Cutting Healthcare Costs for all Kansans Act, expands Medicaid eligibility to people who make up to 138% of the federal poverty level.

Gov. Laura Kelly speaks about the need for Medicaid expansion in Kansas during a rally Wednesday at the Kansas Statehouse.

Kansas is one of 10 states that havent opted into an Affordable Care Act program to expand Medicaid eligibility. The federal government pays for 90% of the cost from additional enrollees, compared to 61.87% reimbursement for traditional Medicaid.

Kelly said this year's version of expansion is more amenable to Republican concerns, especially with regard to its work requirements. Those arguments haven't seem to have convinced Republican leadership, who have criticized the governor's plan.

Amanda Vega-Mavec, a member of El Centro, has her photo taken in a frame from Alliance for a Healthy Kansas during the Medicaid expansion rally Wednesday at the Kansas Statehouse.

At the rally on Wednesday the governor highlighted how long it has been since Medicaid expansion got a hearing in either chamber, with the House last debating it in 2017 and the Senate in 2020.

"I refuse to give up on this fight," Kelly said. "The Health and Human Services Committee in the House has agreed to, at least, hold a hearing on this bill."

Kelly said that she hopes voters will join here in holding this as the highest priority this session, with the electoral consequences that come with it.

Medicaid expansion supporters hold signs during a rally Wednesday at the Kansas Statehouse.

"If we do not get Medicaid expanded this session, then I hope that [voters] would make it their No. 1 issue going into the November 2024 election," Kelly said.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Hundreds of Kansans rally at the Statehouse urging Medicaid expansion
A Kennewick school employee has promised to repay $14,000 after admitting to years of stealing cash from her bus driver union.

Karen Ann Steele, 64, the unions former treasurer, started this week by paying $2,500 as part of an agreement that will keep her out of jail even after pleading guilty to second-degree theft.

Deputy Prosecutor Tyler Grandgeorge said in court that Steeles payment was one of the key reasons prosecutors agreed to a first-time offender sentence.

Ms. Steele has been trying to make efforts to pay back the full amount, he said, adding that she hasnt been able to yet, but he appreciated the effort.

10-year-old theft

Steele was initially accused of embezzling $18,000 in union funds over the course of her 10 years as the treasurer, according to court documents.

She initially stepped into the role in 2013 and was the only person in charge of handling the chapters money. The dues paid by the employees are divided between Washington state and local union chapters.

Starting early in her tenure, she began using the union money to make thousands of dollars in purchases at various stores, including Rite Aide and Costco, according to Benton County court documents.

Chapter president Peggy Morgan discovered the missing money and reported it to police in March 2023.

Steele told investigators she used the fact that no one checked the finances to take money from the chapters account. She said she started stealing money after she was the victim of a scam and she owed a substantial amount of money, according to court documents.

She created a bank account where she would transfer the money and could take cash withdrawals using an ATM.

Steele admitted to Morgan that she took the money and tried to repay some of it.

Sentencing deal

As part of the agreement, Steele will serve six months on probation and is required to pay $14,000 in restitution to the Kennewick Transportation 103 chapter of the Public School Employees of Washington Local 1948. She still works for the district.

Grandgeorge said union officials are happy to get some of the money back and signed off on the agreement.

While Steele didnt talk during the sentencing, her attorney Karla Kane said her client is very sorry for her conduct.

I think initially when it started, she had every intention of paying it back, Kane said. She is going to work hard to pay it back.

Steele, who was initially charged with first-degree theft, has no criminal convictions. She faced up to two months in jail after pleading guilty.

The agreement called for her to be sentenced under a first-time offender waiver. Judge Jackie Shea Brown followed the agreement.
Kidnap gangs have plagued much of the country in recent years, especially the north-west

More than 280 Nigerian school pupils have been abducted in the north-western town of Kuriga, officials say.

The pupils were in the assembly ground around 08:30 (07:30 GMT) when dozens of gunmen on motorcycles rode through the school, one witness said.

The students, between the ages of eight and 15, were taken away, along with a teacher, they added.

Kidnap gangs, known as bandits, have seized thousands of people in recent years, especially the north-west.

However, there had been a reduction in the mass abduction of children over the past year until this week.

Those kidnapped are usually freed after a ransom is paid.

The mass abduction was confirmed by Uba Sani, the governor of Kaduna state, which includes Kuriga.

He said 187 students had gone missing from a secondary school and 125 from the local primary school but that 25 had since returned.

President Bola Tinubu said he was "confident that the victims will be rescued".

Sympathising with the families of those who had been taken, the president added that he had "directed security and intelligence agencies to immediately rescue the victims and ensure that justice is served against the perpetrators of these abominable acts".

One pupil, believed to be 14-years-old, who had been shot by the gunmen and was being treated in hospital, has since died.

A teacher who managed to escape said local people had tried to rescue the children, but they were repelled by the gunmen and one person was killed in the shootout.

Zakariyya Nasiru, who had a brother and sister taken hostage, told the BBC the family were unable to sleep on Thursday night."All of us couldn't sleep as we keep thinking about them. We are here praying for their safe return."Mr Nasiru said one boy had escaped last night and had brought back harrowing reports of their conditions, including a lack of food.

Almost every family in the town is thought to have a child among those kidnapped.

The armed forces have launched an operation to find them. "No child will be left behind," vowed the governor.

In January, bandits killed a school principal in the area and abducted his wife.

The kidnapping comes days after dozens of women and children were feared kidnapped by the Boko Haram Islamist group while they were collecting firewood in north-eastern Nigeria.

Thursday's attack has been blamed on Ansaru, a breakaway faction of Boko Haram, which kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in 2014. Ansaru controls nearby areas.

No group has said it carried out either of the kidnappings.

Most of the kidnaps in north-west Nigeria, including Kaduna state, are believed to be the work of criminal gangs trying to make money from ransoms.

In an attempt to curb Nigeria's spiralling and lucrative kidnapping industry, a controversial law that has made it a crime to make ransom payments was passed in 2022. It carries a jail sentence of at least 15 years, however no-one has ever been arrested.

Earlier this year, the family of a group of sisters kidnapped in the capital, Abuja, denied a police statement that the security forces had rescued the girls, saying that they had no choice but to pay the ransom.

Map

You may also be interested in:
In a rare move, a judge subpoenaed two jurors who expressed some misgivings after a Miami federal jury voted unanimously to convict former British Virgin Islands premier Andrew Fahie of drug trafficking a month ago.

On Thursday, one showed up in the judges courtroom, but the other did not.

In a series of short questions, U.S District Judge Kathleen Williams asked the one juror whether her guilty verdicts at the end of Fahies Feb. 8 trial were actually her decision. The female jurors response: Yes.

With that answer, Williams allowed the 12-person jurys guilty verdicts to stand, leaving Fahie vulnerable to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years up to life in prison on the main charge of conspiring to import cocaine through the British territory into the United States. Fahie, 53, was also found guilty of three other charges involving money laundering and racketeering. His sentencing is set for April 29 in Miami federal court.

I think were done, Williams told both federal prosecutors and defense attorneys, ending a month-long controversy over the jurys unanimous guilty verdicts. There is no room at all to maneuver.

Williams also said she would not make a renewed effort to bring the other subpoenaed juror into her courtroom for questioning, as she described him as elusive. Williams said that of the two jurors in question, he was a lesser player because he did not hesitate like the other one had when they were polled by the judge on their original guilty verdicts.

The unusual dispute surfaced just after the jurors found Fahie guilty last month and the judge polled each of them on their verdicts before discharging them. Within minutes of being let go, two of the jurors contacted the judges office to say they had second thoughts about their verdicts.

READ MORE: Miami jury finds ex-BVI premier guilty in cocaine import plot. He faces up to life in prison

Federal prosecutors Kevin Gerarde and Sean McLaughin argued the judge should stick to the original unanimous verdicts, contending there was no legal basis to bring the two jurors back into court to question them. The prosecutors pointed out there was no evidence of a verdict mistake, internal or external pressure on the jury, or racist attitudes toward the defendant.

Defense attorneys Theresa Van Vliet and Joyce Delgado countered that, despite constitutional limits on questioning a jury about deliberations, there was no reason why the two jurors with doubts about their verdicts could not be polled again by the judge.

In the end, the judge found herself bound by legal precedent to let the verdicts stand, after questioning the one juror on Thursday. I think it was important to brief this matter, Williams said. I think it was important to be transparent.

Juror called one of the defense attorneys

During the dispute, the judges concern heightened because one of the jurors with apparent misgivings spoke by phone with one of the politicians defense attorneys the day after the guilty verdicts, according to a court document.

He told me who he was and I said I remembered him, attorney Joyce Delgado wrote in a Feb. 9 email, pointing out that she was returning the jurors calls left at her law office.

He then blurted out that he wanted to know what was happening with the case because hes worried that if all the jurors are asked to return that they will never come to an agreement so he wants to know what the process is, Delgado wrote in the email, summarizing the exchange to her colleague, Van Vliet.

Delgado said she didnt know and told the juror that it was inappropriate for them to talk and hung up.

That conversation  along with two prior phone-call attempts and a voicemail message from the same juror  became part of a growing body of evidence in the post-verdict dispute.







Fahie was arrested in April 2022 in Miami following a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration sting operation. He was free on a bond and living with his daughter before trial, but after his conviction he was ordered held at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami. His sentencing is set for April 29 before Judge Williams.

READ NEXT: Hes a little crook: As BVI chief faces U.S. drug charge, his government faces crackdown

The U.S. government made its cocaine-smuggling case against the former British Virgin Islands premier by casting a confidential informant as the Mexican cartel trafficker. The informant, who went by the name Roberto, collected hundreds of recorded conversations and text messages with Fahie while they discussed million-dollar bribery payments for access to the British territory, prosecutors said.

Fahie agreed to let thousands of kilos of cocaine pass through the countrys ports to be sold in the United States because of his greed, arrogance and corruption, prosecutors added, claiming Fahie needed the bribery payments to build a waterfront mansion in the British Virgin Islands.

Fahies defense team argued that he had no intention of using his power to enrich himself on cocaine shipments to the United States. Rather, his lawyers argued that he was framed by the United Kingdom, which controls the BVI archipelago as an overseas territory.

Nonetheless, the trial evidence revealed that the sting operation was directed by the DEA, not the British government. At the time of the DEA sting, the U.K. government was concluding a corruption investigation of Fahies administration  but British authorities noted it was not related to the DEAs sting.

Visit to Miami led to demise

Fahies demise came on April 28, 2022, when he and BVIs port director, Oleanvine Pickering Maynard, were visiting Miami for a cruise convention. During their visit, they were lured to Miami-Opa-locka Executive Airport to check on a $700,000 payment that was promised to them by the DEA informant pretending to be a member of the Sinaloa cartel.

The sting culminated with the arrests of Fahie and Maynard, 61, leading to an indictment charging them with conspiring to import cocaine and engage in money laundering, along with attempted money laundering and racketeering. Maynards son, Kadeem Stephan Maynard, 32, was also arrested in the Caribbean, brought to Miami and added as the third defendant.

Both the mother and son pleaded guilty to the cocaine-smuggling conspiracy charge. Last year, the son was sentenced to five years in prison. The mother, who testified for the U.S. government at Fahies trial, awaits sentencing on March 28.

After his arrest, Fahie was stripped of his official position as BVIs premier, which he held from February 2019 to early May 2022.

READ MORE: British Virgin Islands premier gets new $1M bond in Miami drug case, but isnt free yet
U.S. Rep. Mike Ezell, R-Mississippi, spent much of his first year in office meeting with constituents and helping them with their needs in between the many trips to Washington at the behest of the House leaders.

Listening to his constituents is one of the duties Ezell committed to early in his bid for office in 2022, when he ousted incumbent Steven Palazzo, who was often criticized for not making the rounds of his district, earning the nickname "No-show Palazzo."

"Mike is committed to showing up, speaking up and standing up for our conservative South Mississippi values," his campaign website says.

The freshman congressman from Pascagoula sat down with the Hattiesburg American recently to talk about his first year in office.

Mike Ezell of Pascagoula, Miss., is seeking a second term as congressman for the 4th Congressional District of Mississippi. Photo taken Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, at Coast Roast in Gulfport, Miss.

Ezell serves on the Homeland Security and Transportation and Infrastructure committees in the House, two committees he feels are beneficial to Mississippi since they have oversight of roads, bridges, airports and other big projects at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Keesler Air Force Base and more.

"It is extremely busy," Ezell said of his average work day. "I'm up there whenever the schedule calls for it. I am out the door very early every morning. I serve on my committees. I meet the people that come to Washington, whether for pleasure or business."

Fighting for the people and their businesses

He spends a lot of time, like many other congressmen, trying to right the wrongs he sees coming from the president's office, including the revocation of the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. Ezell would like to see the U.S. be independent when it comes to oil and not have to buy it from other countries.

"The president and his administration are making executive orders which have hurt our people in this country," Ezell said.

He said border patrol agents have not been able to do their jobs in areas like keeping drugs out and stopping human trafficking.

"We did everything we could in our toolbox to try and curb this lawlessness that is down at the border," Ezell said.

Ezell, 64, was sheriff of Jackson County for nearly 10 years before he was sworn in as Mississippi's newest congressman in January 2023.

He worked in law enforcement for more than 40 years  something Ezell is proud of but said it also gives him a lot of insight when it comes to talks about protecting the southern border, protecting U.S. citizens and managing the federal budget.

"I have voted against these continuing resolutions," Ezell said. "We have got to have some sort of stability in this country. We have clawed back a lot of money  there's some opportunity here to stop kicking the can down the road and cut back on this reckless spending."

Leadership in law enforcement helps in Congress

Before he ran for sheriff, Ezell started his career as a young law enforcement officer who worked his way up to chief of detectives at the Pascagoula Police Department and worked a few years with the FBI, doing casework throughout the nation.

He later became chief of Ocean Springs Police Department and was chief of security with Pascagoula School District. The sheriff's job came after he had already retired from public service.

Throughout his time in office, the one thing Ezell has kept at the forefront is being a good steward, not just of the department and the people he served but the money he's been entrusted to spend. He cut spending in the sheriff's department, returning over $1 million to the county in his first year as sheriff.

"You know, when you ask for a job or you run for office, you know there's a certain amount of accountability you've got to have," he said in an earlier story. "And one of the things that I have always been about is trying to make the system easier."

Do you have a story to share? Contact Lici Beveridge at lbeveridge@gannett.com. Follow her on X @licibev or Facebook at facebook.com/licibeveridge.

This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Rep. Mike Ezell talks about his first year in Congress
The Mississippi House of Representatives on a 95-13 vote Wednesday passed a bill that calls for replacing the Mississippi Adequate Education Program funding formula with a new version.

If passed by both chambers, the bill would be the state's first education funding remodel since MAEP was implemented in 1997.

"What you have before you today is a way that we can fund children," Education Chair and bill sponsor Rep. Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, said. "This doesn't fund administration. It doesn't fund teachers units. It funds what we think we are going to need for kids. We haven't really funded the current formula  we've funded it twice  but we've got a program and a formula in front of you today that puts as much emphasis on equity for our school districts as anything you have ever seen."

House Bill 1453 aims to scrap the current MAEP funding formula, which designates school districts to pay up to 27% of the total cost to educate its students and creates a base student cost from an objective formula that allows poorer districts to receive more state funds than richer districts.

In its place, the INSPIRE program would create a base student cost of $6,650 per student based on total enrollment instead of attendance and include an inflation factor to account for update costs. It would also replace the objective formula with a committee made up of superintendents and other appointees to make funding recommendations to lawmakers, who will then appropriate funds to those school districts.

Rep. Carolyn Crawford, R-Pass Christian, left, confers with House Education Committee chairman Richard Bennett, R-Long Beach, right, and vice chairman Loyd B. Roberson II, R-Starkville, after a meeting of the full committee, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019, at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. Roberson has now passed a bill through the House to scrap the state's current education funding model for a new one.

While presenting the bill to lawmakers, Rep. Kent McCarty, R-Hattiesburg, and Roberson both said the goal of the bill was to provide a modern, functioning funding formula that would provide more money to poorer school districts and give added funds to districts that expand school programs such as career tech classes and those with larger percentages of low-income students enrolled.

"This gives us an opportunity (to help) poor districts that have struggled to maintain a C-rating or a D," Roberson said.

Before it passed though, several Democrats within the House asked Roberson and McCarty where the bill even came from.

Adams County Democratic Rep. Robert Johnson questioned if the bill was sponsored or co-authored by education advocacy groups that have publicly advocated for a more conservative approach to education in Mississippi, which includes private school voucher programs. Those groups included Empower Mississippi and the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.

"There are people who are now saying they did help write this bill and are now applauding this formula who have never been supporters of public education," Johnson said.

McCarty said Roberson, Rep. Jansen Owen, R-Poplarville, and himself worked on the bill independent of outside influence from those organizations.

"I'm not keen to work with them on much," McCarty said.

Several House members also had questions about school districts that would receive less money than they do now under MAEP, such as Simpson County School District and Moss Point School District.

Roberson said those schools had been receiving the same level of funding since the early 2000s after being locked into specific funding levels due to declining populations in the surrounding areas. INSPIRE does not include those same provisions.

"I think that's probably a fair criticism, but my question would be is, 'What is your plan?'" Roberson said after the vote. "I'm willing to sit down with any district and have that conversation about what it would look like to help encourage more people to come to their community or their schools."

Roberson later told the Clarion Ledger he was thrilled the bill passed through the House, but he doubts it will be received well by the Senate Education Committee Chair Dennis DeBar, R-Leakesville, who has been pushing his own funding formula bill to modify MAEP.

More on DeBar's bill Mississippi Senate, House pushing separate education funding formulas for public schools

Given the difference between the two chambers approach to funding education this year, Roberson said it is highly likely that either his or DeBar's bill will go to conference, which is where several lawmakers from each chamber meet to iron out a final version of an unaccepted piece of legislation, or they kill it.

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Dennis, and we work well together, and I have no doubt that we'll work well on this too," Roberson said.

Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi House sends new education funding bill to Senate
Just one day after the Mississippi House of Representatives passed a bill to fully scrap the Mississippi Adequate Education Program funding formula with a new model on Wednesday, lawmakers in the Senate passed a modified version of MAEP on Thursday.

On Thursday, Senate Education Chair Dennis DeBar, R-Leakesville, presented Senate Bill 2332, which would modify the state's current funding model to bring more money to school districts.

"This is a bill that we passed last year 52-0 with just two changes," DeBar said. " (The funding) will be an increase for most school districts."

If passed by through both chambers, the bill would maintain MAEPs objective funding formula that accounts for student and cost growths, though at a lower level than the current MAEP formula. It would also require wealthier school districts to contribute more to the base student cost, and it would also not adjust what poorer districts receive in funding.

Flanked by legislators, Mississippi Speaker of the House of Representatives Rep. Jason White, R-West, at the podium, speaks at a news conference about the body voting Wednesday to set a new formula to calculate how much money the state will spend on public schools, replacing the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP), Thursday, March 7, 2024, at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss. The bill now goes to the Senate.

That funding increase would amount to about $2.94 billion, which still falls short of what the MAEP formula calls for, which is just about $2.9 billion. Since it was enacted in 1997, MAEP has only been fully funded by Mississippi lawmakers twice, despite laws dictating them to fund the education program.

Read about who is running for congress See who will be on ballots for Congress in 2nd and 3rd districts in Mississippi Primary

The bill will now be sent to the House where it is highly unlikely to receive much support by House Education Committee Chair Rob Roberson, who wrote the House's bill, the INSPIRE Act and is committed to a total replacement of MAEP.

Fighting between Mississippi House and Senate

During his presentation of the bill, Oxford Republican Sen. Nicole Boyd asked DeBar if he had read the INSPIRE Act (House Bill 1453), to which he responded that he has not, but he has heard it was drafted by conservative third-party advocacy groups such as Empower Mississippi and the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.

"In about mid-February, I met with Mississippi First, which explained the whole process of the House legislation as it was going to be dropped," DeBar said. "They collaborated with Empower Mississippi, the Mississippi Center for Public Policy beginning last (year). In January 2023, those three groups got together to change the formula. They hired some group out of Massachusetts to collaborate with them to devise this new plan  We had not been consulted and had not been made aware of it until (February).

DeBar wasn't the only one questioning the House education funding plan Thursday morning.

Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Adams County, who leads the House Democratic Caucus, called on lawmakers to reconsider House Bill 1453 after he allegedly discovered that many of the numbers presented in the bill relating to school district funding did not come from lawmakers or the Legislative Budget Office, which calculates how legislation is funded. However, Johnson's motion failed.

During a press conference while Senators voted to approve of DeBar's MAEP revision, Roberson, joined by House Speaker Jason White, R-West, told reporters and members of the public that DeBar's and Johnson's claims were false.

Read about House Bill 1453 Mississippi House passes new education funding model

Roberson said the numbers Johnson referred to were not written by outside organizations but were instead created by lawmakers with help from the Mississippi Department of Education, and they were researched by the Legislative Budget Office before going to the floor for a vote.

"There was a communication breakdown in terms of where the (numbers for our school districts) came from," Roberson said. "We created the bill  and we used MDE data to do it."

He and White both also denied claims that Empower Mississippi had written any part of the bill, despite the organization having drafted one with many similarities to HB 1453. Roberson later confirmed with the Clarion Ledger he did in fact work with Rachel Canter, executive director of Mississippi First, a third-party education advocacy group, who is working with Empower Mississippi and the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.

"Rachel Canter was very helpful in helping us understand this," Roberson said.

White added that while he has great respect for what his colleagues in the Senate are doing to address education funding in Mississippi, he believes the House's approach is superior.

"They have great ideas, too," White said. "I simply think on this issue we differ. They want to stay with a formula that has only been funded twice in its history and that most people cannot understand. Now, we have come forward with a straight easy-to-understand formula, and we've actually put our money where our mouth is."

As far as which bill will make the final cut by this year's legislative deadline, Roberson previously said that whatever bill makes it to the other chamber's floor for a vote, it is highly likely that it will go to a conference of House members and Senators for an intense debate.

Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: MS House, Senate pass separate K-12 education funding bills
A 16-year-old needed stitches and another teen was cut and bruised after they say a students mom attacked them at school, Tennessee police said.

A 35-year-old woman was arrested March 5 and faces charges in connection with incidents at a middle school and high school in Memphis, according to police.

McClatchy News is not naming the woman to protect her daughters identity.

On Feb. 13, a fight broke out after school among multiple students at Raleigh Egypt Middle School, the Memphis Police Department said in an arrest affidavit. The woman is accused of getting involved in the fight and striking a 16-year-old girl in the face with a gun.

The student told officers she needed three stitches on her forehead, according to court records.

Two days later, another students parent reported the woman assaulted her daughter at Raleigh Egypt High School.

The woman hit the 17-year-old in the left eye with a cellphone, giving her a cut and bruise, police said. The girl told investigators she believed the woman had mistaken her for another student who had a similar name.

That same day, the mom threatened to shoot up the high school when she was on the campus clearing a suspension and got upset with staff there, an officer reported.

Three witnesses picked the woman out of a line up, police said.

She was booked in Shelby County jail on charges of aggravated assault, assault and threat of mass violence on school property, then she posted an $11,000 bond, records show.

McClatchy News reached out to her attorney for comment on March 6 but did not immediately receive a response.

Adult instigates fight between students at bus stop, then joins in, Florida police say

Mom complains about school drop-off line on Facebook and school retaliates, lawsuit says

Mom beats up 13-year-old student at bus stop when he tries to stop fight, TN cops say

Student found stabbed in school bathroom, Georgia officials say. Classmate arrested
Republican leaders in the Florida Senate wont confirm Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich to serve on the state ethics commission this legislative session, a rare repudiation to Gov. Ron DeSantis that underscores concerns about what the appointment would mean for the states oversight of elected officials.

The decision to not consider her confirmation to the Florida Commission on Ethics was made after an unnamed senator raised concerns that Descovichs employment with the conservative group could constitute lobbying the Legislature, Senate spokeswoman Katie Betta said in a statement to the Herald/Times.

That issue requires additional review prior to Senate confirmation, Betta said.

Though awaiting confirmation, Descovich already sits on the state ethics board and serves as the executive director of Moms for Liberty, a right-wing advocacy group that has become a powerhouse in Republican politics at the local, state and national level. The group draws its influence from its endorsements of school board candidates and its push for policies that have targeted the teaching of LGBTQ issues, critical race theory and school books that it considers sexually explicit.

Many of the policies backed by the group have been adopted by the Florida Legislature in recent years at the urging of DeSantis.

Betta noted that the Senate process allows two years to complete the confirmation, giving state senators some time to review the matter of Descovichs employment.

In the meantime, Ms. Descovich is eligible to be reappointed by the governor, and can continue to serve subject to Senate confirmation next session, Betta said.

DeSantis spokesman Bryan Griffin said the governor will reappoint Descovich as soon as she is eligible for reappointment if she is not confirmed by the Senate.

Descovich did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday morning.

The Senates decision to punt on Descovichs confirmation this session comes a week after a Senate panel recommended her confirmation on a party-line vote. At that confirmation hearing, Descovich faced questions from Democrats on how her association with Moms for Liberty and her close ties to DeSantis and politics would impact her ability to remain neutral on state ethics cases.

I think my role with Moms for Liberty, I look at it as completely separate from the ethics commission, Descovich told the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee as she was grilled about potential conflicts of interest due to her organizations involvement in endorsing school board candidates and polarizing education policies in Florida and other parts of the country.

After the confirmation hearing, a Melbourne resident emailed state senators what he called an ethics complaint alleging that Descovich was unqualified for the position because members of the ethics commission are barred from lobbying state and local governments. Neither Descovich and Moms for Liberty are registered lobbyists in Tallahassee, but the resident  Robert Burns, the editor of news site The Space Coast Rocket  argued Descovich and the group have been public about their advocacy in the state.

On Sunday night, Descovich also made an appearance on 60 Minutes. Hours after the interview aired, Tiffany Justice, also a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, complained to Fox News that she was censored in an effort to make them look bad.

When asked if Burns complaint or the 60 Minutes interview influenced the decision to not consider Descovichs confirmation this session, Betta said: To our knowledge, the alleged Ethics Complaint was never properly filed, and President Passidomo is certainly not going to allow politically-motivated attacks to hijack the Senates process.

Senators rarely decline to confirm DeSantis nominees.

In 2020, however, they declined to confirm conservative lawyer John MacIver to lead the Division of Administrative Hearings, an obscure but powerful group of judges who decide disputes with state agencies. Former judges said MacIver, who had only been a lawyer for seven years, was unqualified.

I just didnt have a level of comfort bringing that confirmation forward, Sen. Ed Hooper, R-Palm Harbor, said at the time.

DeSantis instead appointed MacIver to lead the Florida Gaming Control Commission. In 2023, DeSantis appointed MacIver to the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach.

Times/Herald Tallassee Bureau reporter Lawrence Mower contributed to this report.
ASHWAUBENON  The National Railroad Museum wants to start construction this year on a $15 million expansion with a hope staff can welcome 2025 NFL draft visitors to the museum's new event and gallery space overlooking the Fox River.

The first phase, called the Fox River Expansion, will kick off about four years later than originally hoped and eight years after museum staff first laid out long-term vision. Yet museum staff and supporters are excited to see the effort pick up steam  possibly in time for the draft, if construction starts in spring, said Jacqueline Frank, the museum's CEO.

The National Railroad Museum's $15 million expansion, seen here in a rendering, would add outdoor event space, indoor event space, room for four train cars, a classroom and a mezzanine level.

With a starting date in sight, the museum took over Lambeau Field on Wednesday to kick off the public campaign to raise the final $3 million it needs to fund the project. Speakers included Green Bay Packers CEO and honorary chair of the fundraising campaign Mark Murphy and Wisconsin Secretary of Administration Kathy Blumenfeld.

Murphy retains fond memories of train travel during his years on the east coast and said the museum was one of the first places his family found after moving to Green Bay 16 years ago. He said the fundraiser and expansion ensures the museum will "continue to serve as an asset for residents and visitors."

The kickoff event also helped to re-focus energy on the museum's mission and future, now that a holiday-season political firestorm has passed.

"We're all motivated. We're excited to be getting to this point," Frank said.

Railroad Museum wants to add indoor and outdoor event spaces, room for historic train cars to Ashwaubenon campus

The museum wants to add on to the east side of its existing exhibit hall, the Lenfesty Center, and extend it out towards the Fox River. What's now a red, windowless wall that currently faces the river would instead end in a wall of glass with stairs that walk out toward the Fox River.

"It opens the museum up to the Fox River and adds to the museum experience," said David Ward, chair of the museum's board. "No one has a setting like we do. It's part of the memory, the experience of visiting the National Railroad Museum."

The new space would give the museum room to house four train cars, including its Pullman car and the Joseph Lister hospital car, indoors. The display area would also serve as general gallery space and an event space with room to accommodate 200 people.

The new space also includes a mezzanine floor to exhibit more of the museum's 150,000 artifacts, a classroom to further the museum's educational efforts with local students, and an outdoor gathering space.

It's the sort of transformation Chad and Julie Gutche, of Oshkosh, think Chad's great uncle and aunt, Roger and Beverly Rose, would appreciate. The Gutches attended Wednesday's kickoff because the Roses donated to the museum.

"I wish they could have been here," Chad Gutche said. "He (Roger) would have loved this."

A view of the National Railroad Museum's expansion from the new mezzanine level.

Funding for Railroad Museum comes from private donors and Gov. Evers

The National Railroad Museum, to date, has secured $12.8 million of the project's estimated $15 million cost, enough to start construction while the $3 million public campaign raises the rest, Frank said.

The museum expansion got a major boost in 2023 when Gov. Tony Evers allocated $7 million of the state's American Rescue Plan Act funds to the project. The state support helped the museum secure additional gifts from donors, who have committed $5.8 million toward the expansion, Ward said.

"That was huge. That helped propel private giving," Ward said.

The public campaign's $3 million goal would cover the last bit of project costs to be funded and give the museum additional money in case material or equipment costs come in higher than expected.

Ward also sees the public campaign as a starting point to connect with new donors as the museum looks to future phases of its expansion plan.

A rendering of the National Railroad Museum expansion set up for events.

Expansion will keep ticket prices low, help increase engagement

The National Railroad Museum would need to charge each of its roughly 100,000 visitors $20 each to cover its annual, $2.1 million operating budget.

The museum only charges children, college students, adults and seniors between $9 and $13, though, because donations, fundraisers and private event revenue enables the museum to charge visitors less. Frank said the expansion will enable the museum to host more private events  weddings, anniversaries, corporate gatherings  and, in the process, help sustain operations in the longer term.

"It allows the general public to come in at a much better price," Frank said.

The National Railroad Museum's $15 million expansion, highlighted in this rendering, is the first part of a multiphase plan to enclose all the museum's exhibits and expand its gallery, event and education spaces.

This is phase one of the Ashwaubenon museum's long-term expansion plan

The new gallery and event space really is phase one of an long-term, large-scale expansion plan museum staff first laid out in 2016.

Frank said the museum wants to enclose its entire collection of historic rail cars and engines, add more parking for events, add a walking path along a display trail, and make more facility improvements.

Rather than aim to raise the estimated $50 million to execute the whole plan, the museum broke the project up into phases. This first phase was supposed to kick off in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic derailed that plan until now.

The first phase coincides with a nearby Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources shoreline habitat restoration along the Fox River. It could also set the stage to connect the museum to the Ashwaubomay River Trail to the south of the museum property.

A rendering of the National Railroad Museum's new expansion which includes indoor space for 4 train cars, event space for 200 people, a classroom and outdoor space.

Moving on, making changes after holiday fundraiser sparked political firestorm

The museum and its staff found themselves amid a political firestorm in November and December after religious and political conservatives focused their ire on the Satanic Temple of Wisconsin's contribution to the museum's annual Festival of Trees fundraiser.

Frank stands behind its decision to accept the Satanic Temple's entry, saying the public museum followed statutes, sought to avoid getting into a fight with angry critics on social media, and that it continues to treat all groups and people with equal dignity. The complaints and outrage directed at the museum and staff led Frank's team to rethink future Festival of Trees events. The museum plans to make future events invitation-only and more focused on businesses.

She said it was a "really challenging time" for the museum, but that the state, private donors and supporters have stood by the museum through the maelstrom. She said the staff, volunteers and supporters have focused on how the museum can make the most impact on the Green Bay area.

"We're helping schools. We're getting kids excited and hooked on history, STEM and art," Frank said. We want to focus on that, on helping more families."

Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Railroad Museum sees light at end of tunnel on $15 million expansion
A new study found that a North Carolina city has the highest percentage of traffic deaths during rush hour in the nation.

According to the study, nearly a third (32%) of all traffic fatalities occur during the hours of 7-9 a.m. and 5-7 p.m. in Winston-Salem, making it the deadliest U.S. city for rush hour driving.

The percentage of traffic deaths that happen during rush hour in Winston-Salem is 40% higher than the national average, the study says.

To find the deadliest cities for rush hour driving, Las Vegas injury law firm H&P Law analyzed data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations Fatality Analysis Reporting System from 2017 to 2021.

Fayetteville was the only other North Carolina city on the list, coming in at No. 17 with nearly 27% of its traffic deaths occurring during rush hour.

Here are the top 10 deadliest cities for rush hour driving, according to the study:

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Scottsdale, Arizona Fort Wayne, Indiana Mobile, Alabama Aurora, Colorado Tucson, Arizona Bakersfield, California Phoenix, Arizona El Paso, Texas Mesa, Arizona
Scientists have discovered the fossils of a new prehistoric species in Morocco  a bizarre-looking marine lizard considerably larger than a great white shark, which, they say, dominated the seas while dinosaurs roamed the earth.

The gargantuan creature, dubbed Kinjaria acuta, is estimated to have measured about 25 feet long, according to the scientists who studied its remains. Its unusually-shaped skull alone was about three feet from end to end, making both the skull and body size roughly comparable to that of a contemporary orca. Nick Longrich, a lecturer in evolutionary biology at the University of Bath who led the study, pointed out that the largest known great white sharks in modern times are about 20 feet long.

Khinjaria acuta was around the length of an orca. / Credit: Andrey Atuchin/University of Bath

Longrich and his colleagues believe that the large species was likely an apex predator when it existed 66 million years ago, at the tail end of the Cretaceous Period. That means the creature would have been around during roughly the same chapter of history as the Tyrannosaurus and the Triceratops that lived on land during the last 10 million years of the Cretaceous. The period culminated abruptly about 1 million years after Longrich's team say their Kinjaria acuta hunted the world's oceans, with the infamous mass extinction of the dinosaurs.

In a blog post, Longrich described the Khinjaria acuta as "a freakish new species ... with a demon's face and teeth like knives." The name itself, which Longrich and his colleagues picked themselves, comes from a combination of Arabic and Latin words that together translate to "sharp dagger" or "sharp knife."

"Its eyes are small and beady, the face is short and massive, the back of the skull is weirdly stretched out," Longrich's post read. "The jaws were powerful, with the teeth in the front of the jaws being long, straight and flattened side to side, like a set of daggers, giving it a wicked smile."

While the Kinjaria acuta may have lived alongside the dinosaurs, it was not actually a dinosaur itself. Rather, the creature belonged to a unique species of enormous aquatic reptiles called mosasaurs, whose descendants probably include the Komodo dragon. Essentially a family of especially gigantic sea lizards and snakes, these extinct "sea monsters" are known to scientists for their generally frightening appearances. But the Kinjaria acuta was a "positively demonic" breed of mosasaur, Longrich said, with "cruel" and "nightmarish" looks that he likened to those of the main character in the contemporary manga horror series "Chainsaw Man."

/ Credit: Nick Longrich / University of Bath

Longrich and his colleagues believe the ancient creature populated portions of the eastern Atlantic Ocean near what is now Morocco, according to their report on the new fossils. This particular stretch of water may have been home to other prehistoric apex predators whose fossils have previously been discovered in the same region.

"This is one of the most diverse marine faunas seen anywhere, at any time in history, and it existed just before the marine reptiles and the dinosaurs went extinct," Longrich told the BBC, adding, "This incredible diversity of top predators in the Late Cretaceous is unusual, and we don't see that in modern marine communities."

Taken together, fossils found in and around Morocco suggest to scientists that other large predatory creatures potentially inhabited the same seas as the Kinjaria acuta, although Longrich noted that more research on that front is still needed.

Election dynamics unfold as Nikki Haley suspends campaign following Trump victory

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem calls on Nikki Haley to exit 2024 race

Three kidnapped Ukrainian children recount being taken by Russian soldiers
Boko Haram, pictured here in a propaganda video, has waged an insurgency since 2009

Dozens of displaced people are feared to have been abducted by Boko Haram jihadists in north-eastern Nigeria.

The victims were mostly women who lived in a camp in Gamboru Ngala town after fleeing their homes because of attacks by the insurgents, locals said.

The abductions occurred when the group went to collect firewood to cook or sell, they added.

The United Nations condemned the reported kidnappings and called of for the unconditional release of abductees.

Mohamed Malick Fall, the UN's Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, said that while the exact number is unknown it is estimated more than 200 people were abducted.

He said in a statement on Wednesday that the incident was "a stark reminder that women and girls are among those most affected" by the Islamist insurgency in north-east Nigeria.

While sympathising with the families of the victims, Mr Fall urged authorities to provide more livelihood opportunities for displaced persons in camps to reduce the risks they face.

The largest mass abduction by Boko Haram occurred when more than 270 schoolgirls were seized from their dormitory in Chibok town, also in north-eastern Borno state, in 2014.

The latest abductions took place several days ago, but details are only emerging now because Gamboru Ngala is in a remote area, on the shores of Lake Chad, where the jihadists have destroyed mobile phone masts and other telecommunication infrastructure. Local residents sometimes cross to neighbouring Cameroon to make phone calls.

Borno state authorities told the BBC that a response team had been deployed to the area where the people were seized but did not give any further details. The road leading to the town has been closed.

The kidnappings come at a time when Borno's state government has said that 95% of Boko Haram fighters are either dead or have surrendered.

Neither it nor the federal government has commented on the latest abductions, but the chairman of the local government in the area, Umar Mohammed, confirmed the kidnappings, without giving a number.

One Gamboru Ngala resident told the BBC that 113 people had been taken away by Boko Haram fighters.

"It was on Sunday that we got information that over 200 displaced people went to get firewood but unfortunately Boko Haram kidnapped them, allowing only the very young and very old to return," said the resident, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals.

An anti-jihadist militia leader in the area, Shehu Mada, blamed the abductions on an offshoot of Boko Haram known as the Islamic State of West Africa Province (Iswap), AFP news agency reports.

He said a headcount showed that 47 women had been captured, while others managed to escape.

The insurgency in northern Nigeria has been raging since 2009, killing more than 40,000 people and forcing two million to flee their homes.

Additional reporting by Chris Ewokor

You may also be interested in:
President Joe Biden will seek to lay out the case for his re-election and address a range of pressing issues both domestic and international when he delivers his latest State of the Union address to a joint-session of Congress on Thursday evening.

The Democrat is expected to tout his achievements in the White House, allay concerns about his age and warn of the threat to democracy posed by Donald Trump and hard-right Republicans across the country as he readies for a crucial election year.

The presidents address is likely to cover the economic recovery and infrastructure wins he has overseen from the Oval Office and feature a call for greater cooperation in the House of Representatives on spending deals to avert another looming government shutdown and to resolve the illegal immigration crisis at the southern border.

He is also expected to stress the need for international unity in the face of conflicts raging in Ukraine and Gaza.

House speaker Mike Johnson has meanwhile said he has sent a very clear message to his fellow Republicans to turn the temperature down and show decorum to avoid some of the more raucous scenes of recent years.

Key Points

State of the Union: Biden to unveil new healthcare and tax relief plans

What time is the president's address and how can you watch it?

Who has been invited to watch the SOTU speech?

House passes $460bn package of spending bills, with Senate expected to act before shutdown deadline

Haley pulls out of Republican presidential race

Even after $91m verdict, Trump wont stop defaming E Jean Carroll

Sunday 10 March 2024 20:30 , Ariana Baio

Despite recently posting a $91.6 million bond to appeal the case where he was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation, former president Donald Trump continues to defame writer E Jean Carroll.

During a rally in Georgia on Saturday, Mr Trump attacked Ms Carroll, her lawyers and the judge who oversaw the case  claiming the lawsuit was politically motivated and funded by Democratic operatives.

I just posted a $91 million bond on a fake story. Totally made up story, Mr Trump said. Based on false accusations made about me by a woman that I knew nothing about, didnt know, never heard of it. I know nothing about her.

Her lawyers are big Democratic operatives. The judge was a disaster. But Democratic operatives funded and directed her, they gave her the money to pursue the case, Mr Trump told supporters.

The assertions are familiar ones that the former president has made countless times before. Theyre the same ones that landed Mr Trump with a $83m bill which he was ordered to pay Ms Carroll after defaming her when she came forward with accusations that the former president sexually assaulted her in the 1990s.

Biden says he regrets using the term illegal to describe suspected killer of Laken Riley

Sunday 10 March 2024 20:00 , Vishwam Sankaran

President Joe Biden said on Saturday that he regretted using the term illegal to refer to the suspected killer of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.

Mr Biden apologised after some people from his political party expressed frustration with the president using the term to describe people who arrived in the US illegally.

I shouldnt have used illegal, its undocumented, he said in an interview with MSNBCs Jonathan Capehart taped in Georgias capital city Atlanta.

Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, was murdered while she was jogging on the campus of the University of Georgia.

Police detained a 26-year-old man from Venezuela named Jose Ibarra, allegedly an undocumented immigrant who has been charged with felony murder, kidnapping, and false imprisonment.

Rileys murder has become a hotly debated topic in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, with Republicans rallying over the Biden administrations handling of the immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border.

Bernie Sanders urges people to vote for Biden amid Gaza controversy

Sunday 10 March 2024 19:00 , Ariana Baio

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders told Face the Nation that despite his differences with President Joe Biden on his handling of the war in Gaza, people still need to vote for him.

The fight continues to change Bidens policy in Gaza. But the contrast between Biden and Trump is day and night. The election of Trump would be a disaster for this country and in my view the world, Mr Sanders said on Sunday.

Mr Sanders has called for a humanitarian ceasefire and demanded the US stop sending military aid money to Israel  a contrasting opinion to Mr Biden who continues to support Israel while trying to send humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Bernie Sanders: "If you believe in democracy, and involving people in the process rather than keeping people from voting, you have to vote for Biden ... the contrast between Biden and Trump is day and night." pic.twitter.com/D16DhDCvPu  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 10, 2024

Heres every member of Congress who isnt seeking re-election in 2024

Sunday 10 March 2024 18:30 , Kelly Rissman

If a presidential election year wasnt enough in Washington DC, this year will also see a lot of new faces in Congress, as many members have decided to not seek re-election, with many citing frustration with the chambers productivity as their reason for stepping down.

Eight Senators and 43 Representatives have announced their intentions to step down from their current post in 2024, with some running for different elected positions and others leaving politics altogether. Some of those could still run for their current seats if they do not win primary elections.

Read more from Kelly Rissman:

Heres every member of Congress who isnt seeking re-election in 2024

Biden says Netanyahu is disregarding innocent lives

Sunday 10 March 2024 18:00 , Ariana Baio

Following a hot mic moment from the State of the Union address, President Joe Biden told MSNBC that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hurting Israel by disregarding innocent lives being lost in Gaza.

On Thursday, Mr Biden was caught speaking about a come to Jesus meeting with Mr Netanyahu.

The president later explained that it is an expression used in the southern part of my state, meaning a serious meeting.

Ive known Bibi for 50 years and he knew what I meant by it, Mr Biden said.

Mr Biden has stopped short of criticizing Mr Netanyahu for the war Israel is waging in Gaza, though more recently he has urged the Israeli Prime Minister to pay attention to the innocent people being killed in Gaza.

"He must, he must, he must pay attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken, Mr Biden said.

From Premium: Trump v Biden 2 is on  and nothing is going to stop them

Sunday 10 March 2024 17:30 , Andrew Feinberg

There has been a great deal of speculation about other candidates replacing the two frontrunners in this years election. The past week has taught us that those thoughts are nothing more than fantasies

Read more from Andrew Feinberg:

Trump v Biden 2 is on  and nothing is going to stop them

Biden campaign raises $10m after SOTU

Sunday 10 March 2024 17:00 , Ariana Baio

President Joe Bidens re-election campaign brought in $10 million within the first day after the State of the Union address, NBC News reported.

More than 113,000 contributors donated to Mr Bidens campaign, a senior campaign advisor told NBC News.

We thank our grassroots supporters who are motivated more than ever to reelect President Biden and Vice President Harris. The Presidents State of the Union address reminded so many of our supporters who is fighting for them, and the stakes of this election for our freedoms, our rights, and our democracy, the Biden campaign manager, Julie Chavez-Rodriguez said.

We send our condolences to the other guy and his flailing, poor campaign. Turns out attacking womens rights, cutting taxes for the rich, and attacking American democracy isnt exactly a winning message.

SNL parodies Katie Britt speech

Sunday 10 March 2024 16:30 , Ariana Baio

Senator Katie Britts overdramatic rebuttal to President Joe Bidens State of the Union address expectedly became the butt of a joke featured on Saturday Night Live (SNL) this weekend.

With the help of actress Scarlett Johansson, the late-night sketch show featured highlights from Ms Britts speech in their cold open: an empty kitchen, Ms Britts wide emotional range, her questionably re-telling of a graphic human trafficking story, a noticeably shiny cross necklace and of course, a lot of drama.

Tonight Ill be auditioning for the part of scary mom and Ill be performing an original monologue called This country is hell, Johansson said playing Ms Britt.

Aired directly from a strange, empty kitchen Johansson maintained unsettling eye contact with the camera while playing up the dramatics in parodying Ms Britts speech about the future of the country and the border crisis.

Republicans wanted me to appeal to women voters and women love kitchen, Johnasson joked.

Sen. Katie Britt delivers the Republican response to President Bidens State of the Union Address pic.twitter.com/x7mDzO1sWP  Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) March 10, 2024

Trump and Biden trade barbs in competing campaigns in swing state of Georgia

Sunday 10 March 2024 16:00 , Vishwam Sankaran

Donald Trump and President Joe Biden traded barbs on Saturday as they both campaigned in Georgia, signifying the key role the state may play in Novembers general election.

The former US president was campaigning in right-wing firebrand congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greenes hometown of Rome on Saturday.

Mr Biden, who was campaigning in the state capital Atlanta, called out the ex-president for entertaining Hungarys right-wing nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban, accusing him of sucking up to dictators and authoritarian thugs all around the world.

When he says he wants to be a dictator, I believe him, the US president said.

Trump and Biden trade barbs in competing campaigns in swing state of Georgia

Biden says he believes Trump wants to be a dictator'

Sunday 10 March 2024 15:40 , Ariana Baio

During President Joe Bidens campaign rally in Georgia on Saturday, he criticized Donald Trumps cozying-up to authoritarian leaders  suggesting the former president would take leadership inspiration from them.

It can tell you a lot about a person who he keeps company with, Mr Biden said. And yesterday he was hosting, at his club, Viktor Orban who says he doesnt think Democracy works. He called him a fantastic leader. Seriously.

Mr Trump hosted Mr Orban, the leader of Hungary, at his Mar-a-Lago golf club in Palm Beach, Florida.

When he says he wants to be a dictator, I believe him, Mr Biden said.

Trump mocks Bidens stutter during Georgia rally

Sunday 10 March 2024 15:18 , Ariana Baio

On Saturday, Donald Trump launched attacks at President Joe Biden during his rally in Rome, Georgia, going as far as to mock Mr Bidens stutter.

Mr Trump insulted Mr Bidens State of the Union address, suggesting Mr Bidens speech was ineffective at uniting the country because of the presidents stutter.

Bring the country to-to-to together. Im going to bring it together, Mr Trump said mockingly.

The crowd of Trump supporters erupted into laughter.

Trump mocks President Biden for having a lifelong stutter pic.twitter.com/1SwPQWZXQZ  Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) March 9, 2024

Katie Britt accused of mischaracterising story in State of the Union rebuttal

Sunday 10 March 2024 14:00 , Ariana Baio

Katie Britt, the Alabama Senator who delivered the Republicans rebuttal to President Joe Bidens State of the Union address, is being accused of misrepresenting a graphic story about a human trafficking survivor in Mexico to criticise Mr Bidens border policy.

During her speech on Thursday, Ms Britt elevated Republicans rhetoric and concerns about the US-Mexico border by recounting the time she travelled to Del Rio, Texas in 2023 and met with a young woman who was allegedly trafficked by Mexican cartels at the age of 12.

Though Ms Britt did not name the individual she was speaking about, an independent journalist, Jonathan Katz, said that it appeared she was speaking about Karla Jacinto.

Read more here.

Analysis: Its not what Biden said at the State of the Union that matters. Its how he said it

Sunday 10 March 2024 13:00 , Ariana Baio

As the nations political elite filed into the United States House of Representatives for this years State of the Union address, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wasnt expecting much from President Joe Biden. I would love to take bets and hear from doctors on what kind of medical cocktail theyre giving him to be able to do this tonight, Ms Greene, a Republican and staunch ally to former president Donald Trump, told The Independent as she entered the House.

Eric Garcia and Katie Hawkinson write:

Its not what Biden said at the State of the Union that matters. Its how he said it

Government shutdown narrowly avoided after late night Senate vote

Sunday 10 March 2024 12:00 , Ariana Baio

A partial government shutdown was narrowly avoided when the Senate passed a six-bill package to ensure funding through September.

The Senate voted 75 to 22 on Friday night just before a midnight deadline. Joe Biden then signed the bill into law on Saturday.

The package provides $460bn in funding for parts of the government.

Graig Graziosi reports:

Government shutdown narrowly avoided after late night Senate vote

Texas students urge Supreme Court to intervene in drag show ban

Sunday 10 March 2024 11:00 , Ariana Baio

A group of Texas students have asked the US Supreme Court to intervene in a campus ban on drag shows, alleging that the schools president is infringing on their First Amendment rights.

Spectrum WT, a student-led LGBT+ organisation at West Texas A&M University, as well as two of its student leaders, claim that the public universitys president Dr Walter Wendler engaged in viewpoint-based discrimination when he suddenly cancelled the groups planned charity drag show event last year.

The plaintiffs, represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, allege Dr Wendler invoked his personal opinion of drag shows to prevent them from putting on the event, just 11 days before it was due to take place on campus.

Dr Wendler sent a 700-word email to the campus community barring drag shows because they stereotype women in cartoon-like extremes and are deceive, divisive and demoralizing, the students say.

Now, theyre asking Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to pause the ban immediately so that they can host the on-campus event this 22 March and to also limit public college and university officials from censoring expressions based on personal opinion.

Watch: Joe Biden jokes about age in new campaign advertisement

Sunday 10 March 2024 10:00 , Ariana Baio

ICYMI: Key moments from Bidens State of the Union

Sunday 10 March 2024 09:00 , Ariana Baio

President Joe Bidens final State of the Union address in his first term in office renewed his promise of American possibilities with a fiery rebuke of anti-democratic threats from the man he refused to mention: his Republican predecessor.

Looming throughout the presidents remarks was Donald Trump, framed as the man often standing in the way of legislation blocked by a Republican-dominated chamber of Congress that Mr Biden often depicted as captivated by the partys increasingly likely candidate for the November election.

Read more from Alex Woodward here

Biden says he regrets describing suspected Laken Riley killer as illegal

Sunday 10 March 2024 08:00 , Vishwam Sankaran

President Joe Biden said on Saturday that he regretted using the term illegal to refer to the suspected killer of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.

I shouldnt have used illegal, its undocumented, he said.

Riley was murdered while she was jogging on the campus of the University of Georgia, following which police detained a 26-year-old man from Venezuela named Jose Ibarra, allegedly an undocumented immigrant.

The murder has become flash point in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, with Republicans rallying over the Biden administrations handling of the immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border.

Read more about Bidens latest statements on Rileys murder here

Biden says he regrets calling suspected killer of Laken Riley illegal

ICYMI: George Santos is running for Congress again

Sunday 10 March 2024 07:00 , Kelly Rissman

Serial liar and former congressman George Santos was expelled from the House in December following a series of scandals including a damning Ethics Committee report accusing him of committing uncharged and unlawful conduct, 23 criminal counts at the federal level, and a plethora of lies about his past.

His latest stunt came on Thursday night when he turned up to President Joe Bidens State of the Union address and announced he would be running for Congress once again.

Even this announcement came with a characteristic series of surprises.

The former lawmaker-turned-Cameo star claimed that he left office arbitrarily, adding to his parade of lies that got him into trouble in the first place given an expulsion from Congress is far from arbitrary.

Mr Santos also announced that he would be switching districts. He previously represented New Yorks third congressional district for less than one term after flipping his district red. In a February special election, his seat flipped back to blue when the district elected Democrat Tom Suozzi to replace him.

Tonight, I came to the SOTU with an open mind and heart because I believe in the great idea that is the United States of America.



I just witnessed a weak, frail president deliver spin and lies to the American people from inside the chambers. I have made several personal  George Santos (@MrSantosNY) March 8, 2024

What Biden did (and didnt say) about the climate crisis during the State of Union

Sunday 10 March 2024 06:00 , Louise Boyle

At a fiery State of the Union address, President Joe Biden put his case to the American people on why they should return him to the White House for a second term, touting his record on the economy, immigration, gun safety and reproductive freedoms.

Yet on the climate crisis, which remains a politically divisive issue in the US despite increasing impacts, Mr Biden made few remarks, and attempted to appeal to as broad a base as possible.

Heres six climate takeaways from SOTU night.

State of the Union: What Biden did (and didnt say) about climate crisis

Is that a UFO? Oklahoma family spot bizarre other-worldly sighting in night sky

Sunday 10 March 2024 04:00 , Amelia Neath

A bizarre other-wordly object was captured on camera by an Oklahoma family in the night sky on Monday night.

A TikTok video that has amassed almost half a million views, shows a bright, slow-moving object in the sky.

Steve Aragona was outside with his kids and his neighbours when the video was captured on Monday at 7.30pm.

In the full-length video given to KFOR by Mr Aragona, people question what the unexplained object could possibly be. A child asks if it is a shooting star, to which an adult responds that it is moving too slowly to be one.

Mr Aragona told KFOR, Everybody was playing out front, and my neighbour Kevin says, Steve, take a look at this.

I looked up, and this white thing appeared in the sky. Everybody had their opinions about what it was.

In the TikTok comments, some theorised that it could have been the Space X mission that also occurred on Monday, that set satellites up into orbit on their Falcon 9 rocket from Florida.

However, the satellites took off at 6.56pm ET, an hour and a half after the video was purportedly shot at 7.30pm CT.

The National UFO Reporting Centre, a non-profit based in Washington, often receives reports of possible UFO sightings, or what the US government calls them, UAPs  unidentified anomalous phenomena. They recently reported that between 20 December 2023 to mid-February 2024, they had 566 new reports, received via their online report form.

Is surfer town Huntington Beach really the Maga stronghold Californians fear?

Sunday 10 March 2024 02:00 , Ariana Baio

Huntington Beach  located around 50 miles south of Los Angeles and known locally as Surf City  has all the laid back characteristics of a typical southern California beach town; bright sunshine, palm trees, with cafes and bars lining the front.

However, though the pro-Trump sentiment is palpable, locals dispute previous portrayals of the city as a Maga stronghold at the heart of the historically liberal Golden State, and say that the Republican presence is not as aggressive as is being made out.

Whether or not the enclaves of supporters for Mr Trump along the west coast will remain as passive as the US general election November rolls around, perhaps remains to be seen.

Mike Bedigan reports:

Is Huntington Beach really the Maga stronghold Californians fear?

Bidens plan to build floating port for Gaza aid could take 60 days

Sunday 10 March 2024 00:00 , Graig Graziosi

The floating port Joe Biden plans to build in an effort to deliver much needed humanitarian aid to Gaza could take up to 60 days to complete, according to the Pentagon.

The Pentagon presented the timeline on Friday in the wake of Mr Bidens State of the Union speech.

The port  intentional or not  will likely serve as an olive branch from Mr Bidens administration to Democratic voters who feel his staunch support of Israel is implicit approval of the civilian displacement and deaths caused by the Israeli Defence Forces.

The UN has issued a warning that Gaza Strip is likely to suffer widespread famine if urgent action is not taken. That famine could begin as early as next week, according to a UN analysis.

It warned that once a famine has been declared, it is typically already too late to help many of the affected.

This is not a logistics problem; it is a political problem, Avril Benoit, executive director for Medecins Sans Frontieres [Doctors Without Borders], told Reuters. Rather than look to the US military to build a work-around, the US should insist on immediate humanitarian access using the roads and entry points that already exist.

Despite the looming threat of famine and further civilian deaths, the port is still in its planning stages, according to the Pentagon.

Republican delegates tracker so far

Saturday 9 March 2024 23:00 , Ariana Baio

Next week, four states will host primaries or caucuses in the race for the 2024 presidential election.

Georgia, Mississippi and Washington will have primaries on Tuesday, March 12th. The same day, Hawaii will host a Republican caucus.

Here is where the Republican delegates are as of now.

Protestor interrupts Biden speech

Saturday 9 March 2024 22:55 , Ariana Baio

An IsraelGaza conflict protestor interrupted President Joe Bidens speech in Atlanta, calling the president Genocide Joe.

Mr Biden, who appeared slightly shocked at first, responded: I dont resent his passion, theres a lot of Palestinians who are being unfairly victimized.

The protestor was removed from the rally.

Trump endorsed Lauren Boebert in a heavily MAGA district. It still might not be enough

Saturday 9 March 2024 22:00 , Ariana Baio

Right-wing provocateur Rep. Lauren Boebert began a weekend Colorado candidate event with an endorsement from Trump  but still ended with a third-place straw poll finish. The hardline conservatives she hopes to represent, many with generational ties to the land, are still not convinced by her district switch, litany of controversies and overall brand,

Sheila Flynn reports:

Trump endorsed Boebert in a heavily MAGA district. It still might not be enough

US denies responsibility for airdrop that killed 5 in Gaza, including two young boys

Saturday 9 March 2024 21:00 , Mike Bedigan

The US State Department has denied responsibility for an airdrop that reportedly killed five civilians  including two young boys  in Gaza.

A spokesperson for the department said that every reasonable precaution was taken with airdrops to ensure the safety of the public.

The incident reportedly occurred on Friday in the Al Shati camp west of Gaza City, according to a journalist on the scene, per CNN. At least five people were killed and 10 others injured when airdropped aid packages fell on them.

It is believed the chutes on the packages did not open properly. Muhammad Al-Sheikh, Head of Emergency Care Department at Al Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City confirmed to CNN that five people were killed in the incident.

We express our condolences to the families of those who were killed, a spokesperson for the State Department said in a statement shared with media outlets. Our understanding is that this was not a US airdrop.

Biden releases statement on soldiers death at border

Saturday 9 March 2024 20:30 , Ariana Baio

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden have released a statement following the death of two soldiers and a Border Patrol agent at the US-Mexico border.

Yesterday, Jill and I learned of the tragic deaths of two National Guardsmen and one U.S. Border Patrol agent whose helicopter crashed while they were conducting routine operations near Rio Grande City, Texas.

A third Guardsman was badly injured in the crash and is hospitalized. These brave Americans dedicated their lives to protecting our nation. They signed up knowing the risks and believing in the mission of serving their fellow Americans by keeping our nation safe. Our gratitude is profound, and their sacrifice will never be forgotten.

We extend our deepest condolences to their families and loved ones, as well as their colleagues in the National Guard and U.S. Border Patrol. We pray for the injured Guardsmans swift recovery.

As we investigate the circumstances of this crash, we continue to stand with our service members, border agents, and their families, whose contributions to our nation are vital to our security.

Republican Katie Britts SOTU rebuttal is the butt of the joke

Saturday 9 March 2024 20:00 , Ariana Baio

Alabama Senator Katie Britt slammed President Joe Biden on border security, calling him a dithering and diminished leader in her response to the State of the Union.

But, it was her own emotional and indignant speech that was widely mocked as dramatic, creepy, and insincere online.

Ms Britt, who at 42 is the youngest Republican woman to serve in the US Senate, was chosen to deliver the opposition partys rebuttal speech to the presidents address.

Ms Britt sat at her kitchen table as she eviscerated Mr Biden on a wide range of issues, including the conflicts in the Middle East, the economy, and the American dream becoming a nightmare.

Gustaf Kilander and Mike Bedigan report:

Republican Katie Britts SOTU rebuttal is the butt of the joke

Trumps grip on RNC tightens as Michael Whatley and Lara Trump become new leaders

Saturday 9 March 2024 19:30 , Ariana Baio

Donald Trump has finalised his takeover of the Republican National Committee as the campaign organisation elected former North Carolina GOP chair and RNC general counsel Michael Whatley as its new chair following the departure of Ronna McDaniel.

Mr Trumps daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, was elected vice-chair of the RNC, cementing the Trump familys control of how Republican campaign cash gets spent.

Members of the RNC met in Houston, Texas to appoint Mr Whatley and Ms Trump to the top posts.

In her departing remarks, Ms McDaniel, who has been in the post since 2017, said We cannot put our heads in the sand and ignore abortion and the Dobbs decision in reference to the Supreme Court decision that ended the constitutional right to abortion.

Gustaf Kilander reports:

Trumps grip on RNC tightens as Michael Whatley and Lara Trump become new leaders

Pentagon reveals cause of 1960s uptick in extraterrestrial activity

Saturday 9 March 2024 19:00 , Martha McHardy

A spike in UFO sightings since the 1960s was caused by the US military testing spy planes and space technology, according to a Pentagon report.

The report, which was presented to Congress on Friday, also found that there is no evidence that the US government had interactions with aliens, adding that most sightings of UFOs or unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) were ordinary objects.

It added that public opinion surrounding UFOs has been influenced by pop culture.

The proliferation of television programmes, books, movies, and the vast amount of internet and social media content centred on UAP-related topics most likely has influenced the public conversation on this topic, and reinforced these beliefs within some sections of the population, the report said.

The report lists classified government programmes including the Manhattan Project and the secret development of the Air Forces stealth drone, the RQ-170 Sentinel, that may have contributed to increased reports of unidentified objects or phenomena.

In pics: Biden departs for Georgia rally

Saturday 9 March 2024 18:30 , Ariana Baio

U.S. President Joe Biden walks at Joint Base Andrews before departure for a campaign event in Philadelphia, in Maryland, U.S., March 8, 2024. (REUTERS)

President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Philadelphia International Airport, in Philadelphia to travel to Atlanta, for a campaign event, Saturday, March 9, 2024. (AP)

The next Supreme Court abortion rights battle is coming for the most common form of care

Saturday 9 March 2024 18:00 , Ariana Baio

A wave of state-level anti-abortion laws that followed the Supreme Courts 2022 decision to reverse the decades-long precedent established by Roe v Wade appeared to fuel an increase of advance provision prescriptions of medication abortion drugs across the country.

But another looming Supreme Court decision on abortion rights threatens the availability of a widely used abortion drug that was approved by the federal government more than 20 years ago  and is used in more than half of all abortions nationwide.

Read more from Alex Woodward:

The next Supreme Court abortion rights battle threatens the most common form of care

Biden and Trump hold competing campaign events in Georgia

Saturday 9 March 2024 17:09 , Ariana Baio

President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump are hosting competing campaign rallies this weekend in the state where Mr Biden narrowly won in 2020.

Mr Biden will hold an event in Atlanta while Mr Trump will host a rally in Rome  a city approximately 50 miles northwest of Atlanta.

Georgia is expected to be a competitive state for both candidates, just as it was four years ago. This time, the stakes are even higher, especially for Mr Trump who was criminally indicted for allegedly trying to overturn election results in the state in 2020.

Mr Trump, who is expected to be the Republican National Committees (RNC) nominee, is defending himself criminally in the state while also trying to pick up support from moderate-conservative voters who initially supported Nikki Haley.

Meanwhile, Mr Biden, who is expected to be the Democratic National Committees (DNC) nominee, is coming off a firey State of the Union address where he launched attacks at the former president. Mr Biden has taken a more aggressive campaign approach in recent weeks as polling shows voters are skeptical of the presidents age.

Trump and Bidens foreign leader choices this week reveal how they would govern

Saturday 9 March 2024 16:30 , Ariana Baio

Its basically an aphorism at this point that American voters almost never make a decision about their choice for president based on foreign policy. The only exception comes when Americans are in harms way, as Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George W Bush and Barack Obama can all attest.

At the same time, presidential candidates foreign policy reveals plenty about how what they value at home. Harry Trumans desegregation of the US military reflected Democrats larger shift away from being the party of Southern racists to becoming the party of civil rights. Reagans ardent opposition to communism abroad reflected his desire to slash government spending at home.

That makes President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trumps choices of foreign heads of state to meet this week particularly interesting. They reflect much about what values they want to promote at home.

Eric Garcia reports:

Trump and Bidens foreign leader choices this week reveal how they would govern

Watch: Joe Biden shares how he proposed to Jill five times before she accepted

Saturday 9 March 2024 16:00 , Ariana Baio

Biden addresses his age in a new ad

Saturday 9 March 2024 15:25 , Ariana Baio

President Joe Biden is embracing criticism about his age in a new Biden campaign advertisement by addressing the issue head-on.

Look Im not a young guy, thats no secret. But heres the deal I understand how to get things done for the American people, Mr Biden says in the advertisement.

The ad features the Biden administrations accomplishments over the last four years, like steering the country through the Covid-19 pandemic, lowering prescription drug prices, passing infrastructure legislation and more.

Mr Bidens new ad comes just as recent polling reveals Americans are uneasy about Mr Bidens re-election given he is the oldest president in history.

Here's the spot, titled "For You" --



Joe Biden in navy blue Polo quarter zip to camera:



"Look, I'm not a young guy. That's no secret. But, here's the deal. I understand how to get things done for the American people" pic.twitter.com/2HBGQPiIwr  Medium Buying (@MediumBuying) March 9, 2024

Biden faces beyond disappointed Democrats after calling suspected killer an illegal

Saturday 9 March 2024 15:00 , Alex Woodward

Immigrants rights groups and Democratic officials have criticised President Joe Bidens off-script description of an undocumented immigrant as an illegal, drawing comparisons to Donald Trumps dehumanising language and warning that the administration is bending to Republican pressure on immigration.

Responding to jeers from far-right US Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene in the middle of his State of the Union address on Thursday, the president echoed Ms Greene by calling the Venezuelan immigrant who allegedly killed Laken Riley an illegal.

An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. Thats right, Mr Biden said. But how many thousands of people, being killed by legals? To her parents I say, and my heart goes out to you, having lost children myself, I understand.

Though he appeared to be referencing Ms Greenes remarks, Latino members of Congress and members from immigrant backgrounds reminded the president that no human being is illegal.

Mr Bidens own campaign chair Mitch Landrieu agreed that he probably shouldve used a different word, and I think he would know that.

But what you should notice about that is not that he made a small mistake, he told CNN on Friday. The big thing that he didnt write, and this is what this president always does, is express empathy to people, he expressed kindness to people. He understands because, as you know, he lost a number of children in his life.

Democratic US Rep Chuy Garcia, among Latino members of Congress who criticised Mr Bidens remarks, said he was beyond disappointed to hear the presidents use of the word illegal as a noun.

Beyond this, the president missed an opportunity to unite our country on immigration. He did not lay out a plan that addresses the root causes of what brings people to our border or ensures immigrants are treated with dignity and respect in our communities, he added.

Progressive members of Congress have urged the White House to step back from Republican pressure to militarise the US-Mexico border as immigration becomes the GOPs election-year wedge issue, championed by likely nominee Donald Trump.

Republicans will never be satisfied with this rightward march on immigration, and that should not be our goal, Mr Garcia said. They have no interest in serious reform.

Biden wastes no time laying into Trump as he comes out swinging in fiery State of the Union address

Saturday 9 March 2024 13:00 , Andrew Feinberg

President Joe Biden had barely started giving his State of the Union address from the House of Representatives rostrum when he laid into his predecessor and likely 2024 election opponent, former president Donald Trump, for threatening to allow Russia to run roughshod over the democracies of the West while simultaneously castigating the Republican-led Congress for failing to authorise more defence aid to Ukraine.

Invoking Franklin Delano Roosevelts speech in 1941 warning of Hitlers armies being on the march in Europe, Mr Biden said hed come to the same chamber to tell the nation that it is facing an unprecedented moment in the history of the Union and to wake up the Congress and alert the American people that this is no ordinary moment.

What makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack, both at home and overseas, at the very same time overseas, Putin of Russia is on the march, invading Ukraine and sowing chaos throughout Europe and beyond, he said.

If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you, he will not. But Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand with Ukraine and provide the weapons it needs to defend itself.

Mr Bidens denunciation of Mr Trump and the GOP for refusing to support Ukraines fight against Russia was just an opening salvo in what became a full-throated defence of his administrations policies and repeated exhortations to the assembled legislators to take up bipartisan legislation that has been blocked at Mr Trumps behest. In a fiery address he challenged his opponents over the border, womens health and Republicans efforts to rewrite history over the January 6 riot.

The president stressed that Ukraine isnt asking for Americans to give their lives overseas, and said he is working to keep American soldiers from having to fight there. But he warned that funding for Ukraine is being blocked by those who want us to walk away from our leadership in the world, referring to Republicans who oppose aid to Kyiv because it would be a political win for the president.

Biden vows to restore Roe v Wade during 2024 State of the Union address

Saturday 9 March 2024 09:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Its not what Biden said at the State of the Union that matters. Its how he said it

Saturday 9 March 2024 07:00 , Eric Garcia and Katie Hawkinson

As the nations political elite filed into the United States House of Representatives for this years State of the Union address, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wasnt expecting much from President Joe Biden. I would love to take bets and hear from doctors on what kind of medical cocktail theyre giving him to be able to do this tonight, Ms Greene, a Republican and staunch ally to former president Donald Trump, told The Independent as she entered the House.

Ms Greene had plenty of reason to make such a snide remark. Polling has consistently shown that most voters have serious doubts about whether Mr Biden, who turns 82 in November, could actually be up to the job of president.

(Those voters have the same concerns, however, about Mr Trump, according to the polls.)

Polling has also consistently shown the president trailing Ms Greenes political benefactor, Mr Trump. A report from special counsel Robert Hur about Mr Bidens handling of classified documents mentioned the presidents age and portrayed him as a senile man who could not remember the date of his eldest son Beaus death.

But there were no signs of Grandpa Joe during his State of the Union on Thursday evening. Rather, Mr Biden chose to confront anxieties about his age head-on and showed a side of himself that many political observers including in his own party  thought had faded in his advanced years.

Let me close with this: I know I may not look like it, but Ive been around a while, Mr Biden told the nation. And when you get to my age certain things become clearer than ever before. I know the American story. Again and again, Ive seen the contest between competing forces in the battle for the soul of our nation.

Biden faces down Republican heckling, urges action on border bill

Saturday 9 March 2024 05:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump attacks, the border, abortion and Gaza: Key moments from Bidens State of the Union

Saturday 9 March 2024 04:00 , Alex Woodward

President Joe Bidens final State of the Union address in his first term in office renewed his promise of American possibilities with a fiery rebuke of anti-democratic threats from the man he refused to mention: his Republican predecessor.

Looming throughout the presidents remarks was Donald Trump, framed as the man often standing in the way of legislation blocked by a Republican-dominated chamber of Congress that Mr Biden often depicted as captivated by the partys increasingly likely candidate for the November election.

The president offered his plans for an economy fuelled by a thriving middle class and a vision of an equitable society, ending with a demand for humanitarian aid and support for a six-week ceasefire in Gaza.

In the one-hour address, he also warned against threats to democracy at home and abroad, vowed to enshrine abortion rights into law, pleaded with lawmakers to protect the right to vote and labour rights, sparred with Republican hecklers, and forecast an era where trickle-down economics are over.

President Biden reacts to Marjorie Taylor Greenes MAGA hat at State of the Union

Saturday 9 March 2024 03:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Dramatic, creepy and insincere: Republican Katie Britts SOTU rebuttal is the butt of the joke

Saturday 9 March 2024 02:00 , Gustaf Kilander, Mike Bedigan

Alabama Senator Katie Britt slammed President Joe Biden on border security, calling him a dithering and diminished leader in her response to the State of the Union.

But, it was her own emotional and indignant speech that was widely mocked as dramatic, creepy, and insincere online.

Ms Britt, who at 42 is the youngest Republican woman to serve in the US Senate, was chosen to deliver the opposition partys rebuttal speech to the presidents address.

Ms Britt sat at her kitchen table as she eviscerated Mr Biden on a wide range of issues, including the conflicts in the Middle East, the economy, and the American dream becoming a nightmare.

But her main focus, as it is for many Republicans, was the USs southern border with Mexico.

President Biden inherited the most secure border of all time. But minutes after taking office, he suspended all deportations, halted construction of the border wall, and announced a plan to give amnesty to millions, she argued in her rebuttal.

Mr Biden has lambasted Republicans for rejecting a border security deal with some tough measures to stem the flow of border crossings, after former president Donald Trump came out against it  not wanting to hand Mr Biden another bipartisan legislative accomplishment ahead of the election.

We know that President Biden didnt just create this border crisis. He invited it with 94 executive actions in his first 100 days  President Bidens border crisis is a disgrace. Its despicable. And its almost entirely preventable, Ms Britt said.

Her speech was mocked online, with journalist Aaron Rupar calling it overly dramatic while another X user said: This is so creepy and insincere. Worst acting Ive ever seen.

Stephen Colbert says George Santos cant just go back to the old job

Saturday 9 March 2024 01:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump allegedly held onto 70 boxes of classified documents  while telling staffer to claim all were returned

Saturday 9 March 2024 00:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Donald Trump allegedly held onto 70 boxes of classified documents while telling one of his staffers to claim that they were all returned.

In a Thursday filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida in West Palm Beach, the Department of Justice opposed Trump staffer Walt Nautas motion to suppress evidence.

The prosecutors noted that Mr Nauta had been a valet in the White House during Trumps administration and that he previously held a high-level security clearance and received training in handling classified documents.

During his presidency, Trump used dozens of boxes to accumulate and store records in an informal filing system, they added. At the end of his presidency in January 2021, around 85 to 95 of these boxes were removed from the White House and transported to Mar-a-Lago, Trumps residence in Palm Beach, Florida, where they were later placed in a storage room.

Mr Nauta was part of the team that moved the boxes, prosecutors say.

In 2021, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) had discussions with Mr Trump regarding the documents.

Trump wanted to review his boxes before providing them to NARA, and employees (including Nauta) brought two to four at a time to his personal residence in Mar-a-Lago for him to review, the Department of Justice said in the filing. After the employees (including Nauta) brought about 15 to 17 boxes, Trump instructed them to stop, and on January 17, 2022, employees handed over 15 boxes to NARA.

Trump indicated to his staff that the 15 boxes were the only boxes that would be going to NARA and that there were no more, and he instructed an employee to tell one of his lawyers there were no more boxes at Mara-Lago, they added. But about 70 to 80 boxes remained in the storage room.

The judge in charge of the case, US District Judge Aileen Cannon, has set a hearing for next week for legal arguments while a trial date is yet to be set.
As a 31-year prosecutor who spent 25 of those years prosecuting crimes against children and sexual assault, I stand by my decision to delay the extradition of accused murderer and attempted rapist Raad Almansoori to New York.

Yet, there are those who have, without any evidence or knowledge of Arizona law, attributed my decision to political grandstanding.

Here are the facts: Almansoori, who is presumed innocent until proven guilty, is accused of brutally stabbing two women in Maricopa County with the intent of raping and killing them.

He pointed what turned out to be a BB gun at them before stabbing them, then told police that he wanted to kill his family, an Uber driver and other women because women did not like him.

Excellent work by Phoenix, Surprise and Scottsdale police departments led to his arrest.

They don't get Arizona extradition law

My office successfully fought in court to have him held without bond, then successfully sought an indictment for eight counts, including attempted first-degree murder and attempted sexual assault.

Each carries a lengthy prison sentence.

Yet, in an op-ed for The Arizona Republic, three people who average fewer than seven years experience as prosecutors breathlessly argued that I am somehow interfering with the course of justice by keeping Almansoori in Arizona to be prosecuted here first.

They clearly misunderstand Arizonas extradition law.

The fact that there are charges actively being prosecuted here is key. Under Arizona law, if the county attorney here does not agree to drop the charges, Almansoori cannot be extradited until he is sentenced.

Thats not a matter of debate. That is the law.

Bragg has made questionable charging decisions

Not surprisingly, the authors of the attack on me and my office work for the progressive Brennan Center for Justice, which advocates for, among other things, mass de-carceration and the elimination of cash bail.

While rushing to the defense of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, these activists seem to be under the impression that Arizonans are unfamiliar with Bragg.

Those of us who live here know better.

We watch the media reports that depict a city, one to which I used to love to travel, become a hot mess. We know about Bragg charging a bodega owner with murder for defending himself against an attacker, and releasing illegal immigrants whose recent beating of NYPD officers was caught on video.

Arizonans also saw the viral video of a teenager repeatedly punching an NYPD officer, putting him in a chokehold, and slamming him into a metal gate only to have Braggs office recommend release without bond.

Why Mitchell may be: Arizona's savviest politician

We learned that just three days earlier, the same teen had been arrested and released for beating and robbing a stranger.

I will send Almansoori once he's sentenced

Any statistics cited by Bragg are hollow simply because we have no way to know how many defendants facing charges of violent crime were released, charged with lesser offenses or never prosecuted at all.

Of course, the authors of the Brennan op-ed could not know about the hundreds of emails and letters from New Yorkers that have inundated my office, nearly all of which applaud my decision and share my concern that this defendant would not be held accountable there.

My heart goes out to the loved ones of the homicide victim in NYC, Denisse Oleas-Arancibia.

Please be assured that once Almansoori is sentenced here, he will be sent to New York. I sincerely hope that he receives justice there.

Yet we cannot forget there are two victims here in Arizona whose lives were profoundly impacted.

I took an oath to uphold the law, and that is precisely what I am doing.

Until the Arizona victims receive justice, I stand by my decision and will never apologize for protecting the residents of Maricopa County.

Rachel Mitchell, a Republican, is Maricopa County Attorney. Reach her at MaricopaCountyAttorney@mcao.maricopa.gov.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rachel Mitchell will not apologize for keeping New York murder suspect
Kimberly Kite spent five years working in law enforcement before cutting ties, frustrated with the lack of urgency authorities showed in finding missing people of color.

Based in South Carolina, she says shes all too familiar with the good ol boy mentality, where citizens are overlooked and treated as if their lives are less valuable than others simply because theyre Black.

Kite said she quit the force 14 years ago so she could help families in ways they truly need her assistance.

It wasn't the help I wanted to give people, Kite told USA TODAY on Feb. 28, adding that she didnt want to focus on giving people tickets and making arrests for the sake of doing it.

When Kite left the force, she was in Eutawville, a community about 55 miles northwest of Charleston.

My focus really became about giving the people in that town a voice and a say when they have never had that and that's exactly what I did, Kite said.

The Broken Link Foundation has worked on at least 10 investigations and helped to locate two runaways and Kite, who is white, often speaks out about racism and its role in missing person investigations on her organizations Facebook page.

Why do I have to be Black to see what the problem is, to know what the problem is, to know that its not right, its not fair? she asked. It's in every state. I know that. My state is my focus. I know what South Carolina is made up of when it comes to law enforcement. We are the good ol' boy system.

Members of the Broken Link Foundation, a South Carolina organization helping to find missing people. Pictured left to right are David Loveless, Tanner Loveless, Loy Miller, a woman whose son the group helped locate, Roger Coates and organization founder Kimberly Kite.

Families dont know who to trust

Kite said her organization never reaches out to families because so often, they live in fear and dont know who to trust. The Broken Link Foundation doesnt want to bombard them, she said.

One recent case her organization has been involved in is the search to find out what happened to teenager Maylashia Hogg.

Hogg was nine months pregnant and her labor was set to be induced on Feb. 13, officials told multiple news outlets. She was last seen between Feb. 6 and Feb. 8, a police report provided by the Barnwell Police Department shows.

Maylashia Shantebia Hogg, a 17-year-old teenager who in February 2024 went missing out of Barnwell, South Carolina at 9 months pregnant. Local organization the Broken Link Foundation has since pushed for answers regarding her case.

A family friend, Ariel Timms, reached out to the Broken Link Foundation to ask for help finding the teenager, Kite said. The organization immediately began posting fliers.

We started contacting other family, Kite said. I spoke with her stepfather, who was very close with her. Barnwell City police, Barnwell County Sheriff would never return our calls and on the 18th, Maylashia was found deceased.

Kite said police never spoke to the teens stepfather, nor did they speak to her cousins. They spoke to her aunt, who lives outside of the city, but reported the 17-year-old missing. She said police also spoke to the teens grandfather, who she lived with, as well as her uncle.

She said police and the coroners office have refused to release the teens cause of death, citing an open investigation.

The Barnwell Police Department previously told USA TODAY the South Carolina Law Enforcement Divisions (SLED) Special Victims Unit had taken over the investigation.

SLEDs investigation is active and ongoing, wrote spokesperson Renee Wunderlich in an email last month.

Neither Barnwell police, the Barnwell County Sheriff's Office, the Barnwell County Coroner or SLED immediately responded to requests for comments this week.

More on SC death investigation: Pregnant teen found dead in a ditch days after she was to be induced

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is investigating a double homicide and they are seeking information from the public.

Teenager was a sour patch kid with a good heart

Timms found out about Maylashia when other loved ones posted about her being missing on Facebook. The teen had a history of running away from home, but usually returned shortly after.

I knew something was wrong because she always, always came back (in) like one or two days, Timms said. I knew it was different because she's pregnant. Nine months pregnant, she wouldnt have just disappeared.

Multiple loved ones said she was last seen at her boyfriends home at the Colony West Apartments in Barnwell.

Timms reached out to the Broken Link Foundation to ask for help when she noticed the Barnwell Sheriff Offices post about a white man who was missing from the same apartment complex, Michael Gene Still.

A scan of the sheriffs office Facebook page shows no individual posts about 17-year-old Maylashia other than one stating there is no "concrete evidence" that Stills disappearance is related to her case.

We continue to work closely with Barnwell Police Dept. to share information and follow all leads, the sheriffs office wrote.

Timms, the family friend who contacted the Broken Link Foundation to ask for help finding the teenager, said Maylashias life matters just as much as anyone elses.

She met Maylashia when she was about 4 or 5 years old.

She was active, Timms laughed, remembering the teen. She had a good heart. She said whats on her mind.

She was a handful but she was a good person, Timms said.

Maylashia lost her mother, Charity Hogg, in January 2021. She was planning to make her baby her mothers namesake and had chosen the name London Charity, Timms said.

I just want people to know that she was somebody regardless of her past, Timms said.

Maylashia Shantebia Hogg, a teenager from South Carolina who was reported missing. At the time of her disappearance, she was 17 years old.

Teens cousin wants justice for expectant mother

Janearia Rice is Maylashias first cousin, related to her through her biological father. Rice lovingly called her cousin a sour patch kid. Just two years apart, theyd get annoyed with each other but make up quickly after.

We would just be friends like nothing happened, Rice told USA TODAY on Feb. 29. Sometimes we don't even apologize. Wed just start talking. You can't hold grudges.

She said police arent telling their family much, not even her grandmother. The family had a memorial service for Maylashia with no answers.

There was no body in the casket, Rice said, adding that shes not even sure where her cousins remains are. They arent sure if the body is still at the coroners office.

These are the questions that this childs grandmother wants to know and she cannot even get these answers because no one is speaking to her, Rice said.

Rice said authorities in Barnwell have failed to thoroughly investigate her cousins case.

We just want closure, she said. Give us a cause of death or something  Our hearts are aching. We can't sleep at night.

'Alarming' national trend

Maylashias case and the Broken Link Foundation spotlight a disparity seen nationwide.

Black women and girls make up for about 7% of the U.S. population, but accounted for approximately 18% of all missing persons cases in 2022, data from the National Crime Information Center and U.S. Census Bureau showed.

"Those statistics just hit really hard. It's really alarming," Treva Lindsey, a writer and professor of women's studies at The Ohio State University, previously told USA TODAY.

Previously: Americans are fixating on Carlee Russell. What about other missing Black women?

'Finding them safe doesn't happen as often as you want them to'

The Broken Link Foundation, which is working to get answers for Maylashias family, is made up of Kite, a dive team, another former law enforcement officer, as well as a researcher who has no law enforcement background but is phenomenal at investigative research, Kite said.

Typically when families contact her foundation, Kite has an idea as to whether shes trying to find someone safely or make a recovery.

David Loveless and Tanner Loveless, divers from the Broken Link Foundation searching in Savannah, Georgia.

Finding them safe doesn't happen as often as you want them to, she said. Typically when we're called in, usually its down the road and it's when a family realizes that Hey, police are not doing what they're supposed to be doing. There's no communication in our state unless it's a blond haired, blue eyed, white female. The police don't care. They do not care.

Police typically dont care if missing people have a history of addiction or are runaways either, she said.

It's a junkie, she said she has heard detectives say. Why am I going to waste my time?

The foundation has been involved in the search for Jamilla Shanae Smith, who was reported missing on Dec. 3. Her ex-boyfriend has been charged in relation to her death but her remains have yet to be found.

David Loveless and Roger Coates, members of the Broken Link Foundation, in Columbia, South Carolina.

The Broken Link Foundation has also helped find runaway teenagers who ended up in other parts of the U.S., including one who was in Florida with a man in his late 30s she met gaming online.

Had they listened to the families and not gone by their personal bias opinions, they wouldve found these girls sooner, Kite said.

The same could be said for Maylashia, Kite said, whose name was known because she ran away from home multiple times prior to her death.

When Maylashia went missing this time, they didn't send out dogs, Kite said. They didn't send out drones. They didn't go look for her. They put out fliers. That was all they did.

She added that search efforts for the 47-year old white man missing from the same apartment complex, Michael Still, involved dogs and search parties.

They had everything out for him, Kite said. There's no equality. There's no fairness.

The search to find out what happened to Maylashia and her unborn child is still on, Kite said.

Kite handles many of the groups tasks on her own, including running the organizations Facebook page, distributing fliers and advocating for families.

But help may be on the way, she said.

Maylashias case has brought in a lot of people reaching out about volunteering, which is a good thing, she said.

To reach the Broken Link Foundation, visit www.facebook.com/Brokenlinkfoundation.

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia  the 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin or email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Maylashia Hogg: Family, search group seeks answers in teen's death
[Source]

A New York City sushi restaurant owner has filed a lawsuit against Wegmans, accusing the grocery giant of stealing his restaurant concept and trade secrets.

Breach of agreements: The legal action from Yuji Haraguchi claims that Wegmans, after exploring a potential business partnership with Haraguchi, opened a similar fish market called Sakanaya (Japanese fish market) just three blocks away from Haraguchi's Osakana restaurant in East Village. Haraguchi alleges that Wegmans breached non-disclosure and non-compete agreements signed in August 2023 through Wegmans fish broker, Culinary Collaborations.

Concept theft: According to Haraguchi, he shared trade secrets to companies associated with Wegmans under business partnership agreement. The restaurant owner also noted signing a letter of intent in September. The lawsuit alleges concept theft, with Haraguchi citing the uncanny and confusingly similar resemblance of Wegmans Sakanaya to his Osakana restaurant.

I disclosed all of my trade secrets, practices, and all the financial information, he wrote in a Change.org petition. I invited them to come into my store in the East Village and Midtown locations and showed them everything. They even took our sushi class.

Trending on NextShark: NYC sushi restaurant owner accuses Wegmans of stealing his concept and trade secrets

Backing out: In October, Haraguchi learned of Wegmans newly-opened fish market from a customer, and in November, the business partnership with Haraguchi was later revoked by Wegmans without any logical explanation.

That's how they backed out the deal, Haraguchi wrote in his petition. They just disappeared. This was the most disgusting business practice I have ever experienced in my life. I would never have agreed with them if I knew their intention was just to steal my business practice and replicate it down the street.

Wegmans response: Wegmans has since responded to the filed lawsuit, stating that they are aware of the legal action concerning its fish market at the Astor Place store. The company expresses confidence that the claims made against Wegmans are without merit.

Trending on NextShark: Indian painter gets brain-dead woman's hands in rare bilateral hand transplant

Not the first time: Haraguchi contends that this is not Wegmans' first instance of business theft, citing a similar incident involving Genji Sushi. He alleged that Wegmans' sushi takeaway program began through the misappropriation of assets from Genji Sushi, resulting in a striking resemblance between Wegmans Sushi and Whole Foods Sushi.

Haraguchis plea: Haraguchi, who is also the founder of Japanese eateries Okonomi and Yuji Ramen, emphasizes the impact of the alleged theft on his small business and the 15 employees who depend on it. His Change.org petition demanding Wegmans cease Sakanaya operations has gained more than 4,000 signatures.

I want the public to know that this is what a multi billion dollar company did against a minority owned small business like myself, Haraguchi said. I am raising my voice not just for myself, but also on behalf of the hard working small business owners. I did my best to stay out of court. However, they completely ignored my efforts and are currently operating Sakanaya like nothing ever happened.

Trending on NextShark: Asian family donates $5 million to Black students in honor of family who helped them

Download the NextShark App:

Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
Warren County Republicans Kathy Grossmann, Adam Mathews and Heather Salyer will face each other in the March primary for a statehouse seat.

Two familiar Warren County Republicans and one newcomer will face each other in the March primary for a statehouse seat.

State Rep. Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon) will again face former Mason City Councilmember Kathy Grossmann. This time the candidates are also running against Heather Salyer, a Franklin resident who describes herself as "pro-Trump" and against mask and vaccine mandates.

District 56 includes northwestern Warren County and the cities of Lebanon and Mason. The district leans Republican. Matthews defeated Democratic candidate Joy Bennett with 60% of the vote in 2022.

District 56 Rep. Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon).

Who is Adam Mathews?

Mathews grew up in Mason and received his bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Notre Dame, according to his campaign website. He previously served on Lebanon City Council, where he co-sponsored an ordinance to ban abortions within city limits.

During his first term in Columbus, Mathews has sponsored bills to change Ohio rules regarding baby boxes, allow concealed carry in buildings with courtrooms, and require university financial aid disclosure. He voted to override Gov. Mike DeWine's veto of HB 68, which restricted medical care for transgender children and banned transgender girls from female sports.

He has been endorsed by Ohio Right to Life and Americans for Prosperity.

Kathy Grossmann, former Mason mayor.

Who is Kathy Grossmann?

Grossmann has served as mayor and councilmember in Mason. Her second term on the council ended in 2023. Term limits prevented her from seeking reelection. During her time on the council, she introduced an abortion ban ordinance that was later repealed and championed a charter amendment to change Mason's process for disclosing potential conflicts of interest before real estate transactions.

She has an education degree from Northern Kentucky University and worked as a fifth-grade teacher at Sycamore Community Schools until 2001. Grossmann now manages a real estate business, according to her campaign website.

Heather Salyer

Who is Heather Salyer?

Salyer has a business degree from Mt. Vernon Nazarene University. She has worked in sales and taught Sunday School, according to her campaign website.

She has been endorsed by Ohio Value Voters, a group that believes Ohio schools are indoctrinating children with critical race theory, sex education and social and emotional learning.

The Warren County Republican Party has not endorsed any candidate in the race.

How to vote

The primary election is March 19. To check your voter registration or polling location, visit VoteOhio.gov. Early voting began on Feb. 21. You can vote early in person at the county board of elections office at 520 Justice Drive in Lebanon.

The USA TODAY Network Ohio election guide can be found here.

Erin Glynn is the watchdog reporter for Butler, Warren and Clermont counties through the Report For America program. The Enquirer needs local donors to help fund her grant-funded position. If you want to support Glynn's work, you can donate to her Report For America position at this website or email her editor Carl Weiser at cweiser@enquirer.com to find out how you can help fund her work.

Do you know something she should know? Send her a note at eglynn@enquirer.com and follow her on X at @ee_glynn.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Warren County rep will face 2 Republican primary challengers
An Orangeburg County man has been charged in the death of his 3-month-old son, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

Anthony Lamont Simpson, 25, has been charged with homicide by child abuse after investigators determined that his infant child died following trauma to the brain, skull and jaw, SLED said. Those injuries occurred under circumstances manifesting in an extreme indifference to human life, according to a warrant released Thursday.

Simpson, a resident of Chicquita Street in Cordova, a small town located southwest of Orangeburg, was arrested and charged March 1, according to court records.

Deputies responded to reports of an unresponsive child on Aug. 28, 2023, according to the warrant. The infant was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy concluded that the 3-month-old had suffered inflicted head trauma resulting in bleeding between his brain and skull, and evidence was found of bruising along his jaw and a healing fractured rib, according to the warrant.

The Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office requested the SLED Special Victims Unit Department of Child Fatalities conduct the investigation, according to a statement from the department.

Simpson was interviewed by law enforcement, who made the decision to charge him in his sons death after speaking with witnesses and reviewing medical records and documents from the Department of Social Services.

The case will be prosecuted by the 1st Circuit Solicitors Office.

Homicide by child abuse carries a minimum penalty of 20 years without parole and up to life without parole, said First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe, who declined to discuss details of the case.

Simpson was booked at the Orangeburg County Detention Center. Court records do not indicate that bond has been set. A circuit court judge must set bond in cases where the defendant is charged with crimes carrying the possibility of a life sentence, Pascoe said. Simpsons first appearance date is set for May 8.
One person was severely burned in a mobile home fire Wednesday, according to the Georgetown Fire Department.

The fire happened sometime before 11 a.m. in the area of Robinson Trailer Park, according to the Scott County Fire Department, which assisted the Georgetown Fire Department in fighting the fire. Georgetown officials said firefighters found an unconscious person inside the burning building during the initial search.

The person was removed from the mobile home and sent to University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital with severe burn injuries, according to Georgetown fire.

Two dogs were also inside the home when it caught fire. Georgetown officials said one dog died, but the other was rescued and is expected to make a full recovery.

Firefighters battled intense heat and black-out smoke conditions while trying to put out the flames, Georgetown said. What caused the fire and the extent of the damage to the home wasnt provided by Georgetown fire.
Dallas mayor Eric Johnson speaks with Chad Hasty about his second-term agenda and partisanship at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Sept. 22, 2023. Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune

An effort to recall Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson over his joining the Republican Party failed this week, the city secretary announced Wednesday.

Former Dallas City Council candidate Davante Peters launched a petition in early January calling for Johnsons removal after the mayor announced he was leaving the Democratic Party to join the GOP.

In a letter to City Council members, Dallas City Secretary Bilierae Johnson said Peters failed to submit the petition by the Tuesday deadline, which rendered the effort unsuccessful.

It is not clear exactly how many signatures the petition garnered, though Peters would have needed over 103,000 Dallas voters to support the recall  or 15% of residents who voted in the last general municipal election. An online petition from the Dallas County Democratic Party calling for Johnsons resignation earned just under 3,000 signatures as of Wednesday.

Johnson has served as Dallas mayor  a nonpartisan position  since 2019. When he announced in September that he was swapping political teams, it didnt surprise Dallas political observers who said he had been leaning toward the GOP. But some of his former Democratic allies and voters felt spurned by Johnsons about-face.

It's really unfortunate to see Mayor Johnson switch parties but also to turn his back on the electorate that's gotten him this far in his political career, Kardal Coleman, chair of the Dallas County Democratic Party, said at the time of Johnsons announcement.

Johnson previously served in the Texas House from 2010 to 2019 as a Democratic representative for Dallas.

Last May, Johnson ran unopposed for a second term as Dallas mayor. Dallas is the states third most populous city.

In a press release on Wednesday denouncing the failed effort, Johnson cast the recall as a partisan nothing-burger that was inflated by local media.

Peters, a local activist who runs a health food store in Dallas, told WFAA that he only gathered roughly 13,000 signatures but intends to resubmit another, more successful, recall petition.

When he launched the petition, Peters said the mayors absence at City Council meetings had made him doubt Johnsons commitment to the position.

An analysis from KERA last year found that Johnson missed over 130 hours of council meetings since 2019  more than any other current Dallas City Council member.

We cant wait to welcome you to downtown Austin Sept. 5-7 for the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival! Join us at Texas breakout politics and policy event as we dig into the 2024 elections, state and national politics, the state of democracy, and so much more. When tickets go on sale this spring, Tribune members will save big. Donate to join or renew today.
Reception marks 40th anniversary of China-Zambia military medical cooperation

Xinhua) 09:40, March 07, 2024

LUSAKA, March 6 (Xinhua) -- A reception to mark the 40th anniversary of China-Zambia military medical cooperation was held Tuesday in Lusaka, the Zambian capital.

The event also saw the bidding of farewell to the 26th Chinese Military Medical Team, who were awarded medals of international cooperation, and the welcoming of the 27th medical team.

Wang Sheng, the charge d'affaires at the Chinese Embassy, and Ambrose Lufuma, the Zambian minister of defense, as well as officials from the Maina Soko Medical Center, attended the event.

In his remarks, Wang said in that the past 40 years, Chinese medical teams have traveled thousands of miles to help save the lives of people in Zambia and deepen the friendship between the two countries.

They also helped improve the medical capabilities of Zambian colleagues, he said, commending the medical teams for their hard work and their contribution to a stronger China-Zambia friendship.

Wang noted that the year 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, adding that the embassy will uphold the spirit of China-Africa friendly cooperation, move forward with people from all walks of life in Zambia and transform the profound traditional cooperation between the two countries into an inexhaustible driving force for win-win cooperation in the new era.

Senior Colonel Jiang Lei, the defense attache of the Chinese Embassy in Zambia, said the China-Zambia military medical cooperation has achieved fruitful results and has become an important symbol of the friendship between the two countries over the past 40 years.

He said the Chinese military doctors will keep their mission firmly in mind, perform their duties and promote new progress in bilateral cooperation.

Lufuma, the Zambian defense minister, said Lusaka values the Chinese medical teams' contributions and their knowledge transfer to the country.

"Their medical skills have earned the trust and respect of the government and the people. That is why they have continued to receive high accolades from people of all walks of life in Zambia," he said.

He said Zambia appreciates the level of cooperation in the health sector between the two countries and that the two countries intend to solidify it further in areas of medical equipment, technology and training.

Since 1984, China has sent 27 military medical teams, totaling 332 members, to Zambia.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Kim Jong-un wields an assault rifle as he inspects a training base - GETTY IMAGES

Kim Jong-un brandished an assault rifle while inspecting a major operational training base where he urged his military to intensify actual war drills.

Wearing a black leather jacket, the North Korean leader was shown talking to ranks of heavily armed soldiers in camouflage, overseeing firing drills and inspecting weaponry, images in the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) showed.

During his visit to the base, in the countrys western region, Mr Kim told the North Korean army to steadily intensify the actual war drills aimed at rapidly improving its combat capabilities for perfect war preparedness.

Mr Kim has urged troops to be ready for war with the South and the United States - AP

His visit comes as South Korea and the US conduct their annual spring military exercises, known as Freedom Shield, which involve field exercises, missile interception drills and live firing.

Pyongyang has called the drills reckless, warning the allies they will pay a dear price.

The North Korean leader posed for a photograph with the troops at the unknown base - GETTY IMAGES

KCNA photos also show Mr Kim being applauded by soldiers, who pledged their intense loyalty to him in the sacred struggle for the security of the country.

North Korea has long condemned joint US-South Korea military drills, calling them rehearsals for an invasion.

The nuclear-armed North has in the past carried out weapons tests as a response to such joint exercises.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN)  The Associated Press has declared Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump as winners of the presidential primary race Tuesday in North Carolina.

Polls closed at 7:30 p.m. and Trumps win was declared around 8 p.m., according to the wire service.

Just after 8:10 p.m., Biden had 90 percent of the vote statewide in North Carolina with 73,940 votes. Meanwhile, Trump had 77,802 votes or 73.18 percent, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

RELATED: Click here for the latest election results

Trumps rival Nikki Haley had nearly 24 percent of the Republican vote with 21,724 votes.

President Biden and former President Trump started off the night by winning Virginia, which with North Carolina is among several states voting on Super Tuesday.

Biden, 81, and the 77-year-old Trump continue to dominate their parties despite both facing questions about their age and neither commanding broad popularity across the general electorate.

The earliest either can become his partys presumptive nominee is March 12 for Trump and March 19 for Biden. But, in a departure from most previous Super Tuesdays, both nominations are effectively settled, with Biden and Trump both looking ahead to a reprise of the 2020 general election.

We have to beat Biden  he is the worst president in history, Trump said Tuesday on Fox & Friends.

Biden countered with a pair of radio interviews aimed at shoring up his support among Black voters, who helped anchor his 2020 coalition.

If we lose this election, youre going to be back with Donald Trump, Biden said on the DeDe in the Morning show hosted by DeDe McGuire. The way he talks about, the way he acted, the way he has dealt with the African American community, I think, has been shameful.

Despite Bidens and Trumps domination of their parties, polls make it clear that the broader electorate does not want this years general election to be identical to the 2020 race. A new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds a majority of Americans dont think either Biden or Trump has the necessary mental acuity for the job.

Both of them failed, in my opinion, to unify this country, said Brian Hadley, 66, of Raleigh, North Carolina.

The final days before Tuesday demonstrated the unique nature of this years campaign. Rather than barnstorming the states holding primaries, Biden and Trump held rival events last week along the U.S.-Mexico border, each seeking to gain an advantage in the increasingly fraught immigration debate.

After the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 on Monday to restore Trump to primary ballots following attempts to ban him for his role in helping spark the Capitol riot, Trump pointed to the 91 criminal counts against him to accuse Biden of weaponizing the courts.

Fight your fight yourself, Trump said. Dont use prosecutors and judges to go after your opponent.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com.
BOSTON  Lawmakers in the Massachusetts House of Representatives approved a bill Wednesday that would provide additional funding to carry the states emergency shelter system through to the end of the fiscal year in June.

Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, D-Boston, chairman of the House Ways and Means, said limiting the length of stay in the state's emergency shelter program could make it more sustainable in the long run.

But it comes with strings attached  reforms that would limit stays to nine months, with options for reapplying for assistance.

The House approved a $260 million supplemental spending package Wednesday of which $245 million would be earmarked for the beleaguered program. The states right-to-shelter law, on the books since 1983 and specifically enacted to serve families and pregnant people, has come under fire. Several legislators have been suggesting reforms since last fall.

This proposal keeps the spirit of the right-to-shelter law without changing the states response to migrants and makes it sustainable over the long term, said Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, D-Boston, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. He stepped in for House Speaker Ronald Mariano, D-Quincy, who was quarantining with a fever.

We dont want it collapsing under its own weight, Michlewitz said.

Outdoor dining, cocktails-to-go also in bill

The proposal would also extend some COVID-era provisions. It would streamline the application process for restaurants seeking to offer outdoor dining and also make permanent cocktails-to-go. While the provisions were included in the bill, lawmakers did not discuss them as they debated the measure.

Included in the $245 million is $10 million to fund dedicated job training programs including $3 million to support family welcome centers and another $3 million  $1 million each  to hire more staff, to connect families with other services and for Head Start programming. The job training program comes with a $2,500 tax credit for employers participating in job training measures for those in the shelter system.

The job training program is considered a vital part of the proposal. It would impart the necessary skills to successfully hold a job in Massachusetts and to ensure that new residents can become productive members of society and help the states economy grow.

Michlewitz said that the average stay for families using the states emergency shelter program is between 13 and 14 months. The proposal limits stays to nine months, with a three-month extension for working people and those actively involved in a job training program. Pregnant people and persons with disabilities or the parents or guardians of disabled dependents are allowed to stay for 12 months.

Once the first nine-month stay is exhausted, under the proposal, families would be allowed to apply for additional assistance and a longer stay. Michlewitz said the parameters of the application process would be developed by the administration and not through the legislative process.

Our main goal is to set limits and create a sustainable system, Michlewitz said.

Emergency overflow sites

Gov. Maura T. Healey set a cap on the number of families allowed into the shelter system in October, limiting it to 7,500. There are currently 7,547. In November, the Legislature funded emergency overflow sites to temporarily house those families placed on a waiting list, which currently holds 700 families.

The state funded the emergency shelter system at $325 million in the actual budget, added an additional $250 million in November and is proposing the $245 million supplement. The shelter total so far comes to $820 million with the passage of the bill. Administration officials suggest the total for fiscal 2024 could reach $932 million.

The changes, Michlewitz argues, expedites moving people in and out of the system to ease pressure on overflow sites. The proposal also directs the administration to seek federal waivers for expedited, temporary and provisional work authorizations.

In the debate process before the passing of the bill by the House, members offered amendments, from attaching a residency requirement to the bill (defeated in a 29-125 vote) to prioritize housing veterans for the full allowable length of time without restrictions or reservations (passed 154-0).

Rep. Paul Frost, R-Auburn, who had suggested a 12-month residency requirement in November when the house was debating funneling an additional $250 million to support the emergency shelter system, cut his residency suggestion to six months.

This is unsustainable, out of control, Frost said as he urged his colleagues to consider a residency requirement as a way to stem the influx of migrants coming to the state. He called the states 41-year-old law an incentive to the groups at the nations southern borders to send people to Massachusetts knowing that they will be offered shelter, health care and food.

Bay Staters pitted against migrants

In his speech, Frost pointed out that Massachusetts residents, those who have called the state home for years, are competing for the same precious spots in the system with new arrivals.

The proposal does not give existing Massachusetts residents any leverage. They are placed on the same waiting lists as those families who showed up yesterday, Frost said. The residency requirement, he argued, would indicate that Massachusetts is truly full and cannot accept any more migrants.

Frost questioned how the state would enforce the stay limits, asking what happens when the families do not get jobs or if they take training programs, how they will get the types of jobs that pay enough for market-rate housing.

Even as part of the work force, the families would still compete for the limited number of low-income and subsidized housing units available in Massachusetts.

Funneling more and more money into the program is unsustainable, Frost said, and has led to budget cuts made by Healey in January that affected local services including funding for the Auburn Fire Department to purchase protective gear.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Bill also extends COVID-19 provisions; outdoor dining, cocktails to go
As lawmakers consider Gov. Josh Shapiro's timely proposal to tax and regulate skill games, they would be wise to follow the blueprint of one the nation's most successful state gaming industries  and they won't have to travel far to find it. Over the last 20 years, Pennsylvania has emerged as a national leader in developing its gaming industry. Starting with the introduction of slot machines at existing racetracks in 2004, the casino industry and the commonwealth have worked together to introduce gaming responsibly in a strategic and measured approach.

Today, the casino industry consists of 17 land-based casinos, and two more casinos are expected to open in the next few years. The results speak for themselves. The PA Gaming Control Board reports that casinos generated a record $2.34 billion in state tax revenue in 2023. In addition, the industry:

Employs 15,000 Pennsylvania workers directly and supports a total of 33,000 Pennsylvania jobs,

Invests $500 million annually with in-state businesses,

Provides $110 million in local share contributions to nonprofits, first responder groups and other organizations in host communities, including Erie County.

It is critical that lawmakers protect these jobs, ongoing investments and tax revenues as this debate intensifies. Gov. Shapiro's proposal recognizes the need for both tax and regulatory parity among slot machine and skill games operations. He has proposed a 42% tax rate on skill games revenue. This is far closer to the 54% tax casinos pay on slot machine revenues than the absurdly low 16% tax that state Sen. Gene Yaw, a leading skill games proponent, has proposed. Tax parity is common sense and a matter of simple fairness: slot machines, skill games and VGTs should pay comparable rates.

Four Pennsylvania Skill gaming machines line a wall at The Wharf in Harrisburg.

The governor has also proposed that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) regulate skill games. This provision is a necessity  and plain common sense. The PCGB was created to regulate and supervise gaming. Sen. Yaw, of Lycoming County, R-23rd Dist., has proposed that the Department of Revenue regulate skill games. Lawmakers are not likely to ask the Department of Banking to inspect PennDOT bridges or task the Department of Agriculture with managing PennDOT's licensing centers. Why assign this critical role to any other agency than the PGCB?

Tight regulation and oversight are a mandatory first step to remedy the current situation. Today there are zero supports to address problem gambling or safeguards to prevent underage gambling. There are no background checks required of those who operate these machines and there are no anti-money laundering measures in place. There is no testing of the machines to ensure fairness to the player. Law enforcement officials including our Attorney General and the Pennsylvania State Police have repeatedly raised public safety concerns regarding these machines.

Most recently, in a letter to Gov. Shapiro the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association (PDAA) raised skill games as one of three major concerns, writing that, "Thousands of skill game machines are found in pizza shops, convenience stores, gas stations, and taverns across Pennsylvania. Law enforcement has seen an increase in crime related to the proliferation of the machines." The letter adds, "Unlike the highly regulated casinos in our state, the local establishments with skill game machines generally have minimum security and are easily observed by and accessible to children."

It is important to note that voters support equal treatment for casino slot machines and skill games. A recent statewide poll conducted by Franklin & Marshall found that, "Most (60%) voters believe skill games should be regulated and taxed in the same way that casino-based games are regulated and taxed in the state." In addition to these two fundamental provisions, at a bare minimum, it is imperative that any skill game legislation include:

A limit on the total number of machines allowed and the total number of establishments that can host skill games.

Strict limits on the types of business establishments that can host these machines.

Meaningful law enforcement provisions to ensure that illegal machines will be confiscated.

More: Presque Isle Downs & Casino sees $15 million revenue drop in 2023. What caused the decline?

These provisions will lead to a dramatic reduction of the tens of thousands of skill games now in operation across the state. Lawmakers and Gov. Shapiro have an opportunity and an obligation to hold skill games to the same standards that the state's casino industry is held to today.

Pete Shelly is a spokesperson for Pennsylvanians Against Gaming Expansion.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Shapiro, lawmakers should regulate and tax skill games in Pennsylvania
The steamer Manitou makes its way towards Charlevoix.

March 7, 1924: Petoskey dock being prepared

Neil McDuffee is superintending the work of repairing the Petoskey wharf, owned by the Michigan Transit company. The upper works and deck from the land end to the warehouse section will be entirely rebuilt. New timbers and planking will be used.

The old timbers and planking will be given to Petoskey people for fuel, and those caring for this wood should see Neil McDuffee at the wharf.

Remodeling Manitou

The steamer Manitou of the Michigan Transit company fleet, is being remodeled. The work is being handled at Manistee where the automobile deck is being enlarged to give space for twenty automobiles. The cargo space below the main deck is being enlarged by removing many of the built-in staterooms in the lower part of the ship. This space was originally intended for freight cargo but was never utilized, and was finally taken up by small rooms. A freight elevator is being installed to handle the freight.

The ship will make three trips a week from Chicago to northern points, carrying passengers, automobiles and freight cargo. The steamer Puritan will be put on the Frankfurt run and the Missouri on the Soo run during 1924.

Captain George Johnson, who was here this week looking after the Petoskey wharf repairs, will return to Traverse City today.

March 7, 1974: Probe 30 Carp Lake cottage break-ins, quiz 8 juveniles

Emmet County Sheriffs department reported this morning that 30 break-ins of summer homes in the Carp Lake area are now under investigation.

The series of burglaries were discovered Wednesday night when officers responded to a call from a local citizen on a break-in of two homes owned by Douglas Van Patten in Carp Lake.

Eight juveniles from the Carp Lake area were apprehended last night in connection with the Van Patten home break-in.

The eight youths were released to their parents by police and scheduled to appear in court at a later date.

According to Emmet County Sheriff Richard Zink, an estimated $2500 of stolen goods were recovered from the Van Patten home incident.

Exact value of the stolen items would not be determined as many of them were described as being antiques, including several firearms.

Work is continuing today by the sheriffs department and Region 10 detectives, who helped in the initial investigation.

Zink said that of the remaining 30 breaking and enterings uncovered, all involved summer homes in the Carp Lake area.

Owners of the homes will be notified as more information is received.

Zink said that no relation between the Van Patten home B & Es and the other 28 has been determined at this time.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Reviewing the news: A new dock for Petoskey
PROVIDENCE  The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary on Thursday approved District Court Judge Melissa R. DuBoses nomination to the federal bench.

The committee voted 12-9, largely on party lines, in giving DuBose the nod to take the U.S. District Court seat being vacated by Judge William E. Smith. If approved by the full Senate, DuBose would become the first person of color and LGBTQ+ judge to sit on the court in Rhode Island.

President Joe Biden in January announced DuBoses nomination at the recommendation of U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed.

Ms. DuBose is a well-respected jurist who will make an exemplary federal judge. She earned bipartisan support from members of the Judiciary Committee today  a testament to her professionalism, intelligence, and integrity. I look forward to a swift confirmation by the full Senate, Whitehouse, a senior member of the committee, said in a statement Thursday.

Judge Dubose is exceedingly well-qualified and has a proven commitment to fairness, integrity, and justice, Reed said.

DuBose appeared before the committee in a hearing last month at which Republican lawmakers peppered her with questions about her political leanings.

State District Court Judge Melissa DuBose.

Widespread support

DuBose has enjoyed widespread support from the states judicial and law enforcement communities. Local police officials, state prosecutors and current members of the Rhode Island Supreme Court and the broader Rhode Island judiciary also advocated for her confirmation.

The judges currently seated on the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island lent their wholehearted support for the nomination in a letter to the Judiciary Committee.

Melissas integrity is beyond reproach; her professional competence is varied and deep; and her judicial temperament is exemplary. Everyone on our Court is pleased at the possibility of welcoming Judge DuBose to the federal court if she is fortunate enough to be confirmed by the Senate, the judges wrote.

Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond, observed that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, was one of the senators to cast a favorable vote for DuBose.

"Graham, the ranking member, voted yes and his vote is critically important, because numerous GOP colleagues look to him for guidance on judicial nominees. For example, Sens. Collins and Murkowski will likely vote for DuBose, as will a number of others," Tobias said in an email.

A native Rhode Islander, former teacher

DuBose, 55, is a native Rhode Islander who graduated from Providence College in 1990 with a degree in political science and went on to receive a teaching certification from the Providence College School of Continuing Education.

She taught history and civics in the Providence public schools for a decade and earned her law degree from Roger Williams University School of Law while working full time and taking classes at night.

She worked as a special assistant attorney general in the criminal division from 2005 to 2008. She went on to serve as senior legal counsel at Schneider Electric in Foxboro, Massachusetts, where she provided in-house counsel for the companys global units and specialized in federal contracts, corporate compliance, ethics and fair trade.

In December 2018, she was named as a state District Court judge by then-Gov. Gina Raimondo.

Smith announced in June that he intends to retire from regular active service and assume senior status on Jan. 1, 2025.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island is a federal trial court, which hears both civil, criminal and maritime matters.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Nomination of Judge DuBose to U.S. District Court in RI clears hurdle
We sometimes take our national security for granted. This is a testament to the ability of our armed forces to deter and destroy threats. But they cannot do their job when policymakers undermine or complicate their mission. To keep our country safe, we must protect the U.S. militarys ability to respond to threats in our hemisphere. This means protecting Homestead Air Reserve Base (HARB).

Located in Homestead, Florida, this base was established during World War II to serve as a training facility and logistics hub for Allied operations in Africa and the Caribbean. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, it became the site of three fighter wings poised to strike communist forces.

Later, it helped the United States manage mass migration from Cuba, resupply Guantanamo Bay, and respond to the 1996 shooting-down of two Brothers to the Rescue planes.

HARB remains a crucial asset today. In fact, despite its designation as an air reserve base, it plays a commanding role in our regional security. F-15 Eagles and F-16C Fighting Falcons operating from HARB work with Dorals U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) to defend our nation from air attacks and other threats. The base is also the headquarters of U.S. SpecialOperations Command South and houses numerous U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and U.S. Coast Guard assets.

I have long supported HARBs mission. To prevent disruptive commercial activity in the area, which also threatens Everglades restoration, I secured a four-year prohibition on civilian aviation at the base in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.

Sen. Rick Scott and I, together with Rep. Carlos Gimenez, have introduced legislation that would make that prohibition permanent.

As the world grows more dangerous, the need to protect HARB from intrusive development remains strong. Without HARB, we would be left vulnerable. Much of the worlds oil, food, and natural gas is exported through the strategic marine chokepoint between Florida and Cuba.

We cannot discount the possibility that this area will become a combat zone in a future global conflict, just as it was during World War II when German U-boats sank dozens of ships in the Gulf of Mexico. We may not have to worry about U-boats today, but new threats are emerging.

For the past few months, for example, the Iranian-backed Houthis have assaulted ships in another chokepoint, the Red Sea, with nothing more than cheap, easy-to-use drones. Though it seems unlikely, our adversaries could wreak tremendous destruction by arming terrorists based in Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua or Venezuela to attack shipping near Florida with similar drones. Preparation is key to deterring such proxy conflicts, as well as direct conflict with the worlds most adversarial regimes.

Remember last years revelation that China was building a spy base 90 miles off our shores?

That is but one of many actions Beijing has taken to project military power into our region. To date, the Peoples Liberation Army has met with Latin American and Caribbean counterparts more than 200 times and shipped weapons to several countries. Most disturbing is Beijings investment in close to 40 regional ports, all of which could eventually serve as Chinese military bases. Meanwhile, Russia and Iran are also expanding their presence in the region.

As President Dwight D. Eisenhower said in his farewell address, Our arms must be mightyso that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

The threats are different today, but theyre no less pressing, and in the face of them, we cant afford to undermine HARBs operational security. Even as Miami-Dade County grows, the base remains a vital national security asset. It could be the last line of defense for South Florida and America writ large in the event of a large-scale conflict. We may need HARB for that purpose sooner than we think.

Marco Rubio is a United States senator from Florida.
Republican Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2024, at National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Md., Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. | Alex Brandon

Utah Sen. Mike Lee endorsed former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake for U.S. Senate on Thursday.

In a statement given to the Deseret News, Lee said, I need Kari in the Senate to put our country back on track.

Kari Lake will fight for the Constitution and the freedoms of all Americans. She will oppose the deep state and work to secure our border. I am proud to endorse her for Senate in Arizona, Lee said.

In return, Lake praised Lee as one of the finest senators in America.

Sen. Lee is a Utahn who is beloved in Arizona where he was born. I am honored to have his endorsement and full support in this critical race for Senate, she said in a statement to the Deseret News.

The endorsement comes two days after Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent, announced she will not seek a second term in office, leaving Lake, the likely Republican nominee, and Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., the likely Democratic nominee, to fight over the open seat.

Before Sinema dropped out of the race, polls consistently showed Gallego edging out Lake by three to five percentage points and Sinema trailing behind Lake by seven to 10 percentage points.

Its uncertain what effect Sinema dropping out will have on the race.

The independent senator drew more support from Republicans than from Democrats in recent election polling, Axios reported. But Arizona Democrats believe the simplified candidate field will benefit them because moderates and independents may have been alienated by Lakes conservative stances and her refusal to concede her 2022 election loss in her race for governor.

The U.S. Senate race in Arizona remains a toss-up even after Sinemas exit, according to the Cook Political Report.

Lake hopes a string of high profile endorsements can rally Republican, or Republican-leaning, voters in her purple state.

On Wednesday, Lake met with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and received the endorsement of McConnells deputy, Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D.

Other Senate leadership have also endorsed Lake, including Republican conference chair John Barrasso, R-Wyo., NRSC chair Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and GOP policy committee chair Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.

Former President Donald Trump endorsed Lake in October, as did Utah Republican Rep. Burgess Owens.
A lowpressure system that will move out of the Mississippi Valley on Friday could bring heavy rain and maybe severe storms to North Carolina this weekend.

Some forecasting models indicate the possibility of damaging wind gusts and a slight chance of tornadoes, the National Weather Service says.

The forecast for Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill

After bringing rain to the western part of the state during the day Friday, the low-pressure system will roll into central North Carolina late Friday into Saturday.

The National Weather Service says that through Saturday afternoon, Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill could see up to an inch of rain, with some thunderstorms possible.

Forecasters have issued a hazardous weather outlook for Saturday that includes Wake, Durham and Orange counties, as well as Chatham, Johnston, Person, Granville, Vance, Warren, Halifax, Forsyth, Guilford, Alamance, Nash, Edgecombe, Davidson, Randolph, Wayne and Wilson counties.

The risk level is marginal, forecasters say  Level 1 of 5  with the main hazard being isolated damaging wind gusts.

High temperatures Saturday are expected to be in the low 60s, with prevailing winds of 9 mph to 17 mph and gusts up to 26 mph.

The chance of rainfall decreases through Saturday night but additional showers are possible.

Sunday and Monday should be dry but breezy and cool and, This could create some fire weather concerns, especially on Monday, the weather service says.

If you live in an area where its legal to burn yard debris, put that off for a few days to prevent accidental wildfires.

Tuesday and Wednesday will feel more like spring: sunny and warmer, with highs in the 70s.

A greater risk to the south

Higher rainfall amounts  and a higher risk of severe storms  are expected south and east of the Triangle.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for Harnett, Lee, Moore, Montgomery, Stanly, Anson, Richmond, Scotland, Hoke, Cumberland and Sampson counties.

According to forecasters, theres a slight risk  Level 2 out of 5  of severe thunderstorms Saturday that could bring damaging wind gusts.

Isolated tornadoes are possible in that area, the weather service says.

Where will the heaviest rainfall be?

Jacksonville, Wilmington, Morehead City and other areas in southeastern North Carolina and along the coast could get between 1 and 2 inches of rain on Saturday, enough to cause minor flooding in low-lying areas.

Sunday will bring mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the low to mid-60s on and near the coast.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  The Mecklenburg County Sheriffs Office is sending two of its vehicles to a local university to be used by campus safety staff.

At Wednesday nights Board of Commissioners meeting, county leaders approved the transfer to Johnson C. Smith University. They are two high-mileage Dodge Chargers scheduled to be decommissioned: one a 2014 model and the other a 2018.

State law allows one North Carolina local government to donate obsolete or unused personal property to another governmental unit within the United States.

JCSUs Chief of Campus Police Walter Edwards made the request.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
A legally embattled downtown burger spot has filed a discrimination lawsuit against its building owners.

Shorts Burger & Shine is suing MidWestOne Bank, the trust of late building owner Haywood Belle, Belles widow, a bank employee, and the City of Iowa City. The lawsuit is the latest development in the legal battle between the burger joint and building ownership.

The Short's saga has featured plenty of legal back-and-forth between the trust that owns the building and the restaurant operators. The Johnson County District Court ruled in February that Shorts had not properly renewed its lease and set a quick deadline for Shorts to vacate the building.

Short's owner, Kevin Perez, and his lawyers appealed, and the court granted a stay, essentially pausing the order to vacate and allowing the 16-year-old downtown burger business to stay open as the court hears the appeal.

Perez, a co-owner of Shorts, accused MidWestOne of discrimination and retaliation. He also said the City of Iowa City aided and abetted the retaliation, accusing the city of "intentionally dismantling" the Short's patio and deck area in 2023.

Perez claims the entities violated the state constitution while working at the behest of the family trust.

More: Short's Burger in downtown Iowa City ordered by judge to vacate location

Shorts Burgers & Shine is pictured on Clinton Street Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa.

Shorts claims all-out assault toward Hispanic owner

Much of the lawsuit contends that the parties involved commenced an all-out assault to remove Shorts from its downtown Iowa City location because of something other than economics.

The lawsuit hinges on several accusations.

Perez contends that there was a lack of landlord-tenant conflicts between 2008 and April 2022 when Dan Ouverson, the other Shorts co-owner, who is caucasian, managed the business. Once Perez, a Hispanic, assumed managerial responsibility, he said the trust and MidWestOne started "litigating against the business" and "attempted to evict them," Perezs lawsuit alleges.

Perez said No legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for seeking to evict Shorts has ever been articulated by the Belle trust, the bank, Belles widow or other parties, according to court documents.

MidWestOne responded to some of these allegations when they were initially brought in an Iowa Civil Rights Commission complaint, saying that Perez was "simply trying to harass the trust and increase court costs," among other things.

Text messages and emails also were included in Perez's lawsuit.

In one alleged text exchange, Dennis Mitchell, a trust officer for MidWestOne and Sarah Wallace Belle, the widow of the late building owner, appeared to discuss Shorts reopening announcement posted in late July of 2023.

Mitchell says, Kevin P. is not on my list of favorite people.

More: 'Cutting-edge' care: Iowa Heartlanders, University of Iowa partner to boost athlete health

The University of Iowa campus is reflected in Shorts Burgers & Shine's window on Clinton Street Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa.

Iowa City named as one of multiple parties in lawsuit

The suit also names the City of Iowa City as one of the discriminating parties. Perez believes Short's sidewalk cafe, which had operated for more than a decade, was denied a permit because of a trust member's request.

The lawsuit claims "no other business in the nearly 15 years since sidewalk cafes were established" had been denied a sidewalk permit if they met all the city's requirements and paid the required fees.

The lawsuit also said the city "dismantled" a small patio that "protruded from the front facade of the building and overlapped onto the public sidewalk." Perez said the city was doing the bidding of MidWestOne.

In total, seven allegations were made in the civil filing, and three levy allegations against the city.

More: Judge orders stay in Short's legal battle, allowing downtown Iowa City location to remain open

Judge ruled Shorts had not renewed lease on time

Johnson County Magistrate Judge Christopher ordered Short's to vacate the building by Feb. 10 for "failure to renew a lease,"

Lawyers for Short's argued that the restaurant owners intended to renew their lease and remain at the Clinton Street location. The lawyers said the owners felt they "were not required to provide written notice" until after the conclusion of MidWestOne's first lawsuit.

Written notice of "intent to renew the lease" is required every three years, according to the lease agreement between Short's and MidWestOne. The most recent written notice was required by Jan. 30, 2023.

The judge determined that Short's did not provide a written notice until March 10, 2023, more than a month after the deadline.

The case made it to a bench trial, unlike previous litigation between the two entities.

Foster said Shorts only provided "a definite, unequivocal and unqualified determination that it intended to exercise its option to renew the lease" five weeks after the deadline, on March 10.

Perez and the ownership group at Short's quickly filed an appeal with Johnson County on Feb. 7. They said the motion would allow Short's Downtown to stay open through the appeal process.

A judge ruled that the "execution of writ of possession" is dependent on the outcome of the appeal.

Litigation continues in a separate case brought by Perez and his attorney regarding a breach of contract and alleged malicious prosecution by MidWestOne and the Belle Trust.

A jury trial is set to begin on July 16.

More: University of Iowa graduate student union calls for elimination of grad student fees

Structural and professional issues plague Short's

Short's opened at 18 S. Clinton Street in 2008 to honor the legacy and story of former building owner H.D. Short, who shined shoes for 50 years beginning in 1920.

Haywood Belle, the grandson of H.D. Short, owned the building when Short's first began serving customers.

Perez said the structure started to fall into disrepair after Belle's death in 2016.

My relationship was with Haywood Belle," Perez said in a statement provided to the Press-Citizen. "He treated everyone with respect. After he died, the bank and his widow started letting the building rot which confused me because Haywood was so proud of his building."

A legal battle spilled into the public eye in April 2022, when Short's announced its downtown location was closing.

Perez said he used that brief 2022 closure to invest nearly $60,000 in renovations.

Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Short's Burger & Shine co-owner files racial discrimination lawsuit
SHEBOYGAN  In 1836, before Sheboygan became a city and Wisconsin a state, the first post office was created here. Charles Cole was Sheboygan's first postmaster, according to the city's website.

In the coming years, the post office's importance grew as the city grew. In the year the Sheboygan post office was created, Sheboygan County was established.

In the early days, the Pony Express delivered mail to various post offices on roads created by the government for the postal system. Later, stagecoaches and trains picked up the pace after the American Civil War, according to history.com. Even steamships delivered mail to boats on the Great Lakes. Ships carried mail up and down the east and west seaboards for delivery in those areas. Airplanes also came into play in the early 20th century.

The post office building you see today on North Ninth Street, finished in 1938, is a relatively new building compared to the 1880s building it replaced. The 1930s building was part of a Works Progress Administration project and was dedicated Jan. 8, 1934. The building cost $157,071.48 not including the land and architect fees. The land was bought for $81,250.

Sheboygan's 1880s post office building's small size became a point of contention in the 1920s. In 1927, according to a Sheboygan Press clipping provided by Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, John F. Enz of the Sheboygan Business Men's Association wrote to U.S. Sen. Irvine E. Lenroot. Enz claimed the city was being treated unfairly in regards to money spent on U.S. Post Office buildings.

A view of the old U.S. Post office when it was located at 8th and Jefferson. The structure was built in the 1880s and was replaced by the current U.S. Post Office building on 9th Street in the 1930s

In his letter, Enz said Oshkosh, Marshfield and Wausau were getting necessary appropriations for new post office buildings. He said in his letter that Sheboygan should get the same consideration in getting a new U.S. Post Office building built. One of the concerns was to handle the increased parcel business the post office was seeing in that era.

By 1933, money was approved to build a new building on North Ninth Street. The building, finished by 1937, was designed in the Neoclassical style by Sheboygan architects E.A. Stubenmach and James A. Wetmore.

Plans were announced for the Ninth Street Post Office in December 1931, according a Sheboygan Press clipping from Katie Reilly of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center. The article had a sketch of the new building from Sheboygan architect E.A. Stubenrauch who designed the facility. The article said it would be one of the most beautiful buildings in the city.

The two-story structure was designed to be completely faced with Bedford stone. On the first floor, the plans called for the lobby, money order department, postmaster's office, assistant postmaster's office, office of the superintendent of mails and large work room.

On the second floor, the original plans called for offices for the post office inspector, internal revenue department, civil service department and the war department.

The basement would be areas for a storage room, records room, bathroom facilities and the boiler.

Late in 1932, the foundation excavation was under way, according to a Press clipping.

The interior of the Ninth Street post office has seen technology changes through the years, yet it features the murals that were part of the original decorations.

RELATED - Sheboygan post office could move some services. The US Postal Service is seeking your feedback.

On Saturday, Jan. 6, 1934, the building was dedicated with a standing-room-only crowd of an estimated 5,000 people jammed in the workroom of the facilities where the ceremony was held.

The honored speaker was Chief Inspector K.P. Aldrich of the United States post office department. Aldrich went to great lengths to describe the quality of Wisconsin. He said the postmaster general nor the assistant postmaster generals could attend the event.

A crowd assembled on the steps of the Sheboygan Post office, Monday, January 8, 1934, for the dedication of the building which would not be completely finished until 1937 in Sheboygan, Wis.

Aldrich is quoted in the Sheboygan Press, Monday, Jan. 8, 1934 as saying: "Personally, I am always overjoyed to have an opportunity to visit the great state of Wisconsin. Within its confines is everything that brings happiness and contentment to mankind. Here, where once were the illimitable forests, are now great cities, beautiful farms and great factories producing foodstuffs and materials that are so well known they bring Wisconsin's name as a land of plenty and progressiveness into the smallest hamlets of the United States and other countries.

"Crystal lakes, powerful rivers and beautiful landscapes entrance the eye," Aldrich continued. "Great forests are even yet supplying timber for the country. Summer resorts of peerless beauty are in her hills and along with her shores. No wonder that a native of Wisconsin who once leaves it feels like an exile, and visitors who come here always want to return."

Today, that building continues the constitutionally mandated function that has been known by the slogan: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

Gary C. Klein can be reached at 920-453-5149 or gklein@gannett.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @leicaman99.

This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: A Sheboygan Post office has been in operation since 1836
The Oklahoma State Board of Education meets Dec. 21 at the Oliver Hodge Building in the Capitol complex in Oklahoma City.

A job opening for the top legal position at the Oklahoma State Department of Education has been posted amid speculation the person now holding that position plans to leave the agency.

The opening for the Education Departments general counsel position was listed Thursday on Indeed.com.

Ryan Pieper, the department's executive director of accreditation, confirmed Thursday that both he and the agencys general counsel, Bryan Cleveland, are stepping away from their posts. Pieper's last day is Friday.

Both have held key positions in the administration of state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, who took office in January 2023 and has seen since a steady exodus of employees from the agency.

The resignations continue a pattern of disarray within a department that has been constantly in the spotlight and the subject of multiple legal challenges since Walters became superintendent.

Education Department spokesman Dan Isett refused Thursday to answer a question about whether or not Cleveland has resigned. Isett also didnt immediately provide a copy of any resignation letter written by Cleveland, which would be a public document as defined by the Oklahoma Open Records Act.

At this time, OSDE is not ready to make any public announcements regarding personnel, Isett told The Oklahoman in a text.

More: State education department exodus continues with departure of top accreditation official

A resignation by Cleveland, particularly if coupled with departures of other key members of the Education Department's legal team would continue a pattern of disarray within a department that has been constantly in the spotlight and the subject of legal challenges since Ryan Walters was elected state schools superintendent.

Three attorneys are listed as members of the Education Department's legal staff: Cleveland, general counsel; Andy N. Ferguson, deputy general counsel, and Nathan Downey, assistant general counsel.

Cleveland, the department's top attorney joined the Education Department in January 2023, the same month that Walters began his tenure as state schools superintendent.

Cleveland is a fixture at Oklahoma State Board of Education meetings, providing legal advice to board members and Walters on behalf of the agency. The office of legal services at the agency also runs public hearings on proposed rules changes governing the operation of the agency and Oklahoma schools.

What did current Education Department general counsel do before working for Ryan Walters?

Before his time working for Walters, Cleveland, 36, spent 3 years with the state attorney generals office, under former AGs Mike Hunter and John OConnor. According to Clevelands LinkedIn page, his final role in that office was as the chief of its reserved powers protection unit. He also spent time as an assistant and deputy solicitor general.

A biography of Cleveland on the Federalist Society website noted he served as a federal law clerk at courts in Virginia and Nebraska before coming to Oklahoma. Before that, he graduated from Biola University in California and Harvard University Law School.

Bryan was a good lawyer at the AGs office, said Cameron Spradling, a longtime local attorney whos been involved in recent high-profile legal cases with connections to the Education Department. I dont think he ever signed up for the mess hes had to handle. It would be a terrible loss if they lost Bryan.

More: Education Department won't take action on Edmond accreditation while lawsuit proceeds

Walters is a defendant in at least nine state and federal court cases, involving subjects including defamation and local control, among others.

The Education Department has lost numerous key personnel since Walters took over. Terri Grissom, who wrote applications for competitive federal grants for the state Education Department for five years, left the agency April 18 and testified the next month at a legislative hearing. In May, the agencys executive director of prevention and intervention services, Michelle Strain  whose work focused on crisis counseling, suicide and bullying prevention, school climate, homeless student services and more  resigned.

In October, the agencys program manager for grant development and compliance, Pamela Smith-Gordon, left after only months on the job, complaining about a lack of access to Walters.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Education Dept. lawyer leaving Ryan Walters' administration
Steve Bannons plan to turn a medieval monastery into an alt-Right gladiator school was given a new lease on life on Thursday when an Italian court threw out a series of legal challenges against it.

Mr Bannon hatched the plan a few years ago to convert the 800-year-old Trisulti Charterhouse, in the mountains east of Rome, into an academy for leading exponents of the nationalist, populist Right.

He was supported by his British acolyte, Benjamin Harnwell, a former political secretary to a Conservative MEP. The pair dreamed of schooling their disciples in conservative Catholic values and teaching them how to defend the Judeo-Christian roots of the West.

But the plan became mired in political controversy, local opposition and years of legal challenges. Mr Harnwell was accused of failing to pay the rent on the 13th century monastery, neglecting to maintain it and fraudulently engaging in the tender process for the lease.

He was evicted from the monastery in 2021, with his removal hailed as a victory by Dario Franceschini, the then centre-Left culture minister, and Nicola Zingaretti, the governor of Lazio region.

The Trisulti Monastery could yet be the home of the planned alt-Right 'gladiator school' - AFP/Alberto Pizzoli

After a long legal battle, however, the charges were thrown out by a court in Rome on Thursday.

This case has been rolling on for four years, said Mr Harnwell after the court handed down its decision. The culture ministry arbitrarily and unilaterally annulled the lease and kicked me out. They knew the accusations they were making against me were false even when they were making them.

He claimed that centre-Left politicians could not bear to have Steve Bannons gladiator school under their noses. They just wanted me out.

Mr Harnwell, who is originally from Leicestershire, said he will now discuss with Mr Bannon whether to revive the project.

The academy for Judeo-Christian West will definitely go ahead. But whether it goes ahead in the monastery, or even in Italy, we are not sure, he said.

If he does try to establish a boot camp for far-Right activists, he may again face protests from locals and activists, who expressed distaste for the plan when it was first mooted.

The judge in the case now has 90 days in which to deliver her motivazione or reasoning for the outcome of the case. The Italian state then has 45 days in which it can launch an appeal.

Despite his legal ordeal, Mr Harnwell remains a supporter of Mr Trump, insisting that despite the multiple criminal cases he faces and allegations that he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election in a coup detat, the tycoon is 100 per cent fit for the presidency.

Briton Benjamin Harnwell has been closely associated with the proposed school - Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

He said that although Mr Trump and Mr Bannon had famously fallen out, they were now back on speaking terms.

Mr Bannon remains a highly controversial figure. In October 2022, he was sentenced to four months in prison and ordered to pay a $6,500 fine after being found in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with the investigation into the Jan 6 attack on the US Capitol.

He helped articulate the America First Right-wing populism and opposition to immigration that came to define Mr Trumps presidency.

In 2020 he was banned from Twitter after suggesting that Anthony Fauci, the US governments infectious disease expert, and Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, should be executed and have their heads put on spikes outside the White House. Id actually like to go back to the old times of Tudor England. Id put the heads on pikes, he said during a live broadcast of his podcast, War Room.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
[Source]

Taiwanese manga artist Jason Chien secured a Gold Award for his work at the Japan International Manga Awards.

Winning gold: Out of 587 entries, Chien's manga Wind Chaser Under the Blue Sky inspired by historical documents on Taiwan's railway, emerged as the top winner in Tuesdays ceremony in Tokyo. Machiko Satonaka, chairperson of the awards selection committee, noted that Chien's unanimous approval as the top artist by the judges was unprecedented.

About the manga: Set during World War II, Chiens manga explores the connection between Taiwan and Japan through the dreams of Taiwanese and Japanese teenagers aiming to set sprinting records against trains.

Trending on NextShark: Indian painter gets brain-dead woman's hands in rare bilateral hand transplant

Chiens learning experience: During his award acceptance speech, Chien expressed that creating the manga provided him with a significant historical learning experience. He discovered commonalities between the people of Taiwan and Japan, emphasizing shared values such as love for their homelands and family. He now hopes for the prosperity of Taiwanese comics alongside Japanese counterparts.

"Even though we speak different languages and come from different cultures, we are all human beings after all and we are able to understand each other emotionally," Chien said, according to Focus Taiwan.

Other winners: Three other manga artists, including Bonnie Pang from Hong Kong, Nachi from Vietnam and Ana Oncina from Spain, were honored with silver prizes, while two other Taiwanese artists, Lin I-chen and Shimizu, received bronze prizes.

Trending on NextShark: Asian family donates $5 million to Black students in honor of family who helped them

The Japan International Manga Award, established by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2007, aims to foster international exchange and mutual understanding through the globally embraced culture of manga.

Download the NextShark App:

Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
The future John F. Kennedy, currently under construction in Virginia, is testing its electromagnetic catapult.

The tests involve shooting heavy loads, weighing as much as fully loaded aircraft, down the deck and into the Atlantic Ocean.

Kennedy is the second of at least four Ford-class aircraft carriers and will be delivered to the Navy in 2025.

An aircraft carrier under construction on the Virginia coast is beginning to show signs of lifeby flinging huge loads off her deck into the nearby James River. The future John F. Kennedy is testing its electromagnetic catapult systemswhich are designed to send aircraft aloftby shooting bright orange, car-like structures off its bow at speeds of up to 150 miles an hour.

Dead Load Testing

The tests involve using the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), which relies on strong magnetic fields and electricity to launch aircraft, and which replaced traditional steam catapults starting with the USS Gerald R. Ford. Kennedys EMALS were originally subject to no-load testing, in which the shuttle that pulls aircraft along the flight deck is tested alone. After that was complete, HII moved on to load testing. The loadswhich resemble cars painted safety orangeare being gradually increased in weight up to a total of 80,000 pounds. The testing process is necessary to work out any kinks before attempting to launch manned aircraft.

The tests, shown above, are conducted with load structures that are signed by both the shipbuilders working on Kennedy and their families. The test hurtles the structures down the EMALS patha distance of more than 300 feetto a top speed of 150 miles an hour. Thats the speed that will get even the heaviest of carrier-rated aircraft airborne, and which allows a planes propellers or turbine engines to get enough forward momentum to take over.

The EMALS launch system is more compact than steam catapults (taking up less internal volume in the ship) and provides a smoother, less jarring ride for pilots. EMALS can also more easily adjust power levels to launch smaller, lighter aircraft such as drones. The Navy projected that EMALS would be able to generate 33 percent more sorties a day, though its not clear if it has actually hit that milestone yet.

Not a Smooth Takeoff

Ashley Cowan

EMALS had a rocky development on the Ford, with frequent breakdowns contributing to the carriers late entry into the fleet. EMALS had significant problems as late as 2020 , when a fault in the electrical system rendered the carrier unable to launch planes for five days. The system seems to have, at long last, reached the mature phasein mid-2023, the Navy awarded defense contractor General Atomics a contract to provide EMALS for the future USS Doris Miller and Frances next generation aircraft carrier, known as PANG .

The Navy is currently looking to build at least four Ford-class carriers: Gerald R. Ford, John F. Kennedy, Enterprise, and Doris Miller. That number will likely expand to 10 as the service replaces older Nimitz-class carriers on a 1:1 basis. Alternatively, the service could build more or fewer carriers, or even replace some with lighter, less expensive (and less capable) carriers.

The future carrier is currently designated Pre-Commissioning Unit John F. Kennedy, or PCU John F. Kennedy. The ship will hold that title throughout the fitting out and sea trials period, as the shipbuilder and the Navy confirm it is fit to join the battle force. Only when it is commissioned into the fleetscheduled to take place sometime in 2025will the carrier become USS John F. Kennedy.

You Might Also Like
Spring break marks the start of the 2024 travel season and according to an AAA travel survey, the busiest travel period is March through July.

85% of Tennessee residents will venture out of the state this year and 45% of Tennesseans are likely to travel more than last year. Nearly one in every three Tennesseans has vacation plans over Spring Break, the survey found.

While the Sunshine State continues to be a popular tourist destination, one of it's most popular beaches among spring breakers is ready for a break up. In a PSA posted in March 1, the City of Miami Beach Government discourages spring break travel, as the annual event wrecks havoc on locals, law enforcement, businesses and property.

"It's not us, it's you. We just want different things. Our idea of a good time is relaxing on the beach, hitting up the spa or checking out a new restaurant," said the ad. "You just want to get drunk in public and ignore laws."

The Miami Beach Government is enacting rules in an attempt to keep partying spring breakers under control like curfews, bag checks, restricted beach access, DUI checkpoints, $100 parking and strong police enforcement for drug possession and violence.

Fort Lauderdale Mounted Police officers escort revelers off the beach on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, March 16, 2022. Music, dancing, alcohol and tiny swimsuits -- spring vacation in the United States, popularly known as "spring break," brings thousands of young people to south Florida every year for a few days of uncontrolled fun, much to the chagrin of residents in cities like Miami Beach.

The ad has spurred a conversation on social media, wondering if Nashville can one day follow in Florida's footsteps and "break up" with rowdy tourists.

Travel warning: What Tennessee's spring break travelers should know about Mexico

Where are Tennesseans headed for spring break?

For Tennesseans going out of state, Florida beaches are calling their name.

"For the Tennesseans planning a Spring Break trip, the top trips planned are to beaches, major cities, theme parks, and national/state parks," said AAA spokesperson Megan Cooper. "Florida is always a popular trip for Tennesseans and it checks a lot of boxes for those looking for the beach, Disney World, or those that are planning on departing on a cruise from one of the Florida ports."

Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Destin, Clearwater, and Panama City Beach are popular beach trips.

These Florida beaches rank among the hottest in the country for spring break

Seven Florida beaches have been named as the hottest beaches in the United States, according to a study released by tanning product company St. Moriz, and five of them were included as some of the hottest beaches overall.

Top 20 hottest beaches in the U.S.

Huntington Beach, Calif. Virginia Beach, Va. La Jolla Cove, Calif. Pompano Beach, Fla. South Beach, Fla. Newport Beach, Calif. Newport Beach, Ore. Lanikai Beach, Hawaii Hanauma Bay, Hawaii Venice Beach, Calif. Pismo Beach, Calif. Manhattan Beach, Calif. Hollywood Beach, Fla. Anna Maria Island, Fla. Cocoa Beach, Fla. San Juan, P.R. Deerfield Beach, Fla. Waikiki Beach, Hawaii Fort Myers Beach, Fla. Laguna Beach, Calif.

Top 20 hottest beaches overall

Huntington Beach, Calif. La Jolla Cove, Calif. Palm Beach, Aruba Virginia Beach, Va. Pompano Beach, Fla. Newport Beach, Calif. Newport Beach, Ore. Lanikai Beach, Hawaii Cabo San Lucas, Mexico South Beach, Fla. Hanauma Bay, Hawaii Venice Beach, Calif. Pismo Beach, Calif. Manhattan Beach, Calif. Hollywood Beach, Fla. Cancun Beach, Mexico Playa Del Carmen, Mexico Waikiki Beach, Hawaii Deerfield Beach, Fla. Cocoa Beach, Fla.

Methodology

To determine the which were the "hottest" beaches, St. Moritz collected a list of popular spring break beaches from a range of blogs and online sources.

The beaches were then combined with different search terms, for example, "beach name + "beach," "beach name + city" or "beach name + state." The terms were then analyzed and those that were the most relevant and gained the most traffic were selected as the terms to use. The terms were searched across multiple search platforms, locations and time periods. Local weather data was also included for each beach.

Using all of the metrics data points they were then ranked from 0-100 with 100 being awarded to the beach that had the best performance within that metric. The index scores were then averaged for weather, search and a combination of all metrics to show which beach is the 'hottest' for spring break.

The state-by-state data was then analyzed by looking at the yearly change in search every March along with the average total search each March between 2020 and 2023. The average percent change and search volume were then used to identify which state was searching the most for each beach. They were ranked initially by search volume with trends being used to distinguish between any locations with the same search volume.

Reporter Sandy Mazza contributed to this report

Diana Leyva covers trending news and service for The Tennessean. Contact her at Dleyva@gannett.com or follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter at @_leyvadiana

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Where are the hottest spring break beaches for Tennessee travelers?
Rep. Ellen Troxclair, R-Lakeway, narrowly avoided a runoff in her GOP primary fight for a second term in the Texas House against challenger and former Rep. Kyle Biedermann, and a third candidate, Manny Campos, in one of several contentious races that showed the strength of the governor's endorsement and financial backing.

Troxclair received 52% of the nearly 40,000 votes cast in the House District 19 race, according to the final but unofficial election results. Biedermann received 43% support, and Campos garnered about 5% of the vote.

Gov. Greg Abbott last year vowed to help elect and reelect House candidates who support "school choice," a program that uses public money to pay for private schooling, after he suffered multiple embarrassing legislative losses over the regular and subsequent special sessions in 2023, when a coalition of Democratic and rural Republican House members blocked such proposals from advancing over concerns the program would siphon money from already cash-strapped public school districts.

Abbott gave more than $280,000 to Troxclair and held a rally to support her reelection as part of his $6 million spending spree to fill the House with school vouchers proponents. Abbott in December received a $6 million donation from Jeffrey Yass, a Pennsylvania billionaire and leading advocate for school choice issues.

"Governor Abbott and I are leading on policy issues that are important to Texans, like border security and education, which is exactly what both the Governor and the Legislature are elected to do," Troxclair told the American-Statesman in an email Wednesday. "His backing of candidates who align with conservative priorities makes Texas stronger and safer, and Im grateful for his wholehearted support."

Troxclair, who along with 59 other House Republicans who last May voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton on 20 charges including bribery and abuse office, found herself in the line of fire as the state's top attorney carried out a revenge tour against incumbents who crossed him. Ultimately, the Senate cleared Paxton of wrongdoing, largely along party lines, after an impeachment trial, but he and two of his ultraconservative West Texas oil billionaire supporters threw their political weight and money behind candidates challenging GOP House incumbents who had voted to oust the attorney general.

Paxton did not endorse a candidate in the House District 19 race, but Biedermann highlighted on his campaign website that he would not have voted against the attorney general in the "sham impeachment." Biedermann also received $150,000 from a political action committee funded primarily by Christian nationalist Tim Dunn and pastor Farris Wilks  Paxton's billionaire backers.

More: Far-right billionaires throw money at Republican primary to weed out enemies of AG Paxton

All told as of Feb. 24, Troxclair had out-raised Biedermann by more than $1 million, though the two spent roughly the same amount  around $400,000  on their campaigns, according to TransparencyUSA, a national nonpartisan nonprofit that tracks money in politics.

'Voting with your heart'

A Republican voter in Bee Cave, a wealthy Austin suburb, said Troxclair's vote to impeach Paxton motivated him to support her in the primary.

"I don't agree with all of (Troxclair's) politics, but standing up against somebody who is corrupt, just voting with your heart, that's very important to me," James Westspencer told the Statesman outside Bee Cave City Hall on Tuesday. "It's what we elect them to do."

The retired petroleum engineer, a lifelong conservative, said he was acquainted with Dunn through his work, and that he was concerned about the West Texas billionaire's influence in the race, which solidified his vote for Troxclair.

Dunn "is trying to defeat any Republican that voted to impeach Paxton, not because Paxton was innocent, but because they want the Republican Party to stay together, and that's wrong," he said. "Anyone he's for, I'm against; anyone Donald Trump's for, I'm against. I'm a longtime conservative and can't stand the direction the party is going in."

Troxclair, a former Austin City Council member, first began serving in the District 19 seat in 2023, after Biedermann, who previously served in the House for six years, decided not to seek reelection in 2022.

Despite coming out on top, Troxclair only won Blanco, Burnet and Travis counties, with Biedermann getting the most votes in Gillespie and Kendall counties, according to the secretary of state's vote breakdown. Still, Troxclair celebrated her "decisive win" in an email to supporters sent just before 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Biedermann did not respond to the Statesman's requests for comment.

Kyle Biedermann

Biedermann had said during his campaign that he would focus on water, density and growth issues. Troxclair slammed him during the primary for saying that "vouchers are not the answer."

Biedermann was also heavily criticized after leaked video remarks last month in which he criticized the House for expelling Rep. Bryan Slaton last year after an investigating committee determined he gave alcohol to a 19-year-old intern and had sex with her.

Thirteen House Republican women signed on to a letter supporting Troxclair in the election after the video, which was posted Feb. 8 and shows Biedermann questioning, "Was he convicted? What was his crime?" and making a distinction that the sexual encounter took place at a private residence and not in the Capitol.

The contentious race for House District 19 drew more contributions than 100 other state House contests, with Troxclair raising $1.3 million and Biedermann more than $200,000 by Feb. 24, one week before the primaries, according to TransparencyUSA.

In a statement Tuesday evening, Abbott announced victory for school choice supporters. Troxclair's reelection as well as several other candidates Abbott backed could set up the governor to succeed in a future push for school choice in Texas.

"Republican primary voters have once again sent an unmistakable message that parents deserve the freedom to choose the best education pathway for their child, Abbott said in the statement. We will continue to help true conservative candidates on the ballot who stand with the majority of their constituents in supporting education freedom for every Texas family.

More: Gov. Greg Abbott spends $6 million on Texas House candidates who back 'school choice'

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Rep. Ellen Troxclair fends off Paxton-backed primary challenge
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the one-year anniversary of passage of the PACT Act, the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic exposed veterans and survivors in over 30 years, at the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY  All veterans exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving in the military are now eligible to enroll directly in Veterans Administration health care, starting Wednesday, in what may be the largest health care and benefits expansion in the history of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The expansion covers millions of veterans who were exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving in the military, and includes those who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, or any other combat zone after Sep. 11, 2001. They also must have participated in an activity that exposes them to air pollutants, chemicals, radiation or other toxins.

Were really excited to be able to offer this care today, said Matthew Critchfield, chief of health administrative services at the Salt Lake City VA Health Care System. The expansion of care, as part of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, or PACT Act, signed in August 2022, eliminated the phased approach to eligibility that would have originally been completed by 2032.

For many health conditions, the VA requires a veteran to prove military service caused a condition. For some, called presumptive conditions, the VA will automatically attribute the diagnosis to the area and time frame in which the veteran served.

Under the PACT act, over 20 presumptive conditions were established for burn pit, Agent Orange and other exposure sites, as well as additional locations of service. But now, service members dont need to exhibit any symptoms or conditions to enroll for VA health care. They are eligible simply for serving during specific times. Those who never deployed but were exposed to toxins or hazards while training or on active duty in the United States are also eligible.

Over 250,000 veterans have enrolled in the first phase of the expansion, before the door was opened Wednesday for all eligible veterans to enroll. Pushing the process eight years earlier than expected is a huge deal, Critchfield said. He encouraged any veteran who thinks he or she may be eligible in this expansion to look into enrollment.

President Joe Biden visited the Salt Lake City VA in August to commemorate the anniversary of one year since signing the PACT Act. He said, We have many obligations as a nation, but we only have one truly sacred obligation, and thats to equip those we send into harms way and care for them and their families when they come home and when they dont.

Biden spoke of his son, Beau, who served in Iraq and lived close to an open-air garbage dump, called a burn pit, which released toxic pollution. Beau Biden III, 46, the former attorney general of Delaware, died of a brain tumor in May 2015, though it remains unclear whether his proximity to those pits contributed to his illness.

According to the president, nearly $30 million is to be invested in new outpatient clinics in Salt Lake City under the act to provide care for a new wave of eligible veterans.

Burn pits and the PACT Act

Pamela Lein, a professor of neurotoxicology at University of California, Davis, wrote that hundreds of open-air garbage dumps were spread across Afghanistan and Iraq, often close to encampments where American soldiers lived, worked, ate and slept. Items burned, she wrote in her book on the subject, included plastics, tires, batteries, hazardous chemicals and munitions.

The U.S. Department of Defense has estimated almost 3.5 million soldiers could have been exposed to toxic smoke at levels enough to cause significant adverse health effects, and while soldiers had short-term exposure, Iraqi citizens downwind were chronically exposed to these toxic agents for a decade.

The illnesses produced by exposure to these toxins were slow to surface in veterans, who had to prove under-researched medical conditions were tied to their military service and struggled to get their conditions approved by the VA. From June 2007 to July 2020, congressional testimony from a representative of the Veterans Benefits Administration revealed nearly 78% of claimed conditions related to burn-pit exposure were denied, though that number does not provide information on the quality of the claims.

During that time, a class action lawsuit was winding through court, alleging the contractor who built and ran the burn pits  Kellogg, Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton at the time  did so negligently. In 2019, the lawsuit reached the Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case, upholding the District Court of Delawares judgement that anyone allegedly harmed by the burn pits needed to seek a remedy through the military and the legislative process, not through the judiciary.

It took the political pressure from an unlikely source  comedian and political commentator Jon Stewart  along with a team of lobbyists to make any sort of progress with legislation, starting in 2020.

In August 2021, the VA instituted a new rule for processing disability claims for asthma, rhinitis and sinusitis for veterans who served in southwest Asia. Then, in April 2022, the VA defined nine types of rare respiratory cancers connected to burn-pit exposure. Lein says it was a step in the right direction, but many other cancers and medical conditions did not make the list.

The PACT Act added many types of cancers and illnesses, depending on the service location and type of exposure.

The PACT Act in Utah

The Veterans Benefit Administration has awarded $33.6 million in retroactive benefits from the time the act was signed until present, with a claim grant rate of 77.2%. Nationally, the organization surpassed the completion of 1 million claims on Friday, the most productive year in its history.

Critchfield said the Salt Lake City VA Health Care System, with a main campus and clinics across Utah, and some in Idaho and Nevada, is eager to start enrolling new veterans, and will be prioritizing the claims of veterans with cancer to make sure they get timely access to care and benefits.

Surviving family members of a veteran may also be eligible for benefits under the new expansion.

Due to an increase in PACT Act scams targeting veterans, Critchfield says those looking to enroll for health care or file disability claims should call an enrollment adviser at 801-584-2585, or use the official VA website. Veterans can also contact a local service organization like the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars or the Utah State Division of Veterans Affairs.
The 2017 total solar eclipse, as captured in Madras, Oregon, shows the Sun vanishing behind the Moon.

It takes the sun's brilliant luminescence eight minutes to travel 93 million miles to light Earth. Except for the two to five times a year when the moon  in its gravity-obedient revolutions around Earth  intervenes.

When the sun, moon and Earth are lined up just right, the solar light is blocked, creating a dusk-like experience across a 115-mile-wide swath.

That 4 minutes and 27 seconds is a perfect union of astronomy and physics, so we turned to Terry Oswalt, who teaches both subjects as a professor and associate dean at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, to talk about the solar eclipse that will be visible across much of North America on April 8.

How will the Daytona Beach area experience the solar eclipse?

"Most people won't notice anything unless somebody tells them because here in Daytona, it will be a near-replay of what we saw in 2017," Oswalt said. "Less than two-thirds of the sun, 63% of the sun, will be covered up."

The partial eclipse begins in our area at around 1:48 p.m. Watch this simulation at https://eclipse2024.org/eclipse-cities/city/9394.html for more exact timing for your area.

The eclipse sky in Daytona Beach will be akin to a partially cloudy day, Oswalt said.

Terry Oswalt, professor and associate dean at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, is an astronomist who will be traveling to Indiana to see the total eclipse of the Sun on April 8.

"On the other hand ... the sunlight filtering through little holes, like gaps in leaves and trees and screens and holes in architectural surfaces will cast shadows that are not little pinhole speckles, but little crescents," he said.

Those things will act like small "pinhole cameras, which can form a crude image of the sun."

So what's the fuss about?

Total solar eclipses, however, are the stuff of lore, and they are fairly rare in the United States. The last one was in 2017, and the one before that was in 1979 when only a few Pacific Northwest states experienced totality.

Path of the April 8, 2024 eclipse

This time, far more Americans should get the full eclipse experience.

"Something like 32 million people in the United States are in the path of totality, which stretches from the Panhandle of Texas all the way up to the New England states, passing through the Midwest, Indiana and Ohio," Oswalt said.

While the next U.S. total eclipse won't be until 2045, it crosses the continent from northern California to Florida, covering much of the peninsula. Daytona Beach is on the northern edge of totality, with Palm Coast falling just outside.

A total solar eclipse will cross the entire U.S., including almost all of Florida, on Aug. 12, 2045. Graphic provided by NationalEclipse.com

Also inside totality in 2045 will be Tallahassee, Gainesville, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach and just inside the southern edge, Miami.

Where will you be during the eclipse?

Oswalt, who earned a Ph.D. in astronomy from Ohio State University, grew up in the Midwest and said he has only seen one other total eclipse, and since the next one in the United States is 21 years away, he figured he better enjoy this one.

"I plan to go up to Indiana, where I have family in the middle of totality. Indianapolis, for example, is right in the middle of totality," he said.

Why are eclipses so random?

Total eclipses are not only rare, they have a randomness to them. They dont happen every month. Look at the ones that have crossed the continental United States since 1900. The next one was 1918, then 1923, 1925, 1930, 1932, 1945, 1954, 1959, 1963, 1970, 1979, and then 2017 and 2024.

Oswalt explains it this way:

The moon goes around the Earth, and the Earth-moon system goes around the sun, he said. If you were to put everything on a piece of paper, one single surface, every time the moon was new, between the Earth and the sun, thered be a solar eclipse. And every time the moon was on the opposite side of its orbit from the sun, there would be a lunar eclipse, when the Earths shadow blocks out the Moon.

But there isnt. And the reason there isnt an eclipse of the sun and of the moon every month is because the moons orbit is tilted by about 5 degrees from the plane of the Earths orbit around the sun," he said. "So the Earth and the moon and the sun all have to be exactly lined up within a half-degree or so for any eclipse to occur. And that only happens when the moon is on the side of its orbit crossing the plane of the Earths orbit.

Think about protection

The human retina is no match for the awesome power of the Sun.

Oswalt would be remiss if he didn't stress the need for caution to view the eclipse.

To view a solar eclipse directly, experts say protective glasses, such as the ones this woman in Washington, D.C., is wearing in 2017, are a must.

Youll need to have special eye protection in order to view the Sun like that," Oswalt said. "I think its important to emphasize that looking at the Sun when it is nearly completely covered is not safe. You could burn the retina of your eye with no pain, permanently damaging your vision in just a second or two. So even glances at the sun with the unprotected eye is not a good idea.

The American Astronomical Society has a good rundown on eye safety and where you can purchase safety glasses. To check it out, visit https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/viewers-filters.

The physics 'fluke' of Earth's eclipses

Oswalt marvels at the unlikeliness of Earth having solar eclipses as they are.

Its kind of a fluke that there are solar eclipses at all, because the sun is about 400 times farther away than the moon, and its also about 400 times bigger than the moon, so they look to be the same size in the sky," he said. "And there are probably very few planets out there in the universe that have a moon with that close of a relationship in size that a solar eclipse like this is even possible.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: How do solar eclipses work? ERAU professor explains 'fluke' of it all
KITTERY, Maine  Olivia Kenney, a senior at Traip Academy, has been selected to receive the 2024 Maine Principals Association's Principal's Award, Traip Principal Jane Durgin announced.

The award, sponsored by the Maine Principals' Association, is given in recognition of a high school senior's academic excellence, outstanding school citizenship, and leadership.

Traip Academy senior Olivia Kenney will receive the 2024 Maine Principals Association's Principal's Award.

Kenney has a passion for helping others, according to Durgin. She is able to maintain a high level of success and engagement at Traip Academy and at Sanford Regional Technical Center where she is in the Health Occupations program. Kenney has demonstrated stellar academic work and dedication in both educational settings, and she has an impressive list of accomplishments. Kenney was inducted into the National Honor Society and the National Technical Honor Society. During her junior year, Kenney a was selected as the Rotary student of the Month for March, and she was also selected to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) leadership camp. Kenney is an excellent role model for her teachers and her peers and deserving of the award, Durgin said.

Kenney and Durgin, along with other award winners and their principals, will attend an honors luncheon in Bangor on Saturday, April 6. The Honors Luncheon recognizes these outstanding students with the presentation of an individual plaque and the awarding of ten $1,000 scholarships in the names of Horace O. McGowan, Richard W. Tyler and Richard A. Durost, former Maine principals and executive directors of the Maine Principals Association.

The Maine Principal's Award is presented in more than 100 Maine public and private high schools by member principals of the MPA, the professional association which represents Maine's school administrators. The award was established in 1985.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Traip Academy: Olivia Kenney is its 2024 Principals Award winner
Floridas Republican presidential primary is moving forward as a multi-million dollar coronation of former President Donald Trump after his last remaining primary opponent, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, ended her bid for the GOP nomination on Wednesday.

Haleys exit means that, of the seven names on the Florida ballot this month, Trump is the only candidate still running for president  leaving the nearly 5 million Republicans yet to vote to decide whether its still worth the effort to participate in what should largely be a symbolic election.

In Miami-Dade County, despite Haleys announcement, more than 1,300 voters showed up Wednesday to early voting centers to cast a ballot. Some may have participated in local elections in Surfside or South Miami, but the tally included Republicans like Mayra Joli, a diehard Trump voter who arrived at the Coral Gables Branch Library after Haley ended her campaign.

I voted for Trump today even though hes automatically going to be the one, said Joli, a 58-year-old attorney and politician. The only option for the Republican Party and for the country is Donald Trump.

Donald Trump speaks during the Turning Point Action Conference at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, July 15, 2023.

Even before Haley suspended her campaign, there was little doubt about Trumps strength in Florida. Public polling has consistently shown him winning a majority of the vote in Florida, the state Republican Party has already formally endorsed his campaign and he has already racked up support from the states entire Republican congressional delegation.

Theres no question that Florida was always going to go with one of its sons, said Jamie Miller, a Republican consultant and former executive director of the Florida GOP. And certainly once Ron DeSantis got out  Florida was always going to go for Trump.

But Florida is still poised to play a significant role in Trumps presidential bid. Not only is there symbolic value in Trump claiming an outsized victory in his adopted home state, but the Florida Republican primary on March 19 is expected to be one of the contests to help Trump formally clinch the GOP presidential nod.

After sweeping nearly every primary contest on super Tuesday, Trump claimed hundreds of delegates, pushing him closer to the 1,215 he needs to formally win the Republican presidential nomination. Its unclear exactly when hell hit that threshold.

Florida is and will always be Trump Country, and President Trump continues to dominate the primary in convincing fashion, said Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trumps campaign. As the presumptive nominee, it is time for the entire party and movement to coalesce around him to defeat Crooked Joe Biden.

Voting has already been underway in Florida for nearly a month. The first mail ballots were sent to voters in early February, while early in-person voting kicked off on Monday.

By the time Haley dropped out Wednesday, 400,000 Republicans had already voted in Florida, most of them by mail ballot, according to state elections data. Another 4.8 million voters had yet to participate. They still can.

File art: Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during her rally at The Artisan hotel on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024, in Salem, New Hampshire.

Though theyre no longer seeking the presidential nomination, Trumps one-time opponents on the ballot can receive delegates. And Republican voters displeased with Trump can still send a message about a candidate facing multiple criminal indictments  just as his supporters can help him dominate his home state.

Ever since he said he was running for president, a lot has been against him, said Gladys Carredeguas, 30, who voted in Coral Gables Wednesday along with Joli. Its a point to show support for him and to show the country that no matter what they try to do to take him away, he still has the support.

Carredeguas said that voting for Trump is the right thing to do.

The Republican primary alone will still cost millions of dollars to hold. Miami-Dade Deputy Supervisor of Elections Roberto Rodriguez said that the office had budgeted $7.82 million for the primary, but noted that the actual cost would likely be less, because there wont be a Democratic nominating contest this year.

Broward County set even more aside  about $9.9 million  for the primary, according to the Supervisor of Elections Office.

There wont be a Democratic presidential primary in Florida this year, because the state Democratic Party submitted only President Joe Bidens name for the Democratic nomination. Under state law, if a party lists only one candidate for the primary ballot, the contest is canceled.

A spokesperson for the Florida Division of Elections did not respond to the Heralds inquiries about the total cost of holding the primary election.
Three crew members have been killed in a Houthi missile strike on a cargo ship off southern Yemen, its owners and the US say - the first deaths caused by the group's attacks on merchant vessels.

The Barbados-flagged True Confidence was abandoned after Wednesday's attack, which inflicted significant damage.

Two of the sailors who died were Filipinos and the other was Vietnamese.

The Houthis say their attacks are in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

A military spokesman for the Iran-backed group claimed it targeted True Confidence because it was "American" - something the owners denied.

The US military's Central Command (Centcom) condemned the Houthis' "reckless attacks", which it said had "disrupted global trade and taken the lives of international seafarers".

Hours after the attack, US forces conducted strikes on two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Yemen, which Centcom said presented an imminent threat to US Navy ships in the region. Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported that two strikes targeted the airport in the Red Sea city of Hudaydah.

The attack on True Confidence occurred around 12:30 (09:30 GMT) on Wednesday, when the bulk carrier was in the Gulf of Aden, about 50 nautical miles (93km) south-west of the city of Aden, according to its owners.

The vessel was manned by a crew of 20, comprising one Indian, four Vietnamese and 15 Filipino nationals. Three armed guards - two from Sri Lanka and one from Nepal - were also on board.

A Centcom statement said the 183m-long bulk carrier was hit by an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.

It published an aerial photograph showing significant damage to the bridge and accommodation at the stern of the stricken vessel, on the port side.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said that before the attack True Confidence had been contacted over VHF radio by a group calling itself the "Yemeni navy" and told to change course.

Nearby vessels then reported a loud bang and a large plume of smoke.

The Indian Navy's spokesperson said INS Kolkata, a destroyer deployed in the region as part of a US-led naval taskforce, arrived at the scene on Wednesday afternoon and rescued 21 crew members using a helicopter and boats.

Indian sailors provided critical medical aid to the injured and evacuated them to Djibouti on Wednesday evening, the spokesperson added.

A video posted online by the navy showed a fire on board True Confidence and several of its crew members being winched onto helicopters from life rafts.

On Thursday morning, a spokesperson for True Confidence's owner and managers put out a statement confirming that one Vietnamese and two Filipino crew members were killed

Another two Filipino crew members had suffered serious injuries and were being treated at a hospital in Djibouti, it said.

"Owners and managers offer their heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the families of those who have lost their loved ones in this tragic attack and wish for a speedy and full recovery of those who are in hospital."

The statement said True Confidence was currently "drifting well away from land" and that salvage arrangements were being made.

Map showing location of reported attack in the Gulf of Aden on 6 March 2024

It had been sailing from China to the Red Sea ports of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Aqaba in Jordan with a cargo of steel products and trucks.

The statement also said the vessel was owned by True Confidence Shipping SA, which is registered to an address in Liberia, and operated by Third January Maritime Ltd in Greece.

"There is no current connection with any US entity," it added.

Maritime data provider Lloyd's List Intelligence said True Confidence had links to by US-based Oaktree Capital Management before 24 February.

It quoted Oaktree as saying it no longer had any association with the vessel, but that the change of ownership "had not been updated in several shipping databases and is thought to have been used by the Houthis as part of its targeting criteria".

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said on Wednesday night that its forces had targeted "the American ship True Confidence" after the crew "rejected warning messages from the Yemeni naval forces".

"The Yemeni armed forces persist in upholding their religious, moral and humanitarian duties in supporting the oppressed Palestinian people, and their operations in the Red and Arab Seas will not stop until the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted," he added.

The US State Department said Washington would continue to hold the Houthis accountable and called on governments around the world to do the same.

"The Houthis have continued to launch these reckless attacks with no regard for the well-being of innocent civilians who are transiting through the Red Sea and now they have unfortunately and tragically killed innocent civilians," spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said he was "appalled to hear about the deaths" and condemned the Houthis' "reckless and indiscriminate attacks"

"We will continue to stand up for freedom of navigation and back our words with actions."

After nearly four months of sustained drone and missile attacks by the Houthis against shipping passing through the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea a fatal attack was perhaps, as the British Embassy stated, inevitable.

The US-led naval taskforce has been shooting down as many of these missiles and drones as it can but there are simply too many for them to destroy every single one.

The Houthis seem to have an inexhaustible supply of them. This calls into question the efficacy of the US-led campaign of air strikes that has been targeting Houthi launch sites, ammo depots and Command and Control posts.

Now that the Houthi attacks have turned deadly there are bound to be calls to step up retaliation against them, expanding the range of targets inside Yemen. But this in turn risks escalation in a region already tense due to the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

On Tuesday, US forces shot down a ballistic missile and three UAVs launched from Yemen at the destroyer USS Carney. They also destroyed three anti-ship missiles and three unmanned surface vessels (USVS), or sea drones, in later strikes.

Meanwhile, on Monday the Indian Navy helped put out a fire on board the container ship MSC Sky II, which its operator said had been hit by a missile.

On Sunday, a Belize-flagged cargo ship, Rubymar, sank in the Red Sea two weeks after hit by missiles fired by Houthis. It was the first ship to have been sunk since the Houthi attacks began in November.

The Rubymar was near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which connects the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea, when it was attacked. The crew was rescued and the vessel began slowly taking on water.

It was carrying a cargo of 21,000 metric tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertiliser, which the US military said presented an environmental risk in the Red Sea.

Additional reporting by David Gritten
[Source]

Uber Eats Japan deployed its little green robot delivery service in Tokyo on Wednesday, making Japan the second country to receive the delivery system after the United States.

Where to find them: The new robot delivery service is only available in a small area in Tokyos Nihombashi and only operates from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Only two stores, Tonkatsu Aoki and Benihana Annex, have participated in the new service so far. Uber Eats Japan plans to roll out the new service in other areas in the future.

Unveiling the service: Announced in a press release on Feb. 21, the Uber Eats robot was designed by U.S.-based company CartKen, one of Uber Eats Japans two partners, alongside Mitsubishi Electronics, which adapted it for use in Japan. The six-wheeled, box-shaped green robot measures 71 centimeters long (29.5 inches), 46 centimeters wide (18.1 inches) and 60 centimeters high (23.6 inches). It also has a thermal insulated compartment with a maximum capacity of 27 liters and 20 kilograms (44 pounds) to keep the food warm.

How it works: After placing an order, the Uber Eats robot delivery service picks up the order from the store and then delivers it to the customer at their specified location. Once it arrives, the customer can then open the top lid using a key in the Uber Eats app.

Trending on NextShark: Asian family donates $5 million to Black students in honor of family who helped them

Utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the Uber Eats robot delivery service comes equipped with cameras to aid its autonomous driving function and to avoid colliding with pedestrians. The robot also has a vicinity sensor that reportedly warns nearby pedestrians to watch out for it as it drives by. According to the press release, the companies reassured the public that the robots camera system is designed to protect the privacy of passersby.

The road ahead: In the press release, Uber Eats Japan CEO Shintaro Nakagawa said his company believes that the robot delivery system will continue to grow in importance as they look forward to providing their customers and partner stores with enjoyable surprises and high reliability."

Meanwhile, Shoji Tanaka, the head of Mitsubishi Electrics' innovation center, said the electronics company will continue to develop the autonomous robots so that they can eventually deliver goods inside buildings.

Trending on NextShark: $1.5M lawsuit accuses California DA of racism against Asian Americans

Download the NextShark App:

Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
[Source]

A Ukrainian YouTuber is exposing the horrors of deepfakes on Chinese social media after learning that her image has been extensively cloned to sell Russian products and look for Chinese husbands.

How she found out: Olga Loiek, 20, a cognitive science major at the University of Pennsylvania, launched her self-empowerment YouTube channel in November 2023. In late January of 2024, she posted a video detailing her shocking deepfake discovery, which a follower had brought to her attention.

What she discovered: In her research, Loiek found countless AI-generated, Russian-posing and Chinese-speaking clones that primarily promoted China and Russia's relationship. Some of them sold Russian products, while others were out to seek Chinese husbands. One even promised viewers that If you marry Russian women, we will wash clothes, cook and do dishes for you every day, according to Voice of America.

Trending on NextShark: Indian painter gets brain-dead woman's hands in rare bilateral hand transplant

Where they are: Loiek said she found some of her clones on a platform called Xiaohongshu adopting names such as Natasha, April or Wendy and having followers that reach up to 140,000. Others appeared on Douyin and Bilibili.

What shes saying: Loiek said the clones' messages infuriated her, especially with Ukraine being at war with Russia since 2022. After all, my family has to hide during air raid sirens in Ukraine and hundreds of thousands of my fellow Ukrainians are getting displaced, injured or killed because of the Russian attacks, she said in her video.

Since her discovery, Loiek and her subscribers have been reporting the fake accounts on their respective Chinese social media platforms. More than a dozen have reportedly been taken down, but the precise extent of their presence remains unknown.

Trending on NextShark: Asian family donates $5 million to Black students in honor of family who helped them

The big picture: Loiek's experience underscores the terrifying capabilities of deepfakes and the urgency for effective legal and technological measures to control them. In January last year, China released legislation to regulate deepfake content, prohibiting their creation without user consent and requiring due identification that they had been created using AI.

Trending on NextShark: $1.5M lawsuit accuses California DA of racism against Asian Americans

Download the NextShark App:

Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
The News

NAIROBI  A planned U.N-backed security mission in Haiti led by Kenya is in jeopardy due to a new legal effort in the East African country to stop the deployment of 1,000 police officers to the Caribbean island.

Haiti has seen an escalation of gang violence in recent days. Multiple criminal organizations in Haiti last week unveiled a new coalition and declared plans to overthrow the government. They led a mass jailbreak that saw thousands of inmates freed. They also launched attacks on the countrys biggest airport, causing a state of emergency to be declared.

The deployment of Kenyan police officers to Haiti was declared illegal by the High Court in January. Ekuru Aukot, the politician and lawyer who led that case, told Semafor Africa he is working on a fresh challenge against a bilateral agreement signed by Kenyan President William Ruto and Haitis Prime Minister Ariel Henry last week. He questioned its legality and demanded that it be made public.

For parties to enter into a bilateral agreement, they must have the capacity to do so, Aukot argued. PM Ariel Henry has no capacity. He is unelected and has never been vetted by Haitis parliament due to the situation there. International agreements must also be ratified by Kenyas parliament, and this also hasnt happened.

President Ruto said last week Kenya was ready to deploy its officers following the signing of the agreement, which was seen as a move to sidestep the court ruling blocking the deployment.

Know More

The new legal challenge is the latest obstacle that threatens Kenyas push to lead the mission. Ruto has previously promised that Kenya will deploy its police officers to Haiti despite the courts declaring the plan unconstitutional. The ruling is one of several that have gone against the executives policy decisions in recent months, fueling Rutos feud with the judiciary.

Benin has offered to send 2,000 troops to support the planned mission. The offer was announced by U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Feb. 26.

Haitis Prime Minister Ariel Henry has not returned to the country since leaving last week to sign the agreement with Ruto. Henry was reported to be in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, amid growing concern on his whereabouts. The gangs have warned him not to set foot back in the country.

Jimmy Barbecue Cherizier, leader of the Haiti gang alliance, has warned of a civil war if Henry does not resign.

The number of people reported killed in Haiti amid a surge in conflict last year more than doubled to reach 4,789. The U.N. in February launched an urgent appeal for $674 million in humanitarian aid for Haitians affected by the ongoing conflict.

The United States on Wednesday urged Henry to expedite the violence-ravaged nations transition to a new governing structure and hold free and fair elections  but stopped short of calling for his resignation.

The 74-year-old former neurosurgeon has been the acting prime minister since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021.

Martins view

The planned U.N-backed security mission has faced a series of significant hurdles that make it increasingly look like either a bad plan, or one that is just extremely difficult to implement.

Macollvie Neel, executive editor of the Haitian Times, said the more it dragged out, the more the planned deployment looked unlikely. She argued that the slow response by the international community allowed these gangs to become so powerful that they can extort governance of the country.

Observers are increasingly concerned that it might be time for the missions backers to consider a change of tack. The U.S in particular has been rallying support for the mission, and disclosed on Monday that the White House was working to expedite the deployment of the Kenya-led force. It refused to send its own troops, a possibility that was reportedly discussed following the latest escalation of gang violence.

The U.S. is providing $200 million to support the mission. Critics of the planned mission, such as Aukot, say it is this financial incentive that has Ruto determined to push the deployment through despite a court ruling blocking it.

Money is definitely a factor, he argued. The U.S. does not represent the Republic of Kenya.

The View From Benin

Haiti shares strong cultural and historical ties with Benin dating back to the Transatlantic slave trade and the Dahomey empire which included the modern day West African country. Many in Haiti are believed to have ancestral roots in Benin. These connections have been cited by some in Benin as a reason to support the deployment of their officers. Among them is Joel Atayi-Guedegbe, a civil society actor and governance expert.

In the context of solidarity and the establishment of an intervention and training unit being set up in Haiti, I imagine that Benin could have been called upon in view of its expertise, in view of its historical links with Haiti, he told Deutsche Welle.
The U.S. Postal Service is honoring 10 leaders from the Underground Railroad on new Forever stamps, which are being unveiled in a Saturday ceremony in Dorchester County, Maryland.

Many leaders of the Underground Railroad, the secret network of those escaping slavery and those who assisted them, remained anonymous. But the figures being honored on the stamp include Catharine Coffin, Frederick Douglass, Thomas Garrett, Laura Haviland, Lewis Hayden, Harriet Jacobs, William Lambert, the Rev. Jermain Loguen, William Still and Harriet Tubman.

The ingenuity and resilience of the freedom seekers and those who bravely assisted them in the face of adversity are truly inspiring and deserve to be commemorated, the U.S. Postal Service said in an emailed statement to The Baltimore Sun. Our stamps are miniature works of art that highlight the American experience, an experience the 10 men and women featured on these stamps worked ceaselessly to improve for many throughout their lives.

Here are the contributions to the Underground Railroad of some of the people honored:

 Coffin was a white woman who provided food, clothing and shelter to thousands of slaves who came to her home in Indiana.

 Douglass was born into slavery on Marylands Eastern Shore, escaped north in 1838 and helped hundreds of slaves by hiding them in his home in New York.

 Garrett was a white man dedicated to freeing slaves after rescuing a free African American servant of the Garrett family who was kidnapped by slave traders. He would become a stationmaster, hiding fugitive slaves in his home for more than four decades.

 Tubman was born into slavery in early 1822 near Cambridge on Marylands Eastern Shore. She repeatedly returned to Maryland to liberate family, friends and neighbors, using the Underground Railroad.

The stamps will feature the faces of the people honored as well as words that embody the essence of the secret network, such as cooperation, trust, danger, faith and courage.

The Underground Railroad was a collaborative effort involving diverse individuals and communities throughout the country, the postal service told The Sun in an email. It demonstrated the power of collective action and solidarity in achieving social change, even when the odds seemed insurmountable.

Each Forever stamp will cost 68 cents, and the multistamp design will be $13.60. Forever stamps, created in 2007, can be used to mail first-class letters no matter the postal rate.

The postal service will produce one print run of commemorative issuances of the Underground Railroad stamp with the goal of keeping a sales window open for one to two years.

_____
The US military will construct a port in Gaza to get more humanitarian aid into the territory by sea, President Joe Biden has announced.

The temporary port will increase the amount of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians by "hundreds of additional truckloads" per day, officials say.

However, Mr Biden said the initiative will not include US troops on the ground in Gaza.

The UN warns that a quarter of the population is on the brink of famine.

The president made the official announcement during his State of the Union address on Thursday.

He said the port, which will be built by the US military, will involve a temporary pier to transport supplies from ships at sea to the shore.

It is not clear who will build the causeway or secure the aid on land, meaning crucial questions about whether the operation can succeed remain unanswered.

The port will take "a number of weeks" to set up, officials have said, and will be able to receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters. Initial shipments will arrive via Cyprus, where Israeli security inspections will take place.

"A temporary pier will enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day," President Biden said.

He added that Israel must "do its part" by allowing more aid to enter into the territory and to "ensure that humanitarian workers aren't caught in the crossfire".

"Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip."

Israel's military launched an air and ground campaign in Gaza after Hamas's attacks on Israel on 7 October, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 253 others were taken hostage.

More than 30,800 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the territory's Hamas-run health ministry says.

The conflict has created a growing humanitarian crisis. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned this week that children were dying of starvation in northern Gaza, where an estimated 300,000 Palestinians are living with little food or clean water.

Gaza has no deep water port and so the US has for weeks been looking at ways to get shiploads of aid in urgently, while the administration has publicly ramped up its pressure and increasingly shown in public its impatience with Israel over the desperate situation on the ground.

US officials told the BBC's US partner, CBS, that there are plans for the pier to be installed by an army unit called the 7th Transportation Brigade, based at Fort Story, Virginia.

The brigade is designed for rapid deployment, but the military ships have not yet left the US, the officials said.

Vice Adm Kevin Donegan, who was formerly Commander of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet - the most senior US naval commander in the Middle East - told BBC Radio 4's World Tonight programme that the port plan was "absolutely executable".

However, he said delivering aid by land was still the most effective way, in terms of being able to get as many goods in as possible.

Vice Adm Donegan also cautioned that having "security and a good distribution network" would be critical for the safe delivery of aid from the port, referencing the more than 100 people who were killed trying to reach an aid convoy. last week, amid the growing desperation.

Palestinians said most were shot by Israeli troops. The Israeli military, which was overseeing the private aid deliveries, said most were killed in a stampede.

Aid lorries have been entering the south of Gaza through the Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossing and the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom. But the north, which was the focus of the first phase of the Israeli ground offensive, has been largely cut off from assistance in recent months.

On 20 February, the World Food Programme (WFP) said it was suspending food deliveries to northern Gaza because its first aid convoys in three weeks had endured "complete chaos and violence due to the collapse of civil order", including violent looting.

The US and other nations have resorted to dropping aid in by air - but humanitarian organisations say that method is a last resort and can't meet the soaring need.

An independent UN expert on Thursday accused Israel of mounting "a starvation campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza".

"The images of starvation in Gaza are unbearable and you are doing nothing," Michael Fakhri, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, said in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council.

Yeela Cytrin, a legal adviser at the Israeli mission to the UN, said "Israel utterly rejects allegations that it is using starvation as a tool of war", before walking out in protest.

During his State of the Union address, President Biden also said that he was "working nonstop" to achieve an immediate six-week ceasefire - a deal he said would "get the hostages home and ease the intolerable humanitarian crisis, and build toward something more enduring".

A Hamas delegation left talks in Cairo without a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza, but the armed group says indirect negotiations with Israel are not over.

It had been hoped that a 40-day truce could be in place for the start of the Islamic month of Ramadan next week.

But Egyptian and Qatari mediators have struggled to seal a deal that would see Hamas free Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi was sacked last month as Ukraine's commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces

The former head of Ukraine's armed forces is to be appointed as the country's ambassador to the UK.

Valerii Zaluzhnyi was sacked by President Volodymyr Zelensky last month in what was the biggest shake-up to Ukraine's military leadership since Russia's full-scale invasion.

The Ukrainian general had led the war effort since 2022.

He had been seen as a potential political rival to Mr Zelensky and was popular among soldiers.

Ukraine has not had an ambassador to the UK since Mr Zelensky dismissed former envoy Vadym Prystaiko in July 2023 after he publicly criticised the president.

The foreign ministry said a request had been sent to the UK to finalise Gen Zaluzhnyi's move.

In announcing his appointment, Mr Zelensky claimed Gen Zaluzhnyi had told him diplomacy "is the direction he'd like to take".

Replacing him in the post last month was battle-hardened Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, who Mr Zelensky described at the time of his appointment as having both offensive and defensive experience.

The decision to remove Gen Zaluzhnyi arrived at a time when the professional soldier was experiencing higher approval ratings than Mr Zelensky himself, spurring speculation that a rift had evolved between the two men.

It is unclear whether this new appointment is a reward for Mr Zaluzhnyi's previous service, or some political gaming. It is worth remembering that the former army chief has no diplomatic experience.

Lack of experience, however, didn't exactly hold Mr Zelensky back when he was elected president in 2019 after spending the lion's share of his career as a comedian.

In Ukraine, politics can be less about the parties and their manifestos, and more about the leader and their charisma.

There are still some formal approvals to be done, but the BBC understands Gen Zaluzhnyi has accepted his new role as UK ambassador. This means he will likely be based in the capital of a warm ally of Ukraine's, while representing its leader's agenda.

It crucially also means he will not be diverting support away from the president back home, as his boss is trying to balance mobilising thousands of men while also protecting the Ukrainian economy. That requires a united front.

The Ukrainian leader had said at the time of Gen Zaluzhnyi's sacking that leadership within the military ranks needed to be "renewed", but added that the well-liked general could "remain on the team".

Meanwhile, the UK announced on Thursday that it will supply Ukraine with more than 10,000 drones in a deal worth 125m ($160m).

That is on top of 200m pledged earlier this year for drones as part of a larger military aid package.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, who made the announcement while on a visit to Kyiv, also urged the UK's allies to increase their own supplies of weapons.

Ukraine has recently faced a variety of setbacks in its bid to drive Russia from its territory more than two years into the conflict.

Last month, Ukraine's defence minister said a delay in the delivery of half the promised Western aid had cost lives and territory.
[Source]

In the race for the District 2 Santa Clara County supervisor, two Vietnamese American women are leading the field for the open seat. If either win, they would be the first Vietnamese Americans to serve on the city's Board of Supervisors.

Historic race: Madison Nguyen and Betty Duong are marking a historic contest for the Vietnamese community as they vie for the supervisor seat in California. The race underscores the increasing influence of Vietnamese Americans in local politics, emphasizing the importance of diversity and inclusion in leadership.

Santa Clara County has the second largest Vietnamese community in the world, second to only Vietnam itself.

The votes: As of Tuesday, Nguyen is reportedly ahead with 31.4% of the vote, while Duong follows closely in second place with 28.8%. The early results also show Corina Herrera-Loera in third with 23.6%, followed by Nelson McElmurry with 10.6% and Jennifer Celaya with 5.4%. The voter turnout is approximately 17.8%, with expectations of reaching 35% to 45% in this primary election.

Trending on NextShark: NYC sushi restaurant owner accuses Wegmans of stealing his concept and trade secrets

About Nguyen: Nguyen, a former San Jose vice mayor and the first Vietnamese American member of the San Jose City Council, emphasizes accountability in her platform. Nguyen, who currently serves as the executive vice president of marketing company AsianNet Media, has also held executive positions at the nonprofit Hunger at Home and San Jose Chamber of Commerce.

Regardless of the outcome, our team has worked really hard, Nguyen told San Jose Spotlight. Our platform around accountability really resonated with voters, and I hope that will show with the results.

About Duong: Duong, who is Supervisor Cindy Chavezs chief of staff, highlights her commitment to grassroots leadership and extensive community service. She played a key role in leading the Vietnamese American Service Center project and served as special counsel for the Vietnamese American Workers Rights Project at Legal Aid at Work. Duong also served as the public information officer for the Santa Clara County Emergency Operations Center during the COVID-19 pandemic and contributed to the establishment of the county's first language access services project.

Trending on NextShark: Indian painter gets brain-dead woman's hands in rare bilateral hand transplant

It just shows the incredible impact you can make as a first-time candidate when you listen to the needs of the people, Duong told San Jose Spotlight. I consider tonight a victory.

Download the NextShark App:

Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
WELLS, Maine  A developer has revised his plans to build new homes on wooded land at 502 Post Road.

Arnie J. Martel, of AJM Construction, said he is now hoping to build 165 single-family townhouses on 121 acres.

In his original application, Martel said he sought to build more than 100 new homes and as many as 40 new townhouses on 44 acres at the site. Martel withdrew that application, which the Wells Planning Board was set to receive on March 4.

A developer is proposing to build 165 new townhouses on currently wooded property behind the antiques shop at 502 Post Road in Wells, Maine.

Martel confirmed he submitted a new application, which corrects or clarifies some of the details in the original and slightly reconfigures the layout.

We just made non-substantial changes, Martel said.

In an email, town engineer Michael Livingston confirmed that the Planning Board is scheduled to receive the new subdivision pre-application at its next meeting on March 18. Livingston also said the board will likely schedule a site visit at the property.

More: Kennebunk voters approve 'greatly needed' affordable housing project for seniors

Erik Poulin of Jones & Beach Engineers of New Hampshire is the project manager for the site and is representing Martel.

Martel said he is buying 114 of the 120 acres from Richard Jorgensen, who owns an antique shop at the location. He said he is purchasing the final six acres from The Morrison Center. The properties fall within the towns general business, 75-foot shoreland overlay, and rural districts.

Martel said he is proposing the construction of three buildings with six townhouses each, with the remaining 147 townhouses as standalone structures. The lone townhouses will be approximately 1,600 square feet, he added.Martel said the new community would be private and self-contained.

Maine landowner eyes new campground: Here's why neighbors are upset

Residents have discussed Martels development plans on social media. On the Wells, Maine Facebook page, one post generated a lengthy discussion in which people expressed concerns regarding zoning, taxes, traffic, housing, quality of life, the potential impact on schools, the rate of development in the community, and other topics.

Martel said his project is not likely to impact or overwhelm local schools, as, in his experience, the people who buy townhouses don't typically have young children. Families with children tend to seek out larger living spaces, he said.

Usually, there arent a lot of kids in townhouse subdivisions, Martel said. People are looking for simpler living.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Wells developer revises plan: 165 townhouses planned on Post Road
Special safety glasses to protect against permanent eye damage from watching the total solar eclipse will be selling out fast as April 8 approaches, and experts suggest people buy now if they plan to see the event.

Without eclipse viewers, which allow just 0.0001% of the light that falls on them through, looking at the sun during an eclipse can cause burns to the retina called "solar retinopathy."

Its not that the sun is more intense during an eclipse, but because it is partially or totally blocked by the moon, it can be easier to look at without squinting or turning away. The April 8 path of totality, where the moon completely covers the sun, will travel from Texas through Maine. Palm Beach County will experience about 50% of the sun covered during next month's eclipse.

You look at it, and maybe its not bothering you, but at the same time, its frying your retina, said Antonio Bolet, clinical manager at Mittleman Eye, which has offices in West Palm Beach and Jupiter. Literally, just a few seconds will cause permanent damage.

Where to buy solar eclipse glasses

The American Astronomical Society has a list of reputable sellers of solar eclipse glasses on its website eclipse.aas.org, and cautions against buying from large online-only marketplaces where the seller and manufacturer may not be easy to verify.

Glasses marked with ISO 12312-2 ensure the glasses, and other eclipse viewers, comply with international safety standards for having appropriate filters to directly view the sun. ISO stands for the International Organization for Standardization.

The problem is anyone can print on an eclipse viewer that they conform with ISO standards, said Susanna Kohler, press officer for the American Astronomical Society (AAS). Everyone loves these shopping sites because you can get items overnight, but that comes with its own risks in regard to the glasses.

Hotels booked, cars reserved: The next total solar eclipse is in April and people already have travel plans

Some North American manufacturers recommended by the AAS for eclipse glasses are America Paper Optics, Rainbow Symphony, Halo Eclipse Spectacles and Thousand Oaks Optical.

Eclipse glasses usually cost under $3 per pair, but may have to be bought in multi-packs. At Rainbow Symphony, a 5-pack of sunglasses costs $10.95. A 25-pack at American Paper Optics (eclipseglasses.com) is running $68.75.

AAS warns against searching online marketplaces "and buying from whichever vendor offers the lowest price."

There are more than 50 authorized dealers listed on the AAS site, as well as several large retail chain stores including Walmart, Lowes and Staples.

But even the chain stores come with caveats. If you buy glasses in the store, they are likely to be legitimately ISO-compliant, but the same cant be said if they are purchased on a stores website because some chains use different suppliers for online sales, the AAS site notes.

During the 2017 total solar eclipse, which covered a swath of the country from Oregon to South Carolina, the AAS warned of a flood of fake solar eclipse glasses hitting the market in the weeks prior to the event. Amazon recalled an unknown number of questionable glasses citing safety concerns and asked third-party sellers to provide documentation to verify their products were compliant with eclipse standards.

2024 Total Solar Eclipse

Companies that didnt provide the documentation had their products pulled from the site and customers who bought them were notified of the potential defect.

We have not seen unsafe eclipse glasses on the market at this point, but that doesnt mean that they arent out there, Kohler said. As we get closer to the eclipse, retailers will sell out, so people should plan ahead.

The only time it's safe to take the safety glasses off during an eclipse is in the path of totality during the brief time the sun is fully covered by the moon and only the corona is visible.

The total solar eclipse 1918: What was Palm Beach County like then?

Because Palm Beach County will experience about 50% of the sun being covered by the moon, it won't be safe at any time to remove the glasses while viewing the eclipse.

In West Palm Beach, the eclipse will begin at 1:48 p.m. with maximum coverage occurring at 3:03 p.m.

Free eclipse glasses available at some public libraries and watch events

Free eclipse glasses will be available while supplies last at Palm Beach County public libraries beginning March 25. One pair will be given to each Palm Beach County Library System card holder. The cards must be presented to receive the glasses.

Planning is also being finalized for a glasses giveaway at the Mandel Public Library in West Palm Beach.

Several South Florida observatories that will be open for the eclipse will have a limited number of glasses. Those include the Marmot Observatory at the Cox Science Center and Aquarium in West Palm Beach, Florida Atlantic Universitys observatory in Boca Raton and the Fox Astronomical Observatory in Sunrise.

People watch the annular solar eclipse with safety glasses at a watch party at the Orlando Science Center on October 14, 2023 in Orlando, Florida.

Bolet said hes reluctant to look directly at an eclipse even with the glasses. Instead, he recommends using a pinhole viewer where the eclipse image is projected onto the ground through a hole cut into a piece of paper.

But Kohler said it is safe to view an eclipse with appropriate protection.

We dont want people to be so afraid that they dont get to experience the eclipse, she said. The message we are trying to get out is to be prepared and get the right safety glasses.

Do you really need glasses for a solar eclipse? Yes, here are safety tips for using.

A woman watches the annular solar eclipse with safety glasses at a watch party at the Orlando Science Center on October 14, 2023 in Orlando, Florida.

 Ordinary sunglasses, even very dark ones, are not safe for looking at the sun. To safely view a partial eclipse, wear official eclipse viewing glasses that meet International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 12312-2 safety standards. If you wear regular eyeglasses, place the solar eclipse glasses on top of them.Supervise children using the special glasses to make sure they use them correctly. Adjust your childs glasses to fit his or her face properly. If the glasses are too big, cut and tape them at the nose to make them smaller. Do not look at the eclipse through a camera, binoculars or telescope. This is important even if you are wearing eclipse glasses. The intense solar rays coming through these devices will damage the solar filter and your eyes. Use solar eclipse filters on camera lenses, binoculars and telescopes. Check the filter before the eclipse and if it is damaged or scratched, replace the filter.Use extra precaution, such as an indirect viewing method, if you are taking a medication that dilates your pupils  this reduces the time it takes to injure your eyes.

Where is the best place to see the solar eclipse 2024?

The total total eclipse or "path of totality" of what's become known as the Great North American Eclipse will start in the South Pacific Ocean, pass from Mexico into Oklahoma, and travel diagonally across the country through New Hampshire until it leaves continental North America over Newfoundland.

In Florida, Pensacola will see about 76% of the sun covered by the moon. The coverage decreases the farther south you go so that West Palm Beach will see about half of the sun covered beginning at 1:48 p.m. Maximum coverage will occur at 3:03 p.m.

Several South Florida observatories will be open for the eclipse, including the Marmot Observatory at the Cox Science Center and Aquarium in West Palm Beach, Florida Atlantic Universitys observatory in Boca Raton and the Fox Astronomical Observatory in Sunrise.

Kimberly Miller is a veteran journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate and how growth affects South Florida's environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism, subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Solar eclipse 2024 glasses: types; free; safety tips; where to see
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a Republican presidential candidate, arrives to deliver remarks as she suspends her presidential campaign in Daniel Island, S.C., March 6, 2024. (Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)

When the first New York Times/Siena College poll of the Republican primary was released in July, a quarter of Republican voters said they were not open to supporting former President Donald Trump.

These not Trump voters were not like other Republicans. They were relatively affluent, moderate and highly educated. They supported immigration reform and aid to Ukraine. Most of all, they had an unfavorable view of Trump. A majority of these primary voters wouldnt even support him in a general election against President Joe Biden.

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times

In the end, the not-Trump voters found a candidate in Nikki Haley, who suspended her campaign Wednesday. On Super Tuesday, she won 22% of the vote  just shy of the 25% who said they werent open to Trump in July.

Source: Times analysis of election results from The Associated Press The District of Columbia is considered a county equivalent by the census for data presentation. The New York Times

The opening for Haley emerged long before she gained in the polls. As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ran to the right, he became unpalatable to the relatively moderate voters who represented the core of any anti-Trump coalition. Haleys staunch defense of Americas role in the world and relatively moderate stance on abortion was a breath of fresh air for these voters, and she quickly became the choice of the old neoconservative, establishment wing of the party.

In doing so, she became the only vigorous opponent to Trump. At the same time, she ensured she would be nothing more than a factional candidate  someone who appealed only to Trumps opposition, a mere quarter of the Republican electorate.

Haleys limited appeal was on display in every primary. The exit polls routinely found her losing badly among self-identified Republican voters, a group thats pretty important to a Republican primary.

She ultimately won just over 30 counties and Washington, D.C., many of which fit a caricature of the anti-Trump elite. Most Haley counties were either ski and beach resorts, college towns or inside the Beltway  places that bear little resemblance to the rest of the country, let alone the Republican Party. She also excelled in Vermont  the most Democratic state in the country and one where the rules allowed Democrats to vote in the Republican primary.

When only Republicans could vote, Haley was crushed. Even Humboldt County, California  akin to a pot-growing sliver of Vermont on the West Coast  gave Trump a 79-17 victory without the registered Democrats and independents who powered her strength elsewhere. The only exception was in and around Salt Lake City, where Trump still faces considerable opposition from Mormons in his own party.

What will Haleys supporters do in November?

With Haley out of the race, these not-Trump Republicans may agonize over whom to support in the general election. This is not a new problem for Trump, as these moderate, affluent voters have been skeptical of him all along. He lost many of them years ago, if he ever won them at all.

In the last Times/Siena poll, Haleys supporters reported backing Biden over Trump in the 2020 election, 48% to 32%. Perhaps surprisingly, Trump fared a bit better when the question turned to a 2024 rematch, with the former president winning 44% of these voters to 40% for Biden, who tried to appeal to Haleys voters after her withdrawal Wednesday.

At 3% of registered voters, the Haley voters who back Trump in the general election represent only a sliver of the electorate. Many might be party-line Republicans who never loved Trump but voted for him last time and will probably do so again. Those who can be persuaded to turn their backs on him might be a critical element of a successful Biden reelection campaign.

After all, they probably helped power his narrow victory in 2020.

c.2024 The New York Times Company
A New York City man who was branded a shoplifter and migrant while roughed up by members of the Guardian Angels on live television last month has announced his intent to file a civil lawsuit against the anti-crime organization.

Im not afraid anymore, Marco Pina, 22, said at a press conference Tuesday, according to The New York Daily News. His first public comments followed him giving an interview with the Manhattan District Attorneys Office for possible criminal charges, according to Pix11 News.

Pina said he migrated to the U.S. from Mexico as a toddler 20 years ago and has only ever known New York City as his home. He has also never broken the law, he added, contrary to what was allegedly said against him by the groups founder, Curtis Sliwa, on national television.

Marco Pina is pictured (center) outside District Attorney Alvin Bragg's offices in downtown Manhattan on Tuesday. New York Daily News via Getty Images

Sliwa was giving an interview with Fox News about the citys rising crime and migrants on Feb. 6 when he accused Pina  who he characterized as one of the migrant guys  of shoplifting.

Theyve taken over, Sliwa told host Sean Hannity. The Guardian Angels spotted him, stopped him, he resisted, and lets just say we gave him a little pain compliance. His mother, back in Venezuela, felt the vibrations. He is sucking concrete. The cops scraped him off the asphalt. Hes on his way to jail.

what the fuck did i just watch pic.twitter.com/FxVUPmEDte  Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) February 7, 2024

Pina, in his press conference Tuesday, said he was initially fearful about speaking out against Sliwa because of his immigration status under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which allows certain migrants who came to the U.S. as children the chance to request deferred action against deportation. Felony or significant misdemeanor convictions can revoke the process under DACAs guidelines.

Im a nobody in this city. Curtis Sliwa is famous. I was intimidated and scared since Im only protected by DACA, a temporary permit for immigrants like myself that arrived here as babies, he said.

Video capturing the incident doesnt show what happened before the scuffle between Pina and the Guardian Angels, and Sliwas organization has accused Pina and two individuals with him of being the first to get physical.

The trio was pushing and shoving the crew filming Sliwas interview and ignored repeated requests to stay back. Eventually, a female member of the Guardian Angels was assaulted, the group said.

Pina proceeded to aggressively strike and shove one of our Guardian Angels, Kimberly, hitting her with both of his hands on her breasts, the group said in a statement to HuffPost on Wednesday. Our Guardian Angel is a sexual assault survivor, a mother of Mexican descent, and a practicing Muslim who felt profiled as a target based on her gender and wearing of a hijab.

Once the other members saw what was happening, they physically restrained Pina until police arrived, the organization said, while sharing a video of the female Guardian Angel recounting the incident.

Pinas attorney did not immediately respond to HuffPosts request for comment on the assault allegations, or his pending lawsuit.

A police spokesperson confirmed to NBC News shortly after the incident that Pina had been accused of repeatedly attempting to interfere and disrupt the live television interview, but there was no evidence of shoplifting. He was issued a summons as officers saw him acting in a loud, disorderly threatening manner on the sidewalk.

A representative for the DAs office told HuffPost Wednesday that its investigation is ongoing and there are no updates at this time.

We intend to pursue justice to the fullest extent of the law, Pinas attorney, Patricia Lynch, told Pix11 News. We appreciate the DAs office, that they are investigating this, and that they are going after the people that should be gone after.

Related...
TOKYO, Mar 07 (News On Japan) - Plastic waste, blending into the darkness of the deep sea, continues to increase and may soon have a significant impact on our lives.

At a depth of 2,400 meters in Suruga Bay, a white object fluttering in the water is a plastic bag.

Similar sightings have been confirmed worldwide, even at depths exceeding 10,000 meters in the Mariana Trench.

While plastic waste in the ocean is often imagined as being washed up on beaches or floating on the surface, most of it sinks to the deep sea, becoming eternal trash and leading to severe environmental pollution.

The seas around Japan, influenced by ocean currents, have become a gathering place for trash. The amount of microplastics broken down into tiny particles is said to be 27 times the global average.

Research is ongoing, and in January 2024, it was demonstrated that plastics in the deep sea can also be decomposed by microorganisms.

Ryota Nakajima, a senior researcher at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, says, "Japan uses a lot of plastic. Efforts to reduce single-use plastics are definitely necessary. It's an issue that requires everyone in the world to cooperate and establish measures to prevent trash from leaking into the sea."

Source: ANN
As the mom of three little girls ages 5 and younger, Melissa Frederick has her hands full as she raises them on the family farm.

Although Frederick grew up on an acreage in west central Iowa, she didnt have close family members who farmed. But her brothers had a friend named Bill Frederick who lived on a farm in the Bagley area. Her brothers even worked on the Frederick family farm growing up.

When I was in college, my brother Chris had moved to Florida and was back home, so we went out to dinner and invited a bunch of friends, Frederick said. Bill was there and that kicked things off for the two of us.

I was still in college and wed been dating two months when my grandma emailed me and said that if we kept dating, Id end up on a farm and itd be hard work. I told her, Grandma, Im not afraid of that.

A biology major at the University of Iowa, Frederick accepted her first job working in quality control for Continental Manufacturing Chemist. After two years, she switched to work for a lab at an ethanol plant in Grand Junction. She never envisioned staying at home with her kids.

Before I had Leah, I filled in for the manager who was on the day shift. After they filled that spot, they put me back on rotating 12-hour shifts, Frederick said.

When youre married to a farmer who works weekends, child care is not an option.

She and Bill chatted about their options with the birth of their first child looming and they decided that they could afford for her to stay home. Now, theyre parents to Leah, almost 6, Kate, 3, and Audrey, 10 months. Leah is in kindergarten, but the other girls are still at home full time.

The couple farms with his parents, who gradually turn over more and more tasks every year as they near retirement. The family has a cow-calf operation and grow corn and beans. Melissa focuses on keeping the books for the farm and pitching in wherever needed.

Its great farming with them. So as long as they want to stay a part of it, its great for us, she said.

When harvest time comes around, Bills mom doesnt like to drive the auger cart anymore, so shell watch the girls for me and Ill drive. Shes decided she enjoys being a grandma rather than doing the heavy lifting around the farm, and any time the girls can sneak out of here and go to Grandmas house a quarter of a mile up the road, theyre thrilled.

Frederick has been able to put her biology degree to good use. She and Bill own Iowa Cover Crop, a business that sells cover crop seeds from a warehouse in Jefferson, Iowa. She shares bookkeeping duties with the other business partners spouse and enjoys quality control duties, an area she has experience in.

We sell anything but corn and beans for farmers to plant as covers on their fields, Frederick says. We do grow some of the oats and wheat ourselves on the farm to supply the business and plant cover crops ourselves. We clean our own seed, and things like quality control from my first job come into play.

Bill Frederick and his business partner, James Holz, founded Iowa Cover Crop in 2014. Now ICC has a growing dealer network and offers seed and application services across Iowa and the Midwest.

When looking ahead, all three girls will be in school in five years, freeing up more of Melissas time during the day to help her husband around the family farm as they absorb more duties and to continue to grow the cover crop business.

Its working well for us now, and if I wanted to, I could be full-time with the cover crop business, she said.
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and All Care Health Center in Council Bluffs is artistically acknowledging the cause thanks to the handy work of some Thomas Jefferson High School students.

Last Friday, Thomas Jefferson art teacher Laurie Bancroft brought a van full of her ceramic students down to the All Care facility, 902 S. Sixth St., where they spent the day painting its windows with blue ribbons, fun designs and messages of hope for those dealing with issues related to colon cancer.

The students included Stephanee Porter, Carlee Morris, Valeria Esquivel, Jennifer Silva, Jordan Manzer, Myles Auten, Jasmine Hadeen and Danielle Stang.

The students spent all morning and afternoon working on the project, and many All Care employees came outside throughout the day to see their work. Some even got in on the fun.

Courtney Burk, a medical coder at All Care, got her hand painted blue by Bancroft so she could add a hand print to one of the windows' designs.

Stacy Wooley, care coordinator at All Care, said it was great having the students there. She said she appreciated not only having the facility brighter and more colorful, but also having the students' work promote awareness for a cause that she says more and more Americans are having to be familiar with.

"It's very important to get screened, starting at the age of 45," she said. "They are finding more and more young people with colon cancer, so the quicker you can get screened ... if it's caught early, it's 100% treatable."

According to statistics provided by the Iowa Primary Care Association, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. An estimated 1,660 Iowans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer this year and one in 23 men and one in 26 women will be diagnosed with it in their lifetime.

Those numbers are why Wooley said spreading awareness is needed now more than ever. She said she hopes the Thomas Jefferson students' art will help be the spark that gets more people and their families informed and ready for getting screened.

Along with the art at All Care, Wooley said the medical center is holding contests for patients, staff and providers during throughout the month. She also said the fountain at Bayliss Park will be lit blue to recognize Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
The Madison County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday morning for its regularly scheduled session. All commissioners were present, in addition to two members of the public, several county staff members and county sheriff Todd Volk. The meeting lasted 30 minutes. A recap of the meeting is below.
Severe storms with probable tornadoes tore through several central U.S. states, damaging homes and businesses and killing at least three people, with more bodies likely to be discovered, authorities said. As the sun rose Friday, officials scrambled to assess the extent of the destruction wit
When I was trying to acquire all the Pulitzer Prize winners of fiction, I spent a lot of time in used bookstores hunting for copies of older, out-of-print books. It was an enjoyable enterprise, and I managed to track down quite a few of the books I wanted, but a couple of them eluded me, so 
Senegals delayed presidential election will be held on 24 March, the countrys President Macky Sall has announced, following weeks of political turmoil and violent protests calling for an immediate vote.

Senegalese voters should finally head to the polls at the end of March, following a string of announcements by the president and government on Wednesday, after a top court ruled that a proposal to hold the vote after Salls mandate expires on 2 April was unconstitutional. But there is still some confusion on the precise date of the first-round vote: while the incumbent president set 24 March as the date, Senegals top constitutional body ruled it should take place on 31 March. Sall has also dissolved the government, replacing Prime Minister Amadou Ba with Interior Minister Sidiki Kaba.

It is the latest twist in the West African nation that has for weeks been convulsed in violent unrest following Salls last-minute decision to delay elections originally set for 25 February till December. The crisis had prompted warnings from the countrys international allies that its reputation as one of coup-hit West Africas more stable democracies is under threat. The regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc also held an emergency meeting in an attempt to calm widespread violence. Senegal experienced several waves of deadly unrest between 2021 and 2023, triggered in particular by a bitter stand-off between now-imprisoned opposition figure Ousmane Sonko and the state.
Morocco has reiterated its call for urgent, comprehensive, and lasting ceasefire in Palestinian territories, stressing the need to respect international and humanitarian laws and supplying humanitarian aid without restrictions to besieged Palestinian people.

In his opening address at the 161st session of the Arab League ministerial Council convened Wednesday in Cairo, Moroccan foreign minister Nasser Bourita reaffirmed the Kingdoms steadfast commitment to the Palestinian legitimate cause.

Moroccos commitment to the Palestinian issue, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, Chairman of the Al Quds Committee, is constant, concrete and cannot be the subject of outbidding or slogans, Bourita said.

Bourita, who underlined that Rabat insistently opposes forced displacement of Palestinians, recalled that upon the instructions of King Mohammed VI, Chairman of Al-Quds Committee, Morocco sent to the Palestinian people large quantities of urgent humanitarian aid including foodstuffs and medical supplies, while Bayt Mal Al-Quds al Sharif Agency, provided support to the main hospitals and social institutions in charge of emergency medical and social cases arising from developments in the Gaza Strip.

Morocco has also injected additional $25 million in Al Aqsa Fund and Al Quds Intifada Fund to strengthen the Palestinian peoples resilience against the Israeli aggressions and daily attacks.

Anyone who believes that peace and stability in the Middle East can only be achieved through military solutions or plans to displace the Palestinians is mistaken, said Mr. Bourita, warning that the Israeli military escalation would only exacerbate hostility, revenge, and extremism, and lead to anarchy and endless violence.

As King Mohammed VI, Chairman of Al Quds Committee, has repeatedly said, peace remains the only strategic option for the region and its stability, underlined the Minister.

Bourita recalled that as part of support to the Palestinian people, the Arab League Council at delegates level remained in permanent session to monitor developments in Gaza.

He also tackled the political crises, wars, and conflicts rocking some Arab countries such as Yemen, Sudan, and Syria, voicing hope to see stability restored in these countries by promoting dialogue and peaceful initiatives, far from the logic of force and military solutions.

At the end of the Arab League meeting, the Arab foreign ministers called for the respect of the Skhirat Agreement, sealed in 2015, as a basis for a comprehensive settlement of the Libyan crisis.

The ministers also reiterated attachment to the unity, sovereignty, and independence of Libya, rejecting any foreign interference in this countrys internal affairs.

The Council of Arab Foreign Ministers congratulated Morocco for its election to the presidency of the UNHRC for 2024 and for winning its bid for hosting the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

On the sidelines of the Arab league gathering, the Moroccan foreign minister met with several Arab peers including the foreign ministers of Mauritania, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as with the Arab League Secretary General . Talks focused on issues of common interests and latest developments on the regional and international scene.
Former Boko Haram fighters in Nigeria are threatening they may pick up arms again and join the insurgency out of frustration that they have been neglected by the government since they surrendered in the last two years.

The Nigerian authorities promised Boko Haram fighters who surrendered that they would receive training and skills as an alternative to violence and militancy. But the former Islamist militants, who now live in camps in Borno state, northeastern Nigeria, now accuse the Nigerian government of neglect, saying it has ignored for months their essential needs. Frustrated by not getting enough support from the government, the ex-militants have warned they might return to fighting if they dont get more support from the authorities. Some even told the media that they were better off fighting for the Boko Haram group than living in the camps.

According to reports, over the past two years, only few of over 100,000 former Boko Haram fighters have benefited from what the government promised, with most of them still living in various camps in Borno state awaiting reintegration. Some former members even recently staged a protest outside one of the camps over their concerns. Some have noted that several former combatants had already returned to their forest enclaves. Security experts and analysts have warned the Nigerian government against ignoring the agitations and threats from the former fighters. These warnings come amid reports that at least 47 women have been kidnapped in a remote area in northeastern Nigeria, where Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province have operated.
At least 15 people were killed and thousands displaced as the M23 rebel group on Wednesday (6 March) seized a town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from government forces amid escalating violence in the countrys conflict-hit region.

As the tutsi-led March 23 Movement (M23) rebels took over the town of Nyanzale in eastern DRC, the victims were killed by bombs fired indiscriminately by the M23, a local official told the press. The town is about 130 km north by road from the provincial capital Goma and is reportedly home to some 80,000 of internally displaced people who fled fighting in surrounding areas. We are under the control of the M23 here at Nyanzale, a health sector source said. They are advancing towards Kikuku. They have a lot of vehicles, added the source who does not wish to be identified.

As the M23 has intensified its campaign in the Eastern part of the country this year, Kigali, UN experts and Western powers, including France and the United States, say that Rwanda supports the M23 in a bid to control the vast mineral resources in the region. Rwanda denies any role. The European Union this week called for dialogue between Congo and Rwanda to tackle the root causes of the conflict, saying only a political solution could end it. Eastern DRC has long been overrun by more than 120 armed groups seeking a share of the regions bountiful resources as they carry out mass killings. The emergency in the DRC is one of the most complex humanitarian crises in the world, says the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
After destroying the initial five-state Maghreb Union, Algeria has brought together cash-strapped Tunisia and war-torn Libya in a bid to create a new regional union.

Mauritania has faced pressure to join the threesome of authoritarian regimes facing bleak economic and social stability prospects.

As it continues to pedal towards autocracy, Tunisia under President Kais Saied has sapped its Arab Spring democratic achievements verging on default, while Libya is a de-facto divided state mired in chaos and instability.

Algerias president said the leaders of the three Maghreb states  including the Tripoli based government- will be meeting once in a quarter to discuss regional issues.

President Tebboune had called Mauritanian president to inform him of the initiative, according to the Algerian presidency, in an apparent bid to pressure Mauritania to join the new alliance of failed economies.

But Mauritanian President, who lost his main bodyguard in a recent visit to Algiers, has neither commented nor promised to join the new alliance.

With such manoeuvres, Algeria puts the final nail in the Maghreb coffin. After decades of backing separatist militias in Morocco, Algeria has lost credibility in backing Libyas western faction against the Haftar-led east. It has backed authoritarianism in once-democratic Tunisia and then withdrew its staff from the Rabat-based Arab Maghreb Union.

Last year, secretary general of the Maghreb Union urged Algeria to pay its due contribution and return its staff who have been receiving their pay without working.

The new alliance came at a context Morocco fosters ties with its southern African neighborhood while continuing its open arms policy urging Algeria to open borders and build a united Maghreb.

In seeking to isolate Morocco at all costs, Algeria has been taking self-harming decisions that ended up isolating itself.
Ways of strengthening cooperation between Morocco and the United Kingdom in counterterrorism and cross-border crimes were at the center of talks held in London by Abdellatif Hammouchi, Director-General of national police & domestic intelligence agency with several top British security chiefs.

During his two-day working visit, which started Tuesday, Hammouchi met with Ken McCallum, Head of Domestic Intelligence Service (MI5) and other counterterrorism officers.

Talks focused on issues of common interest and on regional and international security challenges, said a press release issued Thursday by the Moroccan National Police Directorate.

At Scotland Yard HQ, Hammouchi conferred with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and with Counter-Terrorism Police Chief Sir Matt Jukes, who is also Met Police Assistant Commissioner.

During the London trip, Hammouchi and his accompanying delegation visited several British security facilities, including the Met Police Command & Control Center.

This visit took place within the framework of cooperation and coordination set between the two countries security and intelligence services to counter common threats.
Tunisias Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani seems to have made a trip to Paris specifically to protest against a French documentary that exposed Tunisias worsening poverty and dictatorship under the rule of Kais Saied.

Speaking at a presser with his French Peer Attali, Hachani ranted at the documentary describing it as an unfriendly act by our French friends.

Hanachis remarks against the M6 channel documentary offered the film more visibility leading to an increase in views on Youtube.

His remarks reflect the mindset of the new ruler in Tunis who sent scores to prison for freely expressing criticism.

In January, Human Rights Watch alerted to the jailing of thousands for expressing dissent, and an undermined civil society, saying Tunisia has backpedalled to autocracy following a crackdown on civil liberties by a president bent on continuing his power grab.

At least 40 opponents or individuals deemed critical of the authorities were behind bars as of December, with most of them accused of conspiracy against state security or dubious terrorism related charges, often merely for their peaceful speech or activism, according to the HRW report.

The authorities have also used a recent cybercrime decree-law, which imposes heavy prison sentences for spreading fake news and rumors online, to arbitrarily detain, prosecute, or investigate at least 21 people for speech offenses, in one case before a military court, it said.

Black Africans suffered persecution after xenophobic statements by the countrys president, which unleashed a wave of aggressions on migrants across the country, HRW recalled.
Morocco and the United States have signed the fourth cooperation action plan in the fields of environment and sustainable development, covering the 2024-2027 period.

The plan, initialed in Rabat on Wednesday by Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leila Benali, and the US Ambassador to Morocco, Puneet Talwar, aims to bolster the two parties joint efforts and contribution to achieving Moroccos objectives as outlined in the National Sustainable Development Strategy and the New Development Model.

The action plan focuses on four priority areas for both parties: environmental laws and regulations, climate change, green growth, and green economy, biodiversity conservation and protected area management, and environmental education and transparency.

Benali told the press that the signing of this action plan would strengthen cooperation between Rabat and Washington in the fields of biodiversity, environmental protection, sustainable development, and energy transition.

The main aim, she said, is to promote training and encourage the involvement of civil society and the general public in major environmental projects, especially as the Kingdom is preparing to launch structural projects in various fields.

This collaboration, she continued, will provide a substantial contribution to tackling various challenges associated with water scarcity and green hydrogen.

Echoing her, the US diplomat applauded the close partnership between his country and Morocco, and recognized the Kingdoms leadership in the strategic domain of renewable energy.

This is a, accurate and detailed action plan that will cover a number of areas, from the application of environmental laws and the protection of endangered species to the fight against plastic pollution and the improvement of air quality, explained Puneet Talwar, who stressed the importance of involving citizens in these initiatives alongside governments.

In 2004, Morocco and the United States signed a Joint Statement on Environmental Cooperation. The implementation of this Statement is notably reflected in the establishment of action plans drawn up and validated by the Environment Working Group (EWG) created for this purpose. Three action plans were signed and implemented between 2005 and 2017.

Besides, the two countries have signed several agreements, notably in the fields of economy, defense, security, the fight against terrorism and extremism, diplomacy, energy, trade, investment, scientific and technological research, education, culture, and sports.
The Just Transition project aimed at supporting Moroccos efforts to implement its climate policy was launched on Wednesday in Rabat, by the European Union and Morocco.

The project, worth over 10 million (approximately 109 million dirhams), is co-financed by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union (EU).

Entitled Just Transition: Economic Incentives for Successful Climate Policy and NDC Implementation, the project supports Morocco in using economic instruments for the socially responsible updating and implementation of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in the Kingdom.

The project was developed with an inclusive approach involving several ministerial departments and in close collaboration with several development partners, particularly the World Bank, the French Development Agency, and the EU to ensure complementarity with other initiatives such as the Climate Program  Support to the NDC.

This launch event highlighted two major themes that condition the future of ecological transition. The first axis of discussion, focused on Just Transition as a crucial pillar in the fight against climate change, allowed experts to share ideas on how to integrate social equity into climate initiatives.

The second theme, explored by experts from Morocco and the EU, addressed the challenges and opportunities of decarbonization in the current crisis context.

Discussions highlighted the need to adjust decarbonization strategies to the pressing challenges imposed by the current climate crisis, while identifying opportunities to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable economy, particularly within the framework of the Green Partnership between Morocco and the EU.

The event underscored the imperative of concerted action, involving government authorities, the private sector, and civil society, with international collaboration and a diversity of perspectives essential for addressing the complex challenges related to climate change.

Speaking during the launch ceremony, the EU Ambassador to Morocco, Patricia Llombart Cussac, praised Moroccos constant determination to move towards a greener and more resilient economic development, integrating the current climate reality.

Ms. Llombart Cussac emphasized the importance of the cooperation between Morocco and the EU on climate issues, highlighting the shared ambition between the two partners to decarbonize their economies and firmly engage in a green transition in the face of accelerating climate change threats.

The EUs planned contribution to this project is part of a broader program called Green Energy, worth 50 million, which includes support to the Moroccan government in implementing its climate ambitions and policies, she noted, adding that this program will be complemented by twinning between the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) and one or more of its European counterparts.

Despite its difficulty, the transition path must allow us to create new opportunities for industrial cooperation, economic growth, and job creation, as it can contribute to strengthening our autonomy and competitiveness, the EU diplomat said.

For his part, the Ambassador of Germany, Robert Dolger, emphasized the importance of this project, which marks a socially and economically equitable transition and aims to address climate challenges.

Through this project, we will ensure that climate policies are fair, inclusive, and offer opportunities to everyone, he noted, before praising Moroccos exemplary model in combating climate change.
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.

0108263 License for publishing multimedia online



Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349
Anti-abortion activists only favor votes on the subject if it promotes their point of view. Photo: Joel Angel Juarez/The Republic/USA Today Networks

Throughout the 49 years during which Roe v. Wade set abortion policy in this country, one of the mantras of the anti-abortion movement was Let the people decide! Unelected federal judges, we were told, had usurped the right of the public to determine the laws governing reproductive rights via the instruments of state politics and government, as they had done before Roe was handed down in 1973.

Well, the U.S. Supreme Court did reverse Roe in 2022, and wherever they had the power, anti-abortion Republicans enacted the most thorough abortion restrictions they could impose in any given state. There was, however, a strong popular backlash to these new laws, even in strongly Republican states. Where it was possible to roll them back or prevent their enactment by passing or rejecting ballot initiatives, the pro-choice popular majority won again and again, in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, and Ohio.

So as the 2024 election approaches, efforts are underway to place abortion policy on the ballot in a host of states (including Florida, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota). Democrats are hoping to galvanize general-election turnout, and anti-abortion activists have been looking high or low for ways to make that harder. In Ohio, the Republican legislature tried but failed to create supermajority requirements for ballot initiatives changing state constitutions. In Florida, the Republican attorney general is seeking to stop a ballot initiative on grounds of allegedly deceptive wording.

In Arizona, however, anti-abortion activists battling an effort to put a pro-choice constitutional amendment on the November ballot are trying a more direct method: convincing voters they should not sign petitions enabling the ballot initiative because they should not decide abortion policy. Politico explains this decline to sign campaign, spearheaded by the hard-core anti-abortion group Students for Life:

The activists are deploying everywhere signatures are gathered  making their case at festivals, libraries, big box parking lots and coffee shops across Arizona. Some are simply trying to reach voters with an anti-abortion message before the other side does. Others are turning to more confrontational methods: tracking the locations of signature-gatherers on a private Telegram channel, filming them, interrupting their work, and calling security to get them removed from high-traffic spots around town.

We will make sure no one will get approached to sign without hearing the other side of the story, said Chanel Prunier, who leads Students for Lifes electoral advocacy arm. She called her decline-to-sign volunteers going door-to-door across the state the ground troops of the anti-abortion movement.

To some extent, these ground troops are promoting misinformation about the implications of the proposed amendment, arguing that it guarantees the right to an abortion up until birth. In fact, the initiative would simply restore the Roe standard of a right to choose prior to fetal viability, with post-viability abortions only protected in cases of a threat to the life or health of the pregnant woman. But the up until birth argument is key to the more general claim of anti-abortion activists that their opponents are the real extremists on this issue.

The underlying argument, of course, is that voters shouldnt be voting on abortion policy at all, at least where they might relax rather than increase restrictions. Politico quoted this line from a decline to sign protester standing near booths set up to secure ballot-initiative signatures:

There are things that shouldnt be voted on, Jacob Minic, one of the demonstrators, told POLITICO. When it comes to extreme moral issues like this one, I dont think it should be on the ballot.

Its very much a heads I win, tails you lose approach to the issue: The people should be able to ban abortions but not protect them. This is, of course, in line with the anti-abortion movements fundamental values beneath all the rhetoric. They oppose abortion on biological, ontological, or religious grounds that have nothing to do with public opinion or democracy. Given a chance, they would embed constitutional protections for the fetus even stronger than the reproductive rights overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022. So theyre not at all daunted by the clear pro-choice majority that has emerged since abortion policy was turned over to the states  even in many red states. Whatever it takes to use the power of government to force each and every pregnancy to full term, theyre for it, even if that involves more than a bit of deception. We should all get used to it.
Photo: Steve Niedorf

When doctors at the New Mexico Cancer Center got to work on Thursday, February 22, they immediately knew something was very wrong. As they attempted to treat their patients, they found themselves unable to complete essential administrative tasks on their computers, from electronically filling prescriptions to verifying a patients eligibility for treatment to submitting insurance claims so they could get paid for their work. As they soon learned, the third-party service they use to facilitate those transactions, Change Healthcare, had been hit with a cyberattack the day before. For the cancer center, that meant that business, in effect, was at a standstill  though their patients illnesses were not. Anxieties began to swirl around the office: How could they make sure this wouldnt interrupt anyones treatment? And how long could they afford to stay in business without any money coming in?

We can make it two to three weeks, and then were out of money, New Mexico Cancer Centers CEO, Dr. Barbara McAneny, told me last week, adding that some physicians on staff have agreed to forgo their salaries until this is over. Then I dont know what we will do, because our patients are depending on us for their chemotherapy.

Two weeks after the attack, the outage is ongoing with no clear end in sight, affecting thousands of medical practices, hospitals, and pharmacies across the country, which rely on Change Healthcares services to varying degrees  as the company boasts on its own website, it handles records for one in three patients in the U.S. At minimum, it has meant that businesses that contract with Change have had to scramble to switch to one of its few competitors (a process that can take weeks) or devise labor-intensive workarounds, which often involve old-school tools like paper prescriptions and fax machines. For pharmacies that contract with Change, the outage has disrupted their ability to conduct transactions with doctors and insurance companies, forcing some pharmacists to either hand out medication and trust insurers to pay them back later or make their customers pay for the full cost of their drugs out of pocket. If the outage lasts long enough, though, its ultimate legacy may be the number of small medical providers it puts out of business entirely.

When news of the cyberattack began to trickle out, UnitedHealth Group  the health-care behemoth that owns Change through yet another subsidiary, Optum  claimed the culprit was associated with a nation-state, though it turned out to be the ransomware gang BlackCat, which appears to have stolen data about patients, encrypted it, then demanded payment for its safe return. Cyberattacks on the health-care sector have been on the rise, but the Change Healthcare attack is unprecedented in terms of how widespread its impact has been, according to the American Hospital Associations cybersecurity adviser, John Riggi. While Change is little-known outside of the industry, its status as a dominant hub for insurance approvals and reimbursements made it a ripe target, guaranteeing that a single attack could threaten not only the well-being of patients, but the financial solvency of health-care providers across the country. For patients, the attack might also constitute a massive data breach of personal information.

Amid what Riggi calls a slow-rolling disaster, its still too early to calculate the attacks damage in terms of delayed treatments, leaked data, and cash-starved medical practices. (One estimate suggested U.S. health-care providers are hemorrhaging $100 million per day.) To the array of industry professionals that I spoke with, though, what is already clear is that the devastating scope of the attack is a direct product of industry consolidation, particularly at UnitedHealth Group, Changes owner and the countrys largest health-care provider.

This is what happens when everything merges and you only have one option, McAneny said. When we have one option, then the hackers have one big target that they know if they bring that down, they can grind U.S. health care to a halt.

Understanding how Change got its tendrils in almost every facet of the health-care industry requires taking a peek at the literally dozens of acquisitions that formed it (which Maureen Tkacik compiled over at The American Prospect). In short, it originated as a subsidiary of Aetna, which was then bought by a claims-processing company called Envoy in 1997 that was itself bought by Healtheon/WebMD in 2000. When WebMD executives got indicted in a kickback scheme, the company rebranded as Emdeon and proceeded to gobble up other health-technology companies, getting acquired along the way by the private-equity giant Blackstone, which rebranded it as Change Healthcare in 2015.

Most of those moves could be considered par for the course in an acquisition-happy industry, but UnitedHealth Group turned heads among both health-care professionals and government regulators when it moved to buy Change in 2021. By that point, UnitedHealth Group had expanded well beyond the insurance business, primarily through its subsidiary Optum, which owns everything from pharmaceutical services to physician practices. (Optum is now the countrys largest employer of physicians, with 90,000 on staff.) At the time, Optum and Change were two of the biggest providers of health IT services in the country, and medical trade groups, including the AHA, protested that the merger would result in UnitedHealth Group having near-monopolistic control over certain services. The Justice Department agreed and sued to block the merger in 2022, alleging that United might also use Changes data to access sensitive info about its rivals. The suit failed, and the $13 billion merger went through.

Change was important to the daily operations of the U.S. health-care system before UnitedHealth bought it, but the merger turned it into critical infrastructure  providing a target that, if hit correctly, could simultaneously postpone a surgery in Milwaukee, delay a teenagers prescription refill in New York, and choke the revenue stream of an oncology practice in Albuquerque. The attacks cascading effects, as Riggi calls them, are too numerous to list  Utahs Medicaid office, which uses Change to handle prescriptions, is giving out 30-day refills for free and instructing pharmacists to fill out this Google form for reimbursement. Ken Raske, the president of the Greater New York Hospital Association, says some New York hospitals will be out of cash in a week. If providers who opposed the Change acquisition werent currently struggling to keep their heads above water, this mightve made for an apt moment to tell UnitedHealth Group I told you so.

In the letter we wrote, we pointed out our concerns of when you have this level of consolidation of a far-reaching system failure impacting the health-care system, said American Medical Association president Jesse Ehrenfeld. And here it is.

As Raske points out, though, UnitedHealth Group is not yet bearing the brunt of its own mistakes. With Change down, the company is paying out fewer insurance claims than usual, meaning that  while medical practices verge on bankruptcy  UnitedHealth Group may just be stockpiling more cash. (Last year, the company raked in $371.6 billion in revenue.) The company did set up a loan program to help out providers with cash-flow issues amid the outage, but providers have called it insufficient, with the AHA saying it provides very limited relief under shockingly onerous terms and conditions.

Short-term relief, ultimately, may come in other forms. The trade groups are lobbying for government intervention, both at the state and federal level. Some ideas involve suspending certain regulations until this is over, such as relaxing requirements around Medicare prescriptions or accelerating some Medicare payments to providers. (The Department of Health and Human Services implemented those two changes on Tuesday.) Health-care providers, however, have made clear that what they need is cash, fast. Groups like the AMA have asked the federal government to make emergency funds available, while McAneny is advocating for a COVID-like bailout package, even if the relief funds are just a loan.

Were not asking for a handout, she said. But we cant wait for a month or six weeks to get the money in the door that keeps this practice alive.

While it has yet to pay much of a price for the cyberattack, UnitedHealth isnt off the hook. Last week, the Justice Department announced an unrelated antitrust investigation into the company, which is primarily focused on Optums acquisitions of physician practices but will likely be influenced by the ongoing Change crisis. Even if the company emerges relatively unscathed from the investigation, its currently facing a crisis on multiple fronts: Earlier this week, someone paid BlackCat $22 million in bitcoin, which could mean that UnitedHealth paid its hackers the ransom they were demanding. And when the Change outage is eventually resolved, lawsuits will inevitably fly in UnitedHealths direction, meaning the providers currently struggling to keep afloat could see a payout several years down the line. For now, health-care providers like McAneny are just trying to stay in business.

Will we ever get paid? I certainly hope so, McAneny said. Will we get paid in time to keep all these practices alive and well? I certainly hope so.

Sign Up for the Intelligencer Newsletter Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.
Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue; Scott Olson/Getty Images

For several years now, Elon Musk and Donald Trump, two of our most volatile rich dudes, have been engaged in an on-again, off-again feud. Trump has dismissed Musk as a bullshit artist, and the TeslaSpaceXBoring Company CEO has endorsed several of Trumps political rivals. However, the two mens anti-Establishment views often align, and when Musk bought Twitter in 2022, Trump celebrated his acquisition of the social-media giant. Musk eventually made good on his promise to reverse Trumps permanent ban from Twitter (now known as X), but the ex-president mostly stayed off the site, insisting that Truth Social would remain the exclusive home of his social-media ramblings.

So what exactly went wrong between Musk and Trump? Are they back on good terms? And how is the public supposed to follow this drama when one of the participants only posts his truths on a site barely anyone uses? Heres a guide to how it all went down, which well continue to update as long as this chaotic duo keeps at it.

.

As president, Trump regularly lashed out at CEOs who crossed him, but somehow Musk stayed on his good side even as he repeatedly disparaged Trumps policies and personality.

Days before the 2016 election, Musk told CNBC that he generally agreed with Hillary Clintons economic and environmental plans. His assessment of Trump was harsher. I feel a bit stronger that he is not the right guy, Musk said. He doesnt seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States.

And early in Trumps presidency, Musk criticized the Muslim ban.

The blanket entry ban on citizens from certain primarily Muslim countries is not the best way to address the countrys challenges  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 29, 2017

Nevertheless, the CEO went on to join two of Trumps business-advisory councils  only to quit in protest.

Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 1, 2017

In August 2019, Musk said he supported Democrat Andrew Yangs presidential campaign. That still didnt keep Trump from heaping praise on the tech billionaire at Davos in January 2020, calling him in a CNBC interview one of our great geniuses, and we have to protect our genius. He continued, You know, we have to protect Thomas Edison, and we have to protect all of these people that came up with originally the lightbulb and the wheel and all of these things. And hes one of our very smart people, and we want to cherish those people.

In the final year of his presidency, Trump found himself increasingly in agreement with Musk over Twitter, the moon, and sticking it to the establishment, as Politico put it. In May 2020, Trump defended Musks calls to reopen Teslas plant in Fremont, California, which had been closed because of COVID restrictions; then he headed to Floridas Kennedy Space Center to watch a SpaceX rocket launch two NASA astronauts. Musk echoed some of Trumps criticisms of pandemic precautions, adding a new wrinkle to his ongoing drama with Twitter. Per Politico:

From the beginning of the crisis, Musk, the temperamental billionaire leader of SpaceX and Tesla, has frequently questioned mainstream scientific research, reporting and policy on Covid-19, to the point that Twitter was forced to deal with a wave of complaints suggesting the social-media platform remove his tweets for spreading disinformation. He accelerated the proposal of hydroxychloroquine as a potential cure from the backwaters of Bitcoin Twitter discussions into the mainstream, off of two tweets (maybe worth considering ), bucked government lockdowns in order to keep his electric cars in production and recently stated that he believed policies designed to keep Americans safe were violating their constitutional rights. As he bluntly tweeted in March: The coronavirus panic is dumb.

.

The announcement of Musks deal to buy Twitter prompted speculation that he might let the former president and various other exiles back onto the platform. Sure enough, Musk, a self-described free-speech absolutist, soon declared that he was against permanent bans in general and Trumps ban specifically. He said Twitters decision to kick Trump off over his January 6 rhetoric was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice.

Musk would reverse Trump's Twitter ban:

 Ban was "morally bad" & "mistake because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice."

 Permanent bans "undermine trust"

 "It will amplify [Trump's voice] among the right" pic.twitter.com/TJwjCZc4EY  The Recount (@therecount) May 10, 2022

At this point, Trump had already publicly claimed he was sticking with the flailing social-media network he had barely been using. Truth Social will be a voice for me, Trump told Fox News. And thats something nobody else can get.

But he made it clear that he was rooting for the Musk-Twitter alliance. I think it is good. We want liberty and justice and fairness in our country, and the more we can have open, the better, Trump said. I dont view that as a competition for what I am doing.

.

Over the years, Musk has said hes a registered independent and described himself as politically moderate and somewhere in the middle, socially liberal and fiscally conservative. But at the All-In tech conference in May 2022, he said Bidens support for unions and inability to get a lot done had driven him to embrace the GOP, though he had mostly voted for Democrats in the past.

I have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats historically, Musk said. Like, Im not sure I might never have voted for a Republican, just to be clear. Now, this election, I will.

Although it was unclear whether this election referred to the midterms or the 2024 presidential contest, initially this seemed like it could be good news for Trump. A few weeks later, however, the moderate tech CEO revealed that the Republican whod won him over was the Florida governor known for the Dont Say Gay law and for punishing companies that defy him.

DeSantis  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2022

.

Even though Trump initially praised the Musk-Twitter deal, in mid-May he posted on Truth Social, There is no way Elon Musk is going to buy Twitter at such a ridiculous price, especially since realizing it is a company largely based on BOTS of Spam Accounts. Fake anyone?

So when Musks agreement with Twitter appeared to be falling apart, Trump was eager to do some gloating and settle some political grievances. At a July 9 rally in Anchorage, Alaska, for Republicans Sarah Palin and Governor Mike Dunleavy, he claimed he had predicted the deal wouldnt happen and accused Musk of lying about voting for him in 2016.

He said the other day, Oh, Ive never voted for a Republican. I said, I didnt know that, Trump said. He told me he voted for me, so hes another bullshit artist.

I dont hate the man, but its time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.



Dems should also call off the attack  dont make it so that Trumps only way to survive is to regain the Presidency.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2022

Musk responded in a series of tweets, saying that Trumps claim was not true and that hes too old to run for president again anyway.

Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America.



If DeSantis runs against Biden in 2024, then DeSantis will easily win  he doesnt even need to campaign.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2022

.

The former president escalated the budding feud on July 12, attacking Musks various endeavors in a series of Truth Social posts and claiming he could have made him drop to [his] knees and beg when he was in office.

Trumps truths still dont play nicely with other social-media sites, so Musk responded via another Twitter users screenshot of Trumps post:

.

On October 28, the morning after Musk officially acquired Twitter, Trump took to Truth Social to wish him well. But he also claimed, dubiously, that his own site has become somewhat of a phenomena so it will be his home for the foreseeable future.

.

Despite claiming that he would consult Twitters content moderation council and create a clear process for reinstating banned accounts, on November 18 Elon Musk revived the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account because some random Twitter users told him to.

Reinstate former President Trump  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 19, 2022

The people have spoken.



Trump will be reinstated.



Vox Populi, Vox Dei. https://t.co/jmkhFuyfkv  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2022

While Trumps tweets were visible again, he refrained from returning to Twitter, claiming that he was perfectly happy on Truth Social.

Truth Social is through the roof. Its doing phenomenally well, he said when asked about his social media intentions. Truth Social has been very, very powerful, very, very strong, and Ill be staying there. But I hear were getting a big vote to also go back on Twitter. I dont see it because I dont see any reason for it.

Trump also assured his Truth followers, we arent going anywhere.

.

Announcing that youre a fan of the U.S. Constitution used to be innocuous. But in this dark timeline it counts as a political statement.

The Constitution is greater than any President. End of story.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 5, 2022

Musk was clearly criticizing Trumps Truth Social post from two days earlier, in which he called for the termination of all rules, regulations, & articles, even those found in the Constitution to undo Bidens 2020 win.

.

On May 24, Ron DeSantis announced he was running for president in an audio stream with Musk on Twitter Spaces. It did not go well. The event was marred by multiple technical issues and failed to answer the fundamental question, Why should I vote for DeSantis over Trump?

Trump mocked DeSantis relentlessly on Truth Social and took a few shots at Musk too. For example, he posted what appeared to be a video of a SpaceX rocket labeled Ron! 2024 falling over and exploding.

I cannot stop watching this video and giggling Trump is an awful person but this is funny as hell pic.twitter.com/U4kWMJbi3k  text TALIA to 30201 (@taliaswlcek) May 25, 2023

.

Weeks after Musk rebranded Twitter as X, Trump dropped by to share his mug shot:

As of this writing, its the only post Trump has shared on the site since the tweets that got him banned in 2021.

.

Donald Trump desperately needs money. Elon Musk is absurdly wealthy and loves demonstrating his power. So when the New York Times reported on March 5 that Trump and Musk had recently met, it seemed like there might be huge consequences for the 2024 election:

Donald Trump, who is urgently seeking a cash infusion to aid his presidential campaign, met on Sunday in Palm Beach, Fla., with Elon Musk, one of the worlds richest men, and a few wealthy Republican donors, according to three people briefed on the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private discussion.

 Its not yet clear whether Mr. Musk plans to spend any of his fortune on Mr. Trumps behalf. But his recent social media posts suggest he thinks its essential that Mr. Biden be defeated in November  and people who have spoken to Mr. Musk privately confirmed that is indeed his view.

Musk has publicly criticized President Biden and his policies multiple times, and he recently posted, Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) is a very real disease in response to a clip of Bill Maher saying he would vote for anyone but Trump in 2024.

But Musk quickly poured cold water on the idea that hed be funding Trump, writing on X:

Just to be super clear, I am not donating money to either candidate for US President  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 6, 2024

.

On March 12 the Washington Post reported that Trump and Musk communicate more than has been publicly reported  and at one point Trump even offered Musk his flailing social media site. The deal was reportedly floated in the summer of 2023, and Musk declined (possibly because Truth Social is basically a MAGA-y Twitter clone).

When the offer was made in summer 2023, Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, was trapped in a long-delayed merger process. But in February 2024 the Securities and Exchange Commission signed off on the media companys merger with a SPAC, and now Trump could potentially make billions if the company goes public.

When contacted by the Post some of the parties involved gave sassy responses that did not address the substance of the report:

When The Washington Post asked Musk about the Truth Social call and his other talks with Trump, Musk responded only that he had never been to Mar-a-Lago, Trumps estate in Palm Beach.

Trump Media & Technology Group did not address any of the facts reported in this story when invited to do so by The Post. In an emailed statement, Trump Media spokeswoman Shannon Devine said only, We heard Trump and Musk were actually discussing buying the Washington Post but they decided it had no value.

The Trump campaign did not respond at all, but stay tuned. Everything we know about Musk and Trump tells us this wont be the last word on the subject.

This post has been updated throughout.
Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag

Axios has a small squib about The Mischief Makers, a handful of idiosyncratic congressional backbenchers who make trouble for their respective party leadership. The leading Democratic mischief-maker is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who advocates some left-wing views I consider simplistic and impractical and, in some cases, poll badly. The top example of a conservative mischief-maker, presented in perfect symmetry, is Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Greenes views are just a bit more controversial. They include, but are by no means limited to, the following:

 The QAnon conspiracy theory, which holds that Donald Trump is secretly fighting a worldwide child-sex-slavery ring that was supposed to culminate in the mass arrest of his political opposition, is worth listening to.

 Muslims dont belong in government.

 9/11 was an inside job.

 Shootings at Parkland, Sandy Hook, and Las Vegas were staged.

 Zionist supremacists are secretly masterminding Muslim immigration to Europe in a scheme to outbreed white people.

 Leading Democratic officials should be executed.

The most recent Greene view to be unearthed comes via Eric Hananoki. Just over two years ago, Greene suggested in a Facebook post that wildfires in California were not natural. Forests dont just catch fire, you know. Rather, the blazes had been started by PG&E, in conjunction with the Rothschilds, using a space laser, in order to clear room for a high-speed rail project. Here is Greenes entire post, via Media Matters:

Photo: Marjorie Taylor Greene/Facebook

The Rothschild family has featured heavily in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories since at least the 19th century. Anti-Semites have generally updated the theory by replacing the Rothschilds with George Soros, a more contemporary and plausible-seeming mastermind for a global conspiracy to spread left-wing ideology. Greenes version has instead updated the theory by giving the Rothschilds possession of a secret, powerful space laser.

Now, you might wonder why, if an international cabal of Jewish bankers wanted to finance a rail project, they would go about it by using their space lasers to set a catastrophic blaze. Arent there easier ways to get your rail stations approved by the state legislature? If you can pull off a massive conspiracy like that and keep it quiet, and you have a space laser you can use to immolate basically any target on Earth, there have to be more direct profit-making opportunities than burning down trees in order to arbitrage the land value for a public-transit contract.

Youre probably not going to get Greenes answer, though, because the last news crew that showed up at one of her events was threatened with arrest by the local sheriff.

Anyway, it is true that Marjorie Taylor Greene and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez play equivalent roles within their respective parties. MTG holds down her partys right flank, and AOC holds down her partys left flank. You can somewhat deduce the corresponding beliefs of the two parties mainstream contingents by moving somewhat to the center of each. Most Democrats are skeptical of defunding the police and question the feasibility of transitioning to a state-run health-care system. Most Republicans are probably quite skeptical that the California wildfires were intentionally set by a Jewish space laser.

The thing is, you can be much more moderate than MTG, and still be extremely crazy.
One of the few pieces of MH370 to be discovered was from an engine cowling that came ashore at Mossel Bay in South Africa, covered in barnacles. Photo: CSIRO/

For the first year and a half after it vanished on March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 represented an unprecedented kind of aviation mystery, one whose only clues were a set of cryptic electronic signals suggesting the plane had crashed in the Indian Ocean west of Australia. Sixteen months later, in July 2015, a piece of its right wing called a flaperon washed ashore on the French island of Reunion, on the other side of the ocean. Here at last was physical evidence that the plane and its 239 souls really had flown into the remote southern patch of ocean and crashed.

Better still, the flaperon carried with it evidence that may help locate the plane and solve the mystery once and for all: a population of gooseneck barnacles called Lepas anatifera. Like the rings of a tree, their shells contain a record of their life. Decode that information and it may be possible to trace their path on the flaperon backward to the impact site and the mystery would be solved. We stumbled upon something that gave much more certainty about the whereabouts of the plane than we anticipated, says David Griffin, who led a team of Australian government scientists tasked with solving the case.

The flaperon and its Lepas spurred a decade of fruitful worldwide research into a previously obscure organism and unlocked the creatures potential to serve as a natural data logger in all kinds of investigations, from tracking ghost nets that endanger wildlife to finding missing boats and even investigating mysterious deaths. But as marine biologists applied their new knowledge to the case of the missing plane, they found that instead of resolving mysteries, the barnacles revealed new ones.

As someone who has been publicly obsessed with MH370 for a decade, I have spent a long time exploring the fine points of Lepas biology, most recently on my podcast. These are fascinating creatures. In their larval stage, they swim free as plankton throughout the worlds oceans. Then once theyre ready for adulthood, they start looking for a floating object to attach themselves to. Having found one, they explore it, looking for an ideal spot  they prefer a deep, shady location far from the waterline  and glue their heads in place, using fine, sievelike appendages to sweep food particles from the water. Because they evolved to settle on biodegradable material such as logs and clumps of seaweed, they grow quickly and can reach maturity in a matter of weeks. On man-made objects that dont decay, Lepas can grow for years, forming dense mats of long-stalked barnacles that look like medusas writhing hairdo of snakes.

Since Lepas tends to colonize any floating object, scientists say the oldest barnacles on it will reflect the total amount of time that object has spent in the ocean, often within the first weeks of its entering the water. Assuming they have enough food and the temperature is good, barnacles will follow a steady growth progression, says Cynthia Venn, a professor of environmental science at Bloomsburg University who studied Lepas barnacles growing on buoys in the Pacific Ocean.

Scott Bryan, a researcher at Queensland University of Technology in Australia, has studied how Lepas and other marine organisms settle on pieces of pumice that have been ejected into the ocean by volcanic explosions. Because the pumice starts out molten hot, and hence sterile, it offers a blank slate of sorts for biologists to study how the populations of organisms on floating debris change over time. We find biological recruitment to be very quick, beginning within about two weeks, Bryan told me. Goose barnacles are one of the first colonizers.

When French authorities recovered the first piece of MH370 from the island of Reunion, they found it covered with a lush population of gooseneck barnacles  animals whose shells would turn out to provide a rich source of information about where the object had drifted from. Photo: Imago/Alamy Stock Photo

Once they settle, these populations are pretty robust. Although they do have predators on the open sea, such as sea turtles and nudibranchs, a kind of marine invertebrate, researchers say the barnacles generally get completely wiped out only if their host is washed ashore, where they will dry out and be picked clean by scavengers. If there is nothing older than two months growing on it, we would interpret this to mean the pumice had not been floating in the ocean for more than three months, Bryan says, allowing a margin of a few weeks for the organisms to become attached.

Scientists can tell the oldest and newest barnacles apart by measuring their size, which correlates with the length of time the animal has been growing on an object. This can be combined with drift modeling, which uses historical data about the drift paths of research buoys to create probabilistic estimates of a floating objects origins. Martin Stelfox, founder of the Olive Ridley Project, a sea-turtle conservation program, has used Lepas barnacles to figure out where wildlife-ensnaring fishing gear has drifted from. Its a fairly reliable way to give you an idea of how long that gear has been drifting, he says. We can then use that age estimate to plug into things like drifting current models and start to backtrack to where potentially this gear may have come from.

What researchers didnt know back in 2015 was what a six-, 12-, or 18-month-old barnacle in the subtropical Indian Ocean would look like. In the years following the flaperons discovery, researchers tried growing barnacles in the lab and on buoys at sea and found that Lepas grows at different rates and winds up at different sizes depending on the temperature of the water and how much there is to eat. One team that looked at how Lepas grew in the cold waters of the Humboldt Current off the coast of Chile found that, after three months, the Lepas had stopped growing, at about 20 millimeters in length. Another studied a related species growing in the warmer waters of southeastern Australia and found they had gotten as large as 48 millimeters in as little as a month.

Conditions in the waters where the flaperon floated seem to lie somewhere in between. In 2020, Stelfox and his colleagues published the results of an experiment in which they had grown Lepas on buoys in the Maldives. They found that after 105 days of growth, or three and a half months, the largest of the shells was 35 millimeters  very close to the size of the biggest barnacle on the flaperon. The waters the buoys floated in are similar to those the flaperon would have crossed in reaching Reunion: the South Equatorial Current, the dominant east-to-west current spanning the latitude between northern Australia and Madagascar. So the growth patterns should be similar. Stelfox feels that when he stopped his experiment, the barnacles were continuing to grow and could have gotten as big as 50 millimeters if he had let them. On personal observations, some of the barnacles weve seen in the Maldives were much bigger than the ones in our experiment, he says.

It isnt just the size of the shell that tells a story but also its chemical composition, which varies depending on the temperature of the water the Lepas is floating in when it lays down a given layer. This technique has been applied to the flaperons barnacles several times over the past decade. In the most recent study, published last year, a team led by Kuwait University researcher Nasser Al-Qattan analyzed a barnacle shell provided by the French authorities. The shell was relatively small, about 25 millimeters, which meant it was only several months in age, according to the study. Its chemistry indicated the creature had started growing in relatively warm water of 80 degrees before drifting into cooler water of around 75 degrees. Its recorded drift reveals that the MH370 flaperon likely spent its last several months west of longitude 70E and within 1,500 km of Reunion Island, the researchers concluded. Thats over 1,000 miles from the MH370 search zone.

In other words, the specimen shared by the French was too young for Al-Qattans team to trace the flaperons path all the way back to the planes presumed impact site west of Perth, Australia. The French authorities had recovered larger specimens from the flaperon, the largest being 36 millimeters, but they hadnt seen fit to share them with outside researchers. Only partial drift reconstructions are possible until the largest, oldest barnacles are released for study by the French government, Al-Qattans team noted.

But theres reason to doubt that even a 36-millimeter barnacle would be old enough to track the flaperon back to the presumed impact site. Stelfox grew 35-millimeter barnacles in a similar patch of ocean in just 105 days. If one assumes the flaperons barnacles grew at an approximately similar rate, then the size of the flaperons barnacles suggest that it floated in the Indian Ocean for no more than about four months, not the 16 months that elapsed between the crash and the flaperons discovery.

That gap in the data  a yearlong interval between the plane crash and the start of barnacle growth  might be merely puzzling were it observed on the flaperon alone. But the entirety of the MH370 debris recovered so far displays this anomaly. Of the three dozen or so pieces of the plane that have been collected, not a single one has marine life on it that matches what you would expect to see if, as with the pumice Bryan studies, the debris had spent 16 months steadily gathering marine life from the waters it had traveled through.

One piece, a fragment of a closet door from inside the cabin, was found heavily colonised by the Lepas anatifera barnacle, according to an official report, but of the nearly 400 specimens recovered, the largest were just 20 millimeters long, implying an age of only 45 to 50 days.

Another piece came ashore at Mossel Bay in South Africa and was photographed by a passerby who let the object wash back out to sea; it was rediscovered three months later just a few hundred yards away, having been stripped clean in the meantime. Based on my own image analysis of the original photograph, the largest barnacle appears to be about 25 millimeters, implying a time adrift of no more than several months.

There are other mysteries surrounding the debris as well. When French scientists took the flaperon from Reunion to a test facility in Toulouse, they put it in a tank to see how it floated. They found the slab-shaped flaperon floated at an angle, with one of its long edges sticking up high out of the water, where its physically impossible for Lepas to grow. Yet this edge was thickly settled with a healthy Lepas population. The apparent contradiction baffled the first French scientist who studied it and remains unexplained to this day. The edge had to be underwater, says Williams College invertebrate biologist Jim Carlton, because it has Lepas on it. Lepas dont lie.

Another problem was that Australian investigators couldnt get their drift modeling to work. The piece that washed up in Mossel Bay was hundreds of miles farther south than the models predicted it could have reached in its time afloat. Thats something that is simply too hard for any present-day model to convincingly explain, David Griffin, the principal research scientist at the Australian governments Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, told an interviewer in 2017 and confirmed to me this week.

The CSIRO worked hard to understand how the flaperon could have drifted to Reunion, believing that if their drift model were precise enough, it would help them identify exactly where the plane had crashed. After multiple attempts to refine their data by studying how replicas floated in the ocean under various wind and wave conditions, they could get it to match the flaperons landfall on Reunion after 16 months only if it had floated high enough in the water to be pushed by the wind. But this would have left the Lepas on the trailing edge high and dry, which experts say is impossible.

Hoping to better understand how the flaperon might have drifted from the crash site to La Reunion, Australian investigators put replicas in the ocean to test how they would be affected by wind and waves. What they could not explain was how a piece with an edge that floated consistently high out of the water could have underwater creatures like Lepas growing on it. Photo: CSIRO

These mysteries are still just part of a host of paradoxes attending the disappearance of MH370. No one has yet come up with a reasonable explanation, for instance, as to how or why the satellite communications system that generated the pings officials used to define the search area in the remote southern Indian Ocean turned off. Two companies spent four years searching 93,000 square miles of seabed using towed sonar arrays and a fleet of underwater drones. Australian search officials admit they cant explain why they came up empty, having stated that upon completion of the yearslong seabed search, prospective areas for locating the aircraft wreckage, based on all the analysis to date, would be exhausted.

Taken together, this swarm of paradoxes surrounding both the satellite data and the debris suggests that the authorities understanding of the case is badly flawed and that, if they have a sincere interest in solving it, they need to revisit their assumptions about what could have happened on that night ten years ago. After a failed search, you have to recalibrate, says Todd Humphreys, a professor of aeronautical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Sometimes you preclude the possibility of even looking for evidence because you have very strong priors against it. I think by this point, weve been pushed into a corner where we do need to revisit those priors.
Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photo: Getty Images

On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill that would give TikTok owner ByteDance a deadline to divest itself of the social-media platform. If the law passes and the deadline is not met, the app could face a ban. On Thursday, some TikTok users opened their apps and encountered this message:

Speak up now  before your government strips 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression. This will damage millions of businesses, destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country, and deny artists an audience. Let Congress know what TikTok means to you and tell them to vote NO.

This is surprising but not unprecedented. When facing potential regulation, Facebook, Uber, Airbnb, and many other apps have asked users to lobby on their behalf; TikTok itself has previously made its case directly to the public too. Most of the time, these sorts of things are easy to ignore, and most people do  you tap a little x, or hit the back button, and scroll on. Except when you cant:

When I opened TikTok today, I got this pop-up that gives you no option to exit or swipe away, the only action is to call now pic.twitter.com/N1xxfwi0MB  Casey Lewis (@caseymlewis) March 7, 2024

This was my experience as well, and that of numerous others online: I opened TikTok and found an undismissable screen demanding that I call my representative. The only options were to go through with the call or to hard-reset the app. Pretty bold! A lot of young people might be learning the names of their representatives today. And some of them are getting through. Asked if theyd been receiving a lot of calls about TikTok, a friendly operator at the Capitol switchboard said, Yes we have, before forwarding me to the office of a New York representative, where a somewhat less cheery staffer confirmed that the office had been flooded with calls about TikTok.

One House GOP staffer tells me: its so so bad. Our phones have not stopped ringing. Theyre teenagers and old people saying they spend their whole day on the app and we cant take it away https://t.co/E0Cm2ciReO  Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) March 7, 2024

Its entirely possible that the app issue was an implementation error  while some users report being stuck at the screen, others had an option to dismiss it. In any case, TikToks message here is unusually direct. The company is genuinely worried about a ban:

Our statement on the latest TikTok legislation: This bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it. This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they  TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) March 5, 2024

Its a reasonable concern! While public sentiment among voting-age Americans is somewhat skewed against TikTok, Republican and Democratic lawmakers really dont seem to like it. To conservatives, its a Chinese-influence operation wearing a bad disguise. Some liberals are sympathetic to this view, but they also have a different problem with the platform, namely that its an unruly space in which young progressives are extremely critical of the Biden administration in front of large audiences. (Senator John Fetterman, for example, has accused the app of giving users a warped view of the war in Gaza.)

Theres a legislative appetite for this in other words, although its unclear what might happen if such a ban were to pass. Montanas statewide TikTok ban was ultimately blocked in federal court, but legal experts have suggested that a national ban might be easier to defend on national-security grounds. In the meantime, TikTok would very much appreciate its users help.

This post has been updated.
9 items in this article 2 items on sale! Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Retailers

When youre pregnant, people often say to you: Oh, this is so ugly, but my baby loved it! My husband and I would always laugh and privately be like, Okay, we can never, ever show our baby that. I mean, its not as if babies are born with some kind of inherent desire for primary-colored plastic! And, as is the case for so many New Yorkers, we live in a very small apartment with our two daughters. If a baby item comes into our home, we will have to look at it every single day. This means that I am unwavering in my conviction that said baby items must look good and have a life span far beyond a few weeks. Im also old-fashioned when it comes to baby gear  all they really need are diapers, a safe place to sleep, and people to love them.

That said, the extra stuff can be so much fun. We have two under 2, so were using all the same basics (stroller, baby carrier, etc.) from our first because they hadnt even made their way to storage when I found out I was pregnant again. For my second baby, though, I got to focus on purchasing things I knew I truly liked that fell slightly outside the realm of pure practicality  many of which Ive rounded up here. These are the things I love to talk to future parents about because theyre the items that bring more joy to your home than, say, a good snot sucker. (But you do need one of those, too.)

Stokke Tripp Trapp High Chair $319 $319 Its true, these really are the best high chairs. They can be used from babyhood through adulthood, and they look beautiful in your dining room. (I can also attest that they are super comfortable as adult chairs. Its not a gimmick). They are expensive, but I can promise the cost per use ends up coming out to almost nothing. We have one that was used by my older daughter, her four cousins, and countless adults over the course of the past 18 years, and its still going strong! A second one will come in handy for the new baby, of course, but itll also be a real blessing as a bonus seat for dinner parties. $319 at Amazon Buy $319 at Amazon Buy

Bonpoint Tijane Onesie $79 $132 now 40% off $79 Ive found that youre either someone who cares way too much about your baby having cute outfits all the time or someone who doesnt care at all  theres not a lot of middle ground. As a person who overthinks clothing for living, I fall firmly in the former camp. My husband and I would literally try multiple outfits on our first baby just to take her to the pediatrician. Absurd, in retrospect, but we were having fun. I knew that the newborn fashion show wouldnt be a possibility this time around, given that I am now also dressing an opinionated toddler. So: onesies only. My favorites are these Bonpoint velour ones. Theyre so soft and warm, and theyre adorable in a classic baby way. The quality is amazing. I have some worn by both my babies that have been hit with milk, umbilical cord blood, and whatever I was eating while holding them, and they still look brand new. They also happen to be ridiculously expensive, so I spent my entire second pregnancy snapping them up every time I saw them at our local baby thrift store or on eBay, Poshmark, and Kidizen. $79 at Farfetch Buy

Nutrafol Postpartum $88 $88 No matter who you are, postpartum hair weirdness will come for you in one way or another  and probably when you least expect it. The first time around, mine was less hair loss and more hair breakage, giving me the appearance of a set of micro-bangs on the front and back of my head. In an attempt to remedy this, Ive been taking these since literally the day my daughter was born, and they really do seem to be working. $88 at Amazon Buy $79 at Nutrafol Buy

Najell Babynest SleepCarrier $175 $175 When my first was a little baby, my husband and I would joke that it was ridiculous that we had to cart her around in this massive stroller when she would have fit in a tote bag. Then I started to notice that the Scandinavian moms all over my Instagram really were carrying their babies in these quasi-tote bags from the Swedish brand Najell. (Its by no means a new invention: Heres Ingrid Bergman carrying her twins Isabella and Isotta Rossellini in them in 1952!). This thing is the best, especially in the newborn days when your baby is kind of floppy and not ready for a baby carrier or a bouncer. We use it a lot if were taking our baby into a restaurant or to an appointment  you can just put them on the floor in their own comfortable little bed. Its also great for taking on trips or to friends houses because you know that youll have a designated area for your baby to chill and sleep. $175 at Najell Buy

The Little Green Sheep Organic Wool Duvet $89 $89 Another item inspired by the wisdom of Scandinavian moms. Ive found a duvet to be infinitely more useful than a receiving blanket in that it actually keeps babies warm, you can spread it out on the floor to use as a play mat, and your kid can use it on their bed throughout their childhood. My older daughter is very attached to hers, which is so sweet. $89 at The Little Green Sheep Buy

Prada Sport Tessuto Tote $173 $345 now 50% off $173 My fashion-person pride means that I am vehemently opposed to anything labeled as a diaper bag. Theyre always bulky, overpriced, and fundamentally kind of uncool. I thought I could just get away with using a cute tote bag with some diapers and bottles thrown inside, but after my firstborn somehow threw up into said tote bag multiple times, I started to see the appeal of a designated diaper bag. Determined to not go the traditional route, I furiously trawled TheRealReal for inspiration and realized that Pradas nylon Tessuto bags were the solution to my woes. Theyre durable, washable, and super cute. I snagged a secondhand lavender mini duffel for like $200, which is less than the cost of any trendy diaper bag Ive seen, and I dont feel embarrassed carrying it, which is priceless. True to form, my older daughter threw up in it the very first time I carried it. Its been run through the washing machine now and still looks great. $173 at The Real Real Buy

Baby Merlin The Magic Sleepsuit $40 $40 This is the one baby sleep aid that I really stand by. If your baby has been swaddled since birth, it will be really hard for them to fall asleep without anything around them when the time comes to ditch the swaddle. This suit is essentially a wearable duvet that muffles the babys startle reflex, allowing them to learn to sleep unswaddled while still preventing them from waking themselves up constantly. Honestly, with my second baby, weve skipped swaddles and gone straight to the Magic Merlin Sleepsuit because it works so well. It also passes the cuteness test in that it makes your baby look like a puffy little stuffed animal. $40 at Baby Merlin Buy

Design Dua Modern Rocking Bassinet Stand $90 $90 Both of my daughters have slept in a Moses basket, and I am such a minimalist that I thought buying the stand that goes with the basket seemed unnecessary. After months of bending down to get my first baby out of the basket, though, my back began to disagree. We borrowed this stand from our friends for our second, and I now must say it is very much necessary. The rocking feature is soothing, and its just the right height to keep our sleeping baby out of reach from her curious sister. $90 at Design Dua Buy

Holle Goat Milk Formula $32 $32 During my first pregnancy, one of my best friends (who is a doula) advised me to buy a formula that I was comfortable with to have on hand before my baby arrived. Maybe youll never even touch it, she said, but the last thing you want is to be sleep-deprived and trying to figure out all the different formulas in Duane Reade with a screaming, hungry newborn. I now pass this advice on to every pregnant friend because it was such a lifesaver for me! Ive also added my own wisdom to it, which is to choose a preemie formula if the brand you like has one available. They tend to be a bit gentler on new stomachs in those first few days, as they are higher in fat and more similar to colostrum. I knew I wouldnt be breastfeeding this time around, so I stocked up on plenty of the formula I like in advance. There is so much conversation in parenting spaces about all the good reasons to choose to breastfeed, but I feel like this has sometimes led to people forgetting that you can also choose to formula feed. I didnt like how breastfeeding made me feel both physically and mentally, and I love the freedom and flexibility that formula has given our family. $32 at Formuland Buy

get the strategist newsletter Actually good deals, smart shopping advice, and exclusive discounts. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.

The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, natural anxiety remedies, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
Photo: Marcus McDonald

It should be said up top: Skillets is a broad category. There are, after all, several types  cast iron, enameled cast iron, carbon steel, stainless steel, copper, and nonstick, most of which I use on a weekly (if not daily) basis to cook well and efficiently. And then within each type, there are also a lot of options. Is it better to go with a classic brand or take a chance on a newly beloved direct-to-consumer company? When it comes to such an essential tool, is it always worth it to splurge? How many skillets do you really need in total? Theres no one answer to each of these questions because the cookware you own should ultimately be a reflection of how you personally operate in the kitchen  something Ive tried to help you think through here, with the recommendations of many pros and hours of testing in my own kitchen, of course.

If youre simply looking to fill a hole in your collection and know what you want, you can jump to any section by clicking the quick links below. But if youre starting from scratch or doing a full-on refresh, its worth a full read through to make sure you end up with a well-rounded, hard-working assortment. One note: Ive mostly linked to skillets that are approximately 10 inches for consistency (its a middleground size that works well for most dishes, in households where youre generally cooking for two to four people). But with nearly every one on this list, you can go bigger or smaller. And if youre looking for even more cookware, Ive written a guide to full sets, too.

What were looking for Material This is so obvious it feels a little silly to say, but the most important factor in determining what skillets you need is the material. Pretty much all of the experts I spoke with agree that a mix of cast iron, nonstick, and stainless steel or copper (which are fairly interchangeable) are all you need to make first-rate food, so those are the types you will find on this list. (The one exception is carbon steel, what you might call a cousin to cast iron). Maintenance Some of these pans are meant to last a lifetime, others arent. But regardless, upkeep is important. For this, Ive noted when maintenance is just a simple run through the dishwasher or hand wash, versus when theres more to do. Weight Here, Ive listed whether the pan is heavy, medium, or lightweight  something to consider when you think about moving them around the stove, storing them, and cleaning them.

Best skillet overall

Lodge Pre-Seasoned Cast-Iron Skillet $34 now 41% off $20 Material: Cast iron | Maintenance: Hand wash and keep well-seasoned | Weight: Heavy Choosing a best overall skillet is easier than you might expect given the vastly different categories I laid out above. I landed on this one because if I had to only cook with this single pan for the rest of my life, Id be pretty okay  and you would too. And in my opinion, Lodge, which Ive been using for as long as Ive had a kitchen, hits all the markers you want in a perfect skillet. Its durable (like, last-you-forever and then pass-it-down durable) and affordable. (Indeed, there are some even more gorgeous models on the market, like Smithey, but those will run you literally hundreds of dollars more  and other less-dependable brands with skillets go for around the same price point as the Lodge.) As a material, cast iron can pretty much do it all: get really hot and retain that heat, go from the stove to the oven, and hold a nonstick surface if seasoned properly (Lodge cookware comes pre-seasoned, which is a great bonus, but it might require some upkeep over the years). You can sear, saute, braise, fry, and bake in it. Its solidly made and certainly has some weight to it  all cast iron does, and thats part of the point  but I never have trouble maneuvering mine around. Its the most common cast iron youll see regular home cooks using too: Strategist senior writer Liza Corsillo said it was the very best thing she bought in the entirety of the last decade, and I use mine so often, it has taken up permanent residence on my front left burner. And professional chefs are just as devoted. This pan will last you forever, says Daniel Cutler, co-owner and chef of Ronan in Los Angeles. It always comes in handy and never disappoints, adds New Orleansbased chef and restaurateur Alon Shaya. For something so useful, the price is already seriously low, but Lani Halliday, founder and owner of Brutus Bakeshop, notes that you can often find them even cheaper at thrift shops, yard sales, and antiques stores. All you have to do is clean them up, she says. $20 at Amazon Buy $20 at Walmart Buy

Best nonstick skillet

Zwilling Madura Plus Nonstick Skillet $80 Material: Nonstick | Maintenance: Dishwasher safe | Weight: Lightweight For a long time, it was a fact in my mind that you shouldnt spend too much money on a nonstick skillet because  unlike cast iron and stainless steel  they are not meant to last forever. But after years of cooking in my own kitchen, many with this pan  as well as some very thorough research  I think its safe to say that what you want is a moderately priced nonstick (too cheap and it will degrade faster, too expensive and youre wasting money). The Zwilling Madura is exactly that happy medium. Though Ive amassed quite a few nonsticks, this is the one I use pretty much every day to fry and scramble eggs, to crisp up fish skin and leftover rice, to griddle pancakes, to gently toast spices. Imperatively, the surface has stayed visibly intact and smooth. I also like the curve of the sides and the fact that the handle stays cool to the touch on the stove. And Im not the only one who can attest to its superior build. I love that its technically safe for metal utensils, something that Ive always considered a nonstick no-no, says recipe developer and writer Rebecca Firkser. I still try to be cautious when flipping things with my metal fish spatula, tongs, and slotted spoon, but even when Ive scraped the pan accidentally, Ive never seen a scratch on the surface. Recipe developer and forthcoming cookbook author Andy Baraghani swears by the Zwilling Madura, too, noting its lightweight design and flared lip that make it easy to toss ingredients. For her part, recipe developer and cookbook author Molly Baz says, I like the way it feels in my hand ergonomically. I can hold it in one hand without it hurting my wrist or flopping over to the side. Though many nonstick skillets say theyre oven- and dishwasher-safe, the Zwilling Madura has withstood both those tests. I use mine to make frittatas (as do Firkser and Baragahni), and Baz, who has been using hers for several years says, I have been putting it in the dishwasher since I bought it and it shows no signs of degraded coating. $80 at Bloomingdale's Buy $60 at Wayfair Buy

Frying an egg in the Zwilling nonstick skillet. Photo: Emma Wartzman

Best less expensive nonstick skillet

Cuisinart Chefs Classic Nonstick Skillet $45 Material: Nonstick | Maintenance: Dishwasher safe | Weight: Lightweight Before I started using my Zwilling regularly, I owned an eight-inch Cuisinart Chefs Classic Nonstick. It was in my regular rotation for a full three years, handling all those same tasks I laid out above, before it started to show wear. Thats a very solid stretch of time for a pan half the price. My main knock is that the handle isnt quite as comfortable for holding and flipping  but its not a deal breaker if you want to spend less. $45 at Amazon Buy $45 at Amazon Buy

Best ceramic nonstick skillet

GreenPan Valencia Pro Ceramic Nonstick Skillet - 10-Inch $66 $70 now 6% off $66 Material: Nonstick | Maintenance: Hand wash recommended | Weight: Lightweight While Im a fan of the nonstick skillets above, their surface material contains the chemical compound PTFE  and I wrote an entire explainer about what that means, if you want to learn more. But in the meantime Ill say here that some folks are sticklers for ceramic-coated models. I personally find them to be less nonstick overall (and PTFEs dont freak me out as long as I take good care of my pans)  but they are supposedly the safest and healthiest of all. GreenPan (which has different series of their ceramic nonstick pans with slightly varying properties) seems to be the favorite. Recipe developer and food writer Caroline Lange has been using hers daily for almost three years (she even recipe tested three different cookbooks on them)  and theyre showing very minimal wear, she says. They clean easily; if theres ever any oil cooked on (like if I fry an egg really hot), scrubbing with a bit of baking soda takes it right off. And I also like that theyre really oven-safe, up to 600 degrees. My oven doesnt even go to 600 degrees! To that point, cookbook author Vallery Lomas even told me shes even made a galette (which obviously goes in the oven) in her GreenPan. $66 at Amazon Buy $70 at Nordstrom Buy

Best copper skillet

Mauviel Copper Fry Pan $200 $200 Material: Copper | Maintenance: Hand wash and dry as soon as possible after use | Weight: Medium Theres a reason youll pay a premium for a copper skillet: You have precise control over it. Copper conducts heat, retains heat, and then cools down in an incredibly exacting way, Cutler explains. Stainless steel is decent at that, too, but just not quite as good. And cast iron holds temperature for a really long time, but is hard to turn back down. Mauviel, which has been making copper cookware in France for more than 150 years, is the go-to brand  the one used in professional kitchens. We got ours as a gift, Cutler admits, but if I had unlimited money, I would only use these. The one downside is upkeep. If you want to keep them sparkling clean, youll need Bar Keepers Friend. And even if you dont mind the natural patina of age (Cutler doesnt shine his set), you need to wash it with hot soapy water and an abrasive sponge as soon as youre done cooking, so that food doesnt stick. $200 at Williams Sonoma Buy

Best stainless-steel skillet

Best DTC stainless-steel skillet

Made In Stainless-Clad Frying Pan $119 $119 Material: Stainless steel | Maintenance: Hand wash | Weight: Medium While Made Ins stainless-steel skillet rivals All-Clads in price (unusual for a DTC brand), it also rivals it in quality. Its truly a professional-grade piece of cookware. (Anecdotally, Ive spotted it being used in restaurants across the country, which means it stands up to rougher environments, consistent use, and high-heat cooking.) In my own experience, its a beautiful pan: The curve of the inside allows me to easily maneuver and flip ingredients and I can pour sauces out cleanly thanks to the rolled lip. While I dont have an All-Clad in my own kitchen, I have used one many times before and I like Made Ins handle even better. Its a small feature, but I find the more elevated angle and the rounded shape more comfortable to hold and pick up. Culinary producer Kiano Moju swears by her Made In skillet, too. (In fact, she swears by her whole Made In set, which makes the pan an even better value.) I bought the set because of the price, she says, referring to the bundled deal Made In gives when you buy certain pieces together. And despite her initial reservations that stainless steel was for chefs and not home cooks like her, she found the pans to be well built, the handles really welded on, instead of attached from the outside. Strategist editor Maxine Builder agrees, describing the skillets as having heavy bottoms with well-designed, easy-to-lift handles. $119 at Amazon Buy $119 at Made In Cookware Buy

Best carbon-steel skillet

Lodge Pre-Seasoned Carbon-Steel Skillet $50 now 20% off $40 Material: Carbon steel | Maintenance: Hand wash and keep well-seasoned | Weight: Medium Like I hinted at earlier, carbon steel behaves very similarly to cast iron. Its not quite as versatile (the lower, more sloped sides mean its difficult to fry, braise, or bake in it). But it is somewhat lighter (notably, its the material most woks are made out of, practical for maneuvering around the stove and picking up and flipping ingredients). The surface tends to be a bit smoother than cast iron, making it more amenable to delicate ingredients like seafood. I use mine for everything from paella to pressing Cubanos because they are quite heavy, says chef Jordan Wallace, culinary director of Denvers Pizzeria Locale. And over a coal or wood fire camping, these are clutch. $40 at Amazon Buy $40 at The Home Depot Buy

Best enameled cast-iron skillet

Le Creuset Classic Enameled Cast Iron Skillet $175 $175 Material: Enameled cast iron | Maintenance: Dishwasher safe | Weight: Heavy The primary difference between cast iron or carbon steel and enameled cast iron is a thin coating that makes the surface very smooth and fairly nonstick without having to season the pan. The downside: The layer is susceptible to scratching or chipping, and once that happens, it cant be reseasoned to live on in perpetuity. But this shouldnt happen if you take care of your pan, and Ive found that after several months of using this one, it still looks brand new. Think about it: Just like a Dutch oven (the vast majority of which are made from the same material), its meant to be durable even if it cant handle quite the same amount of wear and tear as a Lodge (and it shouldnt go over the grill, either). The other difference is the look. Le Creusets enameled cast-iron skillets, which come in a variety of colors, look nice going straight from the stove or oven to the table (whereas Lodges cast-iron pans feel industrial and not like something youd necessarily want to present food in). In mine, I make shakshuka and fried eggs for breakfast, toast sandwiches for lunch, saute beans for dinner, and on and on. And when Im done, a quick wash with water and dish soap cleans it right up. $175 at Le Creuset Buy $175 at Williams Sonoma Buy

Best lightweight enameled cast-iron skillet

Vermicular Oven-Safe Skillet $195 Material: Enameled cast iron | Maintenance: Dishwasher safe | Weight: Lightweight Vermicular, a Japanese company that makes only a small handful of kitchen products, first became known for its precision cooker. A little over a year ago, it released this sleekly designed oven-safe skillet made from enameled cast iron, which Ive been using for just about as long. Like the Le Creuset above, it has a smooth and fairly nonstick surface with the durable nature of a hearty material. But theres one notable difference: Its truly lightweight. The pan is, in fact, even lighter than my Zwilling Madura by two ounces (though it has an ever-so-slightly smaller diameter). This means I can move it around from counter to stove and from stove to oven nimbly and easily with one hand. The handle is also longer and has a more comfortable, rounded shape than that of the Le Creuset. Its pricey but has the feel of something made to last. One note: Though the brand says it is dishwasher safe, Ive only washed mine by hand so far. $195 at Food52 Buy $195 at Vermicular Buy

Best wok

Made In Carbon-Steel Frying Pan $89 Material: Carbon-steel | Maintenance: Hand wash and keep well seasoned | Weight: Medium Woks are a very particular type of skillet (if you can call them that at all). Because their primary purpose is for stir-frying, theyre built in a V shape with extremely high sides to accommodate tossing lots of ingredients and have two handles to make maneuvering around a high flame easy. Still, they can be used for many of the same tasks as standard skillets, like braising, sauteing, and steaming (and even for things standard skillets cant be used for, like boiling stew or popping popcorn). In my roundup of the best ones, this Made In model was recommended by Lucas Sin, chef at Junzi Kitchen and Nice Day. Its almost like a hybrid of the more traditional woks on that list and the carbon-steel pan above: Its quite compact with slightly lower sides (though Sin says it comfortably cooks for two), has only one handle, and features a bottom on the wider side, which Sin prefers for as much surface contact as possible. $89 at Amazon Buy $89 at Made In Cookware Buy

A note on the Our Place Always Pan 2.0

In previous versions of this story, I recommended the original Our Place Always Pan as the best nonstick skillet with high sides. In spring of 2023, the brand retired that version and released the Always Pan 2.0. The main difference between the products is a new and (according to the brand) improved nonstick coating that will last for longer and has the ability to go in the oven.

I appreciate these changes and still think the overall build of the pan is good. The high sides offer protection from splatter. The tight-fitting lid is handy; depending on how you place it, it has the option of fully closing or leaving a small opening for steam to escape. The pour spout is smart, making it a pan that can handle saucy dishes.

However, after testing out the updated version for nine months, there was one issue I couldnt get over: It has a different handle design with a hole that runs through the length. Because of this, it spurts out steam and liquid and is burning hot to the touch. I decided to omit the skillet because, given this problem, I simply dont think its worth the steep price point.

Our experts

 Andy Baraghani, recipe developer and cookbook author

 Molly Baz, recipe developer and cookbook author

 Maxine Builder, Strategist editor

 Liza Corsillo, Strategist senior writer

 Daniel Cutler, co-owner and chef of Ronan

 Rebecca Firkser, recipe developer and writer

 Robert Guimond, chef and owner of Public Display of Affection

 Lani Halliday, founder and owner of Brutus Bakeshop

 Caroline Lange, recipe developer and food writer

 Vallery Lomas, cookbook author

 Kiano Moju, culinary producer

 Matt Rodbard, food writer, editor, and cookbook author

 Alon Shaya, restaurateur and chef

 Lucas Sin, chef at Junzi Kitchen and Nice Day

 Jordan Wallace, culinary director of Pizzeria Locale

get the strategist newsletter Actually good deals, smart shopping advice, and exclusive discounts. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.

The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best dining room decor items, coffee-makers, knife sets, Japanese coffee brewer, charcoal water filter, and drinking glasses for water and more. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.

Every editorial product is independently selected. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission.


A 28-year-old rape suspect was arrested on Friday after he allegedly assaulted someone at an Auburn home, authorities said.

Ladairs Obryant Bell faces one count of first-degree rape. Bell is being held in the Lee County Jail without bond pending judicial review, according to Auburn police.

Auburn police said officers received a report of a sexual assault on Jan. 23. The victim told police that the perpetrator is someone they know.

Authorities have yet to share additional details in the case.

Anyone with information about this investigation can call Auburn police at (334) 501-3141 or the police tip line at (334)246-1391.
Samantha Copelan showed gratitude toward her family, friends and supporters in Tuesdays Alabama primary election after she earned the republican nomination for Lee Countys district judge, Place 2.

After a few hours of the polls closed on Tuesday, unofficial results from the Lee County Meeting Center confirmed that Copelan won the seat. The win secures Copelans spot on the ballot in Novembers general election.

Im incredibly thankful for my friends and my family and every person in Lee County that supported us through this journey, she said. Its been an honor to meet people on the campaign and build friendships that I think will last a lifetime.

A total of 14,626 residents voted in the Republican primary for Lee Countys district judge, according to the Alabama Secretary of States website.

Copelan won 57.06% of the votes or 8,346 votes. Clay Thomas received 27.28% of the votes or 3,990 votes. Harold Morris walked away with 15.65% of the votes, which translates to 2,290 votes.

Copelan served in pivotal positions such as felony contract defense attorney, prosecutor for the City of Auburn and defense attorney for Lee County Child Support Court. In September 2022, Copelan opened her own law practice in Opelika Copelan Law Firm.

Copelan said shes excited for Novembers general election. Shell spend the next few days resting and recharging with her family before gearing up for November.

She thanked her opponents for running strong, positive campaigns.

I think we all pushed each other to do more and work harder, and I think that showed in all of our efforts in this race, she said. I know that its important for us to come together to ensure that we have strong, Christian conservative elected in November.

After losing the nomination, Thomas took to Facebook to thank everyone who gave their time, money and support to me in this campaign.

I said it on the campaign trail, and it is absolutely true... Lee County is the best place to live and raise a family, he said.

Thomas congratulated Copelan and thanked Harold for running a good, strong race.

She worked incredibly hard, and she has my full support moving forward, he said.

Morris took to Facebook to thank those who supported him.

This experience has reminded me of all the sweet, true friends that I have... And that is so much better than a vote. A special thank you to everyone who allowed me to put a sign in their yard, or wore my T-shirt, or just gave me an encouraging word, Morris said.
Make money AND celebrate women?? Can't be! Society has truly have evolved!!!

Reply

Thread

Link

Maira Cunha Poranga maravilhosa 

Reply

Thread

Link

Imagine if we had an International Mens Day.



There would be uproar!!

Reply

Thread

Link

... I feel like I'm missing some context of your comment but it's the 19th of November.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I know lol. Every year I see men asking whens international mens day? at the mere mention of iwd, with others claiming there would be uproar if men had a day. Just jumping ahead of them.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

International Women's Day is cool and all, but you know what's cooler on March 8th? MY MOTHER FUCKING BIRTHDAY.





Reply

Thread

Link

I only recognize the Viola and Shania (most because of the outfit) but these are cute!!



Maira Gomez's face makeup(?) is really pretty.

Reply

Thread

Link

NONE FOR SALE 

I want the Katya doll.

Reply

Thread

Link

I saw the Barbie Instagram post with the lineup and no markings as to which doll was whom, and my instant thought was Katya got a Barbie doll?! then I read the description and felt dumb



But now it turns out Im not alone and thank god for it LMAO some other verified account on Instagram also posted about it

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

dont care for consumerism but love that they chose viola davis to honour, the doll is cute

Reply

Thread

Link

And someone indigenous, good for them (the doll subjects).

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

if only they'd put this quality into their playlines. 



i am excited for the myscene collector dolls though. possibly dream teens if the final dolls look good.

Reply

Thread

Link

Barbies aren't really my thing but Kylie's is serving the c

Reply

Thread

Link

Omg, the Padam Barbie. Kylie deserves!

Reply

Thread

Link

The Viola and Shania ones are quite good.



Kylie's looks more like Taylor Swift.





Reply

Thread

Link

Kylie 



I just watched An Audience with Kylie tv special and it was a lot of fun. Seeing Andrew Scott dancing and singing in the audience was truly special. Like I needed another reason to love him more 

Reply

Thread

Link

That Kylie one looks like Katya.

Reply

Thread

Link

I thought the same exact thing.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I just rewatched the Barbie movie today, lolll. It's so cute. (And I noticed that Barbieland featured an old Barbie dreamhouse that I had!) And I remain jealous of all the options kids have today with Barbies. So many different face molds AND bodies. Half of my Barbies were Weird Barbie, my friends and I were so desperate for something different...

Reply

Thread

Link

I like that they have more options in shape, but the material the bodies are made of is so hard and cheap and the clothing is so cheap too. My mom kept all my old Barbies from the late 80s/early 90s and the clothes were so much more well made. I feel bad that my kids miss out on that. I have a Benetton Barbie and the attention to detail and quality of fabrics is so vastly superior to what they put out today, even on their more expensive Extra line.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

As an active collector I can say the fashionista produce 1 - 3 actually nice dolls/outfits and a decent fashion pack every quarter or so but the main constraint is DEFINITELY from the top down. The designers often have instagrams and show their original visions of products but it seemingly is materials they get access too and/or executive meddling that water down the quality. Whoever is at the top of mattel realized they could likely make more by printing fabrics and using cheaper materials.



The harder bodies are more durable for smaller kids but NGL I do wish we had the modern facial sculpt and body diversity options with 90/2000s fashion fever quality.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link
15 Buzzy SXSW Premieres: 'The Fall Guy,' '3 Body Problem,' Travis Kelces Producing Debut and More https://t.co/Qf23X3mYS9  Variety (@Variety) March 7, 2024

Black Twitter: A People's History

My Dead Friend Zoe

Y2K

Magpie

Monkey Man

oblig "I live in Austin and I hate this time of year." sorry ya'll. Not gonna post the ones you know about, read the source and have fun.The three-part Hulu docuseries chronicles how Black Twitter users have impacted culture and politics since 2007 and questions whats at stake now that Local Man owns the company. It's a whos who of the funniest moments Black people have created on the social media site now known as X.Sonequa Martin-Green ("The Outside Story") as Merit, a U.S. Army veteran who is not on good terms with her family due to the regular presence of Zoe (Natalie Morales, "HIstory of the World, II"), Merits dead best friend, killed in Afghanistan. Merit is forced to confront her grief over Zoes death when her estranged grandfather (Ed Harris), a fellow vet, needs help at the familys ancestral lake house. Morgan Freeman also stars.Following two high school randos (Jaeden Martell, "The Book of Henry" and Julian Dennison, "Deadpool", in a cast that also includes Rachel Zegler, "The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" and Alicia Silverstone) who crash a party on Dec. 31, 1999, Y2K realizes the fight for survival that might have been necessary if computers had actually driven the end-times that night.Based on a surreal concept from star Daisy Ridley, Magpie follows how reality and fiction warp for parents Ben (Shazad Latif) and Anette (Ridley) when their baby daughter, Matilda, is cast alongside a glamorous movie star.Dev Patel makes his directorial debut in this vigilante thriller he also co-wrote, produced and stars in, as a nobody working in the bowels of a Mumbai fight club who decides to take revenge against the crime lords responsible for the death of his mother. Monkey Man was orig- inally picked up by Netflix, but after screening it, Jordan Peele bought the film from the streamer through his company, Monkeypaw Prods., so it could receive a theatrical release from Universal.
OSHA Concludes Plumbing Contractor Could Have Prevented Fatal Trench Collapse

Macon, Georgia-based Pyles Plumbing and Utility Contractors Inc. faces $308,125 in proposed penalties.

Following a trench collapse in Macon, Georgia, that resulted in the death of a 20-year-old worker and severe injuries to another, OSHA has proposed penalties totaling $308,125 against Pyles Plumbing and Utility Contractors Inc.

According to a release dated Feb. 29, the incident occurred on August 10, 2023 and incited an OSHA investigation. Ultimately, the agency determined the plumbing contractor could have prevented the incident if it had followed mandatory safety measures.

In particular, OSHA found that Pyles Plumbing and Utility Contractors failed to provide adequate trench shields and safe exit means from the trench box, leading to two willful violations. The company also received three serious violations for allowing work in a trench with defective shields, lack of head protection, and insufficient employee hazard training.

This employer has over 20 years of experience in excavation. So they are well aware that the work they do can be dangerous if safety protocols are disregarded, OSHA Atlanta-East Area Office Director Joshua Turner said in a statement. A trench shields tabulated data includes specifications that dictate whether the protective system can be used at certain depths and under specific conditions. This and other safety information is widely available to employers. When they choose to ignore these simple methods, a workers death can be the tragic result.

According to OSHA, trench-related activities accounted for 39 fatalities in 2022. As a result, the agency has intensified enforcement efforts through initiatives such as its national emphasis program. Pyles Plumbing and Utility Contractors Inc. now has 15 business days from the receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference or contest the agencys findings.
Supermajors had a record-shattering financial year in 2022. To the invariable chagrin of their governments, all of the big international oil companies made the most money in their history thanks to the oil and gas price rally sparked by the war in Ukraine. Then, prices fell.

For 2023, the supermajors booked smaller profits, although in absolute terms, the figures were yet again quite impressive, even as predictions of peak oil demand intensified and multiplied. The combined profits of Big Oil came in at around $107.5 billion last year, down by about a third from their stellar 2022. Yet the figures remained rather strong.

Some of the companies beat analyst expectations for 2023 profits, and one of them, TotalEnergies, actually did better in 2023 than it did in 2022, bucking the overall trend of normalizing profits following normalizing prices.

BP, for instance, booked a profit of $13.83 billion for 203, which was substantially lower than the $27.65 billion it made but still more than analysts expected the company to make. BP then said it would buy back even more shares to reward shareholders.

Another European supermajor, Shell, reported 2023 profits of $28.25 billion, which was a substantial drop from its 2022 net income of $39.9 billion but also beat analyst expectations, which appear to have been on the pessimistic side.

We see the same story with Exxon and Chevron in the United States, as international oil and gas prices slide from their record highs as supply security improved over the course of the year. Exxon, for instance, reported its second-highest profit on record for 2023, at $36 billion. Chevron posted a profit of $21.37 billion for the year, down from $35.46 billion for 2022 but still high enough to allow the company to buy Hess Corp. in one of the largest M&A deals for the year.

Related: How To Profit From Europes $800 Billion Energy Crisis

Then there was TotalEnergies, which somehow did the impossible and booked an even higher profit for 2023 than it did for 2022. The company reported profits of $21.4 billion for last year, which was 4% higher than its net result for the previous year.

The reason behind the rise was the strong performance of its LNG business and its electricity business. Also, it lacked the kind of charges it had to book in 2022 following its pullout from Russia. Those came in at $15 billion, hurting the record 2022 performance.

The decline in profits was hardly a surprise. Oil and gas being the cyclical industry they are, these declines after a peak year in the cycle are simply business as usual. The difference this time lies elsewhere. All of the supermajors seem to have been reminded by the 2022 crisis that their core business is as strong as ever, and it might be a good idea to put some more effort into growing it instead of diversifying away from it.

All of the Big Five gave indications last year that this is exactly what they were going to do. Some of their chief executives even said it out loud, despite continuing and intensifying pressure from activists to stop being oil and gas companies.

In that respect, the realignment of business strategies with actual physical reality in 2023 was even more important than 2022 precisely because this alignment gathered pace despite lower oil and gas prices. Exxon and Chevron closed two massive acquisitions in their core business area.

Shell and BP announced revisions to their transition-related budgets and those revisions were not upward. TotalEnergies again bucked the trend, planning to invest more in transition business than in new oil and gas this year at least. At the same time, however, it pushed ahead with controversial projects such as the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline project and exploration in Namibia.

ADVERTISEMENT

If 2023 is any indication, Big Oil will use its massive 2022 profits to remain Big Oil, quietly, or not so quietly, dispensing with plans to become Big Energy, at least in the near term.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Sizeable surpluses in the lithium, cobalt, and nickel markets have led to a plunge in the prices of key battery metals over the past year and a half. The price rout is far from over, according to Goldman Sachs.

Prices still have room to drop, and the end of the bear markets is nowhere in sight, the Wall Street bank said in a note this week.

Despite the significant downside in battery metals prices, with nickel, lithium and cobalt prices down 60%, 80% and 65% from cycle peak, respectively, we believe it is too early to call a decisive end to these respective bear markets, Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a Tuesday note carried by CNBC.

The banks strategists see further price declines over the next 12 months  they forecast a 12% drop in cobalt prices, 15% in nickel, and a 25% plunge in lithium carbonate prices.

In the lithium market, slowing growth in electric vehicle sales, including in the top EV market, China, and a market oversupply sent lithium prices crashing by 80% in the past year, prompting lithium miners to pause and scale back expansion projects. After warnings of project reviews and moves to preserve cash from U.S. and Australian lithium mining firms, some of Chinas biggest miners also warned of a plunge in profits and potential asset write-downs.

Related: Two Countries That Could Break Putin's Gas Grip On Europe

The crash in lithium prices over the past year is holding back reinvestment in new supply, the worlds largest lithium producer, Albemarle, says.

Yet, the deferral of new supply developments amid the low prices is setting the stage for the next lithium supply crunch later this decade, according to executives and analysts.

Oversupply is weighing on the cobalt market and prices, too. The surplus could last for years, until 2028, according to an annual report by UK-based cobalt trader Darton Commodities, cited by the Financial Times.

Production ramp-ups in Indonesia and by Chinese producer CMOC in the Democratic Republic of Congo boosted supply by 17% last year, compared to demand growth of 12% amid slower EV demand growth, Andries Gerbens, director of Darton Commodities, told FT.

The nickel market has also been a bear market for some time amid oversupply.

Top nickel exporter Indonesia said last week that the country would ensure a well-supplied market to keep costs lower for EV manufacturers, and investors shouldnt expect a price recovery.

Some nickel producers have already announced output curtailments due to the price plunge.

The glut is so significant coming out of Indonesia and thats now impacting on Class-I nickel prices. We do expect that could continue until the end of the decade, Mike Henry, chief executive at mining giant BHP, said on an earnings call last month.

Despite the plunge in nickel prices, Indonesia is unlikely to slow its supply, as it is more resilient to potential output cuts due to cheap labor, subsidized power, and abundant raw materials, Ewa Manthey, Commodities Strategist at ING, said last month.

Meanwhile, the newly elected president of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, is likely to continue the current governments mining policies in the country. We believe rising output in Indonesia will continue to pressure nickel prices this year, Manthey noted.

But some analysts expect the surplus to begin shrinking earlier than feared and nickel prices to recover earlier than expected.

ADVERTISEMENT

Macquarie analyst Jim Lennon believes the nickel price rout is close to an end, as evidence on the ground in China suggests a much stronger demand than official data.

Essentially, demand in China was much stronger than most people had in their numbers, Lennon told The Australian Financial Review this week after returning from a recent trip to China.

The surplus this year would be much smaller than previously expected, which could prompt the market to correct a lot more quickly, Lennon added.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Kazakhstan is positioning itself as an important potential global supplier of high-quality lithium just as demand surges for the mineral, which is indispensable for the booming power-storage technology industry.

The auspices are good, although few firm investment commitments have materialized.

Speaking at a conference in Seoul on March 5, researchers from the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources announced that they had discovered sizable lithium reserves in an area of eastern Kazakhstan.

Experts from the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, or KIGAM, quoted by The Korea Times said mineral deposits in the 1.6 square kilometer Bakennoye deposit, where tantalum was previously mined and which has been subject of exploration work since May, contains mineral resources worth up to $15.7 billion.

KIGAM reportedly intends to apply jointly with a South Korean company for permission to conduct further drilling investigations at the site next year.

That discovery stands to consolidate Kazakhstans position as a strong emerging source of lithium.

The countrys potential on that front was loudly trumpeted by senior European Commission official Maros Sefcovic at the EU-Kazakhstan Business Forum in November.

We know that Kazakhstan has significant natural resources including more than 20 critical raw materials such as tungsten, lithium and rare earth elements, he said.

Sefcovic added for context that Europe is currently only able to cater for 1 percent of the global production of raw materials like lithium, which are essential for the twin agendas of transitioning to green and digital technology.

Demand for lithium [is] expected to be 12 times higher by 2030 and 21 times by 2050, he said.

Related: How To Profit From Europes $800 Billion Energy Crisis

Sefcovic made his remarks on the eve of an announcement that the European Commission and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development would allocate 400,000 euros ($435,000) for lithium exploration in the salt marshes of the Aral Sea and a separate project related to the sustainable processing of tungsten. The grant agreement was also signed by Kazakhstans state-run mining company Tau-Ken Samruk.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in October 2022 that he believed Kazakhstan may be sitting atop as much as 100,000 tons of lithium.

These are large reserves. Serious investments in exploration and development are needed, he said.

Kazakhstans National Geological Service has provided a more exact estimate of lithium reserves, around 75,600 tons.

This effort at disclosure and transparency marks a departure from what used to be the case until a few years ago. It was only in 2021 that Kazakhstans government adopted the decision to declassify state-produced data regarding the estimated reserves of lithium, as well as cesium, gallium, and tantalum. Prior to that, top officials, including former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, would at times encourage foreign investors to contemplate spending their money on lithium mining without apparently being prepared to inform them how much of the mineral there might be in the country.

In May 2023, Tokayev pitched the idea of investing in lithium at a Kazakh-Chinese investment roundtable in Xian, China.

Considering that China is the largest manufacturer of electric vehicles, cooperation in the field of lithium mining seems promising. In recent years, the popularity of Chinese cars has grown significantly in Kazakhstan, Tokayev said.

ADVERTISEMENT

If China were to take up that offer, it would serve to further solidify its iron grip over global supplies of the processed mineral. The U.S. Department of Energy found in 2021 that China was responsible for refining 60 percent of the worlds lithium.

Varying degrees of interest are now being displayed by European parties.

In September, Tokayev met with the chairman of Berlin-based industrial concern HMS Bergbau, Dennis Schwindt, who presented a $500 million project to build a lithium extraction and processing plant in the East Kazakhstan region. The company had the month before acquired majority shareholdings in two Kazakh companies in possession of mining and exploration licenses for lithium, as well as cobalt, nickel, tantalum and rare earths in the Alatau region.

More recently, in February, a representative for a motley crew of German construction and building materials-manufacturing companies, all co-founders a Halle-based research outfit called the ITEL Deutsches Lithiuminstitut (German Lithium Institute), met with Kazakh Industry and Construction Minister Kanat Sharlapayev to discuss setting up a working group to explore opportunities for lithium exploration. It is unclear, however, that any of the companies involved in this consortium have any useful experience in the sector.

By Eurasianet.org

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Warren Buffett fretted, in his annual report, that wildfires threatened his electric utility investments. He specifically cited the stock price carnage experienced by two US utilities, Pacific Gas & Electric and Hawaiian Electric, as the basis for his concern. Barely a week later, the Smokehouse fire in the Texas Panhandle has burned over a million acres of brush and timber in the heart of cattle country. This time it is Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy and its utility subsidiary, Southwestern Public Service that is at risk. The company filed an 8-k with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on February 29 stating that a lawsuit had been filed in Texas blaming the utility's inadequate pole maintenance practices as being the cause of the wildfires. Shares of Xcel Energy have declined about 20% in response thus far. The legal firm representing the aggrieved homeowner outside of Amarillo previously secured the $13.5 billion wildfire-related settlement against PG&E. The financial stakes here are not small.

Will Xcel ultimately be driven into bankruptcy by overwhelming legal claims resulting from wildfires? Frankly, at this point we have no idea. But we can make a few observations about changing business and financial risks in the utility industry which seem to be rising dramatically due to climate change. First, there are still three main pieces of our electric gridgeneration, transmission, and distribution. For investor-owned utilities, the generation business has been partially deregulated and faces increasing competition from renewables. But the regulated transmission and distribution businesses, still monopolies, have been regarded as relatively low risk, relatively decent return business. A kind of financial rock. And this spurred a wave of corporate mergers producing the likes of Xcel Energy with regional headquarters in Minneapolis, Denver, and Amarillo. But if proximity to forests and brush is the new source of bankruptcy risk, then every single non urban utility in the US is at some elevated risk. Fairly soon the rating agencies may have to weigh in on this as well. These wildfire-lawsuit sagas are the new normal for the industry that the Xcel exposure in the Texas Panhandle merely underscores. The only question is how many wildfires and bankruptcy-threatening lawsuits have to happen before the industry revalues, presumably lower. Related: How To Profit From Europes $800 Billion Energy Crisis

Mr Buffett probably saw it clearly and thats why he wrote somewhat obliquely about the looming threat of government ownership of the utility, which is the norm in his home state of Nebraska. Perhaps he sees this as the inevitable future for investor-owned utilities. We believe he was writing unhappily about his own electric utilities as an insurance problem that even he couldnt solve and was now stuck with. What we believe he was suggesting is that the wildfire-litigation-bankruptcy route inevitably leads to public ownership once there is no privately held corporation left to bankrupt. The best we can say is its a very unstable business model. And this heightened risk exposure now has to be viewed as nationwide.

All we can conclude at this point, regardless of whether or not Xcel Energys shares continue to succumb to potential wildfire liabilities, is that the risk profile of the regulated utility T&D businesses has increased dramatically. In other businesses, this typically means higher financial returns to offset higher business risks. But it might be different this time for utilities. Why? Because, as Mr. Buffett pointed out in his recent shareholder letter, extreme situations in the past have led to alternatives like public ownership.

By Leonard Hyman and William Tilles for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Despite significant potential, Colombias oil and gas industry has had a variety of highs and lows due to political disruption, varying international interest and other determining factors. With a more stable political outlook for the coming years, Colombia hopes to get its oil output back on track, but it is still uncertain whether the South American country will achieve this goal. Further, socialist President Gustavo Petro is aiming to decarbonise the countrys economy as it undergoes a green transition, making the outlook more unclear.

At the end of 2023, despite high commodity prices and oil output, the future of Colombias oil and gas industry was shrouded in uncertainty. A Bnamericas report showed that rig numbers had decreased to the lowest number since the beginning of 2021, during the Covid pandemic. Meanwhile, private-sector exploration investments were expected to fall by 33 percent in 2023, to roughly $300 million. Lower levels of investment were blamed on President Petros anti-oil rhetoric, as he talked of a future rooted in renewable energy.

Despite clear challenges, Colombia reinvigorated its offshore activities, supported by several discoveries bringing in new investments. Ecopetrol, Petrobras, Chevron and Shell are all pursuing operations in Colombia in 2024. Nevertheless, there were no new licensing rounds and none are expected under Petro, as he sticks to plans for a green transition, even at the cost of new oil revenues.

Going into 2024, in February, state-owned Ecopetrol announced the discovery of two natural gas accumulations at its offshore Orca Norte-1 well. An Ecopetrol statement said of the discovery, Orca Norte-1 is the first deepwater well operated 100% by Ecopetrol ... with one of the best operational performances of the wells [drilled] in the Colombian Caribbean [sea]. The company added, Important subsoil information was also obtained both in the delimitation objective and in new intervals of exploratory interest found. This marks one of several recent gas discoveries off Colombia's northern coastline.

Although recent discoveries offer optimism, Colombia could face gas shortages in the latter half of this decade, as its natural gas production falls as operational onshore fields mature. At present, Colombias average gas demand is around 960 million cubic feet per day (MMcfd), which has remained stable for the last six years. This falls below its 1,050 MMcfd production rate. However, as demand increases and the countrys gas supplies dry up, Colombia is likely to become reliant on gas imports to meet its needs.

Related: How To Profit From Europes $800 Billion Energy Crisis

At present, Colombia relies on just three onshore provinces  Llanos; Lower Magdalena; and Middle Magdalena Valley, to provide 85 percent of its gas demand. Most of the fields in these regions are mature and are experiencing a decline rate of between 5 and 11 percent. While there is hope for the development of recent offshore discoveries  Gorgon, Uchuva and Glaucus, these are not likely to be operational until the 2030s, meaning that it will be a difficult transition period. However, once operational, gas output will likely be higher than current levels.

Meanwhile, Ecopetrol is struggling as it posted a 2023 fourth-quarter net profit of just over $1.07 billion, down 38 percent from the previous year. This was largely due to the reduced market price of crude, down by $17 a barrel. Nevertheless, Ecopetrol plans to invest up to $6.8 billion in 2024 to maintain the historic levels of execution that we reached in 2023, with an emphasis in the energy transition, according to the companys CEO Ricardo Roa. Ecopetrol experienced its highest output in eight years in 2023, with an average production of 737,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, which was 3.8 percent higher than in 2022. This success was largely owing to successful production rates from its stake in the U.S. Permian Basin. The companys refineries also reached their highest-ever processing rate, at 420,000 bpd.

Ecopetrols reserves stood at around 1.88 billion barrels in 2023, a decrease from 2.07 billion barrels at the end of 2022, which equates to around 7.6 years of production remaining. The companys reserves are 89 percent in Colombia and 11 percent in the U.S. The limited lifespan of its existing reserves demonstrates the need to invest in exploration activities if the company hopes to continue to produce oil and gas in the coming decades, which is likely the case. While Ecopetrol is investing in alternative energy operations, it is unlikely that Colombia will be able to replace fossil fuels with renewable alternatives at the rate needed to meet demand, although positive steps are being made towards a green transition across the country.

The future of Colombias oil and gas industry is still shrouded in uncertainty as it experiences both highs and lows. Recent discoveries have attracted greater investment in the industry and could help boost Ecopetrols output in the coming years. However, President Petros aim for a green transition and opposition to new oil licenses has prevented new exploration activities and could mean that much of Colombias oil stays in the ground as the country develops its renewable energy sector. The question is whether this will be achieved fast enough to avoid energy shortages that could emerge in the second half of the decade.

ADVERTISEMENT

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
With Turkmenistan and its gas export dreams, intentions are strong, but implementation is faltering.

On March 1, Turkmen National Leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, the father of the president, traveled to Turkey to attend the Antalya Diplomatic Forum.

During the visit, he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan  an encounter celebrated with generous niceties. To mark his hosts recent 70th birthday, Berdymukhamedov arrived with the gift of an ichmek, a Turkmen sheepskin gown traditionally bestowed upon wise elders. A few days earlier, his son, President Serdar Berdymukhamedov, approved a decree conferring the title Honorary Elder of Turkmenistan upon Erdogan.

In more serious business, officials from the two countries signed off on a pair of documents that could, in theory, set the stage for Turkmen gas exports to Turkey. One was a Memorandum of Understanding on accelerating cooperation in the natural gas sector, the other was a Declaration of Intent laying the foundation for joint ventures in the hydrocarbon sector.

This might sound a little hazy, but Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar was categorical about what it implies.

With the signatures, we aim to ship Turkmen gas first to Turkey and then to global markets, he tweeted on March 1.

Official Turkmen chronicles were more circumspect. In the loosest of terms, they alluded to discussions on the supply of Turkmen natural gas under a swap scheme. Turkmenistan also aspires to sell Turkey electricity.

Pending any dramatic, not to say unlikely, movement on the elusive Trans-Caspian Pipeline concept, a swap arrangement indeed looks like the most realistic option.

Turkey at present imports gas via pipelines from Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia. Turkmenistan, meanwhile, exports gas to Irans remote northeastern regions.

The natural solution would be for Iran, Turkey and Turkmenistan to make a three-way swap deal. A similar arrangement involving Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan collapsed in January and shows no sign of being revived soon, so there is notionally some spare capacity.

In another boon to Ankara and Ashgabat, Washington does not appear to be put out by the potential involvement of heavily sanctioned Iran in such a deal. In January, the U.S. ambassador to Turkmenistan, Matthew Klimow, told journalists that swap deals involving Iran did not, as far as the U.S. government is concerned, violate any sanctions.

It will depend on how the deal is structured, Klimow was quoted as saying in remarks translated into Russian by Interfax-Azerbaijan at the time.

In news of other slow-moving gas feasts, Muhammetmyrat Amanov, chief executive of the Ashgabat-based TAPI Pipeline Limited Corporation, reportedly stated on March 4 that Turkmenistan is working with the Taliban-run government in Afghanistan on implementation of a strategy for the construction of a 150-kilometer section of the [trans-Afghan TAPI] gas pipeline to Herat. The purpose of this spur of pipeline is to provide gas to industrial enterprises and households in Afghanistans western Herat province, Amanov said in remarks relayed by TASS news agency in a report that has not been posted online.

Exactly what aspect of implementation Turkmenistan is enabling is not clear, however.

The past week in Turkmenistan has been heavily Afghanistan-themed. A three-day trade fair of Afghan goods opened on March 4 in Ashgabat. The exhibition is designed to send a pair of complementary messages: one being that Afghanistan is open for business and produces a broad category of exportable consumer goods, another is that Turkmenistan stands ready to boost trade with its eastern neighbor.

And Kabul is eager to be seen as playing nice.

Related: How To Profit From Europes $800 Billion Energy Crisis

Speakers at the Turkmen-Afghan business forum held on the day of the opening of the fair included Afghan Commerce and Industry Minister Nooruddin Azizi. NewsCentralAsia, an outlet based out of Ashgabat, quoted Azizi as addressing one major elephant in the room in Afghanistan-Central Asia interactions of late: ongoing work by Kabul to build the 285-kilometer Qosh-Tepa canal, which may soon end up diverting up to 20 percent of water from the Amu Darya River. Azizi reportedly stated that Qosh-Tepa will not impact the interests of Turkmenistan, although he does not seem to have explained how it would avoid doing so.

Azizi also met for talks with Berdymukhamedov the elder and reportedly expressed interest in Afghanistan using the transit capabilities of Turkmenistans Turkmenbashi port.

In the here and now, it is Turkmenistans electricity exports that are making the difference for Afghanistan. Turkmen Energy Ministry official Myrat Artykov said at the business forum that Turkmenistan will in 2024 supply 1.8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity to Afghanistan. That is up from the 1.4 billion kilowatt hours delivered in 2023.

While electricity is at present delivered through 220 kilovolt power lines, Artykov says the plan for the near future is to install 500 kilovolt lines and thereby extend the reach of exports to Kabul.

ADVERTISEMENT

The project to build the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan power line, known as TAP for short, will be implemented by Turkeys Calyk Holding company, Artykov said in remarks quoted by RIA-Novosti news agency (not posted online). Work will be done over three phases: the first stage involves constructing a 375-kilometer, 220-kilovolt power line from a hydroelectric power station in Mary province, Turkmenistan, to Herat province. The second stage entails installing a 1,150-kilometer, 500-kilovolt power line from Mary to Quetta in Pakistan. The third stage will culminate in a 575-kilometer, 220-kilovolt power line extending from Herat province to Kandahar province.

Turkmenistan is selling electricity to Afghanistan at preferential rates.

None of this is to say Ashgabat appears willing to let down its guard. On March 1, a few days ahead of the Afghan trade fair, deputy foreign ministers of Russia and Turkmenistan met for clock-setting consultations in Ashgabat that touched, among other things, on security and countering new threats. The Russian envoy, Sergei Vershinin, voiced approval for Turkmenistans Afghanistan policy of emphasizing economic restoration and political stability.

Meteozhurnal, a weather-focused Russian website, normally brings miserable tidings about Turkmenistan. A February 29 report brought slightly happier news though. After noting that the town of Serhetabad saw some unusually heavy snow in late February, it added that the area has seen large amounts of precipitation for the first occasion in a very long time. The rain appears poised to help ensure Turkmenistan can avoid a repeat of the droughts that have blighted it for a few years.

In related news, Meteozhurnal concluded last month after a study of satellite imagery that reservoirs in Turkmenistan have this winter accumulated particularly large reserves of water. One expert consulted by Amsterdam-based Turkmen.news attributed this to the Amu Darya flowing at full capacity for the first time in three years. The apparent health of the river is explained as being the result of natural causes, but the reporting does not dwell on what these natural conditions might be.

By Eurasianet.org

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Chevron has restarted drilling at a key Venezuelan oil field despite signals from the White House the sanction noose around Caracas is about to tighten.

Work at the Petroindependencia field in the Orinoco Belt has been ongoing since the middle of last month, Bloomberg reported today, citing unnamed sources. That works part of preparations to drill 30 new wells at the field, the report also said.

The new wells should increase Chevrons total output from its joint ventures with PDVSA in Venezuela by 35% to some 250,000 barrels daily by next year.

Back in September last year, Reuters reported that Chevron was eyeing an increase of 65,000 bpd from its ventures with PDVSA by the end of 2024. At the time, the ventures were producing 135,000 barrels daily, which was 70% higher than a year earlier.

While Chevron is the only Western supermajor with special authorization to operate oil fields and export from Venezuela, Washington had indicated that more authorizations could be in the future amid tight global supply.

The mood has changed since September last year, however, as Maduro staked an open claim to the Essequibo region in neighboring Guyana with a December referendum. The move prompted a warning from Rystad Energy that if the situation escalated, Chevron would suffer a setback in its plans for Venezuelan oil.

Venezuela is home to the largest crude oil reserves in the world, though production has been in decline due to corruption and lack of investment in and mismanagement of state-run PDVSA. In 2022, production hit a 50-year low of around 700,000 bpd. Late last year, Washington eased some sanctions on Venezuela, allowing Chevron to resume work in the country to enable exports to make up for lack of access to Russian heavy crude as a result of the war in Ukraine.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

ADVERTISEMENT

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
More than a dozen Chinese copper smelters are expected to discuss next week potential production cuts due to unsustainably low fees for processing the semi-processed ore, or concentrate, into finished metal, sources with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg on Thursday.

The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association will host a meeting of copper smelters next week, at which at least 15 copper processing firms have been invited, according to Bloombergs sources.

Executives from Chinese copper smelters are expected to discuss a joint cut to production, although its likely to be difficult to have all those invited to agree on such a decision, the unnamed sources told Bloomberg.

Supply of copper concentrate has been tighter in recent months, while a market in an overcapacity of smelters is in competition to have copper miners send their ore for processing to them. As a result, smelters have been lowering their treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs), which seem to have now hit an unsustainably low point.

These treatment fees are estimated to have dropped to the lowest levels in data going back to 2013, according to estimates by Bloomberg.

In China, there is a large overcapacity of copper smelters, which have sprung up in recent years to meet growing demand for copper in construction, electrification, electric vehicles, and the energy transition.

The global copper concentrate market is expected be in a deficit this year, according to Fastmarkets analyst Andrew Cole.

On the other hand, copper smelting capacity is set to grow rapidly in the coming months with new projects commissioned, sources told special correspondent Andrea Hotter of Fastmarkets. This is expected to exacerbate an already existing struggle among smelters to secure concentrate to process into finished products.

ADVERTISEMENT

Meanwhile, copper prices have trended sideways in recent weeks, amid uncertainty over Chinas economic stimulus measures and the pace of global economic growth.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
European Union member states agreed on Thursday to jointly leave a 1990s energy treaty that allows oil companies to sue governments over their climate policies, EU officials told Reuters.

The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), signed in 1994 and in force since 1998, was originally designed to promote international investment in the energy sector and has historically provided protections for investors in fossil fuels.

The treaty basically allows oil firms to sue governments for compensation for lost profits if they think energy policies have harmed their business.

As the EU and other developed economies are looking to become carbon neutral by 2050, staying in this treaty has become problematic for many of them.

Last year, the European Commission proposed a coordinated EU withdrawal from the pact, as the treaty has been largely unchanged since it was agreed in the 1990s, and is no longer compatible with the EUs enhanced climate ambition under the European Green Deal and the Paris Agreement.

European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, said at the time,

Keeping an unmodernised Energy Charter Treaty is not a viable option for the EU. The Treaty in its current form is not in line with the EUs investment policy or our energy and climate goals.

The EU looks to reform the treaty before leaving it, a source at the Belgian rotating presidency of the bloc told Reuters on Thursday.

Last month, the UK announced it would quit the outdated treaty, effective in one year.

Efforts to modernize the treaty have failed, resulting in a stalemate, which prompted the UK government to announce in February that it would leave the Energy Charter Treaty after the failure of efforts to align it with net zero.

ADVERTISEMENT

Remaining a member would not support our transition to cleaner, cheaper energy, and could even penalise us for our world-leading efforts to deliver net zero, the UKs Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Graham Stuart, said in a statement.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Exxon has filed for arbitration on the issue of its rights to first refusal to acquire the stake of Hess Corp. in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana where the two made a string of oil discoveries.

The move is the latest update in what seems like escalating problems between Exxon, the majority stakeholder in the Stabroek Block, and Chevron, which last year struck a deal to acquire Hess Corp. mostly because of its Guyana stake.

Were absolutely confident that within this contract, we have pre-emption rights, and we have filed for arbitration to make sure that we can secure those pre-emption rights, Exxon senior VP Neil Chapman said at an event Wednesday, as quoted by the Financial Times.

The pre-emption rights are to give us the opportunity to look at the value, which we can then match should we choose to do so, Chapman also said, suggesting Exxon may make a counter-offer for Hess Corps assets in the Stabroek Block.

Exxon first invoked its first-refusal right to those assets earlier this year, with Hess Corp. and Chevron countering that these stipulations were not relevant because the deal between Hess and Chevron was not about Hesss Guyanese assets but the whole company.

"The right of first refusal provision is not applicable to the merger. We are fully committed to the transaction and do not believe the ROFR or these discussions will prevent its successful completion," Chevron and Hess said in a joint statement in late February.

The dispute highlights how valuable the Stabroek Block is to oil majors in an environment of dwindling new discoveries. Since the Exxon-led consortium first struck oil in the 6.6 million acre Stabroek Block, the three companies, including Chinas CNOOC, have booked more than 30 world-class oil discoveries containing more than an estimated 11 billion barrels of oil resources.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

ADVERTISEMENT

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Saudi Arabia has completed the transfer of an 8% stake in its state oil giant Aramco from state ownership to the Kingdoms sovereign wealth fund, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Thursday.

The transfer of the stake to fully owned companies of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia is expected to solidify PIFs strong financial position and credit rating, said the sovereign wealth fund, whose chairman of the board of directors is the Crown Prince.

The 8% stake in Saudi Aramco is currently worth about $163.6 billion, based on the current market capitalization of the worlds biggest oil firm, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.

The transfer of the stake is being made from one government-controlled entity to another, but it will give the sovereign wealth fund more capital to finance the Crown Princes ambitious Vision 2030 program to diversify the economy away from oil by spending billions of U.S. dollars on futuristic projects, including NEOM.

The Crown Prince concluded that PIF continues with its mandate to launch new sectors, build new strategic partnerships, localize technologies and knowledge, and create more direct and indirect job opportunities in the local market, the sovereign wealth fund said in a statement today.

After the completion of the stake transfer, PIF  which already held 8% in Aramco via direct ownership and wholly-owned subsidiaries  will double its stake in the Saudi oil giant, while the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will see its stake reduced to 82.186%.

Less than 2% in Aramco is in hands of investors after the companys IPO in December 2019, which became the largest in history.

Reports emerged earlier this year that Saudi Arabia was working with advisers to revive a new sale of stock in Aramco.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Saudis are looking to sell shares in Aramco on the domestic market and look to raise at least $10 billion from the follow-up offering, anonymous sources with knowledge of the plans told Bloomberg at the end of January.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
One must consider whether the radical left-wing eco-terrorist group that attacked the German power grid on Tuesday to paralyze Tesla's Gigafactory near Berlin, genuinely aims to save the planet through the shuttering of the plant, or if adversaries of Elon Musk orchestrated this attack to thrust Tesla into turmoil.

Bloomberg reported that the attack suspended Model Y utility vehicle production at the Gigafactory plant in Gruenheide, Germany, for the second day. The factory turns out an average of 6,000 Model Ys per week, which might lead to lower vehicle delivery expectations for the current quarter.

According to Bild, a popular newspaper in Germany, the power outage to the Tesla plant could last for 10 days.

In a note to clients this morning, Ben Kallo, an analyst at Baird Equity Research, highlighted the need to adjust the automaker's vehicle deliveries lower for the quarter. He forecasted that Tesla would deliver around 421,100 vehicles in the first quarter, roughly 67,900 less than the Wall Street consensus.

Related: Two Countries That Could Break Putin's Gas Grip On Europe

Kallo, who turned bearish on the stock in late January, said, "A series of one-time production disruptions have added further complexity to the setup" for the first quarter.

Source: Bloomberg

Compounding troubles for Tesla have also been headlines from China, where Gigafactory Shanghai recently logged a slowdown in vehicle shipments. Tesla shares in New York have lost almost $70 billion, or about 11% of market capitalization, so far this month.

The decline in Tesla has also dented Elon Musk's wealth, dethroning him as the world's richest person. He lost that title to Jeff Bezos.

ADVERTISEMENT

By Zerohedge.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Xcel Energys facilities in Texas may have been the cause of a spree of wildfires that ripped through the state.

Excel, based in Minneapolis, an electric utility and natural gas delivery company, said it very well may be responsible for igniting the recent Smokehouse Creek firethe largest wildfire in the states history.

The Smokehouse Creek wildfire began February 26, incinerating over a million acres, destroying more than 500 homes, and killing two before spilling into neighboring Oklahoma. The wildfires quickly spread after ignition thanks to the high winds and low humidity. Texas A&M Forest Service has said that its investigators have concluded that the fires were ignited by power lines.

One woman whose home was destroyed in the fire filed a lawsuit against Xcel Energy, its subsidiary Southwestern Public Service and contractor, alleging that an improperly maintained power pole fell and triggered the fire. Xcel Energy has been cooperating with authorities investigating the wildfires, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Xcel, for its part, has denied that it behaved negligently in maintaining and operating its infrastructure. The company did say, however, that it will review and respond to claims expeditiously. Excel did not specify how its facilities were involved in the ignition.

Based on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its equipment appears to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire, the company said.

Excels stock was still trading up by 1.35% on Thursday afternoon, although it has been trading significantly down since the wildfires, as traders attempt to avoid financial ruin after previous electric companies have found themselves on the end of a very large hook for their role in past wildfires. This would include PG&E, which, as part of its plan to exit bankruptcy, agreed to pay more than $25 billion to compensate for wildfire losses.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

ADVERTISEMENT

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
A plan for the City of Omaha to build and operate parking garages at the former Crossroads Mall site would be at a minimum revenue neutral for the city, a city attorney said Wednesday.

Jennifer Taylor, deputy city attorney, said the city is not subsidizing the garages but is using its financing tools to benefit the project.

Members of the Omaha Planning Board Wednesday voted 6-0 to approve an amendment to an existing redevelopment plan reflecting changes in the project.

The amendment, reflecting higher development costs and the citys role in building garages for the project, now goes to the City Council for consideration.

Attorneys for Woodbury Corp., the developer, and Taylor offered assurances that the city-owned garages proposed for the 40-acre project project would be paid for with an increase in revenue from tax-increment financing and Enhanced Employment Area revenue.

Taylor told board members that the additional TIF and EEA revenue would go entirely to building the garages, which the city would own and operate.

TIF is a tool that cities can deploy to redevelop substandard and blighted areas. It uses the increased property taxes generated on a new development to repay loans for certain development expenses. Normally, property tax payments go to support schools, city and county government and other local tax-reliant agencies.

During the TIF period, the property owner continues to pay property taxes to local governments based on the portion of the valuation that existed before the redevelopment, while the taxes paid on the additional valuation are used to repay the loan. Once the TIF loan is repaid, property taxes collected on the additional valuation start flowing to those local governments.

EEA revenue comes from a business occupation tax levied to pay for public infrastructure improvements and land acquisition.

The original agreement with KJ Ventures includes $79.4 million in TIF and estimates $64.9 million in EEA revenue. The amendment to the agreement increases the TIF to $105.6 million and EEA to $66.8 million, officials said.

Total cost of the development would increase from $553.8 million to $861.7 million, according to a statement posted by Mayor Jean Stotherts office.

Board member Mike Pate asked why the city has an interest in owning the parking.

Taylor said the city has the ability to finance and fund the parking at a better rate and in a better way than the developer, she said.

We are going to do it with Woodburys cooperation, she said.

Attorney David Levy, representing Woodbury Corp., said that while the parking facilities would benefit the development, the intended use of the additional TIF is for the city to use those funds, in addition to parking fees, to pay the debt service on the garages.

The city has tools to do that, Levy said. The city has the ability to manage this whole district cohesively, pricing parking across the site.

The most valuable piece of real estate in Nebraska?

The parking, much of which would be underground, allows for a denser and more valuable development, he said.

Josh Berger, director of development for Woodbury Corp. in Omaha, told board members his company has a purchase agreement to buy the Crossroads property.

He described the site as arguably the most valuable piece of real estate in Nebraska.

With such a valuable property, it made sense to increase the density of the project beyond the original proposal, he said.

He said the project cant be done without partnering with the city.

Under the new plan, the existing parking garage at the northeast end of the property would be demolished. The original plan called for renovating it.

The current plan reduces the amount of office space and increases square footage for retail and the number of planned housing units, compared with the initial design.

Berger said the first phase of the reimagined master plan would involve 12 acres. It would include retail, multifamily housing, senior housing and a central green area surrounded by premier retail.

At the intersection of heavily traveled 72nd and Dodge Streets, the site was once home to a 1960 shopping mall. Developers have worked with the city for more than a decade to find a way to reuse the property.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of February 2024
NEW YORK  Nikki Haley suspended her presidential campaign Wednesday after being soundly defeated across the country on Super Tuesday, leaving Donald Trump as the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination.

Haley didn't endorse the former president in a speech in Charleston, South Carolina. Instead, she challenged him to win the support of the moderate Republicans and independent voters who supported her.

"It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that," she said. "At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people."

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota ended his long-shot 2024 Democratic presidential bid Wednesday after failing to win a primary contest against President Joe Biden.

Phillips told WCCO Radio in Minneapolis that he endorses Biden, saying there is only one choice in an expected fall matchup with Trump.

Phillips, 55, a multimillionaire who is among the richest members of Congress, built his White House bid around calls for a new generation of Democratic leadership while spending freely from his personal fortune. He ultimately failed to resonate with the partys voters.

First in, last out

Haley, a former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador, was Trump's first significant rival when she jumped into the race in February 2023.

She spent the final phase of her campaign aggressively warning the GOP against embracing Trump, who she argued was too consumed by chaos and personal grievance to defeat Biden in the general election.

Her departure clears Trump to focus solely on Biden. The former president is on track to reach the necessary 1,215 delegates to clinch the Republican nomination later this month.

Haley's defeat marks a painful, if predictable, blow to those voters, donors and Republican Party officials who opposed Trump and his brand of "Make America Great Again" politics. She was especially popular among moderates and college-educated voters, constituencies that will likely play a pivotal role in the general election.

It's unclear whether Trump, who recently declared that Haley donors would be permanently banned from his movement, can ultimately unify a deeply divided party.

Trump on Tuesday night declared that the GOP was united behind him. In a statement shortly afterward, Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said, "Unity is not achieved by simply claiming, 'We're united.'"

Haley made clear she doesn't want to serve as Trump's vice president or run on a third-party ticket arranged by the group No Labels. She leaves the race with an elevated national profile that could help her in a future presidential run.

No Labels is planning to move toward with fielding a presidential candidate Friday, when roughly 800 delegates meet virtually in a private meeting, even as high-profile contenders decided not to run, two people familiar with the matter. They spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

The group is expected to debut a formal selection process late next week for potential candidates who would be selected in coming weeks, the people said.

Trump's campaign in a fundraising email Wednesday falsely claimed Haley endorsed his candidacy and did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the message.

Earlier this week, Haley said she no longer feels bound by a pledge that required all GOP contenders to support the party's eventual nominee to participate in the primary debates.

On social media, Trump continued to mock his former rival, while at the same time extending an invitation to "all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in the history of our Nation."

On Wednesday, Biden welcomed any voters who backed Haley.

"Donald Trump made it clear he doesn't want Nikki Haley's supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign," Biden said in a statement. "I know there is a lot we won't agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America's adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground."

A group that targeted independents and Democrats to vote for Haley over Trump in Republican primaries is now pushing those voters to back Biden in November.

On Wednesday, Primary Pivot said it was "pivoting" again with a new initiative  Haley Voters for Biden  which might amount to basically encouraging Democrats to revert back to supporting their party's likely eventual nominee.

In AP VoteCast surveys conducted among Republican primary and caucus voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, between 61% and 76% of Haley's supporters said they would be so dissatisfied if Trump became the GOP nominee that they wouldn't vote for him in the November general election.

Voters in the early Republican head-to-head contests who said they wouldn't vote for Trump in the fall represented a small but significant segment of the electorate: 2 in 10 Iowa voters, one-third of New Hampshire voters, and one-quarter of South Carolina voters.

Haley leaves the 2024 presidential contest having made history as the first woman to win a Republican primary contest. She beat Trump in the District of Columbia on Sunday and in Vermont on Tuesday.
LINCOLN  Multiple controversial measures stalled in the Nebraska Legislature on Wednesday, including proposals to ban the death penalty and prohibit individuals under 19 from attending drag shows.

The Legislatures Judiciary Committee did not give either measure enough votes to push them out of committee. The drag show ban, in Legislative Bill 371, failed on a vote of 1-5, with two committee members not voting. The death penalty ban, in Legislative Resolution 17CA, failed in a 3-4 vote, with one member not voting.

Unlike most other legislative committees, which have a majority of Republican members, the Judiciary Committee is split evenly with four Republican and four Democratic members. This makes it more difficult for controversial proposals to get the five votes necessary to advance to floor debates.

Between two committee meetings Tuesday and Wednesday, multiple other proposals met the same fate, including bills to legalize medical marijuana, limit the use of solitary confinement, and add an exception to Nebraskas 12-week abortion ban.

LB 371, brought by State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, was among several bills introduced last year that would have the biggest impact on LGBTQ+ Nebraskans. The same year, lawmakers narrowly passed a bill that restricted access to gender-affirming care for people under 19.

LB 371 drew relatively little attention since its introduction, but lawmakers did attempt to add the measure into a criminal justice reform bill during last years session. That attempted amendment failed on a 6-32 vote.

Despite opposing the drag show amendment last year, Sen. Barry DeKay of Niobrara made the motion to advance LB 371 out of the Judiciary Committee and was the sole yes vote. During the committees brief discussion on the bill Wednesday, lawmakers brought up similar critiques to those heard last year  that the language was too vague and could affect other forms of performance art.

This is a badly written bill, said Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue. Badly written bills should not move out to the floor.

The death penalty measure, LR 17CA, introduced by Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha, raises an issue that has been debated extensively in the past. The Legislature approved a measure to abolish the death penalty in 2015, but it was quickly reinstated through a voter referendum in 2016.

This session, lawmakers also are considering a bill that would add a new option for carrying out the death penalty via nitrogen hypoxia. The Judiciary Committee has not voted on it.

Blood did not vote on the death penalty resolution. She said she personally disagrees with the death penalty but felt conflicted about the resolution because a majority of her district supported the 2016 referendum. She said she felt the referendum showed the influence that money can have on politics; a major funder of the campaign was then-Gov. Pete Ricketts, who now is a U.S. senator.

I hate that Im put in this uncomfortable position, Blood said.

McKinney said that Wednesdays vote was disheartening and that he would introduce a similar measure if hes re-elected to the Legislature this year.

Death penalty, in my view, is inherently inhumane, he said. And our states potential to execute innocent individuals, as seen in other states, is deeply troubling.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of February 2024
LINCOLN  Gov. Jim Pillens pick to lead Nebraskas Department of Health and Human Services will be debated on the floor of the Nebraska Legislature.

The Legislatures Health and Human Services Committee advanced the appointment of Steve Corsi as the departments new CEO in a 4-2 vote Thursday. It will take at least 25 votes to either affirm or reject Corsis appointment.

Pillen appointed Corsi in August to replace former DHHS CEO Dannette Smith, and Corsi promptly drew criticism for his past social media activity.

Corsi didnt write any of the posts that were questioned, but he had liked messages that cast doubt on COVID-19 treatments, referred to homosexuality as a sin, and claimed that transgender individuals were mentally ill.

Corsi made his Twitter account private after critics began to highlight his activity on the social media platform  now known as X  which he said he had considered a private matter.

State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha pressed Corsi about the posts during his confirmation hearing in February. Corsi said that he didnt want people to jump to conclusions about him based on the posts he liked and that he doesnt judge anyone. However, when Cavanaugh referenced specific posts, Corsi indicated his agreement with most of the opinions, including that abortion isnt health care and that there is only one race.

Cavanaugh also questioned Corsi about the job he held immediately before his appointment: executive leader for Utah consulting company Epiphany Associates. She said he should have disclosed the job publicly, given that he was employed at Epiphany just four days before he began his role at DHHS.

Pillen entered Nebraska into a $10 million contract with Epiphany to work on ways to reduce government waste. Although news of the contract broke after Corsi stopped working at the company, the contract had been signed in June. Cavanaugh said it was an emergency contract, which meant the state didnt consider any other bids.

Are you the right person for this position when you are working in darkness with an organization that you yourself did not disclose that you were employed by, days before you received this position? Cavanaugh asked at the hearing. Its very, very concerning.

HHS Committee Chair Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair postponed a committee vote for a month after Corsis hearing to give members time to digest the information. Days after the hearing, Cavanaugh distributed more information about Corsis past, including a timeline of his employment with Epiphany, articles about his previous government roles and a list of 15 lawsuits hes been named in.

Cavanaugh said she would prefer that Pillen withdraw Corsis nomination but did not push committee members to reject his confirmation Thursday. Even if the committee had voted to reject his appointment, the matter still would have been debated on the floor.

Cavanaugh and Sen. Jen Day of Omaha voted no on Corsis confirmation, and Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont opted not to vote. Besides Hansen, Sens. Brian Hardin of Gering, Beau Ballard of Lincoln and Merv Riepe of Ralston voted yes.

Riepe said he only voted yes to give the governor his person. Pillen should be able to choose the members of his team, Riepe said, and also must deal with the results of those choices.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of February 2024
LINCOLN  Nebraska lawmakers signed off on changing the structure of the states tourism board Thursday along with passing more than a dozen other bills.

Legislative Bill 624 would give the Department of Economic Development director a seat on the Nebraska Tourism Commission. The bill passed its final round of debate in a 41-1 vote.

Introduced by State Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha, the bill would shift the commission from its current 11 members to 13 members, including the DED director and a representative of a state chamber of commerce.

In an earlier debate, McDonnell said he offered the bill because he was displeased with the tourism slogan the commission selected five years ago: Nebraska. Honestly, its not for everyone. That same week, commission Executive Director John Ricks told lawmakers that the slogan was going to be dropped.

Despite this, McDonnell said its important to improve communication between two agencies that handle similar issues.

Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, the sole no vote on LB 624, previously said he would filibuster the bill on its second round of debate, though he never did. He has said he disagrees with the existing structure of the commission, but expressed doubt that McDonnells bill would fix the issues he sees. The commission needs to represent more regions and perspectives in Nebraska, he said.

Theres no diversity of thought, Wayne said in an earlier debate.

Among the other bills passed Thursday:

Adjutant general. The adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard could work another two years under LB 848, passed 44-0. The bill, introduced by Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, would allow the adjutant general to stay in that position until reaching 66 years old. Current law sets the age limit at 64.

Amusement license. Pool halls, bowling alleys, roadhouses, dance halls, carnivals, shows, amusement parks and other places of public amusement outside city limits would no longer have to get licenses from county government under LB 936. The bill, introduced by Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln, passed 44-0. The current law dates to the 1930s. Licenses cost $10 in general, but the pool halls and bowling alleys must pay $10 for each of the first three tables or lanes and $5 each for additional ones.
Nigerian authorities should immediately drop charges against journalist Obinna Don Norman, release him from prison, and reform the 2015 cybercrime act to ensure it is not used to prosecute journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Mr Norman, owner and editor-in-chief of online news outlet The Realm News, was arrested on March 1 by police in Umuahia, the capital of Nigerias southeastern Abia state, while he was at local radio station Flo FM to discuss politics on air, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ from Afara prison in Umuahia.

The day he was arrested, Mr Norman was charged in an Abia state magistrate court under Nigerias 2015 cybercrime act, he told CPJ. During a second court appearance today, he was charged under an Abia state anti-terrorism and kidnapping law from 2009, he said. Norman is alleged to have defamed and harassed Abia state senator Theodore Orji of the Peoples Democratic Party, according to the journalist and two charge sheets reviewed by CPJ.

Abia state authorities should drop the charges against journalist Obinna Don Norman, ensure his release, and cease efforts to intimidate him, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator. Nigerias cybercrime act has too often been used to silence journalists in the country and the additional charge against Norman indicates that authorities are intent on harassing the press.

The charge sheets allege that the offenses were committed on or before March 21, 2018, but do not specify any articles or comments related to the charges. Mr Norman and Realm News editor Rotimi Akinola told CPJ they believe the charges are reprisal for Normans reporting and criticism of the Abia state government, and are an attempt to silence the press ahead of the gubernatorial election scheduled for March 9, in which Okezie Ikpeazu, a Peoples Democratic Party member, is running for re-election.

Mr Normans March 1 charge sheet, which CPJ reviewed, listed four alleged offenses from sections 24 and 27 of Nigerias 2015 cybercrime act: cyberstalking, sending defamatory messages using a computer, using a computer to send messages for the purpose of causing public hatred, and using a computer to bully, threaten and harass.

The March 7 charge sheet alleged that Mr Norman threatened Orjis life with messages through [the] internet and phone calls, which is punishable under Abia states 2009 anti-terrorism and kidnapping law.

CPJs repeated calls to Mr Orji went unanswered, and a recorded message on Mr Ikpeazus line indicated that his phone was turned off.

Mr Norman said he was told during the March 7 court appearance that he would be held in detention until April 24; his lawyer has filed a bail application with a federal high court petitioning for an earlier release. Those convicted under Nigerias cybercrime act can face fines into the tens of thousands of dollars and years in prison, CPJ has reported.

Abia Police Commissioner Ene Okun told CPJ that Mr Norman was arrested because the journalist was listed as wanted in an official bulletin; Okun said he had no involvement in the case after Norman was transferred to the court.

In December 2018, the previous police commissioner had declared Mr Norman wanted in an unrelated cybercrime case, The Realm News reported at the time. Mr Norman counter-sued and the bulletin was nullified by a federal court, and Mr Norman was not arrested, according to The Realm News.

Since its adoption, Nigerias 2015 cybercrime act has been repeatedly used against journalists for their reporting, CPJ has documented.
Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, who spent almost seven years inside the Ecuadorian embassy in the UK before his arrest last month, has been sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for breaching his 2012 bail conditions.

The Australian national was given refuge at the residence in 2012 while on bail in the UK over charges of sexual assault and rape in Sweden, which he denies.

But on April 11, Assange was arrested after the Ecuadorian government withdrew his asylum claim.

Assange was found guilty of breaching the bail act last month and was sentenced today.

The 50-weeks handed down by judge Deborah Taylor was just short of the maximum one-year sentence.

Assange told the court he had been struggling with difficult circumstances, and apologised to those who consider Ive disrespected them.

Read Also: Sexual assault: Court grants teacher N500,000 bail

I did what I thought at the time was the best or perhaps the only thing that I could have done, he said.

His lawyer added that Assange was forced to take action as he feared kidnap and torture by the US.

Because of his work on WikiLeaks, Assange was said to be gripped by fears of rendition to America.

Judge Taylor told Assange that by hiding in the embassy you deliberately put yourself out of reach, while remaining in the UK.

You exploited your privileged position to flout the law and advertised internationally your disdain for the law of this country, she added, noting the policing resources outside of the embassy during the time he was there cost the taxpayer 16 million.

Assange will face a hearing on Thursday related to his potential extradition to the US over allegations that he conspired with former US intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to download classified databases.

If found guilty, he could be sentenced to five years in prison.
The British government has warned that the security condition of Nigeria has the potential of spiralling out of control if necessary measures are not taken immediately.

It therefore said it is considering stepping up its military efforts to help the Nigerian government defeat Boko Haram, following a rise in terrorist activity in the countrys north-east in the past year.

The UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Wednesday after visiting the region that he would be discussing what more the British government can do in terms of aid and military support to combat the terrorist group, warning the crisis had the potential to trigger a humanitarian catastrophe on the scale of that in Yemen.



Britain provides 240m in aid to Nigeria, of which 100m goes to the north-east, making it the second-largest donor after the US, and giving the UK a sizeable stake in what happens in the region. Britain provides 240m in aid to Nigeria, of which 100m goes to the north-east, making it the second-largest donor after the US, and giving the UK a sizeable stake in what happens in the region. Boko Haram and Islamic State in west Africa have terrorised the region for several years, but their activities came to the worlds attention when hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls were kidnapped in 2014. British military personnel in Abuja and the wider region are giving strategic advice to Nigerian forces on how to run counterinsurgency operations, with their advice focused on combining humanitarian and military activities.



He said the crisis had spread to Niger, Chad and Cameroon. There is a potential solution here  Nigeria is huge country and it is very stretched, Hunt added. He said the crisis had spread to Niger, Chad and Cameroon. There is a potential solution here  Nigeria is huge country and it is very stretched, Hunt added. Asked if he supported an increase in military action in the region, the UK foreign secretary said: I think the crucial deciding factor is the willingness and enthusiasm of the Nigerian government and the Nigerian army to work closely with us  we would like to support and help them, but they are a sovereign nation and they have got to want our help. He said Britain wanted to bring holistic solutions, suggesting by implication that the Nigerian army has focused too heavily on militaristic solutions. I think our approach is potentially a very significant one, because we could bring not just the British army but also DfID [the Department for International Development] and our experience in holistic solutions to these kind of situations, Hunt added. This is a region of Africa that is being massively destabilised by conflict. These things can escalate quite quickly and get out of control. We know from Sri Lanka that Daesh [Isis] are looking to make their presence felt now they have lost their territory. We have to be vigilant. He said Sri Lanka was not on anyones radar, and showed how threats can escalate. Nigeria was an area where all the warning signs are there, he said, adding that not all the conflict was driven by religion. The feedback I got from NGOs on the ground is that lack of trust between the authorities and local people is one of the things that is fuelling the problem at the moment. The Nigerian army strategy is largely about herding people into towns and saying if you are not in a secure area, we are going to assume you are Boko Haram and/or Islamic State west Africa, he said.
Dr. Godwin Emefiele has been confirmed by the Senate as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria for a second term following his nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari.

President Buhari had written to the Senate on May 9 to inform them of his decision to reappoint Mr Emefiele for a second and final tenure of five years.

The Senate thereafter referred the screening of Mr Emefiele to its committee on Banking, Finance, and other Financial Institutions on Wednesday during which he was grilled in issues affecting Nigerias economy.

Presenting the report on Thursday, chairman of the committee, Rafiu Ibrahim (Kwara-PDP), said the committee was impressed with Mr Emefieles more than 32 years experience with outstanding performance.

The committee recommended confirmation of Mr Emefiele based on his performance in the first tenure.

That the nominee understands the diverse economy of the country and has displayed profound knowledge of the continuous existence of our economy stability. That the nominee has performed credibly in his first tenure which resulted to the exit of the nation out of economic recession, Mr Ibrahim said.

His confirmation was put to a voice vote and received a unanimous ayes from the senators.

Emefiele, who was appointed as CBN Governor on June 2, 2014, is due to end his first term on June 2, this year.
By Izunna Okafor, Awka

The Spokesperson of the Anambra State Police Command, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu, has been promoted to a new rank of Superintendent of Police (SP) in the Force.

The Head of Press and Public Relations, Ikechukwu Ani disclosed this in a press release made available to newsmen on Wednesday, March 6, in which he said 1606 other persons were also promoted from the same DSP rank to the next rank of SP across the nation.

According to him, the promotees also include 158 professionals. He also said the Police Service Commission (PSC), which is the Commission in charge of the promotion exercise, has restored the dignity of the specialists cadre.

Mr. Ani further explained that the Commission had earlier stepped down the consideration of the officers promotion at its last Management meeting where other recommendations were considered, when it noticed some discrepancies in the list.

The promotion of the DSPs to SPs saw the elevation of 158 officers in the Professional cadre, which include 105 in the Communication unit, 22 in Transport, 10 medical officers, nine nurses and another nine from Works.

The other professionals promoted to Superintendents were six Workshop Officers, three Maritime, and one each from Medical and Dental units and Band.

A total number of 1423 DSPs were promoted in the General Duty cadre, the statement partly read.

While noting that the approval of the promotions has been officially communicated to the Inspector-General of Police for implementation; Ani also gave a highlight of the promoted officers.

Some of the promoted Officers are the Public Relations Officers for Anambra and Delta states, Tochukwu Anthony Ikenganyia and Bright Edafe respectively. Others are Clement Ominiyi Awoyemi, Salami Ganiyu, Dogo Mathew, Finedon Akah, Attahiru Umar, Adamu Wakili, Constance Katu Ekeh, Nuhu Danjuma, and Yaha Bashir.

The list also includes Iwuji Barnabas Iliya, ADC to the Rivers State Governor; Samson Ekeinde, Officer in charge of Safer Highway, Bayelsa State Command; Clement Gladys C., Lagos Command; Usman Nureni and Adibeli Joy.

Enoch Suleiman, Officer in charge of Surveillance, Zone 5 Benin; Sidi Umar Ahmad, technical Assistant to the DIG Training and Head of IGP Smart Force Management and Data Base Centre; Patrick Chinwe Anike, Divisional Crime Officer 1, 9th Mile Division, Enugu State Command; Ben Orih, Unit Commander 28 PMF, Umuahia; Nwanaga Innocent Okpuru, OPTS Officer, SPU BASE 28 Owerri, Imo state; Isay. Ladan, Department of Operations, Rivers State Command and Moses Omale were also some of the other DSPs who got the Commissions approval for promotion to the next rank of Superintendents, he said.

On his own part, the Chairman of the Police Service Commission and retired Inspector-General of Police, Dr. Solomon Arase said the Commission would continue to give equal opportunities to all cadres in the Nigeria Police Force, adding that the era where Specialists are stagnated in one rank is now history. He also emphasized that the Nigeria Police Force needs the Specialists for efficient and effective policing, even as he assured that the Commission would continue to accord them the required privileges.

Dr. Arase also noted that the General duty Officers would continue to receive the support of the Commission in the area of prompt and regular promotions. He further challenged the newly-promoted officers to reciprocate the Commissions gesture by rededicating themselves to the Service of the nation.

He also warned that the Commission would not hesitate to discipline any of the Officers who undermines the ethics, rules and regulations guiding their conduct; even as he warned them to avoid dabbling into land matters, recovery of rents, and other minor issues that can be resolved through alternative dispute resolution or legal processes.

While reminding them that Police is the lead agency in internal security, the PSC Chairman also tasked the officers to concentrate in helping the nation win the war against insurgency and banditry in different parts of the country.

Related
The former Emir of Kano State, Mohammed Sanusi has opened up on why people thought that he owned Access Bank.

He spoke while recounting his relationship with the late Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe.

He said that his relationship with late Wigwe made people think he owned the bank.

The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made this known on Wednesday at the night of tributes organised in Wigwes honour in Lagos.

Sanusi, who broke down in tears thrice, said Wigwes kindness to him gave many the impression he owned Access Bank, while Wigwe and Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede were his stooges.

Recounting his sojourn with the late Wigwe, Sanusi was comforted by Abia State Governor Alex Otti, Aig-Imoukhuede, and an aide because he failed to control the tears that continued to flow from his eyes.

The former Kano Emir recalled how the late banker came to his rescue when he was dethroned and provided a place for him and his family to stay in Lagos.

He said: When I came we stayed there. Some people believe I own access bank and Aig and Herbert are fronting for me. They gave me the cars and the drivers, they gave me security and a private jet and they ask for nothing and they dont talk about it. I have lived in Lagos for four years, the house my family lives in was provided by Herbert.

He added: On the day before this happened, I was on a chat group when somebody made a few remarks about Herbert that I found offensive and I defended Herbert. I made my point very clear that this was unacceptable.

A few days after Herbert died; a friend called me and sent me a message. He sent a message to Herbert at about 3:20 am that morning (the day of the crash), telling him how I had stood up and defended him and forwarded my entire message to him. Herbert replied at 3:28 am with one word unbelievable. He sent another message at 3:50 which was not delivered. According to the presentation from the air traffic controllers, the crash happened at 3:30. So possibly, the last thing Herbert read was my message talking about him.

When I heard of his death, I said In the coming weeks and months, people will get to know Herbert the human being. They know him as a banker, as a businessman, they dont know him as a human being. He was always about others, not about himself. You cant imagine how one human being could have been so many things to so many people.
The leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele has sent President Bola Tinubu a new message.

Speaking on Thursday, he warned President Bola Tinubu to reduce his trips and seek the face of God concerning his health.

He explained that Tinubu has so much burden on himself, adding that there is still so much to do for the countrys economic stability.

In a statement signed by his Media Aide, Oluwatosin Osho, Ayodele urged Nigerians to pray for the success of the present government and the president.

Nigerians should pray for the government and President Tinubus good health so he will be able to do all that is needful. The president is carrying so much; he needs prayers to be sustained.

The president should also reduce his trips; he needs to seek the face of God and pray for his health because there is still so much to do for the country, he said.

Ayodele also made it known that he doesnt see any hope yet except the government listens to useful advice.

Primate Ayodele advised the government not to tackle the economic crisis from the aspect of the dollar exchange rate but to look into the nations mineral resources to restructure the economy.
A mother of five has died after botched Brazilian butt lift.

The family of a Tennessee mother of five has now filed a lawsuit against the doctor and the surgery center.

The 33-year-old Erica Russell died on June 16, 2021, after Dr. John Sampson punctured her intestines, bladder, liver, and abdominal wall during her surgery. Russell died after a fat deposit blocked her bloodstream and triggered fatal cardiac arrest.

According to a press release from Stewart Tilghman Fox & Bianchi & Cain, the law firm representing her family, Russells procedure started at 8.31pm, and a little over two hours later, she was dead.

What happened to Ms. Russell should have never happened. This is assembly line medicine and thats what killed her, Attorney Michael Levine said.

Sampson has since been banned from performing Brazilian butt lift surgeries at Seduction Cosmetic Center in Coral Gables, Florida, was fined $20,000, but was able to keep his license.

Seduction Cosmetic Center offers this procedure for $3,500 and also advertises other cosmetic surgeries such as breast augmentations, tummy tucks, liposuction, vaginal rejuvenation, and a plethora of other options.

Prior to starting Russells botched surgery, Sampson has performed six procedures for a total of 14 hours at the cosmetic center, according to the lawsuit.

Further investigation found that Sampson was not approved to perform surgeries at the cosmetics center, despite Russell signing off on paperwork before her procedure that said he had plastic and cosmetic privileges at Seduction as Designated Physician.

During Russells procedure, Sampson punctured the mothers intestines, liver, bladder, and abdominal wall with a cannula- a tube used for sucking fat out of the body.

State investigators say the doctor violated the minimum standard of care as he also injected fat under her gluteal muscle and deep gluteal planes, during her surgery.

At 10.50 pm, the fatal injuries caused severe bleeding in her abdominal cavity and she suffered a pulmonary fat embolism, the law firm said.

She died after a fat deposit blocked her bloodstream and triggered fatal cardiac arrest.

Sampson has since been removed from the cosmetic centers social media and website, but on his personal Instagram, his bio still says that he works at Seduction.

Its unbelievable that a surgery center could allow this to happen. This doctor should have never been performing this surgery, much less seven surgeries in one day, Stephan Cain, another attorney for the family said.

Her devastated family held a funeral service for Russell after her passing, where many relatives, friends, and co-workers from her job at T-Mobile spoke highly of her.

Erica was a person, that if you didnt know her, you probably wish you did, one of her co-workers said.

Another woman, who said she was her best friend, cried and said that she was the last person Russell talked to before her surgery.

She texted me I love you bestie, I said, I love you too, talk when you come out. I been waiting on my baby to call me since June 16, the friend said as she tried to hold back tears.

Many of her loved ones remembers Russell as a devoted mother who constantly spoke about her children and made sure she did everything she could for them.

To know Erica was to love Erica. Erica went above and beyond. And when I say she was the representation of strong, no matter what, or despite whatever she was going through, she made sure everybody was good- everybody, another friend said at the service.
From Mohammed Nasir Shuaibu BAUCHI

Over 50 journalists across five states were currently undergo a training on health reporting being organised by the United Nations Childrens Fund UNICEF and Mama2Mama in Gombe State.

The UNICEF Communication Officer, Opeyemi Olagunju said the

two days training was part of the activities to mark this year 2024 International Womens Day (IWD) celebration in the world.

According to him, said the aims was to enlighten, educating and equipped the journalists with prerequisite knowledge and best angles on how to reports health related issues on womens and children as well as ways to improve promotion and prevention methods.

Opeyemi disclosed that the UNICEF Bauchi field office had so far achieved tremendous success of over 50 percent Media Reportage during its last year 2023 activities in five states under the supervision of the office which comprises of Bauchi, Adamawa, Gombe, Taraba and Plateau.

He further explained that rural communities suffered most in terms of cases of childbirth delivery as a result of either lack of professional personnels or services rendered to the patients.

The UNICEF Communication Officer disclosed that at the end of the media dialogue its expected to come up with a workable action plan that would guide the activities of the media through out the year 2024 on the project.

Our correspondent reports that the media dialogue 2024 was tagged with e themed Invest in Women- Accelerate progress,.

Related
A photo of the Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umar Bago bowing to shake President Bola Tinubu on Thursday has left tongues wagging on social media.

The meeting took place at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja.

The Governor was captured on camera kneeling down for the President in greeting.

While some lambasted the Governor for his decision to kneel in greeting, others, however, saw it as an act of respect.

See some of the reactions culled from the X platform.

@Baaaaatunde: Eye service

@RadicalYouthMan: What manner of stupidity is this ??? See an elected Governor bowing to Tinubu as if Tinubu is God ???? How do these manner of people hope to achieve successes as Governors when their loyalty is to the President and not to the people that voted them ??

Even Tinubu never bowed to Obasanjo like this !!!

Na wa oo

@lawankunu: Rant well Respect is not a sign of weakness

@amwogakhalwale: What madness and uncivility is this?

@AzeezOseni4: The Niger State Governor has been visiting Tinubu mostly, what are they cooking?

Recently he signed a memorandum agreement with the Lagos State Governor.

@seemarkmark: The picture is too dramatic.

@NuraynMuhammad: Elrufai ProMax 

@GoodiesOfada: Hhmmm. I used to like this Governor a lot. Now I like and fear him equal measure.

@babateko_1: Yesterday he was calling Obi his boss today hes kneeling down before real Boss. This man don dey fagbo.

@Seunfunmi_mi: Very respectful man.

@belel_yusuf: This is embrassing especially to the Northerners.

@OdysseyEze: Whatever you might tag it, Im proud to say that I wish I had a governor like him in my state.He is really poised to make life better for his people .

@odbironke: Na waoh Are all these gestures really from the heart sha?

@EBahba: This is barbaric, selfserving, eyeservising, and unnecessary!
UBTH

According to a report by The Nation, a yet to be identified man who was admitted at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) has killed himself.

The incident was said to have occurred last Saturday at the Accident and Emergency (A & E) Ward of the hospital.

Witnesses said the man stabbed himself to death with a broken louvre beside his bed while waiting for doctors to attend to him.

According to the witness who said he was also admitted at the hospital said the deceased came to the hospital with his wife.


Mr Olayinka Adeniyi, a cab operator under the Airport Car Hire Association of Nigeria (ACHAN), Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, has returned 2,400 US dollars, (about N888,000), and an international passport forgotten by a passenger.

Adeniyi told newsmen on Wednesday that he discovered the items in an envelope at the back seat of the car he was driving on July 29.

This was shortly after he returned from Ibese in Ikorodu where he dropped a passenger.
Daily Trust reports that the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal will deliver judgment in the petition by the Peoples Democratic Party PDP ) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar challenging President Muhammadu Buhari s victory in the February 23 general election.

Chairman of the five-man panel, Justice Mohammed Garba had while reserving the judgment on August 21 stated that the date would be communicated to all parties in the matter.

The date for the judgment has not been fixed by the tribunal but by law the duration of the petition will lapse on Saturday September 14. Also, Section 134 (2) and (3) of the Electoral Act, 2010, provides for time limit for election petitions to be concluded within 180 days.

In his submission, INEC lead counsel, Yunus Ustaz Usman (SAN) said the Commission conducted the February 23 election in total compliance with the Electoral Act and the petitioners can never dislodge that.


Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, has described Arsenal youngster Gabriel Martinelli as a talent of the century.

Martinelli netted a brace as the Gunners fell short against the Reds in the Carabao Cup fourth round on Wednesday. The 18-year-old who arrived from Brazilian side Ituano over the summer has quickly established himself as a big part of Unai Emerys plans.

Martinelli has seven goals in just 405 minutes of action this season and Klopp was full of praise for his performance. Klopp told Liverpools website: Sepp van den Berg as well, he played an incredible game.

Thats really difficult to deal with these guys. Martinellis pretty much the same age but hes a talent of the century, hes an incredible striker, so its really difficult.

Then you have Mesut Ozil around and Joe Willock right, who scored, by the way, a really nice one, so a team like Arsenal in a counter-attacking mood  we keep them deep, play around them, we lose the ball and then its really difficult.

Caoimhin [Kelleher] did incredibly. He conceded five and I dont know, I think the second one maybe couldve been different but all the others were really difficult to save. Hes an outstanding talent and its wonderful that we could give him the opportunity.
Lagos Market

The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has ordered the closure of all markets not selling essential commodities such as medical equipment, water, foodstuff with effect from Thursday.

Sanwo-Olu said this in a live press conference on Tuesday, The PUNCH reports.

He said, It is not a total lockdown, we still want people on essential services to go about their normal activities.

We are trying to de-centralise markets in Lagos. This is why we want to use some of our closed schools as markets, so people can buy food and medicine without going a long distance.

It is only when you are alive that you can talk about economics and finance.




File photo

According to Guardian Nigeria, operatives of police in Imo State have arrested a 44 year -old- man, Chimnonso Okonkwo, who resides in Orji, Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State, for allegedly having sex with his 15-year-old daughter.

Okonkwo was also accused of inviting his friends to have sex with his daughter.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), in the state, Orlando Godson Ikeokwu, said the Okonkwo was arrested after the police received credible information.

Ikeokwu said Okonkwo has been detained after confessing to the crime.

It is noteworthy, that it wasnt the first time this is happening, and that he normally invites his friends who come to his house to have canal knowledge of his own daughter, Ikeokwu said in a statement on Tuesday.

He has been detained, while investigation into the incident has commenced.

The PPRO said that the culprits wife was not involved in the matter.
BLOOMINGTON  Five Illinois farmers will be honored as 2024 Master Farmers at Prairie Farmer magazine's annual event on Thursday, March 28 in Bloomington.

The award recognizes exceptional agricultural production skills, commitment to family and service to community.

This year's recipients include Gerald Thompson of Colfax, Chris Hausman of Pesotum, Malcolm and Susan Head of Blue Mound and Lou Lamoreux of Lanark.

Thompson started working on his farm with his father in 1984, with 1,200 acres. The farm has since grown to include on-farm nitrogen storage and chemical mixing facilities. Thompson now farms with his son, and they apply all of their own fertilizer and chemicals and custom-apply for neighbors. He was nominated by Ron and Melanie Warfield, a 1992 Master Farmer.

Lamoreux started farming in 1974 with his brother and father, and now they feed 2,250 head of fat cattle, run a 250-head cow herd and farm 1,900 acres of corn, soybeans, pasture, wheat and rye. He was nominated by IL Corn and the Illinois Beef Association.

The Heads have worked side by side to build their Head Bros. Land and Cattle farm to 4,500 crop acres, 450 commercial cows and 300 head of fat cattle. They were nominated by the Illinois Beef Association.

Hausman started farming full-time in 1991 and has grown his farm to nearly 1,500 acres, raising corn and soybeans on a 50-50 rotation. He was nominated by David A. Albin.

Prairie Farmer also named Gary Schnitkey as an Honorary Master Farmer, who is a renowned agricultural economist at the University of Illinois where he teaches, conducts research and shares farm management information with farmers across the state on the Farmdoc website. He helped develop the website and has also written more than 1,000 articles for it. He is one of 17 honorary master farmers to have been named by the magazine.

Candidates are nominated by farmers, neighbors, agribusiness leaders and farm organizations throughout the state. Judges for this year's awards were Karen Corrigan of McGillicuddy Corrigan Agronomics; German Bollero, dean of Consumer and Environmental Sciences at University of Illinois College of Agriculture; Susan Adams, 2020 Master Farmer; Dwight Raab of Illinois Farm Business Farm Management; Mike Gunderson, chief credit officer for Farm Credit Illinois; and Holly Spangler, editor of Prairie Farmer.

According to Prairie Farmer, the Master Farmer award was first offered in 1925, but editors have continued to offer the honor annually since 1968, following a pause initially caused by the Great Depression. More than 300 Illinois producers have been inducted as Master Farmers or Honorary Master Farmers over the program's history. GROWMARK and the local FS companies are sponsors of the Master Farmer award.

Nominations for 2025 can be sent to holly.spangler@farmprogress.com.

Prairie Farmer is published 11 times a year for Illinois farm families and provides daily agricultural news online. It was established in 1841, making it the oldest continuously published farm periodical in the United States.

It's all about the tofu donuts...and networking: Photos from Lifelong Access Business After Hours Brian Wipperman, Andy and Kathleen Shirk, Charlie Moore Anna Billingsley, Tracy Patkunas, Samantha Mlot, Brad Glenn (being photobombed by Brian Plath, Meghan O'Neal-Rogozinski, Annie Swanson) Sonja Reece, Tony Coletta, Charlie Moore Jeannine and Troy Tomlinson, Leni Kuntz Noah Lamb, HCC President Keith Cornille, Mike Fogle, Annie Swanson, Jhun Medina Billy Tyus, Ken Myszka Zach Farner, Nick Lurkins Tentac Team Karen Hanson, Aggie Hedin, Vicki Varney Brian Plath, Meghan O'Neal-Rogozinski, Nanam and Ken Myszka Suzi Nafziger, Shelleigh Birlingmair Crystal Larkin, Matt and Amy Edwards Leah Bohlmann, Cathy and Tim Hohulin, Nick Hibbs Coleen Moore, Robyn Walter Dr. Tom Nielsen, Dr. Kathy Bohn, Dax Schnaser Scott Stuart, Cedrick Fry Nicole and Trey Rogers, Bill DeProspero Shelleigh Birlingmair, Tony Coletta Kathleen Lorenz, Brad Glenn, Leni Kuntz Annie Swanson, Tracy Patkunas Marc Poirier, Ryan and Valerie Hypke, Felicia and Chuck Jiardina Chamber President/CEO Charlie Moore Lifelong Access CEO Brian Wipperman Greg Meyer, Matt Burgess Don Everhart, Nick Hibbs Crystal Larkin, Shannon McKay Troy Tomlinson, Aggie Hedin Linda Healy, Donna Sauer, Jeannine Tomlinson Bob Tennis, Shannon McKay, Charlie Farner Jay and Natalie Wendelin Leni Kuntz, Ashley Zobrist Melanie Snively, Jonell Kehias, Ashley Zobrist Troy and Jeannine Tomlinson Brian Wipperman, Ryan Fiala
GERMANTOWN HILLS  The University of Illinois Extension will host a "Make Your Own Mindfulness Kit" workshop at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 21.

The event will be held at the Germantown Hills branch of the Illinois Prairie District Public Library, at 509 Woodland Knolls Road.

Participants will learn what mindfulness is and how mindfulness practices can help in everyday life as well as gain experience utilizing hands-on mindfulness techniques and building their own kits to take home.

The workshop is free and will be led by Sara Attig, a University of Illinois Extension family life educator.

Advance registration is required by calling the library at 309-921-5056, or for questions, call 815-842-1776.

For accommodations, contact Attig at sattig@illinois.edu.

Photos: Heyworth vs. Chicago Hope during 1A Boys Super-Sectional Championship Heyworth Super 46 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 88 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 137 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 203 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 212 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 276 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 373 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 391 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 404 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 614 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 642 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1056 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1067 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1106 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1107 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1146 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1212 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1296 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1322 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1388 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1390 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1392 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1397 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1400 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1628 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1768 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1926 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1930 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 1992 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 2020 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 2037 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 2133 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 2366 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 2367 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 2369 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 2391 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 2399 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 2443 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 2489 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 2741 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 2801 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 3020 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 3440 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 3507 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 3517 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 3523 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 3596 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 3609 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 3614 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 3660 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 3685 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 4093 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 4094 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 4181 030424.JPG Heyworth Super 4209 030424.JPG
WASHINGTON  In some ways, Doris Milton is a Head Start success story. She was a student in one of Chicago's inaugural Head Start classes, when the antipoverty program, which aimed to help children succeed by providing them a first-rate preschool education, was in its infancy.

Milton loved her teacher so much that she decided to follow in her footsteps. She now works as a Head Start teacher in Chicago.

After four decades on the job, Milton, 63, earns $22.18 an hour. Her pay puts her above the poverty line, but she is far from financially secure. She needs a dental procedure she cannot afford, and she is paying down $65,000 of student loan debt from National Louis University, where she came within two classes of getting her bachelor's degree. She dropped out in 2019 when she fell ill.

"I'm trying to meet their needs when nobody's meeting mine," Milton said of teaching preschoolers.

Head Start teachers  70% of whom have bachelor's degrees  earn $39,000 a year on average, far less than public school teachers with similar credentials. President Joe Biden wants to raise their pay, but Congress has no plans to expand the Head Start budget.

Many have left the job  about one in five teachers turned over in 2022  for higher-paying positions at restaurants or in retail. But if Head Start centers are required to raise teacher pay without additional money, operators say they would have to cut how many kids they serve.

The Biden administration says the program is already turning kids away because so many teachers have left, and not enough workers are lining up to take their places. And officials say it does not make sense for an anti-poverty program, where people of color make up 60% of the workforce, to underpay its employees.

"We have some teachers who are making poverty wages themselves, which undermines the original intent of the program," said Katie Hamm, a deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Early Childhood Development.

Head Start, created as part of President Lyndon Johnson's "war on poverty," serves some of the neediest children, including those who are homeless, in foster care or come from households falling below the federal poverty line. With child care prices exceeding college tuition in many states, Head Start is the only option within financial reach for many families.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which administers the program, estimates a pay hike would not have a huge effect on the number of children served because so many programs already struggle to staff all their classrooms. Altogether, Head Start programs receive enough funding to cover the costs of 755,000 slots. But many programs can't fully enroll because they don't have enough teachers. It's why the department estimates only about 650,000 of those slots are getting filled.

The proposed change would force Head Start programs to downsize permanently because they would not be able to afford as many teachers.

That worries Head Start leaders, even though many of them back raising pay for their employees, said Tommy Sheridan, deputy director for the National Head Start Association. The association asked the Biden administration to allow some programs to opt out of the requirements.

"We love this idea, but it's going to cost money," Sheridan said. "And we don't see Congress appropriating that money overnight."

While a massive cash infusion does not appear forthcoming, other solutions have been proposed.

On Monday, the Biden administration published a letter urging school districts to direct more of the federal money they receive toward early learning, including Head Start.

On Thursday, U.S. Reps. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., and Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., filed a bill that would allow Head Start to hire community college students who are working toward their associate degrees in child development.

The stakes are perhaps highest for rural Head Starts. A program outside of Anchorage, Alaska, is closing one of its five sites while struggling with a shortage of workers. Program director Mark Lackey said the heart-wrenching decision allowed him to raise pay for the remaining workers in hopes of reducing staff turnover.

"It hurts, and we don't want to do it," Lackey said. "But at the same time, it feels like it's kind of necessary."

Overall, his program has cut nearly 100 slots because of a staffing shortage. And the population he serves is high-need: About half the children are homeless or in foster care. The Biden proposal could force the program to contract further.

Amy Esser, the executive director of Mercer County Head Start in rural western Ohio, said it's been difficult to attract candidates to fill a vacant teaching position because of the low pay. Starting pay at Celina City Schools is at least $5,000 more than at Head Start, and the jobs require the same credentials.

But she warned hiking teacher pay could have disastrous consequences for her program, and for the broader community, which has few child care options for low-income households.

"We would be cut to extinction," Esser wrote in a letter to the Biden administration, "leaving children and families with little to no opportunity for a safe, nurturing environment to achieve school readiness."

Arlisa Gilmore, a longtime Head Start teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, said if it were up to her, she would not sacrifice any slots to raise teacher pay. She makes $25 an hour and acknowledges she's lucky: She collects rental income from a home she owns and shares expenses with her husband. The children in her classroom are not so fortunate.

"I don't think they should cut classrooms," Gilmore said. "We have a huge community of children that are in poverty in my facility."

Milton, the Chicago teacher, wonders why there has to be such a difficult trade-off at all.

"Why can't it be, 'Let's help both'? Why do we got to pick and choose?" Milton said. "Do we not deserve that? Don't the kids deserve that?"

Photos: Pritzker Military Archives Center
EUs mandate for customs registration of EV imports from China disappointing: chamber

Global Times) 09:52, March 07, 2024

The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) on Wednesday voiced its disappointment with the EU's mandate for customs registration of electric vehicle (EV) imports from China while an investigation remains ongoing, according to a statement that the chamber sent to the Global Times.

Both the chamber and its members expressed worries regarding potential retroactive measures in the future, the statement said.

The EU issued on Wednesday the Official Journal of the European Union regarding its commission's implementation regulation that makes imports of new battery electric vehicles designed for the transport of persons originating in China subject to registration.

This regulation enters into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, according to the Official Journal of the EU.

The CCCEU said that the chamber has observed that a new implementation regulation was issued on Wednesday, concerning the registration of electric vehicle imports from China by the EU. The purpose of the registration requirement is to address Chinese imports and potential retrospective measures, the chamber said.

According to European Commission data, between October 2023 and January 2024, the EU imported a total of 177,839 Chinese EVs. Compared with the coverage period of the "countervailing investigation" (October 2022 to September 2023), the average monthly import volume increased by 11 percent.

The chamber highlighted that the recent surge in Chinese EV imports mirrors the increasing demand for EVs in Europe and underscores Chinese car companies' commitment to fostering the European market.

"We earnestly hope that the European side will effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and establish a fair, impartial, and non-discriminatory business environment for them," the chamber said.

"This, in turn, will facilitate our joint contribution to the global low-carbon and green transformation," the chamber further noted.

In February, China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said that China is highly concerned about the trade remedy investigation targeting Chinese EVs and other products, while also expressing strong dissatisfaction regarding the investigation, which lacks a factual basis.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has expressed his disappoint and displeasure for the seeming interference of some western diplomats in the ongoing discussion about the passage of Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, otherwise known as the Anti-Gay Bill.



According to the veteran Journalist, the western communities who are trying to dictate to Ghana on how to rule the nation is out of order and should not be entertained nor encouraged.



Speaking on Tuesdays edition of 'Kokrokoo' Morning Show on Peace FM, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. disclosed that, the western world, especially, the United States of America and her ambassador, has no right to tell the government of Ghana what to do considering the fact that Ghana is a sovereign state.



He said, "I am more concerned about the westerners who do not respect us, yet wasnt to dictate to us on how to govern our country. We can also make the best choice for our country. Whether LGBTQ+ is good for us or not, let us decide on that not allow any external pressure to force us into doing things that does not represent us as Ghanaians."



Mr. Pratt continued by saying that, the disrespect being unleashed on Ghanaians is as a result of the inability of Ghanaians to be self-reliant.



He added that, if Ghanaians and the leaders of the country made policies that is geared towards trading and doing business amongst African countries, the western world will not have the effrontery in telling us what to do and what not to do.



"We have allowed ourselves to be trampled on by some ambassadors, especially the US Ambassador. This is distasteful. Will a Ghanaian Ambassador to the US tell Joe Biden how to run his country?"



"I have not said I am against gay rights neither have I said I am in favour of it. But what I am upset about is the western interference."







Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has shot back at the United States for threatening to pull back her support to Ghana should the President assent to the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.



Ghana's Parliament approved the anti-LGBTQ+ bill on Tuesday, February 27, to serve as a check on the homosexual society.



The bill makes the promotion, advocacy and all acts of homosexuality criminal and punishable by law; offenders will face up to 5 years in prison.



But the United States says there will be dire consequences for Ghana should the bill become law.



The United States on Wednesday said it was "deeply troubled" and urged a review of the "constitutionality of the bill".



"The bill seeks to criminalize any person who simply identifies as LGBTQI+, as well as any friend, family, or member of the community who does not report them."



"The bill would also undermine Ghana's valuable public health, media and civic spaces, and economy", the U.S. State Department said in a statement.



It added; "The United States echoes the call by those Ghanaians who have urged a review of the constitutionality of the bill to protect the rights of all individuals in Ghana."



US ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Evelyn Palmer also says the bill undermines human rights.



I am saddened because some of the smartest, most creative, most decent people I know are LGBT. The bill Parliament passed takes away not only their basic human rights but those of all Ghanaians because it undermines their constitutional rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press. It will be bad for public order and public health. If enacted, it will also hurt Ghanas international reputation and Ghanas economy, she wrote on the embassys X (formerly Twitter) page.



Kwesi Pratt turned his anger on the United States saying "look who is teaching us human rights" and disclosed some inhumane laws by the American government.



"The Americans are very annoying...We have allowed it. They just don't respect us," he fumed.



Citing the US laws that frown on polygamy and the racism in the nation, Mr. Pratt expressed disgust over the posture taken by the United States on the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.



"Whether LGBT is good or bad, let us decide that on our own, not under pressure," he further replied the US.



Kwesi Pratt missed the era of the late Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first President who secured independence for the country.



"Are we going back to slavery or what?...where is Kwame Nkrumah? Kwame Nkrumah didn't die at the correct time at all. Could you say this in the face of Kwame Nkrumah?"



Mr. Pratt shared his disappointments during "Kokrokoo" panel discussion show on Peace FM.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
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.
Ghana's 67th Independence Day celebrations held on March 6, 2024, was observed at Kotoka International Airport (KIA) and all the regional airports.



Passengers were treated to a lot of activities such as cultural displays, distribution of chocolates and patriotic songs on the public address systems in the terminals.



The activities, which caught the attention of passengers, threw the terminal into a state of frenzy with an array of assorted Made-in-Ghana drinks that stirred and excited passengers.



Staff on duty were also spotted in their traditional outfits waving miniature Ghana flags which added to the atmosphere.



The objective of this initiative is to promote Ghanaian culture to the rest of the world.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
In a closed-door meeting held Monday March 4, 2024, between the US Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmers and the Attorney-General (A.G) Godfred Yeboah Dame regarding the recently passed Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill by Parliament, a surprising turn of events unfolded, revealing the complexities surrounding the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.



Attendants at the meeting, convened in the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, included the Attorney-General, his Deputy Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, Solicitor General, Helen Ziwu, the Head of the Prosecutions Department, and officials from the Justice Ministry.



According to media report, the US Ambassador engaged in discussions with the Attorney-General concerning the governments stance on the bill, which is awaiting final drafting before being submitted to the Presidency for approval. The Ambassador expressed pressure from her home office to influence the President to reject the bill.



However, the Attorney General, while acknowledging the concerns raised, elucidated on the due process of law-making in Ghana and emphasized the separation of powers among government organs.

He underscored that executive interference, including from his office, is prohibited during the legislative process of turning a bill into law.



Notably, the Attorney General highlighted the potential consequences if the President decides not to sign the bill, indicating that such an action would result in the bill being returned to Parliament for further consideration, potentially leading to the laws passage without the Presidents assent.



Per the media sources revealed an impending visit by the Ambassador to the Presidency to exert pressure on the President regarding the bill. However, in response to the bills passage, the Presidents Head of Communications issued a statement indicating the Presidents cautious approach to the situation.



The diplomatic efforts to influence the fate of the anti-LGBTQ+ bill have thus far faced resistance stemming from the Attorney-Generals insistence on the legal procedures and the separation of governmental powers in Ghanas legislative processes.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
A twelve-hour mass requiem in remembrance of the late ace broadcast journalist, Martin Kwabena Kwakye, will come on this Saturday, March 9, 2024 at forecourt of Oman FM, Madina Zongo Junction.



The event, which forms part of the activities earmarked for the one-week observation of the late Wofa K. K. as Kwabena Kwakye was affectionately called, will see the broadcast legend being celebrated for his impact in the Ghanaian media landscape.



The mass service dubbedHarmony In Remembrance of a Broadcast Legend- The Life and Legacies of Wofa K. K, will kick off at 7am to 7pm at the precincts of Oman FM where the late broadcast journalist was plying his trade until his untimely death.



He was the Director of Radio at Oman FM, a subsidiary of Kencity Media Limited.



Born on October 18, 1970, Wofa K. Ks leadership significantly impacted the operational activities of multiple radio stations in the country.



His professional journey spans various roles and responsibilities. He was the Head of Political Desk at Multimedia and served as a News Editor at Adom FM.



His tenure as the Vice Dean of the Presidential Press Corps reflects his commitment to excellence in media and journalism.



Additionally, his remarkable contributions to academia as a Research Assistant in the Linguistics Department at the University of Ghana, Legon, is highly recognized.



As the Executive Chairman of MM Global Limited and the Executive Director of Pathos-AIB Limited, Wofa K. K demonstrated his capacity for strategic leadership and business acumen.



Throughout his professional career, he faced challenges typical of the dynamics of the media industry. From navigating the political landscape of the country to managing operational complexities, Kwabena Kwakye demonstrated resilience and adaptability to overcome his adversities.



The late Wofa K. K. was married and blessed with four children. Saturdays mass service will be an event to celebrate his remarkable impact in the Ghanaian media landscape.



Some of the important personalities that would grace the occasion include Dr, Boadi Nyamekye, and Dr. Joyce Aryee.



The Harmonius Chorale and some other musicians such as Tagoe Sisters, Joe Beechem, and Uncle Ato are also expected to grace the occasion.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Chiefs of the various ethnic groupings in the Ayawaso East Municipal Assembly have petitioned the IGP over a threat to public peace occasioned by the planned installation of an overall chief for the area.



In the petition dated January 22, 2024, the chiefs said at the end of last year they noticed an attempt by a man who largely lives in New York, USA to install himself the Chief of Nima relying on the support of a member of the Odoi Kwao Family of Osu.



We are aware that a petition written by the lawyers of Nii Futa, the legitimate Chief Nima, regarding this matter has already reached your office, they stated.



While expressing their support to the IGP for the intervention in stopping the alleged installation, they pointed out that we the chiefs of Nima celebrated the 20th anniversary of the coronation of Nii Futa as Chief of Nima, a grand occasion which was graced by the President, Minister of Chieftaincy Affairs, Culture and Religious Affairs, Members of Parliament, ministers and MCEs.



Continuing, the chiefs pointed out that we the chiefs, women leaders and the youth of Nima humbly request that decisive action be taken against the person once and for all.



They also demanded that the said person be made to sign a bond from further holding himself as the Chief of Nima, adding that any attempt by the person to perform any such ceremony in Nima will be fiercely resisted. What we crave for in Nima is peace, stability and development in our community.



The petition was signed by fifteen tribal heads of Zabarma, Chamba, Yoruba, Kotokoli, Hausa, Grumah, Bissa, Rugga communities. Others are Fulani, Kusuntu and Dagomba.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Senegal's government has announced that the country's presidential election will take place on 24 March.



The announcement follows tension in the West African nation after President Macky Sall postponed the election last month, sparking widespread protests.



Parliament has also passed an amnesty law for crimes linked to the protests.



The president's opponents had accused him of mounting a constitutional coup but he denies seeking to extend his term of office.



Mr Sall's 12 years in power is due to end on 2 April.



The announcement of the election date has been welcomed by opposition figures.



"What we are looking forward now is fair, just and transparent elections. That is the last duty that President Macky Sall has to fulfil," Aminata Toure, a former prime minister under Mr Sall who switched to the opposition, told the BBC's Newsday programme.



Senegal has long been seen as one of the most stable democracies in Africa.



It is the only country in mainland West Africa that has never had a military coup.



Prior to Wednesday's announcement, authorities had attempted to postpone the original 25 February poll to December, which resulted in deadly unrest on the streets.



But the Constitutional Council later ruled that the presidential election must take place before 2 April.



Earlier on Wednesday evening, Mr Sall dissolved the government and replaced Prime Minister Amadou Ba with Interior Minister Sidiki Kaba.



This was so that Mr Ba, the ruling coalition's presidential candidate, could focus on his electoral campaign, the presidency said.



President Sall has served two terms as Senegal's leader and when he was first elected in 2012 he promised he would not overstay.



In another attempt to defuse political tensions, lawmakers have approved a bill which gives amnesty for all offences "relating to demonstrations or having political motivations" that were committed 1 February 2021 to 25 February 2024.



Ninety-four members of parliament backed the measure while 49 voted against it.



Critics say the law will shield the perpetrators of serious crimes, including members of security forces who killed dozens of protesters, as well as Mr Sall.



But the law's supporters say it will benefit the opposition, as it could pave the way for the release of leading opposition politician Ousmane Sonko and thousands of his supporters.



Mr Sonko was at the forefront of the campaign against Mr Sall, and was imprisoned in 2023 on what he said were trumped-up charges aimed at barring him from running for president.



Despite the latest political reforms, the list of candidates eligible to contest the presidency remains unchanged, meaning Mr Sonko still cannot run for office.



Nevertheless vice-president of his Pastef party, Yacine Fall, told the BBC that the announcement of an election date was "a big relief for the whole country".



"Unfortunately, Ousmane Sonko had been illegally prevented from being a candidate, but we are still happy to see that Pastef... has a candidate," she said.



"We are hopeful and we are convinced that if the campaign is done and due process is put in motion, Pastef will win the election and Bassirou Diomaye will be the next president of Senegal."



However, Mr Diomaye is currently in prison - he is one of those hoping to be freed - while Pastef has been banned on charges of calling for insurrection.



Another leading opposition figure, Karim Wade, is not on the list of approved candidates and so will also not be able to take part in the election which is in just over a fortnight's time.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jr., has flayed the Ambassador of the United States to Ghana, Virginia Evelyn Palmer, over some comments made following the passage of the anti-LGBTQ bill.



Ghanas Parliament on Wednesday, February 28 passed the anti-LGBTQI bill after successfully going through all three reading stages.



Virginia Evelyn Palmer, in a post on Facebook, expressed her sadness over the passage of the Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill (Anti-LGBTQ)



According to her, the bill takes away the human rights of all gay people in the country.



I am saddened because some of the smartest, most creative, most decent people I know are LGBT. The bill Parliament passed takes away not only their basic human rights, but those of all Ghanaians because it undermines their constitutional rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press, she wrote.



Firing Back at the US Ambassador, Kwesi Pratt asked, "Who do you think you are?"



"Whether you are gay or not is not my concern. What matters is for us to protect our democracy and not allow someone like the US Ambassador to think she's above the President; giving him instructions, and so on. It's annoying. How can an ambassador behave like that? Who do you think you are? Are you the one to show us when to go to sleep and when to wake up?" Pratt questioned during a panel discussion on Peace FM's morning show, 'Kokrokoo'



Watch video below





Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, has attributed the stalling of the National Cathedral to what he describes as financial mismanagement.



According to the North Tongu lawmaker, several individuals, including Ghanaian-British Architect, Sir David Frank Adjaye, CEO of Nehemiah Group Cary Summers, and Reverend Kusi Boateng, have purportedly received significant sums of money from the projects funds for doing little to no work.



Hon. Ablakwa stated that, Sir David Frank Adjaye is not deserving of the $19.6 million he received for just designing the structure of which he even left out a restaurant structure, and when he was asked to include the crucial component, he charged additional fees.



Ablakwa said, When you look at the people who have taken money and done little, look at David Adjaye, He alone received $19.6 million, when you look at the breakdown, after he designed the structure he left out a restaurant area."



So he was asked to add a restaurant and for just designing the restaurant he charged an amount of $5.7 million for just the design, he disclosed this while speaking to Nana Yaa Brefo and Isaac Ekow JB on Onua FM, March 7.



Another name disclosed was that of the CEO of Nehemiah Group, Cary Summers, described as a consultant for the National Cathedral project, who is said to have received $6 million of taxpayers money. Despite promises to leverage his expertise to raise international funds for the project, Mr Ablakwa claims that Summers has not delivered on this front.



Further scrutiny by Ablakwa allegedly revealed that Summers is not CEO of Nehemiah Group in America.



He revealed, Cary Summers who is a supposed Consultant for the National Cathedral project has taxpayers money of $6 million. They said he was a consultant who would help us with contacts and expertise that would help us raise funds internationally for the project."



"Up to now Cary Summers has not introduced us to anyone capable of helping us finance the project but he has in his possession $6 million belonging to taxpayers and Ghanaians. I went to America to find out he wasnt the CEO of Nehemiah Group in America.



I discovered hes merely a coffee brewer in a ramshackle warehouse. He has taken taxpayers money to America.



Additionally, Rev Kusi Boateng, according to Ablakwa, received GH 2.6 million from the projects funds under the guise of contractor mobilization.



However, his investigations revealed that Boateng is not a contractor but rather a director of JNS Talents Limited under the name Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.



The politician asserts that Boateng attempted to obscure his identity to avoid being found out for conflict of interest, for paying his own company GH2.6 million for no work done, using a secondary identity.



Despite legal actions taken by Rev. Kusi Boateng against Ablakwas claims, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) reportedly validated Ablakwas findings, dismissing Rev. Kusi Boatengs claims.



This led me to investigate the matter and I discovered that his company JNS Talents Limited he is there as a director with a different name, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi



It was easy for him to create the impression that it wasnt him and there was no conflict of interest., until I unraveled what was going on that he was the same person with a different identity for that name, different mother, different date of birth, different diplomatic passport and all of that."

Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Minority Leader and Membere of parliament for Ajumako Enyan Esiam, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has expressed grave sadness over the sudden demise of his fellow MP for Ejisu and Deputy Finance Minister, John Kumah.



Expressing his deep shock at the unexpected loss, the Minority Leader mentioned that a comprehensive statement would be issued later to address and provide more details about the sad event.



He made this brief statement at the headquartes of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), where he was on his way to a National Executives Committee meeting to discuss the announcement of John Mahamas running mate.



Sources close to the family confirmed to peacefmonline.com that 45-year-old MP reportedly died after a short illness.



He left behind a wife and six children.



John Ampontuah Kumah, popularly called Lawyer John Kumah, in Ejisu, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, was commonly described by his constituents as a man of integrity with a focus on job creation and inspires hope for the future in both young and old.



He was the founding Managing Director of Majak Associates Ltd, a building and construction firm with footprint construction projects all over Ghana.



Upon becoming a lawyer, he founded the Aduaprokye Chambers and was the Managing Partner of the law firm, until the President appointed him as CEO of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) in 2017.



At the helm of NEIP, he oversaw the training of 45,000 start-ups in three years, under the Presidential Business Support Programme, and supported 10,000 beneficiaries, leading to the creation of numerous jobs for the youth all over the country.



He has over 17 years of continuous working and leadership experience which exhibits his creativity, innovation and resourcefulness in creating jobs, promoting entrepreneurship, and supporting youth development.



He was adjudged the most Efficient, Prominent Government Appointee in 2018 and was listed among President Akufo Addos top 20 Most Humble and Respectful Appointees in 2019.



As a loyal member of the NPP, he worked for the party from the grassroots since 1992. He was the founding father of the Young Patriots, a youth political activist and pressure group of NPP.



He was a member of the Communication Team of the NPP.



In fulfilment of promises made to his constituents in Ejisu, he successfully solicited and secured substantial funding to execute several infrastructure and job creation projects in the constituency.

Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: FriedrichAlexander University ErlangenNurnberg

Academic freedom today is not available for 3.6 billion people, or 45.5% of the world's population. After a global peak in academic freedom in 2006, the situation today is comparable to circumstances fifty years ago in 1973.

This is one of the results of the 2024 Update of the Academic Freedom Index (AFI), which researchers at the University of Gothenburg and Friedrich-Alexander-Universitat Erlangen-Nurnberg (FAU) have presented today. The new AFI data provides an overview of the state of academic freedom in 179 countries.

However, there is reason for optimism: Over the same period, academic freedom has improved in 56 countries and reached high levels in 61 countries with a total of 1.1 billion inhabitants. The researchers identified ten countries in which academic freedom actually increased steadily in 2023a positive development that was last observed more than 20 years ago.

Academic freedom and polarization

Academic freedom faces risk in countries with pronounced societal polarization. This year's AFI Update identifies the top six countries and territories that experienced an ongoing decline episode in academic freedom in 2023. In each caseEl Salvador, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Russia, and Venezuelathe downturn in the Academic Freedom Index was preceded by a rise in polarization.

On the other hand, academic freedom expanded in Brazil, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Thailand despite polarization. That is, the relationship between academic freedom and polarization is far from straightforward. The legal framework and also universities' and academics' own agency likely play a role in mitigating polarization pressures on free science and higher education.

International data collection

The AFI is the result of cooperation between the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg and political scientists at FAU. It is composed of five indicators: the freedom to research and teach; the freedom of academic exchange and dissemination; the freedom of academic and cultural expression; the institutional autonomy of universities, and campus integrity.

The AFI provides data on academic freedom worldwide for the period from 1900 to 2023. The index rests on assessments by 2,329 country experts from around the world, one million observations at coder level and a customized, peer-reviewed statistical model that systematically aggregates expert assessments into a single score.

Open access and interactive visualization of world map

The detailed data that make up the AFI 19002023 are available open access to facilitate further studies. You can find interactive visualization of the data, country profiles, and information on the index project here. Easy-to-use graphing tools are also available for anyone interested; they can be consulted by researchers, students, university administrators, research funders, and policymakers.
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:

Nora Al Matrooshi (R) waves during the graduation ceremony for NASA Artemis astronaut candidates at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on March 5, 2024.

Like her ancestors before her, Emirati astronaut Nora AlMatrooshi has spent much of her life gazing up at the stars and dreaming of flying to the moon.

This week, she became the first Arab woman to graduate from NASA's training program, ready to blast off into the cosmos.

AlMatrooshi, 30, remembers an elementary school lesson about space in which her teacher simulated a trip to the lunar surface, complete with arts-and-crafts spacesuits and a tent for a rocket ship.

"We got out of the tent, and we saw that she had turned off the lights in our classroom. She had everything covered in gray cloth, and she was telling us that we were on the surface of the moon," AlMatrooshi told AFP.

"That day resonated with me, and it stuck with me. And I remember thinking, 'This is amazing. I actually want to do this for real, I want to actually get to the surface of the moon.' And that's when it all started," she recalled, dressed in a blue flight suit embroidered with her name and the UAE flag.

AlMatrooshi, a mechanical engineer by training who has worked in the oil industry, was one of two astronaut candidates chosen by the United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA) in 2021 to enroll in a training program with US space agency NASA.

Now, after two years of hard workincluding practice spacewalksAlMatrooshi, her fellow Emirati Mohammad AlMulla and 10 others in their training class are fully qualified astronauts.

After two years of hard work -- including practice spacewalks -- Nora AlMatrooshi, her fellow Emrati Mohammad AlMulla and 10 others in their training class are fully qualified astronauts.

The group, known as "The Flies," are now eligible for NASA missions to the International Space Station (ISS), Artemis launches to the moon and, if all goes well, to even fly to Mars.

The UAESA announced earlier this year plans to build the airlocka specialized doorwayfor Gateway, the space station in development to someday orbit the moon.

"I want to push humanity further than it's ever been before. I want humanity to go back to the moon, and I want humanity to go further beyond the moon," AlMatrooshi said.

"And I want to be part of that journey."

Though AlMatrooshi is the first to graduate from NASA, other Arab women have already participated in private space missions, including Saudi biomedical researcher Rayyanah Barnawi, who flew with Axiom Space to the ISS last year, and Egyptian-Lebanese engineer Sara Sabry, one of the crew on a 2022 Blue Origin suborbital flight.

Custom space hijab

AlMatrooshi, who wears a hijab as part of her Muslim faith, explained that NASA developed a strategy to allow her to keep her hair covered while donning the agency's iconic white space suit and helmet, known officially as the Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or EMU.

NASA Artemis astronaut candidates are seen on stage during a ceremony at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on March 5, 2024.

"Once you get into the EMU you put on a (communications) cap (fitted with microphones and speakers), which... covers your hair," she said.

The challenge comes in the moment after AlMatrooshi takes off her regular hijab but before she puts on the communications cap. To complicate matters further, only specifically authorized materials can be worn inside the EMU.

"The suit engineers ended up sewing a makeshift hijab for me, to where I could put it on, get into the suit, and then put on the comm cap, and then take it off and my hair would be covered. So I really, really appreciate them doing that for me," AlMatrooshi said.

With her customized suit, AlMatrooshi will be ready to step out into space with her fellow astronauts.

NASA plans to return humans to the surface of the moon in 2026 for the Artemis 3 mission.

"I think becoming an astronaut is hard, regardless of what your religion or what your background is," she told AFP.

"I don't think being a Muslim made it harder. But being a Muslim made me aware of the contributions of my ancestors, of the Muslim scholars and scientists who came before me who were studying the stars.

"Me becoming an astronaut is just building on that legacy of what they started thousands and thousands of years ago," AlMatrooshi said.

 2024 AFP
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Giant quasar and little red dots. A NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRCam picture of the luminous quasar J1148+5251, an extremely rare active supermassive black hole of 10 billion solar masses. The quasar's light, the orange star-like source with six clear diffraction spikes, was emitted 13 billion years ago. The existence of such massive black holes in the young Universe poses an important challenge to black hole and galaxy formation theories. Simultaneously, the image captured small, point-like red objects, the so-called little red dots. Several such objects appear in virtually every deep JWST image. Like the quasar J1148+5251, the light from these objects (that in these cases was emitted 12.5 billion years ago) is also powered by supermassive black holes. However, these black holes are a factor of hundred to a thousand lower in mass and heavily obscured by dust (making them appear red). The little red dots could represent galaxies that are in an evolutionary phase that predates the luminous quasar phase, and therefore help researchers understand the formation and role of supermassive black holes in distant galaxies. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Matthee (ISTA), R. Mackenzie (ETH Zurich), D. Kashino (National Observatory of Japan), S. Lilly (ETH Zurich)

The James Webb Space Telescope has made one of the most unexpected findings within its first year of service: A high number of faint little red dots in the distant universe could change the way we understand the genesis of supermassive black holes.

The research, led by Jorryt Matthee, Assistant Professor in astrophysics at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), is now published in The Astrophysical Journal.

A bunch of little red dots found in a tiny region of our night sky might indeed be an unexpected breakthrough for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) during its first year of service. These objects were indistinguishable from normal galaxies through the "eyes" of the older Hubble Space Telescope.

"Without having been developed for this specific purpose, the JWST helped us determine that faint little red dots--found very far away in the universe's distant past--are small versions of extremely massive black holes. These special objects could change the way we think about the genesis of black holes," says Matthee, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), and lead author of the study.

"The present findings could bring us one step closer to answering one of the greatest dilemmas in astronomy: According to the current models, some supermassive black holes in the early universe have simply grown 'too fast.' Then how did they form?"

The cosmic points of no return

Scientists had long considered black holes a mathematical curiosity, until their existence became increasingly evident. These strange cosmic bottomless pits could have such compact masses and strong gravities that nothing can escape their force of attraction; they suck in anything, including cosmic dust, planets, and stars, and deform the space and time around them such that even light cannot escape.

The general theory of relativity, published by Albert Einstein over a century ago, predicted that black holes could have any mass. Some of the most intriguing black holes are the supermassive black holes (SMBHs), which could reach millions to billions of times the mass of the sun. Astrophysicists agree that there is an SMBH at the center of almost every large galaxy. The proof that Sagittarius A* is an SMBH in the center of our galaxy with over four million times the sun's mass, earned the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Too massive to be there

However, not all SMBHs are the same. While Sagittarius A* could be compared to a sleeping volcano, some SMBHs grow extremely rapidly by engulfing astronomic amounts of matter. Thus, they become so luminous that they can be observed until the edge of the ever-expanding universe. These SMBHs are called quasars, and are among the brightest objects in the universe.

"One issue with quasars is that some of them seem to be overly massive, too massive given the age of the universe at which the quasars are observed. We call them the 'problematic quasars,'" says Matthee.

"If we consider that quasars originate from the explosions of massive starsand that we know their maximum growth rate from the general laws of physics, some of them look like they have grown faster than is possible. It's like looking at a five-year-old child that is two meters tall. Something doesn't add up," he explains.

Could SMBHs perhaps grow even faster than we originally thought? Or do they form differently?

Small versions of giant cosmic monsters

Now, Matthee and his colleagues identify a population of objects that appear as little red dots in JWST images. Also, they demonstrate that these objects are SMBHs, but not overly massive ones.

Central in determining that these objects are SMBHs was the detection of H spectral emission lines with wide line profiles. H lines are spectral lines in the deep-red region of visible light that are emitted when hydrogen atoms are heated. The width of the spectra traces the motion of the gas.

"The wider the base of the H lines, the higher the gas velocity. Thus, these spectra tell us that we are looking at a very small gas cloud that moves extremely rapidly and orbits something very massive like an SMBH," says Matthee.

However, the little red dots are not the giant cosmic monsters found in overly massive SMBHs.

"While the 'problematic quasars' are blue, extremely bright, and reach billions of times the mass of the sun, the little red dots are more like 'baby quasars.' Their masses lie between ten and a hundred million solar masses. Also, they appear red because they are dusty. The dust obscures the black holes and reddens the colors," says Matthee.

But eventually, the outflow of gas from the black holes will puncture the dust cocoon, and giants will evolve from these little red dots. Thus, the ISTA astrophysicist and his team suggest that the little red dots are small, red versions of giant blue SMBHs in the phase that predates the problematic quasars.

"Studying baby versions of the overly massive SMBHs in more detail will allow us to better understand how problematic quasars come to exist," Matthee explains.

A 'breakthrough' technology

Matthee and his team were able to find the baby quasars thanks to the datasets acquired by the EIGER (Emission-line galaxies and Intergalactic Gas in the Epoch of Reionization) and FRESCO (First Reionization Epoch Spectroscopically Complete Observations) collaborations. These are a large and a medium JWST program in which Matthee was involved. Last December, Physics World magazine listed EIGER among the top 10 breakthroughs of the year for 2023.

"EIGER was designed to study specifically the rare blue supermassive quasars and their environments. It was not designed to find the little red dots. But we found them by chance in the same dataset. This is because by using the JWST's Near Infrared Camera, EIGER acquires emission spectra of all objects in the universe," says Matthee. "If you raise your index finger and extend your arm completely, the region of the night sky we explored corresponds to roughly a twentieth of the surface of your nail. So far, we have probably only scratched the surface."

Matthee is confident that the present study will open up many avenues and help answer some of the big questions about the universe.

"Black holes and SMBHs are possibly the most interesting things in the universe. It's hard to explain why they are there, but they are there. We hope that this work will help us lift one of the biggest veils of mystery about the universe," he concludes.

More information: Little Red Dots: An Abundant Population of Faint Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) at z ~ 5 Revealed by the EIGER and FRESCO JWST Surveys, The Astrophysical Journal (2024). DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad2345 Journal information: Astrophysical Journal , Physics World
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), whose beans (cocoa) are used to make products including chocolate, liquor and cocoa butter, may have spread from the Amazon basin to the other regions of South and Central America at least 5,000 years ago via trade routes, suggests a paper published in Scientific Reports.

These findings, based on residues in ancient vessels, reveal how different strains of cacao tree were bred and suggest that cacao products were more widely used among ancient South and Central American cultures than previously thought.

The modern cacao treewhose scientific name means 'the food of the gods'is one of the world's most important crops. There are 11 known genetic groups including the widely used Criollo and Nacional strains. Although it is well established that the cacao tree was originally domesticated in the upper Amazonian basin, it has not been clear how its use by other cultures spread throughout South and Central America.

Claire Lanaud and colleagues analyzed residues from 352 ceramic items from 19 pre-Colombian cultures spanning from approximately 5,900 to 400 years ago across Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Belize, and Panama.

The authors tested for the presence of ancient cacao DNA and those of three methylxanthine (mild stimulant) components that are present in modern T. cacao strainstheobromine, theophylline, and caffeineto identify ancient T. cacao residues. The authors also used genetic information from 76 modern samples of T. cacao to establish the ancestry of ancient cacao present in the ceramic items, which could reveal how ancient strains diversified and spread.

The findings demonstrate that cacao was extensively cultivated along the Pacific Coast soon after its domestication in the Amazon at least 5,000 years ago, with high levels of diversity among the ancient strains indicating that genetically distinct populations were bred together.

The presence of cacao genotypes originating from the Peruvian Amazon in the coastal Valdivia Ecuadorian region suggests that these cultures had long-standing contact, according to the authors. Peruvian strains were also detected in artifacts from the Colombian Caribbean coast. Together, this indicates that cacao strains underwent a wide diffusion across countries and were cross bred to adapt to new environments as different cultures adopted their use, suggest the authors.

They conclude that greater understanding of cacao's genetic history and diversity may help to counter threats, such as disease and climate change, facing modern cacao strains.

More information: Claire Lanaud, A revisited history of cacao domestication in pre-Columbian times revealed by archaeogenomic approaches, Scientific Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53010-6. www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-53010-6 Journal information: Scientific Reports
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

A Kobe University research team identified a protein, called "FAM81A," that has been showing up in the majority of studies on the "postsynaptic density" but has remained uncharacterized so far. In a series of analyses, they now found that the protein probably is a major regulatory factor. The picture shows a cultured mouse hippocampal neuron. The small white dots are postsynaptic densities containing labelled FAM81A. Credit: Kaizuka Takeshi

A protein that appears in postsynaptic protein agglomerations has been found to be crucial to their formation. The Kobe University discovery identifies a new key player for synaptic function and sheds first light on its hitherto uncharacterized cellular role and evolution.

What happens at the synapse, the connection between two neurons, is a key factor in brain function. The transmission of the signal from the presynaptic to the postsynaptic neuron is mediated by proteins and their imbalance can lead to neuropsychiatric conditions such as severe depression, autism, or alcohol dependence.

However, due to the vast diversity of proteins present at this junction, many have not yet been studied and often it is not even clear whether those previously found actually belong there or whether they are just impurities resulting from the analysis process.

A particularly conspicuous structure directly underneath the postsynaptic membrane is the so-called "postsynaptic density," an agglomeration of possibly thousands of different proteins.

To shed some light on the postsynaptic density, Kobe University neurophysiologist Takumi Toru and his group first compared 35 datasets of previous studies on the phenomenon to find out which uncharacterized proteins appear consistently. Their paper has been published in PLoS Biology.

Kaizuka Takeshi, the first author of the paper, explains, "We established an analytical pipeline to unify and align protein structures in different datasets. This resulted in the identification of a poorly characterized synaptic protein that has been detected in more than 20 of these datasets."

This suggested that the protein, which goes by the label FAM81A, is probably relevant to the function of the whole structure, so the team analyzed its interactions with other proteins, its distribution in and around neurons and its effect on neuron shape and function, the mechanism of its function, and its evolution. In short, they gave this protein a full first characterization.

Takumi summarizes, "The important finding is that FAM81A interacts with at least three major postsynaptic proteins and modulates their condensation. This suggests that FAM81A is a major regulatory factor in the postsynaptic density."

The group could confirm that FAM81A facilitates the condensation of key proteins into a membrane-less organelle through liquid-liquid phase separation, a process in which strongly interacting molecules exclude elements of the surrounding medium, and that the absence of the protein leads to a significant decrease of activity in cultured neurons.

Humans have two related copies of the gene, FAM81A and FAM81B. However, while FAM81A is expressed in the brain, FAM81B is expressed only in the testes. Furthermore, birds and reptiles also have two copies of the gene, but amphibians, fish and invertebrates have only one, and its expression is not localized to one tissue.

"Interestingly, it seems that the evolutionary conservation of FAM81A function in the synapse is limited compared to other synaptic molecules, as the FAM81A homolog in fish is not detected in the synapse. This suggests that FAM81A could be a key protein in understanding the cognitive functions of higher vertebrate brains," says Kaizuka.

But their work was only the first step. To really understand the role of the protein, it is necessary to study its function in the complex environment of the brain. The Kobe University research team thus wants to create mouse models that lack the gene for FAM81A and study what this means both for the function of the synapses and the behavior of the organism.

More information: FAM81A is a postsynaptic protein that regulates the condensation of postsynaptic proteins via liquid-liquid phase separation, PLoS Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002006 Journal information: PLoS Biology
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Negotiators for the seven states that rely on the Colorado River for nearly every aspect of life cannot agree on how to distribute its shrinking water supplies in the coming decades.

Instead of a unified plan, the river's Upper Basin statesincluding Coloradoand the Lower Basin states submitted separate proposals to meet federal regulators' deadline this week. The proposals were made public Wednesday.

The dueling plans highlight disagreement between the basins on a key question: Who should bear the burden of coming water usage cuts? Colorado and other Upper Basin states argue downriver states, including California, already use more than they're supposed to.

"Although our proposal can stand on its own, it was also designed to promote the development of a seven-state consensus alternative, which is a goal we all still seek to achieve," said Wyoming's negotiator, Brandon Gebhart, about the Upper Basin plan.

State negotiators said that while a plan supported by all seven states would be ideal, they could not meet that threshold before a federal deadline to submit plans to operate the river basin's two major reservoirs after 2026.

They pledged to continue negotiating and working toward a single proposal they could all agree on while the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation considers their separate plans.

The Colorado River provides water for 40 million people, irrigates millions of acres of agricultural land that feeds the country, generates electric power, fuels recreation-based economies and provides important habitat for thousands of species. But the amount of water in the riveroverestimated from the beginning of a multi-state agreementis shrinking because of drought and aridification intensified by climate change.

Water users have drained Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the major water storage units on the river, to dangerously low levels over the last decade.

The negotiators' task is to create a plan to allocate the water in the river in the coming decades in a way that accounts for shrinking flows, while replenishing the amount of water in the two reservoirs. Bureau of Reclamation officials will consider the proposals while developing new operational guidelines.

If the states cannot agree, the federal government will implement its own plan.

Negotiators for the Upper Basin statesColorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utahsay they should not absorb cuts to their water because they already reduce water use every year, depending on snowpack. When there is not enough water in the system, the states limit their use of the river.

Upper Basin states have never used all the water they are entitled to, while the Lower Basin statesArizona, California and Nevadahave used more than they are allocated, negotiators said.

"We can no longer accept the status quo of Colorado River operations," Becky Mitchell, Colorado's commissioner to the Upper Colorado River Commission, said in a news release. "If we want to protect the system and ensure certainty for the 40 million people who rely on this water source, then we need to address the existing imbalance between supply and demand.

"That means using the best available science to work within reality and the actual conditions of Lake Powell and Lake Mead. We must plan for the river we havenot the river we dream for."

Lower Basin negotiators, however, argue that the entire basin must be willing to make cuts to deal with the reality of climate change and drought.

"Adapting to climate change is not just the responsibility of one state or one basin," said JB Hamby, California's negotiator, during a news conference Wednesday.

Two plans differ on how much burden to share

The key difference between the river's upper and lower basins is how they access water. The Upper Basin states sit upstream from Lake Powell and Lake Mead and rely on snowpack and precipitation for water.

The Lower Basin states, situated below Lake Powell and Lake Mead, use water as it is released from the reservoirs.

Under current guidelines set in 2007, the amount of water released from Lake Mead for use in the Lower Basin reservoirs depends on projected water elevations.

The Upper Basin's new proposal calls for determining the annual amount of reductions in water released to the Lower Basin based on levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead every Oct. 1, the beginning of the water year. The plan only includes cuts to the Lower Basin, though the Upper Basin would continue to develop conservation programs outside the operation of the reservoirs.

The Lower Basin's plan, meanwhile, includes cuts to both basins, basing the cuts on levels observed in seven reservoirs across the Colorado River system instead of at Mead and Powell alone. Its plan also calls for looking at how much water is in Blue Mesa Reservoir, Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Navajo Reservoir, Lake Mohave and Lake Havasu. Blue Mesa is in Colorado, and Navajo Reservoir is in Colorado and New Mexico.

Under the plan, Lower Basin states alone would take cuts to their water usage if the reservoirs' combined storage is between 38% and 69% of maximum. Upper Basin states would begin to make cuts if the reservoirs' water drops below 38% of maximum storage.

Insufficient water flow "is a basinwide problem that requires a basinwide solution," said Nevada's negotiator, John Entsminger.

Modeling from the Lower Basin shows that had its plan been in place in 2022, the Upper Basin would have been required to make cuts. But at no other point in the last 20 years would the Upper Basin have had to cut its usage based on the criteria as proposed.

It will become increasingly difficult for Upper Basin negotiators to argue that those four states should not absorb any cuts, said Elizabeth Koebele, an associate professor of political science at the University of Nevada at Reno.

The Lower Basin's proposal to shoulder most of those reductions before asking anything of the Upper Basin is pretty convincing, she said. Future negotiations could focus on exactly when the Upper Basin should start making cuts.

Koebele sees points of agreement between the basins and says finding a consensus is possible.

"I think there's still a lot up in the air at this point," she said.

Can the basins find common ground?

Federal officials said this week that they're still hoping the seven states can reach consensus.

"We are not expecting every single issue to be smoothed out between the upper and lower basin," Laura Daniel-Davis, acting deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior, told reporters Tuesday. "But the reality is that everyone is saying the same thing: We are all committed to a basinwide solution, and we'll continue to work honestly and collaboratively through any major sticking points until consensus has been reached."

Two years of good precipitation and agreements from Lower Basin states to reduce their use in the short termin exchange for federal dollarsmeans it's unlikely the river system will fail before 2027, federal officials said during the news conference.

"It has given us the breathing room to discuss the long term," Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said.

Reservoir levels remain lowon Monday, Lake Mead was 37% full, and Lake Powell was 34% full.

Reclamation officials this month will begin reviewing the basins' submittals and start drafting possible plans to manage the reservoirs after 2026. The bureau expects to present those options, with an analysis of their potential impacts, by the end of the year.

The public then will have a chance to comment on those alternatives before the bureau makes a decision.

"Failure is not an option," Daniel-Davis said. "As we envision what the next several decades of Colorado River management look like, the Interior Department is taking every possible measure to ensure that this vital system does not collapse."

2024 MediaNews Group, Inc.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

New research by Caltech's Kirby Nielsen, assistant professor of economics and William H. Hurt Scholar, shows that the gender gap in confidence that is often held responsible for women's underachievement in the workplace is "contagious"; that is, when evaluating a worker's performance based on self-assessments, reviewers will reward apparent self-confidenceand conversely, penalize a lack of confidencerather than focusing solely on performance.

Think of it like this: You have been in your current job for three years, and you could really use a pay increase. Your performance reviews are good, and you are well within your rights to ask for a raise. Do you?

Many factors influence a decision like this, but one, unquestionably, is gender. If you are a man, you are statistically more likely to reason that you're doing quite well at your job and deserve more money, and you will approach your boss with just this attitude: "It's time for a raise, and maybe a promotion too."

But if you are a woman? You are statistically more likely to recall the "room for improvement" notes from your last performance review and imagine your colleagues are all performing better. You decide that your boss will offer a raise when you deserve it. Or, you may ask your boss for a raise, but when you do, you are hesitant, apologetic: "I shouldn't bother you, but do you think maybe it's time for me to get a raise?"

One potential consequence of this so-called "confidence gap" is predictable: Even when equally performing, equally trained women and men are present in the workplace, on average men are paid more and have greater upward mobility than women.

For some time, the standard advice given to women to rectify this problem was to "lean in," a slogan made popular by the 2013 book of the same title by Sheryl Sandberg, formerly the chief operating officer of Meta Platforms. Lack confidence in your own worth in the workplace? Lift a page from the careers of more successful men. Value yourself. Tell others they should value you. Nurture your self-confidence and, in the meantime, fake it as best you can, and the rewards will follow.

Some have objected to this advice, believing the onus should be on employers to realize that women and men assess their own performance differently, and that self-reports should be read through this interpretive lens. "Many people know about the confidence gap," Nielsen reasons. "If I, as an employer, think about how people communicate, I might be able to realize that men and women communicate differently about their performance on average. If my male employee is saying he's amazing, maybe I should tone that down a bit in my mind. If my female employee is saying she's OK, maybe I should consider that an understatement."

To shed some light on these questions, Nielsen crafted an experiment. Participants were recruited and assigned randomly to two categories: workers and evaluators.

The workers were given a 10-question math and science quiz. "We incentivized them to do their best by paying them more for each correctly answered question," Nielsen explains. This quiz was followed by 17 self-assessment questions, also incentivized: The closer participants got to their actual test scores in their self-assessments, the more they were paid. False modesty was not rewarded.

One set of questions focused on the participant's absolute performance: Did they answer at least three questions on the test correctly? Another group of questions measured relative performance: Do they think they scored in the top half among everyone who took the test?

Finally, some questions were directed toward subjective beliefs about performance: Do they think another person would describe their performance on this test as evidence of poor skills in math and science?

This first stage of the experiment yielded the expected confidence gap. Male and female participants' actual test scores landed in the same range; there was no difference by gender. But on the 17 measures of confidence, significant differences appeared. "On every single one of the self-assessment questions, women report more pessimistic beliefs about their performance than men," Nielsen notes. "Basically, we replicated the expected finding that there is a gendered confidence gap between equally performing individuals."

Next, in the second part of the experiment, the evaluators stepped in. How would they react to these differences in confidence between the workers whose results they viewed?

Evaluators were first presented with a random worker whose gender was specified but about whom nothing else was known. The evaluators were asked to guess the percentage chance that this worker's performance was poor. Evaluators gave similar guesses about performance for any random person, whether male or female. This eliminated the possibility of what Nielsen calls "taste-based discrimination"; that is, evaluators do not arrive at their task already believing that women are more likely to perform poorly on a math and science quiz.

Then the evaluators were presented with the worker's self-assessments and were again asked to specify a percentage chance that this worker's performance was poor. Here, Nielsen says, "women's relative lack of confidence was shown to be contagious. It causes other people to now conclude that women performed worse."

To test evaluators' prior familiarity with the gender gap in confidence, they were asked to guess workers' likelihood of being overconfident or lacking confidence. The evaluators guessedaccuratelythat male workers were more likely to be overconfident and female workers were more likely to be lacking in confidence, indicating that they did know about the confidence gap. However, even being asked these questions did not help the evaluators recognize the influence of confidence in workers' self-reports.

"We thought that maybe if we just asked them about gender and confidence, this would nudge the evaluators to take that into account," Nielsen says. "But that had no effect on their assessments about workers' performance. They continued to guess that women actually performed worse than men after learning about the workers' self-reports."

"What the experiment indicates is that evaluators experienced a type of cognitive bias," Nielsen explains. "They were trying not to discriminate against women but ended up doing so anyway because of the women's pessimistic self-reports, even though they understood that women are typically less confident than men."

There are many real-world implications of this research, Nielsen says, "For example, some people think that having gender-blinded applications or reports could rectify gender imbalances. But this research shows that a gender-blinded process might only make the situation worse. Without knowing applicants' or workers' gender, evaluators would not be able to account for the gender gap in confidence even if they wanted to."

The cognitive bias uncovered in this research could well apply to other groups, for example, people whose cultural codes lead them to project more humility and less confidence. Nelson's experiment tested to see if evaluators would exhibit the same cognitive bias toward non-gendered groups by telling some evaluators that they were looking not at women and men but at members of "group A" and "group B." The results were the same.

Although the findings may be disheartening to people who present with less self-confidence, the good news, Nelson says, is that "we know a lot about cognitive biases, and we know that there are ways we can de-bias people. Evaluators form these biased assessments because they are having a problem incorporating the information they're given, not because they are actively discriminating against women. But this means that interventions to help on this dimension could be very promising."

The paper describing Nielsen's research, titled "The Gender Gap in Confidence: Expected But Not Accounted For," appears in the March 2024 issue of the American Economic Review. Nielsen's co-author is Christine L. Exley of the University of Michigan.

More information: Christine L. Exley et al, The Gender Gap in Confidence: Expected but Not Accounted For, American Economic Review (2024). DOI: 10.1257/aer.20221413
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

While three whales washing up on Hampton Roads beaches in three days is unusual, it is likely indicative of a long-term trend seen along the East Coast.

Gib Brogan, campaign director for Oceana, said the recent deaths are "not normal by any means," but Virginia isn't alone in experiencing humpback and minke deaths. Oceana is an international organization based in Washington focused on ocean conservation, including whale safety in the United States.

"There has been a string of humpback whale deaths, stretching from Florida up to Maine and then in the eastern Canada, stretching back a number of years," Brogan said.

"So this is part of a longer multi-year trend, and (NOAA Fisheries) is looking into this and and trying to find a connection between these. Where they have been able to find the cause of death of the humpback whales, so far, it has been either from vessel strikesbeing hit by a boat going byor entanglement with fishing gear."

On March 3rd, the first whale washed up in Virginia Beach in the resort area. Identified as a young humpback, the whale garnered attention from about 200 people as scientists worked to move it up the shore for a necropsy. According to a spokesperson from the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Center, which has a response team for stranded animals, the necropsy for the first whale had no obvious signs for a cause of death. The next day, a second humpback whale was spotted off the coast of False Cape State Park before washing onto the shore.

According to NOAA, elevated humpback whale mortalities have occurred since 2016. In Virginia, 31 humpback whale deaths were recorded on and off shore since January 2016. North Carolina reportedly had 28. Location represents the nearest state to where the confirmed mortality was first observed and does not necessarily reflect the location of the death of the animal.

About half of the humpback whales found washed up on the East Coast had full or partial necropsies, and NOAA reports that 40% had evidence of human interaction, either a ship strike or entanglement. Others had evidence for a vessel strike before they died, but NOAA reported that more research is needed.

"What we've seen in a number of cases with humpbacks is that they are chasing in the schools of smaller fish," Brogan said.

"They're following them into these areas where they have not been in the past, and because there are abundant food sources for the whalesone scientist told me that they're so fat and happy and following the buffet of foodthey're swimming into dangerous areas and maybe not behaving as they normally would. It's a tragic story, but in some ways, it's a success story because those fish (populations) have been rebuilt, and there are there are lots of food items for those whales. We need to recognize these threats and do what we can to minimize them."

In Corolla, a minke whale was found on the beach. A necropsy for that whale has not begun since the minke whale has washed back into the sea, according to officials Wednesday. It may take a few days for the whale's body to bloat and come back into the shore, or it may be eaten by other animals while out in the ocean.

Like humpbacks, minke whales are also facing an unusual mortality event. Since 2017, 164 have been stranded on the East Coast. In Virginia and North Carolina, there have been 14 over the past six years. Necropsies done on about 60% of stranded minke whales showed that human interaction and infectious disease could be the biggest causes of death, but NOAA reported that more research is needed.

Winter is a popular time for whales in Hampton Roads, mainly humpbacks. Juvenile whales tend to hang out off the coast of Virginia Beach, as adult whales head south for breeding toward the Dominican Republic. Upwards of 300 different humpback whales have been identified by whale watchers in Hampton Roads, and it's common to see some whales multiple years in a row.

Brogan said more needs to be done to protect whale species from vessel strikes and other human-caused issues. One way to curb deaths is speed restrictions, which NOAA has proposed for boats 35 feet and longer to hit the brakes during certain times of the year to help protect the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale.

"The government has a strong proposal out to update the speed zones in the U.S. Atlantic. That will reduce the risk that large whales will be hit by boats," Brogan said. "This was done for North Atlantic right whales, for those critically endangered whales, but will undoubtedly have benefits for smaller whales, or other large whale species like humpbacks."

2024 The Virginian-Pilot. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

A Bluntnose Sixgill Shark (Hexanchus griseus) off Puget Sound, United States. Credit: Greg Amptman

One in seven species of deepwater sharks and rays are threatened with extinction due to overfishing, according to a new eight-year study released today in the journal Science.

Specifically, the analysis found that sharks and rays are caught as incidental bycatch in fisheries targeting more commercially valuable species. However, they are kept due to the value of their oil and meat. This, partnered with a recent global expansion in the trade of shark liver oil, has resulted in steep population declines.

"About half of the world's sharks are found below 200 meters, below where the sunlight reaches into the ocean," says Nicholas Dulvy, Distinguished SFU Professor of Marine Biodiversity and Conservation. "The first time they see sunlight is when they're hauled onto the deck of a fishing boat."

This new analysis by Dulvy assessed more than 500 species of sharks and rays and engaged more than 300 experts from around the world. It found that about 60 species are threatened with an elevated risk of extinction due to overfishing, according to the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

"As the high seas and the coastal waters are becoming depleted in many countries of the world, we're incentivizing fishers to fish offshore and it's become technologically viable to fish up to a kilometer deep," Dulvy says.

Deepwater sharks and rays are among the most sensitive marine vertebrates because of their long lifespans and low reproductive rates. They have life cycles more similar to marine mammals such as whales and the walrus, which were formerly exploited for their oils and are now highly protected.

"Many deepwater sharks and rays can only withstand very small amounts of fishing pressure," says Dulvy. "Some species may take 30 years or more to mature, and possibly up to 150 years in the case of the Greenland Shark, and only produce 12 pups throughout their entire life."

Sharks and rays maintain their buoyancy by having a fatty liver, but this fat is highly prized. It's used widely in cosmetics, nutrient supplements and for medicines, like vaccines. There has also been an increase in skate fisheries to support demand for fermented skate, a traditional Korean delicacy.

"There's been great success in regulating shark fin trade. Now we need to turn our attention to regulating the international trade in liver oil."

In addition to regulating the international trade in shark liver oil, the study also endorses a global push to protect 30% of the world's oceans by 2030. Protecting 30% of the deep ocean (200 to 2,000 meters) would provide 80% of species partial protection across their range. A worldwide prohibition on fishing below 800 meters would provide 30% vertical refuge for a third of threatened deepwater sharks and rays.

The Global Shark Trends Project is a collaboration of the Simon Fraser University, IUCN Shark Specialist Group, James Cook University, and the Georgia Aquarium.

More information: Brittany Finucci et al, Fishing for oil and meat drives irreversible defaunation of deepwater sharks and rays, Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.ade9121
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

The Cheerios effect is a process where small floating objects cluster together on the surface of a liquid. Researchers optimized this process to increase condensation rates for efficient water-harvesting systems. Credit: 2024 KAUST; Ivan Gromicho.

A more efficient way to capture fresh water from the air could be inspired by a phenomenon of motion first glimpsed in bowls of breakfast cereal.

KAUST researchers have observed that when water droplets condense from the air onto a cold surface coated with oil, the droplets commence a complex dance. This motionakin to a process known as the Cheerios effect whereby the floating cereal tends to cluster due to surface tensioncould help to speed up the harvesting of water from the atmosphere in arid regions such as Saudi Arabia.

"We are interested in designing surfaces that can promote condensation of water, which has important heat-transfer and water-harvesting applications," says Marcus Lin, a research fellow in the lab of Dan Daniel, who led the research. On a typical solid surface, condensed droplets stick to the surface with minimal motion. "Think of water condensing on a cold soda can," says Lin. "The droplets only move once they grow big enough for gravity to pull them down."

Daniel, Lin, and their collaborators had the idea that adding a thin film of oil would lubricate the surface, resulting in highly mobile droplets that would free up space for further droplet condensation, boosting condensation rates. The idea workedbut the complex ways in which the droplets moved was a complete surprise, Daniel says.

Once the droplets grew to a critical size, they began to move across the oil in a distinct pattern akin to an elaborate dance. "They initially moved in a serpentine manner before transitioning into circular motions, and then back again," says Lin. "These motions occurred across scales ranging from micrometers to several centimeters, and they lasted for hours."

Researchers captured water droplets exhibiting complex collective motion, oscillating between serpentine and circular motions, as they condense on a thin oily film. Credit: 2024 KAUST; Fauzia Wardani.

The driving force for the process is thatlike Cheerios in milkwater droplets floating on the oil are drawn toward their neighbors. The larger droplets' motion is driven by energy released as they swallow up smaller droplets in their path.

The moving droplets redistribute the oil film and switch from a serpentine to a circular motion when the film becomes locally depleted. Once the local oil rebuilds, the snake-like dance resumes.

Such devices that can efficiently capture water from the air by simple condensation, with no energy input, are widely sought as pressure grows on freshwater sources, Daniel says. "By optimizing the collective motion of condensing droplets, we can greatly increase condensation rates and hence design more efficient water-harvesting systems," he says.

The team plans to explore further the mechanisms driving droplet motion, particularly investigating the transition from serpentine to circular movement. "Another key aspect is to explore potential applications, particularly in heat-transfer enhancement and water harvesting," Lin adds.

The study is published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

More information: Marcus Lin et al, Emergent Collective Motion of Self-Propelled Condensate Droplets, Physical Review Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.058203 Journal information: Physical Review Letters
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:

Population analyses of R. irregularis. Credit: Nature Microbiology (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-023-01495-8

The complex and very diverse world of fungi is often referred to as the fifth kingdom of organisms. It includes various yeasts, molds, and mushrooms. A team of scientists from the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) has uncovered the genetic secrets of a mysterious fungus, revealing the presence of two distinct nuclear populations within them, each playing distinct roles in how they interact with plants.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are tiny fungi that live in harmony with plants, sharing their genetic diversity and creating a vibrant atmosphere in plant roots and with below-ground microbes. Scientists have been studying AMF for years but are still puzzled by it. Its bodies are like bags packed with thousands of nuclei cells, and how these fungi cooperate with plants has long been unclear.

"There were numerous unresolved questions regarding AMF, mainly because these fungi are always multinucleated and do not exhibit observable sexual characteristics," says Professor Nicolas Corradi, who holds the Chair in Microbial Genomics at the Department of Biology, University of Ottawa. "It has been proposed that AMF possess unique genetics and have undergone an unconventional evolution."

Professor Corradi and colleagues investigated the asexual reproduction of AMF, specifically Rhizophagus irregularis. In 2016, they discovered strains that showed signs of sexual reproduction, with two populations of nuclei co-existing in large cells. "We found that strains having two populations (AMF heterokaryons) are more resilient and could access plant roots more easily, an indication they could be better bio-stimulants."

However, without their complete genome, the researchers could not know why these strains are more successful plant symbionts.

Phylogenetic tree constructed with 65 R. irregularis strains. Haplotypes from AMF heterokaryons are shown in yellow squares. Based on relative branch lengths, the phylogeny resolves at least nine clades, which are highlighted in color. The tree was made using IQTREE algorithm, in GTR-FO mode with 1,000 bootstrap replicates. Scale bar represents 0.05 substitutions per site. When available, the MAT type of the strain is shown in parentheses. Note: the G1 strain located in clade VI noted with an asterisk is homokaryotic and does not represent the heterokaryotic isolate G1 (DAOM-970895) from clade IV. Credit: Nature Microbiology (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-023-01495-8

To address this, Professor Corradi and his team employed advanced sequencing techniques, including RNA sequencing and third-generation DNA sequencing, to analyze differences in structure, content, and expression between the co-existing genomes.

"AMF heterokaryons have two haplotypes that physically separate among a large number, possibly millions, of co-existing nuclei. This phenomenon is unprecedented in any other organism," explains Professor Corradi.

Their analyses also demonstrated that the two populations act very differently depending on their surrounding environment and their plant host. "Not only did we find that the two populations differ dramatically in the genes they harbor, but also that these are differently expressed and change in abundance depending on which plant they interact with," adds Professor Corradi.

The symbiotic interactions between AMF and host plants are crucial for nutrient exchange, pathogen protection, and ecosystem sustainability. Studying these interactions will help improve agricultural practices by producing tailored biostimulants, enhancing plant growth, and promoting ecosystem health.

The study, titled "Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi heterokaryons have two nuclear populations with distinct roles in hostplant interactions," was published in Nature Microbiology.

More information: Jana Sperschneider et al, Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi heterokaryons have two nuclear populations with distinct roles in hostplant interactions, Nature Microbiology (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-023-01495-8 Journal information: Nature Microbiology
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Experts from the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University and New_ Public have published an innovative new approach to measure the health of online communities. According to their report, titled "Dynamic Polycentrism," in order to determine the health of a digital space, experts must first determine its level of pluralism.

Over the past few decades, the Internet has become an increasingly important public convening place. However, as explained in the report, these new online spaces are not necessarily healthy. Many digital communities have become dominated by a single ideological group, discouraging outsiders from participation and limiting democratic discussion.

Alternatively, online spaces that encourage pluralism and polycentricism allow for power to be shared equitably between multiple groups. Here, no one ideology dominates its peers; instead, the community is intentionally structured to accept differences and encourage discussion. This type of online space takes work to create and maintain, but, according to the report, ultimately leads to healthier, more democratic communities.

"Democracy is not a given. It is learned," explained Milan de Vries, an associate research scholar at SNF Agora and the report's primary author. "Pluralismthe ability to sustain a community in the face of disagreement and in the face of differenceis a key element of what [public] gathering places teach. Being able to measure pluralism is therefore critical to understanding whether the online spaces we are building today are ultimately strengthening or weakening our shared society."

With this in mind, scholars at the SNF Agora Institute and New_ Public created a new approach to measure how pluralistic an online community is. By examining which users interact with what content, experts can check to see whether a space is veering too strongly towards a single ideology.

"It is imperative [that digital spaces] be used by and foster interaction between a diverse representation of the community," the report says. "If we wish to build healthy digital spaces, builders need some measure of the quality or strength of those interactions."

The report drew its conclusions from a series of conversations led by SNF Agora Director Hahrie Han and New_ Public Co-Director Eli Pariser. According to de Vries, the organizations' complementary goals made this collaboration easy.

"For us, the overlap felt natural," he said. "At the SNF Agora, we focus on democracyHow does it emerge and what does it take to sustain it. At New_Public, they're interested in how to build healthy, online communities. ... Given the importance and impact of online platforms on our democracy, we found a natural shared interest.

"As our lives become more and more digitally connected, more and more of our key, interpersonal interactions happen online," de Vries continued. "Those interactions are what make our democracy tick. In Ancient Greece, when democracy first emerged, people gathered in the agora. The physical center of townwith its marketplaces, and temples, and institutions of governmentis what made those interactions possible.

"We live our lives in both our physical communities and, increasingly, in these digital gathering places. The way our interactions are shaped and guided online has as much impact on our shared, communal existence as the ancient agora did to the Greeks."
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

A dragon from the Minecraft video game may well be brought to life in physical Plus-Plus pieces on the floor in the home of a five-year-old. Credit: Marit Eline Lervik Christensen/University of Oslo

Minecraft and Lego blocks, pinecones and Super Mario stars. Maybe it's just us grown-ups making a false distinction between screen play and other kinds of play.

"When people talk about 'screen time,' the implication is that this is time distinct from the time when kids are not using a screen. But for young children, that's not always the case," says Kenneth Pettersen.

Originally a preschool teacher, more recently Pettersen has conducted research at the Department of Education, University of Oslo, where his Ph.D. viva examination was held in December 2023. He has since published studies on the topic in Children's Geographies and the Journal of Literacy Research.

In his Ph.D. research project, Pettersen did a deep dive into the play of a group of 3- to 6-year-olds, concentrating on three boys who enjoyed playing video games. He observed these youngsters both in preschool and home settings for a total of 64 days over an 18-month period.

"I soon noticed that the digital worlds ordinarily associated with YouTube and the Minecraft video game manifested in what appeared to be all-analog play. For example, the children were using concepts, game logic and characters from Minecraft gaming while building with physical construction toys at preschool," says Pettersen.

He explains that this was such a consistent feature of the children's play that it did not always make sense to distinguish between analog and digital play.

"It was all like one game."

Over the last years, we have seen debates about children's so-called "screen time" in several countries. In 2019, the World Health Organizationfor the first time in historypublished guidelines addressing screen-time for children under the age of 5.

In Norway, parents have spoken out against screen use in schools, and the Norwegian Government appointed a Screen Use Committee for schools and preschools in 2023.

Pettersen is calling for a more nuanced debate on screen time among children. He believes that if people really examine screen play, looking beyond the digital gadgetry, they may well arrive at a different view of screen time. He says, "YouTube use might on the face of it seem very passive and sedentary, but juxtapose it with other kinds of play, over several days, and you'll likely find that children are incorporating it creatively in other kinds of play, including where there is nothing digital involved."

He does, however, point out that not all screen play influence is positive. In his research, Pettersen found situations where game logic constrained play and was destructive.

"Any playtime has upsides and downsides, and the same goes for this type of play. My point is that instead of being blinkered about screen time, we need to be sensitive and curious about play linked to on-screen experiences."

"This means that we could be looking at whether recurring patterns are positive or negative, and then supporting the good sides," is his advice.

Risky play needn't be on thin ice

The researcher observed that five-year-olds might jump up and down on a sofa, scream in ecstasy and hurl themselves backwards while watching YouTube. He was curious about what made them react like this.

What emotions are in play? And how do they affect relationships between children?

Previous studies on children's play have largely focused on what they talk about when they play, including how they use language to negotiate among themselves about the play they engage in.

Pettersen took a different approach. "I wanted to explore what isn't so easily captured by language: children's affects and their excitement. To observe that, you have to study them more in-depth."

He discovered that the bond between children was strengthened when they "played for high stakes" and took chances in video games.

In other words, risky play is not limited to climbing trees or venturing out onto thin ice.

"The children were also observed making unsafe choices on purpose, for the thrill of it, and to achieve a strong peer-bonding experience during game play. They might, for example, strip the armor off a Minecraft character and have them wander around in the middle of the night.

By doing so, they were deliberately tempting fate.

"They called this 'being a noob,'" Pettersen explains.

This intense thrill-seeking recurred in their physical play: The children might be noobs (novices) in the woods, just as well as in front of a screen. The thrill of being a noob was the most important thing whether on-screen or off-screen.

Super Mario can also be 'the dead mouse'

Preschool staff tend to focus on letting the kids' spontaneous impulses shape the day's events. They refer to it as "dead mouse pedagogy."

This expression refers to an example of preschoolers who discover a dead mouse while en route to an outdoor destination. The children's questions and excitement about the mouse present a golden opportunity for stimulating learning and wonderment, at least if the adults are willing to take the time out from the timetable.

"Super Mario could also be the dead mouse if the adults are open to allowing that," Pettersen explains.

He encourages preschool educators to be just as enthusiastic when children show interest in things originally seen on a screen.

"Because these things can also stimulate exploration, learning and creativity, and can spill over into other types of play," he says.

For the 5-year-olds in the study, pinecones in the woods, for example, were Super Mario stars and the Plus-Plus pieces on the floor at home were a live video-game dragon.

Might a gaming universe be a new Billy Goats Gruff?

Many preschool institutions in Norway have tended to create physical play zones themed on classic Norwegian children's fairytales like "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" or Thorbjrn Egner's "Huckybucky Forest."

But maybe they have not done the same with more recent on-screen universes?

At the preschool, Pettersen observed that at one time the adults made physical play zones themed on the Super Mario universe for the youngsters to play in.

"Institutions open to doing this may be able to mirror the interests of more of the children, not just those who are brought to the theater in their spare time," commented the preschool teacher and researcher.

More information: Kenneth Pettersen, More-than-human and more-than-digital collecting among young children in Norway, Children's Geographies (2024). DOI: 10.1080/14733285.2024.2302105 Kenneth Pettersen et al, Refrains of Friendship in Young Children's Postdigital Play, Journal of Literacy Research (2024). DOI: 10.1177/1086296X241226479
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

New research is shaking up what we know about Idaho earthquakes and the faults that cause them as scientists try to better understand the state's seismic activity.

The magnitude 6.5 earthquake that rattled Boise and other parts of Southern Idaho in March 2020 has for years been attributed to the Sawtooth Fault in Central Idaho. But a paper published earlier this year in The Seismic Record said researchers now believe there's no direct link between the two.

In fact, seismologists said in the paper, the 2020 earthquake near Stanley and its thousands of aftershocks could be linked to a previously undiscovered fault. Glenn Thackray, an Idaho State University seismologist who discovered the Sawtooth Fault in 2010 and co-authored the recent paper, told the Idaho Statesman in an interview that the newly identified fault is near the Cape Horn and Banner Summit area along Idaho 21.

Thackray said the geology of the area is even more complex than experts previously thought, with faults splitting into multiple fractures.

Researchers dug trenches to study rupture evidence deep in the Earth and used relatively new light detection and ranging, or LiDAR, technology to learn more about the area. The practice uses laser pulses to measure distance from an aircraft to the ground.

"We now understand (the faults) better because we can actually see the patterns," Thackray said. "We can look through the trees on the LiDAR data, which was collected by an airplane flying back and forth over the landscape."

The research may not have provided definitive answers on the 2020 earthquake, but Thackray told the Statesman it's a vital step toward understanding an under-researched area.

"We are still learning about these faults and how they work and how they link together," Thackray said. "We only know what we know."

More information: Christopher B. DuRoss et al, Paleoseismology of the Sawtooth Fault and Implications for Fault Behavior in the Epicentral Region of the 2020 Mw 6.5 Stanley, Idaho, Earthquake, The Seismic Record (2024). DOI: 10.1785/0320230045

2024 Idaho Statesman. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Dagmar Hagen

NINA researchers have played a central role in restoring old mining landscapes in Svalbard, Norway. As of 2024, the restoration is complete.

The Svea coal mines permanently closed for operation in 2015. At the same time landscape restoration of the mining settlement and infrastructure, stretching more than 20 km from the sea up to 700 meters above sea level, was initiated to re-establish the natural processes in the area.

Enabling both dynamic ecological and geomorphological processes was the focus of the landscape restoration, when remnants of the old mining activity that once dominated the area, such as roads, housing, industrial facilities, landfills, and quarries, were all removed.

"Tackling a more than hundred-year-old coal mine at 77 North gave us invaluable knowledge in restoring active geological processes and slow biological processes in extreme environments," says Dagmar Hagen, senior researcher at The Norwegian Institute for Nature Research.

Fast and slow nature in the High Arctic

Where vegetation cover in Svalbard is sparse and slow-growing, the geological processes, such as glacial, slope, fluvial and coastal, are in contrast highly active. Facilitating geodiversity has in this case meant appropriate consideration of biodiversity, as the abiotic conditions support a mosaic of vegetation cover and habitats as well as landscape character.

In fact, when targeting the reconstruction and design of post-mining landscapes, there is a risk of neglecting the dynamic geomorphological processes, Hagen says. Rather than designing a new landscape, we argue that preparing the future landscape for active geological processes will align with the overall ideas of nature restoration, she continues.

In High Arctic regions with sparse vegetation and slow biotic processes, and where geological and geomorphological forces dominate, facilitating these dynamic processes will especially be relevant.

Multidisciplinary: From bulldozer operators to project owner

A multidisciplinary approach in planning such large-scale restoration in the High Arctic was crucial to understand relations between ecological and geomorphological processes, and to propose the best possible solutions. Placing geomorphology, botany, and landscape knowledge at the core, cultural heritage, and pollution management were also closely connected.

Further, the extensive restoration effort at Svea required a consensus on restoration principles among all participants from project leaders to all personnel working on the ground. To foster a common understanding, all personnel participated in "green training," gaining insights into the landscape, geodiversity, biodiversity, and restoration principles.

Ultimately, the people operating excavators, bulldozers, and dump trucks carry out the restoration work and shape the new landscape, and a significant portion of the positive results should be attributed to their efforts, Hagen states.

"We believe that the success of a restoration project of this size depends on a multidisciplinary approach, including all aspects of the management of the mine's interior, pollution, cultural heritage, and natural diversity," Dagmar Hagen concludes.

Details of the project are published in the journal Geoheritage.

More information: Lars Erikstad et al, Working with Natural Processes: Restoring a Mining Landscape in the High Arctic, Svalbard, Norway, Geoheritage (2023). DOI: 10.1007/s12371-023-00855-4

Provided by Norwegian Institute for Nature Research
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

A CADRE rover is prepared for electromagnetic interference and compatibility testing in a special chamber at JPL in November 2023. Such testing confirms that the operation of the electronic subsystems do not interfere with each other nor with those on the lander. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Construction and testing are complete on the CADRE rovers, which will map the lunar surface together as a tech demo to show the promise of multi-robot missions.

A trio of small rovers that will explore the moon in sync with one another are rolling toward launch. Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California recently finished assembling the robots, then subjected them to a punishing series of tests to ensure they'll survive their jarring rocket ride into space and their travels in the unforgiving lunar environment.

Part of a technology demonstration called CADRE (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration), each solar-powered rover is about the size of a carry-on suitcase. The rovers and associated hardware will be installed on a lander headed for the moon's Reiner Gamma region.

They'll spend the daylight hours of a lunar daythe equivalent of about 14 days on Earthconducting experiments by autonomously exploring, mapping, and using ground-penetrating radar that will peer below the moon's surface.

The goal is to show that a group of robotic spacecraft can work together to accomplish tasks and record data as a team without explicit commands from mission controllers on Earth. If the project succeeds, future missions could include teams of robots spreading out to take simultaneous, distributed scientific measurements, potentially in support of astronauts.

Engineers have put in long hours test-driving rovers and working out bugs to finish the hardware, get it through testing, and prepare it for integration with the lander.

"We have been in overdrive getting this tech demo ready for its lunar adventure," said Subha Comandur, CADRE project manager at JPL. "It's been months of nearly round-the-clock testing and sometimes re-testing, but the team's hard work is paying off. Now we know these rovers are ready to show what a team of little space robots can accomplish together."

Shake and bake

While the list of tests is extensive, the most brutal involve extreme environmental conditions to ensure the rovers can withstand the rigors of the road ahead. That includes being locked in a thermal vacuum chamber that simulates the airless conditions of space and its extremely hot and cold temperatures. The hardware also gets clamped to a special "shaker table" that vibrates intensely to make sure it will endure the journey out of Earth's atmosphere.

Clamped to a shaker table, one of NASAs CADRE rovers gets shaken vigorously during a test in November 2023. This vibration test is designed to show that the rover can withstand the jarring rocket ride on its journey to the Moon aboard a lunar lander. Credit: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

"This is what we submit our rovers to: 'shake' to simulate the rocket launch itself and 'bake' to simulate the extreme temperatures of space. It's very nerve-wracking to witness in person," said JPL's Guy Zohar, the project's flight system manager. "We're using many carefully selected commercial parts on our project. We expect them to work, but we're always a little worried when we go into testing. Happily, each test has ultimately been successful."

Engineers also performed environmental testing on three hardware elements mounted on the lander: a base station that the rovers will communicate with via mesh network radios, a camera that will provide a view of the rovers' activities and the deployer systems that will lower the rovers to the lunar surface via a fiber tether fed slowly out from a motorized spool.

Putting code to the test, too

Meanwhile, engineers working on CADRE's cooperative autonomy software have spent many days in JPL's rocky, sandy Mars Yard with full-scale versions of the rovers called development models. With flight software and autonomy capabilities aboard, these test rovers showed they could accomplish key goals for the project.

They drove together in formation. Faced with unexpected obstacles, they adjusted their plans as a group by sharing updated maps and replanning coordinated paths. And when one rover's battery charge was low, the whole team paused so they could later continue together.

Two full-scale development model rovers are tested in JPLs Mars Yard in August 2023 as part of NASAs CADRE tech demo. These tests confirmed the projects hardware and software can work together to accomplish key goals. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The project conducted several drives at night under large flood lamps so the rovers could experience extreme shadows and lighting that approximate what they'll encounter during the lunar daytime.

After that, the team performed similar drive tests with flight models (the rovers that will go to the moon) in a JPL clean room. When the spotless floor there proved a bit slipperya texture different from the lunar surfacethe robots got out of formation. But they stopped, adjusted, and proceeded on their planned path.

"Dealing with curveballsthat's important for the autonomy. The key is the robots respond to things going off plan, then they replan and are still successful," said JPL's Jean-Pierre de la Croix, CADRE principal investigator and autonomy lead. "We're going to a unique environment on the moon, and there will, of course, be some unknowns. We've done our best to prepare for those by testing software and hardware together in various situations."

Next, the hardware will ship to Intuitive Machines for installation on a Nova-C lander that will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

The exciton-polariton BIC condensate in a quantum-well grating waveguide. Credit: Nature Physics (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-023-02281-3

Condensed matter systems and photonic technologies are regularly used by researchers to create microscale platforms that can simulate the complex dynamics of many interacting quantum particles in a more accessible setting. Some examples include ultracold atomic ensembles in optical lattices, superconducting arrays, and photonic crystals and waveguides. In 2006 a new platform emerged with the demonstration of macroscopically coherent quantum fluids of exciton-polaritons to explore many-body quantum phenomena through optical techniques.

When a piece semiconductor is placed between two mirrorsan optical microresonatorthe electronic excitations within can become strongly influenced by photons trapped between the mirrors. The resulting new bosonic quantum particles, known as exciton-polaritons (or polaritons for short), can under the right circumstances undergo a phase transition into a nonequilibrium Bose-Einstein condensate and form a macroscopic quantum fluid or a droplet of light.

Quantum fluids of polaritons have many salient properties, one being that they are optically configurable and readable, permitting easy measurements of the polariton dynamics. This is what makes them so advantageous to simulate many-body physics.

Polariton condensates must be continuously optically pumped with external lasers to replenish particles, otherwise the condensate dissipates within picoseconds. However, the harder you pump the condensate, the more energetic it becomes due to repulsive interparticle forces, leading to particles escaping the condensate and subsequent decay of spatial correlations.

This is a fundamental problem for optically programmable polariton simulators. Scientists needed to come up with a way to make the condensate more stable and long-lived while still being optically pumped.

Scientists from CNR Nanotec in Lecce and the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw achieved this goal using a new generation of semiconductor photonic gratings. In their paper titled "Reconfigurable quantum fluid molecules of bound states in the continuum," published in Nature Physics, they used subwavelength properties of the photonic grating to imbue polaritons with new properties.

First, the polaritons could be driven to condense into an ultralong lifetime state known as a bound state in the continuum (BIC). The fascinating thing about BICs is that they are mostly non-radiative due to symmetry-enforced protection from the outside continuum of photonic modes.

Second, the polaritons obtained a negative effective mass due to the dispersion relation coming from the grating. This meant that the pumped polaritons could not escape so easily through normal decay channels anymore. Now, the researchers possessed polariton fluids that were both extremely long-lived and safely confined using only optical techniques.

Combined, these mechanisms allowed Antonio Gianfrate and Danielle Sanvitto at CNR Nanotec in Lecce to optically pump multiple polariton droplets that could interact and hybridize into macroscopic complexes. They could tailor and reversibly configure molecular arrangements and chains using this new form of artificial atoms: condensates of negative-mass BIC polaritons.

The BIC property provided polaritons with much longer lifetimes, whereas the negative mass property caused them to become optically trapped. The findings were supported by a BIC Dirac-polariton theory developed between Helgi Sigurdsson (University of Warsaw), Hai Chau Nguyen (University of Siegen, Germany), and Hai Son Nguyen (Univ Lyon, France).

The ultimate advantage of the platform is that the artificial quantum complexes can be all-optically programmed, yet they retain very high lifetimes because of their protection from the continuum. This could lead to a new venture into optically programmable large-scale quantum fluids defined by unprecedented coherence scales and stability for structured nonlinear lasing and polariton-based simulation of complex systems.

"There are still several interesting ways to explore in this artificial polaritonic Dirac system. As an example, the coupling mechanism between polariton droplets along and perpendicular to the grating direction is very different. Along the waveguide, polaritons are effectively negative mass particles strongly bound to their pump spot."

"Perpendicular to the waveguide, they move as positive mass particles undergoing ballistic transport. The mixture of these two mechanisms opens a new window to look at emergent behaviors of synchrony and pattern formation in structured polariton quantum fluids," concludes Helgi Sigursson from the Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw.

More information: Antonio Gianfrate et al, Reconfigurable quantum fluid molecules of bound states in the continuum, Nature Physics (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41567-023-02281-3
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

The ascendance of large language models like ChatGPT has all but wrought a collective existential crisis among writing instructors. Due to a rise in large language model-assisted plagiarism, student essays are no longer reliable indicators of ability.

How then, do writing instructors meaningfully assess their students? And with the labor of writing easily outsourced to a computer, why should students care about comma splices and semicolons? Term papers can be generated by AI, but the skills developed by the act of writingthinking critically, conducting research, and arguing a position, to name a fewcannot.

As large language models become more sophisticated and accessible, equipping students with these vital abilities will require a pedagogical revolution.

This revolution has already begun; rather than banishing large language models from their classrooms, many writing instructors have invited the technology in, with an emphasis on critical engagement. Among them is Johns Hopkins University Writing Program lecturer Carly Schnitzler, who co-edited "TextGenEd: Teaching with Text Generation Technologies," an open-access, peer-reviewed collection of generative AI-assisted writing assignments.

Schnitzler describes these assignments as "[offering] up text generation technologies as objects of study in a writing and rhetoric context  to be critically integrated into the writing process instead of taking over the writing process."

The textbook is split into five sectionsAI literacy, creative explorations, ethical considerations, professional writing, and rhetorical engagementsthat together contain 34 undergraduate-level exercises, all of them successfully vetted in classrooms before publication. With biannual updates, the collection will keep pace with the rapid progression of text generation technologies and the teaching pedagogy that follows.

In January, Schnitzler presented on TextGenEd at the Modern Language Association conference in Philadelphia, where she encountered a receptive crowd of educators looking for ways to meaningfully integrate AI into the classroom.

"It was fun to highlight some of the assignments in the collection at MLA," she says, "because a lot of the coverage of AI and large language models, particularly in writing-intensive higher-ed disciplines, has framed it as disruptive. But in fact, there are a lot of educators [using generative text programs] to help students in their writing processesfrom the ideating stage to doing research and outlining and composing and revising."

It is important to understand what TextGenEd is not. It doesn't give students permission to offload their homework entirely to ChatGPT, nor does it wholly endorse large language models as a force of good. Instead, it asks students to rethink their use. One assignment, called "Generate and Enact a Writing Style," tackles the difficult concept of style by asking students to generate multiple versions of a sentence to determine what makes them stylistically different. Another, called "Who's Talking: Dada, Machine Writing, and the Found," contemplates where and how LLMs fit into the found poetry tradition.

Schnitzler's research background is in creative computation, which she describes as "artists and poets critically engaging with computational technologies in their writing processes." She sees her pivot into writing pedagogy using generative text as a natural extension of that research.

"I think a lot of the [large language model] hype comes from the misconception that it's a brand-new thing, when it's really not. Found writing has existed for as long as people have been writing. Different techniques of generating text have been around as long as various computational technologies have been around. It's a very historically situated technology, and understanding that historical context can only help smooth the transition into our classrooms and lives in general."

Schnitzler spoke with the Hub about TextGenEd's role in that transition.

Could you explain what it means to teach with text generation technologies?

The three of us editorsmyself, Annette Vee, and Tim Laquintanoare researchers in writing and rhetoric who are interested in automated writing technologies. We saw an opening for creative ways of engaging with text generation technologies inclusive of large language models, but not necessarily restricted to them. My impetus in getting involved was to historicize the current moment, and that definitely came to bear in the collection.

The collection really evolved to advocate for a tempering of the hype surrounding large language models. Most of the assignments advocate for a critical and often playful kind of exploration of these technologies in the classroom. They don't ask ChatGPT or other language models to write an essay for a student wholesale, but rather position the language model, for example, as a peer reviewer to give feedback and critically engage with both the writing process and the language model (see Antonio Byrd's assignment, "Using LLMs as Peer Reviewers for Revising Essays").

It seemed to me that many of the assignments are not so interested in making students create a finished, almost publishable piece of writing, but it's more for students to reflect critically on how AI-developed writing differs from their own writing. Is that right?

Yeah, a lot of the assignments are somewhat comparative in nature. As writing instructors, my co-editors and I are trained in writing and rhetoric and are very invested in writing as an essential skill to be developed in a higher ed context. A lot of the assignments we chose demonstrate both the affordances and limitations of large language models as tools to be integrated in various ways in the writing process. A number of the assignments throughout the five sections use a comparative approach in most, if not all, stages of the writing process, from research and brainstorming and outlining to composing the actual piece to getting feedback on it and revising advice.

What would you say to people who are skeptical of AI's value in the writing classroom?

I'm with you! I'm not approaching this technology with a wholesale endorsement. I want to acknowledge the real harms that some implementations of large language models have caused, notably in terms of labor. I don't want to contribute to the hype with this collection. What I would encourage instructors to do when thinking about this technology is adopt a pragmatic approach, because the cat's out of the bag here.

[Large language models] are something that students are thinking about. It's something that many, many professionals in higher education are thinking about. And I think the first step in a classroom context is just to address it with your students. Something that has worked really well for me in my writing classrooms is setting course expectations, and in that conversation, what I've been doing in the last year or two is integrating conversations about [AI]. I ask my students, "If there are technologies that can write for us, why are we in a writing class?"

That conversation opens up a lot of the value of being in a writing intensive classit's a real investment in writing as a way of thinking, a way of developing the intellectual skills that are necessary to carry a person through their college career and beyond. Introducing that question early on creates buy-in for students as to why they're there, and also gives you a place to set the ground rules for how these technologies are going to be used or not used in the classroom.

[Once you have that conversation,] then it becomes easier to create a policy for how large language models should and shouldn't be used in your class. Setting clear expectations around AI and large language model use in the classroom is probably the most important first step for instructors to take right now. And then, if folks want to go beyond just creating a policy, that's where the assignments in TextGenEd become useful.

There are ways to critically integrate the technology in thoughtful and thought-provoking ways that center their affordances for a writing process, give students a window into how these tools work, and increase their literacy with AI and large language models along the way.

What has the student response been like?

The ground rule-setting is really important to them. For students, [AI and large language models are] tools that have been historically associated with cheating and circumventing various intellectual and academic processes, so students have been excited to have sanctioned uses for them, rather than thinking of them as taboo. I integrate large language models in a personal essay writing assignment at the end of my first-year writing course, and many students have told me that's the reason they're taking my class.

How do you feel about the future of writing instruction with AI around? Do you feel worried? Optimistic? A bit of both?

I guess I'd say a bit of both. It's been uplifting to see writing and rhetoric scholars have what it takes to meet this moment in a thoughtful and nuanced way, which is evident in the assignments that are in TextGenEd. One positive outcome of doing the collection for me personally is learning that we, as a group of educators and scholars, have what it takes to contend with these tools in a way that meets the learning goals of whatever class we're teaching while preparing our students better to live in this new world [of AI and large language models].

I am looking forward to seeing more research come out on how writers are actually using large language models in their practice. This is a very nascent research fieldand I'm part of research that is hoping to contribute to this areabecause widespread access to higher quality large language models hasn't been around for very long. So the research needs to catch up with how people are using it across creative, academic, and professional settings. I'm most curious and a little bit nervous about the latter, because how these technologies are used in the workforce will inform how educators need to approach them.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

A lossless and coherent energy exchange between the separated quantum battery and quantum charger is mediated by the electromagnetic field. It permits the realization of a remote-charging and anti-aging quantum battery. Credit: Prof. Jun-Hong An.

A new study by researchers at Lanzhou University and Hubei University proposes a quantum battery (QB) charging scheme based on a rectangular hollow metal waveguide. This approach allows them to overcome environment-induced decoherence and charging distance limitations. The findings are published in Physical Review Letters.

The demand and supply for batteries continue to grow with a focus on enhancing energy storage, longevity, and charging capabilities. On this front, scientists are now developing quantum batteries that leverage principles of quantum mechanics to store and supply energy.

The aim is to use fundamental principles of quantum mechanics such as entanglement and coherence to overcome the constraints of classical physics, thereby achieving stronger charging power, higher charging capacity, and larger work extraction compared to classical counterparts.

The new study explores the QB by placing the battery and charger in a rectangular hollow waveguide. This method aims to mitigate the effects of decoherence to achieve long-lasting and efficient QB performance.

Speaking of the team's motivation to explore quantum batteries, the lead author of the study, Prof. Jun-Hong An from Lanzhou University, China, told Phys.org, "Decoherence challenges cause the spontaneous energy loss of QB, which is called the aging of QB."

"The other challenge for the practical performance of QB is its low charging efficiency resulting from the fragility of coherent interactions between the QB and its charger. We wanted to overcome these challenges."

Quantum battery and waveguides

The QB model is based on two two-level systems (TLSs), which are systems having two distinct energy levels. These energy levels are typically represented as a ground state and an excited state.

One system is the battery itself and the other is the charger. The charging and energy exchange processes between these TLSs play a key role in the functioning of the QB system. TLSs are charged by establishing a coherent coupling with other TLSs or external fields.

In the context of QBs, coherent coupling is a synchronized and correlated interaction between these quantum systems, allowing for the transfer or exchange of energy. These coherent interactions are fragile and introduce decoherence into these systems.

"Any quantum system cannot be absolutely isolated from its outer environment, which inevitably induces unwanted decoherence to the system," explained Prof. Jun-Hong.

These models realize charging via direct charger-QB interaction. However, this relationship is affected by the distance between the two resulting in a decline in charging efficiency. To overcome this and the decoherence problem the researchers introduced rectangular hollow waveguides.

A waveguide is a structure that guides waves, typically electromagnetic waves, along a specific path. It acts as a conduit for the waves, confining and directing them to travel in a controlled manner.

"The rectangular hollow metal waveguide is used to collect and guide the electromagnetic field to mediate the energy transfer between the QB and charger," said Prof Jun-Hong.

The energy transfer itself occurs without direct contact between the two TLSs, introducing a novel approach to the QB charging process.

Quantized interactions

The researchers' model hinges on the quantized interaction between the electromagnetic field and matter within a waveguide.

Within the confines of the waveguide, the electromagnetic field possesses specific dispersion relations and bandgap structures, which are parameters influencing its propagation and interactions within the quantum system.

Initially, this electromagnetic field is in a vacuum state, meaning there are no photons in its modes. Meanwhile, the QB is in its ground state, and the charger is in an excited state.

The charger undergoes a transition from an excited state to the ground state, emitting a photon in the electromagnetic field. This introduces an excitation in the electromagnetic field leading to the field having infinite modes (or possible configurations).

The photon subsequently gets absorbed by the QB which transitions to an excited state.

Although having infinite modes in the electromagnetic field would typically induce decoherence in the quantum system, the surprising aspect is that the researchers found this infinite-mode field acts as an environment and, contrary to expectations, facilitates coherent QB-charger energy exchange.

"Our work reveals a mechanism for making a coherent QB-charger energy exchange happen by the mediation role of the infinite-mode electromagnetic field," explained Prof. Jun-Hong.

Charging dynamics and future work

The unexpected finding that decoherence in the system doesn't lead to the aging of the QB contradicts popular belief. Instead, the researchers note that the energy exchange is an optimal charging processtypically expected in scenarios where the charger and QB directly interact.

Further, their QB scheme showed a long range for wireless charging, with the formation of two bound states in the energy spectrum of the total systems (QB-charger-environment) playing a crucial role.

"A take-home message of our work is that the quantum interconnects favored by the waveguide supply us with a useful way to overcome the challenges in the practical realization of QB," added Prof. Jun-Hong.

This improves the effectiveness of QB and opens the door to the possibility of lighter and thinner devices with greater facilitation, which also stands out for its durability.

Prof. Jun-Hong also highlighted that their device was completely safe and harmless as the electromagnetic field is always confined within the waveguide and the QB's energy storage, free from electrochemical reactions, promotes infinite reusability without environmental pollution.

The next step for the researchers is to scale their QB scheme.

"More specifically, we plan to develop a many-body QB model working in the way of remote wireless charging. This could permit us to efficiently incorporate the superiority of quantum entanglement in enhancing the charging power, charging capacity, and the extractable work of a remote-charging and anti-aging QB," concluded Prof. Jun-Hong.

 2024 Science X Network
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Donna Lindstrom was lying in bed and looking at her phone Wednesday morning when she heard a loud bang that rattled her 19th-century house in the central Connecticut town of East Hampton.

Soon, the 66-year-old retired delivery driver and dozens of other town residents were on social media, discussing the latest occurrence of strange explosive sounds and rumblings known for hundreds of years as the "Moodus Noises."

"It was like a sonic boom," Lindstrom said. "It was a real short jolt and loud. It felt deep, deep, deep."

It was indeed a tiny earthquake with a magnitude of 1.7, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Robert Thorson, an earth sciences professor at the University of Connecticut, said booms, rumblings and rattling have been recorded in the East Hampton area, including the nearby village of Moodus, for centuries, dating back well before a larger earthquake, recorded on May 16, 1791, knocked down stone walls and chimneys.

In fact, Moodus is short for "Machimoodus" or "Mackimoodus," which means "place of bad noises" in the Algonquian dialects once spoken in the area. A local high school has even nicknamed their teams "The Noises," in honor of that history.

The occurrences were frequent enough that the federal government, worried about the possible effect of seismic activity on the nearby, now-decommissioned Haddam Neck Nuclear Power Plant, conducted a study of the "Moodus Noises" in the late 1980s, Thorson said.

What they found was that the noises were the result of small but unusually shallow seismic displacements within an unusually strong and brittle crust, where the sound is amplified by rock fractures and topography, he said.

"There is something about Moodus that is tectonic that is creating these noises there," Thorson said. "And then there is something acoustic that is amplifying or modifying the noises and we don't really have a good answer for the cause of either."

Thorson said there could be a series of underground fractures or hollows in the area that help amplify the sounds made by pressure on the crust.

"That's going to create crunching noises," he said. "You know what this is like when you hear ice cubes break."

It doesn't mean the area is in danger of a big quake, he said.

"Rift faults that we used to have here (millions of years ago) are gone," he said. "We replaced that with a compressional stress."

That stress, he said, has led to the crunching and occasional bangs and small quakes associated with the "Moodus Noises."

"It's just something we all have to live with," said Lindstrom. "I'm just glad I don't live in California."

 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

The QASIS system by designer Kriso Leinfellner won first place in the Artemis Lunar Gateway Cargo Packing and Storing Challenge for use in space. This design maximizes stowage capacity, uses lightweight structures, and shows ease of use without the complexities of motors, batteries, and electronics. Credit: QASIS / NASA

Packing to go to space is a lot like getting ready for a plane ride with only a carry-on bag. You have to maximize the use of the space in your bag at the same time you want to make sure you have what you need. That's the challenge astronauts face in the upcoming Artemis moon missions. So, NASA held a competition to figure out the best and most innovative ways to store cargo for the missions.

The Lunar Gateway Cargo Packing and Storing challenge asked members of the public to come up with good ways to pack materials in the limited space on the lunar Gateway that will be orbiting the moon. The idea inspired some 90 participants from 35 countries to step up and show off their packing skills. It also helped that there were cash prizes for the winners. Everybody submitted written solutions and 3D computer models to show what could be done for astronauts who would need easy, quick access to their cargo.

The design parameters had to take into account storing the cargo delivered to the gateway by the logistics module. The most efficient space design would allow astronauts to access the cargo easily in the module, which will also be their food and supply storage room, plus a place to store trash. So, given everything that needs to be placed there efficiently, the idea was to maximize volume and minimize mass.

The best design came from Austria, made by designer Kriso Leinfellner. It's called QASIS, short for Quick Access Storage in Space. It's a fairly straightforward method of stacking and packing that maximizes the amount of space the cargo takes up. It also proposes lightweight storage structures and does not rely on motors or batteries to power cranes or other equipment to move the boxes.

Leinfellner won $3,000.00 for this design.

Four other prizes of amounts ranging from $2,000.00 to $250.00 were awarded to winners from Turkey, Brazil, Nigeria, and Germany. They took into account launch and orbital conditions, and several specified manual and/or automated systems to move cargo around for access.

The complex supply logistics of the Artemis mission. Credit: NASA

Packing space for Artemis and the Gateway

The Artemis program will have multiple missions, and the logistics will vary with each crew or cargo trip. So, the "packing space" challenge used the following scenario. A crew of four launches in the Orion capsule on top of an SLS rocket on a three-week mission to the Gateway. Two crew members will then travel on to the moon to spend a week of exploration and science experiments. Before the crew arrives at Gateway, it will have already been visited by an uncrewed Logistics module packed with supplies. It will be there waiting for the astronauts to arrive about a week later.

Just to make things more complicated, there won't be a lot of space available at the Gateway. NASA's plans show that the station will be about the size of a one-bedroom apartment, so a fraction of the size of the International Space Station. Once the astronauts get there, they'll move in, using an internal system to help them stow the supplies. The contest asked entrants to design that stowage system.

Artemis Mission overview

The Artemis mission is an ambitious long-range plan for lunar exploration and eventual habitation. It focuses primarily on scientific exploration of the lunar surface. Lessons learned on the moon will translate to longer-term missions to Mars. The Gateway part of the mission is crucial. It provides an orbiting space station on the moon, which will function as a transfer point and supply depot.

There are Deep Space Logistics project offices at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. However, the Kennedy Space Center is responsible for leading the commercial supply chain. That team solicits and procures bids for cargo transport, equipment acquisition, and consumable supplies for the missionboth in the gateway and on the lunar surface.

Why such a complex chain? It's a complex mission, involving the construction of the Gateway, which requires transport of materials to the "construction site" in lunar orbit. It's going to be there for several years, so long-term viability is important. It serves as the link to the lunar surface and so it will become the staging area for materials needed on the moon for bases and installations.

Everything for Artemis and its Gateway has to withstand the rigors of launch, orbital insertion at the moon, and use/reuse by the astronauts who will be passing through. Five Artemis missions will happen. Others are still in the proposal stages. Artemis 1 flew in 2022 as an uncrewed test flight. It "practiced" putting Orion into lunar orbit and then brought the capsule back to Earth.

Artemis 2 could fly in late 2025, although that will likely slip. It will be the first crewed test flight and will do orbital testing around Earth and the moon. Artemis 3 will be the first crewed lunar landing, bringing a diverse set of astronauts to the newly built lunar Gateway and then to the moon. After that, Artemis 4 and 5 will fly (dates still to be determined) and will take astronauts to the gateway and lunar surface for further explorations.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Rising temperatures and melting ice play a central role in the unfolding Anthropocenei.e., the most recent geologic period in Earth's history. What distinguishes the Anthropocene from prehistoric human impacts on the environment, mainly those caused by the early use of fire, is the fact that humans are now aware of what's going onmore or less.

Melting ice not only raises sea levelswhich is easy to measure and has obvious, immediate effects on human societybut it also serves as a universal indicator of where human habitats, and planetary life more broadly, are heading. Yet we are still only scratching the surface of what these changes might mean, as calculated and thoughtful predictions continue to surprise us, usually with bad news.

In "Melt in the Future Subjunctive," Rice University Professor Cymene Howe's chapter from the book "Ecological Nostalgias," seeks to fill in the picture, theorizing the place of ice in modern life and zooming in on glacial-hydrospheric ethnography, particularly in Iceland. In doing so, she contributes to the current efforts to carve out a new space for anthropology and a host of other academic communities, including geography and literary studies.

Iceland provides a useful site for Howe's explorations. A notable part of its surface, about 10%, is covered with 400 glaciers that have been documented in detail in both folklore and historical and scientific reports, especially over the last couple of centuries.

What, then, is the salience of melting ice for our modern world? While the polar bear became a poignant figure decades ago, capturing global attention as the tragic victim of climate change, more recently it has captured the imagination of Icelanders. Polar bears are not native to Iceland, although through the centuries they have occasionally visited the country on ice floes. Now, they increasingly swim over from Greenland as their own native glaciers shrink, sparking lively debates on human and other-than-human rights and protections.

Howe also highlights the ways in which Icelandic perceptions and dialogues have captured the stickiness of jokulhlaup, or glacial outburst flooding as a result of geothermal activities. The Icelandic term jokulhlaup has seeped into geologic language, representing glacial floodings for many reasons, including those pertaining to the Anthropocene. Likewise, the native notion of jokultunga, or glacial tonguea well-established term in Icelandiccan serve as a metaphor for the glacier as an entity that speaks. These concepts are illustrated in Howe's chapter by her own powerful photography from different parts of Iceland.

Howe draws upon philosopher Michel Serres distinction between "hard" and "soft," suggesting that hard ice (as found in nature) is only made soft through human agency. She adds an important qualification though: "The hard and the soft no longer hold (if they ever did). We are in a place much stickier than that."

This "stickiness has probably always epitomized the relationship between natural and social worlds and their sciences," Howe writes. Time too is increasingly soft and sticky. For decades, ice cores extracted in Arctic and subarctic zones have provided stunning insights into global climate in deep time, establishing a highly useful ecological, historical and social archive. Now, as Howe concludes, "iceportends a future as well," sticking its "tongue" out toward the coming and the unknown.

This is an exciting article, offering perceptive observations on frozen and fluid hydrospheres at a moment of exponential change, drawing attention to their potential theoretical and practical implications as sites of innovative anthropological analyses and effective environmental politics.

This story is republished courtesy of Earth Institute, Columbia University http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

The soft-bodied sea anemone does not produce reef-forming rocky skeletons on its own, but was induced to produce skeleton creating proteins, turning it into a good model system for studying coral reefs. Credit: Brent Foster

In a bit of biological magic, some tiny, jellyfish-like creatures learned eons ago how to weave seawater into durable, life-sustaining, rocky coral reefs, which provide billions in economic benefits.

But the magic is fading. In the face of warming, acidifying oceans, coral skeletons are at risk of dissolving. Scientists are racing to develop ways to help stave off collapse. But their efforts are hampered by the difficulty of studying delicate coral polyps in the lab.

In a first for helping coral polyps respond to these threats, scientists from the University of Florida have recreated the first stage of the coral skeleton creation process in a common, squishy sea anemone. The technique transforms this soft-bodied creature into the perfect lab model for researching coral skeletons and developing ways to bolster coral polyps in a changing climate.

The researchers have published their findings in the journal iScience.

"The whole ecosystem is dying. You can listen to the death all you want, but what are you going to do to fix it?" said Mark Martindale, Ph.D., director of the University of Florida's Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and supervising researcher on the study. "In order to do that, you need to understand what the problems are. And you need an experimental system to do that. Now we have that system."

Stony corals like these are at risk in a changing climate, but are difficult to study in the lab. An easy-to-use lab system will help scientists study solutions to assist corals. Credit: Brent Foster

While coral polyps are reluctant to grow in the lab, the anemone Nematostella vectensis is a breeze to work with. It was the first in the family of jellyfish and corals to have its genome sequenced. Deleting or editing its genes or adding to its genome is straightforward. It has all the hallmarks of a great system for studying coral skeletonsexcept for the fact that it doesn't produce any skeleton.

So, the Martindale lab asked the obvious question: Can we get Nematostella to act like a coral polyp and transform seawater into rock? If so, the anemone could provide a way to test fixes for wild corals.

To find out, the scientists injected Nematostella embryos with a gene from the stony coral Stylophora pistillata known for helping the animal concentrate the calcium that ultimately leads to skeleton formation. In the soft-bodied sea anemone, scientists saw the coral protein gathering up calcium and otherwise acting just as it does in the rocky coral.

Going forward, scientists can alter this gene and the others involved in coral skeleton production, tweaking their way toward creating climate-resilient coral polyps, said Brent Foster, a researcher in the lab and first author of the paper.

The red fluorescence in this image shows the soft-bodied sea anemone expressing a stony coral skeleton producing protein, demonstrating that the sea anemone can be a good model system for this vital process. Credit: Brent Foster

The sea anemone can be used to study other hard structures as well, even tooth enamel. These processes all fall under the umbrella of biomineralization, in which living creatures create hard structures from minerals like calcium.

"The next step is to understand how cells regulate the microenvironment that promotes biomineralization," said Federica Scucchia, a postdoctoral researcher in Martindale's lab and co-author of the report.

The Whitney Laboratory team collaborated with scientists at the Institute of Human Genetics in Montpelier, France, Cornell University and Cardiff University to complete the study.

More information: Brent Foster et al, A novel in vivo system to study coral biomineralization in the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, iScience (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109131
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Managers can do much to help their workers become more resilient to inevitable time disruptions in today's workplace, says new research from The University of Texas at Austin.

With intricate supply chains and operations that sprawl across time zones, workplace time disturbances are only increasing. Such temporal disruptions aren't just inconvenient, says David Harrison, Texas McCombs professor of management professor: They can carry tangible business costs, such as impaired health, increased mistakes, and reduced productivity.

In a new study with Liliana Perez-Nordtvedt of The University of Texas at Arlington, Harrison looks at how to make such disruptions less disruptive by fitting individuals' workflows and psychologies to new arrangements in time.

"There are different patterns of resilience to different kinds of changes in time," Harrison says. So, rather than a one-size-fits-all strategy for resilience, he finds three: adjusting, absorbing, and adopting. Each has strengths and weaknesses, depending on the length and severity of a disruption:

Adjusting: Outwardly, workers change their schedules. But psychologically, they resist change, expecting that routines will soon return to normal.

Absorbing: Employees absorb disruptions by shifting tasks around to accommodate them.

Adopting: When a disruption looks to be long-term, some people accept the new normal and reorganize their lives around it.

Harrison offers several ideas to foster temporal resilience in the workplacebefore disruptions strike.

Flexible Deadlines: "The more you can loosen up tight time cycles, the better able people are going to be to rejigger their cycles to meet the demands," Harrison says.

Margins: Include flex in schedules so minor interruptions don't wreck an entire day. For example, Harrison himself leaves at least a half-hour between meetings. "Build in that little buffer," he advises. "If everything's super-duper wound tight, then nobody's ever going to be on time."

Bite-sized Shifts: If a manager needs to make a major time change, Harrison suggests breaking it into a series of smaller changes, giving workers time to adapt to each stage.

Patience: Finally, he advises, don't expect superhuman performance. When there are shocks to schedules, allow for short-term dips.

"Recognize that it's not people being resistant to change," he says. "It's people being organisms for whom time is a fundamental element of dealing with the environment. Time has a learning curve, too."

The findings are published in the journal Academy of Management Review.

More information: Liliana Perez-Nordtvedt et al, From Time Wrinkling to Time Razing Disruptions: Understanding Temporal Resilience, Academy of Management Review (2024). DOI: 10.5465/amr.2022.0452
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Not since 2015 has Washington's snowpack fallen so far below normal. Some regions of the state are preparing for another drought this summer. Others are still enmeshed in the drought that began last summer.

No place embodies Washington's distinct lack of snow as much as the Olympic Peninsula, which has just half of what could be considered normal snowpack. And the area is already rumbling with fresh talk of likely water restrictions for the months ahead.

A spate of recent snowstorms did help but not enough and little additional help appears to be on the way before April 1, generally accepted as the peak of the winter snowpack.

"Even if we had a miracle March it would take a lot of snow to get us to normal," said Caroline Mellor, water resources statewide drought lead for the state's Department of Ecology.

How bad is it?

It's pretty lousy. The worst in nearly a decade but Washington's still in better shape than it was in 2015, which state climatologist Nick Bond said is the worst on record.

On this date in 2015 the vast majority of the state had less than 50% of what would be considered a normal snowpack and many places fell below even 25% of normal, according to data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service.

This year Puget Sound watersheds are hovering between 64% and 71% of normal. The Columbia River basin sits between 68% and 86% of normal and the Yakima spans between 61% and 82% of normal, Conservation Service data shows. The lower Snake River, around Walla Walla is in the best shape with about 90% of normal snowpack. And the Olympic Peninsula is faring the worst with 51% of normal snowpack.

Low snowpack means less water for rivers and streams across the state, less water for people, for crops, for utilities generating electricity, for fish like salmon and for the rest of the plants and animals that call the Pacific Northwest their home.

Not only do experts and public officials find the dwindling snowpack concerning but they also worry about increasing spring temperatures, which cause it to melt earlier than expected.

The weather over the next few months will help determine conditions throughout the entire summer.

"Spring matters," Bond said. "It can giveth and it can taketh away."

Drought emergency

Water was in such short supply last summer that communities on the Olympic Peninsula faced mandatory water restrictions to save the resource. Seattle Public Utilities opted for voluntary restrictions. At its reservoirs, Seattle City Light wasn't able to produce enough electricity to meet demand so it burned through more than $70 million in emergency reserves forcing a rate hike to compensate.

By early July Ecology declared a drought advisory across the entire state and by the end of the month it followed up by announcing a drought emergency across 12 counties. The declaration unlocks state funding and expedites help for governments requesting it, Mellor said.

The drought emergency is still in effect, it will expire June 30, though Mellor said her team is consistently watching to see if they should extend the declaration through the summer.

"We have a high probability of above-average temps and below-average precip over the next three months," she said. "That definitely has us highly concerned."

Even the rosiest predictions show rivers like the Elwha and Dungeness will still only flow with around 80% of their normal water levels, said Brent Bower, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service.

People across the peninsula are bracing for additional water restrictions, said state Rep. Mike Chapman, D-Port Angeles. This year's drought "looks like one of the worst we may have ever seen," he said.

Climate change is compounding the effects of these droughts year after year, Port Angeles City Council Member LaTrisha Suggs said in an email.

The Elwha is the sole water supply for around 25,000 people, Suggs said, and perhaps residents need to be warned to conserve water ahead early rather than waiting until the supply is low.

On the Dungeness the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe is preparing for the worst, said Hansi Hals, director of the tribe's Natural Resources Department. The river hit historic lows last year, spelling trouble for Chinook salmon and other fish species.

But the tribe cast a wide net with its partners on a state and local level and saw major success, Hals said. Some water users agreed to draw less water from the river, easing the pressure. Others agreed to coordinate periods where they'd stop drawing water for several hours at a time to boost the river's flows. Others still worked on site, using rocks to channel and pool water at different places on the river.

The effort worked, Hals said. Chinook surpassed the tribe's recovery goal for returning adults.

Now, though, the tribe and its partners have to do it all over again, Hals said. They're getting used to the process, fine tuning it where they can, because these types of low-stream flows are likely to be the normal 30 years from now.

Another alarming trend for the peninsula is the ongoing disappearance of glaciers across the Olympics, shifting the watersheds in the region toward a rain-dominant supply of water, said Anne Shaffer, executive director of the Coastal Watershed Institute in Port Angeles.

"What happens when we go from glaciers, which are so consistent, to rain, which isn't?" she said.

Bond noted that La Nina conditions might bring a bit of respite but the cool, wet weather it's expected to bring won't begin until the next wet season, so we'll have to make it through this summer first.

2024 The Seattle Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
GLENS FALLS  Glens Falls officials are seeking to repair the roof of the City Hall third floor courtroom.

At the first Neighborhood Community Discussion hosted by the Glens Falls Democratic Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 28, Mayor Bill Collins and Glens Falls City Judge Gary Hobbs explained how the city and state Office of Court Administration plan to complete the renovations.

Hobbs said its been about 60 years since the court room received proper structural attention. From new lighting to the addition of jury boxes, there is a large amount of room for improvement, according to Hobbs.

The lighting is poor in there; the sound system works sometimes in there and many times it doesnt. We dont have a jury box for jurors to sit in, we sort of scatter our jurors across the room when we have jury trials, he said.

Another noted issue with the courtroom is the step leading to the judges bench. Because of the singular step, the courtroom is lacking compliance with the Americans Disabilities Act.

The courtroom also serves as the Common Council chambers on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Because of the space being shared, Glens Falls City Court removes their equipment prior to the council meetings and then may not have equipment functioning properly when they move everything back for the next court session.

There will be designated switches for both the council and the courts equipment to improve functionality, Hobbs said.

There are plans for three screens, youll be able to have a computer to show presentations or exhibits on the screen so people can see them, he said. If there are people at the council meeting virtually, they will be able to be on the screen so people can see and hear them.

Collins said it will be a joint financial effort to complete the renovations. There will be a working relation not only between the court and the city, but the New York State Office of Court Administration will reimburse the city for the funds invested in improvements.

They will pay the city, plus an additional 5% of the citys labor, Hobbs said.

The next Neighborhood Community Discussion with Hobbs, Collins, and Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 6 at Big Cross Elementary School and Thursday, March 21 at Kensington Road Elementary School. All three are Democrats. Woerners district, number 113 includes Glens Falls.
What started as a conversation about doomsday preppers turned into a bucket-list experience of mine that I now wish I never had on my bucket list in the first place.

The newsroom conversation between fellow reporter Alex Portal and editor Andrew Valenza about doomsday prepping and the best items to include, Valenza spoke about his experience with Meals, Ready to Eat as he is a National Guard member.

I understand the obscurity of it all, but consuming an MRE as a civilian has always been on my radar thanks to a YouTube rabbit hole that I fell down in my early 20s. Countless videos about the lightweight, bland packaged and tasting meal packs sparked my curiosity of not only what they taste likebut what they do to the human body.

Now, I am in no way fit for what the United States military, but the gastrointestinal mayhem this one package of elbow macaroni and tomato sauce created made me regret my meal selection.

Other items beyond the main course included peach and mango applesauce, ring-shaped barbecue protein puffs, chocolate protein drink powder, and a wheat snack bread with peanut butter and strawberry jam, and cinnamon gum.

Beyond the food there were matches and a sick joke for toilet paper. I will now tell you about each individually and what I believe sat in my stomach like a brick until I woke up the next day.

Elbow Macaroni in Tomato Sauce

To make sure I had an authentic experience, I took some tips from Valenza. He said to get the real deal, I should skip the heating process. Considering I was on the third floor of the Travelers Building, I didnt want to set off any alarms. I do want to highlight that the heating instructions said to lean the package against a rock or something, and that served as a reminder about what I was actually consuming.

With the first bite I took, my initial thought was how the sauce tasted like a Totinos Pizza Roll. The texture of the elbows was very al dente and lucky for me, I dont mind eating cold pasta. Adding the iodized salt package to the pasta is what I think saved it from being too bland. The one packet of pasta and sauce not only gave me some of the worst acid reflux Ive had, but it also felt like my stomach didnt start breaking any of it down until six to eight hours after I ate it. Needless to say, the MRE was all I ate that day.

Elbow Macaroni in Tomato Sauce: 4/10

Mango Peach Applesauce and peanut butter and jelly

The sides of the meal were arguably the best. The applesauce was the first item I broke into, and it reminded me of a larger Go-Go Squeeze. Although the packaging resembled a hot water bottle, I was impressed with the quantity of applesauce and the taste wasnt as bad as I was prepared for. I did lean on a side of caution while eating it though because of awareness of mold in Go-Go Squeezes.

As for the peanut butter and jelly on wheat snack bread, I was skeptical of the bread. When I took it out of the package, it was so thin that I was wondering if soldiers would attempt to make two slices, but I have a feeling I ate it the way they would by spreading everything on top.

Although the bread was as dry as the Sahara, I was trying to put myself in the headspace of how regardless of the dryness, I imagine being deployed and, in the field, the peanut butter and jelly would be a comfort and not actually as bad as it seems to me. Theres definitely privilege in knowing MREs arent a constant source of nutrition for myself, and it made me consider that when service members make sacrifices for their country, the food could at least be a little better and not cause so many gastrointestinal problems.

Mango Peach Applesauce: 7.5/10

Peanut butter and jelly: 7/10

Chocolate Protein Drink Powder and Ring-Shaped Barbecue Protein Puffs

The Ring-Shaped Barbecue Protein Puffs were single-handedly the worst part of the whole MRE. I actually ended up giving them to Portal since he thought they were pretty good. The sound the so-called puffs would make when you bite into them could be heard from a mile away. They looked like inflated Cheerios and had a lingering taste of barbecue.

When it comes to the Chocolate Protein Drink Powder, I ended up adding the freeze-dried coffee to the powder, a trick Valenza said some in the military do. I think the drink might have honestly been the best. I was ready to taste something that was similar to a Yoo-Hoo, but the consistency of it was nowhere near close. I could see myself having another sometime. Not soon, but it wasnt terrible.

Chocolate Protein Drink Powder: 8.5/10

Ring-Shaped Barbecue Protein Puffs: 2/10

Overall

After consuming the entire MRE, I was full and nauseous. I didnt eat anything for the rest of the day and finally felt better after a full eight hours of sleep. I definitely understand the accessibility and that they are better than starving, but I still think those who give up their freedom to fight should have something a little less invasive on the human digestive track.

I would consider eating another and reviewing it, but I think I need a month before another to make sure the first is fully out of my system.
COLOMBO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) program in Sri Lanka is showing signs of working and translating into real outcomes, an IMF official said Thursday.

Peter Breuer, IMF's senior mission chief for Sri Lanka made the remarks during the meeting with President Ranil Wickremesinghe, said the President's Media Division.

Breuer said the positive outcome came thanks to Sri Lankan authorities' commitment to the program and implementation.

Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka's State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said the above-mentioned meeting marks the IMF's second review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement for the South Asian country.

Semasinghe said the Sri Lankan government aims for a successful review and reaching a staff-level agreement which will help unlock about 337 million U.S. dollars in the third tranche of the IMF's bailout package.

In March 2023, the IMF approved a 48-month extended arrangement under the EFF of about 3 billion dollars to support Sri Lanka's economic policies and reforms. 
PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account.
ATLANTIC CITY  The attorney representing about 130 residents of Stanley Holmes Village in a lawsuit over unsafe and unhealthy conditions there is asking the Atlantic City Housing Authority to protect residents' rights as they redevelop the troubled complex.

The Housing Authority board voted in November to start a Section 18 demolition, which Olga Pomar of South Jersey Legal Services said would allow the demolition of all 420 Stanley Holmes units without replacing any of them.

"That's not the way they should go. They should go through a program that will require them to rebuild," she said in a Wednesday interview.

The board has said it will replace some, but not all, of the 420 units at Stanley Holmes with townhome-type units in the city. But it has put no guarantees in writing.

In January it hired a consultant to focus on demolishing and replacing Stanley Holmes.

"The ACHA should proceed in accordance with the concepts contained in the plan it submitted to the court," Pomar recommended to the board at its February meeting. "That plan proposed downsizing (Stanley) by approximately one-third in order to make it more economically feasible to maintain it in livable condition, and conducting relocation and demolition in phases over the course of up to five years."

Pomar said Wednesday that redevelopment of public housing should improve people's living situations and give them more choices and opportunities.

"It shouldn't force people to go into housing that is not desirable, is in bad condition and that they don't want to go to," Pomar said.

HUD back in Atlantic City for meeting at Stanley Holmes Village Officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development were back in town Thursday and held a private meeting with selected residents of Stanley Holmes Village.

The tight housing market, rising rents and ongoing loss of subsidized and lower-cost housing in the region makes it critical that more units serving the most vulnerable low-income households in Atlantic City not be lost, Pomar said in her recommendations.

Under a straight Section 18 demolition, however, residents would either have to accept Section 8 vouchers to move to privately owned housing or move to other Housing Authority properties.

Virtually all of the authorities' other properties, however, have problems similar to Stanley's, she said. They have experienced inconsistent heating and hot water, mold and pest infestations, water intrusion and more.

An approach that keeps about two-thirds of Stanley intact, on the other hand, would allow residents who want to stay there the option of remaining on site until replacement units are created, Pomar said.

"Downsizing must be planned and carried out so as to retain a cohesive community and not allow the increase of vacant units to exacerbate blight effect and increase safety and security concerns," Pomar said.

She asked the authority to develop a plan for keeping remaining units in intact blocks.

The board did not respond to Pomar's recommendations at the meeting, and she said Wednesday she has heard nothing from the authority about her suggestions since then.

There is a special board meeting set for 1:30 p.m. Friday, but the authority had not posted an agenda with specifics about what will be discussed on its website as of Wednesday evening.

Atlantic City Housing Authority opens Section 8 list, grapples with security deposit needs The Atlantic City Housing Authority board opened its Section 8 housing voucher wait list, certified its 2022 financial audit and created a new meal reimbursement policy for tenants temporarily displaced from their apartments at its meeting Thursday night.

Superior Court Judge John Porto has ordered the authority to have a new heating system in place by Oct. 1, 2025, for the Stanley Holmes complex, but the authority has not met many of his other deadlines since the residents filed suit over conditions there in November 2022.

Meanwhile, Pomar has sent a letter to Porto advising him the authority still has not complied with his orders to provide information and updates to her and the court.

"Unfortunately, ACHA continues to violate the Courts Orders," Pomar wrote in a Feb. 21 letter to Porto. "As stated in the Certification, ACHA has not provided the documentation required ... showing whether the use of electric space heaters in SHV units was safe."

That documentation was due Feb. 9, Pomar wrote.

"ACHA has also not given us any information regarding any possible upgrades to the electrical system that would be required to be done by February 29 if there were any potential hazards caused by the space heaters," Pomar wrote.

The judge in January ordered the authority to provide a 25% rent abatement to those residents in the lawsuit, but Pomar said she has not received rent statements the judge ordered the authority to provide so abatements can begin.
Sale took Little Egg by surprise

In Ocean County, Little Egg Harbor taxpayers were hit with the double edge of the sword with the sale of Shooters Sporting Center to Ocean County, which resulted in the loss of $80,000 in ratables and saddling residents with their share of the $10.5 million it cost to purchase the facility. The LBI Sandpaper broke the story and reported that this all came as a surprise to Little Egg's hunters and sport shooters. Now, an important part of the township's history is gone, with little or no transparency to the Little Egg ratepayers.

Art Mooney

Little Egg Harbor

Border crisis comes before Ukraine aid

The president and his cohort Democrats continue to blame the Republicans for not approving additional funding for the Ukrainian war. This funding would have been approved some time ago, had they temporarily closed our southern border as done by President Trump. This is what has been tying up the funding legislation. They are more concerned about someone else's border than the crisis at our own. This immigrant crisis is also causing a big financial burden on sanctuary cities. Yes, there is a problem with the lack of armament being given to the Ukrainian war effort, but as President Trump has stated, "We should always be America first."

Ted Hesser

Mays Landing

Van Drew should pay for anti-choice views

U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd, is so vehemently anti-choice that in 2022 he (1) praised the U.S. Supreme Courts Dobbs decision overturning Roe v Wade, (2) voted against a proposed federal law protecting the right to contraception and (3) voted to prevent pregnant women in anti-choice states like Texas from crossing state borders to obtain an abortion in a free state. (See Dobbs, HR 8292 and HR 8296.)

But voters are not fools. We have witnessed the post-Dobbs suffering of 10- and 12-year old girls who had been raped and impregnated; of Kate Cox, who was denied an abortion in Texas even though her fetus was not viable and the pregnancy threatened her health and future fertility; of Coxs physician, who was threatened with a lifetime prison sentence for trying to treat Ms. Cox; and of too many others. So Mr. Van Drew has gone silent. Now, while he is asking voters to reelect him to Congress, his website contains not a single word about his views on abortion, contraception or Roe v Wade. Obviously he knows that New Jersey voters are strongly pro-choice, and he hopes we wont remember his 2022 rabidly anti-choice votes. But we wont forget. Instead in both the June Democratic primary and the November general election, we will vote for Tim Alexander, whose website boldly promises to protect womens health care, and (who) believes that health care decisions should be made by a woman and her doctor, not by politicians in Washington.

Arlene Groch

Northfield

'Democracy or Trump' on the ballot in 2024

Listen and hear what Trump is saying:

On Fox News at a town hall meeting, Sean Hannity asked Trump if he would be a dictator. Trump said on his first day as president he would be a dictator and get rid of all the immigrants.

If you think Trump is not dangerous, listen and hear what Trump will do as a dictator like his Russian buddy Putin.

Not in any particular order, Trump has said:

Terminate the Constitution of the United States of America. This has been the law of the land and protected democracy for over 200 years. Discontinue Social Security and Medicare for the elderly and disabled, which the American people paid into their entire working lives. Get rid of Obamacare for 40 million Americans. Overrule the insurrection act and control the military at his discretion. Pack the White House with men and women loyal to Trump. Loyalty is Trump's mantra. Control the media. Trump wants people to see and hear only what he decides is the truth. Dispose of all of his political rivals.

Remember, Trump said, "I can shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it." Emulating Hitler, his hero.

Trump means what he says and says what he means  there is no in between!

Sounds like fiction. Sad to say it's true.

Maya Angelou said, "When someone shows you who they are, believe them."

Vote for Democracy, pray for peace.

Sarah Maketansky

Toms River
A rural Sherrard woman who was charged with aggravated animal cruelty after nearly 200 dogs were found on her property in 2022 was found guilty after a bench trial.

Mercer County Circuit Judge Mathew Durbin found Karen Plambeck, 60, guilty on 11 of 12 counts of aggravated animal cruelty during a hearing Wednesday.

Each of the charges is a Class 4 felony under Illinois law that carry a prison sentence of one to four years.

On Aug. 12, 2022, Mercer County Animal Control rescued 198 dogs from Plambecks property after receiving an animal welfare complaint.

Mercer County Sheriffs deputies arrested Plambeck for aggravated cruelty to animals.

Multiple licensed pet rescues in the region helped Mercer County Animal Control with rescuing the dogs.

"This investigation involved the recovery of over 200 dogs from the rural Sherrard property," Mercer County Sheriff Dusty Terrill said. "The generous support from numerous volunteers, local veterinarians, Mercer County Animal Control, numerous animal rescue groups and local law enforcement helped to enable the successful prosecution of Mrs. Plambeck.

'Mercer County States Attorney Grace Simpson spent countless hours preparing and prepping witnesses to successfully prosecute this case," he added.

"I am thankful that the dogs are now being cared for properly and justice has been served on their behalf," Terrill said.

Durbin set Plambecks sentencing for June 10.
Jennifer Mikla and her family didn't live in their home for 51 days.

The 37-year-old mother of three and her boyfriend, Matt Jensen, couldn't move back into their $1,080-a-month manufactured home in Davenport's Silver Creek Mobile Home Park because the city condemned it Feb. 12.

That action came almost a month after every drain in the home overflowed with sewage, spilling human waste and sodden shreds of toilet paper all over the floors. The owner of the property, a Denver-based corporation called Yes! Communities, at first refused to clean the property.

Mikla, Jensen and the children lived in hotels until their money ran out. That's when they called the city and the inspectors closed the property on Feb. 12.

Now the city says the property is fit for people to live in, but Mikla and Jensen say the house has not been properly sanitized.

To make matters worse, they were served an eviction notice Monday. The notice says they owe rent for the months of February and March, even though they did not occupy the home from Jan. 14 to March 4.

Silver Creek's management team changed the locks to the home in February, after Mikla complained to the city, she said. Mikla and Jensen have not been given keys to the home, and even though the city says they can live there, and Yes! Communities is charging them rent, they have to ask management to open the door for them when they enter and lock the home when they leave.

'Who is the city helping?'

Mikla and Jensen were forced to return to their home this week. When they did, they found dried shreds of toilet paper in the areas where cabinets met the floors. They say their bathrooms are infested by phorid flies.

Phorid flies are called "coffin flies" because they breed in decaying, moist matter. They typically consume organic matter found around drains and sewage pipes.

"We called the city in the first place to help us because we had sewage backed up in our home and no one from Yes! Communities would help us," Mikla said. "We haven't been able to get into the home and when we do, we find that nothing has been moved, nothing was cleaned under.

"Yes! had at least three companies in here to clean and nothing besides the floors were sanitized. They cleaned the toilets, which means they wiped them down. They did not clean under anything. The fact we are infested with flies proves the organic matter has not been removed."

And Jensen says when a company attempted to clean the air ducts, dust was blown all over the home.

"We have floor ducts, and the sewage got into them," Jensen said. "When the ducts were supposedly cleaned, they just blew all the dust, including the dried sewage, all over our home.

"The city says our home is fit and clean. We came back and there was dried toilet paper stuck between the bottom of the cabinets and the floor. It was not a thorough cleaning. Who is the city helping?"

The city's side

Nicole Gleason is Davenport's assistant city administrator and public works director. She said Silver Creek's management showed it had the work done to clean Mikla's home.

In an email, she wrote:

"The citys standard to clear any substandard certification is proof that work has been completed by a certified contractor of restoration work. In this case, the city inspected on Feb. 27 and found no evidence of sewage. The proof of work being completed was forwarded to the city on March 4. This is what prompted the removal of the substandard certification. Additionally, the city visited the site again March 4, and required a few minor additional items be sanitized which was done while the city was on-site."

Gleason said Silver Creek was not fined " ... because Yes! Communities has met all established deadlines for completing the work."

As for any infrastructure issues raised by sewage backing into Mikla's home, Gleason said responsibility for the back-up falls on Silver Creek and Yes! Communities.

"The cause of the sewer backing up would only require city intervention if it was due to the city sewer line. It was determined that the backup was all internal to the mobile home park, therefore, a root cause was not determined," Gleason wrote. "It is not within the citys (purview) to manage the root cause, it is purely to ensure that the landlord performs the restoration and provides certification that the restoration has been completed."

Trying to move on

Jensen said he feels like the city protected Yes! Communities while he and his family were left "to just figure things out."

"Do you know how we survived? We survived because strangers helped us, that's the only reason we are here," he said. "People we didn't even know came forward and offered us help. Private citizens. It wasn't the city. It wasn't Silver Creek or Yes! Communities.

"The sewage backing up into our home was not our fault. We didn't do anything wrong. We were not negligent. If it wasn't for strangers coming forward, I don't know where we will be."

Mikla and Jensen were at their financial end by Feb. 12, when the city officially closed their home. They had paid January rent, but had paid for hotels from the time they vacated on Jan. 14 to Feb. 12.

They now face a demand for $2,213 from Yes! Communities for unpaid rent.

"A man from Moline helped us," Mikla said. "He paid for us to stay in a hotel and he helped us. Took us to dinner."

That same man is helping Mikla and Jensen find another home. He has asked to remain anonymous.

Davenport City Council member Mhiso Lynch, who represents the 7th Ward, gave the family a place to stay at her bed and breakfast.

She made that decision after Mikla spoke at the Feb. 28 City Council meeting.

"Jennifer (Mikla) spoke and it was terrible to hear," Lynch said. "So of course I did what I could to help. It wasn't a hard decision. I had the resources and could help, so I did."

Jensen said a number of other aldermen stepped up after that meeting and pledged support  Jade Burkholder, 4th Ward; Tim Dunn, 2nd Ward; Tim Kelly, 5th Ward; and Jazmine Newton, at-large.

Mikla said Kelly and Dunn took the time to visit their home.

That individual care contrasts with how Mikla feels the city has treated the family.

"I feel like the city doesn't really want to hear about problems. I'm not sure, but I feel like the city really isn't interested in hearing from its citizens," she said.

Mikla said she feels like the city never really advocated for her family.

"The city has basically dismissed their standards stating they have no control over a rental company who privately owns the land. So, we as tenants are stuck standing our ground to ensure the safety and health of the tenants after us because no one else is," Mikla said. "I can accept any liabilities that come from it because I know Im doing the right thing and its teaching my children to do the same."

Counties with the most prewar homes in Iowa Counties with the most prewar homes in Iowa #10. Clayton County #9. Ida County #6. Taylor County #5. Worth County #3. Keokuk County
The victim in Monday's shooting has been identified as 16-year-old DeZia L. Bailey.

Bailey died at a hospital Monday night after suffering from a gunshot wound.

Just before 10 p.m. on Monday, March 4, Davenport police, fire and EMS responded to a home in the 1800 block of Grand Ave. for a report of a gunshot victim. Officers found Bailey inside the home with an apparent gunshot wound.

She was transported to a local hospital where she later died. Investigators said the incident does not appear to be a random act of violence and remains under investigation.

Before Bailey was identified, Davenport Community School District said in an email to the Quad-City Times/Dispatch-Argus the teen attended Mid-City High School.

The district said it has called in its crisis response team and additional counseling for Mid-Citys students and staff. Those resources will be available through the week.

District staff are working with law enforcement.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Davenport Police Department at 563-326-6125 or submit an anonymous tip to QC Crime Stoppers by visiting www.qccrimestoppers.com or downloading the P3 Tips app.
A woman accused of hiding her sons death for months has asked a judge to reconsider her sentence.

In July, police found Zion Staples body in a garbage can in the garage of his Rock Island home, according to authorities. Investigators think the 10-year-old died some time in December of 2022 when a gun he was playing with went off. Authorities believe his death was an accident.

Authorities do not think Sushi Staples, now 38, was home when her son died but think she concealed the boys death once she learned of it.

In February, Judge Frank Fuhr sentenced Staples to two years in an Illinois prison followed by six months of mandatory supervised release on a count of endangering a child. Staples had pleaded guilty to the count as part of an agreement with the Rock Island County States Attorneys Office.

On Feb. 20, Staples submitted a handwritten letter that included a request for paperwork to ask for a reconsideration of her sentence. The letter was filed in the Rock Island County Clerks Office on Feb. 22.

I have been in Rock Island County Jail for (seven) months, she wrote in a later document supporting her motion to reconsider. I have learned my lesson, and I would just like to get back to doing what I have to do to regain custody of my children and being a productive citizen of society.

Instead of a prison sentence or commitment to a mental health facility, she is requesting a deferred judgement, mental health court and probation.

She wrote that she is a first-time felon who has never been to prison before.

Her arguments also include that incarceration will prevent her from gainful employment and providing housing for her other children, according to court documents.

For the sentence she received in February, Staples got credit for the time she has served in the Rock Island County Jail in relation to the case, court records state.

Staples also qualified for day-for-day credit on her prison term, which could further reduce her actual time incarcerated.

Rock Island County Public Defender Hany Khoury filed the motion to reconsider on Staples behalf.

In the Feb. 20 letter, Staples also said she wanted paperwork for a motion to withdraw her plea and to pursue a claim of ineffective assistance by counsel.

Khoury filed a motion to withdraw plea on Feb. 28.

In it he referenced Staples letter.

It is reasonable to conclude that the defendant wishes to withdraw her plea of guilty and believes she has a basis to do so, the motion to withdraw plea states.

On Feb. 23, Khoury filed a motion to withdraw as Staples attorney. That document also referenced Staples letter.

Earlier in her case, William Wolf, a private attorney, represented her, but withdrew in November.

He argued he had discovered a conflict of interest. Khourys office has represented her since, including at her sentencing.

Khoury was still appearing on behalf of Staples as of March 1.

A hearing to address the claim of ineffective counsel has been scheduled for April 23.
A woman has been arrested for allegedly setting fire to a Davenport home in December.

Tiffany Nichoale Howard, 47, of Davenport, is charged in Scott County District Court with one count of second-degree arson.

The charge is a Class C felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of 10 years.

According to the arrest affidavit filed by Davenport Fire Department Lt. Zach Soliz and a news release by Fire Marshal Jim Morris, at 6:21 p.m. on Dec. 18, firefighters were sent to a house fire at 2243 W. 4th St.

The person who was passing by the house called 911 and said they could see visible flames on the second floor and roof of a house.

The first arriving units found heavy fire on the back of the two-story single-family home.

According to Scott County Assessor online records, the home is owned by Goodwin Properties LLC of Davenport.

The home had heavy fire conditions on the exterior with fire extension into the interior, Morris said in his news release.

Hose lines had to be used to protect nearby homes because of the radiant heat from the fire.

All occupants of the home had escaped.

The main body of the fire was under control in about 30 minutes, but crews remained on scene for about two hours extinguishing hot spots, Morris said in his news release.

In his affidavit, Soliz said that Howard, who lived at the home but did not own it, intentionally set fire to the structure.

The house, built in 1924, sustained extensive fire, smoke and water damage outside and inside the home.

The Red Cross was called to assist two adults and two children. No injuries were reported.

Howard was taken into custody Monday and booked into the Scott County Jail.

During a first appearance on the charge Tuesday in Scott County District Court, Howard waived her right to a preliminary hearing. Magistrate Paul Aitken scheduled an arraignment date of March 28.

Howard was being held Wednesday night in the Scott County Jail on a $5,000 bond, cash or surety.
A central Iowa attorney has consented to a suspension of his license due to an admitted neglect of client matters.

In filings with the Iowa Supreme Court, attorney Steven C. Kaiser of Woodward has acknowledged his neglect in settling the estate of Allen Porter, an Iowa man who died in July 2016 after his house caught fire.

The total value of Porters estate was $206,000. In his written consent to a suspension of his law license, Kaiser stated that my neglect of the estate caused the estate to languish from 2016 until I was replaced as attorney for the estate in 2023. While the estate remained unsettled, three of the beneficiaries named in Porters will died before they could receive their share of the proceeds.

Kaiser also admitted to misrepresentations in court filings, including deadline extensions, that he claimed were filed on behalf of the executor of the estate who, in fact, was opposed to such extensions.

Kaiser also acknowledged that while acting as attorney for the estate, he filed a $38,494 claim against the estate for legal services he claimed to have provided Porter prior to his clients death. In his consent to a suspension, Kaiser admitted the claim included expenses incurred after Porter had terminated his services. Kaisers claim against the estate was ultimately settled for $10,000.

In April 2023, the Iowa Supreme Court suspended Kaisers license due to issues related to an audit of his client trust account, forcing the appointment of another attorney to act as executor.

In his written consent, Kaiser attributed some of his problems to emotional issues and physical ailments, and consented to a license suspension of no more than 90 days, while stating that he and the Attorney Disciplinary Board were jointly recommending a suspension of 60 days. The Iowa Supreme Court then imposed a 60-day suspension.

Court records indicate that in 2007, Kaiser and the Attorney Disciplinary Board agreed that he had violated ethics rules related to conflicts of interest and that his conduct warranted a 90-day suspension of his law license. The Iowa Supreme Court opted to impose a 30-day suspension while finding that Kaiser failed to disclose potential conflicts to a client and business partner and then used his legal expertise to protect his own self-interests in an attempt to cover his financial losses.

Other Iowa-licensed attorneys who recently faced sanctions by the court include:

 Kendra Olson of Sioux City who consented to a license suspension of more than 90 days. The court instead imposed a 60-day suspension. In her consent statement, Olson admitted neglecting to file annual reports and other documents in three separate guardianship cases. She also acknowledged issues with her client trust account and admitted mingling attorney funds and client funds by failing to withdraw from the account her earned fees. She also acknowledged failing to reconcile her client trust account, leading to shortages she then had to make up.

Olson also admitted she had compensated for the negative balance in some clients accounts by borrowing from other client accounts that had a positive cash balance. She also acknowledged that in representing a man charged with OWI, she scheduled a pretrial conference she knew her client couldnt attend and that she did not attend. That resulted in the court issuing a warrant for her clients arrest, which in turn prevented him from being released early on a separate federal charge.

 Ta-Yu Yang of Des Moines, while facing a potential license suspension, opted to retire on Dec. 31, 2023, and in late January relinquished his law license. The Grievance Commission of the Iowa Supreme Court had recommended that the court suspend Yangs license for 60 days due to client trust account issues and seven prior sanctions for ethics violations.

Those previous sanctions were imposed for neglecting client matters; knowingly making a misrepresentation on an appeal in an immigration case; failing to represent a client diligently; failing to file an appeal brief; failing to appear on behalf of a client; failing to maintain client ledger sheets from 2005 to 2018; failing to complete monthly triple-reconciliations of client trust accounts; submitting false certifications on CSC questionnaires; and failing to provide information as requested in an Attorney Disciplinary Board investigation.
Theres good news for book lovers in Spearfish. The community should have a new bookstore, Henrys Books, opening this year.

Elizabeth Lizzie and Dylan Mattson of Spearfish announced last fall they plan to open an independent bookstore that celebrates community and creativity. The bookstore will be named for their 2-year-old son, Henry. To help bring Henrys Books closer to reality, a Writers Night fundraiser will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. April 7 at Matthews Opera House in Spearfish. Admission is $20 cash at the door; admission is free for children 12 and younger.

Writers Night will include original songs, readings and poetry, plus raffles of literary-themed goods, specialty items from local businesses, and signed books by local and nationally recognized authors. A cash bar will be available.

Writers Night is going to feature local creative writers and poets and songwriters. Theyre each going to share at least one piece of what theyve written themselves, Lizzie said.

"This event is a continuation of our crowdfunding efforts  we hope to elevate local talent and give the community the opportunity to support this unique project," she said. "During our first phase of crowdfunding efforts, we learned just how impactful it can be to simply ask someone 'What are you reading right now?' With each conversation we have, the more we solidify the overwhelming need for a bookstore here in Spearfish."

The Mattsons have had a goal to crowdfund $45,000 to help them launch Henrys Books, and Writers Night will be the final phase of their crowdfunding, Lizzie said.

Were hoping to get really close to our original goal of $45,000. No matter what happens, we are going to continue to move forward with the bookstore, she said, noting that ideally the store will be open by this summer.

The Mattsons offer sponsorships, such as for a book or a shelf or a table in the future store, so that anyone who wants to support Henrys Books has a variety of ways to do so.

Future patrons can sponsor their favorite books in their name for the lifetime of the store. Lizzie said plans are for the store to have a mix of books for all ages and tastes, including books for adults and children, a section highlighting local authors, and books focused on regional and local topics. The childrens section will undoubtedly carry store namesake Henry Mattsons current favorite, The Little Engine That Could.

The sponsorship opportunities are listed on the Henrys Books website, shophenrysbooks.com. Anyone who would like to be a sponsor for Henrys Books is encouraged to do so by the end of April.

We cant do this without the community, so the only way this happens is by the community and for the community, Lizzie said. We really want to see as many people sponsor as much of the store as possible for the sake of having community involvement in every element of the store.  Our greatest hope for these sponsorship options is that you would choose something that is meaningful to you in one way or another.

Lizzie said she and her husband believe 2024 is the right time for Spearfish to gain an independent bookstore, and theres plenty of community interest in it.

Books have made a comeback since the pandemic. People have reorganized their priorities, Lizzie said.

In the past few months, Lizzie said she did a lot of book pop-ups at local businesses, where she could meet and talk with community members.

It was the most outstanding way to validate the need and the desire for this to come into town, she said. We got to learn exactly what people are interested in and what theyre reading right now.  We were able to make so many wonderful connections with community members and business owners.

Henrys Books will be a bookstore for new books only, Lizzie said. The store will not sell or accept donations of used books.

If youre an author (traditionally published or self-published), please reach out. Wed love to make sure were carrying as much work from South Dakota authors as possible, Lizzie said.

The Mattsons goal for the store is for it to be a community hub and a place for events such as writers groups and book club gatherings, story times and much more.

Henry's Books will be more than just a bookstore, it will be a cultural hub where diverse voices are celebrated, connections are forged, and a love for reading is nurtured, the Mattsons said in a press release. Community is our most foundational value at Henry's Books. Giving back to local organizations, creating a safe space for people to explore new ideas, and fostering a sense of creativity and belonging are foundational to everything we hope to achieve through this store.

When Henrys Books opens, Lizzie said she and her husband want to have a mural or other creative piece that thanks every sponsor.

No matter the amount given, we will name each and every supporter in a meaningful way that is proudly displayed in the store, she said. That is my biggest dream  to see peoples names or the names of loved ones on all the sponsored options.

Lizzie said through the recent book pop-ups and getting to know people in the community, she sees that many people have a desire to connect and build relationships, often through the shared love of reading.

A lot of people are wanting to get back to the simple pleasure of enjoying a book, she said.
ISLAMABAD, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Two terrorists were killed in two separate counter-terrorism operations in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the military said on Thursday.

The security forces conducted intelligence-based operations in the Khyber and Dera Ismail Khan districts of KP, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement.

During the operation in Khyber district, an intense exchange of fire took place between security forces and terrorists, killing a key terrorist and a ring leader on the spot, said the ISPR statement, adding that a terrorist was killed by the security forces in another operation in Dera Ismail Khan.

A clearance operation is being carried out to eliminate the presence of terrorists from the area, the military said. 
Over three years after 82-year-old Reta McGovern was found dead inside her home in the 800 block of Flormann Street in Rapid City, the man accused of killing her is on trial at the Pennington County Courthouse.

James Jumping Eagle is charged with first-degree murder and second-degree rape. His trial began Monday afternoon after jury selection took most of the day.

Deputy Pennington County State's Attorney Olivia Siglin said the home "served as a safe place" for McGovern before she was killed "violently" and "senselessly."

The state alleges Jumping Eagle "manipulated his way" into McGovern's house on the cold morning of Feb. 10, 2021, sexually assaulted and then murdered her.

Forensic Examiner Donald Habbe testified Wednesday afternoon a major laceration killed McGovern. He ruled the death a homicide.

"This is not a suicide. Someone else did this," Habbe said.

A family member of McGovern's discovered her body at her house. He stopped by and unlocked the home with a spare key after family couldn't get in touch with her. McGovern normally stayed in contact with her family, according to testimony from her granddaughter, Sabrina Lacroix.

Lacroix took the stand at the end of Monday carrying her grandmother's purse, wearing her shoes, her wedding set and her sweater. She also wore her late grandfather's necklace.

Lacroix described her grandmother as mentally sharp and someone involved with her family and her community. Her last job before retirement was working with hospice care, and Lacroix said she was active in volunteer work and politics before her death.

She mothered four children and was widowed when her husband died a decade before she did.

"She helped raise me and my kids," Lacroix said. "She was important to everyone."

Lacroix said her grandmother owned poodles throughout her life and kept boxes filled with their information and mementos. She had plans to get a poodle puppy on the day she was killed.

"She was excited for what the future held for her," Siglin said.

Siglin told the jury during opening statements Monday Jumping Eagle allegedly met McGovern years before the murder when he worked at a nearby hotel. McGovern would walk her dogs in the neighborhood and occasionally loan him $10 when he needed it.

Prefacing a police interview not yet played during the trial, Siglin said Jumping Eagle told police he walked to McGovern's house on the morning of her death to borrow $10.

He said McGovern let him in and gave him coffee. Then he left. Jumping Eagle then allegedly said he saw another man there, who later admitted to him he killed McGovern.

Siglin said the account does not match up with evidence. She highlighted DNA evidence that allegedly traced Jumping Eagle to the scene and ultimately led to his arrest.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the state's DNA expert had not testified. However, law enforcement cited "forensic testing" as the element linking Jumping Eagle to the crime even before his arrest.

The state presented surveillance footage Tuesday showing a man walking in the direction of McGovern's house that morning and walking back the same way during the time of the murder.

The state alleges that man was Jumping Eagle, and when he left the scene, he disposed of evidence he carried with him.

Jumping Eagle originally planned to defend himself during his trial. On Monday night, after opening statements and Lacroix's testimony, he said he no longer wanted to act as his own attorney.

Ellery Grey, a defense attorney who served as his standby counsel, took over the defense from there.

Grey asked Circuit Court Judge Robert Gusinsky to declare a mistrial and reschedule Jumping Eagle's trial. Grey said he was not in a position to properly defend Jumping Eagle.

Specifically, Grey said he lacked witnesses, exhibits and other records he would use in his client's defense. He told the judge he felt if he did not ask for a continuance, he would not be properly representing his client.

The state objected.

"Your honor, this just seems to be another delay tactic," said Chief Deputy State's Attorney Kevin Krull.

Jumping Eagle's trial was set for Sept. 2023, but was delayed after Jumping Eagle requested a continuance.

Gusinsky denied Grey's request for a mistrial and another continuance.

"This court warned him of the all the pitfalls, all the disadvantages [of self-representation]," Gusinsky said.

Jumping Eagle's self-representation consisted of pretrial work and his brief opening statement Monday. He told the jury he did not commit the crimes the state alleged.

"I'm guilty of not reporting a crime that I should have," he said.

He also said he was guilty of getting rid of evidence "because I was scared."

The man Jumping Eagle claimed killed McGovern is listed on the state's witness list, but it is unclear if they will call him to testify.

Note: This story previously stated McGovern's body was discovered after family called law enforcement. Testimony, however, showed a family member discovered her body and then called law enforcement.
A federal jury on Feb. 28 found a 36-year-old Porcupine man guilty of the rape and physical assault of a child in Jan. 2023.

The jury convicted Wilbur Morrison, Jr. on two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor and one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Rapid City, Morrison abused the girl  who was younger than 12 years old  on the evening of Jan. 12, 2023 near Porcupine. Two juvenile males witnessed the abuse, which resulted in the victim contracting syphilis. South Dakota has the highest rates of the sexually transmitted disease in the country.

Court documents show Morrison was arrested in Rapid City on May 24, 2023. He was indicted the week prior. The initial indictment charged Morrison with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse. The government added the physical assault charge on Feb. 15.

Morrison's two-day trial began on Feb. 27. The jury deliberated for less than two hours before returning the guilty verdicts.

Morrison faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison and the potential of life in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

His is scheduled for sentencing at the federal courthouse in Rapid City at 2:30 p.m. May 17.
With continued warm and rising temperatures, area fishing is entering a period of transition with ice shacks being removed and ice rapidly disappearing, if not already gone.

Soft water enthusiasts are heading for the docks at Angostura while hard water devotees continue to find workable ice in a few available locations, particularly at Deerfield and Iron Creek.

Pactola and Sheridan have available spots as well, but access can be troublesome at best, and at worst, hazardous. Extreme caution is advised for anglers along with the choice of surrendering momentary passion for the exercise of good judgment.

Area streams are excellent choices for the long rod at this time. Trout fishing continues to improve in Black Hills streams while catfish activity (stink bait, chubs or shrimp) in the Cheyenne and Belle Fourche rivers should be gaining steam. Prairie ponds also offer some excellent pan-fishing opportunities.

Angostura Reservoir: Open water conditions and docks are in. Bites have been slow thus far but the lake is a popular choice for anglers anxious to put a boat in the water. Anglers will be using jigs and minnows from boats and crappie rigs with minnows from shore.

Belle Fourche Reservoir (Orman): There is reportedly workable ice remaining, though access is becoming increasingly difficult. In areas where possible, a ladder or plank is likely required. Despite scarce numbers, anglers have caught some walleye (primarily overs) and some plump perch.

Black Hills Area Streams: Warmer temps are gradually expanding stream opportunities, though lower elevations remain the go-to spots. Dry fly-fishing opportunities are becoming more prevalent in Rapid or Spearfish creeks. Nymphing and streamers remain the popular choice.

Deerfield Lake: Good ice, particularly in the Gold Run area, though edges have been iffy in places. Warmer weather ahead will accentuate the problem. Bites seem to have slowed a bit even though trout and perch (mostly small) are still being caught.

Iron Creek Lake: The lake reportedly has workable ice with active perch and trout bites reported. A chance to work one of the area's last ice fishing sites.

Pactola Reservoir: While the main lake ice is deteriorating, solid ice was reported near the south boat launch area, though access can be a problem elsewhere. Gulches, particularly Jenny, continue to have workable, solid ice. Perch and trout bites continue, and a 37  inch laker was caught last week.

Sheridan Lake: Eight inches of ice were reported in spots though access can be tricky as open water along shorelines continues to expand. Perch and trout bites continue.

Stockade Lake: Reports have been scarce likely due to iffy conditions lake-wide.

Lake Oahe: Some workable ice in the Pollock area though access is iffy. Pike activity is picking up (frozen smelt recommended). Fishing activity is slow farther south with a mix of open water and soft ice, a condition likely to hold until temperatures are more favorable.

Lake Sharpe: Lots of fishing activity below the dam as anglers from Iowa and Minnesota (walleye season not open) have been hauling boats to Pierre, and walleyes typically stacking up this time of the year, are likely finding plenty of activity.

Lake Francis Case: Below the dam at Fort Thompson is open and has been producing walleye caught on jigs and minnows. Boats are becoming more numerous at Chamberlain, a mix of South Dakota anxious and out-of-staters.

EVENTS OF NOTE

Wild Walleye Outfitters Summer Series

Angostura: April 27-28; Orman, May 11-12; Shade Hill, June 29-30. Entries open on March 15; cost-$800 per team, $235 for individual tournaments. For additional questions, call 605-519-4286.

Lake Francis Case Walleye Tournament: April 20-21, Cedar Shore Marina. Contact Scott Lewis (605-730-0283) for more information.

Angostura Spring Walleye Classic sponsored by Walleyes Unlimited: May 18 & 19. Information can be found at the South Dakota Walleyes Unlimited website or by calling 605-381-5300.

Center of the Nation Walleye Tournament sponsored by High Plains Anglers: May 4 & 5, at Orman Reservoir. For more information contact Tim Emme (605-645-8949).

Dakota Angler & Outfitter, 513 Seventh St., Rapid City; The Rooster, 1441 W. Main St., Rapid City; Wheel in Bait Shop, 18696 Fishermans Road, Fruitdale have contributed to this report.
The Corvallis High School Future Farmers of America program has created a 15-minute presentation about food labels and are presenting it to individual and group stakeholders for feedback before taking it to divisional, state and national competition.

CHS FFA has earned first place in Montana for five years and took 16th in the nation last year. Each year the topic and team members are different. Divisional competition is this weekend, Montana competition will take place on April 4 in Billings. The national competition is in October.

The hard-hitting skit talks about the pros, cons and different views held by stakeholders around the hot topic of food labels and whose responsibility it is to provide the information or stay informed. FFA students wrote the script full of facts, laws, concerns and ideas. They portray individuals representing consumers, retailers, producers, inspectors and an FFA member with many questions.

On Monday, the FFA group presented to the Ravalli County Right to Farm Board. Corvallis High School FFA members Kenzie Weis, Gia Bumgarner, Morgan Bisel, with substitutes Beauden Therrien and Emelia Schairer gave the presentation.

The people represented in the script are everyday people, Bisel said. A lot of people dont know anything about the labeling and what is in their food.

The consumer in the skit purchases food based on whether it says the word healthy on the wrapping.

Bumgarner, portraying the coffee barista, said few consumers understand what is meant by 100% organic and how it affects their health. Hormones, free-range, allergens, soy and nutrition are also discussed in the labeling presentation.

After the presentation, the Ravalli County Right to Farm Board members had a few suggestions and said they appreciated the skit for its accuracy, for dealing with a controversial issue and for presenting so many different points of view.

President Jay Meyer said it was an important topic and that all the parts were well-cast.

Darryl Sperry said a great addition would be labeling beef that it was born and raised in this country.

The group will give presentations to Bar MW Meats, Missoula WIC, the Montana Farm Bureau, Lt. Governor Kristen Juras, Senator Steve Daines, Ravalli County Commissioners, Hamilton City Council, Hamilton Kiwanis, Stockgrowers and all who attend the Leadership Development Event (LDE) showcase on March 12.

CHS FFA advisor Neely Hammerstein said it was her honor to introduce the youth to todays leaders.

Who knows, in the future they may be sitting where you are sitting and making the decisions of tomorrow, Hammerstein said.

To have the FFA group present the skit, contact Neela Hammerstein at Corvallis High School, 406-369-3201.
Governor Greg Gianforte was in the Bitterroot Valley on Tuesday as part of an effort to highlight veteran-owned businesses in Montana.

Gianforte met with the owners and staff of Double J Fencing in Victor, and learned about a defensive fencing system developed by Double J and used at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, a campus of the National Institutes of Health.

It is absolutely thrilling to have a governor that has worked so hard for our state, and to promote the veteran cause and veteran-owned businesses, Double J Fencing owner and U.S Army veteran Jim Vargovich said. I invited some other veterans here today. And we're just really happy that he's taken the time to highlight veterans. Were very privileged and honored.

Double J Fencing is owned and operated by Vargovich and his wife, Loni. The company does fencing and iron work across the state of Montana. Originally from Idaho, Vargovich was medically discharged from the Army and attended Idaho State University before moving to Montana.

It's great to be here to honor a veteran business, Gianforte said. Jim and Loni, what they've done with Double J Fencing in Victor. It's really great. They're innovativeness and hard work has paid off in this prosperous business, and now a patent pending on their new fencing system. It's so important that we're here during this Invest in Veterans Week. We really want to make it easy for our veterans to prosper in Montana.

Vargovich gave a presentation on the companys defensive fencing system and told the governor their new system will revolutionize the way we all look at defensive fencing.

The fencing is blast- and bullet-resistant with DIY components and is suitable for schoolrooms, shelter-in-place modules and home security. The components are made from aircraft-grade aluminum and mild steel. The panels are also noise-deflecting and fire-resistant.

No longer is there a need to hire cranes or heavy machinery, Vargovich said.

Montana is home to one of the highest populations of veterans per capita in the U.S. and transitioning into civilian life comes with its own set of challenges for many who have served, from navigating the VA system to making community connections.

When these men and women come home from battle, they're not always healthy, Gianforte said. Sometimes they have physical ailments. Sometimes they have PTSD and other things. This is why we need to need to get them connected.

The governor recently met with nonprofits that work to help veterans at a roundtable in Helena and promoted the phenomenal groups like Impact Montana and the Mighty Oaks Foundation for the work they do to help support veterans. He also encouraged veterans to reach out to the Montana National Guard for help getting connected to medical services at the VA.

The VA provides good services, but it's not always clear which door you have to walk through or which form you have to fill out. We can help with that, he said.

Gianforte also touted his administrations policies and accomplishments benefitting Montana veterans.

We want veterans when they retire from military service to come to Montana and prosper," he said. "That's why we've exempted 50% of military pensions from Montana state tax. We've been cutting back red tape, it helps all businesses, but in particular, it helps veterans businesses, as well as the license reciprocity for veteran spouses.

The governor thanked veterans for their service, and emphasized the importance of community in the reintegration process.

I would just say to veterans, thank you for your service," Gianforte said. "And if you find yourself by yourself, find a friend. And if your neighbor is a veteran, be a good neighbor to them  greet them in the grocery store, say something at church, invite them out, make them part of the community, so they can be all they can be.

For more information on Double J Fencing and their defensive fencing system please go to their website at https://fencemontana.com/.

For more information on veterans services in Montana please go to https://dma.mt.gov/mvad/ or va.gov/montana-health-care/.
Officials from U.S. Senator Jon Tester's office will host mobile office hours in Hamilton on Friday, March 8 at the Hamilton City Hall Council Chambers.

All constituents are welcome to stop by to share information, opinions, and ideas, and possibly open casework  just as they would at any of Tester's seven field offices across the state.

No appointments are necessary. Senator Tester will not be in attendance.

The local regional director and field representative for Tester's office will be at the Hamilton City Hall Council Chambers, at 223 S. 2nd Street in Hamilton on Friday, March 8, from noon to 1 p.m.
Colleen Curran Living Editor Follow Colleen Curran 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

Brick House Diner broke ground on its new building in Midlothian this week.

The family-owned diner is moving its original location at 13520 Midlothian Turnpike farther west to Westchester Commons.

The building will be larger at 5300 square feet and a brand-new build from Fultz & Singh Architects.

It gives us a little more parking and our own property, co-owner Vic Routsis told the Richmond Times-Dispatch last year.

The restaurants lease is up at 13520 Midlothian Turnpike at the end of the year.

Brick House Diner is aiming to open the new Westchester Commons location at 100 Schofield Road by October. The Midlothian Turnpike location will close when the new location opens.

Brick House Diner is known for its half-pound steak burgers that are ground every day, an extensive breakfast menu, and desserts homemade daily.

The new location will have the same hours and the same menu as the current location: Mondays through Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Were family-owned and -operated so were hands-on for everything, Routsis told The Times-Dispatch earlier. Were definitely not a chain. Were four brothers looking to continue what our father started years ago.

The Routsis familys restaurant legacy began when Routsis father opened Four Brothers Steakhouse in Chesapeake. Now, there are two locations of Brick House Diner in the Richmond area. In 2022, a location opened in the city at 3336 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd., the former Kitchen 64 space. Brick House also has a location in Virginia Beach.

Titos now open in former Mojos spot

Titos Taqueria & Bar is now open in the former Mojos space at 733 W. Cary St.

The taqueria from Tito Padilla has been in the works for about a year.

Titos Taqueria is serving a variety of tacos including trompe tacos (where the meat is cooked on a trompe), birria tacos, fajitas and more. Presentation is a big focus at Titos with several special cocktails served in novelty glasses like a mini-bathtub and shots that arrive in a ceramic bull. It looks festive and fun. Nathan Hughes of Sperity Ventures represented the landlord on the space. Well have more details soon.

The restaurant is located near the Virginia Commonwealth University Monroe campus. Mojos was a popular spot for the VCU crowd. Titos hours are Mondays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Black Restaurant Experience kicks off Sunday

Richmond Black Restaurant Week kicks off Sunday with Mobile Soul Sunday in Monroe Park from noon to 5 p.m. Over 20 food trucks will be serving a variety of cuisine  from BBQ to Caribbean to soul food and much more  along with music and local vendors.

The week is a chance to purposefully dine at Black-owned restaurants such as Mama Js, Pennys Wine Shop, Ms. Girlees Kitchen and many more. Now in its eighth year, the Richmond Black Restaurant Experience aims to celebrate the diversity and excellence of Black-owned restaurants in Richmond. Find the full list of participating restaurants at rbre365.com.

St. Patricks Day shenanigans

St. Patricks Day is about a week away  this year it falls on a Sunday, March 17  and Richmond restaurants are already celebrating the luck of the Irish.

Three Notchd Brewing Co., where you can throw axes and drink beer in Scotts Addition, has turned into a St. Patricks Day pop-up bar with a themed cocktail and food menu. Cameo Cakery & Cafe is decked out with a rainbow and pot of gold outside and a themed menu inside.

I took my kids to McDonalds for our annual Shamrock Shake pilgrimage and it was glorious.

RTD dining correspondent Megan Marconyak will have lots more details on St. Pats dining picks coming next week.

And pace yourself, Richmond, next weekend is going to be a blowout with Shamrock the Block and the Irish Festival in Church Hill being held on the same weekend  the first time thats happened in a while. Well have more coverage on all the festivities next week.

Were still taking recommendations for our first-ever Richmond Times-Dispatch fried chicken bracket in honor of March Madness. Readers have sent in some great suggestions; thank you! Keep sending them, and well launch the fried chicken bracket later this month.

Top five weekend events: Shamrock the Block, Irish Festival, GalaxyCon Irish Festival Shamrock the Block David Spade and Wanda Sykes Maymonts new otter GalaxyCon
A former Hanover Sheriffs deputy is suing his former employer alleging that he was wrongfully terminated for his refusal to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The suit filed by former deputy Matthew Keeley alleges he was singled out as the only deputy to face disciplinary action for refusing to wear a mask due to his outspoken stance on the issue. It further alleges that Sheriff David Hines publicly disparaged Keeley after his termination in 2022.

The Hanover Sheriffs Office said it does not comment on pending litigation.

Keeley is asking for punitive and compensatory damages totaling $1 million, plus interest and attorneys fees. The suit was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia naming Hines as the only defendant.

Keeley is described in court documents as a field training officer, a general instructor, firearms instructor and future driving instructor, who served for the Uniform Patrol Division for 12 years.

The complaint says Keeley was skeptical of both the legality and efficacy of wearing masks and was not shy about his objections against wearing one during the pandemic. Keeley believed that complying with local, state and federal mask mandates violated his oath of office and his convictions as a Christian.

Keeley was led to believe his decision not to wear a mask was generally accepted for 18 months, according to the suit, until the Sheriffs office received a complaint about the former deputy not wearing a face covering while at the Memorial Regional Medical Center.

Keeley reportedly objected that mask policies were an abrogation of his personal liberty and constitutional rights.

Keeley was immediately placed on administrative leave, after which he was told by Sheriff Hines that he would be required to comply with the face mask policy (with no accommodations) or be fired. Keeley reiterated his position and was fired, the suit says.

Hines is alleged to have disparaged Keeley after that termination. In response to an email of support from one of the terminated deputys friends, Hines is alleged to have chided that person by saying you clearly do not know all the details (pertaining to Keeleys termination), the suit says.

The clear message from these statements was that Keeley was not following multiple policies, procedures, and laws and was also not following his oath, and thus, he had to be terminated, the lawsuit says. It created a far more sinister (and false) picture of the reasons for Keeleys separation than the one painted by the truth.

The suit alleges a First Amendment Retaliation, an Equal Protection Violation, and two types of Due Process Violation.

Today in history: March 6 1933: Franklin D. Roosevelt 1964: Cassius Clay 1973: Pearl S. Buck 1981: Walter Cronkite 2002: Monica Lewinsky 2012: R. Allen Stanford 2016: Nancy Reagan 2017: Donald Trump 2021: Carla Wallenda
Police said a Nissan Maxima was heading north on I-295 near the Brook Road exit at around 7 p.m. when someone in a red sedan fired a gun at the Nissan approximately four times. At least one of the shots hit the passenger side window and exited through the windshield.
It has been one year since the death of Irvo Otieno, the 28-year-old killed at Central State Hospital on March 6, 2023.

But for Otienos mother, Caroline Ouko, time does not heal all wounds.

The pain has never dulled, Ouko said on Wednesday, standing beside his gravestone under grey clouds as the rain held.

Alongside friends, Ouko reflected on the anniversary of her sons death  hoping aloud that law enforcement personnel charged with his care will be aggressively prosecuted in their upcoming trials and that some good may yet come from her familys tragedy.

That Otieno tragedy began on the afternoon of March 3, 2023, when Irvo Otieno was detained in the midst of a mental health episode.

At Parham Doctors Hospital, he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a Henrico police officer. Otieno was first jailed and then transferred to a psychiatric hospital in Dinwiddie, where he died while at least seven Henrico Sheriffs deputies sought to restrain him.

A video with no audio shows Otienos final moments of life as he lay beneath a pile of officers. Otienos death was ruled a homicide by asphyxiation. All seven, and one hospital employee who assisted in Otienos restraint, are charged with second-degree murder.

Otienos gravestone is unique. It is flanked by a Kenyan and American flag, an homage to a boy who his mom says was as American as apple pie, without forgetting his roots.

Ouko and her two sons migrated from Kenya in 1999, when Otieno was just five years old.

At his grave, Otienos tenth grade English teacher, Paula Brown, recalled how Otieno reached out a helping hand to another Black student at Douglas Freeman High School, a predominantly white public school in Henrico.

He helped other kids feel like they could fit in, Brown said.

Otieno went by either Vo or Ivor, a play on the autocorrected form of Irvo. The headstone reads: Young Vo Trendsetter. Ouko said the line stuck with her after hearing it in one of her sons songs.

The more I thought about it, I thought, what is he going to trend-set? Ouko asked. Could it be mental health? I reflected, and now, it cant be more meaningful.

Ouko believes that all systems failed Irvo, from the hospital tasked with evaluating him to the sheriffs deputies seen on video punching him in his jail cell.

And trying to fix those systems has helped her grieve.

Im able to focus my energy towards something meaningful, Ouko said. Towards something that can possibly save lives.

While Otieno was detained at Parham, Ouko was kept separate from her son in the hospitals emergency department waiting room. She never saw him again.

She believes her son would be alive today if the two had not been kept separate at Parham.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin asked the General Assembly to enact a bill to be named Irvos Law so that those with mental health crises are provided access to family members.

Senate Bill 546 and House Bill 1242 each propose that family members cannot be denied access when people in mental health crisis are sent to treatment against their will. The bill cleared both chambers of the legislature and has been sent to Youngkins desk for approval.

Ouko believes the bill carries on Irvos spirit.

He continues to call out for fairness for all who suffer from mental illness, said Ouko. Please continue to listen for his voice.

Arrest and prosecutions

On March 2, Henrico Police responded to Otienos neighborhood after a neighbor called in a concern about Otienos behavior. No charges were filed in the incident.

The next day, a neighbor called police after seeing Otieno in their yard. After Ouko told officers that her son was in distress, Otieno was transferred to Parham Doctors Hospital.

Officers said that Otieno became physically aggressive at Parham, which resulted in his arrest and transport to Henrico Jail West.

On the morning of March 6, 2023, Otieno appeared in Henrico General District Court; he was denied bail and transferred to Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County later that afternoon.

Security camera footage released two weeks later showed sheriffs deputies and hospital workers piling on top of a handcuffed and shackled Otieno and holding him to the ground.

The Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that Otieno died by asphyxiation and ruled the manner of death as homicide.

An investigation led by the Virginia Department of Health found that Parham Doctors Hospital did not provide proper care to Otieno. The hospital claims that police interrupted his medical treatment.

Seven Henrico sheriffs deputies and one Central State employee are facing second-degree murder charges in connection with Otienos death. Charges against two other Central State employees were dropped last June.

Each defendant will be tried separately, with the first trial scheduled for June 3 and the final one scheduled for Dec. 2.

Dinwiddie County has changed prosecutors twice since the murder charges were first brought: once with the sudden departure of Commonwealths Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill, and again in January when her replacement, Amanda Mann, took office.

Regardless, Ouko wants an aggressive trial.

Im confident. I dont question anyones credibility. Its a new prosecutor. All Im asking is shell do the right thing, and aggressively prosecute the eight murder indictments of Irvo Otieno, said Ouko. Because anything less would be an affront. Not just to me and my family, but to the African-American community as a whole.
TOKYO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A district court on Thursday rejected a lawsuit seeking to halt the operation of a nuclear reactor in western Japan amid safety concerns, finding that the earthquake and volcano risk assessments conducted by the plant operator were reasonable.

In the ruling delivered by the Oita District Court regarding the operation of Shikoku Electric Power Co.'s No. 3 reactor at the Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture, Presiding Judge Maiko Takechi said the court does not see any "specific danger" that threatens the lives of the plaintiffs in Oita Prefecture.

The case was brought by 569 residents in Oita located across the Seto Inland Sea from Ehime who argued that the power company's measures against earthquakes and volcanic eruptions were insufficient.

The plaintiffs pointed to a possibility that there may be an active fault near the plant other than the Median Tectonic Line fault zone, which is one of the largest in Japan, and the company has not sufficiently studied the underground structure.

The residents are also concerned about the risk of a massive volcanic eruption at Mount Aso, which is about 130 km away.

Shikoku Electric has said its sonic prospecting has not shown the existence of an active fault near the plant, while dismissing the need for a three-dimensional survey to look into the underground structure as requested by the plaintiffs.

The utility has also played down concerns that pyroclastic flows would reach the reactor even in the event of a catastrophic eruption of Mount Aso.

The case is among a series of similar lawsuits filed by residents in the prefectures of Oita, Ehime, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi against the reactor, the sole operating reactor at the Ikata plant.

The plaintiffs plan to file an appeal. 
Elizabeth Carr was born to the fight for reproductive rights.

I am faux famous, Carr, the nations first IVF (in vitro fertilization) baby, said with a laugh Wednesday, the eve of her appearance in Washington, D.C., for President Bidens State of the Union address, a central theme of which will be the freedom to be pregnant  or not. If I walk into a supermarket, no one knows me. If I walk into a fertility conference, everyone knows me.

Carr, who lives in Massachusetts, was born Dec. 28, 1981, in Norfolk, at the Eastern Virginia Medical School, where her parents were patients at the pioneering fertility clinic of the husband-wife team of Drs. Howard and Georgeanna Jones. Headline writers, averse to the argot of medical science, declared Carr a test-tube baby.

Nearly 43 years  and 12 million test-tube babies  later, IVF is a commonplace term. Its become more so because of a weird ruling last month by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos created through IVF  a process that has blessed infertile couples with the sons and daughters they longed for  should be considered children.

Under that decision, embryos would have legal protections, and medical and scientific staff  even prospective parents  could risk prosecution if the embryos are mishandled or destroyed. Backlash to the ruling has been swift: Even Republicans hostile to reproductive rights, principally abortion, are running from it. Deep-red Alabama is now promising guarantees for IVF, though critics say steps taken by the state are legally weak.

And Democrats  among them, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who is running for a third term this year and invited Carr to D.C. for the Biden speech  are betting that their support of national legislation ensuring access to IVF and other infertility treatments will amp up their already-proven appeal to voters in both parties of their commitment to reproductive rights, following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2022 reversing a half-century of abortion protections.

Kaine, a former governor and 2016 vice presidential nominee, has been artful in his position on reproductive freedom. As a candidate for governor, Kaine said he personally opposed abortion because of his Catholic faith  he considered the priesthood as a young man  but that as a public official he had an obligation to uphold laws allowing a woman to terminate a pregnancy.

Kaine, however, has become more forceful in his support of reproductive rights, which has become a powerful issue in a suburban-dominated Virginia where women are in the majority. These trends have not blunted Republican efforts to curb abortion, most recently, Gov. Glenn Youngkins call for a ban on most abortions after 15 weeks  a position that backfired for the GOP last year, tipping the General Assembly to Democratic control.

I absolutely think its going to be a defining issue in this cycle, Carr said. Its time to wake up and speak up, if we want to protect IVF.

With the Alabama decision  Carr learned of it while on vacation on winter-stilled Cape Cod with her husband and 13-year-old son, who was conceived the old-fashioned way  all my worst fears had come true, she said.

The order appeared to validate the notion  embraced by some on the ideological right  of personhood. That is, fetuses, embryos and fertilized eggs are, in effect, people and, thus, entitled to the same rights as the already-born. When Roe fell, this was the outcome we all feared, said Carr, a former reporter who worked on the morning newspaper of her Norfolk birthplace, The Virginian-Pilot, before a stint with The Boston Globe.

Carr recalls being belittled by those who oppose technology-assisted pregnancy as wrong and unnatural and that objections to family-producing breakthroughs such as in vitro fertilization are a consequence of trepidation: Honestly, it comes from a place of fear  a fear of not understanding. The difference between IVF and run-of-the-mill conception is that it takes place in a petri dish.

Though she now works for a genetics firm that tests embryos before transfer to a uterus for such disorders as Down syndrome and Tay-Sachs disease, Carr is still very much the journalist. To put in focus her feelings about the Alabama ruling and its implications, Carr did what reporters do: She started writing, preparing a piece that would be posted on the website of WBUR, a Boston public radio station.

Carrs lead was punchy  and haunting: For the first time in my 42 years of life, I feel like an endangered species. If those words dont grab you, her voice will. Carrs recording of the commentary  she used her handy, dandy iPhone  was also carried by WBUR.

Carrs parents  her mother, Judith, is a now-retired teacher; her late father, Roger, a Virginia-born Army brat and mechanical engineer  turned to the Jones clinic after several failed attempts to have children. IVF was not available in their home state, Massachusetts, nor was the procedure covered by insurance. Fast forward to 2024: Virginia is among 30 states in which insurance companies are not required to pay for fertility treatments, according to Resolve, a national fertility group.

A personal note: I was working in the Richmond bureau of United Press International in 1981, when  sometime after midnight  a call came in, forwarded from the news services Norfolk office. An employee of Eastern Virginia Medical School  she did not identify herself  said that the following morning the Joneses would announce the birth of the nations first IVF baby: Elizabeth Carr.

I made a couple of calls, but at that hour, people werent answering their phones because they were sleeping or they had no interest in talking with a reporter. It wasnt the first time that happened. It wouldnt be the last.

In recent years, Carr has argued for fertility coverage in testimony before Virginia legislative committees. The General Assembly has frequently been pressed to mandate such benefits. Three decades ago, then-Del. Jerrauld C. Jones, D-Norfolk  now a circuit court judge  urged lawmakers to back fertility coverage, sharing the difficulties he and his wife faced in starting a family. Their son, Jay, held the House seat occupied by his father and is readying for a second run for attorney general.

Carr said she is frustrated by resistance to reproductive freedom; that when confronted by opponents, she recalls her fathers wisdom: It always comes back to what my dad said: What do you say to people who are against you having a family? I really dont understand people who dont understand two people should want a baby  to have a family.

Carr continued: People share their stories with me all the time. They often say thank you. I really didnt do anything. I just showed up. My parents and the doctors did all the hard work.

PHOTOS: Super Tuesday in the Richmond area
Suicidal hitman arrested from Playa del Carmen hotel returned to home state

Playa del Carmen, Q.R.  A suicidal hitman that was arrested from a central Playa del Carmen hotel has been returned to his home state. On Tuesday evening, elements of the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Anti-Kidnapping Prosecutors Office of Morelos arrived for his transfer.

The arrest and subsequent transfer was made by Morelos officials in collaboration with the Anti-Kidnapping Prosecutors Office of Quintana Roo. According to the State Government of Morelos, Playa del Carmen police completed the arrest warrant issued against Jesus Edgar N, alias Malteadas or Chuy in the city of Playa del Carmen.

The wanted criminal was returned to the state of Morelos late Tuesday. Photo: March 5, 2024.

He is accused of extortion, homicides, disappearances, drug dealing and vehicle theft in Morelos. He was checked in at a Playa del Carmen hotel using a name of Oscar N.

On March 4, hotel staff called police for assistance in a suicide attempt of one of their guests. It was then police learned the man was a wanted criminal in the state of Morelos. Jesus Edgar N has been accused of operating in Temixco and the Lazaro Cardenas and El Ajonjolinar neighborhoods of Cuernavaca.
Three killed two missing after helicopter plunges into the sea during operation

Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan  Three naval personnel were killed Wednesday after their helicopter plunged into the sea. The accident happened 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) southwest of Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan.

According to the Secretary of the Navy, during operations carried out by the Institution, a Panther-type air-naval unit (helicopter) which was on board the ARM long-range ocean patrol vessel Juarez suffered an accident moments after taking off from the flight deck of said vessel.

To date, the causes of this accident are unknown. Eight naval personnel were transported on this aircraft, of which three were rescued alive and stable, however, three of them lost their lives (two women and one man) and two remain missing.

Naval personnel continue to search for the missing as well as investigate the cause of the fatal accident.

The Mexican Navy Secretariat regrets the death of those who lost their lives in this accident, naval personnel, who in life showed their service and dedication to the nation, they wrote in a statement.
Officially retired and well into his 90s, Thomas Sowell shows no signs of intending to stop helping the world understand social questions at the intersection of politics and economics. The keys to comprehending the entirety of Thomas Sowells writings lie in three pivotal texts: Says Law, A Conflict of Visions, and Knowledge and Decisions. These works explain the consequences when flawed anthropology and poor economic thinking drive public policy. Sowells most recent book, Social Justice Fallacies, continues in this tradition.

The book is organized to discuss the following topics: the dichotomy between equality of process and equality of outcomes, underlying assumptions about race and mobility, the role of coercive government policies, the limitations of human knowledge in addressing social issues, and the negative externalities of policies that unintentionally subvert their own attempts at achieving justice. Sowell reminds readers that policymakers hold certain visions of how society should function. He describes these visions as pre-analytic cognitive actsconceptions of what society is or should be formed prior to any systematic analysis based on hard evidence and facts. Theories of public policy are often normative and post hoc, serving as justificatory frameworks that support our fundamental assumptions about the world. For policymakers, their social and economic presuppositions are not merely inviolable beliefs; they also necessitate the application of governmental power to compel human actions to conform to their envisioned world order. Sowells critique of contemporary social justice discourses is rooted in unmasking these presuppositions.

Sowell opens by highlighting that those arguing for social justice are often confused about the definition of equality. For Sowell, equality does not mean equal outcomes. Equality means that all races, classes, and other subgroups would have equal chances at social and economic mobility, fully realizing that the vicissitudes of human life mean that outcomes will differ. Differing outcomes, however, do not prove injustice in the process. Sowell explains: At the heart of the social justice vision is the assumption that, because economic and other disparities among human beings greatly exceed any differences in their innate capacities, these disparities are evidence or proof of the effects of such human vices as exploitation and discrimination. Here, Sowell articulates the core fallacy of the social justice visionaries, namely that the existence of disparities is in fact evidence of injustice. Sowell provides multiple examples of the harm caused by trying to correct this state of naturenamely, any attempt do solve the disparity problem only creates more disparities and injustice along another axis.

Sowell wants readers to be careful about assuming that racial disparities found in various data sets are evidence of racism. What might appear to be racial discrimination could be evidence of other variables at play, such as aptitude, competence, culture, geography, and so on. For example, Sowell challenges the assumption that black family poverty is a consequence of systemic racism when the data show that poverty rates are correlated with marital status. Single-parent families have much higher poverty rates than married-couple families, regardless of race. In fact, white female-headed, single-parent families have a poverty rate more than double the poverty rate of black married couple families in the most recent data set from 1994 to 2020. White, male-headed single households have a higher poverty rate than black-married-couple families in every year from 2003 to 2020, Sowell observes. Assuming that racism is the cause of so-called disparities obscures the fact that there is outcome variance within races, and racializing outcomes opens the door for actual racism as we saw during the era of eugenics, when Jews, lower-class whites, and blacks were assumed to be genetically inferior, and racialized policies were created to account for this variance. Here, the assumption that race was the cause of disparities led to more racism.

The challenge, of course, is that the only institution with enough coercive power to force people and institutions to adhere to ideological visions of social justice is government. Interior decorators arrange. Governments compel, writes Sowell. When social justice advocates propose to use the power of government to correct disparities that are assumed to be the result of discrimination, society is made worse off. Sowell gives multiple examples. When governments impose price controls on goods and services, it creates shortages. Increasing the minimum wage leads to increases in teen unemployment and eventually reduces low-skilled labor market opportunities for the people who need it most. Using tax policies to redistribute only redistributes perverse incentives that never actually help those who need mobility. Classes of people called rich or poor dont truly exist because such absolute classifications ignore the fact that social classes turn over. That is, people are transient depending on stage in life, risks, tragedies, etc., and policies typically fail to account for the real dynamic and mobile lives of flesh and blood human beings.

Following F.A. Hayek on the knowledge problem, Sowell cautions against the presumption that those who employ government intervention to realize their vision of social justice possess the necessary knowledge, or near-omniscience, to do so effectively and accurately. And certain knowledge is crucial because it will inform decisions that have significant consequences in peoples lives. The belief that surrogate decisionmakers in the U.S. have the capacity and requisite knowledge to make decisions for 330 million Americans reeks of an ideological hubris that is rooted in Platonic thought and expanded upon by Rousseau. The notion that the wisest and smartest elites inherently understand what is best for everyone else has time and again shown to benefit the decision-makers rather than those they purport to assist. When elites attempt to rescue victims of various injustices by usurping others decision-making powers, those who genuinely need the freedom to improve their own circumstances are often deprived of it. A poignant illustration is the devastation wrought upon many black working-class and middle-class neighborhoods in the guise of urban renewal, all because a few elites presumed to know better as to where and how black Americans should live. The outcomes were disastrous, as these communities deteriorated into enclaves of rampant crime and drug proliferationa stark example being the Pruitt-Igoe complex in St. Louis.

Sowell concludes the book by revisiting the assumptions and limitations of knowledge among surrogate decision-makers and the negative repercussions of overlooking the inherent fallibility of human beings. He emphasizes the dangers of using government power to enforce ideological perceptions of the causes of injustice, stating, we need to make very sure that we have our facts straight, so that we do not make things worse while trying to make things better. He advocates for a form of epistemic humility that moderates the pursuit of cosmic justice in a world rife with diverse and conflicting beliefs about the nature and causes of social problems. The stakes of misjudgment are high, and Sowell warns against entrusting power to those who pay no price for being wrong, regardless of the high price paid by others who fall under their influence. As a case in point, he cites affirmative action policies that force institutions into making decisions that, in reality, do not generally benefit black individualsfor example, by setting them up to potentially fail in academic environments where they are not appropriately matched with the academic aptitudes of their peers.

Overall, the book could be considered an introduction to Sowells greatest hits. It is a concise read and serves as an accessible entry point to Sowells body of work for newcomers. Those already acquainted with Sowells writings, however, will find no new conceptual material that they havent encountered in his other works. The extensive endnotes serve as a guide back to his earlier publications, which is a great resource.

While Sowell is dedicated to ensuring that we apply the correct categories in our analysis, it should be noted that a significant weakness of the book, and much of Sowells canon, is the lack of guidance on responding to concrete and specific injustices owing to Jim Crow. Readers may come away from Sowells writings with a sentiment of resignationthe past is the past, so lets focus on the future. Yet it is imperative to address both the reality of Jim Crow policies that stifled social and economic mobility for many and the counterproductive nature of well-intentioned policies that ultimately left many communities worse off. Perhaps a successor to Sowell will be able to synthesize his ideas and forge solutions for disentangling communities caught at the crossroads of Jim Crowera injustice and progressive policies that have had deleterious effects.
MARTINSVILLE  Uptown Partnership is advancing up the Virginia Main Street ladder in order to bring more resources to Martinsville.

The organization was created in 2019 and is now the designated main street organization for Martinsvilles business district.

It started out with a group of community-minded individuals who were committed to bringing residents and businesses to uptown, Uptown Partnership President and Attorney General of Virginia Christina Slate said.

That discussion began with what the group wanted to see improved in the city of Martinsville and landed on wanting to bring Main Street Virginia back to our city, Slate said.

One of its first matters of business after its creation was to complete an application for Virginia Main Street designation and the status is still in place today  and the city has been progressing up the ladders since then.

The Virginia Main Street Program is a preservation-based economic and community development program by the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) that follows the Main Street Approach by the National Main Street Center.

Uptown Partnership follows the Virginia Main Street Plan and as a part of the program has access to a range of services and assistance to help revitalize historic commercial districts, including opportunities for more grant funding.

Once an organization is accepted into the program through a competitive application process, they start as an affiliate of the program and can move up based on different factors.

After affiliate an organization becomes a mobilizing organization, the status that Uptown Partnership currently holds, and eventually an advancing organization.

DHCD and Virginia Main Street are very invested in our success as a main street community, Slate said. They do invest a lot of resources into us succeeding and obviously they dont want to see their investment fail.

Uptown Partnership has a program coordinator through Virginia Main Street who meets with its team periodically to discuss staying on track to meet goals and eventually move to the next advancing stage.

Each level you go up opens the door to more and more resources that you can bring to your community, Slate said. As a mobilizing organization, they can apply for certain grants in a range of $15-$30 thousand, but once they move to advancing that number triples.

The factors that would spur an advancement to the next stage are based on strategic data and analysis, Uptown Partnership Executive Director Spencer Koger said.

Were compiling information in terms of how many businesses are starting up, what businesses we lose in the downtown district, what was particular reason we lost those businesses and at the same time its based upon volunteer hours  and we have a very active board, Koger said.

The board alone has accrued over 300 hours each month and the organization is working on steadily increasing its volunteer network outside of the board as well, he added.

The organization itself can also affect advancement, Koger said.

Theyre really looking at where we are in terms of bylaws, do we have paid staff, do we have everything that we need for procedures, manuals, all of that kind of stuff, Koger said.

But the biggest thing the organization is working on is a work plan that clearly states the direction Uptown Partnership is going and what are its four committees  promotion, design, economic vitality and organization  going after.

Uptown Partnerships main goals, really buckled down last year slate added, are the three main pillars of being a one stop shop for business resources both existing and future, property beautification and community advocacy.

Martinsville has such beautiful historic resources as far as buildings are concerned, but everything can always use constant updating, improvement or even stripping it back down to the original facades, Slate said. We are working to become the organization that helps business owners, property owners in the district be able to improve inside and outside their buildings.

One example of this is the Rob King Alleyway renovation and a future project will be the beautification of the Fayette Street pocket park.

Like so many of our partner organizations, whether it be Chamber [Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce] or the city itself, sort of just championing the uptown district to ensure that it thrives, Slate said.
Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
States in Colorado River basin pitch new ways to absorb shortages but clash on the approach

U.S. states that draw water from the Colorado River basin are suggesting new ways to determine how to absorb shortages in supply
The Latest | Biden says temporary pier in Gaza will boost aid deliveries as hopes for truce dim

U.S. President Joe Biden Biden says the U.S. military will help establish a temporary pier on the coast of Gaza as a way to boost the delivery of aid for Palestinians trapped in the besieged territory by the Israel-Hamas war
Voters backed abortion rights. Yet Kansas could make doctors ask patients why they want abortions

Kansas is moving closer to requiring abortion providers to ask patients why theyre terminating their pregnancies and report the answers to the state
RIO DE JANEIRO, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and one injured after a Brazilian federal police plane crashed Wednesday in the city of Belo Horizonte, the regional capital of Minas Gerais state, local authorities said.

The crash occurred in the early afternoon when the plane took off from Pampulha airport.

According to the fire department of Minas Gerais, of the three people onboard, two police officers were killed while a mechanic was rescued and taken to the hospital.

The federal police said in a statement that it had begun an investigation and would "dispatch specialized flight safety and air crash experts to assist in the investigation in the next few hours."

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed his solidarity with the families, friends and colleagues of the victims on social media. 
HARTSVILLE, S.C.  An armed robbery suspect was taken into custody around 8:30 a.m. Monday after a six-hour manhunt by law enforcement in the neighborhood surrounding Coker University.

According to a Hartsville Police Department report, the suspect, Christian Odom, was apprehended without incident. Odom was found in possession of the students property as well as the firearm used during the robbery. It was later revealed that Odom was also wanted on a probation violation. He faces multiple charges including armed robbery, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, unlawful carry of a weapon by a felon, several counts of auto breaking and entering, and possession of stolen property. Authorities anticipate additional charges as the investigation progresses.

According to the report, at around 2 a.m. a Coker University student was the victim of a robbery at gunpoint in a parking lot adjacent to the 300 Block of East College Avenue . The student was unharmed. The incident also involved multiple vehicle break-ins within the vicinity.

Both the Hartsville police and the Darlington County Sheriffs Office searched for the suspect using dogs and foot patrols and clearing abandoned buildings in the area. Coker University and the nearby S.C. Governors School of Science and Mathematics were both placed on lockdown.

Around 8 a.m., law enforcement still had West Home Avenue between Second Street and First Street blocked off. Armed officers were patrolling the area.

According to the Hartsville police report, the suspect was described as a white male, approximately 6 feet tall, wearing gray/green pants, a tan hoodie or jacket, brown boots, a black knit cap, and a COVID-19-style mask.

Shortly after 8:30 a.m. Coker University officials released the following statement: This morning, Hartsville Police Department was in pursuit of a suspect near our campus. Out of an abundance of caution, we alerted our campus to shelter-in-place. Following an intensive search, police apprehended the suspect off-campus and took him into custody. At this time, our campus is secure, and the shelter-in-place has been lifted.

No further details on the robbery or the suspect were available.
COLUMBIA  Sixteen products advanced in the third annual Manufacturing Madness contest presented by BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina.

The winner will earn the title of Coolest Thing Made in SC.

Nominations were accepted Feb. 12-22 resulting in 166 nominated products. The public voted Feb. 26-29 for their favorites, and more than 56,000 votes were cast to determine which of the top 16 vote-getters would advance to the bracket.

Voters can visit scmanufacturingmadness.com to select a winner from each pairing in the bracket, cutting the field in half each week until the ultimate winner is selected from the top 4. The winner will be announced in a ceremony at the Statehouse on March 28.

The 2024 Top 16 finalists are:

1. Next-Gen USPS Delivery Vehicle, Oshkosh Defense, Spartanburg

2. Honda Talon 1000R-4 Fox Live Valve, American Honda Motor Co. Inc. South Carolina Manufacturing, Florence

3. TGIF Baby Back Ribs, Spartanburg Meat Processing Company, Inc., Spartanburg

4. 9-Speed Automatic Transmission, ZF Transmissions, Laurens

5. BMW XM Plug-In Hybrid, BMW Manufacturing Co. LLC, Spartanburg

22-13592 First F-16 Block 70 Marketing Shoot GP22-0036 The F-16, which is made by Lockheed Martin at its facility in Greenville, won the SC Manufacturing Madness contest in 2023.

6. High Noon Sun Sips, E. & J. Gallo Winery, Chester

7. Counterbalance Trucks, KION North America, Dorchester

8. M240 Series Machine Guns, FN Manufacturing LLC, Richland

9. Dixie Paper Plates, Georgia-Pacific, Darlington

10. Fire Sprinklers, Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Co. Inc., Pickens

11. Kazoobie Kazoos, Kazoobie Kazoos LLC, Beaufort

12. 670LXS, Scout Boats, Dorchester

13. Michelin Earthmover Mining Tire, Michelin, Lexington

14. Reishi, MycoWorks, Union

15. Sleep Number Climate360 Smart Bed, Sleep Number, Richland

16. Signa Hero MRI Scanner, GE HealthCare, Florence

Created by the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance, the Manufacturing Madness: The Coolest Thing Made in SC contest debuted in 2022.

The F-16 Fighting Falcon made by Lockheed Martin in Greenville won the contest in 2023, and steel made by Nucor Steel Berkeley in Huger won the inaugural contest in 2022.
By Sudarshan Varadhan

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A panel of officials from Indian ministries has called for a bigger carbon tax on higher quality imported coal while cutting rates for domestic coal, in a bid to slash shipments of the polluting fuel, the coal ministry said on Thursday.

Coal is among India's top five commodity imports by value. Despite surging domestic production, mainly of low-quality coal with high ash content, it has failed to cut back on imports and ranks as the world's second largest importer.

In its report to the coal ministry, the panel said the current carbon tax rate of 400 rupees ($4.83) on every metric ton of coal, regardless of the quality bought, favoured imports and hit sales of domestically mined coal.

ADVERTISEMENT

The officials, drawn from ministries ranging from power and trade to railways, shipping, mines and steel, said tax should be charged on an ad valorem basis so that it is directly related to coal price and quality, rather than the fixed amount set now.

The panel said the tax should be be adjusted in a "revenue- neutral way" to avoid a loss to the exchequer. India's finance ministry makes final decisions on taxes.

The panel said such "regressive" taxes were also boosting electricity tariffs, as utilities mostly use domestic coal, while others users, such as makers of sponge iron, choose imports instead.

The tax amounted to 3.7% of the total value of shipments during the year ended March 2022, nearly seven times the average levy of 24.8% on purchases of domestic coal, the report said.

"It results in increasing price of the domestic coal having lower calorific value than that of the imported coal having higher calorific value," it added.

India's imports of thermal coal, used to generate power, rose nearly 10% in 2023 to 176 million tons, despite record production by state-run Coal India, which accounts for about 80% of domestic output.

Australia, Indonesia and South Africa are India's biggest suppliers of the fuel.

($1=82.7775 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
DOUBLE B: Burberry has named Irish actor Barry Keoghan as its latest brand ambassador.

In an image released by the brand, the actor is wearing a black trenchcoat, one of Burberrys signature items.

More from WWD

The Saltburn star attended Daniel Lees fall 2024 show held in Victoria Park in East London in February.

Ive been a fan of Burberry for many years now. Its such an iconic heritage brand with innovation at its heart, and a commitment to supporting arts and culture. Im very excited to be a part of this next chapter, the actor said.

Barry Keoghan at the 2023 Met Gala celebrating Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.

Keoghan attended the 2023 Met Gala, which honored the legendary Karl Lagerfeld, wearing a blue tartan suit with a matching blue rose in the pocket of his double-breasted blazer.

His raw, unique talent is incredibly inspiring and perfectly reflects the spirit of our brand, said Burberrys chief creative officer Daniel Lee, who has known the actor for more than five years.

The actors rise to fame has been through his critically acclaimed roles in Christopher Nolans World War II film Dunkirk; Yorgos Lanthimos The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and Martin McDonaghs The Banshees of Inisherin, scoring him a BAFTA win as Best Supporting Actor in 2023.

Keoghan stars in Apple TV+s new series, Masters of the Air.

The nine-episode drama tells the story of the World War II pilots who were part of the 100th Bomb Group, which performed bombing raids over Nazi Germany. The series also stars Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann and Ncuti Gatwa, among others.

Barry Keoghan at the Burberry fall 2024 show.

On the red carpet, Keoghan has been getting a helping hand from his stylist, Ilaria Urbinati.

Hes inherently very rebellious  kind of like a playfully rebellious person, the stylist told WWD earlier this year.

Story continues

Hes always the guy with a grin on his face, you know? Hes just sort of interesting like that and I think that he likes the idea of playing with clothes in a way that is going to be different or surprise people or that plays with the idea of what formalwear looks like, she added.

Barry Keoghan attends the U.K. premiere of Masters of the Air.

At the Masters of the Air London premiere, the actor eschewed a formal look in favor of a mohair blue vest and black trousers from Burberry.

Its very him. Its kind of a little punk, cozy and cute. Its not too serious, not too dressy. Then you see him standing up there with everyone in a suit and he just stands out. Hes so confident that he doesnt care that hes the only one not in a suit, Urbinati said.

Launch Gallery: Every Time Barry Keoghan Has Worn Burberry

Best of WWD
An Indian security officer stands guard in front of a poster with a portrait of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Srinagar (TAUSEEF MUSTAFA)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday he was working to "win hearts" in Indian-administered Kashmir, on his first visit to the disputed region's main city since its semi-autonomy was cancelled in 2019.

Modi's government stripped the Muslim-majority territory of its special constitutional status nearly five years ago, splitting the former state into two territories directly ruled from New Delhi.

The move, widely welcomed across India, angered many in the densely militarised territory.

"I am working hard to win your hearts, and my attempt to keep winning your hearts will continue," the Hindu nationalist leader said at a public rally in Srinagar.

Rebels in the Himalayan region have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan -- which controls a smaller part of the Kashmir region and, like India, claims it in full.

"Jammu and Kashmir is not just a region, it is the crown of the country," Modi said at the rally in a stadium attended by thousands.

Modi took pride in having cancelled the region's constitutional special status and inherited protections of land and jobs for its permanent residents.

He said the former rules and "dynastic politics" had limited the region's potential.

- Heavy security -

"Today, from Kashmir I extend my greeting for the coming Ramadan to the entire country," Modi said, ahead of the Muslim holy month of fasting, expected to begin in the coming days.

Thousands of armed police and paramilitary forces were deployed, and checkpoints set up across Srinagar.

Modi also remotely inaugurated a slew of development projects and government schemes for boosting agro-economy and tourism in Kashmir and other parts of India.

The rebellion has lost much of its former strength, and India has been heavily promoting domestic tourism in the region, home to spectacular mountain scenery.

The projects included new infrastructure around the revered Muslim shrine of Hazratbal in the city.

Story continues

The visit comes ahead of India's national elections due by May, the first since the region lost its autonomy. The last local elections in Kashmir were held in 2014.

Modi's government claims New Delhi's direct rule of Kashmir brought about a new era of "peace and development", but critics and many residents say it heralded a drastic curtailment of civil liberties and press freedom.

In neighbouring Pakistan, foreign ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch criticised what she called "India's effort to portray normalcy" in the region.

"Tourism can't be promoted in a situation where local people are being intimidated and rights and freedoms are being denied," Baloch said.

Security forces on Thursday patrolled the streets, as well as in motorboats along the river that runs through Srinagar.

Most schools in the city were shut for the day, and the authorities had called on government employees to attend the rally.

Omar Abdullah, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, accused the government of organising buses to bring in crowds, alleging that "almost none" would be attending willingly.

burs-pzb-pjm/ssy
JAKARTA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves ended February with 144.0 billion U.S. dollars, falling slightly from the previous month's 145.1 billion U.S. dollars, Bank Indonesia announced on Thursday.

"The government's foreign debt payments partly influenced the decline in the position of foreign exchange reserves," said Assistant Governor of the Bank Indonesia Communications Department Erwin Haryono.

Above international adequacy standards, the figure is equivalent to financing 6.5 months of imports, or 6.3 months of imports plus payment of government foreign debt.

Bank Indonesia believes this figure can uphold the stability of the macroeconomic and financial systems and the external sector's resilience.

These foreign exchange reserves, according to Bank Indonesia, will be sufficient to guarantee macroeconomic and financial system stability and foster sustainable economic growth. 
Toxic blue-green algae in Lough Neagh has potentially begun to wake up again already, with two confirmed reports since the start of 2024.

Last summer, it brought the largest freshwater lake in these islands to the headlines.

The algae also brought misery to those who live and work around and on the lough.

As a seventh-generation fisherman on the lough, Gary McErlain felt the effects acutely.

The eels he catches every summer retreated to the lough bed beneath the suspended algae, out of reach of his nets.

That meant what was a main industry on the lough during the summer "sort of collapsed", he said.

And the thought of what could happen this year is playing on his mind.

"There was a time whenever my people my ancestors and others would have dipped their teapot into Lough Neagh and made their tea from it whenever they were out there fishing," he said.

"I'm not saying we're gonna get back to that anytime soon.

"But we need to get back to some sort of normality in Lough Neagh, because the whole infrastructure was broken last year."

Ciara Laverty says blue-algae levels tipped the scales

It is part of Ciara Laverty's job to monitor the numbers of wildlife at the lough.

She has been a ranger for the Lough Neagh Partnership for four years.

Blue-green algae did not stop her work, but it did have an impact on her.

"It was just a really depressing state of affairs to see it in that state," she said.

"Every year out on the lough, I had seen bits of algae but last year it really tipped the scales and at times, you got quite a stench from it as well.

"And I think it's a marker that the environment is changing - the ecology of Lough Neagh is changing."

The problems of the lough were mentioned on the opening day of the newly-returned Northern Ireland Assembly and it was one of the first visits on the new agriculture, environment and rural affairs minister's agenda.

Fish 'safe to eat' again

Private anglers on Lough Neagh can once again consume the fish they catch, after the Food Standards Agency (FSA) confirmed it was safe.

Story continues

During the blue-green algae crisis of summer 2023, the FSA issued precautionary advice against consuming fish caught recreationally.

Its scientists wanted to be certain toxins produced by algal blooms did not accumulate in the flesh of the fish.

Fish from commercial fisheries were exempt from the warning.

Their facilities are subject to strict food processing guidelines.

The FSA's chief scientific adviser, Prof Robin May, said test results showed toxins did not accumulate in the parts of the fish that were eaten, meaning the fish were safe as long as they were properly handled and gutted.

"With this new information, we are now advising that recreational anglers can enjoy eating the fish they catch but they should take care when handling and gutting the fish to prevent contamination of the edible parts of the fish with toxins that may be present in internal organs," he said.

"Before cooking or freezing the fish, fillets should be rinsed with clean water to remove any contaminants from the gutting process.

"Advice remains that recreational fishing should not take place in areas of visible algal bloom and fish that are displaying abnormal behaviours, are dead or dying should not be eaten."

Fast action needed for 'precious' lough

Everyone agrees that there is no quick fix, but people like Martin Townsend believe the work must start now.

He was part of the UK Environment Agency team which examined how the River Thames was managed.

Now, as the director for the Centre of Excellence for Sustainability at the British Standards Institution, he and his staff have looked at the vulnerability of freshwater on a global scale.

He said a resource like Lough Neagh was precious and fast action was required.

"The longer you leave these conversations, the more urgent they become," he said.

"And actually that's when things become even more fragile.

"There are complications related to the lough in terms of land ownership, competing demands, those processes of change in discussions - you won't find a perfect solution overnight.

Lough Neagh

"So actually getting the right conversations at the right pace taking place, I think, is incredibly important.

"But the longer you leave it, the more challenging it will become."

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) formed a working group to examine the problems of the lough and to make preparations for the expected return of the algae.

It is due to report back shortly.

Speaking before the Daera committee this week, the department's minister, Andrew Muir, spoke of his "sense of shame" about what had happened in Lough Neagh.

"The problem which was bubbling below the surface came to the top," he said.

"But what was bubbling below the surface occurred over decades and it occurred because of environmental mismanagement."

And he said that if people genuinely and sincerely wanted to tackle the issues, a "really concerted effort" across government and society would be required.

'Jewel in the heart of Northern Ireland'

For Ciara, the silver lining to the blue-green algae crisis of 2023 is that Lough Neagh is finally getting the attention she believes it deserves.

"It is a jewel in the heart of Northern Ireland, it's got every environmental designation under the sun," she said.

"Everyone's still talking about the issues and it's very promising to see the new minister has made Lough Neagh a priority.

"So that fills me with hope."

Her optimism is shared - cautiously - by Gary.

"People take Lough Neagh for granted," he said.

"They love it, but they take it for granted.

"And I'm heartened to see the amount of people that have actually come out of the woodwork and are putting their face to it and their voice to it.

"Surely there's enough said and done and seen now to change policy on this. We need to get the job done."
Close up of American shorthair cat lying on the floor (Photo: Getty Images)

SINGAPORE  A man was charged on Wednesday (6 March) for leaving 43 pet cats alone in his Ang Mo Kio flat for about three months without food and water. Two of the cats suffered "acute deaths" from stress, and were found in "exceedingly poor body (conditions).

CNA reported that Muhammad Danial Sukirman, 31, was handed 44 charges under the Animals and Birds Act. They comprise mostly of causing unnecessary pain and suffering to the cats, with a last charge for failing to attend a meeting with an authorised Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS) officer.

Sequence of events

According to charge sheets, Danial had left the 43 cats unattended at his vacant sixth floor flat at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 between August and November 2021. The flat was of "poor living condition, and the cats were not give adequate food and water.

Two of the domestic shorthair cats died after an episode of "stress and physical exertion, stated the charges.

Danial was given a written notice on 6 December 2022, requiring him to attend a meeting with an authorised AVS officer on 12 December. However, he did not comply.

Man to return to court on 27 March

The prosecutor from National Parks Board will be seeking a total sentence of at least two to four weeks in jail for Danial. The plea offer was to proceed on 10 charges, with the other 34 taken into consideration.

According to CNA, Danial had said he wanted to plead guilty, but wished to apply for a lawyer under the Public Defender's Office. He will return to court on 27 March.

He faces up to 18 months' jail and/or a fine up to S$15,000 for each charge of causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal.

For failing to attend a meeting with an authorised officer, he could be jailed for up to six months and/or fined up to S$10,000 if convicted.

Do you have a story tip? Email: sgnews.tips@yahooinc.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Also check out our Southeast Asia, Food, and Gaming channels on YouTube.
Taylor Swift's electrifying sold-out performances in Singapore spark widespread excitement, with politicians integrating her lyrics into parliamentary addresses and social media buzzing with Swift-inspired posts. (PHOTO:Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)

SINGAPORE  As Taylor Swift mania sweeps into Singapore amid her electrifying sold-out performances at the National Stadium, the feverish excitement spreads far beyond the superstar's adoring fans.

From politicians weaving her lyrics into their parliamentary addresses, to social media buzzing with Swift-inspired posts, Singapore finds itself immersed in a "Love Story" with the global pop sensation.

Here are the highlights of this slew of Swiftie references:

During Parliament, Workers' Party MP Gerald Giam questions taxpayer-funded grants, invoking Taylor Swift's 'Blank Space' to inquire about her tour's exclusivity in Southeast Asia. Minister Edwin Tong responds with humour, promising brevity akin to Swift's 'All Too Well'. (PHOTO: MCI/YouTube)

1. Swift Negotiation

Workers' Party Member of Parliament Gerald Giam questioned the government's decision to use taxpayer-funded grants to attract artists like Swift to Singapore on Monday (4 March).

In a nod to Swift's style, Giam asked, "Did the government negotiate to make Taylor Swift's Eras tour the only 'blank space' in Southeast Asia, and did it realise that this may be perceived by some of our neighbours as being mean?"

He referenced Swift's song "Blank Space", in which she sings about leaving a metaphorical blank space in her life for a new lover.

Minister for Culture, Community, and Youth Edwin Tong responded with a touch of wit, saying, "I'll try not to make my answer the 10-minute version", in a playful reference to Swift's extended version of "All Too Well".

2. You Belong With Forward SG

Manpower Minister Tan See Leng also joined in the fray during his ministry's Committee of Supply debate on Monday, referencing Swift's hit "You Belong With Me" to highlight his point about empowering workers.

"As Taylor Swift aptly puts it," he said, "Tell me about your dreams, think I know where you belong. I hope, Members of the House, it is with Forward SG. We will empower Singaporeans to seize their dream career opportunities by helping them take charge of their career health."

During his Ministry's COS on Monday, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng drew on Taylor Swift's hit song 'You Belong With Me' to emphasise his message of empowering workers. (PHOTO: MCI/YouTube)

3. Striving for Longevity, Taylor Swift Style

In response to Radin Mas MP Melvin Yong's questions about workplace safety measures, Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad likened Singapore's aim for sustained safety improvements to Swift's long and illustrious career, saying, "You don't want to be called a one-hit wonder, you hope to be Taylor Swift with 20 years of success."

Story continues

Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad compared Singapore's pursuit of sustained safety improvements to Taylor Swift's enduring career. (PHOTO: MCI/YouTube)

4. Lightning On Our Feet

During his address on Tuesday (5 March) on maintaining Singapore's global branding and international stature, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan invoked Swift's lyrics from "Shake It Off," declaring, "We will be lightning on our feet."

His statement emphasised Singapore Tourism Board's commitment to strategic initiatives aimed at attracting world-class events and making Singapore an attractive destination for leisure and business.

During the same session, Workers' Party MP Jamus Lim also integrated Swift's lyrics into his question, questioning whether Singapore's first-mover advantage in securing events might negatively impact foreign relations and lead to perceptions that the city-state is "hoarding the pie."

Lim said, "And of course, haters are gonna hate hate hate, but I'm wondering to the extent that STB will work with MFA or other agencies to manage this potential fallout when it comes to international relations."

5. Health Minister Ong Ye Kung's Swift Wit

Besides references to Swift's work in parliament, some politicians are going the extra mile to express their admiration for the pop icon.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung delighted his followers by sharing an Instagram reel on Saturday (2 March), showcasing his unique take on Swift's iconic "You Belong With Me" music video.

He recreated a memorable scene in which Swift portrays a nerdy school student with a crush on her neighbour, adding his own humorous twist to the interaction.

In the video, Ong, seemingly in his office, held up a notebook bearing the message "yes, I'm busy," in response to Swift's written query of "You ok?" Swift playfully replied with a "Sorry", prompting Ong to inquire, "Any big plans tonight?" Swift responded that she was studying, prompting Ong to joke, "Don't bluff, tonight's concert is in SG," written in his notebook.

In a final comedic touch, Ong displayed a notebook reminder advocating self-care. He advised viewers to take study breaks, ensure adequate sleep, reduce sugar and salt intake, limit device usage, and seek support from friends. He signed off with a tongue-in-cheek "Yes, I am a nag."

6. Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's Music Tribute

Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong joined the chorus of Taylor Swift admirers by sharing a throwback video of himself strumming a guitar to the tune of Swift's "Love Story".

Wong's heartfelt performance, dedicated to teachers on Teachers' Day last year, served as a tribute to their dedication and hard work.

Do you have a story tip? Email: sgnews.tips@yahooinc.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Also check out our Southeast Asia, Food, and Gaming channels on YouTube.
Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
Mid-Week Lenten Services

Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3204 S. Lakeport, is inviting the public to their Lenten services on Wednesday, March 13. Worship times are at 11:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. A free-will offering spaghetti lunch will be served at 12:15 p.m., following the 11:30 a.m. service, and dinner will be served from 5 to 6:45 p.m., prior to the 7 p.m. service (carry-out available). Join for our Guided to the Cross series, week four, Guided to Trust: Ephesians 1 Timothy 1:15  "Plagued by doubt and competing voices, we turn to the cross to put our trust fully in the salvation won for us there."

United Lutheran Church, 315 Hamilton Blvd., will hold Lenten Worship services every Wednesday through Lent. Dinner will be served from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Service will be at 6:30 p.m. Bible Study will be held at 7:30 p.m.

Cathedral Sacred Music Series

As part of the Cathedral Sacred Music Series, Dr. Sonja Kraus of USD in Vermillion, S.D., and Dr. Brooks Hafey of Chadron State College, Neb., will present a cello and piano recital at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 10 at the Cathedral of the Epiphany. The recital will feature the works of Margaret Hubicki and Sergei Prokofiev. Admission is free and open to the public. Solemn sung vespers follows the recital at 4 p.m. The Cathedral is located at 10th and Douglas Streets in Sioux City.

Irish Bake Potato Buffet

New Horizons United Church of Christ, 141 Reed St., Akron, Iowa, will hold an Irish Bake Potato Buffet from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 16. Choice of baked potato or sweet potato with a variety of toppings is $8. Grilled Hotdog meal is $4 and includes potato chips, chocolate chip cookie and beverage. 10% of net proceeds go to American Legion #186 in Akron. Dine-in, carryout, or free delivery within Akron city limits. Contact the church at 712-568-3446.

Palm Sunday Dinners

Bethany Lutheran Church, 1201 Dubuque St., will host its annual Palm Sunday Brunch after the 10:30 a.m. worship service. Serving will be from about 11:30 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m. and will feature waffles and syrup, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, orange juice, coffee and milk. The public is invited to both the worship service and brunch, and there will be a free-will offering.

Community United Methodist Church, 101 Baker St., Sergeant Bluff, will hold a ham dinner from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 24, sponsored by Methodist Women. Food served will include ham, au gratin potatoes, vegetable with a salad bar and desert. Free will offering.

Holy Week Services

Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3204 S. Lakeport, invites the public to Holy Week and Easter Services. Beginning with Palm Sunday, please join on Sunday, March 24, at 8:15 and 10:45 a.m., Maundy Thursday services on Thursday, March 28, at 11:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. with Holy Communion. Good Friday services on Friday, March 29, at 11:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Easter Sunday services with Holy Communion and the Hallelujah Chorus on Sunday, March 31, at 6:30, 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. Easter Breakfast served 7:30 to 10 a.m.

United Lutheran Church, 315 Hamilton Blvd., will hold services for Holy Week. Maundy Thursday service will be at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 28; Good Friday service will be at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 29; and service will be at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 30. Easter Sunday services will be a sunrise service at 7 a.m. and regular service at 10 a.m. with an Egg Bake Breakfast following the sunrise service.

Leonetti to keynote Mens Conference

National Catholic speaker, youth minister, parish mission leader, author and Des Moines Catholic radio host Jon Leonetti will be the keynote speaker for the April 6 Mens Conference in Le Mars, Iowa.

The Men of the Cross conference is co-sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Sioux City and the Le Mars All Saints Catholic Parish Mens Ministry group.

Leonetti shared that he will be talking to the conference participants about humans being created in Gods image and likeness, as described in the book of Genesis. He pointed out that humans are the highest form of Gods creation.

Men of the Cross will include three keynote presentations from Leonetti, two 30-minute breakout sessions, lunch and Mass at 2 p.m. with Bishop Nickless. The Plymouth County Pork Producers will be providing a hearty pork chop lunch for the men, which has become an annual favorite for the participants. Bower explained the breakout speakers will include Father Zach Jones, Father Michael Erpelding and Daniel Swalve, parishioner and father of young children.

To register for the conference, participants can go to scdiocese.org/mensconference. Cost is $40 per person if registered by March 22. After March 22, the fee increases to $50 per person. Fathers and sons registering together will receive a $5 discount off of each registration. The conference will be held at All Saints Catholic ParishSt. Joseph Church, 605 Plymouth St. NE in Le Mars.

Citywide confessions

In an effort to encourage the Catholic faithful to participate in the sacrament of reconciliation (confession), the four Catholic parishes in Sioux City are collaborating on citywide confessions throughout the next year.

Each parish will host one of four come and go confessions in the next 10 months to remind Catholics that the sacrament is available throughout the year  not just during the liturgical (church) seasons of Advent and Lent.

Confessions will be available at the following locations from 7 to 8 p.m. and the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for confession participants to pray in adoration if they wish. Multiple priests will be present at each citywide confessions event.

March 19, 2024 at Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ Church at 4241 Natalia Way

June 18, 2024 at Sacred Heart Parish at 5010 Military Road.

Pastors of the four parishes include: The Rev. David Hemann of Holy Cross Parish, which includes Blessed Sacrament and St. Michael churches; the Rev. David Esquiliano of Cathedral Parish, which includes the Cathedral of the Epiphany, St. Boniface and St. Joseph churches; the Rev. Brad Pelzel of Mater Dei Parish, which includes Immaculate Conception and Nativity churches, and the Rev. Tim Friedrichsen of Sacred Heart Parish.

Food pantry

St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 1200 Douglas St., will have its food pantry open from 10 a.m. to noon Mondays.
LOS ANGELES  When producers told him he was touring Europe in the second season of The Reluctant Traveler, Eugene Levy thought hed be hitting the continents greatest cities.

Instead, says Executive Producer David Brindley, we actually take Eugene very much off the beaten track.

That means hes in a wellness facility in Germany, a rain-soaked midsummer festival in Sweden and a working-class community in Scotland -- that even his Scottish mother didnt want to revisit.

If you were to ask me, In your dream, what country in the world are you just dying to get to? Id say I dont know because there isnt one place Im dying to get to, Levy says. The thrill of agreeing to a series like this hinges on the adventure that it offers.

It makes me a more enlightened person and, possibly, a more interesting personand I love my interaction with the people. They really make these trips memorable for me.

The lodging? Not so much. In Germany, the Schitts Creek star stays in a wellness facility where he drank clear broth and had a piece of very stale bread for dinner. I actually had to cheat and go over to the hotel where the crew was staying to get an occasional cheeseburger, he says.

Because Brindley doesnt elaborate, Levy often learns about the itinerary just before it happens.

If I was on my own and somebody said, Hey, go you want to go to the Philippines or India or something? Id probably say, You know what? Maybe not this year, Levy says. It wouldnt get me out of the house. But the fact that the show actually gets me out of the house to kind of experience this, theres a lot that I truly enjoy.

The Emmy winner also found he felt sorry for residents in some parts of the world. In Sweden, for example, it was a very thick season for mosquitoes. You really couldnt enjoy being outside at all because youre swatting a lot of the time.

At a midsummer festival there, it poured and the locals who were dressed in elaborate costumes were drenched. You would never know anything was wrong because they were as enthusiastic as they would have been if there had been no rain and the sun was shining, Levy says.

That kind of surprise proved transformational, Brindley says.

Basically, youre playing in the rain, Levy says.

Reluctant Traveler Rain didn't dampen the enthusiasm in Sweden when Eugene Levy visit in "The Reluctant Traveler."

Reluctant Traveler Eugene Levy tries his hand at dancing in Scotland -- and he gets a kilt.

In Scotland, where his mother was born, Levy had a moment that only someone like Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. could prompt. The connection I actually felt as soon as I got to the country was very palpable, he says. While his mothers home is no longer standing, he could sense the kind of life she had. She never talked about how bad it was, how crowded it was. It really put an emotional charge in me and Im glad I did it.

Like Finding Your Roots, The Reluctant Traveler afforded Brindley an opportunity to tell Levys biographical story. Hes not somebody who does huge amounts of interviews about his innermost thinking, Brindley says. To be there at that moment, it feels quite special.

Ive always had a strong appreciation for family, Levy says. I dont have to be away to appreciate and understand whats going on here. I just relate to it right away.

And the food? German broth aside, the reluctant traveler says he found haggis horrible. Its every part of an animals body that you would not want in a recipe.

The best? I love Italian food and every single thing at the hotel (in Tuscany) where we were staying was exceptionally great. I really hated to leave there because you got so excited every day about a meal.

The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy, season two, begins March 8 on AppleTV+.

Reluctant Traveler Eugene Levy herding sheep with Uta Wree in Germany in The Reluctant Traveler With Eugene Levy, premiering March 8.
Before Stephanie and Brennen Lewis could host the baby gender reveal party they were planning for family and friends, they had an ultrasound appointment to attend. They were eager for another glimpse of their first baby.

The technician looked at the baby's bones, brain and major organs. The test included a scan of the baby's heart. It didn't look right.

Stephanie's doctor referred her to a pediatric cardiologist right away. That same day, she had a fetal echocardiogram, which took pictures of the baby's heart. Afterward, the doctor sat the couple down.

"This is a normal heart," he said, pointing to the drawing he'd sketched on a dry erase board. "And this is your baby's heart."

Their daughter had hypoplastic left heart syndrome. It's a rare congenital heart defect where the left side of the heart is significantly underdeveloped and can't pump blood well.

Babies born with the syndrome typically need a series of surgeries after birth. The Lewises would have to wait for their baby to grow to see how severe her case might be.

Stephanie was speechless. Tears flowed down her face.

That night at dinner with Brennen's parents, Brennen encouraged Stephanie to stay optimistic.

"Let's keep planning the gender reveal," he said.

The next several months brought regular echos and scans of the baby. Stephanie was petrified of what condition her daughter would be in at birth.

Doctors at their hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida, suggested delivering the baby at a hospital in Miami that would be better equipped to care for the newborn. The Lewises opted to deliver in the more familiar setting of their local hospital, then be transported as necessary.

Stephanie delivered McKenna via cesarean section. She held her daughter on her chest for a fleeting moment, then doctors put a tube in the baby's throat to help her breathe.

Brennen rode with McKenna in an ambulance to a nearby airport. They took a medical flight helicopter to Miami.

Brennen FaceTimed Stephanie with updates for two days, until she was healthy enough to join them. McKenna would need a series of three open-heart surgeries. On McKenna's fifth day, she underwent her first.

Stephanie and Brennen fell asleep on each other as doctors worked on their daughter's heart for seven hours. The procedure redirected the flow of blood away from the problematic left side, so the right side of her heart could pump blood to both her lungs and the rest of her body.

Meanwhile, genetic testing was done. It didn't explain what caused the defect.

Two weeks later, Stephanie and Brennen got to hold their baby. During their hospital stay, they watched Hurricane Irma sweep through the city from their room. A month after surgery, mom, dad and McKenna went home.

Of course, this wasn't the newborn experience they'd dreamed of having. The Lewises were in "survival mode."

Stephanie and Brennen followed a binder full of instructions. There were multiple medicines to give, daily weight checks, and weekly doctor appointments with echos, X-rays and bloodwork. They had a nurse on speed dial and let their local fire and rescue squad know about McKenna in case of an emergency.

At two and a half months, they returned to the hospital. Doctors ran tests to see if McKenna was ready for a second surgery, which would reroute blood in another way, reducing the strain on the right ventricle. It turned out she needed it right away.

McKenna recovered nicely. Family life settled into enough of a groove that, around her second birthday, she became a big sister to a healthy baby boy named Declan.

About six months later, McKenna had her third surgery. The procedure finished the rerouting, this time ensuring all of the oxygen-poor blood returning from the body flows to the lungs.

Finally, Brennen began releasing the stress he'd been carrying since learning his daughter needed not one, not two, but three open-heart surgeries.

"I definitely got a lot of gray hairs," he said.

Then Brennen shifted careers. He left his family's business to pursue his dream of a career in law enforcement. He's an officer in his county's sheriff's office.

Now, McKenna is a happy and healthy 7-year-old. She wants to be a pediatric surgeon when she grows up. She wrestles with her younger brother, rides her scooter with abandon, and loves cheerleading and gymnastics.

"I like the rope, but my favorite part is the balance beam," McKenna said.

On Christmas Eve, McKenna took her first plane flight. The family flew to Canada to see Stephanie's parents. "It was a total surprise for the kids," Stephanie said. It was also their first time seeing snow.

McKenna sees her cardiologist once a year and takes medications to keep her heart rhythm and blood pressure steady. Her medicines can be hard on the kidneys, and McKenna gets muscle cramps and dehydrated.

"She'll always have a single ventricle, and there are still obstacles," Stephanie said, "but they're manageable."

Most important now is for McKenna to stay active to build muscle, eat healthy and be well hydrated. If her heart function declines, the next step is a heart transplant.

But she could also never need one.

At school, McKenna is surrounded by supportive classmates and teachers. When the Lewises signed up for their local American Heart Association Heart Walk, they had team shirts made. On McKenna Day at school, her fellow first graders wore the shirts. This year, McKenna is a national AHA Heart Walk ambassador.

For now, the Lewises take comfort in the fact that there are women born with McKenna's condition now in their 20s and 30s who have their own children.

"Back in the '80s, some of these kids never made it out of the delivery room," Stephanie said. "Because of advances in heart care, there's a long horizon ahead for McKenna."

Stories From the Heart chronicles the inspiring journeys of heart disease and stroke survivors, caregivers and advocates.

covers heart and brain health. Not all views expressed in this story reflect the official position of the American Heart Association. Copyright is owned or held by the American Heart Association, Inc., and all rights are reserved.
MERRILL, Iowa  A Spirit Lake man was arrested Wednesday after leading police on a 20-minute pursuit through Plymouth County, which ended when the vehicle he was driving got stuck in the mud.

Geoffrey D. Oolman, 34, was booked into the Plymouth County Jail on charges of eluding -- second offense, a class C felony; possession of a controlled substance -- third or subsequent offense, a class D felony; and misdemeanor charges of operating while intoxicated, driving while barred, unlawful possession of prescription pills and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Plymouth County District Court, at 8:41 p.m. Wednesday, a Plymouth County deputy attempted to stop a black 2013 Jeep Patriot with dealer plates near Merrill. The deputy recognized Oolman, who had a barred driver's license, at a gas pump. The deputy activated his vehicle's lights and sirens, but Oolman "failed to pull over."

Oolman led law enforcement on a multiple-mile pursuit through Plymouth County, which lasted roughly 20 minutes, according to the complaint.

The sheriff's office said in a statement that when the pursuit entered Le Mars, the Le Mars Police Department offered assistance.

"The pursuit then continued northbound and eastbound on numerous county and state roads in Plymouth County exceeding 95 miles per hour," the statement said. "The vehicle ultimately entered a level B road near Quest Ave/140th. The vehicle traveled eastbound on 140th for a short amount of time before getting stuck in the mud."

Once the vehicle came to a stop, Oolman fled on foot. Numerous law enforcement officers from multiple agencies created a perimeter around his location, according to the statement.

After 1 1/2 hours of searching, the O'Brien County Sheriff's Office brought a done to the scene. The drone's operator found Oolman lying down in a field.

"At this time, two Plymouth County deputies along with a Le Mars Police Department K9 officer were able to apprehend the suspect and take him into custody," the statement said.

According to the complaint, the vehicle had methamphetamine shards and blue pills across the floorboard and the driver's seat area. Some pills were also found in the mud outside of the vehicle along the path Oolman took when he fled.

"Oolman had bloodshot eyes, droopy eyelids and displayed poor decision-making and poor driving behavior during the pursuit," the complaint stated.

The execution of a search warrant resulted in the seizure of a dirty meth needle from the vehicle, as well as a loaded meth pipe, marijuana pipe and a small amount of marijuana, according to the complaint.

"Oolman admitted the dealer plates that had been on the vehicle were given to him by a friend who took them from a dealership and did not belong to the vehicle," the complaint stated.

The Remsen Police Department, Orange City Police Department, Sioux County Sheriff's Office and Cherokee Police Department also assisted in the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office.
PENDER, Neb. -- A West Point, Nebraska, man has died in custody at the Thurston County Jail.

The Nebraska State Patrol is investigating the death of Edgar Walker, 53, who had a medical emergency Monday. He was transported to Pender Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The Thurston County Sheriff's Office asked the state patrol to conduct the in-custody death investigation, according to a state patrol news release.

According to court records, Walker pleaded no contest in February to second-degree domestic assault for a Jan. 2 incident. He was scheduled to be sentenced on April 4.
SIOUX CITY  The Sioux City Education Association and the Sioux City Education Support Personnel Association presented their opening proposals for 2024-25 school year salaries Tuesday afternoon.

Brenda Zahner, director of the Siouxland UniServ group of the Iowa State Education Association, presented the information, with members of both union and district administration in attendance.

The SCEA proposed a 4.5 percent base salary increase and a $1,500 increase in longevity pay. The percentage increase would result in a $1,742 base pay increase, from $38,711 to $40,453.

The SCESPA proposed a $2.10 an hour increase and the addition of two new longevity pay categories: 5 years would give a $50 monthly increase and 10 years would give a $100 increase. SCESPA also proposed increasing current longevity pay for 15 years from $75 to $150, for 20 years from $100 to $200 and for 25 years from $125 to $250.

Under state law, the opening proposal from employee unions and the response from the district are open to the public. Subsequent bargaining sessions are held behind closed doors. The district will present its opening proposal next Wednesday.

The SCEA has step increases in its contract that give a base salary increase for every additional year of service. Including that base increase, the longevity pay asks, and TSS increase, Documents provided by the district show an 6.55 percent increase from the SCEA proposal.

For the SCESPA, the $2.10 increase is a 12.7 percent hourly increase, according to district administration.

In addition to salaries, SCEA has proposed various wage changes throughout the contract including increases to substitute pay, hourly rate for extra duties and adding new positions to the supplemental pay schedule.

Teachers who perform substitute teaching duties during their planning time currently receive $40 per class period. The union is proposing increasing it to $50. If a teacher substitutes for a half-day, they currently receive $75, but the union is proposing it be increased to $125. For nurses, the union proposed those who perform substitute nursing duties for an absent colleague be compensated at $125 for one-half day.

The union also proposes meetings be added to paid out-of-contract events, and the hourly rate be increased from $40 to $50.

For extracurriculars, teachers are compensated according to a salary schedule based on the activity. Each role gets a percentage of the base salary. The SCEA is proposing adding new positions including:

High school musical assistant;

High school e-sports advisor;

National Honor Society advisor;

Gender-Sexuality Alliance advisor;

Elementary academic advisor and;

Middle school academic advisor.

The SCESPA also proposed other changes to the contract including increases for certifications, increased emergency leave days and changes to assistant pay.

Currently, SCESPA assistants who have a paraeducator certification or four-year degree receive 40 cents added to their hourly salary. The union proposed increasing the pay for those with a paraeducator certification to 60 cents and those with a four-year-degree to 80 cents.

Assistants who have an early childhood certification currently receive an additional 40 cents. The union proposed increasing it to 60 cents.

Secretaries with a four-year degree currently receive an additional 40 cents. and those with a two-year degree receive an additional 60 cents. The union proposed increasing those by 80 cents and 60 cents, respectively.

Currently, the union contract states assistants whose regular assignments in Foundations receive a $1.10 increase to their hourly rate. Zahner said the resource room paraeducators are doing the same work as the Foundations assistants. The union proposed changing the language from foundations to special education.

If a SCESPA employee is required to monitor a classroom for longer than 30 minutes, the union proposed they receive compensation commensurate to the hourly rate of the second step of substitute pay.

If there is a snow day during the year that is not made up, currently SCESPA lose a day's worth of wages. The union proposed those employees receive an additional three days of emergency leave in case of school cancellation due to inclement weather.
by Cong Peiwu

OTTAWA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- When I recently took a stroll at the Canadian Museum of Nature, memories of a significant collaboration between China and Canada in paleontology 38 years ago came to mind.

In 1986, the two countries initiated the China-Canada Dinosaur Project -- the largest dinosaur exploration program between the East and the West in the last century. This project focused on researching ancient strata in northern China and North America, seeking well-preserved dinosaur fossils, investigating the relationship between dinosaur fauna in Asia and North America, and establishing an Asian dinosaur classification.

Over a five-year period, leading dinosaur researchers from both nations conducted fossil excavations and scientific studies across various sites in China and Canada. Notably, in July 1986, Chinese paleontologists Dong Zhiming and Yu Chao led a team to Alberta, Canada, and the Nunavut region to explore the Arctic continental shelf and fossils. The initial phase of the China-Canada Dinosaur Project produced significant findings.

For decades, following the footsteps of their predecessors, dinosaur scholars from both countries have carried out sincere cooperation, turning this project into a shining example of scientific collaboration between our countries.

A remarkable tale unfolded last year through the combined efforts of scholars from both sides, revealing a rare fossil dating back around 125 million years. Unearthed in Liaoning Province in northeastern China, this fossil depicts a moment frozen in time when a Repenomamus robustus, a carnivorous mammal, and a Psiyyacosaurus, a large herbivorous dinosaur, were engaged in a fierce battle before being preserved by lava.

The quest for civilization has never been advanced by the brutal dynamics of the jungle. A world where the strong prey on the weak cannot foster a prosperous human civilization. While many dinosaurs perished in relentless struggles for survival, humanity has flourished through inclusiveness and collaboration. Transplanting the logic of the law of the jungle, which advocates the supremacy of power, into human society fundamentally undermines the principles of sovereign equality and world peace.

In today's era of globalization, nations are intricately linked and reliant on each other. Therefore, embracing a winner-takes-all mentality akin to the law of the jungle is futile; instead, pursuing inclusive development for collective benefits is the true path forward.

China proposed The International Science and Technology Cooperation Initiative in 2023, which promotes open, fair, equitable and non-discriminatory international science and technology cooperation, calls for science, technology and innovation (STI) cooperation to explore solutions to global issues, address the challenges of the times together, and to jointly promote peaceful development. It aims to develop science for the benefit of all regardless of borders, and calls on countries to work together to boost collaboration and mutual learning among STI entities.

Just like the China-Canada Dinosaur Project, China-Canada scientific cooperation is mutually beneficial and can help mankind gain a deeper understanding of the world. Any attempt to impede such mutually beneficial collaborations risk undermining past achievements, jeopardizing present interests, and stifling future progress. It is hoped that discerning individuals in Canada will acknowledge this truth and embrace cooperative efforts for the greater good.

Editor's note: Cong Peiwu is the Chinese ambassador to Canada.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Xinhua News Agency.
SIOUX CITY  It was smiles all around for the owner of a Sioux City restaurant, which will soon reopen more than a year after a devastating fire.

There was a flurry of activity Wednesday as crews installed air handling equipment in the newly-renovated Opa Time restaurant, 2129 Hamilton Blvd.

This is getting back my life. I am like a fish out of ..., said Opa Time owner Peter Konidas, searching for the word "water" to complete the well-known phrase.

Opa Time reconstruction Contractors continue work on rebuilding Opa Time, Wednesday, after a 2023 fire destroyed the restaurant in Sioux City.

The Sioux City institution was destroyed by fire on Jan. 29, 2023. Fire officials ruled the cause as spontaneous combustion of oily rags.

His son George has been working with his family in the business since he was a little boy.

We are excited. It has just been a long process. We didnt know if this was even possible when the fire had happened, George Konidas said. We thought maybe wed have to walk. So for this to come all together even after this week, we are very thankful but more importantly we are very excited to get back and serve the Siouxland community the best gyros that we can.

Depending on inspections and permitting, the family hopes to reopen the business sometime around March 18-25.

Original, never change, Peter said when asked if they had made any changes in the menu in anticipation of the reopening.

Konidas arrived in the U.S. in 1990 from his native Greece.

Opa Time serves traditional Greek dishes like gyros, souvlaki pitas and baklava, as well as American burgers, patty melts, chicken fried steak and fish.

Opa Time reconstruction Work continues on rebuilding Opa Time after a fire destroyed the Sioux City restaurant last year.

He said customers can expect a surprise as the business gets up and running again but he declined to give any details.

Peter is anxious to get back to his customers adding I give good service to the people. Its not about the money.

The family has a long punch list to get through before reopening.

I never want to over-promise and under-deliver, George said. Here in a week or two we will be open and right back at it.

The remaining work includes installation of the drop ceiling, new equipment underneath the hood in the kitchen, and paint touchups.

There are little details we will go around and look at all the details and make sure everything is ready to go before we open, George said.
SANTA FE, N.M.  A jury convicted a movie weapons supervisor of involuntary manslaughter on Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal on the set of the Western movie Rust.

The verdict against movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed assigns new blame in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021 after an assistant director last year pleaded no contest to negligent handling of a firearm.

Gutierrez-Reed, a 24-year-old on her second feature film as armorer at the time of the 2021 shooting, also faced a second charge of tampering with evidence stemming from accusations that she handed a small bag of possible narcotics to another crew member after the shooting to avoid detection. She was found not guilty on that count.

Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer on Rust, was indicted by a grand jury in January on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. He was pointing a gun at Hutchins on a movie set outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.

Prosecutors at a two-week trial alleged Gutierrez-Reed unwittingly brought live ammunition onto the set of Rust while flouting basic industry gun-safety guidelines.

Immediately after the verdict was read out in court, the judge ordered the 24-year-old armorer placed into the custody of deputies. Lead attorney Jason Bowles said afterward that Gutierrez-Reed will appeal the conviction, which carries a penalty of up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Santa Fe-based state district court Judge Mary Marlowe Somer did not immediately set a sentencing date.

The proceedings are a preamble to a scheduled trial of Baldwin in July on a single charge of involuntary manslaughter. The actor pleaded not guilty.

Messages seeking comment about Wednesday's verdict from Baldwins spokeswoman and a lawyer were not immediately returned.

Prosecutors say Gutierrez-Reed unknowingly brought live ammunition onto the set of Rust at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe, arguing that rounds lingered for at least 12 days until the fatal shooting.

In closing arguments, prosecutor Kari Morrissey described constant, never-ending safety failures on the set of Rust and Gutierrez-Reed's astonishing lack of diligence with gun safety.

We end exactly where we began  in the pursuit of justice for Halyna Hutchins, Morrissey told the jury. Hannah Gutierrez failed to maintain firearms safety, making a fatal accident willful and foreseeable.

Prosecutors contend the armorer repeatedly skipped or skimped on standard gun-safety protocols that might have detected the live rounds.

This was a game of Russian roulette every time an actor had a gun with dummies, Morrissey said.

Defense attorneys said the problems on the set extended far beyond Gutierrez-Reeds control, including the mishandling of weapons by Baldwin. At trial they cited sanctions and findings by state workplace safety investigators.

Prosecutors did not come close to proving where the live rounds originated and failed to fully investigate an Albuquerque-based ammunition supplier, the defense said at trial.

Lead attorney Jason Bowles told jurors that no one in the cast and crew thought there were live rounds on set and Gutierrez-Reed could not have foreseen that Baldwin would go off-script when he pointed the revolver at Hutchins. Investigators found no video recordings of the shooting.

It was not in the script for Mr. Baldwin to point the weapon, Bowles said. She didnt know that Mr. Baldwin was going to do what he did.

To drive the point home, Bowles played a video outtake in which Baldwin fired a revolver loaded with blanks  including a shot after a director calls cut.

On the day of the shooting, Bowles said, Gutierrez-Reed alone was segregated in a police car away from others, becoming a convenient scapegoat.

Dozens of witnesses testified during the 10-day trial, from FBI experts in firearms and crime-scene forensics to a camera dolly operator who described the fatal gunshot and watching Hutchins go flush and lose feeling in her legs before death.

The prosecution painstakingly assembled photographic evidence it said traced the arrival and spread of live rounds on set, and argued that Gutierrez-Reed repeatedly missed opportunities to ensure safety and treated basic gun protocols as optional.

The defense cast doubt on the relevance of photographs of ammunition, noting FBI testimony that live rounds can't be fully distinguished from dummy ones on sight.

Bowles began his closing arguments by highlighting testimony from Rust armorer Sarah Zachry saying that, in a panic in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, she threw out ammunition from guns used by actors other than Baldwin. That undermined all evidence about the sources of ammunition, the defense argued.

Prosecutors said six live rounds found on set bear mostly identical characteristics and dont match live rounds seized from the movies supplier in Albuquerque. Defense attorneys said the cluttered supply office was not searched until a month after the shooting, undermining the significance of physical evidence.

Gutierrez-Reed also had faced a second charge, of evidence tampering, stemming from accusations that she handed a small bag of possible narcotics to another crew member after the shooting to avoid detection.

Read more:

Photos: Alec Baldwin through the years
Elizabeth Carr would not be alive if not for in vitro fertilization. In fact, in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1981 she became the first person in the United States to be born from the procedure.

More than four decades later, Carr, a Massachusetts resident, will be U.S. Sen. Tim Kaines guest Thursday night at President Joe Biden's State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol.

Carr grew up as an occasional media fixture as the world learned more about the then-new reproductive procedure  Kaine, D-Va., recalls it seeming like science fiction at the time  but now her step back into the spotlight serves to remind people of the role IVF plays in family planning.

Alabamas Supreme Court ruled Feb. 16 that embryos are people.

Carr said she has run the gamut of emotions in recent weeks  disappointment, heartbreak, anger.

I just feel like there was not any consideration for the ramifications of this ruling, and thats really disappointing, Carr said.

Before Carr was born, her mother, Judith, endured several ectopic pregnancies and eventually needed to have her fallopian tubes removed.

Judith Carr and her husband, Roger, who lived in Massachusetts, eventually applied for a program at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk where Elizabeth would become the first person born in the United States from IVF.

"I've been an advocate in this realm, you could argue, since birth," Elizabeth said.

She recalls that as soon as she was old enough to learn and understand her birth story, she was intrigued by what science afforded her parents and other families.

With an inquisitive nature from early on, she grew up to work as a journalist at The Boston Globe.

Helping people 'know about their options'

More than reporting on stories, she kept finding that she was the story. Outlets around the country have interviewed Carr over the years. Eventually she knew she wanted to work within the reproductive health care industry. Carr now works at a company that does testing on embryos created for IVF.

From her work with the company to speaking out in support of IVF, Carr said she likes helping people "know about their options."

"Whether you decide to use something or not is totally up to you, but you should at least know what is available in the landscape in order to make an informed decision," she said.

'It's not just infertility'

It's why she finds the Alabama ruling troubling. She wonders what arguments it would open up and whether options will disappear.

Its not just infertility, Carr said. There are implications for if you need a surrogate, if you are a same-sex couple, if you want to screen for a genetic disease.

"Or, if you are going through cancer treatment and want to preserve your eggs so that after youre done and you want to conceive, you can use IVF.

The Alabama ruling is part of the ever-shifting national landscape around reproductive health since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections in 2022.

(Alabama) is not going to say what the law is in Virginia, but it may be that courts in (Republican-leaning) states would entertain something like this, said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond.

The Alabama ruling stemmed from an initial lawsuit brought by couples in Mobile whose frozen embryos were destroyed during a break-in at their fertility clinic. The state Supreme Courts ruling grants the families the right to sue the clinic for wrongful death of a minor. It hinges on a 2018 amendment to the states constitution to recognize the rights of unborn children.

The personhood finding at the core of the ruling has been an essential argument for opponents of abortion. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade  which had federally protected abortion longer than Carr has been alive  abortion advocates suspected it was only a matter of time before personhood was applied to other areas of reproductive health like IVF and contraception.

Jamie Lockhart, director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, said she was not surprised by the Alabama ruling. She has monitored legislative proposals in Virginia  including defeated measures asserting that life begins at conception  and concluded they would affect more than abortions.

I've said these bills have implications for IVF, and I think people haven't believed me, she said. But weve known for a long time that this could be the case.

Advocating in uncertain territory

While Carr has always been an advocate for the procedure that brought her into the world, she now feels shes advocating in a new and uncertain territory.

When I was born Roe was still on the books, so this is the first time in IVF history that we do not have that protection, Carr said.

Democrats in Virginias congressional delegation have supported the Access to Family Building Act. Last week its key Senate patron, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., sought to fast-track the bill.

The measure failed as Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., objected. She called the bill a vast overreach and stressed that Alabamas court ruling "doesnt ban IVF."

The bill could still progress through Congress if it has the votes.

Kaine said that its important to codify protections. He referenced Carr in a floor speech and said to his GOP counterparts: what could be more pro-life than in vitro fertilization?

Gov. Glenn Youngkin refers to himself as a pro-life governor and he unequivocally supports it.

Governor Youngkin will always protect access to IVF and fertility treatments that Virginians rely on to realize their dream of building a family, his spokesperson Christian Martinez said in a statement.

Kaine said Virginias current abortion law might suffice for now. It allows most abortions up to 26 weeks of gestation, with limited exceptions for later abortions. While fetuses and embryos have been subject to personhood debates, Kaine thinks current law could settle the matter in Virginia for the time being.

It may be that as long as those laws don't change, IVF is somewhat protected in the commonwealth, Kaine said in a recent call. But it wouldn't be bad to clarify that  and I imagine the legislators are contemplating it.
WASHINGTON  Ancient stone tools found in western Ukraine may be the oldest known evidence of early human presence in Europe, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

The chipped stones, deliberately fashioned from volcanic rock, were excavated from a quarry in Korolevo in the 1970s. Archaeologists used new methods to date the layers of sedimentary rock surrounding the tools to more than 1 million years old.

"This is the earliest evidence of any type of human in Europe that is dated," said Mads Faurschou Knudsen, a geophysicist at Aarhus University in Denmark and co-author of the new study.

He said it's not certain which early human ancestors fashioned the tools, but it may have been Homo erectus, the first species to walk upright and master the use of fire.

"We don't have fossil remains, so we can't be sure," said Roman Garba, an archaeologist at the Czech Academy of Sciences and co-author.

The chipped stone tools likely were used for cutting meat and perhaps scraping animal hides, he said.

The researchers suggest the tools may be as old as 1.4 million years, but other experts say the study methodology suggests they may be just over 1 million years old, placing them in roughly the same date range as other ancient tools unearthed in Spain.

The very earliest stone tools of this type were found in eastern Africa and date back to 2.8 million years ago, said Rick Potts, who directs the Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program.

The Ukraine site is significant because "it's the earliest site that far north," suggesting the early humans who dispersed from Africa with these tools were able to survive in diverse environments.

"The oldest humans with this old stone tool technology were able to colonize everywhere from warm Iberia (Spain) to Ukraine, where it's at least seasonally very cold  that's an amazing level of adaptability," Potts said.

11 ancient grains to try 11 ancient grains to try Quick-cooking grains Ancient wheat grains Pseudocereals
One of the 131 dogs seized from Sunset Valley Farm in Riverside is seen here shortly after being relocated to the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center. (Photo courtesy of Iowa City Public Safety)

A Johnson County dog breeder who surrendered 131 dogs in his care has been charged with 41 counts of animal neglect.

Loren Yoder, 62, owner of the Sunset Valley Farm dog breeding business, is charged with five counts of animal neglect with injury, a serious misdemeanor, plus 36 counts of animal neglect without injury, a simple misdemeanor.

According to the Johnson County Sheriffs Office, deputies were contacted last August by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship with regard to animal-welfare issues discovered at Sunset Valley Farm, located at 3027 540th St. SW in the town of Riverside.

IDALS had been conducting an inspection at the facility and had concluded that a large number of dogs were the victims of neglect, according to the sheriffs office.

Yoder subsequently agreed to surrender his 131 dogs to the care of Iowa City Animal Services. Physical exams conducted by veterinarians led to a determination that many of the dogs had developed conditions caused by a failure to provide adequate care, the sheriffs office said, and those conditions contributed to unjustified distress, suffering, and pain to the affected animals.

Yoder has yet to be arraigned and has not entered a formal plea, according to court records. He has been released without bond and has applied for a court-appointed attorney, listing assets of $1.5 million, and debts of $1,000. The court has yet to rule on that application.

Yoder has surrendered his commercial breeders license, although that action does not always indicate that a breeder is shutting down.

Some of the dogs at Sunset Valley Farm were reported by the sheriff to be too nervous or frightened to be fully examined. One of them, suffering from an infection, was so scared it pancaked to the floor during an attempted examination, according to the sheriffs office.

Among the other injuries reported by the sheriff in court filings:

Open wound: A 10- month-old golden retriever had to be transported to another veterinarian for more extensive treatment after being surrendered. The dog had a very large, deep, and open wound on its left hind limb, authorities said.

Pain and fear: One dog was not touchable for an exam, authorities said, while others were frozen in fear. A veterinarian noted one such dog had an obvious infection of his back paws due to overgrown nails that had curled into its paws. This is another painful issue that is easily preventable, the veterinarian told the sheriffs office.

Lacerations: One dog had wounds on its left side flank, left thigh, and right front paw, while another showed signs of a three-inch laceration on the top of its head, a small laceration on the center of its back, and multiple healing wounds. Another dog had a one-inch laceration on a rear knee and an infected 2 -inch wound on the underside of its neck.

Fleas, disease, matted coats: Many of the dogs that were deemed to be neglected but uninjured were described as thin and frightened with heavily matted coats, while others showed signs of infections, severe dental disease or fleas everywhere. One such dog is described in court papers as extremely matted with fecal matter very badly matted into all four paws. The dog was described as very thin and extremely frightened. Another dog was described as being matted with feces and suffering from a severe infection of the ear canal, as well as an umbilical hernia in which the abdominal lining or one portion of an abdominal organ was bulging or protruding.

Yoder canceled his USDA license in 2022

After being cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violations in the first, second and third quarters of 2022, Yoder was issued an official warning from the USDA for violations found during a September 2022 visit. Yoder then canceled his USDA license in an apparent effort to avoid additional inspections by the USDA.

However, the business continued to operate at the same property, and it remained subject to state oversight and continued to be inspected by IDALS.

The state report for IDALS Aug. 24, 2023, inspection of the property cited several deficiencies:

Whelping barn  In the business whelping barn, where female dogs were confined with puppies for the first few weeks after theyre born, the inspector noted the temperature was in the 90s and there were not enough fans to remove sweltering heat from the area. Roughly 16 mothers were in heat distress, the inspector reported. The whelping building also had an over-abundance of flies, the inspector stated.

Outdoor runs  In the outdoor runs, there was an excessive number of weeds and holes in the ground were not being filled to prevent injury. A golden retriever was running loose at the time of the inspection, and the outdoor enclosures were equipped with self-feeder mechanisms marred by what the inspector called a heavy presence of flies indoors and out, dead and not.

Staffing levels  The number of personnel employed by the kennel was insufficient for the number of dogs on hand, the inspector reported. By their own admission Loren, Lloyd, and Uncle David Lee have been providing all 131 animals with less than minimal supervision or care, the inspector wrote in her report.

In January 2023, Loren Yoder was cited by IDALS for several violations, although the published report provided few details of conditions inside the facility.

Bedding must be provided at all times to your outdoor population during inclement weather! the inspector reported. Her report also included a bold-faced warning that IDALS might limit the number of animals allowed in any housing, but the report didnt state why that warning was issued.

The report also stated that all animals pictured needed medical attention, although no pictures were published as part of the report.

During the September 2022 visit, a USDA official cited Yoder for one direct violation and six noncritical violations pertaining to the attending veterinarian and inadequate veterinary care, the method of animal identification, recordkeeping, animal housing facilities, primary enclosures, and feeding of the animals.

The inspector noted that three dogs appeared to be seriously underweight, and yet Yoder was unaware of two of the dogs condition and none of the three had been evaluated by a veterinarian. During the inspection, four adult poodles were spotted running loose on the property and had to be rounded up and returned to their enclosure.

More than 300 Samoyeds were seized from an Iowa puppy mill in 2018. Where are they now? niko samoyed tesla niko and tesla 2 .jpg lua shelby skyy stella samoyed samoyed cartier kevin thor Valkyrie Mishka samoyed lucy samoyed Ollie samoyed hudson boo everest meka henry samoyed kody kota apollo samoyed samoyed gus Olive juneau bodhi and phoebe fenix samoyed gus (williams) samoyeds juno and masey roo harper winston umka inara gracie samoyed Toshi samoyed juno diamond samoyed Ronan samoyed arya (hazel) Finley houston luka tina Lucy max and polar buddy izzy with water bowl.jpg Iowa Samoyed rescue Niko Iowa Samoyed Niko chasing a ball Iowa Samoyed rescue Lua Iowa Samoyed rescues Stella and Skyy Iowa Samoyed rescue Finley Iowa Samoyed rescue Thor Iowa Samoyed rescues Valkyrie and Mishka Iowa Samoyed rescue Lucy (now in Texas) Iowa Samoyed rescue Hudson Iowa Samoyed rescue Everest Iowa Samoyed rescue Kody sings Iowa Samoyed rescue Apollo Iowa Samoyed rescue Gus (Huling) Iowa Samoyed rescue Olive Iowa Samoyed rescue Juneau Iowa Samoyed rescue Juno Iowa Samoyed Rescue Masey Iowa Samoyed rescue Gus (Williams) gets the Zoomies Iowa Samoyed rescue Harper Iowa Samoyed rescue Winston Iowa Samoyed rescue Gracie Iowa Samoyed rescue Juno and pal Hana Iowa Samoyed Rescue Ronan Iowa Samoyed rescue Houston Iowa Samoyed rescue Izzy Iowa Samoyed rescue Kody
DES MOINES  Bills to criminalize pornographic images and videos that have been digitally altered to look like a specific person, known as deepfakes, were passed by the Iowa House Wednesday.

The bills come as legislators across the country consider how to respond to the emerging problem, fueled by artificial intelligence technology.

One bill, House File 2240, would make a person who distributes a digitally altered image or video that portrays a person undressed or engaging in a sex act guilty of harassment. The bill builds on a law passed in 2017 that criminalized revenge porn, the distribution of pornographic images or videos of a person without their consent.

Another bill, Senate File 2243, adds deepfake or digitally altered images and videos to the definition of child pornography in Iowa law. Under the bill, digitally created or altered depictions of an identifiable minor engaged in a sex act would be treated the same as real photographs and videos. Possession of deepfake child pornography would be punishable by a class D felony for the first offense.

Both bills passed the House unanimously on Wednesday. The child exploitation bill has already passed the Senate, and is eligible to be signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Rep. Helena Hayes R-New Sharon, who proposed both bills in the House, said there has been a dramatic rise in AI-created, non-consensual pornography in recent years.

These AI-generated images are a more modern take on revenge porn, without a defendant needing to obtain compromising photographs of the intended victim, she said.

In 2023, the FBI warned of a sharp increase in deepfakes being used in sextortion schemes, in which a person threatens to share sexually explicit images and videos of a person unless they provide payment.

Rep. Mark Thompson, a Republican from Clarion, said he met a South Carolina representative at a conference last year who lost his son to suicide because of an extortion scheme using pornographic images. He said there have also been cases of minors in Iowa being subject to similar extortion schemes.

So if we take this bill seriously, and we implement it today, and we get it toward implementation, I think we have a good start on fighting that scourge, he said.

A harassment charge under House File 2240 would constitute an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by up two two years in prison and a fine between $855 and $8,540.

Under the child pornography bill, the first offense would be a class D felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,245. A subsequent offense, a class C felony, would carry up to a 10 year prison sentence and fine up to $13,660.

Other states have moved to crack down on deepfake pornography in recent years. At least 10 states have restrictions on the books, according to the Associated Press. Some states, like California and Illinois, allow victims to sue a person who creates fake images of them.

What the Biden administration's new executive order on AI will mean for cybersecurity What the Biden administration's new executive order on AI will mean for cybersecurity A benchmarking initiative from the Departments of Commerce and Energy Training record transparency Annual CISA risk reports Treasury Department best practices for managing cybersecurity in financial institutions Potential regulations for using AI in health care settings Incorporation of AI in federal government operations with CISA guidance
OMAHA  Despite above average numbers in February, the forecast runoff into the Missouri River above Sioux City in 2024 continues to drop.

The warm month led to increased snowmelt and 1.8 million acre-feet of runoff, 161% of average, into the upper basin.

The annual runoff forecast dropped from 18.8 MAF to 17.0 MAF, 66% of the average of 25.0 MAF.

"Despite the increased runoff in the month of February and improved soil moisture conditions, we expect 2024 runoff to remain below average," John Remus, chief of the corps' Missouri River Basin Water Management Division, said in a news release. "The much warmer than normal temperatures led to an early melt of the lower than average plains snow. In addition, mountain snowpack is lower than average, resulting in the low annual runoff forecast."

Mountain snowpack that feeds the upper river basin when it melts currently ranges from 73%-78% of average. By March 1, about 80% of the total mountain snowpack usually has accumulated.

Water storage in the rivers six reservoirs remains below the flood control zone at 53.9 MAF, below the flood control zone that starts at 56.1 MAF.

Despite the low runoff forecast and reservoir water storage, Remus said the reservoir system will continue to support all purposes, including flood control, navigation, recreation, water supply and power generation.

"The system will continue to serve all congressionally authorized purposes during 2024," Remus said.

The corps will continue to monitor basin and river conditions, and dam releases will be adjusted accordingly, Remus said.

In mid March, the corps will begin to increase releases from Gavins Point Dam near Yankton, South Dakota, to provide flow support for downstream river navigation. Gavins Point releases currently remain at the winter rate of 13,000 cubic feet per second.
One of the most consistent and adamant claims of the anti-abortion movement is that opponents of reproductive rights care deeply about womens health. Indeed, even after winning the reversal of Roe v. Wade, conservative crusaders continue to trumpet their supposed efforts to support women and womens health. Of course, the devastating health impacts of the abortion bans that have proliferated around the country after the fall of Roe have dramatically undermined this claim. And now the anti-abortion movements positions in two big cases the Supreme Court is hearing make it even more obvious just how big a lie this claim is.

The purported concern about womens health is all over a brief filed in the Supreme Court by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a hyperconservative group of doctors and medical associations incorporated for the specific purpose of trying to roll back the FDAs approval of mifepristone, one of the two extremely safe drugs widely prescribed for medication abortion. The brief in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine reads as a greatest hits of faulty claims about the purported dangers of abortion: The potential for serious adverse events. Abortion-drug complications. The need for surgical intervention. These lines sound all too familiar to reproductive justice advocates who have been fighting for years against things like TRAP lawstargeted restrictions on abortion providers designed to shut down clinics and make it more difficult to access abortion under the guise of protecting womens health.

Yet to understand what the Alliance and its comrades really think of women, look no further than the statute they repeatedly invoke in their Supreme Court litigation: the Comstock Act. That law prohibits the mailing of obscene, lewd, or lascivious materials, like pornography, or every article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion. Today, anti-abortion activists, led largely by Jonathan Mitchell (a lawyer for former President Trump and the architect of S.B. 8, the Texas law that deputizes ordinary citizens as anti-abortion bounty hunters), are reimagining the Comstock Act as a national abortion ban.

Advertisement

Named for the former dry-goods salesman and anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock, the Comstock Act was passed in 1873 as part of a broader sexual purity campaign aimed at curbing the distribution of obscene literature and other materials perceived as promoting sex for pleasure rather than for procreation.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Comstocks attack on non-procreative sex was closely linked to a growing fear that women, including those who were newly entering the workforce, would seek to free themselves from their obligations as wives and mothers. Passed before women obtained the right to vote, the Comstock Act was very much a reflection of its eraa time when fringe physicians literally warned women that failing to become a mother before age 25 risked a continuous tendency to degeneracy of and atrophy of the reproductive organs.

Advertisement

Of course, those pseudoscientific theories have since been debunkedeven the lawyers in the Alliance dont rely on them anymore. (They rely on different questionable science thoughtheir briefs in the lower courts even cited studies that were retracted after the briefs were filed.) So, all that remains of the Comstock Act is its so-called morality justification: the idea that non-procreative sex would lead to the erosion of womens roles as wives and mothers, a notion that inspired great fear in the Anthony Comstocks of the 1870s and the Jonathan Mitchells of today.

Related From Slate Sam Alito Is to Blame for the Alabama Supreme Courts Devastating Anti-IVF Ruling Read More

This is what Mitchell and the anti-abortion crusaders at the helm of the conservative legal movement really want for women: to turn the clock back to the 1800s. Just look at the movements ultimate goal: fetal personhood, the idea that fetuses are entitled to full constitutional rights. If such laws were enacted, womenindeed, all people capable of bearing childrencould be subject to all sorts of draconian controls reminiscent of the Victorian era, rebranded as protections for the person growing, or that might potentially grow, inside of them. Indeed, people could even be forced to undergo dangerous and unwanted medical interventions in the name of preserving a fetuss health.

Advertisement

Advertisement

But fetal personhood is not very popular with voters, even many Republicans. Just look at the repeatedly rejected ballot measures designed to establish it. Just look at the political backlash against the Alabama Supreme Courts recent ruling that frozen embryos are human beings. Thus, in an election year, its not surprising that key voices of the anti-abortion movement are still talking about womens health while they wait patiently for their opportunity to continue to the movements next phase.

Advertisement

To get a better sense of what anti-abortion activists really think of womens health, read their briefs in the other case addressing abortion at the Supreme Court this term, Idaho v. United States. That case is about whether there is a conflict between Idahos near-total abortion ban and a federal law known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA. If there is a conflict, Idahos law must give way under a doctrine known as preemption, which gives effect to the Constitutions rule that federal laws constitute the supreme Law of the Land, conflicting state laws notwithstanding.

Advertisement

EMTALA, enacted in 1986 with bipartisan support, requires that all Medicare-funded hospitals with emergency rooms certify that they will provide such treatment as may be required to stabilize patients experiencing an emergency medical condition. That treatment plainly includes abortion when termination of a pregnancy is necessary to prevent placing a patients health in serious jeopardy, or serious impairment to bodily functions, or serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Conservative groups like the Manhattan Institute, the Foundation for Moral Law, Advancing American Freedom, and the National Right to Life Committee disagree. In their view, when pregnant people show up in an emergency room in Idaho with, say, uncontrollable uterine hemorrhage or severe preeclampsia, they must suffer whatever consequences might flow from Idahos restriction of the treatments available to thembe it sepsis, irreversible kidney failure, or hypoxic brain injury.

It may seem ironic that a group that dubs itself the National Right to Life and purports to care about womens health is arguing against what may very well be lifesavingor at a minimum, quality-of-life-preservingmedical care for women. But caring about life has always been a lie, just like caring about health. The conservative groups briefs in the EMTALA and mifepristone cases lay that bare.
I love talking politics. But when I sit down to watch the State of the Union tonight, there will be one thing going through my head: This could have been an email. For years, thats how the State of the Union worked. Well, not an email. It was a letter. Thats how Thomas Jefferson delivered his constitutionally mandated update. But in 1913, Woodrow Wilson delivered his remarks in person, and for better or for worse, the tradition has stuck.

In recent years, this event has become known less for the policy priorities it articulates than for the memes it inspires. Remember when a GOP congressman interrupted Barack Obama and called him a liar? Remember when Nancy Pelosi ripped up Donald Trumps speech? Last year, it was Marjorie Taylor Greene who made newsfor crowing at Biden in a dramatic white coat.

Ive been wondering what it will be like to be in the room this evening, bracing myself for this years outbursts. So, I called up someone who will be, and I asked if she looks forward to it or dreads it. Maybe a little of both, said Pramila Jayapal, who represents Washington state. Shes also the leader of Congress progressive caucus. I really looked forward to it when we had all three chambers, because I knew it was going to be a preview of all the incredible things that we were going to try to get done.

Advertisement

This year, as much as Joe Biden might want to put on a display of force, hes facing stiff headwinds on Capitol Hill. In an election year, hes facing stiff headwinds at the ballot box, too. If you look at the polling, part of the presidents problem is that he seems to be losing young people, progressivesexactly the kind of people in Jayapals caucus. So ahead of tonight shes been working behind the scenes to shape what Biden has to say.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

We have been corresponding with the White House, and I hope that some of the things that were pushing for get in to the speech, she said. We always talk about the opposition agenda, which is Were better than Trump. But we also have all these things that weve already accomplished and also things that we want to do, our proposition agenda. And Im really looking forward to hearing the president inspire us.

Advertisement

On Thursdays episode of What Next, we spoke with the leader of the House progressive caucus about the State of the Union, 2024, and why shes (still) routing for Biden, even though his campaign is making her nervous. Our conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Mary Harris: I want to talk about exactly what you want the president to say tonight, but I want to start by asking about this thing youve been saying in interviews. Youre an unequivocal, enthusiastic supporter of Joe Biden, but youve also said very clearly that you think at this point right now, the Biden coalition has fractured.

And to me, thats notable because when Joe Biden came into office, you were very clear and gave him a lot of praise for bringing together progressives and moderates, getting them all at the same table, and really pushing through some things that made you quite optimistic about his presidency. When did you begin to see this fracturing youre talking about now? And what was the issue that made it clear the fracturing was happening?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Pramila Jayapal: There was definitely a shift in the third year of his presidency when we lost the House and when we started to move towards the presidential election. There was a change in staffing, obviously, and a lot of the strong progressives throughout the administration had done an amazing job for the first two years. We got a lot accomplished. And they left. So there were new relationships to be formed. That was part of it.

Advertisement

But the bigger issues emerged in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and then the corresponding posture that President Biden took towards Israel with unconditional support. And as the humanitarian crisis continued, I was early to call for a cease-fire because I saw what was happening, and I saw that Netanyahu had literally stood against a two-state solution. So I do think that was the beginning.

Advertisement

I am still supporting the president. And his economic agenda is important. But I also am not shy about making it clear that we cannot expect that progressives are just going to turn out because Donald Trump is worse.

We just saw the result in Michigan where 100,000 plus people turned out to vote uncommitted rather than vote for Joe Biden.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Exactly. And it was a significant vote because it was organized around what is happening in Gaza. What Ive tried to explain to the White House over and over again is that this is an issue of deep moral consequence, because people really believe at the core that it is untenable for the United States to be complicit in this war. We are the largest funder of military aid to Israel. Eighty-three percent of the bombs that have been dropped in Gaza are U.S. bombs. And yet were air-dropping 38,000 meals into Gaza when theres 500,000 people starving because Israel wont allow humanitarian aid to go through the border. So, we could lose this election over Democrats and the presidents position on what is happening in Gaza.

Advertisement

There needs to be a dramatic policy shift. I believe we can still win, but I think its got to come soon. And then theres got to be a very deliberate effort to respect where progressives are, to reach out to people, and to really build the kind of relationships that we had to build in the coalition for 2020. That doesnt come just by saying to people, Well, you should just vote for Joe Biden over Donald Trump. Thats not how it works.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Just this weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris gave a speech in Selma, Alabama, to mark the 59th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday civil rights attacks. When she spoke, she called for a cease-fire. Was that the beginning of the moral clarity that youre looking for? To me, it felt like the administrations soft-launching of tougher language when it comes to Israel.

Advertisement

Thats how I saw it, too. And she didnt just say cease-fire. She said immediate cease-fire, which was a big change. This has not happened before from the administration. It was good, strong language. Now we need to back it up with a policy shift, because rhetoric is one thing, but we are continuing to fund this aid. And I dont believe we should be providing any more offensive military aid to Israel. I believe we need to now be pushing Israel to put at the forefront aid into Gaza, reconstruction of Gaza, returning of the hostages, and most importantly, an actual plan, perhaps with new leadership from both Palestinians and Israelis, so that we can get to a long-term peace settlement for both Palestinians and Israelis.

Advertisement

Youve talked about this fracturing of the Democratic coalition. I wonder whether calling for a cease-fire, full-throatedly, might alienate a different corner of the Democratic coalition, different than the progressive corner. And I say that because when I went to Thanksgiving, I sat next to a relative who would deeply disagree with you on the Israel issue. Shed argue that Israel has a right to defend itself in Gaza. And shes an incredibly strong Democrat. What do you tell voters like that?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Well, I think we all agree Israel had a right to defend itself. One of the saddest things for me is that there was so much unity and support for Israel in the days and the moments after Oct. 7.

Advertisement

Advertisement

She would disagree with you on that. She would say there wasnt enough speaking out for Israeli Jews in the wake.

Its very difficult to speak to 100 percent of people on this issue because people do have very strong feelings. But the support for a cease-fire has continued to increase as people have seen what is happening in Gaza. I mean, 30,000 people have been killed and 21,000 of them are women and children. We have babies who are dying of starvation15 just in the last couple of days. Ive talked to a lot of my Jewish friendsin fact, Zionists who are very strongly in support of security for Israel but dont see the path that were on producing that. Even some of the hostage families are saying we need a cease-fire so we can get out the hostages. The only time weve ever had hostages released, well, largely, has been during the last temporary cease-fire.

Advertisement

Advertisement

There are Israelis and Palestinians and Americans from both diaspora communities who want to work towards peace. Maybe we cant get 100 percent, but certainly if you look at, the polling across the country, the vast majority of Americans do believe that it is very important for us to stop the killing in Gaza, to have a cease-fire or a cessation of hostilities, and to work towards a long-term solution. [Editors note: Its the majority of Democrats who say Israels gone too far in the Gaza war. And about half of all Americans.]

Another big issue Jayapal is hoping to see Bidenand her party at largeswitch gears on is immigration. After House Republicans tanked a bipartisan immigration reform bill last month, Jayapal says its time for Democrats to remember their principles.

Advertisement

Advertisement

I have been distressed by the fact that I see some Democrats doing what Democrats have done for a long time, which is trying to out-Republican Republicans. I dont think it works. Ive worked on the issue for 20 years. It isnt the answer. What I hope the president does is bring a really inclusive message on immigration to the State of the Union and also make the case that the border is not a line that just operates on its own. The chaos at the border is driven by the fact that we have chaos in our immigration system. Our legal immigration system has not been fixed in 30 years, and we need to make the connection for Americans between those two things and make the case for the fact that Republicans continue to block us from doing the kinds of reforms that would actually bring not only security to the border but also would help our economy thrive, help our families thrive, and help our country thrive.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Its interesting to me youre talking about immigration because in the Senate, Democrats and Republicans spent a long time negotiating a deal on immigration that was shut down when Donald Trump said, We cant give Joe Biden a win. This is an election year. But a lot of progressives were really upset by the negotiating that was taking place in the Senate and the things that were coming out of that deal. But then there were other people saying, Well, this is good politics, because now we can say the Republicans shut us down. We would have come to you. We would have given you aggressive stances on the border. At one point, Joe Biden talked about shutting the border down. What do you make of that gamble?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Look, the Republicans have never wanted to fix the immigration issue. They want to leave it out there as a political tool and to drive xenophobia and racism and fear. Thats what we progressives have been saying for a long time is: Dont fall into this trap of only doing harsh enforcement. What weve seen over time is that harsh immigration policies dont work. They didnt work under Donald Trump. We all fought them. To see Democrats embracing some of those things with no conversation at all about these underlying questions of a pathway to citizenship and real reforms that would actually fix things at the border was deeply disappointing. But in the end, Republicans proved exactly what we were saying. They wouldnt even go for the bill that Mitch McConnell called the harshest immigration enforcement bill. And so they showed their true colors. Hopefully Democrats can come back together now and show people that this is what were talking about. Republicans dont want to fix this problem. Democrats do. Heres our solutions.

Advertisement

Advertisement

One of the other things the president is sure to talk about at the State of the Union is reproductive rights, because it is an issue that is incredibly important to voters right now. But Ive heard some frustrated young voters basically throw up their hands and say, It doesnt matter how I vote in November or if I vote in November, because right now, if Im in Texas, I cant get the health care I need, and Joe Biden isnt able to change that. Biden talks about passing legislation that would codify Roe v. Wade, but doing that would involve abolishing the filibuster, which I know you approve of but its something that a lot of people in the Senate have resisted. So the question becomes: Why does it matter? When youre faced with a voter like that, how do you reach them?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Look, we have to change not just the rulersthe people who are in officebut we also have to change the rules. We have rules that were stuck with, and the filibuster is one of them. Joe Biden has said that he would be supportive of reforming the filibuster so that we can codify abortion rights, so that we can codify voting rights. I think we need to get rid of it completely. But we need at least 50 votes in the Senate. And right now, we theoretically have 48. Lets try to get a majority of 51 or 52 in the Senate, and then lets change the rules.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The reality is the filibuster is a Jim Crow legacy rule that stops us from doing so many things that not just young voters but voters across this country want. We have to show young people the path, because theyre so tired of hearing us say that were going to do all these things but not talking to them about how were going to do them. If we explain to people that we need at least a 51-, 52-vote majority in the Senate, and that we are going to demand of our senators that they get rid of the filibuster so that we can do all these things, that is a pathway. But weve got to lay it out for people. We cant just say, Trust us, were going to get it done, because theyve trusted us and we havent explained to them that the rules dont allow it.

Advertisement

Subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts

Get more news from Mary Harris every weekday.

Weve talked a bit about this fractured Democratic coalition that you feel like youre staring at right now. When will you know that coalition is coming back together again?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Its really a feeling of momentum on the ground. I am a very intuitive person in politics. Back in 2016 when everyone thought that Hillary Clinton was going to win, I was pretty alone in saying Trump is using xenophobia, racism, sexism, and I think hes going to win.

Hes using the greatest hits?

Yeah. And Im a woman of color. I know exactly what this looks like. So, I predicted that he was going to win. And unfortunately, I was right. This time around, and Ive shared this with the White House, I am seeing that fracturing on the ground, the same kind of thing that I was feeling in 2016. I couldnt feel the energy of our progressive base.

Advertisement

Democrats for too long have focused on a swing voter that they define as the independent white suburban woman. She is extremely important. We need her. But what we forget is that the biggest base of swing voters are young people, people of color, progressives who have to be respected and brought into the process because they wont swing to Donald Trump, but they will swing out to the sidelines and not vote at all if they dont feel like theyre being heard, listened to, and brought into the coalition in an active, deliberate way.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Youre saying a very terrifying thing in such a calm way.

Well, yeah, it is terrifying. I think Donald Trump is terrifying. I lived through that first term. I was elected the same night that Donald Trump was elected. And I remember speaking at my first event as a congresswoman-elect the morning after in front of weeping people at our city hall and trying to hold things together for peopleto give hope and to allow people to feel like their voices still mattered.

Advertisement

Advertisement

But Im also hopeful because I dont think that things are set by polls months out from the election. I do feel that the momentum and the work we have to do organizing and the policy shifts that have to happenthe White House has to understand how important the progressive base is. I feel like they really got it in the first two years. They really got it in 2020 when we had the Biden-Sanders unity task forces. And Joe Biden made a real effort to reach out to all different parts of the coalition. We need that again. And we need the importance, the dedication, the respect, and the policy changes.
Learning Mandarin increses opportunities for professional, international success: rector of Angolan top university

Xinhua) 09:55, March 07, 2024

Pedro Magalhaes, rector of Agostinho Neto University (UAN), speaks during an opening ceremony for Mandarin language training in Luanda, Angola, March 5, 2024.(Xinhua/Li Yahui)

LUANDA, March 6 (Xinhua) -- "Learning Mandarin (standard Chinese language) increases opportunities for professional and international success," said Pedro Magalhaes, rector of Agostinho Neto University (UAN), one of Angola's top universities, on Tuesday.

"Mandarin learners have a strong advantage that assists them in academic exchanges, scientific research and various fields," Magalhaes said at a ceremony in Luanda, Angola's capital, marking the start of Mandarin language training for members of the Angolan Foreign Migration Service.

The event also featured the signing of an agreement between the UAN's Confucius Institute and the Foreign Migration Service.

With the opening of a Mandarin class, the UAN Confucius Institute is providing the Angolan Foreign Migration Service with an important tool to improve communication, thus enhancing Angola's image abroad, Magalhaes said.

The training will also contribute to stronger relations between the peoples of Angola and China, he said.

Magalhaes said that since 2014, the UAN Confucius Institute has trained over 2,000 young people, adding that it is hoped that local Chinese language teachers would be trained through the Confucius Institute for the sustainable development of Chinese teaching in Angola.

Joao Dias, the director general of the Angolan Foreign Migration Service, said that language plays an important role in relations between peoples, and learning Chinese will help promote exchanges between different cultures and advance cooperation among countries.

According to Zhao Yufeng, co-director of the UAN Confucius Institute, the first Mandarin training course for the Angolan Foreign Migration Service will start next Tuesday, and 50 trainees are expected to be enrolled. The one-year course will involve two classes each week.

This photo taken on March 5, 2024 shows the opening ceremony of a Mandarin language training in Luanda, capital of Angola.(Xinhua/Li Yahui)

Joao Dias, the director general of the Angolan Foreign Migration Service, speaks during an opening ceremony for Mandarin language training in Luanda, capital of Angola, March 5, 2024.(Xinhua/Li Yahui)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China will adopt a visa-free policy for Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg on a trial basis, starting March 14, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

"We hope more countries will also offer Chinese citizens visa facilitation and work with us to build fast-track networks for cross-border travels and encourage speedy resumption of international passenger flights," Wang told a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress, China's national legislature.

This will make it more convenient for Chinese citizens to travel abroad, and make foreign friends feel at home in China, he said. 
Now that the Supreme Courts ruling in favor of Donald Trump on the 14th Amendment disqualification is sinking in, we are able to begin putting it in perspective. Yes, Trump remains on the ballot. But something else remains as well: the multiple judicial determinations that Trump engaged in insurrection. For that and other reasons, history will take a balanced view of this landmark decision, and it is far from the home run for Trump that he proclaimed.

The court ultimately resolved the thorny issue of Trumps place on the ballot by finding that an individual state simply did not have the authority to implement disqualification for federal office. Maintaining that it is the federal governments prerogative to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, in this instance, always appeared to be the high courts most likely off-ramp. The justices thought that the discordant patchwork that would result from all 50 states applying Section 3 of the 14th Amendment would create too much potential dissonance.

Even for those who disagree with that ruling, and we do, it was among the more reasonable off-ramps that the court could take. Thankfully the justices did not embrace some of the more outre options that had been put forthsuch as saying that the president is not an officer of the United States and thus disqualification for insurrectionists doesnt apply to the nations highest office. That absurdity would have been anathema to the Framers of the 14th Amendment. The court avoided twisting itself in that and other nonsensical readings of the Constitutions text.

Advertisement

Moreover, all nine of the justices agreed on one additional crucial point. They refused to do what Trump begged of themthey did not exonerate him of the Colorado courts insurrection finding. That is significant: To this date, every fact-finder to reach the question has found that Trump was an insurrectionistthat includes two courts in Colorado (both the states trial court and Supreme Court) along with Maines secretary of state; most recently an Illinois judge; and, of course, the House Jan. 6 Committee.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

These conclusions, therefore, remain as a defining factual and legal determination of Trumps conduct after the 2020 election. All point to one basic truth: The then-president of the United States committed insurrection in order to hold on to power. The Supreme Court said nothing to contradict this shattering fact.

Advertisement

Beyond the specific merits of the case, the choices the justices made surrounding the case may hold clues about how the Supreme Court will handle the other Trump case they face this term, on presidential immunity. The speed with which the court dispatched this 14th Amendment challenge could be an important signal. The members evidently wanted to issue their decision before Super Tuesday.

Indeed, it was not legally necessary for the court to issue this decision now, particularly in light of their ruling that Colorado could not keep Trump off its ballots. Although the Colorado Republican primary was on Tuesday, the Colorado courts determination had been stayed pending the Supreme Courts ruling. Thus Trump would have remained on the ballot in Colorado even if the Supreme Court had not issued its ruling until after the election. That tells us that the court is aware of the impact its decisions relating to Trump and democracy have on the country writ large and the voters.

Advertisement

Advertisement

That same principle should apply in the immunity casenamely, that Americans have a right to know if Donald Trump abused the official powers he is trying to regain. That mandates a speedy resolution of his appeal over the federal D.C. prosecution. Here, the court issued its opinion in less than a month; there is no reason the immunity decision should take any longer. Notably, if the court does resolve the appeal less than a month after oral arguments (which take place the week of April 22), our analysis indicates that the underlying trial should start before November, and the case could reach a verdict before Election Day. If, however, it waits until the end of the term to issue a ruling affirming the D.C. Circuits decision, then the trial can still begin in or around September. That means it can be well underway before the election (though it might not conclude until after Nov. 5).

Advertisement

Advertisement

Finally, one justices handling of the 14th Amendment case was particularly remarkable: Justice Amy Coney Barretts brief two-paragraph concurrence. Barrett aligned (at least in part) with the liberals. She shared their disapproval of the majority treading further afield than was necessary by tackling constitutional and legal conundrums that werent required to resolve the dispute before the court.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Specifically, Barrett noted that the suit underlying the appeal did not require the Supreme Court to address the complicated question whether federal legislation is the exclusive vehicle through which Section 3 can be enforced. However, she refrained from cataloging and analyzing her disagreements with the governing per curiam opinion; instead she spokewith what for the Supreme Court is refreshing transparencyto the rancorous political mood and how the court can (and in her mind should) be perceived by the public.

Advertisement

Related From Slate The Supreme Court Forgot to Scrub the Metadata in Its Trump Ballot Decision. It Reveals Something Important. Read More

That combinationsignaling her partial alignment with the liberals legal interpretation, while also strongly endorsing comity and bipartisanship in the interest of creating the appearance of uniformity in the lawis an important development. We anticipate that it may be a relevant factor in the courts looming immunity considerations. It is certainly some evidence of her openness to avoiding the widespread public outrage that would be triggered by the court endorsing a world in which a future President Trump could hypothetically order SEAL Team Six to assassinate political opponents, as is his position in the immunity case. Time will tell whether Barrett lives up to the promise of her declaration on Monday.

In light of the courts ruling, some may now criticize the plaintiffs for bringing this case in the first place. But if the Supreme Court ultimately counterbalances its Trump decisions by ruling against Trump on presidential immunity, the D.C. case can at least make it to trial before the election. If that baby-splitting happens, the nation will be thanking the plaintiffs.

Besides, it is never anti-democratic or wrong to seek constitutional clarity where there is a meritorious question of law at issuehowever it ultimately is resolved. As we head into a year filled with enormous challenges threatening the very heart of our democracy, that is an important lesson to keep in mindand one that should encourage us all.
In an Atlanta courtroom in January, a judge heard testimony about a brazen plot by Trump supporters to unlawfully access and obtain copies of Georgias voting system software in Coffee County in support of Donald Trumps effort to steal the 2020 presidential election. The evidence presented also revealed that there were efforts to gain access in at least three other Georgia counties, and that Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger did exactly nothing to investigate the Coffee software heist, or the other reported attempts, even though there was ample evidence that something improper had gone on.

This evidence was not presented in the course of the Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis now-imperiled RICO suit against Trump and his alleged co-conspirators, but in the long-standing civil litigation Curling v. Raffensperger. It was the plaintiffs in Curling who first uncovered the successful effort to take copies of Georgias statewide voting system software from the equipment in rural south Georgia. Plaintiffs also unearthed the evidence tying that campaign to Sidney Powell and the Trump campaign. In fact, Willis relied on documents and depositions obtained in Curling in her RICO indictment and winning Powells guilty plea.

While reporters were preoccupied with the spicier allegations threatening to derail the Fulton County DAs case, the little-watched three-and-a-half-week trial revealed new information about the scope of the plot to take voting system software in Georgia by election deniers, and the jaw-dropping lack of action by Secretary of State Raffensperger to respond.

During the trial the plaintiffs presented substantial evidence showing that anyone paying attention would have noticed something was quite amiss in Coffee County, and that should have triggered an investigation by Raffenspergers office, but didnt. (Some of this evidence is outlined in an earlier Slate article.)

Advertisement

But the trial also revealed new information about attempts to gain access to Georgias voting machines in other counties. Plaintiffs revealed an email chain that showed that the election supervisor in Butts County had been contacted by Georgias (now) Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, requesting a forensic examination of the countys voting software. (Willis criminal investigation of Jones was derailed when she was disqualified from the case by a conflict of interest.) Bartow Countys election supervisor testified that hed been asked by his local GOP chairand several unidentified attorneysfor access to copy his countys election software. He replied with a hard no, and reported it to the secretary of states office.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Plaintiffs also presented a text message from a former member of the Coffee County Board of Elections to the attorney for neighboring Ware County, with a link to a story from the Gateway Pundit. The story claimed that the Trump team had obtained a voting machine from Ware, and the message said, You have anyone to verify through? The Ware county attorney responds, I will verify, and responds with a jpeg labeled ware-county-confirmation, but the actual image was never provided to the plaintiffs, and cant be viewed.

Advertisement

And yet, even with multiple attempts to access voting systems, which the secretary was alerted to, witnesses from the secretarys office testified that there was no investigation opened into any of these events.

The lack of any investigation by the secretarys office looks even worse when juxtaposed with a video of Raffenspergers top aide, Gabe Sterling, dismissively telling an audience at the Carter Center in April 2022 that the alleged voting system intrusions in Ware and Coffee counties conclusively did not happen. How could the secretarys office determine that the breaches didnt happen when it didnt even look?

It gets worse. Back in early 2022, when plaintiffs first presented evidence that the breach in Coffee County had likely occurred, the secretary of state claimed to the public and the court that an investigation had been opened.

Advertisement

Related From Slate The Supreme Court Forgot to Scrub the Metadata in Its Trump Ballot Decision. It Reveals Something Important. Read More

But during the trial, the secretarys investigator assigned to the Coffee County breach allegations testified that he had been told to hold off, and that the secretarys office never actually did any investigation of the Coffee County breach.

After months of holding off, the secretarys investigators turned the matter over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations and the state attorney general. The GBI has since been excoriated for doing a badly inadequate job, and the Georgia attorney general has not charged anyone involved.

Advertisement

Which brings us back to the other trial in Fulton County. Currently, with the stunning lack of action from the state of Georgia, the Fulton County DA is the only law enforcement office that has sought to hold those directly involved in alleged voting system software breach accountable. (There are several others implicated who have not been charged.)

Advertisement

And even though these potential crimes were caught on video, and documents show that the plan involved efforts to breach voting systems in multiple states, and that it was allegedly directed and paid for by Powell for the Trump campaign, publicly available evidence indicates there is no federal investigation into this multistate plan.

What we know for sure is that allies of Donald Trump who sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election gained copies of the voting software used in Georgia and in other states. These events present serious threats to the 2024 election and future elections. Yet, as the Curling trial has established, theyve been plainly ignored by the Georgia secretary of state and attorney general.

Its well past time for the Department of Justice to step in and investigate. This matter is too serious for the federal government to continue to stand by and rely on local officials, who clearly couldnt be bothered to act on their own.
Officials from Didion Milling Inc., including a corporate vice president and former managers, have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a deadly explosion that claimed the lives of five workers. This tragic event, resulting from willful neglect of safety and environmental protocols, reminds small business owners of the consequences of cutting corners and the non-negotiable priority of safety and compliance.

The explosion, which occurred on May 31, 2017, at Didions corn mill in Cambria, Wisconsin, was caused by combustible dust ignition, a well-known industrial hazard that requires rigorous management and mitigation efforts. The aftermath of the explosion not only brought about the devastating loss of life but also highlighted a series of criminal violations by the company and its senior officials, including the falsification of documents and obstructive conduct aimed at concealing their failure to adhere to safety and environmental standards.

The sentencings, handed down by U.S. District Court Judge James D. Peterson for the Western District of Wisconsin, reflect the gravity of the offenses and the clear message from the judiciary and regulatory agencies that such breaches of trust and responsibility will not be tolerated. Didion Vice President of Operations, Derrick Clark, received a sentence of two years in prison for his role in conspiring to falsify documents and obstructing an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation, among other charges.

This case serves as a critical wake-up call for small business owners, emphasizing the need for uncompromising commitment to workplace safety and environmental protection. Small businesses, often operating with limited resources, might feel tempted to overlook strict compliance with safety regulations or to cut corners to save costs. However, the Didion Milling case illustrates the dire consequences of such decisionsnot just in terms of legal and financial penalties but also the irreparable harm to human life and community trust.

For small businesses, this incident highlights several key takeaways:

Compliance is Non-Negotiable: Adhering to workplace safety and environmental laws is not optional. Its a fundamental aspect of responsible business operations. Ethical Conduct Matters: The integrity of business practices, including accurate record-keeping and transparent operations, is crucial. Attempting to conceal or falsify compliance records can lead to severe penalties. Invest in Safety: Proactively investing in safety measures and training can prevent accidents and save lives. Its an investment in the long-term sustainability of the business. Accountability at All Levels: Senior officials and managers are directly accountable for ensuring compliance with safety and environmental regulations. Leadership must champion a culture of safety and integrity.

Small businesses must take proactive steps to ensure that their operations are safe, compliant, and ethically sound. This includes regular safety audits, employee training, investment in safety equipment, and a culture of transparency and accountability. The Didion Milling case is a stark reminder of the costs of neglect and the non-negotiable priority of safety in safeguarding lives and securing the future of the business.

The sentencing of Didion Milling Inc. officials is a potent reminder of the responsibilities that come with managing a business. Its a call to action for small business owners to prioritize safety, comply with regulations, and conduct their operations with the utmost integrity, ensuring that such tragedies are never repeated.
Are you an employee who is curious about what a W2 form Wage and Tax statement are, or an employer wondering if they need to provide them? If so, you will find all the answers to the question of what is a W2 form.

Employers and employees must understand their responsibilities when it comes to W2 forms. This tax document has vital implications for tax filing and is an essential part of any workers financial landscape. In this article, well walk through everything you need to know about the intricacies of the W2 form, from its purpose, contents, and distribution deadlines.

What is a W2 Form?

A W2 Form is an Internal Revenue Service tax form that is used to report wages, salaries, and other forms of compensation paid to an employee. In essence, its a comprehensive financial record of an employees earnings for the year.

The employer must provide the employee with a copy of the completed W2 form so they can file their taxes correctly and efficiently. In addition to providing a copy to the employee, the employer is also mandated by law to submit copies of the form to the IRS and any applicable state tax agencies to ensure transparency and compliance.

Who receives a Form W-2  Wage and Tax Statement?

A W2 Form, also known as a Wage and Tax Statement, is sent to an employee who has worked for an employer during the tax year. Whether the work was part-time or full-time, the form is issued by the employer at the end of the tax year.

It includes detailed information about the employees earnings, taxes withheld, and any compensation received, ensuring a transparent record of an employees income for tax purposes. It is a requirement that all employees must receive a copy of this form in order to file their taxes. Employers need to submit a copy of this form to the IRS and applicable state tax agencies.

Your Responsibilities as an Employer

As an employer, you are required by law to provide employees with a W2 Form at the end of the tax year. This form, which needs to be completed accurately and filed on time, is a significant part of your businesss tax obligations.

Its not just about legal compliance; a timely and accurate W2 also helps maintain a positive relationship with your employees. Its important that you keep meticulous records of employee wages and taxes withheld throughout the year, as this information will be reflected on the W2 Form, and discrepancies could lead to potential issues with the IRS or state agencies.

The Importance of Accurate W2 Reporting

Understanding the significance of accurate W2 reporting is essential for both employers and employees. Its accuracy is paramount for several reasons:

Tax Compliance : Accurate W2 forms are vital for complying with IRS regulations. Errors or discrepancies can lead to questions from the IRS, potentially triggering audits or investigations. Ensuring that all information is correct helps avoid unnecessary scrutiny and legal complications.

: Accurate W2 forms are vital for complying with IRS regulations. Errors or discrepancies can lead to questions from the IRS, potentially triggering audits or investigations. Ensuring that all information is correct helps avoid unnecessary scrutiny and legal complications. Employee Tax Filings : Employees rely on the information provided in the W2 form to file their personal income taxes accurately. Inaccuracies can lead to incorrect tax filings, resulting in either underpayment or overpayment of taxes. Such mistakes can be time-consuming and costly to rectify.

: Employees rely on the information provided in the W2 form to file their personal income taxes accurately. Inaccuracies can lead to incorrect tax filings, resulting in either underpayment or overpayment of taxes. Such mistakes can be time-consuming and costly to rectify. Refund Accuracy : The data on W2 forms directly affects the calculation of tax refunds or dues. Incorrect information can lead to incorrect refund amounts being issued, impacting an employees financial planning.

: The data on W2 forms directly affects the calculation of tax refunds or dues. Incorrect information can lead to incorrect refund amounts being issued, impacting an employees financial planning. Social Security and Medicare Benefits : W2 forms report wages that are subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes. Inaccuracies in these reports can affect an employees future benefits, as these are calculated based on the reported earnings history.

: W2 forms report wages that are subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes. Inaccuracies in these reports can affect an employees future benefits, as these are calculated based on the reported earnings history. State Tax Implications : For states that levy income tax, the W2 form provides essential data for state tax filings. Mistakes in state wages and tax withholdings can lead to issues with state tax authorities.

: For states that levy income tax, the W2 form provides essential data for state tax filings. Mistakes in state wages and tax withholdings can lead to issues with state tax authorities. Employer Accountability : Employers are legally obligated to provide accurate W2 forms. Failure to do so can result in penalties and damage to the employers credibility and trustworthiness. It is also a reflection of the employers commitment to responsible business practices.

: Employers are legally obligated to provide accurate W2 forms. Failure to do so can result in penalties and damage to the employers credibility and trustworthiness. It is also a reflection of the employers commitment to responsible business practices. Financial Record-Keeping: The W2 form serves as an official record of an employees earnings and taxes paid. This is important for personal financial record-keeping, loan applications, and future employment verifications.

How Can I Get My W-2?

Many people find themselves unsure about how to get their W-2 form, but its actually quite simple. Here are some handy tips on how to secure your W-2:

Contact Your Employer: Your employer is your first point of contact for W-2 forms. They should be able to provide you with the necessary paperwork or instructions on how to access and download it online if such a system is in place

Your employer is your first point of contact for W-2 forms. They should be able to provide you with the necessary paperwork or instructions on how to access and download it online if such a system is in place Log into Your Online Payroll System: If you have online access to your payroll system, you may be able to download a copy of your W-2 directly from the website, making the process quick and paperless.

If you have online access to your payroll system, you may be able to download a copy of your W-2 directly from the website, making the process quick and paperless. Contact the Social Security Administration (SSA): The SSA may be able to provide you with a copy of your W-2 if you have lost it or cannot obtain one from your employer. This is a helpful backup option if you find yourself in a bind.

The SSA may be able to provide you with a copy of your W-2 if you have lost it or cannot obtain one from your employer. This is a helpful backup option if you find yourself in a bind. Request a Copy from the IRS: If you are unable to receive a copy from your employer, you can request a free replacement from the IRS by filing Form 4506T. This is a good alternative if other methods prove unsuccessful.

If you are unable to receive a copy from your employer, you can request a free replacement from the IRS by filing Form 4506T. This is a good alternative if other methods prove unsuccessful. Use Third-Party Services: There are various third-party services that can help retrieve copies of your W-2 form if all other methods have failed. These companies usually charge fees for this service, so its advisable to do the proper research beforehand to ensure youre making an informed decision.

What Information Does Form W-2: Wage and Tax Statement Include?

A Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statement provides a comprehensive overview of an employees financial data for the year. This document acts as a one-stop source of vital information for tax filing. The following is a list of details included in Form W-2:

Employees name, address, and Social Security number

Employers name, address, and Employer Identification Number (EIN)

Total earnings, wages, and tips

Amount of federal income tax withheld

The amount of Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld

State, local, and/or city taxes withheld

Any other taxable income or deductions reported to the IRS

How to File Form W-2

Lets go through how to fill out Form W-2 box-by-box below.

Boxes A-F

Box A is for the employees Social Security number. This number is a critical piece of personal identification for tax purposes. Boxes B, C, and D are for the EIN, employers address, and control number. These details provide important information about the employer. Boxes E and F are for the employees name and address, another critical aspect of personal identification for tax records.

Box 1  Wages, tips, other compensation

This section contains your employees total taxable wages, tips, and other compensation. It includes all forms of earnings that are subject to taxation.

Box 2  Federal income tax withholding

This is where the total sum of federal income tax taken out from the employees salary throughout the year is listed. This figure represents the employees prepaid federal tax contributions.

Boxes 3 and 4

Your employees gross wages and the Social Security taxes withheld from their pay are shown in these boxes. This indicates how much of their earnings were subjected to Social Security taxes.

Box 5  Medicare wages and tips

This box shows the amount of wages and tips subject to Medicare taxes. This is an important detail as it directly impacts your employees future Medicare benefits.

Box 6  Medicare tax withheld

This section contains the total amount of Medicare taxes withheld from the employees paycheck. Like the Social Security taxes, these contributions influence the employees Medicare benefits.

Box 7  Social security tips

If applicable, this box contains the total amount of tips reported to you by your employee. These tips count as earned income for the purposes of calculating Social Security contributions.

Box 8  Allocated tips

This box captures the amount of tips allocated to your employee based on reported tip income. It helps provide a more accurate picture of the employees total earnings.

Box 9

This box is no longer used and should be left blank.

Box 10  Dependent care benefits

This section shows the amount of dependent care benefits provided by your business. It can include things like employer-funded child care or adult dependent care services.

Box 11  Nonqualified plans

This section includes the amount of nonqualified deferred compensation paid to the employee. It covers any payments that arent part of a tax-qualified deferred compensation plan.

Box 12

This box includes various types of deferred compensation and benefits. 401(k) plans are This process may differ depending on the software.

Box 13

In box 13, there are three checkboxes. The employer should mark if any of these apply:

Statutory Employee: This refers to employees who, despite earning wages, are treated as self-employed when it comes to FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes. The IRS has specific guidelines on who qualifies as a statutory employee.

This refers to employees who, despite earning wages, are treated as self-employed when it comes to FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes. The IRS has specific guidelines on who qualifies as a statutory employee. Retirement Plan: This box should be checked if the employee participated in your companys retirement plan during the tax year. This might affect the employees ability to deduct contributions to a traditional IRA.

This box should be checked if the employee participated in your companys retirement plan during the tax year. This might affect the employees ability to deduct contributions to a traditional IRA. Third-Party Sick Pay: This box should be checked if a third party, like an insurance company, paid sick wages to your employee.

Box 14  Other

In box 14, employers have the liberty to report any additional tax information that may not fit into the standard boxes. This can include items such as union dues, employer-sponsored health coverage, or after-tax contributions to a retirement plan.

Boxes 15 to 20

These boxes relate to state and local taxes. They include the employers state and state tax identification number, the employees state wages, tips etc, state income tax, locality name, local wages, tips etc, and local income tax. Not all employees will have entries in these boxes, but when relevant, the employer should accurately report this information.

What to do if you havent received your IRS W2 Form?

If by the end of February, you have not received your Form W-2 from your employer (or former employer), you should first contact them to inquire if and when the W-2 was mailed. If it was mailed, it may have been returned to your employer because of an incorrect address. After contacting your employer, if you do not receive your W-2, you may call the IRS for assistance at 800-829-1040.

Types of IRS W Form

There are several types of W forms issued by the IRS; here are some:

Form Description Who Uses It? W-2 This form reports an employee's annual wages and the amount of taxes withheld from their paycheck. Employers issue this form to their employees and to the IRS. W-4 This form helps an employer determine the correct amount of tax to withhold from an employee's paycheck. Employees fill this out and give it to their employer. It can be updated anytime the employee's personal or financial situation changes. W-9 This form is used to request a taxpayer identification number (TIN) and to certify that the number provided is correct. Used primarily by independent contractors, self-employed service providers, and other non-employees to provide their TIN to entities from whom they receive payments. W-2G This form is used to report certain gambling winnings. Issued by gambling operators to winners who receive payouts that meet a certain threshold or meet certain criteria.

What to do if you find an error on your W-2

If you find an error on your W-2, you should immediately notify your employer and request a corrected W-2. Your employer will issue a W-2c, a corrected W-2. Never alter the original W-2 yourself.

How to attach your W2

Attaching your W-2 to your tax return is a simple process. Here is exactly how to do this:

Gather documents. Gather your W-2 and any other documents you will be attaching to your tax return. Scan or photocopy. Scan the documents or make copies if they are paper forms. Create an electronic folder. Create a folder on your computer in which you will store the documents. Upload documents. Upload your scanned/photocopied forms to the electronic folder. Attach documents to the return. Use the software youre using to file your taxes to attach the documents to the return.

W2 Form Tips

Filing taxes can be a daunting task for many people. Here are some tips to make sure you file your W-2 correctly and on time:

Check your information carefully . Make sure all of your information is accurate and up to date.

. Make sure all of your information is accurate and up to date. Double-check for accuracy. Review the form carefully before sending it in to make sure there are no errors.

Review the form carefully before sending it in to make sure there are no errors. Send it in on time. Make sure to file your W-2 before the due date so you dont incur any late fees.

Make sure to file your W-2 before the due date so you dont incur any late fees. Consult a tax professional. If in doubt, reach out to a qualified tax professional for more advice and assistance on tax deductions and with filing your W-2.

If in doubt, reach out to a qualified tax professional for more advice and assistance on tax deductions and with filing your W-2. Estimated tax payments. If you are not receiving a salary or wage, you may need to make estimated tax payments throughout the year.

Final Words

Understanding the W-2 form and its implications for both employees and employers is crucial. Its an essential part of the tax filing process and can play a significant role in determining how much income tax an individual is required to pay. This form also provides valuable information for employers, helping them keep track of the amounts theyve paid in wages and taxes throughout the year.

Make sure to keep accurate records, file on time, and understand your responsibilities whether youre an employee or an employer. Doing so can help you avoid any potential issues or penalties down the line.

Finding the best tax software for self-employed individuals and small business owners is also important, as it can make the filing process easier and more efficient.

FAQ

What is the difference between a 1099 and W-2?

A 1099 Form is for reporting non-employee income such as freelance or contracted work, while a W-2 Form is used to report wages, salaries, and other types of employee compensation.

Employers are also required to withhold taxes from employee income reported on W-2 Forms, whereas 1099 rules require independent contractors are responsible for paying their own taxes on income reported on 1099 Forms.

What is the difference between a W-4 form and a W-2 form?

A W-4 Form, also known as the Employees Withholding Allowance Certificate, is filled out by employees to let employers know how much federal income tax to withhold from their paychecks. The employee may adjust this form anytime their personal or financial situation changes. In contrast, a W-2 Form is an annual report generated by employers that details the total income an employee has earned and the amount of federal, state, and other taxes withheld from their paycheck throughout the year. Thus, the W-4 form is used to anticipate tax obligations, while the W-2 form reflects what was actually earned and withheld.

What is Cafe 125 on a W-2 tax form?

Cafe 125 on a W-2 tax form refers to Section 125 of the IRS code. This section pertains to pre-tax contributions that employees make towards a cafeteria plan, which includes benefits like health, dental, and vision insurance premiums. These contributions are made with pre-tax dollars and hence are not subject to federal income tax withholding, Social Security taxes, or Medicare taxes. The Cafe 125 notation on the W-2 form is an indicator of such contributions made by the employee throughout the tax year.

What is Form W-2G?

Form W-2G, also known as Certain Gambling Winnings, is a tax form used to report income earned from specific types of gambling activities. These activities include lotteries, sweepstakes, and other betting ventures that meet specific payout thresholds. Payers of such winnings are required to issue a W-2G form to the recipient if the winnings exceed certain values, which vary depending on the type of gambling, and are subject to federal income tax withholding.

How Much Money Do You Need to Make to Get a W-2?

In general, employers are obligated to provide a W-2 form to any employee who earned at least $600 in wages, tips, or other compensation during the year. This rule also applies if the employee had any amount of taxes withheld, regardless of their total income. However, its important to note that even if you made less than $600, youre still responsible for reporting all of your income to the IRS.

What Do I Do If I Lost My W-2?

If you lost your W-2 form, you should promptly reach out to your employer and ask for a duplicate copy. Employers are legally obligated to provide a replacement if requested. If your employer fails to provide a replacement, you can contact the IRS, who can compel your employer to issue a new one. The IRS can also provide you with a substitute Form W-2 to use if your employer does not provide a replacement in a timely manner.

By what date must W-2s be sent to employees?

The IRS mandates that employers must distribute W-2 forms to their employees no later than January 31st of the year following the tax year. This allows employees ample time to file their tax returns before the April 15th deadline. If employers fail to comply with this deadline, they could face penalties. Therefore, employees should contact their employers directly if they have not received their W-2 by early February.

What should I do if an employees copy of the W-2 is returned as undeliverable?

If an employees copy of the W-2 form is returned as undeliverable, its the employers responsibility to make a reasonable attempt to obtain a corrected mailing address. The employer should then resend the W-2 form to the new address. If the employer cannot obtain a corrected address, they should securely store the undeliverable W-2 and provide it to the employee upon request either in person or by email.

Can employers furnish W-2s to employees electronically?

Yes, employers are allowed to provide W-2 forms to their employees electronically. However, the employer must first obtain the employees written consent to receive the W-2 in an electronic format. This consent can be given electronically, and once given, its effective for all future years unless the employee revokes it.

Can an Employee Receive More Than One W-2?

Yes, an employee may receive multiple W-2 forms if they worked for more than one employer during the tax year. They may also receive a corrected W-2 form if their employer made an error on the original form, resulting in the need to amend and reissue the form. Each W-2 form represents the earnings and taxes withheld by a separate employer.

What are the penalties for submitting W-2s late?

Penalties for submitting W-2 forms late are based on when you file the correct information with the IRS. The penalty is $60 per form if you file within 30 days of the due date, increasing to $120 per form if filed between 31 days after the due date and August 1. After August 1 or if you dont file at all, the penalty can be up to $310 per form. For intentional disregard, the penalty is at least $630 per form, with no maximum limit.

Can an employer charge for a replacement W-2?

Yes, employers are allowed to charge a reasonable fee for issuing a replacement W-2 form. This fee is typically equivalent to the actual cost the employer incurs in processing and generating the replacement form, including expenses related to research, data retrieval, and document preparation. However, its worth noting that many employers provide this service free of charge as a courtesy to their employees.
Though this article was originally written 21 years ago, has much changed?

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share

This story was first published by The Slovak Spectator on March 2, 2002. We have updated the piece to make it relevant for today.

Boy (boze, or ty vole, a Czechism), I'm glad I'm not one of those dismal (ponury) people lined up outside Slovakia's collapsing savings-and-loans funds. Ty vole, I'm also pow'ful glad I ain't a government politician blamed for not protecting people better from their own foolishness (hlupost) and greed (pazravost).

Slovak savings-and-loans funds (investicne fondy) have for years been promising people 30-50 percent interest (urok, perhaps because it's calculated yearly, or rocne) on deposits (vklady). They've been little better than pyramid schemes, in which collapse can be put off as long as advertising (reklamy, an unfortunate homophone with klamat, to lie) continues to hook (chytit, zozrat aj s naviakom, meaning to eat even the reel on the fishing rod, one better than hook, line and sinker) new clients.

With the early February 2002 closure of BMG and Horizont, and soon after chaos at AGW and Drukos, the number of collapsed S & L houses exceeded 20, with billions in lost or 'unavailable' money.
Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar's meeting with Sergey Lavrov is one of the reasons behind suspension.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share

Czech Premier Petr Fiala will follow tradition and travel to Slovakia as his first official foreign trip if reelected [next year], despite his Wednesdays decision to suspend the informal joint sessions of the Slovak and Czech governments for the foreseeable future.

Yes, Id go there. Id see no problem in it, Fiala said, as quoted by the CTK news agency. We share not only the same history with Slovakia, but our societies have natural ties and these are not created by politics. Yet politics should do all it can to develop and maintain them.

Two independent countries emerged after the fall of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

Currently, the Czech cabinet has an issue with Slovakias foreign policy, which the Slovak administration describes as sovereign. Fiala already confirmed this at a recent V4 summit in Prague.

On March 6, Fiala took a step further and called off the upcoming joint meeting with the Slovak cabinet - also in light of the approaching Slovak presidential election.

Meeting with Lavrov

Unlike most EU member states, the Slovak government refuses to support military aid to Ukraine - although it hasnt stopped commercial military contracts - and calls for peace in Ukraine without urging Russia to withdraw troops from Ukraines territory. In addition, Slovak PM Robert Fico, who doesnt think that anti-Russian sanctions have worked, is convinced that Ukrainian neo-Nazis are to blame for the war in Ukraine.
Czech-Slovak relations getting colder, a plan to build local shared service centres, and another Slovak Matters piece is out.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share

Good evening. Here is the Thursday, March 7 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.

We are celebrating 29 years and our anniversary subscription is available only for 29. Take advantage of this limited offer to support our work. Thank you.

Pavol Gaspar takes over top intelligence agency

Pavol Gaspar now serves as deputy SIS chair with competences of the chair. (Source: TASR)

Pavol Gaspar, who was removed from the post of deputy justice minister on March 6, has become the deputy chief of the Slovak Information Service (SIS), the countrys top intelligence agency.

As the SIS said in a press release on Thursday, Gaspar possesses the competences that belong to the SIS chief. The SIS has been without its chief since August 2023 when Michal Alac was dismissed after a criminal charge was pressed against him.

Under normal circumstances, the president appoints the SIS chief. However, President Zuzana Caputova said that she would leave this job to her successor. Her term will end in June. Therefore, to bypass the president, the government changed the agencys statute.

There was no reason for such a deplorable course of action, said the president, stressing that it is the Fico cabinet that bears responsibility for the SIS operation now.

The opposition plans to turn to the General Prosecutors Office and, if needed, to the Constitutional Court. It also wants to see the statute declassified.

Gaspars background: Pavol Gaspar is the son of the charged Smer MP and ex-police chief Tibor Gaspar. He has his father's face tattooed on his hand. Pavol Gaspar faced a charge for giving a false statement and of lying under oath. He was also suspected of giving a 60,000 bribe to police officers.

Opposition: SaS MP Maria Kolikova, who chairs the special parliamentary committee for the supervision of the SIS, has announced that the extraordinary session will take place on Monday afternoon, so that Gaspar can present himself and his plan for the agency. She believes the change of the statute is unlawful.

More stories from The Slovak Spectator website

Politics: Czech PM Petr Fiala has deferred joint meetings with the Slovak cabinet due to its position on the war in Ukraine.

Czech PM Petr Fiala has deferred joint meetings with the Slovak cabinet due to its position on the war in Ukraine. Bratislava: More than 1,000 German mines were found in the city in three days.

More than 1,000 German mines were found in the city in three days. Politics: On Wednesday the Foreign Ministry summoned Dutch Ambassador Gabriella Sancisi over an event in Prague.

On Wednesday the Foreign Ministry summoned Dutch Ambassador Gabriella Sancisi over an event in Prague. Business: Local shared service centres will be created across eastern and central Slovakia. Bratislava already has its own.

If you like what we are doing and want to support good journalism, buy our online subscription with no ads and a print copy of The Slovak Spectator sent to your home in Slovakia. Thank you.

SLOVAK MATTERS

A Canadian journalist did not land in the porridge, but many Slovaks did

(Source: rawpixel.com on Freepik)

Byt v kasi (to be in the porridge) is a very important phrase in the next piece written by Tom Nicholson more than 20 years ago. It recounts a story about the collapsed S & L houses in Slovakia and outraged Slovaks.

FREE EVENTS

3 events in Bratislava

The refurbished SNG (Source: Sme - Jozef Jakubco)

Entry to the Slovak National Gallery will be free on Saturday, March 9. There is also another great event worth waiting for.

In other news

GDP in 2023 grew by 1.1 percent. The 5.7-percent growth in industrial production had the most significant influence on overall developments. A 5-percent decrease in domestic demand had a dampening effect on overall GDP growth. (Statistics Office)

The 5.7-percent growth in industrial production had the most significant influence on overall developments. A 5-percent decrease in domestic demand had a dampening effect on overall GDP growth. (Statistics Office) France organised a teleconference on Ukraine, but Slovakia and Hungary were not invited. (Dennik N)

(Dennik N) MEP Monika Benova will be the number one candidate on Smers slate for the EP elections , number two is Kremlin-admiring Deputy Speaker of Parliament Lubos Blaha.

, number two is Kremlin-admiring Deputy Speaker of Parliament Lubos Blaha. A fire engulfed Louis Pasteur University Hospital in Kosice on Thursday night. The fire broke out in a psychiatric clinic. Nine people were injured. Almost 800 were in the building. (Korzar)

in Kosice on Thursday night. The fire broke out in a psychiatric clinic. Nine people were injured. Almost 800 were in the building. (Korzar) Anti-government protests took place in eastern Slovakia (Kosice, Presov, Poprad and Spisska Nova Ves) on March 7. (Korzar)

The silent Orange Protest took place in Kosice on March 7. The same protest was held in Bratislava and Liptovsky Mikulas. The protest pointed to the downplaying of sexualised and intimate partner violence, as well as condemned misogynistic aggression against female journalists by politicians. (Source: Korzar)

WEATHER FOR FRIDAY: Expect cloudy to overcast skies across Slovakia, with the possibility of gradually decreasing cloud cover as the day progresses. Occasional rain showers are likely. Daytime temperatures will range between 5C to 11C. The wind is forecast to be light to moderate. (SHMU)

MARCH 8 NAME'S DAY IN SLOVAKIA: Alan, Alana (International Womens Day).

Thank you for subscribing and reading. It means a lot to us.

P.S. If you have suggestions on how our news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.

Follow The Slovak Spectator on Facebook and Instagram (@slovakspectator).
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240306/houthi-attack-on-commercial-vessel-killed-3-crew-members---centcom-1117174078.html

Houthi Attack on Commercial Vessel Killed Three Crew Members - CENTCOM

Houthi Attack on Commercial Vessel Killed Three Crew Members - CENTCOM

Sputnik International

Three crew members of the True Confidence commercial vessel were killed after a Houthi missile hit the ship as it sailed through the Gulf of Aden, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a press release.

2024-03-06T23:22+0000

2024-03-06T23:22+0000

2024-03-06T23:23+0000

world

houthis

houthi militants

houthi movement

gulf of aden

yemen

united kingdom (uk)

us central command (centcom)

us

ansar allah

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/06/1117174186_0:188:2000:1313_1920x0_80_0_0_0773624d4d46f73826208dc5346af25d.jpg

"At approximately 11:30 a.m. (Sanaa time) March 6, an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) was launched from Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist-controlled areas of Yemen toward M/V True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier, while transiting the Gulf of Aden," the release said on Wednesday. The crew abandoned the ship and coalition warships responded and are assessing the situation, the release said. According to CENTCOM, Wednesday's attack is the fifth anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Houthis in the last two days, two of which hit the shipping vessels MSC Sky II and True Confidence. The US and UK reportedly launched air strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen following the deadly Houthi attack. The Defense Department and CENTCOM did not respond to Sputnik's request for comment about reports of the US and UK airstrikes.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240303/uk-has-only-itself-to-blame-for-red-sea-attacks-houthis-say-as-they-vow-to-ramp-up-campaign-1117115372.html

gulf of aden

yemen

united kingdom (uk)

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

commercial vessel, civilians die, civilian casualties, houthi ship attack, yemen ship attack, us aircraft carrier yemen, houthi strikes, us sends warships against houthis, war on yemen, red sea crisis, yemen, houthis, houthi rebels, houtis attacked us vessel, us ship, us vessel, us attacked by houthis in red sea, middle east crisis, palestine-israel conflict, bulk carrier
 Sputnik / Evgeny Biyatov

"We are all born equal, but the question is: Are we growing, are we developing in equal conditions? The answer is, unfortunately, no. There is no equal world for all. And this is the main injustice of todays world order, todays world," Putin said during the closing ceremony of the World Youth Festival.

"If we are all equal, there is no place in the world for any kind of exclusivity, no place in the world for any arrogance, segregation, or similar things that are based on this distorted ground of anyone's exclusivity," he emphasized.

When he said that, the audience started chanting Russia! Russia!
KHARTOUM, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Sudan on Thursday voiced commitment to continuing coordination with the United Nations (UN) to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to those affected by the ongoing war, said Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council in a statement.

The statement came after Sudan's Joint National Committee for Humanitarian Emergencies held a regular meeting in Port Sudan, the capital city of the eastern Red Sea State.

The meeting discussed the implementation of the decision related to opening the western border crossing with Chad, South Sudan crossing via Kosti city, and Ashkit and Arqin border crossings in northern Sudan, the statement noted.

In addition, the meeting stressed the need to ensure that the aid entering Sudan does not include any things that harm the Sudanese national security, the statement said.

On Wednesday, the Sudanese government said it had allowed the humanitarian aid to enter through new border crossings, including one with Chad.

According to the UN, half of Sudan's population -- some 25 million people -- need humanitarian assistance and protection, with nearly 18 million people facing acute food insecurity.

Sudan has been witnessing deadly clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 15, 2023. More than 13,000 people have been killed since the fighting broke out, according to recent estimates released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/back-to-the-future-russia-honors-anti-colonial-past-as-the-west-backs-neo-nazis-1117175646.html

Back to the Future: Russia Honors Anti-Colonial Past as the West Backs Neo-Nazis

Back to the Future: Russia Honors Anti-Colonial Past as the West Backs Neo-Nazis

Sputnik International

The more things change, the more they stay the same in terms of US foreign policy, says one analyst.

2024-03-07T03:14+0000

2024-03-07T03:14+0000

2024-03-07T04:49+0000

analysis

neo-nazism

neo-nazis

dan kovalik

ukraine

russia

nazi

west

western influence

nazis

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/07/1117176546_0:91:3071:1818_1920x0_80_0_0_cb346dc39bef87cc6b58e291e7505235.jpg

The modern political divide between Russia and the West often evokes memories of the Cold War and even World War II, according to author and human rights lawyer Dan Kovalik.The writer and activist appeared on Sputniks The Critical Hour program on Wednesday to discuss Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovs recent remarks at the Forum of Supporters of the Struggle Against Modern Practices of Neocolonialism.Russia has for a long time tried to play ball with the West, claimed Kovalik, agreeing that the rhetoric emerging from Moscow and Beijing has become more strident in recent years. But it finally dawned on them that the West didn't want to be friends with them. So now you do hear people like Lavrov and [Security Council of Russia Deputy Chairman Dmitry] Medvedev, as you say, kind of taking the gloves off and saying it like it is.The lawyer pointed to Israels military operation in Gaza as well as the conflict in the Donbass, which The New York Times recently admitted was fomented in part by the CIAs decade-long presence in Ukraine. Both crises risk the eruption of a major world war, he claimed.Host Garland Nixon claimed Russia is embracing the anti-colonial or even anti-imperialist legacy of the Soviet Union in recent years, noting the USSR fostered strong ties with Africa and Latin America. The Soviet Union was an ally of South Africas anti-apartheid cause as well as popular movements in Latin American countries like Chile and Cuba.Kovalik noted Russia released a white paper recently specifically mentioning the foreign policy legacy of the Soviet Union. Russia's proud of that past, it's part of their legacy, and they continue to carry that forward, he said. And so you even see Putin, for example, hosting various Palestinian factions in Moscow, trying to get them together to agree to work as one. That is some old-timey, Soviet-like diplomacy there.Meanwhile, US foreign alliances increasingly recall unflattering aspects of the Wests history, including the 20th-century emergence of fascism in Europe. Earlier this week, it was announced the Ukrainian city of Nikopol had renamed a street in honor of Pyotr Dyachenko, a Ukrainian SS officer who was decorated with the Iron Cross by Nazi leader Adolph Hitler.The incident follows the well-publicized recognition of Yaroslav Hunka by the Canadian Parliament last year, a Ukrainian World War II veteran who was revealed to have fought in a Nazi-aligned military unit. Western countries have continuously backed Ukraines post-Maidan government, which even the NATO-aligned Atlantic Council has admitted is significantly influenced by neo-Nazi militants.The United States has also backed reactionary elements in Syria as it was recently announced the country has appointed a former Daesh* chief as a commander in the US-backed Syria Free Army. The US has spent billions of dollars supporting fundamentalist elements in Syria in an attempt to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.We live in a time in which, again, Western governments are unabashedly honoring Nazis, claimed Kovalik. As Russia honors its Soviet past, the West is now honoring its Nazi past.Host Garland Nixon agreed. If you look at Ukraine and you look at Israel, what you find in both instances [is] you have one ethnicity  although in Ukraine they just won't admit it  but you have one group who feels that the other group is inferior, maybe ethnically, however you want to call it, and they have a desire to wipe them out and have actively made a kinetic effort to wipe them out. Neo-fascist troops fighting for Ukraine have referred to their foes as Asiatic hordes, employing racist terminology likening Russians to orcs.It's back to the future, the activist concluded. We're back to the old Cold War days.*ISIS (also known as Daesh/ISIL/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240302/german-militarys-crimean-bridge-strike-talk-nato-has-found-itself-in-hot-water-1117090662.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230925/untold-story-of-how-canada-became-a-safe-haven-for-ukrainian-wwii-era-nazis-1113656627.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231228/un-urges-israel-to-end-unlawful-killings-in-west-bank-as-conditions-rapidly-deteriorate-1115862795.html

ukraine

russia

west

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg

John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg

discrimination against russia, us hegemony, western pressure, western world, western dominance, us dominance, nato vs russia, nato-russia war, ww3, wwiii, world war three, nato attacks russia, nato troops in ukraine, justin trudeau, ukrainian nazi veteran, nazi canada, canadian parliament, anti-nazi movement, nazis in canada, nazism, west for nazis, nazi west, waffen ss, ukrainian nazis, west supports nazism, west supports ukrainian nazis, canada supports ukrainian nazis, canada for ukrainian nazis
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/can-eu-really-ramp-up-weapon-production-1117191508.html

Can EU Really Ramp Up Weapon Production?

Can EU Really Ramp Up Weapon Production?

Sputnik International

While the European Union moves to boost its military-industrial complex, it remains to be seen how successful these efforts are going to be.

2024-03-07T16:51+0000

2024-03-07T16:51+0000

2024-03-07T16:51+0000

military

europe

thierry breton

european union (eu)

nato

weapons

production

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/06/1117160453_0:160:3074:1889_1920x0_80_0_0_2006cb28e44324adc56e440bfe2a20ce.jpg

Months after they started funneling weapons and munitions to Ukraine, EU states came to the startling realization that they cant hold a candle to Russia's armament production.In an apparent bid to address this problem, the European Commission (EC) this week has proudly unveiled the first-ever European Defense Industrial Strategy (EDIS) and proposed an ambitious set of new actions to support the competitiveness and readiness of the EU defense industry, according to a statement posted on the EC website.The strategy in question aims to mobilize some 1.5 billion ($1.63 billion) of EU funds during 2025-2027 to continue enhancing the competitiveness, the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) in an effort to ensure the defense industrial readiness in Europe.While these plans to ramp up weapon and munition productions in Europe are hardly surprising, there are several factors that may make the effort problematic.- While 1.5 billion is a lump sum of money, it is hardly enough for such an undertaking. In January, European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton argued for the necessity of a 100 billion defense fund to boost Europes military-industrial capacity.- The EC plan mentions fostering closer cooperation with Ukraine through its participation in Union initiatives in support of defense industry and stimulating cooperation between the EU and Ukrainian defense industries. It is not immediately clear, however, how exactly military-industrial projects might fare in Ukraine where they will likely be immediately targeted by Russian air and missile strikes. Ukraines ability to participate in weapon procurement together with other EU states also seems a bit suspect in light of the dismal state of the Ukrainian economy.- The European initiative may come into conflict with NATOs plans, Politico has suggested, noting that the military blocs leaders have already agreed on the so-called Defense Production Action Plan in 2023. "If this new unveiled strategy is seen as complementary its one thing, but if its seen as contradictory [with NATOs], that could be a bit of a political problem," the media outlets quoted a former NATO official Robert Pszczel as saying.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240213/europe-lacks-motivated-troops-free-money-and-defense-industry-to-create-own-army-1116763256.html

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

europe military industrial complex, eu weapons production, eu weapon procurement
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/china-russia-trade-in-january-february-2024-up-to-3701bln-1117180822.html

China-Russia Trade in January-February 2024 Up to $37.01Bln

China-Russia Trade in January-February 2024 Up to $37.01Bln

Sputnik International

The China-Russia trade in January-February of 2024 has increased by 9.3% year-on-year and amounted to $37.01 billion, data of the Chinese General Administration of Customs showed on Thursday.

2024-03-07T05:37+0000

2024-03-07T05:37+0000

2024-03-07T05:37+0000

economy

russian economy under sanctions

russia

china

us-china relations

pivot to asia

asian pivot

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/03/16/1108672524_0:94:3307:1954_1920x0_80_0_0_337084faaf6665d443ecccf6c99f04ff.jpg

In the said period, China imported $16.808 billion worth of goods to Russia, a 12.5% increase in imports compared to the same period in 2023. China's exports from Russia increased by 6.7% year-on-year to $20.202 billion. In 2023, the China-Russia trade increased by 26.3% to a record high of $240.11 billion. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping had set earlier a goal to double the bilateral and bring it to $200 billion a year by 2024 from $100 billion in 2018. This goal was achieved in November 2023.The China-US trade in January-February of 2024 has increased by 0.7% year-on-year and amounted to $99.55 billion, data of the Chinese General Administration of Customs showed on Thursday.In the said period, China imported $73.41 billion worth of goods to the United States, a 5% increase in imports compared to the same period in 2023. China's exports from the US decreased by 9.7% year-on-year to $26.13 billion.The US remained China's third largest trading partner after the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240229/russian-energy-exports-to-china-india-key-to-thwarting-us-sanctions---ex-imf-official-1117048506.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240228/rocky-road-to-dedollarization-sergei-glazyev-interview--1117034183.html

russia

china

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

russia, russian economy under sanctions, russian economy, russia-china trade, russia-china relations, russia china partnerhship, pivot to east
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/delusional-david-cameron-wants-to-steal-russian-assets-as-surety-to-bail-out-ukraine-1117197220.html

Delusional David Cameron Wants to Steal Russian Assets as 'Surety' to Bail Out Ukraine

Delusional David Cameron Wants to Steal Russian Assets as 'Surety' to Bail Out Ukraine

Sputnik International

Some $300 billion in Russian assets were trapped abroad in 2022 following the escalation of the US proxy war in Ukraine. Under pressure from Kiev, there have been continued attempts by the West to seize those assets and give them to Ukraine.

2024-03-07T23:03+0000

2024-03-07T23:03+0000

2024-03-07T23:39+0000

russia's special operation in ukraine

ukraine

united kingdom (uk)

david cameron

ukraine crisis

russia

ukrainian conflict

frozen assets

russian economy under sanctions

us sanctions

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/07/1117197915_0:131:2000:1256_1920x0_80_0_0_4c9d26c0f9c79dbf23f148567aac2c2c.jpg

Britain is prepared to loan Ukraine all frozen Russian central bank assets in the United Kingdom on the belief that it will pay those loans back with Russian "reparations" following the end of the war, says UK foreign secretary David Cameron.Western countries have previously pledged a total of several billion dollars toward rebuilding Ukraine, including investment pledges from dozens of major multinational corporations. And in late January, Belgium announced it would allocate 611 million ($663 million) to help Kiev in 2024 using the profits they received from the frozen Russian assets.But Camerons announcement this week is the most extreme proposal thus far, as the previous proposals only discussed giving Ukraine the windfall profits from the frozen assets which are estimated to be about $4 billion.US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has also proposed finding a way to unlock the assets to support Ukraine.The G7 itself has questioned whether seizing the assets could undermine faith in the international financial system. And Belgium, which is believed to control as much as 190 billion ($208 billion) of the assets, is the most resistant to follow Camerons plan. It is reportedly facing a series of court cases in Russia, and its stance on the issue has the backing of both France and Germany.Cameron excuses his proposal on the basis that Ukraine will win the war against Russia, and that Moscow will have to pay reparations to Kiev. But the idea that Ukraine could win a military victory against Russia is unimaginable. More and more Western media outlets have been acknowledging Russia's success on the battlefield.Moscow has maintained that any attempt to confiscate its frozen assets would violate international law, with the Russian Foreign Ministry labeling such an action as theft.Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has also said that Moscow is willing to issue a symmetrical" response to this form of Western financial aggression.We have no fewer frozen [assets than Western countries], Siluanov said in an interview with Sputnik last month. Any actions taken against our assets would receive a symmetrical response.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240228/mainstream-media-ignores-facts-russia-has-already-won-this-war-1117028979.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240227/two-can-play-that-game-heres-how-russia-could-hit-back-if-west-seizes-assets-1117018843.html

ukraine

united kingdom (uk)

russia

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg

Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg

frozen russian assets, frozen bank assets, david cameron, russian assets, confiscation of russian assets, frozen funds, frozen assets, illegal appropriation, illegal confiscation, illegal seizure, russian property, frozen property, aid to ukraine, support for ukraine, europe for ukraine, belgium for ukraine, weapons for ukraine, aid to ukraine, funding of ukraine, financial aid, military aid, confiscate money, us sanctions, eu sanctions, sanctions against russia
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/even-democrats-warn-biden-about-israeli-rafah-invasion-plan-violating-military-aid-conditions--1117173507.html

Even Democrats Warn Biden Israeli Rafah Invasion Risks Violating Military Aid Conditions

Even Democrats Warn Biden Israeli Rafah Invasion Risks Violating Military Aid Conditions

Sputnik International

House Democrats sent a letter to US President Joe Biden on Tuesday telling him that an Israeli invasion of Rafah could violate the administrations requirement that US military aid be used in accordance with international law.

2024-03-07T00:50+0000

2024-03-07T00:50+0000

2024-03-07T00:58+0000

americas

joe biden

biden administration

palestine-israel conflict

israeli-palestinian conflict

us

israel

gaza strip

palestinians

democrats

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/02/17/1116941699_0:0:3057:1720_1920x0_80_0_0_ec3c4ac26a8f502a48328419915c9a3d.jpg

A group made up of 37 House Democrats sent a letter to US President Joe Biden on Tuesday telling him that an Israeli invasion of Rafah could violate the administrations requirement that US military aid be used in accordance with international law, a report on Wednesday revealed.The group has been spearheaded by Representatives Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), who wrote that if Israel invades Rafah, it would likely contravene a recent memo that the Biden administration put out last month.They added that any ground invasion would run counter to specific principles outline in the memorandum should not be supported by US taxpayer-funded assistance.We write to express our deep sense of urgency and alarm about the potentially devastating consequences to innocent civilians of an Israeli military ground invasion of Rafah. We share the position highlighted by US Ambassador to the UN [Linda Thomas-Greenfield] that no attacks on Rafah should take place, given current circumstances, the House Democrats wrote.In early February the Biden administration issued a memorandum outlining restrictions on how weapons given to countries by the US should be used, though it did not single out Israel, specifically. The memo also requires, for the first time, that the administration submit an annual report to Congress about whether or not certain countries are meeting those requirements.The memo was prompted by Democratic lawmakers who have raised concern over Israels military actions in Palestine. More than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war first began, the territory's Health Ministry said in mid-February. Civilian deaths including a vast majority of women and children, the births of malnourished children, and a looming famine have also been reported.The Biden administration has made several statements purportedly warning Israel against invading Rafah without a humanitarian plan that would protect civilians. At the same time, the US has been providing military aid and selling military equipment to Israel, fueling the conflict. Moreover, the US has deliberately vetoed United Nations Security Council ceasefire resolutions at least three times now.Receiving both military and diplomatic support from the US, Israeli officials seem to have set a deadline to invade Rafah on the Muslim holiday of Ramadan starting on March 10. Roughly 1.4 million Palestinians are estimated to be seeking refuge in the southern city.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240306/kamala-harris-call-for-ceasefire-ignores-reality-of-israels-brutal-occupation-1117173766.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231228/un-urges-israel-to-end-unlawful-killings-in-west-bank-as-conditions-rapidly-deteriorate-1115862795.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240227/no-safe-area-gaza-crisis-nearing-its-peak-as-netanyahu-appears-committed-to-an-assault-on-rafah-1117000528.html

americas

israel

gaza strip

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg

Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg

biden administration, genocide, ethnic cleansing, humanitarian disaster, humanitarian catastrophe, humanitarian ceasefire, israel-hamas conflict, gaza strip crisis, shelling of gaza, gaza devastation, israel-palestine conflict, palestine-israel conflict, israeli-palestinian conflict, palestinian-israeli, zionist regime, zionists, hamas attack, israeli strikes, israeli forces, hostages, israeli military, hamas fighters, hamas soldiers, hamas military, killings of civilians, civilian infrastructure, civilians dead, civilians die, israel kills civilians, civilian casualties, civilian deaths, indiscriminate shelling, indiscriminate killing, war crimesmilitary advisors, us involvement
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/fence-built-around-capitol-ahead-of-bidens-state-of-union-address---reports-1117189036.html

Fence Built Around Capitol Ahead of Biden's State of Union Address - Reports

Fence Built Around Capitol Ahead of Biden's State of Union Address - Reports

Sputnik International

A fence has been erected around the Capitol building in Washington, DC, ahead of US President Joe Biden's annual State of the Union address, US media reported on Thursday.

2024-03-07T12:24+0000

2024-03-07T12:24+0000

2024-03-07T12:33+0000

americas

us

us hegemony

us arms for ukraine

joe biden

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/07/0f/1083393986_0:122:3071:1849_1920x0_80_0_0_e28e00a5527629e15f4087d77f193363.jpg

Biden is expected to address Congress on Thursday evening for the last time in his current term. During the speech, he will outline the "historic achievements" of his administration, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday. Biden will also share his plans to improve the lives of all Americans, she said.She expressed confidence that Biden was able to do more in his first three years in the White House than most presidents have accomplished in two full terms."He will talk about the success in implementing his agenda from infrastructure to chips to lowering prices," Jean-Pierre said.Biden will also share his plan to improve the lives of all Americans, she added.Meanwhile, White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told media that Biden would convey "energy, optimism and belief in the future of this country" and express "some passion" when demanding that the US Congress act on border security and defense assistance for Ukraine.The US president will also outline the changes in the country's economy over the past three years and will present his vision for the US economic system, Zients was cited as saying by media. The fence was erected for the third year in a row and this tradition already caused some outrage in the local community. This fence sends a message that something is wrong with our country, said one of the local residents as quoted by the media.

americas

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

us, us hegemony, state of the union adress biden, biden fears, biden fence
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/foreign-ministry-spoke-on-kishinevs-threats-against-gutsul-1117194799.html

Foreign Ministry Speaks on Kishinevs Threats Against Gagauzia Head Gutsul

Foreign Ministry Speaks on Kishinevs Threats Against Gagauzia Head Gutsul

Sputnik International

Threats to the head of the autonomous region of Gagauzia, Yevgenia Gutsul, show that President of the Republic Maia Sandu uses legality for political settling of scores and for pressure, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

2024-03-07T16:42+0000

2024-03-07T16:42+0000

2024-03-07T17:08+0000

world

maia sandu

maria zakharova

gagauzia

foreign ministry

russian foreign ministry

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/06/1117173033_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_ac604961c41e9684384e312e081e8e2d.jpg

"Moldovan President Maia Sandu is no longer shy about her actions, although everyone is well aware that she is using the law for the exact opposite purposes. Namely, as an element of political settling of scores, pressure, and in this case, in my opinion, it is obvious that these are direct threats to a person, who has not just the votes of the electorate behind her, but also the voters struggle (I mean Gutsul); the voters reaffirmed their will by literally going out on the streets for a second time," Zakharova said.Earlier on Thursday, head of the press service for the Moldovan government, Daniel Voda, commenting on the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Gutsul, said that the communication of the Moldovan opposition with the Russian leadership is contrary to the interests of Moldovan citizens.At the same time, he called the head of Gagauzia "a representative of the criminal group Shor". Acting Prosecutor General of Moldova Ion Munteanu reported on an upcoming criminal case against Gutsul. Moldovan opposition leader Ilan Shor said that Kishinev is preparing to arrest the head of Gagauzia immediately after her return from Russia. Gutsul stressed that she would return to the country despite the pressure from the authorities.According to her, under the disguise democracy, the Sandu administration is trying to build a dictatorship in the country.Gutsul noted that she intends to expand economic, social and cultural cooperation with the Krasnodar and Penza regions. She also said that she discussed the political situation in Moldova with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the margins of the World Youth Festival. This was confirmed by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.In February 2014, a referendum was held in the region to determine the vector of the country's foreign policy. More than 98% of its participants supported Moldova's integration into the Eurasian Customs Union.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230914/moscow-requests-moldova-stop-political-persecution-of-russian-language-media-1113366527.html

gagauzia

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

what is gagauzia, where is gagauzia, gagauzia vs moldova, what's happening in gagauzia
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/haiti-in-anarchy-gangs-flex-muscles-while-pm-disappears-1117163848.html

Haiti Plunges Into Anarchy: Gangs Flex Muscles As PM Vanishes

Haiti Plunges Into Anarchy: Gangs Flex Muscles As PM Vanishes

Sputnik International

The security crisis in Haiti has aggravated over the week, as law enforcement battles against armed gangs to curb the escalating violence in the capital city, amidst rising death toll, prison breaks, and deteriorating humanitarian conditions.

2024-03-07T05:27+0000

2024-03-07T05:27+0000

2024-03-07T09:01+0000

world

ariel henry

jovenel moise

justin trudeau

caribbean

haiti

the united nations (un)

caricom

university college london (ucl)

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/07/0c/1083368418_0:0:1920:1080_1920x0_80_0_0_0f86d760f3b02e19602991358c8ab02a.jpg

A push by a notorious Haitian gang leader to overthrow the prime minister of the country this week has led to a new surge in violence, forcing over 15,000 people to flee their homes.The situation has deepened the sense of despair and anarchy in the Caribbean country.The island nation was thrown into chaos a day after acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry left for a meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states in Guyana, vowing to call a general election by mid-2025.That was the third announcement of a poll following previous pledges in 2022 and 2023.Henry then flew to Kenya for talks on deploying the east African nation's police to Haiti to curb gang violence  despite a high court ruling in Nairobi that the deployment would be unconstitutional.The latest crisis in Haiti began on February 29 when Jimmy Cherizier, an ex-police officer turned gang leader commonly known as "Barbecue" who leads a syndicate of gangs, vowed to stop the Henry returning to Haiti. With our guns and with the Haitian people, we will free the country, Cherizier declared.The government announced a three-day state of emergency with a night-time curfew on Sunday after the gangs stormed two major prisons  the National Penitentiary and Croix des Bouquets  and freed 3,800 inmates while gunfire echoed across the capital.Henry's whereabouts could were unknown after he left Kenya for Dubai, according to a source aware of the situation. He was due to travel through the US, but it was uncertain when  or if  he would return to Haiti.Roots of the Haitian CrisisHaiti was the first nation of the Caribbean to win independence in 1804, defeating French colonial forces to become the first black-ruled republic. But the following two centuries saw a series of unwelcome interventions by the United States.US troops occupied the country following the 1991 coup against president Jean-Bertrand Aristide  which was backed by Washington  and again after the devastating 2010 earthquake. The assassination of former president Jovenel Moise in July 2021 brought further political upheaval, and another earthquake in August 2021 worsened the situation.When Moise was assassinated, Haiti had no functioning parliament to choose his successor in line with the constitution. Two other figures challenged Henry for the position of prime minister  interim PM Claude Joseph and Senate President Joseph Lambert.In July 2021, a US delegation travelled to Haiti to mediate the succession. A week later, the US, UN and other donors issued a statement urging Henry to form an "inclusive government."Henry's unorthodox journey to power, accusations of potential gang affiliations and implication in Moise's murder, challenges in confronting Haitian issues and an unpopular move to slash fuel subsidies have all undermined his credibility.What Steps Have the Haitian PM Taken to Conduct Elections?How Much Power Can Gangs Wield in Haiti?Haitian gangs have deep-rooted connections with the nation's political and economic elite, who use them for political mobilization, voter suppression, bribery, funding, hooliganism and public unrest. The Canadian government imposed sanctions on ex-president Michel Martelly for allegedly financing gangs. Corporate leaders collude with gangs to protect their businesses and oversee the flow of goods within and outside the country.By late 2023, armed gangs reportedly controlled 80 percent of the capital, urban centers, major highways and the Artibonite agricultural region. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) estimates the presence of at least 300 criminal factions in Haiti. But local reports hint at a figure closer to 750 when self-defense groups are included.Haiti witnessed a dramatic uptick in reported murders and kidnappings in 2023, according to the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH). Killings surged by 119 percent, reaching 4,789 last year from 2,183 in 2022, while kidnappings swelled by 83 percent from 1,359 in 2022 to 2,490 in 2023. Gangs grew bolder and escalated attacks on government officials and vital infrastructure.Gender-based violence (GBV), including "collective rape," targeted women, children as young as 10, and the elderly to instill fear. Most GBV incidents occurred in gang-contested areas with limited access to essential services. Doctors Without Borders treated about 42 percent more GBV survivors in 2023 compared to the previous year.In 2022, the UN Secretary-General described the Haitian National Police (HNP) as stretched thin and lacking resources. By December 2023, 1,663 officers had resigned, leaving the force with 13,196 officers. Additionally, 45 out of 412 police buildings were non-operational or under gang control. A July 2022 study by the International Crisis Group estimated that 40 percent of Haitian police officers had gang connections.Any Way Out of the Haitian Crisis?The key steps towards restoring order are dismantling gang power and organizing credible elections, though these objectives seem far-fetched. One proposal, supported by Henry, involves deploying international forces again. At a North American Leaders Summit in Mexico City in January 2023, US President Joe Biden and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau discussed the idea of a Canadian-led intervention, with the US being hesitant to send troops in again. While Trudeau was also cautious, Canada donated armored vehicles to the Haitian police.United Nations officials have backed Henry's foreign troop deployment plan. But the UN Security Council raised concerns in light of the previous armed interventions in the country. Instead of a UN peacekeeping mission, it proposed a multinational force under Security Council authorization.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240304/new-documents-reportedly-link-cia-veteran-to-2004-haiti-coup-1117116760.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230217/trudeau-says-canada-to-deploy-navy-vessels-airlift-more-mraps-to-haiti-1107545143.html

caribbean

haiti

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Chimauchem Nwosu https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/01/1113046371_0:99:1536:1635_100x100_80_0_0_9c5c627283eca931c39fe4852bbb301c.jpg

Chimauchem Nwosu https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/01/1113046371_0:99:1536:1635_100x100_80_0_0_9c5c627283eca931c39fe4852bbb301c.jpg

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Chimauchem Nwosu https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/09/01/1113046371_0:99:1536:1635_100x100_80_0_0_9c5c627283eca931c39fe4852bbb301c.jpg

haiti, armed conflict, criminals, terrorist organizations, failed state, criminal gang, crime wave, hostages, prison escape
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/kim-jong-un-inspects-north-korean-troops-training-during-drills-1117184556.html

Kim Jong Un Inspects North Korean Troops Training During Drills

Kim Jong Un Inspects North Korean Troops Training During Drills

Sputnik International

The visit comes in the wake of US-South Korea military drills and deteriorating security situation.

2024-03-07T10:53+0000

2024-03-07T10:53+0000

2024-03-07T11:26+0000

asia

kim jong-un

north korea

south korea

korean peoples army (kpa)

korean central news agency (kcna)

korean peninsula

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/07/1117184700_0:0:901:506_1920x0_80_0_0_284b53f453fa7d19ccad63915991a630.png

The North Korean President of State Affairs, Kim Jong Un, recently visited the core base of the Korean Peoples Army. During his tour, he inspected the training infrastructure and oversaw military drills, according to a report from the KCNA news agency. Kim was accompanied by high-profile state officials, as well as top brass officers, including Minister of Defense Kang Sun Nam, and Chief of General Staff Ri Yong Gil.According to the report, Kim Jong Un learned in detail about the facilities and training grounds in the base and received a report on the program for actual maneuvers of the units planned that day before guiding the drill.Kim praised the combat prowess of North Korean soldiers and highlighted the need for organizing even more rigorous drills in order to successfully control even their slightest attempt to ignite a war. He added that the Korean Peoples Army should stay vigilant in order to adapt to all aspects of changing and developing modern warfare.Upon wrapping up the visit, the North Korean leader posed for a traditional group photo with soldiers.In March, South Korea and the United States commenced fighter jet exercises as part of their annual military drills known as Freedom Shield. The exercises are aimed at countering perceived threats from North Korea, which Pyongyang criticized, branding them as provocative.In January 2024, Russian foreign policy chief Sergey Lavrov commented on the security situation around Korean Peninsula, stressing that the policy of the United States and its regional allies to create threats to the security of North Korea does not anyhow contribute to positive development of the situation.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240117/invasion-rehearsals-north-korea-slams-joint-us-south-korea--japan-drills-as-tensions-escalate-1116223165.html

north korea

south korea

korean peninsula

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Sergey Lebedev

Sergey Lebedev

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sergey Lebedev

north korea, kim jong un, korean peninsula, security korea, kim jong un drills, security situation korea, korean peninsula crisis
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/macron-consults-on-ukraine-with-unrepentant-russophiles-sarkozy-and-le-pen-1117194908.html

Macron Consults on Ukraine With 'Unrepentant Russophiles' Sarkozy and Le Pen

Macron Consults on Ukraine With 'Unrepentant Russophiles' Sarkozy and Le Pen

Sputnik International

The French president met with his predecessors, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, in the Elysee palace to consult with them about the situation in Ukraine.

2024-03-07T18:43+0000

2024-03-07T18:43+0000

2024-03-07T18:43+0000

world

nicolas sarkozy

emmanuel macron

francois hollande

france

russia

nato

european union (eu)

ukraine

marine le pen

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/09/12/1100933313_0:0:2536:1427_1920x0_80_0_0_bc6bd98990f6fc5d2f4c8662b0c70d41.jpg

French President Emmanuel Macron has met his predecessors Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande to discuss policy towards Ukraine.The meeting, which took place on Wednesday, is a part of a series of consultations, which will include meetings with party leaders and members of the expert community.While Francois Hollande (president from 2012-2017) is known for his hawkish position on Ukraine - it was under his watch that France openly supported the Maidan coup in 2014 and quietly sabotaged the Minsk agreements signed in 2015 - Sarkozy has assumed a contrary position.Sarkozy was in charge of the French Republic in 2007-2012. In his book and several interviews published a few months before yesterdays meeting, Sarkozy openly supported neutrality for Ukraine and opposed EU and NATO memberships for Ukraine.After several hours of eye-to-eye consultations, Hollande talked to reporters saying that his advice to Macron was to use the language of force with the head of the Kremlin, since this is the only language he understands. Sarkozy was more discreet, slipping out of palace away from the cameras, the French daily Le Monde reported.But does it mean that the idea of a compromise and of Ukraines neutrality is dead or very weak among the Western public? Not so given that the hawkish stand on Ukraine is facing strong opposition. Macron could feel its strength a few days ago when he said that sending troops of NATO countries to the conflict in Ukraine was not ruled out for him. The suggestion provoked outcry not only in France but across all of the European Union.One can only hope that Sarkozy had an opportunity to present Macron with his arguments, which Sarkozy developed in his book of memoirs The Times of Fights and recent interviews.In his interview to Le Figaro, Sarkozy said he was unrepentant that France (under his presidency) and Germany blocked NATO membership for Ukraine, proposed by the former US president George W. Bush at the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008. Sarkozy also said in the same interview it was an illusion to expect that Ukraine could get Crimea back, which had been populated and governed by the government of Russian Federation until 1954 and where the majority of population feels itself to be Russian.Sarkozy is certainly not alone in this opinion.Foreign Policy, one of Americas most authoritative magazines on international affairs, published an article this week denying the main mantra of Ukraines Western allies  that Kiev should join NATO. The article is headlined NATO Should Not Accept Ukraine  for Ukraines Sake, with a thought-provoking lead following it: The top five reasons why expanding the Western alliance would make Kiev even worse off.Russian President Vladimir Putin has explained many times that the main reason for the start of the special military operation in February 2022 was Ukraines refusal to fulfill the principle of the countrys neutral status enshrined in the Declaration on Ukraines State Sovereignty adopted in 1990.This principle was later incorporated into the independent Ukraines Constitution, adopted in 1996, and was legally binding until February 2019. Then, after three years of the civil war in Ukraine, it was removed without due procedure by a special amendment.The amendment defined Ukraines foreign policy objective as full membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The amendment was introduced by the Ukrainian parliament (Rada) under pressure from the countrys nationalist President Petro Poroshenko. No referendum or any other form of popular vote on the issue was held in Ukraine.NATO membership for Ukraine will only prolong the war, the authors of the article in Foreign Policy conclude, and one could not agree more. Neutrality may not be that bad for Ukraine  that also hits the spot. And this is exactly what former President Sarkozy argues in his statements on Ukraine  that the country should be a neutral bridge between East and West.During his meetings with President Putin before the hostilities in Ukraine exacerbated on February 24, 2022, Macron also did not shy away from the idea of neutrality for Ukraine. He even used the word Finlandization during his visit to Moscow in February 2022  much to the chagrin of the American media covering that meeting.That word, however, has disappeared from Macrons vocabulary  and from most of the Western media  after the Ukrainian army declared its intention to start offensives aimed at cutting Crimea away from the rest of Russia in the end of 2022  beginning of 2023. Now this word may be coming back.The reason is simple  the situation on the ground in Ukraine changed in Russias favor.Hopefully, Macron will get even more enlightened during his meetings with the two of the opposition figures  the leader of the non-systemic far-right National Rally party Marine Le Pen and the maverick founder of leftwing La France Insoumise (France That Did Not Submit) party Jean-Luc Melanchon.Both of them blasted his recent ponderings on sending NATO soldiers to Ukraine.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240301/macrons-idea-to-send-nato-troops-to-ukraine-made-him-look-very-foolish--1117069472.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/nato-preparing-for-new-wars-drills-in-europe-increase-tensions---russian-security-council-1117188863.html

france

russia

ukraine

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Dmitry Babich https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/02/0e/1116778495_0:120:720:840_100x100_80_0_0_9bf47040bc46073fb920d272be7bc29d.jpg

Dmitry Babich https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/02/0e/1116778495_0:120:720:840_100x100_80_0_0_9bf47040bc46073fb920d272be7bc29d.jpg

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Dmitry Babich https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/02/0e/1116778495_0:120:720:840_100x100_80_0_0_9bf47040bc46073fb920d272be7bc29d.jpg

macron and sarkozy, macron and le pen, why macron wants to send troops to ilraine, will frace send troops to ukraine
A woman holds a placard in protest against U.S. sanctions in front of the U.S. Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe, March 5, 2024. An anti-sanctions lobby group camping in front of the U.S. Embassy in Harare in protest at U.S. sanctions has vowed that only when all sanctions are lifted will the camp be dismantled. (Photo by Tafara Mugwara/Xinhua)

HARARE, March 6 (Xinhua) -- An anti-sanctions lobby group camping in front of the U.S. Embassy in Harare in protest at U.S. sanctions has vowed that only when all sanctions are lifted will the camp be dismantled.

"We have been camped outside the U.S. Embassy for almost five years now, and we will remain camping here until all sanctions are removed unconditionally," Sally Ngoni, spokesperson of the Broad Alliance Against Sanctions, which has camped since March 2019, told Xinhua Tuesday.

The camp set up directly in front of the embassy symbolizes Zimbabwean people's horrid living conditions caused by over two decades of sanctions, she said.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order to terminate a Zimbabwe Sanctions program that has been in effect since 2003, but at the same time imposed sanctions on 11 Zimbabwean individuals, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and three entities, over their alleged involvement in corruption or human rights abuses under America's Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

"We feel it's a milestone that they removed the executive orders, although we also feel that they also slapped us on the face because they added 14 more entities and individuals on the sanctions list," said Ngoni.

Last year, the group filed a court application at the High Court in Harare, seeking reparations from the United States for imposing the sanctions.

Addressing reporters on Wednesday, Charge d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Harare Laurence Socha said the sanctions only targeted "specific and clear individuals and entities."

Rutendo Matinyarare, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Anti-Sanctions Movement, a group that has taken anti-sanctions fight to international courts, told Xinhua Wednesday that the sanctions were illegal.

"Despite the Magnitsky act being titled the 'Global' Magnitsky act, it's not international law, but U.S. law being applied unilaterally and extraterritorially to punish people of a sovereign nation without trial," Matinyarare said.

In a statement Wednesday night, the Zimbabwean government condemned the U.S. piecemeal removal of sanctions and called for a total removal.

"Nothing short of some prompt, unconditional removal in toto of those illegal coercive measures, including the infamous Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, is acceptable to Zimbabwe and her long-abused, innocent people," said the presidential spokesperson George Charamba.

The Zimbabwean government strongly rejects the United States' damaging accusations against the sanctioned people, and demands that the Biden administration must provide evidence to back their accusations, otherwise the accusations must be unconditionally withdrawn, Charamba said.

Zimbabwean authorities have denied the U.S. allegations of human rights abuses, and said that the sanctions were a response to Zimbabwe's land reform program, which took place in the early 2000s and intended to correct colonial land ownership imbalances.

Officials say the sanctions have pounded Zimbabwe's economy. According to the finance ministry, the country lost correspondent banking relationships with international banks over the past years due to the sanctions. 
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/poll-quarter-of-americans-want-their-state-to-secede-alaska-most-eager-to-leave-1117191707.html

Poll: Quarter of Americans Want Their State to Secede, Alaska Most Eager to Leave

Poll: Quarter of Americans Want Their State to Secede, Alaska Most Eager to Leave

Sputnik International

State residents hope that leaving US will help deal with migration crisis and address other social issues, including preserving traditional values like anti-abortion legislation.

2024-03-07T15:06+0000

2024-03-07T15:06+0000

2024-03-07T15:06+0000

americas

us

decolonization

alaska

texas

republicans

gop

washington

americans

anti-abortion legislation

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/0a/16/1090119130_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_db270ddc4e58f8d165f67d749d49b169.jpg

A recent poll has shown that 36% of Alaskans want their state to leave the federal United States and establish an independent nationThe survey conducted by YouGov in February showed that The Last Frontier is the most skeptical state in the country when it comes to federal rule. The idea of saying farewell to Washington is also supported by 31% of residents of Texas, 29% in California and 28% in New York and Oklahoma, respectively. Independence movements are also popular in US territories such as Hawaii and Puerto Rico.On average, one in four US citizens is pro-secessionist.While the research stays mum on the reasons for such a position, political experts allege that secessionism is on the rise because of growing polarization in US society, shown in escalating partisanship, as well as in tensions between local administrations and the federal government on issues like border security and immigration.Secessionism is especially popular among Republicans  for instance, in Texas 44% of GOP-aligned citizens support the possible Texit, believing that this bold move will help solve the migration crisis and gain full control over the border with Mexico.In Alaska, the Alaskan Independence Party has been around for decades and, apart from advocating for a break-away, also promotes gun rights and anti-abortion legislation. Moreover, young Alaskans prove to be even more pro-independent than elder ones. The state has vast oil reserves that could be used for nation-building should it ever secede.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240127/texas-border-dispute-shows-entire-us-constitutional-system-collapsing-in-multiple-ways-1116422032.html

americas

alaska

texas

washington

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Sergey Lebedev

Sergey Lebedev

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sergey Lebedev

us break up, us secession, texit, border crisis, us border crisis, alaska secession, us separatism, who supports us secession
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/russian-gas-in-china-chinese-cars-in-russia-are-examples-of-sustainable-cooperation---wang-yi-1117176991.html

China's FM Reveals Trade With Russia Hit Record High

China's FM Reveals Trade With Russia Hit Record High

Sputnik International

Natural gas from Russia is in thousands of Chinese homes, Chinese cars are driving along Russian streets, this fully reflects the stability and broad prospects for cooperation, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday.

2024-03-07T06:46+0000

2024-03-07T06:46+0000

2024-03-07T08:57+0000

world

russia

china

wang yi

cooperation

russia-china cooperation

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/07/1117176834_0:0:3073:1730_1920x0_80_0_0_2481608d242df8d113d927838df84dc3.jpg

With Russian gas powering thousands of Chinese homes and Chinese cars cruising along Russian roadways, Wang Yi said on Thursday, that he believes that this fully reflects the stability and broad prospects of cooperation.The second session of China's 14th National People's Congress opened in Beijing on Tuesday and will last until March 11.Mutual political trust between Moscow and Beijing continues to strengthen under the leadership of both countries' presidents, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. He emphasized that Russia and China (PRC) have established a new model of relations between major countries that is markedly different from the Cold War era. The two nations are deepening their cooperation based on the principles of non-confrontation and non-interference in the affairs of third parties.Russia and China will continue bolstering international cooperation, maintaining regional and global security and stability, the minister stressed. Moscow and Beijing have created a new model of relations between major counties that completely differs from the Cold War era, Wang Yi emphasized.The PRC supports holding an international peace conference recognized both by Russia and Ukraine with equal participation by all parties, the top diplomat highlighted.China Supports International Peace Conference on Ukrainian CrisisBeijing supports holding an international peace conference recognized both by Russia and Ukraine with the equal participation of all parties, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday. "China supports convening in a timely manner an international peace conference recognized by both Russia and Ukraine with equal participation of all parties and impartial discussion of all peace plans," the foreign minister told an annual news conference on the sidelines of the second session of China's 14th National People's Congress, running from March 5 to 11 in Beijing.All efforts made by China in the Ukraine conflict are aimed at paving the way to peace negotiations, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said added.The top diplomat said that China had always taken a fair stance on the Ukraine conflict and insisted on reconciliation.One-China Principle Is International ConsensusThe one-China principle has become the consensus of the international community, and those who support the independence of Taiwan are challenging China's sovereignty, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday."After Taiwan's election, we have seen more than 180 countries and international organizations reaffirm their commitment to the one-China principle and the support for China in defending state sovereignty and territorial integrity," Wang told an annual news conference on the sidelines of the second session of China's 14th National People's Congress, taking place in Beijing from March 5-11.He added that "this fully demonstrates that the one-China principle has become the common consensus of the international community.""If there are people who condone and support the independence of Taiwan, they are challenging China's sovereignty, and if some countries insist on maintaining official relations with Taiwan, they are interfering in the internal affairs of China," the diplomacy chief said.US Perceives China ErroneouslyWashington continues to hold a misguided perception of China, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at an annual news conference Thursday.The Chinese top diplomat said that after the meeting of the two countries' leaders in San Francisco, some progress was made in improving Chinese-American relations, which, according to the diplomat, is fully consistent with the desires and interests of the two countries and world nations.He said the promises made by the United States are not being fulfilled, while more and more diverse measures are being introduced to put pressure on Beijing, and the list of unilateral sanctions continues to increase.We urge the United States to recognize the general trend of historical development, to consider Chinas development objectively and rationally... Wang said, adding that if the United States focuses on suppressing China, it will definitely ultimately harm itself.China Advocates for Palestine's Full UN MembershipChina advocates for Palestine's full membership in the United Nations and calls on several UN Security Council members not to impede the process, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday.The top Chinese diplomat pointed to the long-lasting "occupation" of the Palestinian territories, saying that the global community should not ignore that fact.The Palestinians seek diplomatic recognition of their independent state in the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, in addition to the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government refuses to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity and builds settlements in the occupied areas despite objections from the UN. Palestine was granted non-member observer state status by a 2012 UN General Assembly resolution.All Nations Should Follow UN Charter RulesAll countries in the world should follow the rules enshrined in the UN Charter and not create their own with a view to satisfying their desires, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday."China has always believed that there is only one system in the world, and that is the system centered on the United Nations ... No country should bend its own line and create its own rules," the minister told a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of China's 14th National People's Congress.There is also only one set of rules for international relations and it is based on the purposes and principles set in the UN Charter, he said."The series of crises and challenges in the past years, once again warn us that the UN role can only be strengthened, not weakened, the place of the UN must be protected, and it cannot be replaced," Wang added.At the same time, the UN should keep up with the times and continuously reform and improve to adapt to the new reality of international political and economic development. In particular, the representation and voice of the emerging economies should be reinforced, the minister concluded.Currently, the UN Security Council consists of five permanent members  the United States, China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom, and 10 rotating members.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240129/russias-trade-with-northeastern-chinese-provinces-up-by-over-50-in-2023---consul-general-1116464637.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240111/russian-chinese-fms-positively-assess-outcomes-of-cooperation-in-2023-1116108675.html

russia

china

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

russian-chinese relations, russia-china relations, russia china relations, russian-chinese ties, russia-china ties, russia china ties, russian-chinese cooperation, russia-china cooperation, russia china cooperation, bilateral cooperation, are china and russia allies, lavrov-wang meeting, lavrov-wang negotiations, wang-lavrov meeting, wang-lavrov negotiations, multilateral world order, multilateral world, polycentric world order, polycentric world, no to us hegemony, russia-china alliance, china-russia alliance, unilateral hegemony, bloc confrontation, western arrogance, western hegemony, new world order, western hegemonic habits, system of international relations
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/russian-military-destroys-2-militant-bases-20-terrorists-in-syrias-idlib-province-1117196884.html

Russian Military Destroys 2 Militant Bases, 20 Terrorists in Syria's Idlib Province

Russian Military Destroys 2 Militant Bases, 20 Terrorists in Syria's Idlib Province

Sputnik International

Russian aerospace forces have destroyed on March 5 two bases of militants involved in the shelling of Syrian military positions in the Syrian province of Idlib, Rear Adm. Vadim Kulit, deputy head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, said on Thursday.

2024-03-07T19:45+0000

2024-03-07T19:45+0000

2024-03-07T20:52+0000

military

syria

russia

idlib

terrorists

counter-terrorism

russian forces

military cooperation

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/07/1117196967_0:0:1628:917_1920x0_80_0_0_4d4caf4aad1aea80038b75f4ebd726d2.jpg

"On March 5, Russian aerospace forces carried out strikes in the area of the settlement of Bsanqul in Idlib province destroyed two bases of militants involved in the shelling of positions of the Syrian government forces. More than 20 terrorists have been eliminated," Kulit told a briefing. One Syrian soldier was killed due to shelling by terrorists in the province of Latakia, the official added. Meanwhile, US-led coalition fighters breached deconfliction protocols and violated the Syrian airspace four times in Al-Tanf by a pair of F-16 jets and a pair of -10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft, Kulit pointed out.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230316/assad-to-sputnik-world-war-iii-already-unleashed-by-west-in-form-of-proxy-war-1108458380.html

syria

russia

idlib

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

russia-syria cooperation, russian forces, russia-syria alliance, russia destroyes terrorists, terrorists in syria, us-backed terrorists, kill terrorists, counter-terrorism warfare, conterterrorism strikes, counter-terrorism action, counter-terrorism operation
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/us-exploited-loophole-to-sell-weapons-to-israel---report-1117177133.html

US Exploited Loophole' to Sell Weapons to Israel - Report

US Exploited Loophole' to Sell Weapons to Israel - Report

Sputnik International

The US has reportedly made more than 100 "quiet" weapons sales to Israel, including thousands of bombs, since the beginning of the war between Israel and Palestine.

2024-03-07T04:16+0000

2024-03-07T04:16+0000

2024-03-07T04:18+0000

military

us

israel

israel-gaza conflict

palestine-israel conflict

israel defense forces (idf)

biden administration

arms sales

military aid

us military aid

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0a/13/1114328422_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_5e20a8f4305645adbb2822194d8eacd2.jpg

The US has reportedly made more than 100 "quiet" weapons sales to Israel, including thousands of bombs, since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas. Despite half-baked calls from the administration for Israel to spare civilian lives, the US has continued to restock their supply of weapons, helping to create one of the most intense bombing campaigns in military history.The sales were reportedly made in silence---as they escaped congressional oversight---meaning they were processed without any public debate because they each fell under a specific dollar amount that requires the executive branch to notify Congress, according to a Washington, DC newspaper, which first reported the story.But altogether, the weapons sales make up a massive amount of arms for a country that has been accused of committing a genocide.The sales reportedly included precision-guided munitions, small diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid. Public sales to Israel already included: $320 million in precision bomb kits in November and 14,000 tank shells costing $106 million and $147.5 million of fuses and other components needed to make 155mm artillery shells in December. The deliveries made in December were made under an emergency authority.Josh Paul, a former State Department official who resigned in protest over the Biden Administration's response to the conflict, said that the arms transfer process lacks transparency by design. He argued that foreign military sales---which is largely financed by more than $3.3 billion in US taxpayer funds---is something that US citizens deserve to know.Matt Miller, the US State Department Spokesperson, said the Biden Administration has followed the procedures Congress itself has specified to keep members well-informed and regularly briefs members even when formal notification is not a legal requirement. He also said that US officials have engaged Congress on arms transfers to Israel more than 200 times since the conflict in Gaza first began.But some US lawmakers, particularly those who belong to the same political party as US President Joe Biden, are fed up with the administrations decisions.These people already fled from the north to the south, and now theyre all huddled in a small piece of Gaza, and youre going to continue to bombard them? Castro added, in reference to Israels planned invasion of Rafah where nearly 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are now seeking refuge.Castro and other House Democrats have also spearheaded a group that sent a letter to Biden on Tuesday, telling him that an Israeli invasion of Rafah could violate the administration's requirement that US military aid be used in accordance with international law.And Representative Jason Crow (D-CO), who is also a member of the House Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees, recently petitioned Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to provide details on the shared intelligence between Israel and the US including an explanation of any restrictions the US has place on the Israeli governments use of the intelligence we share.This doesnt just seem like an attempt to avoid technical compliance with US arms export law, its an extremely troubling way to avoid transparency and accountability on a high-profile issue, added Ari Tolany, director of the security assistance monitor at the Centre for International Policy thinktank.In January, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ordered Israel to take immediate measures to reduce the number of civilian casualties in Gaza, and to prevent the genocide of Palestinians after South Africa brought the case to their attention. At the same time, The Defense for Children International-Palestine, an international NGO, also claimed that the Biden Administration violated the Genocide Convention by supplying weapons and other military equipment to Israels military.The war in Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023 has resulted in the deaths of more than 30,000 Palestinians as a famine now looms over the region. Reports of Israeli soldiers targeting civilians and preventing them from being able to access aid has led many experts to accuse Israel of committing a genocide against the Palestinians.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240306/election-year-pandering-vp-harris-calls-for-temporary-ceasefire-forgoes-the-word-temporary-1117150526.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/even-democrats-warn-biden-about-israeli-rafah-invasion-plan-violating-military-aid-conditions--1117173507.html

israel

gaza strip

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg

Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg

weapons, military, arms deals, arms sales to israel, us-israel relationship, israel-palestine conflict, gaza strip, secret arms deals, secret arms sales, biden administration, civilians dead, civilians die, israel kills civilians, civilian casualties, civilian deaths, indiscriminate shelling, indiscriminate killing, war crimes
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/was-neocon-slay-queen-victoria-nuland-forced-out-1117177481.html

Was Neocon Anti-Russia Hawk Victoria Nuland Forced Out?

Was Neocon Anti-Russia Hawk Victoria Nuland Forced Out?

Sputnik International

Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern speculates that political differences between Nuland and Biden administration officials may have led to her surprise ouster this week.

2024-03-07T04:35+0000

2024-03-07T04:35+0000

2024-03-07T11:07+0000

victoria nuland

joe biden

ray mcgovern

russia

france

white house

nazism

neoconservatism

napoleon

emmanuel macron

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/01/07/1081699164_0:0:3083:1734_1920x0_80_0_0_15c08fa8d775dc90e84ffa297fddba61.jpg

Mass speculation has emerged after the sudden announcement this week that influential US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland would be resigning from her position in the Biden White House.The surprising development came Tuesday amidst a difficult moment for US President Joe Biden. Former President Donald Trump has maintained a steady lead over Biden in opinion polling as questions remain about the octogenarian head of states ability to serve a second term. Cracks have also begun to show in Bidens political coalition as pro-Palestine activists urge a show of defiance against the presidents foreign policy in state primary contests.The problems extend to the personnel of Bidens Cabinet as a scandal has arisen over Defense Secretary Lloyd Austins lack of transparency over health issues. With the president facing challenges on multiple fronts, why would the White House choose this moment for a staff shakeup? Former US Central Intelligence Agency analyst Ray McGovern speculated the answer may lie in disagreements between Biden administration officials and the notoriously strong-willed Nuland during a discussion on Sputniks The Critical Hour program Wednesday.The CIA would have, the NSA would have those conversations as well, said McGovern, referring to leaked recordings of discussions between Nuland and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius that appeared to reveal plans for an imminent attack on Russian soil. The leaks generated significant embarrassment for German officials as attention was drawn to Chancellor Olaf Scholzs support for the Ukraine proxy conflict.Nulands bellicose rhetoric may suggest she was going rouge, according to McGovern, attempting to contrive a highly escalatory attack on a nuclear power without approval from her superiors in the State Department.Nuland has enjoyed a decades-long tenure in multiple US presidential administrations. Journalist Glenn Greenwald recently documented the controversial legacy of the arch neoconservative, criticizing her catastrophic career fomenting bipartisan wars.The discussion then turned towards French-Russian relations, which took a nosedive last week after French President Emmanuel Macron mused about the possibility of sending European troops to assist the Ukrainian regime in the Donbass. Russian State Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin responded forcefully to Macrons suggestion, recalling the history of military engagement between the two countries.The Russians remember that with particular pride, said McGovern of Frances crushing defeat, which serves to prove the adage that its never wise to attack Russia during the winter. A certain mustachioed German chancellor would learn the same lesson more than a century later as millions of Russians made the ultimate sacrifice to save the world from Nazism.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240305/nulands-resignation-related-to-failure-of-us-anti-russian-policy---zakharova-1117144449.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240102/the-american-century-is-over-us-faces-economic-turbulence-in-2024-1115878568.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240217/did-nazi-that-coming-ukraine-adopts-tactic-used-by-german-nazis-in-wwii-1116850863.html

russia

france

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg

John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

John Miles https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/19/1116388787_0:0:1316:1316_100x100_80_0_0_77e70d36afd983012b1c5d38ddb84156.jpg

victoria nuland forced out, was victoria nuland fired, victoria nuland influence, victoria nuland husband, project for the new american century, france russia napoleon, vyacheslav volodin napoleon comments, france defeated, russia defeated france, don't invade russia during the winter, france btfo, russia saved the world from the nazis
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240307/what-repercussions-could-reintroduction-of-conscription-in-germany-bring---1117184032.html

What Repercussions Could Reintroduction of Conscription in Germany Bring?

What Repercussions Could Reintroduction of Conscription in Germany Bring?

Sputnik International

Many ordinary Germans remain downbeat about mandatory military service, Mikael Valtersson, former officer of Swedish Armed Forces/Air Defense, ex-defense politician and chief of staff with Sweden Democrats, told Sputnik.

2024-03-07T09:42+0000

2024-03-07T09:42+0000

2024-03-07T09:42+0000

world

germany

us

boris pistorius

conscription

compulsory military service

plans

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/07/1117183869_0:0:3304:1859_1920x0_80_0_0_f307cc09232a7ec837ee29ad2990b845.jpg

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius plans to speed up the process of reintroducing compulsory military service in his country, the Spiegel magazine has reported.He gave the Defense Ministry until April 1 to present options for a German military service model that makes a major contribution to "national resilience."The move is "a clear sign of the rearmament taking place in Europe," Mikael Valtersson, a former officer of Swedish Armed Forces/Air Defense, former defense politician and chief of staff with the Sweden Democrats, said in an interview with Sputnik.The ex-defense politician recalled that, "The resistance against conscription [in Germany] has decreased during the last years, partly as a result of the conflict in Ukraine and the following heightened tension between the West and Russia."But also to a large degree due to an intense campaign from Western media and politicians trying to scare the population with the threat from Russia. A large part of the population still remains skeptical of conscription, Valtersson added.Touching upon Russian-German ties, he said that conscription in itself would not affect them, but in combination with general rearmament and a very militaristic language from German media and politicians it will worsen relations.He was echoed by Stefan Keuter, a German politician for the Alternative for Germany party and a member of the Bundestag since 2017, who told Sputnik that the country has already a regular army, the Bundeswehr, which is "integrated into the Western defense alliance."It remains unclear "how things will develop in Washington and a high level of defense preparedness cannot be a disadvantage," he added, apparently referring to former US President Donald Trumps previous remarks about his unwillingness to defend NATO countries that dont meet spending guidelines.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20180828/germany-cdu-merkel-mandatory-service-polls-1067521906.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230925/bundeswehr-bungles-billion-euros-on-radios-that-cant-be-installed-in-army-vehicles-1113665507.html

germany

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg

Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60

Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg

compulsory military service in germany, german defense minister boris pistorius plans to speed up reintroducing mandatory military service in his country, relations between russia and germany
RAPIDAN  The 4-H room at the Carver Center provided an appropriate space for a recent roundtable on federal investment in local and regional food systems as well as enhanced accessibility for farmers to various grants, with complex application processes.

USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Jenny Lester Moffitt, joined U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-7th, for the Feb. 27 stop at the historic school that houses a food enterprise center and commercial kitchen, Culpeper County Extension Office, the Carver 4-County Museum and various hoop houses and farm fields.

Moffitt brought news of $24.7 million in grant funding available to create more and better markets for agricultural producers and businesses through the USDA Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP), part of the 2018 Farm Bill.

The roundtable included previous recipients of the grant for projects increasing availability of locally grown food and developing new markets for local and regional food system stakeholders, farmers markets and food hubs.

Since the 1980s, the number of farms in the United States has declined by more than half-million, Moffitt said, especially small family farms that have not had the opportunity to increase volumes.

They need off-farm income to make the on-farm income pencil out, she said.

USDA is working to make the family farm more sustainable, Moffitt said.

The Biden-Harris Administration has been really focused on putting energy into improving access to all our programs, particularly at USDA, she said.

Programs like LAMP have had a strong impact, creating some 4,000 regional enterprises nationwide, including in the 7th District, Moffitt said.

Its about bringing value, added opportunities, back to farmers, she said.

Spanberger said she takes ownership over all things agriculture and that Congress is still working to pass an updated Farm Bill this year. USDA grants are helping to expand local farm access to local markets, making connections between producers, real markets and consumers who want to buy and engage with local produce and producers, she said. Farm-to-school is part of the effort, bringing fresh, local produce to local public school children.

These grants are fueling farms, the backbone of Virginias economy, and connecting communities in a meaningful way so we know where our food comes from, Spanberger said.

The grants help connect the dots between consumers and producers while boosting agritourism and farm markets and getting products to urban markets, Moffitt said. The USDA is even looking at how it purchases food, she added.

The food supply chain is complex, the USDA undersecretary said. I know, I ran my family farm operation for 10 years and tried to enter a new market.

Various farmers, ag educators and allied professionals on the roundtable spoke of challenges accessing USDA grant programs, related to detailed performance-based metrics and measures required, deadlines, page limits on detailing farm background information and a grant application size that is too voluminous.

Piedmont Environmental Council President Chris Miller mentioned the nonprofits long-standing Buy Fresh Buy Local publication, connecting the regions citizens to approximately 600 listed farms.

He said he looks twice at government grant applications, that theyve become more rigorous than hes ever seen.

Theyre so complex  its almost like, go raise funds somewhere else, he said.

Miller stated the federal government is trying to analyze things you cant analyze. He asked for a balance and more flexibility.

Michelle Edwards, of Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission, develops the regions Farm & Food Plan that includes the Carver Center, home to the Carver Food Enterprise Center.

The center currently offers kitchen space and storage and is looking to expand into co-packing of farm projects this year, according to Lenah Nguyen, a Senior Extension Agent. Edwards said the USDA grants are a nightmare to fill out, mentioning a 30-page application.

Its completely onerous. I couldnt do it this year, washed my hands of it, she said. It takes too much time. The applications request so many details and so much information, Edwards added. Its like trying to put a square peg into a round hole, so frustrating.

Orange County farmer Michael Carter said the grant applications are due around planting time, also tax season. It becomes a real challenge.

He said he has become a grant farmer to keep his operation going. You have to figure out how to keep the lights on. You dont get big enough, you cant compete.

Tom McDougall, Founder and CEO of 4P Foods, asked how to assign a value to the collective social and environmental impact small farms and food producers have on a community. He suggested that be counted toward some of the required metrics on USDA grant applications. McDougall also asked for more pages to demonstrate an applicants resilient and regenerative food systems.

Moffitt, in closing remarks, offered some takeaways.

The food system is a big puzzle with pieces, she said. We need to find ways to be more comprehensive, fewer programs that meet more flexible needs.

The USDA undersecretary discussed solutions following the roundtable, including regional food business call centers that launched last May to help producers navigate the system.

Virginia to Florida is covered through the Southeast Regional Food Business Center, an initiative getting established right now, Moffitt said. She added the center would be a network of people and organizations from across the region that have longstanding relationships serving farmers and ranchers, like those assembled at the roundtable.

Moffitt also addressed concerns about USDA grant application complexity heard during the discussion.

These are federal taxpayer dollars so there is an important layer that we do need to make sure they are being spent in the best way possible, so there is some mechanism to gather information to be able to audit financial records, she said. What we heard was, ways in which we can do that in a way that keeps and maintains that good government accountability, but adds more flexibility and takes away some of the barriers.

Asked about the future of agriculture in America, she said farming is turning the tide right now.

I see an agriculture that is not just feeding the world through incredible productivity coupled with incredible conservation practices, but how do we expand the revenue opportunities for farmers and ranchers, ecosystem services, bio energy, but also local regional food systems? Moffitt said.

I see an agriculture where the farmer is really benefitting from the multiple different practices theyre doing and bringing more revenue back to the farm for those practices, an opportunity to add value to their products so they can continue farming so their kids or the next generation can as well.

Moffitt acknowledged farmers are aging in America, referencing the recent agriculture census and average age of 57.

I did see some bright spots where there are areas in the country where more young farmers are getting into farming, she said. I think as we do this, as farmers see multiple revenue streams, a future for their farm where they can be the food system heroes that they really are, I think we will see more youth get into farming.

The public needs to reconnect with farmers and vice versa, and its happening through USDA programs like Farm to School, Moffitt said. She recalled meeting an Arkansas farmer who lost his ability to sell cattle at market during the pandemic and faced bankruptcy before discovering Farm to School.

He went from four years ago, not knowing if he was going to be able to keep his farm, to now he goes to the grocery store and kids come up to him and bring their parents and say, This is the guy who raises the meat for my hamburger.

Spanberger, in a press conference after the roundtable, said she always welcome USDA folks to come to the district because they can get an opinion on just about any USDA program.

The grant application will always be cumbersome and everyone will always want it to be shorter, she said.

But it does seem like, from the feedback today, there are gems of understanding from what each experience was and its probably highly representative of producers across the country, Spanberger said.

There are so many different grant program because so many needs, but long-range how could we streamline?

She shared about a recent congressional delegation trip for the intelligence committee she was on, having lunch with people on a base on the coast of Kenya. A U.S. Air Force service member asked what the congresswoman did in the U.S. House and Spanberger replied she was on the intelligence and ag committees.

He perks up and turns and says, Im a farmer, so we start talking and hes very young, he wants farming to be his future, already has purchased 500 acres, and he has an old Air Force buddy working this farm that hes growing, Spanberger said. There is a vibrancy when people can see and begin to connect the dots.

Agritourism is an important component because it increases awareness, she said. Its how we weave the communities back together because a couple generations ago you knew your food was coming from a farm.
Sara Ratcliffe has announced she plans to once again run for the 62nd District seat in the House of Delegates, which covers Greene and Madison counties and parts of Culpeper and Orange counties.

At a meeting of the Culpeper County Democratic Committee on March 2, Ratcliffe said she would go for another round against Republican incumbent Nick Freitas in 2025.

Ratcliffe, a Democrat, ran against Freitas in 2023 and received nearly 40% of the vote.

Ive taken the last 5 months to really delve into the election and what happened and to talk to community members about how they are feelin, she said. Ive been keeping an eye on the legislative session and what our current delegate has been doing it became clear to me that the community is not being served the way that it should be.

Ratcliffe stated she believes Freitas has been introducing legislation that doesnt serve the needs of the Culpeper community. She also said the current delegate isnt as responsive to the community when it comes to inquiries or what the community would prefer him to focus on.

Given these issues, Ratcliffe said she felt it would be worth the effort to run again and plans to spend the time leading up to January doing outreach and listening to community members on what they want from a delegate.

Ratcliffe said legislation being pushed by Freitas, including favoring funding for private schools over public schools and his stance on reproductive rights, are not in the communitys best interests.

As a product of public education through high school and having a mother who was a community college (student) for many years, I think ... we have to put more investment into public education, to make sure that all of our students  particularly here in the Piedmont area in the 62nd District  that everyones education real strong and solid, she said. We cant do that if were constantly funneling money to private schools and particularly private schools that may have more of a narrow focus on what theyre trying to teach their kids.

She also touched on a recent ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court, which ruled embryos created through in vitro fertilization should be considered children.

Weve seen in other states, Alabama is an example, that some really dangerous decisions have been made and it is very important, to every single person that Ive talked to, that Virginia continue to be the safe haven of those decisions, said Ratcliffe. So his legislation and the things he supports are certainly not in the same vein that mine would be.

Ratcliffe added she wants to be a better representative for rural areas of the district, to make sure the concerns of constituents are heard in the General Assembly.

That perspective, that voice, those concerns, whether it be about agricultural priorities, whether it be about what kind of development were doing or the economics of the different parts of the counties, said Ratcliffe. That we are really making sure that the rural voices of the county are being heard in Richmond and not just to say I care about rural issues, but to actually lean in and introduce some actual legislation, to get on the committees and work toward the folks who are here in the rural area.

For more information, visit saraforva.com.
Anyone that knows Dan Anderson knows of his love for all things hunting, especially educating youth on the safety of the sport. In 1995 he took his love for bowhunting and got certified as a Nebraska Bowhunter Education Instructor.

I really enjoyed working with the kids and sharing my knowledge of what I had learned over the years using archery equipment, said Anderson.

At that time, Anderson belonged to the Alliance Archery Club and several members were already certified to be Nebraska Bowhunter Ed Instructors.

We certified a lot of kids through that Nebraska Bowhunter Education program, said Anderson. I got certified as a Master Instructor just a year after Id signed on as a Bowhunter Ed Instructor. This allowed me to have a little input into what material was in the manuals we used to teach in the Bowhunter Education.

He got permission from the Box Butte County Fair Board to put in some targets way out back the northwest corner of the fairgrounds so they could do Youth Archery in Hemingford. There were three or four kids and a couple adults that come out every Tuesday night sometime starting in 1998.

One of the kids that were the first to participate in the Youth Archery was Kelsy Towne Ramos and her son Quinston is now participating in the JOAD here in Hemingford, he added.

Around this time the club also tried to introduce the Youth Archery in Alliance at the indoor archery range but there was only a couple kids came.

When wintertime came we moved into the Little Red Barn at the fairgrounds, he said. S&S Gas furnished the propane but we just couldnt get the building warm enough to shoot in. We needed a better place to shoot. I went down and Mike Cox and I talked about starting the Youth Archery Program in Alliance on Tuesday nights. At that time I was President of the Alliance Archery Club, Mike was the Treasure from the time the club started.

Anderson went to the schools in Alliance and asked them to announce over the loudspeaker about the Youth Archery program. That first Tuesday night after the announcements there were 25-30 kids that showed up.

Mike looked at me and said what we were going to do with all these kids? I said well I guess were going to teach them how to shoot a bow and arrow! he laughed.

The program continued to grow in numbers and the Alliance Archery Club continued to teach and educate youth of our area.

In 2018, I went to Denver for two days and got certified as a USA Archery level 2 instructor, said Anderson. I was thinking the whole way over there, what are they going to teach me that I dont already know. I had been shooting archery for many years. Boy did my eyes get opened! For two days it was wow I never thought of that, wow thats a great way to teach that, it blew me away.

I was hoping to move the Youth Archery Program to the next level JOAD or Junior Olympic Archery Development. By doing this would have certified all the instructors as Level I Instructors so that all the instructors would be teaching the same program. The instructors and the Club would all be covered with liability insurance through USA Archery. As it turned out they didnt want to move to the next level. So I started a new archery club called Box Butte Archery. I started a J0AD program using the Burkholder gymnasium for a place to shoot. It was for youth ages 8 and up. We shot on Monday nights because I did not want to interfere with the Alliance Youth Archery. JOAD ran from October to the end of March.

This lasted for a few years but the number of kids coming just wasnt what he had hoped for.

Last fall, Johnny and Lacy Covey, owners of Valor General Store here in Hemingford mentioned to Anderson that he could use the basement of the hardware store for the youth archery program.

After checking it out it looked like it was going to take a lot of work to get it fixed up to where we could use it for archery, said Anderson. After the first of this year we had several conversations and I thought Id give it a try because they seemed like they were going to help get it done.

Anderson started talking to local businesses for donations because he knew they were going to need a lot more bows. He was also able to get help from businesses to pay for materials for the target butts, arrows, and paint.

Tyler Huffman, Johnny and myself worked for several days moving, stacking, arranging, sweeping and vacuuming the basement to make it where we can use it for archery, he said. If I remember right we went through 14 gallons of paint that we put on the floor. 6 new target butts were made so we have nine total. Thank you, Mike Burri, for the help getting those stuffed. We were able to purchase six new Genesis bows with the donations of local businesses.

Box Butte Archery has also participated in the Harvest Moon Fall Festival for a few years now raising funds for the club.

We had also talked about possibly having adults and kids under age eight that wanted to shoot be able to do that on Thursday nights. I wasnt sure what the response was going to be and we never really did a lot of advertising it was more of word-of-mouth that we were going to be starting a Youth Archery Program. Well the first Tuesday that we had archery and had the kids come in with their parents and get signed up because everybody has to have a USA Archery membership to participate in JOAD. We had a crowd!

We got everything set up, got the targets all ready and as of right now we have 23 youth that are participating in the JOAD, said Anderson. And we have five adults and five kids under eight that come in shoot on Thursday nights. We can shoot 18 kids online at one time. I was going to set a limit of 18 kids because the Coveys would like us to be done close to closing which is 5:30 p.m. But the kids hustle right down from school so we are able to get started by 4. And so far, its working fine we are able to be finished by that time. As you can see that number got surpassed.

When he ordered the new bows he was talking to Marilyn Bentz with the National Bowhunter Education Foundation and told her what we have here in Box Butte County as far as Youth Archery. She deals nationally with clubs and she said as far as she knows shes never heard of anything like what we have here in Box Butte County.

This is absolutely amazing, said Anderson. I would like to thank all that have been a part of getting Youth Archery here in Box Butte County from its start back in 1998 to present. The support I received was absolutely amazing! All these years and the help that it took to get these programs off the ground! And to the volunteers that have helped teach the kids when I was involved with the Alliance Archery Club. That program wouldnt still be going if it were not for those who choose to volunteer their time every Tuesday night to do that program. Hats off to you!

And now were back in Hemingford where it all started all those years ago, he said. My hope is still that the kids that have participated in the Youth Archery Program over the years will step up and volunteer as a lot of the people that made this program what it is today. Some of those volunteers have passed on. Mike Cox and Jim Yardley were amazing instructors that loved working and sharing their knowledge with the kids.

Im no hero, Im just a guy that found a love for archery when I was a kid and want to share that with kids today. The real heroes are the volunteers and donors that make it happen.

I would really like to thank the people that have made this possible in Hemingford. Phillips F&T, Buchheit Precision, Sorensen Irrigation, Daves Pharmacy, Farmers CO-OP, Millborn Seed, Flannel Brothers, Mobius Communications, Rose Farms, Simplot, A&T Electric, Trees are us Welding and Repair, MC Signs and Decals and lastly we could not have done this without Lacey and Johnny Covey opening up their basement for us to do this program in under the Valor General Hardware Store. Thank you all very much!

If you are interested in participating in the Box Butte Archery Club can reach out to Dan Anderson at 308-629-7041.
VIENTIANE, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Lao Women's Union has held an event to mark the upcoming International Women's Day on March 8, with displays of handicrafts, clothing and food made by women from various areas in the Southeast Asian country.

The event held Tuesday in the Lao capital Vientiane was focused on this year's theme of the International Women's Day, "Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress".

Speaking at the event, Aly Vongnobountham, the union's president, stressed the government's policy support for Lao women while calling for a larger role of women in the nation's social life.

She noted that women's full participation will accelerate the country's development and progress, according to a report released by the union on Thursday.

The union is committed to Lao women's comprehensive engagement through 65 projects scheduled to run from 2021 to 2025, she added. 
A Lynchburg woman pleaded guilty Feb. 26 to one count of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the sudden death of a child in January 2020.

Brandy Lynn Parker, 40, of Lynchburg, previously was charged with felony homicide and felony child abuse and neglect after a "lengthy investigation," the Lynchburg Police Department said in a June 2023 news release announcing Parker's arrest. Parker pleaded guilty during hearing in Lynchburg Circuit Court to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter and the child abuse charge was dropped, according to online court records.

Police said in the June news release Parker was charged in connection with the sudden death of a child at the Brookside Apartments. At about 10:40 a.m. on Jan. 23, 2020, LPD said a 911 call was made reporting a 1-year-old child was found not breathing, the release said.

The caller, responding LPD units and Lynchburg Fire Department medics rendered life-saving aid, but the child died, police has said.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. July 17 in Lynchburg Circuit Court, online court records show.

PHOTOS: Super Tuesday in the Richmond area
The Ministry of Information in the Assad regime's government has issued a decree restricting the issuance of any press card solely to media entities licensed by the ministry.

The Ministry of Information in the Assad regimes government has issued a decree restricting the issuance of any press card solely to media entities licensed by the ministry. Loyalty to the regime has been emphasized in the decision, with pro-regime news outlets disseminating the document on Wednesday.

Dated March 5th, the document bears the signature of the Minister of Information, Boutros al-Hallaq. It stipulates that licensed media organizations are prohibited from issuing media cards to their employees. Instead, such cards must be exclusively issued by the Ministry of Information.

Hallaq emphasized that journalists lacking this official card are not authorized to operate in the media sphere, subject to legal consequences. Media outlets aligned with the Assad regime have distributed press cards resembling security passes, granting access to various locations in exchange for their propagation of pro-Assad narratives.

This decision emerges amidst the backdrop of the ambiguous and contentious media law amendment. Media practitioners, including the correspondent of the Iranian channel Kawthar in Aleppo, perceive the decision as a betrayal, having utilized dispatches as a lifeline during wartime, only to face marginalization now that the government feels secure.

The editor-in-chief of a journalist linked with the Assad regime anticipates a forthcoming directive strictly prohibiting the employment of any journalist or administrator in licensed media institutions without Ministry of Information approval, under the threat of legal repercussions. He remarked on the lack of clarity regarding which laws or regulations govern such accountability.

Regime-aligned media professionals have criticized the confusion surrounding the new media law and have voiced discontent over its undisclosed provisions. Suhaib al-Masri, representing the Iranian militias, decries the scant information available, citing concerns over the suppression of journalistic freedom and government transparency.

The amendments encompass various aspects such as training, licensing, and the establishment of the National Committee for Drama. The functional structure, including staffing figures, is to be determined by decree, with internal regulations and executive instructions to be issued by the Minister of Information and the Assad regime, respectively.

The so-called Peoples Assembly dubbed the Applause Council, has proposed a draft law to establish the Ministry of Information, supplanting the existing ministry established by Decree No. 186 of 1961.

Minister of Information, Hallaq, asserts that the approval of the draft law aims at modernizing and enhancing the ministrys operations to adapt to evolving media landscapes.

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.
Syria said the West was "engaging in a campaign of doubt and unfounded allegations", according to the pro-government Tishreen.

On March 7, 2024, in The Hague, Syrias Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Milad Attia, accused the United States and its allies of manipulating the OPCW to further their political objectives against Syria. These comments were made during Attias speech at the 105th session of the OPCWs Executive Council.

Ambassador Attia criticized the West for engaging in a campaign of doubt and unfounded allegations against Syria, suggesting it was non-cooperative and concealed chemical weapons. He defended Syrias cooperation with the OPCWs technical secretariat and its openness in providing necessary facilities.

Attia pointed to the experiences of Syria, Russia, and former OPCW Director-General Jose Bustani as evidence of the Wests politicization of the organization, deviating from its foundational goals. He specifically mentioned the contentious decision from the June 2018 fourth special session of the Conference of States Parties, which led to the creation of what he termed an illegal group that contravenes the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). This decision, according to Attia, marked a pivotal moment in OPCW history, despite many member states advocating for an impartial, equitable, and unbiased application of the convention.

The ambassador also accused certain Western nations of imposing their will on others, disregarding dissenting opinions, and engaging in direct aggression that contravenes international law and the UN Charter, referencing the April 2018 military action by the US, UK, and France against Syria.

Attia argued that these actions have compromised the OPCWs independence, credibility, and effectiveness, with the organization now embroiled in a crisis of credibility, polarization, and division due to political meddling by Western countries.

He underscored the necessity of investigating allegations of chemical weapon use by Israel against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, criticizing the OPCWs inaction as indicative of a double standard. Attia condemned the rejection of investigation requests on the grounds of insufficient evidence or security concerns as unacceptable.

Concluding his statement, Ambassador Attia reiterated Syrias plea for global cooperation against unilateral sanctions imposed by the US and its allies. These sanctions, he argued, hinder the transfer of scientific technology for peaceful purposes to developing nations, undermining their potential for economic and scientific progress in violation of the CWC and international law.

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.
Included in the memorandum are plans to facilitate tourism and hospitality training, al-Baath reports.

On March 7, 2024, in Damascus, the Ministry of Tourism and the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in Syria formalized a collaboration through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at advancing tourism and hospitality education and training. This agreement underscores AKDNs commitment to humanitarian and developmental efforts within the non-profit sector.

The MoU was officially signed by Mohammad Rami Martini, the Minister of Tourism, and Ghatafan Ajoub, AKDNs Resident Representative in Syria. The partnership focuses on initiating and supporting programs in tourism and hospitality training, education, and rehabilitation. It emphasizes enhancing education quality with contemporary educational tools and aligning vocational training outcomes in tourism and hospitality with labour market demands.

Included in the memorandum are plans to facilitate tourism and hospitality training and qualification initiatives, employing modern training techniques, and inviting experts and technical specialists to provide comprehensive training across various tourism sectors.

Minister Martini highlighted the continuous effort in training and qualifying students at hotel schools below 18 years, university students, technical institutes, and tourism colleges under the Ministry of Higher Education. This initiative aims to prepare them for efficient labour market integration. Martini also shared that over 25,000 individuals have benefited from these educational programs and curricula over the past eight years.

Ajoub reaffirmed AKDNs ongoing commitment to collaborate with the Ministry of Tourism, focusing on the MoUs three-year term to support humanitarian and developmental goals. This partnership aims to equip students and young individuals with the necessary skills to navigate lifes challenges effectively.

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.

During the 161st ordinary session of the Arab League Council at the ministerial level held in Cairo, the focus predominantly revolved around the Gaza situation. Howeverm Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad utilized the platform to advocate for Arab support across various fronts. Simultaneously, representatives from the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) engaged in discussions with officials from the Italian Parliaments Foreign Relations Committee in Rome.

Mekdad pleads for Arab support in Gaza meeting

During his participation in the 161st ordinary session of the Arab League Council at the ministerial level in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, which largely centred on the situation in Gaza, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad seized the opportunity to call for Arab support on multiple fronts, Enab Baladi reported.

In his speech, which touched on the situation in the Gaza Strip, Mekdad pointed to what he described as daily aggressions on Syrian territory. He considered that the criminal occupation government is attempting to escalate the situation in the region, which threatens international peace and security.

Mekdad did not touch on the Israeli targeting of Iranian officers in Syria nor the Iranian military influence as a cause of these strikes according to Israel.

He also mentioned that Syria is facing significant challenges represented by terrorist groups on parts of its territory, in addition to the presence of the American and Turkish occupation forces in the north and northeast regions of Syria, and the American and European sanctions on the Syrian government.

Mekdad considered the sanctions and the military presence of the US and Turkey the main obstacle on the path to reconstruction efforts and economic recovery projects.

He expressed hope for the support of the Arab brothers to break what he called the Western economic blockade on the Syrian people and to initiate early recovery projects, contributing to a return to stability and enhancing the ability to combat crime and impose security and peace, and supports the efforts for the return of those displaced by the terrorist war imposed on Syria. This stance is in contrast to human rights and international reports confirming that Syria is not safe for the return of refugees due to ongoing security violations by the regime against returnees.

AANES Delegation Engages Italian Parliament on Humanitarian Crisis in Northeast Syria

On March 7, 2024, a delegation from the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) met with officials from the Italian Parliaments Foreign Relations Committee in Rome, as reported by the Foreign Relations Department of AANES. The discussions revolved around the pressing security and humanitarian issues plaguing northeast Syria, exacerbated by the presence of the Islamic State (ISIS) and ongoing Turkish military operations.

Key points of the conversation, according to North Press, included the dire humanitarian situation, which has been severely impacted by a regional blockade. The meeting highlighted historical efforts to address these challenges, such as the July 2014 United Nations Security Council Resolution 2165. This resolution initially authorized humanitarian aid deliveries to Syria through four designated border crossings, including al-Ramtha (Jordan), Bab al-Salama and Bab al-Hawa (Turkey), and al-Yarubiyah/Tel Kocher (Iraq), bypassing Syrian government approval.

However, in January 2020, the scope of this aid was significantly narrowed down by U.N. Resolution 2504, which limited authorized crossings to just Bab al-Salama and Bab al-Hawa for a six-month period, subject to renewal by the UNSC. This reduction has contributed to the constrained humanitarian assistance currently reaching the region.

Is U.S. Military Assistance Subsidizing Turkeys Occupation of Cyprus, Syria, and Iraq?

Michael Rubin, in an article for the Middle East Forum Observer dated March 6, 2024, criticizes the U.S. military assistance to Turkey, particularly the sale of F-16 jets and avionics upgrades. Rubin argues that this assistance indirectly supports Turkeys contentious actions in Cyprus, Syria, and Iraq, rather than bolstering NATOs collective defense. He highlights three main issues with the policy:

The enhancement of Turkeys air force with F-16s is seen as problematic due to Turkeys aggressive stance towards Greece and its aspirations to build its own military industry, potentially undermining American industry and regional security. The sale is viewed as a concession to President Erdogans demands, which may encourage further demands from Turkey. The potential use of these warplanes against ethnic groups in Syria and Iraq, and possibly against Armenians, is a significant concern.

Rubin suggests that Congress has the ability to scrutinize U.S. aid and military transfers to Turkey by demanding reports on Turkeys defense industry, assessing the financial impact of Turkeys occupation of Cyprus and its actions in Syria and Iraq, and considering these costs in future assistance to Turkey. He also recommends that Congress should be informed about Erdogans personal gains from projects in regions like Nagorno-Karabakh.

The article underscores the complexities of U.S.-Turkey relations, highlighting the tension between diplomatic alliances and the consequences of military assistance, and calls for a reevaluation of U.S. support in light of Turkeys actions that are seen as destabilizing to regional stability.

Warak Ateek: Where Coffee, Culture, and Inclusivity Blend

Warak Ateek, a unique cultural club and cafe in Lattakia, Syria, stands as a testament to resilience, inclusivity, and empowerment amidst the backdrop of the countrys prolonged crisis. Founded by Linda Daher, with support from the UNDPs Idea Challenge project funded by Germany, this social enterprise is more than just a cafe. Its a space where culture, art, and the empowerment of women and persons with disabilities (PwDs) intersect, challenging societal norms and promoting change.

Linda, alongside Marcelle, a 37-year-old woman with a developmental disability, and Alia, a 24-year-old woman with Down Syndrome, have created a warm, inviting atmosphere that extends beyond the conventional cafe experience. Lindas vision was fueled by her passion for reading, volunteer work with PwDs, and a desire to counteract the negativity experienced during Syrias war with a sanctuary promoting beauty and culture.

Despite skepticism and challenges, Warak Ateek serves as a cultural hub, offering a venue for young artists, authors, and artisans, particularly those with disabilities or supporting someone with a disability, to display and sell their work without charge. Lindas initiative extends to offering home-cooked meals to university students who frequent the cafe, further nurturing a sense of community and home.

The cafes commitment to sustainability is evident in its use of recyclable materials and ban on plastic, underscoring Lindas hope to inspire similar initiatives across Syria. In the face of adversity, including the economic impact of the devastating earthquake in February 2023, Linda remains determined to maintain this inclusive and empowering space, embodying the spirit of resilience and compassion.

Asma Nashawatis article for UNDP Syria highlights Warak Ateeks role as a pioneering social enterprise in Syria, demonstrating the profound impact of combining coffee, culture, and inclusivity to spread love and empower marginalized communities.
Discussions encompassed the political process, strategies for achieving a political solution and the implementation of UN Resolution 2254.

The President of the Syrian Interim Government, Abdulrahman Mustafa, convened with a delegation from the European Union, comprising Alessio Capelalny, the Head of the Middle East and North Africa Division of the European External Action Service, and Dan Stonescu, the Head of the EU Delegation to Syria.

In a statement issued by the interim government, discussions encompassed the political process, strategies for achieving a political resolution, the implementation of UN Resolution 2254, preparations for the eighth Brussels conference aimed at bolstering support for the Syrian populace, and the imperative of local community resilience alongside the fortification of governmental institutions in liberated zones.

Mustafa emphasized the readiness of the interim government and its institutions to activate service and civil partnerships, fostering programs and collaborations that reinforce governance and uphold human rights.

The human rights issue and the organization of the national army

The statement highlighted discussions revolving around the human rights dossier, the interim governments initiatives in organizing the national army, and adherence to the principles of international humanitarian law and human rights law.

The head of the interim government underscored the firm dedication of the interim government to collaborate with international entities and the international commission of inquiry, emphasizing the significance of sustaining peaceful demonstrations against the Syrian regime across all regions, with governmental backing for the grassroots movement in Suweida.

Corporate Governance and Investment Conference Outcomes

The statement highlighted that the head of the interim government briefed the European delegation on the governments initiatives in institution governance and its endeavours to bolster womens empowerment and child protection, ensuring access to primary and tertiary education for youth, backing students, establishing training and rehabilitation centers, and facilitating employment opportunities for graduates.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister apprised the European delegation of the outcomes of the inaugural investment conference held in the city of Rai, its commendable success, and the anticipated role in generating fresh employment prospects and fostering a sustainable economic revival within the region.

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.
Shuwayer narrowly escaped a Jordanian airstrike targeting his residence in the village of Um Shama two months ago.

Two individuals accused of drug trafficking were fatally shot by a local group. In the city of Salkhad, a local armed group attempted to intercept a vehicle carrying Shaker and Awad al-Shuwayer, who were implicated in drug-related activities.

During the ensuing gunfire exchange, Awwad Shuwayer succumbed to his injuries immediately, while Shaker Shuwayer later succumbed to his wounds.

Shaker Shuwayer was noted as one of the prominent figures involved in the drug trade along the Syria-Jordan border.

A resident from his village revealed that Shuwayer had ties with officers in the army and security services (of the Assad regime), which he exploited for smuggling operations in the region.

Shuwayer narrowly escaped a Jordanian airstrike targeting his residence in the village of Um Shama two months ago, during which warplanes believed to be Jordanian launched airstrikes on various locations in the Daraa and Suweida countryside on December 18.

Documents obtained by Suwayda 24 affirm that Shuwayer is not merely a conventional smuggler but a major trafficker, akin to Marai al-Ramthan, with some likening him to the successor of Marei al-Ramthan in the smuggling trade.

The assassination of Marai al-Ramthan in May of q2023 is regarded as a significant achievement by the Jordanian authorities, as he was primarily responsible for smuggling drugs into Jordan and had previously received a sentence of hard labour ranging from 20 to 25 years by the State Security Court.

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.
A Longview church is holding a public screening of a documentary about 11 women who were ordained as priests, two years before the Episcopal church allowed them to do so.

The Philadelphia Eleven is set to be screened at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at St. Stephens Episcopal Church, at 1428 22nd Ave., Longview. There is no cost to attend and anyone can join, according to the church.

The roughly 90-minute film tells the story of 11 women ordained at a Philadelphia church in 1974, which at the time was only allowed for men.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first ordinations of women as Episcopal priests.

Learn more about the film and watch the trailer at sslv.org.
Krogers $24.6 billion bid to buy its next largest rival, Albertsons Co., will soon rest in the hands of an Oregon federal judge  and the Portland-area grocery market could figure prominently in arguments over whether the merger will hurt workers and customers.

U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson, a former Oregon Supreme Court justice appointed to the federal bench in 2023 by President Joe Biden, has been tasked to adjudicate the Federal Trade Commissions request to block Krogers attempt to take over Albertsons.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Portland last Monday, Oregon joined the federal agency, six other states and the District of Columbia to block what would be the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history. They argue the deal would reduce competition in the grocery industry, resulting in higher prices for customers and lower wages for workers.

The move was a major blow to Kroger, the parent company of Fred Meyer and QFC, and Albertsons, which owns Safeway, which had announced their plans to merge in October 2022. The supermarket titans, who had hoped to get approval early this year, said they plan to fight the governments decision in court.

Portland is referenced prominently in the heavily redacted complaint, in which the federal regulatory agency argues fierce competition between Kroger and Albertsons has helped consumers in Portland.

Regulators refer to internal company documents, saying Albertsons in Portland has developed a specific plan for success against Kroger. QFC stores, the federal agencys complaint states, often referred to Safeway as its #1 direct competitor.

The suit contends that, in Portland and other markets where they compete directly, the two companies alter their pricing and promotions in response to each other and compete with one another to improve the quality of their products and services.

If the merger were to proceed, the stores would have less incentive to offer deals, the government argued.

Experts say the Federal Trade Commissions effort to block the deal was expected given the agencys increasingly aggressive stance toward big mergers. They say the move falls in line with the agencys more hawkish stance toward what it views as anticompetitive behavior not only in consumer markets but also labor markets.

The current FTC, philosophically and politically, is really opposed to big mergers in general, said Eric Fruits, an antitrust researcher at the Portland-based nonprofit International Center for Law & Economics. They dropped a lot of strong hints that they were opposed to it, so we kind of knew that we were going to end up where we are today.

Kroger and Albertsons have argued the merger is necessary to compete in todays highly competitive environment. Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen previously told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the companies primary competitors are no longer traditional supermarket chains, but rather the likes of Walmart, club stores like Costco, dollar stores and online retailers like Amazon, which not only owns Whole Foods but has also expanded its online grocery delivery.

I think that Kroger and Albertsons believe that they need to do this deal because the food retail market has changed in such a way that it just cant support competing against each other, Fruits said. They have so much more competitive pressure.

William Kovacic, a law professor at George Washington University who previously served as chair of the Federal Trade Commission, said the agency under the Biden administration has toughened its scrutiny of proposed mergers, and of companies efforts to overcome antitrust concerns by selling off parts of their business.

That, he said, is likely because too many settlements in the past proved inadequate  with another Northwest deal serving as a textbook example.

Kovacic pointed to when the antitrust agency allowed Albertsons and Safeway to merge in 2015 under the condition that the two companies sell off168 stores.

Haggen, a Washington-based grocery chain, was one of four buyers and took on the most new locations. The company bought 146 Albertsons and Safeway stores in Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Arizona, scaling its footprint nine times overnight.

But in less than a year, Haggen filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, closed some stores and sold off others to pay its debts. Albertsons ended up acquiring Haggen, including many stores it had sold to the grocer as part of its Safeway transaction, effectively unwinding the supposed anti-monopoly safeguards.

Kovacic said the Haggen debacle was a failed merger that the regulatory agency does not want to repeat again.

The government has that discomfort that theyve been burned before, Kovacic said. When theyve clearly miscalculated in the past, theres greater reluctance to do it again.

Kroger and Albertsons proposed to preserve competition and location by selling more than 400 stores to New Hampshire-based C&S Wholesale Grocers for $1.9 billion upon approval of its merger. That sale would include at least 49 stores in Oregon.

All three companies pledged publicly the sold-off stores would stay open, continue operating gas stations and pharmacies associated with the stores, as well as preserve union contracts. C&S, they argue, is a sophisticated operator in the grocery industry as a supplier to grocery stores from coast to coast, the owner of the Piggly Wiggly brand and operator of grocery stores in the Northeast.

But the Federal Trade Commission last week said that the divestiture plan was not sufficient, alleging that C&S lacks the experience in the food retail market and would face multiple significant obstacles stitching together a viable business that would make it a viable competitor.

Kovacic said the Federal Trade Commissions lawsuit is testing out a new legal approach to mergers that it and the Department of Justices Antitrust Division that, for the first time, demands safeguards for workers and labor unions.

Whats striking is the extent to which the commission highlights the potential harm to workers from the transaction, he said. That degree of emphasis on the workers interests in the complaint is notable and has not been done before.

In the complaint, the Federal Trade Commission argued that Kroger and Albertsons have largely unionized workforces, enabling the unions to pit the competitors against one another to gain leverage during contract negotiations.

And the federal regulators alleged that, in 2019, Kroger and Albertsons successfully coordinated in negotiations with Portland union workers that led to less favorable wages and working conditions for employees.

Much of that section of the complaint is redacted, so its not clear how the companies are alleged to have coordinated. But in a separate lawsuit over the merger, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser accused the two chains of colluding during a 2022 grocery workers strike, saying Albertsons agreed at Krogers request not to hire striking workers or solicit boycotting customers.
State lawmakers wont require Washington cities to open up residential neighborhoods to small businesses such as cafes, theyve decided, despite bipartisan support earlier in this years legislative session for the idea.

But some cities could act alone, with Seattles mayor unveiling a tentative proposal this week to allow businesses on the corners of residential blocks.

The original version of House Bill 2252 would have legalized neighborhood cafes across the state by lifting local regulations that currently prohibit commercial activities in residential zones. Sponsored by Mark Klicker, R-Walla Walla, it passed the House on Feb. 9 with a unanimous vote, then hit a roadblock in the Senate, as a group that lobbies for cities raised objections.

The Senates local government committee rewrote HB 2252, making it voluntary rather than mandatory for cities. Proponents hoped to undo that change before last Thursdays deadline for the bill to pass the Senate. But the Senates rules committee instead let the bill stagnate and die.

Klicker pitched HB 2252 as a way to improve mental health and strengthen connections between neighbors, by creating more opportunities for them to gather near their homes. Some lawmakers saw the bill as an opportunity to encourage walking over driving or to bolster property owners rights.

The original bill defined neighborhood cafes as businesses serving a limited menu of food items and occupying at least 500 square feet. It said they could sell alcohol along with food but gave cities the ability to restrict their hours.

Proponents pointed to legacy businesses like Irwins Neighborhood Bakery & Cafe in Seattles Wallingford neighborhood. The cozy cafe operates between single-family houses on a residential block because the space it occupies in a 108-year-old building started being used as a business many decades ago, before Seattle decided to make the area a house-only zone.

Once HB 2252 reached the Senate, the Association of Washington Cities expressed concerns about preemption (the state telling cities what to do), parking, alcohol sales and the ambiguous meaning of a limited menu in the bills definition of neighborhood cafes. Sen. Liz Lovelett, D-Anacortes, sponsored a striking amendment to make the bill voluntary for cities.

That version passed the Senates local government committee, but Loveletts amendment made the bill basically meaningless because cities can already choose to allow businesses in residential zones. At that point, Lovelett said she wanted to keep working on the bill, and Klicker said he hoped to salvage the core of his proposal, but late-stage negotiations didnt bear fruit.

On Tuesday, Klicker said he wished the Association of Washington Cities would have worked with him earlier to craft a compromise. Ultimately, the Senates Democratic majority just didnt want the bill, he said.

Were going to see what we can do to bring it back next year, Klicker said.

Senate Democrats didnt immediately return a request for comment.
Spain has banned Worldcoin for up to three months, drawing a sharp rebuke from Sam Altman's company, amid perceived privacy risks from the venture which scans irises in exchange for a digital ID and free cryptocurrency.

Spanish data protection regulator AEPD said on Wednesday it demanded Worldcoin immediately cease the collection of personal information and stop using data it has already gathered.

Worldcoin said in response to the ban that the AEPD was "circumventing EU law" and "spreading inaccurate and misleading claims about our technology".

The AEPD said its action came after several complaints regarding insufficient information, the collection of data from minors or not allowing for the withdrawal of consent.

More than 4 million people in 120 countries have signed up to have their irises scanned by Worldcoin's "orb" devices, according to its website. But the project has drawn criticism from privacy campaigners from Argentina to Germany over the collection, storage and use of personal data.

Worldcoin's Data Protection Officer Jannick Preiwisch said in a statement that efforts to engage with AEPD had gone unanswered for months,

"We are grateful to now have the opportunity to help them better understand the important facts regarding this essential and lawful technology," Preiwisch said.

The Spanish regulator said the processing of biometric data, which has special protection under the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), "entails high risks for people's rights, taking into account their sensitive nature".

It said that urgent measures temporarily prohibiting Worldcoin's activities were justified "in order to avoid potentially irreparable damage", adding that not acting would deprive people of the protection to which they are entitled.

Preiwisch said Worldcoin has been in communication for months with the state data agency in Bavaria, where its owner Tools for Humanity has a German subsidiary.

As the lead authority in the EU investigating Worldcoin, Bavaria was analysing documents and carrying out onsite checks for an investigation begun in November 2022.

Its president Michael Will told Reuters that this "should allow us to present the procedure to our European colleagues very soon with a final evaluation".

Portugal's data authority said it was liaising with its counterpart in Bavaria while it analysed whether Worldcoin's data processing complied with GDPR and said it was speaking with companies involved in the project.

A spokesperson for the UK Information Commissioner's Office said organisations must conduct a so-called Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) before starting to process data.

They "need to have a clear lawful basis to process personal data. Where they are relying on consent, this needs to be freely given and capable of being withdrawn without detriment," the spokesperson said, adding that the ICO's inquiries were ongoing.

Sam Altman says Worldcoin's ID will allow users to, among other things, prove online that they are human, notably in a future world dominated by artificial intelligence.

Worldcoin is backed by some of the most prominent venture capital names, including a16z crypto and Bain Capital Crypto.
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:

Jennifer Homendy, Chair of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), testifies before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

The head of the federal investigation into a troubled January flight on a Boeing 737 MAX jet blasted the aviation giant on Wednesday for not providing key information quickly.

Two months into the probe of the January 5 Alaska Airlines flight, the National Transportation Safety Board still has not received key documents at the center of the investigation, or the names of some 25 Boeing employees who worked on the part in question, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told the Senate Commerce Committee.

"We don't have the records. We don't have the names of the 25 people in charge of doing that work in that facility," Homendy said. "It's absurd that two months later we don't have that."

The remarks drew scathing criticism from lawmakers such as Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who called Boeing's conduct "utterly unacceptable."

There were no serious injuries in the January 5 incident in which the Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing after suffering a blowout on a panel on the jet fuselage.

The fuselage was built by Boeing contractor Spirit AeroSystems, but the problem is believed to stem from maintenance on the part performed at Boeing's Renton, Washington factory in which the door plug is believed to have been removed and reinstalled.

The NTSB has previously said four bolts securing the panel were missing.

Homendy said the head of the Boeing team working on the door plug has been out on medical leave. The agency has gotten nowhere with requests to Boeing for the additional 25 employees in the team, she said.

"We've repeatedly requested from Boeing the documentation that went along with the work of opening the door plug closing the door plug or any sort of removal if that exists," Homendy said.

Boeing, which has consistently pledged "transparency" in response to the January 5 incident, said it has "deep respect" for the NTSB as it defended its responsiveness.

"Since the first moments following the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident, we have worked proactively and transparently to fully support the NTSB's investigation," said a Boeing statement.

"Early in the investigation, we provided the NTSB with names of Boeing employees, including door specialists, who we believed would have relevant information," the company said.

"We have now provided the full list of individuals on the 737 door team, in response to a recent request.

"With respect to documentation, if the door plug removal was undocumented there would be no documentation to share. We will continue to cooperate fully and transparently with the NTSB's investigation."

 2024 AFP
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

The files allegedly related to the hardware infrastructure and software platform that allows Google's supercomputing data centers to train large AI models through machine learning.

A Chinese software engineer was arrested Wednesday for allegedly stealing artificial intelligence technology from Google while secretly working for two Chinese companies, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

Linwei Ding, 38, also known as Leon Ding, faces four counts of theft of trade secrets, Garland said in a statement.

Ding, who was arrested Wednesday in Newark, California, allegedly transferred confidential information from Google's network to his personal account while secretly affiliated with Chinese-based companies in the AI industry.

"The Justice Department will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that could put our national security at risk," Garland said.

"We will fiercely protect sensitive technologies developed in America from falling into the hands of those who should not have them."

Ding's arrest illustrates "the lengths affiliates of companies based in the People's Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation," FBI director Christopher Wray said, referring to China by its official name.

"The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences," he added.

According to the indictment, Ding was hired by Google in 2019 and was involved in developing the software deployed in Google's supercomputing data centers.

He allegedly began uploading confidential Google information into a personal cloud account between May 2022 and May 2023.

The pilfered files related to the hardware infrastructure and software platform that allows Google's supercomputing data centers to train large AI models through machine learning.

In June 2022, Ding was approached by the chief executive of a Chinese early-stage technology company, Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology Co (Rongshu), and offered the position of chief technology officer with a monthly salary of $14,800, the indictment said.

Some time before May 2023, Ding also founded his own China-based company, Shanghai Zhisuan Technology Co (Zhisuan), and named himself CEO, it said.

Ding never informed Google about his affiliation with Rongshu or Zhisuan, according to the indictment.

After Ding resigned from Google in December 2023, the Mountain View, California-based company searched his network activity history and discovered his May 2022 to May 2023 unauthorized uploads.

"After an investigation, we found that this employee stole numerous documents, and we quickly referred the case to law enforcement," Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said.

"We have strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets," Castaneda said. "We are grateful to the FBI for helping protect our information and will continue cooperating with them closely."

Ding faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if convicted and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count.

 2024 AFP
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Experts warn that enforcement of the EU's new digital law will be difficult.

The EU's landmark curbs on how tech titans do business online kick in from Thursday, but just how far Brussels succeeds in bringing the giants to heel will hinge on bitter battles that still lie ahead.

Wielding a tough new legal arsenal, Brussels is determined to force a change in behavior by the world's biggest tech firms, to create a more competitive online field that allows smaller players to flourish.

The bloc's new Digital Markets Act (DMA) will usher in a long list of do's and don'ts for six so-called "gatekeepers" designated by the European Union: Apple, Amazon, Google owner Alphabet, TikTok parent ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft.

"What we need right here from gatekeepers is changing behavior," the bloc's competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager told AFP in an interview on the eve of the law coming into force.

The big six will have to tell Brussels about any buyout, large or small, as well as provide European users with more choices when they pick web browsers or search engines.

Users should also soon be able to send messages between apps, for example from Meta's WhatsApp to services such as Signal or Telegram.

But experts warn enforcement represents a mighty challenge, and the EU already faces legal challenges, including from Apple, Meta and TikTok.

"Getting big tech to comply with these new rules will be an enormous task," Bram Vranken, researcher at Corporate Europe Observatory, told AFP.

"Even now, almost eight years after the adoption of the GDPR"the EU's mammoth data protection law"the EU is still struggling in getting Facebook to respect the privacy of millions of people in Europe," Vranken added.

Brussels slapped a 1.2-billion-euro ($1.3 billion) fine on Meta over data privacy violations last year.

Separately, the EU on Monday hit Apple with a more than 1.8-billion-euro fine for violating the bloc's antitrust rules by preventing European users from accessing information about alternative, cheaper music streaming services.

When it comes to DMA enforcement, an EU official admitted to AFP that because of limited resources the European Commission, the bloc's powerful competition regulator would have to "pick and choose" which cases to pursue.

The commission would not comment on the claim.

'Underestimating' the challenge

Senior officials acknowledge it may not be realistic to expect total and instant compliance.

In an interview with AFP, EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager admitted she did not expect all firms to immediately comply with the new law.

"We will see some compliance, full compliance by some companies. But I do think that there will be non-compliance cases," Vestager told AFP, adding that Brussels would not shy away from tougher action if necessary.

"If you look at our history, we have sort of made it credible that we will use the tools that we have," she said.

The EU's 27 states are pushing the commission to focus resources on enforcementwith at least nine major laws covering the digital space created since 2019.

Belgium, which holds the rotating EU presidency, "stresses" to member states in a leaked document dated February 19 that there is a "need to prioritize in the coming years effective and efficient implementation" of digital laws.

European tech businesses share this concern: industry sources said they want Brussels to make sure big tech follows the rules, not just propose new ones.

Analysts urge the EU to be realistic about the resources that will require.

"EU lawmakers are vastly underestimating the challenge of implementing and enforcing the recent swathe of digital laws," Zach Meyers, of the Centre for European Reform think tank, wrote in a February report.

EU 'building up'

The sheer volume of new laws, Meyers argued, "creates a risk that the Commission and national enforcers will lack the resources to implement them properly."

Vestager has said the commission is "building up" its capacity to tackle non-compliancebut also acknowledges officials would need to prioritize between cases.

Currently, the commission has 80 staff members working on the DMA, a spokesperson said, while there are 123 full-time employees focused on enforcing the Digital Services Act (DSA), a content moderation law.

By way of contrast, Meta and TikTok said last year they each had more than 1,000 people working on DSA implementation at the time.

Google says that on the DMA alone, "thousands of engineers" are working on compliance.

But competition expert Fiona Scott Morton tempered concerns about enforcement, arguing that it is "always an issue"and that the DMA was created with that in mind.

"The law is set up to try to combat thatby putting the burden on the firms themselves for both complying and explaining how they're complying and proving that they have complied," the Bruegel think tank senior fellow told AFP.

 2024 AFP
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Google has launched a cybersecurity hub in Japan.

Google on Thursday launched a new cybersecurity hub in Japan, aimed at helping to upgrade defenses in the Asia-Pacific.

The region faces a growing cyber threat from a range of actors, including criminal gangs looking for big payouts and state-backed actors pursuing intelligence or sabotage, according to governments and security firms.

These attackers have targeted not only governments and militaries, but also critical infrastructure such as ports and businesses of all sizes.

"We are officially launching the Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in Japan, aiming to connect leading security specialists, researchers, and partners," Google said in a statement.

The center will conduct research on cybersecurity in collaboration with universities and governments in Japan and elsewhere in the region.

The tech giant will also help boost cybersecurity at 300,000 small to mid-sized businesses, non-profits and other social organizations in the region, said Google's Kazuya Okubo.

Google had warned in October that the region "is the target of more cyberattacks than any other".

Governments, including Japan, have echoed those concerns.

In addition to large-scale fraud and ransomware activity by criminal groups, the United States and its allies in the region including Australia have blamed China and Beijing-linked groups for cyberattacks.

In September last year, Japan's National Police Agency joined its American counterparts, including the FBI, in warning of widespread malware attacks by China-linked cyber actors known as BlackTech.

BlackTech has "targeted government, industrial, technology, media, electronics, and telecommunication sectors, including entities that support the militaries of the US and Japan," the NPA said in a joint statement.

Washington has alleged that China represents "the broadest, most active, and persistent cyber espionage threat" to its government and private sector.

Beijing, for its part, accuses the United States of being the "world's biggest hacking empire", citing its well-documented forays into cyberwarfare, online surveillance and hacking.

 2024 AFP
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Daniel Kertusha, 21, has his eyes scanned by an orb at a Worldcoin registration point in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Aug. 4, 2023. Spains privacy watchdog has ordered for Worldcoin to cease its operations for three months amid concerns over what it is doing with users personal information. Worldcoin was created by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. It scans eyeballs to make digital IDs in exchange for cryptocurrency. Credit: AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File

Spain's privacy watchdog has ordered for Worldcoin, the company created by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman that scans eyeballs to make digital IDs in exchange for crypto, to cease its operations in the country for three months amid concerns over what it is doing with users' personal information.

The stated goal of Worldcoin is to give people a form of identification that could never be stolen or duplicated. It says the way it can do this is by creating a "World ID" by scanning someone's eyeballs through "orbs"a device that captures an image of their irises, the colored parts of the eyes.

In exchange, people who sign up get Worldcoin cryptocurrency.

Spain's Agency for Data Protection told Worldcoin's parent company Tools for Humanity Corporation on Wednesday to stop collecting personal data and keep hold of all information already collected.

The agency said in a statement that it had received various complaints against the company that range from gathering the personal information of minors to not allowing for people to withdraw their consent to sharing personal data.

People have lined up at points where these orbs are placed in cities like Madrid and Barcelona in recent months. More than 360,000 people in Spain have signed up for Worldcoin, according to the most recent company data from November.

While Worldcoin argues that the data is used to create a unique, secure form of identification, privacy experts have concerns that the company may use the information in other ways, like personalized marketing.

An orb, a spherical iris scanning device used by Worldcoin, is shown at a co-working office in Santa Monica, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. Spains privacy watchdog has ordered for Worldcoin to cease its operations for three months amid concerns over what it is doing with users personal information. Worldcoin was created by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. It scans eyeballs to make digital IDs in exchange for cryptocurrency. Credit: AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File

That has led other countries to investigate Worldcoin's operations, including France and Germany.

The Kenyan government has likewise suspended new sign-ups for Worldcoin as it investigates whether people's information is being properly protected.

Worldcoin responded that their operations preserve privacy.

"The Spanish data protection authority (AEPD) is circumventing EU law with their actions today, which are limited to Spain and not the broader EU, and spreading inaccurate and misleading claims about our technology globally," Jannick Preiwisch, Worldcoin's data protection officer, said in a statement.

 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Four supply points across the northeast corner of the Texas Panhandle are set up to take in donated agricultural commodities and give them away to producers affected by the wildfires that started on Feb. 26.

Over 25 members of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Services Disaster Assessment & Recovery Unit (DAR) and Extension county agents are stationed in the Panhandle towns of Borger, Canadian, Miami and Pampa working up to 11-hour days to get supplies to the producers in need. Right now, AgriLife Extension officials are focused on securing certain supplies to give to producers, such as hay, feed, fence supplies, cow feed, wildlife feed and salt blocks.

What were trying to do is supply producers enough grain and hay to get through about four days and as we get more restocked up, they can come back and get another four-day supply, said Richie Griffin, DARs east region chief who is stationed in Pampa.

Truckloads of hay and other supplies are coming in from far and wide, including Bryan-College Station as one AgriLife Extension official said there were feed sacks from Producers Cooperative in Bryan that went through the supply point in Pampa. These supply points were set up on Feb. 28 and have been up and running since.

Weve had donations from Utah, Indiana, Griffin said. Its been a wealth of blessing of donations from not only in-state, but out-of-state as well.

As of Tuesday morning, the Smokehouse Creek fire, the largest fire in Texas history that spanned an estimated 1.05 million acres, was 44% contained. A&M Forest Service officials said on social media that crews continued to build and improve containment line across the fire area while they patrolled and checked for heat. The Windy Deuce fire in Moore County, which spans an estimated 142,200 acres was 81% contained. Forest Service officials said there was a small flare-up on an interior portion of the fire that aircraft worked Tuesday and posed no threats to containment. The Grape Vine Creek fire in Gray County, which spans an estimated 34,800 acres, was 77% contained. The Roughneck fire in Hutchinson County and Magenta fire in Oldham County were 100% contained.

Although there have been no new fires started, an AgriLife official stressed the need for Texans to be vigilant about fire prevention and noted theyre not out of the woods yet since the wind continues to blow and a chance of weather coming through the region later this week.

U.S. Department of Agriculture figures show nearly 100,000 cattle graze in the Panhandle pastures of Carson, Gray, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Oldham, Potter and Roberts counties. AgriLife officials have said the recent wildfires have burned as much as 50% of that area and grassland wont be available for grazing this season in the area where 85% of the states beef cattle herd lives. AgriLife officials said Tuesday these effected pastures likely wont recover for another 12-18 months. Yet, cattle will still need food supplies. Ron Gill, a professor in A&Ms Department of Animal Science, told AgriLife that cows can consume about 2-2.6% of their body weight in dry hay depending on its quality.

While there have been significant amounts of cattle lost in the wildfires, A&M AgriLife Extension economist David Anderson told AgriLife on Tuesday that he doesnt expect these cattle losses to affect beef prices and consumers. Anderson added it could be weeks before estimates for lost cattle are known.

There is no official total of people these temporary supply points have helped, Griffin said, but there is a data team keeping track of those figures. Griffin added its to be determined how long they will be out there, but noted theres been a wealth of gratitude from producers who have taken the donations. Those interested in giving to the supply point efforts can call 806-354-5800 to inquire about donation and relief efforts.

These people, theres several individuals who have come by and lost a significant amount of dollars in property, Griffin said, and I just cant express the gratitude all four of these communities are expressing to us out here helping.
George & Barbara Bush Foundation officials announced a three-day itinerary June 11-13 to celebrate what wouldve been former President George H.W. Bushs 100th birthday on June 12.

The series of events, called 41@100: A Celebration of George H.W. Bush, will be held at the Bush Presidential Center at Texas A&M University.

Dad was committed to serving his country and making our communities better, Neil Bush, the former presidents son and Bush Foundation board member, said in a statement. Im proud that his enduring legacy continues to inspire people to help others, and we hope to see many of his friends and supporters  of all ages  celebrating with us in College Station this June.

Events begin Tuesday, June 11 with a 41 Alumni Reunion Panel featuring former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and a 41 Alumni Reunion Dinner featuring a concert by The Gatlin Brothers, who were friends of the Bushes. These events are for anyone who served George H.W. or Barbara Bush during their time in politics and public service.

On Wednesday, June 12, there will be an interview and book signing with Jon Meacham, a Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential biographer, for the Bush Foundations key supporters and 41@100 sponsors. Those groups will be invited to an invitation-only gala dinner that night in the new Marine One/4141 Locomotive Pavilion featuring remarks by former President George W. Bush.

On Thursday, June 13, the Marine One/4141 Locomotive Pavilion will have its grand opening. Bush 41s grandchildren will honor their Gampy and do commemorative skydives. Bush 41 went skydiving every five years from the age of 75 to 90.

Admission to the Bush Presidential Library & Museum will be free on June 13. Birthday cake and Blue Bell ice cream will be served in the rotunda. Bush 41s former service dog, Sully, will make an appearance.

The festivities conclude that night with a free concert from Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett in the plaza outside the Bush Library & Museum. The concert will require an RSVP. Registration information to come.

Funds from the event will support the Bush Foundations Centennial Campaign, which will fund the construction of the Marine One/4141 Locomotive Pavilion, expand the endowed scholarship and program offerings at A&Ms Bush School of Government & Public Service and more.

President Bush strived to live a life of selfless service and treat everyone with respect, Andrew H. Card, Jr., CEO of the Bush Foundation, said in a statement. Were thrilled to invite George H.W. Bushs former colleagues, key Bush Foundation supporters and fellow citizens to join us over a historic three-day celebration that will honor all that he stood for during what would have been his 100th birthday.
Shares of Biohaven Ltd. (NYSE:BHVN  Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of Buy from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $49.67.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Biohaven from $32.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Biohaven in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. They set a buy rating and a $59.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Biohaven in a report on Friday, December 8th. They issued an outperform rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Biohaven from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their target price on Biohaven from $50.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday.

Get Biohaven alerts:

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Biohaven

Insider Activity

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Biohaven

In related news, Director Irina Antonijevic sold 11,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.79, for a total value of $459,690.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,937.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website . Corporate insiders own 15.50% of the companys stock.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Biohaven by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 586 shares of the companys stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC bought a new position in shares of Biohaven during the first quarter worth $332,000. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Biohaven during the first quarter valued at $344,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Biohaven by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,656,866 shares of the companys stock valued at $552,163,000 after acquiring an additional 21,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Biohaven by 55.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 82,599 shares of the companys stock worth $9,794,000 after purchasing an additional 29,413 shares in the last quarter. 89.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Biohaven Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Biohaven stock opened at $58.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of -10.26 and a beta of 1.18. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $46.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.95. Biohaven has a 12-month low of $12.35 and a 12-month high of $61.25.

Biohaven (NYSE:BHVN  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported ($1.81) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($1.41) by ($0.40). As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Biohaven will post -5.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Biohaven Company Profile

(Get Free Report

Biohaven Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, focuses on discovering, developing, and commercializing therapies for immunology, neuroscience, and oncology worldwide. The company's pipeline products include Troriluzole, which is in Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of neurological and neuropsychiatric illnesses; BHV-5500 that blocks glutamate signaling mediated by post-synaptic NMDA receptors; Taldefgrobep Alfa, which is in Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy and obesity; BHV-7000, a candidate in Phase 2/3 clinical trials for the treatment of focal and generalized epilepsy, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder; BHV-2100 that is in Phase 1 clinical trials for the treatment of migraines and neuropathic pain; and BHV-8000, a product candidate in Phase 1 clinical trials for the treatment of early Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, sclerosis, and amyloid-related imaging abnormalities.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Biohaven Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Biohaven and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Equities researchers at Bank of America started coverage on shares of BBB Foods (NYSE:TBBB  Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set a buy rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Bank of Americas price objective suggests a potential upside of 19.38% from the stocks previous close.

Separately, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of BBB Foods in a research note on Tuesday. They set an equal weight rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock.

Get BBB Foods alerts:

View Our Latest Analysis on TBBB

BBB Foods Trading Up 4.1 %

BBB Foods Company Profile

Shares of TBBB opened at $21.78 on Tuesday. BBB Foods has a 1 year low of $18.71 and a 1 year high of $22.54.

(Get Free Report)

BBB Foods Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates grocery retail stores in Mexico. It offers food products, drinks, hygiene and beauty products, home clean products, coffee, tea and substitutes, jellies and desserts, and baby and pet products. The company also provides branded, private label, and spot products.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for BBB Foods Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BBB Foods and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Crestwood Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ  Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 112,035 shares of the asset managers stock, valued at approximately $3,474,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC owned about 0.10% of Lazard as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lazard by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,065,467 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $320,383,000 after buying an additional 128,061 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,563,521 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $296,565,000 after purchasing an additional 436,034 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 8,560,437 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $295,335,000 after purchasing an additional 439,866 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Lazard by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,669,725 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $148,638,000 after buying an additional 25,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Lazard by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,750,853 shares of the asset managers stock worth $121,565,000 after purchasing an additional 462,677 shares in the last quarter. 57.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Lazard alerts:

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LAZ. StockNews.com raised shares of Lazard from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Lazard from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Lazard from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Lazard from a d+ rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $43.67.

Lazard Price Performance

NYSE LAZ opened at $38.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $38.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.52. Lazard, Inc. has a one year low of $25.82 and a one year high of $42.15.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The asset manager reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.31. Lazard had a positive return on equity of 16.43% and a negative net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $825.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $666.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. Lazards quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.14%. Lazards dividend payout ratio is currently -206.18%.

Lazard Company Profile

(Free Report)

Lazard, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. It operates in two segments, Financial Advisory and Asset Management. The Financial Advisory segment offers financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, shareholder, sovereign, geopolitical advisory, and other strategic advisory services, as well as restructuring and liability management, and capital raising and placement services.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Lazard Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lazard and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its position in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR  Free Report) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,639 shares of the conglomerates stock after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LPs holdings in Danaher were worth $2,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AXS Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 1.4% in the second quarter. AXS Investments LLC now owns 2,780 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Hawaii increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 0.3% in the second quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 12,578 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $3,019,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.6% in the second quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $655,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Mirova increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 1.1% in the second quarter. Mirova now owns 4,159 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $998,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Danaher by 2.0% in the third quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $579,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.71% of the companys stock.

Get Danaher alerts:

Danaher Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE DHR opened at $252.82 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stocks 50 day moving average is $240.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $231.15. The company has a market capitalization of $187.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.57, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.84. Danaher Co. has a 1-year low of $182.09 and a 1-year high of $259.00.

Danaher Increases Dividend

Danaher ( NYSE:DHR Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Danaher had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 17.26%. The companys quarterly revenue was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. This is an increase from Danahers previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Danahers payout ratio is presently 15.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Danaher

In other news, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total value of $5,986,764.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,102 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,601,704. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total value of $636,280.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,029,891.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Daniel Raskas sold 23,757 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.00, for a total transaction of $5,986,764.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,102 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,601,704. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,957 shares of company stock valued at $8,265,802. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Danaher from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research started coverage on Danaher in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. They issued a peer perform rating on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Danaher from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Danaher from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $240.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $266.00.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Danaher

Danaher Company Profile

(Free Report)

Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services worldwide. The Biotechnology segments offers bioprocess technologies, consumables, and services that advance, accelerate, and integrate the development and manufacture of therapeutics; cell line and cell culture media development services; cell culture media, process liquids and buffers for manufacturing, chromatography resins, filtration technologies, aseptic fill finish; single-use hardware and consumables and services, such as the design and installation of full manufacturing suites; lab filtration, separation, and purification; lab-scale protein purification and analytical tools; reagents, membranes, and services; and healthcare filtration solutions.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Danaher Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Danaher and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Eldorado Gold Co. (TSE:ELD  Get Free Report) (NYSE:EGO) Director George Raymond Burns sold 13,434 shares of Eldorado Gold stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$14.87, for a total transaction of C$199,806.57.

Eldorado Gold Stock Performance

TSE ELD traded down C$0.09 during trading on Thursday, reaching C$16.35. The companys stock had a trading volume of 81,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 389,102. Eldorado Gold Co. has a twelve month low of C$11.38 and a twelve month high of C$18.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.60, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 3.39. The businesss fifty day moving average price is C$16.01 and its 200-day moving average price is C$15.02. The firm has a market cap of C$3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a P/E/G ratio of 56.20 and a beta of 1.17.

Get Eldorado Gold alerts:

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ELD. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Eldorado Gold from a buy rating to a hold rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from C$15.50 to C$17.25 in a research report on Friday, January 26th. National Bankshares decreased their price objective on shares of Eldorado Gold from C$21.00 to C$19.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Eldorado Gold from C$17.00 to C$18.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Cormark reduced their price target on shares of Eldorado Gold from C$26.00 to C$25.00 in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Canada cut shares of Eldorado Gold from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Eldorado Gold currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of C$18.06.

Eldorado Gold Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Eldorado Gold Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mining, exploration, development, and sale of mineral products primarily in Turkey, Canada, Greece, and Romania. The company primarily produces gold, as well as silver, lead, and zinc. It holds a 100% interest in the Kisladag and Efemcukuru gold mines located in western Turkey; Lamaque gold mines located in Canada; and Olympias, Stratoni, Skouries, Perama Hill, and Sapes gold mines located in Greece, as well as the 80.5% interest in Certej development projects located in Romania.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Eldorado Gold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eldorado Gold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR  Get Free Report) EVP Kimberly Cook-Nelson sold 2,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total transaction of $200,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,609,312.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Entergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETR opened at $102.71 on Thursday. Entergy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $87.10 and a fifty-two week high of $111.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $21.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.70.

Get Entergy alerts:

Entergy (NYSE:ETR  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.52. Entergy had a net margin of 19.41% and a return on equity of 10.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Entergy Announces Dividend

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Entergys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.76%.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ETR. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Entergy by 64.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,562,369 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $422,019,000 after buying an additional 1,787,977 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP grew its holdings in Entergy by 16,815.8% during the 2nd quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,319,436 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $128,473,000 after buying an additional 1,311,636 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Entergy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $127,675,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Entergy by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,122,596 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,415,313,000 after buying an additional 908,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Entergy by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,961,859 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $400,901,000 after buying an additional 796,316 shares in the last quarter. 86.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ETR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $117.00 target price on shares of Entergy in a report on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Entergy from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the company from $94.00 to $110.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Entergy from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, December 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Entergy from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Entergy from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $110.73.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Entergy

Entergy Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Entergy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and retail distribution of electricity in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Utility and Entergy Wholesale Commodities. The Utility segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, including the City of New Orleans; and distributes natural gas.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Entergy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Entergy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
OneMain (NYSE:OMF  Get Free Report) and Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH  Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

79.7% of OneMain shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.5% of Bread Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of OneMain shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Bread Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Get OneMain alerts:

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares OneMain and Bread Financials top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio OneMain $4.56 billion 1.26 $641.00 million $5.32 9.02 Bread Financial $5.17 billion 0.36 $718.00 million $14.32 2.62

Analyst Recommendations

Bread Financial has higher revenue and earnings than OneMain. Bread Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than OneMain, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for OneMain and Bread Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score OneMain 0 4 9 0 2.69 Bread Financial 4 7 2 0 1.85

OneMain currently has a consensus target price of $50.85, indicating a potential upside of 5.95%. Bread Financial has a consensus target price of $37.42, indicating a potential downside of 0.38%. Given OneMains stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe OneMain is more favorable than Bread Financial.

Volatility and Risk

OneMain has a beta of 1.65, suggesting that its stock price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bread Financial has a beta of 1.94, suggesting that its stock price is 94% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

OneMain pays an annual dividend of $4.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.3%. Bread Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. OneMain pays out 75.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Bread Financial pays out 5.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. OneMain has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. OneMain is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares OneMain and Bread Financials net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets OneMain 14.04% 21.07% 2.78% Bread Financial 13.87% 26.24% 3.34%

Summary

OneMain beats Bread Financial on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About OneMain

(Get Free Report)

OneMain Holdings, Inc., a financial service holding company, engages in the consumer finance and insurance businesses in the United States. It originates, underwrites, and services personal loans secured by automobiles, other titled collateral, or unsecured. The company also offers credit cards; optional credit insurance products, including life, disability, and involuntary unemployment insurance; optional non-credit insurance; guaranteed asset protection coverage as a waiver product or insurance; and membership plans. It sells its products through its website. The company was formerly known as Springleaf Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to OneMain Holdings, Inc. in November 2015. OneMain Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1912 and is based in Evansville, Indiana.

About Bread Financial

(Get Free Report)

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. provides tech-forward payment and lending solutions to customers and consumer-based industries in North America. It offers credit card and other loans financing services, including risk management solutions, account origination, and funding services for private label and co-brand credit card programs, as well as through Bread partnerships; and Comenity-branded general purpose cash-back credit. The company also manages and services the loans it originates for private label, co-brand, and general-purpose credit card programs, and installment loans and split-pay products; and provides marketing, and data and analytics services. In addition, it offers an enhanced digital suite that includes a unified software development kit, which provides access to its suite of products, as well as promotes credit payment options earlier in the shopping experience. Further, the company through Bread, a digital payments platform and robust suite of application programming interfaces allows merchants and partners to integrate online point-of-sale financing and other digital payment products. It offers its products under the Bread CashbackTM, Bread PayTM, and Bread SavingsTM brands. The company was formerly known as Alliance Data Systems Corporation and changed its name to Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. in March 2022. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

Receive News & Ratings for OneMain Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for OneMain and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Global Payments (NYSE:GPN  Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on GPN. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Global Payments from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Global Payments from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. TheStreet upgraded Global Payments from a c rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Global Payments in a report on Monday, November 20th. They issued a buy rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $151.92.

Get Global Payments alerts:

Get Our Latest Stock Report on GPN

Global Payments Price Performance

Global Payments stock opened at $128.26 on Tuesday. The stocks 50 day moving average is $131.99 and its 200 day moving average is $122.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $33.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.96. Global Payments has a one year low of $94.05 and a one year high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The business services provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 10.22%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Global Payments will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Global Payments

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aurora Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 10,307 shares of the business services providers stock worth $1,445,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Global Payments during the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 108,047 shares of the business services providers stock worth $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,911 shares of the business services providers stock worth $878,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Global Payments by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 49,580 shares of the business services providers stock worth $6,297,000 after purchasing an additional 4,061 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.23% of the companys stock.

About Global Payments

(Get Free Report)

Global Payments Inc provides payment technology and software solutions for card, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through three segments: Merchant Solutions, Issuer Solutions, and Consumer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization, settlement and funding, customer support, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security, and consolidated billing and reporting services.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Global Payments Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Global Payments and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Kinross Gold Co. (TSE:K  Get Free Report) (NYSE:KGC) Senior Officer Nathan M. Longenecker sold 22,521 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$5.17, for a total transaction of C$116,433.57.

Nathan M. Longenecker also recently made the following trade(s):

Get Kinross Gold alerts:

On Tuesday, February 27th, Nathan M. Longenecker sold 29,312 shares of Kinross Gold stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$4.93, for a total transaction of C$144,508.16.

On Thursday, February 22nd, Nathan M. Longenecker sold 2,889 shares of Kinross Gold stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$6.63, for a total transaction of C$19,154.07.

Kinross Gold Price Performance

Shares of Kinross Gold stock opened at C$7.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of C$8.88 billion, a PE ratio of 15.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.60 and a beta of 1.13. Kinross Gold Co. has a 12-month low of C$4.71 and a 12-month high of C$8.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 36.54. The companys fifty day simple moving average is C$7.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$7.22.

Kinross Gold Cuts Dividend

Analyst Ratings Changes

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th will be given a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Kinross Golds dividend payout ratio is 34.78%.

Separately, National Bank Financial restated an outperform overweight rating on shares of Kinross Gold in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd.

View Our Latest Analysis on Kinross Gold

Kinross Gold Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Kinross Gold Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of gold properties principally in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Canada, and Mauritania. It is also involved in the extraction and processing of gold-containing ores; reclamation of gold mining properties; and production and sale of silver.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Kinross Gold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kinross Gold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its holdings in iShares MSCI Canada ETF (NYSEARCA:EWC  Free Report) by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,054,502 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 1,678,101 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 23.58% of iShares MSCI Canada ETF worth $704,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EWC. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in iShares MSCI Canada ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Canada ETF in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in iShares MSCI Canada ETF by 104.1% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 892 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in iShares MSCI Canada ETF during the third quarter worth about $73,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI Canada ETF by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,427 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the last quarter.

Get iShares MSCI Canada ETF alerts:

iShares MSCI Canada ETF Price Performance

Shares of NYSEARCA EWC opened at $37.27 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.06 and a beta of 1.02. iShares MSCI Canada ETF has a 1 year low of $31.41 and a 1 year high of $37.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.92.

iShares MSCI Canada ETF Profile

iShares MSCI Canada ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI Canada 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 publicly traded securities in the Canadian market, as measured by the MSCI Canada Index (the Index).

Recommended Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EWC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI Canada ETF (NYSEARCA:EWC  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Canada ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Canada ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Junee Limited (JUNE) expects to raise $10 million in an IPO on the week of March 11th, IPO Scoop reports. The company will issue 2,000,000 shares at a price of $4.00-$6.00 per share.

In the last year, Junee Limited generated $6.1 million in revenue and $390,000 in net income. The company has a market cap of $63.6 million.

Spartan Capital Securities acted as the underwriter for the IPO.

Junee Limited provided the following description of their company for its IPO: **Note from the Prospectus: Junee Limited is not a Chinese or Hong Kong operating company; it is a holding company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).A As a limited company with no material operations, our operations are conducted by our subsidiary, OPS Interior Design Consultant Limited, or asOPS HKat, in HongA Kong. This is an offering of the Ordinary Shares of Junee Limited, the holding company incorporated in the BVI, instead of shares of our operating entity in HongA Kong, OPS HK.A You may never directly hold any equity interest in our operating entity. (Incorporated in the British Virgin Islands) Our subsidiary, OPS HK, provides quality interior design, fit-outA and maintenance services to both residential and commercial clients in the Hong Kong interior design market. Since its inception, it has been dedicated to including preliminary consultations, conceptualizing clientsa design ideas with layout plans, and producing detailed design drawings. The fit-outA work generally includes any activities intrinsic to making an interior space suitable for residential or commercial purposes. OPS HK also provides a broad range of repair and maintenance services, including routine home condition upkeep services. OPS HK won the Muse Design Award in 2020. We were given the Most Valuable Companies in Hong Kong Award 2020 by Mediazone. Our vision is to successfully utilize the best and the brightest professionals in the industry in Hong Kong. We strive to cultivate, retain and nurture talent by providing a career rather than a job. We endeavor to foster an employment environment with prosperity and growth. Note: Net income and revenue are for the year ended June 30, 2023. **Note: Junee is a holding company with no business operation and uses a structure that involves an operating subsidiary based in Hong Kong. This structure involves risks to the investors, and Chinese regulatory authorities could disallow this structure, which would likely result in a material change in Juneeas operations and/or a material change in the value of the securities we are registering for sale, including the risk that such event could cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or become worthless. Investors are cautioned that you are buying shares of a BVI holding company with operations solely conducted in Hong Kong by its subsidiary, OPS HK. You are not directly investing in, and may never hold equity interests of OPS HK. Investing in our Ordinary Shares involves a high degree of risk, including the risk of losing your entire investment. (Note: Junee Limited disclosed its financial results for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2023, in an FWP (Free Writing Prospectus) filed with the SEC in January 2024.) (Note: Junee Limited named Spartan Capital Securities as its sole book-runner to replace Pacific Century Securities in an F-1/A filing dated Sept. 5, 2023. Background: Junee Limited cut its IPOs size to 2.0 million shares  down from 5.0 million shares  and kept the price range at $4.00 to $6.00  to raise $10.0 million, according to an F-1A filing dated July 28, 2023. In that July 28, 2023, filing with the SEC, Junee Limited disclosed that Pacific Century Securities had been named the sole book-runner  an update from the original joint book-running team of Univest Securities and Pacific Century Securities.) (Background from 2022: Junee Limited filed an F-1/A dated Dec. 15, 2022, with updated financial figures for the year ended June 30, 2022. Junee Limited disclosed terms for its IPO  5.0 million shares at $4.00 to $6.00 to raise $25 million  and disclosed its proposed stock symbol JUNE in an F-1/A filing dated Sept. 8, 2022. In the IPO, the company is offering 3.57 million shares (3,571,429 shares) and the companys anticipated IPO proceeds are $17.86 million. Of the 5.0 million shares in the IPO, a total of 1.43 million shares (1,428,571 shares) are being offered by the selling shareholder, OPS Holdings Limited. The company will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the selling shareholders shares. Junee Limited filed to go public with its F-1 filing dated July 13, 2022.) .

Junee Limited was founded in 1998 and has 23 employees. The company is located at Studio 20, 11 F, International Plaza, 20 Sheung Yuet Road, Kowloon Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong and can be reached via phone at (+852) 2780 7733 or on the web at http://www.ops-int.com.hk/.

Receive News & Ratings for Junee Limited Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Junee Limited and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE:CM  Free Report) (TSE:CM) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,185,512 shares of the banks stock after acquiring an additional 251,039 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.56% of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce worth $201,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce by 277.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,126 shares of the banks stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce by 77.8% in the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,600 shares of the banks stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce by 72.8% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,004 shares of the banks stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 844 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce by 22.7% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,420 shares of the banks stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce during the third quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Institutional investors own 43.72% of the companys stock.

Get Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce alerts:

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Price Performance

CM stock opened at $49.07 on Thursday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has a 52 week low of $34.35 and a 52 week high of $49.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.14.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Increases Dividend

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.6634 dividend. This is a positive change from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerces previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerces dividend payout ratio is 39.46%.

CM has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank raised shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, December 8th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a buy rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $63.00.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Company Profile

(Free Report)

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a diversified financial institution, provides various financial products and services to personal, business, public sector, and institutional clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through Canadian Personal and Business Banking; Canadian Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; U.S.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Lido Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD  Free Report) by 39.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,932 shares of the aerospace companys stock after selling 9,671 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLCs holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Guidance Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $992,000. Moreno Evelyn V lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Moreno Evelyn V now owns 27,310 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $6,035,000 after acquiring an additional 3,991 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $16,077,000. Clough Capital Partners L P acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,868,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 326,121 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $72,063,000 after acquiring an additional 119,264 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.08% of the companys stock.

Get General Dynamics alerts:

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD opened at $273.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $263.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.13. The stock has a market cap of $74.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.68. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $202.35 and a 1 year high of $277.43.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

General Dynamics ( NYSE:GD Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.68 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.39 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 7.84%. The businesss revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This is a boost from General Dynamicss previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. General Dynamicss dividend payout ratio is currently 43.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total transaction of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares of the companys stock, valued at $39,502,023.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total transaction of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares of the companys stock, valued at $39,502,023.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on GD shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of General Dynamics from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $296.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of General Dynamics from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $271.69.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on GD

General Dynamics Profile

(Free Report)

General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, charter, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for General Dynamics Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for General Dynamics and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM  Get Free Report)s stock had its hold rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Argus in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports.

PM has been the topic of several other reports. Societe Generale raised shares of Philip Morris International from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $87.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a buy rating to a sell rating and cut their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, November 16th. They set a neutral rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $105.40.

Get Philip Morris International alerts:

Read Our Latest Stock Report on PM

Philip Morris International Price Performance

NYSE:PM opened at $91.09 on Tuesday. The firms 50-day moving average price is $92.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.65. The company has a market capitalization of $141.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.61. Philip Morris International has a 1-year low of $87.23 and a 1-year high of $101.92.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.08). Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 116.29% and a net margin of 8.53%. The business had revenue of $9.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International will post 6.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Philip Morris International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PM. Fairfield Bush & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.1% in the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 26,141 shares of the companys stock worth $2,456,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 35.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,939 shares of the companys stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 1,296 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 24.7% in the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,065 shares of the companys stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 54.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 525 shares of the companys stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 14.7% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 8,987 shares of the companys stock worth $844,000 after buying an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.70% of the companys stock.

About Philip Morris International

(Get Free Report)

Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Philip Morris International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Philip Morris International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ramirez Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO  Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,236 shares of the medical research companys stock, valued at approximately $1,132,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TMO. Halpern Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 307.7% during the third quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 53 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the second quarter worth $33,000. Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.06% of the companys stock.

Get Thermo Fisher Scientific alerts:

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock traded up $3.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $594.67. 538,250 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,680,479. The company has a market cap of $226.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $550.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $515.73. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $415.60 and a fifty-two week high of $598.35.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

Thermo Fisher Scientific ( NYSE:TMO Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical research company reported $5.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $5.64 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $10.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $10.73 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientifics previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Thermo Fisher Scientifics dividend payout ratio is presently 9.06%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 14th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to purchase up to 2.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the companys management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on TMO shares. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $515.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays lowered shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and raised their price objective for the company from $475.00 to $555.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. TheStreet upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Robert W. Baird restated an outperform rating and issued a $670.00 target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $592.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Thermo Fisher Scientific has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $596.00.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on TMO

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $564.72, for a total value of $5,647,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 128,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,558,049.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 14,566 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.00, for a total transaction of $8,186,092.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,901 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,250,362. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $564.72, for a total value of $5,647,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 128,485 shares of the companys stock, valued at $72,558,049.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,277 shares of company stock worth $22,533,584. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the companys stock.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

(Free Report)

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company's Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases; and solutions include biosciences, genetic sciences, and bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Thermo Fisher Scientific Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Thermo Fisher Scientific and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its holdings in Raymond James (NYSE:RJF  Free Report) by 11.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,733,705 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 850,810 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s holdings in Raymond James were worth $676,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,689,564 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,383,900,000 after acquiring an additional 410,025 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Raymond James by 4.7% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,196,715 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,784,503,000 after purchasing an additional 772,492 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Raymond James by 1.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,065,096 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $840,253,000 after purchasing an additional 124,057 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Raymond James by 80.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,629,875 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $618,780,000 after buying an additional 2,510,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,057,125 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $419,869,000 after buying an additional 39,067 shares in the last quarter. 75.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Raymond James alerts:

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Steven M. Raney sold 930 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.42, for a total value of $102,690.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,141,339.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Raymond James news, CEO Steven M. Raney sold 930 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.42, for a total transaction of $102,690.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 55,618 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,141,339.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan N. Santelli sold 1,891 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.91, for a total value of $211,621.81. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,491 shares in the company, valued at $2,405,057.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.74% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a hold rating and issued a $117.00 price target (up from $112.00) on shares of Raymond James in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Raymond James from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a neutral rating and issued a $116.00 target price (down from $125.00) on shares of Raymond James in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. UBS Group cut their price target on Raymond James from $116.00 to $115.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Raymond James in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a market perform rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Seven 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, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $119.25.

View Our Latest Stock Report on RJF

Raymond James Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RJF opened at $121.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.99. Raymond James has a one year low of $82.00 and a one year high of $122.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.04. The companys fifty day moving average is $114.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.10.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.15. Raymond James had a net margin of 12.81% and a return on equity of 17.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 9.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. Raymond Jamess dividend payout ratio is currently 22.56%.

Raymond James Company Profile

(Free Report)

Raymond James Financial, Inc, a financial holding company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the underwriting, distribution, trading, and brokerage of equity and debt securities, and the sale of mutual funds and other investment products in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Private Client Group, Capital Markets, Asset Management, RJ Bank, and Other segments.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding RJF? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Raymond James (NYSE:RJF  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Raymond James Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Raymond James and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Roper Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ROP  Free Report) by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 111,462 shares of the industrial products companys stock after buying an additional 5,953 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.s holdings in Roper Technologies were worth $53,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Roper Technologies by 22.9% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,496,315 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $4,565,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,770,965 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Roper Technologies by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,369,088 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $2,100,658,000 after purchasing an additional 74,241 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Roper Technologies by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,409,974 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,473,416,000 after purchasing an additional 95,728 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Roper Technologies by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,528,982 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,224,736,000 after purchasing an additional 42,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Roper Technologies by 2.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,040,342 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $978,232,000 after buying an additional 53,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.59% of the companys stock.

Get Roper Technologies alerts:

Roper Technologies Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:ROP opened at $540.21 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $57.81 billion, a PE ratio of 41.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.99. The businesss 50 day moving average is $543.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $520.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Roper Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $416.77 and a 52 week high of $562.69.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Roper Technologies ( NYSE:ROP Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $4.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.34 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Roper Technologies had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 22.41%. The businesss revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.92 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Roper Technologies, Inc. will post 18.07 EPS for the current year.

ROP has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Roper Technologies from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James increased their price target on Roper Technologies from $572.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer restated an outperform rating and set a $580.00 price objective on shares of Roper Technologies in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. TheStreet upgraded Roper Technologies from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Friday, November 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Roper Technologies from $580.00 to $596.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $557.00.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Roper Technologies

About Roper Technologies

(Free Report)

Roper Technologies, Inc designs and develops software, and technology enabled products and solutions. The company offers management, campus solutions, diagnostic and laboratory information management, enterprise management, information solutions, transportation management, financial and compliance management, and cloud-based financial analytics and performance management software; cloud-based software to the property and casualty insurance industry; and software, services, and technologies for foodservice operations.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ROP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Roper Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ROP  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Roper Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Roper Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Free Report) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 178,196 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after buying an additional 7,726 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLCs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $10,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BMY. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter worth approximately $1,144,000. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 161.4% during the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 6,720 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 4,149 shares during the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 22.5% in the third quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 70,641 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $4,100,000 after purchasing an additional 12,992 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.2% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,507,290 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $87,483,000 after acquiring an additional 18,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TAM Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the third quarter worth $572,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.98% of the companys stock.

Get Bristol-Myers Squibb alerts:

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMY traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $53.26. The company had a trading volume of 5,774,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,921,574. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The company has a market cap of $107.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $47.58 and a 12-month high of $71.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $50.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.36.

Bristol-Myers Squibb ( NYSE:BMY Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $11.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.19 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 50.95%. The companys revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 7th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the biopharmaceutical company to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the companys board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio is presently 62.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the company from $77.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. TheStreet cut shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Thursday, November 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Bristol-Myers Squibb from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Thursday, November 9th. They set a hold rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $61.12.

View Our Latest Research Report on BMY

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Profile

(Free Report)

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in non-valvular atrial fibrillation, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for various anti-cancer indications, including bladder, blood, CRC, head and neck, RCC, HCC, lung, melanoma, MPM, stomach and esophageal cancer; Pomalyst/Imnovid for multiple myeloma; Orencia for active rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BMY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC decreased its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW  Free Report) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,278 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 1,305 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLCs holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Providence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. State of Wyoming grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 71.0% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 624 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.61% of the companys stock.

Get Charles Schwab alerts:

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCHW traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $68.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,932,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,597,019. The stock has a market cap of $121.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00. The companys 50 day moving average price is $64.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $45.00 and a 52-week high of $76.47.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

Charles Schwab ( NYSE:SCHW Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.49 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.90% and a return on equity of 21.33%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Charles Schwabs payout ratio is currently 39.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on SCHW. JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and issued a $77.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Citigroup cut Charles Schwab from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Charles Schwab from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a neutral rating and issued a $71.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $69.92.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on SCHW

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.29, for a total transaction of $587,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 585,057 shares in the company, valued at $38,198,371.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Charles Schwab news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.29, for a total transaction of $587,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 585,057 shares in the company, valued at $38,198,371.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total transaction of $257,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 37,611 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,425,533.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 172,616 shares of company stock worth $11,181,109. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Charles Schwab Profile

(Free Report)

The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SCHW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Charles Schwab Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Charles Schwab and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Townsquare Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM  Free Report) by 6.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 172,718 shares of the companys stock after selling 12,832 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLCs holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $15,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 12,807.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 26,485,964 shares of the companys stock valued at $16,449,000 after buying an additional 26,280,764 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 100,700.1% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,640,144 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,582,939,000 after buying an additional 15,624,628 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 116,185,273 shares of the companys stock worth $11,342,014,000 after purchasing an additional 4,368,323 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,147,790 shares of the companys stock worth $1,587,542,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International by 1,225.5% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,568,402 shares of the companys stock worth $348,046,000 after purchasing an additional 3,299,188 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.70% of the companys stock.

Get Philip Morris International alerts:

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PM shares. Societe Generale raised shares of Philip Morris International from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $87.50 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Argus reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Tuesday. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, November 16th. They set a neutral rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group downgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a buy rating to a sell rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $105.40.

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:PM traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $91.32. The stock had a trading volume of 519,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,872,242. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.65. Philip Morris International Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.23 and a twelve month high of $101.92. The firm has a market cap of $141.77 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.61.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.08). Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 116.29% and a net margin of 8.53%. The firm had revenue of $9.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Profile

(Free Report)

Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Philip Morris International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Philip Morris International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ur-Energy (NYSEAMERICAN:URG  Get Free Report) (TSE:URE) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at HC Wainwright from $2.70 to $3.60 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the basic materials companys stock. HC Wainwrights price objective would indicate a potential upside of 127.85% from the stocks previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Ur-Energy in a report on Friday, February 2nd. They issued a buy rating and a $3.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ur-Energy to a sell rating in a report on Sunday, December 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm cut their price target on shares of Ur-Energy from $2.50 to $2.40 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ur-Energy presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $2.81.

Get Ur-Energy alerts:

View Our Latest Research Report on URG

Ur-Energy Price Performance

Insider Activity

URG stock opened at $1.58 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $433.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.17 and a beta of 1.12. Ur-Energy has a one year low of $0.82 and a one year high of $2.01. The company has a current ratio of 5.71, a quick ratio of 5.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

In other Ur-Energy news, Director James M. Franklin sold 50,527 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.54, for a total value of $77,811.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 616,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $948,844.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 65,527 shares of company stock valued at $104,762 in the last quarter. 3.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ur-Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in URG. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ur-Energy by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 254,317 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 7,554 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ur-Energy by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 198,137 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 12,005 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in Ur-Energy by 71.5% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 30,401 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 12,673 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Ur-Energy by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 471,434 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 13,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Ur-Energy by 76.6% in the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 33,146 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 14,382 shares during the last quarter. 43.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ur-Energy

(Get Free Report)

Ur-Energy Inc engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of uranium mineral properties. The company holds interests in 12 projects located in the United States. Its flagship property is the Lost Creek project comprising a total of approximately 1,800 unpatented mining claims and three Wyoming mineral leases covering an area of approximately 35,400 acres located in the Great Divide Basin, Wyoming.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Ur-Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ur-Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
V Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (NYSEARCA:IWD  Free Report) by 88.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,416 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 10,666 shares during the quarter. V Wealth Advisors LLCs holdings in iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF were worth $215,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,384 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,972,249 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $299,426,000 after purchasing an additional 131,702 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia grew its holdings in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF by 38.2% during the 3rd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 34,273 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $5,203,000 after purchasing an additional 9,478 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 987,895 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $149,952,000 after purchasing an additional 120,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,342 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,311 shares during the last quarter.

Get iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF alerts:

iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF Stock Performance

Shares of iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF stock traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $174.18. 296,681 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,303,866. The stock has a market cap of $55.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 0.95. The firms fifty day moving average price is $166.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $159.19. iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF has a 12 month low of $143.34 and a 12 month high of $174.47.

iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF Profile

iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares Russell 1000 Value Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the large capitalization value sector of the U.S. equity market, as represented by the Russell 1000 Value Index (the Index).

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IWD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (NYSEARCA:IWD  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
A Franklin County family that sued a news media outlet for libel, asking for $67 million in damages, must instead pay about $6,500 for filing a frivolous lawsuit, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Crystal Minnix and her father, Eugene Muse Jr., had claimed they were defamed as violent insurrectionists in a 2022 story about local reactions to the riots at the U.S. Capitol. Minnix and Muse were not named or shown in the report, which included a four-second video of their home.

U.S. District Judge Michael Urbanski dismissed the lawsuit against Sinclair Television Group and others in May, finding that it had no footing in defamation law.

Urbanski also ordered the family to pay the attorney fees for two of the parties they sued, Bridgette Craighead and the local chapter of Black Lives Matter that she founded.

The judge based his ruling on a Virginia law aimed at deterring SLAPP lawsuits  or strategic lawsuits against public participation  that are filed with the intent to chill speech about matters of public concern.

After referring the question of how much to award in attorney fees to Magistrate Judge Kailani Memmer, Urbanski followed her recommendation Monday and issued an order setting the amount at $6,514.

The money will first go to the Roanoke law firm of Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black, which volunteered to represent Craighead and the BLM chapter after learning they could not afford to represent themselves.

With Craigheads permission, the firm will donate the money to the Franklin County chapter of the National Association of Advancement of Colored People, according to the law firm.

The legal dispute stemmed from a January 2022 report about the local reaction to the arrest of two former members of the Rocky Mount Police Department. The off-duty officers took part in the Jan. 6 riots over former president Donald Trumps since-discounted claim that he lost the 2020 election due to widespread voter fraud.

Craighead was interviewed by a reporter immediately before a video of a home co-owned by Minnix and Muse  which is painted red, white and blue  is shown. During the footage, a voiceover describes Rocky Mount as predominantly white and politically conservative.

Urbanski found no evidence to support claims from the homes occupants, who include three other adults and seven children. Their lawsuit alleged that the story, by clear implication portrayed them as violent insurrectionists, as rebelling Confederacy supporters, as supporters of President Donald John Trump, and as individuals and businesses who stand against or discriminate against people of color.

The seven minute, 30-second news report included general comments from Craighead about her perceptions of the communitys reaction. She made no mention of the house or its occupants.

Craighead exercised her First Amendment right to participate in an interview and speak on a matter of public concern affecting her community, Urbanski wrote in dismissing the lawsuit.

She has since been forced to defend herself against a baseless defamation action, the opinion stated, brought by persons whose home was briefly glimpsed in the segment.
WOOD RIVER  Carol Hines calls the annual sandhill crane migration one of the wonders of the world.

Shes bringing her love of cranes into a new show this month at her year-old Wildflower Gallery at 108-110 W. Ninth St. in Wood River.

Friday evening, she had a wine and cheese opening at the gallery at 108110 West Ninth St. Gallery. Hours for March will be 4-7 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and 1-5 p.m. Sundays, through March 30.

The show highlights the artwork of award-winning artist Jude Martindale of Lincoln, whose crane paintings were featured at the Stuhr Museum last year and at the Great Plains Art Gallery in Lincoln in 2021.

Martindales crane artwork also was featured at the Willa Cather galley in Red Cloud last year.

Hines has had a long-time love affair with the sandhill cranes. She used to volunteer during crane season at Rowe Sanctuary. She took reservations for tours, led blind tours and more.

I loved being out there and hearing the cranes come, hearing them say, Were here! Being in the blinds, tears stream down my face, she said.

I was in the blind one Easter morning. The cranes were on the river, but when the clouds broke along the horizon, they got up all at once. They were all talking to each other, she said. It was church to me.

Ripping out walls

The Wildflower Gallery project has been a work of art in itself for Hines. She bought the 70-year-old building in the summer of 2022.

I was looking for a building to remodel. I like old buildings, but I didnt want something with an upstairs or a basement. Then I spotted those two little plain, 1950s-looking buildings, she said.

She also liked the site. She lives outside of Wood River and knew the town would be a good location because she had had booths there during past Junk Jaunts.

But she had no idea how much sweat and labor would be required until she plunged into the renovation. She tore down walls and pulled up the carpet, only to discover it had been glued to the cement floor. As she gutted the ceiling in the western half of the building, she found thousands of termites.

She forged ahead. Im pretty handy with stuff. I make things with tools, she said. She cut a hole between the two buildings to turn them into a single building. She had the structure power-washed and painted a beautiful mural on the exterior east wall.

This is exciting for Wood River. As I painted the mural, people would drive by and yell, We love what youre doing to the building! she said.

Even the mayor has been supportive and helpful. People stop by to see if I need anything, she said.

Im letting this building be what its going to be. I think things evolve the way theyre supposed to. Im glad to have these buildings be used, she said.

Then, chuckling, she added, But the next time I buy a building, Im going to make sure that all I have to do is paint it. I never want to do a remodel this extensive again.

A life-long artist

Hines was born and raised in Neligh. Her first memory of creating art is as a kindergartener. Her teacher drew a dog and instructed the pupils to copy it in crayon. Some of them werent sure what to do, so after Hines quickly completed her picture, she assisted her classmates.

As she grew, she kept creating. Being an artist translates into the rest of your life, she said.

She moved to Kearney after high school and briefly began classes at Kearney State College, then moved to Kansas, got married, and had two sons, but she never let go of her goal of teaching art. She eventually returned to Kearney State and earned a bachelor of science degree in art.

She is a fixture in Kearneys art community. She has exhibited at Art in the Park and shows at the Kearney Artist Guild. She has shown at the Burkholder Project in Lincoln and the Stuhr Museum.

Her artistic talents also were showcased when her house in Kearney was on the Holiday Home Tour in 2011.

Shortly after that, she felt an urge to find an old farmhouse to renovate. I was able to find an old Victorian place outside of town. I ripped six coats of wallpaper off the walls and then ran out of things to fix up, she said.

Ive learned that most people have a specific plan before they start a project, but I just jump right in, she said.

A renaissance

Since opening the Wildflower Gallery in March 2023, Hines has made friends and been invited to events in town. Wood River people have really embraced me, she said.

She said her gallery is part of a quiet renaissance going on in Wood River. People have received facade grants. Theyre getting new windows and fixing up buildings, she said.

She noted that a friend bought two old stores downtown and is renovating them into a coffee shop. On the second floor, she already has created apartments and an Airbnb.

Last August, Hines invited artists to bring their work to show in the gallery for Wood Rivers annual FunFest weekend. Right off the bat, I had eight quilts. A man had created birdhouses out of gourds. I had pottery, paintings and photography, just a lot of fun stuff, she said.

Some people are thrilled to be asked to show their work, she said.

There is so much great art out there, and I believed this would be a great way to showcase it. I know people who have quantities of stuff in their house, and it really needs to be shown, she said.

During the weekend activities, people set up chairs in front of her shop. I felt like a community place, she said.

Hines is also on the committee that is working to have Wood River declared a Nebraska Creative District. That would bring in state money to spruce up more buildings, attract more visitors and use the arts as an economic engine. Hines is designing a flier for that effort.

A buzzing gallery

For now, her creative energies are focused on the Wildflower Gallery. Since it opened a year ago, Hines has displayed the work of a different artist each month. In December, she showcased 18 artists.

She has offered classes in book making, memory collages and more. She offered a Gelli plate printing workshop. She invited a printmaker to display the processes of her work. We had a lot of fun and shared other collage techniques, she said.

In time, she expects her gallery to become a gathering place for baby showers and bridal showers, too. Im really excited, she said.

Hines believes the sandhill crane exhibit with Martindales work is a perfect way to kick off her gallerys second year.

Martindales solo show, The Great Migration: A Celebration of Sandhill Cranes was well-received at the Great Plains Art Museum in Lincoln in 2021 and the Stuhr Museum in Grand Island in 2022.

Martindales crane artwork also was featured at the Red Cloud Opera House gallery last year. It hangs at the Crane Trust and Nature Center in Alda.

The Wildflower Gallery show also features Hiness paintings and denim shirts she has festooned with cranes. I painted a watercolor of a crane on a sympathy card, and I liked the way it looked, so I painted that onto the shirts, she said.

The Wildflower Gallery is normally open only on Saturdays, but it will have extended weekend hours during crane season.

Spreading the word

Since the gallery opened a year ago, Hines has learned that word of mouth spreads the message more quickly than social media. Visual presence is critical, too. Many people drop in after spotting the gallery as they drive through Wood River on Highway 30.

Hines has also been in touch with art groups in Hastings and Grand Island, and an art guild in Grand Island plans to meet there this month.

She knows that Wood River is a little ways to drive from Kearney, but What else do you have to do? she asked.

I love it that the same people come to a lot of these openings and turn them into social gatherings. Somebody from the Kearney Art Guild said, If we dont support our fellow artists, who will? she said.

I think a lot of people dont know what to expect when they go to an art gallery, but the point is showcasing talent, appreciating it, she said.

I dont expect to make millions of dollars. The point is showcasing this talent. I am amazed at the talented artists in the area. Im glad to be able to showcase their work, she added.
The Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce has taken a stand against a proposal to impose a statewide consumption tax on new goods and services.

At its March 5 meeting, the Grand Island Chamber board voted unanimously to oppose the EPIC Option Consumption Tax, which would replace Nebraskas income and property taxes with a high-rate consumption sales and excise tax. The EPIC tax rate would likely be at least 15% to 20%, and perhaps higher, the chamber said, citing experts.

Among the taxed items under the EPIC plan would be new homes and new automobiles, childcare, rent payments, out-of-pocket health care costs, accounting services, car repairs, home remodeling, dormitory rooms, loan processing costs, and burial plots.

If enacted, the EPIC plan would make Nebraskas cities, counties, school districts and other local governments reliant on the state for local funding needs, the chamber said. Also, because the proposal would amend Nebraskas constitution, state lawmakers would be unable to make common-sense changes in the future.

Our business community wants tax reform and relief, Grand Island Chamber President Jamie Karl said in a release. But research shows the EPIC taxs exorbitant rate would punish businesses, young families and workers, as well as retirees on fixed incomes. Under EPIC, Nebraskans could be facing a $60,000 sales tax bill on a $300,000 home, or a $12,000 sales tax bill on a $60,000 automobile. Thats not tax relief  thats a massive tax shift.

Karl said a sound business climate requires predictability and stability, the opposite of what the EPIC plan would bring Nebraska.

EPIC supporters have until July 3 to collect signatures from 10% of registered voters in their attempt to place the issue on the November 2024 ballot.

Experts say the EPIC taxs exorbitant rate would punish young families and workers, as well as retirees on fixed incomes  while harming key sectors like retail, home and building construction, auto dealers, and many professional services. Nebraska businesses would struggle to compete with businesses in neighboring states.

Cindy Johnson, outgoing president of the Grand Island Chamber, said in a release: Our chamber has longstanding policy in support of tax reform and relief, but EPIC is a wild card that would end local control. Grand Island, Hall County, our public schools, and other local governing bodies would be at the mercy of the Legislature to fund law enforcement, emergency services, education, housing, roads and infrastructure, and more. This is a troubling plan.
When Megan McCaul starts to pack moving boxes, her children always notice.

Theyre like, Mom, whats going on? And Im like, Well, I got an eviction letter, McCaul said. Because I didnt have enough money. Because my hours got cut. Because we were sick.

The Lincoln mom of three  with another on the way  said shes only been evicted once. But shes received seven of those letters since 2017, McCaul said, and each time her childrens stress spikes and their behavior changes. Sometimes, it causes problems at school.

Theyre like, Mom, what are we gonna do? McCaul said. My son, hes also autistic, and hes on a behavior plan (at school). When I get the eviction letters and am trying to figure all this stuff out, you can see the changes of his behavior.

Research from Creighton University found that schools with higher eviction rates had lower academic outcomes. Studies have also shown negative impact on student mental and physical health, plus social and emotional development.

When you see families who are experiencing eviction or homelessness in particular, there is just a certain amount of stress that is inherent in that situation, said Stephanie Hoesing, social worker supervisor for the Omaha Public Schools. An elementary-age student (might be) preparing for their math test, but that morning, their family was just required to move out of their residence. Itd be very hard for that young person to be able to concentrate on taking the math test that day when they literally dont know for sure whos picking them up and where theyre going to sleep that night.

Staggering number of children affected

In 2023, 1,309 children faced eviction in Lancaster County while 2,147 children faced eviction in Douglas County, said Erin Feichtinger, policy director for the Womens Fund of Omaha, at a Jan. 31 legislative hearing. This data was collected only from families who showed up to eviction court, so the actual numbers are likely to be a lot higher.

Feichtinger said that 75% of Nebraskas eviction filings come from Douglas and Lancaster counties.

The sheer number of children facing eviction with their families is staggering and sobering, she said.

Students who experience housing instability and have to attend two or more schools in one academic year are deemed highly mobile by the Nebraska Department of Education. In the 2022-23 school year, the state had nearly 13,000 highly mobile students or roughly 4% of its total student population.

Federal law requires schools to provide services, like transportation, to highly mobile students who are experiencing some form of homelessness, Hoesing said. This includes any student who lives with friends or family members due to loss of housing or resides in places like community shelters, motels or a car.

Highly mobile students might not qualify for these types of services if their families are evicted but are able to rent somewhere else. Hoesing said OPS tries to keep such students at their original schools if transportation is available, but they may have to change schools if the distances are too great.

We really try and communicate between schools  whether thats the counselor, social worker, principal  to be able to share information and be able to welcome the student, Hoesing said. We try and acclimate them as quickly as possible and really let them know that were welcoming them into our building with open arms and helping them adjust to that transition.

Bill aimed to ban evictions during school year

The impact of such transitions on students  and school staff  triggered Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha to introduce a bill (LB845) earlier this year. It would have prohibited evictions during the school year for families with children, as well as for school employees.

The housing shortage has resulted in an increase of homelessness and unstable living conditions for many families, Hunt said during a Jan. 31 bill hearing. That instability means Nebraska kids suffer.

LB845 would have allowed landlords to seek evictions, but qualifying residents  parents, students, children enrolled in child care and school employees  would have the defense of being exempt from evictions during the school year. The bill failed to advance out of the Judiciary Committee in February.

Advocates for the bill said solutions are needed to improve the outcomes of children and teachers who may face eviction. Opponents contended it was the wrong strategy, putting landlords livelihoods at risk.

Rick McDonald, a landlord and the president of the Metro Omaha Property Owners Association, said it wouldnt have been fair to expect landlords to let families and school staff live rent-free for the entire school year.

75% of (my) tenants can quit paying rent  where am I going to be? It takes a very small percentage (of people not paying rent) and I am out of business completely, McDonald said. A lot of landlords will leave the business. If you think there is an affordable housing shortage now, you wont believe whats coming down the road.

Still, the impact of evictions on children remains a problem.

I know the feeling as a small child when mom says, Get this box, put your things in this box, you have to go, said Karen Bell-Dancy, director of the Young Womens Christian Association in Lincoln. We need to figure out how (to) alleviate the strain and stress on families, especially single moms. They are already faced with transportation and child care issues, low employment and disparities in health care.

Threat of eviction brings uncertainty

McCaul faced eviction herself as a child, at times living on family friends couches with her siblings and parents. Then as an adult, she experienced it again after she left her ex-husband because of domestic violence.

We were homeless for a while until I was able to get back on my feet, she said. In order for me to do that, for me and my kids, we lived off hot dogs and chips so I could save enough money. Its hard. And it sucks.

After her divorce and eviction, McCaul said she and her children couch-surfed for several years. She has since rented in a few other places, accumulating multiple eviction notices for unpaid rent but avoiding eviction.

McCauls three children now range in age from 4 to 8. As they grew, one of her sons developed celiac disease  an autoimmune disorder caused by a reaction to gluten, something she deals with herself. Her youngest son developed a dairy allergy and her daughter is lactose intolerant. She now spends more than $1,000 a month on specialized food because of her familys health needs.

McCaul works full time, and gets discounted rent at $390 a month through the Lincoln Housing Authority. But paying that rent and all her other bills remains a struggle.

McCauls most recent eviction letter came at the beginning of this year after she didnt make her December rent payment on time. She said she had to start the process over again: pack boxes and go to court to try to get an extension while also trying to keep her children feeling as stable as possible.

McCaul said her son who has autism has a plan at school that rates his behavior on a percentage scale. He often gets 100% scores, but after she received her most recent eviction letter, he dropped to 76%.

The behaviors are changing because that consistency is gone, McCaul said. Because now I have to focus somewhere else, instead of on our normal routine.

Tim Royers, president of the Millard Education Association, said at the hearing that hes seen students struggle with this in his own school.

Over my teaching career, I have seen multiple students have their education and whole lives severely disrupted in result of eviction, Royers said. I had instances where students can basically only manage to get to school for half the day, at best. Others would try to live with friends, separated from their family. Those involved in school activities basically had to forfeit their participation.

Less COVID-related help for renters

Evictions have been rising since a pandemic moratorium was lifted in 2021 and emergency COVID-19 rental assistance distributed by the federal government is running low.

It really felt like during that time that our mobility was down. Families were not being evicted and families had access to financial assistance for almost a two-year period, Hoesing said. So if they needed something intermittently, it was there. When those COVID funds went away in the community, and when the eviction moratorium was lifted  we now see the number of families experiencing that kind of trickling back.

While theres no widespread law regarding evicting families during the school year, some areas around the U.S. have attempted solutions.

In Santa Monica, California, the City Council adopted a law in 2018 that prohibits landlords from evicting families with a K-12 student during the school year under certain circumstances. But it doesnt block evictions when tenants didnt pay their rent. Washington State created a program in 2016 that gave funding to childrens families who were at danger of becoming homeless, helping with the cost of bills, security deposits, overdue rent and more.

For now, McCaul has caught up on her rent, but she said theres no way of knowing if she will be able to pay the rest of the year.

So what am I supposed to do? And no one can really tell me, theyre just like, Youre kind of in a rock and a hard place, McCaul said. Whats left to pay? Or can I pay? Because I need a phone. Because I need to make doctors appointments. I need my electricity so I can cook and feed my children. Its just complicated. Its super complicated.
US supports Indonesia in developing new capital city

By Vietnam News Agency Thu, March 7, 2024 | 10:51 pm GMT+7

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has approved grant funding of IDR31.3 billion (over $2 million) to Indonesia to develop its new capital city of Nusantara (IKN).

Speaking at a press conference held by the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia on Thursday, USTDA Director Enoh T. Ebong said that the U.S. provides funding to the Nusantara Capital Authority for technical assistance to develop detailed designs, technical specifications, procurement documentation, and a capacity building strategy to support the development of Nusantaras priority smart city infrastructure.

U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) Director Enoh T. Ebong (L) and Nusantara National Capital Authority (OIKN) Chairman Bambang Susantono in a press conference in Jakarta, March 7, 2024. Photo courtesy of id.usembassy.gov.

Next month, the USTDA will host a reverse trade mission to bring to the U.S. an Indonesian delegation of senior officials and decision-makers to New York, Texas and California to meet U.S. experts on infrastructure, policy and management in order to help the Southeast Asian overcome challenges on infrastructure that developing countries are facing.

At the press conference, Chairman of the Nusantara National Capital Authority (IKN) Bambang Susantono said that IKN will not only be a green capital city but also a smart, inclusive and sustainable one.

It applies the latest technological advancements in various fields as a basis for city development to create a comprehensive ecosystem in addressing various aspects including smart governance, transportation and mobility, smart living, resources, energy, smart industry, human resources, environment and infrastructure.

According to the official, 20% of the investment in IKN is from the national budget, while the remaining funding is private capital.
AIKEN -- Battelle Savannah River Alliance LLC, the manager and operator of Savannah River National Laboratory, announced the availability of $125,000 for its 2024 K-12 Catalyst Grants for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education (STEM).

One-time grants in the amount of $2,500 or $5,000 are available to educators to advance classroom activities and programs relating to STEM. Applicants must be a certified K-12 teacher or school administrator in public, charter or independent STEM schools within the Central Savannah River Area.

Applications/proposals are being accepted now through May 31 and grants will be awarded in August.

The online application, Q&As and other information about the K-12 Catalyst Grants for STEM Education can be found at www.battellesra.org/catalyst.

Grant recipients will be selected by a diverse team of SRNL employees, who will judge each proposal using a scoring guide that includes the following measures:

Clear Description of Proposed Curriculum or Activity

Real-world Application

Connection to STEM

Purpose and Goals

Budget Description

Sharing of Lessons Learned

BSRA awarded $125,000 in STEM educational grants last year to 29 teachers at schools in the Georgia counties of Burke, Columbia, Lexington and Richmond, and in the South Carolina counties of Aiken, Barnwell, Edgefield and Orangeburg.

The Battelle Foundation Fund at the Columbus Foundation provided funding for the grants, which impacted more than 6,200 students in the CSRA. To see an example of how a Catalyst Grant was used this past year, visit https://srns-corpcomm.sharefile.com/public/share/web-s4fcae897523e4155a18695483fabe304.

In June 2021, Savannah River National Laboratory (www.srnl.gov) transitioned to management and operations under Battelle Savannah River Alliance, LLC, a not-for-profit limited liability company (www.battellesra.org).

The BSRA leadership includes Battelle Memorial Institute, South Carolina State University, Clemson University, the University of South Carolina, the University of Georgia, and Georgia Institute of Technology.

Battelle Memorial Institute and the above five universities are joined in partnership with Longenecker & Associates and TechSource Inc with a singular purpose of maintaining SRNL as a best-in-class national laboratory.
Former state representative Jerry Govan will seek the Democratic nomination for the House District 93 seat. Govan made the announcement at the State House on Tuesday.

Govan, who represented House District 95 from 1992 to 2022, said he will lean on his record of supporting education and economic development to court voters in the district.

Current Rep. Russell Ott, D-St. Matthews, will be running for the Senate District 26 seat and is not seeking re-election to the House.

Based upon my record of service as an effective legislator, educator and servant leader, I believe that I am the best positioned candidate that can step into the void left by Rep. Otts departure, Govan said.

The former representative said he will campaign on his record of promoting safe and high-quality education, health care, economic development, fair pay and effective and efficient government.

I envision a South Carolina where children learn and teachers teach, Govan said. I envision a South Carolina where high expectations and success are the norm rather than low expectations.

Govan said he recommended many school safety changes during his time in office that were implemented across the state, including placing metal detectors and more resource officers in schools.

The former representative said he will work with local officials to promote smart growth as development moves into the district from the coast.

Govan ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic nomination for state superintendent of education in 2022, after redistricting placed him and Ott in the same district. Govan did not seek re-election to the House after the redistricting.

House District 93 covers parts of Calhoun, Lexington and Orangeburg counties. It is much more diverse economically and demographically than his old seat in District 95 because of redistricting, Govan said.

Im going to listen very carefully, to voters, he said. I think before speaking out and saying what youre going to do, what youre not going to do, I think you have to first talk to the people that live there.

Once that election is over, for those of us who take that oath, and take it seriously, then you serve our constituents regardless of their race, creed, color, or political affiliation, he said.

Govan said he decided to run because of his lifelong community service. Also, he said he received several calls from district residents when Ott announced he would not seek re-election.

Govan said he has not been in contact with Ott since deciding to run. Ott could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Govans two-year absence from the State House wont have a large impact on his service if hes elected, as he still has many years of experience and relationships with other legislators, he said.

Of course I wont go back in as the second-ranking member, but the fact of the matter is  as you can see, coming up here  everyone up here knows me, feels comfortable with me he said. There are about as many people who work in the (State House) who are excited about my potentially coming back as those who are outside of the building.

Family members, lawmakers and local elected officials from the three counties in the district joined Govan at his announcement.

Rep. Leon Howard, D-Columbia, endorsed Govan and his record on economic development, education and health care.

It is very important that our colleague Jerry Govan returns to the South Carolina House of Representatives, Howard said. His voice has been missed.

Representative and incoming chair of the South Carolina Black Caucus Annie McDaniel, D-Fairfield, called Govan a statesman who loves people and the state.

As you know, we've had a lot of crazy legislation being proposed and he's one who will speak against that legislation, McDaniel said. And even though the legislation may pass, he makes sure that everyone will know the harm that its doing and the things that we can do to overcome it.

I am going to enjoy having him back, she said.

Orangeburg City Councilmember and Mayor Pro Tempore Liz Zimmerman Keitt also endorsed Govan.

We need you, we want you, we are supporting you and we will do all we can to have you return, because with your passion, pride and dignity, we know you will do the work for us, she said.

Johnny Felder, son of former District 93 Rep. John Felder, has also announced his intention to run for the Democratic nomination for the seat.
State Sen. Vernon Stephens, D-Bowman, announced Monday that hes running for re-election to the District 39 seat.

Stephens said he will continue his efforts to improve South Carolinas education system.

Education drives the economic development train and until we embrace that, were not going to grow as a state, in every portion of the state, as we should, he said.

Stephens announced his re-election campaign Monday at the Orangeburg County Library. He was joined by state Sen. Ronnie Sabb, D-Greeleyville; Orangeburg County Council Chairman Johnnie Wright; former state representative Jerry Govan and others.

Stephens said hell continue to prioritize the issues he ran on four years ago: education, the environment, economic development, health care and infrastructure.

He said his successes include securing funding for tutoring programs in Orangeburg County, which he hopes will soon roll out in Dorchester County as well.

Increasing teacher pay is a major platform of his re-election campaign.

Stephens wants South Carolinas teacher pay to surpass the average teachers salary in the Southeast and approach the national average. The $45,000 figure recommended in Gov. Henry McMasters proposed budget isnt high enough, he said.

Some may think thats a far-fetched goal, but if you want to be competitive and youre going to bring the best of the best to the school system in South Carolina, youve got to pay accordingly, Stephens said. I mean, it is not a very viable profession to be in now if youre hoping to take care of a family.

Public school teachers in the state make between $42,000 and $75,000 according to their level of education and experience, according to the state Department of Education.

Sabb gave the Bowman senator credit for boosting South Carolina State Universitys allocation in this years state budget, which he believes will be one of the largest investments ever alongside last years $54 million.

Stephens mentioned his participation in Senate debates on abortion three days after he took office.

I was there pressing and advocating for the rights of women and I will continue to do so, he said.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed disparities in the accessibility and affordability in the states health care system, Stephens said.

Get The Times and Democrat app today Local news has never been this personal. Free to download. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access.

We need to fix that, he said. We need to partner with local health agencies. We need to partner with our state-supported hospitals in ensuring that these communities have the affordable health care that should be for every citizen in South Carolina.

Stephens said he will continue to work to bring economic development to the Orangeburg area, matching opportunities in the Upstate and coastal areas.

As we grow South Carolina, our small towns have to grow as well, he said.

Stephens said he will help prepare Orangeburg County for future growth.

Orangeburg County is right now on the brink of great things, he said.

Stephens highlighted his work supporting local projects, including the Lake Marion pedestrian bridge and the St. George Rosenwald School restoration. Hes also supported municipalities seeking water and sewage grants.

Hes co-sponsoring the states medical marijuana legalization bill, which passed the Senate and is waiting on a House vote, and COVID-19 related tax breaks.

Stephens said hell continue supporting pay raises for state employees. He is currently pushing for the Senate to add a 1.5% raise for state employees on top of the 1.5% already present in the Houses proposed budget.

Sabb, who shares office space with Stephens in the State House, said hes seen Stephens character and work ethic first hand.

Stephens has consistently been on the right side of history on topics such as teacher pay and womens reproductive rights.

It's just been my pleasure and privilege to stand with him on the political issues that are facing our state, Sabb said. I think when you analyze where an individual should be who has compassion, and has vision, that's where you find Sen. Stephens.

Orangeburg County School District Board member Mary Berry Ulmer endorsed Stephens.

He is a great advocate for the state of South Carolina, for the county, and he's a great advocate for our students, Ulmer said. I can recall numerous long hours, 2 a.m. in the morning, where we are on the phone planning, strategizing for the needs of our children here in Orangeburg County and the state of South Carolina, she said.

Govan spoke of his personal experience working with Stephens.

I speak not of what I think but what I know because we've had a chance working together on the frontlines trying to ensure that every child in the state of South Carolina receives a quality education, Govan said.

Orangeburg County Council Chairman Johnnie Wright endorsed Stephens and said the senator had supported him in his own re-election campaigns.

He has always been an advocate for education, Wright said. He is an advocate for our community. We need his leadership. I just hope that each and every person can understand how important it is to have somebody there to recognize and advocate for you and I hope that they will do their very best in supporting him.

Stephens currently represents portions of Orangeburg, Calhoun, Berkeley, Colleton and Dorchester counties.

Following the last U.S. Census, Senate 39 was redrawn to include larger portions of Berkeley County, losing areas of Orangeburg and Dorchester counties and completely removing Calhoun and Colleton counties.

Stephens said the percentage of the voting Black population in the district decreased from 56 percent to 39 percent, which he thinks could hurt his chances as historically Blacks have voted for Blacks, whites have voted for whites.

Ive been able to cross over in my past campaigning for Republicans and whites in all five of the counties, he said. So I look forward to continuing to bridge that gap and get them on board because of my track record.

There is also an opportunity for Stephens to court independent voters who have recently moved to the growing areas of Berkeley County in the district, he said. The Charleston metro area has long attracted new arrivals from blue states.

Stephens will look to set up town halls, attend community government meetings and recruit locals for his campaign to attract those voters, he said.

I just cant go into the community and talk, and not embrace the communitys concerns and get those individuals who are part of that community involved in the process, he said.
The South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulations South Carolina Fire Academy graduated 25 recruits March 1 from its eight-week firefighter candidate school in Columbia.

These firefighters underwent a 320-hour training program of classroom and hands-on firefighting skills development. The keynote speaker was Chief Truss Johnson, St. Pauls Fire District.

Among the 25 was Mason Polin of the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety.

Today, we celebrate graduation and welcome these new members to the South Carolina fire service, State Fire Academy Superintendent Jason Pope said. The past eight weeks have been a challenging program requiring commitment, passion and dedication. These recruits have worked together as a team, performed extensive hands-on training with live fires, and passed intensive practical skills evaluations and written tests to meet the National Fire Protection Association standards.

The comprehensive training, offered quarterly at the Fire Academy, includes emergency responder first aid training, hazardous materials operations training, auto extrication, flammable liquids and gas firefighting, rescue training, and National Fire Protection Association Firefighter I and Firefighter II levels.

From this day on, these new firefighters will be dedicating their lives to serving their communities and the state, Pope said. All of us at State Fire are proud of their accomplishments. I also want to commend the dedicated Fire Academy instructors who brought the recruits through these weeks of instruction leading to graduation.

sc fire academy Shown are, front row, from left, Robert Reyna, St. Andrews Public Service District; Richard Temple, Clinton Fire Department; Mark Nagy, Blufft

The following recruits graduated:

 Jeffrey Adams, St. Pauls Fire District

 Justin Arce, Jasper County Fire-Rescue

 Hunter Barnes, McCormick County Emergency Services

 JonTara Brown, Aiken Department of Public Safety

 Ethan Bryan, Walterboro Fire Department

 Trevor Dauphinee, Jasper County Fire-Rescue

 Jonathan Davis, West Columbia Fire Department

 Shakia Deloach, Jasper County Fire-Rescue

 Erik Haines, Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue

 William Howard, Pelham-Batesville Fire Department

 Cody Icenhour, Aiken Department of Public Safety

 Eric Johnson, West Columbia Fire Department

 Viktor Makarov, Clemson University Fire Department

 Ayinde Martin, Virgin Islands Port Authority

 Dazonte Mathurin, Virgin Islands Port Authority

 Mark Nagy, Bluffton Township Fire District

 Andrew Polasek, Aiken Department of Public Safety

 Mason Polin, Orangeburg DPS

 Robert Reyna, St. Andrews Public Service District

 William Richardson III, Bluffton Township Fire District

 Jake Schultz, Isle of Palms Fire Department

 Lana Smith, Clemson University Fire Department

 Richard Temple, Clinton Fire Department

 Adam Van Horn, Dorchester County Fire Rescue

 Bryce Wojcik, West Columbia Fire Department

The following awards were also presented:



Order of the Maltese: Jonathan Davis, West Columbia Fire Department: The class recruits choose this award recipient. The Maltese Cross is a firefighters badge of honor, signifying that he or she works in courage  a ladder rung away from death. The eight obligations of The Maltese Cross are live in truth, repent of sins, love justice, be sincere and whole-hearted, have faith, give proof of humility, be merciful, and endure persecution.

Chief Robert Frick: Cody Icenhour, Aiken Department of Public Safety

The Chief Robert Frick Award is awarded to the recruit with the highest grade point average.

Pride of the Battalion: Mark Nagy, Bluffton Township Fire District

The Pride of the Battalion award is given to the recruit who has demonstrated Leadership, Integrity, Determination, and Good Value. The instructor staff who worked with the recruits during the eight-week program chose this award recipient.

The Fire Academy provides emergency services training to the municipal fire service - both paid and volunteer - airport crash rescue departments, industrial fire brigades, and emergency teams and service organizations including EMS, law enforcement, and military from around the state and the world. The Fire Academy is accredited by the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress and the National Board on Fire Service Professional Qualifications (Pro Board) for multiple NFPA firefighter levels.

The Fire Academy and the State Fire Marshals Office make up the Division of Fire and Life Safety, which is a division of the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
Shown are Dr. James Stukes, SC State professor of biology and LOWVELO coordinator; Jaclyn Summers, recruitment and fundraising coordinator for LOWVELO, and I'Ayana Sanders, SC State student coordinator for LOWVELO and U54 scholar. Not pictured are Dr. Judith Salley, chair of SC States Department of Biological and Physical Sciences and Dr. Marvella Ford, associate director, Office of Community Outreach and Engagement, Hollings Cancer Center.
You have reached a premium content area of Transitions. To read this entire article please login if you are already a Transitions subscriber.



Not a subscriber?



Subscribe today for access to:

Full access to the website, including premium articles videos, country reports and searchable archives (containing over 25,000 articles).


The future is bright for Hells Half Acre, an area west of Casper known for its striking geologic landmarks.

Last fall, a committee composed of the Natrona County Parks and Recreation Department, Visit Casper and subcommittee members of the Natrona County Outdoor Rec Collaborative came to the county commission with a plan: reopen the Hells Half Acre trailhead and restore the interior for tourists. At the time, the Star-Tribune reported, the committee estimated that the project would cost about $200,000.

Access has been severely limited since 2005, when the hotel and restaurant that was located on top of the ravine closed. Though the public can still access the area to view it, thats about all they can do, the Star-Tribune previously reported.

According to an update given at Tuesdays County Commissioners work session, the project has received several grants, with a few more still pending, said Natrona County Parks and Recreation Department Director Michael Brown . And, Wyoming Outdoor Recreation has pledged $100,000, provided that trail access is opened up at the bottom.

Already, $90,000 has been given for a boardwalk leading up to a chain link fence at the edge of the chasm, he said. The Pathways Innovation Center, which is part of the Natrona County School District, will help build the boardwalk in sections this fall.

Brown told commissioners that parks staff wants to get out there next spring to do a general cleanup.

Some of this may happen this fall, but were gonna do a general cleanup this spring just to kind of make it look a little bit better out there, he said.

Progress has been made and is, for the most part, funded, he said. Brown is just the county for help grading the parking lot and providing gravel to eliminate some potholes.
The story of Wyomingite Larry Sissy Goodwin, known for his penchant for wearing womens clothing as a married, heterosexual man, will make its stage premiere at the Broadway Theater in Rock Springs.

While the play, based on Goodwins life, has had a statewide tour before, it will run, for the first time, regularly in Rock Springs.

Born to oilfield origins, Sissys passions took him all around the world, though he always returned home to Wyoming. In his early years, Goodwin labored to be a masculine, bronc-riding cowboy, but this was to hide his preference for feminine clothing. He eventually came out as a proud heterosexual male whose outfits tended toward the frilly side, which caused challenges for himself and his family, a press release from the theater synopsizes the play.

Goodwin died in March 2020, from brain cancer.

The titular and only role of Goodwin will be played by Cory Schaeperkoetter, an actor as well as a cosplay and drag artist. The free show will feature a talkback session after each performance. During that time, attendees can ask guests  including the playwright, Gregory Hinton and Goodwins wife, Vickie Goodwin  questions.

In an email to the Star-Tribune, Hinton explained that he reached out to Vickie just 12 days after Sissy passed away, inspired by a feature on Sissy that appeared on the front page of the Los Angeles Times. Hinton told her that he wanted to write a play based on Sissys life, and Vickie agreed to participate in oral interviews done by archivist Leslie Waggener at the University of Wyomings American Heritage Center. Those transcripts provided the foundation for Hinton to start writing. Each draft was reviewed and approved by Vickie, he said.

It was a deeply moving process. Vickie is my hero for taking it on, so soon after Sissy passed away. I still cant believe my gall! he wrote in that email. But it allowed a catharsis for her. And after our eight city tour of Wyoming, we saw first hand the effect that A Sissy in Wyoming had on our audiences. Sissy wrote itself. .

A Sissy in Wyoming first saw the light of day when it toured the state, along with Vickie and Hinton, in 2022.

Hinton also emphasized in a following email how excited he is to see the role of Sissy portrayed by Schaeperkoetter.

Vickie shared with the Star-Tribune in another email that she sent several of Sissys favorite items of clothing, including petticoats, down for the play. She wasnt sure if any would make an appearance in the performance itself. One of Sissys favorite dresses lives at the Wyoming State Museum.

In response to a question asking what she thought Sissy might think of the play if he were able to see it, she wrote, I suspect Sissy would be a little embarrassed but very proud.

The play opens at the Broadway Theater on March 15 at 7 p.m.
ENERGY Minister Stuart Young has taken umbrage at comments made by Ronald Harford, former chairman of Republic Financial Holdings Ltd, as he boasted about the success of the energy sector.

Young said whenever somebody becomes a former, their mouth gets big, as he quoted from an article in Fridays Express report where Harford made critical comments.
A new camera system is being installed along this countrys roadways with the aim of tackling traffic congestion and reducing the countrys crime.

This was said yesterday by Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan, who spoke with the media at the intersection of the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway and Golden Grove Road in Piarco.
Iran confiscates crude oil of U.S.-bound oil tanker

Xinhua) 10:00, March 07, 2024

TEHRAN, March 6 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian court has ordered to confiscate the crude oil worth 50 million U.S. dollars aboard an oil tanker that Iran seized in the Sea of Oman last year, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday.

The unloading of the U.S. cargo is said to be a retaliatory measure against U.S. sanctions, which prevented the sale of critical medicine for Iranian victims of a rare skin disease.

The U.S.-bound Marshall Island-flagged oil tanker, named Advantage Sweet, was seized by Iranian naval forces in April last year south of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran said the seizure was made after the tanker had collided with an Iranian fishing craft, which resulted in the injury and missing of a number of the Iranian crew members, and had attempted to flee the scene in serious breach of international laws and regulations.

The United States, in August 2023, unloaded a cargo of Iranian oil off the coast of Texas from a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, named Suez Rajan, which it had seized earlier.

The same tanker, although under the new name of St Nikolas, was seized by Iran's navy in the Sea of Oman in January this year following a judicial order, with the country's authorities citing the reason as retaliation for the U.S. "stealing" of Iran's oil in April 2023.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
A Muslim cleric has come under heavy criticism after he called for the killing of Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Nigerias First Lady. A video emerged of the cleric describing Senator Oluremi as an infidel who should be killed for being a pastor.

Tinubus wife is an unbeliever and even among the unbelievers, she is a leader, said Idris Tenshi, an Islamic cleric during a sermon in the local Hausa language.

The cleric quotes the Quran as a basis for his claims but did not provide the specific chapter or verse to back his claim justifying the call to kill the First Lady.

She is among those that Allah has instructed us to kill because she is among the leaders of the unbelievers, he said in the undated video circulating on social media.

Senator Oluremi is an ordained minister with the Redeemed Christian Church of God and is married to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a Muslim who served as the Governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007.

Following widespread condemnation, the cleric appeared on a recent video apologizing to the First Lady and admitted that his comments were a mistake.

I would like to pass this message to Nigerians regarding a video circulating on social media. All the things I said were a mistake and I dont stand on the words I said. Other clerics have given me a proper explanation of the verse that I quoted, said the cleric.

In a 2020 interview in TVC, Sen. Oluremi said that her faith has not been a source of conflict with President Tinubu.

The point is he is quite respectful of my faith and if someone respects you it is quite right you show the same respect. He respects my faith, I respect his so there is no conflict, said Sen. Oluremi who gave her life to Christ when she was exiled to the US in the 80s.

The Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (YOWICAN) called for the arrest and prosecution of the cleric urging security authorities to take urgent action against the cleric. The chairman of YOWICANs National Executive Council, Belusochukwo Enwere, in a statement said that the cleric should be restricted from preaching in Nigeria.

The NEC is giving the federal government and security agencies to act immediately to avoid further deterioration of the security situation in the country because of the unguided statement or utterance, said Enwere.

Chief convener of Arewa Think Tank, Muhammad Yakubu, also condemned the clerics comments terming them unacceptable.

There has been rising cases of religious intolerance in Nigeria. 12 states in the North, for instance, have enacted penal sharia law and there have been increasing cases of lynching on the basis of illegal and unproven blasphemy accusations. In one of these states, Islamic police arrested a popular TikToker on 13 February for posting indecent and un-Islamic content.

A report by the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa revealed that abductions and attacks on communities based on religion increased from 2020, 2021 and 2022 periods. The report included attacks by Islamist jihadists Boko Haram, herder-farmer conflicts and retaliatory attacks. In 2022, 4,877 Christians were killed.
With ten people murdered between Thursday and Saturday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley took to Facebook yesterday to assure citizens that State agencies will not give up the fight to rid our streets and other places of the evil that is now widespread as a gun culture in Trinidad and Tobago.

And in a voice note to the media, Commissioner of Police Erla Christopher said, We are determined to dismantle criminal gangs and make a difference in transforming impacted communities.
The way that people speak to each other on sitcoms is frankly problematic. Imagine what would happen if you ever spoke to your friends the way Chandler Bing and Sheldon Cooper do. First, they would cry, then they would tearfully ask you if thats really what you think of them, then theyd kick you out of their house and never speak to you again. Everyone would feel bad about it, and youd lose at least one friend  more if any of your mutuals were around to witness, shake their heads and mutter, Not cool, dude.

You dont see it so much on dramas because they cant get away with saying, Just kidding, bruh, and it would be rightfully relationship-ending. When a prestige character does decide to go on the warpath, though, it can be even more blistering than any comedy. Whether they were already a known quantity of asshole or just ran fresh out of fucks to give, the zinger that would get a laugh track on NBC instead invites a chorus of Daaaaaaaaamn.

7 Romulus, when you laugh, please do it in the same volume as everyone else. We didnt get you from a hyena farm. Logan Roy never won any awards for Father of the Year, but the Succession patriarch would have been a definite contender in the extremely niche category of Scottish diss rap. He also would have cleaned up if they ever presented awards for bullying children into behaving (the Swirlies?). It never works because the Roy kids are the wildest of cards, but you cant say he didnt try.

6 A German Shepherds shaved asshole won first prize. In the first episode of the second half of the last season of The Sopranos (say that five times fast), Tony is playing Monopoly with his sister when she draws the ever-awkward Second Place in a Beauty Contest card, telling Tony, Go ahead, make your stupid joke. His response gets him knocked out by his brother-in-law because The Sopranos was renowned for portraying the gritty reality of both mob life and the consequences of insults. Advertisement

5 All you people ever think about is how to get into somebodys pants. You nasty. Thats why you got syphilis. No, this line isnt spoken during a scene requiring the Greys Anatomy doctors to dress up as various communicable diseases for a presentation. Theres a very real syphilis outbreak at Seattle Grace, and while its not not a whimsical one, it results in both a breakup and a fist fight. Dr. Bailey had already shown herself to be a sassy boss, but you cant call an underling nasty, and you definitely cant bring their sexually transmitted infections into it. Advertisement

4 Born amidst salt and smoke? Is he a ham? Nobody would call the Baratheons a clever bunch; just because they conquered the throne doesnt mean they deserved it, which is mostly what Game of Thrones is entirely about. Thats why, when Renly is chided by his brothers hype witch for not addressing him properly as the prophesied savior, its surprising that he unleashes one of the best burns of the whole series. He pays for it in short order, but they can never take that victory away from him. Advertisement

3 Youre a tiny, impotent Nazi with a bug up his butt the size of an emu. Cordelia Chase was the primary mouthpiece for Joss Whedons latent rage on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and this quip she fires off at Principal Snyder is possibly her harshest. Sure, it turns out he was conspiring with the demonic immortal mayor to maintain the supernatural stronghold over Sunnydale, which is rather Nazi-ish behavior, but we must advise against any vocal insinuations regarding your principals genocidal leanings or dick functioning. In fact, at the time, he was just trying to get the teenagers to stop groping each other in his educational institution, and we have to side with Snyder on that one. Advertisement Advertisement

2 I wasnt thinking about you when you were here. The best insults are one-ups, and this one was in response to evil lawyer Lilah Morgan after she tells Wesley not to go thinking about me when Im gone after their steaming hot hate sex in season three of Angel. Again, this is something we dont recommend saying to such a recent sexual partner while your genitals are still easily accessible, but to be fair, she is an evil lawyer, and not just in the way lawyers are usually evil.
Looking back, way back, to the first Tucson Festival of Books in 2009, it is easy to remember such literary lights as Elmore Leonard, Jacqueline Winspear and Craig Childs that weekend. Thomas Perry was there. So was Bob Odenkirk.

But chances are only a few of us will remember a soft-spoken young writing instructor from Pima Community College, a woman whose first book had been released just 17 days before the festival began.

Its true, I was there, Cantor laughed last week. My first book had just come out, and I talked about it on the Young Adult stage that year. Afterward, I signed a few books. Who knew theyd keep inviting me back?

Not only have they kept inviting her back  Cantor is making her 12th festival appearance this weekend  she has become one of Tucsons most popular authors, her ability to fill a room only a step or two behind such festival favorites Luis Alberto Urrea, J.A. Jance and T. Jefferson Parker.

Of all the big names on the marquee this weekend, only a handful will see fewer empty seats than will Cantor.

Tucson loves her, for sure, said Jody Hardy, a festival volunteer who selects novelists for the event. She has been a big draw here for a while now. Its cool that she was starting out as an author at the same time the festival started out as an event. Theyve kind of grown up together.

If you go What: 2024 Tucson Festival of Books When: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 9 and 10 Where: University of Arizona campus Cost: Free admission, bring money for books, food and merchandise Parking: Find a map of options at tucne.ws/tfobparking More info: tucsonfestivalofbooks.org

At least some of Cantors popularity here is provincial. All 12 of her books have been published since she arrived from Philadelphia in 2000. Still, there is far more to Cantors appeal than her ZIP code. Her characters are relatable, her plotlines unique. Her stories always have room for one more participant: you, the reader.

Tucson is simply the headquarters of the Jillian Cantor fan club. Consider this: Her latest novel, The Fiction Writer, was released Nov. 28 by Park Row. The initial press run was 75,000 copies, a big number for any modern author.

Clearly, the fiction writer who wrote The Fiction Writer has come a long way since that first visit to the book festival 15 years ago.

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect when I drove to the festival that first morning, Cantor confessed. My book had just come out two or three weeks before, and I had done a couple of small events here in Tucson. One was at Antigone, I think, the other at the Barnes & Noble store on Broadway. I just assumed the book festival would be something like those. Obviously, it wasnt. If Id known how many people would be there, I would have been a lot more nervous about it.

In 2010, Cantor returned with another young adult novel, The Life of Glass. In 2011, it was The Transformation of Things.

The tipping point in Cantors career came with the release of Margo in 2013. Writing this time for adults, she crafted a story featuring Anne Franks little-known sister.

Thats about the time I first starting hearing Jillians name, Hardy said. When I read Margo and found out she lived here in Tucson, I was pretty sure she would become popular here. Historical fiction was really starting to emerge as a popular genre. Jillian was a quality writer who had found her own niche, writing about women whod been forgotten by history. You see a lot of books like that now, but Margo was one of the first.

Cantor followed a similar formula with The Hours Count in 2015, The Lost Letter in 2017, and In Another Time in 2019. All three found their way onto the book festivals bestseller lists. Audiences learned to arrive early for her presentations.

Cantors last festival appearance was two years ago, when overflow crowds gathered to hear about her Gatsby spinoff, Beautiful Little Fools.

Sometimes, the festival finds her in places you wouldnt expect.

Not long ago I was out having lunch with a friend, and someone came up and knew who I was because she had seen me at the book festival, Cantor said. Thats not the sort of thing that ever happens to me.

Readers arent the only ones who have learned to love Cantors work. Her circle of appreciative peers is expanding, too. In the introduction of her own new book, The Leftover Woman, author Jean Kwok mentions Cantor by name.

Over the years, the Tucson Festival of Books has become a family outing at the Cantor house.

I dont think my boys came the first year, but they always came after that, she said. Not to see me. They were both big readers, and they wanted to meet R.L. Stine. They wanted to meet the authors they were reading over the years. They kind of grew up with the book festival, too.

The tradition will not be ending soon. Cantor is now completing the final edits on her next project, The Greatest Lie of All, scheduled for release next December.

Meet Jillian Cantor Jillian Cantor is scheduled to take part in two Tucson Festival of Books sessions. The first is "Authors with books about authors" on Saturday, March 9, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Koffler Building, Room 218. She's one of three writers on the panel whose books feature writer protagonists. She'll be in the sales and signing area in the UA BookStore tent on the mall following the session. Then on Sunday, March 10, from 4 to 5 p.m., you can catch Cantor at the "Twists, turns, tantalizing plots" panel, along with two other authors. That will be held in the Integrated Learning Center in Room 150. For more information and maps, visit tucne.ws/tfobcantor.

FOOTNOTES

Author J.A. Jance has invited the public to join her and the students of Bisbee High School for an on-campus assembly Monday, March 11, at 11 a.m. Jance, who will be here for the Tucson Festival of Books, was raised in Bisbee and is a graduate of Bisbee High. Her uber-popular Joanna Brady series of mysteries  featuring the sheriff of Cochise County  is set in Bisbee. Learn more at tucne.ws/jancebisbee.

The life and literature of Aurelie Sheehan will be celebrated Thursday, March 21, at the University of Arizona Poetry Center. The author of six books and a professor in the universitys Department of English for 24 years, Sheehan died on Aug. 13. Friends, colleagues and former students are welcome to attend a program that will begin at 7 p.m. Visit tucne.ws/uapcsheehan for more information.

Pushcart Prize-winning poet John Murillo will appear at the UA Poetry Center Thursday, March 14, at 7 p.m. Get more information at tucne.ws/uapcmurillo.
A Tucson orthodontist and his wife have been indicted on suspicion of wire fraud at the office where they both worked, authorities say.

Dr. Andrew L. Kassman and his wife, Laurie Ann Kassman, were indicted by a federal grand jury last week on seven counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Federal officials say they diverted at least $73,000 from an orthodontic practice he previously owned, said a U.S. Attorneys Office news release.

A new owner purchased the practice on Aug. 1, 2019. Andrew Kassman continued to work there as a salaried orthodontist. Laurie Kassman kept her job as the office manager.

Kassman and the new owner entered into an agreement that all fees received or collected for his services would belong to the new owner. Kassman, however, kept his former business account open and would later use it to facilitate his scheme, according to the indictment.

Laurie Kassman, who was in charge of patient accounts and payments, used her knowledge of the systems to help conceal the couples embezzlement scheme by manipulating patient financial records, the indictment says.

She is accused of, on at least one occasion, concealing that a $4,497 cash payment had been made by failing to document the transaction. The funds were allegedly never deposited into the new practices account.

Even after Laurie Kassman was fired on Oct. 25, 2021, she continued her ruse to defraud, the indictment says.

Dr. Kassman has been a well-respected member of the medical healthcare community as an orthodontist here in Arizona for many decades. He is innocent of any wrongdoing here, said Joshua Hamilton, his attorney. The governments allegations against him are false, and we will fight these bogus charges tooth and nail in the courtroom. Rest assured, he will be vindicated in the end.

A conviction for either charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the news release said.

A hearing in the case is set for March 15, in U.S. District court here.
A food truck famous for its giant bacon-wrapped burrito has opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant on Tucsons south side.

Only a mile separates Percheron Mexican Grill the food truck at 4860 S. 12th Ave. from the new 3,600-square-foot Percheron Mexican Grill restaurant at 444 W. Ajo Way, but owner Diego Valencias philosophy for the twin eateries takes him on a slightly different route.

While the food truck, which he opened in 2013 on the corner of South 12th and West Irvington Road, offers steak, pork and vegetarian burritos, Sonoran hot dogs, quesadillas and caramelos, the brick-and-mortar version, which opened Feb. 29 on the corner of South 12th and West Ajo, is leaning more into the fast-food model of some national burger chains.

We want to focus on the burrito and Sonoran hot dog combos, he said  think meals complete with a drink and fries. We want to do it fast and good and give it to the customer at a good price.

The new restaurant only offers carne asada burritos, although you can get it regular or wrapped in bacon, a specialty that put Percheron on the foodie map in 2017 and forced the restaurant to change its name from WhataBurro once the Texas burger chain with a similar name got wind of it.

You can get the burritos and hot dogs a la carte, as well as carne asada tacos, quesadillas and caramelos. And unlike the food truck, the restaurant opens at 5 a.m. to serve breakfast burritos made with chorizo, bacon or ham.

Valencia has been considering opening the second location since he bought the building in 2019, after the Mexican restaurant El Ta Comiendo closed. For three years, he used the space as a commissary kitchen to support the food truck and for storage before renovating the building.

When you are thinking of carne asada burritos, we want you to think of Percheron, he said.

Making the jump

Percheron is the latest Tucson food truck to expand to a brick-and-mortar. Last November, the longtime Tucson hot dog stand Brucedog took the plunge and opened up shop in a strip mall at 5975 W. Western Circle Way, off West 36th Street. That was around the same time that Cuppa Gogo went from its candy-apple-red mobile operation to a storefront at 4877 E. Speedway.

Last year, the Mexican food truck El Antojo Poblano made the transition in February into a west side location at 1108 W. St. Marys Road followed in the spring by The Coop, which spun off from the food truck Cowpig and settled into American Eat Co. on South Fourth Avenue. To find where Cowpig is parked, visit them at tucne.ws/cowpigfb.

In February, the grilled cheese food truck Special Eats, which employs adults with special needs, spun off Special Eats Sweets, which opened its brick-and-mortar location at 5009 E. Fifth St.

Tucson has a solid track record of successful restaurants born from food trucks, including the grandaddy of them all, Eegees, which started as a cart in 1971 and is now a chain of nearly 30 locations in Tucson and the Phoenix area. Serial Grillers, which opened its first brick-and-mortar in fall 2013, now has four locations, as well as the Detroit-style pizzeria Transplant next door to its taproom, Craft, A Modern Drinkery, both on East Speedway.
A Christian owner of a cafe in Pakistan has garnered praise for protecting a Muslim woman from an angry mob that accused her of blasphemy for wearing a dress that they mistakenly believed bore verses of the Quran.

In Lahores bustling Ichhra Bazaar market, the woman, whose identity was not revealed for security reasons, was reportedly strolling through shops with her husband on Feb. 26. Noticing the Arabic calligraphy on her dress, a Muslim reportedly began following the couple, eventually intercepting the woman near a cafe and demanding she change her dress.

When she questioned his mistaken accusation that the Arabic calligraphy included verses of the Quran, the Muslim reportedly attempted to strip off her dress. She began screaming, and he retaliated by accusing her of committing blasphemy, as passersby and other shopkeepers looked on, the cafe owner said.

Soon 400 to 600 people besieged the couple, some brandishing knives while one reportedly brought out a loaded gun. The mob shouted provocative slogans like, Gustakh-e-Rasool Ki Aik Hi Saza, Sarr Tann Se Judda, or The only punishment for blasphemy is to behead the blasphemer, the owner said.

Seeing the commotion, the Christian owner of the cafe, 33-year-old Johnson Tariq, stepped outside to secure the panicked couple from the unruly mob. Aided by two Muslim employees, Tariq confronted the protestors, led the beleaguered couple into his cafe, lowered the metal, roll-down gate and locked the door, he said.

The mob threatened to set the shop on fire if Tariq refused to open the gate and hand the woman over to them, he said.

I believe it was my Christian faith that gave me the courage to hold my ground, Tariq told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. I was determined not to let them harm the couple, particularly the woman, who was completely petrified by them.

Before police arrived, he said, local clerics also came and attempted to control the mob.

We could hear them appealing to the mob not to take the law into their own hands, Tariq said. Thankfully, the police arrived in time and asked me to let them into my shop. I opened the shutter for them, and some policemen came inside while some stood guard outside. After some minutes, a female police officer reached there and rescued the woman from the frenzied mob.

Father of a 1-year-old daughter, Tariq has been running the cafe in the busy market for more than two years. Though it is uncommon for Christians to run food businesses in Pakistan as Muslims tend to avoid them, Tariq said the cafe has been quite successful.

My elder brother also runs a food joint near my cafe, and the entire market knows we are Christian  we have never hidden our Christian faith from anyone, he said. Though some people do show religious prejudice, no one has bothered our business yet.

Initially his efforts went unnoticed, with mainstream media focusing all attention on the female police officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police Gulberg Circle Syeda Shehrbano Naqvi. Only after social media users pointed out Tariqs faith did people take to social media to acknowledge his role.

I was surprised when some acquaintances showed me my photograph in the newspaper, Tariq told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. Many YouTubers are now coming to my cafe to make videos, but I prefer to keep a low profile. Such publicity can be detrimental to my business.

Several Islamic leaders lauded him on social media, including leading progressive scholar Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza. In a video released on Sunday (March 3), Mirza said, The real hero of the Ichhra incident is the Christian cafe owner who shielded the victim and her husband from the volatile mob who were baying for their blood. The man was the womans only defender till the time police arrived on the scene, otherwise God knows what would have happened to her. The government must act against people who incite others to violence in the name of religion.

Some Christians expressed fears for Tariqs security, saying the attention could endanger his business.

Our Christian brother did the right thing by saving the woman, but now his photographs are being shared on social media, which may cause trouble for him, social activist Riaz Aasi told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. Christians should exercise caution for the sake of his security.
PHOENIX  Republican lawmakers are moving to extend laws designed to protect people against racial, sexual and religious discrimination to gun manufacturers and dealers.

On a party-line vote Wednesday, the GOP-lead House Judiciary Committee approved legislation that would require banks that want to do business with state and local governments to certify they dont and wont discriminate against a firearm entity. Those that refuse would be denied access to any government contract worth $100,000 or more.

That means contracts for everything from handling a citys payroll to helping school districts sell bonds. Foes of the measure said that could end up hitting Arizonans in the wallet.

The proposal by Sen. Frank Carroll, R-Sun City West, follows decisions by some financial institutions across the nation to refuse to serve some elements of the firearms industry.

Most notable is Citigroup, which announced in 2018 it would not do business with retailers who sell firearms to customers who have not passed a background check or who are younger than 21. That covers Citigroup-issued credit cards, loans, banking services or raising capital on the borrowing market through the bank.

Those same restrictions apply to firms that sell high-capacity magazines and bump stocks, a mechanical device that effectively turns a semi-automatic rifle into a machine gun. Such a device was used in 2017 to massacre 58 people at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas.

And JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon testified at a congressional committee that the investment banking firm doesnt do business with manufacturers of military-style weapons for civilian use. There was a similar announcement in 2018 by Bank of America.

Carroll told committee members that banks have gone into the social justice lane to make decisions about whether they like something or not.

That infringes on the Second Amendment, he said. So this is an opportunity to put an end to that.

Carroll shepherded an identical provision through the Legislature last year only to have it vetoed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. This time he has crafted it to bypass the governor and put the issue on the November ballot.

His SCR1007 already was approved by the Senate. That means it needs just final House action to go to voters.

Wednesdays vote came over the objections of Wendy Briggs, lobbyist for the Arizona Banking Association.

She noted that state and federal laws prohibit banks from refusing to serve customers based on their race, religion, sex or other factors. Briggs said lawmakers are conflating those constitutional protections against discrimination with purely commercial decisions made by banks.

Theyre not a protected class, she said of gun manufacturers and dealers.

Strictly speaking, nothing in SCR1007 would force banks to do business with firearms manufacturers and dealers. Instead, it would provide a penalty to those that dont because they would lose government business.

Briggs said she cant say why some banks have made that decision. But she said similar laws in Texas, Florida and Oklahoma have resulted in some financial institutions simply deciding theyd rather leave the state than comply.

That possibility worried Megan Kintner of the Arizona Association of Counties. She said having fewer banks provides fewer options for county treasurers who contract with banks to take care of certain services.

We have seen, in Texas for example, a lot of banks withdrawing from the state, Kintner said, which she said created problems for local governments that already have a hard time getting financial services at a reasonable price.

Briggs said fewer banks bidding to lend money or handle bond sales is bound to drive up costs, which costs the taxpayers.

There is evidence to back that up.

A 2022 study conducted by a University of Pennsylvania professor and a Federal Reserve economist concluded that local governments and school districts in Texas seeking to finance projects through bonding have paid between $300 million and $500 million in additional interest costs since that state enacted a law in 2021 similar to the one proposed in Arizona.

The Arizona measure drew the support of Michael Infanzon. He lobbies on behalf of the Arizona Citizens Defense League and the Arizona Firearms Industry Trade Association.

SCR1007 is not about firearms, he told lawmakers. Its about upholding the principles of nondiscrimination in contracts, a cornerstone of our free market system.

Rep. Justin Heap, R-Mesa, said he sees the issue as protecting the constitutional right of gun ownership.

Briggs, of the bankers group, said that misses the point.

The Second Amendment allows them to own firearms, it allows them to buy firearms, she said. It does not say that those entities that sell those get to bank wherever they want to bank.

She pointed out its not just banks that have made decisions about firearms.

Dicks Sporting Goods, for example, stopped selling assault-style weapons. It also banned high-capacity magazines and bump stocks.

And Walmart, the nations largest retailer, stopped selling handguns and certain rifles. It also raised the minimum age to purchase weapons and ammunition to 21.
PHOENIX  The Legislature sent a measure Wednesday to Gov. Katie Hobbs to override many local zoning laws in the name of affordable housing.

On a bipartisan vote Wednesday, the Senate approved legislation that would limit the ability of large cities, of 70,000 or more people, to mandate everything from lot sizes and setbacks to design standards.

The House already gave its blessing to whats been dubbed the Arizona Starter Homes Act, so its now on the governors desk.

Gubernatorial press aide Christian Slater said he had no comment on whether Hobbs will sign or veto the measure.

Under other circumstances, legislation to provide more latitude to developers and to override local regulations might largely be a partisan affair in the Republican-controlled Legislature. But that was not the case on Wednesday, as seven of the 14 Senate Democrats supported the bill  and six of the 16 Republicans opposed it.

Sen. Anna Hernandez, D-Tucson, detailed for colleagues how her parents built their first starter home and it became a place where the family shared experiences.

I love seeing the bipartisan support behind this because its showing that we understand the impact of policy like HB 2570 that will deliver and put us on the path to make home ownership a reality for all of our people, she said. Im proud to go back to our community and say that, hey, we were able to put aside partisan politics and deliver good solutions that are so necessary in the moment of a housing crisis.

Hobbs has never addressed the question of zoning and local regulation as a barrier to affordable housing.

The Democratic governor has instead focused on asking lawmakers to approve programs including down-payment assistance and mortgage-rate relief for eligible families. But she has not provided any plans for where the state would get that money.

HB 2570, spearheaded by GOP majority leaders Leo Biasiucci in the House and Sonny Borrelli in the Senate, both from Lake Havasu City, focuses instead on the premise that the cost of homes can be driven down by overriding some local government regulation.

At least one group already is urging a veto.

This bill would allow a mishmash of construction in existing neighborhoods, posting a threat to existing homes property values and residents quality of life, said Neal Haddad, president of the Neighborhood Coalition of Greater Phoenix.

The organization also pointed out that nothing in the legislation guarantees it will increase the supply of affordable housing. Instead, it says that developers remain free to build what they want at whatever prices the market will bear.

The measure was one of four approved by the Senate dealing with housing availability and affordability. Others include:

 Requiring larger cities to permit accessory dwelling units on lots for single-family homes, with limits on the restrictions that can be placed on them;

 Mandating that larger cities must permit residential and mixed-use development on land zoned for commercial, office, retail or parking space;

 Imposing new requirements on cities to speed up building permit inspections.

Those three bills must now get House approval if they are to go to the governor.

What cities couldnt regulate

As the bill Hobbs now has was originally written, developers would have been able to put up a home on a lot of any size. Lawmakers agreed to scrap that in favor of a minimum lot size of 1,500 feet.

The final version also does allow cities to require homes to be set back from streets, but bars any rule requiring that setback to be more than 10 feet. And homes could be just 5 feet away from a neighboring home on the sides or backs.

Also gone from the list of things cities could require would be specific design, architectural or aesthetic elements for new homes. They also could not mandate that developers set up homeowner associations, which would have the responsibility, through dues on property owners, to maintain everything from walls to landscaping.

In a bid to pick up some votes, proponents also agreed to exempt cities of fewer than 70,000 residents from the proposed new restrictions. That cuts the scope of the legislation to just 16 of the states 91 cities.

Still, HB 2570 barely scraped by, getting the minimum 16 votes required for approval.

Statewide housing crisis

At the heart of the debate is to what extent local regulations and zoning make housing more expensive.

HB 2570 and the related bills lay the blame squarely on cities.

Were here because the American dream of homeownership has become unattainable for many hardworking Arizona families and young adults, Senate President Warren Petersen said at a news conference in January introducing the plan.

That blame is spelled out in the measure itself.

It has become virtually impossible for many Arizonans to achieve the American dream of owning their own home, HB 2570 says. This statewide housing crisis is caused in no small part due to highly restrictive regulations imposed by municipalities.

Legislators goal is to spur the development of starter homes, smaller homes that could be much less expensive than the traditional tract homes that dominate the states single-family home housing market. Reducing lot size would help developers pack more homes into a project and reduce costs.

Home prices in Arizona have skyrocketed. The median price for a detached single-family home in metro Phoenix sits at $430,000, a 53% rise just since 2020.
The surge in demand for solar power, standby generators and electrical vehicle charging stations led Jason Adair to open Native American Energy in 2023. Adair, who has owned Adair Electric in Tulsa for more than 25 years, started the new enterprise to bring turnkey service to residential and commercial customers who need energy solutions.

Doing it all

Bringing a new generator online involves a lot of moving parts, Adair said. Native American Energy handles the process from start to finish, unlike other companies that hire separate contractors for each step. We take care of it all, including consulting, engineering, pouring the concrete, bringing natural gas, diesel or propane to the equipment, electrical contracting, and completing the installation and commissioning, he said. This one-stop shop approach saves customers time and money, and they dont have to act as their own project managers.

We coordinate all the scheduling to make the project happen, Adair said. Weve gotten residential and small generator projects done in a little over a day for customers who were told by someone else that it will take a month.

Expert training and certification

Native American Energy employees have completed the additional training and certification required to be a factory-authorized dealer of Generac, Cummins and Briggs & Stratton equipment for generators, Chargetronix, Tesla and Blink for EV stations and Stellantis for solar energy.

Some companies can only sell the equipment and thats it. We sell, install and service the products, Adair explained. In addition, Native American Energy is sometimes called on to rescue a project that another company started and couldnt complete. We make the process smoother and quicker with our work ethic and communication, he said.

Speedier charging

As more auto dealerships are required to have EV charging stations and as more consumers decide to add these stations to their homes, Native American Energy is positioned to provide its customers with everything they need. The new charging stations are extremely fast, Adair said. With old-school stations you had to sit there for two or three hours. The new stations take only 10 to 15 minutes.

Top customer service

A new charging station, adding solar panels or putting in a new generator is a significant investment that warrants the top customer service Native American Energy prides itself on. Our commitment and reliability are the same for all our customers, whether theyre a big-box store, a commercial space or a residence. Our customers know they can trust us, because we keep our word. When we say were going to do something, we do it, Adair said.

Values in and out of the shop

Native American Energy is 100% Native American owned, and more than half of the staff is Native American, Adair said. We love our employees and take care of them, Adair said, noting that the company celebrates employees milestones and successes. When employees are happy, that translates into how they interact with customers. We show up with a smile and build relationships with our clients.

Learn more about Native American Energy

If youre thinking of going solar, adding an EV charging station to your home or facility, or need a backup generator, contact Native American Energy. Email info@nativeamericanenergy.net or call 918.895.5501.

This content was produced by Brand Ave. Studios. The news and editorial departments had no role in its creation or display. Brand Ave. Studios connects advertisers with a targeted audience through compelling content programs, from concept to production and distribution. For more information contact sales@brandavestudios.com.
As a centrally located manufacturing and shipping hub, Tulsa Ports is a vital link to national and global supply chain channels for the state of Oklahoma. The Ports Catoosa and Inola locations are major economic drivers, facilitating the movement of goods into and out of Oklahoma.

But the fast-moving flow of commodities and the innovation required in the growing manufacturing industry demands a large workforce, setting up Tulsa Ports as a powerhouse of job creation in the region.

With over 70 companies operating within the two industrial park locations, there is a need for an array of skilled professionals and entry-level workers in a range of specialties, from operations and logistics management to maintenance and production. But no matter the company or the role, these positions ultimately offer stable, well-paying careers that contribute to the livelihoods of individuals and families across the state.

The multitude of career opportunities cater to diverse skill sets and qualifications. These positions often serve as steppingstones for career advancement for individuals at varying stages in their careers. As individuals gain expertise, they can progress into supervisory roles or explore additional certifications and qualifications to continue moving forward in their career paths. Many companies also welcome recent high school graduates, providing ample opportunities for on-the-job technical training or apprenticeships.

There is truly a job for everyone at Tulsa Ports, no matter the background or experience you have, said Sheila Shook, director of workforce and education with the Tulsa Ports Port Authority. We see young adults straight out of high school who are receiving on-the-job training to help them make a life and career for themselves, all the way to individuals in upper-level management at companies theyve worked with for 40 years.

Partnerships provide expanded reach

Through partnerships with local technical colleges, high schools and employment service organizations, Tulsa Ports continues to drive new career placements for Oklahomans and help grow the workforce. Tulsa Technology Center and Tulsa Community College both offer Foundations of Manufacturing programs embedded in several high schools in the Tulsa area, allowing participating students to graduate high school with a true career plan. The Port Authority continues to work with these partners and many more to attract the current and next generation workforce.

A significant economic impact

The availability of careers at Tulsa Ports holds paramount importance for Oklahomas economy. As one of the states major economic engines, the Ports contributes to the creation of a wide range of employment opportunities, fostering consumption, increasing tax revenues and supporting the local economy. The ripple effect of job creation extends beyond Tulsa Ports and its companies, benefiting various sectors statewide including agriculture, wholesale and retail, and presenting an opportunity for overall economic growth and development.

The career availability at Tulsa Ports unlocks economic potential, strengthens the states transportation, manufacturing and logistics sectors, and supports numerous industries beyond the bounds of Tulsa Ports industrial parks and waterway. Tulsa Ports provides a strong foundation for career growth, enabling the states labor force to remain agile and ensure long-term economic stability. Tulsa Ports plays a significant role in job creation in the state, further fostering economic growth and the prosperity of the region and solidifying its position as an economic powerhouse in the heartland of the United States.

For more information about Tulsa Ports, please visit tulsaports.com.

This content was produced by Brand Ave. Studios. The news and editorial departments had no role in its creation or display. Brand Ave. Studios connects advertisers with a targeted audience through compelling content programs, from concept to production and distribution. For more information contact sales@brandavestudios.com.
Jimmie Tramel Tulsa World Scene Writer Follow Jimmie Tramel Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Here is an updated list of Oklahomans who are known Oscar nominees:

Scott George: Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People) from 2023s Killers of the Flower Moon earned a nomination for best original song with music and lyrics by an Oklahoman, George.

Eric Heisserer: A Norman native, nominated for best adapted screenplay for 2016s Arrival.

K.K. Barrett: A graduate of Memorial High School and Oklahoma State University, nominated for best production design for 2013s Her.

Brad Pitt: Born in Shawnee, nominated for several Oscars; he won as a producer of 2013 best-picture winner 12 Years a Slave and won best supporting actor for his work in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Tevin Thomas: Raised in Tulsa, the 1974 Central High School alum said his first gig came when, at age 14, he was in a small jazz band at a Tulsa YMCA with Robert and Charlie Wilson, who would go on to form The Gap Band. Thomas grew up to become a longtime New York musician and teacher, and in working with two other musicians, Thomas was nominated for a best song Academy Award for Raise It Up, from the 2007 movie August Rush.

Ron Howard: The Duncan native won two Oscars for A Beautiful Mind  best director and best picture.

Terrence Malick: Raised in Bartlesville, nominated as best director for The Thin Red Line and for The Tree of Life.

Ed Harris: The four-time acting nominee lived with his parents in Norman and studied drama at the University of Oklahoma.

Matthew Mungle: The Atoka native and makeup expert has been nominated for his work four times (he won for 1992s Dracula).

Steve LaPorte: The Oklahoma City native won the best makeup Oscar for 1988s Beetlejuice.

James Garner: The beloved actor from Norman was nominated for a best actor Oscar for 1985s Murphys Romance opposite Sally Field.

Margaret Avery: The Mangum native was up for best supporting actress for 1985s The Color Purple.

Alfre Woodard: The Tulsa native has been nominated for one Oscar  best supporting actress for Cross Creek in 1983.

Bud S. Smith: The longtime film editor was born in Tulsa, and he was nominated for two Oscars  1973s The Exorcist and 1983s Flashdance.

Blake Edwards: Born in Tulsa and nominated for best adapted screenplay for 1983s Victor/Victoria. He took home an honorary Oscar in 2004.

Carol Littleton: The Miami, Okla., native was a best-editing Oscar nominee for 1982s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.

Gary Busey: The Tulsan and Nathan Hale High School graduate starred in 1978s The Buddy Holly Story and was nominated for best actor.

Ayn Robbins: The Tulsa lyricist was nominated for the best-song Oscar twice, including for Gonna Fly Now from Rocky in 1976.

A.D. Flowers: Flowers was born in 1917 in Texas, but he was raised in Sayre and graduated high school there before hitchhiking to California, where he worked on Oscar nominees including the Godfather films and The Towering Inferno. He became an expert in the use of explosives in creating visual effects, a category in which he won Oscars for re-creating the Pearl Harbor bombing in Tora! Tora! Tora! and disasters ranging from fire to water in The Poseidon Adventure.

Gray Frederickson: The Oklahoma City filmmaker produced and won his Academy Award for best picture with 1974s The Godfather Part II.

Candy Clark: Candace June Clark was raised primarily in Texas, but actress Candy Clark was born in 1947 in Norman and returned there often to visit family. She was featured in films like The Man Who Fell to Earth (opposite David Bowie) and Blue Thunder, but a shining moment will always be her best supporting actress nomination for her second movie: 1973s American Graffiti, in which she played the teen with the blonde bouffant hairdo who goes cruising in a 1958 Chevy Impala.

Ben Johnson: The Foraker native raised in Osage County won his Academy Award for best supporting actor in 1971s The Last Picture Show.

Lucien Ballard: The Miami, Okla., native was nominated for a best cinematography Oscar for the 1963 drama The Caretakers.

Michael Wilson: The McAlester native won an Academy Award for his script for 1951s A Place in the Sun.

Elmo Williams: Born in Lone Wolf in western Oklahoma, Williams won the best-editing Oscar for 1952s High Noon.

Joan Crawford: The little girl who lived in Lawton grew up to win a best-actress Oscar for Mildred Pierce in 1945.

Ralph Blane: The Broken Arrow native was nominated twice for best song, including The Trolley Song in Meet Me in St. Louis.

Jennifer Jones: Born in Tulsa in 1919, Jones received five Academy Award nominations and won for best actress in 1943s The Song of Bernadette.

Van Heflin: The man from Walters won his best supporting actor Oscar for the 1941 film noir Johnny Eager.

Gene Autry: Raised in Oklahoma, he received an Oscar nomination for best song for his singing-cowboy movie Ridin on a Rainbow.

Jack Oakie: Raised in the Muskogee area, Oakie was nominated for best supporting actor for Charlie Chaplins 1940 The Great Dictator.

Bud Thackery: The Shawnee natives Oscar nomination came for best special effects (photographic) for the 1940 film Women in War.

Gene Havlick: The Enid-born Havlick was nominated for best editing three times, including 1939s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today.
Kevin Canfield Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Kevin Canfield Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

The citys effort to land an $800 million data center took an important step forward on Wednesday when planning commissioners recommended approval of the citys project plan for a proposed tax incentive program.

The Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commissions vote was unanimous. The project plan, which commissioners found is in compliance with Tulsas comprehensive plan, is expected to go to the City Council for its consideration later this month.

The project plan provides the general parameters of the proposed data center, including the location, planned infrastructure improvements and estimated economic impact. Most importantly, it lays out how the proposal meets the legal requirements to qualify for the proposed tax incentive.

The city has given no indication of what company is behind the project. It is being referred to in planning documents as Project Anthem.

The proposal calls for constructing the data center on 340 acres south and west of the intersection of 11th Street and the Creek Turnpike. It would be the first commercial project to break ground at Fair Oaks Industrial Park  a development area city officials have been working to establish for years.

We are grateful for the Planning Commissions action today, which paves the way for investment at the Fair Oaks Industrial Park, said Kian Kamas, executive director of Partner Tulsa, the citys economic development arm. We look forward to continuing to work with key partners in the coming weeks as we advance additional actions related to the Tax Incentive District.

Under the proposed TID, which would be in place no more than 25 years, the new property owner would receive an 85% annual exemption on his property tax bill. The 15% that would be collected is estimated to raise a total of more than $36 million over the life of the TID for the city of Tulsa, Wagoner County, Catoosa Public Schools and other affected taxing entities, according to the TID project plan.

During the three-year construction period, the project is expected to generate up to $3.3 billion in economic activity and more than 5,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs.

In the first year of operation, the data center is projected to generate up to $50 million in direct and indirect economic activity.

Once operational, the data center is expected to employ 50 full-time employees.

Partner Tulsa officials said Wednesday that the company behind Project Anthem would not only be responsible for construction of the data center and related improvements on the site but also for the construction of public infrastructure serving the development, including but not limited to water and road infrastructure.

The project site and the surrounding area also will benefit from the $50 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding awarded by the state for wastewater infrastructure, officials said.

A data center generally refers to a physical structure that houses a companys digital data and includes such things as servers, storage drives and network equipment.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has recently announced or begun construction of several data centers that fit the general description of Project Anthem.

However, at this time there are no public records naming the company behind Project Anthem, and the attorney representing the developer said it is too early in the project to disclose that information.



The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today.
OWASSO  Barbara Gammill was among the first group of protesters that showed up to rally against Westboro Baptist Church picketers on Wednesday afternoon.

I was taught acceptance, and I fully believe that love is love, so they can take their hate elsewhere, Gammill said.

Westboro, an extremist group from Topeka, Kansas, known for protesting funerals of soldiers and other events, picketed two Owasso school sites in the wake of Nex Benedicts high-profile death last month.

Benedict, 16, who identified as nonbinary and used gender-neutral pronouns, died Feb. 8, one day after being involved in a fight inside a restroom at Owasso High School.

Benedicts death has brought international attention as detectives continue to investigate details and evidence related to the Feb. 7 altercation amid public outcry over whether the sophomore was the target of a hate crime.

Despite growing division surrounding the case, Gammill on Wednesday promoted Peace and happiness ONLY, according to the sign she was holding, countering those carried by Westboro, which espoused rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community.

Dozens of activists confronted seven members of Westboro, first outside Owasso Public Schools Dale C. Johnson Education Service Center, then outside Owasso High School, where hundreds more assembled to demonstrate against the radical group.

Im here to show my son that its OK to stand up for yourself and for others, even though you have the negative coming against you, said protester Susie Eubank, a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Right now, were just focused on spreading some love and protecting our kids.

Fellow protester Gordon Jones, a concerned Texan, added: I drove from Dallas this morning to be here. Im a father, and I care about humanity. I just wanted to join and help out as much as I can. I need to represent; I need to be a face and a name of people that care.

Other activists from out of state, like Sam Shim, a coordinator for Parasol Patrols Ohio chapter, made the nearly 12-hour journey from Columbus, Ohio, to walk alongside Wednesdays activists. Parasol Patrol is a national organization with numerous chapters that provide hearing protection and use umbrellas to block the view of signs as they peacefully walk between hate groups and children with their families.

We have rainbow umbrellas; thats our weapon, Shim said. Were just there to shield children from some of the hate speech that gets said. We just want to make sure that kids dont feel threatened when they (Westboro) are around.

Protesters from all walks of life  from members of the LGBTQ+ community to congregants of local churches  carried signs that read: Be kind, Protect trans kids, God is supposed to be love, No hate in the 918 and Knowledge without love = nothing.

God loves everyone; God doesnt hate anyone, said Philip Watson, a Christian protester. Im here to support all of Gods children and to represent what God truly means.

Virginia Reeves, a member of the Church of the Holy Cross in Owasso, added: It is important (to protest against Westboro) because all of Gods children are loved and welcomed, and we want everybody to know that there are places for them, and theyre not alone.

Owasso students staged a walkout on Feb. 26 to amplify the bullying discussion following Benedicts death.

Owasso Public Schools is facing a federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights on whether the district failed to appropriately respond to allegations of student harassment.

Superintendent Margaret Coates in a letter Wednesday issued the following statement following Westboros visit to Owasso:

The district is deeply grateful for the support of our safety and security team, as well as the Owasso Police Department and our many local and state law enforcement partners who helped ensure the well-being of all involved during this non-school-sponsored, off-campus event.

Recognizing that events like this can lead to added stress, I encourage all students and staff to take advantage of the supportive resources that are available through the district and other organizations. OPS will also continue our own efforts to foster an environment where everyone feels heard and supported.

Photos: See images of Owasso protesters rallying against Westboro Baptist Church Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Owasso Protest Do you love Owasso as much as we do? HIDE VERTICAL GALLERY ASSET TITLES
Steve Metzer Tulsa World Capitol Bureau Staff Writer Follow Steve Metzer Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

OKLAHOMA CITY  Concerns about products containing kratom motivated legislation advancing at the Oklahoma Capitol that would tighten labeling and other requirements on such products, some of which have been linked to abuse.

Natural kratom comes from an evergreen tree in the coffee family native to Southeast Asia. Its leaves have been used for centuries, especially in Asia, as an herbal supplement.

Kratom is often used in low doses as a stimulant, to relieve pain or even to help with conditions such as anxiety. In the United States, kratom hasnt been regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; however, products prepared from kratom leaves are available to buy online and in stores.

According to the American Kratom Association, absent regulation by the FDA, some manufacturers in recent years have marketed super-concentrated kratom products that may be unsafe for consumption.

Some companies have falsely identified adulterated products as all-natural, while some have exaggerated claims about product benefits. Risks of dangerous reactions such as seizures, hallucination and addiction also have been downplayed.

Sen. Dana Prieto, R-Tulsa, authored legislation along with Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, to strengthen labeling requirements on kratom products sold in Oklahoma. Paes House Bill 3574 also addresses things like limits on total alkaloid content of kratom leaf material that may be used in the manufacturing of kratom products.

Pae said the Oklahoma Kratom Consumer Protection Act, which passed a few years ago, has inspired similar legislation in other states. He noted that much of the language in current bills to strengthen Oklahomas law was sought by the American Kratom Association and Botanic Tonics, a Broken Arrow-based company that markets kratom-based supplements.

Pae said he would welcome a standardized federal law regulating kratom products but that states shouldnt wait to act to protect consumers.

Among other things, Prietos Senate Bill 1639 would update labeling requirements on kratom products to include recommended serving sizes and the number of servings that might safely be consumed in a day. Additionally, labels would have to include a statement that the kratom product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease and that consumers should consult with a physician if they have any questions or concerns about kratom.

Paes HB 3574 would prohibit vendors from preparing, distributing or selling kratom products that have been adulterated or chemically altered.

Altered products have been used as a substitute for opioids, Pae said.

This (legislation) is just to make sure that consumer safety and transparency are prioritized, he said.

Both bills have passed through their respective chambers.

Mac Haddow, senior fellow on public policy at the American Kratom Association, said the federal government has failed the American consumer when it comes to regulation of kratom. The herb operates in a gray area of the law and is often sold online or at convenience stores or gas stations, usually in the form of capsules or loose powder, with the potential for dangerous outcomes widely misunderstood by consumers.

The FDA has extensive experience with economically motivated adulteration that constitutes a fraud on consumers across a broad array of regulated products, Haddow said. What is happening in the kratom marketplace is, in the absence of any responsible regulation by the FDA to protect kratom consumers, unscrupulous vendors are deliberately misleading consumers with illegal therapeutic claims, and more recently, with super-concentrated kratom products that pose real safety risks to the public.

The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today.
Steve Metzer Tulsa World Capitol Bureau Staff Writer Follow Steve Metzer Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

OKLAHOMA CITY  Oklahomans may soon have a chance to sign an initiative petition to raise the states minimum wage to well above the current $7.25 an hour.

Amber England, a representative of Raise the Wage Oklahoma, said Wednesday that she expects a robust signature collection effort in all 77 counties of the state. Oklahoma Secretary of State Josh Cockroft hasnt yet set a date to begin collection, but England said the process could begin as early as next month.

If 92,262 signatures of registered voters are received and any future legal challenges are averted, Oklahomans would decide in an upcoming statewide election whether the minimum wage should be increased.

The number of signatures required to qualify initiatives for the ballot in Oklahoma is tied to the total votes cast for governor in the last gubernatorial election.

The State Chamber of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Farm Bureau earlier objected to the petition and asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to declare what it proposes unconstitutional. However, the court ruled this week that signature collection may go forward.

If voters answer yes to State Question 832, the states minimum wage would be decoupled from the federal minimum wage, and state employers would have to pay employees at least $9 per hour beginning in 2025. The minimum wage would increase to $10.50 beginning in 2026, then to $12 per hour in 2027. It would increase to $13.50 in 2028 and to $15 per hour beginning in 2029.

Thereafter, further increases to Oklahomas minimum wage would be linked to the cost of living as measured by the U.S. Department of Labors Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.

The Farm Bureau and State Chamber asked the court to rule that making future increases to the states minimum wage contingent on federal data would violate the Oklahoma Constitution. Raise the Wage Oklahoma countered that other laws in the state, including the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Act championed by the State Chamber, rely on federal Consumer Price Index data in their implementation.

Beyond the question of constitutionality, the chamber also objected to SQ 832 as an unnecessary solution in search of a problem that doesnt exist in Oklahoma.

The market rate for an hourly job in Oklahoma is far above $7.25, Chamber President Chad Warmington said. All the businesses that we have as members are having trouble finding people. They are paying far above that wage.

England said data show that Oklahoma ranks near the bottom among states, at 47th, when it comes to numbers of low-wage workers and that at least 170,000 working Oklahomans make less than $11 an hour. Two-thirds of those who make minimum wage in the state are women, she said.

Opponents also have argued that mandates that would more than double the minimum wage would be bad for businesses and would likely force many to lay people off. The Farm Bureau has said a higher minimum wage would be too costly for farm and ranch operations to bear, which would cause negative effects throughout the states rural economy.

England noted that the minimum wage proposal includes exemptions for small businesses and farm operations.

Warmington said it would make more sense to invest in workforce development, which would be good for businesses small and large, potentially attract new businesses to the state and increase wages by providing people with more marketable skills.

There are thousands of good jobs paying far more than minimum wage, but we dont have enough personnel with those talents to fill the jobs, he said. Wed like to focus more on developing and ensuring that Oklahomans have access to the education, training and certifications that they need to fill the thousands of jobs that pay far more than minimum wage.

Raise the Wage Oklahoma has received almost exclusively positive feedback from Oklahomans, England said, and many have volunteered to take part in collecting signatures.

Lots of folks have been reaching out asking how they can help, she said. So many understand the gravity of this and whats on the line. The minimum wage hasnt increased in 15 years, and to say $7.25 an hour is all that people need to get by is just ridiculous.

Oklahoma is one of 20 states where the minimum wage remains $7.25.

The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today.
Steve Metzer Tulsa World Capitol Bureau Staff Writer Follow Steve Metzer Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

OKLAHOMA CITY  A bill in the Oklahoma Senate proposes to make changes in the law allowing for Oklahomans to receive tax credits to offset costs of private school tuition.

Senate Bill 1477, by Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, would address concerns that state taxpayers might have about state funds, extended to people in the form of Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credits, being used to pay off recipients debts rather than paying for school expenses for their children.

According to the bills language, SB 1477 proposes to exempt the tax credit payments from taxable income, effective in tax year 2024 and in subsequent tax years.

According to the Oklahoma Tax Commission, beginning this year, a refundable income tax credit between $5,000 and $7,500 has been allowed for eligible Oklahoma taxpayers who pay, or expect to pay, qualified expenses such as tuition and fees to an eligible private school on behalf of an eligible student who attends or plans to attend an eligible private school. The Tax Commission has been authorized to allow for up to $150 million in tax credits this year.

Some of the tax credit recipients and Oklahoma taxpayers may not have realized that, as things currently stand, if a recipient owes delinquent taxes or some other debt, such as for child support, for which a claim has been filed with the Tax Commission, Parental Choice Tax Credits amounts may be reduced to cover those outstanding obligations.

The (Tax Commission) is required by statute to deduct from any state tax refund payment the amount of any delinquent state tax, penalty, and interest thereon, which the taxpayer owes pursuant to any state tax law, the agency said.

Additionally, if a claim has been made by a qualified entity for an outstanding debt, the Tax Commission is currently required to deduct from the payment the amount owed to that entity, including any collection expenses and costs.

SB 1477 proposes to change that. Specifically, the bill would prohibit a credit from being used to reduce tax liability, accrued penalty or interest from failure to file or pay a tax, and tax liability from a previous year.

Exempting the payments from taxable income would result in an unknown decrease in income tax revenue, according to the legislation.



The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today.




On March 4, 2024, a joint session of Frances parliament voted 780-72 to revise Frances constitution to include a guaranteed freedom for abortion. This happened after a majority of the French senate voted last Wednesday to accept the wording of the amendment of article 34 of the constitution. Now France has become the first country to enshrine abortion in their constitution.

The amendment states,  the law determines the conditions by which is exercised the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed.

President Emmanuel Macron posted on X (formerly Twitter) in October 2023, In 2024, women's freedom to have an abortion will be irreversible. The 2022 overturning of Roe V. Wade in the US increased Macrons urgency to see this added to the French constitution.

Pro-life supporters showed their disapproval of abortion in January 2023 during the La Marche pour la Vie (March for Life) rally. According to the events organizers, more than 20,000 people attended.

Ahead of Mondays deciding parliamentary vote, Nicolas Tardy-Joubert, the president of La Marche pour la Vie, said to Evangelical Focus, The right to kill cannot become a supra-legislative rule, a constitutional right.

Some see this amendment as superfluous because abortion has been legal in France since 1975. Passage of this law also, will not increase the financial resources of family planning centers. It will not combat medical desertion, explained Senator Agnes Canayer in an interview with Public Senat television.

But the Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti noted in an article in Evangelical Focus that ... including the right to abortion in the Constitution has symbolic power. Senator and Co-chair of the European Green Party Melanie Vogel, agreed and said in an interview with the Guardian, This is a historic, feminist victory.

The French Evangelical Protestant Committee for Human Dignity (CPDH) believes that this addition to the Constitution authorizes, a death penalty for unborn children. CPDH President Franck Meyer mentioned to Evangelical Focus, The idea that abortion would become a fundamental freedom defended by the French Constitution (in the same way as freedom of expression or of worship), would be a serious decision that could reduce to nothing the value of prenatal human life and probably of life in general. He added, A Constitution is not meant to assert a particular interest but to serve the general interest.

In October 2022, the proposal for the enshrining of abortion in the constitution was rejected twice by the Senate Law Commission. The commission wrote in a press release: The purely proclamatory and symbolic approach, desired by the authors of the text, is not in keeping with the spirit of the text of the 1958 Constitution  it puts a subject at the heart of the news on which there is no question.

Concerning the wording of this law, Meyer stated that it reads as a very, ... totalitarian position that does not allow any reasonable evaluation. It is the very example of an ideological isolation that forbids any intellectual and factual questioning.

In mid-January, the CPDH released a statement asking abortion opposers to pray. Let us pray for deputies and senators, that God will open their eyes to the realities of abortion and its serious consequences for society as a whole.

According to Statista, the French healthcare system registered 223,282 performed abortions in 2021. This places France as the 5th European country with most openness to abortion. That number has increased to 234,300 in 2022.

According to French law, a womans abortion can be carried out under the condition that the womans health is in severe danger. However, in July 2020 an amendment was added so that women can get an abortion up until the ninth month, if under psychosocial distress.

Concerning this Meyer commented, ... this amendment will be presenting abortion as the answer to any problem a woman could face during her pregnancy. He added, Children who are in good health would be at risk of being eliminated to solve psychosocial problems!
Melissa Jacques Tulsa World Capitol Bureau Staff Writer Follow Melissa Jacques Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

OKLAHOMA CITY  The Oklahoma Turnpike Authoritys deputy director has been tapped to replace Executive Director Tim Gatz after Gatzs resignation following a legal opinion about dual-office holding.

The agencys board unanimously chose Joe Echelle to become the next OTA executive director on Tuesday, setting his salary at $240,000.

Thank you for putting a period at the end of a strange two weeks for me and our staff, Echelle said to the board after his appointment.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond on Feb. 28 responded to a request from a state senator related to Gatzs serving as director of both the OTA and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Drummonds opinion concluded that Gatz, who was also serving as Cabinet secretary of transportation, was violating the state constitutions prohibition on dual-office holding.

Gatz resigned as Cabinet secretary and from the OTA but remains director of ODOT, with his salary set at $245,000. The cost of his salary previously was split between OTA and ODOT but now will be incurred entirely by ODOT.

Echelle began his career at OTA in 2016, starting as the director of construction. In 2021 he began serving as deputy director.

It has always been a career goal of mine to be a director of either ODOT or OTA, so thank you for the opportunity, Echelle told the board Tuesday.

Gatz also thanked the board for sharing in his accomplishments over the eight years he served as director.

The Turnpike Authority is in very capable hands long into the future, Gatz said, referring to Echelle.

Drummond also published an opinion Feb. 28 verifying the constitutionality of legislation that gave the speaker of the House and the Senate president pro tem the authority to appoint some members of the OTA board. This power was previously exclusively held by the governor.

Dana Weber, a member of the OTA board, commented on the attorney generals opinions during the meeting Tuesday.

Im a business person, and from that perspective, I am saddened by this ruling, Weber said of the dual-office-holding opinion. Organizations, whether its a government, a business or a charitable organization, need to have the flexibility to organize based on the talent that they have available to them in the best way possible.

The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today.
OKLAHOMA CITY  It was never the intent of the Oklahoma Legislature for taxpayer money extended to people in the form of Parental Choice Tax Credits to be used to cover back taxes or other debts owed by recipients of the credits, Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat said on Thursday.

Since legislation was passed last year that allowed for such tax credits to be used to offset costs of private school tuition, some recipients have reported money being withheld by the Oklahoma Tax Commission to cover their back taxes or other debts.

Treat, a Republican from Oklahoma City, said he didnt have any definitive numbers to show how many Oklahomans might have been affected or how much money had been withheld, but he said legislation should pass into law soon to clarify that the credits should be used only to cover qualified educational expenses.

He said he would have preferred for it to have been made clear in the tax credit law from the beginning that taxpayer money provided to people in the form of school tax credits was not to be used to cover any of their debts.

I can tell you when we were going through the rules process, I objected to this being used for back taxes and the like, but I did not prevail in the rulemaking process, Treat said.

The senator said the Tax Commission shouldnt be faulted for its interpretation of the law and that legislation should be passed soon to solve the problem.

I want to be clear: The Tax Commission has done really hard work in an above-board manner to try to get those rules in place, he said. It was just their interpretation of the law we passed,  (but) the Legislature obviously didnt want those things to happen.

On its website, the OTC cited state statute in explaining why money extended through the tax credits might be withheld.

The Oklahoma Tax Commission is required by statute (68 O.S.  205.2) to deduct from any state tax refund payment the amount of any delinquent state tax, penalty, and interest thereon, which the taxpayer owes pursuant to any state tax law. Additionally, if the (commission) has received a claim from a qualified entity for an outstanding debt, (it) is required to deduct from the payment the amount owed to that entity, including any collection expenses and costs.

Sens. Carri Hicks and Julia Kirt, both Democrats from Oklahoma City, have been critical of how the Parental Choice Tax Credits law was adopted and implemented.

We pointed out that there were going to be problems with the administration of this, and we kept getting dismissed when we raised all the concerns about logistics, Kirt said in a media statement. It matters when its peoples money.

Treat said his Senate Bill 1477 addressing the issue is eligible for consideration by the full Senate.

Beginning this year, a refundable income tax credit between $5,000 and $7,500 has been allowed for eligible Oklahoma taxpayers who pay, or expect to pay, qualified expenses such as tuition and fees to an eligible private school on behalf of an eligible student who attends or plans to attend an eligible private school.

The Tax Commission has been authorized to allow for up to $150 million in tax credits this year.

The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today.




Vietnam exported US$4.78 billion worth of rice in 2023, up 36.6 percent in value year on year, marking a record high for outbound rice shipment value in the past several years, heard a conference held in Da Nang City on Wednesday.

The conference for the global rice trading community brought together 400 industry giants from a slew of countries, including India, Thailand, and Myanmar.

Speaking at the international conference, Nguyen Anh Son, head of the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that Vietnams rice exports are likely to see positive signs in 2024, despite multiple global uncertainties.

The Southeast Asian country exported rice worth $362 million in the first month of 2024, a year-on-year increase of seven percent.

Rice products from Southeast Asian nations are introduced at an international rice conference held in Da Nang City, central Vietnam on March 6, 2024. Photo: Truong Trung / Tuoi Tre

Besides, rice prices are predicted to surge this year due to global supply issues caused by continued restrictions on shipments from India.

The El Nino weather phenomenon, expected to trigger droughts, will threaten global rice supply.

These global challenges are a big opportunity for Vietnamese rice firms and exporters to boost exports.

Vietnamese rice is currently sold in 180 nations and territories.

It is favored by many selective markets such as Europe, the United States, South Korea, Australia, and the Middle East.

A Ministry of Industry and Trade representative stated that Vietnam holds a position among the top three global rice suppliers, contributing to 15 percent of the total world rice exports.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
The Vietnamese real estate sector has pushed through its toughest times and is steadily increasing momentum, according to a report sent by the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) to the Ministry of Construction on Tuesday.

The period from the second half of 2022 to the end of the first quarter of last year was particularly difficult for the real estate market, especially that in Ho Chi Minh City, HoREA stated.

In the first quarter of 2023, the property sector in the southern metropolis recorded minus 16.2 percent growth, but the decline began to slow the next quarter when the sector logged a minus 11.5 percent expansion.

By the end of 2023, the decline of the Ho Chi Minh City real estate industry had seemed to be slowing down when it posted just minus 6.38 percent growth for the year.

A recovery began to manifest in the first two months of 2024 when the city began attracting foreign investment in real estate, boosting the stock prices of industry companies.

HoREA forecast that real estate would return to normal and enter a safe, healthy, and sustainable development phase from the second half of 2024, creating momentum for its further development from early 2025 onward.

The Ho Chi Minh City statistics agencys report on the citys socio-economic performance in the first two months of 2024 showed that the real estate sector began showing signs of recovery following a slew of government-issued policies to remove obstacles and spur sectoral development.

Realty enterprises have also joined hands to offer preferential programs to customers.

As a result, property revenue reached VND42.3 trillion (US$1.7 billion) in the two-month period, up 20.1 percent year on year.

Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi said that the realty market started indicating positive signals from the third quarter of last year, with supplies noticeably increasing compared to prior months.

Hoang Hai, head of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Agency under the Ministry of Construction, anticipates significant foreign investment and high industrial property rental revenues in the real estate industry this year, along with the completion of 130,000 social houses as targeted by the government.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
For nearly three years, Ho Minh Tuong, a grade-10 student in Quang Tri Province, north-central Vietnam, has voluntarily given his classmate, Luu Quang Vu, piggyback rides to and from school.

The two boys are students of Dakrong Middle and High School in the namesake district.

Vu has suffered from muscular dystrophy since he was two years old and the disease has been increasingly severe.

His first-grade brother also lives with the same disease.

"Unexpectedly, one day, the weather shifted abruptly, and my limbs went numb, rendering me unable to walk. By the second semester of eighth grade, I was completely paralyzed in my legs," Vu recounted.

Tuong has been Vus classmate since they were middle school students.

The two are good examples of friendship in a school in Quang Tri Province, north-central Vietnam. Photo: Hoang Tao / Tuoi Tre

"In seventh grade, we became close. Witnessing him paralyzed, unable to run or go outside, filled me with sympathy," Tuong said.

Since then, Tuong has voluntarily carried his friend to and from class on his back.

Every day, Vus father drives him to the school gate. From there, Tuong picks him up and carries him to the classroom and anywhere else he needs to go throughout the day.

He even carries him on his back for games in break time.

If Vus father is too busy to drive him to school, Tuong picks him up on his electric bicycle.

Ho Minh Tuong voluntarily gives his classmate piggyback rides to and from class. Photo: Hoang Tao / Tuoi Tre

I dont want him to be absent from school, so I encourage him and bring him with me," Tuong said.

I will continue to help Vu go to school as long as we are classmates."

Nguyen Khuong Chinh, vice-principal of Dakrong Middle and High School, noted that the two students exemplify a spirit of solidarity, supporting each other through challenges and serving as positive examples to their fellow students.

The school also helps by arranging for Vus classes to be on the ground level.

At the beginning of the 2023-24 academic year, the school mobilized donations worth VND20 million (US$814) to help both Vu and Tuongs families with VND1 million ($41) a month.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
New York Governor Kathy Hochul will deploy 750 soldiers from the state's National Guard to help New York City police check commuters' bags in the busiest stations in the city's sprawling subway system, she announced on Wednesday.

Another 250 officers from the New York State Police and the state-controlled Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police will also join the effort, which Hochul said was intended to deter crime. She announced the deployment in response to recent high-profile assaults on commuters and transit workers.

Crimes on the subway were down about 15% in February compared to the same month in 2023, according to police data. Hochul, a Democrat, said that commuters were not reassured by "rattling off" crime statistics.

"Saying things are getting better doesn't make you feel better," Hochul said, "especially when you've just heard about someone being stabbed in the throat or thrown onto the subway tracks. There's a psychological impact."

Soldiers of the New York National Guard, a military force jointly controlled by federal and state leaders, do not have arrest powers in peacetime, but will help police officers who do.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who used to patrol the subway when he was a police officer, said he sent about 1,000 additional city police officers into the subway in February after a January uptick in assaults and thefts.

He has emphasized that crime remains rare on one of the world's largest subway networks, with about six felony crimes a day, mostly thefts, on a service that sees more than 4 million daily trips.

On Wednesday, he said he was bringing back bag checks, an occasional practice used by the New York Police Department in which officers set up a table near subway turnstiles and pick out members of the commuting crowds for searches.

Psychological impact

Riders Alliance, a New York commuter advocacy group, said Hochul's deployment of the National Guard would have the opposite psychological impact than intended.

"While well-intentioned, deploying troops to the subway is more likely to increase the perception of crime among people who don't ride public transit than to protect the millions of people on platforms and trains," Danny Pearlstein, a spokesperson for the alliance, wrote in an email.

There were 38 robberies and 70 thefts, including pick-pocketing, on the subway system in February, compared to 40 robberies and 98 thefts in the same month last year, according to police data. There were 35 assaults, the same number as for February 2023. About 90 million trips were taken on the subway over the month.

In her announcement, Hochul cited an attack last week on a subway train conductor who was slashed in the neck by an unknown assailant while he leaned his head out of a window on his train.

It was one of several recent assaults of subway workers in recent weeks, to the ire of their labor union, leading to service disruptions the following morning as MTA employees stopped work to file safety complaints.

Hochul said on Wednesday the MTA would install new security cameras in conductor cabins, and that she was asking the state legislature to pass a law allowing judges to ban people who assault workers and commuters from the subway system.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security has announced that two foreign-based terrorist organizations are operating in Vietnam, saying that they have used violence to seek the establishment of autonomous states in the Central Highlands.

The first group, called Montagnard Support Group, Inc. (MSGI), was established in 2011 by Y Mut Mlo and Y Duen Bdap, former members of the 'Montagnard Foundation' in the U.S..

The group is headquartered at P.O.BOX 668843, Charlotte, NC 28266, the U.S., and runs the website www.montagnardsupportgroup.blogspot.com as well as the 'Montagnard Support Group' on social media.

Y Mut Mlo, born in 1960 in Dak Lak Province, located in Vietnam's Central Highlands, leads the group and is assisted by his deputy Y Duen Bdap.

The second organization is Montagnard Stand for Justice (MSFJ), which was established in July 2019 in Thailand. It began operating in the U.S. in April last year.

This group is based at 49/312 Kraorattana, Soi 6, Bang Rak Phatthana, Bang Bua Thong District, Nonthaburi Province, 11110, Thailand.

Its websites and media channels consist of 'msfjustice.org,' 'Montagnard Stand for Justice,' 'Nguoi Thuong Vi Cong Ly;' 'Klei Kpa Eno Ko Anak Cu Chiang;' 'BHRM Montagnards;' and 'MSFJ TV.'

The organization is led by Y Quynh Bdap, Y Phik Hdok, and Y Pher Hdrue, among others, all from Dak Lak.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, the two groups operate with identical methods and objectives.

They aim to incite ethnic minority people to engage in violent acts such as terrorism, protests, and armed riots.

They provide financial support, weapons, and vehicles to facilitate terrorist attacks, targeting the killing of officials and residents, as well as causing damage to state assets.

The ultimate goal is to demand secession, autonomy, and the establishment of a separate state in the Central Highlands.

The ministry has unequivocally declared both groups as terrorist entities.

As a result, those who join, propagate, and entice others to participate in, sponsor, receive sponsorship, enroll in training courses, or follow the groups' directives will face charges related to terrorism or financing terrorism.

Such people will be subject to legal repercussions in accordance with the law.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese on Thursday announced the elevation of the two countries relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, the highest level in the Southeast Asian country's international relations, during PM Chinhs trip to the Oceanian country.

Australia is the seventh country to see its relationship with Vietnam reaching the highest level in the latters international relations, following China, Russia, South Korea, India, the United States, and Japan.

After a morning reception on Thursday, PM Chinh and PM Albanese engaged in talks, expressing their contentment with the robust development of the partnership between the two nations.

They agreed to upgrade the two countries relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership and cooperate closely to deepen the partnership.

With the ties elevation, the two nations will foster political trust, and collaboration in economy, trade, investment, science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and green transition.

They will also boost cooperation in culture, education and training, environmental protection, climate change adaptation, people-to-people exchanges, security, and national defense.

"Elevating our ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership today places Australia and Vietnam among each other's significant partners, which reflects our mutual desires for the future, said the Australian prime minister.

He added that the two countries leaders discussed plans to bolster trade and investment connections to support their economic prosperity.

They also reached a consensus on a peacekeeping partnership and elevating the current Vice Ministerial Security Dialogue to the ministerial level.

The prime ministers and high-ranking officials of Vietnam and Australia during talks in Canberra on March 7, 2024. Photo: Vietnam Government Portal

Vietnamese PM Chinh announced that the two sides reiterated the importance of ensuring peace, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Vietnam Sea, while settling disputes by peaceful means based on international law.

Vietnam and Australia mutually agreed to exchange information, strengthen cooperation, and work toward maintaining the East Vietnam Sea as a region of peace, stability, cooperation, friendship, and comprehensive development.

This collaborative effort is meant to benefit the residents of the parties involved.

Hanoi and Canberra will make conditions favorable for and ensure the legitimate rights and benefits of the others residents and enterprises in their land.

Vietnam expresses gratitude to Australia for supporting the Vietnamese community in Australia, which includes 350,000 individuals.

The Vietnamese government leader affirmed that Vietnam always welcomes and facilitates Australian citizens and businesses for studying, doing business, and working in Vietnam.

He expressed his belief that with the relation elevation, the two countries will enter a new chapter with their bilateral relations being more practical, effective, comprehensive, and sustainable in all aspects.

This will meet the demand and ensure practical benefits of the two peoples and significantly contribute to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world as a whole, the Vietnamese prime minister noted.

Regarding regional and international issues, the two leaders agreed to continue supporting each other in forums, especially the United Nations and ASEAN.

They also witnessed the signing of 11 cooperation agreements in education and training, peacekeeping, consumer protection, trade and investment promotion, science and technology, innovation, finance, banking, and scientific research to develop agro-forestry-fishery, labor, natural resources, environment, energy, and mining.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L, 2nd) and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese (R, 2nd) exchange the joint statement on the elevation of the two countries relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Photo: Vietnam Government Portal

PM Chinh and his spouse Le Thi Bich Tran are paying an official visit to Australia from Thursday to Sunday at the invitation of PM Albanese and his fiancee.

This is the first visit to Australia by a Vietnamese government leader since 2018, the year that Vietnam and Australia upgraded their bilateral ties to a strategic partnership.

The trip takes place in the context of Vietnam and Australias 50th anniversary celebration of establishing diplomatic relations.

Earlier, PM Chinh attended the 2024 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in the Oceanian country on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Vietnam and Australia established diplomatic ties in 1973 and the two nations entered a comprehensive partnership in 2009.

Six years later, the relationship was lifted to an enhanced comprehensive partnership before being upgraded to a strategic partnership in March 2018.

Currently, Australia is Vietnams seventh-largest trading partner and Vietnam is Australias 10th-largest commercial partner.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has called on ASEAN and Australia to create three breakthroughs, including doubling two-way trade in a decade, make three enhancements, and carry out three joint actions so as to further boost the efficiency of the bilateral relations.

PM Chinh delivered his recommendations while addressing the plenary session of the 2024 ASEAN-Australian Special Summit in Melbourne on Wednesday.

While highly appreciating the importance of the summit, he highlighted the long-standing cooperation relationship between Australia and ASEAN as well as Australias support during the last five decades for the bloc, which includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The Vietnamese leader suggested that the two sides make three breakthroughs, including one in economic, trade, and investment cooperation, with the aim of doubling their two-way trade in the next 10 years.

The overall scene of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne, Australia on March 6, 2024, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese delivering a speech as seen on the screens at the event. Photo: Nhat Bac / Tuoi Tre

In 2022, the ASEAN-Australia trade topped US$101 billion, up nearly 20 percent from a year earlier, while Australias foreign direct investment in the grouping reaching over $2 billion, a 6.5-fold surge from 2021, almost attaining pre-COVID-19 levels, according to official figures.

PM Chinh put forward a second breakthrough in labor cooperation and the development of high-quality human resources.

The final breakthrough should focus on science, technology, and innovation cooperation, emphasizing the development of the digital economy, green transformation, circular economy, and emerging sectors like semiconductor chips and artificial intelligence.

The PM also suggested that both sides conduct negotiations on a bilateral digital economy agreement.

In addition to these changes, Chinh highlighted the importance of strengthening political trust and cooperation for global peace and security.

This involves fostering a culture of dialogue, building trust, practicing preventive diplomacy, and encouraging responsible contributions from major countries in the region.

He proposed boosting sub-regional cooperation to reduce the development gap, particularly through strategic infrastructure projects.

This aims to foster inclusive and sustainable development, bringing positive socio-economic changes to impoverished, underdeveloped ASEAN sub-regions.

Furthermore, there is a need to strengthen cultural cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, which involves leveraging the strengths of the ASEAN-origin community, comprising over a million people, including 350,000 of Vietnamese origin, in Australia.

Such efforts aim to enhance mutual understanding, empathy, and unity, particularly among the younger generations of both sides.

During the summit's retreat session, PM Chinh suggested three collaborative actions for the bloc and Australia.

The suggestion entails creating a united and resilient region capable of withstanding internal and external challenges, ultimately fostering comprehensive, sustainable, and inclusive growth to ensure that no one is left behind.

The second aim is to encourage countries to follow international laws like the UN Charter and ASEAN principles, like actively participating in creating new codes of conduct, including one for the East Vietnam Sea.

The goal is to make the region a peaceful, stable, cooperative, and developing zone.

The third joint action is to build an inclusive, open regional structure that promotes multilateralism, with ASEAN playing a central role, the Vietnamese leader stated.

The summit also heard participants express their pleasure at the achievements attained through the cooperation between ASEAN and Australia, especially since both sides entered a strategic partnership in 2014 and upgraded their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2021.

Leaders from the two sides agreed to effectively implement the newly-upgraded ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L, 2nd) and leaders of Australia, ASEAN, and Timor Leste pose for a photo before the retreat session of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne, Australia, March 6, 2024. Photo: Duong Giang / Tuoi Tre

They agreed to boost cooperation in new areas such as innovation, digital economy, green transition, energy transition, and e-commerce in order to make them new growth drivers for the economic relations between Australia and ASEAN.

Participants underscored the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, and navigation and aviation safety in the East Vietnam Sea as well as peacefully resolving disputes on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).

They called for the full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the East Vietnam Sea and the early construction of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct for the waterway in accordance with international law, including UNCLOS 1982.

ASEAN leaders applauded Australias announcement to grant an additional AU$222.5 million ($146.5 million) funding for cooperation with Mekong sub-region countries.

They welcomed Australia setting up an investment fund worth AU$2 billion ($1.32 billion) as well as its other initiatives to beef up trade and investment cooperation with ASEAN countries in the coming time.

At the end of the summit, the leaders of both sides adopted the ASEAN-Australia Leaders Vision Statement  Partners for Peace and Prosperity and Melbourne Declaration  A Partnership for the Future, setting out orientations for development of the bilateral ties in all fields in the years ahead.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
In celebration of International Women's Day (March 8), a competition named 'A Day as a Consul General' was held at the end of February in Ho Chi Minh City for Vietnamese girls and women aged 13 to 22.

The event was held by the consuls general of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.

Each consul general selected a winner by evaluating their responses to two crucial questions: 'What are your aspirations for International Women's Day?' and 'What do you wish to do for women if you became a consul general?'

Inspiration transcended

The winners are Le Nguyen Thuy Vy (chosen by France), Luu Thu Hang (selected by Germany), Nguyen Thi Truc Ly (picked by the United Kingdom), Nguyen Thi Thien Nga (chosen by Canada), and Nguyen Thi Bao Ngoc (selected by the United States).

During an exchange event held at the French Consulate General on Monday, all the five winners agreed that the competition was an excellent opportunity to boost their confidence, gain experience, and inspire women and girls to achieve their goals.

Le Nguyen Thuy Vy, an international relations major at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said that she had faced many challenges in her life which made her feel like a small individual in society.

While winning the competition initially made her feel nervous, the guidance she received from French Consul General Emmanuelle Pavillon-Grosser and the consulate staff boosted her confidence and made her feel 'grown up' than before.

Nguyen Thi Bao Ngoc, an intern at the cultural information department of the U.S. Consulate General, revealed her challenges with high school academics and doubts about passing the university entrance exam.

Nguyen Thi Truc Ly (L) joins a discussion with Nisai Global School from the UK. Photo: UK Consulate General

So she views her success in the competition as a demonstration of the importance of determination and pursuing ones dreams.

Small changes, significant results

All the winners unanimously agreed that gender equality is a significant issue that can be addressed through small initiatives.

In an interview with Tuoi Tre News, Nguyen Thi Thien Nga, the winner chosen by Canada, emphasized the need for personal transformation to achieve gender equality in society.

According to Nga, societal gender equality will not change unless individuals change themselves first.

The 'A Day as a Consul General' competition serves as a stepping stone for Nga to continue learning, gain motivation, and hone her skills.

Nguyen Thi Truc Ly, chosen as the winner by the United Kingdom, expressed her motivation to study chemical engineering at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology.

Despite her initial shyness in crowds, Ly has developed a determination to engage in various similar contests, gradually enhancing herself.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
With a soaring number of blasphemy allegations in Pakistan in 2023, rights activists are reiterating demands for legislation against blatant abuse of the countrys notorious blasphemy laws.

At least 329 persons were accused of blasphemy under the law in 2023, according to the Center for Social Justice (CSJ), an advocacy group based in Lahore. Among those accused, 247 were Muslims, 65 were Ahmadis, 11 were Christians and one was Hindu, while the religious affiliation of five others was unknown.

There has been a spike in blasphemy allegations in recent years, according to Lahore High Court attorney Lazar Allah Rakha.

The state must legislate against false accusations of blasphemy, because this abuse hangs like the sword of Damocles on the heads of all citizens regardless of their faith affiliations, Rakha told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. The situation has aggravated to the extent that people are now being targeted over minor disputes on almost a daily basis.

Due to the risks attached to blasphemy cases, judges tend to adjourn hearings, which results in prolonged incarceration of suspects, which Rakha said is a serious violation of their human rights.

The entire system needs to be reviewed in the larger interest of justice, said the attorney, who has successfully defended many people falsely accused of blasphemy.

Punjab Province had the highest number of people accused of blasphemy, with 179, followed by 79 in Sindh Province, 37 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 32 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, according to the CSJ report.

It added that seven persons accused of blasphemy were killed extra-judicially in 2023, including four in Punjab and one each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Azad Jammu Kashmir.

Reportedly 95 blasphemy suspects were killed extra-judicially between 1994 and 2023. The only conviction and sentencing for such killings was that of Mumtaz Qadri, who was executed in February 2016 after assassinating former Punjab Gov. Salmaan Taseer in January 2011.

At least 2,449 persons have been accused of committing blasphemy between 1987 and 2023, according to the CSJ report. The highest number of accused by religion were 1,279 Muslims (52 percent), followed by 782 Ahmadis (32 percent), 291 Christians (12 percent), and 45 Hindus (2 percent), while the religion of other (2 percent) was unconfirmed.

The highest number of cases by area was 1,770 in Punjab Province (72 percent), followed by 471 in Sindh (19 percent), 99 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (4 percent), 55 in Azad Jammu Kashmir (2 percent), 35 in Islamabad, 12 in Balochistan and seven in Gilgit Baltistan.

The CSJ cited data from the Punjab Prison Department revealing that as of Feb. 13, there were 587 prisoners confined for blasphemy under sections 295-A, B and C of Pakistan Penal Code in jails across the province. Among these, 515 are under trial, including 508 males, six females, and one juvenile prisoner.

The CSJ further urged the incoming government to establish a commission of inquiry under the Pakistan Commission of Inquiry Act, 1956. This commission should be tasked with investigating the misuse of blasphemy laws and determining the scale and motives behind such cases, so that justice is served and innocent lives are protected.

It is crucial to address the root causes of these issues and to promote a culture of tolerance and social harmony in Pakistan, the report stated.

CSJ Executive Director Peter Jacob said there is an urgent need to develop and implement short-term and long-term strategies to counter growing religious intolerance in Pakistani society.

There are centers of intolerance, indicators and factors that continue to generate certain behaviors and incidents of religious intolerance which the administration has chosen to treat symptomatically and on ad-hoc basis, Jacob told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. This is why every time we have certain policy initiatives in the form of the National Action Plan or the Action Plan for Human Rights, the message has not penetrated, and incitement to violence in the name of religion has not decreased by any chance.

Jacob, who was recently awarded with the U.S. State Departments International Religious Freedom Award, said that each manifestation of such intolerance should be taken seriously.

We should now draw closer to a comprehensive policy which should include legislative review of the blasphemy laws, educational and awareness programs, etc., he said. The first step in this direction should be the formation of a commission of inquiry, not against one incident, but the whole phenomenon of religious intolerance in relation to the abuse of the blasphemy law.

In October, the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights was informed that 179 people were under detention and facing trials across the country on charges of blasphemy, while 17 had been sentenced. The findings were submitted to the Senate panel by the National Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (NHRC).

Earlier, Sen. Walid Iqbal, chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, had sought details of blasphemy cases from the NCHR during a meeting called days after the Aug. 16 attack in Jaranwala, when a violent mob destroyed church buildings and dozens of Christians houses and businesses over allegations of blasphemy.

Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, as it was the previous year.
Catch up on the news in Vietnam today:

Politics

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed doubling two-way trade between ASEAN and Australia in the next 10 years, heard the 2024 ASEAN - Australia Special Summit in Melbourne on Wednesday. Trade between the Oceanian country and the bloc reached nearly US$101.1 billion in 2022.

-- PM Pham Minh Chinh met with leaders of the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Timor Leste, Australia, New Zealand, and the ASEAN Secretary-General on the sidelines of the ASEAN - Australia Special Summit in Melbourne, Australia on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Society

-- A new cold spell is forecast to sweep through northern Vietnam, lowering temperatures in many parts of the region to 10 degrees Celsius on Thursday, while the southern region will continue to experience a heatwave, according to the national weather center.

-- Kien Giang Province in southern Vietnam had reported three monkeypox cases in the year to late February, the provincial Center for Disease Control announced on Wednesday.

 A woman in Hanoi lost VND5.4 billion ($219,250) within five days after dating a man on dating app Tinder and buying cryptocurrency, police said on Wednesday.

-- The central government gave the green light to develop two proton radiotherapy systems worth VND4.2 trillion ($171 million) at the Vietnam National Cancer Hospital in Hanoi and Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan announced on Wednesday.

Business

-- The prime minister will chair a conference in mid-March to work with commercial banks and the central bank to remove obstacles, spur credit development, and reduce lending rates.

-- Vietnam exported $4.78 billion worth of rice in 2023, up 36.6 percent in value year on year, marking a record high in outbound rice shipments in several years, heard a conference held in Da Nang City on Wednesday.

-- Some 438,000 metric tons of Vietnamese coffee worth $1.38 billion was shipped overseas in the first two months of 2024, surging 85 percent in value year on year, according to statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

World News

-- A Houthi missile attack killed three seafarers on a Red Sea merchant ship on Wednesday, U.S. Central Command said, the first fatalities reported since the Iran-aligned Yemeni group began strikes against shipping in one of the world's busiest trade lanes, reported Reuters.

-- Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump are scrambling to win over supporters of Nikki Haley, a constituency that could be crucial to sending either man back to the White House. Haley dropped out of the Republican presidential nomination contest on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Police in Ha Tinh Province, north-central Vietnam on Wednesday confiscated 2.2 metric tons of spoiled quail meat of unclear origin that was being transported on a sleeper bus from southern Dong Nai Province to Hanoi.

The sleeper bus, whose plate number was registered in Ho Chi Minh City, was pulled over by police officers at 3:00 am on the same day, when it was traveling northward along the National Highway 1 bypass in the provinces Ha Tinh City.

The quail meat had a foul smell. Photo: Supplied

The officers uncovered 44 styrofoam boxes in the bus that contained the said volume of frozen, processed, foul-smelling quail meat.

At the time of the inspection, the driver, identified as Nguyen Van Phong, a 50-year-old native of north-central Thanh Hoa Province, did not have the necessary documentation showing the origin and the quarantine status of the meat.

Phong confessed that he was hired to transport the quail meat from Dong Nai to a bus station in Hanoi for consumption.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Stakeholders have expressed their optimism about a social listening tool recently launched by the Ho Chi Minh City information and communications agency to collect and analyze public opinion via social media platforms, saying it is expected to bring many benefits to both local authorities and residents.

Doan Huu Hau, director of digital technology at FPT Digital, a consulting company under Vietnamese tech giant FPT Corporation, hailed the launch of the software as a great move in the process of developing the southern hub into a smart city.

This software is capable of collecting data from popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and others, serving as a channel to pool peoples feedback on local issues and facilitating more effective management and social development policies, officials said when launching it late last month.

It is meant to assist organizations in managing and shaping public opinion by monitoring and analyzing trends, opinions, and emotions on social networks.

The tool particularly focuses on developments involving hostile, subversive, and anti-social groups exploiting social networks and Internet platforms to incite protests against government policies and guidelines.

Hau believed that the advanced technology-powered software would help strengthen interactions between local authorities and residents, as well as enable the authorities to improve their state management by collecting and dealing with public opinion through social media platforms.

To avail the benefits brought by the software, Hau underlined the need to popularize it citywide and provide locals with guidelines on how to be part of its operations.

He suggested that the city expand sources of data beyond newspapers, TV programs, and social networks in order to increase the softwares utility.

The tool should be also introduced in other localities throughout Vietnam, the FPT Digital executive recommended.

Nguyen Thanh Hoa, chief of the municipal Department of Information and Communications electronic information division, highlighted the important role of such software at a time when residents daily lives have shifted to social networks and a growing number of disputes and scams are linked to social media.

Powered by AI and other technologies, the software possesses the capability to swiftly and comprehensively search for the most-discussed topics across various forms of communication on social networks, including written, picture-based, and voice interactions, Hoa said.

This enables competent agencies to promptly detect, prevent, and address instances of hate speech and fake news, the official added.

The software can also filter out and handle data before promptly sending reports to authorities to work out new policies in response to controversial issues.

Data gathered by the social listening tool needs to be classified and verified in order to ensure the accuracy of data analysis and decision-making activities, said Lam Huynh Anh, who is in charge of communications at a retail business in Ho Chi Minh City.

Anh suggested that the software incorporate features which can quickly respond to hate speech and fake news in order to aid individuals, businesses, and organizations.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
American billionaire Bill Gates, who landed in Da Nang City, central Vietnam for a leisure trip on Monday, paid a visit to Ban Co (Chess Board) Peak on the city's Son Tra Mountain on Wednesday.

He is staying at the five-star InterContinental Da Nang Sun Peninsula Resort on the mountain after his arrival, following his attendance at a pre-wedding celebration for the son of Asias wealthiest billionaire Mukesh Ambani in India, a source told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

The resort served former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2013 when he traveled to Vietnam to attend a financial conference held by Standard Chartered.

No photos of Bill Gates and his girlfriend on this trip have been unveiled.

He and his girlfriend planned to spend five days in Vietnam, BNN Breaking, an international news network, reported.

Information confidentiality for Gates is important, the source told Tuoi Tre.

For his privacy, he has not followed his plan to visit some tourist sites in Da Nang and Hoi An, a popular tourist attraction near the city.

Instead, the world-renowned billionaire took a jaunt to Ban Co Peak along a road linking the site and InterContinental Da Nang to admire the night-time view of the coastal city.

He remained on Ban Co Peak for 30 minutes to drink tea and enjoy the fresh air at night.

Bill Gates is pictured when he was in India. Photo: Bill Gates page

Ban Co (Chess Board) Peak on Son Tra Mountain is one of the most popular tourist sites in Da Nang City, central Vietnam. The peak overlooks the entire city. Photo: Archives

American billionaire Bill Gates traveled to Ban Co Peak on March 6, 2024 along a route connecting the site with InterContinental Da Nang Sun Peninsula Resort. Photo: Supplied

As of March, Gates has an estimated net worth of US$150 billion, making him the fifth-richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Gates co-founded Microsoft, the worlds biggest software maker, with his friend Paul Allen in 1975 in Albuquerque City, located in the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
She Creates Change, an animated and live-action film series, created by Room to Read, will be premiered by Warner Bros. Discovery in many countries from Friday, featuring the narratives of six courageous young women, including a Vietnamese girl.

The television premiere of the series is aimed at celebrating International Womens Day (March 8).

The series is a nonprofit-led animation and live-action film project to promote gender equality through the stories of young women around the world.

Each episode portrays how young women overcome challenges like harassment, food scarcity, and early marriage, along with the life skills they use to advocate for themselves and their futures.

Alongside girls in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania, Nguyen Thuy Trang, the Vietnamese owner of YouTube channel Sau Tivi, appears in She Creates Change with her duck, called Bim Bim.

Trang was born to a disadvantaged farming couple in Tra On District, Vinh Long Province, southwestern Vietnam.

She used her elder brother's smartphone to create humorous and emotional videos featuring herself, her pet Bim Bim, and snapshots from her daily life.

These videos quickly went viral on YouTube, thus making her famous.

Her YouTube channel gained 500,000 followers when she was 20.

Six shorts in the She Creates Change series will be aired at 8:00 pm (Vietnam time) on the Discovery Asia channel in Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Philippines, China, Taiwan, and Mongolia on March 8, 15, and 22.

An illustration picture of Nguyen Thuy Trang, a Vietnamese girl, who features in the 'She Creates Change' film series. Photo: Room to Read

The films will be introduced to audiences in Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka on the TLC and Discovery+ India channels during the period.

She Creates Change was backed by a women-led creative team, including Nexus Studio, an animation, film, and interactive studio in London, and Emmy-winning director Martha Adams.

Founded in 2000, Room to Read, a global nonprofit headquartered in San Francisco, California, focuses on working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations, and governments to improve literacy as well as gender equality in education.

Room to Read has supported over 39 million children in 23 nations worldwide.

In Vietnam, Room to Read has formed a close partnership with the Ministry of Education and Training to launch diverse programs aimed at enhancing language skills, fostering a reading culture among students, and advancing education for schoolgirls.

This global organization has established its presence in 46 provinces and cities across the nation, positively impacting the lives of over two million Vietnamese children.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
An empty mast at NATO headquarters, ahead of a flag-raising ceremony for new member Sweden (JOHN THYS)

Sweden on Thursday became the 32nd member of NATO, turning the page on two centuries of non-alignment and capping two years of tortuous diplomacy after Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered new fears.

Days after Hungary followed key holdout Turkey and became the last NATO member to sign off, Sweden ceremonially handed over accession documents to the United States, the leading force of the transatlantic alliance that promises joint security for all.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson late Thursday attended as a guest at the annual State of the Union address of President Joe Biden, whose rival Donald Trump has disparaged NATO as unfairly burdening the United States.

"Mr Prime Minister, welcome to NATO, the strongest military alliance the world has ever seen," Biden said as he recognized Kristersson, who sat in the gallery next to First Lady Jill Biden.

Biden urged the House leadership of the Republican Party to move on billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine, saying, in a dig at Trump, that "I will not bow down" to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you he will not," Biden said.

- 'Victory for freedom' -

Kristersson, at an accession ceremony at the State Department, called joining NATO "a major step but, at the same time, a very natural step."

"It's a victory for freedom today. Sweden has made a free, democratic, sovereign and united choice to join NATO," he said.

He later delivered a televised address to the nation from Washington, telling Swedes: "We are a small country, but we understand more than most the importance of the greater world beyond our borders."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said few would have expected Sweden as well as Finland to join NATO before Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

There is "no clearer example than today of the strategic debacle that Putin's invasion of Ukraine has become for Russia," Blinken said.

Story continues

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also hailed Sweden's membership, saying: "One more country in Europe has become more protected from Russian evil."

- Overcoming Turkish reluctance -

Sweden has not fought in a war since the Napoleonic conflicts of the early 19th century.

Sweden and Finland, while militarily intertwined with the United States and both members of the European Union, had historically steered clear of joining NATO, formed in the Cold War to unite against the Soviet Union.

Finland and Sweden launched a joint bid quickly after the invasion of Ukraine, which itself had unsuccessfully sought to join NATO.

Finland successfully joined in April 2023, but Sweden's membership was stalled by Turkey.

"Good things come to those who wait," Blinken said as he received the documents from Sweden.

Russia has vowed "countermeasures" over Sweden's entry into NATO, especially if the alliance's troops and assets deploy in the country.

Sweden's blue and yellow flag is expected to be hoisted on Monday at the Brussels headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance.

Before agreeing to ratify membership, Turkey used its leverage to press Sweden, known for its liberal asylum policies, to crack down on Kurdish militants who have campaigned against Ankara.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later demanded action after protesters, enjoying Swedish laws on free speech, desecrated Islam's holy book the Koran.

In a clear if unstated sweetener, the United States dangled the sale of F-16 warplanes to Turkey, which has faced the wrath of US sanctions over an earlier major military purchase from Russia.

The Biden administration in January approved $23 billion in F-16 warplanes for Turkey swiftly after it ratified Sweden's membership.

The United States simultaneously pushed ahead with $8.6 billion in more advanced F-35 jets for Greece, a fellow NATO member and historic adversary of Turkey.

Even after Turkey's blessing, Sweden faced another obstacle as it needed approval of a last country -- Hungary, whose nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, has often thumbed his nose at Western allies.

The Hungarian parliament ratified Sweden's membership on February 26. But in one last hiccup, Hungary could not sign the accession document due to a brief absence in the mostly ceremonial post of president, after an Orban ally resigned over pardoning a convicted child abuser's accomplice.

sct/sms
Maduro's re-election to a six-year term in 2018 was not recognized by the United States and dozens of other countries, and was met with a string of sanctions (Federico PARRA)

Venezuela has invited the European Union and a panel of experts from the United Nations to observe presidential elections on July 28 in which President Nicolas Maduro is expected to seek another term.

Many countries refused to recognize the results of Maduro's last election in 2018, citing fraud and a lack of transparency, and instead recognized his poll rival Juan Guaido as interim president.

Four years later Maduro, 61, is still firmly in charge of the oil-rich nation after his rival government collapsed and the war in Ukraine choked energy supplies and shifted global priorities.

Venezuela this week set a long-awaited election date which comes after Maduro's government and the opposition sealed a deal in Barbados last year to hold a free and fair vote with international observers present.

The president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Elvis Amoroso, said Thursday the body had sent invitations to the European bloc and United Nations, the US-based Carter Center NGO, BRICS and the African Union, among others.

"We have extended an invitation for them to participate as electoral observers, as long as they comply with the requirements and established constitutional and legal regulations," he told journalists.

The EU sent a mission to observe 2021 gubernatorial and mayoral elections -- its first in 15 years -- which ended abruptly after Maduro branded the delegation as "enemies" and "spies" after they said the process was marred by irregularities.

The EU observer mission said that despite what it called better conditions than in previous elections, it noted a "lack of adherence to the rule of law" and highlighted the use of public resources in the campaign and the "arbitrary" disqualification of candidates.

- Opposition candidate disqualified -

The Barbados deal, mediated by Norway, saw the United States ease sanctions against the oil-rich South American country, allowing US-based Chevron to resume limited crude extraction and leading to a prisoner swap.

Story continues

The agreement required that opposition candidates be allowed to appeal court rulings disqualifying them from holding office.

Since then, however, the Supreme Court loyal to Maduro upheld a 15-year ban on opposition primary winner Maria Corina Machado -- who has nevertheless kept campaigning.

Judges ruled in January that Machado had been "involved... in the corruption plot orchestrated" by former opposition Guaido, now in exile.

The "plot," they said, was responsible for "criminal" sanctions against Venezuela.

The judges also confirmed the ineligibility of a possible opposition stand-in -- two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles.

After the ruling, the United States announced it would reimpose some sanctions.

Since then, senior government official Diosdado Cabello has said elections would be held "without the presence" of the United States or the Organization of American States.

In January, Maduro said the Barbados agreement was "mortally wounded" after government authorities claimed to have foiled numerous US-backed plots to assassinate him.

- A rough decade -

The former bus driver and union leader was the hand-picked successor of Hugo Chavez, taking over from the charismatic revolutionary after he died from cancer in 2013.

Maduro has battled a worsening economy, marked by runaway inflation and shortages as the country's oil boom went bust, and multiple political crises.

The dire situation in the country has pushed more than seven million Venezuelans to flee their country, most to neighboring countries but with a growing number making the dangerous trek to the United States.

Maduro has not said he will seek a third six-year term, but is widely expected to do so.

Ruling party official Cabello, said Wednesday he "had no doubt" Maduro would be the chosen candidate.

Cabello said the "rank and file" of the ruling PSUV party will choose a candidate in countrywide meetings in "an act of democracy" this week.

The candidate will be announced on March 15.

jt/fb/bgs
Welcome Guest! You are here: Home  Views & Analysis

How Palestinians Crushed US Stratagem, Again

Palestinians defeated the US agenda, but that was not enough to clinch their own freedom, simply because they were in this difficult battle alone. Read More

Thursday March 7, 2024 2:06 PM , Dr Ramzy Baroud

Jared Kushner, a former US official whose relationship to power is that he married the wealthy daughter of a man who was later to become the US President, once attempted to teach Palestinians how to handle their own struggle for freedom.

In 2020, he advised Palestinians to stop doing terrorism, summing up the Palestinian problem in the claim that five million Palestinians are (..) trapped because of bad leadership, not the Israeli occupation or US support for Israel.

The inexperienced politician , who once bragged about reading 25 books on the Middle East, presented Palestinians with the same cliched rhetoric already offered to them by other ill-intentioned self-imposed peacemakers.

Palestinians have a perfect track record of missing opportunities, he said, re-hashing the condescending language once used by Israels former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abba Eban:

If they screw this up, I think that they will have a very hard time looking the international community in the face, saying they are victims.

But why bring up Kushner now?

Every few years, Americans, at the behest of Israel, peddle such ideas that the Palestinian cause is finished, that solidarity with the Palestinian people is dead and that the Palestinian people and their leadership should accept whatever political or financial crumbs thrown their way, courtesy of Washington, Tel Aviv and a few of their western allies.

Yet, every few years, the Palestinian people prove them wrong; that despite all the pressures  arm-twisting, sanctions, sieges, and relentless violence  they remain strong and not the victims ignorantly dubbed by Kushner.

What Kushner may not know is that there is a critical difference between victim and victimhood. While Palestinians cannot control their victimization, since it is imposed on them from an outside force, Israel  generously financed by the US  they do not seek to be victims.

Indeed, victimhood is a different issue. It is the state of perceiving oneself as a perpetual victim, with no aspirations, no agency.

While it is true that the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza is one of the greatest crimes of mass killings and ethnic cleansing in modern history, it is also true that no nation, in recent decades, has fought back as ferociously as the Palestinians. This is hardly the behavior of a victim.

The Joe Biden Administration, like every other US administration, has talked down to Palestinians, declaring them foolish for not accepting political deals that would fail to guarantee them the most basic of their long-denied rights. While Palestinians sought total and unconditional freedom, Camp David (1979), the Oslo Accords (1993), the Road Map (2004), and every other offer before, during or after were political attempts at prolonging the Israeli occupation and denying the rights of the Palestinians. Kushners was not the exception.

All of these previous American peace proposals were obviously unfair, as they were to Israels advantage and were designed entirely independent from international and humanitarian laws. All of these pro-Israeli proposals have failed, not due to the international communitys ability to challenge Washington, but due to the tenacity of the Palestinian people.

Palestinians defeated the US agenda, but that was not enough to clinch their own freedom, simply because they were in this difficult battle alone.

Solidarity with the Palestinian people has always been one of the pillars of all international solidarity movements worldwide for decades. The phrase Free Palestine has been written on countless walls, in every language, in every city, town, or working-class neighborhood. Still, that solidarity was not enough to turn the tide, to achieve the coveted paradigm shift or to reach the critical mass needed to globalize the struggle for the freedom of the Palestinians the way that the struggle to end South Africas apartheid imposed itself as a moral necessity on the whole world.

There should be no illusions that the anti-apartheid struggle of South Africa and the struggle for Palestinian freedom are identical. Back then, the global geopolitical shift made it difficult for Pretoria to maintain its racial segregation regime. Moreover, the power of that racist government, if compared to that of Israel and its backers, is minuscule.

Washington sees Israel as an integral part of the US global influence. For US politicians, Israel is a domestic and not simply a foreign policy issue. Moreover, if Israel ceases to exist in its current dominant form, the US will lose a stronghold in a region teeming with precious resources, strategic waterways and much more. This is precisely why Biden has repeatedly declared that If Israel didnt exist, we would have to invent it.

However, things are finally changing, and the new solidarity, ignited in response to the worst killing campaign in the history of the region, has exceeded the confines of conditional solidarity, ideological solidarity and symbolic solidarity, which, to some extent, had defined global solidarity with the Palestinians.

This solidarity is now expressing itself at the highest level of political discourses. In his testimony before the International Court of Justices public hearings (February 19-26), Chinas representative, Ma Xinmin, went as far as defending, while referencing international law, the Palestinian peoples right to armed struggle.

Russias Ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, called on sanctions on those who obstruct humanitarian access to those in need. European governments, such as Spain, Ireland, Norway and Belgium, are using unprecedented language to describe Israels war crimes in Gaza, while demanding real action.

The Global South is back at the forefront of championing the cause of Palestine as the worlds most inspiring national liberation struggle.

None of this was born in a vacuum. While the majority of global protests and rallies in post-October 7 were related to Palestine and Israel, 86 percent of these protests were reportedly pro-Palestine. It is not only the frequency or size of current protests that matter, but their nature as well. This includes a group of Italian youth trying to storm the US consulate in Pisa; Palestine activists taking over the Congress building, and an American soldier self-immolating out of sheer anger at the culpability of his government in the crimes underway in Gaza.

This is truly earth-shattering. The critical mass for meaningful solidarity has finally been achieved, signaling that, once more, Palestinians have imposed themselves as the guardians of their own struggle, standing proudly at the frontline of the global struggle for freedom and justice.

This leaves us with the question: Who is truly having a hard time looking at the international community in the face? Certainly, not the Palestinian people.

[The writer, Dr. Ramzy Baroud, is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappe, is Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out. His other books include My Father was a Freedom Fighter and The Last Earth. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net]









Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
Acclaimed string trio Time For Three, winners of the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for their "Letters For The Future" album, is set to perform this Thursday night, March 7, at the "Bridges" series held by New York's Kaufman Music Center.

The performance will start at 7:30 PM at the Abraham Goodman House along 67th Street on Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.

This iteration of the event series will see Time For Three violinists Charles Yang and Nicolas "Nick Kendall, alongside their double bassist Ranaan Meyer, perform with students from KMC and Montclair State University's John J. Cali School of Music.

Prior "Bridges" performers include clarinetist-composer David Krakauer and pianist-composer Kathleen Tagg, both of whom held their iteration of the event last November and similarly performed alongside the aforementioned pupils.

Time For Three, The 'Benevolent Monster Trio'

In a statement quoted by the Celebrity Series of Boston, Former Principal Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic: Sir Simon Rattle described the Time For Three trio as "monsters of ability and technique," exclaiming, "Simply put, they're a knockout!"

Sir Rattle continued by saying that alongside their immense talent, they are also "conveyors of an infectious joy that [he] finds both touching and moving."

Indeed, the Grammy-winning band's passion for incorporating a unique blend of Americana, modern pop, and classical canon in their music is highly infectious and strangely inviting despite the uncommon mixture of genres.

On its website, KMC described the viewing experience during a Time For Three live performance as an opportunity to "hear various eras, styles, and traditions of Western music fold in on themselves and emerge anew."

The trio's recent 2023 collaborative album with The Philadelphia Orchestra and its conductor Xian Zhang, "Letters For The Future," not only won them their first and only Grammy, but it also earned a place among the Billboard Top 10.

As for the event, venue tickets for both orchestra and balcony seats are currently selling for $25 plus $4 fees at the official KMC website. For more information on the event, click here.

Read Also: Buffalo Tom Shares Agnes Varda-Inspired Music Video for New Single 'New Girl Singing'

 2024 Classicalite All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Welcome Guest! You are here: Home  Ramadan 2024

Ramadan 2024 Moon sighting in Saudi Arabia Sunday

The Holy Month of fasting, Ramadan 2024, in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states will commence on Monday March 11, 2024 if the Ramadan Moon is sighted in the Kingdom on Sunday March 11, 2024. Read More

Friday March 8, 2024 0:49 AM , ummid.com News Network

Makkah: Saudi Arabia has officially asked local citizens to spot the New Moon of Ramadan  the Holy Month of Fasting, on Sunday 29th of Shaban 1445 AH, corresponding to March 10, 2024.

The official result of Ramadan moon sighting will be announced by the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia after Maghrib Prayers Sunday Evening.

"The Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has asked citizens and residents in the Kingdom to search for the crescent of Ramadan 1445 H on the evening of Sunday, 29th Shaban 1445 AH according to Umm Al Qura Calendar corresponding to March 10, 2024 and report any sightings to their nearest court", local media reported. "The Supreme Courts special session will sit and deliberate on Sunday evening the results of the crescent search and will issue a decision", the reports added.

The Kingdoms main observatories are in Sudair and Tumair, and sightings of the new moon from the two observatories are part of the official decision.

Ramadan 2024 Date

Islamic Calendar is based on lunar system according to which a new month begins with sighting of the Moon (Crescent) on 29th of every month. If the Crescent is spotted on 29th, the prevailing month ends and the new month begin on the next day.

However, if the Moon is not spotted on 29th, the next day is counted as the 30th day of the ongoing month and the new month starts a day later.

Accordingly, the Holy Month of fasting, Ramadan 2024, in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states will commence on Monday March 11, 2024 if the Ramadan Moon is sighted in the Kingdom on Sunday March 11, 2024. Else, the holy month will start on Tuesday March 12, 2024.

Ramadan Moon Sighting in UAE, Qatar and Arab states

As for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, also for Turkey, Egypt and Palestine, the Ramadan normally starts in the countries along with Saudi Arabia.

Though these countries have their own observatories and moon committees, they normally go with the announcement made by Saudi Arabia.

Ramadan 2024 Moon Sighting in India, Pakistan

On the other hand, Muslims in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other South Asian countries will spot the Ramadan Moon on Monday March 11, 2024.

Similarly, Muslims in the United States (USA), United Kingdom (UK), Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, France, Germany and other countries too will start fasting of Ramadan either on Sunday March 10 or Monday March 11, 2024.

The final decision will be taken on Sunday March 10, 2024 by the moon sighting committee operating in these countries.

Ramadan Work Hours

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and other Muslim states have already announced reduced working hours during the Holy Month of Ramadan. The authorities in these countries have also re-scheduled school and college timings for the Holy Month.

While some jobs necessitate longer hours, most employees in the private sector enjoy a two-hour reduction in their workday. Government offices often close early, with working hours for public sector employees reduced to six instead of the usual eight hours.

Special arrangements are also made for five daily prayers, Taraweeh (Special Night Prayers offered during Ramadan) and also for Iftar meals that mark the end of daily fast.





Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
2023 was the year of many difficulties, challenges for the Vietnamese life insurance industry. One encouraging development in the market, nevertheless, was the strengthening of the legal framework and the introduction of new rules aimed at regulating the industry towards enhancing quality and ensuring sustainable growth. The industry is predicted to resume growing in 2024 and is transforming positively.

On the occasion that Shinhan Life has launched the financial consultant channel (FC Channel), Shinhan Life Vietnam's General Director, Bae Seung Jun, spoke with Viet Nam News about the markets prospects and his companys business plan.

After a difficult year, Viet Nam's life insurance industry has set a growth target of 5 per cent for 2024. How do you evaluate this goal in light of the ongoing economic challenges?

In 2024, international organisations anticipate that the Vietnamese Government's swift and efficient actions would result in a resilient economic recovery, even in the face of persistent global economic issues that may negatively influence the country's economy and the insurance industry. This promises a brighter outlook for the country.

I really value the goal of pushing the life insurance industrys growth to increase by 5 per cent in 2024, especially in light of the current economic climate, market conditions and prospects.

Although this goal is undoubtedly difficult, it shows how determined the industry leadership is. However, it is anticipated that last year's significant regulatory changes and the adoption of new regulations will favourably influence the market's trajectory, especially in the second half of this year.

With regulatory bodies' strategic efforts and companies' vigorous engagement in enhancing advisory quality and delivering products that genuinely meet customer needs, I believe the market is well positioned to rebuild consumer trust. This, in turn, will rejuvenate growth, paving the way to achieving the ambitious 5 per cent growth target.

Shinhan Life has launched the FC channel. Is this a step the company is taking to enhance consultancy? What are the company's expectations for this channel?

Customers' benefits have always being the top focus of the market, therefore insurance companies need to develop a portfolio of products that better meet the needs of their customers while simultaneously improving their sales staff, procedures and customer services.

Due to the complexity of insurance products, there is always a need for direct consultation from agents so that customers can better understand their own needs as well as the features of the products. Therefore, I see that the agency channel remains an important channel both now and in the future.

At Shinhan Life Korea, the financial consultant (FC) channel is a mainstay, yielding high profits and contributing to the company's sustainable development. We plan to benchmark this successful model for the company's FC channel, building a professional and high-quality FC team, thereby enhancing the quality of consultation for Vietnamese customers.

From its humble start in 2022, we have rapidly expanded to over 100 employees and 200 consultants. With an impressive premium revenue of VN217 billion (US$8.9 million) in 2023, representing a year-on-year growth rate of 90 per cent, we became the only insurance company to achieve such a high growth rate.

We firmly believe that the life insurance market will soon recover and continue to thrive, and the FC channel is an opportunity for us to mark a new phase of growth.

Improving insurance consultancy is an immediate requirement by the Government. What are the core values and features of the FC channel?

After a period of rapid quantitative growth, the Vietnamese life insurance market is currently undergoing a significant qualitative transformation, aiming to enhance the core human values of insurance. Consultants play an incredibly vital role in promoting insurance's fundamental purpose of providing risk protection for people.

I am confident that customers feel secure with the most suitable financial solution only when thoroughly advised by a team of qualified financial consultants and a clear understanding of insurance products. Therefore, the true value of life insurance will be promoted, instilling confidence in the humane values of insurance. Only when people understand and trust the core human values of insurance can there be a significant increase in participation in life insurance.

Therefore, we will not prioritise quantitative expansion, but focus on enhancing quality, with the goal of recruiting and training a professional and well-grounded team. Quality must become a keyword synonymous with Shinhan Life Vietnam, embodying the company's vision of Enhance the Quality of Life through Innovation.

With only 11 per cent of Vietnamese individuals currently owning life insurance, there is considerable room for growth. The Government aims for 15 per cent of the population to having life insurance by 2025 and 18 per cent by 2030. What should life insurers do to expand the market, and what are Shinhan Lifes strategies for capturing a larger market share?

As I previously said, insurers, including Shinhan Life, have made significant adjustments over the past year to address new requirements in the industry. Beyond developing product lines that better meet the real needs of customers, simplifying the insurance enrollment and claim procedures and diversifying distribution channels, there has been a special emphasis on improving the quality of the consulting and sales teams.

To support the company's growth in the current landscape, Shinhan Life will leverage both unique selling proposition (USP) and emotional selling proposition (ESP) to create a distinctive brand identity in the market.

The USP is exemplified by the integrated strength of the Shinhan Financial Group in Viet Nam  One Shinhan synergy, and through the transfer of expertise from Shinhan Life Korea's experience. I believe that very few companies in the market possess or can replicate this element.

The ESP is manifested through an outstanding sales team and dedicated after-sales service. To forge a positive image in the eyes of agency candidates and customers, we commit to quality and refuse to compromise on quality for any reason.

We anticipate that with a strategy focused on quality and prioritising customer benefits, the financial solutions of Shinhan Life will increasingly be trusted and chosen by the Vietnamese people, thereby helping the company achieve its goals and contribute to the overall growth of the market.

As a new player in the insurance market, what are Shinhan Life's short- and long-term targets in the Vietnamese market, and what actions has it taken to achieve these goals?

Leveraging its solid foundation from the first two years, Shinhan Life is set to diversify its distribution network, roll out its innovative products, and promote the quality to broaden its access to customers and solidify its presence in the market.

The launch of the FC channel marks a pivotal move towards high-quality and effective distribution, enabling us to provide the most accurate financial solutions for a larger number of customers. I hope this strategy will significantly propel Shinhan Life Vietnam's growth in the coming years.

We are striving to make quality become a keyword that represents Shinhan Life Vietnam. Our goal is to make sure that clients identify Shinhan Life Vietnam as a professional insurance provider that puts client needs first, has an effective operational structure, and uses top-notch distribution channels.  VNS
SEOUL  Viet Nam's Ministry of Finance and State Securities Commission (SSC) organised a financial investment promotion conference in the Republic of Korea (RoK) themed "Vietnam - Investment Destination" in Seoul on March 7.

The conference, chaired by Finance Minister Ho uc Phoc, attracted the participation of representatives from more than 300 companies of the two countries.

Phoc said that the participation of a large number of businesses and investors is clear evidence of the Vietnamese Governments efforts to create a favourable and attractive business and investment environment for foreign businesses and investors, especially those from the RoK.

Viet Nam is the RoKs third largest trade partner, with two-way trade hitting nearly US$80 billion last year. The RoK ranks first among foreign investors in Viet Nam, with 9,863 investment projects totalling around $90 billion and over 8,000 companies operating in the Southeast Asian nation.

Last year, Viet Nam also welcomed more than 3.5 million Korean holiday-makers, and there are currently 180,000 Koreans living in the country.

The minister said he believes the goal of raising two-way trade to $150 billion in a balanced and sustainable direction by 2030 is reachable.

He highlighted the rapid development of Viet Nam's stock market, which had a capitalisation value of nearly 270 billion USD, equivalent to nearly 63% of the GDP. He cited Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's pledge at a conference on the stock market development in late February to develop a transparent, safe, effective and sustainable stock market and ensure legitimate rights and interests of stakeholders.

Phoc expressed his belief that this conference will open up greater opportunities for cooperation and prosperous development between the two countries in general and their businesses and investors in particular, especially in the field of financial market.

The Ministry of Finance is committed to accompanying and creating favourable conditions for partners, businesses and investors of the two countries to seek investment and cooperation opportunities that bring the highest efficiency, and welcomes Korean businesses and investors to invest more and expand their investment scale in Viet Nam, he added.

Kim Yong-Jae, Standing Commissioner of the Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC), said that in the financial sector, Viet Nam ranks second in the world in terms of the presence of RoK financial institutions, with 46 institutions in the fields of banking, insurance, and securities.

He shared that many large Korean corporations and businesses such as Samsung, LG, and Hyundai see Viet Nam 's growth potential and have reaped rewards after investing early in the Vietnamese market. Korean financial institutions are also investing in Vietnam in many different forms such as establishing legal entities, and mergers and acquisitions.

According to Kim, the Korean economy has entered a mature stage, with population aging occurring strongly, which makes investing in promising Vietnamese businesses a great alternative to overcome the decline in investment yields of Korean companies and financial institutions.

At the same time, this investment process will become a solid stepping stone to further strengthen the driving force for Viet Nam 's economic growth, he stressed.

Within the framework of the conference, the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance also organised a dialogue with businesses to inform them about Viet Nams important macro-economic policies and mechanisms to attract investment into the Vietnamese capital market, green finance and the process of upgrading Viet Nam 's stock market from a frontier status to an emerging one.

On this occasion, SSC Chairperson Vu Thi Chan Phuong and Kim Yong-Jae, who represents the Korea Financial Investment Association, signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation consultations and technical assistance.  VNA/VNS
HA NOI  A special book by French professor Jacques de Guerny on the history of bronze drums in Southeast Asia, particularly those in Viet Nam, has been translated into Vietnamese and will become available in the country and abroad on Saturday.

The book, titled "Les Tambours de Bronze de l'Asie du Sud-Est or Bronze Drums of Southeast Asia and translated into Vietnamese as Trong ong ong Nam A, includes a series of interesting historical stories, photos and archeological research on ancient drums in the region.

A cultural programme themed Tieng ong at Viet (Music of Bronze Drums in Viet Land) will be held in central Ha Noi on Saturday to mark the launch of the book.

The programme, organised by the management board of Ha Noi's Hoan Kiem Lake and Old Quarter, also includes a series of music performances by artists from ong Kinh Co Nhac troupe who will play traditional percussion and other folk instruments.

A discussion among Vietnamese archeologists and the writer will also be held to discuss Vietnamese ong Son bronze drums.

De Guerny will present a lecture about his work in researching and writing the book, which was published in French in 2017 and in English in 2018.

With his deep love of drums, the writer has shown in his book an insatiable passion for collecting and tracing their evolution in Southeast Asia, particularly Viet Nam.

A series of clear evidence is also shown in the book about bronze drums found in Viet Nam, such as those of the ong Son, Cam Giang and Lang Chanh in the central province of Thanh Hoa, Ngoc Lu in the northern province of Ha Nam, Moulie or Song a drum in the northern province of Hoa Binh, Hoang Ha in Ha Son Binh Province (now Ha Noi) and many others.

De Guerny, who is also an expert on economics and a former professor and lecturer at the HEC University in Paris and Harvard Business School in the US, has poured his resources and time into collecting and studying these drums, some of which date back 2,500 years.

A lot of Bronze Drums had been made and described by scholars or missionaries but their mystery endured as far as different hypotheses were put forward, often antagonist, to explain the origin and development of these masterpieces whose metal is not yet possible to date," said De Guerny.

Figure of the Ngoc Lu drum as presented in the book. Photo courtesy of the writer.

According to him, be that as it may, drums were part of the final sophistication of the Bronze Age in Asia, avatar of one of the oldest musical instruments ever created and popular until now in human lives and beliefs.

"Therefore, fascinated, I decided to investigate the 'bronze drum case' not only to consider the existing studies but to visit all the specific countries involved, with the help of the best scholars and local people," he said.

The French professor revealed his purpose was not to write a new thesis but to relate, as objectively as possible with simple words, a wonderful but until now little known odyssey.

"To give to the readers and possible visitors some keys to understand and hopefully join me to become a Bronze Drums lover, he said.

De Guerny said the book is dedicated "to the Southern Barbarians, genial creators of the bronze drums of Southeast Asia."

In his book, he wrote: "The 'southern barbarians wealthy kingdoms', bordering the Red River, from future Yunnan (China) and future Tonkin (Viet Nam), invented the bronze drums around 500 BCE and developed them until the Han colonisation at the end of BCE. ong Son created perhaps the most elaborate drums of that times, at the verge of BCE/C.

In his book, the expert said around Guangxi, China and the mountains of Tonkin (Viet Nam), early bronze drums were developed until now but forgotten elsewhere.

De Guerny said he visited museums in Viet Nam that display bronze drums and talked to museum directors and researchers across the country, including those in Ha Noi, Thanh Hoa Province and HCM City.

He said his trips to Viet Nam gave him opportunities to meet people who supported him greatly in his work. 1 VNS
HCM CITY  Women and love are featured in new drama shows staged by theatres in HCM City to celebrate International Womens Day on March 8.

Artists from the private drama troupe Hoang Thai Thanh will offer Lac O ay Song (Lost in the River) and Long Sat (The Cage), both produced by talented female theatre director-actress Ai Nhu.

The two works feature urban women and their challenges in a modern market economy, starring talented actresses Tuyet Thu and Kim Huyen.

Another play about social issues, based on a short story by famous female author Nguyen Ngoc Tu, will be included.

The play, Tra Lai Lia Thia (Returning Home), is a production that uses literary elements written by Tu, winner of the Southeast Asian Writers Award from the Thai Royal Family in 2008 and the Literaturpeis Prize 2018 from the Frankfurt Book Festival.

Realistic images of women living in farms in the south, their culture and lifestyle are highlighted.

Our shows feature the different stories of southern farmers who have different difficulties and opportunities to be free to work, talk, share and love together for a better life here, said the theatres owner and art director Ai Nhu.

Begun in 2010, Hoang Thai Thanh Drama Troupe features 20 professional artists. Its performances have attracted more than 15,000 spectators.

The theatres new shows will start at 8pm on March 8, 9 and 10 at 139 Bac Hai Street, District 10.

Thien ang Drama Stage will restage its famous play on women, Giang Huong (Women in the Theatre), in a new version.

The show is directed by the theatres founder and Meritorious Artist Thanh Loc.

It portrays a theatre actress who devotes and sacrifices her life to her art.

It is based on San Khau Ve Khuya (The Dark in the Theatre), a famous cai luong (reformed opera) play in the 1960s written by late celebrated artist Nam Chau, who was a guru of the Souths traditional theatre.

Director Loc will use new concepts and techniques in drama. He used talented actresses Le Khanh and Van Trang to guarantee his productions success.

Giang Huong is scheduled for 8pm on March 9 at 62 Tran Quang Khai Street, District 1. VNS
BERLIN More than 70 Vietnamese travel agencies are introducing attractive tourism products and services at the worlds largest travel trade show  ITB 2024, which takes place in Berlin, Germany from March 5-7.

With the slogan Pioneer the Transition in Travel & Tourism. Together, ITB 2024 features over 5,500 booths from 170 countries and regions, including those of major Vietnamese tourism businesses like Vietnam Airlines (VNA), Saigontourist, Vidotour and Viettravel.

Dr Mario Tobias, CEO of Messe Berlin GmbH, expressed optimism during the opening press conference on March 5, stating that the global tourism industry is experiencing stable growth.

The data presented by industry experts at ITB Berlin indicates that in 2023, the global tourism market not only recovered from the significant downturn during the COVID-19 pandemic but even surpassed the levels of 2019, reaching a revenue of nearly US$2 trillion, according to market research company Phocuswright.

However, the tourism industry still faces numerous difficulties. One of the biggest is climate change, leading to changes in the tourism environment, demanding proactive participation and action from the travel industry in all sustainable initiatives.

Cao Chinh Mien, Director of the Vietnam Airlines branch in Germany, said that Vietnam Airlines has participated in the annual event for years, seeing it as an opportunity to promote the image of Viet Nam and the national flag carrier in one of the most dynamic markets in the world.

The fair helps the carrier evaluate tourism trends in 2024 and 2025, he said.

According to him, tourism from Germany to Southeast Asia has recovered about 95 per cent compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.

Deputy General Director of Saigontourist Nguyen ong Hoa said that ITB is an important fair for the world tourism industry, and his company attends the event every year, not only ITB Berlin but also ITB Singapore.

This year, the recovery of Europe has shown some improvement but has not met expectations, possibly due to objective reasons related to political factors, he added.

He expected that Saigontourist's German market in particular and Europe in general will grow better in 2024.

On March 6, at ITB Berlin, head of Marketing and Product Sales at VNA Pham Thi Nguyet and Vice President in charge of development of Munich Airport (Munchen) Oliver Dersch signed a Memorandum of Understanding on opening a direct route between Munich and Viet Nam from October 1, with a frequency of three flights per week.

The number is targeted to increase to four by the end of this year.

According to Nguyet, Europe is a potential market for Vietnamese tourism. The region has experienced the strongest recovery right after the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to early relaxed visa policies and travel encouragement.

With the launch of the Munich route, VNA hopes to better serve the needs of people traveling between Viet Nam and Germany, as well as its neighbouring countries like Austria, Switzerland and Italy, she said.

Nguyet also believed that the demand for travel between Europe and Viet Nam would experience even stronger growth after more new flight routes open.

ITB stands for Internationale Tourismus-Borse Berlin, commonly known as ITB Berlin. It is the world's leading travel trade show and exhibition held annually in March in Berlin, Germany since 1966. The trade show brings together global tourism industry professionals, including travel agencies, tour operators, hotels, airlines and tourism organisations, to showcase their products and services, network, and discuss industry trends and developments. VNS
Pauline Tamesis and Caroline Nyamayemombe*

Le Thi Ha Giang, a young entrepreneur, is working hard to integrate digital skills in her business to keep up with the transforming society. As one of the 60 trainees of the Empower Her Tech Programme by the United Nations Development Programme, she learnt website building, digital design, using generative AI, and other digital skills which will help her grow her business in the future.

Mi has never felt this confident or respected in her life  she is now the main breadwinner in the family, despite having fallen victim to human trafficking. It became possible with the help of the International Organization on Migration, with support from the UK Government and collaboratively with reintegration partners from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, who provided Mi with three female goats  a source of food and additional income  and facilitated her societal reintegration.

These stories demonstrate that women, given the opportunity, are eager to work hard to change their lives for the better.

Viet Nam has made strides in womens empowerment. Legislation, including the Gender Equality Law and special 35 per cent candidate quota for women in the National Assembly, enabled legal and policy environment to drive investments for womens empowerment. Efforts are showing results with the country climbing 11 places on the latest World Economic Forums Global Gender Gap Index, rising from 83rd to 72nd place out of 146 countries. Viet Nam at over 70 per cent female workforce participation rate, counts as one of the highest in the world and, with 30.26 per cent women representation in parliament, Viet Nam exceeds the global average of 25.5 per cent.

Nevertheless, like elsewhere in the world, women still face barriers to equal opportunities in education, employment, and access to leadership positions. Ethnic community and disabled women especially stand out. Party bodies and Peoples Council include only 6 per cent and 7.3 per cent female ethnic group members respectively, compared to male ethnic cadres at 36.1 per cent and 39.0 per cent. While Viet Nam is on a good track at other levels, more work is needed at the commune level where only 22 per cent of women are part of the commune Peoples Committees.

Looking back at the achievements of the past 29 years of implementing the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on womens empowerment and nearly 40 years since adopting the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women in 1981, we can draw some critical reflections to accelerate progress for women.

Increasing womens leadership across public and private institutions improves institutional performance. Up to 80 per cent of top businesses with good results and stable operations during COVID, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, were led by females, while only 26.5 per cent of business owners and CEOs in Viet Nam are women. Moreover, womens leadership and participation in key institutions is essential to combat bias and stereotypes and build public trust. By 2030, 70 per cent of the State management agencies are expected to have at least one woman in a leadership role.

Strengthening quality education for women and girls and ensuring equal access to leadership training, career development, and funded programmes, particularly in STEM, is a key to successful digital transformation. The proportion of female graduates completing tertiary education in STEM fields in Viet Nam is 36.5 per cent. Polytechnic University has over 78 per cent male students compared to 22 per cent female students. Since 75 per cent of jobs globally will be related to STEM by 2050, targeting gender equality in STEM education would prevent growing imbalances that may be exacerbated by digital transformation.

While women are hard workers and are as competent as men, they are still paid less than men. Globally, women earn 77 per cent of what men earn. Gender-responsive social protection systems that ensure equitable access and support for women and girls in poverty are sorely needed. These systems help address income disparities, improve education and health outcomes, and prevent gender-based violence. These also promote access to decent work and facilitate the transition from informal to formal employment for women.

Innovative financing solutions lift women and girls out of poverty. Ensuring that public resources are allocated and spent to respond to the needs and demands of women and girls will guarantee about 230,000 poor households in rural area with housing support by 2025  Viet Nam has clearly demonstrated this through its National Target Programme on New Rural Development. A compact of innovative financing mechanisms to increase investments on health, education, infrastructure to make social protection services reach those furthest behind will unlock greater economic prosperity for the country.

The United Nations Secretary-General reiterates that we must invest in programmes to end violence against women, and to drive womens inclusion and leadership in economies, digital technologies, peacebuilding and climate action.

Reflecting on this years theme for International Womens Day, Invest in women: Accelerate progress, underscores the importance of empowering and supporting women to drive societal advancement.

Mi and Le Thi Ha Giangs stories tell us that the future can and must be brighter. VNS

*Pauline Tamesis is the Resident Coordinator of UN in Viet Nam and Caroline Nyamayemombe is the Representative of UN Women in Viet Nam
Multi-award-winning stage and movie stars Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal are set to take on the lead roles of Shakespeare's classic play, "Othello," in a new Broadway revival helmed by Tony-winning director Kenny Leon, according to Broadway World.

Washington will be playing the titular character opposite Gyllenhaal's Iago.

Information About Shakespeare's 'Othello' on Broadway

Performances is slated to start in the Spring of 2025 at a currently unspecified Shubert Organization-owned theatre, with backing from "The Wiz" producer Brian Anthony Moreland. More information regarding the casting is yet to be announced.

The upcoming Shakespearean production also marks the first time Washington returned to the Main Stem for about seven years after headlining a 2018 revival of Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh."

The "Othello" Broadway project will also see a reunion between Leon and Washington, returning to a director and stage-actor relationship following their work on the Tony-winning stage play "Fences" (2010) and "A Raisin in the Sun."

Gyllenhaal, on the other hand, has had a series of relatively spaced Broadway appearances, starting with his debut performance in 2015's "Constellations," followed up by a return to the Main Stem in the 2017 revival of "Sunday in the Park With George, and capped off by 2019's "Sea Wall/A Life," which was similarly a Tony-winning project produced by Moreland.

Although Shakespeare is a mainstay on Broadway as the playwright's works are on London's West End, the revival still marks a significant length of time between the last staging of the tragedy in 1982, which starred James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer, and the upcoming production.

The play will follow the classic's well-known plotline revolving around its titular character of a Moorish military commander who is slowly duped by his enemy, Iago, through psychological warfare that turns him against his wife, Desdemona.

ARC Casting's Duncan Stewart is in charge of the production's casting, while 101 Productions will act as general manager.

Read Also: Grammy-Winning String Trio Time For Three to Perform in the 'Bridges' Series by NYC's Kaufman Music Center

 2024 Classicalite All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
CANBERRA  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, his spouse, and a high-ranking delegation of Viet Nam, who are on an official visit to Australia, were welcomed with a 19-gun salute at a ceremony hosted by Australian PM Anthony Albanese and his fiancee in Canberra on Thursday morning.

The two Government leaders held talks after the ceremony at the Parliament House.

PM Chinh's official visit to Australia follows the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries last year and takes place amid great strides and comprehensive results recorded in the bilateral ties.

The trip is an occasion for the countries to review the recent development of the bilateral relations, especially in the implementation of their strategic partnership as well as the high-level agreements reached recently.

The two sides will outline cooperation orientations for the time ahead, including on trade, investment, education - training, science - technology, innovation, and new impulses, particularly digital economy, green economy, energy transition, and renewable energy.  VNS
CANBERRA  Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse had a meeting with Australian Governor-General David Hurley and his spouse in Canberra on Thursday as part of the formers' ongoing official visit to Australia.

PM Chinh expressed his pleasure to meet Governor-General Hurley and his spouse again after their state visit to Viet Nam in April 2023. He extended the regards of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Nguyen Phu Trong and other key Vietnamese leaders to the hosts.

He congratulated Australia on successfully organising the special summit marking the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Australia relations.

The PM thanked Australia for providing Viet Nam with valuable support both in the past and at present, including the construction of My Thuan and Cao Lanh bridges in the Mekong Delta region, the transport of Level-2 Field Hospital to the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, and the training of high quality human resources for Viet Nam.

For his part, Governor-General Hurley recalled his good memories during his visit to Viet Nam, and expressed his hope to visit Viet Nam again soon.

Highlighting the outcomes of the special summit commemorating the ASEAN-Australia 50-year partnership, the Governor-General said that the Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 of Australia, which includes many important cooperation contents, is the foundation for Australia to build stronger relations with ASEAN member countries.

The two sides shared the delight at the fine development of the ties between the two countries after more than half a century of establishing diplomatic relations. They agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in education, culture and people-to-people exchanges.

The two sides highly valued the upgrade of the Viet Nam-Australia relations on this occasion, holding that this is an important milestone in the bilateral ties, bringing practical benefits to people of the two countries and contributing to peace and stability in the region and the world.

PM Chinh suggested Australia create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live, work and study in Australia, and maintain the Vietnamese language and traditions. Viet Nam welcomes Australian citizens to work, study and invest in Viet Nam, he affirmed.

Governor-General Hurley proposed Viet Nam continue to provide favourable conditions for major universities of Australia to open training establishments in Viet Nam.  VNS
Below is full Joint Statement on the Elevation to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Viet Nam and Australia, which was issued on Thursday as Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is on an official visit to Australia at the invitation of his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese.

"1. Viet Nam and Australia have built a strong and broad relationship through mutual strategic trust and understanding since establishing diplomatic relations in 1973. The Viet Nam-Australia Strategic Partnership, announced in 2018, supported the deepening of ties across all areas of the bilateral relationship. Our friendship and cooperation are underpinned by complementary economies, converging interests and deep people-to-people ties.

2. We share a common vision for an inclusive, stable, peaceful, resilient and prosperous Indo-Pacific, free from coercion, where independence, sovereignty and international law are respected. We jointly determine to abide by international law, including the United Nations Charter, which underpins regional and global peace, stability and prosperity. We recognise the importance of our collective capacity to shape the response to changing dynamics in our shared region and to address common challenges.

3. Recognising that our relationship is now stronger than ever, the Honourable Anthony Albanese MP, Prime Minister of Australia and H.E. Mr. Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam announced the elevation of the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, at their Annual Leaders Meeting on 7 March 2024 on the occasion of the official visit to Australia by H.E. Mr. Pham Minh Chinh from 7-9 March 2024. This reflects our high level of ambition for the relationship and deepening cooperation.

4. In declaring a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, our two Governments undertake to continue to develop all aspects of our relationship and commit to take forward our elevated partnership while respecting international law and each others sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and political systems.

Deepening Political, Defence Security and Justice Cooperation

5. We renew our commitment to frequent high-level engagement in all channels between the Communist Party, Government and National Assembly of Viet Nam, and the political parties, Government and Parliament of Australia; and to bilateral cooperation mechanisms, including Annual Leaders Talks.

6. We acknowledge our close defence, security and justice ties, which contribute to peace, stability and the development of the region, including through education and training, practical exchange and peacekeeping support. We will work together to expand these programs, including elevating our peacekeeping cooperation to a Peacekeeping Partnership and the current Vice Ministerial Security Dialogue to the Ministerial level.

7. We commit to enhancing law enforcement and intelligence cooperation through closer cooperation between Vietnamese and Australian police, maritime and border authorities to target and disrupt transnational organised crime impacting our mutual interests, including people smuggling and human trafficking, drug-related crimes, money laundering, terrorism and its financing, cybercrime and sexual exploitation. We will strengthen our cooperation on legal and judicial matters of mutual interest.

8. We commit to broadening cooperation, including in defence industry, maritime security, information and intelligence sharing; strengthening maritime cooperation, including sustainable marine resource management and combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; and enhancing cooperation in cyber-security and critical technology, including through cyber capacity building initiatives to address cyber security threats.

9. We will continue good practice of information sharing and forecasting on strategic issues of mutual concern related to each countrys national security and interests.

Enhancing Economic Engagement

10. We commit to further deepening the bilateral trade and investment relationship, enhancing economic cooperation and pursuing more open trade and investment through global and regional economic integration. We acknowledge the need to build supply chain resilience and pursue trade diversification to promote economic resilience. We reaffirm our commitment to the full and effective implementation of the Viet Nam - Australia Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy and additional actions to implement Invested: Australias Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040.

11. We recognise the importance of high-quality investment to support shared prosperity, skills and innovation, green growth, productivity, people-to-people links, womens economic empowerment and inclusive economic growth for all people in their diversity. We will promote market access and trade facilitation measures for both countries, including in agriculture, fisheries and forestry. We confirm our commitment to enhanced labour mobility, including through access for Vietnamese citizens to work in Australia and Australian citizens to work in Viet Nam.

12. We recognise the importance of promoting a transparent business and regulatory environment, including to support investment and sustainable financing through capital markets and other mechanisms.

13. We continue to cooperate closely to advance a strong rules-based, non-discriminatory, fair, inclusive, equitable and transparent multilateral trading system as the basis for open international trade based on market principles, with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core. We reaffirm our commitment to strengthening and reforming the WTO, including the dispute settlement system.

14. We reaffirm our commitment to fully implementing the agreements of which both countries are members such as the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement (RCEP), and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTTP). We will work together through other international mechanisms such as ASEAN-related mechanisms, Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the WTO, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), to create a more stable, predictable, inclusive and transparent trade and investment environment and generate business confidence in our strong economic relations, while addressing new and emerging trade challenges.

15. We recognise the vital role of international standards and best practice regulatory approaches to facilitate trade, drive innovation, enhance resilience and tackle global economic, social and environmental challenges. We affirm our shared commitment to promoting the mutual understanding and uptake of international standards.

16. We commit to further strengthening our agricultural partnership by enhancing trade and investment, co-operating on shared regional challenges and promoting technical, research collaboration and capacity development initiatives that support more competitive, resilient and sustainable agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors.

17. We acknowledge Australia's long-standing official development assistance (ODA) to Viet Nam. Australia will continue to support Viet Nams development efforts through bilateral, sub-regional and regional initiatives focused on areas that are consistent with Viet Nams socio-economic development orientation. We acknowledge the contribution that social organisations continue to make to Viet Nams socio-economic agenda. We recognise the importance of ensuring timely and effective delivery of ODA and commit to ensuring domestic approvals processes are streamlined to meet this goal.

Building Knowledge and Connecting People

18. We recognise the pivotal role of people-to-people ties in fostering our relations and acknowledge the strengthening connections between the communities and peoples organisations of both countries.

19. We recognise the strong contribution of knowledge and innovation partnerships to our relationship and the improvement of the lives of our citizens and commit to strengthening the participation and leadership of women and girls and persons in vulnerable situations in all areas of cooperation.

20. We commit to working together to support Viet Nams human resource development and explore opportunities to increase education and training cooperation through dialogues, cooperation mechanisms and institutional linkages. We will continue to work together to enable increased cooperation and foreign investment in education in Viet Nam to enable Australian universities to open foreign branch campuses in Viet Nam.

21. We commit to working together to support skills formation, including by supporting Viet Nam to develop national policies and frameworks that encourage industry engagement and a responsive vocational education and training system. We also encourage institutional partnerships between Australian and Vietnamese vocational education institutions and Viet Nams private sector.

22. We welcome and will look for opportunities to support increased travel and tourism between our two countries. We commit to strengthening the two-way flow of young people seeking to holiday and work in Australia and Viet Nam through the reciprocal Work and Holiday visa arrangement. We commit to continuing the two-way flow of students between Australia and Viet Nam.

23. We acknowledge the rich contribution of the Australian Vietnamese community and its role in boosting the strong people-to-people links, economic ties and engagement, which underpin our bilateral relationship. We will continue to facilitate the important contributions made by the Vietnamese community in Australia and the Australian community in Viet Nam to our close bilateral ties.

24. We renew our commitment to promote and protect human rights in accordance with international law and to strengthen and contribute to the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council and its mechanisms. We will continue sincere, frank and constructive conversations, including through our annual Human Rights Dialogue. We will cooperate to foster inclusive societies that embrace and provide equal opportunities and respect for the human rights of all people, without discrimination of any kind.

25. We recognise the importance of cultural collaboration in strengthening people-to-people links between Australia and Viet Nam and will explore opportunities to invest in cultural exchange and collaboration across all art forms and collecting institutions.

26. We commit to deepening our cooperation on civil service reform by promoting good governance and regulatory reform. In this regard, were affirm our commitment to the growth of the Viet Nam-Australia Centre as a platform to develop capacity building opportunities across the civil services of Viet Nam and its neighbours.

Strengthening Climate, Environment and Energy Cooperation

27. We acknowledge the significant impacts the climate crisis is having in our region and the importance of taking urgent and ambitious climate action to deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement, while ensuring economic prosperity as we transition our economies to net-zero by 2050. We recognise the shared challenges Australia and Viet Nam face in responding to climate change. We affirm the importance of adopting an ambitious, cooperative and proactive approach to the challenges that lie ahead. We commit to seizing the opportunities inherent in our respective clean energy transitions to strengthen our economies and support global decarbonisation goals. We will work together to support Viet Nams Just Energy Transition that balances economic growth and net-zero goals by helping to stimulate higher levels of private sector finance and investment into Viet Nams mitigation and adaptation efforts, developing high quality human resources and strengthening governance.

28. In support of Viet Nams efforts to respond to the impacts of climate change, we commit to drawing on a range of Australias resources, including ODA, trade and export finance, climate finance and our domestic expertise. We continue to explore opportunities for cooperation on climate action, carbon markets and in the green economy.

29. We will deepen our collaboration on climate adaptation and resilience, climate-resilient agriculture, biodiversity conservation, marine science for sustainable development, plastic pollution reduction and food and water security, especially in the Mekong Delta, including through the Mekong-Australia Partnership.

30. To promote our shared energy security in the transition, we will continue to expand collaboration on energy and resources, including through increased trade and investment. We also continue to develop emerging, resilient and diverse renewable energy supply chains through the integration of technological solutions that help both nations meet net-zero goals.

31. We reaffirm our commitment to a Ministerial Dialogue on Energy and Minerals and will explore opportunities to deepen cooperation on commodities, products, technologies and services associated with energy systems and carriers, power generation, mining, extractives, processing, minerals and fossil fuels, including coal, oil and gas.

Supporting Science, Technology, Innovation and Developing Digital Transformation

32. We commit to deepening strategic cooperation in science, technology (including new and critical emerging technologies), cyber and innovation. We will increase our cooperation to build capacity across science, innovation and technology for the sustainable and inclusive development of Viet Nams national research and innovation system, including by supporting women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

33. We will continue to work closely to foster collaboration between Australian and Vietnamese businesses, universities and research institutions via initiatives to enhance research quality, knowledge mobility and training young and talented scientists; promoting safe and responsible technology adoption among small and medium enterprises (SMEs); and improving national innovation ecosystems and building capacity for the sustainable and inclusive development of Viet Nam's national research and innovation system.

34. We will deepen cooperation on digital transition and digital inclusion, including through a Digital Economy Memorandum of Understanding, which will identify priority areas for digital trade cooperation and include a work plan for implementation. We reaffirm our commitment to sharing experiences that support Viet Nam and Australia to enhance digital government transformation and address digital government objectives.

Reinforcing Regional and International Cooperation

35. We will continue to work closely bilaterally, trilaterally and multilaterally to extend mutual support to the institutions that underpin an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. We commit to our shared goal of reinforcing and developing regional, sub-regional and international institutions to promote our common political, economic, and security interests and address regional and global issues of concern. We will seek to encourage all in our region to pursue dialogue as the first step to build confidence, de-escalate any tensions and take positive steps to maintain an environment that guards against conflict.

36. We recognise the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as central to regional stability and prosperity and support ASEAN centrality and unity in the evolving regional architecture that is open, transparent, inclusive and rules-based, anchored in international law. We will deepen our cooperation in ASEAN-led mechanisms and work collaboratively to develop further the ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in a meaningful, substantive and mutually beneficial manner. We reaffirm our support for the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and the importance of the principles set out in the AOIP in shaping a peaceful, secure and prosperous region.

37. We express our concerns on the situation in the South China Sea and reaffirm our commitment to peace, security, stability, freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded lawful commerce, to the respect for legal and diplomatic processes and to the settlement of disputes, including those in the South China Sea, by peaceful means without resorting to the threat or use of force, in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). We reaffirm that UNCLOS sets out the comprehensive legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out. We maintain our call that the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) should be implemented in its entirety and that any Code of Conduct for the South China Sea should be effective and substantive, in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 UNCLOS, and should not prejudice the rights of any state under international law.

38. We acknowledge the importance of a prosperous and resilient Mekong sub-region and the need for regional cooperation to address shared challenges, including climate change, energy transition, transboundary water management and food security and to ensuring regional security. We commit to continuing our longstanding cooperation to support the sub-regions integration and sustainable development, including through the Mekong-Australia Partnership and Friends of the Mekong, and supporting other Mekong-led frameworks to promote a resilient, sustainable and inclusive Mekong sub-region.

Concluded on 7 March 2024 in duplicate, in English and Vietnamese, each being equally valid."  VNS
HA NOI  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinhs official visit to New Zealand on March 10-11 is expected to help further intensify the two countries political trust and multifaceted cooperation and develop bilateral relations more fruitfully.

The visit, following PM Chinhs attendance in the special summit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the ASEAN-Australia dialogue relations and his official visit to Australia, will be made at the invitation of his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon.

It is Chinhs first visit to New Zealand as the Government leader of Viet Nam.

The two countries established diplomatic ties on June 19, 1975. Bilateral relations were elevated to a comprehensive partnership in September 2009 and then a strategic partnership in July 2020.

They have maintained meetings and delegation exchanges at all levels, bilateral cooperation mechanisms, along with close coordination and mutual support at important regional and international organisations and forums such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Effective and mutually beneficial cooperation in economy, trade, and investment is considered a focus and driver of bilateral ties.

Viet Nam is currently the 14th largest trade partner of New Zealand. It ranks 13th among the exporters of goods to and 17th among the importers of commodities from the latter.

Bilateral trade sustained good growth to top US$1.3 billion in 2021 despite the COVID-19 pandemics impacts. It stood at $1.4 billion in 2022, $1.3 billion in 2023, and $113 million in January 2024, statistics show.

Viet Nams main exports to New Zealand include telephones and components, computers, electronic products and components, aquatic products, cashew nut, and footwear.

Meanwhile, the Southeast Asian country mainly imports milk and dairy products, fruits, timber, textile - garment and footwear materials, machinery, equipment, tools, spare parts, and steel from the South Pacific nation.

As of November 2023, New Zealand had invested in 52 projects worth $208.35 million in Viet Nam, ranking 39th among the 143 countries and territories investing in the latter.

Meanwhile, Viet Nam now has 10 investment projects with registered capital totaling $37.8 million in New Zealand.

New Zealands official development assistance (ODA) for Viet Nam has gradually increased over years, from NZD3.2 million ($2.3 million) in the 2003-04 fiscal year to NZD10.5 million in 2012-13, and NDZ26.66 million in 2015-18.

It pledged NZD26.7 million in non-refundable ODA for the period from July 1, 2021 to July 30, 2024, with a focus on agriculture, climate change response, education, and COVID-19 response.

Educational cooperation is a highlight of bilateral relations. Learning in New Zealand is now a popular choice of Vietnamese students who number about 3,000 there at present.

Besides, people-to-people exchanges and the partnerships in labour, agriculture, security-defence, and culture are also among the priorities of bilateral ties.

The two countries are implementing some new cooperation areas like climate change fight, digital transformation, and energy transition.

There are about 11,000 Vietnamese people in New Zealand, mainly in Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington.

The cooperation results obtained so far are considered a positive basis for the countries to foster cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral aspects so as to reap tangible outcomes on the threshold of the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations and the fifth anniversary of the strategic partnership in 2025.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs o Hung Viet said that during PM Chinhs visit to New Zealand, the two countries will continue discussing measures for further strengthening collaboration, including in trade, investment, people-to-people links, labour, education - training, agriculture, and expansion of their markets to each others high-quality farm produce.  VNS
CANBERRA  Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held talks with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese in Canberra on Thursday as part of his three-day official trip to the country.

Welcoming PM Chinh, PM Albanese said the visit is of significance and is a milestone in the bilateral ties after the two countries set up their diplomatic relations 50 years ago.

He hailed the Vietnamese delegations positive contributions to the success of the ASEAN  Australia Special Summit held in Melbourne on March 5 and 6, while recalling his impressions of his official trip to Viet Nam and his talks with PM Chinh in June 2023.

PM Chinh, for his part, conveyed Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trongs regards to PM Albanese, and congratulated Australia on the successful organisation of the special summit.

He believed that under the leadership of the Labour Party-led government and PM Albanese, Australia will continue to reap great achievements and increasingly affirm its role and position in the region and the world.

In the spirit of sincerity and trust, the two leaders expressed their delight at the strong development of the friendship and Strategic Partnership between the two countries and agreed to elevate the ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, while discussing and reaching consensus on close coordination to promote the bilateral cooperation to a deeper and more effective and practical way.

With a view to enhancing political and diplomatic trust, they agreed to promote exchange of delegations and contacts at high level, maintain bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and effectively realise the signed documents and prepare an action programme for 2024-28. Besides, both nations will accelerate people-to-people exchanges, create favourable conditions for friendship associations to organise cultural, sport and charity events, and foster local cooperation and partnership in the fields of gender equality and protection of vulnerable groups.

Aiming for more inclusive, practical and effective economic, trade and investment cooperation, the two leaders were unanimous to facilitate market opening for each others agricultural products towards diversifying their supply chains.

PM Chinh asked Australia to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to do business and invest in the country, while welcoming Australias investments, especially high-quality ones with state-of-the-art technologies.

The two leaders consented to effectively carry out the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on science-technology and innovation, under which Australia will help Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises with technology transfer, and Australian tech firms cooperate with Vietnamese innovation centres and semiconductor producers.

They also agreed to strengthen cultural exchanges, promote cooperation in vocational training, increase the number of scholarships for Vietnamese students, and open branches of Australian universities in Viet Nam.

The two nations will work together to promote green hydrogen production in Viet Nam and join hands in climate change response. Australia will help the Southeast Asian country to realise its net-zero target by 2050.

Along with the existing sound cooperation, the two sides agreed to promote the signing of a cooperative agreement on tourism, making them the top travel markets of each other. They will soon implement an MoU on supporting Vietnamese citizens who work in the agricultural sector in Australia.

PM Chinh proposed the Australian Government create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Australia.

Touching on security-defence cooperation, they concurred to effectively carry out the Peacekeeping Partnership Arrangement, and continue close cooperation in education and training, prevention of cross-border crimes, information and experience sharing between the two armies' units, post-war recovery and national database building.

Discussing regional and international issues, the two PMs agreed to back each other and work closely at regional and international forums, especially the UN, ASEAN and ASEAN-led mechanisms.

PM Chinh spoke highly of Australias stance that supports the respect for international law in the region and settlement of disputes in the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea) via peaceful means in accordance with the international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).  VNS
CANBERRA  Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese announced the elevation of bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Viet Nam and Australia at a press conference after their talks in Canberra on March 7 morning.

Australian PM said the upgrade of the Viet Nam-Australia relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership aims to deepen cooperation between the two countries across fields such as climate change adaptation, energy transition, digital transformation, innovation, trade and investment, agriculture, defence, and education - training.

Albanese expressed his joy that the Viet Nam-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has additional cooperation pillars in combating climate change, environment, and energy cooperation, as both countries have commitments to cutting emissions to net zero by 2050.

The two sides are seeking to intensify trade and investment collaboration to promote their economic prosperity, he said, adding that Australia is currently implementing its Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, which includes areas such as enhancing business linkages and promoting investment with Viet Nam.

Both sides agreed to expand education-training and labour cooperation, while discussing the importance of enhancing collaboration to protect and promote security and stability in the region, including agreeing on a peacekeeping partnership and elevating the current Vice Ministerial Security Dialogue to the Ministerial level, the Australian PM said.

He emphasised that all initiatives and cooperation programmes must be maintained and further strengthened based on connections and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

PM Chinh congratulated Australia on the success of the ASEAN - Australia Special Summit. He appreciated Australia's support and cooperation for Viet Nam's innovation, integration, and development, especially the provision of 26.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and the maintenance of official development assistance (ODA) support at a high level for the Southeast Asian nation.

PM Chinh stressed that the elevation of the bilateral relationship to comprehensive strategic partnership between Viet Nam and Australia will contribute to further deepening bilateral cooperation, and meeting the common aspirations of their people, for peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

With the new cooperation framework, the two nations will boost political trust and diplomacy; more comprehensive, substantive, and effective economic, trade, and investment cooperation; stronger cooperation in science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, and green transition; more comprehensive cooperation in culture, education, training, environmental protection, and climate change adaptation; stronger people-to-people exchange and connections between generations; more-shared security and defence cooperation towards peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world, he said.

Both sides agreed to deepen regional and international cooperation, continue to coordinate and support each other at multilateral forums, especially the UN, ASEAN, and ASEAN-led mechanisms, promote peaceful dialogue and trust building among nations, uphold ASEAN's central role, and enhance cooperation mechanisms in the Mekong Sub-region.

Regarding the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea) issue, both sides reaffirmed the importance of ensuring peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the sea, and settling disputes through peaceful measures based on international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982); and agreed to exert efforts to make the East Sea the waters of peace, stability, comprehensive cooperation and development.

The two sides pledged to create favourable conditions and ensure legitimate rights and interests for the people and businesses of both countries to live, work, and study in each other's country.

PM Chinh expressed his belief that after the upgrade, the bilateral relations will enter a new chapter with more substantive, effective, and sustainable cooperation across various fields, for the sake of the two peoples, and significantly contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

Previously, the two PMs witnessed the signing and exchange of 11 cooperation documents between the two countries in the areas of education - training; energy and mining; agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; science -technology and innovation; labour and employment; trade, investment, finance, and banking; defence and peacekeeping; and justice.  VNS
HA NOI  The sub-committee in charge of organisation work for the 14th National Party Congress, led by Truong Thi Mai, Politburo member and Permanent member of the Party Central Committees Secretariat, held its first meeting in Ha Noi on March 7.

Members of the sub-committees discussed a draft organisation plan of the congress, and a draft conclusion on tasks assigned to particular members.

Concluding the meeting, Mai, who is also Chairwoman of the Party Central Committee's Organisation Commission, said that the sub-committee has three major missions specified into 100 detailed tasks, which be assigned to agencies, units and its members.

As the workload is huge with changing requirements in the new situation, it is necessary to stay active in all circumstances, taking into account urgent situations in security and food safety to make scenarios and contingency plans, she said.

Currently, five sub-committees serving the 14th National Party Congress have become operational, she said, stressing the need for consensus among the sub-committees.

The official said that all activities of the congress must be conducted in a harmonious manner, creating a positive atmosphere that spreads among officials, Party members, and society about the 14th National Party Congress.

She requested members of the sub-committee to build specific work plans for particular agencies and a coordination plan to complete the overall tasks of the sub-committee.  VNA/VNS
CANBERRA  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Sharon Claydon, Deputy Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives and Chairperson of the Australia-Viet Nam Friendship Parliamentarians Group, in Canberra on Thursday, within the framework of his official visit to Australia.

Chinh thanked Australia for supporting Viet Nam in post-war recovery and socio-economic development, especially by providing official development assistance (ODA) for Viet Nam, most recently in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

He appreciated the cooperation between the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) and the Australian Parliament, especially after the visit by NA Chairman Vuong inh Hue to Australia in 2022, saying he hopes that the relations between the two legislative bodies as well as the two friendship parliamentarians groups will continue to be strengthened, particularly through promoting the exchange of young parliamentarians and female ones.

Sharon Claydon spoke highly of Viet Nam's contributions to Australia - ASEAN relations, especially the success of the recent Special Summit commemorating 50 years of the relations.

Recalling her meeting with Chairman Hue during his visit, Claydon said that the two countries share a lot of common concerns, for the development of each country and for security, safety, stability and development in the region, especially in disease prevention, socio-economic development, education and training, energy transition, and development of offshore wind power.

PM Chinh said the complex world situation with many unpredictable changes such as conflicts, strategic competition, climate change, and population aging are all global problems which need a global approach.

He said he hopes the two legislative bodies will continue to support each other for the development of each country and the two peoples, and for peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

The Vietnamese Government leader proposed the two sides cooperate to renew old growth drivers in investment, export, and consumption; and add new ones such as digital economy, green economy, circular economy and sharing economy. He suggested Australia continue to create conditions and provide scholarships for Vietnamese students, and have more open policies on labour and visa for Vietnamese people doing business and living in Australia.

He also urged Australia to consider and recognise the Vietnamese community in Australia as its ethnic minority.  VNS
Canberra  Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Justice Tran Tien Dung and Australian Deputy Secretary of Justice Tara Inverarity held talks in Canberra on March 7.

Both sides expressed their joy at witnessing the issuance of the Joint Statement on the elevation of Vietnam-Australia relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership by the two countries' Prime Ministers, which features deeper cooperation in political, national defence-security, and legal and judicial matters of shared concern.

Inverarity spoke highly of the fruitful coordination in legal and judicial fields since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Australian Department of Justice in 2012, focusing on criminal justice and international legal issues.

She thanked the MoJ for close collaboration during the negotiation process of the draft Letter of Intent on cooperation, which has been signed during this important visit.

Dung put forth suggestions for future endeavors, emphasising the necessity of effective implementation of the Letter of Intent. He suggested that Australia assist the MoJ in training officials and experts, especially lawyers and legal experts capable of handling international legal issues related to Vietnam; and closely cooperate with the Vietnamese side in civil legal assistance and the effective enforcement of the Hague Conference Conventions on Private International Law, of which both sides are members.As the talks concluded, both sides agreed to prioritise the effective implementation of the agreed-upon contents in the new Letter of Intent, including policies on organised and transnational crimes, especially money laundering and terrorism financing, corruption, drug and human trafficking; legal document and evidence collection abroad in civil and commercial matters; alternative dispute resolution methods, including international arbitration and commercial mediation.

They also committed to collaborating in issues related to digital transformation, green and circular economy, artificial intelligence ; and training a team of legal experts to serve global integration.  VNA/VNS
Thua Thien Hue  Chief Representative of the German Association for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage Andrea Teufel and CEO of the Asian Childrens Care League Kazuyo Watanabe received the honorary citizenship title of the central province of Thua Thien  Hue at a ceremony held on March 7.

Teufel made great contributions to the preservation and restoration of the local heritage sites. Meanwhile, Watanabe, a Japanese woman, is recognised for her valuable support for children with cancer in the province.

Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee Nguyen Van Phuong said by joining local efforts to build the community, foreigners not only bring about positive improvements but also promote solidarity, cooperation and mutual understanding between countries.

On the occasion of the International Womens Day (March 8), Phuong sent his best wishes to the two honorary citizens, and expressed his hope that they will make further contributions to building Thua Thien-Hue into a developed and sustainable community.

The two foreigners said they are proud of the title, and thanked the local leaders, Hue Monuments Conservation Centre and Hue Central Hospital for supporting them while they worked in the province.

They also wished to make further contributions to the local heritage restoration and preservation work, and increase in the survival rates among children with cancer in the coming time.  VNA/VNS
HCM CITY  Foreigners working in Viet Nam have contributed significantly to improving the countrys labour productivity and efficiency of production and business activities.

Le Van Thinh, director of the citys Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said this at a dialogue on recruitment and employment of foreign workers in Viet Nam, held in HCM City on March 6.

With the participation of nearly 200 enterprises, the dialogue aims to help enterprises using foreign employees deal with difficulties and obstacles.

Thinh said foreign workers have contributed to providing human resources with expertise, management experience, and professional working skills that meet international standards.

HCM City has nearly 30,000 foreigners licensed to work at the citys agencies, organisations and businesses.

They help improve the citys labour quality and create new career opportunities for locals, he said.

In recent years, Vietnamese legal regulations related to foreign workers have changed many times, aiming to create favorable conditions for foreign workers working in Viet Nam, including loosening the visa policy for foreigners, creating more favourable conditions for foreigners coming to the country, and no limit on the ratio of foreign employees working in organisations and businesses in Viet Nam.

However, there are still inadequacies and shortcomings in the implementation of the regulations.

The participants discussed issues related to licensing; entry, exit and temporary residence procedures; personal income tax calculation; and payment of social and health insurance for foreign workers.

Representatives of the municipal Taxation Department, the Social Insurance Agency, and the Department of Public Securitys immigration unit answered participants queries, helping them address problems.  VNS
CANBERRA  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Thursday had a meeting with officials of Viet Nam's representative agencies and the Vietnamese community in Australia as part of his official visit to the country.

He said he has asked Australia to consider and recognise the Vietnamese community as an ethnic minority group.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son said Australian leaders acknowledged this proposal and will take it into consideration.

At the meeting, Vietnamese people in Australia proposed the Party and the State consider loosening regulations on issuing passports and identification cards for Vietnamese people living abroad.

They also proposed opening more Vietnamese trade representative agencies in Australia to promote cooperation and bring Vietnamese goods deeper into the Australian market and vice versa.

They hoped the State would support connecting Vietnamese intellectuals and students abroad, including building an effective innovation network and a channel to introduce trained human resources abroad to serve the countrys development.

PM Chinh thanked the Vietnamese community in Australia for their contributions to the countrys development, highlighting the expectation of further building an innovative community in Australia.

The Government leader hoped that the Vietnamese community in Australia would continue to join hands to build a strong, developed and united community, uphold national pride, actively integrate into the host countrys society, comply with the laws and contribute to local development.  VNS
TOKYO  General Director of the Vietnam News Agency Vu Viet Trang gave a speech on how news agencies reach the young audience at the first discussion session of the 52nd Executive Board Meeting (EBM) of the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA), which opened in Tokyo, Japan on March 7.

According to Trang, understanding the characteristics and needs of the public, including young people, is one of the important factors for media organisations to reach the right audience, making news closer to youth, especially in the context that young people are increasingly choosing social networks to get information rather than traditional media channels such as print newspapers, television, or radio, and even websites.

She said that based on the requirements of GenZ audience and the recent media landscape, VNA has worked out several solutions, including diversifying information content, distributing information through multiple channels, and integrating text with images and videos.

Additionally, current affairs topics are organised alongside documentary features, she noted.

These solutions enable VNA's clients (media organisations) to conveniently utilise VNA's information to produce multimedia products tailored to the preferences of young audience, she added.

During her presentation, she also introduced journalistic products that apply digital technology, and information channels on social network platforms of VNAs units.

News agencies must invest in developing technology-based media products, while maintaining the core value of journalism, Trang said. By doing so, news agencies can fulfil the duty of nurturing the young audience habits of reading, watching, and listening in the era of digital technology.

In his opening remarks, OANA President and Managing Director of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) Ali Naderi affirmed that the meeting's theme is consistent with the trend of the times as news agencies are trying to change to adapt to the public in the digital age.

Within the framework of the event, OANAs Tripartite Working Group including AA (Turkey), VNA and IRNA (Iran) announced proposals to promote member firms to participate in the organisations activities. The working group also proposed expanding the OANA Awards to include photo and article categories to honour reporters from OANA member agencies.

Participants also discussed measures to improve information-sharing efficiency, expand cooperation within the OANA framework, and finance-related issues.

On the sidelines of the event, VNA General Director Trang had separate meetings with President of Japan's Kyodo News Toru Mizutani, and General Director of MONTSAME News Agency of Mongolia Sodontogos Erdenetsogt.  VNA/VNS
CAIRO  One Vietnamese was among three people killed in a missile attacks by Yemen's Houthi forces on the Barbados-flagged bulk carrier True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, as announced by the Vietnamese Embassy in Egypt and the Republic of Djibouti.

According to the embassy, the ship's crew of 20 members included 15 Filipinos, four Vietnamese, and one Indian.

The other two deceased individuals were Filipino and Indian.

The crew and passengers were transferred to Djibouti by the Indian Navy.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Egypt and Djibouti managed to reach out to the group of Vietnamese sailors. Their health condition is currently stable. However, they lost all their identification papers during the attack, stated the embassy.

An embassy official will soon be dispatched to Djibouti to assist the sailors with necessary procedures and to conduct identity verification for passport renewal.

The embassy has coordinated with the Philippine Embassy in Egypt and Djibouti to provide logistical support and implement citizen protection measures.

It is expected that following the completion of procedures, the three Vietnamese survivors, along with the deceased sailor's body, will be aided in returning home via air transport through Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates in the coming days.

In response to the attack, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pham Thu Hang, stated on Thursday that the ministry was collaborating with local agencies to work with the company responsible for the crew members to implement necessary protection measures.

"Viet Nam strongly condemns violent and inhumane attacks against innocent civilians and civilian vessels on international maritime routes. We urge relevant parties to immediately cease the use of force and ensure security, safety, and freedom for international maritime routes in accordance with international law," she emphasized.  VNS
HA NOI  Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai chaired a meeting in Ha Noi on Thursday to honour outstanding female intellectuals and present the Kovalevskaia Award 2023 to two female scientists, on the occasion of the 114th International Women's Day (March 8).

The award winners were Assoc. Prof. Dr. ao Viet Ha, director of the Institute of Oceanography at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology; and Prof. Dr. Hoang Thi Thai Hoa, dean of the Faculty of Agronomy at the University of Agriculture and Forestry under Hue University. The two scholars have made significant contributions to the sustainable development of Viet Nam's maritime economy and the creation of safe, sustainable agricultural products adaptable to climate change.

Speaking at the event, Deputy PM Khai underscored the Vietnamese Party and States commitment to supporting the female intellectual workforce and fostering gender equality work, evident in various policies and guidelines designed for women advancement.

He pointed to the increased participation of women in leadership and management positions within the Party and State agencies, both in quantity and quality. This progress was further reflected in the Global Gender Gap Report released by the World Economic Forum in June 2023, which positioned Viet Nam at the 89th place in gender equality, 11 spots higher compared to 2022. Notably, Viet Nam's ranking in the proportion of women in the legislature is 53rd.

Applauding two winners of the Kovalevskaia Award 2023 for their exceptional scientific achievements, he also highly valued efforts of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Vietnam Women's Union (VWU), the National Committee for the Advancement of Women in Viet Nam, ministries, agencies and localities in promoting the role of female officials and intellectuals, make important contributions to the countrys overall achievements.

He expressed his confidence that Vietnamese women, with their heroism, resilience, integrity, and competence, will continue to contribute significantly to building a strong and prosperous Vietnam where the well-being of all citizens is ensured.

VWU Chairwoman Ha Thi Nga reported that there were 534 women among a total 2,059 professors and associate professors nationwide in the 2019  2023 period, accounting for 26 per cent. Additionally, the representation of women in the 15th National Assembly reached a historic high of 30.26 per cent.  VNS
Frozen shrimp products of the Minh Phu Seafood JSC (Photo: VNA)

HCM City - Vietnam's aquatic product exports could reach 9.5 billion USD in 2024, said Nguyen Thi Thu Sac, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Data from VASEP showed that aquatic product exports raked in over 1.3 billion USD in the first two months of 2024, up 23% year-on-year. Of which, both shrimp and tuna exports increased by 37% compared to the same period last year while tra fish (pangasius) exports rose by 15% and other types of fish by 8%.

Kim Thu, a shrimp market expert, said by the end of February, shrimp export turnover reached approximately 460 million USD. Such markets as China, the US, Japan, Canada and Australia, have all seen substantial increases, she added.

In January, China surpassed the US to become Vietnam's largest shrimp importer. It is forecast that China's shrimp imports in 2024 will increase, creating more opportunities for Vietnamese shrimp.

Pangasius export turnover in the first two months of this year was also positive after recording consecutive declines in 2023, raking 275 million USD. Exports to some markets like the US and China will bounce back due to reduced inventories and increasing demand. The pangasius market of China is expected to be more vibrant thanks to the countrys support policies to stimulate consumption in the first half of 2024.

However, insiders said there are still challenges to overcome such as oversupply, high inventories, lower purchasing prices and increased competition. Tensions in the Red Sea leading to increased transport costs, the European Commission's "yellow card" warning against Vietnamese seafood and anti-subsidy lawsuits will likely pose additional difficulties for businesses this year.

VASEP's Director for Communications Le Hang said that the US and EU's bans on Russian aquatic products as well as China's ban on Japanese aquatic products, and the US and EU's warnings against forced labour at China's processing factories are motivating US, European and Japanese businesses to seek processing partners in Vietnam.

Hang advised Vietnamese businesses to review their market strategies and suggest them focus on the domestic market with a population of 100 million as their living standards have improved.

VASEP Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thu Sac urged businesses to take measures to turn these challenges into opportunities, exploiting and developing suitable products for international markets.

Room for Vietnams seafood exports to Canada remains large Canada is a promising market for Vietnams aquatic products, according to the Vietnam Trade Office in Canada.
What has been the lasting impact of this 50-year partnership between Vietnam and Australia?

Simon Pugh, president of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (Auscham)

One of the most significant changes has to be the increase in bilateral trade between the two countries. In 2019, Australia and Vietnam agreed to develop the Australia-Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy, with the aim of becoming one of each other's top ten trading partners and doubling two-way investment.

Last year, Vietnam became Australia's 10th-largest trading partner and Australia became Vietnam's seventh-largest.

Such rapid development in such a short period of time proves how much interest there is in continuing to develop this relationship.

It's also evidence that the Australian and Vietnamese governments are working closely together on policy, regional security, and other areas that are critical to ensuring that Southeast Asia continues to grow and prosper.

What opportunities are there to boost the trade relationship between the two countries?

Firstly, there's a lot of respect for Vietnam in Australia and vice versa.

Australia has a considerable Vietnamese community, and several Viet Kieu have returned to Vietnam to live and do business.

Meanwhile, Vietnam is quickly becoming an advanced country with a growing middle class. Now, we only need 20 or 25 per cent of the Vietnamese population to be in the middle class for it to be equal to Australia's entire population.

Vietnam's rapid economic development means a fast-growing customer base who demand high-quality products in consumables such as food and beverages, and in education, which Australia specialises in.

Australia has a strong vocational education training programme that trains young people in skills such as building or accounting, for which there is no need to attend university.

Australia is also renowned for its food quality and safety. The Vietnamese market has an appetite for those sorts of products, and the proximity of Australia to Vietnam means that we're in the good position to supply them.

Both governments are interested in how Vietnamese suppliers can connect with the Australian supply chain. Currently, we need to diversify the supply chain instead of relying too much on China, and Vietnam has its own diverse manufacturing base that can help us move away from there.

The Vietnamese energy market is still maturing, but it is gradually shifting from fossil fuels to more green, environmentally friendly energy. Australia has a well-established green energy industry, and we are ready to cooperate with Vietnam in this area.

Other areas where the two sides can cooperate are infrastructure development and digital transformation. These are inevitable trends as we move into the 21st century.

Opportunities will inevitably come with challenges and while Vietnam is an attractive investment destination for Australian businesses, the Vietnamese government and business community need to make more effort to promote the country to Australian investors.

Australian firms investing in Vietnam still face barriers when establishing a business, and getting work permits and temporary residence cards. Foreign-invested enterprises in general face complicated, time-consuming processes with unclear regulations.

Australians love to travel, especially to scenic spots with beautiful natural landscapes, but expenditure on tourism promotion is still far too little, so many Australians just don't think about Vietnam when planning a holiday. This is a lost opportunity and there needs to be a strategy to attract more visitors.

These issues must be streamlined because Vietnam is just one of many options for overseas investors in the region.

Can you give us more insight into what Australian investors think about Vietnam today?

When I decided to invest in Vietnam in 2012, people asked me why I chose Vietnam. They wanted to know if it was safe to do business here and even if there was electricity. And I've been here ever since.

In 2021, I became president of Auscham and I have seen a record number of inquiries from Australian businesses wanting to learn about and do business in Vietnam.

But we must remember that we are in a critical moment, so the government and business community here needs to be more dynamic and move faster to seize such opportunities.

What areas in Vietnam's economy are Australian investors most interested in?

Apart from the traditional areas of food and beverages and education, green energy and digital transformation are also of interest. To entice Australian businesses to invest in Vietnam, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade signed an agreement with Auscham to establish an industrial hub connecting Australian industrial groups in food, textiles, and forestry with the Vietnamese market.

Australia can supply the demand, but Vietnam needs to address its infrastructure issues, simplify procedures, and create more tax incentives.

What do you think is Vietnam's biggest selling point for a potential Australian investor?

Vietnam has a stable political system and currency, with a strong domestic economy of more than 100 million people and a rapidly growing middle class. But I would also tell them that anything is possible in Vietnam with enough enthusiasm, dedication, and hard work.

Vietnams FDI inflow surges 38.6 per cent in two months Total newly-registered foreign investment capital, adjusted and contributed capital to buy shares and buy contributed capital of foreign investors totalled 4.29 billion USD as of February 20, up by 38.6 per cemt compared to the same period in 2023. The disbursement of FDI capital is projected at some 2.8 billion USD, reflecting a 9.8 per cemt increase against the same period last year.

Vietnam capable of earning 200 million USD per year from carbon credit trade Vietnam is capable of selling some 40 million carbon credits for a revenue of 200 million USD annually, the Department of Forestry has calculated.
The Australia - Vietnam relationship is underpinned by strategic trust, mutual respect and shared ambition. Last year, Australia and Vietnam celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations.

The landmark comprehensive strategic partnership will support expanded cooperation on climate,the environment and energy, and digital transformation and innovation, building on established collaboration across defence and security, economic engagement, and education.

The leaders acknowledged a range of new initiatives as part of the partnership.

A new Peacekeeping Partnership Arrangement announced by the leaders will solidify Australias support for Vietnams peacekeeping efforts, including the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. This agreement is an example of how Indo-Pacific partners can work together to promote global peace and security. The leaders also agreed to elevate the Australia-Vietnam Security Dialogue to a inisterial level to advance cooperation on law enforcement issues.

To grow trade and investment links between Australia and Vietnam, the prime ministers welcomed new cooperation in agriculture that will encourage trade in new commodities. They also lauded arrangements that will enable 1,000 Vietnamese workers to work in the agricultural sector to fill labour gaps in rural and regional Australia and a new agreement between agencies responsible for trade and investment promotion.

Education has long been a pillar of the Australia-Vietnam relationship, and a source of warm ties between their people. A renewed framework for cooperation between Australian and Vietnamese education institutions will strengthen the ability to work together on early childhood, primary, secondary and tertiary education, to deliver the workforce required to seize the opportunities of the future.

The PMs also welcomed new agreements between maritime and science agencies to support Vietnams management of its maritime resources, including through adaption to climate change.

To formalise the growing partnership, leaders agreed to new ministerial dialogues on priority areas. An annual ministerial dialogue on energy and minerals will drive cooperation in those sectors, including critical mineral supply chains. The first Annual Trade Ministers Dialogue, held on March 5 between Ministers Farrell and Dien, provided a platform to build trade and investment between the two countries.

PM Anthony Albanese, said, "It is a pleasure to welcome PM Chinh to Australia following my visit to Vietnam last year. Australia and Vietnam share an ambitious agenda across climate change and sustainability, digital transformation and innovation, defence and security, economics and trade, and education. This new comprehensive strategic partnership reflects our cooperation, our strategic trust and shared ambition for our region. There is enormous potential to be realised through closer ties between Australia and Vietnam.

Australia and Vietnam bulk up partnerships Australias ongoing assistance to Vietnams economic recovery and green development, as well as extended collaboration under the Australia-Vietnam Strategic Partnership, were discussed during the official visit last week to Vietnam of the Australian minister for both foreign affairs and women.

Australia and Vietnam set to deepen economic ties The governments of Australia and Vietnam released a strategy to unlock significant opportunities for businesses across the two countries and help guide two countries towards an inclusive and sustainable growth path.
The MoU signing took place at the Australia-Vietnam business forum in Melbourne on March 5. The forum was hosted on the sidelines of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinhs ongoing visit to Australia.

Corio operates on a standalone basis from Macquarie and the Green Investment Group and has one of the worlds largest offshore wind development portfolios at over 20GW.

The wind energy firm has three fixed-bottom projects totalling 4.5GW currently under development in Vietnam, in Binh Thuan, Haiphong, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

The Binh Thuan project could be the first gigawatt-scale offshore windfarm in the province. The Haiphong project is located off the coast of Haiphong city, while the Vung Tau Offshore Windfarm is a 500MW project off the coast of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, developed in agreement with local partner FECON.

EVNGENCO3 is the best performing unit in EVN's power generation segment and has been consistently seeking opportunities to develop green energy projects over the last few years to increase its sustainability.

Both companies hope that the partnership will result in the successful development of more offshore windfarm projects to contribute to Vietnam's green energy transition.

Vietnam aims to meet its net-zero emissions goal by 2050 with a plan which includes 6 GWs of offshore wind energy available to the countrys domestic market by 2030 and 70-91.5GW by 2050.

Corio partners with Vietnams FECON on Vung Tau wind farm On June 22, Australian Corio Generation has signed an agreement with FECON, a leading Vietnamese construction and infrastructure group for a proposed 500MW offshore wind farm in Ba Ria in Vung Tau province.

EIB and EVN explore offshore wind energy collaboration The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) are deepening ties, with advanced loan discussions centred on the Bac Ai hydropower project.
Vietnam is having to compete with its neighbours to export cement to Central America, Africa, and more, photo Le Toan

Since December, at least half a dozen vessels have anchored at Long Son Bai Ngoc Port to receive cement for export to the US for Long Son Cement of the north-central province of Thanh Hoa.

More cement producers, such as Nghi Son, Ha Tien, Thanh Thang, and Xuan Thanh have also been successful in securing export contracts to the US market.

For instance, last August, Vicem Ha Tien and Nghi Son Cement completed their first export shipments to the US.

The moves mark a leap forward in the strategy to bring Vietnamese cement products to nations around the world, particularly to demanding markets.

One industry expert told VIR that the cement sector incurs serious imbalance in supply and the demand, and the output scale is about 120 million tonnes a year, yet production might be much higher.

Consumption just approximates 60 million tonnes a year, meaning half of the output is redundant. In this context, cement producers have ramped up efforts to bolster export to avoid inventory. Local producers might even accept meagre margins to embrace export contracts, he explained.

Besides that, most export orders to the US are of modest volumes in the range of tens of thousands of tonnes.

For instance, the export shipment of Xuan Thanh Cement to the US last July weighed 55,000 tonnes, while the shipment of Nghi Son Cement to the US last May hit 31,500 tonnes.

Several other producers with exported shipments to the US earlier also had common volumes of 30,000-50,000 tonnes for each batch.

For producers, the most efficient method is selling products in the domestic market, with a short distance from ports.

Due to output redundancy, for years many local cement producers have propelled export, with 2021 being the peak year when nearly 46 million tonnes of cement and clinker were exported, and 80 per cent of the products went to markets such as China, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and several in the Middle East.

In 2023, Vietnam exported more than 31.3 million tonnes of cement and clinker, yielding over $1.32 billion, down 1.2 per cent in volume and 4.1 per cent in value on-year.

Last year also marked the second consecutive year with a sharp decline in the export volume of about 14 million tonnes compared to 2021.

Such a decline, however, is not surprising businesses in the sector. Le Nam Khanh, CEO of Vietnam state-run Cement Industry Corporation (Vicem), noted that besides a dip in volume, the export price of cement and clinker is also receding.

The export price at Quang Ninh Port has plunged compared to late 2022, with cement export price down $5-6 per tonne, and that of clinker shed $9-10 per tonne.

Several of our members cannot export as they would like to, as the export price fell to such a low level that they cant offset the production costs, said Khanh.

The export prospects in 2024 are deemed as subdued as Vicem forecasts in the best-case scenario the export volume to be only up slightly, to 1.5-2 per cent, due to stiff competition from export items from China, Turkey, and several neighbouring markets.

Chinas real estate market has also yet to show signs of rebound in 2024, leading to a cement glut in the domestic market. China is currently competing head-on with Vietnam for exporting cement to major export markets such as the Philippines, Central America, and South Africa.

Luong Quang Khai, a senior cement expert, assumed that the US is not an ideal destination for Vietnamese cement due to still modest export volume, irrespective of the fact that Vietnamese cement has to compete with similar sources from Turkey.

Light at the end of the tunnel is that Central and South America is forecast to catch cement export growth when several countries in this region avail of the benefits of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, with zero tariffs when importing cement from Vietnam, Khai said.
Domestic gold prices set new record, Illustrative photo (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi - Domestic gold prices increased on March 7 morning to a new record at 81.25 VND (3,290 USD) million per tael (one tael is equivalent to 1.33 ounces) for SJC gold bars and 68,8 million VND for gold rings, after global prices hit an all-time high of 2,152.09 USD per ounce a day earlier.

At 9.30am, SJC gold prices are quoted at 79.3 million VND per tael for sellers and 81.32 million VND per tael for buyers, up 300,000 VND per tael from the previous session.

Similarly, DOJI gold prices saw an increase of 300,000 VND per tael to 79.25 - 81.25 million VND per tael.

Meanwhile, Bao Tin Minh Chau Company bought and sold gold rings at 67.63 - 68.83 million VND per tael, a 200,000 VND increase over the previous session.

DOJIs gold rings also inched 200,000 VND higher to 67.50 - 68.80 million VND.

Given the growth of the domestic gold bars, the spread between the domestic and global prices is now nearly 19 million VND per tael.

Global gold prices recent rallies were driven by expectations that the US Federal Reserve would perform a rate cut in June.

Supporting the bet, Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated a rate cut later this year at congressional testimony on March 6.

Domestic gold prices hit new record high Domestic gold prices kept skyrocketing on December 20 morning to pass the historic high, reaching 75.4 million VND (nearly 3,100 USD) per tael (1.2 ounces).

Gold prices forecast to continue rising in short term Experts have predicted that gold prices, which reached a record high last week, may continue to rise in the short term, but the upward trend would be hard to sustain in the medium and long term.
With an investment of almost VND480 billion ($19.5 million), the Erex Sakura Tuyen Quang biomass power plant will sit on 3.3 hectares in Long Binh An Industrial Park and produce 150,000 tonnes of wood pellets and 150,000 tonnes of wood chip products per year. The pellets can be used as fuel for thermal power plants, heaters, food dryers, and others.

The project is slated to go into operation next year and will create employment for the province and facilitate its economic recovery.

Hitoshi Honna, representative director and president of Erex Co., Ltd., said, "The new plant will help Vietnam realise its net-zero obligations while providing a stable source of electricity. Vietnam has ample biomass resources, so using biomass such as wood waste as a sustainable energy source will be the key to achieving Vietnam's energy self-sufficiency."

Nguyen Van Son, Chairman of Tuyen Quang Peoples Committee, said, "This biomass power plant is the first Japanese-invested project in the locality. Tuyen Quang has already attracted 20 foreign-invested projects from 17 foreign investors, worth $340 million. The province has also received aid from many international partners, including Japan, who have provided support for 25 projects worth an additional $1.4 million. We believe Erex's project will pave the way for more Japanese investments in the province."

The development of the Erex Sakura Tuyen Quang biomass power plant is part of Erex's ongoing expansion in Vietnam. Specifically, the Japanese renewable energy company has plans to develop 14 biomass power plants in Vietnam with a total capacity of 1,060MW.

The development sites for these projects are planned across 12 provinces. The ground-breaking ceremony for a plant in the northern province of Yen Bai was held last July, and the company has proposed ventures in biomass power plants in several other localities.

Erex to put $101 million into biomass plant in Vietnam Erex Corporation, a Japanese firm specialising in supplying electricity sourced from biomass, has just unveiled plans for a pioneering 50MW biomass power plant in the central province of Binh Dinh.

Japanese investors circling around greener ventures Japanese investors are planning to pour more money into renewables and environment-based projects in Vietnam, as part of both nations drive to help Vietnam achieve sustainable development.
The Southeast Asia Energy Transition Partnership (ETP) organised the training course to improve the awareness of state management agencies and the business community.

The course was a part of an ETS piloting and simulation scheme in Vietnam supporting the Department of Climate Change and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The aim is to promote the development of the carbon market in Vietnam before setting up a domestic carbon market and a carbon exchange, which will be piloted in 2025 and operational in 2028. Participants included ministries and agencies related to the establishment and management of carbon exchange platforms and carbon markets in Vietnam, as well as research institutes, universities, financial institutions, media representatives, and large emitters that will be covered under Vietnam's ETS in the future.

During the course, experts clarified a roadmap for the development of the national carbon market, the working principles and key design elements of the ETS, market oversight, and what enterprises should prepare to participate in the carbon markets. Participants were granted certificates upon completion of the course.

In addition, domestic and international experts introduced 'carbonsim' and guided participants to run a demo simulation using the CarbonSim tool.

If we want to pilot ETS in 2025 as the government plans, we need more training for relevant stakeholders so they can develop and implement emissions trading as a cost-effective policy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and enable the establishment of trading systems, said Josh Margolis, an environmental markets expert and carbonsim administrator.

There are various forms of training and capacity building that can provide comprehensive, in-depth knowledge of the design and implementation of the ETS, such as the carbon market simulations which are useful tools to assist policymakers and businesses to understand the system's mechanics, Margolis said.

"The lectures are designed and presented by international experts in climate change mitigation and carbon pricing. This training initiative takes place at a critical period for Vietnam as it is committed to reducing GHG emissions in accordance with its obligations in the Paris Agreement," said Dang Hong Hanh, co-founder of Energy and Environment Consultancy.

Fritzie Vergel, a representative of the ETP, said this was the first ETS and carbon market training course ever held in Vietnam with the full participation of stakeholders from the public and private sectors.

"Building an effective emissions quota trading system in Vietnam will play a key role in achieving emissions' reduction targets. By placing a cap on total emissions and allowing businesses to trade emissions quotas, the ETS creates economic incentives for businesses to find solutions to reduce GHG emissions. In addition, revenue from quota auctions can be reinvested in climate-related projects, further supporting the country's efforts to reduce emissions," said Vergel.

Vietnam seals major carbon credit deal, fetching $53 million Vietnam has successfully executed a landmark transaction, selling 10.3 million tonnes of CO2 emission credits to the World Bank for nearly VND1.25 trillion VND ($52.74 million), as confirmed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to the prime minister on December 28.

World Bank to support Ho Chi Minh City on carbon credits The opportunities and challenges presented by operating a carbon credit market in Ho Chi Minh City in line with the World Bank were the main talking points of a meeting on January 24 between Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai and World Bank experts at an investment conference centred around green growth on January 24.

Ho Chi Minh City needs to start carbon credit market quickly On the sidelines of an investment conference centred around green growth on January 24, Muthukumara S. Mani, Lead Environmental and Climate Change Economist, Southeast Asia Region at the World Bank, spoke with VIRs Bich Ngoc on the importance of the Vietnams carbon credit market development.

FPT IS and Carbon EX driving carbon credit market FPT IS and Carbon EX, a carbon credit trading platform and renewable energy certificate issuer in Japan, signed an MoU to collaborate in providing services and solutions to promote carbon credit projects adhering to global standards such as Verra Carbon Standard, Gold Standard, and J-Credit.
The commitment was made by the Singaporean government delegation during a visit to PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation's (PTSC) facilities in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau on March 4.

Representatives from the Singaporean Embassy in Hanoi, the Singapore Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Energy Market Authority, and PTSC's partner Sembcorp Utilities all joined the delegation.

PTSC and Sembcorp Utilities were awarded the Survey Permit and Conditional Approval to import clean electricity from Vietnam to Singapore by the authorities of the two countries at the end of 2023. The two sides are pushing implementation of additional work to successfully implement the project.

During the working visit, the Singapore government authorities witnessed modern synchronous infrastructure, facilities, and equipment in the Asia-Pacific region, invested by PTSC to serve offshore renewable energy projects around the world, including this transnational project.

This has improved Singapore authorities' confidence in the Vietnam offshore wind project jointly developed by Sembcorp Utilities and PTSC, as part of the objective to import 4GW of renewable electricity to Singapore by 2035.

PTSC and its partner Sembcorp Utilities also presented the project's implementation strategy, as well as proposed mechanisms. With the goal of commercial power generation by 2033, PTSC and its partners have laid out a specific roadmap that includes a survey, an investment plan, and the development of offshore wind farms in Vietnam to produce and export approximately 1.2GW of clean electricity from Vietnam to Singapore via high-voltage submarine cable.

Through the meeting, the authorities of the Singapore affirmed that they would continue to support PTSC and its partners during the implementation of the project, which will help Singapore soon achieve its goal of bringing net emissions to zero by 2050.

The progress made on this project is also a positive development arising from the MoU on Energy Cooperation between Vietnam and Singapore, signed in October 2022, which reaffirmed both countries' commitment to support and facilitate clean energy transition efforts and regional decarbonisation, including greater cross-border electricity trading.

PTSC and Sembcorp secure clean energy export licence Vietnam's Petrovietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC) and Singapore's Sembcorp Utilities Pte Ltd (Sembcorp) secured a crucial licence on August 29 to advance its offshore renewable energy project in Vietnam, with ambitions to export clean energy to Singapore.

Offshore wind future in balance for Vietnam The long-awaited Power Development Plan VIII is set to target the development of about 7GW of offshore wind power in Vietnam. However, both investors and localities are waiting for a clearer roadmap.
Shipping costs stifle progress among Vietnamese exporters, illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com

Last month, three business associations in the logistics sector highlighted rising and unannounced fees charged by foreign shipping lines, which they say are making conditions tough for exporters.

After the Lunar New Year holiday, the Vietnam Shippers Council sent a letter to the government, relevant ministries, and agencies on strengthening surcharge management of foreign shipping lines. Accordingly, the council proposed adjusting terminal handling charges and surcharges of foreign shipping lines.

The Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLA) claimed that foreign shipping lines only announced the adjusted prices 15 days before the application time without any inspection or explanation on fees, surcharges, or any reports or constraints from any regulations of the authorities. Then they increased surcharges sharply, causing frustration for exporters.

In early February, the Vietnam Ship Agents, Brokers, and Maritime Services Providers Association sent a document to ministries and agencies to claim that foreign shipping lines were collecting about 10 types of surcharges for goods at very high rates, such as terminal handling charges ($140-265), document surcharges ($25), fuel surcharges ($15), e-delivery ($25), container balancing fees ($28), equipment balancing fees ($95), and sulphur emission reduction surcharges ($20-100).

Some shipping companies list the freight rate from Vietnam to West US ports as $2,650, to East US ports as $3,900, and to Europe as $4,900 per 40-foot container.

Associations said that it is necessary to research Vietnamese law in combination with international practices to manage surcharge collection of foreign shipping lines.

Nguyen Thanh Hoa, a representative of an exporter to the United States, said that recent tensions in the Red Sea are negatively impacting production and business.

Orders have been gradually recovering, but such tensions have changed shipping lines routes to go around the Cape of Good Hope, and extend shipping journeys by 10-15 days more than usual, significantly increasing costs. This is causing many difficulties for businesses exporting goods to the US and EU, Hoa said.

Hoang Thi Lien, chairwoman of the Vietnam Pepper Association, said that the EU market accounted for around one-fifth of the total export value of the entire industry. Pepper exporters are greatly affected by the sharp surge of the shipping cost to the EU market by up to six-fold compared to December.

One business loaded goods onto ships on December 20, but 15 days later a surcharge of $2,000 was applied on a 40-foot container. The arbitrary application of fees, without prior notice or agreement, enables exporters to fall into a passive situation that they have no way of working around, Lien said. If exporters do not pay this additional surcharge, they will send an additional late payment surcharge, which makes them frustrated.

The US and EU are Vietnams two main export markets. Last year, Vietnams import-export turnover of goods with the European region was $71.14 billion and with the North America was $122.3 billion.

The total import-export turnover of these two areas accounts for 28.4 per cent of the total import-export turnover value of the country in 2023. With such a large amount of traded goods, even a small fluctuation in freight prices can have a severe effect on exporters.

Le Quang Trung, vice chairman of the VLA and deputy general director of Vietnam Maritime Corporation, said businesses should diversify transportation methods.

For example, high-value goods can move by air instead of sea. In addition, we should further exploit Asian markets because shipping rates in this region have only increased slightly, by 10-15 per cent, he said.

With freight prices trending up, the Vietnam Maritime Administration (VMA) assigned port authorities of Haiphong, Ho Chi Minh City, and Vung Tau to coordinate with shipping lines to evaluate fluctuations in shipping prices, the transport situation, and the ability to provide ship supply to the market.

A representative of the VMA said that shipping lines must publicly post freight rates and surcharge issues on their website and inform customers.

If there is a change or increase in surcharges, shipping companies must provide notification at least 15 days in advance. If shipping lines immediately increase surcharge prices without notice or apply them incorrectly, we will handle violations when receiving feedback from exporters, the representative said.

Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trades Foreign Trade Agency, emphasised the updated information and predicted a positive response, along with appropriate response measures, aiming to minimise the negative impacts of the Red Sea issue. Shipping lines should maintain routes and bring back empty containers to ensure import and export activities. They should strictly comply with regulations on listing, fares, and surcharges, Hai said.

Irfan Ulhaq, a lecturer from RMIT, observed that firms are looking at stockpiling key components or finished goods to buffer against disruptions, although this requires careful inventory management. Adopting flexible operations, including adjusting production schedules, product lines, and delivery methods, is crucial for responding to supply chain disruptions. Embracing AI and blockchain can also enhance supply chain management, said Ulhaq.

Exporters struggle with escalating shipping costs Undergoing turbulent an 2023 with fewer order, sinking revenues, and reduced profits, exporters are facing further obstacles from early 2024 amidst the soaring shipping costs.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Vietnam Social Security, Vietnam Health Insurance, and several medical institutions, the project, which ends in 2025, has achieved significant progress in breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and management.

Vietnam has to contend with over 24,500 new breast cancer cases and more than 10,000 deaths each year, most of whom are women. This joint project was the first strategic initiative to specifically target breast cancer in Vietnam, and it has been implemented across many hospitals nationwide since 2020.

Nguyen Thi Xuyen, president of the VMA, said, This is the first comprehensive project in Vietnam dedicated to breast cancer and is on such an unprecedented scale with the number of partners involved. The project has achieved spectacular results which would not have been possible without the tremendous efforts of healthcare professionals and a commitment to saving lives across the country.

Lennor Carrillo, general manager of Roche Pharma Vietnam, said, Roche is proud to partner with the Ministry of Health, the VMA, and many others under this comprehensive, strategic project to sustainably improve breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and management in Vietnam.

For many years, only 30 per cent of breast cancer patients were diagnosed in the early stages of the disease due to limited public awareness. As such, one of the goals of the project has been to raise public awareness to increase early breast cancer detection rates among high-risk women. This has been carried out through the 'We Care for HER' and 'Joining Hands for HER' campaigns since 2013. Data from Hanoi's K Hospital showed that the proportion of breast cancer patients diagnosed at an early stage has increased to more than 75 per cent as of the end of last year.

This result was achieved thanks to the significant contribution of the awareness-raising campaigns. The project has attracted hundreds of people to launch ceremonies for breast cancer prevention month, over 100 news stories and articles in newspapers, as well as 120 posts on Facebook.

The Bright Future Fund has organised doctor consultations and patient forums, developed a specific area for breast cancer awareness on the National Cancer Institute's website, and conducted free screenings for over 6,000 women in hospitals and community centres across the country.

A significant number of medical staff have been provided training on multidisciplinary treatment and clinical research at five key hospitals - Vietnam National Cancer Hospital, Bach Mai Hospital, Hanoi Oncology Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital, and Cho Ray Hospital - which has contributed to a measurable improvement in the quality of service delivered to patients.

To improve access to innovative therapies for breast cancer patients, the Vietnam Health Economics Association, along with experts from Hanoi University of Pharmacy, Hanoi University of Public Health, and the Health Strategy and Policy Institute, has completed several research projects, including an overview of breast cancer screening and treatment payment policies in different countries, as well as an evaluation of the cost-effectiveness and budget impact of some breast cancer treatment drugs.

Based on the results of that research, the VMA and the Bright Future Fund have sent a letter to the Ministry of Health proposing research on health insurance payment plans for breast cancer screening of high-risk people, as well as health insurance contributions for some breast cancer treatment drugs to ease the financial burden on patients.

Roche Pharma Vietnam has implemented a patient support programme for breast cancer patients in 18 hospitals. As of last December, more than 430 patients have benefited from this, with Roche contributing more than value VND67 billion ($2.7 million) to the scheme.

Lennor Carrillo, general manager of Roche Pharma Vietnam

An important objective of the project is to build a database for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Two studies have been completed, one on the epidemiological map of cancer diseases and cost assessment of cancer treatment solutions and one on the epidemiological characteristics and treatment costs of breast cancer in Vietnam.

The National Cancer Institute has developed a set of criteria for breast cancer registration. A report on breast cancer registration activities at hospitals has also been conducted across six hospitals. When the indicators within the criteria set are used to register cancer directly on the information system of the Ministry of Health and Vietnam Social Security, data can be extracted quickly and accurately, reducing the need for manual collection and making an important contribution to cancer management and prediction in Vietnam.

Roche commitment to improving womens cancer care Lennor Carrillo, general director of Roche Pharma Vietnam, and Dr. Qadeer Raza, general manager of Roche Vietnam (Diagnostics), spoke with VIR's Thanh Van about the latest report of women's cancer and reiterated their commitment to womens cancer care with their combined strength of diagnostics and pharmaceuticals.

Bright Future Fund and Roche launch 2023 breast cancer awareness campaign On October 19, the Bright Future Fund, in collaboration with Roche Pharma Vietnam, celebrated the kick-off event for "Joining hands for the women I love" campaign 2023 to raise awareness about breast cancer and improve womens health.
Kraig Labs positions its operations in the heart of Vietnams silk manufacturing centre

Kraig Labs announced on March 6 that it is preparing a second business investment application in Vietnam as part of the planned expansion of its business operations. The company expects to submit this second investment license application this month.

This new license will be utilised in connection with the companys memorandum of understanding with the Lam Dong Agro-Forestry Research and Experiment Centre (LAREC) and the Vietnam Sericulture Association (VSA), as announced on January 30.

This collaboration is designed to enhance and expand silk production in Vietnam by leveraging the companys proprietary silk technology and expertise from the LAREC and VSA.

The investment license application is part of the creation of a new wholly-owned subsidiary of Kraig Labs, to be named Prodigy Silk.

Prodigy Silk will be headquartered in the companys new recombinant spider silk production facility in Lam Dong province. The facility is located in the center of Vietnams largest silk-producing region, providing excellent access to fresh mulberry, skilled sericulture staffing, and cocoon reeling facilities.

The company expects this facility to serve as the operational centre for its spring production trials. Renovations of this facility are currently underway, and expected to be fully operational in time for the spring trials.

This business investment in the highlands has been a long-term strategic goal for Kraig Labs, said founder and CEO, Kim Thompson. Over the last two quarters, we have consistently hit our marks and checked the boxes on our business plan. Each milestone we hit prepares the way for the next milestone.

The companys management intends to remain aggressive in the execution of its business plan for the production of recombinant spider silk in 2024. Recombinant spider silk is a material with potential applications across the global textile industry.

Vietnam moves to develop biotechnology Vietnam aims to develop and apply biotechnology as part of the country's sustainable development, striving to build an international-standard industry.

Accelerating involvemenet of American companies The visit by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to the United States and his scheduled meeting with President Joseph Biden and business leaders this week are solid markers of the growing, robust working relationship that exists between the United States and Vietnam.
An aircraft of Vietnam Airlines takes off at Noi Bai International Airport. (Photo: Vietnam Airlines)

Hanoi - The national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines, has temporarily suspended flights to Frankfurt due to air strikes at German airports.

Flight VN37 from Hanoi to Frankfurt and flight VN31 from HCM City to Frankfurt will take off on March 7 evening instead of March 6 evening as scheduled.

Two return flights  VN36 from Frankfurt to Hanoi and VN30 from Frankfurt to HCM City are rescheduled to take off on March 8 afternoon instead of March 7 afternoon.

Vietnam Airlines deeply regrets having to change its flight schedule due to a strike at Frankfurt airport and hopes to receive the understanding of passengers in this unexpected situation, said the airline in its announcement on March 6.

The airline pledged to support affected passengers according to current regulations.

It also recommended that passengers planning to travel to/from or transit through Frankfurt airport during this time should regularly monitor and update flight information to get timely support in case of need.

Pivotal year for top transport entities It is going to be another tough year for state-owned transport giants like Airports Corporation of Vietnam, Vietnam Railways, and Vietnam Airlines, and all will need to take fresh measures to develop in the best direction.
According to the joint statement on the elevation of a comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Australia released on March 7, Vietnam and Australia commit to further deepening the bilateral trade and investment relationship, enhancing economic cooperation and pursuing more open trade and investment through global and regional economic integration.

Vietnam and Australia acknowledge the need to build supply chain resilience and pursue trade diversification to promote economic resilience.

Both countries also reaffirm commitment to the full and effective implementation of the Viet Nam-Australia Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy and additional actions to implement Invested: Australias Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040.

Vietnam and Australia also recognise the importance of high-quality investment to support shared prosperity, skills and innovation, green growth, productivity, people-to-people links, womens economic empowerment and inclusive economic growth for all people in their diversity.

The two sides will promote market access and trade facilitation measures for both countries, including in agriculture, fisheries and forestry. They confirm their commitment to enhanced labour mobility, including through access for Vietnamese citizens to work in Australia and Australian citizens to work in Vietnam.

Efforts will be made to promote a transparent business and regulatory environment, including to support investment and sustainable financing through capital markets and other mechanisms.

"We continue to cooperate closely to advance a strong rules-based, non-discriminatory, fair, inclusive, equitable and transparent multilateral trading system as the basis for open international trade based on market principles, with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core. We reaffirm our commitment to strengthening and reforming the WTO, including the dispute settlement system," the joint statement added.

To improve economic engagement, Vietnam and Australia have reaffirmed commitment to fully implementing the agreements of which both countries are members, such as the ASEAN Australia New Zealand Free Trade Area, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Both countries will work together through other international mechanisms such as ASEAN-related mechanisms, Asia-Europe Meeting, the WTO, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, to create a more stable, predictable, inclusive and transparent trade and investment environment and generate business confidence in two countries' strong economic relations, while addressing new and emerging trade challenges.

The two sides recognise the vital role of international standards and best practice regulatory approaches to facilitate trade, drive innovation, enhance resilience and tackle global economic, social and environmental challenges. We affirm our shared commitment to promoting the mutual understanding and uptake of international standards.

Commitments are also made to further strengthening the agricultural partnership between Vietnam and Australia by enhancing trade and investment, co-operating on shared regional challenges and promoting technical, research collaboration and capacity development initiatives that support more competitive, resilient and sustainable agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors.

Furthermore, the joint statement highlighted Australia's long-standing official development assistance to Vietnam. Moving forward, Australia will continue to support Vietnams development efforts through bilateral, sub-regional and regional initiatives focused on areas that are consistent with Vietnams socioeconomic development.

Australia and Vietnam upgrades ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh announced a major upgrade of the Australia  Vietnam relationship on March 5 to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Australian presence apparent in quality and quantity Vietnam and Australias corporate landscapes are intertwining, as businesses from each shore set their sights on newfound opportunities in the others terrain.
WASHINGTON (AP)  A new Biden administration rule that sets tougher standards for deadly soot pollution faced a barrage of legal challenges Wednesday, as 25 Republican-led states and a host of business groups filed lawsuits seeking to block the rule in court.

Twenty-four states, led by attorneys general from Kentucky and West Virginia, filed a joint challenge stating that new Environmental Protection Agency rule would raise costs for manufacturers, utilities and families and could block new manufacturing plants and infrastructure such as roads and bridges. Texas filed a separate suit, as did business groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers.

The EPAs new rule has more to do with advancing President (Joe) Bidens radical green agenda than protecting Kentuckians health or the environment, said Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, who is leading the joint lawsuit along with West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.

The EPA rule will drive jobs and investment out of Kentucky and overseas, leaving employers and hardworking families to pay the price, Coleman said.

The soot rule is one of several EPA dictates under attack from industry groups and Republican-led states. The Supreme Court heard arguments last month on a GOP challenge to the agency's good neighbor rule, which restricts smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas.

Three energy-producing states  Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia  challenged the rule, along with the steel industry and other groups, calling it costly and ineffective. The rule is on hold in a dozen states because of the court challenges.

In opposing the soot rule, Republicans and industry groups say the United States already has some of the strictest air quality standards in the world  tougher than the European Union or major polluters such as China and India.

Tightening U.S. standards "wouldn't improve public health, but it would put as many as 30% of all U.S. counties out of compliance under federal law, leading to aggressive new permitting requirements that could effectively block new economic activity,'' Coleman said.

The EPA rule sets maximum levels of fine particle pollution  more commonly known as soot  at 9 micrograms per cubic meter of air, down from 12 micrograms established a decade ago under the Obama administration.

Environmental and public health groups hailed the rule as a major step to improve the health of Americans, including future generations. EPA scientists have estimated exposure at previous limits contributed to thousands of early deaths from heart disease and lung cancer, along with other health problems.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the new soot rule, finalized last month, would create $46 billion in net health benefits by 2032, including prevention of up to 800,000 asthma attacks and 4,500 premature deaths. The rule will especially benefit children, older adults and those with heart and lung conditions, Regan said, as well as people in low-income and minority communities adversely affected by decades of industrial pollution.

"We do not have to sacrifice people to have a prosperous and booming economy, Regan said.

Biden is seeking reelection, and some fellow Democrats have warned that a tough new soot standard could harm his chances in key industrial states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The EPA and White House officials brushed aside those concerns, saying the industry has developed technical improvements to meet previous soot standards and can adapt to meet the new ones. Soot pollution has declined by 42% since 2000, even as the U.S. gross domestic product has increased by 52%, Regan said.

The new rule does not impose pollution controls on specific industries. Instead, it lowers the annual standard for fine particulate matter for overall air quality. The EPA will use air sampling to identify counties and other areas that do not meet the new standard. States would then have 18 months to develop compliance plans for those areas. States that do not meet the new standard by 2032 could face penalties, although EPA said it expects that 99% of U.S. counties will be able to meet the revised annual standard by 2032.

Industry groups and Republican officials dispute that and say a lower soot limit could put hundreds of U.S. counties out of compliance.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned the White House in January that 43% of total particulate emissions come from wildfires, and called the pollution standard "the wrong tool to address this problem.''

The EPA said it will work with states, counties and tribes to account for and respond to wildfires, an increasing source of soot pollution, especially in the West, where climate change has led to longer wildfire seasons, with more frequent and intense fires. The agency allows states and air agencies to request exemptions from air-quality standards due to exceptional events," including wildfires and prescribed fires.

Besides Kentucky, West Virginia and Texas, other states challenging the EPA rule include: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming.

All three cases were filed before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
CHICAGO (AP)  Chicago police are undergoing fresh training on handling large-scale protests and First Amendment rights ahead of anticipated demonstrations during the Democratic National Convention this summer, Superintendent Larry Snelling said Wednesday.

Everything we are doing is rooted in constitutional policing, Snelling told reporters at a news conference previewing security preparations. We want to make sure we maintain peace. We are not going to tolerate the violence.

Thousands of elected officials and activists are expected to come to the nations third-largest city from Aug. 19-22. Snelling, Mayor Brandon Johnson and emergency management officials said theyre finalizing plans for traffic and security around both convention sites, which are the United Center and McCormick Place Convention Center.

Snelling said the Chicago Police Department has looked back at other large-scale events in the city to see what worked, including during the 2012 NATO summit.

Chicago police generally received high marks for the handling of NATO protests. For the DNC, Snelling said the department would again use police on bicycles and officers in soft or dressed down uniforms.

In contrast, Chicago police faced strong criticism for being unprepared in the aftermath of George Floyd's 2020 killing in Minneapolis, when civil unrest broke out nationwide. More than 500 complaints were lodged against Chicago police in the following months as many peaceful protests devolved into chaos and destruction.

Snelling, who became police chief last year, said people converging on Chicago without warning was a different situation than a convention where protesters are limited to certain areas and required to get permits. But he acknowledged the department fell short in 2020.

Our officers were out there without the training to deal with that type of situation, he said.

Chicago last hosted the DNC in 1996.

Republicans are holding their convention a month earlier in Milwaukee.
ATLANTA (AP)  Some Georgia senators want to punish cities and counties that they say are illegally harboring immigrants who are in the country without permission by cutting off most state aid to the local government and removing elected officials from office.

The Senate Public Safety Committee voted 4-1 on Wednesday to rewrite House Bill 301, with supporters saying the move is needed to enforce a 2009 state law that outlaws so-called sanctuary cities and counties.

It's the latest measure proposed by Republicans after police accused a Venezuelan man of beating a nursing student to death on the University of Georgia campus.

Jose Ibarra was arrested last month on murder and assault charges in the death of 22-year-old Laken Riley. Immigration authorities say Ibarra, 26, unlawfully crossed into the United States in 2022. It is unclear whether he has applied for asylum.

Riley was a nursing student at Augusta Universitys Athens campus. She was found dead Feb. 22 after a roommate reported she didnt return from a morning run in a wooded area.

The Senate committee completely rewrote a bill that previously regulated penalties from speeding tickets issued by automated cameras. State Sen. Kim Jackson, a Stone Mountain Democrat, complained that she had no time to read the new language before the meeting, calling it frustrating and disappointing.

The new bill would let any Georgia resident sue, asking a judge to declare a city or county was violating the 2009 law. If a judge agrees, the state would cut off state aid, as well as federal aid it controls, except for a short list of emergency and health services. For example, a county or city would get no state money for building and maintaining roads.

Judges could restore funding if a local government repeals the offending policy. A judge would then be required to issue a permanent order barring the government from ever readopting any sanctuary policy.

The bill also provides for removal of local elected officials if cities or counties adopt sanctuary policy. The bill lets any Georgia resident complain to the Board of Community Affairs. The board would conduct a hearing on whether an official is breaking state law and recommend to the governor whether to suspend the official. The governor could then remove the official and appoint a replacement.

Officials can petition to be reinstated, but that would happen only if they can show that their service is more likely than not to improve the ability of the government to comply with the anti-sanctuary law.

Republican Sen. Randy Robertson of Cataula told the committee that the measure would ensure sheriff's offices comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement so they don't evade the 2009 law.

What weve done in this legislation is weve added some teeth, because there were none in the past, Robertson said.

Critics of the measure say it's a further attempt by Republican lawmakers to impose their will on cities and counties, and would let activists tie up cities and counties with court cases and administrative proceedings.

We have built-in accountability measures for when communities do not like what their local government or local sheriffs are doing, and those are elections. We should not be using the legislature to dictate to local communities, said Isabel Otero, Georgia policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Otero likened the measure to Georgia's former Immigration Enforcement Review Board, which investigated complaints about local immigration enforcement. For example, then-Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle filed a complaint that the Atlanta suburb of Decatur was violating state law in 2017 when Cagle was running for governor. The board dismissed the complaint against Decatur, and a law quietly dissolved the board in 2019.

Its the second bill seeking a harder stance on immigration to advance this year. Last week the Georgia House voted 97-74 for House Bill 1105, which seeks to require local law enforcement to help identify immigrants in the country illegally and detain them for possible deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Multiple Republicans on Wednesday said Athens-Clarke County was a target of the new proposal, including Lt. Gov Burt Jones.

As part of our ongoing commitment to protect Georgians, we are taking a stand against those who attempt to implement sanctuary policies that violate the law and harbor criminals, Jones said in a statement.

Athens-Clarke Mayor Kelly Girtz has denied that the consolidated city-county is violating state law, noting that it files a yearly certification of compliance. Critics point to a 2019 resolution by the Athens-Clarke County Commission that said local government strives to foster a community where individuals of all statuses feel safe. But Girtz notes that resolution doesn't have the force of law.

This story has been corrected to show that another bill under discussion is House Bill 1105, not House Bill 1104.
The joint exhibit by artists Wendy Michelle Davis and Betsy Ferguson presently on display at Cultivate 7twelve carries the title All Roads Lead to Waco, but for Davis the direction away from Waco works as well.

Waco is my home now. Its where I found myself as an artist. Its where I found that door I would walk through to give me more opportunities to do art thats more than a hobby, she said in a recent interview after the shows opening. Davis and her husband Rafael, in fact, were preparing this week to travel with her artwork to her home state of California to show and sell it.

Most of the paintings in All Roads comes from places outside of Waco, in fact: skyscapes of shifting clouds for Ferguson and an abbreviated atlas of Davis life with scenes from California, Italy, France, the Czech Republic and Texas.

Davis journeys may have led her to Waco, but its also the place where her painting career crossed paths with Ferguson, who now lives in Granbury. The two both work in acrylics and share a loose, open painting style, often on large canvases, though their preferred palettes differ. Green, blue, yellow and orange predominate in the 21 pieces Davis has on display, while greys, blues and pinks show up in Fergusons 20 paintings.

The Waco artist has several small studies to complement her larger canvases, as well as notecards, prints and tote bags with her paintings. In addition to her large canvases, Ferguson has a smaller Birds of a Feather collection, a series of small studies of bird nests with blue eggs, with dried grapevine attached to their frames.

The titles of Davis paintings often locate their source images  Rooftops of Florence, Street in Prague, Central California Lemons  stops that reflect her California childhood and the side trips to Europe she took during a stint teaching in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (The exhibit) represents a lot of things: places of my past, places Ive been that I love, she said.

All Roads Lead to Waco will continue at Cultivate 7twelve through April 19.
A family homecoming 52 years ago launched the popular television series The Waltons, and a homecoming of sorts with cast members from its nine-season run comes to Waco this weekend.

The Walton-Fest, held Saturday and Sunday at Tucker Hall on Highway 6, will assemble actors from the original cast for a series of meet-and-greets, meals and photo opportunities.

The two-day event, organized by Gravel Road Markets, LLC, will give fans of the popular 1970s television series a chance to chat with actors from the series, listen to their on-set stories, take pictures and, for a price, even share a meal with them.

A spin-off of the 1971 television movie The Homecoming: A Christmas Story by Earl Hamner Jr., The Waltons followed a large family living in rural Virginia in the 1930s and 1940s, the namesake family of their community Waltons Mountain. The familys oldest son, John-Boy (Richard Thomas), was a central character as he grew into adulthood and left to pursue a writing career. The series ran for nine seasons, from 1972 to 1981, and was one of televisions most-viewed programs in its early years.

The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie are Americana television at its finest, noted Kelly Hurd, a marketer with Gravel Road Markets. It (The Waltons) seems to still resonate today with its values and strong family ties.

That appeal seemed a natural fit with Waco, the home of Fixer Upper and its creators Chip and Joanna Gaines, which is why organizers decided to bring the Walton-Fest to town, she added. In addition to its Waltons events, Gravel Road Markets also organizes similar fan meet-ups for cast members of Little House, The Dukes of Hazzard and the film Grease.

Scheduled to appear at this weekends Walton-Fest are Eric Scott (who played Ben Walton), Leslie Winston (Cindy Walton), Kami Cotler (Elizabeth Walton), Mary McDonough (Erin Walton), Jon Walmsley (Jason Walton), David Harper (Jim Bob Walton), Charlotte Stewart (Ruth Collier), Rachel Longaker (Aimee Godsey), Dave Doremus (G.W. Haines) and Mayf Nutter (Bobby Bigelow).

The weekends events include meet-and-greet with cast members between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday; a The Mountain Remembers Dinner with fried chicken and barbecue at 7 p.m. Saturday; a Breakfast With the Cast at 9 a.m. Sunday; and a family photo session in front of the Walton house backdrop at 11 a.m. Sunday.

A Waltons in Waco metal artwork commemorating the occasion, crafted by Waco artist Jimmy Don Holmes, will be auctioned on Sunday.

Tickets for the various activities range from $10 to $150 for the Saturday dinner and $500 for the entire weekend experience.

Wear comfortable shoes and clothing, Hurd advised.
The kitchen table isnt far from the altar in Kathy and Tim Johnsons home. A comfortable recliner and cozy couch share the living room with a wooden pew. Stained-glass windows cast colorful shadows across their bedroom.

Other people walk in and they stop and they just go, wow, Kathy Johnson said.

We just kind of forget that it was a church.

After more than a century of worship, Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Benedict closed its doors in January 2020. Seven months later, the Johnsons bought it.

This house of worship turned home is one of a number of Nebraska churches that, amid rising costs and falling attendance, have found second lives filling gaps in their local communities. Churches are becoming apartments, community centers and places to preserve history and foster the arts.

In early February, the Lincoln City Council signed off on a proposal to turn the former Southminster Methodist Church into offices and apartments.

Cadre Architecture and Design is set to buy the church for $350,000 after New Visions United Methodist Church decided to merge into one building and sell their two remaining properties in Lincoln.

A Baptist congregation bought the first, while the latter, awaiting a religious buyer, received only secular offers. Other proposals included a gym and an art gallery.

We were focused on selling the buildings to other churches, but it doesn't have to be that way, New Visions board chair Beth Baldwin said.

New Visions had a front-row seat to what Rick Reinhard calls the great mismatch.

Aging congregations no longer have the resources or numbers to fill and maintain large and, in some cases, deteriorating buildings, said Reinhard, an urban planner and consultant who spent four years assessing United Methodist Church properties across the U.S.

He points to four factors that have contributed to the mismatch: declining membership, rising property expenses, virtual livestream options and COVID-19.

There was hope that someday we would get back to being three separate churches after the pandemic, but it just became so obvious that something needed to be done, said the Rev. Doyle Burbank-Williams, pastor at New Visions.

Americans participation in organized religion has declined in recent decades, multiple surveys have shown.

A study by the Public Religion Research Institute found a combined 56% of respondents in 2022 said they either seldom or never attend religious services  up from 43% in 2013.

That tracks with research by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research that found median attendance at weekly worship services decreased from 137 attendees in 2000 to 65 attendees in 2020.

The Omaha Archdiocese, which spans from Omaha to Sioux City, told the Flatwater Free Press that only 25% of Catholics in northeast Nebraska attend Sunday Mass and there's been a 42% decline in mass attendance since 2003. Fifteen churches in the Archdiocese have closed since 2000.

The United Methodist Church Great Plains Conference, which includes Nebraska and Kansas, has seen 81 churches close since 2014.

Three other Christian religious authorities in Nebraska contacted by the Flatwater Free Press either did not respond or said they did not keep records of closures to confidently report.

Part of the mismatch, Reinhard said, lies in the fact that many churches were constructed at a time when they needed to be within walking distance of parishioners.

Well, not only do we have motorized vehicles, now we have the internet, he said. So if I want to watch the Archbishop of Canterbury service in London, all I need to do is to click the mouse.

Churches are also expensive to operate. The International Facility Management Association estimates that it costs $7 to $10 per square foot annually to run a church.

Rising maintenance costs factored into the decision to sell the First Baptist Church in Wayne in 2021, according to Matt Ley.

Ley bought the property for $175,000 after seeing the listing on Facebook. At one point, he said, the congregation was considering selling the church windows, demolishing the building and selling the lot. He thought that would be a mistake.

You cannot build that building the way it is now for less than $4 million these days, Ley said.

He renovated the church into six apartment units, which now rent for between $1,000 and $2,000 a month.

I really just wanted to save one of the most beautiful buildings in town and provide different housing options.

Nebraska hasnt been immune from a nationwide housing shortage. A 2022 report by the Strategic Housing Council of Nebraska found a statewide shortage of 32,230 rental units for extremely low-income households. The report noted the shortage extends to housing at all price points across the state.

Kathy and Tim Johnson sold their home in York and moved into the former church in Benedict out of a desire to live closer to family without the burden of a mortgage.

They bought and renovated the 5,100-square-foot church for less than $100,000, most of which was used to build a kitchen, add plumbing upstairs and update the wiring.

Overall, the structure was basically sound as far as not needing any repairs, Tim Johnson said.

The Johnsons were initially concerned about the utility bills, but theyve turned out to be manageable.

If you dont want to be in debt, go buy a church in a small town, said Kathy Johnson, a former member of the church she now lives in.

While housing is a common use for a churchs second act, its not the only one.

The First Presbyterian Church in Madison was sold for $5,000 and turned into a nonprofit arts center in 2007; the former Immanuel Lutheran Church in Snyder was converted into a museum in 2018; and the Seward Chamber of Commerce bought and repurposed a local Presbyterian church to become the Olde Glory Theatre in 2013.

In Pilger, St. Peters Lutheran Church managed to survive a pair of devastating tornadoes in 2014. But it ultimately couldnt survive falling attendance and a lack of volunteers, said Gene Willers, a former member of St. Peters.

The church closed in January 2023 and the congregation donated the building to the Stanton County Historical Society, which now runs a museum out of the former church.

With only one Lutheran church remaining in town, Willers said most people drive to Norfolk or Wisner to attend religious services.

Its just a hard adjustment, he said.

In the Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod district that covers all of Nebraska, minus the panhandle, 35 churches have closed or disbanded since 2000.

When the Rev. Scott Alan Johnson became bishop of the Nebraska Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 18 months ago, one church was in the process of closing. Another went through from start to finish and a third has begun.

Closures can be emotional experiences, especially for families who have deep connections to a church, said Rev. Johnson, who noted that some properties can also include a cemetery.

There has not been any pushback, but is there grief? Yes, he said.

Some Nebraska churches are choosing to restructure their congregations rather than sell or donate their properties.

In 2022, the Omaha archbishop grouped 134 Catholic churches into 33 families across eastern Nebraska. The change allows parishes to better coordinate resources that can address declining attendance, population changes and shifting cultural attitudes, said Riley Johnson, Omaha Archdiocese communications director.

No parishes have made a decision to merge or close since the restructure.

Johnson said the archdiocese wants to shift its attention from maintaining buildings to the mission that we're all called as Christians to carry on, which is to go out and to bring the hope of the Gospel to our neighbors.

Burbank-Williams at New Visions in Lincoln shared a similar message.

The closing of the other two churches gave this one life, he said.

Money from the sales funded renovation projects at their current location, including a new sign, handicap parking, and environmental updates to the building, according to Burbank-Williams. These sales will also help replenish New Visions reserves after years of losses.

There are churches like us that have given themselves permission to not do things the way they've always been done, he said. And those churches I think are growing.

The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraskas first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.
One German man has redefined man on a mission. A 62-year-old from Magdeburg deliberately got 217 COVID-19 vaccine shots in the span of 29 months, according to a new study, going against national vaccine recommendations. Thats an average of one jab every four days.

In the process, he became a walking experiment for what happens to the immune system when it is vaccinated against the same pathogen repeatedly. A correspondence published Monday in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases outlined his case and concluded that while his hypervaccination did not result in adverse health effects, it also did not significantly improve or worsen his immune response.

The man, who is not named in the correspondence in compliance with German privacy rules, reported receiving 217 COVID shots between June 2021 and November 2023. Of those, 134 were confirmed by a prosecutor and through vaccination center documentation; the remaining 83 were self-reported, according to the study.

This is a really unusual case of someone receiving that many COVID vaccines, clearly not following any type of guidelines, said Dr. Emily Happy Miller, an assistant professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine who did not participate in the research.

The man did not report any vaccine-related side effects and has not had a COVID infection to date, as evidenced by repeated antigen and PCR testing between May 2022 and November 2023. The researchers caution that its not clear that his COVID status is directly because of his hypervaccination regimen.

Perhaps he didnt get COVID because he was well-protected in the first three doses of the vaccine, Miller said. We also dont know anything about his behaviors.

Dr. Kilian Schober, senior author of the new study and a researcher at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nurnberg, said it is important to remember that this is an individual case study, and the results are not generalizable.

The researchers also say they do not endorse hypervaccination as a strategy to enhance immunity.

The benefit is not much bigger if you get vaccinated three times or 200 times, Schober said.

Raising suspicions

According to his immunization history, the man got his first COVID vaccine in June 2021. He got 16 shots that year at centers across the eastern state of Saxony.

He ramped up his efforts in 2022, rolling up his sleeves for shots in both his right and left arms almost every day in January, for a total of 48 shots that month.

Then he kept going: 34 shots in February and six more shots in March. Around this time, German Red Cross staff members in the city of Dresden became suspicious and issued a warning to other vaccination centers, encouraging them to call the police if they saw the man again, CNN affiliate RTL reported in April 2022.

In early March, he showed up at a vaccination center in the town of Eilenburg and was detained by police. He was suspected of selling the vaccination cards to third parties, according to RTL. This was during a time when many European countries required proof of vaccination to access public venues and travel.

The public prosecutor in Magdeburg opened an investigation into the man for the unauthorized issuing of vaccination cards and forgery of documents but did not end up filing criminal charges, according to the study.

Effects of hypervaccination

The researchers read about the man in the news and reached out to him through the prosecutor investigating his case in May 2022. By this point, he was 213 shots in.

He agreed to provide medical information, blood and saliva samples. He also proceeded to get four more COVID shots, against the researchers medical advice, Schober said.

The researchers analyzed his blood chemistries, which showed no abnormalities linked to his hypervaccination. They also looked at various markers to evaluate how his adaptive immune system was functioning, according to the study.

The adaptive immune system is the subsection of the immune system that learns to recognize and respond to specific pathogens when you encounter them throughout your life, Miller said. There are two main cell types in the adaptive immune system, T cells and B cells.

In chronic diseases, such as HIV and hepatitis B, immune cells can become fatigued from frequent exposure to the pathogen and lose the ability to combat it effectively, Schober said. Hypervaccination, in theory, could have a similar effect.

However, thats not what the researchers found. Hypervaccination in this case increased the quantity (the number of T cells and B cell products) but did not affect the quality of the adaptive immune system, according to the study.

If you take the allegory of the immune system as an army, the number of soldiers is higher, but the soldiers themselves are not different, Schober said.

In total, the man got eight vaccine formulations, including mRNA vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, a vector-based vaccine from Johnson & Johnson and a recombinant-protein vaccine from Sanofi.

The observation that no noticeable side effects were triggered in spite of this extraordinary hypervaccination indicates that the drugs have a good degree of tolerability, Schober said in a news release.

While very interesting from a scientific perspective, individual case studies like this must always be taken with a grain of salt, Miller said. Public health recommendations, which are based on very large, randomized control trials, are what people should look to for guidance, she added.

I dont think any physician or public health official would recommend doing what this gentleman did. This is really uncharted territory, Miller said. Talk to your doctor, follow the recommended vaccine schedules, and that should be the best thing to keep you both protected from COVID and healthy and safe.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends COVID vaccination for everyone ages 6 months or older in the United States, following the vaccination schedules outlined on its website. Last week, the CDC updated its guidance to recommend an additional dose of the current COVID vaccine for people 65 and older.

Less than a quarter of adults and only 13% of children in the United States have gotten the most recently recommended COVID vaccine, according to CDC data.

Does Long COVID cause Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome? An analysis Does Long COVID cause Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome? An analysis What is Long COVID? Other conditions associated with Long COVID What is Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)? What causes POTS? Why does Long COVID cause POTS?
Helberg Barbecue is set to begin construction next week on a new restaurant, just over three months after a fire destroyed its old building.

Owner Phillip Helberg said the plan was always to eventually move into a new building. He and his wife and co-owner, Yvette Helberg, foresaw they would outgrow the space they were previously in, which they were only leasing. Three years ago, they purchased about three acres of land along Highway 6 about a half-mile down the road from their current location at Highway 6 and Lady Bird Road, and they have spent the last three years planning the design of the new restaurant and saving up money to make their dream a reality.

Three years ago, we first saw that we would outgrow this space, Helberg said. And we never owned this. We just kept pouring more and more money into this place, and its not ours, so we really wanted a place of our own.

But then, the fire put everything in jeopardy.

The evening of Nov. 26, a fire broke out in the kitchen trailer of the restaurant, which then spread to the roof of the main building. Firefighters from Waco, China Spring and Speegleville responded and extinguished the blaze by about 9:30 p.m.

Though the building still stood, it was determined to be a total loss due to structural damage and will be demolished, Helberg said.

A GoFundMe started after the fire has raised just over $87,000 for the Helbergs. Other fundraisers with local businesses including Dancing Bear Pub and Barnetts Whiskey House raised more money for the Helbergs.

Helberg said the money raised allowed the restaurant to pay some of its staff salaries during the nearly monthlong period the restaurant was shut down without having to dip into the money they had saved up for the new building. Donations also allowed the restaurant to get up and running again out of a food truck parked outside the burned building, though Helberg said he was forced to reduce his staff to 11 from its previous strength of 28.

Helberg Barbecue reopened as a drive-thru operation just before Christmas, bringing the Helbergs back to their roots, as the business began as a food truck in 2018. Helberg said business is still down from before the fire, but the food truck model and catering have let him break even and keep the focus on the new restaurant.

Its been a challenge for sure, Helberg said. But this team that we have, theyre the best and they were able to within a week or two get this running smoothly and efficiently. Aside from the efficiency of it, I think were serving the best food that weve ever served.

He said he expects the new restaurant to be finished in about a year. The new restaurant will not be too different from the old one in terms of decor or dining space, but it will have more parking, along with more kitchen and storage space, he said.

Since its launch in 2018, Helberg Barbecue has grown in popularity in both Waco and Texas. Shortly after moving into the old building, Texas Monthly named the restaurant one of the top 25 best new barbecue joints in Texas, and in 2021, it made the magazines top 50 list of best barbecue joints in the state.

While plans for the new building were already in the cards, the devastating fire put a huge question mark over where to go next, Helberg said. Without the help of the community, the restaurant would not have been able to move on so quickly from something that is typically devastating to small businesses, he said.

Theres no way I could ever do that on my own power. Its totally miraculous stuff, Helberg said. (God) works through people. Weve seen him show up in the way that people have shown up for us, and that their hearts have been moved to give us their time, talent and treasures, not just financial donations, but the way that people have prayed for us, the breakthroughs that have happened, the way that people have come in and physically pitched in and helped us.

Helberg said he is thankful he is still able to do what he loves through serving food.

We dont really have the atmosphere that we did anymore, but its cool to see people believe in us, Helberg said. Weve always said salt, pepper and a whole lot of prayer is what this has been built on. Were still saying those same prayers of thankfulness every night that we just get to do this day by day.
Walmart announced Thursday it will pour $350 million into the local economy building a massive milk processing and bottling plant near Interstate 35 and Highway 6 in Robinson. The plant will employ about 400 people making an average of $60,000 a year and become the Robinson Business Parks first tenant.

Construction of the 310,000-square-foot plant will start next month, with completion scheduled in 2026, Walmart officials said. It is up for a 15-year deal providing personal property tax breaks, but details were not disclosed Thursday.

A packed house at Robinson City Hall celebrated the news that Wacos suburban neighbor bested two other locations in Texas and one in Oklahoma to win Walmarts nod. The retailer is taking upon itself more manufacturing tasks to meet demand and fill gaps in service, company officials said. The Robinson plant will be Walmarts third milk plant, joining one set to open next year in Valdosta, Georgia, and one that opened in 2018 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Getting Walmart to commit proved a yearlong undertaking involving the city of Robinson, McLennan County, the Waco Industrial Foundation and the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce. Robinson City Manager Craig Lemin said the city endured a rigorous selection process. Each time he thought the city had answered the last question, Walmart posed several more.

But the Walmart name has cache that benefits the Robinson Industrial Park, Lemin said. He said nearly 500 acres remain available out of the 630 acres assembled by the Waco Industrial Foundation, and he believes Walmarts commitment will bring others to the table. He and Seth Morris, the Greater Waco Chambers vice president of economic development, confirmed another announcement involving the business park is pending.

When I worked in Azle, we could get no interest from industry, Lemin said of the Parker County community west of Fort Worth. But when the Walmart Supercenter arrived, I began getting calls every week.

The Robinson plant will process and bottle several milk options, including gallons, half-gallons, whole, 2%, 1%, skim and 1% chocolate for sale in about 750 Walmart and Sams Club stores throughout the South, including Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and parts of Arkansas and Mississippi, according to a Walmart press release.

The facility will process raw milk sourced primarily from Texas dairy farmers. The finished products will be sold under Walmarts Great Value and Members Mark brands.

Some 160 trucks will enter or exit the plant daily, bringing in raw milk or delivering bottled products to Walmart retailers, said Adam Bradley, Walmart senior director of business development. He said Robinsons presence on Interstate 35 and Loop 340, also known as Highway 6, was a critical consideration. Officials said truck drivers will fill about 100 jobs the plant creates.

During Thursdays announcement, Robinson Mayor Bert Echterling abandoned any off-the-cuff remarks, which he jokingly said he is known for, and delivered the best he could offer.

Today marks a momentous occasion as we welcome Walmart, a pioneering industry leader, to our community, Echterling said. This monumental investment is the first of its kind in both size and value, signaling a transformative era for Robinson. The decision of Walmart to establish its roots here is a testament to the strength of our local economy, the dedication of our workforce, and the strategic advantages that our city offers.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott weighed in with a press release congratulating Robinson and the state, saying, World-renowned companies like Walmart continue to choose Texas because of our unmatched business climate, lower business operating costs, and highly skilled, diverse, and growing workforce.

McLennan County Judge Scott Felton said Central Texas has become a hotbed of food processing and distribution, with Walmart another example.

Walmart will build its 310,000-square-foot plant on about 80 acres. The land was owned by the Waco Industrial Foundation and lies in Robinson, the foundation in 2013 making it available to Robinson for commercial and industrial development. The Robinson Business Park originally covered more than 600 acres, but the Walmart purchase and the acquisition of about 12 acres by another as yet unidentified user has reduced its area to about 500 acres, said Robinsons Lemin, a major player in Walmart negotiations.

Lemin said Robinson wanted to hit a home run with its anchor tenant, and he believes Walmart fits that description. He said companies admire Walmarts dedication to due diligence in choosing sites, and use its presence as a reference point when selecting one location over another.

Lemin said the city has committed to spending $5.2 million completing a roadway linking Interstate 35 and Greig Drive and extending a sewer line into the business park as it prepares for Walmarts arrival. He said the city also plans to build a 1,400-foot-long gravel roadway vehicles can travel during construction. Money captured in a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone formed in 2019 will buy materials for the temporary roadway. The city, with funding also coming from the county and industrial foundation, completed a project last year to build about half the permanent road.

Walmarts Bradley said several factors pushed Robinson ahead of other contenders. He mentioned Wacos commitment to assisting Robinson with its infrastructure goals. Land prices in the Robinson Business Park were competitive enough, and Walmart was persuaded the local market could meet its personnel demands. He said the milk plant will rely heavily on automation, and staffers must possess the necessary know-how.

Kris Collins, the Greater Waco Chambers chief industry recruiter, said Texas State Technical College, McLennan Community College and Baylor University form an impressive training team. She said The Worksite, a specialized training center championed by TSTC and financially supported by Waco and McLennan County, could also tackle the training challenge the milk plant presents. Construction started on The Worksite last year and it is expected to open early next year.

Bradley said the plant will receive raw milk from various sources, mentioning dairies in and around Stephenville, the Texas Panhandle and just outside Dallas-Fort Worth. He said in an interview Walmart welcomes a relationship with milk cooperatives and independent milk producers.

K. Paul Holt, president and CEO of the local Associated General Contractors of America office, said Walmarts announcement offers good news on two fronts: Associated General Contractors members may see work from the $350 million project, and local dairies may enjoy increased demand and lower transportation costs.

Walmart has crews that follow it around building supercenters. They build so many, they get pretty fast, Holt said. But a milk plant is not a supercenter. Its different enough that we may see some activity.

The Waco Industrial Foundation does not disclose land prices, the Waco chambers Collins said, so what it charged Walmart was not revealed.

Land in the Robinson Business Park has appeared on Loopnet, a real estate listing site. Per-acre prices ranged from $151,899 to $217,642, or from $3.50 to $5 per square foot, depending on lot size; suitability for industrial, commercial or mixed use; and visibility and accessibility from Interstate 35 and Highway 60. These prices were listed as negotiable, and would not necessarily reflect numbers presented to Walmart during talks.

Collins said the incentive package Walmart is up for includes a 15-year personal property grant involving Robinson and McLennan County. She did not offer specifics, but said Walmart would pay its property taxes annually, then would qualify for rebates. Lemin said the Robinson City Council is scheduled Tuesday to put finishing touches on its package.
Falls County sheriff candidate John William Reed, whose eligibility for office was clouded by a 1995 Class A misdemeanor assault conviction, suffered a resounding defeat Tuesday in the Republican primary.

Jason Campbell won the GOP primary with 1,445 votes or 77.2% to Reeds 426 votes or 22.7%. In the November general election, Campbell will face incumbent Sheriff Joe Lopez, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Reed, who has no law enforcement experience and no peace officers license, said during his campaign that he served 10 years in the Army, making him eligible to become sheriff as long as he receives a peace officer license within two years of taking office.

Only combat veterans with 10 years of service and people who have five years of experience as a federal investigator are exempt from a state requirement to have a peace officers license before taking office as sheriff, instead having two years from taking office to obtain a license.

However, Reeds 1995 assault conviction in Denton County makes him ineligible for a peace officers license unless the Texas Commission on Law Enforcements grants him a waiver. A waiver is granted only in response to a request made by a law enforcement agency administrator on behalf of a job candidate the administrator intends to hire, according to TCOLEs website.
Two Marlin-area mothers filed a $1 million federal lawsuit against Marlin ISD and district officials over last years graduation delay, trespass warnings they received and most recently cease-and-desist letters from a state senators law firm.

Monica Johnson and Brandolyn Jones, both Marlin High School graduates and parents of high-achieving Marlin students, along with Brandolyns husband Clifford Jones, filed suit Feb. 28 in Wacos federal district court against Marlin Independent School District, Superintendent Darryl Henson and district Police Chief John Simmons. Dallas-area attorney Janelle Davis drafted the suit and filed it on Johnsons and the Jones behalf.

Monica and Brandolyn were going to bring this lawsuit anyway because of actions by the district, the superintendent and its police chief going all the way back to last years graduation controversy, Davis said by phone Tuesday. The timing of State Senator and Senate Education Committee Member Royce Wests law firm sending the cease-and-desist letters did not cause the lawsuit.

Davis also questioned in a press statement the role of one of Wests law partners in the West & Associates firm, Craig Capua, in sending the cease-and-desist letters just 10 days after the moms made an appeal to West and the other members of the Senate Education Committee in a Feb. 2 email. She said Johnson and Jones did not visit Wests senatorial offices, only communicating by email.

Waco-McLennan County Bar Association President Patrick Brady said he does not have the details of this particular situation but that there would be no conflict of interest under professional conduct rules or state law from a state senators law firm representing a school district in a legal matter brought by parents with their own counsel, even if the senator sits on the education committee.

Of course, I would have to know the senators full situation and the details of the case to say with certainty whether or not such a conflict might exist, Brady said.

He also emphasized that the Waco-McLennan County Bar Association has no role in the matter, nor would it be called on to decide any ethical complaint.

The federal lawsuit says Jones and Johnson spoke out and questioned Marlin ISDs delay of graduation for its 2023 high school class and changing of class ranks after the last day of school.

The criminal trespass warning for Johnson came following a social media post in which Johnson selected a background of laughing emojis and wrote U may be able to kick me out the meeting but U want be able to keep Me out your ssA!, Davis said in a Wednesday email. Johnson replied to a comment, Yes... he think he can just say anything to ppl but Im not the 1 or the 2 & he doing to definitely remember me.

According to Davis the trespass warning indicated the social media posts caused Henson to feel threatened, and Simmons issued the criminal trespass warning to ban Johnson from Marlin ISD property throughout the current school year.

Defendants Henson and Simmons retaliated against Plaintiffs for exercising their right to petition by cooperating in the illegal issuance of a criminal trespass warning, as well as unequal treatment received in comparison with other Marlin ISD families, violating their First Amendment Right to Free Speech and Right to Petition, the lawsuit says.

The suit also says no case law exists to support the idea that criticizing a superintendent for what it calls his unlawful and unethical decisions to change grades, class rank and cancel graduation is a reasonable basis to allow unequal treatment of people petitioning Marlin ISD.

The districts attorney, Capua, wrote in the cease-and-desist letters to Jones and Johnson dated Feb. 12 that an audit concerning class of 2023 students revealed discrepancies of their transcripts.

The districts decision to delay graduation for the high school class of 2023 from May 27, 2023, to June 22, 2023, came because many of the senior students did not actually meet graduation requirements because of the number of days of school they had missed or because of grades, Henson said in an interview last month.

We had a few weeks of additional classes so the students could make up the days they missed and the learning they missed and graduate with a diploma that means something, Henson said.

Capuas letters to Jones and Johnson warn them to stop saying, posting on social media or posting in podcasts and online videos any additional defamatory statements against Marlin ISD and Dr. Henson. In the letters, Capua threatens a lawsuit for defamation or libel.

Davis said Jones also filed a grievance with the district that did not reach a satisfactory conclusion, leading her to file a complaint July 31 with the U.S. Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights.

In their federal lawsuit, Johnson and Jones contend the letters and the criminal trespass warning violate their constitutional rights to free speech and redress of grievances.

Neither West, Capua nor Henson replied to attempts by phone and email to contact them this week for this article.

West does legal work in the area of finance for a number of public entities across Texas, including school districts. His firms practice areas include finance, corporate, family, commercial, estate planning and criminal law.
A defendant in a 2021 Robinson capital murder case refused prosecutors plea offer of life with the possibility of parole Thursday, and the case is now set for trial the week of July 22.

Willie Joe Lloyd, 41, of Teague, is accused of breaking into a Robinson home in 2021 and setting a fire that killed his ex-boyfriend, Cargin Madison, 25.

If Lloyd is convicted of capital murder, he will face a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. McLennan County Assistant District Attorney Kristen Duron waived the death penalty in the case in January. The only two punishment options available in capital murder convictions are the death penalty or life without parole.

In Thursdays hearing before Judge Thomas West of Wacos 19th State District Court, Lloyds attorneys, Russ Hunt Sr. and Russ Hunt Jr., appeared by video link from their office while Lloyd appeared by video link from McLennan County Jail.

Madison died from serious burns Aug. 23, 2021, 11 days after Robinson police say Lloyd set fire to a home in the 100 block of Bentwood Drive.

Willie Lloyds brother, Jason Lee Lloyd, 39, of Waco, also is charged with capital murder in the case, and Duron said Jason Lloyds charges remain pending.

Authorities arrested Willie Lloyd on three counts of attempted capital murder after the early morning fire Aug. 12, 2021, that sent Madison and another man to a burn unit in Dallas, police reported at the time. A woman who was sleeping on a couch in the home at the time of the fire suffered smoke inhalation and was treated at a Waco hospital, arrest affidavits in the case say.

Prosecutors upgraded one charge to capital murder when Madison died. Willie Lloyds indictment lists a capital murder charge from Madisons death and a first-degree felony attempted capital murder charge from the burns the other man suffered.

Affidavits say Willie Lloyd broke into the house while Madison slept, poured gasoline on the bed and set it on fire. Lloyd also set the living room couch on fire before fleeing, affidavits say.

Robinson police said at the time Madison was the primary target.

Willie Lloyd told detectives he had been with his brother the night of the incident, and a Robinson officer identified Jason Lloyd in a photo array as someone he saw walking away from the scene of the fire, according to police reports.

Both Lloyd brothers remained in McLennan County Jail on Thursday.
Alabama lawmakers and Gov. Kay Ivey agreed to protect in vitro fertilization providers from legal liability Wednesday, more than two weeks after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law and touched off immediate backlash.

IVF quickly became a talking point for former President Donald Trump, who said he strongly supports its availability. The Biden administration sent the Health and Human Services secretary to Alabama after the ruling, and Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine is bringing as his guest to Thursdays State of the Union the first person to be conceived via IVF.

Three of the states major IVF providers had paused services after last months decision, which recognized embryos as extrauterine children, was issued in wrongful death cases brought by couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident. Wednesdays new law protects providers from lawsuits and criminal prosecution for the damage or death of an embryo during IVF services.

Heres what to know about this increasingly common fertility treatment.

WHAT IS IVF?

In vitro fertilization offers a possible solution when a woman has trouble getting pregnant. The procedure involves retrieving her eggs and combining them in a lab dish with a mans sperm to create a fertilized embryo, which is then transferred into the womans uterus in an attempt to create a pregnancy.

IVF is done in cycles and may take more than one to create a successful pregnancy, according to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The procedure can use a couples eggs and sperm or those from a donor.

WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF IVF?

The first baby was born through IVF in 1978 in England. But the first in the U.S. was in 1981 in Norfolk, Virginia, with the birth of Elizabeth Carr.

Her mother, Judith Carr, had had three abnormal pregnancies, forcing the removal of her fallopian tubes. She and her husband sought treatment from Howard and Georgeanna Jones, doctors who opened a fertility clinic at Eastern Virginia Medical School.

The Norfolk clinic faced resistance before it even opened. When it sought a required state certificate in 1979, more than 600 people jammed into a public hearing. Several women voiced support for IVF and testified about wanting to start a family, while anti-abortion groups raised concerns about doctors messing with human conception and embryos being discarded.

Despite proposed state legislation to stop the clinic, it opened in 1980, with others following soon afterward in California, Tennessee and Texas. By 1988, at least 169 in vitro centers were operating in 41 states.

The use of IVF continued to grow. In 2021 alone, nearly 100,000 infants were born as a result of fertility treatments where eggs or embryos were handled outside a womans body  primarily through IVF  according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But sentiments against IVF never really went away in the American anti-abortion movement, said Margaret Marsh, a history professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Many abortion opponents had made an uneasy peace with the technology as a treatment for infertility, Marsh said. But opposition to IVF has gained momentum since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Those who are firmly committed to the idea that life begins at fertilization are circling back to the movements earlier opposition, Marsh said. Not everyone in the anti-abortion movement opposes these reproductive technologies, but many do.

HOW ARE EMBRYOS MADE?

The treatment often uses hormones to trigger ovulation so multiple eggs are produced and a needle is used to remove them from the ovaries, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said.

Eggs can be fertilized by adding the sperm to the eggs in a lab, or a single sperm can be injected into each egg.

We culture that fertilized egg over a period of time  usually five to six days  to create ... the blastocyst. And those are either transferred or stored for future use, said Dr. Jason Griffith, a reproductive endocrinologist in Houston.

A blastocyst is the early stage of an embryo, which is defined as the state of development that starts at fertilization and lasts up to eight weeks.

Griffith said that on Day 3 after fertilization, an embryo is anywhere from six to 10 cells. By Day 6, its between 100 and 300 cells. He added that a person contains more than a trillion cells.

HOW ARE EMBRYOS FROZEN AND STORED?

Frozen embryos can be used for future pregnancies, and the vast majority survive the thawing process.

The freezing process involves replacing the water in embryo cells with a protectant fluid and flash-freezing with liquid nitrogen, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Frozen embryos are stored in tanks containing liquid nitrogen at hospital labs or reproductive medicine centers. Griffith said they can also be kept in storage facilities contracted by health care facilities, especially when they are stored for many years. Frozen embryos can be safely preserved for a decade or more.

Griffith said conditions are monitored in these facilities and there are physical security mechanisms to safeguard the tanks and backup generators in case of power outages.

Dr. John Storment, a reproductive endocrinologist in Lafayette, Louisiana, said his state has a unique law that prohibits doctors from discarding any viable embryos that are still dividing  meaning they must be preserved and stored. So he and other doctors ship embryos out of state to a secure storage facility once a patient has finished using them for a particular IVF cycle.

Whenever theyre ready for embryos again, they can just ship them back here, he said. But we dont keep them stored here.

In other states, he said, patients can choose to use them, discard them or donate them to other couples or for research.

HOW COULD THE ALABAMA RULING AFFECT IVF?

The U.S. Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade sparked speculation about how the ruling could lead to problems with fertility care, said Greer Donley, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Since 2022, four states have amended their constitutions to protect access to abortion, and several others are considering ballot measures for this year. In many, the language goes beyond allowing abortion to give people rights to reproductive freedom more broadly, which could ensure access to IVF.

The recent court decision could substantially restrict access to a very vital fertility treatment that has helped countless folks today expand their families, Griffith said. When you look at the percentage of pregnancies in the United States that result from in vitro fertilization, its around 2%.

It could also increase the cost of IVF for many families  although its unclear by how much  because of things like additional storage fees and liability costs, he said. One cycle of IVF, including all embryos transferred, now costs about $15,000 to $25,000, Griffith said.

Storment said the Alabama decision could have a ripple effect across the entire country.

Its one of the bigger things to happen in reproductive law in the last decade, he said.

Ungar reported from Louisville, Kentucky. AP reporters Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia, and Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Commentary: U.S. protectionist tricks fool no one

10:07, March 07, 2024 By Guo Yage ( Xinhua

BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- While the Trump administration was unabashed on its protectionist stance, the Biden administration has taken a more underhand approach -- abusing the concept of national security.

However, U.S. politicians' tricks of cloaking protectionism under the guise of national security can fool no one.

In a recent video clip that went viral online, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was confronted by a U.S. news anchor on whether a new investigation into the potential "national security risks" of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) was merely a veiled attempt at "protectionism disguised as national security."

Raimondo and like-minded U.S. officials may want Americans to believe that the probe has nothing to do with building a fortress to keep out futuristic and cost-effective Chinese EVs, and is entirely about "protecting Americans' data."

"Imagine a world in which there are millions of Chinese cars on U.S. roads, collecting this data every minute of every day on millions of Americans and sending that back to Beijing," Raimondo said in the interview, before claiming that China may also turn all the cars off at the same time.

Such accusations beg the question of whether the rest of the world should fear iconic U.S. products like iPhones, General Motors and Ford cars, computers running Microsoft Windows, or even Boeing planes.

History is replete with examples of Washington chanting "free trade" in sectors where America dominates, but wielding protectionist sticks on the pretext of national security where it doesn't.

From using coercive tactics such as the Plaza Accord to counter Japan's economic influence, to implementing measures like extraterritorial jurisdiction to dismantle iconic French manufacturing company Alstom, and continually finding pretexts to hurt competitive Chinese high-tech enterprises, Washington has long been indulging in a "dressed-up protectionism," for which national security is repeatedly used as a handy excuse.

In all likelihood, the result of the Chinese EV probe cannot be anything other than trumped-up evidence and harsh sanctions on promising Chinese EV enterprises that thrive on hard work, innovation and healthy competition.

By targeting Chinese EV manufacturers, U.S. politicians are not only harming the companies but also penalizing American consumers by depriving them of cheaper, better and more effective options. It will in no way benefit the U.S. auto industry, which will likely further fall behind for lack of competitiveness and cooperation.

On the contrary, far-sighted carmakers, like Germany's auto giant Volkswagen, are determined to deepen reciprocal cooperation with Chinese partners for a shared aspiration for win-win development.

Boeing, Apple Inc., Tesla, and other major high-tech U.S. companies have also found a welcoming reception in Chinese cities, benefiting from a supportive business climate.

In July 2021, six months into assuming office, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on promoting competition in the American economy. The U.S. administration should implement the executive order fairly, instead of undermining the very essence of competition by saying one thing and doing another.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
WATERLOO  Hawkeye Community College saw an uptick in the number of students taking spring semester classes following a five-year trend of declining enrollment.

Vice President of Student Affairs Nina Grant recently reported to the board of trustees that there are 4,681 students enrolled in credit programs as of the count day for the semester, which started Jan. 8. That is 74 more students than a year ago, or a 1.61% increase.

Spring enrollment stood at 5,391 in 2018 but had dropped to 4,607 by 2023  a decline of 784 students.

As of the January count day, a total of 3,198 students were enrolled in arts and sciences programs while 1,483 students were enrolled in career and technical studies. Along with the increased numbers, students are taking more classes on average than a year ago, with a 2.4% increase in total semester hours.

The student population is 42% male and 58% female with an average age of 20-24 years old. Two-thirds of students are part-time and 98% are from Iowa. International enrollment increased from 45 to 47 students.

Online enrollment continues to be a factor post-pandemic with 20% of HCCs total enrollment, or 977 students, attending virtually.

On the non-credit side, Hawkeyes business and community education division has seen a slight decrease in spring enrollment. Aaron Sauerbrei, vice president of strategic partnerships and workforce education, told trustees that in 2023 6,220 students were enrolled compared to 6,076 this year. This is a drop of 2.31%.
WAVERLY  Construction work continues moving forward at Prairie West and Shell Rock elementary schools.

With Prairie West you can see with the media center that you got all of the white paneling up around the opening, Ryan Nelson of Estes Construction told the Board of Education Monday. We have a look at the full length partitions going in.

He also said that continuing finishes to drywall and painting will be completed, as well, before work is done on the kitchen and other interior items. Work on Prairie West is about two months from completion.

Davenport-based Estes is the construction manager for the Waverly-Shell Rock Community Schools building and renovation projects as well as for the North Ridge Elementary School construction, which has been completed.

With the continued renovation of Shell Rock Elementary, Nelson noted that drywall hanging and finishing is done throughout the space as well as painting. Workers have begun roughing in above-ceiling installation for such needs as electrical wiring and plumbing.

Move-in for the Shell Rock location is set to start in July. Shell Rock students are currently attending classes at North Ridge.

Weve gotten a lot of work in place at both schools in the last month. Nelson said.

The two new Waverly buildings will replace Margeretta Carey, Southeast and West Cedar elementary schools. During Mondays meeting, the board set a 5 p.m. March 19 public hearing for the sale of Carey following initial approval in February. The hearing will be held in advance of an already-scheduled board work session at the districts Central Administration building, 1415 Fourth Ave. S.W.

The school, located at 220 Ninth Ave. N.W., would be sold for $40,000 to Bartels Lutheran Retirement Community, which plans to expand its housing for seniors. Last month, the board approved the sale of West Cedar to the Waverly Municipal Housing Commission. The school district plans to keep the Southeast building.

In a related matter, the board approved a total purchase of $1.44 million for furniture at Shell Rock Elementary ($309,403), North Ridge Elementary ($560,498) and Prairie West Elementary ($566,434). Workspace, which has offices in Cedar Falls, Des Moines, and other locations in Iowa, will be servicing the orders.

In other business the board:

Approved a $179,100 purchase for 430 Dell Chromebook 3110 computers, Higher Ground Datakeeper Plus Clean Shell cases and Google Chrome operating system management console licenses. The purchases are for the junior class, Greenview Alternative High School and next years incoming fifth graders. Juniors need new Chromebooks due to an operating system that is no longer supported and has caused issues when using certain applications for testing on their current computers.

Heard a report that the Kindergarten Round-Up will be April 29 and 30.
DES MOINES  The lone Republican state official representing a significant part of Black Hawk County has endorsed Dave Sires, a former member of the Cedar Falls City Council, in the partys primary for Senate District 38.

I have known Dave for many years and his work ethic, ability to connect with the community, and passion to see Iowa thrive make him a great candidate for the Iowa Senate, said Rep. Derek Wulf in a statement.

As a Representative in the Iowa House, it is critical for our district to win this seat to make sure our voices from the area are heard in both chambers at the Statehouse going forward.

The district covers parts of Black Hawk, Tama and Benton counties, including Cedar Falls, spanning from Hudson and Evansdale to Gilbertville and La Porte City and south to Traer, Dysart, and Mt. Auburn.

Sen. Eric Gidddens, a Democrat, currently represents the district and is seeking reelection.

The primary is June 4. Sires, a businessman, filed his official election paperwork this week with the Secretary of States office in Des Moines.

Sires will be joined in the District 38 race for the Republican nomination by two other entrepreneurs, James McCullagh, an electrical engineer, and Steve Schmitt, a former member of the Waterloo City Council.

Wulf is in the middle of his first term representing House District 76, which covers the southern portion of the Senate district.

Are most employers tracking diversity in hiring and recruitment? Are most employers tracking diversity in hiring and recruitment? DE&I tracking limited beyond hiring practices
WATERLOO  Bus riders will have to pay more attention on their routes after major route restructuring.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority is in its final stages of reworking its Waterloo routes. All thats left to do is configure what times buses arrive at stops. The new routes are expected to be implemented in the summer.

Routes in Cedar Falls  6, 7 and 9  will not be changed, yet. Depending on how the Waterloo routes are received, the company will look into the Cedar Falls one later.

Managers at MET Transit have been looking at rerouting its buses for the past five years, but the COVID-19 pandemic paused their progress. Once the world started to return to some sort of normal, the company picked up where it left off.

Weve vetted this thing for the last two years, David Sturch, METs general manager said. (The route operators) have been driving it in a car just to get an idea of the total time.

The current routes are at least a 40 minute round trip. The buses go in a circle around its route so if it takes someone 10 minutes to get to their destination, it could take another 30 for them to get back to the same location.

The new routes will have both an inbound and outbound bus. The passenger that would previously have to ride the entire ride back, could get on the other bus to get home quicker.

There will still be seven routes and almost all of the currently served area will continue to be served. MET took out some areas of the current route where its bus drivers rarely picked up passengers, such as Downing Avenue to Martin Road on Ansborough Avenue and the neighborhoods off of Dysart Road east of Hawkeye Community College.

Although the same areas will be serviced, some of them may be from another bus route.

Route 1 currently goes in a loop from the downtown Waterloo station, Goodwill Industries, the Social Security office and Kimball and Ridgeway avenues. The new route one will be split into two routes, 1A and 1B, and stick to Fourth Street. Route 1A will go to the United Medical Park and the Social Security office. Route 1B will go to the Tower Park Drive area.

Route 1 will not go to Goodwill, but that area, as well as North Star and Iowa Workforce, will be picked up by the new Route 8. Route 8 will also go to Crossroads Mall.

Crossroads Mall will be serviced by routes 2, 5 and 8.

With all the changes occurring, the company will not be asking the city for more money to run the new routes. However, MET Transit is proposing a new route, which would require more funding. Route 12 would go from downtown Waterloo to the Waterloo Regional Airport, and the surrounding businesses in the air and rail park.

Operating hours and service fees are not changing. Cory Ernst, METs fixed route operator, said they need more drivers to expand the hours from 5:45 a.m. to 6:45 p.m.

The price of a ride for an adult is $1.50. Students, adults 60 years and older, people with disabilities and Medicare card holders can pay 75 cents for a ride. Ernst said if they moved to free transit, the cities would have to pay more.

If you did go free, then you would have to probably charge more taxes to everybody, he said. And I dont know if everybody would vote on that.

Although changes may look small on the map, Sturch said the outcome could be tremendous.

Our goal is to have shorter times on the buses for everybody, better transfer options and to hopefully increase ridership, he said.

Anyone with questions or comments can email admin@mettransit.org.
The Cedar Valley Woodworkers will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Waterloo Center for the Arts. The speaker will be Jim Miller demonstrating the unique way he makes knives. Members will display items at the show and tell.
One of the 131 dogs seized from Sunset Valley Farm in Riverside is seen here shortly after being relocated to the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center. (Photo courtesy of Iowa City Public Safety)

A Johnson County dog breeder who surrendered 131 dogs in his care has been charged with 41 counts of animal neglect.

Loren Yoder, 62, owner of the Sunset Valley Farm dog breeding business, is charged with five counts of animal neglect with injury, a serious misdemeanor, plus 36 counts of animal neglect without injury, a simple misdemeanor.

According to the Johnson County Sheriffs Office, deputies were contacted last August by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship with regard to animal-welfare issues discovered at Sunset Valley Farm, located at 3027 540th St. SW in the town of Riverside.

IDALS had been conducting an inspection at the facility and had concluded that a large number of dogs were the victims of neglect, according to the sheriffs office.

Yoder subsequently agreed to surrender his 131 dogs to the care of Iowa City Animal Services. Physical exams conducted by veterinarians led to a determination that many of the dogs had developed conditions caused by a failure to provide adequate care, the sheriffs office said, and those conditions contributed to unjustified distress, suffering, and pain to the affected animals.

Yoder has yet to be arraigned and has not entered a formal plea, according to court records. He has been released without bond and has applied for a court-appointed attorney, listing assets of $1.5 million, and debts of $1,000. The court has yet to rule on that application.

Yoder has surrendered his commercial breeders license, although that action does not always indicate that a breeder is shutting down.

Some of the dogs at Sunset Valley Farm were reported by the sheriff to be too nervous or frightened to be fully examined. One of them, suffering from an infection, was so scared it pancaked to the floor during an attempted examination, according to the sheriffs office.

Among the other injuries reported by the sheriff in court filings:

Open wound: A 10- month-old golden retriever had to be transported to another veterinarian for more extensive treatment after being surrendered. The dog had a very large, deep, and open wound on its left hind limb, authorities said.

Pain and fear: One dog was not touchable for an exam, authorities said, while others were frozen in fear. A veterinarian noted one such dog had an obvious infection of his back paws due to overgrown nails that had curled into its paws. This is another painful issue that is easily preventable, the veterinarian told the sheriffs office.

Lacerations: One dog had wounds on its left side flank, left thigh, and right front paw, while another showed signs of a three-inch laceration on the top of its head, a small laceration on the center of its back, and multiple healing wounds. Another dog had a one-inch laceration on a rear knee and an infected 2 -inch wound on the underside of its neck.

Fleas, disease, matted coats: Many of the dogs that were deemed to be neglected but uninjured were described as thin and frightened with heavily matted coats, while others showed signs of infections, severe dental disease or fleas everywhere. One such dog is described in court papers as extremely matted with fecal matter very badly matted into all four paws. The dog was described as very thin and extremely frightened. Another dog was described as being matted with feces and suffering from a severe infection of the ear canal, as well as an umbilical hernia in which the abdominal lining or one portion of an abdominal organ was bulging or protruding.

Yoder canceled his USDA license in 2022

After being cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violations in the first, second and third quarters of 2022, Yoder was issued an official warning from the USDA for violations found during a September 2022 visit. Yoder then canceled his USDA license in an apparent effort to avoid additional inspections by the USDA.

However, the business continued to operate at the same property, and it remained subject to state oversight and continued to be inspected by IDALS.

The state report for IDALS Aug. 24, 2023, inspection of the property cited several deficiencies:

Whelping barn  In the business whelping barn, where female dogs were confined with puppies for the first few weeks after theyre born, the inspector noted the temperature was in the 90s and there were not enough fans to remove sweltering heat from the area. Roughly 16 mothers were in heat distress, the inspector reported. The whelping building also had an over-abundance of flies, the inspector stated.

Outdoor runs  In the outdoor runs, there was an excessive number of weeds and holes in the ground were not being filled to prevent injury. A golden retriever was running loose at the time of the inspection, and the outdoor enclosures were equipped with self-feeder mechanisms marred by what the inspector called a heavy presence of flies indoors and out, dead and not.

Staffing levels  The number of personnel employed by the kennel was insufficient for the number of dogs on hand, the inspector reported. By their own admission Loren, Lloyd, and Uncle David Lee have been providing all 131 animals with less than minimal supervision or care, the inspector wrote in her report.

In January 2023, Loren Yoder was cited by IDALS for several violations, although the published report provided few details of conditions inside the facility.

Bedding must be provided at all times to your outdoor population during inclement weather! the inspector reported. Her report also included a bold-faced warning that IDALS might limit the number of animals allowed in any housing, but the report didnt state why that warning was issued.

The report also stated that all animals pictured needed medical attention, although no pictures were published as part of the report.

During the September 2022 visit, a USDA official cited Yoder for one direct violation and six noncritical violations pertaining to the attending veterinarian and inadequate veterinary care, the method of animal identification, recordkeeping, animal housing facilities, primary enclosures, and feeding of the animals.

The inspector noted that three dogs appeared to be seriously underweight, and yet Yoder was unaware of two of the dogs condition and none of the three had been evaluated by a veterinarian. During the inspection, four adult poodles were spotted running loose on the property and had to be rounded up and returned to their enclosure.
Oscar nominee Cillian Murphy has jetted off to Los Angeles ahead of Sunday's awards ceremony.

The Oppenheimer actor flew on a direct Aer Lingus flight from Dublin Airport, along with some of the crew and production team behind the Oscar-nominated film Poor Things.

Murphy is nominated for best actor for his performance as theoretical physicist J Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's biopic. The Cork-born star is among the favourites to take the prize, having already picked up the best actor gong during the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Bafta awards.

Also on the flight was Irish cinematographer Robbie Ryan, who is nominated for his work on Element Pictures-produced Poor Things.

Robbie Ryan with his partner Lisa Mustafa as they checked in for their flight to Los Angeles. Photo:Naoise Culhane

Susanne Carberry, Aer Lingus chief customer officer, said the airline was honoured to support Irish talent on their "cinematic journey" to the Oscars.

"At Aer Lingus, we make every journey count, and this week, our Oscar nominees are embarking on one of their most important journeys as they travel to LA to represent Ireland at the most iconic movie awards in the world," she said.

"Our Aer Lingus crews will go above and beyond to make it a memorable experience, and we wish Cillian and Robbie, as well as the rest of the Irish contingent the very best of luck. We hope to have extra seats to carry the golden statues on the flight home to Dublin from LA!"
The Galway girl who inspired the Late Late Toy Show appeal has passed away.

12-year-old Saoirse Ruane died on Tuesday after a long illness.

She appeared on the Late Late Toy Show in 2020 where she discussed being diagnosed with cancer and helped to launch the inaugural Toy Show Appeal.

Her family say she inspired so many people in her short life and will be missed beyond measure.

She is survived by her parents, Ollie and Roseanna, and her younger sister Farrah-Rose and half-sister Rebecca.

A notice on RIP.ie read: "It is with broken hearts the Ruane family announces the passing of their beautiful daughter and sister, Saoirse, who passed away peacefully at home, after a long illness bravely borne, in the arms of her heartbroken parents, Ollie and Roseanna, on Tuesday."

At aged seven, Saoirse was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and had a rare, life-threatening tumour on her leg.

On the Toy Show, she shared the story of how she lost her right leg to cancer and how she learned to walk with her prosthetic leg.

In recent years, Saoirse was diagnosed with further tumours, undergoing a major fight for her life operation to remove a tumour in her lung in 2022.

The tumour returned last year and her family shared a devastating update in November last when they were informed that Saoirses cancer had spread to her other lung.

Im very sorry to read this. She was inspiring, Ireland captain Peter OMahony said.

Saoirse will repose at home tomorrow from 2pm to 8pm.

A bus service will run from the car park at Bullaun Church and you are asked to follow the directions of stewards and only attend by using the bus service.

Funeral cortege will arrive on Sunday to St Peter and Paul's Church, Kiltullagh at 1.45pm for Mass for Saoirse at 2pm. Saoirse will be laid to rest in Bullaun Cemetery after Mass.
By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Israel is reckless with the lives of civilians in Gaza, the Tanaiste has said.

Micheal Martin also said Ireland is actively pursuing the possibility of contributing to multinational efforts of airdropping aid into Gaza.

However, he said the most effective way to get meaningful volumes of aid into Gaza would be for Israel to open corridors and checkpoints on the ground.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin says that Israel should open corridors and checkpoints on the ground to help get aid into Gaza (Niall Carson/PA)

Speaking in the Dail on Thursday, Mr Martin said: Many countries are trying to bring an end to the conflict and I know that.

I have no doubt that many in the US want this to end  but Israel is reckless with its own allies.

And Israel is reckless with the region but above all, its reckless in terms of the lives of ordinary Gazans and the people of Gaza.

Absolutely reckless in terms of allowing whats happening to happen on a daily basis.

He said there had been a complete collapse of societal cohesion and order in Gaza.

Mr Martin said Irelands priority is an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and a peace plan.

He was responding to Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns who said the war in Gaza had revealed powerful Western states to be immoral hypocrites.

Speaking during Leaders Questions, she told Mr Martin: They only value international law when its their enemies  not their allies  that are in breach.

Their shameful record in Gaza amounts to the normalisation of mass murder and devastation. They wag their fingers at the Israeli government occasionally but continue to support them and arm them.

Its their bombs and their bullets that have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians.

Its not just the United States that is engaged in this, arms exports from Germany to Israel have increased tenfold since October.

Weapons from Germany now make up nearly 30% of Israels total military imports. Genocide is a nice little earner for the German arms industry.

Ms Cairns said the UK had also not paused the supply of weapons despite raising concerns about possible breaches of international human rights law.

She said she acknowledged the Government had condemned Israels brutality but added: People all over Ireland are still waiting for you to follow those words with actions.

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns (Brian Lawless/PA)

She said the parliament could enact laws that would make it an offence to import goods originating in occupied territories and impose restrictions on the investment of Irish assets in Israeli settlements.

She also said the Government could recognise the state of Palestine and issue travel bans for Israeli settlers.

Mr Martin, who is the Irish foreign minister, said Ireland has not lost its moral compass and said he agreed that other countries should stop sending arms to Israel if they want the conflict to end.

He said that Ireland had shown leadership in continuing to support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

He added that Ireland had made a robust legal submission to the International Court of Justice on Israels occupation of Palestinian territories.

Mr Martin said Ireland is working with other European countries on the subject of recognising Palestine.
Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation (6 March 2024)

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.

In Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the tactical situation and inflicted fire damage on cluster of manpower and military hardware of the 14th mechanised, 25th airborne, and 68th jaeger brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Novosyolovka, Serebryanka (Donetsk Peoples Republic), and Sverdlovka (Lugansk Peoples Republic).

In addition, three counter-attacks launched by the AFU 32nd Mechanised Brigade, 57th Motorised Infantry Brigade were repelled near Sinkovka (Kharkov region) and Terny (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 165 Ukrainian troops, one tank, and three motor vehicles.

In the course of counter-battery warfare, three Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery systems, and one U.S.-made M198 howitzer were neutralised.

In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces took more advantageous lines along the front lines and inflicted losses on units of the AFU 5th, 92th assault brigades, 22nd, 28th, 54th mechanised brigades, and 56th Motorised Rifle Brigade near Bogdanovka, Kleshcheyevka, Andreyevka, Zakotnoye, and Pershe Travnya (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

Two counter-attacks of the AFU 31st and 33rd mechanised brigades were repelled near Novomikhailovka and Pobega (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 260 Ukrainian troops, two tanks, two armoured fighting vehicles, 14 motor vehicles, one Msta-B howitzer, and two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems. In addition, three AFU ammunition depots were destroyed.

In Avdeyevka direction, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and positions.

Losses were inflicted on manpower and hardware of the AFU 23rd, 42nd, 47th, 53rd, 61st, 92nd mechanised brigades, and 59th Motorised Rifle Brigade near Novopokrovskoye, Ocheretino, Novosyolovka Pervaya, and Toretsk (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

In addition, three attacks launched by AFU assault detachments were repelled near Leninskoye and Novgorodskoye, as well as nine counter-attacks near Berdichi, Tonenkoye, Pervomayskoye, Orlovka, and Vodyanoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 460 Ukrainian troops, two tanks, one of which was the U.S.-made Abrams tank wiped out by the T-72B3 tank crew by the first shot, one Buk self-propelled air defence system, four infantry fighting vehicles, two armoured fighting vehicles, and five motor vehicles.

In the course of counter-battery warfare, one Msta-B howitzer, two U.S.-made M119 howitzers, one U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS, and one U.S.-made AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery warfare radar station were neutralised.

In South Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok Group of Forces improved the tactical situation and inflicted losses on enemy manpower and hardware near Mirnoye and Ugledar (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 210 Ukrainian troops, two tanks, three motor vehicles, one Stela-10 anti-air system, and one ammunition depot.

In Kherson direction, units of the Dnepr Group of Forces inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the AFU 118th Mechanised Brigade, 126th Territorial Defence Brigade, and 23rd Ukrainian National Guard Brigade near Rabotino, Verbovoye (Zaporozhye region), Tokaryovka, Sadovoye (Kherson region), and Vyshetarasovka (Dnepropetrovsk region).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 30 Ukrainian troops and two motor vehicles.

Operational-Tactical Aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Groups of Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation wiped out aircraft, aircraft ammunition and POL depots on Lozovatka airfield (Dnepropetrovsk region) and Starokonstantinov airfield (Khmelnitsky region), one ammunition depot of the Donetsk operational-tactical group, as well as manpower and military hardware in 113 areas.

Over the past 24 hours, air defence units shot down nine U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles and one French-made AASM Hammer guided aerial bomb.

Moreover, 135 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were intercepted near Sladkoye, Pavlovka, Signalnoye, Verkhetoretskoye, Orlynskoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic), Golikovo, Chernopopovka, Novodruzhesk (Lugansk Peoples Republic), Mirnoye, Magedovo, Shevchenkovo, and Novoye (Zaporozhye region).

In total, 576 airplanes and 267 helicopters, 14,440 unmanned aerial vehicles, 481 air defence missile systems, 15,377 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,234 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 8,309 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 19,415 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.

Tags:

WtR
With the January announcement that HSHS St. Josephs and HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital along with all Prevea Health locations in western Wisconsin will shutter, many residents and first responders have been concerned about how the closures will impact emergency responders and ambulance calls.

To alleviate some of difficulties facing first responders, the Chippewa Falls City Council approved Tuesday the purchase of a medication safe for the fire department as well as six IV pumps for all six ambulances in Chippewa Falls. The total amount for the new purchases is $16,000.

Chippewa Falls Mayor Greg Hoffman said Monday the city is doing what it can to help the Chippewa Falls Fire and Emergency Services Department as the region grapples with the impending closure of multiple medical facilities.

We want to help. We believe we have to support our first responders and make sure they have whatever they need to save lives, Hoffman said Monday. We are doing what we can and the city and city council support our fire department and paramedics who rush their lives to save others every day.

The city department restocked its medications and supplies at HSHS St. Josephs and HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital, which announced in January they would close.

Chippewa Falls Fire and Emergency Services Department chief Jason Thom told The Chippewa Herald that figuring out how, when and where to restock supplies was a top issue for his department. IV pumps are a related issue.

In the past we had IV pumps. We had an agreement worked out with HSHS for the pumps. That's where we obtained them through. And now we're just going to pursue just purchasing our own IV pumps. That way we can administer medications out in the field and help patients to that pump. They will give the correct dosage of medication to that patient, Thom said Tuesday.

The department will now own its pumps and Thom said that will be useful for patients during longer transports to hospitals in Eau Claire.

In the past we used them at times for transfers and intercepts, that type of thing. But if it was a critical patient that we were going to transport to St. Joe's to stabilize, we wouldn't necessarily always have time on scene to get it set up before going to St Joe's. However, now with a longer transport to Eau Claire it will be beneficial for us to get that pump set up, get those medications running sooner.

The six pumps cost $2,200 each, Thom said.

The two HSHS hospitals served as a home base of sorts for paramedics. Thom said in a January interview with The Chippewa Herald that his department transports about 1,200 patients per year to St. Josephs hospital and now that will have to change.

The idea of traveling back and forth to Eau Claire for every restock has been daunting, Thom said.

With that in mind, the city council also approved the purchase of a medicine safe to be kept at one of the fire stations in Chippewa Falls.

Thom said this will help the department, particularly at night and on weekends, now that they will not be able to run over to St. Josephs to restock medication.

We were approved for a station med safe. It means they're just keeping their medications secure here in our own safe instead of in the past where we used to always get them from the hospital. We'll still get them from a hospital but we'll just secure medications on our shelves for when we cant make a run to Eau Claire or doing high volume times. Its a good safety net, Thom said.

The medication safe cost the city $2,800, according to Thom.
A 77-year-old Beaver Dam woman was seriously injured and a 57-year-old Stoughton man received non-life-threatening injuries in a crash Thursday on Highway 151 at the intersection with Highway DE in the town of Calamus, about 2 miles south of Beaver Dam.

The Dodge County Sheriffs Office received 911 calls shortly before noon reporting a two-vehicle crash at the intersection, according to a statement from Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt. The initial investigation showed the womans vehicle was traveling east on Highway DE, entered the intersection, and collided with the mans southbound vehicle.

The woman, who was identified as Margaret Brozek, was taken to a local hospital after being freed from the vehicle. A medical helicopter met paramedics at the hospital to take her to a trauma center, with serious and possibly life-threatening injuries. The man, Ronald Vosberg, was taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. The drivers were the only occupants of each vehicle.

The crash is under investigation by the Dodge County Sheriffs Office and its Crash Investigation Team.

Vosberg was treated and released while Brozek remained hospitalized on Friday.

Also responding to the crash were the Beaver Dam Fire Department and paramedics, Flight For Life, Johnnies 66 Towing and 10-51 Towing.

It is the second crash at the intersection this week. A 76-year-old Fall River man sustained life-threatening injuries in a two-vehicle crash Tuesday afternoon on Highway 151 at Highway DE. The driver of the second vehicle, an 18-year-old Kewaskum man, sustained non-life threatening injuries.

Schmidt said there are plans for the intersection that will be the done by the Department of Transportation.

They are looking at a redesign in 2025 or 2026, Schmidt said.

Close GALLERY: Cabin Fever Fest brings Beaver Dam out Beaver Dam residents were able to have some fun on Saturday during the annual Cabin Fever Fest.
FILE - The Justice Department in Washington, Nov. 18, 2022. The Justice Department is stepping up its focus on artificial intelligence. Officials are set to warn that companies and people who deliberately misuse AI technology to advance a white-collar crime like price fixing and market manipulation will be at risk for a harsher sentence.
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.
Santa Fe County Deputy Levi Abeyta, left, watches as firearms expert for the defense Frank Koucky III demonstrates how to uncock a gun like the one used on the set of the movie "Rust" as Koucky testifies in the involuntary manslaughter trial of movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at the First Judicial District Courthouse in Santa Fe, N.M. (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP, Pool)
A pop-up message to choose a browser is displayed on the screen of an iPhone, in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday March 6, 2024. Europeans this week will get new choices for default browsers and search engines. Theyre part of changes required under the Digital Markets Act, a set of European Union regulations that six tech companies classed as gatekeepers  Amazon, Apple, Google parent Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok owner ByteDance  will have to start following by midnight Wednesday. (AP Photo/Sylvain Plazy)
FILE - Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds speaks during a news conference, Jan. 31, 2024, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. Iowa has been the only state in the U.S. to explicitly mandate that state, county and local decision-making bodies are balanced by gender. That will end when Gov. Reynolds signs a bill that aligns with a broader abrogation of gender- and race-conscious policies across the country.
President Joe Biden delivered a defiant argument for a second term in his State of the Union speech Thursday night, lacing into GOP front-runner Donald Trump for espousing resentment, revenge and retribution and for jeopardizing freedom at home and abroad. Biden repeatedly delivered broadsides at my predecessor without ever mentioning Trump by name. The scrappy tone from Biden was a sharp break from his often humdrum daily appearances and was designed to banish doubts about whether the 81-year-old is still up to the job. For 68 minutes, Biden goaded Republicans over their policies, invited call-and-response banter with fellow Democrats on economic issues, taxes and healthcare and seemed to relish the fight.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form
Its spring! That means, besides warmer weather, well be getting loads of new reads following the relatively slow (book-wise) months of winter. The publishers are starting to launch the years potential award winners, as well as fun fiction from popular writers, blockbusters from big-name authors, and more. These 28 are some of the many standouts to look forward to this season.

Photo Collage: AARP; (Source: Bloomsbury Publishing; Knopf; Doubleday; Getty Images (2))

March

Tough Broad: From Boogie Boarding to Wing WalkingHow Outdoor Adventure Improves Our Lives as We Age by Caroline Paul

Paul is also the author of The Gutsy Girl: Escapades for Your Life of Epic Adventure, so its not a stretch to say this tough broad, in her late 50s, is out there. Out there paragliding, surfing, skateboarding and, in this inspiring book, encouraging women to embrace the exhilaration and vitality that come with an adventurous life. At some age  many women start believing they cant, or shouldnt be out there, she writes, but the real peril for us as we age is a sedentary life that lacks pizzazz and challenge. (March 5)

Until August by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Turns out that when Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Nobel Prizewinning Columbian author of the 1967 classic One Hundred Years of Solitude, passed away 10 years ago he left behind a novel, which will be published in English this month. Its release is a bit controversial: Marquez, who wrote it while living with dementia, didnt want it made public. But his sons, Rodrigo Garcia and Gonzalo Garcia Barcha, have decided it should be shared with the world, according to the publisher, which describes it as an extraordinary and profound tale of female freedom and desire. Its focus is a woman who spends one night on a Caribbean island every year, taking a new lover each time. (March 12)

How to Be Old: Lessons in Living Boldly from the Accidental Icon by Lyn Slater

A former professor of social work, Slater, 70, reinvented herself in her 60s as a fashion influencer on Instagram and became internet-famous as the Accidential Icon. Part of her appeal has been her proud flaunting of her wrinkles and gray hair, while also rocking badass boots and whatever else she feels like wearing. Here she writes about her time in the spotlight, and how shes continued to evolve, with the message that its never too late to embrace new adventures  regardless of what other people may think (or of what you think they think). While other fashion bloggers receive comments about their new bag or what they wear, she writes, my followers comment that I make them feel less afraid of being old. I give them courage to take a risk in older life, to disregard someone telling them they are too old to wear something or dye their hair purple if they wish. (March 12)

James by Percival Everett

Everetts brilliant story revisits Mark Twains Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the enslaved Jim (James, actually), who flees town when he hears hes set to be sold and sent to New Orleans. Joined by Huck, also on the run and presumed dead, he begins a wild journey down the Mississippi in a story full of wry social critique (Jim hides his fierce intelligence and eloquence when in the presence of white people), humor and suspense. Everetts 2001 novel, Erasure, was the basis for the recent film American Fiction. (March 19)

Also of note:

The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez (March 5): Henriquez (2014s The Book of Unknown Americans) centers her historical novel around the construction of the Panama Canal and the high human cost that came with it. Booklist calls it beguiling and bright with love, humor, and magic.

The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul (March 5): The drag star describes growing up as a queer Black child in San Diego, his explosive success in entertainment, marriage to Georges LeBar, and more. Hes said the book is deeply personal, posting on Instagram that writing this book left me gooped, gagged and stripped raw.

The Hunter by Tana French (March 5): French brings back her protagonist from her 2020 novel The Searcher: Cal Hooper, the retired Chicago cop whos settled in rural Ireland and faces a new adversary.

After Annie by Anna Quindlen (March 12): When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, four children and best friend are devastated, their lives transformed, in this moving novel about love and loss by the former New York Times columnist. Its Barnes & Nobles March book club pick.


Investor Webinar Presentation

Perth, Mar 7, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - BPH Energy Limited ( ASX:BPH ) is pleased to announce its participation in the ShareCafe Small Cap "Hidden Gems" Webinar, to be held Friday 8th March 2024 from 12:30pm AEDT/ 9:30am AWST.



David Breeze - Managing Director and Executive Chairman will provide an overview of the Company, which is a diversified company holding investments in biotechnology and resources. BPH holds a significant interest (36%) in unlisted oil and gas exploration company Advent Energy Ltd.



This webinar can be viewed live via Zoom and will provide viewers the opportunity to hear from, and engage with, a range of ASX-listed leading micro/mid cap companies.



To access further details of the event and to register, please visit:

https://www.abnnewswire.net/lnk/M7086R6X





About BPH Energy Limited





BPH Energy Limited (ASX:BPH) is an Australian Securities Exchange listed company developing biomedical research and technologies within Australian Universities and Hospital Institutes.

The company provides early stage funding, project management and commercialisation strategies for a direct collaboration, a spin out company or to secure a license.

BPH provides funding for commercial strategies for proof of concept, research and product development, whilst the institutional partner provides infrastructure and the core scientific expertise.

BPH currently partners with several academic institutions including The Harry Perkins Institute for Medical Research and Swinburne University of Technology (SUT).

Related Companies


Nearing First Rare Earth Production at Makuutu

Melbourne, Mar 7, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Ionic Rare Earths Limited ( ASX:IXR ) ( IXRRF:OTCMKTS ) is pleased to announce the successful completion of construction and commissioning of Phase 1 at its technical facility and Demonstration Plant at the Makuutu Rare Earths Project ("Makuutu") in Uganda. Makuutu is being developed by IonicRE's local Ugandan operating entity Rwenzori Rare Metals Limited ("RRM").



- First Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate (MREC) production fast approaching from Makuutu Demonstration Plant;



- Construction and commissioning of Phase 1 of the technical facility complete with metallurgical equipment installed and tested, with zero HSE incidents and strong community support;



- Mineral processing activity commencing with 24-hour operations to agglomerate and prepare samples for column and crib desorption trials;



- Makuutu Demonstration Plant to validate test work and provide strong basis for grade control, mine design, material handling, metallurgical reconciliation, and construction while maximising inputs to the updated Makuutu DFS; and



- Makuutu's basket contains 71% magnet and heavy rare earths content, and is one of the most advanced heavy rare earth projects globally available as a source for new supply chains emerging across Europe, the US, and Asia.



The completion of the Makuutu Demonstration Plant technical facility is a significant milestone for the Company, made possible by the collective efforts of its dedicated team and strong support from the local community. The Demonstration Plant's construction and commissioning proceeded seamlessly, with no Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) incidents reported throughout the entire process. This achievement underscores IonicRE's unwavering commitment to prioritising safety and environmental stewardship in all aspects of its operations.



Moreover, the Company is proud to highlight its collaboration with the local community, which played a crucial role in the project's success. Many individuals from the local community were employed as casual labourers, fostering economic growth, and strengthening community ties in the process.



The demonstration technical equipment has been installed and commissioned with the aim of Phase 1 in further optimising metallurgical test work and to provide further technical validation bases for grade control, mine design, material handling, metallurgical reconciliation, and construction activity whilst also supporting Project financing and strategic partner activity.



At the technical facility, front end processing of the material was completed during February 2024 which included the homogenisation, screening, and sizing of materials, which all provided critical inputs to the desorption processes which are progressing well.



In addition, with the primary construction works completed, the Demonstration Plant is in the process of ramping up its operations to a 24-hour schedule to further reduce development time to scale up mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) production which is expected within the next fortnight.



The initial stage of activity at the Makuutu Demonstration Plant positions IonicRE favourably in meeting the growing demand for these critical elements across the various high-tech industries which are so dependent on rare earths.



Ionic Rare Earths' Managing Director Mr Tim Harrison commented;



"We are delighted to announce the successful completion of our Demonstration Plant Phase 1 commissioning, with expected first MREC production in the next two weeks."



"This represents another step towards development at Makuutu. This work is essential to validating our mine development plan and generating MREC samples for off-take discussions with potential partners over the next few months. The progress at Makuutu also reaffirms our position as a strategic resource for near-term development and a secure, long-term supply of magnet and heavy rare earths for new supply chains to emerge."



"The progress achieved over the past 9 months since works started on site with the Demonstration Plant is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team, and the unwavering support of the local community."



*To view photographs, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/R75TMI9E





About Ionic Rare Earths Limited





Ionic Rare Earths Limited (ASX:IXR) (OTCMKTS:IXRRF) is focused on developing its flagship Makuutu Rare Earths Project in Uganda into a significant long life, low-cost, supplier of high-value critical and heavy rare earths.

Makuutu is an advanced-stage, ionic adsorption clay-hosted project highlighted by near-surface mineralisation, significant exploration upside, excellent metallurgical characteristics and access to tier-one infrastructure.

The ionic adsorption clay-hosted geology at Makuutu is similar to major rare earths projects in Southern China, which are responsible for the majority of global supply of low cost heavy and critical rare earths, specifically the high value magnet metals (Dysprosium and Terbium) Heavy Rare Earths (>98% originating from ionic clays). Metallurgical testing at Makuutu has returned excellent recovery rates, which provide multiple avenues for a simple process route.

Makuutu is well-supported by tier-one existing infrastructure which includes access to major highways, roads, power, water and a professional workforce.

Rare Earths will play a critical role in the future of clean energy. Rare Earths are a key ingredient in the permanent magnets found in wind turbines and electric vehicles.

IonicRE is led by an experienced and proven team, who have the capabilities to deliver Makuutu into production and realise value for all stakeholders.

Related Companies
ArtE Mediatech, Indias leading Creative, Media, and MarTech agency, is delighted to announce its newest collaboration with Hero Lectro. In this exciting partnership, the agency will take charge of the overall planning, strategising, and managing of brand and social media marketing, and performance marketing for Hero Lectro. The mandate has been awarded to Art-E after a multi-agency pitch and will be managed by the agencys Delhi branch.

Additionally, as a part of the mandate; the agency will also prioritise bolstering brand awareness, enhancing brand recall value, and fostering consideration among consumers. Besides this, ArtE will also assist Hero Lectro in reclaiming the audiences mind and market share within the e-cycles category.

Delighted with the announcement, Amit Dhawan, Partner & CEO of Art-E said, We are ecstatic to embark on this new alliance with one of the industry stalwarts. Hero Lectro has been making marks in the industry and redefining mobility in India with unique riding modes. By working together, we are excited to bring our creative ideas and expertise to the forefront and set new boundaries in this industry. I am confident that this partnership will result in great outreach for the brand, and I cant wait to see how this unfolds.

Commenting on this partnership, Sriram Sundreson, CEO, Firefox Bikes Pvt. Ltd., said We are thrilled to onboard the creative nerds of ArtE Mediatech. Their expertise and capabilities in setting revolutionary marketing trends in the industry are seamlessly aligned with our vision to make Hero Lectro e cycle the most preferred e cycles in India . We look forward to a healthy collaboration and setting new benchmarks in the industry
As season 10 of CCL 2024 revs up for the playoffs, Karnataka Bulldozers have already secured their spot. The playoffs will feature the top 4 teams battling it out for a chance to advance to the ultimate showdown. The top two teams go head-to-head in the first qualifier, while the third and fourth-placed teams clash in the eliminator, fighting tooth and nail for a shot at glory. The action is set to kick off in Trivandrum as part of the fourth leg, promising high stakes and intense competition. Season 10 has taken us on a journey across various regions, from Sharjah to Hyderabad, Chandigarh, and now Trivandrum. All teams have entered the third leg, set to take place in Hyderabad on March 8 and 9. Punjab De Sher, Bengal Tigers, Bhojpuri Dabanggs, and Mumbai Heroes are poised to battle it out in this leg. With 7 teams vying for 4 coveted spots in the CCL knockout race, Bhojpuri Dabbangs have unfortunately missed their chance to compete in the playoffs.

In this season's fiery action, Kiccha Sudeep's Karnataka Bulldozers are igniting the field, overpowering their rivals with an impressive streak of three straight victories. Alongside the Bulldozers, the likes of Chennai Rhinos, Telugu Warriors, and Mumbai Heroes are also eyeing the coveted playoff spots. On the flip side, it's been a rough ride for the Bhojpuri Dabbanggs, as they face defeat after defeat, ultimately bowing out of the race for the title. Please find the qualifying scenarios for the remaining teams:
Cities across India are witnessing early summer season with scorching heat and higher than usual temperatures. The change in season has got both, FMCG players as well as Indian kiranas to rush and stock summer-centric products. A recent survey by Indias largest Kirana Community, Kirana Club reveals that Maharashtra is the only state where retailers are witnessing equal sales for national and local cold drink brands. Kirana owners in Maharashtra said that the sale of local brands is similar to that of national cold drinks such as Pepsi, Coke, Thums Up and Sprite.

Overall, 68% kiranas across India indicate that cold drinks of national FMCG brands sell more than local brands. A similar trend is witnessed across Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar wherein 75% retailers indicate the sale of national brands to be more. 60% retailers in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh also have a similar perspective.

When it comes to popularity of cold drinks and packaged juices among kids during the summer months, Frooti topped the chart with 24% retailers indicating its sale to be more than other brands. The second favourite is Maaza (19%), followed by Sprite (8%), Dew and Sting at 6% each, Coke (5%), Pepsi and Thums Up at 3% each whereas Appy Fizz and Jeera Soda at 2% each. Some of the other popular brands among kids include 7UP, Appy Fizz, Fanta, Paper Boat, Slice, Limca, Amul Kool, Priya Lassi, and Fundaaz among others.

Kiranas are also stocking some of the other summer-centric products including dairy products such as ice creams and curd (16%), talcum powder (7%), as well as Glucose and Rasna (6%). Energy drinks is also an emerging category, and it is popular in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand.

Kirana Club Founder Anshul Gupta said, Over the years we have witnessed significant growth of the beverage industry during summer months. This year we are witnessing a change in consumer preference with kirana owners in Maharashtra indicating the growing popularity of local cold drink brands as well. A kirana owner knows the pulse of the consumer and taking cue from our survey among retailers on Kirana Club platform, we see an increased potential for such regional brands in the years to come across various states in India given that they cater to the hyperlocal preferences of consumers.

Other findings:

State wise top drinks (with 1 being the highest and 5 being the lowest) State 1 2 3 4 5 Uttar Pradesh Frooti Maaza Sting Mountain Dew Sprite Rajasthan Frooti Mountain Dew Maaza Pepsi Coke Bihar Maaza Sprite Frooti Sting Coke Madhya Pradesh Frooti Maaza Sprite Pepsi Mountain Dew Maharashtra Frooti Maaza Sprite Jeera Soda Sting Chhattisgarh Frooti Maaza Sprite Coke Mountain Dew Jharkhand Maaza Frooti Sprite Coke Sting
MMA Global India and Publicis Commerce recently launched their insightful report D2C Advantage  Guide to Maximise ROI Of E-Commerce Investments with top leaders from various corporations in attendance, in addition to the Publicis Commerce and MMA Global India leadership team.

This toolkit is the first of its kind with rich reference material for the C-suite and Brand Leaders on making D2C ventures a success by investing in sound strategies and having a clear value proposition, taking into considerations and capabilities required for profitability.

MMA Global India & Publicis Commerce launched the toolkit in Mumbai on the 5th of March amidst a full house. The event kicked off with a welcome address by Moneka Khurana, Country Head & Board Member, MMA Global India, followed by a keynote address by Anupriya Acharya, CEO Publicis Groupe, South Asia who was joined by Lalatendu Das, CEO, Performics India, which is a key growth driver of Publicis Commerce India. The toolkit launch followed shortly after.

The toolkit consisted of a joint survey conducted by Publicis Groupe India and MMA Global India which reveals that >80% of D2C ventures are yet to achieve profitability, citing high customer acquisition costs, operational complexities, and unclear returns on investment as primary obstacles. The top three key challenges in scaling D2C businesses in India are namely high customer acquisition cost (70% respondents), operational complexities (20% of respondents) and unclear ROI (10% of respondents.) Moreover, while many traditional businesses have ventured into D2C, standalone D2C revenue remains modest, comprising less than 5% of overall ecommerce revenue for 50% of respondents.

However, businesses that have seen success with D2C have done it primarily through clarity of proposition, developing consumer insights through data enrichment and utilisation and analytics and reporting, augmenting the consumer share of mind through unique and compelling shopping experiences, the right media and engagement and innovating on product UI/UX. While the path to profitability of D2C business is quite challenging when viewed independently, the true value of D2C investment is unlocked when insights from D2C businesses are connected to the overall e-commerce business. In a conservative estimate, when done right, D2C businesses have potential to deliver 8%+ operating margin consistently.

D2C channels provide the best way to capture first-party consumer data as seen in the survey findings. When done right, first-party data has potential to deliver ~4%+ lift in overall D2C revenue. Therefore, D2C brands must have a structured roadmap to collect, manage and use first party data in scaling their D2C business.

Anupriya Acharya, South Asia CEO, Publicis Groupe said, D2C enables real, direct, and very personal connections with consumers, driving brand loyalty and long-term relationships. The overall ecommerce landscape is evolving at rapid speed and within that, D2C channels are a goldmine opportunity for companies to better manage the way they sell to consumers, comprehend consumer interests and preferences through valuable data and insights, bring in strong differentiators and innovation and personalised commerce experiences. Our toolkit D2C Advantage X  Guide to Maximise ROI Of E-Commerce comes at the apt time when D2C is at an inflection point in India and more companies are looking for direction and differentiated strategies when it comes to their leveraging their D2C commerce channels. The insights in our survey will help more companies make the most of the D2C opportunity, building market share and enduring relationships with consumers.

Moneka Khurana, Country Head & Board Member, MMA Global India said MMA Global India through its e-Commerce Council aims to build an overall understanding of the eCommerce play in which D2C is integral to omnichannel strategy. Building a strong D2C platform feeds into enabling insights/learnings for decision-making for the larger eCommerce market. We hope this playbook will redefine the significance of D2C in eCommerce landscape more than ever before. As we prepare for a cookie-less journey this year, investing into D2C is the most potent way to build first party data for effective marketing. D2C is here for the long haul and will propel hyper growth, brand building, and opportunities to drive content-driven commerce.

Lalatendu Das, CEO, Performics India which is a key growth driver of Publicis Commerce India, A significant part of the e-commerce funding in India goes to D2C businesses, overtaking marketplaces as the most funded ecommerce subsector in 2023. In fact, even the brick-and-mortar businesses are now launching D2C channels as part of their omni-channel strategy. However, D2C is an area which is still underleveraged because >80% of D2C ventures as per our survey are yet to achieve profitability. Our toolkit D2C Advantage X  Guide to Maximise ROI Of E-Commerce Investments has the best of knowledge and actionable strategies on D2C. It gives a clear understanding on why some companies can implement successful D2C businesses while others are on a slower trajectory. D2C, which is a faster way to go to the market needs to be part of a companys longer-term play, strategy, and vision and to be successful, companies must implement the sort of thinking, investment, agility in execution that is required for an omni-channel world.

Link to the report - https://www.mmaglobal.com/documents/decodingD2CAdvantageXToolkit
Firefighters comb through rubble of burned homes from the Smokehouse Creek fire in Stinnett on Feb. 29. Many homes that were destroyed by the wildfire that spread across the Texas Panhandle were uninsured. Ty O'Neil/Associated Press Snow covers a home that was destroyed by the Smokehouse Creek fire in Stinnett on Feb. 29. Many homes that were destroyed by the wildfire that spread across the Texas Panhandle were uninsured. Ty O'Neil/Associated Press Snow covers a home that was destroyed by the Smokehouse Creek fire in Stinnett on Feb. 29. Many homes that were destroyed by the wildfire that spread across the Texas Panhandle were uninsured. Ty O'Neil/Associated Press Firefighters extinguish a hot spot from the Smokehouse Creek fire in Stinnett on Feb. 29. Many homes that were destroyed by the wildfire that spread across the Texas Panhandle were uninsured. Sean Murphy/Associated Press Firefighters comb through rubble of burned homes from the Smokehouse Creek fire in Stinnett on Feb. 29. Many homes that were destroyed by the wildfire that spread across the Texas Panhandle were uninsured. Ty O'Neil/Associated Press Firefighters comb through rubble of burned homes from the Smokehouse Creek fire in Stinnett on Feb. 29. Many homes that were destroyed by the wildfire that spread across the Texas Panhandle were uninsured. Ty O'Neil/Associated Press Snow covers a home that was destroyed by the Smokehouse Creek fire in Stinnett on Feb. 29, 2024. Many homes that were destroyed by the wildfire that spread across the Texas Panhandle were uninsured. Ty O'Neil/Associated Press

FRITCH  Many Panhandle residents whose dwellings and possessions burned in the regions wildfires may never financially recover for one simple reason: Their homes were uninsured.

A lot of the people who have lost a home had no insurance, Gov. Greg Abbott said at a recent news conference. So there are a lot of people in great need right now.

Texans pay some of the highest homeowners insurance premiums in the country. Increased risk of extreme weather events, at least partially driven by climate change, has driven up those costs. Growth in homeowners insurance rates here outpaced the rest of the nation last year, straining Texans ability to pay.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In Texas, people without insurance are also more likely to be those who have a harder time recovering from disaster: lower-income households and rural residents. That means Texans without insurance face a steep  if not impossible  path to restore what financial well-being they had before a disaster strikes.

Patricia Hester, a 76-year-old Fritch resident, is among several Panhandle residents whose homes were destroyed by a wildfire that swept through her neighborhood on the towns south side. She dropped her homeowners insurance on her manufactured home about a decade ago because of rising costs.

When youre on a limited income, something has to give, Hester said. You have to eat and be able to get gas in the car. So thats what I gave.

Its common for families, particularly those that are low-income, in areas destroyed by the Panhandle fires to lack homeowners insurance, local officials and community leaders said. Many cant afford it, and because they own their homes outright, nothing requires them to carry it, they said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Julie Winters, executive director for Hutchinson County United Way, said about 70 families in Fritch whose homes were damaged or destroyed asked the organization for assistance recently. Most of them didnt have homeowners insurance, she said.

This is a lower socioeconomic level of the community that got hit, Winters said. They probably cannot afford insurance.

Texas homeowners who go without insurance tend to be lower-income, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data conducted by the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University. Homeowners in the states rural areas are more likely to not have insurance than their urban counterparts, the analysis found. Some 11% of homeowners in the states major metropolitan areas dont have homeowners insurance, whereas about 26% of homeowners in rural areas lack it.

Further complicating matters, several homes that burned were manufactured houses, which homeowners can struggle to get insured. Thats because insurers consider them more risky investments since they are highly vulnerable to fires and other natural disasters, said Thomas Chandler, deputy director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University.

And homeowners insurance is considered the most clear-cut avenue to seek financial restitution after a major disaster, experts told the Texas Tribune. Going without it means homeowners would have to pay for repairs and rebuilding out of pocket  or rely on assistance from the public and private sectors that may not come.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Officials havent determined the full scope of the disaster, though its believed that hundreds of homes have been damaged or destroyed. The ultimate scale of the damage will determine whether displaced residents and others affected by the wildfires qualify for federal disaster aid under an emergency declaration.

Abbott said recently that he is waiting on a full assessment of the damages before requesting a declaration from the federal government.

Even if such assistance associated with a federal disaster declaration arrives, it likely wont fully replace what many homeowners in the Panhandle lost, Chandler said.

Its really more get back on your feet money designed to enable you to just get started again, Chandler said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Stacy McFall, a 52-year-old certified nursing assistant who lives in Fritch, said she tried to obtain insurance to cover her childhood home, which she moved into about 14 years ago. But the home didnt sit on a foundation, she said, so no insurer would write her a policy.

Flames engulfed McFalls home. She said she had just enough time to pack her three dogs and a stack of clothes into her car before she evacuated. McFalls sister has taken her in for now, but McFall isnt sure yet how shell bounce back.

I dont know whats going to happen, McFall said. You feel kind of numb. You dont know if youre going to find a home. Everything is burnt to a crisp, and I have to start all over again with everything.

She said her son and daughter, who live in Dallas and Austin, respectively, have asked her to live with them but that she doesnt want to move.

This is my home, McFall said.
Too Yumm!, a snack brand from Guiltfree Industries owned by the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, has collaborated with Marvel to launch a range of healthy snacks. This special collaboration seamlessly blends Marvels unparalleled storytelling and fan-favourite characters with Too Yumm!s expertise in innovation. Too Yumm! aims to provide consumers a delightful and unmatched snacking experience. The new range of snacks features the iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Panther, across four products: Rings, XOXO, Kraze and Puffs.

To launch the new range, the brand has taken a musical approach for its new digital campaign: #TooGalbandi #FindYourToo. In collaboration with music management company Hoopr, the foot-tapping song emphasizes the message of Jaise bhi ho tum, usme thoda TOO milaao aur apne hero ko jagaao, thereby encouraging consumers to FIND YOUR TOO by tapping into their inner hero. The range is designed to capture the hearts of Marvel fans in India and highlight the strength, courage and determination of Marvels Avengers. The campaign aims to encourage Marvel fans take inspiration from these super heroes and inspire them to find their strength and power.

Too Yumm! has infused innovation and creativity through this new range of snacks  from introducing distinctive flavours and eye-catching packaging, to its evocative shapes and following a digital-first approach. Starring popular young icons like Somansh, Gunjan Sinha, Geet Kaur and Aneesh Tattikota to lend their star power, the campaign provides a relatable touchpoint for young teens.

Commenting on the collaboration and the new launch, Yogesh Tewari, Vice President of Marketing, Guiltfree Industries Ltd. said, We are thrilled to announce our collaboration with Marvel, introducing a snack range that resonates with Marvel fans in a fun and engaging way. This new range includes a wide selection of lip-smacking products ranging from Rings, XOXO, Puffs and Kraze. We are announcing the new range with a music video, Hero Ko Jagao which adds an extra layer of joy to the experience, encouraging young teens to embrace their uniqueness and discover the hero within. With this new range inspired by iconic Marvel characters, we're excited to make snacking time a joyous occasion for our consumers.

Meghna Mittal, Co-founder of Hoopr & Songfest added, Were excited to partner with Too Yumm! on a campaign that brings to the foray our expertise in music along with the vast creator and artist network. As a music and content focused company, Songfest approached the song and the music video with a view towards capturing the spirit of Too Yumm and helping the brand connect with its target audience. Were proud of having seen this to fruition. Somewhere, we all found our "TOO". Additionally, what also resonates with us is Too Yumm!s spirit of innovation and commitment to a quality product."

Too Yumm! promises a guilt-free snacking option offering 45%- 60% less saturated fat. The campaign aims to establish a strong connection with its tasty, healthy, and innovative offerings that are astonishingly and irresistibly delectable.

Too Yumm! has implemented a holistic digital-first strategy, utilizing a wide range of platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, WhatsApp, and Facebook to connect withts audience via its preferred channels, including influencer collaborations. The brands new music Hero Ko Jagao will be distributed on popular platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Wynk, and more, ensuring the catchy Too Yumm! tunes reach a broad audience.

The new range of snacks is inspired by the iconic Marvel Super Heroes, and a testament to the innovative spirit of Too Yumm! and Hoopr.
Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports

Bern, 07.03.2024 - President of the Swiss Confederation, Viola Amherd, concluded her trip to Romania by meeting with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu on Thursday, 7 March to discuss bilateral relations, European policy issues and the current security situation. On Wednesday Ms Amherd met with President Klaus Iohannis and Finance Minister Marcel Bolos. She also attended the European Peoples Party Congress in Bucharest, where her meeting with Maia Sandu, President of the Republic of Moldova, also focused on security issues.

During Ms Amherds talks with the Romanian president, prime minister and finance minister, both parties expressed how close and dynamic relations between the two countries had become in recent years. One example is the fact that Romania is now Switzerlands largest trading partner in South-East Europe. In addition, the implementation programme for the second Swiss contribution to selected EU member states is creating opportunities for Switzerland and Romania to further extend their political and economic cooperation. Switzerlands contribution is also emblematic of its role as a reliable partner in Europe working for peace, security, stability and shared prosperity. Discussions also touched on cooperation in education and research.

With respect to European policy, Ms Amherd highlighted the positive momentum in relations between Switzerland and the European Union (EU), and explained the steps to be taken now that the Federal Council had approved the draft negotiating mandate on 15 December 2023. The parties also discussed the extension of the Schengen area to include Romania and Bulgaria, beginning with the upcoming step of lifting both countries air and sea border controls at the end of March.

Talks on security and peace

The security situation on the European continent, and in particular the Russian war against Ukraine, was central to the discussions. A high-level peace conference is planned to be held in Switzerland this year, aimed at launching the process to facilitate a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. In meetings with the Romanian officials, as well as in bilateral talks held on the side of the European Peoples Party Congress, Ms Amherd provided information on the objectives of the conference and the progress of preparation work.

Ms Amherd expressed Switzerlands solidarity with Ukraine as well as with the Republic of Moldova, which is affected particularly strongly by the Russian war against Ukraine. Bilateral cooperation has intensified as a result, with existing development cooperation now supplemented by a humanitarian programme. Swiss support for the Republic of Moldova has more than doubled compared with the period before February 2022 and now amounts to CHF 425 million. Other topics discussed in Bucharest include the status of multilateralism and Switzerlands membership of the UN Security Council, which continues until the end of 2024.



Address for enquiries

DDPS Communications

+41 58 464 50 58

kommunikation@gs-vbs.admin.ch

Publisher

Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports

http://www.vbs.admin.ch




Alabama is looking at expanding the states Dont Say Gay law, as lawmakers in Montgomery on Wednesday debated a new version of the legislation that the sponsor says would purify the schools.

The bill, HB130, expands on legislation Alabama passed in 2022, enacting a law similar to the Florida legislation nicknamed Dont Say Gay, The current law prohibits discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in K-5 classrooms in Alabama.

This years bill would expand the ban to include all of K-12.

Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, said his bill is intended to prevent the indoctrination of Alabama youth with information about LGBTQ people.

It is happening all over, and it is a component of Marxism where were destroying the family, said Butler. Its seeking to purify the schools just a little bit.

During the public comment period, Dr. Marisa Allison of Huntsville shared her experience as a gay parent through a friend who read a statement on her behalf. She and her wife began homeschooling their 6-year-old following the 2022 legislation.

She said both mothers were educated in Alabama public schools and have generations of schoolteachers in their families, so it was a difficult decision.

This bill will inevitably restrict children with LGBTQ plus parents and caretakers from being able to talk openly about their families at best, and at worst, it creates a hostile and dangerous educational environment.

Cecil Pinkston, a pre-nursing major at UAB said being a teenager is hard enough and is almost unbearable if the government is against you.

This bill actively prevents young queer individuals from having representation in their schools that would help foster a sense of self-confidence and identity. Its how I got to where I am today.

Another speaker, Jordan Price, pointed out that restricting discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in schools would prevent teachers from talking about heterosexual marriages and the accomplishments of females in history.

Queer people are not the only people who have gender identities and sexual orientations, said Price.

Amy Minton, a proponent of the bill, compared classroom discussions about gender dysphoria to conversations about eating disorders, saying both should be treated as illnesses.

When I think of a person, especially a child or teenager, that is not comfortable in their own body, such as one suffering from an eating disorder, I do have great compassion, she said. When they suffer with an eating disorder and feel fat, we dont teach them to throw up, we dont teach them to starve themselves.

Minton said she would like an amendment added to the bill to prevent any schoolteacher, counselor or any school communication from allowing students to use preferred pronouns.

Rep. Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, said he was shocked and disappointed by the bill. He said he would like the legislature to understand the plight of all communities.

I think that what weve been trying to do here in the state is trying to make certain that we dont make any community feel ostracized or not being loved, said Daniels.

Daniels asked what the purpose of the legislation is, and Rep. Butler said it is about focusing on reading, writing, arithmetic and career and college readiness in schools.

Were not doing a good enough job academically to wade into these other things, said Butler.

I havent seen one bill to address closing the achievement gap, Daniels said in response.

Rep. Barbara Drummond, R-Mobile, questioned Butlers use of the word purify, asking where purity was defined in the bill.

Butler said it is not defined in the bill.

What I was trying to do is keep that discussion away from the kids.

Is purity not subjective? she asked.

Very subjective, yes, and that was my bad.

Is that what we should be aiming for, someone elses subjectivity? she asked.

No Maam, he said.

Rep. Mark Gidley, R-Glencoe, spoke in favor of protecting children from authority figures imposing a certain ideology and asked Butler to confirm that children would not be prevented from speaking about their families. His question was in response to comments of Allison, the Huntsville mother, who said that children of gay families would feel stigmatized by the bill.

I dont think theres anybody that would be restricted from sharing about their family, their home, said Gidley, adding that that is a students right. But its a different story when those people of authority begin to impose their ideas.

He noted the possibility of an amendment to ban flags or other insignia representing sexual orientation or gender identity in public schools.

The committee plans to finalize discussion on the bill in two weeks.
Dozens of college students walked the halls of Alabamas state house Wednesday, hoping to persuade lawmakers to halt a bill that would prohibit diversity and inclusion efforts on their campuses.

They want to bring back Jim Crow, organizer Sean Atchison, a University of Alabama senior, said at a rally outside the building on Wednesday afternoon. They are determined to put us back in the 60s, and we wont stand for it.

SB129, authored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, would prohibit government institutions, including state agencies, public schools and colleges, from funding a diversity, equity and inclusion office and from sponsoring DEI programs or any program that advocates for a divisive concept.

It also would prohibit higher education institutions from allowing individuals to use a restroom that is different from their sex as assigned at birth.

The bill passed in the Alabama Senate on Feb. 22 and moved through a committee in the House Tuesday morning. The legislation now awaits a vote on the House floor  a final step before it lands on the governors desk to sign into law.

More than 100 Alabama college students lined the halls of the Alabama Statehouse today to protest SB129, a bill that would ban diversity programs in state agencies and schools. pic.twitter.com/3jsNUwo0Ei  Rebecca Griesbach (@greezbock) March 6, 2024

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, at least 22 states have introduced legislation targeting college diversity and inclusion efforts as of July 2023. In Florida and Texas, some colleges have already terminated dozens of DEI positions and have threatened funding for student groups.

In Alabama, at least eight public colleges have a specific office dedicated to diversity and inclusion efforts. Combined, the institutions reported at least $16 million in spending on wide-ranging diversity efforts, including student and staff recruitment, improving graduation rates, and supporting cultural events and programs on campuses.

The bills quick passage through the state legislature this year has sparked protests across Alabama college campuses.

A petition created by students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham to oppose SB129 has gained over 5,400 signatures as of Wednesday evening. At UA, after nearly 200 students rallied in support of the schools DEI programs, the student government passed a resolution opposing the bill.

On Wednesday, more than 100 students representing colleges across the state traveled to the state capitol to tell lawmakers how diversity programs have improved their campus experience, made them more equipped for the workplace, and, at some points, saved their lives.

Some said the bill would threaten programs that helped female students get jobs, and made accommodations for veterans and international students. Others said their professors are terrified of losing their jobs. Students also worried about the future of HBCUs in the state.

I dont want my college journey to end before it starts, said Jahmad Wilder, a freshman at Alabama State University.

Throughout the morning, groups of students searched for their local representatives, but many found their offices empty. At one point, the students lined outside a room where the Republican caucus was having lunch, in hopes of crossing paths with a legislator. Some lawmakers saw the packed crowd and walked out a back door.

Alabama GOP chairman John Wahl stopped to talk to an organizer, expressing his concerns about colleges promoting what he called social agendas. The state GOP made banning diversity programs a top priority for the party last year.

As a society were becoming less and less comfortable with open dialogue, Wahl told the students.

They responded, saying thats exactly what DEI allowed them to do on their campuses.

Democrats have proposed a number of amendments that would narrow the scope of the ban, including one that removed a banned concept relating to slavery.

But on Tuesday, a committee struck down two revisions that would have protected diversity programs that did not promote divisive concepts, as well as other minority-serving state agencies.

At Wednesdays rally, Auburn University at Montgomery student Cameron Cunningham shared what it felt like to be in that room, where the majority of lawmakers hadnt been on a college campus in decades, and where white speakers talked about their discomfort during discussions about race and identity.

I feel uncomfortable in a room full of senators and representatives that are not even listening to my story, Cunningham said. Theyre on their phones, typing, texting, laughing, giggling, not even looking up to address me. In a room full of over 35 people, I felt so unheard.

Other speakers shared that they, too, felt legislators were vastly out of touch with college students needs and experiences, and had mischaracterized the impact of diversity programs on their campuses.

In a final speech, Miguel Luna, the co-founder of a Hispanic-led organization at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, credited a DEI employee for improving access to bilingual families. The school now offers tours for prospective students in Spanish, thanks to her work.

This progress is an example of what DEI programs can do, and its another example of how much can be taken away, he said.

He added that, regardless of the outcome of the upcoming vote, students need to continue to find ways to support each other on their campuses.

We need to ensure that even if this bill is passed, we can continue forward together, he said.

A final vote on SB129 has not been scheduled yet.
A bill that would give Alabama families $7,000 to pay for private school tuition is on its way to Gov. Kay Iveys desk to be signed into law.

HB129, called the CHOOSE Act, would create education savings accounts, or ESAs, for families of students to use toward eligible education expenses.

The Senate Education Budget committee approved the House version in a hastily rescheduled meeting Tuesday afternoon.

The final vote Wednesday was 23-9 and fell along party lines, with Republicans voting yes and Democrats voting no.

While Ivey heralded it as monumental achievement that would help Alabama families, the state Senates Democratic leader warned it was a new segregation financed on the backs of poor children.

As the bill moved through the House, a dozen amendments were added to the bill, according to Iveys education policy director Nick Moore.

After five hours of debate on Wednesday, the full Senate struck down additional amendments offered on the floor and passed the bill, fast-tracking it to the governors office.

Ivey has championed the bill during the legislative session and said tonight she is eager to sign it.

It was an honor to work with Governor Ivey and her team to swiftly pass a school choice bill that she declared her number one priority this Session, Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, said in a statement after the vote. I believe Governor Ivey desires nothing but the best for all Alabamas school children and their families both today and in the years to come.

Children are our future, and there is no greater responsibility for lawmakers than ensuring our kids have every resource needed for academic success regardless of their zip code, Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Reed said.

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, proposed an amendment to provide a refund to public schools in instances where a student with a disability enrolled in the program and still used public special education services.

It hurts to know that weve got money in this state, in these budgets, and we wont provide all that our kids need, Smitherman said.

Orr said he wouldnt support the amendment because it would be difficult to calculate a state refund, given that special education services are often federally funded. The amendment failed on a 10-23 vote.

Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, offered amendments to ensure all schools have completed the accreditation process and to ensure teachers serving students enrolled in the program are certified by the state department of education. Republicans voted it down.

On the floor Wednesday, Singleton questioned the lack of public accountability measures included in the bill, arguing that the program could pave a way for more students to skirt testing requirements and enter the workforce unprepared.

He added that the program  though it purports to support low-income students  would exclude families without access to transportation and further drain resources from struggling public schools.

This is the new segregation, he said. Were just paying for it this time. Paying for it on the backs of poor children.

The Senate also struck down two amendments from Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, which would expand eligibility to children of retired veterans and students under 21 years of age.

In a statement Wednesday evening the governors office praised the bills sponsors for their efforts.

Today, weve finally overcome the last hurdle in enacting Alabamas historic education savings account plan after the Alabama Senate strongly approved the CHOOSE Act, Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement Wednesday evening. While our state has a strong public education system, all Alabama families will soon have the right to choose their childrens schools.

We want every Alabama student  whether they are at a public school, private school, magnet, charter or homeschool  the opportunity to receive a high quality education. I look forward to signing the CHOOSE Act into law.

How it will work

Lawmakers will allocate at least $100 million each year to fund ESAs, with unused money rolling over to the next year. The fund cannot contain more than $500 million in any one year.

The Alabama Department of Revenue will be in charge of all aspects of the program. Current public schools must cooperate with and provide records for students currently enrolled in public school who are eligible for and choose to use an ESA.

The first ESAs will be available in the 2025-26 school year and will be limited to eligible students. All students will be eligible for ESAs at the start of the 2027-28 school year.

Students between the ages of 5 and 19 who have not graduated high school are eligible for ESAs. Students with disabilities between the ages of 5 and 21 are also eligible.

Read more: What you need to know about Alabamas school choice bill

The parent of a student receiving an ESA must agree to pay the remaining amount of tuition or expenses beyond the $7,000 cap.

Participating schools and education service providers cannot discriminate against a student based on race, color or national origin. They are not required to accept all students, though. They are not prohibited from discriminating against a student with a disability and they are not required to provide services for children with disabilities.

Parents and students cannot receive any money from the ESA.
Caleb Harris, 21, was reported missing in Corpus Christi, police officials say. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Police Department

Corpus Christi police officials say they are searching for a college student from New Braunfels who has been missing since Monday.

Police say Caleb Harris, 21, a student at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, was last seen early Monday near the apartment complex where he lives, which is in the 1900 block of Ennis Joslin Road.

MORE COVERAGE: Canyon Lake woman gets prison time for tax fraud scheme

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

His roommates were unable to locate him and his family members reported him missing, police say. Harris left without his keys, vehicle and wallet, police say, and his cell phone appears to have been turned off.

Harris is white, 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 180 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, police said.
Hank Williams Jr. is kicking off his 2024 tour April 5 at Legacy Arena at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center.

The tour celebrates the 45th anniversary of his hit album and single, Family Tradition.

Texas band Whiskey Myers will open.

The Hank Williams Jr. tour wraps Sept. 14, 2024, in Kansas City. A variety of bands will open the other shows, including Neal McCoy, Old Crow Medicine Show, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Charley Crockett and Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives.

How to get tickets

Bocephus fans can find tickets for the Birmingham show from these secondary markets: StubHub, SeatGeek, Ticketmaster and Vivid Seats.

On April 6, Williams will bring his substantial discography of rock, blues and country music to the traveling Rock the Country festival at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, La. The Rock the Country Festival will make a stop in Mobile, Ala., June 21-22. See the lineup here.

Rock the Country 2024 tickets range from $210-$950 for the two-day festival on the secondary markets like StubHub.
A bill making its way to the Alabama House would add a dispensing fee of $10.64 to the cost of prescription drugs, according to reports.

However, opponents of House Bill 238 say it would burden customers and companies providing health insurance with greater costs.

The Insurance Committee of the Alabama House of Representatives approved the bill by voice vote on Wednesday. It will proceed to the state House.

According to the Alabama Daily News, the bill requires pharmacy benefit managers -- who manage drug benefits for insurers -- to reimburse in-network pharmacies for the cost of acquiring medication.

That comes along with a dispensing fee, set by the federal government and used in programs like Medicaid.

Supporters say the money would help cover pharmacists operating costs.

The bill would also prohibit pharmacy benefits manufacturers from starting an investigation against a pharmacy for fraud, waste, or abuse without reasonable suspicion.

Its sponsor, Rep. Phillip Rigsby, R-Huntsville, is a pharmacist who sold his independent pharmacy. He said the bill would help pharmacists, particularly those in rural areas, cope with the costs associated with providing certain medications.

Some groups are opposing the bill, such as the business healthcare policy group, the Alliance of Alabama Healthcare Consumers, whose website bears a red Vote No on HB 238 banner at the top of its page.

The Alliance says the bill, if signed into law, will add about $1,100 of extra costs per family a year.

The bill does not address the real problem, drug prices set by pharmaceutical companies, The Alliance said.

To my knowledge, there is not another health care provider or any other profession or business in the state that is guaranteed a profit, Alliance Executive Director Roger Stone told the House committee Wednesday.

Neah Mitchell Scott, legislative counsel for Retirement Systems of Alabama, said opposition to the bill is becoming more organized as more people become aware. RSA is still trying to put together cost estimates.

We are more worried about, if (the fee) is set in statute which youre going to pay on the other end, whats going to be the motivation of manufacturers and wholesalers to negotiate in good faith with the pharmacists on pricing? Scott said. They know the pharmacists are going to be reimbursed for actual acquisitions costs, plus a dispensing fee. So were worried about long-term cost increases because of this.
Doctors at Alabama fertility clinics announced plans to resume treatments after Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill to protect doctors from lawsuits arising from a state Supreme Court decision that defined frozen embryos as children.

Dr. Warner Huh, chair of UABs Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, commended politicians for moving quickly on the issue.

UAB appreciates the Alabama Legislature and Governor Kay Ivey for swiftly passing and signing legislation that provides some protections and will therefore allow UAB to restart in vitro fertilization treatments, also known as IVF, Huh said.

While UAB is moving to promptly resume IVF treatments, we will continue to assess developments and advocate for protections for IVF patients and providers.

Alabama Fertility, a clinic based in Homewood, posted on Facebook plans to resume IVF treatments.

To our patients - you are our heroes, the post said.

We wouldnt be where we are without you standing up, telling your stories and letting the world know how important IVF treatments are for families in our state. Whats next? Transfers and IVF starts this week and more pregnancies and more babies in Alabama. Lets get to work!

The bill provides legal immunity to doctors and patients undergoing IVF treatment.

However, it did not address the supreme courts holding that state law defines life as beginning at fertilization, and that frozen embryos are considered people.

Barbara Collura, president and CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, sent an emailed statement Wednesday night after the vote.

RESOLVE is relieved that Alabama clinics can reopen their IVF programs and work with patients to help them fulfill their dreams of becoming parents, Collura said.

While we are grateful for the actions of Alabama legislators, this legislation does not address the underlying issue of the status of embryos as part of the IVF process  threatening the long-term standard of care for IVF patients. There is more work to be done.

Hundreds of IVF patients and supporters rallied at the capitol in recent weeks in support of bills to protect doctors.

In addition to the increased civil liability that doctors could face for embryos destroyed or discarded during treatment, some also wondered if criminal penalties could follow the courts decision, even after officials for the Alabama Attorney General's Office said the agency would not prosecute doctors or patients.

The case began after an unauthorized person entered a storage area at Mobile Infirmary and the Center for Reproductive Medicine and destroyed several frozen embryos.

The families sued the hospital and fertility clinic for wrongful death. A circuit court judge said the statute did not apply to frozen embryos, and the families appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court.

The Supreme Courts decision will send those cases back to the trial court.

Three of the states five IVF clinics announced pauses in some treatments following the decision.

In addition to UAB and Alabama Fertility, the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Mobile also announced a pause. A spokesperson for that clinic did not immediately respond to questions about treatment.
Sexual education that focuses on abstinence and excludes information from pro-abortion groups would be taught in Alabama under a bill presented to a house committee Wednesday.

Rep. Susan Dubose, R-Hoover, sponsored the bill, HB195, which defines what content is age appropriate and medically accurate. The bill allows for the teaching of information about contraception and makes sexual education optional for local school boards to implement and for parents to opt out of.

Graphic images, material or video footage that are sexually explicit or normalize teenage sexual activity are not allowed, in teaching sexual education, DuBose told lawmakers Wednesday in describing the bill during a House Special Education committee meeting.

The bill requires that curriculum not include material from any organizations that teach concepts outside of a focus on abstinence, referred to as sexual risk avoidance, or that provide abortion referrals, fund or advocate for abortion.

Public speakers on the bill included multiple public school sexual education teachers and representatives from organizations working on the issue.

Christina Clark Okarmus, executive director of the Alabama Campaign for Adolescent Sexual Health, said HB195 was unnecessary. She said the states previous abstinence-focused bill, passed in 2021, was a bipartisan effort that removed homophobic language and added medical accuracy.

An abstinence-only until marriage approach to sex education is harmful for our youth, she said, citing statistics of high STI and HIV rates in the state, especially among young people.

Beth Pruitt a high school teacher in central Alabama who teaches sexual risk avoidance, or abstinence, said her curriculum goes far beyond only teaching abstinence to include STDs, consent, healthy relationships, risk and pregnancy.

It is a misconception that sexual risk avoidance education is not going to include the information that teens need to make a good healthy choice, she said.

Courtney McKenny, Director of Lifespan Faith Development at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham told lawmakers she thinks abstinence-only education is ineffective and may lead to shame for young people.

By restricting the curriculum to absence exclusively, we risk depriving our students of knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their bodies and their relationships.

Marty Carrell with the Womens Resource Center for Mobile teaches abstinence-based sexual education in the Mobile schools weekly for part of a program that lasts five weeks.

Our curriculum is medically accurate, age appropriate, and aligned to the Alabama (Department of Education) health education standards. This cornerstone of our program not only empowers students, but also fosters trust between educators and learners, she said.

The committee plans to revisit the bill at its next meeting.
The debate in the Alabama Senate over a proposal to allow a lottery and state-regulated gambling at seven facilities stalled Thursday after the Senate changed the bill to prevent the possibility of initially using net revenues for prison construction.

The Senate voted 24-7 for an amendment by Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, to change the distribution of revenues from the lottery and pari-mutuel gambling.

Before the change, the bill said that until March 30, 2029, the revenues would go to capital improvement and infrastructure improvements that are already under way.

After that, the money would be split in thirds between education, general government, and roads and bridges.

Jones amendment made the three-way split take effect from the outset, eliminating the funding of capital projects before that.

Before Jones amendment, the bill did not specifically say that revenue until March 30, 2029, would have gone to prison construction. But Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, who is handling the bill in the Senate, opposed Jones amendment because he said the Legislature needs to find a way to pay for a new prison in Escambia County.

In October 2021, the Legislature passed a plan to build two 4,000-bed mens prisons for $1.3 billion, a plan that legislative leaders and Gov. Kay Ivey said was essential to fixing the states overcrowded and understaffed prisons, which face a lawsuit from the Department of Justice.

But the cost of construction on the first of those two prisons, in Elmore County, has risen to more than $1 billion. Albritton, who is chairman of the Senates General Fund budget committee, said lawmakers are obligated to find a way to pay for the Escambia prison, which is in his district.

We committed to that, Albritton said. How many of you are going to raise taxes to do that? How many of you are willing to cut your pet projects or another agency to do that?

Albritton said the project is important to his district, where the state has already partially closed Holman prison and where there is a second aging prison, Fountain. The senator said the existing prisons are dangerous for employees and the inmates.

This is my district thats being ignored, Albritton said. That prison is falling down. Weve already had to shut one down there at a loss of 200 jobs.

You have an obligation to fix this problem, he said.

Jones said the Senate answers to voters across Alabama who are concerned about education and roads and bridges. His argument prevailed on the 24-7 vote.

Fiscal notes attached to the bill estimate that a lottery would raise net state revenue of $305 million to $379 million a year and the revenue from the seven facilities offering pari-mutuel betting would raise net revenue of $99 million to $132 million.

Before the Jones amendment, Albritton had agreed with some other amendments during a cordial discussion and said his goal was to pass a bill that could go back to the House, which passed a different plan three weeks ago.

But after the amendment, Albritton moved to carry over, or delay action on his bill. The Senate blocked that move, keeping the bill on the Senate floor, but Albritton said he would talk as long as the rules would allow and do what he could to block a vote. The rules allow senators to speak for two hours on each question before the chamber.

I cannot and will not allow this to move forward until I fix my local problem, Albritton said.

Albritton has tried for several years to pass a gambling proposal, saying the state needs to regulate and tax gambling that exists now. If the plan passes the Legislature, it would go to the voters for final approval.

Sen. Rodger Smitherman proposed an amendment to dedicate 10% of the funding for roads and bridges to mass transit. Smitherman spoke for a long time about that as the debate, which started before 11 a.m., moved into the late afternoon.

Albritton later returned and said he was still hopeful of passing the legislation.
Mike Blakely, once the longest serving sheriff in Alabama, will remain behind bars for now, as Alabama today denied his parole before a packed audience.

The parole board hearing was filled with dozens of Blakely supporters, occupying all 30 seats on the supporters side of the room, forcing some of the group to overflow into the opposition seating area. But the attorney generals office also spoke, opposing release of the longtime Democrat from north Alabama.

In the end, the state parole board split, voting 1-1. The stalemate means a new hearing will have to be held next month.

Blakely, a Democrat, was the elected sheriff of Limestone County in north Alabama for nearly four decades until he was convicted of two felony charges of theft and abuse of power on Aug. 2, 2021. He has served just over a year of his three year sentence.

John Plunk, a former prosecutor and interim District Attorney, gave testimony in support of Blakely and spoke of his success in his 38 years on the job, saying there will never be a TV program about cold cases from Limestone County because he solved every single murder case in his 40 yearshes risked his life on numerous occasions to protect us.

He also said supporters were not arguing innocence but instead wanted to demonstrate his remorse.

One of the things yall look at is whether or not somebody has remorse and he obviously does, Plunk said. In the year and a month hes been in jail, he knows that no one is above the law.

Littleton then asked whether Blakely was a risk to public safety.

Absolutely not, Plunk responded, then listed the letters of support sent to the parole board on Blakelys behalf, including from members of the legislative delegation, police chiefs, mayors and John Wahl, chairman of the Alabama Republican Party.

Along with Plunk, former Lauderdale County District Judge Deborah Bell Paseur and Maggie Settle, a former employee of the Limestone County Sheriffs Office, spoke in support of Blakely.

Blakely was removed from office immediately after a Limestone County jury found him guilty of stealing from his campaign account and abusing his power to get interest-free loans from a safe that held cash belonging to county jail inmates.

After a three-week trial, the jury convicted Blakely of stealing $4,000 from his campaign account by funneling the money through Red Brick Strategies, a Huntsville consulting firm. The jurors also found Blakely guilty of obtaining $29,050 in interest free loans from a safe that held money belonging to inmates in the county jail he oversaw as sheriff. They found him not guilty of eight other charges of theft and abuse of power.

The office of Steve Marshall, Alabamas Republican attorney general, prosecuted Blakelys case.

Sarah Deneve, a representative of the attorney generals office, spoke against his release.

Throughout this process, this inmate has shown little remorse and now apologizes to suit his own needs, Deneve said. The actions of this inmate as an elected official and law enforcement officer harm society as a whole and diminish public trust and confidence in those who are supposed to uphold the law.

Parole board member Gabrelle Simmons was absent. The board declined to say how the other two members, Darryl Littleton and Leigh Gwathney, voted. However, Gwathney used to work at the attorney generals office and an ACLU analysis of 10 weeks of hearing last year found that every time the attorney generals office opposed parole Gwathney voted against release.

A new hearing for Blakely will be held on April 11.
For nearly three hours Thursday morning, an activist protesting Atlantas planned public safety training center -- dubbed Cop City -- was locked to equipment at a Midtown construction site, prompting the partial closure of a major street.

Michael Czajkowski, 34, was locked to a construction elevator at a Brasfield & Gorrie work site along Peachtree Street between 17th and West Peachtree streets. Czajkowski was arrested on charges of obstruction and criminal trespassing, Atlanta police said.

The incident began at around 5:45 a.m., and the street was fully reopened by 8:30 a.m. It also delayed construction workers from starting their day on time.

Brasfield & Gorrie is one of the contractors building the training facility at the site of the old Atlanta Prison Farm in the south DeKalb County woods.

It should be noted that Atlanta police take pride in allowing these individuals to protest peacefully, Maj. Christian Hunt told reporters. This is the civil rights capital of the world, and we take pride in allowing people to do that.

A group of co-activists gathered on the sidewalk in support but left shortly after, Hunt said.

In a news release, a group that opposes the training center said the activist used a reinforced pipe to attach to the equipment in order to protest the companys involvement in the project.

Thursdays protest was the second of its kind in less than two months. In January, two protesters locked themselves to equipment at a Brasfield & Gorrie site at 12th and Juniper streets, prompting a road closure that lasted four hours.

Activists in that case used what authorities call a sleeping dragon to lock their arms to equipment. The device is made by placing an individuals hands inside pipes that are bound together with other materials to make it more difficult for authorities to cut through and remove them from protest sites. Thursdays protester utilized a similar device using what appeared to be a PVC pipe, Hunt said.

Those opposed to the training center have said its construction will damage the South River Forest and contribute to what they believe is the militarization of the police department. City officials have said the facility, which is set to open later this year, is vital to maintaining well-trained police and fire departments.

Activists in metro Atlanta and other major U.S. cities have targeted companies involved in the building of the center. Also in January, four pieces of construction equipment were set ablaze at a town home construction site linked to another subcontractor.

_____

2024 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Alabama lawmakers gave final passage Wednesday night to a bill intended to give legal protection to in vitro fertilization clinics after an Alabama Supreme Court ruling caused some to pause services.

Gov. Kay Ivey announced shortly after that she had signed the bill into law.

Lawmakers have scrambled to provide immunity that would allow clinics to resume services after the court ruled that frozen embryos held in storage have the legal status of children for purposes of civil liability under Alabamas wrongful death of a minor law.

The House and Senate passed similar bills Tuesday. Proponents of the legislation worked to have both chambers agree on an identical bill Wednesday.

The House passed that bill, SB159 by Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, by a vote of 81-12, with nine abstentions. The final step was for the Senate to concur and send to Ivey.

Shortly before 9 p.m., the Senate concurred by a vote of 29-1.

The bill was intended to provide immunity but did not directly address the question of whether embryos in storage have the status of children under state law.

The overwhelming support of SB159 from the Alabama Legislature proves what we have been saying: Alabama works to foster a culture of life, and that certainly includes IVF, Ivey said in a press release. I am pleased to sign this important, short-term measure into law so that couples in Alabama hoping and praying to be parents can grow their families through IVF.

IVF is a complex issue, no doubt, and I anticipate there will be more work to come, but right now, I am confident that this legislation will provide the assurances our IVF clinics need and will lead them to resume services immediately.

Melson said he expects lawmakers to have to revisit that at some point.

Its tough. Well just have to look at it and continue to evolve, Melson said. But this at least I think gets the clinics back open.

Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, the House sponsor of the bill, spoke for the legislation on the House floor Wednesday afternoon, while Democratic lawmakers said it did not directly address what the Supreme Court ruled and would not fix the problem.

Collins, reiterating a point she has made repeatedly, said the goal is to allow clinics to resume services and possibly explore further legislation later.

This is our best solution to help the families that are in the middle of that process continue that process, Collins said.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System, which had paused IVF services, issued a statement Wednesday night saying they would resume.

UAB appreciates the Alabama Legislature and Governor Kay Ivey for swiftly passing and signing legislation that provides some protections and will therefore allow UAB to restart in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, the statement said from spokeswoman Hannah Echols said. While UAB is moving to promptly resume IVF treatments, we will continue to assess developments and advocate for protections for IVF patients and providers.

Families, doctors, and other advocates have come to the State House in the last week to rally, speak at public hearings, and urge lawmakers to take action to protect IVF services.

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, who is an attorney, said Collins bill will not prevent lawsuits against clinics. Democratic lawmakers have proposed legislation that would specify that embryos in storage outside a womb are not considered children.

We arent providing a solution here, England said. Were creating more problems. We have to confront the elephant in the room.

Seventy of the 75 Republicans in the House voted for the bill. Eleven of the 28 Democrats voted for it.

Ten Democrats and two Republicans voted no. Seven Democrats and two Republicans abstained.

The Legislature was abruptly confronted with the IVF issue after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in favor of three families who filed lawsuits under the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. The lawsuits were filed against the Mobile Infirmary Medical Center after a patient at the hospital wandered into the hospitals fertility clinic in 2020 and removed several embryos, dropped them, and destroyed them.

The trial court dismissed the families lawsuits under the wrongful death act, finding that the embryos did not fit the definition of children under the law. But the Supreme Court decision reversed that in a decision on Feb. 16.

SB159 says: Related to in vitro fertilization and notwithstanding any provision of law, including any cause of action provided in (the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act), no action, suit, or criminal prosecution for the damage to or death of an embryo shall be brought or maintained against any individual or entity when providing or receiving services related to in vitro fertilization.

On Tuesday, Dr. Janet Bouknight of Alabama Fertility clinic said the bill would provide the assurances the clinic needs to resume services. Doctors and patients from Alabama Fertility were among those who came to the State House over the last week.

As currently drafted, this gets us back to taking care of our patients, Bouknight said.

House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, said Wednesday afternoon the bill falls short because it does not address the question of whether embryos outside the womb are considered children under state law.

Until that issue is addressed, its just putting a Band-Aid over something that requires stitches and surgery, Daniels said.

Daniels proposed a bill, HB225, that says: Any fertilized human egg or human embryo that exists in any form outside of the uterus of a human body shall not, under any circumstances, be considered an unborn child, a minor child, a natural person, or any other term that connotes a human being for any purpose under state law.

Daniels also proposed a constitutional amendment, HB240, which would become part of an amendment passed by voters in 2018 that said it is the public policy of to recognize the sanctity of life and to protect the rights of the unborn child. HB240 would add that an embryo outside a uterus is not an unborn life or unborn child.

The Legislature has not considered either of those bills.

After the House passed SB159 on Wednesday, House Republicans held a news conference to say that the bill represents an important accomplishment that will allow the clinics to resume services.

House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said, he has heard from families who had the IVF process interrupted after the court ruling.

Ive had people call in tears and say we were almost ready to get the process done and they cut us short, Ledbetter said. But after today they can start that back.

Collins said the urgency of the need for the legislation led to many changes before the bill was finished.

I truly hope and believe that the clinics will open back, that this is going to provide the immunity that they need to continue doing the process with these families, Collins said. I appreciate everybody working with us thats been behind the scenes, thats been working together, thats asked the really good questions and asked the really hard questions.

Ledbetter said he expects more discussions about whether more legislation is needed.

Theres a lot of conversation going on right now while we address this, Ledbetter said. We certainly need to continue those conversations and probably will see moves to come down the road, put a committee together to try to figure that out with professionals and with members as well.

A nonprofit group that promotes access to infertility treatments, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, issued a statement from its president and CEO, Barbara Collura, who spoke at a State House rally last week.

RESOLVE is relieved that Alabama clinics can reopen their IVF programs and work with patients to help them fulfill their dreams of becoming parents, Collura said. While we are grateful for the actions of Alabama legislators, this legislation does not address the underlying issue of the status of embryos as part of the IVF process  threatening the long-term standard of care for IVF patients. There is more work to be done.
A body found in northeast Jefferson County is believed to be a Birmingham man missing since the weekend.

Jefferson County sheriffs deputies were called shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday to the 5200 block of Dewey Heights Road on a report of an abandoned vehicle.

Lt. Joni Money said vehicle appeared to have been intentionally covered to conceal it. There was also evidence of the possibility of someone deceased in the area.

Detectives and a cadaver dog were called to the location to further the investigation. Human remains were located.

Investigators with the Jefferson County Coroners Office were called to the location Wednesday morning to collect the remains for identification and notification of the family.

Money said the body has not been identified, but the found car matched the description of the Honda Civic belonging to 38-year-old Jewel Jones Bendolph. Family said Bendolphs car was a 1999 silver, four-door Honda Civic with Alabama license plate number 1FB8610.

There was evidence of foul play, Money said, and the death is being investigated as a homicide.

Family said they were notified midday of his death.

Im not OK, said Bendolphs sister, Monica Bendolph.

As investigators were at the crime scene, family and friends had gathered in east Birmingham and were actively searching for the victim.

Bendolph was last seen alive about 4 a.m. Sunday at the BP gas station in Birminghams Mason City which is near Ishkooda Road.

He called his grandmothers phone at 5:07 a.m. Sunday but he said nothing.

Instead, family said, his grandmother could hear a struggle and Bendolph saying, Get off me. Dont touch me.

Bendolph had not been heard from since then.

Family members of 38-year-old Jewel Jones Bendolph search for him after his disappearance on Sunday, March 3, 2024. Remains believed to be his were discovered March 6 in northeast Jefferson County.(Carol Robinson)

Not yet knowing his body may have been found, his loved ones were determined to try to find him. They started where his phone had last pinged off a tower in the Roebuck and Center Point areas.

My whole family is upset, sick, said Fred Spencer, Bendolphs first cousin. The two were raised as brothers.

Weve told the police who we think he was around, Spencer said. Ive never experienced this in my life.

Bendolphs aunt, Felicia Lewis, began searching with a friend at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday on the southwest side of town, in the Oxmoor and Wenonah areas, among others.

Family members of 38-year-old Jewel Jones Bendolph search for him after his disappearance on Sunday, March 3, 2024. Remains believed to be his were discovered March 6 in northeast Jefferson County.(Carol Robinson)

Weve got to leave no stones unturned, she said before Bendolphs body was found. I cant sit at home all day. Im not sleeping, Im crying all day. Thats not a life for nobody.

Money said the body has been taken to the Jefferson County Coroners Office for identification, as well as to determine the cause and manner of death.

Sheriffs investigators and Birmingham police will work together to investigate.

Anyone with information is asked to call sheriffs investigators at 205-325-1450 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
After opening in prayer at a church about 15 miles northwest of the state capital, panelists spoke of pornography in libraries, calling library board members cowards for not doing their jobs.

Then the leader of a political website remarked about book challenges in Alabamas public libraries.

Burn the freaking books, said Bryan Dawson, the president of 1819 News, a website that publishes articles and conservative political commentary. Burn them. I dont care.

The group behind many recent book challenges across the state is Clean Up Alabama, a nonprofit that first formed in Prattville, a city northwest of Montgomery. The group last fall hosted a forum titled Fighting to End the Sexualization of Children in Libraries, where Dawson suggested burning books that are included on Clean Up Alabamas list of inappropriate books, a recording of the event shows.

Although suburban Prattville began as the epicenter of attacks on libraries in Alabama, the firestorm spread, enveloping public meetings from north Alabama to the coast.

And Clean Up Alabamas message has caught the attention of some of the states top leaders.

Gov. Kay Ivey threatened to defund libraries that expose children to inappropriate materials. Months later, Steve Marshall, the attorney general of Alabama, affirmed that the states public library service can withhold funding from local libraries.

The state superintendent of education mandated that every school in Alabama implement a specific process for librarians to review which books are appropriate and offer a way for parents to voice their concerns.

The debate has even reached the State House as lawmakers debate two bills, including one that would make it easier to kick members off of library boards across the state.

Residents packed normally quiet library board meetings, as some critics accused professional librarians, many working with limited resources, of peddling pornography to kids. Some librarians told AL.com they felt they couldnt speak freely in public for fear of losing their jobs over a situation they say is manufactured.

Obviously the controversy surrounding book challenges and particularly some of the misinformation thats part of that controversy has been very challenging, said Chris Warren, director of the public library system in Houston County. As someone whos worked in libraries for 20 years, as someone who believes in libraries and the work that they do, I dont want this controversy to detract from the amazing work that libraries do.

At least nine Alabama libraries were embroiled in book challenges. A survey by the state library service found that residents challenged more than 100 books, questioning whether they should remain on library shelves. At least one library removed an LGBTQ book in the adult section from its shelves altogether.

Some librarians moved young adult books to the adult section, a move that qualifies as censorship, according to library advocacy organizations. One library in north Alabama even flagged a book for removal because the authors last name is Gay.

Alabama is not alone. Across the country, the scope of book censorship has expanded. In the 202223 school year, PEN America, an advocacy group fighting book censorship, recorded 3,362 instances of book bans in public school classrooms and libraries. Thats an increase of 33% from the 202122 school year, according to PEN Americas Banned In the USA report.

PEN America defines a ban as any time a book is removed from availability to students, or where access to a book is restricted or diminished. The primary targets for these bans? Books written by and for LGBTQ+ people as well as books by Black authors and authors of color.

But in Alabama, residents even raised concerns about Amish romances and Rush Limbaughs childrens books on complaint forms submitted to the state library service.

No one person or group has the right to dictate what books and information others have access to. Anne Johnson, chair of the public library board in Fairhope

A rollercoaster. Eye-opening. Chaotic. Challenging. Thats how librarians and library advocates described 2023. And things are not calming down in 2024.

Warren, the library director in Dothan, said he expects to have many more conversations over the year about books, parents rights and how children can access the library.

I dont know what the tone and tenor of those conversations will be, Warren said. Im hopeful that theyll be civil, and Im hopeful that people wont lose sight of how important public libraries are, how unique public libraries are, and the difficult but important mission that libraries have to serve as effectively as they can.

Whos challenging the books?

Clean Up Alabama, led by Prattville resident Hannah Rees, is behind several book challenges in public libraries across the state. Their list of 99 inappropriate books includes 65 LGBTQ+ books, such as All Boys Arent Blue by George Johnson and Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin.

But theyre also targeting books by Black authors or about Black people, such as, Concrete Rose and the The Hate U Give, young adult fiction novels by Angie Thomas about the Black experience, including violence at the hands of police.

Most of the books on the list are rated based on Book Looks, a review site started by a former member of the conservative political group Moms For Liberty. The ratings system goes from zero (for everyone) to 5 (aberrant adult only content). Most of the books on Clean Up Alabamas list are rated 4, meaning not appropriate for minors.

Clean Up Alabama incorporated as a nonprofit on Aug. 14, 2023, according to records from the Alabama Secretary of States Office. The records list Prattville residents Audrey Strong and Chuk Shirley as the groups directors. Rees is also listed as a director and the incorporator.

The group has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

I think that what Clean Up Alabama has done is they have made people afraid of something that is not even happening, said Prattville resident Angie Hayden, who helped create the group Read Freely Alabama to combat book challenges.

And once you convince people that something evil is coming for their children, you can pretty much get away with whatever you want to do, Hayden said. Thats kind of been their entire tactic is to get people so afraid that these books are coming for their children, that theres some sort of agenda coming for their children when really the library is just a place for all sorts of viewpoints that represent all sorts of people.

The situation reached a critical point in Prattville when the Autauga County Commission appointed a library board member without the boards approval. Most board members resigned in protest last November. The new board voted in February to ban the purchase or acquisition of any LGBTQ books or books with sexual content for readers 17 and younger and ordered librarians to put red warning stickers on adult books with sexual content.

Library critics, without evidence, have even suggested that librarians are distributing sex toys and pornographic magazines to children. At Clean Up Alabamas sexualization of children forum, Dawson said hed prefer Playboy magazines over current library offerings. Dawson did not respond to requests for comment from AL.com.

We are so excited to announce that we are hosting a roundtable event in Prattville. See you Thursday, November 2nd at 6... Posted by Clean Up Alabama on Friday, October 6, 2023

Thats one of the more absurd arguments that have been made about us, said Andrew Foster, the director of the Autauga-Prattville Library. He said instead of people coming to librarians or reading books for themselves, theyre relying on secondary and even tertiary sources.

In Foley, a city of about 20,000 people near the Gulf Coast, Stephanie Williams said she searched LGBTQ in the local librarys online catalog. She raised challenges to 15 books. Two of those books, This Book Is Gay and Who Are You? The Kids Guide to Gender Identity, are on the Clean Up Alabama list.

She protested the books in a letter to the mayor, city council members, and the library director. She also linked to a 111-page document with books deemed inappropriate by Moms For Liberty.

According to David Thompson, executive director of leisure services, the Foley librarys reconsideration committee moved nine of those books from the librarys young adult section to the adult section. The library director resigned to work in a library in Wyoming.

Williams said that shes been able to draw attention to the problem of obscenity, child pornography, sexually explicit, violent and other troubling and age-inappropriate materials being displayed and made accessible to minors in public and school libraries in Alabama.

The more exposure this issue garners, the more support the various groups and individuals like myself enjoy from concerned neighbors right up to persons at top levels of government, Williams wrote in an email to AL.com. So, yes, we are making a difference in restoring the vestiges of a civil, refined, and ethical culture.

Politics at play

The debate over library books has become so sensitive that Gov. Ivey has weighed in and threatened to cut state funding if changes werent made to ensure that local libraries dont expose children to inappropriate materials.

After the governor complained last October, Nancy Pack, the director of the Alabama Public Library Service, recommended disaffiliating from the American Library Association, something Clean Up Alabama has called for since at least July 2023. At the time, Pack said she made the recommendation because the associations library bill of rights guarantees that a persons right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

Limiting a childs access to potentially harmful content or relocating controversial reading materials should not be misconstrued as censorship in any form, Pack said last year in a memo to library directors across Alabama.

Pack told AL.com she recommended disaffiliation because she feared the state would cut library funding. The state attorney general has since given the green light to cut funding for libraries.

The library service board voted in January to not renew their membership to the American Library Association.

The Alabama Public Library Service board includes seven people, all appointed by the governor. And while the board does not mandate policy for Alabamas 220 public libraries, it does distribute nearly $6 million in state funding each year.

When Virginia Doyle, a member of the board, criticized the move to get the state government involved, Gov. Kay Ivey removed her from the position. Ivey appointed two new board members in early February, including one who challenged 30 LGBTQ books at the Gadsden library.

The library service board finalized a statewide database, released shortly before Christmas, for concerned Alabamians to submit complaints to librarians about books they feel are inappropriate for children. According to Pack, 82 books are on the list, including 24 from Clean Up Alabamas list of inappropriate books.

In Cullman County, commissioner Garry Marchman publicly stated that he wanted to remove all LGBTQ books from the library. In an interview with AL.com, Marchman said hes received calls of support from constituents, who have the same feeling I do.

Every member of the Cullman County commission signed the Petition to Stop the Sexualization of Children set up by Clean Up Alabama to remove books they deem inappropriate.

Public libraries across Alabama are giving children access to pornography and other sexual content, the petition states. Join the fight to put an end to this nonsense by signing the petition today! Once youve signed the petition, please consider making a generous contribution to help fund the fight!

After Marchman stated his views, Josie Harrington, the librarys interim director, resigned. In an interview last year, Harrington said shed received support, not backlash from library patrons.

Ive received very little actual criticism about keeping books where they are, and not censoring anything, Harrington said. The closest thing to criticism weve received is offering more assistance to parents to try and guide their children to reading books they find appropriate.

In Mt. Laurel, a community in the suburbs of Birmingham, Republican state Rep. Susan DuBose said she received complaints about an LGBTQ display at the North Shelby Library during Pride Month last June. Library director Kate Etheredge said that most people who submitted comments to the library favored the collection and noted that visits increased that month.

Just because a book is not appropriate for your family does not mean theres not a child or a family out there that doesnt want that kind of book, Etheredge said.

DuBose is currently sponsoring legislation that, if approved, would make North Shelby library board members political appointees, rather than elected officials.

Two Alabama chapters of the conservative political group Moms For Liberty asked state lawmakers to withhold public funding from libraries that provide pornographic material for children.

Read Freely Alabama called for an investigation into whether its a conflict of interest for John Wahl to be the chair of the Alabama Republican Party while also serving on the state library board.

Wahl is abusing his authority as a member of the APLS Board of Directors to enhance his political reputation as ALGOP Chair and consolidate power going into an election year, RFA said in a statement in October. Wahl denied there was a conflict of interest and alleged there were inappropriate books in the childrens section of the Prattville library.

Clean Up Alabama invited Wahl to the Sexualization of Children forum as a library board member. After Read Freely released its statement, Wahl chose not to attend the Clean Up Alabama forum. The other state library board members decided that having the state Republican party leader on the board was not a conflict of interest.

Censorship

Nationwide, many book challenges focused on school libraries. In Alabama, state education superintendent Eric Mackey mandated in October that every school library have a written reconsideration policy in place in case the public wants to challenge a book.

School administrators in Orange Beach started reviewing nine books in December, most with LGBTQ characters, to see if they should remain in the library.

But so far, the debate in Alabama has centered around public libraries.

In north Alabama, one library became a national punchline as they tried to get ahead of the controversy. The Huntsville-Madison County Public Library used Clean Up Alabamas list as a basis for a mandatory review to get ahead of potential book challenges. Director Cindy Hewitt said she wanted to identify books that discussed sexuality, gender, and dating.

When searching their catalogs, branch managers included keywords like lesbian and gay and came up with a list of 233 potentially inappropriate books.

Read Me a Story, Stella, the childrens book by Canadian author Marie-Louise Gay, found its way onto that list because of the authors last name, sparking national headlines and jokes on late-night talk shows. Months later, LeVar Burton, the longtime Reading Rainbow host, mentioned the snafu in Banned Book Rainbow, a parody sketch on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

This proves, as always, that censorship is never about limiting access to this book or that one. It is about sending the message to children that certain ideas  or even certain people  are not worthy of discussion or acknowledgement or consideration, said Karen Li, publisher at Groundwood Books, which publishes Gays books.

Though the book was not removed from the library, multiple other books from the childrens and young adult sections were moved to the adult section without input from the library board or the public.

After public backlash, librarians in Huntsville returned the books to their original sections.

In Foley, not only did library officials move nine young adult books with LGBTQ themes to adult sections, they removed one book, Maia Kobabes Gender Queer, from the library altogether, even though it was in the adult section.

I strongly disagree with the decision to remove any book from a library because it offends the sensibilities of one person, Kobabe said in a statement. A book that might seem pointless to one reader might be life-saving to another. As a community is full of diverse individuals, so the library should be a place offering a wide range of different topics, opinions, information, and stories. Removing a book because its themes offend one reader is censorship.

After getting challenges to about 20 books, the library board in Dothan enacted a new policy mandating that librarians keep books showing a visual depiction of sexual activity in a limited access section behind the circulation desk for adults 19 and older. For now, the only book that fits this description, according to a library employee, is Gender Queer, a book that was already shelved in the adult section, not in the librarys areas for kids.

This proves, as always, that censorship is never about limiting access to this book or that one. It is about sending the message to children that certain ideas  or even certain people  are not worthy of discussion or acknowledgement or consideration. Karen Li, publisher at Groundwood Books

But in many communities across the state, librarians and community members stood their ground.

When 55 books were challenged in Fairhope, the community packed public meetings in protest.

This is a form of censorship, said library board chair Anne Johnson during one crowded city council meeting in September. There are young people in our community who may be struggling with their identity, with the teen years, who may not have a support system at home, or at school or at their church, who may be being bullied or even suicidal. And we may have books in the library that can help get them through a difficult period. No one person or group has the right to dictate what books and information others have access to.

In Foley, Williams said she will continue to lobby for libraries to clean up their book stacks for minors and to continually monitor catalogs to identify materials that may fit the criteria for obscenity and child pornography and other objectionable factors.

While being called pedophiles or groomers in emails and on social media is disheartening, the day-to-day work of librarians continues to be a form of resistance, according to Alyx Kim-Yohn, circulation manager at the Madison branch of the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library.

The folks who came up to my face were the ones who said, We love the library. Thank you for what youre doing. This is wild what youre dealing with. Please keep doing what youre doing, Kim-Yohn said. Those are the people who are physically coming into the building and looking me in the eyes as a human being and saying these things to me.
Two Austin police officers are being honored by the department for acting quickly to save the life of a choking child.

Around 4:30 p.m. Feb. 16, officers responded to an apartment in Northeast Austin where 4-year-old William Martinez was choking, according to the Austin Police Department.

In body camera footage, Officer Dalton Schroeder uses a LifeVac suction device to clear the obstruction, and Officer Jason Wright delivers blows to the child's back. When the boy begins breathing normally, he gives the officers a thumbs up and a high-five, and even gives Schroeder a bear hug.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Schroeder bought the LifeVac with his own money in case this kind of situation ever arose, APD said.

At a news conference with the two officers and their supervisor, the boy's mother said she took little William to a hospital for a check-up a few weeks later, and medical staff determined he had been choking on his own saliva.

"It makes me sad and at the same time thankful, with these two officers that got there really fast, that my son is still with me," Guadalupe Romero said after rewatching the body camera footage Wednesday at the news conference.

Body camera footage shows two Austin police save the life of 4-year-old William Martinez. Courtesy Austin Police Department

She said she attempted to stop her son's choking but called 911 when his lips turned purple and he tried to lie on the floor with his eyes closed.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey delivered a message of support to Sen. Katie Britt on social media ahead of her delivering the Republican to President Joe Bidens State of the Union address tonight

The governor said in a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter: Senator Britt, its your good friend, Gov. Kay Ivey. All of Alabama knows that you will deliver a strong message tonight. One that everyone across the country needs to hear. You will paint a clear picture of the Republican vision: securing the American dream! So go ahead Senator, keep on making Alabama proud, and get the job done!

Im looking forward to @SenKatieBritt delivering the #SOTU response tonight. Senator, keep on making Alabama proud and get the job done! #alpolitics pic.twitter.com/zDG3xy9ssz  Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) March 7, 2024

The governor previously supported Britts upcoming speech in a tweet from February saying, Sometimes the best man for the job is a woman!

Britt is currently in the national spotlight and is noted as the first Alabama politician to deliver a response to a State of the Union Address or a presidential address to a joint session of Congress since the tradition started in 1966.

Her speech also comes at a critical time, as Ivey just signed SB159 into law, give legal protection to in vitro fertilization clinics after an Alabama Supreme Court ruling caused some to pause services.

At 42 years old, Britt is the youngest female senator, taking former Sen. Richard Shelbys seat after 35 years. Shes made strides in her first year as senator, getting invited to join in on weekly leadership meetings from Senator Mitch McConnell.
A Bessemer man has been convicted in the 2019 fatal shooting of a UAB student outside the Riverchase Galleria.

A Jefferson County jury on Tuesday found Xavier Marqise Thompson, 25, guilty of felony murder in the killing of 20-year-old Zachariah Taylor Music.

Thompsons trial began last week. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Alaric May has set sentencing for May 7.

Initially three people were arrested by Hoover police in Musics slaying. A grand jury later indicted Thompson, of Bessemer, in the case.

Last year, Michael Jaran Brown pleaded guilty to felony murder. He was to 20 years in prison with five years to serve.

Also charged and indicted in Musics death are Dannarious De Shon Washington, 25, and Michael Jabari Akamune, 25. Washington is charged with capital murder, and Akamune is charged with murder.

Trial dates for Washington and Akamune have not been announced.

Hoover police are on the scene of a fatal shooting in the North Parking Deck at the Riverchase Galleria.

According to court records in the case against Washington, Music was killed during the course of a theft of cash and THC vape cartridges.

Hoover police and firefighters responded about 1:30 p.m. that Wednesday, June 26, 2019, to the fifth floor of the North Parking Deck. When they arrived, they found Music inside a vehicle suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead on the scene at 1:39 p.m.

This was not a random shooting, and we were aware of that within the first 10 minutes of arriving on the scene, now-retired Hoover police Capt. Gregg Rector said following Akamunes arrest. We have several individuals who were engaged in high-risk activities and sometimes those activities turn tragic.

There were lots of terrible decisions made (that) Wednesday, Rector said, and all of those individuals are now going to be held accountable for their actions.

I think by now, Rector said, everyone knows this situation involved drugs and an armed robbery attempt.
A former Nevada congressional candidate and pro wrestler wanted in connection with a killing on the Strip last year was seen turning himself in at the Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday evening.

Daniel Rodimer was seen walking into the jails front entrance with his attorney, David Chesnoff, shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday. He did not speak to reporters and shielded his face as he walked into the building.

An arrest warrant was issued Wednesday for Rodimer, 45, in connection with the November death of Christopher Tapp, 47, the Metropolitan Police Department announced Wednesday. Tapp is an Idaho man who spent two decades in prison after he was wrongfully convicted.

Mr. Rodimer is voluntarily surrendering to authorities and will post a court ordered bail, Chesnoff and fellow attorney Richard Schonfeld wrote in an emailed statement. He intends on vigorously contesting the allegations and asks that the presumption of innocence guaranteed all Americans be respected.

Rodimer was flying in to address the warrant, the Las Vegas Justice Court docket read Wednesday afternoon.

The arrest warrant calls for Rodimer to be held on a $200,000 bail, according to the court docket.

Rodimer was seen going through the booking process at the jail on Wednesday. Court records indicate he has posted a surety bond on a $200,000 bail. He is set to appear in court April 10.

The dispute between the two men allegedly arose after Tapp offered Rodimers stepdaughter cocaine during a party in a Resorts World suite, according to Metro police documents, which cite witnesses.

A visibly upset Rodimer then went into a bathroom where Tapp was and was heard to say, If you ever talk to my daughter again, Ill f-ing kill you, according to the report.

Two loud banging noises were then heard. The witness told police Rodimer had punched Tapp.

About 20 to 30 minutes later, medical personnel arrived and Tapp was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

Tapp, whose legal ordeal made headlines as it progressed from his initial arrest to his release, was convicted of rape and murder after the 1996 death of 18-year-old Angie Dodge. He spent 21 years behind bars before his release in 2017 and exoneration in 2019.

Rodimer, a Republican who was endorsed by then-President Donald Trump in 2020, lost his bid for Nevadas 3rd District that year. In 2021, Rodimer then announced another congressional run, this time in a special election in Texas 6th District. He also lost that race.

According to Metro and an autopsy report released by Clark County coroners office, Tapp died from the effects of blunt force trauma to the head after a physical altercation Oct. 29 at Resorts World.

He was pronounced dead at Sunrise hospital on Nov. 5.

In 2020, after Tapp filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city of Idaho Falls, he told a newspaper there that he was hoping for a new start.

Im hoping that this nightmare will come to an end, Tapp said at the time. Ive been living it for the last 23 years of my life.

In 2021, another Idaho man, Brian Leigh Dripps, pleaded guilty to Dodges rape and murder.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the city of Idaho Falls agreed to a $11.7 million settlement with Tapp.

The initial summary of investigation listed on Tapps autopsy report states Tapp suffered an unwitnessed fall and was down approximately one hour until friends found him and called 911.

And police said in a news release that medical personnel responded on Oct. 29 to a call for service for a man, later identified as Tapp, suffering from injuries as a result of a purported accident.

But the initial possibility that Tapps death had been accidental would later change, with further investigative circumstances relayed to Metro police in November and witness statements given to investigators on Dec. 11, the autopsy report said.

The interview describes Mr. Tapp in a physical altercation with another individual  directly resulting in Mr. Tapps head trauma, the autopsy report said.

Tapp, who had been taken to Sunrise hospital, was given a poor prognosis, the report said.

Radiology found multiple brain bleeds, the report said, and Tapps toxicology was also positive for cocaine, alcohol and marijuana.

On Jan. 2, the coroners office ruled the death a homicide.

_____

2024 Las Vegas Review-Journal. Visit reviewjournal.com.. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The Center for Reproductive Medicine in Mobile will not yet restart in vitro fertilization procedures, citing shortcomings in a law signed Wednesday night by Gov. Kay Ivey intended to shield doctors from legal liability, a spokesperson said.

At this time, we believe the law falls short of addressing the fertilized eggs currently stored across the state and leaves challenges for physicians and fertility clinics trying to help deserving families have children of their own, said Hannah Peterson, a spokeswoman for Infirmary Health, in an emailed statement.

The statement said the center would not restart procedures until it receives legal clarification on the extent of the immunity provided by the new law. Meanwhile, both UAB and Alabama Fertility in the Birmingham area announced plans to restart IVF treatment in the coming days after the state passed a law aiming at shielding IVF clinics from legal liabaility.

The confusion follows a surprise decision of the Alabama Supreme Court on Feb. 16 that found frozen embryos should be considered children under the states wrongful death law. The decision reffered to them as extrauterine children several times throughout the ruling.

At least three fertility clinics paused services in response to the ruling. Fertility treatment may leave patients with excess embryos. Some worried the ruling would require permanent storage or implantation of all embryos, regardless of viability. Others raised concerns that clinics could be sued whenever embryos didnt survive the thawing and transfer process.

On Wednesday night, Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill that would give immunity to doctors performing fertility treatment. Both the governor and lawmakers conceded that the bill might not solve all the problems related to the courts decision. However, the hoped it could restart treatment while the state weighed more permanent solutions.

IVF is a complex issue, no doubt, and I anticipate there will be more work to come, but right now, I am confident that this legislation will provide the assurances our IVF clinics need and will lead them to resume services immediately, Ivey said in a statement this week.

The Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infirmary Health was named in the original lawsuit brought by families who lost embryos when an unauthorized person entered the storage area. After the ruling, another family filed a wrongful death suit against the clinic.
A jury on Wednesday found Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 fatal shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin, but acquitted her on charges of tampering with evidence.

She was immediately remanded to custody pending sentencing.

Gutierrez-Reed was tasked with ensuring firearm safety and storage on the set of the Western, starring Baldwin, when she handed the actor a prop gun that contained live ammunition. Baldwin fired, striking and killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, and wounding director Joel Souza as well.

In connection with the shooting, Baldwin was indicted by a grand jury in January, also for involuntary manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty and is slated for trial in July.

During Gutierrez-Reeds two-week trial, prosecutors said the then-24-year-old had unknowingly brought live ammunition onto the set while being lax at following basic gun-safety guidelines that were industry standard.

Wednesdays verdict shifts blame for Hutchins death in the wake of assistant director David Halls no-contest plea last year. He served six months of probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor negligent use of a deadly weapon for declaring the gun cold before handing it to Baldwin.

It was not clear how live ammunition had made it onto the set, and Gutierrez-Reeds attorneys had argued she was being made a scapegoat.

With News Wire Services

2024 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Eligible Alabama families will now have the option to receive $7,000 to pay for private school tuition starting in the 2025 school year.

Gov. Kay Ivey signed the CHOOSE Act into law Thursday morning.

The law would create education savings accounts, or ESAs, for families of students to use toward eligible education expenses.

At the end of the day, we all want every Alabama student  no matter the zip code, no matter the school  to receive a quality education, Ivey said in a statement Thursday morning.

ALGOP Chairman John Wahl issued a statement thanking Ivey for signing it into law, saying the bill marks a historic achievement for the State of Alabama in the battle for education freedom and parental rights.

There is still much to do in the fight for school freedom, but this bill takes a massive step forward in putting parents back in control of their childrens education, Wahl said. A childs quality of education should never be based on their background or where they live.

As the bill moved through the House, a dozen amendments were added to the bill, according to Iveys education policy director Nick Moore.

After five hours of debate on Wednesday, the full Senate struck down additional amendments offered on the floor and passed the bill, fast-tracking it to the governors office.

While Ivey heralded the legislation as a monumental achievement that would help Alabama families, the state Senates Democratic leader warned this week that it was a new segregation financed on the backs of poor children.

This is the new segregation, Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, said on the Senate floor Wednesday night. Were just paying for it this time. Paying for it on the backs of poor children.

How it will work

Lawmakers will allocate at least $100 million each year to fund ESAs, with unused money rolling over to the next year. The fund cannot contain more than $500 million in any one year.

The Alabama Department of Revenue will be in charge of all aspects of the program. Current public schools must cooperate with and provide records for students currently enrolled in public school who are eligible for and choose to use an ESA.

The first ESAs will be available in the 2025-26 school year and will be limited to eligible students. All students will be eligible for ESAs at the start of the 2027-28 school year.

Students between the ages of 5 and 19 who have not graduated high school are eligible for ESAs. Students with disabilities between the ages of 5 and 21 are also eligible.

Read more: What you need to know about Alabamas school choice bill

The parent of a student receiving an ESA must agree to pay the remaining amount of tuition or expenses beyond the $7,000 cap.

Participating schools and education service providers cannot discriminate against a student based on race, color or national origin. They are not required to accept all students, though. They are not prohibited from discriminating against a student with a disability and they are not required to provide services for children with disabilities.

Parents and students cannot receive any money from the ESA.
The attorney for an Alabama inmate who was allegedly beaten by two Department of Corrections officers last year is asking why the states prison system apparently continued to allow them to work around other inmates, even after an internal investigation identified the two as perpetrators in a vicious assault.

Susanne Cordner, a Montgomery lawyer, is representing William L. Rhinesmith, 75, currently an inmate at Kilby Infirmary.

Last month, two Alabama Department of Corrections officers were indicted for first degree assault in connection with a beating that left Rhinesmith seriously injured.

Samuel Adam Dial, 32, of Hillsboro, and Jesse Ray Cobb, 35, of Harvest, were both arrested on Feb. 16.

According to court documents, the two are accused of seriously beating Rhinesmith, 75, back in October 2023 when he was an inmate in Limestone Correctional Facility.

Rhinesmith last year began serving a five-year sentence for display of obscene matter.

Both Dial and Cobb were released from the Limestone County Jail on $10,000 bond. Dials arraignment is set for May 8. Cobbs is set for June 5.

Cordner said Rhinesmith sustained serious head injuries following the beating on Oct. 19 and is currently unable to stand for long periods or maintain his balance. Prior to that, he was a man with a history of diabetes and blood pressure problems, but otherwise in reasonably good health.

According to Cordner, Rhinesmith said he had only been at Limestone Correctional for about two weeks when he was approached in the prisons B Dorm by two officers during master count. According to him, they asked for his ID, what prison he had come from and what he was in for.

After he told them, the two officers walked on, then returned a few minutes later and told him to follow them.

Cordner said, according to Rhinesmith, he was led to an area outside the entrance to the dorm where the view for security cameras is obscured.

They told him to face the wall. Bill faced the wall, and then he said one of the officers just started beating him, Cordner said. He turned around. The officer said to him, Dont look at me. Look at the wall. If you tell anyone, Ill kill you.

Then, the two began beating him in the head  according to court documents, with a broom handle. Cordner said Rhinesmith lost consciousness soon after.

Cordner said other inmates found Rhinesmith covered in blood.

He was later taken to Huntsville Hospital, then sent back to Limestone Correctional before later being transferred to Kilby Infirmary. He was treated for bleeding on his brain.

He chipped a tooth. His right eye was swollen shut after the beating. Both of his ears were really swollen, she said. When she saw him a week later, Rhinesmith still had a black eye and bruises on his neck as well, Cordner said.

By December, Rhinesmith was exhibiting stroke-like symptoms, severe headaches, and had difficulty walking. An emergency procedure that month at Jackson Hospital drained blood from his brain, she said.

He has been back at Kilby for about six weeks, she said. Hes still in the infirmary because his equilibrium is off. He cant stand or walk without a walker.

Cordner said the Alabama Department of Corrections began an investigation into the incident later that same month, which Rhinesmith was told wrapped up in mid-December. She says Rhinesmith was informed by ADOC that video footage in part confirmed his account.

However, she said, as far as she could determine, ADOC still waited until mid-February, when Cobb and Dial were indicted, to transfer them to non-contact duty.

Until the indictments were announced, from what I heard from other inmates at Limestone, the officers were still working at Limestone and they were not in non-contact positions, she said. Honestly, I dont know why, when ADOC is intending to be involved in pressing charges against these guys, it would leave them around inmates until theyre indicted.

AL.com asked ADOC for a comment. A spokesperson referred to the original press statement sent out at the time of the officers arrest:

On February 8, 2023, Samuel Dial and Jesse Cobb, correctional officers at Limestone Correctional Facility, were indicted for Assault I of inmate William Rhinesmith. Both officers turned themselves in but are currently out on bond. They have been assigned non-contact posts pending the outcome of the criminal investigation by ADOCs Law Enforcement Services Division.
Belle Mina residents will have one more chance to convince the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to stop a quarry from being built in their community.

ADEM will hold a public hearing on tonight at 6 p.m. in the Health Sciences No. 2 building on Calhoun Community Colleges Decatur campus. The hearing will be in room 109.
A branch of Airbus that specializes in upgrading and overhauling military aircraft has expanded its operations in Mobile, cutting the ribbon Wednesday on a new hangar for an operation that has doubled its workforce in the last few years and continues to add skilled jobs.

Airbus U.S. Military Aircraft, a branch of Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, is not the biggest Airbus operation in Mobile or the one that attracts the most public notice. It is, however, the oldest, having set up shop at Mobile Regional Airport in west Mobile in 2005. Thats two years before Airbus opened an engineering center at the Brookley Aeroplex, a forerunner of the massive Final Assembly Lines it would later bring to Brookley.

The Airbus U.S. Military Aircraft facility in west Mobile specializes in MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) work on aircraft used by various armed forces, including the HC-144A Ocean Sentry used by the U.S. Coast Guard. (Back in 2017, Airbus and Coast Guard officials gathered at the Mobile facility to celebrate a partnership that had supported 100,000 hours of flight time for the Ocean Sentry fleet.)

The news on Wednesday was that the facility was ready to open a brand new hangar adding nearly 18,000 square feet of workspace, bringing the sites total to around 65,000 square feet. Jose-Antonio De La Fuente, head of Airbus U.S. Military Aircraft, told the crowd of local dignitaries and employees that the operation had doubled its workforce in the last three years.

Rob Geckle, chairman and CEO of Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, said that 140 to 150 people now work at the operation, and expansion continues. The new hangar represented an investment of between $5 million and $10 million, he said.

A new fabric-skinned hangar at the Airbus U.S. Military Aircraft facility in west Mobile adds about 18,000 feet of space for maintenance, repair and upgrade work.Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com

Most of the Airbus announcements we get to do are at Brookley, said Bradley Byrne, president and CEO of the Mobile Chamber. Today is special because were here.

You are helping to protect our country and the interests of our country, and were grateful to you for that, said Byrne. But what this does to our economy in terms of being able to offer an ever-widening array of aviation services, aviation production, is huge. Mobile has become a center for aviation excellence in the world and you are a big part of that.

Chris Curry, president of the Mobile Airport Authority, said the authoritys job primarily is to create an environment where businesses like Airbus Space & Defense can flourish.

Im frequently asked the question, what are you going to do with the regional airport? Curry said, referring to plans to build a new international airport at Brookley and relocate commercial passenger services there in late 2025. I gently remind them that we do have the Coast Guard aviation training unit and Airbus Space & Defense here at the Mobile Regional Airport.

The upcoming swap would seem to promise more room for growth, for an operation already based at the regional field.

Its going to free up more space for many more opportunities, said Curry. I think Airbus Space & Defense expansion is just one, but theres a lot of other abilities for an airport that is in the shape that this airport is in.

I think its an opportunity, said Geckle. I mean, we will support whatever the local authority wants to do with the space. But if we can help as this moves towards [being an] MRO center of excellence, it fits in well with our growth plan and not necessarily just the U.S. fleet. I mean, if you have aircraft in Latin America, this could make sense to service them from here as well.

Geckle said its a challenge finding qualified new employees, partly because the work must meet exacting standards.

What we do is amazing, he said. When youre talking about modifying or repairing, overhauling an existing aircraft and pulling out the avionics (aircraft electronics), you have to know how the aircraft is built and then you also have to know what these components can withstand in terms of repairing. So its highly qualified folks that were looking to hire. These are high-tech jobs, well-paying jobs.

De La Fuente said some of the classes of workers needed include structural mechanics, electrical engineers and aircraft mechanics.

Talking broadly, because of the rapid growth in the area, huge growth in the area, finding the workforce is a challenge, he said. There are a lot of projects in Mobile in different industries, but the common factor is that there is fast growth. So that puts some challenges on the, you know, trying to find the resources, the workforce.
The Austal USA shipyard launched something new this week: A sail-powered drone vessel that will conduct long-range unmanned missions for the U.S. Navy.

In the summer of 2022, Austal and Saildrone Inc. announced a partnership to build autonomous sail-powered survey vessels. Saildrone is a pioneer in the field, and its vessels have been gathering reams of data from inhospitable waters in recent years: Theyve circumnavigated the Southern Ocean and cruised through hurricanes while mapping the seafloor, gathering information on icebergs and monitoring climate conditions.

Saildrones Surveyor weighs about 15 tons and is about 65 feet long with a low-profile hull topped by a rigid sail. The company announced this week that the first aluminum Surveyor unmanned surface vehicle (USV) produced in Mobile was launched on Monday.

The U.S. Navy said that Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Christopher J. Mahoney had gotten a look at the vessel Monday as they visited Austal and two Mississippi shipyards.

From left: Saildrone founder and CEO Richard Jenkins, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Christopher J. Mahoney, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, and Austal USA Acting President Michelle Kruger stand in front of SD-3000, the first production Saildrone Surveyor USV to come off the Austal USA manufacturing line.Tad Denson photo courtesy of Saildrone

Using unmanned assets helps put more players on the field by freeing up manned assets for more specific and important tasks, Franchetti said in a Navy press release. Its good to see high tech industry partnering with the traditional shipbuilding industrial base to rapidly deliver cutting-edge products at scale.

I couldnt agree more with the CNO when it comes to more players on the field, said Mahoney. We are at the brink of a new battlefield where uncrewed systems, at scale, will provide new levels of resilience and adaptability for our forces.

According to information provided by Saildrone, Surveyors are primarily designed for ocean mapping and maritime domain awareness. They have solar panels and a diesel generator to power sensors including multibeam sonar that can map seafloor to depths of 11,000 meters.

Surveyors being built for the Navy also carry purpose-built defense and security payloads for accurate, dynamic, and confident decisions and responses to the full spectrum of maritime threats and challenges, according to Saildrone. Upcoming Navy missions will focus on the ability of the Surveyor to deliver both surface and undersea intelligence for a range of high-priority applications, including anti-submarine warfare (ASW).

It is tremendous to see the first vehicle launched of many that will be produced here in Alabama, Saildrone founder and CEO Richard Jenkins said in a statement released by the company. We are honored to have Admiral Franchetti here in person to witness the start of the creation of a new fleet of USVs alongside traditional manned ships. Everyone at Saildrone is very proud to be supporting the US Navy and contributing to our defense and national security.

Saildrone says Austal is producing a new Surveyor every six weeks, and that the first ones are contracted to the US Navy for the initial testing and evaluation of Surveyor-class vehicles in multiple environments.

Saildrone has promoted the Surveyor for use in a variety of executable missions including: illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; pattern of life monitoring; law enforcement and maritime safety; Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS); counter-smuggling; border patrol; harbor security; guard vessel roles; sanction monitoring; range clearing; signals intelligence baselining; and ecosystem monitoring.
Video captured the shooting of teenager Erik Cantu by San Antonio police officer James Brennand in a McDonalds parking lot on Oct. 2, 2022. San Antonio Police Department James Brennand prepares to be pinned during a ceremony before his graduation from the San Antonio Police Training Academy in March 2022. Seven months later, Brennand was fired and arrested in connection with the on-duty shooting of 17-year-old Erik Cantu. San Antonio Police Academy In late November 2022, Erik Cantu was discharged from University Hospital, where he had been treated since he was shot by Police Officer James Brennand on Oct. 2, 2022. Courtesy of the Cantu family

James Brennand, the fired San Antonio police officer under indictment for shooting and critically injuring 17-year-old Erik Cantu in 2022, is no longer facing an attempted murder charge.

A Bexar County grand jury initially charged Brennand with two counts of aggravated assault by a public servant, both first-degree felonies, and one count of attempted murder, a second-degree felony.

But last week, a grand jury issued a new indictment. A copy was served on Brennand during a court hearing Monday.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The first two counts in the new indictment remain the same. But the attempted murder charge is gone. In its place, the grand jury substituted a charge of deadly conduct, a third-degree felony, court records show.

The change gives a trial jury greater flexibility in applying the law to the facts of the case and deciding what if any crimes Brennand committed. If the evidence doesnt show that Brennand was guilty of aggravated assault, the jury still could convict him of the lesser charge of deadly conduct.

To prove attempted murder, the prosecution would have to show that Brennand intended to kill Cantu. For deadly conduct, its sufficient to prove recklessness.

The Texas Penal Code defines deadly conduct as reckless behavior that places another in imminent danger of serious bodily injury, including by firing a gun at or in the direction of one or more individuals.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

According to the new indictment, Brennand shot Cantu and fired in the direction of his girlfriend, Emily Proulx, 18, who was sitting beside him. She was uninjured.

If convicted of the charges against him, Brennand would face a potential sentence ranging from five years to life in prison.

The indictment is the latest turn in the former officers legal saga. He was arrested on Oct. 11, 2022, nine days after he shot Cantu outside a McDonalds restaurant on the North Side.

Cantu was sitting in a maroon BMW eating a hamburger when Brennand, a probationary officer with seven months on the job, approached him, body camera footage shows.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

On the video, Brennand can be heard telling dispatchers that he recognized the BMW as a stolen vehicle whose driver previously had eluded him. Brennand approached the car with his gun drawn, opened the drivers side door and told a seemingly stunned Cantu, Get out of the car! He did not identify himself as a police officer.

Cantu drove in reverse for several feet, hitting Brennands leg with the open car door. The teenager then sped toward the exit of the parking lot. Brennand fired at least 10 shots at the car, seriously injuring Cantu, who was rushed to University Hospital, where he spent several weeks on a ventilator.

An affidavit supporting Brennands arrest said the officer was clearly not in danger of death or serious bodily injury when he shot Cantu.

Police Chief William McManus fired Brennand, alleging that his actions violated department tactics, training and procedures.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Cantu, meanwhile, was charged with evading arrest and assault on a peace officer. Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales later dropped those charges.

In October of last year, Brennands defense team filed a motion to move Brennands trial out of Bexar County on the ground that persistent inflammatory media coverage would prevent Brennand from receiving a fair trial here.

Earlier this year, after KSAT-12 and later the San Antonio Express-News detailed how an Austin-based criminal justice reform group had offered public relations advice to Gonzales and his top aide about the Brennand-Cantu case, Brennands defense team issued a subpoena to obtain those communications. They argued that they could be relevant to their change-of-venue motion.
A Mobile car dealership employee knew the man he was arguing with Tuesday night when both of them armed themselves in the dealership parking lot and were shot, one of them fatally, police said Wednesday.

Mobile police have not said whether the slain victim was the employee at Palmers Airport Hyundai or the man he was in a confrontation with.

Officers responded to the dealership at 7860 Airport Blvd., where they found the employee and another man shot, said Mobile police spokesman Blake Brown.

The investigation revealed both victims knew each other, Brown said Wednesday.

The victims were taken to a local hospital where one of them died of their injuries Tuesday night.

Mobile Police Chief Paul Prine said both men armed themselves with guns during the dispute.

Further information was not released.
This is a guest opinion column

When the Legislature adjourned for the weekend on February 15th, plenty of challenging issues were already waiting for us to return the following week. The House was preparing for a vote on the CHOOSE Act and other priority items. The Senate was working on issues like election security and legislation dealing with DEI. The session was well underway, and both chambers seemed to have found their respective grooves.

That changed on Friday, February 16th, with the Alabama Supreme Court Ruling on in vitro fertilization (IVF).

The ruling led to a chain reaction of unintended consequences for our state. The first was that it forced many of Alabamas IVF clinics to shut down overnight. This meant that the hundreds of hopeful parents who had invested their time, money and prayer into this process were put on what could have been an indefinite hold. And finally, the responsibility to fix this issue was shifted to the Legislature. The ball was tossed into our court, and we had to get this right for the people of Alabama.

From the moment I was made aware of this ruling, doing whatever was necessary for Alabamas IVF clinics to reopen and continue bringing new life into this world became my top priority. This was my responsibility as a lawmaker, but as someone who has family members in this world thanks to Gods grace and IVF, it meant much more. Everyone I have spoken to about this issue, both House and Senate colleagues and constituents alike, share a similar personal attachment.

I have listened to stories of sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters conceived through IVF who are beautiful blessings to their families. I also heard from plenty of rightfully scared and angry Alabamians who had a daughter or loved one going through these treatments at the time of the ruling, and their messages were received loud and clear.

While the national media set its sights on criticizing Alabama and politicians in D.C. lined up to take their shots, the Alabama Legislature remained focused and got to work. Instead of adding to the problem, members of the House and Senate dedicated themselves to finding a solution and protecting IVF in our state.

I have always felt that the diverse professional backgrounds we have in the Legislature are one of our strongest features. Like we have many times before, we turned to the members of the Legislature who have professional experience relative to the issue. In this case, Dr. Tim Melson took the lead in the Senate while Rep. Terri Collins coordinated in the House.

In less than a week, both the House and Senate developed a well-coordinated plan to pass companion bills granting our IVF clinics immunity from prosecution. Our goal from the beginning was to pass legislation that cements IVF within Alabamas culture of life, and immunity protection for clinics gives us time to figure out the best way to do so. It allows our clinics to reopen their doors and continue serving hopeful parents while the men and women of the Legislature navigate a very complex issue.

Alabamas IVF clinics came under attack 20 days ago. During this time, our people have faced uncertainty, fear and rightfully demanded that we do something about it. Five legislative meeting days later, Governor Ivey signed into law what very well could be the sessions most important bill. This is how government is supposed to work, and I could not be prouder of how the Legislature has handled this issue.

Our people believe in fostering a culture of life, and for many parents, IVF was the miracle that led to their greatest blessing. IVF is as pro-life as it gets, and I am committed to ensuring it is always an available option for the people who call our great state home.

Nathaniel Ledbetter is Speaker in the Alabama House of Representatives
This is an opinion column

From an electoral standpoint, abortion isnt as big of a deal as Democrats hope. While the Alabama Supreme Courts wrongheaded decision related to frozen embryos has certainly set the media talking heads ablaze, abortion isnt the top concern for most voters. Republicans must refine messaging on reproductive issues before that changes.

What do you think is the most important problem facing the country today? Gallup has been asking voters that question for decades. Various concerns about the economy are perennially at the top of the list. Recently the only other responses in double digits have been immigration and government/poor leadership.

Abortion is the top issue for a whopping two percent of respondents. As passionately as we feel about the fundamental issues attendant to lifes inception, almost none of us view it as the most important problem facing America. When we vote, most of us think about issues were facing in the moment and which candidate will most effectively address them. Thankfully, most Americans arent facing abortion decisions on a regular basis.

That doesnt mean we dont have strong feelings on the issue.

Both Gallup and Kaiser Family Foundation provided polling in 2023 which suggested that roughly a third of voters will only vote for a candidate who shares their views on abortion. The bigger question is whether that cohort actually shifts any votes along Democratic or Republican lines. For example, most hardline pro-choice voters werent going to vote Republican even before the Supreme Courts Dobbs decision.

That number connects with other polling Gallup has done for decades indicating roughly two-thirds of Americans have consistently believed that abortion should be legal under some circumstances. What those circumstances are varies widely, but the bottom line is that the hardliners in either direction on abortion represent a minority of Americans.

Not only is abortion policy not the driving federal political issue for most Americans, but the Supreme Courts Dobbs opinion didnt actually ban abortion. It moved the issue to the states. Weve seen seven statewide ballot provisions related to abortion since 2022, and the side favoring abortion access prevailed in each instance. That includes more conservative states like Ohio, Kansas, and Kentucky.

Predictably, states under Democratic control like New York, Maryland, and California have enacted additional abortion protections since Dobbs. At the same time, Republican-controlled states like Tennessee - and most of the South for that matter - have restricted abortion or banned it altogether.

If anything, were seeing that values on abortion in a post-Hobbs world are more accurately reflected from state to state. For abortion rights to drive federal electoral politics, Democrats need voters in swing states to believe theyre better off with a monolithic federal abortion policy instead of one crafted to reflect the values of the state where they live.

This brings me to the real issue for Republicans.

Republicans at the federal level should be laser focused on one question related to abortion: Who should decide the issue?

Americans passionately disagree on abortion, and its better to decide it from state to state instead of a one-size-fits-all federal policy. Yes, I understand the authoritarians among us want to hand down their preferred policy from Washington, D.C., but we should reject those impulses.

Look to federal drug policy on cannabis as an example of a national criminal policy which no longer enjoys popular support in a number of states. Federal law is clear, but its also widely ignored where states have decided they dont particularly care about medicinal and recreational cannabis use.

Are we going to change the nuances of abortion law every time a political party gets control of the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives? Once the issue is a matter of federal law, thats exactly what will happen. Its also why Americas founders were smart enough to restrict the federal governments power.

The Dobbs decision was a radical victory for red state majorities who wanted more restrictive abortion policies. Republicans should take the win and stick with the position that abortion policy should be decided by the states.

Democrats are perfectly willing to federalize the issue because the Supreme Court had effectively done as much for decades. Republicans who push for a federal abortion ban will certainly connect with their base voters, but they do not have the votes to move such legislation and wont have them any time soon. Meanwhile, Democrats will be able to increasingly federalize the issue and make it far more electorally relevant.

Republicans should also be careful about applying criminal sanctions for abortions outside of state lines. Right off the bat, states face real constitutional concerns over such a practice. In his Dobbs concurrence, Justice Kavanaugh clarified that the question of whether a State may bar a resident of that State from traveling to another State to obtain an abortion is not especially difficultthe answer is no based on the constitutional right to interstate travel. Given Kavanaughs position, its a legal loser. Again, Democrats use such efforts from states like Alabama to elevate the issue to the federal level.

Democrats seem to believe that the Dobbs decision paves the way to victory in November. That isnt the caseyet. Republicans, especially former President Donald Trump, will radically determine the extent to which Democrats will be able to use abortion as a lever to political power. Republicans must pay attention to where the American people are on the complexities of abortion and focus on winning in the states. Top-down policies from Washington are often well-intentioned disasters. Abortion was no exception under Roe v. Wade. It isnt now.

Smith is a recovering political attorney with four boys, two dogs, a bearded dragon, and an extremely patient wife. Hes a partner in a media company, a business strategy wonk, and a regular on talk radio. Please direct outrage or agreement to csmith@al.com or @DCameronSmith on X or @davidcameronsmith on Threads.
This is an opinion column.

They ran out the back door

They are so afraid.

They are running scared.

They are Alabama Republicans. On a day when they were to squash diversity, equity, and inclusiondaggumitthroughout the state; when they were going to defund programs that create safe, welcoming spaces for employees, students, and citizens; when they were going to emphatically ramrod Alabamians with a bill based on their ill-informed, unfounded fears, they shrank, hid, and squirreled away.

They avoided more than 100 studentschildren!from colleges and universities across the state who came to the statehouse in Montgomery Wednesday to protest divisive (yes, Im boomeranging their word back on them) SB129. To share what DEI is to them. To tell their elected officials how DEI, as University of Alabama senior Sean Atchison bravely told my AL.com colleague Rebecca Griesbach, saved my life.

Heres more from Atchison and UAB sophomore Sydney Testman about what they saw today: pic.twitter.com/t8KfQgle6u  Rebecca Griesbach (@greezbock) March 6, 2024

They ducked, dived, and dodged the mosaic of students waiting patiently in the hall outside Room 200 where legislators were lunching. When they were done, They ran out the back door to avoid us, said University of Alabama-Birmingham sophomore Sydney Testman.

Related: Alabama college students rally against anti-DEI bill: We wont stand for it.

Added Atchison: They are so afraid of students showing our voices and being heard on SB129 because they know the damage they are trying to do to this state and to students, and they are running scared from us.

He added this: They want to bring back Jim Crow.

Or hang a whites only sign at the statehouse door.

They were, quite simply, an embarrassment.

SB129 is the prime cut in the Alabama Republicans 2024 red-meat legislative sessionand they choked on it.

They gagged on an opportunity to define and defend the unnecessary bill to voters whom it will most affectbecause they cannot accurately define or defend it without resorting to empty catch-phrasey talking points.

Ill give Alabama GOP chair John Wahl a bit of grace for at least engaging with the students in the hallwaythough watching Griesbachs video of the encounter is almost comical (if it wasnt so pitiful).

If you create a social agenda, Wahl said, if you push a social ideology, whether conservative or liberal, I think thats outside the proper role of government.

Huh?

That is exactly what Alabama Republicans have done in the last few years by eliminating a womans right to choose whether to have an abortion, forbidding families from obtaining gender-affirming treatments for their children, attacking libraries (and librarians), doubling down on a Dont Say Gay law to purify our schools, and trying to whitewash American history (well, the Black part) by screaming critical race theory without having a clue what it is.

Our government should be neutral, a referee, if you will. Im crying real tears now.

Heres some video of a discussion between organizer Sean Atchison, a UA senior, and ALGOP chairman John Wahl.



Wahl: As a society were becoming less and less comfortable with open dialogue.



Students: Thats why we have DEI. pic.twitter.com/dhwlNW4jTW  Rebecca Griesbach (@greezbock) March 6, 2024

There was also this gem of an exchange: As a country, were growing less and less comfortable with open dialogue, Wahl said.

To which a student adroitly responded: Thats why we have DEI.

Im actually not here for this, Wahl finally said.

Remember, almost 200 UA students and faculty marched across the quad on campus chanting Defend DEI and a student petition protesting the bill now, as I type, has almost 5,500 signatures. (You may sign it here.)

To be fair (I do try), Testman, the UAB student, said a couple of Republicans were really receptive to speaking with her. I was really surprised to hear that some of the reps didnt really understand the effects this bill would have.

She shouldnt have been.

Senate Republicans shoved SB129 through the upper chamber last week. On Tuesday it was debated before a House committee.

In support of the bill, Rep. Ed Oliver, R-Dadeville said an unnamed Missouri professor claimed DEI programs on college campuses were radical and divisive offshoots of critical race theory (See; above) that had only deepened divisions and served to indoctrinate students into a far-Left political ideology.

So, a cowardly anonymous professor (if they exist at all) flinging unsupported claims is your foundational argument for flushing diversity, equity, and inclusion?

No student, at any level, would get away with such an empty citation.

Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster, whined that DEI training made him uncomfortable. It made me feel a way that I didnt think I should feel, he said.

Poor thing.

The bill slid through the committee like a Happy Meal. It was approved and slated to reach the floor Wednesday for a final vote. It didnt make itmaybe Republicans left it on the lunch table as they crept out the back door to avoid defending, justifying what they simply cannot.

Im a member of the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame and a Pulitzer Prize finalist for commentary. My column appears on AL.com, as well as the Lede. Tell me what you think at rjohnson@al.com, and follow me at twitter.com/roysj, or on Instagram @roysj
In a couple of weeks Jews around the world will observe the holiday of Purim, celebrating the defeat of Haman and his minions who planned to exterminate the entire Jewish community of the Persian Empire, as reported in the Book of Esther. In Jewish Tradition, Haman is the personification of the classic anti-Semite, and his accusation against the Jews to the Persian king is paradigmatic of future anti-Semitic tropes: A certain people dont follow the kings laws. They need to be eliminated.

Eventually, Haman and his sons are hanged, and the Persian Jews permission to pre-emptively attack their enemies before Hamans final solution is carried out. The story reports that thousands of Jew-haters were killed, but their property was untouched. Curiously, the only Jews named in the story are Esther and Mordecai. No others are mentioned by name, and the Jews are only referred to as a united collective.

However, with current events in mind, one dares ask the question: Did all the Jews back then support those pre-emptive actionsor were there some who, like today, virtue-signaled sympathy for the enemy? Back then, were there some Jews who, like todays Jewish Voices for Peace, sat shiva for those who wanted to annihilate them and said Kaddish (a prayer for the dead) for them as members of Not In Our Name and If Not Now, When do for Hamas terrorists today?

One wonders if, in the days of Esther and Mordecai, there were Jews like Louisa Solomon, who claims to be a rabbinic student (!). Her Instagram account highlights her recent activitiesin words and photosenthusiastically supporting enemies of the Jewish community, all in the name of Judaism.

Image: A Jewish Voice for Peace activist siding with the people who openly seek Jewish genocide. X screen grab.

To be sure, not only are the activities of Louisa Solomon and those like her not in line with Jewish teaching and tradition but, arguably, she and her fellow travelers are what Jewish Law calls mosrim; that is, informers/traitors (singular: mosair, literally one who hands over). Historically, mosrim were Jews who, for whatever reasons, betrayed their own by creating prejudiced exposes of Jewish society to the hostile ruling (often clerical) authorities. Consequently, the term mosair became the most hated epithet one could apply to a Jew. As one scholar writes, the mosair was part traitor, part informant and wholly despicable.

Because of the mortal danger that mosrim posed to Jewish communities, they were considered as dangerous as the rodef (pursuer) intent on committing murder, and thus worthy of the death penalty. The renowned 12th-century legal authority Maimonides opined that an informer may be slain anywhere, even at the present time when Jewish courts do not try capital cases. It is permissible to slay him before he has informed It is a religious duty to slay him; whoever hastens to kill him attains merit.

That this great scholar/rabbi/philosopher would make such a statement testifies to how serious a threat mosrim posed. By the time Maimonides wrote these words, the Jewish community had already had centuries of experience dealing with such nefarious individuals, including (but not limited to):

Jews in the 2nd century BCE who championed Antiochus Epiphanes Hellenization decreed and supported his army in their war against the faithful Jews led by the Maccabees.

Jewish maligners of Judaism and sympathizers of the Roman occupiers in the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. In response to these individuals, the Sages of the Talmud added a prayer to the daily liturgy that begins And to the slanderers let there be no hope. Among the most notorious of these was Elisha ben Abuyah, a rabbi who not only apostatized but, according to legend, also helped the Romans persecute his former colleagues, one of whom was his former friend, Rabbi Akiba.

After Maimonides there was:

Nicholas Donin, who, in the 13th century, denounced the Talmud to Pope Gregory IX, promulgating an anti-Jewish propaganda tool that lasted for centuries.

Jacob Brafman, whose 1869 work, Book of the Kahal (community), put forth anti-Jewish themes that would eventually be used by the authors of the infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion and, later, Adolf Hitler.

Although Jewish Law theoretically calls for the death of mosrim, Jewish communities rarely, if ever, had the authority to execute anyone guilty of a capital offense. In our time, such a legal measure is certainly considered by most Jews not only provocative, but also barbaric.

As Orthodox scholar Rabbi Herschel Schacter has stated, we live in a different time, under a different form of government and, certainly, the death penalty wouldnt and shouldnt apply. And yet, like past mosrim, those in our timethe ones who publicly advocate for and demonstrate with those who want to kill usdo not pose a less significant danger, no matter how many tallesim/prayer shawls they wrap themselves in!

With capital punishment usually unavailable to Jewish rabbinic authorities, the only practical responses available in dealing with mosrim were rebuke, condemnation, and excommunication. With limited effective resources available, it is understandable that faithful Jews would daily appeal to the Ultimate Judge and vociferously pray the words and to slanderers let there be no hope.

In our time, not only is capital punishment out of the question, but excommunication from the community is also no longer a practical responsealthough, truth be told, perhaps a case should be made for its reinstitution. For an organism's wellbeing, deadly malignancies should not be tolerated. They must be removed.

The Book of Esther reports that, following the Jews pre-emptive actions, many non-Jews converted and strove to be included in the Jewish community out of fear. Riffing on this, perhaps committed Jews, acting out of their own fear, need to find ways of excluding those among us who proudly introduce their treasonous calumnies to the world with the phrase As a Jew, I believe

In truth, in our time, this distancing is only a hope. Since the time that Jews left the ghetto and were granted individual rights as citizens of their respective countries, Jewish Law has had no coercive binding authority on the lives of individual Jews. Indeed, even Orthodox Jews, for whom Jewish Law is authoritative, are not forced to live under that authority but, instead, choose to do so. In the West, the freedoms that have allowed Jews to live more expansive Jewish lives are the same freedoms that limit our communitys capacity to deal with the likes of Jewish Voices for Peace, Not in Our Name, If Not Now, When? and others of our own who threaten our wellbeing.

Thus, in addition to offering our ridicule, rebuke, and condemnation to our maligners and traitors, all we can do is pray with renewed intentionality the ancient words and for slanderers let there be no hope And we must trust, as Mordecai did in the Purim story, that if G-d still wants Jews in the world, relief and salvation will come forth from some other Place (Esther 4:14).
William Samuel Sam Studstill died last week, in Monroe County, GA, at age 98. He was laid to rest at Georgia Veterans Memorial Cemetery on March 4, 2024.

Nothing distinguished Sam from the millions of other World War II vets who were drafted as young men, served and fought honorably, and in the process defeated the greatest evils in history. Then they returned home, had families, and built the largest economy, strongest military, and greatest country the world has ever seen.

Now, for the first time in my life, I dont know a single living WWII veteran.

Growing up in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, most of the adult males I knew were all WWII vets, or so it seemed. My father, uncles, fathers friends, mechanics, male teachers, and even a priest all served. Veterans that I knew were fighter pilots, B-17 aircrew men, fought on Iwo Jima, were in Pattons army, captured by the Germans, and survived being torpedoed  and, in the case of the priest, comforted the wounded and administered last rites to soldiers in Italy. None of them bragged about his war experiences; if they did, theyd only be bragging to someone who likely saw more action, did more fighting, or was more heroic. Whether they served in the military or remained on the home front producing the food, equipment, and materials required to win, it was a given that everyone, male and female, did his part to defeat the Axis Powers. They did so because it was their duty.

In the early 1990s, I read an article that said we were losing 1,500 WWII vets every day, and soon none would be left. For me, that day has arrived. Of the 16-plus million WWII vets, only about 100,000 remain.

I struggle to find adequate words to express my feelings of profound admiration, respect, and thanks to Sam  one of the last of his generation  and to my father (Lt. Col. Oliver, USMC retired), and to the millions of others who saved the world from tyranny and darkness. Despite thousands of WWII books written, despite annual veterans parades and ceremonies, and countless memorials in their honor, I feel that our collective thanks are insufficient to repay the debt we owe to the Greatest Generation.

Perhaps the best way to repay that debt is to acknowledge their legacy and remember their accomplishments. Western civilization owes our present good fortune and future hopes to the exploits of brave men and women, like Sam.

I got to know Sam, at age 92, because of an article I sent to the local newspaper. It was the anniversary of dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Trumans decision to drop the bomb very likely saved my life. No, I wasnt alive; I wouldnt be born for years. However, my father was in the Marines and would have participated in the invasion of Japan. He could easily have been killed. Turns out, the A-bombs likely saved Sams life as well. After reading my article, he emailed and told me as much.

During WWII, Pvt. Studstill was in the Army, assigned to the 88th Infantry Division (I.D.) in Italy. He saw frontline combat from early 1944 until Germanys surrender in May 1945. However, the Pacific War was still being fought. So the Army ordered the 88th I.D. back to the States to train up for the invasion of Japan. Sam was on a troop ship headed home when they heard the news that the A-bombs had been dropped, and the war was over. I cant imagine the relief those men must have felt when they learned that their war-fighting days were done.

I contacted Sam, and we met at his house. We talked about his Depression-era childhood and his war experiences. Having been in the Army myself, in the infantry (as well as military intelligence), and stationed in Italy, I related to his experiences. Because of that, Sam told many stories and showed me memorabilia and numerous war photos from Italy.

Sam loved telling stories. They were fascinating. He talked about growing up dirt-poor, about his basic training at Camp Wheeler (near Macon, Ga.), and about his combat time in Italy.

Like many of his generation, Sam grew up on a farm  no electricity or plumbing  in very rural Telfair County. He was raised in poverty. During the Depression, families earned money any way they could. His family grew cotton, made sugarcane syrup, and harvested pine sap, which they sold to a turpentine distiller. Sam plowed the fields behind Minnie the mule and walked three miles just to catch the school bus. (No, he didnt walk through snow. Remember, this is the Deep South.) After high school, Sam was drafted into the Army. When he was shipped to basic training, it was the first time he had ever been out of Telfair County. He thought his mule-handling days were over. Wrong.

Sam arrived in Italy the day after Allied Forces captured the Monte Cassino fortress. He was immediately sent to the front lines  high in the mountains. The only way to re-supply troops and evacuate the wounded was with mules. Sam was back to tending mules, but now he was fighting the Germans as well. He was a communications wireman, which means he laid telephone wire from the command post to the front line units. While he wasnt an infantryman, he ensured that the colonels and generals could talk to them. He spent much of his non-mule-tending time crawling wire up to the forward-most troops.

I just finished a book, The Winter Army by Maurice Isserman, about the 10th Mountain Division, specifically that units combat time in Italy. The book describes the ruggedness of the terrain, troops scaling rock faces to attack the enemy, using mules for re-supply, and the miserable winter weather. While reading the book, I kept thinking of Sam and his exploits with the 88th I.D. Both the 10th and the 88th divisions fought in mountainous terrain and must have had identical experiences. Its extremely difficult just climbing mountains  hard to imagine being shot at or fighting, or, in Sams case, dragging telephone wire up to the front-line soldiers in such rugged terrain.

With regard to being in combat, Sam was much like many other vets. He didnt talk much about it. I had to coax the stories out of him. But once he started, he kept going.

Im thankful that Sam reached out to me. It was my honor to have known him. When I think of men like Sam, men like my father, and all the others who took an oath to defend this country, I think of John 15:13: Greater love has no one than this: to lay down ones life for ones friends. A corollary would be one who is willing to lay down his life for his fellow man shows true love.

Thank you, Sam Studstill; thank you, veterans, who, at one time, were willing to lay down your life for country and fellow man.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Presidents Biden and Putin are trading barbs as of late, albeit through interpreters and intermediaries. At a California Democrat fundraiser, Biden called Putin a crazy SOB, while Putin sarcastically responded in so many words that Biden could have said, Volodya, well done, thank you [for the endorsement], youve helped me a lot. (The name Volodya is derived from Vladimir. In Russian, it conveys the idea of ruling with peace or being a renowned ruler.)

Bidens crazy SOB remark came during a speech about climate change, where he reiterated his claim the existential threat to humanity is climate. When asked to comment on Bidens SOB jab, Putin referred to the earlier endorsement he gave Biden over former President Donald Trump. From this exchange, Vladimir Putins comments are the ones deserving our attention.

Mr. Putins remarks broach the broader and more serious question: whom does Russia  along with other potential U.S. adversaries  want to see in the White House come November 2024? Whom would Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping prefer to face in a stare-down when the stakes are high and objective is Ukraine, Taiwan, or the South China Sea? Which candidate would Iran, North Korea, or the Latin cartels prefer to see in the White House?

We should take the Russian president at his word with his endorsement of Biden. Every international autocrat, dictator, and warlord would almost certainly want an increasingly frail President Biden with declining faculties over the nationalistic and assertive Donald Trump, who would openly adopt a more robust America first leadership approach to defense and foreign policy.

Plus, why would Vladimir Putin want a President Trump when actual events suggest he could achieve Russias objectives more easily and at less cost with President Biden remaining in office, whose actions, behavior, predilections, and temperament Russia has observed and benefited from? In Joe Biden, Russia  i.e., Putin  likely assesses a president (along with his present advisers and Cabinet members) as more interested in globalists designs from Davos, Dubai, and Turtle Bay than confronting tough issues like Middle East proxy wars, Russian revanchism, nuclear proliferation, and NATO solidarity.

Russia has watched President Biden, as we all have. The Russians observed him as Barack Obamas vice president. Then the U.S. obliged the Kremlin by canceling missile defense systems for Central Europe. Mr. Putin noted U.S. facilitation of the transfer of large uranium assets to Russia. The Obama administrations fuzzy line-in-the-sand indecisiveness over Syrian chemical weapons made way for Russias effective military intervention in Syria. President Putin must have approved of President Obamas concessions to Iran for the nuclear deal, and it was Obama who notably told former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev that Vladimir Putin should give him more space and that after [his] election, [he] would have more flexibility. On the Obama-Biden watch, Mr. Putin would conduct his first invasion of Ukraine in 2014 to seize Crimea.

Early in his own presidency, Mr. Biden lifted his predecessors sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline (while canceling the domestic Keystone pipeline), giving Mr. Putin a big concession to set the tone. He further canceled Trump-era border policies, beginning a rush of migration now challenging U.S. sovereignty. In June 2021, he lifted Trump sanctions on Irans national oil company to revive the nuclear agreement as well as enabling that nation to engage in a strategic alliance with Russia. In Geneva, Mr. Biden met Mr. Putin, but instead of warning Russia not to hack any American sites, he gave him a list of 16 critical infrastructures he must not hack. Then, in August, Mr. Biden presided over a harried, chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan that likely was the green light for Russia to invade Ukraine. In December 2021, President Biden, watching the Russian military build-up along Ukraines border, warned Mr. Putin of dire consequences if Russia were to invade, but in February 2022, Russia did attack Ukraine. Finally in mid-2022, Biden traveled to meet the Saudi crown prince  the leader of a nation he once pledged to make a pariah  having to lobby for more oil production amid record-high U.S. gas prices.

In contrast, from the start, the Trump administration implemented a more uncompromising U.S. policy vis-a-vis Russia. Russia felt, in that administrations first year alone, consequences of more assertive U.S. defense and foreign policy. In November 2017, the U.S. approved the $10.5-billion sale of Patriot anti-missile systems to NATO ally Poland in the face of perceived Russian aggression. In December of that same year, the U.S. authorized transfer of lethal anti-tank weapons to Ukraine to help that nation fight off Russian-backed separatists. U.S. troop presence in Eastern Europe increased over Obama-era levels to bolster European defenses against Russia, and the U.S. imposed monetary sanctions targeting bad individual Russian actors and companies instead of sanctioning that nations sovereign debt.

Further, the Trump administration pushed NATO allies to increase defense spending. In even more direct confrontations, Russian mercenaries and other pro-Syrian regime forces attacking U.S. troops in Syria were killed, while the U.S. under President Trump sanctioned Putins largest geo-economic project, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Europe (which President Biden reversed). In hindsight, President Trumps tenure with its more forceful stance likely gave President Putin pause over four-plus years for his plans to invade Ukraine until the Biden administrations withdrawal from Afghanistan.

November 2024s election has parallels with both 2020 and 2016, with the latter instructive in that Mr. Putin will probably again prefer the Democrat, regardless of any of the medias latest infernal efforts to cast Donald Trump as a colluding Putin ally.

While speculative, Vladimir Putin was arguably just as surprised as CNN to wake up that November 2016 Wednesday morning and learn that the impossible had happened. Two days before the election, pollsters and statisticians gave Hillary Clinton odds of between 75 and 99 percent of winning the election. Given such overwhelming pre-election global political and media consensus, a Clinton victory was probably baked into Kremlin intelligence briefings, causing Putin never to have given Donald Trump more consideration. His current endorsement of Biden for a second term  flattering him with praises like he is a more experienced, predictable person  is cover for knowing what a second Trump administration would mean for checking Russia and its adventurism.

If our nations recent past is prologue, global bad actors like Vladimir Putin will instinctively favor the Democrat candidate, particularly with the current Democrat agenda wreaking havoc on the fabric of American society and fomenting chaos with its open borders policies. In the specific case of President Biden, by easing sanctions, mollifying Iran, directing the Afghanistan withdrawal calamity, and weakening U.S. energy security, he transmitted the wrong signals to an autocrat who has exercised near absolute control over Russia for a quarter-century. It should come as no surprise that Mr. Putin would now endorse Joe Biden for president in a second term instead of Donald Trump. Lets rightly understand why.

Colonel Chris J. Krisinger, USAF (ret.) served a tour as the military adviser to the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs at the Department of State. He is a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, is an honors graduate of the U.S. Naval War College, and also was a national defense fellow at Harvard University. If you would like to continue the conversation: cjkrisinger@gmail.com.

Image: World Economic Forum via Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
Kathleen Ashmore-Prather, 35, has been charged with aggravated robbery after being accused of stealing mail and hitting a man with her car. Bexar County Sheriff's Office

San Antonio police arrested a 35-year-old woman accused of hitting a man with a car while stealing mail.

Kathleen Ashmore-Prather has been charged with aggravated robbery and two counts of fraudulent use/possession of identifying information.

The man said he was walking into his gated community Monday when he saw two women breaking into the community mailboxes. He saw Prather sitting in the drivers seat of a Ford Mustang parked near the mailboxes, according to an arrest affidavit.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

He confronted the unidentified woman, who got into the passenger seat of the Mustang. Prather attempted to drive away when a witness, who heard the man yelling at the women, blocked them, the affidavit states.

Prather intentionally drove the Mustang into the man, police said. The collision caused him to hit the ground, causing minor injuries.

The gated communitys homeowners association captured video surveillance of Prathers Mustang entering and exiting the neighborhood. The vehicles registration linked Prather as the owner.

On March 5, the man was shown a photo lineup and identified Prather as the woman driving the vehicle during the robbery.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Ever been to Caracas?

Here's how you get to Caracas.

Citing a local outlet, CBD at Ace of Spades reports:

The D.C. cops do nothing when stores are looting, emboldening thieves who recently stripped a CVS pharmacy practically bare. And lo and behold! It looks like those goods are being sold right across the street...probably by the same people who stole them. DC decriminalized illegal street vending, this is the result!

[Hat Tip: dhmosquito]

It turns out that Washington DC City just decriminalized illegal street vending!

It is called the Street Vendor Advancement Amendment Act of 2023, which went into effect on July 1st, 2023. The act decriminalized illegal street vending. It granted an amnesty for unpaid fines and unpaid sales tax. It banned background checks for people seeking permits and licenses. The act also created the "Columbia Heights-Mount Pleasant Sidewalk Vending Zone." Read into it a bit and you will discover that there is also graft involved. Yes...I know...that is shocking in our nation's capital. Decriminalizing theft, then decriminalizing once-illegal street vending seems too convenient to be unintended. Driving out the retail businesses in these neighborhoods is the The Cloward-Piven strategy, nothing more.

CBD discusses the obvious problem of de facto legalized theft which is stripping the shelves of stores bare, combined with the ease with which thieves can convert that stolen merchandise into money through lawless street sales. First they legalized theft, by not enforcing theft laws, claiming the amounts stolen were too small to bother about. Then they cheered the defunding of police, putting cops on notice that their best course of action is to retire at their desks because they became the bad guys. Decriminalizing drugs and hookers came along with it, and now no one even needs to get a get a permit in order to have a "safe" state-sponsored place with which to monetize and dispose of one's stolen merchandise.

Of course, as CBD notes, there's graft involved here, too, no surprise.

Besides the horrible message this sends to merchants, that maybe it's time to close up and get an Amazon store instead since stealing is consequence-free and reselling the loot is easier than ever, it also penalizes merchants in the area who do buy permits and pay taxes -- and even the merchants who sell on the streets who have paid for permits, too. Why pay for a permit when others make more money by not buying a permit and nobody gets busted?

And besides being a thieves' paradise, it's also an illegals' paradise, given that nobody needs to be here legally to sell goods without a permit. What better than an unregulated, unpermitted street market where nobody asks questions? It's as good as work permit for them. At a time when illegals are flooding the zone with a large influx headed to Washington, D.C., what could go wrong?

It doesn't take long for other illegality to follow from this, such as child labor. Get ready for the child Chiclet sellers.

It's all so very ... Caracas, very third world, in the worst possible way.

I visited Caracas in late 2005, well before the complete collapse of Venezuela's economy, and I was amazed at the chaos and shambles of Venezuela's unregulated street vendors filling the streets with cheap imports from China and a host of suspiciously fenced-looking merchandise. Many were in the country illegally, from places like Haiti, Dominican Republic, Colombia, the victims of past oil booms gone bust. The blare of reggaeton music was all over, rats moved between stalls, and visitors were warned never to visit such places alone. Stealing, after all, was nearly legal in that country, as Venezuela's late dictator openly encouraged it on the grounds that the poor had the right to take from 'the rich' as a matter of "social justice" and a "preferential option for the poor," as Chavez's liberation theology fans put it. That led to a lot of armored cars on the streets, a lack of anyone wearing jewelry, a lot of barred-up, boarded-up shops, illegal street selling wherever it could be done, and eventually ... the flight we see now.

Sound like maybe Washington should take note?

It was chaos. It was a free for all. I even did this painting about it from a photo I took, acrylic on two sheets of tin, for that junkyard look, as the memory was so vivid:

Image: Monica Showalter, Instagram

Places like Caracas and lots of other third world hellholes always have something in common with what is going on with this foolishness in Washington, D.C., it's what social scientists call "the informal economy." Informality is what makes the third world the third world more than any other factor. Third worlders, after all, have cellphones, they have fax machines, they have remittances and bank setups like anyone else. But what they don't have is rule of law, a government that governs. That's why they're an odd mix of satellite dishes, Louis Vuitton purses, unpaved streets and dirty running water.

Without rule of law, you get rule of the jungle, with gangs eventually calling the shots and making the rules and extracting the taxes, or rather, 'vacunas' or 'mordidas' or any of the other colorful terms used for gang extortion in Latin America's shantytowns. Sociologist Hernando de Soto, in his "Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else" and "The Other Path: The Economic Answer to Terrorism," looked very closely at how informal economies hold third world countries back because there is no "invisible architecture" of title deed for property, and above all, no presence of rule of law.

Nations went to great ends to enact these things after these books were published in the early aughts, if they were serious about climbing out of the third world, or at least improving their economic prospects. Chile, Brazil and Mexico spring to mind.

But in Washington, D.C., we see the astounding phenomenon of the capital of the free world that did have rule of law, did have title deed, did have all the trappings of a developed country, choosing to become a place without rule of law, with an informal economy, entirely ideal for thieves and illegal immigrants. Instead of choosing progress, they chose to adopt the economics of the shantytown. It's rank lunacy and as idiotic as anything one might see coming out of South America under various leftist rulers -- exchanging a first world economy for a third world economy as a matter of preference.

Other than Venezuela's decision to self-colonize itself as a vassal state of Cuba, I don't think we have ever seen anything quite as stupid and damaging as this. Turns out you don't need to go to Caracas anymore to see Caracas: Just watch these D.C. ruling leftists in action.

Image: Monica Showalter, Instagram
I like Ben Shapiro, but I dont always agree with him. He raved about the new movie Dune: Part Two, so I not only watched part one to get up to speed but took myself to see the new Dune. Now, I wish I could get back those 2 hours and 45 minutes of my life. (This review has spoilers, so stop now if you still want to be a Dune virgin.)

Ben Shapiros review claims that these two movies [Dunes 1 and II] constitute the single greatest science fiction epic movie achievement of all time. They look absolutely phenomenal.

Shapiro then raves about the quality of the CGI, the well-done plot, the fine acting, the glories of Paul (the hero) learning the ways of the Fremen people, and the films surprisingly pro-life slant. Hes right about the first point (sort of) and definitely right about the last. Everything else? No.

For those unfamiliar with Dunes plot, as I was, it takes place in a future world (the 11th thousandth century AD), where various evolved human life forms occupy myriad planets. Theyve formed an empire ruled over by an emperor. In Dune: Part Two, the emperor is played with mumbling lassitude by Christopher Walken, a normally interesting actor, who looks and acts very much like Biden at a press conference.

Image: Saudi dunes (the real stars of the movie) by Meshari Alawfi. CC BY-SA 4.0.

The most important ingredient in the whole empire is spice, a powder found only on an almost completely waterless planet called Arrakis, which is inhabited by the aboriginal Fremen and giant worms. The Fremen use spice for nutritional and mystical purposes, but the empire needs it to power spaceships. The evil Harkonnen people control Arrakis, but the emperor ostensibly gives Arrakeen to the Duke of the Atreides, who just wants to live in peace with the Fremen (while still taking the spice).

However, upon the advice of the powerful Bene Gesserit, a womens only cult with physical and mental superpowers, the emperor secretly joins with the Harkonnen to slaughter every member of the House of Atreides. Paul, the Atreides heir, and his mother, a Bene Gesserit, survive the slaughter and make their way to the Fremen. Dune Part One tells this story.

Part Two picks up with Paul learning the ways of the Fremen and then leading them to battle with the Harkonnen, who, in turn, are planning a genocide against the Fremen. You can guess where the plot goes.

My biggest problem with the movie is that the entire vibe is that the Shia Arab world has finally found its missing or hidden iman, Muhammad al-Mahdi, and is now militarily invincible and ready to start a caliphate. Arrakeen, with its endless dunes, is obviously the Arabian desert, with spice being the oil that imperialist forces steal from the Arabser, Fremens.

The Fremens are waiting for the return of the Lisan al Gaib, whos also called the Mahdi. Between the al in the formal name and the direct homage to the Mahdi in the Shiite faith, its not subtle. Indeed, IMDB trivia explains that the language created for the Fremen and the Mahdis name are intended to draw on Muslim Arab culture.

During the movie, were told by Chani, a ferociously competent female Fremen fighter and Pauls love interestplayed by a wooden Zendaya (smile, frown, grimace, rinse, repeat)that the Mahdi are a culture of perfect equality, free from capitalist desires and sexism. (Not in those exact words, but thats the gist.) Her only problem with her people is that theyre religious and keep wanting to find that Hidden Imaner, Mahdi. (Speaking of Zendaya, she, like all the other actresses in the movie, marks a definitive break from the old Hollywood tradition of using women pleasing to the eye.)

After I sat through almost three hours of this, I would have called the movie The Revenge of the Mujahadeen. And yes, I know that Herbert established the Muslim-Arab tone in the books, but the movie irritatingly highlights the connections.

I had other problems. Zendaya, as I noted, is less than exciting. So was Timothee Chalamet, who plays Paul and must carry the movie. Hes very pretty and, like Zendaya, has nice long legs that look good as they stride through endless dunes of CGI sand, but hes merely competent. Hes most certainly not charismatic. Before an epic battle, he tried to sound like Laurence Olivier on the eve of battle in Henry V but merely came off sounding like your middle-aged 8th-grade math teacher yelling at the class for acting out.

Dave Bautista and Stellan Skarsgard play two of the three main Harkonnen baddies. Theyand, indeed, all the Harkonnen shown on screenare bald, white, and filmed in black and white. They all look exactly like Uncle Fester:

Public domain.

The one exception is Austin Butler, who plays Skarsgards nephew and is supposed to be a psychopath even by the psychopathic standards of the Harkonnen. Yes, he, too, looks like Uncle Fester, but theres another reason I started laughing every time he came on the screen. Butler energetically struts, scowls, and growls with Hollywood psychopathic fervor. The problem is that hes the double of Sam Brinton, the cross-dressing, suitcase-stealing nuclear physicist from the Biden administration. I am not the only one who made that connection:

Sam Brintons mug shot released. If convicted do we have to build a third type of prison to accommodate They? pic.twitter.com/a8CdqBfzjx  Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) December 14, 2022

Sam Brinton found a new job. pic.twitter.com/vx22wEOAh9  Aaron Ginn (@aginnt) March 4, 2024

Just seen Dune 2 at the cinema. Is it just me, or does Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen the psychopathic nephew look one hell of a lot like Sam Brinton the nonbinary luggage thief? pic.twitter.com/OVGyNvFsu8  tired and grumpy raven #7130 (@gcraven10) March 2, 2024

The CGI sand renditions were impressive. It was easy to forget that all that sand existed in code and not in reality. But CGI sand does not a movie make. I also thought the CGI was very obvious in the vast crowd scenes, whether at a Harkonnen coliseum or as troops lined up for battle. Indeed, in the climactic battle, as in all modern action movies, the CGI was so darned busy and generic that you couldnt tell the good guys from the bad.

The only pleasant surprise about the movie was how pro-life it was. Pauls mother is pregnant with his sister, who remains in utero throughout the movie. However, shes a real character who is shown developing and who communicates with both her mother and her brother.

As I left the theater, I reflected on the one good thing about my time there: Thanks to my senior discount, I was out only $9.
Redlining the cringe-metera fake president gets pointers from other fake presidents.

You mayve heard Ive got a big speech coming up.



So, I thought I would hear from some folks who have done the job before  sort of. pic.twitter.com/7wFYVQm7Xm  President Biden (@POTUS) March 7, 2024

As a colleague said, there are literally, no words for a stunt like this.

After all weve experienced with Joe Biden, his troupe of incompetents, and a voter class of the most immoral and useful idiots in the history of the country, youd think nothing would surprise us anymore:

Weve dealt with pup play perverts posing for official portraits while wearing fetish gear and official military uniform.

Weve had a top male official at the Department of Energy get nabbed for stealing womens luggagenot once, not twice, but three timeswhile also getting pictured wearing these stolen goods to official state functions.

White House security can apparently discover illicit drugs on the propertys premises, but cant narrow down whos snorting lines near the Situation Room, and its all just a non-event for the media.

The man in the Oval Office cant stop himself from smelling and fondling children on camera, and his own daughters alleged diary entries accuse him of sexual assault and molestation. Again, this is ignored by legacy media. (When one of the actors talks about his own fictional tenure, he says he behaved very badly; at this point the camera pans to Biden, whos seen with a lascivious smirk, and one can only imagine who comes to mind, and I seriously doubt its Jill.)

Men with breast implants exposing themselves on the White House lawn during a Pride event gets marketed as inclusion and flamboyant sex addicts hysterically flailing around the halls for Christmas time is progress.

The purported first lady tells Hispanics theyre as unique as breakfast tacos and says see say pwodway for si, se puede.

Honestly, the cringey video was just very on-brand for all things Biden.

Call me crazy, but if Biden really wanted to appeal to the people, perhaps he should ask them what he should be concerned about no? Better yet, you know who he should have called? A man whos had real experience doing the job, delivering some of the most incredible SOTU moments in history like this one:

Remember Trumps 1st day walking into Congress as President



& all the democrats were fuming? One of my favorite moments in history pic.twitter.com/dPgj0djXVN  E (@ElijahSchaffer) June 16, 2023

Image from X.
You probably did not know that the Constitution contains a Good and Plenty clause. Well, according to the late Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.), it is one of several clauses in the document that permits the federal government to force you to buy health insurance. It is one of those secret clauses that were written into the Constitution in invisible ink, and which only woke leftists can see.

There are good and plenty of such clauses.

Recently, Stu Burguiere (producer of, and participant in, The Glenn Beck Program), during a Megyn Kelly podcast, laughingly pointed to another such hitherto unknown clause, which may be termed the Should Be clause. It is cited by some Democrats in supporting the now overturned decision of the Colorado Supreme Court to (in my view) snatch ballots out of the hands of the voters and place them in the hands of judges, who obviously know better than we do, as to who our rulers (always Democrats) should be. Judges should be allowed to decide for whom we are allowed to vote, as long as they decide we must vote for Democrats. Its obvious!

Although it does not always take the form of a clause, Democrats have long cited the same underlying principle whenever they deem that it would serve the Republic, defined as the Democrat party. For example, in previous years, they decided that President Trump should be (1) required to take a cognitive ability test, which undoubtedly should (2) disqualify him from the presidency. He took it. It didnt. He aced it.

But now that Biden is the occupant of the Oval Office, there is an exception to the Should Be clause, which says that Joe Biden Should Not Be required to take the same test, because even though it is clear that he would fail it miserably, even though he has no idea, he Should Not Be required to take the test because, well, somehow he proves his cognitive ability every day (where cognitive ability means, in this case, cognitive dissonance).

There are other clauses. The word, insurrectionist means someone who has never been convicted of, or even charged with, insurrection, whose name is Trump.

The Second Amendment Should Be classified as providing a collective right only, not a right for individuals. It Should Be for police only  you know, the ones who Should Be defunded. And since the weapon of choice in 1776 was the musket, then only muskets Should Be permitted today, even though you still cannot open-carry a functioning musket in leftist jurisdictions.

Then there is the Context Clause. There Should Be university presidents who affirm that Jews on campus Should Be harassed, threatened, or worse, depending on the context. Conservative speakers Should Be silenced on those campuses, no matter the context.

Yes, the Constitution Should Be regarded as a living, breathing document  one that can mean anything that woke leftists think it Should.

Image via Pxfuel.
Often, former President Trump triumphantly ascends stairs to the stage at various rallies to the patriotic tune God Bless the U.S.A. by Lee Greenwood.

It certainly fits as he unapologetically stands on stage clasping hands, waving, even humming that hes Proud to Be an American. Even through the TV, it is a wondrous, captivating, spirit-rousing experience.

As for music acknowledging Bidens presence: Hail to the Chief seems bombastic as the village idiot from Wilmington singlehandedly lowers the rooms average IQ upon entry.

The song A Passage To Nowhere better reflects Bidens deranged aura, anemic though it be. However, that may be a bit forlorn, even for the pallid Grim Reaper-in-Chief who hates over half of America so much that hes reputed to be planning to deliver a slanderous SOTU speech. Leave it to Biden to besmirch the SOTU tradition even worse than prissy and petulant Pelosi ripping up Trumps speech in 2020.

To truly capture Bidens absurdism in the universal language, nothing comes close to Pink Floyds iconic tune Brain Damage.

When Trump prevails in the presidential election, and the feckless idiot Biden is transported from the White House to the Mad House, these haunting lyrics will certainly resonate.

With Trump bringing decency back to the White House, Biden will wither on the Dark Side of the Moon. Then, demented Dems may find they cant always get what [they] want (Rolling Stones).

But for America, the next lines in the famous Rolling Stones song will reverberate: But if you try sometimes, well, you might find you get what you need.

Ah, yeah! America needs Trump.

Dark Biden needs the asylum, for the lunatic is in his head.

Image: Gage Skidmore
Admitted diversity hire Karine Jean-Pierre  the Social Justice Holy Grail: Lesbian Immigrant Person of Color (street name: LLPOC) was recently dispatched to read her notecards (poorly) at the White House podium, as she often is in her unending jihad against literacy.

These particular pre-written comments from March 1, which she was handed to struggle through Hooked on Phonicsstyle, concerned the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling affecting access to in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Via whitehouse.gov:

Since the unprecedented and unconscionable dismantling of the rights enshrined in the Roe v. Wade  in Roe v. Wade, we have seen an onslaught of abortion bans and other attacks on womens reproductive freedom. Look at what happened just this week. After the Alabama Supreme Courts ruling put IVF at risk and raised issues about whether it would be available in other states, congressional Republicans rushed to proclaim their support for IVF. On Wednesday, though, Senator Duckworth introduced a bill that would protect access to IVF in every state, and Senate Republicans blocked it. Its completely outrageous. President Biden and Vice President Harris believe every woman in this country should have the freedom to make the decision to have a child. That includes the one in five women struggling with infertility and who may need to rely on IVF. This is just another basic issue of reproductive freedom now under attack.

Working your way through the transcript, you might notice that neer a word is uttered regarding root causes, which is curious for a regime infamously dogmatic in its fidelity to diagnosing the root causes of everything from illegal immigration to violence against the LGBTQ+++ community to homelessness. (Spoiler alert: the root cause is almost always white supremacists.)

Via Amnesty International:

[Governments] must also address the impunity that surrounds violence based on gender or sexual orientation and identity. They must take urgent steps to address violence against women and girls and its root causes and to protect LGBTI people from all forms of violence. ... US vice-president Kamala Harris visited Guatemala in June and agreed with President Giammattei to address the root causes of migration, including inequality, corruption and the flawed rule of law. ... Members of the US Congress reintroduced the Housing is a Human Right Act to address the root causes of homelessness and transition the growing number of people experiencing homelessness into housing and other shelter.

Given the psychological, social, and economic implications of widespread infertility  so pervasive as to generate a cottage industry, charging patients in excess of $30,000 for IVF  one might expect the governing authorities, who love us and wish us to be happy, to investigate those relevant root causes.

Via Pew Charitable Trusts:

When the economy takes a downward turn, couples often temporarily put off having children. But in the years following the Great Recession, births never rebounded. Instead, fertility has largely continued to follow a downward trajectory across the country, falling to a record low in 2020. State budgets have started to feel the effects of this long-term decline. The future course of fertility represents a key source of fiscal uncertainty for states as smaller working-age populations may eventually threaten tax bases. Total U.S. population growth hit a record low last year as the pandemic exacerbated some of these issues.

But, again, we are met with radio silence on the root causes of infertility and the consequent demand for IVF.

There are multiple explanations for this silence, including but not limited to

the above-alluded-to pharmaceutical profiteering;

The proven damage to the female reproductive system caused by the COVID-19 shots and the desire to avoid a fulsome investigation that might incriminate the government and Pfizer/Moderna;

the convenient excuse that a dwindling native population provides to import migrants by the millions as replacement workers to prop up the economy; and

the cornucopia of toxic chemicals dumped into the food, water, and drug supplies, the removal of which would necessitate massive industry overhaul and result in potentially crippling tort litigation if publicly acknowledged

Related: White House Nutrition Advisor Claims Lucky Charms Are Healthier Than Chicken

Yet, when we get down to brass tacks, we the rabble of the world are rapidly coming to the increasingly undeniable consensus that what ultimate agenda lies at the heart of unaddressed infertility  and so many other issues of our day  is far darker than most of us would care to acknowledge.

Now, we put out a lot of carbon dioxide every year  over 26 billion tons And somehow, we have to make changes that will bring that down to zero This equation has four factors, a little bit of multiplication. ...

So youve got a thing on the left, CO2, that you want to get to zero, and thats going to be based on the number of people, the services each person is using on average, the energy, on average, for each service, and the CO2 being put out per unit of energy. So lets look at each one of these, and see how we can get this down to zero. Probably, one of these numbers is going to have to get pretty near to zero. [cut to slide of picture of useless eaters, audience laughter ensues]

Bill Gates, 2010

Ben Bartee, author of Broken English Teacher: Notes From Exile, is an independent Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs.

Follow his stuff Substack. Also, keep tabs via Twitter.

For hip Armageddon Prose t-shirts, hats, etc., peruse the merch store.

Support always welcome via insta-tip jar.

Image via Unsplash.
A recent MSNBC panel led by Rachel Maddow appeared incredulous that Virginia voters are concerned about illegal immigration and would like to see our borders secured. The diverse all-woman panel yukked it up over the backwardness of the rubes of the Old Dominion. Maddow noted that Virginia does share a border with West Virginia, however, and intimated that perhaps the voters should be more concerned with keeping the deplorable yahoos in that state from entering Virginia.

This was a remarkably repulsive  and public  display of disdain for average Americans, even for the likes of MSNBC, especially considering that illegal immigration now ranks as the number-one concern among Americans overall, for several excellent reasons, expense, crime, and human- and drug-trafficking among them.

It is hard to imagine a group of alleged journalists being more out of touch. Given the tone of conversation, it wouldnt have been surprising to hear Maddow or one of her associates exclaim, Let them eat cake!

Sadly, Maddows show is quite popular. It is hard to believe there are those who get their news from despicable clowns like these.

Image via Pixnio.
The historic D-Day landing by Allied forces on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, marked the beginning of a crucial phase in World War IIthe liberation of France and the rest of Western Europe. In the aftermath of the storming of the beaches, a wave of jubilation, relief, and hope surged through the liberated towns and villages as Allied troops and resistance fighters swept across France, bringing an end to years of occupation, violence, and despair.

Amidst the celebrations, however, a darker undercurrent emerged. Many individuals, burdened by the anguish and trauma of war, directed their pent-up emotions towards those perceived as collaborators with the enemy. This led to a period known as the epuration sauvage, marked by a series of executions, public humiliations, and assaults targeting suspected collaborators.

Approximately 9,000 members of the pro-Nazi French Militia faced summary execution during this tumultuous time. Women accused of "collaboration horizontale,"associating romantically or sexually with German soldiers bore the brunt of public outrage. Subjected to degrading acts such as having their heads shaved, being stripped half-naked, and publicly paraded while facing taunts, stones, kicks, and spitting, they symbolized the betrayal felt by their communities during the war.

Many of these shorn women were merely prostitutes who had engaged in professional services for the occupying Germans. Some were subjected to rape, while others became targets of personal vendettas, framed and falsely accused. Yet, there were also cases where women had only fleeting encounters with the enemy. Ann Mah recounts the story of a funeral wreath maker in Toulouse, who, while working at home with an open window, conversed briefly with a passing German soldier. Despite the soldier never setting foot inside her home and the entire interaction occurring at the window, a witness recalled the incident after the liberation, leading to the woman being dragged from her house, shaved, stripped, and paraded through the town. Similarly, Antony Beevor mentions the plight of a cleaner in the local German military headquarters in Villedieu, who found herself victimized by the mob's fury.

Many victims were young mothers, their husbands confined to German prisoner-of-war camps. Struggling to survive during the war, they often had no means of support, resorting to liaisons with German soldiers as their sole means of obtaining food for themselves and their children. The accusers, driven not by moral indignation but by sheer jealousy, resented the food and luxuries these women had received as a result of their actions.

Regardless of their social standing or reputation, women accused of collaboration horizontale found themselves exposed to public scorn. Even French actress Arletty was not spared, found guilty for her liaison with a Luftwaffe officer. She endured the humiliation of having her head shaved and a swastika drawn on her naked scalp, paraded through the streets while enduring the jeers and spittle of the mob. As Antony Beevor notes, it was not the fact that Arletty had slept with the enemy which angered them, but the way she had eaten well in the Hotel Ritz while the rest of France was hungry.

While the victims were almost always women, the perpetrators were typically men who acted without legal mandate or official authority from the courts. While some were indeed loyal members of the resistance, many were collaborators themselves, using these acts of retribution to deflect attention away from their own lack of resistance credentials.

The humiliation meted out to these women sickened many French people and the Allied troops. In Bayeux, Churchill's private secretary Jock Colville recorded his reactions to one such scene. "I watched an open lorry drive past, to the accompaniment of boos and catcalls from the French populace, with a dozen miserable women in the back, every hair on their heads shaved off. They were in tears, hanging their heads in shame. While disgusted by this cruelty, I reflected that we British had known no invasion or occupation for some 900 years. So we were not the best judges."

The scale of the wild purge is staggering, with at least 20,000 French women documented as having their heads shaved as a form of punishment and public humiliation. However, historian Antony Beevor suggests that the actual figures could be much higher, reflecting the widespread nature of these reprisals.

The practice of head shaving as a means of punishment was not limited to France; it extended to other countries occupied by Germany during World War II, including Belgium, Italy, and, to a lesser extent, the Netherlands. In Norway, women accused of horizontal collaboration faced public exile, arrest, or internment instead of having their heads shaved. Moreover, any children born from relationships between local women and German soldiers were also viewed as part of the betrayal and subjected to exile.

In a significant gesture towards reconciliation, in October 2018, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg publicly apologized to the victims and their children for the injustices they endured following the liberation.
A former Google employee and Chinese national was charged with stealing trade secrets, the U.S. Justice Department said today. The defendant worked as a software engineer at Google, mostly working on machine learning and artificial intelligence technology. The former employee, 38-year-old Linwei Ding, allegedly stole over 500 files related to proprietary AI technology from Google. Ding was working for two companies based in China at the time, according to prosecutors. The stolen documents are about the hardware infrastructure and software platform that allow Googles supercomputing data centers to train large AI models through machine learning, per the filings.

The Justice Department will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that could put our national security at risk, said Merrick Garland, the U.S. Attorney General, in a statement reported by NPR. We will fiercely protect sensitive technologies developed in America from falling into the hands of those who should not have them.

Advertisement

Advertisement

How the former Google employee was stealing trade secrets

Ding started working at Google in 2019, and allegedly began stealing trade secrets in 2022. He is said to have uploaded confidential Google files to a personal Google Cloud account. Then, Ding allegedly accepted an offer from the China-based Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology company to become its CTO. In 2023, Ding is claimed to have created his own company, known as Zhisuan. The former employee failed to notify Google that he was working for either of the two companies.

Google first noticed that Ding was attempting to steal files in December 2023. Then, the company investigated, and Ding eventually resigned from Google and bought a one-way flight to China. After, the Federal Bureau of Investigation started looking into the matter.

Todays charges are the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the Peoples Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation, FBI Director Christopher Wray said. The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences.

Advertisement

Google thanked the FBI for getting involved

Google thanked the FBI for stepping in. It also told NPR that there are strict safeguards to prevent theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets in place at the company.

After an investigation, we found that this employee stole numerous documents, and we quickly referred the case to law enforcement, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said in a statement to NPR. We are grateful to the FBI for helping protect our information and will continue cooperating with them closely.

Now, the proceedings will continue. Ding is up against four counts of stealing trade secrets. Each count comes with a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. Additionally, Ding could also be fined $250,000 for each count.
New and hot terms: Two Sessions 2024

People's Daily Online) 10:44, March 07, 2024

"New trio"

There was a 30-percent increase in exports of the "new trio," namely, electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products.

Ultra-long special treasury bonds

To systematically address funding shortages facing some major projects for building a great country and advancing national rejuvenation, it is proposed that starting this year and over each of the next several years, ultra-long special treasury bonds be issued. These bonds will be used to implement major national strategies and build up security capacity in key areas.

The consistency of macro policy orientation

We should enhance the consistency of macro policy orientation. To promote overall national development, we should strengthen coordination between fiscal, monetary, employment, industrial, regional, scientific and technological, and environmental policies and include non-economic policies in the evaluation of the consistency of macro policy orientation. Policy coordination should be enhanced so that all policies are well-aligned and form synergy.

New quality productive forces

We should give full rein to the leading role of innovation, spur industrial innovation by making innovations in science and technology and press ahead with new industrialization, so as to raise total factor productivity, steadily foster new growth drivers and strengths, and promote a new leap forward in the productive forces.

Future-oriented industries

We will formulate development plans for the industries of the future, open up new fields such as quantum technology and life sciences, and create a number of zones for pioneering the development of future-oriented industries.

AI Plus

We will step up R&D and application of big data and AI, launch an AI Plus initiative, and build digital industry clusters with international competitiveness.

A new development model for real estate

We will, in response to the trend of new urbanization and supply and demand changes in the housing market, move faster to foster a new development model for real estate. We will scale up the building and supply of government-subsidized housing and improve the basic systems for commodity housing to meet peoples essential need for a home to live in and their different demands for better housing.

A nationally unified computational system

We will develop appropriately future-oriented digital infrastructure and work faster to create a nationally unified computational system.

"Worry-free consumption" initiative

To improve the consumption environment, we will launch a year-long program to stimulate consumption and roll out a "worry-free consumption" initiative. We will strengthen protection of consumer rights and interests and implement paid leave.

Invest in China

We will strengthen services for foreign investors and make China a favored destination for foreign investment.

Pilot zones for the Beautiful China Initiative

We will launch pilot zones for the Beautiful China Initiative and foster pacesetters for green and low-carbon development.

One-stop government services

We will press ahead with building a digital government and promote one-stop government services to enhance our service levels.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
South Alamo Street will be turned into one southbound lane as construction workers install utilities later this month. City of San Antonio

South Alamo Street from Market Street to Cesar Chavez Boulevard will be converted to one single southbound lane later this month.

The city says the new traffic configuration is necessary so the contractor can install utilities and complete roadway reconstruction. The single southbound lane will remain until the project is complete. The city did not provide a specific date.

READ MORE: What you need to know about a potential Spurs arena in downtown San Antonio

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

At the same time, the city will be closing the northwest quadrant of the intersection of Nueva and South Alamo streets to "install chill water and make a tie-in," according to the city.

Nueva will be accessible to two-way traffic off Presa Street, allowing eastbound traffic to turn right onto South Alamo.
Last month, Samsung announced that its Galaxy Buds lineup of TWS earbuds will soon receive an update with new features for enhanced audio quality and deeper integration with the Galaxy ecosystem. The promised update is now rolling out to the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. It brings Auto Switch support for laptops and Auracast stability improvements.

Galaxy Buds 2 Pro update brings Auto Switch and Auracast improvements

Samsungs Galaxy Buds support auto switching of connection between phones and TVs depending on the need. For example, if you are watching something on your Samsung TV with your Galaxy Buds and receive a call on your phone, the Buds with automatically switch the connection to the phone. The connection will switch back to the TV when the call ends.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Samsung is now adding Galaxy Book laptops to the mix. With the latest update, your Galaxy Buds 2 Pro will automatically switch the connection between your paired laptop, phone, or TV as per the need. The company says your Galaxy Book must support Samsung Settings v6.0.0 or later for Auto Switch to work. Auto Switch also works with Galaxy Watches.

The official release notes for the latest update, which comes with the firmware build number R510XXUOAXB4 and weighs 6MB, also mention stability and reliability for Auracast. An Auracast and device operation-related stabilization code has been applied, Samsung states. This likely means the company has improved Auracast support for TVs introduced last year.

Auracast transforms your Samsung TV into a shared radio station that can be broadcast across multiple connected Galaxy Buds. Samsung last month said a new update for its earbuds will bring this function to Galaxy phones and tablets, including the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy Tab S9 series. However, the latest update for the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro doesnt seem to add it.

Advertisement

Samsung might be laying the foundation before expanding Auracast to its mobile devices. Other promised features, such as 360 Audio for TVs and optimized AI Interpreter for earbuds, are also missing, at least from the changelog. The company may soon push another update to the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro with these features. Other Galaxy Buds models may also get this update in the coming weeks.

Check for an update from the Galaxy Wearable app

Samsung lets you manually check for new firmware updates for your wearable devices from the Galaxy Wearable app on a connected smartphone. Open the app, select the device, and head to the Settings section to check for updates. If you dont see any update for your Galaxy Buds 2 Pro today, wait a few days and check again. You may also get a notification when the update is available for you.
Days after the launch of the Galaxy F15 5G, Samsung debuted another affordable Android smartphone. The company silently launched the Galaxy M14 in India. It is an entry-level offering without 5G connectivity. The device may arrive in some neighboring countries but may not go global.

Samsung launched the Galaxy M14 without any fanfare

In March 2023, Samsung launched the Galaxy M14 5G as an entry-level 5G smartphone. A year later, the company introduced a 4G version without much fanfare, though cellular connectivity isnt the only change. The new phone is a lot different from its 5G-enabled namesake. For starters, it measures 168789mm in dimension and weighs 194 grams. The 2023 model is 166.877.29.4mm and 206 grams.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The latter is thicker and heavier because it packs a 6,000mAh battery. Samsung is offering a 5,000mAh unit on the Galaxy M14 while maintaining 25W fast charging. The new phones taller and wider profile, meanwhile, allowed for a 6.7-inch display instead of a 6.6-inch one. It is still an IPS LCD panel with Full HD+ resolution (10802400 pixels), a 90Hz refresh rate, and a waterdrop-shaped notch.

The notch houses a 13MP selfie camera, unchanged from the 5G model. The rear camera setup is also unchanged. You get a 50MP primary shooter, 2MP depth camera, and 2MP macro camera. The phone can record 1080p videos with its front and rear cameras. The Galaxy M14 is powered by Qualcomms Snapdragon 680 processor with up to 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. The phone supports a microSD card.

Samsungs Galaxy F15 5G received a lot of media attention earlier this week. This is likely because it is an affordable 5G phone guaranteed to receive a segment-first four major Android OS updates and five years of security patches. Sadly, the Galaxy M14 doesnt get the same support. It will only receive two generations of Android upgrades and four years of security updates.

Advertisement

Worse yet, the Galaxy M14 runs Android 13 out of the box. So, it will not receive updates beyond Android 15, which should arrive in a year or so. Samsung might argue that its an entry-level product, but we would have still liked it to ship the device with Android 14. Other known specs include a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, dual-SIM support, GPS, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.2, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Price and availability

Samsung is selling the Galaxy M14 in India through Amazon. The device is available in Arctic Blue and Sapphire Blue colors. The 4GB+64GB variant costs 8,499 (approx. $102), while the 6GB+128GB variant is priced at 11,499 (approx. $138). There is no word yet on its availability in other markets.
Samsung recently released the March 2024 security update for the Galaxy S24 series. The update is widely available in the US, Canada, and Europe. However, the latest security patch is not yet available for any other device. In the meantime, the company is pushing last months release to more Galaxy phones and tablets. The Galaxy Tab S8 series, Galaxy A42 5G, Galaxy A23 5G, and a few other devices recently received the February security update.

February update rolling out to the Galaxy Tab S8 and others

The Galaxy Tab S8, Galaxy Tab S8+, and Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra are currently picking up the February security update in Asia, SamMobile reports. The update is rolling out widely for 5G and Wi-Fi versions with the firmware build number ending in CXB5. A global rollout should follow soon. Last months SMR (Security Maintenance Release) patches more than 60 Android OS and Galaxy vulnerabilities, including a few critical ones.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The February update for the Galaxy A23 is currently limited to Verizon units in the US. The device is receiving the new security patch with the build number A236VSQS3CXB2. The Galaxy A42 5G is also initially getting the update in the US with firmware version A426USQS8EXB2. The update for both devices should go global soon. That said, these devices dont get monthly security updates, so Samsung could skip the February SMR in some regions.

The same applies to the likes of the Galaxy F54 5G, Galaxy M14 5G, and Galaxy A13. All of these phones are receiving last months security patches in various countries. The updated build numbers for the trio are E546BXXS4BXB1, M146BXXS3BXB1, and A135FXXS6DXB1, respectively. Samsung may or may not expand the rollout globally for these devices. You should get a notification once the update hits your Galaxy phone.

Advertisement

Alternatively, you can navigate to Settings > Software update > Download and install to check for updates manually. Since updates are rolled out in batches, it may take a while before all eligible units in a region receive the latest release. If you dont see any updates today, you can repeat the steps to check again later. Make sure that you have sufficient battery charge before installing an update.

The March 2024 SMR is on the way for Galaxy devices

Samsung will soon open the floodgates for the March 2024 SMR. The likes of the Galaxy S23 series and the latest foldables should pick up the latest security patch in the next few days, with others following closely. As usual, we will keep you posted on the rollouts. There are rumors that the March update will bring Galaxy S24s AI features to the Galaxy S23 trio. These AI features will also roll out to other devices in the coming months.
The Menchaca Early Childhood Center at Southside ISD. The district has been under TEA control for seven years but has improved its governance enough for the agency to withdraw its conservator. Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer

After seven years of heightened oversight due to governance problems and noncompliance with state procurement rules, the Texas Education Agency is loosening its grip on Southside Independent School District.

The district will no longer be under the control of a state-appointed conservator, marking a significant milestone in its journey towards educational excellence, a news release said.

The TEA assigned the conservator in 2017 after a special accreditation investigation found that trustees were unable to govern and were acting individually on behalf of the board in violation of the state education code.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Investigators also said the district failed to comply with contract procurement requirements.

Conditions were bad enough for TEA Commissioner Mike Morath to replace all seven elected trustees with a five-member board of managers. The district was, however, able to retain the superintendent the trustees had hired earlier that year  the fifth top leader since 2015, counting three interim superintendents.

A new superintendent was again hired in 2020, and Sylvia Reyna took over the role of conservator in 2022 as the district started transitioning back from appointed members to an elected board. That same year, Southside ISD improved its state accountability score from a failing grade to a B, largely on the strength of its improved test scores after pandemic-era disruptions to classroom learning.

The district, which serves almost 6,000 students across eight schools in a still rural area along Bexar Countys southern suburban edge, said it was able to exit state oversight because it met all criteria mandated by the TEA.

Board President Jesse Hernandez thanked Reyna and the TEA for their invaluable support and dedication to Southside ISD and applauded the transformation the district has undergone since coming under state scrutiny.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The hard work and commitment of the administration, staff and students have been instrumental in meeting this wonderful achievement, he said in a statement.

Superintendent Rolando Ramirez echoed the sentiment, saying that while he is immensely proud of the districts progress, efforts to improve have only just begun.
Lord David Cameron said there was incredible unity between allies when asked about a leaked call between German military officials about Ukraine which included details of UK operations.

The Foreign Secretarys visit to Berlin on Thursday came just days after Russia intercepted a telephone conversation in which officials were heard suggesting British service personnel were on the ground in Ukraine.

He was asked at a press conference alongside his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock whether he agreed with Berlins assessment that trust among allies was unbroken.

Lord Cameron said: I dont want to play into the hands of some Russian narrative about divisions between allies. What I see  is incredible unity between allies, incredible unity in Nato.

Of course, were going to have areas where we want to discuss what more we can do, what more we can help. And those are the sorts of discussions that good friends and allies with this unity have in private.

His visit also came as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faced continued pressure from Western allies and politicians in Berlin to supply Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles.

Mr Scholz has been unwilling to send the Taurus cruise missiles to Kyiv on the grounds that German soldiers would have to be sent to Ukraine to help operate them, dragging Germany into war with Russia.

Asked whether the UK is pushing Berlin to send its Taurus missiles, Lord Cameron said it was a matter for the German government to decide and that he could only speak for Britains experience of how effective these weapons have been at helping Ukraine to fight off this illegal aggression.

Peace will be achieved through strength, he said.

You get peace by demonstrating that Putin cannot win, you get peace by helping the Ukrainians deliver what they need on the battlefield.

He also downplayed concerns about a possible escalation of the conflict.

At every stage its been said if you give anti-tank weapons to the Ukraine, thats escalation. No, it wasnt.

If you give tanks to the Ukrainians, thats escalation. No, it wasnt. If you give long-range artillery or long-range fires to the Ukrainians, its escalation. No, it isnt.

I think the reason for that is clear. If what youre doing is helping a country defend itself from illegal and completely unjustified aggression, then there should be nothing to stop you helping that country to fight back to recover its territory.

As long as were not in a situation where a Nato soldier is killing a Russian soldier, we are not causing escalation. Were allowing Ukraine to defend itself.

Downing Street has previously urged Nato countries to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles, following the UKs decision to send Storm Shadow missiles to the country last year.

In a sign of disagreement within the German government over the Taurus issue, Ms Baerbock said in her remarks that countries needed to do whatever they can to provide Ukraine with the means it needs to defend itself, including more long-range weapons.

In their talks, Lord Cameron and Ms Baerbock also discussed illegal immigration and the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.
Lord David Cameron is to visit Berlin on Thursday for talks with his German counterpart, warning that the West cannot insulate ourselves from crises around the globe.

The Foreign Secretarys visit comes as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces continued pressure from Western allies and politicians in Berlin to supply Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles.

Downing Street has previously urged Nato countries to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles, following the UKs decision to send Storm Shadow missiles to the country last year.

Mr Scholz has been unwilling to send Taurus missiles to Kyiv on the grounds that German soldiers would have to be sent to Ukraine to help operate them, dragging Germany into war with Russia.

But a leaked telephone conversation last week suggested the countrys senior officers believe they can be operated without the presence of German troops.

The leak also suggested that UK personnel were already operating in Ukraine, prompting concern in London that German officers were discussing sensitive details on an unencrypted line.

Lord Cameron is set to meet Germanys foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, during his visit to discuss co-operation on shared challenges such as Russian aggression, and plans for continued military support for Ukraine.

Ahead of his visit, the Foreign Secretary said: The city of Berlin is a reminder of the destructive power of war. Just over 30 years ago I saw the wall that divided the country fall and peace restored to the continent.

Today I stand here at a time of danger and uncertainty in the world again, with Russias illegal war in Ukraine continuing to rage on.

But we cannot insulate ourselves from crises around the globe. Our response needs to be one of strength, resilience and unity. We need to build up our defences, stay close to our strongest friends, such as Germany, and reach out to new allies.

The two foreign ministers are also expected to discuss efforts to secure a pause in the fighting in Gaza and co-operation on tackling people smugglers.

The meeting is the second annual session of the UK-Germany Strategic Dialogue, established to discuss co-operation on foreign and security policy between the two nations.
On-the-run mother Constance Marten has wept in court as she denied endangering her baby, saying: I did nothing but show her love.

The aristocrat, 36, and her partner Mark Gordon, 49, are on trial over the death of baby Victoria while living off-grid in a tent on the South Downs in wintry conditions last year.

Victoria was found dead in a Lidl bag last March 1 after the couple had been on the run for seven weeks in a bid to prevent her being taken into care as four siblings had been.

On Thursday, Marten went into the witness box at the Old Bailey to give evidence in her defence.

Her barrister Francis FitzGibbon KC asked her: Did you do anything to harm baby Victoria?

Marten replied: Absolutely not.

Mr FitzGibbon said: Did you do anything cruel to baby Victoria?

Marten said: No. I did nothing but show her love.

Mr FitzGibbon said: So far as you are concerned, did you give her anything less than the proper care you thought she deserved?

Marten replied: I gave her the best that any mother would, yeah.

She told jurors Victoria died last January 9, saying: I do not think it is anything I will ever move on from.

I feel guilty because she was in my arms. I feel like its not an easy thing to live with. I think initially it was disbelief, shock, intense grief.

Mr FitzGibbon said: What happened to Victoria?

CTTV of Constance Marten holding baby Victoria under her coat in East Ham (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Marten replied: I had her in my jacket and when I woke up my head was on the floor. And when I was sitting up and when I woke up she was not alive.

She told jurors she considered cremating Victoria after placing her inside the supermarket bag.

She said: I had a thousand different thoughts going on in my head. I immediately panicked.

I just didnt know what to do. They are going to have a field day out of this  the media and press and social services, everyone.

She was in my care and the next thing she died. I thought, How am I going to get my kids back now Victoria has passed away?

Marten said that in the end she could not bring herself to burn Victorias body.

Gordon suggested they call it quits and just have a fire and say goodbye to life, jurors were told.

The defendant said: We had just had enough by that point.

CCTV image of Constance Marten, Mark Gordon and baby Victoria in a kebab shop in east London (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Earlier, Marten told jurors she came from a wealthy family and was privately educated before studying Arabic at Leeds University.

She travelled extensively and worked for Al Jazeera, the Middle Eastern news station, before she met Gordon in an Indian incense shop in 2014, and they married in a Peruvian ceremony.

She had a long history of issues with her family, who never met Gordon.

She said her trust fund was cut off overnight when she was expecting her first child but she was receiving 2,000 a month after the birth of her second.

Marten became tearful when she was asked if she had ever harmed any of her five children.

She said: Mark and I love our kids more than anything in the world so Im pretty angry about the fact they had to go through this process. Its not good enough.

Challenged on the prosecution suggestion that she and Gordon put their interests ahead of the children, she said: No, there is literally nothing I would not do for my children.

By December 2022 she was moving around the country to avoid social services taking her unborn baby away, jurors heard.

On December 24 2022, Victoria was born in secret in the bedroom of a hired cottage in Park View, Northumberland, the court heard.

Marten said: I wanted to keep Victoria with us so I did not want to tell anyone about the birth.

I was in good health physically but I was in a high state of anxiety. I thought someone was going to bash down the door and take her away. I was joyful but at the same time anxious.

On January 5 last year, the couple fled the scene when their car burst into flames on a motorway near Bolton, Greater Manchester, with Marten leaving behind her bag, bank card and 34 burner phones.

Greater Manchester Police launched a nationwide search after a placenta was also found in the burnt-out vehicle.

Photo of a placenta found wrapped in a towel on the back seat of the burnt-out Peugeot 206 (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Marten described travelling from the North West to Essex, where she first learned of the media alert from a member of the public.

She said: I think Mark and I were in a state of panic with all the media attention and not knowing what to do. I was hyper vigilant.

They moved on to East Ham in east London to try to blend in but found the opposite effect, she said.

We wanted to get a flat in East Ham but we realised there was no way that was going to happen.

Our options were slowly diminishing so we thought lets get a tent and lay low, away from prying eyes, Marten said.

They travelled to the port of Newhaven in East Sussex with a view to potentially smuggling themselves abroad, jurors heard.

Marten said they were only going to stay in the tent they had bought for a maximum of two days and then hire a holiday cottage.

Asked if she was concerned about Victoria being too cold, she said: Of course, she was my baby. I worried about her all the time.

If I thought for one second the cold would affect her, or it was too cold, or we did not have enough items to keep her warm, we would not stay in that position.

On whether a tent was a good place for a young baby, Marten said: It would be preferable to be in a house, thats just common sense. But at no point did we think she was in any danger.

She was our pride and joy.

The day before her death, Victoria seemed fine and was feeding and sleeping well, Marten said.

She said it was harrowing and too much to take in when she found Victoria had died.

But she did not seek medical attention because the baby was definitely not alive, Marten added.

The defendants, of no fixed address, deny manslaughter by gross negligence, perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and causing or allowing the death of a child.

The Old Bailey trial was adjourned until Friday.
On-the-run mother Constance Marten has denied harming her newborn daughter, saying: I did nothing but show her love.

Aristocrat Marten, 36, and her partner Mark Gordon, 49, are on trial over the death of baby Victoria while living off-grid in a tent on the South Downs in wintry conditions last year.

On Thursday, Marten went into the witness box to give evidence in her defence after Gordon declined the opportunity earlier in the week.

Defence barrister Francis FitzGibbon KC asked her: Did you do anything to harm baby Victoria?

Marten replied: Absolutely not.

Mr FitzGibbon said: Did you do anything cruel to baby Victoria?

Marten said: No. I did nothing but show her love.

She told jurors she did not expose her baby to cold or allow her to get too hot so far as she was aware.

Mr FitzGibbon said: So far as you are concerned, did you give her anything less than the proper care you thought she deserved?

Marten replied: I gave her the best that any mother would, yeah.

CCTV image dated 07/01/23 of of Constance Marten, Mark Gordon and baby Victoria in a German doner kebab shop in East Ham , London (Met Police/PA)

She told jurors Victoria died last January 9, saying: I do not think it is anything I will ever move on from.

She said: I feel guilty because she was in my arms. I feel like its not an easy thing to live with, adding: I think initially it was disbelief, shock, intense grief.

Greater Manchester Police had launched a nationwide search after a placenta was found in the couples burnt-out car by the motorway near Bolton, Greater Manchester, last January 5.

It is alleged the defendants went on the run because they wanted to keep their daughter, after four other children were taken into care.

Days after the defendants arrest last February 27, Victorias badly decomposed body was found in a Lidl bag inside an allotment shed in Brighton, East Sussex.

While the cause of her death is unascertained, jurors have heard she could have died from the cold or co-sleeping.

Marten told police Victoria died when she fell asleep in the tent while holding her under her jacket.

The court has heard Marten had previously been warned by social workers of the risks of falling asleep with the baby on her and that a tent would be wholly inappropriate for a baby to live in.

Marten told jurors how she came from a wealthy family and was privately educated before studying Arabic at Leeds University.

She went on to travel extensively to Egypt, India, Nepal, Nigeria, Uganda and South America and worked for Al Jazeera, the Middle Eastern news station.

CTTV dated 07/01/23 of Constance Marten holding baby Victoria under her coat outside Special Connection in East Ham, London (Met Police/PA)

She met Gordon in 2014 in an shop selling incense and they had a marriage ceremony in Peru two years later, although it was not legally binding.

She said Gordon did not meet her relatives as the relationship with her family had broken down and there was a long history of issues.

Jurors were told how her trust fund was cut off overnight when she was heavily pregnant with her first child but by the time of her second, she was being given some 2,000 a month.

Marten denied ever thinking about giving birth in a tent when her first baby was born in 2017.

Mr FitzGibbon asked: Do you recall being given any advice by anybody at that time about the risk of falling asleep whilst breastfeeding a baby?

She replied: I was a few months later when I was in the mother and baby unit.

Marten said she had a bad experience with the birth of her first child in the NHS and felt she had made a bet with the devil in her dealings with social services.

She said became distrustful after she was advised against giving birth to her second child at home because the baby was huge.

She said: I panicked and got a private scan. They said there is nothing wrong, of course you can have a home birth.

Marten also researched hypnobirth, but added: I do think that you should have scans to check the baby is in the right position and baby is OK but I dont think midwifery is necessary. Once you have had your first child a woman is quite intuitive.

Court artist sketch of Constance Marten being questioned by her barrister Francis FitzGibbon KC at the Old Bailey, central London. (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

Marten became tearful when she was asked if she had ever harmed any of her five children.

She said: Absolutely not. Mark and I love our kids more than anything in the world so Im pretty angry about the fact they had to go through this process. Its not good enough.

Challenged on the prosecution suggestion she and Gordon put their interests ahead of the children, she said: No, there is literally nothing I would not do for my children.

Ahead of a break in her evidence, Judge Mark Lucraft KC warned her not to speak to anyone and noted seeing Gordon pass her a note before she began her evidence.

He told her: He must not do that. Its you giving evidence, not him.

Later, Marten told jurors that in December 2022 she was moving around the country to avoid social services taking her unborn baby away, as her other four children had been.

An initial plan to move abroad with Gordon and their baby fell through, she said: I wanted to have Victoria with me for the first three to six monthsso I could give her the love she needs because I do not think it is fair to remove any child.

On December 24 2022, Victoria was born in secret in the bedroom of a hired cottage in Park View, Northumberland, the court heard.

Marten said: I wanted to keep Victoria with us so I did not want to tell anyone about the birth.

I was in good health physically but I was in a high state of anxiety. I thought someone was going to bash down the door and take her away. I was joyful but at the same time anxious.

Marten said her main fear was for Victoria when she fled the scene of the car fire near Bolton, leaving behind her bag and bank card.

She also abandoned 34 burner phones that she said she used to evade hired private investigators, who she said included retired police officers and ex-secret service officials.

Marten went on to describe travelling from the North West to Essex, where she learned from a member of the public about media reports about them.

She told jurors she had not slept much and was in a heightened state of panic.

She said: I think Mark and I were in a state of panic with all the media attention and not knowing what to do. I was hyper-vigilant.

They moved on to East Ham in east London to try to blend in but found it had the opposite effect leading to the decision to get a tent, the court heard.

She said: We wanted to get a flat in East Ham but we realised there was no way that was going to happen.

Our options were slowly diminishing so we thought lets get a tent and lay low away from prying eyes.

Marten denied ever carrying Victoria in a supermarket carrier bag.

The defendants, of no fixed address, deny manslaughter by gross negligence, perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and causing or allowing the death of a child.
Firefighters have brought a fire at a police station in east London under control after the roof of the building was completely alight.

Around 175 firefighters and 30 fire engines attended the blaze at Forest Gate police station on Romford Road, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.

In a video posted on X, Superintendent Dan Card spoke outside the smoking police station and thanked the firefighters for their swift response.

Im glad to report that the building was evacuated properly and no one has been reported as injured, he said. The fire has now been contained and the cause of the fire is not being treated as suspicious at this stage.

Firefighters tacking the blaze at Forest Gate police station (Ridwan Ahmed, PA)

Id like to reassure the residents of Newham that our policing response in the area has not been affected and we are able to continue to do our job of keeping the people of Newham and London safe.

The alarm was raised just after 4.15pm on Wednesday with firefighters from Stratford, Leytonstone, Plaistow and surrounding fire stations attending.

Four long turntable ladders were used to tackle the fire from height.

The LFB also confirmed the fire was under control and said crews would remain on scene into the night.

Crews are continuing to tackle the fire at #ForestGate Police Station. Four aerial appliances are being used by crews to attack the flames from above. Traffic in the surrounding area will remain heavily impacted into the night. https://t.co/qzYYEIzP2s pic.twitter.com/qRLhKwjQYl  London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) March 6, 2024

Earlier, the Metropolitan Police said on X, formerly Twitter, the fire was in the buildings third floor and the force was not aware of any injuries.

People living nearby were advised to keep their windows and doors closed because of the amount of smoke.

Road closures were in place and people were told to avoid the area, the LFB said.
Gary Goldsmith - Celebrity Big Brother (ITV)

Gary Goldsmith kicked off his Celebrity Big Brother stint by name dropping the Princess of Wales as his niece.

Never shy about his royal connections, the businessman - who is best known for being the brother of Carole Middleton - is expected to spill the beans on the royal family during his stay in the Celebrity Big Brother house and he has already started sharing some fascinating insights.

This is no surprise though because Goldsmith has been quite candid while speaking about the royal family, including his brutally honest opinions about Prince Harry and Meghan. This is exactly why TV bosses have signed Goldsmith up to the reality show. Goldsmith went as far to say he thinks Meghan and Prince Harry should be stripped of their royal titles. He said in Wednesday's episode: "I genuinely feel that they should take the titles away."

Here we take a look at what Goldsmith has said about the royal family in Celebrity Big Brother. Asked by Louis Walsh how much he can say, Goldsmith told him: "I can pretty much say my opinion about everything unless theres a red laser dot on my chest."

What has Gary Goldsmith said about Meghan?

Meghan Markle was brought up in Celebrity Big Brother. (Getty) (LISA O'CONNOR via Getty Images)

Walsh was the first person to ask him about Meghan. Not shying away from what he feels is the truth, Goldsmith said Meghan "rewrote history" when she fell in love with Prince Harry.

He said: "I have a feeling that Harry was massively loved and when they were a threesome [Prince Harry and William and Princess Catherine] they looked really comfortable together and then suddenly an extra dynamic comes in, puts a stick in the spokes and now there is so much drama that I genuinely don't think was there, and rewrote the history and said how unhappy he was. And I just don't think that's fair."

What has Gary Goldsmith said about Prince Harry?

Prince Harry has been topic of conversation in Celebrity Big Brother. (Getty) (Handout via Getty Images)

Having previously said Prince Harry was "massively loved", he shared his hopes that he will return to the UK one day. Goldsmith said: "I just think it's really sad because at some point he's going to come back and be part of the gang. I think he might need to. I think we're a very forgiving nation."

What has Gary Goldsmith said about Kate?

The Princess of Wales always puts family first. (Getty) (Samir Hussein via Getty Images)

TV host Will Best grilled Goldsmith about whether the Princess of Wales will be watching Celebrity Big Brother ahead of his dramatic arrival. "The nation needs to know," he pressed. Goldsmith cheekily quipped that his niece would possibly be hiding if she was watching. In tongue and cheek, the reality TV star said: "If she is it will be behind a sofa, I guess."

Introducing himself to the world, Goldsmith wasted no time in mentioning the royal family and in particular Kate who he gushed was "simply perfect". "I'm Gary Goldsmith, the uncle to the future queen of our country," he said. "Catherine Middleton, the current Princess of Wales. She is simply perfect."

Naturally the stars in the Celebrity Big Brother house are interested in his royal connections and questions have begun to arise. Louis Walsh questioned Goldsmith further over his connection to Kate and how it had impacted him. He asked him: "Is it difficult for you, being related to famous people?"

Showing his playful humour, Goldsmith admitted that at times he has been a "bad uncle". He said: "I didnt vote for it, it happened to me, and then suddenly theres a spotlight on you... They call me the buncle! Have you heard of a buncle? Bad uncle, apparently every family has them."

In a more serious moment, Goldsmith praised his niece for putting her family first. He added: "Its difficult to get hold of Kate at the best of times, and shes got children and I love the fact that shes putting family first."

Goldsmith was grilled over Kate's surgery as Ekin-Su Culculoglu asked what the nation is thinking: "Where is Kate?"

He replied: "Because she doesn't want to talk about it, there's a code of etiquette. If it's announced, I'll give you my opinion. I spoke to her mum, my sister, she's getting the best care in the world and all the family's done is put the wagon down to put family first."

And he added: "She'll be back, of course she will."

What has Gary Goldsmith said about Prince William?

The Prince of Wales is very down to earth, according to Gary Goldsmith. (Getty) (Chris Jackson via Getty Images)

As well as having a lot of love for Kate, Goldsmith praised Prince William for being "very normal". Looking back at when they met for the first time, the businessman remembered being struck with how down-to-earth the prince was.

Of meeting William, he said: "The first time I met William, Catherine was cooking and William said, 'Hi do you want a cup of tea?' Very normal." Plus, Goldsmith told Walsh that both Prince William and Kate are the "saviours of the royal family".

Goldsmith has made no secret of his love for Kate and William as he has often had great praise for both of them. The uncle also attended their royal wedding at Westminster Abbey while the world was watching on back in 2011.

Also Goldsmith praised Prince William while discussing the royals with Fern Britton. He said: "He's done an amazing job in that horrible situation and he's had an olive branch open all the time for his brother to come back."

What has Gary Goldsmith said about King Charles?

King Charles pictured with Queen Camilla. (Getty) (Max Mumby/Indigo via Getty Images)

So far, Goldsmith has been quite tight lipped on King Charles but what he has said has been incredibly positive. The Celebrity Big Brother star praised the monarch for his "spectacular" work. He told his Celebrity Big Brother housemates: "I will say, Charles has done a spectacular job."

But we know the other Celebrity Big Brother housemates will have more questions and we can't wait to see what else Goldsmith has to say about his royal connections.

Read more
Israel is reckless with the lives of civilians in Gaza, Irelands deputy premier has said.

Micheal Martin also said Ireland is actively pursuing the possibility of contributing to multinational efforts of airdropping aid into Gaza.

However, he said the most effective way to get meaningful volumes of aid into Gaza would be for Israel to open corridors and checkpoints on the ground.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin says that Israel should open corridors and checkpoints on the ground to help get aid into Gaza (Niall Carson/PA)

Speaking in the Irish parliament on Thursday, Mr Martin said: Many countries are trying to bring an end to the conflict and I know that.

I have no doubt that many in the US want this to end  but Israel is reckless with its own allies.

And Israel is reckless with the region but above all, its reckless in terms of the lives of ordinary Gazans and the people of Gaza.

Absolutely reckless in terms of allowing whats happening to happen on a daily basis.

He said there had been a complete collapse of societal cohesion and order in Gaza.

Mr Martin said Irelands priority is an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and a peace plan.

He was responding to Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns who said the war in Gaza had revealed powerful Western states to be immoral hypocrites.

Speaking during Leaders Questions, she told Mr Martin: They only value international law when its their enemies  not their allies  that are in breach.

Their shameful record in Gaza amounts to the normalisation of mass murder and devastation. They wag their fingers at the Israeli government occasionally but continue to support them and arm them.

Its their bombs and their bullets that have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians.

Its not just the United States that is engaged in this, arms exports from Germany to Israel have increased tenfold since October.

Weapons from Germany now make up nearly 30% of Israels total military imports. Genocide is a nice little earner for the German arms industry.

Ms Cairns said the UK had also not paused the supply of weapons despite raising concerns about possible breaches of international human rights law.

She said she acknowledged the Government had condemned Israels brutality but added: People all over Ireland are still waiting for you to follow those words with actions.

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns (Brian Lawless/PA)

She said the parliament could enact laws that would make it an offence to import goods originating in occupied territories and impose restrictions on the investment of Irish assets in Israeli settlements.

She also said the Government could recognise the state of Palestine and issue travel bans for Israeli settlers.

Mr Martin, who is the Irish foreign minister, said Ireland has not lost its moral compass and said he agreed that other countries should stop sending arms to Israel if they want the conflict to end.

He said that Ireland had shown leadership in continuing to support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

He added that Ireland had made a robust legal submission to the International Court of Justice on Israels occupation of Palestinian territories.

Mr Martin said Ireland is working with other European countries on the subject of recognising Palestine.
ITV said its profits dropped last year as the broadcaster found it challenging to encourage advertisers to spend money on traditional TV commercials.

The company behind Love Island reported growth at some of its business units, but it proved a struggle to keep its advertising take up.

Profit fell from 501 million in 2022 to 193 million before tax last year, ITV said.

It was what the business calls linear advertising  the industrys word for the ads shown on television rather than online  which really struggled.

ITV said it had seen a severe decline of 15% in linear advertising, as companies that normally advertise were more cautious because of the poor global economy. However, digital revenue performed much better, increasing 19% to 490 million.

Reduced advertising spending is also hitting international broadcasters, meaning they have less money to spend on TV programmes from ITV Studios, the company said.

ITV told investors on Thursday: 2024 will be impacted by the 2023 US writers and actors strikes, which will delay around 80 million of revenue from 2024 to 2025, as well as weaker demand from free-to-air broadcasters in Europe who are holding back spend until they see more certainty in the advertising market.

But that will come off the back of a record year for ITV Studios profit and revenue, as it produced hit shows including Love Island, a format which has now been sold to 27 countries, and Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which was ITVs biggest new drama for more than 10 years.

Chief executive Carolyn McCall said: In 2023 we saw the benefit of the actions we have taken to reposition ITV towards higher sustainable growth.

Our Studios business recorded the highest ever revenues and profits, and in its first year ITVX delivered strong growth in viewing and digital revenue with investment on plan.

This growth in production and streaming substantially offset the challenging linear TV advertising market conditions.
Labour received its highest-ever yearly amount of private donations across 2023 in a major boost to Sir Keir Starmers election war chest.

While the party continued to receive funding from trade unions, the main lift came from individuals and companies  who gave more than 13 million in cash in total.

The biggest backer overall was former Autoglass boss Gary Lubner, who gave 4.5 million, while the largest single donation of 3 million was provided by Lord David Sainsbury, the long-standing Labour supporter.

Lord Sainsbury (David Jones/PA)

Lord Sainsbury was a major donor when the party was last in power, serving as a minister in Sir Tony Blairs government.

He later cut off his support to the party as it shifted to the left under Jeremy Corbyns leadership, but returned to the fold in 2022.

Labour also accepted another 1 million from green energy industrialist Dale Vinces Ecotricity firm in November, according to figures published by the Electoral Commission.

Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said: Thanks to Keir Starmers leadership, last year was our best fundraising year ever.

Labour will turn the page on 14 years of Tory failure with a plan to deliver the change Britain deserves.

The second highest annual sum for private donations to the party was 10.8 million in 2005.

The rise in individual donations comes as Labour holds a sustained double-digit lead over the ruling Conservatives in opinion polls ahead of an election expected later this year.

(PA Graphics)

But the Tories also had a successful fundraising year, including a 10 million bequest from the late Lord John Sainsbury  the cousin of Lord David Sainsbury and former boss of the familys supermarket company.

The Electoral Commission figures show around 41 million in private cash donations from individuals and companies flowed into the coffers of the central party after a challenging previous year.

The Conservatives had recorded an overall loss in 2022 amid a year of political turmoil which saw three different prime ministers enter Number 10.

Including donations to both the central party and local branches as well as all payments from trade unions, companies, individuals and public funds, Labour reported around 31 million across 2023.

Under the same criteria, the Tories recorded around 48 million, while the Liberal Democrats declared around 8 million and Reform UK 255,000 for the year.

Some 200,000 came to Reform from First Corporate Consultants Ltd, a company owned by prominent climate sceptic Terence Mordaunt, who previously donated to the Tories.

The party also accepted 10,000 from financier Crispin Odey in August 2023, around two months after misconduct allegations against him emerged, the figures confirm.

Political parties reported more than 93 million overall in 2023, compared with to 52 million in the previous year, according to the Electoral Commission.

Louise Edwards, director of regulation and digital transformation at the commission, said: With a general election on the horizon, its not unusual to see a spike in donations as political parties begin to campaign.

While there is no limit to what parties can raise, there are spending limits in place ahead of elections to ensure a level playing field.
Is period syncing really a myth? (Getty Images) (Getty)

Women have long been told that when we live with or hang out with other females, our menstrual cycles could sync, meaning they are likely to have their period around the same time.

But one gynaecologist wants to "debunk cycle synching", which she describes as a myth, pointing out that there is no real scientific evidence to back it up.

What's more she believes it is a harmful myth to perpetuate as it "positions women as breeders that are not in control of their own body that somehow they can be affected by the herd and that they're not thinking beings."

Sharing a video clip of her discussing the issue to Instagram, Dr Jen Gunter, described the belief as the "single greatest myth" explaining that there is no real basis to prove the assumption.

"First of all, its been studied, so we know it doesnt happen," she explains. "We have excellent evidence-based medicine to show its not true."

Instead, if you do find your cycle has synced with a friend, she says it boils down to a "combination of math (two randomly occurring events will occasionally line up) and bias."

She points out it is likely we only remembering the time our cycle matches someone else and forget "all the times it did not".

"Also, we are often off by a few days in remembering the date of our last period, so that could factor in as well," she adds.

Do your periods really sync with your close female friends. (Getty Images) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The theory behind the syncing of menstrual cycles is that women's pheromones interact when they are in close proximity, causing them to have their period at the same time.

But Dr Gunter has a response to explain that too.

"No one has actually ever proven the existence of human pheromones," she explains. "I know the perfume industry would have you think otherwise, but no one has proven they exist."

Is period syncing really a myth?

Anecdotally, many those who menstruate believe that period syncing is a real thing that occurs. Certainly, while living with our close friends we'll recall times when we were sharing period products at the exact same time.

But what's the truth?

"The notion that women's menstrual cycles can synchronise when they live together, often referred to as the 'McClintock effect' or 'menstrual synchrony', has been a subject of interest and debate since first proposed in a 1971 study by Martha McClintock," explains Mr Hemant Vakharia, consultant gynaecologist and advanced laparoscopic surgeon at London Gynaecology.

The study suggested that close proximity, such as in dormitories, could lead to synchronised menstrual cycles among women, possibly through pheromones. However, Mr Vakharia says subsequent research has produced mixed results, with many studies unable to replicate McClintock's findings.

"A review of the literature indicates that the evidence for menstrual synchrony is not conclusive," he continues. "A study in 1992 aimed to correct statistical errors in McClintock's original study and concluded that biases in previous studies led to a perceived higher frequency of menstrual synchrony than actually existed."

There is some doubt about the existence of period syncing. (Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Another study involving 64 Japanese women in a dormitory found that while some women did synchronise with their roommates, the overall evidence was not strong enough to conclusively support the phenomenon.

"Moreover, a 2017 study, at Oxford University, using an app to track menstrual cycles among pairs of women found that most pairs' cycles diverged rather than converged over time, suggesting that menstrual synchrony might be more of a myth than a scientifically supported fact," Mr Vakharia continues.

Critics of the menstrual synchrony theory argue that mathematical probability and the natural variability in menstrual cycle lengths can explain why cycles of women living together might occasionally overlap, giving the impression of synchrony.

"It's important to note that factors such as stress, illness, and lifestyle changes can influence menstrual cycles, potentially contributing to the perception of synchronisation," Mr Vakharia explains.

"In summary, while the idea of menstrual synchrony has been popularised in both scientific literature and popular media, the current consensus among researchers is that there is no substantial evidence to support the notion that women's menstrual cycles synchronise when they live together.

"The phenomenon appears to be more coincidental or perceived due to overlapping cycles rather than a result of pheromonal or other biological influences."

While doubt has now been cast over its existence, as with many women's health issues, (see also menopause, endometriosis, PCOS), further research is needed to fully explore the menstrual synchrony theory.

Until then, however, period syncing will likely live on and continue to be passed down as an anecdotally proven belief about women's periods.

Periods: Read more

Watch: From boomers to Gen Z, women of all generations feel this subject is still stigmatised
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, center, sits between defense attorneys Tony Buzbee, left, and Mitch Little, right, before starting the ninth day of his impeachment trial in the Senate Chamber at the Texas Capitol on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, in Austin, Texas. The following day he was acquitted of all articles of impeachment. Sam Owens/Sam Owens/Pool via San Antonio Express-News Attorney General Ken Paxton welcomes David Covey to speak during a rally in support of the Republican District 21 candidate who's looking to unseat Speaker of the House Dade Phelan in the upcoming election. Photo made Monday, Jan. 15, 2024 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise Kim Brent Attorney General Ken Paxton addresses the crowd during a rally in support of Republican District 21 candidate David Covey, who's looking to unseat Speaker of the House Dade Phelan in the upcoming election. Kim Brent Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, center, walks back to his seat after speaking privately with defense attorney Dan Cogdell before starting the ninth day of his impeachment trial in the Senate Chamber at the Texas Capitol on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, in Austin, Texas. Sam Owens/Sam Owens/Pool via San Antonio E

Attorney General Ken Paxton spent weeks on the campaign trail targeting state lawmakers who supported his impeachment and appeals court judges who limited his ability to prosecute election fraud.

His efforts appeared largely successful on Tuesday, with all three of his picks for the states highest criminal court besting incumbents and 15 of the 35 candidates he endorsed against pro-impeachment lawmakers winning or pushing their challengers into runoffs.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Though other factors likely helped, including endorsements by former President Donald Trump, it was still a strong showing for a third-term Republican who only months ago seemed at risk of ending his political career.

It was a long six months for me of work, Paxton told Dallas conservative radio show host Mark Davis on Wednesday morning. It was almost like I was campaigning for myself, but I wasnt. I felt like I was campaigning to save the state.

Perhaps his biggest triumph was helping to force a runoff between Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan, who oversaw the impeachment inquiry, and oil and gas consultant David Covey. Paxton has been calling for Phelans resignation for months.

Paxton continues to be a force to be reckoned with within the Republican Party, said Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University, adding that primaries tend to be low-turnout affairs. The source of power in Texas is the Republican primary electorate, and what Ken Paxton has faithfully done throughout his career is ensured that he maintained support among more than half of the 2 to 2.5 million people who vote in the Republican primary.

Still, its difficult to say how much of the credit ought to go to Paxton versus Gov. Greg Abbott, who poured millions into House races to support candidates who are pro-school vouchers, many of whom overlapped with Paxtons endorsees.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Unlike Abbott, who was surgical about whom he chose to prop up with funding and campaign stops, Paxton was more scattershot in his approach, choosing to support anyone who opposed a pro-impeachment incumbent, Jones said. But Paxton didnt put any of his own campaign money into the races.

He wanted to punish some of them and get rid of them, Jones said, but he also was fine if his only effect was to make them sweat and have a much more difficult and unpleasant January and February and March than would have otherwise been the case.

Of the eight candidates who prevailed Tuesday, just three were endorsed by Paxton and not Abbott.

The three included Paxtons impeachment defense attorney Mitch Little, who toppled incumbent Kronda Thimesch in House District 65 in Denton County by a narrow margin. Public insurance adjuster Matt Morgan beat incumbent Jacey Jetton in House District 26 in Harris County by 15 percentage points. And Shelley Luther, the salon owner and activist who publicly flouted COVID-19 orders, overcame incumbent Reggie Smith in District 62 in North Texas.

In House races where the two supported different candidates, Abbotts candidate won in 19 races, while Paxtons won in two; four went to a runoff.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

State Rep. Glenn Rogers, a Graford Republican who lost to Paxtons pick, Mike Olcott, denounced his top Republican opponents as the most corrupt ever and said the state has been bought by a few radical billionaires seeking to destroy public education. Rogers supported Paxtons impeachment and voted against Abbotts push for private school vouchers.

History will prove Ken Paxton is a corrupt, sophisticated criminal, Rogers wrote in a Wednesday op-ed in the Weatherford newspaper. History will prove vouchers are simply an expensive entitlement program for the wealthy and a get rich scheme for voucher vendors. History will prove Governor Greg Abbott is a liar.

Paxton also failed to unseat some of the incumbents from his hometown of Collin County who voted for impeachment, including his former close friend, state Rep. Jeff Leach, who gave an impassioned speech in favor of approving the charges against Paxton last spring.

Five Collin County state representatives held strong or at least held on. Leach, Candy Noble and Matt Shaheen won reelection, while Frederick Frazier and Justin Holland were pushed into rematches this May.

Unlike Abbott and Phelan, who poured millions into House races, Paxton didnt spend any money directly on his preferred candidates, instead leaning on outside political groups to prop them up financially.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Texans United for a Conservative Majority PAC, a group mostly funded by right-wing West Texas oil tycoon Tim Dunn, for example, spent more than $3 million to support Paxton allies. Paxtons allies also formed the Texans for Responsible Judges PAC, which supported the judicial challengers and spent money on attack ads.

Paxton spent most of his campaign cash on paying back his defense lawyers about $2.3 million for their legal services, curbing his ability to share with others.

The Court of Criminal Appeals upsets are much more clearly attributable to Paxton and his political allies, Jones said.

At a campaign event for Marc LaHood in San Antonio in January, Paxton asked for a show of hands of anyone in the room who could name all nine justices. Sure enough, none could.

But he explained why he was making it his mission to make sure they knew about their 2021 opinion that stopped him from unilaterally prosecuting election fraud and the names of their opponents.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Former Dallas appellate judge David Schenck and lawyers Gina Parker and Lee Finley won their races over Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller and Judges Barbara Parker Hervey and Michelle Slaughter, respectively.

Activist judges have no place on our courts, and tonight's results reflect the will of the people, Paxton said in a statement late Tuesday night.

The judges had defended their decision by saying they were following the state Constitution, which they said was clear about the limits of Paxtons authority.

The upsets translate to a loss of about 60 years of experience from the bench: Keller was first elected in 1994, Hervey in 2000 and Slaughter in 2018.

I hope and I pray that whoever succeeds in November will seek Gods wisdom and guidance as he or she takes on this critical role in our judicial system, Slaughter said in a statement.

The challengers wins could have a lasting effect on the way judges approach major cases moving forward, Jones said.
Media minister Catherine Martin said she discussed the programme of reform at RTE during a meeting with the new chair of the board of the broadcaster, Terence ORourke.

Mr ORourke was appointed to the position this week following the resignation of former chair Siun Ni Raghallaigh.

Mr ORourke and Kevin Bakhurst, director general at the crisis-hit broadcaster, met with Ms Martin on Thursday.

The minister said: This was a very positive engagement where we discussed the importance of continuing the programme of reform of RTE, and the priority of putting in place a sustainable funding model for RTE and public service media in Ireland.

Irish broadcaster RTE has been hit by a number of controversies (Liam McBurney/PA)

The meeting discussed responses to recommendations published by the Public Accounts Committee and two independent expert advisory committee reports that Ms Martin has commissioned.

She said: I am looking forward to working with the chair and the board in progressing the major reform agenda underway in the organisation.

Ms Ni Raghallaigh resigned from her role on the board of the broadcaster hours after Ms Martin expressed disappointment in her during a live television interview.

Appearing on Prime Time on February 22, the minister refused to express confidence in Ms Ni Raghallaigh, saying she had been misinformed about the chairwomans role in approving an exit package for former RTE chief financial officer, Richard Collins.

The minister was criticised for her handling of the situation with opposition TDs claiming she had effectively sacked the chairwoman live on air.
A new train service between London and central Scotland has been given the go-ahead.

Rail regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said it has approved an application by Grand Union Trains to operate four daily return services between London Euston and the city of Stirling.

Today we've given the go-ahead for Grand Union Trains to start a new train service between London  and the city of Stirling  from June 2025. More details  https://t.co/GqsXHnrA6Z pic.twitter.com/qILMf44Bsg  ORR (@railandroad) March 7, 2024

This is in competition with LNER, which currently operates services on that route.

Grand Union Trains will launch its services in June 2025.

They will also call at Milton Keynes Central, Nuneaton, Crewe, Preston, Carlisle, Lockerbie, Motherwell, Whifflet, Greenfaulds and Larbert.

They will be the first direct services to and from London for Whifflet, Greenfaulds and Larbert.

ORR director of strategy, policy and reform Stephanie Tobyn said: Our decision helps increase services for passengers and boost competition on Britains railway network.

By providing more trains serving new destinations, open access operators offer passengers more choice in the origin and price of their journey, leading to better outcomes for rail users.
Police have launched a murder investigation after a teenage boy was stabbed to death in a park in Wolverhampton.

West Midlands Police said officers were called by paramedics to West Park in the city shortly before 4.30pm on Thursday.

The victim was declared dead a short time later.

The force said they were working to confirm his identity.

We've launched a murder investigation after the death of a teenager who was stabbed in Wolverhampton's West Park this afternoon. We were called to the scene by paramedics just before 4.30pm but sadly he was declared dead a short time later. Read more  https://t.co/lwCsH7CbzP pic.twitter.com/8btBIeN8GC  Wolverhampton Police (@WolvesPolice) March 7, 2024

Chief Superintendent Richard Fisher, of West Midlands Police, said: Its absolutely tragic that we have lost another young life to knife crime.

Our enquiries are at a very early stage, and we have detectives working flat out to find whoever is responsible and bring them into custody as soon as possible.

Well be increasing patrols and offering reassurance to the community, and supporting everyone affected, over the coming days.

Anyone with information on the incident has been urged to get in touch via Live Chat or 101, quoting log 3259 of March 7.
Policing operations in the London borough of Newham will be unaffected despite a fire at a police station yesterday, the Metropolitan Police said.

Around 175 firefighters and 30 fire engines tackled the blaze at Forest Gate police station on Romford Road on Wednesday.

Emergency services were called just after 4.15pm and firefighters from Stratford, Leytonstone, Plaistow and surrounding fire stations all attended.

The station roof was completely destroyed by the fire, which crews had under control shortly after 11pm, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.

In a statement on Thursday, Dan Card, acting Met borough commander for Newham, thanked the LFB for their efforts and local residents for their cooperation.

He said: Please be assured that despite the fire, our ability to deliver policing to the residents of Newham is unaffected.

Our local teams will continue to serve the community in the normal way. There will be no reduction in the service we deliver.

Mr Card said officers based at Forest Gate police station had been diverted to work in other buildings across the borough.

Evidence lockers and fridges containing priority forensic examples were removed by officers and the LFB and will be assessed in the coming days.

Anyone due to return to the station on bail will be contacted and informed of alternative arrangements, he said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Scotlands Justice Secretary has announced an independent, judge-led statutory public inquiry will be held to examine the police response to the murder of Emma Caldwell almost 20 years ago.

The announcement comes after both Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf and his Justice Secretary Angela Constance met with the murdered womans mother earlier this week.

Miss Caldwell was killed by serial rapist Iain Packer in 2005  but while he was interviewed by police the month after her body was found in May that year, it was only last week he was convicted of her murder, along with a series of rapes and other offences.

Police Scotland has already apologised to the family of Miss Caldwell and his other victims, saying they were let down by policing in 2005.

Emma Caldwells body was found in 2005 (family handout/Aamer Anwar/PA)

Announcing the inquiry at Holyrood, Ms Constance told MSPs what Miss Caldwells mother Margaret said to her.

She said Mrs Caldwell told her: My daughter Emma and the many victims who so courageously spoke up deserve nothing less than a robust, independent public inquiry and a judge who will act without fear or favour.

There are those who say that such inquiries take too long. My family have struggled for 19 years to get justice and we will wait however long it takes to see the truth, and will accept nothing less.

Ms Constance told MSPs: Following that meeting with the Caldwell family, I can today announce that there will be an independent, judge led, statutory public inquiry, and preparations will begin immediately.

She said consideration is being given to whether a judge from outside of Scotland should be appointed to take the work forward.

Scottish Justice Secretary Angela Constance announced the inquiry during a ministerial statement at Holyrood (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Mrs Caldwell looked on from the public gallery at Holyrood as the Justice Secretary made the announcement.

Ms Constance said: Nineteen years have elapsed between Emmas murder and a conviction and there can be no doubt of the serious failings that brought a grieving family to have to fight for their right, for Emmas right to justice.

Packer, 51, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 36 years at the High Court in Glasgow last week after being found guilty of murdering the 27-year-old in 2005, as well as 11 rapes and 21 other charges, including sexual assaults, against other women.

With Packer having announced he plans to appeal both his convictions and sentence, Ms Constance stressed there are restrictions on what she can say about the case.

The announcement comes after Mrs Caldwell also this week met Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell and Scotlands most senior prosecutor, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC  who revealed Packer could have been prosecuted for the murder back in 2008.

Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Russell Findlay praised the Caldwell family and Margaret in particular, saying their strength and their dignity are truly humbling.

Margaret Caldwell wiped her eyes as she looked on at Holyrood to hear the announcement of a public inquiry into her daughters murder case (Andrew Milligan/PA)

He told MSPs: Their campaign for Emma has been backed by good police officers, lawyers and journalists.

But let me be clear, the only reason that her daughters killer is now behind bars is because of her love and her strength.

Left to Police Scotland and the Crown Office, I believe that Iain Packer would certainly still be out there  raping women with impunity.

Mr Findlay pushed the Justice Secretary on whether the judge appointed to lead the inquiry will come from outside Scotland, with Ms Constance saying she is open to the suggestion.

Scottish Labour justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill said: It is the job of this Parliament to ensure no family should ever have to wait two decades for justice.

Scottish Labour stands full square behind the Government and Angela Constance today in her decision to hold a public inquiry to establish why, among other things, there was no prosecution in 2008 when it appeared the police and the Crown had enough evidence to do so.

A public inquiry must get to the truth of this  and that includes questioning all of the criminal justice agencies who have questions to answer.

Ms McNeill went on to back a judge from outside of Scotland being appointed to head the inquiry, and urged Ms Constance to ensure the probe begins in a timely manner.
The mother of murdered Emma Caldwell believes the announcement of a public inquiry into her death will be a chance for a legacy for her daughter.

Margaret Caldwell said the fight for justice for her daughter, who was killed by Iain Packer in 2005, isnt finished yet as she reacted to the announcement that there would be an inquiry into the police investigation into her daughters murder.

The familys lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said: For a mother, today is a chance for a legacy for Emma Caldwell and for the victims of sexual violence.

Emmas family hope her name will live on long after her killers name has turned to dust.

Lawyer Aamer Anwar speaks to the media with Margaret Caldwell (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Outside the Scottish Parliament on Thursday, Mr Anwar said the family is grateful to First Minister Humza Yousaf and Justice Secretary Angela Constance for ordering a statutory public inquiry.

Mr Anwar said: The Caldwell family are grateful to the First Minister, the Justice Secretary, for having listened to what they had to say and for ordering the statutory public inquiry.

We are grateful to all political parties in this Parliament for showing their unity and support for the family.

Mr Anwar said the apology from police was not accepted and ruled out the Metropolitan Police investigating as an external force.

He added: Officers who retired or who sabotaged the case must face justice.

Iain Packer raped and raped again, and was allowed to do so because the police covered up, and continued to cover up.

The solicitor, who has been at the forefront of many campaigns for justice throughout his career, said the police must be held to account.

He said: Every single person who had fingerprints on this case must be brought to a public inquiry, must be subject to criminal investigations.

This is the worst scandal ever to hit the the Scottish legal system and one of the worst in UK legal history.

I cant put it any plainer than the fact that this man was given his freedom.

Preparations will start immediately for an independent public inquiry, Scotlands Justice Secretary vowed.

Ms Constance made the commitment as she confirmed a statutory inquiry will take place, with consideration being given to whether a judge from outside of Scotland should be appointed.

Margaret Caldwell looked on from the public gallery at Holyrood as the Justice Secretary made the announcement, which came after the pair met, alongside Mr Yousaf, earlier this week.

Emma Caldwells body was found in 2005 (family handout/Aamer Anwar/PA)

It has been almost 20 years since her 27-year-old daughter was murdered by serial rapist Packer in 2005, but while he was interviewed by police the month after her body was found in May that year, it was only last week he was convicted.

Police Scotland have already apologised to the family of Miss Caldwell and his other victims, saying they were let down.

Ms Constance said: Nineteen years have elapsed between Emmas murder and a conviction and there can be no doubt of the serious failings that brought a grieving family to have to fight for their right, for Emmas right, to justice.

In an emotional statement, the Justice Secretary paid tribute to Miss Caldwells family, including her father William who died in 2011, telling them: For you, Margaret, for William, and for women and girls across this country, but most of all for Emma, I am pleased to tell Parliament today that there will be a public inquiry.

Ms Constance said Mrs Caldwell had told her that her daughter and Packers other victims deserve nothing less than a robust, independent public inquiry and a judge who will act without fear or favour.

Mrs Caldwell told the minister: There are those who say that such inquiries take too long.

My family have struggled for 19 years to get justice and we will wait however long it takes to see the truth, and will accept nothing less.

Angela Constance announced the inquiry at Holyrood (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Ms Constance stressed the public inquiry is a very significant undertaking which will take time to set up, to hear evidence, and to reach its findings.

Packer, 51, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 36 years at the High Court in Glasgow last week after being found guilty of murdering the 27-year-old, as well as 11 rapes and 21 other charges, including sexual assaults, against other women.

As he plans to appeal against his convictions and sentence, Ms Constance stressed there were restrictions on what she could say about the case.

But she said: Given the gravity of this case, the length of time it took for justice to be served, the horrific extent of the sexual violence suffered by the victims and survivors, and the suffering endured by their families, the case for holding a public inquiry is clear and compelling.

It is time to apply fresh scrutiny to this case, to understand what went wrong, to ensure that lessons are learned for the future and to provide answers to all victims and survivors in this case.

Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Russell Findlay praised the Caldwell family and Mrs Caldwell in particular, saying their strength and their dignity are truly humbling.

Margaret Caldwell hears the announcement of a public inquiry (Andrew Milligan/PA)

He told MSPs: Their campaign for Emma has been backed by good police officers, lawyers and journalists.

But let me be clear, the only reason that her daughters killer is now behind bars is because of her love and her strength.

Left to Police Scotland and the Crown Office, I believe that Iain Packer would certainly still be out there  raping women with impunity.

Scottish Labour justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill said: It is the job of this Parliament to ensure no family should ever have to wait two decades for justice.

Scottish Labour stands full square behind the Government and Angela Constance today in her decision to hold a public inquiry to establish why, among other things, there was no prosecution in 2008 when it appeared the police and the Crown had enough evidence to do so.

A public inquiry must get to the truth of this  and that includes questioning all of the criminal justice agencies who have questions to answer.

Ms McNeill backed having a judge from outside Scotland to head the inquiry, and urged Ms Constance to ensure it begins in a timely manner.
The BBC has announced that a TV adaptation of Sir Ian Rankins best-selling Inspector Rebus character will launch this spring.

The six-part crime series, which was filmed in Edinburgh and Glasgow last year, will see Scottish actor and Outlander star Richard Rankin play the lead role of Detective Sergeant John Rebus.

Scottish author Sir Ian, 63, said: Im thrilled that Rebus is coming to the BBC.

A great cast and a compelling story  I really cant wait for viewers to see it.

Sir Ian Rankin, creator of Detective Inspector John Rebus (Victoria Jones/PA)

The show  called Rebus  is written by Gregory Burke and is adapted from the best-selling novels by Sir Ian.

Set in Edinburgh, it will reimagine the character as a younger DS who is drawn into a violent criminal conflict after he finds out his younger brother Michael, a former soldier, is involved with criminality.

Rebus will find himself torn between wanting to protect his brother and wishing to enforce the law.

Alongside Rankin, 41, as DS John Rebus, the series will star actors including Bulletproofs Lucie Shorthouse, Versailles actor Stuart Bowman and Atonement star Michelle Duncan.

Reflecting on the new series, Richard Rankin said: I am thrilled that Rebus will premiere on the BBC. Its been an honour taking on the role of Ian Rankins renowned John Rebus.

A character enjoyed by so many in such a fresh and original adaptation.

Richard Rankin will play DS Rebus in the series (Ian West/PA)

Rankin follows in the footsteps of John Hannah and Ken Stott, who played John Rebus in ITVs adaptation, which aired in the noughties before it was axed following its final series in 2007.

Writer Burke said: It has been a huge privilege to work on a new show with Ian Rankins iconic character at its centre and I couldnt be more delighted that it is to be broadcast on the BBC.

Jill Green, chief executive of Eleventh Hour Films, said: We are so excited to be bringing a fresh, modern reimagining of Rebus to a wide audience on the BBC.

Sandra McFadden, head of business BBC Scotland Commissioning, said: Rebus, of course, needs no introduction, being one of Scotlands most prolific literary characters, but were thrilled to be bringing this new television adaptation, starring Richard Rankin, to our audiences in Scotland and across the UK.

The first Rebus book, Knots & Crosses, was published in 1987 and the Sir Ians detective novels have been translated into 22 languages and become bestsellers on several continents.

Rebus will air on BBC Scotland, BBC One and BBC iPlayer later this spring.
A film set weapons armourer who loaded a gun for US actor Alec Baldwin which fired and killed a cinematographer has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty after a two-week trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, following the fatal shooting of 42-year-old Halyna Hutchins on the set of western film Rust in October 2021.

Prosecutors alleged Gutierrez-Reed unknowingly brought live ammunition on to the set, at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe, and gun safety protocols that might have detected the live rounds had been disregarded.

Defence lawyers for Gutierrez-Reed described her as an easy scapegoat, adding that problems on the film set extended beyond her control, including alleging the mishandling of weapons by Baldwin.

The involuntary manslaughter charge against Gutierrez-Reed carries a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison and a 5,000 dollar (3,900) fine.

Baldwin is scheduled to stand trial in July on a charge of involuntary manslaughter after he was re-charged in January. The actor has pleaded not guilty.

The lead actor and co-producer of the film was pointing a gun at Ms Hutchins during a rehearsal when the weapon went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.

The actor previously said he pulled back the hammer, but not the trigger, and the gun fired.

Santa Fe County Deputy Levi Abeyta, left, watches as firearms expert for the defence Frank Koucky III demonstrates how to uncock a gun like the one used on the set of the movie Rust (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP, Pool)

He was initially charged in January 2023, but those charges were formally dismissed three months later.

Earlier in January 2024, special prosecutors brought the case before a grand jury in Santa Fe after receiving a new analysis of the gun, and Baldwin was re-charged.

The indictment accuses Baldwin of involuntary manslaughter through negligent use of a firearm, and an alternative charge of involuntary manslaughter without due caution or circumspection.

The filming of Rust resumed last year in Montana, under an agreement with the cinematographers widower Matthew Hutchins that made him an executive producer.
The Government will attempt to overturn amendments to its proposed Rwanda asylum law on March 18 after it suffered 10 defeats in the House of Lords.

Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt confirmed the return date for the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill during her weekly business statement.

The Bill will receive its third reading in the Lords on March 12 and MPs will get a chance to debate and vote on the amendments in the following week.

1/ Today the Leader of the House @PennyMordaunt announced upcoming business in the @HouseofCommons. Read more below  pic.twitter.com/gcCPEpIiGs  Leader of the House of Commons (@CommonsLeader) March 7, 2024

It comes as Rishi Sunak was accused of failing to stop migrant Channel crossings after arrivals topped 3,000 for the year so far  the highest total for the same period over the last six years.

Changes backed by the Lords include overturning the Government bid to oust the courts from the process.

The move by the unelected chamber effectively blows a hole in the Bill, which is intended to prevent continued legal challenges to the stalled deportation scheme after the Supreme Court ruled the plan was unlawful.

The proposed legislation seeks to compel judges to regard the east African country as safe in a bid to clear the way to send asylum seekers who cross the Channel in small boats on a one-way flight to Rwanda.

But the amendment agreed by the Lords restores the jurisdiction of domestic courts in relation to the safety of Rwanda and enables them to intervene.

Other changes supported by peers include safeguards to reduce the risk of unaccompanied children being sent to Rwanda, a block on the removal of victims of modern slavery and human trafficking, as well as those who worked with the UK military or Government overseas.

The Lords also approved amendments designed to ensure the Bill complies with the rule of law and that Parliament cannot declare Rwanda to be safe until the treaty with its promised safeguards is fully implemented.

The Prime Minister has made stopping the boats a key pledge of his leadership and previously warned the Lords against frustrating the will of the people by hampering the passage of the Bill.

The 10 defeats in the Lords has set the stage for an extended stand-off between the two Houses of Parliament, which is known as ping-pong.

The Bill will pass between the Commons and Lords until they can reach agreement on its wording.
Douglas Ross has rejected claims he was on the verge of resigning as Scottish Conservative leader in a row over the windfall tax extension.

The Telegraph newspaper reported Mr Ross had heated conversations with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt over the Budget decision to increase the levy by a further 12 months until 2029.

Mr Ross has spoken out against the move, pledging to fight tooth and nail to have it overturned and stating he will vote against it when it comes before the House of Commons.

Following First Ministers Questions at Holyrood on Thursday, Mr Ross was asked by journalists if he threatened to quit.

He replied: No. We had had strong and robust discussions but ultimately the best way I can stop this is by being in the House of Commons and voting against this legislation.

Mr Ross was also asked if the extension puts his election campaign in a difficult position, with fears it could ruin the partys chances of retaining key seats in the north east of Scotland.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt outlined plans to extend the windfall tax in his Budget statement on Wednesday (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA)

He said: I think the most important thing is providing that security and certainty for the oil and gas sector, and thats why I went in to fight as hard as I possibly could on this issue.

The Chancellor had a difficult Budget to set and I think everyone has accepted there was a balance to be struck.

I will never shy away from publicly saying it was the wrong choice by the Chancellor, and I still have an opportunity to prevent it from happening when this Bill comes back to Parliament.

During a visit to Edinburgh on Thursday afternoon, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said the Scottish Tory leader was never resigning, but he added he understands why Mr Ross disagrees with the extension.

Mr Ross was not the only high-profile Scottish Tory to condemn the move, with UK Government energy minister Andrew Bowie  the MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine  branding the decision deeply disappointing.

The Prime Minister has since responded to Mr Bowies comments amid claims his position in the Government is now untenable.

A spokesman for Mr Sunak said he retains full confidence in his energy minister, adding: He obviously has since clarified his position, hes spoken to the Chancellor about his views and hes been clear that he supports the Budget.

Asked whether the PM retains confidence in him, the spokesman added: Yes.

Mr Jack also weighed in, arguing: I dont think he will vote against the windfall tax extension. If you are a Government minister then you vote with the Government.

Douglas Ross, left, is said to have had a robust discussion about the proposal with Rishi Sunak, right, and Jeremy Hunt (PA)

It comes as the Chancellor conceded his decision to extend the windfall tax is difficult for his partys north east representatives.

He blamed the war in Ukraine for instability in the oil and gas sector, telling BBC Radio Scotlands Good Morning Scotland programme: Nothing has been stable in the world since Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine. That is the fundamental cause of instability.

He added that as high oil and gas prices had lasted longer than was anticipated at the start of the Ukraine war, energy firms are making additional profits they werent expecting to make.

The energy profits levy charges oil and gas companies an extra 35% tax on the money they make in the UK, with its extension expected to raise another 1.5 billion for the Treasury.

Mr Hunt said: I think it is a fair contribution given the scale of the unexpected profits they have had.

Asked directly if he had thrown Conservative MPs in the north-east of Scotland under a bus, the Chancellor said: No, but added: I appreciate it was a difficult decision for them.

He said the UK Government still strongly supports the oil and gas industry, and added: I also had to be fair looking at the public finances, looking at the fact that I have spent, taxpayers have spent, 94 billion in cost-of-living support, helping pay around half peoples electricity bills over the last winter, and reflecting the fact that because high oil and gas prices have lasted longer than was anticipated at the start of the Ukraine war, they are making additional profits they werent expecting to make.

He insisted it is the right thing for all the country.
An attack on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden is being called a suspected attack by the Houthi rebels of Yemen that caused fatalities and prompted the crew to abandon ship on Wednesday.

The Associated Press reported that the attack occurred on the True Confidence, a bulk carried flagged under Barbados but owned by a Liberian company.

This is a further escalation of attacks on maritime targets in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways. The Houthis, allegedly backed by Iran, have been attacking ships since November and vowed to continue doing so until hostilities toward Palestinians by the IDF cease.

A US-led airstrike campaign that began in January appears to have been ineffective at deterring further hostilities from the Houthis.

The attack on Wednesday came after the ship was hailed over the radio by individuals claiming to be part of the Yemeni military, according to officials.

The Houthis have been hailing ships over the radio in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since launching their attacks, with analysts suspecting the rebels want to seize the vessels.

While the extent of the damage to the ship is unclear, the fact that the ship had to be abandoned by its crew, and the reported fatalities, clearly signal the occurrence was very serious.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations on Wednesday night acknowledged the ship had been abandoned by its crew and was no longer under command. The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack.

The Houthis Remain Steadfast

The Houthis have been attacking shipping without impunity despite the efforts of the international community and the combined resources of the United States and the United Kingdom.

A separate Houthi attack targeted the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that had been involved in the campaign against the rebels.

The Carney shot down two drones and an anti-ship ballistic missile, according to the US Central Command. Meanwhile, a separate Houthi assault Tuesday apparently targeted the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has been involved in the American campaign against the rebels.

The Carney shot down bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, the U.S. military's Central Command said.

The U.S. later launched an airstrike destroying three anti-ship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats, the Central Command said.
The Co Galway girl who appeared on the Late Late Toy Show and inspired its annual charity appeal has died aged 12.

Saoirse Ruane, from Kiltullagh, died at her home on Tuesday after being diagnosed with cancer in 2019.

The youngster won the nations hearts when she appeared on the Toy Show during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and spoke about her fight with cancer.

She had been diagnosed with a rare form of the disease and had to have her right leg amputated.

She inspired the launch of the Toy Show Appeal, which has led to millions of euro being raised.

In an Instagram post, her mother said: When there are no words. After a long, courageous and dignified battle, our hearts are shattered to tell you our beautiful little Saoirse took her final breath in our arms on Tuesday.

We thank you our lovely followers for holding Saoirse and us in your thoughts these past few weeks.

We think of you all today also as we know how much Saoirse was loved by the nation and the effect she had on so many peoples lives.

Cancer you stole her from us, the life we had and our dreams.

Life will never be the same.

An online post said she died peacefully at her home in the arms of her heartbroken parents, Ollie and Roseanna.

Saoirse, aged just 12 years old, was surrounded, as she has been throughout her illness, by the love, care and devotion of her family, the prayers and goodwill of the community in Kiltullagh and people all over the country who held Saoirse in their hearts, the post said.

Saoirse, adored daughter to Ollie and Roseanna, big sister to Farrah Rose, half-sister to Rebecca, granddaughter to Anne Ruane and Tony and Ann Brehony, an adored niece, cousin, family member and of course, best friend to Willow and Slush, was loved beyond words and will be missed beyond measure.

We are devastated to hear our dear friend Saoirse has died. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this very sad time. pic.twitter.com/5EBu72aw2i  The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) March 7, 2024

A pupil of Kiltullagh National School, Saoirse will be missed but always remembered by her school friends and teachers, who have travelled the road with Saoirse on her journey, and were a source of joy and fun to her.

Former Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy said: It is with the great sadness imaginable that Ive heard the news of my dear young friend, Saoirse Ruanes passing.

We became friends instantly when we met. She told her story, the nation fell in love with her and a charity began because of her and with that she helped enrich and encourage the live of thousands of children in Ireland.

A selfless, humble, kind, optimistic and thoughtful child.

She was everything we should and could be as a country and her passing will put so much into perspective for so may of us.

The world is a poorer place without Saoirse but I do hope that twinkle in her eye shines on and on.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin said: Very saddened by the heart-breaking passing of Saoirse Ruane. Fond memories of meeting Saoirse and her mother Roseanna in Croke Park, seeing her radiant smile and love of GAA.

She leaves behind an extraordinary legacy in the Toy Show Appeal. Deepest sympathies to her family and friends.
The UK has pledged a further 125 million to supply Ukraine with drones to target Vladimir Putins army and the Russian Black Sea fleet.

The investment, on top of 200 million already promised, will help deliver more than 10,000 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including kamikaze drones and anti-shipping capabilities.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps made the announcement as he visited Kyiv for talks with Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky.

He urged the UKs allies to step up their own supplies of weapons to Kyiv.

Mr Shapps said: I am ramping up our commitment to arm Ukraine with cutting-edge new drones coming directly from the UKs world-leading defence industries  straight from the factory floor to the frontline. I encourage international partners to join the UK in this effort.

Ukraines Armed Forces are using UK donated weapons to unprecedented effect, to help lay waste to nearly 30% of Russias Black Sea Fleet.

On my third visit to this great country, I was pleased to be able to offer my firm reassurance to President Zelensky on the UKs unwavering commitment to the brave people and military forces of Ukraine.

The Black Sea is not safe for Putins Navy. Until recently that would have been unimaginable. Now because the West backed Ukraine, its undeniable. If we get them what they need, the bravery & skill of the Ukrainian Armed Forces can unlock victories once thought impossible. https://t.co/YAyvH814o0  Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) March 5, 2024

More than 1,000 one-way kamikaze attack drones will be supplied and 100 million of the funding package will be spent on anti-shipping capabilities.

Earlier this week Ukraines military intelligence agency said drones had been used to sink the Russian patrol ship Sergey Kotov, adding to the losses suffered by the vaunted Black Sea fleet.

Mr Shapps said drones are changing the course of the war in Ukraine and the UK will remain Ukraines largest supplier of UAVs.

Today, I hosted the UK Secretary of State for Defense @grantshapps to discuss continued defense cooperation between Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Our primary focus was on bolstering Ukraine's air defense and long-range capabilities, as well as meeting other urgent needs for pic.twitter.com/vBO253sSY3  Volodymyr Zelenskyy /   (@ZelenskyyUa) March 7, 2024

Mr Zelensky said the pair also discussed air defence and long-range strike capabilities as well as meeting other urgent needs for weapons and ammunition and developing joint weapon production.
Sign up for CNNs Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.

When a total solar eclipse creates a spectacle in the skies over Mexico and North America on April 8, it will mark the first time such an event has occurred in this part of the world for nearly seven years  and the last time one will until 2044.

Total solar eclipses happen when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, completely blocking the suns face. But these celestial events arent all exactly alike.

While Aprils eclipse has a path similar to the one that occurred on August 21, 2017, albeit moving in the opposite direction and covering more ground, there are quite a few differences between the two that make 2024s occurrence one to anticipate, according to NASA. One key factor that sets this years event apart is who will be able to see it.

NASA estimates that 215 million adults across the US saw the 2017 eclipse directly or virtually.

This years total solar eclipse will be at least partially visible to all in the contiguous United States, making it the most accessible eclipse this nation has experienced in this generation, said Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASAs Science Mission Directorate, in a statement.

A longer, more visible eclipse

More people will be able to see the 2024 eclipse because the path of totality, or locations where people will witness the moons shadow completely covering the sun, will be wider. The moons distance from Earth varies as it orbits our planet, and during the 2017 total solar eclipse, the moon was farther away from Earth and caused the area of totality to be narrower, extending from about 62 to 71 miles (100 to 114 kilometers) wide.

But the moon will be closer to our planet during this years event, so the path its shadow will follow over North America is expected to stretch about 108 to 122 miles (174 to 196 kilometers) wide.

The path of the 2024 eclipse also passes over more densely populated areas and major cities than before. Only 12 million people lived within the area of totality for the 2017 eclipse, while nearly 32 million are in the 2024 path, and 150 million people live within 200 miles (322 kilometers) of it.

This composite image shows the progression of a partial solar eclipse over Ross Lake in Northern Cascades National Park in Washington on August 21, 2017. - Bill Ingalls/NASA

People outside the path of totality will still be able to see a partial solar eclipse, where the moon only blocks part of the suns face. A whopping 99% of those living across the US, including parts of Hawaii and Alaska, will be able to glimpse at least a partial solar eclipse without having to travel.

Aprils eclipse will also have longer period of totality than 2017 because of the moons proximity to Earth. Totality is one of the shortest phases of an eclipse, and its duration is dependent on viewing location. Observers closest to the center of the path will experience the longest totality, and the length of that window decreases closer to the paths edge.

In 2017, skygazers glimpsing the longest totality experienced it for two minutes and 42 seconds near Carbondale, Illinois.

This year, an area about 25 minutes northwest of Torreon, Mexico, will offer the longest totality at four minutes and 28 seconds, but people across Texas and even as far north as Economy, Indiana, will see totality that lasts longer than four minutes. And when the eclipse crosses into Canada, viewers can still expect to see totality for 3 minutes and 21 seconds.

The longest period of totality in recent history was seven minutes and 8 seconds, and it occurred west of the Philippines on June 20, 1955, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Want to know what youll see during the eclipse? Use our interactive map to determine where youll be in the path. And dont forget to grab a pair of eclipse glasses to safely watch the event.

The great solar experiment

While the eclipse is a treat for sky-gazers, the event also offers scientists an opportunity to study the sun in unique ways. And Aprils eclipse will allow scientists a special glimpse of the sun during one of its most active periods, called solar maximum.

The sun experiences a regular 11-year cycle of waxing and waning activity tied to when the stars magnetic field flips. The 2017 eclipse occurred as the sun neared solar minimum, when the star experiences less activity.

Experts have predicted that solar maximum, the peak of solar magnetic field activity, will occur later this year. Scientists anticipate that exciting features resembling loops, streamers and bright curls will be visible in the suns hot outer atmosphere, known as the corona, when the moon blocks the stars surface from view during the upcoming eclipse. The corona, which is fainter than the surface of the sun, is easier to see during an eclipse, allowing scientists to study it in greater detail.

Its also possible that an eruption of material from the suns surface, called a coronal mass ejection, might be visible during the eclipse.

Several experiments will fly aboard NASAs WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft during the eclipse to study the corona with the hopes of capturing new details about its structure across different wavelengths of light.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Two Alabama fertility clinics that paused in vitro fertilization services last month expect to resume them now that state lawmakers have passed a bill to protect doctors and clinics that discard embryos as part of routine IVF services.

The bill "provides the protections that we need to start care  or resume care, really," said Dr. Janet Bouknight, an IVF provider at Alabama Fertility, which suspended IVF services Feb. 22 after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are considered unborn children.

Bouknight said the clinic does around 10 egg retrievals and 10 frozen embryo transfers per week, so around 40 patients may not have received promised care during the pause in IVF services.

Dr. Warner Huh, chair of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said in a video statement that the bill "provides some protections and will therefore allow UAB to restart in vitro fertilization treatments, also known as IVF."

"While UAB is moving to promptly resume IVF treatments, we will continue to assess developments and advocate for protections for IVF patients and our providers," he continued.

After the court ruling Feb. 16, IVF providers were concerned that they could face legal repercussions for getting rid of embryos  a common part of IVF, because some embryos have genetic abnormalities or are no longer needed. That prompted Alabama Fertility and two other Alabama clinics to suspend IVF services.

Since then, legislators from both parties have called for legal safeguards to protect IVF providers in the state.

A bill that passed Wednesday evening offers civil and criminal immunity" to doctors, clinics and other health care personnel who provide IVF.

Gov. Kay Ivey signed it into law before midnight Wednesday.

The bill says no action, suit, or criminal prosecution for the damage to or death of an embryo shall be brought or maintained against any individual or entity when providing or receiving services related to in vitro fertilization.

However, it does not specify whether frozen embryos created via IVF have the same rights as children under state law. For that reason, some legal experts and reproductive rights advocates worry it does not go far enough.

"While we are grateful for the actions of Alabama legislators, this legislation does not address the underlying issue of the status of embryos as part of the IVF process  threatening the long-term standard of care for IVF patients. There is more work to be done," Barbara Collura, the CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, said in a statement Wednesday evening.

The bills Republican sponsors characterized the legislation as a quick fix to allow IVF clinics to resume normal operations.

Bouknight said legislators "understand the pressing need to get this fixed and to have a lasting solution."

The bill could also make companies that store and ship embryos more comfortable with operating in Alabama. At least one major embryo shipping company, Cryoport, paused operations there after the court decision. The company did not respond to an inquiry about whether it will resume services in Alabama.

Brad Senstra, the CEO of ReproTech  a company that offers long-term storage for embryos  said the company had been in talks with Alabama clinics about helping them with embryo storage before the ruling. After the state Supreme Court decision, he said, the company restricted employees from picking up embryo shipments from Alabama clinics in person.

Senstra said he feels comfortable lifting the restriction now, because the bill seems to cover storage services.

"Handling of embryos and storing them for patients is definitely providing services related to in vitro fertilization," he said.

Meghan Cole, a patient at Alabama Fertility, had been planning to start a family via a surrogate because she has a blood disorder that prevents her from safely carrying a pregnancy. But the planned embryo transfer procedure was canceled after the clinic paused its IVF services.

Now that the clinic intends to start offering IVF again, Cole said, she wants to move forward with the transfer.

The last few weeks have been "a roller coaster of emotions," she said, "from being completely devastated to having hope and now being excited to continue the journey."

But Cole worries about what might happen in Alabama in the future.

"While this is a win for us right now and a Band-Aid to get us back on track, we're still planning to move our embryos out of the state," she said. "I don't trust what the state's going to do and don't want to have to either keep my embryos in storage in perpetuity or not be allowed to discard them."
Hearing aids enhance everyday life in several ways, from helping you hear conversations more clearly to enjoying music and TV at a comfortable volume. Wearing hearing aids has also been linked to improving quality of life factors such as improved cognitive function and reduced risk of depression and dementia. An estimated 48 million Americans suffer from some degree of hearing loss  yet only one in five people who could benefit from a hearing aid actually use one. In addition to aging, hearing loss can also be attributed to genetic mutations, noise exposure, exposure to therapeutic drugs that have ototoxic side effects and chronic conditions. Unfortunately, the very hefty cost of prescription hearing aids has traditionally prohibited many from having access to the best hearing aids.

In an effort to help make hearing aids more affordable and accessible, in 2022, the FDA approved the sale of OTC hearing aids. Now you can find the best over-the-counter hearing aids through major retailers, such as CVS, Amazon and Best Buy. Amanda Cooper, a licensed hearing aid specialist tells us, While there is no way to reverse hearing loss, hearing aids can greatly support an individuals hearing needs." Understanding the difference between over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription hearing aids is crucial in making an informed purchasing decision.

AOL spoke with Cooper and other hearing experts, including audiologists and doctors, to better understand how OTC and prescription hearing aids compare. We then took their feedback and reviewed 20 of the best over-the-counter hearing aids on the market. Each was evaluated on costs, sound quality, ease of set up, comfort, customer support and any special features unique to the hearing aid. Here are our top picks for the best over-the-counter hearing aids of 2024.

Jabra Enhance Jabra Enhance Select 300 Our top pick for the best over-the-counter hearing aid overall Cost: $1,595-$1,795 | Best for: Mild-to-moderate hearing loss | Covered by Insurance: Reimbursement available | FSA/HSA Eligible: Yes | Style of Fit: Receiver in canal (RIC) | Battery Type: Rechargeable | Remote/App customization: Yes The Jabra Enhance Select 300 offers some of the most comprehensive features and support among the over-the-counter hearing aids we've reviewed. The Select 300 offers sound quality comparable to a prescription device, thanks to technology that includes a dual-core chip that enables it to differentiate between speech and background noise, automatically adjusting for clarity. Smart microphones and a powerful processor deliver more natural sound in complex situations while the built-in advanced noise cancelation allows for clearer sound in crowded areas. There's also enhanced spatial sense allowing for increased awareness of sounds coming from the sides and behind This receiver-in-canal hearing aid is discrete and fits securely behind the ear. An invisible wire connects to a small speaker in the ear canal, which amplifies sound for those with mild-to-moderate hearing loss. It also has an IP67 rating for water and dust resistance, so its suitable for active lifestyles where moisture (rain, sweat, splashes) may be a concern. There are two packages to choose from when purchasing: the premium package ($1,995) or the standard package ($1,795). Both come with a complete hearing aid set for the right and left ear and a charging case. The premium package also includes three years of audiology support, a better warranty, and damage and loss protection  which comes out to around $5.50 a month for the ongoing three years of professional adjustments and guidance. The accompanying app lets you customize settings, or an audiologist can remotely make adjustments (premium package). The app also pairs with your other devices, such as a smartphone or TV, for streaming audio and calls directly to the hearing aid. However, limited phone compatibility may be a drawback for some. Users without an iPhone 11 or newer may need to purchase the Phone Clip+ accessory to take advantage of hands-free calling. If you are unsure if you need a hearing aid or if this is the best hearing aid for you, Jabra offers an online hearing test. Pros 100-day trial period

Premium package includes access to audiologists

Advanced customization options with premium package Cons Hands-free calling only available for iPhone 11 and newer

Only suitable for mild to moderate hearing loss

Requires smartphone or tablet $1795 - $1995 at Jabra

Eargo Eargo 7 Our top pick for invisible in-ear hearing aid Cost: $2,550 | Best for: All levels of hearing loss | Covered by Insurance: Yes | FSA/HSA Eligible: Yes | Style of Fit: Completely-in-canal (CIC) | Battery Type: Rechargeable | Remote/App customization: Yes The Eargo 7 is a completely-in-canal hearing aid that boasts an almost invisible-to-the-naked-eye design. Its small size and low profile make it a discreet option when aesthetics are a priority. The hearing aid sits deep in the ear canal, so it's less prone to being knocked out of place or falling out. The soft, flexible silicone-petal tips flex to conform to your ear's shape  additional sizes are included in your box if needed. The Eargo app works with the hearing aids for remote adjustments and control. There's no physical volume wheel or buttons, but you can adjust through three sound profiles by tapping your ear (after initial app programming). The app also allows you to change volume, filtering, and programs with the touch of a button. If you need help with your Eargos, the app includes video chat support for professional guidance. One downside is that the Eargo 7 doesn't have Bluetooth connectivity for streaming audio. Still, its automatic sound technology adapts to each environment  transitioning between music, phone calls, or conversation. Although it may not be the most affordable option, it includes ongoing customer support and an up to two-year warranty. Plus, some insurance plans may cover part or all of the cost. Pros Discreet, virtually invisible design

Lifetime virtual support

Self-fitting Cons More expensive than other OTC brands

No Bluetooth streaming $2,550 at Eargo $2,950 at Amazon$2,490 at Best Buy

Lexie Lexie B2 Plus Our top pick for best for sound customization Cost: $999 | Best for: mild-to-moderate hearing loss | Covered by Insurance: No | FSA/HSA Eligible: Yes | Style of Fit: Receiver in canal (RIC) | Battery Type: Rechargeable | Remote/App customization: Yes We chose the Lexie B2 hearing aid by Bose as our pick for the best customization, thanks to the robust app that offers multiple features based on your individual hearing profile. The Lexie B2 Plus is a self-fitting hearing aid, which means that the settings are programmed for your specific hearing needs using the app's built-in hearing test that helps you find the perfect settings for your hearing profile. The hearing aids are also equipped for hands-free phone calls (iPhone only) and music streaming; this is a product created by Bose, a leader in sound quality. Additionally, the app allows you to easily connect with a Lexie hearing expert who can offer support via video, chat, or phone. While some OTC hearing aid brands give you a set time for free support, Lexie offers ongoing, lifetime support. Customer service is also available seven days a week. Pros Free ongoing professional support

Customer service available 7-days a week

Lifetime support Cons Streaming not compatible with Android

Only available in gray $999 at Lexie $999 at CVS$999 at QVC

Sony Sony CRE-E10 Self-Fitting OTC Hearing Aids Our top pick for best sound quality: Cost: $1,300 | Best for: mild-to-moderate hearing loss | Covered by Insurance: No | FSA/HSA eligible: Yes | Style: In-the-ear (ITE) | Remote/app customization: Yes The Sony CRE-E10 hearing aid looks like your average earbuds, and with sound quality to match. The sound profile is richer compared to other models, with controls for volume, balance, and directionality of sound in the app. These in-the-ear hearing aids are water- and dust-resistant with an IP68 rating, so you can wear it while exercising or in light rain. You'll need to use the Sony Hearing Control app (available for iOS and Android) to control your hearing aids' settings. This model doesn't have physical buttons for manual control. Instead, you can adjust everything through the app, including fine-tuning for different environments. It's worth noting that those with Android devices don't have the same connectivity options for streaming audio, which may be a dealbreaker for some. The CRE-E10 hearing aids come with four sizes of silicone tips, a charging case, and cleaning accessories. Sony estimates the batteries last up to 26 hours on a single charge  more than most. You can also use your health savings account (HSA) or flexible spending account (FSA) toward this purchase. Pros Water and dust-resistant

App for adjusting volume and sound settings

Battery lasts up to 26 hours Cons No buttons for manual control

Not Bluetooth streaming compatible with Android $1,098 at Amazon $1,099 at CVS$1,099 at Sony

Audien Hearing Audien ATOM PRO 2 Our top pick for ease of use Cost: $289 | Best for: mild-to-moderate hearing loss | Covered by Insurance: No FSA/HSA eligible: Yes | Style: In-the-canal (ITC) | Remote/app customization: No When it comes to ease of use out of the box, the Audien Atom Pro 2 has all the basics covered without the extras that can complicate setup. These in-the-canal hearing aids are 28% smaller than previous Audien models to fit more comfortably in your ear. The benefit of its simplistic design is its ease of use. You don't need a smartphone or app to control the volume or programs, which is ideal for those who aren't tech-savvy. The downside is that customization is limited. There aren't any preset listening profiles or advanced settings, and you'll have to remove the hearing aids to change the volume. Its impressive battery can last up to 24 hours on a single charge. The Atom Pro 2 also has a UV charging case that eliminates bacteria and keeps your hearing aids clean. The company offers a 45-day money-back guarantee, and you can purchase using your HSA or FSA card. Pros Relatively discrete

No smartphone or app needed

Battery lasts up to 24 hours Cons Lacks advanced customization

Manual adjustments take longer $289 at Amazon

Lexie Lexie Lumen Self-Fitting Hearing Aids Out top pick for best customer service Cost: $799 ($699 via Amazon) | Best for: Mild-to-moderate-hearing loss | Covered by Insurance: No | FSA/HSA eligible: Yes | Style: Behind-the-ear (BTE) | Remote/app customization: Yes The Lexie Lumen stands out for having many of the same features as the Lexie B2 Plus, including exceptional lifetime hearing aid support via the app. While this model will cause you to forgo hands-free calls and streaming, it does have a telecoil that functions as an antenna to provide crisp, clean sound directly to your hearing aids. Using the Lexie Remote app, you'll connect via Bluetooth to your hearing aids to change the sound settings and listening profiles according to your personalized hearing test. There are six listening profiles for different situations  Every day, noisy indoor, outdoor, music, telecoil and companion mic. When it comes to fit, this is a behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aid that connects to an earpiece via a clear tube. You can choose from five neutral colors: beige, gray, bronze, silver, and metallic black. Unlike any other manufacturer on this list, hearing aid and general support are available seven days a week via the app with the choice of video, chat or live phone call response. It's worth noting that the batteries aren't rechargeable and need replacing every four to seven days, depending on use. Lexie offers a 45-day trial period. If you decide they're not for you within that time frame, return the aids for a refund. Pros In-app hearing test for personalizing your settings

45-day trial period

Customer service available 7-days a week Cons No streaming or hands-free phone calls

Batteries need replacing every four to seven days $699 at Amazon $799 at Lexie$799 at QVC

Vivtone Vivtone Lucid508 Rechargeable Hearing Aids Our top pick for moderate to significant hearing loss Cost: $249 |Best for: Mild-to-significant hearing loss | Covered by Insurance: No FSA/HSA eligible: Yes | Style: IBehind the ear (BTE) | Remote/app customization: No If you suffer from mild to significant hearing loss and are looking for a budget-friendly hearing aid, then the Vivtone Lucid508 is worth your consideration. The Lucid508 is a rechargeable digital hearing aid with three professional modes: natural and clear sound quality, noise cancellation and tinnitus masking. You can easily switch between the three professional modes  Normal listening mode, Noisy environment mode and Tinnitus masking mode  with a quick tap of a button on the hearing aid, no downloading apps or sign-up needed. You can also skip fumbling with tiny batteries as these are fully rechargeable and run for about 30 hours between charges, with the case holding 125 hours of backup charge or about four full charging cycles. The hearing aids are also incredibly small and discreet so only you know you are wearing a hearing aid. Many users were pleasantly surprised with how well the hearing aids worked out of the box, requiring little to no setup. It "worked great right out of the package," exclaimed a reviewer. Pros 45-day money back gurantee

Designed for mild to significant hearing loss

Charging case holds 150 hours of backup power Cons May not be great for those with tinnitus $249 at Amazon

HP HP Hearing PRO Self-Fitting OTC Hearing Aids Our top pick for mild-to-moderate hearing loss Cost: $499 | Best for: Mild-to-moderate-hearing loss | Covered by Insurance: No | FSA/HSA eligible: Yes | Style: In-the-ear (ITE) | Remote/app customization: Yes The HP Hearing Pro has an earbud-like design that rests inside the ear similar to a pair of wireless earbuds. Notably, this product is the first to receive FDA clearance under a new category of hearing devices called Self-Fitting Air-Conduction Hearing Aid, Over The Counter. The self-fitting feature allows you to calibrate your device through the app-based program without a professional hearing test. Note: We still recommend consulting with an audiologist for a proper diagnosis. The HP Hearing Pro also offers several listening modes for different environments, streaming capabilities, and a portable charging case. The battery life lasts approximately eight hours for everyday hearing and five hours for streaming. While this is lower than many other OTC models, it boasts the average battery life of standard wireless earbuds. The company offers a two-year warranty (higher than most) and a 45-day trial period, making it a solid choice for those with mild-to-moderate hearing loss seeking an affordable option. Pros Simple earbud design

Automatic calibrations

Works with Android and iOS Cons Only available in one color (black)

Lower battery life than other models $499 at Walmart $499 at HP$499 at CVS

What to consider when buying a hearing aid

There are several key factors to consider when purchasing a hearing aid:

Style of hearing aid: There are multiple styles of hearing aids, each of which caters to different aesthetics and functionality.

Behind-the-ear (BTE): These rest behind the ear while a plastic tube directs amplified sound into the ear canal through an ear mold. BTE hearing aids are suitable for most types of hearing loss and are the most visible type.

Receiver-in-canal (RIC) : Similar to BTEs but with the speaker or receiver placed inside the ear canal. Their size reduction often makes them less visible and more comfortable, and they can provide natural sound quality.

In-the-ear (ITE): Most ITEs are custom-made and fit within the outer ear; ITE aids are easier to handle and are often a top pick due to their discreet profile.

In-the-canal (ITC): Many of these devices are custom molded and fit partly in the ear canal, making them less noticeable than ITE models.

Completely-in-canal (CIC): This is the most discrete option that fits deep inside the ear canal. These are typically custom-fitted to be nearly invisible and are well-suited for mild to moderate hearing loss. However, they may be challenging for users with dexterity issues due to their small size.

Cost: Hearing aids can cost anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. Some insurance plans may cover hearing devices partially or entirely, and certain models are eligible as an FSA/HSA-approved expense. Consider your budget, insurance, and whether batteries and accessories are included in the cost.

Prescription or OTC: Prescription hearing aids require a medical evaluation and fitting by an audiologist, while OTC options are purchased without a prescription. An OTC model may be suitable if you have mild to moderate hearing loss and are comfortable with technology. On the other hand, a prescription hearing aid is likely the best option if you have moderate to severe hearing loss or prefer professional fitting and support.

According to Dr. Leigh Smith, whether you opt for a prescription or OTC model, a professional evaluation should be the first step to assess for any underlying medical conditions and determine the appropriate level of amplification needed.

Set-up: Prescription hearing aids require professional fitting and calibration, while OTC options are generally self-fitting. Users adjust the volume manually or use an app to customize sound settings and frequency. However, some OTC options now offer remote programming and assistance from a hearing professional. Remote access allows you to send data and receive tailored adjustments from an audiologist without an in-person visit.

App pairing: Basic models use physical buttons to adjust volume and settings, whereas many newer hearing aids offer a companion app for customizing sound profiles and tailoring the amplification level based on your environment. Consider whether you prefer a model with app pairing capabilities or if standard controls are sufficient.

Bluetooth capabilities: Models that connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth are great for streaming music, phone calls, and audio directly from the device, eliminating the need for headphones or an external speaker. If this is a feature you want, ensure your chosen model has Bluetooth capabilities and is compatible with your smartphone.

Extra features: Many hearing aids offer additional features such as rechargeable batteries, directional microphones, wind noise reduction, extended battery life, and advanced noise cancellation. Trial periods, warranty lengths, and professional support are also important, as each OTC model comes with varying levels of support.

Who should consider over-the-counter hearing aids?

Dr. Smith warns that not everyone with hearing loss should consider purchasing OTC hearing aids. For those with severe or profound hearing loss, tinnitus, ear infections, drainage, or those who have undergone ear surgery or have structural ear issues, the best course of action is to work with an audiologist.

Dr. Smith adds that if you wish to pursue OTC hearing aids as a matter of cost savings, you should do the following to ensure safety and efficacy:

Have your hearing tested by a professional to confirm your mild to moderate hearing loss?

Verify the return period of the device in case it doesnt work properly or isnt a good fit.

Visit a hearing care professional who utilized Real Ear Measurements (REM) after the OTC purchase to confirm if the hearing aids apply the appropriate volume amount based on your hearing test.

If you've already had a hearing evaluation and are confident in the level of amplification needed, an OTC model can be a cost-effective and convenient option. The most crucial factor to consider is whether the device meets your needs and preferences and provides the necessary amplification for your specific type of hearing loss.

How we chose our top OTC hearing aids

We spoke with hearing experts, including audiologists and otolaryngologists, to understand the types of hearing loss that may be suitable for OTC options. We also considered the features and specifications of different models, including price, sound quality, customization options, and support included after purchase. After researching a dozen brands and more than 50 models, we chose our top picks based on expert input, customer reviews, quality, and value for the cost. We also considered the availability of trial periods and warranties to protect your purchase.

How do hearing aids work?

Hearing aids are designed to not just amplify sound but to do so in a way that improves speech clarity and understanding, says Dr. Amy Sarow. They consist of several components, including a microphone, amplifier, speaker, and battery. The microphone picks up sound from around you and converts it into electrical signals. The amplifier then increases the strength of these signals before sending them to the speaker, which converts them back to sound waves and delivers them into the ear canal. The battery provides power to all of these components.

Modern hearing aids also include advanced technology, such as digital signal processing, noise reduction algorithms, and Bluetooth connectivity, to provide a more personalized and seamless listening experience. These features can help reduce background noise, improve speech clarity, and allow for direct streaming of audio from devices such as smartphones or televisions.

What is the difference between OTC and prescription hearing aids?

The main difference between OTC and prescription hearing aids lies in the level of customization and professional support. Prescription hearing aids require a medical evaluation and fitting by an audiologist, while OTC options can be purchased without a prescription.

Prescription devices are fit precisely by a hearing professional to an individual's audiogram to provide specific amplification tailored to their hearing loss, says Dr. Sarow. For instance, if a person's lower-frequency hearing is normal or has mild loss, the hearing aid is programmed to offer minimal amplification in those ranges while providing more volume at higher frequencies where hearing loss is more pronounced.

On the other hand, OTC hearing aids allow users to self-tune their devices via a test or other app-based feature, according to Dr. Sarow.

For some individuals who are comfortable with technology, [OTC hearing aids] may provide an alternative to the traditional prescriptive approach to fitting hearing aids, says Dr. Dave Fabry. While this may serve as an entry into hearing aids for those with perceived mild-to-moderate hearing loss, it removes the hearing professional who is an essential resource for diagnosing and treating hearing loss and for selecting the best technology to meet the individuals needs, he adds.

Prescription hearing aids also tend to offer more ongoing support from a hearing professional to ensure the best fit and performance. Dr. Smith cautions that many people using OTC hearing aids are either over or under-amplified, which can lead to discomfort or further damage to the hearing. This results from not having the device professionally fitted and adjusted.

We believe that the best patient outcomes are achieved when our technology is fitted by a qualified professional, says Dr. Fabry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are OTC hearing aids as good as prescription hearing aids?

OTC hearing aids are a good choice for early-stage hearing loss, says Dr. Sreek Cherukuri, who also recommends seeing an audiologist first. They may be ideal for those who want to avoid the often high costs of prescription hearing aids. However, he also notes that OTC models are difficult for users to adjust, leading to potential issues in finding the right amplification level.

Does Medicare cover OTC hearing aids?

Dr. Cherukuri says traditional Medicare does not cover hearing aids. Some Medicare Advantage [Part C] and some employer-based insurance have hearing aid coverage, he says. Private insurance coverage varies based on your carrier and plan. Its best to check with your insurance carrier for coverage options.

How do I know if I need a hearing aid?

It may be time to consider a hearing aid if you are experiencing difficulty hearing, especially in social situations or conversations with background noise. The average individual waits 7-10 years after they first notice hearing loss to take steps toward addressing their changes in hearing, says Cooper. Hearing loss is correlated with a multitude of health conditions as well as social isolation, which can impact an individual's quality of life. Report any changes in your hearing to a medical professional who can help determine if a hearing aid is appropriate. The earlier hearing loss is detected and treated, the better, Cooper adds.

Are hearing aids easy to set up?

Every model is different, but most OTC hearing aids have a user manual and online tutorials to help you set them up. If you have any difficulty, customer support is usually available. Prescription hearing aids require professional fitting and calibration by an audiologist. Depending on the model, you may also need to visit your audiologist regularly for adjustments and maintenance.

Meet our expert panel

Amanda Cooper, licensed hearing aid specialist

Dr. Leigh Smith, AUD, audiologist and owner of Florida Audiology Associates, a hearing clinic located in Tampa, Florida

Dr. Dave Fabry, PhD, Starkeys chief hearing health officer

Dr. Amy Sarow, clinical audiologist

Dr. Sreek Cherukuri, MD, board-certified ear, nose, and throat physician and founder of ClearCast

This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.
WASHINGTON  When President Joe Biden launched his campaign last April, the first word he uttered was Freedom. As he gives his most important speech as a candidate for re-election Thursday night, the president will return to the theme as a key pillar in making his case to the country.

Biden will do so quite starkly, once again leaning on the example of one of his iconic predecessors. As the 46th president addresses the 118th Congress, he will invoke the 32nd presidents address to the 77th Congress, according to a copy of the speech that was visible in a photo his office published on X. In 1941, Franklin Roosevelt said he was speaking at an unprecedented moment in American history  months before the United States would join World War II with the Great Depression still fresh in mind.

The Biden teams focus on freedom and threats to democracy as a defining electoral issue has often invited criticism from allies, at a time when Americans perceptions of the economy, and of the 81-year-old president himself, are also expected to dominate the months ahead.

Advisers understand the importance of Bidens delivery in answering questions about his age, and agree on the need to help better connect the administrations economic agenda and accomplishments to the improvements in voters everyday lives.

But none of that will matter, aides counter, if Americas democracy falters, a reality the president will starkly warn is possible, and one his advisers say voters have already responded to.

There was language in the 2020 campaign that democracy and decency were on the ballot. There were voices that thought this was academic  too remote  but now there have been two elections whose results prove that not to have been the case, the historian Jon Meacham, an informal adviser to the president who helped him prepare his speech, said in an interview.

Roosevelts 1941 address became known as his Four Freedoms speech; he defined what he called the four essential human freedoms  of speech and expression, of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

Biden, who has a framed painting of Roosevelt displayed prominently in the Oval Office, has already offered his own version of the four freedoms for the 21st century. In a speech that opened 2024, Biden said that freedom itself was on the ballot this year.

Well be voting on many issues: on the freedom to vote and have your vote counted, on the freedom of choice, the freedom to have a fair shot, the freedom from fear, he said near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Each will be woven through his speech to Congress on Thursday, according to sources familiar with the address, who emphasized that it was still subject to further revisions.

Bidens State of the Union address Thursday will be one full of both symbolism and substance, with every policy discussed and even the delivery itself seen through the lens of November. But to the small circle of advisers crafting the address, it is quite simple.

This is a speech about Joe Biden, as one senior administration official put it. Biden, they said, will frame this moment in history, and offer a path for the future.

In Bidens re-election announcement video, he said the question facing Americans is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer.

Its been a consistent theme that even pre-dated the launch, though, one that Biden advisers felt was made all too clear in the events of Jan. 6  80 years from the day of the Roosevelt speech Biden will reference. And it was brought into a new context by the Supreme Courts Dobbs decision in 2022, which showed the threats to individual freedoms more broadly.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been traveling on a Fight for Reproductive Freedoms tour, made that immediate connection after the release of the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion.

The great aspiration of our nation has been to expand freedom, but the expansion of freedom clearly is not inevitable, she said then. It is not something that just happens  not unless we defend our most fundamental principles.

She repeated that Sunday during remarks in Selma, Alabama, calling the right to vote the freedom that unlocks all others.

In recent campaign appearances, Biden has also warned that former President Donald Trump and his MAGA friends are determined to take away our fundamental freedoms. And in advocating for securing funding for Ukraine, Biden has presented a choice: Are you going to stand up for freedom, or are you going to side with terror and tyranny? Are you going to stand with Ukraine, or are you going to stand with Putin? Will we stand with America or  or with Trump?

It shows what one Democratic strategist who works closely with the White House said was the great quality of freedom as a theme  its versatility.

Its definitely something that all Democratic pollsters are testing more now, taking their cues from the speeches they hear" from the administration, the strategist said. Republicans tried to run with that, but they became the party of banning books and banning LGBT clubs on school campuses, banning abortion and banning peoples rights.

Republicans, of course, havent fully conceded the theme. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a possible Trump vice presidential choice, used her State of the State address to highlight what she called her freedom works here agenda, including the freedom to keep and bear arms, the freedom to farm and ranch, and freedom to be secure.

But to Biden, freedom and democracy are intertwined as unique themes in part because of the threat he believes Donald Trump poses.

Democracy is nothing if it does not defend individual freedom against the whims and ambitions of an autocratic force. So I think an argument about freedom is the natural extension of the defense of democracy because theyre so closely entwined, Meacham said. Like any responsible president, President Biden has adjusted the intensity of the argument as the facts have warranted. Its an organic argument, not a static one.
Poll after poll suggested, for a while, that voters didn't want a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

But as the primaries got underway over the last two months, each party's base rallied around the two candidates and, on Wednesday morning, the last real chance of avoiding their matchup slipped away.

With former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's departure from the GOP primary, Trump's path to his third straight Republican nomination is unimpeded.

And Biden is coasting in his own primary, despite nominal opposition from author Marianne Williamson and Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips and some protest votes over his handling of Israel's war in Gaza. (Williamson suspended and then unsuspended her campaign; Phillips ended his own bid on Wednesday afternoon.)

MORE: Where will Haley's anti-Trump supporters go now that she's suspending her campaign?

A Biden-Trump race marks a rare rematch between an incumbent and his predecessor.

But it is anticipated to be dominated much less by the minutiae of differing policy proposals than by the candidates' well-known public personas and contrasting visions of the country. Trump has hammered Biden over inflation and immigration; Biden has attacked Trump's efforts to overturn the last election, his role in restriction abortion access and more.

They each have persistent problems in public perception, including low approval ratings.

Biden is bogged down in surveys by worries over his age and fitness for office, an issue he'll likely seek to quell with a strong State of the Union address on Thursday.

And Trump is facing an unprecedented 91 criminal charges, all of which he denies, and years of trouble wooing independents and swing-state suburban voters -- who have in turn helped Democrats notch a string of victories around the country since 2016.

"The results of last nights Super Tuesday contests cemented what we have known for some time now: Donald Trump limps into the general election as a wounded, dangerous and unpopular candidate. The Republican nominee ... is running on an extreme agenda that is already proving to be a significant liability for key voting blocs that are critical to the pathway to 270 electoral votes," Biden's campaign wrote in a Wednesday memo.

Trump has spoken just as bluntly.

"It's the fascists and the communists that surround him, they're making the calls," he claimed on Fox News on Tuesday, suggesting Biden is not up for his current or another term. "They're calling the shots. He's not calling the shots."

While campaigning in New Hampshire earlier this year, he said, "I think that Biden is the worst president in the history of this country."

PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a Super Tuesday election night party, Mar. 5, 2024, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Despite the rarity of the matchup, this year's race is set to focus on the same candidates with the same issues and the same list of battleground states (like Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and parts of the Midwest) as in 2020.

This time, though, the general election will go on for a historic period of time -- and despite the concerted efforts of Biden and Trump's critics.

Trump at first faced a crowded field of would-be replacements, drawing rivals from across the GOP's ideological spectrum.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ran as a virulent anti-Trump candidate; Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Vice President Mike Pence and more ran as establishment Republicans, expressing agnosticism toward Trump while trumpeting policies like fair trade, social conservatism and a muscular foreign policy; and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy ran in the mold of Trump's MAGA movement.

None of them succeeded.

As Trump's advantage with Republican voters only grew, he broke typical conventions, including avoiding primary debates and openly musing about whom he'd pick as his running mate even as the nomination fight was ostensibly still underway.

Many dropped out before the primaries began. DeSantis and Ramaswamy suspended their campaigns after dismal finishes in Iowa, with little prospect for success in the ensuing states.

Haley, for her part, stuck it out much longer, even after losing her home state's primary by 20 points. She vowed to fight on to Super Tuesday because the anti-Trump Republicans, who totaled more than 40% in some states, deserved an alternative.

Now, Trump has the field all to himself. The task before him next, according to experts and others in the party, including Haley, is consolidating Republican support and winning over enough swing voters, having never gotten more than 47% of the ballots in a general election.

"It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him, and I hope he does that. At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people. This is now his time for choosing," Haley said in her speech announcing her campaign suspension.

PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley hosts a campaign event in Fort Worth, Texas, Mar. 4, 2024. (Shelby Tauber/Reuters)

It's unclear how Trump may follow that advice -- after promoting party unity in a speech Tuesday night, the former president touted how Haley was "TROUNCED" on his social media platform Wednesday morning.

"Oh they'll vote for me again, everybody. And I'm not sure we need too many," he said in January in New Hampshire.

On the Democratic side, worries over Biden's standing also proved insufficient to blunt his march to the nomination.

Polls had and continue to show that many independents and even many Democrats believe the president, who is four years older than Trump, is too old for another term, numbers that helped propel Phillips into the race.

MORE: Super Tuesday sets up a Biden vs. Trump rematch, and 4 more takeaways

The Minnesota lawmaker, a former member of his party's House leadership, ran on a blunt message that Biden cannot win again.

Williamson campaigned on returning compassion to the country.

And critics of Israel's war against Hamas have pushed for people to vote "uncommitted" to register their dissatisfaction with Biden's handling of the conflict.

Yet, again, nothing seemed to work.

Williamson suspended her campaign -- and then unsuspended it. "Uncommitted" drew more than 100,000 voters in Michigan -- a number high enough to draw eyeballs but not high enough to seriously impede Biden's progress in winning delegates to clinch the nomination.

And as if to put a point on it, Phillips, who spent millions of his own fortune on his campaign, ended it after painfully poor showings on Tuesday.

"Congratulations to Joe Biden, Uncommitted, Marianne Williamson, and Nikki Haley for demonstrating more appeal to Democratic Party loyalists than me," he posted on X on Tuesday night.

The Biden-Trump election that voters said they didn't want is now here originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
A U.S. senator from Oregon introduced a bill Thursday that would dramatically increase the security of the benefits cards that low-income families use to buy groceries.

The bill comes amid a startling number of thefts from participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, whose electronic benefits transfer cards contain data on a magnetic stripe that is easy for criminals to clone using hidden skimming devices. The thieves produce duplicate cards that they use to drain victims SNAP funds.

Skimming is not unique to SNAP EBT cards, but embedded microchips and other features, such as contactless payments, have long combated this form of electronic robbery in consumer credit and debit cards.

No states currently issue chip-enabled SNAP EBT cards, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department, which oversees SNAP, a program formerly known as food stamps. Some, such as California, are in the planning stages of transitioning to chip cards.

The bipartisan, bicameral bill, shared first with NBC News, was introduced by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden. If passed, it would direct the USDA to issue updated cybersecurity regulations for all SNAP EBT cards for the first time since 2010, requiring them to have microchips.

Families right now are as vulnerable as ever, having their SNAP benefits stolen by crooks, Wyden said in a phone interview before the bill's introduction. This is just unacceptable for 2024 in America.

Liliya Kondratyuk, a day care teacher and single mother who lives in Lynn, Massachusetts, had her SNAP benefits skimmed just before Thanksgiving in 2022. She learned her funds had been stolen while trying to pay for groceries at the supermarket  and discovered that more than $750 had been wiped out, leaving less than a dollar in her account, she said.

Liliya Kondratyuk. (Courtesy Liliya Kondratyuk)

It crushed me, Kondratyuk said, adding that she had about $200 worth of food in her cart when her card got declined. I was just kind of embarrassed.

Kondratyuk eventually got reimbursed from the state for the stolen funds, but she said the theft caused her financial challenges for months. She feels Thursdays bill is urgently needed so families  including her own  wont have to go through the same experience.

I just dont want to have that worry in the back of my head always, she said. Is it going to happen all over again?

SNAP skimming has proliferated in recent years. In late 2022, Congress authorized states to use federal funds to reimburse victims of SNAP skimming in certain circumstances through September 2024. Millions of dollars worth of stolen SNAP funds have since been reinstated, but Wyden said that has only provided a partial solution.

Thats useful, but it just doesnt tackle the root of the problem, he said. The root of the problem is lackluster security for SNAP cards.

Thursdays bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and John Fetterman, D-Pa.

SNAP is supposed to help the person who is food insecure, Cassidy said in a statement to NBC News. It is not supposed to help crooks who steal these benefits. This fights the crooks while preserving the benefits for those most in need.

Fetterman echoed that, saying in a statement that it was despicable that thieves are targeting vulnerable hungry families with cyber-crime scams.

The House companion bill is led by Reps. Andy Kim, D-N.J., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y.

Wyden said he hopes the bill will pass as part of the Farm Bill, a sweeping piece of legislation that is up for renewal later this year and reauthorizes federal programs such as SNAP. His bill calls for states to begin issuing chip-enabled EBT cards within two years.

If I had it my way, it would have happened yesterday, Wyden said. There are nuts and bolts issues with respect to technology that have to be implemented.

Anti-hunger and anti-poverty advocacy organizations endorsed the bill, including the nonprofit Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, which has fought for reimbursement for skimming victims in its state.

Vicky Negus, policy advocate at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, praised the bill for supporting SNAP participants beyond just adding chip technology to EBT cards. The bill would also require the USDA to issue updated anti-fraud technology regulations every five years so SNAP keeps pace with the security of credit and debit cards. Additionally, it would require states to issue a replacement card within three days if an EBT card is stolen or cloned by fraudsters.

The goal here is to make sure that everybody has equitable protection in the checkout line  period, Negus said.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  Voters settled House primaries across California this week, with all eyes on a handful of swing districts whose November matchups will help determine which party controls Congress for the next two years.

All of Californias 52 congressional seats had primary elections Tuesday. The top two vote-getters in each race will advance to the general election regardless of their political party. About 10 of those seats figure to be competitive, and a handful are considered toss-ups.

These races will be some of the most competitive in the country this fall, and the outcomes will help determine which political party controls Congress. Right now Republicans have 219 seats in the House of Representatives, while Democrats have 213. There are three vacancies.

Californians are used to our state being a national leader, and our role in the 2024 elections is no different, said California U.S. Rep. Pete Aguilar, chair of the House Democratic Caucus. Im going to do everything in my power to ensure that were successful this November.

California Republican Party chair Jessica Millan Patterson said voters are fed up.

Voters are ready to send a clear message to radical, far-left Democrats this November that they've had enough, and it's time to put California and our nation on a pathway to success once again, she said.

The outcome of some races won't be known for days or even weeks. Thats because most people vote by mail with ballots that, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day, can arrive up to a week later and still be counted.

That has made counting ballots in California a weekslong drama that, for close contests, can transform Election Day into an election month.

Heres a look at the most competitive House races in California:

22ND DISTRICT: POLITICAL INFIGHTING LEADS TO LOCKOUT FEARS

Republican incumbent David Valadao and Democrat Rudy Salas were leading the field in early returns in this Central Valley farm district that has been targeted by Democrats as a crucial pickup opportunity.

Republican rancher Chris Mathys and Democratic state Sen. Melissa Hurtado were trailing.

Democrats have feared that Salas and Hurtado  two state lawmakers who are well known in the district  could splinter the Democratic vote and allow both Republicans to advance to the general election. That would be a major embarrassment for Democrats while dealing a major blow to their chances of retaking the House.

Salas has the backing of the Democratic Party and prominent state officials like Gov. Gavin Newsom. Newsom recently made a fundraising pitch on Salas behalf, warning of a DEEP risk of having two Republicans make the general election.

47TH DISTRICT: REPLACING KATIE PORTER

Republican Scott Baugh advanced to the general election in a key Orange County seat that his party hopes to pick up in November. The seat is currently held by Democrat Katie Porter, who is running for U.S. Senate.

Baugh, a former state Assembly member, narrowly lost to Porter in 2022 in a district that had once been reliably Republican.

Democratic state Sen. Dave Min was out front in early returns to also advance. Democrat Joanna Weiss, who founded an organization to promote progressive candidates, was behind Min and Baugh.

The race between Min and Weiss was one of the nastiest this cycle, with each campaign relentlessly attacking the other. That also meant they were handing easy general election fodder to Republicans.

Weiss' campaign has criticized Min for a drunken driving arrest last year. Min has accused Weiss of funding her campaign from money her husband made as a lawyer defending Catholic priests found guilty of molesting children. Weiss' campaign says her husband never defended a Catholic priest, saying she loaned money to the campaign from a home equity line of credit.

Porter backs Min, who also has the endorsement of the state party. Weiss is backed by Emily's List, which supports Democratic women who favor abortion rights, and by Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis.

45TH DISTRICT: A REPUBLICAN SEEKS TO HOLD ON TO A SEAT IN ASIAN COMMUNITY

Republican U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel has advanced to defend her Orange County seat in November.

Steel, a South Korean immigrant who has been in Congress since 2020, represents a district that was drawn to give Asian Americans a stronger voice in Washington. Its home to the nations largest Vietnamese community.

It was not yet clear who Steel will face in the general election.

Democrats Derek Tran, the son of Vietnamese refugees, and Kim Nguyen-Penaloza, the daughter of a Vietnamese refugee father, and two others were trailing Steel. Nguyen-Penaloza has the endorsement of the state Democratic Party.

49TH DISTRICT: DEMOCRATS SEEK TO DEFEND A COASTAL SEAT

Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Levin has advanced to defend his seat in this Southern California district that includes portions of Orange and San Diego counties.

He will face Republican auto dealer Matt Gunderson, who bested three other GOP candidates in the primary and also moves on to the November vote.

Californias coastal districts tend to lean Democratic, but Republicans believe they have a chance to oust Levin.

Voters chose Levin in 2018 to replace longtime Republican Darrell Issa, who has since returned to Congress in a neighboring district. Levin has since been reelected twice  by six points in 2020 and 5 points in 2022.

I think weve built the best ground operation of any congressional campaign in the United States, Levin said Tuesday in a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

27TH DISTRICT: A REPUBLICAN TRIES TO HANG ON IN LIBERAL LOS ANGELES

Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Garcia has advanced to the November general election, where hell defend his position as the last GOP House member anchored in Los Angeles County. He will face Democrat George Whitesides, a former NASA chief of staff.

Garcia has won the seat repeatedly despite a sizeable advantage for registered Democratic voters in the district.

Tonight's results are a testament to the fact that our mission and message is resonating with CA-27: Ensure the security of California families, Garcia said Tuesday in a statement.

Whitesides, who also advanced, has campaigned on abortion rights and environmental protection while trying to label Garcia as out of step with the district.

Garcia gets help from his both his background as a former Navy fighter pilot and his surname, which comes from his Mexican immigrant father and is familiar in a district with a significant Latino population.

41ST DISTRICT: A VETERAN REPUBLICAN DEFENDS HIS SEAT

Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert has advanced to defend his seat in November and will face off against Democrat Will Rollins.

Calvert is the longest-serving Republican in the California congressional delegation, having held his seat in this district east of Los Angeles since 1993. He won by about 5 percentage points in 2022 in a district that is about equally split between Republican and Democratic voters.

Rollins, a former federal prosecutor who lost to Calvert in 2022, gets another chance this year. Rollins, who is gay, could garner significant support in the city of Palm Springs, which has a sizeable LGBTQ+ population.
Lord David Cameron said there was a partnership of values between the UK and Paraguay as he became the first foreign secretary to visit the South American nation.

He praised the countrys support for Ukraine as an example of how the UK and Paraguay could work together.

Paraguays president Santiago Pena has given his support to Ukraine in a previous meeting with Kyivs leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

At a joint appearance with Paraguays foreign minister Ruben Ramirez Lezcano, Lord Cameron said: Partnerships only work if they are partnerships of values. I admire so much the stance your country has taken on Russias illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Thats just one example of where we share values then we can work together.

The UK and Paraguay are working together to unlock green growth and prosperity for both our people. We remain firmly committed to supporting Ukraine and upholding democracy and human rights worldwide. Muchas gracias por su bienvenida Presidente @SantiPenap. pic.twitter.com/a6SlldatjG  David Cameron (@David_Cameron) February 21, 2024

He apologised for the delay in a foreign secretary visiting a country with which the UK has had diplomatic ties since 1853.

Im sorry its taken so long, he said during his visit to the presidential palace in Asuncion.

His Paraguayan counterpart said the pair and president Pena had discussed the global context including the situations in Ukraine and Gaza

The talks also covered green energy and trade.

Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron walks around Port Stanley on the Falkland Islands (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

After his meetings in Paraguay the Foreign Secretary will attend a summit of G20 counterparts  including Russias Sergei Lavrov  in Brazil on Wednesday.

Russias actions in Ukraine will also be the subject of a United Nations session in New York later in the week.

The visit to Asuncion is the latest leg of the Foreign Secretarys tour of the Americas, which began in the Falkland Islands and will continue on to Brazil and the United States.

On Tuesday morning, Lord Cameron began his day with a swim in the cold South Atlantic before seeing some of the Falkland Islands penguins.

He chatted to children involved in a local conservation group, who persuaded him to try a piece of edible grass growing along the coast.

It tastes like celery, the Foreign Secretary said before offering the stem to the youngsters to try  they all declined.
(Photo : MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia's President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual state of the nation address at the Gostiny Dvor conference centre in central Moscow on February 29, 2024.

A woman who was allegedly assisting the Russian authorities in organizing elections in occupied Ukraine was killed in a car bombing, according to an exiled Ukrainian official.

Olena Ilina was reportedly killed in Berdiansk, a city bordering the Black Sea, approximately 40 miles southwest of Mariupol. Viktoriia Halitsina head of the Berdiansk City Military Administration announced the death on Telegram, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Russia's presidential election will be held between March 15 and 17 and will almost certainly result in another victory for Vladimir Putin.

The Ukrainian government has condemned Russia's decision to hold elections in the occupied Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson - saying that the results would be "null and void."

"Any election in Russia has nothing to do with democracy. They serve only as a tool to keep the Russian regime in power," Ukraine's foreign ministry said in December, according to Reuters.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry also urged foreign governments to not send election observers to the upcoming presidential voting - adding that anyone who did come would "face criminal responsibility."

Halitsina shared video footage of a damaged car that allegedly belonged to Ilina on Telegram. She claimed that the bomb went off when Ilina entered her vehicle, the Kyiv Independent reported.

Haltsina also reportedly told Ukrainians in occupied territories to avoid large crowds and polling stations, warning that Russian forces would increase their presence ahead of the election.
Progressive media personality Cenk Uygur told The Hill on Wednesday that he is ending his long-shot Democratic presidential bid.

The Young Turks host, who was born in Turkey and is therefore not eligible to become president due to the Constitutions Natural Born Citizen Clause, had attempted to launch a legal battle to gain ballot access across the country.

Look, we needed a couple of miracles, Uygur said in a The Young Turks interview later Wednesday. This was an act of desperation to try to change the course of this campaign because Biden I was positive was going to lose.

Uygur acknowledged that his legal battle found little success, but he said the stage is set for future naturalized citizens who choose to challenge the presidential requirement.

I got caught trying, he said.

Uygur attacked Biden from the left during his campaign, warning that Biden could not defeat former President Trump in a 2024 election rematch.

[Biden] is not going to win, Uygur said during his campaign announcement in October. It should not have been me, it should have been somebody else, but unfortunately it was not anyone else. Theres only four months left. We must change course. He has at best a 10 percent chance of winning. Im running as a proxy. I am running to win. But I am also running as a proxy for any other candidate.

Uygur raised more than $425,000 during his campaign, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

A one-time California congressional candidate, Uygur attained 6.6 percent of the vote in a race for the 25th District in 2020.

Uygur, a former MSNBC commentator, and author Marianne Williamson were the only main candidates challenging Biden in the Democratic primary. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) dropped out of the primary earlier Wednesday.

Uygur added that he will resume his full-time host duties at The Young Turks, which were limited due to his candidacy.

Updated at 7:01 p.m. EST.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Jamie Raskin was a House manager in Trumps second impeachment  for inciting the attack on Congress on 6 January 2021 Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

The Republican party under Donald Trump has become a cult of authoritarian personality in league with autocrats and kleptocrats and dictators, the prominent Democrat Jamie Raskin said, as the former US president saw off Nikki Haley, his last rival for the presidential nomination, and finally won the support of Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the US Senate.

Related: Nikki Haley has one last card to play: will she eventually endorse Trump?

Raskin was a House manager in Trumps second impeachment, for inciting the attack on Congress on 6 January 2021. After Senate Republicans ensured Trump escaped conviction, Raskin sat on the House committee that investigated January 6.

The next election wasnt much on my mind when we were reeling from the violence and the catastrophe of January 6, Raskin told MSNBC, referring to the deadly riot Trump stoked in an attempt to overturn his 2020 defeat by Joe Biden.

But I think my assumption was that of the constitution itself, which is that someone who participates in an insurrection against the union should never be allowed to hold office again.

It is disgraceful that a great political party, much less Abraham Lincolns [Republican] party, a party of liberty and union, should be reduced to a cult of authoritarian personality in league with autocrats and kleptocrats and dictators all over the world.

Of 91 criminal charges now faced by Trump, four federal and 13 state charges concern attempted election subversion. The others arise from retention of classified information (40, federal) and for hush-money payments to an adult film star (34, state).

Trump has also been handed multimillion-dollar fines in civil cases over his businesses and a rape allegation a judge called substantially true, and subjected to attempts to remove him from the ballot for inciting an insurrection. Regardless, he has dominated the Republican primary.

This week, the US supreme court rejected attempts to keep Trump off the ballot. In criminal court, meanwhile, Trumps lawyers are playing for time, seeking to fend off judgment until Trump can return to power and have cases dismissed.

On Wednesday, Haley, the former South Carolina governor, bowed to the inevitable and ended her presidential campaign, if without endorsing Trump.

Raskin said: What weve seen in this election, and well have to follow what happens with Nikki Haley, is the Republicans break but they cant bend. In other words, theres no ability to accommodate other views because everybody has to follow Donald Trump, like a monarch.

The Marylander also saluted Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, the Lincoln Project and all of the Republicans who are standing up for the constitution by opposing Trump.

Cheney, from Wyoming, and Kinzinger, from Illinois, were the only Republicans on the January 6 committee. Kinzinger retired. Cheney lost her seat.

Related: Biden and Trump see easy wins but Super Tuesday also reveals growing obstacles

The daughter of the former vice-president Dick Cheney and a stringent conservative, Liz Cheney has resisted calls to run against Trump as a Republican or on a third-party ticket. On Wednesday, she announced a new political action committee, The Great Task.

Named for a phrase in the Gettysburg Address, the 1863 Lincoln speech that became a foundational American text, the group said it would support candidates for office focused on reverence for the rule of law, respect for our constitution, and a recognition that all citizens have a responsibility to put their duty to the country above partisanship.

The GOP has chosen, Cheney said. They will nominate a man who attempted to overturn an election and seize power. We have eight months to save our republic and ensure Donald Trump is never anywhere near the Oval Office again. Join me in the fight for our nations freedom.
Former Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler will not face prosecution following an investigation into suspicions of rape and video voyeurism.

Prosecutors made the announcement Wednesday regarding video voyeurism. Ziegler already had been cleared of the rape allegations by police back in January, according to the Associated Press.

His accuser made inconsistent statements about whether she consented to the video made by Christian Ziegler during the October encounter at her home, prosecutors said in a memo obtained by the AP.

The woman told investigators that "she could have consented to the video being taken  she is simply unable to recall one way or the other," the memo said.

VIDEO VOYEURISM ADDED TO PROBE OF FLORIDA GOP CHAIR FOLLOWING RAPE ALLEGATION

Ziegler maintained his innocence throughout the investigation.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"Mr. Ziegler is relieved to be completely cleared of the false allegations and any criminal wrongdoing. We cooperated at every stage of investigation and as difficult as it was, we remained quiet out of respect for the investigation," his attorney Derek Byrd said.

FLORIDA GOP SUSPENDS CHAIRMAN, DEMANDS RESIGNATION AMID RAPE ALLEGATIONS

Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler was the subject of criminal sexual battery investigation.

A complaint against Ziegler was filed with the Sarasota Police Department on Oct. 4, stating that the alleged sexual battery occurred inside a womans Sarasota home on Oct. 2.

Ziegler's wife, who co-founded the conservative group Moms for Liberty which deals with education in Florida schools, told police that she, the victim and her husband had consensual sex together over a year before the alleged crime occurred, Politico reported.

Bridget Ziegler, founder of Moms for Liberty, left, and Christian Ziegler Florida GOP Chairman, right.

According to text messages cited in the affidavit, the woman and the Zieglers had planned to again have group sex on Oct. 2, but the woman backed out after Bridget Ziegler "couldn't make it."

In a Nov. 2 interview with detectives, 40-year-old Ziegler said the sex was consensual and that he had recorded it. He said he deleted the video, then recovered it after the rape allegation surfaced.

The controversy led the state Republican Party to remove Ziegler as chair in January. There have also been efforts in Sarasota to force Bridget Ziegler from the school board, but she has refused to resign.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.





Original article source:Former Florida GOP chair wont face charges over sexual encounter that cost him his job
A Fulton County ethics watchdog slated to hear complaints against District Attorney Fani Willis (D) on Thursday will no longer do so, according to an updated meeting agenda.

The Fulton County Board of Ethics was expected to hear two complaints against Willis after her romance with a special prosecutor on the election interference case involving former President Trump raised concerns of a conflict of interest.

The board determined it does not have jurisdiction over Willis, who is a state constitutional officer in her role, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The Hill requested comment from the Board of Ethicss secretary and the clerk to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.

Fulton County resident Steven Kramer filed one of the complaints, citing Williss relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade and questioning whether she improperly benefited from his hiring.

The extra resources and financial costs for the court and the district attorneys office, both paid for by Fulton County taxpayers like me, are to deal with this improper relationship, Kramer wrote in his Feb. 14 complaint.

The other complaint was filed by internet-based talk show host Gregory Mantell, who claimed in a Substack post that Willis has violated at least six sections and even more subsections of the Fulton County Ethics Code.

The Ethics board inquiry was cheered on by national leaders such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who posted on social media last month that she was looking forward to the hearing.

A Republican-led state Senate committee also probed Williss relationship with Wade this week over allegations the district attorney misused taxpayer funds.

On Wednesday, the Georgia state Senate Special Committee on Investigations questioned Ashleigh Merchant, the defense attorney representing 2020 Trump campaign operative Michael Roman. Merchant first brought the romance to light in a January court filing. She detailed her investigation into the prosecutors Wednesday, revealing few new details but further thrusting the relationship into the spotlight.

The oversight hearing drew renewed attention to the district attorneys relationship as the judge overseeing the 2020 election interference case weighs whether to disqualify Willis and her office from the historic prosecution.

Judge Scott McAfee said he expects to rule on the matter by the end of next week. The case could be thrown into limbo if he does boot Willis and the Fulton County district attorneys office from it, as a local council would be tasked with picking a different district attorneys office to take up the prosecution.

Trump and more than a dozen allies are accused of plotting to return the former president to the White House after he lost Georgias 2020 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the 13 counts he faces.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Senate candidate Katie Porter, D-Calif., on Wednesday suggested that the California primary race was rigged by "an onslaught of billionaires" after losing to her Democratic opponent, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

The progressive Democrat did not win a single county, earning a statewide total of just under 14%. She finished nearly twenty points behind both Schiff and Republican candidate Steve Garvey and came in third place in Orange County, which she has represented since 2019.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Porter said her supporters "had the establishment running scared  withstanding 3 to 1 in TV spending and an onslaught of billionaires spending millions to rig this election."

She said the results demonstrated that Californians were "hungry for leaders who break the mold, can't be bought, and push for accountability in government and across our economy."

TRUMP SENDS MESSAGE TO HALEY SUPPORTERS AFTER SHE SUSPENDS 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

"Special interests like politics as it is today because they control the politicians," she said. "As weve seen in this campaign, they spend millions to defeat someone who will dilute their influence and disrupt the status quo."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Former President Trump was frequently criticized for throwing around the word "rigged" after losing the 2020 presidential election to President Biden.

FILE: Rep. Katie Porter and Rep. Adam Schiff, left, and right participate in a debate on stage with other democrats who are running to succeed Sen. Feinstein at Westing Bonaventure Hotel on Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023, in Los Angeles, CA.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the campaign offices of Porter and Schiff for additional comment. Garvey declined to respond.

Porter herself has received millions of dollars from big donors to boost her campaign, despite touting her record of not accepting corporate PAC money. She has reportedly accepted thousands of dollars in donations from big Wall Street donors, according to federal campaign finance disclosures.

California, in which Republicans are outnumbered by registered Democrats by about 2-to-1, puts all candidates, regardless of party, on the same primary ballot and the two who get the most votes advance to the general election. A Republican hasn't won a statewide race for any office in California since 2006.





Original article source:Katie Porter suggests billionaires rigged California Senate primary after losing to Adam Schiff
Intruders broke into a major port terminal in Haiti Thursday as violence in the country escalated after the government extended its state of emergency.

The Haitian government decreed the state of emergency would be extended to April 3 in the countrys West Region and the capital Port-au-Prince. A curfew has been extended to March 10.

It comes as Port-au-Princes Caribbean Port Services (CPS) terminal, a major player in Haitis food import supply chain, was broken into around 8 a.m., two security sources told CNN. The intruders headed to the terminals gated warehouse area that houses many containers, the sources said.

The source said the unrest at the port continues.

Video of the port on Thursday showed hundreds of people on the streets around the facility and what appeared to be dozens of people breaking into the gated warehouse. CPS did not respond to CNNs requests for comment.

Exclusive satellite imagery from Airbus seen by CNN showed people massing outside of the area and crowds moving in through an opening to the street.

A satellite image shows the aftermath of the port breach in Haiti. - Pleiades Neo/Airbus

One Airbus satellite image shows a significant amount of material littering the area of the container port terminal. Another image, taken Wednesday, shows a Haitian National Police MRAP  mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle  on a major roadway.

A security source told CNN that the MRAP was positioned there to prevent G9 gang coalition leader Jimmy Cherizier from expanding attacks and particularly from moving toward the airport road.

A gang blockade can be seen along a major street. - Pleiades Neo/Airbus

Elsewhere in Port-au-Prince, satellite images show blockades  some constructed by local residents and others by gangs  along major streets, closing off entire neighborhoods.

Port-au-Prince has been gripped by a wave of highly coordinated gang attacks on law enforcement and state institutions in what gang leader Cherizier has described as an attempt to overthrow Prime Minister Ariel Henrys government.

Armed groups have burned down police stations and released thousands of inmates from two prisons, and Cherizier has warned of a civil war that will end in genocide if the prime minister does not step down, Reuters reported Tuesday.

The chaos has forced tens of thousands to flee their homes in the past few days, adding to the more than 300,000 already displaced by gang violence.

It is also affecting the distribution of essential supplies by aid organizations. The World Food Programme suspended its maritime transport services in Port-au-Prince from distributing aid across Haiti due to the instability.

A law enforcement officer at a police station set on fire by armed gangs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 5, 2024. - Odelyn Joseph/AP

Two dozen trucks of aid, filled with food, medical supplies, and equipment, are stuck at the port in Port-au-Prince, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a Thursday statement.

Maritime routes are the only way to transport aid, especially food and medical supplies for humanitarian and development organizations, from Port-au-Prince to the rest of the country, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General and OCHA.

Healthcare system near collapse

Haitis healthcare system is near collapse, and many health centers have been forced to reduce their operations due to violence and lack of personnel and medicine, Dujarric said.

Only one public hospital remains operational in Port-au-Princes metropolitan area, according to an official at the countrys Civil Protection, and emergency services are severely hampered.

Hopital Universitaire la Paix has received nearly 70 patients with gunshot wounds since the weekend and several medical centers in the country have been burned down in the past day, the official said.

Doctors in Haiti are desperate for help amid a lack of oxygen and a shortage of water.

There is no oxygen available, no water neither to service the hospitals because of the shutdown of the pumps to provide water to people, Ronald Laroche, a doctor who runs a network of private hospitals told CNN. Most hospitals have closed their doors in the heart of the capital.

Laroche runs a network of more than 20 medical centers throughout Haiti, two of which have been destroyed by gangs, he said. They (gangs) turned them into their general quarters. Seven of our medical centers had to close their doors as well to prevent our employees from being kidnapped.

Haitis Civil Protection told CNN that theyve been unable to gather information on civilian injuries and deaths since this latest wave of violence.

Calls for a political transition

The US has been urging Prime Minister Henry to clear the way for a political transition in Haiti, which Haitian officials say could be structured with the initial appointment of a three-member transitional council that would select an interim president to lead the country.

The unelected leader came to power in 2021 with the backing of the United States, Canada and other key allies, following the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise. He promised to hold elections in 2023, but they never transpired, with Henrys administration citing the countrys insecurity as a major obstacle.

Henry has had difficulty returning to the country this week. His plane was diverted to the US territory of Puerto Rico after the Dominican Republic, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with Haiti, refused to let it land.

When the violence broke out last Friday, Henry was in Kenya to sign an agreement for a Kenyan-led multinational mission to restore security in the Caribbean nation.

Nearby nations have been securing their borders following the outbreak of violence. A maritime blockade was established in the southeastern Bahamas amid fears of mass migration from Haiti, Commodore Raymond King of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), said at a press conference on Thursday.

King said officials are particularly concerned about the jailbreaks, fearing the prison escapees will try to flee Haiti by boat.

While security has deteriorated in recent months, Haiti has for years suffered chronic violence, political crisis and drought, leaving some 5.5 million Haitians  about half the population  in need of humanitarian assistance.

More than 40% of deaths in the impoverished neighborhood of Cite Soleil in the Haitian capital have been caused by violence, according to a survey conducted by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) that studied the period between July 25 and August 24, 2023. MSF said the mortality rate is comparable to those seen during exceptionally violent periods in Syria and Myanmar.

CNNs Jim Rogers and Patrick Oppmann contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Love is in the air at the Gentle Barn. The sanctuary recently shared some of the many love stories between their animals at their facilities. Some of whom have been together for years.

Grab the Kleenex because the stories the animal sanctuary shared were so sweet.

Some people may not even realize that animals can fall in love with each other. But they can! Whether that be romantic love, familial love, or just companionship; the Gentle Barn explained several of their animals have fallen for each other.

Related: Gentle Barn Sanctuary Announces Name of Their Brand New Baby Turkey

"Over the last 25 year history of The Gentle Barn, what has proven to be very obvious is that our animals fall in love," founder Ellie Laks explained in the clip.

The very first love story happened at their sanctuary's Tennessee location between a male cow named Dudley and his wife Destiny. They even had a wedding.

"They played together, they meditated together, they laid together under the old hickory tree, and they were inseparable for the rest of Dudley's life," Laks explained. Awwww.

"Love is everything at our farm animal sanctuary," the video's caption reads.

The comments section was a mess. "Okay Im bawling my eyes out in happiness!" admitted one person. "Thank you for giving them the opportunity to love," someone else praised. "Ohhhhh to be a beautiful cow, laying with my love under the old hickory tree," a third person chimed in. "This is the most beautiful thing Ive ever heard. Wow. Its so wonderful and deep," agreed another commenter.

More Love Stories at Gentle Barn

The sanctuary shared some of the other lovebirds that live on their properties. In Tennessee, there's a goat family that spends all of their time together  Merlin, Mae, and their daughter Lolli.

"A lot of people think that male animals don't really care about their offspring, but that is not true," Laks explained. In fact, Merlin makes sure to spend lots of quality time with both Lolli and Mae.

At their Missouri location, there's a romance between a rooster named Nigel and a hen named Zailey.

"It was pretty much right off the bat the minute they met," Laks said of their love for each other. The two would roost together, go on strolls all alone, and they even went on "dates."

There has also been a lot of "unexpected" love stories at the sanctuary. Like between a turkey named Sun and a goat named Gus. They were the most devoted companions together despite not be of the same species.

It just goes to show that keeping animals together enriches their lives more than we could imagine. We mean, who could ever deny any of these guys the chance at love?

Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on YouTube for more entertaining videos. Or, share your own adorable pet by submitting a video, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest pet updates and tips.
(Photo Credit: Daniel A. Leifheit | Getty Images)

Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey was compelled to kill a moose on Monday during the 2024 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race near Skwentna, Alaska. The incident occurred after one of Seaveys dogs suffered an injury. This prompted him to use a handgun in self-defense. According to race officials, the moose had become entangled with the dogs and the musher.

5-time champion Iditarod dog sled race musher Dallas Seavey forced to defend dogs during moose encounter

Seavey, 37, explained to an Iditarod Insider television crew that the moose had fallen onto his sled. This led him to address the situation as best he could. I gutted it the best I could, but it was ugly, he said.

The five-time Iditarod champion encountered the moose 14 miles beyond the Skwentna checkpoint on Monday at 1:43 a.m. At the time, he and his dogs were headed to the next checkpoint in Finger Lake. The checkpoint was approximately 50 miles away. Upon reaching Finger Lake, he promptly dropped off the injured dog. The hurt animal was subsequently flown to Anchorage, Alaska, for veterinary evaluation. Race Marshal Warren Palfrey informed Alaska State Troopers about the mooses presence on the trail  per PEOPLE.

Palfrey stated in a release, With help from snowmobile-aided support in the area, we are making sure that every attempt is made to utilize and salvage the moose meat. He confirmed an investigation is underway concerning the incidents compliance with the races regulations regarding the killing of game animals.

In the race guidelines, an edible big game animal like a moose, caribou, or buffalo can be taken down for defense of life or property. The competitor must then gut the animal and report the incident at the subsequent checkpoint. Teams following are obligated to assist in gutting where possible. Furthermore, if any teams encounter the musher dealing with the animal, they must wait until the situation is resolved before passing.

Paige Drobny, another competitor in the 2024 race, informed Iditarod officials at the Finger Lake checkpoint that the animals carcass was still blocking the trail. Yeah, my team had to maneuver around it; it was right smack in the middle, Drobny explained.

The post Iditarod Dog Sled Race Musher Forced To Shoot, Gut Moose appeared first on DogTime.
(Photo Credit: John Nacion / Contributor | WireImage via Getty Images)

A TikTok user captured Nicole Kidman getting attacked by a dog while filming on the bustling streets of New York City. The Oscar-winning actor was shooting a dramatic scene featuring an elaborate stunt with a canine co-star. Kidman was on the set of Halina Reijns film Babygirl.

Watch Nicole Kidman get attacked by dog in TikTok video

A viral video on TikTok depicts a stunt dog attacking Australian actress Nicole Kidman while filming her latest movie, as Yahoo Life reports. Last week, while shooting the upcoming film Babygirl on the streets of New York City, @mickmicknyc captured the moment when the stunt dog attacked Kidman. The TikToker is a photojournalist who is an expert in capturing celebrities in New York City.

The movie Babygirl revolves around a highly successful CEO who is in a forbidden relationship with her significantly younger intern. The film also includes a complex stunt sequence involving a canine. In the scene, the unleashed dog vigorously bites into one persons arm before jumping onto Kidman.

The video begins with a loose dog simulating an attack on an extra by biting their arm, as per Sky News Australia. Subsequently, the canine targets Kidmans character.

The stunt animal leaps onto Kidmans stunt double, causing a dramatic fall onto a foam mat. Then, the scene starts over, with the foam mat absent as the stunt dog approaches the real Kidman. At one point, the furry animal breaks character to affectionately lick the stars face.

Eventually, the video went viral on TikTok, and many users expressed delight over the dogs adorable behavior. One user commented, I could never do it; I would just lay there and love on the dog, and the scene would never get done. Another user wrote, I love how the dog gave her a little smooch.

The TikTok video has about 3 million views. It has garnered 120K likes on the platform.

The post Nicole Kidman Attacked by Stunt Dog on Babygirl Set appeared first on DogTime.
After a few episodes of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, it dawned on me that the series would end on a mournful note: Truman Capote's death. Sure, the writer was a tough guy with a quick wit and thick skin, but stories of betrayal rarely have a happy conclusion. Episode 7 confirmed my suspicions, showing Capote drinking himself into organ failure. While not the season finale, this episode marked the end of the journey we began in episode 1, when Capote's controversial story, "La Cote Basque, 1965," published in Esquire.

The scorching tale painted a picture of New Yorks waspy high society. It was technically fictionallike Capote's previous works, Breakfast at Tiffanys and In Cold Bloodbut he based his characters on his actual friends, a group of women affectionately dubbed "The Swans." To their surprise, "La Cote Basque" included sordid details from their personal lives, including secrets they told Capote in confidence. Soon after the story was published, they cut him off.

Feud unpacks Capotes betrayal and subsequent self-sabotage through a series of episodes that jump through time. By the time episode 7 rolls around, Capotes life is in ruins. His favorite Swan, Babe Paley, grows terminally illand dies before they can reconcile. Capote's book, Answered Prayers, is unfinished. His longtime partner, Jack Dunphy, has had enough of his antics. On top of it all, high society has gone out of fashion. Without these things, Capote spirals and tries to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol.

In one startling scene, Capote appears on a talk show, drunk and hardly able to function. The writer slurs his words, his body slumps over, and he blacks out. With Jacks help, Capote wakes up in a treatment center, where he's urged to get his life together. "Where has your high-wire act gotten you," Jack asks. In a dead-end bed in a dead-end hospital." That realization leads Capote to Joanne Carsons home in Beverly Hills, where he promises to "dry out" and finally finish Answered Prayers.

Joanne welcomes him with a cozy room, empty notepads, and her unwavering support. The only problem? Capote cant stop drinking. At all. He spends his days at the pool with a pen in one hand and a glass in the other. It doesnt take long for the man to become bedridden, and he eventually dies with Joanne at his side. Episode 7 ends with Joanne calling Jack to deliver the news. "Did he say anything?" Jack asks. "He said he was cold. 'Mother. Mama.' And then he said, 'Beautiful Babe.'"

Capotes last words are actually unknown, but his death occurred similarly to Feud's depiction. Heres everything we know about his final days.

When Did Truman Capote Die?

The writer died in 1984 at Joanne Carsons home in Los Angeles. He was 59 years old. Prior to his death, Capote was working on his novel, Answered Prayers. It was supposed to include his story, "La Cote Basque, 1965," but the project never came to fruition. Its unclear whether the manuscript was hidden, destroyed, or simply incompletebut one of his rivals, the author Gore Vidal, said Capotes death was a "wise career move."

Bettmann - Getty Images

What Happened to Truman Capote?

As Feud depicts, Capote suffered from alcoholismbut despite numerous stints in rehab, he always relapsed. After doing so for years on end, his body simply gave out. According to PBS News, Truman Capotes death was attributed to "liver disease complicated by phlebitis and multiple drug intoxication."

According to The Gainesville Sun, Capotes funeral was held at a nondenominational chapel at the Westwood Village Cemetery in Brentwood, California. 250 people attended the service. Amongst the crowd was Joanne Carson, along with actor Robert Blake, author Christopher Isherwood, and composer Artie Shaw. During Shaws eulogy, he described Capote with one of the writer's own quotes: "I am an alcoholic. I am a drug addict. I am a homosexual. And I am a genius."

Ottawa Citizen reports that Capote was laid to rest in a mahogany coffin decorated with pink roses. The ceremony included recordings from his favorite musicians, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, along with readings from Capotes written work. Blake, who starred in the film adaptation of Capotes In Cold Blood, fondly spoke about their bond. "He taught me more about life and acting out there in Kansas than anyone else in my life." Meanwhile, Capotes lawyer, Allen Schwartz, spoke of his demise as "the terrible price he paid for his talent and his savage wit." After the publication of "La Cote Basque," Capote complained about the backlash to Schwartz. "What did they think they had around them?" he said. "A court jester? They had a writer!"

Capotes original autopsy report was inconclusive, leading to speculation about his death. Shaw contemplated this in his eulogy. Capote, he presumed, "died of living; it was the deep, rich, and full life that killed him."

After his funeral, Capote was cremated, and his ashes were divvied up. Some went to Joanne Carson, which were auctioned off years later. Legend has it that some of Capotes remains were given to his ex-lover, Jack Dunphyand when he died, their ashes were scattered together at Crooked Lake in Long Island.

You Might Also Like
Alabama lawmakers are facing immense pressure to restart invitro fertilization services in the state's advanced legislation to protect providers from the fallout of a Supreme Court ruling that equated frozen embryos to children.

Committees in the state Senate and House approved two identical bills on Tuesday that would shield providers from lawsuits and criminal prosecution for the "damage or death of an embryo" during IVF services.

After the Alabama Supreme Court's ruling last month, three major IVF providers paused services due to the liability concerns it raised.

Lawmakers hope to give final approval Wednesday and send the legislation to Gov. Kay Ivey to be signed into law. The immunity legislation is on the fast track to reopen clinics and assess whether additional action is needed.

"The problem we are trying to solve right now is to get those families back on track to be moving forward as they try to have children," said Rep. Terri Collins, sponsor of one of the bills.

How Did The Supreme Court Ruling Come About?

According to a court ruling, three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death lawsuits for their "extrauterine children," reported The Associated Press.

The ruling ultimately treats an embryo the same as a child or gestating fetus under the wrongful death statute, however raises concerns about civil liabilities for clinics.

The court was immediately met with criticism as groups across the nation questioned a ruling recognizing embryos as children. Alabama patients revealed their scheduled embryo transfers were being abruptly canceled leaving them reconsidering their paths to parenthood.

A couple who had transferred frozen embryos to Alabama upon their move from New York, watched as the Senate committee voted.

"We've been working up to getting ready to try again. We still have embryos from our prior cycle, which we did in New York. We transferred them here. We can't use them. We're on hold," Beth Davis-Dillard said. "I'm 44, so time is limited. We don't have unlimited time to wait. We really want to give it a try and see if we can have another baby."

"It just feels like our rights are being restricted," she continued.

The legislative proposals state that "no action, suit, or criminal prosecution for the damage to or death of an embryo shall be brought or maintained against any individual or entity when providing or receiving services related to in vitro fertilization."

Alabama Fertility in Birmingham has canceled around 35 frozen embryo transfers in the 12 days since halting IVF treatments, but hopes to resume procedures as early as Thursday or Friday, said Dr. Mamie McLean.

"We are so hopeful that this bill will provide immediate, complete, and permanent access to IVF treatments in Alabama," she said, "We cannot wait to celebrate with our patients. Honestly, we can't wait to do the first embryo transfer, we can't wait to see the first positive pregnancy test ... it holds even more meaning than it did before."

In a statement released by The American Society for Reproductive Medicine and obtained by CNN, the document stressed that without legislation to address the issue of whether a fertilized egg is legally considered a person, IVF providers are still vulnerable.

"We believe these bills will not provide the assurances Alabama's fertility physicians need to be confident they can continue to provide the best standard of care to their patients without putting themselves, their colleagues, and their patients at legal risk," the statement read.
(Photo Credit: asbe | Getty Images)

Charlie Griffin, the famed veteran fisherman who appeared in the National Geographic TV franchise Wicked Tuna, has tragically died in a boating accident with his dog, Leila. The United States Coast Guard confirmed the devastating news. They revealed that Griffin and Leila were found deceased off the coast of Oregon Inlet in North Carolinas Outer Banks. Griffin was 65 at the time of his death.

Charlie Griffin and his pet dog Leila passed away in a shipwreck

The Coast Guards statement was released a day after Griffins official account on Facebook announced the captains demise. The post requested thoughts and prayers for Griffins family and friends. It also emphasized the indelible mark he left on the fishing community. Please keep family and friends in your thoughts and prayers, the post stated. We will forever remember Griff.

National Geographic and Pilgrim Media Group, the producers of Wicked Tuna, paid tribute to Griffin in a joint statement  per FOX News. They also clarified that the shipwreck was unrelated to the TV series. They described Griffin as a spirited fisherman with a big heart and expressed their condolences to his family and colleagues.

On Tuesday, the Coast Guard announced that members of its North Carolina Command Center were notified about two overdue boaters late Sunday evening. Griffin, accompanied by his dog and 36-year-old Chad Dunn, departed from Virginia Beach to Pirates Cove Marina in Manteo for repairs.

The search involved various agencies. These included the National Park Service, Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. However, after a 41-hour search, the Coast Guard decided to conclude the search for Dunn on Tuesday. North Carolina Coast Guard Deputy Commander Corrie Sergent expressed condolences to the families and friends affected by this tragic event. He emphasized the difficulty of the decision to halt the search.

It is one of the hardest decisions to call off a search, and we offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends affected by this tragic event, said Sergent.

The post Wicked Tuna Star Charlie Griffin & Dog Leila Killed in Boating Accident appeared first on DogTime.
Max and Jos Verstappen at last weekend's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix

Max Verstappen says his father is "not a liar" in the wake of his claim that the controversy around Christian Horner is "driving people apart".

Jos Verstappen said last weekend in Bahrain that the situation at Red Bull "is not good for the team".

Three-time world champion Verstappen said: "[Jos] is always very outspoken. He is not a liar, that's for sure."

The Dutchman added he could "understand" if people thought his father was representing his views.

"My dad and I are very close," Verstappen said. "We call every day even if he is not around.

"But I am not a guy who likes to speak a lot about certain stuff and I just want to focus on the driving and if there are issues we try to resolve it within the team.

"That is what I can say about things. For the team, it is very important we can talk about the performance of our great car."

Red Bull team boss Horner was at the centre of accusations of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague. After an internal investigation, Red Bull's board dismissed the complaint last week.

An anonymous email, including messages purporting to involve Horner, was leaked the following day. Horner has refused to say if the messages are genuine and Jos Verstappen denied that he was the source of the leaks.

Jos Verstappen, who drove in Formula 1 between 1994 and 2003, told BBC Sport he had made the comments after a falling out with Horner in Bahrain.

He is not attending this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as he is competing in a rally.

Max said he had spent the days between the two races with his father and said Jos and their manager Raymond Vermeulen would always be with him as long as he was in F1.

"I don't see myself in F1 without them by my side." Verstappen said.

Asked whether he expected Horner and his father to put their differences aside, Max said: "Everyone in general, even if you have arguments or not, there are always things that can be worked out. Everyone is man enough and respectful enough anyway.

"I have not always agreed with everything that happens in F1. That's why sometimes it is good to have a discussion about things and then you might agree to disagree sometimes. That's what happens in a relationship. That's how it goes."

Verstappen refused to be drawn on the fact that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem asked him in Bahrain to offer his public support to Horner.

"I am not going to say yes or no," Verstappen said. "He came to me in private."

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton said the situations surrounding Horner and Ben Sulayem were not good for the image of F1.

"Disappointing to see what's going on right now, it doesn't look good from the outside looking in and it doesn't look good looking in," he said.

"It is a really important time, to stick to our values and hold ourselves accountable for our actions. It is a really pivotal moment in terms of what we project to the world and how it's handled and it's not been handled very well up to this point. Transparency is really key. It highlights some of the issues we have within the sport. Making people feel comfortable in this environment is key and it is clearly not the case."

Verstappen dismissed claims in the media that he could be tempted to leave Red Bull for Mercedes in the wake of the Horner controversy.

Asked whether he would stay to the end of his contract in 2028, Verstappen said: "That has always been the intention of signing. That is why we signed (for) so long, to be here, and of course it is about the performance of the car and from 2026 onwards.

"It's a bit of question marks with new regulations but I knew that when I signed my contract.

"But I also know what they have done for me in my career. The intention is absolutely to stay with this team because I really enjoy it and I am happy within the team. As long as we perform, there is no reason to leave."

Mercedes driver George Russell said every team on the grid would be interested in signing Verstappen if he was available.

Russell said: "Any team wants to have the best driver line-up possible. And right now, Max is the best driver on the grid. So if any team had a chance to sign Max, they would 100% be taking it.

"The question is more on the other side, on his side and Red Bull's side. Obviously so much going on there. We don't know what truly is going on behind closed doors and ultimately it's none of our business right now."

Watch on iPlayer banner
Editors Note: A version of this story appears in CNNs Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the regions biggest stories. Sign up here.

Anwar Abdul Nabi perches on the edge of a bed at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. Her eyes are sunken with grief.

The young mother tenderly holds the fingers of her daughter, Mila. Just minutes ago, the 3-year-old girl died of starvation.

My daughter was taken into to Gods mercy, because of the lack of calcium, potassium and oxygen, Nabi told CNN on Monday, as she cried into the arms of an elderly relative. Suddenly, everything dropped, because she was not eating anything with iron, or eggs. She used to eat eggs every day before the war. Now nothing. She passed away.

As Israels severe restrictions on aid entering the Gaza Strip drain essential supplies, displaced Palestinians told CNN they are struggling to feed their children. Starving mothers are unable to produce enough milk to breastfeed their babies, doctors say. Parents arrive at overwhelmed health facilities begging for infant formula. Civilians have lost on average tens of kilograms of weight, according to relief workers. In northern Gaza, people rush to grab aid from infrequent humanitarian drops. Health workers say they cannot offer life-saving treatment to malnourished Gazans because Israels bombardment and siege has crushed the medical system.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said Tuesday that since the beginning of the war, 364 health workers had been killed; 269 medical staff arrested; 155 health facilities destroyed, and 155 ambulances targeted. CNN cannot independently confirm the numbers due to the lack of international media access to Gaza.

Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza after the militant group Hamas killed at least 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 250 others in southern Israel on October 7.

Since then, Israels attacks on Gaza have killed at least 30,717 Palestinians and wounded another 72,156 people, according to the Ministry of Health in the enclave, while its siege has drastically diminished vital supplies and left the enclaves population of some 2.2 million people exposed to high levels of acute food insecurity or worse, according to the Integrated Food Security and Nutrition Phase Classification (IPC), which assesses global food insecurity and malnutrition.

At least 20 Palestinians have starved to death in Gaza, Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, said on Wednesday. The youngest baby who died of starvation in the enclave was one day old, according to Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital. The true number could be even higher, as limited access to northern Gaza has hindered the ability of aid agencies to fully assess the situation there. UN experts accused Israel of intentionally starving Palestinians in Gaza. Israel insists there is no limit on the amount of aid that can enter Gaza, but its inspection regime on aid trucks has meant that only a tiny fraction of the amount of food and other supplies that used to enter Gaza daily before the war is getting in now.

Thousands of babies will die

One-year-old Watin, in northern Gaza, has grown tired and weak from dehydration. Instead of drinking baby formula, she is surviving on one to two dates a day.

She is only taking one meal, said her father, Ikhlas Shehadeh, who struggles to scavenge enough food to feed his baby girl. She spent a long time without any milk. This child is suffering from the inability to move, he told CNN on Tuesday. We do not know what to do.

The babies of thousands of women who are due to give birth in the next month in the Gaza Strip are at risk of dying, the UNICEF State of Palestine Humanitarian Situation report said on Tuesday. At least 5,500 pregnant women do not have access to prenatal or postnatal check-ups because of bombings and need to flee for safety, the report said.

Anxiety is also leading to premature births, the report added, citing the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF.) The report also said over 90% of children aged 6-23 months and pregnant, breastfeeding women face severe food poverty with access to two or fewer food groups per day.

Anwar Abdul Nabi, a young mother whose 3-year-old daughter, Mila, had died of malnutrition minutes earlier. Israel's siege on Gaza has consigned Palestinians in the enclave to deadly starvation. - CNN

Food shortages are reportedly the worst in northern Gaza, where Israel concentrated its military offensive in the early days of the war. Child malnutrition in the region is about three times higher than in southern Gaza, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Screenings at health facilities there have previously found at least one in six children under the age of two are acutely malnourished, said Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the territory. He warned those figures are likely to be greater today. Pregnant and breastfeeding women also face grave threats to their health caused by malnutrition, the Global Nutrition Cluster, an alliance of NGOs, reported in February.

Dr. Muhammad Salha, acting director of Al-Awda Hospital, in northern Gaza, told CNN medical workers are treating cases of dehydration, gastroenteritis, and hepatitis among women and children.

There are babies who died in their mothers wombs, and surgeries were performed to remove the dead fetuses, he said on Monday. Mothers are not eating because of the conditions we are living in, and this affects the infants  There are causes of many children suffering from dehydration and malnutrition, leading to death.

A Palestinian child suffering from malnutrition receives treatment at a healthcare center in Rafah, in southern Gaza, on March 4. Children and mothers are among those most at risk of severe malnutrition. - Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Israels bombardment has forcibly displaced at least 1.7 million Palestinians, according to the UNs Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Many of those who fled the fighting are crammed into overwhelmed shelters without basic sanitation, leading to the spread of infections. Malnourished children, especially those with severe malnutrition, are at greater risk of dying from illnesses like diarrhea and pneumonia, according to the World Health Organization.

Another doctor in northern Gaza, Ahmad Salem, said patients in intensive care and neonatal units were dying from malnutrition and a lack of oxygen, which are difficult to administer amid fuel shortages. We suffer from starvation of mothers, the medical worker in the Kamal Adwan Hospital told CNN. We cannot find an alternative to mothers milk, which leads to the death of those children.

Mohammed Hamouda, a displaced health worker in Rafah, told CNN that his friend, a doctor at Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza, is unable to treat wounded patients because he is exhausted from hunger.

If the situation is still like this, in the next week or the next two weeks, I think many thousands of babies will die, and many thousands of elderly and pregnant women will die, he added.

We have become like dogs

Footage obtained by CNN shows scores of desperate civilians clambering over each other to grab ration packs from aid drops in northern Gaza.

On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt sent 42 tons of medical supplies and food via airplanes in the region, the Emirati Ministry of Defense said. The US military said it had, alongside the Royal Jordanian Air Force, parachuted more than 36,800 meals into northern Gaza that day.

Palestinians watch as the US military carries out its first aid drop over Gaza City, in northern Gaza, on March 2. Human rights groups say the drops are a degrading way of getting aid to Gazans. - Kosay Al Nemer/Reuters

But human rights groups criticized the drops as inefficient and a degrading way of getting aid to Gazans, urging Israeli authorities to lift controls on land crossings into the enclave. Melanie Ward, the CEO of the UK-based NGO, Medical Aid for Palestinians, urged Israel to immediately open all crossings into Gaza for aid workers to assist those in need.

Only safe and unfettered access for aid and aid workers, the lifting of the siege, and an immediate ceasefire can end starvation in Gaza, she said in a statement on Saturday.

Even when aid does make it into the strip, collecting it can be dangerous.

Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting for aid on Monday in northern Gaza, eyewitnesses told CNN, in an incident that took place shortly before midnight at the Kuwait Roundabout on Rasheed Street in Gaza City. CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment.

Last Thursday, at least 118 people were killed while trying to access food aid in Gaza City in one of the worst single tragedies of the war so far. Palestinian health officials said Israeli troops had used live fire as hungry and desperate Palestinian civilians were gathering around food trucks, with Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, referring to the incident as an outrageous massacre. The Israeli military said it first opened fire with warning shots for crowd control, before firing on looters who came toward them. Most of the dead were killed by ramming as aid truck drivers tried to escape the gunfire and chaos, eyewitnesses and the IDF both said. CNN is unable to independently confirm the figures.

Faraj Abu Naji, whose sister gave birth to twin girls a week ago, managed to obtain just three cartons of milk for his newborn nieces in an aid drop in northern Gaza. He told CNN that he injured his foot while trying to buy flour along Al-Rashid Street.

We thank God that there is humanitarian aid being dropped from Jordanian and Emirati planes, he said on Tuesday. I try as much as possible to obtain milk from the planes that drop aid so that we can provide milk for my nieces for as long as possible.

Planes are dropping aid on northern Gaza, and we have become like dogs, running after a bone.

This story has been updated to correct Milas age. She was 3.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
We tend to think that big animals and little animals could never get along. But the sweet friendship between a duck and a Newfoundland is proving everyone wrong. The pair are practically glued at the hip.

Very fittingly, these two are named Sven and Olaf. Sven is the Newfie, while Olaf is his duck BFF.

The pair live together on a farm and are basically living in a storybook. A video shows the two walking together around the grounds. Olaf is right by Sven's side. Even when Sven starts to run round the yard, the duck makes sure to stay close by. The two rough house a little one part of the video. And in another clip they take a dip in a baby pool together. So sweet! They couldn't be any more opposite from each other, but for some reason they totally fit.

Related: Newfoundland Believing She Gave Birth to Bunnies Is the Sweetest Thing All Week

Later in the thread, their owner shared that while Sven and Olaf didn't grow up together their friendship was fast. "They were adopted separately but the duck imprinted on the dog a few months after we brought him home," she wrote. Makes total sense!

Commenters loved their friendship. "Can this possibly make me any happier?" wondered one person. "Every time the dog runs and the duck quacks; I swear the duck is saying; 'Hey, wait for me, I got small legs!'" someone else joked. "Had a Golden Retriever and a Mallard Duck growing up and honestly they did everything together. Awesome bond between animals," a third person shared.

Sven and Olaf's friendship is so special that their owners have turned their story into a children's book, "Adventures of Biss & Olee Play on the Farm." The two even got to travel together and meet kids all over promoting the story. In another video on their page the duck and Newfoundland greeted children in Chanute, Kansas.

The kids were so happy to see them. The two also cozied up with their owner while she read from their book during a reading too.

Elsewhere on their page, it shows the pair shopping together. Is there nowhere they won't go as a duo? Olaf even had a little leash to keep him in check while they shopped.

The clip shows Olaf charging ahead while Sven lagged behind.

"When your human takes you shopping for your mental health and your dog is slowing you down," the video's onscreen caption reads.

Too cute! It's like these two can't be apart. You'd never think that a dog and a duck would be as close as these two are. But their TikTok page proves their bond really is something special.

Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on YouTube for more entertaining videos. Or, share your own adorable pet by submitting a video, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest pet updates and tips.
Tens of thousands of North Carolina voters chose no preference in the Democratic primary for president, rejecting Joe Biden as a national movement urges voters to abandon the president for failing to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza.

Were not here to provide cover for a regime thats inflicting such brutality on the civilian population, Pooyan Ordoubadi, North Carolina co-chair of the Abandon Biden movement, said. ... I think its a very clear message to the Biden administration that they need to change their ways.

Since the Oct. 7 attack from Hamas, over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israels military offensive, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. Most of the Palestinians killed were women and children, the ministry said.

Who voted against Biden in the primary, and how does the vote compare to other states? Heres what you need to know.

88,000 votes for no preference

According to unofficial results from the State Board of Elections, over 88,000 voters  nearly 13%  selected no preference in North Carolinas Democratic presidential primary. Biden, who received over 606,000 votes, had no opponent listed on the ballot.

Robeson, Tyrrell, Martin, Alleghany and Hyde counties had the highest proportion of no preference voters per capita.

Former President Donald Trump received nearly 74% of the vote in the states Republican primary. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley received just above 23%, a day before she dropped out of the race. Less than 1% of voters in that race picked no preference.

In North Carolina, Republican and Democratic primaries are open to party members and unaffiliated voters.

This isnt the first time North Carolina voters have eschewed the partys likely nominee.

In the 2012 Democratic presidential primary, over 20% of North Carolina voters chose no preference instead of President Barack Obama, who also had no opponent on the ballot.

Approximately 100 demonstrators rally against Vice President Kamala Harriss visit to Durham, N.C., calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war on Friday, March 1, 2024, at CCB Plaza in downtown Durham.

What can we tell about voters motivations?

The Abandon Biden movement first launched in October and has been active in several battleground states urging voters to deny Biden their vote over his handling of Gaza.

Vice President Kamala Harris called for an immediate, temporary ceasefire in Gaza over the weekend. On Tuesday, Biden said that a potential ceasefire had been offered in exchange for the release of hostages taken by Hamas and was in the hands of Hamas right now, Reuters reported.

Susan Roberts, a political science professor at Davidson College, said that without exit polls available, its difficult to tell how much Gaza factored into voters decisions to choose no preference.

A lot of times, primary voters are looking for electability, Roberts said. ... Theres no one else (on the ballot), but maybe theyre saying we dont like the fact that were not sure Biden is electable. The party needs someone else.

Polls show voters overall have a negative view of Biden. His favorable rating stood at 38% in a poll this month, the New York Times reported.

In Michigan, over 100,000 Democratic primary voters chose uncommitted instead of Biden, with votes centered in areas with large Arab-American communities.

Ordoubadi said the movement was encouraged by the results in Michigan, which North Carolina came close to matching despite having a smaller Arab-American population.

This isnt just Arabs and Muslims voting, he said. This is countless young people, countless people of conscience.

Nearly 46,000 people voted uncommitted in the Minnesota primary on Tuesday, according to unofficial results reported by The Associated Press.

Primary results for the 2024 election will not be finalized until March 26 when the State Board meets to complete the canvass process.
Boeing has not turned over documentation related to the production and installation of the door plug that blew out midair aboard an Alaska Airlines flight in January, according to the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Boeing has not provided us with the documents and information that we have requested numerous times over the past few months, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said Wednesday while testifying in front of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Specifically with respect to opening, closing and removal of the door and the team that does that work at the Renton facility.

While the agency has gone through emails, texts and pictures to get an idea of when the work on the door panel occurred, Homendy said the agency has not received the names or had interviews with the staff involved with the repairs.

But we still  there is one team  one team that deals with the doors  of 25 people. Why we dont have those names today, two months later, is really disappointing, Homendy said, adding later, Its absurd that two months later, we dont have that.

Committee Chair Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) shared in Homendys disappointment.

We have an entire economy that depends on people getting this right, Cantwell said, adding later, So, it seems like this information is now stymieing your investigation, and it seems that its knowable, and that you should at least be able to talk to the individuals there.

That is utterly unacceptable, added Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the ranking member of the committee.

The NTSB launched an investigation shortly after the Jan. 5 midair blowout in which a fuselage panel on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 blew off and left a gaping hole while 16,000 feet above Oregon. The plane was forced to make an emergency landing.

In its preliminary report released last month, the NTSB said four bolts meant to secure the door plug of a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet were missing after the panel was removed to allow workers to repair damaged rivets last fall. Homendy said Wednesday the repairs were performed by contractors who worked for Boeings supplier, Spirit AeroSystems.

A spokesperson for Boeing told The Hill the company has worked proactively and transparently to support the investigation.

Early in the investigation, we provided the NTSB with names of Boeing employees, including door specialists, who we believed would have relevant information, the spokesperson said. We have now provided the full list of individuals on the 737 door team, in response to a recent request. With respect to documentation, if the door plug removal was undocumented there would be no documentation to share.

While no serious injuries were reported in the incident, the blowout raised questions about the plane manufacturers production and safety quality processes. The NTSB is leading the investigation into the blowout, while the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is probing overall safety at Boeing.

A FAA report from an expert panel, released last month, found a disconnect between the manufacturers senior management and other members of the organization when it comes to safety culture.

Homendy claimed Wednesday the NTSB has also not received information from Boeing on its procedures for storing, protecting, and retrieving quality records. Asked if this signals the documents do not or have not ever existed, Homendy said, They may not. There are two options. Either they exist, and we dont have them, or they do not exist, which raises two very different questions.

Boeing told the agency it has a procedure to maintain documents when work is performed, including if a door plug is open, closed or removed, but the NTSB has not been able to verify that claim, Homendy told the committee.

Boeing is facing three lawsuits over the incident, including two separate cases involving a group of passengers and a third from shareholders over serious safety lapses. Alaska Airlines is also facing two suits from flight passengers.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
This is the third story in a series about Sentinel, the Air Forces nuclear missile modernization project. Other stories touch on the challenges with creating new plutonium shells and concerns about the Air Forces budget.

From his house near Great Falls, Mont., farmer Walter Schweitzer can see the frequent military convoys, sometimes large trucks with missiles as cargo, as they rumble toward their destination.

Schweitzer, 62, lives just 25 miles from Malmstrom Air Force Base. Hes spent his whole life around the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), 400 of which are deployed across rural Western states, including Montana.

But Schweitzer has concerns about a vast effort from the Air Force to overhaul this land-based leg of the nuclear triad with a brand-new missile called Sentinel.

Schweitzer, the president of the Montana Farmers Union, said the Air Force has danced around community questions concerning public safety, housing and road maintenance, as the military prepares to bring thousands of workers to their city.

Were experiencing a shortage of affordable housing, and this would be a great opportunity if they had some public involvement and discussion on how they approached it, he said. There has been no public meetings discussing location or how this is going to be handled.

While the U.S. is planning to modernize its entire nuclear triad, which includes bombers and submarines in addition to ICBMs, the Minuteman replacement effort is the most complicated.

The bulk of the Sentinel construction work will take place at three Air Force bases, in the rugged and rural northern U.S.: F.E. Warren outside Cheyenne, Wyo.; Minot, near the North Dakota city of the same name; and Malmstrom in Montana.

This effort will require the cooperation of local communities, who must work with an influx of up to 3,000 workers in the area for several years.

The project, which is being handled by defense contractor Northrop Grumman, will bring jobs and money into communities, so its generally being welcomed.

This is a huge project, said Minot Mayor Tom Ross. Its probably going to be the largest construction project in the history of the state of North Dakota.

But the expected wave of workers is forcing community adaptation and bringing questions about public safety and housing.

In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, Airman 1st Class Jackson Ligon, left, and Senior Airman Jonathan Marinaccio, 341st Missile Maintenance Squadron technicians connect a re-entry system to a spacer on an intercontinental ballistic missile during a Simulated Electronic Launch-Minuteman test Sept. 22, 2020, at a launch facility near Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Mont. (Senior Airman Daniel Brosam/U.S. Air Force via AP, File)

Sentinel has also raised local environmental concerns involving fuel waste disposal and the easement of private property.

The Air Force did not respond to The Hills questions about public safety and housing but said it was engaged in ongoing discussions with local communities.

Public safety, housing concerns

Sentinel will swap out the 400 deployed missiles with new ones, which will host revamped warheads and new plutonium shells.

But the costliest part of the project  and the part that requires the most community cooperation  is the redevelopment of the 450 launch areas, which will entail refurbishing underground silos where the missiles are stored and their launch control centers.

Northrop Grumman will also construct close to 50 new support buildings, 62 communication towers and more than 7,500 miles of utility lines and corridors.

Preliminary work began last year at F.E. Warren, and construction is expected to start within the next few years, according to Air Force Global Strike Command.

The Air Force wants to begin deploying the missiles in 2030, though the military branch is facing an inflating budget that may delay the project by two years or more.

The construction workers are expected to arrive sometime in the late 2020s to early 2030s and will work at each base for two to five years. They will be housed in living facilities known as workforce hubs, commonly referred to as man camps.

The Air Force has said it will not place the hubs near schools, residential neighborhoods or other sensitive areas, noting it will work with local communities to comply with zoning laws.

A Northrop Grumman official told The Hill the workers are expected to be handled by a subcontractor on the project  a construction company called Bechtel  and that the work was still years away, considering that part of the Sentinel project has yet to be awarded.

The official, who spoke on background to discuss material not made publicly available yet, said it was difficult to speculate about things not under the current scope.

The flow of workers will impact states that house missile silos in the Midwest, including Nebraska.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) said in a town hall meeting last year after he vetoed $10 million in funding for infrastructure related to Sentinel funding that the federal government was responsible for housing them, according to a local outlet.

When you think about the infrastructure that takes place, we have to work day and night with them to make sure they hold their end of the bill up, Pillen said, adding that he would not spend money on infrastructure that would be boarded up once the workers leave.

In Montana, work at Malmstrom is primarily going to impact two communities: Great Falls and Lewistown. The Air Force held town halls there in January to discuss Sentinel.

But Rick Tryon, a Great Falls city commissioner, said his concerns were not adequately addressed at the town hall and that the Air Force told him there was no money in the budget for public safety.

In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, Staff Sgt. Brandon Mendola, left, with the 90th munitions squadron at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming demonstrates how they train new missile maintainers to look for scratches on the top of a nuclear warhead. Even a hairline scratch on the polished black surface of the cone could create enough drag when fired to send the weapon off course, so maintainers inspect the devices closely. (Senior Airman Sarah Post/U.S. Air Force via AP)

We are a little behind in adequately funding our public safety, Tryon said, adding that his city has around 100 police officers in a community of roughly 60,000 people. Everybody understands that before this happens, weve got to do something to beef up our public safety here, locally.

And the way it stands right now, theres no plan from the Air Force or the federal folks to do that.

Schweitzer told The Hill it was not clear how and where the workers would be housed, describing 3,000 workers as a major city.

There needs to be a whole lot more discussion and planning, he said. Our county seat has half that population or less.

Minot is in the vicinity of North Dakotas Sentinel project. But in that city, its being largely welcomed with open arms.

Ross, the mayor, said the Air Force has not told his city to build housing. But he said the local government may allocate funds anyway to grow the municipality.

We see it as an opportunity, and were going to build housing, he said. Theres a great potential for them to stay in Minot when the project is complete.

Environmental and property concerns

The Air Force identified in its 2023 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that it must dispose of the Minuteman missiles, each of which weighs nearly 80,000 pounds and hosts three solid-propellant rocket motors.

The decommission plan includes the complete disassembly of Minuteman missiles and the burning of solid rocket motor fuel for release at the Utah Test and Training Range in a process that could last up to five years.

The Environmental Protection Agency asked the Air Force to study alternatives in the EIS. The Air Force did not respond to a request for comment on procedures for the disposal of fuel.

Sebastien Philippe, a research scholar with Princeton Universitys program on science and global security, said releasing solid rocket fuel through detonation into the outside environment is not a safe and environmentally friendly option.

Philippe, who has released a website tracking concerns about Sentinel, added that the project will have a massive impact for the U.S. in environmental terms.

In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, Airman 1st Class Jonathan Marrs, 21, left, and Senior Airman Jacob Deas, 23, right, work to dislodge the 110-ton cement and steel blast door covering the top of the Bravo-9 nuclear missile silo at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., Aug. 24, 2023. When the first 225-pound aluminum tow, or mule could not pull the door open, Marrs dragged down a second tow to give them more power. (John Turner/U.S. Air Force via AP)

When you unpack [Sentinel], its such a huge project, he said. Even if everything goes well, there will be some degree of environmental impact.

In the EIS, the Air Force said the shipping, handling, disassembly, storage, and disposal of ICBM boosters and interstages have been routinely conducted by Air Force personnel following established protocol for approximately 60 years.

For local communities, another concern is how private property will be affected by expanding Air Force needs, which has been a focus at town halls.

The Air Force said Sentinel involves negotiations with hundreds of private property landowners and that it has notified landowners whose property might be needed for Sentinel infrastructure.

Air Force officials said town hall meetings are ongoing and pledged to answer all questions affected landowners may have and seek landowner cooperation regarding existing easements.

Initial agreements before property acquisition allow the Air Force and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct real estate surveys on limited portions of private property, officials said.

Cooperation with landowners could allow for utility line installations without property acquisition, they added, and the surveys are crucial to determine the boundaries of any easements.

The Air Force has also told residents in Montana that it will need a 2-mile-wide corridor for utility lines, according to Schweitzer. He said local farmers are upset about the corridor because it will impose restrictions for building wind farms. The Air Force did not respond to a detailed question on that concern.

Schweitzer said the corridor is likely to amount to the restriction of 10 million acres around one of the windiest regions of Montana.

Our national security, as well as our food security, is critically important to this country, he said. Our family farms provide food security, and yet were struggling economically to make ends meet.

Were losing farmers every day, because theyre going bankrupt, he added. Some of my neighbors are making more money off their windmills than they are from their farms. If they were to impose this 2-mile corridor, I own about 30,000 acres, and none of it would be available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
ATLANTA (AP)  Some Georgia senators want to punish cities and counties that they say are illegally harboring immigrants who are in the country without permission by cutting off most state aid to the local government and removing elected officials from office.

The Senate Public Safety Committee voted 4-1 on Wednesday to rewrite House Bill 301, with supporters saying the move is needed to enforce a 2009 state law that outlaws so-called sanctuary cities and counties.

It's the latest measure proposed by Republicans after police accused a Venezuelan man of beating a nursing student to death on the University of Georgia campus.

Jose Ibarra was arrested last month on murder and assault charges in the death of 22-year-old Laken Riley. Immigration authorities say Ibarra, 26, unlawfully crossed into the United States in 2022. It is unclear whether he has applied for asylum.

Riley was a nursing student at Augusta Universitys Athens campus. She was found dead Feb. 22 after a roommate reported she didnt return from a morning run in a wooded area.

The Senate committee completely rewrote a bill that previously regulated penalties from speeding tickets issued by automated cameras. State Sen. Kim Jackson, a Stone Mountain Democrat, complained that she had no time to read the new language before the meeting, calling it frustrating and disappointing.

The new bill would let any Georgia resident sue, asking a judge to declare a city or county was violating the 2009 law. If a judge agrees, the state would cut off state aid, as well as federal aid it controls, except for a short list of emergency and health services. For example, a county or city would get no state money for building and maintaining roads.

Judges could restore funding if a local government repeals the offending policy. A judge would then be required to issue a permanent order barring the government from ever readopting any sanctuary policy.

The bill also provides for removal of local elected officials if cities or counties adopt sanctuary policy. The bill lets any Georgia resident complain to the Board of Community Affairs. The board would conduct a hearing on whether an official is breaking state law and recommend to the governor whether to suspend the official. The governor could then remove the official and appoint a replacement.

Officials can petition to be reinstated, but that would happen only if they can show that their service is more likely than not to improve the ability of the government to comply with the anti-sanctuary law.

Republican Sen. Randy Robertson of Cataula told the committee that the measure would ensure sheriff's offices comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement so they don't evade the 2009 law.

What weve done in this legislation is weve added some teeth, because there were none in the past, Robertson said.

Critics of the measure say it's a further attempt by Republican lawmakers to impose their will on cities and counties, and would let activists tie up cities and counties with court cases and administrative proceedings.

We have built-in accountability measures for when communities do not like what their local government or local sheriffs are doing, and those are elections. We should not be using the legislature to dictate to local communities, said Isabel Otero, Georgia policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Otero likened the measure to Georgia's former Immigration Enforcement Review Board, which investigated complaints about local immigration enforcement. For example, then-Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle filed a complaint that the Atlanta suburb of Decatur was violating state law in 2017 when Cagle was running for governor. The board dismissed the complaint against Decatur, and a law quietly dissolved the board in 2019.

Its the second bill seeking a harder stance on immigration to advance this year. Last week the Georgia House voted 97-74 for House Bill 1105, which seeks to require local law enforcement to help identify immigrants in the country illegally and detain them for possible deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Multiple Republicans on Wednesday said Athens-Clarke County was a target of the new proposal, including Lt. Gov Burt Jones.

As part of our ongoing commitment to protect Georgians, we are taking a stand against those who attempt to implement sanctuary policies that violate the law and harbor criminals, Jones said in a statement.

Athens-Clarke Mayor Kelly Girtz has denied that the consolidated city-county is violating state law, noting that it files a yearly certification of compliance. Critics point to a 2019 resolution by the Athens-Clarke County Commission that said local government strives to foster a community where individuals of all statuses feel safe. But Girtz notes that resolution doesn't have the force of law.

___

This story has been corrected to show that another bill under discussion is House Bill 1105, not House Bill 1104.
A movie set weapons handler who loaded a gun for actor Alec Baldwin before it fired and killed a cinematographer has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found not guilty of a second charge - tampering with evidence over the 2021 shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust.

The 26-year-old faces up to 18 months in jail. She will be sentenced later.

Mr Baldwin, 65, also faces a manslaughter trial in July.

Ms Hutchins, 42, was killed after a gun Mr Baldwin used in a rehearsal fired a live round on the set of the Western in New Mexico.

Mr Baldwin could not have foreseen that there was a live round on set because the "safety, maintenance and care of the firearm and the ammunition" was the responsibility of the armourer, Misty Marris told CNN.

Jurors deliberated for three hours before returning Wednesday's verdict.

Gutierrez-Reed remained expressionless as she learned her fate.

As she was led away by two officers she told her weeping mother, "It'll be OK," according to Reuters.

Ms Hutchins' parents and her sister said they were "satisfied" with the verdict.

Halyna Hutchins was killed while on set in 2021

Their statement added: "We look forward to the justice system continuing to make sure that everyone else who is responsible for Halyna's death is required to face the legal consequences for their actions."

"It means that someone has been held legally criminally culpable for the death of Halyna Hutchins," Misty Marris told CNN.

She said Mr Baldwin would argue that "it was not foreseeable that there was a real bullet in that gun".

Prosecutors said Gutierrez-Reed had failed to ensure the weapon was only loaded with dummy rounds - fake bullets used to look and sound like real ones.

"This case is about constant, never-ending safety failures that resulted in the death of a human being," prosecutor Kari T Morrissey said during closing arguments on Wednesday.

Gutierrez-Reed was "negligent", "careless" and "thoughtless" when she failed to notice that live bullets had mixed with dummy rounds in a box of ammunition on set, Ms Morrissey told the jurors.

One of those bullets was in the firearm that was used by Mr Baldwin, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also presented evidence that Gutierrez-Reed had brought a box of live bullets to the New Mexico film set from her California home. They said these live rounds slowly spread throughout the set over the course of 12 days.

Ms Morrissey said she believed the armourer did not intend to bring live rounds to the set, but rather that Ms Hutchins' death was a case of tragic negligence.

The prosecutor added that Gutierrez-Reed was more "worried about her career" and less about the victims in the aftermath of the shooting.

Gutierrez-Reed did not testify in the two-week trial, but her lawyer said in closing arguments that prosecutors had failed to prove his client was the sole person responsible for the fatal shooting.

"The [ammunition] boxes don't matter, because we don't know what was in them three or four days before," her lawyer, Jason Bowles told the jury, arguing his client did not know that there were real bullets on set.

Mr Bowles also blamed Mr Baldwin, arguing that he had "gone off-script" when he pointed the gun at film crew.

"It was not in the script for Mr Baldwin to point the weapon," he said. "She didn't know that Mr Baldwin was going to do what he did."

He vowed to file an appeal.

Trial witnesses included the film's director, Joel Souza, who was also shot in the incident but survived.

Mr Souza said he remembered looking up at Gutierrez-Reed after he was shot, and hearing her repeatedly say: "I'm sorry, Joel."

The jury was also shown emotional and distressing footage of the aftermath of the shooting, when the Colt .45 revolver held by Mr Baldwin went off.

It included a video that appeared to show Ms Hutchins' final moments, with paramedics frantically trying to save her life.

Gutierrez-Reed was also found not guilty of evidence tampering stemming from accusations that she attempted to dispose of a small bag of narcotics after the shooting.

Last year, the movie's cast and crew finished filming in tribute to Ms Hutchins, with her husband serving as an executive producer.
The company behind the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT is firing back at former investor Elon Musk and a lawsuit he filed last week.

OpenAI posted a letter on its blog late Tuesday saying, "We intend to move to dismiss all of Elon's claims."

Musk sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman claiming the company betrayed its founding aims of benefiting humanity rather than pursuing profits.

According to the Associated Press, he says that when he provided funding for OpenAI at the beginning, he secured an agreement that the research lab would remain a nonprofit.

Musk claims Altman and other officials breached OpenAI's founding charter by agreeing to a $13 billion partnership with Microsoft.

We are dedicated to the OpenAI mission and have pursued it every step of the way.



Were sharing some facts about our relationship with Elon, and we intend to move to dismiss all of his claims.https://t.co/npC4P5pJE7 March 6, 2024

But OpenAI says Musk supported making OpenAI a for-profit company. It released explosive emails to and from the Tesla CEO to disprove his claims.

At one point, the emails show, Musk suggested OpenAI could be merged with Tesla to fund AI efforts.

It didn't happen, and Musk instead left to build his own artificial general intelligence startup but the company says Musk remained supportive of OpenAI's plans to raise billions of dollars.

Musk responded to the blog post on his X social media platform. He said, "Change your name to ClosedAI and I will drop the lawsuit."

Musk's lawsuit didn't include Microsoft among the defendants. However, his legal team still mentioned the software giant over 60 times in the complaint, HNGN previously reported.

Elon's lawsuit repeatedly mentioned Microsoft's influence over OpenAI and its economic position. Recently, the billionaire already warned Microsoft that he was planning to sue it.
The Colorado Rivers Lower Basin states published a proposal Wednesday for the watersheds long-term operations, just hours after their Upper Basin peers unveiled a rival offer  and as talks between the two key contingents founder ahead of a looming federal deadline.

The vying proposals pertain to the forthcoming update of the Colorado Rivers 2007 Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages, which are set to expire at the end of 2026. These rules will govern future conservation policies for the 1,450-mile river, which serves as the lifeblood for about 40 million people in the U.S. and Mexico.

The Lower Basin states have set forth what we believe is the most ambitious conservation effort ever  designed with a goal of maximizing the long-term health and stability of the river system, Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, said at a press conference.

The basins states  Arizona, California and Nevada  presented a proposal Wednesday that recognizes their contribution to the deficit of usable water across the Colorado River system but also strives to make cuts across the entire watershed.

The Upper Basin states of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico, meanwhile, released a plan that they say would better reflect real-time hydrological conditions in a region that depends on mountain snowpack for its water supply.

The two cohorts filed their separate submissions to the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which is overseeing the revision of the interim guidelines in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). As part of the NEPA process, the agency must conduct a comprehensive analysis of proposed alternatives within an environmental impact statement (EIS).

The bureau granted the Colorado Rivers seven basin states until Monday to submit a consensus-backed alternative for consideration  warning that if this does not occur, federal officials could proceed independently, with the intention of publishing an EIS by December.

The states were previously able to reach an agreement on short-term measures to tide the region over until 2026 after a year of discord, which the bureau announced it would back earlier this week.

But no such consensus appeared within reach on longer-term guidelines Wednesday, as the two basins pushed for vastly different plans of action ahead of Mondays deadline.

One of the key differences between the Lower Basin proposal and that of the Upper Basin is the formers inclusion of not only Lake Powell and Lake Mead  the watersheds largest reservoirs and the only ones involved in the 2007 guidelines  but also five other smaller reservoirs in its calculations of storage capacity. Three of those five units are located in the Upper Basin.

The plan, Buschatzke contended, offers framework for system-wide, shared responsibility for the health of the system that will protect the Colorado River from Wyoming to Baja California.

The Upper Basin commissioners did offer to consider new storage initiatives in some of these reservoirs, but they did so only as part of possible parallel activities and not under the official umbrella of the federal NEPA process.

The Lower Basin proposal, on the other hand, focuses on how these seven reservoirs could provide more than 58 million acre-feet of possible system storage.

For reference, a 1922 compact allotted 7.5 million acre-feet of water annually to each of the two U.S. basins, while the Mexican Water Treaty of 1944 then granted an additional 1.5 million acre-feet to Mexico. A typical suburban U.S. household uses about an acre-foot of water each year.

When considering the domestic 15-million-acre-foot total, the Lower Basin proposal suggested that there be no usage reductions when the seven reservoirs were collectively about 70 percent full.

But if those levels slid to between 58 and 69 percent capacity  the initial reduction zone  the Lower Basin states and Mexico would begin instituting incremental cutbacks, of up to 1.5 million acre-feet at 58 percent, per the proposal. Arizona would bear the lions share of the conservation, with California  the watersheds most senior rights holder  only making reductions after a certain threshold.

If system contents in the seven reservoirs dropped to between 38 percent and 58 percent capacity, the mandated cutbacks would enter a static reduction zone in which the Lower Basin states and Mexico would cut 1.5 million acre-feet for the subsequent calendar year, according to the proposal.

Only when levels dropped below 38 percent would the Upper Basin begin to incur reductions as well. The cutbacks imposed on all users would increase in a linear fashion between 38 percent capacity and 23 percent and below, the proposal stated

That is where we think the entire basin needs to be on deck and contributing  literally every water user across seven states and two countries needs to be part of the solution, said John Entsminger, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

While the Lower Basin proposal includes Mexico in its models, Entsminger said he and his colleagues fully recognize that our partners in Mexico are not part of this process. Revisions to the guidelines, he stressed, are a wholly domestic legal requirement within the United States.

We fully intend to engage in a cooperative negotiation with our partners in Mexico, Entsminger added.

Like the 2007 interim guidelines currently under revision on the domestic front, an international agreement between the U.S. and Mexico, known as Minute 323, also expires in 2026.

As for the domestic protocols, another point of contention between the two rival proposals relates to releases of water from Lake Powell to Lake Mead. The former, which serves as a storage tank for the Upper Basin, feeds water via the Glen Canyon Dam into Lake Mead, which holds water in reserve for the Lower Basin.

The Lower Basin alternative suggested that certain amounts of water could be released from Lake Powell to Lake Mead, via the Glen Canyon Dam, for the purpose of balancing the two reservoirs. Further releases would be based on the level of their combined contents, with the amount discharged declining at lower content levels.

The proposal, Entsminger contended, is a realistic basin-wide proposal for how to operate under all reasonably foreseeable conditions on the Colorado River for several decades into the future.

JB Hamby, chair of the Colorado River Board of California, said that this alternative accomplishes four goals: It resolves structural deficit, responds to climate change, manages the entire Colorado River system and establishes storage opportunities.

Noting that its very easy to craft an alternative that doesnt require any sacrifice, Hamby stressed that three-quarters of the Colorado River watersheds population resides in the Lower Basin.

Their proposal, he contended, constitutes a landmark agreement between our three states that have had a long and sometimes complicated history.

But Upper Basin officials envisioned Lake Powell and Lake Mead operations differently, citing a critical need to address supply-demand imbalances and align releases with real-time hydrology. Their plan calls for determining release conditions for each reservoir separately, with the amount discharged or withheld from each changing according to their individual water levels.

While Upper Basin officials said their suggestions were based upon actual conditions  instead of unreliable forecasts, their Lower Basin colleagues were vocal in their opposition.

That proposal basically puts the entire burden of protecting the river system on the Lower Basin, Buschatzke said. They take no reductions under any circumstances.

The Arizona negotiator said that he would need to see an Upper Basin proposal in which those four states help contribute to the protection of the river system in a way that has certainty.

Our proposal would result in reductions that are going to be certain, Buschatzke argued. We need to see that out of the Upper Basin  not just policies and programs that might create some reductions.

Going forward, Buschatzke stressed a need for the Upper Basin to recognize a shared burden in protecting the system and ensuring that its joint management remains equitable.

While officials from the two contingents have met regularly to discuss their views since the summer, Buschatzke said it became apparent that the gap between the two proposals is pretty large and that closing this gap would require a lot of work.

That said, both sides have maintained that they are up for the challenge.

Arguing legal interpretations until were blue in the face doesnt do anything to proactively respond to climate change, Hamby said. Every state, all seven, have to be equally committed to compromise and collaboration.

Entsminger likewise expressed some optimism, emphasizing the urgency in getting back to the table in the spirit of shared sacrifice.

Interior Department acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis relayed similar sentiments on a press call the day before, affirming that the post-2026 process must prioritize robust and unprecedented collaboration.

We are not expecting every single issue to be smoothed out between the Upper and Lower basin tomorrow, Daniel-Davis said.

But the reality is that everyone is saying the same thing, she added. We are all committed to a basin-wide solution and will continue to work honestly and collaboratively through any major sticking point until consensus has been reached.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
After months of aid agencies' warnings that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were at high risk of famine, many worry it is now taking hold in the northern part of the enclave where children have begun to die of malnutrition and dehydration.

The Gaza Health Ministry said Wednesday that at least 20 people have died of malnutrition at hospitals and warned that it believes "dozens are dying silently" unable to reach medical facilities. The World Health Organization visited northern Gaza over the weekend and confirmed at least 10 child starvation deaths at the time of the team's visit.

Israeli officials have repeatedly said they are committed to humanitarian assistance for civilians and have not placed any limits on aid entering the Palestinian enclave.

A famine has not yet been declared in Gaza, but the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative, or IPC, has activated its famine review committee to assess the situation.

While hunger is a long-standing issue around the world, a declaration of famine is relatively rare.

What is famine?

The dictionary defines famine simply as an "extreme scarcity of food," but among world aid agencies addressing food insecurity, it has a much clearer definition and specific guidelines for when to classify a situation as such. According to the IPC, famine is a situation in which starvation and extremely critical levels of acute malnutrition are evident.

"It's a technical term that sort of encapsulates a series of conditions," said Tobias Stillman, Action Against Hunger's director of technical services and innovation. "So very significant food insecurity, meaning people don't have sufficient food to support their physiological need ... so they are both experiencing hunger and physiologically in many cases, compensating for the lack of food."

Palestinians line up for a free meal in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. (Fatima Shbair / AP file)

What pushes food insecurity into a famine declaration?

The IPC and the World Food Program offer a mathematical threshold for what constitutes a famine for the population of a specific area: 20% of households with an extreme lack of food, 30% of children suffering from acute malnutrition and 2 in 10,000 people dying per day "due to outright starvation or to the interaction of malnutrition and disease."

The IPC, which was created in 2004 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, partners with more than a dozen organizations worldwide, as well as governments, to examine food insecurity using evidence-based analysis.

Its five-phase index measures food insecurity, with Phase 5 being catastrophe or famine. Gaza is in the "emergency" phase, which is a step below famine.

"Even though the levels of acute malnutrition and non-trauma related mortality might not have yet crossed famine thresholds, these are typically the outcomes of prolonged and extreme food consumption gaps," the website says.

A representative noted of the IPC said its experts are working on a coming report on Gaza and were not available for interviews.

Who declares a famine?

Declaring a famine is a multistep process for the IPC, Stillman said, and it requires complete consensus from five people on the independent committee.

A group of 25 to 30 people is assessing data from Gaza to offer its recommendation for analysis to the famine review committee. If there is a specific point of contention on a particular data point, it would be noted in a manner similar to what someone might see in the U.S. Supreme Court, Stillman said.

"If the five of them can't achieve consensus  if there's one, for example, that digresses  they can draft a dissenting statement so that that committee will still come out with an overall recommendation or an overall classification, but there may be a dissenting voice, he said.

After the review committee makes its designation, the analysis is sent to IPC's global steering committee, which Action Against Hunger chairs, to review the findings before they are released publicly.

An official declaration of famine is made by governments, Stillman said.

Those who work on hunger and food insecurity understand that it is a complex system, Stillman said. But the teams working on the declarations "will be justifying their conclusions every step of the way."

"It needs to be complicated because it is so incredibly important," Stillman said. "And, you know, famine carries such important political connotations that nobody wants to take that lightly. ... It is very, very process-oriented."

How is hunger being assessed in Gaza?

The situation in Gaza has posed unique challenges because limited access has complicated the ordinary process. But teams are collecting real-time data to provide to the IPC, Stillman said.

Usually, the larger country-level committee, which consists of government representatives, aid groups and other partners, would meet in person to go over the data. The Gaza team, however, has had to meet virtually and work anonymously, he said.

"It's never been done that way before," Stillman said. "And the reason it's been done that way is because of the highly sensitive nature of what's happening out there."

Decisions are based on a series of surveys that look at such factors as malnutrition diagnoses and mortality rates. In Gaza, adjustments have been made about how some of the data is collected because of the limited access.

"There are people in Gaza, as we speak, who are measuring malnutrition, and they are not using the traditional method of weight and height," Stillman said. "They are using mid-upper-arm circumference."

Though it is faster, he said, by IPC standards, the method is not the best standard for data collection. Information is also more readily available in some areas of Gaza than in others.

If the committees are not entirely confident in the data collection, or if all the information indicates catastrophe conditions but does not quite meet specific thresholds for famine, Stillman said, the IPC may declare a "likely famine."

"And that likely means, you know, there's a very strong case to be made that there is actually famine present but they don't have all the data they need to truly classify as famine," he said.

What is the current situation in Gaza?

Since shortly after the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, Gaza has been essentially cut off from the outside world as Israel enforces its blockade on the strip, restricting access to food, fuel and running water. It was not until two weeks after the start of the war that aid convoys entered the Palestinian enclave through the shared border with Egypt.

From the beginning, the U.N. and aid groups warned that the convoys were incapable of meeting the requirements of more than 2 million people who had the most basic needs.

The U.S. urged Israel to open access to a commercial crossing, Kerem Shalom, to help streamline the process. Kerem Shalom has been used to help conduct security screenings, but Israeli citizens have protested at Kerem Shalom to try to stop aid from entering Gaza.

Starvation is most apparent in northern Gaza, where convoys have had inconsistent access and civil order has broken down. Last week, a number of deaths were reported after witnesses alleged the Israel Defense Forces opened fire on a crowd that surrounded an Israeli convoy of aid.

The IDF has denied the allegation, saying a crowd swarmed the trucks and soldiers fired "warning shots" in a failed attempt to disperse the group before they retreated. Israel attributed most of the deaths to a crush and stampeding during the chaos that surrounded the convoy.

The incident prompted the U.S. to drop thousands of ready-to-eat meals as convoys face repeated struggles traveling from the southern border to the north.

On Tuesday, the World Food Program announced that the IDF turned away its first convoy to the north since Feb. 20. Food supplies were able to be air-dropped with help from the Royal Jordanian Air Force, said Carl Skau, the group's deputy executive director.

"Airdrops are a last resort and will not avert famine," Skau said. "We need entry points to northern Gaza that will allow us to deliver enough food for half a million people in desperate need."
A Rutherford County man pleaded guilty to multiple felony charges on Wednesday for his actions related to the breaching of the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, which included picking up a flagpole-like object and throwing it toward a line of police officers.

Anthony Mastanduno, 61, pleaded guilty to a nine-count indictment, including six felony charges, a release from the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Those felonies were:

Civil disorder

Entering and remaining in a restricted area with a deadly and dangerous weapon

Becoming involved in physical violence in a restricted area or groups with a deadly and dangerous weapon

Two counts of assaulting

Resisting or impeding certain officers using a deadly and dangerous weapon

Additionally, Mastanduno pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges that included disorderly conduct in a capitol building, an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or building, parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

An image from the US Attorneys Office shows Anthony Mastanduno, circled in red, with a pole-like object as he approaches a line of officers at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.

Mastanduno at the Capitol building in Washington D.C.

The release said court documents showed that on Jan. 6, 2021, in the afternoon, Mastanduno entered the Capitol building via the Senate Wing Door, about four minutes after it was first breached by rioters.

He made his way to the Capitol Crypt, where he was at the front of a line of rioters who overwhelmed police officers in the area. Almost 20 minutes after he first entered, Mastanduno exited the Capitol building and made his way to the Lower West Terrace.

There, police formed a defensive line at the mouth of an archway leading to an entrance of the Capitol building known as the Tunnel. Rioters at the location battled with police officers for hours, the release said, in an attempt to storm the Capitol building.

The release said the Tunnel was the site of some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement on Jan. 6.

Coordinated attacks on police

Later that afternoon, Mastanduno began participating in coordinated attacks on uniformed police protecting the tunnel after engaging with other rioters.

Picking up a blue, flagpole-like object, Mastanduno threw it into the mouth of the tunnel towards the line of officers as if throwing a javelin or spear, the release said.

He then got a police shield, stolen from officers, which he used to push against the same line of police at the mouth of the Tunnel. He also used a telescoping baton while pushing, the release said, to strike police officers multiple times.

The baton can be worn on the hip and expands in length. Mastanduno aimed for the hands and arms of the officers.

He abandoned his position in the Tunnel after being sprayed with a chemical irritant spray.

The FBI arrested Mastanduno on Aug. 23, 2023, in North Carolina. He will be sentenced by a judge on June 27.
A national LGBTQ youth nonprofit group said crisis calls from Oklahoma more than tripled in the weeks after transgender student Nex Benedict died there on Feb. 8.

Lance Preston, founder of the Indianapolis-based Rainbow Youth Project, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization, said the groups crisis hotline for LGBTQ young people received 1,097 contacts, including calls and online messages, from Oklahoma in February  an increase of more than 200% from its monthly average of 350 contacts.

The group received just under 1,000 of those contacts after Feb. 16, when Nexs death began to receive widespread media attention. Of the 1,097 contacts, 87% reported incidents of bullying in Oklahoma schools.

The high volume of contacts underscores the pressing need for intervention and support services  support services that are far too often unavailable, especially in rural areas of the country, Preston said at a news conference Thursday hosted by the Human Rights Campaign, the countrys largest LGBTQ advocacy organization.

In an email following the news conference, Preston said he believes the spike in contacts is partly due to an increase in awareness of the group and its crisis services.

Nex  who was transgender and used he and they pronouns, according to friends and family  died a day after a fight at Owasso High School. The Owasso Police Department released a series of videos that show the hours following the fight, including body camera video from a police officers interview with Nex, in which he described how three students jumped him after he threw water on them because they were bullying him and his friend for the way they dressed.

On Feb. 21, police released preliminary information from an autopsy report that they said shows Nexs death was not the result of trauma. However, days later, a spokesperson for the department clarified that the fight hasnt been ruled out as having contributed to or caused his death. An official autopsy and cause of death will be released after the toxicology exam, which is still pending.

Now, a month after Nexs death, his name has become a rallying cry among activists in Oklahoma and the rest of the country, some of whom argue that anti-LGBTQ state laws and school policies contributed to his death.

Preston said the surge in crisis contacts to the Rainbow Youth Project shows that LGBTQ youths in Oklahoma are scared. On Wednesday, members of Westboro Baptist Church, which is known for protesting funerals with signs that say God Hates Fags, among other derogatory slogans, protested outside Nexs school. Ahead of the protest, the group released a statement on its website that misgendered Nex and said he stirred up a hornets nest, purposefully fighting with other girls at the school, committing criminal acts in the process, and got the trouble that he went looking for.

In the 24 hours ahead of Westboros act, the Rainbow Youth Project received 124 calls from students in Oklahoma specifically noting the upcoming protest, Preston said.

They were concerned about the violence that that would bring or would encourage to the community and to the school, Preston said.

Ahead of the protest, the Rainbow Youth Project partnered with Parasol Patrol, a group that shields children from protesters with umbrellas, and other local and national advocacy groups to create a counterprotest. Preston said the group drew more than 400 people, while the churchs had fewer than 10, according to NBC affiliate KJRH of Tulsa.

During Thursdays news conference, Chasten Glezman Buttigieg, author, advocate and the husband of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, criticized the statement Owasso Public Schools issued before Westboros demonstration.

In a statement to KOKI-TV on Friday, Margaret Coates, the districts superintendent, said, OPS is aware that Westboro Baptist Church, an activist organization based in Kansas that routinely engages in disruptive protests, has plans to visit Owasso on Wednesday, March 6. She added that OPS takes all safety and security matters seriously and that district leaders are working closely with our law enforcement partners to monitor the situation.

Buttigieg noted that the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization that tracks extremist groups, has labeled Westboro Baptist Church a hate group. In 1998, the church picketed the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a gay 21-year-old University of Wyoming student who died after being brutally beaten and tied to a fence.

This is not an activist group, Buttigieg said, adding that the superintendent wouldnt speak to that fact and the type of hatred that is invited into a community when people in positions of power allow it to happen.

Brock Crawford, a spokesperson for Owasso Public Schools, declined to comment on Buttigieg's remarks.

The Education Department has opened an investigation into Owasso Public Schools for allegedly failing to address previous complaints of discrimination from students. The investigation was opened following a complaint from the Human Rights Campaign.

Crawford confirmed in an email Friday that the district received notice of the investigation and pushed back against the allegations.

The district is committed to cooperating with federal officials and believes the complaint submitted by HRC is not supported by the facts and is without merit, Crawford said.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.

If you are an LGBTQ young person in crisis, feeling suicidal or in need of a safe and judgment-free place to talk, call the TrevorLifeline now at 1-866-488-7386 or the Rainbow Youth Project at 1-317-643-4888.

For more from NBC Out, sign up for our weekly newsletter.
Rally in support of the Alliance Sahel States, Bamako, Mali - 01 Feb 2024

Three West African countries run by military juntas say they will form a joint force to fight jihadist threats.

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso announced the formation of the force following talks in the Nigerien capital Niamey.

Niger's army chief Moussa Salaou Barmou announced it would be operational as soon as possible, without giving details of its size.

Groups linked to both Islamic State and al-Qaeda have killed thousands of people in the region in the past year.

The military regimes in the three countries have become increasingly close allies in recent months.

Last September, they formed a mutual defence pact known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), withdrawing from an international force, G5, that was set up to fight Islamists in the region.

Violence in West Africa's Sahel region has worsened in recent years despite the military governments' promises to deal with the decade-long conflict with jihadist groups.

The three countries have all severed their ties with France, the former colonial power, which for years had a strong military presence across the Sahel.

A UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, Minusma, that had been in place for over a decade was also ordered by the country's leaders to withdraw "without delay", and completed the exit in December.

The military regimes have strengthened ties with Russia, which has moved in to fill the void.

They have also announced they were leaving the West African economic bloc Ecowas.

They had already been suspended from the bloc, which has been urging the military regimes to ensure a quick return to democratic rule and imposed travel and economic sanctions on them.

Some of the sanctions were last month lifted or eased as Ecowas pushed for dialogue.

More about the unrest in the Sahel:
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Sixty-eight Nobel laureates in chemistry, medicine, economics, and physics sent a letter on Wednesday to Argentine President Javier Milei voicing concern that cuts to science and technology funding will hinder Argentina's development and its global contributions.

"We observe how the Argentine science and technology system is approaching a dangerous precipice, and we are discouraged by the consequences that this situation could have both for the Argentine people and for the world," the scientists said in the letter seen by Reuters.

The laureates, who include the renowned British mathematician Roger Penrose and American virologist Harvey J. Alter, highlighted the "dramatic reduction" in budgets for Argentina's National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) and for national universities.

They emphasized the crucial role of Argentine science in advancements such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease research.

Boasting five Nobel Prize winners, Argentina credits a rich scientific tradition in part to both CONICET and its prestigious public universities.

Milei, a libertarian who as a candidate promised to take a "chainsaw" to publish spending, has drastically cut funding for these institutions.

The laureates emphasized that Argentina has developed its own COVID-19 vaccine, launched communication satellites, and created new nuclear reactors, thanks to government support for basic research.

They urged Milei to reconsider the funding cuts to avoid detrimental effects on Argentina's scientific and technological sector.

(Reporting by Lucila Sigal; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Maggie Fick

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Novo Nordisk on Thursday surpassed Tesla Inc in market valuation after the maker of the popular weight-loss drug Wegovy announced positive early trial data for a highly anticipated new obesity drug.

Shares surged more than 8% to record highs, shooting Novo Nordisk up in global rankings to the 12th most valuable company from 14 previously, after it told investors a Phase I trial of the pill version of experimental drug amycretin showed participants lost 13.1% of their weight after 12 weeks.

That compares to a weight loss of about 6% after 12 weeks and 15% after 68 weeks in trials for Wegovy, its blockbuster obesity drug.

Investors welcomed the news as indicating Novo had more in its pipeline beyond its hugely successful Wegovy. Its shares have soared since launching the weekly injections in the United States in 2021.

Novo's shares have risen more than three-fold since June 2021 when it launched Wegovy in the United States, last year becoming Europe's most valuable listed company, ahead of LVMH.

On Thursday, its market valuation reached $566 billion, ahead of Tesla and Visa, according to LSEG data.

"Novo has made clear that the amycretin molecule likely will form the foundation of the company's rapidly growing pipeline," said Guggenheim analyst Seamus Fernandez.

Nearly half of Novo's current valuation is based on the company's pipeline of new experimental drugs such as amycretin, according to calculations by Berenberg analysts last week.

Markus Manns, a portfolio manager at Union Investment in Germany and Novo shareholder, said the early read-out also compared favourably with other weight-loss pills in development, such as rival Eli Lilly's orforglipron.

Lilly's mid-stage trial showed its experimental pill led to 14.7% weight loss after 36 weeks for people who were obese or overweight.

The U.S. drugmaker's shares slipped on the upbeat Novo update while shares in Zealand Pharma , which is testing a similar treatment, jumped more than 9%.

Wegovy belongs to a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists, originally designed to treat type 2 diabetes, that have been shown to reduce food cravings and empty the stomach more slowly.

Following the success of these drugs, companies are working on other promising weight-loss therapies such as amycretin which targets a hormone called amylin in the pancreas that affects hunger.

Wegovy was the first of a new group of highly effective weight-loss drugs to be launched. Novo and Lilly are so far the leaders in the obesity drug market, forecast by analysts to be worth $100 billion by 2030.

HEART DISEASE

Novo Nordisk Chief Executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said the obesity drug roll-out will be dominated by injectable medicines, with oral versions introduced later in higher-priced markets. Pills require large amounts of active ingredients, making them costly to produce.

Earlier in the day, he also announced the company was expanding its focus on diabetes and weight-loss therapies to include cardiovascular disease treatments.

The change comes after the drugmaker last August said a large study had shown Wegovy also had a clear cardiovascular benefit, boosting efforts by the company to move Wegovy beyond its image as a lifestyle drug.

"Any company that is so heavily exposed to one therapeutic area needs to try to develop other pillars to stand on," said Wolfgang Lickl, portfolio manager at KB-Vermogensverwaltung.

"The sheer success in diabetes and obesity will make that difficult, but the cardiovascular field makes sense because of the many synergies," he said.

Following the August trial, Novo has been trying to convince sceptical medical insurers that the long-term benefits of Wegovy are enough to reduce the overall burden on healthcare systems and the cost of treating heart disease in overweight and obese people.

It expects Wegovy to be approved for sale in China as soon as this year, which would be its second-biggest market after the United States.

(Reporting by Maggie Fick, Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Louise Breusch Rasmussen, and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen and Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt; Editing by Terje Solsvik, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Bernadette Baum)
(Peter Christiansen Valli / Saks Fifth Avenue; June Edmonds / Luis De Jesus Los Angeles)

Miss Dior Avenue pop-up comes to West Hollywood

Sometimes you need a 1960s-inspired style adventure. You're in luck thanks to the new immersive Miss Dior Avenue experience that has popped up this week on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. ( The pop-up event isn't too far from the Pacific Design Center and the WeHo park where Elton John AIDS Foundation's annual Academy Awards viewing party will be held Sunday.)

In the colorful Miss Dior space, visitors will find a La Parfumerie celebration of the new Miss Dior Parfum, which was created by brand perfume creative director Francis Kurkdjian and has floral, fruity and woody notes. (The original Miss Dior perfume from designer Christian Dior dates back to 1947.) Also, guests will get a chance to check out the Miss Dior campaign starring Natalie Portman at the Diorama Cinema or have a snack at the Miss Dior cafe before venturing back into the world. There also will be exclusives and goodies as well as a special Miss Dior flower shop  a tribute to the love of flowers that Dior and his sister Catherine shared. Make a reservation soon, because this pop-up is only from Friday morning through Sunday evening. 8626 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, dior.com

Saks Fifth Avenue opens womens store in Beverly Hills

Still miss the old Barneys New York space in Beverly Hills and its Regency-style marble staircase? Well, youre in luck. Luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue, a longtime staple of Wilshire Boulevard, moved its womens store to the space at 9570 Wilshire Blvd. Called a reimagined West Coast flagship, this revived building is stocked with well-known luxury labels (think McQueen, Loewe, Celine, Brunello Cucinelli, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino and Dries van Noten), beauty items, footwear and goods from emerging designers spread over 130,000 square feet of space. Louis Vuitton, Dior, Gucci and Chanel have dedicated main boutiques in the store. As a bonus, there's an expanded Fifth Avenue Club with an outdoor terrace. 9570 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, saks.com

Burberry pop-up lands at South Coast Plaza

The revered British brand is settling into a stateside visit at luxury shopping center South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. This interactive pop-up, billed as a celebration of the brand's heritage, offers a showcase of new clothes and bags as well as the beloved trench coat, including new styles in checks and prints from Chief Creative Officer Daniel Lees Spring 2024 collection. Shoppers at this Orange County event will find Burberry's tent-like, outdoor-inspired setting along with furniture that takes its cues from camping. The pop-up is open through March 14. 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, burberry.com,southcoastplaza.com

Jaime Munoz solo exhibition and capsule collection with Huf

L.A.-born artist Jaime Munozs solo exhibition, The Meaning Is the End, at John Doe Gallery explores commodity and consumerism as well as the effects of modernity through a series of diagram drawings that look like auto repair manuals. To commemorate the exhibition's opening, Munoz and the L.A. skate and streetwear brand Huf, the exhibition presenter, dropped a new capsule collection, including a hat, T-shirt, short-sleeve shirt and sweater. The pieces are available through Hufs website. The exhibition is open through April 7. 107 E. 11th St., Los Angeles, johndoegallery.com

Prada Mode presents the Double Club Los Angeles

This weekend, artist Carsten Holler will indulge the minds of visitors at a private club escape, the Double Club Los Angeles, in the Arts District inside the warehouse complex occupied by the Drake-backed amusement park exhibition, Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy. (On a side note, Holler, who's known for his experimental installations and sculptures, visited the original Luna Luna art amusement park featuring the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Sonia Delaunay, David Hockney and others in Hamburg, Germany, in 1987.)

This exclusive downtown L.A. event is presented by contemporary cultural series Prada Mode in partnership with Luna Luna, and will focus on Hollers signature tropes such as the principle of division and the machinery of fun within carnival aesthetics, according to a media release. During their visit, guests will be able to interact with nine individual spaces as part of the Double Club, which originally opened in 2008 in London, commissioned by Fondazione Prada. March 10 and 11. Ace Six, 516 S. Mission Road, Los Angeles. Admission to the Double Club Los Angeles is free with the purchase of a Luna Luna ticket.

Scratching at the Moon comes to the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

During the summer of 2020, L.A.-based sculptor Anna Sew Hoy started dreaming about an exhibition of Asian American artists with ties to L.A., and that eventually led to a new exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Dubbed the first focused survey of Asian American artists in a major contemporary Los Angeles museum, Scratching at the Moon" is a celebration of the work of an intergenerational group of 13 artists who were born in the United States or who emigrated from Asia, New Zealand and Canada. They are Patty Chang, Young Chung, Vishal Jugdeo, Simon Leung, Michelle Lopez, Yong Soon Min, Na Mira, Amanda Ross-Ho, Miljohn Ruperto, Dean Sameshima, Amy Yao, Bruce Yonemoto and Sew Hoy. Through May 12. 1717 E. 7th St., Los Angeles, theicala.org

Karla Diaz: Wait til Your Mother Gets Home opens

Wait til Your Mother Gets Home, which is on display at 18th Street Arts Gallerys Propeller Gallery, is an exploration of American Mexican identity from the 1970s through today via the paper and canvas work of artist Karla Diaz. Called her first institutional solo exhibition in Greater L.A., the exhibition features 37 of the writer, teacher and multidisciplinary artists new and recent works. At the heart of the exhibition is "The Silver Dollar" (2021), a work on paper that commemorates Ruben Salazar, the L.A. Times reporter and columnist  the citys leading Latino media voice  who was killed in August 1970 when a sheriffs deputy shot a projectile into East L.A. bar the Silver Dollar. Through June 22. 3026 Airport Ave., Santa Monica, 18thstreet.org

Fashion brand 424 opens a new flagship store

One thing is clear: Menswear designer Guillermo Andrade, founder and creative director of L.A. label 424, wanted a new retail space that would get people talking and posting on social media. The first thing youll notice about 424s newly minted flagship is that it looks as if the cave-like space, with clothes neatly hanging on racks made from industrial beams and footwear placed on floating shelves throughout, came from a postapocalyptic subterrane in a Blade Runner-style Los Angeles. The store is a return to an actual physical space for the streetwear brand, which had a Fairfax Avenue space from 2010 to late 2022. 8441 Melrose Place, Los Angeles, fourtwofour.com

The Frankie Shop opens West Hollywood pop-up experience

High-fashion label the Frankie Shop has collaborated with product and architectural design studioCrosby Studios in a pop-up experience called the Meeting Room, at 8580 Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood. The space pays tribute to a bygone era, taking inspiration from powerful women of the post-office age, according to a press release. Here you'll find the Frankie Shops latest collection of leather goods and exclusive items set up in a space that looks like the remnants of a once-bustling office. (Think stacks of binders, monitors, office chairs and a broken printer and water coolers.) To commemorate the collab, a new campaign called The Frankie Shop Goes to Hollywood, features actor Demi Moore in photos by artist and photographer Collier Schorr. 8580 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, thefrankieshop.com

June Edmonds at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles

Black strength, endurance, joy and harmony are all qualities found in L.A.-born artist June Edmonds work. In her new exhibition, Meditations on African Resilience, Edmonds takes a deeper look at the river leaf emblem, a sacred quatrefoil used as a spiritual symbol (unity, balance and protection) as well as a symbol for "the power and regality of kings, healers and deities" in the Kingdom of Benin in whats now southern Nigeria. Pay attention to the deep color, as Edmonds calls it, used to tap into a part of our psyche linked to an ancient memory that exists within all of us. Through April 13. 1110 Mateo St., Los Angeles, luisdejesus.com

S.R. Studio LA. CA. for OTW by Vans collaborate on new sneakers

Having collaborated with designer Raf Simons and fashion brand Calvin Klein, artist Sterling Ruby isn't a stranger to fashion. His own label, S.R. Studio. LA. CA., debuted in 2019, and now Ruby is the first collaborator for Costa Mesa-based brand Vans new premium line called OTW by Vans. With this new collab titled Clash the Wall, there's a bold mash-up of four Vans iconic styles  the Style 36, the Authentic, the Mid Skool 77 and the Sk8-Hi  in full-on neon green and an orange reminiscent of Crush soda, both signature S.R. colors. The sneakers, part of an extended partnership between S.R. and Vans, are $160, and the green version can be purchased at kith.com.

'At the Edge of the Sun' at Jeffrey Deitch

Twelve artists who have known each other through artistic discourse as well as just living, working, surviving and thriving in Los Angeles were brought together for At the Edge of the Sun exhibition at Deitch. Focusing on landmarks, memories and communities, the artists take us on a year-in-the-making exploration of the complex realities of life today in L.A.: underground economies, surveillance, youth culture, California landscapes, public transportation, night life and more. The artists are Diana Yesenia Alvarado, Michael Alvarez, Mario Ayala, Karla Ekaterine Canseco, rafa esparza, Alfonso Gonzalez Jr., Ozzie Juarez, Maria Maea, Jaime Munoz, Guadalupe Rosales, Gabriela Ruiz and Shizu Saldamando. Through May 4. 925 N. Orange Drive, Los Angeles, deitch.com

RETROaction (part two) pays homage to 1993 exhibition in downtown L.A.

The new exhibition RETROaction (part two) revisits and pays homage to the seminal Charles Gaines-led 1993 exhibition Theater of Refusal: Black Art and Mainstream Criticism at UC Irvine, which featured the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Renee Green, David Hammons and other artists. Not only is this Hauser & Wirth exhibition a showcase for early-1990s works by Gaines, Lorna Simpson and Gary Simmons, who participated in Theater of Refusal, but it also has on display the works of 10 artists who were selected by Gaines and art historian Ellen Tani: Edgar Arceneaux, Kevin Beasley, Mark Bradford, Torkwase Dyson, Lauren Halsey, Leslie Hewitt, Rashid Johnson, Caroline Kent, Tony Lewis and Rodney McMillian. Through May 5. 901 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles, hauserwirth.com

Tory Burch and Humberto Leon open new Melrose Avenue concept store

Designer Tory Burch and restaurateur and Opening Ceremony co-founder Humberto Leon recently celebrated their collaboration on a Tory Burch concept store on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood.The facade and interior of the new shop feature the work of German photographer Walter Schels, whose animal portraits are featured in Burchs Resort 2024 collection. In addition to having the initial drop of the Spring 2024 collection, the Melrose store carries a dedicated capsule collection of T-shirts, sweatshirts and totes that were screen-printed with Schels portraits of a bunny and a cat. The concept store will be open through the end of 2024 while the Tory Burch flagship on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills is renovated. 8483 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, toryburch.com

Merrick Mortons exhibition celebrates photographer's work

The camera of L.A.-born Merrick Morton, the documentary street photographer and film still photographer of more than 90 films, has captured the realities of life from the streets to the sets of films. In Merrick Morton: Un-Rehearsed at Eastern Projects art gallery, youll find a solo exhibition that shows the barrio and inner city as well as incarcerated people in prisons and the locked wards of a California psychiatric hospital. In the mix on display, there's a variety of portraits taken in Mexico and Cuba as well as of actors on film sets. As a bonus, theres a special poetry and photo collaboration with actor-poet Richard Cabral called Life of a Cholo. Also, this spring, Morton will release the photography book"Clique: West Coast Portraits From the Hood, 1980-1996" (Hat & Beard Press). March 30 through May 18. 900 N. Broadway, Suite 1090, Los Angeles, easternprojectsgallery.com

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Illustration: Lex Villena

Earlier this week, lawmakers on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees put forward six spending bills that would fund the government through the end of the year. In a press release, Republicans on the House committee bragged that the bills would "save taxpayers more than $200 billion over the next ten years"a period of time over which the Congressional Budget Office predicts the national debt will expand by $20 trillion and eclipse the nation's gross domestic product.

Some of those savings come from cuts to federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Unfortunately, even those cuts are much more modest than they appear.

In their press release, House Republicans boasted that the appropriations package "utilizes the power of the purse to address the weaponization of the growing bureaucracy within the FBI and ATF." Specifically, they do this by "reversing [ATF's] anti-Second Amendment overreachby significantly reducing its overall funding by $122 million, a 7% decrease" from 2023, as well as holding the FBI "accountable for targeting everyday Americans by reducing its overall operating budget by $654 million and cutting its construction account by 95%."

But these already-meager cuts don't involve very much actual cutting.

The FBI's salaries and expenses totaled over $10 billion in 2023, and it requested over $11 billion for 2024; the appropriations bill would grant $10.6 billiona bit less than the FBI wanted but only about one-half percent less than last year's budget and certainly nothing approaching the 6 percent cut Republicans bragged about.

Republicans get around this with some tricky math: In a 2022 omnibus spending bill, the Bureau received $652 million toward the construction of a campus in Huntsville, Alabama. Republicans include the $652 million when touting a 6 percent cut, even though the money apportioned for salaries and expenses barely budged.

In fact, when Republicans bragged about "cut[ting] the FBI's construction account by $621.9 million"for a whopping 95 percent decreasethat precipitous drop uses the one-time Huntsville cash as its starting point. Besides, the FBI only asked for a $61.9 million construction budget, which would have constituted a 90 percent decrease on its own.

Meanwhile, the ATF received $1.672 billion for salaries and expenses in 2023, while the appropriations bill would apportion $1.625 billiona decrease of just 2.8 percent, not the 7 percent drop House Republicans claimed. That supposed 7 percent cut of $122 million comes from adding the $47 million cut in salaries and another $75 million cut from construction costs. The ATF did not request any construction money in its 2024 budget, so boasting that this a cut is laughable. Just like with the FBI, judging salaries and expenses in an apples-to-apples comparison yields a much more modest cut.

Any sort of fiscal discipline should be welcomed, of course. But it's not like Republicans are dedicated to pruning federal law enforcement agencies across the board.

"The Drug Enforcement Administration was an outlier in the bill, as it would receive a modest funding bump," writes Eric Katz at Government Executive. The bill would fund the DEA with $2.57 billion; when accounting for revenue from diversion control programs, Republicans say the department would receive "$42.4 million more" than it did in 2023.

The bill also directs not only the DEA but also the FBI to prioritize the policing of fentanyl. The FBI is directed "to allocate the maximum amount of resources" to target the "trafficking" of fentanyl and other opioids. There's no sign of any recognition that prohibition is exactly why fentanyl has proliferated in the first place and that harm reduction measures would be much safer and more effective than a law enforcement solution.

In fact, Republicans openly state in their press release that the cuts are not intended to save taxpayers money, noting that the bill "right-siz[es] agencies and programs and redirects that funding to combat fentanyl and counter the People's Republic of China."

Clearly, when the federal government consistently spends much more than it takes in, there is room to cut and an imperative to do so. It's unfortunate, then, that Republican lawmakers are bragging about plans to cut $200 billion over 10 years1 percent of the anticipated federal debt accrued in that timeand it's even more disturbing to know that they're fudging the numbers to even get that much.

The post Republicans Use Fuzzy Math To Claim Large FBI, ATF Cuts in Budget Bill appeared first on Reason.com.
Newsweek is reporting that former President Donald Trump has pulled the celebrity card in his motion to have the classified documents indictment against him dismissed. He mentioned them, not as character witnesses, but to lambast the authority of special prosecutor Jack Smith.

Trump currently faces 40 felony counts in Florida and is accused of willfully retaining dozens of classified documents after leaving the White House and ignoring demands to give them back. Trump has denied wrongdoing and his legal team has asked US District Judge Aileen Cannon to dismiss his case.

The brief, called the amicus curiae, was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Tuesday on behalf of Edwin Meese, who served under President Ronald Reagan as attorney general, and the conservative nonprofit Citizens United, along with law professors Steven Calabresi and Gary Lawson.

In the brief, they argue that special counsel Jack Smith does not have the authority to prosecute the case. "Smith is the classic 'emperor with no clothes.' He has no more authority to represent the United States in this Court than Tom Brady, Lionel Messi, or Kanye West," the brief's conclusion says.

"The Court should grant the Motion to Dismiss on the Appointments Clause issue, and do so before ruling on the other Motions to Dismiss pending in this case."

Furthermore, it argues that Jack Smith's appointment as special counsel violates the Appointments Clause of the US Constitution.

"The way to appoint a Special Counsel consistent with the Appointments Clause is to follow the normal practice of the past quarter-century, conferring that status upon a person already serving as a U.S. Attorney, which adds a new matter to the portfolio of a Senate-confirmed principal officer," it says.

"But the Attorney General cannot appoint a private citizen or government employee, who was never confirmed by the Senate, as a substitute United States Attorney under the title 'Special Counsel,' as happened here. That appointment was unlawful, as are all the legal actions that have flowed from it, including Smith's prosecution of President Trump."

The brief argues that this alleged misstep is "nothing short of historic, and it is imperative that no former President of this Nation-especially one who is the presumptive opposition-party candidate to become President once again-go to trial and risk conviction of a crime if his prosecutor is not even authorized to speak for the United States."

The filing comes after federal prosecutors pressed Judge Cannon to schedule the classified documents case for this summer. The initial trial date is May 20 but the judge has signaled that she may be willing to reconsider it.
A driver spotted an oversized bird in the road and called authorities to report the ostrich sighting, Colorado officials said.

But when animal control deputies arrived, they realized it wasnt an ostrich at all, the Weld County Sheriffs Office said in social media posts on Tuesday, March 5.

We learned we were not dealing with one of the largest birds in the world, but maybe the second or third largest bird in the world (depending on your source) an emu! officials said in a post.

Officials shared the footage from the deputys body-worn camera showing how he wrangled the big bird away from the road and into a homeowners fenced-in yard nearby.





The video shows the deputy reaching out the window and holding the emu by his neck so he doesnt escape.

Uh uh, the deputy says as the bird struggles against him and tries to break away as he opens the car door. Nope.

The emu hisses as the deputy climbs out and secures a rope around his neck.

Relax buddy, the deputy said, unknowingly calling the bird by his name. Come on.

The deputy explains into his radio that he has the emu by the neck and would try to walk him into the fenced-in yard. The bird struggles to break away as they walk through the field away from the road, the video shows.

Then the unthinkable happened  a passerby recognized the bird as Buddy the emu and called up his owner, Andrew Leffler, officials said.

We got lucky, Leffler told deputies as he loaded Buddy into his trailer to take him home.

Some joked about the emus behavior in comments on the video.

Was that an indignant emu hiss I heard? someone said.

Others commended the deputy on a job well done given the peculiar circumstances.

I bet they didnt teach that in Sheriff school, someone said.

Weld County is about a 70-mile drive northeast from Denver.

Runaway emu sprints through Ohio field with cops hot on its tail, video shows

Im so confused. Runaway wallaby causes drivers to do double-takes on New York road

Spooked emu leaps over 7-foot fence. Watch Tennessee cops chase it through town
A clinical trials encouraging results won US Food and Drug Administration breakthrough therapy status for an LSD formulation to treat generalized anxiety disorder, Mind Medicine Inc. announced Thursday. The biopharmaceutical company is developing the drug.

A breakthrough designation is a recognition that a drug has demonstrated evidence of clinical efficacy in meeting an unmet medical need with morbidity and mortality associated with it, said Dr. Daniel Karlin, assistant professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and chief medical officer for MindMed.

MindMeds MM120 will still go through the standard FDA approval process, including phase III trials.

The designation, however, is an offer from the agency to engage more closely in drug development, Karlin said. It affects timelines of response and our ability to get more interactions with the agency so that we can be sure that were in lockstep agreement as we move forward.

Two other companies have also received FDA breakthrough therapy status: psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression and to MDMA, (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) commonly known as ecstasy or molly, for post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.

New results on efficacy at 12 weeks

A single dose of MM120 (lysergide d-tartrate) led to a 48% rate of remission from generalized anxiety disorder at 12 weeks following the drugs administration, according to MindMed.

The MM120 drug also significantly improved clinical signs of generalized anxiety disorder for 65% of patients within three months, according to results of the phase 2b trial designed to test dosage levels, the company said.

Anxiety is the most common mental disorder in the United States, affecting over 40 million people age 18 and older each year, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Generalized anxiety order is characterized by excessive, ongoing thoughts that are difficult to control and interfere with day-to-day activities.

The clinical improvement for many patients was more than double what we see with todays standard of care, Karlin said. This occurred at all levels of anxiety, from moderate all the way up to severe.

Standard of care for generalized anxiety disorder is a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, and buspirone  both of which work on levels of serotonin in the brain  as well as sedatives called benzodiazepines.

All of these medications need time to work and may require experimentation with various doses, adding time and expense to a patients treatment, Karlin said.

Anxiety is one of the most common mental disorders in the US, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. - PeopleImages/iStockphoto/Getty Images

Determining proper dosage

The multicenter, randomized, double-blinded trial tested doses of 25, 50, 100 and 200 micrograms compared with a placebo.

Were very confident based on the results that 100 micrograms is the right dose to bring into our phase three studies, as we didnt see any more improvement with 200 micrograms but did see additional adverse effects, Karlin said.

Professor David Nutt, director of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit at Imperial College Londons division of brain sciences, who researches psychedelics, said in an email that the study results are very exciting data in what can be a difficult to treat population (anxiety).

They expand the likely utility of psychedelic treatment beyond depression, said Nutt, who was not involved in the research. And again, as with the depression trials, a single dose produces enduring effects, probable due to its breaking down persistent negative thought processes.

While it was not the studys primary purpose, results did show that MM120 also improved signs of depression, Karlin said. We saw rapid and robust improvement on depression symptoms in people  depression and anxiety have overlapping disease definitions.

No use of psychotherapy

Most research with MDMA and psilocybin has relied on the use of trained therapists who meet and establish a rapport with participants before the drug is administered. Those therapists are then on hand during the trip to help each person assimilate the experience, thus helping assure the lasting impact of any psychological insights.

The MM120 study, however, was accomplished without the use of psychotherapy during the session. Instead, monitors sat in the room to assure safety, but spent their time mostly reading books, Karlin said.

While prior research has documented the benefits of combining LSD with psychotherapy to alleviate anxiety associated with life-threatening conditions, this groundbreaking study is the first to show that a single dose of LSD  can effectively treat generalized anxiety without the adjunct of psychotherapy, said psychiatrist Dr. Gabriella Gobbi, a professor and scientist at McGill University Health Centre in Montreal and Canada Research Chair in Therapeutics for Mental Health. She was not involved in the clinical trial.

Compared with experiences with forms of LSD purchased illegally on the street, the studys grade of MM120 did not appear to induce bad trips, Karlin said.

LSD is difficult to manufacture with high purity and tends to degrade quickly in the presence of light and water, Karlin said. Were manufacturing it to pharmaceutical industry standards, a highly pure version that is also shelf stable. So thats a critical difference.

Most adverse effects in the study were rated as mild to moderate by participants, occurring mostly on the day of the study, Karlin said. Those included euphoric feelings, illusions and hallucinations, anxiety, abnormal thinking, headaches, dizziness, nausea, excessive sweating, vomiting, numbness or tingling of the skin, and pupil dilation.

A long history of LSD research

When the MM120 clinical trial began in August 2022, it marked the first time LSD had been studied in a medical setting in over 40 years, Karlin said.

During the 1940s and early 1950s, tens of thousands of patients took LSD and other psychotropics to study their effects on cancer anxiety, alcoholism, opioid use disorder, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. Researchers began to see psychedelics as possible new tools for shortening psychotherapy.

But when Harvard University psychologists Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert were fired from the Harvard Psilocybin Project in 1963 after the university discovered they had been giving LSD to their students, the use of psychedelics for research began to lose its luster.

Dr. Timothy Leary discusses LSD at the League for Spiritual Discovery in New York, April 7, 1967. - Eddie Adams/AP

Leary began to speak out publicly, encouraging young people to take LSD recreationally. He quickly became the face of the drug counterculture movement with his signature message, Turn on, tune in, drop out.

No longer administered solely in the relative safety of a lab or psychiatrists office, LSD began to feature in horror stories of bad acid trips at colleges and concerts  headlines that appeared alongside images of anti-Vietnam protests and Woodstock attendees.

In 1968, the United States outlawed LSD and research projects were shut down or forced underground. Then came the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, signed by President Richard Nixon. It classified all hallucinogenics, including psilocybin, as Schedule I drugs  substances with no currently accepted medical use and a high probability of abuse.

Clarification: This story has been updated to more precisely reflect the FDA approval process.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
South Asian voters watched Nikki Haley exit the presidential race on Wednesday without much fanfare. Many said they felt uninspired by Haley, who they said had a flimsy connection to the Indian American community.

Indian Americans specifically, 68% of whom lean Democratic, said they struggled with her presence on the campaign trail: A member of their community made it so far on a national stage, but they felt she didnt represent them.

The GOP primary campaign has been a road of mixed feelings for the community after Haley and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy captured headlines and much of the spotlight on debate stages.

Supporters Nikki Haley at a campaign rally (Scott Eisen / Getty Images)

Im glad its over, said Ashwin Ramaswami, 24, a Gen Z candidate making his first bid for the state Senate in Georgia. It was fascinating to watch.

Experts say Haleys policies veered far from the priorities of Indian American voters. Though she presented herself as a more moderate alternative to former President Donald Trump, she fell short for South Asians on issues like guns, the climate and reproductive rights, said Varun Nikore, the executive director of the nonprofit AAPI Victory Alliance.

Haley's exit effectively solidifies Trumps nomination. Her campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Nikki was still in the extremist camp  frankly, in the Trump camp  on all of those key issues, he said. She is so far out of touch with South Asian Americans and the vast majority of AAPIs, as well.

Haleys exit brings a combination of relief and worry, voters say. She didnt represent them well, they say, but a Biden-Trump rematch worries them, too.

Nikki Haley has come up in a lot of conversations amongst my South Asian friends and family and colleagues, Nikore said. And perhaps a few of them were kind of holding out hope. I got a sense that many of them were rooting for Nikki, not because of Nikki, but because they knew how extreme Donald Trump was.

Still, Haley wasnt even on the radar for many Asian Americans. A poll conducted by AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC found that just 23% of Asian American and Pacific Islander adults have favorable views of Haley, and the plurality, 40%, said they didnt know enough about her to give an opinion.

She does not represent my politics, said Geetika Rudra, 31, an Indian American voter from New York. I think the fact that she even dropped out to me indicates that she doesnt represent a lot of peoples politics.

Identity and racism on the campaign trail

Some South Asian voters say Haley never made an effort to connect with the community or fully embrace her identity. Others say it wasnt until this election cycle that they even knew she was Indian.

Harita Iswara, a 23-year-old from Washington, D.C., said Haley never touched on her identity in a meaningful way that supported communities of color, saying she used it more often to perpetuate the model minority myth.

Instead, Haley and Ramaswamy scrambled to win over a base of white Christians, she said, and ultimately, it didnt pay off. Because of what she said are racist views in the Republican Party, she thinks neither of them stood a chance.

Im hoping itll make people realize that pandering to these extreme Christian nationalist talking points and white supremacist ideologies are not going to fly, she said. At the end of the day, it doesnt matter how conservative your views are. The Republican Party is so extreme now that you are just another brown person to them.

Nikki Haley greets supporters (Carolyn Kaster / AP file)

Throughout her campaign, Haley was subject to racist attacks from other conservatives.

In January, Trump promoted a birther conspiracy theory about Haley, claiming she wasnt eligible to be president because her parents are Indian immigrants. Haley was born in South Carolina.

In February 2023, right-wing pundit Ann Coulter went on a racist rant about Haley on a podcast. Why dont you go back to your own country? she said. Whats with the worshipping of the cows? Theyre all starving over there. Did you know they have a rat temple, where they worship rats?

Even Ramaswamy took repeated jabs at Haley for choosing to go by her middle name, Nikki, instead of her Indian American birth name, Nimrata Randhawa. An easy thing for me to do being a politician to follow this track is shorten my name, profess to be a Christian and then run, Ramaswamy said at a town hall. Lets be honest  it happens. Make Vivek Vikki or whatever.

Buttons supporting Nikki Haley (Joseph Prezioso / AFP - Getty Images)

Rudra said the intense focus on her identity from both the left and the right was unwarranted.

I think we can disagree politically with her, and you should, Rudra said. I dont think it has anything to do with her identity.

She took issue with the idea that Haley has whitewashed herself, she said, and she said younger generations struggle to understand the pressure to assimilate that older generations of South Asians faced.

I get the sense that many people think that shes betraying the culture or betraying the community by just being a Republican, she said. And I think that is emblematic of where a lot of the South Asian diaspora in the United States is  concentrated on the coasts.

Looking beyond Haley, Ramaswami, the Georgia state Senate candidate, sees a new guard of South Asians in politics emerging. He said that its admirable Haley stood up to Trump for as long as she did but that new voices are desperately needed.

For Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, they were the only two not just Indian Americans but South Asians in that room, he said of the primary campaign. I saw them arguing and I felt like my position is not really represented here at all. Its really unfortunate. It would be amazing to see a presidential candidate whos South Asian and also represents my values.

For more from NBC Asian America, sign up for our weekly newsletter.
(Reuters) -The Ukrainian military will stabilize the battlefield situation shortly and aims to form units for counter-offensive actions later this year, a top military commander said on Wednesday.

Ukrainian forces experienced a setback following nine months of mostly stable front lines, when the eastern city of Avdiivka fell into Russian hands earlier in February after months of devastating attacks.

Ukrainian troops were forced to leave several settlements neighboring the city due to Russia's continued offensive amid its own depleting stockpiles of munitions. A vital aid package from the U.S. has been stalled by Republicans in Congress.

"We will stabilize the situation shortly," Oleksandr Pavliuk, appointed as ground force commander during the recent top military reshuffle, said in televised comments, "and do everything possible to prepare the troops for more active actions, and to seize the initiative."

He said current work was aimed at withdrawing military units that lost their potential and restoring them to later form a force for counter-offensive actions this year.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said last month that Russia would try to mount a new offensive this spring or summer, but that Kyiv had a battlefield plan of its own.

Ukrainian military spokesperson Dmytro Lykhoviy told national television on Wednesday that Russian forces were now unable to gain new ground near Avdiivka.

Lykhoviy restated earlier assessments that Russian troops were instead focusing on an area to the south, near the village of Novomykhailivka.

Maksym Zhorin, a Ukrainian commander in the area, also said Russian forces were having difficulty making headway since the capture of Avdiivka and a number of neighbouring villages. Their latest target, he said, was the village of Orlivka.

"They are constantly attempting to advance and make progress wherever possible," Zhorin wrote on Telegram. "Despite significant losses, they persist in launching assaults, both day and night."

(Reporting by Yuliia DysaEditing by Alexandra Hudson, Bill Berkrot and Ron Popeski)
By Bernard Orr and Ethan Wang

BEIJING (Reuters) - The U.S. is clinging to wrong perceptions of China and has yet to fulfill its "promises" despite some progress since presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met last November, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday.

Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of an annual parliament meeting in Beijing, Wang said exchanges between both countries can only continue if both sides respect and recognize their differences.

"It has to be pointed out that the U.S. side's erroneous perception of China continues, and the promises it has made have not really been fulfilled," Wang said at the National People's Congress.

"The methods of suppressing China are constantly being renewed, and the list of unilateral sanctions is constantly being extended," he said.

The "crimes" the U.S. wanted to add to the list China had supposedly committed "have reached an unbelievable level," Wang said.

Still, Biden had made it clear the U.S. would not seek a new Cold War nor seek to change the Chinese system or back Taiwan's independence, Wang said.

In an annual and wide-ranging discussion, Wang struck a relatively measured tone as he also covered relations with Russia and the Ukraine conflict, Europe, China's stuttering economy and artificial intelligence.

Wang said China would submit a draft resolution on AI to the United Nations General Assembly, reflecting the need for both development and security.

"AI should always be under the control of human beings," he said.

UNEASY DETENTE

Tensions between the two superpowers have slightly eased since Biden and Xi staged their landmark summit in San Francisco last November, but they remain in an uneasy detente ahead of the U.S. election this year which could see Republican China hawk Donald Trump return to the White House.

Washington has repeatedly stated its desire to put a floor under the relationship after it spiralled to its worst in decades last year over issues including Taiwan, tech competition, trade and an alleged Chinese spy balloon shot down by the U.S. off its east coast.

China alleges the U.S. is trying to contain and suppress its high-tech development and industrial policy, while both militaries eye each other closely amid increased deployments across East Asia.

"So we urge the U.S. to understand the historical development trend, objectively and rationally look at China's development (and) actively and pragmatically carry out interactions with China."

Beijing also faces ongoing geopolitical confrontations on multiple fronts, including with Europe on trade and the Ukraine war, Japan across a variety of issues, as well as the Philippines over the South China Sea, a regional hotbed of competing territorial claims.

Wang said China is willing to work with Russia to foster new drivers of cooperation and consolidate friendship.

China and Russia had declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing just days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, triggering the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two.

Wang also announced an expansion of its visa-free travel scheme, saying that China will offer visa-free travel to nationals from Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg from March 14.

China currently has a mutual visa waiver agreement with 22 countries, including most recently Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

China has also unilaterally allowed visa-free entry for citizens from nations such as Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy for 15 days. Those five European nations have yet to reciprocate with a similar arrangement for Chinese citizens.

(This story has been corrected to say Austria, not Australia, in paragraph 17)

(Reporting by Ethan Wang, Bernard Orr and Yew Lun Tian in Beijing; writing by Greg Torode and Laurie Chen; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Lincoln Feast.)
At the end of 2021, Johanna Mendoza, then 22, was in Mexico on vacation when she developed little red dots on her wrist.

I thought maybe I just ate something that was no good for my body, the 25-year-old from Inglewood, California, tells TODAY.com.

Then the splotches began appearing other places on her body. When she returned home, she visited the emergency room and was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). She was told she needed a blood stem cell transplant to treat it.

I was definitely surprised, she says. (It) was definitely scary.

Johanna Mendoza and Catherine Vega (Courtesy NMDP)

Red blotches on skin reveal cancer

Even though Mendoza never experienced any serious allergies, when the red splotches first appeared on her wrist, she wondered if that was the cause.

I thought maybe I was having some type of reaction to something that I ate, she explains. It was a weird thing.

Then the red dots appeared all over her body. That made me worry, Mendoza says.

A day or so later, she went to the doctor in Mexico, and after some bloodwork, she was told she had low platelets, cells in the blood that help with clotting and in low amounts can indicate a medical problem.

At the end of her vacation, Mendoza return to California and visited the emergency room in early 2022. Doctors there also ran tests and became troubled by what they found.

They actually told me that I was not going to be able to go home. They wanted me to stay overnight for more bloodwork," she recalls. After more tests, Mendoza remembers the doctor telling her, "I see something concerning, but I dont want to tell you yet until I get a positive result.

Soon Mendoza learned she had ALL, a quick-progressing cancer of the blood and bone marrow. At first, she needed to receive numerous blood transfusions to bolster her blood platelet count, and she stayed in the hospital for more than two months.

My platelets were very low, she says. I was stuck in the room.

Being isolated in the hospital also protected her because her immune system was compromised. Doctors worried that if she developed an infection, she would become sicker.

While she knew why it was important to stay in the hospital, she struggled at times. It was definitely very hard on me, Mendoza says.

Once her platelet count was high enough, she went home. But she still needed to undergo chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. Initially, she thought her twin sister could be her donor, but they learned that they were not actually a good match.

Johanna Mendoza (Courtesy Johanna Mendoza)

They also considered her half brother as a possible donor, but he wasnt a match either. Doctors enrolled her a clinical trial looking at partial matches for people needing bone marrow transplants.

We actually found one really quickly, which was shocking, Mendoza says. I thought it was going to be a longer process.

Partial bone marrow matches

When it comes to bone marrow transplants, also called stem cell transplants, finding a match can be difficult. Stem cells mostly live in bone marrow, the center of the bones.

Traditionally, these transplants require the donor and the recipient to share an HLA type, according to NMDP, formerly known as the National Marrow Donor Program and Be The Match. HLAs are a type of protein found on most cells throughout the body. A perfect match, which has long been the standard, means eight out of eight HLA markers match, Dr. Steven Devine says. But finding perfect matches can be challenging.

Not everyone can find even a match, the chief medical officer of NMDP Biotherapies, which participated in the clinical trial Mendoza was in, tells TODAY.com. Outcomes are better  if you get transplanted using either a matched sibling ... or a match volunteer unrelated donor.

Devine says only 30% of patients, though, have a family match. Finding a random match can take time and be difficult depending on a person's race. White people, for example, have an 80% chance of finding a match on a donor registry, whereas Black people have only a 29% chance and for Asian or Hispanic people, like Mendoza, it's slightly less than 50%.

Theres a big gap in the likelihood of finding what we would have historically considered to be a perfectly matched donor," Devine says.

To address the gap in access, NMDP spearheaded the trial to see if people could receive a partial match and still have a successful outcome.

We said, Well, we have to find ways to improve outcomes with using donors who are less than perfectly matched, Devine recalls.

When the donor is not a perfect match, the patient can experience whats called graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), he says. This occurs when the immune system attacks the donated stem cells, according to the National Institute of Health. It affects multiple systems in the body and ranges in severity from mild to life-threatening, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society says.

Traditionally, the rates of GVHD have been much much higher if the donor ... isnt matched fully, Devine says.

The clinical trial that Mendoza was in looked at whether giving the chemotherapy drug cyclophosphamide on the third and fourth days following a stem cell transplant can prevent GVHD. Giving the medication post-transplant makes the body more hospitable and prevents a reaction from the donors T cells, part of the immune system, which contributes to graft-versus-host disease, Devine says.

Doing that actually substantially lowers the risk of graft-versus-host disease, even using a donor who less than perfectly matches, Devine says. Its been a game changer.

It could also have applications outside cancer, such as anemia or sickle cell disease.

While the trial investigating post-transplant cyclophosphamide in adults has been completed, the researchers are still looking at this in pediatric populations. Now, adult patients who were not involved in the research can receive this protocol if they cant find a perfect match. Devine says theyve done transplants in people with seven out of eight HLA marker matches and as low as five.

Its already being done now in our field as a standard of care, Devine says. It means that more people have the potential to have access to a life-saving blood or bone marrow transplant.

Being part of an imperfect match

When Catherine Vega was a freshman in college, she submitted a saliva sample with Be The Match. Then she forgot about it. Five years later, she received a call that she was a match to a stranger.

There were no second thoughts, Vega, 24, of San Antonio, Texas, tells TODAY.com. Its what I had to do. If I can help somebody, I will.

Catherine Vega (Courtesy Catherine Vega)

For some stem cell transplants, the donor is put to sleep with general anesthesia, and a large needle is inserted into the hip to pull out the bone marrow, according to the American Cancer Society. In other cases, the donor takes medication to help the stem cells move from the marrow to the blood faster so the stem cells can be extracted directly from the blood.

After undergoing blood tests to make sure she could donate, she received the injections for a few days to boost blood cell and stem cell production in the body. On her donation day, she went to a hospital, where she sat for eight hours.

You have needles in your arms obviously taking blood out (to remove the stem cells) and putting blood in, she says. I slept most of it. It was pretty chill.

The next day, she returned for four hours and was done.

They take the bags of your stem cells and then they transfer it and off it goes, she says. And thats that.

Prior to receiving the bone marrow transplant on Dec. 9, 2022, Mendoza underwent two months of 24/7 chemotherapy. When she went for the transplant, she felt surprised that she just needed to receive six bags of fluid and it wasnt a more of a surgical procedure.

It was smooth during that whole process, she says. It was like an hour.

After undergoing the transplant and receiving the post-transplant cyclophosphamide, Mendoza needed to stay isolated in the hospital to avoid infection until the donated stem cells took over. That meant a lot of blood tests and waiting.

It takes about two to three weeks  and you have to be patient, she says. I was definitely not patient."

Luckily, she experienced a Christmas miracle and was able to go home on Christmas Eve.

The transplant is the finish line, she says. Once I got my transplant I was like, OK, so we should be good.

Mendoza had a bone marrow biopsy 100 days after her transplant and is now cancer free. Shes sharing her story to encourage others facing challenges.

Life throws you a curveball, but just because it throws it at you doesnt mean you have to give up, she says. "Keep going and keep crushing it."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
A Tennessee mother of five died after she had a Brazilian butt lift performed by a Miami doctor who was allegedly not allowed to operate on patients, according to a lawsuit the woman's family filed.

Erica Russell, 33, traveled to Seduction Cosmetic Center's facility in Coral Gables, Florida, in June 2021 to undergo the cosmetic procedure. During the procedure, her doctor, John Sampson, punctured her liver, her bladder and her intestines with a cannula, a tube primarily used for removing fluid from the body, the lawsuit, filed Monday in Miami-Dade County court, alleges.

A little over two hours after the procedure began, Russell went into cardiac arrest and died.

The lawsuit says her cause of death was determined to be pulmonary fat emboli and bleeding due to liposuction and bilateral gluteal augmentation surgery.

Attorneys representing Russell's family said Sampson was not allowed to perform surgical procedures at the facility and allege that Seduction provided Russell with falsified paperwork stating that he "had plastic and cosmetic privileges" at a local hospital when he did not.

They also accused Seduction of falsely marketing Sampson "as a surgeon performing surgery at its facility."

Seduction Cosmetic Center Corp. and Sampson, both named as defendants in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. Seduction's president and CEO, Gretel Jardon, could not be reached at phone numbers listed for her. Jardon is not named as a defendant.

The suit says that in May 2020, Seduction submitted an application to the Florida Health Department listing Sampson as its "designated physician" and did not list him as a surgeon. Sampson's responsibilities, according to the suit, were to ensure the facility was complying with all applicable health and safety standards and requirements.

In June 2020, Sampson provided the state's Health Department with a letter "stating specifically" that he "does not perform surgical procedures at the defendant Seduction's facility" in Coral Gable, the lawsuit claims.

"At all times material hereto, defendant Sampson was not approved to perform surgical procedures at Seduction," the suit says. "Despite that, between April 2021 and June 2021, defendant Sampson performed plastic surgery procedures at defendant Seduction."

On June 16, 2021, the lawsuit claims, Sampson performed procedures on seven patients, including Russell. It says that his first procedure was at 6:32 a.m. and that he began operating on Russell at 8:31 p.m., following a nearly 14-hour shift.

Since September 2022, Sampson has been "permanently restricted from performing gluteal fat grafting procedures" and "serving as the designated physician of an office surgery center" regulated by the Health Department, according to an order the Health Department issued following a discipline case.

Russell's attorneys said the department's decision was "a (very) small step in the right direction."

"We should not accept this type of conduct in our community. Our firm looks forward to moving this case forward and holding these defendants accountable for their actions," they said on Facebook.

A Brazilian butt lift, or BBL, is a procedure in which a doctor transfers fat from the patient's stomach, hips, lower back or thighs to the patient's butt. It is performed in two steps: The doctor removes fat using liposuction and then injects the fat into the buttock area.

WebMD says BBLs are generally safer than other procedures to change how a patient's rear looks but are still risky and can be fatal. A report in January from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 93 U.S. citizens died as a result of cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic from 2009 to 2022.

The fatal cases examined involved liposuction, and 92% involved gluteal fat transfer or BBLs.
A 25-year-old man accused of breaking into a womans home and raping her in 2021 is going to prison, New Mexico officials said.

Jose Maldonado, of Clovis, was found guilty Feb. 27 in connection to the May 2021 sexual assault, according to a news release from the Ninth Judicial District Attorney.

The victim had woke up to Maldonado standing over her while she was in bed, officials said.

He is then accused of getting on top of her and pulling her shorts down while she struggled and screamed for help, officials said.

Maldonado forcefully pushed her face into the pillow holding her by the neck, the district attorneys office said.

When the victim was able to turn her head, she told Maldonado, someone is walking by the window, the district attorney said.

When he went to check, the woman jumped out of the bedroom window where she ran to the neighbors house and called 911, officials said.

Maldonados DNA was a match for the evidence found in the rape kit conducted, the district attorney said.

Maldonado was sentenced to 30 years in prison on charges of kidnapping, criminal sexual penetration and burglary, according to a news release.

After finishing his prison sentence, Maldonado will remain on sex offender parole for at least five years, officials said.

Clovis is a 220-mile drive southeast from Albuquerque.

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.

Man rapes spa employee, then ties her up and forces her to ATM in New Mexico, cops say

Man raped woman after cutting her power when she was showering, Colorado officials say

Man tied up and raped 2 women decades ago, NY officials say. Now DNA leads to arrest
She outlasted the "fellas." The money behind the mission never dried up. In the end, she won a pair of contests -- in Washington, D.C., and Vermont.

Nikki Haley still came nowhere near the Republican nomination. She couldn't prevent Super Tuesday from becoming a blowout, with former President Donald Trump cleaning up in red states (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama), blue states (California, Massachusetts, Colorado) and historic and potentially emerging or reemerging battlegrounds (Virginia, North Carolina, Minnesota).

In exiting the race on Wednesday morning, Haley issued a broad call for Republicans to rediscover what the party has previously stood for. She also called on Trump himself to reach out to voters who are not yet convinced that he's the right choice for their party or for the country.

"It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and those beyond it to support him," Haley said in brief remarks in her home state of South Carolina. "I hope he does that."

Pretty much at the same time she was speaking, Trump invited Haley supporters to join his campaign. But that was almost an afterthought in a social-media post that also declared that Haley "got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion" and alleged that she was secretly funded by "Radical Left Democrats."

PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks as she announces she is suspending her campaign, March 6, 2024, in Charleston, S.C. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Contrast that with the statement President Joe Biden released Wednesday morning, praising Haley for the "courage" to run for president and try to defeat Trump.

"Donald Trump made it clear he doesn't want Nikki Haley's supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign," the president said in a campaign statement.

MORE: Nikki Haley suspends 2024 campaign, doesn't endorse Donald Trump

Words aside, Haley's campaign served to highlight potential limitations in Trump's electoral coalition. While he romped across the primary states and even won every single county in giant states like California and Texas, Haley wound up -- to use Trump's choice word -- trouncing him in the suburbs and exurbs of Denver, Boston and northern Virginia, outside Washington. Those results closely mirrored prior geographic outcomes in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Many of those Haley voters have been adamant about what their votes mean. Across the GOP primary states with exit polls, 79% of Haley voters said they would dissatisfied with Trump as the nominee and a similar 79% said Trump would be unfit for office if he is convicted of a crime. (He denies all wrongdoing.)

Evan as Trump continues to spread false claims about the 2020 election, 83% of Haley voters in exit polls said Biden legitimately won the presidency. Those voters appear more moderate across a range of other issues, including immigration and abortion, that are likely to be central to the fall campaign.

Haley said repeatedly on the trail not just that Trump should not win but that he cannot win. She even said that the nation "can't survive" another four years of the "chaos" that surrounds him.

Haley, of all people -- having served as one of Trump's ambassadors -- knows better than to expect a new version of him, much less one who changes course because of nudges from an erstwhile ally. Her shifting reactions to prior versions of Trump are head-spinning, even considering the immensely complicated relationship between Trump and their shared party.

MORE: Super Tuesday sets up a Biden vs. Trump rematch, and 4 more takeaways

Haley campaigned for a rival Republican in 2016; made amends to serve as Trump's U.N. ambassador; pronounced herself "disgusted" by Trump's actions after Jan. 6; came back into the fold to say she wouldn't challenge him if he ran again; then ran anyway and was the last of a dozen-plus rivals standing in the Republican race.

Even as the campaign grew sharper, as Trump mocked her intelligence, mangled her given name and elevated baseless questions about her eligibility for office, Haley never quite ruled out supporting him in the end -- or even potentially serving as his running mate.

PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a Super Tuesday election night party, Mar. 5, 2024, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. (Evan Vucci/AP)

In recent days, as the end of the road came into view, Haley cast her campaign as a mission to bring the Republican Party back to its fiscal-discipline and stand-by-our-allies roots. Last Friday, speaking with a group of reporters and columnists in Washington, she rejected the label of "anti-Trump."

"In all the narratives, everybody pretty much assumes that this is an anti-Trump movement. And it's actually not. This is a movement where people want to be heard," Haley said. "I get why Democrats are leaving the Democrat Party, because of how far left they've gone. And I get why Republicans are leaving the Republican Party, because we were just always about small government and freedom -- economic freedom and personal freedom."

Shortly after Jan. 6, 2021, in what became an infamous interview, she gave the sharpest critique she ever offered of Trump.

Notably, she also laid some responsibility on Republicans who essentially enabled him by echoing his false rhetoric about the 2020 election.

"He went down a path he shouldn't have, and we shouldn't have followed him, and we shouldn't have listened to him. And we can't let that ever happen again," Haley told the journalist Tim Alberta.

In getting out of the race now, Haley sought to put the onus on Trump to listen to Republican voters, particularly those who are hesitating before backing Trump again. But responsibility for action may fall on those same voters -- and on prominent party members like Haley -- if Trump chooses to hear different messages.

Nikki Haley exits race with a message Trump may not want to hear: ANALYSIS originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Nikki Haley is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race after winning just two Republican primaries.

"The time has now come to suspend my campaign," she said at a news conference on Wednesday morning.

Her departure will leave her rival Donald Trump as the only Republican left after he dominated Super Tuesday, racking up a series of wins.

Ms Haley did not endorse Mr Trump during her exit speech.

Instead, she congratulated him and said she "wish[ed] him well".

She said it is now up to Mr Trump "to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him".

Though Ms Haley came nowhere near to securing the party's nomination, she found substantial support among voters who had rejected the former president, and in particular college-educated voters.

The question now will be whether her supporters, who made up a quarter of Republican primary voters in some states, will back Mr Trump.

On his social media site Truth Social, Mr Trump said Ms Haley had been "trounced last night, in record setting fashion".

Ms Haley had pitched herself as a fresh start for the party and the chance to move past Mr Trump. But she only won Vermont and the District of Columbia in the primaries.

The former president even beat her in South Carolina where she was a popular governor.

Ms Haley said on Wednesday she stayed in the race because she had "wanted Americans to have their voices heard" and "I have done that".

"I have no regrets," she said.

During her brief speech, the former United Nations ambassador emphasised the policy issues of her campaign stops, including the economy, the threat of socialism, and international conflict.

"Our national debt will eventually crush our economy," she said. "Our world is on fire because of America's retreat. Standing by our allies in Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan is a moral imperative."

On Super Tuesday Mr Trump swept Ms Haley by double-digit margins in several states, including Texas and California, the two states offering the largest number of delegates.

Her departure puts Mr Trump on a clear path to win the Republican nomination this month unchallenged and a rematch with Joe Biden in November.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell - who had yet to endorse a candidate - quickly announced his support for Mr Trump after Ms Haley's announcement. The two have sparred in the past, but Mr McConnell said it was "abundantly clear" Mr Trump had earned the support of the party.

Some criticised Ms Haley for declining to endorse Mr Trump, including Penny Nance, the leader of the conservative Concerned Women for America group. She argued Mr Trump was the best chance to defeat Democrats.

"If [Haley] is not on board with that, her motives are clear and conservatives will never forgive or forget," she said.

Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, meanwhile, commended Ms Haley for a "hard-fought campaign".

Mr Biden was quick to try to woo the former South Carolina governor's supporters after her announcement.

"It takes a lot of courage to run for President - that's especially true in today's Republican Party, where so few dare to speak the truth about Donald Trump," he said of Ms Haley. "Donald Trump made it clear he doesn't want Nikki Haley's supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign."

Mitch Landrieu, a national co-chair of the president's re-election campaign, told CNN that Mr Biden had personally contacted Ms Haley on Wednesday.

"There are a lot of the things that the folks that voted for Nikki Haley share with Joe Biden," he said.

In a statement on Tuesday night, prior to Ms Haley ending her run, her campaign said it was "honoured" she had become the first Republican woman to win two presidential primary contests.

"There remains a large bloc of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump.

"That is not the unity our party needs for success. Addressing those voters' concerns will make the Republican Party and America better."

Graphic showing delegates won by Republican candidates, with Donald Trump enjoying a huge lead and nearing the total to win the nomination

Ms Haley has also not yet spoken about her plans for after the primary race.

During her speech on Wednesday, Ms Haley said she was looking forward to life as a "private citizen".

"Although I am no longer a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in," she said.

Ms Haley had presented herself as a chance for the country to move on from the "chaos" of her former boss, who made her ambassador to the UN.

In the final weeks of her campaign she levelled increasingly forceful attacks at Mr Trump, taking aim at his age and mental acuity, and criticising him for "buddying up" to dictators like Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong-un.
On Wednesday, the United States announced that it is actively working toward a security mission to Haiti and a transition to new leadership.

The current Haitian Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, remains in Puerto Rico as armed gangs rule much of the capital Port-au-Prince, and have stated they are looking to oust him.

Heavily armed groups attempted to take over Haiti's primary airport. Toussaint Louverture International Airport. on Tuesday following the escape of 4,000 prisoners. Witnesses say the gangs began "indiscriminately massacring people."

The Prime Minister is in Puerto Rico to scare up support for an international force led by Kenya to help bring security to his country.

Gang leader Jimmy Cherizier leads a coalition of his own that is comprised of once-rival criminal gangs. He has said that they would fight the international force as a united front and warned the violence could escalate into a civil war if the Prime Minister does not step down.

"What we have asked the Haitian prime minister to do is move forward on a political process that will lead to the establishment of a presidential transitional council that will lead to elections, and we think that is urgent," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters.

She also said the United States was working with Kenya in moving toward the force becoming a reality. Composed of voluntary contributions that have fallen beneath early estimates, the ambassador stated that she hoped the force would become a reality soon.

Prime Minister Henry set up a transition council over a year ago but faced criticism as opponents say they were left out of the process.

He has postponed elections, though he was not elected, amid security concerns that may affect a free and fair vote. T

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has called for the urgent deployment of the planned security force, which was initially requested by Henry in October 2022.

"The reality is that, in the current context, there is no realistic alternative available to protect lives," Turk said. "This situation is beyond untenable for the people of Haiti."

According to the U.N., at least 313,000 have fled their homes inside Haiti while close to 1,200 have been killed and nearly 700 injured since the start of this year. There are reports of widespread rape, torture, and kidnappings for ransom in gang-controlled areas. The conflict has also cut off access to food, medical services, and humanitarian aid as well.
As a school resource officer in Iowa, I've been on the front lines of the battle against youth vaping. Despite the FDA's commendable 2020 ban on certain flavored vapes, our communities continue to grapple with the alarming prevalence of illegal flavored disposable vapes among our youth.

The FDA's ban on youth-appealing flavored vapes was a step in the right direction, acknowledging the dangers these enticing flavors pose to our young people. However, the agency's failure to enforce the ban effectively has allowed an illicit market to thrive. The crux of the issue lies in the FDA's understaffing, preventing them from policing the flood of illegal products entering our communities.

Compounding the problem is the lack of clear communication between the FDA and retailers. Many vendors remain in the dark about which products are legal or illegal to sell, inadvertently contributing to the proliferation of these dangerous vaping products. We must provide tools that help retailers keep these illegal products off store shelves and help enforcement agencies to keep them out of the hands of children.

Recent findings from the 2023 CDC Youth Tobacco Study reveal a disturbing truth: the two most popular vaping products among our youth are illegal flavored vapes, Elf Bar and Esco Bar, both produced in unregulated factories in China and sold in flavors such as Orange Pear Nectar and Berry Mix. Our children are being drawn into a dangerous habit, one that could have lifelong consequences on their health.

Illegal, disposable, flavored e-cigarettes remain the top choice of American middle and high school students who use tobacco, fueling youth vaping.

Thankfully, the Iowa Legislature is taking steps towards closing these regulatory gaps. House Study Bill 682 and Senate File 2402 would establish a registry of only those vaping products that the FDA allows to be on the market. Any store selling illegal flavored disposable vapes that are not on the directory would face crippling penalties  effectively taking these products off the shelves and out of the hands of Iowa youth. A vaping directory provides the clarity needed for retailers and wholesalers on what vaping products can be legally sold and gives law enforcement the ability to stop the flow of illegal, kid-friendly disposable vaping products that are flooding our schools and stores.

I urge you to have conversations with your children, family, and friends about these illegal flavored vapes to ensure your loved ones know the dangers of these products. Furthermore, contact your legislators and ask them to support Senate File 2402 to keep illegal flavored vapes out of the hands of our youth.

The stakes are high, and the time for action is now. Lets work together to create a safer, healthier future for our children.

Jamey Fah

Jamey Fah is a deputy sheriff with the Scott County Sheriffs Department and a school resource officer at Pleasant Valley High School. He has been an SRO for the past five years and holds the highest certification for SROs, NASRO Practitioner.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Protect children from illegal flavored disposable vapes
Senegal President Macky Sall wears a black suit and stands with his hands on his chest in the National Assembly, with other ministers walking into the room behind him

Senegal's government has announced that the country's presidential election will take place on 24 March.

The announcement follows tension in the West African nation after President Macky Sall postponed the election last month, sparking widespread protests.

Parliament has also passed an amnesty law for crimes linked to the protests.

The president's opponents had accused him of mounting a constitutional coup but he denies seeking to extend his term of office.

Mr Sall's 12 years in power is due to end on 2 April.

The announcement of the election date has been welcomed by opposition figures.

"What we are looking forward now is fair, just and transparent elections. That is the last duty that President Macky Sall has to fulfil," Aminata Toure, a former prime minister under Mr Sall who switched to the opposition, told the BBC's Newsday programme.

Senegal has long been seen as one of the most stable democracies in Africa.

It is the only country in mainland West Africa that has never had a military coup.

Prior to Wednesday's announcement, authorities had attempted to postpone the original 25 February poll to December, which resulted in deadly unrest on the streets.

But the Constitutional Council later ruled that the presidential election must take place before 2 April.

Earlier on Wednesday evening, Mr Sall dissolved the government and replaced Prime Minister Amadou Ba with Interior Minister Sidiki Kaba.

This was so that Mr Ba, the ruling coalition's presidential candidate, could focus on his electoral campaign, the presidency said.

President Sall has served two terms as Senegal's leader and when he was first elected in 2012 he promised he would not overstay.

In another attempt to defuse political tensions, lawmakers have approved a bill which gives amnesty for all offences "relating to demonstrations or having political motivations" that were committed 1 February 2021 to 25 February 2024.

Ninety-four members of parliament backed the measure while 49 voted against it.

Critics say the law will shield the perpetrators of serious crimes, including members of security forces who killed dozens of protesters, as well as Mr Sall.

But the law's supporters say it will benefit the opposition, as it could pave the way for the release of leading opposition politician Ousmane Sonko and thousands of his supporters.

Mr Sonko was at the forefront of the campaign against Mr Sall, and was imprisoned in 2023 on what he said were trumped-up charges aimed at barring him from running for president.

Despite the latest political reforms, the list of candidates eligible to contest the presidency remains unchanged, meaning Mr Sonko still cannot run for office.

Nevertheless vice-president of his Pastef party, Yacine Fall, told the BBC that the announcement of an election date was "a big relief for the whole country".

"Unfortunately, Ousmane Sonko had been illegally prevented from being a candidate, but we are still happy to see that Pastef... has a candidate," she said.

"We are hopeful and we are convinced that if the campaign is done and due process is put in motion, Pastef will win the election and Bassirou Diomaye will be the next president of Senegal."

However, Mr Diomaye is currently in prison - he is one of those hoping to be freed - while Pastef has been banned on charges of calling for insurrection.

Another leading opposition figure, Karim Wade, is not on the list of approved candidates and so will also not be able to take part in the election which is in just over a fortnight's time.

More on Senegal's political turmoil:
A ceasefire deal in Gaza that would see Israeli hostages freed and the first break in the fighting in more than three months is unlikely to happen by the start of Ramadan which the Biden administration had been aiming for, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

Negotiators had hoped to have a draft agreement this week after days of meetings in Cairo, but it wont happen, said one diplomat familiar with the discussions who described the last few days of talks as very hectic.

Two American officials agreed that the prospects are not promising of Israel and Hamas agreeing to the temporary truce by the start of the Muslim holy month early next week.

Hope is fading, one US official said.

A failure to achieve a deal in the next few days would come after weeks of US President Joe Biden and administration officials saying an agreement needs to be in place by Ramadan to avoid escalation of the five-month war. He warned Tuesday that without a ceasefire by then the region could become very, very dangerous.

Israel has also warned that if the Israeli hostages being held in Gaza arent home by Ramadan they will launch a military offensive into Rafah in southern Gaza where around 1.5 million Palestinians are trying to seek safety from the fighting.

Representatives from Hamas, Egypt, Qatar and the United States had gathered this week in the Egyptian capital for more talks while Israel refused to send a delegation because Hamas has not yet provided a list of hostages who are alive and dead, a recent demand by Israel.

The Biden administration insists Israel has already accepted the broad terms of a six-week pause while Hamas is holding out.

A Hamas delegation left Cairo on Thursday after days of talks with no obvious breakthrough in negotiations aimed at reaching a ceasefire in exchange for hostage releases. Egypt state-run Al Qahera news, citing a senior source, said that the delegation has left to consult on the proposals, and that negotiations will resume next week.

Its in the hands of Hamas right now, Biden told reporters on Tuesday as he boarded Air Force One. He had raised hopes last week saying that a ceasefire could be in place by this past Monday, a prediction he later admitted was unlikely.

US President Joe Biden speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One in Hagerstown, Maryland, March 5, 2024. - Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

One thing the administration and Hamas agree on is the desire for a temporary, six-week truce to turn into a permanent ceasefire without a resumption in the fighting. Biden officials have said they believe the pause could evolve into a more enduring peace, while Israel has maintained they plan to continue efforts to dismantle Hamas, particularly in Rafah.

Hope is not lost that a first phase could be launched soon, the diplomat cautioned, saying they believe an agreement could be possible in the first week or two of Ramadan.

But the deadly incident last week in which more than 100 Palestinians were killed in Gaza City when an aid convoy was mobbed and Israeli forces opened fire took us back 10 steps, the diplomat said. Hamas then presented a response to a negotiated framework to mediators that no one is happy about.

A deal, if successful, is expected to include multiple phases. In the first stage, when the fighting would stop for at least six weeks, around 40 Israeli elderly, female, sick and wounded hostages are expected to be released. In parallel, Israel would also free Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisoners, a number that could be in the hundreds.

Hamas had backed off some of its more stringent demands, sources had told CNN, but following last weeks Flour Massacre, as it has become known, the group pushed for more assurances. Namely that in the first phase the Israeli military would pull back from Gazan cities and in a second withdraw from the enclave altogether, according to the diplomat who said the IDF is refusing to agree to those points.

Not only do Palestinians from northern Gaza need to be able to return to what is left of their homes, Hamas has argued in the talks, but do so without going through IDF checkpoints. There are demands by Hamas, the diplomat said, that specific machinery be provided to move rubble as well as field hospitals and clinics.

Hamas said its delegation left Cairo Thursday to consult with the movements leadership, as negotiations and efforts continue to stop the aggression, return the displaced, and bring relief aid to our Palestinian people, the group said in a statement.

On Wednesday Hamas argued that it had shown flexibility but Israel continued to evade the obligations of the agreement being discussed.

We have affirmed our conditions for a ceasefire: complete [IDF] withdrawal from the sector, the return of displaced persons to the areas they left, especially in the north, and the provision of sufficient aid, relief, and reconstruction, Hamas senior leader Osama Hamdan told a news conference in Beirut on Tuesday.

Ramadan, a month of fasting and piety for Muslims, is a period in which you have calm and youre able to do the essential humanitarian work, a senior administration official told reporters in a weekend briefing.

About a quarter of Gazas population is on the brink of famine, according to the United Nations. The Biden administration has escalated its criticism of Israels refusal to open more border crossings to allow aid into Gaza, particularly to address needs in the north.

There are no excuses, Biden posted on X.

Displaced Palestinians receive food at a donation point in Rafah, southern Gaza, February 24, 2024. - Yasser Qudihe/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images

Even without a ceasefire, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, it is urgent to dramatically increase the humanitarian assistance thats getting to people inside of Gaza. The situation with children, women and men who are caught in this crossfire of Hamas making inside of Gaza is unacceptable and not sustainable.

Blinken made the comments before a meeting with Qatars Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, a central player in the ceasefire mediation. In their meeting, Blinken acknowledged that the pause and hostage deal is unlikely before the start of Ramadan, said a person familiar with the meeting.

The same person said the CIA Director Bill Burns, who has been leading the administrations efforts in the negotiations, had a long meeting with Thani during the latters visit to Washington.

Bill Burns has traveled back to the Middle East, according to a US official and another source familiar with the trip.

The sources said Burns was in Egypt on Wednesday before traveling to Qatar on Thursday. Burns is not expected to stop in Israel on this trip, the US official said, nor is there expected to be a quad format meeting with the Egyptian and Israeli intelligence chiefs and the Qatari Prime Minister, as there was in Paris two weeks ago.

We continue to believe that the obstacles are not insurmountable and that a deal can be reached, State Department spokesman Matt Miller said Wednesday when asked about the lack of a breakthrough. The deal is in the interest of Israel. Its in the interest of the Palestinian people. And its in the interest of the broader region, so were going to continue to push for one.

CNNs Mostafa Salem contributed reporting.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
A United Airlines flight lost one of its tires during takeoff from San Francisco on Thursday, causing the Japan-bound plane to be diverted to Los Angeles, the airline said.

United Flight 35 landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport at 1:30 p.m. ET, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

PHOTO: A United Airlines flight loses a landing gear tire as it takes off from San Francisco Airport, Mar. 7, 2024. (Cali Planes)

The flight lost a portion of the landing gear tire during takeoff at approximately 11:35 a.m. PT, according to the San Francisco International Airport. Footage from Cali Planes shows the tire falling off seconds after takeoff.

The tire debris landed in an employee parking lot at the airport. No one was injured and the runway was briefly closed to clear debris, the airport said. At least one car in the parking lot appeared to be damaged following the incident, footage shows.

PHOTO: Damaged cars are seen in a parking lot after a United Airlines airplane lost a landing gear tire while taking off from San Francisco Airport, Mar. 7, 2024. (Buffy Bartley)

"We're grateful to our pilots and flight attendants for their professionalism in managing this situation," United said in a statement. "We're also grateful to our teams on the ground who were waiting with a tug to move the aircraft soon after it landed and to our teams in the airport who assisted customers upon their arrival."

United said it will work with the owners of the damaged vehicles at the San Francisco International Airport "to ensure their needs are addressed."

MORE: 'Thought we were going to die': United Airlines jet makes emergency landing after flames break out in engine

The tire was one of 12 on the Boeing 777-200's two main landing gear struts, according to United.

"The aircraft is designed to land safely with missing or damaged tires," United said.

PHOTO: A United Airlines flight that lost a portion of its landing gear tire is diverted to Los Angeles International Airport, March 7, 2024. (KABC)

PHOTO: A United Airlines flight that lost a portion of its landing gear tire is diverted to Los Angeles International Airport, March 7, 2024. (KABC)

MORE: Boeing has not handed over key documents in Alaska Airlines door plug probe: NTSB chair

The FAA said it will investigate the incident.

The flight was bound for Osaka. United said it arranged for a new aircraft to continue the trip for the passengers Thursday evening.

There were 235 customers, 10 flight attendants and four pilots on board at the time of the incident, United said.

Tire falls off United Airlines flight after takeoff from San Francisco originally appeared on abcnews.go.com


remaining of

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. The advantages of opening the borders are obvious; Armenia sincerely wants the state borders to be opened as soon as possible.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said in an interview with the Turkish "Anadolu" news agency within the framework of participation in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, addressing the possibility of opening the border with Turkey.

Minister Ararat Mirzoyan discussed the process of normalizing relations with Turkey, Armenia's stance on opening the border, existing agreements and expectations.

Speaking about the importance of opening borders, Ararat Mirzoyan noted that it is of paramount importance for the development of relations, primarily economic ones.

Mirzoyan recalled that as part of this process, special representatives were appointed on both sides who conducted contacts through personal meetings and telephone conversations.

Ararat Mirzoyan recalled that the parties had reached an agreement on opening of the land border between Turkey and Armenia for citizens of the third countries and diplomatic passport holders.

The FM Mirzoyan also mentioned that discussions about restoring the historical Ani bridge are underway. The minister added that agreements had been reached regarding the construction of infrastructure and roads in the border regions.

"Armenia sincerely desires the state borders to be opened at the earliest opportunity, diplomatic relations to be established and connections between the two peoples and cultures to be expanded," said the Foreign Minister.
German industry is urging for enhanced safeguards for critical infrastructure following a suspected arson attack carried out by leftist activists on Tesla's gigafactory located outside Berlin. Production at the facility has been halted indefinitely as a result of the incident.

Security officials evacuated the Tesla site on Tuesday following a suspected arson attack nearby, which Tesla CEO Elon Musk characterized as "extremely dumb." However, the incident left the site without power.

To counter the recessionary challenges, the German government has been a strong advocate for substantial foreign investments as a strategy to stimulate growth in Europe's largest economy.

"Infrastructure is the lifeline of the German economy," said Martin Wansleben, managing director of the DIHK Chambers of Industry and Commerce.

"Unfortunately, the protection of this infrastructure urgently needs to be adapted to the changed security situation. It is essential that investors continue to see Germany as a safe country," he said, adding cybersecurity was also a concern.

The local DIHK branch close to the site emphasized the importance of prioritizing safety to attract global investors and highlighted that the recent attack was not solely targeted at Tesla.

"It is an attack on all companies that want to invest in Brandenburg and Germany," President of the East Brandenburg Chambers of Commerce Carsten Christ said. "I believe the state has an urgent duty to protect our economy from this."

The timeline for Tesla to resume production remains uncertain after the recent incident. The U.S. electric vehicle manufacturer estimates substantial losses in the high hundreds of millions of euros, with around 1,000 cars left unfinished on Tuesday alone.

Who Are The Alleged Suspects?

As reported by Reuters, the plant has been a focus for climate protesters who are opposed to an expansion of the site.

German police have expressed their belief in the authenticity of a letter seemingly from a far-left organization called the Volcano Group. The letter claims responsibility for starting a fire that caused a power outage around Tesla's factory.

In a 2019 report, Berlin authorities listed Vulkangruppen, or volcano groups, as left-wing extremist organizations that have targeted cable ducts on railway lines and in some cases, radio masts, data lines, or company vehicles.
CPM suggests TMC cant criticise it

New Delhi: A front-page advertisement by the BJP in the CPI(M) Bengali mouthpiece Ganashakti has ignited a political firestorm in West Bengal ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The publication of the BJP advertisement in the CPI(M) journal has drawn a sharp attack from the Trinamul Congress, which questioned the political integrity of the Marxists. In response, the CPI(M) hit back, suggesting that the TMC lacked the moral high ground to critique their action.

Speaking to this newspaper, TMC MP Sukhendu Shekhar Roy said the advertisement carried in the CPI(M) newspaper has exposed the devious character of the Marxists. He said that while in public the party was asking people to vote against the TMC and the BJP, but for obvious reasons the CPI(M) mouthpiece was tacitly exhorting people of Bengal to vote for the BJP. Another TMC functionary recalled the CPI(M) slogan during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls -- Ebar Ram pore Baam (This time vote for Ram, vote for the Left later).

Hitting back, senior CPI(M) leader Nilotpal Basu said the TMC was the last outfit to talk about political ethics. He claimed that instead of unnecessarily criticizing, one must also look at the content. Claiming that there was nothing wrong ethically in carrying the advertisement, Mr Basu argued that while running a newspaper one should be aware of the importance of advertisements. Indicating that newspapers need ad revenue to continue, Mr Basu said that if the papers did not get advertisements, how can they expose the misdeeds of both the BJP and the TMC.

It may be recalled last year the CPI(M) mouthpiece and the TMC government had locked horns over advertisements. It was alleged the state government had halted advertisements to Ganashakti, citing its affiliation with the CPI(M).

While the CPI(M) justified publication of the advertisement, Left leaders pointed out editorials in the mouthpiece criticising the Narendra Modi government on issues ranging from free rations to religious polarisation. It also noted that the CPIM), in its English mouthpiece Peoples Democracy, had in the latest issue attacked the BJP for organising defections from the Congress and other Opposition parties. The editorial asserted that taking on the BJP requires a bold and consistent fight -- ideologically and politically -- against the Hindutva communal forces.
According to sources, the Congress first list is likely to include Gandhi from his current parliamentary constituency Wayanad in Kerala

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with party leaders Sonia Gandhi and KC Venugopal during the Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, at AICC Headquarters in New Delhi, Thursday, March 7, 2024. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: The Congress central election committee met on Thursday evening to consider names for 60 Lok Sabha seats for the impending general election. Insiders claim that the candidates for parliamentary seats in Delhi, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim and Meghalaya were discussed at the CEC. The first list of candidates is expected on Friday.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge chaired the meeting. Besides Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the state unit chiefs, the Leaders of the Opposition, chief ministers and general secretaries incharge of the aforementioned states were also present in the meeting. Rahul Gandhi, who is on the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, joined the meeting virtually.

Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy also joined the meeting. As many as seven Telangana seats were cleared, rest are expected to be taken up in the next CEC meeting. This was the first CEC meeting of the Congress. Several meetings of the screening committee have already taken place.

According to sources, the Congress first list is likely to include Mr Gandhi from his current parliamentary constituency Wayanad in Kerala.

Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel is also expected to contest. Speaking to the media, general secretary incharge of Chhattisgarh Sachin Pilot said, We have had a frank and exhaustive discussion on all the seats. You will know the details soon.

Deputy chief minister of Karnataka D.K. Shivkumar and general secretary incharge of the state Randeep Surjewala were also present in the meeting. According to sources, names for most Karnataka seats have been cleared by the central election committee. The next meeting of the CEC is expected early next week.
March 8, International Womens Day, is a day to celebrate women. While one day is not enough for this, it is an opportunity to reflect on what can be celebrated and what continues to be a challenge.

As a development professional, I have had the unique opportunity to be part of national, regional and global processes of getting women into development in the 1970s and 1980s, which then came to be known as engendering or mainstreaming women into development.

My journey started in 1975 when the United Nations announced the World Conference on International Womens Year in Mexico City, the first global conference to be held on womens issues, attended by 133 governments.

This was followed by my attendance and witness to four follow-up global conferences, culminating in the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. The global gatherings were a forum for listening to womens voices, designing mechanisms to address their concerns and hasten their advancement in a more concerted way.

After Beijing, the consensus was on engendering or mainstreaming gender into development.

Gender mainstreaming, according to the UN Economic and Social Council, is the process of assessing the implications of any legislation, policies, programmes, in all areas and at all levels for women and men and then developing strategies to ensure that concerns and experiences of women and men be an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in the political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally.

The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality. Simply put, it is asking at each step, how will this policy, programme or activity affect women? How will it affect men?

The focus was, for a start, on policies, which give authority to change. In India, policymaking, and development planning till 2015, was done through the Five-Year Plans. It became imperative that womens voices and perspectives inform these policies. Hence, engendering the plans became critical. The challenges to engendering policy and planning were formidable as there were no systemic institutional mechanisms in place to encourage and allow efficient intervention. Where they existed, these were sporadic and one dimensional.

The first-of-its-kind coordinated effort to engender the Plans was done during the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1997-2002), spearheaded by UNIFEM, the UN agency for women, now known as UN Women. In 1996, fresh after Beijing, UNIFEM created a think tank which included the Government of India, the Planning Commission, the UN system and civil society organisations to engender the policy and planning process. A concerted effort was made to get women in different parts of India, from diverse levels of society, to come together to understand how their lives were affected by policy and how they could in turn, influence policy. I was privileged to be a part of this think tank.

As a result of this effort, in the 1997-2002 Five-Year Plan, for the first time in the history of planning in India, gender was mentioned in the preamble to the final Plan document, and a Component Plan for Women was included. Since then, while policy statements recognise the need for and mention gender mainstreaming, what is more difficult to accomplish is the implementation of these policies. The 2001 National Policy for the Empowerment of Women and an updated 2016 version are the working documents till now.

The principal activity of the Indian government for the empowerment of women continues in the creation of schemes. According to a government website, at present, the Central and state governments run about 509 major schemes for women of all age groups, in education, healthcare, self-employment, and others. The primary goals of these schemes is to provide women protection, better health facilities, enough education to make them employable and financially strong. Many women and their families have benefitted from these schemes.

India is a large and diverse country and implementation of any policy and programme is a challenge. People are not convinced that gender mainstreaming is a good thing. Gender equality is not a mechanical exercise of setting up policies and programmes but, more importantly, of changing hearts and minds. This has not been attempted. It is difficult for men to give way to women and for women to take the place created for them. Undoing years of socialisation of men and women to accept new and different ways of thinking and acting is a strategic task. While the womens movements have empowered women, the ecosystem around them has not changed, and they cannot easily navigate their way through it, at home or in the workspace. The efforts to change the consciousness of men has been far too little.

In India, most of engendering development has been done by civil society organisations.

However, their impact is minimal, with little possibility of upscaling to the levels that are needed. It is the government, with its vast outreach through the media and governance structures, that can be effective.

We can celebrate that today Indian women have more agency and autonomy than before, increased opportunities in education and income generation, are more visible in the workplace and are likely to be financially independent. At the same time, we must decry the fact that women continue to be susceptible to violence and harassment.

The slow speed of engendering development and mainstreaming women still challenge us. This is why March 8 is still needed. And the rest of the 364 days are for all of us to make it happen.
Called WYO4Children, the project was launched at the home of the Sisters of Mother Teresa in Binh Duong. The World Youth Orchestra Foundation directed by Maestro Damiano Giuranna is behind the initiative designed to promote the growth of abandoned children by teaching them music.

Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews)  Promoting the growth of orphans and abandoned children in Ho Chi Minh City through music is the goal of the WYO4Children project, launched by the World Youth Orchestra (WYO) Foundation directed by Conductor Damiano Giuranna and supported by the Missionaries of Charity in Binh Duong who have made their facility available an hour from the

An ambitious project like WYO4Children can only take shape if it manages to create solid links with local social support, said Giuranna. The support of the Missionaries of Charity in Bin Duong, whom we thank, is precious because it makes the local community an active part of this initiative.

The project includes weekly lessons for 80 boys and girls aged 5 to 17, who will have the opportunity to learn the first rudiments of music, and play classical and traditional Vietnamese instruments. A community choir is also planned.

The initiative, which is part of the broader Sounds of Brotherhood project (thanks to the support of the CDP Foundation and the contribution of LCA Studio Legale) kicked off on 27 January and will continue until September 2024. The first year of activity will be in Vietnam and then continue in Southeast Asia for another two years.

After successful initiatives in countries like Iran, Israel, Palestine, Morocco, Lebanon, the United States, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria, the World Youth Orchestra Foundation arrives in Southeast Asia, a land of ancient civilisations, said WYO Foundation president Adolfo Vannucci.

"Faithful to its mission, WYO seeks out and promotes local cultural traditions, giving life to artistic experiences that link tradition to the present, nurturing education, social life and personal growth, he added.

Five young Vietnamese teachers are involved in WYO4Children thanks to Father Dominic Nguyen, a Vietnamese Catholic priest who contributed to their selection.

The teachers' coordinator, Hoang Vu, will train and direct the choir; his four colleagues will teach guitar, percussion, piano, and violin.

The project includes recitals and small concerts every two months and a final event in September, which will allow children to share their experience (musical and otherwise) while boosting the bonds with the community that hosts them.
Today's news: Another Indian enlisted by the Russians dead at the front in Ukraine; Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attacks Washington over wanting to suppress China; Pakistan's Supreme Court deems 44 year old trial that led to Ali Bhutto's death sentence unfair; In Bangladesh a university lecturer shoots a student during an argument at an exam.

MIDDLE EAST-PHILIPPINES

At least two Filipino sailors died in the missile attack by Houthi rebels on a ship in the Gulf of Aden which yesterday caused the first three victims of the assaults carried out by Yemeni Shiite militias in retaliation for the war in Gaza. The one hit was the True Confidence, a Greek-owned vessel flying the flag of Barbados. According to what was announced by the Manila Department for Migrant Workers, two other Filipino sailors were also seriously injured. There were 15 Filipino crew members on the ship, as well as four Vietnamese, two Sri Lankans, one Indian and one Nepalese.

INDIA-RUSSIA

A 30-year-old Indian citizen from Hyderabad, Mohammed Asfan, who was allegedly drafted into the Russian army on the pretext of work, died in the war in Ukraine. The family had last heard from him two months ago when he announced from Rostov-on-Don that he had been sent to the front. Another Indian citizen, Hamil Mangukiya, a twenty-three year old from Gujarat, was killed on February 21st. Meanwhile, a video is circulating on X-Twitter of about ten Indian citizens who say they were deceived and forced to fight in Ukraine after arriving in Russia in December 2023 as tourists

CHINA

In a press conference held on the sidelines of the "two sessions", the important political event underway in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi harshly attacked the United States and praised his country's partnership with Russia. He also called the war in Gaza a "shame for civilization." Wang criticized what he called Washington's efforts "to suppress China," telling reporters that "the desire to assign blame under any pretext has reached an incredible level," defending Beijing's policy in the South China Sea.

JAPAN-IRAN

Japan has signed a series of agreements to provide basic support to humanitarian medical assistance projects in Iran. This is aid worth 87 million yen (over 540 thousand euros) which will be allocated to university medical faculties and charitable organizations in five local provinces considered financially vulnerable. Japan's Foreign Ministry said medical support and other forms of humanitarian assistance fall outside the scope of sanctions against Iran imposed by the United States.

PAKISTAN

Pakistan's Supreme Court has ruled that former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged 44 years ago after being convicted of murder, did not get a fair trial. Bhutto, founder of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) now led by his nephew and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, was hanged in 1979 after a trial under the military regime of the late General Zia-ul-Haq. The ruling was issued in response to a judicial challenge filed by Bhutto Zardari's father, Asif Ali Zardari, during his term as president in 2011.

BANGLADESH

A professor at a medical school in Bangladesh has been suspended after allegedly shooting and wounding a student in a classroom. At Sirajganj University, Professor Raihan Sharif - who was arrested and is in police custody - allegedly opened fire on Arafat Amin Tomal, a 23-year-old student with whom he had had an argument during an oral exam. Dr. Sharif allegedly pulled out a gun and pointed it at the student, shooting him in the right knee.

KAZAKHSTAN

A group of geologists from the South Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (Kigam) published in The Korea Times their discoveries of new deposits of lithium and other minerals in eastern Kazakhstan, covering an area of 1.6 square kilometers where tantalum was mined, with a virtual return possibility of over billion.
Ocean Infinity, a US-based marine robotics company, made a proposal to the Malaysian government to search for the planes wreckage in the southern Indian Ocean. The Beijing-bound flight disappeared from radar screens in 2014 and the incident remains an unsolved mystery to this day. Victims families are still hoping to know the truth.

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Ten years after flight MH370 went missing, investigations could be reopened.

Ocean Infinity, a marine robotics company that searched for the aircrafts wreckage in 2018, is making the Malaysian government a "no find, no fee" proposal to renew the search in the southern Indian Ocean.

If the company presents any credible lead, the Malaysian government will consider reopening the file, Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke reportedly said.

On 8 March 2014, the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 disappeared from the radar after departing Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing.

Although the subsequent search was one of the largest and most expensive in history, the MH370 case remains unsolved to this day.

Along with the aircraft, all 239 people on board disappeared, most of them Chinese nationals; for the missings families, it is still hard to accept what happened.

I worry that by not knowing what happened to the flight, we are collectively vulnerable to a recurrence, said KS Narendran, from India, whose wife, Chandrika, was on board the plane.

Every succeeding anniversary has been less about my personal loss and more about not yet having answers to what really happened to the flight, he explained.

This torment is shared by others as well.

Captain Zaharies family is still strongly hoping for answers, said Dr Ghouse Mohd Noor, friend of the flights captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah. There is still no closure on it. There must be an explanation of what happened.

His wife and children [remain] objective, but the big question mark remains closure. Everybody needs closure. I pray day and night that this plane will be found. We will support every effort and new efforts that are being put forward.

In the days following the plane's disappearance, so few leads were available that the search stretched from Kazakhstan to Antarctica.

As more details emerged, the search area was narrowed, and some theories emerged about a possible accident, like an electrical failure, a fire, or the sudden depressurisation of the cockpit.

Over time, a series of conspiracy theories have developed as well linked first to the pilot, accused of hijacking the plane, then to a sensitive cargo that was spirited away to a secret location, and even the idea that foreign government agencies sabotaged the plane.

The Malaysian government, led by then-Prime Minister Najib Razak, now in jail on corruption charges related to another case, took too long and effectively hampered the search.

Since 2014, three official investigations have been carried out by Malaysia and other countries, but no one has been able to establish the cause of the disappearance.

The biggest mystery concerns the reasons that led the plane to turn towards the Indian Ocean; it is impossible to know if it was an accident or a deliberate action.

VPR Nathan, a member of the Voice MH370 group, formed by the victims' relatives, said that Ocean Infinity had planned a new search last year, but it was delayed by the delivery of a fleet.

The company's CEO, Oliver Punkett, said that improvements have been made in the technology since 2018.

Weve been working with many experts, some outside of Ocean Infinity, to continue analysing the data, Punkett explained.

Transport Minister Loke declined to disclose the company's proposed fees, saying it was subject to negotiation and that the cost would not be an obstacle to any new search.

No matter if it is 10 years, 20 years or more, as long as we are still alive ... we will not cease to press for the truth, said Bai Zhong, from China, whose wife was on the plane. We believe the truth will eventually come to light, he added.
Data collected by Isig speak of 1932 'white deaths' last year, including 54 minors. For the current year, the double-digit figure has already been exceeded, with an upward trend compared to the past. The highest number of accidents in the summer season, when children are employed in the agricultural sector. The apprenticeship system Mesem of the Ministry of Education is in the crosshairs.

Istanbul (AsiaNews) - In February, at least 144 people died in workplace accidents in Turkey, with an average of at least five deaths per day, a slight decrease compared to the 158 recorded in January.

For 2023 the overall figure is 1932 "unrelated deaths". This is what emerges from the monthly report prepared by the experts of Health and Safety Labor Watch (Isig) and relaunched by the activist site Bianet, which highlights a further critical factor: the deaths of minors in the workplace. In fact, at least six "child workers" under the age of 18 died in February, in addition to the seven in January for a total of at least 13 since the beginning of the year.

As for child victims in the workplace in February 2024, at least one of these was under 14 years old and another five were between 15 and 17 years old. Broadening the field to other age groups, there were 28 workers between 18 and 29 years old, 61 between 30 and 49, another 35 between the ages of 50 and 64, while 10 were over 65 years old. Finally, the age of another four at the time of death in the workplace is unknown.

Isig experts explain: Considering that more than half of the deaths of child workers occur in the agricultural sector [in a period of time from May to September] we must note that this year there is already a significant increase in victims among minors .

Among the reported cases is that of Yasin D., 13 years old, who was crushed between the rear door of a truck and a wall while transporting firewood to a bakery. And again Furkan C., 17 years old, who fell asleep inside a car he was repairing in a workshop and was poisoned by the exhaust fumes. Another is Arda G., 17 years old, who was trapped between a wall and an industrial elevator he was repairing on the 7th floor of a workplace.

Murat Can E., among those enrolled in Mesem [these are professional training centers launched as part of a program promoted by the Ministry of Education], who fell from a 13-storey construction site where he worked. Baran G., a 16-year-old courier, who on board his motorbike collided with another while delivering an order. Finally, Deniz Tutan, aged between 15 and 17, committed suicide in a paper collection center where he was employed.

Extending the count to the last 11 years, there are at least 671 minor victims in the workplace, the majority of which - reports the Isig - as part of training and apprenticeship programs aimed at children under 18. In recent weeks, experts have published a detailed study on "unrelated deaths" among minors, dedicating the work to 14-year-old Arda Tonbul and 15-year-old Erol Can Yavuz, who died during internships in workplaces affiliated with professional training centres.

The incidents triggered a controversy over child labor now regulated by Mesem, but the system started in 2016 with the "Apprenticeship Training Centers" then integrated into the education system.

A practice - explain Isig experts - which serves to produce qualified intermediate labor and export low-cost labour. There are at least 1.5 million students who fall within the scope of Mesem, of which 300 thousand are under 18s who attend "school one day" and the other four do "vocational training and start-up".

Favoring the choice of the school-work model is the widespread poverty of many families, who choose to interrupt their traditional studies to secure additional forms of income and thus support the family budget. In the past, sector experts conclude, there were already "thousands" of child workers; however, the worsening of the economic crisis recorded since 2021 - driven by the Covid-19 pandemic - has pushed "people of all ages to join the army of workers in search of a minimum source of income".

Finally, as regards child deaths at work, we went from an initial annual figure of 59 recorded in 2013 to 54 last year, with a peak of 67 which occurred for three consecutive years from 2018 to 2020.
To little surprise, the 2024 presidential contest has evolved into a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Dr. Paul Grewal is Fridays keynote speaker at the inaugural Healthy Journey Symposium put on by the Aspen Valley Hospital Foundation.
Chinese FM expresses hope for "green lights at every crossing" for China-EU ties

Xinhua) 11:01, March 07, 2024

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday expressed the hope that China-EU relations will move ahead smoothly with green lights at every crossing.

The EU's labeling of China as "a partner, competitor and systemic rival" at the same time is neither consistent with reality nor viable, he said at a press conference, adding that it only caused distractions and created obstacles for China-EU relations.

"It's like driving to a crossing and finding the red, yellow and green lights all on at the same time. How can you drive on?" asked Wang.

China and the EU do not have fundamental conflicts of interest or geopolitical strategic contradictions, and the common interests between the two sides far outweigh the differences, he said.

"The two sides should be characterized rightly as partners. Cooperation should be the defining feature of the relationship, autonomy its key value, and win-win its future," he said.

A strong EU is in the long-term interests of China. A strong China is also in the fundamental interests of EU, said the foreign minister.

China and the EU should jointly act as practitioners of multilateralism, advocates of open development, and promoters of cultural dialogue, according to Wang.

"As long as China and the EU engage in mutually beneficial cooperation, no attempt to create bloc confrontation will succeed; as long as China and Europe stay committed to openness and win-win, deglobalization will not prevail," said Wang.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
(Photo : STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)



Wisconsin police are continuing to search for Elijah Vue, a missing three-year-old, two weeks after his mother and the man who was looking after him were both charged with child neglect.

Elijah, who has blond hair and brown eyes, was staying with Jesse Vang, 39, in Two Rivers, Wisconsin - a town 40 miles southeast of Green Bay.

"Elijah Vue has not been found," the Two Rivers Police Department shared in a Tuesday afternoon press release. "Law enforcement from all over the state, in addition to FBI, DCI, and DNR, assisted in searching rural areas in Manitowoc County this morning, and will continue to do so into the afternoon."

Elijah's mother, Katrina Baur, took her son to stay with Vang to make her son "be a man," according to NBC News. Manitowoc County District Attorney Jacalyn LaBre alleged that Baur "intentionally sent that child for disciplinary reasons for more than a week to the residence."

During his stay with Vang, the toddler was allegedly forced to take cold showers and stand for hours during punishments. Baur, "was aware of the tactics used and the lack of care provided," LeBre said.

Vang first reported Elijah missing on February 20 after he awoke from a nap and realized the child was gone, according to WMAQ.

Law enforcement has also identified a beige 1997 Nissan Altima as a vehicle of interest, in the search for Elijah. The vehicle is not registered to Baur or Vang, according to the Two Rivers Police Department.

The police department is asking that local residents and business owners review surveillance footage from February 19, 2024, between the hours of 2:00 PM and 9:00 PM to find more information regarding the Nissan Altima. The police are not interested in the vehicle's owner - though they clarified that it was not registered to Vang or Baur.

Manitowoc County Crime Stoppers are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information that leads to the discovery of Elijah and/or those responsible for kidnapping him. The FBI is also offering a separate $15,000 reward.

"Let us stand together, vigilant and determined until Elijah is safely reunited with his loved ones," Manitowoc County Crime Stoppers said in a statement. "Your assistance can make the difference."
Dave Marston is publisher of the independent nonprofit Writers on the Range (writersontherange.org), which is dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He lives in Durango, Colorado.
The 2025 Dodge Charger Daytona was the most revolutionary car made by the American automaker in the last half a century, and it was available in three- or five-door configurations.

Mixing the muscle car glory with the electric revolution seemed to be unheard of when Dodge unveiled the Charger Daytona in the spring of 2024 in Michigan. However, unlike other car manufacturers, the American brand created something different. While the overall shape of the vehicle retained some of the legendary shapes of the 1966 Charger, it also sported some new features that belonged to the EV revolution. Furthermore, the car manufacturer looked to be more concerned about the design and performance than the energy efficiency. In the four-door configuration, the 2025 Charger Daytona continued the seventh generation of this nameplate built between 2011 and 2023.

Up front, the car boasted a rectangular fascia adorned by narrow, mean LED headlights. A light stripe for the daytime running lights underlined it. Below, on the bumper, the automaker installed a broad lower grille and a set of vertical slats that flanked it. Furthermore, depending on the version, the car also featured a lip spoiler at the bottom of the apron. However, the most intriguing element of the 2025 Dodge Chargers front fascia was the spoiler placed above the grille, with a tall gap in front of it. Thus, the automaker created an aerodynamic element that added downforce without spoiling the cars look.

From its profile, the 2025 Charger Daytona sedan resembled its predecessor but lost the coke-bottle-styled rear fenders. Still, it featured an ascending waistline that slightly descended after the rear wheels toward the short deck behind. The large 20-inch light-alloy wheels allowed bystanders to see the large disc brakes fitted with red calipers. Dodge created a greenhouse with a sloped-down rear end to complete the vehicle's sporty look. Furthermore, it was a hatchback, not a sedan. And that was the second intriguing part of the 2025 Charger Daytona four-door. Five, actually.

Inside, the modern interior welcomed its guests with bolstered bucket seats at the front and a bench seat in the back. The dashboard boasted a high technological level, with a wide LCD fronting the driver that showed the vehicles speed, charging status, and other pieces of information. In addition, atop the center stack, the automaker installed a touchscreen for the Uconnect 5 infotainment system that allowed Apple CarPlay and Android Auto wireless connectivity.

The drivetrain consisted of two electric motors, one for the front and one for the rear axle. Dodge made the Charger Daytona EV based on the Stellantis large vehicle architecture platform and featured an impressively sized battery pack in the cars floor. Initially, Dodge offered the Charger Daytona exclusively as an EV with an option for two power outputs.
What could easily be described as the strangest, most unlikely crash of all time is now the basis for a $9.5 lawsuit against the U.S. Government, with the victim determined to see the Military held responsible for it.

Photo: Daniel Milchev

On the evening of March 12, 2019, Massachusetts real estate attorney and passionate snowmobile rider Jeff Smith hopped onto his snowmobile to get back home after a visit to his mother in Worthington. He used a well-known snowmobile trail as he always did, zapping through a section of the trail that doubled as a private airfield at highway speed.At the same highway speed (65 mph/105 kph), Smith crashed into a Black Hawk helicopter . The military aircraft had landed in the airfield some hours prior from Fort Drum in New York and had been left unattended and unmarked while the crew had gone down to the parking lot to grab something to eat. It was already growing dark by the time Smith made his way to that part of the trail, so while he did see something was there, he still couldn't avoid the impact.Smith crashed his snowmobile into the tail of the Black Hawk and was thrown with his machine into the air and then off it. He suffered broken ribs, a punctured lung, and internal bleeding and spent the next month in hospital. To this day, he can't move his right arm and has breathing issues that make him reliant on an oxygen machine.His attorney has filed a $9.5 million lawsuit against the U.S. Government, arguing that the Military is guilty of negligence for leaving the aircraft unattended and unmarked, especially since the crew knew they'd landed on a trail that was frequently used by snowmobilers. According to the 11-page complaint seen by one media outlet , the lawsuit also argues the Military was responsible for alerting riders of the aircraft's presence, which it failed to do.Smith is seeking damages that will help him cover his mounting hospital bills and the loss of revenue in the years since the accident. He may also require further surgery, which he can't afford.The Military , on the other hand, has repeatedly tried to have the case dismissed. An internal investigation revealed that the crew had complied with all rules and regulations and determined that they were not obligated by law to mark the parked aircraft. Even if they had used chem lights to make it visible, it would have probably made little difference.Attorneys for the defendants also argued that the crew didn't know they'd land on a snowmobile trail and noted that Smith had blood alcohol levels just under the legal limit, having drunk two beers before the ride. He'd also taken prescription pills, which Smith said were painkillers for older knee injuries, presumably had a reputation for drinking and driving, and a penchant for speeding.A federal judge in Springfield is expected to rule in the following months. Before this lawsuit, Smith filed an action against the owners of the airfield for allowing both snowmobiles and the Black Hawk on the airfield and settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
Traditionally, German engineering was considered a high standard of craftsmanship, especially for everything mechanical, like, say, cars. Up to a point in history, that alleged story was backed by a certain degree of correspondence in reality. Unfortunately, there are moments when the glorious aura of mythical wrenching skills is little more than a vape in a hurricane.

The meteorological reference in the opening is not pulled out of a hat with random words: in Spanish, hurricane is Huracan, and in Italian, thats a Lamborghini. Which is German bones underneath the stylish Sant Agata Bolognese garment, and  on paper  it shouldnt differ radically from an Audi R8.Yeap, time for a drag race filled with screen-punching frustration and disappointment of quarter-mile proportions. An Audi R8 versus a Lamborghini Huracan; Germany against Italy; iceberg-like composure challenging raging exuberance; V10 taking on itself, basically. The two cars share the powerplant  5.2-liter naturally-aspirated high-octave revving elemental forces of breakneck speeds.For some unknown reason, Audi  which, ironically, owns Lamborghini  decided to shave off a few horses from the top end of the power band of their signature supercar. The German interpretation of the V10 symphony tones down after 620 Pferdestarke  German horsepower  and 580 Nm (612 hp/428 lb-ft). On the other hand, the Italians prefer the high-pitched notes, so their proposal for this duet duel tops out at 640 PS and 600 Nm (631 hp, 443 lb-ft).Drivetrains dont differ substantially  both racers have the same seven-speed automatic dual-clutch gearbox, putting the power down via all four wheels. So, mechanically, the fight is as even as it gets. However, the Audi doesnt have a solid roof, going for the topless outfit instead, occasionally covering the cabin with a cloth spread over a foldable rake.That is where the going gets tougher for the R8: ironically, less car mean more weight, but engineeringly speaking , it is perfectly logical. Since the strength of a proper metal structure is lacking, enforcements have to be added elsewhere to ensure torsional rigidity. Weight and speed arent the best of friends when cars are concerned, so the 1.7-ton body mass index of the Audi drags it down in the odds.The Lamborghini is most probably 1.5 tons  the YouTubers from carwow (responsible for this showdown) dont carry scales for weighing automobiles, and the official Lamborghini numbers quote 1.4 tons of dry weight. Add fuel, oil, coolant, refrigerant, and other liquids, and were reaching the 1.5-ton mark.With a superior bhp/ton (426.67), the Lamborghini Huracan shouldnt have any trouble thrashing the Audi R8 (365.78) all the way down the quarter-mile joust. Unfortunately, this is where frustration kicks in, kicking the Launch Control out of the Audi  six times in a row.Play the video below and watch Mat Watsons irritation growing with every attempt to counter the Lamborghinis mad-spot-on launches. To add humiliation to the misery, the R8 works like an atomic clock  when the driver puts the car through its paces in a rehearsal solo warmup launch.The drag races end with the same result: the Italian crosses the line alone, six out of six. Even if the Audi were to work correctly, it would have still looked at the same Huracan taillights. The best time scored by the ailing Audi (during the test run) stopped the clock at 11.1 seconds, three-tenths later behind the hasty Lambo.The rolling start races are a faint consolation for the disgruntled R8 , which manages one win (but loses the other race), and the brake test (which the heavy R8 wins) is about as relevant as having a haircut before a dentist appointment. Sometimes, Murphys laws simply dont care about logic.
Coastal interior design and tiny homes go hand in hand  combined, they become a perfect expression of what tiny living is ultimately about, which is total freedom and harmony with nature. The beautifully-named Foggy Morning is more than just another cleverly designed home on wheels with a beachy vibe. It's the only one of its kind, custom-built for its owner by a skilled builder with the soul and talent of an artist.

Photo: Elite Tiny Homes

Photo: Elite Tiny Homes

Photo: Elite Tiny Homes

Photo: Elite Tiny Homes

As you feast your eyes on this stunning tiny house , forget about technical specs. Foggy Morning wasn't born out of a pre-established design with a few tweaks here and there. Like all the tinies built under the Elite Tiny Homes brand, it's fully custom and totally unique.This Louisiana-based tiny house company is one of the few in the industry that ditched pre-designed plans altogether in favor of total freedom and flexibility for the customers. Future owners don't get to just pick some of the details of an existing design; they enjoy the freedom to imagine their dream home exactly as they wish and then have it brought to life.And that's not all. Each Elite Tiny Homes dwelling benefits from the founder Wade Heyl's impressive artistic talent. A woodwork expert, Wade is a real magician when it comes to original pieces of furniture, particularly those made of reclaimed cypress and sinker cypress.Using reclaimed wood and deep-pour epoxy, this man creates furniture items that are more like works of art. He is not only an experienced builder (his first tiny house was built almost a decade ago) but a remarkable craftsman and artist. It's, therefore, easy to see how each tiny home that comes out of his hands is a work of art in itself.The beautiful Foggy Morning tiny reveals one of the best takes on the classic and beloved coastal-style decor. It mixes classic features like the white shiplap walls and ocean-inspired color palette with unique accents such as furniture items with a distressed, vintage look. The result is an interior with lots of personality and timeless elegance that could rival fancier homes that don't come on wheels. Apart from all that, the Foggy Morning also boasts a smart layout with a regular loft and a reverse loft.This home's exterior wouldn't suggest a beachy vibe. It looks somewhat common and industrial, with splashes of vibrant red as the only eye-catching highlights. As soon you step inside, though, you'll become immersed in the relaxed, carefree ambiance of a beach home. The classic color scheme combines neutral tones and natural wood with abundant teal blue that instantly gives off a fresh, maritime vibe. This beautiful shade of blue was used mostly for the custom furniture throughout, including the kitchen and bathroom cabinetry.Impeccable design and execution meet versatility; on one side of the kitchen, for instance, you'll see a wooden foldable table in the form of a countertop extension. It's an easy, elegant dining solution that maximizes space. The same goes for the few steps that lead to the elevated lounge/bedroom. They double as a smart storage solution with lots of open drawers. Speaking of storage, the space underneath the reverse loft (which isn't as high as a standard loft) is basically a huge storage area with a couple of added drawers, which keeps larger items neatly stored in order to prevent clutter.The kitchen itself looks particularly spacious, with countertops and cabinets on both sides. There was even enough room for a full-size pantry (sporting the same lovely teal-blue color) and multiple overhead cupboards. Versatile storage also includes the tiny wooden shelves that are also part of the overall decor.A huge sink brings to mind traditional farmhouses, and the appliances that were perfectly integrated into the furniture include a full-size fridge, an oven, and a microwave. Storage also seems to be a priority in the bathroom. This is one of the most beautifully styled tiny bathrooms with a beachy vibe. There's plenty of room not only for a luxurious shower cabin but several cabinets as well, including a full-size closet. The most striking feature is undoubtedly the gorgeous custom-made vanity. The antique finish contrasts the sophisticated elegance of the premium, modern appliances with a powerful visual effect.The Foggy Morning's chandelier fan is another memorable feature that brings an unexpected glamorous touch to this bohemian, beachy ambiance. Instead of one or two big picture windows, this tiny uses smaller ones in a bigger number in order to ensure enough luminosity throughout. The color scheme and the textures that were used are enough to create a sense of brightness.Reverse lofts are typically configured as elevated lounges, while standard lofts are used as bedrooms. Still, flexibility is key. Those who prefer easier access could turn this elevated space into a bedroom; plus, it comes with the benefit of a solid protection wall for extra privacy. The other loft is harder to access and completely open. Both rooms, however, feature windows on both sides.The stylish and unique Foggy Morning gives us just a glimpse into what customization and artistic woodwork can do. Downsizing doesn't have to mean sacrificing a home's style and personality. As for pricing, all Elite Tiny Homes builds start at $50,000, with a generous range of options and custom-made furniture available.
Billionaire Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, announced on Wednesday that he has no intentions of contributing funds to either the Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, or the Democratic President, Joe Biden, in this year's election.

His decision comes a day after he met with Trump in Florida.

"Just to be super clear, I am not donating money to either candidate for US President," published Elon Musk in a post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

In 2022, Elon Musk called on Americans to vote for a Republican Congress in the US midterm elections, countering Democrats led by President Biden.

He has previously stated that he believes President Biden is encouraging migrants to come to the United States under the pretense they can vote. It's essential to note that people without United States citizenship are not eligible to vote in federal elections.
The automotive world as we know it is about to change. Jaguar is planning to completely ditch the internal combustion engine way sooner than everyone else is doing it. The Jaguar revolution is going to happen before the end of the year. The days of the electric I-Pace are also numbered.

Jaguar has been trailing behind, being unable to keep up with the premium carmaker it has been trying to battle. Last year, the British automaker sold just under 43,000 cars worldwide, while Mercedes-Benz and BMW exceeded the two million cars mark. Little over 8,000 cars made it to the US last year.To offset the handicap, the brand is setting up a brand-new strategy. Jaguar is inching closer to the moment when it will debut a brand-new lineup, which will only comprise electric models.But the first stage of the electrification strategy is retiring all current models, be they petrol- or diesel-powered. The British considered offering electric versions for the vehicles that it currently sells, with the XJ sedan in pole position. But the development would have taken up too much time and money. An electric XJ would have slotted in the same segment with BMW's i7 and Mercedes' EQS.But Jaguar aborted the plan and decided to gradually eliminate all models, and the electric I-Pace makes no exception. The crossover is not going to escape the lineup revolution either, as Jaguar is planning to phase out the aging model, which has been on the market since 2018. The move will make room for a completely different approach.Most of the Jaguar models will go out of production in June, said Joe Eberhardt, JLR North America's President and CEO, in a conversation with Road & Track. They will, though, remain in the market until the next-gen Jaguars hit the showrooms. The executives are trying to synch the volume of the current lineup with the production of the upcoming models to make sure that the transition will be smooth.Five models with the Jaguar badge are currently selling in the United States. The XF sedan, the E-pace crossover, the F-Type coupe and roadster, and the I-Pace electric crossover make up the lineup.Underpinned by the Jaguar Electric Architecture (JEA), specifically designed for the new lineup, the first vehicle of the new era will be unveiled toward the end of the year, will enter production soon after, and the first customers will get their new car in the first quarter of 2025.It will be a four-seat grand tourer that should fight the Porsche Taycan and the Audi e-tron GT. As reported by Road & Track, it is set to come as Jaguar's most street-legal car ever, so we should expect over 575 horsepower in the range-topping version.Two more electric vehicles will arrive in late 2025 and 2026.
AMG

Seriously, even the description for their latest video feature claims that we need to "gear up for multi-brand mayhem" at the track's Test & Tune event . They started the proceeds a couple of days ago with a big 13-minute compilation of the action, but luckily, now they're refining everything down to model level and focusing on some of the stand-out apparitions.Initially, that meant a 'baby blue' BMW M5 Competition took the stage to show us how it rocks the world of an Audi R8, then made short work of a fellow Bimmer (X3) before giving a Ford Explorer a taste of the German power hidden under the hood. Anyway, if you want something 'local,' no worries. Now, the quarter mile's red carpet has switched the spotlight to a Chevy Corvette Z06.Unfortunately for some fans, this isn't the mid-engine C8 with its record-breaking 670-horsepower FPC (flat plane crankshaft) V8 but a raw and fine-sounding C7 variation. We feel that its LT4 supercharged gasoline V8 has some aids to bring the count higher than 650 horsepower, judging by some of its performances. But let us not get ahead of ourselves and discuss them one by one.First and foremost, the white knight in shiny C7 Chevy Corvette Z06 V8 armor met with a nasty Mercedes-Benz C-Class (probably a C 63). It was an older example from the W204 third generation (2007-2014), but it showed promise based on the vast amount of smoke produced during the initial burnout. Well, as it turns out, that was the best part of the executive sedan, as the driver had a poor reaction time, and the mighty Z06 stomped it with a flat 11-second victory (versus 12.63s).Funny enough, the C-Class driver still called for a rematch, and they traditionally switched lanes to see if there was a different result. Indeed, the reaction time was much better, but it wasn't enough when the Z06's driver was flawless (0.11s) and nailed another massive 10.65 versus 12.52s victory. Some would say it's a fatality, but this isn't Mortal Kombat and folks attending these kinds of quarter-mile dragstrip events should always expect the unexpected.As such, the third skirmish, which involved the 'Corvette with four doors'  aka Cadillac's third-generation CTS-V (packing the same supercharged LT4 but with 640 hp) should have brought the third victory of the day for the Z06. Alas, the win can be elusive at times, and this time around, the Corvette dropped to a disappointing 12.69s pass, allowing the bigger Caddy to take the laurels with a 12.16s elapsed time. Last but not least, there was also a BMW M4 and C6 Corvette on the premises, and both were looking to take a bite out of the Z06!
Glamping is the response to an increasing need to redefine luxury as a deeper connection with the outdoors instead of simply enjoying comfort and lavish amenities in a sterile environment. People want to escape the urban jungle and explore some of Earth's most remote, isolated, and wild places. Glamping merges both worlds into a unique, deeply satisfying experience where flawless luxury meets total freedom.

Photo: Red Rock Hut

Photo: Red Rock Hut

Photo: Red Rock Hut

The west coast of King Island is a true paradise on earth, with breathtaking views of the Southern Ocean and unmatched wildlife. It was one of the best possible spots to create a glamping sanctuary in the form of a tiny house. That is how the Red Rock Hut was born, a custom project built by the acclaimed Alphaline Group, the Australian tiny house builder with an outstanding range of gorgeous models.

A tiny house in the middle of a vast, heavenly landscape is a spectacular sight. It's easy to expect the full-blown experience of a total escape from the urban jungle and deep reconnection with Mother Earth. Yet, there's more than that. At the same time, this is a modern-day heaven built for contemporary tourists, which means that it boasts the amenities and perks you'd expect from a luxury resort. This is, after all, the essence of glamping: an outdoor adventure that's not rough and rugged.On one hand, the Red Rock Hut exudes the sophisticated, glamorous ambiance of an exotic resort. Behind the rustic exterior appearance and size limitations, this abode is packed with premium appliances, luxury goods (from high-quality linens to fancy toiletries), and carefully chosen decor items. Its interior design reflects the Alphaline DNA, which could be described as a maximized openness towards the outside world. In fact, the line between the inside and the outside is almost dissolved.This is particularly obvious in the Hut's gorgeous lounge. A huge picture window takes up almost the entire end wall of the house, seamlessly bringing the outdoors in, while the glass entry doors slide away smoothly, opening up the lounge even more. The lounge space connects directly to the exterior deck, resulting in a much bigger relaxation area with no boundaries between the inside and the outside.As for relaxation, if the elegant sofa inside isn't enough, the Hut reveals a clever built-in hammock on the deck. This two-person hammock is an even better way to experience an immersive connection with the natural surroundings  taking in the stunning views while listening to the waves crashing nearby.The same smooth indoor/outdoor connection defines the dining experience inside this custom tiny house. The Hut's huge deck houses a full dining setup for memorable al-fresco experiences, including a BBQ and a big dining table. Inside, the Red Rock features an adorable dining corner in the form of a breakfast bar near its compact kitchen. The breakfast bar with matching bar stools is one of the signature features of the Aussie-designed tiny homes, and youll see it in several of the Alphaline models.At the same time, the tiny kitchen is fully equipped with everything from a full-size oven, a fridge, and a two-burner cooktop to a coffee maker and a toaster. Storage, on the other hand, is limited to a couple of cabinets under the countertop and a few tiny shelves in order to free up the space for a big window.The bedroom is fully enclosed and private. It's not very big, but this only enhances the sense of privacy and coziness. Still, it's filled with natural light and fresh air thanks to the windows. This is the Red Rock's only bedroom, which makes it an ideal option for romantic couple getaways. Plus, the single-level layout makes it particularly comfortable and easily accessible for people of all ages and anyone who doesn't want the hassle of lofts and ladders.As we've seen, the Red Rock offers tremendous versatility, given its inherent size limitations and the same goes for its spa-like amenities. The house itself includes a compact but stylish bathroom complete with a shower cabin, but it even extends this spa experience to the outdoors as well. Just a few feet away, guests will discover an unusual jacuzzi and sauna  they're made of cedar wood and boast a delightful rustic look. What could be better than relaxing in a wood-fired hot tub while gazing at the stars or taking in the panoramic views from inside the barrel-shaped sauna?Building a tiny home like the Red Rock Hut also means taking into account the challenges of a natural environment, particularly the moody Tasmanian weather. In addition to a sturdy and durable structure, this tiny enables guests to personalize the temperature inside to their liking through a combination of a modern A/C system and a rustic-style fireplace in the lounge. To top things off, Starlink technology keeps them connected at all times while still enjoying the isolation and tranquility of this remote paradise to the fullest.The Red Rock Hut successfully blends apparently contrasting features and experiences for an unforgettable glamping experience, and a lot of that is possible thanks to the unmatched versatility of tiny homes.
Gevorg Papoyan said that a diversification of the Armenian economy will be one of his top priorities. But he did not clarify just how and when he thinks the Armenian government could achieve it.

The diversification of the economy is a process as a result of which Armenia will be proportionally dependent on the world and countries of the world will, for their part, be dependent on Armenia, Papoyan told reporters after attending his first cabinet meeting in the new capacity.

He described Egypt as one of the potential new markets for Armenian goods. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian attended an Armenian-Egyptian business forum during an official visit to Cairo earlier this week.

The current volume of Armenias trade with Egypt is negligible and is not even specified in macroeconomic data regularly released by the Armenian Statistical Committee.

By comparison, Russia accounted for over 35 percent of Armenias $20.7 billion foreign trade and more than 40 percent of its $8.4 billion exports last year. It has long been the main export market for Armenian food products.

The sharp deterioration of Russian-Armenian relations and Armenias ongoing reorientation towards the West are raising growing questions about local manufacturers continued access to the vast Russian market. Some Armenian cargo firms shipping goods to and from Russia say Russian customs officials have warned them that they will soon stop processing their trucks.

Gevorg Ghukasian, the chief executive of one such company, was skeptical about Armenias ability to significantly diversify its foreign trade in the near future.

We must put aside our rosy glasses: our market is Russia, Ghukasian told RFE/RLs Armenian Service.

Papoyan said he has received no information about the impending closure of Russias sole border crossing with Georgia for Armenian cargos. He said he sees no objective reasons why the Russians would block imports from Armenia.

They already did so last November, citing food safety concerns. The move was widely construed as a warning to Yerevan.

The chief of Pashinians staff, Arayik Harutiunian, declared at the time that Diaspora Armenians can offset a Russian trade embargo by buying more food and beverages manufactured in Armenia.

No closure of the Lars checkpoint [at the Russian-Georgian border] will affect us if Armenian business finds new markets on the holiday and non-holiday tables of our compatriots living abroad, Harutiunian said in a statement ridiculed by Pashinians critics.
The seventh joint session of Armenian and Azerbaijani government commissions on border demarcation and delimitation was again co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Shahin Mustafayev.

An Armenian government statement on the talks held at a section of the border indicated that the commissions focused on procedural issues and, in particular, written rules for their joint work.

The parties agreed to finalize the draft rules on the joint activity of the commissions in a short period of time, it said.

The statement said nothing about substantive issues, notably the mechanism for border delimitation.

Armenia insists on using late Soviet-era military maps as a basis in that process. Azerbaijan rejects the idea backed by the European Union. Senior Armenian officials have suggested that Baku is reluctant to recognize Armenias current borders and wants to leave the door open for future territorial claims.

Azerbaijani leaders regularly accuse Armenia of occupying eight Azerbaijani villages. They refer to border areas, most of them enclaves inside Armenia, which were controlled by Azerbaijan in Soviet times and occupied by the Armenian army in the early 1990s.

For its part, the Azerbaijani side seized at the time a bigger Armenian enclave as well as large swathes of agricultural land belonging to this and other border communities of Armenia. It occupied more Armenian territory during border clashes in 2021 and 2022.

The Armenian government says that a total of 200 square kilometers of Armenias internationally recognized territory adjacent to 31 communities is now controlled by Azerbaijan. It says that it is ready, in principle, to consider swapping the formerly Azerbaijani enclaves for those lands or seek other compromise solutions.

Grigorians office confirmed on Wednesday that Baku continues to deny occupying any Armenian territory and insists on unilateral territorial concessions by Yerevan.
7 March 2024 19:00 (UTC+04:00)

Fatime Letifova Read more

French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal to send NATO troops into the Ukrainian war last week shows how reckless and incompetent he is in politics.

With such decisions, Macron is ruining the name of his country, and putting himself in a ridiculous situation in the political arena. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, lots of French political elites, including Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of Insoumise La France, Olivier Faure, First Secretary of the Socialist Party, Florian Filippo, leader of the Patriots party, strongly condemned him and declared how stupid his proposals and steps were, in their views.

It seems that Macron himself understood that his speech was much ado about nothing, so he accepted that he did not voice this opinion seriously. In doing so, he demonstrated his "seriousness" and "logic" towards politics.

However, Emmanuel Macron still does not understand that sending the NATO army to Ukraine will make other members, including France, an open target for Russia. Although the ruling classes think that Russia does not have the power it used to have, it is undeniable that Putin's government can easily eliminate these countries one by one.

On the other hand, it is clear that no other NATO member country will start a war with Russia precisely because of Ukraine, and will not take this risk. Although France, which proposed the idea, has one of the most powerful armies in the world, it cannot stand in front of a country like Russia either in terms of army or finances.

For a simple example, Russia's war budget is 109 billion dollars, while in France it is 49 billion dollars. While Russia has more than 4,200 warplanes, France has less than 1,000, etc. In general, we see that France cannot fight against Russia.

It is no coincidence that Sergei Chekov, a senator of the Russian Federation Council, responded French President by saying that Macron is increasing the risk of the conflict moving to French territory, and he threatened the West. The Russian official also said that he hoped that European nations would stop these "crazy" politicians.

With this move, it is beginning to look unbelievable that Macron will continue until the next elections. The fact that Macron has not resolved the problems within his country, and on the other hand has become the target of criticism of Germany and Eastern Europe on a general European scale, is a serious blow to his career until 2026.

The Elysee had briefed journalists that at the press conference Macron would outline his goals for the next three years of his second mandate that has been punctuated by protests over fiercely contested pension and immigration legislation and the loss of his governments parliamentary majority. However, critics described Macrons promised reset as outdated, reactionary and self-satisfied.

Marine Tondelier, the national secretary of Frances Green party, EELV, said it was the speech of a reactionary technocrat that was scary  and old fashioned.

Macron sidestepped all the issues that interest the French: rising electricity prices, the ecological crisis, housing, job insecurity, Tondelier said.

Clementine Autain, of the hard-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), said Macron was a president in crisis, out of breath but as self-satisfied as ever.

Anne-Cecile Mailfert, head of the Womens Foundation, criticised Macrons plans for demographic rearmament to revive Frances sluggish birth rate, saying on X, formerly Twitter: Leave our uteruses alone.

The CIDFF, an association that helps women and families, expressed deep concern. The implementation of natalist policies, profoundly contrary to the autonomy of women, constitutes a worrying political and social regression, it said.

Marine Le Pen, of the far-right Rassemblement National, dismissed the conference as just another interminable chit chat.

Eric Ciotti, the leader of Les Republicains from whose party Macron has lured a number of ministers, tweeted: Emmanuel Macron announced a great meeting with the nation. It was nothing. Once again, he is promising wonders.

Ciotti claimed he came up with the France remaining France slogan in 2021. He has also warned Dati, the former justice minister under conservative president Nicolas Sarkozy, that she will be expelled from the party for accepting the post in Macrons government.

Polls suggest Renaissance, which has allied with the centrist MoDem party and and the former prime minister Edouard Philippes centre-right Horizons party for the European election, is trailing up to 10 percentage points behind Rassemblement National for the vote.

Away from domestic issues, Macron said he would travel to Ukraine in February to finalise a bilateral security guarantee deal and Paris would deliver more sophisticated weaponry in the coming weeks. He warned that Russia could not be allowed to defeat Ukraine as it would put the security of Europe at risk.

Nevertheless, it is a fiasco for the West that France, which has fallen into a disgraceful position in front of the whole world, drags the whole of Europe down its path. What a shame that a country that makes such mistakes in politics wants to have a say in the Garabagh issue, and for this, it sends arms and ammunition to Armenia and advises Pashinyan's government on political issues.

The countries that declare themselves as enemies of Azerbaijan are too weak to be considered real enemies. Especially on the eve of President Ilham Aliyev's inauguration speech last month, the provocations committed on the border with Azerbaijan at a time when the peace process is ongoing and the war is over, and the illogical steps taken by Armenia are proof that it has the same mindset as its loyal friend France.

However, it seems that the Armenian government is also worried that the ties it has created with France will not be permanent.

Immediately after the Munich conference, Pashinyan began to seek patrons in Greece and Canada and demanded more support from the countries of the world.

Considering that Pashinyan is now disrespected in the region, like Macron, it is expected that these two countries can prepare new plans to redeem themselves and resort to provocations and baseless speeches to divert attention.

In any case, Azerbaijan will defend its rights both on the battlefield and in the political arena, and will not give an opportunity to states like Armenia and France to think otherwise.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
7 March 2024 12:53 (UTC+04:00)

Ulviyya Shahin Read more

W. Hass Future GmbH & Co, a German firm, has expressed its readiness to invest more than 300 million euros in the establishment of solar power stations in Kyrgyzstan, Azernews reports.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kyrgyzstan revealed that this commitment was articulated during a meeting between Temir Sariyev, the Head of the Chamber of Commerce, and Waldemar Hass, the Managing Director of the German company.

In the course of the meeting, the involved parties delved into the possibilities for collaboration in the utilisation of wind energy, in addition to the primary focus on solar power infrastructure. Furthermore, the German representatives put forth a proposition to provide training for specialists from Kyrgyzstan in innovative approaches and technologies, potentially leading to subsequent employment opportunities in planned joint ventures.

Established in 2017, W. Hass Future GmbH & Co specializes in the installation of photovoltaic systems throughout Europe. The company boasts a diverse workforce, drawing talents from various countries globally. Notably, more than 40 individuals from Kyrgyzstan are currently undergoing training in cutting-edge technologies within the company, showcasing a commitment to international collaboration and skill development.

While the focus of this investment is on Kyrgyzstan, the implications and potential benefits extend beyond its borders. Azerbaijan, a neighbouring country with a growing interest in renewable energy, could potentially find inspiration and collaboration opportunities with W. Hass Future. The expertise and technologies shared through this venture could serve as a model for sustainable energy development in the broader region.

Azerbaijan, rich in both wind and solar resources, finds it relatively easy to undertake such investments. For Azerbaijan, which is abundant in both wind and sun, investing in such capital is not a challenging issue. If German and other foreign companies invest capital in Azerbaijan for solar power stations and wind energy utilisation, what could be the benefits for both parties?

Azerbaijan, a nation blessed with abundant wind and solar resources, stands at the forefront of renewable energy opportunities. The country's commitment to harnessing its natural wealth has opened doors for collaboration with foreign investors, particularly from Germany and other nations, aiming to tap into Azerbaijan's renewable energy potential. This symbiotic relationship promises a multitude of benefits for both Azerbaijan and its international partners.

Benefits for Azerbaijan

Economic Growth: Foreign investment in solar power stations and wind energy projects can contribute significantly to Azerbaijan's economic growth. The establishment of renewable energy infrastructure will create jobs, stimulate local industries, and foster economic development.

Diversification of Energy Sources: Collaborating with German and other foreign companies can allow Azerbaijan to diversify its energy mix. By reducing dependence on traditional fossil fuels, the nation will enhance energy security and resilience to global market fluctuations.

Technological Transfer and Innovation: International partnerships can bring advanced technologies and expertise to Azerbaijan. Collaborating with experienced foreign companies will facilitate the transfer of knowledge, encouraging innovation in the renewable energy sector.

Environmental Sustainability: Investment in wind and solar energy aligns with Azerbaijan's commitment to environmental sustainability. Shifting towards cleaner energy sources can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate the impact of climate change, and preserve the country's natural beauty.

Benefits for Foreign Investors

Access to Abundant Resources: Azerbaijan's rich wind and solar resources provide foreign investors with a lucrative opportunity to harness clean energy. The availability of these resources ensures a stable and consistent energy supply, making investments more attractive.

Market Expansion: Partnering with Azerbaijan opens doors for foreign companies to expand their market presence. The growing demand for renewable energy creates a favourable environment for investors to establish a foothold in the Azerbaijani market and the broader region.

Government Support and Incentives: Azerbaijan's government offers various incentives and support mechanisms to attract foreign investment in renewable energy. This includes favourable regulatory frameworks, tax breaks, and other financial incentives, enhancing the overall attractiveness of the investment.

Collaborative Research Opportunities: Partnerships between Azerbaijani and foreign companies pave the way for collaborative research and development initiatives. This exchange of knowledge and expertise fosters innovation, benefiting both parties and contributing to advancements in the renewable energy sector.

The collaboration between Azerbaijan and foreign investors, especially from Germany, in the development of solar power stations and wind energy projects is a mutually beneficial venture. Azerbaijan gains access to capital, technology, and expertise, propelling its renewable energy sector forward. Simultaneously, foreign investors find a promising market with abundant natural resources, government support, and opportunities for growth. This partnership not only strengthens economic ties but also advances the global transition towards sustainable and clean energy solutions. As Azerbaijan continues to harness its wind and solar potential, the nation stands poised to become a beacon of renewable energy success, fostering collaboration and innovation on a global scale.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
7 March 2024 11:22 (UTC+04:00)

Fatime Letifova Read more

Azerbaijan's Ecology and Natural Resources Minister and President of COP29, Mukhtar Babayev, has met with President of the World Climate Fund Jens Nilson, Azernews reports, citing the ministry.

During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the preparation process for the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which Azerbaijan will host this year, and discussed prospects for future cooperation.

Note that COP29 will be held in Azerbaijan in 2024. The decision was made at the plenary session of COP28 on December 11. Azerbaijan successfully participated in the COP28 held in Abu Dhabi last year.

Besides, Azerbaijan confirmed its commitment to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by 35 percent by 2030 and increase this target by 40 percent by 2050. Fulfilling the commitments under the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015 and actively working in this regard are priority issues for the government of Azerbaijan.

The Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has been held annually since 1995. The event aims to assess the progress made in combating climate change around the world.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
7 March 2024 16:40 (UTC+04:00)

Fatime Letifova Read more

Azerbaijan and Russia have discussed enhancing partnerships within transport and infrastructure projects.

Azernews reports that Azerbaijan's Economy Minister, Mikayil Jabbarov, has shared this on his official X account.

"During the meeting with Russia's Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, they discussed the agenda of joint activities in the economic field, including supporting bilateral trade and fostering stronger ties between businesspeople, enhancing partnerships within transport and infrastructure projects, and mapping out new fields of cooperation," says the minister.

During the meeting with Maxim Reshetnikov, Russias Minister of Economic Development, we discussed the agenda of our joint activities in the #economic field:



 Supporting bilateral #trade and fostering stronger ties between businesspeople;



 Enhancing partnerships within pic.twitter.com/VFpcDUTcoy  Mikayil Jabbarov (@MikayilJabbarov) March 7, 2024

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
7 March 2024 16:19 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

A new project, "Founders of our cinema. Continuers of our cinema" has been launched in the country.

The project is being implemented by the Culture Ministry, Azerbaijan Cinema Agency, Nizami Cinema Centre, the Azerbaijan State Film Fund, and the AzerbaijanFilm Studio, Azernews reports.

It aims to preserve the traditions of national cinematography and pass them on to future generations. Also, one of the main tasks is to popularize the heritage of filmmakers.

As part of the project, regular screenings of Azerbaijani films will be organised at the Nizami Cinema Centre this year.

Note that the first short, silent film of Azerbaijani cinematography, "You are caught" was shown in Baku on August 2, 1898.

Over the past years, Azerbaijani cinema has been successfully represented at international festivals.

Many initiatives and projects were carried out to promote Azerbaijani cinema worldwide.

In 2021, the Culture Ministry set up the Azerbaijan Filming Commission.

The State Filming Commission focuses on the promotion of Azerbaijan's film industry at the international level.

Azerbaijan can turn into a renewed film location for foreign filmmakers thanks to the country's historical and cultural monuments and beautiful landscapes. So, the filming in Azerbaijan may also contribute to the country's economy and tourism industry.

The film industry is one of the important areas of Azerbaijani-Turkish cultural cooperation.

Azerbaijan and Turkey will further enhance cooperation in the film industry.

The sides also exchange views on holding joint film festivals and cooperation between the public and private film organisations and cinematographers of the two countries.

In 2022, the Cinema Agency was established in the country in accordance with the presidential order.

The Cinema Agency focuses on creating all necessary conditions for cinematography.

----

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The Chief Diversity Officer at Johns Hopkins Medicine stepped down this week, two months after she came under fire from conservative media and politicians for a monthly email blast.

Dr. Sherita Golden stepped down from the position on Tuesday but will remain a professor of endocrinology and metabolism.

Golden was criticized by right-wing media outlets for sending an email to staff that stated that the Office of Diversity, Health Equity and Inclusion's Word of the Month was "privilege." The email further defined the word privilege as "a set of unearned benefits given to people who are in a specific social group."

Among the social groups listed in the email were men, heterosexuals and middle-class people.

"Privilege is characteristically invisible to people who have it. People in dominant groups often believe they have earned the privileges they enjoy or that everyone could have access to these privileges if only they worked to earn them," the email continued.

The letter was circulated online by "End Wokeness" - a social media account that frequently shares racist and anti-immigrant content. Elon Musk, Donald Trump Jr and Maryland Congressman Andy Harris subsequently criticized the email's contents.

Golden retracted her comments and apologized for the email saying that the "intent of the newsletter is to inform and support an inclusive community at Hopkins, but the language of this definition clearly did not meet that goal." A letter from Johns Hopkins Medicine CEO, Dr. Theodore DeWeese stated that Golden made the decision to step down, WMAR reported.

"She has been a valuable member of the Johns Hopkins Medicine leadership team, and, like many of you, we wanted her to stay in her role, but we respect her decision," DeWeese wrote, according to WMAR. "This work takes courage, and we are profoundly grateful to Dr. Golden for her grace under pressure, her poise in the face of adversity, and her dedication to the mission and work of ODIHE."

Johns Hopkins Medicine Chief Human Resources Officer Inez Stewart will take over the position, during the search for a permanent replacement.
7 March 2024 12:42 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan Armys engineer-sapper units conduct combat training classes in accordance with the plan approved by the Ministry of Defence for 2024, Azernews reports, citing the Defence Mnistry.

During the classes, the sappers, using modern engineering equipment available in the armament, successfully fulfilled tasks on detecting and neutralising an explosive device placed in a vehicle.

The main objective of the classes held with the engineering support units military personnel is to further increase the level of professionalism and combat readiness.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
7 March 2024 12:10 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

The Russian Minister of Economic Development, Maxim Reshetnikov, will visit Azerbaijan on a working trip on March 7, Azernews reports.

During the visit, Minister Reshetnikov is expected to hold a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Minister of Economy Mikail Jabbarov, and Chairman of the State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan Fuad Nagiyev.

Maxim Reshetnikov will also hold a meeting with Russian and Azerbaijani entrepreneurs and visit a Russian enterprise.

During the upcoming meetings, the parties will consider issues of developing trade and economic cooperation between the countries, as well as prospects for promoting joint projects.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
7 March 2024 11:40 (UTC+04:00)

Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Denmark has sent a congratulatory letter to President Ilham Aliyev, Azernews reports.

The letter reads:

"His Excellency Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Your Excellency,

On the occasion of your re-election as President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, I wish to convey to you my congratulations and my best wishes for yourself and the people of Azerbaijan.

I look forward to working with you and your Government in the years to come.

Please accept the assurances of my highest consideration as well as my best wishes for your term in office.

Yours sincerely,

Mette Frederiksen

Prime Minister of Denmark"

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
7 March 2024 14:38 (UTC+04:00)

Fatime Letifova Read more

Azerbaijan's Ecology and Natural Resources Minister has met with Francoise Joly, the Presidential Adviser for International Strategy of the Republic of Congo, Azernews reports.

The discussions focused on the preparations for the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which Azerbaijan is set to host this year.

They also exchanged views on opportunities for mutual cooperation.

Note that COP29 will be held in Azerbaijan in 2024. The decision was made at the plenary session of COP28 on December 11. Azerbaijan successfully participated in the COP28 held in Abu Dhabi last year.

Besides, Azerbaijan confirmed its commitment to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by 35 percent by 2030 and increase this target by 40 percent by 2050. Fulfilling the commitments under the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015 and actively working in this regard are priority issues for the government of Azerbaijan.

The Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has been held annually since 1995. The event aims to assess the progress made in combating climate change around the world.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
7 March 2024 15:00 (UTC+04:00)

Ulviyya Shahin Read more

The headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London hosted the celebration of Azerbaijan Day and Novruz Holiday, Azernews reports.

The event was attended by EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso, Regional Director for the Caucasus Alkis Drakinos, Director for Azerbaijan Yasemin Girici, members of the bank's board and management team, heads of relevant departments, and Azerbaijani citizens working at the bank.

In her opening speech, EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso spoke about the successful relations between the Bank and Azerbaijan, the implemented projects, and the contributions made to the development of the region. Expressing her satisfaction with participating in the event, Odile Renaud-Basso emphasised her positive outlook on future cooperation prospects and highlighted the importance of close collaboration with Azerbaijan for the successful organisation of COP-29.

Subsequently, Regional Director for the Caucasus Alkis Drakinos addressed the successful implementation of extensive transportation and infrastructure projects. Azerbaijan's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Elin Suleymanov, discussed the significance of collaboration with the Bank in Azerbaijan, emphasising the importance of joint projects. The ambassador underscored the importance of COP-29 for the entire region, highlighting the relevance of continuous development, transitioning to recovered energy, and addressing economic development issues, including the importance of the corridors passing through Azerbaijan's territory, including the Middle Corridor, for the world and the region.

The ambassador then spoke about the Novruz holiday, its history, and traditions, expressing confidence that Novruz, symbolising renewal, would mark the beginning of a new era in the region and the world.

Following the speeches, a concert featuring Azerbaijani and international classical music gems was performed by renowned violinist Jeyla Seyidova.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
7 March 2024 17:33 (UTC+04:00)

Ulviyya Shahin Read more

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has updated the Turkish side on the latest developments in the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Azernews reports, citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He made the statement during his meeting with Turkiyes Deputy Foreign Minister, Yasin Ekrem Serim on March 7.

The two ministers discussed the bilateral, regional, and multilateral cooperation agendas between their countries, as well as the current situation in the region. They expressed their satisfaction with the efforts to further enhance the strategic alliance relations between the two countries in various fields, such as politics, economy, trade, military, defence industry, energy security, investments, transport and communication, humanitarian, education, and culture.

Minister Jeyhun Bayramov praised the high-level organisation of the Antalya Diplomatic Forum and congratulated brotherly Turkiye for its diplomatic achievements and its ranking as the third country in the world in terms of the number of diplomatic representations.

He also highlighted that the establishment of the Azerbaijan-Turkiye University will foster educational cooperation between the two countries.

Bayramov noted that the partnership between the two countries in the framework of bilateral and international organisations on issues such as regional and international threats, migration, and others, is exemplary. He emphasised the importance of intensifying the joint activities within the Organisation of Turkic States, which is one of the main foreign policy priorities of Azerbaijan, and launching new multilateral initiatives.

At the meeting, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov briefed the Turkish side on the latest steps taken towards the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

He urged Armenia to renounce its claims against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, as a prerequisite for peace and stability in the region.

The meeting also covered other bilateral, regional, and international matters of common interest.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
7 March 2024 23:30 (UTC+04:00)

The Japanese Defense Ministry plans to hold a meeting in Tokyo on March 19 and 20 with the participation of the heads of military and police departments of 14 small island countries of the Pacific Ocean basin, Azernews reports, citing foreign media outlets.

Issues of ensuring the safety of sea lines and joint actions to overcome the consequences of natural disasters will be discussed.

Pacific countries with armed forces, such as Papua New Guinea and Fiji, will be represented at the meeting at the level of defense ministers. Small States that do not have armies will send heads of police or other security structures.

As the newspaper notes, Tokyo considers this meeting as part of its efforts to contain China, which is actively establishing relations with the island countries of the Pacific Ocean basin and implementing infrastructure projects there. The first meeting of this kind was held in the Japanese capital in September 2021. In July this year, it is planned to organize a Pacific Island Summit in Tokyo at the level of heads of state and Governments of the countries of the region.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
7 March 2024 20:45 (UTC+04:00)

The Texhibition Fair, organised by the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Association (ITHIB) at the Istanbul Expo Centre, started yesterday. The Turkish Commerce Minister Omer Bolat, Istanbul Governor Davut Gul, the President of Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) Mustafa Gultepe, ITHIB President Ahmet Oksuz, and many guests attended the opening of the fair. Minister Bolat made an opening speech and stated that textile and ready-made clothing were the first industrial sectors in Turkiye.

He noted that signals of a serious improvement were received in the textile and apparel industries in the first 2 months of the year and added that there was a 6 percent increase in textile and raw material exports in January and February.

Our exports reached 1 billion 587 million dollars, and hopefully we will exceed the level of 9 billion 456 million dollars in 2023. The decreasing trend in the garment industry has also approached its minimum. It was 4.5 percent. Hopefully, they will start to see growth as of spring, and with the increase in demand in Europe and America, we will improve the figures in apparel. As the Ministry of Commerce, we stand by exporters. We allocate 60 percent of our budget to you," he said.

Minister Bolat also drew attention to the narrowing in the foreign trade deficit. He pointed out that they managed to achieve a decline in imports, and the ratio of exports to imports increased to 75 percent. Bolat noted that they saved 13.5 billion dollars in the foreign trade deficit in two months. He noted that the foreign trade deficit, which was 122.5 billion dollars in May 2023, decreased to 93 billion dollars in February. Bolat stated that there was a decrease of 29 billion dollars in 9 months. Bolat added that Turkiye's need for foreign currency has decreased, and they have achieved this by closing the foreign trade deficit and current account deficit.

Bolat emphasised the importance of the textile and apparel industry's compliance with the "Green Deal", and noted that compliance with the green transformation is very important in order not to be at a disadvantage when exporting to the European Union. Explaining the support they provide in this regard, Bolat said that the consultancy service expenses received by companies within the scope of the Green Deal Compliance Project Support, which was recently implemented, can reach up to 10 million lira.

He explained that it would be supported by the ministry.

Talking about the advantages provided by corporate tax for exporters and the financing provided by Turk Eximbank, Minister Bolat said, "Eximbank's capital has been increased for the third time in 9 months. We will provide promotion and brand support to textile and ready-made clothing exporters with the changes we have made in support of the Turquality promotion project. In the earthquake zone, which is the centre of textile. We extended the Turquality support programs for our provinces for another year."

Minister of Commerce Bolat said that Turkiye continues to be a production and supply base in textile, ready-made clothing, and other related sectors. He stated that Covid-19 revealed the importance of the supply chain Bolat continued: The epidemic showed that Turkiye is a country that provides supply, logistics, and can sell very high-quality products in 2-3 days, and provided great support and motivation to our exports. The 1 trillion dollar threshold was exceeded for the first time in the history of the Republic, and the national income per capita in Turkiye, which reached a national income of 1 trillion 119 billion dollars, rose to 13 thousand 110 dollars."

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
7 March 2024 10:21 (UTC+04:00)

The Azerbaijani Embassy in Morocco held a presentation about Azerbaijan for Rabat city tourism agencies and tour operators, Azernews reports.

The embassy that the head of 16 tourism companies of Rabat, which mainly organizes tours to foreign countries, as well as Seyfullah Ilyas, general director of Turkish Airlines for Morocco, took part in the presentation.

At the event, Ambassador Nazim Samadov, who gave visual and detailed information about the tourism potential, culture and cultural heritage of our country, including videos, also said that familiarization tours to Azerbaijan will be organized for Moroccan tourism agencies in the coming months.

The diplomat emphasized that the number of tourists visiting Azerbaijan from Morocco in 2023 is 1740 people. He pointed out that the number of Moroccan tourists visiting our country during the first two months of the current year has increased by 2.5 times compared to the same period last year.

It should be noted that citizens of Morocco have the right to obtain a visa electronically to visit Azerbaijan through "ASAN Visa".

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
'Rust' armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by a New Mexico jury. They also found her not guilty of tampering with evidence after deliberating for approximately two and a half hours.

The 26-year-old is looking at a potential three-year sentence in state prison and will receive their sentence at a later date. A judge has ordered Gutierrez-Reed to be taken into custody and held until her sentencing.

'Rust' Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter

Gutierrez-Reed displayed minimal emotion as the jury foreperson announced the verdicts. She removed a necklace before being taken into custody by a deputy. With her mother seated behind her, she watched as the judge ordered her to be remanded into custody pending sentencing, causing her mother to react by putting her hands on her head and bending forward.

The extensive trial, lasting almost two weeks, focused on the 2021 shooting incident that took place on the "Rust" film set. During the tragic event, actor Alec Baldwin was holding a prop gun that discharged a live round, resulting in the death of the film's cinematographer, Haylna Hutchins. Director Joel Souza was also injured by the bullet.

During the prosecution's closing arguments on Wednesday, Kari T. Morrissey emphasized that Gutierrez-Reed exhibited negligence, carelessness, and thoughtlessness. Morrissey also mentioned that after the tragic shooting, the 27-year-old armorer was primarily concerned about her professional future rather than the victims.

However, Gutierrez-Reed's lawyer, Jason Bowles, argued that the prosecutors failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt Gutierrez-Reed's involvement in bringing live rounds to the set. Bowles also claimed that Baldwin bore ultimate responsibility for Hutchins's death, as per NBC News.

The prosecution also singled out Baldwin, labeling him as a "prima donna." "Alec Baldwin's conduct and his lack of gun safety in the church that day is something he's going to have to answer for ... Not with you not today, that's for another jury for another day."

The trial of the armorer started on Feb. 21 and included testimonies from weapons experts, FBI and Santa Fe County officials, and crew members who were present during the tragic shooting.

Read Also: Elijah Vue Update: Wisconsin Police Combing Security Cams For Missing 3-Year-Old Weeks After Mom Charged With Neglect

Prosecution Highlights Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's Shortcoming

The prosecution emphasized Gutierrez-Reed's actions as an armorer, alleging that she did not fulfill her duties properly. Gutierrez-Reed's legal team argued to the jury that the prosecution had not presented sufficient evidence to convict the armorer of involuntary manslaughter.

According to Fox News, Bowles stated that there were factors beyond Gutierrez-Reed's influence that took place on set, resulting in the tragic shooting.

Hutchins passed away after being shot by a gun that Baldwin was holding during the filming of a scene in a small church at Bonanza Creek Ranch in 2021. Testimony was provided by Joel Souza, who was shot in the shoulder during the intense moment. Hutchins and Souza were setting up the camera for the close-up shot when the gun the actor was holding went off, resulting in the death of the cinematographer.

Related Article: Accused 'Hotel California' Lyric Thieves Dodge Charges After Prosecutors Drop Case Mid-Trial
Stacked Against is a multi-part series from Carolina Public Press examining charge stacking in North Carolina and its role in plea bargaining and disparities in sentencing.

In Part I, Jacob Biba reports on the experience of Terence Smith, a Black man from Winston-Salem sentenced to more than 50 years in prison for his role in a failed drug deal. Initially charged with only two crimes, prosecutors tacked on five more charges after Smith turned down a 10-year plea deal.

Terence Smith went numb when he saw his former drug dealer in a hospital bed in the courtroom. It was the opening day of Smiths trial in Winston-Salem in March 2001. Smith, who was 18, was facing seven felony charges for his role in an armed robbery and shooting that left three people injured. Clarence Hart, a local drug dealer, would be paralyzed for life. If convicted on all counts, Smith knew he could be sent to prison for at least 50 years  a lifetime behind bars.

The police were searching for Smith, so he turned himself in after the incident, in February 2000. At first, prosecutors charged him with two crimes: armed robbery and attempted armed robbery. Based on the victims initial statements to investigators, Smith didnt fire the gun nor did he commit the robbery, according to court documents. But he did bring the shooter, Kevin Anderson, to the apartment that night. This meant that Smith, who prosecutors also believed was aware of Andersons alleged plan to rob Hart, could be criminally liable as an accomplice.

Smith remained jailed in the Forsyth County Detention Center until his trial.

Nearly eight months after his arrest, the state offered Smith a deal: If Smith pleaded guilty to the two charges and testified against Anderson, he would spend the next 10 years in prison. If he turned this deal down and went to trial, hed face five more charges, including attempted first-degree murder and multiple assault with a deadly weapon charges  the same charges Anderson faced. Jim ONeill, the Forsyth County assistant district attorney prosecuting Smith, also warned that he would seek an even longer prison term by pressing the judge to boxcar Smiths sentences  or run the sentences back-to-back  for more than 50 years if convicted.

The 10 years set out in the deal also felt like an eternity to Smith, who believed he had played only a small role in the crime and had no knowledge of Andersons plan to rob Hart. Though Smith had brought Anderson to Harts that night, he did so to merely buy a small amount of marijuana from Hart, Smith told Carolina Public Press in a phone interview from Pasquotank Correctional Institution in Elizabeth City. He didnt know Anderson had a gun until Anderson first aimed it at Hart. Smith also didnt take part in the shooting or robbery, he said, since he fled before the shooting occurred.

Smith, believing he was innocent, turned down ONeills offer, despite the threat of additional charges and decades more prison time.

Commonly known as charge stacking, charging defendants with more crimes if they turn down a plea deal  or promising to drop charges if the deal is accepted  is a standard practice employed during plea bargaining to increase prosecutors leverage. While proponents believe the plea bargaining process increases convictions and makes the courts more efficient, there is a more harmful side to this practice, especially when charge stacking is involved. Critics believe the intimidating nature of plea deals forces defendants to give up their constitutional right to a jury trial or face a longer prison term.

Theres no statute of limitations on criminal activity and there is nothing in the statutes that prevents a prosecutor from charging someone with conduct that they were not initially charged with, Ben Finholt, director of the Just Sentencing Project at Duke Law Schools Wilson Center for Science and Justice, told CPP. Because of that, prosecutors sometimes use the threat of additional charges as part of their coercive state power to drive people into plea deals.

Critics also say racial bias, or the disparate treatment of people based on their race, may be at the center of many of these plea deals.

Black defendants in drug cases, for instance, are less likely to receive favorable plea offers that avoid mandatory minimum sentences and, as a result, receive higher sentences for the same charges as white defendants, the American Bar Associations Plea Bargain Task Force wrote in a report published this year. The same is true for gun cases, in which Black defendants are more often subjected to charge stacking.

In 2019, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the NAACP, called for a ban on charge stacking, writing, The stacking of charges has become standard practice to build such a horrifying potential sentence, that even actually innocent people will be intimidated into pleading guilty. And if they do go to trial and are convicted, then they often face a trial penalty  the difference between what prosecutors offered in the plea deal and whats delivered at trial  meaning a longer prison term.

Everybody knows that if you go to trial, your sentence will be longer than if you plead guilty, Carissa Byrne Hessick, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law and author of Punishment Without Trial: Why Plea Bargaining Is a Bad Deal, told CPP. Thats the major premise behind plea bargaining  we give folks a discount if they plead guilty, and we give them a penalty if they insist on going to trial.

A failed drug deal

The day that changed Smiths life happened on Feb. 5, 2000. Just before midnight, Smith burst out the backdoor of Harts duplex apartment and started running as fast as he could. It was Saturday night, and by the time the first shots rang out, Smith was already out of earshot, he said, sprinting through the snow and ice leftover from a winter storm that passed through Winston-Salem more than a week earlier. When he finally arrived at his friend Reggie Roberts house 10 minutes later, Smith was panicking and completely out of breath.

Roberts, who was a few years older, knew Smith well enough to realize something awful must have happened. Smith was visibly shaken, Roberts told an attorney preparing a motion for appropriate relief for Smith that was filed in 2013 and denied in 2015. But when Smith finally calmed down and explained what happened, Roberts was both shocked and confused  he couldnt understand why Smith would even be hanging out with Anderson in the first place. To Roberts, who thought of Anderson as a troublemaker in school, Smith and Anderson couldnt have been more different.

According to Smith, he and another good friend, Kem Corpening, showed up at the Innkeeper, a small, nondescript motel where teenagers and 20-somethings in Winston-Salem often gathered to party. Corpening had been invited by Anderson earlier that day, Smith said, but when he and Corpening arrived, the scene wasnt much more than several people hanging out in a motel room drinking and playing cards. Anderson was also there in the motel room. After being at the Innkeeper for close to an hour, Smith and Corpening left with Anderson. According to Smith, Anderson wanted to buy some marijuana, so they hopped in the car and headed to Harts apartment a few miles away.

When they arrived at Harts apartment, Corpening went inside first. Smith and Anderson stayed in the car. According to Smith, Corpening came back outside and told Smith and Anderson to go in around back, while Corpening went to the store. When Smith and Anderson got to the backdoor, Hart was holding it open, and both Smith and Anderson walked in.

Smith knew Hart  he was at Harts apartment almost every day, buying small amounts of marijuana from Hart, according to court records. Smith and Hart were friendly with one another but not friends, according to Smith. Anderson, wanting to buy a quarter pound of marijuana, had never been to Harts home, nor had the two ever met.

After buying a small bag of marijuana from Hart, Smith went to the bathroom, he said. When he returned, he found Anderson and Hart arguing over the amount of marijuana Hart was selling him  Hart was actually shorting him, according to trial testimony  and then Anderson pulled a gun on Hart. Shocked and in fear, Smith yelled, What you doing, to Anderson, but Anderson then pointed the gun at Smith and told him to stay out of it. When Anderson turned the gun back toward Hart, Smith ran outside, he said.

After Smith ran, Hart ran, too, and Anderson shot him in the back, according to court records. Right after, Anderson fired more shots, and two of Harts friends who were watching television in the next room were also injured. Joshua McCaskill was shot in the leg, and a bullet grazed Tamika McMoores forehead. Anderson struck Hart in the head with his gun after he shot Hart, Hart testified at trial, and his money and jewelry were stolen. A bullet lodged in Harts spine paralyzed him from the torso down.

The Winston-Salem Journal published a story naming Anderson and Smith as suspects the following week. Both Smith and Anderson turned themselves in and were charged.

A common practice and a life sentence

More than 20 years later, Smith is still confused about the circumstances surrounding his plea deal. Without ever quite understanding how (nor why, to this day), I was simply charged with more offenses if I didnt agree to this plea is still befuddling, he wrote in a recent journal entry he shared with CPP. Had I partook in these accused events, why wasnt I charged with them from the very beginning also? If he actually shot and robbed Hart and the other victims, or was even part of Andersons plan to do so, why wasnt he charged right away with those crimes, Smith wondered.

Plea deals and the threat of stacked charges and enhanced sentences arent uncommon. In 2018, 90% of federal criminal cases in the United States were resolved because the defendant pleaded guilty, according to the Pew Research Center, a think tank based in Washington D.C. Data in North Carolina is limited, but an analysis of approximately 375,000 cases resolved between 1998 and 2010 showed that plea deals accounted for the closure of 96% of cases. The remaining cases were either dismissed or went to trial.

Charge stacking and plea bargaining make it very easy to convict someone  much easier than it used to be, Hessick said. So, we shouldnt be surprised, right? If we make it easy for people to do something, theyre likely to do it a lot more often.

Ease of conviction is just one reason for prosecutors reliance on plea deals. They also dont require nearly the same amount of time and expense a trial does, allowing prosecutors to clear cases faster and more efficiently without burdening the courts.

But critics believe one consequence of the criminal justice systems strong embrace of plea bargaining is that it undermines defendants constitutional right to a jury trial.

If the drafters of the Constitution learned, essentially, that people are being sent to prison for long periods of time without being able to plead their case in front of their community, they would be horrified by that idea, Finholt said.

But going to trial often means spending even more time in prison if convicted, especially when more charges are stacked against a defendant. While the trial penalty is difficult to quantify in years, one study published in 2017 found an 11-year sentence differential between plea deals and jury trials for murder cases. Other studies have found trial penalties to be three times more in fraud cases and eight times higher for embezzlement, burglary and breaking and entering.

In May, a coalition of 24 criminal justice organizations, scholars, activists and formerly incarcerated people launched an effort to end the trial penalty and what the group describes as a coercive plea bargaining process.

This Coalition  which spans the ideological, political, and professional spectrum  will breathe life into the criminal legal system by identifying and dismantling the laws, policies, and practices that have undermined the vision of the Framers, Martin Sabelli, the coalitions cofounder and former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said in a news release. Forty years of coercive plea bargaining is enough. It is time to restore the balance that protects liberty and freedom.

By turning down the plea deal, not only did Smith face a lengthier prison term because of the additional stacked charges, but he also had to contend with a prosecutor who begged the judge to run Smiths sentences consecutively.

Your honor, I would implore you to aggravate their sentences and run them back to back, boxcar, because what they did back on February the 5 of 2000 was give C.J. Hart a life sentence, and now they deserve exactly what they gave him, ONeill said to Judge Michael Helms in an effort to further extend Smiths and Andersons sentences. And it sends a message. If you do something like this, youre going to be caught, youre going to be tried, and youre going to be convicted. When they come in front of a judge like you, the punishment is going to be severe.

In 2022, ONeill, who is now the Forsyth County district attorney, told the Winston-Salem Journal that the best place for a violent criminal, who wants to hurt you and your loved ones is behind bars for as long as humanly possible.

ONeill did not respond to a request for comment.

In Smiths case, the trial penalty was real as were ONeills warnings during the plea bargaining process. Not only were the charges stacked against Smith, six of his sentences were, too, meaning hed be spending the next 51-66 years in prison. At the earliest, Smith will be 69 years old when hes released.

According to Finholt, whose work and research focuses on excessive sentencing and racial disparities in sentencing, one of the main issues related to charge stacking is that it can land people, like Smith, in prison for decades when they dont need to be in prison for decades.

Terence (Smith) is a great example, Finholt said. I do not believe that theres any reason for Terence to spend 50 years in prison. But because of charge stacking, the state and the taxpayers of North Carolina have had to pay a ton of money to keep him housed when that was totally unnecessary. And so, each instance of charge stacking increases the burden on the system.

In 2011, Joshua McCaskill and Tamika McMoore, the two other victims from the 2000 shooting at Harts apartment, spoke to investigators from North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services looking into Smiths case. Both McCaskill and McMoore acknowledged, and again later in signed affidavits, that Smith did not hurt them or anyone else at Harts apartment that night. They also said Smith received too much prison time.

When investigators met with Hart around the same time, Hart asked them, What happens when I say what I say? He then went on to recall what happened the night of the incident, how Anderson pointed a gun at him, how he ran, was shot, and then passed out, according to a signed affidavit from Vernetta Alston, now District 29 representative, who was one of the investigators who spoke to Hart. In her affidavit, she stated, Mr. Hart did not implicate Mr. Smith in his account of the shooting.

Anderson, who is incarcerated at Warren Correctional Institution in Manson, did not comment. A recent call he made to CPP was disconnected. At trial, Anderson presented an alibi defense and claimed he never went to Harts apartment the night of the incident.

How do you get two shooting charges for one bullet?

Seeing Hart in that hospital bed during the opening day of Smiths trial in Winston-Salem in March 2001 caused Smith to go numb. He said the five-day trial was all a blur and that it wasnt until his former teacher and mentor, Tony Burton, muttered the words Oh, God, after Smith was sentenced, that he came to and realized what just happened.

Terence (Smith) is being punished for his whole entire life because he walked in the door with a guy with a gun and because he was 17 years old, Mark Rabil, Smiths trial attorney, told CPP. And theres really no other way to look at it. Prosecutors know they can win because they have damaged people, like in this case, Mr. Hart, who they bring in there in a hospital bed and tear at the hearts of the jury. It was just a completely unfair scenario.

A picture of Deborah and Terence Smith is seen in the bedroom of Terence Smith in Deborah Smiths home in Winston-Salem on April 27. Terence Smith has been incarcerated for over two decades of a 51- to 66-year year sentence for his involvement in a nonfatal shooting when he was 17 years old. Photo: Mike Belleme / Carolina Public Press

As a result of his conviction and sentencing, Smith entered prison indignant but quickly vowed to move on and better himself. He started reading religious and self-help books his aunt Belinda sent him. Hes generous with others that hes incarcerated with, family members told CPP, and hes worked in the prison laundry room and as a canteen operator, which is considered a position of trust in prisons. He also began studying the Bible and drawing self-portraits and writing poems for his mother, Deborah. Hes completed numerous vocational classes like electrical wiring and human resource development, all of which have helped him overcome any resentment he had regarding his sentence.

But in 2012, that bitterness began to resurface when Hart was shot and killed in another failed drug deal. According to initial news reports on Harts killing, Madyson Renegar, a 19-year-old white woman, had shown up at Harts home and the two got into an argument over money. Months later, another report said Renegar had shown up to buy marijuana and the two had gotten into a fight over Harts son, whom Renegar accused Hart of abusing. In that account, Hart started hitting Renegar, so she grabbed Harts gun, which was nearby.

Hart was shot in the back of the head and in the left arm, according to the medical examiners report. By the time Hart was shot and killed, both his legs had been amputated and he weighed around 75 pounds.

After the shooting, Renegar was arrested and offered a deal. She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Forsyth County Superior Court and was sentenced to 12-15 years in prison. Renegar is projected to be released next year.

When Smith learned the details surrounding Harts death and Renegars sentence, he began to question what he considered the injustice of his charges and sentencing.

Youve got two shots, and she got one charge, Smith said. In my case, he was shot once, and I got two shooting charges. How do you get two shooting charges for one bullet?

According to Smiths current attorney, Johanna Jennings, founder and executive director of the Decarceration Project, a Durham nonprofit dedicated to addressing inequities resulting from mass incarceration, racial bias may be at the center of the disparity in sentencing between Smith and Renegar.

Its pretty hard to look at that and not see that race could very likely have played a factor, Jennings told CPP.

Jennings also believes racial bias played a role in Smiths decadeslong sentence, one she believes may have been fueled by the superpredator myth of the 1990s.

We had this narrative, a really false and pernicious narrative, in the 1990s, about superpredators, which is basically young, Black youth or young people of color  teenagers  kind of pathologizing them and deciding that theyre all sociopaths or psychopaths who are going to go out and commit a bunch of violent crime, Jennings said.

The fact that Smith, who was 17 when the crime occurred, received a very similar sentence to Anderson, who Jennings said was more culpable given he actually shot and robbed people, suggests to her that superpredator rhetoric may have played a role. At the time, people may have been seeing all Black youth as the same, as dangerous, as threats to community safety, without looking at the differences in circumstances or the nuances of the case, the differences in culpability, the differences in mitigation, she said.

Deborah Smith poses for a portrait in her son Terences room in her home in Winston Salem on April 27. Her son, Terence Smith has been incarcerated for over two decades of a 51- to 66-year sentence for his involvement in a non-fatal shooting when he was 17 years old. Photo: Mike Belleme / Carolina Public Press

The circumstances surrounding Harts death and Renegars sentence have been difficult for Smiths family to comprehend. She killed somebody. My son did not. So where is the justice? Smiths mother Deborah Smith told CPP in an interview at her home in Winston-Salem.

Deborah Smith actually pushed her son to take the plea deal, she said, as did other family members, describing her sons sentence as cruel and unjust and too far-fetched to even think about. Hopeful her son will be released early, Deborah Smith has a room made up for him in her home and a car ready for him to drive. They speak every Sunday. Her nickname for him is T-Boogie.

Recently, Smith wrote about his own disbelief regarding his trial and how his childhood would ultimately end with him entering prison, where he would not only transition into adulthood but would have to grapple with fear, anger, confusion and ongoing trauma.

None of it seemed real as the recurring nightmare was only beginning, he wrote.

In upcoming parts of this series, well look at the effect charge stacking has had on the lives of Smith and his family, as well as others who have experienced excessive sentences as a result of the practice. Well also look at the rationale for plea deals and the role they play in promoting efficiency in the courts. We will also speak to legal experts and scholars and look at the history of charge stacking and its use in the state and elsewhere in the country. We will also discuss potential solutions that could curb its use and promote more just sentencing outcomes.

Have a question about this story? Do you see something we missed? Send an email to news@carolinapublicpress.org.
In 2005, Congress passed the DNA FIngerprint Act, and it was duly signed into law. This law requires the federal DHS to collect DNA samples from all illegal aliens that the border patrol comes into contact with. Information recently obtained by Senator Chuck Grassley has revealed that Biden regime is refusing to obey this law and does not collect DNA samples from the vast majority of the illegal aliens they are letting into the country.

DNA samples would be helpful in identifying criminal illegal aliens and it would help identify illegal aliens who have previously been deported and try to reenter under a different name. The Biden regime clearly does not want to do either of these things.

https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/customs-and-border-protection-is-legally-required-to-collect-illegal-aliens-dna-under-biden-it-stopped/

Meanwhile in Austria, a poll conducted by an Austrian polling firm for Vienna's Heute (Today) newspaper found that 56% of Austrian voters wanted the government to completely stop letting any "asylum seekers" enter the country for the foreseeable future, while 37% would oppose such a policy.

https://www.rmx.news/article/majority-of-austrians-support-total-ban-on-new-refugees/

Crimes like this are helping drive public opinion against the illegal alien "asylum seekers":

https://www.rmx.news/crime/austrian-schoolgirl-found-dead-in-afghan-refugees-apartment-drugged-and-raped/

https://www.rmx.news/crime/we-are-afraid-they-will-want-revenge-austrian-schoolgirl-placed-under-victim-protection-after-alleged-migrant-rapists-are-released-by-police-after-one-day/

Of course, similar assaults by illegal aliens are happening across Europe:

https://www.rmx.news/crime/syrian-asylum-seeker-convicted-of-sexually-assaulting-four-11-year-old-dutch-girls-handed-community-service/

https://www.rmx.news/crime/france-african-migrant-serial-attacker-beat-and-robbed-17-elderly-women/

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/belgian-police-raids-apprehend-four-teenage-would-be-jihadists/

https://www.rmx.news/crime/iraqi-migrant-arrested-for-raping-18-year-old-girl-on-train-released-from-custody-the-same-day/

https://www.rmx.news/crime/france-palestinian-migrant-stabs-man-in-face-at-train-station-because-his-baby-wouldnt-stop-crying/

All of the above migrant crime stories were published just within the last week.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has emphasized the need for enhanced war fighting capabilities against the United States and South Korea, according to state media on Thursday.

This comes after his defense ministry pledged to counter ongoing military exercises that are perceived as an invasion rehearsal by North Korea's adversaries.

Kim Jong Un Orders to Ramp up War Drills

While visiting a western operational training base on Wednesday, Kim Jong Un emphasized the importance of intensifying war drills to enhance combat capabilities for war preparedness, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Kim Jong Un emphasized the need for increased readiness to counter the ongoing threat posed by adversaries with superior strength, as reported by KCNA. He oversaw the operations of military units at the location without providing further details.

The North Korean leader has advocated for a stronger military on multiple occasions in the past. His most recent request was made two days following a threat from North Korea's Defense Ministry to carry out unspecified "responsible military activities" due to what they claimed were increasingly blatant South Korean-US military exercises aimed at invading the North.

The South Korean and US militaries have commenced their yearly computer-simulated command post training and a range of field exercises, which will last for 11 days. This year's exercises were set to include 48 field drills, which is double the amount carried out the previous year. Both nations have stated that their exercises are purely defensive, as per ABC News.

North Korea has responded to past South Korean-US military drills with missile and other weapons trials. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are still elevated following North Korea's series of missile tests starting in 2022.

Several tests were conducted with missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, targeting South Korea and the mainland United States. In the past year, North Korea conducted six rounds of missile tests. The US and South Korean forces have reacted by increasing their training exercises.

Read Also: Israel Tortures, Detains UN Staff Over 'False' Accusations About Ties to Hamas, Agency Claims

North Korea Weapons Arsenal Expansion

According to experts, North Korea probably thinks that expanding its weapons arsenal would give it more power in future negotiations with the United States. According to reports, North Korea is seeking significant sanctions relief while holding onto its nuclear weapons.

Observers predict that North Korea will escalate tensions through additional weapons tests and strong language this year, coinciding with significant elections in the US and South Korea.

North Korea perceives its rivals' significant military exercises as practice for invasion, despite South Korean and US officials consistently stating they do not plan to attack the North.

Last week, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that this year's military exercises with the United States aim to counter North Korean nuclear threats and will include live-firing, bombing, air assault, and missile interception drills.

There has been an increase in worries about North Korea's nuclear program over the last couple of years, with the country conducting missile tests frequently and making public threats to use nuclear weapons proactively.

The military exercises between the US and South Korea have been expanded, with a greater deployment of powerful US military assets such as aircraft carriers and nuclear-capable bombers in response.

Related Article: US, South Korea Start Massive Annual Military Drills; North Korea Warns Joint Exercises Have 'Dear Price' To Pay
A physician who operated out of a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based practice has pleaded guilty to operating without a license, CBS affiliate WWMT reported March 7.

Husam Abed, MD, who specialized in urogynecology, had his license suspended in May 2022 following an investigation and administrative complaint. The complaint alleged a departure from acceptable medical standards, according to the report.

An additional investigation confirmed that Dr. Abed continued to treat patients following his suspension.
Paul Hanna, DMD, the owner of a dental practice in New London, Conn., was sentenced to 10 months in prison for tax evasion.

From 2010 to 2012, Dr. Hanna filed a tax form for himself and his wife, but never paid the tax due and owing and was subject to collections enforcement from the IRS from 2012 to 2017, according to a March 6 Justice Department news release.

He earned approximately $1.6 million in taxable income from his work as a dentist and from rental income between 2013 and 2020 but did not file a tax return in any of those years.

In addition to the imprisonment, Dr. Hanna is required to pay $244,541 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release, the release said.

He pleaded guilty to tax evasion in July.
Georgia, Arkansas and Florida are among several states that will gain a dental school in the near future.

Several dental schools have been announced in recent years to alleviate workforce shortages and train professionals to work in underserved communities.

Here are nine upcoming dental schools to know:

1. In December 2022, Boca Raton-based Florida Atlantic University announced its plans to open a dental school by 2025. However, the university has hit snags in recent months related to leadership appointments and finances that could prevent the school from opening. Kim Dunn, president of the university's Faculty Senate committee, said in October that the committee is worried about financing the new school and is concerned about the school's "viability."

2. Rootstown-based Northeast Ohio Medical University was approved for a dental school in September 2022, which would be the third in the state. A $10 million donation toward the new school was given by Gary Bitonte, MD, and David Bitonte, DO, in October 2022. It also received $2 million in funding in January 2023 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which will go toward equipment and construction. The school plans to welcome its first class in 2025.

3. Batesville, Ark.-based Lyon College plans to open Arkansas' first dental school in 2025. The college was approved to offer a doctor of medical dentistry by the Higher Learning Commission Institutional Actions Council in November 2022. Recently, the college's property deal to build the dental school at the Heifer International complex in Little Rock fell through, so it is exploring other location options.

4. The University of Pikeville (Ky.) was given $25 million to establish a dental school in May 2022 to increase access to dental services in the Appalachian region. Jill Keaton, DMD, recently replaced Pamela Sparks-Stein, DMD, as dean. The school is expected to accept its first class in 2025.

6. Lake Worth, Fla.-based Palm Beach State College broke ground in May on a building on its Loxahatchee Groves campus that will house its dental program. The 83,500-square-foot building will include a fully equipped dental clinic and technology for dental assisting and hygiene students. The building is set to be completed by February 2025 with classes beginning in the fall.

7. Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in Yakima, Wash., plans to accept its first class of students to its upcoming dental school in the fall of 2025. The school will train dentists for rural and underserved communities. The university received a $12 million grant from Delta Dental of Washington for the dental school in October, shortly after it began construction.

8. High Point University broke ground on the dental school in September 2023 after receiving accreditation in August. It will be the third dental school in the state and the first among private schools. The school is expected to welcome its first cohort of students in fall 2024. Muhammad Ali Shazib, DMD, was appointed dean in December.

9. Statesboro-based Georgia Southern University was granted $178 million in state funding to build a dental school in February. Gov. Kemp had previously proposed giving the university funding for a dental school to alleviate the state's healthcare workforce shortages.
We all have microplastics in our bodies, but if they show up in carotid artery tissues, patients are nearly two times as likely to experience a stroke, heart attack or related death, according to a study published March 7 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Researchers observed the removed plaque from more than 300 patients who were undergoing blockage surgery for asymptomatic carotid artery disease and examined them for presence of the particles. They also looked for other biomarkers and signs that the patient was experiencing some inflammation.

They found micro-polyethylene  one of the most widely used plastics in the world  in 58.4% of patients and polyvinyl chloride in 12%.

And while microplastics have been found in other areas of the human body in previous studies including in blood and lungs, Raffaele Marfella, MD, PhD, the lead author of the study and a cardiology researcher at the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli in Italy, told CNN that it "is the first that associated the plastic contamination with human diseases."
Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente and Walnut Creek, Calif.-based John Muir Health are among the nationwide healthcare providers impacted by the Change Healthcare cyberattacks, the San Francisco Chronicle reported March 6.

Change Healthcare, a technology company part of UnitedHealth Group's Optum, reported a "cybersecurity incident" on Feb. 21 that obstructed its healthcare operations and connectivity nationwide.

"Upon learning of the incident, we immediately began mitigation actions and launched our own investigation to determine the scope of any impact on Kaiser Permanente's operations," a spokesperson for Kaiser said in a statement shared with Becker's. "There is no known impact to our members' and patients' data or to Kaiser Permanente's cybersecurity."

While some Kaiser members seeking retail pharmacy prescriptions might experience delays, Kaiser pharmacies have not been affected by the attacks.

"We are assisting members with alternatives when this happens," the spokesperson said. "The vendor's issue could also delay the processing of some claims, or getting bills to some third-party payers for services provided to patients."

John Muir Health is also feeling the impact of the attacks, with some of its physicians faced with claims processing issues, a spokesperson for John Muir Health told the San Francisco Chronicle.

In an effort to provide relief to those impacted by the cyberattacks, HHS recently shared that it would help accelerate payments to hospitals and implement other workarounds for providers.

Becker's has reached out to John Muir Health and will update this story as more information becomes available.
Northwell Health's marketing leader called trademark infringement allegations from NYU Langone Health "absurd" and a "waste of time" after a judge dismissed the complaint March 1.

NYU Langone Health sued Northwell Health in June 2023, claiming the latter had copied the color purple and font it uses in marketing materials and committed false advertising when it claimed to be "NYC's only hospital in the Nation's Top 50." A federal judge in New York threw out the lawsuit but left some of the allegations open to be refiled.

"From a marketer's perspective, I don't understand, really, the waste of time and resources pursuing these claims in the first place," Ramon Soto, chief marketing and communications officer of New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health, told Becker's. "The need or desire to follow anybody is just not within our DNA and who we are. We really do try to communicate with consumers on their terms about health issues that are important to them and that serve to distinguish Northwell from our competitors. So it's absurd on its face."

New York City-based NYU Langone had claimed that Northwell's use of purple-and-white-heavy advertising was "confusingly similar" to the color scheme NYU had used for years and had followed NYU Langone's expansion into Long Island, where Northwell is based.

"From my point of view, they have no filed claim to the color purple," Mr. Soto said. "If it truly is a trademark right of theirs, then they should protect the asset. There is literally no trademark filing for NYU Langone and any color, period."

Mr. Soto said Northwell uses a "mosaic" of 16 colored triangles in its main logo, then deploys the colors in specific marketing materials based on the situation.

"We call it the constellation," he said. "It's really meant to represent the diversity of our system and how we come together and unify and try to move healthcare in a different direction. It's very distinct and very different than any of our competitors in the New York market."

"The thing to really focus on is the cherry-picking nature with which they tried to present this claim and pull on certain hats out of literally thousands of ads that we've created over time to try to paint the picture," he added. "That's really a false narrative of how we market ourselves."

The false advertising claim stemmed from Northwell saying it is "NYC's only hospital in the

Nation's Top 50," referring to rankings from Healthgrades, and "offer[s] the best care in Manhattan." NYU Langone claimed that Healthgrades "relies on inaccurate and incomplete reporting" and noted that U.S. News & World Report ranked its health system as No. 1 in New York. But the judge ruled that neither of those points makes Northwell's statement false and that claiming to offer the "best care" is subjective.

The judge, however, dismissed only two of the counts with prejudice, meaning NYU Langone could bring back the remaining allegations.

"In its ruling last week, the court agreed that NYU Langone could have an actionable claim against Northwell and has allowed us to file a motion to amend our complaint," an NYU Langone spokesperson emailed Becker's. "We brought this claim to protect NYU Langones exceptional reputation, which includes consistent high ratings and top rankings in quality and safety by the Leapfrog Group, U.S. News & World Report, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Vizient Inc., which named NYU Langone the No. 1 hospital in the nation for quality and patient safety. Unfortunately, Northwell has continued its efforts to confuse patients who deserve the best care and the best outcomes."

Mr. Soto said he was disappointed that "we're continuing to have this conversation" and believes "energy and resources should be placed elsewhere."

"I have a ton of respect for our competitors. And New Yorkers have an embarrassment of riches in terms of who to choose," he said. "That's why we market the way we do, which is for them to know us before they need to focus on the transaction, but really understand the journey that they take. We think that different approach lends ourselves to a different value proposition and a different relationship with consumers. That has worked incredibly well for us. How others choose to deploy their tactics, that's really up to them."
CommonSpirit CFO Dan Morissette said the Chicago-based health system expects to receive more than $1 billion in cash payments by end of 2024 or early 2025 on four one-time funding opportunities.

Four things to know:

1. Mr. Morissette said on the system's second-quarter investor call Feb. 29 that it has received $234 million from 340B settlement payments in January.

2. FEMA reimbursements related to COVID-19 are all in process, he said.

"It's a material amount in reimbursements once all of the 70 applications are approved," Mr. Morissette said. "We expect FEMA to obligate the funds by the end of the fiscal year 2024, but again it depends on how soon they finish the review and audit of these applications."

3. Mr. Morissette said the IRS received the health system's employee retention credit applications in June and are awaiting additional cash payments.

"We expect to receive a significant amount once all the applications are processed and approved," he said. "So far we've received about $110 million, so we expect more in either fiscal year '24 or fiscal year '25."

4. The health system is continuing to work with its forensic accountants and insurance company related to its cyber recovery efforts.

CommonSpirit detected a ransomware attack on its IT network in October 2022. The fallout led to ambulances being diverted and patients being turned away from appointments and an estimated $160 million in costs. The system said in May that it expected that most of those costs will be recoverable.

"This is a work in progress and we will book this as soon as we reach an agreement with the insurance companies," Mr. Morissette said.
OhioHealth appointed Cherie Smith, PhD, RN, president of its Dublin Methodist Hospital and Grady Memorial Hospital in Delaware, effective March 18.

Dr. Smith joined the Columbus-based health system in January 2022 as the chief nursing officer and vice president of patient services at both Dublin Methodist and Grady Memorial.

Before joining OhioHealth, she served as assistant vice president of nursing and patient care services for Iredell Health System in Statesville, N.C. For more than 10 years prior, Smith led clinical programs, operations, nursing practice and patient care services at The Moses H. Cone Memorial Health System in Greensboro, N.C., and Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael, Calif.

Earlier this week, OhioHealth appointed Jim Parobek president of Marion General Hospital.
The Becker's Hospital Review website uses cookies to display relevant ads and to enhance your browsing experience. By continuing to use our site, you acknowledge that you have read, that you understand, and that you accept our Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy
Kittanning, Pa.-based Armstrong County Memorial Hospital has signed a definitive agreement with the Pennsylvania Mountains Care Network, a healthcare network.

The agreement comes after a letter of intent was signed last October between the two parties.

PMCN comprises Punxsutawney (Pa.) Area Hospital and Indiana (Pa.) Regional Medical Center. Once regulatory and third-party approvals take place, Armstrong County Memorial Hospital will also be part of the network.

"This affiliation will help to preserve, enhance, and provide quality healthcare for patients in the multicounty service area for all three hospitals," according to a March 6 news release. "It will also create synergies, cost-efficiencies, and sustainability for the well-run organizations."

Once the agreement is closed, leaders from all three hospitals under PMCN will sit on its board, along with a combined executive management team that will represent the rural communities' common interests.

"The hospitals will retain their local identities and operate as three separate nonprofit corporations, with three separately licensed community hospitals," the release said.

Each hospital will maintain its healthcare employees, volunteers and community connections, but there will be some sharing of human resources.

Stephen Wolfe, president and CEO of IRMC, will also serve as PMCN's president and CEO, the release said.
On Wednesday, South Africa asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order additional emergency measures against Israel, citing the threat of famine affecting Palestinians in Gaza.

In its application, South Africa also urged the court to order all parties to cease hostilities and release all hostages and detainees.

South Africa Urges ICJ for Emergency Measures

In a statement released on Wednesday, the South African presidency warned that the people of Gaza cannot wait.

"The threat of all-out famine has now materialized. The court needs to act now to stop the imminent tragedy by immediately and effectively ensuring that the rights it has found are threatened under the Genocide Convention are protected," it said.

South Africa asked the court to order that Israel should implement immediate and effective measures to provide basic services and humanitarian aid to address famine and starvation in Gaza.

It said that ICJ, often known as the World Court, should adopt these measures without holding further hearings due to the "extreme urgency of the situation."

The United Nations has warned that widespread starvation in the Gaza Strip is almost inevitable without action. Aid organizations have blamed military operations, insecurity, and extensive restrictions on the delivery of supplies for the lack of food in the enclave, which has been under Israeli siege and assault since October.

According to health officials in Gaza, over 30,000 people have died in the strip during the five-month conflict. The authorities said that at least 20 people have died from malnutrition and famine in Gaza. The World Food Programme (WFP) said the number of humanitarian aid convoys entering Gaza daily must at least double to provide for some of the population's most basic needs.

Carl Skau, deputy executive director and chief operating officer at the World Food Programme, said they need a minimum of 300 trucks a day. He added that they need commercial supplies in the long run.

Pretoria requested additional sanctions from the court for the second time on Wednesday. The first attempt to pressure Israel to stop its offensive against the Gaza city of Rafah was turned down in February. Furthermore, a final ruling in the case in The Hague could take years.

Read Also: First Over-The-Counter Birth Control Pill Coming To US Stores This Month

Britain To Warn Israel's Gantz Over Famine in Gaza

On Wednesday, UK foreign minister David Cameron said that Britain will warn Israel that it is losing patience with the "dreadful suffering" in Gaza, where a lack of aid is leading people to starve to death.

Cameron, who is scheduled to meet Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Wednesday, told the parliament late on Tuesday that there were concerns about Israel's handling of aid for Gaza as the occupying power over its compliance with international law.

The foreign minister told the upper House of Lords that he spoke about the danger of this tipping into famine and disease weeks ago. He noted that people are dying due to hunger and preventable diseases.

Related Article: WFP: UN Trucks Carrying Aid for Northern Gaza Blocked by Israeli Forces


St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Mass.  where nurses have filed more than 600 safety and staffing complaints since July  was found noncompliant with some CMS conditions during a recent visit from The Joint Commission.

The Joint Commission's Office of Quality and Patient Safety confirmed the findings in a Feb. 23 email to Mary Sue Howlett, PhD, RN, associate director of the nursing division at the Massachusetts Nurses Association, who drafted the complaints with and on behalf of nurses at St. Vincent Hospital.

According to the email correspondence obtained by Becker's, The Joint Commission conducted an on-site review of the hospital Feb. 14 and found it "non-compliant with applicable Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services Conditions."

The Joint Commission's public information policy prohibits it from sharing specific findings or the complete report. However, the email said that St. Vincent Hospital "will need to demonstrate evidence of standards compliance to maintain accreditation by The Joint Commission."

A spokesperson for The Joint Commission declined Becker's request for further comment. Its quality check website, which lists all publicly available information, gives Feb. 15 as the last on-site survey at St. Vincent Hospital and March 1 as the last on-site survey at its primary stroke center. The hospital still has its accreditation seal on the website.

The hospital's parent company, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, has not returned Becker's requests for comment on The Joint Commission's visit. In a Feb. 14 statement, the hospital alleged the union's claims were "unfounded" and accused it of "organizing publicity stunts, spreading false rumors and intimidating our leadership."

The Massachusetts Nurses Association recently went public with a series of complaints raised to The Joint Commision, CMS, the state Department of Public Health's licensure and certification division, and the state Board of Registration in Nursing. In January alone, nurses filed 102 complaints alleging unsafe staffing practices. The union alleges that current ratios are in "blatant violation" of a contract ratified in December 2021, which agreed to update staffing practices and ended a 301-day nurse strike.

In addition to the Joint Commission, the Department of Public Health has been investigating the nurses' complaints, according to a March 6 news release from the union.
Chloe Zellner, 18, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for carjacking and assaulting a nurse outside of a Wisconsin hospital, WTAQ reported March 6.

The incident occurred Sept. 8, 2022, at HSHS St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center in Green Bay, Wis. According to an initial report from the Green Bay Press Gazette, a 24-year-old nurse was walking to her car after her shift when she was attacked by a 16-year-old boy in the hospital parking lot. The nurse reported that she was repeatedly struck from behind with what appeared to be a handgun. The boy took the nurse's purse and keys and got into her Chevrolet Cruze with Ms. Zellner.

The pair drove off in the car, which was later discovered with its original plates removed and replaced by plates taken from another vehicle. Police recovered a BB gun, which they believe was used to injure the nurse.

Ms. Zellner was convicted of operating a vehicle without consent, with use of a weapon and substantial battery, per the radio station. In addition to the eight-year sentence, she was placed on extended supervision for five years.

The male counterpart was also charged for the attack, but his name has not been released in public reports.

A representative for HSHS St. Mary's did not return Becker's request for comment.

Carjackings have been a recent safety concern for hospitals nationwide. On Feb. 25, a prisoner escaped from police custody in the parking lot at Ochsner Medical Center-West Bank in Gretna, La., and stole a deputy vehicle. Less than a week earlier, an employee of Memphis, Tenn.-based Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare was the victim of a carjacking in the hospital parking lot. And in November, two employees of Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital in Baltimore were carjacked at gunpoint, in two separate incidents, occurring one day apart.

Read more about the nationwide push to address violence against healthcare workers here.

Editor's Note: This article was corrected March 8. HSHS St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center is located in Green Bay, Wis.
Health systems are increasingly reimagining nurse responsibilities and workflows in response to staff shortages and high levels of employee burnout, among other challenges.

The nursing workforce has stabilized in recent months, with some employment numbers higher than before COVID-19, but systems are still prioritizing retention efforts.

Health systems are trying to retain nurses by streamlining daily workflows and reducing administrative burdens and allowing them to practice at the top of their licenses. These efforts can take many forms, including virtual nursing, reworking nursing teams and and scrutinizing nurse-to-patient ratios.

Here are four ways health systems are changing the way nurses work, as reported by Becker's in the last month.

Redefining the nurse care team: Telemedicine use has been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic began and many systems are turning to virtual nursing as a way of keeping nurses in the field.

Some hospitals are taking it a step further by redesigning nursing and care teams to include one virtual and two on-site support direct patient care members. Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health launched its TogetherTeam Virtual Connect Care at 21 hospitals across 10 states.

Another example comes from BJC HealthCare and Washington University School of Medicine. Thomas Maddox, MD, vice president of digital products and innovation at BJC, told Becker's their virtual nursing program supported 4,951 inpatient admissions and has given nurses 1,650 hours back for direct patient care, improved admission documentation rates to greater than 85% and helped reduce nurse adjusted voluntary turnover to 6.4%.

Leveling up student nurse training: From new graduates to leaders, systems have changed the way nurses work and the perception around some positions.

Mercy Fort Smith (Ark.) Hospital launched a new 18-bed unit, which will have a 4-to-1 patient-to-nurse ratio. The unit is designed to provide close-contact, hands-on training for student nurses by allowing them to care for medical telemetry patients under the supervision of an experienced nurse. The team, consisting of one Mercy nurse and two students, cares for up to four patients at a time with the additional aid of a clinical rotation preceptor.

Unlike traditional clinical models, "this allows for additional support and enhanced communication for our patients and gives the nursing student a more enhanced learning experience with at-the-elbow support and instruction from experienced Mercy nurses," Stephanie Whitaker, MSN, RN, chief nursing officer at Mercy Fort Smith, told Becker's.

Shifting the perception of medical-surgical nursing: Among nurses, a history of stigma attached to med-surg can make it difficult to retain staff. The specialty  often considered a steppingstone to other positions  requires a range of knowledge and typically holds higher patient ratios. Hospitals are attempting to change the perception of med-surg by providing additional support to these team members through patient care assistants, virtual nurses and technology that can reduce non-nursing tasks.

Shifting perspectives on med-surg can save staffing costs for hospitals that employ agency staff for those positions.

"You can generally employ one and a half nurses for the cost of an agency nurse, and sometimes even two," Deana Sievert, DNP, RN, chief nursing officer at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, told Becker's.

The hospital is analyzing whether a shift to a sole RN model where nurses could expect a standard patient load of three patients, with an occasional flex up to four or five, would be comparable to the current model, which involves a lot of agency nurses and patient care assistants.

Prioritizing nurse leaders' well-being: While most hospitals have focused on the well-being of front-line workers, the need to focus and provide better work conditions for nurse leaders has become more apparent.

"Managers and nurse leaders have always been forgotten from the conversation," Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, RN, president of the American Nurses Association, told Becker's.

A recent report found 35% of nurse leaders are considering leaving their roles: 12% said they intend to leave and 23% said they may leave within the next six months. Leaders who are considering leaving pointed to not having the resources to do their job and work having a negative effect on their health and well-being as the primary reasons  which parallels what bedside nurses consistently point to as drivers of burnout or reasons they have stepped away from the job.

Some systems are turning to workload optimizations and scheduling flexibility to alleviate manager burnout. Systems such as New Orleans-based Ochsner Health are considering offering four-day workweeks for nurse leaders that would consist of four 10-hour shifts per week.
A man is in custody after he allegedly attacked and killed another patient at Merit Health Central in Jackson, Miss. The incident occurred March 5 and is under investigation, police told local news outlets.

Police said they responded to the hospital around 10 p.m. March 5 after receiving a call about an assault, according to CBS affiliate WJTV and the Clarion Ledger. Hospital officials told police a male patient who was experiencing a "psychiatric episode" attacked a female patient on the sixth floor of the facility where they were both receiving treatment. The suspect and the victim did not know one another, according to officials.

Police said the suspect was arrested and will be charged with murder. The victim was transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, where she was pronounced dead.

"The safety of our patients and staff is our first and most vital concern," a Merit Health spokesperson said in a statment to Becker's. "Our team cares deeply about our patients and they are trained to take timely, appropriate action in the event of an emergency."

"The Jackson Police Department responded to an event at our hospital on March 5 and we are grateful for the quick actions of our staff and the JPD officers on site," the spokesperson added. "We express our sympathies to the patients and families who are affected. Patient privacy remains our priority and we are unable to provide further information about the incident."
Thomas Knox, MD, an orthopedic surgeon, joined the staff of Baxter Health Bone & Joint Clinic in Mountain Home, Ark.

Dr. Knox has practiced in the Mountain Home area for more than 40 years, according to a March 1 news release from Baxter Health. He is also certified as a Distinguished Arthroscopy Leader by the Arthroscopy Association of North America.

The practice is run by M.B. Moore, MD, and Ed Roeder, MD, according to the release.
Spine surgery robots and navigation systems have shown promise in assisting surgeons and enhancing patient outcomes. But there is concern that early-career spine surgeons are leaning on the technology too much.

"There is a dangerous trend of overreliance on this technology by young surgeons," Jeffrey Moore, MD, of SonoSpine in Oklahoma City, told Becker's. "This could be surgeon driven, or could be related to reliance on it in training programs. We as spine surgeons should be able to do most cases with fluoroscopy only. Canceling cases due to navigation or robotic machinery being faulty should only happen in rare instances."

Although robots are expected to expand to other areas of spine surgery  such as preparing the interbody space for fusion; docking of retractors; drilling of bone; and performing fully automated, robotic-guided laminectomies/decompressions  they are still primarily used for pedicle screw placement.

The potential that spine residents and fellows may be overreliant on robotic systems has been a concern of Wesley Bronson, MD, of Mount Sinai Health System in New York City. This could lead to the dilemma where spine surgeons are joining hospitals and practices without knowing how to manage cases without technology.

"It is the responsibility of both residents and fellows as well those training them to always focus on the basics, even if certain technologies are being used for the case," Dr. Bronson said. "The thought 'what would I do if the navigation wasn't working today?' should always be present."

Between 2004 and 2017, six spine robots earned FDA approval, according to the September 2023 issue of Interdisciplinary Neurosurgery. And in 2024 Stryker is aiming to get its foot in the market with its own system.

The market for spine surgery robots continues to grow and is expected to reach $139.9 million by 2029, and the rise in technology adoption is a key factor, according to Data Bridge Market Research.
Hindsight is 20-20, and it's not uncommon for people to wish they could rewind the clock and approach key career decisions differently.

Four spine surgeons discuss what or if they would change any aspect of their careers.

Ask Spine Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to spine surgeons around the country about clinical, business and policy issues affecting spine care. Becker's invites all spine surgeon and specialist responses.

Next question: What can the spine industry do better to increase diversity in the field?

Please send responses to Carly Behm at cbehm@beckershealthcare.com by 5 p.m. CST Wednesday, March 13.

Editor's note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.

Question: Whats a career decision you wish you could go back in time to change?

Brian Gantwerker, MD. The Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: I wish I had found the surgeon whose office I now occupy about two years sooner. He was a community neurosurgeon, well-loved and with excellent patients. As he was retiring, he offered to buy his practice, but I had already signed a different lease and was not in a good place financially. As it stands, I ended up moving into his office and hiring his old practice manager initially. Both she and I agreed we wish I had been there a year or two earlier. The good but painful thing was that I had to build everything and take elements of his old practice in but also forge my own path ahead. Having a turnkey practice is what many of us dream of, but not the hand that was dealt to me. Striving and creating my own brand with my staff has been and continues to be a tremendous journey.

Sohaib Hashmi, MD. UCI Health (Orange, Calif.): Reflecting on my career, if given the chance, I would have pursued all additional resident and fellow spine courses during my training. These opportunities allow early exposure to scope of surgical spine treatments, valuable benefits for shaping trainees career goals. Comprehensive educational opportunities allows trainees unmatched understanding of complex procedures, innovative techniques, and emerging technologies, otherwise not possible at their training institutions. Additionally, exposure to outside academic spine surgeons and their diverse skill sets broaden perspectives and enrich professional relationships and mentorship career development.

Steven Vanni, DO. HCA Florida University Hospital (Davie, Florida): I really wouldnt change much. I have a wealth of experience in academia. I am currently an adjunct professor of neurosurgery at Nova Southeastern Universitys college of medicines and a volunteer professor at the University of academia, so I am still connected to academia. I have extensive publications in spine journals and cancer research, I eventually left academic full time to begin the HCA Florida Neurosurgical Specialists practice here in Davie.

Christian Zimmerman, MD. St. Alphonsus Medical Group and SAHS Neuroscience Institute (Boise, Idaho): Frankly, maybe one. Decisions about training, practice geography and type of neurosurgical practice were advantageous to say the least, both privately and professionally. Becoming an employee of Trinity Health System has also been far and away, more rewarding in regard to both patient, coworker and community reward. Within this citizenry, the current stigmata of for-profit physician owned hospitals and its owner/participants are waning in both appeal and satisfaction. The larger health systems are more accommodating, affordable and available for specialized care.

If there is an axiom of passing or words to the wisest it would be from one's professional outing to be judicious in both investment towards family and finance. These are indubitable prospective dividends. The old school physician culture of relentless work ethic and rigorous schedules have been buffered with better life balance, and familial based life choices. My career has afforded me the latter.
On Wednesday, Senegalese President Macky Sall scheduled the country's presidential election for March 24 after a meeting of the Council of Ministers.

According to Senegal's Constitutional Council, 19 candidates have filed to run in the election.

Senegal Announces New Election Date

According to the statement, the President of the Republic has informed the Council of Ministers about the new presidential election date. The election was initially slated for February 25 but was postponed by Sall, prompting protests across the West African nation, with young people burning tires in the streets.

However, the Constitutional Council rejected his attempts to postpone the election, which said it had to occur before April 2, when Sall's second and last term expires.

Earlier Wednesday, Sall dissolved the government and announced that Prime Minister Amadou Ba would be replaced with Interior Minister Sidiki Kaba to allow Ba, the ruling coalition's presidential candidate, to focus on his electoral campaign.

Ba reaffirmed his support for Sall's decisions and expressed gratitude for the president in a communique from the council of ministers.

Read Also: Mount Fuji Climbers to Pay $13 Fee on Popular Trail Amid Japan's Tourism Boom

Senegal Police, Protesters Clash Over Election Delay

According to Al Jazeera, security forces in Senegal have clashed with hundreds of protesters who are against the delay of the presidential election. Al Jazeera's Nicholas Haque reported from Dakar on Friday that police used tear gas on protesters to stop them from meeting and gathering to protest.

Haque said that there have been running battles between protesters and police and security forces. He claimed that most of the protesters were 18-year-olds, and they were barely 12 when Sall came to power.

Less than three weeks before the polls were scheduled, parliament voted to reschedule the elections for December 15, upholding Sall's earlier declaration of the postponement and sealing an extension of his mandate.

However, the move has sparked worries that one of West Africa's remaining healthy democracies may be in danger. Reuters news agency reported that some protesters in the capital waved Senegalese flags and yelled slogans like "Macky Sall is a dictator" on Friday.

Teachers at Dakar's Blaise Diagne High School responded to the call for protest, and hundreds of students left their morning classes. Assane Sene, a geography and history instructor, claimed it was only the beginning of the conflict. Sene said that if the government remained stubborn, they would have to try different approaches.

Sall, who has served the maximum two terms allowed by the constitution, claimed he postponed the elections due to a dispute over the candidate list that threatened the credibility of the electoral process. Furthermore, the decision has sparked anger on social media, and the opposition called it a "constitutional coup."

Some critics also accused Sall of attempting to hold onto power, while the West African bloc and foreign powers have denounced the move as a breach of Senegal's democratic history.

Related Article: Senegal Court Overturns President's Decree To Postpone Presidential Election




The wife of Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers has thanked his fans for the massive wave of love, compassion and care that you have shown towards me.

Myers, who was part of the motorcycle-riding cooking duo with co-presenter, Si King, died last week at the age of 66 following a battle with cancer.

Liliana Orzac, who he met while filming Hairy Bikers in Romania, was at his side along with King when the presenter and TV chef died peacefully at home on February 28.

Dave Myers and Si King in their BBC cooking programme, The Hairy Bikers Go West (BBC/PA)

A message from her to the Hairy Bikers Instagram page said: I will never be able to thank you all enough for the massive wave of love, compassion and care that you have shown towards me, Simon and our families in these past days since Dave passed.

I want you all to know that I have read every single message and comment that you sent your stories about Dave, your feelings you shared with me mean a lot and my heart is filled with gratitude and love.

It amazes me how many hearts he touched and how many people wanted to express their love for what Dave and Si have created for nearly 20 years. I know the Hairy Bikers have been part of your living rooms for such a long time and I feel your loss as much as you feel mine!

My husband, David Myers was a larger than life character and he did everything with passion, enthusiasm and generosity of spirit. His energy was endless when it came to cooking and talking recipes, or biking and talking bikes.

An amazing storyteller! And through his stories and TV appearances he was constantly inspiring and encouraging people to cook, travel, to live their life to the fullest.

An exceptional husband, wonderful stepdad, loyal friend and in his own words, a creator, never a follower.

I feel Im grieving with a whole nation and this is something special.

My wonderful Dave  Lili Myers.

The post was shared alongside a picture of her and Myers.

She co-owned his production company Sharpletter  which had assets worth more than 1.4 million, accounts filed on January 31 show.

Myers was a stepfather to her two children, Iza and Sergiu, from a previous relationship.

King and Myers latest series, The Hairy Bikers Go West, is continuing to air on BBC Two.

Outside of their travelogue series, Myers also competed on Strictly Come Dancing and they published more than 25 cookery books.
US entrepreneur who fell in love with NI on creating her own lifestyle brand and inspiring other women

Christina Campbell established her business in honour of her daughters  one of them sadly stillborn  and is helping Northern Ireland buck the trend for lowest UK region for female-led firms

Christina Campbell with daughter Olivia Rose

Thu 7 Mar 2024 at 08:50

A female entrepreneur who fulfilled a lifelong ambition to be her own boss and launch her own business is bucking the trend that Northern Ireland is sitting at the bottom of all UK nations when it comes to the share of female-led businesses.
A Co Antrim man who ran an illegal moneylending operation was on Thursday spared immediate custody

A Co Antrim man who ran an illegal moneylending operation was today spared immediate custody.

Steven Francis Spence (45), of Greenland Parade in Larne, was handed a 20-month prison sentence suspended for two years at Belfast Crown Court.

He pleaded guilty to carrying on a regulated act in breach of the Financial Services and Markets Act between February 2018 and February 2019 and acquiring criminal property totalling 68.352.49 in a Halifax bank account.

Prosecution counsel Michael Chambers KC told Belfast Recorder Judge Patricia Smyth that police carried out a search of properties in the Larne area including one linked to the defendant's girlfriend.

During the course of the search on February 11, 2019, police found two black ledgers. They were examined and noted to have names, dates and repayment amounts recorded, said Mr Chambers.

In relation to both ledgers, there were 60 unique names which were repeated on a number of occasions. In total, 676 names appeared in the ledgers.

There are no identifying factors such as full names, addresses or contact details so that meant there were no statements of complaint and no information about those to whom money was leant.

The prosecutor said that in one ledger, police found that there was 241,484 either owed or borrowed. In a second ledger, there was 25,800 either owed or borrowed with an outstanding balance of 9,970.

Mr Chambers told the court that police enquiries revealed Spence was on benefits at the time and was claiming Job Seekers Allowance and Employment Support Allowance.

Checks were made with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and no tax had been paid on the recorded amounts and no VAT was paid.

He added that during PSNI interviews, Spence gave no comment answers to police questions.

Defence counsel Neil Connor KC urged the court to take into account the five-year delay in the case.

He added that Spence had no previous convictions for illegal money lending and there were no matters pending.

Passing sentence, Judge Smyth said: I want to make it absolutely clear lending money illegally is a very serious offence.

The fact is that people who do this prey on vulnerable members of society and although there are no statements from anyone to whom money was leant, the court can use its common sense in these issues. These were vulnerable people.

The Belfast Recorder added that there was no evidence before the court of any interest being charged or any pressure being exerted on any individual.

Suspending the 20-month sentence, Judge Smyth warned Spence: If you commit any offence of any kind in the next two years, expect to go to prison for 20 months in addition to any other sentence imposed.
One-to-one meetings held ahead of publication of report into activities of the agent Stakeknife

Around 15 families have been briefed on the circumstances of their loved ones murders by the agent known as Stakeknife.

Investigators have given personal briefings to relatives ahead of the Operation Kenova interim report being published on Friday.

Barristers with national security clearance have been given access to the findings. They are now aware of the failings in each case and are expected to provide an update to the courts in due course.

While all civil cases will end as a result of the governments legacy legislation, the families lodged their cases before the cut-off period and so they will still proceed.

Stakeknife, aka Freddie Scappaticci, fled Belfast in 2003 after being outed as a long-standing double agent working for the Armys Force Research Unit.

The families were given a report of the investigation into their relatives deaths.

They were called to one-to-one meetings this week and given details by the Kenova team.

Some were left in tears by the reports and information from intelligence files that indicated the RUC and military intelligence had information prior to the murders that was never acted on.

The Kenova report is expected to show Stakeknife was sidelined in the early 1990s and therefore not involved in the abduction and murders of alleged informants in the mid-90s.

This has left some families disappointed, as their loved ones deaths did not come under the remit of the Kenova team.

It will also reveal that Scappaticci was not the only agent in the IRAs so-called nutting squad and that RUC Special Branch informants passed on information, which combined with the intelligence provided by Scappaticci, could have been used to save lives.

Kenova was headed up by Jon Boutcher. As the now PSNI Chief Constable, he had to recuse himself from the reports publication, but did make reference to it at Thursdays public meeting of the Policing Board.

Last week the Public Prosecution Service announced that no charges would be laid after consideration of the last batch of files from the investigation.

At the Policing Board, Mr Boutcher was asked if he shared the views of the current Kenova head Sir Iain Livingstone, who expressed frustration that no-one would be prosecuted.

Mr Boutcher responded: I can say now I agree with Iain Livingstone and I will deal with all of this tomorrow.

But a woman whose mother was abducted and murdered by the IRA insisted that Kenova has not failed victims due to a lack of prosecutions.

The body of Belfast woman Caroline Moreland, a 34-year-old mother-of-three, was found near Roslea, Co Fermanagh, in July 1994.

Her daughter Shauna was 10 at the time.

Ms Moreland said: If these cases had been properly investigated at the time there could have been prosecutions.

We have been failed by the system since 1994 and it was only when our cases were moved outside Northern Ireland that we got a process we could believe in.

Right from the start, Jon Boutcher told us that Kenova would be a victims-first approach and thats what he gave us.

They were nothing but respectful right the way through the investigation.
The parents of a nine-year-old girl who died from hyponatraemia are taking legal action over a decision not to refer a senior medic to a fitness to practise tribunal.

Claire Roberts was one of five children whose deaths at hospitals in Northern Ireland were the focus of a public inquiry.

It ultimately ruled four of the deaths were avoidable and identified a cover-up over what happened to Claire.

The probe into cases of hyponatraemia, a condition linked to a shortage of sodium in the blood which can lead to fatal brain swelling, was the longest-running inquiry of its kind in British history.

It found that Claire died in October 1996 from an overdose of fluids and medication due to negligent care at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.

In November 2022 paediatrics consultant Dr Heather Steen was struck off the medical register for dishonestly trying to conceal the circumstances of the schoolgirls death.

But last year the General Medical Council (GMC) confirmed that Professor Ian Young, who served as Northern Irelands chief scientific advisor, would face no action following the public inquiry.

Prof Young was not involved in the treatment of any of the children whose deaths were examined.

Claire Roberts

He had been asked by the Royal Group of Hospitals in 2004 to provide an independent assessment on whether hyponatraemia played a part in Claires death.

However, the inquiry concluded that he shifted from his initial independent advisory role to one of protecting the hospital and its doctors.

He referred himself to the GMC after those findings were published in January 2018.

Claires father, Alan Roberts, is now seeking to judicially review the regulatory body to decide the allegations against Prof Young should not go before a Medical Practitioners Tribunal.

Lawyers for Mr Roberts claim the determination reached was irrational, failed to provide adequate reasons and involved apparent bias.

He wants the GMCs decision quashed and an order made for it to be reconsidered.

The first stage of the challenge was due to get underway at the High Court in Belfast today.

But the hearing was put on hold because of time pressures.

Adjourning the challenge to a new date in May, Madam Justice McBride apologised to the Roberts family and their supporters who attended court.

She said: The difficulty is that we would not get (the hearing) completed today.
The goods were found following a search of the sailor's cabin

A Belfast man has received a suspended prison sentence after his dog attacked a child.

Neil Pinkerton (35) of Clandeboye Street in Belfast was ordered to pay legal and court costs and compensation, as well as the suspended sentence.

Its after his bull terrier-type dog bit an 11-year-old boy on the leg on May 3 last year.

The prosecution was taken by Belfast City Council and Mr Pinkerton was convicted under Article 29(2) of The Dogs (Northern Ireland) Order 1983.

Mr Pinkerton was convicted and received a four-month prison sentence, suspended for one year and required to pay 150 legal and court costs and compensation order totalling 250 to the victim.

It was also ordered the dog be destroyed unless kept confined in a building, shed, yard or other enclosure from which it cannot escape, fitted with a muzzle sufficient to prevent the dog biting any person and kept under control.

The Belfast Telegraph on Tuesday revealed the number of dog attacks in Belfast has risen by 23% in 2023 to a five-year high.

Data obtained by the Belfast Telegraph reveals 255 incidents were reported.

And 77 people were prosecuted  including 13 for dog attacks and 39 for having no licence.

Thirty-one dogs were euthanised in the city in 2023.
There has been a cautious welcome after Northern Irelands Chief Constable pledged to supply information on applications for surveillance of media and lawyers within the next four weeks.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland was asked to provide to the Northern Ireland Policing Board a report on the extent of applications and authorisations of surveillance of journalists and lawyers.

It comes after journalists Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney lodged a complaint with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) asking it to establish whether there had been any unlawful surveillance of them. That case is continuing.

In 2018, Northern Ireland-based Mr McCaffrey and Mr Birney were arrested as part of a police investigation into the alleged leaking of a confidential document that appeared in a documentary they made on a Troubles massacre.

Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

The following year, the two journalists lodged their complaint with the IPT.

At a meeting of the Policing Board on Thursday, Les Allamby, board member and chief commissioner of the NI Human Rights Commission, pressed PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher on when the report would be handed over.

Mr Boutcher said the information will be disclosed, adding that the PSNI will check with the IPT to ensure it can release the information, which is separate to the ongoing case.

He said the board wrote last September to then deputy chief constable (DCC) Mark Hamilton, a letter which was passed to Chris Todd when he became temporary DCC in November, adding that he apologised for that delay.

The Chief Constable also explained that because of the tribunal that had been due to take place last week, a decision was taken to wait until after the hearing to provide a written answer to the board.

However he said that position had changed after the tribunal was adjourned to October.

Mr Boutcher also said that since he became Chief Constable in October, there have not been any such applications.

Chief Constable Jon Boutcher (Liam McBurney/PA)

There is no industrial application of such powers to look at journalists or lawyers, or indeed NGOs  there has been nothing of the such like since I have arrived, he added.

I would hope to get that (response) to you within four weeks at most, but Ill give the IPT the opportunity to see what were going to say so it doesnt conflict with the proceedings, which I do not believe it does.

Amnesty International and the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) gave a cautious welcome to the response.

Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty Internationals Northern Ireland director, said: Amnesty is extremely concerned that the evidence revealed to date at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal point to a much wider pattern of covert police surveillance of journalists.

We give a cautious welcome to the commitment today. Its high time that answers are finally provided to the Policing Board and we have full disclosure of the extent of secret surveillance against journalists and others.

The Chief Constable has a real opportunity to be open with the public and to distance himself from the unlawful police practices of recent years.

Mr Boutcher insisted the delay to the IPT hearing last week was not down to the PSNI, adding: Thats all Im going to say because I dont want to stray into territory Id like to deal with this and arrest any concern about the PSNI causing the delay last week.

There was no delay because of a failure to submit information from this organisation and I will leave it at that. There was a closed session and there was an open session, and from comments made I am satisfied by the court that weve done everything that was required of us.
Northern Irelands chief constable has pledged unfettered and unredacted access to police files around the murder of GAA official Sean Brown for a public inquiry or a new body established by the Legacy Act.

Jon Boutcher was speaking days after the collapse of an inquest into the death of Mr Brown when a coroner ruled it was unable to proceed due to the withholding of sensitive files.

Mr Brown, 61, was abducted and killed by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates at Bellaghy Wolfe Tones Club in Co Londonderry in May 1997.

No-one has ever been convicted of his murder.

On Monday, Mr Justice Kinney said his ability to examine the death had been compromised by the extent of confidential state material being excluded from the proceedings on national security grounds.

The family of Sean Brown (PA)

Announcing the Public Interest Immunity (PII) ruling in Belfast, the coroner said he will be writing to Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, calling on the Government to establish a public inquiry into the loyalist murder.

Mr Justice Kinneys ruling comes after the Security Service, Ministry of Defence and Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) applied for multiple redactions on sensitive files related to the murder.

Preliminary inquest proceedings have already heard that in excess of 25 people have been linked by intelligence to the murder, including several state agents.

It has also been alleged in court that surveillance of a suspect in the murder was temporarily stopped on the evening of the killing, only to resume again the following morning.

During a meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board on Thursday, Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly asked the chief constable if he backed a public inquiry.

Mr Boutcher said he would, and also expressed regret that the Brown family had been failed by the establishment.

Firstly I want to say with regards to the Brown family, this isnt just words that often people portray, I am genuinely disappointed for them around the inquest, he said.

We know that inquests can work well for some families in legacy cases, but for other families because of the public interest immunity mechanism and the lack of a framework at inquest to deal with sensitive material, the inquest is not the route for the families to get the information.

For me, and legacy is something that is very close to my heart, this is again us, the establishment, the institutions failing those families. My heart goes out to the Brown family, and I want to make very clear that Mr Brown was a man who had never done any wrong, he was an innocent member of the public going about his lawful business, a decent law abiding man who was murdered by terrorist thugs.

All legacy inquests must be completed by May 1 or they will be transferred to the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) set up by the Governments controversial Legacy Act.

Mr Boutcher said he is looking at how to address the disclosure of sensitive information following May 1, and has discussed this with ICRIR chief commissioner Sir Declan Morgan.

Ive already had provisional discussions with Sir Declan Morgan around addressing this issue, where there will be unfettered access to that information, unredacted access to everything to Sir Declan Morgan. But Im also looking at other ways that I can address what I think we can do more at with regards to that sensitive material in those cases, he said.

I do support a public inquiry. If there was any such inquiry set up, the PSNI would absolutely co operate with that inquiry and will provide that inquiry with all of the information, unfettered access to absolutely everything that we have collected with regards the Sean Brown case, that includes all of those files that were redacted. They will get those unredacted files.
New York officials are facing widespread criticism over the decision to release four suspects who were arrested in relation to a body mutilation case in Long Island.

The decision to release the individuals stems from the state's bail reform laws. They are believed to be connected to the discovered dismembered body parts of two people. Officials charged the suspects with concealment of a human corpse, hindering prosecution, and tampering with physical evidence.

New York Bail Reform Law





Officials reported that they found various body parts, including a severed head, arms, and legs, that belonged to a man and woman from Yonkers in New York. The dismembered parts were found in Babylon over the last few days. The first discovery was made by a girl on her way to school on Thursday.

Under the state's 2019 bail reform laws, the charges of mutilation and disposing of murdered corpses are no longer eligible for bail. In a statement, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said that this means that prosecutors are unable to ask for bail and the suspects cannot be remanded to custody, as per Fox News.

On Wednesday, the Suffolk County Police Department announced the arrest of 44-year-old Steven Brown, 38-year-old Jeffrey Mackey, 40-year-old Amanda Wallace, and 33-year-old Alexis Nieves.

Last week, law enforcement personnel responded to a scene when a student on her way to school discovered a "severed left arm" near a park. The student reported her discovery to her father, who then called 911.

When police arrived at the scene, the cadaver dogs that they brought found "a leg in a mound of leaves" nearby as well as a right arm. The latter was only a few feet away from the left arm which was initially discovered by the female student.

Law enforcement then discovered more mutilated body parts in a park a few miles away from the initial scene. Those remains were said to belong to the same victims that were discovered last week, according to People.

Read Also: Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Found Guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter

Body Mutilation Case

Authorities reported that one of the victims was identified to be a 59-year-old woman while the other was "tentatively identified" as a 53-year-old man. Law enforcement officials have not yet announced a motive or released any other information regarding the deceased.

Following their release, the four suspects are scheduled to be arraigned on Mar. 6 and it was not immediately clear if they have retained attorneys. While they were free, the individuals were given GPS monitors and were ordered to remain in Suffolk County and report to probation officers every week.

In a statement, prosecutors said that "evidence is very strong" and includes cutting tools, meat cleavers, and video surveillance footage. A defense lawyer said that Brown did not kill anyone and was not part of the crime. On the other hand, a representative for Mackey said that the defendant maintained his innocence.

Three of the four suspects; namely Brown, Mackey, and Wallace lived at the home on Railroad Avenue in Amityville that investigators searched on Monday. Nieves, on the other hand, does not have a known address but the court hearing indicated that he lived with the other three suspects, said NBC News.

Related Article: Philadelphia Bus Stop Shooting Leaves 8 Teens Injured, 1 Critically
Controversial adult dance performers the UK Pleasure Boys are set to return to Northern Ireland later this year.

The dance group, who perform a Magic Mike-style strip tease show, are set to take to the stage at Banbridges The Bannville Hotel in May.

It comes just weeks after the group made headlines across Northern Ireland after videos of their performance at The Devenish Hotel in Belfast went viral.

In a post on social media, the Bannville wrote: The Ultimate Girls night out at the Bannville!

"Tickets are now available to experience the UK Pleasure Boys on Saturday May 11th.

Prices for the event range from 17.50 to 22.50. The hotel also warned for potential show goers to book early as this is a popular event.

On Saturday, February 17, the Pleasure Boys played one of their XXL Tour dates at The Devenish complex in Belfast.

Pleasure Boys cause shock in The Devenish

Advertised by the bar as a Valentines Weekend Special, footage from the performance quickly circulated on social media, which shows nude male dancers and female patrons mimicking sexual acts.

Shortly after the videos went viral, the group told the Belfast Telegraph they have been contacted by other venues across Northern Ireland hoping to book their performance.

Weve had five enquiries in the past hour to [come] back in Belfast. There are club owners contacting me constantly from all around the city, said John Woodward, the man behind the UK Pleasure Boys.

Watch: UK Pleasure Boys bid farewell to Belfast and promise to return
Snow Patrol frontman throws weight behind charitys bid to make history at awards

Snow Patrols Gary Lightbody has said Northern Irish music deserves a big win and urged people to rally behind Belfasts Oh Yeah Music Centre in its quest for a major award.

The venue is on a mission to become the first in Northern Ireland to win the Grassroots Venue: Spirits of the Scene award, supported by the Music Venue Trust, at this years Music Week Awards in London.

Local venues have appeared on the nominee list in the past, but the accolade has yet to find its way to these shores.

The Oh Yeah Centre, founded in 2007, is determined to bring the award home, not just for the centre but for the entire community involved in running venues.

The centre is a dedicated music hub and charity that offers affordable rehearsal space and youth outreach programmes and hosts the city-wide Sound of Belfast festival.

It is also the home of the NI Music Exhibition  a project dedicated to preserving Northern Irelands rich musical heritage and inspiring audiences, showcasing Belfast as a Unesco City of Music.

Gary Lightbody (Photo by Mark McCormick 10/07/13)

Snow Patrol frontman Lightbody said: When [music journalist] Stuart Bailie and I had the idea for Oh Yeah back in the day, we always hoped it could be a place where people might get together and make music.

A place where anyone, from any background, in Northern Ireland could meet people and start a band or learn about any aspect of the music industry, from songwriting, to rehearsing, to band management, to studio production, to live gig promotion, to DJing and as many aspects of a life in music as possible.

From its humble beginnings to what it is now is dizzying to think of. It has far outperformed our original vision and has become an essential and ever-evolving part of the Northern Ireland music landscape.

Im so proud of what Charlotte Dryden [Oh Yeah CEO] and her incredible team have done over the years to help musicians and music in our wee country, and Im delighted the place has been recognised in this award nomination for all that awesome work. Good luck to the Oh Yeah crew at the awards. Norn Irish music deserves a big win.

CEO Charlotte Dryden said there had been significant enhancements at the centre over the years.

She added: At the core of Oh Yeah lies the venue, with its vibrant performance space serving as the beating heart of the hub, connecting countless impactful projects. Recent years have seen significant enhancements, including the installation of a state-of-the-art PA system, cementing its reputation as one of the foremost small venues across the UK and Ireland.

The Oh Yeah Centre runs a series of programmes, including Acoustic Picnic, Volume Control, Elevate, Youth Open Mic and initiatives for the Arts and Older People scheme.

Cast your vote for the Oh Yeah Centre at vote.ohyeahbelfast.com.Voting closes at 5pm on March 14.
Police at the scene of a incident in the Cupar Street Upper area of west Belfast where a man has died on March 6th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Police at the scene of a incident in the Cupar Street Upper area of west Belfast where a man has died on March 6th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Police at the scene of a incident in the Cupar Street Upper area of west Belfast where a man has died on March 6th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Police at the scene of a major incident in the Cupar Street Upper area of west Belfast on March 6th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Police at the scene of a incident in the Cupar Street Upper area of west Belfast where a man has died on March 6th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Joseph Brennan died outside a bar close to the Springfield Road (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

A 35-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of murder after a man died in west Belfast has been released on bail.

Earlier today, the Major Investigations Team had been given an additional 36 hours for questioning after the attack on Wednesday night.

The man who died following the assault has been named as Joseph Brennan.

Its understood he was punched outside a licensed premises on Cupar Street Upper.

He was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in an ambulance but passed away.

On Friday evening the PSNI said the 35-year-old had been released to allow for further police enquiries into the investigation.

Watch: Police at scene of serious assault in west Belfast

In a statement, PSNI Detective Inspector Sean Armstrong reiterated an appeal for information.

Our enquiries are continuing, and Im asking anyone with information to get in touch if you happened to witness the altercation and exactly what happened on Wednesday evening, shortly after 8pm.

If you think you can help, contact detectives on 101, quoting reference number 1768 06/03/24.

Photos and footage, including CCTV, mobile phone or dash cam footage, can be shared with police through the Major Incident Public Portal.

Information can also be provided to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online.

Sinn Fein MP Paul Maskey expressed his condolences with the family and friends of a man who died.

The West Belfast MP said: I would appeal to anyone with information on this death to immediately bring it forward to the police to assist with their inquiries.

A Northern Ireland Ambulance Service spokesperson said: "The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service received a 999 call at 20:00 on Wednesday 6 March, following reports of an incident on Springfield Road.

NIAS despatched two emergency crews to the incident. Following assessment and treatment at the scene, one patient was taken by ambulance to RVH.
The Chancellor defended his decision to extend the windfall tax on oil and gas firms (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has conceded his decision to extend the windfall tax on oil and gas firms is difficult for Conservatives in north-east Scotland.

However, he insisted increasing the lifetime of the energy profits levy by a further 12 months until 2029 is the right thing for all the country.

His comments came after Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross and UK Government energy minister Andrew Bowie  who is the MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine  both branded the move outlined in the Budget deeply disappointing.

Mr Ross said he will fight tooth and nail against the move, and vote against it when it comes before Parliament.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross vowed to vote against extending the windfall tax at Westminster (Jane Barlow/PA)

Writing in The Press And Journal newspaper, Mr Ross said: I will continue to fight tooth and nail to persuade the UK Government to think again.

The more energy companies are taxed, the less they will have to invest in managing the transition to net zero and the creation of further Scottish jobs.

I want our energy policy focused on the long-term, rather than just the here and now. I share the frustration of major employers in the north-east that the one-year extension is unhelpful and hinders their investment planning.

That is why I will not vote for an extension when it comes to Parliament.

The Chancellor blamed the war in Ukraine for instability in the oil and gas sector, telling BBC Radio Scotlands Good Morning Scotland programme: Nothing has been stable in the world since Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine. That is the fundamental cause of instability.

He added that as high oil and gas prices had lasted longer than was anticipated at the start of the Ukraine war, energy firms are making additional profits they werent expecting to make.

The energy profits levy charges oil and gas companies an extra 35% tax on the money they make in the UK, with its extension expected to raise another 1.5 billion for the Treasury.

Mr Hunt said: I think it is a fair contribution given the scale of the unexpected profits they have had.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt defended the difficult decision to extend the energy profits levy (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Asked directly if he had thrown Conservative MPs in the north-east of Scotland under a bus, the Chancellor said: No, but added: I appreciate it was a difficult decision for them.

He said the UK Government still strongly supports the oil and gas industry, but added: I also had to be fair looking at the public finances, looking at the fact that I have spent, taxpayers have spent, 94 billion in cost-of-living support, helping pay around half peoples electricity bills over the last winter, and reflecting the fact that because high oil and gas prices have lasted longer than was anticipated at the start of the Ukraine war, they are making additional profits they werent expecting to make.

Insisting the decision to extend the levy was the right thing for all the country, Mr Hunt added: The big dividing line here is between the Conservative Party and the Labour Party.

The Labour Party have said they will remove the very generous allowances that oil and gas companies have. That will basically stop their activities in their tracks, Labour want to stop all North Sea oil and gas exploration for very ideological reasons, it makes absolutely no sense at all.

We dont. We have taken a difficult decision because of it being the right thing for our national finances, but the difference is we support that industry.
Crispin Odey has been sued by five women over sexual misconduct claims (Aaron Chown/PA)

A former City banker at the centre of sexual misconduct allegations is facing legal action by five women, including one who has accused him of rape, the High Court has been told.

Crispin Odey left his position at the hedge fund he founded days after allegations that he had sexually assaulted multiple women were published in the press last year.

A preliminary hearing in London was held to decide whether the five women could pursue their compensation claims together over Mr Odeys alleged misconduct between 1995 and 2023, with a judge ruling they must be filed individually.

Barristers for the women have claimed one was raped by Mr Odey in the 1990s, and he then exploited her over the course of several years.

Mr Odey has denied the allegations against him.

At a hearing on Thursday, Elizabeth-Anne Gumbel KC, for the women, said in written submissions: Odey had driven her to his home under the pretext of fetching something.

Once they were inside his home, Odey had gone into another room and then reappeared in a dressing gown before raping the fifth claimant.

On June 8 last year, the Financial Times and Tortoise Media published allegations from several women that they had been abused or harassed by Mr Odey, with some alleging he sexually assaulted them.

The women had social or professional relationships with Mr Odey, it was reported.

He left his role at Odey Asset Management (OAM) on June 10, with the firm wound down in October after several banks cut ties.

He previously told the Financial Times that the allegations were rubbish.

Ms Gumbel told the court that the cases of all the women were similar and should be dealt with together.

She said: There is considerable overlap between the facts alleged in the existing claims and the facts alleged in the three new claims.

Thursdays hearing was held at the Royal Courts of Justice in London (Nick Ansell/PA)

All five claimants allege that they were sexually assaulted by Odey. Although the index assaults took place at different times, there are numerous similarities between them.

Lawyers for Mr Odey argued that the womens claims should not be heard together as the alleged sexual assaults took place on vastly different dates in completely different circumstances.

Michael Kent KC, representing Mr Odey, said in court that the cases were entirely separate and the mere fact it is the same defendant was not a sufficient reason for them to be considered together.

In written submissions, Mr Kent said an argument that the claims were of more public importance if joined together was not understood or relevant.

Christopher Russell, representing OAM, said in written submissions: The only common feature of these claims is the alleged tortious conduct of (Mr Odey). That cannot be enough.

At the end of the hearing, Judge Lisa Sullivan ruled that three women could not join legal action already brought by two others.

She said while the cases had commonality, all five would have to file separate claims as there are differences in time, differences in place and other differences between them.

It is expected that the five women will sue separately after the decision.

In 2021 Mr Odey was found not guilty of indecent assault after he was accused of launching an octopus-like assault on a junior investment banker in 1998.

A district judge at Westminster Magistrates Court cleared Mr Odey after a two-and-a-half-day trial.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said he did not threaten to quit over the issue (PA)

Douglas Ross has rejected claims he was on the verge of resigning as Scottish Conservative leader in a row over the windfall tax extension.

The Telegraph newspaper reported Mr Ross had heated conversations with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt over the Budget decision to increase the levy by a further 12 months until 2029.

Mr Ross has spoken out against the move, pledging to fight tooth and nail to have it overturned and stating he will vote against it when it comes before the House of Commons.

Following First Ministers Questions at Holyrood on Thursday, Mr Ross was asked by journalists if he threatened to quit.

He replied: No. We had had strong and robust discussions but ultimately the best way I can stop this is by being in the House of Commons and voting against this legislation.

Mr Ross was also asked if the extension puts his election campaign in a difficult position, with fears it could ruin the partys chances of retaining key seats in the north east of Scotland.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt outlined plans to extend the windfall tax in his Budget statement on Wednesday (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA)

He said: I think the most important thing is providing that security and certainty for the oil and gas sector, and thats why I went in to fight as hard as I possibly could on this issue.

The Chancellor had a difficult Budget to set and I think everyone has accepted there was a balance to be struck.

I will never shy away from publicly saying it was the wrong choice by the Chancellor, and I still have an opportunity to prevent it from happening when this Bill comes back to Parliament.

During a visit to Edinburgh on Thursday afternoon, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said the Scottish Tory leader was never resigning, but he added he understands why Mr Ross disagrees with the extension.

Mr Ross was not the only high-profile Scottish Tory to condemn the move, with UK Government energy minister Andrew Bowie  the MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine  branding the decision deeply disappointing.

The Prime Minister has since responded to Mr Bowies comments amid claims his position in the Government is now untenable.

A spokesman for Mr Sunak said he retains full confidence in his energy minister, adding: He obviously has since clarified his position, hes spoken to the Chancellor about his views and hes been clear that he supports the Budget.

Asked whether the PM retains confidence in him, the spokesman added: Yes.

Mr Jack also weighed in, arguing: I dont think he will vote against the windfall tax extension. If you are a Government minister then you vote with the Government.

Douglas Ross, left, is said to have had a robust discussion about the proposal with Rishi Sunak, right, and Jeremy Hunt (PA)

It comes as the Chancellor conceded his decision to extend the windfall tax is difficult for his partys north east representatives.

He blamed the war in Ukraine for instability in the oil and gas sector, telling BBC Radio Scotlands Good Morning Scotland programme: Nothing has been stable in the world since Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine. That is the fundamental cause of instability.

He added that as high oil and gas prices had lasted longer than was anticipated at the start of the Ukraine war, energy firms are making additional profits they werent expecting to make.

The energy profits levy charges oil and gas companies an extra 35% tax on the money they make in the UK, with its extension expected to raise another 1.5 billion for the Treasury.

Mr Hunt said: I think it is a fair contribution given the scale of the unexpected profits they have had.

Asked directly if he had thrown Conservative MPs in the north-east of Scotland under a bus, the Chancellor said: No, but added: I appreciate it was a difficult decision for them.

He said the UK Government still strongly supports the oil and gas industry, and added: I also had to be fair looking at the public finances, looking at the fact that I have spent, taxpayers have spent, 94 billion in cost-of-living support, helping pay around half peoples electricity bills over the last winter, and reflecting the fact that because high oil and gas prices have lasted longer than was anticipated at the start of the Ukraine war, they are making additional profits they werent expecting to make.

He insisted it is the right thing for all the country.
Reaction to Chancellor Jeremy Hunts Budget dominates the front pages of Britains newspapers on Thursday.

The Daily Telegraph, The Independent and Daily Mail report on the Chancellors ambition to abolish National Insurance.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

The Financial Times says Mr Hunt has left the door open to more tax cuts.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

The Budget has drawn up the battle lines for the election, according to the Metro, while the Daily Mirror voices its displeasure with Mr Hunts proposals, saying we deserve better.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

In contrast, the Daily Express says Britain is ready for take off while The Times relays words from Mr Hunt who said were turning the corner.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

The Budget was a last desperate act according to The Guardian, while the i reports Labour will rule out taxing the wealthy to plug the 20 billion hole in Britains public spending.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

In other news, The Sun says the Duke of Sussexs pants sold for nearly 200,000.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

And the Daily Star says men who eat fatty foods like a full English breakfast are more attractive to women.
French police officers carry a piece of debris from a plane in Saint-Andre, Reunion Island. Experts have confirmed that the debris was that of Malaysian Airlines flight 370

As the families of those onboard mark the anniversary, the search for answers continues.

On Sunday, Malaysias government said it may renew the hunt after an American marine robotics company, which tried to find the plane in 2018, proposed a fresh search, expanding from the site it initially scoured. Respected aviation security expert Philip Baum has offered five possible scenarios that he believes are most likely. Here, each is evaluated.

Pilot-assisted suicide

Many people have focused on the aircrafts commander, Captain Zaharie Shah. He was aged 53 when he took the controls of MH370 and departed from Kuala Lumpur, heading to Beijing. In his care were 227 passengers and 11 other crew members.

A common theory is that Captain Shah locked the first officer out of the flight deck; that he switched off the communications systems that were designed to keep MH370 in touch with air traffic controllers, donned an oxygen mask and depressurised the aircraft. At an altitude higher than Everest, the passengers and other crew would soon perish from oxygen deficiency (hypoxia).

The captain then, the theory goes, flew the aircraft along the frontier between Thailand and Malaysia to avoid raising the interest of the military on either side, before turning south to a location where he believed it would never be found.

However, the official report says: There was no known history of apathy, anxiety or irritability. There were no significant changes in his lifestyle, interpersonal conflict or family stresses.

The first officer was Fariq Abdul Hamid (27). He was on his first Boeing 777 mission without a training captain overseeing him and had flown the aircraft only five times before.

The investigators said his ability and professional approach to work was reported to be good.

It seems unlikely that someone with such limited experience of the aircraft would be able to pull off such a plan.

While there have been a number of crashes perpetrated by suicidal pilots  most recently the tragic destruction of Germanwings flight 9525 from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, in which the first officer killed himself and 150 others  never has the subsequent crash been so delayed from the moment of seizure.

A relative of a passenger onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 cries at Lidu Hotel on March 8, 2014 in Beijing, China

Hijacking by the pilot with the intention of landing, surviving and escaping

While it is difficult to find any precedent for this theory, it is feasible that one of the pilots intended to land or ditch the aircraft in a survivable state but bungled it and was incapacitated by hypoxia along with the others onboard.

Yet it is difficult to conceive of a possible motive for such an audacious mission.

Besides, the investigators concluded: There is no evidence to suggest that the PIC [pilot in command, ie captain] and FO [first officer] experienced recent changes or difficulties in personal relationships or that there were any conflicts or problems between them. There had been no financial stress or impending insolvency, recent or additional insurance coverage purchased or recent behavioural changes for the crew.

The investigators also analysed both pilots radio conversations and say they detected no evidence of anxiety or stress.

In addition, the final report notes: It is not possible to deactivate automatic deployment of the masks from the cockpit.

The oxygen masks are set automatically to drop in the event of a severe fall in cabin pressure, which would have given the passengers and crew some time to try to communicate with the ground.

Hijacked by a passenger or member of cabin crew

Given the large number of passengers onboard, as well as 10 cabin crew, there is a wide range of possible motives.

Standard aviation security measures were in place at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. As the tragic events of 9/11 showed, the fact of having passed through a checkpoint does not mean that the passenger poses no threat to the aircraft and the people onboard.

There were a total of 227 passengers (including three children and two infants) on board, with the majority of them from China, followed by Malaysia.

Two Iranian passengers were travelling on passports stolen from an Italian and an Austrian respectively, but they appear to have been illegal migrants who were keen to reach the West rather than harbouring any malicious intent.

All 10 members of cabin crew were married with children, which some have said implies they were unlikely to have hijacked the aircraft.

Hijacked remotely in a sophisticated act of cyberterrorism

This is where feasible theories and unfeasible conspiracy theories begin to converge. In 2003, Boeing took out a Patent on Remote Control Take-over of Aircraft, designed to foil hijack attempts. The uninterruptible autopilot envisioned by the patent could be activated, either by pilots, onboard sensors or remotely via radio or satellite links by the airline or government agencies if there were attempts to forcibly gain control of the cockpit.

This system once activated would disallow pilot inputs and prevent anyone onboard from interrupting the automatic takeover. Thus, the personnel onboard could not be forced into carrying out the demands of any unauthorised person(s).

The converse is that criminals on the ground might be enabled by such technology to take over the aircraft.

But the aircraft maker told investigators: Boeing has confirmed that it has not implemented the patented system or any other technology to remotely pilot a commercial aircraft and is not aware of any Boeing commercial aircraft that has incorporated such technology.

The report concludes: There is no evidence to support the belief that control of the aircraft 9M-MRO (operating as MH370) could have been or was taken over remotely as the technology was not implemented on commercial aircraft.

Seized by a stowaway

Could someone have boarded the aircraft prior to the passengers and crew, either in a suicidal mission or with the intention of landing at, say, Christmas Island, 1,000 miles northwest of Western Australia?

This is a theory that Philip Baum sees as second-most likely after pilot suicide. He has demonstrated that there is an underfloor area just outside the flight deck door which could conceal a person. Such a stowaway could also deactivate the transponder, making the aircraft disappear.

There are many cases in aviation of ex-employees with a grudge targeting airlines. It is possible that such an individual was responsible.

But there are many arguments against such a scenario, and the probability seems extremely low.

The perpetrator would need to have had access to the aircraft before it was readied for departure from Kuala Lumpur.

They would need to have overcome the cabin crew, 227 passengers and two pilots to take over the aircraft. And they would need not to be missed when they disappeared at the same time as MH370.

In addition, it is difficult to come up with a motive. No terrorist group has come up with a serious claim to have taken control of MH370 for political or propaganda purposes.

Only if and when the aircraft is found can these theories be tested.
Video

Irish premier tells Biden: It is possible to be for Israel and for Palestine
The SEC approved a rule mandating certain public companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks. The directive was revised last minute due to resistance from companies.

This regulation was highly anticipated in recent years by the nation's leading financial regulatory body, receiving over 24,000 comments from various stakeholders during a two-year period. This development aligns the US more closely with the European Union and California, both of which had already implemented corporate climate disclosure regulations, as per AP News.

SEC Approves Climate Disclosure Rule

With a close 3-2 vote, the SEC approved a new climate disclosure rule that mandates publicly traded companies to enhance their financial statements by including information about the risks linked to climate change. The ruling was divided based on political affiliations, as three commissioners from one party backed the rule while two from the other party opposed it.

The version that was approved and made public on Wednesday was a milder form of the previous draft. Reporters were briefed on the changes before commissioners discussed the issue. The finalized rule no longer includes the need for companies to disclose Scope 3 emissions, which are indirect emissions that happen along the supply chain or during consumer product usage.

Stakeholders, including companies and business groups, vehemently opposed the inclusion of Scope 3 emissions when the SEC initially proposed the rule two years ago. They argued that quantifying such emissions would be challenging, especially when dealing with international suppliers or private entities.

In order to solve these issues, the SEC deleted Scope 3 and said it evaluated stakeholder feedback. Environmentalists and transparency supporters stated that Scope 3 emissions constitute a large part of a company's carbon footprint, and many companies measure them.

Democratic Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw, while voting for the rule's passage, criticized it as a "bare minimum" lacking crucial disclosures. She emphasized the importance of Scope 3 emissions as a key metric for investors in understanding climate risk, noting that investors are increasingly using such information for decision-making, according to Time.

Read Also: Israel's Dilemma: Save Remaining Hostages or Eradicate Hamas

SEC Commissioner Criticizes New Rule

On the other side, Republican Commissioner Hester Peirce, who opposed the rule, argued that it would impose excessive burdens and expenses on companies, leading to inconsistent and overwhelming information for investors.

The final regulation further simplifies Scope 1 and 2 emission reporting. Companies are now only required to report emissions if they are "material" to investors, giving them freedom to decide whether to disclose. Small and growing firms are excluded from emissions reporting.

Hana Vizcarra, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, criticized the SEC for endorsing incomplete disclosures by dropping Scope 3 requirements, exposing investors to risks.

The rule's impact extends to a wide array of publicly traded companies in the US, from retail and tech giants to oil and gas majors. Required disclosures will encompass the expected costs of transitioning away from fossil fuels and risks related to climate-related events.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler defended the regulation, saying many firms offer such information and investors use it. However, Republicans and industry groups accused Gensler of overreach, wondering if the SEC exceeded its jurisdiction.

The SEC expects 2,800 US and 540 international corporations with US operations to provide climate data. Large corporations must report emissions for fiscal year 2026, while smaller companies will submit some information for 2027, eliminating emissions.

The controversy surrounding the rule is expected to persist, with legal challenges anticipated. While some argue that the SEC may be acting beyond its statutory authority, others believe that the modifications, including the removal of Scope 3 requirements, fall within the agency's existing powers, The Washington Post reported.

Related Article: WFP: UN Trucks Carrying Aid for Northern Gaza Blocked by Israeli Forces
Politicians in Northern Ireland have a history of making a song and dance about the Irish language.

But the DUP Education Minister cut through previous controversies to provide what could be a changing of attitude  that education, no matter what sector a child is schooled within, should be supported if we are to move forwards.

A visit to an Irish medium school in Dungannon was a joyous affair filled with singing, dancing and culture.

Watch: DUP Education Minister Paul Givan Ceili dancing during visit to Irish language school

And while Paul Givan is still enjoying a honeymoon period one month into office there was still a serious message underneath which no ceili dance routine can hide.

The right words are being said but there are still serious questions looming on the horizon. They will need answered once the music has faded.

For now the mood remains upbeat. But Gaelscoil Aodha Rua in Dungannon is not unique in desperately needing a new build.

Whether the minister can deliver on his ambitions  not yet promises  depends on receiving the necessary funding.
Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo speaks about the planned new capital city Nusantara during Ecosperity Week in Singapore June 7, 2023.

The United States on Thursday announced a $2.49 million (38.9 billion rupiah) grant to help Indonesia make its new capital a smart city, marking Washingtons first participation in the project to relocate the Southeast Asian nations capital to East Kalimantan from Jakarta.

Meanwhile, a news report this week noted that China was one of the top four potential foreign investors, with an Indonesian official saying on Thursday that a Chinese consortium would soon be a lead bidder for a large residential project in the new capital.

The U.S. announcement is seen as an effort to counter the growing regional influence of rival superpower China, which has made significant investments in Indonesia, especially in infrastructure and technology.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency is here to support Indonesias efforts to build a world-class new capital city, agency Director Enoh T. Ebong said during a business forum in Jakarta. This partnership allows us to share cutting-edge technology and expertise to develop sustainable infrastructure that will benefit the people of Indonesia.

The forum brought together 200 government officials and business leaders from both countries to explore collaboration on the new capital project.

U.S. Trade and Development Agency Director Enoh T. Ebong (left) greets Nusantara National Capital Authority Chairman Bambang Susantono during a news conference to announce a $2.49 million grant for the new capital city project, March 7, 2024. [Photo courtesy U.S. Embassy in Jakarta]

The $33 billion project announced by President Joko Jokowi Widodo in 2019 aims to relocate the administrative and political center of the country from Jakarta, a sprawling and congested metropolis of 10 million people, to a new site in East Kalimantan, a province on Borneo island.

The new capital, which will be called Nusantara, would cover 260,000 hectares, or about 1,000 square miles, and would be designed to be green, resilient and smart by using advanced technologies, according to the government.

Basic infrastructure construction including roads, dams, bridges and government buildings, began in 2021 and is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The government hopes to relocate about 1,800 civil servants to Nusantara by August, two months before Jokowis second and final term ends.

The entire project is expected to be complete by 2045.

The Nusantara Capital Authority, the agency in charge of the project, will also seek international partnerships to support the projects technological and financial needs, chairman Bambang Susantono said.

We need their expertise to develop a smart, resilient, and sustainable capital city. The United States is a champion in technology, Bambang told reporters.

Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a memorandum of understanding related to the project.

Consortiums of Chinese and Malaysian companies are expected to start working on housing projects this year, according to Agung Wicaksono, an authority deputy for funding and investment.

He told BenarNews that the Ministry of Finance was reviewing feasibility studies of investment projects valued at about 40 trillion rupiah ($2.56 billion).

Top four investors

Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and China were the top four countries that had expressed interest in investing in the new city, according to Voice of America, citing the capital authority.

The U.S. Trade and Development agency said it had conducted training workshops for Indonesian officials on best practices in project management and international procurement of goods and services.

In February, the agency invited a delegation of Indonesian procurement officials to visit and exchange information with their U.S. counterparts about innovative models for city management.

Trucks are seen near a palm oil plantation at a village located near Indonesias projected new capital, known as Nusantara National Capital, in Sepaku, East Kalimantan province, Indonesia, March 8 2023. [Willy Kurniawan/Reuters]

Andry Satrio Nugroho, an analyst at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance, a Jakarta think-tank, said the U.S. involvement was aimed at countering Chinas influence.

China not dominating investment would be preferable. I hope the U.S. will also participate, he said. Chinas investment in Indonesia is much bigger than that of the U.S.

The political situation in Indonesia could affect investments, he said, pointing to election results showing that Prabowo Subianto, the defense minister, is expected to succeed Jokowi as president.

Investors are still watching the policies that may be reviewed, changed or maintained by the new administration, he said.

Some analysts have questioned the feasibility and rationale for constructing a new capital city, citing the environmental and social impacts along with a lack of public consultation.

Yayat Supriyatna, an urban analyst at Trisakti University in Jakarta, called the 2045 target date unrealistic because the city would lack basic amenities.

Its not feasible. The priority is to make the city livable. The first thing to do is to build public transportation, electric buses and highways, he said.
Malaysias leader warned on Thursday that any actions to impede the economic rise of China would upset Beijing enough that it would heighten tensions in the region.

Alluding to increasing Chinese assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea  most of which Beijing claims  Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim added that allowing a country to grow doesnt mean ignoring its violations of international law.

In Chinas eyes, hostile reactions to its rise represent nothing less than an attempt to deny their legitimate place in history , Anwar said during a speech at the Australian National University in Canberra.

The obstacles being placed against Chinas economic and technological advancement will only further accentuate such grievances.

Southeast Asia and the Pacific region have seen tensions rise in recent years as the United States attempts to counter Chinas influence there.

The South China Sea has also become a theater for big-power rivalry, as Washington has accused Beijing of undermining freedom of navigation.

However, according to Anwar, how countries respond to Chinas economic and technological advancement will determine whether detente or discord characterize Southeast Asia.

What countries should show, he said, is a measure of empathy; to put ourselves in their shoes; to see how others see us, Anwar said in the address.

The prime ministers speech was headlined Navigating geopolitical currents: Malaysia and Australias role in the Asia-Pacific.

He delivered the speech in the Australian federal capital after a three-day special ASEAN-Australia summit in Melbourne, where the main topics of discussion were the South China Sea and Israel-Hamas war.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (left) meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, March 31, 2023. [Photo courtesy Malaysian Prime Ministers Office]

While speaking about Chinas rise and attempts to impede that advancement, the Malaysian PM did not mention which countries were taking such actions.

However, earlier this week, he reiterated a comment he made last month about how the United States and the West were displaying China-phobia.

At a press conference on Monday, he was asked why he made that accusation in an interview with a British daily last month.

His answer was indicative of the pressure that Southeast Asias countries are under to remain neutral as Washington and Beijing try to one-up each other in the region.

Anwar said Malaysia is often criticized for what some Western countries believe is its slight tilt toward China.

[M]y reference to China-phobia is because [against] the criticism levied against us for giving additional focus to China  my response is  right now China seems to be the leading investor, in Malaysia, Anwar said.

Being a friend with the U.S. or Europe doesnt preclude Malaysia from being a friend to its neighbor China as well, he said.

And if they have problems with China, they should not impose it upon us. We do not have a problem with China. So, thats why I referred to the issue of China-phobia in the West, he said.

Washington Consensus is gradually eroding

Anwar wasnt done criticizing the U.S. or the West.

In his speech in Canberra, he noted that changes brought about by phenomena such as globalization had altered U.S. foreign policy, and not positively.

Globalization did not work for the U.S. as it did for Asias workers, and long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have taken a toll on Americans, Anwar said.

The upshot is a preference for leaders who are more transactional with the rest of the world  those who profess to put America first, he said.

Anwar said the world must also recognize that the Washington Consensus is gradually eroding, if [it has] not altogether disappeared.

He was referring to a set of market-oriented policies for the developing world that global financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund support.

We should therefore not be surprised when forums such as BRICS start to gain purchase. If one avenue for asserting new realities is impeded, others will take its place, he said.

BRICS is an intergovernmental organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.

Accordingly, we should not take for granted that Western perspectives on the future world order would be embraced universally. There is growing impatience with how global institutions are failing to reform themselves, Anwar said.

Chinese official appreciates Anwars comments

The Malaysian PMs recent comments have not gone unnoticed by Chinese officials, with Zheng Xuefang, minister at the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia, expressing his appreciation on Wednesday.

The development of China is an opportunity for the world rather than a threat to anyone, Bernama, the Malaysian state-run news agency, quoted him as saying during a visit to its offices in Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile in China, Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday emphasized the importance of economic diplomacy.

China cannot develop without the world, and the world cannot develop without China, he told reporters after the second session of the 14th National Peoples Congress, according to a statement on the foreign ministry website.

Badmouthing China will definitely backfire on itself, and misjudging China will [lead to] miss opportunities, he said.

A woman walks with the national flags of the United States and China ahead of the arrival of Chinese President Xi Jinping near the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit headquarters in San Francisco, Calif., Nov. 14, 2023. [Loren Elliott/AFP]

Brave talk from Anwar, but Malaysia needs to be careful it doesnt become overly dependent on China in trade and economy, said Chong Yew Keat, a foreign affairs analyst at University Malaya.

That could create long-term risks to Malaysias economic and security fundamentals, Chong said, noting that China has been Malaysias largest trading partner over the last 14 years.

Malaysia is in critical need of Beijings investments in key areas, such as local transportation, property, 5G, artificial intelligence and green energy.

After a state visit to China last April, Anwar said he had received commitments of nearly U.S. $39 billion in new investment.

Chong also expressed concerns about Malaysias approach in the South China Sea dispute, especially its oil and gas reserves in its exclusive economic zone.

China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, including waters within the EEZs of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.

Malaysia will need to unwaveringly stand up to the steadfast protection of the rules-based order based on international law and norms and ensure a free and open navigation and a free and open Indo-Pacific, Chong told BenarNews.

As a maritime trading nation where [Malaysias] economic survival depends overwhelmingly on maritime trade, Malaysia and the region cannot afford to  to repackage the notion of a free, open, and rules based regional order according to different non-Western interpretations, to justify the call for the exclusion of Western powers presence or interference in this region.
Chinese Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons towards Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024.

China has protested against the passage by the Philippine Congress of a draft law on maritime zones in the South China Sea.

On Feb. 26, the Senate passed the Maritime Zones Act, after the House of Representatives had passed a similar bill last May. The proposed law defines Philippine maritime zones in line with the 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that invalidated Chinas sweeping claims in the South China Sea.

Six parties claim parts of the South China Sea but Beijings claim, visualized by the so-called nine-dash line, encircles almost 90% of the waterway including all the islands and reefs within the lines boundaries.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing that the act has attempted to further enforce the illegal arbitral award on the South China Sea by domestic legislation.

She said that the act severely violates Chinas territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea by including Scarborough Shoal, which is called Huangyan Dao in China, most islands and reefs of the Spratly archipelago (Nansha Qundao in Chinese), and their adjacent waters into its maritime zones.

China firmly opposes it and has lodged solemn demarches to the Philippines, the spokeswoman said.

Mao made scathing remarks about the 2016 arbitration ruling which, she said, Manila had unilaterally initiated without the Chinese governments prior consent and was therefore deemed illegal by Beijing.

China neither accepts nor participates in that arbitration, neither accepts nor recognizes the award, and will never accept any claim or action arising from the award, she reiterated.

Significant law

Tensions have been rising between Beijing and Manila over Scarborough Shoal and the Second Thomas Shoal  two of the disputed reefs that lie within the Philippines exclusive economic zone (EEZ), also known as the West Philippine Sea.

By international law, an EEZ gives a state exclusive access to the natural resources in the waters and seabed.

On Tuesday, Manila said that four Filipino crew members were injured when China Coast Guard ships used water cannons to block Philippine vessels taking supplies to a military outpost at the Second Thomas Shoal, known as Ayungin in the Philippines.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said afterwards that the event was alarming and that we cannot view this in any way but the most serious way.

Jonathan Malaya, Assistant Director General of the Philippine National Security Council, spoke to RFA in his office in Manila on March 4, 2024. [Jojo Rinoza/BenarNews]

Since the news emerged about the passage of the Maritime Zones Act, there have been comments from some columnists or opinion makers from other countries criticizing it, said Jonathan Malaya, assistant director general of the Philippine National Security Council, not referring directly to Mao Nings statement.

But this is a sovereign act of the Philippines, Malaya said, It doesnt matter what other countries say.

The significance of this law is that it implements in domestic legislation the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, the senior official told Radio Free Asia (RFA).

Its important for the Philippines to enshrine this decision in domestic law which further strengthens our legal position in territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea, he added.

The two versions of the bill, by the two chambers of the Philippine Congress, will now be reconciled before being sent to President Marcos who would then sign the bill into law.

This is part of a wider national strategy for the West Philippine Sea, a vital step of protecting the sovereign rights of the Philippines by ensuring that international maritime law is synchronized with domestic law, said Aries Arugay, a visiting senior fellow at the ISEAS Yusof-Ishak Institute in Singapore.

After the law on maritime zones, lawmakers are likely to propose a bill on archipelagic sea lanes, and even an anti-foreign interference bill, according to the political scientist.

Half of the Senate will be up for grabs [in an election] next year, said Arugay. Our legislators now think that taking a more pro-Philippines assertive stance in the West Philippine Sea may get them re-elected.

Before, foreign policy issues have never been electoral issues but while some Filipinos may think this is an issue far from their daily lives, when they see the high prices of fish they can immediately connect that with the inability of fishermen to get fish in the South China Sea, he explained.

So the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea can be, if it isnt already, a gut issue for many Filipinos.

Radio Free Asia, a news service affiliated with BenarNews, produced this report.
This handout photograph released by the Indian Navy shows efforts to rescue crew members of a Barbados-flagged M/V True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden following a Houthi missile attack, March 6, 2024.

Two Filipino sailors were killed and three others were injured in the first-known missile attack by Houthi rebels on a bulk carrier navigating the Gulf of Aden, the Philippine government confirmed Thursday.

The missile strike on Wednesday marked the latest attack by the Yemen-based insurgents who have been targeting international shipping in recent months to retaliate for the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip.

The M/V True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier, was hit by the missile about 50 nautical miles southwest of Aden, a port city in Yemen. The ship was carrying steel products and trucks to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Aqaba, Jordan, from China.

With great sadness, the DMW confirms the deaths of two Filipino seafarers in the most recent attack by Houthi rebels on ships plying the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the Philippines Department of Migrant Workers said in a Facebook post.

A third crew member, identified as a Vietnamese, was killed in the attack.

In a later post, the DMW reported the three who were injured were in stable condition at a hospital in Djibouti City, while 10 others were safe and being housed at a hotel there.

We welcome the report that our seafarers are safe and secure, away from the dangers they faced yesterday, said Hans Leo J. Cacdac, the departments officer-in-charge, according to the post. I had a video call with all 10 Filipino crew members in a Djibouti hotel and attest to their safety.

Media reports said the True Confidence was targeted after the crew, including Vietnamese, Sri Lankans, an Indian and a Nepali national, had rejected warning messages.

Washington, a close ally of both the Philippines and Israel, blamed the Iran-backed Houthi rebels for the attack.

The United States will continue to hold the Houthis accountable for their attacks, which have not just disrupted international commerce, not just disrupted the freedom of navigation in international waters, and not just endangered seafarers, but now, tragically, killed a number of them, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Wednesday.

This handout photograph released by the Indian Navy shows the M/V True Confidence burning in the Gulf of Aden after a missile attack, March 6, 2024. [Indian Navy handout/AFP]

The Houthis have launched a series of drone and missile strikes targeting Israel in solidarity with the Hamas fighters Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack that killed about 1,100 people, including about 700 civilians.

In January, 18 Filipino crew members serving on the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker ST Nikolas were detained when Tehran seized it in the Gulf of Oman, the DMW said. At the time, the Iranian Embassy in Manila had promised to help free the 18, adding they were safe.

Authorities said the 18 remain detained by Tehran.

Support for sailors, families

On Thursday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. offered the governments support for the crew of the True Confidence.

On the direction of the president, the DMW is extending the fullest support and assistance to the families of our seafarers. The DMW has coordinated with the principal ship owner and manning agency to work on the repatriation of the remaining Filipino crew members, the agency said.

It reiterated its call for ship owners to avoid high-risk areas, especially the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea where Houthi rebels have concentrated their maritime attacks.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez paid tribute to the crew.

Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones of the Filipino seafarers who lost their lives in this senseless and tragic attack. Their dedication and sacrifices while serving aboard the M/V True Confidence will always be remembered and honored, he said in a press statement.

The Philippines supplies many of the worlds seafarers  about 40,000  who are among the countrys 10 million expatriate workforce. Overseas workers employed as maids, construction workers and in maritime industries support the nations economy by sending money back to their families.

A third incident involving Filipino sailors occurred late last year when 17 aboard the Galaxy Leader cargo ship were taken captive on Nov. 19, 2023, by Houthi rebels in the southern Red Sea following a helicopter-borne attack. The rebels continue to hold the Filipinos and other crew members.

Gerard Carreon in Manila contributed to this report.
Participants take part in the Myanmar seminar hosted by the Thai Parliament on March 2, 2024.

The Thai Parliaments decision to invite exiled members of Myanmars opposition to a seminar on the countrys political crisis signals a shift in Bangkoks approach towards its war-torn neighbor, analysts say.

The meeting, which was organized by the opposition Move Forward Party and held at Parliament House in Bangkok last weekend, focused on democracy and security issues along the shared border between the two countries.

Attendees also discussed humanitarian aid to Myanmar, which has been mired in conflict since a military coup in February 2021 ousted a civilian government.

Speakers included Zin Mar Aung, the foreign minister of Myanmars shadow National Unity Government; United Nations Special Representative for Human Rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews; and the permanent representative of Myanmar to the U.N. in New York, Kyaw Moe Tun.

Leaders of Myanmars minority ethnic groups, civil society organizations and student union leaders also attended the seminar. No representatives from Myanmars government were present.

Meetings of this nature have never occurred, nor would they have under the [Prayuth Chan-o-cha] government, due to concerns about losing some special ties with Myanmars military government, Dr. Lalita Hanwong, a historian at Kasetsart University and advisor to the Thai government on national security issues, told BenarNews.

She said the seminar showed that the Thai government might be planning for the various scenarios that could unfold in Myanmar, such as the country fragmenting into factions.

Its crucial to assess the direction of Thailand's relationship with the ethnic minority groups, she said.

The event held on March 2-3 angered the military junta, which sent a letter to Thailands Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying it had tarnished Thai-Myanmar ties.

Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara inspects a customs checkpoint near the border with Myanmar, in Mae Sot, Thailand, Feb. 8, 2024. [AP]

Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara was scheduled to give a keynote speech, but canceled at the last minute without explanation.

We have no comment on this matter because the Thai foreign ministry was not the event co-organizer, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Radio Free Asia, an affiliate of BenarNews, on Thursday.

Thailand has taken a more proactive and coherent approach towards Myanmar under Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, whose government came to power last September.

The government's first major initiative is opening a humanitarian corridor on the Thai-Myanmar border in March, with the aim of providing food and medicine to displaced populations.

Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) unanimously endorsed the plan in January and it also has the support of the United States.

But the humanitarian corridor is facing skepticism from experts and aid workers, who say its limited scope and lack of engagement with ethnic minority forces means it is unlikely to have much impact.

On Thursday, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink said the U.S. wanted to work closely with Thailand to ensure regional security and prosperity.

I praised in great detail and repeatedly the Thai governments ongoing and long-standing efforts to support refugees who have fled violence in Myanmar and the more recent efforts by Prime Minister Sretthas government, in the ASEAN context, to again increase the humanitarian assistance across the border, he said in a teleconference.

A camp for internally displaced people in Myanmar is seen across the Moei river from Mae Sot in western Thailand, Feb. 8, 2024. [AP]

Thailands government has maintained strong relations with Myanmars junta, officially known as the Military Council, since the February 2021 coup.

But the fact that a seminar was held in Parliament may point to a shift in stance in the Thai government, according to a former Burmese military officer who is now a political analyst, who requested anonymity for security reasons.

It is undeniable that the current Military Council regime is facing defeats on the battlefield, their credibility has declined, and now the democracy activists have been invited for discussions, he said.

Rangsiman Rome, head of the lower house committee that organized the seminar, said he hoped the meeting would pave the way for a peaceful and sustainable solution to the Myanmar crisis, Reuters reported.

After the seminar, former Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat wrote on X that members of the Thai Parliament would continue to closely monitor the politics of Myanmar.

A peaceful, democratic Myanmar is in harmony with Thailand's national interests, so we will regulate and support Thailands policies related to Myanmar through the legislative authority we have, he wrote.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre asserts that President Joe Biden is prepared for any situation, even dealing with hecklers

During Wednesday's briefing, Jean-Pierre was questioned about Biden's readiness for potential hecklers during the State of the Union, as per Fox News.

Biden's State of the Union Amid Political Tensions

The White House and the Biden campaign used parts of the president's reaction to Republican members' disrespectful behavior during his 2023 address to Congress. President Biden has received accolades for managing these matters independently and ensuring their responsibility for crucial programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

This year's State of the Union deal coincides with Super Tuesday and former President Donald Trump's increasing delegate count for the 2024 Republican nomination.

The President is urging legislators to pass spending bills, allocate funding for Ukraine, and address a border crisis. The proposals are currently held up in the Republican-led House of Representatives, where Speaker Mike Johnson is working to navigate a very slim majority. Regarding Ukraine and immigration, the upcoming election is a popular matter, as Donald Trump is encouraging lawmakers to prevent any action, while Joe Biden's opponent is all but approved.

Leading up to this moment, Biden has been preparing campaign themes for the fall through his speeches. During February, an analysis by NPR looked into four speeches by Biden and noted his consistent use of the word "freedom" to outline his agenda across various topics.

Democrats aim to leverage the concept to push back against Trump, whom they see as a danger to democracy following his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. Trump also had a major effect on changing the right to abortion, an issue that Democrats feel most voters support, according to Washington Examiner.

Read Also: National Transportation Chair Slams Boeing's Lack of Cooperation in Mid Air Emergency Probe

Biden's Unifying 'Freedom Agenda'

The "freedom agenda" is a plan to solve an ongoing deficiency in the Democratic Party. This is due to the reality that Democrats have frequently been able to point to polling that indicates the public prefers their policies, yet they continue to lose certain voters who prefer the attitudes and cultural signals of the Republican Party.

As a means of addressing a persistent weakness within the Democratic Party, Vice President Biden is attempting to incorporate a wide range of concerns into a unified concept.

Biden has been failed in trying to mediate a cease-fire that would last for an extended period of time; however, he will at least provide a shift in speech on Thursday night. Jeff Zients, his chief of staff, told National Public Radio that he will devote a substantial amount of time to discussing the large number of innocent people who have been killed in Gaza.

The fitness of the president himself is far more important than any other problem, since Democrats have publicly stated their concern that the president, who is 81 years old, is considered to be too old to run for office again.

During his talk in 2023, Biden encountered similar fear, but he was able to overcome it by engaging in a joyful exchange of words with hecklers from the Republican side of Congress, WUWM reported.

Related Article: Biden Challenger Rep. Dean Phillips Exits Primary, Endorses President For Re-Election
Bennington, VT (05201)

Today

More clouds than sun. A few flurries or snow showers possible. High around 40F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Occasional snow showers. Low 28F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 50%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
Bennington, VT (05201)

Today

Mainly cloudy with snow showers around this morning. High near 40F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 50%..

Tonight

Occasional snow showers. Low 28F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 50%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
THE KILLING OF REYMON DELACRUZ-BATISTA

A man accused in the Pittsfield State Forest murder case wants to be moved from a Boston jail before trial
HK textbooks on territorial sovereignty should meet national standards: education association chief

11:13, March 07, 2024 By Chen Qingqing and Bai Yunyi ( Global Times

A cross-border student in Hong Kong had a page depicting a map of China in a Hong Kong-published Chinese history textbook page torn out by mainland customs while crossing the border, local media HK01.com reported on Wednesday. "The map referred to the Diaoyu Islands as 'Diaoyutai' and did not display the 'ten-dash line' in the South China Sea," the media report said.

In response to the incident, Wong Kam-leung, a deputy of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to the National People's Congress who is also the chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers (HKFEW), told the Global Times on Wednesday that it shows that Hong Kong still has room for improvement in its textbook approval process.

When it comes to content involving territory or sovereignty, Hong Kong's textbooks should align with the "national standards," he said.

The textbook in question is a Chinese history textbook published by Modern Educational Research Society, titled "Modern and Interesting Chinese History (Volume II)," according to the media report. Starting last week, the same page from this textbook belonging to other students was also removed by customs, the report said.

The removal of this page might be because the map printed on it violates Chinese law, such as referring to "Diaoyu Island" as "Diaoyutai." As of the press time, the publisher did not respond to the incident.

Wong told the Global Times that this incident indicates that more "check work" should be in place regarding content related to territory and sovereignty in Hong Kong's textbook approval process. The Education Bureau of the HKSAR should strengthen communication and establish clearer standards for the use of maps in textbooks.

"Hong Kong's textbooks, when involving important issues such as territorial sovereignty, should align with national standards," he stressed.

For the past two years, Wong said that he has been suggesting that Hong Kong should establish an education system that is compatible with One Country, Two Systems principle.

Textbooks involving the content at the national level in Hong Kong, such as significant issues concerning national history, should promote unified standards to avoid misleading errors and omissions. This is also necessary for Hong Kong to integrate into the country's overall development. In this regard, he also hoped that the country could provide more assistance to Hong Kong.

However, this does not mean that Hong Kong textbooks have to be identical to those on the Chinese mainland. Under the One Country, Two Systems, Hong Kong textbooks can have their unique features, which does not contradict aligning with the national standards on issues such as territorial sovereignty, Wong stressed.

The textbook "Modern and Interesting Chinese History (Volume II)" passed the review in 2020 and was listed in the Education Bureau's applicable book list for the 2023/24 academic year, according to the media report.

Following the incident, the Education Bureau responded that it had immediately contacted the relevant schools to gather relevant information and provide appropriate support. And the bureau said the map published in the textbook contains parts that are "inconsistent" with the map data shown on the 2023 edition of the standard map of China released by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Since the textbook was published years ago, the map data did not fully comply with the country's latest requirements for teaching maps, according to the reports.

The bureau said it will promptly notify the publishing house to update the map and will also notify other publishers to review published textbooks. If any outdated map data are found, appropriate follow-up actions must be taken.

The bureau also reiterated that Hong Kong textbooks are subject to a rigorous review mechanism and clear compilation guidelines, explaining how publishers should write textbooks to align with the aims of Hong Kong's school curriculum, providing Hong Kong students with high-quality learning and teaching resources.

Publishers are responsible for promptly correcting or clarifying any errors, outdated information, or areas for improvement in textbooks at any time.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
A woman from Indiana died suddenly last week while traveling back from a vacation in the Dominican Republic, shocking and upsetting her family and friends.

Authorities in Turks and Caicos are currently looking into the passing of Stefanie Smith, who was a passenger on the American Airlines flight from the Dominican Republic to North Carolina on Feb. 28.

Indiana Mom Suddenly Dies on Board American Airlines

Smith, 41, became unwell during the flight, leading to an emergency landing in Turks and Caicos. She was taken to a hospital and unfortunately passed away, according to the statement from the Turks and Caicos police, as per ABC News.

Her brother Chris Volz expressed how everyone is in shock and waiting for news, mentioning that there are still lots of unresolved issues. The IUPUI graduate worked as an X-ray technician at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, and her unexpected passing has deeply affected her friends and coworkers.

Kristina Swinney shared on Facebook, "I can't recall the last time I experienced heartache like this. Observing you gone today on my left has left me a mess, Stef. It's hard knowing you aren't coming back.Today's news has left us feeling shattered.

An online support has been defined to help her two teenage children, Coen and Macee, and has raised $78,000 as of Wednesday morning. Friends and colleagues expressed their profound sadness and appreciation for the effect that Stefanie Smith had on those around her. One individual at Memorial Hospital, Kristina Swinney, talked about the impact her friend had on those around her, including Swinney's two children who were the same age as her friend.

After the aircraft's arrival at Providenciales International Airport, first responders were on the ground. The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands provided more details in a statement posted on their Facebook page. A medical team and police units were dispatched, and the patient was transported to Cheshire Hall Medical Centre, where she died, according to Daily Mail.

Read Also: Elon Musk Says He is Staying out of Biden Trump Race: 'Not Donating to Either Candidate'

Who is Stefanie Smith?

Sister-in-law Stephanie Quinn described Smith as the only girl out of five siblings and the mother of two "beautiful children with big hearts and straight As."

Smith recently went through a divorce from husband Eric, the father of their two children. Coen and Macee are being took care for by their father and other relatives as they get around through their sorrow. Swinney expressed that the GoFundMe campaign is not going to relieve her pain. Moving forward, remember that your mother would want you to achieve your goals and continuously work towards becoming a better version of yourself.

According to Volz, his family was not aware of his sister having any pre-existing conditions before she traveled to the Caribbean on February 24. Upon receiving the news of her passing from his parents on Wednesday night, he was in shock, becoming as though time had slowed down.

Following the declaration made by the airline, the flight completed its route to Charlotte the next day. The passenger had been identified as the woman's sister-in-law by another online user on Facebook. In a post that she posted on Facebook in reaction to the police statement, Stephanie Quinn pleaded for her to be treated with respect as she traveled back to her house.

At first appear, it was not immediately clear if the mom who died had been traveling with her children or other members of her family, New York Times reported.

Related Article: FBI Hunts for Iranian Spy Who Allegedly Plots Assassination of Trump Allies, Other Officials
The town of Sandisfield wants to up the ante against Jennifer Pilbin, whose property has been condemned by the Board of Health and who has already been ordered by a Housing Court judge not to live at her property.

On Tuesday, Sandisfield Town Counsel Gregg Corbo filed an additional request with the Housing Court that goes one step further: To bar Pilbin from entering the property and subject her to arrest if she does. He did this to ensure that she and her mother don't continue to live on the property at 12 West Hubbard Road.

On Wednesday, Housing Court Judge Jeffrey Winik said he wouldn't rule on that request until after a hearing on it, which he set for March 13.

Im not going to push this on one days notice, Winik told Corbo. It was the second time Winik has held off ruling on short notice from a motion by Corbo.

Since she bought the property in 2019, Pilbin and her mother have lived in an RV/trailer there. Pilbin brought in bottled water; ran two gasoline-powered generators running cords across tree branches to power her living quarters; and used a self-composting toilet, dumping human waste in holes on the property.

In February, Winik, noting the grave and immediate threat to public safety and health, ordered Pilbin and her mother to vacate the property by Feb. 9.

At the upcoming hearing, the town of Sandisfield is expected to bring witnesses. Winik told Pilbin, who is acting as her own lawyer, that she is free to do the same. Winik also agreed to allow the town to conduct an inspection of her property on Monday.

Winik previously ordered weekly inspections of the property and had ordered Pilbin to pull all structures from it, as well as a generator. Pilbin would not permit inspectors to enter following an inspection on Feb. 16 citing personal illness. She said both she and her mother have had the flu.

Pilbin said she has been living in her uncles Connecticut home, but that house is expected to be sold following his death a month ago. She said they have also been staying at the Wagon Wheel Inn in Lenox.

Pilbin told The Eagle there is no certain closing date for her uncles house, and that the house has to be cleaned up and inspected before it is sold.

About a dozen people from Sandisfield attended Wednesdays hearing, including Steve Seddon, Select Board chair, and Jonathan Sylbert, town manager, as well as members of the Board of Health and the building inspector.

Others included neighbors of Pilbin who initially made complaints about the state of her property.

Pilbin told the judge she is working with a North Adams builder on a tiny house design for her property and is working on getting other permits, including for septic and electricity.

How am I supposed to build my house? Pilbin asked the judge.

He said she can now have access to the property for appointments with contractors and inspectors.

My concern is that you not use the property as a place for habitation, Winik told Pilbin. If you comply with my order, then you have the ability to have access to the property.

As of Feb. 22, there was a car on the property visible from the street, along with other structures.

Pilbin said theyre frozen in.

You have to let them look in all the structures, temporary or permanent, Winik told Pilbin. Youre not to interfere with them. Youre not to argue with them.

After the hearing, Pilbin told The Eagle, Im just in the process of getting the house all set.

Pilbin filed for personal bankruptcy Sept. 25. That case is still winding its way through court. A foreclosure sale of her property, which had been scheduled for Feb. 28 by States Resources Corp. of Omaha, Neb., which holds the mortgage, was paused by the active bankruptcy proceeding.

After the hearing, Seddon said, I think were just going to stay the course and hoping the judge considers it thoroughly at the next hearing.
Norman Rockwell's 1943 painting "Freedom of Speech." Part of his "Four Freedoms" series for The Saturday Evening Post, Rockwell chose a scene of local democracy at a New England-style town meeting to convey the importance of freedom of speech.
BillOReilly.com is not available in this country.



We apologize for any inconvenience.
Cancer Grand Challenges brings together 1,200 researchers and 16 teams from across the world to take on 13 challenges

Raipur-based Vedantas BALCO Medical Centre (BMC), an emerging leader in Indias oncology space, has achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first Indian co-researchers in a team to receive the prestigious Cancer Grand Challenges Award. This recognition, with a substantial $25 million grant for cancer research, underscores BMCs position as a pioneering institution in Indias oncology landscape. The recipient team PROSPECT, comprising of clinicians, advocates, and scientists from BALCO Medical Centre and other esteemed institutions around the world, will be addressing the critical issue of early-onset cancers challenge.

Team PROSPECT is one of five global teams being funded this year by Cancer Grand Challenges, which was founded in 2020 by Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute US, to invite diverse world-class research teams to come together, think differently and take on some of cancers toughest challenges. The teams will be funded by Cancer Research UK, the National Cancer Institute, the Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK and Institute National Du Cancer through Cancer Grand Challenges with a total investment of $125 million to tackle some of the toughest challenges in cancer research.

Dr Bhawna Sirohi, Medical Director at Vedanta Medical Research Foundation (BALCO Medical Centre) and the lead principal investigator for PROSPECT-India study, says The worrisome increase in colorectal cancers stresses the importance of early detection and lifestyle choices for prevention. Theres a dire need for cancer screening in high-risk areas to facilitate early diagnosis and prompt treatment, especially with the shifting demographics towards a younger population. This grant will speed up global cancer research, focusing on understanding the reasons behind the rise in early-onset colorectal cancer and strategies for prevention".

Image caption- Dr Bhawna Sirohi (Medical Director at Vedanta Medical Research Foundation (BALCO Medical Centre) and the lead principal investigator for PROSPECT-India study); Professor Andrew Chan (Co-team Lead, Daniel K. Podolsky Professor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital); Dr Yin Cao (Co-team Lead, Associate Professor of Surgery & Medicine. Washington University in St. Louis)
Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province and elsewhere in Saudi Arabia
The Alabama Legislature passed a finalized version of the Republican-proposed bill that seeks to protect in vitro fertilization (IVF) on Wednesday.

The development comes a few weeks after backlash resulting from the state Supreme Court ruling that embryos are considered children. The protection bill would not go to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey who has suggested that she would sign it.

IVF Protection Bill

In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, Ivey spokesperson Gina Miola said that they anticipate the IVF protection bill to receive its final passage very soon. She added that they were looking forward to the governor signing the measure into law.

The new legislation does not define or clarify whether under state law frozen embryos created via IVF have the same rights as children. Instead, the narrowly tailored bill would protect doctors, clinics, and other healthcare personnel who provide IVF treatment and services. This would be done by providing these workers with civil and criminal "immunity," as per NBC News.

The two identical bills in the state Senate and House would give civil and criminal immunity for death or damage to an embryo. This will be given to any individual or entity when providing or receiving services that are related to IVF.

Lawmakers argued that "no action, suit, or criminal prosecution for the damage to or death of an embryo shall be brought or maintained against any individual or entity" whenever they provide or receive services that are related to the IVF process.

On Tuesday, both chambers held debates on the issue and lawmakers removed the term "goods" from the phrase "goods or services" from the bills. This means that companies that provide items that are integral to the IVF process are still vulnerable to civil suits.

Despite the purported success of the bill's passage, experts argue that it would take a lot more work to protect fertility services in the state. The fertility clinic that was at the heart of the case has already stopped operations. It noted that the new legislation falls short of providing the legal protection that it needs to resume care services, according to CNN.

Read Also: Alabama Republicans Consider Giving Doctors Immunity Amid State's IVF Ruling

Alabama Supreme Court's Ruling

The Alabama Supreme Court's decision on embryos made it so that those who destroy them can be held liable for wrongful death. The ruling sparked a national reckoning with reproductive health freedom and access to IVF.

Three of the state's limited pool of IVF providers immediately decided to suspend operations and sent some families out of state to access treatment. They also raised concerns that costs for fertility services would significantly increase.

Patients from Alabama also shared their stories about having upcoming embryo transfers abruptly canceled and their paths to parenthood being placed into doubt. The sponsor of the latest bill, Republican state Sen. Tim Melson, said that his goal is to get the clinics operating once more and women going through their necessary treatments.

Lawmakers have pushed for the immunity proposal as a means to address the clinics' immediate concerns. However, they did not take up any legislation that would address the underlying issue of embryos being legally considered children, said CBS News.

Related Article: Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman Sues AG Letitia James Over Trans Athlete Ban
Israel's chief forensic pathologist, Dr Chen Kugel, helped pushed the atrocity propaganda hoax that Hamas "beheaded babies" on October 7th.



"This looks like another huge scoop from @zei_squirrel - Israel's chief forensic pathologist was personally involved in the notorious 'beheaded babies' hoax," The Intercept's Ryan Grim commented Tuesday on Twitter. "For a traumatized rescue worker to share a false memory or interpretation is understandable. For the top forensic expert to participate in a hoax like this is unforgivable."

This looks like another huge scoop from @zei_squirrel - Israels chief forensic pathologist was personally involved in the notorious beheaded babies hoax. For a traumatized rescue worker to share a false memory or interpretation is understandable. For the top forensic expert to https://t.co/fl8UIJQ0p3  Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) March 5, 2024



I've embedded Zei_Squirrel's thread in full below but you can also read it on Thread Reader.





BREAKING: Dr. Chen Kugel, Israel's chief forensic pathologist who heads its Abu Kabir Forensic Institute that handled all the bodies from October 7, said in early November that he personally saw "beheaded babies". But that is a proven lie, as Israel's own records have confirmed pic.twitter.com/6A1WYdDnpv   (@zei_squirrel) March 5, 2024

in another much cited piece from an Israeli propaganda outlet in early November detailing the supposedly scientific forensic pathology discoveries of Israels Abu Kabir Center of Forensic Medicine, it's head Dr. Chen Kugel repeats the false claim that he saw beheaded babies pic.twitter.com/a6LPu68rFo   (@zei_squirrel) March 5, 2024

in the same piece Dr. Nurit Bublil, head of Abu Kabirs DNA laboratory, is depicted with a seemingly blood-stained baby's mattress. She claims a "brutally disfigured" baby was killed, elsewhere saying the baby was stabbed. But again, records confirm no such baby exists pic.twitter.com/GQPnZj74dH   (@zei_squirrel) March 5, 2024

here's a report on Israel's Abu Kabir Center of Forensic Medicine's Dr. Nurit Bublil, the head of its DNA forensic pathology team, where she repeats the false claim about a baby being stabbed to death as part of her deranged evidence-free lurid fantasies about October 7 pic.twitter.com/ZZj0YHOfLY   (@zei_squirrel) March 5, 2024

Dr. Nurit Bublil, head of Israel's DNA forensic pathology team that worked on October 7 bodies, isn't just a liar who fabricates stabbed babies, she is also a genocidal maniac who makes up lurid fantasies of what Palestinian fighter supposedly did, and saying "they are not human" pic.twitter.com/NXhlnpNXUd   (@zei_squirrel) March 5, 2024

so we now have incontrovertible evidence that not only Zaka, Shari Mendes and other "volunteers" deliberately lied as part of the Israeli regime's atrocity propaganda push but also the heads of Israel's Forensic Pathology Center Chen Kugel and DNA team Nurit Bublil



It's over now   (@zei_squirrel) March 5, 2024

these are the institutions which prepared all the "information" not just for the Western media class to regurgitate uncritically but also the UN's Pramila Padden. And they're proven genocidal liars. Again, it's an elaborate ouroboros of atrocity propagandahttps://t.co/rXpT56cRUJ   (@zei_squirrel) March 5, 2024

here is Dr. Chen Kugel, Israel's chief forensic pathologist who handled all the October 7 bodies, doing an atrocity propaganda video together with other proven hoaxer Shari Mendes, who claimed to have seen a non-existent fetus ripped out of a womb. They're all in it together pic.twitter.com/tYf99Qwn4N   (@zei_squirrel) March 5, 2024

oh my god, it only gets worse. In 2014 the Israeli regime violently assaulted a senior Palestinian official, killing him. The regime handpicked Chen Kugel to do a whitewash, contradicting the conclusion of the Jordanian and Palestinian pathologists. And of course the NYT helped pic.twitter.com/WeEmuNMxgu   (@zei_squirrel) March 6, 2024

holy shit, Chen Kugel also testified for the defense in the killing of Tom Hurndall, a British citizen who was intentionally shot in the head by an Israeli sniper. Despite Kugel's best efforts to lie, he was convicted, which is incredibly rare in Israelhttps://t.co/0PVM6tvYAs pic.twitter.com/SCcdpowIaC   (@zei_squirrel) March 6, 2024

another lie told by Chen Kugel, Israel's chief forensic pathologist, is that the age of those killed on October 7 "spanned from 3 months to 90 years". But there was no 3 month old killed. The head of Israel's Forensic Pathology center is a deranged regime propagandist serial liar pic.twitter.com/KWPe3l7GmX   (@zei_squirrel) March 6, 2024

in this piece from 2013, Chen Kugel is identified as a "national security intelligence officer", because of course he is. This is the guy the media class turned into a Saint. A serial liar propagandist, and main source of all of the Israeli "scientific evidence" on October 7 pic.twitter.com/MSqWQbPA9o   (@zei_squirrel) March 6, 2024



The sheer amount of lies Israeli officials have put out since October 7th is astounding.



As I reported last week, they want to make it illegal to question their lies and jail people for not believing them.



Follow InformationLiberation on Twitter, Facebook, Gab, Minds and Telegram.
Gov. Hochul announced earlier today that 750 guardsmen and 250 law enforcement officers would be deployed across "the city's busiest transit stations" amid out-of-control violent crime.

"These brazen heinous attacks on our subway system will not be tolerated," the governor said, adding the Guardsmen are part of a new five-point plan to crack down on the city's crime wave.

She continued: "No one heading to their job or to visit family or go to a doctor appointment should worry that the person sitting next to them possesses a deadly weapon. They shouldn't worry about whether someone's going to brandish a knife or gun. That's what we're going to do with these checkpoints."

JUST IN: Violent crime is getting so bad in New York City subways that Gov. Kathy Hochul is deploying 1,000 total National Guardsmen, state police & MTA police to patrol them.



Liberal policies have consequences.



750 members of the National Guard and 250 state troopers will now pic.twitter.com/l6yn24CSN9  Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 6, 2024

What's puzzling - is if the only threats were violent criminals and migrants, why deploy the National Guard? The NYPD is fully capable of increasing its presence and flooding subway stations with officers. This raises the possibility that the threat is more significant than just migrants, potentially hinting at terrorism-related concerns.

It was only days ago when the Federal Bureau of Investigation released new information about a rogue Iranian intelligence officer planning assassination attempts on former and current US government officials.

Calling in the National Guard for civil disturbance doesn't make sense. This also suggests that whatever threat has spooked NY and NYC officials could be much greater than what the NYPD can handle.

The threat could be related to Iran and a possible upsurge in attack vectors during the US presidential election.
Judy Batalion spent twelve years researching her book

These were the so-called ghetto girls, the female Jewish resistance fighters of World War II brought to life in a recent talk given to the Bowdoin community by best-selling author and columnist Judy Batalion. Its a subject she explored in her 2022 book The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos.

The event was part of the Bowdoin College Holocaust Education Lecture Series, launched last year.

In a sometimes-emotional address, Batalion acknowledged she was giving the talk in the present-day context of the unfathomable upsurge in antisemitism here in the US, which she described as frightening for many Jewish people, like me, who lost family members in the Holocaust.

Growing up in a Jewish family in Canada, Batalion is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors (her mother was actually born in 1945 during her parents escape), something Batalion said has made her aware of what she calls the emotional legacy of the Holocaust," the way that trauma trickles through generations.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom are set to travel to Washington, D.C. ahead of their nation's accession into the NATO military alliance.

The trip comes despite warnings from Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Nordic nation joining the military alliance. Sweden will soon become NATO's 32nd member after it deposits the formal documentation. The development also marks the end of the 200 years where Stockholm has avoided military alliances and adopted a neutral stance in times of war.

Sweden PM to Visit Washington

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Swedish prime minister declined to provide any further information beyond the brief government release. Putin's invasion of Ukraine resulted in what he had been trying to avoid, an expansion of the NATO military alliance. Western leaders argued that it comes after years of Moscow warning Finland and Sweden they should not join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

As a member of the military alliance, Sweden, having cutting-edge submarines and Gripen fighter jets, will be a crucial link between the Atlantic and the Baltic states during times of crisis, as per Fox News.

The Nordic nation will benefit from the alliance's common defense guarantee, under which an attack on one of its members is regarded as an attack on all of them. Russia has argued that it would adopt unspecified military-technical and other countermeasures in response to Sweden's accession into NATO.

The country's application was made alongside its neighbor, Finland, in May 2022, but faced various delays by Hungary and Turkey. While the latter gave its approval in January this year, Hungary's president only followed earlier this week. This cleared the final obstacle to Sweden's NATO membership.

Hungary is now expected to hand over the last documents to the U.S. administration on Thursday. On the other hand, Sweden has to wait until that transfer of documents occurs before it can complete the formalities of NATO membership.

Read Also: Senegal's Government Sets March 24 as New Date for Presidential Election After Controversial Delay

Accession Into NATO

During Kristersson's visit to Washington, he is expected to attend the annual State of the Union address by United States President Joe Biden. The latter has been struggling to persuade the rival Republican Party to approve new aid for Ukraine, according to Yahoo News.

It is expected that Sweden's blue and golden-yellow flag will be hoisted on Monday at the Brussels headquarters of the NATO military alliance. Since the Napoleonic conflicts of the early 19th century, Sweden has not been involved in a war, including World War II.

The Nordic country's NATO accession was delayed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he demanded action after protesters desecrated Islam's holy book, the Koran. On the other hand, the U.S. offered the idea of F-16 warplanes to Turkey to get the nation to approve the membership application.

Sweden's membership in the military alliance is considered by many to be a major blow to Moscow as it turns the Baltic Sea into a NATO Lake. This would make it much easier for the alliance to keep track of Russia's naval movements in the region, said Politico.

Related Article: SEC Rule Requiring Some Companies Disclose Emissions Approved Despite Last Minute Revisions


MH 60R Seahawk multi-role helicopter, a maritime variant of the Blackhawk helicopter, ahead of their commissioning into the Indian Navy. Navy on Sunday announced that it will raise the first squadron of MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, imported from the US, at INS Garuda in Kochi on March 6. Photo: PTI.

NEW DELHI (PTI): The Indian Navy on Wednesday commissioned the first squadron of its newly-inducted MH 60R Seahawk multi-role choppers that is expected to significantly bolster the force's surveillance and combat capabilities in the strategic waters.



The INAS 334 'Seahawks' naval air squadron was commissioned at a ceremony at INS Garuda in Kochi in the presence of Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar.



MH-60R helicopter, produced by US defence giant Lockheed Martin Corporation, is an all-weather helicopter designed to support multiple missions with state-of-the-art avionics and sensors.



The chopper is a maritime variant of the Blackhawk helicopter.



The helicopter is designed for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, search and rescue and medical evacuation among other operations.



In his address, the Chief of the Naval Staff described the MH 60R helicopter as one of the potent multi-role helicopters in the world and that the choppers will significantly enhance the country's maritime capabilities.



"As far as the Indian Navy is concerned, we have an unequivocal commitment to the nation -- that of protecting, preserving, promoting and pursuing national interests in the maritime domain," he said.



"With their cutting-edge sensors and multi-mission capabilities, MH 60Rs will augment our maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare capabilities," he said.



He commended the officers and men of 'Seahawks' for the commissioning of INAS 334, highlighting the swift progress made by the squadron in fully integrating with the fleet.



Admiral Kumar urged the crew of INAS 334 to continue to strive for excellence and be mission ready to keep the nation's waters safe, secure and stable.



The commission ceremony was marked by a scintillating fly-past by a formation of the Seahawks and the traditional water cannon salute to mark the historic day, Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said in Delhi.



The event was also attended by Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command Vice Admiral Sanjay J Singh, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti and Director General Naval Operations V Adm A N Pramod among others.



The commissioning of the helicopters in the INAS 334 squadron is expected to significantly enhance the Navy's operational capability in the Indian Ocean region which has been witnessing increasing Chinese military forays.



India signed an agreement with the US for procurement of 24-MH 60Rs in February 2020 under the framework of foreign military sales.


Updated: 1.35pm

Dublin Airport has been fined 10.1 million by the aviation regulator for failing to meet some of its targets in 2023.

Advertisement

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) issued the fines in respect of missed targets associated with security queue times, cleanliness of terminals and bathrooms, and information on ground transport.

However, the airport also earned a 3.4 million Quality of Service (QoS) bonus for exceeding targets on overall customer satisfaction, ease of movement, wifi satisfaction, and baggage trolley availability.

The IAA noted that security queue times at Dublin Airport had fallen below target in the first five months of 2023, resulting in the penalty, although the authority added that queues "significantly improved in the second half of 2023".

Overall, the airport incurred a penalty of 30c per passenger, offset against the QoS bonus of 10c per passenger.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Commenting on the news, Dublin Airport operator daa said the report "confirms that passengers enjoyed good standards at Dublin Airport in 2023 and those standards are improving all the time".

Daa noted over 15 million passengers flew from Dublin last year, 97 per cent of whom passed through security in less than 20 minutes.

"Any issues flagged by the IAA relate to the early months of 2023 and were corrected before the start of the summer, through the roll-out of our 15-point improvement plan which saw us double down on important things like cleanliness, the removal of clutter and better wayfinding in both terminals.

"Improvements to Wi-Fi speeds, the addition of more seating at departure gates and the creation of family seating areas were also very well-received by passengers and made the passenger experience better," the daa said, adding further improvement are also planned for the coming months.
The South Korean government is adding to its emergency fund that would address healthcare demands as President Yoon Suk Yeol takes a tougher stance on striking doctors.

On Thursday, officials announced plans to implement emergency measures swiftly in response to the current situation. It follows the Cabinet's approval on Wednesday to allocate $96 million from state-reserved funds. The money would be used to hire additional medical staff and mitigate the impact of medical service disruptions of the ongoing strike.

South Korea's Doctor Protests

The strategy of the local government includes the recruitment of new personnel to fill in the gap that was left by the mass resignation of junior doctors. In an attempt to ensure the public's access to healthcare services remains uninterrupted, the money would also support the operational costs of public medical institutions.

This would be made through local governments' disaster management funds. The decision reflects the South Korean government's commitment to maintaining the stability of the country's healthcare system amid the ongoing crisis, as per BNN Breaking.

On top of addressing the immediate staffing concerns caused by the striking doctors, the South Korean government has also outlined further plans to bolster the medical sector. These plans include higher fees for emergency and challenging surgeries as well as accelerating the introduction of legislation that seeks to enhance legal protections for doctors against medical malpractice lawsuits.

These types of measures were designed not only to attract more medical professionals into the field but also to provide them with greater security and incentive to serve. This is particularly true for those who would work in high-risk areas.

The collective action by trainee doctors in South Korea was sparked by opposition to the government's plans to increase medical school admissions. The ongoing crisis has highlighted the significant tensions within the nation's healthcare system.

On Monday, officials said that they were working to suspend the licenses of the thousands of doctors who walked off the job nearly two weeks ago. The development threatens to escalate a dispute that has shaken the Asian country's healthcare system, according to the New York Times.

Read Also: Senegal's Government Sets March 24 as New Date for Presidential Election After Controversial Delay

Suspension of Licenses

This comes after thousands of physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals took to the streets on Sunday. During their protests, they held banners that read, "Doctors are not criminals!"

Young doctors have been in a high-stakes dispute with the government for more than a month over the future of healthcare in South Korea. Roughly 10,000 interns and residents, which is nearly a tenth of all doctors in the country, joined the protest.

The South Korean president on Wednesday said that they would not tolerate the actions of the junior doctors, calling them an "illegal collective action." He argued that the walkout threatens public health.

During a Cabinet meeting, Yoon said that the collective action of the young doctors is an act that betrays their responsibilities. He added that it also shakes the basis of liberalism and constitutionalism.

The local government had repeatedly called on protesting doctors to go back to work or face indictments as well as suspensions of their licenses that would last for three months. However, the majority of the strikers missed the government's deadline, which was on Feb. 29, said the Associated Press.

Related Article: Philippines: French 'Spiderman' Alain Robert Arrested Following Daring Makati Skyscraper Climb
The Supreme Court will refer to the Court of Justice of the EU an issue in an appeal brought by an alleged member of a dissident republican paramilitary group against his proposed surrender to Northern Ireland.

Sean Walsh (56), of Ballinlough, Douglas, Co Cork, is wanted to face charges of IRA membership stemming from a police surveillance operation on a July 2020 meeting of senior paramilitaries in Omagh, Co Tyrone. He denies the claims.

Advertisement

On Thursday, the Supreme Courts seven judges unanimously agreed to ask the European court whether a judge asked to approve an accuseds extradition must consider the EUs Charter of Fundamental Rights if already satisfied there is no real risk to his rights under the Constitution and article 7 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).

Advertisement

The court was satisfied Mr Walshs surrender is not precluded by the ECHR or the Constitution.

In a judgment for the court, Ms Justice Marie Baker said Mr Walshs contention that his surrender would breach his ECHR rights was not supported by the facts or his arguments.

Not only has no systemic flaw been identified that would suggest a likely egregious breach of his ECHR rights on surrender, but the opposite is the case, she said, as recent UK case law presents a legal system that robustly and unequivocally applies the ECHR.

Advertisement

Mr Walsh claimed his surrender, which was approved by the High Court in October 2022, would breach his rights under ECHR article 7, due to the retrospective application of a 2021 UK law that has redefined the scope of penalty he faces if convicted.

ECHR article 7 states that no one shall be held guilty on account of any act or omission that did not constitute a criminal offence in law at the time it was committed.

Appeal

The Court of Appeal of Northern Ireland found that the retrospective application of the 2021 legislative changes was incompatible with ECHR article 7, but this was reversed on appeal to the UK Supreme Court.

This case concerned people who were convicted and sentenced before the enactment of the 2021 Counter Terrorism and Sentencing Act.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The Act extends the period for which a person convicted of terrorism-type offences must remain incarcerated before they can apply for early release.

Previously, there was potential for a custodial sentence to be reduced by 50 per cent, but the reduction is now capped at 33 per cent, the court heard.

This more limited reduction would also be subject to later approval by the parole commissioners at the two-thirds point of the sentence, creating more uncertainty than before, Mr Walsh submitted in the Supreme Court.

Mr Walsh argued the UK courts decision amounts to a systemic failure or can be interpreted as evidence that the UK courts have taken an erroneous approach to the interpretation of the ECHR.

Advertisement

In her judgment on Thursday, Ms Justice Marie Baker said a courts refusal to surrender under a valid European Arrest Warrant (EAW) must be seen as wholly exceptional.

Someone seeking extradition refusal on grounds of an apprehended denial of fundamental rights must illustrate that egregious circumstances would expose them to a real risk of a denial of their fundamental rights, she said. This can include a fundamental defect in the legal system of the requesting state.

She and her colleagues accepted that release on licence is no more than a privilege that is exercisable by the executive, rather than the judiciary.

The court rejected Mr Walshs contention that it should rule on the correctness of the UK decision.

Advertisement

Such an approach would fail to respect the judicial sovereignty of the UK and usurp the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights.

Recent UK judgments illustrate that the ECHR is unequivocally adopted and applied in the UK legal system, Ms Justice Baker added.

Given the principles of mutual trust, recognition and judicial cooperation in the EAW regime, the requesting state is the correct place to correct any apprehended breach of ECHR rights, if a remedy is available there, the judge said.

She rejected the argument that surrender should be refused on account of a perceived breach of Mr Walshs ECHR or constitutional rights.

However, she said, a further complexity arises concerning the level to which the Charter is relevant to a courts approval of an extradition. The court will refer this issue for determination by the Court of Justice.

Mr Walsh faces four charges including that he was an IRA member, that he was involved in directing IRA activities and that he was involved in a conspiracy to direct a terrorist organisation. He denies the allegations.
Updated: 1.45pm

Former RTE journalist Nick Sheridan has died, aged 32, after a "short illness".

Advertisement

BBC Scotland, where he had worked following his move from RTE, confirmed the news in a statement released on Thursday morning.

The Wexford man had previously worked as a presenter on RTE's children's news programme, news2day.

Managing director of RTE news & current affairs Deridre McCarthy said they are "devastated by the very sad news of Nick's sudden death".

"Not only a talented journalist, Nick was also incredibly generous with his time and was always willing to help out his newsroom colleagues. He was kind and generous, warm and enthusiastic.

Advertisement

So terribly sad to read this. It is truly awful. Nick was young, talented, vivacious, and full of potential. What a horrible, senseless loss. My thoughts are with his family, colleagues and many friends  https://t.co/1hSXoLCf5L Advertisement  Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) March 7, 2024

"We were delighted to see him go on to join BBC Scotland and to become a successful children's author. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. Ar Dheis De go raibh an Anam," Ms McCarthy added.

Advertisement

Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon also paid tribute to Sheridan, describing the news as "truly awful".

"Nick was young, talented, vivacious, and full of potential. What a horrible, senseless loss. My thoughts are with his family, colleagues and many friends."

Ms Sturgeon's successor Humza Yousaf also expressed his condolences during First Ministers Questions at Holyrood on Thursday.

"I wanted to say on behalf of the Scottish government and the party I lead how sad we were about the tragic news of the loss of Nick Sheridan," Mr Yousaf said.

Advertisement

"Nick was an extremely talented journalist and author, he will be greatly missed. Many of us in this chamber will have been questioned by Nick, quite robustly no doubt, whether it was on BBC Drivetime or on many of the other programmes he presented.

"My thoughts are with his family, his many friends and indeed his colleagues at what will undoubtedly be a very sad time."

BBC Scotland's head of news & current affairs Gary Smith said his colleagues and friends were "devastated to hear the news".

"Nick has been a wonderful colleague," Mr Smith said.

"He was a hugely talented journalist, presenter and author  and one of those rare people who light up the lives of everyone around them. Funny, clever, kind. A lovely man."

Mr Smith also offered condolences to Sheridan's parents, partner, and family and friends.
A former long-serving member of the Irish Defence Forces has been jailed for sexually assaulting his young sister in the mid-1980s and for assault causing harm to his former partner last year.

Derek Delaney (60) retired from the army last summer after 43 years of service, including five tours of duty to the Lebanon.

Advertisement

He pleaded guilty earlier this year to the indecent assault of his sister on a date unknown between October 1982 and December 1988 at an address on Bunratty Road, Coolock, Dublin 17.

Delaney was in his early 20s at the time, and his sister, 11 years his junior, was between nine and eleven.

Delaneys sister, Ms Jackie Gardiner, has waived her anonymity in order to allow her brother be named.

Delaney, of Montpelier Hill, Dublin 7, further admitted assault causing harm to his former partner on July 2nd last at Common Manor, Seatown Road, Swords.

Advertisement

Advertisement

In a ruling on Thursday at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Martin Nolan sentenced Delaney to 20 months in prison for indecent assault and to a concurrent sentence of 15 months for assault causing harm.

Judge Nolan said Delaney had taken advantage of his sister in what was, for her, a very frightening incident that has marred her life from that date.

The judge set a headline sentence of two to four years but reduced it based on mitigating factors, including Delaneys long history of work and service to the State.

The court heard that Ms Gardiner first reported the indecent assault to the gardai in August 2022, as she wanted to wait until after the death of her father, to whom she was very close.

Advertisement

Victim impact statement

In a victim impact statement read on her behalf, Ms Gardiner said she was glad that justice had been done, adding, Its a weight off me.

Ms Gardiner said her brother had destroyed her life. I was called a liar by my family for many years. I got threats. I was told I destroyed the family  he destroyed the family, she said.

Ms Gardiner said that after she was sexually assaulted by her brother, she tried to block it out for many years, but that it was always there and caused her to suffer with her mental health.

Advertisement

It always set me back. It made me nervous around men if I didnt know them, she said.

Advertisement

When she was 19, Ms Gardiners friend suffered a similar experience, which triggered her own memories of being abused.

In her statement to the court, she detailed how she tried a number of times to take her own life, including overdosing and trying to hang herself in the bathroom.

Ms Gardiner said she remembers ringing Delaney in 2011 and telling him: Youll never get away with what youve done. Youve destroyed me.

Detective Garda Michael McCabe told George Burns BL, prosecuting, that Ms Gardiner went to gardai to lodge a complaint in August 2022.

Advertisement

She said that she was nine years old, and her brother was 11 years older than her when she was sexually assaulted in an upstairs bedroom of the family home.

Ms Gardiner said she couldnt recall the exact details and had blocked it out, but that her brother had asked her to go to the bed, and she went. She said he was rubbing on her, and she experienced pain in her genitals.

Delaney was arrested in February last year and gave a detailed account of what had happened when he returned from his first tour of duty in Lebanon in 1985.

Advertisement

He told gardai he thought he was on top of his sister moving up and down, but that, as far as he remembered, he never had sexual intercourse with her.

Delaney has one previous conviction, also for indecent assault, dating back to February 7th, 1985. The court heard that Delaney was due to get married to his partner of 17 years when he assaulted her after a night out on July 2nd last year.

The court heard that the woman went to Swords Garda Station and reported that she had been headbutted twice and knocked unconscious by Delaney after an argument.

Gardai noticed a large bruise on her forehead, the court heard. Delaney was arrested shortly after 2am but deemed unfit for questioning due to intoxication.

He said the reason for the argument was jealousy, adding: I dont be happy when she talks to fellas and vice versa.

He admitted headbutting her on the forehead but said it wasnt full force and denied that he had knocked her unconscious. She wasnt out cold. I know her; she acts it up, he said but agreed that she had been afraid of him.

The woman submitted a victim impact report, which was not read aloud, and the court heard the couple broke up after this offence.

Advertisement

Delaney has two daughters and a stepson with the woman.

The prosecuting Garda agreed with counsel for the defence that Delaney was drinking heavily at the time and under stress due to the allegations that had been made by his sister.

Maurice Coffey SC, defending, noted the brevity of Ms Gardiners evidence and said Delaney had filled in a lot of the details.

He said Delaney was left incredibly bereft after his relationship ended with the woman whom he described as the love of my life.

Mr Coffey said his client got his first job working a paper round at the age of seven and then worked continually until his retirement from the army last summer.

Delaney joined the army in 1981 and went on his first trip to the Lebanon in 1982.

The court heard that Delaney was only in Lebanon a matter of hours when three of his colleagues were shot dead by another Irish soldier at a checkpoint near the Israeli border on October 27, 1982.

Mr Coffey said Delaney was one of the first on the scene of the murders and that it had been traumatic for him. The court heard that Delaney was also briefly taken hostage while in the Lebanon, and suffered from PTSD.

Counsel said that Delaney did not come to Garda attention for 40 years and suffered a heart attack in 2018.

Delaney has numerous health problems, the court heard, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. He is also being investigated in Beaumont Hospital in relation to Parkinsons Disease.

The court heard Delaney apologised to gardai for indecently assaulting his sister and for assaulting his former partner and was embarrassed and ashamed about both offences.

Mr Coffey said the indecent assault was a gross breach of trust of his sister but pointed out that there was no allegation of violence or threats.
The chief executive of the HSE Bernard Gloster has said conditions at University Hospital Limerick were completely not acceptable and he was not satisfied that resources were being used in the best way.

However, Mr Gloster said that he was confident for people to use services at UHL. I dont have any fear of the clinical care, he told RTE radios Morning Ireland.

Advertisement

Mr Gloster added that he lived in the area himself and his family attended the hospital.

There had been a significant change in attendances at emergency departments in hospitals across the country in the first nine weeks of the year, he said. The national figures was just under 13 percent while in UHL it was 16 percent.

Those kinds of numbers don't mean anything to people when they're waiting. But we have seen certainly, post-Christmas, a very significant change in attendances at hospital.

Advertisement

"That pushes us to look exactly at what we're doing in our hospitals, but also outside in primary care and in the community. But certainly those types of numbers are not acceptable.

Advertisement

There was a long way to go in rescheduling cancelled elective procedures. It was a balancing act between the high number of people attending emergency departments because they could not access GP care, he said.

We know that a significant number of people in emergency departments are seen and treated very quickly. But I think it's important just to reflect for one minute when we hear what the position in Limerick looks like, in the context of the rest of the country.

"Last night at 8 oclock 171 people, were awaiting a bed on trolleys in our emergency departments across the country. 23 of those were in Limerick.

So there is an important context. There were 59 people last night across the country on extra trolleys on inpatient wards, 38 of those were UHL. So that's certainly a worry, but it's a distributed risk. And then we use what's called surge capacity. And the surge capacity in Limerick last night was in the region of 49. That's the 49 that affects the elective.

Advertisement

Mr Gloster said he accepted that UHL needed more beds. There were 96 coming in a block in the next year.

Advertisement

A lot has happened in the 13 years since reconfiguration, and certainly while Limerick didn't finish up with the beds that would have been expected at the time.

"The investment in community health care across the country has fundamentally changed also. So there is very significant investment in resources there. I'm not satisfied we're using it all in the best way that we can. So Limerick needs more, but we also need to do different with what we have.

When asked about the number of emergency medicine consultants at UHL, Mr Gloster said there was a headcount of 14 which was about 11 wholetime equivalent. He acknowledged that Limerick had a very low uptake on consultant doctors under the new public only consultant contracts.

Advertisement

The emergency medicine consultants in Limerick work very hard and work very long hours, he said. But there were serious challenges at the weekends.

I would say to people, genuinely, I think it's really important. There is a lot of really good work done by a lot of really good people in the hospital in Limerick, and I think it's important that we keep in perspective and that we don't make presumptions.

I'm confident to say to people, if you need to go to hospital, you can go to that hospital, you should go to that hospital. I live in that area myself. My family go to that hospital. I don't have any fear of the clinical care for people presenting at that hospital. I think it's important to say that.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the death of a man in west Belfast on Wednesday night, police said.

Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland launched a murder investigation after the man was found seriously injured in the Cupar Street area just after 8pm.

Advertisement

The man died in hospital a short time later.

A 35-year-old man has bee arrested and remains in police custody.

Officers remained on scene with cordons in place and are appealing to anyone who was in the area at the time to contact police.
Minister for Media Catherine Martin said she discussed the programme of reform at RTE during a meeting with the new chair of the board of the broadcaster, Terence ORourke.

Mr ORourke was appointed to the position this week following the resignation of former chair Siun Ni Raghallaigh.

Advertisement

Mr ORourke and Kevin Bakhurst, director general at the crisis-hit broadcaster, met with Ms Martin on Thursday.

The minister said: This was a very positive engagement where we discussed the importance of continuing the programme of reform of RTE, and the priority of putting in place a sustainable funding model for RTE and public service media in Ireland.

Irish broadcaster RTE has been hit by a number of controversies (Liam McBurney/PA)

Advertisement

The meeting discussed responses to recommendations published by the Public Accounts Committee and two independent expert advisory committee reports that Ms Martin has commissioned.

Advertisement

She said: I am looking forward to working with the chair and the board in progressing the major reform agenda underway in the organisation.

Ms Ni Raghallaigh resigned from her role on the board of the broadcaster hours after Ms Martin expressed disappointment in her during a live television interview.

Appearing on Prime Time on February 22nd, the minister refused to express confidence in Ms Ni Raghallaigh, saying she had been misinformed about the chairwomans role in approving an exit package for former RTE chief financial officer, Richard Collins.

Advertisement

The minister was criticised for her handling of the situation with opposition TDs claiming she had effectively sacked the chairwoman live on air.
A man killed and decapitated his wife while suffering from a cannabis-induced psychosis that led him to believe she was possessed by a serpent and was going to kill him, two consultant psychiatrists have told the Central Criminal Court.

One of the psychiatrists said the accused man, Diego Costa Silva, believed that after attacking his wife, Fabiola Camara De Campos Silva, he had to remove her head to make sure that the serpent was dead.

Advertisement

Both psychiatrists agreed that Mr Costa Silva's psychosis was not due to acute intoxication from cannabis, but a more persistent illness of cannabis induced psychosis. The court heard the accused continued to display psychotic symptoms 11 days after his arrest and detention.

Dr Brenda Wright and Dr Mark Joynt told the trial that cannabis induced psychosis is a mental disorder under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006.

Advertisement

They agreed that, as a result of his disorder, Mr Costa Silva did not understand the nature and quality of his actions and did not know that what he was doing was wrong.

Counsel for the defence and prosecution also delivered their closing speeches to the jury on Thursday, saying the evidence shows that, due to a mental disorder, Mr Costa Silva is not responsible for his actions and should be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Advertisement

Mr Costa Silva (35) has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ms De Campos Silva (33) on November 4th, 2021, at their home in Charlestown Place, Finglas, Dublin 11.

Psychosis

Dr Joynt was called by the defence and told Garnet Orange SC, for Mr Costa Silva, that he interviewed the accused three times, spoke to his sister in Brazil and read the book of evidence and other documents.

He said Mr Costa Silva's sister told him that a number of members of their family had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Dr Joynt said this family history puts Mr Costa Silva at a higher risk of developing a serious mental disorder, including substance induced psychosis.

Advertisement

He noted that two days prior to killing his wife, Mr Costa Silva had been taken to the Mater Hospital by gardai who had a concern for his mental health. Doctors at the Mater asked Mr Costa Silva to remain as a voluntary patient, but he refused and left on November 3rd.

Advertisement

The notes taken by doctors at that time suggest that Mr Costa Silva was suffering symptoms of psychosis including confusion, thought disorder and a paranoid belief that his wife would hurt him.

Ms De Campos Silva was recorded to have told doctors that she noted a sudden change in her husband's behaviour the previous Saturday, but she said he had not smoked cannabis for several days.

In his interviews with Dr Joynt, Mr Costa Silva said he had begun smoking cannabis at 16 and from the age of 20 would smoke daily. In 2020, he said his wife told him he was smoking too much, and he agreed to cut down.

Advertisement

He did not think he had smoked cannabis in the days immediately prior to killing his wife, the court heard.

Dr Joynt said that in the lead-up to killing his wife, Mr Costa Silva said he was convinced that she wanted to kill him and that he could hear voices external to his head.

He came to believe that his parents were being held by a gang and that his wife was possessed by the leader of the gang, in the form of a serpent.

He believed he was going to die and that he had to kill his wife to defend himself, the doctor said. After he attacked his wife, Mr Costa Silva believed "the serpent wasn't dead, and he had to cut the head off to make sure it was dead".

Advertisement

Advertisement

Following his arrest and detention, Mr Costa Silva continued to show psychotic symptoms until November 15th, 11 days after the killing. Two days after that, when Mr Costa Silva had spent five days taking the antipsychotic drug Olanzapine, he was reported to be improving and to have gained insight into his illness and what had happened.

Mental disorder

When Dr Joynt last spoke to Mr Costa Silva in November last year, he said he found no evidence of active psychotic symptoms. He said this was one of the reasons he did not diagnose the accused with a more persistent illness such as schizophrenia.

This is not intoxication, this is a mental disorder.

Dr Joynt concluded that Mr Costa Silva was suffering from a cannabis induced psychotic disorder, the symptoms of which included hallucinations and delusions regarding his wife.

He said that he excluded intoxication as a diagnosis because the symptoms persisted for 11 days after the killing, a period in which Mr Costa Silva did not have access to drugs. He said this would not be consistent with the effects of acute intoxication from cannabis, which typically wears off within hours.

In conclusion, Dr Joynt said that due to his mental disorder, Mr Costa Silver did not know the nature and quality of his actions, did not know that what he was doing was wrong and was unable to refrain from his actions.

Advertisement

Dr Brenda Wright told Shane Costelloe SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, that she agreed with most of Dr Joynt's conclusions.

The only significant distinction, she said, was that she believed he could have refrained from his actions by avoiding his wife, as he had done previously when suffering similar delusions.

In his closing speech to the seven men and five women of the jury, Mr Costelloe said the prosecution had proven beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Costa Silva killed his wife and that when he cut her head off, he intended to kill her.

If the jury agrees, he asked them to consider the evidence of the psychiatrists who both said that Mr Costa Silva was suffering from a mental disorder and that he is not responsible in law for his actions.

"All of the evidence adduced points only one way," he said, "and you must act upon the evidence."

He said the jury may ask themselves how somebody can abuse illegal substances and rely on that as a defence.

However, he added: "You heard from both psychiatrists that this is not intoxication, it is not taking drugs or alcohol and then going and doing something, that would not be a defence. This is not intoxication, this is a mental disorder  cannabis induced psychosis."

Advertisement

Counsel described it as a "particularly horrible case" and a "deeply tragic case" in which a young woman lost her life and her husband finds himself having killed his wife with whom he had enjoyed an otherwise healthy relationship.

He asked the jury to put aside emotion, sympathy and personal feelings and view the evidence dispassionately.

If they find that Mr Costa Silva did have a mental disorder that removed his responsibility for the crime, they must return a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, he said.

Mr Garnet Orange, for the defence, said he agrees with everything said by counsel for the prosecution. He asked the jury to put aside any views they might have about drug use or domestic violence or any feelings of "disdain or horror" that they might ordinarily feel.

He said: "The defence is looking for a special verdict, the evidence is before you, and it does only point in one direction as far as the defence and prosecution are concerned, and you must keep that in mind... The verdict I am asking you to return is not guilty by reason of insanity."

Mr Justice Michael MacGrath has begun charging the jury, who will be asked to begin considering their verdict on Friday.
Israel is reckless with the lives of civilians in Gaza, the Tanaiste has said.

Micheal Martin also said Ireland is actively pursuing the possibility of contributing to multinational efforts of airdropping aid into Gaza.

Advertisement

However, he said the most effective way to get meaningful volumes of aid into Gaza would be for Israel to open corridors and checkpoints on the ground.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin says that Israel should open corridors and checkpoints on the ground to help get aid into Gaza (Niall Carson/PA)

Speaking in the Dail on Thursday, Mr Martin said: Many countries are trying to bring an end to the conflict and I know that.

Advertisement

I have no doubt that many in the US want this to end  but Israel is reckless with its own allies.

And Israel is reckless with the region but above all, its reckless in terms of the lives of ordinary Gazans and the people of Gaza.

Advertisement

Absolutely reckless in terms of allowing whats happening to happen on a daily basis.

He said there had been a complete collapse of societal cohesion and order in Gaza.

Advertisement

Mr Martin said Irelands priority is an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and a peace plan.

He was responding to Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns who said the war in Gaza had revealed powerful Western states to be immoral hypocrites.

Advertisement

Speaking during Leaders Questions, she told Mr Martin: They only value international law when its their enemies  not their allies  that are in breach.

Their shameful record in Gaza amounts to the normalisation of mass murder and devastation. They wag their fingers at the Israeli government occasionally but continue to support them and arm them.

Its their bombs and their bullets that have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians.

Advertisement

Its not just the United States that is engaged in this, arms exports from Germany to Israel have increased tenfold since October.

Weapons from Germany now make up nearly 30% of Israels total military imports. Genocide is a nice little earner for the German arms industry.

Ms Cairns said the UK had also not paused the supply of weapons despite raising concerns about possible breaches of international human rights law.

Advertisement

She said she acknowledged the Government had condemned Israels brutality but added: People all over Ireland are still waiting for you to follow those words with actions.

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns (Brian Lawless/PA)

She said the parliament could enact laws that would make it an offence to import goods originating in occupied territories and impose restrictions on the investment of Irish assets in Israeli settlements.

She also said the Government could recognise the state of Palestine and issue travel bans for Israeli settlers.

Mr Martin, who is the Irish foreign minister, said Ireland has not lost its moral compass and said he agreed that other countries should stop sending arms to Israel if they want the conflict to end.

He said that Ireland had shown leadership in continuing to support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

He added that Ireland had made a robust legal submission to the International Court of Justice on Israels occupation of Palestinian territories.

Mr Martin said Ireland is working with other European countries on the subject of recognising Palestine.
Chinas foreign minister has accused the US of devising tactics to suppress Chinas rise and criticised the Biden administration for adding more Chinese companies to its sanctions lists.

Wang Yi, speaking to media during the annual meeting of Chinas legislature on Thursday, said relations with the US have improved since presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met in November, but America has not fulfilled its promises.

Advertisement

He said: If the US always says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major power? If the US gets nervous and anxious when it hears the word China, where is its confidence as a major power?

If the US is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself.



Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi speaks during a press conference at the National Peoples Congress in Beijing (Ng Han Guan/AP)

Advertisement

Advertisement

Mr Wang returned to the foreign ministers post last summer after his successor, Qin Gang, was abruptly dismissed without explanation after a half year on the job.

Analysts had speculated the ruling Communist Party might use the week-long meeting of the National Peoples Congress to name a new foreign minister, but that appeared off the table after an agenda released on the eve of the opening session did not include personnel changes.

Mr Wang accused the United States, without mentioning it by name, of stirring up trouble in Taiwan and the South China Sea.

China says that self-governing Taiwan is part of China and should be under its control, and it claims a wide swath of the South China Sea, putting it at odds with the Philippines, Vietnam and other south-east Asian neighbours.

Advertisement

The Philippines and the US have accused China of aggressive tactics in trying to block Philippines ships from reaching reefs and other outcroppings that both sides claim, most recently in a collision between coast guard vessels of both countries this week.



Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi listens to a question (Ng Han Guan/AP)

For unreasonable provocations, we will take just countermeasures, Mr Wang said. We also advise certain countries outside the region not to stir up trouble, choose sides and not to become disruptors and troublemakers in the South China Sea.

Advertisement

Advertisement

He said countries that insist on maintaining official ties with Taiwan are interfering in Chinas domestic affairs.

Most countries, including the United States, do not have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but China objects to visits by US politicians to the island and US sales of military equipment for its defence.

China will continue to work for peaceful reunification with Taiwan, Mr Wang said, but warned that anyone who supports independence for Taiwan would pay a price.

Our bottom line is also very clear, he said. That is Taiwan will never be allowed to split from the motherland.
Chinese interference in this year's elections in EU and Nato member Lithuania "definitely cannot be ruled out" due to Lithuanian support for Taiwan, the chief of Lithuanias counter-intelligence said on Thursday.

China downgraded ties with Lithuania and pressured multinationals to sever links with the Baltic nation of 2.8 million after it allowed Taiwan to open a de-facto embassy there in late 2021.

Advertisement

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its territory with no right to the trappings of a state and has stepped up pressure on countries to downgrade or sever their relations with the island, even non-official ones.

Lithuania, like most of the world, acknowledges that China takes the position there is one China and Taiwan is part of it. It does not have full relations with Taiwan, which has just 12 diplomatic allies.

Advertisement

The European Union launched a challenge at the World Trade Organisation in January 2022, accusing China of discriminatory trade practices against Lithuania. The challenge was suspended in January 2024.

"I would say that the scenario of attempting to influence elections definitely cannot be ruled out... I am mostly referring to China," Darius Jauniskis, head of the Lithuanian State Security Department, told reporters.

Advertisement

The Lithuanian parliament government coalition pledged to support "those fighting for freedom in Taiwan" before taking office in 2020, and its Taiwanese policy was broadly supported by the country's semi-executive president Gitanas Nauseda.

Mr Nauseda is facing an election in May and the parliamentary elections will he held in October.

"We detect a high interest in the elections, both presidential and parliamentary, because they are highly important to China due to our Taiwanese policy," said Mr Jauniskis.

The Chinese diplomatic representation in Lithuania did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China increased its spying efforts in Lithuania in 2023, Lithuania's intelligence agencies said on Thursday in an annual assessment of threats.

Cyber actors "affiliated with China" have been found regularly probing Lithuanian government institutions for vulnerabilities "with the aim of penetrating their networks", they said.
On Thursday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that the country was elevating ties with Vietnam to discuss critical minerals amid a push to diversify supply chains away from China.

Australia is a major producer of critical minerals, from smartphones to automobiles, while Vietnam possesses some of the largest untapped deposits in the world.

Australia, Vietnam to Boost Energy, Minerals Cooperation

In a press conference in Canberra, Albanese said that upgrading their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership has placed Australia and Vietnam among each other's significant allies.

On Tuesday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated that he anticipates Vietnam and Australia to announce an upgrade of their bilateral relations during his current visit, placing the country's ties with Australia at its highest possible level.

According to a joint statement from the two countries, the partnership would help increase cooperation on various issues, including climate, environment and energy, defense and security, economic engagement, and education.

The statement said an annual ministerial dialogue on energy and minerals will push cooperation in their energy and resources sectors, including critical minerals supply chains.

Furthermore, the US has already agreed to increase cooperation with Vietnam on rare earth, whose resources are viewed as an alternate source of minerals. China leads the world in critical mineral extraction and processing with an estimated reserves of 44 million tons.

Communist Party-ruled Vietnam's "bamboo diplomacy" helped navigate rising global tensions last year and enhanced ties with major powers. Along with Australia, Southeast Asia's top allies now include the US, China, India, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

Read Also: 'Explosive Growth' in Petrochemical Industries Linked to Cancers, Other Life-Threatening Diseases, New Analysis Warns

Australia-Laos Relations

On Wednesday, leaders of Australia and Laos signed an agreement strengthening bilateral ties on the last day of a Southeast Asian summit.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Laos counterpart Sonexay Siphandone co-chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' special summit in Melbourne to commemorate 50 years since Australia became the bloc's first external partner.

According to Fox News, the agreement transforms their relationship into a comprehensive partnership that will serve as the foundation for future cooperation on defense, environment, climate, clean energy, agriculture, and education.

This year, Laos, the bloc's poorest country, took over ASEAN's rotating leadership from Indonesia to promote resilience and connectivity. Albanese said that the main themes of Wednesday's discussion would be investment, climate change, maritime cooperation, trade, and clean energy.

China's growing assertiveness in the region and the ongoing violence and humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, as an ASEAN state, have also loomed over the three-day summit.

Political representation for Myanmar has been denied at the meeting over its inability to reduce violence in the nation since a military regime took control in 2021.

Related Article: China-Maldives Deal: President Muizzu Signs Military Pact With Beijing in Apparent Shift from India




On-the-run mother Constance Marten has wept in court in the UK as she denied endangering her baby, saying: I did nothing but show her love.

The aristocrat (36) and her partner Mark Gordon (49) are on trial over the death of baby Victoria while living off-grid in a tent on the South Downs in wintry conditions last year.

Advertisement

Victoria was found dead in a Lidl bag last March 1st, 2023, after the couple had been on the run for seven weeks in a bid to prevent her being taken into care as four siblings had been.

On Thursday, Marten went into the witness box at the Old Bailey to give evidence in her defence.

Her barrister Francis FitzGibbon KC asked her: Did you do anything to harm baby Victoria?

Advertisement

Marten replied: Absolutely not.

Advertisement

Mr FitzGibbon said: Did you do anything cruel to baby Victoria?

Advertisement

Marten said: No. I did nothing but show her love.

Mr FitzGibbon said: So far as you are concerned, did you give her anything less than the proper care you thought she deserved?

Marten replied: I gave her the best that any mother would, yeah.

She told jurors Victoria died last January 9th, saying: I do not think it is anything I will ever move on from.

Advertisement

I feel guilty because she was in my arms. I feel like its not an easy thing to live with. I think initially it was disbelief, shock, intense grief.

Mr FitzGibbon said: What happened to Victoria?

CTTV of Constance Marten holding baby Victoria under her coat in East Ham (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Advertisement

Marten replied: I had her in my jacket and when I woke up my head was on the floor. And when I was sitting up and when I woke up she was not alive.

She told jurors she considered cremating Victoria after placing her inside the supermarket bag.

She said: I had a thousand different thoughts going on in my head. I immediately panicked.

I just didnt know what to do. They are going to have a field day out of this  the media and press and social services, everyone.

Advertisement

She was in my care and the next thing she died. I thought, How am I going to get my kids back now Victoria has passed away?

Marten said that in the end she could not bring herself to burn Victorias body.

Gordon suggested they call it quits and just have a fire and say goodbye to life, jurors were told.

The defendant said: We had just had enough by that point.

CCTV image of Constance Marten, Mark Gordon and baby Victoria in a kebab shop in east London (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Earlier, Marten told jurors she came from a wealthy family and was privately educated before studying Arabic at Leeds University.

She travelled extensively and worked for Al Jazeera, the Middle Eastern news station, before she met Gordon in an Indian incense shop in 2014, and they married in a Peruvian ceremony.

She had a long history of issues with her family, who never met Gordon.

She said her trust fund was cut off overnight when she was expecting her first child, but she was receiving 2,000 a month after the birth of her second.

Marten became tearful when she was asked if she had ever harmed any of her five children.

She said: Mark and I love our kids more than anything in the world, so Im pretty angry about the fact they had to go through this process. Its not good enough.

Advertisement

Challenged on the prosecution suggestion that she and Gordon put their interests ahead of the children, she said: No, there is literally nothing I would not do for my children.

By December 2022 she was moving around the country to avoid social services taking her unborn baby away, jurors heard.

On December 24th, 2022, Victoria was born in secret in the bedroom of a hired cottage in Park View, Northumberland, the court heard.

Marten said: I wanted to keep Victoria with us, so I did not want to tell anyone about the birth.

I was in good health physically, but I was in a high state of anxiety. I thought someone was going to bash down the door and take her away. I was joyful but at the same time anxious.

On January 5th, last year, the couple fled the scene when their car burst into flames on a motorway near Bolton, Greater Manchester, with Marten leaving behind her bag, bank card and 34 burner phones.

Greater Manchester Police launched a nationwide search after a placenta was also found in the burnt-out vehicle.

Photo of a placenta found wrapped in a towel on the back seat of the burnt-out Peugeot 206 (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Marten described travelling from the North West to Essex, where she first learned of the media alert from a member of the public.

Advertisement

She said: I think Mark and I were in a state of panic with all the media attention and not knowing what to do. I was hyper vigilant.

They moved on to East Ham in east London to try to blend in but found the opposite effect, she said.

We wanted to get a flat in East Ham but we realised there was no way that was going to happen.

Our options were slowly diminishing, so we thought lets get a tent and lay low, away from prying eyes, Marten said.

They travelled to the port of Newhaven in East Sussex with a view to potentially smuggling themselves abroad, jurors heard.

Marten said they were only going to stay in the tent they had bought for a maximum of two days and then hire a holiday cottage.

Asked if she was concerned about Victoria being too cold, she said: Of course, she was my baby. I worried about her all the time.

If I thought for one second the cold would affect her, or it was too cold, or we did not have enough items to keep her warm, we would not stay in that position.

On whether a tent was a good place for a young baby, Marten said: It would be preferable to be in a house, thats just common sense. But at no point did we think she was in any danger.

Advertisement

She was our pride and joy.

The day before her death, Victoria seemed fine and was feeding and sleeping well, Marten said.

She said it was harrowing and too much to take in when she found Victoria had died.

But she did not seek medical attention because the baby was definitely not alive, Marten added.

The defendants, of no fixed address, deny manslaughter by gross negligence, perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and causing or allowing the death of a child.

The Old Bailey trial was adjourned until Friday.
Hamas has said that its delegation has left Cairo and that talks on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release will resume next week, making it extremely unlikely that mediators will broker a deal before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Mediators had looked to Ramadan as an informal deadline because the month of dawn-to-dusk fasting often sees Israeli-Palestinian violence linked to access to a major Jerusalem holy site. The war already has the wider region on edge, with Iran-backed groups trading fire with Israel and the United States.

Advertisement

Egyptian officials had earlier said the negotiations had reached an impasse over Hamas demand for a phased process culminating in an end to the war. But they did not rule out a deal before Ramadan, which is expected to begin on Sunday.

Advertisement

Palestinians attended a mass funeral on Thursday for people killed in an Israeli offensive on Khan Younis (Hatem Ali/AP)

Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said Israel refuses to commit to and give guarantees regarding the ceasefire, the return of the displaced, and withdrawal from the areas of its incursion. But he said the talks were still ongoing and would resume next week. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Advertisement

The US, Egypt and Qatar have been trying for weeks to broker an agreement on a six-week ceasefire and the release of 40 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

The Egyptian officials said Hamas has agreed to the main terms of such an agreement as a first stage but wants commitments that it will lead to an eventual, more permanent ceasefire. They say Israel wants to confine the negotiations to the more limited agreement. Both officials said mediators are still pressing the two parties to soften their positions.

Hamas has said it will not release all of the remaining hostages without a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory.

Advertisement

Hamas has said it will not release all of the remaining hostages without a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory (Oded Balilty/AP)

Palestinian militants are believed to be holding around 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others captured during Hamas October 7th attack into Israel that triggered the war.

Hamas is also demanding the release of a large number of prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences, in exchange for the remaining hostages.

Advertisement

Hamas is believed to be holding the hostages deep inside its vast tunnel network, where rescue operations would be virtually impossible, and using them as human shields for its top leaders. It hopes to use them as bargaining chips to end the war on its terms.

Advertisement

This poses a major dilemma for Israel, which at some point may have to choose between its two main goals of bringing back the hostages and trying to annihilate Hamas.

Egyptian officials did not rule out a deal before Ramadan, which is expected to begin on Sunday (Mohammed Dahman/AP)

Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has publicly ruled out Hamas demands, saying Israel intends to resume the offensive after any ceasefire, expand it to the crowded southern city of Rafah and battle on until total victory.

Advertisement

He has said military pressure will help bring about the release of the hostages.

Ramadan is a time of heightened prayer, reflection and charity for Muslims the world over, who hold festive nightly gatherings with family and friends after fasting ends at sundown.

The lunar month is expected to begin Sunday or Monday, depending on the sighting of the moon.

Egyptian officials said mediators were still pressing the two parties to soften their positions (Mohammed Dahman/AP)

In past years, Israeli forces and Palestinians have clashed in Jerusalem over access to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam.

The hilltop on which it is built is the holiest site for Jewish people, who refer to it as the Temple Mount because it was the location of the Jewish temples in antiquity.

Advertisement

Hamas says it launched the October 7th attack partly in response to what it sees as Israels encroachment on the site and has called for heightened confrontations with Israel during the holy month. Israeli authorities say access to the site will remain unchanged from previous years.
A 19-year-old student from Sri Lanka has been charged with stabbing to death six people he lived with in Canada, including four children from a Sri Lankan family.

Ottawa police chief Eric Stubbs said an edged weapon or knife-like object was used by the suspect, who was identified as Febrio De-Zoysa.

Advertisement

He has been charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

Mr Stubbs said the victims are Sri Lankan nationals who recently came to Canada. He said they include a 35-year-old mother, her seven-year-old son and daughters aged four, two, and two-and-a-half months, as well as a 40-year-old acquaintance of the family.



Police described the scene as very tragic (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press via AP)

Advertisement

The police chief said when the first officers arrived at the home the familys father was outside and screaming for someone to call 911. Police received two emergency calls at 10.52pm on Wednesday.

Advertisement

The father is in hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

This was a senseless act of violence perpetrated on purely innocent people, Mr Stubbs said.

Sri Lankas high commission in Ottawa said it has been in touch with relatives in the countrys capital, Colombo.

Advertisement

The accused was expected to make a court appearance later on Thursday.

Police were called to the home in the Barrhaven area and the suspect was arrested quickly after that, and police said there was no continuing threat to public safety.

Don Perera, a neighbour, said he met the family who lived in the home last autumn at a Halloween party at the nearby Catholic elementary school. He said the father was from Sri Lanka.



Police officers hold up a sheet as members of the coroners office remove a body (Patrick Doyle /The Canadian Press via AP)

Advertisement

Shanti Ramesh, who lives across the street, was alerted to a commotion late on Wednesday. From her balcony, she saw a man sitting on the driveway of the home and yelling before two police officers arrived and carried him away.

On Thursday morning, five marked police cars were parked on the street and in driveways near the home, which is a middle unit of a row of brick townhouses.

Advertisement

Our first reactions are all ones of shock and horror at this terrible violence, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

Advertisement

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe called the news distressing for all the citys residents.

Its hard to believe, he said. Its devastating and heart-breaking.

Police have identified the victims as Darshani Banbaranayake Gama Walwwe Darshani Dilanthika Ekanyake, the 35-year-old mother; Inuka Wickramasinghe, seven; Ashwini Wickramasinghe, four, Rinyana Wickramasinghe, two, and Kelly Wickramasinghe, who was a two-and-a-half months old.

The sixth victim was Amarakoonmubiayansela Ge Gamini Amarakoon, 40.
Sweden has formally joined Nato as the 32nd member of the transatlantic military alliance, ending decades of post-Second World War neutrality as concerns about Russian aggression have spiked after the invasion of Ukraine.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided at a ceremony in which Swedens instrument of accession to the alliance was officially deposited at the State Department.

Advertisement

This is a historic moment for Sweden. Its historic for alliance. Its history for the transatlantic relationship, Mr Blinken said. Our Nato alliance is now stronger, larger than its ever been.

Later on Thursday, Mr Kristersson will visit the White House and then be a guest of honour at President Joe Bidens State of the Union address to Congress.



Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson shakes hands with Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Jess Rapfogel/AP)

Advertisement

Advertisement

The White House said that having Sweden as a Nato ally will make the United States and our allies even safer.

Nato is the most powerful defensive alliance in the history of the world, and it is as critical today to ensuring the security of our citizens as it was 75 years ago when our alliance was founded out of the wreckage of World War Two, a spokesperson said.

Sweden, along with Finland which joined Nato last year, both abandoned long-standing military neutrality that was a hallmark of the Nordic states Cold War foreign policy, after Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022.

Mr Biden, in his speech to Congress, is expected to cite Swedens accession to Nato as evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putins intent to divide and weaken the alliance has failed as a direct result of the Ukraine invasion.

Advertisement

And the President is expected to use Swedens decision to join to step up calls for reluctant Republicans to approved stalled military assistance to Ukraine as the war enters its third year.

Swedens membership had been held up due to objections by Nato members Turkey and Hungary.

Turkey expressed concern that Sweden was harbouring and not taking enough action against Kurdish groups that it regards as terrorists, and Hungarys populist President Viktor Orban has shown pro-Russian sentiment and not shared the alliances determination to support Ukraine.

Advertisement

After months of delay, Turkey ratified Swedens admission earlier this year and Hungary did so this week.

Advertisement

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg described it as a historic day.





Its official  #Sweden is now the 32nd member of #NATO, taking its rightful place at our table. Swedens accession makes NATO stronger, Sweden safer, and the whole Alliance more secure. I look forward to raising their flag at NATO HQ on Monday.  Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) March 7, 2024 Advertisement

Sweden will now take its rightful place at Natos table, with an equal say in shaping Nato policies and decisions, he said.

The Swedish flag will be raised outside the military organisations headquarters in Brussels on Monday. Mr Stoltenberg underscored that the Nordic country now enjoys the protection granted under Article 5, the ultimate guarantee of allies freedom and security.

Article 5 of Natos treaty obliges all members to come to the aid of an ally whose territory or security is under threat. It has only been activated once  by the US after the September 11 2001, attacks  and is the collective security guarantee that Sweden has sought since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Swedens accession makes Nato stronger, Sweden safer and the whole alliance more secure, Mr Stoltenberg said. He added that the move demonstrates that Natos door remains open and that every nation has the right to choose its own path.
A missile attack by Yemens Houthi rebels on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden killed three crew members and forced survivors to abandon the vessel, US officials said.

It is the first fatal attack in a campaign by the group over Israels war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Advertisement

The US militarys Central Command said an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from a Houthi-controlled area in Yemen struck the True Confidence, causing significant damage.

In addition to the three deaths, at least four crew members were injured, with three in a critical condition.

A US warship and the Indian navy are on the scene trying to assist in rescue efforts.



Houthi supporters attend a rally against the US-led strikes on Yemen and Israels war in Gaza (Osamah Abdulrahman/AP)

Advertisement

Advertisement

Brigadier General Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, claimed the attack in a pre-recorded message, saying its missile fire set the vessel ablaze.

He said the rebels attacks would only stop when the siege on the Palestinian people in Gaza is lifted.

Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Advertisement

Those vessels have included at least one with cargo bound for Iran, the Houthis main benefactor, and an aid ship later bound for Houthi-controlled territory.

Despite more than a month and a half of US-led airstrikes, Houthi rebels have remained capable of launching significant attacks.

They include the attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertiliser, the Rubymar, which sank on Saturday after drifting for several days, and the downing of an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars.

It was unclear why the Houthis targeted the True Confidence. However, it had previously been owned by Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based fund that finances vessels on instalments.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, a separate Houthi assault on Tuesday apparently targeted the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has been involved in the American campaign against the rebels.

Advertisement

The Houthi attack on the Carney involved bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, the US militarys Central Command said.

The US later launched an air strike destroying three anti-ship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats, the Central Command said.

The Houthis have not offered any assessment of the damage they have suffered in the American-led strikes that began in January, though they have said at least 22 of their fighters have been killed.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, the Indian navy released a video of its sailors from the INS Kolkata fighting a fire aboard the MSC Sky II, which had been targeted by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden on Monday.



(PA Graphics)

Smoke poured out of one container aboard the vessel, which also showed scorch marks from the impact of a Houthi missile.

The Mediterranean Shipping Co, a Switzerland-based company, said the missile struck the ship as it was traveling from Singapore to Djibouti.

The missile caused a small fire that has been extinguished while no crew were injured, the company said.

Iran separately announced the seizure of crude oil aboard the Advantage Sweet through an announcement carried by the judiciarys state-run Mizan news agency.

At the time, Iranian commandos rappelled from a helicopter on to the vessel, which it alleged collided with another ship, without offering any evidence.

Advertisement

The court order for the seizure offered an entirely different reason for the confiscation.

Mizan said it was part of a court order over US sanctions it alleged barred the importation of a Swedish medicine used to treat patients suffering from epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic condition that causes blisters all over the body and eyes.

The Advantage Sweet had been in the Persian Gulf in late April, but its track showed no unusual behaviour as it transited through the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of all traded oil passes.

Iran has made allegations in other seizures that later fell apart as it became clear Tehran was trying to leverage the capture as a chip to negotiate with foreign nations.

Chevron, based in San Ramon, California, said on Wednesday that the Advantage Sweet had been seized under false pretences and that the company has not had any direct communication with Iran over the seizure of the vessel.

Chevron has not been permitted access to the vessel and considers the cargo a total loss due to Irans illegal actions, Chevron said in a statement. We now consider the cargo the responsibility of the Iranian government.
Utility provider Xcel Energy has said that its facilities appear to have played a role in igniting a massive wildfire in the Texas Panhandle that grew to the largest blaze in state history.

Texas officials have said they are still investigating the cause of the fire that has burned nearly 1,700 square miles and destroyed hundreds of structures.

Advertisement

The Minnesota-based company said in a statement that it disputed claims it acted negligently in maintaining and operating infrastructure.

Based on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire, the company said in a statement.

Utility workers from Xcel Energy work on power lines near a home destroyed by the Smokehouse Creek Fire (Julio Cortez/AP)

Advertisement

The Texas A&M Forest Service said that its investigators have also concluded that the Smokehouse Creek fire was ignited by power lines, as was the nearby Windy Deuce fire.

Advertisement

Xcel Energy said it did not believe its facilities were responsible for the Windy Deuce fire.

Electric utilities have taken responsibility for wildfires around the US, including fallen power lines that started a blaze in Maui last year. Transmission lines also sparked a massive California wildfire in 2019.

The Smokehouse Creek fire was among a cluster of fires that ignited in the rural Panhandle last week and prompted evacuation orders in a handful of small communities. That wildfire, which also reached neighbouring Oklahoma, was about 44% contained as of Wednesday.

Advertisement

Officials said that as many as 500 structures may have been destroyed in the fires.

A lawsuit filed on Friday in Hemphill County alleged that a downed power line near the town of Stinnett on February 26 sparked the blaze.

Xcel Energy workers begin replacing hundreds of power poles in Fritch, Texas (Michael Schumacher/Amarillo Globe-News via AP)

Advertisement

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Stinnett homeowner Melanie McQuiddy against Xcel Energy Services and two other utilities, alleged the blaze started when a wooden pole defendants failed to properly inspect, maintain and replace, splintered and snapped off at its base.

Dale Smith, who operates a large cattle ranch east of Stinnett, said he lost an estimated 30 to 50 cows out of the 3,000 that graze on his property.

Were still trying to tally up the cattle losses, Mr Smith said. It burned probably 70-80% of the ranch.

Advertisement

He said much of the grazing land will grow back quickly with rain and moisture but he said they also lost several 100-year-old Cottonwood trees that dotted the ranch. Firefighters were able to save three camps on the ranch that included barns and other structures.

Advertisement

Mr Smith said he believes a faulty power line sparked the blaze which quickly spread because of high winds.

These fires are becoming a regular occurrence. Lives are being lost. Livestock are being lost. Livelihoods are being lost. Its a sad story that repeats itself again and again, because public utility companies and oil companies responsible for these power lines arent keeping them maintained, he said.
Mining giant Rio Tintos alumina refineries and explosives manufacturer Oricas cyanide plant are running at reduced capacity as the two major gas users scramble to secure supplies following a fire on a critical gas pipeline operated by retailer Jemena that services Gladstone.

Jemena said its crews had made safe a portion of the Queensland Gas Pipeline which caught on fire on Tuesday. The blaze, clearly visible on footage published by the ABC, was on a section of pipe between Rolleston and Oombabeer, about six hours west of Gladstone. The ABC reported that emergency services responded to a large blaze in the area around 7.30am local time.

AEMO has directed large industrial users to either reduce or cease using gas in Gladstone. Credit:

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) issued orders to divert gas to shore up supplies for households and communities in Gladstone and Rockhampton. Jemena said there are currently no supply shortages for residential customers.

An AEMO spokesperson on Thursday said large industrial users supplied by the Queensland Gas Pipeline had been required to either cease or reduce their gas usage. AEMO had also issued directions to divert gas from the Westside Meridian production facility to Gladstone to increase supplies.
Advertisement

Review Eating outBlacktown Laughter, music, spice: Rally a group for a hands-on feast instead of a weekend pub feed Ethiopian cuisine is built around kinship and sharing, so order an oil painters palette of injera dotted with wots (stews), plus meatier options worth rolling your sleeves up for at Gursha Ethiopian. Callan Boys March 8, 2024 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

This story is part of the March 9 edition of Good Weekend. See all stories .

1 / 5 The air is heavy with spice and incense at Gursha Ethiopian restaurant in Blacktown. Jennifer Soo 2 / 5 Ataklet beyeayntu (vegetarian platter). Jennifer Soo 3 / 5 Lamb tibs. Jennifer Soo 4 / 5 An Ethiopian coffee tray with burning incense. Jennifer Soo 5 / 5 Special kitfo - finely chopped, spiced raw beef with gomen (sauteed kale) and ayip (Ethiopias answer to cottage cheese). Jennifer Soo Previous Slide Next Slide 14 / 20 How we score Ethiopian$$$ With all due respect to pumpernickel, paratha, focaccia and the bagel, Ethiopias injera might be the ultimate bread. Its light and spongy and dotted with crumpet holes but also has enough heft to support brightly spiced stews. Traditionally made with water and teff (a type of tiny grain), the fermented bread is also faintly tangy, often described as a type of sourdough pancake. But injera is much more than a pancake. In Ethiopia, injera is life. However, like asbestos-free parks and affordable property, injera options in Sydney are limited. In Auburn, theres Salam and Ibrahim Eatz. Ashfield has Queen of Sheba (loved by vegans for its kik alicha split-lentil stew) and in Blacktown theres Gursha, decorated with fairy lights. Husband and wife Yibeltal Tsegaw and Rahel Woldearegay moved from Ethiopia to Australia two decades ago and opened Gursha in 2017. Tsegaw runs the modest dining room; Woldearegay helms the one-woman kitchen. On weekends, East African families gather around platters of injera covered in different wots (stews) like splodges on an oil painters palette. Theres laughter. Theres music. The air is heavy with spice and incense.

Advertisement

An Ethiopian coffee tray with burning incense. Jennifer Soo Over the past few years, Ive seen food writers in the US and UK declare that Ethiopian cuisine is about to take off there. The prediction mostly exists to present a hot new take, but its not completely unfounded. Vegetarians are well catered for, the injera is gluten-free and the spice levels swing between soothing and a school bullys headlock. You never walk away from an Ethiopian table thinking, Well, that was a bit dull. Lets just go to the pub next time. You may walk away smelling of berbere, though  Ethiopias signature spice blend containing chilli, fenugreek, powdered ginger, coriander and about a dozen other aromatic dried things. Time-wasting ingredients need not apply. Berbere stars in Gurshas misir wot ($18), a thick and fiery red-lentil stew, and Ethiopian flagship yedoro wot ($22), a medley of boundless flavour featuring hard-boiled eggs and long-simmered chicken legs. Ethiopian cuisine is built around kinship and sharing, so rally a group and start with golden, lentil-filled sambossa triangles (four for $12). Crunchy chickpea and green chilli falafels (six for $12) are a smart idea, too, plus a Greek-ish house salad ($10), just because its nice to have some raw onion, tomato and cucumber to balance the oncoming wots. You can probably skip the peanut butter-laced tomato salad ($10) unless youre really into peanut butter.

Advertisement

You never walk away from an Ethiopian table thinking, Well, that was a bit dull. Lets just go to the pub next time. The misir wot is the vegetarian main I keep coming back to, although theres also a lot to love about the gomen ($22), sauteed kale pulsing with onions, chilli and too many spices to name. Tsegaw tells me that the most popular order is the ataklet beyeayntu ($27, pictured below), a combo of four vegetarian dishes circling a sunset-orange dollop of garlic-forward chickpea and tomato stew shiro, with everything seeping into more injera. Definitely worth a crack if its your first visit. Ataklet beyeayntu (vegetarian platter). Jennifer Soo Injera is designed to be eaten off and eaten with, the idea being to tear a swatch of the bread and use it to pick up non-bread foods. Do it right, and you shouldnt get any stew on your hands. Advanced-grade injera users may perform an actual gursha: the practice of popping a little wot parcel into a companions mouth as a sign of love and respect. My wife says she doesnt trust me to not spill any deep-red stews on her shirt. Fair.

Advertisement

Meatier options worth rolling your sleeves up for include the tibs ($26), a fragrant, home-cooking staple of beef sauteed with rosemary and onion, and mild, turmeric-yellow alicha wot ($20), which is loaded with lamb, potato, carrot and plenty of ginger. Go-to dish: Special kitfo. Jennifer Soo At the other end of the heat spectrum, theres special kitfo ($26): finely chopped raw beef marinated in cardamom-infused butter and throbbing with a mitmita spice blend. Gomen and ayip (Ethiopias answer to cottage cheese) are served on the side. I could happily never eat another steak tartare, but would eat this kitfo once a week if Blacktown was closer to home. Its unlikely that youll finish a meal here feeling heavy and bloated, which probably has a little to do with injeras short fermentation process, and a lot to do with what happens when you eat Ethiopian stews with your hands. Its more a case of considered mouthfuls here and there rather than shovelling a whole bowl of fettuccine in your face. What do we call it  mindful eating, perhaps? If Ethiopian food is indeed about to take off, Gursha is the right place to get in on the ground level.

Advertisement
By all accounts, 2023 was a landmark year for First Nations fashion.

Ngali became the first Indigenous brand to stage a solo show at Australian Fashion Week, and won Indigenous designer of the year at the Australian Fashion Laureate following shows in London and Dubai. Meanwhile, brands including Gali Swimwear and Clothing the Gaps gained greater mainstream recognition. The list goes on.

Maara Collectives Julie Shaw. Credit: Rhett Wyman

Barely 10 weeks in, and this year is looking just as fruitful. In January, Julie Shaw of Maara Collective won her category in the International Design Awards, and, last month, The Iconic launched the first brands to graduate from its First Nations incubator program: Pink Fish, Myrrdah and Jarawee.

And this week, Ikuntji Artists was a finalist in the National Designer Award at the Melbourne Fashion Festival.
Nine, which owns the media outlets, is relying on a range of defences, including truth, honest opinion and public interest.

Sharon Jones-Baldwin was giving evidence against orthopaedic surgeon Munjed Al Muderis in the defamation case he has brought against The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes, which he claims made defamatory allegations including that he negligently performed surgery and provided inadequate after-care.

He never examined me. I told them I was in excruciating pain, could they get me to a hospital. The only thing they were interested in, in that meeting, was whether I was a private patient.

Jones-Baldwin told the Federal Court in Sydney that she went to see Al Muderis in 2021 while suffering severe pain in her back. The waiting room was manic, she said in her affidavit. About 20 patients were packed into the waiting room. One couple was making a noisy complaint about another doctor.

Loading

She was eventually ushered into a waiting room where she was informed by two doctors that her X-rays showed she had a broken hip. Al Muderis entered the room briefly, but barely spoke, she said, and never physically examined her. She was admitted to hospital that day.

I wanted him to talk to me, Jones-Baldwin said. I wanted to know what was involved, I wanted to explain to him the problems with the administration of my medication, I wanted to tell him about my back. He didnt explain anything to me. He treated me with absolute contempt.

But Jones-Baldwin was not operated on until days later, and she had to plead with the nurses for pain medication, she told the court.
A former candidate for Congress from Nevada has been named as a suspect in the death of Chris Tapp, an Idahoan who was falsely convicted of a murder and served 20 years in jail before becoming champion for the unfairly accused. Tapp passed away last year.

On Wednesday, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said that it had secured a warrant for the arrest of Daniel Rodimer, 45, following the filing of a murder accusation against him.

Ex-Nevada Congressional Candidate Suspect in Hotel Killing

Chris Tapp, 47, passed away unexpectedly on October 29, resulting to a prompt reaction from medical staff upon being found at a nearby hotel. Despite the quick actions implemented and subsequent hospitalization, Tapp passed away due to his injuries.

The initial details surrounding the incident remained shrouded in mystery as the police department refrained from disclosing the nature of the accident initially perceived to have befallen Tapp. Subsequent investigations by Las Vegas detectives, however, unveiled a troubling narrative Tapp had been engaged in a heated altercation within a hotel room before being rushed to the hospital.

The situation became more serious when the Clark County Coroner's Office officially classified Tapp's death as a homicide, citing severe blunt force trauma to the head as the cause.

Tapp's life journey was marked by political actions as well as a turbulent dispute with the law. In 2020, running as a Republican candidate in Nevada, he questioned Democratic Representative Susie Lee for the District 3 seat, ultimately losing by around 13,000 votes. Unfazed, he later moved to Texas, joining a special congressional election in 2021 to fill the seat left empty by the late Republican Ron Wright, according to The Independent.

Read Also: Super Tuesday: Biden Lost American Samoa Caucus to Jason Palmer

Who is Chris Tapp?

His aspirations in politics reflected the obstacles he encountered in the legal field. In 2020, Tapp, a former wrestler and political candidate, was unsuccessful in Nevada's third congressional district race, being defeated by incumbent Suzanne Lee. However, these challenges were not the sole obstacles Tapp faced in life.

2019 saw a major development as Tapp was cleared of the murder of Angie Dodge, an 18-year-old woman who met a tragic end in her Idaho Falls apartment in 1996. Tapp had admitted to the crime before, but later took back his confession, saying it was due to intense questioning and multiple lie detector tests.

His search for justice continued even after being cleared of any misconduct. Tapp supported legislative initiatives in Idaho and other areas, pushing for fair compensation for exonerees. In 2021, the hard work paid off as Idaho Governor Brad Little signed a bill into law, granting Tapp $1.2 million as a symbolic acknowledgment of the years he spent unfairly imprisoned.

However, Tapp's legal battles extended beyond exoneration compensation. In 2022, he took legal action against the city of Idaho Falls and its police department, alleging "egregious misconduct." The lawsuit concluded with a settlement of $11.7 million and a public apology from the mayor in acknowledgment of the hardships Tapp endured, 9 News.

Related Article: Elon Musk Says He is Staying out of Biden Trump Race: 'Not Donating to Either Candidate'
A grieving husband has accused Queensland lawmakers of failing on youth crime, saying his wifes fatal stabbing should never have happened.

Vyleen White, 70, died after being stabbed in the chest outside a shopping centre west of Brisbane in February in a suspected carjacking, sparking an outcry against youth crime.

A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder.

Whites husband, Victor, attended state parliament on Thursday, a week after his wife was farewelled by more than 100 mourners at a funeral in Brisbane.
The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide has challenged Defence Minister Richard Marles to respond to new research suggesting that serving military personnel are at greater risk of suicide, not just veterans.

At a hearing in Sydney on Thursday, Marles said the issue of suicide among veterans and active service personnel was a matter of enormous priority for the government, prompting commissioner Peggy Brown to ask why the government did not extend the commissions deadline as requested.

The commission asked for a 12-month extension last May to allow more witnesses to share their lived experiences. The Albanese government denied this request in August last year, instead granting a three-month extension until this September.

Minister for Veterans Affairs Matt Keogh (left) and Defence Minister Richard Marles at the royal commission on Thursday.

Marles said he understood there were important stories to be told, but on the other hand: We need to see change happening now. We need to get moving on this. Thats how we feel as a government.
The Australians Lydia Lynch has asked where the candidates think the Brisbane Arena, which would be used for Olympic swimming events, should be held.

Schrinner said he was not sure there were two locations in the running, as suggested by Lynch, but she said the venue closer to Roma Street station was the obvious one given it was close to train and Metro services.

The review will look at things we dont have visibility for, he said, saying he had not seen business cases for the Brisbane Arena.

Price agreed, saying she had not seen business cases or information, so could not comment without seeing costs, while Sriranganathan also agreed.
The Cook governments Canberra forward post  dubbed the WA embassy by the state opposition  will open within a kilometre of Parliament House on March 27.

WA Premier Roger Cook first announced his government would set up an office in Canberra office for use by WA-based peak bodies, businesses, not-for-profits and advocacy organisations during his first keynote speech as premier in August last year.

A mock-up of the WA Canberra Hub established by the Cook government.

The new office cost $150,000 to establish and will cost a further $100,000 annually in rent, and will be staffed by one full-time receptionist.

The Canberra Hub on Brisbane Avenue near Parliament House was a key pillar in the governments Canberra strategy, aimed at advocating for WAs interests in the federal governments agenda.
Rafah, Gaza Strip: Efforts to get desperately needed humanitarian aid to war-wracked northern Gaza gained momentum on Wednesday with the European Union increasing pressure for the creation of a sea route via Cyprus and British Foreign Minister David Cameron saying that Israels allies were losing patience.

While aid groups say all of Gaza is mired in a humanitarian crisis, the situation in the largely isolated north stands out. Many of the estimated 300,000 people still living there have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive. The UN says that one in six children younger than two in the north suffers from acute malnutrition.

Amid the global pressure to alleviate the crisis, two Israeli officials said the government would begin allowing aid to move directly from its territory into northern Gaza and would also cooperate with the creation of the sea route from Cyprus.

Displaced Palestinian children collect free food from a volunteer-run hospice near Nasser Medical Hospital in Gaza. Credit: Bloomberg

Israel would allow 20 to 30 aid trucks to enter northern Gaza from Israel on Friday, the start of more regular deliveries via that route, one of the officials said. It would also begin doing security checks on Sunday on aid in Cyprus before its delivered via sea to Gaza, the official said. The ship would be part of a pilot project to test the feasibility of the sea route. The aid is UAE-funded and made possible with US involvement.
One of the key reasons we introduced the master of financial services was due to feedback from many of our longstanding corporate clients who were looking for an industry-specific MBA of sorts  one that is designed to challenge individuals to go beyond the technical and learn the capabilities and skills to stand out from their peers as a changemaker, innovative thinker, and financial services leader, Knight said.
It goes further than just applying personal liability for rectification orders to directors; it also has a 10-year retrospectivity element, Martin said. This is an extreme measure for development directors, particularly when not everyone in the development cycle is brought into accountability.
San Francisco voters have approved a divisive measure that mandates welfare recipients to undergo screening for illegal drug use as the city shifts towards a more conservative stance in the face of a growing addiction crisis.

People receiving welfare benefits would be required to seek treatment for drug use or risk losing cash assistance. If it becomes clear that drugs are being used, a specialist in addiction and the individual in question would collaborate on treatment plans, which may involve residential care, a 12-step program, one-on-one counseling, and alternative medication.

San Francisco Votes Favorably for Proposals F and E

San Francisco residents have spoken, with Proposition F and Proposition E gaining notable support in the recent elections. As of Wednesday morning, Proposition F, the welfare requirement, boasted a 63 percent approval rate, signaling a potential shift in the city's approach to public safety and substance use issues.

Proposition E, which expanded certain police surveillance powers while also introducing oversight measures, secured backing from 60 percent of voters. Although there are still votes to be counted, proponents of the measures have declared victory, while critics on the left express concerns about potential backfires and reversals of progress.

Mayor London Breed, a Democrat currently seeking re-election, orchestrated the placement of these measures on the ballot, expressing her satisfaction with the results on Tuesday night. Mayor Breed highlighted the public's demand for changes in public safety and emphasized the tools these propositions provide to continue ongoing efforts.

"It is clear that people want to see changes around public safety. What's exciting about this for me is I get the kind of tools I need to continue the work we're doing," Breed told reporters, expressing gratitude to the voters for passing Proposition F and acknowledging Proposition E's role in enhancing law enforcement capabilities.

Tom Wong, a local business owner, promoted the need for larger government support for police officers, describing the value of community support in preventing crime. Wong explored the political landscape, indicating that Breed's re-election campaign had a significant impact on shaping conversations about drug use and policing in the city.

"There's a high probability that she will not win," Wong commented on Breed's mayoral campaign, according to Fox News.

Read Also: ALPHV Ransomware Group Pulls Disappearing Act After Collecting $22 Million, Stages Fake FBI Takedown

San Franciscans Face Benefits Policy

Meanwhile, more than 5,700 San Franciscans currently receive benefits, reaching up to $712 a month in a city known for its high cost of living. The city's Human Services Agency is now tasked with implementing the drug testing policy in the coming months.

Despite the overall support, Proposition F faced staunch opposition from healthcare providers, including Health Right 360, a San Francisco-based drug treatment center, and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Concerns were voiced about the potential worsening of addiction and overdose cases if support systems were disrupted.

"I have seen addiction and overdose worsen when people lose support systems, and that is what Proposition F threatens to do," said Dr. Marlene Martin, director of the Addiction Care Team at the University of California, San Francisco.

The San Francisco Democratic Party also took a stance against Proposition F, emphasizing the complexities surrounding the city's ongoing drug epidemic, particularly with synthetic opioids like fentanyl contributing to last year's record-high drug overdose deaths.

Proposition E, which authorizes police use of drones and surveillance cameras, also found favor among San Francisco voters. Backed by Mayor Breed, it expands police powers regarding the use of force incidents and vehicle pursuits. This measure, alongside Proposition F, highlights the city's multifaceted approach to addressing public safety concerns.

Residents and authorities alike negotiate the particulars of these new proposals as the city struggles with an extensive drug crisis, trying to find a balance between public welfare, police capabilities, and the continued fight against substance misuse, Huffpost reported.

Related Article: Where to Watch The Idea of You: Trailer for Anne Hathaway, Nicholas Galitzine Movie Released
FILE PHOTO: Missiles are seen on display at an exhibition at an unidentified location in Yemen in this undated handout photo released by the Houthi Media Office on September 17, 2019. (Photo: Houthi Media Office/Handout via REUTERS. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY./File Photo)

In a devastating attack, three crew members have been killed and several others injured after a Houthi missile struck the Barbados-flagged cargo ship True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden. The incident, which occurred at approximately 11:30 GMT on Wednesday, marks the first fatalities among merchant sailors since the Iran-backed Houthi group began launching strikes against ships in waters off Yemen last year.

According to US officials, the True Confidence had been abandoned and was drifting with a fire on board after the strike, which took place about 50 nautical miles (93km) south-west of the Yemeni city of Aden. The vessel, carrying a crew of 20 comprising one Indian, four Vietnamese, 15 Filipino nationals, and three armed guards from Sri Lanka and Nepal, had been hailed over VHF radio by a group calling itself the "Yemeni navy" and told to change course before the attack.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for the strike, stating that the True Confidence's crew had ignored warnings from their naval forces. In a statement, the group said the attack was in support of the Palestinians in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The US Central Command (Centcom) confirmed the death toll, posting on social media, "These reckless attacks by the Houthis have disrupted global trade and taken the lives of international seafarers." The British embassy in Yemen also condemned the attack, stating, "At least two innocent sailors have died. This was the sad but inevitable consequence of the Houthis recklessly firing missiles at international shipping. They must stop."

The True Confidence, owned by True Confidence Shipping SA and operated by Third January Maritime Ltd, was carrying a cargo of steel products and trucks from Lianyungang, China, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, when it was attacked. The vessel had no current connection with any US entity, according to a spokesman for the ship's owners and managers.

The attack has drawn strong condemnation from both the US and the UK, with US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller calling on governments around the world to hold the Houthis accountable for their actions. "The Houthis have continued to launch these reckless attacks with no regard for the well-being of innocent civilians who are transiting through the Red Sea and now they have unfortunately and tragically killed innocent civilians," he said.

UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron echoed these sentiments, stating, "We condemn the Houthis' reckless and indiscriminate attacks on global shipping and demand they stop. We will continue to stand up for freedom of navigation and back our words with actions."

The incident comes amid escalating tensions in the region, with the Houthis launching sustained drone and missile attacks against shipping in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea over the past four months. The US-led naval taskforce in the region has been attempting to shoot down as many of these missiles and drones as possible, but the sheer volume of attacks has made it difficult to destroy every single one.

The Houthi attacks have led several shipping firms and oil companies to suspend or redirect voyages from the key Yemen-adjacent route, which accounts for about 12% of global seaborne transit. The intensifying disruption has also affected submarine cable infrastructure, with four out of 15 critical cables in the Red Sea being cut earlier this week, affecting 25% of traffic.

As the international community grapples with the growing threat posed by the Houthi attacks, calls for increased retaliation and expanded targets inside Yemen are likely to grow. However, such actions risk further escalation in an already tense region, with the humanitarian situation in Gaza adding to the complexity of the situation.

The US and UK have acknowledged the need for better intelligence about the Houthis' military assets and are drawing up plans to help train local naval forces to assist in controlling Yemen's territorial waters. The Aden government, meanwhile, remains convinced that the Houthis will not end their attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab strait, even if the Israeli war on Gaza ceases.
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi

(Photo: Reuters / Mark Kauzlarich)

China's top diplomat, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, has lashed out at the United States for its "bewildering" trade policy and accused Washington of "devising various tactics to suppress China" during a news conference on the sidelines of a political gathering in Beijing. Wang's comments come as China champions high-tech development in the face of mounting curbs from the US.

In his remarks, Wang criticized the US for its "lengthening" unilateral sanctions list, which he said had reached "bewildering levels of unfathomable absurdity." He questioned the US's confidence as a major country and its commitment to international fairness and competition.

"If it gets jittery whenever it hears the word China, where is its confidence as a major country?" Wang asked. "If it only wants itself to prosper, but denies other countries legitimate development, where is international fairness? If it persistently monopolizes the high end of the value chain and keeps China at the low end, where is fairness and competition?"

Despite the criticism, Wang noted that there had been "some improvements" in the US-China relationship since the summit between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco last November. He called on Washington to work with Beijing "to bring the relationship back on the track of stable, sound and sustainable development."

In stark contrast to his comments on the US, Wang praised China's burgeoning relationship and record trade with Russia. Bilateral trade between the two countries hit a historic $240 billion last year, surpassing a target of $200 billion set by Xi and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in 2019 ahead of schedule.

"Russian natural gas is fueling numerous Chinese households and Chinese-made automobiles are running on Russian roads," Wang said. "All this shows the strong resilience and broad prospects of China-Russia mutually beneficial cooperation."

Wang also addressed simmering tensions in the disputed South China Sea, where non-lethal but increasingly tense clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels have raised concerns about the risk of conflict. He warned that China would take "justified actions to defend our rights in accordance with the law" and respond with "prompt and legitimate countermeasures" in the face of "unwarranted provocation."

The foreign minister also demanded that members of the UN Security Council stop blocking Palestine from becoming a member of the United Nations. "We support Palestine becoming a full member of the United Nations and call on individual members of the Security Council not to set obstacles for this any more," Wang said.

On the issue of Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, Wang reiterated China's commitment to "peaceful reunification" but warned that "whoever in the world" supports Taiwan independence will get "burned for playing with fire." He accused countries that maintain official ties with Taiwan of interfering in China's domestic affairs.

China's ruling Communist Party has been using the "two sessions" gathering of its rubber-stamp legislature and top political advisory body to send a message that it will boost its self-reliance in the face of tech frictions with the US. The government announced plans to increase its annual budget for science and technology by 10% to an unprecedented 370.8 billion yuan ($51.6 billion) - the biggest jump since 2019 after years of minimal growth.

As tensions continue to simmer between China and the US, as well as in the South China Sea and over Taiwan, Wang's comments underscore Beijing's increasingly assertive foreign policy stance and its determination to defend its interests in the face of what it perceives as US aggression and interference.
Philippines President Seeks New Approach in South China Sea Disput (Photo: Rey Baniquet for Presidential Communications Operations Office / Public domain)

The Philippines has expressed alarm after the Chinese coast guard violently confronted a Philippine supply convoy in the disputed South China Sea on Tuesday, allegedly leaving several Filipino crew members injured. The latest flare-up in the long-running territorial feud between Beijing and Manila occurred during a mission to bring fresh supplies and troops to a Philippine military outpost at Second Thomas Shoal, which lies within the Philippines' internationally recognized exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

According to reports, a blockading force of at least 26 Chinese ships, including coast guard and suspected militia vessels, moved to intercept the Philippine convoy. Two collisions ensued, and the Chinese coast guard trained its water cannons on a supply boat, causing minor injuries to four crew members.

Despite the incident, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that now is not the time to invoke the country's defense treaty with the United States. "I do not think that it is a time or the reason to invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty," Marcos said Wednesday on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Melbourne, Australia. "However, we continue to view with great alarm this continuing dangerous maneuvers and dangerous actions that are being done against our seamen, our coast guard."

The U.S.-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty states that each country will come to the other's aid in the event of an attack. However, it remains unclear what would constitute an attack in the current context, as Chinese maritime forces operate in the gray zone between peace and war.

Collin Koh, a maritime security expert with Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, told Newsweek that China appears to have intensified its gray zone approach, noting that Beijing deployed "water cannon at close range at the resupply boat." Koh predicted more serious clashes in the future due to intransigence from an emboldened Beijing and Manila under Marcos, who has sworn to never yield "one inch" of Philippine territory.

The incident was witnessed firsthand by two Associated Press journalists who were invited to join the trip aboard the Philippine coast guard ship BRP Sindangan. The journalists caught on video and camera how the Chinese ships shadowed, surrounded, and blocked the Philippine coast guard ships and supply boats carrying Filipino sailors to the disputed shoal.

Vice Adm. Alberto Carlos, the highest-ranking Filipino military commander overseeing the disputed waters, joined the trip to ensure that any confrontation would not spiral out of control. "That's very concerning and very worrisome," Carlos told reporters after witnessing the Chinese actions against the supply boat Unaizah Mae 4, which he was aboard.

The Philippines adopted a strategy last year of exposing China's increasingly assertive actions in the disputed sea by embedding journalists on its coast guard patrol ships. The "transparency campaign" aims to pressure China to abide by international law, including anti-collision regulations.

In response to the latest incident, China blamed the Philippines for the hostilities. "China has unwavering determination and will in safeguarding its legitimate rights. The Philippines' attempt of making infringements and provocations will not succeed," Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday in Beijing.

The U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the latest incidents demonstrated China's "reckless disregard for the safety of Filipinos and also for international law," adding that China was interfering with "lawful Philippine maritime operations."

As tensions continue to rise in the South China Sea, the international community is closely watching the situation, with concerns that the disputes could escalate into a larger conflict involving the United States and China. The Philippines, along with other claimants in the region, faces the challenge of asserting its territorial rights while navigating the complex geopolitical landscape and avoiding a direct confrontation with Beijing.
U.S. President Joe Biden is tired of the war in Afghanistan.

(Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)

U.S. President Joe Biden is set to announce during his State of the Union address on Thursday that he is directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a port on the Gaza coast. The port, which will feature a temporary pier, is intended to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to the Hamas-controlled territory amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, according to senior administration officials.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement, revealed that the operation will not require American troops to be on the ground to build the pier. Instead, the U.S. military will utilize its "unique capabilities" to construct the facility from "just offshore." The effort is expected to take "a number of weeks" to execute, with initial shipments originating from Cyprus.

"Tonight in the speech, the president will announce that he's directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a port in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters," one official said. "This port, the main feature of which is a temporary pier, will provide the capacity for hundreds of additional truckloads of assistance each day."

The officials emphasized that the U.S. will coordinate with the Israelis on land-based security requirements and work with the United Nations and humanitarian NGOs to distribute the assistance within Gaza and Israeli settlements. The operation is foreseen to be one that won't require U.S. boots on the ground, with mechanisms established to distribute the aid on land within Gaza.

The move comes as pressure on Israel to establish a sea route for aid has been growing in recent days. European Union Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen planned to visit Cyprus on Friday to inspect installations at the port of Larnaca, from where aid is expected to leave for Gaza if a sea route is established. Israeli officials said Wednesday the country would cooperate with the creation of a sea route from Cyprus, an idea that's been under discussion for months.

The announcement also highlights the extraordinary dynamic that has emerged as the United States has had to go around Israel, its main Mideast ally, to find ways to get aid into Gaza. "We're not waiting on the Israelis. This is a moment for American leadership. And we are building a coalition of countries to address this urgent need," a U.S. official said.

Five months of fighting between Israel and Hamas have left much of Hamas-run Gaza in ruins and led to a worsening humanitarian catastrophe. Many Palestinians, especially in the devastated north, are scrambling for food to survive. Aid groups have said it has become nearly impossible to deliver supplies within most of Gaza because of the difficulty of coordinating with the Israeli military, the ongoing hostilities, and the breakdown of public order.

The U.S. has provided more than $180 million in assistance since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas terrorists on southern Israel, according to the Biden administration. "Responding to the major increases in the needs of the Palestinian people has been a priority since day one, and it remains one today. But the truth is, we know that the aid flowing into Gaza is nowhere near enough and nowhere near fast enough," one official said.

International mediators had hoped to alleviate some of the immediate crisis with a six-week cease-fire, which would have seen Hamas release some of the Israeli hostages it is holding, Israel release some Palestinian prisoners, and aid groups be given access to get a major influx of assistance into Gaza. However, talks have stalled, with Hamas seeking commitments for a more permanent cease-fire and Israel wanting to confine the negotiations to a more limited agreement.

As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens, particularly in the north where many of the estimated 300,000 people still living there have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive, the Biden administration's plan to establish a temporary port on the Gaza coast represents a significant effort to increase the flow of essential supplies to the beleaguered territory. The move also underscores the complex geopolitical dynamics at play in the region, as the U.S. seeks to address the urgent needs of the Palestinian people while navigating its relationship with Israel amid the ongoing conflict.
UB sociologist to speak at international conference devoted to the paradigm-shifting addiction recovery theory he co-developed

We were initially told our work was unscientific and that it lacked validity. But within 10 years, we started seeing a growing science of recovery capital that took off in ways that were unimaginable at the time. 

BUFFALO, N.Y.  Leading researchers, clinicians and policymakers from around the world will meet next month in Calgary, Alberta, for a conference devoted to recovery capital, a pioneering theory in the field of addiction recovery that was co-developed by Robert Granfield, PhD, University at Buffalo professor of sociology and vice provost for faculty affairs.



Granfield and William Cloud, PhD, now a retired professor in the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work, were each faculty members at that university in the late 1990s when they conceptualized the theoretical foundations of recovery capital. The subsequent application, influence and expanding body of research related to recovery capital have all contributed to a paradigmatic shift in the science of addiction recovery, moving away from traditional ideas of willpower toward a more holistic approach.

The concepts growth in 25 years is remarkable considering that Granfield and Cloud, despite their early evidence suggesting recovery capitals role in overcoming addiction, couldnt get federal funding to extend their initial research.

We were initially told our work was unscientific and that it lacked validity, he says. But within 10 years, we started seeing a growing science of recovery capital that took off in ways that were unimaginable at the time.

Today, there are currently more than 150,000 unique websites that reference recovery capital.

Its so rewarding to have an entire conference focused on recovery capital, says Granfield. This will be the seventh of such conferences that began in 2017.

The Recovery Capital Conference of Canada will be held April 3-4 at the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary. Granfields presentation, From Inception to Integration: The Origins and Growth of Recovery Capital, takes place on the first day of the conference at 11 a.m.

Recovery capital is a term for the collective elements in someones life, the internal and external resources they draw upon to help their potential for success to start, and sustain, the process leading to recovery from addiction. Recovery capital is comprised of social, physical, cultural and human forms of capital. It consists of but is not limited to personal and social characteristics, networks, housing, access to transportation, community aspects, cultural values, and the friends, family members and others who might support the recovery process.

Derived from Granfield and Clouds qualitative study of natural recovery or spontaneous remission, recovery capital is a fluid construct. People can spend or accumulate it as part of a recovery experience. Recovery capital interacts with the problem of addiction by providing support and presenting paths that can lead to recovery.

The concept of recovery capital being holistic, rather than disease-based or with an emphasis on flawed personhood, is something that can be effectively integrated into how people live as social and cultural beings, says Granfield.

As the recovery capital movement has grown it has been adopted by practitioners in the field of mental health, with applications related to any kind of addictive or excessive behavior that is negatively affecting peoples lives. It has become a central paradigm in Canada and is being used in various countries around the globe such as the UK, Australia and Ireland.

Granfield has recently completed a National Institutes of Health-funded study led by Elizabeth Bowen, PhD, an associate professor in the UB School of Social Work, to develop an assessment tool to measure recovery capital. He is currently working with a group in Italy to determine if recovery capital can be applied to young people and social media use.

We saw early on that recovery was something people didnt accomplish on their own, says Granfield. It was an ecosystem of factors, but it was also what people were able to involve themselves in, like reading groups, church groups or other civic groups.

That early research began when Granfield and Cloud, who both had an interest in addiction recovery, launched their first study with 46 participants. They were aware of weaknesses in the disease model of addiction and also knew of research on addiction recovery without treatment.

We didnt go into that first study with the objective of developing a comprehensive term, says Granfield. We wanted to conduct these interviews in order to advance the literature and think more theoretically about natural recovery.

But the overarching narrative emerging from those interviews began taking an identifiable shape. It wasnt any one element coming from stories that suggested a keystone responsible for supporting recovery. It was a multidimensional approach to understanding how various elements could help build the capacity for individuals to overcome addiction.

Its all of this, Granfield says, remembering what he and Cloud concluded. We started writing our first book while we were analyzing our data and coined the term recovery capital in the process.

Their book, Coming Clean: Overcoming Addiction without Treatment, was published in 1999, and has since become a classic study in the science and practice of addiction recovery.

The opportunity to have this kind of impact, internationally, nationally, locally, right down to the individual, and in different corners of the world, is truly gratifying, says Granfield.
GGlobal buyout firms including Carlyle Group Inc. and KKR & Co. have shown preliminary interest in a potential takeover of Samsonite International SA, according to people familiar with the matter.

Other private equity firms making early assessments on a potential bid for the Hong Kong-listed luggage maker include Bain Capital and CVC Capital Partners, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. China-focused DCP Capital Partners, a minority shareholder in Samsonite, is also evaluating coinvesting with other bidders, the people said.

The investment funds may consider teaming up and forming a consortium if Samsonite decides to move forward with a plan to go private, the people said, adding that more bidders could emerge.

Samsonites shares erased losses following the Bloomberg News report, jumping as much as 2.3% after the mid-day trading break in Hong Kong. Theyd fallen 1.9% in the morning session.

The fragmented ownership structure of Samsonite, which has headquarters in Massachusetts and Luxembourg, may create some hurdles for any take-private deal as it would take only a few opponents to block a plan, the people said.

Talks are preliminary and the parties may decide against pursuing a deal, the people said. Representatives for the buyout firms declined to comment. A Samsonite representative didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.
AAHAR - The International Food & Hospitality Fair organized by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO). The 38th edition of the event to be organised from March 7-11, 2024 at Pragati Maidan (Photo: AAHAR 2024 Brochure)

As many as 23 Australian companies and two industry groups are attending the Indian food industrys premium trade fair in Delhi, said a senior official of the countrys embassy on Thursday.

Australian seafood, lamb and sheep, food ingredients and commodities will be on show at the five-day Aahar India food and hospitality fair. The 38th edition of the fair is organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation and supported by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, and the Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority.

Australian food brands seek a market of 25-30 million people in Indias Tier-I and Tier-II cities, said John Southwell, trade and investment commissioner, Australia Trade and Investment Commission, told Business Standard.

Indians who have travelled to Australia are already familiar with these brands that got noticed because of television shows like Masterchef Australia, he said. Indian-origin Australians make up a one-million-strong group in Australia, which has a population of 27 million. Their interaction with relatives in India has created a demand for Aussie food products, Southwell said.

Ryan Meat Company, Summerfruit Australia, ice cream flavour Frosty Boy, Source Wellness Drinks, and Supercharged Food are Australian brands attending Aahar India 2024. The companies are keen on setting up business-to-business partnerships in India, said Southwell.

The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which came into force in December 2022, has improved trade flows in food and beverages. Excluding coal, Australia's exports to India are up 35 percent in the first year after ECTA was signed, he said. Exports of Australian lamb, seafood, and oranges to India have increased.

As part of ECTA, India reduced tariffs on imported wine for the first time. As many as 24 Australian wineries visited India for the ProWine Mumbai last year.

India will not impose a duty on imported Australian lentils until March 31, 2025, but the food items imports have fallen because the trade is seasonal and dependent on weather. "But the key point is that both countries are counter-seasonal, and we can provide both imports into Indian food processing as well as to meet Indian consumer demand," Southwell said.

Processed foods are India's largest food and agriculture exports to Australia. "Indian exports to Australia have also increased under ECTA. Exports of rice and cereals have gone up by 23 percent, bread, ice cream and biscuits have increased 25 per cent and frozen vegetable exports have also risen 25 percent," Southwell said.
The top leadership of the Congress is attending a meeting in the national capital on Thursday to finalise the party's candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Sonia Gandhi and general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal, as well as other senior leaders who are part of the Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) were present at the meeting. Finalising candidates for Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Telangana, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim and Manipur, among others, is expected to be discussed during the meeting. The Congress has not declared any candidate so far. Last week, the BJP came out with its first list of 195 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.



In case of an alliance, the BJP will definitely contest a majority of Lok Sabha seats in the state while the regional party will contest a majority of assembly seats, news agency PTI reported citing sources.



The INDIA bloc has offered eight Lok Sabha seats in Bihar and two in Uttar Pradesh to Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan, sources have told NDTV. Paswan is reportedly being offered only six Lok Sabha seat in Bihar by the NDA and even those are linked to fulfillment of certain conditions - the seats will have to be split with his uncle and Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party chief Pashupati Paras.

The INDIA alliance offer comes with all six seats that the undivided Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) had contested in 2019, and a sweetener in the form of two additional constituencies in Bihar and two in Uttar Pradesh, NDTV reported today citing sources. In case of an alliance, the BJP will definitely contest a majority of Lok Sabha seats in the state while the regional party will contest a majority of assembly seats, news agency PTI reported citing sources.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections in Odisha, there are discussions that the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will forge an alliance with the BJP, years after their break-up. Although there has been no formal announcement of the same, leaders of both parties have winked at reports of the latest realignment, news agency PTI reported. The BJD had broken ties with the BJP-led NDA in 2009. Odisha BJP leaders on Wednesday met Home Minister Amit Shah and the party's national president J P Nadda amid indications that it may enter an alliance for the Lok Sabha and assembly polls, which are held simultaneously in the state, with the BJD.Senior Tipra Motha leader Animesh Debbarma on Thursday resigned as the Leader of the Opposition in Tripura Assembly. He, along with another lawmaker of the party, Brishaketu Debbarma, will take oath as ministers in the BJP-led government in the northeastern state during the day.
The Congress on Thursday said it has always been stating that the BJD and the BJP are two sides of the same coin and whatever opposition the two show to each other in Odisha is merely "shadow boxing".

The Congress' assertion comes amid buzz over a tie-up between the BJP and the BJD for the Lok Sabha and assembly polls.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "We've always been saying that the BJD and the BJP are two sides of the same coin. The BJD has always supported the BJP in Parliament and whatever opposition the two show to each other in the state is merely shadow boxing."



"The cat appears to be emerging out of the bag!" he said.

Although there was no formal announcement regarding a pre-poll alliance between the ruling BJD and the Opposition BJP in Odisha, leaders from both parties have hinted at a mutual tie-up before the Lok Sabha and assembly elections.

While BJD leaders held a marathon meeting at Naveen Niwas, the residence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday, the BJP leaders had a similar meeting in the national capital, discussing election matters, including a potential alliance.

After more than three hours of discussion, BJD vice-president and MLA Debi Prasad Mishra acknowledged that talks were held on a possible alliance with the BJP but did not explicitly confirm its formation.
The Reserve Bank of India and Bank Indonesia (BI) on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote use of local currencies for bilateral transactions.



The MoU was signed here for establishing a framework to promote the use of local currencies viz., the Indian Rupee (INR) and the Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) for cross-border transactions, RBI said in a statement.



This framework would enable exporters and importers to invoice and pay in their respective domestic currencies, which in turn would enable the development of an INR-IDR foreign exchange market.



"Use of local currencies would optimise costs and settlement time for transactions," RBI said.

The MoU was signed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das and Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo.

"The MoU on establishing a framework for cooperation in the area of cross-border transactions in local currencies between India and Indonesia, aims to promote the use of INR and IDR bilaterally," RBI said.



The central bank further said the collaboration marks a key milestone in strengthening bilateral cooperation between RBI and BI.

Use of local currencies in bilateral transactions will eventually contribute to promoting trade between India and Indonesia as well as deepen financial integration and strengthen the long historical, cultural and economic relations between India and Indonesia, it added.
A former employee of SpaceX has filed a lawsuit against the aerospace company, alleging years of sexual abuse, discrimination, and retaliation.

Michelle Dopak, a production coordinator at SpaceX headquarters in California, brought the lawsuit against the company, claiming that she faced various forms of mistreatment during her tenure.

Accusations Against SpaceX

In the lawsuit filed in state court on Tuesday, Dopak accuses SpaceX of gender-based discrimination, unequal pay, and retaliation for reporting sexual harassment by her manager.

She alleges that her supervisor pressured her into a sexual relationship that resulted in a pregnancy, and when she declined his offer of $100,000 for an abortion, SpaceX allowed him to transfer $3.7 million in stock options to avoid paying child support.

Dopak further claims that SpaceX is attempting to force her to quit by burdening her with excessive work. Specifically, she alleges that managers were making her work 12-hour shifts, six days a week, notwithstanding her entitlement to accommodations for work-related stress.

The lawsuit also outlines how Dopak allegedly received lower pay compared to men with similar positions within the company. She is seeking unspecified damages for discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and unequal pay, in violation of California law.

Read Also: Elon Musk Facing Pressure From US Lawmakers Over SpaceX Internet Service for American Troops in Taiwan

Legal Storm Brews for SpaceX

The lawsuit comes amidst other legal battles SpaceX is facing. Last October, SpaceX faced another lawsuit from a former female employee who alleged that the company pays and promotes women and minorities less than their white male counterparts.

Ashley Foltz, a former SpaceX engineer, filed a proposed class action lawsuit in California state court, citing that the company paid her $92,000 per year, whereas men with comparable duties and qualifications earned up to $115,000.

In January, The National Labor Relations Board accused SpaceX of wrongful termination and surveillance of workers who criticized CEO Elon Musk.

The US labor agency's complaint, consolidating eight charges, alleges SpaceX's actions after employees circulated a letter in June 2022. The letter, addressing various workplace issues, urged executives to condemn Musk's behavior on social media, including dismissive remarks about sexual harassment allegations.

Seven of the former SpaceX employees lodged civil rights complaints in February, accusing the company of discrimination and sexual harassment. SpaceX has denied wrongdoing in previous cases and has not yet responded to requests for comment on the latest lawsuit.

Related Article: SpaceX, Led by Elon Musk, Penalized Following Worker's 'Near-Amputation' Incident, Official Documents Reveal
Delhi's Karkardooma Court has discharged 11 men accused of rioting, and burning shops and vehicles in the Dayal Pur area of northeast Delhi during riots in February 2020.

The accused, also charged with criminal conspiracy, were discharged due to lack of evidence.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pulastya Pramachala discharged the 11 accused persons namely Ajmat Ali, Shadab Alam, Naved, Mohd Shahid, Mohd Sakir, Nadeem, Mohd Sohail alias Soel, Sultan Ahmed, Wazid, Suleman and Mohd Faeem.

These accused were charge-sheeted in a case of rioting and criminal conspiracy by Delhi Police in relation to an FIR lodged at police station Dayal Pur.

The court said that there is no reference to any specific evidence to show the existence of a criminal conspiracy among the accused persons. Based on the evidence placed on the record, the element of prior agreement among the accused persons and others cannot be inferred, it said.

"Therefore, I do not find a case being made out for the existence of a criminal conspiracy from the record," ASJ Pramachala held in the order passed on Monday.

The court further said that based on evidence on record, it cannot be said that a grave suspicion is created against the accused persons to show their involvement in any of the incidents being prosecuted in this case.

" In fact, there is no specific evidence in respect of finding the culprit behind incident related to other complaints, which were clubbed for investigation in this case and which are being prosecuted in the same chargesheet," the court said.

The court pointed out that the video relied upon by the prosecution to charge-sheet Suleman and Mohd Faeem does not connect them with the alleged incidents.

"Since the police had registered separate cases for riotous incidents, a general piece of evidence to show presence in the mob at some point of time and at some different place cannot be sufficient evidence to prosecute and charge an accused for a particular incident," ASJ Pramachala held.

As per the charge sheet, on the night of February 23, 2020, a PCR call was received in Police Station (PS) Dayalpur, regarding an incident taken place at Punjab Chicken, Chandu Nagar,Dayalpur, near Sherpur Chowk. Through this call, it was informed that "KUCH LOG DUKAAN PAR AAYE OR JHAGDA KAR RHE HAI".

On reaching the spot, Police found that a mob of two different communities were raising slogans against and in favour of the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA).

The situation was telephonically informed to SHO, who came there along with force. He declared the mob illegal and announced through loudhailer to take back steps, but the mob did not pay any heed.

In the meantime, both mobs started stone pelting against each other. Some vehiclesparked there were set on fire, windowpanes of some vehicles were broken, and one 'Punjab Chicken' in Chandu Nagar was also set on fire, the police said.

After investigation, Delhi police on April 27, 2020, filed a charge sheet against 10 accused persons for offences punishable under sections 147/148/149/427/435/436/120-B IPC and 3 PDPP Act.

On September 16, 2020, the first supplementary chargesheet against the accused, namely Mohd Faeem, along with the FSL report and other documents, was filed. On December 18, 2020, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) took cognizance of offences 147/148/149/427/435/436/120-B IPC and 3/4 PDPP Act.

On December 14, 2023, a third supplementary chargesheet was filed before the session court, taking a fresh stand to prosecute this case in respect of nine (9) complaints made by complainants Ashok Kumar, Satish Kumar, Rahul Kumar, Vijay Pal, Smt. Vandana, Mohd Nasim, Nawab Singh, Subhash Chand, and Mumtaz.
Under the new scheme farmers will be provided input assistance at the rate of Rs 19,257 per acre on the basis of paddy purchased from them

The Chhattisgarh government has decided to launch a scheme under which an input assistance of Rs 19,257 per acre will be given to paddy farmers.

The government has also decided to set up an agency for speedy investigation in special cases pertaining to terrorism and Left Wing Extremism.

These decisions were taken on Wednesday during a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai here at the Mantralaya, a government statement said.

Fulfilling another guarantee (pre-assembly poll promise) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the cabinet has decided to implement 'Krishak Unnati Yojana' from kharif season 2023-24 in the interest of farmers of the state, it said.

The scheme is aimed at increasing the income, crop production and productivity of farmers in the state and reducing the cost of cultivation, it said.

Under it, farmers will be provided input assistance at the rate of Rs 19,257 per acre on the basis of paddy purchased from them, said the statement.

The cabinet also decided to constitute a State Investigation Agency (SIA) for speedy and effective investigation and prosecution in special cases related to terrorism and Left Wing Extremism in the state, it said.

The SIA will act as the state's nodal agency for coordination with the National Investigation Agency (NIA). A total of 74 new posts, including that of superintendent of police, will be created for the SIA, said the statement.

The cabinet also gave its nod for the creation of a separate department of good governance and convergence.

A separate department will be formed for successful implementation of public welfare policies of the state government, best possible use of available resources and quick resolution of people's grievances, the statement said.

On the lines of NITI Ayog, the cabinet decided to change the name of Chhattisgarh State Planning Commission to the State Niti Ayog Chhattisgarh, it said.

In another move, the cabinet decided to constitute the Chhattisgarh Economic Advisory Council and implement 'National Education Policy 2020' in the higher education department.
Delhi Cabinet, in its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday approved power subsidy scheme for financial year 2024-25, Power minister Atishi said.



Atishi said that the AAP government has been fulfilling this promise for past nine years. Around 22 lakh households get zero power bills.



"Our opponents tried to ensure that Delhiites do not get zero power bills. Officers were threatened but since Arvind Kejriwal has committed to provide zero bills to consumers, the government will ensure that they get it. The cabinet has approved power subsidy scheme till March 31, 2025," Atishi said.



The Kejriwal government is providing free electricity to consumers with a monthly consumption of 200 units. A subsidy of 50 per cent is given to those who use 201-400 units per month.
The rescued crew, including the critically injured personnel, have been evacuated to Djibouti by INS Kolkata (Representative image  Photo: Bloomberg)

Indian warship INS Kolkata rescued 21 crew members, including an Indian national, after three of their colleagues in a Barbados-flagged cargo vessel were killed following a Houthi missile strike on the bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday.

The deaths were the first since the Houthi militants began attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and adjoining shipping lanes in response to Israel's military offensive in Gaza.

The crew abandoned the vessel True Confidence after the attack, military officials said.

INS Kolkata, deployed for maritime security operations in the Gulf of Aden, arrived at the scene of action at 4.45 pm on Wednesday and rescued 21 crew members, including one Indian national, from a life raft using its integral helicopter and boats, Indian Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said.

The US Central Command reported "three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition, as well as significant damage to the ship".

According to reports, two of the sailors killed in the missile strike were Filipinos and the other one was from Vietnam.

The Barbados-flagged vessel was reportedly hit by a drone approximately 55 nm south west of Aden resulting in the fire on board and critical injuries to some of the crew members forcing the crew to abandon the ship, Madhwal said.

Critical medical aid was provided to the injured crew by the ship's medical team, he said in a written statement.

The rescued crew, including the critically injured personnel, have been evacuated to Djibouti by INS Kolkata.

The Indian Navy warship swiftly responded to the maritime incident in Gulf of Aden, Madhwal said.

It is learnt that two crew members died on board True Confidence as they could not leave the ship while the third one was declared dead following the rescue operation.

The fresh incident came amid increasing global concerns over attacks on various commercial vessels in the Red Sea by the Houthi militants.

In the last few weeks, the Indian Navy has extended assistance to a number of merchant vessels in the Western Indian Ocean following attacks on them.

In a statement, the US Central Command said an anti-ship ballistic missile was launched from "Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist-controlled areas of Yemen toward M/V True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier, while transiting the Gulf of Aden".

"The missile struck the vessel, and the multinational crew reports three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition, and significant damage to the ship," it said.

"The crew abandoned the ship and coalition warships responded and are assessing the situation," it said.
A coaching centre in Vijayanagar in Bengaluru asked its students to attend classes online due to an 'emergency' for a week.

Similarly, a school on Bannerghatta Road in the city shut down, asking the students to attend classes virtually.

The 'emergency' is the acute water crisis.

Karnataka, especially its capital, is facing one of the worst water crisis in recent years due to poor rainfall in 2023.

The Indian Meteorology Department has attributed the scanty rains to El Nino effect.

One can gauge the grim situation from the fact that water tankers were seen inside Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's office residence on Kumarakrupa Road in Bengaluru.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the borewell in his house in Sadashivanagar in the state capital has gone dry for the first time. This happened despite the fact that Sadashivanagar is located next to Sankey Lake.

Water tankers running frequently on the Bengaluru roads have become a common sight now.

On normal days, the water suppliers used to charge Rs 700 to Rs 800 per tanker but due to excess demand, they are charging somewhere between Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,800 per tanker, according to Shivakumar.

The office-bearers of the Residents' Welfare Associations (RWA) in the city are facing the brunt of its members for doing nothing to save them from water crisis.

"We are a family of six members. A tanker of water lasts for five days even if we use it judiciously. It means we need six-tankers of water a month, which will cost us about Rs 9,000 a month. How long can we spend money like this?" Sharaschandra, a resident of Uttarahalli in Bengaluru, said.

Deputy CM Shivakumar, who is in charge of Bengaluru Development, announced taking over private tankers and private borewells to meet the water demand in Bengaluru. Even milk tankers will be used to supply water.

The government is also mulling over fixing the rate for water per tanker.

According to Siddaramaiah, out of 136 Taluks in Karnataka, 123 Taluks have been declared drought hit and 109 are severely affected.

The Karnataka government has also decided to set up Taluk level control rooms and helpline to address water woes.

Taluk level task forces led by the area MLA have been set up to ensure water supply and an adequate supply of fodder for cattle.

According to IMD scientist A Prasad, there was an El Nino effect last year, which is moderate this year too but is likely to decline.

Its effect was evident as summer set in the third and fourth week of February, which otherwise happens only in March in Bengaluru, he explained.

Bengaluru recorded 36 degree Celsius temperature on Wednesday (March 6), the officer said.

"36 degree Celsius was not the highest. There were occasions when temperatures went up to 37.3 degree in March, 1986 but that happened towards the end of the month. We still have 24 days to go this March," Prasad pointed out.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) as well as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike are under pressure to provide water to people.

A BWSSB official said the situation is grim because the Krishnaraja Sagar Dam in Mandya district from where Cauvery water is supplied to Bengaluru does not have adequate water due to summer.
Colonel Mujthaba also said that the Indian helicopter stationed in Addu City is currently undergoing repairs, and in its place, 26 civilians have arrived in the Maldives with a replacement helicopter (Photo: Pexels)

The Maldivian defence force on Thursday said it will have operational authority over the helicopter given by India to the island nation and the civilian crew that will pilot it.

Addressing a press conference, the Principal Director of Plans, Policy, and Resources Management for the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), Colonel Ahmed Mujuthaba Mohamed said that discussions are underway for withdrawing Indian troops from the Maldives.

He emphasised that the government of President Mohamed Muizzu has decided not to permit any foreign troops to remain stationed in the Maldives beyond May 10, PSM News, the state broadcaster reported.

Last week, India said its first civilian team of technical experts has reached the Maldives to replace the military personnel operating an advanced light helicopter in the island nation.

"The first team of technical personnel to operate the advanced light helicopter has reached the Maldives. It will replace the existing personnel who were operating this platform," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing on February 29.

Following a second meeting of the high-level core group that was set up to address the issue of withdrawal of the Indian military personnel, the Maldivian foreign ministry had said India will replace all its military personnel in two phases by May 10.

India's ties with the Maldives came under stress as Muizzu, seen as a pro-China leader, maintained after assuming charge as the president in November that he would keep his election promise of expelling all Indian military personnel from his country.

Muizzu had set March 10 as the deadline for the withdrawal of the first group of Indian military personnel from his country.

His government this week signed a deal with China's military under which Beijing will supply "non-lethal" weapons to the Maldives free of cost. Local media quoted President Muizzu as saying that the non-lethal weaponry would include tear gas and pepper spray.

Colonel Mujthaba also said that the Indian helicopter stationed in Addu City is currently undergoing repairs, and in its place, 26 civilians have arrived in the Maldives with a replacement helicopter.

He noted that the familiarisation process is in progress and said the Indian troops will depart from the Maldives as planned. He also said the MNDF will have operational authority of the Indian civilians and vehicles associated with the helicopter.

According to the Maldivian government, 88 Indian military personnel were in the Maldives primarily to operate two helicopters and an aircraft that have carried out hundreds of medical evacuations and humanitarian missions.

The Indian aviation platforms have provided humanitarian and medical evacuation services to the Maldivians for the last few years.

Muizzu defeated India-friendly incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the presidential runoff held in September last year.

The Maldives is one of India's key maritime neighbours in the Indian Ocean region. The overall bilateral ties, including in defence and security, witnessed an upward trajectory under the previous government in Male.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday slammed the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over the issue of crimes against women, alleging that "being a woman has become a crime in this jungle raj".

The Congress general secretary said two minor girls, who were victims of gang rape, had committed suicide in Kanpur and now their father has also committed suicide.

"It is alleged that pressure was being put on the victim's family to compromise," Priyanka Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.

"In Uttar Pradesh, if victimised girls and women ask for justice, it has become a rule to destroy their families. From Unnao, Hathras to Kanpur, wherever women were tortured, their families were destroyed," she alleged.

"Being a woman has become a crime in this jungle raj where there is no such thing as law and order left," Priyanka Gandhi said.

What should crores of women of the state do and where should they go, she said.

Two girls were found hanging from a tree in a field near the brick kiln they were working in Kanpur in a village in the Ghatampur area last month -- days after they were allegedly raped.

Family members have alleged that the minor girls were raped a few days ago by the contractor of the brick kiln, Ramroop Nishad, (48), his son Raju (18) and nephew Sanjay (19), Additional CP (law and order) Harish Chandra had said. All three accused had been arrested, he said.

According to the families, the accused had also made a video of the act to blackmail the girls -- 16 and 14 years of age -- due to which they took the extreme step.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said the focus of the Narendra Modi government in its third term would be on putting India in the higher-income category for it to be counted amongst the developed countries of the world.

In a video interview, Rijiju told PTI that a per capita income of USD 18,000 would be required for India to be counted among the world's developed countries and it would be the Modi government's endeavour in its third term to put the nation in the higher-income category.

He said despite lagging on many counts, the prime minister's "aggressive and inspiring" leadership has catapulted India into another league in the global comity of nations.

"The whole world looks at India as a leader except that we are not a high-income country yet. But our status has reached here," the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said.

Rijiju slammed the previous Congress governments for "not delivering" on basic necessities, such as toilets, bank accounts for people, food security, which, he said are now being provided by the Modi government.

"On one hand, India's stature in the global community is rising. On the other hand, basic needs of people are being delivered at their doorsteps.

"Sometimes, I wish we had a prime minister like Narendra Modi some 30 or 40 years ago, because had we provided the basic needs to the citizens three decades ago, we would have been talking about something else (today)," he said.

The Union minister of earth sciences said one can talk about issues, such as quality of life, only after the basic needs of the citizens have been provided for.

"Ten years of the Modi government have done what nobody could do in the last 60 years, especially the Congress. Banking facility, 4G network, food, bank accounts, LPG gas, light bulbs at your home, roads, highways all across the country -- all these dreams of the common people are reality now," he said.

"I think the next phase will put India in the next stage of the higher-income category where you will generate much more resources to improve your living standards and in aggregate, it will raise the level of India's income to put the country in the next phase because we are talking about Aatmanirbhar Bharat to Viksit Bharat," Rijiju said.

He said India will be completely self-sufficient and a developed country by 2047.

"For that, we must at least have a USD 18,000 per capita income. Then only we will be considered as a rich and developed country," Rijiju said, pointing out that the per capita income is now in the range of USD 2,500.

He said the Modi government's first term was spent correcting the mistakes of the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) dispensation, repairing the image of the country that had a "corrupt" government and providing basic necessities to people.

"In the second term, we got into saturation mode that everybody should get a mobile phone, every village should have water, everyone should get electricity and roads. So the next election is based on what we have delivered and the next five years will be a robust journey towards making India fully developed," the minister said.

Rijiju said the prime minister and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) believe in serving the country relentlessly to achieve the development goals.

"Nothing is a done deal in a democracy," the BJP leader said, replying to a question on whether he considers the upcoming Lok Sabha polls a done deal given that the government has already started drafting the roadmap for the next five years.

"That is why, in the middle of the election mode, one full day -- from 9 am to 6:30 pm -- the prime minister had discussions about Viksit Bharat and the way to reclaim India's position and how India should become a fully-developed country by 2047," he said, referring to the Council of Ministers' meeting on March 3.
NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule has said if one member of a large family takes a different stand, it does not mean there is a split within the family.

She also noted that BJP leaders these days do not talk about alleged corruption of her party.

Sule, however, did not name Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who parted ways with his uncle and Sule's father Sharad Pawar last year to join the Shiv Sena-BJP government.

"Our family has around 120 to 125 members, including small kids, and in such a big family, if one person puts forth a different opinion, it does not signify a split," Sule told reporters in Pune on Wednesday.

"Our family is united and it will remain united forever," the Lok Sabha member from Baramati said.

Asked about Union minister Amit Shah's statement that Sharad Pawar wanted to make her chief minister, Sule said she was thankful to Shah for "freeing the NCP of corruption".

"Whenever he used to come to Maharashtra, he used to refer to the NCP as 'naturally corrupt party', but now no big leaders from the BJP talk about corruption. Whatever allegations he had made, no one talks about it, and that is why, I am very thankful to the BJP and Shah," she said.

"There is dynasty politics in his own party," Sule claimed.
According to that UN agency, 18 million people across Sudan are facing acute hunger | Photo: Shutterstock

Britain has circulated a draft UN resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in conflict-wracked Sudan ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins soon.

The draft, obtained late Wednesday by The Associated Press, expresses grave concern over the spreading violence and the catastrophic and deteriorating humanitarian situation, including crisis levels of acute food insecurity, particularly in Darfur.

With Ramadan expected to begin around Sunday, depending on the sighting of the new moon, the council is expected to vote quickly on the resolution, likely on Friday.

Sudan plunged into chaos last April, when long-simmering tensions between its military led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo broke out into street battles in the capital, Khartoum.

Fighting spread to other parts of the country, especially urban areas, but in Sudan's western Darfur region it took on a different form, with brutal attacks by the Arab-dominated Rapid Support Forces on ethnic African civilians. Thousands of people have been killed.

Two decades ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias against populations that identify as Central or East African.

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor, Karim Khan, said in late January there are grounds to believe both sides in the current conflict are committing possible war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur.

Meanwhile, France's UN ambassador, Nicolas de Riviere, said, It would be a disgrace if we have a Ramadan truce in Sudan and no Ramadan truce in Gaza.

We need both, he said.

The United States vetoed a resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza on February 20 that was supported by almost the entire 15-member Security Council.

The US is negotiating on its own proposed Gaza resolution, with the latest draft calling for a cease-fire "of roughly six weeks in Gaza together with the release of all hostages as soon as Israel and Hamas agree. The draft makes no mention of Ramadan.

The latest draft on a Sudan cease-fire was circulated on the same day the head of the UN food agency warned that the Sudan conflict risks triggering the world's largest hunger crisis as global attention is focused on the Israel-Hamas war.

Cindy McCain, head of the World Food Programme, said the conflict in Sudan has shattered the lives of millions and called for the warring parties to stop fighting and allow humanitarian agencies to provide life-saving assistance.

According to that UN agency, 18 million people across Sudan are facing acute hunger, with the most desperate trapped behind the front lines. They include 5 million who face starvation, it said.

The proposed UN resolution calls on all parties to remove obstructions and allow full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access including across Sudan's borders and across conflict lines.

The draft also urges strengthened coordination of several regional and international efforts to facilitate an end to the conflict and to restore a lasting inclusive civilian-led democratic transition.

UN experts said in a report obtained by AP on March 1 that fighters for the Rapid Support Forces and their allied militias carried out widespread ethnic killings and rapes while taking control of much of Darfur that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The report to the Security Council painted a horrifying picture of the brutality of the Arab-dominated RSF against Africans in Darfur. It also detailed how the force succeeded in gaining control of four out of Darfur's five states, including through complex financial networks that involve dozens of companies.
A man from New Jersey has been taken into custody for reportedly trafficking 675 SpaceX Starlink terminals that were bought with stolen credit card information or hacked Starlink billing accounts. The arrest was made public on Wednesday.

A 35-year-old man named Kelvin Rodriguez-Moya was pulled over by police on Dec. 4 for transporting 223 Starlink terminals in a pickup truck and trailer after leaving a residence in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, according to a criminal complaint. Multiple shipping labels were found at the address, each addressed to different names.

Police Uncover Illegal Starlink Device Operation

Lawrence Township police have uncovered an illicit operation involving the unauthorized purchase and transportation of Starlink devices, a division of SpaceX specializing in satellite internet service for remote regions. A total of 675 devices, valued at approximately $400,000, were reportedly acquired through illegal means, sparking a thorough investigation.

Police authorities were notified about the suspicious activity when a vigilant resident reported an unusually large number of deliveries to a residence on Roxboro Road. Chief Chris Longo of the Lawrence Township police highlighted the importance of community vigilance in uncovering such activities.

Chief Longo stated, "Typically, what happens is the suspect would use these devices to resell and gain some type of monetary benefit."

The investigation revealed that the suspect, identified as Rodriguez-Moya, had been intercepted while transporting Starlink terminals to northern New Jersey for resale.

Court documents indicate that Rodriguez-Moya, pulled over with the stolen devices in his possession, confessed to being compensated for transporting them to Newark for resale. The suspect does not reside at the Roxboro Road address, and the occupants of the house are not implicated in the illegal operation, according to 6 ABC.

Read Also: Mount Fuji Climbers to Pay $13 Fee on Popular Trail Amid Japan's Tourism Boom

Recovery of Illicit Starlink Devices

Approximately one-third of the illicitly obtained devices have been successfully recovered and returned to SpaceX. It was disclosed that the purchased devices were using stolen credit information, with the Lawrence house serving as a temporary storage point before being transported to North Jersey.

A number of substantial allegations have been brought against Rodriguez-Moya, including counts of receiving stolen items in the second degree and trafficking stolen property. At this time, he is being detained at the Mercer County jail in anticipation of a detention hearing.

Meanwhile, the incident sheds light on the broader impact of Starlink terminals, which have played a crucial role in global connectivity. Notably, Starlink devices were utilized in Ukraine following Russia's invasion in February 2022 and have continued to serve a vital role in the ongoing conflict. Ukrainian military officials have reported that even Russian troops are using Starlink terminals, acquired through alternative channels.

In addition to troubled areas, Starlink dishes have been incredibly useful in remote locations around the world, such as Mount Everest base camps, boats, and as main internet providers for businesses and residences. The illegal acquisition case in Lawrence Township highlights the increasing significance and popularity of Starlink devices, calling for enhanced security measures to deter unauthorized access and distribution, New Jersey 101.5 reported.

Related Article: Tesla Attack In Germany Raises Concerns Over Infrastructure Security, The 'Lifeline' of The Economy
A missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday killed three of its crew members and forced survivors to abandon the vessel, the US military said.

It was the first fatal strike in a campaign of assaults by the Iranian-backed group over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The attack on the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence further escalates the conflict on a crucial maritime route linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe that has disrupted global shipping. The Houthis have launched attacks since November, and the US began an airstrike campaign in January that so far hasn't halted their attacks.

Meanwhile, Iran announced Wednesday that it would confiscate a USD 50 million cargo of Kuwaiti crude oil for American energy firm Chevron Corp. aboard a tanker it seized nearly a year earlier. It is the latest twist in a yearslong shadow war playing out in the Middle East's waterways even before the Houthi attacks began.

The US military's Central Command said an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from a Houthi-controlled area in Yemen struck the True Confidence, causing significant damage to the ship. In addition to the three deaths, at least four crew members were wounded, with three in critical condition.

Two aerial photos released by the US military showed the the ship's bridge and cargo on board ablaze.

These reckless attacks by the Houthis have disrupted global trade and taken the lives of international seafarers simply doing their jobs, which are some of the hardest jobs in the world, and the ones relied on by the global public for sustainment of supply chains, Central Command said.

The attack came after the ship had been hailed over radio by men claiming to be the Yemeni military, officials said. The Houthis have been hailing ships over the radio in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since beginning their attacks, with analysts suspecting the rebels want to seize the vessels.

After the missile hit, the crew abandoned the ship and deployed lifeboats. A US warship and the Indian navy were on the scene, trying to assist in rescue efforts.

The ship's managers and owners said the ship's crew of 20 included one Indian, 15 Filipino and four Vietnamese. Three armed guards, two from Sri Lanka and one from Nepal, also were on board. The ship had been carrying steel from China to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

One Vietnamese and two Filipino crew members have lost their lives, a statement from the owners and managers of the True Confidence said early Thursday. A further two Filipinos crew members have suffered serious injuries. All crew members were taken to Djibouti.

The United Nations called on the Houthis to cease all attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, expressing serious concern about the continuing attacks, including the latest incident where the status of the crew is unknown.

Dujarric said the attacks are causing risks to property, to life, to ecology in the area.

At the State Department in Washington, spokesman Matthew Miller condemned the attack. We continue to watch these reckless attacks with no regard for the well being of innocent civilians who are transiting through the Red Sea. And now they have, unfortunately and tragically, killed innocent civilians, he told reporters.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre separately warned: The US obviously is going to continue to take action.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, claimed the attack in a prerecorded message, saying its missile fire set the vessel ablaze. He said the rebels' attacks would only stop when the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza is lifted.

The rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over the Israel-Hamas war, but up to Wednesday hadn't killed any crew members. The vessels have included at least one with cargo bound for Iran, the Houthis' main benefactor, and an aid ship later bound for Houthi-controlled territory.

Despite more than a month and a half of US-led airstrikes, Houthi rebels have remained capable of launching significant attacks. They include the attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertiliser, the Rubymar, which sank on Saturday after drifting for several days, and the downing of an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars.

It was unclear why the Houthis targeted the True Confidence. However, it had previously been owned by Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based fund that finances vessels on installments. Oaktree declined to comment.

Meanwhile, a separate Houthi assault Tuesday apparently targeted the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has been involved in the American campaign against the rebels. The Carney shot down bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, Central Command said. Saree acknowledged that attack as well.

The US later launched an airstrike destroying three anti-ship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats, Central Command said.

The Houthis haven't offered any assessment of the damage they've suffered in the American-led strikes that began in January, though they've said at least 22 of their fighters have been killed. One civilian has reportedly been killed.

The US Treasury separately announced new sanctions targeting a Houthi financier and the expeditionary Quds Force of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which arms the rebels.

The Houthis have held Yemen's capital, Sanaa, since 2014. They've battled a Saudi-led coalition since 2015 in a long-stalemated war there.

Meanwhile, the Indian navy released a video of its sailors from the INS Kolkata fighting a fire aboard the MSC Sky II, which had been targeted by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden on Monday. The Mediterranean Shipping Co., a Switzerland-based company, said the missile struck the ship as it was traveling from Singapore to Djibouti. No one was injured.

Iran separately announced the seizure of the crude oil aboard the Advantage Sweet through an announcement carried by the judiciary's state-run Mizan news agency. At the time, Iran alleged that the Advantage Sweet collided with another ship, without offering any evidence.

The court order for the seizure offered an entirely different reason for the confiscation. Mizan said it was part of a court order over US sanctions it alleged barred the importation of a Swedish medicine used to treat patients suffering from epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic condition that causes blisters all over the body and eyes. It didn't reconcile the different reasons for the seizure.

The Advantage Sweet had been in the Persian Gulf in late April, but its track showed no unusual behaviour as it transited through the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of all traded oil passes. Iran has made allegations in other seizures that later fell apart as it became clear that Tehran was trying to leverage the capture as a bargaining chip to negotiate with foreign nations.

Chevron, based in San Ramon, California, said Wednesday that the Advantage Sweet had been seized under false pretenses" and that the company has not had any direct communication with Iran over the seizure of the vessel.

Chevron has not been permitted access to the vessel and considers the cargo a total loss due to Iran's illegal actions, Chevron said in a statement. We now consider the cargo the responsibility of the Iranian government.

Ship seizures and explosions have roiled the region since 2019. The incidents began after then President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers.
The U.N.'s atomic watchdog agency chief is visiting Russia amid concern about a Ukrainian nuclear power plant caught in the crossfire since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in 2022 and seized the facility shortly after.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi arrived at the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday evening, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti for talks on nuclear safety in Ukraine. Grossi announced the trip on Monday, the first day of a regular meeting of the agency's 35-nation board of governors in Vienna.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly expressed alarm about the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest, amid fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe.

The plant's six reactors have been shut down for months, but it still needs power and qualified staff to operate crucial cooling systems and other safety features.

Speaking to reporters in Sochi on Wednesday, the IAEA chief said he had a very intensive and exhaustive working session with Russian officials, including from Russia's state nuclear energy agency Rosatom and the foreign and defense ministries.

This gave me, and gave us, I think, an opportunity to evaluate the situation at the nuclear power plant, he said.

Grossi later met with Russian Vladimir Putin and said on X, formerly Twitter, that they had an important exchange" about the plant and nuclear non-proliferation issues.

The IAEA chief last met with Putin in October 2022.

He visited Ukraine in February and crossed the front line to visit the Russian-held plant as part of the IAEA's efforts to prevent a nuclear disaster amid ongoing hostilities. He also held a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Before heading to Russia, Grossi told reporters in Vienna that he considered it important to maintain a dialogue with both sides and added that the situation with the Zaporizhzhia plant continues to be very fragile.

He said that he expected to discuss technical issues related to the future operational status of the plant in Moscow. He also said if the plant is to be restarted, he would need to discuss what kind of safety evaluation would be needed and that he planned to discuss the issue of external power supply lines.

The plant has suffered eight losses of off-site power since the seizure, forcing it to rely on emergency diesel generators temporarily, and it continues to face challenges related to staffing.

Ukraine's Energoatom, which operates all of the country's nuclear power plants, has repeatedly said Russia restricted qualified Ukrainian staffers from accessing the Zaporizhzhia plant after they refused Russian citizenship and to sign a contract with Rosatom.

Nearly 5,200 workers left the plant since Russia took over in March 2022, according to Petro Kotin, Energoatom's Acting Board Chairman. Kotin said in a statement Tuesday that at the beginning of the year, 360 Ukrainian employees who didn't have contracts with Rosatom were still working at the plant, but starting February they couldn't access the facility anymore.

Kotin said Ukrainian staffers were replaced with Russian workers or residents of Russian-controlled cities and towns nearby "who do not understand what a nuclear power plant is.
Indian warship INS Kolkata has rescued 21 crew members, including one Indian national, after their Barbados-flagged cargo vessel was hit by a missile in the Gulf of Aden, a Navy spokesperson said on Thursday.

The crew members had abandoned bulk carrier MV True Confidence after it caught fire following the attack on Wednesday.

INS Kolkata, deployed for maritime security operations in the Gulf of Aden, arrived at the scene of action at 4.45 pm and rescued 21 crew members, including one Indian national, from a life raft using its integral helicopter and boats, Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said.

Critical medical aid was provided to the injured crew by the ship's medical team, he said.

The rescued crew, including the critically injured personnel, have been evacuated to Djibouti by INS Kolkata.

The Indian Navy warship swiftly responded to the maritime incident in Gulf of Aden, Madhwal said.

The Barbados-flagged vessel was reportedly hit by a drone approximately 55 nm south west of Aden resulting in the fire on board and critical injuries to some of the crew members forcing the crew to abandon the ship, he said.

The fresh incident came amid increasing global concerns over attacks on various commercial vessels in the Red Sea by the Houthi militants.

In the last few weeks, the Indian Navy has extended assistance to a number of merchant vessels in the Western Indian Ocean following attacks on them.
Both sons of three-time Pakistan Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif have approached the accountability court, seeking the suspension of their arrest warrants in three corruption references related to the Panama Papers, enabling them to surrender before the court on March 12, Dawn reported.

Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz, through their counsel Qazi Misbahul Hassan, filed an application in the Islamabad accountability court, seeking the suspension of their perpetual arrest warrants issued in the Avenfield Apartments, Al-Azizia, and Flagship Investment references.

Accountability Judge Nasir Javed Rana took up the applications of Hussain and Hassan Nawaz.

The counsel informed the judge that they are residents of Saudi Arabia and the UK, respectively, and were nominated as accused persons in these references along with the PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, daughter Maryam Nawaz, and retired Captain Safdar.

He said that the trial in these references commenced when both of them were not in Pakistan. Advocate Qazi Misbah said that they were unaware of the formal legal process, and the state never attempted to adopt the due course to serve the legal process, which included the issuance of notices, arrest warrants, and proclamations, as reported by Dawn.

He further stated that Hussain and Hassan have now decided to surrender before the court to face the trial proceedings.

According to the counsel, both sons of the former premier are set to reach Islamabad on March 12. The two requested the court to suspend their arrest warrants so that they could reach the court to surrender.

Notably, Nawaz Sharif and her daughter Maryam Nawaz were both convicted in the Avenfield reference days before the previous general election. The PML-N supremo was also convicted in the Al-Azizia reference in December 2018 but acquitted in the Flagship Investment reference.

Nawaz, Maryam, and her husband retired Capt Safdar challenged their conviction in the Avenfield reference before the Islamabad High Court. the three-time premier also challenged the conviction in the Al-Azizia reference.

However, when Sharif went abroad and did not return, the Islamabad High Court declared him a "proclaimed offender".

While he was in the UK, Maryam and Safdar pursued the case, and the Islamabad HC finally set aside their conviction. Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan in October last year, and his appeals against convictions were revived, leading to the IHC setting aside his conviction in both cases as well, Dawn reported.
Police officers restrain a demonstrator during a farmers protest against the European Unions Green Deal and imports of Ukrainian agricultural products in Poland | Photo: Reuters

Poland saw its most violent protest by farmers and supporters yet Wednesday as some participants threw stones at police and tried to push through barriers around parliament, injuring several officers, police said.

Police used tear gas and said they detained over a dozen people and prevented the protesters from getting through to the Sejm, the Polish parliament.

Farmers are angry over European Union climate policies and food imports from Ukraine that they say threaten their livelihoods. Such protests have occurred across the 27-member EU in recent weeks, but this one was decidedly angrier than earlier demonstrations in the central European nation.

Police noted on the social media platform X that its officers are not a party to the ongoing dispute and warned that behavior threatening their safety cannot be taken lightly and requires a firm and decisive response.

The deputy agriculture minister, Michal Kolodziejczak, said he didn't believe that real, normal farmers caused a riot in front of the Sejm today," and that it was necessary to isolate provocateurs and troublemakers.

He did not say who he thought was behind the violence.

Farmers on tractors blocked highways leading into Warsaw while thousands of their supporters gathered in front of the prime minister's office before marching to the parliament. Some trampled a European Union flag and burned a mock coffin bearing the word farmer.

Farmers were joined by miners, foresters, hunters and other supporters. They blew horns and set off firecrackers and smoke bombs, despite police warnings that the use of pyrotechnics was banned. Some protesters burned tires.

The protesters are demanding a withdrawal from the EU's Green Deal, a plan meant to fight climate change and protect biodiversity, including with plans requiring farmers to reduce the excessive use of polluting chemicals to boost their crops.

The protests have led politicians to water down some provisions.

The protesters also want the Polish-Ukrainian border closed to stop the imports of Ukrainian food products, which farmers say drive down market prices and put Poland's agricultural sector in jeopardy.

The protest increased pressure on the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a former president of the European Council who is strongly pro-EU and seeks to support Ukraine as it fights Russia's invasion.

Tusk has sought to meet the farmers' demands, calling their frustrations justified. He has said he plans to propose amendments to the Green Deal.

Anti-Ukrainian slogans have featured at the protests in Poland, where authorities have said they are concerned that Russia is trying to leverage legitimate concerns to create divisions between Warsaw and Kyiv.

Agriculture, forestry and fishing make up less than 3% of Poland's GDP, according to the World Bank.
Efforts to get desperately needed humanitarian aid to war-wracked northern Gaza gained momentum Wednesday with the European Union increasing pressure for the creation of a sea route from Cyprus to Gaza and British Foreign Minister David Cameron saying that Israel's allies were losing patience.

While aid groups say all of Gaza is mired in a humanitarian crisis, the situation in the largely isolated north stands out. Many of the estimated 300,000 people still living there have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive. The U.N. says that one in six children under the age of 2 in the north suffers from acute malnutrition.

Amid the global pressure to alleviate the crisis, two Israeli officials said Wednesday the government will begin allowing aid to move directly from its territory into northern Gaza and will also cooperate with the creation of the sea route from Cyprus.

Israel would allow 20 to 30 aid trucks to enter northern Gaza from Israel on Friday, the start of more regular deliveries via that route, one of the officials said. It will also begin doing security checks Sunday on aid in Cyprus before it's delivered via sea to Gaza, the official said. The ship will be part of a pilot project to test the feasibility of the sea route. The aid is UAE-funded and made possible with US involvement.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the upcoming shipments with the media.

Aid groups have said it has become nearly impossible to deliver supplies within most of Gaza because of the difficulty of coordinating with the Israeli military, the ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of public order. It is even more difficult to get aid to the north.

Aid trucks have to drive from the Rafah crossing with Egypt or the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, both on the southern edge of Gaza, through the conflict zone to reach the largely cut-off areas in the north.

Last week, an attempt by the Israeli military to facilitate the movement of aid ended in tragedy when more than 100 Palestinians were fatally shot by Israeli forces or trampled to death in a melee.

On Wednesday, hundreds of people ran along a seaside road on the outskirts of Gaza City to collect bags of flour and boxes of water and canned food donated by Turkey and Egypt and were part of a shipment trucked in from southern Gaza.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron told Parliament's House of Lords that he planned to tell visiting Israeli government minister Benny Gantz on Wednesday that Israel's allies' patience with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was wearing very thin.

We've had a whole set of things we've asked the Israelis to do, but I have to report to the House that the amount of aid they got in in February was about half what they got in January, he said.

Meanwhile, European Union Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen will visit Cyprus on Friday to inspect installations at the port of Larnaca, from where aid would leave for Gaza if a sea route is established, Cypriot government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis said.

EU spokesman Eric Mamer said the bloc is hopeful the corridor will open very soon.

Concerned by the lack of access to food, the United States, Jordan and other nations have begun making air drops of aid in recent days, but aid groups say only a fraction of the needed assistance can be delivered by air.

The war began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which Palestinian militants killed around 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. More than 100 of them were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November.

The attack sparked an Israeli invasion of the enclave of 2.3 million people. Gaza's Health Ministry said Wednesday the Palestinian death toll from the war climbed to 30,717. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and maintains detailed casualty records. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tallies but says women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed.

Israel says it has killed over 13,000 Hamas fighters, without providing evidence.

Aid groups say the fighting has displaced most of the territory's population and pushed a quarter of the population to the brink of famine.

Meanwhile, efforts to negotiate a cease-fire to start before the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in a few days have so far borne no fruit. The U.S., Qatar and Egypt have worked on an agreement in which Hamas would release up to 40 hostages in return for a six-week cease-fire, the release of some Palestinian prisoners and a major influx of aid to Gaza. Hamas has said it wants a full end to the war and Israeli forces' withdrawal.
"The loss of life and injuries to civilian seafarers is completely unacceptable," leading global shipping associations said on Thursday (PTI Photo/R Senthilkumar)

India's navy evacuated all 20 crew from a stricken vessel in the Red Sea on Thursday, after a Houthi attack killed three seafarers in the first civilian fatalities from the Yemeni group's campaign against the key shipping route.

The Iran-aligned militants fired a missile at the Barbados-flagged, Greek-operated True Confidence on Wednesday about 50 nautical miles off the southern Yemeni port of Aden, setting it ablaze.



In a statement, the owners and manager said all 20 crew and three armed guards on board were taken to hospital in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa by an Indian warship.



Two of the dead were Filipino nationals, while the third was Vietnamese, the owners and managers said, expressing condolences to families. Two other Filipinos were also severely injured.



Vietnam on Thursday condemned the attack, and said one of the Vietnamese crew died while the remaining three nationals were in good health.



Images released by the Indian Navy showed a helicopter winching crew members from a small life raft in choppy seas and taking them to a naval ship.



Some wounded were shown lying in the bottom of a navy lifeboat sent to assist. They were carried on stretchers onto the ship and were shown later with heavily bandaged limbs as they were evacuated to the Djibouti hospital.



"The vessel is drifting well away from land and salvage arrangements are being made," the companies said in the statement.

A salvage contract for the vessel has been signed, a spokesperson for the companies told Reuters, declining further details citing security issues.



The Houthis have kept up a relentless campaign of attacks on vessels in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes since November, in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians during Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza.



"The loss of life and injuries to civilian seafarers is completely unacceptable," leading global shipping associations said on Thursday.



"The frequency of attacks on merchant shipping highlights the urgent need for all stakeholders to take decisive action to safeguard the lives of innocent civilian seafarers and put an end to such threats."



The cost of insuring a seven-day voyage through the Red Sea has risen by hundreds of thousands of dollars since November.

War risk insurance rates have already reflected the sinking of the Rubymar cargo ship, days after being hit by a Houthi missile on Feb 18, and the first fatalities from the True Confidence, said Munro Anderson, head of operations at marine war risk and insurance specialist Vessel Protect a part of Pen Underwriting.

"So, the degree to which they create any further upwards pressure is likely to be limited in the short term," he said.

"This is, however, predicated on how events evolve from this point forward."



SAILORS' WELFARE



The Houthis have used an array of sophisticated weapons, including ballistic missiles and "kamikaze drones", despite retaliatory U.S. and U.K.-led strikes on their bases in Yemen aimed at crippling their ability to attack.



Stephen Cotton, General Secretary of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), the leading seafarers union, also called for better protection.



"No delivery window is worth the loss of seafarers' lives," he said. "We call on the industry to divert ships around the Cape of Good Hope until safe transit through the Red Sea can be guaranteed."



Around 23,000 ships a year pass through the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the Suez Canal, accounting for around 12% of global trade.



Taking the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa adds about 10 days to the journey, delaying supply chains and pushing up costs.



The True Confidence was sailing from China to Jeddah and Aqaba with a cargo of steel products and trucks.



The vessel is owned by Liberia-registered True Confidence Shipping SA and operated by Greece-based Third January Maritime.



There is no current connection with any US entity, the companies said.


China's foreign minister accused the US on Thursday of devising tactics to suppress China's rise and criticised the Biden administration for adding more Chinese companies to its sanctions lists.

Wang Yi, speaking to media during the annual meeting of China's legislature, said China's relations with the US have improved since Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met in November, but America has not fulfilled its promises.

If the US always says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major power? If the US gets nervous and anxious when it hears the word China,' where is its confidence as a major power? he said. If the US is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself."

Wang also demanded that members of the UN Security Council stop blocking Palestine from becoming a member of the United Nations.

The 70-year-old veteran diplomat, who has earned Xi's trust, returned to the foreign minister's post last summer after his successor, Qin Gang, was abruptly dismissed without explanation after a half year on the job. Wang is also the ruling Communist Party's top foreign affairs official, a more senior position that he moved to when Qin became foreign minister at the end of 2022.

Analysts had speculated the Communist Party might use the weeklong meeting of the National People's Congress to name a new foreign minister, but that appeared off the table after an agenda released on the eve of the opening session did not include personnel changes.

China's UN ambassador, Zhang Jun, said during a Security Council debate in January that China supports Palestine becoming a full member as soon as possible, as a first step toward creating a Palestinian state, according to Chinese media reports.

Wang called Thursday for a major international conference to draw up a roadmap and timetable for a two-state solution. We support Palestine becoming a full member of the United Nations and call on individual members of the Security Council not to set obstacles for this any more, he said.

He accused the United States, without mentioning it by name, of stirring up trouble in Taiwan and the South China Sea. China says that self-governing Taiwan is part of China and should be under its control, and it claims a wide swath of the South China Sea, putting it at odds with the Philippines, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian neighbors.

The Philippines and the US have accused China of aggressive tactics in trying to block Philippines ships from reaching reefs and other outcroppings that both sides claim, most recently in a collision between coast guard vessels of both countries this week.

For unreasonable provocations, we will take just countermeasures, Wang said. We also advise certain countries outside the region not to stir up trouble, choose sides, and not to become disruptors and troublemakers in the South China Sea.

He said countries that insist on maintaining official ties with Taiwan are interfering in China's domestic affairs. Most countries, including the United States, don't have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but China objects to visits by US lawmakers to the island and US sales of military equipment for its defense.

China will continue to work for peaceful reunification with Taiwan, Wang said, but warned that anyone who supports independence for Taiwan would pay a price. Most Taiwanese prefer to remain separate from China without antagonizing it. They fear Chinese rule could endanger their freedoms and democracy, particularly after China's crackdown on Hong Kong.

Our bottom line is also very clear, Wang said. That is Taiwan will never be allowed to split from the motherland.

Wang praised China's growing ties with Russia, noting that trade between the two reached USD 240 billion last year, beating a target to hit USD 200 million in trade by the end of 2024.

The US and EU say that China is giving Russia an economic lifeline at a time when they are trying to pressure its government with sanctions over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which sparked a devastating war that has continued for more than two years.

Russian natural gas has entered thousands of households in China, and Chinese cars are driving in the streets of Russia, which fully demonstrates the strong resilience and broad prospects of mutually beneficial cooperation, Wang said.

Poland's deputy foreign minister, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, told a Chinese diplomat the country should not provide political, economic and military support to Russia, a Polish government statement said. Bartoszewski made the comment at a meeting on Wednesday with a Chinese diplomatic envoy, Li Hui, who is is visiting several European countries this week for talks on the conflict.

The US and EU expanded sanctions on companies and individuals from China and several other countries two weeks ago for allegedly aiding Russia's war effort.
In celebration of International Women's Day, leading QNET entrepreneur, V Partner Kavita Sugandh boldly underscores the triumphant influence of women, reshaping and dominating the direct selling industry. Kavita

ct-sel

rect-sell

part

leads a team of over 2 lakh members and is invested in their growth as well as learning  regardless of whether they are men or women.A recent cinematic political satire nominated for the Oscars ends with a memorable line that says, if you want something said, send a man; if you want something done, send a woman. Whatever the perspective and science behind it, theres a profound truth that when a woman is empowered, entire communities and future generations are empowered too. Take a look at history as an example  whether it was voting rights, gender equality or even ruling nations, women make change happen. In the 21st century, this empowerment is taking the form of entrepreneurial leadership in the direct selling industry.The global direling industry has seen significant growth, with India emerging as one of its fastest-growing markets. In 2022, it was ranked 11 among the top diing markets in the world, with retail sales of USD 3.23 billion (approximately INR 26852 crores). Women constitute a significant portion of direct sellers in India, accounting for 60-70% of the workforce. At QNET (India region) alone, women dominate 35% of the distributorship out of a total of 600,000 active members. Its worth noting that the women come from rural, semi-urban and urban areas where traditional employment opportunities may be limited. Theyre contributing to household incomes and making a name for themselves as leaders to reckon with in the business.QNET entrepreneur, Sharfun Shaikhs story is a shining example of what happens when women break away from conventions to chart their own paths. Sharfun was a small-town girl who dreamt big about giving her parents a life of luxury and comfort. She was soft-spoken and shy about her English-speaking skills, but the dynamics of the direct selling industry demanded that she step out of her comfort zone to achieve success. Sharfun followed her gut and dove into setting up her direct selling business. Today, nearly 15 years later, Sharfun is a widely celebrated V Partner (classified as a top-rung QNET entrepreneur), being part of a successful multi-million dollar business and supporting her family. She believes in paying it forward and creating self-employment opportunities for more women.Associate V Partner Shipra credits her achievements to the mentorship of Sharfun Shaikh, whose essential guidance illuminated the broad opportunities available in direct selling, shaping her path to success. Shipra acknowledges Sharfun for unveiling the possibilities of direct selling to her. Hailing from a small town in Uttar Pradesh, Shipra transitioned from managing a boutique for seven years to joining a renowned fashion brand. After relocating cities, she eventually discovered her true calling in direct selling. She believes that the person she is right now resembles the coal that turned to diamond under high pressure. Its not hard to imagine why  Shipras direct selling journey has earned the second-highest-ranked accolade of a Diamond Star at her work. She leads thousands of women and men like her across India, the UK, Nepal and Thailand to find their piece of success. Her vision is to create a network of women entrepreneurs in direct selling across the globe. More women like Shipra are embracing leadership and financial empowerment for themselves and the ecosystems they interact in.While personal drivers of resilience, determination and courage ensure success, Im a firm believer that such spirit and strength requires the right foundational learning to flourish. It can help women reach their full potential and pivot them to positions of power faster.People are the nerve centre of any business  in direct selling, they are even more so. Investing in the growth of women direct sellers skills and capabilities is necessary. For example, training initiatives that offer guidance on setting up a business, project management, building resilient teams, change management and leadership development become key. Such trainings areof the reason why entrepreneurs like Shipra were able to sustain incredible growth even during the pandemic. The Direct Selling industry will always remain relevant. It will continue to flourish, driven by its ability to cater to human needs with niche products. And women, powered by the opportunities and learning tools available to them, will continue being the fuel that keeps the wheels of the global economy turning.Entrepreneurial stories like these are creating a ripple effect of success and growth resulting from empowerment in the direct selling industry. QNET Entrepreneurs are at the forefront across the globe, embodying resilience and determination. Theyre uplifting more women and men as well, as they forge new ways to move the world forward in the dynamic realm of direct selling.
The Japan Analytical Instrument Manufacturers Association (JAIMA, located at 2-5-16, Kanda Nishiki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0054, President: Masayuki Adachi / President & COO of HORIBA, Ltd.), in cooperation with VINALAB (Vietnam Association of Testing Laboratories), will hold the 3rd joint symposium on Friday, March 22 in a hybrid format connecting its bases in Tokyo and Hanoi.

Following last year's symposium on air pollution and food safety, this year will focus on water issues that are in urgent need of solutions in Vietnam, and will provide an opportunity for leading researchers from Japan and Vietnam, JAIMA and VINALAB member companies to discuss how analytical technology can contribute to water quality safety and management, and hold discussions for solving specific social issues such as water for daily use and rivers.

The symposium will be held at VKIST (Vietnam Korea Institute of Science and Technology), located in Hoa Lac High-Tech Park in the suburbs of Hanoi. JAIMA and VINALAB member companies will also have exhibition booths. From Japan, Dr. Hidenori Harada of Kyoto University Graduate School, who is an expert on water quality issues in Vietnam, and speakers from the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, Vietnam Japan University, and Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences will give presentations on water quality analysis, water quality regulations, water treatment, analytical data process, microplastics and other topics.

Date: Friday, March 22, 2024

11:00 - 14:00, 15:00 - 19:00 Japan time

9:00 - 12:00, 13:00 - 17:00 Vietnam time

Venue

VKIST (Vietnam Korea Institute of Science and Technology) and JAIMA conference rooms, online auditing also available

Program (Official language in English and Vietnamese)

Greetings and keynote speech

JAIMA, President Masayuki Adachi

VINALAB, Chairman Nguyen Hoang Linh

Professor Hidenori Harada, Kyoto University Graduate School - Water pollution in Vietnam (tentative)

Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health under the Ministry of Health on the Ministry of Health's policies and regulations on Water quality monitoring.

Professor Cao The Ha, Vietnam Japan University on Water treatment technology.

Professor Ta Thi Thao, Department of Chemistry, Hanoi University of Natural Sciences on Analytical data processing.

Dr. Duong Thanh Nghi, Institute of Marine Resources and Environment on Microplastic analysis in seawater.



JAIMA participating companies in alphabetical order

Agilent Technologies Japan, Ltd., DKK-TOA CORPORATION, Hitachi High-Tech Corporation, HORIBA, Ltd., JASCO Corporation, JEOL Ltd., Kyoto Electronics Manufacturing Co., Ltd., SHIMADZU CORPORATION

Participants

Japan: Organizations and individuals accredited by JAIMA on ZOOM Online

Vietnam: Vietnam Venue and VINALAB accredited organizations and individuals

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306095346/en/
The Kansas Legislature is seeking to require doctors to question patients who are looking to get an abortion as to why they are trying to get the procedure, as well as to report the answers to the state.

The measure is moving through the Republican-controlled Legislature as frustrated Democrats are suggesting a similar rule for vasectomies and erectile dysfunction. The state House had planned to take a final vote on the measure on Thursday.

Questioning Abortion Patients

The bill would mandate providers to ask their patients 11 questions regarding their reasons for getting an abortion. These include reasons such as not affording another child, that raising a child would hinder their education or careers, or a spouse or partner wanting her to terminate her pregnancy.

During a House debate on Wednesday, supporters of the bill argued that the state needs data so that lawmakers can create programs to address their concerns. However, opponents of the measure saw it as an attempt to harass abortion providers, shame patients, and stigmatize abortion, as per KNWA Fox24.

The House's approval of the measure would send it to the Senate, and both chambers have large anti-abortion majorities. Last year, Republicans overrode vetoes of other restrictions on providers that were made by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who is a staunch supporter of women's abortion rights.

Democrats have become frustrated as Republicans and various anti-abortion groups have pursued new rules for abortion providers and aid to anti-abortion counseling centers. The situation comes despite a decisive statewide vote that residents made in August 2022 to protect abortion rights under the state constitution.

Read Also: Alabama Legislature Passes Finalized IVF Protection Bill Following State Supreme Court Decision

In a statement, Kelly said that she does not understand it because she believes that Kansas residents made it very clear that they want people to "operate in this arena." She questioned why an elected official who is seeking re-election in the November general election would go against the wishes of their constituents.

Democratic lawmakers have attacked what they saw as the unfairness of requiring women to face detailed questions regarding their reasoning for getting an abortion when men would otherwise not receive the same treatment, according to ABC News.

Legal Challenge for Abortion Rights

Kansas City-area Democratic Rep. Stephanie Sawyer Clayton called erectile dysfunction a "scourge" that lowered the state's birth rate. She also suggested the requirement of doctors to ask male patients whether they wanted to treat it because a spouse wanted that or because it caused the man stress or embarrassment.

Clayton argued that if the state Legislature would subject one particular group to humiliating questions when they are trying to get legal healthcare, then all groups should be given the same treatment. Instead, she gave the option of voting against the new bill.

On the other hand, GOP House members argued that biannual reports on abortion would assist the Legislature in making decisions to serve the interests of pregnant women. Wichita Rep. Brenda Landwehr said that the bill will not be taken lightly. She added that they simply want to have more information regarding the matter.

The August 2022 vote by Kansas residents rejected a proposed amendment to the state's constitution that would have nullified a decision of the local Supreme Court. That decision was to declare the state's Bill of Rights that contained a fundamental right to bodily autonomy that extended to termination of a pregnancy, said KansasReflector.



Related Article: San Francisco Passes Measure Forcing Drug Tests for Welfare Recipients
Hong Kong: Sun Dong visits UAE

Secretary for Innovation, Technology & Industry Prof Sun Dong today continued a visit to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with a delegation of representatives from the innovation and technology (I&T) industry.



Prof Sun and the delegation attended a business lunch, hosted by the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office in Dubai, where he spoke to about 120 guests representing the UAE government and business community, in particular I&T industry leaders and executives.



In a keynote speech, Prof Sun said Hong Kong and the UAE have a lot in common, including the vision to develop diversified and sustainable economies and to become leading I&T centres in their regions.



He added that as a super value-adder, Hong Kong makes good use of the distinctive advantages of being backed by Mainland China whilst also being connected to the rest of the world, allowing it to create value through mutually beneficial partnerships with friends in the international community.



Before the lunch, Prof Sun had a brief exchange about I&T development in Hong Kong and the UAE with Under Secretary of the Foreign Trade & Industry of the UAE Ministry of Economy Abdulla Al Saleh, who also attended the event.



In the afternoon, Prof Sun and the delegation visited the Dubai International Financial Centre Innovation Hub to learn about its development as one of the pre-eminent fintech centres and innovation hubs in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia regions. The innovation chief also heard about the hubs work in fostering the fintech sectors transformation, innovation and entrepreneurship.



Prof Sun also met Minister of State for Advanced Technology of the UAE Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri. In the meeting, both sides expressed their willingness to strengthen co-operation and collaboration on I&T and new industrialisation between the two places.



Upon arrival in Dubai yesterday, Prof Sun and the delegation visited the Sharjah Research Technology & Innovation Park to learn how it provides an enabling environment for the development and management of innovative ecosystems, and how it supports collaboration between government, industry and academia to promote research and development and entrepreneurial innovation. He also visited the parks innovation laboratory and data centre.



Prof Sun then called on acting Consul-General of the Peoples Republic of China in Dubai Liu Zhengjie and briefed him on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Governments efforts in leading the city to realise its vision of becoming an international I&T hub.

This story has been published on: 2024-03-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
China lays plans to beef up stable development of capital market

Global Times) 11:23, March 07, 2024

In his first public appearance before media since taking his new post, Wu Qing, head of China's securities watchdog, outlined on Wednesday his plan to ensure the stable development of the capital market, the world's second largest, and vowed to beef up institutional buildup and to better ensure investor protection.

Chinese analysts noted that the institutional and holistic approach outlined by the head of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), who takes a harsh tone on illegal behavior while being considerate to small investors, is a pragmatic approach that suits the market reality, and is set to boost market confidence, stabilize expectations and shore up the overall investment value of China's capital market.

A number of delegates to the ongoing two sessions also contributed their thoughts on the topic, which is under the global media spotlight and has become a target for Western doomsayers in recent weeks.

Wu's appearance at the press conference, held during the ongoing two sessions, along with several other top government officials in charge of China's economic and trade affairs, is one of the highlights of the political event, as ensuring the stability of the capital market was mentioned in the Government Work Report for the first time following a period of turbulence in the Chinese A-share market ahead of China's Spring Festival holidays in February.

The Government Work Report, delivered by Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday at the opening meeting of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress, set a growth target of around 5 percent for the country's economy in 2024.

Notably, the report pointed out that "the underlying stability of the capital market should be enhanced."

Giving his insight on how to ensure the stable development of the capital market, Wu the CSRC chairman, who is one day short of completing his first month in the new post, said enhancing institutional buildup and attracting long-term investment into the market will be among the measures to be taken to accomplish the task outlined in the Government Work Report.

Acknowledging that market operation has its own rules and should not be interfered with under normal circumstances, Wu told the press conference that the regulator "won't hesitate to act to correct extreme situations when the market seriously deviates from its fundamentals, irrational and violent fluctuations occur, liquidity is exhausted, market panic occurs and serious draining of confidence appears."

The first-time ever mentioning of enhancing the underlying stability of the capital market sends a strong signal of China's commitment to building itself into a financial powerhouse and sets the tone for the future development in related fields, delegates to the two sessions said.

Outside of the two sessions venue, Chinese scholars also shared their views on what Wu had said at the press conference.

Dong Shaopeng, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the announcement made by CSRC chairman Wu, with an emphasis on both strength and toughness, laid out a clear-cut vision on improving the construction of fundamental institutions and better regulating the capital market, and is a "pragmatic approach in line with reality."

"The dual emphasis by the CSRC on strengthening regulation and bolstering investor protection are set to improve the stability and quality of the Chinese capital market," Dong noted.

Dong said that the emphasis on protecting small and medium-sized investors addresses the root of the problem facing China's capital market, as their ranks formed the ultimate source of long-term funding for the Chinese A-share market.

The stock market has drawn much attention during this year's two sessions, with members, legislators, and officials putting forward practical and broad-perspective suggestions and motions on stabilizing the capital market, Xi Junyang, a professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Wu's remarks at the press conference will be heard by both domestic and overseas investors, Xi Junyang noted. "And his remarks, including protecting investors' interests, lifting the quality of listed companies, and implementing a stricter delisting system, are conducive to boosting investor confidence and the overall investment value of China's capital market."

"We can expect proactive measures to be announced in these areas," Xi Junyang said.

The Government Work Report set priorities and the direction for this year's economic work, and also offers much-needed reassurance to the capital market, Yang Delong, chief economist at Shenzhen-based First Seafront Fund Management Co, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"The stock market is a barometer of a country's economy," Yang said. "Stepped-up macro-policies and stable economic recovery will contribute to a rebound in the A-share market."

A note of reassurance

With the sound development of the capital market a matter of vital concern, delegates to the two sessions are also contributing their ideas, with some pointing out that the Government Work Report has brought "a certain sense of reassurance to the market."

"The Chinese equities market was on a turbulent ride at the beginning of 2024, so the statement in the Government Work Report gives investors a sense of encouragement as well as a certain sense of reassurance," Fang Jie, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and president of Hubei University of Economics, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

There is a lot of work to be done to improve the underlying stability of the capital market and ensure its sound development, and first and foremost is to continue shoring up the macroeconomy, which provides a foundation for market performance, noted Fang, who has also served as the deputy secretary general of Wuhan government in Central China's Hubei Province and the director of the Wuhan Financial Work Bureau.

Chinese financial authorities also need to further carry out sweeping market reforms, such as creating more innovative capital market products to help release market vigor, and improve the systemic design of the capital market through measures such as increasing the transparency of listed companies' information disclosure and carrying out holistic supervision over the A-share market, Fang said.

Yang Chengzhang, a member of the National Committee of the CPPCC and chief economist with Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, told the Global Times on Wednesday that in order to ensure the stable development of the capital market, the government should also continuously put efforts and resources into stemming risks in the property sector, local debt and small and medium-sized financial institutions, as these three sectors are major sources of concern for capital market investors in 2023.

The Government Work Report's call to tackle risks in key areas and beef up security in key sectors will help ease excessive worries and curb the pessimistic outlook in the market, according to Yang Chengzhang.

In order to promote the sound development of the capital market and protect investors' rights and interests, the CSRC has held symposiums to solicit opinions and suggestions on improving the basic system of the capital market, strengthening the protection of the rule of law, and it has also paid visits to listed firms to help them address difficulties to achieve high-quality development.

Since Wu took office, the Chinese A-share market has recovered much of its losses from the recent cycle, finishing at 3,039.93 points at the Shanghai bourse and 9,395.65 points at the Shenzhen bourse on Wednesday.

Following robust travel and tourism activity during the eight-day Spring Festival holidays, the Chinese economy is off to a good start.

Preliminary economic indicators suggest that China is poised to achieve a good start in the first quarter, Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, said at the same press conference.

Zheng revealed that industrial power use grew at 9.7 percent in the January-February period, exports are likely to grow 10 percent year-on-year, indicating robustness in the economy.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
On Wednesday, the Justice Department said a former software engineer at Google had been charged with stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets from the tech giant while working with two companies based in China.

Chinese national Linwei Ding was taken into custody in Newark, California, on four counts of stealing federal trade secrets, each of which carries a maximum 10-year jail sentence.

Ding Arrested for Stealing Google's AI Secrets

Attorney General Merrick Garland, who has repeatedly warned about the threat of Chinese economic espionage and the national security concerns posed by advancements in AI and other developing technologies, announced the case against Ding at an American Bar Association conference in San Francisco.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said that today's charges are the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the People's Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation. He added that the theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies could cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences.

Google reported the incident to law enforcement after determining that the employee had taken "numerous documents." Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said in a statement that they have strict safeguards to prevent the theft of their confidential commercial information and trade secrets.

He claimed that they found that Ding had stolen numerous documents and immediately referred the case to law enforcement. Castaneda thanked the FBI for helping protect their information and will continue cooperating with them.

According to the indictment released on Wednesday in the Northern District of California, Ding, hired by Google in 2019, started downloading hundreds of files into a personal Google Cloud account two years ago. It alleges that Ding had access to sensitive information about the company's supercomputing data centers.

Prosecutors claimed that within weeks of the theft, Ding received an offer to become chief technology officer of an early-stage Chinese technology company that highlighted its use of AI and promised him a salary of approximately $14,800 per month along with an annual bonus and company stock. According to the indictment, Ding visited China, had investor meetings at the business, and attempted to obtain money.

He also established and led a startup in China to develop large AI models powered by supercomputing chips.

Three days later, Google officials discovered that he had presented at a Beijing investment conference as the CEO of one of the Chinese companies.

Officials also reviewed a security tape that showed how Ding's access badge at the Google headquarters in the US had been scanned by another employee where he worked to make it look like Ding was there while he was in China.

After reviewing Ding's network activity history, Google locked his laptop, suspended his network access, and found illegal uploads.

The FBI confiscated Ding's electronic devices while executing a search warrant at his residence in January. Later, the FBI conducted another order for his accounts, which contained over 500 files of confidential information that the authorities claimed he stole from Google.

Read Also: Apple iPhone Sales Fall 24% in China as Huawei's Popularity Surges

Justice Leaders Reveal True Dangers of AI

AI is the primary arena of competition in high technology, and the outcome of this competition can have significant commercial and security implications. In recent weeks, Justice Department leaders have expressed concern about foreign adversaries' potential to use AI technologies to harm the US.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a speech last month that AI will be the top enforcement priority for the government's multi-agency Disruptive Technology Strike Force. Last week, Wray told a conference that adversaries have made it easier to try to interfere in American politics because of AI and other emerging technologies.

On Wednesday, Garland expressed similar thoughts and said that AI has pluses and minuses, advantages and disadvantages, great promise, and the risk of great harm.

Related Article: OpenAI Fires Back At Musk Supporting Company Transition to For Profit, Vows to Dismiss Lawsuit


State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada

Postal Code
Victoria, British Columbia, March 7, 2024  The port city of Prince Rupert is getting critical upgrades to its aging water distribution system and sewer line after a federal investment of $77.2 million through the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF).

Announced by Minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada and Mayor Herb Pond, this project will address critical concerns with the Citys water distribution infrastructure, increase its resilience to seismic events, and modernize its century-old sewage pipes.

Federal funding will support the modernization of the water and wastewater infrastructure to increase the Citys resilience to natural hazards and their impact. Once completed, it will also help secure the water supply and sewer pipe systems to protect community members livelihoods, essential services, and local businesses, and minimize disruptions to the flow of global trade and supply chains through the Port of Prince Rupert. Home to Canadas third largest port, Prince Rupert is a gateway to Asias markets, which contributes significantly to the northern provincial and national economy.

With a high proportion of pipes installed in the early 1900s, Prince Ruperts water distribution network requires major updates. Funding will support upgrades to 26 km of high priority watermains and the separation of the combined sewer system to divide storm water from sewage. Work will include excavation, stabilization of the soil, the installation of new PVC piping, and upgrading catchments. This announcement furthers a provincial investment of $65 million from March 2023 towards the critical water infrastructure renewal.

Making adaptation investments now will have major economy-wide benefits later. Every dollar that is invested in adapting and preparing for natural disasters can return as much as $13 to $15 in benefits.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the mobilization of "patriots" in Taiwan and elsewhere to prevent the pro-independence efforts on the self-governing island.

According to Bloomberg, the remarks were made during a Wednesday (Mar. 6) meeting between Xi and the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, a political group that's based on the mainland and distinct from Taiwan's main opposition party, KMT, on the sidelines of China's annual "Two Sessions."

Xi urged the group, which allied itself with the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), to unite "all patriots from home and abroad, in and out of Taiwan" to ramp up its opposition to Taiwanese independence and to jointly advance the peaceful reunification of China.

Read Also: Chinese Politicians Hold 'Two Sessions' Meeting To Address Beijing's Lagging Economy

Xi's China Implements Tougher Stance vs. Taiwan

However, the phrase "peaceful reunification," which was widely seen as a benign sign of China's policy approach toward the island, was missing from the government's Two Sessions report this year, but pledged to implement the CCP's Taiwan strategy, signaling that Xi's words were a more authoritative guide to China's attitude towards the island.

Tensions across the Taiwan Strait had significantly escalated since mid-2022 when then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei and met with top leaders. The tension then came to a head when Taiwanese Vice President William Lai Ching-te, whom the Communist leadership has condemned as a "troublemaker" who sought formal independence, won Taiwan's presidential election.

Nevertheless, Xi called for deeper cooperation with Taiwan in technology, agriculture, culture, and youth development, Chinese state news agency Xinhua said in a readout of Wednesday's meeting.

Related Article: China To Boost Defense Spending by 7.2% in 2024 as Beijing Takes Tougher Stance on Taiwan Independence
The IFC theatrical and streaming Shudder release, Stopmotion  one word, no hyphen  burst onto screens on February 23, marking the feature film directorial debut of British stop-motion animator Robert Morgan. Born in 1970s Yateley, England, Morgan was already a veteran of thirty years of award-winning stop-motion shorts  including the 2012 BAFTA-nominated Bobby Yeah, about a bunny-eared little fellow troubled by carnivorous larvae and other Boschian creatures.

Stopmotion sprouted from the seed of Morgans 2013 Invocation  which starred co-writer Robin King as a Bolex-clicking animator who is subsumed by his stop-motion creations.

Invocation was a low-budget short we did for Channel 4, Morgan recalls. I needed somebody whod get violently killed, and Robin was up for the task. For years, Id wanted to make a film about the process of stop-motion animation. I thought it was a fascinating subject for a film to explore the psychological dimensions and the weird, ritualistic, almost occult dimensions of stop-motion animation  bringing things to life and all that. The first idea I had to explore that subject was about a camera that is alive, and the frames were going in and impregnating the camera, like sperm. I played with that for a while, but I realized it wasnt a feature film, so we made a short. Off the back of that, I carried on exploring the idea and then, with Robin, came up with a more sober exploration of the subject, which is what Stopmotion is about.

The feature contains three stop-motion shorts within its 93-minute runtime. The first belongs to the protagonists mother, Suzanne (Stella Gonet), a veteran stop-motion animator whose arthritic hands make it impossible for her to make frame-by-frame puppet adjustments. The latter two belong to Suzannes adult daughter, Ella (Aisling Franciosi), whose animation is a fevered response to her mothers overbearing nature.

Suzannes stop-motion work and the animators peculiar monastic work rituals set up Ellas mother as an archetype of monster animation.

The main issue, says Morgan, was to make a clear distinction between Ellas work, which is more like my work, and her mothers. I felt her mother had to be a very credible talent in the world of stop-motion. I didnt want to make her work seem cheesy. It needed to have its own quality. The idea was to use mythology, and I thought the mythology particularly of the Cyclops was interesting. It also made sense that Suzannes thing was to adapt Greek myths, which gave credibility to her art. In the back of my mind, I was thinking it was a bit Harryhausen-esque, mixed with an old childrens TV aesthetic.

Away from her mother, Ella spirals into a wormhole of creative paranoia holed up in a rundown apartment where a peculiar unnamed Little Girl (Caoilinn Springall) pokes her nose into Ellas studio, asking Ella to define technical terms  armature and morticians wax.

We needed a playful bit of education, just in case viewers werent familiar, Morgan explains. The armature reference becomes more macabre later, so we played up that idea of whats inside the puppets. Morticians wax is the thin edge of the wedge that starts Ella down a process of using more macabre materials. It is a real thing that Ive used in a lot of my short films. And indeed, it was originally used to fix up the faces of dead bodies so that their families could view them. It ended up being used in theater to make false noses. Its very malleable and looks like flesh but in wax form.

Stop-motion puppets and creature suit designer Dan Martins 13 Finger FX generated characters seen in Ellas films, which appeared to be constructed of meat and found objects. Puppets were mainly silicone rubber with metal armatures recycled from Morgans earlier short films.

Silicone has a quality to it that looks fleshy, says Morgan. I gave a bunch of armatures to Dan and his team, and then he sculpted the puppets. I was very involved in the sculpting and the look of the puppets. You cant use meat that well in stop-motion because it dries out. It was not very practical when I used minced meat as an experiment on Bobby Yeah, and chicken skin in Invocation.

The puppets livid, sticky look was intrinsic to their material. Silicone has a sheen to it. And then sometimes Ill rub it with a bit of Vaseline, which gives an extra sheen. It looks like its sweating. Then we added dirt, bits of twig, and earth.

Ellas animation featured digital frame capture and Dragonframe animation software, as displayed on the characters on-screen laptop. I am a convert, comments Morgan. I used to use iStopMotion, but Ive graduated to Dragonframe. I think Dragonframe is the best tool to do stop-motion. And so, we used it in the film, and even within the fiction of the film, Ella is using Dragonframe  that laptop is my laptop. Ellas set-up is exactly how my set-up looks.

Morgan straddled live-action and animated aspects of the production during five weeks of principal photography at 3 Mills Studios in London, working with cinematographer Leo Hinstin, AFC, and production designer Felicity Hickson. Animation proceeded in parallel, with animation director Andy Biddle shooting stop-motion as a second unit. Visual effects supervisor Daniel Karlsson guided digital work through postproduction at Nordisk Film Shortcut in Denmark.

Complexities of the plot, as Ellas reality blurs and her stop-motion creations intrude on her life, required careful planning to meld animation with live-action.

When I animate my own stuff, Morgan recalls, I dont storyboard much. I might do rough thumbnail sketches for a complicated sequence. But I tend to shoot and edit as I go, so I can make decisions based on the last shot. With our live-action, Leo and I spent two weeks before the shoot, and we listed every shot in the film. That evolved based on the schedule. Our only storyboards were when there was animation and live-action [combined]. All that had to be shot at the same time as the live-action to create plates that would exactly match.

We very carefully storyboarded those scenes and handed the storyboards and the set to the puppet team. They would shoot the puppet plates and then we gave those to the VFX team, who composited them together. During editing, I shot all of the film within a film stuff in my lounge, parallel to editing. That took about three months. The entire film, from preproduction to delivery, was about a year, Morgan explains.

Ellas nemesis, The Ashman, manifests as a misshapen anthropomorphic figure that emerges from her stop-motion set to pursue her through nightmarish dimensions. The Ashman took shape as conceptual art by Dominic Hailstone, which Dan Martins team used as the basis for a full-scale suit. Ella crumples into stop-motion as her legs give way beneath her.

That was nifty editing, Morgan observes. We shot the beginning of that on set, and when the Ashman first materializes, during the live-action shoot. When they go through the wall, and Ella runs down the corridor into the weird Yellow Room with the Ashman coming after her, I shot that months later in my parents garage in a heatwave.

Smaller stop-motion figures that creep into Ellas apartment, clambering onto her bed and occupying other gory forms, featured digital composites of duplicate live-action and stop-motion sets.

We very carefully storyboarded those scenes, says Morgan. The bedroom was a set at Three Mills. But you cant animate lying on the floor, so we built a full-scale replica of that set, raised off the ground. We recorded details of camera heights and lighting and handed them to the animation team. They recreated everything for a camera set-up in exactly the same place on the raised set and shot the animation. The vfx team then composited the shots.

Ellas confrontation with the Ashman leads to a self-destructive showdown where the animator claws into her face, which squishes like wax. Artist Phoebe Stringer created a head cast of Aisling Franciosi and a wax head replica. The art department painted, dressed, and rigged the prop for Franciosi to destroy.

We had to heat the wax because it dries quite hard, notes Morgan. Aisling stood behind it, with her fake head in front of her, and she acted out the tearing. The wax was warm, but if it got too hot, it would melt. It had to just be warm enough for her fingers to comfortably go in.

The moment climaxes with an abstract vision of an organic blue egg that simmers with mysterious vapors. I cant say too much about that without spoiling it, adds Morgan. Eggs have certain connotations, dont they, about hatching? Its probably to do with creativity. Malignant creativity.

The disturbing vision of the stop-motion animators persona reflected Morgans feelings about the solitary and miraculous process of the craft.

Its a love and hate letter, maybe, Morgan remarks. Its more about creativity in general. And its about my love-hate relationship with the creative experience  how frustrating and soul-destroying it can be versus how obsessive and amazing it can be. The film is about the relationship between being driven to do something and then also feeling like youre being destroyed by it at the same time. Stop-motion was the perfect vehicle for that. Ive never seen it depicted before on film. And I hope it gets across the feeling of the strangeness and occultism of the art form.


Report sent by International Maxi Association / www.internationalmaxiassociation.com

Photos:

Adrian Kellers Allegra crosses the finish line of the 2022 Aegean 600 beneath the Temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounion. Photo: Nikos Alevromytis/HORC AEGEAN 600

Jason Carrolls turboed MOD70 trimaran Argo leaves Valletta on the 2021 Rolex Middle Sea Race, en route to setting a new race record. Photo: ROLEX / Kurt Arrigo

The IMA introduces its new

Mediterranean Maxi Multihull Challenge

To complement its recently announced IMA Caribbean Maxi Multihull Series, the International Maxi Association is to hold its first IMA Mediterranean Maxi Multihull Challenge in 2024.

The IMA is the body officially tasked by World Sailing to oversee and develop the sport of maxi yacht racing internationally. As with its maxi challenges for monohulls, the IMAs latest series will provide a framework and some focus for the owners of maxi multihulls, with the aim of encouraging them out on to the race course.

Like the new Caribbean series (that last weekend saw the completion of its third and penultimate event, St Maarten Heineken Regatta), the IMA Mediterranean Maxi Multihull Challenge (MMMC) will comprise a mix of both inshore and offshore events. The majority of these already feature in the IMAs maxi monohull series.

The new IMA Mediterranean Maxi Multihull Challenge will begin in July with the fourth edition of the Aegean 600, organised by the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club.

The Mediterraneans newest 600 mile offshore race has been gaining rapidly in popularity thanks to its course that takes competitors on an anti-clockwise lap of the Aegean Sea. This meanders around numerous famous islands including tourist destinations such as Santorini and Mykonos, others known from ancient Greece such as the Temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounion, from where the race starts and finishes or Rhodes, known for its Colossus, to some from mythology such Milos (famous as the inspiration for the Venus de Milo statute).

Despite being held mid-summer, the race is gaining a reputation for being windy and if this proves true this year then the MOD70 trimarans taking part stand a good chance of breaking the races record, set in 2022 by Adrian Kellers Irens 84 catamaran Allegra with a time of 2 days 5 hours 36 minutes 2 seconds.

Following the Aegean 600, the IMA Mediterranean Maxi Challenge continues in September with Ibiza JoySail. Held for the first time in 2021, this starts with an offshore race from Palma de Mallorca to Marina Ibiza. After this are three days of coastal racing off Ibiza and Formentera. Multihull participation in this would be a first for this new event.

The multihull teams then head directly into the Multihull Cup, held out of Port Adriano, the Philippe Starck-designed superyacht marina located just west of the Bay of Palma. This multihull-only event comprises three days of windward-leeward or coastal racing, with up to two races per day.

The IMA Mediterranean Maxi Multihull Challenge concludes, as it began, with an offshore race  the Rolex Middle Sea Race. The oldest and most famous offshore race in the Mediterranean, the Royal Malta Yacht Clubs premier event starts and finishes from the ancient Maltese capital Valletta. Its course is a large anticlockwise lap of Sicily, along the way passing volcanos such as Mount Etna and Stromboli and remote islands such as Pantelleria and Lampedusa.

Taking place in October, the race is renowned for its volatile conditions that can be light or strong or both, often in the same day. In recent years the event has become popular with maxi multihulls with Jason Carrolls MOD70 Argo having established the present race record of 1 day 9 hours 29 minutes 28 seconds in 2021.

Secretary General of the International Maxi Association, Andrew McIrvine commented: In recent years weve been seeing great racing between maxi catamarans such as Allegra and the Gunboats as well as between the MOD70 trimarans. This is a significant growth area within maxi yachting and we have been approached by both groups to provide them with some more framework and focus that will help grow their fleets and improve the quality of their racing. The standard of their yachts and the calibre of their crews is every bit as high as that of our maxi monohulls. They are a welcome addition to the maxi fleet.

2024 Mediterranean Maxi Multihull Challenge (MMMC):

1) Aegean 600 (Starting and finishing off Sounio, Greece, via Milos, Santorini Caldera,Kassos, Karpathos, Rhodos, Kandelousa, Kos, Kalolimnos, Farmakonissi, Agathonissi,Patmos, Mykonos-Dilos and Kea)  7 July

2) Ibiza JoySail (Palma, Majorca to Marina Ibiza, Ibiza)  19-22 September

3) Multihull Cup (Port Adriano, Majorca)  27-29 September

4) Rolex Middle Sea Race  (starting and finishing in Valletta, Malta  anticlockwise lap around Sicily via the Strait of Messina, Stromboli, Favignana, Pantelleria and Lampedusa)  19 October

by James Boyd / International Maxi Association

For more on the International Maxi Association visit www.internationalmaxiassociation.com
The Houthi rebel organization, which receives support from Iran, launched its first strike on a civilian commerce ship, killing three people, according to officials from the United States.

US Central Command reported late Wednesday night, March 6, that the Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence, flying the flag of Barbados, was attacked in the Gulf of Aden the same day by Houthi forces with an anti-ship ballistic missile.

Fatal Missile Attack

A CNBC report indicates that the True Confidence vessel was hit by a missile, resulting in three casualties, four injuries (three of which are serious), and substantial damage to the vessel. "The crew abandoned the ship and coalition warships responded and are assessing the situation," said the US Central Command.

Posting on social media early Thursday, March 7, the Philippines Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) identified two of the deceased seafarers, and two of the wounded crew members were Filipino.

"With great sadness, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) confirms the deaths of two Filipino seafarers in the most recent attack by Houthi rebels on ships plying the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. We are also informed that two other Filipino crewmen were severely injured in the attack on their ship," the agency stated.

The attack occurred 54 nautical miles southwest of Aden. According to the United Kingdom's Maritime Trade Operations, the incident happened after the ship was called for 30 minutes by an entity claiming to be the "Yemeni Navy" and instructed to change its route.

No specific name was given to the ship during that period. Yet, it was the Houthis who took credit for the strike.

Houthi Spokesperson Yahya Sare'e wrote on X, "The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a targeting operation against the American ship (TRUE CONFIDENCE) in the Gulf of Aden, with a number of appropriate naval missiles. The strike was accurate, led to a fire breaking out on it." He said that the vessel had ignored Houthi's warning signals.

See Also: UK Ship Attacked by Yemen's Houthi Rebels Sinks in Red Sea After Days of Taking on Water

Red Sea Crisis

Since the Houthis began their naval offensives against ships passing via the crucial Red Sea channel, which carries 12% of the world's traffic, this is the first deadly strike on this route.

The Houthis have taken up arms in support of Palestinian civilians who are being targeted by Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip, which is targeting Iran-backed Islamist organization Hamas.

Although unaffiliated boats have been targeted several times, Yemeni troops claim they exclusively target ships associated with Israel, the US, and the UK (after retaliatory missile attacks by the latter two countries in reaction to the Red Sea crisis).

See Also: Houthi Rebels Suspected of Rocket Attack in Red Sea
Judge Mark Pittman of the North District of Texas ruled this week that the Minority Business Development Agency's statutory presumption about race and ethnicity is unconstitutional. Sydney Schaefer/AP

A federal judge in Texas has ordered a Commerce Department agency focused on minority-owned businesses to extend its assistance to white business owners, too.

Judge Mark Pittman of the North District of Texas ruled this week that the Minority Business Development Agencys statutory presumption about race and ethnicity is unconstitutional. The agency, created by the Nixon administration in 1969, was tasked with helping minority-owned businesses access capital and government contracts through a network of business centers across the country, including one in Houston and four in Texas.

The case was brought by three business owners  a contractor in Florida, an architect in Wisconsin and a Tarrant County entrepreneur who runs a clinic called Sexual Wellness Centers of Texas. All three said that they had sought assistance from the MBDA, only to be stymied at an early stage in the process by a drop-down box on the intake form asking applicants to specify their ethnicity.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

They all worked hard to get where they are, they all overcame obstacles in pursuit of the American Dream, they all care deeply for their businesses, and they all wanted  but couldnt obtain  assistance from the same federal program, Pittman wrote in his ruling. Theyre also all white, a salient detail in this case.

While Pittman declined to declare the Minority Business Development Agency itself unconstitutional, he concluded that it must stop using its racial presumption and extend assistance to all applicants.

Pittmans ruling comes after, and references, a June 2023 Supreme Court ruling which found that race-conscious admissions policies at U.S. colleges and universities violate the 14th Amendments guarantee of equal protection. That ruling, in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, galvanized a flurry of challenges to initiatives across the country supporting minority- and women-owned businesses or MWBEs.

Several of those have come in the Houston area, which has a number of such initiatives in the public and private sectors.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In August, a Trump-affiliated foundation, America First Legal, filed suit against Houston fintech Hello Alice, challenging a program seeking to award grants of $25,000 each to Black entrepreneurs for the purchase of a commercial vehicle.

In September, two contractors headquartered in Spring, backed by the Pacific Legal Foundation, challenged a longstanding city of Houston program that awarded a certain percentage of city contracts to certified small businesses owned by women and minorities. The argument that we would make is that really, regardless of what study you have, this is just on its face a violation of equal protection rights, Erin Wilcox, a Pacific Legal Foundation attorney, said at the time.

Plaintiffs have challenged other federal initiatives that rely on a presumption of disadvantage based on race or ethnicity, said Christopher Slottee, an attorney with Seattle-based law firm Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt with expertise in litigation on behalf of Alaska native corporations and tribal governments. In July, a federal judge in Tennessee barred the Small Business Administration from using such a presumption in qualifying applicants for assistance through the agencys 8(a) Business Development program. Another case is challenging the Department of Transportations Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program on similar grounds.

We anticipate that there will be continued challenges to different government contracting preferences, particularly in light of Students for Fair Admission and the United States Supreme Courts indication that racial presumptions in federal government programs have a difficult standard to meet in order to survive, Slottee said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Cillian Murphy in a scene from "Oppenheimer." Universal Pictures/Associated Press

Those looking for nail-biting suspense at the Oscars on Sunday probably are going to be in for a night of disappointment and heartbreak. If all the awards shows that have taken place in 2024 so far are correct, then it's going to be an explosive night for the nuclear-bomb drama "Oppenheimer." In the running for 13 Oscars, the Christopher Nolan film falls just shy of the record-breaking 14 nominations garnered by "Titanic" nearly 30 years ago. And that film went on to win 11 trophies, including best picture.

NEW FILMS: Here the major movies landing in theaters or on streaming this week.

But past is not always prologue; sometimes it's just the past. Four years ago, David Fincher's "Mank" hauled in 10 nominations and only went home with two, one for cinematography and the other for production design.

With that in mind, here are our picks for who is mostly likely to walk off with the little gold man on Sunday and who should get it.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Picture

Cillian Murphy is J. Robert Oppenheimer in "Oppenheimer," Universal Pictures/TNS

Nominees: "American Fiction," "Anatomy of a Fall," "Barbie," "The Holdovers," "Killers of the Flower Moon," "Maestro," "Oppenheimer," "Past Lives," "Poor Things," "The Zone of Interest"

If Christopher Nolan is clearing mantel space for his Oscar haul, you can't really blame him. It's just common sense. His sprawling, visionary work has won the top honor at the Golden Globes, the BAFTA Film Awards, the SAG Awards, the Directors Guild Awards, the Producers Guild Awards and the Critics Choice Awards. But there have been surprises before. Think Bong Joon-ho's Korean-language film "Parasite" in 2020 beating out Sam Mendes' "1917," Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman." If there is an upset this year, look out for "Poor Things," Yorgos Lanthimos' sublimely creative twist on Frankenstein. It won the comedy/musical film honors at the Golden Globes. And, yes, it is offbeat  not something the Oscars membership always likes to celebrate in the top honor  but then so were such recent winners as "The Shape of Water" and "Everything Everywhere All at Once." And then there are the dark horse foreign-language favorites "Anatomy of a Fall" and "The Zone of Interest" whose inclusion shocked many observers, as it's still unusual for foreign-language cinema to be nominated for best picture. Could one of these go all the way? Don't count your chickens  er, Oscars  quite yet, Mr. Nolan.

What will win: "Oppenheimer"

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

What should win: "Oppenheimer"

Spoiler alert: "Poor Things"

Underdog favorite: "Past Lives"

Director

Christopher Nolan attends the "Oppenheimer" premiere at Cinema Le Grand Rex on July 11, 2023, in Paris. Pascal Le Segretain/TNS

Nominees: Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest"), Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things"), Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer"), Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon"), Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall")

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Once again, this is Nolan's to lose. He won the Golden Globe, the BAFTA, yadda yadda yadda. But if there is a surprise, it could come from Scorsese. Obviously, he is a longtime industry favorite  this is his 10th nomination  who won the statue for the 2006 film "The Departed." On top of that, he's an 81-year-old Hollywood elder statesman, and voters might feel it's time to give him another honor while he's still alive. But with all the furor over "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig being left out of this category, might voters bestow the award on the only woman in contention, Justine Triet, whose "Anatomy of a Fall" is nearly universally admired?

Who will win: Christopher Nolan

Who should win: Christopher Nolan

Spoiler alert: Martin Scorsese

Underdog favorite: Yorgos Lanthimos

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Actress

Lily Gladstone, center, in "Killers of the Flower Moon." Associated Press

Nominees: Annette Bening (Nyad"), Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon"), Sandra Huller (Anatomy of a Fall"), Carey Mulligan (Maestro"), Emma Stone (Poor Things")

Finally, a category where "Oppenheimer" isn't a contender. Gladstone is considered the shoo-in to bring home this statue  she won the Golden Globe and the SAG Award  and her portrayal of a Native American woman dealing with emotional and racial upheaval in 1920s Oklahoma is powerful and moving. But it's not a sure thing. Emma Stone, whose performance is both brave and funny, took this category at the BAFTA Awards. Huller, who is having a great year with her much trumpeted roles in both "Anatomy of a Fall" and "The Zone of Interest," could sneak by both of them but, if that happens, we might want to check the weather forecast in Hades because it might be frozen over.

Who will win: Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon"

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Who should win: Lily Gladstone, "Killers of the Flower Moon"

Spoiler alert: Emma Stone, "Poor Things"

Underdog favorite: Carey Mulligan, "Maestro"

Supporting actress

DaVine Joy Randolph stars as Mary Lamb in 'The Holdovers' Seacia Pavao / Focus Features/Seacia Pavao

Nominees: Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer"), Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple"), America Ferrera (Barbie"), Jodie Foster (Nyad"), Da'Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers")

The 96th Academy Awards When: 6 p.m. Sunday Where: ABC

Here's where the smooth-running "Oppenheimer" machine, which has been running over everything in its path this awards season, slams into the brick wall that is Da'Vine Joy Randolph in "The Holdovers." While Blunt has been acclaimed for the role that landed her her first Oscar nomination, it's Randolph who has won the Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA and an Independent Spirit Award for her portrayal of cafeteria worker Mary Lamb.

Who will win: Da'Vine Joy Randolph

Who should win: Da'Vine Joy Randolph

Spoiler alert: Emily Blunt

Underdog favorite: America Ferrera

Actor

Jeffrey Wright in 'American Fiction' Orion Pictures

Nominees: Bradley Cooper (Maestro"), Colman Domingo (Rustin"), Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers"), Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer"), Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction")

Yes, Murphy has won the Golden Globe, the SAG and the BAFTA, so he is certainly the front-runner. But an upset is not out of the question, as it was Wright who took home the award at the SAG Awards and at the Independent Spirit Awards. Wright is a well-liked veteran actor who has been acclaimed over the years but never received a lot of mainstream recognition. Plus, he's absolutely pitch perfect in "American Fiction" as an African American novelist emotionally collapsing under the weight of stereotypes, expectations, family pressures and middle-age malaise. Then there's the always reliable Paul Giamatti, who won this honor in the comedy/musical category at the Golden Globes for his role in "The Holdovers" as a peevish teacher who learns valuable life lessons.

Who will win: Cillian Murphy

Who should win: Jeffrey Wright

Spoiler alert: Paul Giamatti

Underdog favorite: Colman Domingo

Supporting actor

s Robert Downey Jr. in "Oppenheimer." Universal Pictures/Associated Press

The nominees: Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction"), Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon"), Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer"), Ryan Gosling (Barbie"), Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things")

Like his "Oppenheimer" compatriots Nolan and Murphy, Downey is the favorite here, having won the BAFTA, the Golden Globe and the SAG Award. But any category that includes Robert De Niro can't be said to be completely wrapped up. Then there's Ryan Gosling, who is certainly a fan favorite, if his People's Choice Award is anything to go by. But will Academy voters be as charmed by his Ken-personation? My personal favorite is Mark Ruffalo's hilarious portrayal of Emma Stone's fastidious companion in "Poor Things."

Who will win: Robert Downey Jr.

Who should win: Mark Ruffalo

Spoiler alert: Robert De Niro
The daughter of a murder victim told a Criminal Court jury on Wednesday that Marvin Menifee was at her father's home on Seventh Avenue along with four other teens wearing ski masks on the night he was murdered.

Menifee, who is now 21, is standing trial in the courtroom of Judge Boyd Patterson for the first-degree murder of 38-year-old Alfred Clarence Pitmon Sr.

The witness, who asked that her name not be made public, said she and a female friend had driven to the home on the night of Oct. 25. 2021, to return the keys to her father's vehicle. She said they were sitting in it using their phones when the friend let out a yell. She said Menifee had suddenly appeared at a window.

The daughter said she had known Menifee since they were kids and said her father had helped raise him. She called him "Little Marvin."

She said Menifee joked around with her and he and the teens then went inside the house and then came back on the porch. She said Menifee had a ski mask also, but had it pulled up while interacting with her.

The witness said the other teens "were acting weird" and trying to shield their faces from her.

She said Menifee often wore colorful outfits, but this time he was in all black, including a black hoodie, black pants and a black fanny pack.

She said she got out of the vehicle and hugged Menifee, saying she had not seen him for a long time. She then went inside. She said Menifee and the group followed her in.

She said she went to her room and then to see her father, who was in his bedroom. She acknowleged that her father was "a small time marijuana dealer" who wore lots of gold, including necklaces, bracelets, watches and rings.

The daughter said she told her father that Menifee was in the front room with others.

She said she called for an Uber to pick her and her friend up since they left the vehicle keys. She said as they left she saw Menifee locking the front door.

The daughter said that concerned her and she texted her father. She said he never answered the text. His body was discovered later that night by his wife after she got off work. He had been shot four times.

She said some of his jewelry was located, but some is missing. Attorney Dan Ripper noted that $267 in cash was found on the victim.

The witness took a long time getting to the witness stand and spoke in a low voice while often taking a long time to answer.

Earlier in the day, Judge Patterson announced that there had been a report of a witness being threatened. He warned that could lead to a charge of coercing a witness.

Video that was apparently taken on a phone inside the courtroom at the trial was reportedly placed on Facebook before being taken down.

Detective Daryl Slaughter said Menifee and the other teens were caught on a Ring doorbell video walking toward the victim's home. He said it was the type of Ring system where movement causes a bright light to come on. The house was three doors away from the Pitmon residence.

He said Menifee gave a statement, but changed his story several times when being confronted with pieces of evidence he had.

An expert from the TBI Lab testified that some bullets found at the scene came from a Hi Point 40 caliber handgun that was found at a residence on the Westside where Menifee was arrested.

A number of shell casings and projectiles were found inside and outside the house, with some spotted during a re-search of the house a month and a half later. Items found then included a bullet in the floor and others in and under the victim's mattress.

Some of the projectiles and shell casings found were from a rifle-type firearm, it was stated.

Dr. James Metcalfe, retired medical examiner who did the autopsy, said the shot that did the most damage had a projectile that carved a wide path while going through the heart.

The victim was also shot twice in the thigh. A fourth shot grazed his upper right arm.

Dr. Metcalfe said all the shots came from the right side in a downward direction.

A female resident of College Hill Courts said she had just walked outside when she bumped into Menifee. She said they had dated briefly at one time, but she had not seen him in a long time. He had a black fanny pack with him as well as a backpack.

She said he had two friends with him.

The witness said she suggested that Menifee go inside with her and "match" - share marijuana blunts. She said one of the friends came in also.

She said their plans were interrupted when a host of police showed up at her front door on Cypress Street.

She said Menifee said he was going to give himself up, but he first took something upstairs. She said the friend also went upstairs.

Police later found fanny packs and back packs stuffed in a closet with one containing a Hi-Point 40 handgun.

Kenneth Z. Moore is also charged with the Pitmon murder. He is due in Judge Patterson's courtroom on March 26.
Although the aforementioned Dam in Marion County has been razed except for the powerhouse, it has not been forgotten. The cable show dealing with the haunted Hales Bar locale in America has recently shown an episode tracing the eerie past of the remains and ranking in the sites of the greatest ghost locations.

Ive never been one to buy into the sometimes falsification of facts to attract new viewers but I was pleasantly surprised to hear from one of my satisfied 120 loyal readers who relayed the life story of her Aunt Hazel, born in 1912 in the large metropolitan area of Guild Tennessee. The first part of the anonymous correspondence traces Hazel's arrival into the community in accordance with the highest standards of medical care by a renowned physician of the day on a cold March day at the construction side of the now haunted Hales Bar (dad was a tool and die maker on the pre-TVA site.) The local board certified OBGYN arrived at eight o'clock AM to bring the young lady into the world.

The skilled practitioner upholding the highest standards of the medical profession during that era, stated I like to have rode my horse to death and then had to ride the ferry. You got a drink of whiskey? I'll have to charge $5 Anyhow.

Luckily a graduate nurse from New York was visiting her son who happened to be the prospective Papa on the privately owned Chattanooga and Tennessee River Power Company project had already delivered the baby before the thirsty physician arrived.

The Hales Bar dam was finished in 1913, but it had continuous leaks because of the soft limestone foundation and was finally demolished in 1968 and replaced by the Nickajack Dam 6.4 miles downstream.

In addition to the television documentary, The World Wide Web provides many additions to the lore that the site is haunted.

Many citizens claimed that the dam disrupted a whirlpool in the river that local Native Americans considered sacred so they put a curse on the premises. The powerhouse for the old dam is also considered haunted. Reports by individuals have been made of seeing ghostly figures dressed in Native American clothing in the water and halls of the still standing structure.

(Another bigger mystery remains with any surviving local connections to the Cherokee Nation? The establishment of a gambling casino in the powerhouse and adjoining area would probably appease any ghost and lift the curse and build gambling palaces similar to the ones in Cherokee and Murphy, North Carolina. The nearby I-24 provides easy access to Music City, Magic City, Choo Choo City, and beyond. Any legal snags could possibly be effectively handled by the Tennessee General Assembly. Bingo has been big in the Volunteer State but casinos have additional collateral benefits, as well as potential problems.)

* * *

You can reach Jerry Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com
Hearing Loss Association of America, Chattanooga Chapter, will host Ezra Reynolds who will present a program on New & Available Technology for Hearing Loss on Sunday, March 17 at Lake Hills Church of Christ beginning at 2 p.m.Mr. Reynolds is the assistive technology professional at Signal Centers. I help people find devices to be more independent; if one does not exist, I can often adapt or build something to help, said Mr. Reynolds, who has a degree in computer science and electrical engineering from UTC.All HLAA meetings are free and open to the public.Lake Hills Church of Christ is located at 4519 Oak Hill Road in Chattanooga.This program will be captioned. Light refreshments provided.Contact Betty Proctor at baproctor@epbfi.com for more information.
Georgia Northwestern Technical College will host a Free Application Month through March to help those who are seeking to enroll in the summer semester.Through March 31, GNTC will waive the $25 application fee for all incoming students. Applicants should enter the code MARCH24 (all capital letters) to waive the fee.The admissions deadline for the summer semester is April 22. Classes are scheduled to begin on May 13.GNTCs call center is available Monday through Friday, 7:45 a.m.-4:15 p.m.at 866-983-4682. For more information on applying for the summer semester, visit GNTCs main webpage at www.gntc.edu and click Apply Now. For any questions about GNTCs Free Application Month, contact the Office of Admissions at 866-983-4682 or via email at admissions@gntc.edu.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has joined a coalition of 27 state attorneys general in sending a letter to Meta Platforms, Inc., demanding that Instagram stop monetizing child exploitation content.

My office is already suing Meta for its harms to children's mental health, and this latest report only adds to my concern about the risks Meta poses to Tennessee kids, Attorney General Skrmetti said in a statement. Meta needs to do a better job of using its vast resources to protect our vulnerable youth.

According to an article published on Feb. 22 in The Wall Street Journal, Metas own staff raised alarms after Instagram enabled those running parent-managed minor accounts to profit by providing pin-up style photos of children to male subscribers who were often overt about sexual interest in children.

Worse, Meta actively promoted child-modeling subscriptions to likely pedophiles. On the same day, The New York Times similarly reported that men in online chatrooms frequently praised the advent of Instagram as a golden age for child exploitation.

This letter comes after Attorney General Skrmetti filed suit in October 2023 against Meta alleging that its Instagram platform causes mental health harms to its young users.

In addition to Attorney General Skrmetti, the attorneys general of the following states signed on to the letter: Arkansas, Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

To read the letter, click here.




Volunteers that joined the Watauga Lake cleanup in Elizabethton, Tn. return to the boat ramp with trash in their boat as the "trash boat" gets loaded onto its trailer photo by Keep The Tennessee River Beautiful Volunteers cleaned coves of five different lakes during Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful's 4th annual Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series photo by Keep The Tennessee River Beautiful It was a very cold day at the cleanup held on South Holston Lake in Abingdon, Va., but six committed volunteers turned out and filled up a full trash boat photo by Keep The Tennessee River Beautiful Volunteers celebrate the trash boat they filled up as they cleaned on Tellico Lake in Vonore, Tn photo by Keep The Tennessee River Beautiful Volunteers on Chilhowee Lake in Tallassee, Tn. had a little extra inspiration to clean the lake after witnessing three separate waterfalls along the lake photo by Keep The Tennessee River Beautiful Bryan Bortle of Tennessee Aquatic Weed Removal helped out by using his amphibious boat to flip an abandoned boat so that the KTnRB crew could tow it out of the lake photo by Keep The Tennessee River Beautiful Previous Next

Over the last month, 50 volunteers have helped to remove 13,450 lbs. of trash from local waterways in Keep the Tennessee River Beautifuls 4th annual Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series. Since the series began in 2021, a grand total of 58,590 lbs. of trash have been removed from rivers in the Cherokee National Forest.Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful established the Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series to help preserve lakes in the Tennessees largest tract of public land, showcasing the vastness of the forest by hosting river cleanups spanning from South Holston Lake in Abingdon, Va.to Parksville Lake near Chattanooga.It was so encouraging that these cleanups have made enough progress over the last few years that we had to look a little harder to find coves and shorelines to clean this year," said Kathleen Gibi, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful executive director. "Its our volunteers and partners who deserve all of the credit for these cleaner lakes, because our cleanups certainly wouldnt be possible without them.2024 Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series results:- Feb. 17 - Watauga Lake of the Watauga River Elizabethton, Tn. - 4,498 lbs.- Feb. 18 - South Holston Lake of the Holston River Abingdon, Va. - 2,239 lbs.- March 2 - Tellico Lake of the Tellico River Vonore, Tn. - 3,186 lbs.- March 3 - Chilhowee Lake of the Little Tennessee River Tallassee, Tn. - 1,719 lbs.- March 6 - Parksville Lake of the Ocoee River Benton, Tn. - 1,807 lbs.Total 13,450 lbs.Over 257 bags of trash and 34 tires were recovered in the 2024 cleanup series.Added to the cleanup map in the series this year was Chilhowee Lake in Tallassee, Tn. This was KTnRB's first time cleaning the lake, and the cleanup covered about half of the lakes entirety (between the dam and TabCat Creek at the famed "Tail of the Dragon" scenic drive). Only two coves remain to be cleaned on that stretch of the lake, and both can be accessed via land near a campground.Ms. Gibi said the KTnRB team hopes someone will adopt that river mile to upkeep the cleanliness of the lake in the future.Officials said, "This year, KTnRB didnt host a group cleanup with volunteers on Parksville Lake due to challenges finding enough litter in 2023, after three years of the group cleaning the lake. They did, however, partner with Tennessee Aquatic Weed Removal, a company that has a specialized amphibious boat featuring an industrial claw. The company has donated its services for several years now to KTnRB help remove abandoned boats and other massive items. Bryan Bortle, owner of the company, used the boat to lift and flip over an abandoned boat that was floating belly up on Parksville Lake so that the KTnRB crew could tow it back to a nearby marina boat ramp.Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Polk County Wildlife Officer Mattew Hammons assisted with hauling the boat to the landfill once it was on land. Another small, abandoned sailboat was also retrieved while the KTnRB crew was on Parksville Lake."Partners that supported the group cleanups through the series included Keep Carter County Beautiful and Keep Jonesborough Beautiful on Watauga Lake; Washington County Park and Holston Valley Unitarian Church on South Holston Lake; Volunteer East Tennessee on Tellico Lake; and the Theta Tau fraternity from the University of Tennessee on Chilhowee Lake.Trash from each cleanup was hauled away with donated dumpster services from: Carter County Government on Watauga Lake; Washington County Park on South Holston Lake; Monroe County Government on Tellico Lake; and Patriot Services LLC on Chilhowee Lake.The Cherokee National Forest River Cleanup Series was made possible by funding received from the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Department of Transportation's "Nobody Trashes Tennessee" litter campaign.For more information regarding KTNRB's schedule, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/upcomingcleanups.
The Chattanooga Housing Authority is inviting area landlords to attend a Google Meet on Wednesday, March 20 from 10-11:30 a.m. to learn more about their voucher program. Vouchers are provided by the CHA to various residents that can be used to make rental payments.Tammie Carpenter, director of the CHAs Housing Choice Voucher Program invites current and prospective landlords to participate in the meeting on March 20 held by the CHAs Housing Navigators, Melanie Stokes and Cintaysia Smartt.The voucher program provides much needed housing for our residents, but it is also a great program for participating landlords. Our Google Meet will discuss the benefits of renting to a Section 8 participant, how to advertise available rentals and most importantly, will provide information about the payment process, Ms.Carpenter said. She noted that the requirements for both the landlord and tenant will also be discussed in the meeting.Interested individuals are encouraged to reach out to Melanie Stokes (MStokes@CHAHousing.org) or Cintaysia Smartt (CSmartt@CHAHousing.org ) to register for the virtual meeting.
School officials and the School Resource Officer at Howard High School were notified of a verbal altercation on campus involving an armed party at approximately 1:20 p.m. today.



The involved students were removed from class and during the course of the investigation, were searched. A loaded .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol was recovered from one student. The weapon was determined to be stolen.



The student in possession of the weapon was arrested and transported to the Juvenile Detention Center and is being charged with carrying a weapon on school property and theft of property.



The School Resource Officer at Howard High School who made the arrest is a Chattanooga Police Department Officer assigned to the HCSO School Resource Deputy Unit.

As this incident pertains to a juvenile, no further details are available.
Mark Deakins, 64, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Thursday was sentenced to life imprisonment by Judge Charles E. Atchley, Jr., United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Chattanooga, after many years of engaging in the sexual abuse of minors.

On May 11, 2023, Deakins was found guilty of criminal offenses in violation of 18 U.S.C.  2421, 2251(a), 2252A(a)(5)(B) and (b)(2), and 2260A, following a trial in U.S. District Court. According to evidence presented at trial, Deakins repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted numerous pre-teen and teen boys over a period from 1995 to 2018 in his various residences and other locations in the Chattanooga area. He also transported a victim across state lines to engage in illegal sexual exploitation and abuse. Deakins committed these crimes while already on the Sex Offender Registry for past convictions.

The evidence presented at trial demonstrated how egregious the defendants conduct was. He hunted for the most weak and vulnerable. He preyed on young boys desperate for male role models in a vacuum created by absentee fathers. He often lured the boys with promises that he would mentor them about construction and tools. For over 20 years, the defendant recorded himself grooming, sexually assaulting, and raping them. The videos and images he made himself numbered in the thousands, and the defendant also possessed thousands of images of other child sexual abuse material from across the world which law enforcement agents discovered when they executed search warrants on his home and computers. The trial featured testimony from victims spanning multiple generations of his crimes.

For nearly three decades, Deakins, a repeat sex offender, committed unspeakable crimes against pre-teen and teen boys, said U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III. Thanks to the tireless work of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies and our prosecutors, this defendant will spend the rest of his life in prison. The U.S. Attorneys Office remains committed to protecting our children through the prosecution of recidivist child predators to the fullest extent of the law.

Deakinss offenses are heinous, leaving impacts on his victims that are immeasurable, said Special Agent in Charge Joseph E. Carrico, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unfortunately, exploitation of youth is a very real and growing issue in our country. The FBI will continue to do everything in its power to ensure children, who are the most vulnerable members of our community, are protected.

Law enforcement agencies participating in the joint investigation which led to the conviction of Deakins included the FBI, United States Marshals Service, Red Bank Police Department, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Chattanooga Police Department, Hamilton County Sheriffs Office, and Cumberland County Sheriffs Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Brooks and Steven S. Neff represented the United States.

This case was investigated as 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 the United States Attorneys Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, click on the link for Publications & Resources.
The former ballroom pro is turning her sights towards acting, starring in a new TV movie with Denise Richards, Melyssa Ford and NeNe Leakes.

Former Dancing with the Stars pro Kym Johnson-Herjavec is starring in her first Lifetime film. Hunting Housewives pairs the dancer with Denise Richards and NeNe Leakes from the Real Housewives franchise, and podcast host Melyssa Ford. In an exclusive interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Johnson-Herjavec shared details of the film she calls a mash-up of Real Housewives and Survivor, with a bit of girl power thrown in.

Hunting Housewives looks to be a fabulous film. Can you tell us how your role in the Lifetime movie came to be?

I moved to Canada with my husband [Robert Herjavec] about four years ago and started to dip my toe into acting. I think producers saw footage of me on YouTube doing Celebrity Survivor out in the elements, but I wasnt very good at it and voted myself off. But thats probably how I ended up getting this role, as I wasnt so comfortable in the woods.

However, Ive really enjoyed pivoting into a different creative role now into acting. Especially working with Denise Richards and NeNe Leakes. Ive worked with them on Dancing with the Stars, so it was nice to join them again. I was now in their world where they were in my ballroom world on DWTS.

What can you tell our readers about Hunting Housewives?

Melyssa Ford, Kym Johnson-Herjavec and Denise Richards star in Hunting Housewives | Lifetime

Hunting Housewives is such a fun movie. Its Survivor meets The Real Housewives. Its an ultimate girls trip that didnt go as planned and doesnt quite turn out to be what us girls were thinking.

The chemistry we all have is really great. We were out in the woods in the elements. There were long days, and we just had a ball together. We had so much fun, and you can see that.

What was your most memorable experience while filming?

Just catching up with Denise and getting to know Melyssa and Nene. It was so much fun watching them work as well. They are so natural, especially Denise; shes such a great actor.

I remember watching Denise and being so taken in by her performance that I almost forgot my lines. There were tears in my eyes because shes so good.

I learned a lot from them. You know, Im a dancer and Im used to being very rehearsed. I was so prepared, I knew everybodys lines! But I learned how to react to how, say, Denise or Melyssa, as we were playing a scene.

The trailer for Hunting Housewives looks hilarious.

Its basically watching some great girlfriends heading out on what they think is a wonderful retreat. Its a girls weekend that turns upside down. People that like Survivor and The Housewives are going to love this.

Its a really fun watch all the girl power elements of the film as well. So its got everything in there.

What drew you to the role?

I love the character I play. Shes a bit of a princess and doesnt like the outdoors. But shes a great girlfriend and has substance. Her relationship with the other girls was interesting.

It was just fun to throw myself into something else. Ive missed being creative since having my babies [Hudson and Haven]. Now that the kids are older, Im excited to throw myself into something different.

You returned to Dancing with the Stars in season 32 for a moving tribute to late judge, Len Goodman.

Dancing with the Stars pros in a tribute to Len Goodman during Season 32 | ABC

It was such a beautiful number. It was nice to be back in the ballroom, especially with the OGs I worked with for many years.

The show is so special, especially back in the good old days when it first started. We initially had no idea what we were a part of, and Dancing with the Stars is a show that continues, and everybody loves it.

Hunting Housewives debuts on Lifetime on Saturday, March 9, at 8 p.m. EST.
Major Lazer is Ape Drums, left, Diplo and Walshy Fire. @WynnNightlife

Major Lazer's RodeoHouston debut will be a homecoming for one of its members.

Eric Alberto-Lopez, who goes by Ape Drums, was born and raised in Katy. He joined the group in 2019, finalizing the current lineup that includes Diplo and Walshy Fire. His trip home, he says, is a chance to see friends and grab some Vietnamese food around town with his mother and sister.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The Jamaican American electronic dance music trio has worked with Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber and Travis Scott. Major Lazer earned a Grammy nomination in 2022 and was even the subject of an animated series created by Diplo.

The group regularly tours the world to huge crowds, so RodeoHouston should be a perfect fit for its high-energy sound. The Chainsmokers introduced EDM to RodeoHouston in 2017. Since then, Zedd and Marshmello have dropped the beat on the rotating stage.

When is Major Lazer performing at the 2024 Houston rodeo?

Performing: March 8

Past performances: None

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Where is Major Lazer from?

Origin: Kingston, Jamaica

What was Major Lazer's first hit?

2015's "Lean On"

Did you know?

Houston native Ape Drums attended Morton Ranch High School in Katy.
Cherokee Nation Attorney General Chad Harsha speaks to the Council during the legislative bodys Rules Committee meeting on Feb. 29. During the meeting, the Council and Harsha discussed the tentative tobacco compact agreement with the state.
The Cherokee Nation is partnering with Pelivan Transit, a public transit service, to offer Cherokee citizens and Native Americans a discounted rate for booking on-demand or scheduled rides in parts of northeast Oklahoma through the new Pelivan app. In 2023, the tribe also secured several new transit vans, including two to be used for the Pelivan Transit service. Left to right: Cherokee Nation Transportation Director Andy Quetone, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., Deputy Chief Bryan Warner, Cherokee Nation Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Executive Director Michael Lynn.
Im always in awe of people who continue to do what they love and spread joy and positivity despite facing tremendous hardships.

While its understandable for those people to want to throw in the towel, some rise above their tragedy and make the most of their situations.

One retired teacher in Texas is inspiring others with her resilience after losing her arms and legs due to septic shock.

Sherri Moody was a teacher for 28 years and was teaching at Deer Park High School in Deer Park, Texas, when her life changed forever last April.

On April 21st, 2023, Sherris husband, David, rushed her to the hospital after she presented symptoms that appeared to be a bad case of dehydration.

However, she turned out to have a severe case of double pneumonia. Terrifyingly, that pneumonia developed into septic shock. Before Sherris family knew it, she was fighting for her life.

To make matters worse, Sherri faced intense complications due to a medication that kept her organs functioning but caused issues with blood flow to her limbs.

During an already horrifying stay in the hospital, Sherris hands and feet began to die, and they had to be amputated.

However, after 108 days in the hospital, Sherri could finally go home and be with her husband, son Jake, and daughter-in-law Mika.

Since healing from her amputations, Sherri has faced a few setbacks, like infections in her knees. Despite everything shes had to face, shes made tremendous progress and has not lost her vim for life.

Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
Hot dogs from Portillo's Portillo's

Portillos, the popular hot dog chain from Chicago, finally confirmed Thursday that it will enter the Houston market with two openings in 2024.

Both locations will debut before the end of the year in sprawling retail centers. The first is slated for the Grand at Aliana, 10505 W. Grand Parkway South, an open-air shopping center in Richmond. It will be followed by a smaller Portillos in northwest Houston at Willowbrook Mall, 2000 Willowbrook Mall.

Weve loved serving our fans in the great state of Texas ever since we first opened in Dallas last January, said Portillos CEO Michael Osanloo in a prepared statement. Were thrilled to expand into Houston, and we cant wait to bring our unrivaled Chicago street food to a brand-new market in the Lone Star State.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

HOUSTON EATS: The Chronicles top 100 restaurants

An Italian beef sandwich from Portillo's Portillo's

There are currently 85 Portillos across the country, including a more recent expansion to Texas with six locations around the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The anticipation has been building in Houston as Portillos entered the Lone Star State, said Sugar Land resident Carrie Kerasiotis.

I think its because people have an obsession with all things Chicago, Kerasiotis said. I think every city or state has something unique to them. Texas has barbecue. Chicago has hot dog and Italian beef.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

A former Chicago resident, Kerasiotis said she is obsessed and nostalgic for Portillos. She recently posted on Facebook an order of eight sandwiches she had flown in.

Its my first thought when I go home, even before my family, and its my last stop, she joked.

Kerasiotis added the Portillos restaurants are family friendly.

A rendering of the Portillo's set to open in Richmond Portillo's

In Richmond, the restaurant will span 7,700 square feet, according to the company, and will feature a Southwest garage theme with Portillos classic red-and-white design throughout. It will seat about 170 customers and include double drive-thru lanes.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The Portillos at Willowbrook Mall will be one of the chain's first Restaurant of the Future designs with a smaller footprint. Its slated to seat about 130 people.

Like other Portillos, the menu features Chicago-style dogs, Italian beef sandwiches, burgers, salads and a popular chocolate cake.

MORE FROM BAO ONG: What to know about Houstons James Beard semifinalist restaurants, from what to eat to reservations

Portillo's hot dogs

The Portillos hot dog empire started in 1963. Dick Portillo paid $1,100 for a small trailer in suburban Chicago and called it the Dog House. It reportedly had no bathroom or running water but within three years, it was well on its way to becoming as iconic as the Cubs, Michael Jordan and of course, Chicagos other quintessential food: the Italian beef.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Far from a trend, Midwest-inspired foods have popped up in Houston ahead of Portillos announcement. There are some spots serving Chicago-style tavern pizzas (Nonnos) and Detroit-style pizzas (Gold Tooth Tonys). Ginos East, a popular deep-dish pizza brand from Chicago, didnt make it in Houston.

The Chronicle reported that a Portillos is also slated to open in Katy, but a spokesperson for the chain would not share further details.

Each Portillos is slightly different to reflect its location. Kerasiotis said tamales are on the menu at the Chicago locations shes been to, but she recommends sticking to the hot dogs and Italian beef.
Good doctors are not made overnight. Behind every successful doctor lies years of schooling and training to hone the skills that are necessary to transform a medical student into a seasoned professional.

The process of becoming a doctor includes practices like anatomical dissections in the classroom and hands-on clinical rotations at hospitals.

However, one cancer surgeon has incorporated a rather unconventional method into his lessons that he hopes will stick with his students. Joao Luis Barreto Guimaraes teaches a course on the fundamentals of modern poetry at Porto University in Portugal.

The aim of the new course is to help students connect with their future patients on a personal level, and he believes that poetry has the power to do that.

Today, many aspects of our healthcare culture are transaction-dependent. Often, patients arent viewed as people. Instead, they are seen as medical cases that need to be solved. So, it has become more important than ever for doctors to practice relationship-based care.

For that reason, I get them to look at poems that talk about empathy, compassion, solidarity, and other similar humanistic values that doctors should strive for when they are in front of a patient, Guimaraes said.

Guimaraes is actually a graduate of the universitys medical department himself. The 56-year-old breast cancer surgeon has been performing operations for over 30 years. When hes not in the operating theater saving lives, hes writing poems at home.

He is the author of 10 published collections. In 2022, he won Portugals Pessoa prize for distinguishing himself as a notable figure in the arts.

His course at the university covers basic elements of poetry, such as rhyme, tone, meter, stanza, scheme, and sound. The reading list includes poems that can be linked to medicine from authors with a background in healthcare.

Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
Brian Mulroney, prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993, passed away last week at age 84.

Mulroney was known as a leader capable of pushing big ideas. But he also opened doors for evangelicals in Canada to engage with the government on major issues. His encouragement was very important, coming at a time when Canadian evangelicals were wrestling with how to present a gospel witness to civil society.

One year before Mulroney became prime minister, I was invited to lead the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), the Canadian affiliate of the World Evangelical Alliance. Prior to my arrival, the EFC had been relatively inactive. It was largely a collection of files accompanied by an occasional public meeting.

I had grown up as the son of a Pentecostal pastor on the Saskatchewan prairies. For us, politics was considered outside the orbit of Christian concern. However, two provincial premiers, both Baptists, saw things otherwise, and their actions provided fodder for earnest conversations as to what Jesus meant when he said, Give to Caesar what is Caesars and to God what is Gods.

On one hand, Tommy Douglas, a pastor with socialist leanings who became premier of Saskatchewan, introduced the first universal health care system in North America. Meanwhile, in the neighboring province of Alberta, E. C. Manning was a free-enterprise capitalist who also preached every Sunday on the radio.

Despite their influence, our church had no interest in public engagement, apart from bringing people to Christ and preparing them for eternity.

However, as the EFC president, I perceived that the evangelical community could not stay out of issues boiling within our political spheres. Abortion was becoming a major topic of debate, one that we could not ignore.

Eventually, in 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that provisions in the Criminal Code requiring the involvement of a hospital in an abortion were contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This decision left Canada in a vacuum, as the only country in the West with no laws restricting abortion. The EFC could hardly be silent in such a situation.

Up to this point, the only Canadian churches that had significant contact with the government were Roman Catholics and mainline Protestants. Evangelicals were simply unknown. Moreover, in the 1980s, we were victims of what I called the Jerry Falwell effect, meaning that our reputation was being harmed by how the Canadian media portrayed US evangelicals as angry fundamentalists and assumed that Canadian evangelicals were the same.

Article continues below

Our task was obvious in Canada: to dismiss that myth, establish a public understanding of who we were and what we believed, and then figure out how we might make useful contributions to our country.

Image: Courtesy of Brian C. Stiller

What I didnt know was that the new prime minister would be open to engaging with evangelicals. When Mulroney formed his government in 1984, a number of evangelicals were included: Jake Epp became minister of national health and welfare, Len Gustafson was parliamentary secretary, and Mennonite John Reimer, along with other evangelicals, entered parliament as members of Mulroneys Progressive Conservative Party.

Epp, highly regarded by both his party and those in opposition, helped us understand not only how we might speak to the governmentespecially on the issue of abortionbut how to build credibility.

For one of my one-on-one meetings with the prime minister, I arrived with an agenda that our senior staff had worked on. While waiting for Mulroney to call me in, I mulled over my early-morning Bible reading of Daniel chapter 11: And in the first year of Darius the Mede, I took my stand to support and protect him (v. 1).

It seemed to me that I should put aside my planned agenda and instead offer words of encouragement. A few minutes later, I was invited into his office, and after some pleasantries, was asked about my agenda. My response was simply, Mr. Prime Minister, I have no agenda today but to encourage you. We spent a few minutes with some Bible verses and prayed, and, after the customary photograph, I left.

The next week while I was boarding a plane, the minister of justice, Ray Hnatyshyn, invited me to sit with him for a minute. He promptly asked, Brian, what happened with you and the prime minister last week? My heart sank. Had I gone too far? I wondered. Minister, was there something wrong? I asked with trepidation.

He smiled and said, No, not at all, and then proceeded to tell me that the prime minister had extended his time with me, delaying his meeting with the Cabinet members waiting for him in the next room. After joining the Cabinet meeting, Mulroney told them of my visit and our conversation and prayer.

As Hnatyshyn recalled, The PM said, If we as the government misunderstand or ignore the evangelical community, the country and this government will be the losers.

Article continues below

That simple meeting opened more doors for important and substantive conversations with people at all levels of the government, giving us opportunities to understand how to relate in a God-honoring manner to Caesar, than many protests or editorials might have accomplished.

When I heard about Mulroneys untimely death, I was reminded of the lessons I had learned from him in seeking to understand how our public witness fits within the agenda of Christ and his kingdom.

In my global travels, this question is often among the first that Christians ask me, as they seek to understand how our commitment to Jesus as king should shape our interaction with government.

Brian Mulroney opened the door for us to flesh out our mandate and to embody what the apostle Paul instructed: For the one in authority is Gods servant for your good  Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor (Rom. 13:4, 7).

Brian C. Stiller is global ambassador for the World Evangelical Alliance and the founder and former editor in chief of the Canadian magazine Faith Today.
An 18-month-long federal investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee has concluded without any charges or action against it, the Executive Committee said on Wednesday.

The countrys largest Protestant denomination has been the subject of a Justice Department probe following a 2022 report that showed SBC leaders refused to respond to allegations of abuse due to legal liability and failed to enact policies to protect its members from predatory pastors.

The Executive Committeewith staff at its Nashville headquarters and dozens of elected trustees from across the countryoversees everyday business for the SBC. The entity said it was informed last Thursday that its part of the investigation had concluded with no further action to be taken.

A spokesperson for the US Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York declined to confirm or comment on the status of the inquiry when contacted by CT.

The Justice Department has not publicly acknowledged or commented on the SBC investigation since it began. Federal grand jury subpoenas and proceedingsfor better or worseare shrouded in secrecy. To protect the accused and the integrity of the investigation, the government often doesnt disclose who had been involved.

According to the Executive Committee, the investigation was expected to look into multiple entities. Presidents of each of its seminaries and agencies had signed a letter in 2022 agreeing to participate and saying, Our commitment to cooperating with the Department of Justice is born from our demonstrated commitment to transparently address the scourge of sexual abuse.

Jonathan Howe, the interim president of the Executive Committee, said in a statement Wednesday that the investigation into his entity had ended. He did not comment on the status of other SBC entities that could be involved.

While we are grateful for closure on this particular matter, we recognize that sexual abuse reform efforts must continue to be implemented across the Convention, he said. We remain steadfast in our commitment to assist churches in preventing and responding well to sexual abuse in the SBC.

Multiple advocates for abuse victimsincluding SBC abuse survivors Megan Lively and Tiffany Thigpen as well as attorney Rachael Denhollander, who has advised the SBC task forces charged with abuse reformsay they were told by officials that the case is still open and ongoing.

Christa Brown, a survivor who has led the charge calling for reforms, including a database of abusive leaders, responded on X.

This does not lessen SBCs moral responsibility for grievous harms. Nor does it alter the reality that, in countless SBC churches, leaders violated state laws and standards, she said.

From the outside, it was never clear what federal statute Southern Baptists might have violated or how federal prosecutors might make their case, several experts told CT.

Theres a lot still unknown. Neither the SBC nor Justice Department officials have publicly specified the scope or focus of the inquiry, which dated back to August 2022. At the time, the Executive Committees general counsel said the entity had received a subpoena but no individuals had been subpoenaed yet.

The Justice Department website says that child sexual abuse is generally handled by local and state authorities, and not by the federal government. Its unusual for federal investigators to get involved in clergy abuse, though they have examined abuse and cover-up by Catholic priests in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Orleans, starting in 2018.

So far, none have been charged under federal laws, such as those that restrict racketeering (RICO) or interstate trafficking (the Mann Act). Any possible federal penalty for Southern Baptist entities as part of the probe into abuse response would be the first of its kind.

Besides the Executive Committee, no other SBC entitysuch as the denominations six seminaries and its missions agencieshas publicly acknowledged any involvement in the investigation.

A spokesperson for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), the SBCs public policy arm, said it had not been subpoenaed or asked for information from federal investigators.

In a response to CT, ERLC president Brent Leatherwood stated:

We have a responsibility to combat abuse by ensuring predators do not have the ability to prey on our churches, and equipping pastors with the tools to do so. The Gospel demands it and messengers have consistently called for such action. Carrying out that objective in a cooperative way remains the goal.

The ERLC continues to offer resources around abuse response and prevention. It was part of the SBCs initial abuse response following the landmark 2019 investigation by the Houston Chronicle that compiled 700 cases of abuse in Southern Baptist churches.

The issue of abuse has dominated the SBC ever since. There were claims of former seminary president Paige Patterson mishandling abuse at two schools; a lawsuit involving Conservative Resurgence leader Paul Pressler, accused of abusing young men for decades; conflicting factions over whether abuse was really a big problem for the denomination; limited mechanisms for expelling churches who employed abusive pastors; and a massive third-party investigation authorized by convention messengers.

The SBC is also currently facing lawsuits from victims of abuse as well as from leaders named in abuse reports.

The Tennessean reported that legal expenses cost the Executive Committee $2.8 million in the previous fiscal year and that the entity underwent layoffs in part due to the cost of the abuse response.

Last month, the volunteer task force overseeing abuse reform in the SBC announced plans to launch an independent nonprofit to manage the programs, including a database of abusive pastors.

This is a breaking news story and has been updated.
Home News Canadian bill would remove religious exemption from 'hate speech' laws, critics warn Christians say quoting Scripture could be criminalized if legislation passes

Lawmakers in Canada are considering legislation which, if passed, could criminalize the act of quoting Scripture in defense of biblical marriage, sexuality and other Christian views.

The proposed Bill C-367, currently under review in the House of Commons, would repeal religious exemption in Section 319 of the Canadian Criminal Code, which critics say could open up Christians and other religious groups to hate speech charges over any comments or criticisms of the LGBT movement.

Bill C-367 specifically targets Paragraph 319(3)(b) and Paragraph 319(3.1)(b) of the Criminal Code, which prohibits any conviction on hate speech charges if in good faith, the person expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

If the religious exemption is removed, any religious or faith-based expression that refutes or condemns gender ideology, child sexualization, and other similar topics could potentially be deemed by Canadian courts as hate speech and lead to criminal prosecution for Christians and other religious groups.

Introduced by Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet in November, Bill C-367 has only an initial reading in the House of Commons, and its unclear when or if the legislation will advance.

While Blanchet and other lawmakers say Bill C-367 comes in response to recent antisemitic demonstrations in Canada  including one in which a Muslim activist called for God to exterminate what he called Zionist aggressors  some organizations like the Canadian pro-life group Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) warn the legislation could lead to more criminal prosecutions against Christians.

In February, David Cooke, CLC's campaigns manager, wrote, No longer will we be allowed to share Gods design for human sexuality and marriage in public. No longer will we be able to speak out in the name of God against drag shows for kids, child drag, or child sex change.

All this could be misconstrued as hate speech against the LGBT community. Even our pro-life message could be spun as a hate crime against women.

Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern, says if passed, the bill would be a devastating legal tool to attack people of faith in Canada and allow the politicians working through the courts and police to send devout believers to jail for quoting the Bible, Quran, or other religious texts.

The same methods that overseas dictators and despots use to silence and strangle Christianity are now being used by political enemies in the West, with this current bill being only the latest example, King said in a statement shared with CP.

He called on Christians and Canadian citizens of faith of all stripes to make their voices heard by Canadian government officials.

Canadians that enjoy the fruits of democracy need to wake up, he added. Any politician in the West who pushes for this kind of legislation and is selling protection and unity by advancing hate speech laws is an enemy of freedom, and democracy, and willing to undermine the religious and speech laws that protect all citizens to advance their special interest or to inflict damage on their political enemies.

Over the last decade, Canadian lawmakers have passed a number of bills aimed at curbing speech in deferment to the LGBT lobby.

In 2017, Canada's Senate passed a law against the correct use of gender pronouns by adding protections for gender identity and expression to the Canadian Human Rights Code.

Last September, lawmakers in Ontario, Canada, approved a ban on any form of communication that might potentially cause an LGBT-identified person to feel harassed or offended following a massive parental rights rally.

The bylaw approved by city councilors in Waterloo, located about 45 miles southwest of Toronto, came in response to a new policy enacted by several local school boards. The policy states that parents will not be told if their child decides to change their pronouns or identify as the opposite sex, non-binary or gender fluid.
Home News 8 prominent Charismatic elders declare Mike Bickle unfit for ministry

Eight prominent Charismatic elders, including theologian and media personality Michael Brown, have declared embattled International House of Prayer Kansas City founder Mike Bickle "unfit" for ministry, warning that the 24/7 prayer ministry has some "dangerous cult-like tendencies" that need to be addressed.

In a joint statement published Thursday on the website of his syndicated "Line of Fire" radio program, Brown, along with elders in the Charismatic movement  Jack Deere, Dan Juster, Patricia King, Joseph Mattera, Sam Storms, Michael Sullivant, and Terri Sullivant  declared Bickle "unfit" for public ministry.

They cited mounting evidence, including reports and public testimony of Bickle's clergy sexual abuse. Those testimonies include Tammy Woods, who alleged last month that Bickle groomed and sexually abused her in the 1980s when she was just 14.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

"First, we are deeply grieved for those who have presented testimony that they were manipulated and sexually abused by Mike Bickle. We can think of few sins more damaging and destructive than that of manipulative, clergy sexual abuse, all the more in the case of a minor," the elders wrote.

"We are also deeply grieved for those whose personal faith has been shattered and whose worlds have been turned upside down because of the alleged agonizing events. This is a spiritual tragedy of international proportions, affecting millions of believers worldwide and bringing great dishonor to the name of Jesus as well as disgrace to the reputation of the Spirit," they added.

"After considering the reports we have reviewed, we must state categorically that he is, sadly, unfit to lead a ministry. Even with full repentance and personal restoration in the Lord, he is disqualified from public ministry. (Restoration to full fellowship is of course possible.) Mike himself, in his statement of December 12, 2023, acknowledged that his stepping down from ministry 'may be long and it may even be permanent,' and that was before the most serious charges against him had even been raised."

Mere hours before Tammy Woods alleged in an interview with The Kansas City Star that Bickle abused her in the 1980s when she was just 14, her former pastor allegedly sought her advice amid mounting abuse allegations from multiple women.

In posts highlighted on both X and Facebook, former IHOPKC staffer Ben Anderson shared a copy of a script Bickle was reportedly planning to use for himself and his wife, Diane, to create a video on Jan. 30.

The video would have responded to allegations that he, for example, routinely told his alleged victims that his wife would die young, suggesting that he would be able to have a future with them at some point.

Using her maiden name, Woods told The Kansas City Star that Bickle abused her in St. Louis, where he pastored a church before moving to Kansas City and starting IHOPKC in 1999.

Woods said Bickle abused her in his car, at her home, in the church and his office. She said the abuse, which began when she started babysitting his two sons, involved sexual contact but not intercourse.

"He would kiss my neck, he would kiss my cheeks, he would kiss my forehead," Woods was quoted as saying, recalling the first time Bickle kissed her romantically at her house when she was just 14. "The first, like, 'kiss' kiss was in my house. He kind of pulled me into my bathroom. And he kissed me like a man kisses a woman."

Woods' story emerged after an independent report was released to the public on Jan. 31 and prepared by attorney Rosalee McNamara. In that report, Bickle confessed to engaging in "consensual sexual contact" with a woman connected to the 24/7 prayer ministry in addition to a previously confessed relationship with a primary Jane Doe, who alleged she was his kept woman for several years.

Another woman, identified as "TH," also added to Bickle's alleged pattern of abusing minor girls when she told The Roys Report that Bickle began grooming and sexually abusing her when she was 15 and he was a 20-year-old church intern in the mid-1970s. TH said she is the ex-wife of self-styled "prophet" Bob Hartley of Hartley Hope Ministries, who was recently banned from IHOPKC's 24/7 prayer room after he was accused of sexual assault and a pattern of predatory behavior impacting multiple alleged female victims.

"We say this with agony of heart, as Mike has been a dear friend to some of us and a respected co-worker for years, and it is hard to believe that the man we knew was capable of leading such a double life," Thursday's statement from the Charismatic movement leaders stated. "Yet we cannot deny the evidence that spans many decades, and which continues to accumulate, some of which has been confirmed and some of which awaits a formal investigation and the adjudication of a panel of elders."

The statement noted that while there are many sincere supporters of IHOPKC, "we recognize that the evidence points to some dangerous cult-like tendencies that emerged over the years that need to be addressed and adjusted."

"There has also been a lack of a formal structure of accountability for those serving in various capacities at IHOPKC, overseen by local elders, resulting in a failure to deal properly with serious sexual sins, and not just pertaining to Mike," they said.

"We do not deny that the broad outline of the IHOPKC history was credible, but it appears that, in some ways, it has crossed over into areas of spiritual elitism. IHOPKC has also admitted that its structure was woefully deficient in handling serious sin allegations and now professes to be changing its whole structure to address this."

The leaders called for a more formal accountability structure in the larger independent Charismatic church world and hope to address it with a "united, biblically based, Spirit-led effort" over time.

"Having said this, we decry the exalting of people and personalities. There are no superstars in the Body, only servants. And no matter how much fame or public influence any of us may have, we are all utter wretches outside of God's transforming grace and there is not a single thing we can do of eternal value that has not been birthed and empowered by the Spirit. Apart from the Lord, we can do nothing, and we are nothing (John 15:5; 1 Corinthians 3:5-9)," the Christian elders wrote.

"It is one thing to give honor and respect to spiritual leaders who walk worthy of God's high calling. It is another thing to turn servants into celebrities and to look to them as if they were in a different category from the rest of the Body. This is not only dangerous, but it is another form of spiritual idolatry."
Home News Forced marriage of Christian women becoming 'concerningly common' worldwide: Open Doors

In a sobering yet vital recognition ahead of International Womens Day, persecution watchdog Open Doors has released its annual Gender Report, revealing that forced marriage is becoming a "concerningly common practice" impacting Christian women worldwide.

The 2024 Gender Report, compiled by Open Doors global research team, draws attention to the marginalization of Christian women who live in countries ranked as the 50 most dangerous for Christian persecution.

The report highlights the oppression and violence they endure due to their gender and their faith in Christ, noting that forced marriage is a threat to Christian women and girls in an astounding 84% of the countries on the 2024 Open Doors World Watch List.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

This year, faith-based forced marriage was identified as a risk for Christian women and girls in 84% of the WWL countries; a concerningly common practice, researchers noted. Forced marriage is a form of exploitation and control and in many contexts, this risk is interwoven with sexual violence."

"For example, in the Horn of Africa, young female Christian converts from a Muslim background can be forced into marriage to keep them from dishonoring their families for leaving the faith," the reports add. "A regional expert notes that often they are forced to marry much older men. Sexual violence and forced marriage are employed as a means of intimidation and control, with these strategies targeted at preventing Christian women and girls from pursuing their faith in Christ."

A regional expert in Cameroon said that forced marriage is becoming a tactic for "intimidation and control in regions experiencing conflict-related challenges."

In areas [of Cameroon] affected by armed conflicts and religious tensions, Christians[can be] at heightened risk of violence and exploitation," the expert stated.

"In the Central African Republic, 'Christian women and girls face heightened risks of rape  and forced marriage during attacks by militants on civilian villages," the report adds. A regional expert stated that "[i]nstances of sexual slavery for abducted girls are reported.

Ryan Brown, the CEO of Open Doors USA, emphasized the gravity of the situation.

Today, more than 365 million people face real persecution and discrimination  unimaginable horrors every day  for following Jesus, he said. And so many of these faithful followers are courageous women  wives, mothers, sisters and daughters choosing this difficult path, choosing to stay true to the gospel, despite increased oppression and brutalities.

The report identifies five primary "pressure points" for Christian women in these countries: forced marriage, sexual violence, physical violence, psychological violence and abduction.

The report notes that women are not only at higher risk due to their Christian faith in WWL-listed countries but also face added risks because of their gender in environments fraught with violent insecurity.

Choosing to follow Jesus, researchers said, further elevates their vulnerability.

As these courageous women face increased persecution, we are witnessing their undying faith in Jesus all the more, said Open Doors US COO Sarah Cunningham. Although widely without a voice and basic human rights, they serve an incomparable purpose in the Kingdom of God  shining a light for Christ in their families and communities and showing us all what real faith looks like.

Researchers found reasons to be hopeful, saying that historically, peace initiatives have been male-dominated and secular. However, as nearly half the world's population is female and a vast majority are religiously affiliated, there's a shift towards more inclusive peace processes, the report said.

Through the unique agency of the church and the strategic position held by policymakers, change is possible, and indeed already underway. This is an encouragement  as well as an invitation to join in, the report said.

Open Doors advises the global Church to "[a]cknowledge the extent of violence against Christian women and girls" to enhance protection and justice for women and girls.

Helene Fisher, a gender persecution specialist with Open Doors USA, told The Christian Post in a 2019 interview that in most cases, persecution against women often revolves around the idea of ruining their sexual purity. Meanwhile, men tend to suffer from forms of economic harassment that can impact their place in society.

That year, the most common trend in the gender-specific persecution of Christians was the targeted raping of women solely for the purpose of bringing shame upon their families and community.

When they are sexually assaulted, there is a shame that is brought upon them in society's views. And they are therefore viewed as tainted, having no future and their family also lose this honor, Fisher explained. And sometimes their whole Christian community is seen as less valuable, less pure.

While there are many cases in which Christian girls and women have been abducted and forced into marriage, girls and women who convert to Christianity can often be forced into marriages by their own families, she said.

Forced marriage is used by a family whose daughter has decided on her own through some kind of exposure to Christianity, maybe via satellite or a friend somewhere or maybe she's had a vision she has turned to Jesus and her family has found out, Fisher explained. [They will] marry her to somebody from the mainstream religion, and then it becomes more or less his problem to make sure that she adheres to the mainstream religion.
Home News Greek Orthodox Church bans politicians who voted to legalize gay marriage

A Greek Orthodox Church regional body has banned two local politicians for their support of the legislation that legalized same-sex marriage in the Eastern Mediterranean nation.

Church authorities on the northwestern island of Corfu issued a statement Tuesday banning the politicians for committing "the deepest spiritual and moral error" in voting for the law.

"For us, these two (local) lawmakers cannot consider themselves active members of the Church," stated the bishopric of Corfu, as quoted by The Associated Press. "We exhort them to repent for their impropriety."

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

The two lawmakers, who were not named in the report, will be barred from receiving communion and attending Orthodox Church events, and they will not be given formal honors from clergy at official ceremonies.

The regional body commended another politician for voting against the gay marriage legislation, stating that this was "the kind of politician, irrespective of other convictions, that we need in our country."

The Panhellenic Socialist Movement, a political party that supported the legalization of same-sex marriage to which one of the banned lawmakers belongs, called the bishopric of Corfu's decision "unacceptable," according to AP.

Last month, Greece's Parliament passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage by a vote of 176 in favor and 76 against, coming off of a lengthy period of polarizing debate over the issue.

In addition to legalizing gay marriage, the law also allowed married same-sex partners to adopt. However, this measure did not include allowing same-sex gay couples to receive children through surrogate mothers.

The law was drafted by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's center-right government, which had the support of left-wing parties.

"This is a milestone for human rights, reflecting today's Greece  a progressive, and democratic country, passionately committed to European values," stated Mitsotakis, according to CNN.

The new law makes Greece, which previously had legalized civil union partnerships for same-sex couples, the first majority Orthodox Christian nation to have legalized gay marriage.

Mitsotakis stated that he was unwilling to presently deal with the question of surrogacy, saying that the notion of "women who are turned into child-producing machines on demand  that is not going to happen."

According to the United States-based LGBT advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign, 36 countries worldwide have legalized gay marriage, with 25 doing so through national legislation.

Last year, the Eastern European nation of Estonia passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage, with the measure taking effect on New Year's Day.

The move of the Corfu bishopric comes as church officials in Piraeus made a similar move impacting local lawmakers who voted in favor of same-sex marriage.
Home News Muslim cleric calls for Nigerias first lady to be killed for serving as a pastor, apologizes

A Muslim cleric has come under heavy criticism after he called for the killing of Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, Nigerias first lady. A video emerged of the cleric describing Oluremi as an infidel who should be killed for being a pastor.

Tinubus wife is an unbeliever and even among the unbelievers, she is a leader, said Idris Tenshi, an Islamic cleric, during a sermon in the local Hausa language.

The cleric quotes the Quran as a basis for his claims but did not provide the specific chapter or verse to back his claim justifying the call to kill the first lady.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

She is among those that Allah has instructed us to kill because she is among the leaders of the unbelievers, he said in the undated video circulating on social media.

Oluremi is an ordained minister with the Redeemed Christian Church of God and is married to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a Muslim who served as the governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007.

Following widespread condemnation, the cleric appeared on a recent video apologizing to the first lady and admitted that his comments were a mistake.

I would like to pass this message to Nigerians regarding a video circulating on social media. All the things I said were a mistake and I dont stand on the words I said. Other clerics have given me a proper explanation of the verse that I quoted, said the cleric.

In a 2020 interview in TVC, Oluremi said that her faith has not been a source of conflict with President Tinubu.

The point is he is quite respectful of my faith, and if someone respects you, it is quite right you show the same respect. He respects my faith, I respect his, so there is no conflict, said Oluremi, who gave her life to Christ when she was exiled to the United States in the 1980s.

The Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (YOWICAN) called for the arrest and prosecution of the cleric, urging security authorities to take urgent action. The chairman of YOWICANs National Executive Council, Belusochukwo Enwere, in a statement said that the cleric should be restricted from preaching in Nigeria.

The NEC is giving the federal government and security agencies to act immediately to avoid further deterioration of the security situation in the country because of the unguided statement or utterance, said Enwere.

Chief convener of Arewa Think Tank, Muhammad Yakubu, also condemned the cleric's comments, terming them unacceptable."

There have been rising cases of religious intolerance in Nigeria. Twelve states in the north, for instance, have enacted penal sharia law, and there have been increasing cases of lynching on the basis of illegal and unproven blasphemy accusations. In one of these states, Islamic police arrested a popular TikToker on Feb. 13 for posting indecent and un-Islamic content.

A report by the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa revealed that abductions and attacks on communities based on religion increased from 2020 to 2022. The report included attacks by Islamist jihadists Boko Haram, herder-farmer conflicts and retaliatory attacks. In 2022, 4,877 Christians were killed.

This article was originally published by Christian Daily International.
Home Opinion Im in YouTube jail for exposing secularism consequences on schools

This past weekend, YouTube put me in YouTube jail for seven days after I posted a viral video of students at a high school in Oklahoma licking peanut butter from each other's feet. The stomach-churning images of young teenagers at Deer Creek High School in Edmond crawling on the ground in such a degrading fashion is upsetting on so many levels. Perhaps the most obvious is the report that whomever the responsible parties are who came up with this debauchery idea, used charity as the reason to dupe these young impressionable minds to degrade themselves.

Evidently, students were encouraged to pay to attend "an assembly called the 'Clash of Classes,' [and] [t]he event was held to raise money for Not Your Average Joe, a coffee shop in Oklahoma City that employs people with physical or mental disabilities. Which means this was a case where emotional guilt was used as a manipulative tool on these kids.

Clearly, this is a sign of the times. For decades, secularists have been targeting American kids. The substantial downfall began when the liberal left fought and succeeded to remove prayer out of our public schools (Vitale. Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962)). (And surely it is no coincidence that shortly thereafter they then got abortion nationally legalized (Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113)). Christianity establishes and reminds us all of our human worth; that we are divinely made in the image of the most Holy God. We are not animals. Yet acting like animals is precisely what these students were asked and directed to do.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

The problem is that they have been so brainwashed by a secular system that is anti-the Bible (i.e., boys should be feminine and girls should be masculine, drag queen story hour, pornographic curriculum, etc...), that the students seen in this video and any others who participated clearly do not understand their own self-worth  because if they did, then they would have resisted.

And here's the real clincher: YouTube gatekeepers bear responsibility for defending and promoting liberal secularism that has led to our society-ills, as seen in this video. Conservatives like me are fighting to clean up and safeguard our school children. Yet, when I get censored and YouTube shuts down my account, it is an attempt to hinder me. And make no mistake, this is the intent. YouTubes discrimination against conservatives is well-documented. In 2021, Senator Marco Rubio addressed many such examples in a letter to YouTube Chief Executive Officer.

In a warning notice, YouTube informed me that its reason for pulling down this high school video  which has now been widely circulated by other media outlets  is because it is too provocative and should not be publicly viewed. This is really no different than the same hostility I encounter from liberal school board officials when I attend public meetings and speak out in defense of school children. When I read back the very foul and disgusting books they themselves approve to be read to innocent minds, they call on law enforcement to shut me down so that the public cannot hear or be aware of their actions, which only provides further proof of how secular liberals know they must work in secret.

In spite of YouTubes efforts to sequester this shocking video, the good news is that it is too late, and parents who saw it are rightfully upset and now an investigation is supposedly underway. Hopefully, the spark of parent awareness will continue to grow across our Nation and we can reverse the hostile attacks on American children and families.

I will certainly continue to fight for our kids.

For more information, get a free chapter of my book at this link.
Home News Greatest First Amendment sin: Appeals court panel blocks Floridas Stop Woke Act

An appeals court panel has ruled that Florida cannot ban mandatory diversity training in the workplace and public education, upholding a lower court decision blocking the state law.

A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit unanimously ruled Monday against Floridas Stop Woke Act, which was signed into law in April 2022.

Two companies, Honeyfund and Primo Tampa, filed a lawsuit over the law because they want to require the types of mandatory diversity training sessions that the Act prohibits.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

Circuit Judge Britt C. Grant, a Trump appointee, authored the panel opinion, arguing that the Act unlawfully engages in viewpoint discrimination, concluding that the law engages in the greatest First Amendment sin.

By limiting its restrictions to a list of ideas designated as offensive, the Act targets speech based on its content. And by barring only speech that endorses any of those ideas, it penalizes certain viewpoints, wrote Grant.

The only way to discern which mandatory trainings are prohibited is to find out whether the speaker disagrees with Florida. That is a classic  and disallowed  regulation of speech.

Grant added that even if Florida is correct that the ideas it targets are odious, such a fact is irrelevant since the government cannot favor some viewpoints over others without inviting First Amendment scrutiny.

Banning speech on a wide variety of political topics is bad; banning speech on a wide variety of political viewpoints is worse, she continued.

Intellectual and cultural tumult do not last forever, and our Constitution is unique in its commitment to letting the people, rather than the government, find the right equilibrium.

Also known as the Individual Freedom Act or House Bill 7, the law was signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in April 2022 and championed as a way to prevent ideas like Critical Race Theory from entering education and business.

No one should be instructed to feel as if they are not equal or shamed because of their race, said DeSantis in a statement released at the time.

In Florida, we will not let the far-left woke agenda take over our schools and workplaces. There is no place for indoctrination or discrimination in Florida.

Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls was also quoted in the statement as supporting the legislation, arguing that, thanks to the Act, Floridas students and employees will be judged as individuals, by their words, character and actions, not simply by their race, sex or national origin.

Florida took an important step to ensure that our schools and workplaces are spaces where we can have healthy instruction and conversation without losing sight that we are first and foremost individuals, Sprowls stated in 2022.

Importantly, the bill provides assurance for parents that some of the most difficult lessons about our nations history and current events are taught accurately while treating everyone as individuals.
School-age children get their vaccinations at Sharpstown Health Services on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024 in Houston. Non-medical vaccine exemptions for Texas schoolkids hit a 10-year high last year, with 3.24 percent of all kindergarteners requesting an exemption for one or more required immunization. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer

Multiple people in Houston have been infected with a severe bacterial disease that triggered a statewide health advisory last month, according to the Houston Health Department.

Between November and February, four adults and three children in Houston were infected with meningococcal disease. This highly infectious but vaccine-preventable illness can lead to meningitis, or inflammation of the brain and spinal cord membranes. Officials said most of the seven people were diagnosed with meningitis, adding that none have died and all are improving. A health department investigation found no direct link between the cases.

Last month, the Texas Department of State Health Services issued an advisory about a statewide uptick of the disease since November. Of the 27 people infected in that timeframe, 10 developed meningitis and one unvaccinated person died, according to an agency spokesperson. Health officials and advocates are urging people to stay up to date on vaccinations, especially with increasing measles cases in other parts of the country.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

"We recommend parents check with their family doctor or medical home if their children have all the recommended immunizations," said Houston Health Department spokesman Porfirio Villarreal. "Its always a good idea for parents to ask if their children are missing any shots during all medical appointments  no matter the reason for the health care visit."

Texas reported 13 to 17 cases of the disease from 2020 to 2022  a steep drop from a record 203 cases reported in 2001. In 2023, however, the state reported 31 cases. The increase since November matches statewide trends in flu infections, which can increase the risk of meningococcal disease, Texas health officials said. Other states have also seen case increases.

"Normally, there are sporadic cases here and there, like at hospitals," said Dr. Luis Ostrosky, chief of infectious diseases at Memorial Hermann and UTHealth Houston. "But where it is a big deal is in congregate settings where people spend a lot of time together, sharing food and air, like in colleges, prisons and schools."

None of the cases in Houston were associated with high-risk environments, which also includes daycares or shelters, Villarreal said. The patients were all treated with antibiotics, and none of their close contacts developed symptoms, he said. At the state level, testing indicated that the recent cases were not closely related, according to a DSHS spokesperson.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Even so, health officials urge caution. Texas requires a meningococcal vaccine for 7th graders, but over the last few years, a lower percentage of students received that vaccine than any other immunization, according to Texas immunization data. Last year, 92.9% of 7th graders received the meningococcal vaccine, while about 2% received an exemption for non-medical reasons, data shows. Meningococcal disease rates are highest in infants, adolescents and young adults.

In general, vaccine coverage has declined among Texas kindergartners since 2020, while nonmedical exemption rates have increased. The politicization of the pandemic led to widespread vaccine hesitancy, creating more urgency around upticks of vaccine-preventable diseases, according to public health policy advocates.

Meningococcal disease is caused by a bacterium called Neisseria meningitidis. This severe, potentially deadly pathogen can spread through direct or indirect contact with respiratory and throat secretions and aerosol droplets. Activities like kissing, sharing eating utensils, or coughing and sneezing can all lead to infections.

Symptoms can progress rapidly and commonly include high fever, chills, drowsiness and a rash. When the bacteria cause meningitis, people can develop headaches, neck stiffness and light sensitivity. The disease also can lead to a bloodstream infection called septicemia, which might lead to severe aches and pains in the muscles or joints, rapid breathing and, in later stages, a dark purple rash. The infection can evolve into sepsis and death.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Home News Street preachers' 'harassment' case dropped after preaching from 1 Corinthians 6:9

In Somerset, England, a legal battle involving two street preachers accused of causing harassment and anti-social behavior while sharing biblical beliefs on LGBT issues ended as the Crown Prosecution Service dropped all charges.

The case centered on the preachers' rights to express their religious beliefs publicly and concluded without a conviction.

John Dunn and Shaun O'Sullivan, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, faced potential criminal charges after their June 2023 arrest in Glastonbury for preaching that homosexuality and transgenderism are incompatible with the Bible.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

The incident, which led to their arrest by officers donning rainbow lanyards, sparked controversy over the enforcement of section 35 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. While preaching, an officer challenged their reference to the officer's gender.

The duo was set to be convicted at Taunton Magistrates' Court, but the CPS withdrew, citing a lack of evidence, the rights group Christian Concern announced Wednesday.

The decision came after the preachers' defense argued that their actions were protected under Articles 9 and 10 rights, which protect religious freedom and speech expression. The court, led by District Judge Angela Brereton, dismissed the case and ordered the state to reimburse the preachers' legal and travel expenses.

The backdrop of this case includes broader societal tensions, notably reflected in anti-Israel protests that took place in London in recent months. According to Christian Concern, calls for "jihad" and and destruction of Israel were reportedly unchallenged by police. This context of perceived selective law enforcement was criticized by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as indicative of "mob rule."

O'Sullivan and Dunn, known for their Evangelical activities across the United Kingdom, shared their Christian message in Glastonbury on June 8, 2023.

Their journey to street preaching is marked by personal transformations, with Dunn being a throat cancer survivor and former Special Forces operative and O'Sullivan turning to Christianity after overcoming drug addiction and criminality.

The preachers were preaching outside "The Sons of Asguard Witchcraft Emporium" store, which promoted LGBT flags and sold "magical apothecary." According to Christian Concern, the preachers gave out leaflets and preached from 1 Corinthians 6:9.

The passage details how "the unrighteous," including those who engage in sexual immorality, "will not inherit the Kingdom of God." This led to confrontations with the public and police, with allegations of causing "harassment, alarm, and distress."

The preachers contested these claims, pointing to a bias in police response, especially when compared to the treatment of other ideological expressions in the public sphere.

The incident escalated when the preachers refused to cease their activities, leading to their arrest under the alleged threat of breaching the peace. The police justified their action as a response to complaints about the preachers' messages, which were claimed to include offensive statements against homosexuals.

Following the court's decision, Dunn criticized the police's approach as disproportionate and indicative of a broader issue of biased law enforcement.

"When I preach, I only ever say what is in the Bible," he said. "It is very disconcerting when you are approached by police officers accusing you of a 'hate crime' for allegedly being 'homophobic' and they have rainbow lanyards around their necks. It does not give any confidence that the lawful expression of Christian beliefs on these issues will be respected or defended."

O'Sullivan said, "It cannot be right that terrorist sympathisers are acting with impunity on U.K. streets, and yet we face being convicted for expressing our Christian beliefs from the Bible. I meant it when I said that we were there because we love the people of Glastonbury and wanted them to know the Good News of Jesus Christ."

Andrea Williams, CEO of the Christian Legal Centre, defended the tradition of open-air preaching in the U.K., asserting the need to protect such religious expressions.

"John and Shaun are passionate about reaching the public with the Christian faith that has transformed their lives," she said. "They were well within their rights to preach and to continue preaching on Glastonbury High Street without being forced to move on or fearing arrest. It is not an offense if someone is offended by the truth of the Bible. The police must be impartial and uphold the law, not LGBTQI+ identity politics."
Home News How can married couples improve their sex lives? Experts discuss top problems impeding connection

Sex is designed as an intimate and sacred gift created by God to be reserved for marriage. But what happens when a spouse struggles with intimacy or has a distorted view of sex?

On a recent episode of the Lets Talk Purity podcast, former porn star Brittni De La Mora, who is now a devout Christian, and her pastor husband, Richard De La Mora, were joined by relationship experts Dave and Ashley Willis to talk about how married couples can improve their sex lives.

Sex is a beautiful gift, Ashley said at the start of the Lets Talk Purity podcast.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

Its a gift. And God is awesome, and God made it. And when its done the right way, its a great gift for married couples, her husband, Dave, agreed, adding that married couples who want to have a healthy sex life should make sure the marriage bed is the safest place on Earth for both the husband and the wife.

[When it comes to the marriage bed], its a place where they both feel protected and cherished and respected and adored and served and pursued. And all of those things happening at once, Dave added.

If there's a power dynamic that's happening in the marriage, especially in the sexual aspect of the relationship where one spouse is being manipulative, coercive or trying to force their agenda and make sex very one-sided, very self-centered, then that sabotages the whole gift of oneness that God created in sex, he added.

When a husband and wife are both committed to adoring each other, serving each other and connecting with one another, the sexual experience within marriage, it provides a lot of freedom, a lot of exploration, and a lot of fun. I mean, it should be fun. If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong. I mean, it's supposed to be fun.

Often in some marriages, one spouse might be withholding sex from the other spouse for a number of reasons, Ashley said.

She explained that, sometimes, a husband might withhold sex because he's watching porn and sex doesn't fulfill him anymore, or a wife might withhold sex because she doesn't feel valued enough, or she might be offended by something her husband said or did.

I would say sex isn't meant to be manipulative or weaponized. It's not even meant to be a reward, either. And when we are withholding, we're using it in that way. And that's really not what God designed sex to be, Ashley maintained.

The only time [the Bible] talks about abstaining  each partner both agreeing to abstain from sex for a certain amount of time  it's for a short amount of time, for the sake of fasting from sex, just to reflect on the Lord. That's the only time the Bible mentions that.  That has to be mutual, she added.

It says specifically in the Bible that we are not supposed to withhold. In fact, because,  as a husband and wife, were the only legitimate place to fulfill a sexual need. We're not supposed to fulfill it on our own. We're not supposed to go outside of our marriage to fulfill it, whether through pornography or through other people. It's important that we don't hold that back from each other because then were opening ourselves up to temptation, as well as our spouse.

Communication is the key to having a healthy sex life in marriage, and its also the key to bringing intimate love-making back into a sexually starved marital union, Ashley noted.

Whenever we've met with married couples, and there is a wife who doesn't really want to have sex, and she's like, You know what, I just have a low libido, and the man is sexually starved, I'm telling you, literally 90 percent of the time it's because there's not been really good healthy communication, she explained.

It's like the man is not willing to have a conversation, and so the woman is shutting down sexually. And the more a man can be willing to listen and talk, and the woman can share her heart, the more the woman feels physically close to her husband and then, naturally wants to be romantic with him. I would say start with conversation.

It's important that you talk about your hopes and your dreams and the things that are really going on in your heart and in your mind. That's why we're big advocates of putting kids to bed earlier than maybe other people do.  It gives you time as a married couple [to talk to each other uninterrupted].

Dave warned husbands whose wives struggle with low libido not to compensate by using porn, which will bring about a host of other problems within the marriage.

During his teenage years and early on in his marriage, Dave confessed that he, too, struggled with a selfish cycle of watching porn, masturbating and having a sinful, broken view of sex.

I understand the temptation. I understand how hard it is to break away from that. But I also understand that nothing good, like literally nothing good comes from it.  It creates a vicious cycle when we start justifying our own bad decisions because of something that our spouse is doing. It just creates this vortex where nobody wins, Dave added.

I would say, in that situation, for the guy that's watching porn,  it's devastating to the mind, the heart, the marriage. And I think that in the short term, we feel like: No, I'm meeting a need or I'm spicing things up. But it's toxic, and everything about it is toxic. Everything about it is going to hurt you.

When a spouse watches porn, they are sabotaging the intimacy in their relationship, he said, while also training themselves to be self-focused lovers by looking at sex and people as objects.

That's going to bleed over into your marriage. You're going to start seeing your spouse as an object. Youre going to start seeing your spouse in those kinds of ways. Nothing good can come from it. There's nothing your spouse could do that would make you look at porn, OK. Because sin is sin, he said.

To the spouse who is struggling with a low libido, Dave said even though they might not have the drive and they might not have the energy, they should be actively looking for solutions to what could be an internal hormonal issue by getting their hormones checked.

He added, however, that there will be times in marriage when one partner might have to step outside of themselves to serve the other, and that might be in sexual ways.

There are going to be so many times in marriage where we need to be willing to step outside of ourselves to help serve our spouse and not just with sex, but really in everything.  Think of all the things that you do for young kids when you became parents, Dave said. You don't feel like getting out of bed and changing a diaper. You don't feel like getting up and youre being interrupted. We do it because that's what they need, and I'm the only one who can meet that need. It's in some ways a privilege, even though it's exhausting to do it.

But I will say that God's Word does, I think, give some clear and healthy parameters. And No. 1, I think talking about the marriage bed being the safest place, I think both spouses need to feel safe. Both spouses need to feel loved and adored.

Dave further stressed that married couples should never leave room for anyone else to join them in their sexual intimacy, and there are certain biblical parameters for the way in which a married couple should engage in sex.

Obviously, there's no room for anyone else to enter into that dynamic. There's no room virtually or in-person for someone else coming in and disrupting that oneness that God intended couples to have. So that means no swinging, no threesomes, and it also means no porn. Because when we're bringing porn into the marriage bed, digitally [or] virtually, we're inviting those other people into our marriage bed, he said.

That's out of bounds. I would say, don't hurt each other [when having sex]. I would say, don't try to coerce each other. If you're just constantly pressuring your spouse to do some act that is going to ultimately cause them pain. ... They finally just sort of give in and reluctantly agree. Even though you technically have consent, that's not the spirit of what the marriage bed should be, he added.

"While you should have freedom to explore, have fun, and get creative  God's a God of creativity, and He's the One who made sex, and you guys should be able to explore and get creative  but if that creativity is leading you to a place where you're bringing in some of those outside forces or causing pain, I would say, Alright, that's a timeout, and to call a foul on that.'
Home News Planned Parenthood agreed to transfer aborted baby parts for intellectual property rights: report

The pro-life watchdog group behind a series of videos that purportedly documented Planned Parenthood engaging in the illegal sale of aborted fetal tissue released new documents that it claims show the organization violated federal law by selling aborted baby body parts.

In a Tuesday press release, the Center for Medical Progress announced that it obtained documents via a public records request that show Planned Parenthood agreeing to transfer "proprietary" aborted baby body parts to the University of California San Diego for "valuable consideration."

One of the documents CMP released purports to be a "Biological Material Transfer Agreement" contract between Planned Parenthood of San Diego and UCSD. The agreement, which became effective in May 2009, grants UCSD access to "certain" PPSD biological materials for research, such as fetal and placental tissue.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

"PPSD shall retain all right, title, and interest in and to the Material, including but not limited to all right, title, and interest in patents and patent applications and other intellectual property rights relating to the Material," the contract stated.

The pro-life activist group cited 42 U.S. Code  289g2, which deals with prohibitions regarding human fetal tissue, asserting that the documents expose a violation of federal law.

"This new evidence shows Planned Parenthood sells late-term aborted baby body parts in violation of federal law, for far more money than has ever been discussed before," CMP Founder and President David Daleiden said in a statement.

"Planned Parenthood's national headquarters knew about and approved these sales of aborted babies for valuable consideration as part of government-funded research grants," he added. "The federal OIG investigation of fetal trafficking in Pittsburgh must be expanded to include Planned Parenthood's activities in San Diego and every other location where this $1.8 billion abortion business supplies aborted babies for taxpayer-funded experiments."

"The highest levels of Planned Parenthood leadership must answer under oath for what we now know is the organization's participation in government-sponsored trafficking of late-term aborted babies," Daleiden continued.

Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest  formerly known as Planned Parenthood of San Diego  and UC San Diego did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment.

CMP contends that UCSD professors have developed numerous patents held by the University of California using aborted fetal body parts, according to public databases cited in CMP's report.

In 2014, the contract with UCSD underwent an update to reflect PPSD changing its name to Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest. The updated contract states, "All other terms and conditions of the Agreement will remain the same and shall continue in full force and effect."

CMP highlighted UCSD emails from 2017 in its latest report.

In one of the emails, an unknown sender wrote that they had attached "MTA and Agreement documents between UC Regents and PP." Another set of emails from 2020 included discussions about Advanced Bioscience Resources and whether the entity "retained any rights or had any requirements before transferring."

One email thread cited by the pro-life group contained messages about setting up a quarterly "Planned Parenthood/UCSD Research Collaboration Meeting." One user in the email chain raised questions about "payment to the residency program."

As CMP noted, UCSD is one of many universities where Planned Parenthood operates its Ryan Residency Training Program and Fellowship in Complex Family Planning.

CMP also cited an April 2021 invoice payment of $10,000 Planned Parenthood of Pacific Southwest paid to UCSD. In the description on the invoice, Planned Parenthood wrote, "Anniversary Celebration' Champion' Sponsorship."

Another document CMP obtained through its records request was a "Registration Form for Affiliate Research Proposals," which began in May 2012. The form outlined the study's objectives, which included creating a bank of "high-quality fetal tissue samples and cell cultures" and "to obtain samples from normal as well as abnormal gestations."

In December, CMP released documents it obtained alongside the conservative activist group Judicial Watch showing that federal law enforcement officials investigated the University of Pittsburgh after its fetal tissue research practices came under scrutiny.

The CMP founder has repeatedly raised concerns about the legality of the institution's fetal tissue research practices, as well as Planned Parenthood potentially acting as a supplier of fetal body parts for the University of Pittsburgh.

"If this investigation has been conducted honestly, the facts uncovered may be more horrifying than we ever imagined," Daleiden said in a statement at the time.

"Planned Parenthood has cloaked its human atrocities committed against vulnerable mothers and infants under its 'research' program for decades  it is time for justice under the law for every level of the taxpayer-funded enterprise of selling aborted baby body parts."
Home Opinion How church abuse is aided and abetted

Abuse in churches is on the increase and it manifests in different ways  physical, emotional, sexual, verbal, financial and spiritual. Many Christians are easily manipulated and seem not to believe that abuses are going on in their churches while others recognize it but are too afraid to point it out for fear of retribution from church leadership.

These abuses can do lots of harm. Perversion of the Word of God has put many under the control of abusive pastors who twist the Word to give themselves immunity from criticism. They use their power and authority to cover up their crimes and keep the victims silent.

In Nigeria, every report of church abuse results in casting aspersions on the victims who are seen as those who are used by the devil to pull the church down. The victims are usually warned by the mantra touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm (Psalm 105:15, 1 Chronicle16:22). Sympathizers of victims are not allowed to talk or make comments against the abusive pastor.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

We have built a culture that promotes and tolerates behaviors that we know are contrary to biblical injunctions. This culture has significantly aided and abetted all forms of abuse in churches. Girls and women who are victims of sexual abuse are often condemned for allowing men of God to have carnal knowledge of them. They are stigmatized for allowing themselves to be used by the devil to pull down the anointed.

Most victims prefer to remain silent for fear of being attacked. Those who summon the courage to condemn abuse in churches are seen as agents of darkness who are working against the Body of Christ. In addressing church abuse, Jesus Christ is not the issue; rather those who use His Church to perpetrate all manners of abuse are the problem.

So, is reporting church abuse biblical? A good look at Scripture will help us understand whether it is a sin against God to speak out about unhealthy practices in churches. In the book of Revelation chapters 2 and 3, Christ told John to write to five churches and their leaders. John wrote, criticized, and condemned many things that the churches were doing. It is important to note that these letters were not confidential, otherwise, they would not have been published in the Bible. In these letters, it was Christ Himself who constructively criticized his own Church and demanded their repentance.

The Apostle Pauls letters to the church in Corinth and Galatia are known for their pointed criticism. Should we say that Paul is judging the anointed? Paul exposed some dangerous persons in the church to ensure that others were protected: Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words (2 Timothy 4:14-15).

According to the Apostle John, I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. So, when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church (3 John 1:9-10). There are so many Alexander the coppersmith and Diotrephes in our churches today who are protected by misapplied lines like Judge not and touch not my anointed.

Does being anointed exempt anyone from criticism and correction? Peter was anointed yet Paul rebuked him (Galatians 2:11). Why didnt Peter defend himself, as these pastors do? This faulty misinterpretation has created a culture of tolerance for sin, abuse, and all manner of evil in churches. But what do we do? If we condemn our brothers and sisters when they err, we are not better than the world, but if we tolerate sins and abuse in our churches then we are facilitators and supporters of evil.

Let us expose evil in our churches and correct those involved in it with love.
Christian charity to address 'critical shortage' of theological resources worldwide

An evangelical charity is to donate over 10,000 books to plug the gap in theological resources worldwide.

The launch of Langham Partnership's 'Books for Bible Colleges' initiative coincides with World Book Day today.

The initiative is being driven by a "critical shortage" of theological resources in the Majority World that the charity says is feeding into a "global leadership crisis" and hindering the development of degree programmes.

According to the charity, over 80 per cent of pastors in the Majority World lack any formal training, and many college and seminary libraries do not have sufficient resources to teach them.

Further challenges lie in the "heavy reliance" on resources authored by Western Christians.

The initiative will allow Bible colleges to choose from 7,200 books in the Langham catalogue to create their own core library and even gain accreditation.

Participating colleges will receive a 300 grant and logistics and shipping will also be covered.

Simon Foulds, Development Manager for Langham UK and Ireland, said: "Now more than ever, we need to equip Christian leaders with great potential who face poverty, pressure, and persecution every day.

"Every church deserves a well-trained leader, and Langham wants to ensure every aspiring church leader has access to a stocked library before they preach from the pulpit. The foundation of theologically sound study and training cannot be underrated.

"In the West our access to books is so widespread that we can take our education and libraries for granted. How many of us have Christian books on our shelves that we've bought but never read?"

Rev Rose Chemegemet, Academic Dean at the Kima International School of Theology (KIST), said: "The entire staff at KIST are very grateful for the books which Langham has provided for the Church in Africa. Thank you so much to everyone who donates to Langham for making such a great impact in the training ministry of the global church."
Cybersecurity remains top priority for business and technology leaders alike. In collaboration with CyberWire, we help you to keep a pulse on the cybersecurity landscape by gathering some of the top movements and stories.

ThreatHunter.ai Halts Hundreds of Attacks in the past 48 hours: Combating Ransomware and Nation-State Cyber Threats Head-On

CyberWire

ThreatHunter AI, an advanced cybersecurity platform, has effectively thwarted numerous cyber attacks within the past 48 hours. Focused on countering ransomware and nation-state cyber threats, this AI-driven system has demonstrated its efficacy in halting various malicious activities. Leveraging sophisticated algorithms and machine learning capabilities, ThreatHunter AI swiftly identifies and neutralizes potential threats, providing organizations with enhanced security measures. By analyzing vast amounts of data and monitoring network traffic, the platform can detect suspicious behavior and prevent potential breaches before they occur. This proactive approach significantly reduces the risk of cyber attacks, safeguarding sensitive information and infrastructure. With cyber threats evolving constantly, ThreatHunter AI represents a crucial defense mechanism for businesses and governments in the ongoing battle against cybercrime. Read more

Aembit Announces New Workload IAM Integration with CrowdStrike to Help Enterprises Secure Workload-to-Workload Access

CyberWire

Aembit, a cybersecurity company, has introduced a new integration with CrowdStrike aimed at enhancing workload security for enterprises. This integration focuses on Identity and Access Management (IAM) for workloads, facilitating secure access between various workloads within an organizations infrastructure. By leveraging CrowdStrikes expertise in endpoint security and Aembits IAM capabilities, enterprises can effectively manage and control access permissions for workloads, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and potential breaches. This integration enables organizations to enforce granular access policies, ensuring that only authorized entities can interact with specific workloads. With the growing complexity of modern IT environments and the increasing threat landscape, this collaboration between Aembit and CrowdStrike provides enterprises with a robust solution to fortify their workload security posture and mitigate the risk of cyber attacks. Read more

Control D Launches Control D for Organizations: Democratizing Cybersecurity for Organizations of All Sizes

CyberWire

Control-D has released Control-D for Organizations, a new cybersecurity solution designed to democratize cybersecurity for businesses of all sizes. This platform aims to make cybersecurity accessible and manageable, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), by offering comprehensive protection against cyber threats. Control-D for Organizations provides a range of features including threat detection, incident response, and compliance management, all tailored to the needs and resources of SMEs. By leveraging automation and machine learning, the platform enables organizations to enhance their cybersecurity posture without requiring extensive expertise or resources. This democratization of cybersecurity empowers businesses to effectively defend against cyber threats, safeguard sensitive data, and maintain regulatory compliance. Control-Ds initiative reflects a growing trend towards democratizing access to cybersecurity tools, ensuring that organizations of all sizes can adequately protect themselves against evolving cyber threats. Read more

Reflectiz Introduces AI-powered Insights on top of Its Smart Alerting System

CyberWire

Reflectiz has introduced AI-powered insights to complement its smart alerting system, enhancing its capabilities in web application security. This integration enables the platform to provide advanced analytics and actionable insights into potential security risks posed by third-party components within web applications. By leveraging artificial intelligence, Reflectiz can analyze and prioritize security threats more efficiently, allowing organizations to better understand their attack surface and mitigate risks effectively. The AI-powered insights offer deeper visibility into the security posture of web applications, helping organizations identify and address vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by malicious actors. Reflectizs initiative reflects a growing emphasis on leveraging AI in cybersecurity to enhance threat detection and response capabilities, ultimately strengthening the overall security posture of web applications. Read more

Deloitte Partners with Memcyco to Combat ATO and Other Online Attacks with Real-Time Digital Impersonation Protection Solutions

CyberWire

Memcyco has partnered up with Deloitte to address Account Takeover (ATO) and other online attacks using real-time digital impersonation protection solutions. This collaboration combines Deloittes expertise in cybersecurity with Memcycos innovative technology to bolster defenses against emerging threats. Memcyco specializes in real-time detection and prevention of digital impersonation attacks, such as ATO, which pose significant risks to businesses and individuals alike. By integrating Memcycos solutions into its cybersecurity portfolio, Deloitte aims to provide clients with enhanced protection against these sophisticated attacks. The partnership underscores the importance of proactive measures in combating evolving cyber threats, emphasizing the need for real-time detection and response capabilities. Through this collaboration, Deloitte seeks to empower organizations to safeguard their digital assets and maintain trust in their online operations amidst growing cybersecurity challenges. Read more
Greg Beltzer has been beta testing key generative AI technologies for the past six months and is eager to capitalize on them when released this spring. As head of technology for the US division of RBC Wealth Management, Beltzer says one feature in particular, Prompt Builder, will enable more than 2,100 advisors in RBC USs private client group to request and retrieve the most compelling data on topics of interest to clients.

Weve been on the beta the entire time and weve been able to see how it has developed and what it can do, says Beltzer, who is based in Minneapolis. Its the first easy-to-use tooling Ive seen that allows you to do prompt engineering at this stage.

And thats all thanks to Beltzers decision to give RBC private equity advisors a vertical industry cloud that offered financial services out-of-the-box that are both customizable and extensible.

The choice to implement Salesforce Financial Services Cloud has subsequently given Beltzers team a head start in delivering generative AI capabilities and core industry services to RBC US advisors while still working on the companys overall cloud migration.

My strategy was to put Salesforce at the center, says Beltzer, who helped launched RBC USs journey to Microsoft Azure and AWS in 2018 when he joined the company. Thats when we were looking for a new CRM and Salesforce for us is much more than a CRM. It is an operational platform.

Predominantly a Microsoft shop, the US wealth management arm of Toronto-based Royal Bank of Canada had been searching to replace an antiquated CRM system for advisors spread across 190 locations in 42 states. Beltzer had consider Microsoft Dynamics, among other full-suite CRMs, before settling on Salesforces industry-focused offering. Now, thanks to advances and integrations, Beltzer is positioned to bank on Salesforces Einstein AI platform to build more sophisticated services  if regulators give the nod.
Four-year-old Aleya Secrease enjoys exploring the various sights, sounds and textures at Liberty Lake Park while she recovers from skull surgery Wednesday, March 6, 2024 in Spring. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

Jessica Secrease thought the worst was over when doctors finally managed to stop the seizures that her daughter, Aleya, had been experiencing for more than 16 hours back in June 2022.

Then, the team at Texas Childrens Hospital told the Spring resident that the right side of her 2-year-old daughters brain had swollen to the point where it may crush the left side. They told Secrease and her husband, Lawrence, that they needed to remove half of Aleyas skull to prevent further brain injury and save her life.

I didnt know if she was going to wake up, Secrease said. "And if she did, how she was going to be, if she was going to remember who I was.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

There was no guarantee the operation would alleviate the swelling, but it bought more time for Aleyas brain to heal. The gambit paid off  Aleya woke up 24 hours later. Doctors were able to replace the removed half of Aleyas skull in a second operation that occurred five months later.

Four-year-old Aleya Secrease enjoys a walk through Liberty Lake Park with mom, Jessica, as Aleya recovers from skull surgery Wednesday, March 6, 2024 in Spring. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

Nearly two years later, doctors believe Aleya's seizures and swelling were caused by a condition so rare that they aren't sure how many children have it  or why it occurs.

Four-year-old Aleya Secrease explores the swing set at Liberty Lake Park with mom, Jessica, as she recovers from skull surgery Wednesday, March 6, 2024 in Spring. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer Four-year-old Aleya Secrease explores the swing set at Liberty Lake Park with mom, Jessica, as she recovers from skull surgery Wednesday, March 6, 2024 in Spring. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

Aleya was diagnosed with hemiconvulsion-hemiplegia-epilepsy syndrome, which is believed to be related to prolonged seizures in infants or young children. Doctors believe it may arise from a confluence of factors, said Dr. Sonali Sen, a pediatric neurologist at Texas Childrens. Sen has only seen two patients with HHE since beginning her medical residency in 2015.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The theory is that there's some sort of probable viral infection, but there may be some underlying predisposition to them having a very severe inflammatory response in their brain that leads to very severe seizures, Sen said.

READ MORE: Twins conjoined at abdomen successfully separated at Texas Childrens Hospital

Aleya, who turned 4 on March 7, continues to recover from the effects of the brain injury. The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, so she wears a brace on her left leg to help her walk. Another brace on her left wrist helps her use her left hand. Shes not speaking yet, but her parents remain hopeful that it will occur in time with therapy.

Secrease documents her daughters progress on Instagram, in part because HHE is so rare. She would search for families also living with the condition while Aleya was in the hospital but wasnt able to find any.

We know what it's like to live in a hospital  and to worry day and night, Secrease said. We wanted to provide that hope and inspiration to other people that you can get through it.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Full panic mode

Secrease still remembers feeling Aleyas back when she checked on her in the middle of the night on June 5, 2022.

She was just soaking wet, Secrease said. And she was not responding to me.

Aleyas eyes were open, but her head was twitching. Secrease picked up her daughter, who felt lifeless in her arms. She yelled to her husband to call 911.

Paramedics quickly deduced that Aleya was having a seizure and rushed her to the nearby Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center. They soon realized she needed to be flown by helicopter to University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, the nearest hospital with an available pediatric intensive care unit bed.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

I didn't know what to do, Secrease said. I was in full panic mode.

Five different medications failed to stop Aleyas seizures for a total of 16 hours. Doctors finally decided they needed to use pentobarbital, a powerful sedative that the state of Texas uses in executions.

Four-year-old Aleya Secrease wears a big grin as she rides on her favorite swing at Liberty Lake Park while she recovers from skull surgery Wednesday, March 6, 2024 in Spring. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

Secrease was scared, but she knew from her experience as a nurse practitioner that doctors needed to do whatever they could to stop the seizures.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Ive had a patient like this before who just kept on seizing, and we lost her, she said. I thought that was going to be my daughter.

The pentobarbital put Aleya into a medically induced coma, and she remained unresponsive. Doctors decided to move her to a bed that became available in the neurosurgical ICU at Texas Childrens Hospital.

'The only resource left'

After she arrived, doctors performed a litany of tests to try to determine what caused the seizures. None of them pointed to an answer.

To complicate matters, a CT scan showed swelling in the right side of Aleyas brain. Doctors opted to drill a small hole in her skull so they could insert a tube that would drain excess cerebrospinal fluid, the colorless liquid that flows around the brain and spinal cord. The operation is relatively common, said Dr. Guillermo Aldave Orzaiz, director of neurosurgery oncology at Texas Childrens Hospital.

READ MORE: A Costa Rican baby had just days to live before heart surgery at Texas Children's Hospital

Yet the swelling continued to worsen. Within two days, the right side of Aleyas brain had swollen to the point where it was in danger of pressing against her skull. That could lead to a serious brain injury or even death if its not treated quickly, Aldave Orzaiz said.

At that point, the only resource left is to make more room for the brain to expand, he said.

Aldave Orzaiz told Secrease they needed to remove half of her daughters skull in order to prevent further brain injury and save her life. That scared Secrease because she realized it meant her daughter had already suffered a brain injury.

The procedure took place on June 9 and lasted about four hours.

It took five months to alleviate the swelling. During that time, Aleya needed to wear a special protective helmet because any bump to her head could have serious consequences. Secrease said it wasnt easy to explain to a 2-year-old girl that she couldnt take off her helmet, even if it was uncomfortable.

By November 2022, the swelling had decreased to the point doctors could replace the removed half of her skull, which theyd kept at the hospital.

'Happy that she's still here'

As she recovered, Aleyas parents and her doctors began to notice the effects of her brain injury. She wasnt exhibiting as much activity on her left side. Doctors told the Secreases it was unclear if Aleya would ever be able to walk, talk or feed herself.

The Texas Childrens team suggested an array of therapies  including physical, occupational and speech  to help Aleya recover and continue her development.

We were just determined we were going to work with her as hard as we could to try to optimize her recovery, her mother said.

Nearly two years later, Aleya has not only learned to walk but is also running and jumping with the help of a brace on her left leg. Shes able to eat on her own, aided by another brace on her left wrist. Shes also receptive and able to communicate with a device similar to an iPad.

Four-year-old Aleya Secrease wears a big grin as she enjoys a game of chase with dad, Lawrence, at Liberty Lake Park while she recovers from skull surgery Wednesday, March 6, 2024 in Spring. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

She can do a lot of the things that she should be able to do as a 3-year-old despite the weakness in her left side, Sen said. Thats really due to her therapies.

Aleya is also just enjoying being a kid. Shes playful and goofy, and she loves to smile and dance. She also loves airplanes, so her parents take her to watch them take off and land at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

It's difficult to predict how Aleya will continue to develop, partly because she may experience more seizures in the future, Sen said. Children with HHE typically go several years without experiencing seizures, but they eventually return and can be challenging to control, she said.

Secrease isnt thinking about the long term right now.
Primeste notificari pe email Nota bene: Adresele email cu extensia .ru nu sunt acceptate.

Contractare si Achizitie Bunuri Anunturi de Angajare Granturi - Finantari Burse de studiu Stagii Profesionale Oportunitati de voluntariat Toate Articolele
Shutterstock

The Charity Commission has criticised the banking sectors response to its calls for improvements after 42% of trustees reported experiencing bad service in the past year.

In survey findings published today, the regulator reported that 6% of respondents had experienced account freezes or being blocked over the past year, while 7% said their bank had lost their records.

Commission chief executive Helen Stephenson said the figures demonstrated the extent and impact of the appalling service charities receive from some banks.

This follows the Commission, along with its sister regulators in Scotland and Northern Ireland, writing to the UKs main high street banks in November to demand urgent action to help hard-pressed charities.

Today, Stephenson said she had been disappointed with the response so far.

Bankers trade group UK Finance said it would shortly publish guidance to help charities get the best out of the financial services sector.

Other banking difficulties reported

Some 2,541 trustees responded to the Commissions online survey last month, conducted by research partner BMG.

In response, 32% said they had faced issues when trying to update their charitys contact details or signatories.

Moreover, 18% had found difficulty trying to open a new bank account while 15% found it challenging to comply with identity requirements set by their bank.

Meanwhile, 14% said they found it difficult to understand what their bank requires of them.

Commission CEO disappointed with banks response

Stephenson said: Im shocked, but not surprised by these new figures, which offer undeniable evidence of the extent and impact of the appalling service charities receive from some banks.

It is simply not good enough that volunteer trustees, who are giving of their free time to serve society, are faced with such unnecessary challenges in managing their charities money.

We have worked behind the scenes with banks to improve the service they provide to charities. So far, I have been disappointed with their response.

I hope this new research sends a message to the CEOs of high street banks that change is needed now.

UK Finance: Decisions to close accounts not taken lightly

A spokesperson for UK Finance said it would publish guidance for charities in the near future.

We understand the impact account closures can have and therefore any decision to close an account is never taken lightly and is done in line with legal and regulatory obligations, they said.

We have been working closely with a wide range of community and charity organisations to understand the issues and challenges they are experiencing.

As part of our work we will shortly be publishing detailed guidance to help charities get the best out of the financial services sector.

Our members will also continue to review and enhance the services they offer charities.

Barclays: We understand that it can be more difficult for charities

The Financial Times reported that Stephenson said the Commissions poll suggested debanking occurred most frequently with Barclays, however the regulator told Civil Society this was based on anecdotal evidence.

A Barclays spokesperson said: We are required to keep up to date information regarding our customers accounts, as part of our ongoing responsibility to help prevent financial crime, and to meet our regulatory obligations.

Therefore, it is very important that account holders respond to these requests from their bank, so that their accounts remain compliant.

We understand that it can be more difficult for charities, clubs and associations to provide this information as a result of changes in trustees or more complex mandates.

As a result, we have enhanced the support available for these customers in evenings and weekends to help them.

We only ever close accounts as a last resort after multiple, repeated communications over the course of many months.

CFG: Not surprised by survey results

The Charity Finance Group (CFG) said it was pleased the survey had been commissioned by the regulator and not surprised by its results.

However, like Helen Stephenson, were also disappointed with the pace of response and change. We would like to see a stronger commitment from UK Finance and the individual banks to finding solutions, said Clare Mills, director of policy and communications.

When banking services are inaccessible or fall short, people are forced to find alternative ways to manage money.

This can fly in the face of good governance and financial management, and increase risk for the organisation and the individual trustees.

Widespread use of work-arounds can go wrong. When that happens public trust in the charity sector as a whole can be eroded.

Well continue working together with all parties, including the Charity Commission and UK Finance, to do all we can to ensure public trust remains high whilst finding the right solutions.

MCF: Banking problems felt by aid charities in particular

Fadi Itani, chief executive of the Muslim Charities Forum (MCF), said his organisations members had experienced many of the issues detailed in the survey for a long time.

These access issues have then been compounded further by debanking of services with little to no explanation or notice, he said.

MCF continues to be very concerned by the scale of this issue and in particular how this impacts those charities who deliver aid internationally and here in the UK.

Ultimately these issues put lives at risk, freezing access to funds or delaying aid in times of crisis.

It also makes it very difficult for those working in charities to do their roles effectively.

We join the Charity Commission in this and call upon the banking sector to urgently review and reform charity banking services to improve delivery and access to essential aid.

sign up to receive the free Civil Society daily news bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector,




In December, the New York Times filed a lawsuit against OpenAIthe creator of the popular artificial intelligence software known as ChatGPTand Microsoft, one of OpenAIs primary financial backers and partners. As reported by the Times, the suit alleged that OpenAI used millions of Times articles to train automated chatbots that now compete with the news outlet as a source of reliable information by reproducing Times articles. By doing this, the suit argued, OpenAI was trying to free-ride on the newspapers investment in journalism, and Microsoft was guilty of doing the same, because it used ChatGPT technology in its Bing search engine and in many Microsoft Office products. The Times didnt ask for specific financial damages from OpenAI or Microsoft, but said that the behavior alleged in the lawsuit should result in billions of dollars in damages from both companies. The Times also asked the court to force OpenAI to destroy any AI models, databases, and training data that were based on copyrighted material from the paper.

As I reported for CJR in January, OpenAIs response to the lawsuit was twofold: On the one hand, it argued that the Times was not being transparent about the process it had used to get ChatGPT to produce the copies of Times articles, and that getting ChatGPT to do this involved a bug that users would likely never experience. At the same time, OpenAI argued that its scanning or ingestion of data from sources such as the Times to feed its AI engine was permissible under the fair use exemption in American copyright law. As I explained in October, according to the fair use principle, copyrighted material can be used for certain purposes without permission, and without paying the owner a fee for licensing, provided the use meets certain criteria (as outlined in the four factors test that judges use when hearing fair use cases).

Last week, OpenAI filed an official response to the Times lawsuit that echoes and expands on many of the arguments the company originally made in January. Despite the allegations that ChatGPT could become a competitor to the Times by reproducing articles, OpenAI said in its response that ChatGPT is not in any way a substitute for a subscription to the New York Times. In the real world, OpenAI said, people not only do not use ChatGPT for that purpose, but would not be able to do so even if they wanted to, since in the ordinary course, one cannot use ChatGPT to serve up Times articles at will. According to OpenAI, the allegations in the Times lawsuit do not meet its famously rigorous journalistic standards. In reality, the company said, the Times paid someone to hack OpenAIs products, and it took this person or persons tens of thousands of attempts to generate the kinds of results included in the suit.

OpenAI also noted in its response that it has established important partnerships with many leading news companies, including the Associated Press and Axel Springer, the German media giant that owns Insider (formerly known as Business Insider) as well as Politico and German outlets such as Bild. These collaborations, OpenAI says, have allowed the company and its partners to creatively explore and implement AI solutions that assist investigative reporting, create enhanced reader experiences, and improve business operations. OpenAI added that the Times suggestion that journalism would somehow be imperiled by the development of artificial intelligence was pure fiction.

On Monday, Microsoft also filed papers responding to the lawsuit and asking a judge to throw out several of the claims against the company. The statement opened with a description of how, in 1982, Jack Valenti, then the head of the Motion Picture Association of America, told Congress that a new technology known as the videocassette recorder should be stopped because the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston Strangler is to the woman at home alone. In a similar way, Microsoft argues in its motion to dismiss the lawsuit that the Times is using its might and its megaphone to challenge the latest profound technological advance, namely the large language model, or LLM. Copyright law, Microsoft says, should represent no more of an obstacle to the development of artificial intelligence engines than it did to the VCR or the player piano, copy machine, personal computer, internet, or search engine.

In its brief, Microsoft asks the court to throw out three specific claims: that Microsoft is liable for copyright infringement by end users of its tools; that the company has broken the law by avoiding copyright protections, which is an offense under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; and that ChatGPT misappropriates content in a way that is illegal under state laws designed to protect hot news, or time-sensitive scoops. Microsoft argues that these claims are not applicable or that the facts supporting them are unproven: the Times has shown no evidence of end-user infringement of its content, Microsoft says, only infringement by the newspapers own lawyers. Additionally, Microsoft says that no evidence is provided that either it or ChatGPT evaded copyright protections under the DMCA, and that the hot news doctrine that exists in common law is irrelevant because it is superseded by the federal Copyright Act, which provides fair use as an exception to infringement.

The arguments about how the Times crafted its prompt to output verbatim copies of its articles, or about the hot news doctrine and how it might apply to the case, are to some extent sideshows in this lawsuit. As I explained in October, the core of OpenAIs defense against the Timesand, by extension, Microsofts defense as wellis that whatever scraping or ingesting of content OpenAI did was covered by the fair use provision of US copyright law. OpenAI says that a long history of court decisions have upheld the idea that it is legal to use copyrighted content as part of a process that results in the creation of new, different, and innovative products such as ChatGPT. The company argues that no one should be able to monopolize facts, and that the Times cant stop AI models from acquiring these facts, any more than other news organizations can prevent the Times from re-reporting stories that it had no role in investigating.

Sign up for CJR 's daily email

The Times lawsuit isnt the only legal battle OpenAI is facing. A number of authors and other content creators have sued the company because their work was scraped by OpenAI without their permission. But last week, OpenAI was hit by a very different kind of lawsuitfrom Elon Musk, who in addition to owning X was a cofounder and early financial backer of OpenAI. In his claim, Musk argues that OpenAI and Sam Altman, its founding chief executive officer, violated the companys original mission by putting the pursuit of profit ahead of the use of AI to benefit humanity. Musk says that he and Altman agreed when they created it that OpenAI would beas its name suggestsan open-source nonprofit that would develop AI for the benefit of humanity, not for a for-profit company seeking to maximize shareholder profits.

Until recently, Musk argues, OpenAI sold the rights to its AI technology to Microsoft but at the same time released the code behind that tech as open source, so that others could develop their own AI engines. Musk says this changed with the latest version of OpenAIs software, known as GPT-4, which was given to Microsoft alone and now (Musk alleges) forms the basis of the artificial intelligence inside products such as Microsoft Office. This change, Musk says, came after a turbulent period at OpenAI (which I wrote about for CJR) in which two board members tried to oust Altman but instead were removed themselves. Musk argues that this consolidated Altmans power over the company. According to Bloomberg, the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether the company misled its investors during that period; other regulatory agencies, including the European Union and multiple US authorities, are said to be looking into the relationship between OpenAI and Microsoft.

One interesting aspect of Musks lawsuit is that he argues that Microsoft should not have been allowed to license the latest version of OpenAIs software because GPT-4 is too close to achieving what is known as artificial general intelligence, or the ability to reason in much the same way a human being would. Musk says Microsofts deal with OpenAI only gave the company access to products that had not shown AGI-level capabilities, which GPT-4 allegedly has. According to Musk, researchers at Microsoft have publicly stated that they believe GPT-4 could reasonably be viewed as an early (yet still incomplete) version of an artificial general intelligence (AGI) system, although there is some debate within Microsoft about whether these claims are true. Musk also said that it is his belief that OpenAI is developing a new AI model known as Q* (pronounced Q star) that is even more likely to demonstrate artificial general intelligence.On Tuesday, Altman and other senior executives at OpenAI responded to Musks lawsuit, saying the company would be moving to dismiss all of his claims. They also noted that in the early days of OpenAI, after it became clear that the company would need a lot of money to pay for the computing power that AI requires, Musk wanted majority equity and board controland also wanted to be CEO. According to Altman and the other executives, at one point Musk suggested merging OpenAI into Tesla, his electric-car company. The statement says that the board felt it would be against the mission for any individual to have absolute control over OpenAI, adding that the company is sad that its come to this with someone whom weve deeply admiredsomeone who inspired us to aim higher, then told us we would fail, started a competitor, and then sued us when we started making meaningful progress toward OpenAIs mission without him.

Mathew Ingram is CJRs chief digital writer. Previously, he was a senior writer with Fortune magazine. He has written about the intersection between media and technology since the earliest days of the commercial internet. His writing has been published in the Washington Post and the Financial Times as well as by Reuters and Bloomberg.
Some of manufacturer Kimberly-Clark Corp.s neighbors in New Milford, Connecticut believe the paper goods manufacturer has contaminated their soil and drinking water with PFAS chemicals.

Three of them have filed a proposed class action claiming that contamination from the manufacturers plant located about three miles from their properties has increased their risk of cancer and other diseases and deprived them of enjoyment of their real property.

The plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages in excess of $5 million as well as damages for financial losses and punitive damages. They are also asking the court to direct Kimberly-Clark to install systems capable of filtering PFAS chemicals down to non-detectable levels and establish a medical testing and monitoring program.

New Milford property owners Bethany DePaul, Arlene Quaranta, and Meredith Quaranta filed their proposed class action on February 28 in federal district court. The suit targets Kimberly-Clarks alleged intentional, reckless, and/or negligent acts and omissions in connection with the discharge, distribution, and/or disposal of PFAS, which they maintain have caused the contamination of real property and drinking water supplies owned and used by plaintiffs and other members of the proposed class.

Their legal claims against Kimberly-Clark include negligence, private nuisance, public nuisance, strict liability and unfair trade practices.

PFASor perfluorinated alkylated substances  are artificial chemicals that are highly resistant and can persist in the environment for long periods of time, earning them the nickname forever chemicals. They are used in manufacturing and added to consumer products, such as food packaging, cookware, carpeting, clothing, paper goods, and cosmetics, as well as in a foam material used by firefighters.

Forever Chemical Bans Face Hard Truth: Many Cant Be Replaced

PFAS are widely used because they can provide resilience and protection against corrosion and weather. Manufacturers contend there is no other substance that does what they do and to completely eliminate them would be a huge blow to the economy. The Defense Department has also warned that they are vital to national security as they are used in in weapons systems, information technology and machinery.

The lawsuit cites a list of potential adverse health effects of PFAS contamination from the Environmental Protection Agency including reproductive effects in pregnant women; developmental effects in children; increased risk of kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer; and increased cholesterol levels and risk of obesity.

Manufacturing Facility

Kimberly-Clark has produced paper goods at the manufacturing facility on Pickett District Road in New Milford since the late 1950s. The New Milford facility is situated on a nearly 60-acre parcel bordering the Housatonic River and employs more than 350 workers making diapers and tissue products for popular household brands such as Kleenex, Scott, and Huggies. According to the complaint, many products Kimberly-Clark manufactures are known to utilize or contain types of PFAS chemicals in the process of manufacturing.

Kimberly-Clark also owns a 165-acre landfill site located up the road from the New Milford manufacturing facility where, the complaint says, Kimberly-Clark dumped short fiber paper sludgea byproduct of the paper manufacturing process believed to contain high concentrations of PFAS chemicals. It is likely that PFAS chemicals in the short fiber paper sludge dumped at the New Milford landfill have leached into the surrounding area, the complaint says, citing a situation in Fullerton, California where local officials discovered that a large drinking water well located adjacent to the Fullerton Kimberly-Clark site was contaminated with PFAS chemicals, requiring immediate remediation.

The plaintiffs in the class action claim that results of testing of their own properties and soil samples in the surrounding area confirm PFAS chemical contamination caused by Kimberly-Clarks New Milford facility, which the plaintiffs maintain is the only likely source of the chemicals in the area.

The complaint also cites test data from North Carolina, New Hampshire, and New York concerning PFAS emissions from smokestacks from manufacturing facilities and large industrial users of PFAS-containing products.

The New Milford plaintiffs seek to represent thousands of citizens of Connecticut who are or were owners of real property located in New Milford, or surrounding towns whose land and/or water supply have been contaminated with detectable levels of PFAS chemicals.

Other Lawsuits

There have been thousands of lawsuits filed across the country in the last several years over alleged PFAS contamination. They include lawsuits by other states claiming damage to natural resources and water, individuals claiming personal injury, and consumer class actions.

Major manufacturers 3M, DuPont, Chemours and Corteva have reached settlements in some cases but thousands of suits remain in courts. A group of 22 states has opposed as inadequate the biggest of the settlements, a deal by 3M that would provide $10.3 billion over a 13-year period to cities, towns and other public water systems.

Connecticut Sues 28 Firms for Alleged Contamination by Forever Chemicals

In Connecticut, the states attorney general, William Tong, has filed two lawsuits against 28 manufacturers seeking to hold them responsible for alleged PFAS chemical contamination. Kimberly-Clark was not named in Tongs lawsuits. Tong seeks to recover past and future costs related to testing and monitoring of PFAS and remediation of harm to drinking water, soil, and wildlife, as well as civil penalties and compensation for all expenses paid by the state in responding to PFAS pollution.

Last November, a U.S. appeals court in Cincinnati dismissed a massive forever chemicals class action against multiple manufacturers that encompassed almost 12 million Ohio residents. The court found that the lead plaintiff filed too broad a complaint against the manufacturers and had not shown that PFAS that were found in his body could be traced directly to units of 3M, DuPont and other manufacturers.
Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler on Wednesday sent a letter to insurers urging them to consider loosening personal property claim filing requirements for victims of last summers Spokane County wildfires.

Insurance companies typically require policyholders to provide a full, itemized list of all personal property lost in the inciting incident to settle a claim. However, in his letter, Kreidler asked insurers to adjust those requirements and allow for the grouping of like items for consideration, such as listing six sweaters rather than an individual size and make for each shirt.

Unlike a normal house fire, a wildfire often completely consumes the residence and all it contains. This means people are unable to sort through the debris to find evidence of personal property loss and must rely on their memory to generate lists, Kreidler wrote. These wildfire victims have lost everything in their homes; an itemized list could easily be over 5,000 line items.

Kreidler also asked insurers to consider adopting the same procedure in Washington they use in neighboring states that have experienced devastating wildfire loss: provide people with a percentage of their policys total liability limits without requiring an itemized list of losses.

Kreidler suggested policyholders should get at least 70% of their homes personal property coverage, the same figure used in Oregon after a governors emergency declaration.

The Gray and Oregon Road fires destroyed more than 350 homes in the Spokane area in August, 2023. President Joe Biden signed a federal disaster declaration for the area in February, unlocking FEMA Individual Assistance funding for victims.
The toppled utility pole that Xcel Energy Inc. has been asked to preserve as potential evidence was inspected and marked with a do not climb symbol before the start of the worst wildfire in Texas history, photos seen by Bloomberg News show.

Photos shared by a landowner whose ranch burned in the blaze show a downed pole, wrapped in evidence tape, sporting a silver inspection tag and a red metal caution tag. The law firm that last week sent the letter to Xcel requesting it hold onto the pole said the tags mean it had been flagged as needing attention during an inspection earlier this year.

Representatives of Xcel and its pole-inspection contractor, Osmose Utilities Services, declined to comment. Xcel directed Bloomberg News to its earlier statement, which said it will continue to work in coordination with first responders and local officials to support the power needs of our communities.

Officials have yet to identify the cause of the blaze. In fact, it may be months or even years before investigators determine the culprit of the Smokehouse Creek Fire, which has burned more than 1 million acres and resulted in at least two deaths. Xcel owns Southwestern Public Service Co., the power company that operates in the area of the fires.

Xcel fell as much as 3.8% Wednesday before paring the losses. Shares have dropped about 16% since Feb. 28, the day the law firm sent the letter to Xcel. The company disclosed the letter in a filing the next day.

Across the US, utilities have been facing mounting pressure to better protect their equipment amid worsening and more frequent wildfires. Though fires can also be caused by human error, including dropped cigarettes or unattended campfires, or natural causes like lightning strikes, utility equipment has been under the spotlight in several recent investigations across the country.

Famed investor Warren Buffett  a long-time holder of utility companies  said in his annual investor letter that the sector no longer appears to be a safe investment due to losses incurred from more frequent fires. Buffetts PacifiCorp utility faces multi-billion-dollar wildfire claims.

Xcel already faces legal action in Colorado, where state officials concluded a massive 2021 fire was caused in part by a power line that snapped. Xcel has developed a comprehensive wildfire mitigation program in Colorado including increased inspections, pole repairs in high-risk areas and installation of weather-monitoring devices.

Mikal Watts, the plaintiffs lawyer in a complaint filed last week against Xcel and Osmose on behalf of a different person whose property was destroyed by the fire, said the pole in question was being excavated on Wednesday. Watts has represented numerous claimants in large wildfire settlements with other power companies, including Californias PG&E Corp., which was driven into bankruptcy in 2019 after its power lines set off some of the worst fires that state has ever seen.

Its not clear whether Xcel or its contractor were required to repair or replace the pole that the photos show was marked with the do not climb tag, or whether any such action needed to occur within a certain window of time.

Salem Abraham, president of Abraham Trading and the landowner who shared the tag photo, said the fire burned a ranch he owns near Canadian, Texas. Hes planning to join a lawsuit suing the companies.

The ranch will never be the same in my lifetime with the loss of thousands of 50- to 100-year-old trees, he said.

Copyright 2024 Bloomberg.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner speaks to the media during a press conference about the 250,000-plus cases that were suspended for lack of staffing at HPD Headquarters on Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

Some homicides are among the 264,000 Houston Police Department cases suspended since 2016 because authorities cited a lack of personnel, Chief Troy Finner said Thursday at the third news conference dedicated to an ongoing review.

The chief detailed the progress detectives were making in the review during a 40-minute news conference but provided few specific answers about the size and scope of the issues plaguing the department.

"I'm not comfortable speaking to that," Finner said of possible suspended homicide cases.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In the weeks since Finner first brought the public's attention to the growing review, he said detectives have reviewed more than 3,000 of the 4,017 reported sexual assaults and scheduled more than 130 interviews with potential victims, he said. The department doesn't have the capacity to review all 264,000 files, but investigators were prioritizing those with victims of violence, Finner said

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner speaks to the media during a press conference about the 250,000-plus cases that were suspended for lack of staffing at HPD Headquarters on Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

"I want the survivors to know that we're going to fix this," Finner said. "We've made a lot of progress in just a few weeks."

Finner on Feb. 22 announced the police department was investigating thousands of sexual assault reports suspended using the code, "Suspended  Lack of Personnel." He said he first learned about the code in 2021.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The next week, Finner announced the department's internal probe had grown to include hundreds of thousands of cases from other divisions, including property crimes and major assaults, which had also used the code to suspend investigations.

The police department assigned dozens of officers to review reports that had been suspended using the code. In the weeks since, the department has reviewed 3,010 incident reports related to alleged sexual assaults, including reaching out to people using their last known phone number or email, Finner said.

Hundreds of officers were also dispatched to the last known address of alleged victims, and at least one sexual assault victim that police were looking for had died by suicide, Finner said.

Mayor John Whitmire announced Wednesday that he was gathering an independent panel to review how and why the cases were suspended, and evaluate Finner's response. Whitmire said he planned to announce more details in coming days.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Finner said he supported Whitmire's review.

Last week, two police assistant chiefs were demoted in connection to the suspended cases. Finner declined to provide specifics but said he expected his orders to be followed.

"When I give a directive to senior leaders, I expect that to be followed," Finner said. "I do expect everybody to follow my directives."

He declined to comment on further disciplinary measures that might follow against other officers.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner speaks to the media during a press conference about the 250,000-plus cases that were suspended for lack of staffing at HPD Headquarters on Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

Finner said the case review has also been hamstrung by the department's records management system, which he described as a dinosaur and at the end of its life cycle that threatens to crash when they run reports.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Administrators with the department released a massive records request to the Chronicle after the news conference, detailing the 264,000 incident reports that comprise the ongoing review.

The data breaks down the reports case-by-case, with some appearing multiple times. More than 2,300 were listed as homicide investigations, but Shay Awosiyan, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department, cautioned that it doesnt mean 2,300 separate death investigations.

Assaults prior to 2018 might fall under homicide investigations, because assault detectives worked under that division until they formed their own in 2018, Awosiyan said.

Taking questions Thursday, Finner said the department was still grappling with what to glean from the data. He declined to provide specific answers to questions about how many homicides were cleared using the code, saying he was still working to learn specifics.

"You're going to be able to see for yourself, we have a number of incidents that are mislabeled and mistitled," Finner said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The data release includes 265,652 entries, though some case numbers are repeated multiple times. The most common suspended cases were "labeled terroristic threats by other means," which appears more than 39,000 times in the spreadsheet.

Finner said that while he believed the SL code shouldn't have been used, it wasn't the only issue causing incidents to go uninvestigated. He said the police department needs 2,000 more officers to patrol the city and properly investigate crimes, and noted that while the city's population has continued to grow, the police department's staff levels have shrunk.

As of April 2023, the department had 342 fewer full-time equivalent officers than it had 25 years ago, according to department data. The decrease coincided with a population surge in Houston, which drove the citys resident-to-officer ratio up from 334 residents per officer to 461 during the past quarter-century.

More than 90% of the police budget goes to staffing, covering roughly 5,200 officers, 880 civilian support personnel and 140 cadets. The allocation, however, has not adequately kept pace with the departments escalating demands, officials and experts said. Finner also added that the number of civilian employees in the department has been halved in the last decade, down to less than 900.

He declined to provide an exact number of investigators in the department compared to the number of officers in patrol, but acknowledged there are more patrol officers than detectives. There are shortages everywhere in the department, he said.
ROWAN COUNTY, North Carolina  A man who owns a Chick-fil-A franchise in southeast Ohio has been arrested after he reportedly drove to North Carolina in order to have sex with a 15-year-old child.

Stacy Lee Austin, 49, of Belmont, Ohio, is charged with statutory sex offense with a child, the Salisbury Post reports. He is being held in jail in Rowan County without bond.

Rowan County Sheriffs Office officials tell WBTV Channel 3 that deputies were called to a home on Tuesday for a report of a break-in. A person who lives in the residence tells deputies that when he got home, he found Austin in the home with his teen child.

The Queen City News reports that investigators say Austin had been communicating with the teen on social media and he had driven from Belmont to pick the child up. When he arrived at the home, he performed sexual acts with the teen, authorities say.

Austin reportedly admitted to performing sexual acts with the teen. A pair of his underwear and some of the teens clothing were found in a trash can in a bathroom in the home, reports say.

Austin told investigators he was concerned about losing his job as owner of a Chick-fil-A in Ohio, the Queen City News reports.

Chick-fil-A released a statement to the News, saying: We have a zero-tolerance policy for the type of serious conduct alleged. Stacy Austin is currently an independent franchise owner, but as the investigation and legal process continues, he will not be present in the restaurant.

Belmont is located in Belmont County, about 130 miles south of Cleveland.
Crackdown on telecom fraud bears fruit, says chief of top procuratorate

China Daily) 11:35, March 07, 2024

An integrated approach will be adopted combining measures to combat, prevent and control telecommunications fraud and related crimes and promote comprehensive governance of the telecom network, as the situation regarding such crimes remains complex, said China's procurator-general.

Ying Yong

"Telecom fraud has seriously infringed on the vital interests of the people and eroded the foundation of social integrity, and such crimes are deeply abhorred by the public," said Ying Yong, procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, in an exclusive interview with China Daily during the ongoing annual sessions of the nation's top legislative and political advisory bodies in Beijing.

Procuratorial authorities will thoroughly implement the instructions of the central authorities on cracking down on telecom fraud, strengthen cooperation with other departments, take an integrated approach and fully utilize the power of the rule of law to maintain stability, he said.

According to the top procuratorate, since 2023, procuratorial authorities nationwide have collaborated with public security organs and other departments to implement various measures to resolutely curb the frequent and severe trends of telecom fraud at the source in a systematic manner.

In 2023, a total of 51,000 individuals were prosecuted for telecom fraud, a year-on-year increase of 66.9 percent. The Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security also jointly dealt with five major transnational telecom fraud cases.

Crimes associated with telecom fraud were also severely punished, with the prosecution of 147,000 individuals involved in aiding information network criminal activities, marking a 13 percent year-on-year increase. About 75,000 people were prosecuted for concealing and disguising criminal proceeds and illegal gains via telecom networks, an increase of 106.9 percent year-on-year.

Ying emphasized the need to strengthen the governance of sectors closely related to telecom fraud, such as personal information protection. Telecom fraud often involves the infringement of citizens' personal information, seriously undermining the interests of the people.

Efforts have intensified to combat crimes involving the infringement of citizens' personal information, resulting in about 8,500 prosecutions last year.

Procuratorates also fulfilled their duties in public interest litigation, focusing on key areas such as personal information protection in key industries, SIM card and bank card management, and corporate anti-fraud obligations, and urged relevant departments and companies to strengthen supervision and protection.

According to the SPP, telecom fraud and related crimes are usually well-organized, and various forms of scams have proliferated in recent years, including click farming, fake shopping services, impersonation of e-commerce customer service and false credit reporting.

Criminals are also utilizing artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies to use "deepfakes" to perpetrate fraud, making their fraudulent activities even more covert.

In response to the new challenges in the battle against telecom fraud, Ying urged the procuratorial authorities to fully carry out their duties such as in approving arrests, prosecutions and supervising litigation, and further intensifying efforts to crack down on transnational telecom fraud.

It is necessary to strengthen the building of specialized teams, continuously improve the research and application of big data legal supervision models related to fraud, and persistently enhance the capability and level of legal supervision, he said.

Procuratorial authorities were also asked to strengthen their publicity work, using concrete examples to explain laws and providing preventive warnings, in order to enhance the public's anti-fraud awareness.

Ying said that procuratorates should integrate the work of asset recovery and mitigation of damages throughout the judicial process, fully leverage the system of leniency for pleading guilty and accepting punishments, and urge criminals to return stolen assets in order to minimize the economic losses suffered by victims.

According to the SPP's analysis, there are so-called "technology parks", "industrial parks" and "development zones" in some overseas locations that specifically provide venues for criminal activities such as telecom fraud. Criminal groups recruit individuals to participate in telecom fraud, tightly control these recruits and allow fraudsters to benefit from the proceeds of fraud through profit-sharing after successful scams.

Jointly fighting transnational telecom fraud has become an important consensus of the international community. As an important force in combating such crimes, Chinese procuratorates have carried out a series of measures, making China a global example in this field, Ying said.

He also called for greater global unity on combating telecom fraud and related crimes.

The SPP has strengthened pragmatic cooperation with the prosecution authorities of ASEAN countries in assisting in cross-border investigation and evidence collection, extraditing criminal suspects, exchanging intelligence and sharing information.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Police Chief Troy Finner speaks to the media at Houston police headquarters on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer

Last month, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner made a stunning revelation to the public. He said that since 2016, the department has closed out more than 264,000 criminal investigations using the code SL, which stands for Suspended  Lack of Personnel. Thats a massive number, making up around 10% of the total number of criminal cases filed to Houston police in that time frame.

The news has roiled the Houston Police Department and the city ever since it was first announced. Finner said he never authorized the creation of such a code and called it unacceptable.

Finner also indicated it might have an impact on the crime statistics that the city has reported in recent years, telling reporters last month that you wont hear me talking about clearance rates until we get handle on this.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Houston Mayor John Whitmire has appointed an independent panel to look into the matter, and Finner has also ordered an extensive internal investigation that will involve more than 100 department employees.

Its not clear how long those two investigations will take. In the meantime, heres what we know.

What does 'suspended for lack of personnel' mean, exactly?

Police can suspend a criminal investigation for all sorts of reasons, such as a lack of evidence or the victim withdrawing their complaint. In this case, the code SL indicates that they suspended those cases because the department didnt have enough staff to keep looking into them.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Who created the code allowing HPD to suspend cases for lack of personnel?

We dont know.

Finner has said he did not authorize its creation. Former HPD Chief Charles McClelland, who retired in February 2016, also told the Chronicle he was unaware of it and never allowed it. The other two police chiefs who have served Houston since 2016, Martha Montalvo and Art Acevedo, did not respond to requests for comment.

The Houston Chronicle obtained copies of an internal department manual that explicitly mentions using the code and was last updated in December 2023. HPD told the Chronicle that Finner himself didnt approve that manual, but assistant chiefs at the department would have had to sign off on such manuals whenever they are updated.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The assistant chief overseeing the major assaults and family violence unit at the time of the update is Kevin Deese. HPD demoted Deese, who also oversaw the special victims and property crime units, last week. The department also demoted Ernest Garcia, an assistant chief over organizational development command  a division responsible for recruiting, hiring and training officers and civilian employees.

Still, given that the code was used tens of thousands of times in the last eight years, its very unlikely Deese and Garcia would have been the only involved.

Who decides to suspend a case for lack of personnel, and how do they decide?

Its not entirely clear yet. According to internal policies for HPDs Major Assaults and Family Violence Division, the sergeant in the division can use the SL code if there are insufficient personnel to conduct an investigation for an alleged felony. It doesnt specify how such a determination was made.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The manual also appears to direct sergeants to suspend all misdemeanor cases in that division for lack of personnel unless the division is contacted by the complainant seeking to press charges.

READ MORE: The policy that caused this was renewed in 2023

That manual only applies to one division, though, and the Chronicle only obtained a portion of it. The rest is not publicly available. HPD declined to answer detailed questions about the manual or say whether other divisions were also told to use the SL code.

What kinds of criminal investigations were suspended?

Police have said the SL code was used in a wide variety of criminal cases. They said it was used in about 100,000 property crime investigations, which could include home burglaries as well as shoplifting. They located it at least 4,017 times when looking up cases closed in HPDs Special Victims Unit, which investigates child abuse and sexual assault.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

How is HPD going to address the problem?

Finner has assigned more than 130 HPD employees to comb through all the cases suspended under the SL code and reach out to victims. But it will be a monumental task.

Some cases might also be impossible to reopen due to the statute of limitations, the amount of time allowed to pass between an alleged crime and a prosecution. In most cases involving death, there is no statute of limitations, according to Murray Newman, president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association. For sexual assault cases, the limit varies, while most misdemeanors have a two-year statute of limitations.

As promised, we will do everything we can to reach everyone who filed an adult sex crime incident, Finner said.

On March 7, Finner said the case review had led police to schedule more than 130 interviews with people over suspended sexual assault cases. At least one person whose sexual assault case was suspended had died since the time they made their report, Finner said.

Finner said the department is also taking steps to remove the SL code from its record management system so it cannot be used in the future. But that cant happen until an ongoing shift to a new system is completed, he has said.

If I reported a crime to HPD since 2016, how can I find out if my case got an SL code?

We dont know yet. HPD has not provided any information about how crime victims can find out if their cases may have languished because it was suspended for lack of personnel.

Finner urged sex assault victims who changed their address or phone number since filing reports as far back as 2016 to contact investigators at specialvictimsreport@houstonpolice.org or call the special victims division, 713-308-1180.

The Houston Area Womens Center encouraged survivors to call the HAWC Sexual Assault Hotline or LiveChat, 713-528-7273. More information can be found at www.hawc.org.

How could this happen?

Thats the question.

Its not surprising that police dont have enough personnel to investigate every crime; as far back as 2014, the Chronicle reported, auditors found more than 21,000 crimes went uninvestigated in a single year due to lack of manpower.

But HPD says it wasnt until 2016 that the SL code was created to suspend cases.

How could the police department in Americas fourth-largest city suspend 10% of its criminal caseload in the last eight years, all without anyone in leadership knowing, or coming forward about the problem, until now?

Finner has declined to provide more details while the investigation is ongoing. He has said that he first learned about the SL code in 2021 and ordered employees to put a stop to it then. But HPD has not provided any documentation of such a directive back, and Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers Union, has said he has no memory of it.

Who is investigating how this happened?

The police department's internal affairs division is conducting an investigation into the code and who was responsible for its continued use and existence.

On March 13, Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced the creation of an independent review committee that he said would collect data about the "SL" code and validate the police department's internal investigation.

The committee is being led by former state Rep. Ellen Cohen, who is also a former city council member and former director of the Houston Area Women's Center. The committee also includes Texas Rangers Capt. Jeff Owles, Rev. T. Leon Preston II, pastor of Yale Street Baptist Church, Christina Nowak, the city's deputy inspector general of the Office of Policing Reform and Accountability, and City Attorney Arturo G. Michel.
Daylight saving time starts Sunday. richpav - Fotolia

As daylight saving time starts Sunday, Houstonians will lose an hour, adding more sunlight during the evenings.

But is it worth it? The Texas House of Representatives voted to stay on daylight saving time permanently, but a change in federal law would be required before the decision can move forward.

As the community prepares to lose some sleep to gain more sunshine, heres what to know about daylight saving time from March to November.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

What is daylight saving time?

Daylight saving time, or spring forward, is a concept credited to Benjamin Franklin of making the best use of daylight hours by shifting the clock forward in the spring and backward in the fall throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, according to NASA.

Scientifically, its based on the Earths tilted axis, which changes the amount of time we will see the sun.

The concept has been written into laws and changed throughout the decades, including a few states that dont participate in daylight saving time, such as Hawaii and Arizona. Some U.S. territories also dont participate, including American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, USA Today reported.

The start of daylight saving time is at 2 a.m. Sunday.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

TERMITE SEASON: Heres what to know to protect your home from the pests

How long is daylight saving time?

Daylight saving time always begins on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November. Anyone still awake during that time will see the 2 a.m. time change to 3 a.m.

Texas connection to daylight saving time and Energy Act laws

The practice of moving clocks back an hour in the winter and moving forward an hour in the spring has been ongoing since 1918 in the U.S. In 1966, Texas native President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act into law, which established the time zones and daylight saving.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

However, Baylor University graduate assistant Emma Fenske found letters to U.S. Rep. O.C. Fisher from citizens of the U.S. who didnt agree with the establishment of daylight savings in 1969  even emphasizing the dangers, tensions and difficulties the two time changes can cause.

The criticism didnt stop in the 1960s. U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards received letters of protest from constituents following the adoption of the Energy Act of 2005, which moved the start of daylight saving time to four weeks earlier. According to Fenskes blog, the letter to Edwards said the extension or support of daylight saving time could disrupt many lives for working people and children (who) rise very early to get to the bus, especially in rural communities.

Did Texas pass a law to stop participating in daylight saving time?

In April, the Texas House voted 138-4 to stay on daylight saving time permanently, but changes to federal law would require Congress to make it official. At least 19 states have enacted legislation that would end daylight saving time. The federal law would allow states to exempt themselves from participating in daylight saving time.

According to the Texas Tribune, even if the law is signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, the measure still would require an OK from Congress.
Design rendering of the Bellaire Market District. Courtesy/AMB Architects

Reality star Washington Ho's White|House Global Properties will soon start construction of a new shopping center in Houstons Little Saigon.

The Bellaire Market District, which will be located at 12925 Bellaire Boulevard, is expected to open in June 2025. It will have more than 20 retail spaces to fill with local, national and international brands.

But the new Little Saigon shopping center is just the beginning of Ho's plan to help modernize Chinatowns, Little Saigons and other cultural areas across the country.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

"You go to these cities and what you'll notice is Chinatown or the Little Saigon areas are always second- or third-generation parts of the town, where properties are a lot cheaper, outdated and old," said Ho, who starred on the HBO Max reality show "House of Ho." "Times have changed. It's 2024. We're not in the '90s anymore."

A national modernization plan wasn't the original goal for Ho and his partner Charlie Huynh from Huynh Investment Group. But as they were working on the Houston project, they realized other Asian multicultural areas across the country were also in need of modernization.

Ho said the company is looking to do the same thing in other areas, including San Jose and Orange County in California. They are also exploring areas in Arlington and Austin.

"Chinatown doesn't always have to be ancient and old," Ho said. "We want to be the innovators and we want the next generation to really enjoy these centers that we're doing with modern amenities."

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The Bellaire Market District will feature a main two-story retail space and two drive-thru locations. The retail space will be 50,000 square feet. He didnt give names but noted having discussions with companies based in New York, China and Malaysia, among other places, about becoming a tenant in the space.

The partners have more ideas for expanding their footprint in the area. Ho said they're in negotiations for another center on Bellaire Boulevard in hopes of bringing a Chinese supermarket chain to the location.

The groundbreaking ceremony for Bellaire Market District is set for 11 a.m. April 5.

There are also plans for a new television show that would include the development of the Bellaire Market District as a storyline, Ho said. He said they are currently casting and doing interviews and are in discussions with five networks.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Ho said working on this project, for Huynh and himself, is personal. Both are Houston natives of Vietnamese descent who want to improve an area of the city that has meant a lot to them and their families.
Attorney General Ken Paxton addresses the crowd during a rally in support of Republican District 21 candidate David Covey, who is headed for a runoff against Speaker of the House Dade Phelan after a tight primary race. Photo made Monday, Jan. 15, 2024 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise Kim Brent

Heres a fun quiz for the hundreds of thousands of Republican voters who ousted three incumbent judges on Texas' highest criminal court in Tuesdays primary: describe what this court does in one sentence.

We bet most couldnt tell you that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is the court of last resort for all criminal cases, a powerful body that often deals, literally, with matters of life or death, including reviewing every case that results in a death penalty.

But we bet plenty of these voters could tell you exactly what the ousted Republicans on the court failed to do: show absolute loyalty to Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

And theyd be right. Justices Sharon Keller, Barbara Hervey and Michelle Slaughter showed absolute loyalty to the Texas Constitution, instead, thinking, correctly, that its what members of an independent judiciary are sworn to do. But the Republican Party has changed. Following the rule of law isnt a virtue anymore when the law is in conflict with the desires of a powerful politician who has the backing of the Almighty Donald Trump.

EDITORIAL ENDORSEMENTS: 2024 Texas Primary Election

It didnt matter that the ousted justices were just doing their jobs when they ruled in an 8-1 decision in 2021 that the Texas Constitution doesnt allow Paxton or any Texas AG to prosecute voter fraud by himself. He could do it as much as he wanted as long as he worked with local district or county attorneys but he couldnt strike out on his own.

That got twisted by Paxton to suggest the justices were pro-election fraud or that they were RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) or that the justices (yes, even Slaughter whose judicial hero is Clarence Thomas) werent conservative enough.

Being conservative isnt the issue. They were plenty conservative. They just werent crooked. And thats what it takes these days  in some cases, not all  to stay safe as a Republican incumbent in state politics. If youre a judge, youve got to ignore the Constitution. If youre a House member, youve got to ignore mounting evidence of Paxtons corruption in an impeachment inquiry.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Some GOP incumbents, such as state Rep. Mano DeAyala, told us his integrity wouldnt let him look past the facts. He did the right thing. He voted for Paxtons impeachment. And somehow, despite Paxtons best efforts, DeAyala survived, beating his Paxton-backed challenger.

Most judges dont have the name ID of a popular state House incumbent. Theyre more vulnerable to Paxtons retribution. But what makes GOP primary voters so eager to enable that kind of vendetta? What makes good American voters who care enough about their country to go and vote look past Paxtons own horrific liabilities? He was long ago indicted, last year impeached by the Texas House, and remains under criminal investigation stemming from corruption allegations by his own former staff.

Simple: Trump.

He says grovel. And some Republicans say how low?

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Paxton has no low, as we know. Hes sunk to levels never seen in Texas politics, at least during our lifetimes. And hes taking this state  and some fine conservative elected officials  down with him.

To their credit, the three judges who lost their primaries Tuesday hadnt backed away from their decision in the voter fraud decision to win over partisan voters. Heres what Hervey told us in her endorsement screening last month when asked why the court ruled against Paxton.

I think its a simple matter, actually: because we read the Constitution to deny the attorney general that power, she said. That discretion belongs to the local prosecutors.

Imagine that  a party that once lionized conservative originalist judges such as Antonin Scalia is now tossing out judges for modeling his judicial philosophy.

It has long been true that voters pay little attention to down-ballot races. As such, voters who dont do their own research are stuck with the low-quality, incomplete or flat-out false information thrust in their faces by TV ads, social media and mailers. Paxton did his part, very publicly recruiting challengers and maneuvering behind the scenes to start a political action committee aimed at ousting Keller, Hervey and Slaughter. Then Trump dealt the death blow, endorsing all of their challengers exactly one week before the primary election.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

A straight-forward political hit job that would make John Gotti blush.

For Keller, at least, there were some mitigating circumstances. She was a weak candidate with a checkered ethical record facing off against David Schenck, a qualified former appellate court judge whom we endorsed in spite of Paxtons support because of his experience and the fact that he insisted the attorney general didnt recruit him. Hervey and Slaughters opponents, on the other hand, simply dont belong on the bench. Gina Parker, who ran against Hervey, is a civil and criminal lawyer from Waco and a Republican Party activist who currently owns a dental manufacturing company. Lee Finley, who challenged Slaughter, is a Marine Corps veteran and a criminal defense attorney from Collin County, Paxtons home turf.

Neither Parker nor Finley have any judicial experience to speak of. If they prevail in Novembers general election, they would be tasked with issuing final rulings on some of our states most sensitive criminal cases. If youre a Texan who claims to value the rule of law over a partys platform, that prospect should disturb you.

Sadly, Texas judiciary is not the only political arena where incumbents fell victim to a loyalty litmus test on Tuesday. Gov. Greg Abbott made no secret of his desire to push out the 21 Republican lawmakers who  wisely, we argued  sided with House Democrats and voted against his school voucher plan. As of Wednesday, eight of those 21 state reps were defeated, with four more headed for runoffs.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

House Speaker Dade Phelan, who made enemies of Abbott, Paxton and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is also headed toward a runoff against GOP activist David Covey. Paxton and Patrick, along with  surprise!  Trump, endorsed Covey, whose campaign coffers have been flooded by a slew of well-funded GOP donors eager to help sink Phelan. Apparently, Phelan, a House speaker who delivered major partisan victories banning abortion and allowing permitless carry of handguns, isnt Republican enough for many Republicans in his district.

Or, like we said earlier, hes not crooked enough. He didnt block Paxtons impeachment and he didnt ramrod through Abbotts voucher plans, which he knows many rural Republicans do not support. Thats leadership. Thats respecting what used to be called The Will of The House. And that, today, can be fatal in the Texas GOP.

If youre looking for a silver lining in the Texas GOP blood oath primary, look no further than Harris County, where several Republican incumbents who voted to impeach Paxton prevailed. Along with DeAyala, there were Reps. Briscoe Cain and Lacey Hull, who won their races easily against far more extreme primary opponents. In Plano, Republican state Rep. Jeff Leach, who gave one of the closing arguments in favor of impeaching Paxton, also handily defeated his opponent.

These results indicate there are still some voters who value integrity in their representatives, who dont view fealty as a requirement to serve in the state House. We implore the Republicans who despise the partys mafia-esque turn to make their voice heard this November. Cast ballots for Senate and House candidates who value political independence and wont simply rubber stamp Abbott and Patricks agenda. Seek out judicial candidates who cherish the Constitution and have a record to back it up. That might mean, in the case of the criminal high court races, either voting for the Democrat or leaving the race blank. But isnt that better than rewarding Paxtons corruption? Isnt that better than voting for a judge whose deliberations are constrained to the palm of Paxtons hand?


 
Shipping containers from China and other Asian countries are unloaded at the Port of Los Angeles as the trade war continues between China and the US, in Long Beach, California on September 14, 2019. -

WASHINGTON  Labor unions, domestic manufacturers, business associations and other interest organizations on Wednesday announced a bipartisan coalition to target an import loophole allowing billions of un-taxed goods into the U.S.

"The coalition we have assembled is a testament to the mounting pressure to close the de minimis loophole," Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said. The ranking member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade is working in conjunction with the new Coalition to Close the De Minimis Loophole.

The group will call attention to a so-called "de minimis" provision of Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which waives import tariffs for shipments with a fair retail value of less than $800.

"De minimis is not just a threat to American businesses and consumers, as if that weren't enough, but it is increasingly contributing to the fentanyl crisis ravaging our communities," Blumenauer added. "It is past time for Congress to act. We will not take 'no' for an answer."

The announcement comes only days after Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, released a statement denouncing an increase in de minimis imports during FY '23-'24, according to data received from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"According to CBP, more than 485 million de minimis shipments have already entered the United States in FY '24, on top of the 1.05 billion shipments that entered tax-free under de minimis rules in 2023, itself a shocking 53% increase from 2022," Gallagher said.

"No less than 94% of all import transactions now enter the U.S. through de minimis rules, accounting for 90% of all illegal narcotics, agricultural goods, and counterfeit seizures by customs," he added.

CBP said it processed over 1 billion de minimis shipments in FY '23, according to a report last modified on March 1. The agency has not responded to a request for comment from CNBC on FY '24 data.

The coalition is backing bipartisan legislation led by Blumenauer and cosponsored by Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., a member of the House CCP Committee; and Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to stop non-market economies  countries that misrepresent the fair value of their merchandise  from exploiting the loophole and to require CBP to collect more data on the shipments.

The bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee in June.

"Anytime we have a situation where we have imports that aren't paying tariffs, aren't paying any duties, and by the way, often come from countries that subsidize that production; this is a huge advantage, an unfair advantage, against American production and this must stop," Dunn told reporters during a Wednesday press conference.

Reps. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., and Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. are also working with the coalition.

A June House CCP Committee report tied Singapore-based online retailer Shein and Temu, which is owned by Chinese parent company PDD Holdings, to over 30% of de minimis imports shipped daily to the U.S. Shein filed in November to go public in the U.S., potentially expanding its reach into the Western market.

The company has been valued at over $66 billion according to a November report, while PDD reported third-quarter revenue of $9.44 billion that month.

Domestic competitors, meanwhile, are comparatively struggling under current import laws, according to Kim Glas, president and CEO of the National Council of Textile Organizations.

"Our industry has lost astonishingly 10 plants in five months as a result of the de minimis loophole," Glas told reporters. "De minimis is not just a textile issue, de minimis is a wildfire out of control, killing our manufacturing sector and jobs, destroying local communities and facilitating illegal, illicit and dangerous products into the U.S."

The coalition's other 24 members include the AFL-CIO, the Alliance for American Manufacturing and the Coalition for a Prosperous America.
Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife Tran (R) stand with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (2nd L) and his fiancee Jodie Haydon (L) during an official welcoming ceremony at Parliament House in Canberra on March 7, 2024.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday the country was raising ties with Vietnam to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership, with an annual dialogue on minerals amid a push to diversify supply chains away from China.

"Elevating our ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership today places Australia and Vietnam among each other's significant partners," Albanese told a news conference in Canberra.

The ties upgrade marks the latest success for Communist-ruled Vietnam's "bamboo diplomacy", after it boosted relations last year with the world's top powers as it tries to navigate rising global tensions.

"Mutual political trust between the two countries has been elevated, reaching the highest-ever level," the official Vietnam News Agency reported on Thursday.

The partnership will support expanded cooperation on a range of issues, including climate, environment and energy, defense and security, and economic engagement and education, a joint statement by the two countries said.

Albanese and Chinh on Thursday also witnessed the exchanges of 12 cooperation documents on areas including energy, minerals, agriculture, banking and finance, according to the Vietnamese government.

Australia is a major producer of critical minerals that are used in everything from smartphones to automobiles, while Vietnam has some of the largest untapped deposits in the world.

"An annual ministerial dialogue on energy and minerals will drive cooperation in our energy and resources sectors, including critical minerals supply chains," the statement said.
A Costco Wholesale warehouse sign is seen outside of a store in Silver Spring, Maryland, on August 5, 2023.

Costco on Thursday missed Wall Street's revenue expectations for its holiday quarter, despite reporting year-over-year sales growth and strong e-commerce gains.

Shares of the retailer fell about 4% in aftermarket trading. The company's stock had hit a 52-week high earlier in the day.

Here's what Costco reported for its fiscal second quarter of 2024 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: $3.92 vs. $3.62 expected

Revenue: $58.44 billion vs. $59.16 billion expected

In the three-month period that ended Feb. 18, Costco's net income rose to $1.74 billion, or $3.92 per share, compared with $1.47 billion, or $3.30 per share, a year earlier.

Costco's revenue for the quarter increased from $55.27 billion in the year-ago period.

Comparable sales for the company increased 5.6% year over year and 4.3% in the U.S. Excluding changes in gas prices and foreign currency, the metric increased 5.8% overall and 4.8% in the U.S.

Sales of food and sundries, a category that includes snack foods and beverages, were up by mid single digits in the quarter, CFO Richard Galanti said on the company's earnings call. Fresh foods were up high single digits and nonfoods were up mid single digits.

Ancillary businesses, which includes more service-related purchases like travel, were up by low single digits, he said. Costco's food court, pharmacy and optical centers were top performers in the quarter and gas was down low single digits as the price per gallon fell.

More shoppers came to Costco, and they spent more on their shopping trips during the quarter. Traffic increased 5.3% across the globe and 4.3% in the U.S., Galanti said on the earnings call. The average ticket increased in the U.S. and worldwide, he said.

Inflation was roughly flat year over year in the quarter, which allowed the retailer to reduce prices for some items, Galanti said. For example, he said, it's been able to cut the price of reading glasses from $18.99 to $16.99 and slash the price of a 48 count of Kirkland Signature batteries from $17.99 to $15.99. In the prior quarter, he said inflation was as much as 1% year over year.

Galanti said many new items in categories like sporting goods and lawn and garden will also have lower prices compared with a year ago because of falling freight and commodity costs.

Costco has 875 warehouses, including 603 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. It also has clubs in about a dozen other countries, including Canada, Mexico, Japan and China.

In the second quarter, Costco opened four new clubs, including three in the U.S. and one in Shenzhen, China. That marked its sixth club to open in China, Galanti said. Two of the three new U.S. locations were Costco Business Centers, which are specifically geared toward small business owners like restaurant operators.

As of Thursday's close, Costco shares have risen nearly 19% since the start of the year. The stock touched a 52-week high of $787.08 earlier in the day and closed at $785.59, bringing the company's market value to nearly $350 billion.
Campaign workers welcome voters as they arrive at the Rogers Park polling site on Super Tuesday. Photo made Tuesday, March 5, 2024 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise Kim Brent

On Super Tuesday, after nearly three years and several elections in which Ive screened candidates and made recommendations to voters, I finally stepped foot in a polling place. Not to vote. I still cant (and by the time I can apply for U.S. citizenship, we'll be halfway through another Trump or Biden presidency). Rather, I was there to observe.

Id heard of the primary voter caricature: the small but mighty number of left-wing wackos and far-right crazies who, fueled by misinformation, sensationalist campaign ads and social media conspiracies, play an outsized role in choosing each partys final candidates. They certainly exist, and, by the looks of the reasonable Republicans given the boot for failing to show absolute party loyalty, they clearly exerted their voting power. But at a sleepy location in the northern suburb of Spring, I didnt find the caricatures in MAGA hats that I expected. Instead, I came away inspired by the primary voters who, braving stifling heat and political disillusionment, still showed up.

Only 122 voters had trickled into the Zwink Elementary School polling location by the time I got there a little past lunchtime. Over the next couple of hours, I saw all kinds of voters enter the air-conditioned gym: old, young, women, men, white, Black, Hispanic, Asian, in a wheelchair. As someone who went to public school in Spring, I know its more ethnically and economically diverse than most people would imagine a suburb to be. But still, I was surprised at the variety of voters. Regina Cochran, the Democratic presiding judge on duty, told me this mix is an anomaly in north Houston, which tends to generally lean older, conservative and white.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Dressed in a black fishing shirt, sunglasses perched on top of his head, Raymond Marchese, 69, is the kind of voter people imagine when they think of Houstons northern suburbs. Hes a conservative who grew up in a Democratic household (though, he clarified, his parents views would be seen as Republican by todays standards). He voted in the Republican primary to keep leaders accountable for his taxpayer money.

The way the world is right now, we need to vote, he said in a quiet, measured tone. Not in the best interests of another country, but in our own best interests.

Edwin and Wanda Vazquez, a vibrant couple with Puerto Rican and Dominican roots who are both ex-military and staunch Democrats, agree that there are no excuses to not vote. Like Marchese, they participate in the primary and general elections every chance they get, and usually bring their two kids to watch.

Talking politics with their 11-year-old daughter, they said, has been revealing. Unlike her parents, she grew up in a comfortable upper-middle-class life, and it shows in her differing views.

Shes 11 but shes a libertarian, Edwin joked. We always remind her of where we came from, though, Wanda said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Veronica Johnson, an Aldine ISD employee, said shes a Democrat till the Lord calls me home. Her roots are what bring her time and again to the polls.

My ancestors fought for that right, she said. Its my duty.

Wearing a sharp blazer and oversized butterfly sunglasses, her braids twisted into a tall bun, she was the picture of nonchalance  quite different from my own flushed, sweaty face after hours spent talking to voters outside.

With a shrug of her shoulders she told me that Biden wont win and the economy will still be bad. It is what it is, she said. To her, God will still do his thing no matter whos in office.

But why vote in the primary and general elections if she thinks her voice wont make a difference?

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Well, I gotta vote if I wanna complain about the changes being made, she said.

Amen to that. Election runoffs are in May, and early voting begins May 20. Our editorial board will be updating our recommendations to help you make informed choices for the runoffs, so keep an eye out for that.

If regular primary voters in Texas have over five times the impact of those who only go to the polls for the general election, the people who show up to primary runoffs have a supersized impact because of the even smaller turnout.

Registered voters can vote in the runoff even if they didnt vote in the primary. So come as you are: eager, disenchanted or merely habit-bound. It doesnt matter. Show up and make your voice heard. Dont let others speak for you.
ILA International president Harold Daggett has said he wants a good economic deal for his members, which includes union opposition to port automation and exclusive port contracts for its members. During a speech before union members in July 2023, Daggett vowed the ILA would not take a back seat to anyone. "It's time for foreign companies like Maersk and MSC to realize that you need us as much as we need you," he said.

In July, the ILA leadership pointed to the Great Lakes District of the union, which secured a 40% increase in wages and benefits for its new six-year contract. No definitive salary increase target has been made by the ILA.

Port insiders believe the ILA is targeting an increase larger than the 32% that was negotiated by the ILWU in its new six-year contract . The ILA is also said to be looking to secure a generous bonus package.

One of the differences between the ILA and their West Coast brethren, the ILWU, is the ILA longshoremen receive royalties based on how much tonnage they process in a year at their port. This compensation model makes it in the best interest of the ILA workers not to have cargo diverted or their bonuses will decrease. On the West Coast, longshoremen accrue additional compensation based on man-hour assessments.

The current ILA contract has union members making a range of $20-$37 an hour. Depending on seniority, skill rate, hazard pay, overtime differential, plus tonnage bonus (which can be anywhere between $15,000-$20,000 a year), a longshoreman can make between $150,000-$250,000 annually.

During the West Coast International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) contract negotiations between 2022-2023, freight processing was stalled after a series of intentional labor slowdowns and walk-offs. At the ILWU Canadian West Coast Ports, a 13-day strike resulted in over $12 billion in trade stuck at sea and it took months for the back of containers to be cleared out.

All East Coast and Gulf Coast cargo is moved by the ILA, which hasn't gone on strike since 1977, when a work stoppage lasted 44 days.

The ILA's master contract with the United States Maritime Alliance  which represents terminal operators and ocean carriers  is set to expire Sept. 31, but May 17 is the cutoff date set by the union for the local contracts to be agreed to so an overall master contract can then be negotiated. Negotiations for the six-year contract officially began last month.

U.S. importers are meeting with ocean carriers this week kicking off their contract negotiations. Between March and April, one-year contracts are inked between U.S. importers and ocean carriers to get their best ocean freight rate.

Red Sea diversions and Panama Canal drought restrictions are already influencing ocean freight rate negotiations, and the coming deadlines for East Coast and Gulf Coast port labor talks have more shippers on edge. Cargo containers once bound for the East Coast are now beginning to head back to the West Coast to mitigate any service disruptions, a reversal of what occurred in 2022 and 2023, when East Coast ports made major gains in cargo volume due to both the massive vessel congestion and labor strife at ports up and down the West Coast.

The potential for a strike by the largest union of maritime workers in North America, the International Longshoremen's Association, is beginning to rise on the list of concerns among logistics decision-makers and advisors in a year already fraught with a multitude of trade uncertainties.

To thwart local union disputes, which massively slowed down the West Coast port negotiations and contributed to a 13-month delay, the ILA is tackling the local issues first before the master contract. So far, the ports of New York/New Jersey and Baltimore have reached tentative local agreements, according to the ILA.

"We are very pleased the ILA has returned back to the table for local bargaining," said Dave Adam, chairman and CEO of USMX. "75% of the contract negotiation workload is the local contract. We look forward to getting back to the table to discuss the Master contract issues."

A move of cargo back to the West Coast

But East Coast trade is flowing away from the ports in the meantime as a result of ongoing Panama Canal restrictions due to drought, the Red Sea diversions, and the threat of a strike.

Michael Aldwell, executive vice president for Kuehne + Nagel , says it is tracking a double-digit shift in cargo moving away from the East Coast and advising clients to have an established method of getting cargo into the U.S. in advance of a labor crisis.

"As a result of these uncertainties, our customers are telling us they need options, and they need options before it's a necessity to try and grab capacity," said Aldwell. "So we're counseling our customers, take the opportunity while there's no congestion, while there's no risk. And it is playing out already. Move some of your cargo so you establish a transload supply chain via the West Coast," which ultimately travels back by truck and rail to the East Coast and Gulf Coast.

Other logistics companies confirmed the trend.

"We are seeing a significant change back to the U.S. West Coast," said Paul Brashier, vice president of drayage and intermodal for ITS Logistics. "I would say 25% of our client's freight is coming back to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach."

The movement of trade away from the East Coast influences the volume of freight moving on the rails, with the extra containers a tailwind for Union Pacific and BNSF, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which previously saw a decrease in containers being moved.

Beth Whited, president of Union Pacific , said she thinks that the labor negotiations with the ILA could push freight back to the West Coast, and the Panama Canal could cause some trade to come out of the Gulf and be pushed back to the West Coast.

"Right now that is just fractional," said Whited. "But as the shipping community continues to make decisions about where they want their freight to land for their comfort and certainty of supply, we'll see how that works out ... we're going to be ready to handle it if that's what happens."

Mario Cordero, executive director of the Port of Long Beach, which recently reported its fifth consecutive month of freight volume increase, tells CNBC it is forecasting the annual volume trend to at least match and likely exceed the pre-Covid 2019 number of 6.3 million twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) container units.

"We are forecasting an escalation by the end of the year," said Cordero. "Just to put it into context, we moved 8.1 million [TEUs] last year. This year we believe we might get up to 8.4 million."

Preparing for labor strife, but a history of strikes averted

Charles Van der Steene, president of Maersk North America, told CNBC on the sidelines of the recent TPM Conference in California  where shippers and ocean carriers met and discussed their contracts  that all of this is factoring into peak contract negotiation season with customers.

"We see on an ongoing basis the question emerging as to what level should we be ready to potentially make decisions for different inland locations, for different routing of our cargo," said Van der Steene. "And how do we then prepare for that as part of the contract? So it's a part of the discussion, but at this stage, it's again not dissimilar from the same preparations that were had for the negotiations on the West Coast."

One of the strategies being suggested by logistics experts for their East Coast freight customers is to bring in containers for peak shipping season early, starting in June versus July.

"We're certainly having a lot of conversations with customers right now to make those decisions early, to, to maybe pull in a little more stock earlier in the summer," said Tim Robertson, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding Americas. "So you're not caught up in any potential disruption, and to get access to some of the West Coast routing. These are the discussions that we're having, right now, and I fully expect you're going to see many shippers start to move that way, I would say, in the coming months."

Lars Ostergaard, head of Americas liner operations at Maersk, says it is planning ahead itself and keeping a close eye on the negotiations.

"As of now, we're advising people to continue using the East Coast, said Ostergaard. "There could be issues when you get beyond October 1, but obviously no one at this point in time knows if that's the case. So what we are advising our clients to do is to think about potentially, if possible, to pre-move some cargo, particularly because you come into the holiday season at the back of the year, and that it would make sense to think about," he said. "Are there certain items that are critical for that season that perhaps, if possible, you should actually try and move before the end of September if possible?"

Ostergaard said customers are generally thinking about supply chains in a very different way than they did pre-pandemic, and are concerned about delays.

Mike Hatfield, senior manager of global logistics for packaging supplier Berlin Packaging, which imports glass bottles among other items, said the lessons learned during Covid enabled the company to quickly mitigate risk of a strike or slowdown.

"We learned we are not tied down to just going to the West Coast, East Coast, and support volume to other ports in the event the East Coast shuts down," said Hatfield. "We know we can go back into the West Coast rail product, truck product cross country, so it's just making sure that we have diversity within our supply chain, within our partners, within our contracts for multiple routings of similar lanes. A little bit of redundancy can go a long way."

D'Andrae Larry, head of intermodal for Uber Freight, tells CNBC that more customers are coming to him saying they want to plan for the "what if."

"We've learned that optionality is the order of tomorrow," he said.

Cargo owners at TPM indicated a need for more data and the ability to start plugging that into predictive analytics, according to Chris Rogers, head of supply chain for S&P Global.

"We know what a disrupted system looks like," said Rogers. "We've seen behaviorally what happened during the pandemic and how the ports kind of hit capacity, particularly here on the West Coast. I think one of the other challenges with the labor situation is we're also running into the elections. And so this whole thing around labor becoming very politicized."

That's a global phenomenon, Rogers said. "We are also seeing protests in lots of different countries linked to politics that have an impact on logistics networks. Fingers crossed, cooler minds will prevail and we'll get a solution well ahead of time. It's in no one's interest to disrupt shipping during peak season, but we've got a little way to go before we get there," he added.

So far, labor talks are progressing at the local level, says Daniel Walsh, CEO of TRAC Intermodal, North America's leading marine chassis pool manager and equipment provider, and the parties are talking.

"I think that if you look at the history, there seems to be a shared understanding that a strike is not really in anyone's interest, and it's best to avoid that if possible," said Walsh. "They're working pretty, pretty aggressively towards that sort of a conclusion. Hopefully, they can be able to manage it."

Lars Jensen, CEO of Vespucci Maritime, said he is hopeful that history will repeat itself in this case. ILA negotiations in the past have not led to many major disruptions and he anticipates no major changes to the normal pattern of West Coast trade. "The risk [of a strike] is, of course, always there. But historically there has been more success in those negotiations than what you've seen with the ILWU on the West Coast. Peak season might start slightly earlier. Again, people might be concerned about the stability of the supply chains," he said.
Mike Wirth, CEO of Chevron and John Hess, CEO of Hess, appear on CNBC to speak about Chevron's deal to buy Hess Corp for $53 billion all-stock deal, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, October 23, 2023.

Hess Corp. is reviewing the timeline for when its merger with Chevron will close after Exxon Mobil this week escalated a dispute over lucrative oil assets in Guyana.

Exxon filed for arbitration Wednesday to defend what the oil major views as its right to make a counter offer for Hess' Guyana assets under a joint operating agreement.

"We disagree with ExxonMobil's interpretation of the agreement and are confident that our position will prevail in arbitration," Hess told employees in an email Wednesday.

"In light of today's development, we are reviewing the expected timeline for legal closing and will provide further detail in our next merger update," Hess wrote.

Chevron entered an agreement in October to purchase Hess for $53 billion, in a play to gain a foothold in Guyana's massive offshore oil resources. The deal was originally slated to close in the first half of 2024, but the timeline has since been delayed until the middle of the year as the Federal Trade Commission scrutinizes the deal.

Chevron has said arbitration over Hess' Guyana assets could delay the closing timeline until October 2025, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Hess is part of a consortium with Exxon and China National Offshore Oil Corporation that operates the Stabroek oil block, a massive offshore resource with an estimated 11 billion barrels of oil and gas.

Hess has a 30% stake in the Stabroek block. Exxon leads the project with a 45% stake while CNOOC maintains 25% stake.

Chevron warned investors in a filing last week that the deal with Hess would terminate if an arbitration court rules that Exxon has a right of first refusal. If that scenario played out, Hess would continue to operate as an independent company and retain its stake in the Guyana assets, according to Chevron's filing.

Chevron has maintained that the joint operating agreement does not apply to its merger with Hess.

Exxon Senior Vice President Neil Chapman said Wednesday that the oil major is "extremely confident in our position that pre-emption rights exist in this contract." Arbitration disputes can take up to six months to resolve, Chapman said.

Chapman indicated that Exxon could make a bid for Hess' stake in the Stabroek block.

"We believe there is opportunity value here, there is option value here," Chapman said during an interview at a Morgan Stanley event. "If that transaction does not proceed, there is potential value down the road for Exxon Mobil  that option value is really, really important."

"It would be incomprehensible for us to say 'well we're not going to look at that value, we're just going to let the transaction proceed,'" Chapman said. "You have a responsibility to shareholders."

Hess said in the Wednesday email that "there is no possible scenario in which Exxon or CNOOC could acquire Hess' interest in Guyana as a result of the Chevron-Hess transaction."
CNBC's Investing in Space newsletter offers a view into the business of space exploration and privatization, delivered straight to your inbox. CNBC's Michael Sheetz reports and curates the latest news, investor updates and exclusive interviews on the most important companies reaching new heights. Sign up to receive future editions.

Satellite companies providing internet service to commercial airlines is one of the most mish-mashed sub-sectors of the space industry that I've come across over the years.

But despite its web of partnerships and providers, in-flight connectivity (or IFC) is an increasingly valuable slice of the growing satellite communications pie  with estimates calling for IFC revenue to effectively double to over $3 billion a year in less than a decade.

And U.S. airlines have been heavily investing in satellite-based Wi-Fi: Delta last year started offering it for free to frequent fliers, JetBlue's long offered it for free, and Spirit Airlines finished its Wi-Fi rollout in 2022. My desk neighbor and CNBC's inimitable airline reporter Leslie Josephs, who kindly chipped in to this newsletter with her beat's side of the story, recently paid $19.99 for Wi-Fi on a cross-country Spirit flight  service she noted was fast enough for an hour-long video call.

The last couple years have seen a flurry of IFC deals announced by airlines and satellite operators alike. Taking a quick look at the world's largest commercial aircraft fleets, and cross-checking that against which satellites those airlines rely on, you find that Intelsat and Viasat largely dominate in deals with the top 25 or so global airlines, which together have over 7,000 planes.

Adding high-speed Wi-Fi to planes, especially for U.S. carriers, is a time-intensive process that requires FAA certificates for each type of aircraft before the terminals can get installed onboard. That's part of where the IFC market-share messiness comes from, as deals are usually structured around installing the service on a set number of an airline's existing or ordered aircraft types.

Take United Airlines for example: Viasat provides service to United's many Boeing 737 aircraft over North America and Europe, while Intelsat (having acquired Gogo's commercial aviation business) provides service to United's smaller Embraer regional jets over much of North America.

But the rowdy new kid on the block, SpaceX's Starlink, is starting to chip away at the IFC market. It's begun rolling out service to Hawaiian Airlines, which didn't previously have Wi-Fi on its planes. Last year Starlink also announced a deal with Qatar Airways, which had previous deals with Viasat. Starlink is taking Viasat's spot on "the entire Qatar Airways fleet," which currently represents some 228 planes.

Starlink continues to elbow its way into more industry verticals. At the same time, adoption of satellite IFC services continues to grow. (Viasat just struck a deal with Icelandair this week.)

As is typical with corporate sales, the financial value of these deals is often not disclosed. But perhaps more important these days, as airlines trip over each other to buy more planes and add Wi-Fi, is the length of those agreements. As evidenced by Qatar Airways, and the mosh pit of the IFC sector's service arrangements, the frothiness of this marketplace may just be getting underway.
Arizona Republican Senate Candidate Kari Lake speaks with reporters after leaving the office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Capitol Hill on March, 6 2024 in Washington, DC.

Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake has been quietly meeting with lobbyists and raising money in Washington in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. Lake has built her political brand around her willingness to buck the D.C. establishment wing of the GOP.

On Tuesday, Lake met with about a dozen lobbyists in the nation's capital, and the following day she attended a campaign fundraiser that was heavy with D.C. hired guns.

Lake also met separately with a top GOP lobbyist recently to strategize how to get her in front of even more industry players, according to sources familiar with the meeting. Like others in this story, they were granted anonymity to describe private events.

The Arizona Senate race is poised to be one of the most competitive and high profile contests in the nation this fall. President Joe Biden won the state by a mere 10,000 votes in 2020, less than half a percent.

Arizona's late primary date -- July 30 -- means the Senate race will also likely be one of the most expensive in the country, as large fields of candidates on both sides spend the next five months raising money to duke it out for the nomination.

Lake's whirlwind D.C. schedule marks a significant departure from her message to voters in January. "I don't give a damn what the lobbyists think," Lake wrote in a tweet on X.

"I don't care how much they vilify me in the media. I don't want a seat at the table with the political elites. I care about kitchen table issues," she wrote.

Now, it appears a candidate who built her career around the idea of being an anti-establishment culture warrior is evolving into one who is ready to partner with the forces that wield real power on Capitol Hill.

In the hours before her Wednesday fundraiser, Lake met with the most powerful Republican in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. As recently as August of last year, Lake tore into McConnell, questioning his health and his ability to lead the party.

Guests at the Wednesday fundraiser included a lobbyist for tech giant Microsoft and another who works for the American Bankers Association, according to a source who was at the event. Other guests included over a dozen senators, according to an invitation obtained by CNBC.

The evening was a success, raising $330,000 for the Kari Lake Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee that benefits her campaign, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and a third Lake leadership PAC called Keep America Red Indefinitely, or KARI.
Whether or not you get hired by billionaire Mark Cuban comes down to two qualities: culture and competency.

They're the "two things that matter the most," Cuban said during a MasterClass course released last month. "Are they competent enough to do the job? And do they fit in the culture of the organization? If they fail on either one, you're going to be in trouble."

Culture is more important than raw talent, Cuban said. Most of the workforce agrees: 56% of workers rank a strong workplace culture as more important than salary, with more than 75% of employees saying they'd consider a company's culture before applying for a job there, according to a 2019 Glassdoor survey of more than 5,000 adults in the U.S., the U.K., France and Germany.

Young millennials and Gen Zers consider company culture a particular priority, the Glassdoor report noted  meaning Cuban's observation many prove more true over time, as those workers increasingly rise through the ranks.

Cuban does value employees who complete tasks correctly and efficiently  that's the competency part. But searching for the perfect worker to fix your company's problems, a "home run hire," without properly vetting their cultural fit is "probably the biggest mistake I've seen my portfolio companies [make]," he said.

To find employees who check both boxes, Cuban said he asks specific job interview questions like:

What's one thing you've failed at and one thing you've succeeded at?

Tell me about a time you took a chance at work.

Why did you leave your last job?

What's the best culture of a company that you've ever worked in?

of a company that you've ever worked in? Who's the best manager you've ever worked for?

"I want to get them talking about their positive or negative experiences, so I can understand whether or not they're going to be a fit," he said.

For Cuban, the right fit doesn't mean a carbon copy of himself: He looks for employees and partners who "complement" his skill set, but are unafraid to speak up when they disagree with him, he noted.

"I think one of the biggest problems an entrepreneur [or] CEO can make is they hire people who are like them," Cuban said. "You don't need to hire people like you. You've got you."

"I don't need people to tell me yes," he added. "I can tell myself yes ... I need people who are going to challenge conventional wisdom and challenge me, and when they think I've done something wrong, say, 'I think you think you're making a mistake here, and this is why.'"

Want to land your dream job in 2024? Take CNBC's new online course How to Ace Your Job Interview to learn what hiring managers are really looking for, body language techniques, what to say and not to say, and the best way to talk about pay. CNBC Make It readers can save 25% with discount code 25OFF.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It's newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in 2019. Mark Kauzlarich | Reuters

BEIJING  China's top diplomat slammed the U.S. for worsening bilateral tensions, while reiterating Beijing's support for peaceful resolutions to the Middle East and Russia-Ukraine conflicts. "There is some progress in the China-U.S. bilateral relationship, but we have to point out that U.S. continues to persist with a wrong understanding of China and it has not fulfilled the promises it has made," Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters on Thursday, according to a CNBC translation of his comments in Mandarin. Wang's comments came as the U.S. Senate's homeland security committee voted Wednesday to move a bill that could limit U.S. market access for Chinese biotech firms. A member of President Joe Biden's administration also warned Wednesday that China could flood the U.S. electric-vehicle market with low-cost offerings. Biden has also doubled down on restricting Beijing's access to advanced semiconductor technology, putting a strain on U.S.-China relations that were expected to improve after Biden and President Xi Jinping met in San Francisco in November.

watch now

Relations between the world's two largest economies have been characterized by their competing interests, and contrasting geopolitical positions on the Middle East and the South China Sea. Wang said the U.S. has been devising "new ways to suppress China," saying U.S. accusations against China had reached an "unbelievable degree." While he said he sees a way forward for both countries, Wang said communication between both countries may only continue by respecting and recognizing differences. "The U.S. says one thing but does another, where is the trust for large countries?" said Wang, speaking on the sidelines of the country's annual parliamentary meetings. "If it persistently monopolizes the high end of the value chain, and keeps China at the low end, where is fairness and competition?" he added. China's top economic objective this year is to "modernize the industrial system and developing new quality productive forces at a faster pace"  underscoring the heavy emphasis on strengthening Beijing's industrial prowess as a longer-term growth driver.

Global conflicts

Wang is also director of the office for foreign affairs within the Communist Party of China's central commission, making him the country's most senior diplomat. After the unexplained dismissal of Qin Gang as foreign minister in July last year, Wang reassumed the role. Qin had presided over the foreign minister's press conference at last year's parliamentary meeting, but disappeared from public view within months and hasn't been seen since. Prior to reassuming the position, Wang held the foreign minister role for two terms. He has been involved with high-level U.S.-China meetings for more than a decade. Wang did not take any questions on Qin's disappearance at his press briefing.

In his press briefing though, Wang also called for a peaceful resolutions to the Middle East and Russia-Ukraine conflicts. He repeated China's calls for the resumption of Israel-Hamas peace talks and the release of all detainees, while reiterating Beijing's support for a Palestinian state. "Palestine has a right to exist in this world ... all detainees should be released and all acts of killing should stop," Wang said. "China fully supports Palestine becoming a full member of the United Nations." Experts have said that the absence of Palestinian statehood is the key reason why the Middle East conflict has not been resolved for decades. The U.S. in the past has vetoed resolutions aimed at recognizing a Palestinian state at the U.N. Security Council, arguing it is something to be settled with Israel directly. On the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Wang said misunderstandings and misjudgments will multiply without peace talks. He said Beijing supports a fair discussion or a solution for peace that is recognized by both sides. Russia is one of President Xi's most reliable global ally. China is willing to work with other countries to promote multi-polar economic globalization, Wang said.

Taiwan and the South China Sea

On Taiwan, Wang said it's inevitable that the self-governing island will "peacefully reunite" with the mainland  using the phrase that was dropped from this year's China government work report. "Taiwan's elections are merely a local election in China," he said. He added pro-Taiwan independence forces are the biggest factors undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits. Wang said those who support Taiwan's independence will be "burned down to the bones." Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party won an unprecedented third-straight presidential term at elections in January, as incoming leader Lai Ching-te pledged to stay open-minded about his approach toward governance, while committing to forging consensus in a split legislature.
Novo Nordisk shares climbed 8% on Thursday, hitting a fresh record high after the Danish pharmaceutical giant reported positive early trial data for a new experimental weight loss drug.

The company told an investor meeting that the Phase I trial of its highly-anticipated obesity drug amycretin showed a 13.1% weight loss in participants after 12 weeks, according to Reuters. This reading eclipses the 6% loss recorded after a 12-week trial for the company's wildly popular obesity drug Wegovy.

A Phase II trial will begin in the second half of this year, with results expected in early 2026, the company said.

Shares of Novo Nordisk, Europe's largest company by market cap, have gained more than 27% since the turn of the year as the pharmaceuticals giant continues to reap the benefits of rampant demand for its flagship Wegovy and Ozempic anti-obesity drugs.
Austrian real estate, media and retail investor and founder of Signa Holding Rene Benko is seen prior to the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull race track in Spielberg, Austria on July 2, 2023.

Rene Benko, the fallen property tycoon whose Signa empire toppled in a series of high-profile insolvencies, has filed for insolvency himself at an Austrian court, a court spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday.

Benko lodged his application for sole trader insolvency with a regional court in Innsbruck, the spokesperson said, confirming a report in Austria's APA news agency.

This would allow Benko to apply for reorganisation proceedings, unlike filing for personal bankruptcy.

The Austrian entrepreneur  owner of New York's Chrysler Building and Britain's Selfridges department store  has been a major figure in Europe's property industry for more than two decades.

In November, Signa Holding, the real estate empire founded by Benko, declared insolvency, followed by other parts of the business, in the biggest casualty so far of the woes afflicting Europe's property sector.

The office of Austria's financial procurator, which acts as an attorney for the state, filed insolvency proceedings against Benko as an individual entrepreneur in January, citing two million euros ($2.18 million) in unpaid taxes.
Space company Astra will go private in a cut-rate deal with its founders after a dismal run as a publicly-traded stock.

Astra co-founders Chris Kemp and Adam London  CEO and CTO, respectively  signed an agreement with the company's board to acquire all outstanding common stock at 50 cents a share. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

A special committee of the board, with Kemp and London abstaining, voted in favor of the take-private plan. After the founders last month cut their offer from $1.50 a share to 50 cents, the board's committee emphasized it believed the deal was "the only alternative" to filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Astra's stock, halted at 85 cents a share near the time of the announcement, closed at 58 cents a share Thursday.

The company's market value is about $13 million at current levels, a sliver of the $2.6 billion equity valuation it went public at via a SPAC three years ago.

The San Francisco-area company, incorporated in 2016, once aimed to mass produce small rockets and conduct launches as often as daily.

Since its stock debut, Astra's rockets reached orbit twice  but the company also suffered three launch failures.
A JAS 39 Gripen C/D fighter aircraft takes off from Lulea-Kallax Airport, Sweden on March 4, 2024 during the NATO Nordic Response 24 military exercise, a Norwegian national exercise carried out in northern Sweden, Norway and Finland with associated airspace and waters.

Sweden officially joined NATO as its 32nd member on Thursday, almost two years after first applying to the military alliance.

Earlier on Thursday, the Swedish government said in a statement it was holding an extraordinary meeting to vote on joining NATO after all current members had approved its accession to the military alliance.

The news was then confirmed later Thursday with a statement from NATO, with Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg saying the country was "taking its rightful place at our table."

"Sweden's accession makes NATO stronger, Sweden safer, and the whole Alliance more secure. I look forward to raising their flag at NATO HQ on Monday," he added.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson traveled to Washington, D.C., this week to hand over the final documents. The country first applied to join NATO in May 2022, not long after Russia's war on Ukraine began. This marked a significant change in Sweden's previous policy of military nonalignment which stretches back to the Napoleonic wars.
David Covey greets Shilo Platts during an election night watch party at Palms Event Center. Photo made Tuesday, March 5, 2024 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise Kim Brent David Covey greets a young supporter during his election night watch party at Palms Event Center. Photo made Tuesday, March 5, 2024 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise Kim Brent

David Covey is forcing GOP Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan into a runoff election in his Southeast Texas district  a stunning upset that puts the future of the lower chamber in question.

Covey, a self-proclaimed political outsider who has been running to Phelans right, came out on top of a heavily funded and closely watched three-person race with about 46% of the vote. Phelan trailed in second at roughly 43%, and hairdresser Alicia Davis pulled in 10%.

READ MORE: House Speaker Dade Phelan headed to runoff after leading Ken Paxton impeachment push

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Heres what you should know about Covey and his race:

Who is David Covey?

Covey is an oil and gas consultant from Orange County. He is also a conservative activist and has served as chair of the county Republican Party, according to his campaign website.

Covey touts himself as a conservative warrior and promises not to give Democrats any ground if elected to the Texas House.

He has two sons with his wife, Esther.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

What does his platform include?

Covey lists nine priorities on his campaign website, starting with a crackdown at the Mexican border. He pledges to file a bill on the first day of the 2025 legislative session to declare an invasion of our state and authorize DPS to repel invaders at the border, echoing language used by other Republicans that critics decry as racist and dangerous.

Covey also supports private school vouchers and strict abortion bans. He would like to eliminate property taxes in favor of a higher sales tax and increase criminal and civil penalties for voter fraud. Hes also promised to back legislation that would allow Texans to vote on whether to secede from the U.S.

Who is supporting David Covey?

Covey has some major names backing his run for the Texas House, including former President Donald Trump, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Paxton has waged a personal war against Phelan, who led the lower chamber when an overwhelming majority of members voted to impeach the attorney general on corruption charges last May. And Patrick is no fan of the two-term House speaker, with whom he has sparred often in recent months.

Covey also has received a majority of his campaign funds from groups bankrolled by far-right West Texas oil tycoons Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks.

Gov. Greg Abbott hasnt gotten involved in this race, though hes weighed in on other Texas House contests across the state in favor of candidates who support his priority school voucher plan.

What happens in the runoff?

Covey and Phelan now have another two months to campaign in their district, which includes all of Jasper and Orange counties and part of Jefferson County. Expect a bitter and expensive race leading up to the May 28 runoff.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Whoever wins the runoff will be the next representative for House District 21, since there are no Democratic candidates for the heavily Republican seat. If Covey wins, itll mark the first time a Texas House speaker has lost reelection since 1972, and his victory would set off a scramble for the gavel within the House Republican Caucus.
Shares of Teleperformance plunged 23% on Thursday, after the French call center and office services group missed its full-year revenue target and flagged a "volatile economic environment."

Investors have been spooked by the potential impact of artificial intelligence on its business model, as companies become more able to tap into the technology directly for their own benefit.

Teleperformance shares dropped 16% last week, according to LSEG data, after Swedish financial services company Klarna said its Open AI-powered customer service assistant was handling two-thirds of customer service calls.

But Teleperformance CEO Daniel Julien on Thursday said that AI would be a positive for its business model  and that it will never fully replace the value of human interaction.

"AI is part of the solutions we provide to the clients," Julien told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe."

"AI helps to increase the accuracy of our employees ... which is great, but at the end of the day we are here to reduce the friction between the citizens, or the customer, and the companies they have bought a product and service from."

He stressed, "It's not just a transactional relationship, it has a lot to do with reassuring, with trust, with empathy. So we perceive AI as enhancing the job that our human employees do, but absolutely not replacing them."
A screen capture from a video shows the Indian navy responds to a maritime incident in the Gulf of Aden and rescues 21 people at Red Sea on March 7, 2024. According to an official statement by the navy, Barbados-flagged Bulk Carrier MV True Confidence was reportedly 'hit by a drone/missile' in the south-west of Aden on Wednesday, resulting in fire onboard and critical injuries to some of the crew members forcing the crew to abandon the ship. Indian Navy | Anadolu | Getty Images

Three people were killed in a Houthi attack against a civilian merchant ship, U.S. authorities said, marking the first lives claimed since the Iran-backed militant group began targeting the Red Sea shipping route at the end of last year. The U.S. Central Command said late Wednesday night that Houthi forces struck the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday with an anti-ship ballistic missile, leading to several fatalities. "The missile struck the vessel, and the multinational crew reports three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition, and significant damage to the ship," Centcom said. "The crew abandoned the ship and coalition warships responded and are assessing the situation."

A screen capture from a video shows the Indian navy responds to a maritime incident in the Gulf of Aden and rescues 21 people at Red Sea on March 7, 2024. Indian Navy | Anadolu | Getty Images

The Philippines Department of Migrant Workers identified two of the seafarers killed and two of the crew members injured in the incident as Filipino in a social media post early Thursday. "With great sadness, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) confirms the deaths of two Filipino seafarers in the most recent attack by Houthi rebels on ships plying the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden," it said, withholding their names and identities. "We are also informed that two other Filipino crewmen were severely injured in the attack on their ship." The vessel "suffered damage" in a Houthi altercation on Wednesday, 54 nautical miles southwest of Aden, after being hailed by an entity declaring itself as the "Yemeni Navy" for 30 minutes and ordered to alter course, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations. The ship was not identified by name at the time. The Houthis have claimed the attack.

TV broadcast speech of Yemen's Houthi Spokesperson Yahya Sare'e, on March 4, 2024, in Sana'a, Yemen. Mohammed Hamoud | Getty Images News | Getty Images

"The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a targeting operation against the American ship (TRUE CONFIDENCE) in the Gulf of Aden, with a number of appropriate naval missiles. The strike was accurate, led to a fire breaking out on it," Houthi Spokesperson Yahya Sare'e said on the X social media platform, adding that the vessel had rejected Houthi warning messages. "All crews of the targeted ships must quickly leave after the first attack," he said. CNBC has reached out to the ship's operator, Third January Maritime. This is the first fatal Houthi attack since the group started maritime offensives against vessels transiting through the key Red Sea route that accounts for 12% of global traffic. The Houthis claim solidarity with Palestinian civilians at risk in Israel's military campaign against Iran-backed militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

A screen capture from a video shows the Indian navy responds to a maritime incident in the Gulf of Aden and rescues 21 people at Red Sea on March 7, 2024. Indian Navy | Anadolu | Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump attends a Nevada caucus night party at Treasure Island Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. February 8, 2024.

A British judge ordered former President Donald Trump to pay legal fees of $382,000 to a company he unsuccessfully sued in London over the infamous "Steele Dossier" that came to light after his 2016 election.

The order, reported by multiple news outlets, came after the judge last month dismissed Trump's suit against Orbis Business Intelligence, a firm founded by former British spy Christopher Steele, saying the complaint was "bound to fail."

The amount of money that Trump owes Orbis for legal fees could grow even higher.

A specialist judge will later determine the total costs in the case that Trump must pay for the failed suit, which he filed in September. Orbis has asked for around $760,000.

A lawyer for Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee for president, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the legal fees order.

Steele was the author of a series of memos about Trump's relationship with Russia, assembled as he sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

The memos, among other things, contained allegations that Trump had participated in sex parties in Russia.

Trump strongly denied those and other allegations in the Steele Dossier, which was prepared at the request of a company called Fusion GPS for opposition research.

The dossier was later leaked to the media outlet BuzzFeed, which published it in early January 2017, shortly before Trump was inaugurated as president.
European Union leaders sharply criticized a deadly Russian attack on Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa on Wednesday. The attack, which reportedly killed five people, came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the same city.

"No one is intimidated by this new attempt at terror - certainly not the two leaders on the ground nor the brave people of Ukraine," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday via social media site X.

Russia said it targeted a hangar in Odesa where it said Ukrainian forces were preparing naval drones for operations.
The logos of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft displayed on a mobile phone with an EU flag pictured in the background. Justin Tallis | AFP via Getty Images

An EU law that seeks to rein in large digital companies has officially kicked in, spelling big changes for primarily U.S. tech giants. The European Union's landmark Digital Markets Act officially became enforceable on Thursday. That means the European Commission, the EU executive arm, can start taking action against companies that breach the rules. The Digital Markets Act aims to clamp down on anti-competitive practices from tech players, as well as force them to open out some of their services to other competitors. Smaller internet firms and other businesses have complained about being hurt by the practices of these companies. Bill Echikson, a non-resident senior follow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), said that the EU reforms mean that technology giants will graduate from "teenagers" to "grown-ups" now. "There's a lot of changes that could or could not happen. A lot of it is uncertain," Echikson said. But, he added, the new law could inspire change in other countries, like the U.S. and the U.K. and ultimately force tech firms into global tweaks to their platforms. CNBC runs through how the law impacts large U.S. tech companies  as well as consumers in the EU.

What does it mean for Big Tech?

The EU Digital Markets Act primarily impacts U.S. tech giants  the likes of Alphabet , Amazon , Apple , and Meta . That's because the rules impose strict curbs for so-called "gatekeepers"  firms with an entrenched position in their respective market, with a market capitalization of at least 75 billion euros ($81.7 billion) and with a platform with 45 million monthly active end users in the EU. That makes U.S. tech giants a key target. So far, six firms have been designated gatekeepers: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and China's ByteDance  the sole non-U.S. firm on the list. These companies are required to adjust their platforms to make competition healthier in the bloc. For example, they must ensure they're not giving their services preference over rivals on their own platforms. Google, for instance, can't force users to select its own search engine on Android phones when they set up their devices and must show alternatives, like DuckDuckGo, or Ecosia.

Some messaging apps, like Facebook Messenger, must also make their services "interoperable" with third-party messaging services, so that users can message people using alternative products. Companies with entrenched positions in app distribution must meanwhile also allow competing apps to appear on their platforms. Apple has been ordered under the DMA to allow alternative app stores on iPhones for the first time. The tech giant was this week slapped by the EU with a fine of more than 1.8 billion euro ($1.96 billion) for breaching competition rules, following an investigation into its App Store practices. The EU thinks Apple broke the law by preventing app developers from informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside of the app. Spotify praised the Commission's decision, while Apple denied its App Store violates the law. The fine could be a sign of what's to come, as DMA enforcement officially gets underway. Companies in persistent breach of the law can face fines as large as 10% of their global annual revenues.

How are EU citizens affected?

The rules have already sparked big changes for tech giants in how they serve customers in the EU. It's likely more adjustments will come, as competitors to Big Tech firms aren't happy with the proposals put in place so far. Apple recently announced it would open up its iPhone and iPad to alternative app stores. Developers have long complained about the 30% fee Apple charges on in-app purchases.

watch now
Xcel Energy facilities "appear to have been involved in an ignition" of a giant wildfire that's been blazing across the Texas Panhandle since last month, the company said in a statement Thursday.

The cause of the Smokehouse Creek Fire  the biggest in state history, burning well over 1 million acres  is still under investigation by Texas officials, but the utility company said it is also conducting its own review.

The company did not provide additional details on how it came to the determination, but said it was based on "currently available information."

"Xcel Energy disputes claims that it acted negligently in maintaining and operating its infrastructure; however, we encourage people who had property destroyed by or livestock lost in the Smokehouse Creek fire to submit a claim to Xcel Energy through our claims process," the statement said.

Claims filed to the company will be handled expeditiously, prioritizing those who lost their homes in the fire, the company said.

The Texas A&M Forest Service said the ongoing Smokehouse Creek Fire is the largest blaze in state history, burning more than 1,059,570 acres. Two people have been killed in the blaze and authorities estimate roughly 500 structures have been destroyed as a result.
People using their mobile phones on July 17, 2016 in Surakarta, Indonesia.

Smartphone shipments in Southeast Asia continued a resurgence at the start of 2024, contrasting to a lull in other regions, as the promising market for mobile makers continues to attract more brands and investment.

The top five markets in the region saw 7.26 million smartphone units shipped, marking a significant 20% increase from the same period last year, according to research from technology market analyst firm Canalys published Wednesday.

The results continue a market rebound that began in the fourth quarter of 2023 when Southeast Asia phone shipments increased year-over-year for the first quarter in almost two years amid a broader post-pandemic industry recovery.

According to Canalys analyst Le Xuan Chiew, stabilizing inflationary pressures buoyed by government support and momentum from year-end 2023 sales events in the region have seen consumer sentiment and expenditure rebound.

"To capitalize on this market resurgence, smartphone manufacturers, which adopted conservative strategies in the last six months, are now deploying aggressive tactics to gain market dominance," he said in the release, noting trends such as affordable 5G, AI integration, ecosystem development, and channel optimization.

In January, Samsung regained its top market share spot in the region thanks to the successful launch of its premium S24 series, which offered increased battery life and new AI capabilities.

But, Chinese competitors are focusing more on the market, gaining ground and offering new phone models at competitive prices. Xiaomi, the second largest phone brand by shipments in January for that region, saw year-on-year growth of 128%, while Transsion, a relative newcomer to the market, saw growth of 190%.

"The region's increasing disposable income from an expanding middle-class and young population entering the workforce are strong reasons to expect increased investments," said Cheiw.
"The MoU was signed in Mumbai for establishing a framework to promote the use of local currencies viz., the Indian Rupee (INR) and the Indonesian Rupiah (IDR), for cross-border transactions," RBI said in a statement.

This framework would enable exporters and importers to invoice and pay in their respective domestic currencies, which in turn would enable the development of an INR-IDR foreign exchange market. "Use of local currencies would optimise costs and settlement time for transactions," RBI said.

The MoU was signed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das and Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo. "The MoU ... aims to promote the use of INR and IDR bilaterally," RBI said.

The MoU covers all current account transactions, permissible capital account transactions and any other economic and financial transactions as agreed upon by both countries, it added.

The central bank further said the collaboration marks a key milestone in strengthening bilateral cooperation between RBI and BI. "Use of local currencies in bilateral transactions will eventually contribute to promoting trade between India and Indonesia as well as deepen financial integration and strengthen the long historical, cultural and economic relations between India and Indonesia," it added.
The Colorado Association of Black Journalists (CABJ) honored Colorado College with an award for Higher Education Institution of the Year.

"Multiple members of the Colorado Association of Black Journalists nominated Colorado College, stating the college's commitment to journalism and to supporting its students of color as reasons for the nomination," said CABJ President Micah Smith.

Journalism Institute Directors Steven Hayward and Corey Hutchins accepted the award during the organizations inaugural gala at Cableland in Denver on March 2, 2024.

In an acceptance speech, Hutchins noted how small class sizes allow professors to form close relationships with students and mentor them throughout their college experience and beyond. He noted the colleges ongoing commitment to antiracism and the Journalism Institutes contribution, and underscored the flexibility of the Block Plan, which allows bringing dynamic visiting professors to campus to teach important classes.

In recent years, visiting instructors have included Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Wesley Lowery, who wrote the book "They Cant Kill Us All: The Story of the Struggle for Black Lives," and Venneikia Williams of the media reparations group Media 2070 and Free Press.

Colorado Association of Black Journalists board member and treasurer Marla Jones-Newman, who is vice president of people and culture at Mother Jones magazine, spoke at the ceremony about a partnership last year between the CABJ and CCs Journalism Institute.

The collaboration formed as part of Williams Block 8 class Diagnosing the Media System. In May 2023, the Journalism Institute and CABJ collaborated on a film screening of Black in the Newsroom and a networking event for journalists of color held at the Southern Colorado Public Media Center. Feedback from students and attendees, Jones-Newman said, was positive.

Williams is scheduled to teach Diagnosing the Media System again in Block 3 this fall.

The Colorado Association of Black Journalists honored Colorado College with the award for small colleges; Metropolitan State University in Denver earned an award in the large university category.

In a speech at the awards ceremony, Hutchins said that while the higher-ed award is for 2024, the Journalism Institute would not look to it as recognition for something its instructors have done but rather as a reminder to live up to it each year in the future.

If you would like to support the CABJ, which raises money for scholarships, you can do so here.
Harris County District Attorney candidate Sean Teare, right, reacts as early voting numbers are released after polls closed on election day, Tuesday, March 5, 2024, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer

Kim Oggs campaign for a third term as Harris County district attorney suffered a blowout loss in the Democratic primary election on Tuesday. In the final election night tally, challenger Sean Teare had a 50 percentage point lead over the incumbent  a stunning margin backed up by several possible explanations.

ELECTION 2024: Harris County DA Kim Ogg concedes to Sean Teare in heated Democratic primary race

Conceding the race Tuesday night and without naming names, Ogg attributed her loss to the fact she had made some powerful enemies for all the right reasons. In the final days of the primary, she sharply criticized her opponent for accepting over $700,000 from left-leaning billionaire George Soros, who supported her in previous election cycles.

Teare had also garnered the local support of County Judge Lina Hidalgo, County Commissioner Rodney Ellis and former Mayor Sylvester Turner ahead of the primary.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Ogg further explained that doing her job had cost her the job. She received criticism from within her party for embarking on the prosecution of three former Hidalgo employees in connection with a vaccine outreach contract.

Those cases were stuck in neutral for over a year; however, the Texas Rangers issued search warrants in November indicating they were expanding their investigation.

Ogg has maintained that she was just following the law by investigating Hidalgos employees.

But Teare supporters pointed to Ogg herself as the reason for the wide margin.

She was our biggest help, honestly, said Rebecca Shukla, a local Democratic Party precinct chair who signed a petition last fall to admonish Ogg.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Internal poll results from the Teare campaign in November showed him beating Ogg by around 4 percentage points. A few months later, Teares projected lead was 38 points, according to a survey of likely Democratic primary voters conducted in February by the Hobby School at the University of Houston.

I think he has the potential to be a great district attorney, Shukla said. But I dont think that thats the main thing.

WHO IS SEAN TEARE? What to know about Sean Teare, the Democrat nominee for Harris County DA who defeated Kim Ogg

Instead, she believes Teares massive win Tuesday night had more to do with his opponent.

The Hobby Schools February survey also found that out of 20 local Democratic political figures, Ogg ranked at the bottom. She was viewed unfavorably by the highest proportion of Harris County likely Democratic primary voters: 68%.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

By contrast, Hidalgo, an Ogg political rival who endorsed Teare, was near the top of the list, with 82% of respondents viewing her favorably.

Shukla said shed watched Oggs support among Democrats wane since her first election in 2016, but for her, a turning point came in 2022, when she and other party organizers were fighting to get Hidalgo reelected. Shukla worried that Democrats' local gains in recent years could all be rolled back.

Kim Ogg contributed to the potential that it could all go back because she didnt support Lina. She was actively fighting against her, which basically meant our whole ticket here in Harris County, Shukla said. Here we are knocking doors, out there in the heat and shes just making it harder.

Ogg had repeatedly accused Democrats on Commissioners Court of defunding her department. In October 2022, shortly before voting started in Hidalgos reelection bid, Ogg and other law enforcement officials packed Commissioners Court in a dramatic display of support for increases to their budgets.

Oggs lack of support for other party members was top of mind when a group of precinct chairs put forth a resolution last fall for the party to formally admonish her.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

People didnt like how she weaponized her office to go after people within the party, said Daniel Cohen, a precinct chair and organizer who supported the resolution, which ultimately passed by a wide margin in December.

Until that point, the grievances listed in the resolution had been open secrets, Cohen said.

It was just a matter of the public starting to actually discuss it, Cohen said.

Cohen rejects the idea that Oggs loss can be chalked up to powerful enemies like Soros.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

When she says powerful people beat me, I think its hilarious, Cohen said, instead attributing the outcome to the many grassroots supporters who put in the work to elect Teare. I look at the pictures (of organizers) and Im like, they are powerful, but theyre not what you think. It shows you that people can be powerful. People can hold their own elected officials accountable.

The progressive political group Texas Organizing Project also claims credit for the massive win: TOPs field organizers say they knocked on more than 94,000 doors across Harris County to support Teare.

In 2016, the group had mobilized for Ogg, working to flip the seat held by a Republican. But the groups leaders felt she no longer represented their values and switched sides this election cycle.

Sean Teare knows the Harris County DAs office is in need of a course correction, and hes a leader who will gain community input to make that happen, TOP Board President Doshie Piper said in a statement in February when the organization endorsed Teare. While Kim Ogg wastes county residents time and taxpayer dollars on petty political vendettas, Sean is ready to get to work, restore trust with the public, and implement lasting, humane legal reforms.

The group plans to hold Teare to his promises, according to Laquita Garcia, TOPs Right2Justice policy coordinator.

The real work begins the day after the election in November, Garcia said in a statement Tuesday night. We remain steadfast in our commitment to holding elected DAs accountable, ensuring that they stay true to their promises of reform and justice for all communities.
Nikki Haley has suspended her presidential campaign. Haley did not endorse former President Donald Trump on Wednesday and called on him to bring people into the conservative cause. The decision by the former South Carolina governor and former U.N. ambassador leaves Trump as the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination. Haley was Trumps first GOP challenger and the only woman in the race. Haley argued she was a fresh alternative to Trump and said it was time to move past his chaos." Haley's candidacy was slow to attract support. But Haley outlasted other high-profile candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence.
Supplies for drug users are seen at an overdose prevention center, at OnPoint NYC in New York, N.Y., Friday, Feb. 18, 2022. Also known as a safe injection site, the privately run center is equipped and staffed to reverse overdoses, a controversial response to confront opioid overdose deaths nationwide.
Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily, designed for public policy arena professionals. Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper, containing outstanding features and news stories, in their mailboxes every Saturday.
Speaker of the House Rep. Dade Phelan, right, confers with Rep. Justin Holland, R-Rockwall, left, ahead of the vote to impeach Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Texas House of Representatives at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, on May 27, 2023. Allegations against Paxton includes abuse of power to help a political donor and other offenses spanning nearly the past decade. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

When Shelley Luther announced she was challenging state Rep. Reggie Smith in this years Republican primary, some party members dismissed it as a quixotic bid from the former Dallas salon owner, who rose to prominence in 2020 for defying a pandemic lockdown order.

Luther had already lost to Smith in 2022, her second electoral defeat in 14 months. She generated controversy earlier that year for admitting that she was not comfortable with the transgenders and complaining that, during her stint as a school teacher, her students could not make fun of their transgender classmates. She also called for Chinese students to be barred from attending Texas universities, sparking bipartisan backlash.

READ MORE: House Speaker Dade Phelan headed to runoff after leading Ken Paxton impeachment push

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

But despite being outspent more than 2-to-1, Luther scored an upset win over Smith in Tuesdays primary, virtually ensuring she will represent the bright red North Texas district when lawmakers reconvene in January.

Luther is among a crop of firebrand Republican candidates likely headed to the Texas House next year to replace the record nine GOP incumbents ousted on Tuesday. More conservative challengers forced eight other members into runoffs, including House Speaker Dade Phelan, jeopardizing the powerful leaders political future and plunging the chamber into a state of limbo.

The anti-establishment energy was driven in part by Gov. Greg Abbotts well-funded quest to purge Republicans who sank his school voucher push last fall. But many races were defined less by policy differences than by esoteric disputes about how the Legislature should function, as the Houses facade of internal civility collided with the reality of todays hyperpartisan political landscape.

In dozens of GOP primaries, challengers bashed incumbents for enabling the longstanding House tradition of appointing Democrats to chair some committees. And they blasted the move, backed by nearly three-quarters of House Republicans, to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton last year, arguing the corruption charges were unfounded and overshadowed by his effectiveness as a conservative fighter.

Several of the incoming freshmen will bring Paxtons same brash and uncompromising style to a Legislature where, between the headline-grabbing fights, members have fostered a sense of bipartisanship that they say sets them apart from the gridlock in Congress. That model of governing was largely rejected on Tuesday by an electorate dominated by grassroots conservatives who wield outsize influence in Texas low-turnout primaries.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

GOP voters sent a resounding message in Tuesdays primaries: no more tolerance for representatives serving special interests, betraying conservative principles, or collaborating with Democrats to stifle conservative legislation, said Nick Maddux, a Republican strategist who works with Paxton and helped run the campaigns of several House primary challengers.

Maddux described the beatdown as a once-in-a-generation event, reminiscent of George W. Bushs 1998 gubernatorial triumph. Madduxs consulting firm, Axiom Strategies, worked with Phelans runoff opponent, energy consultant and GOP activist David Covey.

Many of Coveys supporters are hoping to reshape the House in the image of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the more conservative Senate chamber that he oversees. Since his elevation to statewide office a decade ago, Patrick has driven a steady drumbeat of social conservative priorities through the upper chamber. While he has steered many all the way to Abbotts desk, from abortion bans to transgender restrictions, others have hit a wall in the House  including school vouchers.

With few big-ticket items left on Texas conservatives wish list, however, most near-term policy disputes will come down to a question of degree, said Brendan Steinhauser, an Austin-based Republican strategist. The upshot from Tuesday, he said, is less about tangible shifts than cultural changes  especially if Phelan and other incumbents lose their runoffs.

If everything goes well, the House would look more like the Senate, with a speaker who drives a conservative agenda rather than quietly trying to navigate the different factions, Steinhauser said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Phelans approach of deferring to the will of the House on controversial measures has led to a string of conservative wins in the last two sessions, but it also has made him a scapegoat for voucher advocates who say he should have done more to push the policy through.

Patrick, who calls most of the shots in the Senate, clashed repeatedly with Phelan last year and quickly dropped his promise to remain neutral in the speakers primary, openly backing Covey. He introduced Covey at his election night watch party in Orange, after delivering a speech in which he cast Coveys first-place finish as a powerful repudiation of the speaker.

This has been a disastrous night for Dade Phelan. And its been a great night for the people of Texas, Patrick said, pumping his fist as he shouted the last sentence over cheers from the audience. People stood up and said, weve had it, dont come home and tell us youre a conservative in the district and (then) go and vote and put the Democrats in charge. 

Patrick long appointed Democrats to chair Senate committees, before ending the practice when Democrat John Whitmire  the longtime chair of the Senates criminal justice panel  left his seat for the Houston mayors office.

Phelan put Democrats in charge of eight of the Houses 34 standing committees last year, reserving the most high-profile assignments for Republicans. He says the tradition has allowed the Texas House to avoid the sort of dysfunction seen in Congress without thwarting any major GOP priorities.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

A perfect storm

Patrick backed 11 House primary challengers, five of whom defeated GOP incumbents outright on Tuesday. Three others forced runoffs, while the remaining three failed to unseat their incumbent opponents.

Each challenger voiced support for school vouchers, was backed by national pro-voucher groups and, with one exception, ran against an incumbent who voted to deliver the kill shot to Abbotts voucher push last fall. Former President Donald Trump endorsed the exact same lineup of candidates, likely at the behest of Patrick, a close political ally.

In a statement Wednesday, Patrick predicted that the mix of retirements and incumbent defeats would produce enough fresh faces next session to deny Phelan the gavel even if he survives his runoff against Covey.

Steinhauser, a veteran of the voucher movement, credited Trump and pro-voucher groups, such as the American Federation for Children, with helping turn the tide against so many GOP incumbents.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The national attention reminded him of his time as a leading organizer more than a decade ago in the tea party movement, which he said nationalized races one by one, primary by primary, attracting activists and tea party donors to typically obscure down-ballot races.

Steinhauser said he has been kind of begging people to do that for years on Texas school choice. The money finally materialized this year, with Abbott and national groups pumping in a torrent of cash. Those factors, paired with backlash from the Paxton impeachment, stirred up an anti-incumbent zeitgeist among GOP voters, he said, calling it a perfect storm.

Phelan has accused Covey and his allies of using lies and empty rhetoric to downplay the Houses conservative accomplishments since he took over as speaker in 2021.

The barrage aimed at our campaign over the past year was meant to be my undoing, and yet here I am, he said in an election night statement.

Most of the incumbents ousted Tuesday voted for each of those policies.

But Phelans critics, including some newly elected House members, point to other policy goals that have failed to make it through the lower chamber, led by vouchers. The House also repeatedly has declined to ban cities, counties and school districts from hiring outside lobbyists to advocate for them in Austin  a top priority of conservatives who view local government interests as antithetical to those of taxpayers.

Hard-line conservatives also want to ban Chinese citizens and businesses from buying land in Texas, a move condemned by Democratic critics as racist; eliminate exceptions in state laws banning public and private employers from imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates; and extend the critical race theory ban to colleges and universities. Some also have pushed to further expand the states oversight of local elections, stiffen election-related legal penalties and give Paxton power to unilaterally prosecute voter fraud.

Many of those policies have been pushed by a small but vocal band of House conservatives willing to openly defy Phelan, who has responded by rendering the detractors powerless, denying them meaningful committee posts and preventing them from passing almost any bills.

Establishment lap dogs and darlings replaced

The primary results will bring reinforcements to the opposition group, which includes state Rep. Tony Tinderholt, the Arlington Republican who challenged Phelan for speaker ahead of last years legislative session but secured just six votes in a closed-door survey of House Republicans.

Among the anticipated newcomers are Mitch Little, one of Paxtons impeachment defense attorneys who drew attention for his confrontations during the trial with former employees who had accused Paxton of corruption. Little has called for the House to change direction rather than go deeper in with the Speaker, and he has vowed to be a thorn in Phelans side if he hangs onto the gavel.

Little, who narrowly defeated state Rep. Kronda Thimesch of Lewisville, also has signaled support for Texas fringe secessionist movement, signing the Texas Nationalist Movements pledge to support legislation to call for a vote on Texas reasserting its status as an independent nation. Covey and Luther have signed the pledge as well.

Another highly symbolic win for Phelans critics came in the primary to succeed retiring state Rep. Andrew Murr, the Junction Republican who led the Houses impeachment efforts. Replacing him on the GOP ballot is Wes Virdell, a lobbyist for Gun Owners of America, which bills itself as the only no compromise gun lobby.

Virdell has called Paxtons impeachment a sham and, in a statement Tuesday evening, said he was more than ready to get to Austin and push back against the liberal agendas and special interests that threaten our traditional values.

Other primary winners who have been openly hostile to Phelan include Brent Money, a North Texas Republican who called for Phelan to resign over the impeachment, and Mike Olcott, an ally of Phelans top critics who has suggested that Republicans support for impeachment was tied to Phelans financial support for their campaigns.

Olcott is set to replace state Rep. Glenn Rogers, a North Texas Republican who opposed vouchers. In an op-ed published in the Weatherford Democrat on Wednesday, Rogers slammed Abbotts largely successful efforts to oust anti-voucher Republicans, arguing that Abbott had defiled the Office of Governor by creating and repeating blatant lies about their records.

In another blow to House leadership, state Rep. Jacey Jetton, a Richmond Republican who supported vouchers but drew backlash over his vote for impeachment, was defeated in a surprise landslide by Matt Morgan, an insurance adjuster whom Paxton endorsed.

Morgan left little doubt about his attitude toward the Houses status quo.

Together, we have successfully taken out another lap dog for the Austin Establishment and Liberal Speaker Dade Phelan. But our work is far from over, Morgan said in a statement Tuesday evening. As your conservative leader in Austin, I will uphold my principles, fight for our values, and work tirelessly to fix the broken system in our state capital.

Luke Macias, a longtime GOP consultant for right-wing primary challengers, said Jettons defeat was especially notable because he is a darling of the Austin establishment, which spent heavily in an unsuccessful bid to fend off Morgan.

Phelans failure to clear 50% in his district, and his inability to protect allies like Jetton, signals the end of his speakership even if he returns to the House next year, argued Michael Quinn Sullivan, publisher of the far-right conservative publication Texas Scorecard and one of the speakers leading critics.
Five Guys were supposed to be the chosen one. But look at this nonsense they pull

They say that to tell whether a politician is lying, you just need to check whether their lips are moving. With companies, its a little harder, because companies often dont have lips. For simplicitys sake, you must assume theyre always lying. Sometimes, these lies kill you, while other times, the goal is just to leave you with a smile on your own lips as you go on buying their product. Consider, for example, how...

5 Cigarette Filters Were Designed to Change Color Without Filtering Anything In the 1950s, with evidence increasingly tying cigarettes to lung cancer, calls grew for a safer cigarette, including one that filtered the smoke for you. Surprisingly, this suited cigarette companies just fine. A filtered cigarette would require less tobacco, and since the material for filters costs nothing compared to tobacco, this saved the companies money. Companies created a new and effective filter, made of asbestos. Kent Breathe easy, with the sweet taste of asbestos. These filters created a problem. Well, they created two problems  the second being that asbestos itself leads to lung disease, but even before that became known, asbestos filters created a problem for sales. Filtering cigarette smoke removed all the taste. People didnt simply like cigarettes for the nicotine hit but for everything else that the smoke made them experience. To keep people smoking, cigarette companies had to switch to a filter that maybe removed some particulate matter but didnt remove too much. The new filter used a material called cellulose acetate. The way manufacturer R.J. Reynolds designed it, it would change color when smoke passed through it. Naturally, everyone assumed this yellowing resulted from tar being trapped before it could reach their lungs, but this was untrue. The inventor (Claude Teague) designed the filter to change color as a response to touching smoke in much the way a strip of litmus paper turns red when it hits acid. He could have made a filter that stayed white, but he noted that a misleading indicator would increase sales. Akroti/Wiki Commons It really is a suspiciously clean and solid discoloration. Advertisement As it is, smoking a cigarette with a filter will not reduce your risk of cancer at all. Though the filter removes some tar (a process it could do with or without the color change), you puff more when each puff has less tar, canceling that benefit. For this reason, cigarettes that reduce tar or other bad stuff are no longer allowed to market themselves as low-tar or light. You might not have noticed if you dont smoke, but Marlboro Lights arent a thing anymore. Theyre called Marlboro Gold now. The new name arguably sounds cooler, and it isnt a lie because it doesnt actually say anything.

4 Orange Soda, With Pulp In 1910, soda was relatively new. Chemists were still coming up with new preparations, and the public didnt understand what was in them. Into this market came a new contender, Wards Orange Crush. Today, you just know it as Crush, an orange soda made by Dr. Pepper. Back then, it was still an orange soda, but it included orange pulp. That pulp signaled to your mouth that it contained fresh juice, for sure. Advertisement It didnt contain juice. It was flavored using grated orange peel  which is a perfectly legitimate way of adding orange flavor to food, but people dont find the idea so palatable as drinking real juice. For the first decade of operations, Crush contained no juice and fooled plenty of people into thinking it did. Then people got wise (maybe by such complex forensic techniques as reading the ingredients on the label), and so, Crush switched to including juice. It was now mostly grated peel, soda water and sugar, but also had some juice, too. via Wiki Commons And came with an award-worthy tagline: Like oranges? Advertisement Shortly after that, the company realized this wasnt an efficient way of making beverages for soda fountains, so they dispensed with the juice and the pulp going forward. What it lost in freshness, it gained in shelf life. Buy a bottle of orange soda today, and it can last longer than you will. Advertisement

3 Extra French Fries Arent Really Extra If theres one thing people like more than fresh food, its free food. Thats why its such a treat to find some extra fries in the bottom of your fast food bag. Some people throw these away, thinking eating food right off the bag is gross, but these people are foolish. The paper bags as clean as the fry carton, and those bag fries are good for eating. LN9267/Wiki Commons Sometimes, even the bag is pretty tasty. Over at the chain Five Guys, its policy to always add some loose fries to the customers bag. Customers are consistently delighted to receive this apparently accidental bonus. Advertisement And how much does it cost the chain to give customers these extra fries? Nothing. Because its not really extra if its the exact amount the restaurant always planned on giving you, now is it? They just choose to drop some fries loose instead of making containers big enough to hold them all. So, dont relish the thought of having Five Guys inside you. Youve fallen right into their trap.

2 Theres No Such Thing as a Teacup Pig If youre in the market for a new pet with a cute little snout, and you dont happen to own an entire farm, you might be interested in buying a miniature pig, rather than a full-size one. A mini pig is smaller than a regular pig, you can be sure about that. The only problem is a fair number of people have no idea about the size of a regular pig, and they have even less of an idea how big a mini pig gets. Advertisement Advertisement Mini pigs go by various names, none of which are regulated by anyone. Sometimes, theyre called nano pigs, which sounds even smaller than mini. Sometimes, theyre called teacup pigs, and while teacups are bigger than a nanometer, this somehow sounds even smaller because teacups are so cute. Pacific Giftware Store Heres a piggy in a teacup! Its a figurine, because pigs cant really fit in teacups. A teacup pig will really grow up to be at least 150 pounds and might also be a few dozen pounds more than that. The only reason wed call them miniature anything is that other pigs can grow to be four times that. We bred regular pigs for their meat, while we bred these mini breeds for medical research. Smaller was better here, but we never got them puppy size. Vassil/Wiki Commons No, this isnt a 600-pounder. This is an adult mini pig. Advertisement Plenty of families who buy teacup pigs become horrified when the cute piggy never stops growing. They rarely butcher the pet for bacon, as they lack the skill, but they may send the pet off to a pig sanctuary. Here, the pigs probably happier than it would have been in your house, so at least someone got out of this story with a happy ending.
An ousted two-term district attorney, a congresswoman in her toughest re-election bid yet and an open state Senate seat for the first time in 40 years  the Houston-area primaries were quite active, with some races resulting in shakeups and others yielding tighter margins than expected, even as turnout countywide was lackluster.

We've compiled the precinct-level results for four major races: state Senate District 15 (Mayor John Whitmire's former seat), U.S. Congressional District 18 (U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's long-held seat), U.S. Senate and Harris County District Attorney to show you how your neighbors voted in some of the biggest Harris County races.

RACE RESULTS: Harris County Primary Live Election Results

Senate District 15

First up, the most competitive race of the bunch: the race for Whitmire's former state Senate District 15 seat. No candidate in the heavily Democratic district crossed the 50% +1 threshold required to win an election in Texas. State Rep. Jarvis Johnson of Houston earned the largest share of the vote, at about 36%. He'll face off against emergency room nurse Molly Cook, who received about 21% of the vote this time around, in a runoff scheduled for May 28.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Enter your address below to determine how your neighborhood voted in this election. The precincts below correspond to where voters live, not where they voted.

Congressional District 18

Also competitive was the race in Congressional District 18, Jackson Lee's long-held district. Jackson Lee faced the toughest re-election challenge of her 30-year congressional career yet from former Houston Council Member Amanda Edwards.

Still, Jackson Lee came out ahead with nearly 60% of the vote, compared with about 37% for Edwards.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

U.S. Senate

Less competitive than the two races above was the Democratic primary to determine who would take on U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in November. The Democratic field was crowded, but U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas won heartily with more than 64% of the vote.

Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez and state Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio both finished behind Allred by more than 40 points.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Harris County District Attorney

In Harris County, current District Attorney Kim Ogg failed to secure a third term after losing by a resounding 50 points to Sean Teare, a former prosecutor who left his post at the DAs Office to challenge his former boss. As the map below shows, Teare defeated Ogg in nearly every voting precinct.
For some absolutely bizarre reason, nothing sets the social conservative trad-LARPers of Twitter ablaze quite like the notion that the next generation of children wont include a flock of little Seth Rogens.

In 2021, Rogen appeared on The Howard Stern Show to talk about his lifestyle that is so inextricable from his personal brand as a comedic actor and entertainer. Much like the characters Rogen plays in Judd Apatow projects, the Canadian-born actor, comic and filmmaker enjoys sitting on the couch in his boxers, smoking weed and watching cartoons  and, to his delight, Rogens wife, writer and actress Lauren Miller, likes all those things, too. As such, the couple enjoys their relaxed life of marijuana, movies and matrimonial bliss sans clothes and sans kids.

In 2024, however, online spaces are awash with fanatical family values conservatives who glorify an Evangelical lifestyle in which procreation is the greatest possible good and every personal decision made by a fertile individual is done with babies in mind. So, when Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon posted an image of Rogen from his Howard Stern appearance bearing a quote about the joys of childlessness (and a misspelling of his last name), right-wing Twitter launched into full-on hue-hue-hysteria over the entirely benign non-news that Rogen and Miller arent interested in recreating Knocked Up and bringing a gaggle of bearded babies into the world.

Advertisement

I wouldnt be able to do all this work that I like," Rogen said in the now-infamous appearance on The Howard Stern Show, People are always like  its something I think I was uncomfortable answering this before  but they were like, How do you do so much? Its that I dont have kids  I have nothing else to do. Rogan explained that, when it comes to the dual income no kids lifestyle, his partner is an even bigger proponent than he is, saying of Miller, She doesnt want kids. I would say she wants kids less than I do. I could probably be talked into it. Shes like, No. Rogen even went to far as to claim, "We have so much fun. I dont know anyone who gets as much happiness out of their kids as we get out of our non-kids.

Advertisement

Of course, nowhere in the interview does Rogen insinuate that he his philosophically anti-child, or that raising a Christian family should be illegal, or that abortions should be mandatory through the fourth trimester as Dillon's mob seems to think he did. To them, the mere existence of lifestyles outside their narrow view of acceptable ways of living is, somehow, a threat to the nuclear family that demands a response on social media. Rogen and Miller's decision to choose leisure over children doesn't affect anyone besides themselves, and, to anyone who takes offense to this non-issue, might I suggest relaxing with a Saturday morning spliff rolled on a $300 marble plate made by Seth Rogen?
Its that time of year again: Tonight, President Joe Biden will address a special joint session of Congress to tell us what the State of our Union is. (I hope its strong!)

You can, of course, watch live to see what accomplishments are being celebrated, what setbacks are being spun, how often Democrats give particular lines standing ovations, and which Republicans decide to heckle. Or you can just sidestep all of that and instead contemplate a less divisive politics: the fake kind.

To that end, here is our list of the 10 (or so) funniest fictional presidents in TV history

10 President Lisa Simpson (voice of Yeardley Smith) of The Simpsons For its second flash-forward episode (following Lisas Wedding in 1995), Bart to the Future journeys to Barts (voice of Nancy Cartwright) early middle age. At 40, hes an aspiring musician, deep in the shadow of his 38-year-old sister Lisa, whos just been elected Americas first straight female President. The portrayal comes in last on our last not only because Bart has to teach Lisa how to get out of her problems the way he does (shaming geeks  other world leaders, in this case  by making them feel uncool if they assert themselves), but also because an incidental joke finds Lisa mentioning the huge debt her administration has inherited from President Trump. Barely funny then; a lot less funny now! Play

9 President Taquil (voice of Killer Mike) and President Ford (Mr. Ford) of Frisky Dingo The second of Frisky Dingos two seasons revolved around the presidential ambitions of Killface (voice of series creator Adam Reed) in the months after his doomsday device, the Annihilatrix, was accidentally activated, accidentally pushing the earth a tiny bit further away from the sun, thus solving global warming. Soon, Killfaces archnemesis, Xander Crews (also Reed) surfaces to oppose Killfaces candidacy. Frisky Dingo being what it is, the two of them end up in space, leaving Killfaces running mate Taquil to ascend to the presidency (thanks to a corrupt Supreme Court  gee, what must that be like?) and appoint Killfaces former campaign manager, Mr. Ford, to Secretary of Homeland Security. Advertisement Evidently, President Taquil hasnt been paying attention to Mr. Fords steady rise from mental hospital orderly to pet shop clerk to gun shop owner and so on, or he might be on guard against Mr. Fords ambitions and keep him far away from the presidency. As it is, Taquil and almost his whole Cabinet are killed, clearing Mr. Fords path up the line of succession to become president himself. Generally speaking, I felt Mr. Fords role grew too large in the second season, but Im still sorry we didnt get a third to see what a Mr. Ford administration would have been like.

8 President Ellen Claremont (Uma Thurman) of Red, White & Royal Blue In this straight-to-streaming romcom, Alex (Taylor Zakhar Perez) and Henry (Nicholas Galitzine) meet at a wedding, and though many obstacles are in their way, they eventually manage to fall in love and hook up, not necessarily in that order. One obstacle is that Henry is Prince Henry, of the British royal family, and barely anyone in his life knows hes queer. The other is that Alex is the son of Ellen Claremont, the American president, and he still hasnt totally come to terms with his own bisexuality. Advertisement Advertisement Although the movie has gags, Ellen doesnt get much funny business to carry off, other than to respond to Alex coming out to her by blurting out buzzwords about queer sex she presumably learned for the campaign trail (We can talk about getting you on Truvada) and to speak in the most unconvincing Texan accent you ever heard. Play Advertisement Enjoy seeing a Democratic woman president from Texas; its probably not likely to happen in our lifetime so it might as well appear in a movie!

7 President Richard M. Nixon (voice of Billy West) of Futurama Set in the year 3000, Futurama depicts an America in which suicide booths are available on street corners; robots sometimes do work humans would prefer not to, and other times just drink and cause trouble; and the sentient heads of notable figures are preserved in jars. One such head belongs to Richard Nixon, and when bending robot Bender (John DiMaggio) takes advantage of a spike in the price of titanium to pawn his 40-percent titanium body for a quick payday, Nixon buys it so that he can place his head jar on top of it and run for President of Earth. The Constitution says no body can be elected president more than twice, but technically this body is new! Advertisement Advertisement Even after Leela (Katey Sagal) and Fry (West again) use  what else?  incriminating audio to blackmail Nixon into returning Benders body Play Nixon still wins and upgrades to an even more terrifying robot body, laying waste to his enemies and the White House itself. (Funny in 1999; too real today!) Advertisement

6 President Gordon Shumway (voice of Paul Fusco) of ALF ALF has been living on earth for a TV season and a half when the presidential election comes up on the show; hes frustrated to learn that this isnt sufficient to entitle him to vote. Watching a debate only convinces ALF that he could make a great president, and when Kate (Anne Schedeen) goes to sleep that night, she has a very strange dream in which ALF has fulfilled his political ambitions  and he actually has enacted his political solutions, to great effect. Play Advertisement Advertisement Once again, the concept of SCOTUS shenanigans comes up here, although our own legislators could probably do worse than confirming Judge Reinhold to a lifetime appointment, and maybe have?

5 President Guy Whitey Corngood and President Truman Theodore Fruitty (both Jay Johnston) of Mr. Show These days, we know Jay Johnston primarily for his arrest last summer on charges related to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. But in the 1990s, when he was the tallest and most conventionally handsome cast member on the sketch series Mr. Show, he was the natural pick to portray U.S. presidents. First, and less prominently, Johnston played President Guy Whitey Corngood, a figurehead who had very little to say about a plan to blow up the moon. Play Advertisement Advertisement Later, Johnston  possibly wearing the same wig he did as Corngood  portrayed a different president. And while Corngood could get away with offering entirely content-free comments on his way to or from a car, President Truman Theodore Two T Fruitty is directly implicated in a scandal. (No, its not the scandal of Jill Talley performing in brownface, but thats not great either.) Play Advertisement

4 President David Herman (David Herman) of MadTV Some readers will have had the experience of waking up from a night of heavy drinking to wonder what they may have gotten up to the previous night, since its been entirely blacked out of their memories. So it is for David Herman in this MadTV sketch: His room may look like crap, but it is, in fact, in the White House, because he drank so much that he blacked out and became president. Play Advertisement Advertisement One unexpectedly funny aspect of this sketch is that Hermans practical solutions to intractable political problems arent that different, in spirit, from ALFs. Another is that someone in this sketch has a problem with substance use and its not Artie Lange.

3 President Phil Stacy Miller (Boris Kodjoe) and President Phil Tandy Miller (Will Forte) of The Last Man on Earth The very few survivors of a devastating viral outbreak witness the deaths of basically everyone in the presidential line of succession, as it stood back in the late 2010s. Play Advertisement Advertisement But as the series starts, we dont know there are survivors, plural; initially, theres just Phil Miller (Forte). Before long, he links up with Carol (Kristen Schaal), and the two elect him president, because why not  theres nothing to preside over. As more survivors join their group in Tucson, however, the question of leadership becomes more complicated. When a second Phil Miller (Kodjoe) shows up, much more capable and charming, he poses a challenge to the original Phils presidency; the first fight Phil I loses to Phil II is a game of Jenga, resulting in Phil Is demotion from Tucsons Phil of record to Tandy, Phil Is middle name. When the female residents of Tucson demand a recall election due to Tandys gross incompetence, Phil sails to victory. And while Tucson doesnt officially observe the right of prima nocta, Phil does sleep with Carol, previously Phils partner. Tandy and Todd (Mel Rodriguez) resolve to murder Phil in retaliation, because politics is a dirty business, no matter how small the electorate. Advertisement

2 President Quentin Trembley III (Alex Hirsch) of Gravity Falls One could argue that Quentin Trembley III doesnt belong on a list of fictional presidents, and that he was, in fact, the very real 8th and a  president of the United States. Here: Educate yourself! Play Advertisement Advertisement Gravity Falls was primarily a show for kids and tweens, but evidently its creators believed theres no wrong time to plant conspiracy theories. At least this one is pretty benign! A character who is canonically the silliest president in history must be ranked high on a list like this, no matter the age of his intended audience. But surely we all knew who would be ranked first.
A former Google engineer has been indicted for stealing trade secrets to benefit two companies in China. This case adds to a series of actions by US authorities to prevent the outflow of critical technological information to China.

A federal jury in San Francisco charged the 38-year-old Chinese national, Linwei Ding, with four counts of theft of trade secrets.

The statement of indictment stated that the stolen trade secrets were critical to Googles AI prowess, involving the specialized hardware and software that power the companys supercomputing centers.

The trade secrets contain detailed information about the architecture and functionality of GPU and TPU chips and systems, the software that allows the chips to communicate and execute tasks, and the software that orchestrates thousands of chips into a supercomputer capable of executing at the cutting edge of machine learning and AI technology, said the statement from the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

The US struggle to limit IP theft

Ding uploaded 500 files, most of which contained trade secrets, to the cloud using a multistep scheme to evade detection. According to the indictment, Ding was paid $14,800 per month by a Chinese tech firm while he was still working at Google, according to the indictment.

This follows another similar incident in May 2023, when a former Apple engineer was indicted on five counts related to attempts to steal technology for China, Russia, and Iran. The case focused on technologies linked to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars, with the engineer allegedly fleeing to China after the theft.
Mayor John Whitmire talks with Houston Police Chief Troy Finner as he sits down for a meeting with the Houston Area Chiefs of Police on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, in Houston. Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle

Facing a projected budget shortfall and costly settlement with the firefighters union, Mayor John Whitmire has directed most city departments to identify potential 5% budget cuts for the coming fiscal year.

Finance Director Melissa Dubowski said Wednesday that the city is set to face a budgetary gap of $160 million in the fiscal year that starts this July. This projection does not factor in any additional expenses from a tentatively reached agreement with the firefighters union aimed at settling a longstanding pay dispute.

FIREFIGHTERS DISPUTE: Whitmire announces tentative agreement with firefighters union without compensation details

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

To address the looming financial challenge, Dubowski, appointed by Whitmire in January to steer the department, said the city has set a 5% budget reduction target for all departments, excluding police and fire. The police and fire departments combined currently make up about half of the citys operating budget.

Dubowski acknowledged that the final outcomes might differ based on the specific needs within each department.

We sent a communication out to get a starting point, to start collaborating and working with departments, and then well evaluate those ideas that the departments come back with to figure out which ones are least impactful to constituents, to services, Dubowski said during a Wednesday report to City Council.

Whitmire told the Chronicle that implementing a blanket budget cut is far from the ideal solution. He admitted that it will likely require some departments to downsize staff and slash services already strapped for resources. The policy, however, is necessary due to the financial challenges long ignored by previous Houston mayors, he said.

I dont like across the board cuts. I think it rewards inefficient operations, departments that kind of ratholed some money or didnt need all they asked for in the first place, and it punishes those responsible departments, Whitmire told reporters on Wednesday. But its a place to start a conversation, one to let the council members also know we cant continue to come up with items that we like. We have to get back to things weve got to have.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

One of perhaps the biggest financial hurdles facing Houston is the back pay owed to firefighters since negotiations between the city and the union first broke down in 2017. Whitmire announced last week that the two parties have tentatively agreed on the overall dollar figure but declined to disclose it. The Greater Houston Partnership recently estimated the back pay could cost the city between $500 million and $600 million.

Funding the deal might require a mix of the citys general fund dollars and new debt issuance, City Attorney Arturo Michel previously noted. Dubowski said on Wednesday that the agreements impact on the general fund will be included in a five-year forecast that her team plans to release during this years budget season.

Meanwhile, the administration is also exploring other potential measures, such as eliminating duplicate services across departments, cutting some vacant staff positions, adjusting certain fees and pushing for a voter referendum to exempt public safety operations from the citys property revenue cap, according to Dubowski.

District C Council Member Abbie Kamin voiced support for making an exception to the revenue cap to boost public safety efforts. Houstonians approved a similar policy in 2006, allowing an additional $90 million to be collected annually for public safety spending.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Kamin also referenced a 2017 10-year plan on improving Houstons fiscal sustainability, highlighting that many of the cost-saving recommendations were never implemented.

At-Large Council Member Sallie Alcorn, for instance, proposed then the creation of a service-sharing working group to explore how to consolidate operations with other governments, including Harris County. The initiative was estimated by the report to have a high fiscal impact, potentially saving over $10 million.

Alcorn told the Chronicle that former Mayor Sylvester Turner preferred a case-by-case review of each service-sharing initiative and never formed a task force. She said she is hopeful about pitching the idea again to the new administration.
Wang Yi: US must be rational about China

13:11, March 07, 2024 By Zhang Yunbi ( Chinadaily.com.cn

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing on Thursday. [PHOTO by FENG YONGBIN/CHINA DAILY]

Beijing urges Washington "to be clear-eyed about the trend of the times, view China's development objectively and rationally, engage in exchanges with China proactively and pragmatically, and act to fulfill its commitments", Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday.

Wang made the comments when answering a question about China-US ties at a news conference on the sidelines of the ongoing annual two sessions.

He stressed that "the challenge for the US comes from itself, not from China". "If the US is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself."

President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden met in San Francisco last November.

"We have seen that some progress has indeed been made in improving China-US relations since the San Francisco meeting, which is fully in line with the aspirations and interests of the two countries and the people of the world," Wang said.

"But we have to point out that the US side's misperception of China still continues, and the promises made by the US side have not been faithfully honored," he warned.

The US tactics of suppressing China are being constantly updated, the list of unilateral sanctions is being lengthened, and the allegations against China are ludicrous, he added.

At the press conference, Wang raised four sharp questions for the US.

"If the US says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major country? If it gets jittery whenever it hears the word 'China', where is its confidence as a major country?" he asked.

"If it only wants itself to prosper but denies other countries' legitimate development, where is international fairness? If it persistently monopolizes the high end of the value chain and keeps China at the low end, where is fairness in competition?" he added.

Speaking to reporters, Wang referred to the three principles proposed by President Xi about China-US relations, namely mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation.

"They are a statement of the experiences and lessons of the 50-plus years of China-US relations and represent the right way for interactions between major countries. They should be observed and acted upon by both sides," he said.

He said mutual respect is the precondition "because interaction sustains only when differences in social and political systems are respected and acknowledged".

"Conflict and confrontation between two major countries like China and the US have unimaginable consequences," he said, adding that when working together, China and the US "can do great things conducive to the two countries and the world".

"We are always willing to strengthen dialogue and communication with the US side, to promote friendly exchanges between peoples from all walks of life, to build more bridges of mutual understanding, and to eliminate unnecessary misunderstandings and prejudices," the minister said.

"We believe that the two sides are fully capable of finding a proper way for two different major countries to get along in the world," he added.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
National Guardsmen are seen apprehending a small group of migrants who crossed the US/Mexico border from Piedras Negras, MX into Eagle Pass, TX as seen from Piedras Negras, MX on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024 . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 09: People protest against Texas Senate Bill 4 during a rally hosted by the ACLU of Texas at the State Capitol on March 09, 2024 in Austin, Texas. People gathered to protest Texas Senate Bill 4, which would allow state law enforcement officials to detain and arrest migrants suspected of illegally crossing into the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily halted the bill which could likely go into effect as early as next week. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Brandon Bell/Getty Images Alejandra Segovia, 6, lays on Rafael Martinez as she tells him she doesnt feel well while staying at a migrant encampment near the international bridge connecting Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros, Mexico on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Matamoros . Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer *** BESTPIX *** AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 09: Members of the Ollinyolloti Danza Mexica group participate in a protest against Texas Senate Bill 4 during a rally hosted by the ACLU of Texas at the State Capitol on March 09, 2024 in Austin, Texas. People gathered to protest Texas Senate Bill 4, which would allow state law enforcement officials to detain and arrest migrants suspected of illegally crossing into the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily halted the bill which could likely go into effect as early as next week. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Brandon Bell/Getty Images AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 09: People protest against Texas Senate Bill 4 during a rally hosted by the ACLU of Texas at the State Capitol on March 09, 2024 in Austin, Texas. People gathered to protest Texas Senate Bill 4, which would allow state law enforcement officials to detain and arrest migrants suspected of illegally crossing into the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily halted the bill which could likely go into effect as early as next week. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Brandon Bell/Getty Images

WASHINGTON  Texas Republicans see their new migrant deportation law as an opening for the U.S. Supreme Court to dramatically reshape immigration enforcement, giving states a power now reserved for the federal government.

We as a state can take control of our own border, just like the federal government, because were being invaded, theyre not doing their job, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a recent interview on Fox News. And if the Supreme Court will uphold our bill, Texas will take control of the border.

But if the states recent record is any indication, the Supreme Court justices are not likely to let Texas have its way. Texas has lost both immigration-related cases it has taken before the courts new conservative majority, with Trump appointees siding against the state in both cases.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Legal experts say it seems unlikely that the court would side with Texas on the deportation law, given how significant a departure it would be from current precedent. The law, known as Senate Bill 4, empowers any law enforcement officer in Texas to arrest migrants they suspect of entering the country illegally and allows judges to order their removal.

A federal district judge in Austin last month blocked the law from taking effect, calling it patently unconstitutional. The conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals briefly set aside that ruling before the Supreme Court stepped in last week and put the temporary hold back in place.

By allowing state and local officials to essentially take over immigration enforcement, SB4 would open the door to every other state deciding their own border enforcement rules, immigration experts said. And the new law would raise serious foreign relations concerns  a point the high court has stressed in past immigration rulings  as Texas authorities try to send asylum seekers from all over the world across the border into Mexico.

The court is very reluctant in this area to just let (Gov. Greg) Abbott and the rest of the GOP have their way, said Daniel Morales, an immigration law expert at the University of Houston Law Center. There are just really serious national concerns at stake.

From a legal standpoint, its just so obviously dangerous to let too many chefs in the kitchen, Morales said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The offices of Patrick, Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

Abbott, a former Texas attorney general, has said he believes the law was crafted in a way that can and should be upheld in the courts on its own and is necessary to stem the record number of border crossings under the Biden administration.

He has cast the law as an opening for the high court to reconsider a landmark Supreme Court ruling from 2012 that held that only the federal government has the power to enforce immigration laws.

In that case, the high court struck down portions of an Arizona law that authorized police to arrest anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. Then-Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the opinion. Arizona may have understandable frustrations with the problems caused by illegal immigration while that process continues, but the state may not pursue policies that undermine federal law, he said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Texas has been unable to sway the Supreme Court in more recent immigration cases.

In 2022, the court ruled 5-4 against Texas and Missouris joint attempt to stop President Joe Biden from ending a Trump-era policy requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases are decided.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, which said forcing the administration to send asylum seekers back to Mexico imposes a significant burden upon the Executives ability to conduct diplomatic relations with Mexico.

The next year, the court ruled 8-1 that Texas and Louisiana did not have standing to challenge Bidens immigration enforcement priorities. Justice Samuel Alito was the lone dissenter.

Kavanaugh wrote the opinion, which again stressed concerns about foreign relations, saying presidential enforcement discretion implicates not only normal domestic law enforcement priorities but also foreign-policy objectives.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Kavanaugh noted the decision did not indicate any view from the court on whether Biden was complying with statutory obligations when it came to border enforcement, however.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the majority in a 5-4 order allowing Border Patrol agents to cut razor wire the state strung up along the Rio Grande. The court did not explain the order or issue a final judgment on the ongoing dispute, but experts say it nonetheless is an indication of the states uphill battle.

It is clear that there are at least four votes against Texas ability to take the mantle of immigration enforcement upon itself in contravention of the desires of the federal government, said Leon Fresco, an immigration attorney based in D.C. There is a significant possibility that either Justice Coney-Barrett or Justice Kavanaugh might join these four justices on maintaining this federal supremacy in future cases, as they have already done in various past cases filed by Texas.

Conservatives, however, argue record border crossings may change the calculus.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

I suspect that given the change in circumstances  its the worst border crisis I think in the entire history of the United States  I think the court in some ways might pull back a little from its previous holdings, said Hans A. von Spakovsky, a legal expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Texas Republicans say the crossings amount to an invasion that the federal government is not doing enough to stop, so the state has the right to protect itself. It is an argument that was pushed by former Trump administration officials, but one that has so far not stood up in court. In blocking the law last month, U.S. Judge David A. Ezra, a Ronald Reagan appointee, rejected the argument, writing that, to discuss invasion at length is to take the argument more seriously than it deserves.

READ MORE: President Biden uses Texas border visit to urge GOP to revive dormant immigration deal

Von Spakovsky said that even if the court is inclined to block SB4, it may not toss out the entire law. He noted that even in the landmark Arizona ruling from 2012, the court halted only some aspects of that law and allowed much of it to take effect  including the so-called show me your papers provision that required state authorities to check the immigration status of anyone they stop or arrest. The provision was seen as a centerpiece of the law and one of its most controversial aspects.

As in the Arizona case, von Spakovsky said the court will look at all aspects of SB4 to determine whether they are preempted by federal law or interfere with federal immigration enforcement. He said he sees no problem with state authorities arresting migrants  something they have been doing at the border for years now.

On the other hand, I dont think a state can say someone should be deported unless the feds do it, von Spakovsky said. That would essentially open the door for other states to decide their own immigration enforcement, he said. California, for instance, could pass a law legalizing migrants, regardless of their federal immigration status, he said.
How Many Pips Should Be Targeted Per Day?

Trading with pips talking points:

Targeting X amount of pips per day is unrealistic

Forex traders should instead focus on diligently following a set strategy

Trading using limited leverage should yield a positive return over time

Its not uncommon for forex traders to approach trading with the aim of collecting x many pips a day from the market. Some may even consider adopting a strategy that only makes X amount of pips per day. However, there are complications that arise from this approach and setting such unrealistic goals.

This article will answer the question: how many pips per day? and explore the best approach to using pips  considering market fluctuations which affect daily pip movements and how to capitalise on this with a solid trading strategy.

How Many Pips do Professional Traders Make?

Professional traders do not trade with a specific number of pips in mind. This is because markets do not move in a predictable manner, so a trader cannot bank on a targeted number of pips per trade.

The number of pips per day varies depending on the strategy adopted as well as the unique goals set by the individual. Certain strategies target smaller more frequent profits over multiple trades (scalping), whilst others look for large profit taking opportunities with longer time horizons (position trading).

Learn more about pips in forex trading.

Recommended by Warren Venketas Forex for Beginners Get My Guide

Unrealistic Expectations of Setting A Daily Pip Target

Traders must accept that not all trades will yield positive returns. Therefore, trying to achieve a daily pip goal is setting up for failure. A daily pip target is ineffective because it encourages trading more at times when the strategy is not effective and trading less during times when the strategy is more effective. This is the opposite of what we should be trying to achieve.

For example, if a trader places quick trades in the morning and hits a specified pip goal, the trader forgoes potential additional trades that could occur during ideal market conditions. Each strategy has their ideal market conditions; thus, this trader would ultimately be limiting what the strategy could do for them.

The chart below shows a typical example of forgone returns in unfavorable market conditions. The EUR/USD chart shows a trader targeting 20 pips per trade on a moving average (MA) price crossover trading strategy as highlighted by the circles which indicate entry points. When price crosses above the MA the trader looks to buy and when the price crosses below the MA line this signals a short entry. The red circles show trades that would have been unsuccessful in accordance with the strategy whilst the green circles show successful trades with 20 pip movements in the direction of the trade. This example illustrates a typical example of a trader targeting x amount of pips in adverse conditions which often leads to revenge trading and losing trades.

Example: EUR/USD unfavorable market conditions

Focus on What is Important: A Winning Strategy

Rather than focusing on earning a specific number of pips per day, traders need to focus on what can be controlled. In trading terms this relates to following a strategy perfectly, with no emotion or hesitation. Once a strategy has been formulated, the most important step is execution of the strategy itself.

Traders need to stick to a plan by not getting overconfident when successful, and to not shy away from placing the next trade when losing. Focusing on the strategy allows traders to stay away from revenge trading. Revenge trading is a natural friend to targeting a certain number of pips each day. This is because when traders are behind on a goal, this can lead to overtrading to "make it up." That overtrading typically leads to more and more losses. If the trader has confidence in the strategy; the winning or losing of each individual trade doesnt matter. Traders must avoid revenge trading or adjusting trade sizes to recoup losses.

Learn more about creating a trading plan.

Recommended by Warren Venketas Building a strategy? Refine yours with this valuable guide Get My Guide

Pips vs Profitable Trading

Going after a certain number of pips per day sounds like a good plan when trading forex, but it is an unrealistic goal. The market conditions change frequently forcing your strategy in and out of its ideal state without notice. What is needed are goals for factors that can be controlled, like following a strategy and executing it flawlessly. It is recommended starting with a risk-free demo account that has real-time pricing data.

Interested in our analyst's best views on major markets? Download our Free Trading Guides.

Further reading to trade forex like a professional
(Photo : Unsplash/ Kenneth Schipper Vera)

The largest pork producer in Tennessee is facing allegations of retaliating against employees who inquired about their compensation, with one worker reportedly discovering a severed pig's head at their workstation, as reported by the Department of Labor.

The department filed the action on February 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. The action requests the court intervene and halt Tosh Pork LLC and its human resources manager, Dianna Rosa, from persisting in their violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) through retaliatory measures against employees. Federal law prohibits employers from terminating or discriminating against employees who have lodged complaints or cooperated in investigations.

Appalling Retaliatory Measures on Two Employees

The Department's Wage and Hour Division discovered that two workers at Tosh Pork, responsible for caring for the farm's pigs, cooperated with division investigators after questioning their pay with the employer. Upon learning of the initial complaint, Tosh Pork assigned one worker tasks such as cleaning offices and bathrooms and picking up pig waste, which were not part of their usual duties. Accusing the employee of filing a federal complaint, Tosh Pork allegedly attempted to compel them to sign a document preventing them from discussing pay issues with other employees.

Investigators also found that another worker who had inquired about their wages was summoned for a meeting with farm management and faced threats of termination, who, upon returning to their workstation, discovered a severed pig's head.

READ ALSO: eBay Faces Criminal Charges, Agrees to Pay $3M Over Former Employees' Blogger Harassment Incident

In a news release, Tremelle Howard, the DOL's regional solicitor in Atlanta, declared that the company's actions, deemed "appalling" and aimed at intimidation and retaliation against its employees, will not be accepted.

Tosh Pork's Denial of Allegations

Seth Krantz, the company's veterinarian, denied the government's allegations and promised to fight the claims. He emphasized Tosh Pork's commitment to treating employees with respect and dignity, ensuring proper care for animals, and complying with all applicable regulations, including the Fair Labor Standards Act. Krantz added that Tosh Pork denies engaging in the alleged retaliatory conduct outlined by the DOL in its March 5 news release and intends to defend itself in court.

Motion for Tosh Pork's Restraining Order

The U.S. Department of Labor has submitted a complaint and motion to secure a temporary restraining order to halt purported retaliatory actions by a Henry County farm against two employees who inquired about their wages, an activity protected by the Fair Labor Standards Act. According to DOL investigators, the company was found to owe $39,375 in back wages to five workers and was also subjected to civil money penalties amounting to $36,731.

The family-operated enterprise operates a swine production and crop farming operation spanning 18,000 acres in Henry, Tennessee. Its pig division, Tosh Pork, distributes its products domestically and internationally to major retailers such as Costco, JBS USA, and Kroger, as per information provided by the agency.

Regional Solicitor Tremelle Howard in Atlanta emphasized that Tosh Pork's appalling actions to intimidate and retaliate against its employees will not be accepted. She stated that the U.S. Department of Labor will utilize all available resources to safeguard the protections provided to workers under the law.

RELATED ARTICLE: Amazon Faces Federal Labor Law Violations Amid Accusations of Interrogations, Threats, and Racial Disparagement in Staten Island Unionization

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Liberty ARC, the Montgomery County Chapter of The Arc New York, recently announced the appointment and promotion of Ashley Walton as their new Director of Operations.
(Photo : Unsplash/Luca Bravo )

The Justice Department on Wednesday accused an ex-Google software engineer, Linwei Ding, of stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets while collaborating with two Chinese-based companies.

The Chinese national was arrested on four counts of federal trade secret theft in Newark, California, with each carrying a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

The Dangers of Espionage to the U.S. Security

The charges against Ding, aged 38, were disclosed by Attorney General Merrick Garland during an American Bar Association conference in San Francisco, who, along with other law enforcement officials, has consistently warned about the dangers of Chinese economic espionage and the national security risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI) advancements and other emerging technologies.

FBI Director Christopher Wray emphasized the significance of the charges, highlighting them as another example of the extensive efforts by affiliates of Chinese-based companies to steal American innovation. Wray warned that the theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American firms could lead to job losses and severe economic and national security repercussions.

Google's Guardrails on Trade Secrets

According to spokesman Jose Castaneda, Google maintains stringent measures to safeguard its confidential commercial information and trade secrets.

After conducting an investigation, Google determined that the employee had improperly obtained numerous documents, prompting It to involve law enforcement. Castaneda expressed gratitude for the FBI's assistance safeguarding the company's information and affirmed Google's commitment to continued cooperation.

Ding's defense attorney declined to comment on Wednesday evening.

READ ALSO: U.S. Sanctions Predator Spyware-Maker Targeting Journalists, Officials, Strips Technology Access to Safeguard Human Rights

Potential Harm of AI

Artificial intelligence is the main battleground for high-tech competitors, with significant commercial and security implications that could harm the United States.

Last month, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced in a speech that the administration's multi-agency Disruptive Technology Strike Force would prioritize AI enforcement efforts. FBI Director Wray reiterated concerns at a conference last week, emphasizing how AI and other emerging technologies have facilitated attempts by adversaries to interfere with the American political process. Attorney General Garland echoed these sentiments at the San Francisco event, highlighting on Wednesday that, like all developing technologies, AI comes with both benefits and drawbacks, offering significant potential but also posing risks of substantial harm.

Ex-Google Engineer's Indictment

The indictment revealed on Wednesday in the Northern District of California claims that Ding, employed by Google since 2019 and entrusted with confidential information regarding the company's supercomputing data centers, allegedly began transferring hundreds of files to a personal Google Cloud account two years ago.

Prosecutors allege that shortly after the theft began, Ding was offered the position of chief technology officer at a Chinese early-stage technology firm specializing in AI technology. The position offered a monthly salary of around $14,800 and an annual bonus and company stock. According to the indictment, Ding traveled to China, attended investor meetings, and actively sought to raise capital for the company.

The indictment also stated that he founded and led a startup company in China, aiming to develop large AI models powered by supercomputing chips.

According to prosecutors, Ding did not reveal any association with Google, which referred to him on Wednesday as a junior employee. He resigned on December 26th.

Three days later, Google officials discovered that Ding had represented himself as the CEO of one of the Chinese companies at an investor conference in Beijing. Surveillance footage also showed another employee scanning Ding's access badge at the U.S. Google building where he worked, creating Ding's appearance when he was actually in China, according to the indictment.

Google suspended Ding's network access, locked his laptop, and investigated his unauthorized uploads by examining his network activity history.

In January, the FBI obtained a search warrant for Ding's home and confiscated his electronic devices. Later, the FBI obtained another warrant for the contents of his personal accounts, which contained over 500 unique files of confidential information allegedly stolen from Google.

RELATED ARTICLE: OpenAI CEO Warns of Societal Misalignment, Calls for a Regulatory Body to Supervise AI

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Fifty years ago today, a newly elected MP took his place in the House of Commons.

He arrived in a state of euphoria and, by his own admission, ended up 'monstrously drunk'.

Had he not kept a diary, Alan Clark would barely rate a footnote in the history of the Conservative Party.

He never became a Cabinet minister, even though he spent an inordinate amount of time plotting for promotion, and was furious at being overlooked. 'Am I always to be thwarted? Surrounded by nincompoops and inadequates?'

In the 1980s, he dreamt that the then Secretary of State for Health, Kenneth Clarke, would be forced out, resulting in his own elevation.

Had he not kept a diary, Alan Clark would barely rate a footnote in the history of the Conservative Party

'But that could only happen if Clarke has a nervous breakdown  unlikely in one so fat  or  perfectly possible at any time, he must make the Norwich Union wince  something "happens" to him. One mustn't be uncharitable (why not?) but this after all is the roughest game, at the roughest table.'

Alan Clark's relative failure never stopped him from fantasising about becoming Prime Minister.

In 1985, in the lowly position of Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Employment, he was approached by a comical, self-aggrandising figure called Sir Alfred Sherman, who boasted he could 'steer him into' Number 10 once Mrs Thatcher had left.

Clark toyed with the idea  'I could hardly not have been flattered.' But all his scheming came to nothing: his two Prime Ministers, Mrs Thatcher and John Major, both considered him too unreliable for high office.

And with good reason: his hilarious diaries show him always acting on impulse. Not long after the death of his distinguished father, he informs a gathering that he died falling out of a tree.

'What mischievous impulse made me do this? . . . I did just manage to keep a straight face.' In 1996, he tells a journalist he is travelling to Mexico 'on behalf of the Prime Minister', even though it isn't true. 'Extraordinary this weakness of mine  just as I thought I had it under control.'

Having just been appointed a junior minister, in 1983, he knocked back a series of expensive wines before being handed the text of a dreary speech to read out to the House.

'As I started, the sheer odiousness of the text sank in.'

Alan Clark's relative failure never stopped him from fantasising about becoming Prime Minister

Sozzled, he began to read it in a satirical fashion, emphasising its cliches and clunky language, and whizzing through the boring parts.

'Helter-skelter I galloped through the text. Sometimes I turned over two pages at once, sometimes three. What did it matter?'

Before long, the Opposition scented blood. One Labour MP asked him what the last paragraph meant. Then another, Clare Short ('dark-haired and serious, with a lovely Brummie accent'), said that though MPs are not permitted to accuse fellow members of drunkenness, she believed he was incapable.

More and more MPs stood up to condemn him. It's the stuff of other MPs' nightmares.

At this point, it dawned on Clark that his ministerial career was set to go down the pan, almost before it got off the ground.

MPs on his own side sat in horrified silence, refusing to help him, while opposition MPs continued to voice their fury. 'I sat, smiling weakly, my lips as dry as sandpaper.'

He was reckless in other areas, too, particularly extramarital affairs, notably with the wife of a South African judge and both of her daughters.

At one point, it dawned on Clark that his ministerial career was set to go down the pan, almost before it got off the ground

Bored by a debate in the House of Commons, he spots an attractive blonde in the public gallery and goes upstairs to proposition her.

Even as his father was dying, he chatted up his carer: 'She's not pretty but is sexual.'

His comments on his fellow MPs  William Hague is 'a shifty little bureaucrat' and 'jarringly ghastly', Michael Heseltine 'loathsome'  reveal him as almost manically bitchy. 'There are no true friends in politics. We are all sharks circling, waiting for traces of blood to appear in the water,' he writes.

At one point, he even complains that Queen Elizabeth has 'frumpish and ill-natured features'.

Hundreds of politicians, infinitely more solemn, more guarded, and more respectable, have published diaries.

But while theirs gather cobwebs in charity shops, Alan Clark's continue to be read. And quite right, too: respectability is the scourge of art.
Domestic abuse is Britain's dirty secret.

If you've been a victim of physical, verbal or sexual abuse from someone you thought cared, why do you feel embarrassed, almost as if it's your fault? Could it be because the police still don't take violence against women seriously.

Our economy might be stagnant, but there's a boom in one area - domestic violence. Millions of incidents are reported every year, but perpetrators still get away with it.

The current conviction rate for rape is pathetic. Cases take longer than ever to come to trial. And often the police imply that a woman who's had a few drinks or who is wearing a short skirt 'was asking for it'.

Too many coppers haven't entered the modern world, they are stuck in the slut-shaming mindset of the 1950s.

A series of shocking revelations about the macho culture in some forces has utterly undermined women's trust in the police.

Loose Women this week unveiled a hard-hitting campaign called Facing it Together to draw attention to domestic violence, to reassure women (and men) that there are charities and helplines offering support

Clare Wood was murdered by her ex-boyfriend George Appleton after she dumped him. Clare's Law was designed to protect victims of domestic abuse

Sarah Everard was kidnapped and murdered by sick killer cop Wayne Couzens in 2021

Why would you trust the service knowing that some officers have photographed naked murder victims' bodies and assaulted vulnerable women, sharing the images on their sick WhatsApp groups.

Other serving officers, like Wayne Couzens and David Carrick, proudly wore their police uniforms to sexually assault and rape dozens of women, bragging to their pals.

Their work gave them access - and even protection - to commit their loathsome crimes. Couzens even used his warrant card to entice Sarah Everard into his car, raping her and then strangling her with his police-issue belt before burning her body.

The Angiolini report into Couzens' history published this week reveals he had allegedly sexually assaulted women for 20 years before joining the Met, and was reported for flashing in 2015, 2020 and 2021, as well as twice at a drive-thru McDonalds in Kent in the two weeks before Sarah's death.

Since the outcry following her death, an internal investigation has seen hundreds of serving police officers accused of sexual offences against women.

Yet the police still claim that 'lessons are being learned' and, in future, no more 'bad apples' will land a job as a copper.

According to Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, official reports in 2012, 2019, 2022 and 2023 all identified serious failings in the vetting procedure for new recruits.

No wonder beaten and battered women don't trust the police.

Over one and a half million domestic abuse crimes were reported to the police in England and Wales in the last year.

Serving officers, Couzens and David Carrick, proudly wore their police uniforms to sexually assault and rape dozens of women, bragging to their pals

The current conviction rate for rape is pathetic, writes JANET STREET-PORTER (pictured on Loose Women this week)

Crimes conducted out of sight, with a devastating impact on victims and children. Children that will end up in care. Women that will end up in hospital, or worse, in a coffin.

One in four women will experience domestic abuse during their lifetime. Day after day, they will be cowering in the kitchen, shielding their children, taking the blows and hoping they can still go to work in the morning.

Eight people each month are killed by their current or former partners. Every single one of these deaths could have been prevented.

Ten years after Clare's Law - designed to protect victims of domestic abuse - entered the statute book, women are still being let down by officers who seem incapable of implementing it properly.

The law followed the death of Clare Wood, who was strangled and set on fire by her abusive partner George Appleton, a man with a previous record of violence against women, who had been jailed for three years for harassment.

After killing Clare, he took his own life.

Clare's law allowed anyone concerned about a partner's history to contact police and ask for their records. It was designed to protect women from serial abusers.

In fact, the police have sat on their hands and done the bare minimum.

Clare's daughter Maddy - who was 10 when her mother died - has spoken out about the culture which allows serving officers to sit on enquiries for months, during which women are being brutalised and beaten, and even murdered.

In the last five years, the number of requests about potentially violent partners has soared by 300% in England and Wales. Despite the Home Office request to answer all enquiries within 28 days, some forces are taking months and even years.

And women say that when they're asked to attend a police station to hear the result of their enquiry, they feel like criminals rather than victims.

Carrick was unmasked as one of the UK's worst sex offenders last year when he was convicted of 49 offences including 24 rapes

In Wiltshire, the failure to process over 3,500 applications meant two people were harmed. The police admitted to a 'catastrophic service failure'.

In Essex, only 9% of those who asked received the information they requested, with the force now admitting they were interpreting the law incorrectly.

According to a BBC enquiry, on average only 38% of enquiries were answered in the last year, compared to 48% in 2018-19.

Doesn't sound like the police have a coherent plan for combatting violence against women, does it?

On Loose Women this week, we unveiled a hard-hitting campaign called Facing it Together to draw attention to the problem, to reassure women (and men) that there are charities and helplines offering support.

We asked friends to look out for signs that someone might be secretly enduring controlling or coercive behaviour and needing help.

On the show, Brenda Edwards, Kelle Bryan and I told our stories of abuse. On film, Denise Welch and Olivia Attwood-Dack talked about their own experiences.

I have received a huge response, possibly because abuse against older women rarely gets discussed.

People seem shocked that I - bossy outspoken JSP - could end up in a relationship with someone who damaged my home, had a horrible temper and tantrums and whose violent streak made me fearful.

In truth - like so many victims - I was ashamed. My friends loathed this man but I had ignored them.

The police were called late at night on several occasions when my former boyfriend was threatening to set fire to things, but the officers could do nothing except tell him to calm down and advise me to leave my own home for my safety.

It took a whole year to get this person to leave, during which I frequently stayed elsewhere, shut off the phone, stopped bank accounts and basically tried to avoid him.

This was before Clare's law, and nowadays there's so much more awareness of controlling behaviour. New laws have been passed which make coercive behaviour (and stalking) a criminal offence, but there have been few convictions.

Where can women go to protect themselves if the police can't be arsed to answer our requests for help?

Clare's Law was supposed to shine a light on the abusers hiding in plain sight. But it's useless if the police just regard it as more paperwork to be shoved to the side of the desk.
While all the parliamentary bluster this week has been focused on the Budget there is still other, unfinished, business to deal with.

With newly returned George Galloway already threatening to weaponise the tragedy of Gaza against certain Labour MPs, we must look again at the conduct of politics.

Once again, the issue of bullying and intimidation threatens the position of a Speaker of the House of Commons. The difference this time is the Speaker appears to be the victim and not the perpetrator.

Many are asking whether he was sufficiently robust in his response to threats from inside and outside the Commons and in defending the independence and conventions of Parliament in recent weeks.

The most important charge relates to Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party. When Sir Keir was outmanoeuvred in the Commons by the SNP in their recent Gaza debate the Labour leader faced a widespread rebellion by the Left.

LIAM FOX (pictured): With newly returned George Galloway already threatening to weaponise the tragedy of Gaza against certain Labour MPs, we must look again at the conduct of politics

LIAM FOX: Instead of dealing with his own party management issues [Sir Keir Starmer, pictured centre right] appears to have pressed the Speaker (left) into changing the rules of the Commons to suit the Labour Party

Instead of dealing with his own party management issues he appears to have pressed the Speaker into changing the rules of the Commons to suit the Labour Party.

Had the Speaker genuinely wanted to have the 'widest possible range of options', as he has said, he could have allowed the Commons the chance to vote for the Lib Dem amendment as well as the Labour one. He chose not to do so.

Labour hope we have all forgotten about the incident and will quietly let it drop, though the climbing number of signatures on the Early Day motion about the Speaker suggests that many MPs will not do so.

READ MORE: Keir Starmer comes under pressure over claims he 'bullied' Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle before the chaotic Gaza vote Advertisement

But we must answer the question of not if, but how Sir Keir pressurised the Speaker into setting a terrible precedent. If allowed to stand it would mean that any official Opposition could hijack a minority party's political time in the Commons.

It is not often I agree with the SNP, but they are right that their position as an independent party in the Commons has been severely damaged, as has that of the Lib Dems, the DUP and other minority parties  they all deserve to have their voices heard.

But we also need to know how the Speaker's ruling came about. Who did the Speaker meet with, and when in the run-up to the debate on Gaza? Were all the rules followed equally for each party, with officials in attendance to keep a record? What, exactly, was said?

Only then can Parliament take a view on whether the matter needs to be examined more formally  possibly by the Commissioner for Standards or the Privileges Committee.

The Speaker may or may not survive the crisis. But a much more important issue is whether a party leader can put undue pressure on any Speaker or House official to change the rules to their advantage.

We owe it to Parliament and the voters we represent to ensure the whole truth comes out.
He is known as the dashing society photographer who became Princess Margarets husband.

Born on this day in March 1930, Lord Snowdon rose to the very highest levels of the establishment.

Yet Antony Armstrong-Jones was an intriguing figure in his own right, one of the most glamorous men in post-war London even before he married the princess in 1960.

Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones was born on 7 March 1930, at his family home in Eaton Terrace, Belgravia

He was the only son of the marriage of Welsh barrister Ronald Armstrong-Jones and Anne Messel. Anne and Antony are pictured in 1933

At 16, he had contracted polio while on holiday in Wales and spent the next six months recuperating in Liverpool Royal Infirmary

He also had a taste for scandal, conducting numerous affairs and fathering an illegitimate child before the breakdown, amid much acrimony, of the marriage to Princess Margaret.

Armstrong-Jones was born, in 1930, at the grand family home in Eaton Terrace in Londons Belgravia, the son of Welsh barrister Ronald Armstrong-Jones and his wife, Anne Messel.

But just before his fifth birthday, his parents divorced and both Tony, as he was known by those close to him, and his sister, Susan, went to live with their mother.

Anne married Lawrence Parsons, 6th Earl of Rosse, later that year. The following year, his father remarried too, before marrying a third time and having a child, Antony's half-brother Peregrine Armstrong-Jones.

In Armstrong-Joness obituary in The Guardian, his childhood was described as 'loveless and emotionally starved', and that he was 'treated as distinctly inferior' to his mother's two sons with Lord Rosse.

At 16, he contracted polio while on holiday in Wales and spent the next six months recuperating in Liverpool Royal Infirmary. The only visitor from his family during this period was his sister, Susan.

He survived the illness, but it took a toll on one of his legs, leaving him with a limp for the rest of his life.

His childhood illness meant that, as an adult, the future Lord Snowdon would be a tireless campaigner for disabled people.

As a boy, after attending Sandroyd preparatory school in Wiltshire, he went to Eton and then Cambridge, but dropped out after failing his second-year exams and decided to devote himself to photography.

His career took after society photographer Stirling Henry Nahum  known professionally as Baron - visited Armstrong-Jones in his London flat, which doubled as his work studio.

Baron agreed to take him on as an apprentice, and in 1956 he had produced enough notable work to be able to put on a one-man exhibition.

This would be Armstrong-Joness entry into royal circles, securing him the commissions for the Royal Family, and thus his meeting with Princess Margaret, at a dinner party in 1958.

He was commissioned to take portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and their children at Buckingham Palace, and took official portraits of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh during their 1957 tour of Canada.

Antony studied at at the University of Cambridge, but he dropped out after failing his second-year exams and pursued a career in photography

His career first took off after the photographer Baron paid a visit to his London flat, which doubled as his work studio, having known his stepmother

Other subjects of his included Dame Maggie Smith, David Bowie, Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Grace of Monaco, and Diana, Princess of Wales.

Margaret and Tony married in 1960 and he would become the 1st Earl of Snowdon.

But behind the public persona  and the glamour of his role and the circles in which he mixed - was a man with an intriguing and complicated private life.

A mere three weeks after the wedding, a child was born that he had conceived with a married lover, Camilla Fry.

His illegitimate daughter, Polly Fry, was raised to believe that Camillas husband Jeremy was her father, and the truth was kept secret for 45 years, until 2004, when Polly decided to take a DNA test.

The result confirmed that Armstrong-Jones was her biological father. Yet the scandal involving him and the Frys did not stop there.

And he was much gossiped about with regards to possible relationships with men.

Writer Anne de Courcy quoted a close friend of his as saying about his various sexual preferences, 'If it moves, he'll have it.'

When asked about his sexuality by de Courcy, Armstrong-Jones, who died in 2017, responded: 'I didn't fall in love with boys  but a few men have been in love with me.'

Society interior designer Nicky Haslam, now 83, claimed to have had an affair with him. In his memoir, Redeeming Features, he said he had 'a very brief romance' with Armstrong-Jones a year before his wedding to Princess Margaret.

Appearing on 2023 ITV documentary series The Real Crown: Inside the House of Windsor, he said: 'Tony was a terrific seducer, he could seduce that table leg. He was terrific fun, Tony, a devil incarnate, but a charmer at everything.

His entry in the Dictionary of National Biography identifies him as bisexual, a label he never overtly denied.

Unhappily, the marriage to Margaret was not to last. The couple divorced in 1978, with allegations of infidelity on both sides.

Margaret never married again but Armstrong-Jones did, later that year, to Lucy Lindsay-Hogg.

When asked about his sexuality by de Courcy, Tony famously responded with: 'I didn't fall in love with boys  but a few men have been in love with me.'

In 1956, he put on a one-man exhibition of his work and the year after that, was commissioned to take portraits of Queen Elizabeth II. He is pictured at an exhibition of his photographs in 1975 in New York

Rumours about his extramarital affairs and his sexuality circulated throughout his lifetime. He is pictured in Sloane Street, 1959, after photographing a fire

In her biography, Anne de Courcy quoted a close friend of Armstrong-Jones's who claimed, 'If it moves, he'll have it'

In the 1960s, shortly after his marriage to Margaret, Snowdon became the artistic adviser of The Sunday Times Magazine

Additionally, his entry in the Dictionary of National Biography identifies him as bisexual, a label which he never overtly denied during his life.

In the 1960s, shortly after his marriage to Margaret, Snowdon became the artistic adviser of The Sunday Times Magazine and established himself as one of Britain's most respected photographers of his time.

His subjects included Dame Maggie Smith, Lynn Fontanne, David Bowie, Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Grace of Monaco, and Diana, Princess of Wales.
A pearl earring hanging from one lobe. Fur, velvet and a gauzy shirt worn open, gold chain snaking across a bare chest. A new fashion icon has landed. The image is of Scottish actor Tony Curran as James I of England in a teaser for the new TV drama Mary & George.

The seven-part Sky Atlantic series lays bare the sex, murder and plotting in the English court presided over by James from 1603. In the show, once-penniless Mary Villiers (Julianne Moore) is ambitious for power so schemes to push her handsome son George (Nicholas Galitzine) into the orbit of King James. Although married, James has male favourites who become rich, important and, most likely, his lovers.

Its odd how little-known James is now, unlike the royals before and after him. Mary, Queen of Scots was his mother, and her abdication made him James VI of Scotland as an infant. Elizabeth I was a cousin and from her he inherited the English throne aged 36. His son, Charles I, was executed in 1649.

Tony, 54, was fascinated by James. He brought in the King James version of the Bible, he wrote a paper on how tobacco is bad for the lungs, and he was into fashion and called his dog Jewel.

Jamess father, Lord Darnley, was blown up when James was a baby, and his mother was jailed and executed. No wonder he was paranoid. He feared hed be stabbed so James used to stuff his doublet like an early Kevlar vest.

In Mary & George, Scottish actor Tony Curran (centre) plays James I of England while Julian Moore (left) plays Mary Villiers. Ambitious for power, Villiers schemes to push her handsome son George, played by Nicholas Galitzine (right), into the orbit of King James

Tony thinks that Jamess motherlessness may have left him vulnerable to Mary Villiers, who became his confidante. James loved his wife Anne, and had children with her, he says. But when it suited him he had Mary around, and when he wanted to be with George he pushed Mary aside.

The series is based on the 2017 book The Kings Assassin by Benjamin Woolley, inspired by his discovery in documents from the time of Jamess death in 1625 that there was something dodgy about it. He was on his sickbed and had 13 doctors, but most of them were expelled from the chamber at crucial points.

After his death Parliament investigated whether hed been poisoned as his symptoms werent consistent with malaria, which he supposedly had. Mary and George and maybe even Jamess heir Charles were implicated in helping him into the grave because of Georges lust for power.

George was rich by then. He was the most powerful figure in the Privy Council which ran the government on the kings behalf, says Benjamin. His motive was thought to be that if he teamed up with Charles to get him on the throne, Georges political ambitions would be realised.

Benjamin says that after Jamess wife died in 1619, when George was already his lover, he wrote an extraordinary letter pleading with George to become his wife. The series portrays their physical relationship, and for Tony those scenes entailed nudity. I like to keep fit, he says. But I didnt want to look too in shape so I stopped training beforehand.

Actor Tony Curran, 54, was fascinated by James I. He thinks that Jamess motherlessness may have left him vulnerable to Mary Villiers, who became his confidante

Tony felt touched by history when filming on location, such as at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire. I was about to say my first line when I saw a huge painting of Mary, Queen of Scots, my mother. Then I saw one of me, King James. For a moment I thought, Where am I? Whats my line? It blew me away that James had been there.

The costumes helped too. We had over 100 seamstresses. Id have two or three people fitting my doublet. It was uncomfortable. Heels were involved too and I fell over a couple of times. But theyd say, Shut up, Tony. You look great.
(Photo : Unsplash/Ben White)

As workers return to the office, some maximize their remote work setups by taking secret or "hush trips."

What is a Hush Trip?

We all cherish the idea of a getaway to relax and recharge, but finding the time for it can be challenging. Some workers have limited vacation days, desire more travel, or wish to avoid returning to a backlog of work. That is where workcations and hush trips come in.

With a workcation or hush trip, there is no need for an "out of office" message. Both concepts involve remote work, not from the usual home office or local cafe, but from a vacation spot. This trend is gaining popularity among remote workers, offering a chance to improve work-life balance and explore the world while still earning a paycheck.

READ ALSO: Digital Nomads: How They Work & Earn While Travelling

Why Are Workers Sneaking Trips?

In the last year, almost one out of ten workers went on a secret vacation, as revealed by a survey of 1,010 full-time employees conducted by the vehicle rental website Price 4 Limo. Of those surveyed, 27% admitted to doing this to avoid using their paid vacation days during their absence. Many workers also stay silent about these trips to avoid productivity worries and tax inquiries from their employers.

"Getting away from it all" has a new twist nowadays. 45% of those surveyed said they have recently taken a "workcation," meaning they traveled to a sunny destination but spent time on the beach working on spreadsheets instead of building sandcastles.

The three main reasons given by respondents for taking a workcation were:

Visiting family or friends

Seeking a change of scenery

Desiring a vacation during off-hours while staying productive at work

How Workers Are Hiding It From Their Bosses?

A Singaporean named Alicia has admitted to multiple trips without informing her employer. She mentioned that it is easy for her as she does not have to go to the office physically, and her manager is not in the same region. Alicia works for a tech company in Singapore, offering a 30-day remote working policy. However, she has not applied for it because she prefers to avoid the hassle of the application process and waiting for approvals, which can take weeks. Alicia shared her experience with CNBC Travel during a one-month trip to Thailand, which she described as her most extended covert trip yet. She also mentioned that she extended her time away for other trips without informing her employer to avoid using up her PTO days too quickly.

Alicia has been able to keep her trips within Asia, allowing her to remain in similar time zones and attend meetings easily. To conceal her location, she uses blurred or virtual backgrounds during video calls and avoids engaging in small talk to avoid suspicion.

Before traveling, Alicia gradually reduced her office visits and participation in after-work activities, making it easier to take short trips unnoticed. However, not everyone has had the same success.

Some individuals Alicia knows have had their plans disrupted when their managers unexpectedly called for in-person meetings with clients, necessitating them to book a flight ticket back ASAP.

Despite the risks, Alicia is not overly concerned about being caught by her employer, as she recently resigned from her position and is currently serving her notice period so that any potential discovery would not affect her. According to Alicia, neither her travels nor her resignation have impacted her work performance as she continues to fulfill her job responsibilities.

How Can Hush Trips Be Problematic?

According to experts consulted by Price4Limo.com, secret trips pose various issues, mainly the risk of losing trust or facing termination if discovered by superiors.

While hush trips may suit some employees, Amy Zimmerman, Chief People Officer at Relay Payments, emphasized the importance of transparency regarding employees' whereabouts.

Zimmerman advised employees who take workcations to adhere to sensible guidelines while away. For instance, attending Zoom meetings from the poolside while wearing a swimsuit, or if workers miss important meetings or leave others to handle their workload, where it is better to take PTO rather than trying to work during travel.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Future of Workforce: 2023 Remote Work Trends

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Nothing could have prepared Anne-Marie Rudd for the moment her 25-year-old daughter Tegan Roberts asked if she was going to die as she lay in the ICU of a Balinese hospital on Sunday.

Tegan had been admitted on Friday when she collapsed after feeling dehydrated and complaining about 'feeling yucky' during what was supposed to be the 'holiday of a lifetime' to celebrate her baby sister Maddy's 18th.

Tegan's mum Anne-Marie, who lives in Nowra on the New South Wales south coast, told FEMAIL she knew something was desperately wrong when Tegan messaged her saying she felt like she needed to 'get on a plane home and go straight to hospital'.

Then she stopped responding to her mum's texts.

Tegan was born with cystic fibrosis and is no stranger to hospitals or feeling a little off, especially in hot weather. But this time it felt different.

Tegan Roberts is in Bali in the ICU after becoming dehydrated and collapsing on Friday

Tegan sent her mum texts complaining about not feeling well - but Anne-Marie didn't realise how bad things were

Then Tegan sent this startling message

It wasn't until she stopped responding that Anne-Marie realised she needed to get to her side

'I couldn't believe how unwell she was when I saw her. She just kept asking me if she was going to die,' the worried mum said from Bali.

Hours after Anne-Marie arrived by her bedside, joining Tegan's dad, younger sister and step mum, Tegan started to crash.

She is now unresponsive and on a respirator, and her mum is unsure if she will ever be conscious again.

Anne-Marie organised for Tegan to be flown to Perth on Tuesday where she can be treated by doctors who are more 'up to date' with cystic fibrosis.

The travel insurance company are still figuring out who will pay for that flight.

'They made Tegan's dad sign a form saying he would pay the $130,000 [for the plane home] if the travel insurance doesn't,' she said.

Tegan with her mum, right, and grandma. left. Her grandma died a month before she went to hospital in Bali

'I don't know how we are going to do that but one step at a time, getting Tegan home.'

Tegan was so excited to be heading to Bali, which was a trip organised by her dad for her sister Maddy's 18th birthday.

It was the first time she had been overseas. And while Anne-Marie had reservations she wanted her daughter to be able have the experience.

Tegan was given a 'second chance at life' four years ago when she got a double lung transplant - and was set on making the most of it.

She described her new lungs as the best gift ever and revealed that without them she wouldn't have 'made it to Christmas 2020'.

Tegan and her grandma were inseparable

Tegan and her friends: Her mum said she was very popular and had a good support network in Nowra

Anne-Marie sobbed as she realised she doesn't know what Tegan would want if she died.

'We never talked about that, even after everything she has been through,' she said.

The doting mum is still in the deep throes of grief following the death of her own mum, Tegan's grandma.

'The day I landed in Bali was a month since my mum died. She and Tegan were best friends,' she cried.

'I just know that Tegan wouldn't want to suffer, she doesn't want to live like that. I think maybe she has had enough.

'But we will see if the doctors can stabilise her in Perth if they can't we might have to make some hard decisions about her life support.'

Tegan's dad and step mum left Bali back to Sydney on Tuesday morning while Anne-Marie and Maddy stayed in Bali until Tegan was on her way back home.

'I can't go on the plane with her, there isn't enough room. But I want to see her off. And then I'll get on the next plane with Maddy and meet her in Perth,' she said.

The disability support worker will have no income while she is at her daughter's bed side - and doesn't know how she will come up with the money for the plane if the insurance fails.

'I took out my super when she had her double lung transplant, so I could be with her,' she said.

Her friends have started a GoFundMe page to offer support, even telling Daily Mail Australia they would pay the money from their own mortgage offset and work it out later.

Tegan, pictured here with her best friend, had been super excited to go to Bali

Anne-Marie confessed she doesn't know what she needs right now - she just knows she has to be there for her daughters.

'I feel for Maddy too - this isn't how her trip to Bali for her birthday was supposed to go,' she said.

'She has been in and out of hospitals with me taking her sister to appointments her whole life, it isn't fair.'

Maddy only went to visit her sister in the Bali hospital once - before she was medi-vacced out.

'She doesn't want to see her like that,' Anne-Marie said.
Millennial mothers are sharing what they've learned from their Gen Alpha kids

Throwing up a peace sign, wearing skinny leggings and saying 'slay' are all on their way out according to millennial mothers, who are forced to keep up with all that's trendy thanks to their Gen Alpha children.

Amongst the baffled mothers sharing their newfound knowledge on social media is 35-year-old Faith Hitchon from Los Angeles, California.

She began a series on TikTok where she revealed all of the trends she's spotted while picking her young teenage daughter, India, up from school, including hoodies and Hello Kitty pimple patches.

Now, she's back with her newest 'trend report live update, reporting from the trenches of raising Gen A' - and it's bad news for high buns and bows.

Posting under her handle @faithhitch, the mother told viewers: 'My daughter had some notes and retractions from my previous videos, so here they are.

'An actual blow to the millennial girl personality, she wants me to let you know that while having a high bun with a claw clip and some framing pieces is culturally acceptable to Gen A, making it your entire personality is cringe.

'I was also asked to relay that not only are skinny jeans completely, completely out, but if you have a baggy repertoire of pants you are building, you should be sure to include Pro Club baggy pants.'

The baggy sweatpants became an instant hit with Gen Alpha after gaining popularity on TikTok.

She continues: 'Star Face pimple patches continue to be a form of currency, but there is a hierarchy to that currency - think Pokemon trading cards.

'Hello Kitty is having a major moment and so Hello Kitty Star Face is at the top of the trading pile, and then it depends on colour ways and what's having a moment.

Amongst the baffled mothers sharing their newfound knowledge on social media is 35-year-old Faith Hitchon from Los Angeles , California

The new trends that are 'in' according to Gen Alpha Brandy Melville clothes

Silver jewellery

A few piercings in your ear and a nose piecing

Star Face pimple patches

Pro Club baggy sweatpants

Flared leggings

Hoodies

Hello Kitty Advertisement

The milennial trends that are 'out' according to Gen Alpha Skinny jeans

Making it your 'entire personality' to wear a messy bun with a claw clip

The coquette trend

Bows

Posing with a peace sign

Saying 'slay'

Leggings

Cardigans Advertisement

'I'm not recommending that you stock pile them like beanie babies but then I'm also not reccomending not to do that.'

Shockingly, she reveals that 'coquette' and 'bow culture' is 'on it's way out,' just months after becoming a trend.

The hashtag #coquette has racked up 18 billion views on TikTok, after fashion fans across the world began sporting hair bows, dainty dresses and lots of pink.

While the official definition of coquette is simply 'a flirtatious woman,' the trend is more about adding little romantic details and splashes of femininity into your outfits - and of course, putting bows on everything.

'What is taking it's place is the edgy Brandy Melville girl,' she explains.

Adding: 'I had the wrong assumption that Brandy Melville would be the new version of preppy, but actually Brandy Melville is now seen as edgy and the culture is moving away from coquette into emo, edgy, Brandy girl.

'Silver jewellery continues to be more popular than gold, as is having a few piercings in your ear. However, having a full ear scape is deeply millennial and a little bit Gen-Z.

Fellow millennials rushed to the comments to share their confusion, with one writing: 'Please expand on the pro club pants'

The baggy Pro Club sweatpants became an instant hit with Gen Alpha after gaining popularity on TikTok

'She feels like having a nose piercing and a few ear piercings is much, much cooler - and whatever you do, please do not tell a Gen A person that you've had your belly button pierced, because it will not go well for you.'

Fellow millennials rushed to the comments to share their confusion, with one writing: 'Please expand on the Pro Club pants'.

A second added: 'Googles Brandy Melville. Realizes I am SO OLD bc the kids and I have different definitions of edgy'.

A third joked: 'Pro Club baggy pants?! What is that. These updates humble me so hard'.

Others added: 'I am Gen X and just cant stop being shocked by these acne patches! Theyre just like so much' and 'Wait I thought the coquette trend just started I have whiplash'.

Meanwhile, another American millennial mother also took to TikTok with her Gen Alpha daughter, to reveal some of their generational differences.

The video they posted under their handle @thepeasefamily, has been seen by more than 3.6 million people.

The first question the mother and daughter duo answered was 'how would you make a heart?'

Meanwhile, another American millennial mother also took to TikTok with her Gen Alpha daughter, to reveal some of their generational differences

Generation Alpha refers to anyone born between 2010 and 2024 and even Generation Z (1997-2010) find some of their ways baffling

Unsurprisingly, the millennial goes for a heart made with their hands, meanwhile her daughter uses just two fingers.

The question 'how would you answer your phone?' also took a similar direction, as did 'how would you roll up a car window?'

Generation Alpha refers to anyone born between 2010 and 2024 and even Generation Z (1997-2010) find some of their ways baffling.

Under this video, one user penned: 'I'm Gen Z, all my answers are millennial'.

Another wrote: 'Im a millennial and my daughter is a gen alpha and she puts 'help' before a sentence and I be like why are you saying help?'

Meanwhile a third questioned: 'I'm Gen Z and what is that heart in Gen Alpha?'

Someone else admitted: 'I'm Gen Z, none of my answers match either of them'.

It comes just after the news that a gigantic wealth transfer over the next two decades will make millennials 'the richest generation in history', a new report has revealed.

Millennials in America alone will inherit a huge $90 trillion from property, shares and other assets over the next 20 years, according to the annual wealth report from real estate consultancy Knight Frank.

Baby boomers - those born between 1946 and 1964 - and the so-called silent generation - Americans born between 1928 and 1946 - will 'hand over the reins' to millennials born between 1980 and 1996, it said.
The royals were celebrating the King's 25th anniversary of ascending the throne

Queen Rania of Jordan put on a very glamorous display on Wednesday as she was awarded with the Order of Renaissance by her husband, King Abdullah II.

The royal, 53, donned a stately gown as the King, 62, presented her with the sash in appreciation for her 'distinguished service, her leading role in the advancement of Jordanian society and her keenness to support Jordanians in all fields'.

The couple, who have been married for 30 years, were celebrating the King's 25th anniversary of ascending the Hashemite throne in 1999 at the Al Husseiniya Palace in Amman.

The Supreme Order, also known as the Bejewelled Grand Cordon of Al Nahda, is Jordans second most senior order of merit.

It is often given to foreign royals of all ranks and Queen Rania has already received Jordans highest honour - the Order of Al-Hussein bin Ali.

Queen Rania of Jordan put on a very glamorous display on Wednesday as she was awarded with the Order of Renaissance by her husband, King Abdullah II

The royal, 53, donned a stately gown as the King, 62, presented her with the sash in appreciation for her 'distinguished service' to the country

The Queen looked elegant with glowing make-up and her flawless style, while Abdullah was a very fitting partner in his smart suit.

After receiving the award, the Queen took to her personal Instagram, where she has more than 10 million followers, to write: 'Your Majesty, I am honoured to receive this recognition, but there is no greater honour than being by your side.

'I have been blessed to spend my life with you, to be the mother of our children and your lifelong partner. You are a leader with a brave vision for his country, firm in your principles, and inspiring in your faith.

'I am fortunate to have your trust and support, and will forever remain a faithful soldier in your ranks, Abu Al Hussein.'

The royal couple married in 1993 and share four children: Crown Prince Hussein, Princess Iman, Princess Salma and Prince Hashem.

The Queen has often been recognised for promoting social welfare and empowerment and is dedicated to humanitarian causes in the country.

She has also been heavily critical of the Israeli government since fighting broke out after Hamas killed approximately 1,400 people in a terrorist attack in early October

In an open letter to his wife, the King said: 'Today, as you celebrate your Jordanian sisters and as the world celebrates women, I can think of no better occasion, nor higher honour, to recognise your efforts.

The royal couple have been married for 30 years - and King Abdullah II ascended the throne in 1999

After receiving the award, the Queen took to her personal Instagram, where she has more than 10 million followers

The award shows the strength of the royal couple's bond as they aim to modernise Jordan together

The Queen looked elegant with glowing make-up and her flawless style, while Abdullah was a very fitting partner in his smart suit

The event was part of the 25th anniversary of their accession to the Hashemite Throne in 1999

'Today, I bestow upon you the Order of the Bejewelled Grand Cordon of Al Nahda (Order of the Renaissance). May it serve as further inspiration for you to continue with all that you do for our country.'

He continued: 'Through thick and thin, God has blessed me with an unwavering companion, who has stood by my side in constant devotion to this nation, putting her larger Jordanian family before her own.'

The award shows the strength of the royal couple's bond as they aim to modernise Jordan together.

Queen Rania characterises herself as a 'mum and a wife with a really cool day job' and millions of social media followers to boot.

She met the Jordanian Prince, Abdullah bin Al-Hussein, at a dinner party hosted by Prince Abdullah's sister in January 1993.

They were engaged two months later and just five months after they first met, they married.

Their lavish ceremony took place at the Zahran Palace in Amman, capital of Jordan. The day was declared a national holiday.

While Abdullah II was the late King Hussein's eldest son, his father changed the line of succession in favour of Abdullah's uncle when he was just three years old.

Queen Rania met the Jordanian Prince, Abdullah bin Al-Hussein, at a dinner party hosted by his sister in January 1993

King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan and their family in a photo released on New Year's Eve in 2022

Queen Rania has become admired for her strong voice and charitable work

This meant that Rania had never expected to become Queen.

However, on his deathbed in 1999, King Hussein unexpectedly named his son his successor as King of Jordan, and Rania his Queen Consort.

Rania was educated first at the New English School in Kuwait City and then at the American University in Cairo, where she graduated with a business degree in 1991.

Since then, Queen Rania has been admired and renowned for her charitable work.

Having been named one of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women by Forbes magazine in 2011, she has been known to champion projects across key issues, such as women's rights, child protection, the environment and youth empowerment.
Photo became a symbol for debate of the war - but has been subject to debate

The famous VJ day photo of a solider kissing a nurse that became a symbol of the end of World War II has survived calls for a ban after complaints it was 'offensive' as it showed a 'non-consensual act'.

The image, taken in New York's Times Square, shows the moment a solider grabbed a nurse - who he did not know - and kissed her, as part of celebrations to celebrate Victory over Japan.

It was immortalised on film by photojournalist Alfred Eisenstaedt who snapped the image for Life Magazine.

Last week, a memo from the US Department of Veteran Affairs was leaked which instructed employees to 'promptly remove' the historic image and replace it with one deemed less offensive.

The department has now confirmed the memo has been rescinded, but the event has reignited debate over the image - which some have claimed is a symbol of a 'very public sexual assault'.

The Department of Veteran Affairs has rescinded a memo banning the iconic J-V Day Times Square kiss photo from its buildings

In 2012, they were name as George Mendonsa and Greta Friedman. Greta, a dental nurse, who died in 2016 aged 92, then revealed they hadn't met before and that the kiss 'wasn't romantic'. They are pictured recreating the kiss in 1980

For years, no one knew who the two embracing in the picture were, with many people coming forward claiming to be the people in the picture.

In 2012, they were name as George Mendonsa and Greta Friedman.

Greta, a dental nurse, who died in 2016 aged 92, then revealed they hadn't met before and that the kiss 'wasn't romantic'.

'It was just as "thank god the war is over" kind of thing,' she told the Library of Congress in 2005.

'It wasn't my choice to be kissed. The guy just came over and kissed or grabbed,' she added.

Alfred added that the picture was 'spontaneous' after her spotted George walking through Times Square and 'grabbing every female he could and kissing them all'.

However, the pair seemingly remained in touch over the years.

Freidman's son, Joshua, said his mother and Mendonsa became friends as they got older.

The pair stayed in touch over the years, and reunited in 1980 in Times Square

The couple are pictured at the World War II Memorial in 2005

'My mom always had an appreciation for a feminist viewpoint, and understood the premise that you don't have a right to be intimate with a stranger on the street,' Josh Friedman told the NYDN.

'(But) she didn't assign any bad motives to George in that circumstance, that situation, that time.'

Nevertheless, the debate over the photo has raged over the years.

In 2014, Time magazine said that many people consider it 'little more than the documentation of a very public sexual assault,' and in 2019 #MeToo, was graffitied onto a statue on the picture in Florida.

Others however have continued to celebrate the photo. On the 70th anniversary of V-J day in 2015, hundreds of couples headed to Times Square to recreate the image.

Various couples have claimed to be the people in the photograph over the years, but George and Greta were finally identified in 2012.

Another angle of the kiss shows George's future wife Rita in the background (shown on the left)

In the late 1970s, nurse Edith Shain wrote Mr Eisenstaedt saying she was the woman in the picture, wandering through Times Square after working at Doctor's Hospital in New York City.

Without indisputable proof, LIFE launched a bid in 1980 to identify the couple, and a flood of war veterans and nurses came forward to claim their kisses were recorded.

But forensic analysis managed to confirm it was Mendosa and Friedman.

Incredibly, Mendonsa was on a date with his girlfriend, Rita Petry, at Radio City Music Hall on the day.

He was on leave after surviving battles in the Pacific, where he watched nurses care for wounded sailors

He says he immediately left the theatre with his date and went into a bar nearby where he began 'drinking and raising hell'.

Later, the couple were walking together through Times Square when he saw the nurse coming the other way and decided to give her a kiss.

Another image of that moment, taken by a different photographer from a slightly wider angle, apparently shows Rita smiling in the background.

'A lot of people say, "Well, you grabbed the nurse and you're with a date." I say, "For Chrissake, the war is over!" I remembered what those nurses did out there.'

For her part, Rita claims she didn't mind, and the couple then tired the knot and stayed married until Mendosa's death.

Greta's granddaughter has since revealed she never felt violated' even though it was a surprise,

Caroline Branin, 28, told DailyMail.com that her grandmother viewed the famous photo as a 'celebration of the end of the war.'

Caroline Branin told DailyMail.com that her grandmother Greta Friedman, who was the nurse in the photo and died in 2016, viewed the iconic photo as a 'celebration of the end of the war'. They are pictured together

The memo instructed employees to 'promptly remove' the image and replace it with one deemed less offensive

'She was always very proud of the image and she thought it was two young people celebrating in the street.

'It was really something they were just very happy about. My grandma signed images of the photo up until she died.

'She was proud to be an American citizen. She was a refugee from Austria and so the end of the war marked more to her than for everyday people.

'She never felt it was something inappropriate. It's interesting they tried to reframe historical events in today's values.

'I have a picture in my house that my grandma signed and even George Mendonsa signed it. My grandma stayed in contact with George and she did parades on V-J day with him.

'She never said it was anything she felt was uncomfortable'.

Mendonsa and Friedman returned to Times Square in 1980 to recreate the photograph. By that time they were both happily married to other people, and had not seen each other in 35 years.

Greta Zimmer Friedman: The woman taken by surprised in V-J Day kiss photograph Greta Zimmer Friedman's name may not ring any bells, but the famous photograph of her being kissed by a sailor in the middle of Times Square celebrating the Japanese surrender in World War II is seen and known by millions. Friedman was born and raised in Austria. She and her two sisters fled Hitler and the Nazis and came to America in 1939, leaving her parents behind. She was 21 years old, living in Queens and working as a dental assistant when she came across George Mendonsa, a drunken sailor stumbling through Times Square amid jubilant crowds after the war ended on August 14, 1945. Describing the moment decades later, Friedman said she would never forget her shock when Mendonsa grabbed her and kissed her entirely out-of-the-blue. It wasn't until the 1960s that Friedman learned the kiss had been immortalized by Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt when she saw the photo and immediately recognized herself. By that time, she had married a doctor, Mischa (Mitty) Friedman, and moved to Maryland, where they raised son Joshua and daughter Mara. Friedman and Mendonsa were reunited through the photograph and developed a friendship over the years, but that kiss in 1945 was the only one they would ever share. She passed away aged 92 at an assisted living facility in Virginia on September 8, 2016. She was laid to rest alongside her late husband in Arlington National Cemetery. Advertisement

The debate over the photo has been reignited after US VA Secretary Denis McDonough was forced to deny the photo's ban after a leaked memo signed by Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Operations RimaAnn O. Nelson began making the rounds online.

'Let me be clear: This image is not banned from VA facilities - and we will keep it in VA facilities,' McDonough said on Twitter .

When pressed by DailyMail.com, the VA admitted the memo was sent out late last month but had since been rescinded. It's not clear if it was ever approved by McDonough.

It's not Nelson's first time being the subject of backlash over her handling of veteran affairs.

Back in 2016, after she was made director of the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Arizona lawmakers including John McCain expressed concern over her 'questionable record' in a letter to then- president Barack Obama.

In one letter, they cited a 2011 report that found a St Louis facility under Nelson's watch potentially exposed over 1,800 veterans to HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.

The report found longstanding issues with dental equipment at the center, but also added that the chances of 'patient-to-patient transmission of a blood-borne infectious disease  was unlikely.'

Still, the facility notified the nearly over 1,800 patients of the risk.

In another letter signed by lawmakers including then Democratic rep. Kyrsten Sinema, lawmakers called Nelson's past 'less than impressive.'

The letter read: 'To think that Ms. Nelson, with her less-than-impressive past, is the best possible candidate to provide crucial leadership for the facility equated to "ground zero" of the VA scandal is unequivocally offensive to us and each of the veterans we represent.'
King Harald of Norway has thanked well-wishers for support as he revealed he is undergoing 'expert' treatment due to his 'challenging' health condition.

The 87-year-old issued a joint statement with his wife, Queen Sonja, 86, via Instagram yesterday as he continues to receive medical care in Oslo.

Harald, who is Europe's oldest monarch, was hospitalised for an infection while on a private trip to the resort island of Langkawi in Malaysia.

He received a temporary pacemaker on Saturday.

He has since returned to Oslo and received support from close family, including Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 50, and her daughter Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20, who visited the monarch at Rikshospital.

'We feel a great need to thank you for all the care, help and support during the King's illness on our holiday in Malaysia,' the couple said in their statement.

King Harald of V of Norway (pictured February, 24, 2024) is receiving 'expert' after falling ill with an infection on holiday in Malaysia

Harald and Queen Sonja issued a statement on Instagram to thank well-wishers for their support. The couple are pictured in 2020

The royal couple not only thanked the Norwegian public for extending 'support', but the Malaysian authorities and staff that assisted them during their stay.

The statement read: 'We feel a great need to thank you for all the care, help and support during the King's illness on our holiday in Malaysia.

'We have felt the heat coming from the Norwegian people at this time. The great commitment has moved us and strengthened us. Thank you to everyone for the concern you have shown us in the family.

'Well back home in Norway, we also want to say a big thank you to the Malaysian authorities and staff at Sultanah Maliha Hospital in Langkawi.

'Together with Norwegian health staff, they did everything they could for the King to recover well through his illness and be ready for his return home.

'We are very grateful to the Norwegian government, the Armed Forces and others who assisted in making the journey home so safe and smooth for us. At the Rikshospitalet, Kongen is now undergoing expert treatment.'

They concluded: 'We thank each and every one who has given us care, practical and health assistance in a challenging situation.'

Harald (pictured on May 4, 2019) was returning home from Malaysia on Sunday after falling ill on holiday and spending several days in hospital, the royal palace said

King Harald, Norway's ceremonial head of state since 1991, is Europe's oldest living monarch. He has repeatedly been hospitalised with infections in recent years and has undergone heart surgery.

He caught a respiratory infection in January, days after dismissing speculation that he might abdicate, following the lead of distant cousin Queen Margrethe II in Denmark.

Two days before Harald's 87th birthday last week, the palace announced that the King would be undertaking a private trip abroad, without specifying the destination or dates, according to the Norwegian news agency NTB.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre said that he was 'sad' to hear of the king's hospitalization and wished him a 'speedy recovery,' NTB said.

Despite Harald's precarious physical condition, the royal is certain that he wants to continue as Norway's reigning monarch.

Last month, the royal confirmed that he has no plans to abdicate after speculation he could follow in the footsteps of his former Danish counterpart, Queen Margrethe.

Traffic officers escort Norway's King Harald V and delegates leaving Sultanah Maliha Hospital in Langkawi Island, state of Kedah, Malaysia

A Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) plane carrying Norway's King Harald V and delegates is seen on the runway before taking off from Langkawi International Airport for their departure back to Norway

The monarch, who is the second cousin of King Charles III, insisted that the promise he made to the Norwegian Parliament when he acceded the throne in 1991 'lasts for life'.

King Harald told Faktisk.no: 'I stand by what I have said all along. I have taken an oath to the Storting, and it lasts for life.'

It comes after Queen Margrethe of Denmark, 83, abdicated after 52 years on the throne, making way for her son Frederik to take over as King on 14 January.

Afterwards, a royal expert had suggested the Danish monarch had broken an 'invisible pact' between heads of state in the Scandinavian countries that none would step down from the throne.

Roger Lundberg told STV that, after Denmark's changeover, there is a chance King Harald of Norway and King Carl Gustaf of Sweden , 79, might follow suit and step down to allow their eldest children to take the throne.

However, this has been firmly dismissed by King Harald.

King Harald V of Norway, pictured, was hospitalized with an infection while on holiday in Malaysia. The monarch is photographed on February 24 in Norway

The Norwegian King was 53 when he acceded the throne in 1991, upon the death of his father King Olav. Ahead of this, he had been acting as Crown Prince Regent due to his father's illness, which escalated in the spring of 1990.

King Harald has faced some health concerns himself in recent years, and spent time in the hospital to treat an infection last May, but clearly has no intention of abdicating.

His Scandinavian neighbour Queen Margrethe of Denmark made the shock announcement that she would give up the throne in her New Year's Eve speech.

The Danish Royal Family have spent the last two years grappling with various scandals, including the Queen's surprise decision to strip her grandchildren of their princely titles.

There were also rumours of an 'affair' after the then Crown Prince Frederik was spotted out in Madrid with Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova.

But Denmark is not the only monarchy in the Scandinavian nations to have had a bumpy few years - with Norway's royal family experiencing its very own 'Megxit'.

King Harald and Queen Sonja's only daughter Princess Martha Louise, who was fourth in line to the throne, stepped down as a working royal in 2019.

Pictured left to right: King Harald V, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Crown Prince Haakon of Norway

It was announced in 2022 that the mother-of-three would no longer represent the Royal household in any form following her engagement to an American Shamanic healer who had been criticised for his controversial views.

King Harald said that Martha would not be allowed to use her royal title any future commercial partnerships with her partner Durek Verrett, 47.

Shortly after the mother-of-three announced her engagement to Verrett, a Norweigan publishing house dropped his book 'Spirit Hacking' over pseudoscientific claims, including 'children can get cancer from being unhappy'.

Among his other claims, Verrett says he once came back from the dead, recovering from a month-long coma, by letting his soul 'burn' and he has also spoken of having to undergo a kidney transplant from his sister as a child.

Following Martha Louise's decision to step down, King Harald stressed that his daughter has remained a princess at his request, saying: 'She is our daughter, and she will continue to be. So she is Princess Martha Louise.'

The princess was previously married to Ari Behn, whom she wed in 2002 and had three children together Maud Angelica, 19, Leah Isadora, 17, and Emma Tallulah, 14. They split in 2016, and Ari took his own life on Christmas Day in 2019.

Crown Prince Haakon, Martha-Louise's older brother, is Norway's heir apparent - and the future King has already had a taste of what it will be like to ascend the throne after stepping in for his father on several occasions over the past few years.
On World Book Day children celebrate books by dressing up as their favourite characters but, with the cost of living crisis impacting parents around the country, that tradition is set to change.

Parents have complained that World Book Day is a 'competition for rich kids' while schools have told pupils to come in pyjamas to keep costs down.

Children across Britain are dressing up as their favourite book characters on Thursday 7 March.

But some parents have warned the original spirit has been lost - with costumes becoming something of an arms race.

Many schools have asked children to just attend in sleepwear this year to keep costs and competition down.

Francesca De Franco prefers to send her children to school on World Book Day in handmade costumes. Here they are dressed as Magic Ballerina (left), Katniss Everdeen (centre) and Matilda (right)

Francesca, 45, is keen to shake up World Book Day so, rather than dressing up as their favourite characters, children can celebrate it in other ways

According to reports, kids were being sent to school in costumes costing more than 100 in 2023 - and a number of supermarkets have released outfits to buy for the day.

Annemarie Davies, a 48-year-old a mum-of-one from Pembroke, Wales, says she was tired of seeing parents sending their kids to school in costumes worth over 100.

The content creator said: 'It's become a competition for rich kids - whereas for me, it's always been about reading the book and children getting into literature.

'It's just got to the point where parents outdo each other - it's all about who's buying the most.

'One kid turned up in a 150 Disney Princess dress - how can a low income family compete with that?'

Annemarie began sending her daughter, 11, to school in costumes made from things she already had around the house.

She added: 'My daughter's favourite costume is The Twits - it was an easy costume to make with old nighties, scruffing up her hair and drawing eyebrows.'

Francesca De Franco, 45, said she felt expected to buy fresh costumes for her three kids every single year, so she started sending them in handmade gear.

Sold with a crown and wand, this Cinderella dress - which lights up - costs 987 on Modesens

Sold on Amazon, this dinosaur costume for boys (left) retails at 141.27 while website desertcart has a Hermione Granger costume for 244

She also started taking suggestions for how her kids' primary school could celebrate World Book Day - and even asked children's author Michael Rosen for help.

Francesca, a PR consultant from Banstead, Surrey, said: 'Children stopped dressing as book characters - we often see lots of superheroes and Disney Princesses.

'People were throwing money at it - without thinking of those from lower income backgrounds.

'We're certainly not on the poverty line - but I have three kids, it would've been upwards of 90 to get all of them new costumes.

'They won't want to wear something homemade if their friends are going to be wearing something off-the-shelf, because they don't want to be seen as too different.

'So, that creates extra pressure.

'There's a lot of profiteering from World Book Day, as it is at the moment.

'I spoke to Michael Rosen, who was totally in favour of celebrating it in alternative ways.

'You could go for a basic non-uniform day with the option of parents volunteering a 5 donation - using the money to get a guest author in.

'Or you could spend the day playing literary games - like story consequences, where each person in class gets to be a contributing author.'

Francesca's twins as Mrs Twit (left) and Zorro (right). Keen to come up with new ways to mark World Book Day, Francesca has even been in touch with prize-winning children's author Michael Rosen to get his view

Parents who can afford it might be tempted to put their child in Harrods' Disney Everlasting Rose Dress (left), which costs 215, or Modesens' Elsa from Frozen costume for 592

One parent on Facebook said: 'Our school has said to dress up or wear PJs, so it's pretty inclusive and the choice is ours.'

While another added: 'Our school initially said they weren't doing it, but the PTA have collected and donated outfits for the children who can't afford it.'

Fran Davies, headteacher of Miskin Primary School in Mountain Ash, Wales, says teachers have organised a 'recycled' World Book Day to help low-income families.

They have encouraged kids to just wear recycled Halloween costumes.

She said: 'We wanted to, first and foremost, celebrate the reading and appreciation of books.

'But we wanted to do this in a low-key way that didn't put additional expense and pressure on parents.

'Children grow out of clothes so quickly - you'll buy them a costume and one-to-two weeks later, you'll have to throw them away.

'Can we think of ways to reuse things like Halloween costumes?

'We've suggested different characters to our kids like Meg and Mog or the Worst Witch - in order for them to repurpose old witch costumes.

'Or Harry and his Bucketful of Dinosaurs - where all you'll need is a bucket prop.'

Francesca's twins as Prim Everdeen (left) and Katniss (right), both from The Hunger Games. However, Francesca would like to see schools having a regular non-uniform day on World Book Day with the option of donating some money so the school could get a guest author in

The lead-up to World Book Day made Fran aware of the dire financial situations some of pupils' families are currently in.

So she introduced the idea of a 'book dropbox' all year round

'Since we've been digging into this and looking into it more,' she added. 'We realised some parents don't have books at home.

'For some, it's a choice between feeding your family and buying books - well, obviously, you're going to feed your family.

'We wanted to give parents - who can be afraid of damaging or forgetting library books - books they can cherish, love and keep.

'It's taken off really well - and we've already had quite a few donations.'

Children dress up as their favourite literary characters on World Book Day from Zog and the Golden Snitch to Miss Trunchbull (and their parents didn't have to spend three figures to make them look great)

Children across the country are going into school dressed as their favourite literary characters to mark World Book Day.

Theodore Partasides, 3, from Highgate is Zog this World Book Day. The beloved dragon is a World Book Day favourite written by the same writers behind the equally popular children's book- The Gruffalo.

Another child chose to go dressed as Miss Trunchball- the arch nemesis of the titular character in Roald Dahl's Matilda. The young girl's costume appeared to be taking inspiration from the 1996 film adaptation of the book which starred Pam Ferris as the terrifying headmistress of Matilda's school.

The McDonagh siblings from Bushey wore a variety of costumes. One sibling went dressed as the lion from Dear Zoo still inside the crate from the zoo. It also includes a flap that opens to reveal the lion inside.

Another sibling, decided to avoid dressing up as Harry Potter or Ron Weasley and instead chose to dress up as the Golden Snitch from the famous fantasy book series.

Who have you dressed up as for World Book Day? Email: edward.holt@mailonline.co.uk

Theodore Partasides, 3, from Highgate is Zog this World Book Day. The beloved dragon is a World Book Day favourite

Nell Sanderson, aged eight, from Winchester, went to school dressed as Miss Trunchbull - the arch nemesis of the titular character in Roald Dahl's Matilda

The McDonagh siblings from Bushey wore a variety of costumes today

The Golden Snitch is the flying ball with wings Harry must catch to win a fictional game of Quidditch in the Harry Potter book series.

The final sibling, chose to go dressed a child-size pink ballet shoe from the book Ballet Shoes.

Ella Jeavons, 10, decided to go dressed as Wenda Wally. Meanwhile, Ella's brother Ethan Jeavons, five, dressed up as Horrid Henry.

Bunny, aged three, opted for a less conventional costume and dressed up as painter David Hockney.

Hockney is well known as a major artist during the pop art movement of the 1960s and is often cited as one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century.

Bunny's mother says this part of the nursery's theme this year which is 'Little People, Big Dreams.'

Ella Jeavons (left) dressed up as Wenda Wally while her brother Ethan Jeavons (right) dressed up as Horrid Henry

Bunny, aged three, opted for a less conventional costume and dressed up as painter David Hockney

Brothers Teddy (left) and Sonny (right) dressed up as the young boy who gets his kite stuck in the children's picture book- Stuck and as the Gruffalo from the beloved children's book of the same name

Ringo the miniature schnauzer from Hampshire, Emsworth, gets into the spirit as Bram Stoker's Dracula

Miniature schnauzers Ringo and George Richardson, from Emsworth in Hampshire channel Stephen King - or Goosebumps - for World Book Day

Teddy, 4, as the young boy who gets his kite stuck in the children's picture book- Stuck. Sonny, 2, dressed up as the the Gruffalo.

World Book Day is not only for children as man's best friend also get in on the action this year.

Dressing up in spooky costumes, Ringo the miniature schnauzer is dressed up as the classic Bram Stoker monster- Dracula. While George has also gone for a spooky costume for this year's World Book Day.

Jayne Gethins' granddaughters Ava and Lilli, both nine, chose to dress up as Hermione Granger from Harry Potter and the last Pharaoh of Egypt- Cleopatra.

Jayne Gethins' granddaughters Ava (left) and Lilli (right), both nine, chose to dress up as Hermione Granger from Harry Potter and the last Pharaoh of Egypt- Cleopatra

Luca Leone (left) and Sophia Leone (right) both from Dublin dressed up as 'Zog's pal' and as Frida Kahlo for World Book Day

Nancy Geoghegan, 6, and Tess Geoghegan, 5, decided to dress up as oompa loompas

Poppy Coles, 5, dressed up as the 19th century nurse Florence Nightingale

Teddy Baker, 5, from Odiham in Hampshire has dressed up as Andy from The Natural History Museum, Andys Dinosaur Adventures

Luca Leone, 4, decided to dress up as 'Zog's pal' while his sister, seven-year-old Sophia Leone, went dressed as Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.

Sisters Nancy Geoghegan, 6, and Tess Geoghegan, 5, decided to dress up as oompa loompas from Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Poppy Coles, 5, dressed up as the 19th century nurse Florence Nightingale.

Teddy Baker, 5, from Odiham in Hampshire has dressed up as Andy from The Natural History Museum, Andys Dinosaur Adventures.

Donna Gray, 44, painted, built and hot-glued her eight-year-old daughter Fleur Hopson's costume from scratch - after she wasn't able to find one online.

Fleur fell in love with 'The Christmasaurus' - a character from a series of books by McFly's Tom Fletcher, after Donna gifted them to her last Christmas.

She immediately knew she wanted to dress as him for World Book Day - and Ms Gray wanted to make it work in any way she could.

So over three weeks she built the costume. She said: 'The Christmasaurus is Fleur's favorite book at the moment - it was a costume we couldn't buy, so I thought, if I can, I'm going to try and make it for her.

Fleur Hopson, 8, dressed up in her Christmasaurus costume. Fleur's mother Donna Gray spent three weeks making the costume

Cecily Robinson, six, from Maidenhead dressed up as the witch from Room On The Broom

James Foale Robinson (centre) was Adam Kay's Robot Butler, Tor Foale Robinson (left) became Spider-Man and Ebba Foale Robinson (right) was Rainbow Grey on World Book Day in south-east London

Lottie-Mae Mcloughlin, two from Liverpool, is dressed up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz for World Book Day

Harley, five, went to school dressed as Mary Poppins today

'You can't just go and get the Christmasaurus online - so I spent all my free time in three weeks making it.

'She used to be really, really big into dinosaurs. She thinks the Christmasaurus is so cute, and just loves him.'

Cecily Robinson, six, from Maidenhead dressed up as the witch from Room On The Broom for her school's World Book Day.

The Foele Robinson siblings from south-east London were dressed up in a variety of costumes for this World Book Day. James Foale Robinson was Adam Kay's Robot Butler.Tor Foale Robinson became Spider-Man and Ebba Foale Robinson was Rainbow Grey.

Lottie-Mae Mcloughlin, two from Liverpool, is dressed up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz for World Book Day. Harley, five, went to school dressed as Mary Poppins today.

World Book Day is celebrated across the UK and Ireland's schools every year. The day is meant to encourage children to pick up reading and learn to enjoy the habit.

According to their website, World Book Day said: 'We want to see more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with a lifelong habit of reading for pleasure and the improved life chances this brings them.'

However, some parents have complained the day has been hijacked by parents who spend over 100 on costumes. This has led many schools to tell pupils to come in pyjamas this year to keep costs down.
Advertisement

Behind the facade of a quaint miner's cottage hides a huge triple-storey mansion with an epic backyard and stunning views over the suburbs to the ocean.

The luxurious modern-met-traditional pad is in the affluent Sydney Eastern Suburb of Bronte seven kilometres from the CBD.

Passersby see nothing but the original historical cottage from the street with a stone brick facade, white picket fence and colourful flower beds.

However, when guests step inside, they are greeted by a stretching hallway that leads to the expansive family room where panoramic views are showcased.

The original 1870s-built cottage was once part of Bronte's Chesterfield Heights Estate and houses two light-filled bedrooms, a home office and a formal lounge.

Behind the doors of a quaint historical cottage in one of Sydney's most sought-after suburb hides an epic tripe-storey mansion with a lavish master suite and stunning views

Passersby see nothing but the original historical cottage from the street with a stone brick facade however, when guests step inside, they are greeted by a hallway that leads to the expansive family room where panoramic views are showcased

The original 1870s-built cottage was once part of Bronte's Chesterfield Heights Estate and houses two light-filled bedrooms. Double arched doors separate the study from the lounge which has tall ceilings and a warming gas fireplace

The luxurious modern-met-traditional pad is in the affluent Sydney Eastern Suburb of Bronte seven kilometres from the CBD

Double arched doors separate the study from the lounge which has tall ceilings and a warming gas fireplace.

The family room is the heart of the home featuring a sleek kitchen with an island bench, a living space with a chic fireplace and a dining area.

Huge sliding doors open out to a split-level alfresco deck with a barbecue that looks over the gum trees towards Gordons Bay.

The palatial master bedroom is on the top level and has a celebrity-worthy walk-in wardrobe, private balcony as well as a lavish ensuite.

The bathroom features a double vanity, deep teal marble and a raised bubble spa bath.

Down on the ground level, there is a self-contained apartment with an open bedroom, kitchenette and a cosy living space.

Huge sliding doors open out to a split-level alfresco deck with a barbecue that looks over the gum trees towards Gordons Bay

The palatial master bedroom is on the top level and has a celebrity-worth walk-in wardrobe, private balcony as well as a lavish ensuite. The bathroom features a double vanity, deep teal marble and a raised bubble spa bath

The basement also holds a wine cellar as well as a huge rumpus room that connects to a spacious outdoor entertaining area through folding glass doors

The basement also holds a wine cellar as well as a huge rumpus room that connects to a spacious outdoor entertaining area through folding glass doors.

A spiralled staircase in the outdoor space leads back up to the middle storey while stairs lead down to the grassy backyard with a stunning sparkling pool.

The five-bedroom Busby Parade property is set to go under the hammer on March 23.

There is no price guide however it was last sold in May of 2022 for $7.9million and has since been given a stylish renovation.

The stunning home is expected to fetch a huge price tag with the current median sale price in Bronte sitting at a whopping $6.62million.

Bronte has seen a huge 25 per cent increase in house sale prices in the past 12 months with 24 homes sold.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has been accused of being 'colonialist' over plans for a new pandemic treaty.

A coalition of Africa scientists fears that the agreement could see nations plunged into lockdown at the whim of the UN agency.

The WHO  heavily criticised for how it handled Covid  is considering up to 300 amendments to its legally-binding rulebook.

But one measure floated by the UN agency, the group worries, opens the door for member states to be made to comply with advice issued during future pandemics, such as enforcing vaccine passports and border closures.

The Pan-African Epidemic and Pandemic Working Group argued lockdowns were a 'class-based and unscientific instrument'.

The World Health Organization (WHO)  heavily criticised for how it handled Covid  is considering up to 300 amendments to its legally-binding rulebook. But one measure floated by the UN agency, the group fears, opens the door for member states to be made to comply with any advice issued during future pandemics, such as enforcing vaccine passports and border closures

It comes as six MPs wrote to the Foreign Office in May last year demanding it blocks any new powers that could see the WHO dictate policy and budgets in the UK. Ex-Cabinet minister Esther McVey (pictured) warned the powers would see the organisation, described as China's puppet by critics, move from a 'member-led advisory body to a health authority with powers of compulsion'

It said they caused 'significant harm' to low-income nations.

Instead, African nations should be able to prioritise tackling their own major health needs, including diseases like cholera, yellow fever, malaria, the group said.

The coalition, which has backed shamed MP Andrew Bridgen for his work into Covid vaccine injuries, said the plans threaten 'health sovereignty' and 'economic independence'.

Specifically, the group is calling for a review of the amended agreement, which empowers the WHO to declare a disease is a public health emergency of international concern, or a pandemic.

They said: 'These new powers should not be considered.

'Instead, an Africa sensitive approach should replace the increasingly colonialist approach of those who now control WHOs agenda.

'The lockdown regulations, which were imposed during Covid and which are still being reinforced in the draft instruments, were a class-based and unscientific instrument, causing significant collateral harm to lower-income people and useless for crowded informal settings as in urban parts of Africa.'

Reginald Oduor, senior lecturer at the department of philosophy, University of Nairobi, Kenya, added: 'This is a perpetuation of classical western imperialism coming through the backdoor.

'It is health imperialism to subjugate knowledge from other parts of the world and think medical innovations and knowledge about Covid or other pandemics have to come from Geneva or the developed countries.

'This is the reason why we must advocate for multiple centres of knowledge... Every society has a right to have its own innovations.'

Under one draft of the treaty, countries would 'follow WHO's recommendations in their international public health response'.

It aims to prepare for the next global health emergency and prevent a repeat of what South Africa termed the 'vaccine apartheid'  where countries had vastly unequal access to Covid vaccines and drugs.

The WHO International Health Regulations (IHR) group is set to agree on an amendments package to present to the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May at the 77th World Health Assembly.

It comes as six MPs wrote to the Foreign Office in May last year demanding it blocks any new powers that could see the WHO dictate policy and budgets in the UK.

Ex-Cabinet minister Esther McVey warned the powers would see the organisation, described as China's puppet by critics, move from a 'member-led advisory body to a health authority with powers of compulsion'.

In response to the fears, the Government insisted it 'would never agree to anything that crosses our points of principle on sovereignty'.

The initial investigation by the WHO in January 2021, which saw a group of scientists travel to Wuhan, concluded that 'all hypotheses remain on the table'. In its March 2021 report, it ranked the likelihood of four theories, ruling the natural origins theory to be the most likely. But it placed the lab leak an 'extremely unlikely pathway' behind the frozen food origin story. The theory the virus has been introduced via 'cold food chain products' - pushed by the Chinese Government - was deemed a 'possible pathway' instead by the UN agency

The Government also says the treaty 'does not have any provisions' for granting the WHO powers to impose lockdowns, mandatory quarantines or vaccines.

The agency has long been criticised for praising China's Covid response, for taking too long to call the outbreak an international emergency and for advising countries against imposing travel bans.

Its probe into the origins of Covid, in January 2021, which saw a group of scientists travel to Wuhan, concluded that 'all hypotheses remain on the table'.

In its March 2021 report, it then ranked the likelihood of four popular theories, ruling the natural origins theory to be the most likely.

But it placed the lab leak as an 'extremely unlikely pathway'  behind the frozen food origin story.

Since then its director-general has called for a new inquiry, saying: 'All hypotheses remain open and require further study.'

The lab leak theory, once dismissed as an outright conspiracy, has gained increasing traction in the years since the virus first caused a global pandemic.

But no concrete proof to support any origin argument has ever been found, leaving experts fearing the truth will never be uncovered.
Controversial physician associates must be barred from diagnosing patients, top doctors say.

Strict guidelines have been issued by the British Medical Association (BMA) amid fears surrounding the increasing use of 'cut-price doctors' within the NHS.

Under the catalogue of measures put forward today, PAs should also never perform complex or life-threatening procedures or be put on doctors' rotas.

PAs do not go to medical school and instead do two years of post-graduate training on top of a degree in a subject like biomedical sciences.

Concerns over patient safety have 'dramatically increased' as numbers of PAs and anaesthesia associates (AA) escalate across the NHS, according to the doctors' union.

In 2022, Emily Chesterton died from a blood clot three weeks after her 30th birthday after a PA dismissed her symptoms as 'anxiety'.

In 2022, Emily Chesterton (pictured) died from a blood clot three weeks after her 30th birthday after a PA dismissed her symptoms as 'anxiety'. She wrongly believed she had been seen by a GP at her surgery in North London but had twice been seen by a PA

The GP practice where Ms Chesterton was seen, the Vale Practice in Crouch End, has now stopped employing PAs. Her parents are now warning of the dangers patients can face amid plans to expand the use of PAs

Norman Jopling (left with wife Maureen), 79 from North London, suffered a serious brain bleed after a PA mistakenly told him that his painful headaches were nothing to worry about

His wife Maureen (left), later accused the NHS of 'trying to cut corners' by allowing PAs to carry out 'complicated tasks they're not qualified to perform'

First introduced in 2003, the role currently allows PAs to take medical histories, perform physical examinations, analyse test results and make diagnoses.

But they should always work under supervision.

PAs are not allowed to prescribe drugs or refer patients for procedures.

The NHS employs around 3,200 PAs and 180 AAs in England. But the Government wants to increase their role.

Plans to increase this to 10,000 and 2,000 respectively to help plug workforce gaps has caused alarm among critics.

What tasks should PAs be banned for doing under the BMA's traffic light system? Under the series of recommendations designed to clarify the role of a PA, suggested 'red' or banned tasks include: Performing invasive or life-threatening procedures including endoscopy, lumbar punctures and caesarean sections

Undertaking Mental Health Act assessments, diagnosing or managing any mental health condition which requires inpatient care

Directing or instructing a doctor or other professional to prescribe a medication or to alter an existing prescription

Being involved in end-of-life discussions, except as a source of information or in a supportive role. The decision-making and related paperwork must be completed by doctors

Discharging patients independently

Being on the doctor rota at any level or used interchangeably with doctors in any way Advertisement

In what the BMA claims is the first national guidance on the role, the union has drawn up a traffic light system to clarify suitable tasks and those which should be strictly out of bounds.

It believes the measures  which it wants adopted by NHS employers  will create clear boundaries 'filling a void that has lasted for over 20 years'.

It come after several recent high-profile cases of harm occurring to patients following consultation by PAs, including three deaths.

Professor Phil Banfield, chair of council at the BMA, said: 'Our guide has been written by doctors, for doctors, to explain to the medical profession what medical associate professionals should and should not do alongside their doctor colleagues.

'But it is also to help patients, to improve patient safety.

'With the Government's clear intent to expand the numbers of MAPs in the medical workforce, but without the clarity on the scope of their skills and responsibilities, it is even more important that patients must know who is treating them and the skills and abilities that clinician has.'

Professor Banfield added: 'We are filling this void at the request of doctors and patients. It addresses their concerns and, in our view, should be implemented immediately. This is a starting point, it is by no means complete, the start of a discussion with the public.

'Our own BMA patient liaison group of lay advisors has expressed horror at how in the dark the public is.'

Both PAs and AAs are set to be regulated by the General Medical Council, which also oversees doctors.

But with reports of widespread confusion among the public over the role and relationship with fully-trained medics, there are fears this will 'further blur the lines', the report said.

It has made a series of recommendations designed to clarify what staff in these roles should and should not do for patients under the careful supervision of a doctor.

'Green' tasks can be carried out independently, 'orange' should be under supervision and 'red' should never be undertaken by these staff, it says.

The BMA said 87 per cent of more than 18,000 doctors expressed concerns PAs and AAs were currently employed in the NHS in ways that were 'sometimes' or 'always' a risk to patient safety, according to a recent survey.

It called for a halt in recruitment to these roles while their regulation and scope of practice can be reconsidered.

PAs today, however, hit back at the BMA, arguing they are not 'servants to doctors'.

The United Medical Associate Professionals, a union representing PAs, added: 'Doctors and PAs have worked together, harmoniously, for the benefit of patients for 20 years. So why all the attacks now?'

Demonstrators, including doctors, gathered outside Parliament in protest against handing over responsibilities to Physician Associates on February 26, 2024. Pictured, Dr Robert Laurenson (third left), Co-Chair of the Junior Doctors Committee, taking part in the protest

In 2022, actress Emily Chesterton, 30, died of a blood clot after a PA dismissed her symptoms as anxiety and gave her pills instead of directing her to A&E.

She wrongly believed she had been seen by a GP at her surgery in North London but had twice been seen by an associate.

The NHS workforce plan published last June has pledged to increase the NHS permanent workforce by almost a million by 2036/2037. It expects to see a rise from 1.4million to between 2.2 and 2.3million. Under the plan, ministers also aim to increase the number of PAs almost fourfold to 12,000 by 2036/37. The plan also suggests that PAs might be allowed to prescribe in the future

Under the NHS long-term workforce plan, the number of medical school training places will also be doubled by 2031/32, taking the total number of places to 15,000

The GP practice where Ms Chesterton was seen, the Vale Practice in Crouch End, has stopped employing PAs.Her parents are now warning of the dangers patients can face amid plans to expand the use of PAs.Her mother Marion Chesterton, yesterday, said: 'To lose a child is terrible but when you find out the death was preventable, should have been prevented, it's just devastating - it's torture.'All patients should have the right to know who is treating them and have the choice to see a fully-qualified doctor.'And Norman Jopling, 79 from North London, suffered a serious brain bleed after a PA mistakenly told him that his painful headaches were nothing to worry about.His wife Maureen, later accused the NHS of 'trying to cut corners' by allowing PAs to carry out 'complicated tasks they're not qualified to perform'.Last year, the Mail on Sunday also told how 34-year-old Colleen Howe died from aggressive breast cancer following delays in her treatment when her lump was misdiagnosed by a PA as a blocked milk duct.

In a House of Lords debate, Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Brinton last month said doctors had reported '70 instances of avoidable patient harm and near misses caused by PAs', including 'fatalities, missed diagnoses causing terminal diseases, sepsis and heart attacks'.

The BMA guidelines cover both the general field of medicine and specialties from anaesthetics to psychiatry.

They state these roles must be seen as 'an assistant role to doctors' helping with simple practical procedures, administrative tasks, and working with patients in a supportive and specified role.

In no situation, should they be the first point of contact for patients who are yet to see a doctor and cannot undertake initial assessments or diagnoses.

When seeing patients already triaged by a doctor as appropriate, they must still be directly and closely supervised, they say.

They must also make it clear in all communication to patients and to other staff members that they are not doctors, the report states, should not be on a doctor's rota nor be in charge of giving any specialist advice.

Statements such as 'I am one of the medical team' must not be used unless also stating their own title.

Professor Banfield added: 'We know that MAPs are working in roles that increasingly cross the line into situations more appropriately requiring the expertise of a doctor, so our report sets out what the Association considers a safe scope of practice that will keep patients protected and allow the NHS to effectively employ MAPs to assist medical teams  which was their original purpose.'

Speaking about the role of PAs in general practice, Helen Salisbury, a GP in Oxford, said: GPs make mistakes, all doctors make mistakes.

'GPs train for 10 years to try and make as few mistakes as possible and to be as safe as possible because it honestly isn't as easy as it looks.

That's really why we need to be crystal clear about what a PA can do in two years training and hat is appropriate for a doctor to be doing, for the sake of patient safety.
AI will listen in to doctors' appointments and automatically generate patient notes in a bid to improve productivity in the NHS.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said the plans will cut the time medics spend on admin so they are free to see more patients.

But privacy campaigners today described the move as 'creepy', while patient groups warned people could come to harm as they will be too embarrassed to discuss medical issues freely while being recorded.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt yesterday announced a 3.4billion investment in NHS productivity through things such as expanding the use of AI, reducing paperwork for medics and improving access for patients.

In a major keynote speech at the Nuffield Trust think tank's annual summit, Ms Atkins today said the 'enormous amount of money' would be transformative.

She said she had listened to complaints from doctors and nurses on wards that 'antiquated' computers hold them up and she vowed to modernise them, using the 'exciting opportunity' that AI could bring.

Health secretary Victoria Atkins said the plans will cut the time medics spend on admin so they are free to see more patients

AI will listen in to doctors' appointments and automatically generate patient notes in a bid to improve productivity in the NHS (stock image)

Ms Atkins added: 'I don't think we've quite had a full public conversation yet about what AI will mean for healthcare, I think we're beginning to see signs of it in the States.'

She said voice activated AI 'is part of our plans for this productivity plan'.

For time-strapped doctors it will mean rather than 'having to go and type up for 20 minutes' after an appointment, 'the notes will be created, thereby cutting down the amount of time you have to spend tapping into a computer', Ms Atkins said.

'I want you looking after patients not looking at computer screens.'

Concerns have been raised about accuracy of such tools in the past.

Indeed an AI software used to transcribe Ms Atkins' speech recorded her as saying 'Christmas' instead of 'Chris Whitty', England's chief medical officer.

Dennis Reed, director of over-60s campaign group Silver Voices, said he has 'huge concerns' about the use of AI to transcribe medical notes.

He said: 'There are significant privacy issues here, which the NHS needs to take seriously.

'Patients value the confidential nature of the relationship they have with a doctor and many will be concerned to learn that their conversations are being recorded.

'If they are embarrassed about their medical issues they may not be as frank as they need to be during a consultation when it is being listened to by AI.

'This could lead to them getting the wrong diagnosis or treatment and cause harm.

'There's also the issue of what happens to the recording once it has been saved into the cloud. There is always the possibility that it could be hacked.

'Having used AI myself for some tasks, such as internet searches, it is clear that it is not always 100 per cent accurate.

'In a medical context, errors in transcription may be damaging. And if it is picking out the key bits of the conversation, it may highlight minor details and overlook important ones.

'This means doctors will need to spend time checking the transcriptions are accurate, which means it may not end up be time-saving at all.'

Sam Smith, from privacy campaign group medConfidential, said: 'Patients should know how data is used, which includes who is recording them and where the transcripts are going.

'Patients should recognise this as the creepy overreach of technology that it appears to be.'

Cori Crider, a director at tech-justice group Foxglove, said: 'With waiting times through the roof, GPs are under unbelievable pressure to see as many patients they can, as quickly as possible.

Patient groups warned people could come to harm as they will be too embarrassed to discuss medical issues freely while being recorded (stock image)

Your browser does not support iframes.

'But two years ago, during the GPDPR fiasco, patients gave a pretty unanimous 'up yours' to the notion of the government, or anyone else, spying on private conversations with their doctor  with a million patients opting out of sharing their data in one month.

'If the government treats people like adults and gives them clear and transparent control and consent over how this tech is used, this could be a quite literal lifesaver.

'But there are no shortcuts to winning that trust  and government has a terrible track record of trying to slip new NHS tech past patients without bothering to get their permission.

READ MORE: Controversial NHS plans to promise millions of patients 'same-day access' to a GP are binned after fierce backlash Officials promised that the original scheme, covering almost 3million residents in North London , would help patients get an appointment easier. But it later transpired that patients would only have a one in 15 chance of actually seeing a doctor Advertisement

'Both doctors and patients need government to stop trying to skip this essential step  and do better.'

Ms Atkins also revealed the Department of Health has appointed former M&S chief executive Steve Rowe to ensure that the productivity plan 'improves care throughout England'.

She said: 'We are standing on the cusp of a medical revolution, where technology, personalised therapies and better data can transform outcomes for a generation who are more health conscious than any that came before them.

'The NHS must seize this opportunity and look to the future, not restrict ourselves to what has always been done. In fact, it needs to have - to borrow a phrase an M&S moment.

'This much love British brand a stalwart of our high streets for decades, realised that change was needed and embraced modernity, pivoting towards the next generation willing them over and securing its long term future.

'This is what the NHS needs to do to make sure it's there for the next 75 years.'

Ms Atkins continued: 'I love M&S and very happy to welcome Steve Rowe into the Department.

'The reason we're doing that is precisely because of the turnaround story that M&S has experienced in the last 5,6,7 years, whereby it's fair to say they were in the doldrums and we all worried about stores closing.

'Now, many of the time I've had a conversation with colleagues admiring their beautiful new jacket and they say, 'Oh yes, it's M&S'.

'And it's because they have listened to what their customers have said, but they've also acknowledged they need to move forward and I think that bringing Steve to the Department, helping us with the productivity plan, but other forms of delivery as well, it will be a very significant step forward.'

Ms Atkin also used the speech to warn local NHS leaders that they must be held accountable as they spend taxpayers' money.

She added: 'We have to recognise that as public services are funded by the public for the public, that attitude is not acceptable and must please change.'

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'Trust is the most important issue when implementing new technologies that have a direct impact on patient data.

'Patient confidentiality will always be a top priority. Any suggestion that the implementation of new technologies will undermine this confidentiality is wrong and irresponsible.'
K-pop stars continued to grace the prestigious Paris Fashion Week with their presence this year, captivating fans and fashionistas alike.

Popular members of K-pop girl groups were prominent figures throughout the event held in Paris from Feb. 26 to March 5 (Paris time), attending runway shows and hobnobbing with industry titans.

Lisa of BLACKPINK was a star attraction, attending the fashion show of luxury brand Louis Vuitton on the final day of the event.

She shared her photo on social media with the brand's artistic director, Nicolas Ghesquiere, and a video posted by Louis Vuitton of the rapper attending the show garnered significant online buzz.

Other K-pop stars who joined Lisa at the same show were NewJeans' Hyein and TWICE's Nayeon.

BLACKPINK's Jennie appeared at the Chanel show Tuesday, while Jisoo of the same group turned up at the Dior show on Feb. 27. Their bandmate Rose mingled with British actress Lily Collins at the Saint Laurent show on Feb. 27.

Ive's Jang Won-young turned heads at Miu Miu on Tuesday, joined by TWICE's Momo and (G)I-dle's Minnie.

Giselle of aespa attended the fashion show of Loewe on Friday as an ambassador for the Spanish luxury brand and interacted with its creative director, Jonathan Anderson.

All ITZY members, excluding Lia who is on hiatus, were present at the Courreges show on Feb. 28.

Analysts suggest the large presence of K-pop stars at Paris Fashion Week aligns with the fashion industry's focus on a younger demographic. They say the immense social media followings of those stars  Lisa boasts 100 million Instagram followers alone  make them attractive brand partners.

K-pop's global reach and the increasing fluency of idol groups' members in English are also cited as factors behind the industry's expanding presence in the international fashion scene. All members of BLACKPINK have no difficulty communicating in English, while stars like Hyein and Jang Won-young are known for their exceptional English skills. (Yonhap)
Four HIV-positive babies were able to achieve remission for more than a year after doctors treated them with aggressive medication, giving hope to treatment and cure research.

From 2015 to 2017, scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health who had treated dozens of HIV-positive babies with one of two different treatment regimens since birth. About five years later, they chose six children to pause medication to test how long remission would last.

In four of those six children, the levels of HIV in their blood were completely undetectable for 12 to 18 months before reaching levels that became detectable again.

HIV can remain in the body but at levels so low the virus cannot be detected by blood tests, which also means it can't be spread to others.

While the virus eventually returned in one of the toddlers, the sustained remission offered a glimmer of hope that scientists could soon uncover a way for children born with the potentially deadly autoimmune virus to live normal, healthy lives.

The news comes just days after a 68-year-old California man with both HIV and cancer was cured of both diseases after doctors essentially replaced his immune system with that of another person who had a genetic mutation that made him immune to HIV.

Four children who acquired HIV in utero have remained free of detectable HIV for more than one year (Stock photo)

The four children who entered remission were not named, and countries of birth were not specified, though the authors said most of the babies included were from sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV rates are highest.

Doctors conducting the study, presented at a Denver virology conference, started out with 440 babies and separated them into two groups, or cohorts.

Cohort one consisted of babies born to HIV-positive mothers who were not receiving treatment for the disease. The second cohort included children born to HIV-positive mothers who were receiving antiviral treatment.

All of the babies initiated a preventative HIV treatment regimen known as antiretroviral therapy (ART) within 48 hours of being born - even before their HIV status was confirmed.

ART is a treatment that prevents the replication of HIV in the body. It can also be taken by HIV-positive mothers to prevent the transmission of the virus to their baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding.

If a mother with HIV takes the medicine throughout her pregnancy and the birth of her baby so that she has a suppressed amount of virus in her blood, and her newborn is given ART within hours of their birth, the chances of transmitting HIV to the baby are less than one percent.

Out of the study's babies, 54 babies - 34 from the first group and 20 from the second group had confirmed HIV when they were born. Thirty-three of them were females.

Six children were deemed eligible to stop taking their antiretroviral therapy regimen at around five years old as part of the study, based on certain criteria indicating that their HIV levels were under control and their immune systems were strong enough to withstand a hiatus from the medicine.

In four of those children, HIV stayed at undetectable levels for 48 weeks, 52 weeks, 64 weeks, and 80 weeks.

The first three children are still in remission and being monitored for the study, while the fourth childs HIV rebounded after 80 weeks.

Dr Ellen Chadwick, the lead researcher behind the study, said: This remission was much longer than we had anticipated.

Were not surprised or crestfallen if they rebound because thats what usually happens when medications are stopped. If we can get the virus to such low levels that we might be able to use some newer, innovative treatments to keep them from needing medication every day, then were setting them up for success with long-term virologic control.

The latest study comes on the back of a 2013 case report known as the Mississippi baby, which described a baby girl born in Mississippi in 2010 to a mother with HIV and who had HIV herself. Doctors initiated treatment within 30 hours of her birth with a powerful combination of antiretroviral therapies.

When she was 18 months old, the family stopped the ART and she remained off the drugs for the next 27 months with undetectable levels of HIV in her blood.

It was encouraging for scientists, who have been working for decades on a means of saving children from a lifetime of being on the medicine. But the babys HIV rebounded when she was just about to turn four.

Dr Deborah Persaud, who reported the Mississippi case and co-led the latest study, said: This is the first study to rigorously replicate and expand upon the outcomes observed in the Mississippi case report.

These results are groundbreaking for HIV remission and cure research, and they also point to the necessity of immediate neonatal testing and treatment initiation in health care settings for all infants potentially exposed to HIV in utero.

HIV  human immunodeficiency virus  attacks the bodys own immune system, rendering it incapable to fighting off infections and diseases such as blood cancer.

Once a person has it, it stays in the body for life though levels of the virus in the blood can sink to so low that tests dont detect it, which is the goal when being treated.

HIV is not equivalent to AIDS, which results from HIV going untreated. Not everyone with HIV will develop the full-blown disease thanks to advancements in prophylactic medicines in over the past three decades.

The resulting remissions among those children are not equivalent to a cure, but they indicate the medication is effectively suppressing the virus's replication, which in turn means a person is less likely to transmit it to sexual partners.

HIV is mainly transmitted via sex and sharing needles, but can also be passed from mother to child.

Dr Chadwick said: We don't know precisely why they did so well, but we think it's because we reduced the reservoir to such a low level that the virus didnt re-emerge in the same way it would in someone with a larger, more established reservoir, meaning, spots in the body for the virus to hide.

Reducing the reservoir  or limiting the number of available 'hiding spots' for the virus in the body  meant HIV had a harder time re-emerging and causing new infections or symptoms.

Roughly 1.2 million Americans and approximately 39 million people globally have HIV, and there is currently no cure, though scientists are zeroing in on the power of stem cells, which have the ability to develop into a myriad of different cell types in the body, including immune cells overtaken by HIV.

Paul Edmonds, the 68-year-old California man who was cured of HIV and a type of blood cancer, was treated for the cancer with stem cell therapy.

This involves replacing stem cells damaged by chemotherapy with healthy ones from a donor - when doctors spotted a unique opportunity: to find a donor with a HIV-resistant genetic mutation.

They found one, and transplanted stem cells that had two copies of a rare genetic mutation called CCR5 delta-3, which makes people resistant to HIV. Only one to two percent of the population have this mutation.

HIV uses the receptor CCR5 to attack the immune system, but the CCR5 delta-3 mutation blocks the virus from infecting the receptor.

The transplant completely replaced Mr Edmond's bone marrow and blood stem cells with ones from the donor.

Since the 2019 transplant, he has shown no signs of the cancer or HIV.

Three other people have been in sustained remission from HIV from Berlin, London, and most recently Dusseldorf. That patient underwent a very similar transplant to Mr Edmond's.

'Berlin Patient' Timothy Ray Brown was successfully cured of the HIV virus 16 years ago

Adam Castillejo, 40, was the second person in the world to be cured of HIV. Earlier this year he revealed he was the 'London patient'

The Dusseldorf patient underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in February 2013 after chemotherapy for his leukemia, overseen by an international research team, headed by doctors at Dusseldorf University Hospital.

It involved destroying the patient's unhealthy blood cells and replenishing them with those from a donor  who had the CCR5 mutation in their genes.

The patient continued to take anti-retroviral therapy after the transplant to stop HIV from replicating in the body.

The virus became undetectable in his blood, so he stopped taking daily drugs in November 2018  six years after the stem cell transplant.

The team of doctors ruled the Dusseldorf Patient was in remission from HIV, adding his case provides 'strong evidence' that the transplant cured him of the virus.
Michael Taylor, pictured with his wife Nora, says he welcomes the new British Isa

A new British Isa will allow investors to pour an extra 5,000 into the stock market each year, the Chancellor announced yesterday.

Jeremy Hunt introduced two new British savings accounts in a bid to encourage investment in UK companies and boost the City  a British Isa, run by stockbrokers, and new British Savings Bonds, run by National Savings & Investments (NS&I).

The British Individual Savings Account will allow stocks and shares investors to deposit an extra 5,000 beyond the existing 20,000 annual Isa allowance  so long as it is only used to invest in UK-listed companies.

It will apply to those who have already maxed out their 20,000 yearly allowance into the tax-efficient accounts.

> What you need to know about the new British Isa

As an investor, I'm backing the British Isa

Michael Taylor, 33, thinks the introduction of a British Isa is a great idea and will help this countrys companies.

Referring to previously mooted plans, he said: What they were talking about before was just setting aside a proportion of the 20,000 allowance of existing Isas for British stocks.

Now, they have created a whole new Isa, with an additional 5,000 allowance if you only invest in British stocks, which makes more sense.

However, he pointed out that the change will only really impact the wealthy, who have 20,000 saved already.

Mr Taylor and wife Nora, pictured, live with their 11-month-old between London and Hartlepool, where his parents are. He is a self-employed stock trader.

After taxes, their annual earnings are in six figures. Mr Taylor doesnt think the Budget had much of an effect on him. He was hoping to see a lowering of VAT because it heavily impacts his business, which makes more than 85,000 in revenue.

The Great British Investor: Mr Hunt said he had received calls from the City to encourage more people to invest in UK assets

Extra 5,000 to invest tax-free raises questions

Mr Hunt said he had received calls from more than 200 City representatives to reform the Isa system and encourage more people to invest in UK assets.

The heavily UK-focussed FTSE 250 rose by 1.24 per cent by 3pm yesterday on the news.

Jason Hollands, of Isa provider Bestinvest, said: The British Isa is undoubtedly a victory for the City stockbrokers and bankers who have lobbied hard for it amid a drought in newly-listed companies and a worrying sapping of companies listed in London to New York.

However, experts at stockbrokers have warned that the measures will further complicate an already-complex system and will only advantage the wealthiest savers.

Just 900,000 savers made the maximum annual contribution of 20,000 into a stocks and shares Isa, according to official figures from HM Revenue & Customs.

Michael Summersgill, chief executive at AJ Bell, said the British Isa was doomed to fail in its objectives to kickstart growth and will apply only to a tiny minority.

For most people, the British Isa only adds an unwelcome complexity Michael Summersgill, AJ Bell

He said: Fifty per cent of the money our customers currently invest through their stocks and shares Isas is invested into UK assets, so this new allowance will have no impact whatsoever on their investment behaviour.

'For most people, the British Isa only adds an unwelcome complexity.

Rachael Griffin, tax and financial planning expert at Quilter, said: While the British Isa is presented as a strategic move to bolster the UK stock market and economy, it is fraught with potential pitfalls and may not address the root causes of the challenges facing the UKs financial sector.

The measure is likely a politically-motivated stunt ahead of upcoming elections, rather than a well-considered strategy aimed at sustainable economic growth.

Investors who place too large a share of their money in British stocks risk giving up better returns in global stocks.

Over the past five years, the FTSE All Share, which tracks listed UK companies, has returned 7.67 per cent, while a fund that tracks the global market has gained 13.03 per cent over the same period.

NS&I will launch new British Savings Bonds early next month, which will guarantee savers a fixed rate of interest for three years on investments between 500 and 1 million. The bonds will replace NS&Is Guaranteed Growth Bonds and Guaranteed Income Bonds, which were last on sale in 2019.

The three-year rate of interest will be announced next month in line with the market, and investors will be able to open an account online. There will be support for customers who are unable to connect online.

Any money invested in the Treasury-backed bank is secure and invested into supporting the UK.
The big Budget move was a 2p National Insurance cut but what are the other things you need to know about - and what should you do to take advantage.

Here our top personal finance experts, Jeff Prestridge, Rachel Rickard Straus, Sylvia Morris, Dean Dunham, Simon Lambert, plus tax guru Mark Levitt reveal how to protect your wealth and get richer.

Find out how pensioners can make more of their income, why you should fly economy not business, why the British Isa may not be worth investing in, why those selling second homes or buy-to-lets should wait, why savers should not fix before NS&I's new bond arrives, and how to get more child benefit or personal allowance back.

Jeremy Hunt has done little for pensioners in his latest Budget, writes Jeff Prestridge

Pensioners: Safeguard your finances by shopping around

Jeff Prestridge, Group Wealth and Personal Finance Editor

Jeff Prestridge: Pensioners must do what they can to protect their income

I am sure the nations mighty army of pensioners felt a little aggrieved about falling through the Budgets cracks. Indeed, the countrys near 13million pensioners hardly got a mention in Mr Hunts one hour (and more besides) long speech.

But there are steps pensioners can take themselves to safeguard their finances and wealth. These include shopping around as a matter of course for services such as broadband, insurances, mobile phone contracts and best savings deals.

Too many pensioners remain loyal to companies which have long stopped providing them with value for money. LOYALTY DOES NOT PAY.

Also, far too many pensioners on low incomes do not claim benefits that can help buoy their household finances  for example, pension credit.

Dont be shy or embarrassed, see if you are eligible and claim it and the gov.uk site.

Finally, ensure any cash savings or investments you have are fully protected from income tax and capital gains tax. That means shielding them inside tax-friendly Individual Savings Accounts.

In the current tax year ending on April 5, you can put a maximum of 20,000 into an Isa  and the same again come April 6 (5,000 more if the new British Isa is up and running in time).

That money then grows free of tax  and can be subsequently withdrawn without incurring tax.

That Isa money will be protected from tax under this Government  and (hopefully) the next one.

Invest in Britain but not with a British Isa

Rachel Rickard Straus, Money Editor

Rachel Rickard Straus: Don't wait for a British Isa - start investing now

The new British Isa sounded very grand and patriotic when it was announced with much fanfare by Jeremy Hunt yesterday afternoon.

The only problem is most of us will never use it.

It will give all savers an extra 5,000 Isa allowance  on top of their existing 20,000  to invest in UK companies.

But just 15 per cent of Isa holders use up their existing 20,000 allowance, according to the most recent HMRC figures from 2020-21  let alone needing another 5,000. Around half save between 1 and 2,499 in a tax year.

Even among Isa savers with an income of between 100,000 and 149,000, just 39 per cent use theirs up.

But while the British Isa wont be for most people, investing in Britain can be.

Many Isa holders stick to cash Isas thinking that stocks and shares Isas are only for those with a lot of money, but this is not the case.

Most investment platforms allow you to set up a stocks and shares Isa with a lump sum of around 100 or a monthly direct debit of around 25 a month.

Investing in stocks and shares comes with more uncertainty than cash, but taking the risk tends to pay  investing your money in a well-diversified global portfolio tends to make you wealthier than putting into cash over most ten-year periods.

And you can always hold both  a cash Isa for money you might need in the next five to ten years and a stocks and shares Isa for money that you can do without for longer.

Anyone can use their stocks and shares Isa to invest in UK companies  you dont need a special British Isa to do it.

The best and cheapest stocks & shares Isas Choosing the right investing account is crucial to keep costs down and get the service you need, but a wealth of choice and a variety of charges can leave investors scratching their heads. We pick some of the best and highlight why investing in an Isa makes sense to protect your investments from tax. > How to find the best and cheapest stocks & shares Isa

Watch out, though. Although investing in Britain can sound like a nice, patriotic, safe-as-houses thing to do, it is not without risk.

For most investors, making sure that you have a well-diversified global portfolio is key to increasing your chance of good, but not overly risky, returns over the long term.

You can hold a portion of UK investments  alongside a mix of others. But going all in would be very risky.

And between you and me, even if you do save enough to benefit from the new British Isa, you dont have to use it to invest in the UK.

Most stocks and shares Isa holders already hold huge proportions of their portfolios in UK investments.

AJ Bell, one of the UKs biggest investment platforms, says that as much as half of the money invested by their customers in stocks and shares Isas is already invested in UK assets.

Another  Hargreaves Lansdown  says that 83 per cent of shares held by its customers are in UK-listed companies.

Investors can simply use their British Isa allowance to invest in the UK companies that they were going to anyway, and then use the other 20,000 element to invest or save as they choose.

Budget reaction podcast: What the investing experts say On this bonus episode of the This is Money Podcast, Simon Lambert is joined by Charles Stanley Directs Lisa Caplan and Garry White for a quick run through what was in the Budget. Press play to listen to the episode on the player above, or listen and catch all This is Money podcasts here at Apple Podcasts, Audioboom and Spotify or visit our This is Money Podcast page.

Fly economy if you don't want to add hundreds of pounds extra to your fare

Dean Dunham, Consumer Lawyer

Dean Dunham: Fly economy or face a tax hike

The Chancellors decision to put up air passenger duty on business class seats is likely to raise hundreds of millions of pounds for the treasury.

Air passenger duty is a tax on passenger flights from UK airports charged at three different levels: i) a reduced rate for economy; ii) a standard rate for business class; and iii) a higher rate for private jets.

So, flight bookings in economy seats will not be affected, meaning those heading off on holiday with budget airlines such as Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air, will not see any increase.

However, if you are booked to travel business class, your cost of travel is going to be greater from 1 April.

At present, business class passengers pay from 13 for domestic flights up to 200 on the longest international journeys. However, from 1 April this will now increase to 14 on domestic flights and 202 on the longest international flights, and could even be increased further.

While passenger duty was an obvious target for the Chancellor  adopting the attitude if you have the means to spend more money on the likes of travel, you will be able to shoulder greater tax payments  its potentially bad news for the recovering aviation sector which needs to be encouraging more people to fly.

Im already being asked how we can avoid the increase and there are only two options: fly economy or, if you are set on flying business class, book your tickets before April 1 as the tax payment triggers at the point of booking  and not the date of the flight.

If you are booked to travel business class, your cost of travel is going to be greater from 1 April

Consider deferring the sale of your property

Mark Levitt, Partner at Blick Rothenberg

Capital gains tax has been reduced on residential property for a higher rate taxpayer on a second property which is not your principal private residence.

The rate reduces from 28 per cent to 24 per cent with effect from April 6 although the basic rate of 18 per cent remains unchanged.

If you are in process of selling a property, then you should consider deferring the disposal until the start of the new tax year.

For the purposes of determining the date of disposal for capital gains tax it is the date of the contract; in practice this means the date when you exchange.

Given there are 29 working days left until end of the tax year you will need to weigh up the risk of losing your sale and the purchaser asking for a reduction in the price to share in your tax savings!

If you own a furnished holiday let business you may want to sell before 5 April 2025 as the capital gains tax rate increases from 10 per cent following the abolishment of the holiday let rules. Otherwise, you will end up paying capital gains tax at 24 per cent if you are a higher rate taxpayer.

NS&I British Savings Bonds may be worth a look

Sylvia Morris, Money Mails savings expert

Sylvia Morris: British Savings Bonds may be worth a look

Good news for savers, as Jeremy Hunt announced that National Savings & Investments will offer British Savings Bonds next month.

But should you open one or steer clear?

Although we already know that the bonds will run for three years and offer a fixed rate of interest, we dont yet know how much interest they will pay.

However, judging by previous offerings from NS&I, they may be worth a look.

NS&I has been known to offer top rates.

Last summer it had a one-year bond on sale paying a top 6.2 per cent.

It proved so popular that over a quarter of a million savers flocked to buy it in the five weeks to October 5 that it was on sale.

The Budget small print also revealed that NS&I has to raise even more cash this year than last.

It has a target of 9billion (with a range of 4billion either side of this figure) to raise for the Government in its next financial year which starts on April 1.

This is up on the 7.5billion (plus or minus 3billion) in the current financial year. That gives it more leeway to offer a competitive bond product.

However, NS&I doesnt always offer the best rates.

It currently offers Green Savings Bonds which run for three years. The money raised is used to fund green projects chosen by the Government.

These pay only 2.95 per cent after the rate was slashed for new savers at the end of January from 3.95 per cent.

This is far below the rate offered by banks and building societies which are willing to pay up to 4.65 per cent if you tie your money up for three years.

The top rate is 4.65 per cent from Hampshire Trust Bank while Skipton Building Society pays 4.75 per cent over a 30-month term.

Rachel Springall, of savings scrutineers Moneyfacts, says: NS&I is a trusted brand, but savers will look elsewhere if they can earn much higher rates.

Tax traps: The chart above shows marginal tax rates for income tax and national insurance on the red line, with a rise to 62% between 100k to 125k due to the removal of the personal allowance. The blue lines show the effect of child benefit removal between 50k and 60k

Pay extra in your pension for a potential return of child benefit and personal allowance

Simon Lambert, Publisher, This is Money

Simon Lambert: Paying into a pension can get child benefit and personal allowance back

One of the traps in Britains tax system was addressed by the Chancellor but unfortunately he chose to kick the can down the road rather than get rid of it altogether.

From April, child benefit will now be removed between 60,000 and 80,000, rather than the current 50,000 to 60,000.

Although raising the threshold will mean that an estimated 170,000 families now keep payments they would have lost, it doesnt change the fact that the child benefit high income charge creates sky-high tax rates for those affected by its removal.

The gradual removal of child benefit payments between 50,000 and 60,000 has created marginal tax rates  the rate paid on the next pound earned  of 54 per cent for an earner with one child and 63 per cent for a parent with two children.

Mr Hunt also once again failed to address a tax trap further up the income scale, where the removal of the personal allowance leads to a 60 per cent marginal tax rate between 100,000 and 125,140.

The important thing to remember for parents due to have child benefit removed, or those earning over 100,000, is that there are things they can do about this.

The child benefit high income charge and the personal allowance removal are based on adjusted net income, which is total taxable income less certain reliefs, including pension contributions.

So, if you make an extra payment into your pension, it reduces your adjusted net income and can return some of your child benefit or personal allowance.

Anyone facing the high marginal rates backed into system should weigh up whether they can do this and the benefit they would get from it.

In the meantime, weve got our fingers crossed that these tax traps are one day properly removed.

Tax calculator - will you be better off after the Budget?
Shares in the BBC licence fee collector fell more than a fifth after it swung to a loss and outlined plans to cut more jobs.

Government contractor Capita started streamlining itself in November to save 60million, and wants to save another 100million by mid-2025.

It cut about 800 jobs but refused to say how many would be lost in the latest plan.

Capita will have to pull every single lever that we need to deliver that level of cost efficiency, said finance boss Tim Weller, as it reported a loss of 106million in 2023, having made a 61.4million profit the year before.

This included a 25million hit linked to last years cyber attack.

Job cuts: Government contractor Capita started streamlining its business in November in a bid to save 60m. It now wants to save another 100m by mid-2025

Chief executive Adolfo Hernandez said: We have yet to deliver the operational excellence that will enable us to create the right platform for future growth or achieve our full potential for the benefit of shareholders.

The shares plunged 22.5 per cent, or 4.53p, to 15.65p.

Mr Kipling cakes owner Premier Foods went in the other direction  soaring 11.5 per cent, or 16p, to 154.8p  as it prepares to suspend pension deficit payments from April.

This will leave it with an extra 33million to spend in the 12 months ending March 2025.

On the wider market, the FTSE 100 rose 0.4 per cent, or 33.15 points, to 7679.31 and the FTSE 250 was up 1.1 per cent, or 202.19 points, to 19,473.22 as investors welcomed Jeremy Hunts Budget, which included a British Isa.

The London Stock Exchange Group was up 2.3 per cent, or 210p, to 9252p after investors, including the private equity firm Blackstone, Thomson Reuters and others, sold around 1.9billion worth of shares in the operator.

Stock Watch - Esken Private equity giant Carlyle is set to take control Southend Airport after agreeing a deal to settle a debt with its owner. The investor will take an 82.5 per cent stake in the London airport, while current owner Esken will keep 17.5 per cent. Formerly Stobart Group, Esken said it agreed to the proposal to settle the airports 193.75million debt to Carlyle. Esken will also delist its shares in London. The share price fell 53.3 per cent, or 0.08p, to 0.07p.

British Airways owner IAG flew even higher  4.8 per cent, or 6.8p, to 148.65p  after JP Morgan said that the company could outperform market expectations as it moves from cutting costs to driving up profits.

Travel firm Tui rose 9 per cent, or 47p, to 569p while Greggs increased 2.7 per cent, or 76p, to 2850p following broker upgrades.

Box sales at takeover target DS Smith improved in the third quarter to the end of January.

The paper and packaging firm has been approached by rival Mondi, which has until today to make a firm offer or walk away. It dipped 1.4 per cent, or 4.5p, to 315.8p.

Data centre and wireless network investor Digital 9 Infrastructure expects the sale of its crown jewel to be completed this month.

The deal passed the final regulatory hurdle, paving the way for its Verne Global business to be sold to Ardian France SA for around 465million, and lifting it 25.7 per cent, or 4.86p, to 23.8p.

Colostomy bag maker Convatec raised forecasts following a strong pipeline of products such as its new urinary catheter for women.

Revenues are now expected to increase between 5 per cent and 7 per cent every year. It gained 6.1 per cent, or 15.4p, to 267.8p.

Construction firm Breedon will start trading in the US after it bought the Missouri-based concrete supplier BME for nearly 240million. Shares increased 4 per cent, or 15p, to 395p.
White van man was among those handed a much-needed boost after the Chancellor raised the level at which businesses have to pay VAT.

The threshold was raised from 85,000 in turnover to 90,000, giving everyone from painters and decorators to florists and tea shop owners across the UK a shot in the arm.

It was the first rise for seven years and will benefit around 28,000 businesses, according to the Treasury.

The freeze in recent years has forced some to increase prices to account for the extra tax burden, while others have actively avoided the threshold altogether  deliberately stunting their growth.

The plan to raise the threshold for small businesses by 5,000 will cut taxes and help them grow, Jeremy Hunt said in the Budget yesterday.

Business boost: The level at which businesses have to pay VAT was raised from 85,000 in turnover to 90,000

The Government recognises that VAT can be a burden for some small businesses, and will therefore increase the VAT registration threshold to 90,000, the Treasury added.

The change will come in from April 1.

But some business leaders think the plans do not go far enough, with many hoping for a rise in the turnover to 100,000.

Owen Burn, at wealth manager Evelyn Partners, warned: Businesses may opt to manage turnover to remain under the threshold. It is unclear what level of growth this marginal rise will deliver for those in and around the threshold.

The plan was announced alongside a number of measures to help businesses, most notably the Growth Guarantee Scheme, which will run until the end of March 2026.

The scheme offers a 70 per cent Government guarantee on loans to small and medium businesses of up to 2million in Great Britain, and 1million in Northern Ireland.

At the same time, Hunt also announced another cut to self-employed National Insurance contributions, which will fall from 8p to 6p from April, and a commitment to extend full expensing to leasing plant and machinery equipment.

However businesses were left unimpressed, dubbing it the unremarkable Budget for business. Many wanted to see the issue of staff shortages addressed as well as plans to improve training for workers.

The Chancellor unveiled a 2p cut in National Insurance to try to attract more back to the workplace but others wanted Hunt to address problems around the long-term sick.

Roger Barker, director at the Institute of Directors, said: What is the Governments plan to encourage the long-term sick back to work?

That is the major issue for every business that so far no one has an answer to.
Astrazeneca will inject 650million into Britains world-leading pharmaceutical industry in a major boost to the economy.

The FTSE 100 group will plough 450million into researching, developing and manufacturing new vaccines at its plant in Speke, Liverpool.

The drugs giant, which developed a Covid vaccine with Oxford University, will also spend 200million on expanding at Europes largest life sciences cluster in Cambridge.

The plans were announced by Jeremy Hunt yesterday, when he referred to the French boss of AstraZeneca Sir Pascal Soriot as mon ami  or my friend.

Hailing more investment and better jobs in every corner of the country, the Chancellor said: AstraZenecas investment plans are a vote of confidence in the attractiveness of UK as a life sciences superpower and strengthen our resilience for future health emergencies.

Mon ami: Astrazeneca boss Pascal Soriot will plough 450m into researching, developing and manufacturing new vaccines at its plant in Speke, Liverpool

The investment suggested Soriots faith in Britain has been restored after he last February called the UK a very unattractive place to do business.

He pointed to Astras decision to build a factory in Ireland instead of the UK as evidence of Britain becoming less attractive.

But Soriot last month told the Mail: The environment in the UK for life sciences today is different from what it was almost a year ago.

And he yesterday said the planned investment will enhance the UKs pandemic preparedness and demonstrates our confidence in UK life sciences.

Astra already develops jabs for children in Speke while the investment in Cambridge will support 1,000 jobs at a facility alongside its 1.1billion global research and development centre that houses 2,300 researchers and scientists.

It is also opening a manufacturing site for one of its cancer medicines in Macclesfield this year following the announcement of a 380million investment in 2021. Soriot, 64, has been credited with turning the London-listed drug makers fortunes around.

Since he took the reins in 2012, the companys shares have more than tripled.

And he oversaw the development of the firms Covid vaccine that allowed lockdowns during the pandemic to be lifted.

The company more than doubled its annual profits last year thanks to bumper sales of its cancer treatments.

Profits hit 5.5billion in 2023, up from 1.9billion the year before, as sales rose 3 per cent to 36.3billion.

The group said that its revenue and earnings this year would be lifted by its blockbuster oncology medicines.

And this bumper performance has been personally lucrative for Soriot, who scooped up his biggest pay deal last year, earning 16.9million  the fifth year in a row that he has taken home more than 15million.

This took his total earnings to 135million during his 12-year tenure.
Blast off: The Chancellor yesterday unveiled plans to invest 10m into a spaceport on the Shetland Islands

The UKs space sector has for small firms been handed extra cash. The Chancellor plans to invest 10million in SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands which hopes to send satellites into space by the end of this year.

It has several operators around the world hoping to launch. This will help us capitalise on our work as we move towards the first orbital launch from UK and European soil, SaxaVord said.

The Government has backed UK space and in November, came up with 47million to be spread across 12 projects. The sector employs almost 50,000 people and added 7billion to the UK economy in 2022, a trade body says.

Saxavord was set up by Frank Strang alongside his wife Debbie, who planned to create a tourist attraction.

That changed when the Government started scouting for locations for spaceports.
The boss of Aviva has shrugged off talk that the insurance group is now a takeover target as foreign predators circle British companies.

Announcing a share buyback and a higher dividend on the back of rising profits, chief executive Amanda Blanc hailed a significant improvement since she took over three years ago.

And with takeover speculation swirling, she said: The best defence of any organisation is to have a strong performance.

And that is what you have seen from Aviva. So am I worried about it? No, I am not. Our prospects have never been better.

Profits boost: Aviva boss Amanda Blanc hailed a 'significant improvement' since she took over three years ago

Her comments come amid a frenzy of takeover activity with haulier Wincanton and telecoms testing group Spirent set to fall into US hands, while Currys and Direct Line are also attracting attention from overseas.

Fund managers at JO Hambro Capital Management, a top ten investor in Currys, this week attacked the low-ball approaches by international predators.

Clive Beagles and James Lowen, senior managers at the fund, said the interest in Currys clearly shows the absurdity of UK stock-market valuations.

Richard Bernstein, boss of activist investor Crystal Amber, has also raised alarm bells, saying US buyers in particular understand that theyre acquiring bargains.

Aviva is said to be in the sights of Italian insurer Generali. Blanc, who became Avivas first female chief in 2020 and saw her pay rise from 5.4million to 6.6million last year, described the speculation as largely market chatter.

It came as Aviva outlined plans to hand 300million back to investors through a share buyback and has improved its dividend after a jump in profits.

The FTSE 100 firm told shareholders group operating profits rose 9 per cent to 1.47billion in 2023 compared with the previous year.

The increase was aided by strong rises in its general insurance, health and retirement divisions.

General insurance premiums increased by 16 per cent to 6.64billion for the year, with a 24 per cent increase in personal lines premiums.

The protection and health business saw sales were up by 16 per cent amid an improved uptake in health insurance.

Retirement sales soared by 14 per cent to 7.1billion, which was driven by increased bulk purchase annuity transactions.

As a result of the improved financial performance, Aviva announced a share buyback programme to purchase 300million in shares from investors.

It also confirmed a total dividend per share of 33.4p for the year. The firm said it plans to reach operating profits of 2billion by 2026.

Blanc said: Sales are up, costs are down, and operating profit is 9 per cent higher.

Our position as the UKs leading diversified insurer, with major businesses in Canada and Ireland, is clearly delivering.

Shares rose 1.6 per cent, or 7.3p, to 462,2p, valuing Aviva at 12.7billion.
Nationwide and Virgin Money have agreed to join forces to create the second biggest savings and loans group in the UK.

The building society will pay 220p a share, or 2.9billion, for Virgin Money, which was set up by Richard Branson in 1995 and pays the tycoon to use the Virgin name.

The proposed deal will create a business with 366billion of assets and almost 700 branches as Nationwide steps up its battle with the big High Street banks.

Nationwide will continue to use the Virgin Money brand until at least 2030 but eventually the name will vanish from the High Street.

The plan will see yet another FTSE 250 firm leave the London stock market following a wave of mergers and acquisitions.

Nationwide, led by chief exec Debbie Crosbie (pictured), will pay 2.9bn, for Virgin Money, which was set up by Richard Branson in 1995

After being founded by Branson, Virgin Money expanded with the purchase of Northern Rock from the Government after the 2008 financial crisis. Virgin Money was later bought by Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank for 1.7billion in 2018.

In the medium-term, Virgin Money will be a separate legal entity within the Nationwide group, with a separate board and banking licence.

There will be no changes to Virgin Moneys 7,300 employees in the near-term, the announcement said.

Nationwides offer of 220p per Virgin Money share was a 38 per cent premium to the banks closing price on Wednesday.

Virgin Money shares rose 35 per cent, or 55.65p, to 214.7p yesterday.

The building societys mutual members do not need to approve the deal for it to go ahead. But it does need the green light from Virgin Money shareholders. The board has said it is minded to recommend the offer to investors.

Nationwide chief executive Debbie Crosbie said: Nationwide will remain a building society and a combined group would bring the benefits of fairer banking and mutual ownership to more people in the UK, including our continuing commitment to retain existing branches.

AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said: Nationwide is effectively pouncing on Virgin Money at a time when prospects are improving for its industry.

This is slightly unusual as companies often buy rivals at precisely the wrong time  namely acquiring at the top of the market when everything looks good and then overpaying for deals, rather than taking bold steps and acquiring when everything looks bad and valuations are weak.

He added: We might get interest from other parties now that Nationwide has thrown its hat into the ring, or shareholders might push for a better price.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: A mutual taking over a listed bank is a rare move, but Nationwide clearly does not want to be stuck in the past and wants the knowhow and access to scoop up future customers.

Barclays said last month it would buy Tescos banking operations and it is thought Nationwides swoop on Virgin Money could spark further merger and acquisition activity.

With the outlook for the UK economy stabilising, we wouldnt be surprised to see more deals like this, said RBC Capital Markets analyst Benjamin Toms.
Pay rise: BAE boss Charles Woodburn earned 13.5m in 2023, up from 12m the year before

The boss of Britains biggest defence company scooped his biggest pay cheque last year  taking his total earnings to almost 50million since becoming chief executive in 2017.

BAE Systems chief executive Charles Woodburn was handed 13.5million in 2023, up from 12million the year before.

That took his total earnings to 46million  putting him among the highest-paid Footsie bosses.

AstraZeneca chief Pascal Soriot received 16.9million last year, while Erik Engstrom, of data analytics Relx, took home 13.6million and GSK boss Dame Emma Walmsley landed 12.7million.

Fat cat pay has been high on the Citys agenda, with David Schwimmer, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), saying that UK companies should reward executives more to compete with US businesses.

LSEG is canvassing shareholders to approve a new 11million pay deal for Schwimmer  double his 6.25million in 2023.

Since Woodburn has been in charge, BAE shares have risen to 1272p, from 631.5p in 2017.

It has cashed in on geopolitical tensions and, this year, it donated its M777 howitzers to Ukraine.

Nato members are being urged to honour their commitments, with Woodburn backing the USs calls for European nations to increase defence spending to at least the 2 per cent target.

He said Natos leadership had made it clear that the target was a minimum and not a maximum.
By Yoon Ja-young

Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Department of Energy for cooperation in supply chains and eco-friendly energy, the bank announced Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Energy, which is in charge of the countrys energy and nuclear security policy, supports investment in eco-friendly energy-related facilities such as manufacturing plants and infrastructure through its Loan Programs Office.

The state-run banks chairman and CEO Yoon Hee-Sung signed the MOU with Jigar Shah, director of the Loan Programs Office, at the U.S. Department of Energy headquarters in Washington D.C., Wednesday, local time.

It is the first time for the Eximbank to sign an MOU with a U.S. department.

The agreement for cooperation comes as Korean businesses are increasingly advancing into the U.S., both in terms of exports and direct investment, amid the restructuring of global supply chains. The two organizations pledged cooperation in eco-friendly energy industry sectors  such as secondary batteries, electric vehicles, core minerals, renewable energy, hydrogen power and bio energy  to attain the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

The two plan to form a council to exchange information and search for new projects to jointly engage in financial support.

The MOU will greatly contribute to expansion of Korea-U.S. economic cooperation as well as helping us better cope with the restructuring of the global supply chain. We will expand financial support to enhance competitiveness of Korean firms that have strength in eco-friendly energy sectors, such as solar and hydropower, Yoon said.

Eximbank also signed an MOU with the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. in December last year, to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries.
Experience: Chair of the Treasury Select Committee Harriett Baldwin had a 20-year career in the City

Our financial services sector is world-beating and well-paid. Its a part of the economy that benefits women and men across the UK and its growth, competitiveness and profits rely on attracting and retaining the very best people.

I enjoyed a successful 20-year career in the City before politics, so Im no stranger to the issues which affect women in financial services.

Much has changed since, but you only need to look at the woefully low number of female chief executives in finance to see that there is room for improvement.

In 2016, when I was City Minister, I shone a light on the issue by launching the Women in Finance Charter, which now has over 400 signatories covering more than 1m employees.

Before my time on the Treasury select committee, in 2018, it had found there was a toxic alpha-male culture in the City that made it difficult for talented women to prosper.

Now, with me as chair, our committee decided to look again in order to see what has (or indeed, hasnt) changed in the last six years.

Disappointingly, what weve discovered is that the answer is not much. In fact, progress is moving at a snails pace.

We spoke with industry leaders, regulators, womens advocacy groups and Government ministers to understand what they were doing about it. What was really crucial, though, was to understand the reality.

We hosted a private event with women who had worked across all levels and areas of financial services.

Their evidence was anonymous, enabling them to share honest experiences of working in a male-dominated industry without fear of reprisals.

We were appalled. Women described their experiences of misogyny, sexual harassment and bullying, up to and including serious sexual assault and rape.

We received particularly disturbing testimony regarding non-disclosure agreements, which we were told firms were using to cover up sexual harassment.

Not only does this silence victims of abuse, it also leaves the door open for those responsible to continue abusing with impunity.

I feel strongly that businesses need to take responsibility for tackling sexism in the City. Boardrooms and senior managers shouldnt have to look to the Government or regulators before they act to give women a fair deal.

If boardrooms became aware of an employee siphoning off profits, would they wait for an authority figure to tell them that was wrong and that they should act? Of course not.

Its not all doom and gloom. We did see some incremental improvement on issues such as the gender pay gap and female representation in senior roles. But its not enough.

A recent study by BlackRock showed that gender-balanced firms outperform their peers, which shows the competitive advantage on offer when efforts are made to attract and retain great people.

Some progress has been made but there is much still to do. The City must be able to draw on the widest possible pool of talent and boardrooms need to play their role in rooting out the sexist culture which still taints some corners of the industry.

Failing to do so is not only immoral, but its bad for business.

Harriett Baldwin is the Conservative MP for West Worcestershire and Chair of the Treasury Select Committee.
The departing boss of Marks and Spencer has been tipped to run John Lewis.

Katie Bickerstaffe, who was the first woman to lead M&S when she was made co-chief executive two years ago, is leaving the company in July.

She has helped oversee a revival at the High Street giant  but much of the credit has gone to chairman Archie Norman and her fellow boss Stuart Machin.

Machin was appointed alongside Bickerstaffe in March 2022 but was handed the more senior job title of chief executive  without the co. He will now take sole control of the company.

Analysts at BNP Paribas said: The title co-CEO always seemed generous.

Stepping down: M&S boss Katie Bickerstaffe is leaving the company in July

Industry experts said Bickerstaffes departure could pave the way for her to become chairman of the John Lewis Partnership (JLP) when Sharon White leaves next year.

Retail analyst Nick Bubb, who described her appointment as co-chief of M&S when Machin appeared to be handed a more senior role as not just any fudge but an M&S fudge, said it was no real surprise she wants to leave.

He added: Could she be the answer to JLPs problems? I think she would be a terrific replacement for Sharon White.

Bickerstaffe said: I took on the co-CEO role to support Stuart as he succeeded to chief executive officer and because of my love for the brand and my determination to see the transformation of M&S through to the next stage.

We have built a strong team, made great progress, and it is now right that the business and function heads report directly to Stuart. I will leave with great memories and a strong sense of achievement.

She is reportedly going to take a non-executive director role at Kingfisher, but the B&Q owner declined to comment.

Bickerstaffe has helped M&S back into fashion after years in the doldrums, including a triumphant return to the FTSE 100 last year. But Machin has been more in the limelight.

AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said: The co-CEO structure is always a difficult one to maintain as it presents the risk of a power struggle.

It looked as if Machin had the upper hand from the day their co-leadership was announced.

He was always referred to as chief executive without any co in his title. She was often attributed as supporting Machin, which implied being a deputy.
Plans to demolish outbuildings at the childhood home of celebrated 19th century writer George Eliot have been called 'wildly misguided' by campaigners.

Eliot, whose real name was Mary Ann Evans but published works including The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch and under a male pseudonym, grew up at Griff House, near Nuneaton in Bedfordshire.

Although Eliot moved away to attend school, she returned aged 16 in 1836 following the death of her mother to work in the dairy and as a housekeeper.

The main property is now a restaurant run under Whitbread's Beefeater brand.

Whitbread also owns the earmarked outbuildings, which the George Eliot Fellowship now wants to knock down and replace with a museum and visitor centre, using some of the original bricks.

The Victorian Society, which supports the creation of a visitor centre in principle, is fiercely opposed to the plans.

They argue that the buildings, which are believed to have been built in the early 19th century, 'formed part of the world' Eliot grew up in and should be renovated rather than demolished.

Plans to demolish outbuildings at the childhood home of celebrated 19th century writer George Eliot have been called 'wildly misguided' by campaigners. Above: The outbuildings at Griff House near Nuneaton in Bedfordshire

Eliot, whose real name was Mary Ann Evans but published works including The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch and under a male pseudonym, grew up at Griff House

However, John Burton, the chairman of the George Eliot Fellowship, told MailOnline that the loss of 'poor quality workmanship' will be compensated for by the planned structure.

The fellowship argues that the level of work that would be needed to bring the buildings to a usable condition would destroy any remaining historical character that they have.

The outbuildings feature in an engraving in author John Cross's first biography of Eliot, which was published in 1885.

Guy Newton, the Victorian Society's conservation advisor, said: 'These are buildings George Eliot knew, they formed part of the world she grew up in and a part of those first impressions of English rural life she would later go on to expertly and vividly write about.

'The destruction of what are essentially George Eliot artefacts in order to create a museum dedicated to George Eliot is wildly misguided.

'It's only right Eliot's legacy is celebrated and in principle we support the creation of a museum and visitor centre but it simply needs to be built elsewhere.

The George Eliot Fellowship wants to knock down the dilapidated outbuildings and replace them with a museum, using some of the original bricks

The main property is now a restaurant run under Whitbread's Beefeater brand

John Burton, the chairman of the George Eliot Fellowship, said that the loss of 'poor quality workmanship' will be compensated for by the planned structure

The fellowship argues that the level of work that would be needed to bring the buildings to a usable condition would destroy any remaining historical character that they have

'Many historic house museums have lost their service areas in the mistaken belief they were of no interest and irrelevant to the history of a house or its inhabitants.

'We know for a fact that Eliot worked in the dairy and drew inspiration from this farmstead.

'Every effort should be made to conserve these characterful agricultural buildings'.

Mr Brown said: 'At present the public cannot see the building in its tumbledown state, nor can they see the 17th century half timbered original North Warwickshire farmhouse ten yards from our site.

'Our plans would enable the whole history of the site to be explained and illustrated in its historical context - George Eliot wasn't the only famous person to have lived there.

'We think that the loss of the original, actually not one original but several stages of poor quality workmanship tacked together over about 150 years, will be compensated for by the use the George Eliot Fellowship can make of the site right at the heart of the home she shared with her family from 1820 until 1841.'

The outbuildings feature in an engraving in the first biography of Eliot, which was written by John Cross and published in 1885

The plans are currently before Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council. A decision on the application is due on April 5.

The Victorian Society has asked members of the public to object to the demolition before March 12.

The George Eliot fellowship had originally opposed Whitbread's plans to demolish the outbuildings and convert the area into a car park.

They persuaded the firm to allow it to bid for the outbuildings to be replaced with a visitor centre using the same footprint.

The Griff House Fellowship has raised 190,000 to create the building. Whitbread has given the charity 80,000 to help with the project.
James Carville is a veteran political consultant who served as lead campaign strategist for President Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential campaign

How ironic that Democrats in 2024 are again set to hold the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

For I fear a repeat of 1968.

Nearly six decades ago, delegates were gathered inside the International Amphitheatre in the Windy City to nominate Hubert Humphrey for president, but outside it was chaos.

Ten thousand anti-Vietnam war demonstrators were met by more than two thousand police and National Guardsman.

I remember watching it all as a 23-year-old, fresh out of the Marine Corps. The war was as real as it could get for me.

Tear gas was fired into the crowds. Officers indiscriminately beat protesters. Hundreds were sent to the hospital and even more were injured.

Television cameras captured it all  communicating to Americans at home that the disorder that they feared was worse than it seemed.

I'm not predicting that Chicago's streets will again erupt into violence, but if tensions in the Democratic party continue to build over the ongoing Israel-Gaza war  the discontented are going to seek an outlet value. And their numbers may be overwhelming.

In the Michigan Democratic primary, 100,000 voters cast a ballot for 'uncommitted' instead of President Joe Biden. And along with Arab American communities in Dearborn and Hamtramck and college students in Ann Arbor, Michigan, black voters are upset over the carnage in Gaza.

Last weekend, First Lady Jill Biden was heckled at a campaign stop in Arizona. 'It's a genocide, Jill!' yelled one demonstrator. 'You and your husband support the genocide of the Palestinian people!' another shouted.

Nearly six decades ago, delegates were gathered inside the International Amphitheatre in the Windy City to nominate Hubert Humphrey for president, but outside it was chaos. (Above) Police and demonstrators clash near the Conrad Hilton Hotel on Chicago's Michigan Avenue on August 28, 1968 during the Democratic National Convention

Tear gas was fired into the crowds. Officers indiscriminately beat protesters. Hundreds were sent to the hospital and even more were injured. (Above) Demonstrator with his hands on his head is led by Chicago Police down Michigan Avenue on the night of August 28, 1968

I remember watching it all as a 23-year-old, fresh out of the Marine Corps. The war was as real as it could get for me. (Above) Author James Carville with Bill Clinton in 1992

Certainly, America's far-left, for which I hold a very low opinion, is mobilized by the war. And they'll undoubtedly seek to exploit the unrest it creates - foolishly believing the turmoil advances their cause. But deep unease over this conflict extends far beyond the rank-and-file.

It would be a grave mistake for Democrats to ignore that.

It's increasingly clear that if Biden wins a second term, it won't be with a duplication of his 2020 coalition. A winning alliance for Democrats in 2024 will be older and whiter.

Enthusiasm among Democratic voters is in the toilet. Support among black Americans, particularly black males, and those under 30 years old is nowhere near where it needs to be.

Four more months of war is only going to make for more challenging times in Chicago - and the White House knows it.

No wonder that before the Michigan primary, President Biden said he thought a ceasefire was imminent, even though he may have been the only person to believe so. Maybe, it was wishful thinking.

During the President's impromptu White House news conference last month following Special Counsel Robert Hur's report, the President walked away from the podium, only to turn on his heels to take one more question about Gaza.

On Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in her most direct rebuke of the Israeli government to date. 'People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane and our common humanity compels us to act,' she said while standing in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where state troops brutally beat civil rights marchers nearly 60 years ago.

And on Monday, Harris met at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chief political rival.

Now, there's no question that the GOP faces even stiffer headwinds than Democrats in 2024. Republicans have hardly won anywhere since the Supreme Court overturned Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization and ruled that the Constitution does not guarantee a woman's right to an abortion.

But regardless, it would be incredible folly for Democrats to dismiss the size of their political problem.

My other big concern, which I've been very vocal about, is President Biden's age. The administration can potentially make the situation in the Middle East better by reining in the Israelis or sending more humanitarian aid into Gaza, but there's no reducing the number of candles on the President's birthday cake.

I've been around for a long time and all of this together tells me that there are going to be some very unpredictable moments in this election.

I don't know exactly what they're going to be. But I promise you, they're coming.

Perhaps, in Chicago.

And Democrats are running out of time to do something about it.
Samantha Murphy's phone may have been used to mislead detectives as a diversion tactic, a top criminal psychologist has suggested.

His comments come after a 22-year-old man was arrested in Ballarat on Wednesday morning as the search continues for the missing mum-of-three.

The man has since been charged with murder. He is not connected to the Murphy family.

Forensic psychologist Tim Watson-Munro responded to reports Ms Murphy's phone 'pinged' a Buninyong phone tower at 5pm on the Sunday she vanished, around 10 hours after she left her Ballarat East home for a 14km run on February 4.

Forensic criminologist Tim Watson-Munro

Since Ms Murphy's disappearance, investigators have been trawling through data from mobile phone towers across the vast Woowookarung Regional Park.

Metadata has proved crucial to the search after it pinpointed a precise location in the Mount Clear area, an hour into her run through the national park.

Mr Munro-Watson said it struck him as 'unusual' that her phone had suddenly reactivated 10 hours later, with the caveat that phone service may not be optimal in rural Victoria.

'Why the phone didn't ping for that period of time is really a matter of speculation,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday.

'It could suggest that she was still around and alive at that time or it could suggest that somebody has taken her phone and waited a respectable period of time before activating it in a totally different area to put people off the scent as a sort of diversionary tactic.

'It could be that the phone was disposed of and didn't become connected to the network until that time.

'It seems to be more of a diversionary tactic than something that's perhaps more significant in terms of locating her dead or alive.'

Since Ms Murphy's disappearance, investigators have been trawling through data from mobile phone towers across the vast Woowookarung Regional Park

Phone metadata has proved crucial to the search after it pinpointed a precise location in the Mount Clear area, 7km from her East Ballarat home, an hour into her 14km jog

Mr Watson-Munro said it was likely investigators had been looking at mobile phone metadata since day one as it is increasingly relied upon to reveal crucial clues.

'Anything that pops up may be of interest to them, particularly if that data suggests to the individual or individuals, be it a stalker or other people, were in the vicinity at that time,' he explained.

'If we rule out that she's run away, then you're left with the possibility of a stalker, for example, and this person has been meticulous in terms of not leaving any forensic evidence at all that we're aware of.'

Despite a significant investigation and extensive searches of the Canadian Forest area, no trace of Ms Murphy has been found in over a month.

'There are no further updates at this time and the investigation remains ongoing,' Victoria Police said after Wednesday's arrest was revealed on Thursday.

'We understand that there is a continued high level of interest in this investigation and concern about disappearance, however it remains critical that any speculation does not impede any aspects of the investigation.

'Detectives are continuing to appeal for anyone who has CCTV or dashcam footage and is yet to speak to police to come forward.

'Anyone who sights Samantha is asked to call triple zero (000) immediately.'

Mr Watson-Munro said it was also likely mobile phones belonging to Ms Murphy's family and friends would also be combed for information (pictured is her husband Mick Murphy)
Top Labor minister Tony Burke claims his $57,000 taxpayer-funded, four-day trip to the United States was much busier and high-powered than his low-key ministerial diary suggests.

Mr Burke, the arts and workplace relations minister and Leader of the House, is at the centre of controversy after he was called out for the cost of his trip to Washington.

His sparse diary shows only a handful of trip entries - and even includes a 15-minute journey from his accommodation as one of three official pieces of business that day.

But Mr Burke now claims he was also involved in important key meetings which were not included in his official diary entries.

He jetted over to the US with a staffer - travelling business class - as part of a delegation with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles for the Australian American Leadership Dialogue.

His official diary for the event - from July 11 to 15, 2022 - suggests the trip wasn't overly onerous with just a handful of commitments, including a barbeque breakfast, a three hour dinner, and two 20 minute Microsoft Teams meetings.

Among the handful of listed commitments included 15-minute time slot dedicated to 'departing' his accommodation to head to another address - one of just three pieces of official business he performed that day.

Mr Burke had one official meeting in his diary over the four days. It was a meeting with Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, who is a member on a committee for labor and pensions in the US.

Mr Burke (right), the arts and workplace relations minister and Leader of the House, is at the centre of controversy after he was called out for the cost of his trip to Washington

Mr Burke's 2022 diary kept track of all his commitments from July 11 to July 15, when he joined Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles in Washington for the Australian American Leadership Dialogue

Mr Burke is minister for the arts and attends plays and musicals in that capacity. Pictured with his wife and former staff member, Skye Laris

But beyond that, Mr Burke's usually jam-packed schedule was almost entirely clear.

He had a free day on Tuesday with no commitments scheduled, nothing beyond his 20 minute Teams meeting and a dinner on the Wednesday, and only 3.5hours of engagements on the Friday.

But Mr Burke has since argued that it was a vital trip for him to attend, and that it 'was in the national interest'.

Speaking at a doorstop after the Daily Telegraph revealed he spent $57,000 of taxpayer money on the trip, Mr Burke said: 'There are aspects of the story today that have been left out that actually explain the importance of that trip.'

Under-fire Minister for the Arts Tony Burke has justified his $57,000, four-day trip by insisting he held several meetings which were not included in his professional diary

Mr Burke has since argued that it was a vital trip for him to attend, and that it 'was in the national interest'

'We have very important legislation that has now passed to do with AUKUS that there had to be meetings that would take place about. The article today has not referred to the meetings that were held at the White House.

'It hasn't referred to the meetings that were held with the AUKUS caucus, which goes across the aisle, and it has only referred to one of the meetings with individual congress people.

'I'm not precious about that, but only to say it was an important trip in the national interest. My decision when I spoke to the Prime Minister was to make sure that both the Defence Minister and myself as Leader of the House were there, and that was the right thing to do.'

A graphic shows how much Tony Burke spent while in America

While Mr Marles was regularly snapped speaking at and attending formal events, Mr Burke was largely inconspicuous on the trip. Only one photo exists on the public record of him overseas.

Mr Burke has a critical role in the passage of legislation as Mr Albanese's top lieutenant in the House of Representatives - where he holds a majority - but his portfolios are not the chief ones driving the government's AUKUS policy.

Mr Burke still billed taxpayers double the amount Mr Marles did, including $44,000 on return business class flights for he and one staff member, and more than $8,000 on hire cars.

An additional $4,000 was spent on food and accommodation, while both Mr Burke and his staff member required priority delegate passports, at a cost of $533 each.

Below, Daily Mail Australia takes a closer look at what work Mr Burke undertook during those four days, based on the contents of his own diary that week.

DAY ONE

On July 11, Mr Burke left Sydney on a 9.30am United Airlines flight, seated in business class with one personal staffer.

He arrived in Los Angeles at 11pm, and traveled onward to Washington.

The first full day of his trip was Tuesday, July 12.

On this day, Mr Burke had no events scheduled in his official diary.

On July 11, Mr Burke left Sydney on a 9.30am United Airlines flight, seated in business class with one personal staffer

DAY TWO

Wednesday, July 13, marked the official start of the formalities for Mr Burke.

He conducted a 20 minute briefing with his department via Teams from 7am until 7.20am Sydney time - about 3pm - 3.20pm in his timezone.

His next official engagement listed in the diary wasn't until 5pm, local time, when he joined Richard Marles for dinner at the Australian Ambassador's residence.

DAY THREE

Mr Burke's work commitments - according to his diary - kicked off again about 3pm local time on day three, July 14.

He met with Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, who is on a US committee for Labor and Pensions.

From there, he attended a three-hour dinner at the US Institute of Peace to celebrate the forum's 30th anniversary.

DAY FOUR

On Mr Burke's final day in the US, he again held another departmental briefing via Microsoft Teams in the afternoon.

From there, he joined colleagues at a closing BBQ at the Ambassador's home. Then departed toward the Jefferson Hotel with his driver.

He flew out on Saturday, returning home on a United Airlines flight.

He arrived at Sydney Airport at 7am, where he had a government Comcar waiting to take him home.

He joined colleagues at a closing BBQ at the Ambassador's home (pictured)

Minister faced backlash for previous taxpayer bills

Minister Burke has previously faced intense scrutiny for his spending habits.

In 2020, it was revealed he had quietly paid back taxpayers $8,600 for a much-criticised trip to Uluru he took with his family in 2012.

He charged the taxpayer for business class tickets for himself and four 'family travellers'.

He also billed taxpayers for travel allowances of $1,497 and $463 for a hire car, taking the total expense for the trip to $12,707.

During Labor's last stint in government, Mr Burke's taxpayer bill for travel costs was close to $2.2million between 2008 and 2015.

This is despite never serving in the portfolios with the most reason to travel - foreign affairs, trade, treasury or defence.

None of these trips breached parliament's code of conduct.
A 'provocative' campaign using the slogan 'I'm asking for it', fronted by Emily Atack, has been slammed by sexual abuse survivors for the 'tone-deaf' message.

The campaign tagline calling for a change in the laws on rape and sexual assault has come under fire by hundreds of women.

Those behind the petition say it was designed intentionally to 'draw attention' and 'flip the narrative', so that consent is not the absence of a No, but the presence of a Yes.

Fronted by actress and comedian Emily Atack, the stunt was created by the Right to Equality non-profit group and the CPB London advertising agency.

Launched on March 5, the posters will roll out across the UK on billboards, bus stops, gyms, student unions and accommodation.

The campaign group is also selling a white t-shirt for 28 with 'I'm asking for it' printed in pink block capitals on the front, and 'let's change the law to require a clear yes to sex' in smaller writing on the back.

But survivors of sexual assault have hit out at the decision, calling it 'triggering', 'insulting and sickening'.

What do YOU think of the slogan? Email emily.davies@mailonline.co.uk

A divisive campaign using the slogan 'I'm asking for it' has been slammed by sexual abuse survivors for the 'tone-deaf' message

The campaign group is also selling a white t-shirt for 28 with 'I'm asking for it' printed in pink block capitals on the front, and 'let's change the law to require a clear yes to sex' on the back

Launched on March 5, the posters will roll out across the UK on billboards, bus stops, gyms, student unions and accommodation

Those behind the petition say it was designed intentionally to 'draw attention' and 'flip the narrative', so that consent is not the absence of a No, but the presence of a Yes

Fronted by actress and comedian Emily Atack, the stunt was created by the Right to Equality non profit group and the CPB London advertising agency

Dr Charlotte Proudman, the founder of Right to Equality and Women in Law's Advocate of the Year 2023, posted on X: 'I'm so excited to unveil our new campaign, in partnership with creative agency CPB and Emily Atack.

'I'm Asking For It: Let's change the law to require a clear yes to sex.

'Right to Equality is campaigning to update the UK's law on consent to use an affirmative consent model. Sign the petition today!'

A spokesperson for the CPB Group told MailOnline they stand by the campaign and consulted a focus group of 15 sexual abuse survivors.

The post drew hundreds of posts online, criticising the misleading slogan.

Ruby, a sexual abuse survivor who was left reeling when she came across the campaign poster, told MailOnline: 'It's a horrible slogan.

'It made me recoil, it threw me right back into the memory of my own assault and hearing my attacker justify it using those words.

'I understand and support affirmative consent but that statement isn't something that should be turned into a slogan.

'Those words reopen deep wounds for victims, it's not a cute moment like they thought it would be.

'Those words are still used every day to justify sexual violence.

'I absolutely want an apology, it's very short sighted and clearly whoever polls their slogans didn't do a good enough job.

'Someone should have foreseen the more than justified backlash.

'It's f****ng rancid.'

One X user posted: 'I'm horrified with this slogan. I was told in court I was 'asking for it' because I opened the door to my rapist in my pjs. I'm sure many survivors have been sold the same.'

Others said seeing the campaign made them 'nauseous', with one saying: 'This makes me sick'.

Another user said: 'This is putting women at risk.'

A sexual assault survivor posted 'I'm horrified with this slogan. I was told in court I was asking for it and I'm sure many survivors have been told the same. I don't think this is appropriate at all.'

Another person added: 'This is so triggering. I want to scream at the person who made it. This does significantly more damage than good.'

Others labelled the slogan as 'hideous' and some asked if it was a 'joke'.

One X user commented: 'The problem is that this is how rapists think.'

The petition, which presently has 4,455 signatures, reads: 'Current laws on rape and sexual assault allow 'implied consent' and considers the perpetrator's 'reasonable beliefs'.

Dr Charlotte Proudman, the founder of Right to Equality

Comments have been turned off on the post announcing the campaign and petition

The campaign slogan calling for a change in the laws on rape and sexual assault has come under fire by hundreds of women

'An affirmative consent model addresses these points by requiring explicit agreement at every stage of the interaction, preventing misunderstandings. The Sexual Offences Act is 20 years old.

'We believe the consent model should be re-evaluated in light of international change and to better protect survivors in court, shifting focus from an absence of 'no' to the presence of 'yes'.'

Emily Atack, commenting on men sending obscene messages to women, said: 'I didn't ask for them, I don't want them  but that doesn't matter.

'In fact, that's the point. It got me thinking: Consent, or the lack of it is at the heart of so much sexual harassment and violence that women and girls experience, yet the current law still fails to protect those who don't say the word 'no' outright. It's time to make things simple  only a Yes should mean Yes.

'That simple messaging would certainly help inspire more open and clearer communications.'

The actress previously explored the alarming rise in online sexual harassment for new BBC2 documentary Emily Atack: Asking For It after experiencing repeated daily abuse across her Instagram and TikTok accounts.

Nightmare: Appearing on Tuesday's edition of This Morning, an emotional Atack revealed one of her abusers repeatedly bombard her with inappropriate messages

Atack, who found fame in teen sitcom The Inbetweeners, said one of her regular online abusers is a married father who frequently creates fake accounts in order to send her sexually explicit messages.

She previously explained her motivation for campaigning for tougher laws concerning harassment and the impact it has on her and her family's mental health.

Helen James, CEO of CPB Europe, said in a statement: 'I'm Asking for It is an intentionally provocative body of work.

'We want to stop people in their tracks, get them thinking about how women are often treated by society and the courts - and the excuse used too often that they were 'asking for it' - and then flip the narrative: What she's actually asking for is legal change.'

When approached by MailOnline for comment on the backlash, a Right to Equality spokesperson said: 'This slogan is intentionally designed to draw attention to 'did she say Yes'.

'We want to stop people in their tracks, get them thinking about how women are often treated by society and the courts - and the excuse used too often that they were 'asking for it' - and then flip the narrative: She's asking for legal change.

'Far too often consent is assumed because she didn't say no. Absence of a no doesn't equate to yes, despite one fifth of people believing that.

'Since Sweden introduced an affirmative consent model, convictions for rape increased by 75 per cent. In this country, less than two per cent of rape cases result in charge and rape is becoming decriminalised. Further, there is no definition of rape or consent in the family courts. Current consent laws are 20 years out of date.

'Instead of putting the onus on victims to show they didn't consent, we want to ask the defendant what steps he took to ensure she wanted and said yes sex. Did she literally ask for it?

'When we spoke with survivors while crafting the slogan, this subversion of blame was seen as a valuable tool to bring awareness to the importance of actually asking for consent.'

Right to Equality sent MailOnline quotes from the survivors in the focus group -whose names have been changed - for the campaign.

Jane said: 'I was told I was asking for it, by the perpetrator. Because 'my eyes were so mesmerising'. This campaign means so much to me, not least because it's flipping those horrific words. Yes,I absolutely AM asking for it now, but it's for legal change.'

While Lisa said: 'The phrase is something my rapist said to me. I thought this would be powerful because it's flipping that and it [the slogan] would stop people in their tracks, make them think about how the phrase is used and how affirmative consent related, you know - asking for it - and really get people to engage with the campaign.

'I like the way it pulls in multiple meanings and works for asking for legal change. I didn't come up with it, but I do stand by it and I'm really pleased to have been a part of making it, even behind the scenes.'

What do YOU think of the slogan? Email emily.davies@mailonline.co.uk
A 'pride pillar' unveiled by Network Rail in one of the country's busiest stations that featured flags representing 'demisexuality' and 'polyamory' cost the taxpayer more than 3,500.

The colourful posters pasted onto the stark concrete support stoked controversy when they were installed at London Bridge Station, with critics saying the publicly owned railway company had broken its own 'no political posters' rule.

The total cost for production, delivery and installation of the wraps was 2,948.32 plus 589.66 in VAT, totalling 3,537.99, a MailOnline Freedom of Information request revealed.

The installation was created at London Bridge Station in January, with critics saying the publicly owned railway company had broken its own 'no political posters' rule.

And critics have now slammed the high-cost 'tat', saying the company should be spending money on reducing fares rather than 'virtue signalling'.

Joanna Marchong, investigations campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Taxpayers are tired of seeing money wasted on woke nonsense.

'Better to use precious funds on train signalling than virtue signalling.'

The colourful posters pasted onto the stark concrete support stoked controversy when they were installed at London Bridge Station, with critics saying the publicly owned railway company had broken its own 'no political posters' rule

Critics have slammed the high-cost 'tat', saying the company should be spending money on reducing fares rather than 'virtue signalling'

And founder and director of the Free Speech Union, Toby Young, said: 'My 16 year-old son used his Monzo card to take the Elizabeth Line from Acton to Farringdon and back on Saturday and it cost him over 20.

'You'd think if TfL had 3,500 to throw away on bits of virtue-signalling tat it could afford to reduce its fares.'

In 2020, Network Rail removed an 'I love JK Rowling' poster from Edinburgh Waverley station for being 'too political' because of the author's gender critical views.

Network Rail said the array of flags on the pillar, created to celebrate LGBT+ history month, was intended to 'help prevent confusion and misunderstanding about identity'.

The installation further stoked criticism after the Network Rail diversity champion behind the project found himself at the centre of a misogyny row.

Shane Andrews, who chairs Network Rail's employee network for promoting LGBT inclusion, was criticised after a number of deeply offensive social media posts emerged.

Campaigners said they were 'horrified' by the tweets - some of which date back as far as a decade - and include derogatory language towards women and lesbians.

They also include lewd references to then-teenaged Tom Daley, suggestions he would try to photograph a 'sexy conductor' without their knowledge and an offensive joke about Anne Frank.

In 2020, Network Rail removed an 'I love JK Rowling' poster from Edinburgh Waverley station for being 'too political' because of the author's gender critical views

Shane Andrews, who chairs Network Rail's employee network for promoting LGBT inclusion, was criticised after a number of deeply offensive social media posts emerged. Pictured: With Labour leader Keir Starmer

Andrews appears to remain a part of Network Rail, after the transport network said they were 'aware of Shane's posts on X and are looking into an issue with him'.

A Network Rail spokesperson said: 'This episode has provided learning opportunities for us all and it would be unfair to discuss personal matters about our employees in any further detail.'

The pride flag, also known as the rainbow flag, is an international symbol for LGBT+ social movements.

Originally created by a gay political activist in San Francisco in the 1970s, the colours reflect the diversity of the LGBT+ community, sexuality and gender.

Other flags on the pillar include the polyamory Pride flag, with navy, red and black stripes and a yellow pi sign at the centre, representing an 'infinite' number of potential partners.

The gender-fluid Pride flag also features, representing people who do not identify as having a fixed gender, as does the aromantic flag, representing people who do not experience romantic feelings.

The demisexual flag is also displayed, representing those who are only sexually attracted to someone after forming a strong emotional connection with them.

This is not to be confused with demiromanticism  which is represented by a different flag and refers to those who only feel romantic attraction after forming a strong emotional bond.

Critics said Network Rail wasted public money on a 'cheap and performative stunt'.

In a letter to the chief executive of Network Rail, Maya Forstater, co-founder of Sex Matters, complained that the 'political' display was 'intimidating' for female staff.

She said: 'Network Rail's investment in flags representing fringe sexual preferences, such as polyamory, and the erasure of sex in favour of gender, is a slap in the face for women and gay people.'

A spokesman previously said: 'Network Rail is proud to be an inclusive company that promotes diversity and equality. We worked closely with our diversity and inclusion team to develop the pillar.'

Network Rail have been contacted for comment.
A Chinese scientist who was booted out of a Canadian lab after mailing live Ebola to China is thought to have worked with the 'bat woman' virologist at the center of the Wuhan leak theory.

Dr Xiangguo Qiu was accused in a 600-page report released last week by the Canadian intelligence services of passing information onto the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) without informing superiors.

Now, further details have emerged of the scientist's alleged cooperation with actors viewed as central to theories about how Covid-19 may have originated from a Chinese lab experimenting with animal viruses.

Dr Qiu and her husband Dr Keding Cheng were fired from the Canadian National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in January 2021, after they were found to have sent lethal virus samples to China, among other serious violations.

It sparked a lengthy investigation by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which released a heavily redacted report later that year.

Dr Qiu and Dr Zhengli attended a conference held by the Wuhan lab in 2018. Also present were British doctor Peter Daszak, whose US charity funded animal virus experiments at the lab, and US scientist Ralph Baric, who co-authored a paper on bat viruses with Zhengli in 2015

Chinese scientist Dr Xiangguo Qiu was booted out of a Canadian lab after she was found to have been mailing lethal viruses, including Ebola, back to China to aid research

Dr Qiu has now been linked to Dr Shi Zhengli (pictured), known as 'bat woman', who is at the center of claims that the Covid-19 virus leaked from experiments she led at a Wuhan lab

Dr Qiu, Dr Zhengli and British doctor Peter Daszak were pictured together at an October 2018 symposium held by the Wuhan lab. Dr Daszak, pictured here outside his home in New York, has faced questions over his charity's funding of the lab's controversial animal virus research

But following cries of a cover up, hundreds of pages from the report were released to the Canadian House of Commons last Wednesday.

The documents, seen by DailyMail.com, revealed that the couple had been able to use the lab as a 'base to assist China to improve its capability to fight highly-pathogenic pathogens... and achieve brilliant results'.

The CSIS warned: 'Dr Qiu represents a very serious and credible danger to the government of Canada as a whole.

'And in particular at facilities considered high-security due to the potential for theft of dangerous materials attractive to terrorist and foreign entities that conduct espionage to infiltrate and damage the economic security of Canada.'

A section titled 'activities with the Wuhan Institute of Virology' detail the full extent of Dr Qiu's involvement in controversial animal virus research.

And a comparison of this chapter with open source records by investigative website The Bureau, suggests Dr Qiu was working directly with Chinese virologist Dr Shi Zhengli, known as 'bat woman'.

Dr Zhengli led bat research at the WIV and has been accused of conducting 'dangerous' 'gain of function' experiments, which genetically modify viruses in order to better understand the risks they pose.

She has strongly denied claims that Covid-19 leaked from her work, but last year FBI chief Christopher Wray said the virus most likely originated at a Chinese government lab.

The lax security measures at the Canadian facility exposed by the CSIS now raise fresh questions about the links between virus research being carried out in Chinese labs and western scientists.

Dr Qiu was hired by Wuhan to lead the lab's 'animal infection' project, which was to run from June 2019 to May 2021, the CSIS found.

Project design was being handled by an unnamed Chinese virologist at WIV, who had also been involved in 2015 'Gain of Function experiments with US researchers as part of a study that created a hybrid version of a bat coronavirus; one related to the virus that caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which could jump directly from bats to humans', the documents state.

The CSIS notes that 'some scientists disapproved of the study' by the US National Institute of Health, because it was a 'new, non-natural risk' and 'provided little benefit and reveals little about the risk that the wild virus in bats poses to humans'.

Dr Qiu (left) and her husband Dr Kending Cheng (right) were both kicked out of the Canadian National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in January 2021, after they were found to have sent lethal virus samples to China, among other serious violations

Dr Qiu is pictured above working in the lab. Investigators said she had sent the genetic code for Ebola to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV)

Dr Zhengli and US scientists including a man named Ralph Baric completed such a study in 2015: A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence.

Their experiment used reverse genetics to create synthetic virus strains, the same technique deployed in Wuhan's 2019 project involving Dr Qiu.

Meanwhile, a photograph of an October 2018 symposium held by WIV appears to show Dr Qiu alongside Dr Zhengli, Baric and British doctor Peter Daszak, whose charity funded WIV research.

Daszak, who runs New York-based EcoHealth Alliance, has faced questions from Congress on the federal funding it sent to the Wuhan lab and the work that was carried out there.

Dr Qiu's attendance at the symposium is confirmed by the CSIS report.

Although it does not say who Dr Qiu collaborated with, it does reveal that she provided training to others at the conference, without telling her Canadian employers.

The CSIS found Dr Qiu was enlisted by WIV to 'build a team to start a series of research topics using China's disease source as advantage'.

It also discovered that, in 2018, the doctor discussed the shipping of the Ebola virus from Canada to Wuhan.

Meanwhile, WIV secretly sponsored Qiu's applications to work surreptitiously with the People's Liberation Army in a program called Thousand Talents Plan, which was set up to pay students for participation in research to further Chinese interests.

The CSIS warned: 'Dr Qiu represents a very serious and credible danger to the government of Canada as a whole.

'And in particular at facilities considered high-security due to the potential for theft of dangerous materials attractive to terrorist and foreign entities that conduct espionage to infiltrate and damage the economic security of Canada.'

Listing violations by Dr Qiu, officials said she had provided Beijing 'with the Ebola genetic sequence, which opened a door of convenience for China'.

Dr Qiu and her scientist husband are now nowhere to be seen, although it is thought they have moved back to China.

They have not been reachable for comment and the newly-released CSIS documents did not include a statement from the couple.

But they did reveal that Dr Qiu repeatedly claimed to investigators that she was not aware that she had broken any security rules.

She blamed the health agency for not fully explaining procedures and frequently tried to mislead investigators until confronted by contradictory evidence, according to the report.

The extent of Dr Qiu's personal contact with Dr Zhengli is unclear.

The Chinese couple had worked at the Canadian National Microbiology Lab (pictured) in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is the only BSL4 lab in the country and cleared to handle dangerous pathogens including Ebola and Marburg virus

Many scientists have argued that there is no evidence that Covid-19 leaked from a Chinese lab and the origin of the pandemic is still hotly disputed.

In February last year, the US Energy Department joined the FBI in its assessment that the virus most likely spread via a mishap at a Chinese laborator.

But four other agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still judge that it was likely the result of a natural transmission, and two are undecided.

Daszak, who lives with his immunologist wife Janet Cottingham in a five-bed, five-bath home in an affluent town in Rockland County, New York, however, has faced accusations that he 'bullied' other scientists into signing off on a letter to a prestigious medical journal that removed blame for Covid-19 on the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

He declined to comment on the allegations when confronted by DailyMail.com at his home in June 2021.
A builder suing an Australian-born denim designer known as the 'Jean Queen' over an unpaid bill of almost 250,000 for restoring her south Devon country manor says working for her was 'utter chaos', calling it the worst decision of his professional career.

Keith Elliott was employed by fashion tycoon Donna Ida Thornton to restore her 16-bedroom, Grade II-listed Langdon Court and turn it into a boutique hotel  but claimed the job was a 'farce from start to finish.'

He says Ms Thornton opted for style over substance when it came to the renovations, spending up to 45,000 on chandeliers and thousands more on fashionable wallpaper - but neglected 'basic work' like external pointing and treating woodworm.

He also accused the 'brash Australian' of objectifying male workmen by taking photos of one with their top off, making suggestive comments - and even claimed she hosted a 'Hot Tradies' competition and gave the three most attractive workers prizes.

While she was having her manor house renovated, Ms Thorton rarely seemed to miss an opportunity to boast about the prowess of her aesthetically-pleasing builders.

In one Instagram post, the self-styled 'jeans queen' she posted a picture of a tattooed tradesman called Barry without his top on and asked her followers whether he should remain topless - or put on his sweatshirt.

Next she posted a photo him handing top to someone else along with the caption: 'I totally agree. It's actually better off.' Barry was again pictured topless, this time painting a doorway, which she captioned: 'Something for the weekend'.

In another picture she posted of a 'tradie', she wrote: '35 sexual innuendos later Maxy downed tools and said I'll just wait till you girls are finished'.

Ms Thornton (right), alongside her husband Robert Walton (left), 67, a British restaurateur, bought the Jacobean mansion in Wembury, south Devon, for 1.2 million in July 2021

Robert Walton MBE (left) and Donna Ida Thornton (right) at Langdon Court, where they plan to open a boutique hotel

Contractor Keith Elliott accused the 'brash Australian' of objectifying male workmen by making suggestive comments - and even claimed she hosted a 'Hot Tradies' competition. Screenshot of Ms Thornton's social media post.

Next she posted a photo him handing top to someone else along with the caption: 'I totally agree. It's actually better off'

Images of the builders modelling her denim and the pictures uploaded on to Ms Thornton's website

Keith Elliott, from Keith Elliott Construction was the principal contractor and project managed the site, overseeing teams of electricians, plumbers, carpenters and interior designers

She later posted a photo of an evening sioree where she'd laid on some food and drink in the kitchen with the words: 'Anything for the hottest tradies in hot tradie land.'

In the same kitchen, on another occasion, Ms Thornton boasted: 'Having drinks for the Hot Tradies this afternoon. Blatantly trying to get them drunk.'

Mr Elliott is now locked in a bitter legal battle with her after his contract was terminated three-quarters into the 3million renovation project.

He claimed she wanted the project to be extravagant as possible  but at the cheapest possible price.

Ms Thornton, alongside her husband Robert Walton, 67, a British restaurateur, bought the Jacobean mansion in Wembury, south Devon, for 1.2million in July 2021 and live there with their five chihuahuas, guinea fowl, rescue geese and ducks.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Mr Elliott, 42, said: 'It was the most bizarre and unprofessional project we have ever been involved in. It was utter chaos.

'As the people responsible for delivering the construction element of the works and providing the health and safety provisions, the clients behaviour and resistance made these things very difficult indeed.

'By the end it was an embarrassment to be part of it despite the work looking excellent.

'It's the type of project that should have gone horribly wrong, with no proper construction drawings provided, or interior designs. But it didn't and that was due to our huge efforts.

'We have never had an issue like this with a client ever before, we have a fantastic client base but this episode was a farce from start to finish and it's left an awful taste in the mouth.'

Ms Thornton is the Australian-born denim designer known as the 'Jean Queen', whose clothes are adored by celebrities including Amanda Holden and Jodie Kidd

In another Instagram post Ms Thornton wrote about one of the 'tradies': '35 sexual innuendos later Maxy downed tools and said I'll just wait till you girls are finished'

Screenshot of a story from the Langdon Court Manor Instagram page

Tradesman Barry was pictured topless on the Instagram page painting a doorway, which she captioned: 'Something for the weekend'

Work started in February 2022, after the self-styled 'jean queen' - whose designer trousers are adored by celebrities including Amanda Holden and Jodie Kidd - bought the property.

The initial stages of the renovation saw workmen repairing floors that had partially collapsed and treating penetrating damp and general depredation.

Mr Elliot's firm Keith Elliott Construction was the principal contractor and project managed the site, overseeing teams of electricians, plumbers, carpenters and interior designers.

However, in December 2022, 10-months into the restoration, Ms Thornton decided to terminate the company's contract, citing a disagreement over costs.

Mr Elliot applied to an adjudicator at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors who ruled in January that Ms Thornton and her husband were liable to pay accumulated costs of 236,000.

Mr Elliott is now taking them to the High Court after claiming to have not received a penny since the ruling.

A counter claim by Ms Thornton for a similar sum was thrown out but she has served the builder with a ban and bar letter to prevent him setting foot on her estate near Plymouth.

Mr Elliott said their inability to pay up was all the more galling because his team had worked tirelessly on a 'labour of love'  a listed building that was on English Heritage's 'at risk register'.

But he said they were not instructed to carry out the works to a spec that had the buildings best interests at heart because Ms Thornton and her husband 'prioritised fancy finishes over substance'.

Images of the builders modelling her denim and the pictures uploaded on to Ms Thornton's website

He added: 'Taking on a Listed Building in this state is no mean feat, you must respect the heritage and history.

'Langdon Court deserved this kind of respect and love. Unfortunately, it is mutton dressed as the most expensive lamb.

'Donna took great pleasure telling the workforce that certain chandeliers were 25,000-45,000 each, but then they wouldn't consider a specialist contractor undertaking woodworm and death watch beetle treatment with a 25-year insurance backed guarantee which would have protected all the timber in the building when the building was stripped.

'Important items like external pointing were completely neglected but extravagant wallpaper chosen internally regardless of cost.

'There are structurally unstable sections of the building that have been left and they wanted to paper over the cracks, quite literally. Donna said she wanted it 'pretty', whereas Robert said he wanted it 'as cheap as possible'.

'Langdon Court is a Grade II listed property and is dear to all our hearts being local. We were excited to be chosen to front the project initially, but it became clear as time went on that the clients wanted to dictate how the works were undertaken.

'Donna and Robert wanted it to look as expensive as possible for as cheap as possible. It's all smoke and mirrors.'

Mr Elliott also hit out at Ms Thornton's 'inappropriate and unprofessional' behaviour on site, which included taking photographs of workmen with their shirts off and posting suggestive comments on her Instagram account.

Mr Elliott said: 'It was very, very awkward. Especially as a few of the workmen had brought their wives and girlfriends along to the function.

'Some found it funny but it made others feel very uncomfortable. A lot of people were staring at the ground in embarrassment. It was a real tumbleweed moment.

'But Donna could be unprofessional and highly inappropriate, she would argue that it was just harmless fun but reverse the roles and have her husband Robert doing the same to a group of women and it's not quite as acceptable.'

Mr Elliott told MailOnline that she had an 18-year-old workman running personal errands for her, including picking her up from a nail salon and dropping her back home

One of the builders, Kai from an Instagram post

Screenshots of Ms Thorton with one of the builders Kai on site

Screenshots of the Langdon Court Instagram posts with the fashion designer posing with the tradesmen

Three tradesmen modelling Ms Thornton's clothing with the caption: 'So sad shorts season is over - but we still have you Barry'

Bob Thornton and Donna Ida attend Jodie Kidd's 40th birthday party with Perrier-Jouet at The Mandrake on September 21, 2018 in London

Previously two of Ms Thornton's businesses folded owing a total of nearly 3.5million to creditors

Kimberley Garner and Donna Ida attend the ConSept Charity Shopping Event in London at ConSept, King's Road on October 13, 2016 in London

When she appeared in the glossy property section of a national newspaper in her 1.2million Jacobean mansion, self-styled 'jean queen' Donna Ida Thornton (pictured) appeared to have it all

Mr Elliott told MailOnline that she had an 18-year-old workman running personal errands for her, including picking her up from a nail salon and dropping her back home while his colleagues were photographed modelling her denim and the pictures uploaded on to her website.

She and her husband also packed the building with animals, including five chihuahuas, guinea fowl, rescue geese and ducks adding: 'We had to navigate our way around them all the time and they left piles of mess around the site. It was very unhygienic.'

Ms Thornton has claimed that she has been the subject of abuse, including lies about her online and she called the police last year when she reported a window at her home had been broken by an air rifle pellet.

Police took no action and Mr Elliott branded the allegations as 'untrue and crazy'.

Despite the feud, Langdon Court is now a high-end hotel where the most expensive suite is 750 per night.

But two of Ms Thornton's previous businesses folded owing a total of nearly 3.5million to creditors.

Despite the feud with Mr Elliott, Langdon Court (pictured) is now a high-end hotel where the most expensive suite is 750 per night

The hotel kitchen has a super-sized Bertazzoni cooker and the house has a sun room with a glass roof and wall-to-wall vegetation

Alarm bells sounded this week when it was noticed that her husband resigned as director for Langdon Court Manor Ltd on February 24.

Mr Elliott added: 'It's a strange thing to do, especially now, but they are full of surprises.

'One's thing for sure, looking at their social media you wouldn't know they are struggling to make the payments because they're still living the high life.

'Donna was in Paris recently and Robert was in the Caiman Islands. Where are they getting the money for that but not the cash they owe me?

'They are both vacuous and vain people who don't think the rules apply to them.'
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on Thursday asked for major banks' role and support for the successful reform of the foreign exchange market, the finance ministry said.

Choi made the request during a meeting with the chiefs of KB Kookmin Bank, the state-run Korea Development Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank and Hana Bank in Seoul, as the government has been working to ease regulations and implement measures to attract more foreign investors.

"The structural reform of the FX market is crucial for the 'corporate value-up program,' and banks can play an active role for the goals," Choi said.

Last month, the government announced details of the program that calls for prioritizing shareholder returns through tax benefits and other incentives and encouraging listed companies to voluntarily present their valuation improvement plans to address the "Korea discount" phenomenon.

The participating chiefs said they are fully prepared for upcoming changes to market circumstances, while stressing the need for close communication between the government and market players, according to the ministry.

Starting in July, Korea will extend the onshore trading hours of the FX market to 2 a.m., which currently runs from 9 a.m. through 3:30 p.m.

The country opened its currency market to foreign financial institutions in January under a pilot program. (Yonhap)
To exercise outside in Australia during the summer you have to set out early, before the sweltering sun and thick haze of humidity make any exertion impossible.

It's why mum-of-three Samantha Murphy left her home on Sunday, February 4, just 18 minutes after sunrise, at 7am, for a nine-mile run before a planned 11am brunch with her husband Mick and their kids.

As she set out in her black knee-length leggings and maroon singlet, the 51-year-old former aerobics instructor looked like any other busy mum keen to squeeze in some exercise before family activities took over the day.

It's peaceful at this time of the morning as the sun peeps through the pine trees and Samantha, an experienced runner, had covered the national park trails around Ballarat, 70 miles north-west of Melbourne, many times.

But that day she didn't come home. It took nearly five weeks for a 22-year-old man to be arrested, at his home early on Wednesday. Detectives do not believe he was previously known to her.

Mystery: Experienced runner Samantha had covered the national park trails around Ballarat many times. But on that fateful day she didn't come home.

Last picture: The 51-year-old was last seen leaving her property on Eureka Street to go for a run in Canadian State Forest at about 7am

Where is she? In Australia during the summer, joggers have to set out early, before the sweltering sun and thick haze of humidity make any exertion impossible

In the age of technological advancement and forensic wizardry, it's not only confounding that someone can just disappear for five weeks but deeply chilling.

Before the man's arrest this week, with the entire country intrigued and the local community increasingly fearful about what may have happened, Samantha's husband Mick appealed to the public for information. Someone had to know something. As he said: 'People don't just vanish into thin air.'

Those seven words echo to the letter those uttered by Nicola Bulley's sister Louise when the 45-year-old mother-of-two went missing near the Lancashire village of St Michael's on Wyre while walking her dog last January.

Apart from the weather conditions  bitterly cold in England versus the blistering 36-degree day that would become the backdrop to Samantha's disappearance  the two cases are eerily similar. Both devoted mums, both wearing a smart watch and carrying a phone, both living lives offering no clue as to why they might disappear.

Nicola was eventually found, her body spotted in the river by two dog walkers 23 agonising days after she first went missing. An inquest, aided by data from her Fitbit, concluded her death was due to accidental drowning.

Yet the reason why both cases make us shudder, draw our children closer and force us to consider how vulnerable we might be in our everyday lives is the nothingness, the ominous silence that descends when someone goes missing.

In an era of hyper-surveillance, where we are comprehensively tracked via bank transactions, car dashcams, CCTV and our own devices, to be rendered invisible to your family, friends and community is too unbearable to contemplate.

And it's into that silence that the psychics, conspiracy theorists and keyboard warriors pile with their crazed conjecture and vigilante propositions. It happened when Nicola went missing. It's happening here, too.

Anguish: Friends have said Sam, pictured, would never have leave her children deliberately

Distraught: Samantha Murphy's daughter Jess breaks down in tears at a press conference with father Mick and Acting Inspector Lisa McDougall in Ballarat last month

Frantic search: A dedicated team looking for clues into the disappearance of missing Samantha Murphy

Nicola was one of us. So is Samantha. Juggling work, home and dogs, she still found time to manage the school uniform shop and attend her kids' dance performances. She is everywoman. Right down to the ponytail she casually pulled her hair into on that quiet Sunday morning jog.

Of course, no one can know what goes on within a family, but friends of the Murphys say they are as straightforward as they come.

Mick and Samantha  Sam to her friends  head up a busy panel-beating business in the town where the company's website lists her as the head of administration and the 'backbone' of the office.

Among her many roles, she notes cheekily, is 'keeping Mick in check'. As her daughter Jess, who is in her final year of school, told reporters in the week following her disappearance, her mum is 'a really strong woman, far too determined to give up this fight'.

Geographically, the UK is a small nation; Australia an enormous continent. But when it comes to people disappearing, the odds remain the same. The longer they are missing, the less likely will be their safe return. Monday marked a month since Sam disappeared.

While the bizarre cases of Natascha Kampusch, Jaycee Dugard and Elisabeth Fritzl  held for eight, 18 and 24 years respectively  have fuelled theories of snatched women in secret bunkers, in this case police doubt the loving mum is still alive.

Just over a week ago, data from her devices suggested something happened about 4.5 miles into Samantha's run  with detectives ruling out a medical episode or any indication she left the area of her own accord.

Initially there were fears she may have been bitten by a snake or fallen down one of the thousands of disused mineshafts in the former goldmining region. Police then said her disappearance most likely involved 'one or more parties'. Detectives are now one step closer to solving the mystery with the arrest of the man at his Ballarat home.

In a tragic outcome for her family, the man, who has no connection to the Murphy family, was charged with one count of murder. He is yet to enter a plea. Police said he had deliberately attacked Samantha on the day of her disappearance in the bushland area where she was running and that he has not disclosed the location of her body.

Like Nicola Bulley, Samantha Murphy clearly adored her kids. Her Facebook posts recently urged friends to buy tickets to see her youngest child, Liam, play Kurt in an amateur production of The Sound Of Music, while a photograph of middle child Amelia, known as Milly, receiving the student of the year award at the local performing arts centre comes with a proud caption from her mum.

Tragedy: 45-year-old mother-of-two Nicola Bulley went missing near the Lancashire village of St Michael's on Wyre while walking her dog in January last year

Heartbreaking: Nicola Bulley appeared to be happy in this snap with her partner Paul Ansell

An animal lover, Samantha constantly shares posts about missing pets, and last year the couple's business was congratulated for sponsoring kids' theatre productions. Even the last image of her, captured on CCTV outside the family home, is unnervingly prosaic: she is about to drop a small bag of dog litter into the bin. Friends have said Sam would never leave her children, and when mutterings online pointed out that she was absent when her family enjoyed their usual caravan park holiday down the coast earlier this year, there was quick clarification that she stayed home because she had Covid.

Friend Virginia O'Loughlan, who first met the Murphys more than a decade ago through their children, says Samantha has no enemies and she couldn't think why anyone would want to do her harm: 'Everyone absolutely adores Sam because Sam is like a backbone of a lot of community organisations. Sam doesn't do anything half-hearted and throws herself in 150 per cent.'

That effort was repaid with hundreds of volunteers joining police in the search. Many exercise regularly in the Woowookarung Regional Park and one mum, who was also out running on the same trails on the morning Samantha disappeared, spoke for many when she said she didn't want searchers or the public to give up hope before the man's arrest yesterday.

Speaking to the Press for the first time, Chantelle, who doesn't want to use her surname, told the Mail she has had disturbed sleep at the thought of what might have happened to Samantha and has made significant changes to her own routines amid fears an attacker could still be in the area.

Since Samantha went missing she wears only one ear bud, listens to podcasts rather than the motivating loud music she previously favoured, keeps to the dirt roads round the perimeter of the bushland and has signed up to the running app Strava, which transmits her route via her smart watch. 'Normally I'd follow wherever the path took me and feel free and blessed to be in the bush  but not any more,' she says. 'The longer the search for her went on, the more rattled we've become.'

Chantelle crystallises the concerns of many when she says it's unimaginable that you can be wearing a smart watch and carrying a phone yet still can't be found. Indeed, there is frustration that recommendations from the coronial inquest into the disappearance of Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez in Byron Bay in 2019 have been ignored.

The Hayez inquest found that laws have not kept pace with advances in technology and that police needed quick cooperation from tech companies to be able to access someone's electronic trail. It turns out police searching for 18-year-old Hayez spent more than a week looking in the wrong area having used triangulation from phone tower pings.

It was only when family members gained access to Hayez's Google account and reset his password that they were able to see his exact movements on the night he went missing.

While Chantelle says the signal drops out in parts of the park, Samantha's iPhone and Apple Watch would've monitored various biometric data including her heart rate, stride length and altitude. That there was a 'disturbance' at the 4.5-mile mark reveals a level of sophistication, according to Nigel Phair, a former police officer who headed investigations at the Australian High Tech Crime Centre. 'That means that someone's done something active against those two devices and you have to know what you are doing to think: 'I'm going to completely take these out,' ' he says.

Phones, he explains, have two signifiers. The number, which can be changed if you replace the SIM, and the hardware identifier, known as an IMEI number, which makes the phone still traceable if it is on.

A data footprint helped experts determine Nicola Bulley's cause of death when she was found on February 19 last year with her Fitbit recording a significant spike in heart rate consistent with cold water shock.

Her device continued to give a sporadic heart rate reading for eight days after she drowned, possibly due to the movement of water passing between the device and her wrist until it lost power.

But often, it's what electronic monitoring doesn't throw up which leads experts to fear the worst and families to become distraught. It's the void that unnerves us and into which we spin our increasingly fantastical theories.

Ultimately, it's hope that makes us human and encourages us to continue praying and searching. It's hope that found Samantha's friends still referring to her in the present tense, not the past  'Sam is' not 'Sam was'  and hope that drove the community in Ballarat to plan another widespread search before the man's arrest.

As Chloe Farout, who helps coordinate the searches, told the Mail just days before the arrest: 'The community is still very focused on getting answers for Samantha's family.

'It's disheartening that it's been a month and there has still been no news. However, we as a community are still steadfast on continuing the search.'

As the town, home to 117,000, plans for this weekend's annual Begonia Festival, showcasing the rarest collection in the southern hemisphere, thoughts constantly turn to the Murphy children as they spend another night without their mother.

Missing people are sometimes found, often thanks to an alert member of the public.

In 1994 it was a suspicious neighbour who led to baby Abbie Humphries being returned to her parents 16 heartbreaking days after she was snatched from her cot just hours after her birth in a Nottingham hospital.

As the neighbour told police, the woman with the newborn had said she was having a boy yet she'd returned home with a girl.

And, here in Australia, the Cleo Smith case made international headlines in 2021 after the four-year-old, who went missing from her family's tent in a West Australian campsite, was found alive and well 18 days later.

There were fears that the girl would become another Madeleine McCann. But when a shopkeeper noticed that the oddball single man Terence Kelly had started buying disposable nappies, the tip-off led police directly to Cleo.

There wasn't a dry eye in Australia when we woke one morning to the news of her discovery and the voice of the little girl telling jubilant police: 'My name is Cleo.'

As they began another week looking for Samantha, the Murphy family would have been hoping for such a miracle. Devastatingly, it appears those hopes have been dashed. While detectives have finally had a breakthrough, it appears to be the worst possible outcome.

Victoria Police are now determined to find Samantha's body and bring closure for the family, saying it is 'absolutely vital'.
Jewish students told of their terror today after 100 pro-Palestine protesters mobbed a stall where they were raising awareness about antisemitism.

The Jewish group said they were screamed at and had orange squash thrown at them by some members of the counter-protesters.

The stallholders said the ordeal, which took place just before 3pm on Wednesday at the University of Exeter, left them 'absolutely broken'.

One Jewish student, 20-year-old Rojin-Sena Cantay, told MailOnline the students felt subjected to intimidation and anti-semitic abuse.

'I am absolutely broken to put it into words. We got assaulted with juice thrown on us,' she said.

'We were surrounded by a group of over 100 people.'

Pro-Palestine protesters are seen at the Jewish stall. It is not alleged that any of them are involved in any criminal wrongdoing

Jewish student Rojin-Sena Cantay, 20, (pictured) claimed to MailOnline the incident saw students subjected to violent intimidation and antisemitic abuse

The stall, which is seen surrounded by students, was set up to raise awareness about antisemitism and help people understand its definition

'They were all in a circle screaming at us. It was one of the most scary things of my life.

'They came in groups and it was very sudden that the group got so big.'

One person, who works as an advocate for Jewish students, said one Jewish student was crying and begging a police officer not to leave.

Today's incident is the latest in a string of antisemitic attacks on Jewish people across the UK amid Israel's ongoing war with Hamas.

Three people were attacked in Leicester Square, London, in January 'for being Jewish' after they were heard 'speaking Hebrew'.

The victims, in their twenties, were on a night out when they were assaulted by a group of men, The Telegraph reported.

Tehilla, a 28-year-old woman, said she was 'physically attacked' and called police 10 times 'afraid she was going to die'.

Yesterday a lone Jewish man confronted a pro-Palestine mob after one of them threatened to 'beat the f***' out of him.

Footage shows people gathering around the stall to 'attack' the Jewish students

A group of students are seen arguing with the people at the stall at the University of Exeter

Shocking footage showed Joseph Cohen being subjected to horrific anti-Semitic abuse by a group of activists in what appears to be a London park near the Israeli Embassy.

The mob call him a 'f***ing Jew' and a 'terrorist' before shouting 'f*** you Israel' and chanting 'Free, Free Palestine'.

The number of anti-Semitic incidents jumped 147 per cent last year to record levels, with a massive surge in the wake of the Hamas atrocities on October 7, a report said.

The Community Security Trust, a charity, recorded 4,103 instances of anti-Semitism, up from 1,662 in 2022. It included 266 violent assaults on Jews, up 96 per cent year-on-year and the highest figure since the CST started gathering data 40 years ago.

A spokesperson for the University of Exeter said: 'We can confirm we have received a report of an incident that took place on campus this afternoon.

'We are meeting with those involved to ensure they are receiving the appropriate support and have launched an immediate investigation.

'We understand the incident has been reported to the police and will work with them to ensure a thorough investigation.

'The University is committed to eradicating any instances of discrimination and harassment and encourage anyone who may experience any such behaviour to report it immediately.'

MailOnline has contacted Devon and Cornwall Police for comment.
Night will feature yearly speech to Congress from Biden and rebuttal from Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala.

Lawmakers are planning to push pertinent causes and shine light on current issues with carefully selected guests at President Biden's State of the Union on Thursday.

The night is expected to be a referendum on Biden's advanced age as he gears up for a grueling 2024 campaign swing. It'll feature an address by Biden followed by a GOP rebuttal from Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala.

Viewers can expect raucous heckling, like last year when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., shouted 'liar' at Biden, and loud cheers from Democrats looking to defend to defend their 2024 nominee.

Here's a list of notable guests who will watch the president deliver his fourth yearly address to a joint session of Congress:

Cuban democratic opposition leader to troll 'Squad' Democrats

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Florida, the only Cuban-born congressman, is bringing Cuban dissident Maria Paya Acevedo.

Her father, Oswaldo Paya, was murdered after spending decades fighting against the Castro communist regime and founded the Christian Liberation Movement.

Her family is now suing former U.S. Ambassador Manuel Rocha for conspiring in her fathers death. Rocha pled guilty last week to spying for Communist Cuba for over 40 years.

It comes as after pushback to Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., secretly traveling to Cuba to meet with its socialist government.

'She is joining me to denounce the ongoing brutality of Cuba, demand freedom for all political prisoners, and hold the regime accountable for its crimes against humanity. Recently, colleagues of mine on the fringe traveled to Havana to meet with officials of the Castro regime to serve as apologists and lobby on their behalf. I am proud to stand with Rosa Maria to continue to loudly denounce the evils of the Cuban regime,' Gimenez said in a statement.

Deadly Afghanistan withdrawal back in the spotlight

Republicans aren't letting Biden off the hook nearly two and a half years since the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Last year, Biden was heavily criticized for failing to mention the exit at all, and none of his Cabinet secretaries have been held accountable for the event that killed 13 U.S. service members and hundreds of Afghan allies.

Foreign Affairs Chair McCaul is bringing Christy Shamblin - the mother-in-law of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, who was one of the 13 US troops killed in the ISIS-K terror attack in Kabul during the Afghanistan withdrawal.

The Texas Republican's committee has been aggressively probing Biden's withdrawal.

Foreign Affairs Chair McCaul is bringing Christy Shamblin - the mother-in-law of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, who was one of the 13 US troops killed in the ISIS-K terror attack in Kabul during the Afghanistan withdrawal

Freed Hamas hostages as Israel's war in Gaza continues

Speaker Mike Johnson is bringing freed Israeli hostage Mia Schem as one of his guests. Schem spent 50 days in Hamas captivity.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is bringing Andrea Weinstein, the sister of Judy Weinstein Haggai and Gad Haggai.

Weinstein Haggai was killed by Hamas after being taken hostage and Gad Haggai is believed to have died during the October 7 attack.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., will be bringing Adi Alexander and Jonathan Dekel-Chen, two fathers of Americans who are still currently in Hamas captivity.

Speaker Mike Johnson is bringing freed Israeli hostage Mia Schem as one of his guests. Schem spent 50 days in Hamas captivity

Parents of wrongly detained journalist Evan Gerschkovich

The speaker is also bringing the parents of Evan Gerschkovich.

Gerschkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, has been detained in Russia for more than a year.

'By hosting Evan's parents, a spotlight on the unjust detention of their son,' Johnson said.

Republicans keep immigration top of mind with border officials on the front lines

GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik will bring along Brandon Budlong, a border patrol agent and leader in the border patrol union.

Meanwhile Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty is bringing Tennessee Governor Bill Lee after he sent Tennessee National Guard to the border.

Reps. Nicole Malliotakis and Anthony D'Esposito, Republicans of New York, are bringing a pair of NYPD officers  Lt. Ben Kurian and Officer Zunxu Tian  who were brutally attacked in a now-viral video by migrants in Times Square.

Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., is bringing Marvin Weatherwax - a leader in the Blackfeet Native American tribe and member of Montana statehouse, to call attention to issues at the northern border.

'Zinke and I share concerns about the border and fentanyl that is devastating my home on the Blackfeet Reservation and tribes across the country. The Blackfeet Nation shares 70 miles of border with Canada where our patrol is completely understaffed and underfunded,' Weatherwax said in a statement to DailyMail.com.

'The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Border Patrol have blocked resources for us to be able to take care of the isseu, and meanwhile the DOJ is nowhere to be found.'

'Wrongly detained' Americans in China as the U.S. counters rising aggression

Republican Rep. Nick LaLota is bringing two guests to the event: one being Harrison Li, the son of Kai Li, a resident of his New York district who has been 'wrongfully detained' in China since 2016 on spying charges.

LaLota has long been calling on President Biden to do more to bring the elder Li back to the U.S.

He's also bringing Lt. Ridge Alkonis, who spent time in a Japanese prison while stationed there with the U.S. Navy because he says he suffered acute mountain sickness, lost consciousness and got into an accident where two others died.

LaLota has called on the House to take up his bill that would reduce the number of service members in nations where there aren't legal protective agreements.

Democrats hammer Republicans on IVF after Alabama ruling and abortion rights

After an Alabama Supreme Court ruling found embryos to have the same rights as children, effectively putting a stop to the practice in the state due to health care providers' fear of being charged for their handling of non-viable embryos.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is bringing Elizabeth Carr, the first baby born by IVF in 1981, as his guest. Carris from Norfolk, Virginia.

'In the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court's ruling, it's more important than ever that we commit to protecting access to IVF services nationwide. We must work to safeguard IVF so the Elizabeth Carrs of the world can continue to be born,' he said in a statement.

Caitlin Bernard, the Indiana doctor who controversially gave an Ohio 10-year-old an abortion after Roe v. Wade was struck down, will attend as a guest of Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., is bringing Illinois reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist Dr. Amanda Adeleye and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said his guest would be infertility activist Roshni Kamta.

Rapper Fat Joe promotes healthcare price transparency

Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., will bring the rapper, who works with advocacy group Power to the Patients to advocate for Congress to pass legislation to force price transparency in the healthcare system.

Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., will bring the rapper Fat Joe who works with advocacy group Power to the Patients to advocate for Congress to pass legislation to force price transparency in the healthcare system.

Justice for the Dreamers: Democrats want path forward for immigrants

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., announced his State of the Union guest would be Dr. Denisse Rojas Marquez, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient.

She runs Pre-Health Dreamers, an organization to help immigrants pursuing careers in health and medicine.

Victims of nuclear contamination in the spotlight

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is inviting Dawn Chapman, co-founder of Just Moms in St. Louis, a grassroots group that advocates for victims of nuclear contamination, to Thursdays address.

Hawley has been been pushing for a Senate vote on the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which seeks to compensate victims exposed to radioactive waste nationwide.

Rare disease advocate

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., will be bringing Kari Rosbeck President and CEO of the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance.

Schmitt's son, Stephen, is diagnosed with Tuberous Sclerosis, a rare disease causing tumors on major organs.

Schmitt and Rosbeck have worked together for years, and is proudly bringing her to raise awareness for the condition, his office confirmed to DailyMail.com.
A traumatised young couple have pleaded for tougher penalties for young offenders after their home was broken into while they slept in their beds.

Ashlyn Condullas, 22, and her partner Harry have barely slept since early Sunday morning when they were woken by two youths breaking into their Cairns home in Far North Queensland.

The brazen intruders threatened to kill the couple when confronted and then stole both of their cars.

The terrifying ordeal prompted Ms Condullas to write to premier Steven Miles, ministers and local MPs in a desperate cry for help.

The couple and Ms Condullas' teenage sister, who lives with them, have been left broken and traumatised, fearing they will be targeted again.

Ms Condullas is the latest victim in an ever growing youth crime crisis gripping Queensland with the state government under pressure to get tough on the matter.

Ashlyn Condullas (left) and her partner Harry (right) are among the latest victims of Queensland's youth crime epidemic

'We've all been left quite shocked and shattered, very anxious, very scared to be in our own home,' Ms Condullas told Sunrise on Thursday.

'My 16-year-old sister is too scared to sleep in her own bedroom. When I say sleeping, she's just on the floor in our bedroom.

READ MORE: Premier deemed 'not fit' to lead after video emerged of him giggling at question about youth crime problem Queensland Premier Steven Miles is under fire after nervously laughing when asked at a press conference what his government was doing about youth crime Advertisement

'And we're not sleeping because we're all hyper vigilant and scared.'

While Harry's car has since been recovered, Ms Condullas' silver Corolla with pink and black personalised number plates is still missing.

She accused the state government of lack of action, a frustration she says has been echoed by police trying to enforce the law.

'Quite a few said to me, 'I wish they'd stop releasing them once we catch them,' she recalled.

Ms Condullas, an allied health professional and a former young citizen of the year, issued an impassioned plea to the government to enforce tougher penalties for youth offenders.

'Clearly we need action and we need it now,' she continued.

'I think that should start with mandatory sentencing for repeat offenders and with detention not viewed as a last resort.

'Because clearly time and time again they're doing the exact same thing once they're released.

'I think it is proven they need to be detained. I also think in the cases such crime theft, break and entering, violence or where there's a threats of violence, I think they should be tried as adult.

'I think the consequences are not tough enough for them. Clearly, that's why they keep coming out and doing the same thing over and over again.'

Her open letter and comments had a lasting impression on Sunrise host Matt 'Shirvo' Shirvington.

Ashlyn Condullas hopes that Queensland's leaders will read her harrowing ordeal and desperate calls for action. Pictured is her letter sent to them

Allied health worker Ashlyn (pictured) has demanded tougher penalties for youth crime and mandatory sentencing for repeat offenders

'I can't believe you're only 22 years of age. You speak such sense, Ashlyn,' he told her at the end of the segment.

It's understood none of the recipients of the letter have responded to Ms Condullas.

Born and raised in North Queensland, she spent time studying and starting her career in Townsville and Sunshine Coast before a job opportunity arose for her to return home in January.

But it never dawned on her she would become part of the youth crime statistics until she woke to intruders breaking into her home which left her frozen with fear.

'Little know what awaited us would leave us with severe anxiety and post-traumatic stress,' she wrote.

Ashlyn Condullas (pictured) has been left shaken by the break-in and car theft

'With the rising statistics of youth crime and lack of action from the current government, my guess is that it could quite possibly happen again.'

'It's safe to say that we're traumatised and broken.'

The shattered couple's dreams of buying their first home at the end of this year have been dashed, with their savings towards a house deposit set to go towards a new car and security upgrades in their rental home.

Ms Condullas believed the lack of tougher penalties for youth offenders and mandate sentencing for repeat offenders has 'broken' her state.

'Not only the victims of crimes but also the frontline heroes risking their lives to catch these offenders, just for them to be let go with no more than a slap on the wrist,' her letter continued.

There are growing calls for the Queensland government to act following the tragic death of grandmother Vyleen White, 70, who was allegedly stabbed to death by a teenage boy at a Redbank Plains shopping centre last month.

Mr Miles came under fire days later after he laughed when asked by a reporter what his government was doing about youth crime in his state.
DNA technology has been used to help solve the brutal murder a Virginia woman after their case went cold for nearly 40 years - and the suspect has been linked to another killing.

Elroy Harrison, 65, was charged on Tuesday in the slaying of Jacqueline Lard, a 32-woman from Virginia, whose body was found in a wooded area under a pile of discarded carpet on November 14, 1986, according to Stafford County Sheriff's Office, The Daily Beast reported.

Lard, a mother-of-two, was beaten to death. Her car was found a month later abandoned in Fairfax County. Though DNA evidence was collected, officials were unable to connect them to a suspect and the case went cold.

Three years later, Amy Baker, an 18-year-old woman, went missing after visiting a relative house in Falls Church, Virginia, on March 29, 1989.

Her car was found along Interstate 95, and her body was discovered two days later in a wooded area. Baker was strangled and her body was dumped along the highway, Fairfax County Police said.

In December 2023, a family name for the suspect was identified. Detectives obtained a search warrant for DNA - which later linked Harrison to the murders of the two women, the Stafford County Sheriff's Office said.

Jacqueline Lard, a 32-woman from Virginia , whose body was found in a wooded area under a pile of discarded carpet on November 14, 1986, according to Stafford County Sheriff's Office

Amy Baker, an 18-year-old woman, went missing after visiting a relatives house in Falls Church, Virginia on March 29, 1989. Her car was found along Interstate 95, and her body was discovered two days later in a wooded area

Elroy Harrison, 65, was charged on Tuesday in the murders of Jacqueline Lard, 32, and has been linked to the murder of Amy Baker, 18, whose brutal deaths went unsolved until this week

So far, Harrison has only been charged in connection to he killing of Lard. The investigation into Baker's death is ongoing.

Lard, who worked at Mount Vernon Realty on Garrisonville Road, was closing the office for the night and was last seen at 9pm that fateful night. Her body was found two days later by two children who were playing in the woods.

During the investigation police found signs of what they called a 'horrific struggle,' between Lard and the suspect.

Federal and state agencies worked together trying to solve the heinous crime following up on leads, conducting interviews with potential suspects, and persons of interest.

A task force was also created by the FBI with the Stafford County Sheriff, Prince William County Police Department and the DEA. Though officials repeated searches of the Virginia and National DNA Databanks with DNA they had collected from the crime scene they were unable to identify the suspect.

That was until late last year when Detective D.K. Wood with the Stafford County Sheriff's Office used unidentified DNA to build a family tree of a suspect to come up with Harrison's name by way of genetic genealogy, WRIC News reported.

Wood worked with Parabon NanoLabs, a company that provides DNA phenotyping, as per the news outlet.

Harrison's DNA sample matched the crime scene when Lard was killed nearly four decades ago, and the unsolved murder of Baker.

In December 2023, Detective D.K. Wood with Stafford County Sheriff's Office used unidentified DNA to build a family tree of a suspect to come up with Harrison's name by way of genetic genealogy. On Tuesday, Elroy Harrison, 65, (pictured) was charged with murder

According to the Fairfax County Police Department, Baker had left her family members home around 8.30pm but never made it home. Her family reported her missing.

Her abandoned car was found by a state trooper around 9.55pm that night. The car was in the same place by the next day, and had it towed.

Baker's distraught mother went searching for her daughter, and discovered her daughter's body 'in a wooded area near the exit ramp from I-95 to Backlick Road in Springfield,' police said, as per the news outlet.

Officials said they believe that when she ran out of gas, she left her car to look for a gas station and that is when she ran into the suspect, who strangled and left her for dead.

In 2021, the Fairfax County Police Department cold case unit submitted forensic evidence from the crime scene to DNA Labs International, which led to the link to the case in Stafford County.

On Monday, Harrison was indicted by a Stafford County Grand Jury for the first-degree murder, abduction with the intent to defile and aggravated malicious wounding of Lard  as well as breaking and entering with the intent to commit murder, DC News Now reported.

Harrison, a resident of Stafford County, was arrested at his home on Tuesday.

He is being held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond.

Detectives at the Fairfax County Police Department are working with the Fairfax County Office of the Commonwealth Attorney to also charge Harrison for Baker's murder, as per the news outlet.
The mayor of Ballarat urged locals to stop spreading rumours about missing mother Samantha Murphy just hours before a man was arrested and charged with murder on Thursday.

Mayor Des Hudson, a former police officer, told Ballarat residents to stop adding to speculation about what happened to Ms Murphy after she vanished from her Eureka St home on February 4.

Now, more than 30 days after she was reported missing, Victoria Police have revealed a 22-year-old man was arrested shortly after 6am on Wednesday, March 6.

The Ballarat local is not connected to the Murphy family and remains in custody.

He was charged with murder on Thursday afternoon and will face Ballarat Magistrates Court.

A 22-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder in relation to the disappearance of Ballarat mother, Samantha Murphy (pictured)

Ballarat Mayor Des Hudson called for locals to stop speculating on Ms Murphy's disappearance and consider her grieving family (pictured, Ms Murphy's eldest daughter, Jess)

The arrest marks the first significant breakthrough since the mother-of-three seemingly disappeared without a trace.

Very little about Ms Murphy's disappearance has been shared with the public other than basic facts such as she left her home for a run in Woowookarung Regional Park about 7am on the day she went missing.

She was reported missing by her family after she failed to return for an 11am Sunday brunch and police later found her phone stopped working about 7km into her run.

Speculation on what happened to Ms Murphy has run rife with theories including an attack by a stalker, a fall down a mineshaft or that she ran away to start a new life.

Cr Hudson (pictured) told residents the rumours around the Murphy family are 'hurtful'

However, on Thursday, Cr Hudson told citizens to stop spreading speculation because they should be 'better than that'.

'It would be really hurtful for the family to hear some of those [rumours] at a time when they are obviously highly stressed, highly sensitive, highly emotional,' Cr Hudson told the Herald Sun.

'I would just like to implore people to put themselves in that position and think about what they would expect from our local community.

'We are talking about a family that is not able to switch off, they are searching for answers and those answers aren't yet there.'

Possibly the most harmful rumours circulating around Ms Murphy's death were accusations her husband, Mick Murphy, was involved in her disappearance.

By the fifth day of his wife's disappearance, the Murphy family was forced to issue a public statement for internet sleuths to stop harassing Mr Murphy.

Cr Hudson also thanked the Ballarat community for banding together in the search (pictured) for Ms Murphy

The 22-year-old man arrested in relation to Ms Murphy's (pictured) disappearance remains in custody but has not been charged

'For those questioning Samantha's husband, you need not worry,' the statement read.

'He is in more pain than anyone and would be the last person to suspect in any of this.'

On a positive note, the mayor thanked the Ballarat community for banding together in the search for Ms Murphy.

'Our local community has been, in terms of volunteering and going out onto the search ground, amazing,' he said.

Investigators have sorted through more than 770 information reports and 20,000 hours of CCTV footage to reach Thursday's breakthrough arrest.

On Sunday, former Victoria Police homicide detective Charlie Bezzina pointed to one sign police were closing in on a suspect.

He highlighted how Victoria Police said it believes more than one person was involved in Ms Murphy's disappearance.

'To be able to say there's more than one person involved to me is indicative that they are looking at somebody,' he told 7News.

In a statement on Thursday, Victoria Police urged anyone who sees Ms Murphy to 'call triple zero (000) immediately'.

Ms Murphy's husband, Mick Murphy (pictured with daughter Jess) faced harsh accusations from internet sleuths

Police urged anyone who sees Ms Murphy (pictured) to 'call triple zero (000) immediately'

'There are no further updates at this time and the investigation remains ongoing,' it said.

'We understand that there is a continued high level of interest in this investigation and concern about disappearance, however it remains critical that any speculation does not impede any aspects of the investigation.

'Detectives are continuing to appeal for anyone who has CCTV or dashcam footage and is yet to speak to police to come forward.'
More than 100 MPs have warned that selling The Daily Telegraph to a UAE-backed investment fund risks Press freedom in Britain being 'seriously undermined'.

MPs from five different parties have backed powers to block the sale of a UK news media organisation to a foreign government without parliamentary approval.

Their action comes as RedBird IMI, which is majority-owned by the United Arab Emirates' International Media Investments, tries to buy the Telegraph Media Group.

A letter signed by the cross-party group of MPs was sent by former housing minister Robert Jenrick to Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer.

More than 100 MPs have warned that selling The Daily Telegraph to a UAE-backed investment fund risks Press freedom in Britain being 'seriously undermined' (Stock Image)

A letter signed by the cross-party group of MPs was sent by former housing minister Robert Jenrick (pictured) to Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer

It called on ministers to accept a proposed amendment to the Digital Markets Bill that has been tabled in the House of Lords by Tory peer Baroness Stowell, which would require Parliament's approval for any such type of deal.

It comes after it was revealed last week that the proposed Telegraph takeover had been called in for a security review by the Government.

Officials from the Investment Security Unit, part of the Cabinet Office, have been looking at the bid.

The letter from MPs to Ms Frazer said: 'If major newspaper and media organisations can be purchased by foreign governments, the freedom of the Press in the UK has the potential to be seriously undermined.

'No other democracy in the world has allowed a media outlet to be controlled by a foreign government. This is a dangerous Rubicon we should not cross.'

Mr Jenrick said: 'Our free Press is a cornerstone of our democracy. We must do everything we can to protect it.'
Superannuation will be included in paid parental leave payments as the Government unveils a national strategy to achieve gender equality.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher will announce the reform and the strategy at the National Press Club on Thursday.

The measure will come into effect on July 1, 2025 and follows the Government's pledge to expand paid parental leave to six months by 2026.

Senator Gallagher said the reform was about closing the gap between the amount of super earned by men and women.

'It ... helps close that super gender pay gap but also sends a very strong message that we don't think women should pay a financial penalty when they take time out of their paid work to care for children,' she told ABC TV on Thursday.

Superannuation will be included in paid parental leave payments as the Government unveils a national strategy to achieve gender equality. A pregnant woman is pictured

READ MORE: You think superannuation is your 'nest egg' for the future? Anthony Albanese's government has a brutal message for you - as it pushes a new rule Australians have been slammed for treating superannuation like a nest egg as Labor flags a big retirement savings shake-up (stock image pictured) Advertisement

Senator Gallagher said while a final amount for how much the scheme will cost has yet to be determined, the superannuation pledge will be funded in the federal budget and not tied to an election commitment.

The 12 per cent super contribution will help 180,000 families that receive the benefit each year.

Senator Gallagher said while some employers already pay super on top of any paid parental leave, the changes would ensure all people using the leave would be able to access it.

It's estimated women end up having one-third less in their super balance than men by retirement age.

Adding super to paid parental leave was recommended by the women's economic equality taskforce.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers defended the decision to have the super changes introduced in mid-2025.

'We've got to get the systems right, we've got to work out the most effective way to pay this benefit,' he told ABC Radio.

Adding superannuation to paid parental leave was recommended by the women's economic equality taskforce.

Opposition frontbencher James Paterson said paid parental leave was originally envisaged as a welfare scheme, not wage replacement, and hasn't historically been paid superannuation.

He said this was a 'new approach' from Labor which the Coalition would scrutinise.

'We will look very carefully at the details and particularly the costings and make sure the Government has done their homework here and that the full cost is being transparent and clear,' Senator Paterson told Sky News.

The super scheme has been welcomed by the superannuation industry, with Super Members Council chief executive Misha Schubert calling the move historic.

'This watershed reform will make a powerful difference to the lives and retirement incomes of generations of Australian women in the decades ahead, and narrow the gender gap at retirement,' she said.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher (pictured) will announce the reform and the strategy at the National Press Club on Thursday

'It will powerfully propel Australia closer towards the goal of ending the financial "motherhood penalty" in the early years of having children, which has a compounding effect across women's working lives.'

Mary Delahunty, chief executive of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, said the change would be a huge boost to equity.

'For too long, women have retired with significantly fewer savings on average than men as a result of (time off) work or working reduced hours to have and raise children. It's about bloody time,' she said.

ACTU assistant secretary Joseph Mitchell said the move would rectify a gap in the superannuation system.
Voice advocate Thomas Mayo has blamed community Facebook pages for 'stirring hatred toward black kids' and inciting a disturbing incident in Broome.

Footage of three small children sitting on the concrete with their hands cable tied together sent shockwaves through the nation on Wednesday.

Local tradesman Mat Radelic, 45, was seen standing over the crying children - a girl and two boys aged six, seven and eight - outside a home on Conkerberry Road, Cable Beach.

Radelic, who runs a small air-conditioning company, stood beside the distressed and whimpering children until police officers arrived to arrest him.

Initially called to investigate the children's alleged trespassing, police later charged the 45-year-old man with three counts of aggravated assault.

Margaret, six, (left) was tied up with her brother Stuart (right) for about an hour on a 33C day

Footage of three Indigenous children bound with cable ties by a tradie outside a home in Broome, WA, has won sympathy from weary locals in a town wracked by youth crime

Mr Mayo expressed his distress on Wednesday, placing blame squarely at the feet of community groups which discuss crimes and concerns in the local area.

'In towns like Broome with high levels of youth crime, community FB pages stir hatred against Black kids,' he said.

'They're ignorant to poverty and racism. Their calls for 'tough on crime' policies, heeded by Gov's, perpetuate the problem.

'This is the result. Our kids aren't safe.'

Mr Mayo was one of the leading advocates for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, arguing it would improve the lives of First Nations people around Australia, and incentivise Indigenous youths.

He has vowed to continue advocating for the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart - just not constitutional recognition.

'It won't be done in my lifetime,' he conceded. 'But I do believe other people will do it, because we see from the polling results that young people voted Yes.

'Our children are getting a different education about the truth of our colonial past, and why we have these disparities in the present.'

Voice advocate Thomas Mayo has blamed community Facebook pages for 'stirring hatred toward black kids' and inciting a disturbing incident in Broome

Burly local tradesman Mat Radelic, 45, was seen standing over the crying children - a girl and two boys aged six, seven and eight

Voice critic Senator Lidia Thorpe raised a similar point to Mr Mayo, instead blaming 'politicians who whip up fear and hatred of our babies for political points'.

'This is what your words lead to,' she said.

'This is as much on you as it's on this despicable man.'

Greens Senator Dorinda Cox also hit out at the upsetting footage with an emotive statement, urging voters to 'confront such footage in the spirit of truth telling'.

'However confronting this is, this is how we heal and move forward,' she said.

Voice critic Senator Lidia Thorpe raised a similar point to Mr Mayo, instead blaming 'politicians who whip up fear and hatred of our babies for political points'

'We can never be ok with watching children as young as six being humiliated, their tiny wrists being tied up and leaving them crying in the hot sun.

'Children are forever damaged by this type of behaviour. There is no justification for instilling terror into small children.'

Locals told Daily Mail Australia the incident, which has been widely condemned, was a symptom of a town pushed beyond its limits, and overrun with youth crime.

While the children targeted in the shocking footage are not accused of any wrongdoing, Broome residents cited years of living with burglaries, break-ins, car thefts, arson attacks and rampaging teenage gangs.

Labor MP Marion Scrymgour, whose electorate covers a broad part of the Northern Territory, recently said children and teenagers who commit crimes need to be treated with 'tough love' in order to curb their offending.

'(A) bit of tough love never hurt anyone, and I think that's what needs to come into this equation,' she said, referring to reports of children as young as 10 committing serious crimes.

'We've got to stop thinking we're dealing with little angels here  When you look at those photos they're laughing and smiling, they think it's a joke, and it's not, because they could have an accident and one of them could get killed.'
The disappearance of mum-of-three Samantha Murphy who vanished without a trace has gripped Australia over the last five weeks.

Detectives are one step closer to solving the mystery with the arrest of a man, 22, at his Ballarat home early on Wednesday.

The man, who has no connection to the Murphy family, was charged with one count of murder the following afternoon.

The man is the son of a former AFL player, but cannot be identified any further owing to a court order.

The breakthrough comes three days after investigators began reviewing mobile phone tower data to identify the movements of people in the area where Ms Murphy vanished.

The arrest and murder charge also marks the first significant breakthrough in what has become Victoria's highest priority police inquiry since the mother-of-three, 51, left her home in Ballarat East to go for a run in nearby Woowookarung Regional Park at about 7am on February 4.

Despite a massive search effort involving police, SES and countless volunteers, Ms Murphy is yet to be found.

Investigators are also in the process of reviewing about 12,000 hours of CCTV footage and following up over 500 separate pieces of information.

Daily Mail Australia takes a look back at how detectives got to this stage.

Police have arrested a man in relation to the disappearance of missing mum Samantha Murphy

No trace of the mum-of-three has ever been found, despite a massive search effort involving police, SES and countless volunteers (pictured)

Detectives are seen visiting Ms Murphy's family home on Thursday after announcing that an arrest had been made in relation to her disappearance

Sunday February 4

Mum-of-three Samantha Murphy left her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East to head off on a run around 7am.

She was captured on a neighbour's CCTV wearing a brown singlet and black half-length leggings.

It's believed she reached the Mount Clear area by foot, according to mobile phone data later obtained by police.

She was reported missing four hours later after she failed to return to return home or show up at a planned 11am brunch with family.

Ms Murphy's uncle and aunt Allan and Janice Robson, told Daily Mail Australia that her husband Mick made the call to police.

'She was reported missing at about 11am. Mick reported her missing. He said she was supposed to be back to go to some sort of meeting that morning,' Allan said.

'She wasn't home. Didn't go to it... he rang up and reported it and after that they started looking out the other side of Buninyong, which is 20-30km away.'

Monday February 5

Victoria Police launch a public appeal regarding Ms Murphy's disappearance.

A statement said that police and her family held grave concerns for Samantha's welfare due to the hot weather and out of character disappearance.

A search area is established just outside the suburb of Buninyong, about 14km from where Ms Murphy was last seen, as well as near her home.

Tuesday February 6

Ms Murphy's husband, Mick, tells media that he's 'not too bad under the circumstances.

He was pictured speaking with police as the desperate search continued.

The search extended to more than 100 specialised police officers, SES crews and teams from Forest Fire Management Australia and Parks Victoria.

Wednesday February 7

Possible evidence near a walking trail in Woowookarung Regional Park which was later deemed not related to her whereabouts.

appeared visibly stunned as he was turned away by officers.

Ms Murphy's husband turns up at the cordoned off scene in Woowookarung Regional Park and

Police later released CCTV of whom they initially believed was Ms Murphy leaving her property and heading off in a north-easterly direction.

Thursday February 8

Ms Murphy's husband and daughter front the media to issue an emotional plea.

'Mum, we love you so much, and we miss you, and we need you at home with us,' daughter Jess said as she fought back tears.

'Please come home soon. I can't wait to see you and to give you the biggest hug when I do, and to tell you off for giving us so much stress. I love you.'

Mick added: 'People just don't vanish into thin air. Someone has got to know something,' he says.

Later that day, a key line of inquiry came to an abrupt end when a runner came forward to reveal they are the person seen in the CCTV footage released by police a day earlier.

Friday February 9

As the search enters its sixth day, Victoria police's missing persons squad takes over as lead investigators on the search for Ms Murphy.

Saturday February 10

Police scaled back the extensive search and added that a full scale search will only resume if fresh information emerged.

Volunteer crews consisting of locals vow to continue conducting their own searches and hold onto the hope that Ms Murphy could still be alive.

The arrest and murder charge announced by police on Thursday marks the first significant breakthrough in what has become Victoria's highest priority police inquiry since the missing mum vanished on February 4

Ballarat locals have spent the last few weeks conducting their own searches in the hope that Ms Murphy could still be alive.

Locals have continued looking for Samanatha Murphy after police scaled back the search

Wednesday, February 14 :

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton confirms that detectives are treating Ms Murphy's disappearance as suspicious.

'It's certainly unusual when we haven't been able to locate any trace of her or any other evidence within that period of time,' he said.

'It's suspicious, whether that means there's foul play involved, or not, I don't know, but obviously detectives are investigating a matter where a woman's been missing for a significant period of time.

Thursday February 22

As dozens of detectives from specialist units are assigned to the case and travel from Melbourne, police admit 'one or more parties' are most likely behind Ms Murphy's disappearance as a new ground search was launched.

Detectives also reveal that Ms Murphy's husband Mick and 'everyone' close to her have been named as persons of interest.

'We are keeping an open mind, but believe the most likely scenario is that her disappearance involves one or more parties,' Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt said.

'Given the extensive and detailed search that has already been undertaken, and the fact no sign of Samantha or her personal belongings has been located, we have ruled out any type of medical incident.'

When Daily Mail Australia asked Superintendent Hatt if Mr Murphy was a person of interest, he said he was not an official suspect, but that he and 'everyone' in Ms Murphy's close personal life was a person of interest.

'We have a number of people that we are speaking to and I can say the family have been absolutely fantastic in co-operating with police,' he said.

'At this stage he is not (a suspect). Everyone in relation to Samantha is a person of interest. In our investigation we are speaking to everyone that was in her life.

Police also launch a major new ground search after phone data led them to a specific area of bushland 6km from where she was last seen.

Detectives from the Missing Persons Squad lead the 'targeted search' of bush around Mount Clear, 6km from Ms Murphy's home.

The new search was south of the Canadian forest area where Ms Murphy regularly ran and where much of the earlier searches have been conducted.

It was also closer to the phone tower in Buninyong which was said to have registered a ping from Ms Murphy's mobile phone at about 5pm on the day she vanished.

Saturday February 24

Hundreds of Ballarat locals join a volunteer-led community search spanning dense bushland in the hope of finding a clue to assist the investigation. Search organisers are still hopeful that Ms Murphy will be found alive.

'The amount of mothers and women, there have been fathers and other people jumping in on the group chats which is absolutely fantastic, but a lot of the driving force, a lot of the community, a lot of the people getting involved are the women,' Cristie-Lea King told A Current Affair several days earlier.

The community mood in Ballarat remains 'sombre', where Ms Murphy's disappearance continues to impact daily lives of many locals.

'I think it has certainly been felt, spoken about,' Ms King said.

'Even getting out of my car last night, I suddenly heard a noise.

'I shouldn't be thinking about that or worrying, but it creates a sense of until we get answers you don't know what happened.'

The group refused to give up hope that Ms Murphy will be found,

'Until there is an answer, we are not giving up hope on her if she is there,' Ms King said.

Police released this image of Ms Murphy from the morning she vanished. Detectives now believe 'one or more parties' are behind her mystery disappearance

Samantha Murphy's husband Mick Murphy addressed the media four days after she disappeared

Wednesday February 28

The Inland Motor Body Works, a smash repair business in Ballarat owned by Ms Murphy and her husband became a focus of the investigation, amid speculation outlaw motorcycle gangs were among their customers.

Later that night, a panel of experts - including psychologists, former policemen and technology experts examined all the information Victoria Police have shared with the public for Channel Nine's Under Investigation program.

The experts believed Mrs Murphy's habitual morning run could have been what led to her disappearance and considered a number of different scenarios, including the possibility that she was kidnapped and is still alive.

But all five experts agreed the mother had likely met some kind of foul play - whether that be murder or kidnap - while she was in the forest.

Monday March 4

Investigators have begun reviewing mobile phone tower data to identify the movements of people in the area where Ms Murphy vanished.

Detectives will now trawl through mobile data from the Ballarat area, with particular interest in phones that 'pinged' from towers covering the zone they believe Ms Murphy was in hours after her run.

Phone metadata has been crucial to the investigation after it pinpointed a precise location in the Mount Clear area, some 7km from Ms Murphy's home, about an hour into her 14km jog.

Wednesday March 6

A man, 22, is arrested at his Scotsburn home in Ballarat shortly after 6am in connection to Ms Murphy's disappearance. However his arrest is not announced by Victoria Police until the next day

Thursday March 7

Victoria Police announce a man has been arrested and remains in custody. Detectives were later spotted visiting the family home to speak to Ms Murphy's husband Mick.

Police later announce that the man, 22, in custody has been been charged with one count of murder and will Ballarat Magistrates' Court later that afternoon.

Police are yet to recover Samantha's body and the investigation remains ongoing.

'Our thoughts today are with Samantha's family and friends,' Supt Hatt said in a statement.

'Since Samantha's disappearance at the start of February, a significant search and investigation has been undertaken in an effort to find her.

'This has included a dedicated and committed investigative effort led by the Missing Persons squad and also involving detectives from right across Crime Command, Counter Terrorism Command and Western Region.

'This has been further supported by a range of specialist resources from across Victoria Police.

'To get to a position where we have been able to charge someone is testament to the commitment and dedication from all those areas.

'We have also had exceptional support from many people in the Ballarat community, particularly local search volunteers and members of the SES and CFA.

'I know that Samantha's disappearance has had a profound impact on the Ballarat community and I want to thank all of those people who have assisted police in many different ways over the past month.'

Samantha Murphy left her Ballarat home at 7am February 4 to go for a run in the nearby state forest and did not return home. Police have now launched a major new ground search after phone data led them to a specific area of bushland 6km from where she was last seen

The major new development will see a significant number of detectives from across Crime Command and other specialist commands join local police in the hunt for Samantha Murphy (above)
By Yi Whan-woo

JB Financial Group has partnered up with Infina, a Vietnamese financial platform operator, to expand its presence on the global stage, the group announced on Thursday.

It said its affiliate in Vietnam, JB Securities Vietnam (JBSV), signed an agreement on strategic investment with Infina.

Under the deal, JBSV will take over a 3.9 percent stake in Infina. It plans to pull up the stake to around 5 percent in line with the joint collaborations performance in the near future.

Located in Hanoi, JBSV has been engaged in stock trading, brokerage, corporate bond issuance and investment. It launched a mobile trading platform, Finavi, in September, advancing into stock trading and brokerage as well as margin loan business. On top of its differentiated branding strategy, JBSV plans to expand its customer base through strategic collaboration with the Vietnamese fintech industry.

We expect cooperation with a prospective Vietnamese fintech company will further help us to head in the right business direction, JBSV CEO Kim Doo-yoon said after signing the deal with Infina CEO James Vuong in Hanoi.

Kim expressed hope the cooperation with Infina can set an example for joint prosperity in Vietnam that has a high growth potential.

Vuong said his company is pleased to work with a financial services company that is highly trusted by customers.

He noted JB Financial Groups expertise in finance and relevant digital technology was a reason behind the reaching of the partnership.

We anticipate JB Financial Group will not only expand business in Vietnam but also take us with them as it continues to set a foothold in other countries, Vuong added.

Established in 2018, Infina is a leading financial platform centered in asset management, boasting around 1.3 million customers and 500,000 monthly active users. It has attracted investment from major start-up investors such as Sequoia and Y Combinator.

Headquartered in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, JB Financial Group has several overseas affiliates, including PPCBank, a Cambodian bank, and JBCM, a Myanmar capital company. The group plans to set up new growth model by continuing strategic investment for mutual growth with fintech firms, both domestic and overseas.
Theatres and film production will get a major boost to protect the UK's creative industries, Jeremy Hunt said yesterday.

The Chancellor announced a permanent rate for theatre tax relief which was introduced during the pandemic.

He also vowed to make the UK 'second only to Hollywood' by giving tax breaks to the film and television sector.

Producers Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sir Cameron Mackintosh and Sir Sam Mendes hailed the move as providing a 'lifeline' for the performing arts.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a permanent rate for theatre tax relief as he vowed to make the UK second only to Hollywood

Pictured, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber who said the move was 'once-in-a-generation'

Lord Lloyd Webber, Sir Cameron Mackintosh and Sir Sam Mendes (pictured) hailed the move

Lord Lloyd-Webber said the move was a 'once-in-a-generation transformational change that will ensure Britain remains the global capital of creativity'.

Mr Hunt also said 26 million of funding would be provided to the National Theatre, to 'upgrade its stages'.

The Chancellor also hailed the UK's success in attracting film production companies to the UK and said he would increase tax relief for visual effects in film and high-end television.

'We have become Europe's largest film and TV production centre with Idris Elba, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom all filming their latest productions here,' he said. 'Studio space in the UK has doubled in the last three years. At the current rate of expansion, we will be second only to Hollywood globally by the end of 2025.' He also said the UK was 'on track' to become the world's next Silicon Valley.

Unveiling powers to enable investment in technology companies, he said: 'I want our brilliant technology entrepreneurs not just to start here but to stay here, including when the time comes for a stock market listing.'

The UK has previously struggled to convince British companies such as chip designer Arm Holdings to float on the London Stock Exchange.
Bruce Lehrmann to sue the DPP's office and the ACT government

Bruce Lehrmann is expected to sue the office of the prosecutor who led his rape trial, and the ACT government, for a staggering seven-figure sum.

Mr Lehrmann launched defamation action last year against Channel Ten and Lisa Wilkinson over an episode of The Project in 2021 when Brittany Higgins first publicly alleged that he raped her in Parliament House two years prior.

He was tried in a month-long hearing in October 2022 but the matter was discontinued after the trial ended due to juror misconduct.

The former Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, dropped the matter entirely in December that year citing concerns for Ms Higgins' mental health. Mr Lehrmann has continually denied the allegations.

Mr Lehrmann was not named by The Project but claimed friends and colleagues were able to identify him as the alleged rapist. The defamation case was heard in the Federal Court in December and a judgement is expected within the coming weeks.

He has already settled defamation claims against news.com.au over an article detailing Ms Higgins' rape allegations, and the ABC over a similar broadcast, for a collective $445,000.

Daily Mail Australia can now reveal Mr Lehrmann is expected to launch two further claims in the ACT Supreme Court within the coming weeks.

Bruce Lehrmann is expected to sue the office of the prosecutor who led his rape trial, and the ACT government, for a staggering seven-figure sum

The former Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, dropped the matter entirely in December that year citing concerns for Ms Higgins' mental health

It is understood he will sue the ACT government and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for defamation and malicious prosecution over the way his rape trial was handled.

The defamation claim centres around a press announcement Mr Drumgold made in December 2022, telling media the rape charge had been dropped due to fears that Ms Higgins would not be able to endure another trial.

However, he also used that speech to congratulate Ms Higgins on her 'bravery, grace and dignity' in coming forward with her rape allegations.

'[Brittany] Higgins has faced a level of personal attack that I have not seen in over 20 years of doing this work,' Mr Drumgold said.

'She has done so with bravery, grace and dignity and it is my hope that this will now stop and Ms Higgins will be allowed to heal.'

There was a public Board of Inquiry into the way Mr Lehrmann's trial was handled by police and prosecutors last May, overseen by former Queensland Supreme Court judge Walter Sofronoff.

In his findings, Mr Sofronoff slammed the speech as 'improper' because a prosecutor should not make public comments about a case they brought to trial.

'[The comments] undermined the public's confidence in the administration of justice and it was a failure in his duty as DPP,' he said.

Ms Higgins alleged Mr Lehrmann raped her on the Senator Reynolds' couch inside her Parliament House office. Mr Lehrmann denies the allegations

The malicious prosecution claim is also expected to stem from findings outlined in Mr Sofronoff's report, stating Mr Drumgold 'lost objectivity' and 'did not act with fairness and detachment' that was required as a prosecutor.

Mr Drumgold tried to fight the findings in his civil matter against the ACT Board of Inquiry, but the majority of the report was upheld by Justice Marcus Kaye.

Daily Mail Australia also understand Mr Lehrmann's lawyers are considering requesting a seven-figure sum to settle the matter.

Mr Lehrmann's failed criminal trial has been resulted in a torrent legal claims between almost every party involved.

On Wednesday it was revealed that five members of the Australian Federal Police have launched defamation action against the ACT government over allegations by Mr Drumgold in a letter he sent police chief Neil Gaughan on November 1, 2022.

In that letter, Mr Drumgold claimed police engaged in a 'very clear campaign to pressure' him not proceed with the prosecution of Mr Lehrmann.

That letter sparked the Board of Inquiry, during which Mr Drumgold was forced to concede those claims were untrue and there there was no police conspiracy against Ms Higgins.

Earlier this week, defamation action between Linda Reynolds and the ACT government was settled for $90,000 over accusations by Mr Drumgold in the same letter.

He had accused Senator Reynolds of engaging in 'disturbing conduct' that included political interference in the police investigation, which she strongly denied.

Mr Lehrmann launched defamation action last year against Channel Ten and Lisa Wilkinson

Ms Higgins alleged Mr Lehrmann raped her on the Senator Reynolds' couch inside her Parliament House office when she was defence industry minister in March 2019. Mr Lehrmann denies the allegations and there have been no findings against him.

Ms Higgins subsequently accused Ms Reynolds, who was her boss at the time, of pressuring her to drop her rape complaint - which the senator also denies.

Further, Ms Reynolds is also suing Ms Higgins and her fiance David Sharaz for defamation in the WA Supreme Court over a series of social media posts the senator claims were damaging to her reputation.

The group failed to resolve the dispute during a nine-hour mediation session on Tuesday, which Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz flew from their new home in France to attend.

There will be another mediation session, but talks have been paused for two weeks because Ms Higgins had a mental health episode and presented to a Perth hospital on Wednesday night.

Daily Mail Australia understands Mr Lehrmann could be a witness in Ms Reynolds' defamation case if it goes to trial.
A man who spent most of his life working in the sunshine has revealed what happens when you never wear sunscreen or a hat.

Leigh Raaschou, from Victoria, Australia, spent countless hours outdoors over several decades fulfilling his role as a volunteer lifeguard.

But  after failing to take precautions against the sun  he has now suffered from nearly 200 skin cancers, mostly on his head and arms.

The father and husband has had four surgeries to remove the cancerous cells, with the most recent carried out last year. He has also had part of his skull removed after cancerous cells spread into the bone and had many rounds of chemotherapy.

Mr Raaschou said: 'As you can see by the skin, I would have had well over 100 skin cancers cut off in that time, probably closer to 200.

'I've had radiation in every area of my head, and the doctors have said there is no more.'

Leigh Raaschou (pictured), has revealed the horrifying extent of spending years in the sun without proper protection

He has had close to 200 skin cancers removed from his body, leading to bouts with chemo and numerous surgeries on his skull

Mr Raaschou was first treated for skin cancer in 1998 when he came to doctors with a growth in his skin.

He has had three other surgeries since, with doctors now recommending he has immunotherapy if he is diagnosed with more cancerous cells  a treatment that harnesses the immune system to kill the cells.

Mr Raaschou has completed his most recent treatment for cancers but doctors fear the condition could still return.

He added to ABC: 'The cancer got into my bone, and they had to take my skull out, put a titanium plate in.

'Unfortunately, I got an infection between the plate and my brain, and I had to go back in and remove it.

'But due to the high risk of cutting me open, or bleeding in the brain and things like that, they've decided that they're not going to put it back in.'

Photos of Mr Raaschou show him covered in scars and blemishes as a result of skin cancer

He added: 'Everything is just one day at a time, one foot in front of the other.

'If you can't fix it yourself (there's) no good worrying about it because you'll make yourself sick, and I refuse to do that.'

Mr Raaschou has revealed his story to urge others to take precautions while in the sun and to remember a hat and suncreen.

He said he has also now suffered vision loss after the treatment for skin cancer.

The CDC warns everyone should apply sunscreen liberally and that has a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 15 or higher at least 20 minutes before they go outdoors.

They add this should be reapplied every two hours because the cream wears off after swimming, sweating or rubbing the body with a towel.

They also recommend sunglasses to protect the eyes from sun exposure and reduce the risk of cataracts  and wearing a hat or long-sleeved clothing while in the sun to prevent damage to the skin.

The leading health organization also recommends staying in the shade where possible to minimize sun exposure.

Most skin cancers are caused by too much exposure to ultraviolet light, an invisible kind of radiation that comes from the sun.

The UV can cause damage to the DNA in skin cells, causing them to start to divide uncontrollably and become cancerous.

Skin cancers are the most common type of cancer in the US, diagnosed in about 5.4million people every year.

About eight out of ten of these are basal cell cancers, a type of cancer that begins in cells in the skin that are responsible for generating new skin cells.

The cancer is mostly detected in the early stages after patients notice changes on their skin, including a raised mole or a shift in the mole's boundary.

The cancer has a more than 99 percent survival rate if it is caught in the early stages. But if it is not detected until it spreads to other areas of the body, this falls to 35 percent.

Mr Raaschou is pictured above with his wife Paula in 1986, with the image taken 12 years before he was diagnosed with skin cancer

He is shown above with Paula (left) and his family while celebrating his birthday in January 2020

Mr Raaschou spoke after a groundbreaking study from Charles Darwin University, and RMIT found that a cannabis extract has shown positive results in slowing down melanoma cell growth.

Melanoma is known for its aggressive nature, often spreading rapidly and proving resistant to conventional treatments.

According to Dr Nazim Nassar, a co-author of the study, the extract PHEC-66 also increases cell death rates.

However, the treatment is still far from being used on humans as researchers test its safety and delivery methods.

'Before we take this to human trials, we have to go through animal trials, we have to make sure that these products are safe and effective,' Dr Nassar told the ABC.

'And more importantly, we need to find a way to deliver (PHEC-66) directly to the cell.

'Probably here we're looking at something topical or subcutaneous under the skin that will deliver the medicine directly to the target cells.'

Australia has the highest rates of skin cancer in the world Every year, over 11,500 Aussies are diagnosed with melanoma, while an estimated 434,000 people undergo treatment for non-melanoma skin cancers.

About 2,000 Australians die from skin cancer each year
The dominatrix who allegedly kissed Prince Harry has claimed she sold his underpants for 200,000 to a San Diego strip club boss owner who is 'trying to build a shrine' to the duke.

Carrie Royale, now 52, said she kissed the prince after being invited to join strippers and other guests in a Wynn Hotel room in 2012.

Harry is believed to have been wearing a pair of black boxers at the wild party before he stripped naked.

The underpants were allegedly sold at auction for a staggering $250,000 to San Diego strip club boss Dino Palmiotto.

Carrie told The Sun: 'I sold Harry's pants for $250,000 (196,000).

Carrie Royale, 52, (pictured) has claimed she sold Prince Harry's underpants for 200,000 to a San Diego strip club boss owner

Carrie said she kissed Prince Harry after being invited to join strippers and other guests in a Wynn Hotel room in 2012

Harry is believed to have been wearing the pair of black boxers at the wild party before he stripped naked

'In San Diego there is a strip club, Expose, and the owner bought them. He is still trying to build a shrine to Harry as far as I know.'

Dino said: 'I estimate there are around a million Brits, or people with British ancestry, here in California and they would love to see them.'

Naked photos of the Duke of Sussex, who was 27 at the time, being hugged by a barely-clothed woman were published in 2012 after being posted online.

Former stripper Carrie recently told The Sun she has more pictures of Harry 'in the buff' and has threatened to post them on the pay-per-view section of her OnlyFans site.

'I have some nice pictures of him in the buff,' she said.

These pictures have never been seen by the public.

'I have poolside pictures of before the night and shots of Harry in the buff. People will be shocked by them.'

She added: 'I'm a little angry about being whitewashed from his book. I mean . . . wow. He missed a lot of things from that night.

Carrie said she kissed Prince Harry after being invited to join strippers and other guests in a Wynn Hotel room in 2012

A swimsuit and a cocktail dress owned by Carrie and a pair of underwear allegedly owned by Prince Harry were displayed for auction in 2022

'I am surprised he remembers anyone's name because he was pretty intoxicated but he could have talked about the few things that happened between us, he missed that completely.'

Carrie added that Harry was 'crazy' and 'spontaneous' and now shows the 'opposite side' of his former self.

It comes after the former stripper auctioned a pair of black underpants which she in 2022 claimed Prince Harry tore off during his infamous Las Vegas strip.

Carrie claimed she was in the room with the Prince when he allegedly played air guitar naked with a pool cue at the Encore at Wynn Las Vegas hotel in August 2012.

She also claimed that Harry sang 'Beat It' by Michael Jackson, and used a glove to cover his manhood.

She alleged that Harry gave her the underwear as a keepsake as she left the raucous bash in Las Vegas, where he partied naked and hugged another woman, in snaps which made headlines around the world.

The former dominatrix said previously: 'When he partied in Vegas, everyone loved him and his sense of fun. At least these pants are a reminder of what he used to be like when Harry was the fun prince.

'It's a shame he's all po-faced and serious these days. Even as a married dad of two, he should still let his hair down now and again  what's left of it any way.'
The family of a Tennessee mother of five who died after she had an illegal Brazilian butt lift has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her doctor and the surgery center.

Erica Russell, 33, died on June 16, 2021, after Dr. John Sampson punctured her intestines, bladder, liver and abdominal wall during her surgery. Russell died after a fat deposit blocked her bloodstream and 'triggered fatal cardiac arrest.'

According to a press release from Stewart Tilghman Fox & Bianchi & Cain, the law firm representing her family, Russell's procedure started at 8.31pm, and a little over two hours later, she was dead.

'What happened to Ms. Russell should have never happened. This is assembly line medicine and thats what killed her,' Attorney Michael Levine said.

Sampson has since been banned from performing Brazilian butt lift surgeries at Seduction Cosmetic Center in Coral Gables, Florida, was fined $20,000, but was able to keep his license.

Sampson and the center did not respond to DailyMail.com in time for this report.

Erica Russell, 33, died on June 16, 2021, after Dr. John Sampson punctured her intestines, bladder, liver and abdominal wall during a Brazilian butt lift procedure

Russell's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her doctor John Sampson (pictured) and Seduction Cosmetic Center in Coral Gables, Florida

Sampson has since been banned from performing surgeries at Seduction Cosmetic Center and was fined $20,000. Further investigation found that Sampson was not approved to perform surgeries at the cosmetics center

A Brazilian butt lift, also known as a BBL, is a cosmetic procedure that involves a fat transfer from a part of the body to the buttocks, in order to create a fuller bottom.

BBLs and bottom augmentation procedures have risen in popularity over the years due to curvaceous celebrities like the Kardashians and rapper Cardi B.

As the surgery uses your own fat material, the BBL is said to leave a patient with a more natural-looking result than other forms of plastic surgery.

Seduction Cosmetic Center offers this procedure for $3,500 and also advertises other cosmetic surgeries such as breast augmentations, tummy tucks, liposuction, vaginal rejuvenation and a plethora of other options.

Prior to starting Russell's botched surgery, Sampson has performed six procedures for a total of 14 hours at the cosmetic center, according to the lawsuit.

Further investigation found that Sampson was not approved to perform surgeries at the cosmetics center, despite Russell signing off on paperwork before her procedure that said he had plastic and cosmetic privileges at Seduction as 'Designated Physician.'

During Russell's procedure, Sampson punctured the mother's intestines, liver, bladder and abdominal wall with a cannula- a tube used for sucking fat out of the body.

Russell was a mother of five who worked at T-Mobile prior to her passing. Her devastated family, friends and co-workers held a funeral service for her on June 27, 2021

State investigators say the doctor violated the 'minimum standard of care' as he also injected fat under her gluteal muscle and 'deep gluteal planes,' during her surgery.

At 10.50pm, the fatal injuries caused severe bleeding in her abdominal cavity and she suffered a pulmonary fat embolism, the law firm said.

She died after a fat deposit blocked her bloodstream and 'triggered fatal cardiac arrest.'

Sampson has since been removed from the cosmetic center's social media and website, but on his personal Instagram, his bio still says that he works at Seduction.

'Its unbelievable that a surgery center could allow this to happen. This doctor should have never been performing this surgery, much less seven surgeries in one day,' Stephan Cain, another attorney for the family said.

Her devastated family held a funeral service for Russell after her passing, where many relatives, friends and co-workers from her job at T-Mobile spoke highly of her.

'Erica was a person, that if you didn't know her, you probably wish you did,' one of her co-workers said.

Seduction Cosmetic Center offers a BBL for $3,500 and also advertised other cosmetic surgeries such as breast augmentations, tummy tucks, liposuction, vaginal rejuvenation and a plethora of other options

During Russell's procedure, Sampson punctured the mother's intestines, live, bladder and abdominal wall with a cannula- a tube used for sucking fat out of the body. Russell died after after a fat deposit blocked her bloodstream and and 'triggered fatal cardiac arrest'

Another woman, who said she was her best friend, cried and said that she 'was the last person' Russell talked to before her surgery.

'She texted me "I love you bestie," I said "I love you too, talk when you come out." I been waiting on my baby to call me since June 16,' the friend said as she tried to hold back tears.

Many of her loved ones remembers Russell as a devoted mother who constantly spoke about her children and made sure she did everything she could for them.

'To know Erica was to love Erica. Erica went above and beyond. And when I say she was the representation of strong, no matter what, or despite whatever she was going through, she made sure everybody was good- everybody,' another friend said at the service.
Tech platforms are not giving fair value to UK news providers thanks to an 'unequal' relationship, ITV's top news boss has said.

Michael Jermey, the broadcaster's director of news, said relations between his company and the tech giants were 'not a properly commercial one'.

Speaking to peers on the Lords' Communications and Digital Committee this week he said companies like his do not know 'what value is being extracted from your content'.

He told the committee, which is investigating the future of news: 'In terms of our relationship with the tech platforms, I think it's an unequal one, and not a properly commercial one.'

Michael Jermey, boss of ITV, said the company's relationship with tech firms was unequal

Mr Jermey added: 'You don't know what the algorithm does. You don't know what value is being extracted from your content.

'And you remain unconvinced when a California-based tech platform says news doesn't matter to it.

'And yet the Ofcom digital survey suggests that consumers think it's the third most important platform for news in the UK.

'I think it's a relationship that is unequal where a lot of the value creation is coming from the PSBs (public service broadcasters) and other UK news providers, but the value isn't flowing back to them.'

The ITV boss said he hoped more could be done in the next decade to create a 'fair platform'.

Mr Jermey said he would like to see 'content creators' get value for their content while allowing these tech giants to 'continue to generate traffic', but share the profits more 'equitably'.
A missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden killed three crew members and forced survivors to abandon the vessel, US officials said.

It is the first fatal attack in a campaign by the group over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The US military's Central Command said an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from a Houthi-controlled area in Yemen struck the True Confidence, causing significant damage.

In addition to the three deaths, at least four crew members were injured, with three in critical condition.

A US warship and the Indian navy are on the scene trying to assist in rescue efforts.

The US military's Central Command said an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from a Houthi-controlled area in Yemen struck the True Confidence (pictured), causing significant damage

Brigadier General Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, claimed the attack in a pre-recorded message, saying its missile fire set the vessel ablaze.

He said the rebels' attacks would only stop when the 'siege on the Palestinian people in Gaza is lifted'.

Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Those vessels have included at least one with cargo bound for Iran, the Houthis' main benefactor, and an aid ship later bound for Houthi-controlled territory.

Despite more than a month and a half of US-led airstrikes, Houthi rebels have remained capable of launching significant attacks.

They include the attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertiliser, the Rubymar, which sank on Saturday after drifting for several days, and the downing of an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars.

It was unclear why the Houthis targeted the True Confidence. However, it had previously been owned by Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based fund that finances vessels on instalments.

The UK-owned Rubymar was the first vessel to be fully destroyed as part of the Houthi's campaign in the Red Sea over Israel's war in the Gaza Strip

There are now fears that the sinking of the ship could cause an 'environmental catastrophe'

Houthi supporters protest against the US and Israel and in support of Palestinians, in Sana'a, Yemen, 1 March

Meanwhile, a separate Houthi assault on Tuesday apparently targeted the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has been involved in the American campaign against the rebels.

The Houthi attack on the Carney involved bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, the US military's Central Command said.

The US later launched an air strike destroying three anti-ship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats, the Central Command said.

The Houthis have not offered any assessment of the damage they have suffered in the American-led strikes that began in January, though they have said at least 22 of their fighters have been killed.

Meanwhile, the Indian navy released a video of its sailors from the INS Kolkata fighting a fire aboard the MSC Sky II, which had been targeted by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden on Monday.

Smoke poured out of one container aboard the vessel, which also showed scorch marks from the impact of a Houthi missile.

The USS Gravely Destroyer - a ship used by the military to shoot down enemy missiles

The Mediterranean Shipping Co, a Switzerland-based company, said the missile struck the ship as it was traveling from Singapore to Djibouti.

'The missile caused a small fire that has been extinguished while no crew were injured,' the company said.

Iran separately announced the seizure of crude oil aboard the Advantage Sweet through an announcement carried by the judiciary's state-run Mizan news agency.

At the time, Iranian commandos rappelled from a helicopter on to the vessel, which it alleged collided with another ship, without offering any evidence.

The court order for the seizure offered an entirely different reason for the confiscation.

Mizan said it was part of a court order over US sanctions it alleged barred the importation of a Swedish medicine used to treat patients suffering from epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic condition that causes blisters all over the body and eyes.

The Advantage Sweet had been in the Persian Gulf in late April, but its track showed no unusual behaviour as it transited through the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of all traded oil passes.

Iran has made allegations in other seizures that later fell apart as it became clear Tehran was trying to leverage the capture as a chip to negotiate with foreign nations.

Chevron, based in San Ramon, California, said on Wednesday that the Advantage Sweet had been 'seized under false pretences' and that the company 'has not had any direct communication with Iran over the seizure of the vessel'.

'Chevron has not been permitted access to the vessel and considers the cargo a total loss due to Iran's illegal actions,' Chevron said in a statement. 'We now consider the cargo the responsibility of the Iranian government.'
Shocking footage has captured the moment a car was T-boned causing it to flip onto its side outside a McDonald's.

The terrifying accident unfolded outside the fast-food restaurant on Glen Osmond Road in Frewville, south-east Adelaide, last Thursday.

Dashcam footage showed the moment a white Mazda 2 driver stopped on a busy road as they waited to turn into the driveway on the other side of the street.

The driver crossed during a break in oncoming traffic when a Toyota Camry sedan suddenly crashed into the side of the turning vehicle.

Shocking dashcam footage captured the moment a speeding Toyota Camry crash into a Mazda sedan near a McDonald's drive through in Adelaide on Wednesday

The driver of the Mazda was turning into the McDonald's store (pictured) just seconds before the crash

The collision forced the Mazda to mount the curb and flip over in front of the McDonald's.

The bonnet of the Camry was instantly destroyed upon impact, with the hood breaking off from the front of the vehicle.

Moments before the crash, the tyres of the Camry could be heard screeching along the road as the driver desperately hit the brakes.

Footage of the terrifying incident was uploaded to Facebook.

Hundreds of social media users blamed the driver the Camry saying it looked like the vehicle had been speeding.

'No way that camry was doing the speed limit,' one social media user said.

'[That] Camry is very far back and it covered that distance in about 3 (sic) seconds,' another wrote.

'It was definitely speeding - even after slamming on the brakes.'

The collision forced the Mazda to flip over onto the curb side near the fast food restaurant (pictured)

Others said the driver of the Mazda should take responsibility for the collision because they decided to turn as the Camry was approaching

'I doubt it was speeding but even if it was. I [don't] think the Mazda did the right thing either,' one social media user said.

Some chimed in by urging people to drive to the traffic conditions.

'Faster objects get closer quicker... wait, look, drive,' they said.

A South Australia Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the driver of the Mazda suffered minor injuries.

Officers are investigating the incident.
It has been docked in San Diego for the last two years and is costing nearly $1 million a month in maintenance

A mega-yacht seized from a Russian oligarch almost two years ago by the U.S. government is costing taxpayers nearly $1 million a month in upkeep, court records revealed.

The 348-foot-long, $300 million Amadea mega-yacht was seized from Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov in May 2022 as part of an effort to put pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

It has been docked in San Diego since it arrived in the United States in June 2022 and is costing $922,000 a month to maintain, according to court records.

Authorities are looking to sell the yacht, but Russian businessman Eduard Khudainatov is challenging the ownership of the boat in court.

'It is excessive for taxpayers to pay nearly a million dollars per month to maintain the Amadea when these expenses could be reduced to zero through interlocutory sale,' the government said in recent court filings.

The 348-foot-long, $300 million Amadea mega-yacht seized from Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov in May 2022 is costing taxpayers nearly $1 million a month in upkeep

Authorities are looking to sell the yacht seized from Kerimov (left), but Russian businessman Eduard Khudainatov (right) is challenging the ownership of the boat in court

The Amadea was taken out from the San Diego Bay through a loop off the coast of La Jolla on a maintenance voyage in January

The costs breakdown as $600,000 per month in running costs; $360,000 for the crew; $75,000 for fuel; and $165,000 for maintenance, waste removal, food and other expenses, reported CNBC.

The government is paying $144,000 in monthly pro-rata insurance costs and other charges, including dry-docking fees, add an additional $178,000, bringing the total to $922,000.

The luxury yacht features a live lobster tank, a hand-painted piano, a swimming pool and a large helipad.

It was built in 2017 by German company Lurssen, according to Superyacht Times and is listed as the 63rd largest yacht in the world.

The Amadea was taken out from the San Diego Bay through a loop off the coast of La Jolla on a maintenance voyage in January, reported CBS 8.

Khudainatov has claimed ownership of the Amadea and said it cannot not be forfeited to the U.S. government because he has not been sanctioned.

Prosecutors argue Khudainatov is acting as the Amadea's 'straw owner' to disguise Kerimov's role.

Kerimov, 57, was sanctioned in 2022 for violating previous sanctions against him by using U.S. bank accounts to buy products and services 'for the operation and maintenance of the Amadea.'

The costs breakdown as $600,000 per month in running costs; $360,000 for the crew; $75,000 for fuel; and $165,000 for maintenance, waste removal, food and other expenses

The government is paying $144,000 in monthly pro-rata insurance costs and other charges, including dry-docking fees, add an additional $178,000, bringing the total to $922,000

The luxury yacht features a live lobster tank, a hand-painted piano, a swimming pool and a large helipad. It was built in 2017 by German company Lurssen, according to Superyacht Times and is listed as the 63rd largest yacht in the world

He was previously sanctioned in 2018 for being 'complicit in certain activities with respect to Ukraine' after Russia invaded the Crimean peninsula in 2014.

The oligarch is a former oil trader and a member of the Russian Federation Council, the country's upper legislative chamber. He is a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and is worth a reported $14.5 billion.

The Amadea was docked in Fiji when U.S. authorities first attempted to seize the boat.

The U.S. ultimately won a legal battle in Fiji to take the boat and now are looking to sell it while the ownership is being challenged in U.S. court.

If the U.S. government succeeds in auctioning the yacht, it would likely eventually transfer sale proceeds to Ukraine.
Former host of Q+A Stan Grant has announced a new career move after dramatically leaving the ABC last year following racist attacks online.

The Saturday Paper has announced Grant, a multiple Walkley Award-winning journalist, would be joining the newspaper as a columnist from this weekend, which coincides with the publication's 10-year anniversary.

Grant has worked in 80 locations around the globe as a journalist, presenter, author and filmmaker over four decades in the media.

His most recent high-profile role was as host of Q+A from 2022 to 2023 until he stepped away saying he was fed-up with racial abuse directed at him by online commenters as well as dissatisfaction with the media landscape in general.

'The Saturday Paper is a writers' paper and its readers want to engage with ideas. That's where I want my work to land,' Grant said of his new role.

Stan Grant (and wife Tracey Holmes) during a screening of documentary 'The Australian Dream' at the Art Gallery of NSW, sponsored by his new employer The Saturday Paper

Since leaving the ABC, Grant was appointed Asia-Pacific director of the Constructive Institute, a Denmark-based institution focused on positive journalism that operates in conjunction with Monash University.

'I've been fortunate to have travelled the world over a 40-year career in journalism, covering the great stories of our time, and I want to bring that experience to understanding a world where far too often we speak across each other not to each other,' he said.

'Journalism has been part of the problem, but I still think words matter and my promise to readers is that my columns will look to a shared humanity, to a commitment to justice, and stand with the afflicted in generosity and love.'

Grant has Wiradjuri, Kamilaroi and Dharawal heritage.

He has three Walkley Awards, a Logie, a Peabody and four Asian Television Awards.

The Saturday Paper editor-in-chief, Erik Jensen, said: 'There are few people who write with Stan's grace and erudition.

'He is one of the country's sharpest journalists and he brings to his work a great store of intellect and feeling.'

Mr Jensen said Grant's column will set out to inspire readers and provoke in-depth debate by drawing on his wealth of experience.

'He believes in the capacity of ideas to change society  and that is what his column will seek to do.'

Grant dramatically left the ABC in 2023 citing dissatisfaction with online trolling, the ABC's management and the media landscape in general

Grant's exit from Q+A sparked a wider conversation about the public-facing roles of journalists, particularly those of diverse backgrounds, and the extent that they are shielded by management.

It also led to protests by ABC staff who walked off the job in solidarity with Grant.

During his final appearance as Q+A host he left with a heartfelt speech questioning whether the media had become 'part of the problem' in dividing society.

ABC colleague Patricia Karvelas was later named as his replacement.
By Anna J. Park

Celebrating International Women's Day, which falls on March 8 annually, professional women who have made achievements in a variety of sectors shared their challenges and opportunities with audiences at a seminar, hoping to contribute to achieving gender equality in Korea.

Titled Women in the Workplace Today: Challenges and Opportunities  Road to Empowerment, the seminar on Thursday afternoon was organized and hosted by the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Korea

The program consisted of two sessions, inviting a total of six women panelists, ranging from successful business leaders in the financial sector to an immigrant-turned politician.

The first session was focused on discussing gender discrimination and challenges experienced by three women panelists  International Women's Federation of Commerce and Industry President Sophie Kang, Kyobo Life Insurance's External Affairs Strategic Consultant Huh Kum-joo and President of Korea Network of Women in Finance Kim Sang-kyung. The panelists shared their own stories of overcoming gender discrimination by breaking the glass ceiling at their mostly male-dominated jobs in the business sector.

"Gender diversity in the financial sector is gradually improving, as major institutional investors like the National Pension Fund and global asset managers scrutinize gender equality factors in their investment due to ESG principles. Furthermore, there are validated research results showing that gender diversity contributes to increasing corporate profitability and enhancing transparency of business aspects," Kim said, emphasizing that it is paramount to increase women's participation rates in economic activities to spur national growth.

The second session was on the challenges faced by immigrant women in the workplace, with Justice Party lawmaker Jasmine Lee joining the panelist group to share insights on overcoming their difficulties.

International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, with a goal to activate campaigns for accelerating women's equality.
The Chancellor's wife and children made a rare public appearance yesterday as they watched him brandish his red budget box outside Downing Street.

Jeremy Hunt's wife Lucia stood outside Number 12, joined by their three children Jack, 13, Anna, 11, and Eleanor, nine.

Although they keep their kids relatively out of the spotlight, they did also appear in a similar shoot for last year's Budget in March.

Tax cuts for millions of working people, a freeze on fuel duty for the 14th year in a row and scrapping the existing tax breaks for wealthy non-doms were just some of the things Hunt announced yesterday.

Dressed in a clean-cut cream matching blazer and skirt, Lucia, 46, could not hide her excitement as she beamed while watching her husband of 15 years hold up his red ministerial box.

Their son was dressed in a smart suit with a blue tie for the occasion, whereas their daughters opted for a more casual look.

Jeremy Hunt's wife Lucia (second from left) stood outside Number 12, joined by their three children Jack (far left), 13, Anna (third from left), 11, and Eleanor (third from right), nine

Lucia looked smart yesterday, opting for an elegant cream co-ord

Lucia, who is 11 years his junior, was called Hunt's 'secret weapon' during his Conservative Party leadership campaign in 2019

Tax cuts for millions of working people, a freeze on fuel duty for the 14th year in a row and scrapping the existing tax breaks for wealthy non-doms were just some of the things Hunt announced yesterday

The pair met in Warwick at a Hotcourses event in 2008. His future spouse, who was born in Xi'an, China, worked alongside Warwick University to help recruit Chinese students.

Lucia, who is 11 years his junior, was also called Hunt's 'secret weapon' during his Conservative Party leadership campaign in 2019.

Less than a year after they met, Hunt asked Lucia to marry him after they went on a romantic walk on Christmas Eve while visiting his parents in Shere, Surrey.

'He asked me to put my hands in a tree. I said, no, it looked like a fox hole and I thought he'd do some trick on me,' she told the Mail.

'He said, there's something in there for you. It was a ring!'

They tied the knot in 2009 in China, where he gained the nickname 'Big Rice'. Lucia said the name comes from her grandmother.

She told the Mail, she said: 'My grandma found it very hard to say 'Jeremy' so she would just call him the 'big mi'. Mi means 'rice', so I call him 'big rice'.'

Their relationship survived even after he said his Chinese partner was Japanese during a visit to Beijing when he was Foreign Secretary in 2018.

In 2019, when he ran against Boris Johnson to become Tory leader, she described how he wooed her with tea and biscuits, asking for her email address and utilising his perks as shadow Culture Secretary to take her to a 'freebie' performance of Othello at the Donmar Warehouse in London.

Speaking after the birth of his youngest, Eleanor, in 2014, Hunt praised the NHS and said it was a 'real thrill' to see the 'the very best of the service for the birth of our beautiful daughter.'

'As for the Hunt family, Lucia is making a good recovery and we are all delighted with our precious little girl even if somewhat terrified of the domestic chaos that awaits,' he added.

In 2014, Hunt admitted that he feared for the future of his three children who are 'half Chinese'  because uncontrolled immigration risks causing 'tensions' in Britain.

Their son, Jack, (pictured with his mother) was dressed in a smart suit with a blue tie for the occasion

Dressed in a clean-cut cream matching blazer and skirt, Lucia, 46, could not hide her excitement as she beamed while watching her husband of 15 years hold up his red ministerial box

The family were pictured last March when the Chancellor announced the Budget

Jeremy Hunt and Lucia in 2019, a year after he mistakenly said his Chinese wife was Japanese

He said he was worried that mounting anger against migrants would mean his Chinese wife and their children would face hostility for using the NHS.

He warned at the time that unless the level of immigration was under control, the UK would have to face up to the sort of 'social divisions' that had tarnished other countries.

He made his comments in a phone-in programme hosted by Iain Dale on LBC Radio.

'I'd like to make one general point about immigration,' he said. 'My wife is Chinese and she obviously lives with me in London.

'My children are half Chinese and I do not want them to grow up in a country where people look at immigrants and say it's difficult for me to access NHS services because of people like you.

'And that's why it's so important to have sensible, balanced, controlled immigration in this country.

'Because otherwise we'll have social divisions, we'll have tensions, which thankfully in this country we've avoided for many years unlike other countries.'

After the family moved into Number 11, the Mail's Richard Eden reported that Hunt's children get along swimmingly with Rishi Sunak's daughters, Krishna and Anoushka.

'The children have already started regular playdates with Rishi [Sunak]s children, as they're just next door,' the Chancellor said.
The armorer for the Alec Baldwin movie Rust showed little emotion as she was hauled straight to jail after being found guilty in the shooting death of the film's cinematographer.

A jury found that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was negligent in allowing a live bullet be placed into the gun that Alec Baldwin used on the set. This resulted in the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

After two hours of deliberations at the courthouse in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a jury found Gutierrez-Reed guilty on the manslaughter count, but acquitted her on a charge of tampering with evidence. She now faces up to 18 months in jail.

Gutierrez-Reed, 26, removed her jewelry and handed over her phone as she was lead from court on Wednesday.

As she was walked out to start her sentence, her mom could be seen weeping and putting her head in her hands.

Hutchins' family released statement after the verdict and said they 'look forward' to everyone else responsible for her death facing justice - an apparent reference to Baldwin who faces trial for involuntary manslaughter in July.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 26,was escorted straight to jail after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter

She was on trial over the 2021 shooting death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins

Hutchins, 42, a mother-of-one, was shot dead by Alec Baldwin on the set of Rust in October 2021. Baldwin is due to go on trial in July

Gutierrez-Reed was acquitted on a charge of tampering with evidence after prosecutors claimed she gave another person a bag of cocaine after a police interview to prevent law enforcement from obtaining it

The actor, 65, will be tried in the same courthouse and faces the same possible sentence if convicted.

'Halynas parents and her sister have always wanted everyone who is responsible for Halynas death to be held accountable,' the family's lawyers Gloria Allred and John Carpenter said.

'Today was the first trial and conviction in the criminal justice process. We are satisfied that the jury, based on the evidence, found Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty beyond a reasonable doubt for her part in the taking of Halynas life.

'We look forward to the justice system continuing to make sure that everyone else who is responsible for Halyna's death is required to face the legal consequences for their actions.'

Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter but the allegations were dropped in April last year.

He was dramatically charged again last month and pleaded not guilty.

The shooting happened in October 2021 after two weeks of filming while Baldwin was practicing drawing out his gun from the holster.

He opened fire on Hutchins, 42, a married mother-of-one whose son was nine at the time, and the bullet went through her and lodged in the shoulder of director Joel Souza, who survived and testified in court.

Gutierrez-Reed's mom wept as the judge explained that she would be remanded in custody pending sentencing where she could be given up to 18 months

Baldwin, 65, who was the lead actor and a producer in the movie, will face a separate trial in July for involuntary manslaughter, which he denies

Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter but the allegations were dropped in April last year. He was dramatically charged again last month and pleaded not guilty

The jury was shown shocking images of cinematographer's Halyna Hutchins' the blood-stained shirt

While Baldwin was not the defendant in this case at times it felt that he was, with one witness stating as much out loud.

Across more than two dozen witnesses, prosecutors painted a damning portrait of a film that was in a state of 'rushed chaos.'

The night before the incident, six members of the camera crew quit because of their concerns over safety.

Gutierrez-Reed's defense was to blame everyone but her, but especially Baldwin.

Her lawyer, Jason Bowles, said Baldwin was the 'big boss' on set that nobody stood up to even though he rushed people and ignored safety checks because Rust, which he was a producer on, had a tight budget.

The jury heard that Baldwin commissioned director Souza to write the script, which he owned the rights to. Baldwin was the lead actor on the movie and was also a producer.

Bowles called Gutierrez-Reed, who was just 24 at the time of the incident, a 'scapegoat' for wider failings that led the New Mexico safety regulator to issue a $136,000 fine to the producers for 'willful and serious' safety failings.

The jury were shown the video of Gutierrez-Reeds interview by the sheriff Santa Fe, New Mexico, hours after the incident in October 2021

Production of Rust stopped abruptly in October 2021 when a prop gun held by Baldwin fired a live round that killed Hutchins

Bowles told the court that Baldwin himself made the set unsafe by waving his gun like a 'pointing stick' at people.

A behind the scenes video from the filming showed Baldwin demanding a second shot immediately after one that just finished.

He was heard saying: 'Right away! Right away! Let's reload. Here we go, come on! We should have two guns, both reloading.'

Asked if that kind of conduct was typical, Carpenter said no, adding that it put pressure on the armorer to stand up to him.

Moments later, after the director shouted cut, Baldwin let loose another blank round while standing next to the 12-year-old actor.

Carpenter said that when somebody yells cut, nothing else should be fired and that Baldwin 'went off script.'

Baldwin could have used a Nerf gun in the scene where he accidentally shot Hutchins dead because it was just a rehearsal known as blocking, the jury heard.

But Baldwin insisted on using the real guns, known as his 'hero props', because he preferred them, just like he preferred the most powerful dummies possible because they were more realistic.

The new set is pictured in Livingston, Montana. Despite the new set also having a church building, scene 121 - which was the one Baldwin was practicing - has been removed from the movie entirely and will not be reshot

Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter but the allegations were dropped in April last year. He was dramatically charged again last month and pleaded not guilty

Jurors were shown a video shot during production of Rust in which Baldwin pointed the gun at the crew and cast members including a 12-year-old boy between scenes

Jurors were told Baldwin himself made the set unsafe by waving his gun like a 'pointing stick' at people and firing rounds after the director said cut

In his opening statement, Bowles said that Baldwin 'violated basic gun safety' by pointing the gun at Hutchins because he didn't intend to shoot at her.

He said: 'The primary thing here was rush, get this thing so we can get the money and that's all on production and Mr. Baldwin is one of the primary producers. That's on them. Miss Gutierrez-Reed had no control over that.'

During cross-examination of Addiego, Bowles asked: 'Did you ever stand up to Mr Baldwin and say we're not going to move this fast?'

Addiego said it was 'not my job' and he didn't recall 'anybody standing up to Mr Baldwin on the set of Rust.'

'He's running the show, he's the big boss, right?' Bowles said.

'He's number one, so yes,' Addiego said.

Perhaps the most damning evidence against Baldwin undercut his claim that he never pulled the trigger on the gun.

Bryce Ziegler, an agent with the FBI firearms unit who examined the gun Baldwin used, said he had to break the gun with a mallet to get it to fire without using the trigger.

Ziegler said that couldn't have happened on the set of Rust because the gun was in working order when it came to him.

Speaking to ABC News in December 2021 Baldwin said: 'I didn't pull the trigger. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never'.

In her police interview, Gutierrez-Reed pointed the finger at Baldwin as well and claimed that he was distracted during the safety briefing she tried to give him.

She said that the actor was 'on his phone a lot of that entire thing' and didn't pay attention when she was showing him how to use the weapon.

FBI firearms expert Bryce Ziegler gave evidence that challenged Alec Baldwin's version of events

Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and also faced a charge of tampering with evidence

Dave Halls, the first assistant director on Rust, broke down in tears while telling the jury how he was the last person apart from Gutierrez-Reed to check the gun before giving it to Baldwin

A firearms expert showed off to the jury a gun similar to that Baldwin used to shoot Hutchins

There was powerful testimony from Dave Halls, the first assistant director on the film and the last person to handle the gun before giving it to Baldwin.

Before the trial, Halls had pleaded no contest to a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon and received six months probation.

Asked why he did so, Halls said: 'I was negligent in checking the gun properly,'

Halls became emotional as he described what happened next in the chapel on the set of Rust.

He said: 'Mr Baldwin was pulling it (the gun) out, getting used to that action

'He was in communication with Miss Hutchins about where to point the gun.

'The gun went off.

'It was so many thoughts (in my head). The idea it was a live round of ammunition that went off, it wasn't computing,'

Hutchins was 3ft away from Halls to his left and he said to her: 'Are you all right,'

In tears, Halls said that Hutchins replied: 'I can't feel my legs,'

Addiego also broke down in tears while being pressed by Bowles on why he was part of a civil lawsuit against Baldwin and the Rust producers for negligence.

He said: 'I'm hoping for justice, sir. Two people were injured on a film set. That has not only affected me - it's affected the film industry.'

The criminal case is not the only court proceedings resulting from the shooting of Hutchins.

In 2022 Baldwin settled a civil lawsuit filed against him by Matthew Hutchins, the widow of Hutchins, and the father of their son.

Under the terms Rust continued production at a new location in Montana and Matthew Hutchins, who has called his wife's death a 'terrible accident,' is an executive producer.

No date has yet been set for the film's release.
A 22-year-old man has been arrested over the disappearance of a missing mother who has been dubbed Australia's Nicola Bulley who went on a run and never returned.

Mother-of-three Samantha Murphy, 51, has been missing since February 4 after leaving her house in the city of Ballarat in Victoria, southern Australia, to go for a nine-mile run in a nearby park.

Despite extensive searches, no trace of Ms Murphy has been found in over a month.

The man who has now been arrested over her disappearance is also from Ballarat, 70 miles north-west of Melbourne, but he is not connected to Ms Murphy's family, according to police.

He has since been charged with murder.

Ms Murphy's case eerily resembles the disappearance of Nicola Bulley, 45, who vanished while walking her dog on a riverside path in Lancashire on January 27, 2023, sparking a massive search.

Ms Bulley's body was found in the nearby waterway three weeks later, just over a mile downstream. An inquest last June concluded that she had drowned after accidentally slipping into the icy river.

Mother-of-three Samantha Murphy (pictured), 51, went missing on February 4 after leaving her house in the city of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia

There have been extensive searches for Ms Murphy, but no trace has been found of her in over a month

Ms Murphy (pictured) left her home in Ballarast to go for a nine-mile run in a nearby park and has not been seen since

Victoria Police appealed to anyone who has CCTV or dashcam footage to come forward (pictured: a volunteer group prepare to search for Ms Murphy in bushland near her home town of Ballarat)

Her case eerily resembles the disappearance of Nicola Bulley (pictured), 45, who vanished while walking her dog on a riverside path in Lancashire on January 27, 2023, sparking a massive search

The arrest in connection with Ms Murphy's disappearance marks the first significant breakthrough in the case that has sent shockwaves across Australia.

Police last month indicated it was unlikely Ms Murphy will be found alive, with detectives investigating if her body had been moved.

There have been extensive searches in the park and the surrounding area, but so far there has been no trace of her and local police said today the investigation remains ongoing.

'We understand that there is a continued high level of interest in this investigation and concern about disappearance, however it remains critical that any speculation does not impede any aspects of the investigation,' a spokesperson for Victoria Police added.

'Detectives are continuing to appeal for anyone who has CCTV or dashcam footage and is yet to speak to police to come forward. Anyone who sights Samantha is asked to call triple zero (000) immediately.'

Early reports suggested Ms Murphy's phone had pinged off a phone tower in the town of Buninyong, which is around nine miles from Ballarat, at 5pm on the day she disappeared - but these are yet to be confirmed.

Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt said police were keeping an open mind about Ms Murphy's disappearance but said the most likely scenario was that it involved one or more parties.

Police have ruled out any type of medical episode and there is nothing to indicate she had left the area on her own accord.

'Unfortunately given the time and the fact we've found no trace of her, we do have severe concerns and are very doubtful that she is still alive,' Det Supt Hatt said.

Police were also looking into the possibility that Ms Murphy's body was moved from where she vanished, he added.

A number of people have been questioned over her disappearance, including family, friends and colleagues but Det Supt Hatt wouldn't be drawn on the number of suspects in the case.

Police released this image of Ms Murphy from the morning she vanished. Detectives believe 'one or more parties' are behind her mystery disappearance

Police last month indicated it was unlikely Ms Murphy will be found alive, with detectives probing if her body was moved (pictured: her husband Mick Murphy leaving a local police station)

Ms Murphy (pictured with friends) left her home in Ballarat East to go for a 14km run in nearby Woowookarung Regional Park at about 7am on February 4

Mr Murphy (left) held his own press conference last month where he admitted his family was doing 'the best we can under the circumstances'. His eldest daughter Jess (centre), 22, begged the community to keep searching

Samantha Murphy from the Australian city of Ballarat has been missing since February 4 after going for a run

He did clarify that Ms Murphy's husband, Mick, was not a suspect 'at this stage'.

'Everyone in relation to Samantha is a person of interest in our investigation. We're speaking to everyone that was in her life,' he said.

Mr Murphy held his own press conference last month where he admitted his family was doing 'the best we can under the circumstances'.

His eldest daughter Jess, 22, begged the community to keep searching.

'Mum's a really strong woman, and she's far too determined to give up this fight. Mum, we love you so much, and we miss you,' she said.

'We need you at home with us. Please come home soon. I can't wait to see you and to give you the biggest hug when I do. And to tell you off for giving us so much stress. I love you.'
EXCLUSIVE

The shattered father of missing mother-of-three Samantha Murphy hopes the arrest of a suspect in her disappearance may finally give the family 'closure'.

John 'Pud' Robson, aged in his 80s, told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday morning the arrest of the 22-year-old man had taken the family by surprise.

'My wife just texted me to say that it had been on the radio,' he said. 'We haven't been told and evidently Michael hasn't been told either.'

Around 1.45pm on Thursday however, Victoria Police detectives were seen arriving at the home of the Murphy family in Ballarat East, Victoria, to discuss the latest developments.

Mr Robson said he remained hopeful the arrest would provide some clarity over what had happened to his daughter.

But he said had all but given up hope of Ms Murphy being found safe and well - and believed if his daughter was alive, he would have heard about it by now.

'I can only hope we might get a bit of closure,' he said.

But he admitted: 'It's sort of too late to think that she might still be alive.'

A 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection to the disappearance of Samantha Murphy - who was last seen leaving her East Ballarat home on February 4

Ms Murphy's husband addressed the media on Thursday afternoon outside the family home

Mr Robson said he knew nothing about the man arrested by detectives and had been keeping himself busy by returning to his job as a long distance truck driver.

'I'm still working. I'm stuck in a truck up on the other side of Avoca (70kms north of Ballarat) ,' he said.

'We haven't heard a thing unfortunately,' he said just before 11am on Thursday.

'All my wife said is she heard it on Triple M [radio] that they'd arrested some bloke and that no charges have been laid yet.'

Mr Robson said he had no idea of any alleged links between the 22-year-old man arrested and his daughter.

'I haven't got the faintest, mate. Not in that age range. I'm never home, if you know what I mean,' he said.

Ms Murphy's father said he and her daughter's husband Mick Murphy (pictured) had not been told details of the arrest

Police released this image of Ms Murphy from the morning she vanished. Detectives believe 'one or more parties' are behind her mystery disappearance

Addressing reporters outside his home on Thursday afternoon, Ms Murphy's husband Mick, 53, said his family was holding up as best as possible.

'I can't comment on anything at the moment,' he said. 'The family are going okay. It's just the whole unknown.'

Mr Murphy said he would be happy to speak more about the past month when the legal process has run its course.

'When it comes time to talk, we'll talk, okay?' he said.

Despite a significant investigation and extensive searches of the Canadian Forest area, no trace of Ms Murphy has been found in over a month

The 22-year old was arrested shortly after 6am on Wednesday at his Ballarat home by Missing Persons Squad detectives, Victoria Police said on Thursday.

He remains in custody, however no charges have been laid.

The arrest marks the first significant breakthrough in the case that has sent shockwaves across Australia.

Ms Murphy, 51, left her home in Victoria's Ballarat East to go for a 14km run in nearby Woowookarung Regional Park at about 7am on February 4, and has not been seen since.
A young couple were hit with a rent increase before they were turfed out of their house after they asked their landlord to fix a fault at the property.

Faizan Ali and and Emma Ronca moved into the property in Sydney's northwest in December 2022.

When the pair first moved in they noticed some minor damage on the wooden floors, but they initially didn't think much of the issue.

The damage to the floorboards however soon worsened and they asked the property manager to have the problem fixed.

The couple claim that a tradie was called to repair the damage and that he placed sticky tape to keep the floorboards in place.

A Sydney couple (stock image) were told to move out of their apartment by their landlord after they reported damages in the floorboards of the home to the property manager

The quick fix only made the problem worse before the issue became a major health hazard.

'Water was seeping up through the bottom of the floorboard, it was unsightly,' Mr Ali told realesate.com.au

'I slipped and cut myself and I was bleeding everywhere.'

Mr Ali said he was left with no choice but to mop up the water.

The damage was so bad that mould started to grow in their living room.

The couple claim they sent several emails and made multiple phone calls to the property manager in a bid to have the issue rectified.

Mr Ali said more tradies came by the apartment, but refused to make any repairs because of a sealing issue in the balcony.

While the couple were scrambling to fix the problem, they were informed their rent would be going up from $850 to $920 a week.

The notice came ten months after the tenants first reported the problem to the property manager.

Mr Ali claimed the the property manager told him he could leave if he didn't like the decision to increase the rent.

He said he was willing to pay more once the damage to the floorboards was fixed.

'This person was rude to me, yelling at me over the phone  all I had asked for was next time you are in the area can you swing by the apartment to see what the problem was looking like,' Mr Ali said.

The property manager increased the rent (stock image) before the lease was abruptly terminated

He was left unsatisfied with the way the problem was being handled and decided his case to NSW Fair Trading and the Tenancy Union.

He also lodged a case with the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal on January 24, after he took pictures of the damage and the emails he sent to the property manager.

The next day the property manager sent the couple an email, informing them their lease had been terminated and they had less than 30 days to pack up and leave.

Mr Ali said the end of lease notice claims the damage now constitutes emergency repairs.

The couple are now looking for a new place to live and claim the property manager wanted to begin fixing the damage while they were still living in the apartment.

Mr Ali said the couple always paid rent on time and looked after the property.

He said they have been treated unfairly and feel let down by the way their matter was handled.

A NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the tribunal does not comment on ongoing cases.
Airport firefighters could go on strike during the peak of the upcoming holiday season due to an ongoing wage dispute.

Staff from Airservices Australia, a government agency that runs air traffic control and aviation fire fighting, who are part of the United Firefighters Union of Australia's Aviation Branch (UFUAV), will vote on industrial action on Thursday.

The union has been demanding a 20 per cent pay rise over three years for Airservices staff since September.

UFUAV claim staff deserve a raise as workers have suffered fatigue due to critical understaffing issues in the company.

Airservices rejects UFUAV claims and insists it has maintained the minimum staffing requirement already negotiated with workers.

Firefighters from Airservices Australia could go on strike over the Easter holidays, causing significant flight disruptions

The company also offered workers an 11.2 per cent wage increase, worth $32million.

In an open letter to Airservices, seen by Sky News, UFUAV Secretary Wesley Garrett accused the company of endangering passengers' lives.

'Over the past three years, aviation firefighters have suffered real wage losses while having increased demands made of them following cuts to the workforce,' he said.

'We believe our members' efforts to keep airports operational through this difficult period must be recognised.

'It is so critical aviation firefighting services are fully staffed, properly equipped and ready to respond at a moment's notice; we're here to protect the passengers and crew of aircraft that carry vast amounts of fuel and up to 500 passengers.'

Airservices claim the unions' demands would cost an additional $128million, which would then force it to increase operational costs and drive higher airfare prices.

If union members vote to go through with the strikes, Airservices will need to give airlines seven days' notice before firefighters can walk off the job.

The United Firefighters Union of Australia's Aviation Branch is locked in wage negotiation deals with Airservices

The exact dates of the proposed action is not known.

The company said it would 'take all available steps to minimise disruptions to flights'.

Airservices' Aviation Rescue Fire Fighting is Australia's only national fire service and responds to an average of 7,000 aircraft and assistance requests every year.
Shattered neighbours have recalled a mum's chilling screams as she was told the heartbreaking news that her little girl drowned in a backyard pool in Adelaide.

Emergency services raced to a a block of units in Klemzig in the city's north-east around 10.20am Thursday after Kreya Patel, 4, was pulled from the water unconscious.

Paramedics worked desperately to revive Patel through CPR before she was rushed to Women's and Children's Hospital where she sadly died.

Police remained at the complex on Thursday afternoon, where officers were spotted photographing the scene of the tragedy as part of their investigations.

Shocked neighbours said that the girl's parents were beyond heartbroken and 'crying a lot'.

Four-old Kreya (pictured as a baby with her parents) tragically drowned on Thursday

Police will prepare a report for the coroner after Kreya drowned in the pool (pictured) at the Klemzig complex where she lived

Investigators remained at the Adelaide unit complex on Thursday afternoon

READ MORE: Urgent beach warning issued to Aussies - after four family members die Ankur Chhabra (right) and his wife (left) broke their silence after his sister, niece, nephew and sister-in-law drowned at a popular tourist destination in Victoria Advertisement

Neighbour Pooja Rani witnessed the harrowing moment the girl's mother learned of the tragedy.

'At the time the girl fell into the water, only her dad was home and (her) mum was at work,' she told the Adelaide Advertiser.

'But I saw the mum running down the street and she was crying.

'Later when she reached the house there was a very loud scream.'

She added that the four-year-old used to play with her kids.

'She was very playful,' she said.

Next door neighbour Himanshu Pate said that the girl's dad was in the backyard working in the garden at the time.

It's understood that the pool gate had a high latch.

There are no suspicious circumstances, police said.

Officers will prepare a report for the coroner.

It is the second drowning-related incident in Klemzig within a month.

A Good Samaritan and his dog rescued a four-year-old girl from drowning in the River Torrens on February 16.

Shocked neighbours described Kreya (pictured as a baby) as 'playful'
The cop son of the West Australian Police Commissioner has been charged after allegedly driving his motorbike at more than 45 kilometres over the speed limit.

Michael Blanch, 20, who is also a police officer and whose father is commissioner Col Blanch, has been charged with one count of reckless driving.

Blanch had allegedly been speeding along Marmion Avenue in Perth's north on December 28 when he was busted by a mobile safety camera.

The 20-year-old was off-duty at the time and his motorbike has since been impounded.

WA Police said Blanch has been placed on 'administrative duties' and has been banned from driving a police vehicle until his court proceedings are over.

Michael Blanch, 20, who is also a police officer and whose father is commissioner Col Blanch, (pictured right and centre) has been charged with one count of reckless driving

He is also the subject of 'internal disciplinary processes' in relation to another matter.

'In addition to the reckless driving offence, the officer is subject to internal disciplinary processes regarding an on-duty incident where emergency response driving policy was breached,' police said in a statement.

Blanch's father is aware of the charge, the West Australian reported.

If convicted, Blanch is facing a maximum penalty of a $6,000 fine, a disqualification of his licence for six months and a nine-month jail term.

Blanch was seen smiling proudly next to his father when he was promoted to commissioner in June, 2022.

Col joined WA Police in 2018 as an Assistant Commissioner after serving with Victoria Police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

The police boss had earlier issued a warning to hooners, saying they would lose their car if caught.

'Hoon laws are pretty tough in WA  you might lose your car, What's even worse is, you might lose Mum and Dad's car,' he said in 2022.

'I wouldn't like to have come home to tell my Dad that I had lost his car because of hooning.'

Blanch will face court in April.
Heart-stopping video has caught the moment a Boeing jet's engines exploded and burst into flames in the skies above Texas forcing an emergency landing.

The terrifying incident took place just minutes into a United Airlines flight bound for Fort Myers, Florida.

Video taken from a passenger window shows white-hot flashes streaming out of the 737's jet engine.

'Hey ladies and gentlemen, we realized something happened outside,' a crewmember can be heard warning passengers before the clip cuts out.

Moments later, they were forced to make an emergency landing and return to George H. Bush Intercontinental Houston Airport moments after takeoff. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Heart-stopping video has caught the moment a Boeing jet's engines exploded and burst into flames in the skies above Texas forcing an emergency landing

The terrifying incident took place just minutes into a United Airlines flight bound for Fort Myers, Florida

Video taken from a passenger window shows white hot flashes streaming out of the Boeing Max 737's jet engine

Passenger Dorian D. Cerda told Storyful the plane was 'approximately 15 minutes' into the two-hour trip when the incident occurred, with the jet landing just before 7pm.

'The flight landed safely and the passengers deplaned normally,' United Airlines said, adding that they 'arranged for a new aircraft to take our customers to their destination.'

The cause of the explosion is not yet known but is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The model of plane in the Houston incident was a Boeing 737-900, a similar jet to the Max fleet which was grounded in January after an exit door blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight over Oregon.

On Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration said its six-week audit of Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems found 'multiple instances where the companies allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements'.

'The FAA identified non-compliance issues in Boeings manufacturing process control, parts handling and storage, and product control. The FAA is providing these details to the public as an update to the agencys ongoing investigation,' the statement said.

Bolts appear to be missing from the door plug that blew out of a Boeing 737 MAX during an Alaska Airlines flight on January 5

The door plug was recovered from the back yard of a home after it blew out on January 5

The administration announced it would continue to ground Boeing's 171 jets and had halted production expansion of the Boeing 737 MAX.

The news was a blow to the aircraft manufacturer, which saw its market value plummet by $30 billion in the wake of the disaster.

Boeing's share price also plunged by 20 percent in the month following the blowout.

The manufacturer also faces the threat of legal action, including from passengers who say they have been traumatized by their experience aboard the Alaska Airlines flight.

Kyle Rinker and two other passengers are seeking $1 billion from Boeing and Alaska Airlines.

Rinker says the incident is affecting his daily life with even the sounds of aircraft passing overheard triggering him causing flashbacks.

However this was not the first time the planes had to be grounded. Flights of the passenger airliner were halted worldwide in 2019 and 2020 346 people died in two similar crashes: Lion Air Flight 610 on October 29, 2018, and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10, 2019.
Her dad John Robson said he was hopeful for 'closure'

Samantha's parents heard about arrest on the radio

An ex-footballer's son has been charged with the alleged murder of missing mother-of-three Samantha Murphy, police say.

Patrick Stephenson, 22, from the small town of Scotsburn was charged on Thursday - just over four weeks after Ms Murphy vanished on a morning run in nearby Ballarat, Victoria.

Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police Shane Patton said police will allege Ms Murphy was murdered at Mount Clear, about 5km from Ballarat, on the day she disappeared.

He said Stephenson was not known to the family and they are not looking for anyone else in relation to her disappearance.

Commissioner Patton said the accused has not disclosed where Ms Murphy's body is and detectives would do 'everything' to find her for the sake of bringing closure to her family.

Patrick Stephenson, 22, (pictured centre, with his father Orren and mother Whitney) from nearby Scotsburn was charged on Thursday

Ms Murphy's husband, Mick, addressed the media on Thursday outside the family home

'Anyone being told a loved one has been [allegedly] murdered is tragic,' he told reporters on Thursday.

'Doing everything to find Samantha's body is absolutely vital for the family.'

Commissioner Patton said police would allege it was a 'deliberate' attack but he would not provide any further details about the circumstances as the matter is before the courts.

However, he did confirm police would not allege Ms Murphy was killed in a hit-and- run.

Commissioner Patton thanked everyone who was involved in the search over the past month, which included multiple local ground searches organised by volunteers.

He said the arrest was the result of 'painstaking detective work', with officers receiving an influx of information from 'pinging phones, public reports, ground searches, and door knocks'.

Commissioner Patton expressed his sympathy for Ms Murphy's family who had been subjected to 'scrutiny from the outset' despite being nothing but cooperative with police.

Ms Murphy's husband, Mick, was informed by homicide detectives of the development just before 2pm on Thursday.

Detectives arrived at the home of Samantha Murphy to tell her husband Mick (pictured in the olive-green T-shirt) that a 22-year-old Scotsburn man had been charged with her murder

Detectives looked sombre as they arrived at Ms Murphy's home to deliver the bad news

Asked how he felt, Mr Murphy expressed a sigh of relief.

'The adrenaline with everything that's been going on, it's just, it's trying to be brave for everybody,' he told reporters outside his Ballarat East home.

'It's something you wouldn't want anybody to experience.'

The 22-year-old did not apply for bail during a hearing in Ballarat Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Lawyers acting for the accused man asked the court to impose a temporary suppression order on personal details, including his name, age and address, citing 'mental health issues' that could arise due to the serious allegation.

He is next due before court on August 8.

Ms Murphy, 51, left her home to go for a 14km run in nearby Woowookarung Regional Park at about 7am on February 4, and has not been seen since.

Her husband said he found it hard to communicate the stress the past month had had on him and his family, but described his feelings now as one of relief.

'It is [a relief]. Definitely. It's like something has just let the pressure valve off sort of thing,' he said.

'It hasn't been a good near on five weeks. Anyway, we're doing as good as we can. Keeping a brave face.'

The news comes after Ms Murphy's father John 'Pud' Robson, aged in his 80s, told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday morning the arrest of the 22-year-old man had taken the family by surprise.

'My wife just texted me to say that it had been on the radio,' he said.

'We haven't been told and evidently Michael hasn't been told either.'

Meanwhile, Mr Murphy described the weeks since his wife went missing as 's**thouse'.

'To be honest, yeah,' he said.

A 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection to the disappearance of Samantha Murphy - who was last seen leaving her East Ballarat home on February 4

Ms Murphy's father said he and her daughter's husband Mick Murphy (pictured) had not been told details of the arrest

Police released this image of Ms Murphy from the morning she vanished. Detectives believe 'one or more parties' are behind her mystery disappearance

Despite a significant investigation and extensive searches of the Canadian Forest area, no trace of Ms Murphy has been found in over a month

The devastated husband said he was keen to learn the whereabouts of Ms Murphy's body as soon as possible.

Before returning to his home, Mr Murphy again paid tribute to the Ballarat community, which never gave up its search for his wife.

'From the word "go" it's just been unbelievable... the generosity and support from the community has been overwhelming,' he said.

Friends, family, everyone. There's just that much respect for Sam and us and the family.'

Mr Robson said he knew nothing about the man arrested by detectives and had been keeping himself busy by returning to his job as a long distance truck driver.

'I'm still working. I'm stuck in a truck up on the other side of Avoca (70kms north of Ballarat) ,' he said.

Mr Robson said he had no idea of any alleged links between the 22-year-old man arrested and his daughter.

'I haven't got the faintest, mate. Not in that age range. I'm never home, if you know what I mean,' he said.

'I don't know. I'm only assuming they've grabbed him and they're going to grill him for a little while.

'If they've got someone else in mind, that bloke might flap his gums without thinking.'
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for intensifying "practical actual war drills" during a visit to a military training base, state media said Thursday, as a joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States was under way.

During the visit to the base in the country's western region Wednesday, Kim inspected training facilities and guided the actual maneuvers of military units, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

The visit came two days after South Korea and the U.S. began their annual Freedom Shield exercise Monday to strengthen deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. The North has condemned the joint exercise, warning the countries will pay a "dear price."

"He set forth the important tasks for intensifying the practical actual-war drills ensuring the victory in a war," the KCNA said.

Kim also instructed the military to beef up drills to improve its combat capabilities to contain enemies with "overwhelming force" and their "slightest attempt to ignite a war," the KCNA said in an English-language dispatch.

State media photos showed Kim observing the drills with binoculars and taking a shooting position with what appeared to be an AK-74 rifle.

The military exercise between the South and the U.S. comes as North Korea has ramped up weapons tests in recent months with the launches of cruise missiles from land and sea and artillery firing near the tense western sea border.

Pyongyang has long denounced such joint military drills as rehearsals for an invasion. Seoul and Washington have rejected the claims, saying their military exercises are defensive in nature.

"Our military will maintain a steadfast readiness posture, and respond overwhelmingly under the principle of (punishing) immediately, strongly and until the end if North Korea undertakes a provocation," defense ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-kyou told a briefing. (Yonhap)
The former chair of the Florida state Republican party and husband to Moms of Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler will not face criminal charges for his role in a threesome sex scandal.

In October, Christian Zeigler was accused of raping a woman he and his wife were engaged in a three-way relationship and recording the encounter.

While under investigation for sexual battery, Zeigler was forced to resign from his role as the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. The scandal also put Bridget under the microscope as she faced constant public criticism at Sarasota County School Board meetings, where she serves on the board.

The Sarasota Police Department dropped sexual battery charges against him and the state attorney's office declined to charge him with video voyeurism for recording the sexual encounter, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

'The victim's expressed inability to recall whether she consented to recording the sexual activity along with her inconsistencies pertaining to key details of the event leave the State unable to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that the video in question was filmed without her knowledge or consent,' a memo from the state attorney's office said.

The state attorney's office announced it will not pursue charges against the ousted former chair of the Republican Party of Florida, Christian Zeigler

In October, Christian Zeigler was accused of raping a woman he and his wife Bridget were engaged in a three-way relationship and recording the encounter

While under investigation for sexual battery, Zeigler was forced to resign from his role as the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida

The Sarasota Police Department dropped sexual battery charges against him and the state attorney's office decline to charge him with video voyeurism

Christian Ziegler faced accusations from a woman who said he raped her after she canceled plans to have sex with him and Bridget.

His attorney, Derek Byrd, told the Associated Press, 'Mr. Ziegler is relieved to be completely cleared of the false allegations and any criminal wrongdoing.'

'We cooperated at every stage of investigation and as difficult as it was, we remained quiet out of respect for the investigation.'

During the initial investigation, Ziegler provide the video to police who used it to determine the sexual encounter was likely consensual, according to the state attorney's office.

However, because it is a crime in Florida to film a sexual encounter without the knowledge and consent of the other participants the case was referred to the state attorney's office.

'The victim acknowledged it was possible she could have consented to one being taken,' the memo said.

'Inconsistencies in the victim's account appear to be the result of substantial intoxication and trauma that the victim was experiencing.'

The police investigation revealed Ziegler told his wife to hunt for a threesome partner and had a list of multiple women's names on his phone titled 'THE LIST' including his rape accuser under the sub-heading 'F***.'

Documents show Ziegler and his Moms for Liberty co-founder wife discussing the woman who accused him of rape in text messages with Bridget concerned for her well-being.

Text messages from February 2021 show Ziegler told his wife to 'come home, stop and pick up [a woman] to play again and be crazy'.

Documents show Ziegler and his Moms for Liberty co-founder wife discussing the woman who accused him of rape in text messages with Bridget concerned for her well-being

Bridget Ziegler faced dozens of calls to resign during a Sarasota school board meeting

Bridget Ziegler is a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, a Sarasota County School board member and sits on Gov. Ron DeSantis Disney World oversight board

It is believed he was referring to the alleged victim who he claimed 'was an alcoholic, nice person with some issues'.

But Bridget responded that she was worried the woman was 'going through some s***' and 'that she prefers confident empowered people'.

Bridget Ziegler is a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, a Sarasota County School board member and sits on Gov. Ron DeSantis Disney World oversight board.

She refused to step down from her school board role after she was faced with hours of public scrutiny for the relationship.

Bridget has been accused of hypocrisy for engaging in bisexual acts during a threesome with another woman and her husband, while also being an outspoken leader of anti-LGBTQ policies.

'Turns out that you are a hypocrite of the worst order,' John Smeallie, a retired deputy superintendent of Maryland schools, said during a January meeting. 'Despite your attacks on the LGTBQ-plus community, it would appear that you are a part of it. Certainly a B, maybe a plus.'

'Why won't you step down?' asked another person at the meeting.

Christian and Bridget Ziegler were seen leaving a church in downtown Sarasota, Florida, in January

Bridget has been accused of hypocrisy for engaging in bisexual acts during a threesome with another woman and her husband, while also being an outspoken leader of anti-LGBTQ policies

For nearly three hours, Bridget faced dozens of calls to resign during the January meeting and began to sob at one point.

'We are now famous, or infamous, as the case may be, because of you and your husband's antics,' an enraged local said at the meeting.

One resident read the lyrics of Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl hit song to the board.

Sarasota residents also brought signs into the meeting with messages such as, 'Sarasota kids deserve better,' and 'Ziegler must go!'

In February, Bridget Zeigler broke her silence and spoke about the scandal during a school board meeting. She said: 'I do believe specific to sexual orientation and what have you, has no place in comments up here. Personal lives, families, all of those.'

'But I also accept the fact that as elected officials we open ourselves up to incredible criticism, but as an individual I absolutely reject that.

'As we go into policy discussions. There's a lot of hyperbole and rhetoric out there in the paper or on social media.

'I don't want anyone to be fearful, I don't want anyone in our district to feel that we are providing anything other than a fair, safe and tolerant environment for every single person to learn and that means not just to learnand work.

'As you can hear, there's a lot of people who believe that's not the case.'
President Joe Biden will deliver his last State of the Union address as president of the United States Thursday if he fails to win reelection later this year.

That means the stakes for this speech are extremely high.

Public opinion polls show that Americans are not sure the 81-year-old leader will be an effective president in a second term due to his age.

And while Biden  as a U.S. senator and then vice president  always had a reputation for being gaffe-prone, now the verbal slip-ups are giving political opponents more fodder.

Thanks to the timing, Biden's speech will serve as a table-setter for the 2024 general election, with Super Tuesday's results knocking former President Donald Trump's final opponent, former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley, out of the GOP primary race Wednesday.

The White House has stayed tight-lipped about the meat of the speech, but DailyMail.com has put together a bingo card with some of his favorite Bidenisms, including folksy sayings, familiar anecdotes and the free space has been reserved for a gaffe.

It also includes a number of Biden speech ticks, including when he goes from a booming voice to a whisper, or when he coughs throughout the delivery of remarks.

The president spent the weekend with his team at Camp David massaging his speech.

He arrived back at the White House Tuesday as workers were putting up large fencing around the Capitol complex on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

He's likely to address the wars in Ukraine and in Gaza, the economy, abortion and the southern border, after making a recent visit.

It's less clear whether he'll call out Trump by name.

In past speeches Biden's called the former president a 'loser' - meaning that he lost the 2020 race, something Trump still denies.

The president could also bring up childhood favorite Cookie Monster in Thursday night's speech after the classic Sesame Street character complained about 'shrinkflation.'

President Joe Biden delivering the 2023 State of the Union address. Thursday night's speech could be his last State of the Union if he's unable to win reelection in the fall

Preparations are being made around the U.S. Capitol for Thursday night's State of the Union. Workers were putting up large fencing around the campus

'Me hate shrinkflation! Me cookies are getting smaller,' the Muppet had posted on X.

The president then addressed the issue Tuesday at the White House.

'I'll tell you who did notice: the Cookie Monster. He pointed out his cookies are getting smaller, but paying the same price. I was stunned when I found out that happened,' Biden said.

Edits will be made up until the moment he delivers it, as he speaks before a Congress led by House Speaker Mike Johnson for the first time.

Johnson has told his members to keep heckling to a minimum, as last year's jeering provided Biden with some of the most memorable moments of the night.

This State of the Union will also mark the final time Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will be in the audience as Republican leader.

McConnell announced last week that this would be his last term serving as GOP leader, ending his tenure in November.

He will carry out his full Senate term, which ends in January 2027.
Alabama Republican Governor Kay Ivey signed a law protecting in vitro fertilization providers after a state Supreme Court ruling said frozen embryos should be considered children.

The state Supreme Court ruled last month that frozen embryos are children and will be given the same protections under state law. The decision caused outrage from IVF providers and families.

Three major IVF providers in the state paused services out of a fear of prosecution because the ruling means centers could theoretically be sued for destroying an embryo.

The ruling could open the door to wrongful death lawsuits in all cases where embryos do not survive being thawed and transferred to the uterus, potentially sending doctors in the state fleeing elsewhere to practice medicine.

'Alabama works to foster a culture of life, and that certainly includes IVF,' Ivey said in a statement on Twitter as she signed the bill protecting IVF on Wednesday.

Alabama Republican Governor Kay Ivey signed a law protecting in vitro fertilization providers after a state Supreme Court ruling said frozen embryos should be considered children

The state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children and will therefore be given the same protections under state law, causing outrage from IVF providers and families

Three major IVF providers in the state paused services out of a fear of prosecution because the ruling means people could theoretically be sued for destroying an embryo

'I am pleased to sign this important, short-term measure into law so that couples in Alabama hoping and praying to be parents can grow their families through IVF.'

The bill passed the state legislature late Wednesday night said that 'no action, suit, or criminal prosecution for the damage to or death of an embryo shall be brought or maintained against any individual or entity when providing or receiving services related to in vitro fertilization.'

The immunity provide by the new law would be retroactive but excludes pending litigation. Civil lawsuits could be pursued against manufacturers of IVF-related goods, such as the nutrient-rich solutions used to grow embryos, but damages would be capped and criminal prosecution would be forbidden.

IVF is a process in which eggs retrieved from the womans ovaries are fertilized outside of the womb and implanted in the womans uterus. Doctors typically fertilize as many healthy eggs as possible to give the woman the best chance of having a baby; unused fertilized eggs are frozen and stored.

Eventually, the unused embryos are discarded, though when depends on the clinic and what the patient needs.

With possible consequences for discarding the unused embryos, doctors may be barred from fertilizing eggs that wont end up being implanted. That decreases a womans chances of getting pregnant.

The bill passed the state legislature late Wednesday night said that 'no action, suit, or criminal prosecution for the damage to or death of an embryo shall be brought or maintained against any individual or entity when providing or receiving services related to in vitro fertilization'

In February, the state Supreme Court ruled that three couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed in an accident at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death lawsuits for their 'extrauterine children'

The Republican-led court ruled in favor of the landmark decision, including Chief Justice Tom Parker (pictured) who quoted the Bible and said the ruling would protect 'the sanctity of unborn life'

In February, the state Supreme Court ruled that three couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed in an accident at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death lawsuits for their 'extrauterine children.'

The decision came in a lawsuit brought by a group of IVF patients whose frozen embryos were destroyed in December 2020 when a patient removed them from a cryogenic storage unit and dropped them on the ground.

The Republican-led court ruled in favor of the landmark decision, including Chief Justice Tom Parker who quoted the Bible and said it would protect 'the sanctity of unborn life'.

'Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God, who views the destruction of His image as an affront to Himself.'

'Even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory,' Parker wrote.

The ruling, treating an embryo the same as a child or gestating fetus under the wrongful death statute, raised concerns about civil liabilities for clinics.

The court ruling recognizing embryos as children drew a backlash and patients saw appointments abruptly canceled or their paths to parenthood put in doubt.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham health system paused all in vitro fertilization procedures following the ruling

The ruling, treating an embryo the same as a child or gestating fetus under the wrongful death statute, raised concerns about civil liabilities for clinics

The University of Alabama at Birmingham health system paused all in vitro fertilization procedures following the ruling.

The hospital system made the call for fear of potential criminal prosecutions and lawsuits aimed at its patients and doctors in the wake of the ruling.

In a statement, a UAB spokeswoman said they are 'saddened that this will impact our patients attempt to have a baby through IVF, but we must evaluate the potential that our patients and our physicians could be prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages for following the standard of care for IVF treatments.'

Alabama Fertility Specialist in Birmingham has 'paused transfers of embryos for at least a day or two,' said Penny Monella, the chief operating officer at the clinic.

The Center for Reproductive Medicine in Mobile also paused IVF services after the ruling.
The cause of the crash is unknown and is under investigation, as the father was heard in chilling cockpit audio warning air traffic control of an engine failure

The children's school remembered them as 'beautiful' kids who 'lit up our hallways every day'

Victor Dotsenko, 43, his wife Rimma, 39, and their three children Emma, 7, Adam, 10, and David, 12, died on Monday in the fiery plane crash

The victims of the horror plane crash in Nashville have been identified as a Canadian family-of-five, including three small children aged seven to 12.

Victor Dotsenko, 43, his wife Rimma, 39, and their three children David, 12, Adam, 10, and Emma, 7, died on Monday next to Interstate-40 when their single-engine plane crashed and burst into a fireball.

Chilling cockpit audio captured Victor frantically warning air traffic control that his 'engine turned off' at 1600ft, as he said his family are 'going to be landing... I don't know where. I'm too far away, I won't make it.'

Moments before, Victor mysteriously overshot John C. Thune Airport by several miles before he U-turned and crashed around 8pm, and investigators have 'no idea why', National Transportation Safety Board official Aaron McCarter said Tuesday.

Dotsenko received his pilot's license from the Brampton Flight Centre in 2022. The aircraft was based out of the Brampton Flying Club.

The children's school, UMCA Rich Tree Academy, posted a heartbreaking tribute to the family, describing them as 'beautiful children (who) lit up our hallways every day.'

'They all had such a positive energy and attitude towards friends and teachers,' the private school said. 'Words cannot express the profound sadness and grief we are experiencing as we mourn the loss of the Dotsenko family.'

Victor Dotsenko, his wife Rimma and their three children Emma, 7, Adam, 10, and David, 12, died next to Interstate-40 when their single-engine plane crashed in Nashville on Monday

The Canadian family-of-five all perished together in the tragedy. Their school said in a tribute that the kids were 'beautiful children (who) lit up our hallways every day'

Investigators look over the wreckage after the Canadian family was killed on Monday night

Rinna Dotsenko's father, Sergei Rudetsky, also confirmed the tragic news to The Toronto Star. He asked for privacy as the family deals with their 'shock and grief.'

The family lived in the Toronto suburb of King, Ontario. According to his LinkedIn page, Dotsenko owned a contracting and home insulation business that operates in the Toronto-area.

His wife Rimma was a Decor Consultant at real estate firm Regal Crest Homes, according to her LinkedIn.

The family-of-five's tragic death has rocked their small community of King Township, around 30 miles north of Toronto, as the town's mayor Steve Pellegrini made a heartfelt announcement about the loss of the family.

'On behalf of King Township, I extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the Dotsenko family from our community who tragically lost their lives in the small plane crash in Nashville, Tennessee,' Pellegrini said.

'This is a heartbreaking and devastating loss for our tight-knit community. While we await further details from the ongoing investigation, our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of the victims during this incredibly difficult time.'

'We also extend our gratitude to the first responders and officials involved in the response and investigation.'

Victor owned a contracting and home insulation business that operates in the Toronto-area, and his wife Rimma was a Decor Consultant at real estate firm Regal Crest Homes

Their children (seen in an undated image), David, Adam and Emma, lost their lives in the wreckage aged just 12, 10 and seven, respectively

The family lived in King Township, around 30 miles north of Toronto, and the town's mayor said their deaths are a 'heartbreaking and devastating loss for our tight-knit community'

The family were all flying together when the crash occurred, as chilling cockpit audio saw Victor warn air traffic control: 'My engines turned off... I'm too far away, I won't make it'

On Tuesday, McCarter said the reasons for the crash could take months to establish, and the incident was even more tragic as it is 'always hard when children are involved.'

Shocking footage showed their small plane crashing into a fireball within meters of a busy highway, although miraculously no one on the ground was killed or injured in the fireball.

The Nashville Fire Department described the tragedy as 'catastrophic', however few details of the cause of the crash have been released as officials stress the investigation is in its preliminary stages.

It is unclear if the aircraft suffered navigational issues on its flight, as it overshot its intended runway by several miles at 2,500ft before making the U-turn, before crashing shortly after when the plane suffered an apparent engine failure.

Harrowing cockpit audio revealed the frantic final moments inside the plane as its engines cut out within eyesight of the runway, as the father warned air traffic control: 'I'm too far away, I won't make it.'

The minute-long audio from the plane appears to begin after the pilot sent out an emergency alert to air traffic control, as the operator asks the pilot: 'Do you still have John C Airport in sight?'

Shocking footage captured the moment the plane exploded into a fireball by the side of a highway, killing all five on board

Witnesses reported seeing the plane coming over the interstate from the north and crossing over the lanes, before hitting the grassy median

'Not sure,' the pilot responds.

The operator names the aircraft by its phonetic name, 'Charlie, Foxtrot, Bravo, Whiskey, Hotel', throughout the audio.

'Are you trying to land at John Thune?' they ask.

'My engine turned off,' the pilot answers. 'I'm at 1,600 (feet)... I'm going to be landing, I don't know where.'

The air traffic controller says they are 'declaring an emergency', but reassures the panicked-sounding pilot they have the runway 'within shot.'

'Straight in runway 2, straight in runway 2 at John Thune, do you have the airport in sight?... you're clear to land,' the operator continues.

Some have commented that the pilot appeared to sound inexperienced and more distressed than another may have been.

He is heard saying that he does have the airport 'within sight', but admits: 'I'm too far away, I won't make it.'

'Okay... uhhh,' the operator responds for a few seconds, before ordering the pilot to try and coast into the runway without the use of his engines.

'See if you can glide in there, sir. Glide in, they're clearing the runway for you.'

Nashville resident and former city council member, James Hollin, said he was driving along I-40 after the time of the incident.

'My kids tried to rubber neck but couldn't make out what it was that burned so badly. They kept saying it wasn't a car and my mind didn't expect it to be a plane,' he told The Tennessean.

Harrowing cockpit audio captured the panicked final moments of a pilot as his single-engine aircraft's engines cut out within sight of John. C Thune Airport in Nashville

Shocking footage showed the single-engine aircraft explode into a fireball by the side of Inerstate-40

Witness Dion Burnley added in a Facebook live broadcast: 'I'd just seen this pane crash on I-40, it went down and it blew up. I thought it was a car that crashed.'

Witnesses reported seeing the plane coming over the interstate from the north and crossing over the lanes, before hitting the grassy median.

Nashville International Airport spokesperson Stacey Nickens said the aircraft, a C-FBWH, left Mount Sterling, Kentucky around 7:19 p.m. and was set to arrive at John C. Tune Airport in Nashville around 7:43pm.

Following the tragic accident, Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell paid his respects to the five people killed in the crash.

'Our thoughts go out to the loved ones of all those on board the single-engine aircraft that crashed near Interstate 40 this evening,' he said on X.

'I want to thank the Metro emergency responders who were on site quickly and extinguished the fire.'
A former McDonald's worker from Central Queensland has pleaded guilty to having a sexual relationship with his then-underage colleague almost a decade ago and giving her herpes.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pursued the junior worker before entering a sexual relationship with her despite knowing she was underage.

The relationship continued for several years despite the girl, at age 16, contracting a sexually transmitted disease from the man.

Doctors reported her STD to child safety authorities who did not follow up.

A former McDonald's worker from Central Queensland has pleaded guilty to having a sexual relationship with his then-underage colleague and giving her herpes (stock image)

Crown prosecutor Tiffany Lawrence said the man initially befriended the girl by chatting to her on social media and inviting her over to play video games.

The victim told the man, who was seven years her senior, about her mental health problems when he asked her out.

On their first date, the man asked the victim if he could kiss her and after initially resisting she eventually agreed.

Two weeks later, the man visited the girl at her home and they agreed to have a relationship.

After this, the man would often stay overnight at the girl's home, which she shared with her mother.

The court heard the man took the girl's virginity, despite her complaining of pain and telling him to stop, which he did twice.

The pair went on to have sex about five times per week. The man did not use protection but the girl was on the pill.

It was during this period of unprotected sex that the girl was diagnosed with herpes; however, the man denied giving her the incurable sexual disease.

'The defendant told her that she must have gotten it from someone else,' Ms Lawrence told the court, reports the Courier Mail.

'He had been diagnosed with oral herpes [a year earlier].

'Doctors reported that fact to Child Safety, but nothing came of that report at that early stage in the relationship.'

The man met his victim when they were both employed at McDonald's where he had a senior role (stock image of a McDonald's restaurant in Australia - not the one involved in this case)

Defence lawyer Maree Willey said the man was unaware oral herpes - also known as cold sores - could be transmitted to other people.

After the child reached legal age, the relationship continued for almost two years. The two were even engaged for a period.

The victim lodged her complaint with authorities in 2021 and the man spoke with police about a year later.

Judge Michael Burnett said the victim felt like she 'had her teen years taken away from her and felt more like a housewife'.

Family and friends had known about the situation but 'turned a blind eye to the plainly wrong' situation by not reporting it to police, Justice Burnett said.

He also noted the victim had been bullied by colleagues who called her a 'gold digger' after the relationship ended.

Ms Lawrence said the girl's father did not make a report to police because he feared this would end his relationship with his daughter.

The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child.

He was sentenced to three years in prison, wholly suspended and operational for five years, and is now a reportable sex offender.
A new train company will begin running rival services between London and Scotland from June next year after the route was approved by the rail regulator today.

Open access operator Grand Union Trains will start running four return trains per day between London Euston and Stirling along the West Coast Main Line (WCML).

They will call at Milton Keynes, Nuneaton, Crewe, Preston and Carlisle - then cross the border and stop at Lockerbie, Motherwell, Whifflet, Greenfaulds and Larbert.

Larbert, Greenfaulds and Whifflet will all get their first ever direct services to London on the line, which will avoid both Edinburgh and Glasgow en route to Stirling.

The trains will be the first on the WCML by an open access operator, which run independently of Government funding they because have no franchise deal with it.

Ticket prices and journey times are not yet known, but London to Stirling is currently operated by LNER from King's Cross via Edinburgh in just over five hours. There is also a Caledonian Sleeper service from Euston which takes nearly eight hours.

Grand Union Trains will start running four return trains per day between London Euston and Stirling from June next year, calling at stations including Milton Keynes, Nuneaton and Crewe

Grand Union Trains said its 'comfortable' trains 'will provide more space and leg-room for passengers compared to other train providers, with good space for passenger luggage'

Grand Union Trains hopes to use electric or dual mode trains used in future, but said current power supply issues on the WCML mean it will start with off-lease diesel Class 221 Super Voyagers and Class 222 Meridian trains, with a top speed of 125mph.

Every station on Grand Union Trains route from London to Stirling London Euston

Milton Keynes Central

Nuneaton

Crewe

Preston

Carlisle

Lockerbie

Motherwell

Whifflet

Greenfaulds

Larbert

Stirling Advertisement

The operator has also held talks with Transport Scotland, local authorities along the route and ScotRail about investing in station upgrades at Larbert, Greenfaulds, Whifflet and Lockerbie to improve facilities for passenger and staff.

Grand Union Trains will be based in Scotland where the trains will be maintained, with another base at Preston or Crewe to operate the southern end of the route.

The firm said about 100 new and permanent full-time roles would be created.

Free Wi-Fi will be provided for all passengers, while the operator also promised a 'good choice of catering and refreshments regardless of your ticket price'.

It added that the 'comfortable' trains 'will provide more space and leg-room for passengers compared to other train providers, with good space for passenger luggage'.

There will also be a 'full complement of safety-trained staff onboard, so passengers can be confident their service is as safe as possible'.

The operator said that it will sell advance tickets but will also allow passengers will to 'buy tickets on the train at a fair price', with railcards also allowed for on-train ticket purchase.

This is not always the case on other operators, which sometime fine passengers if they do not buy a ticket before they get on the train.

There will be four return trains per day running between London Euston and Stirling (pictured)

Trains to Stirling (pictured), Scotland's smallest city, will avoid Glasgow and Edinburgh

A seat will be part of the ticket price for all journeys over 30 minutes, and the operator said it would offer compensation for standing passengers if it cannot provide a seat on a particular journey.

This will be 50 per cent of the ticket price for the journey, or a discount at time of purchase if the passenger buys a ticket onboard.

Grand Union Trains is also considering how its passenger services could transport 'light and urgent freight by utilising empty space in the non-passenger part of our trains where possible'.

The firm initially submitted its application for the line in November 2019, with hopes for the service to start in May 2021, but it has only now been approved today.

The firm had previously been approved to run a service on the WCML in 2018 but this never happened due to the impact of the pandemic, reported Rail Advent.

Grand Union Trains was set up by former British Rail executive Ian Yeowart, who also created Grand Central Trains - later sold to Arriva in 2011 - which runs trains along the East Coast Main Line from London King's Cross to Bradford via Doncaster and Sunderland via York.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said its decision to approve the plans for the Stirling route would give passengers more direct options for travelling between London and central Scotland.

Bosses at the regulator added that it would bring private sector investment to the railway, increase competition and make use of existing capacity on the network.

It follows a decision by the ORR in 2022 to approve new Grand Union Trains services between Carmarthen in South Wales and London Paddington in December 2022.

The services will run to and from London Euston (pictured) on the West Coast Main Line

The operator said it will announce a start date for this other route once it receives likely delivery dates from train suppliers.

READ MORE Commuter train damaged after smashing into fallen tree sparking huge emergency response Advertisement

Stephanie Tobyn, director of strategy policy and reform at the ORR, said today: 'Our decision helps increase services for passengers and boost competition on Britain's railway network.

'By providing more trains serving new destinations, open access operators offer passengers more choice in the origin and price of their journey leading to better outcomes for rail users.'

Grand Union Trains will run on an open access basis, meaning it will receive no taxpayer-funded subsidies and take on all revenue risk.

Most train operators in England are paid a management fee, with the UK Government holding responsibility for costs and revenue.

ScotRail and Transport for Wales Rail are under public ownership.

Rail minister Hew Merriman said last month the open access system 'goes from strength to strength' and he plans to 'speed up' the application process and attract more operators by making unused timetable slots available.
The son of former Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon 'died like a soldier' desperately trying to cut the suspension lines of his parachute as he plummeted toward the ground in a horror accident that's sent shockwaves through special forces ranks.

Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon, 33, was performing a routine drill at an RAAF base in Richmond in Sydney's northwest, about 6.30pm on Wednesday night, when his parachute failed to fully open during the 14,000ft jump.

Daily Mail Australia understands the knife he used to try and free himself in order to deploy his reserve chute was found at the ends of his fingertips after he hit the ground.

Lance Corporal Fitzgibbon suffered critical head injuries and was rushed to Westmead Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

His devastated sister Grace Fitzgibbon, who is a journalist for Channel Seven, shared a heartfelt tribute on Thursday.

'I love you my darling big brother, I am so proud of you,' she posted to Instagram.

Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon sadly died in a parachute accident

Lance Corporal Fitzgibbon is the only son of former Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon and his sister Grace is a television journalist at Channel 7

It came after Mr Fitzgibbon senior, a former Labor MP who served as the member for Hunter from 1996 to 2022 and minister for defence from 2007 to 2009, provided a statement to brigadier James Kidd following the tragedy.

Reading of Jack's father's words, Mr Kidd said: 'We are devastated and heartbroken by the loss of our wonderful Jack.

'Serving in the special forces was Jack's dream job and we take comfort from the fact he died serving his nation.

'Jack was a dedicated, highly skilled, and courageous soldier. He was an experienced parachutist.

'Our lives will never be the same without Jack, but we will always remain proud of him and his many achievements.'

Grace Fitzgibbon, who is a journalist for Chanel Seven, shared a heartfelt tribute

Daily Mail Australia understands Mr Fitzgibbon had pulled the knife out and was trying to cut the tangled chute so he could deploy his emergency reserve

The former member for Hunter is pictured with his daughter Grace

Defence Australia confirmed his tragic death on Thursday afternoon, stating '[our] main priority is to support Lance Corporal Fitzgibbon's family and our thoughts are with them and his friends as they grieve their loss.

'Defence takes every step to mitigate unnecessary risk, but unfortunately today we mourn the loss of a soldier and colleague.'

Witnesses said Jack's parachute looked like it failed to open as he attempted to land above Richmond's Sydney Polo Club.

He was a qualified parachutist. Training at the site has been suspended as investigations into the incident are ongoing.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to both Jack and his family on Thursday, adding 'the burden of grief falls on a dear friend to so many in the Labor family'.

Mr Fitzgibbon (pictured in 2022) served as the member for the Hunter region from 1996 to 2022 and a former minister for defence from 2007 to 2009

The 33-year-old was a qualified parachutist with raining at the site suspended as investigations into the incident are ongoing

'The extraordinary men and women who volunteer to serve in the Australian Defence Force do our nation proud every day. Every death in the service of Australia carries the heavy weight of loss and sadness. The tragedy of a life cut cruelly short,' he said.

'This tragic accident is a harsh reminder that there are no easy days for those who defend our nation. We are so grateful to every Australian who serves and puts themselves on the line for all of us.'

Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles described Mr Fitzgibbon as a 'close friend'.

'Today, Joel stands in my embrace, as he does in the embrace of all of our colleagues. My thoughts are with Jack's entire family, including Joel, Jack's mother Dianne, his partner and his sisters.'

Mr Fitzgibbon's father said serving in the special forces was his 'dream job'
Meghan Markle is searching for a UK PR guru - but some have claimed it may not be an easy sell because the Sussexes don't have a reputation for being good listeners, MailOnline can reveal today.

The Duchess of Sussex is looking for professional help to gain more positive publicity in Britain for herself and for Archewell, the foundation which she runs with Prince Harry in California.

A star hire will also help her amid persistent rumours her lifestyle blog The Tig could return, especially after her friend Gwyneth Paltrow's GOOP brand burst through the $250million value over Christmas.

The search for a UK PR executive is yet another sign that 2024 is the year the Sussexes will relaunch and it appears despite being happy in California, they want to do more in Harrys home country.

But one senior PR executive based in London told MailOnline today: 'This is a s**t sandwich that many senior PR people will not be willing to eat. Many will turn it down. Representing the couple in the UK is a tantalising thought but they don't have a reputation for listening to advice. What would be the point?'.

A year ago Harry's memoir Spare became a worldwide bestseller but his relentless attacks on his family caused plunging popularity on both sides of the Atlantic. Their Netflix documentary received poor reviews, they were dumped by Spotify and even humiliated to millions of viewers on South Park and Family Guy.

It came as Prince Harry looks set to return to the UK in May for a St Paul's Cathedral service to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. The Government used its Budget yesterday to launch a 26million bid to host the event in Birmingham in 2027.

Prince Harry and Meghan are pictured on their trip to Vancouver last month ahead of next year's Invictus Games. MailOnline understands they are looking for a UK PR expert to help them

In March 2021, the Sussexes appeared on Oprah following 'Megxit' and alleged that some members of the royal family questioned 'how dark [Archie's] skin might be when he's born'. It caused major ructions and led to Prince William having to deny the Royal Family is racist

The Susssexes were mocked and humiliated in an episode of South Park last year where a prince and his wife went on a 'worldwide privacy tour'

An insider told MailOnline today that the Sussexes can see an opportunity in Britain as King Charles' slimmed-down monarchy struggles because of the monarch's illness and William taking a backseat to support Kate after her abdominal surgery.

But the source said that PR specialists may be wary because they fear that Meghan and Harry may not heed their advice given some of decisions since Megxit, including attacks on Harry's family and Palace's men in grey suits.

'The Royal Family is looking short-staffed and quite elderly', the source said, adding: 'The Sussexes have a popularity problem and can see there is an opportunity to step in to fill a vacuum over here with their own work. There is also growing noise stateside that Harry would like to carry out duties on behalf of his father again'.

The expert added: 'American stars also often expect their PRs to spend their time shouting at people - that's not going to appeal either in the UK where things are done rather differently'.

It came just a fortnight after Meghan Markle opened a new wing of an animal charity in the UK.

The Duchess of Sussex sent a personal filmed message in memory of her 'dear friend' Oli Juste, who introduced her to the Mayhew Trust and animal home in north-west London.

Brand and culture expert Nick Ede told MailOnline today that the shock online appearance in the UK revealed a great deal about the Duchess' plans and that she still wants to work here.

He said: 'I think that the UK is still a very important place for Meghan to have a presence and to have strong positive PR. She genuinely likes the UK and British people.

'I would think that to bring a positive spin on her good work and her philanthropic side is very important to her - even recently with the work she does with the Mayhew she has shown her commitment to the causes she cares about'.

He added: 'If she is going to start to promote lifestyle brands in the UK, Meghan knows that the consumer audience although smaller than North America are very style savvy and they love her looks and fashion sensibility'.

MailOnline has asked the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to comment.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are putting off Americans with their 'endless moans' and 'attacks' on the Royal Family , a royal expert has claimed

The Duchess of Sussex has been named on a star-studded keynote panel on the opening day of SXSW festival in Texas

Brooke Shields, 58, is to appear on the panel alongside Meghan Markle at the festival tomorrow

It marks the latest in a string of public appearance for Harry and Meghan in recent weeks, including a trip to Vancouver (pictured)

Meghan Markle has been described as a 'visionary female leader' ahead of her appearance on a star-studded panel at the opening day of the SXSW festival in Texas alongside actress Brooke Shields and author Katie Couric.

The Duchess of Sussex, 42, is set to appear at the annual event tomorrow and is expected to discuss 'breaking barriers' and 'challenging stereotypes' as she addresses social media use.

South by Southwest, also referred to as SXSW, is an annual festival that celebrates the convergence of technology, film, music, education and culture, being held from March 8-16.

Meghan is the headliner of the keynote event on Friday, which is also International Women's Day.

According to organisers, the session is presented by Harry and Meghan's Archewell Foundation and The 19th, a US nonprofit newsroom that reports on gender, politics and policy.

Announcing its panel of 'visionary' women, the festival confirmed the session would focus on the dangers and mental health issues associated with social media users amongst teenage girls.

The session, titled Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen, will be moderated by Errin Haines, host of The Amendment podcast, and also attended by pop culture expert Nancy Wang Yuen.

Alongside the fellow participants, Meghan will also talk about the importance of representation in media and entertainment.

In a statement, the organisers said: 'Women's representation in media and entertainment has come a long way, but there's still much to be done, especially for women of color and mothers.

'Social media's omnipresence has raised the stakes, creating an often dangerous environment which has led to serious mental health issues for teenage girls in particular.

'On International Women's Day, we'll hear from visionary female leaders at the forefront of news, media, entertainment and philanthropy who are breaking barriers, challenging stereotypes, and working toward a healthier society on and off our screens.'

In Spare, Harry alleged the Prince of Wales grabbed him by the collar and threw him to the floor, while shattering a dog bowl with his back

It came days after it was claimed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are putting off Americans with their 'endless moans' and 'attacks' on the Royal Family.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex dramatically moved across the pond after quitting as senior royals and leaving Britain in January 2020.

While attempting to start a new life in the US, the couple have starred in a Netflix docuseries, launched a controversial new website, released a book and held explosive interviews about the Royal Family.

In a bid to branch out to the celebrity world, the Sussexes are often seen making appearances at glitzy events, including the 'Bob Marley: One Love' premiere in Jamaica in January.

But they were branded 'insensitive' for posing on the red carpet with Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who wants to ditch the monarchy.

Last month, Harry said King Charles's cancer diagnosis could have a 'reunifying effect' on the family. He made a transatlantic dash to see his father at Clarence House on February 6 but they only met for around 45 minutes.

There had been reports that Harry was willing to return to a temporary royal role to help out the slimmed down monarchy, with Princess Kate also recovering from abdominal surgery. But palace aides later said there was 'no way back' for Harry.

Speaking about Harry and Meghan's time since leaving Britain, royal author Angela Levin said even Americans are getting fed up with the couple's 'hypocrisy' and whingeing.

She told The Sun: 'I think endless moaning puts off Americans because they like people who are go-getters rather than those who blame everyone else.

'They also don't like the attacks on the Royal Family especially as they so loved and admired the Queen.'

Their unpopularity was made clear when they were mocked and humiliated in an episode of South Park last year.

The satirical cartoon launched a series of attacks against the couple in an episode of the show, which was entitled The Worldwide Privacy Tour and depicted the couple embarking on a publicity blitz to promote the Prince's new book, Waaagh.

At one point, they were seen stepping off the plane holding signs which said 'we want our privacy' and 'stop looking at us'.

After the show aired, reports surfaced suggesting that Meghan had been left 'upset and overwhelmed' by the couple's less-than-flattering portrayal.

Ms Levin added: 'Nor do [Americans] like their hypocrisy as seen in South Park - they say they want privacy but they keep appearing at Z-Level awards just to get their pictures.

'By wanting revenge they have thrown their changes down the drain. With no coming back.'
At age 18, Kate Moss was already a fashion superstar having being catapulted to global attention as the face of Calvin Klein.

But for model Denise Ohnona, who was thrown into the spotlight at Paris Fashion Week this week because of her uncanny resemblance to her famous doppelganger, it was a different story.

The now 43-year-old was working as a teenager at a branch of Next in her home city of Liverpool when she was involved in a horrific bus crash that left with her requiring surgery, with facial scars and 'mentally traumatised'

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today show, Denise recalled the terrifying experience and the trauma she suffered with for years to come.

'My face took the brunt of it and smashed into the windscreen,' she said. 'The next time my mum saw me in the hospital my face was cut all open. It was really traumatic.

'It took me a long long time to get over that as well as the physical scars, I was mentally traumatised and it did hold me back for many years.'

Denise was left with facial scars in the smash in 1998 after a collision involving a double-decker bus. Her face bore the brunt of the injuries, as she 'smashed into the windscreen'

Denise was around 14 when she was told she looked like supermodel Kate Moss but never considered herself to be 'beautiful or a model'

Kate Moss' uncanny lookalike Denise Ohnona stormed the runway at the Marine Serre Womenswear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 show on Monday

Kate Moss attends the Saint Laurent Womenswear Fall/Winter 2024-2025

She added: 'Life was good up until that point. I had a little job working in Next the clothing store, I'd just bought a little coat and hat and I was walking out the door and my mum said 'oh you look so beautiful Denise'.

The next time her mother saw her, she said her 'face was cut all open'. She said the 'traumatic' experience held her back for many years.

Denise recently told The Times how the doctor who operated on her had not been trained in plastic surgery and she endured the effects of surplus collagen production and thick scars.

As she struggled with what she described as 'a mental breakdown', her weight plunged to five and a half stone and she suffered stomach ulcers.

She later spent some time living in America, in Orange County, where she worked in telecoms and got married in Las Vegas - but she and her husband divorced in 2011.

She has said she gained weight after becoming depressed and losing interest in going to the gym - only to become inspired to get fit again by people pointing out her resemblance to Kate Moss.

Kate is pictured, left, at the Bottega Veneta Winter 24 show in Milan, Italy, last month, while Denise is seen, right, at Paris Fashion Week

Denise grew up on Penny Lane in Liverpool, made famous as a result of The Beatles song of the same name.

She grew up with three siblings, one sister and two brothers and had a 'happy childhood' with her mother and stepfather.

'Playing out in the street all day, the way it was back then. Not technology,' she said.

Denise said she 'never considered herself beautiful' despite being compared to the iconic supermodel.

She said: 'I think from the age of 14 was when I was first told I looked like Kate, but I didn't really think much of it because I didn't know who Kate Moss was at the time.

'We didn't have Google. It wasn't until later on I found out who she was and when I first saw her I was like oh my gosh she's gorgeous I am nothing like Kate.

'I never considered myself beautiful or a model or anything like that.'

Denise, pictured, has told how being compared to Kate Moss helped her recover after her divorce

Kate Moss is seen here leaving an Yves Saint Laurent after-party

Denise has her own Instagram account called @iamnotkatemoss, with 67,400 followers, in which she replicates famous catwalk appearances and adverts by Kate Moss.

She previously told Mail Online: 'When I split up with my ex-husband eight years ago, I went a bit 'mumsy,' I lost my sense of fashion and gave up on the gym.

'I would look after the kids day and night and it was more important to run around after them than look after myself. Then I started getting people mistaking me for Kate Moss when I would go anywhere.

'Being told that I could look like Kate Moss picked me back up and I started focusing on myself again. I got back into the gym and looking after my appearance and the comments started all over again!'

Talking about abuse and trolling she receives on social media, Denise told the BBC: 'Most days I'm ok with it but you do get people who want to dissect you, pull you apart, and make assumptions about you and I've got to say 99 percent of people have been so lovely and supporting, but there's always that one percent who go out their way to put you down.'

Denise's likeness to Kate is regularly highlighted both in public and on social media

Kate Moss is seen her modelling John Galliano in Paris in October 1993

During her appearance in Paris on Monday, Denise harked back to Kate's indie days in an oversized leather jacket emblazoned with the brand's crescent moon-shaped logo with a matching handbag.

She wore heavy black eye make-up while her trademark dirty blonde locks were worn in loose waves to add to the indie ensemble.

Denise's Instagram posts have included miming to the sound of Moss's testimony at Johnny Depp's court case battle with Amber Depp.

She has also been photographed in the window of a McDonald's, playing on Kate's famous quote suggesting 'Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels'.

Despite her lookalike work, she describes herself as a full-time mum to daughters Elise, 13, and eight-year-old Anais.

Denise said: 'When I first started to get papped, I used to get very shy and felt like a fraud became I am a Fake Moss.

'But then as time went on I started to enjoy it and now find it very flattering - who wouldn't want to get mistaken for Kate Moss? She's one of the most incredibly iconic women ever!

Denise shared images and videos from her fittings on Instagram, where she goes by the handle 'I Am Not Kate Moss'

The real Kate Moss, pictured here, has also been at this year's Paris Fashion Week - here attending the Saint Lauren Womenswear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 show last week

'I get mistaken for her on a daily basis now - especially when I am out in central London - that's where the paps tend to find me.

'However even members of the public get us confused, and I get asked to pose for selfies in nightclubs and in the supermarket all the time.

'It's amazing that I've been able to find something that has transformed me from my frumpy mum lifestyle, to a glamorous "supermodel".'

'Fake Moss' From: Ormskirk, Lancashire Age: 43 Denise Ohnona grew up and lives in Ormskirk, Lancashire Height: 5ft 4in Weight: 105lb/48kg Dress size: 6 Career: Worked in a Liverpool branch of Next, then on the docks checking containers and filling out forms Denise worked as a retail assistant at Next in Liverpool after leaving school Instagram followers: 67,400 Children: Elise, 13, and Anais, eight Denise is pictured here with daughter Elise, who is now 13 Love life: She married her husband in a Las Vegas chapel but they got divorced in 2011 and she now lives with her partner of ten years, a music producer named Robert Denise lives with her family in Ormskirk in Lancashire, 13 miles north of Liverpool She is frequently stopped in public by locals Setbacks: She suffered severe scarring after being thrown through a car windscreen in October 2008 after the vehicle driven by her then-boyfriend collided with a bus Clothing: Denise says she gets most of the clothes she wears to model as 'Fake Moss' from charity shops such as Oxfam and on eBay Denise is seen preparing for her runway appearance for Marine Serre this week Advertisement
Milton Keynes locals have slammed the BBC's portrayal of their area as a grotty slum in EastEnders, and describe living in the city as 'fantastic'.

Monday's episode of the soap showed a child living in the city who was described as playing truant while 'roaming the estate, carting drugs around and eating out of bins.'

But locals were left fuming at the way their neighbourhood was depicted - especially as the episode was filmed some 50 miles away from Milton Keynes in Barnet, north London.

A Conservative MP called on the BBC to apologise to residents, as the 'characterisation is completely out of order.'

The long-running soap this week saw the return of Bianca Jackson, played by Patsy Palmer.

The episode saw Whitney Dean played by Shona McGarty and her partner Zack Hudson played by James Farrar visit Bianca, who has not been seen on the programme since 2019 and now lives in Milton Keynes.

Monday's episode featured a child playing truant while ' eating out of bins'

An MP said: 'Milton Keynes is a beautiful, vibrant city that is going places - to everyone except, perhaps, the producers of last night's EastEnders'

Pictured is Willen Lake in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

Locals hit out at the depiction of their city, saying there are lots of green spaces and lakes

Locals Emma Wright, 51, and Derek Stack, 54, said their home has 'beautiful areas'

Councillor Emily Darlington, the Milton Keynes cabinet member for housing and healthy communities, told MailOnline: 'I am pretty tired of MK being misrepresented in the media. Living here is fantastic.

'We have robots that deliver our groceries, nature woven through our estates and embrace our diverse communities as a strength.

'It is the only city where everyone has chosen to live here to build a better life. That doesn't mean we don't have the same problems as other cities but the MK way is to work together to solve them and support people.

'Wouldn't it be great to have that represented for once?'

Fork-life truck driver Derek Stack, 54, said: 'It didn't paint Milton Keynes in a good light. It is better than the way they showed it on the telly. It has got some beautiful areas like Milton Keynes village and Willen Lake.'

Emma Wright, 51, said: 'I have lived here for 45 years - since it was all built. Every city has got its dodgy side. You can go to Manchester, Birmingham or London and there will be estates that don't look great.

'We know Bianca's story line and that she is not wealthy and is going to live on a council estate, but none of the estates in Milton Keynes look anywhere as bad as the one she was supposed to be in.

'It's not even filmed in Milton Keynes. It wasn't filmed around here and a lot of people would have been thinking 'let's see if we can spot where it is filmed' and wouldn't have been able to see anywhere.

'Milton Keynes has lots of parks and greenery. A lot of the original estates are lovely because they have open green spaces.'

One woman, who did not want to be named, said: 'It is irresponsible to show Milton Keynes like this.

The long-running soap this week saw the return of Bianca Jackson, played by Patsy Palmer. Pictured is a scene from the episode filmed in Barnet

The episode saw Whitney Dean played by Shona McGarty and her partner Zack Hudson played by James Farrar visit Bianca, who has not been seen on the programme since 2019

The long-running soap saw the return of Bianca Jackson, played by Patsy Palmer

It comes after a Conservative MP called on the BBC to apologise to residents, as the 'characterisation is completely out of order.' Pictured is a Milton Keynes estate

'It has more green spaces than any other city in England. You just have to look at a map. I can't believe they would portray the city in this way.'

The Conservative MP for Milton Keynes North Ben Everitt said he will be contacting the show's producers to invite them to see the real city.

He said: 'Like every city we have parts that aren't as good as others, but the characterisation is completely out of order.'

Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Everitt said he would be contacting the soap's producers and added: 'I am quite positive about Milton Keynes and I want them to show the good side as well.'

He went on to stress that it was important for his city to be represented accurately, adding: 'It's fiction, it's a soap opera, it's just the telly... I'm just not happy it's Milton Keynes.

'Milton Keynes is a beautiful, vibrant city that is going places - to everyone except, perhaps, the producers of last night's EastEnders.'

Speaking to the Milton Keynes Citizen, Mr Everitt continued: 'All jokes aside, it's a gritty show, depicting real, gritty, lives, and while it is fiction it often aims to address powerful topics in almost real-life storylines.

Ben Everitt, the Milton Keynes North MP, called for the BBC to apologise for the portrayal

Daisy Comber, 72, said: 'I think it is alright. There the theatre and Campbell Park is very good in the summer - there are lots of shows and fiestas'

Teacher Denise Pye, 47, said: 'I come from the United States and Milton Keynes is a modern city. It reminds of home. I find it comforting'

Local Sally Cherry, 78, said: 'It is like that everywhere. There are always pockets with drugs'

Milton Keynes (pictured) locals have slammed the BBC's portrayal of their area as a grotty slum

'This version of MK is far from that, and producers owe an apology to the people of MK for this negative portrayal.

'I would be happy to host them if they should take the time to get out of London and come and see the best of MK.

'They owe it to the people of Milton Keynes to show our city in its true colours.'

Mr Everitt, who has represented Milton Keynes North since 2019, said he would invite producers on a tour of the city to highlight it's 'brilliant parts'.

Local Sally Cherry, 78, said: 'It is like that everywhere. There are always pockets with drugs and homeless people.'

Daisy Comber, 72, said: 'I think it is alright. There the theatre and Campbell Park is very good in the summer - there are lots of shows and fiestas. '

Teacher Denise Pye, 47, said: 'I come from the United States and Milton Keynes is a modern city. It reminds of home. I find it comforting. '

Jacob Beasley, 24, a carpenter, said: 'There are lots of things to do here, which is nice. There is lots of shopping and activities.'

Elisa Day, 64, who lives in a Housing Association property in the city, said: 'I don't think it is as bad as portrayed, but there is some truth to it.

'There is a terrible problem with rats and the council is doing nothing about it and there is a lot of rubbish about.

The episode showed a child in the city who was described as playing truant while 'roaming the estate, carting drugs around and eating out of bins.' Pictured is Lakes Estate in Milton Keynes

Elisa Day, 64, who lives in a Housing Association property in the city, said: 'I don't think it is as bad as portrayed, but there is some truth to it'

Jacob Beasley, 24, a carpenter, said: 'There are lots of things to do here, which is nice. There is lots of shopping and activities'

One woman, who did not want to be named, said: 'It is irresponsible to show Milton Keynes like this.' Pictured is an estate in the city

'I love coming to Campbell Park, though, it is lovely. They do keep it nice and in the summer there are lots of lovely events. We can walk to Willen Lake, that is lovely too.'

Destination Milton Keynes, the city's official tourism service, said: 'We'll leave it up to a fictional soap opera to choose how they want to depict Milton Keynes.

'But we know it to be a thriving, multi-cultural community with more than 6,000 acres of free green spaces for residents and visitors to enjoy and with a booming visitor economy worth over 230m a year.

'[The city] regularly features as one of the fastest-growing and most prosperous cities in the UK.'

During the episode in the city, Bianca caused havoc by throwing a brick through a window as she returned to EastEnders following a four-year absence.

After spending some time with her step-daughter, Bianca is delighted to learn of Whitney's pregnancy and comforts her as they both reflect on the babies they have lost.

Bianca aborted her daughter Natasha in the late 1990s when she learned she had spina bifida, which is when a baby's spine and spinal cord does not develop properly.

Whitney terminated a pregnancy in 2023 after her unborn daughter Peach was diagnosed with Edwards' syndrome, a rare but serious condition which most babies die from before or shortly after being born, according to the NHS website.

A local said: 'Milton Keynes has lots of parks and greenery. A lot of the original estates are lovely because they have open green spaces'

Also in the episode, Whitney learns Bianca is helping to feed a young girl called Britney who is being neglected by her drug-addicted mother.

As she finds her house to confront the mother she is followed by Bianca who throws a brick through a window after she is taunted by Britney's mother who tells her the 'smartest thing he (Bianca's ex Terry) ever did was leaving you'.

Bianca responds by saying 'you're looking for a smack' before she gets restrained by Zack whilst trying to start a physical altercation.

The following scenes get increasingly dramatic as Whitney follows Britney, who flees the scene.

The episode ends as Britney is about to be run over by a car before Whitney pushes her out the way and is hit herself.

Filming of the episode was understood to have taken place in Barnet, London.

Bianca was last seen in Walford in September 2019 when she attended the ill-fated wedding of step-daughter Whitney to Callum Highway (Tony Clay) amid the latter's relationship with Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden).

She arrived in Albert Square in 1993 as the daughter of Carol Jackson (Lindsey Coulson) and is best known for her tumultuous romantic relationship with Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen), who she yelled 'Rickaaaaaaay' at.

Her storylines also involved finding out that David Wicks (Michael French) was her father and discovering the abuse of Whitney at the hands of her partner Tony King.

Palmer, 51, has been DJing since 2012 and competed in BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing in 2005 with professional dancer Anton Du Beke, and last year featured on ITV1's Dancing On Ice where she was partnered with skater Matt Evers.

The BBC was approached for comment.
China's foreign trade up 8.7% in Jan-Feb period

13:14, March 07, 2024 By Zhong Nan ( Chinadaily.com.cn

China's foreign trade expanded 8.7 percent year-on-year to 6.61 trillion yuan ($847.4 billion) in the first two months of 2024, official data showed on Thursday.

The country's exports grew by 10.3 percent year-on-year to 3.75 trillion yuan for the January-February period, while imports increased 6.7 percent from a year earlier to 2.86 trillion yuan, statistics from the General Administration of Customs showed.

In the meantime, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations remained China's largest trade partner. China's trade with ASEAN countries rose 8.1 percent year-on-year to 993.24 billion yuan, accounting for 15 percent of the country's total trade value.

From January to February, China's trade with the European Union declined 1.3 percent from a year earlier, while its imports and exports with the United States grew by 3.7 percent on a yearly basis.

The import and export volume of China's private businesses reached 3.61 trillion yuan in the first two months of this year, surging by 17.7 percent on a yearly basis, and accounting for 54.6 percent of the nation's total foreign trade value.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
North Korea appears to be preparing to take part in a tourism exhibition set to be held in Moscow this month as the reclusive country moves to attract Russian tourists amid deepening cooperation between the two countries.

The Moscow office of DPRKorea Tourism is set to run a booth at the 30th International Travel & Hospitality Show scheduled to be held in the Russian capital from March 19-21, the website of the event showed Thursday. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

If the North Korean entity takes part in the event as planned, it would mark the country's first attendance in the major tourism show that has been held for the past 30 years.

North Korea's participation comes as Pyongyang and Moscow have been strengthening military and economic cooperation after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in a rare summit last year.

In February, 97 Russian tourists visited Pyongyang and the Masikryong Ski Resort in the North's eastern region in what marked the first entry of foreign tourists to the country since the North reopened its border in August last year after more than three years of pandemic-related closure.

The North has yet to welcome tourists from China, the country's longtime economic benefactor and ally, since the partial reopening of its border.

Chinese tourists reportedly accounted for a bulk of foreign tourists visiting North Korea before the pandemic, with 300,000 estimated to have visited the country in 2019. (Yonhap)
The owner of a gelato store on Sydney's northern beaches has laughed off claims he 'copied' trendy menu items from a rival cafe.

Matteo Dominici, who co-owns Mr Gelato by Matteo in Freshwater, was accused by nearby business Blessed Bowls of stealing its acai bowl menu.

A sign pinned to the window of Blessed Bowls went viral on Thursday for claiming its lovingly curated menu had been ripped off.

'Dear Blessed Bowls customers. We have been very disappointed to see a local business take our whole menu, all items, names and pricing and identically copy what we have spent three years carefully crafting,' the notice read.

'The business has directly copied and pasted our entire menu with no alterations. This is very sad to see in such a great community.

'There is no harm in serving acai bowls; however, taking what a company has uniquely crafted is very disappointing to see. We have no association with Mr Gelato and we ask that our loyal customers continue to support us.'

Matteo Dominici, the co-owner of a gelato store on Sydney's northern beaches, has laughed off claims he 'copied' trendy menu items from a rival cafe

A sign pinned to the window of Blessed Bowls (pictured) went viral on Thursday for claiming its lovingly curated menu had been ripped off by Mr Gelato by Matteo

'They don't have the right to say I have copied them because everyone makes them [acai bowls] so similar,' Mr Dominici told Daily Mail Australia.

'There are a lot of places on the strip [that] offer acai bowls, but for some reason they are against us - and I don't know why.'

The sign has been up for more than a month, Mr Dominici said, setting tongues wagging in the quiet coastal enclave for several weeks.

'I'm a local, I know everyone around here, so word travelled quickly when the sign went up.' he added.

'They are a big franchise; we are a small family business. I run this one and my sister runs the shop in Collaroy.

'If we are copying them, then why have they opened another store near us in Collaroy?'

The acai bowl menu at Mr Gelato offers a number of the items also on sale at Blessed Bowls, with some of the ingredients listed word for word- including the Biscoff Bowl acai, Brownie acai and Snickers acai.

'We offer a much larger selection of acai bowls and they are named after the main ingredient, not because we copied [Blessed Bowls],' Mr Dominici said of the similarities.

Blessed Bowls has seven franchises across Sydney

Mr Gelato's acai bowl menu is seen here

Blessed Bowl's acai menu is seen here

Mr Dominici says plenty of businesses on the strip serve similar acai bowls

Acai bowls are essentially thick smoothie bowls loaded with different toppings.

They are made of pulped and flash-frozen acai berries and pureed with other frozen fruit then served in a bowl and topped with a variety of fresh fruit, granola, seeds, nuts or peanut butter.

According to Mr Dominici, he decided to add the berry dessert to his menu three months ago after his young customers were always asking if he served them.

'Acai is the trend and it matches with gelato. Of course I'm going to offer it to my customers,' he said.

'There is business on the strip for everyone so let's give our customers what they want.'
Russian police have detained a suspected Satanist cannibal who 'ate the heart of a pensioner' after 'axing the man to death'.

Erkinzhon Abdurakhmanov, 47, intended to cure his own heart problems 'after making a pact with the devil', he told police.

He visited the 65-year-old male pensioner in the Kuyurgazinsky district of Russian region Bashkortostan and struck him three times with an axe, according to reports.

The former Russian military conscript then cut out the heart and 'ate the meal' as he waited at a bus stop.

He gave the uneaten remains to a woman also waiting for a bus 'and asked her to bury it'.

He told police 'the devil ordered him to kill a man who had previously entered into an agreement with him, so that the killed person would go to heaven'

A murder case has been opened against Abdurakhmanov, who confessed to the ritual killing, reported Mash media outlet citing law enforcement

He then went to a shop where he stole alcohol.

The shop called the police, which led to him being detained.

He told police 'the devil ordered him to kill a man who had previously entered into an agreement with him, so that the killed person would go to heaven'.

A murder case has been opened against Abdurakhmanov, who confessed to the ritual killing, reported Mash media outlet citing law enforcement.

The 'Satanist' is a father-of-one who works as a builder, added newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.

The alleged killer is a builder, a former Russian military conscript and a father of one

The detainee's mother said that she had noticed his behaviour changing recently

The detainee's mother said that she had noticed his behaviour changing recently.

She was 'ashamed' to share the same name as her son, she said.
Police today appealed for help finding a 'dangerous' wanted man believed to be hiding in west London - as they warned the public not to approach him.

Jake Muir, from Feltham, is wanted after being recalled to prison, and is believed to be either in Feltham or Hanworth.

The 27-year-old is also wanted for alleged possession of an offensive weapon and theft of a motor vehicle.

The Met described him as 'dangerous' and said he 'should not be approached'.

Jake Muir, from Feltham, is wanted after being recalled to prison, and is believed to be either in Feltham or Hanworth

He is about 6ft 3ins and has black hair, a bushy beard and a tattoo on his right arm that says 'Freedom'.

He is believed to be more dishevelled than he appears in the photo with longer hair and an unkempt beard.

Police said anyone who sees Muir should call 999 immediately.

Anyone with information that could help track him down can call 101 and quote CRIS 0502421/24.

If you would like to stay anonymous, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Classic car fans turned detective to locate a stolen Citroen 2CV after the devastated owner mentioned the theft on social media.

'Heartbroken' Ben Heywood announced the loss on a local WhatsApp group for aficionados of the idiosyncratic French car just to vent his frustration.

They reacted by putting out the word that it had been taken and within hours it was spotted after some took to the streets of Norwich where Mr Heywood lives.

The following day the car was recovered and a teenage suspect arrested.

'Overjoyed' Mr Heywood, who had to travel abroad on business the day he discovered the theft, said: 'When it happened, I put a post on our group saying my car had been stolen. I wasn't even asking for sympathy, just to let them know.

Ben Heywood, pictured, announced the loss of his stolen Citroen 2CV classic car

'While I was travelling to Stansted Airport, they took it and ran with it and forwarded it to every 2CV group they could find.

'It spread incredibly quickly to the point where, by the time I'd reached my airport hotel, there had already been a sighting.

'I fed that back to Norfolk Police who were absolutely amazing. They said they had cameras looking for the number plate. Half an hour after I landed in Montenegro I got a call from them saying they'd got it.

'A 16-year-old lad had hotwired it and taken it for a joyride and then left it somewhere.'

The businessman, who runs two firms offering activity holidays in Montenegro and the Balkans, said his father and grandfather had owned 2CVs and he bought the burgundy 1987 model as a treat for his 50th birthday in December.

'They're a very peculiar little car and they're not to everyone's taste but they get under your skin. They've got personalities,' said the married father-of-three.

'When I turned 50 I thought I'd indulge myself and get one. Some people want a Ferrari, I just wanted a 2CV.

'So I was heartbroken when I noticed it had gone from outside my house and I was overjoyed to hear it was back.'

He admitted stealing a 2CV for alleged joyriding was unusual because they 'do 0-60mph in never and handling is all over the place because they have such soft suspension'.

After reaching out to a local WhatsApp group, the car was amazingly recovered the following day

The public-spirited search for the car was launched after he announced its theft at on Saturday morning. It was recovered the following day after members of Broadland Ducks 2CV Club hit the streets of Norwich in support of their comrade.

Chris Farnham, 66, from the group, said: 'We're a fairly close-knit community of enthusiasts and know how precious the cars are and how painful if was for Ben to lose his.

'We posted it on our Facebook page, Broadland Ducks Duluxe, and one of our members saw the car being driven.

'He phoned me and I put the word out that he'd seen it and other people started looking for it. The police found it the following morning.'

The sighting was important, Mr Farnham explained, because it showed it had not been dismantled and lost forever.

'They tend to get put in a lockup somewhere and stripped for parts, so we were quite relieved it was being driven,' said the farmer, who currently owns two 2CVs.

Mr Heywood hasn't been able to inspect the car as he remains abroad but understands there is only minimal damage.

'Other than the hotwiring, there's no physical damage outside the car,' he said.

'I'll have to check the gearbox because it may have been crunched but I'm just glad to have it back in reasonable condition.'

Norfolk Police said: 'The suspect, a teenage boy, has now been charged with theft. He is due to appear at Norwich Magistrates Court.'
Fumes detected in the cabin of an Alaska Airlines flight destined for Phoenix caused pilots to return to Portland International Airport in Oregon.

The crew of Flight 646 declared an emergency yesterday after passengers in the rear of the plane reported smelling 'some fumes or an odor'.

Seven people including passengers and crew requested medical evaluations.

Fire crews investigated but couldn't determine the cause of the smell. No-one was taken to the hospital and the plane landed safely.

'Guests deplaned and boarded a different aircraft to continue on their way to Phoenix,' the airline said.

'The aircraft in question is being inspected by our maintenance team. We apologize to our guests for the inconvenience.'

The crew of Flight 646 declared an emergency after passengers in the rear of the plane reported smelling 'some fumes or an odor' (File Photo)

The plane destined for Phoenix was forced to return to Portland International Airport

The Boeing 737-800 flight left Portland at 5.26pm, reaching an altitude of 35,000 feet, according to Flightaware.

It turned around southwest of Burns, Oregon, and landed back in Portland at 6.33pm.

It came as the head of the federal investigation into a troubled January flight on a Boeing 737 MAX jet blasted the aviation giant for not providing key information quickly.

Two months into the probe of the January 5 Alaska Airlines flight, the National Transportation Safety Board has still not received key documents at the center of the investigation, or the names of some 25 Boeing employees who worked on the part in question, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told the Senate Commerce Committee.

'We don't have the records. We don't have the names of the 25 people in charge of doing that work in that facility,' Homendy said. 'It's absurd that two months later we don't have that.'

The remarks drew scathing criticism from lawmakers such as Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who called Boeing's conduct 'utterly unacceptable'.

There were no serious injuries in the January 5 incident in which the Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing after suffering a blowout on a panel on the jet fuselage.

The fuselage was built by Boeing contractor Spirit AeroSystems, but the problem is believed to have stemmed from maintenance on the part performed at Boeing's Renton, Washington factory in which the door plug is believed to have been removed and reinstalled.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said investigators have sought the names of the 25 people who work on door plugs at a Boeing facility in Renton, Washington, but have not received them

The fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX, which was forced to make an emergency landing

The NTSB previously said that four bolts securing the panel were missing.

Homendy said the head of the Boeing team working on the door plug has been out on medical leave.

She said the agency has made no progress with requests to Boeing for the additional 25 employees in the team.

'We've repeatedly requested from Boeing the documentation that went along with the work of opening the door plug closing the door plug or any sort of removal if that exists,' Homendy added.

Boeing, which has consistently pledged 'transparency' in response to the January 5 incident, said it has 'deep respect' for the NTSB as it defended its responsiveness.

'Since the first moments following the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident, we have worked proactively and transparently to fully support the NTSB's investigation,' a Boeing statement said.

'Early in the investigation, we provided the NTSB with names of Boeing employees, including door specialists, who we believed would have relevant information,' the company said.

'We have now provided the full list of individuals on the 737 door team, in response to a recent request.

'With respect to documentation, if the door plug removal was undocumented there would be no documentation to share. We will continue to cooperate fully and transparently with the NTSB's investigation.'
Nearly 40 Spanish airport workers have been arrested or placed under investigation on suspicion of stealing valuables from travellers' suitcases in a new police operation.

In December police in Tenerife announced they had arrested 14 people on suspicion of stealing millions of pounds worth of jewellery, phones and cash from holidaymakers' luggage.

Overnight, detectives in Madrid went public with their operation at the city's busy international airport, revealing 16 workers had been arrested and another 22 were under investigation as part of an ongoing criminal probe.

Civil Guard officers said they had recovered stolen items worth more than 120,000 (100,000), with sources saying the value of the property taken could be far higher.

Nearly 40 airport workers in Madrid were arrested after allegedly being caught stealing more than 100,000 worth of valuable items out of travellers' luggage

The items retrieved included several designer bags, perfumes, jewellery, electronic devices, alcohol, and cigarettes

Food items were also discovered among the stolen goods which included cured meats, cheese, and ham. These were later handed over to soup kitchens after police struggled to identify the travellers they had belonged to

The victims reunited with their belongings include a young musician whose violin went missing as he headed to London for a concert.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Madrid, which led Operation Union, said: 'Investigators have managed to recover a large number of items stolen from suitcases which had been checked in by passengers.

'Their value exceeds 120,000 (100,000).

'As a result of this operation at Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport 16 people have been arrested and another 22 placed under investigation.

'They are all workers at firms operating inside the airport accused of taking advantage of their jobs inside the airport premises to access and steal the contents of suitcases.

'The items recovered include a large amount of designer clothing and electronic devices, cameras, jewellery and cash but also a violin and a bible.

'The violin belonged to a young musician who was going to participate in a concert in London.

'A stolen camera has also been returned to a US army officer who was tracked down to Puerto Rico where he was stationed.

Spanish detectives went public with their operation at Madrid Barajas international airport last night, revealing 16 workers had been arrested and another 22 were under investigation

'Food items recovered, which included cured meats, cheese and ham, have been handed over to soup kitchens after we were unable to identify the travellers they had been taken from.

In December Civil Guard officers revealed 14 Tenerife South Airport workers had been arrested and another 20 placed under investigation.

The operation to snare them was launched after an increase in the number of complaints from passengers who said things had gone missing from their luggage.

Nearly 30 designer watches were recovered along with jewellery, phones, electronic devices as well as 13,000 (11,000) in cash.

Spanish police released footage showing them frisking suspects they had held before opening up their lockers to discover stolen items.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard, which led Operation Orotel as it was codenamed, said at the time: 'The value of the recovered items stands at nearly 2 million (1.7 million).

'Fourteen people have been arrested at Tenerife South Airport and 20 other people placed under investigation on suspicion of robbery, membership of a criminal gang and money laundering.

'They are all airport workers.

'The operation began after an increase in the number of complaints from passengers who said valuables and cash had been stolen from suitcases they had checked in.

'The victims are of different nationalities.

'The suspects allegedly took advantage of their jobs at the airport to load and unload cases at a slower rhythm and put greater distance between each case.

'They would also open the luggage once it was inside the hold, out of view of passengers and other people.'

The spokesman added: 'Once they had taken the objects that interested them, they would close the zip to make sure there was no sign they had manipulated the contents.'

He said the suspects would also use screens to hide the fact they were opening up passengers' luggage.

Police sources said after the arrests at Tenerife South Airport, the airport used by most British holidaymakers to enter the island rather than the one in the north, that they believed millions of pounds worth of valuables could have been stolen given the value of the material recovered.
A London politician has said the city should 'follow Paris' and introduce a huge increase in parking charges for SUVs.

Parisians voted last month to triple the parking fees for SUVs entering the city's centre from out of town to 18 euros (15.30) per hour in a move that London's mayor Sadiq Khan earlier praised.

Alderwoman Susan Pearson suggested the City of London Corporation need to do 'something a bit more radical and a bit more user-friendly' during a Planning and Transportation Committee meeting yesterday.

At the committee meeting the Corporation, which serves as the City of London's local government, discussed a plan to remove the flat fee used for five car parks currently operated by the Corporation.

Instead, drivers would be charged based on the size and type of vehicle they are driving - is a scheme that is currently in place for on-street parking.

Alderwoman Susan Pearson (pictured) spoke out in support of the Parisian parking charges. She said: 'Could we not think about doing something similar in the City here?'

An SUV driving past a poster advertising the vote to increase the parking fees for SUVs. Parisians voted last month to triple the parking fees for SUVs entering the city's centre from out of town to 18 euros (15.30) per hour (stock image)

A City of London spokesperson told MyLondon that the proposal is designed 'to improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists, who make up a significant majority of journeys through the Square Mile [the City of London].'

Speaking at the meeting, Ms Pearson mentioned the 'huge charges' that have been implemented in the French capital for drivers of gas guzzling Suvs.

Ms Pearson said: 'Could we not think about doing something similar in the City here? Cars are getting bigger and bigger.

'As a cyclist, I find that quite often cars are well over into the road because they are so wide now, and I just think that, obviously not this year, but maybe we could think about doing something a bit more radical and a bit more user-friendly.'

While Ms Pearson then went on to suggest 'it won't happen' but the Corporations officer presenting the price change in car parks, Ian Hughes, said consideration for different vehicle types can be included in the next transport strategy review.

Ms Pearson is not the only London politician who is looking to take inspiration from Paris's price hike, which the left-wing Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo argued that charging large, expensive vehicles was a form of 'social justice.'

Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan, has also spoke out in support of Ms Hidalgo's policy which was voted into law by Parisians on a turnout of just 5.7 per cent.

Anne Hidalgo (pictured), the socialist mayor of Paris, announced the plan for an SUV parking charge in December, declaring: 'It is a form of social justice'

Sadiq Khan is pictured being driven around London in his Range Rover with a convoy in 2020

Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan, has also spoke out in support of Ms Hidalgo's policy. A spokesman for Mr Khan said in February that the mayor had 'no plans' to introduce an SUV parking charge in the capital

Mr Khan, who can sometimes be seen being ferried around the capital in his 300,000 taxpayer-funded armour-plated Range Rover, said heavier vehicles 'take up more space' and create 'issues around carbon emissions and so forth.

When quizzed on Ms Higaldo's policy, he told The Guardian: 'We always examine policies around the globe. I'm a firm believer in stealing good policies.

'Rather than inventing [new policies] badly, if other cities are doing stuff that works, we will copy them.'

Mr Khan, who has been heavily scrutinised for his Ulez scheme and the amount of knife crime since he became mayor, added: 'We know some councils in London are taking bold policies in relation to parking fees, in relation to your tickets and so forth.'

Islington is one such council which now charges parked cars depending on the weight of a motor, while Lambeth council is looking into similar measures.

A spokesman for Mr Khan, said in February, that the mayor had 'no plans' to introduce an SUV parking charge in the capital, adding: 'The Mayor was making the point that leaders across the world are exploring innovative ways of tackling air pollution and improving road safety, and the Mayor continues to monitor these.'

Meanwhile, Susan Hall, the Tory candidate for Mayor of London in the upcoming mayoral election, accused Mr Khan of a 'war on motorists that show no sign of slowing.'
A coffee cart owner preyed on the kind-heartedness of her community by pretending she had cancer to avoid business payments.

Mandy Mclennan raised thousands of dollars from well-wishers under false pretences, including members of her own family.

Ms Mclennan, who operated a coffee business in Timaru on New Zealand's south island, even pretended to have undergone a stem cell transplant and featured in local media as her fake story spread.

South Island's Dunedin District Court on Thursday heard the 42-year-old had been leasing a cart for her business in March 2022 when she began blaming her missed payments on having life-threatening cancer.

Mandy Mclennan pretended to have cancer to get out of paying business expenses

Between April 11, 2023, and July 24, 2023, she missed multiple lease payments totalling $1,210 but the owner excused them because of her claimed struggle against the disease.

In May that year, a friend set up a page on fundraising website Givealittle for Mclennan to aid the 'fight' against her bogus illness, reports Stuff.

For that campaign Mclennan spun a tale that she'd been diagnosed with cancer in September 2020 after thinking it was just 'glandular fever' and was 'shocked' to learn it was chronic myeloid leukemia.

'It affects everyone differently,' Mclennan wrote under the campaign title of 'Hope for Mandy'.

Mclennan went on to say she needed to raise money for a stem cell transplant 'to help me finally beat this disease'.

'This is very hard for me to ask for any help, but I need enough that when my business isn't running [because] I can't be there through treatment,' she wrote.

In June 2023, she 'reported' having undergone the transplant on the Givealittle page.

'I'm not going to lie, it's been a rocky, scary path but I am determined I'm stronger,' she wrote.

The fraudster even featured in the Love Your Local Awards, which celebrated small businesses in Timaru.

'The support has been amazing, and I feel like I have a big community behind me. I feel like all of Timaru is behind me as I get through this,' Ms Mclennan told the Timaru Herald in an interview.

'I didn't realise how much people have such kind hearts.'

As Mclennan's (left) fake story spread, it led to donations pouring in from well-wishers

On June 19, 2023 Mclennan was paid $2,739 by Givealittle, according to police evidence.

The friend who set up the page also held a garage sale for Ms Mclennan, raising $400. Mclennan's mother held a fundraiser for her daughter in the town of Waitahuna, which raised $3,101.

'Due to her claims of having cancer, the defendant made significant financial gain from these initiatives totalling $7,450.20,' the police summary of facts said.

The money was used to pay Mclennan's debts and other expenses.

However, the ruse was unravelling and by late June of 2023 police began to suspect the cancer story was false.

In an interview with police in August 2023, Mclennan admitted she had found herself in financial dire straits and had invented the cancer story to give her some breathing space.

She said no one else knew it was a lie.

Mclennan will be sentenced at a later date in the Timaru District Court.
But many questions around her disappearance remain unanswered

Major breakthrough in case which gripped Australia and beyond

It was a missing person's case that captivated Australia and made headlines across the globe.

In a modern world dominated by technology and surveillance, how could mum-of-three Samantha Murphy simply vanish into thin air after embarking on an early morning run?

Her disappearance from her East Ballarat home, 110km north-west of Melbourne, on February 4 sparked a colossal search operation as hundreds of police officers, SES workers and volunteers scoured nearby bushland.

After days of painstaking searches turned up zero trace of the 51-year-old, detectives begged the public to come forward with any dashcam or CCTV footage which might have captured Ms Murphy's movements.

A 22-year-old man has been charged with the murder of Samantha Murphy (pictured) - who was last seen leaving her East Ballarat home on February 4

The case quickly became the 'number one investigation' for Victoria Police as they drafted in dozens of specialists from counter-terror, sex crimes, fraud and armed robbery divisions.

And then, 10 frantic days after she was last seen, Chief Commissioner Shane Patton confirmed her family's worst fears when he revealed detectives were treating the case as 'suspicious'.

Yet, scant few details from the investigation emerged and, as the days became weeks, the mystery deepened.

Into that information vacuum poured a torrent of conspiracy theories, vicious rumours and ill-informed speculation which threatened to tear apart the tight-knit community in Ballarat of just over 100,000 people.

Ms Murphy's disappearance from her East Ballarat home, 70 miles north-west of Melbourne, on 4 February launched a colossal search operation as hundreds of police officers, SES workers and volunteers scoured the nearby bushland

Ten frantic days after she was last seen, Chief Commissioner Shane Patton confirmed her family's worst fears when he revealed detectives were treating the case as 'suspicious' (pictured: Ms Murphy's daughter Jess who a made a tearful plea for her mum to come home)

Patrick Orren Stephenson has been charged with the murder of Samantha Murphy

Pleading for information - for someone to come forward - Ms Murphy's husband Mick said: 'People don't just vanish into thin air. Someone has got to know something.'

He was right, of course.

On Thursday the grim news the world had been waiting for finally arrived when police revealed they had arrested Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, from Scotsburn, a small town around 18km east of where Ms Murphy was last seen.

He was later charged with murder and his identity controversially suppressed before that was overturned by the courts on Friday.

While Ms Murphy's father, who is in his 80s, told this publication yesterday morning that the news might bring some 'closure' to the family, there are still many details yet to reach the public domain.

Here, Daily Mail Australia walks through the five unanswered questions surrounding Ms Murphy's alleged murder.

How did Samantha die?

Ms Murphy was captured on her family home's CCTV system shortly after 7am on Sunday, February 4.

Wearing a maroon/brown singlet and black half-length leggings, she was believed to be going for a run in the neighbouring Canadian State Forest.

That was the last known sighting of her alive.

Officers do not know her exact running route.

Ms Murphy and her husband Mick pictured on holiday in Indonesia in 2017. Mick previously said

However, they believe mobile phone data indicates she reached the Mount Clear area, which is about 5km away, an hour after she left home.

Victorian Chief Police Commissioner Shane Patton told reporters on Thursday that detectives believe she died there.

'We will be alleging that murder occurred at Mount Clear on the day she disappeared,' Mr Patton said.

The Police Commissioner was tight-lipped on how Ms Murphy was allegedly murdered but he did rule out one theory.

Asked by a reporter whether Ms Murphy's death was the result of a hit-and-run, he said: 'No.'

He also refused to say whether the alleged killing had any sexual element.

'I will not canvass any details to do with the evidence in respect of the murder,' Mr Patton said.

He added: 'I'm not going to go into the details of motive or any of those further details in regards to what has or had has or hasn't happened.'

However, Commissioner Patton did say he believed Ms Murphy's alleged killing was a 'deliberate attack'.

Where is her body?

Police allege that Ms Murphy was killed in the Mount Clear area.

On February 22, detectives from the Missing Persons Squad lead the 'targeted search' of bush around Mount Clear, 6km from Ms Murphy's home.

Two days later police revealed they now believed 'one or more parties 'may have been involved in Ms Murphy's disappearance.

'Unfortunately, given the time and the fact that we've found no trace, we do have severe concerns [and we] are very doubtful that she's still alive,' Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt said at the time.

Mr Hatt added that police were probing the possibility her body had been moved from the area.

Forensic teams are pictured scouring the Mount Clear bushland for any sign of Ms Murphy on 23 February

The arrest and murder charge announced by police on Thursday marks the first significant breakthrough in what has become Victoria's highest priority police inquiry since the missing mum vanished on February 4

'We will be alleging that murder occurred at Mount Clear on the day she disappeared,' Mr Patton told reporters.

'In the interview with the suspect, he has not disclosed to police where Samantha's body is.'

Commissioner Patton said it was now detectives number one priority to discover Ms Murphy's remains.

'Doing everything to find Samantha's body is absolutely vital for the family,' he told reporters.

How was the alleged killer caught by detectives?

It was revealed at the start of the week that police were examining data from nearby phone towers in a bid to work out who else was in the Mount Clear area in the hours during and after Ms Murphy went running.

At this stage, it is unclear if they have any other evidence, whether it's CCTV footage or witness sightings, that place the suspect in the area at the relevant time.

Commissioner Patton said police were able to make an arrest due to 'painstaking detective work with greater assistance from the public'.

'He's been located through a range of investigative outcomes that have come together and as you are aware we have been pinging phones and following up on investigation reports from members of the public,' Mr patton said.

'We have done ground searches, we have done doorknocks so it's a whole range of information that has come together.

Whatever they discovered eventually led them to the Scotsburn home of Stephenson on Wednesday morning.

Last picture: The 51-year-old was last seen leaving her property on Eureka Street to go for a run in Canadian State Forest at about 7am

Police clearly felt they had enough evidence to charge the man a little over 24 hours later.

However, they are still building their case.

'This investigation is far from over, though, obviously we're going to be continuing to gather further evidence and will be taking further statements and investigations will continue at a very heavy pace,' Commissioner Patton said on Thursday.

But Commissioner Patton said police were not looking for any accomplice in Ms Murphy's alleged murder.

'He has been charged with murder so by its definition we are saying this was a deliberate attack on Samantha,' he said.

Why can't media name the suspect?

The 22-year-old man from Scotsburn, located about 18km east of Ms Murphy's Ballarat home, appeared in the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Thursday afternoon.

By that stage, his name and image had been splashed across news websites and television broadcasts for hours.

But his lawyer David Tamanika argued in court that his client's name should be suppressed from the public because he held grave concerns for the safety of his client due to his age and the massive publicity in the case.

The move sparked a revolt in the courtroom as representatives from various media outlets objected to the suppression order on the basis that the 'horse had already bolted'.

Ms Murphy's husband Mick was told by detectives about the arrest of the 22-year-old suspect on Thursday afternoon

Victorian Chief Police Commissioner Shane Patton told reporters on Thursday police believe Ms Purphy was killed in a 'deliberate attack'

Mr Tamanika told the magistrate his client had never been in jail before and was at a risk of self harm while awaiting his next court appearance.

The court heard the man, who was dressed in a bright orange workers vest, was made so as not to 'prejudice the administration of justice' for his client given he was only arrested a day earlier.

Mr Tamanika said his client faced 'significant mental health challenges' behind bars, which would be compounded by his identity being outed to the general public.

The magistrate sided with lawyer, ruling that the accused's right to justice was more important than the public interest in the case.

Following the hearing, media organisations launched a challenge to the suppression order, with the matter set to return to court on Friday morning.

Why did police go so long without providing an update?

Police descended on the alleged killer's Scotsburn home at 6am on Wednesday.

Yet it was over 24 hours later until they revealed that he had been arrested.

The news came as a major surprise in what many believed had become a slow-burning case.

The reason police may have kept their cards close to their chest was because any information they released may have tipped their alleged suspect off that they were on their tail.

Police can also withhold information to help ensure whether suspects are guilty.

For example, if a suspect is in possession of knowledge that has not been made public, then that can indicate they were involved or at least that they know someone who was.
There are broadly four fashion ages, starting in your teens with 'Love It, Don't Care What It Looks Like On Me'. The second age is 'I Love It But Should I?' During this phase you discover whether you are more in the 'Must Look On Trend' or the 'Just Want To Look Gorgeous' camp. It's the longest fashion phase and you bend more one way than the other until, eventually, you find the spot where you're most comfortable. The third age is 'Does My Bum Look Big In This?' It's not that you've never considered whether your bum looks big before, but now it's your first consideration along with does anything else look big and do my legs look shorter. You still care a lot about fashion but more about how you look. And finally there's the fourth stage - the one we're in now - when the overriding priority is Not Looking Our Age. In this phase you're still fashion conscious, body conscious, gorgeous-rating conscious, susceptible to the odd mad purchase, but everything starts with trying not to look the age we are or older.
Nurses allowed to perform CPR on emergency patients as trainee doctors' walkout continues

By Jun Ji-hye

The government is planning to make the most use of physician assistant (PA) nurses  unique to Koreas medical field  to cope with disruptions to medical services caused by a nationwide walkout by thousands of trainee doctors in protest against the government policy to increase the number of medical students next year.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Thursday that it decided to increase the role of nurses at emergency care units at general hospitals and training hospitals.

It will release relevant guidelines on Friday, enabling nurses with several years of experience to undertake specific responsibilities that are normally held by doctors, such as performing CPR and injecting medication into patients in a critical condition. The related pilot program was already launched on Feb. 27.

The guidelines, aimed at better clarifying the scope of nurses duties, are expected to give a boost to the legalization of the PA nurse system, which is technically illegal per the countrys Medical Service Act, but for all intents and purposes, has been operating as such for about 20 years .

We will actively utilize PA nurses, President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Wednesday while he presided over a government meeting to address the collective action of doctors.

Through the pilot program, we will allow PA nurses to fill the medical service vacuum left by the striking trainee doctors and legally protect them.

Doctors are protesting the governments decision to raise the enrollment quota at 40 medical schools nationwide by an 2,000 places from the current 3,058 starting next year. This proposal is aimed at addressing a shortage of doctors and improving public access to medical services. However, doctors argue that the current education and training systems in medical schools are ill-equipped to accommodate such an expansion.

The government came up with the idea of utilizing PA nurses because patients and their families have had surgeries and other medical procedures postponed or rescheduled due to the ongoing mass walkout by interns and resident doctors.

In other countries, such as the United States and Canada, PAs refer to licensed medical professionals who examine, diagnose and treat patients under the supervision of physicians.

Koreas medical community uses the same title, but PAs in Korea refer to skilled nurses who assist doctors in carrying out operations and procedures, and take part in the development of treatment plans and even the prescription of medication, most of which are responsibilities meant to be held by trainee doctors.

Korean hospitals have appointed skilled nurses as PAs since the early 2000s as part of efforts to cut costs, as PAs do not require additional courses or professional licenses.

The number of PA nurses is estimated at around 20,000 nationwide, according to the Korean Health and Medical Workers Union.

In April last year, a nursing bill, designed to clarify the roles and responsibilities of nurses, passed the National Assembly, railoaded by the the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.

But Yoon vetoed the bill the following month, siding with doctors and other medical workers at the time, who claimed that the act would only divide the medical profession and cause conflict and confusion.

The Korean Nurses Association expressed a certain amount of expectations this time, supporting Yoons latest remarks concerning nurses.

Nurses have been put into very difficult situations after trainee doctors left their worksites, the association said in a statement. We welcome the presidents promises to pay keen attention to the development of nurses careers so they can work with pride.

In its expanded efforts to minimize the medical service vacuum, the health ministry also announced a decision to invest 188.2 billion won ($141 million) of national health insurance reserves per month to increase compensation for hospitals that actively treat patients in emergency and critical conditions.

The 188.2 billion won will be offered for a month temporarily, and then the same amount will be offered every month if the current medical disruptions continue, a ministry official said.
As Zoe Ball revealed her mother Julia has been diagnosed with cancer, fans lamented the fresh tragedy for the beloved Radio 2 presenter who has had more than her fair share of heartbreak.

Taking to social media on Wednesday, Ms Ball, 53, said she would be taking time away from the station to focus on her family, who are currently going through 'tough times' - but added her mother is being extremely 'brave'.

The latest blow comes almost seven years after her partner Billy Yates took his own life in May 2017, and the recent breakdown of her five-and-a-half year relationship with Michael Reed.

Mr Yates' death came after the breakdown of Ms Ball's 18-year marriage to DJ Fatboy Slim, real name Normal Cook.

But despite her mother's diagnosis, Ms Ball is remaining positive and told fans she is 'in awe' of the nurses and doctors in charge of her care.

Taking to social media on Wednesday, Ms Ball, 53, said she would be taking time away from Radio 2 to focus on her family

Zoe wrote: 'I'm trying to be at work on breakfast as often as I can but occasionally need to be home with my Mama' (pictured with her mother Julia in 2010)

The presenter, 53, said she and her family were going through 'tough times' amid her mother's (pictured) diagnosis but praised her for being 'brave'

Posting a picture of Julia surrounded by family, as well as a second of her receiving chemotherapy in hospital, Ms Ball wrote: 'Heartbreakingly our beautiful Mama Julia has been diagnosed with Cancer.

'As many of you know from experience, these are extremely tough times. Mum is being incredibly brave.

'My brother Jamie & I are completely in awe of the brilliant Doctors, Nurses & support teams looking after Mum. Thank you.

'Gratitude to our families & our extended family & friends at home & at work for their support at this time.

'Sending out love to people reading this who are battling cancer, or awaiting diagnosis & also to the folk looking after their dear ones who are poorly.'

The family has been bedecked by hardship for decades, with Ms Ball's parents Julia and Johnny Ball, a former TV presenter, splitting up in 1972 after just three years of marriage.

Mr Ball remarried his second wife, Dianne Cheryl, in 1976, with the pair remaining together today.

Taking to social media, Zoe shared a photo of her mother surrounded by family members

Zoe Ball and her DJ husband Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, announced in 2016 that they had 'come to the end of our rainbow' after 18 years of marriage

Fatboy Slim previously told how Zoe Ball would 'check him' as he rose to fame to ensure he treated people with respect

As Zoe's own career took off, she and her husband Fatboy Slim supported one another on their rise to fame, with Slim later describing how she kept him down to earth by 'checking him' for his behaviour.

He told the Changes podcast: 'While you've got licence to break rules, you've always got a lot of people who'll let you get away with murder.

'Zoe was really good for me for that, because she knew the fame game and we would sort of check each other.

'If I wasn't respectful to people, shed go: "Oi, come on, that's not how we behave! Go back and thank them for that".'

But sadly their marriage came to an end in 2016, with the couple announcing they had 'come to the end of their rainbow'.

Although Ms Ball soon found love again in partner Billy Yates, their relationship was also not set to last.

After a long battle with depression, Mr Yates, 40, killed himself in May 2017 at his home in Putney, London.

The Radio 2 presenter previously told how she felt 'really grateful' he had said goodbye to her the last time she saw him.

Zoe Ball pictured with former partner Billy Yates, who killed himself in May 2017

Zoe Ball wore a T-shirt bearing Billy Yates' name as she returned to work at Radio 2 following his death

Zoe split from her long term partner Michael Reed last year after the couple's relationship broke down over 'silly things'

The couple had reportedly been arguing about very minor aspects of their life, such as Ms Ball spending time on her phone talking to friends

Fighting back tears as she spoke about their final moments together, she said: 'He got on his bike and he cycled off and he turned round and he blew me a kiss goodbye, and that was the last time I saw him.'

She added: 'It was just that moment and that feeling of "Oh my god I love him so much, we'll find some help and it will all be okay".

'And I wish I'd told him that.'

A year after his death, Ms Ball took part in a gruelling Sport Relief challenge to cycle 350 miles in five days in his memory and to raise awareness of mental health issues.

She has consistently marked his death each year and returned to work at Radio 2 following his death wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with his name.

Despite her loss, the presenter found the courage to love again when she began dating former construction worker Michael Reed.

But while friends said he was a 'true gent' at first, their relationship broke down after more than five years in May 2023 after Mr Reed allegedly became 'a bit demanding'.

The couple had reportedly been arguing about very minor aspects of their life, such as Ms Ball spending time on her phone talking to friends.

The presenter soon asked Mr Reed to move out of her home, although the two are said to remain on good terms.

After her mother's recent cancer diagnosis, Ms Ball has been inundated with messages of support from fans.

She reassured them that while she would be in her usual Radio 2 slot as much as possible, she would 'occasionally need to be home with my Mama.'

The radio presenter, who leads the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show from 6.30am to 9.30am, will miss some shows while she helps take care of her mother Julia, with Gaby Roslin filling in in her stead.

For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit www.thecalmzone.net/get-support
Two young Indigenous children who were bound together with cable ties to the point that their skin split were fun-loving, happy kids - but have now been left 'traumatised'.

Disturbing footage uploaded to Facebook on Tuesday showed Margaret, six, and Stuart, seven, huddled together with another boy, eight, outside a property at Cable Beach in Broome, Western Australia, on a scorching hot day.

The normally-bubbly group, who love to play together outside, had their wrists restrained and were crying for their mum, as burly air conditioning installation boss Mataj Radelic, 45, paced across the concrete to make sure the children didn't leave before police arrived.

They had jumped the fence of the vacant property to swim in the pool before Radelic, who does not own the home, caught them and performed the bizarre citizens' arrest.

Roberta Cox, a close relative of the kids, became emotional as she told Daily Mail Australia how she heard people screaming and ran across the road to see what was happening.

Seeing the children bound and whimpering on the concrete reminded her of horrifying images of Aboriginal people who were forced to wear metal shackles around their necks, before about 1950.

Margaret, six, and Stuart, seven are pictured bound together with another family member on Tuesday

Margaret's cables ties were so tight they drew blood (pictured) and left marks on her wrists

'I went over there because I heard screaming and and I came back and got my phone and tried to call the police, but it was hard because I was having a panic attack,' she said.

'I called them and ran straight back and filmed it ... They're pretty traumatised.'

Daily Mail Australia tried to approach Radelic for comment on Thursday, but his wife Vesna called police claiming her family felt 'threatened'.

One officer demanded the media leave the scene, threatening to arrest anyone who didn't comply with a move-on notice.

'You'll be locked up,' he said.

When it was pointed out that Radelic was accused of binding children together with cable ties and was facing three aggravated assault charges, the officer said: 'You don't know the circumstances around that.

'This has nothing to do with you.'

Stuart, seven, (pictured) has since had a nightmare and has a scratch on his hand after the incident

Margaret, six, (pictured) was tied up with her brother for about an hour on a 33C day

The cable ties were so tight they left marks on the children's wrists (pictured)

Pictured: A photo the children's relative showed Daily Mail Australia, explaining the scene reminded her of how Aboriginal people used to be treated

Earlier on Thursday, Radelic told television reporters that his actions were not racially motivated and he regrets the scene that unfolded.

But Roberta's family believe the situation was reminiscent of the way Indigenous people were treated between about 1890 and 1950s.

She held up a black and white photo of Aboriginal men sitting on the ground with chains around their necks and hands, while a white man hovered over them and smiled.

'It looks like this,' she said, motioning at the photo.

'It's like what they did to us.'

Ms Cox acknowledged the relatively high crime rates in Broome, but she said Margaret and Stuart were normally well-behaved.

'They don't steal or anything, they just wanted to swim in the pool,' she said.

Vesna Radelic can be seen arriving home on Thursday afternoon, holding a McDonalds bag

Vesna Radelic called the police when Daily Mail Australia tried to approach her husband for comment

On Wednesday, the children's mother Rowena, who was on the scene at the time, described the situation as a 'disgrace'.

'Standing behind a fence and seeing my children tied up like that it was emotion like "what can I do?" she told A Current Affair.

'He had no feeling or anything for my children crying there. My boy was crying for water and I couldn't even get him a water.'

Rowena recalled begging Radelic to release her children but was 'afraid' of him because of his size.

She also questioned the possible double standards in the legal system.

'If it was the other way around, if an Aboriginal man was holding three white children, like that, and saying to the families, "you can wait until the cops come", if he goes to court, the Aboriginal man... he would have been gone,' she said.

'They would not even let him out of prison. He would have stayed in prison. They would not give him bail. They would have put him off maybe for kidnapping.'

Rowena (pictured ) said Radelic's actions were a 'disgrace'

Pictured: The driveway where the children were filmed on Tuesday. The pool is covered on the right

Regional WA Acting Assistant Commissioner Rod Wilde said a neighbour called police at 1.35pm on Tuesday after noticing the children swimming in an 'unoccupied' pool.

'About 10 minutes later police received a call from a male person who [allegedly] said he had restrained three children for causing damage in that backyard,' Commissioner Wilde said.

'Police attended and located two children at that time - one had left - who had [allegedly] been cable tied at that premises.'

Police will allege a fourth boy had also been in the pool but managed to flee and alert family members to what was going on.

Radelic was later charged and has been granted bail to appear in Broome Magistrates Court on March 25.
The founder of a Washington D.C. non-profit organization that served homeless LGBTQ+ youths has been arrested on fraud and money laundering charges two years after she left the US.

Ruby Corado, 53, is alleged to have received more than $1.3 million over two years from the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

Instead of using the funds as she had promised, she stole at least $150,000 by transferring the money to bank accounts in El Salvador under her birth name, keeping it hidden from the IRS, court documents allege.

After it was publicly revealed that Corado was under investigation in 2022, she sold her property in Prince George's County, Maryland, and left for El Salvador.

Casa Ruby closed its doors in July 2022, when it failed to pay its employees, shuttered its transitional housing, and faced eviction from multiple properties for failure to pay rent.

Ruby Corado, 53, is alleged to have taken more than $1.3 million over two years from the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program (File Photo)

The organization used charitable donations from the public and grants from the District government to fund its services.

It employed almost 50 people prior to closing and provided services to more than 6,000 people each year.

The D.C. attorney general's office asked a Superior Court judge to freeze Corado's bank accounts and stop her from withdrawing any more funds.

Until that point, she was still taking funds from the organization's accounts, which she kept control of after she resigned, the District alleged.

Corado was arrested by the FBI at a hotel in Laurel, Maryland on Tuesday.

She faces federal charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, monetary transactions in criminally derived proceeds, laundering of monetary instruments, and failure to file a report of foreign bank account.

'There is probable cause to believe that CORADO, former Executive Director of a non-profit organization named Casa Ruby, fraudulently obtained funds from government-supported loan programs and diverted those funds to her bank account(s) located outside of the United States,' an FBI agent swore in an arrest affidavit.

'And CORADO, who is a lawful permanent resident of the United States, has never reported her foreign bank account(s) to the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, as required by law.'

After it was publicly revealed that Corado was under investigation in 2022, she sold her property in Prince George's County, Maryland, and left for El Salvador (File Photo)

In November 2022, the D.C. Attorney General's Office filed a complaint stating Corado transferred more than $400,000 from the organization to her personal accounts between April 2021 and September 2021.

She was also accused of contravening District laws by paying workers less than the minimum wage and not giving them all of the wages for the hours worked. The suit is still pending.

Corado denied the allegations when she spoke to News4 from El Salvador and said that she was singled out for speaking out against Mayor Muriel Bowser's administration and a discrimination complaint she made against the D.C. Department of Human Services.

Bank fraud carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in jail and wire fraud carries up to 20 years. The money laundering charges carry up to 20 years.
The grieving family of the cinematographer who was shot dead on the set of Rust in 2021 said in the wake of the guilty verdict leveled against Hannah Gutierrez Reed on Wednesday that the want 'everyone responsible to be held accountable.'

Alec Baldwin, 65, the lead actor and co-producer of the film, was pointing a gun at Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on the movie set outside Santa Fe when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. She was 42 years old.

Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer  but not the trigger  and the gun fired. The 30 Rock star has pleaded not guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge ahead of his July trial date.

The film's weapon's supervisor, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, faces up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine after her conviction Wednesday on the same charge. She was acquitted of an evidence tampering charge.

'Halyna's parents and her sister have always wanted everyone who is responsible for Halyna's death to be held accountable,' the family's lawyers Gloria Allred and John Carpenter said.

'Today was the first trial and conviction in the criminal justice process. We are satisfied that the jury, based on the evidence, found Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty beyond a reasonable doubt for her part in the taking of Halyna's life.

'We look forward to the justice system continuing to make sure that everyone else who is responsible for Halyna's death is required to face the legal consequences for their actions.'

Alec Baldwin has already pleaded not guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge ahead of his July trial date

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed looks over at her mom Stacy Reed as she's hauled away after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter

Halyna Hutchins was 42-years-old when she was shot dead on the set of Rust in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in October 2021

Prosecutors dismissed an earlier involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin after being told the gun he was holding might have been modified before the shooting and malfunctioned.

A new analysis of the gun opened the way for prosecutors to reboot the case.

A grand jury indicted Baldwin on the same charge in January. The indictment alleges Baldwin caused Hutchins' death  either by negligence or 'total disregard or indifference' for safety.

If he's convicted, the charge carries a potential prison sentence of up to 18 months.

The indictment offers prosecutors two alternative standards for the charge against Baldwin. One would be based on the negligent use of a firearm.

The more recent gun analysis, conducted by Forensic Science Services in Arizona, calls into question Baldwin's version of events.

It concluded 'the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver.'

An FBI expert testified at Gutierrez-Reed's trial that the revolver used by Baldwin was fully functional with safety features when it arrived at an FBI laboratory.

Hutchins' family attorney Gloria Allred released a statement on behalf of the family

Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter but the allegations were dropped in April last year. He was dramatically charged again last month and pleaded not guilty

The expert said he had to strike the fully cocked gun with a mallet and break it in order for it to fire without depressing the trigger.

A second alternative for prosecutors is to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Baldwin caused Hutchins' death without due caution or 'circumspection,' also defined as 'an act committed with total disregard or indifference for the safety of others.'

Baldwins attorneys say Hutchins death was a terrible tragedy, and prosecutors are misguided in their attempts to secure a conviction against him.

Gutierrez-Reeds attorney, Jason Bowles told jurors in her trial that Gutierrez-Reed was being used as a convenient scapegoat for Rust producers, including Baldwin. Bowles suggested Baldwin went off-script when he pointed the weapon at Hutchins.

Investigators found no video recordings of the shooting.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un brandished a gun while inspecting a major operational training base, urging his military to intensify 'actual war drills', state media reported Thursday.

Wearing a black leather jacket, Kim was shown talking to ranks of heavily armed soldiers in camouflage, overseeing firing drills and inspecting weaponry, images in the official Korean Central News Agency showed.

During his Wednesday visit to the base in the country's western region, Kim told the North Korean army to 'steadily intensify the actual war drills aimed at rapidly improving its combat capabilities for perfect war preparedness,' KCNA reported.

His visit comes as Seoul and Washington conduct their annual spring military exercises, known as 'Freedom Shield', which involve field exercises, missile interception drills and some live firing.

Pyongyang has called the drills 'reckless', warning the allies they will pay a 'dear price'.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un brandished a gun while inspecting a major operational training base, urging his military to intensify 'actual war drills', state media reported Thursday

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (2nd L) inspects a major operational training base in the western area of the Korean People's Army (KPA) at an undisclosed location in North Korea

He tried out various weapons and also military equipment as he overlooked the servicemen

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un poses with troops at a major military operations base in the western region of the country

Kim told the North Korean army to 'steadily intensify the actual war drills aimed at rapidly improving its combat capabilities for perfect war preparedness'

His visit comes as Seoul and Washington conduct their annual spring military exercises, known as 'Freedom Shield'

KCNA photos also show Kim being applauded by soldiers, who 'pledged their intense loyalty' to him 'in the sacred struggle for the security of the country'.

North Korea has long condemned joint US-South Korea military drills, calling them rehearsals for an invasion.

But Seoul said on Tuesday that its military was thoroughly prepared for North Korea's possible provocations.

The nuclear-armed North has in the past carried out weapons tests as a response to such joint exercises.

So far this year, Pyongyang has declared South Korea its 'principal enemy', jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach, and threatened war over 'even 0.001 mm' of territorial infringement.

Leader Kim repeated last month that Pyongyang would not hesitate to 'put an end' to South Korea if attacked.

In January, North Korea fired an artillery barrage near two South Korean border islands, prompting a live-fire drill by the South and evacuation orders for residents after Kim pushed his armed forces into an even more intense regime of military preparedness at the start of the year.

Pyongyang has also carried out a slew of weapons tests including multiple cruise missile launches and an 'underwater nuclear weapon system' test, plus firing a solid-fuelled hypersonic ballistic missile.

Analysts have warned that North Korea could be testing cruise missiles ahead of sending them to Russia for use in Ukraine, with Washington and Seoul claiming Kim has shipped weapons to Moscow, despite rafts of UN sanctions banning any such moves.

'North Korea could be using recent launches as a way to show Russians the capability of their missiles before sending them off to Moscow,' Han Kwon-hee of Korea Association of Defence Industry Studies.

'The need to do it could be especially acute given recent reports of North Korean shells going awry when used by Russian troops,' he said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects field training of troops at a major military operations base in the western region of the country, as he ordered heightened readiness for war, KCNA news agency reported, in North Korea, in this picture released on March 7, 2024

Kim Jong Un (C) inspecting a major operational training base in the western area of the Korean People's Army

He said that Pyongyang would not hesitate to 'put an end' to South Korea if attacked

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects field training of troops

Leader Kim repeated last month that Pyongyang would not hesitate to 'put an end' to South Korea if attacked

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on 31 January 2024 shows the launch of the strategic cruise missile 'Hwasal-2' in the West Sea of Korea in North Korea

This picture taken on January 30, 2024 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 31 shows an explosion from a 'Hwasal-2' strategic cruise missile

The South Korean military said it 'stepped up surveillance in close coordination with the United States' in response to the tests.

The military is 'closely monitoring for signs of additional activity' by the North Korean army, it said, adding they were 'closely analysing' the previous missile launches.

Unlike their ballistic counterparts, the testing of cruise missiles is not banned under current UN sanctions on Pyongyang.

Cruise missiles tend to be jet-propelled and fly at a lower altitude than more sophisticated ballistic missiles, making them harder to detect and intercept.

Even as Kim ramps up the rhetorical threats against the South, the testing spree plus suspected Russian arms deals indicate 'a dog that barks but never bites,' Kwon-hee said.

'If he was really serious about a war, he wouldn't have said it but kept it in the dark for a surprise attack. He also wouldn't have sold arms to Russia if he were really into going to war with the South.'

The US stations about 30,000 troops in the South to help it fend off military threats from Pyongyang.
A sex offender allegedly made a final bid for freedom by hitching a ride on a small yacht sailing to Papua New Guinea.

Richard Carl Skrinjar travelled on a vessel coined 'The Intrusior' through the Torres Strait before arriving on the PNG island of Daru, 200km off the coast of Australia, late last month.

It is alleged he had plans to fly to Port Moresby and then onto Thailand.

The 53-year-old is accused of breaching strict reporting conditions after failing to notify police of his intended travel out of Australia.

The alleged escape comes on the heels of a two-and-a-half year suspended sentence handed down in August 2022 for grooming a teenage girl.

Richard Carl Skrinjar, 53, was arrested by PNG authorities at the Fly Motel on Daru Island late last month after he attempted to flee the country on a boat

PNG authorities arrested the Sunshine Coast dad at Fly Motel, detaining him in connection with immigration matters.

He was expatriated to Australia after his status as a registered child sex offender was confirmed, with AFP officers arresting the Sunshine Coast dad on arrival in Cairns on March 2.

'The effective intelligence sharing between the AFP and Papua New Guinea law enforcement partners was essential to the successful arrest of a convicted child sex offender,' AFP detective acting superintendent Wendy Rix told The Cairns Post.

'The AFP is dedicated to protecting the most vulnerable members of our community and will continue to work with both domestic and international partners to identify and stop anyone involved in alleged offences of this type.'

The Sunshine Coast dad hitched a ride across the Torres Strait, before allegedly planning to fly to Port Moresby and then on to Thailand

Skrinjar's alleged escapade is well timed with his two-and-a-half year suspended sentence from August 2022 coming to an end

Skrinjar faced Cairns Magistrates Court on Friday, charged with one count of breaching restrictions on overseas travel.

There are hopes the arrest will act as a warning to any others who think they are able to escape the law.

'The ABF has ramped up our border intelligence capability in recent years, working closely with agencies here in Australia and with our partners overseas to build a global web of information sharing on those who would seek to harm our communities,' Australian Border Force acting commander of operations Queensland Scott Butters said.

He is set to reappear in court on March 11.
Amol Rajan: 'What about the millions of people who, as a result of fiscal drag, are going to be paying significantly more by the end of this parliament than they were at the start of the parliament? They call you the fiscal drag queen of British politics, don't they? And with good reason, the net effect of your time in No11 Is that taxes are still going up. It's just not going up by as much as they were six months ago, but they're still going up, aren't they? We are still going to have, by the end of this parliament, taxes at their highest level since 1948. There might be good reasons for that, but it is a bit rich for you to cast yourself as a tax-cutting chancellor when taxes are going up to record levels, which is why I want to be frank with people, and frank with our listeners that there are losers from your plans as well as winners.'

Jeremy Hunt: 'Well let's talk about this very frankly. We decided to support families when we had a once-in-a-century pandemic  things like the furlough scheme saving over 10 million jobs  when we had a cost-of-living crisis we paid around half of people's electricity bills. That was the right thing to do. Taxes did have to go up. The choice is now do we want them to stay high or do we want to start to bring them down. I happen to believe that if you look around the world the fastest-growing economies are the ones in North America and Asia which tend to have lower tax rates. So I want to make a start on bringing down taxes. I have never said for one moment that I can bring them right down all in one go. But let's look at someone on an average wage: next year - you talked about fiscal drag. I don't think I have been called a drag queen before by the way Amol, but there we are'

AR: 'It was a fiscal drag queen, fiscal drag queen - certainly not my phrase but it might be apposite'

JH: 'You talked about fiscal drag, well someone on the average wage will see their taxes go up in the coming year - because of the fact that we are not increasing thresholds with inflation - by just over 230. They will see their taxes come down because of the National Insurance cuts by 900. So they will see a significant reduction as a result of the decisions that I have taken. Does that take the taxes that they pay all the way back to where they were before the pandemic? No, not yet. But it is a start, and we are the only party in British politics who are saying we should go on that journey, that we do it in a responsible way.'

AR: 'This might be, I know you don't want it to be and you'll say you don't want it to be, but this might be one of your last big acts in politics. Do you really think you've met the moment? This is a country ravaged by economic shocks, at best drifting, at worse, stagnant. We all know about its potential, but we've had seven quarters of falling GDP per head, that's been revised downwards. We're hooked on foreign labour, the birth rate is collapsing. Many public services are creaking, councils are going bust. Those are facts, has your budget really come even close to meeting the scale of the challenges this country faces?'

JH: 'I believe it has, and if you want gimmicks, if you want quick fixes at unravel then I am not your person. If you want a long-term plan to deliver better public services, to get more investment into the economy then I have delivered packages that do that. By the way, I think the overall characterisation that you've just given of the British economy is unworthy of the BBC (laughter from AR), because we have grown faster'

AR: 'You can accuse the BBC  the BBC is an organisation of tens of thousands of people doing lots of different things, there is no such thing as 'the BBC'

JH: 'you've accused me of being a Soviet and a drag queen....'

AR: 'and I'm putting to you facts about this country.'

JH: 'Well it is unworthy of you Amol  will you let me answer the question? We have grown faster than the three largest European economies since 2010, the IMF says we are going to grow faster that those three large European economies in the next five years as well. We have created 800 more jobs, 800 more people in work, every single day that we have been in office. We have built the biggest technology industry in Europe, double the size of Germany's. There is tremendous potential in the British economy and we are determined to grasp that.'

AR: 'Our listeners who are grateful for the BBC and grateful for the journalism that the team on this programme do every single day, will know that real average wages in this country will not return to 2008 levels until 2026. That is a staggering nearly two lost decades of lost growth  that is the Resolution Foundation that I am quoting there. It's not about what I think, these are the facts, and it is a bit much, isn't it, for you to say ''yes we are doing this, I'm not going to do gimmicks'', what people want is radical change, isn't it? And I'd suggest to you that you aren't delivering it.'

JH. 'And I disagree. And what I think Today programme listeners know is that in that period we have had a financial crisis, a once-in-a-century pandemic, the first major war on European soil that have been very challenging not just for us, but for all Western economies. Compared to other economies in Europe we have been doing better... I'm afraid I don't share your pessimism. I think in the face of those challenges the UK has done extremely well '
A senior Russian military officer has warned that the conflict in Ukraine could escalate into a full-scale war in Europe, declaring the probability of Moscow's forces becoming involved in a new conflict is increasing 'significantly.'

Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, head of the Russian army's Military Academy of the General Staff, made the alarming comments in an article for 'Military Thought', a Russian defence ministry journal.

The article will only add to fears throughout Europe that a major conflict could be on the horizon after a slew of EU leaders and defence ministers warned citizens to prepare for the prospect of war in the coming years.

'The possibility of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine - from the expansion of participants in ''proxy forces'' used for military confrontation with Russia to a large-scale war in Europe - cannot be ruled out,' RIA Novosti reported Zarudnitsky as saying.

'The main source of military threats to our state is the anti-Russian policy of the United States and its allies, who are conducting a new type of hybrid warfare in order to weaken Russia in every possible way, limit its sovereignty and destroy its territorial integrity.

'The likelihood of our state being purposefully drawn into new military conflicts is significantly increasing,' he concluded.

Zarudnitsky also advocated a number of changes in the way Russia organises its military and security, RIA added, including placing greater emphasis on relying on what he called friendly countries to ensure Russia's own security and consolidating the whole of Russian society around its defence needs.

Ukrainian soldiers of the 80th brigade firing artillery at Russian positions in the direction of Bakhmut during the ongoing two-year war between Russia and Ukraine in Donbas, Ukraine on March 05, 2024

Ukrainian servicemen from air defence unit of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade fire an anti aircraft cannon at a frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the town of Bakhmut, Ukraine March 6, 2024

Civilians take part in a military training activity day conducted by the Ukrainian Volunteer Army on February 17, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine

British soldiers stand inside armoured vehicles as they cross the Vistula River during the DRAGON-24 NATO military defense drills on March 05, 2024

A member of Ukraine's 72nd Brigade Anti-air unit runs to a position as they prepare to fire a Strela -10 anti-air missile system after sighting a Russian Zala reconnaissance drone over head on February 23, 2024

Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, head of the Russian army's Military Academy of the General Staff

Russian President Vladimir Putin sits in a cockpit of a flight simulator at the Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots named after Anatoly Serov in Krasnodar, Russia, Thursday, March 7, 2024

Zarudnitsky's latest comments suggest that the Kremlin is preparing for all eventualities and believes that a wider war on the continent is an ever more likely scenario.

The stark declaration comes at a time when the West is scrambling to help Ukraine with more arms and financing after Kyiv's failed counteroffensive last summer and after Russian forces regained the initiative on the battlefield.

Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 saw the spectre of a major armed conflict darken Europe's door again for the first time since the end of World War II - and triggered the deepest crisis in Russia's relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

But two full years into the conflict - and with no clear end in sight - European nations are now confronting the very real possibility the war could drag on indefinitely - and perhaps spill beyond the borders of Ukraine.

Though Kyiv says it is defending itself against an imperial-style war of conquest designed to erase its national identity, Putin has cast his decision to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine as a move to secure Russia's own security against an increasingly hostile Ukrainian leadership controlled by Western powers.

Amid this escalation of tensions, Sweden today becomes the 32nd member of NATO after the Nordic country applied to join the security bloc alongside Finland in May 2022, breaking with a two-century-long policy of non-alignment.

In an alarming speech just after New Year, the Scandinavian nation's Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said: 'There could be war in Sweden... The world is facing a security outlook with greater risks than at any time since the end of the Second World War,' before going on to urge his citizens to join voluntary civil defence groups.

Days later, Estonia's Prime Minister declared that Europe has just three to five years to prepare for Russia's return as a serious military threat on NATO's eastern flank, while British Defence Secretary Grant Shapps in January declared he would send 20,000 British troops to take part in one of NATO's largest war games since the Cold War.

'Our adversaries are busily rebuilding their barriers, old enemies are reanimated, battle lines are being redrawn, the tanks are literally on Ukraine's lawn and the foundations of the world order are being shaken to their core,' Shapps declared at the time.

But General Sir Richard Barrons warned that Britain is sorely underprepared for a conflict with Russia, and urged the government to invest heavily in reconstituting the armed forces to meet the challenge.

'Russia is clearly angry and rearming so their capability will be restored and when the shooting stops in Ukraine, Russia will blame the outcome on us,' he told MailOnline.

'We are already In confrontation with Russia. Right now, we have chosen to do very little about it.

'During the Cold War the Army, at all times, was ready to fight at four hours' notice. When the Cold War ended and there was no sense of existential risk to the UK, all of that was dismantled.

'Now we would need five to 10 years' notice of a Russian surprise attack to manage to deal with it. It's deeply disappointing.'

In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state owned agency Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu during a visit at the Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots in Krasnodar on March 7, 2024

A Ukrainian soldier is seen as Ukrainian soldiers of the 80th brigade move along the front line towards an artillery position in the direction of Bakhmut during the ongoing two-year war between Russia and Ukraine in Donbas, Ukraine on March 05, 2024

Civilians take part in a military training activity day conducted by the Ukrainian Volunteer Army on February 17, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine

A member of Ukraine's 72nd Brigade Anti-air unit fires at a Russian Zala reconnaissance drone over head on February 23, 2024 near Marinka, Ukraine

View of a bridge, destroyed by the war, in Bohorodychne, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on January 27, 2024

Norwegian soldiers take part in the NATO Nordic Response military exercises outside Alta, Norway, Thursday, March 7, 2024

French soldiers drive a French Leclerc tank after crossing the Vistula River during the DRAGON-24 NATO military defense drills on March 05, 2024 in Korzeniewo, Poland

Retired US Army Brigadier General Kevin Ryan also told MailOnline that a failure to prepare on the part of NATO could incite Putin to strike.

'Until recently it didn't seem Russia could build an army good enough to enforce that demand. But if Russia continues to have success enlarging its force and ramping up military production then we need to get ready.

'Getting ready could be enough to avert a wider war. Not getting ready could invite one,' he concluded.

Ben Hodges, who commanded who commanded the US Army in Europe between 2014 and 2018, added: 'If the civilian leadership doesn't think there's a threat, they won't be able to move quickly enough.

'Our leaders should talk to us like adults. It doesn't mean you're a scaremongerer, it means you're taking precaution, which is exactly what we should be doing.'

In recent months, NATO and EU countries have committed to ramping up defence spending and boosting arms production to supply Ukraine with more weapons and ammunition while strengthening domestic capabilities.

But for Kyiv, the increased production of munitions cannot come quickly enough.

Germany declared yesterday it would back a Czech proposal to purchase sorely needed ammunition from outside the EU after the bloc fell way short of a promise made last year to deliver one million shells to Ukraine by March 2024.

Berlin would pledge a 'three-digit million euro sum' to the Czech initiative, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said at a press conference in the German capital.

Hebestreit did not specify where the munitions would be sourced from or give a more specific range for the funding amount.

'We have finally managed to break the blockade so that we can also procure ammunition outside of Europe,' he said.

The Czechs had identified hundreds of thousands of 155-millimetre ammunition and 122mm shells, which could be sent 'within weeks', he said.

Around 15 nations are said to support for the plan, with the Netherlands publicly pledging 100 million euros.
In life, Paul Figes never achieved his dream of flying in a Spitfire.

The Royal Air Force technician spent 31 years maintaining Tornado jets but died from coronavirus in 2021.

But a documentary is to reveal the moment he got the send-off he deserved, when his ashes were scattered from a Spitfire that escorted US Air Force bombers in the Second World War.

The restored plane, flying at 150mph, dropped Mr Figes' remains over the airfield at the home of the Shuttleworth Collection, which houses a majestic array of historic aircraft at the 5,000-acre Old Warden estate in Bedfordshire.

His son Chris says in Warplane Workshop, which airs tonight on More 4: 'It is the ending and the finale that I always wanted for my dad.

'He always dreamed of flying a Spitfire and it just so happened that he couldn't do it in his lifetime.'

A documentary is to reveal the moment an RAF technician who died from Coroanvirus got the send-off he deserved, when his ashes were scattered from a Spitfire that escorted US Air Force bombers in the Second World War

'But to have the ashes dropped over this fantastic airfield by this wonderful aircraft, [is a] perfect ending.'

The AR501, a Mark Vc Spitfire, has a 1,400 horse power engine and a top speed of more than 400mph.

It was built in Yeovil in 1941 and used by a squadron of Czech fighters who were flying in the RAF's No. 310 Squadron.

The plane was an escort for US Air Force bombers - including the famous Memphis Belle - that carried out raids over Nazi Germany.

After the war, the fighter was used for training at Loughborough College before being acquired by the Shuttleworth collection in 1961.

It returned to the skies for the 1969 film Battle of Britain before a major renovation was carried out in the early 1970s.

Paul Figes, who died in 2021, spent 31 years maintaining Tornado jets. He passed away in 2021

The restored plane, flying at 150mph, dropped Mr Figes' remains over the airfield at the home of the Shuttleworth Collection, which houses a majestic array of historic aircraft at the 5,000-acre Old Warden estate in Bedfordshire

It remained airworthy from 1977 until 2005 and then was removed from service for another overhaul.

In mid 2000 the plane's elliptical wing tips were refitted so it could feature in Hollywood film Pearl Harbour.

The Spitfire was then taken apart and totally rebuilt over the course of a decade. It made its first post-restoration flight in 2018.

It is now a popular attraction at the Shuttleworth Collection, which runs several air shows each year.

Mr Figes' ashes were scattered nearly 12 months ago, after the Shuttleworth Collection's first airshow of the year in May.

Mr Figes maintained Tornado GR4 jets for the RAF. He is pictured above at an airbase in Kuwait in 2003

His son Chris says in Warplane Workshop, which airs tonight on More 4: 'It is the ending and the finale that I always wanted for my dad. He always dreamed of flying a Spitfire and it just so happened that he couldn't do it in his lifetime

The Old Warden estate was home to celebrated pilot and motor racing enthusiast Richard Shuttleworth, who died in an RAF night training exercise in 1940

Speaking of his father, Chris Figes added: 'He was always an enthusiast for any aircraft and loved anything mechanical to do with them.

'He passed away in January 2021 during the pandemic, and unfortunately from Covid.

'And I knew that he always wanted to fly the Spitfire. Sadly that never came around but this is the next best thing to it, which does bring a nice ending for my family.'

It is hoped that flights to scatter loved ones' ashes will help the organisation to recover financially after it was forced to close its doors during the pandemic.

It is set to lose 300,000 this year and so is in need of extra income to ensure its collection of 60 historic aircraft can continue to be maintained and flown.

The Old Warden estate was home to celebrated pilot and motor racing enthusiast Richard Shuttleworth, who died in an RAF night training exercise in 1940.

His collection was extended by his mother after his death.

Warplane Workshop airs tonight at 9pm on More 4.
Police trialling an AI voice assistant to help with non-emergency calls feared that it wouldn't understand Brummie accents, it has emerged.

West Midlands Police set out a series of risks for the system, called Amy 101, in a document erroneously published online and seen by the BBC.

This included a potential difficulty in deciphering what exactly was being said by local callers.

The office of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) mistakenly posted the document, which has now been removed, and it was marked with warnings to 'not be publicly disclosed'.

The force insisted, though, that 'robust safeguards' were in place so that vulnerable people reporting serious crimes were quickly identified and prioritised to speak to call handlers.

It comes as the latest AI assisted trial by the UK police force after 'Orwellian' facial recognition cameras were described as 'enormously inaccurate' and 'enforcing discrimination'.

West Midlands Police were 'worried' that an AI voice bot for 101 calls would fail to understand the 'Brummie' accent. Pictured: Birmingham city centre

In a leaked document, West Midlands police explored a number of safeguarding issues with the system

Amy101 was designed to speak or text-chat to help with callers' inquiries and was expected to handle roughly 200 calls per day.

The project, which was nationally funded, was set to last for a two month proof-of-concept trial but police would be able to opt-out.

As the first project where an AI-powered tool would speak to 101 callers, ethical questions were also raised about the voice and 'gendered' name of the tool. But the force argued that 'humanisation' was needed.

READ MORE: Robots with local accents appear more trustworthy, research suggests Advertisement

West Midlands Police confirmed that the trial began on December 19, 2023, and had now concluded.

A spokesperson for the force said it has 'become one of the top performing police forces for managing emergency and non-emergency calls'.

It also claimed the AI trial was 'a very small part of wider transformation programme we have implemented within our call handling teams'.

Last year, it was revealed that policing minister Chris Philp is understood to be pushing behind closed doors to expand the use of the controversial AI-driven technology.

Mounted atop police vans or on officers body armour, the rumoured facial recognition cameras would work by scanning every face in a crowd to find known troublemakers.

The move has sparked anger among privacy campaigners, who have branded the Orwellian cameras overly intrusive and claim they remain largely inaccurate.

In 2023 privacy campaigners also raised warnings over Big Brother-style 'AI' speed cameras which use a 4D scanning system to watch drivers inside their cars.

The software, called Amy 101, was trialled to help deal with the rising number of non-emergency calls [Stock picture of police officers in Birmingham City]

A new 'Redspeed Sentio' unit made by Kidderminster-based Redspeed International can also catch motorists using their mobile phone or not wearing a seatbelt.

The ten-inch camera can detect whether too many people are inside a vehicle, as well as spotting those who are speeding or going through a red light.

The camera can also be linked to databases from police forces and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to check vehicles are properly taxed and insured.

But privacy campaigners have criticised the 'intrusive and creepy surveillance', with motoring experts calling for an 'easy means of drivers challenging penalties'.

Six lanes can be monitored around the clock by the solar-powered device, which can also work with other units to check average speeds.
President Yoon Suk Yeol met with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in Seoul on Thursday to discuss economic cooperation, the presidential office said.

During their meeting at the presidential office, Yoon asked for Michigan's support for Korean companies, noting that Korea is the world's "second-biggest" investor in the U.S. state, according to his office.

Yoon said many Korean companies have invested in the state to create jobs, contribute to developing its key industries, such as the automobile and heavy industries, and diversifying supply chains in the area.

Whitmer gave thanks for Korean companies' investment in Michigan and said she hopes to see stronger cooperation between the two sides in the rechargeable battery industry and economic security, Yoon's office said. (Yonhap)
A grandfather who allegedly drugged his wife so that 83 strangers he met online could rape her over a ten-year period will be tried in a converted exhibition centre because of the sheer number of men accused of raping her.

Septuagenarian Dominique P. and another 50 men all face a maximum of 20 years behind bars if they are found guilty their trial in the Parc des Expositions in Avignon, southern France, next September.

Dominique P. is accused of orchestrating the sick rape ring, using an online forum called 'Without Her Knowing' to invite the men, aged between 25 and 72, round to his home in Mazan, near Avignon, and film them attacking his wife while she was drugged between 2011 and 2020.

Dominique is said to have sedated his wife by putting tablets of Temesta  a powerful anxiolytic  into her evening dinner.

He then invited strangers from the online forum into the couple's bedroom, so that his wife could be raped while unconscious.

Prosecution documents allege that husband Dominique P. urged his wife's rapists not to wear condoms.

Dominique P. is accused of orchestrating the sick rape ring, filming strangers he met online attacking his wife while she was drugged between 2011 and 2020

He had a tried and tested system in place to make sure that his wife didn't wake up during any of the rapes

According to his daughter, Caroline Darian, who has since published a book about the crimes, he had a tried and tested system in place to make sure that his wife didn't wake up during any of the rapes.

The alleged ringleader told the men to park their cars far away from the house and undress in the kitchen.

The were told not to wear cologne or to smoke, and had to warm their hands up on a radiator so as not to wake his wife up.

A doctor since revealed the woman in her sixties had contracted four venereal diseases and suffered gynaecological problems.

Investigators only learned about the horror in 2020, when Dominique was arrested in a supermarket in Carpentras for filming up the skirts of other customers.

When police searched his camera phone, and equipment kept at his home, they found all of the abuse images.

Alleged rapists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a municipal councillor, and truck drivers.

A fireman accused of raping Francoise wore his uniform during the attack, one video shows.

The trial will be held in Parc des Expositions in Avignon, southern France, due to the sheer number of people on trial

The fireman's computer contained 728 images of children being sexually abused, say prosecutors.

Some of his accomplices claimed they had no idea his wife was not consensual while one denied it was rape, saying: 'It's his wife, he does what he likes with her.'

Dominique has also been charged with raping and murdering Sophie Narme, a 23-year-old estate agent who was found dead in Paris in 1991.

A second estate agent, referred to only as E., said she had been attacked in Paris eight years later, and investigative sources say an e-fit of the suspect in both cases 'bears a strong resemblance' to Dominique.

The suspect admits attacking E., but denies having anything to do with the murder of Ms Narme. He has yet to plea over the rape charges.

Evidence is said to show how the couple's eldest daughter was also filmed unconscious in her underwear, and alleged abuses against other family members.

Grandchildren allege the suspect regularly 'played doctor' with them, and would buy them toys for undressing, and Dominique is said to have filmed his daughters-in-law in the bathroom using a hidden camera, sharing the images online.

In the case involving his wife, he was ultimately caught in 2020 after he was found using a pen with a hidden camera to spy on women in changing rooms in Carpentras, leading police to search his house.

In his videos, Dominique called his wife a 'slut' hundreds of times, but insisted he meant it affectionately.

He also told investigating magistrates he loves his 'saint' wife.

His lawyer added that Francoise was 'his first love, indeed the only love of his life'.

The father-of-three, in his early 70s, is currently in prison in Avignon charged with 'aggravated rape' and the administration of drugs which were used to sedate his wife.

When his wife was informed of the secret tapes, she broke down and became suicidal, saying: 'I was his thing,' before filing for divorce.
This is the shocking moment a plane carrying 400 people flying from Vancouver to London was struck by lightning on Sunday.

The Air Canada Boeing 777 was hit by the huge bolt shortly after takeoff from Vancouver Airport, Canada, on Sunday.

The incident, which was captured on video by an aircraft spotter, did not result in any casualties, and the aircraft was able to continue its flight and land as planned in London Heathrow.

The plane had only taken off moments earlier but was already high in the sky.

The breathtaking video was taken by aviation enthusiast Ethan West who is studying to become a pilot.

The lightning bolt hit the plane square on and continued towards the ground.

The lightning bolt hit the plane square on and continued the other side towards the ground

The bolt did not disturb the flight of the plane.

Despite being a terrifying sight for those on the ground, the passengers themselves would have almost definitely felt nothing.

According to Executive Flyers, modern planes are built with a carbon composite thats covered with a thin copper layer to conduct the electricity around the plane and not let it enter.

Passengers could see a flash of lightning or the sound of thunder if lightning strikes their plane but would not be in danger and would not feel as if they have been struck.

Air Canada said the aircraft was inspected upon arrival at London Heathrow Airport to ensure that no damage affected the safety of the flight.

According to the National Weather Service, the U.S. weather agency, each plane is struck by lightning on average once or twice a year.

This may seem like a huge amount considering the seemingly low chance of two entities moving at such great speeds being at the exact same point at the exact same time.

Commercial passenger planes travel at around 500mph. Lightning travels at nearly 700 million mph.

However, the very fact that the plane is in the sky is thought to attract the lightning as the bolt tries to find its quickest route to a solid.

Most lightning strikes happen in near-freezing temperatures at high altitudes or during turbulence, and vary by location.

The plane continued on its route to London Heathrow, unaffected by the lightning bolt

The lightning was so bright, the plane could hardly be seen in the middle of the bolt

Air Canada said the aircraft was inspected upon arrival at London Heathrow Airport to ensure that no damage affected the safety of the flight (Stock image)

Over half of lightning strikes on aircraft occur between March and July, with lightning strikes being most frequent when the plane passes through clouds while ascending or descending.

Lightning is nearly 30,000C - three times hotter than the surface of the sun.

Despite being rare, there have been nine recorded plane crashes attributed to lightning.

Seven of these crashed planes were commercial airliners, and the other two were military planes.

Most of these crashes involved the plane flying at low altitudes while ascending or descending.

The worst of these crashes was the 1971 LANSA Flight 508, with 91 of the 92 people on board dying.
Met Police officers have travelled to Trinidad to speak to Muriel McKay's killer as they step up efforts to find her body.

Ms McKay's grandson Mark Dyer said Scotland Yard had been quizzing Nizamodeen Hosein for two days after taken him 'into custody for interviews'.

He described the meetings as 'productive' and hoped Hosein would be 'honest' in helping find his grandmother's remains which have been undiscovered for more than five decades.

Hosein and his brother Arthur were convicted in 1970 of Ms McKay's kidnap and murder. Arthur died in prison in 2009 while his sibling now lives on the Caribbean island.

The McKay family were given fresh hope last month when Detective Superintendent Katherine Goodwin, who led the hunt to catch Sarah Everard's killer Wayne Couzens, met with Ms McKay's daughter, Dianne, 84, and other relatives to tell them officers could start digging 'in the next few months'.

A portrait of Muriel Frieda Mckay, 55, wife of the deputy chairman of the News of the World, who was kidnapped and killed in 1969. Her body has never been discovered

Muriel's daughter, Dianne (pictured, left), has for years fought to learn the truth of her mother's murder, travelling recently to Trinidad with her son Mark Dyer (right) to speak with one of her killers, Nizamodeen Hosein (pictured, centre)

Hosein met with the family in January to show them on a map where he claimed to have buried her body in 1969.

He told Dianne that he buried her mother at a farm in Stocking Pelham, Hertfordshire, where he had held her ransom.

DSI Goodwin said the evidence was 'compelling'.

Speaking to MailOnline after officers made the 7,000km plane journey to Trinidad, DSI Goodwin said: 'We understand how frustrating and difficult this is for Muriel's family and are still working to recover her remains.

'We recently met Muriel's family and others to speak to them and gather information obtained during their visit to Trinidad. We are grateful for their time and assistance.

'We have reviewed and assessed this information to determine the next steps in our investigation, which includes whether a further search is appropriate.

'To order to help us further, Met officers have flown to Trinidad to make further enquiries alongside officers from Trindad and Tobago Police Service.

'We remain in contact with the family and will keep them updated.'

Mr Dyer, 59, told the BBC the family were 'keeping our fingers crossed that Nizam will give his best and honest disclosure to assist the recovery of my grandmother'.

He claimed that he is now trying his best to help as he hasn't got much time left

Hosein pointed to a spot on a photograph of the farm where Muriel was held, and told her daughter: 'This is where I buried her.'

The abduction is believed to have involved a case of mistaken identity - with the kidnappers intending to seize Anna Murdoch, first wife of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch

Her said: 'He confirmed the time of death, we showed him pictures of the lounge and he said "yes, she died there when she saw you all on television" during an appeal and that she had a seizure.'

Dianne travelled with her son Mr Dyer to Hoesin's homeland of Trinidad in January. He had been deported to the Caribbean island after spending 20 years in jail.

More than 54 years ago, the now-76-year-old and his brother Arthur mistakenly snatched Muriel and demanded a 1million ransom from media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

The pair believed they had taken his first wife, Anna, and inflicted torturous cruelty on their helpless victim.

Ian Marsh, a banker, pushed back against requests to dig up his farm in Hertfordshire, following Hosein's claims that Muriel was buried there.

Marsh said he would not let anyone dig up the land on his farm in Stocking Pelham without a warrant, as the area Hosein indicated has since had a barn built on top of it.

But he said in a letter to the McKay family: 'The Marsh family understand the desire of the deceased Mrs McKay's family to have a resolution to this matter.

'We have been patient with the multiple requests that we have received and repeat our position: we will co-operate with the police if they determine that a further search of our property is required.

'We believe that the police will attest to the fact that the Marsh family have done everything, to date, that the police have asked of them.

Nizamodeen Hosein, pictured at the age of 22

Brothers Arthur, left, and Nazamodeen Hosein were found guilty of her murder. Arthur died in prison in 2009, while Nizam was deported to Trinidad

'If asked by the police to give access to our land because they have compelling evidence of the whereabouts of the remains of Mrs McKay we will consent to giving the police full access to our land, no warrants will be required.

'We believe that it is important that due process and procedure is completed by the police to corroborate any evidence, including any new evidence that is being provided by the family of the deceased and/or the perpetrator.

'We are not in a position to judge that evidence, that has to be a matter for the police. I hope you understand that our trust is in the police, and we rely on them to examine all the information provided.'

The kidnapping scheme was the brainchild of Arthur Hosein, who had arrived in Britain in the 1960s and borrowed heavily to buy his farmhouse.

His brother Nizam, 12 years younger, followed him here in summer 1969 and became embroiled in the kidnap plan.

The pair spent several days following the Rolls-Royce, thinking they were tracking Anna Murdoch - but instead seized Muriel as she returned to her home from dropping off her cleaning lady on December 29.

Her husband arrived later to find the front door open, lights on and no sign of his wife - while in the hallway, the phone had been pulled from the wall.

The contents of his wife's handbag were strewn across the stairs and a rusty meat cleaver was on the floor.

Dianne, then 29 and a mother of two young children, took a phone call the following day from a man she now knows was Nizamodeen.

He told her they were 'the mafia' and had Dianne's mother, before the family then received a scribbled note in Mrs McKay's handwriting begging them to 'do something to get me home' and a ransom letter demanding 1 million.

After a bodged attempt to pick up a suitcase of ransom money, the kidnappers were arrested at the farm in January - but there was no sign of Mrs McKay.

Detective Superintendent Katherine Goodwin, who led the hunt to catch Sarah Everard 's killer Wayne Couzens, met with Ms McKay's daughter, Dianne, and other relatives to tell them officers could start digging 'in the next few months'

Landowner Ian Marsh, a banker, pushed back against requests to dig up his farm in Hertfordshire (pictured)

Police had searched an area of the farm in 2022 (pictured), but Hosein claims they searched the wrong area

Alick McKay makes an appeal from his home in Wimbledon for the safe return of his missing wife Muriel, on 9th January 1970. He is accompanied by his son Ian and daughters Jennifer (left) and Dianne (right)

For years, the Hosein brothers refused to say where she was, leading to grisly speculation that her body had been fed to the pigs on the farm - and when they took the stand at their Old Bailey trial in September 1970, each tried to blame the other.

Both were found guilty of kidnapping and murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, though Nizamodeen was released in 1990 and deported.

He says he panicked and buried her body under a dung heap behind the farmhouse.

Police had searched an area of the farm in 2022, but Hosein claims they searched the wrong area.
BBC Scotland presenter Nick Sheridan has died aged 32 after a 'short illness'.

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf led tributes to Sheridan as he began his weekly questions in the Scottish Parliament chamber, describing him as a 'extremely talented journalist and author'.

Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also paid tribute to the 'talented and vivacious' star today, while his colleagues at the broadcaster remembered him as a 'lovely man'.

He is best known for presenting Drivetime, Lunchtime Live and the Sunday Show. He later wrote a book series for children which included The Case of the Runaway Brain and The Case of the Phantom Treasure.

BBC Scotland announced his passing on social media this morning, with the BBC reporting Sheridan died after a 'short illness'.

The presenter's last post on X dated February 24 read: 'On air from 8am with your weekend edition of Good Morning Scotland, reflecting on 2 years since Putin's order for a Russian invasion of Ukraine.'

Head of News and Current Affairs at BBC Scotland Gary Smith said in a statement: 'Nick has been a wonderful colleague. He was a hugely talented journalist, presenter and author  and one of those rare people who light up the lives of everyone around them.

Sheridan's co-host Fiona Stalker from BBC Scotland and Seven Days posted a touching tribute

His last post on X dated February 24 read: 'On air from 8am with your weekend edition of Good Morning Scotland, reflecting on 2 years since Putin's order for a Russian invasion of Ukraine'

Pictured are Nick Sheridan and BBC Co-Presenter Fiona Stalker

Tributes have poured in for the 'funny, clever, kind' presenter after the news this morning

'Funny, clever, kind. A lovely man.

'Our hearts go out to his parents, to his partner, and to all his family and friends.'

Sheridan reported for Ireland's national broadcaster RTE News, before moving to Glasgow, and presenting STV News and the BBC.

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf paid tribute to Sheridan as he began his weekly questions in the Scottish Parliament chamber, describing him as a 'extremely talented journalist and author,' Sky News reported.

'He will be greatly missed. Many of us in this chamber will have been questioned by Nick - quite robustly no doubt - whether it was on BBC Drivetime or on many of the other programmes that he presented.

'My thoughts are with his family, his many friends and indeed his colleagues. It will undoubtedly be a very sad time for them.'

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf paid tribute to Sheridan in the Scottish Parliament chamber, describing him as a 'extremely talented journalist and author'

Sheridan reported for Ireland's national broadcaster RTE News, before moving to Glasgow

BBC Scotland announced his passing on social media this morning, with the BBC reporting Sheridan died after a 'short illness'

Nicola Sturgeon posted on X: 'So terribly sad to read this. It is truly awful. Nick was young, talented, vivacious, and full of potential. What a horrible, senseless loss. My thoughts are with his family, colleagues and many friends.'

Sheridan's co-host Fiona Stalker from BBC Scotland and Seven Days posted a touching tribute with photos of the pair.

She wrote: 'There are no words. He was so very loved. I am so thankful for every minute with him. The very best.'

Kelly Given, who was on Channel 4's Make Me Prime Minister before working at the BBC alongside Sheridan, said: 'Working with Nick was truly the pleasure of a lifetime.

'An absolute joy of a human being and a uniquely talented journalist. I'm not sure I will ever have the words.'

After Sheridan's passing was announced, Nicola Sturgeon led the tributes to the 'talented' star

Fiona Stalker wrote on X: 'There are no words. He was so very loved. I am so thankful for every minute with him. The very best'

Nicola Sturgeon posted on X: 'So terribly sad to read this. It is truly awful. Nick was young, talented, vivacious, and full of potential. What a horrible, senseless loss'

"Nick has been a wonderful colleague. He was a hugely talented journalist, presenter and author  and one of those rare people who light up the lives of everyone around them."



Head of News & Current Affairs at BBC Scotland Gary Smith pays tribute to Nick Sheridan. pic.twitter.com/HFTqm8tl1m  BBC Scotland Comms (@BBCScotComms) March 7, 2024

There are no words.

He was so very loved. I am so thankful for every minute with him. The very best  https://t.co/utuFFX0gTJ pic.twitter.com/PviBOzjRMO  Fiona Stalker (@Fionasstalker) March 7, 2024

On air from 8am with your weekend edition of Good Morning Scotland, reflecting on 2 years since Putins order for a Russian invasion of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/RJhXu2Wc0f  Nick Sheridan (@nick_sheridan) February 24, 2024

Brian O'Donovan of RTE News said: 'So saddened by this. Nick was a great colleague and a talented broadcaster.'

BBC journalist Michael Sheils Mcnamee said: 'Very shocking news. Nick was a lovely guy and a pleasure to work with.'

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar posted on X: 'This is absolutely heartbreaking news.

'Nick was a phenomenally talented young journalist, well-liked and with a bright future ahead of him.

'My thoughts are with his family, friends and all his colleagues at the BBC.'

Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tories leader, wrote on X: 'This is terribly sad news. Nick was a superb journalist who embodied the best traditions of journalism.

Tributes from colleagues and fans rolled in on X, formerly Twitter, after the announcement

'My thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.'

Fans also expressed their grief at the news, with one commenting: 'I liked him on the couch and presenting the News. He was a natural in front of the camera. So sad to hear this.'

Sheridan was working on his upcoming fourth book, which tragically he won't see published in June of this year.

Titled 'The Case of the Poisonous Pigs', it will be the third in a series hailed as the 'Scooby-Doo for a new generation'.

His excitement for the project shined through in his posts on X, with one in January reading: 'Getting an email with illustrations for Book 4 by the incredible David O'Connell' accompanied by a Muppet GIF and emojis.

It is devastating and disorientating to have to come to terms with such a vibrant life being curtailed so cruelly and suddenly in its prime, with so much potential yet to be realised.



His awe-inspiring talent, humour, and kindness will remain my abiding memory of Nick Sheridan. https://t.co/MSuJdKtuu7 pic.twitter.com/JQkblqIbXM  Paul Sweeney (@PaulJSweeney) March 7, 2024

Very sad news that BBC Scotland presenter and children's author Nick Sheridan has died.

Nick was a bright spot in any studio and an enthusiastic interviewer on air.

Love and sympathy to his friends, family, and colleagues. pic.twitter.com/TZy43mUGid  Siobhan Synnot (@SiobhanSynnot) March 7, 2024

This is so sad. A wonderful broadcaster, superb writer, and above all a truly lovely man. https://t.co/Ec9fbHvmXN  John Beattie (@BBCJohnBeattie) March 7, 2024

His literary agency posted on X in tribute to the author and presenter: 'We are all heartbroken that our client Nick Sheridan passed away yesterday after a short illness.

'Nick was a talented author and a much-loved colleague and we will all miss him deeply. Our thoughts are with his partner, his family, his friends and his loved ones.'

His agent Lydia Silver added: 'I'm devastated by the news that my client Nick Sheridan died yesterday.

'Nick was a brilliant author who loved writing for children, and a great friend. He lit up every room he walked into and was a joy to be around. My thoughts are with everyone who loved him.'

The Scottish Book Trust said in a tribute: 'We are deeply saddened to learn that our friend Nick Sheridan has died.

'A talented author and host, we worked with Nick on Authors Live and our children's book tour. He had the ability to bring joy to everyone he met. Our hearts go out to Nick's family, partner and friends.'

Im devastated by the news that my client Nick Sheridan died yesterday. Nick was a brilliant author who loved writing for children, and a great friend. He lit up every room he walked into and was a joy to be around. My thoughts are with everyone who loved him. pic.twitter.com/SF3yYQS55z  Lydia Silver (@LydiaRSilver) March 7, 2024

We are all heartbroken that our client Nick Sheridan passed away yesterday after a short illness. Nick was a talented author and a much-loved colleague and we will all miss him deeply. Our thoughts are with his partner, his family, his friends and his loved ones. pic.twitter.com/ugYYPogXb0  DA Children's Agency (@DA_Childrens) March 7, 2024
A court ruling could pave the way for tens of thousands of Covid fines to be scrapped.

The ruling by the NSW Supreme Court on January 31 allowed Angelika Kosciolek to escape a $3000 fine imposed on her for leaving the Greater Sydney area in 2021 without a permit.

Redfern Legal Centre Senior Solicitor Samantha Lee, who challenged the fine on Ms Kosciolek's behalf, said the win could invalidate 29,000 other Covid fines in the state issued during the pandemic even if they have been fully or partially paid.

The overturning of a $3000 fine from the Covid period could see thousands of other infringement notices declared invalid (generic image pictured)

In handing down his judgment NSW Supreme Court Justice Desmond Fagan said that for the fine to stand it must clearly indicate the relevant government act that it applies to and the provision related to the offence.

The infringement given to Ms Kosciolek failed to meet this 'bare minimum' standard and Ms Lee believes that would apply with other Covid fines dished out.

In 2022 NSW had to withdraw and refund 33,121 fines after the NSW Supreme Court previously decided the penalties were too vaguely worded without correspondence to a particular offence.

'We now have two Supreme Court judges confirm that if a penalty is to be valid, it must have the Act or specify the offence,' Ms Lee told news.com.au.

'Therefore, if anyone else with Covid fines out there looks at their actual penalty notice and it doesn't have the Act on it, we are of the view (that) all those fines are now invalid.'

Despite having doled out the previous mass refunds, the NSW Commissioner of Fines Administration Scott Johnston told a state parliament Budget Estimates on Thursday that Revenue NSW will not automatically withdraw and repay the rest of the Covid fines issued.

He said every matter would be reviewed 'on a case-by-case basis'.

Ms Lee called on Mr Johnston to repay all fines and said her centre was prepared to pursue the matter.

'The commissioner is refusing to honour a supreme court judgement and do the right thing and give people back their money and withdraw these fines that don't meet the legal requirements,' she said.

NSW has already had to withdraw or refund over 33,000 Covid fines due to a previous court ruling (generic image pictured)

'We're giving the commissioner time to come to his senses and make the right decision to withdraw these fines. If not, then watch this space.'

She said Redfern Legal Centre would offer free legal advice to anyone wanting to get their fines quashed or refunded.

There was also the option of submitting a review with Revenue NSW claiming that the fine fails to meet the bare minimum legal test and should be withdrawn.
This is the moment a shoplifter brazenly takes 14 packets of meat from a Co-op store from which he was banned - before returning five days later to steal even more food.

Mark Moss can be seen taking six steaks from the store in Peterborough before going back for more a few seconds later - and then returns days later to steal another eight packs of meat.

The 36-year-old thief breached a Criminal Behaviour Order to steal the 100-worth of food from the Co-Op in the Peterborough village of Eye, over the two separate days.

CCTV cameras first captured him wearing a bright yellow coat on February 9 this year, putting six steaks into a bag.

Mark Moss, 36, can be seen taking six steaks from the store in Peterborough before going back for more a few seconds later - and then returns days later to steal another eight packs of meat

Moss has now been jailed for 18 weeks

He grabbed the items then started to scarper before returning to take more just moments later.

Moss was verbally aggressive to a member of staff who confronted him before leaving the shop without paying.

And he was then spotted by cameras again five days later, cramming more packets of meat into his blue jacket before leaving.

Both times he also left the fridge doors open, although the second time it did go on to shut on its own.

The offences put Moss in breach of a two-year CBO he was given in January after being convicted of 16 shoplifting offences.

The CBO states he must not enter the Co-op in Eye High Street or Aldi in One Retail Park, including both their car parks.

Moss was arrested at his home address in Parnwell, Cambridgeshire, in the early hours of February 29 and later charged with two counts of theft from a shop and two breaches of his CBO.

He appeared at Huntingdon Magistrates' Court on the same day, where he admitted the offences and was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison and ordered to pay 96 in compensation to the Co-Op.

He can be seen helping himself to packets of meat before going back for more seconds later

He went back for even more from the Co-op in Eye High Street on February 14

PC Sam Darling, who investigated, said: 'When he was arrested, Moss immediately admitted that he knew what he had done was wrong, but proceeded to do it anyway.

'Thanks to the CBO, we have greater powers when it comes to his offending as we are able to arrest him even if he is simply found in an area he is not meant to be, and put him back before the courts.'

Convenience stores across the country have been hit by a wave of shoplifting with crimes up five-fold in a single year, according to a new report this week.

There were 5.6million thefts in 2023, rocketing from 1.1million recorded the previous year, according to the Association of Convenience Stores.

The group representing 49,000 small shopkeepers also revealed that there were 76,000 acts of violence in small shops last year, up from 41,000.

There are now 600 thefts every hour from convenience stores across the country.

Stolen products and anti-crime measures cost the average store 6,800 a year, meaning customers are effectively paying a 10p 'crime tax' each time they shop, the association said.

Shopkeepers have told of living in fear as gangs routinely ransack their stores - and have accused police of doing nothing to help.

Meanwhile, policing minister Chris Philp has said police should take a zero tolerance approach to shoplifting and investigate all incidents even if the stolen goods' value is less than 200.
A horrific bloodbath in Ottawa saw four adults and two children killed at a home in the city - with cops saying they don't believe it was a case of domestic violence.

According to authorities, six people were found in a home just south of the downtown area of the city around 11pm Wednesday night.

Inside, officers found six people, four children and two adults dead, with their identities not known at this time. It is also unclear how the victims were killed.

In a statement, police said that the investigation into the deaths would be 'tragic and complex'.

Five of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene, one was rushed to a nearby hospital where they succumbed to their injuries.

Images taken at the scene show blood smeared over the front door to the property, as forensic teams and police officers investigate.

An Ottawa Police Service officer stands near a door smeared in blood at the property in Barrhaven, Ontario

According to authorities in, six people were found in a home just south of the downtown area of the city around 11pm Wednesday night

In a statement, police said that the investigation into the deaths would be 'tragic and complex'

Police confirmed they had a man in custody in relation to the deaths with officers stressing that there is no further threat to the community.

The male was arrested at the scene of the deaths in the 300 block of Berrigan Drive.

On Thursday morning, five marked police cars were parked on the street and in driveways near the home, which is a middle unit of a row of brick townhouses.

Several people in white jumpsuits were going in and out of the home throughout the early morning, while parents and kids walked and biked by on their way to a nearby elementary school.

Ahmed Saed was walking his son to the school about a block away from the home Thursday. He lives nearby and walks his son past the home every morning.

'This is unbelievable for the whole neighborhood,' Saed said

Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs told Newstalk 580 CFRA that investigators don't believe the deaths to be an incident of domestic violence.

He told the outlet: 'The manner of the homicide, we are not disclosing at this time. I will say that we don't believe at this time this was domestic violence.

Police officers hold up a sheet as members of the coroner's office remove a body at the scene

Members of the coroner's office were seen removing bodies from the home on Thursday morning

Members of the coroner's office stand outside the scene of a homicide on Thursday morning

Police tape blocks access to an alleyway at the scene where six people were found dead in the Barrhaven suburb of Ottawa on Thursday

'We have to go through a process of positively identifying the victims, we will hopefully have more information later in the day.'

Stubbs also said that investigators would be working to determine the relationship between the victims and the suspect.

In a separate interview with CBC, Stubbs also called the incident a mass shooting.

Images taken at the scene show police cruisers stationed outside of the home, with crime scene tape draped around the outside of the property.

Ottawa Mayor mark Sutcliffe said in a statement posted to his X: 'I was devastated to learn of the multiple homicide in Barrhaven, one of the most shocking incidents of violence in our city's history.

'We are proud to live in a safe community but this news is distressing to all Ottawa residents.

'Ginny and I are thinking of the family members and neighbors of the victims. Thank you to our emergency responders who are investigating and supporting those who are affected by this terrible event.'

Police said that they would be providing an update on the case later on Thursday.
A Welsh politician who inappropriately touched and called two women 'b****es' while on a drunken night out is now facing a six-week ban from the Welsh Parliament.

Rhys ab Owen, who represents the South Wales Central region, had been at a meal with fellow Plaid Cymru Senedd members in Cardiff before continuing drinking at two pubs.

The Senedd's standards committee said Mr ab Owen had shown 'no remorse' for his actions on the evening of June 30, 2021.

In a report, the committee said the politician had 'inappropriately touched the waist' of one woman, known as Witness A, and later called her a 'b****'.

While in a taxi, he also 'inappropriately touched' a second woman, known as the complainant, by squeezing her upper thigh hard with his hand, having earlier in the evening twice called her a 'b****'.

He also made 'lewd comments' about fellow unnamed Senedd members, the report said.

Rhys ab Owen, who represents the South Wales Central region, had been at a meal with fellow Plaid Cymru Senedd members before continuing drinking at two pubs

Mr ab Owen had been drinking at Boom Battle Bar on the night in question, after attending other venues

The committee found Mr ab Owen was in his own words 'very, very drunk', having consumed wine and beer in a Cote restaurant, a Wetherspoons pub and a bar.

'All those present had consumed varying amounts of alcohol and were intoxicated to varying degrees,' the report found.

'The member was more intoxicated than the others present. The member made disparaging comments about a member of the Senedd in a voice loud enough to be heard by those at adjoining tables.

'The member inappropriately touched the waist of witness A.

'In the street near to Wetherspoons the member twice called the complainant a 'b****'.

'He touched her inappropriately by putting his arm round her waist and pulling her body close to his.

'Knowing that he was not welcome, the member got into the rear seat of a taxi and sat next to the complainant.

'In the taxi he touched the complainant inappropriately by squeezing her upper thigh hard with his hand.

'When called out by witness A, the member called her a 'b****'.'

The standards committee has said Mr ab Owen has shown 'no remorse' for his actions

The committee said Mr ab Owen and others later went to the Boom Battle Bar and drank more alcohol.

'By the time he left the Boom Battle Bar the member was in his own words 'very, very drunk',' the committee said.

Mr ab Owen later apologised to Plaid's chief whip for 'his drunken behaviour of Wednesday night' and also apologised to witness A and told the complainant he was 'sorry'.

The committee continued: 'The member has admitted that his conduct caused mental pain to the complainant and others. His conduct continues to adversely affect the complainant,' the committee said.

'Other than being drunk and making crude comments to witness A, the member does not accept any improper conduct towards either the complainant or witness A and has shown no remorse for it.'

The proposed 42-day ban will be voted on in the Senedd next week, and if agreed Mr ab Owen will be stripped of his salary for the period. The ban will not include recess time.

Unlike MPs in Westminster, Mr ab Owen, who was suspended from the Plaid Senedd group in November 2022, will not face a recall petition due to different Parliament rules.

In a statement, Mr ab Owen said: 'I would like to apologise to those who were affected by my behaviour on the evening in question, which was not up to the standard the public expects of a member of the Senedd, and for that, I apologise unreservedly.

'Whatever challenge I might have with the particulars of the complaint, or how it was subsequently investigated, is a separate matter on which I am considering my next steps.

'I remain fully committed to the Senedd and to my work there on behalf of my constituents.

'I would like to thank my wife and family for the love and support which kept me going throughout this difficult and drawn-out process.

'I have made changes to my lifestyle that are helping me become a better person and representative.

'I will not be making any further comments at this time and I ask that the privacy of my family and everyone else involved is respected.'
A rookie police officer accused of having an illicit relationship with a drugs kingpin has appeared in court charged with misconduct.

PC Caitlin Howarth, 24, allegedly failed to report the man's underworld links to superiors at West Yorkshire Police, where she worked as a student officer.

Howarth, who lives in Bingley in West Yorkshire, was suspended by the force in November 2021, when she was 21 after its anti-corruption unit suspected links between Howarth and the criminal, reportedly now in jail for dealing heroin.

It is also alleged she had an affair with her married commanding officer, Chief Superintendent Daniel Greenwood, then aged 38. He was also suspended from duty.

Today Howarth appeared at North Yorkshire magistrates' court in York charged with misconduct in a public office.

PC Caitlin Howarth, 24, leaving York Magistrate Court. Howarth allegedly failed to report the criminal underworld links of a man she had a relationship with to her superiors at West Yorkshire Police

Howarth was suspended by the force when its anti-corruption unit suspected links between her and the criminal, reportedly now in jail for dealing heroin

She spoke only to confirm her name and address during the 90-second hearing, in which her solicitor Stephen Gelsthorpe indicated that she would plead not guilty.

The case was deemed 'too serious' to be heard by magistrates, with the matter moved to York Crown Court.

District judge Adrian Lower told Howarth: 'You face a matter that can only be dealt with at the crown court.

'I'm sending the matter to the crown court at York. Your first appearance there will be at 9.30am with a view to a 10am hearing on April 2.

'You have unconditional bail. If you are not there a warrant will be issued for your arrest.'

She appeared in court supported by representatives from the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers.

Howarth previously posted photos of herself on social media including to her Instagram account which had more than 10,000 followers

Chief Superintendent Daniel Greenwood (pictured). The married police officer allegedly had an affair with Howarth. He was also suspended from duty

Howarth previously posted photos of herself on social media including to her Instagram account which had more than 10,000 followers.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed last month: 'A West Yorkshire Police student officer has been charged with misconduct in a public office.

'PC Caitlin Howarth, 24, who works in Bradford District, is due to appear at York Magistrates Court on 7 March.

'The charge relates to a relationship with a notifiable association with criminal connections.

'She is currently suspended from duty.'

Chief Supt Greenwood - a Bradford District Commander - has been in the West Yorkshire Police for almost 20 years. He has been served with disciplinary papers and remains suspended from duty.

In relation to Greenwood, West Yorkshire Police confirmed last month: 'Proceedings under the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2020 have been served on the officer. The matter is ongoing and the officer remains suspended from duty.'
The poster girl of Just Stop Oil has been arrested after the Mail exposed an alleged plot to target MPs.

Phoebe Plummer, 22, is suspected of conspiracy to burgle and of sending a malicious communication.

Just Stop Oil posted footage on social media of Plummer in handcuffs during the arrest in Vauxhall, south London, on Wednesday.

When officers explain the charges she laughs and says: 'This is bizarre.'

Detectives launched an investigation into her the eco group last month after the Mail On Sunday revealed a plan by activists to 'occupy' MPs' homes ahead of the General Election.

Eco group Just Stop Oil has shared footage of activist Phoebe Plummer, 22, being arrested and handcuffed by the Metropolitan Police in Vauxhall, south London, yesterday

Phoebe Plummer is pictured here during a Just Stop Oil demonstration on Cromwell Road in Earls Court, west London, on November 15 last year

She has been dubbed the 'poster girl' of the Just Stop Oil movement

The campaigners had also outlined plans to protest at politicians' offices and disrupt speeches and party conferences, our undercover probe found.

Det Supt Sian Thomas, who is leading the Met inquiry, said after the arrest: 'The safety and security of MPs and other elected officials is taken extremely seriously.

'It is completely unacceptable to target MPs and elected officials at their home address and we will respond robustly to anyone who seeks to undermine our democratic values this way.'

In a follow-up, the MoS revealed how the activists had circulated a manual to help protesters track down politicians' homes.

The guide recommended studying photos of MPs clapping for carers during Covid for clues to their addresses.

It also said obtaining personal details of politicians' partners and children can help identify family homes.

The JSO manual, which was available via the group's website, said targeting MPs might involve breaking windows, throwing paint, occupying the property with a banner or placard, letting off stink bombs and deflating car tyres.

At the time, JSO spokesman accused the MoS of getting 'in a tizz' about 'ordinary people taking the power back' and described their actions as 'democracy in action.' '

The Just Stop Oil footage showed Phoebe Plummer laughing when told she was being arrested

She responded to officers explaining the charges by saying: 'This is bizarre'

She was held on charges of conspiracy to burgle and of sending a malicious communication

Phebe Plummer is pictured taking part in an anti-government protest near London's Embankment on November 5, 2022

She was previously arrested during Just Stop Oil demos in London on July 19 last year

She was privately educated at 45,000-a year St Mary's School in Ascot, Berkshire, then 34,000-a-year Mander Portman Woodward College in Kensington, west London

Pink-haired Plummer grew up in privilege, raised in a 4million family home near the King's Road in Chelsea and privately educated at 45,000-a year St Mary's School in Ascot, Berkshire, then 34,000-a-year Mander Portman Woodward College in Kensington, west London.

READ MORE: Eco militants' sinister new manual Advertisement

The top-class education helped her secure straight A* grades in chemistry, computer science and maths A-levels, winning a spot on a Manchester University computer science course - but she ended up reading social anthropology at SOAS University Of London.

She was last registered as living in a large house in Clapham, south London, owned by the Church of England as a private home for a priest and their family. It's unclear why Plummer was living there.

Scotland Yard said a 22-year-old woman was arrested on March 6 on suspicion of conspiracy to burgle and sending a malicious communication.

A statement from the Met said: 'This followed extensive inquiries by a specialist team of Metropolitan Police Service investigators following reports in a national newspaper.

'In this reporting activists from Just Stop Oil allegedly called on followers to target elected officials at their homes and places of work.'
By Lee Hyo-jin

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, Thursday, it will downgrade the Office of Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs by placing it under a new entity tentatively named the Office of Diplomatic Strategy and Information, as part of a major reshuffle.

The apparent downsizing of the bureau responsible for negotiations on the North Korean nuclear issue reflects a broader approach within the Yoon Suk Yeol government, emphasizing deterrence over talks with North Korea, according to analysts.

"The reorganization was driven by the recognition that Korean Peninsula affairs have expanded beyond solely addressing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea and now encompass a multifaceted agenda that includes issues like cybersecurity and financial sanctions," Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said during a 2024 policy plan briefing on Thursday evening, announcing the planned reshuffle.

The briefing was held hours after Cho reported the policy plans to President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The minister explained that the new office will be responsible for overseeing not only existing Korean Peninsula affairs but also diplomatic strategy, foreign intelligence, and international security.

The functions of the current Office of Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs will be absorbed by what is tentatively called the Korean Peninsula Foreign Policy Unit, one of the four divisions to be established under the Office of Diplomatic Strategy and Information.

The head of the Korean Peninsula Foreign Policy Unit will hold a deputy director-general level position, representing a downgrade from the current leadership structure, where the Office of Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs is headed by a vice-ministerial official.

The reshuffle takes place approximately 18 years after the establishment of the Office of Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs during the high-stakes six-party negotiations on denuclearization in 2006, which involved the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia, and Japan. It transitioned into a permanent organization in 2011 as Pyongyang continued to develop its nuclear arsenal.

Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies, who perceives the planned reshuffle as a de facto disbandment of the Korean Peninsula office, expressed concerns that it undermines the pivotal role the organization has played in fostering peace in the region.

"The Office of Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs has played a vital role in pursuing peace on the peninsula. It is very disappointing that the government made this announcement without consulting with experts," he told The Korea Times.

The downsizing of the office, occurring amid stalled talks with Pyongyang, is likely to further diminish the possibility of negotiations, Yang added.

Moreover, in the recent reshuffle, the term "peace" has been removed from the foreign ministry's department responsible for North Korea, underscoring a significant aspect of the Yoon administration's approach to Pyongyang, according to the professor.
A new ad from Trump world questions whether Joe Biden, 81, will make it through a second term if he wins in November amid rising questions over the president's age and fitness for office.

Donald Trump-aligned Super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. released the scathing ad against the president the day Biden will deliver the 2024 State of the Union address.

The ad titled 'Jugular' highlights Trump's shift to the general election after winning 14 of the 15 Super Tuesday states, leading final competitor Nikki Haley to finally suspend her campaign. But she did not endorse Trump, 77, when exiting the race on Wednesday.

Clips of Biden tripping on stairs and freezing during public appearances are peppered in the 30-second ad, which aired Thursday morning during a commercial break for MSNBC's Morning Joe  of one of Biden's favorite shows.

A new ad from Make America Great Again Inc. Super PAC questions if President Joe Biden 'can even survive' through a second presidential term. It aired for the first time hours before Biden's State of the Union

The ad includes clips of Biden's freezes and falls and ends with a split of the president falling up the stairs boarding Air Force One and Vice President Kamala Harris laughing

The president's flubs and freezes have been on the rise and only highlighted more as the 2024 general election approaches in November.

On Tuesday, Biden sparked more health concerns when he froze for 15 seconds during a press conference after saying: 'I have a lot of questions. I better not start the questions. I'll get in trouble.'

'We can all see Joe Biden's weakness,' the narrator for the MAGA Inc. ad notes after a 10-second clip of Biden's freezing during a separate press conference on February 16.

'If Biden wins, can he even survive til 2029?' the voice questions, adding: 'The real question is  can we?'

The ad, which will run through Friday morning on MSNBC, CNN, Fox News and Newsmax, concludes with Biden tripping up the stairs to Air Force One superimposed beside a clip of Vice President Kamala Harris laughing.

Some speculate that Biden will not end up being the Democratic nominee despite his assured primary election win.

Republicans are stoking rumors that someone like VP Harris for California Gov. Gavin Newsom will be selected at the Democratic National Committee Convention over the summer to replace Biden on the ticket in 2024.

The ad also included a clip of Biden freezing for about 10 seconds during a press conference on February 16

Pictured: Biden trips up the stairs to deliver remarks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 13, 2023

Biden already set the record for the oldest-ever person elected president in U.S. history in 2020 and would further that record if given a second term in November.

Trump is only four years younger than Biden and set the record for the oldest president at 70-years-old in 2016 when he beat Ronald Reagan's record.

Criticism has increased over Biden's age and his mental fitness for office after a report from his own Justice Department called him an 'old man' with a 'poor memory.'

Special Counsel Robert Hur did not recommend charging Biden in the classified documents case in his report last month because he said a jury would not be able to determine the president's intention with his faltering memory and 'diminish faculties.'

Hur said Biden had trouble recalling the years he was vice president and details like when his eldest son Beau passed away.
Philadelphia police suspect that the mass shooting, which left eight teenagers injured while they were waiting for a SEPTA bus on Wednesday afternoon, may be in retaliation for a Monday shooting that resulted in the death of a 17-year-old boy.

Detectives have seized a blue 2019 Hyundai Sonata that matches the suspected 'getaway car' captured on surveillance camera, as the three gunmen are still on the run.

The vehicle was discovered in the city's Olney neighborhood on Wednesday night and has been taken to a nearby impound lot, according to the police.

Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said that eight students, aged between 15 and 17, were shot after three suspects exited the vehicle near a Dunkin Donuts and fired more than 30 shots at the SEPTA bus stop near Rising Sun and Cottman avenues.

Investigators are working to determine if the Wednesday shooting is connected to another shooting on Monday, where Dayemen Taylor, 17, was killed when gunfire rang out near a bus stop near the Ognotz and Godfrey avenues in Northern Philly

Philadelphia police suspect that the mass shooting, which left eight teenagers injured while they were waiting for a SEPTA bus on Wednesday afternoon, may be in retaliation for a Monday shooting that resulted in the death of a 17-year-old boy

Detectives have seized a blue 2019 Hyundai Sonata that matches the suspected 'getaway car' captured on surveillance camera, as the three gunmen are still on the run

The vehicle was discovered in the city's Olney neighborhood on Wednesday night and has been taken to a nearby impound lot, according to the police

'At some point when the bus is pulling up and the kids are converging to get on the bus, three individuals exit that vehicle and then discharges multiple times,' Bethel said.

A 16-year-old student is reported to be in critical condition after being shot nine times, and seven other victims - including two 15-year-olds, four 16-year-olds, and a 17-year-old - were shot and wounded.

Six victims from Northeast High School are listed in stable condition, while the other two remain in critical but stable condition, police said.

Holly Castor, who works nearby, told ABC: 'looked over and there was four other kids laying down.'

'[One of the 16-year-old victims] was shot in his back -- his spine,' Castor said. 'I put pressure on it. There was a lady on the phone with 911. Because he was sitting, they told him to lay on his belly so he could stop the blood. '

Authorities are now asking for the public's help identifying the suspects in the shooting and released surveillance video of the gunmen getting out of the car before opening fire.

In a bystander video shared on social media, two to three school kids are seen on the wet ground as people around them panic and try to help

One male student, seen in khaki pants and a black zipper hoodie is seen wincing on the ground as he holds his bloody leg

Video shows a dark blue Hyundai Elantra pulling into a Dunkin Donuts parking lot. Moments later, three suspects dressed in all black, wearing face masks, charge out of the car as the driver quickly reverses the vehicle with the doors still open.

The video then turns to another angle and shows the moment the gunmen draw their weapons and shoot as the bus pulls up.

The unidentified suspects then run back to the car that meets them near the bus and swiftly flees the scene.

Before confiscating the 'getaway' car, police said that the paper license plates that were originally attached the vehicle were replaced with temporary plates.

In a bystander video shared on social media, two to three school kids are seen on the wet ground as people around them panic and try to help.

One male student, seen in khaki pants and a black zipper hoodie is seen wincing on the ground as he holds his bloody leg.

The transportation system said a Route 18 bus and a Route 67 bus were struck by gunfire near the scene of the shooting and have advised people to avoid the area as they investigate the incident.

Wednesday's shooting is the latest in SEPTA bus shootings in the city in the past four days as Charles Lawson, the Chief of SEPTA Transit Police, said his department is going to take an 'aggressive' approach in combating the surge in gun violence, and 'target every criminal code on the books.'

Video shows a dark blue Hyundai Elantra pulling into a Dunkin Donuts parking lot. Moments later, three suspects dressed in all black, wearing face masks, charge out of the car as the driver quickly reverses the vehicle with the doors still open

The video then turns to another angle and shows the moment the gunmen draw their weapons and shoot as the bus pulls up

'We're going to enforce crime and we're going to do it aggressively - and we're not going to apologize for it,' Lawson said.

On Tuesday night, another shooting took place onboard a Route 79 bus near South Broad Street and Snyder Avenue.

Carmelo Drayton, 37, suffered two gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at Jefferson University Hospital in Center City.

Police said the shooter, who was wearing a black jacket, grey sweatpants and boots, fled the area. No weapons were found at the scene.

On Monday, Taylor was killed while waiting at the stop after finishing school when at least two people approached him and one opened fire with an automatic weapon, the New York Daily News reported.

Four others were injured in that shooting, including two women who were on a bus and two teenagers, both 15, who were grazed by bullets.

On Sunday night, a man was shot and killed after he exited a SEPTA bus near Castor Avenue in the Oxford Circle in Northeast Philadelphia.

Officials identified the man as Sawee Kofa, 27, and said that he was shot in the face around 11.25pm.

'We use every legal means at our disposal to target illegal gun possession on SEPTA,' Lawson said.

On Tuesday night, another shooting took place onboard a Route 79 bus near South Broad Street and Snyder Avenue. Carmelo Drayton, 37, suffered two gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the hospital

On Monday, Dayemen Taylor, 17, was also killed when gunfire rang out near a bus stop near the Ognotz and Godfrey avenues intersection in upper Northern Philly

Philadelphia Mayor, Cherelle Parker, said: 'Over the past two days we have seen 11 juveniles shot. Over the past few days, we have seen the senseless acts of gun violence occur in and around schools, and public transportation'

'We're going to target individuals concealing their identity. We're going to target fare evasion. We're going to target open drug use.'

No arrests have been made in connection to any of the shootings, police said.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said: 'Over the past two days we have seen 11 juveniles shot. Over the past few days, we have seen the senseless acts of gun violence occur in and around schools, and public transportation.'

'The purpose of our being here on today is to inform you all that enough is enough.'

'We are just absolutely heartbroken and angry that innocent children walking home from school would be impacted by gun violence, ' Tony Watlington, the Superintendent of the school district of Philadelphia said.

Watlington added that trained professionals will be present at the school on Thursday to provide support for staff and students following the terrifying incident.
A California grocery store worker who was fired for catching a brazen shoplifter nabbing $500 worth of food was unfairly dismissed, a judge has ruled.

Single mom Antoinette Baez, 38, was left unable to claim employment benefits for almost a year after Safeway let her go for simply performing her duties.

The moment cashier manager Baez apprehended the thief along with another employee at the San Mateo store in February last year was even caught on surveillance cameras.

After 22 years working for Safeway, she was fired over the incident in May 2023. She was accused of 'misconduct' meaning she couldn't claim employment benefits.

California grocery store cashier Antoinette Baez (pictured) who was fired for catching a brazen shoplifter nabbing $500 worth of food was unfairly dismissed, a judge has ruled

After 22 years working for the San Mateo Safeway (pictured), Baez was fired over the incident in May. She was accused of 'misconduct' meaning she couldn't claim employment benefits

The moment Baez (pictured in black) apprehended the bold thief along with another employee at the San Mateo store in February last year was even caught on surveillance cameras

Baez fought her case through the Employment Development Department (EDD) and secured a ruling in her favor this week.

A judge ruled that she was simply performing her duties, and the decision means she will now be able to claim backdated employment benefits.

Baez' attorney Neil Eisenberg slammed Safeway for acting as 'an open house for thieves' and lamented the impact their decision has had on his client's life.

'They would rather let people just steal from the store than have an employee in anyway interfere with the theft so it's basically an open house for thieves,' Eisenberg told KRON4.

'She's a single mother,' he added.

'She's had no income and no health benefits for the last year, and she hasn't been able to be employed because her only job experience is being a cashier at Safeway.'

'She was an exemplary employee and they simply kicked her to the curb.'

The surveillance footage shows Baez and a male employee approaching a female customer whose arms were laden with bags containing $500 worth of stolen goods.

Single mom Baez, 38, was left unable to claim employment benefits for almost a year after Safeway let her go for simply performing her duties

The surveillance footage shows Baez and a male employee approaching a female customer whose arms were laden with bags containing $500 worth of stolen goods

Baez stands between the thief and the doorway, barring her exit, while attempting to seize the bags.

A tug-of-war between Baez and the customer ensues, while the male Safeway employee holds the thief in place by her shoulder.

Baez said the interaction came at the end of her shift, when she noticed a woman with a packed shopping cart acting suspiciously beside the self-checkout machines.

She said she asked the customer multiple times whether she needed assistance, but the woman turned her down.

Baez left the area to clock out - but noticed the suspicious customer attempting to leave without paying just as she was departing herself.

She radioed the store supervisor, David Arevalos, and they confronted the woman together. The customer tried to punch Baez, she said, which is when Arevalos placed his hand on her shoulder.

Safeway said the interaction violated their shoplifting policy, which prohibits employees from chasing, touching or pursuing a suspected thief, according to Fox2.

Baez is planning to file a lawsuit against Safeway seeking punitive damages of up to $1 million for Baez' mistreatment.

DailyMail.com has contacted Safeway for comment.
A former member of Harvard University's board of directors has been named in a pair of anonymous ethics complaints made about the Ivy League's payment of $42million to his law firm during his tenure on the governing board.

According to a New York Post report, the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers and the states attorney general have been sent formal complaints accusing former board member William Lee of a 'possible conflict of interest by trustee/director with pecuniary interest in service provider to Harvard.'

Lee is a partner at Wilmer Hale, which between the years of 2011 and 2022 - when Lee was a member of the Harvard corporation - billed the school $42million.

The Post says it is in possession of both complaints.

Bill Lee is a partner at Wilmer Hale, which between the years of 2011 and 2022 - when Lee was a member of the Harvard corporation - billed the school $42million.

''Considering the vast resources entrusted to Harvard as a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation, do the circumstances with Bill Lee and Wilmer Hale raise questions about whether Harvard and its board have the necessary corporate governance procedures to avoid conflicts of interest, conflicts of duty or similar issue,' read one of the complaints

The complaint sent to the state AG's office says in part: 'Considering the vast resources entrusted to Harvard as a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation, do the circumstances with Bill Lee and Wilmer Hale raise questions about whether Harvard and its board have the necessary corporate governance procedures to avoid conflicts of interest, conflicts of duty or similar issue.'

Wilmer Hale has worked with the prestigious institution on a number of high-profile cases over the years - most recently assisting former president Claudine Gay prepare for her ultimately disastrous appearance before Congress as it probed reports of anti-Semitism on campus in the wake of October 7.

During the December testimony, which the school's newspaper reported Lee specifically helped Gay prepare for, the academic infamously joined her counterparts at the University of Pennsylvania and MIT in saying that calling for the death of Jews on campus would be considered harassment depending upon the 'context.'

Wilmer Hale is well known for advising high-profile clients ahead of testimony in Congress - among them Mark Zuckerberg, former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and Richard Nixon.

But the preparation they gave Gay seemingly fell far short of the moment. She would resign from her post at the head of the university several weeks later.

'Lee's influence at the University raises the prospect that no other firms were even considered for the work,' wrote The Crimson.

Lee graduated from Harvard in 1972, before attending Cornell University for his JD and MBA degrees.

In addition to his six year stint on the Board of Overseers from 2022 to 2008, Lee was a member of the Harvard Corporation from 2010 to 2022. He the was a senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation from 2014 to 2022.

He was honored, in 2022, by the school with the Harvard Medal for Extraordinary Service to the University.

Wilmer Hale is well known for advising high-profile clients ahead of testimony in Congress - among them Mark Zuckerberg, former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and Richard Nixon - they also prepped former President Claudine Gay for her disastrous testimony in December

Lee's firm also served as Harvard's outside counsel throughout the landmark affirmative action case 'Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard,' which was first filed in 2014.

Lee served as Harvard's outside counsel during the trial court phase of the case, which lasted until an initial verdict was rendered in 2019.

In 2023, the high-profile case was decided by the Supreme Court against Harvard.

According to Bloomberg, Harvard shelled out more than $27million in legal fees for the case they ultimately lost.

The anonymous complaint claims that as a 'member/chairperson of the board, Bill Lee oversaw the Harvard officers and departments that normally manage relationships with outside law firms, such as the universitys general counsel.'

And despite paying millions for legal work done by Wilmer Hale in the years between 2011 and 2019, the board consistently answered 'No' to a prompt on its annual disclosures to the state that asks if any trustee had 'a material financial interest' that was not reported as compensation.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Harvard University and Wilmer Hale for comment on the anonymous complaints.
A top Hollywood writer and producer has been accused of raping an aspiring writer after offering to mentor him.

Laurence Andries, 66, has been charged with sodomy, oral copulation and sexual penetration while the victim was unconscious by the use of a drug, as reported by ABC7.

'I believe that he drugged one of my drinks, took me to his place and then... I can't say the word. I'm sorry, I can't say it,' the alleged victim, identified as John Doe, told the outlet.

Andries, who has worked on various hit shows including Six Feet Under and Blue Bloods, was arrested last August in Los Angeles and released on bond.

John Doe, a military veteran, claimed he met the producer at a writers' program and they became friends. He added that he was always upfront about being heterosexual.

Laurence Andries, 66, has been charged with sodomy, oral copulation and sexual penetration while the victim was unconscious by the use of a drug

'I believe that he drugged one of my drinks, took me to his place and then... I can't say the word. I'm sorry, I can't say it,' said the alleged victim, identified as John Doe

'I never even thought I had to say "This (expletive) is never going to happen,"' John Doe told ABC7.

The alleged assault happened after the two went out for drinks in June 2022.

John Doe said he contacted police the immediately despite fear of how speaking up would affect his career in Hollywood.

The aspiring writer added that he came forward publicly because he and detectives believe there are other victims.

Andries is scheduled in court next month.

The Hollywood veteran was nominated for an Oscar in 1994 for his writing on the live action short Kangaroo Court.

He has also worked on other hit shows such as Alias, How to Get Away with Murder, Supernatural and Being Mary Jane.

Andries has also worked on other hit shows such as Alias, How to Get Away with Murder, Supernatural and Being Mary Jane. He is seen with Viola Davis

Andries serves as an advisor the Writers Guild Foundation, where he also served as VP of programming, according to their website.

Many military veterans turned writers have previously posted about Andries, describing him as a beloved mentor on social media.

Freelance writer Adam Korenman spoke highly of Andries in a 2019 post.

'Some of the best career advice I ever heard came from Larry Andries, an incredible writer/producer/human,' Korenman wrote.

'He said, "Don't be an as*****." No matter what kind of writer you want to be, treat everyone with respect. Be empathetic. It'll make you a better writer and person.'

Anyone with information about additional potential crimes involving Andries has been asked to contact the Los Angeles Police Department.

He has continued to post on Facebook following his arrest.

In his last post, from February 24, he wrote alongside a selfie: 'The future looks bright, and wonderfully immersive.'

Andries appears to have deleted his Facebook account after after being contacted by a DailyMail.com reporter for comment.

DailyMail.com has also reached out the Writers Guild Foundation for comment on this story.
The hunt is on for an 'armed and dangerous' gunman accused of murdering a young National Guardswoman and her blind daughter in a hail of bullets as they sat in a car outside their home.

Massachusetts mom-of-two Chasity Nunez, 27, was killed alongside eleven-year-old Zella in a street packed with children at 3pm in Worcester on Tuesday.

She was due to return to service on Saturday with the Connecticut Army National Guard where colleagues described her as 'incredibly resilient and brilliantly intelligent'.

Karel Mangual, 28, was arrested last night and appeared in court today as police search for his suspected accomplice Dejan Belnavis, 27.

Chasity's mother Noemi Nunez said she had never heard of either man, and cousin Tyrae Sims said whoever killed her had no reason for the 'senseless' murder.

'In any inner city, anyone that has any kind of morality understands it's always been no women, no children,' he told NBC Boston.

Chasity Nunez, 27, was described as 'the best mom she could possibly be' to daughter Zella, 11, who was murdered alongside her on Wednesday

Police are hunting for 'armed and dangerous' Dejan Belnavis (pictured), as second suspect Karel Mangual prepares to appear in court today

Karel Mangual was arrested by Worcester Police after they stopped a car near the intersection of Main and Mill streets Wednesday afternoon

The driver's window of their car was riddled with bullet holes as neighbors described hearing what sounded like a 'machine gun'

'I just hope they know the gravity of what they just did. They took two beautiful souls senselessly.'

Chasity's SUV was left riddled with bullets in the driver's window, and more than 30 police evidence markers dotted Lisbon Street at Englewood Avenue as the investigation began.

'It was around 3 o'clock, I was getting ready to run up to the store, and I heard a couple of shots fired from something that sounded like a machine gun,' said neighbor Michael Mahoney.

'Scary that you got to worry about getting shot in your own neighborhood, you know?'

Within hours they had arrested Mangual from nearby Passway 3 Street in Worcester, and appealed for information on Belnavis who they described as 5'11, 160 pounds, armed and dangerous.

Mangual appeared in court this morning where he was charged with two counts of armed assault with intent to murder and one of owning a firearm without a license.

He already faced three open cases is and was refused bail before being remanded to Worcester County House of Correction pending a dangerousness hearing on March 12.

Chasity, who served with the National Guard in Connecticut, spent four years at Worcester State University and earned two master's degrees before starting work at MIT last year, her mother said.

'She was a professional, she wasn't out there like that, she was a hard worker supporting her daughters,' Noemi Nunez added.

'We have no idea what happened.'

Chasity was originally from Brooklyn in New York and studied at Worcester State University

The National Guardswoman was mother to daughters Zella, 11, and Isla, two

Nunez and her daughter was described as 'two beautiful souls' by her distraught mother

Chasity Nunez during her service with the Connecticut National Guard

She had been working at Massachusetts Institute of Technology since early last year

Dejan Belnavis, who remains at large, sits on top of a Lamborghini sports car as he shows off his designer clothes

Wanted man Dejan Belnavis in a picture from his Facebook page

Chasity had just completed four years with the Connecticut Army National Guard as a Patient Administration Specialist in the 142nd Medical Company based in Danbury.

Her commanding officer Major Dave Pytlik told Dailymail.com she had been destined for success in both her civilian and military careers, and had more compassion than anyone he knew.

'Chasity was beloved by her fellow Soldiers in the 142nd Medical Company,' he added in a statement.

'Her wit, social nature and dedication to duty made her one of the best Soldiers in our unit.

'I cannot begin to make sense of why this happened and why her family, friends, co-workers and fellow Soldiers have been robbed of her and Zella.'

Chasity's two-year-old daughter Isla, was not in the car at the time of the shooting and is being looked after by her father in Connecticut as her family tries to make sense of their loss.

'I'm thankful to God she wasn't in the car,' said Sims who was also Zella's godfather, 'It's a horrible silver lining, I guess.

'Zella was just the best,' he added, 'So full of life, such a good little girl. She didn't deserve it at all.

He described his cousin as the 'best mom she could possibly have been'.

'She loved those girls with all her heart,' he added.

'She's gone, Zella's gone and her other daughter is without a mother and a big sister, it's crazy.'

He said Zella had been born prematurely and was registered as legally blind but had fought to overcome the challenges of her short life.

'She was happy, healthy, funny and just so loving, and made it through all of that,' he added.

'To be taken like this, it's just not right.'

Chasity's brother Collage Nunez, 28, was sentenced to between seven and ten years in prison in 2016 after admitting the manslaughter of Worcester man Robert Walker, 18, who died from an asthma attack after being assaulted at a party in the city.

Nunez battered the teenager with a baseball bat and stabbed him in the buttocks before being chased off by other partygoers.

Residents in the leafy neighborhood said they have been left terrified by the killings on their doorstep.

'To be honest with you, I'll be up throughout the night, not even able to sleep because this is very unsettling to have something like this happen on this street,' Maureen Morales said.

'The neighborhood is very quiet, very family-oriented. You know your neighbors. You know your friends. You see them walking around. You're out, you're talking with them. To have this happen is just unbelievable,'

'It's awful,' neighbor Bob Shepard said.

The shooting horrified neighbors in the quiet Worcester street which was packed with children

Dozens of police evidence markers littered the street as the investigation began

'It's not the neighborhood. This is a quiet, family neighborhood. You don't get this type of thing here.'

The killing was condemned in a joint statement from City Manager Eric Batista, Mayor Joseph Petty, Interim Police Chief Paul Saucier and Superintendent of Schools Rachel Monarrez.

'An act of such violence has no place in our city,' they said.

'The residents of Worcester deserve better, and we will stand alongside our community in sorrow and solidarity.'
BBC Scotland presenter Nick Sheridan's touching final Instagram post showed him revealing the winning authors for a children's award, it emerged today.

The journalist, who is also an author himself, died aged 32 yesterday after collapsing while out running.

He is believed to have suffered an aneurysm, before passing away surrounded by family.

Sheridan was best known for presenting Drivetime, Lunchtime Live and the Sunday Show with the BBC, before going on to write a book series for children, which included The Case of the Runaway Brain and The Case of the Phantom Treasure.

The award-winning presenter, whose death was poignantly announced on World Book Day, was tragically due to release his fourth book, The Case of the Poisonous Pigs, in June.

The 224-page novel, which sees a group of four young detectives investigating a 'mutant-sized secret' at a pig theme park, is the third installment of the illustrated children's mystery series.

BBC Scotland presenter Nick Sheridan has sadly died aged 32 following a 'short illness'

Sheridan's heartbreaking final post on Instagram was uploaded in January, in which he congratulated the Children's Fiction winners in the Nero Book Awards

The journalist, from Wexford in Ireland, was on a run when he is said to have suddenly collapsed after suffering a suspected aneurysm, his colleagues have announced

His touching final Instagram post saw him praising the winner of the Nero Book Awards while applauding the runners up.

The author was designated as one of the three judges in this year's Nero Book Awards, a not-for-profit run by coffee house group, Caffe Nero, in partnership with The Booksellers Association, Brunel University London and Right To Dream.

Posting on January 30, from his account @nicksheridanwrites, he uploaded a photograph of himself, alongside director of Pickled Pepper Books Urmi Merchant and children's author Dave Rudden, with their selected prizewinner.

Winning novel The Swifts, by Beth Lincoln, was described by the presenter as 'a powerful message' delivered in a 'cracking murder mystery.'

He wrote: 'A hUuUuUge congratulations to @bethatintervals @misspowellposts on winning the Childrens Category with THE SWIFTS.

'It was love from page one for us - such a powerful message delivered in a cracking murder mystery.

'And congratulations again to all our shortlisted authors who also knocked us out with their work, @candygourlay with WILD SONG, @lexcanroar with GWEN AND ART ARE NOT IN LOVE and @katalicedunn with BITTERTHORN.'

The author (R), was designated as one of the three judges, alongside Dave Rudden (L) and Urmi Merchant (centre) in this year's Nero Book Awards, a not-for-profit run by Caffe Nero

The presenter's last post on X dated February 24 read: 'On air from 8am with your weekend edition of Good Morning Scotland, reflecting on 2 years since Putin's order for a Russian invasion of Ukraine'

Sheridan added: 'It was a pleasure to read and re-read your words, well done all.'

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf led tributes to Sheridan as he began his weekly questions in the Scottish Parliament chamber, describing him as a 'extremely talented journalist and author.'

Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also paid tribute to the 'talented and vivacious' star today, while his colleagues at the broadcaster remembered him as a 'lovely man.'

The sad news comes after tributes poured in for veteran BBC Radio Orkney star, Dave Gray, who died on February 21 following a 'short illness.'

Posting on social media, BBC Radio Orkney said they are 'grieving the sudden loss of our friend and colleague' and tributes to the 'outstanding broadcaster' have poured in from fans and friends alike.
Guittierez has chronic pain to this day and says her husband can no longer touch her

Allege victim Jackeline Guittierez says she woke up during her BBL surgery in excruciating pain in a 2022 procedure

A Texas woman who claims she woke up to an unlicensed doctor botching her BBL surgery says she was left in pain so severe her husband can't touch her anymore.

Jackeline Guittierez underwent two surgeries with 'certified doctor' Alexander Padilla, 53, who is now accused of posing as a surgeon at the Houston Aesthetic Center where he performed plastic surgery procedures on multiple women without having a license.

Guittierez said she chose Padilla because he was affordable but has been left with devastating symptoms following the operation.

'If I had known he didn't have a license, I wouldn't have let him touch me. He wouldn't have put a hand on me,' Guitterez told ABC news.

The Texas woman, who did not want to be identified, received her first surgical procedure, a 'tummy tuck,' in 2021.

Jackeline Guittierez underwent two surgeries with 'certified doctor' Alexander Padilla, 53 (pictured) who is now accused of posing as a surgeon at the Houston Aesthetic Center where he performed plastic surgery procedures on multiple women without having a license

Guittierez said she chose Padilla because he was affordable but has been left with devastating symptoms following the operation

The Texas woman, who did not want to be identified, received her first surgical procedure, a 'tummy tuck,' in 2021

A year later, Guittierez underwent liposuction and a BBL, also known as a Brazilian butt lift.

A BBL is a cosmetic procedure used to make buttocks bigger, more rounded or lifted.

The procedure involves a fat transfer from another part of the body to the buttocks using an injection.

Usually the fat is removed from a 'problem area' for the candidate, often the stomach, thighs, or hips.

She claims she woke up mid-procedure in excruciating pain. Guittierez says he begged Padilla to stop - but he allegedly refused.

'He can't tell me I didn't because I yelled at him to stop, and he told me to calm down and that he was going to finish,' Guitterez said of the incident.

The Texas woman now alleges that the operation has effected her quality of life ever since.

'My body hurts. My husband can't touch me because it hurts. At night, I can't sleep because of the pain,' Guitterez said.

Guittierez says that the plastic surgery was supposed to make her feel beautiful, but instead it ruined her life.

'I honestly don't really know what they did to me internally,' Guitterez said.

The Texas woman now alleges that the operation has effected her quality of life ever since. 'My body hurts. My husband can't touch me because it hurts. At night, I can't sleep because of the pain,' Guitterez said

Padilla was charged on Wednesday for practicing medicine without a license and now faces four felony charges

Guittierex claims she woke up mid-procedure in excruciating pain. Guittierez says he begged Padilla to stop - but he allegedly refused

Padilla is due to appear next in court on Thursday

Guittierez is just one of several women to come forward with claims against Padilla, following the unlicensed doctor's arrest in October, 2023.

He was charged on Wednesday for practicing medicine without a license and now faces four felony charges.

Padilla was busted after offering to perform a breast augmentation operation on a police informant and was arrested and charged with a felony because he is not licensed to practice medicine in Texas, according to Houston Public Media.

Court documents show that Padilla quoted the police informant $7,500 to perform the surgery and requested a $1,000 deposit.

'(Padilla) has (informant) remove her top and bra, declares her a good candidate for surgery, tells her he will do surgery himself, claims he did the surgery for his assistant,' a Harris County magistrate judge wrote.

Padilla is due to appear next in court on Thursday.
Belnavis should be be considered armed and dangerous according to cops

Chastity Nunez and her daughter Zella were shot in Worcester, Massachusetts

A mother and her 11-year-old daughter were fatally shot while sat parked in their SUV in a Massachusetts neighborhood in broad daylight with police hunting a named suspect who is on the run.

One man has already been arrested but police are searching for a second man - Dejan Belnavis, 27 - in connection with the killings of Chastity and Zella Nunez.

The pair were shot shortly after 3pm Monday in Worcester, police said, where they were found by officers inside the SUV, which has been pictured following the incident with bullet-holes in the windshield.

Chastity - whose social media suggests she was a mother of two - and Zella were taken to a hospital, where they were both pronounced dead, police added.

No details have been released about the man arrested Tuesday.

Chastity Nunez and her 11-year-old daughter Zella were shot dead while sat parked in their SUV around 3pm Monday

Police are pictured at the scene next to the SUV (left) with bullet holes in the windshield

One man has already been arrested in connection with the killings, while police from Worcester, Massachusetts, hunt a second

Court documents revealed that surveillance video shows 'the victims parked in their vehicle and that two people walk up to the vehicle and start shooting'

Court documents revealed that surveillance video shows 'the victims parked in their vehicle and that two people walk up to the vehicle and start shooting,' the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported.

Chastity and Zella were on Englewood Avenue, a 12-minute drive from Belnavis' home on Toronita Avenue - also in Worcester.

Video also showed a car consistent with a witness description circling the area before the shooting and leaving afterward, the documents said.

That vehicle was later found in Hartford, Connecticut - around an hour's drive away.

Dejan Belnavis (pictured), 27, is wanted for armed assault with intent to murder and possession of a firearm without a license

Authorities did not immediately release a potential motive for the killings, nor did they release whether there was any relationship between the men and the victims.

'Today we mourn the senseless loss of two Worcester residents, a mother and daughter whose lives were taken far too soon and far too tragically,' the city's mayor, city manager, police chief and school district superintendent said in a joint statement.

'Collectively, we ask for patience and privacy on behalf of the victims' family and friends and for the Worcester Public Schools who are grieving the loss of a student. An act of such violence has no place in our city.'

The statement said the residents of Worcester 'deserve better, and we will stand alongside our community in sorrow and solidarity'.

Belnavis is wanted for armed assault with intent to murder and possession of a firearm without a license. Police say he should be considered armed and dangerous.

Police added that the suspect also has previous firearm charges from 2021.

Anyone with information about the incident has been encouraged to contact Worcester Police at 508-799-8651.
Rust armorer Hannah Guttierrez-Reed's mugshot has been released hours after she was found guilty and taken into custody over her part in the shooting of a cinematographer killed by Alec Baldwin.

A jury found Wednesday that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was negligent in allowing a live bullet be placed into the gun that Alec Baldwin used on the set in October 2021. This resulted in the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Gutierrez-Reed,26, has now been seen in her mugshot from the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Facility.

After two hours of deliberations at the courthouse in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a jury found Gutierrez-Reed guilty on the manslaughter count, but acquitted her on a charge of tampering with evidence. She has been jailed ahead of her sentencing, which could see her face up to 18 months behind bars.

As she was walked out to start her sentence, her mom could be seen weeping and putting her head in her hands.

Gutierrez-Reed,26, has now been seen in her mugshot from the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Facility

Gutierrez-Reed will serve time inside the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Facility, seen here

Hutchins, 42, a mother-of-one, was shot dead by Alec Baldwin on the set of Rust in October 2021. Baldwin is due to go on trial in July

Gutierrez-Reed was acquitted on a charge of tampering with evidence after prosecutors claimed she gave another person a bag of cocaine after a police interview to prevent law enforcement from obtaining it

Hutchins' family released statement after the verdict and said they 'look forward' to everyone else responsible for her death facing justice - an apparent reference to Baldwin who faces trial for involuntary manslaughter in July.

Baldwin, 65, will be tried in the same courthouse and faces the same possible sentence if convicted.

'Halynas parents and her sister have always wanted everyone who is responsible for Halynas death to be held accountable,' the family's lawyers Gloria Allred and John Carpenter said.

'Today was the first trial and conviction in the criminal justice process. We are satisfied that the jury, based on the evidence, found Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty beyond a reasonable doubt for her part in the taking of Halynas life.

'We look forward to the justice system continuing to make sure that everyone else who is responsible for Halyna's death is required to face the legal consequences for their actions.'

Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter but the allegations were dropped in April last year. He was dramatically charged again last month and pleaded not guilty.

The shooting happened in October 2021 after two weeks of filming while Baldwin was practicing drawing out his gun from the holster.

He opened fire on Hutchins, 42, a married mother-of-one whose son was nine at the time, and the bullet went through her and lodged in the shoulder of director Joel Souza, who survived and testified in court.

Baldwin is seen here leaving his home in Manhattan on Thursday morning and will be tried in the same courthouse as Gutierrez-Reed

Baldwin faces the same possible sentence as Gutierrez-Reed if convicted later this year

Baldwin stepped out on Thursday alongside his wife Hilaria, seen here, as well as their young family

She was on trial over the 2021 shooting death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins

Gutierrez-Reed's mom wept as the judge explained that she would be remanded in custody pending sentencing where she could be given up to 18 months

Baldwin, 65, who was the lead actor and a producer in the movie, will face a separate trial in July for involuntary manslaughter, which he denies

Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter but the allegations were dropped in April last year. He was dramatically charged again last month and pleaded not guilty

The jury was shown shocking images of cinematographer's Halyna Hutchins' blood-stained shirt

Gutierrez-Reed will serve her time in Santa Fe County Jail where according to a report last year by KRQE, over a dozen inmates have died in the last few years.

One of those included Brianna Romero, 20, who died in the facility after her arrest in 2021.

A lawsuit was filed by her family claiming wrongful death against the city and the prison, claiming employees failed to monitor her and allowed her to die from an overdose, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Last year the jail announced they would be bringing in new technology to better track the health of inmates.

While Baldwin was not the defendant in this case at times it felt that he was, with one witness stating as much out loud.

Across more than two dozen witnesses, prosecutors painted a damning portrait of a film that was in a state of 'rushed chaos.'

The night before the incident, six members of the camera crew quit because of their concerns over safety.

Gutierrez-Reed will serve her time in Santa Fe County Jail where according to a report last year by KRQE , over a dozen inmates have died in the last few years

One of those included Brianna Romero, 20, who died in the facility after her arrest in 2021. Her family filed a lawsuit against the facility last year claiming wrongful death

During her trial, Gutierrez-Reed made notable changes to her appearance and swapped colorful hair and a septum piercing for a more low key look during proceedings.

Juror Alberto Sanchez spoke outside the court after the jury reached the guilty verdict on Wednesday.

He said: 'There was a lot of safety issues that she could have paused or stopped, and she just never did.

'[She] never did the safety checks, never checked the rounds. If you'd done that this wouldn't have happened.

'After talking it all out, [the jury] was convinced. I think it was fair. Someone died, we have to take responsibility.'

Juror Alberto Sanchez explains how the jury reached a guilty verdict in the Hannah Gutierrez-Reed trial in less than three hours. #RustTrial pic.twitter.com/BzIGYA8EDh  Alex Caprariello (@alcaprari23) March 6, 2024

Gutierrez-Reed's defense was to blame everyone but her, but especially Baldwin.

Her lawyer, Jason Bowles, said Baldwin was the 'big boss' on set that nobody stood up to even though he rushed people and ignored safety checks because Rust, which he was a producer on, had a tight budget.

The jury heard that Baldwin commissioned director Souza to write the script, which he owned the rights to. Baldwin was the lead actor on the movie and was also a producer.

Bowles called Gutierrez-Reed, who was just 24 at the time of the incident, a 'scapegoat' for wider failings that led the New Mexico safety regulator to issue a $136,000 fine to the producers for 'willful and serious' safety failings.

The jury were shown the video of Gutierrez-Reeds interview by the sheriff Santa Fe, New Mexico, hours after the incident in October 2021

Production of Rust stopped abruptly in October 2021 when a prop gun held by Baldwin fired a live round that killed Hutchins

Bowles told the court that Baldwin himself made the set unsafe by waving his gun like a 'pointing stick' at people.

A behind the scenes video from the filming showed Baldwin demanding a second shot immediately after one that just finished.

He was heard saying: 'Right away! Right away! Let's reload. Here we go, come on! We should have two guns, both reloading.'

Asked if that kind of conduct was typical, Carpenter said no, adding that it put pressure on the armorer to stand up to him.

Moments later, after the director shouted cut, Baldwin let loose another blank round while standing next to the 12-year-old actor.

Carpenter said that when somebody yells cut, nothing else should be fired and that Baldwin 'went off script.'

Baldwin could have used a Nerf gun in the scene where he accidentally shot Hutchins dead because it was just a rehearsal known as blocking, the jury heard.

But Baldwin insisted on using the real guns, known as his 'hero props', because he preferred them, just like he preferred the most powerful dummies possible because they were more realistic.

The new set is pictured in Livingston, Montana. Despite the new set also having a church building, scene 121 - which was the one Baldwin was practicing - has been removed from the movie entirely and will not be reshot

Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter but the allegations were dropped in April last year. He was dramatically charged again last month and pleaded not guilty

Jurors were shown a video shot during production of Rust in which Baldwin pointed the gun at the crew and cast members including a 12-year-old boy between scenes

Jurors were told Baldwin himself made the set unsafe by waving his gun like a 'pointing stick' at people and firing rounds after the director said cut

In his opening statement, Bowles said that Baldwin 'violated basic gun safety' by pointing the gun at Hutchins because he didn't intend to shoot at her.

He said: 'The primary thing here was rush, get this thing so we can get the money and that's all on production and Mr. Baldwin is one of the primary producers. That's on them. Miss Gutierrez-Reed had no control over that.'

During cross-examination of Addiego, Bowles asked: 'Did you ever stand up to Mr Baldwin and say we're not going to move this fast?'

Addiego said it was 'not my job' and he didn't recall 'anybody standing up to Mr Baldwin on the set of Rust.'

'He's running the show, he's the big boss, right?' Bowles said. 'He's number one, so yes,' Addiego said.

Perhaps the most damning evidence against Baldwin undercut his claim that he never pulled the trigger on the gun.

Bryce Ziegler, an agent with the FBI firearms unit who examined the gun Baldwin used, said he had to break the gun with a mallet to get it to fire without using the trigger.

Ziegler said that couldn't have happened on the set of Rust because the gun was in working order when it came to him.

Speaking to ABC News in December 2021 Baldwin said: 'I didn't pull the trigger. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never'.

In her police interview, Gutierrez-Reed pointed the finger at Baldwin as well and claimed that he was distracted during the safety briefing she tried to give him.

She said that the actor was 'on his phone a lot of that entire thing' and didn't pay attention when she was showing him how to use the weapon.

FBI firearms expert Bryce Ziegler gave evidence that challenged Alec Baldwin's version of events

Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and also faced a charge of tampering with evidence

Dave Halls, the first assistant director on Rust, broke down in tears while telling the jury how he was the last person apart from Gutierrez-Reed to check the gun before giving it to Baldwin

A firearms expert showed off to the jury a gun similar to that Baldwin used to shoot Hutchins

There was powerful testimony from Dave Halls, the first assistant director on the film and the last person to handle the gun before giving it to Baldwin.

Before the trial, Halls had pleaded no contest to a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon and received six months probation.

Asked why he did so, Halls said: 'I was negligent in checking the gun properly,'

Halls became emotional as he described what happened next in the chapel on the set of Rust.

He said: 'Mr Baldwin was pulling it (the gun) out, getting used to that action

'He was in communication with Miss Hutchins about where to point the gun.

'The gun went off.

'It was so many thoughts (in my head). The idea it was a live round of ammunition that went off, it wasn't computing,'

Hutchins was 3ft away from Halls to his left and he said to her: 'Are you all right,'

In tears, Halls said that Hutchins replied: 'I can't feel my legs,'

Addiego also broke down in tears while being pressed by Bowles on why he was part of a civil lawsuit against Baldwin and the Rust producers for negligence.

He said: 'I'm hoping for justice, sir. Two people were injured on a film set. That has not only affected me - it's affected the film industry.'

The criminal case is not the only court proceedings resulting from the shooting of Hutchins.

In 2022 Baldwin settled a civil lawsuit filed against him by Matthew Hutchins, the widow of Hutchins, and the father of their son.

Under the terms Rust continued production at a new location in Montana and Matthew Hutchins, who has called his wife's death a 'terrible accident,' is an executive producer.

No date has yet been set for the film's release.
South Korean fighter jets staged a live-fire exercise Thursday to bolster readiness against North Korean cruise missile and artillery threats, the Air Force said, in the wake of Pyongyang's continued saber-rattling.

The training took place over waters off the west coast, involving more than 10 fighter jets, in connection with the annual South Korea-U.S. Freedom Shield exercise that began earlier this week, according to the Air Force.

During the air drills, KF-16 and FA-50 jets fired air-to-air missiles to shoot down two targets simulating enemy cruise missiles detected by air defense radar systems.

The Air Force also mobilized FA-50 and F-5 aircraft to drop guided bombs to destroy simulated enemy long-range artillery, it said.

The exercise took place as the North has ratcheted up tensions with a series of military demonstrations, including artillery firings near the western sea border and a series of launches of what it claimed to be new missiles. (Yonhap)
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) have allegedy killed a number of ISIS militants who were planning a 'terrorist attack' on a Moscow synagogue.

According to the FSB, a large cache of weapons and bomb parts were found during a raid on an Islamic State cell in Kaluga, southwest of Moscow.

Russian state media reported the militants had been gearing up to shoot Jewish worshippers at a synagogue in the capital before security officials stormed the premises and gunned them down.

'While being arrested, the terrorists put up armed resistance to the Russian FSB officers, and as a result were neutralised by return fire,' the TASS news agency quoted the security service as saying in a statement.

'Firearms, ammunition, as well as components for the manufacture of an improvised explosive device were found and seized,' it added.

The FSB did not verify how many people died in the shootout but at least two bodies appeared in footage

Footage of the raid on the Islamic State cell revealed FSB officers discovered weapons, ammunition, and components to make bombs

Footage published by the Russian Zvezda news outlet shows two dead bodies inside a house, alongside several firearms, ammunition and knives found during the search.

Two armed officers can be seen standing in a room as two bodies, which appear to be male, lie on the floor in front of them.

An officer is then seen counting the bullets they had retrieved from the hideout, presumably to have been used in the planned massacre.

In an extended version of the footage posted by Zvezda, bottles of liquids with red warning labels, maps, and balaclavas were also found buried in the terrorists' stash.

Although two bodies were captured in the horror footage, the FSB did not verify how many people were killed in the operation.

It said the militants were members of the Afghan branch of Islamic State, but did not state their citizenship.

The dead terrorists were seen laying on the floor of their hideout after FSB officers swooped in and thwarted the alleged massacre plans

The weapons appeared to have been filled with ammunition, seemingly ready to be used in the terrorists' planned attack

Maps and balaclavas were also unearthed in the dingy hideout as FSB officers recorded their heroic operation

The FSB stated that during the arrest, the terrorists put up armed resistance and were neautralised by return fire as a result

A Russian security official is pictured stationed outside the ISIS hideout while the raid was underway

Russian authorities often announce the thwarting of planned attacks by suspected Islamist groups.

On March 3 the FSB said it killed six suspected ISIS terrorists in the Muslim-majority southern region of Ingushetia.

Special forces from the FSB security service targeted the group in a building in the town of Karabulak and 'netralised' them in an operation that began on March 2, Russia's anti-terrorism committee said.

They added that the suspects, three of whom were on the federal wanted persons list, were ISIS members who had been "involved in a number of terrorist crimes".

Tensions between Russia's Muslim and Jewish communities have flared at times during the Israel-Hamas war.

Last October, a huge mob of protestors stormed an airport in Dagestan, a Muslim-majority region in the Caucasus, after a plane arrived from Tel Aviv.

The protestors, some carrying Palestinian flags, smashed through the doors of a terminal at Makhachkala airport while others ran into the runway.
House Democrats are probing allegations that Russia has used Elon Musk's Starlink internet service on the battlefield in Ukraine, warning it could raise US national security concerns.

In a Wednesday letter to SpaceX, which runs Starlink, two Democrats on the House Oversight Committee demanded information about Russia's potential illegal acquisition of the satellite-enabled terminals, according to the Washington Post.

The letter cited recent allegations from Ukrainian intelligence officials, who say that Russian troops are using Starlink terminals to coordinate war efforts in eastern Ukraine, in potential violation of US sanctions.

Russia's alleged use of Starlink 'poses a serious threat to Ukraine's security, Ukrainian lives, and US national security,' stated the letter from Reps. Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia.

'We are concerned that you may not have appropriate guardrails and policies in place,' Raskin and Garcia wrote in the letter to Starlink president Gwynne Shotwell.

House Democrats are probing allegations that Russia has used Elon Musk's Starlink internet service on the battlefield

A Ukrainian soldier sets up a Starlink terminal. Ukraine relies heavily on Starlink for military and civilian communications

A representative for SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com on Thursday morning.

Last month, Ukraine's military intelligence chief publicly alleged that Russian troops in Ukraine are using thousands of Starlink satellite communications terminals.

Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov told the Wall Street Journal that Russian troops have been communicating over the Starlink system 'for quite a long time'.

He said they had acquired the terminals from private Russian firms that purchased them from intermediaries, potentially evading US sanctions limiting the export of technology with military applications.

The intermediaries, he said, deliver the equipment to Russia through neighboring countries, including former Soviet Republics.

Budanov's agency also told Reuters that Russian troops were communicating over Starlink on their front lines, but did not disclose the extent to which the terminals were in use.

Ukraine relies extensively on Starlink, saying last year that around 42,000 terminals were in use by the military, hospitals, businesses and aid organizations, with the Pentagon helping to fund access for Ukrainian forces.

Starlink has said it does not do any business in or with Russia.

Ukraine's Aerorozvidka unit can direct drones from a laptop using the Starlink system

The company did not respond to an email earlier this week asking whether it could categorically rule out the system's use by Russian troops in Ukraine.

Retired British Army Brigadier Ben Barry told Reuters that if Russian forces are using Starlink, their communications would be more secure and harder for Ukraine and its allies to crack.

The Kremlin has denied using Starlink on the battlefield, saying the terminals are not approved for use by the Russian military.

In a call with reporters last month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: 'This is not a certified system with us; accordingly, it cannot be officially supplied here and is not officially supplied. Accordingly, it cannot be used officially in any way.'

'That is why here, perhaps, we should not intrude into the discussion between the Kyiv regime and the entrepreneur Musk', he said, referring to the Ukrainian government.

Musk issued his own denial in a post on X, saying: 'To the best of our knowledge, no Starlinks have been sold directly or indirectly to Russia.'

'A number of false news reports claim that SpaceX is selling Starlink terminals to Russia,' Musk said in the post on X, which he also owns. 'This is categorically false.'
Under-fire Tory minister Michelle Donelan was today claimed to value public money because she turned down a payout for being Education Secretary for just 36 hours.

Ms Donelan is currently facing calls to quit Government after it was revealed she left taxpayers to pick up a 15,000 bill for settling a libel claim against her.

The embattled Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary has so far snubbed demands to cover the costs herself, with the sum paid after she falsely accused an academic of supporting Hamas.

Fellow Cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt this morning attempted to defend Ms Donelan, as she pointed to her past record in saving taxpayers' cash.

As she was quizzed about the libel scandal, the Leader of the House of Commons reminded MPs how Ms Donelan turned down a 'golden goodbye' in 2022.

At the tail end of Boris Johnson's time as PM, Ms Donelan spent 36 hours as Education Secretary before she also joined a mass of ministerial resignations.

It was later revealed how she waived a severance payment of around 16,000 due to her once she'd left the Department for Education.

Michelle Donelan, the Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary, is facing calls to quit after it was revealed she left taxpayers to pick up a 15k bill for settling a libel claim against her

Fellow Cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House of Commons, attempted to defend Ms Donelan as she pointed to her past record in saving taxpayers' cash

Ms Donelan was appointed to the newly-created role of Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in February last year.

Amid a grilling about taxpayers having to pick up Ms Donelan's 15,000 libel bill, Ms Mordaunt told the Commons: 'I would remind this House that when Ms Donelan was entitled to redundancy payments from being a secretary of state, which was 16,000, she did not take that and handed it back to the department, because it was the right thing to do.

'I would just remind people of that and I think that speaks volumes about her character and how much she values the fact that it is taxpayers' money that we are talking about.'

Ms Mordaunt made the remarks as she was challenged about the libel row facing Ms Donelan by Labour's shadow Commons leader Lucy Powell.

She told Ms Mordaunt that paying Ms Donelan's libel costs with taxpayers' cash was a 'new low for ministerial standards'.

Ms Powell said: 'This week the Science Secretary made a grovelling apology and retracted baseless allegations she made against a member of her own advisory body on her own personal Twitter account, based on a dodgy dossier produced by a Conservative think thank.

'Remarkably, the damages paid out came from taxpayers' money from her department. This is a new low for ministerial standards.'

Mr Sunak later said he had been 'focused on the Budget' when asked why Ms Donelan, who earns 154,000 a year, was still in post amid the furious row.

'Obviously you will understand I've been focused on the Budget,' the PM told broadcasters.

'But my understanding of this is that Michelle raised some concerns about some articles that had been shared talking about what happened on October 7.

'I think subsequently to that, those thoughts I think have been clarified and Michelle has withdrawn those concerns.

'With regard to the settlement, it is a long-standing convention stretching back many years, over different governments of all different parties, including Labour, that the Government will fund those legal disputes when it relates to Government ministers doing their work.'

Whitehall officials revealed a five-figure sum was paid to Professor Kate Sang, of Heriot Watt University, but 'without admitting any liability'

Ms Donelan claimed another academic, Dr Kamna Patel of University College London (pictured), had also 'shared extremist views'

Whitehall officials last night revealed the 15,000 sum was paid to Professor Kate Sang, of Heriot Watt University, but 'without admitting any liability'.

Prof Sang launched a libel action against Ms Donelan after she used social media to share a letter she had written to UK Research and Innovation - a public body which manages research funding - in October.

Ms Donelan expressed 'disgust and outrage' that Prof Sang had 'shared extremist views' and offered sympathy for Hamas after their attacks in Israel on October 7.

She claimed another academic, Dr Kamna Patel of University College London, had also 'shared extremist views'.

Prof Sang and Dr Patel were both appointees to an advisory group on equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI.

Ms Donelan's letter followed a social media post by Prof Sang, in which the academic linked to an article by the Guardian newspaper and wrote: 'This is disturbing.'

The article described the response to the Hamas terror attacks in the UK, including details of the Goverment clamping down on pro-Palestinian marches.

Dr Patel had shared a post describing Israeli actions as 'genocide and apartheid'.

In a statement on Tuesday, Ms Donelan accepted that Prof Sang's comments referred to the Guardian story as a whole, and not just the headline, which focused on the Government crackdown on support for Hamas.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology last night bowed to pressure to disclose how much was spent settling the libel claim.

A spokesperson said on Wednesday: 'There is an established precedent under multiple administrations that ministers are provided with legal support and representation where matters relate to their conduct and responsibilities as a minister, as was the case here.

'The Secretary of State received the appropriate advice from relevant officials at all times.

'A sum of 15,000 was paid without admitting any liability. This approach is intended to reduce the overall costs to the taxpayer that could result from protracted legal action, no matter what the result would have been.'

Downing Street today declined to say whether Ms Donelan followed Government advice in tweeting the letter in which she accused Prof Lang of supporting Hamas.

The PM's official spokesman said: 'I can't obviously comment on specific legal advice.

'But as I say, and as the DSIT statement said, she received advice and was, in line with established precedent, provided legal support and representation.'

Asked whether Ms Sunak was confident Ms Donelan has not broken the ministerial code, the spokesman reiterated that she 'acted in line with established precedent'.

Asked whether it is acceptable for people to make false claims and wait for a several-months-long investigation to take place before retracting them, the spokesman added: 'There was an independent investigation.

'And at the conclusion of that, the Secretary of State was clear that she fully accepted that the individual was not an extremist, a supporter of Hamas or any other prescribed organisation, and she therefore withdrew her concerns and deleted her original post.'
The rise of ChatGPT has ignited concerns that millions of jobs will be replaced by generative AI in the coming years.

While the OpenAI chatbot has already helped students write their essays, launched children's books and been found by Google to be as proficient as an entry-level coder, it looms over many industries as a simplistic - and cheaper alternative.

A new study by McKinsey Global Institute suggests numerous roles in the tech, legal, media, finance and design industries are at risk of soon becoming automated.

McKinsey estimates that nearly twelve million Americans may need to switch jobs by 2030.

Tech Jobs

Coders, software developers, programmers and data scientists could all be at risk from AI

Highly-paid tech workers such as coders, software developers, programmers and data scientists could all be at risk from AI tools, according to McKinsey's research.

Such works is 'pretty amenable' to AI technologies 'displacing more of their work,' Anu Madgavkar, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute told Business Insider.

ChatGPT has proved able to produce code faster than humans, but has also shown it is capable of making mistakes.

'I think it's primarily an enhancer than full replacement' Oded Netzer, a Columbia Business School professor said of AI's potential impact on the tech sector.

'Coding and programming is a good example of that. It actually can write code quite well.'

Media Jobs

Advertising, content creation and writing jobs could also come under threat of automation

Other jobs under threat from technological advancement include advertising, content creation and writing, the report argues.

AI is able to read and write effectively as well as process large amounts of understand text-based data at speed.

'Analyzing and interpreting vast amounts of language based data and information is a skill that you'd expect generative AI technologies to ramp up on,' Madgavkar said.

However, 'there's a ton of human judgment that goes into each of these occupations,' she added.

Legal Industry Jobs

The legal industry has already been highly exposed to advances in AI

The legal industry has already been highly exposed to advances in AI, even before the dawn of ChatGPT, a Goldman Sachs study found.

Legal jobs such as paralegals and legal assistants are responsible for consuming large amounts of information, and processing it into succinct briefs.

Such language-orientated roles, as in media, are susceptible to automation.

'The data is actually quite structured, very language-oriented, and therefore quite amenable to generative AI,' Madgavkar explained.

However, Madgavkar says it will likely be a tool rather than a complete replacement.

'It's almost like a bit of a productivity boost that some of these occupations might get, because you can use tools that actually do this better' she explained.

Financial Industry Jobs

Financial analysts, personal financial advisors, and other jobs in personal finance have been identified as at risk in recent studies

Market research analysts, who collect data and identify relevant trends within it could be susceptible to AI automation.

'Those are things that we're now seeing that AI could handle,' Mark Muro, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute told Business Insider.

In a similar vein financial analysts, personal financial advisors, and other jobs in personal finance that require manipulating significant amounts of numerical data can be affected by AI Muro explained.

'AI can identify trends in the market, highlight what investments in a portfolio are doing better and worse, communicate all that, and then use various other forms of data by, say, a financial company to forecast a better investment mix,' he explained.

Traders could also be at risk, according to Dylan Roberts, a partner at KPMG.

'It's going to automate select tasks that knowledge workers are engaged in today so that they can focus on higher-value tasks,' Roberts told Business Insider.

'At an investment bank, people are hired out of college, and spend two, three years to work like robots and do Excel modeling, you can get AI to do that,' Pengcheng Shi, a dean at the Rochester Institute of Technology agreed.

Graphic Designer Jobs

The graphic design industry must grapple with new tools such as OpenAI's Sora

New tools such as OpenAI's Sora, a text-to-video tool and DALL-E an AI image generation tool have led some to believe the graphic design industry faces a threat from AI.

'Upskilling millions of people in their ability to create and manipulate images will have a profound impact on the economy,' the Harvard Business Journal wrote.

Adding: 'These recent advances in AI will surely usher in a period of hardship and economic pain for some whose jobs are directly impacted and who find it hard to adapt.'

'In my view, it's less about automation,' in the graphic design industry Dr. Carl Benedikt Frey, an economist at Oxford University told Business Insider.

'It's more about democratization and competition, potentially leading to lower wages for people in some of these professions.'

Teachers

The narrative about AI's effect on education has largely focused on the issues of students using it to complete their assignments and the potential for plagiarism to enter academic publications.

However, according to Pengcheng Shi ChatGPT 'can easily teach classes already,' putting teachers livelihoods at risk.

'Although it has bugs and inaccuracies in terms of knowledge, this can be easily improved,' he told the New York Post.

'Basically, you just need to train the ChatGPT.'
Cash-strapped Glasgow City Council's 'tone-deaf' plans to fly senior officials on a 7,000 'junket' to New York have been torn up amid public outcry.

Lord Provost Jacqueline McLaren and SNP councillor Richard Bell - who helped to draw up cost-cutting plans to fill a 107million financial black hole - were among the four officials set to jet off to the Big Apple in April.

It was set to cost the public purse 1,700 per person for the officials to enjoy a three-night stay from April 4 to April 7 for Scotland Week.

But the trip across the Atlantic has been pulled following a public outcry earlier this week in which the SNP-led council was blasted as 'tone deaf'.

The council's latest budget details plans to hike the cost of school meals and parking charges, while up to 450 teaching posts could be lost as part of 'reform' plans to the education service.

Do YOU work for the council? Email matt.strudwick@mailonline.co.uk

Cash-strapped Glasgow City Council's 'tone-deaf' plans to fly senior officials on a 7,000 'junket' to New York have been torn up amid public outcry (Pictured: Little Island in the Hudson River)

Lord Provost Jacqueline McLaren and SNP councillor Richard Bell were among the four officials set to jet off to the Big Apple in April for Scotland Week

Lord Provost McLaren and Cllr Bell would have been in attendance during Tartan Week for the stateside parade

George Redmond, Labour's leader on the council, told the Daily Record: 'At a time when the SNP and Greens voted shoulder to shoulder to cut 450 teaching posts and slashed support for both the Developing the Young Workforce and MCR Pathways Programmes, it would have been a slap in the face to Glasgow's teachers and young people if the council approved funding for Council Treasurer Richard Bell, the key architect behind the cuts, to embark on a New York City jaunt.

'I'm delighted that pressure from trade unions, the Glasgow Labour Group, and Glaswegians across the city have forced the SNP to back down.

'They should focus on the day-to-day matters.'

Lord Provost McLaren and Cllr Bell would have been in attendance during Tartan Week for the stateside parade.

According to the event's webpage, it all began in 1999, when 'two pipe bands and a small but enthusiastic group of Scottish Americans, led by Grand Marshal and Academy Award-winning actor Cliff Robertson, marched from the British Consulate to the UN in the first New York City Tartan Day Parade.

Lord Provosts have previously attended in 2013 and 2018.

Chris Mitchell, a GMB trade union convenor at the council, said: 'Never mind flying to another country, the councillors and officials must be on another planet if they think this is the right time time for a junket.'

While Mandy McDowall, regional organiser at trade union UNISON, said: 'We welcome this backtracking.

'It would be inappropriate for council representatives to spend public money on trips to New York whilst parents and our members are protesting against proposed budget cuts to education services.'

Cllr Bell helped to draw up the cost-cutting plans to help fill the 107million financial black hole at the council

The council's latest budget details plans to hike the cost of school meals and parking charges, while up to 450 teaching posts could be lost as part of 'reform' plans to the education service.

KT Tunstall leading the 20th New York Tartan Day Parade, accompanied by King, a New York rescue dog in New York in 2018

James Bond actor Sean Connery pictured with former SNP leader Alex Salmond in Times Square in 2006 as part of Tartan Week celebrations

An SNP source told MailOnline: 'Glasgow is ranked the second city outside London for planned investment this year; and that hasn't happened by accident. Instead, it is because of the meetings and engagements our Councillors, officers and the wider Team Glasgow do to promote the city.

'Stepping up the city's engagement with US investors and diaspora has been a key ask of business partners and this planned trip was a direct response to that. Under the SNP almost 3,000 new jobs have been created in the city from the USA, our most important market for inward investment.

'It is disappointing that a key opportunity to talk about our 850 celebrations, meet with potential investors to support our move to a net zero future and work with the wider city delegation on bringing jobs, investment and visitors to our city won't be able to take place on this occasion.

'There is an element of hypocrisy from Labour here, their Councillors regularly travelled when they were in administration and Labour Councillor Imran Alam's trip to South Korea was approved earlier this term.'

Do YOU work for the council? Email matt.strudwick@mailonline.co.uk
Biden is expected to blame Republicans for not voting on a Senate-led $118 billion bill to secure the border during his speech

The bill's unveiling comes just hours ahead of President Joe Biden 's trip to the Capitol to deliver his State of the Union Address

Former Navy SEAL Rep. Morgan Luttrell is pushing a new border security bill to ensure accountability on the number of terrorists and cartel members entering the U.S.

The proposed law will require U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to publish monthly 'operational statistics' reports on the number of 'foreign terrorist organizations' and cartel criminals coming into America.

The reports would specifically inform Congress on the activities of suspected terrorists and cartel members apprehended by CBP, Luttrell said.

Since the start of fiscal year 2021, there have been 294 illegal migrants on the terrorist watchlist apprehended at the southern border. And that doesn't include the unknown number of those who evaded arrest.

'Due to the Biden administration's failed policies, dangerous cartels are controlling our borders and profiting from extensive human and drug trafficking,' Luttrell, R-Texas, exclusively told DailyMail.com.

'Combatting these deadly cartels starts with knowing exactly who is exploiting our border and coming into our communities.'

The bill's unveiling comes just hours ahead of President Joe Biden's trip to the Capitol to deliver his State of the Union address.

Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, served as a Navy SEAL before joining Congress

He has introduced multiple border security bills this year, including legislation that would require the Department of Defense to draw up plans to 'kill or capture' cartel members

Joe Biden is expected to blame Republicans for not voting on a Senate-led $118 billion bill to secure the border during his address tonight.

The CBP report would include how many migrants who appear on the FBI's Terrorist Screening Database get released into the U.S. interior monthly.

It would also require CBP author reports on including 'gotaways' - migrants who get into the U.S. without being apprehended.

Data on individuals affiliated with cartel organizations, whether they have made attempts to enter the U.S., and whether those migrants were released into the U.S. would also be made available to Congress under this report.

Luttrell has introduced a number of bills the Congress to address cartel influence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In February he introduced a bill to enable National Guardsman to use lethal force against armed invaders.

The Defend Our Borders from Armed Invaders Act would authorize the National Guard to use lethal force against individuals with weapons crossing from Mexico into the U.S.

In the last year, there have been multiple instances of migrants crossing into the U.S. carrying weapons, with some brandishing rifles like the AR-15.

The New Generation cartel mainly operates out of the Mexican state Jalisco

Armed U.S. Border patrol agents are seen on the U.S. side of the border wall

A people smuggler was filmed by a Texas Department of Safety drone near Eagle Pass

The bill allows National Guardsmen 'to take such actions as may be necessary to repel persons attempting to enter the United States from Mexico who are carrying weapons, and for other purposes,' according to a copy of the text shared with DailyMail.com.

Luttrell introduced another bill in February that would require the Department of Defense to create cartel 'kill or capture' plans.

The Jalisco Cartel Neutralization Act, introduced by Luttrell along with Sen. Tom Cotton,R-Ark., would require the Pentagon to submit plans to Congress on how to kill or capture the cartel's top brass.

'The Jalisco cartel, the most dangerous criminal organization in Mexico and second most powerful drug cartel, must be identified and dismantled in order to safeguard the American people,' Luttrell told DailyMail.com in a statement at the time.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel has become one of Mexico's most murderous drug smuggling rings over the past decade. The group is infamous for trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine into the U.S. but also for their gruesome murders.

In August, the gang filmed the murders of five childhood friends who were beheaded for not joining the cartel. One of the young men was forced to behead his friend before he was later killed. They were all aged between 19 and 22 years old.
An Israeli tank crew 'likely' targeted a clearly-identified group of journalists in Lebanon with machinegun fire lasting nearly two minutes after firing shells at them in October, according to a report investigating the incident published today.

Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah, 37, was killed by tank fire in the attack on October 13 while covering clashes on the border of Israel and southern Lebanon, days after Hamas' assault into Israel. Six reporters were also wounded in the attack.

After listening to audio recovered from the site, the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) has concluded the reporters came under fire from 0.50 calibre rounds, consistent with those fired by the Browning machinegun that can be fitted onto Israel's Merkava tanks, after being struck by the shells.

Their analysis showed that the 'only reasonable match' was for a 0.50 calibre weapon fired from 1.34 km away - the same distance as the tank rounds - but the audio recordings were not sufficient to determine the firing point.

'It is considered a likely scenario that a Merkava tank, after firing two tank rounds, also used its machine gun against the location of the journalists,' TNO's report said. 'The latter cannot be concluded with certainty as the direction and exact distance of (the machine gun) fire could not be established.'

Issam Abdallah takes a picture while working in Maras, Turkey, February 11, 2023

Issam Abdallah holds a kitten while posing for a picture in Saaideh, Lebanon, July 4, 2023

A view of the Al Jazeera car on October 13, with the position from which an Israeli tank fired on the group of journalists seen in the background

The remnants of Al Jazeera's car, which was hit by an Israeli strike on Oct. 13 and pictured here on October 15



The group of journalists were near Alma al-Shaab, close to the border with Israel, when they were caught up in cross-border shelling, one of two wounded AFP correspondents said at the time.

The first shell killed Abdallah and severely wounded Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Christina Assi, 28. Journalists from Reuters, Afp and Al Jazeera were also injured in the attack.

In light of the new report, contracted by Reuters to analyse evidence from the Oct. 13 attack, Al Jazeera's manager of international communications has urged the Israeli government to disclose its own findings into the incident, and claimed it 'strongly indicates intentional targeting'.

'If reports of sustained machine gun fire are confirmed, this would add more weight to the theory this was a targeted and deliberate attack,' he said.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was working on a response to questions from Reuters about the incident. Asked to comment on TNO's preliminary findings in December, the IDF said: 'We don't target journalists.'

Reuters said it was unable to independently determine if the Israeli tank crew knew it was firing on journalists, nor whether it also shot at them with a machine gun and, if so, why.

The news agency reported the death of Issam Abdallah in October and said journalists Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh had also sustained injuries.

AFP photographer Christina Assi was with her AFP colleague video journalist Dylan Collins working in the area at the time of the attack. Both were taken to a hospital in Tyre for treatment.

Al-Jazeera TV reported that two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, were also among the wounded.

Neither of the two surviving Reuters reporters or another AFP journalist at the scene remembered the machine gun fire. All said they were in shock at the time.

International humanitarian law bars attacks on journalists as those in the news media have the full scope of protection granted to civilians and cannot be considered military targets.

'We condemn, in the strongest terms, the attack on a clearly identifiable group of journalists, working in the open,' Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni said following publication of the 70-page TNO report.

'The attack killed our colleague Issam Abdallah and injured several others.

'We reiterate our calls on Israel to explain how this could have happened and to hold those responsible to account.'

Erik Kroon of the TNO holds a tail fin of a tank round, in The Hague, Netherlands on December 6. Kroon led an investigation for Reuters into the killing of Issam Abdallah on October 13, 2023

Erik Kroon of the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) points to audio analysis on a screen that is part of the investigation into the October 13 attack

The waveforms and spectrograms of both muzzle blasts used by TNO to help calculate the firing point

A tail fin assembly from a tank round recovered from the site and analysed by experts at TNO

A day after the Reuters investigation was published, the IDF said the incident took place in an active combat zone.

TNO noted that the seven journalists were wearing blue flak jackets and helmets, most with 'PRESS' written on them in white letters.

They had been filming cross-border shelling from a distance in an open area on a hill near the Lebanese village of Alma al-Chaab for nearly an hour before the attack.

Video footage of the aftermath of the attack also showed a black car belonging to Reuters marked 'TV' in large yellow letters made out of tape on both the hood and the roof.

TNO said there was a clear line of sight from where the tank rounds were fired to the scene of the attack. In the live TV feeds ahead of the attack, one or more drones can be heard and an Israeli helicopter was also visible overhead in some footage.

TNO was able to determine exactly where the two tank rounds came from because it had video of the second round's muzzle blast and flight, in addition to audio files recorded at the scene of the incident.

However, the fact the bursts of bullets came so quickly after the tank rounds, coupled with the analysis, led TNO to conclude it was 'likely' they came from the same place.

The independent institute did not offer any other scenario for the origin of the machine gun fire.

About 30 seconds after the second tank round, there was a burst of some 25 shots from a machine gun, followed by bursts of nine and 12 shots.

Just over 30 seconds later, there were three shots, then a single shot and a metallic ping, which may have been the bullet hitting a low wall near the camera, TNO said.

Several of the experts who reviewed the TNO report at the request of Reuters expressed divergent views about whether the tank crew had deliberately targeted journalists.

'The TNO report does conclude that it was likely, in addition to the two tank rounds, that machine gun fire came from the same location, and that adds to, or compounds the, deliberateness with which they seem to have been targeted, directly,' said Jessica Dorsey, an expert in international humanitarian law at Utrecht University.

'And I think that that, from a legal perspective, if this ever got to a courtroom, makes even more of a compelling argument that this was indeed a war crime,' she said.

However, Nick Kaufman, a British-Israeli lawyer who served in the IDF Military Advocate General's Corps and has defended high-profile clients against war crime charges at international criminal tribunals, said it was still unclear why the tank had fired on the reporters.

'On the basis of the TNO report alone, it's not possible to conclude that this was intentional targeting of journalists as opposed to the pursuit of a legitimate military objective which went awry,' he said.

'One would need to have a full inquiry and understand the military intelligence which underlay the deployment of the two rounds.'

The day after the attack, Israel's military said it had visuals of the incident and it was being investigated. No results have been made public.

Reuters' journalist Issam Abdallah pose for a picture in Beirut, Lebanon, September 24, 2020

The low wall on which Abdallah was leaning when he was hit by an Israeli tank round, which killed him instantly, pictured on October 15

A map showing where the Reuters, AFP and Al Jazeera crews were filming on October 13, 2023 and the source of the tank fire that hit them, as identified by experts at TNO.

A map showing where the Reuters, AFP and Al Jazeera crews were filming on Oct. 13, 2023, at a location east of the Lebanese village of Alma al-Chaab, and the direction of the Israeli strikes that hit them

Colleagues of Mr Abdallah shared tributes following news of his tragic death.

Upon publication of the December report, Alessandra Galloni descibed Issam as 'a brilliant and passionate journalist, who was much loved at Reuters'.

Nadine Awadalla, Middle East & North Africa Breaking News Hub Editor at Reuters, wrote on X in October: 'Issam was one of the kindest and funniest people I've ever worked with.

'He was always all in, poured his heart into his work. Saying rest in peace feels hollow, but I hope he does rest in peace and power.'

Rula El Halabi wrote on X: 'I met Issam after the #BeirutBlast and we became good friends ever since.

'He was such a [sweet] and responsible videographer taking care of all those around him. Rest in peace my friend.'

White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton told reporters the President's thoughts were with Mr Abdallah's family.

'We know that the work that you all do is incredibly dangerous and today is reminder of that,' Dalton said.
It's taken nearly two years of political jousting and a war of words with multiple member states - not to mention a series of menacing threats from Vladimir Putin.

But Sweden has now formally joined NATO in what constitutes a stunning break with a two-century-long policy of military neutrality.

Prompted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Scandinavian nation and its Nordic partner Finland conducted a comprehensive review of its longstanding national security policy and just two months later applied to join the mammoth bloc.

Twenty-two months later, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson today handed over the final documentation at a ceremony presided over by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, after which Stockholm's 'instrument of accession' to the alliance was officially deposited at the State Department.

'This is a historic moment for Sweden. It's historic for the alliance. It's history for the transatlantic relationship,' Blinken said, with Kristersson adding that Sweden is now 'a safer country'.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also described it as 'a historic day' that will see Sweden 'take its rightful place at NATO's table, with an equal say in shaping NATO policies and decisions.'

A Swedish flag will now be hoisted outside NATO headquarters in Brussels from Monday.

For NATO, the accession of Sweden and Finland - which shares a 1,340 km border with Russia - is the most significant expansion for decades.

It also constitutes a significant blow for the Russian President, who has sought to prevent any further strengthening of the alliance and threatened to take unspecified 'political and military-technical counter-measures' in response to Sweden's move.

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

Pictured: Two Swedish Airforce JAS-39 Gripen fighter aircraft in close formation. Sweden will bring state of the art submarines and a fleet of highly capable Gripen fighter aircraft to NATO's forces

Swedish soldiers from the Norrlandsbrigade in Boden on a combat vehicle 90 during training together with Finnish hunting units in Hetta, northern Finland, 05 March 2024

A JAS 39 Gripen C/D takes off from Lulea-Kallax airport during military exercise Nordic Response 2024, Sweden, 04 March 2024

Seamstress Tove Lycke at work with new NATO flags, at the flag manufacturer 'Flagghuset', in Akersberga, outside Stockholm, Sweden, 07 March 2024

Sweden's accession to NATO constitutes a significant blow for the Russian President, who has sought to prevent any further strengthening of the alliance and threatened to take unspecified 'political and military-technical counter-measures' in response

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks during a press conference at the government headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden

As NATO's newest member, Sweden will now benefit from the alliance's common defence guarantee under which an attack on one is regarded as an attack on all.

'We have to face the world as it is not how we sometimes wish it were,' Kristersson said after Hungary became the last NATO member to ratify Sweden's accession last week, recognising that Russia's invasion of Ukraine destabilised the European security landscape and necessitated a break with a non-aligned foreign policy.

In return, Sweden will add cutting-edge submarines and a sizable fleet of highly capable, domestically produced Gripen fighter jets to NATO forces.

It will also be a crucial link between the Atlantic and NATO's Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - long seen as an Achilles heel for the alliance.

War planners have struggled to work out how to stop those countries from being cut off from their allies if Russian land troops were to seize the 65-kilometre (40-mile) Suwalki Gap between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

But Sweden's position, straddling both the North and Baltic Seas, would allow NATO to 'deploy forces to reinforce the Baltic Sea nations in a timely manner, but especially the frontline states,' said Tuuli Duneton, Estonian undersecretary for defence policy.

Not only this, but the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO could dramatically enhance Western cooperation over the approach to the Arctic, a region whose importance is set to grow exponentially in the coming years.

As the High North undergoes unprecedented changes due to climate change, the melting of the ice opens up a massive new frontier, unlocking a treasure trove of previously untapped natural resources, new trade routes, and strategic superiority.

Despite relations between East and West being at their lowest ebb in decades, Arctic cooperation has continued relatively unchanged, even as the war in Ukraine continues to rage on - but the status quo is almost certain to change as the prospect of capitalising on what the Arctic has to offer becomes more tangible.

Now though, with Sweden joining Finland in NATO, seven of the eight Arctic nations are also members of the security bloc.

This could greatly improve the Arctic Council's ability to set forth a more rigorous, multilateral security approach to tackle Russian technological and military dominance, and make up for any one country's shortcomings.

But analysts warn that while Sweden's entry makes it easier for NATO to exert control and reinforce its vulnerable Baltic states, Russia can still menace the region from heavily-armed exclave Kaliningrad and threaten undersea infrastructure.

'If you look at a map then geographically the Baltic Sea is becoming a ''NATO lake'', yes,' said Minna Alander a research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. 'But there is still work to do for NATO.'

A recent poll by Swedish broadcaster SR said that most Swedes believe the country made too many sacrifices to join NATO, although more than three-quarters believed NATO would strengthen the country's security.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban shake hands after a press conference following their meeting in Budapest, Hungary, on February 23

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg pictured in July

Sweden's membership will enhance the military bloc's defences in the Baltic Sea region facing Russia. Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin

A B-1B Lancer and a B-52 Stratofortress, escorted by Swedish Jas 39 Gripen, pass over Stockholm, Sweden, 06 March 2024

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson smiles during a news conference in Budapest, Hungary, Feb 23, 2024

While Stockholm has been drawing ever closer to NATO over the last two decades, membership marks a clear break with the past, when for more than 200 years, Sweden avoided military alliances and adopted a neutral stance in times of war.

After World War Two, it built an international reputation as a champion of human rights, and when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, successive governments have pared back military spending.

As recently as 2021, its defence minister had rejected NATO membership, only for the then-Social Democrat government to apply, alongside neighbour Finland, just a few months later after Putin sent his tanks and warplanes screaming across the Ukrainian border.

The country has since made an about-face in terms of its national security and defence policy, with its Defence and Civil Defence Ministers recently calling on the public and private sectors to prepare for the prospect of war in Europe in the coming years.

While Finland joined last year, Sweden was kept waiting as Turkey and Hungary, which both maintain cordial relations with Russia, delayed ratifying Sweden's accession.

Ankara had refused to give Stockholm the green light to NATO membership for over a year, urging Swedish lawmakers to toughen their stance on local members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Kurdish political and militant movement which Turkey treats as a terrorist group.

In response, Stockholm introduced a new anti-terrorism bill that makes being a member of a terrorist organisation illegal.

Sweden, Finland, Canada and the Netherlands also took steps to relax policies on arms exports to Turkey, while the U.S. approved the sale of a fleet of F-16 fighter jets to the Turkish air force.

When Turkey ratified Sweden's accession to NATO in January, Hungary and its pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Orban represented the final hurdle.

Orban's government faced mounting pressure from NATO allies to fall in line and seal Sweden's accession to the alliance, but Hungary delayed its move until Kristersson made a goodwill visit to Budapest on February 23, where the two countries agreed a fighter jet deal.

'The parliaments of all NATO member states have now voted in favour of Swedish accession to NATO. Sweden stands ready to shoulder its responsibility for Euro-Atlantic security,' Kristersson said in a statement on X following the meeting.

Sweden's NATO membership was supported by 188 lawmakers in Hungarian parliament, with 6 against and no abstentions. Hungary ratified Sweden's application days later.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg immediately welcomed Hungary's ratification. 'Sweden's membership will make us all stronger and safer,' he said on X.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban hold a press conference following their meeting in Budapest last month

Russian T-72B3 tanks fire at Ukrainian fortified positions in Ukraine in undated footage

Ukrainian soldiers on the frontline take part in a medical training in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on January 14

Sweden's accession to NATO comes days after Germany's defence minister declared that Putin's army could launch an attack on allied countries within 'five to eight years'.

Boris Pistorius said the US, UK and EU 'hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day... so we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin might even attack a NATO country one day'.

Pistorius told German outlet Der Tagesspiegel: 'Our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible.

'We have to learn to live with danger again and prepare ourselves  militarily, socially and in terms of civil defence,' he concluded, pointing to an alarming speech made by Sweden's Civil Defence Minister earlier this year in which he called on Swedish citizens to prepare for the prospect of war.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas believes a Russia-NATO confrontation is even more imminent, giving a timeframe of just three to five years for Europe to prepare for a serious military threat on the alliance's eastern flank.

Meanwhile Admiral Rob Bauer, the chairman of NATO's Military Committee urged both civilians and governments to prepare for cataclysmic conflicts and the chilling prospect of being conscripted.

'We have to realise it's not a given that we are in peace. And that's why we [NATO forces] have the plans, that's why we are preparing for a conflict with Russia,' Bauer told reporters after a meeting of NATO defence chiefs in Brussels last week.

'But the discussion is much wider. It is also the industrial base and also the people that have to understand they play a role.'

In a stark warning, he said civilians must be ready for a conflict in the next 20 years that would require wholesale change in their lives.

Bauer said large numbers of civilians will need to be mobilised in case a global war breaks out and governments must make sure their nations are 'war ready'.
Aristocrat Constance Marten broke down in tears in court today as she denied endangering her baby.

The aristocrat, 36, and her partner Mark Gordon, 49, are on trial over the death of baby Victoria while living off-grid in a tent on the South Downs in wintry conditions last year.

Victoria was found dead in a Lidl bag last March 1 after the couple had been on the run for seven weeks in a bid to prevent her being taken into care as four siblings had been.

On Thursday, Marten went into the witness box at the Old Bailey to give evidence in her defence.

She said: 'I did nothing but show her love' and 'I gave her the best any mother would'.

Her barrister Francis FitzGibbon KC asked her: 'Did you do anything to harm baby Victoria?'

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Constance Marten appearing at the Old Bailey, central London, where she is on trial with her partner Mark Gordon over the death of their newborn daughter Victoria

Constance Marten (pictured) is accused of causing the death of Victoria by taking her on the run in January last year to prevent her being taken away by social services

Marten told jurors how she came from a wealthy family and was privately educated before studying Arabic at Leeds University

Mark Gordon (pictured) 49, declined the opportunity to give evidence last week

Marten replied: 'Absolutely not.'

Mr FitzGibbon said: 'Did you do anything cruel to baby Victoria?'

Marten said: 'No. I did nothing but show her love.'

Mr FitzGibbon said: 'So far as you are concerned, did you give her anything less than the proper care you thought she deserved?'

Marten replied: 'I gave her the best that any mother would, yeah.'

She told jurors Victoria died last January 9, saying: 'I do not think it is anything I will ever move on from.

'I feel guilty because she was in my arms. I feel like it's not an easy thing to live with. I think initially it was disbelief, shock, intense grief.'

Mr FitzGibbon said: 'What happened to Victoria?'

Marten replied: 'I had her in my jacket and when I woke up my head was on the floor. And when I was sitting up and when I woke up she was not alive.'

She told jurors she considered cremating Victoria after placing her inside the supermarket bag.

She said: 'I had a thousand different thoughts going on in my head. I immediately panicked.

'I just didn't know what to do. They are going to have a field day out of this - the media and press and social services, everyone.

'She was in my care and the next thing she died. I thought, 'How am I going to get my kids back now Victoria has passed away'?'

Marten said that in the end she could not bring herself to burn Victoria's body.

Gordon suggested they 'call it quits' and 'just have a fire and say goodbye to life', jurors were told.

The defendant said: 'We had just had enough by that point.'

Earlier, Marten told jurors she came from a wealthy family and was privately educated before studying Arabic at Leeds University.

Jurors saw footage of Victoria being lifted out of a taxi by the aristocrat and her lover before they sat down in a kebab shop and placed her in a large buggy

She travelled extensively and worked for Al Jazeera, the Middle Eastern news station, before she met Gordon in an Indian incense shop in 2014, and they married in a Peruvian ceremony.

She had a 'long history of issues' with her family, who never met Gordon.

She said her trust fund was 'cut off overnight' when she was expecting her first child but she was receiving 2,000 a month after the birth of her second.

Marten became tearful when she was asked if she had ever harmed any of her five children.

She said: 'Mark and I love our kids more than anything in the world so I'm pretty angry about the fact they had to go through this process. It's not good enough.'

Challenged on the prosecution suggestion that she and Gordon put their interests ahead of the children, she said: 'No, there is literally nothing I would not do for my children.'

By December 2022 she was moving around the country to avoid social services taking her unborn baby away, jurors heard.

On December 24 2022, Victoria was born in secret in the bedroom of a hired cottage in Park View, Northumberland, the court heard.

Marten and Gordon deny manslaughter by gross negligence, concealment of the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16 and perverting the course of justice

An image dated January 5, 2023 from the Metropolitan Police of Mark Gordon and Constance Marten's burning Peugeot 206 on the M61, which was played in court during their trial

Marten said: 'I wanted to keep Victoria with us so I did not want to tell anyone about the birth.

'I was in good health physically but I was in a high state of anxiety. I thought someone was going to bash down the door and take her away. I was joyful but at the same time anxious.'

On January 5 last year, the couple fled the scene when their car burst into flames on a motorway near Bolton, Greater Manchester, with Marten leaving behind her bag, bank card and 34 burner phones.

Greater Manchester Police launched a nationwide search after a placenta was also found in the burnt-out vehicle.

Marten described travelling from the North West to Essex, where she first learned of the media alert from a member of the public.

She said: 'I think Mark and I were in a state of panic with all the media attention and not knowing what to do. I was hyper vigilant.'

They moved on to East Ham in east London to try to blend in but found the 'opposite effect', she said.

The couple's burnt out car on the M61. The car was found burning on the M61 near Manchester

The couple are seen walking through Whitechapel late at night on January 7 2023

Challenged on the prosecution suggestion she and Gordon put their interests ahead of the children, she said: 'No, there is literally nothing I would not do for my children.'

Ahead of a break in her evidence, Judge Mark Lucraft KC warned her not to speak to anyone and noted seeing Gordon pass her a note before she began her evidence.

He told her: 'He must not do that. It's you giving evidence, not him.'

The defendants, of no fixed address, deny manslaughter by gross negligence, perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and causing or allowing the death of a child.

Marten said her family had cut her off 'overnight' when she was eight and a half months pregnant.

She said her three brothers had all purchased houses with money from the trust but she was treated differently.

'They treat me quite different because they don't agree with my marriage and the choices I've made.'

Teddy bears, cards, flowers and candles are left in Brighton in March last year

Marten gave birth to her first child in Wales pretending to be a traveller called Isabella O'Brien.

She said she gave the false name to avoid her family.

Mr FitzGibbon asked if she now felt that was wrong.

Marten said: 'I mean, I'll do anything to protect my child, myself and my family, but I think what was naive was the story I gave of being a traveller which drew attention.

'But I would have still used a fake name.'

She said she had been living in a tent in Wales with Gordon but it was not their intention to give birth there or stay afterwards.

'I actually requested from the midwife, I said we had nowhere to go that was suitable.

'I feel like I made a bet with the devil because I asked them for social services' help and that was probably the worst decision.'

Mr FitzGibbon asked why. Marten replied: 'Because they, I have to be careful what I say, but from my perspective of having gone through the system with social services I don't believe they are there to help parents actually, or children.'

She said she went into a mother and daughter foster care placement and the foster carers told her she should not lay down with the baby on the bed to breastfeed.

The couple then moved to London and a second child was born at home in a birthing pool in 2019.

A pictures shows the inside of the couple's burnt out car. The baby's placenta was found in the vehicle, the Old Bailey heard

'We wanted to get a flat in East Ham but we realised there was no way that was going to happen.

'Our options were slowly diminishing so we thought let's get a tent and lay low, away from prying eyes,' Marten said.

They travelled to the port of Newhaven in East Sussex with a view to potentially smuggling themselves abroad, jurors heard.

Marten said they were only going to stay in the tent they had bought for a maximum of two days and then hire a holiday cottage.

Asked if she was concerned about Victoria being too cold, she said: 'Of course, she was my baby. I worried about her all the time.

Police officers and officers from London Search and Rescue (LONSAR) in woodland at Wild Park Local Nature Reserve, near Moulsecoomb, Brighton, during the urgent search operation to find the baby of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon

'If I thought for one second the cold would affect her, or it was too cold, or we did not have enough items to keep her warm, we would not stay in that position.'

On whether a tent was a good place for a young baby, Marten said: 'It would be preferable to be in a house, that's just common sense. But at no point did we think she was in any danger.

'She was our pride and joy.'

The day before her death, Victoria 'seemed fine' and was feeding and sleeping well, Marten said.

She said it was 'harrowing' and 'too much to take in' when she found Victoria had died.

But she did not seek medical attention because the baby was definitely not alive, Marten added.

The defendants, of no fixed address, deny manslaughter by gross negligence, perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and causing or allowing the death of a child.

The Old Bailey trial was adjourned until Friday.
BBC Scotland presenter and children's author Nick Sheridan died after 'collapsing while running' at the age of 32, friends said today.

The journalist, from Wexford in Ireland, was out jogging when he is said to have suddenly collapsed - for the second time in recent weeks - after suffering a brain aneurysm.

Mr Sheridan, who was best known for presenting shows including Drivetime and Reporting Scotland, died on Wednesday after several days in intensive care, surrounded by family.

It is understood to have happened just days after another occasion where he is said to have also passed out while running.

BBC Scotland announced his passing on social media this morning, with the BBC reporting Sheridan died after a 'short illness'.

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf led tributes to Sheridan as he began his weekly questions in the Scottish Parliament chamber, describing him as a 'extremely talented journalist and author'.

Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also paid tribute to the 'talented and vivacious' star today, while his colleagues at the broadcaster remembered him as a 'lovely man'.

The journalist, from Wexford in Ireland, was on a run when he is said to have suddenly collapsed again after suffering a suspected aneurysm, after also being admitted to hospital last week

BBC Scotland announced his passing on social media this morning, with the BBC reporting Sheridan died after a 'short illness'

His last post on X dated February 24 read: 'On air from 8am with your weekend edition of Good Morning Scotland, reflecting on 2 years since Putin's order for a Russian invasion of Ukraine'

Sheridan's co-host Fiona Stalker from BBC Scotland and Seven Days posted a touching tribute

Tributes have poured in for the 'funny, clever, kind' presenter after the news this morning

He is best known for presenting Drivetime, Lunchtime Live and the Sunday Show. He later wrote a book series for children which included The Case of the Runaway Brain and The Case of the Phantom Treasure.

On Thursday lunchtime, BBC Reporting Scotland aired a tribute to Mr Sheridan, consisting of a black and white picture of him along with his years of life.

A minute's silence for him was also held at BBC Scotland offices, it was reported.

The presenter's last post on X dated February 24 read: 'On air from 8am with your weekend edition of Good Morning Scotland, reflecting on 2 years since Putin's order for a Russian invasion of Ukraine.'

Head of News and Current Affairs at BBC Scotland Gary Smith said in a statement: 'Nick has been a wonderful colleague. He was a hugely talented journalist, presenter and author  and one of those rare people who light up the lives of everyone around them.

'Funny, clever, kind. A lovely man.

'Our hearts go out to his parents, to his partner, and to all his family and friends.'

Sheridan reported for Ireland's national broadcaster RTE News, before moving to Glasgow, and presenting STV News and the BBC.

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf paid tribute to Sheridan as he began his weekly questions in the Scottish Parliament chamber, describing him as a 'extremely talented journalist and author,' Sky News reported.

'He will be greatly missed. Many of us in this chamber will have been questioned by Nick - quite robustly no doubt - whether it was on BBC Drivetime or on many of the other programmes that he presented.

'My thoughts are with his family, his many friends and indeed his colleagues. It will undoubtedly be a very sad time for them.'

Mr Sheridan had an illustrious career in media at RTE, STV and BBC Scotland

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf paid tribute to Sheridan in the Scottish Parliament chamber, describing him as a 'extremely talented journalist and author'

Sheridan reported for Ireland's national broadcaster RTE News, before moving to Glasgow

Pictured are Nick Sheridan and BBC Co-Presenter Fiona Stalker

Nicola Sturgeon posted on X: 'So terribly sad to read this. It is truly awful. Nick was young, talented, vivacious, and full of potential. What a horrible, senseless loss. My thoughts are with his family, colleagues and many friends.'

Sheridan's co-host Fiona Stalker from BBC Scotland and Seven Days posted a touching tribute with photos of the pair.

She wrote: 'There are no words. He was so very loved. I am so thankful for every minute with him. The very best.'

Kelly Given, who was on Channel 4's Make Me Prime Minister before working at the BBC alongside Sheridan, said: 'Working with Nick was truly the pleasure of a lifetime.

'An absolute joy of a human being and a uniquely talented journalist. I'm not sure I will ever have the words.'

After Sheridan's passing was announced, Nicola Sturgeon led the tributes to the 'talented' star

Fiona Stalker wrote on X: 'There are no words. He was so very loved. I am so thankful for every minute with him. The very best'

Nicola Sturgeon posted on X: 'So terribly sad to read this. It is truly awful. Nick was young, talented, vivacious, and full of potential. What a horrible, senseless loss'

"Nick has been a wonderful colleague. He was a hugely talented journalist, presenter and author  and one of those rare people who light up the lives of everyone around them."



Head of News & Current Affairs at BBC Scotland Gary Smith pays tribute to Nick Sheridan. pic.twitter.com/HFTqm8tl1m  BBC Scotland Comms (@BBCScotComms) March 7, 2024

There are no words.

He was so very loved. I am so thankful for every minute with him. The very best  https://t.co/utuFFX0gTJ pic.twitter.com/PviBOzjRMO  Fiona Stalker (@Fionasstalker) March 7, 2024

On air from 8am with your weekend edition of Good Morning Scotland, reflecting on 2 years since Putins order for a Russian invasion of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/RJhXu2Wc0f  Nick Sheridan (@nick_sheridan) February 24, 2024

Brian O'Donovan of RTE News said: 'So saddened by this. Nick was a great colleague and a talented broadcaster.'

BBC journalist Michael Sheils Mcnamee said: 'Very shocking news. Nick was a lovely guy and a pleasure to work with.'

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar posted on X: 'This is absolutely heartbreaking news.

'Nick was a phenomenally talented young journalist, well-liked and with a bright future ahead of him.

'My thoughts are with his family, friends and all his colleagues at the BBC.'

Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tories leader, wrote on X: 'This is terribly sad news. Nick was a superb journalist who embodied the best traditions of journalism.

Tributes from colleagues and fans rolled in on X, formerly Twitter, after the announcement

'My thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.'

Fans also expressed their grief at the news, with one commenting: 'I liked him on the couch and presenting the News. He was a natural in front of the camera. So sad to hear this.'

Sheridan was working on his upcoming fourth book, which tragically he won't see published in June of this year.

Titled 'The Case of the Poisonous Pigs', it will be the third in a series hailed as the 'Scooby-Doo for a new generation'.

His excitement for the project shined through in his posts on X, with one in January reading: 'Getting an email with illustrations for Book 4 by the incredible David O'Connell' accompanied by a Muppet GIF and emojis.

It is devastating and disorientating to have to come to terms with such a vibrant life being curtailed so cruelly and suddenly in its prime, with so much potential yet to be realised.



His awe-inspiring talent, humour, and kindness will remain my abiding memory of Nick Sheridan. https://t.co/MSuJdKtuu7 pic.twitter.com/JQkblqIbXM  Paul Sweeney (@PaulJSweeney) March 7, 2024

Very sad news that BBC Scotland presenter and children's author Nick Sheridan has died.

Nick was a bright spot in any studio and an enthusiastic interviewer on air.

Love and sympathy to his friends, family, and colleagues. pic.twitter.com/TZy43mUGid  Siobhan Synnot (@SiobhanSynnot) March 7, 2024

This is so sad. A wonderful broadcaster, superb writer, and above all a truly lovely man. https://t.co/Ec9fbHvmXN  John Beattie (@BBCJohnBeattie) March 7, 2024

His literary agency posted on X in tribute to the author and presenter: 'We are all heartbroken that our client Nick Sheridan passed away yesterday after a short illness.

'Nick was a talented author and a much-loved colleague and we will all miss him deeply. Our thoughts are with his partner, his family, his friends and his loved ones.'

His agent Lydia Silver added: 'I'm devastated by the news that my client Nick Sheridan died yesterday.

'Nick was a brilliant author who loved writing for children, and a great friend. He lit up every room he walked into and was a joy to be around. My thoughts are with everyone who loved him.'

The Scottish Book Trust said in a tribute: 'We are deeply saddened to learn that our friend Nick Sheridan has died.

'A talented author and host, we worked with Nick on Authors Live and our children's book tour. He had the ability to bring joy to everyone he met. Our hearts go out to Nick's family, partner and friends.'

Im devastated by the news that my client Nick Sheridan died yesterday. Nick was a brilliant author who loved writing for children, and a great friend. He lit up every room he walked into and was a joy to be around. My thoughts are with everyone who loved him. pic.twitter.com/SF3yYQS55z  Lydia Silver (@LydiaRSilver) March 7, 2024

We are all heartbroken that our client Nick Sheridan passed away yesterday after a short illness. Nick was a talented author and a much-loved colleague and we will all miss him deeply. Our thoughts are with his partner, his family, his friends and his loved ones. pic.twitter.com/ugYYPogXb0  DA Children's Agency (@DA_Childrens) March 7, 2024
The government has begun forming a committee responsible for allocating 2,000 additional medical school admission seats to universities, officials said Thursday, amid continuing protests from doctors against the plan.

The move came as the government is forging ahead with the medical quota hike to address a chronic shortage of doctors in rural areas and essential but unpopular medical fields, despite a weekslong walkout by trainee doctors nationwide.

Earlier this week, the government announced that 40 medical schools nationwide applied for a combined 3,401 additional admission seats, much higher than the government's planned increase of 2,000 more seats from the current 3,058 starting next year.

"We have started to establish an allocation committee ... participated in by education and health ministry officials," an education ministry official said.

The official declined to disclose further details regarding the committee, such as its size, the timing of its formation and the composition of its members, citing the sensitivity of the issue.

"As it is an extremely sensitive matter, confidentiality will be maintained until the time the committee is disbanded," the official added.

The allocation is widely expected to be completed before the April 10 general elections although education ministry officials said they will carry it out before mid- or late April.

Once the allocation is completed, universities are expected to reflect new medical school quotas in their application guidelines to be released around May. (Yonhap)
Daniela Klette, a member of Germany's notorious Red Army Fraction (RAF) militant group, has been seen for the first time since being arrested last week.

The fugitive - who had been on the run for 30 years - was pictured as she arrived on Thursday at the country's Federal Court of Justice to make an initial appearance.

Klette was detained in Berlin and is facing charges of armed robbery and at least one attempted murder committed between 1999 and 2016.

The 65-year-old woman was seen being escorted out of a blue federal police helicopter in Karlsruhe, the city in south Germany where the country's federal prosecutor sits and the court is located. A spokesperson later confirmed Klette appeared in front of a judge but did not give details.

Klette was one of Europe's most wanted people and was among a long-sought trio from the radical anti-capitalist RAF group, also known as the Baader Meinhof gang.

The fugitive - who had been on the run for 30 years - was pictured as she arrived on Thursday at the country's Federal Court of Justice to make an initial appearance

She was the only woman tagged as 'dangerous' on Europol's most-wanted list.

The RAF, which arose out of the student protests of the late 1960s, carried out several bombings, kidnappings and killings that traumatised Germany in the 1970s and 1980. It was suspected of killing 34 people between 1972 and 1991.

After going through several 'generations', the group formally disbanded in 1998 with many of its surviving members slipping back into ordinary lives.

Police are still searching for two other members of the so-called third generation of the group, Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg.

Both men are wanted for the same charges as Klette.

Klette, Staub and Garweg are believed to have been financing their lives on the run through robberies of money transporters and supermarket cash heists.

One incident they are suspected to have been behind was a failed robbery of a money transporter was carried out in 2016 near the northern city of Bremen.

In that incident, masked attackers armed with AK-47 automatic rifles and a grenade-launcher opened fire.

However, they fled without cash when security guards locked themselves inside the armoured vehicle, which was carrying about one million euros ($1.1 million).

They are also chief suspects in a 1993 explosives attack against a prison under construction in Germany's Hesse state.

In the attack, five RAF members climbed the prison walls, tied up and abducted the guards in a van, then returned to set off explosions that caused about 600,000 euros worth of property damage, according to German prosecutors.

Klette is also a suspect in two previous RAF operations.

The 65-year-old woman was seen being escorted out of a blue federal police helicopter in Karlsruhe, the city in south Germany where the country's federal prosecutor sits and the court is located

A spokesperson later confirmed Klette appeared in front of a judge but did not give details

A 1988 portrait of RAF member Daniela Klette, handed out by German police in 1993. She was arrested last week after being on the run for 30 years

The suspect showed no resistance as she was detained at an apartment in the city's Kreuzberg district after being identified via fingerprints, said Hanover police chief Friedo de Vries said last week after Klette was arrested.

She had been living on the fifth floor of the apartment block with her dog, and had a partner of a similar age, according to the popular Bild daily.

Police said they found two pistol magazines as well as cartridges in the apartment.

Police used fingerprints to identify Klette, who had been using an Italian passport and living under the name 'Claudia Ivone', according to magazine Spiegel.

German media published the first photo of Klette seen by the public in almost 30 years taken from Facebook, showing the fugitive with streaks of grey in her hair.

Daniela Behrens, interior minister for the state of Lower Saxony, described the arrest as a 'milestone in German criminal history'.

Questions still remain over how Klette was able to evade the police for so long.

Staub and Garweg, meanwhile, remain on the run.

German police said on Wednesday they had released a man suspected of being Staub - after an alarm was raised in Wuppertal when a man on a regional train was mistaken for the fugitive.

Police swooped on a train, but it was later found to be a case of mistaken identity.

Police officers carry paper bags as they pass under crime-scene tape in front of the entrance to a house where former RAF member Daniela Klette was arrested in Berlin

Although far-right extremism has been a bigger focus for Germany in recent years, far-left attacks have also continued to keep the authorities busy.

A court in Dresden in May sentenced a left-wing extremist woman to more than five years in jail for attacking neo-Nazis.

At the time, Germany's interior minister warned against 'vigilante justice'.

The defendant, identified only as Lina E., and three other suspects were convicted of participating in a 'criminal organisation' that carried out several assaults against right-wing extremists between 2018 and 2020.
A mother who calls herself a specialist in erectile dysfunction, her son and her boyfriend, are behind bars, accused of a litany of child sex abuse charges that left a judge with 25 years on the bench in Florida 'shocked.'

This week, police in Boca Raton, along with FBI agents, raided the home that Walquiria Cassini, 38, her son, Matthew, 20, and her boyfriend Ryan Londono, 42, all shared. The raid came after a four month long investigation.

Cassini is accused of sexually abusing two male children, the youngest of which is under ten, and charging online perverts a fee to watch. The abuse of the youngest child began when he was just five, the other when he was nine.

The abuse was uploaded to a web server, documents in the case state. The server, as well as Amazon, Microsoft, PayPal and Zelle, all co-operated with the investigation.

'For the past 25 years, I've seen just about everything, so to shock the court's conscience is frankly a difficult proposition at this point in the court's career. The extent of this is probably never going to be known,' Judge Donald Hafele said when the trio made their first appearance in court on Wednesday.

The mother's boyfriend, Londono, an IT professional, is facing similar charges. Judge Hafele did not issue a bond for the couple.

Walquiria Cassini is charged with sexual assault on a victim under the age of 12, sexual assault by a custodian, criminal conspiracy and cruelty towards a child

Ryan Londono is accused of sexual assault with battery on a victim under the age of 12, criminal conspiracy and cruelty to a child

Matthew Cassini is charged with sexual assault on a victim under the age of 12

Her son is not charged with livestreaming abuse but of sexual abusing the children. 'He's charged with actual intercourse with the child,' a prosecutor said in court. He shook his head in court as the charges were read out.

According to the criminal complaint, during the raid police found various cameras and tripods that were used to record the abuse, authorities said.

Cassini's lawyer argued in court that no actual videos have been recovered by investigators, reports WPBF.

The judge countered by saying that on the day after the investigation, 33 videos were removed from an online platform. Cassini's mother and brother were in attendance in court. The WPBF report notes that the suspect was reduced to tears.

Cassini is a native of Brazil and lists Boca Raton as her current hometown on Facebook profile.

The mother writes that she is a 'licensed medical sonographer sub specialty - Male sexuality dysfunction. Urology girl.'

'Darling, Im a nightmare, dressed like a daydream,' the suspect writes in the bio section of her Instagram page.

The criminal complaint says that Cassini's username online was related to her working in erectile dysfunction.

For the past 25 years, I've seen just about everything, so to shock the court's conscience is frankly a difficult proposition at this point in the court's career. The extent of this is probably never going to be known,' Judge Donald Hafele said

Cassini is a native of Brazil and lists Boca Raton as her current hometown on Facebook profile

On her Instagram, Cassini calls herself a 'nightmare, dressed like a daydream'

Londono is a native of Boca Raton, according to his Facebook page. He is a business administration graduate from Florida Atlantic University

Matthew Cassini shook his head as the charges of sexually abusing children were read out

Online records show that Cassini has been in legal battles with the father of her children since at least 2020. In 2021, she sued him in order to evict him from her home.

Londono is a native of Boca Raton, according to his Facebook page. He is a business administration graduate from Florida Atlantic University. On that profile, Londono writes that he is a technician at a company called Compass MSP, an IT management company.

In November 2023, police were called to a home in Ocala, Florida, after two minor boys reported being abused while they were away from their family home over Thanksgiving.

One boy said that the pair were pulled out of their beds separately to perform sex acts that included 'digital and object anal penetration' that occurred in front of a laptop.

On December 1, one of the victims, a 14-year-old boy, told investigators that the abuse began when he was nine and ceased in November 2023.

The names of who the boy lived with are redacted from the documents. It's not clear who their parents are. The people that they lived with were 'sexually' and 'physically' abusive, the boys said.

The heavily redacted complaint features graphic descriptions of the acts allegedly perpetrated by Cassini and Londono, including penetrating the children with sex toys as a group watched online.

On December 1, one of the victims, a 14-year-old boy, told investigators that the abuse began when he was nine and ceased in November 2023

Cassini's mother and brother were in court watching proceedings on Wednesday

Another person, whose name is redacted, is accused of hitting the children, swearing at them and spitting on them. A man took one of the children's tables at one point, smashed it, and said that he 'hated' them.

Regarding Cassini's son Matthew, one of the boys said: 'He always does stuff to me, he locks the door.'

The director of National Outreach and Education at the Center for Child Counseling Cherie Benjoseph told WPBF in the wake of the charges: 'I hear about this every day of my life. The reality is that sexual abuse knows no bounds, and it can happen in the comfort of our own community.'

Benjoseph added that one in 13 children reports sexual abuse before they turn 18 and that six percent of the time the perpetrator is a family member.

Cassini is charged with sexual assault on a victim under the age of 12, sexual assault by a custodian, criminal conspiracy and cruelty towards a child.

Londono is accused of sexual assault with battery on a victim under the age of 12, criminal conspiracy and cruelty to a child.

Matthew Cassini is charged with sexual assault on a victim under the age of 12.
Three tiny baby manatees were found swimming alone in shallow waters in Florida before being rescued and flown a thousand miles to the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio.

After the years-long rehabilitation, Calliope, Soleil, and Piccolina finally achieved their goal weight of at least 600 pounds recently, making them eligible for release back into the wild.

The three manatees, all female, were discovered in southwest Florida in the spring and summer of 2021, when the massive seagrass that manatees rely on for food died off.

While manatees typically weigh about 65 pounds at birth, Soleil was 53 pounds, Calliope was 62, and Piccolina was only 44 pounds when found.

Nearly three years after their rescue, the baby manatees embarked on a journey back to Florida, where they were released into the Crystal River National Wildlife Sanctuary last month.

Three tiny baby manatees were found swimming alone in shallow waters in Florida before being rescued and flown a thousand miles to the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio

After the years-long rehabilitation, Calliope, Soleil, and Piccolina finally achieved their goal weight of at least 600 pounds recently, making them eligible for release back into the wild

Nearly three years after their rescue, the baby manatees embarked on a journey back to Florida, where they were released into the Crystal River National Wildlife Sanctuary last month

Immediately after the rescue, Calliope, Soleil, and Piccolina were sent to the David A. Straz, Jr. Manatee Critical Care Center at ZooTampa in Florida and were cared for together for a year.

The mass die-off of seagrass, severe weather, and red tide led to the deaths of hundreds of emaciated Florida manatees in 2021.

'Obviously some sort of trauma happened,' Molly Lippincott, who manages Florida species at ZooTampa, told the New York Times.

After months of bottle feeding and intensive care, Piccolina was already 375 pounds, Calliope was over 400 and Soleil came in at 475 by November 2022.

But they needed to hit that 600-pound milestone to be considered for release back into the wild, according to keepers at the Cincinnati Zoo, one of three facilities outside Florida that can take in manatees that need to get bigger.

Calliope, Soleil, and Piccolina had to travel a thousand miles to Ohio in 2022, when the critical care facilities in Florida were at capacity.

The manatees were fed every four hours, dining on romaine, endive, kale, escarole, green leaf lettuce, napa cabbage and bok choy - all arranged on the bottom of the tank to imitate seagrasses.

Keepers at the Cincinnati Zoo said Calliope was curious, involved, and has 'no personal space'.

'[Calliope] wants to be in all the business that's going on in the tank,' one of her keepers, Remy Romaine, said.

Soleil is 'sweet and easygoing,' as keeper Tara Lay called her 'Our big chunk-a-munk'. Piccolina, the smallest among the three adopted sisters, is a bit shy.

Eleven months later, the manatees had grown twice as heavy - big and strong enough to return to their native Florida waters.

The manatees were fed every four hours, dining on romaine, endive, kale, escarole, green leaf lettuce, napa cabbage and bok choy - all arranged on the bottom of the tank to imitate seagrasses

After months of bottle feeding and intensive care, Piccolina was already 375 pounds, Calliope was over 400 and Soleil came in at 475 by November 2022

Calliope, Soleil, and Piccolina had to travel a thousand miles to Ohio in 2022, when the critical care facilities in Florida were at capacity

Eleven months later, the manatees had grown twice as heavy - big and strong enough to return to their native Florida waters

Zoo workers in Cincinnati had to drain their pool and shifted each manatee onto a stretcher with poles that imitate a hammock.

The three manatees were marked with their initials, lifted, and carefully placed in a padded crate with eight inches of foam. They looked calm throughout the process, according to experts.

James Powell, a manatee expert and executive director of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute said: 'There's something about them that, I think, instills a sense of peacefulness in people. They're almost Buddha-like.'

About 30-minute drive from the zoo is DHL's national hub, as the shipping company has become a go-to courier for flying manatees from Ohio to Florida.

Joe Collopy, a senior director at DHL who oversees the animal moves, said: 'You're part of something different, right? The goal is every one of them getting back to where they were. And that makes it special.'

Calliope, Soleil, and Piccolina, along with five other manatees cared for by the Columbus Zoo, boarded the flight to their home in Tempa February.

A veterinarian and a caretaker on the flight regularly checked on them to ensure they were breathing.

Most manatees rest on their bellies, but Calliope prefers to lie on her back. The animals remained calm in transport.

The three manatees were marked with their initials, lifted, and carefully placed in a padded crate with eight inches of foam. They looked calm throughout the process, according to experts

Calliope, Soleil, and Piccolina, along with five other manatees cared for by the Columbus Zoo, boarded the flight to their home in Tempa February

A veterinarian and a caretaker on the flight regularly checked on them to ensure they were breathing

Keepers Romaine and Lay(pictured) traveled with the trio too, as they weighed the manatees and performed medical exams for the last time before the release

Everything went smoothly during the two-hour flight, except for one thing  there was an unusual smell.

There is a smell. Theyre defecating, Dr. Jenny Nollman, a vet at the Cincinnati Zoo who was on the flight said.

'It is the animals' temperament that helps a lot. They just stay chill and don't freak out,' said Dr. Nollman.

Keepers Romaine and Lay traveled with the trio too, as they weighed the manatees and performed medical exams for the last time before the release.

The keepers farewelled Calliope first, as Lay said: 'Bye Calliope! I love you! Please be good.'

Soleil was released an hour later and Piccolina next day, as they joined dozens of wild manatees in the warm spring of the Crystal River.

Each manatee was equipped with a tracking device. Experts said that the trio found each other in the water, but eventually drifted apart.
The company is currently being sued by a local homeowner who alleged that a splintered power pole owned by the company fell and started the catastrophic blaze

The Smokehouse Creek fire ravaged more than a million acres of land, killed two residents and burned dozens of cattle to death after igniting last Monday

Xcel Energy has admitted its equipment was likely responsible for starting the worst fire in Texas history that burned more than a million acres of land and killed 7,000 cattle.

The Smokehouse Creek fire killed two residents, destroyed villages and displaced hundreds after igniting last Monday.

The company is currently being sued by a local homeowner who alleged that a splintered power pole owned by the company fell and started the catastrophic blaze.

'Based on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire,' the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Although the energy company disputes claims it acted negligently in maintaining and operating its infrastructure it has told those who have lost property, including cattle, in the devastation to submit claims to the company through a dedicated process.

Xcel Energy has admitted its equipment was likely responsible for starting the worst fire in Texas history

The Smokehouse Creek fire has ravaged more than a million acres of land, killed two residents and burned dozens of cattle to death since igniting last Monday

Hundreds of residents have been displaced and no official cause for the fire has yet been given

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller told CBS the 7,000 cattle that have died in the fire may not represent the final death toll, which could end up being around 10,000.

The 7,000 also does not include cattle that will have to be euthanized due to their injuries, Miller said on Thursday.

'Their hooves are burned off, their udders are burnt beyond  they can't nurse their babies,' he explained.

Adding: 'We'll actually end up having to put a lot of cattle down just because they won't be able to make it, even though they survived.'

Xcel's shares have dropped 13 percent since the lawsuit became public last week, losing more than $5 billion in market value.

'Xcel Energy, through our Southwestern Public Service Company (SPS) subsidiary, has operated in the Texas Panhandle for more than 100 years' CEO Bob Frenzel said on Thursday.

'The people in this region are our friends, neighbors and relatives. We are deeply saddened by the losses incurred in this community, and we are committed to supporting its renewal and recovery.'

The Minnesota-based utility serves almost four million customers across eight states and is worth approximately $28 billion.

Melanie McQuiddy, a resident of the fire-ravaged town of Canadian, is suing Xcel Energy for recovery of damages to real property, arguing that the a pole owned by the company was not properly maintained which resulted in it falling and igniting the fire.

Canadian local Melanie McQuiddy (right) is suing Xcel Energy for recovery of damages to real property

The fire consumed more than a million acres of land, leaving a trail of devastation

Hundreds of properties were destroyed in the Smokehouse Creek fire

In Fritch, where up to 50 homes were destroyed, photos show a calf killed and burned trees by the Smokehouse Creek Fire covered in snow on Thursday

Cindy Owen, (right) from Amarillo died when she tried to escape from her truck after it was surrounded by flames outside Pampa on Thursday.

Joyce Blankenship, 83, was also found dead as a result of the fires last week

McQuiddy sued Southwestern Public Service Company, a subsidiary of Xcel Energy, and Osmose Utilities Services, a Georgia-based contractor that inspects wood utility poles, late on Friday.

The firms 'failed to properly inspect, maintain, and replace,' the pole which cracked and snapped off at its base, the lawsuit alleges.

'As a result of the utility, powered utility lines hit the ground, igniting a fire, which spread quickly into an uncontrollable conflagration,' it states.

Osmose Utilities Services examined poles for Southwestern Public Service and was irresponsible in its inspection and reporting of the 'rotten pole that caused the fire' according to the lawsuit.

Texas A&M Forest Service is officially investigating the fire but a cause has not yet been determined.

'Xcel will pay for every dollar that its wildfire has caused,' attorney Mikal Watts representing McQuiddy told News 4.

Xcel is also set to face another lawsuit from multimillionaire trader Salem Abraham for damages to his 3,500 acre ranch.

Around 95 percent of the fences and pastures on Abraham's land  which stretches along five miles of the Canadian River  were burned in the fire, along with wildlife and thousands of trees.

Abraham told the Texas Tribune he intends to sue Xcel and Osmose Utility Services later this month over the Xcel Energy pole for damages.

'I'm sick and tired of it,' Abraham said. 'This is not my first or second or third or fourth or fifth fire rodeo, and it's not my first one with these utilities [companies].'

Two residents have died as a result of the fire so far.

Cindy Owen from Amarillo died when she tried to escape from her truck after it was surrounded by flames outside Pampa on Thursday.

Joyce Blankenship, 83, was also announced dead last week.

Her body was found in Stinnett, Hutchinson County Public Engagement Coordinator Deidra Thomas said in a statement on Wednesday.
A group of Indian men who went on a holiday to Russia in December are now trapped and are said to have been forced to fight against Ukraine.

The seven men, who are from Punjab and Haryana, travelled there on December 27 to celebrate the Christian Orthodox new year on January 14.

They had a visa for Russia which was valid for 90 days but then went to Belarus and were unaware they needed a separate visa to do so.

In a video posted on X, one of the men, known as Harsh, said: 'An agent offered to take us to Belarus.

'We were not aware we needed a visa.

'When we went to Belarus (without a visa) the agent asked us for more money and then abandoned us.

The seven Indian men who have been trapped are seen in the video in a small dirty room

'The police caught us and handed us over to Russian authorities, who made us sign documents.

'Now they (Russia) are forcing us to fight in the war against Ukraine.'

Russian officials are able to do this because the men have officially broken the law by not having a valid visa and so are now in the hands of the authorities.

In the video the men are seen wearing military-style winter jackets, standing inside a a dirty room that appears to have a barred window.

Harsh, who is recording the video explains the situation they are in and pleads for help.

Harsh's family has told Indian news channel NDTV the young man had also sought employment abroad, and was reportedly told that it would be easier to emigrate to a country of his choice if he went via Russia.

'My son went abroad on December 23. He went in search of work and was caught in Russia, where his passport was snatched away. He told us they had been caught by Russian soldiers who threatened him with 10 years of jail and recruited him. He said he was forced to do military training,' his mother claimed.

'I want the government to bring my son safely home.'

Harsh's brother claimed he was given weapons training and deployed to the Donestsk region. 'It is difficult to say if he will be alive now or not,' he said and made a similar appeal to the government.

One of the other men, believed to be named Gurpreet Singh has had his family make an appeal for help.

The families of the Indian men who have been trapped and forced to fight are asking for help

The Indian embassy in Russia is trying to work out a deal to bring the men back to their families

His brother, Amrit Singh, told NDTV the men had been 'forced' into military service.

'They were forced to join the army there since the documents which they signed in Belarus were in the Russian language. It said they either accept imprisonment for ten years or join the Russian army,' he claimed.

The seven men in this video are among nearly two dozen who are reportedly stranded in Russia, or are on the frontlines of the war. All say they were tricked into active military service.

There are also reports at least 10 other Indians who have found themselves in similarly distressing situations; they were sent to Russia for jobs and ended up being exploited by officials, often taking money.

Last month the Indian government said it was aware some of its citizens had become caught in the Russian, Ukraine war.

It said it is working with Moscow to try to get them freed.

Many Indians are said to have gone to Russia believing they were getting support and helper roles but then officials pushed them into enlisting, making them sign documents and forcing them to do military training.

This has prompted the Indian embassy in Russia to say: 'We urge all Indians to stay away from this conflict.'

One Indian man, Mohammed Asfan, from Telangana was 'duped' into joining the Russia-Ukraine war, believing he was taking on a back office role.

He also travelled to the war-torn country in December.

It is reported that Asfan was forced into the military, put on the front line - and has now died on the battlefield.

Mohammed Asfan, from Telangana was 'duped' into joining the Russia-Ukraine war, believing he was taking on a back office role

He has since died on the battlefield after allegedly being forced to fight on the frontline

The Indian embassy in Russia said: 'We have learnt about the tragic death of an Indian national Mohammed Asfan.

'We are in touch with the family and Russian authorities.

'Mission will make efforts to send his mortal remains to India.'

The ministry of external affairs in India is now saying there are over 20 Indian citizens stuck in Russia.

Spokesman Randhir Jaiswal told Indian newspaper Hindustan Times 'We also told people not to venture into the war zone and not get caught into difficult situations.

We are in regular touch with the Russian authorities.'

'Each and every such case brought to the attention of the Indian Embassy in Moscow has been strongly taken up with the Russian authorities and those brought to the attention of the ministry have been taken up with the Russian Embassy in New Delhi.

'Several Indians have already been discharged as a result.

'We remain committed, as a matter of top priority, to actively pursuing with the Russian authorities all the relevant cases of Indian nationals for an early discharge from the Russian army.'

Last week, the ministry said it was in contact with another trapped Indian citizen, Azad Yousf Kumar, a 31-year-old man from Jammu and Kashmir.

Days after his 'enlistment', Kumar was reportedly shot in the foot while in a combat situation.

The reports of trapping tourists and forcing them to fight is the latest in a series of policy changes and tactics by the Kremlin to bolster it's military.

In February, it was revealed by UK military intelligence that Putin was working to raise the age limit for army officers to 70 in an attempt to increase Russia's military might.

'Russia is proposing a draft legislation to raise the age of military contract personnel, including those that were recruited before June 2023, to age 65 and age 70 for officers,' a statement released by Britain's Ministry of Defense (MoD) said.

'This would substantially raise the current age limit of 51 for non officers and would likely extend the contract length.'

Russia is believed to currently have around 1.3m military personnel, twice that of Ukraine's 780,000, although not all are currently fighting Putin's war.

Despite it being unclear exactly how many more troops the age increase will have on the Russian army, the number could be significant - nearly one third of Russia's 146m population is aged 55 or above.

Putin has also been releasing convicts from prison in order to help the war effort, many joining the infamously barbaric Wagner group.

The Indian men allegedly being forced to fight have no military training like regular soldiers do

Putin seems to be doing everything he can think of to bolster his military in the Ukraine war

It was announced last year by the then Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin that the convicts would have to serve for a minimum of six months in the army and then they would be freed.

It is reported that Wagner recruited 49,000 prisoners to fight and only 32,000 returned.

That's a much lower proportion than he originally promised but independent researchers believe the real number of survivors is even lower, about 20,000.

One of the convicts freed to fight is a rapist who was half way through an eight year jail sentence.

Nikolai Nechaev, 38, from the city of Perm, was pardoned by Putin so that he could fight against Ukraine, which he did for his mandatory six months - and after he was freed, he allegedly sexually assaulted a young girl.
The first Briton to ever dive to the wreck of the Titanic has revealed what it was like to learn that his friend had tragically died as a passenger on the doomed Titan sub.

Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French explorer who was known by his friends as 'Mr. Titanic', was one of the five passengers who died when the OceanGate Titan submersible imploded on its way down to the wreck of the Titanic, off the coast of Canada, in June 2023.

The world held its breath as militaries, navies and private companies from across the world flocked to Newfoundland to help find the missing sub, which had lost contact with its mothership.

Dik Barton, an explorer and the former head of RMS Titanic Inc., a company that claims to have the largest collection of Titanic items in the world, was on live TV when he found out that officials had confirmed the deaths of Nargolet and the four other passengers.

He was speaking to Vanessa Feltz on TalkTV when news of the deaths broke.

He told the makers of Minute by Minute: The Titan Sub Disaster, a Channel 5 documentary whose second episode is being broadcast at 9pm tonight: 'She told me he was dead on live national TV. When youre asked "So how does it feel to lose a very good friend?" on national television, that was quite sobering.'

Dik Barton, an explorer (pictured, left) was on live TV when he found out that officials had confirmed the deaths

He was speaking to Vanessa Feltz (pictured) on TalkTV when news of the confirmation broke

Barton was close friends with Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French explorer

The sub imploded while it was on the way down to the wreck of the Titanic

Broadcaster Feltz, who also appeared in the documentary, said of the interview: 'Youre telling a man that a friend of his is dead. Thats not broadcasting, thats probably one of the most intimate conversations you could ever have with a human being.

'So youre not putting on any kind of performance, youre actually doing it.'

Nargolet was one of five passengers onboard the doomed vessel, with the others being tourists Hamish Harding, 58, Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush.

They all died after the sub imploded on the descent, killing them instantly.

Several of their friends told the documentary's creators that they were relieved that they had died so quickly.

Chris Brown, an adventurer and a friend of Hamish Harding said: 'In a way, its kind of a relief you know there wouldnt have been any suffering. It wouldve been instantaneous for the poor souls in there.'

Dr Nicolai Roterman, a deep-sea ecologist, said: 'In a strange way, I was actually a little bit relieved.

'It meant that this wouldve happened very quickly on the descent. It meant that there wasnt days and days of psychological torment for these people as they slowly asphyxiated, or worse.'

Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, (pictured) gave an interview to a Canadian radio show just a few weeks before the ill-fated Titan sub imploded

The Titan imploded during an expedition to the wreck of the Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, in June 2023 (pictured)

OceanGate's CEO Stockton Rush eerily joked 'what could go wrong?' just weeks before the disaster.

Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, gave an interview to St John's Radio, a Canadian radio show just a few weeks before the ill-fated Titan sub imploded during an expedition to the wreck of the Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, in June 2023.

He coolly joked during the interview: 'What could go wrong?'

Rush told the interviewer that he chose to launch the Titan submarine in June as that time of the year was when the waters around the wreck of the Titanic were the 'calmest'.

'So with the Polar Prince [the vessel that carried the submarine out to sea], that ice capability we thought, let's move the mission a little earlier this year.

'We specifically designed the submersible for this mission', he added.

The clip was found by the makers of the Channel 5 documentary, Minute by Minute: The Titan Sub Disaster.

Experts who spoke to documentary's creators said that the last moments of the passengers would've been 'absolutely torturous.'

Dik Barton, the former vice president of RMS Titanic Inc., a company that owns aroud 5,500 relics from the Titanic, said: 'The focus of both Stockton and PH would've been trying to gain some control of the submersible, trying to recover some height and getting the vessel stable and back to surface.

'That would've been their total and utter focus.

'The fear that would generate, I can't even comprehend. The last little while, I think would've been absolutely torturous.'

The world was gripped as rescuers urgently doubled their efforts to track down the missing sub before oxygen was expected to run out.

The Pelagic search team's submersible, Odysseus 6K, reached the seafloor after days of searching and on June 22 found debris of the sub, around 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic.

Titan had imploded as a result of enormous water pressure bearing down on the vessel - killing everyone on board in what was likely a matter of milliseconds.

The world was gripped as rescuers urgently doubled their efforts to track down the missing sub before oxygen was expected to run out

Five people were onboard, including British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding and Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman

French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) was in the sub along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition

Minute by Minute: The Titan Sub Disaster details the events leading up to Titan's ill-fated expedition to the Titanic wreck.

READ MORE: OceanGate will SUSPEND all exploration and business operations following death of Titanic Five Advertisement

The documentary, by ITN productions for Channel 5, also asks what lessons can be learned from the disaster.

Investigators believe the Titan imploded as it made its descent into deep North Atlantic waters on June 18 - before the banging noise was recorded.

The sub was launched around 8am that day in the Atlantic Ocean, 400 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at the site of the Titanic shipwreck.

The five passengers started to descend as Rush piloted the vessel, but at 9.45am - an hour and 45 minutes into the dive - it lost contact with its Polar Prince mothership.

OceanGate Expeditions took eight hours to report the missing sub to the US Coast Guard after it lost contact.

That led to a massive international response to rescue the five passengers.

As the world held its breath, ships from across the globe started to make the trek to help search for the missing sub while the hours and estimated oxygen ticked down.

However, it was later announced the five people aboard the sub were believed to have been killed in a likely implosion, and that a US Navy monitoring system had picked up a possible sound of the implosion in the initial descent.

According to experts, the 'banging' could have been from search equipment in the area, marine life such as whales or even just sounds from the depths of the Atlantic

Banging noises were detected in 30-minute intervals by underwater sonar devices called 'sonobuoys'. Graphic shows how they were used during last year's search

Officials soon announced that the five people aboard the sub were believed to have been killed, but search efforts continued.

Confirming the worst fears, it was revealed on June 22 that debris form the imploded sub was found near the site of the Titanic.

Ten days after its disappearance, the Coast Guard announced that 'presumed human remains' had been found in the wreckage of the sub.

OceanGate, based in Washington, shuttered its door amid the search and after the disaster and questions flew about the future of deep-sea tourism at the site.

'We'd spent four or five days... expecting to go down there and perform a miracle,' deep sea expert Jesse Doren told Sky after the discovery of the wreck.

'Obviously, our sense of disappointment is miniscule compared to the people who are close to the families of those who were lost.'

According to experts, the 'banging' could have been from search equipment in the area, marine life such as whales or even just sounds from the depths of the Atlantic.

Dr Jamie Pringle, Reader in Forensic Geosciences at Keele University, also told MailOnline at the time that he believes the sound was 'manmade'.

A desperate search for the sub was launched after it lost contact with its mothership and vanished during an expedition to the Titanic wreck on Sunday June 18, 2023

'The ocean is a very noisy place with passing ships, submarines, fishing vessels, and indeed search vessels in this case.'

Matthew Schanck, founder of maritime search and rescue organisation Marsar International, also suspected a manmade origin.

'Our understanding is the noise could have a number of sources,' he told MailOnline. 'The subsurface of the ocean is a noisy environment.

'But given the high density of vessels in the area operating their propulsion systems and heavy machinery/equipment in the area, this may have been picked up by sonobuoys.'

Ships that deployed remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) in the search  including the mothership Polar Prince  also would have caused underwater noise, Schanck said.

Schanck doesn't think the noise would have come from the Titan debris, although it may come from the Titanic 'if there is loose metal moving around'  but surface vessels and ROVs deployed in the search were the most likely cause.

Stefan B. Williams, a professor of marine robotics at the University of Sydney, told Business Insider marine wildlife 'like whales' could even have caused the noise.

Minute by Minute: Titan Sub Disaster, produced by ITN Productions for Channel 5 airs on March 6 and 7 at 21.00.
An Arizona grand jury has sent out subpoenas to alleged participants in a version of the 'fake electors scheme' in the state the latest iteration of a multi-state conspiracy probe springing from the effort to overturn the 2020 election results.

The subpoenas ask the Republican 'electors' to testify before a grand jury about their involvement in a plan that would have substituted them for the 11 electors determined by the vote of the people in the state, the Washington Post reported.

State prosecutors have subpoenaed 'multiple people' linked to Donald Trump's 2020 campaign, Politico reported Wednesday, calling it an indication that state Attorney General Kris Mayes is wrapping up her probe.

Trump on Wednesday became the de facto Republican presidential nominee for 2024 after rival Nikki Haley announced she was dropping out of the race.

An Arizona grand jury has sent out subpoenas to alleged participants in a version of the 'fake electors scheme', amid indications that lawyer Ken Chesebro, an architect of the scheme, was central to the probe

The Arizona effort features some of the same cast of characters as other contested states where Trump allies sought to overturn the results that went for Joe Biden.

One critical figure, Kenneth Chesebro, already pleaded guilty to a single felony count of conspiracy to commit filing false documents in the state of Georgia after being charged as one of 18 Trump codefendants there.

Chesebro has been revealed to have penned memos after news organizations called the race for Biden that spelled out a plan to have states submit 'alternate' electors in a move that could have forced the House to referee a contested election  with House Republicans in the driver's seat.

A source told the Post Chesebro appeared to be central to the latest round of subpoenas to electors.

A flurry of grand jury activity could indicate that Arizona AG Kris Mayes is wrapping up her probe

Former state Party chair Kelli Ward appears in communications with Trump lawyers about the fake electors scheme

Chesebro (circled) was pictured near the Capitol on January 6

Chesebro pleaded guilty to a single conspiracy charge in Georgia

The developments came in a week when Donald Trump effectively wrapped up his party's nomination for president

Chesebro and James Troupis, who served as lawyer to Trump's 2020 campaign in Wisconsin, this week reached a settlement with that state, ending a suit there and releasing email and photo communications during the critical days leading up to January 6.

In one photo, Chesebro texts Troupis a smiling photo of himself at the Capitol on January 6 while sporting a Trump had. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones can be seen in the background.

In addition to the Georgia case, prosecutors in Michigan and Nevada have brought charges relate to efforts to substitute fake electors.

In Georgia, Michael Roman is charged as part of the scheme. It is Roman's lawyer Ashleigh Merchant who brought forth sensational revelations that Fulton County DA Fani Willis had engaged in a 'romantic' relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

Wisconsin texts between Chesebro and Troupis show the two men discussing an effort to get an 'original copy' of an alternate Wisconsin slate of electors to Sen. Mike Johnson and his chief of staff.

Troupis asked to talke about 'SCOTUS' strategy - meaning the Supreme Court.' Chesebro, who attended a December meeting at the White House with Trump, was optimistic. 'Trump sounds so forceful that maybe Pence has actually agreed to do something at least like not opening the envelopes until a Commission investigates. We'll see soon,' he writes of envelopes containing the electoral votes.

Records also show the pair communicating with former state Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward. Ward was among the 11 people who signed documents purporting to be electors, posting the event on social media.

'Kelli knows how to get in touch with all the electors and has been coordinating with them I believe,' Chesebro wrote in one newly released document.

Records also show Ward reaching to to people who were close to Trump and his campaing at the time. 'I spoke directly to Rudy and told him we were working to make sure we accomplish what we need to do,' she said in a likely reference to former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
The father of Oxford school shooter Ethan Crumbley was seen sobbing in court on Thursday as his involuntary manslaughter trial got underway.

James Crumbley, 47, is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one for each teenager killed by his son at Oxford High School in 2021.

He was overcome with emotion as jurors were given details of the bloodbath that ensued at the hands of his son.

Ethan Crumbley, then aged 15, opened fire at the school in Oxford, Michigan, and murdered Hana St. Juliana, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, and Justin Shilling.

His father is accused of failing to safely store a gun and ammunition at home and ignoring the mental health needs of Ethan.

In court on Thursday, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Marc Keast said that Crumbley had been in the best position to stop the 'preventable and foreseeable' shooting

Keast said: 'What happened inside that school was truly a nightmare come to life. But it didn't have to be. That nightmare was preventable and it was foreseeable.'

Crumbley was seen sobbing and wiping away tears as the trial heard details about the shooting

Crumbley reacts to the testimony of then Oakland County Sherriff's Office Detective Edward Wagrowski on the first day of his trial

Crumbley, father of Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley, leaves the courtroom of Oakland County Circuit Court during a break on the first day of his trial

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Marc Keast said that Crumbley had been in the best position to prevent the shooting

Keast added: 'You're going to learn that those kids would still be alive today if James Crumbley seized any one of the tragically small and easy opportunities given to him to prevent his son from committing murder.'

According to CBS, defense attorney Mariell Lehman said that the prosecution would try to prove that Crumbley knew what was going on with his son, but claimed that was false.

She said: 'Ladies and gentlemen, James Crumbley was not aware that his son had access to that firearm.

'Please do follow the law. And I am confident; we are confident that if you do that if you follow the law, that you will find James Crumbley not guilty.'

In their opening statements, the prosecution spoke to the court for 23 minutes, while defense took just six minutes to lay down their arguments according to one reporter.

Before jurors entered court, Judge Cheryl Matthews made rulings that could benefit James Crumbley.

She said prosecutors can't use text messages between son and mother, months before the shooting, that suggested he was having hallucinations about demons.

The first witness was Molly Darnell, a faculty member who was shot by a bullet that pierced her office door.

Darnell, one of seven people wounded that day, stood, removed a jacket and showed jurors the spot on her upper left arm.

Darnell said that while she hid behind a cabinet, she texted her husband without telling him she had been shot, 'I love you,' she wrote. 'Active shooter.'

James Crumbley, accompanied by Ethan, bought a Sig Sauer 9 mm handgun over Thanksgiving weekend in 2021.

James Crumbley, 47, is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one for each teenager killed by his son at Oxford High School in 2021

Defense attorney Mariell Lehman said that the prosecution would try to prove that Crumbley knew what was going on with his son, but claimed that was false

Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty to his crimes and is currently serving life in prison without the possibility of parole, after murdering four classmates in the Oxford High School shooting in 2021

On Thursday, the prosecution presented a picture showing James, left, with his son Ethan at a shooting range

Justin Shilling, 17, (left) and Tate Myre, 16, (right) were two of four students killed in the senseless shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan

Madisyn Baldwin, 17, (left) and Hana St Juliana, 14, (right) died in the 2021 shooting rampage at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit

The boy called it his 'new beauty' on social media. His mother described the gun as a Christmas gift and took him to a shooting range.

Four days after the purchase, the parents went to Oxford High to discuss a violent image their son had drawn on a math assignment.

Alongside the drawing including phrases that said: 'The thoughts wont stop. Help me.' There was a gun on the paper that looked similar to the Sig Sauer.

The Crumbleys didn't take Ethan home, and school staff - believing he might be suicidal - also didn't demand it. But no one checked the boys backpack for a gun, and the shooting happened that afternoon.

Defense lawyers insist the parents could not have foreseen the shooting and didn't commit a crime.

Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty on February 6 of involuntary manslaughter, making her the first parent in the US to be held responsible for a child carrying out a mass school attack.

Prosecutors said that Jennifer Crumbley was more interested in pursuing an extramarital affair with a local fireman that caring for her son.

Following the killings, she texted her lover Brian Meloche that the shooting 'could have been prevented' and that the school should not have allowed him to return to class.

Jennifer Crumbley is taken into custody after a guilty verdict was read on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024

On the morning of November 30, 2021, school staff members were concerned about a violent drawing of a gun, bullet, and wounded man, accompanied by desperate phrases, on Ethan Crumbley's math assignment.

His parents were called to the school for a meeting, but they didn't take the boy home.

A few hours later, Ethan pulled a handgun from his backpack and shot 10 students and a teacher. No one had checked the backpack.

The gun was the Sig Sauer 9mm his father had purchased with him just four days earlier. His mother had taken her son to a shooting range that same weekend.

Following the shooting, a search of the teen's home found his room messy, with with paper targets from a shooting range on his wall.

An empty bottle of whiskey was on a table beside his bed. At the time of the attack he was six years under America's legal drinking age.

The safe used to house his Sig Sauer handgun was empty on his parents' bed.

The gun used in the shooting was a Sig Sauer 9mm his father had purchased with him just four days earlier, seen here

Crumbley's parents, James and Jennifer were both charged in connection with the shooting

There were two other guns in a separate safe that could be unlocked with the code 0-0-0.

During the trial of Jennifer Crumbley, the court heard that she was more interested in an extramarital affair, her horses and going for nights out on the town, than spending time with her son.

Crumbley's secret lover, local fire captain Brian Meloche, claimed she wanted to meet up the morning of the shooting, and said they had been meeting regularly in a parking lot across from her work.

Crumbley told her lover that she had 'failed miserably' as a parent after her son was arrested for the murders.

Her son Ethan addressed a packed court room after he was sentenced to life in prison.

He said: 'What I did. My actions were because of what I chose to do. I could not stop myself, I do not diminish any ability to anyone that could have stopped me.

'They did not know and I did not tell them what I planned to do so they are not at fault for what I done.

'I am a really bad person. I've done terrible things no one should ever do, I have lied. I've hurt many people, that's what I have done.

'Whatever sentence it is I do plan to be better. I will change, it may not show it now but I am trying.

Chilling diary entries written by Crumbley include drawings of a gun being held to the head of a girl

Jurors at the involuntary manslaughter trial of Jennifer Crumbley were shown disturbing drawings by her mass shooter son

'All I want is for the people I hurt to just have a final sense of culpability that justice has been served in any capacity.

'Any sentence they ask for I ask that you do impose it on me, I want them to be happy, to feel secure. I do not want them to worry another day. I am really sorry. I cannot give it a back.'

In a journal, the shooter wrote about his desire to watch students suffer and the likelihood that he would spend his life in prison.

He made a video on the eve of the shooting, declaring what he would do the next day.

Jennifer Crumbley is set to be sentenced on April 9 and could face a sentence of up to 60 years in state prison.
Colorado has launched a criminal probe into its star forensic analyst Yvonne 'Missy' Woods after 'anomalies' were found in her DNA testing work.

Woods, 60, is under investigation for allegedly performing shoddy DNA testing and altering data. Her work and testimonies have sent hundreds of people to jail over her three-decade career - and now thousands of cases may have to be reopened.

She has worked in her trade for 29 years, and was considered the state's 'gold standard' by colleagues for helping to put infamous murderers behind bars.

The shocking discovery was made in November, when the Colorado Bureau of Investigation performed an internal review and found that some of her crucial data was altered or missing. Woods, 60, abruptly resigned.

Police and prosecutors had been relying on the skilled criminal scientist's DNA work.

Yvonne 'Missy' Woods Woods, a 29-year-veteran and considered the state's 'gold standard' by colleagues for helping to put infamous murdered behind bars. She is pictured pointing to a DNA chart during Diego Olmos Alcalde's trial on Monday June 22, 2009

Woods is pictured in 2003 in a lab preparing blood samples for DNA analysis. The sample is evidence in a sexual assault investigation

The new scandal surrounding Woods has rocked Colorado and is being considered one of the largest improprieties in the history of forensic DNA testing, experts say.

Woods is cooperating with the investigation, her attorney Ryan Brackley told The Wall Street Journal.

He said: 'She continues to stand by the reliability and integrity of her work on matters that were filed in court, and particularly in cases in which she testified in court under oath.'

Now, prosecutors face the tedious task of finding out if there were any wrongful convictions or and whether those who were jailed need to be retried because of flawed DNA testing.

Investigators said to date, there have not been any DNA evidence that was inaccurate, but the state said it would need to review and retest approximately 3,000 DNA samples that Woods handled, costing the state a hefty $7.5 million.

Public defenders estimate thousands of cases could be affected due to the travesty and they are expecting massive legal challenges from those who have been charged or convicted by Wood's analysis.

Michael Dougherty, Boulder County's District Attorney said that his office has identified 56 closed cases and 13 open cases in which Woods was a witness or potential witness.

One of her most notable cases was putting the notorious Alex Ewing 'Hammer Killer', a serial murderer that was linked to two cold cases in Denver, behind bars

Pictured: Robert Harlan. He was sentenced for the kidnap, rape and murder of Rhonda Maloney. Woods testified in his trial

Pictured: Diego Olmos Alcalde. He was sentenced in 2009 for the murder of Susannah Chase, thanks to the DNA testing from Woods

He said: 'The impact to the confidence and integrity of the justice systemand the work that is going to be required on these casesis really significant.

'We will undoubtedly see defendants who've been convicted rightfully and justly trying to use this issue to their advantage.'

One of her most notable cases was putting the notorious Alex Ewing 'Hammer Killer', a serial murderer that was linked to two cold cases in Denver, behind bars.

The Hammer Killer was convicted of murdering a family-of-three in Aurora in 1984 and the murder of 50-year-old woman that same year thanks to Woods' work.

Yvonne Woods took the stand in his 2021 trial and was used as a prosecution witness - giving three hours of testimony. She had extracted Ewing's DNA from sperm and said that it was found on material surrounding the dead bodies of the family.

As a result of her cold case work and words in court, the jury ruled that Ewing was the murderer and he was sentenced to four life sentences for the four killings.

Another case that Woods was involved in was of Garrett Coughlin, 30. His retrial is set for April for allegedly murdering three people in 2017. He was convicted in 2019 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Woods is cooperating with the investigation, attorney Ryan Brackley said. She is pictured May 2009, during her testimony at the James Whitler murder trial in Fort Colllins, Colorado

Pictured: Aaron Thompson. Thompson was jailed for 114 years in 2009 - in part thanks to Woods' DNA testing

Pictured: Garrett Coughlin. In June 2019, Yvonne Woods stood up in the courtroom and told the jury that she did not find any DNA evidence of Coughlin when she examined a gun found at the scene. She instead said that she found DNA traces belonging to another suspect

Yvonne Woods gives testimony at Kevin Elmarr's trial

In June 2019, Yvonne Woods stood up in the courtroom and told the jury that she did not find any DNA evidence of Coughlin when she examined a gun found at the scene. She instead said that she found DNA traces belonging to another suspect.

The defense in Coughlin's case at the time championed Woods for her findings and relied on her evidence as cause for reasonable doubt.

Her own scandal may have now blown that trust out of the water.

Coughlin's defense attorney Mary Claire Mulligan filed an appeal asking for a new trial, alleging that two jurors lied on their questionnaires, Bloomfield Enterprise reported.

Standard criminal-lab protocol requires a peer to review the work of forensic analyst who is working on a case.

Mulligan, who was dumbfounded that this had allegedly gone on for so long, said, in part: 'There is something wrong with forensic testing in Colorado.'

The issues that are expected to arise from Woods' alleged mishandling is expected to be 'extensive' - and will cost Colorado millions.

Hammer Killer Ewing's attorney Suzan Trinh Almony has now said that Woods' scandal only helps their case.

In November, attorney Mark Burton filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Wood's flawed analysis helped put his client, James Hunter, who was convicted in 2002 for sexual assault and burglary, and still remains in prison.

Woods was also involved in genetic testing and testified in court for the 1994 kidnapping, rape and murder of Rhonda Maloney by Robert Harlan.

Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty told the Wall Street Journal that the work required in these cases will be 'significant'

Harlan was sentenced to death, plus 144 years in prison. But his conviction was overturned nearly a decade later for improper jury conduct.

Woods also testified in the trial of convicted child abuser Aaron Thompson.

Thompson was jailed for 114 years in 2009 - in part thanks to Woods' DNA testing - over the death of one of his missing daughters, and for the abuse of seven other children living in their family home.

In 2009, Yvonne Woods was also involved in getting James Whitler convicted of murder in Fort Collins. Whitler killed process server Stephen Allen after being served with divorce papers. Woods was pictured in court during his trial.

Woods was also present in court and gave testimony in 2009 in the trial of convicted murderer Diego Olmos Alcalde.

She was in charge of matching a DNA profile, which eventually linked Alcalde to the brutal rape and murder of University of Colorado student Susannah Chase in 1997.

The case was cold for more than a decade - until Woods found the match between Alcalde's seminal fluid DNA that was recovered from inside Chase's body.

Alcalde was found guilty of degree murder, first-degree sexual assault and second-degree kidnapping and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Since he was put behind bars, Alcalde has filed multiple appeals.

George Brauchler, a former district attorney in Denver, told WSJ of Woods: 'This is a huge, unprecedented mess. I want to know, what in the world did she do?'
The chief diversity officer at John Hopkins Medicine has resigned following backlash over an email that claimed anyone who is white, Christian and male is 'privileged.'

Dr. Sherita Golden stepped down from her role as vice president and chief diversity officer as of Tuesday, according to an announcement by Dean Theodore DeWeese and Executive Vice President Kevin Sowers provided to Fox News Digital.

However, she will continue to teach hold the position of Hugh P. McCormick Family Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism.

John Hopkin Medicine's dean and president were forced to apologize in January after Golden sent a letter labeling all white people, Christians, men and English-speakers as 'privileged' as part of the 'monthly diversity digest.'

The controversy came after the school faced backlash last year for erasing the word 'women' from a 'inclusive language guide.' The guide defined a 'lesbian' as 'a non-man attracted to non-men.' Conversely, gay men were still referred to as 'men' by the guide.

The entire department Neira works in is overseen by Sherita Hill Golden, M.D. (pictured) who has the label of Chief Diversity Officer

The letter was sent to staff by Dr. Sherita Hill Golden for the 'monthly diversity digest'

Golden denied having anything to do with the language glossary, but was ultimately the boss of Johns Hopkins diversity efforts when it was published.

In their Thursday statement, the Maryland school said: 'We are writing to share the news that after a great deal of reflection, Dr. Sherita Golden has decided to step down from her role as vice president and chief diversity officer for Johns Hopkins Medicine.

'She has been a valuable member of the Johns Hopkins Medicine leadership team, and, like many of you, we wanted her to stay in her role, but we respect her decision.'

The school added that it will create a search committee to conduct a national search for the new chief diversity officer. Until a new chief is selected, chief human resources officer Inez Stewart will oversee the diversity office.

The statement continued: 'As Dr. Golden transitions to her diabetes research as a faculty member, we remain unwavering in our commitment to the principles and values of diversity, inclusion and health equity. We will continue to address health disparities and increase retention and recruitment of diverse talent, all in service of the richly diverse communities we serve.

'This work takes courage, and we are profoundly grateful to Dr. Golden for her grace under pressure, her poise in the face of adversity, and her dedication to the mission and work of ODIHE (Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Health Equity).'

In the initial inflammatory email Dr. Golden explained that 'privilege' is the 'diversity word of the month'.

To highlight who the phrase applies to, she offered a list. It reads: 'Privilege is characteristically invisible to people who have it.

'White people, able-bodied people, heterosexuals, cisgender people, males Christians, middle or owning class people, middle-aged people and English-speaking people,' all fit the bill, according to Golden.

Johns Hopkins University had been known for its rigorous academics, commitment to research and innovation, and its contributions to advancing knowledge and solving complex problems in a wide range of fields

Johns Hopkins University last year excluded the word 'women' in the definition of 'lesbian' within its newly created inclusive language guide

'People in dominant groups often believe they have earned the privileges they enjoy or that everyone could have access to these privileges if only they worked to earn them.

'In fact, privileges are unearned and are granted to people in the dominant groups whether they want those privileges or not, and regardless of their stated intent.'

Among those to condemn the remarks was Elon Musk, who tweeted: 'This must end!'

After the post went viral on Twitter, Golden issued an apology to staff.

'The newsletter included a definition of the word privilege which, upon reflection, I deeply regret. The intent of the newsletter is to inform and support an inclusive community at Hopkins, but the language of this definition clearly did not meet that goal.

'In fact, because it was overly simplistic and poorly worded, it had the opposite effect.'

'I retract and disavow the definition I shared and I am sorry.'

In a statement to DailyMail.com, a Johns Hopkins Medicine spokesperson said: 'The January edition of the monthly newsletter from the Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity used language that contradicts the values of Johns Hopkins as an institution.

'Dr. Sherita Golden, Johns Hopkins Medicine's Chief Diversity Officer, has sincerely acknowledged this mistake and retracted the language used in the message.'
Nurses will be allowed to perform CPR and administer medication for emergency patients beginning Friday, officials have said, as part of the government's efforts to cope with disruptions of medical services due to the ongoing mass walkout by trainee doctors.

The guidelines by the Ministry of Health and Welfare will increase the roles of nurses at emergency care units, as the mass walkout to protest the government's plan to boost medical students entered its 17th day, with some 9,000 junior doctors defying the government's order to return to work.

The guidelines will be applied to nurses at teaching hospitals where trainee doctors left their worksites, according to the ministry.

The ministry launched a pilot program late last month, enabling nurses to undertake specific responsibilities held by doctors in a restricted capacity. The role includes performing CPR and injecting medication into patients in critical condition.

Earlier in the day, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong visited a hospital in Jeonju, 192 kilometers south of Seoul, and encouraged medical staff there.

Cho told reporters that his ministry is taking steps to suspend the medical licenses of defiant trainee doctors "in accordance with the law."

Separately, Jun Byung-wang, a senior official at the health ministry, told reporters that the government decided to spend 188.2 billion won ($141 million) per month from the state health insurance fund to respond to the labor action by trainee doctors.

Despite the government's warnings, the number of defiant trainee doctors has been on a steady rise. As of Wednesday, 11,219 trainee doctors at 100 teaching hospitals had left their worksites, accounting for some 91 percent of all junior doctors, according to the ministry.

As the medical interns and residents, who play a vital role in assisting with surgeries and emergency services at major general hospitals, remained absent, local hospitals have been experiencing cancellations and delays in surgeries and emergency medical treatment.

The government has been pushing to increase physician numbers as a way to resolve the shortage of doctors in rural areas and essential medical fields, such as pediatrics and neurosurgery, and also given the super-aging population.

Doctors say the quota hikes will undermine the quality of medical education and other services and result in higher medical costs for patients. They have called for measures to first address the underpaid specialists and improve the legal protection against excessive medical malpractice lawsuits. (Yonhap)
Palestinian community organizing group Within Our Lifetimes is planning an International Women's Day protest that will likely disrupt the flow of transportation across New York City.

Earlier this week, the organization announced their 'Global Strike for Gaza,' which will take place at 4pm on Friday in Manhattan's Union Square.

The strike announcement comes after the group caused major chaos in New York City on New Year's Day this year when they instructed participants to flood JFK's Terminal 4.

The group posted to X instructions for its supporters to follow on Friday to get to the protest site.

The N, Q, R, W, 4, 5, 6, and L trains may be disrupted by those flocking to the protest, or by the protest itself once it gets going.

FRIDAY, MARCH 8 



NYC: International Women's Day Global Strike for Gaza

Friday, Mar. 8th

4:00 PM

UNION SQUARE

TAKE N, Q, R, W, 4, 5, 6, and L TRAINS

SHARE WIDELY

FOR LOCATION UPDATES:

twitter/x: @wolpalestine

telegram: https://t.co/ZZFwkVzFmB pic.twitter.com/RQi81oXFXl  Within Our Lifetime (@WOLPalestine) March 4, 2024

Online flyers for the protest seem to indicate it is being run in conjunction with other pro-Palestinian groups Decolonize This Place and Existence is Resistance.

On X, WOL wrote, in announcing the protest: 'To commemorate International Women's Day and answer the call from women in Palestine, we are mobilizing as part of a Global Strike for Gaza on FRIDAY, MARCH 8TH AT 4:00 PM IN UNION SQUARE!

'As the Zionist entity has used lies of sexual violence to legitimize the ongoing genocide in Gaza while there is no accountability for the real sexual violence that Palestinian women have experienced at the hands of occupation soldiers for decades,' they wrote.

Members of some of these pro-Palestinian groups have continuously claimed that accounts of sexual violence against Israeli women on October 7 are 'not true.'

'We are going to flood New York to show the world that Palestinian liberation is inextricably linked with women's liberation. ALL OUT FOR GAZA,' concluded the post.

In December, suspended NYU professor Amin Husain, told a group of New School students that they live 'in a Zionist city' and that those who 'try to put them on the defensive' are merely victims of the narrative that Hamas raped people and beheaded babies.

'Both of which, you know, whatever, we know it's not true,' he said.

Husain's lengthy Canary Mission profile claims, correctly according to him, that he 'has organized multiple violent New York City disruptions, promoted hatred of America and the police and incited hatred against pro-Israel supporters with Within Our Lifetime (WOL), an anti-Israel activist group in New York.'

'He has also expressed support for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group and glorified its leaders, promoted other terrorists and spread hatred of Israel,' according to the site.

He further claims to have 'participated in the first intifada and personally visited a leader of the terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). He has also expressed support for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group and glorified its leaders, promoted other terrorists and spread hatred of Israel.'

On New Year's Day, travelers were told to leave for JFK extra early due to the significant disruptions caused by pro-Palestinian protestors that were blocking roads to the major airport

Husain is also the founding member of Decolonize This Place, a radical activist group that, in the immediate aftermath of October 7, praised the radical Palestinian terrorism as 'heroic.'

The group has also previously participated in causing $100,000 worth of damage to the NYC subway system during various anti-police riots.

More recently, anti-Israel protestors have been out in New York City demonstrating in front of cancer hospitals.

In mid-January, thousands of marchers demanding a ceasefire to the fighting in Gaza during an event called 'Flood Manhattan for Gaza MLK Day march for healthcare.'

At one point, as they passed by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on the Upper East Side, where they shouted 'Shame!'

An organizer for the pro-Palestine group Within Our Lifetime attempted to explain their rhetoric on X, accusing the hospital of accepting money from pro-Israel billionaires.

Anti-Israel protesters were seen on video Monday passing by a New York City cancer hospital, where they shockingly yelled to 'make sure' the patients can hear them as they accused them of 'complicity in genocide'

Not a good look as pro-Palestinian protestors target a cancer hospital on New Yorks Upper East Side. The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center also houses a paediatric day hospital



Make sure they hear you, theyre in the windows. pic.twitter.com/qKC7ma1v52  Danny Morris (@DannyMMorris) January 15, 2024

'Sloan Kettering accepted a *400 million dollar donation* from billionaire Zionist Ken Griffin, the largest in their history. This was *after* he threatened pro-Palestine student activists at Harvard with revoked job offers. Our medical institutions are not innocent bystanders.' But others were horrified by the behavior.

In a statement to DailyMail.com, Griffin condemned the protesters and reaffirmed his commitment to the hospital.

'I am proud to support the heroes at Memorial Sloan Kettering who every day are providing compassionate care for patients suffering from cancer,' he said.

'MSK is one of the leading hospitals in the world and it is heartbreaking that innocent patients were made to feel threatened by these protestors while undergoing life-saving treatment.'
'Ive been told we will start to get them this morning,' he added

The chairman told DailyMail.com before the scheduled hearing Thursday that he had a 'good conversation' with Blinken over the phone last night

Republicans are postponing holding Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress today after he agreed to produce Afghanistan withdrawal documents they've been demanding for over a year.

Chairman Michael McCaul, who is leading the investigation into the administration's messy 2021 exit, announced last week that the House Foreign Affairs Committee would hold a markup on the contempt articles on March 7.

But he told DailyMail.com an hour before the scheduled hearing Thursday that he had a 'good conversation' with Blinken over the phone last night and said the secretary 'agreed to produce the documents.'

'In the spirit of good faith negotiations, Ive postponed the markup - with the understanding that these documents will be produced. Ive been told we will start to get them this morning,' he added.

Republicans have been petitioning the State Department for the AAR (after-action review) team's interview notes from those most intimately involved in the chaotic withdrawal.

They say it will help complete their investigation and shape legislation to prevent the 'catastrophic mistakes' from ever happening again by providing 'access to the truth.'

McCaul is bringing Christy Shamblin - the mother-in-law of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, who was one of the 13 US troops killed in the withdrawal - to President Biden's State of the Union address tonight.

McCaul insisted that the documents will provide 'crucial information' for the Republicans' ongoing investigation that will give Gold Star families, like the Shamblins, closure.

Rep. Michael McCaul, the head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced his panel will hold a markup on the contempt articles on March 7 and already noticed Blinken and his team

Last July, the State Department quietly released a 87-page report condemning his administration's failure to prepare for the Afghanistan's rapid collapse at the hands of the Taliban in 2021

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul is reigniting his previous threats to take legal action against Blinken after he has 'obstructed' Congress' requests for documents

He threatened that contempt is still on the table if the documents are not handed over.

'I take the secretary at his word that we will get all these documents. But if the situation changes, I will have to revisit all our options to ensuring they are produced.'

If successful, it will be the first time in U.S. history that a secretary of state is held in contempt of Congress.

Last month, McCaul reignited his previous threats to take legal action against Blinken, saying he 'obstructed' Congress' many requests for documents.

'It is appalling that over two years after the deadly and chaotic withdrawal, the Department continues to choose politics over policy,' McCaul wrote in a letter exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com in February.

Again, he stressed the 'legislative need for these primary source documents.'

McCaul said department officials told his committee that the Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources Rich Verma 'personally reviewed' the AAR notes.

But said they are currently being withheld by the White House and National Security Council.

'The officials communicated this decision is now above their 'paygrade,'' he stated in the letter obtained by DailyMail.com.

Republicans are still working to hold the Biden administration accountable after the hasty exit from Afghanistan in 2021, during which 13 American service members and at least 170 Afghans were killed.

The Americans killed in the blast were: (left to right, starting with top row) Cpl. Daegan W. Page - Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo - Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover - Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza - Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum - Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui - Cpl. Hunter Lopez - Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz - Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss - Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez - Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak - Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola - Sgt. Nicole L. Gee

McCaul is bringing Christy Shamblin - the mother-in-law of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, who was one of the 13 US troops killed in the withdrawal - to President Biden's State of the Union address tonight

In addition, the family members of the 13 U.S. troops killed are still demanding answers as not a single Biden administration official has taken the blame for the horrors that unfolded during the withdrawal.

McCaul says the documents are necessary to 'prevent the catastrophic mistakes of the withdrawal from happening again.'

The back and forth between McCaul and the State Department has been going on for months.

McCaul first subpoenaed the department on July 18 for the AAR documents.

He described the department's response to that subpoena 'anemic' and unacceptable.

McCaul and Blinken spoke on the phone on August 11, where the secretary 'personally' promised to provide the chairman the information he is seeking.

But now, the 'committees patience has been exhausted,' continues McCaul in the letter.

Last year, the committee postponed holding Blinken in contempt of Congress over a separate issue - after he agreed to allow committee leadership to view a classified dissenting cable that U.S. State Department employees sent prior to the Taliban's takeover of Kabul on July 13, 2021.

The cable warned about a 'deteriorating' security situation' and urged the immediate evacuation of allies, a warning that the Biden administration did not heed, say Republicans.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul is reigniting his previous threats to take legal action against Blinken

The committee had requested that Naz Durakoglu, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Legislative Affairs and Richard Visek in the Office of the Legal Adviser sit for transcribed interviews.

Last July, the State Department quietly released a 87-page report condemning his administration's failure to prepare for the Afghanistan's rapid collapse at the hands of the Taliban in 2021.

The investigation found serious pitfalls in leadership and questions about who was in charge before and during the mayhem

'The decisions of both President Trump and President Biden to end the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan had serious consequences for the viability of the Afghan government and its security,' the report says.

'Those decisions are beyond the scope of this review, but the (review) team found that during both administrations there was insufficient senior-level consideration of worst-case scenarios and how quickly those might follow.'

It also outlined several strategic failures as the Taliban overran cities - saying there wasn't enough consideration given to 'worst-case scenarios.'

As a result, thousands of allies who helped the U.S. in the war were left behind, and there was chaos at Hamid Karzai International Airport as men, women and children tried desperately to flee.

Even though planning for the evacuation of Kabul began 'some time' beforehand, the State Department was 'hindered by the fact that it was unclear who in the Department had the lead.'
The federal government created 'profiles' on the American people kept in a 'secret portal' shared with companies to identify customer's levels of extremism, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan revealed.

An interface shared between over 650 companies and federal officials holds a 'secret portal' containing sensitive data on American citizens, Jordan warned during a House Weaponization Committee hearing Thursday.

Republicans are investigating how big government 'colluded' with big banks and companies to surveil Americans' private financial data.

Their probe centers on how the Biden administration worked with financial institutions to flag 'indicators' of 'extremism' among consumers in the wake of January 6.

Republicans put out a comprehensive report Wednesday running through the 'starling evidence,' including that banks collected information on everyday Americans by using 'hate symbols' collected by liberal groups.

Some of the 'indicators' included the general search terms: MAGA, gun, 'kill,' 'shoot,' 'Capitol,' 'Kamala' and Biden,' the Treasury Department previously confirmed.

But the financial surveillance 'was broader and there was actually a specific objective,' Jordan, R-Ohio, stated in his opening remarks at the hearing Thursday.

'The federal government is building profiles on the American people. And the profile is not based criminal conduct, it's based on political belief.'

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan is investigating a Treasury department initiative that promoted banks surveil customer records

The surveillance was intended to track consumer purchases following January 6

'And if you've got the wrong political beliefs, well you're potentially a domestic violent extremist,' Jordan added.

'There's this entity we discovered called the the domestic security alliance, DSAC, and this is an entity where the FBI [and] the Department of Homeland Security works with the 650 largest companies in the world,' Jordan said.

'And they work through this 'control access portal.' What are they sharing in this secret portal? Well we're not exactly sure.'

The hearing included notable witnesses author and psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson and former Capitol Police Officer Michael Fanone, who was attacked during January 6.

Jordan previously revealed federal officials also warned banks of 'extremism' indicators like the purchase of a religious text, like a Bible, or searches including the terms 'MAGA' and 'TRUMP' or 'Biden and Kamala.'

And transactions at sporting and recreational supplies stores like Cabela's, Dick's Sporting Goods and Bass Pro Shops were reviewed in order to detect customers who might be 'extremists.'

On Monday, the House 'weaponization' committee chairman Jim Jordan sent letters to GoFundMe and Eventbrite asking that they cooperate with their ongoing investigation, exclusively reported by DailyMail.com.

Republicans say that the federal government urged the crowdfunding platforms to 'comb' through their personal transactions 'report charges on the basis of protected political and religious expression.'

He is requesting the sites turn over their previous communications with federal officials, including those at the Treasury, who oversaw the transaction surveillance.

Former Capitol Police officer Michael Fanone and author Dr. Jordan Peterson set to testify at a House Weaponization of the Federal Government hearing. pic.twitter.com/7G5hFqN4Fp  Jon Michael Raasch (@JMRaasch) March 7, 2024

Federal investigators suggested that banks use search terms like 'MAGA' and 'Trump' to identify purchased that could be associated with 'extremism'

Transportation charges for travel to areas with no apparent purpose could be an indicator of 'extremism,' according to the letter

Jordan writes that his committee has obtained documents showing that on January 18, 2021, Treasury officials from the FinCEN division emailed GoFundMe, Eventbrite, Anedot and others.

The officials explained how they could 'use a 'transaction reference' to identify customers.

They included details on how to search using an individuals' card purchase and phone number specifically for Trump rally attendees.

'FinCEN noted how 'Card Purchase[s]' to events are findable using 'the transaction reference 'EB [the EVENT] with the phone number' and detailed how individuals who purchased tickets to events in support of President Trump could be identified using the transaction reference,' the email stated.

Jordan scathed in his letter Monday saying these searches were being conducted despite the transactions 'having no apparent nexus to criminal activity.'

He says as Americans were exercising their First Amendment rights, FinCEN officials 'adopted a characterization of these Americans as potential threat actors.'

His committee is continuing to investigate and is demanding the crowdfunding sites provide requested documentation no later than March 18.

DailyMail.com reached out to GoFundMe and Eventbrite for comment.

Jordan has previously claimed the federal government has been 'watching' Americans who frequent outdoor stores that sell guns - or who are religious.

The terms 'MAGA' and 'Trump' were also suggested by the Treasury to be searched in Zelle payments, according to Jordan.

Subscriptions to news outlets containing 'extremist' views would also be an indicator for financial instructions to look at, according to the material the Treasury provided to banks.

'Did you shop at Bass Pro Shop yesterday or purchase a Bible? If so, the federal government may be watching you,' Jordan previously wrote in a post.

'We now know the federal government flagged terms like 'MAGA' and 'TRUMP,' to financial institutions if Americans completed transactions using those terms,' he wrote in another post. 'What was also flagged? If you bought a religious text, like a BIBLE, or shopped at Bass Pro Shop.'

The federal officials may have illegally provided financial institutions with suggested search terms for 'identifying transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement,' said Jordan.

Jordan is also demanding information from a Treasury official, Noah Bishoff, after the alarming documents came to light.

Purchases from Bass Pro Shops could also be an indicator of extremism

The committee also obtained documents indicating officials suggested that banks query purchases with keywords such as 'Dick's Sporting Goods'

'This kind of pervasive financial surveillance, carried out in coordination with and at the request of federal law enforcement, into Americans' private transactions is alarming and raises serious doubts about [the Treasury's] respect for fundamental liberties.'

'In other words, [the Treasury] urged large financial instructions to comb through the private transactions of their customers for suspicious charges on the basis of protected political and religious expression,' said the committee's letter to Bishoff.

House Speaker Mike Johnson called the revelation 'yet another glaring example of the weaponized federal government targeting conservatives.'
Jeremy Hunt announced in his Budget new vaping taxes which could cause a dramatic surge in prices - but store owners and e-cigarette users are divided over what the impact will be, MailOnline can reveal.

The Chancellor revealed the price of the strongest e-cigarette fluid will rise by up to 3, amid concerns about what has been called Britain's 'child vaping epidemic'.

Non-nicotine vaping fluid will be hit with a 1 tax per 10ml tax, the average size in which most e-liquids are sold.

Liquid with a nicotine content less than one cigarette, about 11mg, will be given a 2 per 10ml rate while those stronger than cigarettes will be taxed at 3 per 10ml.

But we can reveal that specialist retailers and regular vapers in London, where many high streets are filled with e-cigarette sellers, had mixed feelings about the new measures.

Former vape shop owner Richard Palmer, 48, insists he will keep up the 'brilliant' habit

Jaser Osmond, owner of a vape store in central London, believes smaller shops will suffer

Darren Gia, working at Soho Vape in London's West End, thinks price rises could prove healthy

There are now at least 3,573 specialist vape shops across the UK, according to the most recent figures from the Local Data Company which surveys retail areas.

The total rose by 233 last year, a hefty increase compared to 61 new stores in 2022 and a net fall of 23 the previous year - a drop widely blamed on the Covid-19 pandemic which encouraged a surge in online purchases.

Jaser Osmond, 32, owner of Vaporz & Shisha in central London's Edgware Road, expects new taxes to have little impact on his business - but warned smaller shops in less busy areas could be hit more severely.

He says that the price increases shouldn't really affect his business at all, but they could be a problem for smaller shops.

He said: 'I don't see how it would affect us - we will have to raise our prices but most of our customers are tourists anyway, so they will just pay the money.

'For the local businesses, however, it will make things more competitive.'

He has welcomed government plans to increase taxes on vapes, which he believes will make them less accessible to children.

Mr Osmond added: 'It will be good because it will deter some of the kids from buying them.

'A lot of people are smoking them because they are cheap and look cool.'

There are more than 3,500 specialist vape shops across the UK, recent figures show

Jaser Osmond, owner of a shop in Edgware Road, hopes the tax 'will deter some of the kids'

Single use vapes are set to be banned in England, flavours will be limited and e-cigarettes will have to be sold in plain packaging, under proposals the Government hopes to introduce

Darren Gia, 23, who has been working at Soho Vape in the capital's West End for about a year, agreed the vape tax could be a welcome development.

He said: 'It is for the best to tax them so that people will be encouraged to quit - I think that it is a good thing.

'It won't affect us too much because we have lots of customers who are loyal to us, and we sell a range of tobacco/nicotine products, so if they ban one we can still sell the rest.

'There's always competition around here and the tax could cause that to get more tense.'

And another Soho vape shop worker, 26-year-old MJ, suggested the addictive nature of the products meant customers would not be deterred by price rises.

He said: 'People are addicted to it, so they are willing to pay anything. It is too hard for them to quit so they will have to buy it.

'It shouldn't affect us because all of the shops will have to raise their prices so we will still be cheap by comparison.

'At the end of the day if people can't vape anymore, they will just find something else to smoke.

'Marijuana is illegal and yet you still get people smoking - nothing will stop them.'

Vaping on the streets of Soho was Richard Palmer, 46, a former vape shop owner who has been enjoying the product for 12 years - and credits vapes with helping him to quit cigarettes.

He said of the tax hike: 'It won't stop me from buying vapes, I am not bothered. They are still cheaper and healthier than smoking cigarettes.

'I haven't smoked a cigarette since I started vaping and I used to be on 20 a day - they are brilliant.'

Soho Vape employee Darren Gia suggested tax increases could encourage buyers to quit

Shock data last year revealed a record 11.6 per cent of 11 to 17-year-olds in Britain have now tried vaping - up by 7.7 per cent on 2022 year and twice as high as rates seen a decade ago

Soho Vape staff say they should keep 'loyal' customers because they sell a range of items, including not only vapes but also tobacco products

He regards that the government's new measure as a money-making device now that vaping has overtaken cigarettes in popularity.

He added: 'They have to make their money somewhere, that is why they are taxing it.'

But others worry rising vape prices could push people back towards tobacco.

Shipping company manager Amac Bilgen, 48, from Turkey, said there was 'nothing surprising' about the government 'trying to push the price of everything up because they have run out of money'.

But he warned: 'Vaping is much healthier than smoking so to discourage people from vaping in the long term will be worse.

'People will turn back to smoking, then they will have more health problems which will put pressure on the NHS.

'In an ideal world we wouldn't do any of it, but we don't live in an ideal world - people have no choice.'

Former vape shop owner Richard Palmer, 48, says he is 'not bothered' about the tax hike

NHS Digital data showed 30 per cent of children in Yorkshire and the Humber had vaped

The new vaping taxes are not expected to be brought in until 2026 and only after a 12-week consultation.

The Treasury estimates the levies would raise 445million annually by 2028/29, which it says can then be reinvested into public services such as the NHS.

There has been criticism from the Institute of Economic Affairs thinktank which called Mr Hunt's move a 'deeply cynical cash grab', with its head of lifestyle economics Christopher Snowden saying: 'Forget sin taxes, this is a saint tax.

'Vapers did what the government wanted and gave up smoking - they are now being punished for it.'

But Kaya Comer Schwartz, vice-chair of the Local Government Association's community wellbeing board, suggested the taxes would stop vapes being available at what she called 'pocket money' prices.

The chancellor also announced in yesterday's Budget the average price of a pack of 20 cigarettes will pass 16 for the first time in 2026, up from the current 15.26, due to a one-off increase of 2 per 100 cigarettes or 50 grams of tobacco.

In contrast, an equivalent amount of puffs on a disposable vape costs about 5 - or 2.50 if using a refillable device.

Yet some ministers and health officials have become alarmed by studies suggesting e-cigarettes can be more dangerous than originally thought.

Unlike cigarettes, vapes do not contain tobacco, nor do they produce tar or carbon but they do still usually include nicotine.

E-cigarettes allow people to inhale nicotine in a vapour which is produced by heating a liquid.

Other Government proposals to prevent children from taking up e-cigarettes include a ban on disposable vapes which many teenagers favour.

E-cigarettes could also be limited to a handful of flavours, sold in plain, tobacco-style packaging and displayed out of sight of kids under PM Rishi Sunak's plans.

And new 'on the spot' fines are ahead for shops illegally selling vapes to children.
China is stepping up its efforts to eradicate US technology in key functions, with a highly secret order limiting the use of software from America, according to a new report.

Issued in September 2022, the order known as Document 79 requires state-owned companies in finance, energy and other sectors to replace foreign software in their IT systems by 2027, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

According to the Journal, the Document 79 order is known in some circles as 'Delete A,' short for 'Delete America'.

The order is so secretive that high-ranking officials and executives were only shown the document in person, and weren't allowed to make copies, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.

The move comes as part of Chinese leader Xi Jinping's broader push to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, for both economic and national security reasons.

China is stepping up its efforts to eradicate US technology in key functions. Chinese leader Xi Jinping (above) has pushed to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers

Microsoft's offices in China are seen above. The latest order is a push to purge US software from key functions, and could have a major impact on Microsoft and Oracle

It also follows Beijing's escalating tit-for-tat with Washington on trade and technology in particular, after the US imposed sanctions on Chinese tech firms and sharply limited the export of advanced semiconductors.

China has already moved to limit US hardware, including servers and network technology from the likes of Dell, IBM and Cisco.

The latest order is a push to purge US software from key functions, and could have a major impact on Microsoft and Oracle, which have profited from doing business in China during its rapid economic expansion.

'China was the land of milk and honey, and intellectual property was the main challenge,' a former US Trade Representative official involved in previous technology discussions with the Chinese told the Journal.

'Now, there is a feeling that the sense of opportunity is off. Companies are merely hanging on.'

The new directive was issued by China's State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, which oversees state-run companies and enterprises.

China has a significant state-owned enterprise sector, including more than 60 of China's 100 largest listed companies.

Employees work in front of computers at the Microsoft Corp. Office and Experience Center during a media event for the opening of the workspace in Hong Kong, China

China's push to use home-grown technology is known there as 'Xinchuang', which loosely translates as 'IT innovation'.

The policy is one of national security for Beijing, but also increasingly of necessity as Washington curtails high-tech exports to China.

Last month, Chinese regulators said central government-owned enterprises should play a larger role in promoting artificial intelligence development in China.

Zhang Yuzhuo, party chief of the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, said at a conference that central government-owned enterprises should also actively embrace reforms brought by artificial intelligence.

They should develop new generation AI technologies, according to a statement released on Wednesday.

The statement added that these enterprises should take steps to develop and promote AI in industrial renewal.

They should also accelerate the building of smart computing centers, it said.
This is the shocking moment a brave, young boy escaped what could have been a deadly disaster thanks to his quick thinking.

Mohit Ahire, 12, from Maharashtra, India, was casually scrolling through his phone when a predator stalked into the room.

The child was relaxing inside an office in the Sai Celebration wedding hall in the Nashik district on Tuesday morning before being startled by the big cat.

An impressive video of the moment Mohit made his clever escape has been circulating on social media, and viewers are commending him for his remarkable display of courage.

Mohit Ahire was playing on his mobile phone in the Nashik district of Maharashtra, India, on Tuesday, when a leopard walked into the room he was in

The big cat appeared to ignore him as it stalked past towards the corner of the wedding hall office

In the footage, the boy can be seen engrossed in his phone while sitting on a seat facing the door.

But in a shocking turn of events, a huge leopard walks into the room and seems to not notice stunned Mohit as it stalks past.

After he spots the wild animal, Mohit quietly climbs off his seat while unplugging his phone.

His eyes fixed on the predator, he dashes to the door once the leopard is in the corner of the room and swiflty pulls it shut.

Even under the pressure, Mohit remembered to bring his phone with him when he made his escape.

Speaking to Times of India, Mohit said: 'The leopard was so close. There was hardly any space between the leopard and me.

'I was scared, but I quietly got off the bench and sneaked out of the office. I closed the door behind me', he added.

The video goes on to show the spotted cat laying on the office floor behind a chair before being carried out by forest department officials.

Local reports claim the leopard was tranquilised and relocated into back to its natural habitat unharmed.

The owner of the wedding hall, Anil Pawar, was also left stunned at Mohit's quick thinking and applauded him for staying calm.

Footage showed the leopard fully entering the small room while the boy watched on in horror and planned his escape

The brave young boy jumped to his feet and swiftly exited the room, displaying his courage as he locked the leopard in the office until authorities arrived

'The leopard headed straight into the inner cabin without noticing the boy,' he told Times of India.

'When the child saw the animal walk past barely a foot away from him - he stayed calm,' he added.

According to the business owner, the five-year-old male leopard had been spotted earlier in the day and police and forest officials had been searching for it.

Mohit reportedly told his father, who works at a security guard at the wedding hall, that he had locked the leopard in his office which sparked him to make a frantic call to the authorities.
Kayla Montgomery pleaded guilty in 2022 to lying to a grand jury about her whereabouts when the five-year-old was last seen in November 2019

Harmony Montgomery's stepmother Kayla has been granted parole and is expected to be released from jail in May.

In 2022, Kayla pleaded guilty to lying to a grand jury about where she was when the five-year-old was last seen in November 2019 and agreed to testify as a witness in her estranged husband's murder trial.

Adam Montgomery was found guilty of second-degree murder, second-degree assault, witness tampering, falsifying physical evidence and abuse of a corpse following a trial last month.

At a parole hearing on Thursday morning, she was granted release for May.

For the 90 days after her release she will be closely watched and supervised, with regular check-ins and a parole officer to make sure she doesn't act on any violations.

Harmony Montgomery's stepmother Kayla has been granted parole and is expected to be released from jail in May

Harmony vanished in December 2019, however her disappearance was only realized by authorities in November 2021

Adam Montgomery stuck his tongue out and grinned as his murder trial begun with jury selection on Tuesday. On Friday, his estranged wife testified that he systematically moved her remains

During Adam's February trial, she told jurors how she and Adam ate Burger King and bought heroin rather than check on Harmony after he allegedly fatally punched her in the head.

Kayla took the stand on February 9 to testify against her estranged husband, the day after his defense used their opening statement to blame the child's death on her.

She detailed Harmony's tragic final moments, claiming Adam delivered a fatal blow by punching her in the head, before saying: 'I think I really hurt her. I felt something.'

Rather than seek urgent medical help, Kayla said they got drive-thru fast food and bought heroin and crack while Harmony groaned in pain in the backseat.

Harmony's mother Crystal Sorey wept from the witness box as Kayla gave the clearest picture yet of the alleged murder that shocked the nation.

The stepmother, who is currently serving an 18-month sentence for perjury after lying to investigators, is a key witness for the prosecution as she was the only adult to allegedly witness Harmony's final moments.

On Thursday, Adam's defense attempted to cast her as an unreliable witness with a track record of lying, claiming she was testifying 'not for truth, not for Harmony, but for Kayla.'

Her perjury offense came as she lied about working a shift at Dunkin' Donuts on the day she said she last saw Harmony alive, reports Law and Crime.

She was caught in the lie after investigators looked at her employment records, and she pleaded guilty to perjury in exchange for a plea deal - which included testifying against Adam.

In her testimony on Friday, she said Adam mercilessly beat Harmony in the backseat of their car after she accidentally wet herself in the vehicle, which they had been living in after they were recently evicted.

Prosecutors claim Adam fatally beat Harmony to death after she had a bathroom accident in a car they were living in after their eviction

The stepmother, who is currently serving an 18-month sentence for perjury after lying to investigators, is a key witness for the prosecution as she was the only adult to allegedly witness Harmony's final moments.

On Thursday, Adam's defense attempted to cast her as an unreliable witness with a track record of lying, claiming she was testifying 'not for truth, not for Harmony, but for Kayla.'

Her perjury offense came as she lied about working a shift at Dunkin' Donuts on the day she said she last saw Harmony alive, reports Law and Crime.

She was caught in the lie after investigators looked at her employment records, and she pleaded guilty to perjury in exchange for a plea deal - which included testifying against Adam.

In her testimony on Friday, she said Adam mercilessly beat Harmony in the backseat of their car after she accidentally wet herself in the vehicle, which they had been living in after they were recently evicted.

She said he 'kept punching her' on the way to Burger King, pausing at several stop lights to reach behind him and punch her in the head again.

'Adam kept saying, shut the f*** up, stop crying,' she said, adding that when she tried to stop him, he gave her an 'evil crazy eyes look' that scared her off.

'That was one of the first times I saw him look at me like that. But not the last,' she continued.

She said her two sons in the car with them, aged 11-months and 2-years-old at the time, had 'no idea' of the horror unfolding in the car next to them.

After allegedly delivering the fatal blow, Kayla said they got Burker King for themselves and her two young sons in the car, but not Harmony.

She claimed Adam had covered Harmony in a blanket, but was still making a 'moaning noise' before eventually falling silent.

Montgomery is currently serving 30 years in prison for firearms offenses, but now faces charges of second-degree murder, assault, witness tampering, falsifying physical evidence, and abuse of a corpse. Earlier in the trial, his attorney acknowledged his guilt on the lesser charges of falsifying physical evidence and abuse of a corpse, but denies murdering Harmony

When asked why neither parent checked on the severely injured child, she claimed she was too afraid - but admitted to quickly getting drugs instead.

Kayla said they drove to a nearby apartment and stopped for around 15 minutes to buy heroin and crack, but their car broke down as they drove away.

After Adam failed to restart the vehicle and couldn't get a jump, they were forced to abandon the car. At that point, Kayla claimed they realized Harmony was dead.

'Adam tried to wake her,' she said, adding he 'kept saying, baby girl,' trying to nudge her back into consciousness.

She broke down on the stand as she continued to testify over the tragic death, claiming Adam stuffed her body into a duffle bag before they took her sons back to their apartment.

Earlier in his trial, Adam's defense attorney acknowledged his guilt on lesser charges of falsifying physical evidence and abusing a corpse, but claimed only Kayla 'alone' knows how Harmony died.

She testified that he systematically moved her remains to avoid detection. Harmony's body has never been found.

He then allegedly stored the duffle bag in a snow bank near a dumpster, leaving her body there while they got a ride back to their broken down car to retrieve their things.

After then placing her body in an Audi loaned to them by a friend for several nights, Harmony was then moved under a porch at Kayla's aunt's home in Manchester, New Hampshire, Kayla alleged.

Harmony's remains have never been found

Adam then moved the duffle bag into a cooler, and identified a red cooler that was on the porch of her mother's hallway while on the stand.

He allegedly stuffed her in the cooler tight so she would fit, where she remained for several weeks, Kayla said.

She said she saw the cooler with her stepdaughter inside every day while at her mother's home, until weeks later they moved to a Families in Transition Shelter, where Harmony was moved into the ceiling.

Jurors were reportedly 'grim faced' as prosecutors brought out images of the small vent where Harmony remained for over a month, according to court reporter Bob Ward.

'You could smell a horrible smell and it was coming from the vent,' she said, adding he allegedly moved her to a bathroom when a maintenance worker arrived.

In grisly testimony over how Harmony's body slowly decomposed, she said her next location was a diaper bag, which he 'squished her into.'

She said his plan for disposing of the body was to use lime to break her remains down and then dismember her, but before he did Kayla said he ordered her to bring the diaper bag with Harmony inside to his work at Portland Pie.

He put the remains in the company's freezer, she said, so there 'wouldn't be any fluids or anything leaking.'

Crystal Sorey (right) - Harmony's biological mother - lost custody of the young girl in 2018 because of her drug addiction. As Kayla testified on Friday, she reportedly wept from the witness box

Kayla is separately facing charges for allegedly collecting thousands of dollars in food stamps under Harmony's name after her death, and she testified that they kept Harmony on their tax returns that year to give the impression she had been alive.

His plans to dismember Harmony allegedly then fell on using a saw, while he also considered using a Nutri Bullet blender, saying it would 'be good to use to help get rid of her.'

After removing her from the freezer, Adam's alleged attempts to de-thaw his daughter included running her under the shower, before putting her into a bag of lime inside a bathtub.

'I saw Harmony in the bathtub... the same way she was left in the bag when we took her out of the car. She was a layer of skin and bone, bruised up,' she said.

Insisting she was acting out of fear, Kayla said she helped to cut the clothes off the dead child, but 'left the bathroom to check on the kids' as she 'couldn't stay in (the bathroom) anymore.'

'I couldn't handle it,' she said. 'Adam was with Harmony's body for a few hours.'

Fearing he could face consequences for the grisly death, Adam was allegedly intent on destroying all evidence, and turned to using a rented U-Haul van to store the left of her remains in the diaper bag.

As he allegedly left with the U-Haul in the middle of the night, Kayla said he 'didn't tell me what he was doing, but I knew.'

'He said he wasn't telling me where, so if cops got involved, I wouldn't be able to tell where Harmony's body is,' she said.

When he returned, he no longer had the bag with Harmony's remains, she said - before flying into a frenzy and punching her in the head several times.

Kayla also alleged that he beat her during the time he was disposing of the body, out of a paranoid belief she was already talking to the police.

Adam's alleged paranoia also extended to fearing there were hidden cameras and listening devices in his home, and threatened to have a relative kill her and hide her body too if she told anyone about the alleged murder.
The footage sparked backlash and led to his suspension in February

Video of Rachmad Tjachyadi wearing a bright pink dress in his chemistry classroom went viral online

A Texas chemistry teacher has resigned from his job after images of him wearing a bright pink dress at school came under the spotlight.

Rachmad Tjachyadi sparked outcry from anti-LGBT groups when he was seen in a flowing pink dress during Hebron High School's spirit day in February.

The popular Texas high school teacher was then suspended after the video went viral online.

Students at the school admitted they encouraged 'Mr T.' to dress up for February's spirit day.

'We laughed at the beginning of class and that was it,' student Anthony Pagan told NBC. However, not everyone found it funny when the video went viral online.

Chemistry teacher Rachmad Tjachyadi at Hebron High School in Lewisville, Texas

The 'popular' Texas high school teacher was suspended in February after video emerged of him talking to his students in the flowing dress

'We laughed at the beginning of class and that was it,' student Anthony Pagan (pictured) said. However, not everyone found it funny when the video went viral online.

The footage became a talking point after it was posted by the Twitter account Libs of TikTok with the caption 'this is a grown a*s man'.

'UNREAL. This is an actual teacher in 'LEwisvilleSD,' a user wrote online in a response to the footage showing the educator strolling about in a pink taffeta dress and matching pink hat and boots.

Other photos of Mr T. show him wearing the outfit in the classroom and writing on a whiteboard while dressed in a multi-colored tutu.

The post even gained the attention of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who said 'No parent should be forced by the state to send their child to this school.

Tjachyadi's student Anthony said so many people were talking about his teacher online and 'saying so many bad things' despite the fact that they 'didn't even know him,' adding that his teacher is 'harmless'.

Another student said the situation is 'so unfair' because 'he does such a great job of teaching.'

'He's never brought his sexuality or any of his political ideas into his teaching. He's always teaching chemistry. It's always chemistry,' said JuIi Ango, a student.

Tjachyadi announced his decision to resign in a letter. 'I want to inform you I have made the decision not to return to Hebron High School.

'After much thought and consideration, I believe this decision is best for everyone. It has been very difficult to see the hateful comments on social media about me and about Hebron High School, and that has greatly influenced my decision to remove myself from the narrative,' Tjachyadi wrote.

'The bright spot has been the support I have felt from Hebron students and staff, former students and staff, the Hebron community and LISD.'

He added that he was 'grateful' that the district determined he 'did not violate any policies' with his clothing choice on dress up day.

In a letter to parents sent in February, principal Amy Broughton admitted it 'would be natural for our families to have questions about this situation', before insisting that because it is 'under review, there is no additional information the district can share'.

He was also filmed taking a lesson in a multi-colored tutu and leggings

The veteran teacher was more orthodoxly dressed to receive an award with colleagues

'The whole world is a stage for their theatrics!' wrote one furious critic on Twitter

The Dallas Asian American Historical Society said it stood 'in full solidarity with Rachmad and against the district's discriminatory actions'

'I'm told he also sometimes shows up to teach dressed in full drag... How is this acceptable?!' the account added.

The post prompted thousands of replies with many demanding the teacher be sacked.

Tjachyadi has worked as a teacher in schools around the Dallas area since 2002 after gaining an MS in chemical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.

He was employed by the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District for eight years from 2015 according to his LinkedIn profile, and appears to have moved to the Lewisville district in recent months.

Other photos show Tjachyadi wearing a dress seemingly modelled on that of the villain Ursula from Disney's Little Mermaid, and sprawling on the floor in high heels and a knee-length glittery red dress gripping a clutch bag at one of the school's prom nights.

One leaked photo shows Tjachyadi wearing a dress seemingly modelled on that of the villain Ursula from Disney's Little Mermaid,

Tjachyadi was wearing his tutu and leggings as he faced off against anti-trans protestors

The Fowardslash project described his teaching objectives as 'not only to educate the students in science but also to be an out LGBTQ+ role model in a professional setting'.

Tjachyadi has worked as a teacher in schools around the Dallas area since 2002 after gaining an MS in chemical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin

Tjachyadi was placed on administrative leave 'pending review' by Hebron High School principal Amy Broughton

One photo showed him on the floor in high heels and a knee-length glittery red dress while gripping a clutch bag at one of the school's prom nights.

Thousands of supporters have signed a petition demanding he be allowed to return to class

One trans-friendly website suggested in its profile that Tjachyadi had been cross-dressing at school for years.

The Fowardslash project, which describes itself as 'an archive that excavates and interrogates deviant queer subjects', described his teaching objectives as 'not only to educate the students in science but also to be an out LGBTQ+ role model in a professional setting'.

'The choir director at his school asked him to dress up as one of the Supremes (along with three other female teachers) for an open mic night, and the rest is history,' it explained.

'Rachmad would utilize dress-up days at his schools to show off his feminine side in the education settings.

'He is in no way a pedophile or publicizing a 'fetish'.

'In fact, many students in his class encouraged him to wear the dress in the first place.

'He has pushed many students to become better and shows genuine care for his students.

'The recent decision to place him on probation has left our community frustrated and disappointed.

'It would be a great loss for Hebron High School to lose a teacher like Mr Tjachyadi. Free my boy Mr.T.'
JK Rowling has been reported to the police by India Willoughby over accusations the author allegedly 'misgendered' the broadcaster.

Willoughby, 58, a trans woman, claimed the Harry Potter writer called her a 'man' in a series of posts on social media.

On Sunday, Rowling posted a criticism of trans women being allowed into women's changing rooms on X and in the thread she spoke about Willoughby and said: 'India didn't become a woman. India is cosplaying a misogynistic male fantasy of what a woman is.'

Willoughby, who is Britain's first trans newsreader, claimed the best-selling author had 'definitely committed a crime' under the 2010 Equality Act.

However, Rowling, also 58, said there was no law which compelled her to refer to Willoughby as female.

JK Rowling (pictured) has hit back after being reported to the police by India Willoughby

Broadcaster India, 58, has accused JK Rowling of 'misgendering' in a series of social media posts

Speaking to Byline TV, Willoughby said: 'JK Rowling has definitely committed a crime.

'I'm legally a woman. She knows I'm a woman and she calls me a man. It's a protected characteristic.

'And that is a breach of both the Equality Act and the Gender Recognition Act. She's tweeted that out to 14 million followers.'

The police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have both agreed the definition for identifying hate crimes includes a criminal offence that is perceived by the victim, or another, to be 'motivated by hostility or prejudice,' based on a person's 'transgender identity or perceived transgender identity.'

Willoughby added: 'Well, I've been to the police and I've reported it as an issue. I contacted Northumbria Constabulary.

'I have reported JK Rowling to the police for what she said.

'I don't know if that's going to be treated as a hate crime, malicious communications, but it's a cut-and-dry offence as far as I'm concerned.

'And at the end of the day, it is a hate crime. Transgender identity is a protected characteristic, just as race is, just as sexuality is.

'And the equivalent of what JK Rowling said, calling a trans person a man deliberately... I am legally recognised as a woman and for JK Rowling to deliberately, and that is the key word, misgender me knowing who I am is grossly offensive.

'It is a hate crime and it should be treated just as somebody calling a black person the N-word or an Asian person the P-word.'

JK Rowling said no law compelled her to refer to Willoughby as female

Rowling also claimed she was advised previously that she had a legal case against Willoughby for defamation.

She said on X/Twitter on Wednesday: 'Some time ago, lawyers advised me that not only did I have a clearly winnable case against India Willoughby for defamation, but that India's obsessive targeting of me over the past few years may meet the legal threshold for harassment.

'I ignored this advice because I couldn't be bothered giving India the publicity he so clearly craves.

'Nevertheless, we must all do our bit to combat hate, so India will be glad to know I've taken note of his homophobia, racism and humane stance on immigration.

'Nor have I forgotten India's shocking transphobia.

'It appears to have slipped what passes for India's mind that he's previously called a fellow trans woman a man on this very site.'

Rowling went on to say that Willoughby appeared to have forgotten the Forstater ruling, which 'established that gender critical views can be protected in law'.

Maya Forstater successfully brought a case to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) to establish that gender-critical views are a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010 in 2021.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: 'On Monday, March 4, we received a complaint about a post on social media.

'We are currently awaiting to speak to the complainant further.'
A Harvard-educated lawyer who fleeced a millionaire friend out of 2million and blew a fortune in a Monte Carlo casino will be freed because of the time he has served while on remand.

Tim Damiani, 70, persuaded Aysun Kibar to invest 1.5m in a luxury home she had never even seen in Mayfair.

But, when Ms Kibar grew suspicious about the property and asked for her money back, the conman told her he had no idea what she was talking about, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Ms Kibar's family own the Turkish export company Kibar Holdings where she is on the board of directors. She was also a close childhood friend of Damiani's wife and they grew up together in Turkey.

Damiani, who was extradited to the UK from Italy in 2020, was due to face trial for three counts of fraud, but he admitted a single charge of theft, reflecting his overall dishonesty and the prosecution accepted his plea.

Aysun Kibar's family own the Turkish export company Kibar Holdings where she is on the board of directors

Damiani persuaded Ms Kibar to invest 1.5million in this luxury home she had never even seen in Mayfair

Damiani was jailed for 20 months, but he will be freed immediately as he has already served the equivalent of four years while on remand.

'You have, in effect, served your sentence,' Judge Hiddleston told him.

No orders for compensation have been made but the judge said that this 'can be considered at a later stage.'

Earlier, Judge Adam Hiddleston told Damiani: 'You were trusted by the victim, as she was an old friend of your wife.

'You used all the money for your own purposes. It was all frittered away. Some of it was spent at the casino in Monte Carlo, some of it you gave away to family members. All of it is now gone.

'You will agree that 2 million is an enormous amount of money.

'I have no doubt that the victim placed you in a position of some considerable trust. I have no doubt that you abused that.'

At one point, Damiani threatened to reveal that Ms Kibar wanted to leave Turkey with the suggestion that this might make her appear disloyal to the country.

Judge Hiddleston said: 'This might have proved uncomfortable for her in Turkey at the time.

'I appreciate that you have come to appreciate the error of your ways and you have shown remorse for what you have done to your victim and for the effect of what you have done on your family.'

This is the exterior of the property that was used in the con

Damiani is due to undergo heart surgery next week and the judge said: 'You are not in the best of health and are due to undergo an operation next week.

'I am satisfied that the effect on you of a custodial sentence would be dramatic, to put it bluntly.'

Prosecutor Sophie Stannard earlier told the court Ms Kibar was 'born into a very affluent family.

'She is able to travel the world, to different parts of Europe frequently and she has shares in her family's business.

'She has an annual income of 300,000 US dollars per year.

'Even though she lives this quite cosmopolitan lifestyle she has been brought up in Turkey and resonates with the country's values.

'Her wealth is the sort of wealth that if you ask someone to do something for you its done.

When Ms Kibar asked for her money back for the proposed purchase of the house, pictured, Damiani told her he had no idea what she was talking about

'In Turkey it is rare for a woman to have direct contact with a married male.

'As Ms Kibar understood it, the defendant came from an affluent family and he was very well connected.

'He was a lawyer and went to Harvard.

'Ms Kibar visited Mr Damiani and his wife in Milan and Switzerland and Cambridge and as far as she was concerned they were her good friends and she had no reason not to trust them.'

During the visit to Cambridge in 2016 she told Damiani how she was considering obtaining a UK residency herself due to the unrest in Turkey at the time.

Damiani told Ms Kibar he had a 'plenty of experience' making application for British residency and he would help her.

He told her he could get her a discounted fee of 300,000 and would sort out British passports for herself and her two children.

Ms Kibar made three separate payments of 75,000, 80,000 and 150,000 to Damiani's bank account, between April and June 2016.

The extra 5,000 was paid after Damiani encouraging her to set up a trust so she could make property investments in a 'tax efficient way.'

She flew out with her family to Cannes with Damiani and his wife where they all dined together on 21 July 2016.

Ms Kibar again expressed her worries about the unrest in Turkey and Damiani suggested her family should apply for Italian passports, saying a friend called 'Giuseppe' could help.

Damiani sent a WhatsApp message to Ms Kibar on September 8 2016 that read: 'Things will be ready tomorrow spoke to my friends in Rome they asked me about the rest of the family.

'I said too expensive they said they can do everything for 80,000, for 40,000 they can't do more than 10 people.'

The prosecutor said: 'In essence the Crown says the defendant was saying he had spoken to connections in Rome and as long as they were dealing with at least 10 people they could deal with the whole application for 40,000..'

Ms Kibar transferred 200,313 to Damiani in return for the Italian passports, that she never received.

She also discussed investing in properties and Damiani told her of an 'amazing opportunity' for her, the court heard.

'He had an exceptional property that an Arab man was selling and said they could invest in it together,' Ms Stannard said.

'The owner was an important man who needed to sell the property quicky because the relationship had broken down with his mistress.

'He could get the property for less due to the need for selling quickly.

'When they met, the defendant showed her the property on [28] Charles Street in Mayfair,' said Ms Stannard.

'Due to an internal inspection he said they couldn't view property just yet, it was a very delicate issue due to the mistress, however he had all matters in hand.'

Damiani convinced Ms Kibar to invest 1.5m into the property - now valued at 12.6m - and Ms Kibar subsequently transferred the money to Damiani's account on September 29 2016.

'A few weeks went by and Ms Kibar became concerned that she had heard nothing more about the passport or completion of property.'

'Ms Damiani did her own research and realised the property was worth way more than said and discovered the property was linked to Mr Damiani's brother.'

On November 11, Ms Kibar emailed Damiani asked him to return her money and asked for it to be transferred to her Turkish bank account.

Damiani told Ms Kibar she would have her money in 2-3 days, the court heard.

'Unsurprisingly she didn't have her money in 3 days,' Ms Stannard said.

After months of messaging Damiani with no response Ms Kibar's bank wrote to the lawyer on January 25 2017 asking where her money was.

'Mr Damiani replied saying he didn't know what Ms Kibar was talking about, how she owed him money and he was no longer a British resident,' Ms Stannard said.

'Mr Damiani has squandered away Ms Kibar's money, Mr Damiani had dissipated Kibar's money and spent just shy of half a million in casinos, gave 76,500 to his children and not a single penny returned to Ms Kibar.'

He was extradited from Italy in 2020 following a request from the UK government.

Damiani, of Muswell Hill, north London, admitted one count of theft.

The three fraud charges he denied were ordered to lie on file.
Nearly 88 percent of sitting lawmakers with criminal records or facing court trials for suspected wrongdoings have passed the qualification screening for candidate nominations for the April 10 general elections, a civic group claimed Thursday.

The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) disclosed the findings during a press conference in central Seoul, criticizing the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) for failing to screen out underqualified candidates.

According to the findings, 81 sitting lawmakers affiliated with either the PPP or the DPK have criminal records or underwent trials or had their sentences finalized during the current term of the National Assembly.

Of them, 71 lawmakers, or 87.7 percent, passed the parties' screening for election nominations.

The CCEJ claimed the DPK had 49 lawmakers with such issues, except those who were convicted for involvement in the pro-democracy movement, but only eight of them were deemed unqualified in the screening process.

The PPP had 32 lawmakers with such issues, but only two of them were screened out.

Both parties had designated records of violent crimes, bribery, election-related crimes, property crimes, drunk driving and sexual crimes as some of the standards to screen out unqualified lawmakers for the election nominations.

"The two major parties are turning a blind eye, while the public's resentment and disappoint are growing due to continuing controversies surrounding the nomination process," the group's chief, Kim Sung-dal, said, calling for more thorough qualification verification for nominations. (Yonhap)
An inquest has opened into the death of an award-winning farmer who was found shot dead in a field after going out to hunt a fox.

Charles Kinston was fatally injured in on January 29 while legally hunting an animal on land near his family farm.

Detectives were investigating whether the 23-year-old was shot during the hunt by accident by somebody he was hunting with.

A man in his 30s, known to Mr Kinston, was arrested on suspicion of murder following the incident at Bretby, Derbyshire. He was subsequently released on bail pending further inquiries.

During a brief hearing at Derby Coroner's Court this morning, an initial cause of death was given as a gunshot wound to the chest.

Charles Kinston, 23, was shot in the countryside while working on land in a quaint village

A man in his 30s, known to Mr Kinston, was arrested on suspicion of murder following the incident at Bretby, Derbyshire (pictured)

The 23-year-old, who was described as single, was identified by his father, John, at Royal Derby Hospital.

The inquest was adjourned by coroner Sophie Lomas while the police investigation is completed.

Mr Kinston was thought to have a gun with him when the tragedy happened in the village of Bretby, on the Staffordshire border.

One source in the village said: 'Charles was legally hunting when the tragedy happened. The full circumstances are not clear but it looks like a horrific accident. It just went terribly wrong. He had a gun with him as well, people think.'

The government websites makes clear people can shoot free foxes using a suitable firearm and ammunition.

But shooting in urban areas is not allowed.

A source said the farmer was a 'really positive person who made everyone laugh and who didn't have a bad bone in his body'.

The source added: 'Charles was the kind of person who would cheer you up if you were having a bad day. His death has hit us all hard.'

Another person who knows him added: 'I last saw Charles in December. He didn't have a care in the world and was his usual happy self. He's certainly not the type to have any enemies.'

Mr Kinston lived at the family farmhouse at Bretby, near Burton on Trent, Staffordshire

The tragic farmer had a young son, three, from a previous relationship, a source said.

Mr Kinston had won awards for his farming. In 2020, Mr Kinston's off-road milk float took third place in the Farmers Weekly inventions competition for the Land Rover Discovery 1 300Tdi which he had modified to do his calf feeding rounds in.

He is understood to have died in a field located off Brizlincote Lane in the village. The land was not owned by him but was near to his own farm.

Mr Kinston had spent 12 years as a member of Neverseal Young Farmers' Club.

Emma Lovegrove, County Organiser for Leicestershire Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs, said members were 'devastated by the recent tragic news'.

She added: 'Charles was a much-loved, kind and generous character who knew how to make everyone laugh.

'In his long association with YFC, he touched the lives of many and his loss will be difficult to come to terms with.'
A Miss Universe finalist was punched 30 times by her jealous ex-lover as she yelled, 'He's going to kill me,' a court heard.

Chloe Othen, 33, said Ricky Lawrence, 32, pulled her hair and repeatedly bit her in an hour-long frenzy after sending her a barrage of abusive messages.

Miss Othen, an Instagram influencer with 305,000 followers, said she feared she would die after Lawrence grabbed two knives and threatened to slit her throat at his 1.5million apartment.

Lawrence and Miss Othen had been in an 'on and off' relationship for six months between December 2021 and May 2022 before it ended.

Miss Othen's partner at the time, Bora Guccuk, 39, called her while she was at the apartment but Lawrence picked up the phone and allegedly threatened to kill him.

Chloe Othen, 33, (pictured) has said Ricky Lawrence, 32, pulled her hair and repeatedly bit her in an hour-long frenzy after sending her a barrage of abusive messages

Miss Othen was a finalist in Miss Universe GB in 2015 and has more than 300,000 followers on Instagram

Ricky Lawrence (pictured) is accused of attacking Miss Othen in his 1.5million Knightsbridge flat

Lawrence had sent messages to Miss Othen saying: 'You f***ed up tonight, watch what I do now, you silly c***.'

He added: 'You f***ing stupid c***, you're f***ed now I swear, I will do anything in my power to f*** up the rest of your life, screenshot that.'

Mr Guccuk said he called Miss Othen in the early hours of 15 October 2022 after realising she had not returned home.

He told jurors Lawrence picked up her phone and told him: 'I am Ricky, if you want her come and get her. I will stab you in the neck and I will stab her too'.

'She was shouting in the background, call the police, he is going to kill me.

'In Hans Place he is going to kill me, come and help me, he won't let me go.

'It was a big commotion and crying for help.'

Holborn Crown Court heard how one of the bite wounds on Miss Othen's neck became septic

Lawrence, of Hans Crescent, Knightsbridge, denies one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Miss Othen

The call was disconnected but Mr Guccuk called Miss Othen's phone back immediately, where the same conversation was had, Holborn Crown Court heard.

'I could still hear Chloe screaming in the background and I believe on the third attempt I dialled 999 immediately and asked for the police,' he continued.

'It was very chaotic, very distressed sounds of Chloe in the background.

The jury was played the 999 call made my Mr Guccuk in which he can be heard saying to the operator: 'She is need of desperate help right now, he is on the phone saying come and get her, she is screaming in the background saying help me.'

Eventually, Lawrence threw Miss Othen's phone and glasses at her and she was able to make an escape.

She went to the nearby Berkeley Hotel where she met her friend Alex Ivanovic, before Mr Guccuk later arrived.

He called police again to inform them that he had found Miss Othen and said: 'This guy is crazy.'

He was then asked if Lawrence had mental health issues by the operator to which he replied: 'I am not sure, but he is crazy, crazy, he has been stalking her.'

Eventually Mr Guccuk met up with Miss Othen, who was bruised and bleeding, the court heard.

'She was covered in bruises and bleeding in certain parts of her body and crying.

'Alex said she would take her to her place because she did not feel safe in her place or my place because she said that Ricky Lawrence knew my address.

'She was distraught, bleeding, she just wanted somewhere comfortable to go to.

'She was concerned for my safety because Ricky knew where I lived and she was concerned for her safety obviously.

'I saw a dent on her head from a punch, she had a cut on her arm, a cut on her face and bruises all over her, she was in a really, really bad state.'

Sheilagh Davies, prosecuting, asked Mr Guccuk: 'After police left on the Saturday morning, what state is Chloe in, what does she do?

He replied: 'She was very distraught, still hysterical, crying and very hurt, obviously she still had cuts and bruises.

'She was half conscious because of all the pain and all the crying she was in a really bad state, I was trying to convince her that she needed to go to hospital as soon as possible but she was still in shock.'

Lawrence, of Hans Crescent, Knightsbridge, denies one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The trial continues.
The University of Virginia spends $20 million a year on its 235 DEI staffers, including a woman who says the spike in premature deaths in Appalachia is due to the 'toxicity of whiteness,' a damning report says.

Open the Books, a spending watchdog, says the flagship public college in Charlottesville drops $15 million on salaries and $5 million more in benefits to its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) team.

They include Rachel Spraker, an 'equity and inclusive' officer, who calls Appalachia's wave of premature deaths a sign of 'white toxicity,' and the school's diversity chief Martin Davidson, who pockets nearly $600,000 a year.

The university disputed parts of the report and says it only spends $5.8 million out of its annual $2.3 billion academic budget on DEI.

The University of Virginia educates 17,000 undergraduates on its grounds and is ranked as the state's top school

Researchers studied the school's 2023 payroll file, and then estimated an extra 30 percent in spending for benefits

Adam Andrzejewski, author of the damning study, said UVA has 'embraced the divisive quotas of the neo-Marxist DEI crowd.'

Poll Should all public universities scrap DEI? Yes No Not sure Should all public universities scrap DEI? Yes 1328 votes

No 38 votes

Not sure 14 votes Now share your opinion





'Tens of millions of dollars in student tuition and taxpayer monies are flowing into promoting anti-American notions and radical philosophies that judge the color of one's skin instead of the content  and competence  of their character.'

For some, DEI schemes are important and necessary, as they help to overcome historical racism and sexism and make it easier for people of all backgrounds to get ahead in schools, colleges, and offices.

But critics say they're a form of reverse discrimination that blows back on straight, white men.

DEI schemes face a backlash from conservative legal action groups  especially those funded by taxpayers.

The University of Florida this month terminated all DEI positions and shuttered diversity programs in the state's publicly-funded education system in compliance with new state regulations.

Researchers highlight Rachel Spraker, a $242,840-a-year equity and inclusion expert with a track record in controversial comments about racism in her native Appalachia

The school's DEI supremo Martin Davidson wrote a book about why diversity efforts fail

Andrzejewski's report on UVA aims at a bloated DEI infrastructure  about four times the cost of Florida's shuttered programs, he says.

He highlights Davidson, senior associate dean of the Darden School of Business and global chief diversity officer, UVA's top DEI earner with an annual salary-and-benefits package of $587,340.

That's more than three times the salary of Virginia's Republican Governor, Glenn Youngkin, says the report.

Davidson is the author of a book about diversity in US institutions, in which he says they often fail to make gains.

The second-biggest DEI paycheck goes to Kevin McDonald, the vice president for diversity, equity, inclusion and community partnerships, who takes home some $520,000 with benefits, the report says.

Other DEI bosses pocket upwards of $250,000 each year  a good deal in a state where average living costs are a modest $48,000 per year.

Researchers looked at the school's 2023 payroll file, taking the positions and salary and then estimating an extra 30 percent in spending for benefits.

Virginia students pay $20,000 to attend UVA each year, compared to $56,000 for those from out of state

They spotlight Spraker, a $242,840-a-year equity and inclusion expert with a track record in controversial comments about racism in her native Appalachian region.

Spraker has spoken about how her community embraced white supremacy, and suggests that is linked to its social problems, which include rising rates of gun suicides and opioid overdose deaths.

'I grew up in rural Appalachia,' she says in a video for the college's AntiRacist Table group.

'White people are dying of whiteness too. The toxicity of whiteness  many of them were dying prematurely also, in their twenties.'

University spokesman Brian Coy spoke up for UVA's diversity efforts and questioned the report's findings.

'The study seems to count individuals who have full-time positions in non-DEI posts and counts them as full time DEI staffers,' he told DailyMail.com.

Davidson, for example, leads DEI efforts but is also a regular professor, said Coy.

University spokesman Brian Coy disputed the report, saying UVA only spends $5.8 million on DEI

Taxpayers in Virginia and beyond took to social media to complain about what they saw as a wasteful overspend of public money

Rather than 235 DEI employees, UVA 'has 55 dedicated DEI positions at an institution of more than 40,000 students, faculty, and staff,' costing $5.8 million per year, he added.

Andrzejewski says his numbers are correct and that the school has 'consistently undercounted DEI staffers in presentations to the public.'

Taxpayers in Virginia and beyond took to social media to complain about what they saw as a wasteful overspend of tax dollars.

One user said the money could easily provide 'full ride scholarships' to 100 deserving students.

Another said that it 'seems like a lot of money for identity-based pizza parties.'

Virginia students pay $20,000 to attend UVA each year, compared to $56,000 for those from out of state.

DEI staff now make up more than 3.4 positions for every 100 tenured professors, according to nationwide research by The Heritage Foundation, stoking fears of a ballooning sector that some say is no more than a woke box-ticking exercise.
The King has held an audience with the High Commissioner of Jamaica as he continues cancer treatment.

The 75-year-old met Alexander Williams, who was joined by his wife Carol Watson-Williams, at Buckingham Palace on Thursday.

Charles is currently King of Jamaica, but the country's prime minister Andrew Holness is pushing ahead with plans to make the realm a republic.

The Jamaican government announced in February that it had begun the first step in the legislative process of constitutional reform, with the preparation of the Constitution of Jamaica (Amendment of Section 61) Bill.

It said establishing Jamaica as a republic would be a priority over the coming year.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were criticised in January for posing for a picture with Mr Holness during a visit to Jamaica to attend the premiere of film Bob Marley: One Love.

The King has held an audience with the High Commissioner of Jamaica as he continues cancer treatment. The 75-year-old met Alexander Williams, who was joined by his wife Carol Watson-Williams, at Buckingham Palace on Thursday

The King chats with Mr Williams and his wife at Buckingham Palace today

The Jamaican PM, 51, has been a long standing critic of his country's relationship with the Commonwealth and the British monarchy.

Mr Holness has also been vocal in his praise for the Prince and Princess of Wales William and Kate Middleton - but said they will never rule the nation.

The couple visited Jamaica in 2022 as part of celebrations to mark the late Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee.

William was both praised and criticised for speaking out against Britain's historic role in the slave trade.

In an exchange that was caught on camera, Mr Holness told the royal couple that whilst Jamaicans were 'very very happy' to welcome them, 'there are issues here which are as you would know unresolved.'

He added that his nation is 'moving on' and has 'true ambitions' to become an 'independent, developed, prosperous country'.

His comments followed his statement that there was 'no question' his country would become a republic.

Mr Holness campaigned on the promise of making Jamaica a republic ahead of his 2016 PM win and 2020 re-election.

In the past, he has suggested African and Caribbean nations should unite to 'demand reparations from colonial powers for the damage caused to our people'.

The King has postponed all public-facing engagements while he continues his treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, but he has been carrying out audiences and desk duties behind Palace walls.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were criticised in January for posing for a picture with Mr Holness during a visit to Jamaica to attend the premiere of film Bob Marley: One Love

Charles' meeting today comes after he held a video call with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau

High commissioners and ambassadors based in London have a customary audience with the monarch shortly after taking up their role.

Charles' meeting today comes after he held a video call with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.

The King earlier met with the Ambassador of Algeria, Nourredine Yazid, and Samba Mamadou, Ambassador of Mauritania.

The King was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer following hospital treatment for an enlarged prostate earlier this year, which was unrelated.

He was treated in the same hospital as the Princess of Wales, who underwent abdominal surgery for an unknown condition in January.

The Army was forced into an apparent u-turn this week when they announced that the Princess of Wales was to return to her royal duties at a practice Trooping the Colour ceremony on June 8.

There were accusations officials 'jumped the gun' by announcing her attendance without consulting the Palace.
Denver officials have asked landlords to rent to migrants who will need housing after the city shuts down several temporary hotel shelters as the number of new arrivals drops.

The city launched a program on Tuesday aimed at getting information from landlords on properties that rent for $2,000 per month or less, with officials emailing rental property owners asking if they would be interested in renting to migrants.

Democratic mayor Mike Johnston said last month the city would be closing four new migrant shelters, which would save up to $60 million from the $180million predicted cost of the crisis.

Johnston's decision comes as the number of migrants staying in shelters has dropped in the last weeks, after it reached a peak of 5,200 in mid-January, as reported by Denverite. The city is currently sheltering less than 2,000 people.

'We put out a feeler to all the landlords we have connections with,' city Human Services spokesman Jon Ewing told Fox 31. 'Basically said, listen, were going to have some newcomers who are going to need housing.'

Denver officials have asked landlords to rent to migrants who will need housing as the city plans to shut down several temporary hotel shelters

Democratic mayor Mike Johnston said last month the city would be closing four new migrant shelters, which would save up to $60 million

Johnston's decision comes as the number of migrants staying in shelters has dropped in the last weeks, after it reached a peak of 5,200 in mid-January

Ewing added that the city has been able to get 1.3000 migrants work permits over the last weeks so they can earn money and pay for rent.

Last month Johnston announced he would slash $5 million from its Parks and Rec and DMV budgets as it faces a staggering $180 million bill to shelter migrants in 2024.

Denver received over 38,000 new migrants in just one year - mostly from Venezuela - with the city providing shelter for as many as 38,861 asylum seekers at a cost of $58 million so far.

The sanctuary city, which already has 700,000 residents, has been struggling to stretch its limited housing. Denver, like other cities such as New York, are facing the brunt of the nationwide crisis of the flow of people at the southern border.

Part of the influx came from Texas - where Governor Abbott has been transferring an overwhelming number of asylum seekers to Democrat states and cities to lessen the Lone Star State's burden.

The sanctuary city, which already has 700,000 residents, has been struggling to stretch its limited housing

As a result of the rampant overcrowding, the streets of Denver are now flooded with tents

As a result of the rampant overcrowding, the streets of Denver are now flooded with tents. One business said there are 200 on their street - meaning that patrons weren't even able to walk inside the door.

Mayor Johnston told America's Newsroom: spoke about what he believes would provide a potential solution, saying: 'When folks arrive in our city, we want them [to have] the ability to work.

'If they have work authorization when they arrive, they can get to work and support themselves immediately, [they] don't need federal or state support.'

Denver is a city that migrants are routinely shuttled to after entering the US as the crisis at the border continues, with December shattering the record for CBP migrant encounters at over 302,000.

Arrests for illegal crossings on the U.S. border with Mexico fell by half in January from record highs in December to the third lowest month of Bidens presidency. But officials fear those figures could eventually rise again, particularly as the November presidential election nears.
A woman whose IVF was canceled, the sister of a Uvalde school shooting victim, a woman forced to travel out of state due to the Texas abortion ban, Sweden's prime minister and a civil rights activist who marched on Bloody Sunday are among the guests who will join First Lady Jill Biden to watch for President Biden's State of the Union address Thursday night.

20 guests will join Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff in the viewing box when the president delivers his prime time speech on Capitol Hill.

The White House said the guests which hail from all over the country were invited because they personify issues or themes in the president's address or 'embody the Biden-Harris Administration's policies at work for the American people.'

Among the guests is Latorya Beasley from Birmingham, Alabama. She and her husband were trying to expand their family when her in vitro fertilization (IVF) process was abruptly canceled in the wake of the controversial Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos are children.

Kate Cox asked the court for an order to allow her to get an abortion in Texas but had to leave the state to receive care

The bombshell decision that forced families across the state into limbo when clinics paused treatments is expected to be front and center in the president's speech along with access to abortion as the White House takes aim at Republicans over the issue, which has proven to be a motivating force for the Democrats in an election year.

Also joining the First Lady is Kate Cox, a mother of two, who publicly spoke out about her experience trying to get care after Texas banned abortion. She sought a court order for an abortion after it was determined the fetus had a genetic condition and would not survive and her life was at risk. She ended up having to travel out of state to receive an emergency abortion.

Also in the guest box will be Jazmin Cazares whose sister 9-year-old Jackie was kill in the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Cazares has been traveling the country speaking out for gun violence prevention including alongside other March for Our Lives leaders at the Texas State Capitol.

Jazmin Cazares (left) will attend the State of the Union as a guest of First Lady Jill Biden. Her sister Jackie (right) was killed in the shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde

As the president presses Congress for Ukraine funding and support for NATO, Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will also be in attendance. Sweden is formally joining NATO on Thursday, two years after Russia invaded Ukraine forcing European nations to rethink policy and increase support for the alliance founded 75 years ago.

Sweden joined NATO on March 7. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will be in attendance for the president's State of the Union address

The White House has confirmed Biden also invited Ukraine's First Lady and the widow of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny but both turned down the invitations.

Commander Shelby Nikitin was awarded teh Bronze Star for her leadership after the USS Thomas Hudner was deployed to the Red Sea

Navy officer Commander Shelby Nikitin, who recently completed her tour on the destroyer the USS Thomas Hudner is also a guest. She was recently awarded the Bronze Star for her leadership after her ship was deployed to protect shipping from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

Also attending after heroic action is Kameryn Pupunu, a police officer for Maui County, who was one of many officers who jumped to action when fires swept through his hometown of Lahaina. He helped save 15 people from the deadly fires but lost four immediate family members in the disaster.

Civil rights advocate Bettie Mae Fikes who was at Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama in 1965 is also a guest after joining the president to commemorate the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma last year.

Author Maria Shriver is the Founder of Women's Alzheimer's Movement

Maria Shriver is also a guest. The author, journalist and Kennedy family member founded the Women's Alzheimer's Movement and does work with the Cleveland Clinic.

The First Lady also invited several guests to highlight the administrations economic priorities.

Samantha Ervin-Upsher of Pittsburgh, PA is an apprentice with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Local 432 and met the First Lady last year during a visit to the state.

Shawn Fain, the president of the United Auto Workers who was with the president when he joined the picket line in Michigan last year will also be in attendance as will Dawn Simms a member of UAW Local 126 in Illinois who joined Biden last year to mark the reopening of an assembly plant that had shuttered.

Mayor Garnett Johnson of Augusta, Georgia was invited after his city was designated one of five Investing in America Workforce Hubs.

Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson will be at the State of the Union address on March 7

Steven Hadfield, who has a rare blood cancer and is diabetic, is another guest attending the address after the cost of his insulin copay was capped at $35 a month. He is also benefitting and will further next year from caps on the out-of-pocket costs for his cancer medications.

And Minnesota educator Keenan Jones who wrote the president an email thanking him for the Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness program which has helped wipe away billions in federal student loan debt will also join the First Lady as Biden continues to push forward with canceling student loan debt.

Other guests include Kris Blackley, an oncology nurse; Natalie King who founded the electric vehicle charger manufacturing company Dunamis Charge; Governor Stephen Roe Lewis who is in his fourth term as governor of the Gila River Indian Community; Justin Phillips who founded he non-profit Overdose Lifeline; Rashawn Spivey who is the owner of Hero Plumbing and has been working to replace toxic lead pipes; and Tiffany Zoeller who works as a military spouse and medical coder who met the president last year when he took executive action to help military spouses.
Emma Caldwell's killer Iain Packer could have been convicted in 2008, her family's lawyer claims, as the Scottish Government confirms an inquiry will be held into how killer evaded justice for almost two decades.

Packer, 51, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 36 years at the High Court in Glasgow last week after being found guilty of murdering the 27-year-old in 2005, as well as 11 rapes and 21 other charges, including sexual assaults, against other women.

Miss Caldwell's mother Margaret met Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC at the Crown Office in Edinburgh today.

It comes as Scotland's Justice Secretary announced an independent, judge-led statutory public inquiry to examine the police response to the murder.

Speaking outside the Crown Office following the meeting, the family's lawyer Aamer Anwar said: 'The Lord Advocate confirmed that had the solicitor general and her instruction been followed through by Strathclyde Police, on the available evidence in 2008 the Lord Advocate and her team believe there was a sufficiency for prosecuting Iain Packer for murder.

Iain Packer, 51, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 36 years at the High Court in Glasgow last week after being found guilty of murdering Emma Caldwell (pictured) in 2005

Miss Caldwell's mother Margaret (pictured) met Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC at the Crown Office in Edinburgh today

Packer (pictured) was also found guilty of 11 rapes and 21 other charges, including sexual assaults, against other women

Miss Caldwell (pictured) came from a close-knit family and saw both parents twice a week and spoke to them daily

'The Lord Advocate apologised today and said the Crown Office should have done more and failed to do so after 2008.'

Mr Anwar said Ms Bain and the then solicitor general asked Strathclyde Police to re-investigate the case using new officers in 2008, but it was 'impossible to work out what happened after that instruction was given'.

He accused the police of a 'cover up' and said 'criminality has never been fully investigated by Police Scotland'.

Ms Bain said she is taking advice on instructing an external police force to investigate the actions of police.

Mr Anwar said: 'Today the family paid tribute to the Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC and her prosecution team who have been unwavering in their commitment to justice, without her leadership, the work of the Crown Office and the present police murder team, justice would have been buried forever.'

Ms Bain said: 'Margaret Caldwell and her family suffered an unimaginable loss which was compounded by a painful wait to see Emma's memory honoured through justice being done. I have been humbled and inspired by the family's commitment to shining a light on what happened.

'In my meeting with the family I apologised to them for the prosecution service not doing more sooner. Emma, and all of the women harmed by Packer, deserved better.

'With respect to criminal actions of police, I am taking advice on instructing a force from outside Scotland to look further at allegations against officers.

It comes as Scotland's Justice Secretary announced an independent, judge-led statutory public inquiry to examine the police response to the murder

Miss Caldwell's family met First Minister Humza Yousaf (right) and Justice Secretary Angela Constance earlier in the week

'As previously stated, the Crown has reserved its position in relation to potential proceedings should evidence in support of those become available.'

READ MORE: Emma's killer plans to launch appeal against his conviction Advertisement

She said the way Police Scotland and the Crown Office work together has been 'transformed' in recent years and 'allegations of violence against women are heard and acted upon'.

Mrs Caldwell and the family met Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell on Wednesday, and the officer apologised to them and the families of Packer's other victims for having been 'let down by policing in 2005'.

She said: 'It is important that Emma's family and the public get answers to the many questions they have. I therefore support the family's calls for a public inquiry. I absolutely commit that Police Scotland will fully participate in any further proceedings.

'We have reflected and learned from the initial investigation and subsequent re-investigation. Significant changes have been made to improve organisational culture and response, particularly in respect of investigative structures, victim care and processes to these types of crimes.'

Miss Caldwell's family met First Minister Humza Yousaf and Justice Secretary Angela Constance earlier in the week.

Announcing the inquiry at Holyrood, Ms Constance told MSPs what Miss Caldwell's mother Margaret said to her.

She said Mrs Caldwell told her: 'My daughter Emma and the many victims who so courageously spoke up deserve nothing less than a robust, independent public inquiry and a judge who will act without fear or favour.

Announcing the inquiry at Holyrood, Ms Constance (pictured) told MSPs what Miss Caldwell's mother Margaret said to her

'There are those who say that such inquiries take too long. My family have struggled for 19 years to get justice and we will wait however long it takes to see the truth, and will accept nothing less.

Ms Constance told MSPs: 'Following that meeting with the Caldwell family, I can today announce that there will be an independent, judge led, statutory public inquiry, and preparations will begin immediately.'

She said consideration is being given to whether a judge from outside of Scotland should be appointed to take the work forward.

Mrs Caldwell looked on from the public gallery at Holyrood as the Justice Secretary made the announcement.

Ms Constance said: 'Nineteen years have elapsed between Emma's murder and a conviction and there can be no doubt of the serious failings that brought a grieving family to have to fight for their right, for Emma's right to justice.'

The lawyer representing the family of Emma Caldwell added that they are 'grateful' to First Minister Humza Yousaf and Justice Secretary Angela Constance for ordering a statutory public inquiry into the investigation into her murder.

Aamer Anwar told journalists outside the Scottish Parliament that the family were grateful to both Mr Yousaf and Ms Constance for hearing what they had to say.

He said: 'The Caldwell family are grateful to the First Minister, the Justice Secretary for having listened to what they had to say and for ordering the statutory public inquiry.

'We are grateful to all political parties in this Parliament for showing their unity and support for the family.'

Aamer Anwar, the lawyer for the Caldwell family, said the apology from police was 'not accepted' and ruled out the Met investigating as an external force.

Mr Anwar said: 'That apology is not accepted. Officers who retired or who sabotaged the case must face justice.

'Iain Packer raped and raped again, and was allowed to do so because the police covered up, and continued to cover up.'

Packer is appealing against his conviction and sentence.
The desperate search for Texas A&M student Caleb Harris, 21, continues after he vanished following a 3:00am dog walk in Corpus Christi on Monday.

Caleb, a sophomore at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, disappeared without his shoes, wallet, and keys, and his phone has been dead since then.

He was last seen around 3:00am on Monday after walking his dog in the early morning hours and returning to The Cottages at Corpus Christi Apartments, where he lived with his roommates.

As the family prays for Caleb's return, his father Randy Harris joined NewsNation's Cuomo to discuss the ongoing search efforts.

Randy said, 'We just need to find Caleb. We know he's out there; it's a matter of where he is and what happened.'

Caleb Harris, 21, a sophomore at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, disappeared without his shoes, wallet, and keys, and his phone has been dead since then

He was last seen around 3:00am on Monday after walking his dog in the early morning hours and returning to The Cottages at Corpus Christi Apartments, where he lived with his roommates. Pictured: Caleb (third from left) with his family

As the family prays for Caleb's return, his father Randy Harris joined NewsNation's Chris Cuomo to discuss the ongoing search efforts

In the past few days, authorities from the Corpus Christi Police Department, Texas Search and Rescue, the Coast Guard, local dive teams, and Caleb's family and friends have joined forces in the search efforts.

'We have the TEXSAR here, they're a search and rescue team, they brought in boats, they brought in people, they brought the dogs in this afternoon,' Randy said.

Caleb, with brown hair and eyes, stands at 5'11' and weighs around 180 pounds. He was last seen wearing teal pants, a white shirt, and no shoes or socks.

His Snapchat app pinged his last location in front of the entrance area of The Cottages, an off-campus student housing in Corpus Christi.

The 21-year-old man loves to fish and hunt, and has no medical conditions or mental health issues that could have contributed to the mysterious disappearance, according to his father Randy.

It's not unusual for Caleb to walk his dog in the early morning hours, Randy said. He had been packing lunch and preparing for school the next day.

'Caleb's missing without anything. No shoes, no wallet. His truck was locked, his keys are in the house,' Randy added.

CCPD Senior Officer Antonio Contreras said his team is doing everything possible to bring Caleb home safely.

'We're using the cadets that we have currently in the academy to physically get their boots on the ground and canvas the adjacent fields, the drainage ditches, areas like that,' Contreras said.

'Right now, as of early afternoon, we don't have any updates, but we're really working hard to find him,' he told KRIS 6 News on early afternoon of Wednesday.

Randy told the local news station that Caleb is a 'normal kid with a normal routine.'

'He planning on school the next day. Going to go fishing the next afternoon. He even texted me pictures of lures and fish that he planned on catching the next day, so I have no idea what happened. We're looking.'

In the past few days, authorities from the Corpus Christi Police Department, Texas Search and Rescue, the Coast Guard, local dive teams, and Caleb's family and friends have joined forces in the search efforts

Caleb, with brown hair and eyes, stands at 5'11' and weighs around 180 pounds. He was last seen wearing teal pants, a white shirt, and no shoes or socks

'We have the TEXSAR here, they're a search and rescue team, they brought in boats, they brought in people, they brought the dogs in this afternoon,' Randy said

Hampton McCullum, who has been friends with Caleb since high school and joined the search efforts said the most important thing on his mind is to find Caleb.

'Ever since he's been gone that's been all I've been thinking about. It's kept me up. He's such a happy person. He loves people. He loves fishing, that's the thing that he loves the most,' he said.

Another friend Emily Arp said: 'I cannot think about anything else and I haven't been able to do anything else.'

'He is so loved. I couldn't even imagine something else going on because everyone loved him. He didn't have any enemies. We just want Caleb to come home. This is so weird.'

Anyone who has any information about the whereabouts of Caleb Harris is urged to call the Corpus Christi Police Department directly at (361) 886-2840 or the non-emergency line at (361) 886-2600.
Over 10,000 people applied to join the British army in January, a defence minister has revealed.

Despite ongoing recruitment issues, the Earl of Minto told the House of Lords that 'applications are well up,' after thousands applied to be a regular soldier earlier this year.

He said: 'I know it's only applications, but encouragingly, applications have been well up in the last few months.

'We had over 10,000 applications for regular soldiers during the month of January.

'If you take a look at the period from June 2021 to June 2022, we had 53,000 applications, June 2022 to June 2023, just shy of 70,000 applications.'

This comes amid growing concerns of possible conflict between Europe and Russia.

Over 10,000 people have applied to join the army amid growing concerns of conflict with Russia. Pictured: Vladimir Putin

The Earl of Minto told the House of Lords that applications are 'well up'. Pictured: An infantry fighting vehicle of the US army (front) and a Polish tank (back)

Army chief General Sir Patrick Sanders said in January that training a 'citizen army' would be 'not enough'.

He pointed to allies in eastern and northern Europe 'laying the foundations for national mobilisation' and said that boosting Army numbers in preparation for a potential conflict would need to be a 'whole-of-nation undertaking'.

The comments were seen as a warning that British men and women should be ready for a call-up to the armed forces if Nato goes to war with Russia.

Following this, in January, Professor Anthony Glees, a security and intelligence expert at the University of Buckingham, agreed with calls to prepare citizens for the outbreak of all-out war with Russia.

Nato top brass fear that a ground conflict fought between Western allies and Putin's forces could happen in the next 20 years amid simmering tensions over Ukraine; but Professor Glees feared it could happen sooner.

He suggested the military begins recruiting volunteers for a civilian force over the next three years  and be ready for a mandatory call up within six.

Regarding the size of the military, the Earl of Minto said: 'While we do have a smaller forces than we had previously - and I think it's widely known some of the recruitment issues we are facing, and this is not peculiar either to the armed forces or the country - but we are applying all sorts of issues to both attract and retain forces across all three services.

'We know we don't have as many as we had planned and there are some recruitment issues.'

However, he added: 'Increasingly, it's about capability, not pure numbers.'

Labour peer Lord Snape highlighted the length of time it takes for a recruit to be fully signed up.

He said: 'Sixty years ago, when I joined the British Army, the recruiting sergeant in my home town of Stockport offered to swear me in that same afternoon and send me on my way to the Royal Engineers depot the following morning.

Army chief General Sir Patrick Sanders (pictured) said in January that training a 'citizen army' would be 'not enough'

Professor Anthony Glees (pictured), a security and intelligence expert at the University of Buckingham, agreed with the calls to prepare citizens for the outbreak of all-out war with Russia

'As I understand it now, these matters of recruitment are dealt with by a company called Capita and I read that it takes nine to 12 months for an individual to actually join a regiment.'

He joked that, by the time a whole regiment has been recruited, they will be 'too old to serve in the first place'.

Lord Minto responded: 'The Government is doing all it can to speed up the progress.

'The situation is improving, but as soon as we can get enthusiastic men and women into the forces who show that enthusiasm, the better.'

It comes as suggestions of conscription have been pushed to the government by some.

Lord Naseby urged ministers to consider reintroducing a form of National Service in Britain.

He served in the RAF in the 1950s and said: 'In my conversations with our young people, particularly my grandchildren, there is a willingness to consider some form of training, either of a military reserve nature or possibly even of a National Service nature.

'I believe our young people want to serve our country.'

Labour frontbencher Lord Tunnicliffe warned there is a 'serious risk' that the UK could become involved in a ground war in Europe.

He said: 'The military, surely, would be derelict in its duties if it was not considering its risks. What Ukraine has shown is that modern warfare, once again, is people intense.

'If you look at the numbers in our Armed Forces, there is something like half they were at the end of the cold war.

'Surely the military is developing multiple scenarios, almost certainly short of conscription, but multiple scenarios to ensure a rapid increase in resources can be achieved.'

However, the Earl of Minto said: 'The Government has no plans to reintroduce National Service or any form of conscription.

Conscription hasn't been seen for over 60 years following the end of national service (pictured: recruits in 1947)

'Since 1963, it has been the policy of successive governments that the best way of providing for the defence of our country is by maintaining a professional Armed Forces that are staffed by volunteers.

'The demanding nature of defence today is such that we require highly trained, professional men and women in our regular and reserve Armed Forces fully committed to giving their best in defending our country and its allies.'

He added: 'I think we have to rely upon the fact that we have a professional, highly trained, global reputation for all three forces that are the envy of many.

'To dilute them with a certain degree of unwilling recruits can only lead to a slight dilution of that reputation.'
A mother accused of killing her ten-year-old daughter appeared in crown court for the first time today via prison video-link  as new pictures of the defendant and her child emerged.

Jaskirat Kaur is accused of killing Shay Kang at their home in Rowley Regis, West Midlands on Monday  the same day police were called to the address and found the schoolgirl's body.

Kaur, 33, who is also known as Jasmine Kang, was remanded in custody by a judge at Wolverhampton Crown Court this morning.

Kaur, wearing a grey top and seated behind a desk, appeared before Judge Michael Chambers KC via a video-link from HMP Foston Hall in Derbyshire.

She was not asked to indicate or enter any plea to the murder charge, which alleges she unlawfully killed Shay on Monday, before submissions made by defence barrister Oliver Woolhouse.

Jaskirat Kaur is accused of killing Shay Kang at their home in Rowley Regis, West Midlands on Monday  the same day police were called to the address and found the schoolgirl's body

A heartbreaking video emerged of Shay playing pigging in the middle with friends in happier times

After telling Kaur she would be required to appear in person at her next court appearance, the judge told her: 'The next hearing in your case will be on the 22nd of April.

'On that occasion you will be asked whether you plead guilty or not guilty to the charge.

'I emphasise you have an absolute right to a trial and arrangements for such a trial will be made on the 22nd of April.

'In the meantime you will remain in custody.'

Her appearance at Wolverhampton Crown Court came after heartbreaking video emerged of Shay playing pigging in the middle with friends in happier times.

In the footage and series of pictures all taken when Shay was around four, the 'fun-loving' child is seen smiling for the camera or playing with friends.

Yesterday a woman who knew Shay and her mother before the pair moved to Rowley Regis from nearby Smethwick said the child was a 'happy and wonderful kid'.

The woman said Shay's death had left her 'heartbroken'.

'My eyes have been sore from all of the crying I have done', she added.

'She was such a lovely girl. I just couldn't believe the news.'

Kaur was arrested at the end-of-terrace property she shared with Shay at about 12.10pm on Monday.

Yesterday a woman who knew Shay and her mother before the pair moved to Rowley Regis from nearby Smethwick said the child was a 'happy and wonderful kid'

Kaur, 33, who is also known as Jasmine Kang, was remanded in custody by a judge at Wolverhampton Crown Court this morning

The youngster was a pupil at Brickhouse Primary School, which paid tribute to the' bright' child

Police have said a post-mortem examination will be carried out in due course to establish the cause of Shay's death.

The youngster was a pupil at Brickhouse Primary School, which paid tribute to the' bright' child through West Midlands Police on Tuesday.

The school said in a statement: 'Shay was a bright, happy, fun-loving child who was well liked by all and she will be very sadly missed by everyone.

'School is the heart of the community and we have already begun working with our children and staff to support them following this devastating news.'

Detective Inspector Dan Jarratt, of West Midlands Police, who is leading the investigation, said: 'Our thoughts remain with Shay's family and friends.

'Her tragic death has had a profound impact on those who knew her as well as the wider community.

'We ask that they are left to grieve in private as our enquiries continue.'
National Innovation Party may win about 10 Assembly seats, observers say

By Lee Hyo-jin

The National Innovation Party, a new liberal party launched by former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, is increasing its presence in the lead-up to the April 10 general elections, employing what observers perceive as a clever strategy involving the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).

At this pace, political analysts anticipate Cho's party to achieve its goal of obtaining at least 10 seats in the 22nd National Assembly.

"Recent polls indicate that the party could enter the Assembly with at least seven to 10 seats under the current semi-mixed member proportional representation system," said Eom Gyeong-yeong, director of political think tank the Zeitgeist Institute, Thursday.

Eom cited the recent poll conducted by Hankook Research at the request of The Korea Times, published Wednesday, which found that 15 percent of 1,002 eligible voters were willing to pick the National Innovation Party in Korea's proportional representation voting system. This marked the third-largest share, trailing behind the ruling People Power Party's (PPP) 29 percent and the DPK's 21 percent.

The proportional representation system allocates seats to a party based on the percentage of votes earned. In the upcoming elections, a total of 46 parliamentary seats are up for grabs.

However, the poll also found that the support rating for Cho's party stood at 5 percent, much lower than the 37 percent and 35 percent for the PPP and DPK, respectively.

The gap between the National Innovation Party's overall support rating and that for proportional representation voting suggests a potential split vote within the DPK's support base, according to political commentator Park Sang-byeong.

"A substantial number of DPK supporters may opt for a DPK candidate in their respective electoral districts while selecting the National Innovation Party in the proportional representation voting," Park said.

"This could secure the party about eight seats," he added.

He explained that the National Innovation Party's mantra of "challenging the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's 'prosecutor dictatorship'" is resonating deeply with many steadfast DPK supporters, especially those in their 40s and 50s, who reside in Seoul and the surrounding regions.

"It's an effective tactic for Cho to align with the DPK," Eom said. "However, the same cannot be said for the DPK, as its satellite party (created for the proportional representation seats) could lose a significant number of ballots to Cho's party."

In particular, a meeting between DPK leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung and Cho on Tuesday has fueled the notion that the two parties are forming an alliance against the Yoon administration, further inclining DPK supporters toward Cho's party.

During the meeting, the two party leaders pledged to collaborate in overcoming what they labeled as the Yoon administration's "prosecutor dictatorship." Cho further stated that his party would embark on bolder campaigns that the DPK might approach cautiously, such as "an early end to the prosecutor tyranny" and "taking first lady Kim Keon Hee to court."

Although the two parties have not officially announced an alliance, after the meeting, Cho's party quickly came up with a campaign catchphrase, "Vote for the DPK in the constituency and vote for the National Innovation Party in the proportional representation."

While speculation is high that Cho's party may erode the DPK's vote in the proportional representation voting system, pundits raised the possibility that the two parties could merge after the elections, given Cho's ongoing legal challenges.

The former justice minister is waiting for a Supreme Court ruling on charges of leveraging influence to secure academic favors for his children and interfering with a corruption case probe.

In February, the Seoul High Court upheld a lower court ruling sentencing him to two years in prison and imposing a fine of 6 million won ($4,500). If the Supreme Court deems him guilty, he may face disqualification from running in elections for the next five years.

"It is unlikely for the top court to issue a verdict within the next 30 days before the general elections take place. However, if he is convicted after securing an Assembly seat, it could significantly affect his future political career," Park said.
The family of a petty criminal who has spent an incredible 12 years behind bars for stealing a mobile phone have finally had an apology - from Lord Blunkett, the former Home Secretary who was the architect of the scheme under which he remains locked up.

The case of Thomas White, 40, has become notorious for justice campaigners who say his incarceration is one of the worst on record because the 2012 phone theft didn't involve any violence - and his minimum sentence was just two years.

But because Thomas was one of the last people to be handed a controversial 'Imprisonment for Public Protection' or IPP sentence - just four months before they were abolished - he has been languishing in prison ever since.

Clara White, Thomas's sister who has led the campaign, met with Lord Blunkett - who as Home Secretary introduced the IPP scheme in 2005 before later admitting 'I got it wrong' - and he then apologised for what had happened in their case.

She told MailOnline: 'My family has now lived for 12 miserable years trapped by this IPP sentence  it is hellish. The only apology we have had in the last 12 years is from Lord Blunkett himself.'

The case of Thomas White (pictured), 40, has become notorious for justice campaigners who say his incarceration is one of the worst on record because the 2012 phone theft didn't involve any violence - and his minimum sentence was just two years

Clara White (left, pictured with Thomas's son), Thomas's sister who has led the campaign, met with Lord Blunkett - who as Home Secretary introduced the IPP scheme in 2005 before later admitting 'I got it wrong' - and he then apologised for what had happened in their case

Former Home Secretary Lord Blunkett apologised to Clara White and Thomas White's son

Clara, who has campaigned for his release for years, told MailOnline in an interview to mark the 12th anniversary of his imprisonment: 'This is as close as it gets to locking someone up and throwing away the key.

'I've watched my brother become a ghost. He exists in my world and in my mum's but he doesn't exist in the real world.

'Sometimes I don't think he will ever get out. I think somebody in my family will lose their life over it whether it's Thomas, my mum or myself.'

There have also been pleas for White's release from his son Kayden, now 14, who has written to previous Justice Secretaries begging for help.

Clara says the strain of the sentence has caused dad-of-one Thomas , from Bury, greater Manchester, to become severely mentally ill, at times believing he was Jesus Christ.

She said: 'I want my brother removed and placed into hospital, it was recommended by the independent psychiatrist but it's not happened. His sentence is most definitely the cause of his schizophrenia.

'His mum went to visit him and she didn't recognise her own son. He had bits of bedding tied around his hat and wrists. He was unkept and skinny and was half of his normal body weight. We got calls saying he was wearing his bedding as robes.

'He is on loads of medication now, he sleeps all the time and is locked up 23 hours a day. He has no trust in the prison service, they have stopped him going to hospital, I think that's just so cruel.'

Thomas was sentenced for two years but because he had 16 previous convictions for theft and robberies he was given an IPP sentence.

Clara (right), who has campaigned for his release for years, told MailOnline in an interview to mark the 12th anniversary of his imprisonment: 'This is as close as it gets to locking someone up and throwing away the key'

Thomas White with his sister, Clara, and his mother, Margaret, in Manchester in 1985

During his sentence Thomas has been moved 16 times to different prisons and hasn't seen his son Kayden, 14, since the boy was 10 months old.

In 2020 Kayden even wrote to then-Justice Secretary Robert Buckland asking for his dad to be released. 'I'm asking you - can you help me speak to my daddy, I've not seen him since I was a baby.'

And Kayden accompanied his aunt Clara for her meeting with the former Home Secretary in the House of Lords.

She said: 'Lord Blunkett listened to Kayden with much compassion. The relentless nightmares of not knowing if my brother will die in prison by suicide are exhaustive.

'I pray to God we are not next in line to get a call from custody to say my brother has taken his life. I pray no family gets that call.

'Sadly, many families have already received that call, and will continue to do so in the future as the death rates from this horrific sentence increase.'

Lord Blunkett said: 'I was very pleased indeed to meet Kayden and his aunt Clara in the House of Lords.

'I will continue to do my best to ensure that there is a satisfactory outcome: that we can facilitate and find ways of meeting Kayden's needs; to support his father into a positive outcome from his present situation in prison, and above all, ensure that those services funded to help develop a pathway and acceptable outcome work together to achieve a result.'

Thomas is far from alone, new figures released by the Ministry of Justice today reveal that almost 3,000 people are still behind bars on IPP.

Many inmates are already over their maximum term, some by over a decade, say campaigners The Institute of Now.

IPP is said to have cost the taxpayer 500 million already and could rise of 1billion by 2028.

At least 88 people given IPPs have already committed suicide in prison, with the number feared to be much higher, due to the difficulty of recording how many have killed themselves while on licence in the community.

IPP was introduced in England and Wales in 2003, as part of the Criminal Justice Act, originally intended to protect the public from dangerous offenders whose crimes did not merit a life sentence. When it was abolished in 2012 the change was not retrospective meaning thousands are still subject to the sentence.

Kayden accompanied his aunt Clara (pictured) for her meeting with the former Home Secretary in the House of Lord

During his sentence Thomas has been moved 16 times to different prisons and hasn't seen his son Kayden, 14, since the boy was 10 months old (pictured together when his son was a baby)

Henry Rossi, from The Institute of Now, said: 'IPP is a systematic error and a form of state violence which has no place in a modern society.

'Far too many people, both prisoners and their families, have been subjected to psychological torture from this wicked sentence, which in so many cases, has led to suicides.

'Prisons are not the place to manage those that have served their time as punishment.

'The UK has blood on its hands and the government must urgently relook at this draconian sentence and release post-tariff IPP prisoners with the appropriate support.'

Clara was speaking as new data released by the Ministry of Justice revealed that almost 3,000 people are still being held in prison on IPPs.

Data released this week in the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly shows that 2,852 are still in prison on IPPs today, despite this type of indefinite sentence being abolished in 2012.

Campaigners says many of them have served significantly longer than their minimum terms - with the total amounting to 10,000 extra years  equivalent to a cost of 500million to the UK taxpayer.
President Joe Biden will announce in his State of the Union address that he's directing the military to build a port on the Gaza coast to bring relief to the population there.

His move comes as Democrats unhappy with his handling of humanitarian crisis caused by the Israeli-Hamas war have been voting 'uncommitted' in Democratic primaries.

'The President will announce that he's directing the US military to lead an emergency mission to establish a port in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water medicine, and temporary shelters,' a senior administration official said on a briefing call with reporters on Thursday.

President Joe Biden will direct the U.S. military to build a port on Gaza coast humanitarian aid

That does not mean U.S. military personnel will be on the ground in the war torn region.

'The planning involves the presence of US military personnel on military vessels offshore but does not require US military personnel to go ashore to install the pier or causeway facility that will allow to the transportation of humanitarian assistance,' a senior defense official said.

'We're not planning for this to be an operation that would require U.S. boots on the ground,' an official noted.

The officials offered no time line for when the pier will be built or where exactly it will be located but said its construction will allow more shipments of food, medicine and other essential items to be delivered to the 2.2 million Palestinians.

They said the White House will coordinate with the Israelis regarding security on the ground and with the United Nations and humanitarian groups on getting aid delivered.

The temporary pier will allow for hundreds of additional truckloads of assistance each day, the officials said. It will be an additional route for humanitarian aid, which is currently limited to two land crossings into the southern part of Gaza.

Other countries will be involved in its construction but it's unclear if Israel will be.

The project could take more than 30 to 60 days to construct and would involve hundreds or thousands of U.S. troops on ships just off shore. It will also require armed escorts and other protective measures.

One of the main military units involved in the construction will be the Armys 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), out of Joint Base Eustis-Langley, Va., near Norfolk, U.S. Defense Department officials told the New York Times.

A map of the Gaza region

Humanitarian aid falls over northern Gaza - the U.S. is participating in the air drops

Supplies are dropped out of an airplane down onto Gaza

Biden has already ordered US airlifts of aid.

A famine has not yet been declared for Gaza but 20% of households suffer from an extreme lack of food, 30% of children suffer from acute malnutrition and 2 in 10,000 people dying per day 'due to outright starvation or to the interaction of malnutrition and disease,' the World Food Program said.

The administration said it was imperative to get aid on the ground as soon as possible - and that it would go around Israel, its longtime ally, to do it.

'The president has directed that we look at all options - that we not wait for the Israelis and that we are pursuing every channel possible to get assistance into Gaza. So we will do it by air by sea by land,' a senior administration official said.

Biden will speak about the Israeli-Hamas war and the plight of the hostages when he delivers his State of the Union address on Thursday night.

The president has seen a concerning number of Democrats vote 'uncommitted' in primaries in key battleground states like Michigan and Minnesota.

In Minnesota on Tuesday, nearly 20 percent of Democratic voters in the state voted uncommitted. The week before, more than 100,000 voters in Michigan voted the same.

Palestinians carry or transport on carts some personal belongings, as they flee Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip

Children carry kitchen utensils as they walk toward a food distribution point in Gaza

The voters have been vocal about their unhappiness with how Biden is handling the Gaza situation. The president is under pressure from both home and abroad to see a ceasefire in place in the region.

The protest vote is seen as a warning sign to the president as he prepares to face Donald Trump for a presidential rematch.

Michigan is home to the largest Arab American population in the country. Biden won the state over Trump by a mere 150,000 votes in the 2020 contest.

Biden's administration is still working on negotiating a ceasefire.

The officials said that Hamas is delaying a new deal with Israel on releasing hostages because it has not agreed to free sick and elderly hostages.

'The fundamental element on their side is releasing again, the sick, wounded, the elderly and a woman. That is right now, really the hold up,' a senior administration official said.
Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, Wednesday to rally Democrat campaign staff in the state for the 2024 election.

The vice president delivered an off-the-cuff speech to campaign workers in Madison after making a stop to visit her one-time childhood home.

'It's good to see my neighbors!' she laughed after she was introduced, referring to a 'very strong personal connection' she had with the state of Wisconsin.

Vice President Kamala Harris visits Wisconsin to rally campaign workers for the 2024 election

Earlier in the day, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about the Biden administration's efforts to promote union job growth with Madison mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway.

Harris emphasized the importance of democracy in the upcoming presidential election in a speech that lasted about ten minutes.

'When we think about the strength of our democracy, you know I think there's a duality to the nature of democracy. When it's intact, oh, it's so strong, in terms of what it does, to uphold and protect individual rights and freedoms, so strong in it's nature and it is very fragile, it will only be as strong as our willingness to fight for it,' she said.

Harris recalled the importance of the state of Wisconsin, reminding staff that in the 2020 election, she and Biden only won the state by about 20,000 votes. But she urged them to take comfort in their personal and collective organizing power.

Vice President Kamala Harris urged campaign volunteers to be positive about the 2024 election.

'If we think about how many people that each of you can touch over the course of the next eight months to make that difference, whoa the power in this room,' she said 'When I think about it in terms of what that will mean from people around our country and the world, whoa the power that's in this room.'

Harris reminded them she had spent time with over 100 different world leaders as vice president and said they were all worried about the future of America's leadership.

'Almost to a one they came up to me, "Kamala, hope y'all are going to be ok," she said. 'Understand their point was purely out of self-interest.'

She expressed confidence, however, in the results of the 2024 election.

'By the way, we're gonna win, we are going to win, we are going to win,' she repeated.

Harris briefly lived in Madison as a little girl from the age of three to five while her father taught economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

I dont remember the house as much as I remember the path down to the lake, Harris told reporters afterwards. Welcome to my Madison roots.
Dramatic surveillance camera footage captured the moment a man carrying a chainsaw as he arged inside a strip club in the western Mexico state of Michoacan.

The bizarre video showed the man walking past several stationed vehicles on a street in the Michoacan town of Lazaro Cardenas on Sunday night and approaching the Bar La Jungla entrance.

The sight of the individual revving up the chainsaw seemed like a scene from the horror flick Texas Chain Saw Massacre and sent an employee assigned to welcome guests at the entrance running inside the bar.

The frightened worker was later picked up by another security camera racing up the steps while a group of women drank on a sofa behind the stair rail.

A man barged into a strip club carrying a chainsaw in Michoacan, Mexico, on Saturday before workers chased him away

The walked up the stairs holding the chainsaw before strip bar workers threw barrel chairs at him and forced him to retreat

The employee disappeared for a moment before he ran back and hurled a barrel chair at the intruder while the women peeked over the rail.

The chainsaw-wielding maniac immediately took several steps back as several workers rushed towards the stairs.

One of the workers threw a chair down the steps while another carried one over his head before a bevy of workers followed and rushed after individual.

The bar management staff told Mexican news outlet Milenio that they did not know why the man arrived with the chainsaw, but that they were sure he intended to cause harm.

No arrests had been reported as of Thursday.

A man holding a chainsaw was captured on camera approaching a strip bar in the western Mexico city of Lazaro Cardenas on Saturday night. It's unknown if any injuries were reported or if the individual was arrested

Strip club dancers peeked over the stair rail as the chainsaw-wielding maniac was forced to run out of the bar

The incident comes three months after Massachusetts authorities made public for the first time video footage Brien Buckley, 38, walked into a police station with a chainsaw in Cohasset in 2022 and cut into a door.

A civilian working the reception desk locked herself in an office to shield herself from the landscaper.

Buckley then left the police station and returned to his home and was arrested after a five-hour standoff.

In November 2023, Nevada prosecutors cleared two cops in the 2020 shooting death of Ronal Zendejas, who threatened motel staffers with a chainsaw before he went to his room and made contact with a person.

Zendejas fled and crashed into a police cruiser before he was shot and killed.
Taser instructor Ben Bloodworth tasered defense attorney Ken Ervin before being cross-examined to prove the officer's reaction in 2019 was appropriate

The demonstration was part of the defense's argument for former deputies Zachary Camden and James Johnson

A defense attorney was tasered in court to show the jury how the weapons work during a manslaughter trial for the death of Javier Ambler

A defense attorney was tasered in court to 'show the jury how they work' during a manslaughter trial for two cops who tasered a man with heart problems to death.

Zachary Camden and James Johnson, former Williamson County Sheriff's Office deputies, were indicted for the death of Javier Ambler, 40, by a grand jury in 2021.

The former deputies are accused of using excessive force when they tasered Ambler multiple times after a car chase in 2019 and are currently on trial for manslaughter.

On Wednesday the defense called upon witness Ben Bloodworth, an instructor at Axon - the company that produces tasers.

Bloodworth carried out a bizarre demonstration in the courtroom during which he used a taser on defense attorney Ken Ervin. The demonstration was supposedly to show the jury how the taser worked.

A defense attorney was tasered in court to 'show the jury how they work' during a manslaughter trial for two cops who tasered a man with heart problems to death

Bloodworth carried out a bizarre demonstration in the courtroom during which he used a taser on defense attorney Ken Ervin. The demonstration was supposedly to show the jury how the taser worked

Former Williamson County Sheriff's Deputies James Johnson left, and Zachary Camden were indicted on manslaughter charges in 2021 and are on trial for manslaughter

Javier Ambler was driving home from playing poker on March 28, 2019, when he failed to dim the headlights of his SUV to oncoming traffic

During the presentation, four individuals stood at the front of the courtroom to act out a situation similar to the 2019 incident involving the deputies and Ambler.

Bloodworth pointed the bright yellow taser at Ervin and said 'taser, taser, taser' before firing the weapon.

The other two individuals clutched Ervin as he writhed in pain following the taser shot before he collapsed into their arms and said 'oof'.

After the taser demonstration, Bloodworth was cross-examined by prosecutor Holly Taylor.

'You didn't hear a statement, 'I can't breathe, I have congestive heart failure' from Mr. Ervin, prior to tasing Mr. Ervin?' Taylor asked.

'No, ma'am,' Bloodworth responded.

'And Mr. Ervin was tased once  not two, three or four times,' Taylor asked.

'Asked and answered your honor,' the defense interjected.

'I have not asked that specific question,' Taylor said.

'Five second cycle, yes, ma'am,' Bloodworth responded.

The defense also called upon Anthony Ramirez, the certified taser instructor who trained Camden and Johnson.

Ramirez testified that the deputies responded to the 2019 situation in the appropriate way.

He claims it is acceptable to use a taser after a car chase because law enforcement does not know if the suspect has a weapon.

Ramirez said officers are trained to use whatever force is necessary to be able to put handcuffs on.

After both witnesses were called to the stand, the defense rested its case.

Closing arguments are set to take place on Thursday, with jury deliberation starting shortly after.

In 2021 court proceedings, attorneys Ken Ervin and Doug O'Connell also claimed that their clients were not invited to testify by prosecutors while providing their own narrative for the March 2019 traffic stop.

Body camera footage showed Ambler telling deputies 'I can't breathe' and that he has congestive heart failure as they deploy Tasers on him four times

Deputies performed CPR on Ambler (pictured) until medical personnel arrived later and took over. He died at hour later

'Contrary to widespread media characterizations, Mr. Ambler was not pursued for failing to dim his headlights. He was pursued for the felony offense of evading arrest in a vehicle,' the lawyers wrote in their statement.

The lawyers claimed that during the car chase, which allegedly lasted more than 22 minutes, Ambler had crashed through a homeowner's fence before his 'fifth and final collision disabled his vehicle.'

'Shortly thereafter, Mr. Ambler died because of congestive heart failure, hypertensive cardiovascular disease associated with morbid obesity, and lymphocytic myocarditis,' the lawyers said.

'Mr. Ambler's physical exertion in resisting the three officers it took to get him into handcuffs no doubt contributed to his medical emergency, but Mr. Johnson and Mr. Camden are neither morally nor legally responsible for his death.'

The lawyers said they are requesting a trial 'as soon as possible' for their clients 'where we can ensure politics, campaign promises, and sensationalized media portrayals will not distort the truth of what occurred.'

The deputies pursued the father-of-two for 22 minutes into downtown Austin in a police chase that was captured on camera for an episode of A&E network's Live PD.

Police body camera video of Ambler's death shows the gasping 400lb-man telling the deputies that he wants to comply with their demands but that he cant because he has congestive heart failure.

'I am not resisting,' Ambler cries. 'Sir, I can't breathe... Please... Please.'

He was pronounced dead an hour later.

Former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody (pictured) was accused of destroying video evidence relating to the investigation

An autopsy revealed that Ambler died in a homicide with congestive heart failure and hypertensive cardiovascular disease linked with morbid obesity 'in combination with forcible restraint'

Internal Affairs investigators with the Williamson County Sheriff's Office determined that Johnson and Camden didn't violate pursuit or use-of-force policies.

A complaint filed in the Western District of Texas accused former Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody of encouraging officers to engage in 'dangerous' police tactics for the sake of exciting television, and rewarding officers 'who had 'good' uses of force'.

The complaint also includes earlier claims from two former employees of the sheriff's office who said leaders had rewarded them with steakhouse gift cards when they used force on the job.

'Officers who received gift cards were also awarded the title 'WilCo Badass'. This practice encouraged officers to use force more frequently, to 'win' more gift cards, to be 'WilCo Badass,' and to appear on Live PD,' the suit states.

The complaint also noted how police chases in Williamson County had increased by 54 per cent in the year that Live PD began partnering with the department.

And approximately 60 percent of those pursuits began due to a trivial traffic infraction, like failing to signal, expired license plates, or failure to dim headlights, according to the lawsuit.
A mother has slammed police after her son's body lay undiscovered in the back of his van parked on a BP garage forecourt for six days.

Don Shepherd was last seen parking his van at the BP on Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green, East London, early on February 11.

Described as a 'happy tree hugger' by his mother and living in his van, Mr Shepherd, 50, was seen on film trying to buy a bottle of water  but was told by an assistant the shop was still closed.

He was then seen on CCTV walking back to his van. It was the last time he was seen alive. Inside the vehicle, he died from a heart attack.

His body lay in the back of the transit for six days until he was finally discovered by police on February 17  after his frantic mother repeatedly phoned to report him missing.

Don Shepherd's body lay in the back of the transit for six days until he was finally discovered by police

Donald and Liz Shepherd of Sussex hold a picture of their son Don who was found dead in his van

Staff at the garage also phoned police asking them to remove the vehicle that had been parked on its forecourt all that time  unaware there was a body inside.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, his mother Liz, 67, from Hastings, East Sussex, blasted officers, saying: 'I reported him missing on February 10th.

'I phoned the police and told them I couldn't get hold of him. He was living in his van so he was moving around a lot, but we were in regular contact. He hadn't been in touch for a for a few days and I was worried about him.

'I told them he had last used his bank card at a petrol station in Finsbury Park. I gave them the registration number of his van  and asked them to look at the garage CCTV.

'But they've been hopeless. We told them we knew he had been at the garage.

'I now know that the poor man from the petrol station had also repeatedly called them, saying there's a man here in a van who hasn't left it for five days. But the police never came.'

Eventually, the Met responded to the garage staff and sent officers down. There, officers were seen desperately trying to pry the van's doors open before paramedics swarmed the scene. A Met Police spokesman said that they identified the man and told his family.

A postmortem confirmed Mr Shepherd had died from a heart attack.

The Met said: 'At 14:12hrs on Saturday, 17 February the body of a man was discovered in a vehicle in a petrol garage in Cambridge Heath Road E2.

'Officers believe they know who the deceased is and are working to inform the next of kin. At this stage, the death is not being treated as suspicious.'

Don is described as a 'happy tree hugger' by his mother

Liz and her husband are now organising his funeral and say they have made a formal complaint to the Metropolitan Police regarding the standards of their investigation

Don Shepherd was last seen parking his van at the BP on Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green, East London (pictured), early on February 11

Liz says her son was diabetic and wasn't living well prior to his death

London Ambulance Service spokesperson added: 'We were called at 2.15pm on February 17 to reports of an incident on Cambridge Heath Road, E1.

'We sent an ambulance crew and paramedic in a fast-response car to the scene. Very sadly, a person was pronounced dead at the scene.'

Liz, a retired British Airways hostess, says that her son was diabetic and wasn't living well prior to his death.

She continued: 'He had pulled up on the Sunday evening and asked for some water. He was staggering they said. Then he went into his van.

'The coroner has released his body, and the van is still there - it's shameful, a man died there.

'I knew he was gone as I could see the last time he used his cards. The police came to tell us, but I already knew he was gone. I said to them 'why is this only happening six days after I reported him missing?'

Liz and her husband are now organising his funeral and say they have made a formal complaint to the Metropolitan Police regarding the standards of their investigation.

'That van sat there for six days. It could have been filled with anything. Explosives even, the police should have come. This is no way to treat people, it's beyond sad, it's heartbreaking for us,' she added.
Following the tragic death of college student Laken Riley, Republicans passed a bill in her honor that would crack down on illegal migrants who break the law.

The 'Laken Riley Act' which passed 251 to 170 requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain migrants who have been charged with theft and other crimes. Notably, 37 Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the measure.

The bill is named after 22-year-old Laken Riley, a University of Georgia student who was recently discovered dead and disfigured on campus.

Her alleged killer, Jose Antonio Ibarra, is a 26-year-old Venezuelan national who is illegally in the country. Ibarra was arrested in New York for endangering a child and was cited in Georgia for shoplifting, but wasn't detained by ICE immediately before Riley's murder.

The bill passage came just hours before President Biden is set to come to the Capitol for his State of the Union speech. He is expected to blame Republicans for not voting on a Senate-led $118 billion bill to secure the border during remarks.

Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., urged President Biden to mention Laken Riley during his address this evening.

Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, was arrested for the murder of Laken Riley and appeared in court on February 24th when he was formally charged with the young woman's murder

Officials have confirmed that Ibarra is not a US citizen and did not know or have any kind of relationship with Riley

Notably, 37 Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the measure

Riley 'was murdered by an illegal alien who never should've been allowed to cross into our country,' she said on the floor earlier Thursday.

'Biden is neglecting the safety of American citizens. At the SOTU tonight, he should say her name,' Miller continued.

The White House finally broke its silence on Riley's death days after she was killed sparking outrage nationwide.

'We would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Laken Hope Riley,' a White House official said in a statement to DailyMail.com at the end of last month.

'People should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law if they are found to be guilty. Given this is an active case, we would have to refer you to state law enforcement and ICE,' the White House official said.

The statement notably left out any mention, by name, of illegal Venezuelan immigrant Ibarra.

Ibarra, since his 2022 entry into the U.S., has been cited for shoplifting and child endangerment.

The act would also enable individual states to sue the federal government if it or its citizens are harmed by immigration related actions.

The new legislation by Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., would have required Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain Ibarra after his first offense and before he could have the chance to attack Riley.

Collins represents Georgia's 10th Congressional District, which contains the community where Riley was killed.

The act would 'require the Secretary of Homeland Security to take into custody aliens who have been charged in the United States with theft, and for other purposes,' a copy of the bill obtained by DailyMail.com states.

Just five months ago, Ibarra was arrested and charged 'with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation,' according to ICE.

Ibarra, who had been working for food delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats, was caught driving his wife's son on the back of a gas-powered moped without a helmet or restraint for the child in New York City.

The NYPD released him 'before a detainer could be issued,' the agency said.

New York City is also a 'sanctuary city,' which usually restricts law enforcement from complying with ICE detainers.

Rep. Mike Collins, who represents Athens, Georgia, in Congress, wrote the 'Laken Riley Act'

Jose Ibarra entered the U.S. in 2022 with his brother Diego, ICE confirmed

In 2022, Ibarra was charged with shoplifting at a Walmart in Athens, Georgia.

However, he was allowed to remain in the country.

The 'Laken Riley Act' would have required Ibarra be detained after his shoplifting citation.

The bill also contains phrasing condemning the Biden administration's handling of the U.S.-Mexico border.

'Congress finds that the Nation mourns the devastating loss of Laken Riley and other victims of the Biden administration's open borer policies; honors the life and memory of Laken Riley and other victims of the Biden administration's open borders policies.'
A 450-pound runaway pig named Kevin Bacon was lured back to its Wisconsin pen with a trail of Oreo cookies after it unexpectedly showed up at a family's backyard doorstep.

The pig escaped from a farm in Brighton, about 38 miles south of Milwaukee, sometime on Friday, wandering a mile down the road while its owner was out of town for the weekend.

The porker ended up at Jake Molgaard's backdoor and was caught on his security camera hamming it up.

'My wife spotted an unusually shaped figure on our driveway camera walking along our garage,' Molgaard, a 40-year-old local business owner, told AP.

With a trail of Oreo cookies and assistance from the Kenosha County sheriff's office, it took Molgaard and his family two and a half hours to lead Kevin the pig back to his pen, located only a mile away.

A 45-pound runaway pig named Kevin Bacon was lured back to its Wisconsin pen with a trail of Oreo cookies after it unexpectedly showed up at a family's backyard doorstep

The pig escaped from a farm in Brighton , about 38 miles south of Milwaukee, sometime on Friday, wandering a mile down the road while its owner was out of town for the weekend. Pictured: Kevin the pig and a deputy with the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department

The porker ended up at Jake Molgaard (pictured)'s backdoor and was caught on his security camera hamming it up

After spotting the bulky stranger at their home, Molgaard's wife started feeding it right away, as Molgaard added, 'that's what she does with every animal that comes to our backyard.'

Kevin scarfed down some apples, rice cakes, tomatoes, and carrots, along with its favorite snacks - doughnuts.

Molgaard made a few phone calls to find the pig's owner, who was out of town when his pig squeezed its way out of the barn and walked down the road.

The owner had to ask the Molgaards to lure Kevin back to its pen, adding that the big pig is partial to cookies, marshmallows and other sweets.

With some Oreo cookies and any tempting treats they could find in the fridge, the family and Kevin embarked on a two-and-a-half-hour adventure along a side road.

Molgaard's 16-year-old daughter Chloe Delaney jumped on the pig's back at one point during the walk, so that the bulky animal could speed up.

'The owner said that if he stops on you, you can jump on his back and he likes to run at that point,' Molgaard told KKTV.

After spotting the bulky stranger at their home, Molgaard's wife started feeding it right away

It scarfed down some apples, rice cakes, tomatoes, and carrots, along with its favorite snacks - doughnuts

Molgaard made a few phone calls to find the pig's owner, who was out of town when his pig squeezed its way out of the barn and walked down the road

'They wanted to adopt him immediately. And I said we don't have a place to put a 450-pound pig. But yeah, they fell in love with him right away,' Molgaard said

Deputies were dispatched to address what they referred to as a 'typical county call' and assisted in escorting the pig back to its property 'safely and not too quickly,' according to the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department.

Captured in a photo shared on social media, a deputy can be seen posing with the porker, wearing a bright smile.

After the sheriff left smiling, the pig and its temporary caretakers finished the rest of the journey on their own, Molgaard said.

'He is a massive creature, but the owner says he's a gentle giant. We have been over there every day giving him a dozen donuts,' he added.

Kevin the pig is now back home safe and seems to be in good spirits. After spending a weekend together, it has also become a part of the family.

'They wanted to adopt him immediately. And I said we don't have a place to put a 450-pound pig. But yeah, they fell in love with him right away,' Molgaard said.
Thousands of TikTok users are calling members of Congress to demand they vote against a bill that could ban the app because of its links to China.

Capitol Hill aides say children - some crying and some in classrooms - are calling into their office and making phones ring off the hook, fearing their favorite social media platform is at risk.

Staffers to members on the Energy and Commerce Committee say people of all ages called throughout the morning expressing concerns about the law that would force owner ByteDance to divest from TikTok.

A TikTok spokesperson told DailyMail.com the notification went to users who are 18+.

Others staffers were shocked that so many 'grown men' were calling and were accusing members of being 'racist' by supporting the bipartisan bill.

Republicans say the flood of calls is down to TikTok lobbying its users. Some see alert on the app with an option to call their local member of Congress, based on the zip code they are in.

Callers told staffers the alert would not go away and allow them to access they app until they called.

Some callers are just hanging up as soon as they get an answer, only concerned with accessing the app.

Republicans say the flood of calls is down to TikTok lobbying its users

Leaders on the China select committee are pushing a bipartisan bill that would force state-affiliated ByteDance to sell its shares of TikTok or else the popular video-sharing platform would be banned

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before Congress in January

The TikToker takeover of Capitol Hills phone lines got so insane that @RepAshleyHinson started answering calls herself to explain to middle schoolers what the bill does.



Hinson sits on the @committeeonccp that originated the bill requiring the app to divest from ByteDance. pic.twitter.com/H1IfG3vfPf  Kelly Laco (@kelly_laco) March 7, 2024

'They are unending,' one staffer to an Energy and Commerce member told DailyMail.com. 'All four lines have been ringing off the hook. Lots of kids calling from schools, also way more grown men than I'd expect.'

'We got hammered very hard until about 12:30 p.m. today,' said another E&C member's aide.

'We've had young children in classrooms (you can hear teachers, other students in the background) calling just so they can access the app,' said another aide to an E&C member.

'Had a few adults call and say they use the app to look at "women." Did have one person say banning TikTok is "racist."'

'Most don't know the connection to China and are receptive when we tell them the facts,' the staffer added.

Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, ended up answering phone calls herself in order to explain to the middle schoolers calling what the bill actually does.

'TikTok has no regard for kids mental health. China has a vested interest in hurting our youth & theyre using this app to do it,' Hinson told DailyMail.com.

'If TikTok wants to keep its users in the US, they will have to cut ties with China & ByteDance. I am a mama bear on a mission to protect our kids,' she added.

The calls came as the Energy and Commerce Committee was in a rare classified hearing about the threats of TikTok before advancing a new bill that would force Chinese state-affiliated ByteDance to divest TikTok or else be banned in the U.S.

The bill already has the support of both President Biden and Speaker Mike Johnson - and passed the Energy and Commerce Committee 50-0 on Thursday.

'TikTok will do anything they canincluding manipulating and exploiting American usersin order to prevent CCP-controlled ByteDance from being banned from the U.S.,' said Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers on X.

Despite Biden's support for the new bill, his campaign is on TikTok under the name 'BidenHQ.'

The House China Select Committee on China, which introduced the bill, has accused CCP officials of using TikTok to spy on U.S. users' locations and dictate its algorithm to conduct influence campaigns, making it a national security threat.

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act would specifically designate ByteDance and TikTok as foreign adversary-controlled applications.

If passed, ByteDance would have five months after the law is signed to divest from TikTok. If it does not, app stores and web hosting platforms would not be allowed to distribute it in the U.S.

'First of all, if you didnt think TikTok would engage in malicious behavior before today, you shouldnt think so any longer,' said Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, on X, referring to the phone call operation.

'Second, China is not like the US. China can make companies do whatever the government wants, to include handing over data and weaponizing social media platforms for potentially the most far-reaching psych warfare operation in history.'

Nearly 20 Republicans and Democrats have worked on the proposed law for over a year, top China committee Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., said, adding the committee met with industry specialists and national security interests while crafting the legislation.

Krishnamoorthi warned that top CCP officials have ties to high-ranking ByteDance executives

The bill also would broaden the scope of the president's powers in general to ban foreign adversary-controlled applications, calling out those affiliated with China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.

In a statement, TikTok said of the bill's passing committee: 'This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States. The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression. This will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.'

The committee fired back, with multiple members reminding reporters that the bill does not outright ban the app.

'This bill is not a ban, and it's really not about TikTok,' Krishnamoorthi said.
BBC Scotland presenter Nick Sheridan died of a brain aneurysm after collapsing while running, friends have revealed - as Humza Yousaf led tributes to the 'extremely talented journalist and author'.

The children's author and journalist, from Wexford in Ireland, was out jogging when he is said to have suddenly collapsed for the second time in recent weeks.

Mr Sheridan, who was best known for presenting shows including Drivetime and Reporting Scotland, died on Wednesday after several days in intensive care, surrounded by family.

BBC Scotland announced his passing on social media this morning, with the BBC reporting Sheridan died after a 'short illness'.

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf led tributes to Sheridan as he began his weekly questions in the Scottish Parliament chamber, describing him as a 'extremely talented journalist and author'.

Journalist Robbie Armstrong posted a photo of Mr Sheridan sat on a seawall with running gear on and said his friend had been 'taken far too early from a world you gave your absolute everything to'.

BBC Scotland presenter Nick Sheridan died of a brain aneurysm after collapsing while running, friends have revealed. Pictured: Sheridan posting footage from a run on his Instagram

Journalist Robbie Armstrong posted this photo of Mr Sheridan sat on a seawall with running gear on and said his friend had been 'taken far too early from a world you gave your absolute everything to'

Photos from Mr Sheridan's Instagram show that he was very active and enjoyed running and swimming

The journalist, from Wexford in Ireland, was on a run when he is said to have suddenly collapsed again after suffering a suspected aneurysm, after also being admitted to hospital last week

He added: 'You brought happiness into every moment that I had the sheer luck to share with you; you shone light into my darkest moments; you gave me laughter when there were tears; you believed in me when I didnt believe in myself.

'Ill cherish the swims, the many pizzas we shared (even the monstrosity that was the meat-pizza!), the nonsensical voice notes, the pure craic and the razor wit.'

He spoke about camping trips that they shared together and 'falling asleep under the stars'. Mr Armstrong also shared footage of his friend singing in a pub and wrote: 'I twice saw you bring a bar into stunned silence by singing the Wexford Rebellion song Boolavogue in your angelic voice to rapturous applause.

'You were a joy to behold and a precious gift to this world. Im utterly heartbroken and lost without you.'

Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also paid tribute to the 'talented and vivacious' star today, while his colleagues at the broadcaster remembered him as a 'lovely man'.

He is best known for presenting Drivetime, Lunchtime Live and the Sunday Show. He later wrote a book series for children which included The Case of the Runaway Brain and The Case of the Phantom Treasure.

On Thursday lunchtime, BBC Reporting Scotland aired a tribute to Mr Sheridan, consisting of a black and white picture of him along with his years of life.

A minute's silence for him was also held at BBC Scotland offices, it was reported.

The presenter's last post on X dated February 24 read: 'On air from 8am with your weekend edition of Good Morning Scotland, reflecting on 2 years since Putin's order for a Russian invasion of Ukraine.'

BBC Scotland announced his passing on social media this morning, with the BBC reporting Sheridan died after a 'short illness'

His last post on X dated February 24 read: 'On air from 8am with your weekend edition of Good Morning Scotland, reflecting on 2 years since Putin's order for a Russian invasion of Ukraine'

Sheridan's co-host Fiona Stalker from BBC Scotland and Seven Days posted a touching tribute

BBC Scotland presenter Nick Sheridan pictured on holiday

Head of News and Current Affairs at BBC Scotland Gary Smith said in a statement: 'Nick has been a wonderful colleague. He was a hugely talented journalist, presenter and author  and one of those rare people who light up the lives of everyone around them.

'Funny, clever, kind. A lovely man.

'Our hearts go out to his parents, to his partner, and to all his family and friends.'

Sheridan reported for Ireland's national broadcaster RTE News, before moving to Glasgow, and presenting STV News and the BBC.

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf paid tribute to Sheridan as he began his weekly questions in the Scottish Parliament chamber, describing him as a 'extremely talented journalist and author,' Sky News reported.

'He will be greatly missed. Many of us in this chamber will have been questioned by Nick - quite robustly no doubt - whether it was on BBC Drivetime or on many of the other programmes that he presented.

'My thoughts are with his family, his many friends and indeed his colleagues. It will undoubtedly be a very sad time for them.'

Mr Sheridan had an illustrious career in media at RTE, STV and BBC Scotland

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf paid tribute to Sheridan in the Scottish Parliament chamber, describing him as a 'extremely talented journalist and author'

Sheridan reported for Ireland's national broadcaster RTE News, before moving to Glasgow

Pictured are Nick Sheridan and BBC Co-Presenter Fiona Stalker

Nicola Sturgeon posted on X: 'So terribly sad to read this. It is truly awful. Nick was young, talented, vivacious, and full of potential. What a horrible, senseless loss. My thoughts are with his family, colleagues and many friends.'

Sheridan's co-host Fiona Stalker from BBC Scotland and Seven Days posted a touching tribute with photos of the pair.

She wrote: 'There are no words. He was so very loved. I am so thankful for every minute with him. The very best.'

Kelly Given, who was on Channel 4's Make Me Prime Minister before working at the BBC alongside Sheridan, said: 'Working with Nick was truly the pleasure of a lifetime.

'An absolute joy of a human being and a uniquely talented journalist. I'm not sure I will ever have the words.'

After Sheridan's passing was announced, Nicola Sturgeon led the tributes to the 'talented' star

Fiona Stalker wrote on X: 'There are no words. He was so very loved. I am so thankful for every minute with him. The very best'

Nicola Sturgeon posted on X: 'So terribly sad to read this. It is truly awful. Nick was young, talented, vivacious, and full of potential. What a horrible, senseless loss'

"Nick has been a wonderful colleague. He was a hugely talented journalist, presenter and author  and one of those rare people who light up the lives of everyone around them."



Head of News & Current Affairs at BBC Scotland Gary Smith pays tribute to Nick Sheridan. pic.twitter.com/HFTqm8tl1m  BBC Scotland Comms (@BBCScotComms) March 7, 2024

There are no words.

He was so very loved. I am so thankful for every minute with him. The very best  https://t.co/utuFFX0gTJ pic.twitter.com/PviBOzjRMO  Fiona Stalker (@Fionasstalker) March 7, 2024

On air from 8am with your weekend edition of Good Morning Scotland, reflecting on 2 years since Putins order for a Russian invasion of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/RJhXu2Wc0f  Nick Sheridan (@nick_sheridan) February 24, 2024

Brian O'Donovan of RTE News said: 'So saddened by this. Nick was a great colleague and a talented broadcaster.'

BBC journalist Michael Sheils Mcnamee said: 'Very shocking news. Nick was a lovely guy and a pleasure to work with.'

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar posted on X: 'This is absolutely heartbreaking news.

'Nick was a phenomenally talented young journalist, well-liked and with a bright future ahead of him.

'My thoughts are with his family, friends and all his colleagues at the BBC.'

Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tories leader, wrote on X: 'This is terribly sad news. Nick was a superb journalist who embodied the best traditions of journalism.

Tributes from colleagues and fans rolled in on X, formerly Twitter, after the announcement

'My thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.'

Fans also expressed their grief at the news, with one commenting: 'I liked him on the couch and presenting the News. He was a natural in front of the camera. So sad to hear this.'

Sheridan was working on his upcoming fourth book, which tragically he won't see published in June of this year.

Titled 'The Case of the Poisonous Pigs', it will be the third in a series hailed as the 'Scooby-Doo for a new generation'.

His excitement for the project shined through in his posts on X, with one in January reading: 'Getting an email with illustrations for Book 4 by the incredible David O'Connell' accompanied by a Muppet GIF and emojis.

It is devastating and disorientating to have to come to terms with such a vibrant life being curtailed so cruelly and suddenly in its prime, with so much potential yet to be realised.



His awe-inspiring talent, humour, and kindness will remain my abiding memory of Nick Sheridan. https://t.co/MSuJdKtuu7 pic.twitter.com/JQkblqIbXM  Paul Sweeney (@PaulJSweeney) March 7, 2024

Very sad news that BBC Scotland presenter and children's author Nick Sheridan has died.

Nick was a bright spot in any studio and an enthusiastic interviewer on air.

Love and sympathy to his friends, family, and colleagues. pic.twitter.com/TZy43mUGid  Siobhan Synnot (@SiobhanSynnot) March 7, 2024

This is so sad. A wonderful broadcaster, superb writer, and above all a truly lovely man. https://t.co/Ec9fbHvmXN  John Beattie (@BBCJohnBeattie) March 7, 2024

His literary agency posted on X in tribute to the author and presenter: 'We are all heartbroken that our client Nick Sheridan passed away yesterday after a short illness.

'Nick was a talented author and a much-loved colleague and we will all miss him deeply. Our thoughts are with his partner, his family, his friends and his loved ones.'

His agent Lydia Silver added: 'I'm devastated by the news that my client Nick Sheridan died yesterday.

'Nick was a brilliant author who loved writing for children, and a great friend. He lit up every room he walked into and was a joy to be around. My thoughts are with everyone who loved him.'

The Scottish Book Trust said in a tribute: 'We are deeply saddened to learn that our friend Nick Sheridan has died.

'A talented author and host, we worked with Nick on Authors Live and our children's book tour. He had the ability to bring joy to everyone he met. Our hearts go out to Nick's family, partner and friends.'

Im devastated by the news that my client Nick Sheridan died yesterday. Nick was a brilliant author who loved writing for children, and a great friend. He lit up every room he walked into and was a joy to be around. My thoughts are with everyone who loved him. pic.twitter.com/SF3yYQS55z  Lydia Silver (@LydiaRSilver) March 7, 2024

We are all heartbroken that our client Nick Sheridan passed away yesterday after a short illness. Nick was a talented author and a much-loved colleague and we will all miss him deeply. Our thoughts are with his partner, his family, his friends and his loved ones. pic.twitter.com/ugYYPogXb0  DA Children's Agency (@DA_Childrens) March 7, 2024
By Kwak Yeon-soo

The Reform Party, led by former People Power Party (PPP) Chairman Lee Jun-seok, and the Saemirae Party, headed by former Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Chairman Lee Nak-yon, are struggling to impress voters due to lacking policy vision and weak fan bases, according to political watchers, Thursday.

Their subpar performance is in stark contrast to the National Innovation Party, led by former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, which has been making impressive strides by earning much higher approval  than the two parties  for proportional representation ahead of the April 10 general elections.

According to a recent poll conducted by Hankook Research commissioned by The Korea Times, the support ratings for the Reform Party and the Saemirae Party stood at 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the support rating for the National Innovation Party stood at 5 percent. Surprisingly, Cho's party had a 15 percent approval in terms of approval rating for proportional representation, compared with the Reform Party's 2 percent and the Saemirae's 1 percent.

Political analysts say the two parties  the Reform Party and the Saemirae Party  have fallen victim to the DPK's internal division that has stolen all the spotlight over the last few weeks.

Kim Hyung-joon, a professor at Pai Chai University and former president of the Korean Association of Electoral Studies, said both parties lack a clear vision and presence, unlike the National Innovation Party, which has a strong base of supporters.

"For a political party to exercise power, it needs to meet three conditions  it must present a clear vision; it needs powerful fandom [or regional base]; its party leaders should have a strong following," he said.

"Lee Jun-seok and Lee Nak-yon have become 'old boys' after Han Dong-hoon and Cho Kuk appeared on the political stage. Lee Jun-seok has rolled out policies to gain support from men in their 20s and 30s, but it's an empty slogan. Lee Nak-yon lost his vitality after merging with Lee Jun-seok and parting ways just 11 days later. The public now has doubts about his reliability," he added.

Compared to the two Lees, Cho has emerged as an alternative by targeting the prosecutions growing influence within the Yoon administration.

Lee Jun-seok made a huge mistake by running for a parliamentary seat. He should have run for a proportional representation seat in order to position himself as a mediator in the parliament. That could have allowed him to run for Seoul mayor later on. There is not much time left, but Kim Chong-in, chief of the nomination committee of the Reform Party, should persuade him to run for a proportional representation seat, said Park Chang-hwan, a political commentator.

Park continued: The upcoming elections are a losing game for the Saemirae Party. Even though Reps. Hong Young-pyo and Sul Hoon have joined the party, it will not turn things around.

Kim said the general elections would boil down to a three-way rivalry between Han of the PPP, Lee Jae-myung of the DPK and Cho of the National Innovation Party.

Lee Jun-seok should have run for a symbolic district  either Seouls Nowon district or Daegu, like Won Hee-ryong, who is competing against the DPK leader in Incheons Gyeyang-B district. Lee Nak-yon, a former governor of South Jeolla Province, cant leave a strong impact by running for a seat in the Jeolla region. Its too obvious, Kim said.
The devastated family of a mother-of-14 who died after falling off the back of an e-scooter revealed she 'carried on as normal' before she was rushed to hospital.

Angeline Bryan, 47, was helping a friend move house in Nottingham when she fell off the privately-owned scooter, smacking her head on the concrete and suffering a catastrophic head injury.

One of her daughters, Jaymi Andrews, said that after the crash she 'got up and carried on' despite complaining of a headache - although medics allegedly dismissed these symptoms as drunkenness.

She was eventually admitted to hospital and had a stroke. It is the latest shocking incident involving the electric vehicles menacing Britain's streets.

Heartbroken family and friends have paid tribute to the 'kind' mother and set up a fundraiser for her funeral.

Mother-of-14 Angeline Bryan died after falling off the back of an e-scooter - in the latest shocking incident involving the electric vehicles menacing Britain's streets

She was helping a friend move house in Nottingham when she fell off the privately-owned scooter, smacking her head

E-scooters are becoming an increasing issue across the country, with the Daily Mail previously revealing how more than 20,000 crimes involving one have been recorded by police forces over the past three years.

The gadgets were linked to 23 trafficking of drugs offences, 44 robberies and two possession of firearms offences in Bedfordshire alone, as well as to reports of stalking, sexual assault and even of attempted murder.

It remains illegal to use a private e-scooter unless you are on private land and have the consent of the landowner. The only way to use them legally on public roads is through an authorised hire scheme.

The mother suffered a catastrophic head injury before dying five days later

Ms Bryan pictured with family and friends. Her children, aged between five and 29, are being cared for by relatives in Milton Keynes

Ms Bryan's 14 children, aged between five and 29, have been devastated by the loss of their mother and are being cared for by relatives in Milton Keynes.

On the third day after the fall, her headaches became worse and she began acting strangely. Her friend was concerned so she called an ambulance in the evening.

Ms Andrews said: 'They didn't take my mum to hospital.

'They left her where she was and said they thought she was drunk.

'However, she wasn't drunk - it was because of the head injury she didn't even know she had.'

The following morning Ms Bryan's condition had deteriorated even more. The friend called the ambulance service again and this time paramedics took her to hospital.

'They gave her scans and found out she had four bleeds on the brain caused by the fall from the scooter,' Ms Andrews said.

'They performed surgery to try to drain the bleed and put her in a coma and kept scanning her to see what was happening.

'On the fifth day, she suffered a massive stroke. She was put on a life support machine but sadly did not recover.'

Paying tribute to her mother, the Ms Andrews said: 'It was such a shock to us all. This devastating accident has left us all heartbroken and lost.'

'Mum was our queen. She was there for all of us and her grandchildren.

'Everyone who knew our mum knew she was there for everyone, and would put strangers before herself every single time.

Your browser does not support iframes.

Your browser does not support iframes.

'Mum made things happen, it didn't matter what anyone was struggling with, she would figure out a way to help anyone whose paths crossed.'

'She was a funny, kind and beautiful person inside and out and she will be so missed by so many people.'

Parents were once again warned about the dangers of e-scooters last month after a teenager was convicted of causing a crash that left a biker with potential 'life-changing injuries'.

The girl, who was 16 at the time, was riding her e-scooter outside Letchworth Railway Station in Hertfordshire on January 7 last year.

She crossed the road at 8.30pm while the pedestrian lights were red and drove into the path of a motorbike.

The biker suffered potential life-changing injuries as a result of the collision with the girl's e-scooter, police said.

In another horrifying e-scooter tragedy, pedestrian Linda Davis, 71 - known to her family and friends as Lou - was struck down on a pavement by an e-scooter in Rainworth, Nottinghamshire in June 2022.

She was taken to hospital but died in hospital six days later.

Ms Davis was hit and killed by a 14-year-old boy who was travelling at 20mph.

Some critics have called for e-scooters to be banned outright after police data revealed the shocking scale of thuggery linked to the gadgets.

Although privately owned e-scooters are banned in public areas such as roads and pavements, they can easily be purchased online without the need for a registration.

While their top speeds are supposedly capped at 15.5mph, they can then be modified to achieve speeds of up to 70mph - the limit that some vehicles can travel at on a motorway.

Linda Davis, 71, known to her family and friends as Lou, was struck down on a pavement by an e-scooter in June 2022

Figures released by the Department for Transport (DfT) in November last year revealed that in the year leading up to June 2023, 556 of the 1,080 casualties caused by e-scooter collisions were caused by scooters used outside designated trial areas

Tory MP Greg Smith, who sits on the Commons Transport Committee previously said: 'E-scooters, e-bikes and other forms of micro-mobility have been increasingly used in crime and there needs to be a serious approach to cracking down on people's ability to use them for criminal purposes.

'A registration scheme would be sensible because that's ultimately how you're going to hold people accountable  and Ministers need to get that done as quickly as is humanly possible.'

The Government has also extended its e-scooter trials until May 2026 'to allow us to gather further evidence to ensure that any future legislation balances safety, user accountability and market growth.'

Ministers have said they will wait until the tests are complete before they consider tightening up the law.

These trials have been extended three times already.
A top executive at a government agency has been placed on paid leave after being accused of referring to white people as 'snow roaches' on social media.

James Reeves, the CIO and Director of IT Operations at the United States Agency for Global Media, is alleged to have made the remarks on a X account.

The posts, uncovered by Conservative account 'End Wokeness', claim that Reeves posted comments belittling white people, referring to them as 'snow roaches'.

The account wrote 'cry about it, snow roaches', and another meme said 'keep the immigrants, deport the racists'.

The Agency for Global Media confirmed to the National Review that Reeves had been placed on administrative leave while they investigated the claims.

In the bio for the account, it states: 'Native Washingtonian, Proud Father, Rider, IT whisperer, Just Another Devastating', alongside a BLM and Free Palestine hashtag.

James Reeves, the CIO and Director of IT Operations at the United States Agency for Global Media, is alleged to have made the remarks on a X account

This is James (J.R.) Reeves



Reeves is Chief Information Officer and IT Director for USAGM, the federal agency responsible for global media coverage



He refers to Whites as "snow roaches" and celebrates the fact that the "roaches" will become a minority in the United States pic.twitter.com/VburFKWqaB  End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 1, 2024

Other posts shared by the account include several messages to users that suggested they were uneducated or racist.

One post said: 'Last time I checked it's the snow roaches that are mad about immigrants.

'Like the other snow roaches, resort to racist tropes when you can't construct a logical argument. Clearly uneducated. Stat triggered.'

Another said: 'You believe all the talking points from the 'Republicans.' Plus you're a racist t***.

'Immigrants to not have more rights. But just to help I've taken in multiple immigrant families to help! Now stay triggered! #snowroach.'

Another post said: 'By 2045 Snow roaches will be a minority. That scares you welfarequeens'.

Alongside the post included a Pew Research Center finding concerning the White population of America shrinking in the last decade.

After the posts made by the account were alleged to belong to Reeves, the account was locked. DailyMail.com has reached out to the account.

The USAGM is made up of six state-owned entities including Voice of America and broadcasts news and information

According to a work bio, he had previously worked for the United States Attorney's Office inside the DOJ, where he worked for three years

Posts shared by the account include several messages to users that suggested they were uneducated or racist

Representative Mike Collins tweeted on Friday: 'United States Agency for Global Media should immediately look into claims that their CIO has a long history of posting slurs referring to whites as 'snow roaches'.

'He reportedly has a litany of other tweets celebrating the decline of, as he says, 'snow roaches' while employed at the federal agency.

'@HouseForeignGOP must investigate and hold this agency accountable.'

Prior to being placed on leave, Reeves was in charge of the day-to-day running of the IT operations for the agency.

According to a work bio, he had previously worked for the United States Attorney's Office inside the DOJ, where he worked for three years.

The USAGM is made up of six state-owned entities including Voice of America and broadcasts news and information.

A spokesperson for the agency said: 'The U.S. Agency for Global Media does not condone intolerance in any form.

'We began looking into this matter as soon as we learned of it, and are investigating the veracity of the tweets.

'We do not comment on personnel matters publicly, and will take any appropriate action based on our findings.'
A judge has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to hand over sensitive material about Prince Harrys immigration papers for him to review while he decides whether to make them public.

Judge Carl Nichols told DHS that its arguments so far were insufficiently detailed for him to make a decision.

He asked the agency, which oversees immigration, to give him declarations explaining the particular harm that would arise from the disclosure of the Duke of Sussexs visa application.

The development came after a hearing at the court in Washington last month in which Judge Nichols heard from DHS and the Heritage Foundation, which is seeking to release the material.

The Heritage Foundation is seeking the release of the documents as part of a Freedom of Information request it filed last year.

Prince Harry's immigration file could be released to the public after a judge reviews it privately

The DHS had argued the release of Harry's records would be an invasion of the Duke's privacy

Judge Carl Nichols wants more information on Prince Harry's application so he can made a decision whether to release the immigration papers to the public

In his memoir Spare, Harry admitted using drugs including marijuana, cocaine and magic mushrooms

A US think-tank is seeking to force the Department of Homeland Security to release Harry's immigration records to determine if the Duke admitted his drugs use

The think tank claimed that Harry could have lied about taking drugs in his immigration paperwork despite admitting doing them in his memoir and in the Netflix show.

If the Duke did not tell the truth on his entry forms then he could be removed from the US or barred by a border agent.

In an order filed to the court in Washington, Judge Nichols stated that the Freedom of Information law authorized him to review declarations and/or contested records in camera.

Doing so would help him to determine whether any exemptions preventing the documents from being made public apply.

Such a review is appropriate when agency affidavits are insufficiently detailed to permit meaningful review of exemption claims.when the number of withheld documents is relatively small, and when the dispute turns on the contents of the withheld documents, and not the parties interpretations of those documents, the order said.

Judge Nichols said: Having reviewed the parties written submissions and heard oral argument on the motions, the court concludes that in camera review is necessary to determine whether the records in dispute come within the scope of the claimed exemptions.

Judge Nichols gave DHS until March 21 to submit declarations that detail the records it is withholding and the particular harm that would arise from public disclosure of them, his order said.

The review will be conducted in camera, meaning it would be done by the judge in private.

The DHS has until March 21 to comply with Judge Nichols's order on Harry's records

In an interview on ABC's Good Morning America show on Friday, Harry said he was considering becoming a US citizen

Harry said American citizenship had crossed his mind but was not a high priority for him right now

In his memoir, Spare, which came out last January, and the Netflix show Harry & Meghan, about the Duke and his wife, Meghan Markle, Harry was frank about his previous drug use.

He admitted to using cocaine and marijuana in the past, once saying that cannabis helped heal the trauma of his mothers death.

The Duke said that using ayahuasca, the psychedelic drug, he realized that his mother wanted him to be happy.

Despite this, Harrys US visa application in March 2020 could show he ticked the no box on questions about his drug use, The Heritage Foundation claims.

In its legal filing, DHS said that the records at issue are particularly sensitive because they would reveal Harrys (immigration) status in the United States.

DHS has claimed that Harry still has a right to privacy even though he is a celebrity.

Heritage has claimed in legal filings that Harry being so open about his private life means he has forfeited such a right.

During the hearing last month, lawyers for DHS said that Harrys claims about his drug use in Spare may not have been true and may have been in there just to sell books.

The book isnt sworn testimony or proof, John Bardo told the court. Saying something in a book doesnt necessarily make it true.

Donald Trump has waded into the controversy and suggested he might kick Harry out of the US if he wins a second term.

The former President said he wouldnt protect Harry because he had betrayed the Queen.

Trump said that if he wins the election in November then Harry would be on his own.
House Republican leadership told members of the GOP to not play games during Biden's State of the Union address, but some predict their colleagues could make it a 'wild evening.'

Biden's State of the Union Thursday night will be an opportunity for the president to message his accomplishments to the country.

Republicans, meanwhile, could lash out at the president during his remarks like firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., did last year screaming 'liar!' during his remarks.

Speaker Mike Johnson, however, has called for Republicans to display a level of 'decorum,' according to members of the conference.

His top lieutenant and second highest-ranking House Republican Whip Tom Emmer exclusively told DailyMail.com that though he will not be policing his colleagues' actions, he doesn't think Americans want to see 'childish' spats.

Republican Whip Tom Emmer said he will not police his colleagues if they interupt President Biden's remarks during his State of the Union address

During Biden's 2023 State of the Union address Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene repeatedly yelled at the president calling him a 'liar'

In 2022 Greene and her colleague Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., both stood up and yelled at Biden 'build the wall'

'I didn't come here to play childish games, or to draw attention to myself and my screwing around on the playground,' Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said.

'Democrats are the ones that usually do stunts and do hissing noises and stand up and turn their backs and wear the same clothes or uniform to signify some objection.'

'I have no interest in that kind of childish behavior,' Emmer added. 'This is serious business in the U.S. Congress.'

Despite calls from leadership to not lash out at the president Thursday night, some Republicans interviewed by DailyMail.com said they expect the members could raise hell.

'I expect it to kind of be a wild evening,' Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., said. 'I think there's going to be a lot of back and forth and we were kind of warned about that by the speaker.'

'Mike Johnson's trying to get everyone to maintain decorum and not scream things back at [Biden] because it was wild last time. So it's probably going to be worse tonight.'

Rep. John James, R-Mich., told DailyMail.com he too expects Republicans could lash out during the State of the Union.

'I actually think the president is going to bait a number of Republicans on purpose for their sound bites,' James said.

'And I think many of my colleagues are going to take the bait and play into his hand.'

Another Republican, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, said members giving 'a little bit of feedback is always appropriate.'

Despite Republicans interrupting the president during his State of the Union address last year, he was able to proceed with his remarks without incident

Last year, Greene repeatedly screamed 'liar!' throughout the President Biden's State of the Union speech.

She was joined in her loud opposition to Biden's address by a number of her Republican colleagues, who heckled the president with jeers of 'it's all your fault' and 'secure the border.'

Her heckling brought the Georgia Republican into national headlines where she received criticism for not displaying respect during the president's annual speech.

Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, said she was one of the lawmakers upset over Biden's State of the Union remarks last year.

'I was very frustrated with the president directly lying with the American people.'

'That said,' she added, 'I hope we maintain decorum in the chamber.'

Democrats, for their part, also have a history of State of the Union antics.

In 2020 during Donald Trump's State of the Union many Democrats wore white to signify solidarity with women's rights.

That same year then-Speaker of the House ripped a paper copy of then-President Trump's speech.

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ripped up Trump's 2020 State of the Union address

Democrats have also used color coordination as a way to send a message during the annual presidential remarks

'You know, we've also had outbursts of on from the other side, we once had the Speaker of the House rip up a document, the speech, behind the president, a Republican president,' Massie said.

Still, some are hopeful for a peaceful evening.

'I think decorum is critically important for you to be able to to conduct business,' Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., told DailyMail.com.

'The way that we conduct ourselves on the on the House floor is very important and and the the institution deserves that.'

Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, said he will sit quietly during Biden's address Thursday night.

'My job is to sit there represent my district and respect the president and the position that he represents.'

'That's just how I am,' he added. 'Maybe that's my military background.'
This is the shocking moment angry protestors used a pickup truck to break down the wooden doors of presidential palace in Mexico.

The demonstrators were protesting the 2014 kidnapping and murder of 43 missing students on Wednesday when they pushed the vehicle to break through the doors and rushed the colonial-era National Palace in Mexico City, where President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador lives and holds his daily press briefings.

The group broke several windows before security agents forced them to retreat from the palace, a historic structure dating back to the 1700s that was built on the site of the Aztec emperor's palace.

The demonstration, like others in the past, was held to protest the mass disappearance of students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College that took place on September 26, 2014, in Iguala, a city in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero.

Demonstrators were capture on video pushing a pickup truck before they broke through the door of the National Palace in Mexico City on Wednesday

Students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teacher Training College took part in the demonstration to demand justice for 43 missing students at the presidential palace in Mexico City on Wednesday

The structure of the National Palace palace dates back to the 1700s and was built on the site of the Aztec emperor's palace

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that the demonstrators who protested outside the National Palace on Wednesday were carrying sledgehammers and blowtorches

President Lopez Obrador called the protest a provocation, and claimed the demonstrators had sledgehammers and blowtorches.

'This is a movement against us,' Lopez Obrador said. 'The plan is to create a provocation.'

But the president also attempted to downplay the seriousness of the protest, saying 'The door will be fixed, it's nothing.'

For years, the victims' families and students at government rural teachers' colleges have protested the disappearances. It remains one of Mexico's most infamous human rights cases.

With Lopez Obrador's term ending next year, family members face the prospect of a tenth year of not knowing what happened to their sons but fears that the next administration will start the error-plagued investigation over from scratch yet again.

The group of students was attacked by municipal police in Iguala and handed them over to a local drug gang that apparently killed them and set their bodies on fire. Since then, only three of their remains have been identified.

After an initial coverup, last year, a government truth commission concluded that local, state and federal authorities colluded with the gang to murder the students in what it called a 'state crime.'

Demonstrators push a pickup truck to break down a door at the National Palce - the home of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador - in Mexico City on Wednesday

A banner reading 'We Demand a Dialogue with the President' is on display on the facade of the Nacional Palace on Wednesday during a protest over the kidnapping and murder of 43 student teachers in September 2014

A group protesting over the disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College in 2014 forced their way into the National Palace on Wednesday to protest against the administration of President Manuel Andres Lopez Obrador over the lack of results in investigating the case

Lopez Obrador has complained about the involvement of human rights groups, who he claimed have prevented him from speaking directly to the parents of the missing students.

Xochitl Galvez, who is running against ruling-party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum to become the country's first woman president, slammed the Lopez Obrador on Wednesday for failing to meet with the grieving families.

'The President needs to stop looking for blame,' Galvez wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. 'The only one responsible for what happened at the National Palace is him with his arrogance for not receiving the parents and lawyers of the Ayotzinapa student teachers.'

Sheinbaum, the former mayor of Mexico City, addressed protest Thursday while campaigning and said that Lopez Obrador has scheduled a meeting with the parents.

The under-funded radical rural teachers' colleges in Mexico have a decades-long tradition of violent protests.

In fact, when they were abducted, the students themselves had been hijacking passenger buses, which they were going to use to travel to another protest.
Bodycam footage has been released of a deputy rushing toward a missing three-year-old boy from Michigan who was found by the officer's police dog on Monday evening.

Police responded to a 911 call around 4 pm after getting word that a toddler disappeared from his house, per an incident report from the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office

Kuno, a police dog, and his handler Deputy Eric Calhoun responded to the scene 30 minutes after the child was last seen. They found a footprint near the home, and Kuno was able to pick up the boy's trail.

The scent trail led the duo to a body of water less than a mile from the boy's house.

The bodycam footage showed a second deputy running behind Kuno and Calhoun, exclaiming 'hey buddy!' before picking up the crying child and comforting him.

The little boy was found 50 yards away from the water, only wearing a diaper and asking for his mother.

Police dog Kuno helped rescue a three-year-old boy who wandered away from his Michigan home

The toddler is the fifth missing child that K-9 Kuno has found

Pictured: Bodycam footage from when Kuno, a police dog, and his handler, Deputy Eric Calhoun, were following the boy's scent trail

The bodycam footage showed a second deputy running behind the duo before picking up the crying child and comforting him

'The little child  did what kids do. Just took off,' Van Buren C Abbott told local NBC affiliate WOOD.

'That particular K-9 has already found four children with the same type scenario. So dispatch reached out to that K-9 officer and he came en route immediately.'

Drones from South Haven Area Emergency Services Authority and Great Lakes Drones found the boy at the same time as the deputy and Kuno.

'God willing, we had a good positive ending on this one,' Abbott said.

'Where they recovered this little child  youre talking two or three minutes later, we may have had a different result.'

The child suffered minor scratches but was otherwise in good health, per the sheriff's office.

The child was missing for around an hour, starting from when the 911 call was received.

Abbott told local ABC affiliate WZZM that Calhouns goal 'is to have the number one dog in the state of Michigan, if not the nation.'

Pictured: K-9 Kuno basking in all his glory

Pictured: Deputy Eric Calhoun and K-9 Kuno in front of a police cruiser

'This is a deputy on his days off, sets up trainings with other agencies so he can stay on point with this dog.'

Calhoun told The Independent that he has a special bond with Kuno.

'The bond between me and K-9 Kuno is somewhat unbearable. Its kind of like having another kid,' said Calhoun.

'I take him home with me at the end of my shift, he socializes with my family and then I get to take him to work and work with me for 12 hours.'
Former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon is making plans to open 'gladiator schools' in the U.S. to prepare right-wing disciples for the rough and tumble of political combat.

Bannon, who served as chief counselor to Trump in the White House and helped steer his 2016 campaign when the MAGA movement was conceived, shared his plans after prevailing in a slashing court fight over his allies' plan to open a similar proving ground in an ancient Italian monastery.

That came after Benjamin Harnwell, former British Conservative European Parliament aide and Bannon acolyte, prevailed after efforts to block him from leasing the 13th century Trisulti Charterhouse.

The European political 'gladiator school' is planned inside the former Carthusian monastery on the slopes of Monte Rotonaria in the region of Lazio.

'This was the Deep State coming after the populist nationalist movement,' Bannon said on his podcast Thursday.

Former Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon said he is planning to open up 'gladiator schools' inside the U.S., after he and ally Benjamin Harnwell prevailed in an Italian court after moves to block them from opening an academy in a 13th century Italian monastery

Then he teased plans for similar efforts inside the U.S., a day after former President Donald Trump effectively secured the Republican presidential nomination when rival Nikki Haley dropped out of the race.

'We have started a Academy for the Judeo Christian West. It's essentially a gladiator school for modern Information Age political warfare,' Bannon said. 'And we're going to do it in a monastery in Rome, it's kind of the headquarters, but do it throughout the United States and Western Europe. And other places  take people from Asia, take people from India. And train people of how to win. This is populist nationalist, academy,' he said, outlining far-reaching plans.

Describing the mission on both continents, Bannon said it would focus on 'how to teach you to be a force-multiplier, how to teach you to go out in the world and be a combatant  how to teach you to go out in the world and be a both a gladiator and a legionnaire,' using his trademark martial rhetoric.

He said there would be upcoming tests of a 'force-multiplier' school, potentially out West.

During the prolonged legal battle in Italy, state prosecutors sued to try to block the effort, charging that it was a fraudulent lease and Harnwell was delinquent on rent payments. A magistrate judge ruled in his favor Thursday, clearing him on the rent and lease charges.

'Steve Bannon's Academy for the Judeo-Christian West  the 'gladiator school'  lives to fight another day,' Harnwell told Politico Europe while bashing 'politically driven' prosecutions. 'They destroyed my reputation with accusations they knew weren't true even at the time they were making them,' he said.

The Italian state allowed the conservative Catholic organization Dignitatis Humanae Institute(DHI) to use the building in 2018. It then faced an eviction and a court fight. Bannon is a trustee of the institute

An image taken in pay shows a general view of the Trisulti Monastery Certosa di Trisulti in Collepardo

Bannon plugged U.S. 'gladiator schools' on his War Room podcast

The Italian effort had brought protests, criticism in the national media, an eviction, and a nearly five-year court fight amid activists' opposition to using the ancient facility as a new lab for right-wing politics designed to help dispatch Trump-style figures across the continent.

Italian newspaper Repubblica had reported that a letter used to guarantee the lease was forged, although Harnwell called the new ruling a total exoneration.

Italy's culture ministry tried to revoke the twenty-year lease.

A planned curriculum included 'Cultural Marxism' and 'The Church as an Early Business Enterprise.

'We are going to rip out everything of a person that is of this world and throw it away' to turn them into activists, Harnwell told Voice of America back in 2019.

The leaseholder, called the Dignitatis Humanae Institute (DHI), stated that its goal was to 'protect and promote human dignity based on the anthropological truth that man is born in the image and likeness of God.'

During the years of the court battle, Europe has seen gains of populist, nationalist movements in Spain, Germany, Italy, and Scandanavia.
Donald Trump will get a classified intelligence briefing once he officially becomes the Republican nominee for president this summer despite doubts about his reliability handling sensitive information.

Every nominee has been given the briefing since the 1950s in order to ensure they do not say something in the heat of the campaign that could undermine national security.

But it would be the first time a candidate facing criminal charges of mishandling classified documents was briefed.

Senior officials plan to sit down with Trump and read him into national security matters, according to Politico, whether or not he is convicted.

But it comes with misgivings.

Donald Trump will get a classified intelligence briefing once he officially becomes the Republican nominee for president this summer despite doubts about his reliability

Trump faces 40 felony counts accusing him of willfully retaining after he left the White House dozens of classified documents and rebuffing government demands to give them back

'I'd be afraid about giving him stuff,' a former official said. 'I mean, who knows what kind of riff he would do.'

John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser and now a leading critic of his former boss, said the court case was grounds to withhold sensitive information.

'We haven't faced this situation before. But I think the logic could well dictate to Biden he's not going to give Trump an intelligence briefing,' he said.

The briefings are conducted by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. And they have been offered to nominees since 1952.

Unlike the president's daily brief, when he is caught up on threats to the nation and other developments, these are a one-off session.

The aim is not to prepare the candidates for office, according to Mike Morrell, former CIA deputy director and who delivered the daily intelligence briefing to President George W. Bush.

'The objective is to protect national security during the campaign by giving the candidates a deep sense of the national security landscape,' he told the Cipher Brief.

'Let me explain: both our adversaries and our allies and partners will be listening closely, extremely closely, to what the candidates say about the issues during the campaign, and saying the wrong thing could damage our national security.

'The briefings are meant to help prevent that.'

An image in the indictment against Trump showing documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago

Officials also worried that Trump shared classified intelligence with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (left) and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during a 2017 Oval Office meeting

Even in office Trump had a reputation for being cavalier with intelligence.

In 2017, he boasted about classified intelligence with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador during an Oval Office meeting. Officials feared the information, about an Islamic State plot, could have exposed the source and the way in which it was collected.

He now faces trial for allegedly keeping classified and other sensitive material after leaving office.

Charges fall under the Espionage Act, as well as counts of obstruction of justice, destruction or falsification of records, conspiracy and false statements.

The case exploded into public view with FBI agents searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, during the summer of 2022, seizing boxes and boxes of material.

Trump is on course to be declared the official nominee in July at the Republican National Convention.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis knocked Nikki Haley in an interview Wednesday for dropping out of the presidential race and not immediately endorsing former President Donald Trump.

DeSantis, a failed 2024 hopeful, responded to the news that the Republican primary was essentially over during a Newsmax interview Wednesday night on Eric Bolling's The Balance show.

Haley exited the 2024 race Wednesday after being clobbered in the Super Tuesday primaries.

She didn't endorse Trump in her Charleston concession speech, despite signing a Republican National Committee pledge saying she would back the nominee in exchange for getting to appear on the GOP debate stage.

'I signed the pledge and you sign the pledge saying that you're gonna not take your ball and go home,' said DeSantis, who folded up his presidential campaign in late January and endorsed Trump then-and-there.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (right) knocked Nikki Haley for dropping out of the presidential race and not immediately endorsing Trump in an interview with Newsmax's Eric Bolling (left) on Wednesday

'And so I honored the pledge and she's gonna have to make a decision about whether she wants to or not,' DeSantis continued. 'But the idea that somehow circumstances have changed.'

Ahead of her exit from the race, Haley floated that she might ignore the RNC pledge during an interview Sunday on Meet the Press with NBC's Kristen Welker.

'No, I think I'll make what decision I want to make,' Haley said when pressed if she'd endorse Trump if she dropped out.

Haley floated she could get away with doing so because 'the RNC is now not the same RNC.'

Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel officially leaves as the head of the party Friday and Trump has already endorsed North Carolina GOP Chairman Michael Whatley to take her place, as well as his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to serve as co-chair.

Trump also gave a nod to his top campaign adviser, Chris LaCivita, to take over as the party's chief operating officer.

DeSantis suggested he didn't think the RNC's reshuffle - to be much more MAGA - changed the meaning of the pledge.

Republican presidential race Nikki Haley bowed out of the 2024 race Wednesday after a disappointing Super Tuesday showing. Days before she exited the election she told NBC's Kristen Welker that she may not bide by a pledge she signed to support the GOP nominee

'I think we all knew what we were doing when we did that,' he said. 'And you gotta make a judgment about whether that's meaningful to you and so for me, I tell people if I say I'm going to do something I'm going to do it,' the Florida governor said.

Endorsing Trump hasn't necessarily helped DeSantis mend any fences with the ex-president and his allies, though the ex-president has retired DeSantis' nickname 'DeSanctimonious.'

DeSantis ruffled feathers with Trumpworld in late February by telling supporters that he would not serve as Trump's running mate.

He also chided conservative media for consistently giving Trump a pass, according to an account of the conversation in The New York Times.

'He said at some point he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose a vote,' DeSantis said of Trump. 'Well, I think he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, and the conservative media wouldn't even report on it.'

LaCivita did not care for DeSantis' comments.

'chicken fingers and pudding cups is what you will be remembered for you sad little man,' the Trump campaign official posted to X, sharing NBC's version of the story.
United Airlines will pause pilot hiring in May and June due to aircraft delivery delays from Boeing, according to an internal memo.

'United will slow the pace of pilot hires this year due to continued aircraft certification delay and manufacturing delays at Boeing,' said the memo to all United pilots on Thursday.

According to the message, United says it would not be able to grow in pace with its 2024 expectations due to continued delays at Boeing.

Boeing is facing increased scrutiny from regulators due to a January 5 incident when a door plug blew off a brand new 737 Max plane in mid-air during an Alaska Airlines flight.

The US Federal Aviation Administration has also barred the plane maker from expanding production of its best-selling 737 Max narrow-bodied jets.

United Airlines will pause pilot hiring in May and June due to aircraft delivery delays from Boeing, according to an internal memo (file photo)

Boeing is facing increased scrutiny from regulators due to a January 5 incident when a door plug blew off a brand new 737 Max plane in mid-air during an Alaska Airlines flight

'We had contractual deliveries for 80 Max 10s this year alone, but those aircraft aren't even certified yet and it is impossible to know when they will arrive,' said the memo from Marc Champion, VP flight operations, and Kirk Limacher, VP flight operations planning and development.

United cut its 2024 forecast for Max 8 delivery from Boeing to 37 from 43 aircraft. It also expects to receive 15 fewer Max 9s this year, according to its annual filing from last week.

Earlier this year, United CEO Scott Kirby said the airline would build a new fleet plan that did not include the largest member of the 737 Max family due to regulatory and delivery delays.

New hire classes for United pilots are expected to resume in July, the memo showed.

Meanwhile, Boeing is under further scrutiny over safety issues, after federal regulators said they are investigating another issue involving a 737 Max plane.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Thursday it is probing a United Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 flight last month that experienced 'stuck' rudder pedals during the landing rollout.

The NTSB said in a preliminary report on the February 6 flight that the plane taxied to the gate at Newark Airport without incident and there were no injuries to the 161 passengers and crew.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Thursday it is probing a United Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 flight last month that experienced 'stuck' rudder pedals

It reported that the captain said that during the landing rollout, the rudder pedals did not move in response to 'normal' application of foot pressure while attempting to maintain the runway centerline.

Last month, the FAA formally mandated inspections in Boeing 737 Max airplanes for loose bolts in the rudder control systems after the plane maker recommended them in December.

The NTSB report said the captain said that in the Max 8 flight last month the pedals remained 'stuck' in their neutral position.

The captain used the nosewheel steering tiller to keep the airplane near the runway centerline while slowing to a safe speed before exiting the runway onto a high-speed turn-off, the report said.

The NTSB said the captain asked the first officer to check his rudder pedals and the first officer reported the same problem. The captain said that shortly thereafter the rudder pedals began to operate normally.

Three days after the incident, United conducted a test flight and was able to duplicate the reported rudder system malfunction identified during the incident on the same plane.

The NTSB was notified of the flight control issue after the flight test result and opened an incident investigation.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi briefs the media: Highlights

Chinadaily.com.cn) 13:21, March 07, 2024

Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a news conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations during the second session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing, March 7, 2024. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]

Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, answers questions about the country's foreign policy and diplomatic relations at a press conference on Thursday during the the second session of the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

Here are some highlights:

China to firmly be force for peace, stability, progress

Faced with the complex and volatile international environment, China will firmly be a force for peace, stability and progress in the world, Wang Yi said Thursday.

Currently, the world landscape is undergoing profound changes, and human society is facing multiple challenges, Wang said.

China will stand firmly on the right side of history and on the side of human progress, Wang said.

Dedicated to peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit, China will strive to safeguard world peace and development as it pursues its own development, and it will make greater contributions to world peace and development through its own development, he noted.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a news conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations during the second session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing, March 7, 2024. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]

China, Russia forging new major country relations

Hegemony finds no support and division is doomed to fail, Wang told the press conference.

Major countries should not seek confrontation, and the Cold War should not be allowed to come back, he said.

Russia's natural gas is powering numerous Chinese households, and Chinese-made automobiles are running on Russian roads, proving the strong resilience and broad prospects of China-Russia mutually beneficial cooperation, Wang said.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a news conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations during the second session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing, March 7, 2024. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]

Peaceful coexistence bottom line of China-US relations

Peaceful coexistence is the bottom line of China-US relations, and the consequences of a conflict between the two major countries are unimaginable, Wang Yi said.

The United States should take an objective and rational view of China's development, and match its words with actions to honor the commitments on China-US relations, said Wang.

Improvements in China-US ties since summit in San Francisco last November, but challenges remain, said Wang.

A news conference on the country's foreign policy and diplomatic relations is held at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing, March 7, 2024. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]

China announces visa-free policy for 6 European countries

China will adopt a visa-free policy for Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg on a trial basis, starting March 14, Wang Yi said Thursday.

"We hope more countries will also offer Chinese citizens visa facilitation and work with us to build fast-track networks for cross-border travels and encourage speedy resumption of international passenger flights," Wang told the press conference.

A news conference on the country's foreign policy and diplomatic relations is held at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing, March 7, 2024. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]

China advocates equal, orderly multi-polar world

China advocates an equal and orderly multi-polar world, and promotes inclusive economic globalization that benefits all, said Wang Yi.

Wang said certain or a few powers should not monopolize international affairs, and countries should not be categorized according to their "strength."

"Those with the bigger fist should not have the final say. And it is definitely unacceptable that certain countries must be at the table while some others can only be on the menu," he said.

A news conference on the country's foreign policy and diplomatic relations is held at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing, March 7, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Palestine-Israel conflict a tragedy, disgrace

It's "a tragedy for humanity and a disgrace for civilization" that the humanitarian disaster caused by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict fails to end, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, urging the international community to act for an immediate ceasefire.

The ongoing conflict and the murdering of civilians cannot be justified by any excuses, Wang said.

China addresses hotspot issues through the Chinese way

Wang Yi said that China has found the Chinese way to address hotspot issues featuring commitments to non-interference in internal affairs, to political settlement, to objectivity and impartiality, and a commitment to addressing both symptoms and root causes.

"We learn from international practices and draw wisdom from Chinese culture," Wang said.

A news conference on the country's foreign policy and diplomatic relations is held at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing, March 7, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

One-China principle is a prevailing international consensus

There will be a family photo of the whole international community in which all members uphold the one-China principle, which is only a matter of time, said Wang Yi.

Noting China will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity, Wang said the bottom line is also quite clear that China will never allow Taiwan to be separated from the motherland.

A news conference on the country's foreign policy and diplomatic relations is held at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing, March 7, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Waters of South China Sea should be kept calm

Differences regarding the South China Sea should be properly managed and resolved through dialogue and consultation between states directly involved, while peace at sea should be jointly upheld by China and ASEAN members, Wang Yi said.

Despite the turbulence in the world, peace and stability in South China Sea have been maintained thanks to the collective efforts of China and ASEAN members, which does not come by easily and should be cherished, he told the news conference.

Wang Yi warns against creating AI barriers

Wang Yi warned against practices of "building a small yard with high fence" in artificial intelligence, saying that doing so would be a new historic mistake that hinders the technological development of various nations.

Wang said Beijing upholds a positive and open attitude toward cooperation with other countries in artificial intelligence, adding that cooperation between major countries over AI is more than important.

A news conference on the country's foreign policy and diplomatic relations is held at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing, March 7, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Wang Yi reiterates support to Africa

China will continue to support Africa in its self-driven development and faster modernization, and hopes that all sides will pay more attention to, and increase input for Africa's development, as China has done, Wang Yi said.

China and Africa are "brothers treating each other with sincerity and sharing a common future", Wang said.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Former Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup was questioned by a state anti-corruption investigation agency Thursday in connection with a controversial military probe into last year's death of a young marine, informed officials said.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) questioned Lee as a power abuse suspect over allegations that he exerted influence to hold off the findings of an internal probe by the Marines on the death of the soldier, surnamed Chae. Suspicions had it that Chae was forced by his superiors to push ahead with a risky rescue operation for downpour victims without proper safety measures in July last year.

Lee was reportedly asked about whether he was involved in the defense ministry's alleged interference in the probe into Lim Seong-geun, former commander of the 1st Division of the Marine Corps., on the charge of manslaughter over Chae's death. Lim's case was sent to police but was transferred back to the military prosecution.

The Marines' top investigator in charge of the case was separately indicted on charges of insubordination and defamation after he handed over the probe results on Chae to the police in defiance of Lee's orders.

The CIO banned Lee from leaving the country in January, but he was named the new ambassador to Australia earlier this week.

The presidential office said it had no prior knowledge of the travel ban.

"Be it a travel ban or anything else, there is no way for us to know the details of the CIO's investigation," a presidential official told reporters. "Neither the presidential office nor the president can ask or receive answers about the details of the CIO's investigation as it's banned by law, so it's only obvious that there would have been no way for us to know." (Yonhap)
A private investigator hired by the family of missing British flight attendant Sarm Heslop say her boyfriend replaced the freezer on their catamaran after she disappeared in 2021.

Heslop, 41, was last seen alive three years ago after her and her boyfriend Ryan Bane, from Michigan, were spotted leaving a restaurant in the US Virgin Islands.

No suspects were wanted in connection with her disappearance and there seemed to be no explanation as to how the strong swimmer vanished.

Widespread searches for Heslop have turned up nothing and despite the mysterious circumstances of her disappearance police never searched the catamaran.

Speaking to Fox News, private investigator David Johnston, who is working the case on behalf of the Heslop family, said Bane had parts of the boat changed out following her disappearance.

Johnston told the outlet: 'We know he went to Grenada afterwards and had the freezer replaced on the boat. Why? We know he had other parts of the forecabin replaced. Why?'

Heslop, 41, was last seen alive three years ago after her and her boyfriend Ryan Bane were spotted leaving a restaurant in the US Virgin Islands

Ryan Bane's luxury 47-foot catamaran, named Siren Song, sits in Frank Bay on St. John in the US Virgin Islands

Ryan Bane, the US boat captain boyfriend of missing British woman Sarm Heslop, is seen here in a police mugshot in 2011 after attacking his ex-wife

Her parents, from Essex in England, believe their daughter was the victim of foul play and the case is not a missing person.

Bane had previously been convicted in 2011 of domestic violence against his wife at the time, Corie Stevenson.

Local police failed to get a search warrant for his catamaran, Siren Song, before Bane sailed it out of their jurisdiction and is said to have now sold it.

Johnston added: 'Sarm likely is dead, and her death was untimely and could have been a murder. It could've been an accident, but no one will speak with us.'

According to the PI, he first offered to help with the case 18 months ago and reached out the Governor of the Virgin Islands and the Police Commissioner.

Johnston claims he has been unable to get results and says the two have stopped responding to the family and him.

He added: 'I've been spun along for the last 15 months by the governor and [Police Commissioner] Ray Martinez, who said, 'You're welcome to come and look at the seat, but we're not going to talk about the inquiry. It's an active investigation, and we don't discuss active investigations'.'

Johnston added: 'At very minimum, Bane should have been interviewed under caution.

'From my experience of 30 years of being a cop, he is a person of significant interest, and he has some questions to answer.

'And until he does that, he should remain as the most likely suspect in her disappearance and possible death.'

Bane had been dating Heslop for eight months  seen here sitting aboard Siren Song, his yacht - and was on holiday with her when she went missing in March 2021

Bane (above) is the only person of interest in the case. He is pictured here on his boat in March 2021

Bane called emergency services at 2.30am on the night Miss Heslop disappeared. He said he was woken by the boat's anchor alarm and found her missing.

He was told to call the Coast Guard agents but did not until nine hours later. He has since refused requests to co-operate with authorities.

Under US law Bane is classified as 'a person of interest' as he was the last person to see Miss Heslop.

But he is not classified as a suspect and officers need to show a probable cause' for a search warrant.

The US Coast Guard and the Virgin Islands Police Department previously said Bane refused them permission to search his 47ft catamaran.

When the officials boarded, Mr Bane is reported to have stood in a doorway and told them they could not enter. He was handed a citation, which does not result in a criminal record.

A missing poster is seen here after Heslop went missing on March 8 2021 on the Virgin Islands

Three years on from Heslop's disappearance, her mother still looking for answers from the police

Lawyers representing Bane had previously said he was 'devastated' over the disappearance of Heslop.

Brenda Street, the mother of Heslop, told The People newspaper earlier this week that she believes her daughter was murdered.

Speaking to the outlet, Street said: 'I don't believe Sarm just went missing. I believe she was murdered. I want justice for her.'

After three years without answers, Street says she feels 'let down' by police on the Caribbean tourist hotspot and 'hatred' for Bane, whom she accuses of not doing enough to help find her daughter.

Street, who has previously travelled to the island as part of the search for her daughter, told the paper: 'There's too many things that don't make sense and don't add up.

'When we went to the island, people wouldn't speak to us about Sarm and on the posters asking for information someone had gone round and scrubbed out the number to call.'

She is calling on Mr Bane to provide the police with everything he knows about her daughters disappearance.

His lawyer David Cattie said in a statement to the newspaper: Mr Bane is heartbroken over Sarms disappearance.

'We certainly understand and empathize with her mothers pain and frustration.'
The US diplomat who died at the Jerusalem embassy in Israel has been named as 54-year-old Orlando Bandeira.

Army Reserve soldier Bandeira, from Tampa, Florida, was supporting security for the Department of State when he died in a a non-combat related incident on March 4, the Department of Defense said on Thursday.

Further details of that incident have not been shared.

He was was assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 94th Training Division in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Just a week ago, Bandeira posted on his Linked In page that he was starting work at the Jerusalem embassy.

'Im happy to share that Im starting a new position as Deputy Chief of Operations at U.S. Embassy Jerusalem!' he wrote.

The US diplomat who died at the Jerusalem embassy in Israel has been named as 54-year-old Orlando Bandeira

Bandeira, pictured right, He was was assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 94th Training Division in Indianapolis, Indiana

Just a week ago, Bandeira posted on his Linked In page that he was starting work at the Jerusalem embassy

According to his Linked In account, Bandeira had been looking for a job working remotely or in Tampa after 23 years in the military.

A spokesperson for the embassy confirmed the death in a brief statement on Monday.

'We can confirm the death of an American employee of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. We have no further details to share,' they said.

They added that 'foul play is not suspected,' and the incident is under investigation, but have not released any further information at this time.

A friend of Bandeira wrote on Facebook that the had 'died in honor of defending our great nation.'

Justin Belill wrote: 'He deployed to Israel and became an angel to grace heaven with his kindness, compassion, and love. He was a Soldier; brave, true to his word, and gave 100% to his friends, family, and country.

'He died in honor of defending our great nation. We were roommates for almost seven years in Tampa. He left behind a beautiful daughter, Sophia. Nobody can replace you, Orlando. I love you, bro.'

A friend of Bandeira wrote on Facebook that the had 'died in honor of defending our great nation'

In 2018, the Trump administration moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, from Tel Aviv, where it had been for some five decades.

In 2017, Trump broke with years and years of US policy by officially recognizing Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel.

The move delighted Trump supporters and Israelis, but infuriated Palestinians and parts of the Arab world.

The embassy move was a signature tenet of Trump's 2016 campaign agenda. The proposal was especially popular among evangelical Christians, many of whom supported Trump's campaign and his choice of Mike Pence as VP.

Since the mid-90s, US presidents both Republican and Democrat failed to move the embassy to Jerusalem, despite the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which was passed by Congress and became law in 1995.
The pickup driver, who has not been identified, remained at the scene and was cited for driving with an expired license

An 11-year-old boy tragically lost his life when a pickup truck slammed into a snow sled carrying three boys as they were riding down their driveway in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Three kids, aged between six and 11, were pinned under the pickup truck as it drove into a snowbank on Monday afternoon, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Caiden, the oldest among the trio, was declared dead at a Fairbanks hospital, while his sibling was flown by helicopter to Seattle for further care.

The third boy has been treated in Fairbanks for non-life-threatening injuries, as reported by troopers.

The driver 'took evasive action to avoid striking the children and drove into a snowbank,' troopers' spokesman Austin McDaniel said in a release.

Caiden, 11, tragically lost his life when a pick-up truck slammed into a snow sled carrying three boys as they were riding down their driveway in Fairbanks, Alaska

Three kids, aged between six and 11, were pinned under the pickup truck as it drove into a snowbank on Monday afternoon, according to Alaska State Troopers

The tragic sledding accident occurred shortly after 5 pm on Monday, when the three kids were sledding in a neighborhood off Old Steese Highway in Fairbanks, located 360 miles north of Anchorage.

After being pinned beneath the pickup truck, the three boys were initially rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Caiden was pronounced dead at the hospital, as confirmed by his family in a GoFundMe page set up for his memorial and funeral costs.

The family added that Caiden's younger sibling also sustained serious injuries and was airlifted to a burn ICU in Seattle for further care.

Family member Andrea Kennedy wrote: 'His younger sibling, also involved in the accident, sustained serious injuries and was life flighted to Seattle with mom and dad'.

The pickup truck driver, who has not been identified, remained at the scene and was cited for driving with an expired license, McDaniel said.

Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the accident but have stated that they do not suspect impairment.

The GoFundMe page has raised more than $53,000 as of Thursday afternoon.

Kennedy said Caiden's sibling Ajax was out of the first surgery on Thursday and was able to have the breathing tube removed.

She wrote: 'I am overwhelming grateful for everyone that has donated and continues to donate.

'This is a great loss felt by our entire community and the fact that everyone has banned together to support us is much appreciated.

The death of Caiden has left his community in mourning, with more than a hundred people sharing the fundraiser link on social media.

One person wrote: 'This family is near and dear to many people and needs time to be able to grieve properly and care for their other children.'

Another user said: 'My heart is heavy for my best friend's family and my god babies. I'll miss Caiden and Ajax has a long recovery ahead of him.'
A Colorado kindergartner has been accepted into Mensa - after scoring in the top percentile of the society's hallowed intelligence test.

Jacob Young, 5, earned the top mark this year, after his principal tipped off his parents about his fascination with WWII-era airplanes.

A doctor conducted an IQ test, which the child then passed with flying colors.

His father and mother - an intelligence officer with the Space Force and a former data analyst, respectively - were then instructed to contact a prestigious high-IQ society, with famously exclusive Mensa emerging as a candidate.

The pair obliged, and are now singing songs of praise for their precocious progeny. He proudly produced his mailed-in Mensa card during an interview this past Monday, as is parents fawned over his accomplishment - and now-known smarts.

Jacob Young, 5, was accepted into Mensa this school year - after scoring in the top percentile of the society's hallowed intelligence test

His father and mother - Space Force intelligence officer Joshua (right) and former data analyst Renee (middle) - sang songs of praise during an interview Monday from their son's classroom

Mom Renee Young told Fox 19 in an interview from her kid's school: 'He watches documentaries with us. He loves the History Channel.

'The conversations are like what you might have in a high school or college class, but it's with our 5-year-old at the dinner table.'

The ex-data analyst, joined by her Space Force officer spouse Joshua, offered the insight during a visit to their son's class at Monument's Prairie Winds Elementary, where interim principal Aileen Finnegan too picked up on Jacob's intellect.

'I was in his kindergarten class last week, and I noticed the students were writing books and writing simple sentences and telling a story with details,' she told the outlet, after it sent a reporter to call attention to the boy's accomplishment.

The staffer, seemingly still in awe by what transpired, went on to recall: 'Jacobs topic was World War II airplanes.'

Finnegan then contacted the boy's parents, who - already somewhat aware of their son's smarts - sought a doctor.

Renee recalled the testing and surprising revelation that ensued.

'The doctor who did the testing for Jacob said, "You might start looking for organizations, and I'll send you recommendations.

Local outlet Fox 18 sent a reporter to call attention to the boy's recent accomplishment, which means he beat out thousands of adults

Mom Renee told Fox 19 in an interview from her kid's school: 'He watches documentaries with us. He loves the History Channel'

The ex-data analyst, joined by her military-employed spouse, offered the insight Monday, some six years after relocating to their small town

The interview was held at Monument's Prairie Winds Elementary, where a staffer also picked up on the boy's abnormal intelligence

Interim principal Aileen Finnegan recalled: 'I was in his kindergarten class... and I noticed the students were writing books and writing simple sentences and telling a story with details... Jacobs topic was World War II airplanes'

Finnegan then contacted the boy's parents, who - already somehwat aware of their son's smarts - sought a doctor. After conducting an IQ test, he told them to contact Mensa, which also administered a test on the boy

He went on to pass it with flying colors, receiving his Mensa card in the mail as proof a few weeks later

'"There are magnet schools, groups and there's Mensa,"' she remembered him as saying.

'"This might be a great fit to help him meet with like-minded peers, [and] challenge him outside the school setting."'

Having just enrolled their son in school a few months before, they said why not, and reached out to the society that counts both Geena Davis and Quentin Tarantino as members.

The boy would then take a different test - one sent by Mensa specifically - and sent it back to the Texas-based organization for perusal.

'We found out a few weeks later they accepted him. It's great and exciting,' Renee said, as her son sat and skimmed through books about marine life, consuming knowledge at an almost unsettling pace.

The test is not a substitute for IQ tests, and thus does not have the same score system, but his parents said he scored in the top one percent of all applicants, regardless of age.

With around 150,000 members in 90 countries, this means he beat out tens of thousands of full-grown adults intellectually to earn the sanctioned score.

The test is not a substitute for IQ tests, and thus does not have the same score system, but his parents said he scored in the top 1 percent of all applicants, regardless of age

With around 150,000 members in 90 countries, this means he beat out tens of thousands of full-grown adults intellectually to earn the sanctioned score

Only those who score in the top 2 percent of the general population on an approved intelligence test qualify for Mensa - making the child's score all the more impressive

With this in mind, Jacob still continues to ask questions, at times leaving even his pedigreed parents stumped, the told Fox 18

Dad Joshua said of his whiz kid: 'I expect him to keep challenging us and keep us on our toes'

Moreover, only those who score in the top 2 percent of the general population on an approved intelligence test qualify for Mensa - making the child's score all the more impressive.

He also took the several-hour-long test at just five years old, meaning - even with his outsized achievements - he still has a lot to learn.

With this in mind, Jacob still continues to ask questions, at times leaving even his pedigreed parents stumped.

Dad Joshua said of his whiz kid's penchant for pondering: 'I expect him to keep challenging us and keep us on our toes.'
The View co-hosts Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin say Biden shouldn't 'lower himself' to debate Trump as he declares he's ready to debate the president.

On Thursday's episode of The View, Joy Behar angrily questioned 'why does Joe Biden have to lower himself to even be on the same stage with this criminal?'

The discussion was set-off after co-host Whoopi Goldberg, 68, questioned why Biden suddenly needed to prove himself to Trump - who declared on Wednesday that he was ready to debate the president 'anytime, anywhere, anyplace.'

Behar, 81, went on to call Trump a '91-times-indicted sexual harasser' and an 'accused sexual assaulter'.

Sunny Hostin, 55, chimed in, saying that Biden doesn't have to go head to head with the former president because 'debates are not mandatory.'

On Thursday's episode of The View, Joy Behar angrily questioned 'why does Joe Biden have to lower himself to even be on the same stage with this criminal?'

Trump declared on Wednesday that he was ready to debate the president 'anytime, anywhere, anyplace'

Sunny Hostin, 55, said that Biden doesn't have to go head to head with the former president because 'debates are not mandatory'

The 55-year-old lawyer and host went on to agree with Behar's original point, that the current president shouldn't stoop to Trump's level by entertaining a debate.

'Donald Trump better be careful,' Hostin warned.

'Becase in 2020, when they had their little debate, Biden swept the floor with him,' she declared - with Behar adding 'that's right.'

Hostin backed up her claim by presenting the fact that exit polls from 2020 showed that Biden won those debates 'overwhelmingly'.

Post-debate exit polls for Trump and Biden's first head-to-head revealed that 6 in 10 voters though that Biden won, while only 28 per cent considered Trump the champion.

'He's even worse now - he can't put a sentence together,' Behar responded.

The 55-year-old lawyer and host went on to agree with Behar's original point, that the current president shouldn't stoop to Trump's level by entertaining a debate.

'I agree with you,' she told Behar. 'Why legitimize a candidate like Donald Trump?'

Hostin went on to list all the reasons that Trump's legitimacy as a presidential candidate should not be taken seriously.

'He is twice impeached. He is a one-term president. He has 91 criminal counts pending against him,' ranted as Behar backed her saying 'that's right' and 'tell it'.

Hostin continued: 'He has been found civilly liable for assault. He's got no money. He's a terrible businessman.'

As Hostin stormed about Trump's many negative attributes, co-host Sara Haines tried to interject.

The co-hosts butted heads over the topic, with Sara Haines saying that Biden 'could lose' a debate while Trump could not because of his die-hard MAGA supporters

Behar, 81, called Trump a '91-times-indicted sexual harasser' and an 'accused sexual assaulter'

'Why do we legitimize this candidate? He is an illegitimate candidate,' Hostin ultimately concluded.

The co-hosts butted heads over the topic, with Sara Haines saying that Biden 'could lose' a debate while Trump could not because of his die-hard MAGA supporters.

'Biden can lose, he can lose in a debate. Trump will not. The people supporting Trump will support him whether he's there or not. Biden makes one mistake, and the people who are undecided are out,' said Haines, 46.

Trump's social media post that sparked the debate between co-hosts said 'It is important, for the Good of our Country, that Joe Biden and I Debate Issues that are so vital to America, and the American People.'

'Therefore, I am calling for Debates, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE! The Debates can be run by the Corrupt DNC, or their Subsidiary, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD).'

Biden's campaign communications Michael Tyler fired back, telling Fox 'I know Donald Trump's thirsty for attention and struggling to expand his appeal beyond the MAGA base - and that's a conversation we'll have at the appropriate time in this cycle.'

On Thursday's episode, Behar left her co-hosts visibly stunned when she made a very dirty joke about former President Donald Trump and porn star Stormy Daniels.

During the heated discussion about whether or not President Joe Biden should go head-to-head in a live debate, the redhead comedian then blurted out: 'Biden should just challenge him to push-ups.'

In a rather shocking live on air moment, she continued: 'The last time Trump did a push-up, he was on top of Stormy Daniels!'

The View host Joy Behar left her co-hosts visibly stunned during Thursday's show when she made a very dirty joke live on air

Alyssa Farah Griffin, who used to work for former President Trump, laughed nervously at Joy's racy comment

Sunny Hostin clearly found Joy's joke very funny and was seen taking a sip of tea with a grin on her face

Behar was referring to the blonde's claims that she had sex with the businessman back in 2006.

The live studio audience erupted into applause as Alyssa Farah Griffin laughed nervously.

Sunny Hostin took a sip of tea with a grin on her face, while Joy stood up and took a curtsy before adding: 'But on the other hand, why does Joe Biden have to lower himself to even be on the same stage with this criminal?'
A concert organiser has slammed the Home Office's 'callous and inhumane' decision to refuse visas to 47 teenage Afghan musicians for a tour raising awareness of the plight of girls under the Taliban.

The Home Office made a U-turn on its decision to deny visas to 47 young Afghan musicians due to fly to the UK after facing a backlash.

The Afghan Youth Orchestra did manage to arrive on Thursday afternoon in Britain and play that night as scheduled at London's Southbank Centre - a mix of Afghan, south Asian and classical music from the West.

But concert organiser Jay Visvadeva said: 'After working for seven months and spending several thousands pounds in visa biometric and surcharges, my heart sank in disbelief that theirs was a callous and inhumane decision.

'Later, they finally woke up - after arriving at a highly damaging and detrimental decision.'

The Afghan Youth Orchestra are now touring the UK to raise awareness of the plight of girls and women under the Taliban even though their visas were initially denied.

A concert organiser has slammed the Home Office's 'callous and inhumane' decision to refuse visas to 47 teenage Afghan musicians for a tour raising awareness of the plight of girls under the Taliban

The Home Office made a U-turn on its decision to deny visas to 47 young Afghan musician due to fly to the UK after facing backlash

The Afghan Youth Orchestra landed on Thursday and rehearsed ahead of their concert

Members of the Afghan Youth Orchestra practice for their Breaking the Silence tour at London's Southbank Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hall

Mr Visvadeva added: 'In September 2023, when the South Bank Centre invited me to curate a season representing the arts of South Asia, I immediately suggested the Afghan Youth Orchestra now exiled in Braga, Portugal.

'It gave me a vision to invite this 48 young musicians to collaborate with young British musicians in a unique cross-cultural dialogue that would inspire and give hope to these highly traumatised young members of the Afghan Orchestra.

'We as programme producers recognize the significance of preserving cultural identities while fostering integration.

'To accomplish this delicate balance, we had organised a variety of vibrant cultural concerts and events that celebrate heritage and nurture community bonds.

'These concerts would take place at prestigious venues in London, Birmingham, Manchester and other places.

Mr Visvadeva added: 'In September 2023, when the South Bank Centre invited me to curate a season representing the arts of South Asia, I immediately suggested the Afghan Youth Orchestra now exiled in Braga, Portugal

He added: 'We as programme producers recognize the significance of preserving cultural identities while fostering integration'

'These concerts would take place at prestigious venues in London, Birmingham, Manchester and other places,' he said

'As producers, we have lost a lot of money in our contractual relationships, causing a havoc in our finances and breaking the hope of the young musicians.

'Once the pressure had reached the Home Office, the penny had dropped and they realised their error of judgment and slowly started to reverse its decision.

'I am now ever so pleased that they finally saw light at the end of tunnel and grant the orchestra the visas, which they have now been confirmed. We look forward to the tour.'

The musicians in the orchestra are part of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), a group that fled their homeland after the Taliban seized power and banned music and education for young women and girls.

After the visa was initially refused, ANIM said: 'The visa refusal not only dealt a significant blow to the young musicians' aspirations but also deprived these young musicians an opportunity to raise awareness through music about the gender apartheid against Afghan women and denial of cultural rights of the Afghan people by the Taliban.'

After the public outcry over the refused visas the Home Office overturned its decision this week and said in a statement that 'musicians and performers are a valued and important part of UK culture'.

The Home Office made a U-turn on its decision to deny visas to 47 young Afghan musician (pictured) due to fly to the UK after facing backlash

The musicians in the orchestra (pictured) are part of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), a group that fled their homeland after the Taliban seized power and banned music and education for young women and girls

The Afghan Youth Orchestra came to the UK to raise awareness of the plight of girls and women under the Taliban even though their visas were initially denied, according to journalist Christina Lamb (pictured above)

Members of the Afghan Youth Orchestra were allowed to perform in the UK after the Home Office reversed its decision to deny the group visas for entry

The Southbank Centre, where the half-female group aged 14-22 is playing on Thursday, said this week that they were 'extremely disappointed that the Afghan Youth Orchestra has had its visas denied'

The Southbank Centre, where the half-female group aged between 14 and 22 were playing, had said that they are 'extremely disappointed that the Afghan Youth Orchestra has had its visas denied' today.

'The orchestra is a beacon of hope and free creative expression: its brave young people have been forced to leave their homeland because of a repressive regime and they have found a home in Portugal, where they have refugee status,' the statement continued.

'This decision denies UK audiences the opportunity of being inspired by their brave work and they deserve full support of the Arts community as well as the UK government. We urge the Home Office to reconsider its decision.'

The young musicians have already played in Spain, Germany, Italy and Switzerland and are due to play at New York's renomated Carnegie Hall later this year.

Dr Ahmad Sarmast, the head of the orchestra, told Ms Lamb that the initial decision was 'so disappointing'. 'These girls have been practising for months and it would have been so beautiful,' he added.

Ms Lamb said she previously visited the orchestra in Portugal, where she spoke to three female musicians told her about rebuilding their lives in the European country after fleeing Afghanistan when the Taliban seized power.

When all 273 ANIM students and staff arrived in Portugal in December 2021, they had to be quarantined and didn't have their instruments, the Times reports.

More than 100 of them left for other countries and only 58 students - most of them minors - remain in Portugal with Mr Sarmast, who hopes to rebuild the music school there.

The Southbank Centre, where the half-female group aged 14-22 (pictured) were playing on Thursday, said: 'The orchestra is a beacon of hope and free creative expression'

After the public outcry over the refused visas the Home Office overturned its decision and said in a statement that 'musicians and performers are a valued and important part of UK culture'

Mask-clad members of ANIM group sit waiting to exit the SAS charter flight that brought Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM)'s 273 Students, Faculty, Staff and family members to Figo Maduro Military Airport on December 13, 2021 in Lisbon, Portugal

Ms Lamb urged the Home Office to 'let them in' on X

Conductor of the Afghan national orchestra Mohammed Qambar Nawshad leads musicians of the Afghanistan National Institute of music (ANIM) which all-female Zohra orchestra is part of, during a concert in the Qatari capital Doha on October 18, 2021

He said: 'Every performance we do is a protest against the Taliban,' while his students told Ms Lamb that they play knowing they are being watched at home.

One students added: 'I feel like I am playing for all the girls and women of Afghanistan who are locked in their homes.'

The orchestra itself said in a statement after the visas were initially denied: 'It is with deep regret that the Afghan Youth Orchestra (AYO) informs the community and public that the orchestra was denied an entry visa to the UK.

'AYO, a group of exceptionally talented young female and male afghan musicians, was scheduled to embark on a concert tour of the UK called 'Breaking the Silence'.

'This concert tour is part of the South Asian Sounds Festival hosted by the Southbank Centre.'

The statement added: 'AYO expresses its profound disappointment that the denial of visas not only deprives them of an opportunity to share the beauty of Afghan music with the audiences in four cities in the UK, but also share their message of resilience, hope and struggle with the international community.'

'The group flee Afghanistan after the return of the Taliban, and since December 2021, live and study in Portugal, where they were granted asylum,' ANIM said as they urged the Home Office to reconsider their decision - and a U-turn came on Monday.

A young member of ANIM group reacts as she is embraced in a welcome by Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, founder and director of the school, before exiting the SAS charter flight that brought Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM)'s 273 Students, Faculty, Staff and family members to Figo Maduro Military Airport on December 13, 2021 in Lisbon, Portugal

Good news for the group came as Ms Lamb wrote on X that the 'Home Office [had] overturned their decision'

Ms Lamb wrote: 'Great news - Home Office has overturned their decision & the Afghan youth orchestra will now be coming to UK and playing their women's day concert at Southbank Centre, then Bham, Liverpool & Manchester. Pls go see them & show your support for Afghan women & girls.'

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'Musicians and performers are a valued and important part of UK culture.

'Applications have to be considered on their individual merits in accordance with the immigration rules with the responsibility on applicants to demonstrate they meet these rules.'

Diana Johnson MP, the chair of the home affairs select committee, wrote on X: 'Excellent news and glad the @ukhomeoffice have done the right thing. Thank you to everyone who made this happen.'

Mr Sarmast told the Guardian before the visa decision was reversed: 'The group has been denied visas for entry to the UK to complete this wonderful tour called Breaking the Silence.

'We have played all over the world since we left [Afghanistan] but we never faced this.'

He added that the orchestra didn't just want to share Afghan music abroad while it is banned under the Taliban, 'but to achieve cultural diplomacy'.
An NYC criminal justice activist facing charges over a headless torso found inside a Bronx apartment has been seen in surveillance footage wearing blonde wigs and transporting a large plastic box from the crime scene, reports say.

Sheldon Johnson, 48, was detained Thursday in relation to a dismembered body found in a blue bin and a head stashed in a freezer inside the Bronx apartment found two days prior.

Neighbors allegedly told investigators they heard a victim pleading for his life before two shots were heard from the apartment, sources told the New York Post.

The victim was named Thursday as Colin Small, 44, as Johnson was charged with murder, manslaughter, and weapon possession.

Before the grisly discovery, Johnson was spotted chilling surveillance images appearing to disguise himself in a blonde wig and transporting large boxes and trash bags.

On the night of the alleged murder, the suspect was seen wearing a blonde wig in the apartment building, potentially as a disguise

Sheldon Johnson, 48, was detained Thursday in relation to a dismembered body found in a Bronx apartment two days prior

The building's super said that he was seen entering the apartment with a large blue bin, but never left with it. It was later reported that the torso was found in a blue bin

Johnson was seen transporting a large number of bags to and from the apartment, and the building's super speculated that he was 'hiding something'

Johnson, pictured being perp-walked from the NYPD 44th Precinct on Thursday, where he yelled, 'I'm innocent!' to reporters as he was led away in white overalls

Johnson was seen being perp-walked from the NYPD 44th Precinct on Thursday, where he yelled, 'I'm innocent!' to reporters as he was led away in white overalls.

Police descended on the apartment Tuesday following reports from concerned neighbors over shots heard within the building.

They reportedly told police making the wellness check that they subsequently saw a stranger coming and going from the apartment with cleaning supplies.

Fears were also sparked by the alleged pleading from the victim, who was heard screaming, 'Please don't... I have a family.'

The building's superintendent told the Post that he told NYPD officers he became concerned by the stranger's presence, particularly as they were not the tenant that he knew.

He claimed that the suspect carried a blue bin, seen in surveillance footage, into the apartment at around 2am after the shots were heard, but wasn't seen bringing it back.

'He brought in the bin  I told them, Why is he bringing in the bin at 2 oclock in the morning? Hes bringing in a bin so late,' the super said.

'We tried to see if he took out the bin. He never took out the bin. I told them, Look for a bin. And sure enough, it was there.'

In a strange development, the building's super also claimed he saw the suspect leaving the scene in the victim's blue Audi, before returning wearing a blonde wig.

They felt that he was trying to disguise himself, saying he was 'dressing differently, changing his character... that's not normal, he is hiding something.'

Johnson is a well-known criminal justice activist in New York City, and had recently appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast to speak about how he turned his life around

Neighbors claimed they heard a victim screaming for help through the walls, pleading with the alleged killer: 'Please don't... I have a family'

Evidence bags seen piled up outside the crime scene on Thursday, two days after cops made the grisly discovery

However, he said the officers initially declined to take the suspect into custody when they made their check, and even apologized to him.

'The guy stood there,' he claimed.

'They took him out and everything. They looked in the apartment, but they didnt find anything. They apologized, said somebody called, and they have to come.'

The super said that when the cops left, Johnson asked to speak with him privately - but the detectives returned and arrested Johnson before he they could speak.

'If Id gone, you never know what he was going to do,' he said. 'He was gonna frame me or shoot me or offer me something to get rid of the cameras or something.'

A neighbor described Johnson as 'quiet' and a 'loner', and said he saw the suspect walking small dogs days before the murder.

'It feels like the devil just crawled through here last night,' the tenant, Jose Marquez, said.

'Sometimes we get fooled with the appearance  well dressed  he looks clean,' Marquez said.

'You are assuming this guy has a professional career  went to work, came back, walked the dog and continued with his personal life.'

Johnson is a well-known criminal justice activist in New York City, and had recently appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast to speak about how he turned his life around.

He served 20 years in prison for a series of armed robberies in 1999, and upon his release from prison in 2019 began working as a client advocate at the public defender's office in Queens.
The 19-year-old Michigan teen who died after being struck by a flying cannister from a huge industrial fire in a vape distribution factory has been identified.

Turner Lee Salter of Clinton Township, died in an area hospital from injuries after being fatally struck from flying debris from an explosion over 1,000ft away.

The explosion was initially caused by a truckload of butane that caught fire, sparking hundreds of smaller explosions as cannisters inside the factory burst into flames - leading officials to warn the surrounding area could be filled with toxic smoke.

According to officials, Salter was standing at a car wash on 15 Mile Road when he was he was hit by airborne shrapnel from one of the cannisters on Monday.

Turner Lee Salter of Clinton Township, died in an area hospital from injuries sustained when he was struck with flying debris from an explosion over 1,000ft away

Shocking images captured the aftermath of the inferno as plumes of smoke filled the area in Clinton Township, Michigan

Stunning before and after images show the factory flattened by the explosion

He had spent his life as an active member at Faith Baptist Church and was described as an 'incredibly dependable and responsible young man' by Pastor Tim Berlin.

'Turner was just a joy to be around. He was so kind, always happy, someone who embraced life. He was on our church bowling league and everyone wanted to be on his team because they knew theyd have fun. This is a real loss for our community,' the pastor said.

Macomb County Medical Examiner Dr. Mary E. Pietrangelo determined Salter's cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head, according to Macomb Daily.

Clinton Township Supervisor Bob Cannon said he could not fathom what Salter's family was going through and said: 'We feel horrible about it. The entire community is praying for him and his family.'

He is survived by his parents, Keith and Laura Salter, as well as three siblings.

A funeral service will be held on Friday at 9am, both at the church and 15 Mile Road.

The explosion was caused by a truckload of butane that caught fire, which then sparked hundreds of small fires as cannisters detonated, and officials warned residents to stay away from the region

By Tuesday morning, the factory was almost entirely levelled by the explosions and all that was left was scattered debris and building foundations

Hundreds of small explosions prevented fire crews from initially reaching the flames, and ladder trucks were deployed to pour water on the inferno from above

Emergency responders raced to the scene shortly before 9pm Monday at the vaping distribution company, which was around 25 miles outside Detroit.

According to WXYZ, vape distributor Goo was the source of the fire, and the numerous butane and propane components in their factory sparked hundreds of smaller explosions as they were caught by the flames.

As cannisters detonated in the factory, firefighters were initially prevented from reaching the fire, leading the Clinton Fire Department to deploy ladder trucks to pour water on the inferno from above.

Clinton Township Fire Chief Tim Duncan said the inferno was one of the most challenging of his career, as there was a 'tremendous amount of fire.'

'In my 25 years, this, by far, was the biggest one that I've ever seen,' he said.

Firefighters at the scene arrived to 'materials flying in all directions from the building', and officials warned locals not to touch a cannister if they find one on the ground.

A firefighter also suffered a minor injury resulting from the blast, after one of the cannisters flew through the windshield of a fire truck and hit them.

By Tuesday morning, the factory was almost entirely levelled by the explosions and all that was left was scattered debris and building foundations.

Police said debris was flung over a mile away from the explosion, with the killed teenager reportedly struck from over 1,000ft away

Inspectors look over debris left from the terrifying inferno on Tuesday morning

Debris was left scattered up to a mile away from the scene in Clinton Township, Michigan

Officials warned locals not to touch the cannisters if they find them on the ground following the deadly explosions

On Monday night, the Clinton Township Police Department issued an urgent warning for residents to stay away, because they did not 'know what was burning' at the time and didn't 'know the effects of the smoke.'

'We can not stress enough the danger that is happening right now. Please, please, please stay inside and out of the vicinity,' police said in a statement.

'Debris is being projected into the air and coming down as far as a mile away from the explosion.'

Four people were reportedly inside the factory when the fire began, but made it out safely after evacuating as soon as they heard the canisters popping and cracking.

Fire Chief Duncan confirmed several firetrucks and police vehicles were damaged by the flying debris.

Duncan added that there were also some smaller fuel fires on nearby railway tracks that were quickly extinguished.

Four people were reportedly inside the factory when the fire began, but made it out safely after evacuating as soon as they heard the canisters popping and cracking

Plumes of red smoke filled the area, leading officials to warn the surrounding area could be filled with toxic smoke

One witness said they were initially confused by the commotion, and 'thought it was the next-door neighbor doing something... crazy outside.'

'And the wife is like 'no, I just checked Facebook, there's explosions going on,' he continued to WXYZ, while the fire raged on behind him.

'And I followed the plume of smoke and the shaking car, and here I am. And these are the baby explosions going off. There was much bigger ones going off earlier.

'You could feel the concussions from the explosions in the car.'

Another witness described hearing the explosion, before checking outside to find the night sky filled with bright orange smoke.

'At the time when it first started off, I was actually inside the house... when I had a chance to get to the front, we all ran outside. We saw the sky was really orange,' they said.

'So at that point, we kept hearing consistent booming, booming noises.

'There was fire everywhere, fire in the street, fire behind the building... it was really, really crazy. I've never seen anything like that before.'
A Miami aquarium has been ordered to close after 120 deaths and a string of high profile reports of abuse with an elderly manatee abandoned alone and a two-inch nail found in a dolphin's throat.

Miami-Dade County has ended the Miami Seaquarium's lease and ordered them to leave their property by April 21 saying they had a 'complete disregard for the safety of the animals.'

The order follows a years-long campaign to shut the aquarium down, after heartbreaking footage of dolphins, manatees and whales living in squalid conditions went viral.

Phil Demers, who led the campaign, told DailyMail.com: 'Its a day of vindication for those of us who have steadfastly fought against the Miami Seaquariums cruelty, but its an even better day for their animals.'

The Seaquarium made headlines for the neglect and eventual death of the 'world's loneliest whale', Lolita the orca last year, but since opening in 1955, non-profit The Dolphin Project says over 120 animals have died in the park.

Lolita, the 'loneliest whale in the world', has died aged 57

Experts and concerned individuals had long protested against Lolita's conditions in captivity, including the size of her 80-foot long and 35-foot wide tank

Lolita performed for decades before stopping in 2022 due to illness. She was the longest living whale in captivity at the age of 57

Experts and concerned individuals had long protested against Lolita's conditions in captivity, including the size of her 80-foot long and 35-foot wide tank, the smallest of its kind in the US.

Just 10 years after Lolita arrived at the aquarium, her companion Hugo died of an aneurysm that was caused by repeated head trauma from banging his head against the tanks walls, leaving her all alone.

Then last year, the aquarium was in the news again for their treatment of Romeo the manatee.

Video of 67-year-old Romeo swimming forlornly in his tank - estimated to be just 30ft wide - went viral last year and surfing legend Kelly Slater backed a campaign for his release, which quickly gained more than 20,000 signatures.

Romeo had been kept at the facility since 1956 and spent many of those years alone in the tiny tank, separated from his previous mate, Juliet.

After public outcry, Romeo, Juliet and another manatee, Clarity, were rescued and taken to another facility for medical treatment.

Their cases followed a series of damning United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports which revealed deteriorating conditions in the aquarium.

In October, federal inspectors found a dolphin named Ripley with a two-inch nail in its throat and another named Bimini with a broken metal bolt in its mouth.

They also found a sea lion named Sushi had been holding her eye closed and rubbing both her eyes because she needed cataract surgery and was in pain.

She had started refusing food due to the pain but the cataract surgery was still not scheduled.

Romeo had been kept at the Seaquarium since 1956 and campaigners said he had been alone since at least April of this year

Romeo had been at the Miami Seaquarium since 1956. He is now 67 years old

The veterinary clinic lacked basic supplies and the entire site was crumbling with peeling paint and mold found in the enclosures.

Inspectors also found a colony of ants living in the vet clinic and inside medicines and vitamins.

They found peeling paint in the penguin enclosure, a 'strong noxious odor' in the parrot area and 'stagnant murky water with green algae' in a flamingo enclosure.

On top of the neglect, nonprofit the Dolphin Project claims at least 120 dolphins and whales have died in captivity in the park.

The causes of death listed included trauma, skin cancer (likely due to lack of shade), killed by another animal and entrapment in pool fencing.

As well as their abuses, the park was behind at least $180,000 in rent.

Dozens of animals remain at the facility and it is not yet clear where they will be moved to, or whether the park will challenge the decision.

If the Seaquarium doesn't agree to leave it could lead to a legal eviction process.

Demers told DailyMail.com: 'Hopefully they will be relocated to sanctuary settings or in the least, far better facilities.

'Its time to end the Seaquariums near 70 year existence. Cant happen soon enough.'

The Miami Seaquarium first opened in 1955 and has been at the center of a string of care scandals in the decades since

There were two protests in Miami last month calling for the seaquarium to be shut down

Campaigners have been calling for its closure for years

Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said: 'The Seaquarium has a long and troubling history of repeated, continuous violations of their contractual obligations to keep the property in a good state of repair, maintain animal welfare in accordance with applicable laws and to comply with the lease.

'Terminating the lease is the best path forward for the safety of the animals as well as the safety of residents and visitors.'

Last month two protests were held calling for the Seaquarium's lease to be terminated.

The Seaquarium then released a statement saying they were working with the USDA to address concerns.

They said: 'Miami Seaquarium is in compliance with federal Animal Welfare Act regulations. It's important to clarify that, there was no confiscation, and MSQs professional staff continues to care for its animals with the same passion, knowledge and dedication they do every day.'

DailyMail.com contacted the Miami Seaquarium for comment.
The tomb of an important ancient lord was discovered at an archeological site in Panama.

Inside the tomb, which is around 1,200 years old, archeologists uncovered a sumptuous collection of gold treasure: belts made with gold beads, gold-encased whale-teeth earrings and a set of circular gold plates.

But the tomb of the Colce chief (750-800 AD), who was between 30 and 40 years old at the time of his death, contained something darker- the bodies of sacrificial victims who were meant to accompany their lord to the 'beyond.'

As many as 31 other people were buried with the ancient ruler, although the real number remains unknown, as the excavation of the tomb in El Cano Archeological Park is ongoing.

Archeologists exhumed belts made with gold beads, gold-encased whale-teeth earrings, and a set of circular gold plates

The site offered more than treasure, though: the remains of as many as 31 sacrificial victims were also unearthed

Archeologists made the discovery in El Cano Archeological Park, home to an ancient necropolis that was used from 700-1000 AD

The powerful lord was laid to rest in a posture that was a commonplace in this elaborate form of burial.

According to a statement from Panama's Ministry of Culture, the high-status man was buried 'face down.'

And he was buried on top of 'the body of a woman.'

For researchers, the wealth of the discovery was not to be found in the gold loot, but in the style of burial.

Archeologists refer to collective burials like this as multiple and simultaneous burials.

'We call them that because they consist of burials of a variable number of people (between eight and 32 people," Dr. Julia Mayo, the person directing the excavation, told Panama's Ministry of Culture.

These people were sacrificed prior to burial, so that they could accompany their lord to the afterlife.

Sitio El Cano, where the tomb was discovered, served as a necropolis (a city for the dead) from 700 AD until 1000 AD, when it was abandoned for unknown reasons. It once contained monoliths, a cemetery and a ceremonial space.

The tomb was built around 750 AD, and excavators also unearthed ceramic artifacts and jewelry.

They found five pectorals, four bracelets, two earrings in the shape of human figures (a man and a woman), an earing in the shape of a double crocodile, bells, plaques, and a necklace.

There were also bracelets and skirts fashioned from dog teeth, and a set of bone flutes.

The Ministry of Culture hailed the find as not only of 'economic value,' but also of 'incalculable historical value.'
Son Myung-soon, the widow of former President Kim Young-sam, died Thursday at the age of 96, medical sources said.

The ex-first lady died of a chronic ailment late in the afternoon while under treatment at Seoul National University Hospital, according to the sources.

Son was a widow to Kim, who served as Korea's 14th president from 1993-1998. Kim died at the age of 88 in 2015.

Son was married to Kim in 1951 and was known to have assisted her husband as the supportive wife of the long-time opposition politician.

Kim is an iconic political figure for Korea's pro-democracy movement as his election to the presidency formally ended decades of military rule in Korea. His two general-turned predecessors, Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, were indicted on mutiny and treason charges stemming from a military coup.

Under the Kim administration, Korea received a massive international bailout during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed condolences over Son's death, calling her a "political partner" of former President Kim.

"All of the people will remember Son's life beautifully and with gratitude," Yoon said.

The late president and the first lady are survived by their two sons and three daughters. (Yonhap)
An investigation has revealed suspicious communications devices inside Chinese-made cargo cranes used widely at US ports, supporting fears that the equipment could be part of an espionage plot.

Cranes made by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC), a state-owned Chinese company, in some cases carry cellular modems, according to a congressional investigation reported by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

The modems offer a potential backdoor for remote access, and do not appear to support the normal operations of the equipment, the investigation found.

The discovery of the modems, which had not been previously disclosed, supports growing fears in US intelligence circles that Chinese cranes could be used to covertly monitor US ports, or even sabotage their operations.

Chinese firms make nearly 80 percent of the cranes used in US ports, after years of undercutting domestic suppliers on price.

Cranes are seen at a port in New Jersey. An investigation has revealed suspicious communications devices inside Chinese-made cargo cranes used widely at US ports

Chinese firms make nearly 80 percent of the cranes used in US ports, after years of undercutting domestic suppliers on price. Chinese leader Xi Jinping is seen above

House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, a Tennessee Republican, told the Journal that the Chinese government 'is looking for every opportunity to collect valuable intelligence and position themselves to exploit vulnerabilities by systematically burrowing into America's critical infrastructure.

'The United States has clearly overlooked this threat for far too long,' he added.

A spokesman for China's embassy in DC said any fears over Chinese cranes are 'entirely paranoia' and amount to 'abusing national power to obstruct normal economic and trade cooperation.'

Last month, President Joe Biden's administration announced a $20 billion investment to build more ship-to-shore cranes in America over spying concerns.

Biden's executive order give the US Coast Guard new powers to issue basic cybersecurity requirements for transportation vessels and ports amid fears Chinese hackers will target American infrastructure during a potential invasion of Taiwan.

One particular area of focus is ship-to-shore cranes, which move cargo containers off of vessels.

'We felt there was real strategic risk here,' said Anne Neuberger, US deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology.

'These cranes, because they are essentially moving the large-scale containers in and out of port, if they were encrypted in a criminal attack, or rented or operated by an adversary, that could have real impact on our economy's movement of goods and our military's movement of goods through ports.'

Of the 200 Chinese-made cranes at US ports, Coast Guard cyber experts have done security assessments and hunted for malicious cyber activity on 92, or less than half, of them.

Biden is investing heavily in having American-built cranes be constructed over the next five years, taking money from the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill to fund them.

The cranes will be built by a US subsidiary of Mitsui, a Japanese company, to produce the cranes, which officials said would be the first time in 30 years they would be built domestically.

Last month, President Joe Biden's administration announced a $20 billion investment to build more ship-to-shore cranes in America over spying concerns (file photo)

'By design these cranes may be controlled, serviced and programmed from remote locations,' said Rear Adm. John Vann, who leads the Coast Guard cyber command, during a press briefing.

'These features potentially leave PRC-manufactured cranes vulnerable to exploitation,' he said, referring to the People's Republic of China.

Vann said this type of potential attack was a concern as officials pushed for new standards, but they are also worried about the possibility for criminal activity.

Nationwide, ports employ roughly 31 million people and contribute $5.4 trillion to the economy.

'America's system of ports and waterways accounts for over $5.4 trillion of our nation's annual economic activity, and our ports serve as a gateway for over 90 percent of all overseas trade,' Vann noted.

Several top-ranking American officials, including FBI director Christopher Wray, have warned of the threats posed by the infiltration of the nation's critical infrastructure by Chinese hackers, who would aim to take down the United States' power grid, oil pipelines and water systems in the event of an armed conflict
The family fought for 18 months through court mandated counseling and parenting classes to regain custody of their daughter, who had a genetically inherited disorder that explained her mysterious injuries

The couple learned that their baby had multiple fractures and was referred to CPS as an abused and neglected child

A family has regained custody of their child more than a year after a nurse called CPS when they found fractures in the baby's collar bone.

Kaylee Doss and husband Landon had decided to take their baby girl, Rowan, to the emergency room when they felt a knot in her collarbone.

'I'm thinking cancer or something crazy. We do have some bone issues in my family. So we decided to just go ahead and take her to the hospital,' Kaylee told People Magazine.

At first, the nurses were comforting Kaylee, assuring her that her little angel would be OK. But after her baby was checked out, the nurse's tone completely shifted.

'She looked at us and asked, "What have you done to this baby?"' said Kaylee. 'She said, "In order for a child to sustain injuries this severe, something serious had to have happened."'

Kaylee and Landon Doss took their daughter Rowan to the ER when they noticed a knot in her collarbone

The couple learned that the 6-week-old had multiple fractures an was referred to CPS as an abused and neglected child

A child abuse pediatrician revealed that Rowan had between 8 and 13 fractures, and told Kaylee and Landon to prepare to speak with a social worker

The parents were informed that CPS was called and they were not allowed to leave the hospital until they spoke with them.

'And she just walked out. She didn't tell us what was wrong with Rowan, didn't specify her injuries. She just told us ... we "needed to get our story straight."'

The nurse made Kaylee sign to consent to further testing.

'We signed, thinking we were getting genetic testing done. And they did not. Instead, she received rape kits and full skeletal surveys, as well as some extensive CT scans and MRIs,' she said.

A child abuse pediatrician revealed that she had between 8 and 13 fractures, and told Kaylee and Landon to prepare to speak with a social worker. The nurse told the parents that Rowan was referred to CPS as an abused and neglected child.

The family was then placed under a 'safety plan,' which included a hospital room that had large windows so they could be monitored by staff.

They stayed overnight with Rowan, but the next day they social workers informed Kaylee and Landon that their baby girl would be placed in foster care. Kaylee's grandmother was offered as possible kindship.

When Kaylee and Landon noticed their child was hungry, they began feeding her a bottle. The nurses hastily took the child from her arms and left the room.

'I had never faced a trauma like this in my life. I've been through some things, but nothing compares to having your child ripped away from you and grieving a child that's alive,' Kaylee says.

'And that's what we were doing. We were grieving the loss of a live child that we were able to see, but we couldn't raise. There was a lot of just sitting and staring.'

The family was then placed under a 'safety plan,' which included a hospital room that had large windows so they could be monitored by staff

They stayed overnight with Rowan, but the next day they social workers informed Kaylee and Landon that their baby girl would be placed in foster care

The couple met with a social worker, who told them that Rowan 'did not look harmed or abused or neglected' but they needed to 'let the investigation run its course, which typically takes between 30 and 45 days.'

Although Kaylee's grandmother was able to stay at the hospital after Kaylee and Landon were forced to leave, Rowan was eventually given to a hospital employee as a foster parent.

Three days later, kinship placement was approved, and the couple was able to start seeing Rowan as long as she was in the grandmother's care.

'I just remember how blessed I was because most people in our cases, they don't get to see their kids at all. And if they do get to see them, it's an hour a week, maybe two hours a week if they're under the age of two. So I did get to see her, but I wasn't allowed to give her a bath. I wasn't allowed to take her outside,' said Kaylee.

The couple visited Rowan at Kaylee's grandparents home from June to November 2022 as they waited for developments in the case.

'We would feed her, we would change her, we would play with her. We made sure that we were there as much as we possibly could, but we still missed her first laugh and her first crawl, and the first time she ate solids,' Kaylee said.

'It felt hopeless as we missed those prime moments in her development and felt so stripped of everything you're supposed to have after becoming a parent.'

The couple eventually went to court, fighting to get their child back. Kaylee refused to take responsibility for her child's injuries.

After her statement, the couple signed a stipulation brought forth by the DSS, which 'contained the facts that the child abuse pediatrician believed to be true. It was her finding and allegations, and they wanted us to acknowledge them.' Their lawyer reiterated that this was not an admission of guilt.

While the judge adjudicated Rowan as an abused and neglected child and that she would remain in state custody, they would continue forth with a reunification plan.

'They wanted us to do parenting classes, sexual assault prevention classes, get a cognitive clinical evaluation, a parental capacity assessment. They wanted us to go to individual counseling and marital counseling,' said Kaylee.

'I was in fight or flight mode. I don't know how I managed. We had to go to DSS once a week to have a supervised visit with a social worker, which was disheartening in and of itself because of the conditions.'

While undergoing the state's protocols, Kaylee searched for medical answers that explained her daughter's symptoms.

The couple met with a social worker, who told them that Rowan 'did not look harmed or abused or neglected' but they needed to 'let the investigation run its course, which typically takes between 30 and 45 days

It took the family more than 500 days to regain custody of Rowan

'I had done so much research and I found this article. It was 72 infants in a study that had fractured bones and metabolic bone disease-like issues. But they all ended up having,' she said.

'I plastered this article everywhere and I said, 'I swear this is the same thing.' It was the same fractures, same number of fractures, same placements.'

She managed to get in touch with the same doctor who conducted the study, Dr. Michael Hollick. The parents were granted permission to bring their daughter to meet the Boston-based doctor.

'He did a genetics screen. He tested me and my mother and Rowan, and all three of us passed the Beighton Scoring System. I had eight of the nine markers. Rowan and my mom had seven,' said Kaylee.

'It explained all of our medical problems and vitamin deficiencies. There was not a single thing in Rowan's medical records that I had called a doctor about, concerned, that wasn't connected. It explained the fractures that early in infancy.'

Kaylee and Landon continued to cooperate throughout 2023. In December, the case was finally closed after more than 500 days.

The judge apologized to the family of three.

'I felt like it was a breath of fresh air to get an apology from somebody acknowledging the fact that we had been put through hell and back. But it was a little bitter because I didn't want to be told congratulations for winning my daughter back from the state,' Kaylee said.

'I finally feel like the calm after the storm. We can finally breathe and we're walking down our path of healing as a family.'
Uvalde police made 'many failures' when responding to a gunman who killed 19 students and two teachers at a school in 2022, an independent investigation has concluded.

Failures of communication, poor training for live shooter situations, lack of equipment available to officers and delays on breaching the classroom all contributed to the disaster at Robb Elementary School on May 24 2022, Jesse Prado, an Austin-based investigator and former police detective found.

'There were problems all day long with communication and lack of it. The officers had no way of knowing what was being planned, what was being said,' Prado said on Thursday.

'If they would have had a ballistic shield, it would have been enough to get them to the door.'

It comes after a bombshell Justice Department report into the shooting released earlier this year found that Uvalde police officers stood outside a classroom for 77 minutes while schoolchildren screamed for 'help' after the gunman opened fire.

Jesse Prado, an Austin-based investigator and former police detective found Uvalde police made 'many failures' on May 24 2022

The victims of the Uvalde school shooting on May 24, 2022

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the victims 'deserved better,' as he presented the Justice Department's findings to the affected families in Uvalde.

'Had law enforcement agencies followed generally accepted practices in active shooter situations and gone right after the shooter and stopped him, lives would have been saved and people would have survived,' Garland said at the news conference in January.

The report also found failings in the aftermath, with untrained hospital staff improperly delivering painful news and officials giving families mixed messages and misinformation about victims and survivors.

One official told waiting families that another bus of survivors was coming, but that was untrue.

Last month several law enforcement officers who responded to the mass shooting were ordered to testify before a grand jury investigating the botched response.

Multiple officers who were on the scene have been subpoenaed for in-person testimony that may result in criminal charges, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

Members of the Texas Department of Public Safety and local police have been called upon to testify, with grand jurors potentially given the chance to question the officers themselves.

The grand jury is expected to look at possible criminal charges over the failed response at the school.

After gunman Salvador Ramos, 18, opened fire inside Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022, Uvalde Police came under scrutiny after waiting for 77 minutes as the massacre erupted before confronting the gunman

The furious relatives of the victims called on their DA Christina Mitchell Busbee (pictured) to bring criminal charges, questioning: 'What more does she need?'

Evadulia Orta, left, and Felicia Martinez, right, and other other family members of shooting victims hold back tears as they hear the scathing report

Dora Mendoza, right, is hugged by a friend as she leaves a meeting where Attorney General Merrick Garland shared a report on the findings of an investigation into the 2022 school shooting at Robb Elementary School

Police officers walk past a memorial for the shooting victims at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 26, 2022

Parents have pleaded for criminal charges over the response.

'What more does (the DA) need?' Jazmin Cazare, whose sister Jackie was killed in the massacre, questioned last month. 'What more does she possibly need to prosecute or remove these people from their positions of power when they can't do their jobs?'

Kimberly Rubio, whose daughter Lexi was killed, added that the tragedy should serve as a turning point to change America's lax gun control laws, as it 'began the day an 18-year-old was allowed to buy an AR-15.'

'I hope that the failures end today, and that local officials do what wasnt done that day, do right by the victims and survivors for Robb Elementary terminations, criminal prosecutions-- and our state and federal government enact sensible gun laws,' she said.

After gunman Salvador Ramos, 18, burst into Robb Elementary School on the morning of May 24, 2022, the report found that the 'single most critical tactical failure' was that police failed to view the event as 'active.'

From there, it took 77 minutes before the 376 law enforcement officers were able to kill Ramos, only after he fatally shot 21 people across several classrooms.

'The response to the May 24, 2022, mass casualty incident at Robb Elementary School was a failure,' the Justice Department report concluded.

Among the tragic conclusions brought by the report was Attorney General Merrick Garland's admission the lives of the young victims could have been saved had protocols been followed properly - a concession the parents say was a long time coming.

Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo was singled out in the new DOJ report for his catastrophic lack of leadership during the mass shooting

City police Lt. Mariano Pargas was singled out in the new DOJ report for his catastrophic lack of leadership during the mass shooting

Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco, left, is comforted by Rep. Ted Cruz. Nolasco was singled out for his catastrophic lack of leadership during the mass shooting

Victims - both adults and children - were frantically dragged out of bloody classrooms with no stretchers readily available to get them into ambulances.

One teacher was left to die on the walkway, before being covered and moved into an ambulance. Another dead body, pulled out from the school, was placed outside and then left unattended - while a group of police huddled together nearby.

Ambulances took deceased victims to hospital by mistake, others did not secure critically-injured patients on to stretchers properly, and vital blood supplies that were airlifted to the scene went unused - despite being needed.

Injured victims were left stretchered on sidewalks outside Robb Elementary because different medical crews had abruptly taken and commandeered their ambulances.

Kids - struck and grazed by bullets during the onslaught inside their school - were ushered into buses heading to the civic center without being seen by medical staff.

Garland said in a statement: 'The victims and survivors of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School deserved better. The law enforcement response at Robb Elementary on May 24, 2022 - and the response by officials in the hours and days after - was a failure that should not have happened.'

The Justice Department collected more than 14,100 items from the scene for for analysis. This included hours of video, photos, 260 interviews, multiple visits to Uvalde, as well as police policies, procedures, and training.

Federal officials said that their review of the mass shooting was made public 'to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses; identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events; and provide a roadmap for community safety and engagement before, during, and after such incidents.'
More than 24,000 offences a year in Scotland will no longer be investigated by police in a move that has been branded a surrender to criminals.

The bombshell admission by senior officers means thousands of crooks will be allowed to break the law with impunity.

The Mail revealed last month that police will no longer probe every crime reported to them in Scotland following a trial project in the North-East, leaving a trail of victims without justice.

More than one in five of those taking part in the pilot said they would no longer feel confident reporting a crime to Police Scotland.

It means minor offences such as some break-ins, vandalism and thefts where there are no leads or CCTV evidence, face being written off.

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Russell Findlay said: The rollout of this dangerous scheme formalises the SNPs surrender to criminals as official policing policy  that is not what hard-working officers signed up for.

Assistant Chief Constable Emma Bond said the force wanted to give victims of crime clarity at an earlier point by telling them there would be no investigation

Savage SNP cuts and their weak justice agenda already mean that officer numbers are at their lowest since 2008 and most crimes are not even reported. Doing nothing in response to thousands of crimes betrays law-abiding Scots. This is a good day for criminals and can only result in more crime on our streets.

Police insist that the strategy is not a new concept and that officers waste too much time dealing with crime reports where there is no prospect of a full investigation taking place because there are no apparent lines of inquiry, such as CCTV footage.

The force said the new system was not being introduced to save money  but admitted it was not on the table prior to a 50million budget cut in 2023-24.

Police said it had not been possible to obtain figures on the proportion of crimes which were solved in the 12-week North-East pilot last year because a significant number of crime reports allocated for inquiry are still live inquiries which have not yet been concluded.

This means the national rollout has been approved despite no evidence that it will boost clear-up rates. Police chiefs say it does not amount to non-investigation but admit complaints will not be assigned to a frontline police officer.

A total of 10,121 crime reports were recorded within the pilot area in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. Of those, 4.6 per cent  around one in 20  were directly filed with no further inquiry.

Across Scotland, the force estimates that this would equate to 24,242 crimes being directly filed each year with a saving of 136,376 police officer investigation hours. A survey showed 21 per cent of members of the public disagreed or strongly disagreed that they would feel confident reporting a crime to Police Scotland under the new approach.

Case studies of the minor crimes which were directly filed in the pilot included a report of a vandalised car and another in which a caller reported finding a smashed window on returning home to their property.

Asked if the public might take the law into their own hands because of a loss of faith in policing, Assistant Chief Constable Emma Bond said: I certainly would hope thats not the case.

She said people just want to know whats happening when they report a crime  and the force would now be providing that clarity at an earlier point by telling them sooner that the case would not be allocated for full investigation.

Last night, the Scottish Police Federation said it remains concerned that these decisions are being made relative to financial constraints and not for a better service to the public.

The UK Government has said every theft in England must be investigated.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: Police Scotland have consistently stated that officers in the North-East will continue to investigate all reported crimes, with every case fully assessed and given a proportionate response based on threat, harm and risk.
During President Biden's State of the Union address onlookers will be keenly aware of any signs of cognitive decline after a bombshell special counsel report described him as 'elderly' and 'forgetful.'

But with age comes 'wisdom and experience,' now says Minnesota Democrat Rep. Dean Phillips, who ended a primary challenge against Biden on Wednesday that he had launched in large part due to concerns about his age.

'His age is his age,' Phillips told DailyMail.com on Thursday. 'No he's not the same young vigorous man he used to be, none of us are. And neither is Donald Trump.'

'Is it a disconnect right now? Yeah. And I've learned some ways to I think overcome that and I'll share those with him.'

Phillips urged Biden to 'show vigor' in his third yearly address to a joint session of Congress.

'His age is his age,' Phillips told DailyMail.com on Thursday. 'No he's not the same young vigorous man he used to be, none of us are. And neither is Donald Trump'

'Showing the capacity to hear Americans and what's really a concern to them, articulating a little bit of a vision for the future. They want to be heard and they want to know what the plan is. And I think doing that, with a little bit of vigor, is gonna go a long, long way.'

Newly minted Rep. Tom Suozzi urged Biden to touch on the southern border, an area where he has struggled with Americans in polling, in the evening address.

'I'd love for him to talk about the border and about pushing a bipartisan compromise,' Suozzi told DailyMail.com.

The New York Democrat recently won his seat in a special election to replace Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., beating out his Republican opponent with a playbook that focused heavily on immigration and border issues.

'His age is his age. It's an objective fact. He can't say, "I'm not my age."'

'It's all based on his performance. And I'm confident he's gonna do a good job,' Suozzi went on.

'I'd love for him to talk about the border and about pushing a bipartisan compromise,' Rep. Tom Suozzi, R-N.Y., told DailyMail.com

Biden will give his third address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday

Republicans are not so confident.

GOP Whip Tom Emmer said viewers will realize tonight that Biden is 'way too old, baby.'

'You hit a certain point in life where it starts to go the other way and it starts to regress and unfortunately that is what most people have seen,' he told DailyMail.com.

'I think the whole room will be on pins and needles, just watching how he handles it,' said Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis.

Rep. John James, R-Mich., agreed Biden should face the border security issue head-on.

'I don't think the age is as much of an issue as his incompetence,' he told DailyMail.com.

'People can look at folks like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, two completely opposite sides of the spectrum and recognize that there's something wrong with Joe Biden,' James went on.

'The best way that he can address his age is frankly, address the issues that Americans are feeling. Be that unifier that he promised us he would be - talk about immigration and then actually use the power of the pen, the same power that he used to repeal the Trump-era immigration policy, border security policy, that work put that back in place.'

James urged Biden to use a provision used by President Barack Obama and Bill Clinton - Section 212 of the Immigration and Naturalization Act - which gives the president broad authority to implement immigration restrictions by proclamation.

'If he wanted to campaign on the Obama-Biden name last time, why doesn't he do the exact same thing that even Democrats have known to keep Americans safe to secure our border?'

Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, who has an advanced degree in Applied Cognition and Neuroscience, told DailyMail.com: 'If you watch him closely, where his sentences are incomplete, where there are distractions that normally an individual that's having an engaging conversation can adjust with a purposeful pause, an individual as they age gets, and lost in the moment and can't really regain the direction that they were headed.'

'I don't care if you're 80 or 90 years old. I know some 98-year old-women that are just, I mean, they're on point just as sharp. I pray - this is no joke - I pray that he does not go cognitively deaf on TV, in front of I do not want to see that.'

Biden allies have even admitted the president is old.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 76, admitted President Joe Biden is 'old' Tuesday, adding Americans need to 'accept the reality' of his age and vote for him to save democracy from Donald Trump.

'Somebody the other day said to me  'Well, but, you know, Joe Biden's old.' I said, 'You know what, Joe Biden is old. Let's go ahead and accept the reality. Joe Biden is old,' Clinton, 76, said.

One day later, Clinton said those who live into their eighties are 'lucky' and that Biden, 81, and Donald Trump, 77, are 'effectively the same age.'

'When you're lucky to live into your seventies or eighties, the difference of a few years doesn't matter all that much,' Clinton posted on Instagram.

Questions about the president's age came into the national spotlight following a January Department of Justice report by Special Counsel Robert Hur.

Hur claimed that during the investigation into Biden's mishandling of classified documents, it was clear the president has a 'poor memory' and 'diminished faculties.'

Biden was described as 'a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man' who couldn't remember when he served as vice president or even the date his own son Beau died.

The president immediately pushed back on the damning claims buy Hur, though, saying his 'memory is fine.'

Following Hur's report a number of lawmakers suggested Biden's cabinet invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.

The 25th Amendment, which outlines presidential succession, gives the vice president and Cabinet power to remove the commander in chief from office via a majority vote in the event it's determined he or she is no longer fit for office.

Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland in February stating that the 'alarming' findings in the report signal that Biden should be 'charged' unless he's not 'mentally competent to stand trial.'

Garland should 'begin proceedings to remove the President pursuant to the 25th Amendment of the United States Constitution,' Tenney said in the letter obtained by

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., also called for Biden to be removed with the amendment.

Recent polling also finds voters are concerned with Biden's age.

Roughly 6 in 10 say they're not very or not at all confident in President Joe Biden's mental capability to serve effectively as president, according to a new survey released this week by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

By the same token, nearly 6 in 10 also say they lack confidence in the mental capability of former President Donald Trump, the 77-year-old Republican front-runner.
Squatting smugly on the far wing of the SNP front bench was Angus Robertson, a man with a long title and not much to do. Hes the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, a post that sounds stately but lacks any real substance. The role was made for him.

Robertson has a terribly high opinion of himself and a sufficiently low calibre of Cabinet colleague to maintain the illusion. He is what passes for an intellectual in todays SNP. He and Mike Russell have shared custody of the party brain cell.

The grandisonant gasbag was busy contributing to the emissions crisis when Douglas Ross lost the rag. The Scottish Tory leader was narrating the experiences of NHS patients forced to wait intolerably long for Accident & Emergency treatment and even for blue-light ambulances.

The particular remark from Robertson that lit the Tory leaders fuse was not audible but his body language appeared mightily dismissive.

Is that the response that we are going to get from a cabinet secretary in the Scottish Government? Ross demanded.

I cannot believe that Angus Robertson is smirking after saying that, when I am quoting from an ambulance worker in NHS Grampian, he fumed.

Smugness and Emissions Minister Angus Robertson, left, irked irate Tory Douglas Ross with his smirking

The SNP minister looked suddenly very sheepish. He is a professional sneerer and while that is a useful skill in political combat, it comes across as arrogant and out of touch when the subject turns to matters of life and death. It explains why Robertson is stuck in the Constitution brief and not in a portfolio that requires engaging with the public. Hes a first-rate politicker but the man just cant do human.

It wasnt Rosss only blow-up. He accused Humza Yousaf of saying it was stupid for him to bring up the SNPs broken promise to eradicate delayed hospital discharges.

Douglas Ross should withdraw and retract his comment, the First Minister hit back. I did not, in fact, say anything to Douglas Ross.

By now the din thundering above the SNP and Tory benches was deafening. Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone stepped in to dish out tongue-lashings all round, ordering them to stop being such a rabble.

Yousaf went in with another swipe: Douglas Ross, having clearly been left hung out to dry by his colleagues, is desperate to simply make up what has been said or not said.

Ross has had a rough few days. Hes still reeling from the decision by Chancellor and alleged Tory Jeremy Hunt to extend the windfall tax-grab on the oil and gas industry. Ross tried to stop this fresh raid on Scotlands energy sector but seems to have been out-manoeuvred by the Treasury. Clobbering North Sea workers is all the rage, it seems. Its bad enough having Patrick Harvie in one government without having him in two.

Proceedings had to be suspended nine times in the space of 50 minutes amid constant disruptions from the public gallery. The usual thing: one brand of communist or another throwing a tanty about this weeks pet cause.

Johnstone thought she had nipped this in the bud. After a protracted run of interrupted sessions, she brought in new rules to crack down on disruptions. For the past few months, they seemed to be working. Until yesterday, that is.

I know were supposed to be indignant about these disturbances. Precious democracy, dignity of parliament and all that, but is it really such a departure from the norm? Barely coherent rants from midwits in the public gallery may be irksome but theyre a change of pace from barely coherent rants from midwits on the floor of the chamber.

The Presiding Officer became more dismayed every time she suspended proceedings. I became more dismayed every time she resumed them.
A police investigation has been launched after a hidden camera was found in the girls' changing room of a Queensland primary school.

Teachers were alerted after a student discovered the webcam, which was hidden in the pool changeroom at the primary school in Brisbane.

Almost two weeks ago, an email was sent to parents confirming a camera had been found on the school grounds, saying 'the safety and welfare of your children continues to be the highest priority for the school'.

Parents were also asked to 'consider refraining from providing commentary about the issue on social media or other forums'.

One outraged father, who is unable to be identified for legal reasons, described it as 'the sickest thing you could possibly do'.

Teachers were alerted after a student discovered the webcam, which was hidden in the pool changeroom at a primary school in Brisbane

Queensland Police told Daily Mail Australia that investigations are ongoing

He said parents have received no further information regarding how the camera got there, calling on the school to be more transparent.

Parents say they have been kept in the dark about how long the device had been there and how many children may have been captured on video.

'Some sicko has got into my daughter's school - a place where they're meant to be safe and learn,' he told 9NEWS.

'We got no answers, no one's telling us anything, it's just wrong.'

Queensland Police told Daily Mail Australia that investigations are ongoing.

'Investigations found no evidence of images or recording and there was no SD card in the camera,' they said.

Police are urging anyone with information that may assist investigators to come forward.
A TV psychiatrist who championed ecstasy-assisted therapy has been suspended for having a sexual relationship with a former patient.

Dr Ben Sessa's fitness to practice was found to be impaired by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, which suspended him for a year.

It heard the patient  who has since died  was vulnerable due to a variety of mental health conditions he was aware of.

The doctor admitted he knew about her history of self-harm and overdoses, but said he was not aware she had tried to take her own life during the course of their six-month sexual relationship.

The tribunal heard the woman, referred to as Patient A, had contacted him anonymously on Twitter in February 2021 and that, after around five weeks of messaging, he suggested that they meet.

Dr Ben Sessa's fitness to practice was found to be impaired by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, which suspended him for a year

Pictured: Awakn Bristol on Regent Street, Clifton

It was then that Patient A revealed that she was, in fact, a patient of the doctor  at which point his 'heart overtook [his] head', he told the tribunal.

Dr Sessa, who practised in North Somerset, said he had made 'a series of catastrophically poor judgements'.

But he said it was not a case of a doctor pursuing sexual gratification, but rather one of 'a couple falling in love and pursuing a full relationship'.

Dr Sessa is known for being a vocal advocate of the use of ecstasy (MDMA) and psychedelics in a therapeutic setting. In 2021, he was involved in setting up the UK's first clinic that combines psychotherapy with ketamine treatment.

He has featured in the BBC Three documentary Drugsland and Netflix's How To Change Your Mind.
The White House is struggling to communicate with young people ahead of the 2024 election

President Joe Biden hosted a young group of social media influencers at the White House this week as part of his State of the Union address.

Despite the president's advanced age, White House staff continue looking for ways to make an impact on social media, where most young people get their news and information.

Over 70 social media figures were present for a meeting at the White House on Wednesday according to Wired magazine.

Biden's Senior Advisor Anita Dunn spoke to the group about the president's upcoming speech, domestic policy advisor Neera Tanden spoke to them about what Biden was trying to do on the issue of student loans, and First Gentleman Doug Emhoff spoke to them about Vice President Kamala Harris.

Emily Amick who posts videos under the handle @emilyinyourphone, with 135,000 followers on Instagram went to the briefing and posted about it on her account.

President Joe Biden is preparing social media stars for his upcoming State of the Union address

Emily Amick, who posts videos under the handle @emilyinyourphone recalled how she struggled in journalism school when she told teachers that paper newspapers were dead.

'I went to a briefing for political influencers at the White House today in anticipation of the State of the Union, and while there told someone the story of how I almost got kicked out of journalism school because I kept insisting that paper newspapers are  and disaggregated news online is the future,' she wrote. '15+ years later its wild to be experiencing this change as it is happening. Im not sure I would say its going well, but its going and Im glad folks in power are acknowledging that.'

Johnny Palmadessa was also in attendance, a self-identified 'Gen Z' activist and Democrat strategist. Palmadessa has over 100,000 followers on Threads, 16,000 followers on Instagram and 26,000 followers on TikTok.

Palmadessa told the Daily Mail he was appreciative of the White House outreach.

'They have demonstrated a genuine commitment to engaging with us directly and meeting us on our terms,' he said.

Palmadessa said the social in-person event brought a lot of people together who knew each other from their work on social media platforms.

'Meeting other activists, strategists, and influencers in person was inspiring,' he said.

Aaron Parnas, an attorney and Substack writer shared a photo of himself at the White House with the caption, 'The state of our union is strong.'

Keith Edwards, a Democratic strategist with 52,000 followers on Instagram was also there, posting a photo of himself at the briefing room podium. Edwards' main audience is on X, with over 136,000 followers and 92,000 followers on Threads.

Keith Edwards, a Democratic strategist posted an image of himself with the caption 'Fake News'

Aaron Parnas posted a picture of himself at the White House calling the State of the Union 'strong.'

More social media publishers were expected to meet with White House officials on Thursday.

While President Joe Biden is expected to meet with the more traditional television media anchors for lunch, Vice President Kamala Harris plans to host a White House 'influencers luncheon' to help drive their message through the media.

The Biden campaign created a TikTok account for the president in January, despite widespread government concerns about the platform being used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans.

The campaign also created a communications branch tasked with 'digital persuasion.'

Cat Stern was named 'director of digital persuasion 'and Clarke Humphrey is being brought on as a 'senior adviser for digital persuasion,' according to Wired.

Both new hires are expected to work to influence social media influencers and give them access to the campaign and the president.

Polls show that Biden is doing poorly among voters under 35 who are looking at supporting former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

A New York Times poll in December showed that registered voters between the ages of 1829 actually preferred Trump over Biden, 49 to 43 percent. A December USA Today poll also showed that Trump was leading Biden 37 percent to 33 percent.

Palmadessa said he was encouraged by the administration's outreach to Gen Z through TikTok and other social media platforms.

'Vice President Harris is actively listening to our concerns and perspectives  shes proven she cares time and again,' he said. 'President Biden is certainly taking after her initiative  weve seen that through his recent launch on TikTok. Hes meeting us where we are!'
A primary school headmistress has won an unfair dismissal case after she was sacked for 'assault'  for tapping her toddler son's hand while disciplining him.

Shelly-Ann Malabver-Goulbourne was trying to get her three-year-old to stop playing with a hand sanitiser in her office when she used two fingers to attract his attention, an employment tribunal heard.

The incident was witnessed by the teacher in charge of child safety, who accused her of hurting her son and completed a 'cause for concern' form to report a 'safeguarding incident'.

It led to the head being suspended and the police called. Although officers ruled that her actions were 'reasonable chastisement' by a parent, Ms Malabver-Goulbourne was found guilty of gross misconduct and sacked.

She is in line for compensation after an employment judge concluded there was no evidence that she had committed 'physical chastisement or an assault' and ruled her dismissal unfair.

Ms Malabver-Goulbourne was the head of Northwold Primary School in Hackney, east London, (pictured) which is run by the Arbor Academy Trust

Ms Malabver-Goulbourne was the head of Northwold Primary School in Hackney, east London, which is run by the Arbor Academy Trust. The hearing was told she had been a teacher for 'many years', had joined the trust in 2005 and employed as head since 2017  five years before the incident that led to her sacking.

The tribunal heard she had her children aged three and 11  described as 'pupils' at the school which also has a nursery  with her in her office at 6.20pm, where she had just finished a meeting with Ms Bhagwandas.

The younger child, referred to as J, 'took up a bottle of hand sanitiser' and was said to have squirted some of the liquid to the floor, prompting the head to take the bottle off him. Two weeks earlier the toddler had got hand sanitiser in his eye, the tribunal heard.

Ms Bhagwandas reported witnessing the head smack her son on the hand, that the child had been crying and that she had 'pacified' him. Ms Malabver-Goulbourne was suspended and a disciplinary investigation launched.

Although both the local authority and police thought no further action was necessary, the Trust ploughed on with its probe.

In May 2022, Ms Malabver-Goulbourne was sacked for gross misconduct. The Trust told her that 'whether a tap or otherwise, this was unnecessary physical contact with a pupil, which constitutes an assault' and a breach of policies and statutory guidance.

Employment Judge Julia Jones said the school's code of conduct does not prohibit all physical contact between pupils and teachers and pointed out that as a parent of pupils that would be a difficult rule for the head to abide by.

Upholding her claim for unfair dismissal, the judge said the Trust 'had sufficient evidence... that she was trying to prevent injury to her child and addressing his behaviour', adding: 'There was no evidence she had committed physical chastisement or an assault.'
Proactive steps essential to employ migrant workers

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon reiterated the need to introduce foreign caregivers in Korea to address the increasing demand arising from rapid aging and a declining population. However, he clarified his opposition to the notion of applying the minimum wage to foreign caregivers, citing it as "unrealistic" due to the financial burden it would impose. "As (families) need to pay more than 2 million won ($1,500) per house (in case of employing the foreign workers under the minimum wage system), it would eventually become too expensive," Oh said on Facebook Wednesday.

The pilot project will kick off this year through a collaboration between the central government and the Seoul Metropolitan Government. But the financial cost will be an obstacle," he said. Oh's statement echoes a similar action taken by the Bank of Korea a day earlier, which held a press briefing on "strategies to alleviate labor shortages and reduce cost burdens in caregiving services."

The BOK introduced a series of measures, including initiatives such as boosting the recruitment of migrant workers and enabling households to directly hire workers on an individual basis, all while circumventing the requirement for minimum wages.

The BOK said the nation is expected to face a shortage of up to 1.55 million caretakers by 2042, primarily for services catering to children and older adults. The disparity between supply and demand in care services has exacerbated financial burdens for those who require them. Last year, employing a caregiver at nursing facilities required an average of 3.7 million won, whereas hiring a housekeeper cost 2.64 million won.

Many women, unable to bear the burden, are forced to choose between quitting their jobs, sacrificing their careers, or taking on the role of primary caretaker at home. This dilemma often leads families to avoid having children altogether. Similarly, family members who must care for their relatives face a similar predicament.

The BOK estimates the economic losses resulting from this will reach 77 trillion won in 2041, equivalent to 2.1 percent to 3.6 percent of GDP. In light of this, we welcome Oh and the BOK's suggestions to utilize foreign workers for care services.

We can draw lessons from the practices in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan, where households directly hire workers through private contracts. Reports suggest that they employ caretakers at costs ranging from only 15 to 24 percent of those in South Korea. Meanwhile, Japan and Germany have implemented a work permit system for care workers. In light of these examples, the BOK cited the necessity of refraining from implementing the minimum wage system.

The crux of the problem lies in the evident social conflicts surrounding the issue.

Human rights advocates vehemently oppose the introduction of the foreign caretaker system, labeling it as "modern slavery." Simultaneously, the labor sector advocates for the equal application of the minimum wage system to migrant workers.

But it is time to adopt a different perspective.

The labor sector, in particular, should acknowledge that the most urgent need for caregivers often arises among the less privileged and minority populations. Unable to bear the expenses, most nursing facilities have been tempted to hire only a minimum number of caregivers, leading to a poor quality of services offered.

There is an urgent need to expedite the introduction of foreign caregivers, considering the rapidly aging population and low fertility rate. Unfortunately, a revised bill aimed at hiring foreign workers for caregiving services failed to gain traction last year. This was primarily due to pushback from the labor sector and civic organizations, compounded by opposition from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.

Another bill proposing the differentiated application of minimum wages based on various industries also failed to be passed. Now, the ball is in the court of the government and the political parties. They should respond affirmatively to the seemingly audacious proposal put forth by the central bank.
QUESTION Did Richard Nixon stop a war between Russia and China?

He did in the sense that he probably refused to sanction a Soviet attack on China.

The Sino-Soviet split refers to a gradual deterioration of relations between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Tensions came to a head in March 1969, along the Ussuri River, the debated border between the USSR and north-east China. The world had been amused by reports of Chinese border guards 'mooning' their Soviet counterparts, who would in turn 'defend' themselves by holding up portraits of Chairman Mao.

But it was no laughing matter when the border harassment escalated into shooting that March, resulting in heavy casualties.

A massive military build-up ensued in the region, with the communist superpowers on the brink of all-out war. According to Nixon's biographer John A. Farrell, the Soviets approached the U.S., asking: 'If we take out the Chinese atomic bomb factories, will you support us in a war on China?'

The Sino-Soviet split refers to a gradual deterioration of relations between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union during the Cold War

Nixon said 'No'. Instead, he saw an opportunity to befriend China and weaken the USSR with Romania, Pakistan and India working as go-betweens for him. Despite repeated, humiliating rejections, Nixon finally coerced Mao into talks, resulting in Nixon's 1972 trip to Beijing.

TOMORROW'S QUESTIONS

What qualifies as having a photographic memory and what percentage of the population has one? Simon J. King, Bedford. Why, when you spill bleach on clothes, does it turn them pink? Sue Pryer, Robertsbridge, East Sussex. How did the leek become the national emblem of Wales? Do any other countries have a vegetable emblem? Ian Williams, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset. Advertisement

J. B. Brown, Hereford.

QUESTION Is there still a law against 'riotous assembly'? When was the Riot Act last read?

The early 1700s was a time of unrest in Britain, with several major riots across the country. Parliament responded with the Riot Act, which came into force on August 1, 1715.

The Act was harsh. A magistrate or other official could order a crowd of 12 or more to disperse, and 'if they did not do so within an hour, then force could be used to scatter them'. After one hour, anyone remaining gathered was guilty of a felony without the benefit of clergy, punishable by death.

The Act had to be proclaimed in full and was notoriously read before the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. When crowds demonstrated, calling for parliamentary reform, the 15th Hussars charged. Up to 18 people were killed and more than 400 injured.

The last time the Riot Act was read was in Birkenhead, Cheshire, on August 3, 1919, during the second police strike, when large numbers of officers from Birkenhead, Liverpool and Bootle joined the strike.

The Riot Act wasn't officially repealed until 1973 and it lives on in popular idiom, meaning 'to reprimand severely'. It is now replaced by Sections 12 and 14 of the 1986 Public Order Act.

Sarah Westwood, Birmingham.

QUESTION Has a dog ever saved the life of a famous person from history?

It IS said that Alexander the Great (356-323BC) was saved by his dog, Peritas. According to one account, Peritas was killed by a war elephant that he had attacked as it bore down on his master.

Another claims the dog saved him from Mallian attackers when he was isolated in battle in the Punjab, India.

Peritas was a Pugnacis, perhaps a bulldog, known to the later Romans as a Molossian dog.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) was a great poet and satirist who gave us phrases such as 'damning with faint praise' and 'to err is human; to forgive, divine'.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) was a great poet and satirist who gave us phrases such as 'damning with faint praise' and 'to err is human; to forgive, divine'

He was a dog lover whose pets gave him a sense of protection, as he had a habit of annoying people and was diminutive in stature, standing just 4 ft 6 in tall.

In The Dunciad, Pope offended the entire literary community when he pilloried various 'hacks', 'scribblers' and 'dunces'.

On walks, he took to carrying loaded pistols. His favourite dog was a female Great Dane called Bounce.

Bounce is said to have set upon an assassin who attacked Pope in his bed one night. Bounce died while being looked after by John Boyle, the 5th Earl of Orrery.

Heartbroken, Pope himself died less than two months later on May 30, 1744.

Mary Abberley, Burton-On-Trent, Staffs.
Murdoch has been married four times, engaged six times and has six children

The couple started dating over the summer after he called off his engagement to vineyard owner Ann Lesley Smith

Rupert Murdoch, 92, has announced he is engaged to retired scientist Elena Zhukova, 67, after meeting her through his third wife Wendi Deng.

The Fox patriarch started dating Zhukova over the summer after his previous engagement to former police chaplain and vineyard owner Ann Lesley Smith was called off just two weeks after it was announced.

DailyMail.com revealed the happy couple started dating in August when the two were spotted cruising the Mediterranean on a family summer holiday. They are now planning a summer wedding.

She is the mother of Dasha Zhukova, a Russian socialite who is famous for her marriage to Russian oligarch and former Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich.

Dasha and Deng are great friends in New York and it seems that is how Elena was likley introduced to the media mogul. 'They met through Wendi and Dasha,' said a source.

Rupert Murdoch, aged 92, has announced he is engaged to retired scientist Elena Zhukova, 67, after meeting her through his third wife Wendi Deng

Murdoch, who has been married four other times and has six children, announced that he was stepping down as chairman of Fox and News Corp. in September

Zhukova is a twice-divorced molecular biologist and specialist in diabetes . She has lived in America for over three decades after leaving Russia in 1991 with her daughter

Invitations for the wedding have been sent out and the event is to be held in June at Murdoch's California estate, Moraga, reported The New York Times.

Zhukova is a twice-divorced molecular biologist and specialist in diabetes. She has lived in America for over three decades after leaving Russia in 1991 with her daughter.

Before retiring she worked at the medical research unit in UCLA. Sources said she spends a lot of time with her grandchildren by Dasha and Roman.

Dasha, 42, divorced Abramovich in 2019 and her settlement included a four-story house in Manhattan. She is now married to Stavros Niarchos, the billionaire heir to the shipping dynasty.

Murdoch, who has been married four other times and has six children, announced that he was stepping down as chairman of Fox and News Corp. in September.

His eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, took over as chair of News Corp. and continued as executive chair and CEO of Fox News parent Fox Corp.

The media tycoon was previously got engaged to Smith in March 2023, just six months after the pair first met - and less than a year after his divorce from fourth wife Jerry Hall was finalized.

'I was very nervous. I dreaded falling in love  but I knew this would be my last. It better be. Im happy,' he told The New York Post at the time of his previous engagement.

He has six children from his previous marriages: daughter Prudence MacLeod, now 66, with his first wife Patricia Booker, daughter Elisabeth, now 55, and sons Lachlan, now 52, and James, now 51, with his second wife Anna Mann, and daughter Grace, now 23, and Chloe, now 21, who he shares with Deng.

Murdoch and his fourth wife, former supermodel Hall, did not have any children together during their six-year marriage.

Hall and Murdoch tied the knot in London in March 2016 in a very low-key ceremony at Spencer House, which overlooks Green Park, after a whirlwind five-month romance.

Murdoch was previously engaged to Ann Lesley Smith (right) in March 2023, just six months after the pair first met

Murdoch got engaged to Smith less than a year after his divorce from fourth wife Jerry Hall (right) was finalized

Rupert Murdoch with his wife Anna Murdoch and their children Lachlan Murdoch ,James Murdoch and Elisabeth Murdoch at their New York City home in 1989

Murdoch married his first wife, former flight attendant Patricia, in 1956, however the pair split in 1967, nine years after the birth of their only child, Prudence.

That same year, he tied the knot with his second wife, Anna, a Glasgow-born journalist to whom he was married for 32 years, before their divorce in 1999.

As part of their divorce settlement, Anna was awarded $1.7 billion, including $10 million in cash, according to CNBC.

Murdoch went on to marry Wendi just 17 days after he divorced second wife Anna. At the time of their wedding Murdoch was 68, while Wendi was just 30 years old.

That marriage lasted 14 years, before it was announced that the pair were divorcing, with a News Corp spokesperson revealing in June 2013 that their union had been 'irretrievably broken for more than six months.'
The headmaster of one of Australia's most prestigious schools - Cranbrook - has resigned, five days after an ABC program aired about the culture of the private school.

Nicholas Sampson resigned following an 'irrevocable breakdown of trust' with the school council, the ABC reported on Friday morning.

Among the revelations aired this week were that a female teacher was the victim of an attempted blackmail attempt by a male student, who demanded she send him nude photos.

The ABC Four Corners report also claimed it had obtained 'multiple letters and documents from former Cranbrook staff members describing a toxic culture'.

The ABC has since claimed a teacher who had allegedly sent multiple graphic emails to a former female student was kept on staff by Mr Sampson.

Cranbrook headmaster Nicholas Sampson (pictured) has resigned

Sydney's exclusive private all-boys school Cranbrook was put under scrutiny on Monday evening in Four Corners

He had even, at one point, been promoted while Mr Sampson was in charge of the school.

READ MORE: Former female teacher at Cranbrook claims she was extorted by student Jasmin Hyde (pictured), who taught maths at Cranbrook in Sydney's exclusive eastern suburbs, was the subject of an attempt by a student in 2020 to extort naked pictures Advertisement

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Cranbrook for comment.

The teacher had sent the explicit emails to a former student at the previous school where he worked - an unnamed Catholic girls' school - in 2014 when she was a young adult.

The ABC reported one of the emails the teacher sent discussed a girl's underwear. 'I remember she used to sit really low in her chair, legs so far apart... always could see what colour undies she had.'

In a statement to the school community on Friday morning, the council confirmed that Mr Sampson had offered his resignation.

'The circumstances of the matter and subsequently Mr Sampson's failure to disclose the matter to the current School Council in the context of this week's ABC Four Corners broadcast, have led to an irrevocable breakdown of trust between the Headmaster and the School Council,' the statement said.

'The School Council communicated this to Mr Sampson and this morning received his resignation.'

Cranbrook was told of the emails and conducted an investigation in 2015 after the principal of the Catholic school became aware and brought in NSW Police.

Cranbrook's investigation concluded that the emails did not breach reportable conduct laws in place to protect children and no action was taken against the teacher.

Louise Milligan presented the Four Corners episode 'Secrets of Cranbrook' on the school

Other allegations include that of former student Travis Mathews who last month lodged civil proceedings in the NSW Supreme Court.

He is seeking damages more than a decade on from when he alleges he was abused by an older student who remained at the school.

Mr Mathews told Four Corners the older student had allegedly forced him to perform oral sex on 'a number of occasions'.

Despite an investigation into his claims, the older student was not removed from the school.

Following the release of the program, school council president Mr Lovell sent an email to alumni.

'Cranbrook takes all allegations of abuse, and its duty of care to its students, extremely seriously and follows relevant and mandatory reporting processes in relation to these matters,' it read.

'We acknowledge survivors and their stories.

'No school is ever exempt from scrutiny or, where deserved, criticism. We offer sympathy to the grievances aired by former staff.

'Cranbrook does acknowledge that in any large organisation there may be staff disputes from time to time and the Council is confident that the School handles them with care and confidentiality.

'With regards to Travis Matthews, we are unable to make any comment as this matter is subject to civil proceedings before the NSW Supreme Court.'
The Ministry of Defence spent more than 500,000 supplying equerries from the Armed Forces to work for members of the Royal Family last year.

The figure was revealed in a Freedom of Information request yesterday by anti-monarchist group Republic.

Equerries are officers from one of the three branches of the military who are seconded to assist senior royals in the course of their royal duties.

This involves everything from organising and helping out at public engagements, to arranging their official diaries.

Around half a dozen will be working in the royal household at any one time.

Lieutenant Colonel Johnny Thompson, equerry to King Charles III went viral after attending the king's coronation and was dubbed the 'Hot Equerry'

Rob Dixon walking with Lieutenant Colonel Johnny Thompson

Captain Stuart Kaye is Princess Anne's Equerry, a role which dates back many hundreds of years and is designed to reinforce the crown's role as Head of the Armed Forces

Major Oliver 'Ollie' Plunket is Equerry to Queen Camilla

Rob Dixon, is the Prince and Princess of Wales' Equerry and one of the half a dozen working in the royal household at any one time

The role, which dates back many hundreds of years, is designed to reinforce the crown's role as Head of the Armed Forces.

Now documents released by the MoD confirms it spent 506,681.18 on equerries in 2023.

Republic, who obtained the documents, condemned it as a 'waste' of funding.

Spokesman Graham Smith said: 'This is a disgraceful use of highly trained military personnel as window dressing for the king. I am calling on the military and Government to stop this practice immediately.

'We are often hearing that the military is stretched and under-staffed. With its additional commitments to Ukraine, how can the government justify spending any of the country's defence budget on people to open doors for Charles, Camilla and William?

'The royals are worth more than a billion pounds. Why can't they employ their own equerries?'

Buckingham Palace said last night that it was a matter for the MoD.

The department did not comment but in documents explained that military personnel are deployed as royal equerries funded and paid by the MoD.

It said that these costs are 'not fully reimbursed by the Royal Household'.

However, it stressed that the 'vast majority' are fixed staff costs, which would be incurred by the MoD regardless of where these personnel were employed.
Working from home helped blow a 3billion black hole in public finances last year due to the fall in rail travel.

A damning National Audit Office report warned that taxpayers are propping up the railways in an 'unsustainable' way as costs exceed revenue from ticket fares.

Before the pandemic, the Treasury was making a net profit as 350million more journeys were being made each year.

But despite taxpayers subsidising the running of the railways by 3.1billion last year, there was a record level of cancellations, the NAO report confirmed.

'The rail sector's performance for passengers and the taxpayer is not good enough and has not been for some time. With key parts of reform now paused until the next parliament, long-standing issues on the railway remain,' it said.

Working from home helped blow a 3billion black hole in public finances last year due to the fall in rail travel (stock photo)

A damning National Audit Office report warned that taxpayers are propping up the railways in an 'unsustainable' way as costs exceed revenue from ticket fares

'The cost of running services exceeds revenue at a level the Department for Transport views as unsustainable.'

Boots boss: Get back to office

Office working is more 'fun and inspiring' than using awkward video calls. At least that is the view of the boss of Boots, who has ordered head office staff to come back to work five days a week. Sebastian James wants the pharmacy's Nottinghamshire, London and Weybridge offices to be 'the normal place of work for everybody for the whole week'. Remote working saw video meetings replace those held in person, and Boots staff are still working from home twice a week. Mr James said there was 'no doubt' that meeting in person was 'better for our unique Boots culture'. The changes take effect from September. Advertisement

'Passenger services were also not punctual or reliable enough before the pandemic and performance in 2022/23 has fallen back to these levels.'

It noted that 13.7 per cent of trains arrived late last year, while 3.8 per cent were cancelled  the highest rate since records began eight years ago.

This was equivalent to 860 cancelled trains each day.

The report continued: 'Since the pandemic, revenue has been affected by fewer passengers and changes in the type of journeys made.

'A greater proportion of travel is now on off-peak tickets, with fewer commuting season tickets and less business travel.'

Before the pandemic, in 2018/19, 1.75billion journeys were made. But last year there were just 1.38billion journeys, with a 3.1billion loss recorded.

The Government has launched a plan for overhauling the network with the creation of Great British Railways, but it will not be legislated for in this Parliament.

A DfT spokesman said: 'The 3.1billion of subsidies the NAO refers to are a result of external pressures  including the challenges of post-Covid passenger recovery  not related to rail reform savings.

'We are now pressing ahead with improvements like expanding pay-as-you-go ticketing, piloting simpler fares and announcing a target for rail freight growth.'

RMT boss Mick Lynch slammed 'the Government's shambolic management of our railways', adding: 'Ministers promised reform after our privatised and fragmented railways resulted in the timetable meltdown in 2018, but since then the railways have lurched from crisis to crisis.'
Pro-Palestine protesters are turning London into a 'no-go zone for Jews', Britain's counter-extremism tsar has claimed.

Robin Simcox slammed the Government for letting extremists go 'unchallenged for too long'.

The Home Office's independent adviser on extremism warned that the Government had allowed extremists to 'lurk just below the terrorism threshold'.

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, thousands of pro-Palestinian supporters have marched through the streets of London.

There has also been a huge increase in anti-Semitism in the capital since Hamas's horrific October 7 attacks that saw 1,139 people slaughtered and 240 taken hostage.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators march in London on October 14, 2023, in support of Gaza

Robin Simcox (pictured) slammed the Government for letting extremists go 'unchallenged for too long', allowing extremist groups to fester

Writing in the Telegraph, Mr Simcox said Britain has a 'permissive environment for radicalisation developing that needs urgently addressing'.

He added that the Government needed to take a 'leading role' in tackling all types of extremism.

The counter-extremism tsar said Downing Street now had a chance to take charge of the situation while championing 'respect for the rule of law, civility, and decency' - which he said had been in 'short supply' since October 7.

It is believed that Mr Simcox hopes there will be tougher restrictions on protests that could include forcing marches to be static demonstrations instead.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has previously called for the Met Police to take tougher action against protesters.

Sunak also promised to deal with the 'root causes' of the problem and ensure that 'no extremist organisations or individuals are being lent legitimacy by their actions and interactions with central government'.

But Met Police Commissioner later defended the force's policing of protests, declaring 'we have to police the law as it is, not as others would wish it to be'.

Yet Mr Simcox said the Government could also do more by refusing entry to hate preachers touring the UK.

Next week, Michael Gove is set to announce a broader definition of extremism that will allow the Government, universities and councils to stop funding for Islamist and Right-wing groups.

Activists staging a mass sit-down protest in Liverpool Street Station during rush hour in October last year

Rishi Sunak summoned force leaders to Downing Street to discuss their handling of the protests

A pro-Palestine march across Waterloo Bridge in October last year

Scotland Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley (pictured) suggested that policing had become 'an anvil for these issues to be beaten out on'

Ministers are reportedly likely to name which groups will fall under the new definition in Parliament when it is announced.

The new definition could ban Government officials from engaging with or funding groups or individuals deemed extremist.

Yet it has led to concerns from some on the right that it could inadvertently penalise groups opposed to gay marriage, abortion or new transgender rights.

Mr Simcox said: 'While debates over a definition can feel like academic navel-gazing when actual extremist acts are so common, the work does have a clear purpose: it will be used to guide future decisions over who Government does, and does not, engage with and fund.

'The Government is right to act. Evidence that the state works with or funds extremists has appeared in independent reviews or Government strategies dating back over a decade. This needs fixing, new definition of extremism or not.'

He suggested the Government and its agencies already powers to combat extremism but had failed to tackle groups that fall below the threshold of being terrorists.

He said Whitehall 'has more power to tackle extremism than it sometimes thinks'.

'After all, the Iranian government does not have an inalienable right to run schools and mosques in our capital city.

'It is not an unalterable democratic principle that Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood must be allowed to run a multitude of charities,' he said.

'We have not betrayed democracy if extremists are no longer able to operate television channels.'

Last week former home secretary Suella Braverman urged Mr Sunak to introduce emergency legislation to tackle extremism.

Echoing Mr Simcox's language, she said: 'Parts of London have become no-go areas for Jewish people.

'That is totally unacceptable. We've seen anti-Semitism skyrocket.'

Ms Braverman was responding to a speech by Mr Sunak in which he said there had been a 'shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality' since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.

He warned protesters not to let extremists 'hijack' their marches.

Official figures showed that anti-Semitism was at a record high last year, amid an 'explosion of hatred'.

In the Community Security Trust's annual report, it said there had been a surge in anti-Jewish attacks, threats and abuse which had amounted to a 'celebration' of Hamas's massacre of innocent Israelis.

There were 4,103 anti-Semitic incidents in the UK last year, according to figures.

This is nearly double the previous record in 2021, covering all types of 'hate' against Jewish people.

Shocking examples of anti-Semitism include when a poster of a baby kidnapped by Hamas was defaced with two swastikas in an incident in London at the end of last year, including a swastika drawn on the infant's forehead.

In October a synagogue in Sussex was daubed with 'SS IDF' in red paint, with 'SS' depicted as the emblem of the Nazi's genocidal elite guard, and 'IDF' referring to the Israeli Defence Forces.

Just last week, a Jewish man wearing a skullcap was told 'your religion is killing Muslims' on the London Underground.

And this week, Jewish students told of their terror after 100 pro-Palestine protesters mobbed a stall where they were raising awareness about anti-Semitism.

The Jewish group said they were screamed at and had orange squash thrown at them by some members of the counter-protesters.

A poster of Kfir Bibas, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, is daubed with swastikas

A pro-Palestine protester holds up a sign comparing Jewish people to the Nazis

A synagogue is daubed with the letters 'IDF' and what appears to be the 'lightning bolt' insignia of the SS, the Nazi paramilitary death squads

One Jewish student, 20-year-old Rojin-Sena Cantay, told MailOnline the students felt subjected to intimidation and anti-Semitic abuse.

'I am absolutely broken to put it into words. We got assaulted with juice thrown on us,' she said.

'We were surrounded by a group of over 100 people. They were all in a circle screaming at us. It was one of the most scary things of my life.

'They came in groups and it was very sudden that the group got so big.'
Meghan Markle: actress, feminist, podcaster, wife, mother, sister, activist. And now?

She can add yet one more epithet to that long list. Stick. She is a 'stick in the spokes' of the freewheeling tricycle that once was William, Catherine and Harry.

The Duchess of Sussex was thus described by Gary Goldsmith, Catherine's 'Buncle' or 'bad uncle', during a conversation on Celebrity Big Brother earlier this week.

Meghan 'creates so much drama' that does not exist, he said, then uses it to 'rewrite history'. She is an 'extra dynamic'.

On Wednesday night, he even called for her to be stripped of her titles.

How seriously you take the opinion of a man who put a great big spanner in the cogs of the Royal Family with his own vodka-fuelled antics and rumbustious domestic life is up to you.

But he has a point. That royal tricycle, once carrying laughter, camaraderie, and youthful energy is now upside down in a ditch, wheels spinning, mud splattered everywhere.

That royal tricycle of William, Catherine and Harry (pictured), once carrying laughter, camaraderie, and youthful energy is now upside down in a ditch, wheels spinning

The moment Harry turned to see Kate walking down the aisle towards William. He mouthed to his brother, 'She is here now. She looks beautiful, I can tell you that.'

I like Meghan. I admire women who take no prisoners, who refuse to simper and smile, who have the gumption to tell our future king, 'Keep your finger out of my face.'

You go, Girl!

To succeed as Meghan did in the world of American television is harder than qualifying to be an astronaut. You must harbour no fear and grow a hide so thick you can re-enter the Earth's atmosphere with no need of shields.

Which of course made Meghan prickly when she joined this triumvirate with its in-jokes and banter, nicknames and weird party games.

All famous (even mildly well-known) people are difficult, self-doubting. But drop one into the middle of a family that believes royalty trumps stardom-via-meritocracy and you become a sharp penknife in an over-inflated tyre.

Yes, Meghan was a stick, but Harry needed to mature, didn't he? Life can't all be spent in the stands watching rugby, giggling.

Goldsmith revealed on CBB that he hasn't actually met Meghan. Hah! But one thing he said did strike a chord: 'When William, Harry and Kate were a threesome, they looked really comfortable together.'

These days, Harry denies that he was ever happy back then, that the smiles were for the camera. But looking back we do indeed see photo after photo of Harry and Kate in hysterics. There's a genuine fondness, rapport and pleasure in each other's company, as easy to wear as an old sweater, but hard to fake.

William has always looked more reticent, weighed down by history and the expectation of duty. Kate doubtless saw the younger brother as uncomplicated, on her side.

If ever you tire of kittens and puppies, just Google 'Harry and Kate laughing' to cheer you up.

Remember the 'Three Musketeers' racing each other for charity in 2017?

Harry was the winner, but he slowed and waited for his brother  the man he'd later describe in his memoir Spare as his 'nemesis' - to catch up. There was no competitiveness there.

Watching the London Olympics on 2012 together, attending premieres as a trio. It was just so easy and fun.

And who can forget the look on Harry's face at Westminster Abbey when he saw Kate walking down the aisle towards William. He mouthed the words, 'She is here now. She looks beautiful, I can tell you that.'

That clip went viral.

Maybe Harry looks so serious, now, less happy and healthy, because he knows what his wife Meghan has gone through  continues to be put through.

Harry said Kate was the sister he never had. She was doubtless a strong, feminine force unafraid to tell him when he had overstepped the mark.

It's not just Harry's devil-may-care joie de vivre of those days that I miss, but the lovely relationship between those two.

Now? There are endless photos of him looking glum. Of Meghan clinging like a limpet at yet another pop concert. Him, stiff as a board.

But maybe that's most marriages after a while? There are always more smiles for a friend than for your partner.

Any woman entering that polished gang of three would have felt out of place. As the interloper, you're bound to make mistakes.

Meghan wore ripped jeans when she met William and Kate for the first time at Harry's Kensington pad, Nottingham Cottage. She had bare feet. She hugged.

There are endless photos of Harry looking glum, of Meghan clinging like a limpet at yet another pop concert. Him, stiff as a board. But maybe that's most marriages after a while?

The bigger point in all of this? Meghan stopped the merry go round and showed Harry that life isn't all about waving and smiling.

Maybe Harry looks so serious, now, less happy and healthy, because he knows what his wife has gone through  continues to be put through. The endless trolling would wipe the smile from most caring husbands' faces.

Perhaps he looks back at his old, carefree life and thinks: 'I must have been blind. I was a gurning idiot, sheltered from the real world, its hardships, its warped vendettas.'

I think he's stopped laughing because he has finally woken up.

Meghan is a stick who stuck, certainly. She stopped a rollercoaster of beer pong and pheasant annihilating.

But there's sadness here, too. Kate has lost not just a close friend in Harry but someone whom she might well need to lean on right now as she recovers from surgery amid all the mad theories about her health and her whereabouts.

He was someone who really got her.

On Wednesday night our future Queen's Buncle told his fellow Celebrity Big Brother Housemate former Love Island contestant Ekin-Su: 'She will be back. Of course, she will.'

And she will. But the thing is, Kate used to have a brother-in-law to support her, someone who could gee her up, flatter, console her.

But Harry grew up, grew apart. And, sadly, William lost the light to his shade.
A pro-gun YouTuber known for recreating the assassination of US presidents online is a challenger for the Texas congressional district that takes in Uvalde, the site of one of the country's worst ever school shootings.

Rep. Tony Gonzales, who currently holds the seat, failed to clinch victory in Tuesday's primary.

Now, he will face off against Brandon Herrera in a May primary run-off.

Gonzales is a moderate Republican who voted for gun control after the horrific Uvalde school massacre in 2022.

But in a sign of the area's unwavering support of the 2nd Amendment, he is now being challenged by Herrera.

Texas Congressional candidate and Second Amendment fanatic Brandon Herrera has 3.2 million followers on YouTube, where he recreates the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, JFK and MLK

In the YouTube video of the Lincoln assassination he recreated, Congressional candidate Brandon Herrera smashed open a fake skull that was supposed to represents Lincoln's head and pulled out the brain, squeezing fake blood out of it

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, center, speaking at a news conference on the steps of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. in July 2021

Salvador Ramos, 18, killed 19 students and two teachers - and wounded 17 others - at Robb Elementary School in the Texas city during the May 24 rampage

The 23rd Congressional district in Texas is home to Uvalde, a South Texas town where parents are still grieving the loss of 19 kids and two teachers who were slaughtered by a gunman at Robb elementary on May 24, 2022.

Fourth graders heads were blown of their bodies after being shot with an AR-15 style rifle that killer Salvador Ramos purchased legally a few days after his 18th birthday.

The parents of kids who survived the horror by covering themselves in their dead classmate's blood will be eligible to vote in this election.

While Uvalde and the surrounding towns are known as a hunter's dream and normally very gun friendly, some locals have pleaded for gun control following the tragedy.

Gonzales voted in favor of a 2022 bipartisan law that provides funding to states with red flag laws that allow judges to take firearms away from people who are an immediate danger to themselves or others and has enhanced background checks for gun sales.

Harrowing images show distraught Uvalde students with blood-soaked hair and clothes fleeing Robb Elementary on school bus as one girl tearfully tells cops how she tried not to cry while calling 911 to report mass shooting

Brandon Herrera, a gun fanatic who has more than three million YouTube follower, bragged online about testifying against the ATF, the federal agency tasked with gun control

Congressional District 23 in Texas includes Uvalde and about 400 miles of US border with Mexico. Migrant crossing hot spots like Eagle Pass and El Paso are also part of the district

And the moderate Republican paid for it.

The Texas Republican party voted to censure Gonzales as a result-- even though the congressman is an outspoken critic of the Biden Administration, lambasting the President's border policies on a daily basis.

However, the vast Congressional seat-- which stretches from San Antonio to El Paso-- is also home to many border communities, including migrant crossing hot spots like Eagle Pass, Del Rio and El Paso.

Voters there traditionally lean Democrat, which could be an uphill battler for Herrera, who has low-name recognition with locals despite his army of followers and online notoriety.

Herrera has also called on ending the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of ATF.

The federal agency is charged with gun regulation.

That could be a hard sell for the many federal agents and military personnel who live in the district.

The winner of the primary will face Democrat Santos Limon in the November general election.

Neither the Herrera or Gonzales campaigns responded to a request for comment.
Two small children were among those plucked from the water of the river that separates the US and Mexico after their family unsuccessfully tried to sneak into the US near Eagle Pass, Texas.

The rescue was caught in a heart-pounding video from the body-worn camera of a US Border Patrol agent.

Footage from this month shows several migrants struggling to stay afloat in the raging waters of the Rio Grande after the raft they were trying to use failed them.

A young boy and girl can be seen being pulled out of the water.

Other migrants were also saved, according to the agency that shared the video on social media Thursday.

A toddler dripping in water and appearing to be wearing a diaper was among those rescued from the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Texas

A specially trained water rescue team from the Border Patrol pulled several illegal immigrants, according to footage share by the agency

Two young children, a boy and a girl, could be seen sitting in the Border Patrol air boat after being plucked from the dangerous river

'Crossing the border illegally is not worth the risk,' the Border Patrol warned the post.

'Eagle Pass agents were on patrol when a group of undocumented migrants attempted to float across the Rio Grande river on a raft.'

In this case, everyone was saved, but that is often not the outcome in the Rio Grande- the American name for the river. In Mexico, the same waterway is known as the 'Rio Bravo' or fierce river.

There have been deadly incidents involving the river including in January when three migrants drowned in the river. In 2023, six migrants lost their lives in Rio Grande canals, according to the El Paso Times.

Crossings through the Rio Grande have increased as migrants have flooded into the US through the southern border. So have rescues, with federal officials conducting five total rescues last week alone.

The Del Rio sector continues to see large numbers of migrants illegally crossing, with 3,204 flooding over in the first week of March alone.

Elected officials in El Paso, Texas have repeatedly stated that their priority is to keep migrants from sleeping on city streets, such as what was seen at the height of the migrant crisis in that city in May 2023

Migrants arrive at a gate in the border fence after crossing from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico into El Paso, Texas, in the early hours of May 11

That makes the Del Rio sector the third busiest crossing point along the southern border, behind the Tucson and San Diego sectors.

Even in less busy parts of the border, the migrant crisis continues to take a toll on communities.

El Paso's mayor issued a disaster declaration Thursday in order to allow local tax dollars to be used to fund non-profits that aid migrants.

While the Border Patrol in West Texas is only seeing about 1,400 migrants a day, the city has made it a priority to keep migrants who don't have the funds to leave the border town from sleeping on the streets.

Texas' sixth largest city was the epicenter of the border crisis from October 2022 until summer 2023, with the most border crossings anywhere in the nation.

During that time, the city declared a disaster to request resources from the state and federal government to handle the waves of migrants arriving there.

Since then, the local government had been funding migrant charities with a local ordinance.

However, the mandate failed to gather the unanimous votes needed from all members of El Paso's city council last week.

In order to keep funding the migrant shelters, the mayor re-issued a disaster declaration.
Last year was already announced as officially the hottest year on RECORD

With daffodils flowering early, snow melting in ski resorts and even sunbathing in the northern hemisphere, you may have already guessed it.

But it's now official  last month was the warmest February on record, the EU's climate change programme has revealed.

The global average temperature for the month was 56.3F (13.54C), which is 0.21F (0.12C) above the temperature of the previous warmest February, in 2016.

Worryingly, this is also 1.45F (0.81C) warmer than the 1991-2020 global average for February  and the experts point to greenhouse gas emissions as the cause.

EU scientists have already revealed that last year was the hottest year on record, while July 2023 was the hottest month on record.

February 2024 was the warmest February on record globally, with an average surface air temperature of 56.3F (13.54C)

Men bathe in the 14C sea during a warm weekend, with the Sanguinaires islands in the background, on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, in Porticcio, February 18, 2024

READ MORE: 2023 was officially the hottest year on RECORD 2023 was the warmest year in global temperature records going back to 1850 Advertisement

'February joins the long streak of records of the last few months,' said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).

'As remarkable as this might appear, it is not really surprising as the continuous warming of the climate system inevitably leads to new temperature extremes.

'The climate responds to the actual concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere so, unless we manage to stabilise those, we will inevitably face new global temperature records and their consequences.'

C3S, managed by the European Commission, looks at temperature readings based on a variety of platforms and instruments, from weather stations to weather balloons and satellites.

The department's readings refer to the average air temperature for the whole planet over the whole year  so lower than a single typically 'hot' temperature reading.

According to C3S, February 2024 is the ninth month in a row that was the warmest on record for that respective month.

It was 3.18F (1.77C) warmer than an estimate of the February average for 1850-1900, the 'pre-industrial' reference period.

Graph plots daily global average surface air temperature anomalies (C) relative to estimated values for 1850-1900 for 2024 (in white) and 2023 (red)

Daffodils bloom in St James's Park with the London Eye in the background, London, February 23, 2024

Pictured, a snowless ski slope at the Artouste ski resort at Laruns, in the Pyrenees Atlantiques, south-western France, February 19, 2024

A ski resort in Orlicke Zahori in the Orlicke Mountains, Czech Republic, struggles with a lack of snow, February 10 2024

Why are temperatures compared to 'pre-industrial' levels? Pre-industrial levels act as a benchmark for how much the Earth's climate has changed. The pre-industrial period is typically defined as the time before human activities - such as burning coal for heat - began to have a significant impact on the Earth's climate. By comparing current temperatures to pre-industrial temperatures, experts can isolate the effects of human activity from natural climate variability. Advertisement

The daily global average temperature was 'exceptionally high' during the first half of the month, reaching 3.6F (2C) above the 1850-1900 levels on four consecutive days (8 to 11 February).

This is a worry because a global aim is to keep the average global temperature within 3.6F (2C) and if possible 2.7F (1.5C) as part of the Paris Agreement, a binding climate treaty signed in 2016.

Fortunately, the news doesn't mean we've surpassed the limits set by the Paris Agreement (as they refer to periods of at least 20 years where this average temperature anomaly is exceeded).

Looking at Europe separately from the rest of the world, temperatures last month were 5.94F (3.3C) above the 1991-2020 average for February.

Much of the above average temperatures were experienced in central and eastern Europe, but they were above average over northern Siberia, central and northwest North America, the majority of South America, across Africa and in western Australia.

CS3's main metric for measuring how hot it is, is the temperature of the air, but it also keeps track of temperatures of the world's oceans.

Namely it looks at sea surface temperature  how hot the water is close to the ocean's surface.

CS3 said the average global sea surface temperature for February 2024 was 37.91F (21.06C), the highest for any month in the dataset and above the previous record of August 2023 (69.76F/20.98C).

People sit on the bank of the Seine river to enjoy the warm weather in front of the Pont des Arts in Paris on February 15, 2024

A jogger runs along the downtown Riverwalk during an unusually warm winter day on February 27, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois

Skiers use a lift on a partially snow-covered ski slope in the Alpine resort of Les Mosses, in Ormont-Dessous, Switzerland, February 6, 2024. Mild weather in recent days in the Swiss Alps disrupted the activity of alpine ski resorts

Pictured, sea surface temperature for February 2024. This is a separate metric for measuring how hot the world is

Going forward, it's possible an upcoming month in 2024 could replace July 2023 as the hottest month on record.

The global average temperature for July 2023 was 62.51F (16.95C), the highest since records began in 1940 and well above the previous record of 61.93F (16.63C) set in July 2019.

Meanwhile, 2023 overall set the record for warmest ever year largely due to 'unprecedented' global temperatures from June onwards, fueled mainly by greenhouse gases.

Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane (the two most important greenhouse gases) continued to increase and reached record levels in 2023.

2023 is confirmed as the warmest calendar year in global temperature data records going back to 1850. The global average air temperature was 58.96F (14.98C), around 0.3F (0.17C) higher than the result in 2016

In 2023, two days in November (17 and 18) were, for the first time, more than 3.6F (2C) warmer than the 'pre-industrial' average

What's more, each month from June to December in 2023 was warmer than the corresponding month in any previous year.

Several months of 2023 were the hottest on record for that particular month, such as September, November and December, as well as July (not only the hottest July ever but the hottest month ever).

'2023 was an exceptional year with climate records tumbling like dominoes,' said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S.

'Temperatures during 2023 likely exceed those of any period in at least the last 100,000 years.'
By John J. Metzler

LONDON  A stormy geopolitical weather front is converging on Western Europe as the Ukrainian war in the East has entered its third year with no end in sight. Though the conflict remains largely frozen in a military stalemate, its political consequences reverberate throughout Europe, not to mention the United States, refocusing on supplying the necessary military aid to Kyiv as spring approaches.

There's more than a hint of handwringing and political angst in European capitals over Ukraine's fate, which may soon unravel as an under-supplied Ukrainian military faces Russia's unrelenting battering.

NATO nations, especially Britain, Germany, France and Poland, have already supplied considerable military hardware, but supplies have dwindled. And let's face it, the fighting has severely depleted munitions stocks in NATO countries, including the U.S. Now, Ukraine needs the artillery shells it was promised. European Union countries pledged to send one million shells last year, but they delivered about a third. Ukraine has about 300 155mm big guns, but they blast through limited ammo supplies.

French President Emmanuel Macron pompously grandstanded that NATO troops could be sent to Ukraine to train and assist the beleaguered defenders. Mon Dieu! Macron's comments sent capitals from London, Berlin and Washington to issue a resounding, no thanks! But let's be frank. British special forces units and trainers, and probably Americans too, are already inside Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking in a State of the Nation address, warned, "The consequences for possible interventionists will be ... tragic."

Having spent a week in Britain, there's a surreal sense of not only the Ukrainian war coming to a climax but the very real threat of its political and military effects spilling over into comfortable Western Europe.

Speaking in Paris, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne told the radio channel France Inter Radio, "First of all, there is a risk of Ukraine collapsing, and there are consequences to this risk." The minister claims that a collapse could send ten million refugees to Europe. The figure doesn't include five million already in Europe.

Then there's the recurring fear that Russia may or will use nuclear weapons in the conflict. War talk in British newspapers, even without the colorful hyperbole of the popular tabloids, has become an uncomfortable staple. It has an eerie tone echoing what it must have been like back between 1938 and 1939 when threat emotions were often changing as fast as London's weather.

While renewed talk of Putin's Russia probing NATO's weak frontiers in the Baltic states is nothing new, has the time arrived for Putin to play his nuclear cards, tactical ones first? It's still not likely  but.

Putin warned, "We also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory," adding, "All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization. Don't they get that?"

Is this classic Kremlin blackmail or bluffing?

Clearly, a "cornered Russia," the perennial illusion and the theme of Putinism, especially now in the aftermath of the Kremlin's embarrassment after the regime orchestrated the death of Russian pro-democracy leader Alexei Navalny, could change Putin's political calculus.

All this comes against the backdrop of defense cuts in Britain's budget. While the country has been among a select handful of NATO states to contribute over 2 percent of GDP to defense, the fact remains that Boris Johnson's government opened the spigot of massive munitions to Ukraine at the expense of British security, causing munitions shortfalls and overstretched commitments.

The current British defense budget stands at 2.2 percent of GDP. British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps is pressing to expand the spending to a more realistic budget of 2.5 percent this year with a $11.4 billion jump. An increase in military spending "will resonate with our Allies and adversaries," he affirms.

All of this aims to stiffen the underlying message which is "we need to help Ukraine more."

Outside of massive American military and economic aid already provided to Ukraine during both the Trump and Biden administrations, there's the promise to send yet another $60 billion if the administration can get its wider $95 billion bill past an intransigent Republican Congress rightly concerned over Biden's blank check policies to Kyiv.

Thus, the additional $60 billion for Ukraine lingering in Congress should be linked to a verifiable ceasefire and truce negotiations. Neither Ukraine nor Russia is going to clearly "win" this war; the long-suffering Ukrainian people are living in the twilight of fear.

The Ukraine war, since Russia's occupation of Crimea, has been going on for a decade. Now, its spillover threatens Western Europe, which stands on the brink.





John J. Metzler (jjmcolumn@earthlink.net) is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of "Divided Dynamism The Diplomacy of Separated Nations; Germany, Korea, China."




John Moore is on a mission to slow down the melting of the world's widest glacier, nicknamed the 'doomsday glacier' for the havoc it could unleash on the world.

The 74,000 square mile Thwaites Glacier, located on the western edge of Antarctica, is losing about 50 billion more tons of ice than it receives in new snowfall

Professor Moore told DailyMail.com that he and his colleagues want to stop the glacier's retreat by placing a 62-mile-long curtain in front of it to block warm ocean water from melting the underside.

Its melting alone already contributes about four percent to the world's sea level rise, and if it were to melt all the way, it would raise sea levels around the entire world by as much as 10 feet - which is how it earned its ominous nickname.

Thwaites Glacier has proven especially vulnerable to climate change, and each year it melts more quickly. If the Earth continues to warm and the glacier melts all the way, it could push sea levels up as much as 10 feet

The proposed curtain would be anchored at the bottom of the sea, where it would protect the glacier from the warm currents eating away at its underside

That amount of sea level rise would put coastal cities around the world at serious risk of major flooding.

Their plan: Anchor a giant curtain along 62 miles of seafloor to block most of the warm water from melting the glacier from underneath.

The estimated cost: $50 billion. Moore said he is optimistic that the 29 countries in the Antarctic Treaty will foot the bill.

Most of the ice Thwaites loses comes from underneath, where the warm, salty waters circulating deep down in the sea wear it away.

As the climate warms, these deep ocean currents get warmer, melting the glacier's underside even faster.

With warmer ocean temperatures, the winter cycle of re-freezing does less and less each year to recover the melted ice.

The massive face of Thwaites Glacier conceals a thinning underside. John Moore from the University of Lapland wants to stop this thinning to save the glacier

Warm water flowing underneath Thwaites Glacier melts it away. Once enough of the ice is gone from the underside, the leading edge will calve - or crack and fall off

Occasionally, the glacier will calve - the scientific term for when a large piece of a glacier's face falls off.

But this is just the obvious, outward sign of the much more serious problem of underwater melting.

READ MORE: Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier' is 'holding on by its fingernails'

Seafloor images reveal it has retreated TWICE as fast as previously thought over the past 200 years  and could cause global sea levels to rise by 10 FEET. Advertisement

Before the industrial revolution, when humans began belching millions of tons of CO2 and other greenhouse gases into Earth's atmosphere, Thwaites and other glaciers had normal cycles of thinning and thickening.

In the winter, the glacier would grow as the ice thickened, and in the summer it would shrink back as the ice thinned.

As the planet warms, though, there is way more thickening than thinning.

To some degree, this process would be happening regardless of global warming, said John Moore, research professor of climate change at the University of Lapland's Arctic Centre in Finland.

At a certain point, though, the melting is simply too much.

'Beyond the tipping point, glaciers like Thwaites just collapse regardless of the CO2 concentration because the buttressing they need to be stable goes away as the floating shelf thins, like kicking away a prop holding up a fence,' he told DailyMail.com.

'So if we want to replace the buttressing, we need to mimic nature and allow the shelf to thicken again and buttress itself,' said Moore. 'The way to reduce the melt is to block off some of the warm water reaching it.'

This is where the curtain comes in.

They plan to anchor a curtain at the bottom of the Amundsen Sea, blocking undersea currents from hitting the underside of Thwaites Glacier.

Held up by a buoyant top edge and anchored at the bottom, the curtain would float at the bottom of the ocean, invisible from the water's surface.

Getting it into place without damaging the glacier won't be a problem, said Moore.

'We would put the curtain a long way from the glacier, just blocking the warm water in deep channels where they are narrow and accessible,' he said.

This graphic from John Moore and his team show how the curtain would function. Deep warm seawater (bottom right) flows toward the glacier, but the curtain would block most of it. Some would flow over the top, though, where it would mix with the fresh water melting from the glacier (center). Then, instead of undercutting the glacier, these mixed waters would flow out and away from the glacier (top right)

Thwaites Glacier, at the western edge of Antarctica, is poised to raise sea levels by 10 feet if it melts all the way

The biggest challenges, said Moore, are less about avoiding further damage to the glacier and more about the safety of the people putting the curtain in place.

'The harsh conditions, the short working season with enough daylight, and the danger from the many icebergs that are around' are the biggest challenges, he said.

It will still be years before they install the curtain, but Moore and his colleagues at Cambridge University are working on computer simulations right now to get the design right, as well as 'some small scale tank tests, basically with fish tanks.'

Next, they plan to install a prototype in the River Cam in Cambridge next summer.

'We also plan on testing in the Norwegian fjord a set of 10 different designs to see how they perform under realistic currents and wear and tear,' he said.

'Then later if there are no serious problems, we would try it on a fjord with a glacier inflow in Svalbard.'

If all of that goes according to plan, Moore and his team would see whether the Greenlanders wanted to use them - as well as whether an agreement could be worked out to put the curtain in Antarctica to protect Thwaites Glacier, of course.
The latest software update for iPhones brought users more than 100 new emojis, security upgrades, and a range of other changes.

But some users have found an infuriating issue that might put you off downloading iOS 17.4.

Furious Apple fans have taken to social media to warn others that the update has ruined their battery life.

One user claimed that their battery dropped by 40 per cent over two hours of use, while another reported a 13 per cent drop in the time it took to write two posts on X.

If you've been having battery trouble since updating to iOS 17.4, here's what you can do to help the issue.

The latest software update for iPhones brought users more than 100 new emojis, security upgrades, and a range of other changes. But some users have found an infuriating issue that might put you off downloading iOS 17.4

The latest iOS update was released yesterday and brought iPhone users a wide range of changes and bug fixes.

Most notably, iOS 17.4 includes 118 new emoji including a lime, shaking heads, a phoenix, a mushroom, and a breaking chain.

The update also includes a major security upgrade for iMessage which is intended to protect users' messages against future quantum computing attacks.

However, some users who have already downloaded the update say that it has also negatively impacted their battery life.

Less than 24 hours after the update was released, Apple users had already taken to X (formerly Twitter), reporting that the update had led to increased battery drain.

One frustrated user tweeted: 'DO NOT UPDATE TO IOS 17.4. It's a trap you battery gonna be draining quick'

iPhone users took to X, formerly Twitter, to warn others against installing the update. They complained that iOS 17.4 led to increased battery drain

Some iPhone users shared their battery drain issues, saying that the update had led to their phone's charge dropping up to 40 per cent in only two hours

How to download iOS 17.4

Open Settings app on your iPhone Select General then 'Software Update' You will see the option to begin the download immediately, or to schedule it to download overnight Make sure your battery is more than 50 per cent charged or plug it in You will need at least 8.2GB of storage free during the download so you might want to 'Offload' some apps or upload your photos to a cloud storage system to save space Advertisement

One commenter asked: 'Has anyone else experienced a rapid battery drain after updating to iOS 17.4?'

Other commenters were far more blunt, writing: 'DO NOT UPDATE TO IOS 17.4. It's a trap you battery gonna be draining quick'.

While another commenter simply wrote: 'Big drain. Don't update'.

A few social media users also shared the details of their battery drain issue which, if correct, show a significantly shorter battery life.

Other commenters reported that they were struggling to charge their batteries at all after upgrading their phone's software.

One user wrote: 'Today I tried to charge my iPhone 11 pro which was having 40% remaining battery when I plug into charging.

'It has taken more than 4 hours to charge 94%.'

If you are experiencing battery drain following the iOS update, then the most important thing to do is to be patient.

After an update, it is normal to expect some drop in battery life as your iPhone continues to carry out several tasks in the background such as updating apps and rebuilding caches.

Some users who have already downloaded the update say that it has also negatively impacted their battery life

Other commenters reported that they were struggling to properly charge their phone after installing iOS 17.4

Since your phone is doing more work than normal it is expected that it will burn through its battery quicker than usual.

This can last anywhere between a few hours and a day depending on the age of your phone and the bandwidth of your connection.

Rebooting your phone might also help resolve these issues a bit quicker.

To do this try a force restart by holding down either the side or volume button until the power slider appears then turn the phone off, wait a few seconds and power it back on.

Additionally, after updating iOS some out of date apps might be causing unexpected issues with the new software that can lead to battery drain.

Increased battery drain after an update is to be expected. The best way to avoid the issue is to update your apps, restart the phone, and check your battery health for any issues

Making sure all your apps are updated might go some way to fixing the issue but for a more detailed analysis, you can use the iPhone's battery tools to find out more.

Open the settings app and navigate to the 'Battery' section, scrolling down should show you how your battery drain is split between different apps.

If there are any apps draining a lot of power, you can either try updating the app, keeping it closed when it's not needed, or just removing the app altogether.

Luckily for iPhone 15 users, iOS 17.4 also includes new battery health information that lets you learn even more about your phone.

Under the 'Battery Health & Charging' settings, users who have updated can find information such as cycle count, manufacture date, and when the battery was first used.

Apple has been contacted for comment.
Before this discovery, the oldest known forest in the world was in Green County

A Butlin's in Somerset might not seem like a natural backdrop to groundbreaking scientific discovery.

But researchers have now discovered Earth's oldest forest hidden in the sandstone cliffs near the holiday resort.

Scientists from the University of Cambridge and University of Cardiff discovered the fossil remains of an ancient forest that once stretched across Devon and Somerset.

This fossil forest is believed to date back 390 million years, beating the previous record holder in New York by more than four million years.

Lead author Professor Neil Davies from the University of Cambridge, said: 'People sometimes think that British rocks have been looked at enough, but this shows that revisiting them can yield important new discoveries.'

Scientists found the fossilised remains of tree trunks (pictured). As this cross-section of a log shows, these trees would have been hollow in the middle

Scientists have discovered Earth's oldest forest in an ancient sandstone formation near Minehead, Somerset, which is now home to a Butlin's holiday resort

In the study, the researchers studied the rocks of the 'Hangman Sandstone Formation' - a 0.8-mile (1.4km) thick band of rock from the Devonian period, which stretches between 419 million and 358 million years ago.

It was in this period that life began its first serious expansion onto land.

Until now, the cliffs on the South Bank of the Bristol Channel had been believed to contain no plant fossils.

However, by scaling England's highest sea cliffs - some of which can only be reached by boat - the researchers discovered the remains of tree trunks and twigs from an ancient forest.

Dating back more than 350 million years, these are the oldest plant fossils ever found in Britain.

Before this discovery, the oldest known forest in the world was in Green County, about a two-hour drive north of New York City.

This forest grew around 385 million years ago and survived long enough to have been seen by dinosaurs.

The fossils preserve fallen logs (pictured) in remarkable detail, showing the patterns that would have covered their bark

Here, scientists study the fossil of a large stump. Although not as large as their modern descendants, these ancient trees could grow between two and four metres tall

However, the fossil trees found in Somerset wouldn't have been anything like the forests found today in the nearby Exmoor National Park.

These trees, called Calamophyton, would have looked a little like modern-day palm trees, according to the researchers.

Unlike modern trees, they were thin and hollow at the centre, while hundreds of twig-like structures grew on them instead of leaves.

Compared with a modern forest, they would also have been a lot shorter, with the tallest reaching between two and four metres.

Professor Davies said: 'This was a pretty weird forest  not like any forest you would see today.

'There wasnt any undergrowth to speak of and grass hadnt yet appeared, but there were lots of twigs dropped by these densely-packed trees, which had a big effect on the landscape.'

These fallen twigs would have provided homes for some of the earliest animals, with the researchers even discovering the fossilised tracks of one of these early invertebrates on the forest floor.

The fossil trees found in Somerset wouldn't have been anything like the forests found today in the nearby Exmoor National Park. These trees, called Calamophyton, would have looked a little like modern-day palm trees, according to the researchers (artist's impression)

Fossil remains show the twigs (pictured) which fell to the floor and helped changed the landscape of the Devonian Period

The fallen litter from the forest was the home for some of the first invertebrates to venture onto land. This picture shows the fossilised tracks of one of these early animals

The researchers hope that by studying the remains of the forest they will be able to get an insight into how ancient forests changed the landscape around them

READ MORE: New forest growth may have sparked the mass extinction 360 million years ago by fueling massive plankton blooms that sucked all the oxygen from oceans

Advertisement

In addition to giving early animals a home, this forest would have also been a powerful force in shaping the land, according to Professor Davies.

'The Devonian period fundamentally changed life on Earth,' he explained.

'It also changed how water and land interacted with each other, since trees and other plants helped stabilise sediment through their root systems.'

At the time this forest was growing, the piece of rock which now forms Culver Cliff, Selworthy Sand, and Porlock Weir was not actually attached to England.

Instead, it was part of modern-day Germany and Belgium, where other Devonian rocks can be found.

The terrain itself would have been a semi-arid plain, criss-crossed with small rivers spilling out of mountains in the Northwest.

The areas near Minehead would have once been a semi-arid plane, criss-crossed with streams and stabilised by early forests. Today it is the site of a large Butlin's holiday resort (pictured)

This map shows how the cliffs of Devon and Somerset (highlighted by black box) were once part of the landmass that is now Germany and Belgium

Although scientists know that trees had a role in shaping this ancient environment, until now there has not been an opportunity to study their impacts in such detail.

Study co-author Dr Christopher Berry from Cardiff University says it was amazing to see these fossil forests so close to home.

'The most revealing insight comes from seeing, for the first time, these trees in the positions where they grew,' he concluded.

'It is our first opportunity to look directly at the ecology of this earliest type of forest, to interpret the environment in which Calamophyton trees were growing, and to evaluate their impact on the sedimentary system.'
If you fancy yourself as the next Neil Armstrong, NASA is now taking applications for new astronauts.

Potential space farers have less than a month to submit their application to the US space agency, which warns that there's 'frequent travel required'.

New astronauts will have to undergo an exhausting two-year training and evaluation period and pass a series of physical requirements.

Those selected could become part of the agency's Artemis programme, which is sending astronauts to the moon later this decade.

Exploring the Moon during the 2020s will help prepare humanity to ultimately send astronauts to Mars in the 2030s, NASA said.

Astronaut candidates will spend approximately two years training on the basic skills required to be an astronaut - from spacewalking and robotics to leadership and teamwork skills. Pictured NASA astronaut Robert L. Stewart in space, February 1984

Do you have what it takes to be an astronaut? US citizenship required

Frequent travel will be required

Must complete a financial disclosure statement

Must meet all qualification/education and experience requirements by the closing date of the announcement (April 2)

Applicants may only select one discipline group to apply under

Selectees will be designated Astronaut Candidates and will undergo a training and evaluation period lasting approximately two years

Applicants must submit all STEM related transcripts Advertisement

'NASA astronauts have been traveling to space for more than six decades and living there continuously since 2000,' the agency says.

'Now, NASA's Artemis program is preparing to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon.

'The Orion spacecraft atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will carry humans farther into space than they have gone before  for missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars.'

Applications for the job are open now and are being taken until April 2.

The full-time, permanent position located in Houston, Texas will pay $152,258 (119,394) per year.

Although you don't have to be an astronaut to apply, NASA's selection criteria is stringent.

Applicants need to be US citizens with a master's degree in a STEM field, including engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science or maths.

The master's degree requirement can also be met by two years of work towards a PhD in a related science, tech, engineering or maths field; a completed doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathic medicine degree; or a completed test pilot school programme.

They also need to successfully complete the NASA long-duration flight astronaut physical, which includes requirements relating to eyesight and blood pressure.

Potential space farers have less than a month to submit their application to the US space agency, which warns that there's 'frequent travel required'

NASA and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronauts acknowledge the audience during a graduation ceremony at Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas, in January 2020

NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong made history when he stepped out of the Apollo 11's 'Eagle' landing module on July 21, 1969 and left the first human footprints on the moon

Pictured, astronaut Buzz Aldrin Jr. poses for a photograph beside the US flag on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission, July 20, 1969. Artemis is considered the successor to Apollo

READ MORE: NASA needs four volunteers for a year-long Mars simulation For 12 months, volunteers will live inside a building meant to replicate the kind of structure humans will build on Mars Advertisement

Astronaut candidates will spend about two years training on the basic skills required to be an astronaut  from spacewalking and using robotics to 'leadership and teamwork skills'.

Upon completing training, they will join the active astronaut corps and become eligible for being assigned to a spaceflight.

Those selected may find themselves on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) prior to any trip to the moon or Mars under the Artemis programme.

Artemis kicked off in 2022 with the first mission, which sent an uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the moon and back.

The next mission, Artemis II which is due to take place in September 2025, will send four astronauts on a trip around the moon and back home (although the crew for this trip has already been picked).

Then, Artemis III, taking place September 2026, will actually land humans on the lunar surface  specifically the moon's south polar region.

NASA is not the only space agency with an interest in the lunar south, largely due to the region's rich reserves of water frozen as ice.

Successful applicants may become part of NASA's Artemis programme. The next Artemis mission, Artemis II, will send four astronauts on a trip around the moon and back home, although the crew for this trip has already been picked. Pictured, the crew of Artemis II from left - Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen

This artist's depiction shows the Orion spacecraft - containing crew - while in lunar orbit during Artemis II

If all goes to plan, Artemis III will mark the first time humans have walked on the moon since the Apollo 17 mission of December 1972.

In subsequent missions, NASA will 'collaborate with commercial and international partners and establish the first long-term presence on the moon'.

It adds: 'Then, we will use what we learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars.

In preparation for humans on Mars, the space agency is also seeking four volunteers for a simulated Mars experiment.

Volunteers will be locked up for over 12 months inside Mars Dune Alpha, a 1,700 square foot, 3D printed structure at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

There, they'll conduct simulated spacewalks and provide data on their 'physical and behavioral health' while battling extreme isolation and separation from loved-ones.

The futuristic building is meant to replicate the kind of structure humans will eventually build when they finally get to Mars.
From black frogs to a new species of dog, radiation exposure has forced many animals living near Chernobyl to mutate.

But a new study shows that not all animals in the exclusion zone have responded in this way.

Worms living near Chernboyl (or Chornobyl in the preferred Ukranian spelling) have developed a new 'superpower' - they appear to be immune to radiation.

'Chornobyl was a tragedy of incomprehensible scale, but we still don't have a great grasp on the effects of the disaster on local populations,' said Dr Sophia Tintor, lead author of the study.

'Did the sudden environmental shift select for species, or even individuals within a species, that are naturally more resistant to ionizing radiation?'

Worms living near Chernboyl have developed a new 'superpower' - they appear to be immune to radiation

The 1986 disaster at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant transformed the surrounding area into the most radioactive landscape on Earth

READ MORE: The mutants of Chernobyl: How radiation exposure has forced animals to mutate in incredible ways to survive

The frogs around 'The Zone' have become darker due to radiation Advertisement

The 1986 disaster at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant transformed the surrounding area into the most radioactive landscape on Earth.

Humans were evacuated, but many plants and animals continue to live in the region, despite the high levels of radiation that persist nearly four decades later.

In recent years, researchers have found that some animals living in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone - the region in northern Ukraine within an 18.6-mile radius of the power plant - are physically and genetically different from their counterparts elsewhere, raising questions about the impact of chronic radiation on DNA.

In the new study, the researchers visited Chernobyl to study nematodes - tiny worms with simple genomes and rapid reproduction, which makes them particularly useful for understanding basic biological phenomena.

'These worms live everywhere, and they live quickly, so they go through dozens of generations of evolution while a typical vertebrate is still putting on its shoes,' said Matthew Rockman, a professor of biology at NYU and the study's senior author.

With Geiger counters in hand to measure local levels of radiation and personal protective gear to guard against radioactive dust, they gathered worms from samples of soil, rotting fruit, and other organic material.

Worms were collected from locations throughout the zone with different amounts of radiation, ranging from low levels on par with New York City to high-radiation sites on par with outer space.

Back in the lab at NYU, the researchers studied the worms - part of which involved freezing them.

Worms were collected from locations throughout the zone with different amounts of radiation, ranging from low levels on par with New York City to high-radiation sites on par with outer space

READ MORE: 'Animals could become MUTATED' from the 1.3 million tons of radioactive waste dumped from Japan's nuclear power plant in the Pacific

Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant has started dumping radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean as it is set to be decommissioned Advertisement

'We can cryopreserve worms, and then thaw them for study later,' Professor Rockman explained.

'That means that we can stop evolution from happening in the lab, something impossible with most other animal models, and very valuable when we want to compare animals that have experienced different evolutionary histories.'

The researchers were surprised to find that they could not detect a signature of radiation damage on the genomes of the worms from Chornobyl.

'This doesn't mean that Chornobyl is safe - it more likely means that nematodes are really resilient animals and can withstand extreme conditions,' Dr Tintori said.

'We also don't know how long each of the worms we collected was in the Zone, so we can't be sure exactly what level of exposure each worm and its ancestors received over the past four decades.'

Wondering whether the lack of genetic signature was because the worms living in Chornobyl are unusually effective at protecting or repairing their DNA, the researchers designed a system to compare how quickly populations of worms grow and used it to measure how sensitive the descendants of each of the 20 genetically distinct worms were to different types of DNA damage.

While the lineages of worms were different from each other in how well they tolerated DNA damage, these differences didn't correspond to the levels of radiation at each collection site.

The 1986 disaster at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant transformed the surrounding area into the most radioactive landscape on Earth

Their findings suggest that worms from Chornobyl are not necessarily more tolerant of radiation and the radioactive landscape has not forced them to evolve.

The results give researchers clues into how DNA repair can vary from individual to individual.

And, despite the genetic simplicity of nematodes, the findings could lead to a better understanding of natural variation in humans.

'Now that we know which strains of O. tipulae are more sensitive or more tolerant to DNA damage, we can use these strains to study why different individuals are more likely than others to suffer the effects of carcinogens,' said Dr Tintori.

How different individuals in a species respond to DNA damage is top of mind for cancer researchers seeking to understand why some humans with a genetic predisposition to cancer develop the disease, while others do not.

'Thinking about how individuals respond differently to DNA-damaging agents in the environment is something that will help us have a clear vision of our own risk factors,' added Dr Tintori.
The Australian geothermal energy group later 'redomiciled' becoming a US firm

Energy firm from Brisbane has been developing the lithium project since 2016

A California lake in Imperial Valley is sitting atop one of the world's largest 'white gold' mines  but one of the chief beneficiaries will be an Australian energy firm.

Controlled Thermal Resources, founded Down Under in 2013, has spent two decades developing and managing energy projects in the valley south of Palm Springs.

Many of those projects generated geothermal energy, a power source that use molten, magma-hot temperatures deep below Earth's crust to power steam turbines for an environmentally sustainable means of making electricity.

But in recent years, the firm has turned its eye toward southern California's lithium metal reserves, dubbed white gold because of the soft, silvery-white look of these 'lithium salts.'

CTR's big promise to the California officials who approved the project, is a chance to harvest vast troves of lithium to boost US energy independence without damaging local communities and ecosystems, or contributing to global warming, experts say.

Reports say this salty California lake is sitting on top of the world's largest 'white gold' mine

The Department of Energy (DOE) shared the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory results, which determined the underground pool could hold 18 million tons - enough to meet the US's demand for the valuable metal for decades

But the US government will be hoping the project jumpstarts America's energy independence from the high volume of lithium-ion batteries imported from China.

Lithium is a critical component for batteries that power everything from smartphones to electric vehicles to solar panels - and China has dominated the market for decades because 90 percent of the metal mined is refined in their nation.

At a trade volume of $9.3 billion in 2022 alone, according to the United Nations Comtrade Database, Chinese lithium-ion batteries account for the vast majority of US battery imports today.

California regulators, environmentalists, scientists and many of the companies vying for a piece of the Imperial Valley's burgeoning lithium empire themselves are hoping to become a part of that shift without ravaging SoCal's land and local population.

'Nothing is going to be completely clean,' as local geochemist Michael McKibben, who teaches at UC Riverside, told the Desert Sun.

'But this is the cleanest way we can do it, using geothermal.'

McKibben currently is collaborating with a research team led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to map lithium deposits, and game out the potential ecological and human costs of their extraction.

'The traditional ways of mining lithium are really destructive and really hard on the environment for local communities,' McKibben said, 'and so the attraction of geothermal lithium is that the footprint is small.'

'You're not digging pits, you're not putting huge evaporation ponds on the surface, because the brine is already brought up for the steam,' McKibben said of the Salton Sea's unique lithium-salted water.

'So it's just a matter of tacking on a lithium filter to that brine before you reinject it back into the ground.'

CTR, which first announced their Salton Sea lithium project in 2016, 'redomiciled' their firm to the US in 2022, according to their website, announcing that their new headquarters will be located right in California's Imperial County.

But the energy firm does still maintain an office in Brisbane, Australia.

Three companies will use power plants to extract the lithium to pull superheated brine from the ground

Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR) announced in January that it had recovered lithium from its geothermal brine resource and is now set to construct a massive plant at the site (pictured)

This Australian expat firm, however, is not the only player looking to extract eco-friendly profits out of the landlocked salt water lake.

The Salton Sea has been swarmed by companies large and small looking for cost-effective ways to extract the lithium dissolved in its scalding hot brine water, which flows beneath the lake's southern point.

Last December a new study funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) found the basin has even more lithium than previously estimated, heating up the race for development contracts with state and local agencies.

The DOE study found that there could be 18 million tons of extractable metal  enough to meet US demand for the valuable metal for decades.

READ MORE: Tiny town in Arkansas that sits on a multi-billion-dollar gold mine of precious lithium is set to become epicenter of EV and mobile battery BOOM! A small, quiet Arkansas town home to just 11,100 people is set to become the epicenter of the US 'white gold' boom. Advertisement

The findings would make the reservoir the largest in the world, overtaking Chile (home to nine million metric tons).

California Governor Gavin Newsom once described the Salton Sea as 'the Saudi Arabia of lithium mining,' and the moniker is a testament to the substance's immense economic value.

One ton of lithium is currently priced at $29,000, making the supply in the Salton Sea worth more than $540 billion.

The DOE said it could support over 375 million electric vehicle batteries.

Jeff Marootian, principal deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, said: 'Lithium is vital to decarbonizing the economy and meeting President Biden's goals of 50 percent electric vehicle adoption by 2030.

'This report confirms the once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a domestic lithium industry at home while also expanding clean, flexible electricity generation.

'Using American innovation, we can lead the clean energy future, create jobs and a strong domestic supply chain, and boost our national energy security.'

Earlier this year, after roughly a dozen years of engineering, permit-haggling and finance-raising, CTR finally broke ground on construction of its lithium extraction and geothermal power plant.

'The work is going to be done by union labor. These are going to be good jobs,' President Biden's clean energy advisor, John Podesta, who attended the groundbreaking, told the Los Angeles Times.

But, despite these big promises, many unknowns remain given the ambitious scope of the project, according to industry insiders.

'Extracting lithium from geothermal brines has never been done before at scale,' according to Erik Desormeaux, a director at the energy efficiency firm Energy Recovery, Inc.

'So it remains to be seen whether the electric-vehicle industry, the local community and/or the environment will actually benefit,' Desormeaux told The Daily Beast.

General Motors, at least, is one firm betting on the project's success. The automaker has signed commitments to source lithium from CTR, according to Forbes, a sign of the palpable desire from US electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer's to source the lithium for their lithium-ion batteries domestically.

'I think people are very optimistic about the project,' Desormeaux said, 'but it's a lot of "Wait and see."'
Recognizing the difference between a real photo and an AI-generated image is becoming increasingly difficult as the deepfake technology becomes more realistic.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada set out to determine whether people can distinguish AI images from real ones.

They asked 260 participants to label 10 images gathered by a Google search and 10 images generated by Stable Diffusion or DALL-E  two AI programs used to create deepfake images  as real or fake.

The researchers noted that they expected 85 percent of participants to be able to accurately identify the images, but only 61 percent of people guessed correctly.

Scroll to the very bottom of this article for the answers

Researchers asked 260 participants to identify if an image was real or fake, but nearly 40 percent of people guessed wrong

The study, published in Springer Link, found that the most common reasons people identified the images as real or fake were by looking at details like the eyes and hair while other, more generalized reasons, were that the picture looked weird.

Participants were allowed to look at the pictures for an unlimited amount of time and focus on the little details, something they most likely wouldnt do if they were just scrolling online  also known as doomscrolling.

However, the survey did ask participants not to overthink their answers and said paying similar to the attention youd afford a news headline photo, is encouraged.'

People are not as adept at making the distinction as they think they are, said Andreea Pocol, a PhD candidate in Computer Science at the University of Waterloo and the study's lead author.

Researchers chose 10 FAKE AI-generated images

The researchers said they were motivated to conduct the study because not enough research has been done on the topic, so they published a survey asking people to identify the real versus AI-generated images on Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram, among others.

Alongside the images, participants were able to justify why they believed it was real or fake before they submitted their responses.

The study said that nearly 40 percent of participants classified the images incorrectly which demonstrated that people are not good at separating real images from fake ones, easily allowing the propagation of false and potentially dangerous narratives.

They also separated the participants by gender  male, female, or other  and found that female participants performed best, guessing with roughly 55 to 70 percent accuracy, while male participants had a 50 to 65 percent accuracy.

Researchers chose 10 REAL images

Meanwhile, those who identified as other had a smaller range of guessing the fake versus real images with 55 to 65 percent accuracy.

READ MORE: Deepfake porn creators and publishers got away with producing 415,000 images last year and making the warped pictures remains LEGAL in 44 states only six states outlaw the creation and distribution of such content, highlighting how perpetrators and websites operate with impunity Advertisement

Participants were then sorted into age groups and found that those ages 18 to 24 had an accuracy rate of .62 and showed that as the participants got older, the likelihood of them guessing correctly decreased, dropping to just .53 for people 60 to 64 years old.

The study said this research is important because deepfakes have become more sophisticated and easier to create, in recent years, leading to concerns about their potential impact on society.

The study comes as AI-generated images, or deepfakes, are becoming more prevalent and realistic, affecting not only celebrities but everyday people including teenagers.

For years, celebrities have been targeted by deepfakes, with fake sexual videos of Scarlett Johanson appearing online in 2018, and two years later, actor Tom Hanks was targeted by AI-generated images.

Then in January of this year, pop star Taylor Swift was targeted by fake pornographic deepfake images that went viral online, garnering 47 million views on X before they were taken down.

Deepfakes also surfaced in a New Jersey High School when a male teenager shared fake pornographic photos of his female classmates.

Disinformation isn't new, but the tools of disinformation have been constantly shifting and evolving, said Pocol.

It may get to a point where people, no matter how trained they will be, will still struggle to differentiate real images from fakes.

That's why we need to develop tools to identify and counter this. It's like a new AI arms race.
Rodents generally get bad press - but they are the stars of the show at this quirky cafe in Tokyo.

Cafe Capyba lets guests enjoy a hot beverage alongside two large capybaras named Kohaku and Pisuke.

The rodents, the biggest in the world and native to South America, roam freely around the small establishment, giving customers a chance to view them up close.

According to its website, the 'cosy' cafe is a 'place to provide healing', and visitors are encouraged to pet and take pictures of the furry creatures.

'Take your time to relax while observing their leisurely presence,' the website reads.

Cafe Capyba lets customers enjoy their coffee alongside two capybaras named Kohaku and Pisuke (pictured)

The cafe's website claims it's a 'place to provide healing' and lets the two creatures roam freely

Snacks to feed the capybaras are available to purchase inside. Pellets and vegetables cost 330 yen (1.73/$2.19) each.

Alongside the two rodents, the cafe offers coffee, lattes, tea and soft drinks for visitors to enjoy.

Entrance costs 1,250 yen (6.55/$8.31) for 30 minutes, with 10-minute extensions available for payments of 330 yen (1.73/$2.19).

The company does not accept reservations and, due to how popular it's becoming, visitors are advised to arrive well in advance.

Alongside the two rodents, Cafe Capyba offers coffee, lattes, tea and soft drinks

Like to sip your coffee with cats, too? One Tokyo-based cafe allows its customers to pet both cats and capybaras while enjoying a brew.

Capy Neko Cafe, 'neko' being the Japanese word for cat, mixes the unique combination of animals - and despite what you might expect, it's a match made in heaven.

According to the cafe's website, its resident capybara, named Ki-Chan, 'moves at his own pace', 'loves to be petted' and 'gets along well with the cats'.

Like many cat cafes in Japan, the felines are all rescue cats looking for their forever homes. The hub takes in cats and works to connect them with foster parents.

Capy Neko Cafe, above, allows customers to pet both cats and capybaras. The unique combination is a match made in heaven, its website suggests

The animals roam free in Capy Neko Cafe, and the cats are even available to foster

The quirky cafe has become extremely popular in Tokyo and requires customers to book in advance.

Each session lasts 50 minutes and costs 2,800 yen (14.65/$18.58) for adults and 1,500 yen (7.85/$9.95) for children aged between six and 14.

To book, visit Capy Neko Cafe's website - capyneko.cafe/booking/.
The tips come from Grant Harrold, former butler to the King and Queen Consort

Make your house guests feel like royalty - with these insider tips from the former butler to King Charles III.

Grant Harrold was butler to the King and Queen Consort between 2005 and 2011, and his client list also includes Prince William, Prince Harry, and the Late Queen Elizabeth II. Here he reveals how to make your home fit for a king and queen and unveils do's and don'ts for greeting guests and hosting dinner parties.

He's sharing his wisdom with MailOnline Travel ahead of conducting exclusive Q&A sessions and workshops with Warner Hotels across the country, claiming you 'don't have to break the bank to make your home feel luxurious'.

From perfecting the correct way to pour tea to the transformational wonders of deploying bowls of mints, scroll down to discover how to add a regal sheen to your hosting at home.

Give your guests a royal welcome

Grant Harrold (above) told MailOnline Travel: 'You don't have to break the bank to make your home feel luxurious'

For a 'truly royal' greeting for guests on your doorstep offer a salutation such as 'good morning', 'good afternoon' or 'good evening', says Grant.

Do this in conjunction with a 'polite, firm handshake', he continues, then 'step to the side and allow them to pass by you first before closing the door, offering to take their coat or jacket as they enter the home'.

Etiquette defender Grant also advises creating a 'calming ambience' by lighting a candle or spraying a refreshing scent in your entryway and adding decorative pieces, such as neatly displayed throw cushions or fresh flowers.

And 'placing a small bowl of mints or chocolates near the entryway to your home is an eloquent way to welcome any guests'.

Time for tea - here's how to serve the perfect cuppa

Grant says offering guests a cup of tea is a 'must-do' when it comes to etiquette. And always put the tea in first

According to Grant, offering guests something to drink or 'tuck into' is an etiquette 'must-do'.

He says: 'No royal welcome would be complete without a refreshment  always remember to ask your guest if theyd like a cup of tea, coffee or a cool beverage before they sit down and prepare to enjoy some top-notch hosting.'

And when making your guest a warm beverage, there are certain rules to abide by.

Settling the age-old debate on how to pour the perfect cup of tea, Grant says: 'Ensure that you pour the tea first, followed by the milk. From my experience, this is exactly how the royals like to do it.'

Royal-level chit-chat

Grant says: 'No matter how well-acquainted you are with your guest, it is essential that they feel catered to just as though you were meeting for the first time.

'The polite way to start any conversation is to ask your guest how they are before talking to them about yourself, which showcases your appreciation for their presence and the time you have together.'

Set up your dining table correctly

Grant claims setting up your dining table correctly will create a 'prim and proper experience' for guests

'You certainly dont have to invest in expensive silverware or extravagant placemats, but setting up your table or dining area with the correct placements will create a prim and proper experience,' Grant says.

According to the etiquette expert, dinner plates should sit at the centre of the place setting, and side plates to the left of the dinner plate with a butter knife sitting on top of the plate.

He adds: 'Depending on the number of courses, there should be three pairs of cutlery per person. Forks should be to the left of the plate, with knives placed to the right and blade edges facing downwards. Place the dessert fork and dessert spoon above the plate, with the fork prongs facing right and the spoon bowl facing left.'

Host a 'royally good' dinner

Grant says guests should not have to lift a finger at a dinner party

'Any good dinner party requires exceptional hosting - and there are several top tips to follow if you really want to give your guests the royal experience,' the etiquette expert explains.

Guests should always be seated first, and a host must make sure their glasses are 'handsomely topped up with a beverage of their choice', before sitting down.

He adds: 'Politely address your guests by thanking them for attending, and then introduce each course you have on the menu. When it's time to tuck in, wait until each guest has their meal in front of them before beginning to eat yourself.

'Ensure that the table is cleared between each course, taking away any used cutlery and napkins and replenishing when necessary. Your guests shouldn't have to lift a finger.'

What not to wear

If you want to look like a royal, Grant advises against wearing tracksuits and leggings

Grant says there are certain items of clothing the royals will avoid wearing in public, including leggings, tracksuits and jogging bottoms.

However, he adds: 'These items may be fine in the privacy of one's home but when in public try to wear items that are something a king or queen will wear and always remember to wear your invisible crown.'

Grant will be sharing more royal advice in a series of workshops hosted by Warner Hotels. Guests will have the chance to enjoy a relaxing weekend in 'some of the UK's most picturesque locations' and get a glimpse into daily life at Buckingham Palace. The dates and locations are: 8 March at Bodelwyddan Castle Hotel, North Wales (three nights); 31 May at Nidd Hall Hotel, Harrogate, North Yorkshire (three nights); 14 June at Alvaston Hall Hotel, Nantwich, Cheshire (three nights); 5 July at Heythrop Park Hotel, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire (three nights); 23 August at Gunton Hall, Lowestoft, Suffolk (three nights); 6 September at Thoresby Hall, Nottinghamshire (three nights).

To book, or for more information, visit: warnerleisurehotels.co.uk/live-shows/the-royal-butler.

Following Grant on Instagram here - www.instagram.com/the_royal_butler.
Britain doesn't hold many current railway records, but it does have a line in the West Midlands that claims the title of Europe's shortest  the Stourbridge branch line.

At just 0.8 miles (1.2km/1,287 metres) in length, it's also Britain's shortest railway line.

What's more, the service that runs on it is operated by 'Pre Metro' and West Midlands Railway using a pair of rare Class 139 'Parry People Movers'.

They are the only Class 139s in service in the UK.

The one-car vehicles - the brainchild of light rail pioneer John Parry - are described by Pre Metro as 'self-sustained trams', powered by a hybrid flywheel and an LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) engine.

Europe's shortest railway line  the Stourbridge branch line

The website for the line explains that the flywheel enables the shuttles to perform regenerative braking, where the vehicles' kinetic energy is collected when braking, and later re-used for acceleration.

The line they trundle up and down was opened in 1879, with Parry People Mover passengers today carried along it at up to 20mph (32kph).

The journey, between Stourbridge Town and Stourbridge Junction, takes just three minutes and costs 1.50.

Services depart every 10 minutes. That's 1,370 services every week, with two drivers in place for 'safety and stellar customer service', according to Pre Metro.

The service that runs on the Stourbridge branch line is operated by 'Pre Metro' and West Midlands Railway using a pair of rare Class 139 'Parry People Movers'

The journey, between Stourbridge Town and Stourbridge Junction, takes just three minutes, with services departing every 10 minutes

The line was opened in 1879, with Parry People Mover passengers today carried along it at up to 20mph (32kph)

The line was originally built to move goods and people between Stourbridge's canal basin and the mainline rail network at Stourbridge junction, providing a vital link to Worcester, Kidderminster and Birmingham.

Another notably short passenger route in the UK is the journey by plane from Papa Westray to Westray in the Scottish archipelago of Orkney - with the flight covering a distance of just 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometres).

It takes just one minute and 14 seconds.

The shortest railway in the world is Los Angeles' Angels Flight funicular, which is just 298 feet long.

It takes passengers from Hill Street to Grand Avenue.
By Park Jung-won

On paper, South Korea is a model of democracy. Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned Russian opposition leader who died last month at age 47, once expressed his hope that Russia could become a democratic country like it. However, whereas in Russia it is opposition forces that offer the promise of democratic change, these days in South Korea it is the opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea, that is becoming more authoritarian. As evidence, examine the partys nomination process for Aprils general elections.

Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the DPKs leader, has taken advantage of the nomination process to fill the party with acolytes. Some say that Lee is leading the DPK to self-destruction, but it would be more accurate to say that he is reconstructing the DPK into a new entity composed entirely of individuals who offer him complete loyalty. This goal seems more important to Lee than whether the DPK keeps or loses its majority in the National Assembly.

In his New Years greeting posted on YouTube, Lee stated that the elections will be a critical turning point that will determine the fate of the country and the lives of its citizens. He emphasized that his party is committed to reviving the livelihood of the people, the economy and democracy. Yet these noble words, when uttered by Lee, fall flat. Is it because the disposition of the political man, as identified by the political scientist Harold Lasswell, to transform private motives into public objectives and rationalize private ambitions under the guise of public interest is so starkly evident in the politician named Lee Jae-myung?

Many who have observed Lee over time are acquainted with the divergence between his words and actions. He is a political heretic who has defied the basic grammar of politics that has been generally accepted in South Koreas democratic era. He ran for a parliamentary seat just three months after losing the presidential election. Usually, South Korean politicians who lose the presidential race take time for reflection, step down from leadership roles or even announce retirement from politics. Kim Dae-jung went abroad to Britain, and Moon Jae-in even refrained from criticizing then-President Park Geun-hye for a time. In contrast, after his defeat Lee immediately ran for a National Assembly seat in a by-election, winning a position much less significant than the presidency. He did so by running in a safe district rather than in the region where he had primarily been active as a politician.

Perhaps in desperation, Lee felt that he needed to secure the immunity from arrest that is afforded by a parliamentary seat, as he has faced multiple investigations and trials due to allegations of corruption. But his unorthodox moves did not end there. Despite losing the presidential race, which would ordinarily lead to a politicians resignation, he ran for the partys leadership and was elected with an overwhelming 78 percent of the vote. And as party leader, through this years general election nomination process, he is turning the DPK into the party of Lee Jae-myung.

Many of the politicians who have failed to receive nominations in this corrupted process, which could mean an end to their political careers, are now fiercely resisting and attacking Lee. But were they previously unaware of the type of person Lee has always been?

Since South Koreas democratization in 1987, it is not an exaggeration to say that its political parties, regardless of being in opposition or power, have merely been strategic offices created for elevating charismatic leaders to the office of president. The backwardness of party politics in South Korea has been structural and fundamental. Political parties that attempt to absorb conflicts and clashes of interests within society into an institutional framework and implement values through actual policy proposals have historically found it difficult to succeed in South Korea. And sadly, even professor Im Hyug-baeg, a leading political scientist who has pointed out these problems of party politics and the obstacles they present to the consolidation of democracy in South Korea, is ironically now faithfully playing the role of lackey for Lee as the chief of the partys nomination committee.

However, on deeper reflection, the reason Lee has been able to transform the DPK into his own private party stems from the structural contradictions within the so-called democratic forces of South Korea, as represented by the DPK. The mainstay of this group consists of politicians who were active in the student movements of the 1980s and have interpreted the issues of South Korean democracy in an extremely polarized manner. They view themselves as the genuine force for democracy, while the current ruling party is seen as the anti-democratic force, heirs of the Chun Doo-hwan military dictatorship.

Within this simplistic Manichean framework, Lee, a demagogic politician, has managed to establish himself as a would-be defender of the democratic forces symbolized by the Democratic Party, the precedent of the DPK, vociferously championing abstract democratic ideals. Based on his extreme self-serving tendencies, he was able to ascend from the (failed) presidential candidacy of the DPK to its current leadership position. For Lee, who was not part of the 1980s student activist movement, the candidate nomination process for Aprils parliamentary elections presented an ideal opportunity to eliminate those within the DPK who did have that background and could thus present a future threat to him. He did not miss the chance.

Ultimately, it is the undemocratic structure of South Korean political parties, which allows for centralized control over local constituencies, and the DPKs tendency to ignore the serious moral failings of those politicians who nevertheless have a good chance of becoming president, that have enabled the rise of a political heretic like Lee Jae-myung.

It is truly curious what the late President Kim Dae-jung, the spiritual pillar of the Democratic Party, would say if he could see the unfair and unjust scenes unfolding today.

Park Jung-won (park_jungwon@hotmail.com), Ph.D. in law from the London School of Economics (LSE), is a professor of international law at Dankook University.
It comes after an unnamed questioned why she received attitude

Flight attendants have revealed why they hate storing wheelchairs in airplane cabins after a mom questioned why she gets so much 'attitude' from crew members when she requests they stow her three-year-old son's wheelchair.

The unnamed mom - who is based in the US - took to Reddit to ask crew members why they 'hate in-cabin wheelchair stowage so much.'

She explained that she has noticed that the flight attendants become 'annoyed' when she asks them to put away the wheelchair.

She questioned why this was - adding that she has since begun bringing Starbucks gift cards so crew members don't get upset with her.

Flight attendants have revealed why they hate storing wheelchairs in cabins after a mom questioned why she gets so much 'attitude' from cabin crew members (stock image)

In a thread titled, 'Flight Attendants,' the mom-of-two said: 'I understand that flight attendants seem to almost universally really hate it when we ask to use the onboard wheelchair compartment.

'I've actually started bringing Starbucks gift cards for crew to apologize for using it because it really seems to annoy everyone a LOT.'

She explained that while she understands that cabin crew members tend to keep their personal belongings in the bins, she doesn't get why they give a ton of 'pushback' when she makes a request.

She added: 'I know y'all usually keep your own stuff in there if nobody asks for that compartment, but there's so much pushback and attitude and sensitivity around it that there's no way this is just a reaction to having to move your bag three feet over to a bin, is it?

'Am I creating more of a problem for you than I understand?

'This isn't a veiled b****, I honestly want to understand why this is such a hated ask, since I imagine my own plane's crew when I'm flying isn't allowed to be forthcoming about whatever problem I'm causing for them.

'We really do need it, but is there anything I can do to make our need of it less annoying for you?'

Flight attendants flooded the comments section and shared their reasoning - with a majority of them noting that their dislike for putting wheelchairs away comes from a force of habit, while others just said it was 'annoying.'

The unnamed mom - who is based in the US - took to Reddit to ask crew members why they 'hate in-cabin wheelchair stowage so much'

One person said: 'Im sorry that you are getting pushback from those crew. I think you have identified the reason already by saying the size.

'As someone who has spent some time in a wheelchair, I can appreciate your position. Unfortunately, humans are creatures of habit and it can be upsetting to break that habit to some.'

Another user added: 'We are creatures of habit. The flight attendant in the front typically stores their bags there. We carry our lives in said bags. They can be very heavy for that reason.

'We also have a host of bad experiences with having our bags accessed or even taken off the plane when stowed in the overhead bins. That being said, I'm not justifying attitude or pushback. First priority should always be accommodating a wheelchair. It's quite rare that chairs aren't gate checked (very few fit in the bin you are referencing).

'So I think the pushback you have experienced is part surprise/part annoyance their routine is disrupted. Please don't take it personally. Our work group is tired and arguably underpaid and some are just short on patience and empathy and simply don't handle these situations as well as they should.

'I'm sorry you have been made to feel like a nuisance. You are doing nothing wrong in expecting the wheelchair stowage be available for your son's wheelchair.'

'What are you wanting to put in the closet? Is it a wheelchair? Lots of planes closets are not big enough for modern wheelchairs,' someone else added.

Flight attendants flooded the comments section and shared their reasoning - with a majority of them noting that their dislike for putting wheelchairs away comes from a force of habit

Another user wrote: 'I can't stand when passengers come on this Reddit to complain. It's always a one-sided story. The OP conveniently left out the part where her husband snapped at the flight attendant.'

Someone else added: 'Ripped my $15 tights on every single wheelchair Ive ever had to store and secure.'

One person commented: 'Because we used to have massive closets, for our bags, guitars, posters etc. We could lock up our personal belongings and not worry that they'd be stolen.

'Now we have a tiny closet, in order to make space for more passenger seats. Not only that but now they expect us to stow wheelchairs which used to ALWAYS be checked underneath. It's just annoying.

'The cargo guys are used to things like this so I'm not sure why they don't continue doing it, though I realize they might break it and that the airline wants to reduce DOT complaints, at our expense.'
A group of candidates on The Apprentice will make history in Thursday night's show.

In upcoming scenes for week six, Lord Sugar will task the two teams to pitch a cereal brand to some of the biggest industry buyers and retailers in the UK.

The two separate groups with design and create a new breakfast cereal aimed at six, seven and eight-year-olds.

One lucky team will secure a deal with a popular supermarket and make a deal for a staggering 200,000 units for a three month selling period - which has never been done on the show before.

Lord Sugar's trusted aide Tim Campbell says: 'The good thing is that brands like this supermarket have been at the heart of communities for generations.

A group of candidates on The Apprentice will make history in Thursday night's show (Lord Sugar pictured)

In upcoming scenes for week six, Lord Sugar will task the two teams to pitch a cereal brand to some of the biggest industry buyers and retailers in the UK

'All of us know about getting some form of frozen item whether it's a dessert or something that you want after an interesting night on the town that you put in the oven the next day.

'But I think the good thing is that in this where retail is being so heavily challenged at the moment with the economic conditions, it's great that The Apprentice is able to highlight opportunities for our candidates to create enterprises and initiatives and projects which are taken up and positively reviewed by some of the UK's most respected business brands.

'In addition to this supermarket, there are some other very well-known high street retailers who are also part of what we're doing, and we are really pleased that they want to be associated with this show, which I think is a great testament for us.'

It comes after fans of The Apprentice slammed the show, bemoaning a 'fake' format and saying they have uncovered a 'clue' that makes them believe it could be staged.

The long-running BBC show sees Lord Sugar test the nerves and brains of the hungriest hopefuls in the business world as they compete to win a 250,000 investment from the businessman.

Despite its popularity, eagle-eyed viewers spotted a hint on last week's episode that appeared to indicate that the show does not stick to its script.

On the show's Thursday night airing, the narrator said the secretary called at 4am to inform the contestants that they had 20 minutes to get ready and leave to meet Lord Sugar at Battersea Power Station.

However, some viewers said this detail takes away from the reality of the show, pointing out that 20 minutes is an extremely short amount of time to look their best when waking up at 4am.

The two separate groups with design and create a new breakfast cereal aimed at six, seven and eight-year-olds

One lucky team will secure a deal with a popular supermarket and make a deal for a staggering 200,000 units for a three month selling period - which has never been done on the show before (Baroness Karren Brady, Lord Alan Sugar, Tim Campbell pictured)

Lord Sugar's trusted aide Tim Campbell (pictured) says: 'The good thing is that brands like this supermarket have been at the heart of communities for generations'

He added: 'It's great that The Apprentice is able to highlight opportunities for our candidates to create enterprises and initiatives and projects which are taken up and positively reviewed by some of the UK's most respected business brands'

It comes after fans of The Apprentice have slammed the show, bemoaning a 'fake' format and saying they have uncovered a 'clue' that made them believe it could be staged

On the show's Thursday night airing, the narrator said the secretary called at 4am to inform the contestants that they had 20 minutes to get ready

Fans of the show alluded to the sudden change of light being so early in the morning as a reason for the show being staged

They observed that the call for the house to get ready can come in the early hours of the morning, but the sun is shining by the time they depart, when it should still be dark outside

They wrote: 'No way not having that! How these women shower, dress, makeup and hair in 20 minutes, oh come on!'.

'There's no way they all can get ready and all dolled up within twenty minutes.'

Meanwhile, other fans of the show alluded to the sudden change of light being so early in the morning as a reason for the show being staged.

They observed that the call for the house to get ready can come in the early hours of the morning, but the sun is shining by the time they depart, when it should still be dark outside.

Pointing this detail out, viewers wrote: 'One the guys gets a phone call at 4AM and it's still dark to say the cars will be outside in 20 minutes, 20 minutes later there walking out and it's broad daylight, someone's got timing well out of sync!'

'So @Lord_Sugar secretary calls the house at 4am..20 mins for those boys, let alone the girls to get ready & yet it's daylight in the cars.'

On Thursday night's episode, Onyeka Nweze was the latest candidate to be fired from after her team lost out in a big-money challenge.

The candidates were tasked with launching a new Formula E team before pitching it for sponsorship, and stunned the boardroom by securing the largest sum in the show's history.

On Thursday night's episode, Onyeka Nweze was the latest candidate to be fired from after her team lost out in a big-money challenge

Multi-million-pound negotiations were put in jeopardy when disastrous car designs were unveiled, and questionable branding was revealed.

However, Lord Sugar was left in shock when the winning team gained sponsorships valued at 38.7 million.

As her team lost out, Lord Sugar noted that Onyeka's 'lack of ethos' during the task continued to be a concern, especially after her pitches to bankers failed to win them investments.

The Apprentice continues Thursday at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iplayer
Downton Abbey star Amy Nuttall has released a new single in memory of her late mother Elaine.

The actress, 41, who played Ethel Parkins in the ITV series, has recorded Thank You Mother after her mum's death in 2023 from a glioblastoma brain tumour.

Released in time for Mother's Day, Amy will be performing Thank You Mother at The Smiley Charity Film Awards 2024 on March 20.

Amy, who previously starred in Emmerdale, has teamed up with The Brain Tumour Charity to raise vital awareness for the charity.

The song is a tribute to Amy's mother after Amy became her full time carer alongside her sister and dad.

Downton Abbey star Amy Nuttall has released a new single in memory of her late mother Elaine

Amy recorded Thank You Mother after her mum's death in 2023 from a glioblastoma brain tumour

The track has huge significance to Amy and her family as they played it to her mum in her final days.

Speaking about the release, she said: 'Hearing the song after all these years planted the seed that I had to record it and it seemed like a good idea to focus my energy on raising awareness of the disease.

'I feel very fortunate to be able to use my platform to do this and all proceeds will go to the wonderful charity, The Brain Tumour Charity. I hope others will find comfort from the beautiful words in this song.'

The Brain Tumour Charity said: 'We are honoured as a charity to have Amy Nuttall's support. We hope the music will help families connect and bring joy.

'We are the UK's largest dedicated brain tumour charity, we are committed to fighting brain tumours on all fronts and are delighted to support Amy.'

Amy posted a heartfelt tribute to her mother in November, writing: 'My heart is beating loudly whilst I write this. Yesterday I said goodbye to my beautiful dear mummy. She was diagnosed in July with a glioblastoma (grade 4).

'To say it was the biggest shock would be an understatement. Together with my wonderful family, we helped care for her to the end where she died in my arms as I lay beside her on 30/10/23 at 5.05pm.

'She humbled us all with how she handled this cruel diagnosis never complaining, always smiling and bringing her daft humour to the fore every day.

Amy posted a heartfelt tribute to her mother in November after her passing

Amy played housemaid Ethel Parkins in Downton Abbey

'Mum, you were my rock. Always. My best friend. I'm not sure how I'm going to do life without you but I know you'll always be with me to carry me through as you always did. Thank you mummy you gave me the best days I ever had.'

Thank You Mother is available across all major streaming platforms.

You can donate to The Brain Tumour Charity here.
Jessica Alba looked incredible in red as she graced the inaugural cover of Madame Arabia on Wednesday.

The actress, 42, wowed in a red PVC top and matching wrapped skirt that she paired with minimal silver jewelry.

The mom-of-three opted for smoky shadow and a berry lipstick, with her brunette locks worn slicked back.

She posted a behind-the-scenes of the photoshoot, which took place in Dubai, as she modeled various trendy looks for the magazine.

In the interview, Jessica revealed that she struggles with imposter syndrome and self-doubt - but says her confidence has improved with time.

Jessica Alba looked incredible in red as she graced the inaugural cover of Madame Arabia on Wednesday

'I got a lot clearer about how I wanted to operate in the world. Who I wanted to surround myself with, and what I was not going to do anymore.

'I think the power of "no" is so strong  for me, its considerably stronger than "yes,"' the actress shared.

In 2012, she founded Honest, a lifestyle brand selling personal care, beauty, baby and household products.

Alba credits her involvement in the company for connecting her with other women with similar aspirations like Sofia Vergara, Salma Hayek, and America Ferrera.

She noted, 'I think building community as women is really important. I believe society for too long has brainwashed us into thinking that we should be competitive, or that we are only worthwhile when were at a certain point in our lives.

'But I think the more we can put our arms around each other at every stage of life and celebrate one another, the better.'

The big screen icon shared what its like to age in the industry and what she does to maintain positive and assertive attitude:

'Theres this confidence, a sort of swagger that happens when you are in your late 30s and into your 40s and 50s, its just undeniable. You can really feel the energy And its so cool because its very much the opposite of what we have been taught as women.

In the interview , Jessica revealed that she struggles with imposter syndrome and self-doubt - but says her confidence has improved with time - pictured with husband Cash Warren in 2023

Jessica and Cash share daughters Honor, 15, and Haven, 11 as well as six-year-old son Hayes

'Much like how we have been conditioned to think that when you become a mother you are no longer desirable. But the truth is, my friends actually discovered their best selves after they became mothers.'

Jessica is married to Cash Warren, and in addition to their two daughters Honor, 15 and Haven, 11, they share a six-year-old son called Hayes.

Cash, who is the son of Hill Street Blues actor Michael Warren, met Jessica while working as an assistant director on her critically savaged 2005 film Fantastic Four.

They spontaneously decided to get married at a Beverly Hills courthouse one day in 2008 while Jessica was heavily pregnant with Honor.
Gal Gadot shocked fans on Wednesday by announcing the birth of her fourth child - a baby daughter named Ori.

The news seemingly came out of the blue as the 38-year-old hadn't publicly revealed her pregnancy.

The Israeli actress has kept a low profile in recent months and has used her Instagram account to promote the plight of Israeli hostages post October 7, rather than herself.

She's made very few public appearances, and even skipped a screening she had organized of Hamas' terror attack in November.

Gal Gadot shocked fans on Wednesday by announcing the birth of her fourth child after keeping the pregnancy completely under wraps

The Wonder Woman star was last spotted heading to the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles with her husband Jaron Varsano in December. (Both pictured)

Before that, she was spotted running some errands in Los Angeles with her eldest daughter Alma in November

The Wonder Woman star was last spotted swanning into the swanky Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles with her husband Jaron Varsano on December 4.

She was dressed in tight leather pants, but attempted to conceal her stomach with a loose-fitting lemon sweater.

She had minimal makeup and hid her famous visage behind a pair of aviator sunglasses.

Before that, she was spotted running some errands in Los Angeles with her eldest daughter Alma in November.

In a bid to conceal her growing bump, Gal wore black sweatpants and matching hooded sweatshirt.

The star's last major red appearance was at the Hollywood premiere of the Barbie movie on July 9.

While it's unclear if she had conceived at this point or not, her brown leather JW Anderson frock featured a ruffle skirt that covered her stomach.

The star's last major red appearance was at the Hollywood premiere of the Barbie movie on July 9

Ori is Gal and her husband's fourth child together. The couple also share daughters Alma, 12, Maya, six, and Daniella, two. (All pictured)

Gal's secrecy is a world away from how public her last pregnancy was in 2021.

While expecting her third daughter Daniella, the former IDF soldier regularly flaunted her baby bump in public and on social media.

Gal shared the big news of her latest birth with fans on Instagram on Wednesday, posting a snap of her cuddling her newborn daughter and the meaning behind the child's name, Ori.

The actress publicly flaunted her last pregnancy in 2021 by announcing it on Instagram

She often shared photos from her third pregnancy on social media with her millions of fans

'My sweet girl, welcome. The pregnancy was not easy and we made it through. You have brought so much light into our lives, living up to your name, Ori, which means "my light" in Hebrew. Our hearts are full of gratitude,' she captioned the post.

'Welcome to the house of girls. Daddy is pretty cool too,' she added. Her husband, Jaron Varsano, was tagged in the photo.

Ori is Gal and her husband's fourth child together. The couple also share daughters Alma, 12, Maya, six, and Daniella, two.

Gal revealed in 2020 that she and her spouse met at a 'chakra/yoga retreat type of party' during an interview with Vogue.

The couple wed in 2008 after feeling instantly enamored with one another.
Married At First Sight's Sara Mesa has been spotted for the first time after she was exposed for 'cheating' on her groom Tim Calwell with an ex boyfriend.

The nutritionist, 29, shielded her face as she left the Skye Suites in Green Square, Sydney on Thursday morning after Wednesday's shock dinner party.

The camera shy bride showed off her natural beauty, going makeup free for the outing.

She opted for comfort in a baggy white T-shirt and trousers.

The Sydney-based bride yelled at the photographer and begged them not to take any photos of her dressed in her pajamas.

Married At First Sight's Sara Mesa has been spotted for the first time after she was exposed for 'cheating' on her groom Tim Calwell with an ex boyfriend

The nutritionist, 29, shielded her face as she left the Skye Suites in Green Square, Sydney on Thursday morning after Wednesday's shock dinner party

It comes after her MAFS co-star Eden Harper, 28, accused Sara of secretly meeting up with an ex-boyfriend behind her TV husband Tim Calwell's back in scenes which aired on Wednesday evening.

Following the bombshell accusations, Sara spoke to Daily Mail Australia about her side of the story.

Explaining what happened, Sara said: 'One weekend, I did go out with my friends, and my ex was there. I'm still friends with him, which I made very clear to Tim.'

The camera shy bride showed off her natural beauty, going makeup free for the outing

Sara opted for comfort in a baggy white t-shirt and trousers and a pair of beige slippers

She also expressed her disappointment in Eden's actions, feeling let down by her decision to bring the issue to light in front of Tim at the dinner party without discussing it with her first.

'It felt a bit sad to see her throw me under the bus like that and not really talk to me about it beforehand,' she said.

Sara acknowledged her mistake in handling the situation with Tim, admitting to emotional infidelity.

Following the bombshell accusations, Sara spoke to Daily Mail Australia about her side of the story

'One weekend, I did go out with my friends, and my ex was there. I'm still friends with him, which I made very clear to Tim,' Mesa stated. (Sara pictured with Lauren at Paddo Inn on the night in question)

'At the end of the day, it would be emotionally cheating, and I totally take that on. I feel like how I dealt with the situation was completely wrong,' she confessed.

She further admitted to not being transparent with 'husband' Tim about her whereabouts and company.

'Now looking back, I'm like, I should have just been open and honest with Tim about where I was and who I was with, and maybe brought him along,' she said.

The controversy came to a head during the Byron Bay retreat on Tuesday, where fellow bride Eden felt torn about revealing a significant 'secret' concerning Sara.

Daily Mail Australia had exclusively revealed that Eden would expose Sara's 'secret meetings' with her ex-boyfriend, leading to intense speculation.

After isolating from the group activities at the retreat, her husband Jayden Eynaud expressed his concern, leading to her claiming that Sara had secretly met her ex-boyfriend behind her 'husband' Tim Calwell's back.

She claimed that via text, Sara had asked her to borrow some clothes for dinner, before shockingly revealing that she was meeting up with her ex-boyfriend.

Dropping the bombshell, she said: 'Just before the retreat, someone in the experiment sent me a message asking me for clothes, she's like "I want to wear a cool top to dinner tonight".

Fellow bride Eden Harper claimed that via text, Sara had asked her to borrow some clothes for dinner, before shockingly revealing that she was meeting up with her ex-boyfriend

'And I was like sweet, and I'd written to her, "where are you going to dinner?" and when I've opened it, she's said "I'm seeing my ex-boyfriend". It's Sara.'

A shocked Jayden insisted Sara's alleged actions equated to 'cheating' and the couple - who have both been cheated on by exes - agreed that Tim needed to know.

Jayden was left enraged upon learning of his wife's claims, and insisted that it was 'cheating' as he told Eden that they needed to tell Tim, and she was quick to agree.

A teaser clip for Wednesday's episode showed Eden telling Sara that if she didn't come clean about her antics the weekend before, then she would tell Tim in a cliffhanger ending.
Kim Kardashian put on a characteristically racy display in a sizzling new Instagram album Wednesday.

The pictures were evidently taken Sunday, when Kim exuded mob wife chic in a fuzzy, animal print Balenciaga couture coat while out in Paris.

She wrapped herself in the jacket while heading to lunch at Costes, an upscale hotel a stone's throw from the Place Vendome.

During that daytime outing, she was seen wearing bandages on two of her fingers, but she has yet to explain how she injured her hand.

In her new Instagram album, she wore the same saucy animal print coat - and served up a generous helping of cleavage underneath.

Kim Kardashian the busty bombshell put on a characteristically racy display in a sizzling new Instagram album Wednesday

Kim enjoyed a long association with the fashion house, frequently modeling its designs before becoming a brand ambassador this January

Kim heaped with opprobrium last summer when Balenciaga was slammed for an ad campaign involving controversial pictures of children

Kim went tantalizingly topless under the coat in her pictures, letting the Balenciaga wrap fall open over her ample assets and enviably taut midriff.

She raised her hands to adjust her futuristic wine-red sunglasses, throwing the bandages on her left hand into relief.

Kim was in the French capital for Paris Fashion Week, where she of course secured a front row seat to take in the Balenciaga show.

While there, she found herself seated next to Mexican screen queen Salma Hayek and attempted to teach her how to take a selfie.

Evidently Kim had limited success imparting her influencer skills, as Salma's face was partly cut off in the selfie she eventually took and posted to Instagram.

Salma is married to French tycoon Francois-Henri Pinault, the longtime chairman and CEO of Balenciaga's parent company, the Kering Group.

Kim, meanwhile, has also enjoyed a long association with the fashion house, frequently modeling its designs before becoming a brand ambassador this January.

Both Kim and Salma were heaped with opprobrium last summer when Balenciaga was slammed for an ad campaign involving children.

The pictures were evidently taken Sunday, when Kim exuded mob wife chic in a fuzzy, animal print Balenciaga couture coat while out in Paris (pictured arriving at the Ritz)

Kim was in the French capital for Paris Fashion Week, where she of course secured a front row seat to take in the Balenciaga show, where she is pictured

While there, she found herself seated next to Mexican screen queen Salma Hayek and attempted to teach her how to take a selfie

Evidently Kim had limited success imparting her influencer skills, as Salma's face was partly cut off in the selfie she eventually took and posted to Instagram

Some pictures showed children holding teddy-bear-shaped purses that were dressed in what appeared to be bondage gear.

One of the snaps was of a bag on a desk strewn with papers - one of which was a United States Supreme Court ruling involving child pornography.

A particularly controversial photo showed a child lying down on a couch next to a coffee table with empty wineglasses and Stella Artois chalices.

Although Kim was not part of the campaign, her past association with the brand made her a lightning rod for the mounting backlash.

Under gathering pressure, she issued a statement denouncing the campaign, saying she was 'disgusted' and 'outraged' by the pictures.

'I am currently re-evaluating my relationship with the brand, basing it off their willingness to accept accountability for something that should have never happened to begin with - & the actions I am expecting to see them take to protect children,' the business mogul said, at the time.

Salma on the other hand kept silent, which made her a target of blowback given her husband's position at the top of Balenciaga's parent company.
Brittany Cartwright is splitting from Jax Taylor after five years of marriage - and now it appears the aftermath will all unfold on television.

The 35-year-old filmed her move out from the home she shares with Taylor on Wednesday.

Film crew were present as Cartwright stood outside their Los Angeles residence, with her suitcase sitting at her feet.

She chatted with several crew members before they retreated and she picked up her belongings. She was reportedly filming her retrieving more of her belongings from the home.

The Bravolebrity donned a black and taupe turtleneck, high-waist trousers, a leather purse over her shoulder, and a dazzling ring on her ring finger.

Brittany Cartwright filmed her move out from the Los Angeles home she shares with Jax Taylor on Wednesday

Perhaps Brittany's scene will be included on the new spin-off show she and Jax star in, The Valley, which follows their lives as a married couple.

Meanwhile, her estranged husband Jax was spotted running errands. He donned a grey sweatshirt and matching cap, both of which promoted his new Studio City restaurant, Jax's.

The newest sighting comes after Brittany dropped her married last name from her Instagram profile.

The Vanderpump Rules alum had her name listed as Brittany Cartwright Cauchi as of Saturday until she dropped her now-estranged husband's name sometime on Sunday.

The social media move was not long after Jax claimed both he and Brittany are still living under the same roof.

Around the same time, Brittany also commented on their split and revealed to TMZ that she was willing to give Jax another chance - but only if he made some important changes 'about his life.'

Last week, Brittany, who shares two-year-old son Cruz with Taylor, announced their split on their joint podcast titled When Reality Hits.

Talking to TMZ in Los Angeles on Friday, Brittany mentioned her willingness to give Jax another chance.

When questioned about how they were attempting to 'work through their troubles,' she commented, 'I mean, it's Jax. So, he's not really trying that much right now.'

Brittany's belongings - which included a suitcase - sat by her feet

Regarding marriage counseling, she mentioned, 'I've asked him for a while to do certain things and nothing has come from that yet.'

She also dismissed speculation that the split and her move were a publicity stunt for The Valley, set to release later this month.

'This is definitely for my mental health. Like, I think that has been one of the hardest parts right now - that people are speculating that I am doing something for the show coming up...No.'

The reality star continued, 'Whenever you fight with somebody for so long, there's only so much that you can take.'

'And I deserve better, Cruz deserves better. We want a good co-parenting relationship and I think moving out and taking space to figure out if this is what I want is the best situation for me right now.'

Her estranged husband, Jax Taylor, was spotted running errands in clothing promoting his new Studio City restaurant

Cartwright removed her married last name from her Instagram profile following her split from Jax

The Vanderpump Rules alum, 35, had her name listed as Brittany Cartwright Cauchi as of Saturday until she dropped her now-estranged husband's name sometime on Sunday



Only hours after Brittany revealed on their podcast that they are 'taking time apart' after four years of marriage, Taylor told Page Six that they were not planning for 'divorce.'

'We're together. We're living in our home right now,' he said, while also claiming that Brittany had already moved back in to their marital home in Sherman Oaks.

'She was in a house for a while, but yeah, she's back now,' the TV personality added to the outlet.

'It's not evil or nastiness. It's just two people that you know are hitting a 10-year mark in their marriage.'

The pair have been together for nearly a decade since they started dating in 2015 and share one child together. They tied the knot in 2019 and welcomed their son Cruz, now three, a couple years later in 2021; seen in May 2023

Last week, Brittany, who shares two-year-old son Cruz with Taylor, announced their split on their joint podcast titled When Reality Hits

Jax and Brittany initiated their relationship almost a decade ago, in 2015, following their first encounter in Las Vegas. Nevertheless, their romance faced a setback two years later when Taylor cheated with their co-star, Faith Stowers.

Despite the challenges, the reality stars reconciled and exchanged vows in 2019.

Meanwhile, The Valley is set to premiere later this month on March 19.

The official premise 'follows a group of close friends as they trade bottle service in West Hollywood for baby bottles in the Valley all while they navigate bustling businesses, rocky relationships and feisty friendships.'

In a December 2020 announcement, Jax and Brittany revealed their departure from Vanderpump Rules.

Several days earlier, Cartwright and the 44-year-old reality star  whose full birth name is Jason Michael Cauchi  announced their separation after four years of marriage; seen in December 2019

Their marital woes came to light after Cartwright and Taylor announced they were separating last Thursday. Cartwright confirmed the shocking news on a recent episode of their joint podcast When Reality Hits; seen in November 2019

Meanwhile, Doute faced a series exit earlier in June 2020, along with co-star Stassi Schroeder, following the revelation of the 2018 incident where she and Stassi called the police on former castmate Faith Stowers to implicate her in a crime she did not commit.

'I think that they learned a lot, I think they appreciate what it means to be on television and have this opportunity when its taken away from them, so I think theres that, ' producer Alex Baskin recently told The Hollywood Reporter.

'We address the Kristen situation, as well, so it isnt like we pretend that everything didnt happen,' he continued. 'That comes up and is part of what we cover on the show.'
This video is no longer available

This video is no longer available

New Melbourne Nova breakfast radio host Jase Hawkins took a brutal swipe at his rival Kyle Sandilands on Friday.

Jase and his co-host Lauren Phillips appeared on Channel Nine's Today show on Thursday to discuss their return to the airwaves after their program was axed by KIIS FM last year to make way for Kyle and Jackie 'O' Henderson.

'I was on The Kyle and Jackie O show last week and they were talking about how they are coming to Melbourne so you guys will have to go up against them,' host Karl Stefanovic said.

'So what would you like to say to those two on the airwaves right now?'

Jase responded: 'The talk is when they're going to start and if it keeps going on like this, my concern is Kyle could be dead or casting from a retirement home.'

Jase Hawkins took a brutal swipe at rival Kyle Sandilands ahead of his return to the Melbourne radio waves on Friday

'We are friends I can say that,' he continued, before revealing Sandilands had congratulated him on his new role.

'When it was announced we were going to Nova, Kyle was one of the first on the texts to say it was a great move and congrats.'

Lauren jokingly added: 'They were friends until he pushed him over.'

Following their appearance on Today, Kyle took a swipe at Jase and Lauren on his KIIS FM breakfast show.

'Nova fired their breakfast show which was the worst rating show in Melbourne and bought the fourth worst show in Melbourne,' he said.

'What's Nova's business plan to never win? They seem happy to be losers.'

Jase and his co-host Lauren Phillips appeared on Channel Nine's Today show on Thursday to discuss their return to the airwaves after their program was axed by KIIS FM last year to make way for Kyle and Jackie 'O' Henderson

Jase and Lauren will be returning to the Melbourne radio waves on Friday with their new Nova radio program, which will be aired each weekday from 6am to 9am.

The high-rating team will be replacing the morning show hosted by Ben Harvey, Liam Stapleton and Belle Jackson.

Jase and Lauren recorded their last KIIS FM show on December 1.

In November, Sydney-based radio duo Kyle and Jackie 'O' signed a record-breaking $200million, 10-year deal live on-air - keeping them on the airwaves until 2034.

At the time, a spokesperson for ARN confirmed to Daily Mail Australia the deal for the Sydney duo meant their work pals Jase and Lauren were out of a job.

Jase and Lauren had their first show together in 2021, and it had an overwhelmingly positive response.

Nova 100's current breakfast team, Ben, Liam & Belle, will host a brand new national show, Late Drive, airing weekdays from 6pm to 8pm.
Media personality Mel Greig has revealed that she became a parent in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 41-year-old took to social media on Thursday to drop the bombshell news that she fostered a 14-year-old girl in 2020.

Mel and former co-host Michael Christian made headlines in 2012 when they impersonated Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles to gain information about Kate Middleton during a hospital stay.

Days later, Indian-born Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who took the call, killed herself, naming Michael and Mel in her suicide note.

Taking to Instagram today, the radio host shared a collection of photographs celebrating her foster daughter's 18th birthday.

Media personality Mel Greig has revealed that she became a foster parent in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Mel and former co-host Michael Christian made headlines in 2012 when they impersonated Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles to gain information about Kate Middleton (pictured in 2012 with Prince William) during a hospital stay

Days later, Indian-born Jacintha Saldanha (pictured), the nurse who took the call, killed herself, naming Michael and Mel in her suicide note

Mel has urged followers to consider foster caring. She said: 'You should consider foster caring if you're in a position to do so, so many kids need safe and happy homes'

Mel also shared the backstory of her fostering process, captioning the post, 'One of my greatest achievements was becoming a Foster Care Parent. During COVID it was heartbreaking to see the system overwhelmed and kids struggling to have safe homes'.

'I did the 6-months of training and got my accreditation... The next day 14yr old Jacqueline was at my doorstep'.

'Today she turns 18 and has grown into a strong, determined and kind young woman and I'm so proud of her. The laws are different state by state and she couldn't come to QLD with me'.

'I can't wait to get back to Sydney and spend more time with her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jac, love you always,' she wrote.

Mel also urged followers to consider foster caring: 'You should consider foster caring if you're in a position to do so, so many kids need safe and happy homes,' she said.

Taking to Instagram, the 41-year-old shared a collection of photographs celebrating her foster daughter's 18th Birthday

Mel also shared the backstory of her fostering process captioning the post 'one of my greatest achievements was becoming a Foster Care Parent'

Sharing a concerning message to her account, the public relations and media manager told her followers not to 'worry' about her.

It comes after Greig shared a worrisome message with her followers in December, revealing she was taking a break from social media after a recent betrayal.

Currently suffering with 'delayed PTSD', Mel told her Instagram followers that she is now taking a break from social media because someone close to her has 'been beyond awful'.

'Mentally I need some time out. I've been going through a lot lately, mostly behind the scenes,' the initial image read.

She continued: 'No one worry about me, I've got this and will be back in January with a job that fuels my soul.'

'I did the 6-months of training and got my accreditation... The next day 14yr old Jacqueline was at my doorstep' she said

In the caption, Mel continued with her heartfelt message, saying she 'always promised to share my mental health journey'.

While Michael continued to work for 2Day FM after the royal controversy, Mel struggled to get back into radio after years of negative headlines, public scrutiny and feelings of profound guilt and regret.

'I applied for over 100 jobs and got 100 no's back,' she told Mamamia last year of her attempt at a media industry comeback.

'A charity wouldn't even take the risk of letting me work behind-the-scenes stuffing envelopes. I just wanted to do good things for my soul again, and no one was giving me that chance,' she added.

But after finally scoring a gig at Illawarra's Wave FM 96.5 in 2015, Mel quit after two years and now works as a public relations and media manager.

When asked by SBS Insight host Kumi Taguchi whether she was scared for own safety during the scandal, the shattered radio presenter replied: 'I wasn't scared for my safety because I thought maybe I did deserve to die for what I did.'

In 2012, the former 2Day FM announcer and her co-host Michael Christian (left) were named in the suicide note of British nurse Jacintha Saldanha
Google, Apple, Meta absent from AMCHAM meeting with FTC chairman

By Park Jae-hyuk

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) reiterated its stance to introduce a law to predesignate market-dominant online platforms to prevent unfair practices, during a high-profile meeting between commission Chairman Han Ki-jeong and members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM), Thursday.

The meeting ended without tangible progress on the proposed Online Platform Act, raising concerns among U.S. tech giants about the potential to inadvertently favor Chinese late movers such as AliExpress and Temu, which are unlikely to be affected by the regulation due to their relatively low market shares.

An AMCHAM official noted that representatives from major U.S. platform operators like Google, Apple, and Meta did not attend the event, but cautioned against interpreting their absence as a deliberate "boycott."

They were not able to attend this event because they had other appointments, the official said. The U.S. tech firms also did not participate in the business lobby's meeting with an FTC secretary general in January.

In his welcoming remarks at the event, AMCHAM Chairman James Kim addressed the platform act, urging the Korean government to allocate sufficient time for thorough consultations with the industry before introducing new legislations.

To unlock Koreas true potential, it is imperative to ensure a fair and transparent business environment for both domestic and foreign companies, he said. Our survey shows that an unpredictable regulatory landscape is the primary concern for the AMCHAM business community.

The FTC chairman, who introduced the commissions policy plans for this year, said that it will push for the enactment of the platform act, although the antitrust agency indicated its intention last month to reconsider the legislation of the controversial act from the ground up.

We are committed to pursuing legislation aimed at swiftly and effectively preventing fallout from monopolistic online platforms, he said. After listening to opinions from industry insiders and stakeholders, we will propose a reasonable bill.

However, after the event, he declined to answer reporters questions about the FTCs plan for the legislation.

In February, the watchdog indefinitely postponed the disclosure of a detailed government plan, which was initially expected to be announced before the Lunar New Year.

Both AMCHAM and the FTC explained that the main purpose of their latest meeting was to introduce the Korean government's overarching antitrust policies for the year to U.S. companies, rather than solely focusing on discussions regarding platform regulations.
Anna Marie Tendler, the ex-wife of actor John Mulaney, is slated to release a memoir titled Men Have Called Her Crazy this August, providing details into her split with the actor-comedian.

Tendler, 38, took to Instagram on Tuesday with a photo in which she showcased a copy of the book, which is set to be released August 13 by Simon & Schuster.

'It is a story about mental health; about being a woman; about family,' Tendler described the book in a caption. 'And finally, about the endless source of my heartbreak and rage - men.'

The Bethel, Connecticut-born visual artist-writer said that the memoir is the product of her life experience.

'I have been writing this book for two years,' Tendler said. 'More accurately though I have been writing it for close to four decades. I have never been more proud of any work.'

Anna Marie Tendler, 38, the ex-wife of actor John Mulaney, 41, is slated to release a memoir titled Men Have Called Her Crazy this August, providing details into her split with the actor-comedian

The former couple was pictured on the red carpet in NYC in July of 2019

She joked of the time she invested in the tome: 'You didnt think I was just taking photos of sunsets and seashores this whole time, did you?'

Tendler noted that the book 'is now available for pre-order,' and asked her 329,000-plus followers to share a link 'with anyone for whom you think this book might resonate.'

Mulaney and Tendler wed on July 5, 2014 at the Onteora Mountain House in the Catskill Mountains in Boiceville, New York with notable names such as Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler in attendance, US reported at the time.

Mulaney in July of 2021 filed for divorce to end the marriage to Tendler, who told People via her rep that she was 'heartbroken that John has decided to end our marriage.'

In the months leading to the divorce, Mulaney had checked into a rehab facility in December of 2020 for a 60-day stint.

Days after the divorce was announced, reports emerged that Mulaney was romantically-linked to actress Olivia Munn, 43, and the pair emerged publicly four months after.

In November of 2021, Mulaney and Munn welcomed son Malcolm Hiep Mulaney.

'He has his whole life ahead of him,' Mulaney said alongside of a picture of his son he shared to Instagram on Christmas Eve 2021. 'He hasnt even tried seltzer yet. Im very in love with him and his whole deal.'

Tendler later took to the social media site to thank people who pre-ordered her book

The Bethel, Connecticut-born visual artist-writer said that the memoir is the product of her life experience

Tendler opened up on the emotional impact left in the aftermath of her divorce in a Harper's Bazaar interview in January of 2022.

'Everything that has transpired has been totally shocking and I think surreal,' Tendler said. 'In a way, I feel like, well, it can only go up from here, because I reached the depth of where I could go.'

Tendler in June of 2023 said in a piece for Elle that she'd been 'hospitalized for depression, self-harm, and severe suicidal ideation in the first two weeks of 2021,' months before her split from Mulaney.

She said that her late pet canine Petunia helped buoy her spirits amid the turbulent time.

'The doctors asked me to make a list of my reasons for living,' Tendler said. 'Petunia was the one and only thing on that list.'
Drew Carey has revealed he finally has closure on his ex-fiancee's murder after her killer was sentenced to life in prison last year.

Gareth Pursehouse, 45, was hit with the maximum sentence in December 2023 for the brutal 2020 murder of 38-year-old Amie Harwick at her Hollywood Hills home.

The Price is Right host Carey, 65, dated sex therapist Harwick for two years before the pair split in 2018, months after announcing their engagement.

Speaking to People he said: 'I can barely remember the guy's name  that's how much I've put him out of my life  but ever since the final sentencing, it feels like we've all let out a breath and are able to finally move on.

'The whole process is over now, and there's nothing else to be done and nothing else to worry about.  Just speaking just for myself, it's been quite a load off.'

Drew Carey has revealed he finally has closure on his ex-fiancee Amie Harwick's murder after her killer was sentenced to life in prison last year (pictured 2017)

Gareth Pursehouse, 45, was hit with the maximum sentence in December 2023 for the brutal 2020 murder of 38-year-old Harwick

Four years after her death Carey keeps Harwick close by keeping pictures of her in his home and a snap of her in his dressing room which he looks at on his way out of the door every day en-route to set.

He said: 'Shes with me always. A lot of times Ill feel like Ill be thinking things through, and its almost like I can hear her voice saying, "Well, really, its because of this and that." Its really nice, honestly.'

Carey has previously said he and Harwick shared a 'love that people are lucky to have once in a lifetime.'

In September, Pursehouse was convicted of first-degree murder for killing his ex-girlfriend - Harwick - after stalking her for 10 years following a bad breakup.

Harwick dated her killer Pursehouse until 2011 when they broke up and she got a protective order against him and told friends she was afraid of him.

Prosecutors said he broke into Harwick's Hollywood Hills home in February 2020 and waited for about four hours for her to return in an attempt to 'catch her by surprise' while he was carrying a syringe containing a 'lethal' dose of nicotine.

The former Playboy model was found unconscious after falling from a third-floor balcony in her home.

An autopsy report determined sex therapist Harwick died from blunt force injuries to the head and torso from a fall after an altercation.

An autopsy report determined sex therapist Harwick died from blunt force injuries to the head and torso from a fall after an altercation (pictured 2016)

Speaking to People he said: 'I can barely remember the guy's name  that's how much I've put him out of my life  but ever since the final sentencing, it feels like we've all let out a breath and are able to finally move on'

Carey had been subpoenaed to testify in the murder trial after he exchanged text messages with Harwick two days before she died.

The sentence also stipulates that Pursehouse will never be granted parole during his incarceration, which will commence immediately at a California state prison.

It is the maximum amount allowed after executions were halted by Gavin Newsom.

Although the star was not present at Wednesday's sentencing, Carey previously spoke about Harwick's murder in a 2022 interview with 48 Hours.

There, he shared the final text exchange he shared with his ex two days before she was killed, while revealing she had been worried about Pursehouse even while they were dating.

'When I heard that she got murdered, right away, I thought: "Its gotta be that guy,' the former Whose Line Is It Anyway host said at the time.

'I got a text from her [two days before], 'I would love to get together with you and talk,' Carey continued. 'I said, "Yeah, I would love to do that. I love you."'

When 48 Hours correspondent Erin Moriarty asked if he was 'sad' he 'never got that chance', the comic teared up.

'I never got it,' he said. 'I never had a chance to do it.'

At a point, the interview urged Carey that Harwick loved him, to which he responded: 'That's the big solace I get from it, is that she loved me... And I'm glad I could get that message to her before she died.'

'I hope you're lucky enough to have someone in your life that loves as much as she did,' Carey said on Twitter in February upon learning of her death.

Harwick was a prominent Hollywood marriage and sex therapist. She appeared on TV and radio shows and wrote a book called The New Sex Bible for Women.

At sentencing, Harwick's family and friends spoke about how they were affected by the murder, which prosecutors proved was premeditated.

Carey has previously said he and Harwick shared a 'love that people are lucky to have once in a lifetime'

Tom Harwick, the marriage and sex counselor's father, said: 'My name is Tom Harwick, and I am the forever grieving father of my dearly departed daughter Amie.'

'I will be reading the following words from a paper out of fear I will forget, but you may be assured that these words are being recited from deep within my heart.'

'I am totally grateful for the services you've rendered to me and my family during this horrible ordeal,' he continued, adding, 'justice to Amie has been served.'
Lala Kent's friendship with her ex-fiance Randall Emmett's former wife Ambyr Childers appears to be going strong.

After Ambyr, 35, recently congratulated the Vanderpump Rules star, 33, on her pregnancy, Lala enjoyed a friendly exchange with her on Instagram.

The actress took to her Stories on Wednesday to show off her fresh blonde hairdo, writing, 'Fresh hair, who dis? Where's my wing woman at?'

Lala reposted it to her own Stories, writing, 'Girl I'm right here, bump and all! Let's go get em.'

The two have not always been friends, amid their tension over Emmett, 52, but a source recently told Us Weekly: 'Although things between Lala and Ambyr were rocky at first, they squashed any issues they had years ago.'

Lala Kent's, 33, friendship with her ex Randall Emmett's, 52, former wife Ambyr Childers, 35, appears to be going strong; Lala seen in January at the Creative Arts Emmys in Los Angeles

After Ambyr recently congratulated the Vanderpump Rules star on her pregnancy, Lala enjoyed a friendly exchange with her on Instagram

The source added that it was 'really important' to Kent to 'make amends' with Childers.

'They both have a mutual goal and understanding  doing what's best for their girls,' the insider said about the pair, who both share kids with Emmett.

Earlier this week Childers, who was married to Lala's ex-fiance Randall from 2009-2017 and shares two daughters with him, took to Instagram to post a sweet comment to Lala as she unveiled her bump.

The You star wrote: 'Congratulations mama!' followed by a string of hearts.

The reality star surprised fans with the happy news on Sunday, in an adorable Instagram post with her daughter Ocean, nearly three, who she shares with Emmett.

It showed her baring her growing pregnancy belly in a pair of unzipped jeans, as Ocean stood next to her smiling.

'I'm expanding my pod,' Lala wrote in the caption, adding, 'Cheers to a new addition to my little family.'

In January she spoke about wanting to conceive her second child via IUI with the help of a sperm donor.

The actress took to her Stories on Wednesday writing, 'Fresh hair, who dis? Where's my wing woman at?' Lala reposted it, writing, 'Girl I'm right here, bump and all! Let's go get em'

The two have not always been friends, amid their tension over Emmett, but a source recently told Us Weekly: 'They squashed any issues they had years ago'; Lala seen with Randall in 2021

The source added that it was 'really important' to Kent to 'make amends' with Childers. 'They both have a mutual goal and understanding  doing what's best for their girls,' the insider said about the pair, who both share kids with Emmett

Childers was married to Lala's ex-fiance Randall from 2009-2017 and shares two daughters, London, 12, and Rylee, nine, with him; seen with her girls in 2015

Meanwhile Lala shares daughter Ocean, two, with Emmett; Ambyr is seen with Kent after the pair bonded at Ocean's second birthday party in Los Angeles last year

Back in August Childers has opened up about her 'destructive' marriage to ex-husband Emmett and the 'difficult' process of continuing to co-parent their two daughters with him after he faced shocking accusations of 'suspected child exploitation and pedophilia'.

The star spoke exclusively to DailyMail.com about the toll that the allegations have taken on her daughters London, 12, and Rylee, nine, as the sordid claims continue to swirl around her film producer ex.

In the candid chat, the actress admitted she was having a 'really difficult time' but was determined 'to do what is best' for her children.

Ambyr and Emmett wed in 2009 and were married for eight years but the fallout from the divorce has proved to be acrimonious.

In October 2022, Ambyr first filed for a domestic violence restraining order against the film producer in Los Angeles County Superior Court, stating she had 'legitimate fear for [her] safety and well-being.'

Her first filing was initially dismissed but she was eventually granted one three days before Christmas.

It ordered Emmett to stay 100 yards away from his ex-wife, according to The Los Angeles Times.

He was also forbidden from contacting her unless it is was a 'brief and peaceful interaction' about visitation for London and Rylee.

Childers congratulated Lala as she announced her pregnancy this week. In January Lala spoke about wanting to conceive her second child via IUI with the help of a sperm donor

The You star wrote: 'Congratulations mama!' followed by a string of hearts

Ambyr claimed in her court filing that Emmett was 'physically and emotionally abusive' while they were married.

She added that when he asked her to sign a post-nuptial financial agreement in 2015, and she refused, he got so upset and put his left hand on her neck, 'squeezing with such force that [Ambyr] had difficulty breathing.'

The star also claimed that in 2016, when he brought up the proposed agreement once more, Emmett 'again attempted to strangle' her.

Emmett's litigation attorney, Suann C. MacIsaac, said in another statement, 'Mr. Emmett adamantly denies all of the allegations in Ms. Childer's recent declaration.'

The restraining order was later dismissed following a report that the former couple were working on a settlement.

Ambyr also revealed that although her friendship with Kent 'has not always been easy,' the Vanderpump Rules star continues to 'inspire' her.

Kent met the producer in 2015 and the pair went public with their romance in 2018, a year after he divorced his former wife, Ambyr.

The former couple became engaged during a trip to Cabo San Lucas that took place that same year. The Bravo star went on to announce that she and her former fiance had planned to tie the knot in April of 2020, although they ultimately postponed their wedding.

The red carpet wonder is still seemingly partner-free after dumping the controversial Hollywood producer in 2021 amid allegations he cheated; seen in 2021

Kent went on to announce that she was pregnant in September of 2020, and she gave birth to her daughter Ocean the following March.

However, the pair went on to split in October of 2021 after Emmett was seen in the company of two women during an outing in Nashville.

The reality television personality subsequently told the Los Angeles Times that her former fiancee had 'tackled' her after she confronted him about claims of infidelity.

A spokesperson for the producer denied the Bravo star's claims, along with several other allegations that had been raised regarding their client's behavior.
Cillian Murphy has reportedly joined the running to take over as James Bond from Daniel Craig.

The actor, 47, has won acclaim for his lead role in blockbuster Oppenheimer and is the hot favourite to win Best Actor at the Oscars on Sunday.

According to The Sun, his performance in the film has caught the eye of Bond bosses who are still on the hunt for Daniel's replacement.

A source said: 'Cillian is the toast of Hollywood right now and this would be the ultimate role.

'This is a way to elevate the Bond franchise with an actor who is at the very top of his game.'

Cillian Murphy has reportedly joined the running to take over as James Bond from Daniel Craig

A source said: 'Cillian is the toast of Hollywood right now and this would be the ultimate role' (Daniel Craig pictured as James Bond)

James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli is said to have been keeping a close eye on Cillian over the last year.

However there is still plenty of time to decide as work on the 26th Bond film will reportedly not begin until late next year.

Cillian's Oppenheimer co-star Clay Bunker has backed the idea of the Irish actor taking over as 007.

He said: 'He would fare beautifully. It's funny because Cillian is the nicest human but he has that dark side and there's a darkness to Bond.

'We forget that sometimes Bond is like the character [Ian] Fleming created  a pretty dark character.

'He just happens to be on the side that we call good. Cillian has that ability to tap into that.'

Daniel starred in five Bond films; Casino Royale was his first in 2005 and No Time To Die his last in 2021.

It comes after Cillian paid a heartfelt tribute to his wife and sons as he won the Best Actor BAFTA for his role in Oppenheimer last month.

The actor has won acclaim for his lead role in blockbuster Oppenheimer and is the hot favourite to win Best Actor at the Oscars on Sunday

The star, who plays the titular role in Christopher Nolan's atomic bomb saga, picked up the prize at the star-studded London's Royal Festival Hall ceremony.

Presented with the trophy by Cate Blanchett, he paid tribute to wife of 20-years Yvonne McGuinness as well as sons Malachy, 18, and Aran, 16, who is also an actor.

He said: 'To Yvonne, Malachy and Aran you are my best friend and I love you so much'.

Cillian triumphed over Bradley Cooper for Maestro, Colman Domingo for Rustin, Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers, Barry Keoghan for Saltburn and Teo Yoo for Past Lives.

Accepting the trophy he said: 'Oh boy, holy moly, thank you very, very much BAFTA.'

It comes after Cillian paid a heartfelt tribute to his wife and sons as he won the Best Actor BAFTA for his role in Oppenheimer last month

The Irish actor picked up the prize at the star-studded London's Royal Festival Hall ceremony (Pictured with wife Yvonne McGuinness in 2006)

He also paid tribute to 'the most dynamic, kindest producer-director partnership in Hollywood: Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas, thank you for seeing something in me that I probably didn't see in myself.'

Cillian said to Nolan: 'Thank for always pushing me and demanding excellence because that is what you deliver time and time again.'

He also acknowledged his 'fellow nominees and my Oppenhomies', adding: 'I know it's a cliche to say, but I'm in awe of you.'

Cillian described J Robert Oppenheimer, known as the father of the atomic bomb, was a 'colossally knotty character', adding: 'We have a space to debate and interrogate and investigate that complexity and it's a privilege to be a part of this community with you all.'
Actor/writer/director B.J. Novak returned to his old stomping grounds in Boston last Friday, where he was 'pardoned' for a prank he pulled 27 years earlier.

The 44-year-old Newton, Massachusetts native was just 17 when he pulled an elaborate prank at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

He switched the audio cassettes which featured narration for an MFA exhibit entitled, 'Tales From the Land of Dragons.'

The tape instead featured narration from a character dubbed 'Lev Davidovich Bronstein,' which begins just like the original narration but devolves... quickly.

The Office star was featured as part of the MFA's Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Celebrity Lecture Series, where he displayed the full 'pardon' for his prank.

Actor/writer/director B.J. Novak returned to his old stomping grounds in Boston last Friday, where he was 'pardoned' for a prank he pulled 27 years earlier

Novak was featured as part of the MFA's Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Celebrity Lecture Series, where he displayed the full 'pardon' for his prank

He switched the audio cassettes which featured narration for an MFA exhibit entitled, 'Tales From the Land of Dragons'

Novak took to Instagram on Tuesday, sharing photos from his visit to MFA, and a photo of a news story explaining his prank more thoroughly.

'Its official: 27 years after a prank at the @mfaboston in which the audio cassette guides were switched with an original tour, I have been granted an official pardon,' Novak began.

'It was unbelievable to speak at the MFA about Art & Pranks with my great lifelong friend @another.amir moderating,' he said.

Novak added that he, 'even got to talk to Edwin the security guard who was there on the day of the prank.'

He also joked, 'I thought it might be a sting operation at first. But it seems all is well. Thank you MFA for your sense of humor and mercy and to everyone in Boston who came to see it.'

The first photo of the post was of a news story featuring a photo of Novak holding up his official pardon with Matthew Teitelbaum, director of the MFA.

The pardon read, 'Matthew Teitelbaum... officially pardons B.J. Novak for the debauching and rerecording of an audio tour in the year 1997 related to the exhibition Tales from the Land of Dragons.'

The pardon added that the prank was, 'a stunt that both confused countless visitors and reminded us that even the pettiest and sophomoric pranksters among us can leave an impact on a historic, national institution.'

The first photo of the post was of a news story featuring a photo of Novak holding up his official pardon with Matthew Teitelbaum, director of the MFA

Novak added that he, 'even got to talk to Edwin (left) the security guard who was there on the day of the prank.'

The pardon read, 'Matthew Teitelbaum... officially pardons B.J. Novak for the debauching and rerecording of an audio tour in the year 1997 related to the exhibition Tales from the Land of Dragons.'

He also shared an image from a newspaper clipping that sheds more light on the prank, which called Novak's rerecording, 'a less-than-scholarly guide to the display of ancient Chinese art.'

Novak also shared another photo of him with Teitelbaum, the security guard Edwin, his friend and moderator Amir, plus a photo of the pardon and the actual tape.

B.J. Novak's friend Amir who served as moderator for his appearance at MFA Boston

Novak also shared another photo of him with Teitelbaum, the security guard Edwin, his friend and moderator Amir, plus a photo of the pardon and the actual tape.

He also shared an image from a newspaper clipping that sheds more light on the prank, which called Novak's rerecording, 'a less-than-scholarly guide to the display of ancient Chinese art.'

'A prankster switched some of the standard tapes with versions narrated by a man who identified himself as Lev Davidovich Bronstein, a Russian-accented antipedant.'

The article adds that the prank tour begins, 'exactly like the MFA's, then devolves into a rambling rant.'

Bronstein, 'makes juvenile jokes and ultimately encourages listeners moving, left, right and around the galleries to do the hokeypokey.'

The article adds that an MFA investigated and found 10 more, 'alternative' tapes and were investigating with the Antenna Theater, the company that produced the original narration tapes.
Bombshell photos have emerged showing Married At First Sight grooms Jack Dunkley and Tristan Black together, dispelling rumours of animosity.

Daily Mail Australia spotted the pair greeting each other across the road from the Skye Suites Green Square, where the couples are housed during filming.

Gold Coast personal trainer Dunkley, 38, was seen looking cheery as he greeted Tristan, 30, on October 1, just days after his apology at the dinner party.

Jack became the centre of controversy after claims he referred to his co-star as a 'whale' during Tuesday's episode.

Dunkley, however, has clarified that the comment was directed in jest towards two women in the experiment, not fellow groom Tristan as previously believed.

Bombshell photos have emerged showing Married At First Sight grooms Jack Dunkley (left) and Tristan Black (right) together during a filming break, dispelling rumours of animosity

Daily Mail Australia spotted the pair greeting each other across the road from the Skye Suites Green Square, where the couples are housed during filming

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Thursday, Dunkley explained, 'I walked into the pool, did a little dance, and made a joke to Lauren, saying, "The whales are here." It was just self-deprecating humor, Lauren laughed, and then I continued to get into the pool.'

The misunderstanding spiraled out of control when Timothy brought up the comment during a group drinks night.

Dunkley believes this was a deliberate twist of his words, stating, 'By this point of the experiment, I knew who was plotting together... if I looked sideways, mate, they would create a storyline out of that.'

Gold Coast personal trainer Dunkley, 38, was seen looking cheery as he greeted Tristan, 30, just days after his apology at the dinner party

Tristan couldn't wipe the excitement off his face, immediately pulling out his arm to shake Jack's hand

Jack, opting to go shirtless for the occasion, was also seen smiling as he waved to Tristan

Tristan appeared to be in a much better mood after his run in with Jack

Dunkley also revealed his ongoing friendship with Tristan, stating, 'Me and Tristan had a fantastic relationship during filming. I was mentoring him throughout the show.'

Despite the initial hurt, Tristan forgave Dunkley after several apologies, which were made both off and on camera.

Dunkley even went as far as gifting Tristan a supplement store gift card, reinforcing their bond.

Jack became the centre of controversy after claims he referred to his co-star as a 'whale' during Tuesday's episode

The gesture of apology was made in the presence of Timothy, despite Dunkley and Timothy's strained relationship.

Dunkley reached out to Timothy as a sign of goodwill, recognising his significant emotional support to Tristan, 'I put my ego aside, reached out to Timothy and said, 'Hey, I want to do this with Tristan tonight at the dinner party.''

Married At First Sight continues on Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine.
Casualty is set to see the return of two fan favourite characters for Derek Thompson's final scenes as he steps away from his role as Charlie Fairhead.

Derek, 75, revealed in May that he would be leaving the BBC series after 37 years on the show.

He chose to leave his long-standing role after budget cuts were introduced meaning the show would see fewer episodes.

And his character Charlie is set to leave the show in a grisly manner, as he is due to be killed off in the form of a brutal stabbing.

For Derek's final episodes, Casualty legends Sunetra Sarker (Zoe Hannah) and Ian Bleasdale (Josh Griffiths) will make a return, according to The Sun.

Casualty is set to see the return of two fan favourite characters for Derek Thompson's final scenes as he steps away from his role as Charlie Fairhead, The Sun revealed on Wednesday

For Derek's final episodes, Casualty legends Sunetra Sarker (Zoe Hannah) and Ian Bleasdale (Josh Griffiths) will make a return

An epic two part finale will see Charlie's final days play out after he is stabbed and left fighting for his life.

Returning in sombre circumstances, Zoe and Josh will rally to be by their friend Charlie's side.

Sunetra featured in the programme between 2007 and 2016 before making a guest appearance in 2018.

Meanwhile Ian, who plays paramedic Josh, was the second longest serving cast member on Casualty - next only to Derek.

The first of Charlie's heartbreaking final episodes will air on Saturday and show the doctor trying to prove that kindness prevails.

However his plan to bridge the gap backfires and distressing scenes see troubled patient Kyle stab Charlie after an argument at the pharmacy.

The doctors will do all they can to save Charlie but ultimately the character will die.

Derek, who has portrayed emergency department nurse Charlie Fairhead in nearly 900 episodes, is the longest-serving cast member in the medical drama.

Derek Thompson has revealed he will be leaving Casualty after 37 years of playing Charlie Fairhead

An epic two part finale will see Charlie's final days play out after he is stabbed and left fighting for his life, with Zoe (pictured) returning to see him

Ian, who plays paramedic Josh, was the second longest serving cast member on Casualty - next only to Derek

In an announcement last year, the actor revealed that 'the time has come'.

Derek has played a central part in the show since it was first screened in 1986, and the BBC said his exit would culminate in a 'gripping' storyline with his character at the 'front and centre' of the action.

Discussing his departure, Derek said: 'The time has come for me to hang up Charlie's scrubs after the most wonderful 37 years.'

He continued: 'Charlie Fairhead was inspired by a real nurse - Pete Salt.

'Together with the writers and producers, I have tried to bring to Charlie the compassion, kindness, heroism and sound judgement that we all see and love in Pete and I want to say thanks to Pete and everyone else over that time who has inspired me in bringing this character to life.'

Charlie has been the backbone of fictional Holby City Hospital's emergency department, with the character involved in a number of huge, hard-hitting storylines over the years.

He was run over by an ambulance on his wedding day, had a near-fatal cardiac arrest during a gang siege, and had a loving relationship and heartbreaking farewell with his fellow nurse Duffy (Cathy Shipton).

Duffy died on the show in 2020 after being diagnosed with dementia. In heart-rending scenes, Charlie found her out in the snow after she wandered off.

Since appearing in the first series in 1986 (pictured), the 75-year-old star has been in nearly 900 episodes and is the longest-serving cast member on the BBC medical drama

Charlie has been in hard-hitting storylines over the years, including his loving relationship with fellow nurse Duffy

Rushed to hospital with hyperthermia, Duffy then had a bleed on her brain, which left Charlie realising nothing more could be done for her.

Charlie recently faced further devastation when he was forced to say goodbye to nurse Robyn Miller (Amanda Henderson), whose daughter, Charlotte, was named with him in mind.

Robyn was involved in a catastrophic car accident while on the way to start her new life with Charlotte and partner Paul (Paul Popplewell).

Jon Sen, executive producer of Casualty for BBC Studios, said: 'Derek and I would often joke that, after such a long and dramatic career in the NHS, there was almost nothing that Charlie hadn't seen.

'So it was an amazing surprise to me when Derek arrived with a brilliant idea for Charlie's exit as part of an upcoming storyline, which was too good to pass up.

'We will all miss Derek enormously. Over nearly four decades, Derek has crafted an iconic character who is woven into the fabric of British TV history.

'We will miss his craft, his humour and his on-screen presence.

'We're also going to miss a friend, so for the next few months we're going to have a ball filming Charlie's final chapter.'

As news of his exit spread, fans rushed to share their heartbreak on Twitter

As news of his exit spread, fans shared their heartbreak on Twitter.

One wrote: 'Absolutely gutted. This is the end of an era. I've literally grown up with Charlie.'

Another said: 'End of an era. Charlie will be greatly missed, but let's enjoy all the episodes he's in before his departure. Though, I honestly thought he was going to leave when Marty and David quit.'

A third added: 'No he can't leave it will not be the same without him he's my favourite and I love his character no not our Charlie.'

Casualty airs on Saturdays on BBC One and streams on BBC iPlayer.
Kylie Jenner and Timothee Chalamet's fans have voiced concerns that the superstar duo have split after a year-long romance.

The Dune: Part Two star, 28, and make-up mogul, 26, have maintained a low-key relationship but the two have not been spotted together in public since January, leading some of their followers to believe they have gone their separate ways.

The couple caused shockwaves when they put on a romantic and PDA-heavy display at the 81st Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in early January, however they have not been seen together since.

Kylie inadvertently fueled break-up rumors when she posted a TikTok video on Tuesday. showing her going through her daily routines with her daughter Stormi Webster, six, and older sister Kendall Jenner, 28.

Fans and commenters were convinced the post was an attempt to 'soft-launch' a break-up by highlighting how well she's doing on her own as a single mother raising two children and taking care of an ever-expanding business empire.

Kylie Jenner and Timothee Chalamet's fans have voiced concerns that the superstar duo have split after a year-long romance (the couple pictured in January)

The Dune: Part Two star , 28, and make-up mogul, 26, have maintained a low-key relationship but the two have not been spotted together in public since January, leading some of their followers to believe they have gone their separate ways

The couple were last seen at the Golden Globes in Beverly Hills on January 7

Fans of the actor and the reality star also flocked to X (formerly Twitter ) to either bemoan or celebrity the unconfirmed split, though neither Timothee nor Kylie has said anything to definitively indicate that they have split

Fans of the actor and the reality star flocked to X (formerly Twitter) to either bemoan or celebrity the unconfirmed split, though neither Timothee nor Kylie has said anything to definitively indicate that they have split.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Kylie Jenner and Timothee Chalamet's representatives for comment.

Kylie's latest video raised some concerns from her followers as it seemed to show her leading her life without any hint of Timothee's presence.

She opened the clip by stretching and showing off her figure in a black athleisure ensemble, before making some silver dollar pancakes for Stormi and her two-year-old son Aire, both of whom she shares with her former partner Travis Scott.

After breakfast, she moisturized and then took Aire out back to have fun bouncing on her below-ground trampoline.

She kept up her stellar figure with some gym time, then met up with Kendall, who drove them out to the stables where they keep two horse.

The siblings brushed the gorgeous animals, before hopping on them to take a relaxing ride around the compound.

Timothee didn't appear to play any part in their adventures, though the actor may have simply been out of town or too busy, as he has been on a whirlwind publicity tour to promote his new blockbuster Dune: Part Two.

Kylie's latest video raised some concerns from her followers as it seemed to show her leading her life without any hint of Timothee's presence

She got in time with her son Aire, two, outdoors and made silver dollar pancakes for him and Stormi, six

Fans wrote: 'there are rumours about kylie jenner and timothee chalamet breaking up before dune 2 though... Not shocking. He was anyway never gonna be a step dad to Kylie's kids'.

Another riled commenter speculated that Timothee may have been out of sight, though there wasn't any obvious indication of that.

'Guys did you see Timothee's shadowww?' they wrote.

But the vast majority of Kylie's fans focused on her single mother routine, which most of them found worth applauding.

'Love when kylies being the best mom,' gushed one person.

'Your'e such a great mother and Your'e kids are Lucky to have a Mother like you [sic]!' enthused another commenter.

'We love mom ky,' added a fan, while another person was more snarky and wondered aloud where the 'nanny' was that likely takes care of many of Kylie's household tasks due to her busy schedule.

She kept up her stellar figure with some gym time

Then she met up with Kendall, who drove them out to the stables where they keep two horse

The siblings brushed the gorgeous animals

They concluded by hopping on them to take a relaxing ride around the compound

One commenter speculated that Timothee may have been out of sight, though there wasn't any obvious indication of that

Others gushed over how active Kylie's day was and how attentive of a mother she was.

But over on Reddit, Kylie's followers took the video as a sign of a potential split from Timothee and her attempts to show that she wasn't broken up over it.

'Soft launch breakup coming???' one person speculated, via The Sun.

One user suggested that many of her recent posts were 'thirst traps,' which they took to be a sign that they had broken up.

Another person believed that Kylie was focusing on how she was 'thriving,' which they believed meant 'she doesn't need a man.'

Over on X, fans have gone back and forth in recent days.

One user suggested that they were still together as of late February because Kylie was 'still wearing the bracelet.'

Both she and Timothee had been seen months earlier wearing a Cartier Love Necklace, which costs close to $5,000.

Fans theorized that the Call Me By Your Name star had either given her his bracelet as a gift, or that the two possible had matching versions of it.

Some fans engaged in baseless speculation that Kylie had gotten pregnant by Timothee  which there was no evidence of  while others appeared to be tricked by fake posts alleging that the screen star had cheated on her.

But others took a more jaundiced view of the relationship, as well as other celebrity relationships in general.

'Idc if I sound like a hater, I refuse to believe Timothee and Kylie are in a real relationship,' wrote one user.

'I feel like the whole timothee x kylie pr publicity stunt is slowly coming to an end. I can feel it,' added another on a similar note.

'You think Kylie will mention Timothee on The Kardashians S5,' wrote one fan.

On Reddit, fans saw the clip as a sign of a break up, but they were more divided on X (formerly Twitter)

Some fans engaged in baseless speculation that Kylie had gotten pregnant by Timothee  which there was no evidence of  while others appeared to be tricked by fake posts alleging that the screen star had cheated on her

Kylie Jenner timothee chalamet zendaya Tom Holland is hilarious like we are watchign pop culture history happen right before us

But others took a more jaundiced view of the relationship, as well as other celebrity relationships in general

But plenty of other people sounded gleeful at the prospect of break-up gossip

Timothee and Kylie were reportedly first acquainted after meeting up at Paris Fashion week in January 2023, and dating rumors spread in April when she was seen driving to his house; seen September 10

Despite breakup rumors in August, they went public at a Beyonce concert in September, followed by the US Open (pictured) on September 10

But plenty of other people sounded gleeful at the prospect of break-up gossip.

'Timothee and Kylie over let's go,' joked a poster.

Timothee and Kylie were reportedly first acquainted after meeting up at Paris Fashion week in January 2023.

But it wasn't until April of that year that rumors of a relationship began flying when Kylie's recognizable black SUV was seen at Timothee's home in Beverly Hills.

An eyewitness told DailyMail.com later that month that Timothee had gotten into Kylie's SUV after they left an art show in Santa Monica.

They were reported to be officially dating by the end of the month, though they tried to keep the details of their relationship under the radar.

DailyMail.com obtained photos of the two arriving separately in their own cars to the actor's home on June 1 of last year, suggesting that things were heating up between the two.

They were already the subject of breakup rumors in August 2023, but they proved them false by making their public debut at one of Beyonce's Los Angeles dates for her Renaissance tour in September, and they followed that up with a trip to the US Open later that month.

When Timothee went on to host Saturday Night Live in November, Kylie reposted a promo for the episode, which was as close as she had come to date to publicly speaking about the relationship.

When Timothee went on to host Saturday Night Live in November, Kylie reposted a promo for the episode, which was as close as she had come to date to publicly speaking about the relationship; pictured February 12 in Paris

Things seemed to be getting serious by December 2023, when People reported that Kylie was now calling Timothee her 'boyfriend.'

The two showed off more affection in January when they put on a loved-up display at the Golden Globes.

Though they sat together at the same table, they opted not to walk the red carpet together.

The two haven't made any major public displays or comments in the last two months, setting off speculation that the burgeoning relationship is already over.
Diane Kruger kept it casual as she sported a comfortable ensemble while riding a Super73 electric bike in New York City on Wednesday.

The National Treasure actress, 47 - who was recently seen on a rare outing with fiance Norman Reedus and daughter Nova, five - cruised through the bustling city streets during the daytime excursion.

The beauty sported a tan, suede jacket as well as gray sweatpants to help her stay warm in the cooler temperatures.

She also wrapped a pink scarf around her neck while slipping into a pair of white and black-colored sneakers that were secured with laces.

For a finishing touch to her outfit, the mother-of-one also opted to wear a pair of black leather gloves.

Diane Kruger, 47, kept it casual as she sported a comfortable ensemble while riding a Super73 electric bike in New York City on Wednesday

Her blonde locks were parted in the middle, and pulled back away from her face in a low up do. Diane went for a little to no makeup look as she grabbed a bit of fresh air during her busy day.

The actress previously opened up about her love of fashion while talking to Who What Wear back in 2022.

'I think the ritual of getting ready and putting on some makeup and nice clothing is [Theres] just something about it that makes you feel like you're giving importance to that time,' Kruger expressed to the outlet.

She also explained that since becoming a mother, her style had become a little more 'basic.'

'I spend every afternoon either on a playground or chauffeuring my kid to and from ballet or whatnot, so [my style] is more basic than it used to be.'

'But I have a closet full of beautiful stuff. I gave up my place in Paris a couple of years ago, so [everything has] been in boxes, and they just all arrived, and I've been unpacking,' she said.

'I used to be so stylish, and I have such nice stuff, so I told myself literally this weekend that I don't care. "I'm going to pick up [my daughter] in my Prada outfit. I dont give a d**n. I'm doing it."'

Diane has recently had the chance to fully jump back into her love of fashion and late last month, wowed while attending the Yves Saint Laurent Fall/Winter 2024-2025 runway show in Paris.

The beauty sported a tan, suede jacket as well as gray sweatpants to help her stay warm in the cooler temperatures

Diane has recently had the chance to fully jump back into her love of fashion and late last month, wowed while attending the Yves Saint Laurent Fall/Winter 2024-2025 runway show in Paris (seen above)

She flaunted her toned figure in a black, leather blazer dress with a belt wrapped around her midriff to better accentuate her waist.

Kruger slipped into a pair of sheer tights as well as chic, closed-toed black heels. The star carried a small black purse in her hand and allowed her locks to flow down past her shoulders in light waves.

The Out Of The Blue actress also had a blast during New York Fashion Week which took place earlier last month.

She made a statement in an eye-catching look as she stopped by the Carolina Herrera runway event - and mingled with other celebrities including Anna Wintour.

Diane has been filtering through a busy schedule and turned heads at the 49th Cesar Film Awards in Paris a few weeks earlier.

The beauty donned a long-sleeved, pink minidress with a full skirt that contained corset details and floral embroidery on the material.

She also opted for clear, platform heels for a unique flare to the overall look as well as small, sparkling earrings.

Diane has been filtering through a busy schedule and turned heads at the 49th Cesar Film Awards in Paris a few weeks earlier in February (seen above)

The lovebirds first met while working on the film titled, Sky, and the pair sparked romance rumors when they were spotted spending time together on various occasions; seen in October 2023 in NYC

When Diane is not busy attending events or working hard on set, she spends time with Norman Reedus - whom she began dating in 2016.

The couple welcomed their daughter, Nova, back in 2018 and the trio were seen on a rare outing in NYC earlier this month.

The lovebirds first met while working on the 2015 film titled, Sky, and the pair sparked romance rumors when they were spotted spending time together on various occasions.

One year after welcoming their daughter to the world, Kruger opened up about adjusting to parenthood for both her and Norman. The Walking Dead star also shares son Mingus, 24, with supermodel Helena Christensen.

'He just looks at her with unconditional love,' the star told People, and added that he is 'very great' with Nova.

The couple welcomed their daughter, Nova, back in 2018 and the trio were seen on a rare outing in NYC earlier this month

One year after welcoming their daughter to the world, Kruger opened up about adjusting to parenthood for both her and Norman. The Walking Dead star also shares son Mingus, 24, with supermodel Helena Christensen

She also talked about Mingus getting used to being an older sibling. 'You know 19 years is a big gap so he's really like stepping up to be this protective big brother.'

In August 2021, it was confirmed that both Diane and Norman had become engaged.

Earlier this year in January, the lovebirds wowed as they both strutted on the runway during Menswear Paris Fashion Week for separate shows.

Kruger notably walked for the brand Alexandre Mattiussi while the actor was seen modeling clothes for the Yohji Yamamoto Menswear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 collection.
Chris Hemsworth enjoyed the Hollywood treatment as he jetted into Sydney Airport via a private jet on Thursday.

The Thor star, 40, was spotted attempting to avoid the spotlight as he arrived in his luxury aircraft, dressed down in an all-black outfit with matching sunglasses.

After disembarking, the father-of-three was greeted by his cheery-looking pilot, who handed the star a backpack.

Chris beamed at the man and slung the backpack over his shoulders, before making his way to the international departures lounge.

From there, the actor checked into another flight bound for overseas.

Chris Hemsworth, 40, (pictured) enjoyed the Hollywood treatment as he jetted into Sydney Airport via a private jet on Thursday

At one point, a bored-looking Chris was spotted waiting at the check-in counter waiting for his ticket to be processed.

Chris dressed down in a T-shirt, loose track pants and a set of Nike sneakers.

He sported a five o'clock shadow and accessorised his look with a gold pendant necklace, a stack of bangles and his wedding ring from wife Elsa Pataky.

The Thor star was spotted attempting to avoid the spotlight as he arrived in his luxury aircraft, dressed down in an all-black outfit with matching sunglasses

After disembarking, the father-of-three was greeted by his cheery-looking pilot, who handed the star a backpack

Chris beamed at the man and slung the backpack over his shoulders, before making his way to the international departures lounge

The star appeared distracted as he strolled through the terminal with a pair of AirPods in his ears, only momentarily pausing greeted by a group of fans asking for selfies.

Chris is known for his penchant for taking private flights, despite also being a climate activist.

In 2019, he marched alongside his daughter India Rose in a strike at Byron Bay, calling for action on the issue.

From there, the actor checked into another flight bound for overseas

At one point, a bored-looking Chris was spotted waiting at the check-in counter waiting for his ticket to be processed

Chris dressed down in a T-shirt, loose track pants and a set of Nike sneakers

He sported a five o'clock shadow and accessorised his look with a gold pendant necklace, a stack of bangles and his wedding ring from wife Elsa Pataky

In an Instagram post at the time, the Avengers star shared a clip of himself carrying young India in crowd shouting: 'What do we want? Climate action. When do we want it? Now.'

He also wrote in a lengthy post that we must 'move away from the burning of fossil fuels, no more new oil, gas, coal projects'.

Chris added: 'The climate crisis is upon us. Children understand the basic science that if we continue to pollute the planet climate change will worsen and they wont have a future. None of us will. The planet will die'.

In October 2020, he joined Priyanka Chopra for a special session of TED Countdown, where he discussed the climate crisis.

The star appeared distracted as he strolled through the terminal with a pair of AirPods in his ears, only momentarily pausing greeted by a group of fans asking for selfies

Chris is known for his penchant for taking private flights, despite also being a climate activist

In 2019, he marched alongside his daughter India Rose in a strike at Byron Bay, calling for action on the issue

In an Instagram post at the time, the Avengers star shared a clip of himself carrying young India in crowd shouting: 'What do we want? Climate action. When do we want it? Now'
By Park Jae-hyuk

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) picked the Philippines as the foothold to expand its presence in the Southeast Asian naval ship market, which is expected to grow to a value of $10 billion in 2030, the shipbuilding unit of HD Hyundai said Thursday.

The shipbuilder recently opened a naval ship engineering office in Bonifacio Global City, a financial district located 11 kilometers southeast of the Philippine capital city of Manila.

Joo Won-ho, HD HHIs head of naval and special ship business unit, and around 30 people attended the offices opening ceremony, Wednesday (local time). The participants also included Joselito Ramos, undersecretary of the Philippine National Defense for Acquisition and Resource Management; Caesar Valencia, vice commander of the Philippine Navy and Joseph Coyme, commanding officer of the Philippine Coast Guard.

The Korean firm explained that it opened the office to promptly cope with the soaring demand for weapons in Southeast Asia, amid the rapidly changing geopolitical situation.

In particular, the Philippine warship market is said to have a huge growth potential, as the countrys location has increased its need for a more powerful navy.

HD HHI plans to send its engineers and employees in charge of sales of naval ships to the new office, so that the company can provide optimized technical support and consulting that can satisfy the regions demand.

In addition, it seeks to increase its naval ship exports to Southeast Asian countries.

Janes, a British intelligence company specializing in military and national security, expects Southeast Asian countries to spend a combined $10 billion for maritime defense, up $8 billion in 2023, HD HHI said.

The company added that it aims to generate 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) in annual revenue from its naval ship business by strengthening its relations with defense industry officials in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Our Philippine naval ship engineering office will be the base for our expansion into the global market beyond Southeast Asia, Joo said. Based on our advanced naval ship technologies, we will improve the reputation of the Korean defense industry and seek a mutual growth with Southeast Asian countries.

HD HHI has already been recognized by the Philippine government for its naval ship technologies.

The Southeast Asian country asked the Korean firm to build two frigates in 2016, two corvettes in 2021 and six offshore patrol vessels in 2022 to modernize and reinforce the countrys naval forces.
EXCLUSIVE

Taylor Swift CDs are being kept behind the counter in music shops across Australia after her recent concerts led to a surge in them being stolen.

JB Hi-Fi, Australia's largest music-selling chain, has taken the desperate measure to deter fearless thieves who see a CD and think 'You belong with me [without paying]'.

In place of where the pop star's CDs would normally be kept, JB Hi-Fi in the Strand Arcade in Sydney's Pitt St Mall has a blank space and four separate signs telling customers that the Swift albums are only available behind the counter.

'Taylor Swift CDs are kept behind the counter. Temporary. Please ask a member of staff for assistance,' one sign reads, followed by a smiley face.

'It's unfair that Swifties are being blamed for this,' furious fan Alison, from Coogee in Sydney's east, told Daily Mail Australia.

Taylor Swift is pictured onstage in Accor Stadium, Sydney, Australia during The Eras Tour

Taylor Swift CDs are being kept behind the counter in music shops across Australia after her recent concerts led to a surge in them being stolen. Two signs in a JB Hi-fi outlet are pictured

READ MORE: Jennifer Coolidge defends Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's visit to a Sydney zoo after PETA called out A-list couple Taylor Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce are pictured kissing Advertisement

'It's more likely to be people trying to profit off her recent tour and resell the CDs at a higher cost.

'Never in my wildest dreams would I think it would be so hard to buy a CD,' the massive Swift fan said.

Three of the four signs in JB Hi-Fi are printed on pink paper - a colour often worn by Swifties - and the fourth sign, which is printed on green cardboard, features pink love hearts.

Alison, 25, said the last time she was in a JB Hi-Fi shop she had no trouble finding Swift CDs and that this move is not good for the store's reputation.

'Don't blame me and my fellow Swifties for the actions of few people who probably don't even like her music.

'JB Hi-Fi need to calm down and put the CDs back on the shelf where they belong. Otherwise, long story short, we won't tolerate it.'

Alison was unable to get a ticket to see Swift in Sydney, but is such a huge fan she flew to see her in Melbourne instead.

'It was the best concert I've ever seen,' she said. 'She played everything I wanted to hear.

'There will be bad blood between Swifties and JB Hi-Fi if they don't fix this quickly.'

The global superstar got great reviews for her seven shows in Melbourne and Sydney, which saw her change costumes to represent different eras of her career over three and a half hours onstage.

More than 600,000 people attended the Australian leg of the mammoth world tour.

A record-breaking 96,000 fans attended each of her three nights in Melbourne and a further 83,000 Swifties were at each of her four shows in Sydney.

JB Hi-Fi has been contacted for comment.

The empty section where Taylor Swift CDs would normally be found is pictured

The CD cover of Taylor Swift's 1989 album is pictured. In JB Hi-fi, it is currently being kept behind the counter

Taylor Swift is pictured onstage in Sydney during her highly successful seven date tour of Australia
Another wild 'Dump them, Date me' segment took place on The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Thursday morning where a man asked his best friend's girlfriend to leave him and start a relationship with him.

The radio hosts were left shocked after the man called Chase revealed his childhood best friend Jack was dating his longtime crush Kayla.

Chase disclosed he grew apart from his best mate who had moved away to Queensland with Kayla.

The pair have since returned to New South Wales and were reportedly 'on the rocks', fuelling Chase's desire to reveal his true feelings about Kayla.

It wasn't long before Kyle, 52, and Jackie O, 49, got Kayla on the phone and prompted Chase to confess his love.

Another wild 'Dump them, Date me' took place on the Kyle and Jackie 'O' show this morning after a man asked his best friend's girlfriend to be with him

'I've been in love with you since high school. I want to swoop in and see if you'd dump him and come and be with me instead because I think there's been something there,' Chase told his crush.

A shocked Kayla replied: 'I'm thinking why not.. give it a go.'

When asked by Kyle if she ever fantasised about Chase, Kayla replied: 'When we hung out the other night it was good to see each other, it was fun.'

Moments before, Kayla revealed to the radio jocks that her three-year relationship was already ending.

The radio hosts were left shocked after the man, Chase, revealed that his childhood best friend, Jack, was dating his longtime crush, Kayla

'It's coming to an end after three years...it was kind of on and off, it was a bit of a tricky relationship.'

'There were some issues of him and other girls,' she shared.

The radio hosts, who had low expectations for Chase, couldn't contain their excitement.

'It's unbelievable ... I was hoping but it was going to be a tough sell,' Kyle said.
Advertisement

Zendaya and Chrissy Teigen were among a number of stylish stars who attended the Green Carpet Fashion Awards at 1 Hotel West Hollywood in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The Dune star, 27, showed off her incredible sense of style in a plunging ombre fringe gown, which featured some beading and a snakeskin pattern.

The actress  who recently sizzled in a racy no underwear look  wore her dark tresses halfway pinned back, cascading down her back in natural curls. She further sparkled up her look with a number of silver bangles.

Meanwhile John Legend's, 38, wife sizzled in a simple semi-sheer black slip dress, which she accessorized with a diamond lariat necklace and a black clutch.

The annual awards celebrates 'people and organizations that are crucial to collective transformation in any community.'

Zendaya, 27, and Chrissy Teigen, 38, were among a number of stylish stars who attended the Green Carpet Fashion Awards at 1 Hotel West Hollywood in Los Angeles on Wednesday

The Dune star showed off her incredible sense of style in a plunging ombre fringe gown, which featured some beading and a snakeskin pattern

While at the event Zendaya was joined by her stylist Law Roach, 45, who looked sharp in a grey suit. He completed his look with a pair of black boots and a black purse with yellow and orange details.

Roach's black tresses were straightened to perfection and cascaded down his back.

Zendaya also posed with Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate, 27, who was a vision in a pastel yellow silk gown.

Vanessa rounded out her look with a gold purse and shimmering silver heels.

Meanwhile Chrissy's dress gave a peek at the model's taut midriff and arm tattoos.

She wore picture perfect glam, with pink blush on her cheeks and a matte pink lipstick on her pout.

Her brunette tresses were styled in loose waves.

Chrissy was joined by her musician husband, 45, who rocked a sparkling striped black suit.

The actress wore her dark tresses halfway pinned back, cascading down her back in natural curls. She further sparkled up her look with a number of silver bangles

The beauty had all eyes on her on the green carpet

The Euphoria beauty opted for natural glam

The Golden Globe Award winner smiled for the shutterbugs

One of her bangles was a silver snake wrapped around her arm

She drew attention to her eyes with just a touch of mascara

She made a grand arrival at the event

While at the event Zendaya was joined by her stylist Law Roach, 45, who looked sharp in a grey suit

Zendaya also posed with Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate, 27, who was a vision in a pastel yellow silk gown

The trio struck a pose together

She happily posed for the cameras

John Legend's wife sizzled in a simple semi-sheer black slip dress, which she accessorized with a diamond lariat necklace and a black clutch

The model was joined by her musician husband, 45, who rocked a sparkling striped black suit

The pair have been married since 2013

Chrissy wore her hair down in light waves

Her dress showed off her toned midriff

Model Amber Valletta, 50, put on a leggy display in in a black blazer dress.

She went shirtless underneath the dress.

The runway sensation added height to her look with sparkling pointed-toe heels.

Amber also posed with Vanessa as well as Italian activist Livia Giuggioli, 54, who is the creator of the event and the former spouse of actor Colin Firth, 63.

Livia stunned in a semi sheer burgundy and pink top and black pants, and a velvet jacket.

Model and actress Quannah Chasinghorse, 21, was a vision in a black dress with silver fringe details.

The gown featured a sizzling thigh-high slit.

Her raven tresses were styled straight, and she accessorized with statement silver earrings.

Model Amber Valletta, 50, put on a leggy display in in a black blazer dress

The runway sensation added height to her look with sparkling pointed-toe heels

Amber also posed with Vanessa as well as Italian activist Livia Giuggioli, 54 - who is the creator of the event and the former spouse of actor Colin Firth, 63

Livia stunned in a semi sheer burgundy and pink top and black pants, and a velvet jacket

Model and actress Quannah Chasinghorse, 21, was a vision in a black dress with silver fringe details

The gown featured a sizzling thigh-high slit

She was seen mingling with Canadian actor D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, 22, at the event. He rocked a unique cream and brown suit and suede boots

Singer Annie Lennox, 69, was also present for the event and showed off her effortlessly cool style in a black t-shirt that read 'Global Feminist'

She completed the look with black pants and a matching blazer

The musician sported her usual short blonde buzzcut

Joining her on the red carpet was Italian fashion designer and businesswoman Donatella Versace, 68

The duo sweetly held hands

She wowed in a metallic pale pink design from her own collection

The fashionista wore a unique triple ring

They shared a warm greeting

Annie and posed with Livia and activist Kalpona Akter, 48

Kalpona is a labour activist from Bangladesh

Helen Hunt, 60, looked angelic in a shimmering white dress and lack platform heels

Sting's wife Trudie Styler, 70, looked effortlessly stylish in a slouchy striped shirt black coat and olive green pants

Pose star Michaela Jae Rodriguez, 33, put on a stylish display in a sleeveless black gown

Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini, 26, was the epitome of elegance in a sleeveless pale pink gown. She accessorized the look with a pearl necklace

Emily Morgan was joined by Andrew Morgan at the event

Judith Head put on a theatrical display in a dramatic multi-color gown

DJ Shai was the epitome of cool in a yellow suede dress

Wawa Gatheru and Summer Dean wowed in stylish dresses

Former Member of Parliament of Uganda Bobi Wine, 42, and his philanthropist wife Barbie Kyagulanyi, 39, made a stylish pair

(L-R) Amber, Mary Robinson, Nakate, Hunt, Mary Maker, Livia

She was seen mingling with Canadian actor D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, 22, at the event. He rocked a unique cream and brown suit and suede boots.

Singer Annie Lennox, 69, was also present for the event and showed off her effortlessly cool style in a black t-shirt that read 'Global Feminist.' She completed the look with black pants and a matching blazer.

The musician sported her usual short blonde buzzcut.

Joining her on the red carpet was Italian fashion designer and businesswoman Donatella Versace, 68. She wowed in a metallic pale pink design from her own collection.

Annie and posed with Livia and activist Kalpona Akter, 48. Kalpona is a labour activist from Bangladesh.

Sting's wife Trudie Styler, 70, looked effortlessly stylish in a slouchy striped shirt black coat and olive green pants.

Helen Hunt, 60, looked angelic in a shimmering white dress and lack platform heels.

Pose star Michaela Jae Rodriguez, 33, put on a stylish display in a sleeveless black gown.

Judith Head put on a theatrical display in a dramatic multi-color gown, while DJ Shai was the epitome of cool in a yellow suede dress.

Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini, 26, was the epitome of elegance in a sleeveless pale pink gown. She accessorized the look with a pearl necklace.

Former Member of Parliament of Uganda Bobi Wine, 42, and his philanthropist wife Barbie Kyagulanyi, 39, made a stylish pair.

Zendaya struck a pose inside

The Green Carpet Fashion Awards unite the power of fashion and entertainment for positive transformation

Zendaya struck a pose with Mary

Her delicate makeup accentuated her features

She enjoyed dinner next to Donatella

(L to R) Chrissy, John and Christopher Bevans

Jennifer Coolidge, 62, skipped the red carpet but was seen speaking inside the event.

She wore a chic black dress and blazer

She was joined by Michaela

The duo spoke onstage

Donatella sparkled as she addressed the crowd

Legend was also seen speaking to the audience

Jennifer Coolidge, 62, skipped the red carpet but was seen speaking inside the event.

Others present at the event included Emily Morgan, Andrew Morgan, Wawa Gatheru, Summer Dean, Mary Robinson, Mary Maker, and Christopher Bevans.

The Green Carpet Fashion Awards unite the power of fashion and entertainment for positive transformation.

The selection of the yearly honorees is evaluated according to six cultural archetypes: 'The Visionary, The Messenger, The Rebel, The Healer, The Sage, and The Futurist' according to the event's website.

'Embodying these roles in the sustainable landscape, the GCFA recognizes those who offer a new lens on true intersectional transformation while bringing together the next generation of global leaders driving political, social and environmental solutions for a brighter collective future.'
She recently made the move from South Australia to Queensland with her new husband Jae Woodroffe and two children.

And fitness mogul Kayla Itsines, 32, soaked up the sun in her new neighbourhood on Wednesday as she ran errands with her mother Anna on the Gold Coast.

The entrepreneur, who recently re-purchased her multimillion-dollar fitness empire Sweat, showcased her famous washboard abs during the outing in a low-cut brown crop top and black bike shorts.

Sporting a deep tan, the brunette completed her look with white sneakers, crew socks and jewellery including a necklace, earrings and her $100K engagement ring from Jae.

She appeared to wear minimal makeup for the off-duty outing and slicked her dark locks back into a high ponytail.

Fitness mogul Kayla Itsines, 32, (pictured) soaked up the sun in her new Gold Coast neighbourhood on Wednesday after relocating from South Australia

During the outing, Kayla was seen filling up her car before strolling into the petrol station with her mother to pay.

The sighting comes after internet sleuths uncovered Kayla's latest home renovation project back in her former home state of Adelaide.

In January, Instagram account Keeping Up With Aussie Influencers spotted that Kayla was working on a property with the same builders she used for her last renovation in Malvern, SA.

The entrepreneur, who recently re-purchased her multimillion-dollar fitness empire Sweat, showcased her famous washboard abs during the outing in a low-cut brown crop top and black bike shorts

She was joined by her mother Anna (right) for the outing

Sporting a bronze tan, the brunette completed her look with white sneakers, crew socks and jewellery including a necklace, earrings and her $100K engagement ring from Jae

Adelaide-based builders Morgan Build added one of Kayla's stories to their business page, showing a gutted brick hallway.

The fitness influencer wrote over the video 'brick houses, built different.'

The highlighted story on the builder's page also showed other images of tradesman pulling up the floorboards.

She appeared to wear minimal makeup for the off-duty outing and slicked her dark locks back into a high ponytail

During the outing, Kayla was seen filling up her car before strolling into the petrol station with her mother to pay

These posts from the custom builder suggested that while Kayla has moved her life up to Queensland, she is keeping one foot in the south.

The fitness entrepreneur officially announced her move to the Sunshine State in early January.

'Weve officially MOVED TO QUEENSLAND!!!' she informed her 16 million Instagram followers at the time.

The sighting comes after internet sleuths uncovered Kayla's latest home renovation project back in her former home state of Adelaide

In January, Instagram account Keeping Up With Aussie Influencers spotted that Kayla was working on a property with the same builders she used for her last renovation in Malvern, SA

Adelaide-based builders Morgan Build added one of Kayla's stories to their business page, showing a gutted brick hallway

The highlighted story on the builder's page also showed other images of tradesman pulling up the floorboards

'To be fair, it doesnt feel real because we really did bring the whole Adelaide crew and both our families with us. So happyyyyy. P.s Don't worry we still have a house in Adelaide and I HAVE TO fly back every couple of weeks to see my family,' she added.

'Especially my grandparents who dont want me to move not because they love me too much  but because "too many mosquitoes."'

The fitness guru concluded her post: 'HELLO QUEENSLAND FAM. We're so excited!!!'

These posts from the custom builder suggested that while Kayla has moved her life up to Queensland, she is keeping one foot in the south

The fitness entrepreneur officially announced her move to the Sunshine State in early January

'Weve officially MOVED TO QUEENSLAND!!!' she informed her 16 million Instagram followers at the time
Kit Harington and Rose Leslie made a rare appearance together as they attended the press night and afterparty for Nye at London's National Theatre on Wednesday.

The couple, who played hero Jon Snow and 'wildling' Ygitte in Game Of Thrones, were in high spirits as they mingled with fellow guests.

Nye is a play by Tim Price that tells the story of man's greatest feats in life, including leading the battle to create the NHS and campaigning at the coalfield.

Kit, 37, looked dashing, wearing a thick black turtle neck jumper and a pair of bootcut jeans.

The Modern Love actor paired his classy look with a black scarf and grey suede loafers.

Kit Harington (second left) and Rose Leslie (right) made a rare appearance together as they attended the press night and afterparty for Nye at London's National Theatre on Wednesday

The couple, who played hero Jon Snow and 'wildling' Ygitte in Game Of Thrones , were in high spirits as they mingled with fellow guests

Opting for a more casual look, Rose, 37, dressed in a black and white striped T-shirt.

She paired her casual short-sleeved top with a pair of high-waisted washed-out mom jeans.

The mother-of-two completed her look with a pair of distressed black laced army boots.

Kit and Rose tied the knot in 2018 in a fairytale Scottish wedding at a stunning countryside chapel just a stone's throw away from Wardhill Castle.

The lovebirds' nuptials took place in front of a star-studded crowd, with their Game Of Thrones co-stars turning out to wish the couple well and watch them tie the knot.

Kit and Rose welcomed their second child, a girl, last year, two years after Rose gave birth to their son, who is now three.

As with their little boy, the couple haven't made their daughter's name, or other details surrounding her birth, public.

Kit announced he and Rose were expecting their second child together during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in February 2023.

Rose and Kit welcomed their second child, a girl, last year, two years after Rose gave birth to their son, who is now three (pictured together in 2020)

Speaking about his firstborn, Kit said: 'He is about the get the shock of his life, which is that he's about to get a brother or sister.'

'You know with the first baby, you're like, walking on clouds and dancing through fields and daisies for nine months? Well, the man is anyway.

'This time, the reality check comes much shorter and you get practical, like, real quick.'

Kit previously called being a parent 'the most physically draining thing' he has ever done.

Speaking to The Weekend Australian, he said: 'Like, honestly, my back is wrecked. I go to the gym quite a bit, but there's something about having a child that is the most physically draining thing,' he said.

The actor went on to praise single parents saying: 'I don't know how you do it. Because it's more exhausting than everything I did on Thrones.'

Elsewhere the actor he is 'happy' and 'content' with his life since becoming a father.

'I have a child and my relationship is brilliant I'm a very, very happy, content, sober man,' he said, referring to his past battle with alcohol addiction.

Kit and Rose met while filming their hit HBO show Game of Thrones and began dating in 2011.

They announced their engagement in The Times newspaper in September 2017 and married the following June in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Sir Michael Gambon's living arrangements were far from simple, with the actor splitting his time between his 5 million marital home in Kent and his long-term girlfriend's West London townhouse.

The Dumbledore actor, who died last September aged 82, was open about his unconventional relationships with wife Lady Anne Gambon and mistress Philippa Hart.

He divided his time between the two, and sometimes even went to stay in his own separate home in London for breathing space.

More recently it was revealed that his entire estate was left to his wife - with his set designer lover snubbed from the will

But why were his living arrangements so complicated? MailOnline takes a look at the locations Michael Gambon's and his families lived in.

Sir Michael Gambon's living arrangements were complicated , splitting his time between his and set designer mistress Philippa Hart (pictured in 2014)

Although the Dumbledore actor was married to Lady Anne Gambon (pictured) until his death, he was open about his extra-marital relationship with the set designer

MailOnline take a look at Michael Gambon's complicated living arrangements, which saw him split his time between his 5 million Kent home (pictured) and Philippa's flat in Chiswick

Who was Michael Gambon in a relationship with?

Michael Gambon was married to retired mathematician Anne nee Miller, however he was also openly in a relationship with set designer Philippa Hart.

Anne and the Dumbledore actor tied the knot in 1962, when Michael was 22.

The pair remained married for the 61 years until Michael Gambon passed away after a bout pneumonia on September 28, 2023.

Anne and Michael share a son named Fergus, 60, who is a ceramics expert.

Similarly to his famous father, Fergus isn't camera shy, with the head of Bonham's ceramic and glass department regularly appearing on the BBC's Antique Roadshow.

Despite his marriage with Anne, which spanned over six decades, the actor did not hide his extra-marital affair.

Michael first set eyes on set designer Philippa whilst working on the Channel 4 series Longitude in 2000.

A year later the highly-commended actor introduced Philippa as his girlfriend to the likes of Charles Dance and Maggie Smith on the set of Gosford Park.

In 2002, he announced his relationship with set designer.

Michael Gambon married retired mathematician Anne nee Miller in 1962 when he was 22-years-old (pictured: Michael and Anne in 2008)

Anne and Michael share a son named Fergus, 60, who is a ceramics expert who regularly appears on BBCs Antique Roadshow

Despite his marriage, which spanned over six decades, Michael openly had a relationship with set designer Philippa Hart (pictured 2012)

Meopham, Gravesham, Kent

Since then, the actor divided his time between his family home in Kent and Philippa's West London terraced home in Chiswick.

Lady Anne Gambon and Sir Michael lived together in their 5 million in Meopham, Gravesend, Kent.

The quaint parish village of Meopham has a population of 7,000 people, and boasts several green areas including Culverstone Green, Harvel Green, Meopham Green and Hook Green.

A windmill, which was originally built by the Killick Brothers back in 1801, also stands in the heart of the village.

According to the Daily Express, homes in the village located five miles south of the River Thames sell for an eye-watering 572,000.

Anne and Michael spent a large portion of their marriage living in the quiet Kent village until Michael passed away last September.

However, when the news of his extra-marital affair first broke, Anne briefly left their familial home, but later returned.

The actor split his time between his marital home in the quaint village of Meopham, Kent and the Chiswick townhouse he relocated his mistress into (pictured: Meopham)

Chiswick, West London

According to The Evening Standard, the Harry Potter actor quietly helped his mistress move from her one bedroom flat in Westbourne Grove to a terracesd townhouse in Chiswick.

Famed for Chiswick House and its various churches, the illustrious West London postcode gives a village feel whilst still being a stone throw away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

After relocating his mistress into the Chiswick townhouse, the actor refused to move into the home, The Evening Standard reports.

Michael shared two children with set designer Philippa Hart - Tom, 17, and William, 15.

Phillipa's eldest child, Tom was welcomed into the world in 2007, when the actor was 66-years-old.

The Harry Potter actor welcomed his second child with his mistress, who was 25 years his junior, in 2009.

The two boys received only 10,000 and a trophy according to their late father's three-page will.

Both will be given a silver heart Variety Club of Great Britain stage actor award, with Tom receiving the one his father was awarded in 1987, and William inheriting Michael's trophy from 2000.

Their mother, Philippa, did not receive a penny in the will and declined to tell the Daily Mail if she knew that she had been snubbed.

Speaking from her 1.5million Victorian terraced four-bed, she said: 'It's none of my business. I really don't want to talk about this.'

It is believed that she and Michael had not been together for some time prior to his passing.

Despite moving his mistress, who 25 years his junior and he shared two children with into the Chiswick home, the actor reportedly refused to permanently move in

Famed for Chiswick House and its various churches, the West London location gives a village feel whilst still being in London (pictured: Chiswick)

Michael Gambon's London home

Although Michael Gambon split his time between his 5 million Kent home and Philippa's Chiswick townhouse- he still had another property for himself.

However, the specific location of his separate London home has not been disclosed.

The actor reportedly had his own London property so that he could have breathing space when he was working.

According to The Sun, his retired mathematician wife was devastated when the highly-acclaimed actor decided to move out of their home.

Lady Anne Gambon reportedly came accustomed to the unusual living arrangement, with her husband eventually returning to their home in Kent.
James McAvoy has revealed that he suffered an injury while filming an orgy scene on the set of his new film Turn Up The Sun!

The thriller follows two couples who arrive at a countryside mansion that they unknowingly booked together and discover strange occurrences during their stay.

Also starring are The Fall's Aisling Franciosi, Emily In Paris star Lucas Bravo, and Spanish actress Almudena Amor.

Speaking to Martin Compston and Gordon Smart on the Restless Natives podcast, James, 44, explained he fell off a bed and 'smashed' his knee after being caught off-guard when a co-star began nibbling his neck.

The Scottish actor said: 'I just did an improvised film which was shot in six days and it's quite dark and sexual.'

James McAvoy, 44, revealed that he suffered an injury while filming a 'dark' orgy on the set of his new film Turn Up The Sun! (pictured in February)

The thriller follows two couples who arrive at a countryside mansion that they unknowingly booked together (pictured in 2021 Aisling Franciosi who stars)

Also starring are The Fall's Aisling Franciosi, Emily In Paris star Lucas Bravo, and Spanish actress Almudena Amor (pictured last year)

He continued: 'The second last day of filming ended with about nine of us doing an orgy scene. An improvised f**king orgy scene.

'It was hardcore dancing, everybody is on drugs, we had all drunk loads of whisky and there was loads of kissing, groping and disrobing.

'There's this amazing Spanish actor called Almudena Amor and we had to go at it with each other.

'We had to be funny with it but properly go for it and we were both in the same headspace. So, we get to this improvised orgy and she's bigger than me, she's like 5ft 11in.'

James is 5ft7.

The BAFTA winner revealed: 'At one point I was holding her upside down and we were doing some weird thing and somebody grabbed me on the back of the neck to start biting my neck.

'I just decked it and smashed my knee real hard on the ground. I think that's the only time I've been injured making a film.'

Turn Up The Sun! is written and directed by Welshman Jamie Adams.

When the film was announced, its producer Shaun Sanghani said: 'James McAvoy is one of the most talented actors in the business and having him and the rest of our amazing cast collaborate with Jamie Adams is exciting on every level.'
Sophie Turner was caught giving her new boyfriend Peregrine Pearson the look of love when they arrived back in London from Paris on Thursday.

The new couple were seen stepping off the Eurostar at St Pancras and Sophie, 7, looked enamoured with her new man.

Ditching her Paris Fashion Week heels for comfortable backless UGG slippers and blue socks, she still managed to look incredible in her low-key look.

For the rest of her ensemble she teamed a red jumper with black leggings and went low-key in a black coat and dark sunglasses with Sophie Lis Magic leaf hoop earrings.

Peregine, 29, wheeled her suitcase for her like a true gent, which she had balanced an oversized Louis Vuitton holdall on top of.

Sophie Turner gives boyfriend Peregrine Pearson the look of love as she ditches her Fashion Week heels for UGG slippers to arrive back in London

The new couple were seen stepping off the Eurostar at St Pancras and Sophie, 7, looked enamoured with her new man

The couple were last seen mingling with some of Hollywood's biggest stars at the Louis Vuitton after party in Paris on Tuesday

The couple could barely take their eyes off one another

The property developer was wearing black jeans and a grey hoodie with blue Adidas Gazelle trainers and a khaki bomber jacket.

The couple were last seen mingling with some of Hollywood's biggest stars at the Louis Vuitton after party in Paris on Tuesday.

Sophie, who is divorcing Joe Jonas, recently shared a series of snaps from her ski trip with Peregrine as she confirmed their relationship in December.

Peregrine is the eldest son and heir of Michael Pearson, the 4th Viscount Cowdray  a former film producer who owns a significant chunk of the Pearson media empire.

While Sophie is said to be worth a whopping 10million, this pales in comparison to Peregrine's family fortune which is said to be more than 224million.

He has a 5million pad in Chelsea while his father owns a sprawling mansion in West Sussex with 22 bedrooms and 16,500 acres of grounds.

His ancestral estate is home to Cowdray Park Polo Club  which boasts ten pitches and hosts more than 450 matches each year.

The prestigious club hosts the annual Gold Cup, where both Prince William and Prince Harry have played.

Peregrine previously admitted that despite being the heir to the sprawling estate, which also features a farm shop and cafe, he does not play polo himself.

He told the Telegraph in 2018: 'I'm getting lessons, I grew up riding and over the next few years it's something I can see myself doing a lot more.'

Ditching her Paris Fashion Week heels for comfortable backless UGG slippers and blue socks, she still managed to look incredible in her low-key look

Sophie, who is divorcing Joe Jonas, recently shared a series of snaps from her ski trip with Peregrine as she confirmed their relationship in December

He was glued to his phone as the pair walked through the station

For the rest of her ensemble she teamed a red jumper with black leggings and went low-key in a black coat and dark sunglasses

While Sophie is said to be worth a whopping 10million , this pales in comparison to Peregrine's family fortune which is said to be more than 224million

He has a 5million pad in Chelsea while his father owns a sprawling mansion in West Sussex with 22 bedrooms and 16,500 acres of grounds

Peregine, 29, wheeled her suitcase for her like a true gent, which she had balanced an oversized Louis Vuitton holdall on top of

The property developer was wearing black jeans and a grey hoodie with blue Adidas Gazelle trainers and a khaki bomber jacket

Peregrine made sure to carry all the bags as they walked through the station
BBC Radio One has introduced two new hosts as they have yet another shake-up across their station.

Lauren Layfield, 36, and Shanequa Paris, 29, are set to take over the channel's Life Hacks as they will replace Vick Hope and Katie Thistleton.

Life Hacks, which airs every Sunday 4pm to 6pm, is a weekly show and podcast dedicated to open and frank discussions about issues affecting young people.

From April 7, listeners can expect the new duo to become the show's resident presenters as they will continue to broadcast the episodes from Salford.

Vick, 34, and Katie, 34, who has fronted the show since its launch in 2017, have both recently announced they are moving to Going Home with Jamie Laing.

Lauren Layfield, 36, and Shanequa Paris, 29, are set to take over the BBC Radio One's Life Hacks replacing Vick Hope and Katie Thistleton

Vick, 34, and Katie, 34, who has fronted the show since its launch in 2017, have both recently announced they are moving to Going Home with Jamie Laing

Vick and Katie's last Life Hacks show will be on March 31.

Presenter and DJ Lauren spent four years hosting Capital FM's Early Breakfast Show and presented The One Show and covered the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.

Earlier this year, she also presented Radio 1's Friday Early Breakfast slot in January.

Speaking of her huge career move, Lauren said: 'I'm absolutely over-the-moon to officially be joining the BBC Radio 1 family. I've listened and loved Radio 1 since I was a teenager and it's a total privilege to join the ranks.

'Life Hacks is such an iconic show discussing everything from health to careers to relationships; as a journalist one of my favourite things to do is talk to people about their own stories and I know the Radio 1 listeners are so wonderfully willing to share. I can't wait to head up the chat!'

Shanequa presented CBBC's news programme, Newsround, where she reported on key issues such as the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Last summer, she had a taste of the show as she co-hosted Life Hacks alongside Katie as part of the station's summer 2023 schedule.

Speaking of her new permanent position, she said: 'I can't believe I get to join the most fabulous station, on a show that's even more fabulous and speaks to so many people on a personal level.

Jordan North (pictured), has departed the show- he will replace Roman Kemp on Capital Breakfast and will officially start in April 2024 alongside Chris Stark and Sian Welby

Jamie Laing, 35, has also seen a huge career move as he also will co-host Going Home, which airs daily between 3.30pm and 6pm

'Life Hacks is that show to hold your hand and give you that hug when you need it! Sunday is the new Friday. We've got you covered hunny!'

Head of BBC Radio 1, Aled Haydn Jones, said: 'I'm so excited to welcome Lauren and Shanequa, two brilliant journalists and youth broadcasters, to Radio One.

'Life Hacks is such an important show in Radio One's schedule, which delivers invaluable content that only the BBC can achieve. I can't wait to hear what Lauren and Shanequa bring to the show!'

Radio One has seen huge changes among its presenters in recent weeks as it is not only Vick and Katie who have moved on from their usual resident roles.

Joining Vick and Katie, Jamie Laing, 35, has also seen a huge career move as he also will co-host Going Home, which airs daily between 3.30pm and 6pm, following Jordan North's departure.

Radio DJ Jordan, 34, will replace Roman Kemp, 31, on Capital Breakfast and will officially start in April 2024 alongside Chris Stark, 36, and Sian Welby, 37.

Meanwhile, BBC also announced that Matt Edmondson, 38, and Mollie King, 36, who currently present Matt and Mollie on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons, will move to the weekday afternoon show.

The pair have hosted Weekend Breakfast together since 2018 and from July will be taking on the 1pm to 4pm slot on Monday to Thursday.

'I can't wait to spend more time with them and my best bud, Matt, during the week,' The Saturdays star Mollie said of getting to host a brand new show together.

Matt added: 'I feel really lucky to be taking on this new show with my best friend, and I have no doubt that we will continue to champion amazing music, be ridiculously competitive and laugh uncontrollably.'

The station's major switch up comes after I'm a Celeb runner-up Jordan, bid farewell to Radio One earlier this month to join Capital's Breakfast Show, replacing its longtime host Roman.

But, it was claimed that the news he was leaving the show was a 'shock to him' as information about the departure 'was issued without his knowledge in chaotic scenes'.

Who will replace them in their current slot, Friday to Sunday afternoons is yet to be confirmed.

The publication reports that he had unwittingly already presented his last episode of the show by the time his departure was announced.

Meanwhile, BBC also announced that Matt Edmondson, 38, and Mollie King, 36, who currently present Matt and Mollie on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons, will move to the weekday afternoon show

Tensions had reportedly been high 'for months' about his departure after he let producers know he wanted to leave.

The source said: 'Conversations were going back and forth between Jordan's people and the top people at the BBC for months, and over time they deteriorated.

'Once he formally requested to leave, that was it  he was off air, immediately.

'It's a shame it ended on such a bad note after 10 years.'
Celebrity Big Brother housemate Ekin-Su Culculoglu has been accused of 'playing a game' by a show star, after she raised eyebrows with her grilling of Gary Goldsmith.

The Love Island star, 29, questioned the businessman, 59, who is Kate's uncle, about how the Princess of Wales is doing while she recovers from abdominal surgery.

While Ekin-Su's blunt questioning was lauded by viewers watching at home, Oti Mabuse has claimed her tactics may be part of a bid to boost screentime.

Speaking on spin-off show Late and Live, Oti said she was 'in two minds' about Ekin-Su's motive so far, but praised her for speaking candidly about her struggles with Fern Britton.

She said: 'That vulnerability is beautiful to see and that's actually a strength that she has,' but added that her 'other toxic Oti side' thinks Ekin-Su could be getting close to certain housemates to boost her screentime.

Celebrity Big Brother housemate Ekin-Su Culculoglu has been accused of 'playing a game' by a show star, after she raised eyebrows with her grilling of Gary Goldsmith

The Love Island star questioned the businessman who is Kate's uncle, about how the Princess of Wales is doing while she recovers from abdominal surgery

'She's only talking to the real famous people in the house, the infleunce of people in the house,' Oti said.

'That's me going, girl, I know she's smart, is she playing a game?'

While Ekin-Su's behaviour has sparked scepticism among some viewers, a majority praised her for asking Gary about Kate's whereabouts.

Chatting with Gary in the bedroom, Ekin-Su said: 'Can I ask you a question, where's Kate?'

'So, because she doesn't want to talk about that...' Gary said to which Ekin-Su replied: 'You can't talk about it?'

'There's a kind of code of etiquette,' Gary explained. 'If it's announced, I'll give you an opinion.'

'I hope she's OK,' Ekin-Su said.

'I know, I spoke to her mum, my sister, she's getting the best care in the world,' Gary said. 'All the family is done is put the wagons around and look after family first before anything else.

While Ekin-Su's blunt questioning was lauded by viewers watching at home, Oti Mabuse has claimed her tactics may be part of a bid to boost screentime

Speaking on spin-off show Late and Live, Oti said she was 'in two minds' about Ekin-Su's motive so far, but praised her for speaking candidly about her struggles with Fern Britton

'They put a statement out that said, "We'll take some time to recoup and we'll see you in Easter."

Ekin-Su replied: 'I've heard mixed things about Kate and I don't want to make a comment but whatever it is, we want her to come back.'

'She'll be back, of course she will,' Gary said.

Fans took to X/Twitter to praise Ekin-Su, with one writing: 'Ekin-Su's question to Uncle Gary about Kate Middleton's whereabouts is quite amusing!'

Another wrote: 'Ekin-Su asking the right question. And Gary's answer made his niece's whereabouts even more suspicious.'

A third added: 'Where's Kate? Ok Ekin-Su, you're growing on me,' while a fourth penned: 'Ekin-Su doing the Lord's work.'

It comes just days after the Princess of Wales was pictured for the first time since undergoing surgery in January as an American website published photos of her being driven by her mother near Windsor.

Although officials have refused to give any further updates on Kate's health due to medical privacy, royal aids have insisted she is 'doing well'.

Fans took to X/Twitter to praise Ekin-Su, with one writing: 'Ekin-Su's question to Uncle Gary about Kate Middleton's whereabouts is quite amusing!'

Following abdominal surgery, Kate has remained out of the public eye for two months as she recovers.

The pictures were published by US gossip website TMZ but not in the UK after Kensington Palace appealed for her to be able to recuperate in private.

The response came in American celebrity magazine People calling for transparency over the Princess' condition.

A spokesman told the outlet: 'His focus is on his work and not on social media.'

The rebuttal comes less than a week after Royal aides spoke out to condemn the 'madness of social media' as conspiracy theories continue to circulate about the Princess of Wales's health.
By Baek Byung-yeul

Hyundai Motor introduced a trade-in program that allows customers to purchase new electric vehicles (EVs) at a lower price in exchange for a used one as part of the carmakers efforts to reduce the burden for consumers looking to buy new eco-friendly cars and consequently expand its EV share, the company said Thursday.

The company said it launched the trade-in program on March 1. The program is available to those who sell their EVs through a certified used car service and buy a new Hyundai Motor EV, such as the IONIQ 5 and the IONIQ 6.

Trade-ins are thriving in the smartphone market to reduce the price burden on consumers. In exchange for trading in an old product, consumers can buy a new one for less than the original price.

For example, a customer who owns the 2022 model year IONIQ 5 can trade in the vehicle and get ... the New IONIQ 5 for less than the factory price, the company said. Consumers can easily sell their vehicles through Hyundai Motor-Genesis certified vehicle app via smartphones or the website.

In addition, Hyundai is offering special rewards to consumers who trade in their vehicles to purchase a new EV.

Owners of Hyundai Motor or Genesis EVs who sell their vehicle to a certified used car service will receive a reward in addition to the sale price. The reward can be up to 2 percent of the sale price. Also, they will receive an additional discount of 500,000 won ($376) from the price of new EVs, the company said.

There are also benefits for those who trade in an internal combustion engine or hybrid vehicle (HEV) for a Hyundai Motors EV. If they sell their cars, including any other brand, to a Hyundai Motors certified used car service, they can get up to 4 percent of the sale price.

We plan to continue to offer a number of benefits to help position Hyundai Motors certified used car service as a trusted EV trading platform for our customers, the company said.
Veruca Salt revealed her next career move on Thursday, one month after the tragic death of her six-week-old son Cash.

The Gold Coast influencer, 25, hosted a Q+A session with her Instagram fans and shared the news after being asked what the future held for her.

'I'm going to start a podcast over the next few weeks, once I'm settled into my new house. I'll start working on my brand my baby gave me the idea for,' she began.

'I might write a book about my life or something. That will take me over a year.'

She added she would have to be more active on her adult subscription sites to raise the revenue - and said by keeping herself busy she would take her mind off the tragic death of her son.

Veruca Salt revealed her next career move on Thursday, one month after the tragic death of her six-week-old son Cash. Both pictured

The Gold Coast influencer, 25, hosted a Q+A session with her Instagram fans and revealed her next move

'I'm more active on my OF every day, working really hard on that. The distractions are very good for me,' she continued.

Salt, whose real name is Kimberley Summer Hartley, announced last month that her son Cash had tragically 'died in his sleep' and that she 'doesn't know happened'.

She has since kept her followers updated on her grieving process, including documenting her son's funeral.

Several days after Cash's passing, Salt returned to TikTok with a tearful video announcing that she would be attending Taylor Swift's Eras Tour concert in Sydney.

In her video, Salt said she was aware her decision to attend the show would spark criticism, but said she wanted to go because Swift's music gives her happy memories of her son.

Salt, who purchased tickets for Swift's show while she was still pregnant with Cash, explained: 'I knew that my baby would be a little over two-months-old when I was supposed to go to Taylor Swift. I'm still here. I still came. I'm in the hotel.'

'I just feel the need to make a video because I know that people are just going to be like "Oh, she's at Taylor Swift, it was her f***ing baby's funeral the other day",' she continued.

She went on to reveal that Cash's funeral happened to take place on her birthday, and that she finally wanted to feel some joy.

'I'm going to start a podcast over the next few weeks, once I'm settled into my new house. I'll start working on my brand my baby gave me the idea for,' she began.
Bargain Hunt host Christina Trevanion struggled to hide her shock after learning an antique mask could be worth millions of pounds.

The presenter appeared in a recent episode of the BBC daytime favourite, where she visited Leominster in Hertfordshire to learn about tribal art.

While learning about historic tribal masks, she was stunned to discover that one could make up to 2 million at auction.

In the episode, Christina met with expert Sam Hanbury-Maiden, who explained how difficult it is to determine the age and origin of tribal art.

'Sam, this looks like a fascinating collection. But what do we mean by the term tribal art? ' she asked.

Bargain Hunt host Christina Trevanion struggled to hide her shock after learning an antique mask could be worth millions of pounds

The presenter appeared in a recent episode of the BBC daytime favourite, where she visited Leominster in Hertfordshire to learn about tribal art

He replied: 'Essentially Christina we are talking about pieces that are of a non-European nature. Tribal art is a term that covers north and south America, Africa, certain parts of Asia.'

Sam then showed Christina some examples of tribal art, which included everyday items such as tools and jewellery, noting that they're considered tribal art because 'they are made by artisans.'

Pointing to an object, Christina asked: 'I recognise this one as a typical boomerang but what's going on here?'

Sam explained: 'The middle one is a more unusual variation of a boomerang, this is called the Lil Lil, which is a rarer type of boomerang.

'A lot of people recognise the boomerang, the more sort of U-shaped boomerang which is the famous one that returns.

'But, these ones, they're not necessarily returning boomerangs. They are used for hunting.

'Some of them have very sharp edges, they can be used for cutting, others for digging.'

'You don't find those every day, so that's what makes that one highly desirable for collectors.'

While learning about historic tribal masks, she was stunned to discover that one could make up to 2 million at auction

Christina then asked how much such a boomerang would make at auction, and he replied: 'That one you're looking at 800 to 1,000 maybe,' while predicting another could be worth up to 1,500.

Turning to the face masks, Sam continued: 'These masks are from about the 1400s to the 1460s. One of the biggest giveaways with the mask is actually not the front, it's the back.'

'You're looking at signs of wear that essentially comes from being worn on the side of the face or on top of the head

'This mask for example from the Yoruba Tribe has probably been painted several times as well. Looking with a magnifying glass you'll probably be able to see the different layers of paint.

'This Yoruba mask, maybe a bit more, maybe 600 something like that. The big money-makers are things like the fang masks from Gabon.'

'Again highly copied today, but a fang mask with a good providence today, dating from the 19th century could be a couple of million pounds.'

Stunned by the value of one item, a shocked Christina gasped: '2 million, wow.'

The episode saw experts Kate Bliss and Ochuko Okiri enlisted by the red and blue teams to find the best items to go up for sale at auction.

Bargain Hunt is available to watch on BBC iPlayer. It also airs weekdays at 12:15pm on BBC One.
Samantha Armytage has listed her lavish holiday home in Hyams Beach, NSW for $3.2million.

The Farmer Wants A Wife host, 47, has previously leased out the exquisite three-bedroom, two-bathroom property as a holiday rental for $1200 a night.

Armytage purchased the property - which sits on 658sqm - for $1.765million in 2018 and has done extensive renovation work on it in the years since.

This includes adding a new roof and redesigning the interiors.

The property boasts stunning nature views and is just a short walk from the iconic Hyams Beach, and also close to a variety of amenities.

Samantha Armytage has listed her lavish holiday home in Hyams Beach, NSW for $3.2million. Pictured

Its gorgeous architecture, exquisite design and desirable location make it the perfect property for couples and families.

Sam sold her North Bondi home for $2.8million in July 2020, before moving to a Southern Highlands farm in New South Wales to live with her husband Richard Lavender.

She tied the knot with Lavender, a successful equestrian businessman, at his 40-hectare property in Bowral on New Year's Eve in 2020.

The Farmer Wants A Wife host, 47, has previously leased out the exquisite three-bedroom, two-bathroom property as a holiday rental for $1200 a night

Armytage purchased the property - which sits on 658sqm - for $1.765million in 2018 and has done extensive renovation work on it in the years since

The property boasts stunning nature views and is just a short walk from the iconic Hyams Beach and also close to a variety of amenities

The journalist met her husband at socialite Skye Leckie's 60th birthday party in April 2019, and she said there was an instant connection.

She previously told Stellar: 'I think we make a good match. I was very lucky to find him at that point in my life.'

Richard added about the early days of their romance: 'There's been a lot said about that stuff but, honestly, I think she was just looking for something a bit different when she met me.'

He is a stakeholder of Lavender Equestrian, which offers a variety of services for horses in the region, including breeding and training.

According to property records, his 40-hectare farm in Berrima cost $1.95million when he bought it in 2007.

Its gorgeous architecture, exquisite design and desirable location make it the perfect property for couples and families
Katie Price revealed that she has been seeing new boyfriend JJ Slater for months as she opened up about their relationship on Thursday.

The glamour model, 45, and the MAFS star, 31, went public with their new romance last week after a string of dates and a romantic getaway together.

Fans have continuously shared their fears that the mother-of-five is 'heading for disaster' with her new flame but she has now confirmed it is not a sudden decision.

Speaking on her podcast The Katie Price Show, Katie said: 'We have now gone official.

'It's not like I've just met him and people will find out how long we've been messaging and seeing each other maybe next week I'll tell you on the show.

Katie Price revealed she has been seeing new boyfriend JJ Slater for months as she opened up about their relationship on Thursday

The former glamour model, 45, and the MAFS star, 31, went public with their new romance last week after having a string of dates and a romantic getaway together

'The thing is with my life, I don't want to tell everyone about absolutely everything especially when it comes to relationships because it didn't happen like that.

'I wasn't even looking for a relationship, but yeah, we can talk about that more next week.'

Katie went onto discuss that she is facing a 'lot of dramas' in her life a the minute and she is struggling to cope.

She continued: 'I've got a lot of dramas in my life I've got a head block, I'm seeing my therapist and seeing a consultant because my head is fuzzy and I'm coping with a lot.

'Some stuff I just can't cope with which are like normal stuff that people can cope with.'

Last week, Katie and JJ attended GKBarry's final Saving Grace podcast at the London Palladium where Katie performed her single I Got You to the sold out crowd.

Following the show, the new couple headed out in London to a bar and shared a number of loved-up snaps.

But fans were quick to take to the comments to share their fears she has moved on too fast with JJ.

Fans have continuously shared their fears that Katie is 'heading for disaster' with her latest flame but she has now confirmed it is not a sudden decision

Katie went onto discuss that she is facing a 'lot of dramas' in her life a the minute and she is struggling to cope

One wrote: 'I feel for her ... because you know it's just going to end in disaster'.

Another penned: 'Just be on your own for a while Katie, love yourself.'

A third said: 'Jj desperate for fame. KP desperate for a man and to feel young!'

However, other fans came to her defence as she moves on from her years long on/off engagement to Love Island star Carl Woods, whom she split with at the end of 2023.

One wrote: 'Leave them alone....if Katie is happy then so be it....life is too short for gossip and slagging off people.....jeeze'.

Katie confirmed her romance with JJ in a gushing social media post.

Sharing a selfie with JJ as the two cosied up to one another, she wrote: 'They say things happen for a reason, the unexpected happened. Fate. Ticks every box.

'@johnjoeslater you have proved to me you are a real gentleman and completely except me for me.'

JJ sweetly responded in the comment section: 'Fate thank you so much for being you'.

Katie had spoken of marrying and starting a family with ex boyfriend Carl Woods many times in recent years, but she announced she had split from him as she took to social media while seeing the New Year in with her pal Kerry Katona.

As well as her recent split from Carl after the pair's on-off relationship, Katie also has three ex-husbands, Peter Andre, Alex Reid and Kieran Hayler.

The mother-of-five shares her eldest son Harvey, 21, with former flame Dwight Yorke, Junior, 18, and Princess, 16, with Peter, and Jett, nine, and Bunny, eight, with Kieran.

Katie went public with her new romance last week after having a string of dates and a romantic getaway with the MAFS star

Fans were quick to take to the comments to share their fears she has moved on too fast with JJ

However, other fans came to her defence as she moves on from her years long on/off engagement to Love Island star Carl Woods, whom she split with at the end of 2023

Katie confirmed her romance with JJ in a gushing social media post

Katie has reportedly introduced her new boyfriend JJ to some of her children as the couple's romance heats up.

Katie and JJ jetted off on a romantic Bulgarian ski trip, of which they exclusively shared snaps with MailOnline.

A source said: 'Katie's already introduced JJ to her youngest kids. It's so important to her that he gets along with them as they're a huge part of her life.

'They've been talking for a while but it seems like it's already getting serious.'
Will Best has revealed the awful thing he had to do to land his Celebrity Big Brother presenting gig and how co-host AJ Odudu got involved.

The TV host, 39, confessed he accidentally implied his father and his girlfriend's mother had died when giving a vague excuse to get out of another gig so he could go to the test screening.

Speaking to Jennie Becker on her star-studded podcast, Sliding Doors, ahead of the show launch, Will admitted that he hadn't intended to apply for the job.

But AJ, 36, - who already had one of the presenting jobs - messaged him asking for a tape of the two of them presenting together, because she wanted Will to work alongside her.

He said: 'The process of me getting the job for Big Brother was quite quick. It kind of came out of nowhere.'

CBB's Will Best has revealed the awful thing he had to do to land his presenting gig on the show and said how AJ Odudu got involved

The TV presenter, 39, confessed that he accidentally implied his father and his girlfriend's mother had died when giving a vague excuse to get out of another gig so he could go to the CBB test screening

'Me and AJ are mates so we were chatting anyway and said she was talking to ITV about a really big job but she couldn't say what it was. And then she messaged and like ''have you got any footage of me and you doing any hosting together because I really want to do this ITV thing with you'', he added.

'I got some other friends from production companies that we worked with to pull some stuff together and sent it over.

'And then off the back of that she messaged and was like ''OK they are going to want to get you in''

'My agent got involved and stuff and because it was all happening so quickly they were like ''this is a big job and we want Will to screen test for it but there is only one day.'''

Will then explained that the screen test, which was already arranged for other applicants, was on the same day that he was in Abu Dhabi hosting a music festival.

He was supposed to fly out the day before.

Because Will was the 'wild card, late addition', he revealed that when he asked for the screen test to be rearranged there was nothing that could be done because the studios and crew were already booked.

Will revealed he wasn't satisfied with not trying to audition because it felt 'like quite a big thing that we should try and make work'.

Will admitted that he hadn't intended to apply for the hosting gig and it wasn't until AJ got the job that she messaged him because she wanted Will to work alongside her

Will then explained that the Big Brother screen test, which was already arranged for other applicants, was on the same day that he was in Abu Dhabi hosting a music festival

And after looking at the schedule he found there was a way around of missing one day of the shoot and it require a 'creative tweak' to the first day of filming as long as he got there really early the next day.

He and his agent agreed that he couldn't reveal that something else had come up because he believed they would just say they had already booked him.

So Will and his agent made up the vague excuse that he had a 'family emergency'.

Under the impression that the Dutch team waiting for him would not ask follow-up questions, they thought their plan had worked.

But when he finished the screen test in the UK and landed in Abu Dhabi, Will revealed that he was asked 'who had died?' the second he got into the car.

'If it was a British crew, I feel like you wouldn't have to explain anything. Let's not talk about it, for god sake lets not get into any emotional or serious conversations', he said.

'But when I landed, the first thing the crew that picked me up from the airport said was ''who died, who was it who died?''

'And I was like ''oh well, erm, well like you know'', I didn't say no one had died but I didn't confirm they had.

'I just sort of babbled for a bit about like, ''well like my dad is really old, my girlfriend's mum has not been well, like maybe one of them had died. Maybe both of them died. I don't know.'''

After looking at the schedule he found there was a way around of missing one day of the shoot and it require a 'creative tweak' to the first day of filming as long as he got there really early the next day (pictured with AJ)

Will and his agent made up the excuse that he had a 'family emergency' and when he finished the screen test in the UK and landed in Abu Dhabi, he was asked 'who had died?' the second he got into the car and in panic, he babbled something about his dad and girlfriend's mother

'And they were kind of prying and they were like ''oh that is really tough'' and I was like ''yeah you but you know you have got to rally round as a family when stuff like that happens'' and they were kind of cool with it in the end and let it go.'

Will made his Big Brother debut in October 2023 for the show's iconic return, which saw Jordan Sangha win the social experiment.

He was born in London in 1985 and has been in presenting since he was 24.

His first TV job was on the music channel Viva, where he fronted the chat show Suck My Pop and the MTV Top 20 chart show.

Between 2011 and 2012, Will had a spot on T4 - a weekend segment between morning shows on Channel 4, which also boasted Dermot O'Leary, Vernon Kay and Jameela Jamil before being axed.

Remaining with Channel 4 for another year, he went on to present the iTunes festival, The Crush and Love Shaft on the network's various channels.

But his prime-time break came on ITV in 2017 when he presented the talent show Dance Dance Dance with Britain's Got Talent's Alesha Dixon. However, the show was not recommissioned for a second series.

Although 2023's series will be his first as a Big Brother presenter, Will was a regular contributor to Big Brother's Bit On The Side from 2013 to 2014.

Listen the Sliding Doors podcast on:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/sliding-doors/id1546497838?i=1000648316694
Advertisement

Leggy model Devon Windsor has turned 30-years-old.

To celebrate the milestone, the former Victoria's Secret pinup showed off her slender body in a black bikini while on a beach vacation.

The 5ft11in star from St Louis, Missouri put her incredibly toned figure on display for images shared to Instagram on Wednesday.

At one point, the cover girl added a matching long skirt with fringe at the bottom that added a very chic summer look.

The star was in a swimsuit she designed herself for her self-named brand that has been a blockbuster since it debuted four years ago.

Devon appears to be at her thinnest in years after welcoming two daughters with husband Johnny Dex Barbara.

In 2021 she gave birth to their first child, Enzo Elodie Barbara, and in May 2023 she welcomed their second daughter, Celine Blue Barbara.

Devon Windsor put her incredibly toned figure on display in a strapless orange bikini for images shared to Instagram on Wednesday

The 5ft11in cover girl looked to be enjoying her time by the ocean.

Windsor looked very slender in the two piece bathing suit as her abs were on display and her legs appeared muscular with definition.

Devon has been a model for over a decade and has been in the swimsuit-making business for the last four years.

In 2019 she launched Devon Windsor Swim, an affordable swimwear line which also captures her personal style.

'I am super excited to announce that I am launching Devon Windsor Swim this summer !!! I have been working for the past year on this project and cannot wait to see you guys wearing it!' she announced on social media at the time.

Speaking with V Magazine about starting up the collection, she said: 'Being in the fashion industry, I was always interested in expanding my brand outside of just modeling.

'I loved the aspect of design and the creativity and freedom in being able to have your own line. Swimsuits have always been a passion of mine because I love the oceanit is where I feel most at home.

The Victoria's Secret model was seen leaning onto a rock as she added diamond jewelry as she turned 30-years-old

Her legs are looking better than ever thanks to yoga and power walks

The star was in a swimsuit she designed herself for her self-named brand that has been a blockbuster since it debuted four years ago

'Over the past couple of years, I have noticed a gap in the market for a swimsuit that is more than your average basic bikini, without breaking your bank.

'For me, swimwear is a strong form of self-expression and something that you should feel confident and powerful in. With this in mind, I decided to create an affordable line of statement swimsuitsDevon Windsor.'

As far as what makes her collection standout in the marketplace, she said: 'I wanted this line to be a reflection of my personal style, while also being a collection and brand that everyone could find something they love.

'I also wanted the collection to be affordable, and something that carries a lot of design details. The range offers a large variety of versatile silhouettes, colors, patterns, textures and hardwareall with an immense amount of detail that went into selecting each.

She was also seen posing in this fringed skirt as she spun around

Devon appears to be at her thinnest in years after welcoming two daughters with husband Johnny Dex Barbara

In 2021 she gave birth to their first child, Enzo Elodie Barbara, and in May 2023 she welcomed their second daughter, Celine Blue Barbara

Seen last week in a one piece swimsuit with her husband an eldest child in the background

'I feel like the versatility of each piece and huge attention to detail that I put into each aspect of every design is what sets this line apart from others.'

Outside of the corporate world, Devon is a busy mother of two.

She shares daughters Enzo Elodie Barbara, two, and Celine Blue Barbara, six months, with her husband Jonathan.

Devon married her businessman beau in a beachside St. Barts ceremony in 2019.

Two years after they tied the knot, the Brawl in Cell Block 99 star gave birth to their first child in September 2021, a girl they christened Enzo Elodie Barbara.

The hard-working model mom announced her second pregnancy back in November 2022.

She gave birth to her second daughter, Celine Blue Barbara, in early May 2023.

Discovered at the age of 14, Devon has been a professional model ever since.
Elsa Pataky stunned as she attended a promotional event for Spanish footwear brand Gioseppo in Madrid, Spain on Thursday.

The model and actress, 47, looked incredible in a leggy mini dress, with semi-sheer sleeves and a zig-zag design.

Posing for photos at the event inside the Bless Hotel, Elsa twirled a round to give a peak of her outfit's backless cut-out.

She completed her look with a pair of gold wedges, by the brand, and pulled her hair back into a high ponytail.

The wife of Chris Hemsworth has been the face of the label since August 2019 and has since featured in many of the brand's campaigns.

Elsa Pataky, 47, stunned as she attended a promotional event for Spanish footwear brand Gioseppo in Madrid, Spain on Thursday

Posing for photos at the event inside the Bless Hotel, Elsa twirled a round to give a peak of her outfit's backless cut-out

Before christmas Elsa and her husband Chris were hit by rumours they were 'drifting apart.'

They later poured cold water on the whispers as they hit the beach with their children in Byron Bay.

The couple, who have been married for more than 10 years, recently set tongues wagging that not all was well in paradise after they went on separate holidays.

A source close to the pair recently told In Touch magazine that despite maintaining a united front for their family and spending Christmas together, the duo have been growing apart for some time.

'The status of Chris and Elsa's marriage is a question mark,' a source told the publication.

'The separate vacations are a huge red flag, but it's more than that. They're still very much a united family, but they've drifted apart as a couple.'

The source claimed Chris wants to live a 'simpler life' but 'Elsa wants more'.

'They were the perfect husband-and-wife team for so long - both gorgeous, beautiful kids. Everything seemed picture-perfect. But things have definitely changed,' they added.

The model and actress looked incredible in a leggy mini dress, with semi-sheer sleeves and a zig-zag design

She completed her look with a pair of gold wedges, by the brand, and pulled her hair back into a high ponytail

Before christmas Elsa and her husband Chris Hemsworth were hit by rumours they were 'drifting apart' - they later silenced the whispers as they hit the beach with their children

The couple spent a significant amount of time holidaying separately last year, prompting fans to question if all is well in paradise.

The chatter first began when Elsa and the couple's children put up the family Christmas tree at their Byron Bay mansion without Chris.

'Haven't seen you and Chris together in a while. Hope all is good,' one follower commented underneath photos the Spanish star posted of the Hemsworth clan decorating the home.

Chris and Elsa tied the knot during the Christmas holidays in 2010.

The couple live in a $30million mansion in Broken Head near Byron Bay after relocating from Los Angeles to Australia nine years ago.
Alec Baldwin has been seen for the first time since Rust armorer Hannah Guttierrez-Reed - whose mugshot was released on Thursday - was found guilty and taken into custody over her part in the shooting of a cinematographer killed by the actor.

The 65-year-old actor looked glum on an outing with wife Hilaria and a few of their children in New York City on Thursday morning.

Alec was seen hopping into an SUV with his family as he wore a black coat and had documents in his hand.

Hilaria donned a long tan cashmere coat over leopard top, skinny blue jeans, and beige heels.

She wore her brunette tresses down as she sported massive designer shades.

Alec Baldwin has been seen for the first time since Rust armorer Hannah Guttierrez-Reed was found guilty and taken into custody over her part in the shooting of a cinematographer killed by the actor

Alec was seen hopping into an SUV with his family

The 65-year-old actor looked glum on an outing with wife Hilaria and a few of their children in New York City on Thursday morning

Gutierrez-Reed,26, has now been seen in her mugshot from the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Facility

Earlier in the day she was seen solo on a coffee run.

This came after a jury found Wednesday that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was negligent in allowing a live bullet be placed into the gun that Alec Baldwin used on the set in October 2021. This resulted in the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Gutierrez-Reed, 26, has now been seen in her mugshot from the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Facility.

After two hours of deliberations at the courthouse in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a jury found Gutierrez-Reed guilty on the manslaughter count, but acquitted her on a charge of tampering with evidence. She has been jailed ahead of her sentencing, which could see her face up to 18 months behind bars.

As she was walked out to start her sentence, her mom could be seen weeping and putting her head in her hands.

Hutchins' family released statement after the verdict and said they 'look forward' to everyone else responsible for her death facing justice - an apparent reference to Baldwin who faces trial for involuntary manslaughter in July.

Baldwin, 65, will be tried in the same courthouse and faces the same possible sentence if convicted.

'Halyna's parents and her sister have always wanted everyone who is responsible for Halyna's death to be held accountable,' the family's lawyers Gloria Allred and John Carpenter said.

He wore a black coat and had documents in his hand

He was driven around town with his family by a chauffeured SUV

Alec did not look happy on the outing

He was followed by his 40-year-old yoga enthusiast wife

Baldwin faces the same possible sentence as Gutierrez-Reed if convicted later this year

Hilaria has remained by his side

Hilaria donned a long tan cashmere coat over leopard top, skinny blue jeans, and beige heels

Earlier in the day she was seen solo on a coffee run

She had a purple backpack over one shoulder

Gutierrez-Reed will serve time inside the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Facility, seen here

Hutchins, 42, a mother-of-one, was shot dead by Alec Baldwin on the set of Rust in October 2021. Baldwin is due to go on trial in July

Gutierrez-Reed was acquitted on a charge of tampering with evidence after prosecutors claimed she gave another person a bag of cocaine after a police interview to prevent law enforcement from obtaining it

'Today was the first trial and conviction in the criminal justice process. We are satisfied that the jury, based on the evidence, found Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty beyond a reasonable doubt for her part in the taking of Halyna's life.

'We look forward to the justice system continuing to make sure that everyone else who is responsible for Halyna's death is required to face the legal consequences for their actions.'

Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter but the allegations were dropped in April last year. He was dramatically charged again last month and pleaded not guilty.

The shooting happened in October 2021 after two weeks of filming while Baldwin was practicing drawing out his gun from the holster.

He opened fire on Hutchins, 42, a married mother-of-one whose son was nine at the time, and the bullet went through her and lodged in the shoulder of director Joel Souza, who survived and testified in court.

TMZ reported Thursday that the Beetlejuice star's legal team plans to put together a list of famous people to testify on Baldwin's behalf when he goes to trial in July.

The outlet's source claims that these select famous people will be those that have already spoken out publicly in defense of Baldwin.

Although he's yet to be contacted by Baldwin's attorneys, actor Mickey Rourke told TMZ that he would testify if asked.

'Whatever Alec needs I'll be there 100%. The armorer is 100% responsible for any gun handed to an actor,' he said Thursday. 'Especially, to an actor who didn't have experience with guns.'

Gutierrez-Reed will serve her time in Santa Fe County Jail where according to a report last year by KRQE, over a dozen inmates have died in the last few years.

One of those included Brianna Romero, 20, who died in the facility after her arrest in 2021.

A lawsuit was filed by her family claiming wrongful death against the city and the prison, claiming employees failed to monitor her and allowed her to die from an overdose, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Baldwin stepped out on Thursday alongside his wife Hilaria, seen here, as well as their young family

She was on trial over the 2021 shooting death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins

Gutierrez-Reed's mom wept as the judge explained that she would be remanded in custody pending sentencing where she could be given up to 18 months

Baldwin, 65, who was the lead actor and a producer in the movie, will face a separate trial in July for involuntary manslaughter, which he denies

Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter but the allegations were dropped in April last year. He was dramatically charged again last month and pleaded not guilty

The jury was shown shocking images of cinematographer's Halyna Hutchins' blood-stained shirt

Last year the jail announced they would be bringing in new technology to better track the health of inmates.

While Baldwin was not the defendant in this case at times it felt that he was, with one witness stating as much out loud.

Across more than two dozen witnesses, prosecutors painted a damning portrait of a film that was in a state of 'rushed chaos.'

The night before the incident, six members of the camera crew quit because of their concerns over safety.

Gutierrez-Reed will serve her time in Santa Fe County Jail where according to a report last year by KRQE , over a dozen inmates have died in the last few years

One of those included Brianna Romero, 20, who died in the facility after her arrest in 2021. Her family filed a lawsuit against the facility last year claiming wrongful death

During her trial, Gutierrez-Reed made notable changes to her appearance and swapped colorful hair and a septum piercing for a more low key look during proceedings.

Juror Alberto Sanchez spoke outside the court after the jury reached the guilty verdict on Wednesday.

He said: 'There was a lot of safety issues that she could have paused or stopped, and she just never did.

'[She] never did the safety checks, never checked the rounds. If you'd done that this wouldn't have happened.

'After talking it all out, [the jury] was convinced. I think it was fair. Someone died, we have to take responsibility.'

Juror Alberto Sanchez explains how the jury reached a guilty verdict in the Hannah Gutierrez-Reed trial in less than three hours. #RustTrial pic.twitter.com/BzIGYA8EDh  Alex Caprariello (@alcaprari23) March 6, 2024

Gutierrez-Reed's defense was to blame everyone but her, but especially Baldwin.

Her lawyer, Jason Bowles, said Baldwin was the 'big boss' on set that nobody stood up to even though he rushed people and ignored safety checks because Rust, which he was a producer on, had a tight budget.

The jury heard that Baldwin commissioned director Souza to write the script, which he owned the rights to. Baldwin was the lead actor on the movie and was also a producer.

Bowles called Gutierrez-Reed, who was just 24 at the time of the incident, a 'scapegoat' for wider failings that led the New Mexico safety regulator to issue a $136,000 fine to the producers for 'willful and serious' safety failings.

The jury were shown the video of Gutierrez-Reed's interview by the sheriff Santa Fe, New Mexico, hours after the incident in October 2021

Production of Rust stopped abruptly in October 2021 when a prop gun held by Baldwin fired a live round that killed Hutchins

Bowles told the court that Baldwin himself made the set unsafe by waving his gun like a 'pointing stick' at people.

A behind the scenes video from the filming showed Baldwin demanding a second shot immediately after one that just finished.

He was heard saying: 'Right away! Right away! Let's reload. Here we go, come on! We should have two guns, both reloading.'

Asked if that kind of conduct was typical, Carpenter said no, adding that it put pressure on the armorer to stand up to him.

Moments later, after the director shouted cut, Baldwin let loose another blank round while standing next to the 12-year-old actor.

Carpenter said that when somebody yells cut, nothing else should be fired and that Baldwin 'went off script.'

Baldwin could have used a Nerf gun in the scene where he accidentally shot Hutchins dead because it was just a rehearsal known as blocking, the jury heard.

But Baldwin insisted on using the real guns, known as his 'hero props', because he preferred them, just like he preferred the most powerful dummies possible because they were more realistic.

The new set is pictured in Livingston, Montana. Despite the new set also having a church building, scene 121 - which was the one Baldwin was practicing - has been removed from the movie entirely and will not be reshot

Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter but the allegations were dropped in April last year. He was dramatically charged again last month and pleaded not guilty

Jurors were shown a video shot during production of Rust in which Baldwin pointed the gun at the crew and cast members including a 12-year-old boy between scenes

Jurors were told Baldwin himself made the set unsafe by waving his gun like a 'pointing stick' at people and firing rounds after the director said cut

In his opening statement, Bowles said that Baldwin 'violated basic gun safety' by pointing the gun at Hutchins because he didn't intend to shoot at her.

He said: 'The primary thing here was rush, get this thing so we can get the money and that's all on production and Mr. Baldwin is one of the primary producers. That's on them. Miss Gutierrez-Reed had no control over that.'

During cross-examination of Addiego, Bowles asked: 'Did you ever stand up to Mr Baldwin and say we're not going to move this fast?'

Addiego said it was 'not my job' and he didn't recall 'anybody standing up to Mr Baldwin on the set of Rust.'

'He's running the show, he's the big boss, right?' Bowles said. 'He's number one, so yes,' Addiego said.

Perhaps the most damning evidence against Baldwin undercut his claim that he never pulled the trigger on the gun.

Bryce Ziegler, an agent with the FBI firearms unit who examined the gun Baldwin used, said he had to break the gun with a mallet to get it to fire without using the trigger.

Ziegler said that couldn't have happened on the set of Rust because the gun was in working order when it came to him.

Speaking to ABC News in December 2021 Baldwin said: 'I didn't pull the trigger. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never'.

In her police interview, Gutierrez-Reed pointed the finger at Baldwin as well and claimed that he was distracted during the safety briefing she tried to give him.

She said that the actor was 'on his phone a lot of that entire thing' and didn't pay attention when she was showing him how to use the weapon.

FBI firearms expert Bryce Ziegler gave evidence that challenged Alec Baldwin's version of events

Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and also faced a charge of tampering with evidence

Dave Halls, the first assistant director on Rust, broke down in tears while telling the jury how he was the last person apart from Gutierrez-Reed to check the gun before giving it to Baldwin

A firearms expert showed off to the jury a gun similar to that Baldwin used to shoot Hutchins

There was powerful testimony from Dave Halls, the first assistant director on the film and the last person to handle the gun before giving it to Baldwin.

Before the trial, Halls had pleaded no contest to a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon and received six months probation.

Asked why he did so, Halls said: 'I was negligent in checking the gun properly,'

Halls became emotional as he described what happened next in the chapel on the set of Rust.

He said: 'Mr Baldwin was pulling it (the gun) out, getting used to that action

'He was in communication with Miss Hutchins about where to point the gun.

'The gun went off.

'It was so many thoughts (in my head). The idea it was a live round of ammunition that went off, it wasn't computing,'

Hutchins was 3ft away from Halls to his left and he said to her: 'Are you all right,'

In tears, Halls said that Hutchins replied: 'I can't feel my legs,'

Addiego also broke down in tears while being pressed by Bowles on why he was part of a civil lawsuit against Baldwin and the Rust producers for negligence.

He said: 'I'm hoping for justice, sir. Two people were injured on a film set. That has not only affected me - it's affected the film industry.'

The criminal case is not the only court proceedings resulting from the shooting of Hutchins.

In 2022 Baldwin settled a civil lawsuit filed against him by Matthew Hutchins, the widow of Hutchins, and the father of their son.

Under the terms Rust continued production at a new location in Montana and Matthew Hutchins, who has called his wife's death a 'terrible accident,' is an executive producer.

No date has yet been set for the film's release.
Millie Bobby Brown revealed she felt like 'the female version of Tom Cruise' doing her own stunts for her role as Princess Elodie in the upcoming film, Damsel.

While reflecting on filming the project for Netflix, the Stranger Things actress, 20, opened up about how empowering it felt to test her physical limits from scaling up a rock wall and riding horses to wielding a large sword.

'I did all my own stunts from start to finish,' she said while appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show.

Despite admitting to initially feeling 'scared' about doing her own stunts, she told the host, 49, that it ended up making her feel 'like Tom Cruise.'

Millie Bobby Brown revealed she felt like 'the female version of Tom Cruise' doing her own stunts for her role as as Princess Elodie in the upcoming fantasy film, Damsel

Despite admitting to initially feeling 'scared' about doing her own stunts, she told the host, 49, that it made her feel 'like Tom Cruise' (seen in the 2022 action film Top Gun: Maverick)

'Tom Cruise is the coolest,' Barrymore gushed, to which Brown enthusiastically agreed as they sat side by side in coordinating lavender outfits from the British star's new Florence by Mills fashion line.

Previously, on Instagram, the performer stated that doing her own stunts, opposite of Love Simon star Nick Robinson, left her feeling 'like a warrior.'

In this new film, Brown plays a noblewoman that agrees to marry a handsome prince, only to discover that his family intends to sacrifice her to repay an ancient debt.

According to IMD, she 'must rely on her wits and will to survive' after finding herself trapped in a cave with a fire-breathing dragon.

'It was very physically demanding, I've never been challenged than the way I was on this film,' she said in a behind-the-scenes video, uploaded to Netflix's Instagram.

Over his more than 40-year career in Hollywood, Cruise has gained a daredevil reputation for doing some of the most dangerous stunt in cinematic history.

This includes driving a motorcycle off a cliff and parachuting to safety in Mission: Impossible  Dead Reckoning Part One, climbing a 2,000-foot cliff in Mission: Impossible 2 and holding his breath for six minutes for an underwater stunt in Mission: Impossible  Rogue Nation.

During her latest talk show appearance, Brown also raved about her relationship with fiance Jake Bongiovi and passion for fostering animals.

'I did all my own stunts from start to finish,' she said while appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show

Previously, on Instagram, the performer stated that doing her own stunts, opposite of Love Simon star Nick Robinson, left her feeling 'like a warrior'

In this new film, Brown plays a noblewoman that agrees to marry a handsome prince, only to discover that his family intends to sacrifice her to repay an ancient debt

When asked about how both her parents and future in-laws also met their spouses at a young age, the two-time Emmy nominee talked about their influence on her and Bongiovi's love story.

'We grew up with really wonderful relationships to observe and I think that it just set a precedent for what we want in our lives,' she said. 'I watch my parents, like, fall more in love every day and that same goes for when I see Jake's parents and I think that's just what we wanna, you know, in hopes to achieve for ourselves.'

Brown later revealed that she is 'fostering 23 dogs right now' and declared a partner that is 'good with animals' as a swoon-worthy trait.

The pair met via Instagram before they were photographed out together in June 2021.

Over his more than 40-year career in Hollywood, Cruise has gained a daredevil reputation for doing some of the most dangerous stunt in cinematic history; seen in 2011 on the set of Mission: Impossible  Ghost Protocol

'I'm very very lucky to be with him and to be experiencing life with him,' she said in an interview.

The 21 year-old actor popped the question April of last year after two years of dating in an elaborate underwater proposal while on vacation.

'Jake and I bonded over diving. We love diving, we got our diving licenses together,' she recently revealed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

'One day we were on vacation and he was like, "Mil, you've got to be up at 8:00 AM we're going on a dive. And I was like, "8:00 AM? Dive like, what are we...' she added.

During her latest talk show appearance, Brown also raved about her relationship with fiance Jake Bongiovi and passion for fostering animals; pictured earlier this month

She added that Bongiovi told her they were, 'going to the same spot we usually go to,' but she suggested, 'It's boring let's go somewhere new.'

'He's like, "No, we have to go to this spot." So we go under, and we're like many meters down, and he gives me like a shell. And I turn it over, and it's a a ring,' she said.

She said they both looked at each other as she mumbled something, mimicking how he sounded in his diving gear.

Brown added he motioned to go up, adding, 'Because this means, "I wanna go up," so that technically would mean like, "No, I don't want to marry you, I want to go up.'

'I was like, "Okay," she said, making an hand gesture that signified she would marry him, joking, 'I think it was underwhelming, but we freaked out anyway.'

The romantic proposal, however, took quite the unique - and nearly death-defying twist - though, Brown explained.

'He puts the ring on my hand and as I go to show him, the ring falls off my finger, plummets like, so fast, it was like a a cinematic movie,' she explained.

'We grew up with really wonderful relationships to observe and I think that it just set a precedent for what we want in our lives,' she said

The 21 year-old actor popped the question April of last year after two years of dating in an elaborate underwater proposal while on vacation

'Jake threw himself into -- like, so deep. Like the diver was like, "You can't do that. Your ears. Literally, you're brain will explode." He throws himself, he does a a cinematic like grab, opens, and he saved the ring,' she said.

She explained, 'I truly feel like it's a a reflection of who he is, and I feel like we're always going to have each other's back. And if anyone drops the ball, we got it. So there we go.'

Brown adds, 'We got to the top, and he was like, "Do you want to marry me?" And I was like, "Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah that would be -- you should probably ask me."

'And then he was like, "You know, I bought you this ring because your mom wouldn't let me take her ring." Which is the one I'm wearing this is my mum's ring. And my mum was like, "Absolutely not, Jake. You're not taking my ring down there. I know you'll drop it," and sure enough he did,' Brown joked.

'She was right so when we got up on the boat, he was like, "This is your mum's ring, and I got it from your parents." And it was very magical. And his parents were there and we just looked so disheveled coming out from a a dive. We were like, "We're engaged, but also we have to tell you this crazy story that just happened,' Brown said.
Ariana Grande plans to share 'her side of the story' regarding her love life on her new album.

The 30-year-old pop star split from Dalton Gomez in 2023, and Ariana intends to tell her truth on Eternal Sunshine, her much-anticipated new studio album.

A source told Us Weekly: 'Ariana thinks these songs will provide a lot of insight for her fans.'

The upcoming album will also explore Ariana's subsequent romance with Ethan Slater.

The insider shared: '[It's] her side of the story regarding Dalton and Ethan.'

On the other hand, another source has described Eternal Sunshine as a 'concept album'.

Ariana Grande plans to share 'her side of the story' regarding her love life on her new album. The 30-year-old pop star split from Dalton Gomez in 2023, and Ariana intends to tell her truth on Eternal Sunshine, her much-anticipated new studio album

A source told Us Weekly: 'Ariana thinks these songs will provide a lot of insight for her fans.' The upcoming album will also explore Ariana's subsequent romance with Ethan Slater; seen in 2023

The insider explained: 'Ariana is playing with different characters, some of the lyrics come from her personal life, but others are just her playing a fun character for her fans.'

Ariana previously revealed that she hopes her new album will help to dispel some of the myths that surround her love life.

The chart-topping star - who was previously engaged to comedian Pete Davidson - admitted to being frustrated by the speculation that surrounds her relationships.

During an appearance on the Zach Sang Show in February, Ariana explained: 'I feel like we don't need to go into any specifics, but, of course, there's like an insatiable frustration, inexplicable, hellish feeling with watching people misunderstand the people you love and you and anything.

'I'm so nervous because pieces of [the album] touch on things that are real and then pieces of it are also just, like, part of the concept.'

The insider shared: '[It's] her side of the story regarding Dalton and Ethan.' On the other hand, another source has described 'Eternal Sunshine' as a 'concept album'

The insider explained: 'Ariana is playing with different characters, some of the lyrics come from her personal life, but others are just her playing a fun character for her fans.' Ariana previously revealed that she hopes her new album will help to dispel some of the myths that surround her love life

Grande attends the 13th annual Billboard Women in Music event in 2018, in New York

Ariana also described Eternal Sunshine'as the most emotional record of her career.

The pop star added: 'The thing that was beautiful about it was, when I was writing ['Eternal Sunshine'], it was with no intention for the world to hear it.

'I was just kind of [like], 'Let's just go. Let's see what comes out.'

'And then, when I was done, I remembered that people will hear it and sometimes, people will sensationalize things and assign meaning to certain things.

'And I wanted to make sure that I combed through, just to make sure that it was what I intended.'
A small patch of ice among bare rock is all that remains of Venezuela's last glacier, which the government hopes to restore to its former glory using a geothermal blanket.

Experts say that would be too little too late.

While glacier melt is a global phenomenon blamed on climate change, Venezuela is the first country in the Andes mountain range  which stretches all the way to Chile in the south  to lose all its glaciers.

Venezuela has lost five in total, adding up to some 1,000 hectares of ice, in the last century or so.

"In Venezuela there are no more glaciers," Julio Cesar Centeno, a university professor and advisor to the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), told AFP.

"What we have is a piece of ice that is 0.4 percent of its original size."

Centeno and other experts are convinced the loss of La Corona glacier on Humboldt peak, some 4,900 meters (more than 16,000 feet) above sea level, is irreversible.

But the government announced a plan in December to slow and even reverse the thaw by covering the area with a thermal mesh made of polypropylene plastic warding off the Sun's rays.

The cover was delivered to Humboldt peak by helicopter in 35 separate pieces, each measuring 2.75 meters by 80 meters, in December, but the government has not said whether it has already been unrolled.

Similar covers are used in European countries, mainly to protect ski slopes in warmer weather.

"It allows us to maintain the temperature of the area and prevent the entire glacier from melting," said Jehyson Guzman, governor of the western state of Merida that used to be home to Venezuela's glaciers.

Nothing left to save

But scientists of the University of Los Andes (ULA) are skeptical.

They say La Corona ceased to be a glacier since shrinking to just two hectares of the 450 hectares it used to cover. Scientists use a guideline of 10 hectares as the minimum size of a glacier.

Before La Corona, Venezuela also lost its glaciers on the peaks of El Leon, La Concha, El Toro and Bolivar.

"It is an illusory thing, a hallucination, it is completely absurd," said Centeno of the government's plan.

He and a team of other scientists will ask Venezuela's supreme court to scrap the project, which they say could have other, negative, impacts as the plastic blanket degrades over time.

"These micro plastics are practically invisible, they end up in the soil and from there they go to crops, lagoons, into the air, so people will end up eating and breathing that," he said.

Enrique La Marca, zoologist and ecologist, fears the cover could harm rare species of mosses and lichens, even hummingbirds that call the rocky environment home.

"That life will die because it will not have the necessary oxygen," he said.

An ice remnant

The most optimistic estimates give the remaining ice-cover "four to five years" before disappearing completely, said La Marca, who researches the impacts of glacier melt due to climate change.

Some calculations point to a mere two years.

"It's an ice remnant," not a glacier, added physicist Alejandra Melfo, a ULA expert on the topic.

Forestry engineer and mountaineer Susana Rodriguez said the disappearance of La Corona will also affect Venezuelan tourism, as many people who used to climb the Humboldt peak did so on the ice.

"Now everything is rock, and what remains is so deteriorated that it is risky to step on it. There are cracks," said Rodriguez, who has accompanied several outings on the glacier. (AFP)
Andy Cohen and his legal team are threatening ex RHONY star Leah McSweeney with legal action after she claimed he took cocaine with his favorite Real Housewives stars.

Last month Bravo producer and personality Cohen, 55, was accused of 'engaging in cocaine use with Housewives that he employs,' according to a suit filed in New York's Southern District by McSweeney, 41.

A rep for Cohen told Dailymail.com that 'the claims against Andy are completely false' at the time and now, a letter from Cohen's attorneys obtained by TMZ has urged McSweeney to retract her 'categorically false' allegations or face a lawsuit.

Cohen's attorneys have said everything McSweeney claimed in the lawsuit is false and added on the cocaine claim: '[W]e demand that you immediately retract and withdraw all allegations relating to Mr. Cohens purported 'cocaine use.'" -

'To be clear: these allegations are categorically false. Mr. Cohen never used cocaine with any cast member on any Real Housewives show or with any other Bravo employee. The absence of any reasonable basis to make such allegations is confirmed by your pleading itself.'

Andy Cohen and his legal team are threatening ex RHONY star Leah McSweeney with legal action after she claimed he took cocaine with his favorite Real Housewives stars- Pictured in NYC in June of 2021

A rep for Cohen told Dailymail.com that 'the claims against Andy are completely false' at the time and now, a letter from Cohen's attorneys obtained by TMZ has urged McSweeney to retract her 'categorically false' allegations or face a lawsuit

His attorneys point out there are no details included in the allegation and claim McSweeney made the explosive claim 'just to get headlines and a quick payday.'

Cohen's lawyers end by saying: 'The truth matters. Litigation cannot be used to create fake news. And it cannot be used as a vehicle to spread false and malicious lies, in furtherance of a shakedown. We demand that you issue an immediate public retraction and apologize to Mr. Cohen. Every day you fail to do so only increases the damages suffered by Mr. Cohen.'

A source close to McSweeney told the publication that she is 'flabbergasted' that Cohen keeps bringing attention to the case in the press 'rather than just letting it play out in court.'

A source close to Cohen said: 'Of course, Andy should defend himself in the public with the truth. Why should she be allowed to spew lies about his character?'

DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Cohen and Bravo for comment.

McSweeneys attorney, Sarah M. Matz, of Adelman Matz P.C. told DailyMaillcom: 'That Andy Cohen had his counsel and PR agents write a threatening letter to give to the press is hardly surprising.

'Mr. Cohen is accustomed to using his power in the media to scare and intimidate people like Ms. McSweeney so that they will not speak out. Mr. Cohens attempt to discredit and intimidate Ms. McSweeney to deter her from engaging in legally protected activity in Court is exactly the type of retaliation that this lawsuit was brought to address and only is further evidence for Ms. McSweeney.

'We do not intend to litigate this matter in the press, and if Mr. Cohen wants to address Ms. McSweeneys claims, we suggest he do so in Court, not in a letter for the press.'

McSweeney's lawsuit filed last month against Cohen and Bravo alleges cocaine use is rampant at the the network, with the linchpin producer and on-air personality both using the illegal drug and providing it to employees.

McSweeney said in court docs reviewed by Page Six that Cohen 'tends to provide the Housewives with whom he uses cocaine with more favorable treatment' and strategic editing to make them look better.

Cohen's attorneys have said everything McSweeney claimed in the lawsuit is false and added on the cocaine claim: '[W]e demand that you immediately retract and withdraw all allegations relating to Mr. Cohens purported 'cocaine use.'" - 'To be clear: these allegations are categorically false'

Cohen 'intentionally uses cocaine with his employees to further promote a workplace culture that thrives off drug and alcohol use, which leads to a failure to accommodate employees who are disabled and trying to stay substance free,' McSweeney said in court docs.

A rep for Cohen told Dailymail.com that 'the claims against Andy are completely false.'

McSweeney appeared on two seasons of The Real Housewives of New York City in 2020-2021, and on a season of Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip, which aired last year.

McSweeney said in the legal docs that Bravo 'thrives off drug and alcohol use,' without naming any further parties past Cohen.

McSweeney said in court docs reviewed by Page Six that she informed Bravo producers prior to her casting on the series, that she had been focused on staying sober, and had a 30-day streak of sobriety going into the show.

McSweeney told the court that producers failed to make a 'reasonable accommodation' for her addiction-related disability - but instead provided her 'with unlimited, free-of charge alcoholic beverages,' and 'encouraged her to consume those alcoholic beverages.'

McSweeney's legal team said that 'this environment caused Ms. McSweeney to relapse into alcohol addiction shortly after joining RHONY season 12.'

A source close to Cohen said: 'Of course, Andy should defend himself in the public with the truth. Why should she be allowed to spew lies about his character?'

McSweeney said in court docs that Bravo producers sought to sabotage her sobriety by both exacerbating it and stopping her from getting treatment for her problem.

McSweeney told the court that Bravo executives violated her employment rights under the Disabilities Act by preventing her to get help for her alcohol issues, knowing she was dealing with them.

McSweeney, who has a fashion label called Married To The Mob, said in the legal docs that sexual harassment was also rife in the company, claiming that a senior producer 'routinely sends unsolicited pictures of [their] genitalia to lower-level  production employees,' and that executives have ignored the issues.

McSweeney, seen in an Instagram post, said in court docs that Bravo producers sought to sabotage her sobriety by both exacerbating it and stopping her from getting treatment for her problem

McSweeney has a fashion label called Married To The Mob

Cohen 'intentionally uses cocaine with his employees to further promote a workplace culture that thrives off drug and alcohol use, which leads to a failure to accommodate employees who are disabled and trying to stay substance free,' McSweeney said in court docs

McSweeney said in legal docs that Bravo and Shed Media, a production company it works with on its shows, continued to promote the unnamed senior producer in question 'to positions of increased power.'

In 'failing to take appropriate remedial action' amid the claims, McSweeney said in court docs, Bravo and Shed officials 'tacitly' signaled to both the senior producer and 'all other employees that they can engage in unlawful employment practices with impunity.'

McSweeney in her suit, which is for unspecified damages, named Cohen, Bravo, Shed Media and Shed's parent company Warner Media.

The latest claims come amid a series of lawsuits filed involving Cohen, who also is the host of the Bravo series Watch What Happens Live! and executive producer of the Real Housewives franchise.

Brandi Glanville, 51, claimed in an explosive legal letter earlier this month that Cohen had sexually harassed her by trying to make her watch him have sex with another Bravo star, who Cohen later revealed to be Kate Chastain of Below Deck fame, via a FaceTime video.

In a legal legal letter DailyMail.com obtained, Glanville said that in 2022, an 'obviously inebriated' Cohen sent her a clip in which he 'invited her to watch via Facetime,' Glanville's attorney Bryan Freedman said.

Cohen, who is openly gay, earlier this month posted an apology via Twitter: 'The video shows Kate Chastain and I very clearly joking to Brandi.

'It was absolutely meant in jest, and Brandi's response clearly communicated she was in on the joke. That said, it was totally inappropriate and I apologize.'

The latest claims come amid a series of lawsuits filed involving Cohen, who also is the host of the Bravo series Watch What Happens Live! and executive producer of the Real Housewives franchise. Pictured Friday in NYC

Glanville on Monday said that the apology meant nothing to her since it wasn't addressed to her.

'I have not received a personal apology from anyone,' she said. 'I saw an apology that Andy posted TO HIS FANS for his mistreatment of me and inappropriateness.'

Sources who saw the video in question told Dailymail.com on Tuesday that Glanville replied to Cohen's video message in saying she would provide a sex toy for the referenced rendezvous.

Insiders said Cohen told Glanville in the 2022 clip, 'Hey Brandi what's up girl? We are just thinking about you. So yeah, me and Kate are gonna have some hot sex and wanted to know if you wanted to watch. You know a little menage a trois. So FaceTime us back. Okay girl love you!'

Glanville sent a reply in which she said, 'I will bring my hot dildo,' according to eyewitnesses.

Glanville is also at the center of separate sexual harassment litigation involving fellow Bravo personality Caroline Manzo, 62.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey star said that Bravo producers encouraged Glanville to sexually harass her amid the filming of the series The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip in Morocco, TMZ reported January 26.

Manzo said in legal docs that Glanville - after being encouraged to drink to excess by producers - 'forced her vagina against her back' as she groped her in front of the cameras.

Brandi Glanville, 51, claimed in an explosive legal letter earlier this month that Cohen had sexually harassed her by trying to make her watch him have sex with another Bravo star, who Cohen later revealed to be Kate Chastain of Below Deck fame, via a FaceTime video

Cohen and McSweeney were pictured on a Watch What Happens Live! in 2021 with Sonja Morgan

Lawyers for the RHONJ personality said that Glanville 'proceeded to mount Manzo on the couch holding Manzo down with her body, forcibly squeezed Manzos cheeks together and thrust her tongue in Manzo's mouth, while humping her.'

Glanville's rep told DailyMail.com that 'there was no sexual assault' and that the allegations raised by Manzo were 'absurd.'

Cohen has past been the target of cocaine-related allegations, as his former friend Kathy Griffin said in 2017 clip on YouTube that Cohen had offered her cocaine on multiple occasions, prior to her appearing on his talk show.

'Right before we went live, Andy Cohen privately asked me in an office in embassy row, which is the production company that does that s***show asked her if I wanted to do blow,' Griffin said in an October 2017 clip on YouTube. 'He was asking me to do cocaine with him.'
Mama June Shannon's daughter Anna 'Chickadee' Cardwell's dying wish was to spend more time with family before her tragic death from cancer aged 29 in December 2023.

Mom of two Cardwell battled adrenal cancer that progressed to stage 4 before she died on December 9.

Speaking to People, Mama June detailed how she knew her daughter had entered her final days and said the family gathered together to honor her last wishes.

She said: 'We knew after we came back from our last vacation on December the 4th as we went to Gatlinburg. That's where she wanted to go. We went there the last week of November instead of July 4th. Well, the 5th. I kind of knew something was up when we was in and out the last couple of days, but we adored our time."

'Once she came back here and she [had] seen the nurses and all of that, they was just telling us that she was starting to transition, which I just thought it was because she was out from the trip and stuff like that. But no, it really was she was just transitioning.

Mama June Shannon's daughter Anna 'Chickadee' Cardwell 's dying wish was to spend more time with family before her tragic death from cancer aged 29 in December 2023

Speaking to People , Mama June detailed how she knew her daughter had entered her final days and said the family gathered together to honor her last wishes

'We did get closer during that. Because that's really what Anna kept repeating, I want to spend more time with family. I want to spend more time together. We came together and made that happen.'

Shannon, who is married to Justin Stroud, praised her supportive husband for helping Anna throughout her treatment, saying: 'I tell a lot of people he didn't have to do what he [has] done. But me and him, we took Anna to every treatment. He was mainly the one helping get the kids back and forward to school, stuff like that.He was a great support. My kids call him.'

Anna who was the mother of two girls, Kaitlyn, 11, and Kylee, eight, underwent chemotherapy and immunotherapy in an attempt to beat her cancer.

Mama June announced her daughter's death in an Instagram post.

Two days before her somber announcement, the reality star had asked her fans and followers on social media to pray for her ailing daughter.

'With the breaking heart, we are announcing that @annamarie35 is no longer with us,' June began her heartbreaking post. 'She passed away in my home last night peacefully at 11:12 PM.'

'She gave one hell of a fight for 10 months she passed away with her family around her like she wont and we will will be updating yall with more information as we get it today [sic],' Shannon continued.

Speaking to People , Mama June detailed how she knew her daughter had entered her final days and said the family gathered together to honor her last wishes. She said: 'We knew after we came back from our last vacation on December the 4th as we went to Gatlinburg

Cardwell tied the knot with partner Eldridge Toney on March 4 in Wilkinson County, Georgia while undergoing chemotherapy, after previously expressing her desire to wed two months prior while she still felt well enough , reports TMZ

'We love yall and continued prayers and thoughts for our family [during] this difficult time,' she added.

Accompanying the caption was a photo of Mama June and her family, including Anna, who sported short hair amid her cancer treatments.

Anna was diagnosed with stage four adrenal cancer in January after complaining of stomach pain.

The Mayo Clinic reports adrenal carcinoma is a rare cancer that affects the adrenal glands in the kidneys. The adrenal glands produce hormones which deliver instructions to virtually every organ and tissue in the body.

Over the summer, the From Not to Hot star revealed that Anna's cancer was terminal.

'We know it's terminal. She's stage 4. She's not gonna go into remission,' she wrote, adding: 'We've all accepted that, so I just tell people one day at a time 'cause you never know.'

On Friday she took to social media to ask her 758,000 Instagram followers for prayers.

'Yall we are asking for prayers for our family as we are going through this process,' the Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo alum wrote.

'We really appreciate yall for all the thoughts and prayers and we will update yall whenever we can,' she said, adding, 'just know that all of your thoughts and your prayers are very much appreciated during this time, she explained, adding the hashtags, '#mamajune #cancersucks #family #prayers.'

She didn't mention her daughter explicitly, but her followers knew immediately she was referring to Cardwell.

Two days before her somber announcement, the reality star had asked her fans and followers on social media to pray for her ailing daughter

Anna was diagnosed with stage four adrenal cancer in January after complaining of stomach pain

'Anna sending you many many many prayers. God bless you sweetheart. ,' one concerned fan wrote.

'Lord please have Anna in your hands and help her and her family In this time that they need you,' added another.

One follower empathized with June's struggle, writing, 'From a mom of a cancer warrior.. angel.. my sincere thoughts and prayers for you all.'

June's 23-year-old daughter, Lauryn 'Pumpkin' Efird reposted adding, 'Say a prayer for our family.'

Cardwell's 18-year-old little sister Alana 'Honey Boo Boo' Thompson took to social media on Sunday to remember her as well.

Sharing with her 1.1 million followers, Thompson wrote, 'This is one post I wish I didnt have to make.'

She shared the same family portrait as her mom did along with a heartbreaking caption as she grieved the fresh loss.

'Last night we all surrounded Anna with love & let her know it was okay to go. Unfortunately around 11pm Anna took her last [breath],' she said.

The note continued, 'Anna was in so much pain last night but now as a family we all know she is at peace now. I really dont know what to say as my heart is completely broken.'

The college student voiced: 'Watching my 29 year old sister this last year battle this horrible disease hasnt been easy. Anna was a fighter & still is. Lord please wrap your arms around her 2 babies & our family as the next couple of days will make this all a reality.'

She went on to say that her bigger sister waited until she arrived home to transition.

'Im so glad that you waited til i was home to take your last breath! I wouldve loved for you to get to see me graduate college but i know you will forever cheer me on in heaven!' she said in the caption.

'We will all make sure your legacy lives on forever. And i promise to always make sure to celebrate our birthday like you never left! The sky looks a little bit different today. We will always love you Anna,' a heartbroken Honey Boo Boo added.

And finally, she said, 'You hit me hard with his one Anna but i know [you're] in a better place now and pain free forever!'

Alana 'Honey Boo Boo' Thompson took to social media on Sunday to remember her late sister Anna

Eventually, Anna's cancer spread to her liver, kidneys and lungs

The mother of two girls, Kaitlyn, 11, and Kylee, eight, underwent chemotherapy and immunotherapy in an attempt to beat her cancer

Eventually, Anna's cancer spread to her liver, kidneys and lungs.

The average age of patients with adrenal cancer is 46, but it can occur in people of any age, even in children, according to the American Cancer Society.

Adrenocortical carcinomas start in the outer layer of the adrenal glands, which are next to the kidneys. The adrenal glands are small glands producing hormones.

Most growths that form in the adrenal glands are noncancerous.
Advertisement

Hollywood veteran Heather Graham showed off her impossibly slender figure this week while on a yoga retreat in Mexico.

The Drugstore Cowboys actress wore a chocolate brown string bikini while in new images she shared to Instagram.

The cover girl from Milwaukee, Wisconsin had a flat tummy with abs and sculpted legs as she looked to be toned to perfection.

The 54-year-old star has said in the past she looks so youthful because she likes to sleep a lot. Often she gets as much as 12 hours of shut-eye a day.

And the looker, who has worked since she was a teen, also said she meditates twice a day as it centers her and makes her relax.

Hollywood veteran Heather Graham showed off her impossibly slender figure this week

The Drugstore Cowboys actress wore a string bikini while on a coastal vacation in Mexico in new images shared to Instagram

'So grateful I got to go on a yoga retreat and meditate looking at the ocean with @soukofrima_ and @mjmasala @souk.studio. Me gusta ,' she said in her caption.

She is also a big yoga fan which she started doing when she worked on Twin Peaks prequel Fire Walk With Me in 1992.

The star was with her boyfriend John de Neufville, 47.

In February, she stole the spotlight at the 39th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival Closing Night.

The stunning star looked incredible in a stylish red gown as she arrived at the Arlignton Theatre gala, which included the world premiere of her film Chosen Family.

The dramedy was written and directed by the actress, who also stars in it alongside Julia Stiles, Andrea Savage, Ella Grace Helton and John Brotherton.

She effortlessly commanded attention at the event in her bold gown, showcasing a plunging neckline and a strategically placed cut-out design that highlighted her sculpted abs.

Opting for minimal makeup, Heather let her natural beauty take center stage as she posed alongside her co-stars, Ella and John.

The siren had a flat tummy with abs and sculpted legs as she looked to be toned to perfection

The 54-year-old star has said in the past she looks so youthful because she likes to sleep a lot

In Chosen Family, Heather takes on the role of Ann, a yoga teacher on a quest for inner peace amidst her chaotic family dynamics and a less-than-ideal dating life.

Despite her struggles, Ann grapples with an inability to say no, constantly finding herself entangled in others' problems.

As she endeavors to mend her fractured relationship with her sister Clio (Stiles), Ann leans on her friends Roz (Savage), Max (Thomas Lennon), and Frances (Odessa Rae) for support.

'Im so excited to be making my dream project with an amazing team,' Graham previously said in a statement.

'In a male-dominated industry, we love supporting women,' producers Chad A. Verdi and Michelle Verdi told The Hollywood Reporter.

Often she gets as much as 12 hours of sleep a day

And the looker, who has worked since she was a teen, also said she meditates twice a day as it centers her and makes her relax

Seen here with her longtime boyfriend John de Neufville

'Heathers drive, writing, directing and starring in this film has been wonderful to witness.'

Heather's big night at the annual festival comes a week after Robert Downey Jr. was recognized with the esteemed Maltin Modern Master Award at the Arlington Theatre.

Downey Jr. - whose searing performance as Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer is gaining Oscar buzz - was also joined by superstar pals Rob Lowe, David Duchovny, Natasha Leggero, Chelsea Peretti and more.

Cillian Murphy - who played nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's blockbuster - beamed with pride as he posed with the guest of honor.

Graham stole the spotlight at the 39th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival Closing Night in February

The Modern Master Award is the highest honor presented by SBIFF, according to its website.

'Established in 1995, it was created to honor an individual who has enriched our culture through accomplishments in the motion picture industry,' reads the statement.

The award was re-named the Maltin Modern Master Award in 2015 in honor of long-time SBIFF moderator and renowned film critic Leonard Maltin.

Past winners included Jamie Lee Curtis Javier Bardem, Nicole Kidman, Bill Murray Brad Pitt, Glenn Close, Gary Oldman and Denzel Washington.
Hollywood producer Sean Stone has died aged just 31 following a battle with cancer.

Stone - who worked on action films starring Bruce Willis, John Travolta and Mel Gibson passed away on Tuesday at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, his family told THR.

He was diagnosed with metastatic neuroendocrine cancer of the colon in July.

Stone was a creative executive on 2022 films Hot Seat (which starred Kevin Dillon and Mel Gibson), Wire Room (starring Dillon and Bruce Willis) and produced upcoming John Travolta film Cash Out and its sequel.

He is survived by his parents, David and Ileen, siblings, Ashley, Justin, Michael, Mallory and Brian and nieces Ella and Sloane

Hollywood producer Sean Stone has died aged just 31 following a battle with cancer

Stone - who worked on action films starring Bruce Willis, John Travolta and Mel Gibson passed away on Tuesday at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey , his family told THR

He produced upcoming John Travolta film Cash Out and its sequel

Outside of his film commitments Stone enjoyed 'painting, sports, hibachi, music and Shark Week.'

Stone was born on August 24 1992 and grew up in New Jersey.

He graduated from the University of Arizona before moving to Los Angeles in 2017 to pursue his career in film producing.

He joined agency CAA before moving to Emmett/Furla as an assistant in 2020.

He then began freelancing as an executive producer on movie projects.

His other projects include Wrong Place starring Willis and Twilight actor Ashley Greene.

Stone will be laid to rest at Mount Sinai Cemetery & Mausoleum in Morganville, New Jersey on Thursday, March 7.

Film producer and Lala Kent's ex Randall Emmett paid an emotional tribute to his 'brother' Sean, writing on Instagram: 'Yesterday i lost one of my best friends @seanstone00 He was not just a friend but most people knew i considered him the brother i always wanted.

Film producer and Lala Kent's ex Randall Emmett paid an emotional tribute to his 'brother' Sean, writing on Instagram: 'Yesterday i lost one of my best friends @seanstone00 He was not just a friend but most people knew i considered him the brother i always wanted'

Stone was born on August 24 1992 and grew up in New Jersey

Stone was a creative executive on 2022 film Hot Seat (which starred Kevin Dillon and Mel Gibson)

Stone worked on Bruce Willis vehicles Wrong Place and Wire Room

'Sean is my hero. From the day he told me 6 months ago to the day heaven got another angel he held his head high, never wanted sympathy or to feel bad for him and told me he would fight this fight and he did just that.

'He said to me every day we spoke he got this and he did it with grace and bravery. a true hero. Many of you have called to share how Sean has touched you like he did me and for that i know how deep his reach was. im broken inside, my heart ripped out and even more broken for his loving family.

'i will love you sean and cherish all of our memories till the end of time. You had an impact on so many people both in our industry but more importantly in my life more then you will ever know.

'My mother loved playing wordle with you weekly. The bond you had with anyone you met was special. My kids will miss you always treating them as your own, and hanging out with them.

'i barely can write this but i want everyone to know how lucky we were, all of us to have had you in our lives. Your happiness was contagious and our long talks about life i willl keep with me forever. i miss you so much but i know you wouldnt want me to cry like i have been non stop as i struggle to get through this.

'You would tell me cut the s**t. I love you Sean, we will never forget how you touched our souls and our lives all of my love and prayers now goto your amazing family. im sorry for this loss both for your family and the world that you have touched.
Sydney Sweeney was effortlessly radiant in a hot pink gown, from ALAIA, as she channeled her inner Barbie at an event for the flavored water brand Bai on Thursday.

While serving as the exclusive brand ambassador for the popular beverage company, the Euphoria actress, 26, oozed glamour as she promoted her and Bai's latest collaboration on a raspberry lemon lime drink at an intimate gathering in New York City.

She styled her twisted fit-and-flare midi-dress with a pair of red $595 Maison Ernest pumps and black sunglasses from Alexander McQueen, which retail for $485.

Her platinum blonde locks were styled in loose waves, which cascaded down her back and shoulders.

Sydney Sweeney was effortlessly radiant in a hot pink gown, from ALAIA, as she channeled her inner Barbie at an event for the flavored water brand Bai on Thursday

While serving as the exclusive brand ambassador for the popular beverage company, the Euphoria actress, 26, oozed glamour as she promoted her and Bai's latest collaboration on a lemon raspberry drink at an intimate gathering in New York City

For makeup, she highlighted her natural beauty with a pink matte lipstick across her plump pout and blush for a fresh, rosy glow as she prepared to mingle with fans.

Once inside at her event for Bai, Sweeney talked about what inspired her flavor choices, which she said 'stemmed' from her 'love of berry picking' growing up.

During an interview with Forbes, the bombshell raved about how the drink reminded her of her childhood.

'I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and my mom would take me and my little brother berry picking,' the two-time Emmy nominee gushed. 'And there were these waterfalls where you could bring trash bags, and you could ride down the waterfalls and then go berry picking on the sides.

She continued: 'And when we were dreaming up the inspiration behind what I wanted to bring to life and what flavor I thought could be so cool, I was like, 'I would bring a bit of my childhood into this drink,' and I love raspberries. I felt like it just kind of brought that memory to life.'

Sweeney also explained how she has incorporated Bai products into her fitness routine.

'Well, I'm super, super active. I try to run and work out and stay as active as I possibly can,' she told the outlet. 'And Bai has new and improved benefits this year. They've included electrolytes, which is really nice because I work out a lot.

She paired her twisted fit-and-flare midi-dress with a pair of red $595 Maison Ernest pumps and black sunglasses from Alexander McQueen, which retail for $485

Her platinum blonde locks were styled in loose waves, which cascaded down her back and shoulders

For makeup, she highlighted her natural beauty with a pink matte lipstick across her plump pout and blush for a fresh, rosy glow as she prepared to mingle with fans

'And then it's also infused with antioxidants, which is really nice, just because I travel all the time and I'm always on the go. And so having just the extra added little bits to keep me healthy is really good,' the Madame Web star shared.

Sweeney previously revealed that she 'never even tried coffee' and 'only' drinks water.

'I decided I would only drink water and I just stuck with it. I love water, it's my thing,' she told Bustle. 'I eat sugar, so it balances out... instead of coffee, I'll have some Swedish Fish or anything gummy if I'm tired.'

While she has said she is not 'strictly sober,' the performer noted alcohol just isn't 'something that excites' her and truly identifies as 'a water person.'

Once inside at her event for Bai, Sweeney talked about what inspired her flavor choices, which she said 'stemmed' from her 'love of berry picking' growing up

Her latest sighting comes after making her Saturday Night Live hosting debut over the weekend and a busy press tour promoting her newly-released film Madame Web and upcoming psychological horror movie Immaculate, out on March 22.

During her SNL opening monologue, she poked fun at those affair rumors with Anyone But You co-star Glen Powell, who made a surprise appearance during the sketch show.

'Me and my fiance produced the movie together, and he was there the entire shoot,' she explained. 'And I just want to let everyone know that he's the man of my dreams, and we're still together and stronger than ever. He even came here tonight to support me.'

Rather than panning to her fiance, Jonathan Davino, in the audience, the cameras hilariously showed Powell cheering her on from his seat.

Sweeney and Davino, who is 13 years her senior, were first romantically linked in 2018 and got engaged in 2022.
Kourtney Kardashian shared sweet snaps from her two-week family trip to Sydney, Australia on Thursday.

The mom of four, 44, posed in a selfie wearing a white jersey and black sunglasses with silver jewelry alongside daughter Penelope, 11, and son Reign, eight.

The stars of Keeping Up with the Kardashians saw koalas, ate oysters, and indulged in the scenery while being down under - four months after Kourtney and husband Travis Barker, 47, welcomed son Rocky.

'Feeling so grateful for every single second of time with my babies. Rare to get 2 full weeks of 24/7 time as they get older,' Kourtney wrote.

Fans went wild in the comments saying, 'Memories! Also, please tell me you touched the koala,' which Kourtney confirmed by liking the note.

Kourtney Kardashian shared sweet snaps from her two-week family trip to Sydney , Australia on Thursday (pictured with daughter Penelope, 11 and son Reign, eight)

The stars of Keeping Up with the Kardashians saw koalas, ate oysters, and indulged in the scenery while being down under

The star shared a snap from the family enjoying some oysters

The Keeping Up With the Kardashians alum traveled to Australia to accompy her husband on the Australian leg of Blink-182's tour.

Kourtney's eldest son Mason, 13, was missing from the family trip which lead people to believe he was with his father Scott Disick back home in the USA.

Kourtney and Travis visited a number of venues and vegetarian restaurants during their time in Australia.

The Blink-182 drummer is a vegan and has even backed a vegan restaurant called Crossroads Kitchen in LA.

During the day, the reality star runs a successful luxury supplement company - Lemme - which she founded in September of 2022.

She said in an interview, 'I feel really passionate about the ingredients and the combinations.'

The mother-of-four, however, is no stranger to the business world. She launched her wellness brand Poosh back in 2019.

'I felt that there was something missing in the healthy lifestyle space. Healthy living gets a bad rap,' said the businesswoman.

The photo dump was a hit as Khloe Kardashian hit like and commented 'Those toes' referring to baby Rocky Thirteen

Kourtney shared a snap of Reign doing some sightseeing abroad

Kourtney's eldest son Mason, 13, was missing from the family trip which lead people to believe he was with his father Scott Disick back home in the USA

'Its as though if you care about what you put in - or on - your body, then youre not sexy or cool.'

Kardashian and Barker said 'I do' May of 2022 in Santa Barbara, California after a year of dating.
READ MORE: Amanda Knox is due to return to Italy to face long-standing slander charge

Her conviction for the 2007 murder was overturned in 2011

Knox was wrongfully imprisoned in Italy after being wrongfully convicted of killing her roommate Meredith Kercher

Margaret Qualley has been cast as cleared murder suspect Amanda Knox in a new series.

The eight episode Hulu show, which is based on Knox's unbelievable murder trial, is being produced by Monica Lewinsky.

Knox was acquitted over the 2007 killing of her roommate Meredith Kercher due to a lack of evidence.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series is 'based on the true story of how Knox was wrongfully convicted for the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher and her 16-year odyssey to set herself free'.

Qualley will not only star in the series, she will also serve as an executive producer.

Margaret Qualley (pictured) will play Amanda Knox in an upcoming Hulu series based on her unbelievable murder trial

Knox was acquitted over the 2007 killing of her roommate Meredith Kercher due to a lack of evidence. (Pictured in 2009)

Knox also serves as an executive producer, along with none other than former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

The case gripped the globe when it began to unfold - and its many gory details, twists, and turns, have since been the focus of several TV dramas.

But now, Know is putting her own spin on the retelling of events that have been so closely scrutinized over the last 16 years - and all with the help of Lewinsky, 50, with whom she has become 'very close' during the production of the series.

'Monica and Amanda have become very close and are in touch almost constantly. They find that they have a lot in common, and support each other,' a friend told DailyMail.com last year.

Monica, who was herself thrown into the spotlight after it was revealed that she'd had an affair with then-President Bill Clinton when she was 22 years old and working as a White House intern, first hinted at the show in 2022.

While she didn't divulge much, she teased an exciting new project during an appearance on the Today show - revealing that she was working with 'another young woman who found her life ripped apart'.

She said, 'I wish it were announced already, but Im executive producing a series on another young woman who found her life ripped apart on the world stage, but she somehow managed to survive.

While there have been many documentaries and movies made about Knox's story, this is the first one she has written herself; seen in 2016

Knox also serves as an executive producer, along with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky; seen in 2020

'I think its going to be really powerful and hopefully they will announce it soon.'

Monica stepped into the world of producing in 2019, when she produced the series Impeachment, which told the story of her entanglement with Bill, as well as her betrayal by one-time friend Linda Tripp, played by Sarah Paulson.

Amanda was wrongfully arrested for killing her roommate, Meredith Kercher (seen), in Italy in 2007, and then acquitted of all charges eight years later

The former intern was portrayed by actress Beanie Feldstein, and the show was run by Ryan Murphy - the mastermind behind other popular series like Glee and American Horror Story.

The series thrust the scandal back into the public eye and prompted much speculation over the truths that lurked within the dramatized script - something that Monica and Amanda's retelling of Kercher's horrifying murder will no doubt also face.

Amanda - and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito - were both convicted of the violent crime and spent nearly four years in prison after the murder of exchange student Meredith.

She had called the police after finding Meredith's bedroom door locked and noticing blood in the bathroom, but after law enforcement officials noticed her acting odd, she became a suspect.

At the time, Amanda put the blame on her boss at a local bar she worked at, Patrick Lumumba, who had a solid alibi, which only made police more suspicious of her.

After an immense investigation and trial, Amanda, who was 20 years old at the time, as well as her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted for the crime in 2009 - and she was sentenced to 26 years in prison for faking a break-in, defamation, sexual violence, and murder.

The entire world watched on as the trial played out, and millions were divided over whether or not Amanda and Raffaele had committed the horrific crime.

Later, however, a known burglar named Rudy Guede was arrested and found guilty for killing Meredith after his bloodstained fingerprints were found on her belongings.

The case gripped the globe when it began to unfold - and its many gory details, twists, and turns, have since been the focus of several TV dramas. (Knox seen in 2011)

Amanda and Raffaele's convictions were both overturned by an Italian court in 2015. She was eventually paid nearly $19,000 in compensation for miscarriages of justice, including not being given a lawyer or a competent interpreter when she was first held in custody.

Since then, she wrote a memoir about what happened to her, and in 2018, she became the host of a series called The Scarlet Letter Reports, which focuses on the 'gendered nature of public shaming.' In addition, she runs a podcast called The Truth About True Crime.

She is now married to a man named Christopher Robinson, and together, they share one daughter.

While there have been many documentaries and movies made about Amanda's story, this is the first one she has written herself.
Riley Keough will join A-listers Laura Dern, Adam Sandler and Billy Crudup in a new Netflix film after the worldwide success of her series Daisy Jones & The Six.

Keough, 34, who landed Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for her role in the Prime series, will star in the Noah Baunbach directed film described as a 'funny and emotional coming-of-age film about adults' per Deadline.

Baumbach has co-written the script alongside Emily Mortimer. Baumbach, Amy Pascal and David Heyman are producing.

Baumbach has an exclusive deal with Netflix having previously directed The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), Marriage Story and White Noise.

Keough starred as lead character Daisy, in the Prime Video series Daisy Jones and The Six, which follows the rise of rock band Daisy Jones and The Six through the '70s LA music scene on their quest for worldwide icon status.

Riley Keough will join A-listers Laura Dern , Adam Sandler and Billy Crudup in a new Netflix film after the worldwide success of her series Daisy Jones & The Six

Keough, 34, who landed Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for her role in the Prime series, will star in the Noah Baunbach directed film described as a 'funny and emotional coming-of-age film about adults' per Deadline

The show is based on the New York Times bestselling novel, also starring Suki Waterhouse, Camila Morrone, Sam Claflin, Sebastian Chacon, Josh Waterhouse, Nabiyah Be and Tom Wright

Daisy Jones & The Six landed nine Prime Time Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series Or Movie, at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Last year Keough said she and her grandmother Priscilla Presley's relationship experienced 'a bit of upheaval' while they battled over Lisa Marie Presley's will.

The actress was left devastated by her mum's death aged 54 in January 2023 and as left fighting her grandmum Priscilla, 78, after she contested her daughter's will  disputing a 2016 amendment removing her as co-trustee and naming Keough and her brother Benjamin, who has since died, instead.

Riley said in a cover interview with Vanity Fair magazine their relationship is now 'happy', but admitted Lisa Marie's death caused a 'lot of chaos' in the family.

She said when asked about the issue: 'I'm trying to think of a way to answer it that's not a 20-minute conversation.

'There was a bit of upheaval, but now everything's going to be how it was. 'Anything that would suggest otherwise in the press makes me sad because, at the end of the day, all (Priscilla) wants is to love and protect Graceland and the Presley family and the legacy.'

Riley added 'things with Grandma will be happy' now that 'clarity has been had,' noting that she and Priscilla had 'never not been happy'.

Oscar winner Laura Dern will also star in the untitled project

Sandler and Crudup will join forces in the new film

She added about the fallout from Lisa Marie's death: 'Everything felt like the carpet had been ripped out and the floor had melted from under us.

'Everyone was in a bit of a panic to understand how we move forward, and it just took a minute to understand the details of the situation, because it's complicated.

'We are a family, but there's also a huge business side of our family.'

After a months-long dispute, Keough agreed to give her grandma $1 million to become the sole trustee, as well as $400,000 to cover legal fees.

While Lisa Marie's cause of death was not known at the time, it has since been revealed that she died of a bowel obstruction.

Riley said: 'I did feel like there was a choice in front of me to give up and let this event take me out or have the courage to work through it.

'I started trying to move through it and not let it take me out.'
Netflix succeeded at pushing buttons after it infuriated viewers and fans with a steamy clip from its new series Supersex on Thursday.

The streaming service posted a scene from the Italian series that was only a few seconds long to Instagram, but that was enough to have users in the comments complaining about the over-the-top sexual content.

The short video featured the show's star, the Italian actor Alessandro Borghi, making out and thrusting against several scantily clad women.

However, the clip disappeared from Netflix US' Instagram account after a few hours, though it's unclear if the platform deleted it amid complaints from users, or if Netflix opted to remove it due to negative fan feedback.

The controversial new series, which has already outraged some Netflix subscribers, is a biographical drama based on the life of the famous Italian adult actor Rocco Siffredi, 59.

Netflix succeeded at pushing buttons after it infuriated viewers and fans with a steamy clip from its new series Supersex on Thursday

The short video featured the show's star, the Italian actor Alessandro Borghi, making out and thrusting against several scantily clad women

Commenters blasted both Netflix  for releasing Supersex  and Instagram  for allowing the clip to be posted.

Borghi was pictured shirtless  but wearing pants  as he sat on a red sofa while one scantily clad woman straddled his lap and kissed him passionately.

At least four other women surrounded the couple to their side, and they leaned in to kiss Borghi or caress the woman on top of him.

Although Borghi and the woman on him were bouncing up and down, it wasn't clear that the two were supposed to be having sex, and all of the characters appeared to be clothed, if just barely.

'Now we have porn on netflix as well? Cancelling account while we speak, my kids can't see this,' wrote one furious user.

'Are we just making porn mainstream now?' wrote user. 'Its pretty sickening that theres no warning on explicit content like this.'

They also complained that women who post photos or videos of breastfeeding are often flagged, though that content is technically acceptable under Instagram's rules.

'You're taking away from any quality shows you have,' they added.

'Umm... I just opened Instagram,' wrote one person, echoing a popular complaint.

The Italian actor Alessandro Borghi was pictured shirtless  but wearing pants  as he sat on a red sofa while one scantily clad woman straddled his lap and kissed him passionately while others surrounded them

Despite the raunchy tone, it wasn't clear that anyone was having sex, and all the actors were clothed. Supersex is streaming on Netflix now

The controversial new series, which has already outraged some Netflix subscribers, is a biographical drama based on the life of the famous Italian adult actor Rocco Siffredi, 59; pictured March 4 in Rome

'What the hell. Isnt this inappropriate for a platform where KIDS FOLLOW YOU?!' wrote another person.

Some commenters even conduct wild and rare scenarios to explain why the clip was so offensive to them.

'imagine being an ex p*rn addict for some years now and then you open instagram and see this,' one user whined. 'it can definitely trigger something in the back of your mind to just go watch a little bit and then your back to where you were. thanks to netflix & chill here.'

Many singled out Instagram for allowing the content, and several upset users also complained that their posts bemoaning the death toll in Israel's attacks on Palestine were censored but Netflix's raunchy post was not.

'Do better IG; not everyone wants to see this, it needs to be subject to the same rules as genocide, posting with a warning and option to see anyway,' added one commenter.

Some blasted Netflix for canceling the shows they liked in favor of one they assumed they wouldn't enjoy.

'Yall cancel great series just to make trash like this,' wrote one person.

'Someone ban Netflix from using Instagram,' another user seethed.

The clip disappeared from Netflix US' Instagram account after a few hours, though it's unclear if the platform deleted it amid complaints from users, or if Netflix opted to remove it due to negative fan feedback

Several users complained that the clip looked like porn

Multiple people were shocked because they 'just opened Instagram'

Others bemoaned that the fully-clothed clip was featured on a platform where 'KIDS FOLLOW YOU'

Some commenters even conduct wild and rare scenarios to explain why the clip was so offensive to them, such as being in porn addiction recovery

Many singled out Instagram for allowing the content, and several upset users also complained that their posts bemoaning the death toll in Israel's attacks on Palestine were censored but Netflix's raunchy post was not

Some blasted Netflix for canceling the shows they liked in favor of one they assumed they wouldn't enjoy

One person wanted Netflix's account to be banned

'Netflix or Pornhub? I am confused,' one person complained of the fully-clothed kissing scene

Others took the video as a sign of the 'hypersexualization' of society, despite its relatively tame material, the decades long availability of hardcore pornography on the internet, and decades worth of much more sexually explicit mainstream art

'Netflix or Pornhub? I am confused,' one person complained of the fully-clothed kissing scene.

Others took the video as a sign of the 'hypersexualization' of society, despite its relatively tame material, the decades long availability of hardcore pornography on the internet, and decades worth of much more sexually explicit mainstream art.

'its really sad that this is accepted in modern culture. the hyper-sexualization of our society and generation is depressing and degrading to the value of both genders,' one person wrote.

Supersex is available to stream now on Netflix.
Cillian Murphy's son Aran is set to follow in his father's footsteps after signing to the same Hollywood firm as many A-listers.

The Oppenheimer star, 47, shares Aran, 16, and eldest son Malachy, 18, with his wife Yvonne McGuinness.

While Malachy has shown an interest in music, Aran wants to learn the ropes from his famous father and join the world of Hollywood.

Aran is being tapped for the top having recently 'signed' to Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern who have previously worked with Ryan Gosling, Will Smith and Angelina Jolie.

According to The Mirror, a source said: 'Aran is only young but already has a stellar team behind him. The future looks very bright indeed.'

Cillian Murphy's son Aran, 16, (L) is set to follow in his footsteps after signing to the same Hollywood firm as many A-listers (pictured with mother Yvonne)

The Oppenheimer star, 47, shares Aran and eldest son Malachy, 18, with his wife Yvonne McGuinness

MailOnline have contacted Aran's representatives for a comment.

Cillian's lookalike son Aran is set to make his film debut in Taika Waititi's Klara And The Sun.

He landed a role in the Thor director's new movie which is an adaptation of the New York Times bestseller by Kazuo Ishiguro.

The teenager will join Wednesday actress Jenna Ortega, 21, and Amy Adams, 47, in the A-list cast.

Cillian has paved the way for Aran after winning Best Actor at the Golden Globes for Oppenheimer, after getting the leading role following his supporting roles in five of director Christopher Nolan's films.

And while it has taken years for the Peaky Blinders actor to have his big Hollywood moment, his son has had a short-track as he will make his feature film debut.

Aran will star as a character named Rick, who is a best friend and neighbour of Josie (played by Mia Tharia).

The dystopian science fiction book has been adapted for film by screenwriter Dahvi -Waller.

The teen, who is pursuing an acting career, is the spitting image of his father during his younger years (Cillian is pictured right in Disco Pigs in 2001)

Aran is being tapped for the top having recently 'signed' to Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern who have previously worked with Ryan Gosling (pictured), Will Smith and Angelina Jolie

Cillian has paved the way for Aran after winning Best Actor at the Golden Globes for Oppenheimer, after getting the leading role following his supporting roles in five of director Christopher Nolan's films

And while it has taken years for the Peaky Blinders actor to have his big Hollywood moment, his son has had a short-track as he will make his feature film debut

Wednesday actress Jenna, 21, stars as leading lady Klara, who is a solar-powered Artificial Friend designed to prevent loneliness who is chosen by Josie, a sickly child, to be her companion.

Klara embarks on a quest to save Josie and those who love her from heartbreak.

Cillian and his family now live in Dublin after he reportedly splashed out close to 1.7million on a Victorian townhouse.

The four-storey home, originally built in 1863, is located in south Co. Dublin, and has six double bedrooms as well as four receptions rooms.

While they are now based in Ireland, his sons were born in London and stayed there until 2015, with the actor joking they moved because his sons were developing 'very posh English accents'.

'We were in London for 14 years, both our kids were born there. We only came back to Dublin in 2015,' he told the Armchair Expert podcast.

'It's kind of an Irish story, you know, to move away, do your thing and then come home. That seems to be a common narrative for Irish people.

'We wanted the kids to be Irish, and they were sort of at that age where they were preteens and they had very posh English accents and I wasnt appreciating that too much. Our parents are a certain age and it was just a nice time to come home.'
A missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday killed three of its crew members and forced survivors to abandon the vessel, the U.S. military said. It was the first fatal strike in a campaign of assaults by the Iranian-backed group over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The attack on the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence further escalates the conflict on a crucial maritime route linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe that has disrupted global shipping. The Houthis have launched attacks since November, and the U.S. began an airstrike campaign in January that so far hasn't halted their attacks.

Meanwhile, Iran announced Wednesday that it would confiscate a $50 million cargo of Kuwaiti crude oil for American energy firm Chevron aboard a tanker it seized nearly a year earlier. It is the latest twist in a yearslong shadow war playing out in the Middle Easts waterways even before the Houthi attacks began.

The U.S. military's Central Command said an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from a Houthi-controlled area in Yemen struck the True Confidence, causing significant damage to the ship. In addition to the three deaths, at least four crew members were wounded, with three in critical condition.

Two aerial photos released by the U.S. military showed the the ship's bridge and cargo on board ablaze.

These reckless attacks by the Houthis have disrupted global trade and taken the lives of international seafarers simply doing their jobs, which are some of the hardest jobs in the world, and the ones relied on by the global public for sustainment of supply chains, Central Command said.

The attack came after the ship had been hailed over radio by men claiming to be the Yemeni military, officials said. The Houthis have been hailing ships over the radio in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since beginning their attacks, with analysts suspecting the rebels want to seize the vessels.

After the missile hit, the crew abandoned the ship and deployed lifeboats. A U.S. warship and the Indian navy were on the scene, trying to assist in rescue efforts.

The ship's managers and owners said the ship's crew of 20 included one Indian, 15 Filipinos and four Vietnamese. Three armed guards, two from Sri Lanka and one from Nepal, also were on board. The ship had been carrying steel from China to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The United Nations called on the Houthis to cease all attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, expressing serious concern about the continuing attacks, including the latest incident where the status of the crew is unknown.

Dujarric said the attacks are causing risks to property, to life, to ecology in the area.

At the State Department in Washington, spokesman Matthew Miller condemned the attack. We continue to watch these reckless attacks with no regard for the well being of innocent civilians who are transiting through the Red Sea. And now they have, unfortunately and tragically, killed innocent civilians, he told reporters.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre separately warned: The U.S. obviously is going to continue to take action.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, claimed the attack in a prerecorded message, saying its missile fire set the vessel ablaze. He said the rebels' attacks would only stop when the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza is lifted.

The rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over the Israel-Hamas war, but up to Wednesday hadn't killed any crew members. The vessels have included at least one with cargo bound for Iran , the Houthis main benefactor, and an aid ship later bound for Houthi-controlled territory.

Despite more than a month and a half of U.S.-led airstrikes, Houthi rebels have remained capable of launching significant attacks. They include the attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertilizer, the Rubymar, which sank on Saturday after drifting for several days, and the downing of an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars.

It was unclear why the Houthis targeted the True Confidence. However, it had previously been owned by Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based fund that finances vessels on installments. Oaktree declined to comment.

Meanwhile, a separate Houthi assault Tuesday apparently targeted the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has been involved in the American campaign against the rebels. The Carney shot down bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, Central Command said. Saree acknowledged that attack as well.

The U.S. later launched an airstrike destroying three anti-ship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats, Central Command said.

The Houthis haven't offered any assessment of the damage they've suffered in the American-led strikes that began in January, though they've said at least 22 of their fighters have been killed. One civilian has reportedly been killed.

The U.S. Treasury separately announced new sanctions targeting a Houthi financier and the expeditionary Quds Force of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which arms the rebels.

The Houthis have held Yemen's capital, Sanaa, since 2014. They've battled a Saudi-led coalition since 2015 in a long-stalemated war there.

Meanwhile, the Indian navy released a video of its sailors from the INS Kolkata fighting a fire aboard the MSC Sky II, which had been targeted by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden on Monday. The Mediterranean Shipping, a Switzerland-based company, said the missile struck the ship as it was traveling from Singapore to Djibouti. No one was injured.

Iran separately announced the seizure of the crude oil aboard the Advantage Sweet through an announcement carried by the judiciary's state-run Mizan news agency. At the time, Iran alleged that the Advantage Sweet collided with another ship, without offering any evidence.

The court order for the seizure offered an entirely different reason for the confiscation. Mizan said it was part of a court order over U.S. sanctions it alleged barred the importation of a Swedish medicine used to treat patients suffering from epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic condition that causes blisters all over the body and eyes. It didn't reconcile the different reasons for the seizure.

The Advantage Sweet had been in the Persian Gulf in late April, but its track showed no unusual behavior as it transited through the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of all traded oil passes. Iran has made allegations in other seizures that later fell apart as it became clear that Tehran was trying to leverage the capture as a bargaining chip to negotiate with foreign nations.

Chevron, based in San Ramon, California, said Wednesday that the Advantage Sweet had been seized under false pretenses" and that the company has not had any direct communication with Iran over the seizure of the vessel.

Chevron has not been permitted access to the vessel and considers the cargo a total loss due to Irans illegal actions, Chevron said in a statement. We now consider the cargo the responsibility of the Iranian government.

Ship seizures and explosions have roiled the region since 2019. The incidents began after then President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from Irans nuclear deal with world powers. (Reuters)
Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson will start a new era on Monday as they begin broadcasting their breakfast show from plush new digs in North Sydney.

And on Friday the radio superstars celebrated their last day of The Kyle and Jackie O Show at their North Ryde studio with a massive, free 'garage sale'.

Eager fans can get their hands on souvenirs from the top-rating radio show like Kyle's toilet seat, Jackie's 'beaver heater' and even the show's famous birthday wheel.

Other items up for grabs that will be well-known to the show's listeners include the notorious sex doll, a censor light and Saltburn star Jacob Elordi's infamous bathwater tupperware.

Meanwhile, a video of Kyle and Jackie entering their Macquarie Park studio for the last time was loaded to their social media on Friday.

On Friday radio superstars Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson celebrated their last day of The Kyle and Jackie O Show at their North Ryde studio with a massive free 'giveaway'. Pictured: Kyle Sandilands arriving for work on Friday.

In the clip Kyle, 52, ccould be seen walking through a car park surrounded by the show's props.

'Look at all this stuff to give away,' he commented.

At another point in the video Jackie, 49, could be seen arriving for work. As she exits her car, a producer showers her with confetti from a party popper.

'I feel happy and sad,' Jackie said/ 'So many good and bad memories from here.'

Fans can get their hands on souvenirs from the top-rating radio show like Kyle's toilet seat, Jackie's 'beaver heater' and Kyle's ashtray. Pictured: The duo's announcement on Instagram

It comes after the powerhouse radio duo were warned that the new studio might not be ready in time for Monday.

Production staff revealed on Wednesday that work on the plush new state-of-the-art studio in North Sydney was far from complete.

During the segment, Kyle asked what needed to be fixed in the studio to make it operational.

Pictured: Jackie arrives for her last day at the North Ryde studio and showered with confetti

'Are we talking six or seven little different bits and bobs?' Kyle asked.

A producer replied: 'Probably closer to 150-160.'

Kyle did not reveal the exact location of the new studio, but told listeners it was in a building that featured 'breathtaking' views of Sydney's Harbour bridge and nearby Barangaroo.

It comes after Kyle and Jackie reportedly demanded a new state-of-the-art studio as part of their $200 million deal.

According to a report in Yahoo Lifestyle last November, the megastar duo hesitated to sign the deal until ARN executives agreed to a new studio.

Kyle and Jackie reportedly demanded a new state-of-the-art studio as part of their new $200 million deal which will see them expand into the Melbourne market. (Pictured, Jackie O)

The report said the entire ARN office would be moving from North Ryde back to a Sydney city location at the start of 2024.

The hosts have already started hinting the move, with Jackie recently joking that there is no need to fix a tech issue as they dont have much longer in the studio.

The radio duo signed the record-breaking $200million, 10-year deal live on-air on Wednesday morning - keeping them on the airwaves until 2034.
She has been vocal about her love of musicals.

And Georgia Love looked excited as she attended the premiere of Wicked The Musical in Melbourne on Thursday.

The former Bachelor star dressed-to-the-nines for the event - showing off her ample cleavage in a plunging emerald velvet bustier gown.

The former Channel Seven journalist accessorised with gold earrings, matching bracelets and a glitter clutch bag.

She wore her brunette locks in tumbling curls and a classic makeup look of wing-tipped eyeliner and a glossy lip.

Georgia Love showed off her ample cleavage in an emerald velvet gown as she joined a host of celebrities dressed in green for the Wicked premiere in Melbourne on Thursday evening

Georgia appeared to attend the event without her husband Lee Elliot who she met and fell in love with on The Bachelorette several years ago.

The couple live in Melbourne, and Georgia recently returned to radio with a plum role on the Kyle and Jackie O Show on KIIS FM.

She inked a three-month deal to deliver the news alongside Byron Cooke, the fill-in breakfast presenter for KIIS FM Melbourne.

She began her career in journalism at WIN News, before her profile skyrocketed in 2016 when she was cast on Channel 10's The Bachelorette.

The former Channel Seven journalist accessorised with gold earrings, matching bracelets and a glitter clutch bag

She wore her brunette locks in tumbling curls and a classic makeup look of wing-tipped eyeliner and a glossy lip

MasterChef Australia star Andy Allen and his wife Alex also followed the green theme

She went on to become a casual reporter for Ten Eyewitness News in Melbourne, later rebranded 10 News First, but was let go due to budget cuts in early 2021.

The role was what she described as her dream job, before jumping ship to rival network Channel Seven in February 2021.

But Love's TV career came to a grinding halt seven months later after she made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

In September 2021, Love posted a video to her Instagram account asking whether a cat was on the menu at a Chinese restaurant after seeing the animal in the window.

'Shop attendant or lunch?!' she captioned her post at the time. She also posted a similar 'joke' about pets and Chinese restaurants in 2013.

Former Big Brother star Tully Smyth looked smitten with her partner Ned Rohrt

She flashed the flesh in a cut-out mint green gown

Critics claimed the footage was offensive and perpetrated a harmful stereotype about Chinese people.

Love deleted the video an hour later and apologised for causing 'offence', but at the time denied the post had any racist 'insinuation'.

Following a workplace investigation, Seven alerted staff via email later that week that Love had been 'counselled' and reassigned to an off-camera role 'effective immediately'.

Last year, Love finally addressed the scandal after staying silent in the wake of the backlash.

Speaking to Stellar magazine, the media personality called out cancel culture while also apologising for her actions.

Veteran newsreader Jo Hall glittered in a green sparkly dress

As did Stephanie Leong

'I hate the term cancellation. To think that we have the ability to cancel somebody  whether that means from their industry, their job, their family and friends. We don't have the ability to do that,' she said.

Love said cancel culture is unfair because people aren't afforded the opportunity to defend themselves in the 'heat of the moment'.

She also lamented about the fallout from the scandal, telling the magazine: 'I had my dream job. I felt so lucky every day to be doing what I loved and what I had dreamed of for so long.

'So to have lost that on-air job  I stayed working at Seven, but I was taken off air in the fallout  was probably the hardest thing for me, because I've always put a lot of emphasis and focus on my work and my career.'
Halle Bailey showed off her incredible post-baby body as she attended the 2024 Essence Black Women in Hollywood with sister Chloe on Thursday.

The Little Mermaid star, 23, who welcomed son Halo with rapper DDG last year, wowed in a gorgeous dress in two shades of pink with a halter neckline and triangular cutout over her abs.

Halle  who recently met Halle Berry and called her 'kind'  wore her braids in an updo and sported a radiant palette of make-up.

Chloe, 25, wore a white high-low halter top that showed off a generous amount of cleavage as well as a hint of her midriff.

She paired the unusual but stunning top with a pair of white pants.

Halle Bailey showed off her incredible post-baby body as she attended the 2024 Essence Black Women in Hollywood with sister Chloe on Thursday

The Little Mermaid star, 23, who welcomed son Halo with rapper DDG last year, wowed in a gorgeous dress in two shades of pink with a halter neckline and triangular cutout over her abs

She opened up about her baby son to Extra on the red carpet of the ceremony.

Hes so smart. Hes so amazing. I think hes going to be a music baby. He loves the piano. I feel like I can already hear what his voice would sound like if he started to sing,' she gushed.

'Hes just the most beautiful thing in the world,' she added.

Halle appears on the cover of Essence magazine, something she calls 'crazy.'

She elaborated: 'I look at that and Im so grateful to God. Im so honored to be here today in the midst of all of these amazing Black women who have inspired me for so long. Its so beautiful.'

Last month, DDG admitted that the couple 'weren't aiming' for their baby son Halo, saying: 'It just kinda happened. What were we going to do?,' he said on The Jason Lee podcast.

'Both of us have the same interest in being parents. And I feel like she always wanted to be a mom,' he explained.

'We always kind of just give off that energy, and I always wanted a kid. So, from there we just made the decision to go through with it.'

Halle  who recently met Halle Berry and called her 'kind'  wore her braids in an updo and sported a radiant palette of make-up

In a recent Snapchat video, The Color Purple actress said: 'I really appreciate people who are kind and understanding especially of me wanting to wait to share something this sacred and beautiful.'

Halle finished: 'I just wanted to make sure that I had a beautiful, private, healthy time in my journey.'

Halle went on to reveal she did her best to avoid social media as much as possible during her pregnancy as she didn't want to comment on all the baby rumors.

Chloe paired the unusual but stunning top with a pair of white pants that had the sheen of silk

She opened up about her baby son to Extra on the red carpet of the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards Ceremony. Hes so smart. Hes so amazing. I think hes going to be a music baby. He loves the piano. I feel like I can already hear what his voice would sound like if he started to sing,' she gushed

Halle shocked fans earlier this year when she announced the birth of her first child in January, following months of pregnancy speculation

The sisters were seated side-by-side during the starry event in LA

Halle was joined by Chloe as she showed off her award backstage

Chloe looked like a proud sister as she gestured to her sister's trophy

Halle spoke to the crowd as she accepted her award

Halle and Chloe were giggly as they were spotted chatting en route to the event

They stopped to chat by their parked SUV

Chloe stunned in her cleavage-baring look

She revealed: 'I stayed off all social media, I really tried to, just to keep myself sane and OK.

'I know there was a lot of people who would always comment and be like: "We know, girl, we know," and I was like: "It's great that you know but I'm going to just chill. Thats wonderful if you support me. If you dont, I hope you have a wonderful life."'

Halle broke the news just after the New Year on Instagram by sharing a photo of her holding her newborn son's hand as he wore a gold bracelet with his name engraved on it.

[E]ven though were a few days into the new year, the greatest thing that 2023 could have done for me, was bring me my son,' she wrote in her caption.
Lupita Nyongo and Joshua Jackson put on a very passionate display while enjoying a getaway.

The hot new couple - who DailyMail.com exclusively revealed are 'exclusive and serious' - recently exchanged some sweet smooches while in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

The two seemingly confirmed their romance as they enjoyed a PDA-packed celebration for the 41-year-old Oscar winner's 41st birthday.

Joshua, 45, seemed to have more than just presents for her as he even lifted the bikini-clad babe up by her derriere as they exchanged passionate kisses.

Lupita - who was born in Mexico City, Mexico - showcased her stunning figure in an orange two-piece.

Lupita Nyongo and Joshua Jackson put on a very passionate display while enjoying a getaway

The hot new couple - who DailyMail.com exclusively revealed are 'exclusive and serious' - recently exchanged some sweet smooches while in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

The Black Panther actress donned black designer shades as she rocked her signature buzz cut while staring adoringly at her new man.

Joshua kept it simple in green Vilebrequin board shorts as he showed off his physique by going shirtless.

No doubt it was a day of fun in the sun as they hit the pool together while packing on the PDA.

This comes as DailyMail.com reported the two are exclusive and serious, according to insiders, who claim the Oscar-winning actress saved him after his divorce when he didnt think he would ever find love again.

The romantic getaway marked five months since Joshua, 45, split from actress Jodie Turner Smith, 37, with whom he has daughter Juno, and four months since Lupita announced she was no longer with presenter Selema Masekela.

Lupita has reportedly been a revelation for the former Dawson's Creek star  but she is yet to build a relationship with Jodie, who filed for divorce in October.

Josh and Lupita are exclusive and serious, an insider told DailyMail.com exclusively. They get each other, and she has been such a calming force for him.

They are in love and Josh feels saved. That might sound extremely corny but after his relationship with Jodie, who he thought was it for him, finding love with Lupita has been a revelation. It is everything to him that he has been able to find love again. He is very excited for their future.

The two seemingly confirmed their romance as they enjoyed a PDA-packed celebration for the 41-year-old Oscar winner's 41st birthday

Lupita - who was born in Mexico City, Mexico - showcased her stunning figure in an orange two-piece

Joshua, 45, seemed to have more than just presents for her as he even lifted the bikini-clad babe up by her derriere as they exchanged passionate kisses

The Black Panther actress donned black designer shades as she rocked her signature buzz cut while staring adoringly at her new man

Joshua kept it simple in green Vilebrequin board shorts as he showed off his physique by going shirtless

No doubt it was a day of fun in the sun as they hit the pool together while packing on the PDA

The two certainly seem to be enjoying each other's company

They continued: Lupita and Jodie don't have much of a relationship, but Lupita is not looking to cause any problems.

Jodie will be in Joshua's life forever and Lupita understands that dynamic, and Lupita will tackle those roads when the timing is right.

The insider added that Joshua loves how unquestionably smart and strong Lupita is and would not be averse to working with her on a future film.

They have zero issues about potentially working together in the future, the source said.

They think it would be a lot of fun to be lovers or enemies on film, mixing business and pleasure seems to be something they would be interested in if the story was right.

It comes after Lupita admitted she will go back to her old ways and keep her new relationship private after posting publicly about Selema online.

The Black Panther actress had also been vocal about her 'season of heartbreak' following their split.

She waxed lyrical about a 'break-up' on Instagram, claiming it was a result of 'deception' by her unnamed loved one.

Joshua split from his wife Jodie Turner Smith (pictured in February 2023) in September last year

Lupita, who was dating Selema Masekela (pictured) until October, recently revealed she wants to keep her new romance private

Addressing her new romance, she recently told Porter that keeping quiet in the past 'was very, very sage of me, adding: I'm going back to those days, by the way.'

Lupita and Joshua first sparked speculation in October when they enjoyed a Janelle Monae concert together.

They were then pictured shopping at organic market, Erewhon, in December, before driving off in a car with her rescue cat YoYo in tow.

At the time of their outing, a separate source explained to DailyMail.com that the pair were attempting to take things slow as they navigated their breakups.

They revealed: 'Joshua has a type and Lupita definitely fits that to a tee. But they are just friends, it is still a little early for Joshua to start dating again.

'Could he be an item with Lupita down the road? Without question... They are both still going through it with their recent breakups and still are looking to heal.'

Lupita announced their split on Instagram in a series of posts

Indeed, sources told DailyMail.com Joshua had been left 'heartbroken' over his split from Jodie who cited 'irreconcilable differences' when she filed for divorce.

The actor had not been 'thrilled' about the termination of his marriage - but it was made clear by insiders that there was no foul play involved and that their union had simply 'run its course.'

Joshua and Jodie, who has starred in films including After Yang, Without Remorse and Murder Mystery 2, started dating in 2018 before tying the knot in August 2019. They welcomed their daughter Juno the following April.

They agreed to joint custody of the youngster in the wake of their split.

Joshua had previously dated Diane Kruger, who has a four-year-old daughter with The Walking Deads Norman Reedus.
Rachel McAdams showcased her style credentials in a sexy backless sweater at a photo call for her highly-anticipated play, Mary Jane, on Thursday.

While mingling with her castmates Lily Santiago, Susan Pourfar, April Matthis and Brenda Wehle, the Canadian actress, 45, appeared in high spirits as she posed for some solo shots and group pictures at the Manhattan Theatre Club.

The Mean Girls, who will be making her Broadway debut next month on April 2, beamed at photographers as she turned around to flash her bare back.

In the play, directed by Anne Kauffman, the Oscar nominee portrays a single mom 'in an impossible family situation.'

Rachel McAdams showcased her style credentials in a sexy backless sweater at a photo call for her highly-anticipated play, Mary Jane, on Thursday

While mingling with her castmates Lily Santiago, Susan Pourfar, April Matthis and Brenda Wehle, the Canadian actress, 45, appeared in high spirits as she posed for some solo shots and various group pictures at the Manhattan Theatre Club

According to a description from producers at the Manhattan Theatre Club, her character's child is 'battling a difficult illness.'

'Faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, Mary Jane relies on unflagging optimism and humor, along with the wisdom of the women around her who have become a makeshift family, to take on each new day,' the synopsis teased. 'But will inner strength and newfound friendships be enough to see her through?'

In 2023, Lynne Meadow, Manhattan Theatre Clubs artistic director, wrote in a statement they were 'thrilled and very proud to be bringing this moving and heroic story of human experience' to the stage. '

'Im equally pleased and honored to give Rachel McAdams her Broadway debut after audiences have enjoyed her many renowned performances on film. As a great fan of all three of these fabulous artists, I so look forward to sharing Mary Jane with our audiences,' Meadow raved.

McAdams' latest projects comes less than a year after she admitted that she still feels 'guilty' about taking a two-year break, at the height of her career in the mid-2010s, to 'stay sane.'

While reflecting on her shocking decision to turn down starring roles in The Devil Wears Prada, Casino Royale, Mission: Impossible III, Iron Man, and Get Smart, the star revealed her break made her wonder if she was 'throwing it all away.'

'I felt guilty for not capitalizing on the opportunity that I was being given, because I knew I was in such a lucky spot,' she confessed. 'But I also knew it wasn't quite jiving with my personality and what I needed to stay sane.'

Despite occasionally feeling regretful for not taking a role, the mom-of-two said she always takes a step back and thinks: 'That was the right person for that.'

The Mean Girls, who will be making her Broadway debut next month on April 2, beamed at photographers as she turned around to flash her bare back

In the play, directed by Anne Kauffman, the Oscar nominee will take on the title role, a single mom 'in an impossible family situation'

During her brief hiatus from acting, the mother-of-two, who shares a son and daughter with longtime partner Jamie Linden, said she was not initially aware 'why' she was taking time off.

'It's taken years to understand what I intuitively was doing,' McAdams explained to Bustle, nodding to prioritizing her mental health as she grappled with navigating fame at a young age.

She continued: I guess I always had a sense that it would be OK; either its going to work out or its not.'

According to a description from producers Manhattan Theatre Club, her character's child is 'battling a difficult illness' (pictured with director Anne Kauffman)

McAdams seen with (L-R) Lily Santiago, Susan Pourfar, April Matthis and Brenda Wehle

Ultimately, she credits her acting breaks over the years for 'really' helping her 'feel empowered.'

'It helped me feel like I was taking back some control. And I think it sort of allowed me to come in from a different doorway,' she added.

Later, the performer stated that becoming a household name following her parts in Mean Girls, The Notebook and Wedding Crashers made her feel like an 'overnight' sensation.

The transition from a recent York University grad, who worked at a McDonald's for three years, to A-lister was jarring.

'You don't go to theater school to learn about how to deal with that. There's no book on how to navigate that,' she said, referring to being recognized in public and having fans ask for selfies.
Matt Willis gushed over his wife of 16 years Emma Willis and praised her work ethic as he declared: 'She's the f*****g best at what she does'.

The couple will host the UK's take on Netflix smash hit Love Is Blind later this year.

Matt, 40, told Principle Magazine for the first time since the official announcement how it felt to join forces with Emma professionally again.

The Busted drummer said: 'Working with Emma is so great, because it's easy, you know? I was really nervous about it because I'm not a TV presenter.

'She's just like, "Just be yourself." I'm like, "How the f*** do I do that?" But I've got a safe pair of hands next to me, who is the f*****g best at what she does. So, I'm going to just tag along with her.

Matt Willis, 40, gushed over his wife of 16 years and his Love Is Blind co-presenter Emma Willis, 47, and praised her work ethic, declaring: 'She's the f*****g best at what she does'

The couple have been dating since 2005, and married since 2008, and will host the UK's take on Netflix smash hit Love Is Blind later this year

He continued: 'I've been with her pretty much half my life. When work and kids and stuff get in the way, you kind of forget sometimes that "Oh, I really f*****g still love you."

'I mean, we love each other, but you forget like, "Oh, I really like you, I want to hang out with you more than I want to hang out with anyone else," which is so f*****g nice.

'I've dated a few times before her, the odd girlfriend here and there, but Emma was my first real relationship, so I don't really know how the dating world works. Everything I hear about that world is f*****g tough.

Matt was just 22 when he began dating Emma, then 29, in 2005 and the two married three years later. He said: 'In Love Is Blind UK, people are in that world and they are sick of it and they just want love. That's a beautiful thing.'

Love Is Blind a social experiment where single men and women look for love and get engaged, all before meeting in person.

The American show launched on Netflix on the day before Valentine's Day 2020 and has had a whopping six series since, the last of which ends Wednesday.

Matt and Emma share daughters Isabelle, 13, and Trixie, seven, and son Ace, 11. The family are very open about Matt's struggle with sobriety.

In 2023, he released BBC Documentary Matt Willis: Fighting Addiction which he later admitted Emma was reluctant to take part in.

Matt, 40, told Principle Magazine for the first time since the official announcement how it felt to join forces with Emma professionally again

Matt was just 22 when he began dating Emma, then 29, and the two married three years later (pictured together in 2006)

Matt told the Mirror that after the documentary aired in May 'lots of people reached out about people they loved.

He said: 'That was the thing I got the most, messages from loved ones saying, "Thank you for putting that bit in". It was such an integral part to involve Emma in it.'

Matt rose to fame as one-third of Busted in 2000. The pop-punk band was completed by James Bourne and Charlie Simpson.

They split in 2005 but reunited in 2015 and have been going strong ever since. In between, they collaborated with fellow English band McFly to form super group McBusted.

In 2023, Busted went on tour to celebrate their 20th anniversary. The initial 15-date tour sold out, and the band announced 11 additional dates in the UK and Ireland to meet demand.

Busted will take to the stage in June at the Download Festival.
A 90s TV icon has embarked on a new career and now owns a vineyard, shop, restaurant and pub after emigrating to a small village in New Zealand.

He has subsequently announced the 'first ever vintage' from his winery in South Island, where he lives with his wife, Liz.

As well as the winery, the TV star also has a shop, restaurant, pub, and cafe on a 15m estate - and in 2023, sparked a furious row with residents who accused him of 'colonising' their idyllic village.

The Deal Or No Deal star has added winemaking to his repertoire at River Haven - his Ngatimoti village, New Zealand estate.

That's right, it's Noel Edmonds! He and Liz emigrated permanently to New Zealand in 2019 - and now their vineyard's first wine is ready for consumption.

A 90s TV icon has embarked on a new career and now owns a vineyard, shop, restaurant and pub after emigrating to a small village in New Zealand

That's right! Deal Or No Deal star Noel Edmonds, 75, has added winemaking to his repertoire at River Haven - his Ngatimoti village, New Zealand estate, where he lives with wife Liz

Noel took to New Haven's Instagram account to give the community and visitors the exciting update. He wrote: 'HUGE NEWS - from this Friday, River Haven will be serving the first ever vintage of our very own Pinot Gris'

Noel took to New Haven's Instagram account to give the community and visitors the exciting update.

He wrote: 'HUGE NEWS - from this Friday, River Haven will be serving the first ever vintage of our very own Pinot Gris.

'This wine is a labour of love from our hardworking team, we're beyond stoked to finally have it ready for you!

'A special thanks to our incredible volunteers who helped make this wine a reality.

'From tomorrow we'll be reaching out to all of you to share in our wine (please bear with us, there's a lot of you!). Thank you all so much for your patience so far.

He finished: 'Again, available from THIS FRIDAY onwards by the glass, bottle or to take home and share...'

Noel and Liz also held a special wine and cheese night at his River Haven clubhouse to celebrate the wine, with dozens of locals joining in.

A piece on River Haven's website added: 'The tasting notes are in.

'The mildly perfumed nose reveals touches of candied pear and soft, warm spice aromas backed up by a long, luscious off-dry palate rich in autumn fruit flavours with hints of ginger and rose petal.

'More down-to-earth locals have summed it up as "bloody good". Either way, if that's not enough to pique your curiosity, we don't know what will!

'We hope to have it available online in the near future but for now, you can come and enjoy the wine while taking in the views of the grapes it's made from.'

Noel and Liz settled in the Ngatimoti area several years ago, snapping up 12 properties worth almost 15m on 270 hectares of land

In 2023, Noel sparked a furious row with residents who accused him of 'colonising' their idyllic village (pictured: his shop)

One said: 'I feel like he's a coloniser. He's come in like he's the lord of the manor' (pictured: Noel with a 'His Lordship' mug)

Regardless, his efforts have been fruitful, which is a far cry from his last major business venture - a motivational phone service for pets

Noel settled in the Ngatimoti area several years ago, snapping up 12 properties worth almost 15m on 270 hectares of land.

The town is already well-known in New Zealand for its annual festival, which generally takes place in October and is attended by thousands of people.

In 2023, he sparked a furious row with residents who accused him of 'colonising' their idyllic village.

One said: 'I feel like he's a coloniser. He's come in like he's the lord of the manor.'

The television star has not helped matters by posing for photos on the estate holding a mug with the slogan 'His Lordship'.

The resident added: "He's got this attitude... about how he's improved the place and made it amazing - it was already amazing."

Regardless, his efforts have been fruitful, which is a far cry from his last major business venture.

In 2016, following the axing of Deal Or No Deal, Noel shocked the country when he launched a motivational phone service for pets.
In some countries, products are subject to taxes, making them more expensive

Prices for period pads range from $490 to $2,660 over a woman's lifetime

The cost of having a period around the world varies widely, ranging from zero dollars for some women in Europe and creeping into the thousands for others in Asia.

An analysis by Healthnews looked at the price of the most common menstruation product people use - a pad - and found wide discrepancies among more than two dozen countries.

The cost of having a period is highest in the United Arab Emirates, where women will pay 23 cents (0.83) per pad and $68 (53) per year, totaling $2,668 (2,087) over a lifetime.

Women pay the least for period hygiene products in Germany and Finland, where a single pad costs $0.04 (0.03), totaling $12.57 (9.75) per year and $490 (383) over a lifetime.

The researchers said, however, that lower costing products do not necessarily mean better accessibility because incomes vary greatly across countries, meaning some people may be paying less for pads, but it could represent a higher proportion of their income.

Periods, on average, begin at 12 years old and continue until a woman reaches menopause at an average age of 51, getting a period roughly once per month - or 468 times during her life.

Your browser does not support iframes.

Your browser does not support iframes.

The analysis said women use an average of 11,400 pads over their menstruation lifespan.

To calculate costs, researchers looked at the lowest pad price in 30 countries and converted it to US dollars. They then multiplied that price by 11,400.

Following the UAE, the United States came in second for most expensive: $0.15 (0.12) per pad, $44 (34) per year and $1,710 (915) over the lifespan of menstruation.

The third most expensive country was Australia, costing $0.18 (14) per pad, $40 (31) per year and $1,561 (1,221) over a lifetime.

Fourth was Sweden and fifth was Canada.

Following Germany and Finland, Japan and Poland were the least expensive countries for women with their periods, costing $0.06 (0.05) per pad, $17 (13) per year and $661 (517) over a lifetime.

The United Kingdom had the third lowest costs, with a price tag of $0.63 (0.49) per product, $18.42 (14.41) annually and $718 (562) throughout a woman's life.

For the purposes of the study, researchers included England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as Scotland has offered free sanitary products since 2022.

Spain, Denmark, France and Austria all had the fourth most inexpensive price and Mexico completed the five cheapest places for a woman to have her period.

Whatever a pad's price, based on the average yearly income in a country, the products may represent a larger share of someone's salary, which could impact how accessible they are.

An analysis of 30 countries found period pads are most expensive in the United Arab Emirates and the United States and cheapest in Germany and Finland

Women will pay the least for period hygiene products in Germany and Finland , where a single pad costs $0.04 (0.03)

The lifetime cost of having a period is highest in the United Arab Emirates, where women will pay $2,668 (2,087) over a lifetime

In Germany and Finland, which have the least expensive sanitary products, pads were 'extremely accessible,' researchers said, in relation to the average annual salary.

The average yearly income in Germany is $53,675 (41,980) - meaning over a year, pads make up 0.91 percent of a person's salary. In Finland, where the average annual pay is $52,000 (40,670), pads make up 0.94 percent.

Whereas in the UAE, despite the higher average income - $64,080 (50,117) per year - because menstrual products were nearly five times more expensive, they cost more in proportion to the amount of money people bring home per year, making up 4.2 percent of yearly income.

When examining the prices of pads, consumers must take into account additional taxes levied on the products, the analysis said. In the US, a tax placed on female-centered products is called the 'pink tax' or 'tampon tax.'

These products are taxed at higher rates than other everyday goods but the same added costs are not applied to male-centered products such as condoms and erectile dysfunction medications.

In the US, 23 states and Washington, DC have banned taxes on menstrual items and an additional 12 states are considering legislation to do the same.

Opponents of the tampon tax argue the products are necessities and should not be taxed. They say the extra cost puts an unnecessary additional burden on people who need pads or tampons when they menstruate.

Across the globe, countries like the UK, Canada, Ireland, France, Spain and the Netherlands do not impose a tampon tax on feminine hygiene products.

However, in Hungary, Denmark and Sweden, the tax is among the highest and ranges from 25 to 27 percent.

Scotland is the only country in the world that provides menstruation products to its citizens for free, passing legislation to do so in 2020 and enacting the law in 2022.
Musk is now the third richest person after Tesla shares tumbled

He dethroned Bezos who took the crown Tuesday for the first time since 2021

Louis Vuitton boss Bernard Arnault is now the richest person in the world

He was crowned the world's richest person for the first time in three years this week, dethroning Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

But Jeff Bezos' reign is over just days after it begun as he has been knocked off the top spot by LMVH CEO Bernard Arnault.

The trio are the three richest people and often trade the crown between them depending on the success of their respective companies' shares.

According to Bloomberg's Billionaires' Index, Arnault currently has a net worth of $197 billion.

By comparison, Bezos, 60, has $196 billion while 52-year-old Musk - who also owns X formerly known as Twitter - boasts $189 billion.

Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, is now the richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg's Billionaire's Index

Arnault, Bezos and Musk are the three richest people and often trade the crown between them depending on the success of their respective companies' shares

Arnault serves as the CEO and chair of the French luxury conglomerate LVMH which owns well-known brands including Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co, and Dom Perignon.

But that is not where his money comes from. The majority of his fortune is driven by his 97.5 percent stake in Christian Dior, Bloomberg states.

In 2022, the 75-year-old entrepreneur raised LMVH's mandatory retirement age to 80 which gives him another five years in control. His five children all work across LVHM and its brands, with daughter Delphine acting as CEO and chair of Dior.

It means that Musk is now only the third richest person, after Tesla shares plummeted 7.2 percent on Tuesday. Today they are down 5.14 percent compared to last year.

Tesla's shares slump came after disappointing sales in China. Figures from the China Passenger Car Association show Tesla sold 60,365 vehicles in February, down 19 percent from a year earlier and the lowest volume since December 2022.

By comparison, Amazon shares are up 88.75 percent compared to last year and are within reaching distance of their record-highs, set in 2021.

Arnault dethroned Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, pictured with fiancee Lauren Sanchez, who took the top spot earlier this week for the first time since 2021

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, pictured, is now the third richest person in the world after shares in his EV manufacturer tumbled this week

Most of Bezos's fortune comes from his 9 per cent stake in Amazon, where he is the biggest shareholder, despite selling 50 million shares worth around $8.5 billion in February.

Bezos first stepped ahead of Microsoft Inc. co-founder Bill Gates as the world's richest person in 2017.

But a huge rally in Tesla shares left Bezos and Musk vying for first position for most of 2021.

Late in 2021, Bezos dropped far behind, and this week was the first time he has reclaimed the position since then.

Here MailOnline looks at the other mega rich people on the list.

It comes after a report by anti-poverty organization Oxfam warned the world could soon have its first trillionaire - somebody who has a thousand billion dollars - within a decade.

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan. Zuckerberg is the founder, chairman and CEO of Meta, which he first founded as Facebook in 2004

Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft Corporation in 1975 with Paul Allen

The findings, released in January, showed that the fortunes of the five richest people in the world had more than doubled to a staggering $869 billion since 2020. Today that figure has increased further still to $908 billion.

Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg is currently the fourth richest person in the world while Bill Gates rounds out the top five. They are worth $178 billion and $148 billion respectively.

Lisa Rutherford, from Oxfam, told DailyMail.com: 'The important thing is not who would become the first trillionaire but rather that it's even an actual possibility, a trillion dollars is an unimaginable amount of money, and it's absolutely nothing to celebrate.

'As of 2022, hundreds of millions of people around the world  including one in 10 people in the US - were living in poverty, so the fact that any one person - Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos or otherwise - could become a trillionaire while millions of people suffer is simply unacceptable.'
China will never allow Taiwan to be separated from motherland: FM

Xinhua) 13:43, March 07, 2024

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China's policy on the Taiwan question is clear, which is to continue striving for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday.

"Our bottom line is also quite clear: We will never allow Taiwan to be separated from the motherland," said Wang at a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress.

In response to a media query about the cross-Strait situation after the leadership and legislature elections in Taiwan, Wang said the elections are local elections of China and the results will not change the fact that Taiwan is part of China, nor will they change the historical trend that Taiwan will return to the motherland.

"There will be a family photo of the whole international community in which all members uphold the one-China principle. It is only a matter of time," he said.

Noting that the one-China principle has become a consensus in the international community, he warned that those who still connive at and support "Taiwan independence" are challenging China's sovereignty and those countries insisting on maintaining official relations with Taiwan are interfering in China's internal affairs.

Separatist activities seeking "Taiwan independence" remain the most destructive factor to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, he said.

"The stronger the commitment to the one-China principle is, the greater the guarantee for peace across the Strait will be," he said.

Whoever engages in "Taiwan independence" on the island will be held accountable by history and whoever in the world connives at and supports "Taiwan independence" will get burned for playing with fire and taste the bitter fruit of their own doing, he noted.

Wang called on all people of Chinese descent to uphold the overall interests of the Chinese nation, jointly oppose "Taiwan independence," and support peaceful reunification.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died in prison last month, predicted in previously unpublished testimony in 2020 and released on Wednesday that his death would change "nothing" and other people would stand in his place.

"If they would kill me it changes nothing," Navalny told Jacques Maire, then a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in December 2020, speaking in English.

In the testimony released by French daily Liberation and broadcaster LCI, Navalny said his team knew what to do without him, although he admitted things would be more "difficult."

"There are other people who are ready to stand (in) my place," he said.

"There are millions of people who don't want to live in a country where the whole power is just in one (man's) hands," he added.

"It's not about me. It's about people who I represent or (am) trying to represent." He also said the Kremlin had "never" tried to negotiate with him, adding that the Russian authorities considered him to be "radical."

Maire released the videotaped testimony with the agreement of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Navalny was interviewed by Maire on Dec. 17, 2020 in Berlin, ahead of his return to Russia following treatment for Novichok poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin.

Upon returning to Russia in January 2021 he was arrested at the airport and jailed.

On Feb. 16, Russian authorities said Navalny died suddenly in his Arctic prison. His supporters say the 47-year-old was murdered, possibly with the same Novichok nerve agent.

'Another immigrant'

Maire served as rapporteur in the investigation of the Navalny poisoning.

Its objective was to "legally qualify the facts" and establish the responsibility of the Russian authorities, said Liberation.

Navalny told Maire he did not know if he would be arrested immediately upon his return.

"I have no idea  would I be arrested at the airport? Maybe later... Maybe I will come and they wait until everything settles down and then will arrest me. Or maybe not. I have no idea."

He said Russian authorities wanted him to remain abroad and become "another immigrant."

Maire asked Navalny what would happen to his movement if he did not come back.

"They know how to operate without me because actually I spent a lot of time every year in prison so they are accustomed to work without me," Navalny said of his team.

"The organization will sustain and will operate but of course it would be more difficult in terms of morale and motivation," Navalny said.

"There (are) some other people who can lead."

Navalny's wife Yulia has said she will continue her husband's cause.

'Block of granite'

Navalny said "at least half of the country want Russia to be a normal European country" and accused President Vladimir Putin of wanting to crush "this type of thoughts and political movements."

Navalny said the Russian authorities used poison against Kremlin critics because "it's terrifying."

"C'mon, even here in Europe. Now I talk to people and some European politicians say... 'I just don't want to mess with this'."

"People are afraid of such mysterious deaths," Navalny said.

"I think that's the main goal. And Putin personally enjoys the idea that people are afraid of his dark power."

In his testimony Navalny drew parallels to the role of Saudi authorities in the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.

"Everyone knows who ordered the killing of Khashoggi," he said.

Liberation quoted Maire as describing Navalny at the time of the interview as a "hyper-determined" fighter and "a block of granite." (AFP)
The Reserve Bank of India and Bank Indonesia (BI) on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote use of local currencies for bilateral transactions.

The MoU was signed here for establishing a framework to promote the use of local currencies viz., the Indian Rupee (INR) and the Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) for cross-border transactions, RBI said in a statement.

This framework would enable exporters and importers to invoice and pay in their respective domestic currencies, which in turn would enable the development of an INR-IDR foreign exchange market.

"Use of local currencies would optimise costs and settlement time for transactions," RBI said.

The MoU was signed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das and Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo.

"The MoU on establishing a framework for cooperation in the area of cross-border transactions in local currencies between India and Indonesia, aims to promote the use of INR and IDR bilaterally," RBI said.

The central bank further said the collaboration marks a key milestone in strengthening bilateral cooperation between RBI and BI.

Use of local currencies in bilateral transactions will eventually contribute to promoting trade between India and Indonesia as well as deepen financial integration and strengthen the long historical, cultural and economic relations between India and Indonesia, it added.
Calling China a bully and seeking support from the US is likely to further strain relations with Beijing

Earlier this month former Army Chief Gen Naravane at a literary festival in Ajmer called China Indias primary threat adding confrontation along the LAC was a good thing as it exposed this ground reality that Delhi was shy to admit. Last week EAM S Jaishankar and Defence Secretary Giridhar Armane called a spade a spade which will infuriate Beijing.

In 1998 India gave China as the reason for carrying out nuclear tests which annoyed the Chinese so much that then foreign minister Jaswant Singh had to travel to Beijing to untie the knot. I was witness to the repair exercise in Beijing even as our Army was retaking Tololing Heights, Kargil. Singh had to say that China was not a threat. Sometime later than defence minister George Fernades called China the number one threat though it was misreported as the No. 1 enemy. This caused a diplomatic furore as China is acutely sensitive to being seen as or worse a threat by any country.

The government hopes to secure full disengagement of Chinese intrusions diplomatically though the gloves came off last week in February. EAM S Jaishankar speaking at the Raisina dialogue said that China should not be allowed to play mind -games to counter which India must use other means (implying US help) to seek better equilibrium. His comments came a day after Armane at the INDUS-X FORUM in Delhi called Beijing a bully adding We expect our friend US will be there in case we need their support. Not since 1962 have we sought US military support. Calling China a bully will incense China.

US help so far is high-tech military equipment worth USD 20bn and another USD in the pipeline. During the PLA incursions in Ladakh and later in Tawang, the US provided critical real-time intelligence, and high altitude equipment for Indias counter deployment. Whether combat contingencies on LAC and US help; and Indias assistance to the US in a Taiwan conflict have been discussed is not known though boots on the ground are unlikely. In 1962 Jawaharlal Nehru sought military assistance from President John Kennedy when Se La and Bomdi La had fallen. 12 squadrons of fighters manned by US pilots, and two squadrons of B47s to take out PLA bases in Tibet were sought. Nehru wrote: Chinese invasion threatened the survival of India. We are confident that your great country will help us in our fight. Armanes plea indicated a strong resolve that we will support each other in face of common threat. This brings the centre-stage question of US reliability as a partner given Indias historical experience of US sanctions/embargos. It recalls that when Delhi signed a contract with the UK for Hawk trainer aircraft, a clause was inserted that there would be no US parts in the aircraft. The US similarly questions Indias reliability given its close ties with the USSR/Russia and strategic autonomy. At the Munich Security Conference last month Jaishankar was asked whether the US is happy and comfortable with India doing whatever it wanted whenever it wanted. His reply: India is smart enough to exercise multiple choices.

Jaishankar says that China has broken protocols and faith which have violated a peaceful and tranquil border that is essential for normal bilateral relations whereas Chinas line is that border issues and bilateral relations are two separate issues. Its spokesperson reminds India ad nauseum that the border problem is leftover from history and not whole of China-India relations lately adding It is unwise and inappropriate for the Indian side to insist on linking border with bilateral relations.

Two video clips reflect how seriously and diligently China diplomacy is being pursued. The first video shows Prime Minister Modi rising from his dining table accompanied by an interpreter during the Bali G20 summit, walking up to President Xi Jinping and engaging in conversation without his two shadow aides, NSA Ajit Doval and Jaishankar.

This video was soon blanked out. The other video is more recent at the Munich Security Conference where Foreign Minister Wang Yi is speaking and Jaishankar is in the audience. As soon as Wang finishes, Jaishankar walks up to him for a chance encounter and conversation. Neither side has reported the contents of the conversation. Indian aim is to keep dialogue and diplomacy alive even if the Chinese have closed the door to further demilitarisation in Depsang and Demchok, two key launchpads for offensive operations by India. Jaishankar has not yielded about seeking equilibrium in bilateral relations even as successive Army Chiefs have sought restoration of the status quo ante April 2020. He is buying time until the elections ensuring the word China does not figure during the election campaign.

The Chinese fired the last salvo during the Raisina Dialogue last month when Jaishankar said that the biggest opponent to Security Council reforms is not a Western country alluding to China. Its spokesperson Mao Ning retorted, Reform should benefit all member states rather than serving selfish interests of a few. That puts paid to Indias prospects for reforms at the UN. The 1988 modus vivendi has expired. Chinas continued coercive behaviour is increasing. Jaishankar proudly talks of Indias swift counter-deployment along LAC which is tantamount to closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. Unless India substantially enhances deterrence vis a vis Chinathe military modernization budget in real terms is less than the previous year'sBeijing will continue to bully Delhi.

(The writer, a retired Major General, was Commander, IPKF South, Sri Lanka, and a founder member of the Defence Planning Staff, currently the Integrated Defence Staff. Views are personal)
It not only protects vulnerable populations from financial risks but also contributes to the overall socio-economic development of the country

With the rising awareness around insurance in the country, it is evident that individuals are recognising the pivotal role it plays in safeguarding the financial aspect of our lives. The sector is poised to grow at an unprecedented rate in the coming years. With growing income giving the desired impetus to the sector, it is expected that the Indian insurance industry will reach a US$ 222 billion market by 2026, as per the report by IBEF.

However, the industry faces the challenge of low insurance penetration, standing at 4%, owing to the major population of underserved communities finding it difficult to avail of insurance plans. Therefore, to bolster the prospects of the industry, it is essential to diversify and expand the insurance offering to the group to ensure the maximum number of people are insured in the country.

Looking at the insurance gap in low-income households, microinsurance has been introduced to improve the accessibility and affordability of insurance among the group. Specifically tailored to address the risks of underprivileged communities, it focuses on protecting the population from plunging deeper into poverty. Offering affordable insurance products comes with the ability to help the groups cope and recover from difficult financial situations. Consequently, by empowering the communities, microinsurance drives the socio-economic development of the group, which invariably contributes to elevating their living standards.

1) Boosting crisis recovery

In an attempt to alleviate the poverty of the country, the government has been continuously working towards improving the risk-handling capacity of the group.

To achieve this purpose, the policies under microinsurance are in alignment with providing insurance cushioning from any unfortunate event. Offering compensation for a wide array of risks entailing health, term life, death, disability, crop insurance, livestock/cattle insurance, accidents, natural disasters, etc. contributes to the resilience of economically marginalised groups. Government Schemes namely Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), enabling free access to health insurance, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) providing life and accident coverage respectively, further support the cause of boosting crisis recovery in the group.

2) Fostering financial inclusion: Microinsurance, offering coverage at low premiums, encourages deeper penetration of insurance among marginalised groups. It serves the purpose of promoting the financial inclusion of the community, who otherwise were unable to avail of traditional insurance products due to high costs. Consequently, bringing the marginalised section into the formal financial system can play a crucial role in converting them into valuable assets, thereby contributing to the larger cause of augmenting the economic growth of the country.

3) Encouraging women's empowerment: In rural India, women play an integral part in managing the household, and along with this, they actively participate in income generation.

To further drive the empowerment of women, government schemes such as Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) can invariably contribute to creating agriculture-based livelihoods for women belonging to rural areas. Specifically devised to cater to the unique needs of women, innovating and introducing more ground-breaking microinsurance programmes for women can bolster their financial independence.

Along with this, the awareness created around microinsurance can help women improve the health outcomes of their families by availing healthcare services and timely facilitation of medical treatment. It can immensely assist them in making informed decisions for driving the well-being of their families.

(The writer is a financial advisor, views are personal)
As we celebrate International Womens Day, its essential to reflect on womens journey of empowerment and the strides they have made in various fields

India, a country rich in diversity, culture and history, is a tribute to the fortitude and achievements of its women. Over the years, women in India have played multifaceted roles, contributing significantly to the nations growth, development and overall achievements. Indias history is replete with stories of strong and resilient women who defied societal norms to carve a space for themselves. From Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi to Sarojini Naidu and from Savitribai Phule to PT Usha, these trailblazers have laid the foundation for gender equality. Women from various eras and fields have been the driving force behind making it the global player that it is today.

Women contribute significantly to the social fabric of a country, playing vital roles in families, communities and institutions. From the pioneers of the past to the innovators of the present, women have changed Indian culture forever. Indian women have not only excelled within the countrys borders but have also made their mark globally. From business leaders and scientists to artists and athletes, Indian women have showcased their talents on the international stage, earning accolades and inspiring a new generation of individuals to dream big.

While women have entered and established themselves in every sector of governance and socio-political structure, there is still room for improvement. In fact, gender equality has been persistently highlighted in all aspects of life under the leadership of our Honble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister has also made it quite evident where he wants the country to go: from development driven by women to development led by women. This is such a radical shift in perspective that now reflects on the achievements as well as the persisting challenges.

The degree of gender equality in a society often correlates with its level of development and modernisation. Societies that support gender equality typically have more opportunities for all, stronger social cohesion and lower levels of discrimination. One of the significant strides in recent decades has been the increasing emphasis on education for women.

Though challenges persist, particularly in rural areas where access to quality education remains a concern, government initiatives like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao have played a pivotal role in encouraging the education of the girl child. Womens economic engagement in India has also surged dramatically from 22 per centin 2022 to 37 per cent in 2023. In the dynamic landscape of entrepreneurship, women are increasingly making their mark as formidable leaders, innovators and drivers of change. Women entrepreneurs are disrupting sectors, promoting inclusivity, motivating future generations, and redefining industries by breaking out from established roles and starting profitable firms. Their contributions extend beyond profit margins, encompassing innovation, inclusivity, and a commitment to the positive social impact. The textile sector now engages more than 25 lakh (2.5 million) female weavers and allied workers. These women are not mere contributors; they are trailblazers who are reshaping an industry steeped in tradition.

The representation of women in political institutions serves as a barometer of a countrys commitment to democracy and inclusivity. Countries with higher levels of female political representation often exhibit a more balanced and diverse approach to policymaking, addressing a broader range of the societal issues.

Taking this thought forward, the Nari-shakti Vandan Adhiniyam-Women Reservation Bill was introduced to provide one-third reservation (i.e., 33 per cent) to women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, which will further strengthen our democracy. Although women participate substantially in Panchayati Raj institutions and municipal bodies, their representation in state legislatures and Parliament remains limited. Women MPs constitute a mere 15 per cent of the Lok Sabha and account for only about 10 per cent of members in many state assemblies. The number of women members will rise to 181 from the present 82 once the law comes into force.

While women are leading in various walks of life today, it is essential to recognise that only 6-7 per cent of the Indian Railways workforce comprises women. Despite this low representation, the first ladies who ventured into the male-dominated areas deserve commendation. One such remarkable woman is Ms. Jaya Varma Sinha, the first female Chairperson & CEO of the Railway Board. Additionally, Indian Railways boasts a significant number of more than 800 women working as loco pilots, loco pilot (shunter) and assistant loco pilots. Some trains are even operated entirely by all-women crews, showcasing their competence and resilience.

As the world celebrates International Womens Day, it is crucial to shed light on a segment of society whose contributions often go unnoticed-the unemployed women. While unemployment can be disheartening, it does not diminish the significant impact these women make across various spheres of life.

As we celebrate the progress in womens empowerment in India, we must acknowledge that the journey is ongoing. Collective efforts from the government, civil society and the public are necessary to achieve meaningful and lasting change. Empowering women is not merely about equality, it is a fundamental prerequisite for sustainable development, social progress, and the overall well-being of a society. I would like to leave you with food for thought by our Honble Prime Minister: Woh shakti hai, sashaktahai, Woh Bharat ki naari hai, Na zyada main, nakam main, Woh sab main barabar ki adhikari hai.

(The author is Minister of State for Railways & Textiles, Government of India; views are personal)
The ruling BJP may contest at least 32 Lok Sabha seats in the forthcoming elections in Maharashtra, leaving the remaining 16 seats to its alliance partners Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was on a two-day visit to the city, is understood to have agreed to allocate collectively 16 seats to the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

Shah, who held one round of talks with Shinde and Ajit Pawar at the State-run Sahyadri guest on Tuesday night, met them once again at the Jio world Centre on Wednesday. NCP leaders Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare were also present at Wednesdays meeting.

While the Shinde-led Shiv Sena had sought at least 13 seats, the Ajit Pawar-headed NCP had demanded as many as 10 seats. However, Shah made it clear to them that the BJP could not allocate more than 16 seats to the two parties.

Between the two ruling alliance partners, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena may get nine to 10 seats, while the NCP (AP) will have to remain content with the remaining 6 to 7 seats.

Maha-Yuti, as the BJP-led ruling alliance called in the State, is likely to finalise its seat-sharing arrangement by either the end of this week or early next week.

Of the seats allocated to the NCP, the BJP has set aside the prestigious Baramati seat to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawars wife Sunetra Pawar. Sunetra will be taking on rival NCP leader and three-time MP Supriya Sule, who is the daughter of Sharad Pawar.

Similarly, the BJP has allocated Raigad seat in coastal Konkan region for the NCP. State NCP (AP) chief Sunil Tatkare may himself contest Raigad seat in coastal Konkan region.

There has been a delay in the formalisation of Lok Sabha seat-sharing arrangement in Maharashtra. The BJP announced its first list of 19 candidates on Saturday. However, it did not announce its candidates for Maharashtra, as the party had not formalised its seat tie-up with its alliance partners  Shiv Sena (Shinde) and NCP (AP).

The State BJP leaders, including Devendra Fadnavis, wanted Shah to intervene and firm up the seat-sharing arrangement with the Shinde Sena and Ajit Pawar BJP.

During his two rounds of talks, Shinde hammered out a seat-sharing deal with the Shinde Sena and NCP (AP) on Tuesday night and Monday morning.
The political chessboard in Bihar, with its crucial 40 Lok Sabha seats, is considered the most important battleground for both the ruling party and the Opposition. Recent developments indicate a slight shift as the RJD, Congress, and Left combine Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) have reportedly offered eight Lok Sabha seats to the faction led by Chirag Paswan.

Sources suggest that Chirag may have to settle for only two seats to contest as part of NDA discussions, while the faction led by Pashupati Paras could secure four seats.

To resolve the tussle, both Paswans may need to contest with three Lok Sabha seats each. The Grand Alliance partners have reached out to Chirag, offering eight Lok Sabha seats in Bihar and an additional two in Uttar Pradesh.

Chirags demand stems from the continuity of the Lok Janshakti Party led by his late father, Ram Vilas Paswan. He claims rights to the same seats won in the 2019 elections. Conversely, Pashupati Paras asserts that five out of the six Lok Janshakti Party MPs are now with him, and his party is part of the National Lok Janshakti Party, validating his claim to six seats.

The family feud within one of Bihars top political families - the Paswans - appears to have become a topic of interest for both the BJP-led NDA and the Congress-led INDIA Bloc. The dispute between the national president of the Lok Janshakti Party, (Ram Vilas), and MP Chirag Paswan, along with his uncle and Union Minister Pashupati Paras, has led to a delay in the seat-sharing process for the NDA, of which the JD(U) led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is now a part. Chirag and Nitish share a troubled equation and the former had sought a solace from the BJP when the latter broke away from the Opposition Bloc to get into the umbrella of the NDA.

Simultaneously, there is also concern for the Opposition Bloc. Following the exits of JD(U) in Bihar and RLD in Western Uttar Pradesh from the INDIA Bloc to join the NDA, major stakeholders like the Congress and the Samajwadi Party are anticipating a bumpy road.

This is due to the Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, which has expressed intentions to contest multiple seats in Hindi heartland States besides Maharashtra. This move may upset the constituents of its minority voters.

The INDIA Bloc has high hopes from Bihar, UP, and Maharashtra, where the alliance is working to challenge and unsettle the BJPs numbers in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Another battle looms over the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat, currently represented by Pashupati, where both contenders seek to run. Chirag stakes his claim on the Hajipur seat, citing the legacy of his late father, Ram Vilas Paswan.

With the AIMIM, according to sources, planning to contest on as many as 20 seats in UP and about seven seats in Bihar may hurt interest of the INDIA Bloc. In the 2019 polls, the party had contested only one seat from the heartland, in Bihar.

The AIMIM will also enter the fray in Maharashtra  where it could foray into Mumbai and Marathwada  as well as Telangana where besides its home turf Hyderabad, it may also contest from Secunderabad.

The party, however, is unlikely to contest in the TMC-ruled West Bengal, where it had fielded candidates in the 2021 Assembly polls.

AIMIM currently has two seats in the Lok Sabha, represented by Asaduddin Owaisi (Hyderabad) and Imtiaz Jaleel (Aurangabad). In 2019, Akhtar-ul-Iman, the AIMIM candidate from Kishanganj, had polled almost 3 lakh votes, coming third behind the Congress and the JD(U) candidates.

Kishanganj was the only seat in Bihar out of 40 that the Congress-RJD alliance had won in 2019. The AIMIM will again field Akhtar-ul-Iman from the seat.

Although the AIMIM had not fielded any candidates in UP in 2019, it had done well in local body polls in the State in 2017, securing 32 seats. And even though the party did not win any seat in the 2022 UP Assembly polls, the votes it had polled in more than 10 seats were more than the margin of defeat for the SP candidates there.

The AIMIMs bid to enter Mumbai and Marathwada, around 12 per cent of whose population is Muslim, would also be a concern for the INDIA Bloc.
Mending fences with the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the Union Territory is touching new heights of development and breathing freely after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

The Valley, along with Jammu and Ladakh, will exercise its franchise for the first time in mainstream elections this Lok Sabha since the Abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. All political parties, national to regional, from the BJP to the Congress, the National Conference to the PDP, are bracing up for a tough contest, a litmus test that would indicate which way the people of region think and vote. While the BJP is putting up an indomitable face along with its allies, its regional rivals like the NC and PDP are already a part of the Congress initiated INDIA Bloc.

The Congress and the NC alliance defeated the BJP in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Council elections in Kargil, touted as the first-ever poll held in J&K after Article 370 was scrapped in 2019.

"We, the political parties and the voters of the region are eagerly waiting for the first litmus test of political rivals after Article 370 was scrapped as each of them has ruled the State at some point single handedly or as alliance partners," said Sanjiv Singh, AICC secretary.

On his arrival at the highly fortified Bakshi stadium in Srinagar, the Prime Minister was accorded a warm welcome by the cheering crowd. A large number of Kashmiris were seen wearing Modi masks and chanting slogans in the audience. Hundreds of BJP supporters, wearing tricolour turbans, also reached the venue while security personnel had a tough time managing the crowd.

During his half-hour-long speech, the Prime Minister purposefully avoided making any reference to the issue of granting Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and holding Assembly polls to elect a popular Government.

The last time Modi visited Kashmir was in February 2019.

On ground zero several mainstream political parties in the valley were keenly awaiting a categorical statement from the Prime Minister as J&K has not had an elected Government since 2018.

Batting in support of the development-oriented agenda of his Government, the Prime Minister also described Jammu and Kashmir as the crown of India claiming its success story will be the centre of attraction for the world.

The Prime Minister also took a swipe at his rivals, accusing the Congress and its allies  including J&Ks National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party  of misleading people for political gain.

For decades, for political gains, the Congress and its allies misled people in the name of 370. But today there are equal rights and opportunities for all. The people know the truth... they were misled.

Pointing out that Jammu and Kashmir has been the biggest victim of dynastic politics since Independence, the Prime Minister assured the people that the development campaign for Jammu and Kashmir will not stop at any cost and the region will develop more rapidly in the next five years.

This is the new Jammu and Kashmir for which we all were waiting for many decades. This is the new Jammu and Kashmir, for which Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee sacrificed his life, the Prime Minister said.

There is a sparkle of the future in the eyes of this new Jammu and Kashmir... there is courage in the intentions of this new Jammu and Kashmir to overcome the challenges, he continued.

On the occasion, the Prime Minister also extended his advance wishes for the upcoming holy month of Ramzan and Maha Shivratri, which falls on Friday.

Modi flagged off projects worth over Rs 6,400 from Srinagars Bakshi stadium and also distributed appointment letters to nearly 1,000 newly recruited Government employees in J&K. Modi also interacted with beneficiaries of various Government schemes including women achievers, lakhpati didis, farmers, entrepreneurs etc.

Highlighting his future vision for J&K, Modi said, Now, my next mission is Wed in India. People should come to J&K and host their weddings... The world has seen how G20 was organised in J&K. There was a time when people used to say, who will go to J&K for tourism? Today, tourism in J&K is breaking all the records. In 2023, more than 2 crore tourists have come here... Now, even big celebrities from across the world are coming to Kashmir.

Expressing his gratitude for the affection of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister said Modi will not leave any stone unturned to repay this debt of affection. I am doing all this hard work to win your hearts and I believe that I am on the right path. I will continue my efforts to win your hearts. This is Modis guarantee and all of you know that Modis Guarantee means the guarantee of fulfillment of guarantee.

Reacting to the Prime Ministers speech, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference in a statement said, The Prime Ministers visit and speech have left many disappointed. Its the same worn-out rhetoric that Jammu and Kashmir has been hearing for the past five years, yet theres still a lack of confidence in holding elections. People were eagerly awaiting announcements regarding Statehood, a promise of a democratically elected Government by September, job packages for the unemployed, relief from the power crisis, and major development projects. Unfortunately, none of these expectations were met.

Former Chief Minister and Chief of Peoples Democratic Party Mehbooba Mufti claimed the Government employees were forcibly mobilised to paint a pretty picture that all is well post-2019. In a tweet, Mehbooba said, Government employees are being herded at five am in sub zero temperatures into vehicles at Budgam bus stand ferrying them to the PMs rally. Disheartening to see employees being forcibly mobilised to paint a pretty picture that all is well post-2019 & that people here are celebrating their collective disempowerment & humiliation. Stands contrary to earlier visits by previous PMs like Vajpayee & Dr Manmohan Singh at the peak of insurgency.|

On his last visit to J&K, the Prime Minister launched multiple development projects - including those for education, railway, aviation and transport - worth over Rs 32,000 crore at MA stadium in Jammu.

Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, Union Minister of State, Dr Jitendra Singh and Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Ali Khatana were present on the occasion among others.

The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Congress party also reacted strongly to the visit of the Prime Minister. JKPCC senior vice president and incharge media Ravinder Sharma in a statement said,  Modi has disappointed the people of Jammu & Kashmir by not announcing the restoration of Statehood & avoiding the core issues of restoration of democracy, snatching of land & job rights, record unemployment and unprecedented price rise, tax Terrorism, issues of daily wagers and other temporary employees and various such categories who had pinned hopes on his visit.
Freelance copywriter Chai Wanrou thinks marriage is an unfair institution. Like many young women in China, she is part of a growing movement that envisions a future with no husband and no children, presenting the government with a challenge it could do without.

"Regardless of whether you're extremely successful or just ordinary, women still make the biggest sacrifices at home," the 28-year-old feminist said at a cafe in the northwestern city of Xian.

"Many who got married in previous generations, especially women, sacrificed themselves and their career development, and didn't get the happy life they were promised. Living my own life well is difficult enough nowadays," she told Reuters.

President Xi Jinping last year stressed the need to "cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing" as China's population fell for a second consecutive year and new births reached historic lows.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang also vowed to "work towards a birth-friendly society" and boost childcare services in this year's government work report.

The Communist Party views the nuclear family as the bedrock of social stability, with unmarried mothers stigmatized and largely denied benefits. But a growing number of educated women, facing unprecedented insecurity amid record youth unemployment and an economic downturn, are espousing "singleism" instead.

China's single population aged over 15 hit a record 239 million in 2021, according to official data. Marriage registrations rebounded slightly last year due to a pandemic backlog, after reaching historic lows in 2022. A 2021 Communist Youth League survey of some 2,900 unmarried urban young people found that 44 percent of women do not plan to marry.

Marriage, however, is still regarded as a milestone of adulthood in China and the proportion of adults who never marry remains low. But in an other sign of its declining popularity, many Chinese are delaying tying the knot, with the average age of first marriage rising to 28.67 in 2020 from 24.89 in 2010, according to census data.

In Shanghai, this figure reached 30.6 for men and 29.2 for women last year, according to city statistics.

"Feminist activism is basically not allowed (in China), but refusing marriage and childbirth can be said to be ... a form of non-violent disobedience towards the patriarchal state," said Lu Pin, a Chinese feminist activist based in the United States.

No apologies

After decades of improving women's education levels, workforce participation and social mobility, Chinese authorities now face a dilemma as the same group of women have become increasingly resistant to their propaganda.

Long-term single lifestyles are gradually becoming more widespread in China, giving rise to online communities of mostly single women who seek solidarity from like-minded people.

Posts with the hashtags "No marriage, no children" from female influencers often in their thirties or forties on Xiaohongshu, China's Instagram, regularly gain thousands of likes.

One anti-marriage forum on Douban, another social media platform, has 9,200 members, while another dedicated to "singleism" has 3,600 members who discuss collective retirement plans, among other topics.

Liao Yueyi, a 24-year-old unemployed graduate in the southern city of Nanning, recently declared to her mother that she "wakes up from nightmares about having children."

"No marriage or kids is a decision I've made after deep consideration. I don't owe anyone an apology, my parents have accepted it," she posted on WeChat.

Instead she has decided to "lie flat"  a Chinese expression that means doing just enough to get by  and save money for future travels.

"I think it's okay to date or cohabit, but children are a huge asset investment with minimal returns," she said, adding that she has discussed renting a house with some female friends when they all retire.

Many of the women interviewed cited a desire for self-exploration, disillusionment with patriarchal Chinese family dynamics and a lack of "enlightened" male partners as the main factors behind their decision to stay single and childless.

Gender equality also plays a role: all the women said it was difficult to find a man who valued their autonomy and believed in equal division of household labor.

"There's an oversupply of highly educated women and not enough highly educated men," said Xiaoling Shu, professor of sociology at the University of California, Davis. Decades of the one-child policy have led to 32.3 million more men than women in 2022, according to official data.

"College-educated women become stronger believers in advocating for their rights and status in society," Shu said. "Well-educated women in search of supportive life partners find fewer suitable men who also endorse women's rights."

While not all the women interviewed identified as feminist or viewed themselves as deliberately defying the government, their actions reflect a broader trend of Chinese female empowerment expressed through personal choices.

And even though some analysts believe that the number of people who remain single for life will not grow exponentially in the future, delayed marriages and falling fertility are likely to pose a threat to China's demographic goals.

"In the long run, women's enthusiasm for marriage and childbirth will only continue to decrease," said feminist Lu.

"I believe this is the most important long-term crisis that China will face." (Reuters)
Ahead of the beginning of the poll battle on ground zero, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be arriving in Kashmir Valley, for the first time after the Abrogation of Article 370, on Thursday to participate in the Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir programme.

Modis visit to the valley is aimed at galvanising the party cadre and bolstering the partys poll campaign. The mass contact programme of the Prime Minister has also raised the hopes of residents in the valley as they are anticipating the conduct of the Assembly polls alongside Lok Sabha polls.

By winning the hearts and minds of the people of Kashmir, the Prime Minister will be sending a firm message to the political opponents who often raise fingers questioning the Kashmir policy of the ruling dispensation.

To welcome the Prime Minister, Srinagar city has been decked up with king-size hoardings and party flags along the fortified route leading to the venue of the public rally at Bakshi stadium. The entire Bakshi stadium has been draped in colours of India. Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place to ensure an incident-free culmination of the programme.

High-rise buildings surrounding the venue have been occupied, and sharpshooters have been deployed to ensure a secure environment.

In addition to ground surveillance, strong aerial surveillance has been implemented to monitor the area. Drones and CCTV cameras are being used for surveillance while foot patrolling by the security forces has been intensified in a two-kilometre radius around the venue.

Marine commandos have been deployed in Jhelum River and Dal Lake to prevent the use of these water bodies for any subversive activities.

In Srinagar, several schools falling along the route to be taken by the Prime Minister have been closed for Wednesday and Thursday while board examinations scheduled to be held on Thursday have been postponed till next month.

Before addressing the public gathering, the Prime Minister is scheduled to unveil projects worth more than Rs 6,400 crore including Rs 5,000 crore for boosting the agri-economy in the Union Territory.

According to an official handout issued by the Press Information Bureau, the Prime Minister will launch nationwide projects related to the tourism sector worth more than Rs 1,400 crore under the Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive) schemes, including a project for the integrated development of the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar.

He will launch the Dekho Apna Desh Peoples Choice Tourist Destination Poll and the Chalo India Global Diaspora campaign as well, besides announcing tourist destinations selected under the Challenge-Based Destination Development (CBDD) scheme.

Modi will distribute appointment letters to nearly 1,000 newly recruited Government employees in Jammu and Kashmir and also interact with the beneficiaries of various Central schemes, including women achievers, farmers and entrepreneurs, the statement said.

In a step that will provide a major boost to the agri-economy of the region under the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) to be launched by the Prime Minister, the statement said it will cover the full spectrum of activities in three major domains of horticulture, agriculture and livestock husbandry.

The programme is expected to equip about 2.5 lakh farmers with skill-development training and about 2,000 farmers service centres will be established and robust value chains put in place for the welfare of the farming community.

The tourism projects to be launched by Modi are in line with his vision to improve the overall experience of tourists and pilgrims visiting prominent pilgrimage and tourism sites across the country by building world-class infrastructure and amenities at these sites, the statement said.

Besides the Hazratbal shrine project, the initiatives include tourism facilities in the Northeast Circuit in Meghalaya, the Spiritual Circuit in Bihar and Rajasthan, Rural and Tirthankar Circuit in Bihar and some other projects in states such as Telangana and Madhya Pradesh.

The Prime Minister will also launch 43 projects that will develop a wide range of pilgrimage and tourist sites across the country.

He will also launch the first-ever countrywide initiative to identify the pulse of the nation on tourism in the form of Dekho Apna Desh Peoples Choice 2024, the statement said.

The Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign aims to inspire the Indian diaspora to become Incredible India ambassadors and promote tourism in India.

The campaign is being launched based on the clarion call of the Prime Minister, wherein he requested Indian diaspora members to encourage at least five non-Indian friends to travel to India. With more than three crore overseas Indians, the Indian diaspora can serve as a powerful catalyst for Indian tourism, acting as cultural ambassadors, the statement said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with some victims of Sandeshkhali on Wednesday, where allegations of sexual abuse against TMC leaders have been levelled.

BJP sources said the PM assured them of help. Some of the victims of sexual attack had come to Barasat, and they met the Prime Minister, and he assured them help, sources said.

The meeting took place after the PMs rally at Barasat, which is the headquarters of North 24 Parganas district where Sandeshkhali is located.

The women expressed their happiness at meeting the PM and said they requested him to ensure that the women of Sandeshkhali get justice.

Modi launched a scathing attack on the Mamata Banerjee Government for promoting atrocities against women, as seen at Sandeshkhali block in North 24 Parganas.

What happened to the mothers and sisters of Sandeshkhali- which hit the national headlines after women here recently rose up in revolt against land-grab and sexual assault against them- was a matter of shame, he said.

The TMC has committed a big sin by protecting the people who had insulted our women. It is a matter of big shame, and I am sure the incident at Sandeshkhali has angered the women of Bengal.

This anger will not remain limited to Sandeshkhali; the storm that brewed there will engulf the entire State, the PM said.

Addressing an all-womens rally named Nari Shakti Vandan Abhinandan at Barasat in North 24 Parganas, Modi criticised how corruption and abuse of women had become the hallmark of the Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance and its constituent TMC.

Targeting the INDIA leaders the PM said, Realising that the National Democratic Alliance was coming back to power the leaders of INDIA alliance have lost their sleep and balance which is why they have started abusing Modi  the corrupt people of INDIA are saying that I speak about dynastic politics because I have no family of my own  but truth to be told the entire people of the country including those sitting in front of me are my family.

The PM who on Wednesday inaugurated Indias first under water metro railway service  that runs beneath the Ganges connecting Howrah and Kolkata  besides launching projects worth more than `15,000 crore accused the INDIA ruled States of impeding all the Central schemes whereas his Government was trying its best to implement them so that India could be taken forward.

The Governments led by the INDIA alliance are putting brakes on the schemes launched by the BJP Government  like the TMC Government refused to implement the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao programme, Ujjwala Gas scheme and drinking water projects, he said adding how during the TMC regime an eclipse had swallowed up Bengal. This was the PMs third rally in Bengal in a weeks time with the previous two being held at Arambagh and Krishangar on March 1 and 2.

Modi who later proceeded to Bihar asked the people to throw out the TMC from power in order to ensure development in the State.

Desperate to save its womens vote bank the TMC was prompt to react even as the party took a two-pronged measure by announcing women-centric projects and by countering the Prime Ministers allegations.

While Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee went on the X to announce her Governments plans to increase the salaries of ICDS and Asha workers, party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh attacked Modi for shedding crocodile tears when the women of the BJP ruled States were crying.

The Chief Minister said, Asha workers are our pride as they work very hard. They support us in all the bad times. I am happy to announce that their salaries have been increased by Rs 750 from the month of April.

The Anganwadi workers get Rs 8,250. Their salaries have been increased by Rs 750 (from April). The ICDS helpers get about Rs 6000. Their salaries have been increased by Rs 500 from April 1.

Ghosh on the other hand countered the PM reminding him how in Gujarat the BJP men had garlanded the rapists of Bilkis Bano, adding, the PM said no words for the victims of Hathras and Unnao  neither he had anything to say in favour of the women wrestlers who were complaining against sexual assault by one of the BJP MPs.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayans security is being beefed up further with immediate effect following threats from a different group of species in Kerala. As on date, Vijayan has the maximum security in the country to save him from the BJP and RSS activists who wave black flag whenever his cavalcade of cars passes along the roads.

People in the routes through which the Chief Minister travels are asked not to wear black dress and from carrying black umbrellas lest the security commandos would misunderstand the same as a kind of demonstration against Vijayan.

The new threat to the Chief Ministers life is not from human beings but from Asian Palm Civet, also known as toddy cat or musang. Vijayans official bungalow Cliff House has become the hunting ground of these rather harmless animals, which according to wild life enthusiasts are facing the threat of extinction.

The roofs of the house are fully infested with these Palm Civets and they do not allow me to sleep peacefully, the Chief Minister reportedly told a group of Ministers and forest officials which has been constituted to control these animals from running helter-skelter in the bungalow.

Vijayan is upset that the Palm Civets are targeting him, robbing him of his sleep and denying him the water meant for consuming during night hours. My well ironed shirts, dhotis and even undergarments get spoiled as these animals urinate and defecate on them. The smell of their urine and excreta are awful and I do not know why these animals selectively target me, said Vijayan.

The forest department officials are busy devising plans to trap the Palm Civets and hand them over to the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo. But the zoo is not far from the Chief Ministers palace, and its likely to return with full force to torment him. Interestingly, there has been no complaint against the Palm Civets by Vijayans spouse, Kamala, who has been spared from the attacks by them.

Even the Palm Civets in Kerala have turned against the Chief Minister. Since Vijayan is under a heavy security blanket, the common man cannot approach him with their grievances and that could be the reason why the responsibility has fallen on Palm Civets. The Government of India should consider honouring the Palm Civets with some kind of national awards for their bravery and fearlessness, said A Jayashankar, political observer.

Wildlife enthusiasts are of the view that the Chief Minister can save himself from the attacks of Palm Civets by offering them fruits and vegetables. All he has to do is to leave bunches of bananas or sweet fruits on the dining table. It is because of the heavy security and denial of food to them that the civets urinate and defecate selectively on the Chief Ministers designer costumes, said a leading wildlife activist.

The non-stop protest demonstrations by the Palm Civets have upset Vijayans rhythm of life as was evident from Wednesday evenings Face To Face programme addressed by him at the Capital city.

When the anchor person complimented the Chief Minister for his one hour long speech, Vijayan turned red and shouted at her and told her that he doesnt want such kind of flattery.

The question being asked all over Kerala is Pinarayi Vijayan ko gussa kyon aata hai?
With the flagging off of 17-km Duhai-Modi Nagar North section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor, the Namo Bharat train becomes operational on 34 km of the corridor, spanning eight stations from Sahibabad to Modi Nagar North. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the additional section on Wednesday remotely from Kolkata.

Simultaneously the priority corridor of Agra Metro was inaugurated virtually by the Prime Minister as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other leaders took the inaugural train ride from the Taj Mahal station to Taj Mahal East station. With the launch of Agra Metro, Uttar Pradesh becomes the sixth State to have metro facilities in most cities, with services in Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida and Kanpur, he added.

The RRTS extension encompasses three stations - Murad Nagar, Modi Nagar South and Modi Nagar North. The Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor, stretching over 82 km, is expected to reduce travel time between Delhi and Meerut to less than an hour.

Speaking at the inauguration, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said once the entire Rapid Rail Transit System is ready, it will be the second largest metro system in the country.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we could develop this corridor at such a fast pace. The work of RRTS and its quality is the finest in the country. Once the entire rapid rail transit system is ready, it will be the second largest metro system in the country, Puri said.

According to the National Capital Region Transport Corporation, or NCRTC, on the Murad Nagar Station, the work of Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) System, Platform Screen Door (PSD), CCTV installation, Customer Service Centre, Ticketing Counter, Railing and Washroom construction is over.

Along with this, escalators and lifts have also been installed for movement from the concourse to the platform level. Presently the work of roof sealing, painting and lighting of the station is going on. For the convenience of passengers, two entry and exit gates are being built in the station, the construction work of which is in the final stage, the NCRTC said.

The Murad Nagar Station has been connected with the Murad Nagar Bus Stand under multimodal integration to ease passenger movement. Modi Nagar has been given two stations - Modi Nagar South and Modi Nagar North - under the project, in view of intractable traffic jams the stretch often witnesses.

The length of both these stations is approximately 215 metres, width approximately 25 metres, and height of the platform approximately 16 metres.

There is usually a traffic jam in Modi Nagar from Modi Mill till Raj Chowpla. Many times, it takes hours for people to cross this area.

In view of the dense population of people in this area, the NCRTC has decided to build two stations here, Modi Nagar South and Modi Nagar North. With these two stations, Modi Nagar will get relief from the problem of severe traffic jams, the NCRTC said.

The newly-added 17-km stretch of the Namo Bharat train extends the coverage of the Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor beyond its initial operational priority section. The RRTS boasts a design speed of 180 kmph and operation speed of 160 kmph.

Agra Metro services on the 6-km corridor will be available to commuters from Thursday onwards, with stops at Taj Mahal East station , Captain Shubham Gupta station, Fatehabad Road station, Taj Mahal station and Mankameshwar Temple station.

Speaking at the flagging off ceremony at the Taj Mahal station, Yogi said Agra Metro would provide world-class public transport to locals and tourists visiting the city.

Agra is one of the oldest cities of Uttar Pradesh. It is a part of Braj bhoomi. This city is associated with stories of bravery and valour of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the chief minister said.

Yogi appreciated the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) for timely completion of the first phase of Agra Metro, and said it has become operational nine months ahead of schedule.

Modi had laid the foundation stone of the metro on December 7, 2020 and it was completed in 23 months, the Chief Minister said even as he lauded the UPMRC for maintaining the quality of the project.
Chhattisgarh Commerce and Industry Minister Lakhan Lal Dewangan said on Wednesday that the new industrial policy will support industry establishment and employment growth by entrepreneurs.

It is the Prime Ministers resolve that the youth should get better work so that their standard of living can improve, he said at the annual meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Raipur.
The All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) wrote a letter to Raj Bhawan regarding the large-scale rigging in the guest teacher appointment process in Ranchi University in 2022 and informed about the entire incident here on Wednesday.

Ranchi University cell president Abhishek Shukla, who was present on the occasion, said that in the process of guest teacher appointment 2022 the university kept aside all the rules and regulations and gave jobs to its favourites in the university administration on the post of guest teachers. He further said that in the 2022 guest teacher appointment process, the merit list has not been followed in any subject, a living example of which is the merit list of History subject, merit list of Political Science subject, merit list of Chemistry, merit list of Commerce.

The teacher selected at number 29 in the merit list of History subject was appointed as a guest teacher, while the teacher selected in the merit rank above him has been making rounds of the university for the last one year but every time he is made some new excuse. Efforts are being made to postpone this matter.

Similarly, in the subject of Political Science, the teacher selected at number five in the merit list has not yet got joining, but the teacher selected at number 18 and 19 has been given appointment. The teacher selected at number five complained about this in the Raj Bhavan, after which the university administration He was told to go and join BS College, Lohardaga, but when he reached there to join, someone else was given the opportunity to join there.

In the subject of Chemistry, instead of the teacher selected at the first position in the merit list, the teacher selected at the 11th position was appointed as a guest teacher, whereas the teacher who was selected at the first position in the merit list protested against this several times but the University The administration has not appointed him till date and that teacher is still roaming around the university.

According to the merit list in Commerce subject, teacher number 29 was appointed, whereas before that many teachers present in the merit list are still making rounds of the university but they are not getting anything except assurance.

Shukla further said that it is clear from all these cases that there has been gross irregularity and rigging in the appointment of guest teachers by Ranchi University in 2022, which is living proof or four examples, even the university administration has not followed the teacher appointment rules of UGC.

Shukla, while requesting the Governor cum Chancellor, said that instructions should be issued by Raj Bhawan to cancel the 2022 guest teacher appointment process pending and clarification should be sought in this matter from Ranchi University Administration and Vice Chancellor of Ranchi University.

And appropriate action should be taken against all the officials of Ranchi University found guilty in this matter.

Among those who submitted the demand letter, included Bipin Yadav, Rahul Kumar, Vikram Yadav, Akash Nayan, Manjeet, Priyanshu Sharma, Vishal Kumar Yadav, Abhishek Sahu and other members.
BJP state spokesperson Kunal Sarangi today raised questions on appointment letters distributed by the Chief Minister, saying what happened to the Khatian based planning policy of JMM, Local Planning Policy, 1932. The BJP leader questioned that the State government should tell the public why the illusion of Khatian based planning policy was shown to the unemployed for four and a half years.

He said that the state government should tell on the basis of which planning policy these appointments have been made.

The Hemant Soren government, during a special session on November 11, 2022, had passed the Jharkhand definition of local persons and for extending the consequential, social, cultural, and other benefits to such local persons Bill, 2022, also known as the 1932 Khatiyan Bill. As per Kahtian based policy locals were to get preference in Class III and VI jobs,

Sarangi said that the appointment letters distributed today have also been conducted by the same agency which has recently canceled the JSCC examinations due to corruption being exposed, and against which the unemployed have demanded a CBI investigation and registration of a case. He said that how can one test result of a tainted agency be right and the other wrong. All the examinations of this agency will be involved in corruption.

The JSSC CGL examination was held on January 28, but its question paper was leaked ahead of the examination. Ranchi Police had arrested three people, including an undersecretary of the Jharkhand assembly, in connection with the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) paper leak case.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Ranchi Police, which is investigating the JSSC paper leak, recovered blank cheques, dozens of admit cards and mobile phones from the premises of Mohammad Shamim, the state assembly's undersecretary. He said that today's appointment letter is a bundle of corruption and hence it should also be investigated.

Meanwhile, appointment letters among 2454 newly appointed candidates for various posts. Under the Post Graduate Trained Teacher Competition Examination-2023, 253 teachers of Biology, 259 of Chemistry, 313 of Physics and 195 trained teachers of Geography were selected.

15 Pipeline Inspectors and 55 Street Light Inspectors under Urban Development and Housing Department. 9 Junior Engineers under Agriculture Department. 34 Mine Inspectors under the Mines and Geology Department. 53 junior engineers under the electricity department. 1,268 Junior Engineers (Civil) under the Road Construction Department, Water Resources Department, Drinking Water and Sanitation Department and Urban Development and Housing Department.
Chhattisgarh will use traditional knowledge of tribals to tackle climate change and to formulate strategy in collaboration with the tribal community and environmental experts.

This was decided at a two-day Chhattisgarh Climate Change Conclave 2024, in which the government focused on expertise and exchange of knowledge from primitive tribes.

As 44 percent geographical area of Chhattisgarh is covered by rich and dense forest and these primitive tribes are close to nature, utilizing their traditional knowledge along with that of experts and public representatives will assist in moving in the right direction in terms of environment conservation, it was stressed.

Chhattisgarh has also launched a climate change dashboard platform to provide a centralized system for collecting, analyzing and visualizing climate-related data.

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, speaking on the concluding day, said the conclave would serve as a significant platform for sharing crucial information and experiences regarding the global challenges and adverse impacts of climate change.

He underlined the importance of collective efforts to combat climate change for the well-being of future generations.

British Deputy High Commissioner Dr Andrew Fleming, who attended the conclave, highlighted various aspects of climate change and appreciated the governments efforts to address climate change through comprehensive action plans and leveraging the knowledge from its tribal inhabitants.

Experts from the country and abroad attended the workshop where an action plan prepared by the government was presented in which the data of 100 years was assessed.

The assessment indicated that the state is witnessing a decline in annual rainfall over the period 1972-2017. The most significant decline was seen in Surguja, Balrampur, Janjgir-Champa, Surajpur, Raigarh, Korea, Raipur and Mahasamund districts.

The temperature time series during 1951-2017 shows a moderate increasing trend for summer maximum temperatures in Chhattisgarh, with a moderate increasing trend for winter minimums.

The 'Chhattisgarh State Action Plan on Climate Change' and a book on traditional health practices titled 'Ancient Wisdom' at Bastar were unveiled at the conclave.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Thursday, laid the foundation stones and inaugurated 124 development projects worth about Rs 5,200 crore in Agra.

Addressing a gathering, Chief Minister Yogi praised Prime Minister Narendra Modis efforts to uplift the underprivileged citizens of the nation.

Today, we pay homage to Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar. Honouring Babasaheb signifies respecting the marginalised communities and upholding the Constitution, he said.

Highlighting the Bharatiya Janata Partys commitment to societal welfare, the chief minister remarked, In the past decade, under Prime Minister Modis leadership, we have witnessed the emergence of a new India, an India where unity transcends caste, religion and language.

It is an India that aspires to integrate every village, poor person, farmer, youth and woman into the societal mainstream in order to empower them to lead dignified lives and forge ahead. It is not founded on caste, religion, or language. The guiding principle behind this endeavour is Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, he added.

The chief minister continued: Even those sections of society that were deprived of their rights since Independence, are experiencing a sense of inclusion and development under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi today.

Furthermore, he stressed that honouring Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar translates to upholding the values of the Constitution and the parliamentary system of India. He credited Prime Minister Modi for amplifying the voices of millions of underprivileged individuals across the country.

The chief minister also credited Prime Minister Modi with the significant naming of the international airport in Ayodhya after Maharishi Valmiki, the trikaldarshi sage who had a dialogue with Lord Ram.

Chief Minister Yogi also credited Prime Minister Modi with resolving the issue surrounding Seergovardhan in Kashi, revered as the holy land of Sant Ravidas, after becoming Member of Parliament from Varanasi, where a towering 25-feet statue of Sant Ravidas Maharaj has been inaugurated, alongside the construction of a grand park and museum.

The chief minister praised Prime Minister Modis efforts in honouring the pioneers of social justice in the country and ensuring rights for the poor, Dalits, and marginalised communities. He highlighted achievements such as providing housing, sanitation facilities and improved healthcare for the underprivileged.

Furthermore, Chief Minister Yogi said that Uttar Pradesh, inspired by Prime Minister Modi, had doubled the scholarship amount for students from Scheduled Castes compared to 2016. He underscored the collaborative efforts of the double-engine government, citing examples such as the establishment of a university in Azamgarh named after Maharaja Suheldev, and the restoration of the Maharaja Bijli Pasi Qila in Lucknow.
Under the joint auspices of Ranchi District and Metropolitan Congress Committee, a protest was held in front of the main branch of State Bank of India, Court Complex, against not making public the list of donors of the Electoral Bond Scheme.

On the occasion, the leaders said that the Supreme Court has recently banned BJP's electoral bond scheme considering it unconstitutional. The court directed political parties to disclose donations received under the scheme. Besides, SBI was also directed to make the complete information about election donations public before March 6, 2024 and hand it over to the Election Commission. This decision of the Supreme Court was widely welcomed across the country as a decisive step against black money.

The ruling BJP, being the primary beneficiary of the electoral bond scheme, is facing inconvenience after the Supreme Court decision. Political parties collectively received over Rs 12,000 crore since the launch of the electoral bond scheme in 2017. BJP alone received Rs 6,566.11 crore, which is 55 percent of the total amount.

He said that clearly the BJP is concerned about the potential risk to its relations with select corporates if information about donors becomes public. It clearly appears that the Modi government has put pressure on State Bank of India not to share the information. SBI filed an application before the Supreme Court, seeking extension till June 30, 2024, for sharing the details. The delay in sharing details of donors of electoral bonds is suspicious as the country's largest and fully computerized bank should not be required to provide information about electoral bonds for five months. This shows that SBI is being used by BJP. This is being done to hide financial irregularities and the source of black money. The people of the country have come to know how the truth is being hidden by putting pressure on government agencies and institutions.

In the protest, mainly Kamal Thakur of Metropolitan Congress, Prince Bhatt, Jitendra Trivedi Arun Kumar Mishra Haider Ali Akhtar Ali, Ghulam Rabbani Dilawar Khan Ajay Mandal Rahul Verma Chhotu Singh Rohit Singh DK Singh Mohit Gaurav Singh, Mithlesh Tiwari along with other leaders and workers were present.
In an era marked by escalating cyber threats, the inaugural Bangladesh Cyber Security Summit 2024, themed "Cyber Resilience for Bangladesh," hosted a monumental gathering of policymakers, cybersecurity authorities, policy-makers, and tech visionaries. Major Vineet Kumar, Founder and Global President, CyberPeace was a Keynote speaker where he highlighted the strategies for a Cyber Resilient Bangladesh, fortified cyber cooperation between Bangladesh and India, celebrated historical ties, and opened dialogues on tackling the complexities of Cybersecurity.

In the spirit of the summit, Chief guest Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP, State Minister, Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, highlighted the significant steps taken by the Government in Cybersecurity enhancing capacity, efficiency, and awareness and the need for Cybersecurity startups in Bangladesh. Ensuring cybersecurity is one of the most important issues in the world right now.

The conference explores various cybersecurity issues and opportunities in Bangladesh and fosters collaboration and constructive dialogue between government and private organizations, industry, cybersecurity experts and sponsors who are investing in Bangladeshs digital future. Chief Guest, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP, State Minister for the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Special Guest Md. Abul Kalam Azad, MP, Vice Chairman of the IDEA Foundation and Co-Chairman of Smart Bangladesh Network, brought forth his extensive expertise in governance and digital policy, Tim Nurul Kabir, Member of the Global Advisory Council, CyberPeace and Coordinator for CyberPeace activities in Bangladesh, A.S.M. Shamim Reza, Chief Technology Officer, Pipeline Inc; Habibullah N Karim, Founder & CEO, Technohaven Company Limited; and Anwar S. Kazi, CISA, CISSP, SVP & Director, Corporate Information, Security, KCorp, USA was also present.

The summit provided a platform for collaboration opportunities on Emerging tech space and cybersecurity, paving the way for multifaceted cooperative ventures. The event supported the vision of 'Smart Bangladesh-2041,' reinforcing the synergy between technological advancement and cybersecurity.

In his keynote address, Major Vineet, Founder and Global President of CyberPeace highlighted the abuse of Emerging Technologies and platforms and shared some critical strategies for the cyber-resilient Bangladesh. He also mentioned that Cybersecurity is a collective responsibility and everybody, including the netizens, has a role to play in a resilient cyberspace. He also mentioned that Bangladesh could be a potential Cybersecurity Hub for South Asia. Major Vineet and Mr. Tim Kabir also interacted with CyberPeace Corps Volunteers in Bangladesh. CyberPeace would soon start Capacity Building Programs in Bangladesh for MSME, Startups, Students and Vulnerable populations to make them resilient from tech-based abuses, cybercrimes, and cyber attacks.

Special Guest, Md. Abul Kalam Azad, MP, Vice Chairman, IDEA Foundation Co-Chairman, Smart Bangladesh Network Former Principal Secretary Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, shared his vision: "We have achieved the vision of Digital Bangladesh. Now, our responsibility is to make this digital experience efficient and secure for all sectors. Cyber security is currently a challenge as well as an opportunity for Bangladesh. Our past experience shows that, as a nation, we have always faced challenges and made the best of opportunities. Today we are all gathered here to establish a secure Bangladesh in cyberspace. I believe that together we will be able to achieve our goals by ensuring innovative solutions and sustainable results

The insights exchanged at this summit have set a benchmark for cyber diplomacy and regional alliances, ensuring that both Bangladesh and South Asia are poised to navigate the cyberspace challenges of tomorrow effectively.
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has issued notices to Hindu refugees from Pakistan who live near Gurudwara Majnu Ka Tilla in the Yamuna floodplain area asking them to vacate the place, locals claimed on Wednesday.

A DDA official confirmed that it is proposed to organise a demolition drive against the encroachment on March 7 and 8 following the National Green Tribunal's order.

However, the drive has been postponed due to unavailability of police force, sources said.

Sona Das, another Pakistani Hindu refugee from Majnu Ka Tila, said the whole camp has been informed and notices have been served to all.

"We have been given time to vacate this area as soon as possible. The whole camp has been informed and notices have been served to all of us. We just recovered from the losses we faced during the Delhi floods and now they are about to run a bulldozer here. How are people supposed to vacate in such a short notice and where are they supposed to go?" Das asked.

"We haven't been offered any alternate place, although some of them have been offered to move them to shelter homes. If they want us to vacate, they should give us an alternate option and ample time to move. My family and I moved from Pakistan to India in 2011 for some relief and now, we are facing similar problems here too," she added.

According to a public notice, which was issued on Monday, as per direction of the NGT to the DDA, the Yamuna floodplain area under the jurisdiction of the DDA should be made free from all encroachment.

"In the compliance of the order, it is proposed to organise a demolition drive against the encroachment in the Yamuna floodplain area near south of Gurudwara Majnu Ka Tilla (western bank) on March 7 and 8," the notice stated. The notice further stated, citing a High Court order of August 2022, that the effected families can take the benefit of temporary shelter of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) in night shelters at Gurudwara, Geeta Colony, Dwarka Sector-3, Phase-I, and Dwarka Sector-1.

"Hence, the residence of the area is hereby requested to vacant the area by Wednesday. Otherwise they will be self responsible for any loss held due to any demolition drive against the encroachment on Thursday or later," the notice added. Kanhaiya Lal, Pakistani Hindu refugee who resides at Majnu Ka Tila, said, "We were informed just yesterday that demolition will take place here. Some officials came here on Tuesday and pasted notices outside our houses. Almost all of them in this area received notice on Tuesday night. Nobody vacated their houses yet."

Earlier in November 2019, the NGT while hearing the matter regarding the encroachment of the Yamuna floodplain by slum dwellers near Majnu Ka Tila Gurudwara directed the DDA and the Delhi government to clear the illegal occupation.
Uttar Pradeshs Director General of Police Prashant Kumar on Wednesday said that the UP Police was busy preparing for the Lok Sabha elections and was also ready to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) without any hindrance.

We are preparing on a war footing for the implementation of the CAA. If any information is received about any kind of dispute, we are ready to deal with it, Prashant Kumar said, claiming that law and order will not be allowed to deteriorate in any way in the state.

He said, We are fully prepared. We have already prepared data, so we also have weapons We also have sticks; if necessary, they will be used legally to implement the CAA.

Kumar said that they were in touch with all religious leaders for security arrangements during the elections and for implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

We are also updating our resources like manpower and equipment in view of the elections. Right now there is an investment environment in the state and our ease of doing business is improving, hence nothing will be allowed that affects the image of the state, Kumar asserted.

The DGP said that all administrative machinery, field commanders, police commissioners, ADG zones, range chiefs were working on this to ensure that no issue on law and order situation arises.

Kumar said that a team of the Election Commission of India had visited Uttar Pradesh and stayed for three days and held discussions with officials and it had also expressed satisfaction over the arrangements in the state.

We assured them that the elections here will be held in a free and fair environment, absolutely violence-free and inducement-free, the DGP added.

Meanwhile, on the paper leak issue, Kumar said that the governments policy in the matter of recruitment was very clear. Recruitment is done in a transparent manner. The issue of paper leak had come to light and the government canceled the entire process. The process will be started afresh within six months. The government has made it clear that no culprit will be spared, he added.

Kumar has also issued security and traffic management guidelines to all police commissioners, ADGs of all police zones, IG/DIG of police ranges and the district police chiefs for the upcoming Maha Shivratri festival on March 8. He said that the police must work closely with the organisers, peace committees, and camp managers to maintain law and order.

Stringent security will be implemented at jalabhishek locations, including anti-sabotage checks and QRT deployment. Special focus will be on securing kanwar yatra routes, sensitive areas, and crucial locations. Additional officers will be present along routes, particularly at night, to address emergencies and ensure safety of devotees, the DGP said.

Kumar emphasised significant increase of police presence, with pickets, mobile patrols, and foot patrols along kanwar routes. UP112 vehicles will be deployed as and where needed, he added.

He said that festival registers must be updated and potential trouble spots identified for enhanced security. He instructed all field police officers to ensure that public address systems remained fully functional.

More patrols will be deployed, and local intelligence units will monitor social media closely for any misleading content.
Digital Transformation Group (DTG) of BHEL, Bhopal has received the prestigious "Indian Express Technology Sabha Excellence Award 2024" in the category of "Enterprise Applications". This award was given by eminent personalities of the information technology world at the award ceremony held in Kolkata the other day.

S.M. Ramanathan, Executive Director, BHEL, Bhopal gave the award to Gautam Majumdar, General Manager (CMG, PMG, CC & DTG), N.P. Sanodia, Additional General Manager (IT), Vivek Pathak, Sr. Deputy General Manager (IT) and Mahesh Sharma, Manager (IT)

Technology Sabha Excellence Awards honour government departments/agencies/institutions that demonstrate innovative use of a particular technology or combination of technologies for specific benefit to stakeholders. This includes deploying an entirely new solution or innovative use of existing technology to gain a competitive edge, improve operations, become more responsive to customers and partners, or simply add to the top or bottom line.

More than 300 applications were received in this award category from reputed IT organizations, industry professionals and start-ups from across India. The BHEL Bhopal nomination was evaluated by a distinguished jury of experienced, qualified and IT professionals, who selected it as the best in the category of Enterprise Applications among a large number of entries and nominations and awarded it.
In a shocking incident reported from Bijnor, a farmer who brought sugarcane to Chandpur Sugar Mill on Wednesday midnight fell on the chain carrier and died under mysterious circumstances.

His body was recovered on Thursday morning.

The officers and employees closed the mill, locked the office and ran away. The farmers started a protest demanding action against the mill owner. Senior police officers visited the spot and assured of action if negligence came to light during investigation.

Reports said that 45-year-old Tukman of village Karanpur Gaondi under Haldaur police station came to Chandpur Sugar Mill on Wednesday night to deliver his sugarcane crop loaded on a tractor-trolley. After weighing the sugarcane at around 1 o'clock in the night, he parked the tractor-trolley near the chain carrier to unload the sugarcane.

To unload the sugarcane from the trolley, Tukman got down from the tractor and went to see the place near the chain and suddenly fell onto the chain carrier with the sugarcane.

The other farmers present there failed to take notice of the accident.

At around five on Thursday morning, when Tukmans cousin Rahul reached the sugar mill with sugarcane, the formers empty tractor-trolley was seen standing there. After this he enquired about Tukman and a search was launched. After checking the CCTV cameras, it was found that Tukman had fallen onto the chain carrier. Later with the help of footage, the body of Tukman was recovered.

The information was passed on to the local police after which a case was registered and the badly crushed body of the farmer was sent for post-mortem.

Meanwhile, three workers carrying lights in a marriage procession were killed and one was injured when one of the lights came in contact with a high tension wire in Agra.

Reports said that a marriage procession was passing from Nagla Barua area of Kheragarh in Agra on Wednesday night. The procession also included DJs and workers carrying lights. When the procession was on its way, one of the lights fitted on an iron pole came in contact with a high tension wire in which four workers received critical injuries.

While the members of the marriage party fled the scene, other workers and DJ party members shifted the workers to hospital where three of them were pronounced dead.

Later police also reached the spot and sent the bodies for post-mortem.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Kheragarh) Imran Ahmed said that those who died in the mishap were identified as Santosh (24) of Sahel Nagar, Padam Singh (45) of Bhilawali and Achal Singh of Baruar.
The Delhi High Court struck down on Wednesday the State Assembly speaker order suspending seven BJP MLAs for interrupting Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena customary address to the Budget session, holding that the punishment awarded was in "excess" of the rule invoked by the chair. It allowed the MLAs to attend the session forthwith, saying the penalty was not "sustainable".

In a relief to the BJP MLAs, Justice Subramonium Prasad said the punishment was not in accordance with the legal framework and there was no independent application of mind by Speaker Ram Niwas Goel in referring the matter to the Privileges Committee.

"The decision of the House to send the issue before the Committee of Privileges without the Speaker independently applying his mind as postulated under Rule 70 of Chapter XI (of rules of procedure and conduct of business of the Delhi assembly) and the decision of the House to suspend the Petitioners till the Committee of Privileges takes decision both are in violation of the procedure prescribed under the Fifth Schedule (pertaining to Code of Conduct) and Chapter XI," the court said.

"Since the petitioners have already undergone the suspension of 14 sittings, this court is of the opinion that the Petitioners should be permitted to re-join the House forthwith," it added.

The seven Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs -- Mohan Singh Bisht, Ajay Mahawar, O P Sharma, Abhay Verma, Anil Bajpai, Jitender Mahajan and Vijender Gupta -- moved the court last month, challenging their suspension from the assembly till the conclusion of the proceedings pending before the privileges committee.

The judge said the petitioners have been "given a punishment in excess of what could have been given under the rule invoked".

Justice Prasad said they have actually been awarded the punishment of indefinite suspension as per another provision without even being heard which has been held to be invalid by the Supreme Court.

The MLAs had contended that their suspension till the conclusion of the proceedings before the privileges committee was in violation of the applicable legal provisions.

The assembly authorities had, on the other hand, told the court that their suspension was not an attempt to stifle dissent but a "self-discipline" mechanism in the face of a "series of misdemeanours" by the opposition legislators.

In the judgement, Justice Prasad said the suspension of the petitioners till the Committee of Privileges has taken a decision was not one of the prescribed punishments and the rule invoked does not stipulate suspension for an "indefinite period".

"For a breach of Code of Conduct, the petitioners could have been given only any one of the punishments provided under Clause 44 of the Fifth Schedule which does not stipulate a suspension for an indefinite period.

Since the suspension can be only for a specific period and not indefinitely i.E., till the Committee of Privileges takes a decision on the question of breach of privilege, the suspension of the Petitioners till the Committee of Privileges takes a decision is, therefore, beyond the purview of Clause 44 of the Fifth Schedule and is, therefore, unsustainable," observed the court.

It said Rule 70 of Chapter XI gives power to the speaker, and no one else, to exercise the discretion to refer the matter to the Committee of Privileges for examination but the provision was not adhered to.

"Rule 70 of Chapter XI has not been followed in this case. The Speaker who is an impartial arbitrator and conducts the House has not taken any decision independently and has not held that the matter is one that requires to be referred to the Committee of Privileges.

"In the absence of any application of mind by the Speaker in referring the matter to the Committee of Privileges and in view of the fact that the petitioners have not been heard while being given punishment of suspension till the Committee of Privileges decides the matter and since the punishment under Rule 77 of Chapter XI can be prescribed only after a Member is heard, the direction for suspending the Petitioners till the Committee of Privileges takes a decision cannot be sustained," the court said.

The BJP lawmakers had interrupted Saxena multiple times during his address on February 15 as he highlighted the achievements of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the national capital.

AAP MLA Dilip Pandey had subsequently moved a resolution in the House for their suspension. The resolution was adopted and Speaker Ram Niwas Goel referred the issue to the privileges committee. Barring Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, all BJP lawmakers were barred

from attending the proceedings.

The session was extended till the first week of March due to a delay in finalisation of the budget.
After flagging off a bus of devotees travelling from Karnal to Ayodhya for Ram Lallas darshan under Mukhyamantri Tirth Darshan Yojana, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday said that the State Government has launched the scheme under which pilgrims will be taken for darshan of Ayodhya, Sri Harmandir Sahib, Sri Darbar Sahib, Takhat Sri Harimandir Ji Patna Saheb and Kashi-Vishwanath. The government has started a portal and will provide free travel facility to registered pilgrims through this portal. Around 700 pilgrims have already registered on the portal, he added.



He said, in addition to this, portals will gradually open for other pilgrimage sites so that those interested in visiting other places in the country can register. Currently, the facility is being provided free of cost for those earning less than Rs 1.80 lakh annually and for people over 60 years of age. However, there are requests from many people to provide some facilities to others as well by charging some amount or fees because group travel has its own joy, and this is being considered, he added.

The devotees will stay overnight in Lucknow, where arrangements for their meals have been made, and then they will visit Ram Temple in Ayodhya. After another overnight stay in Lucknow, the devotees will return to Karnal on March 8. Similarly, buses from different places and trains can also be booked if there is a larger number of devotees.



On this occasion, MP Sanjay Bhatia, MLAs Harvinder Kalyan, Ram Kumar Kashyap, Director General, Information, Public Relations, Language, and Culture Department Mandip Singh Brar, Deputy Commissioner Anish Yadav and other dignitaries were present.
Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Wednesday said that the State Government has handed over the murder case of INLD leader Nafe Singh Rathee to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Earlier during the budget session, Vij had assured the Vidhan Sabha that this murder case would be handed over to the CBI.



Talking to media persons, Vij further said that in this case, Haryana Police has taken prompt action and arrested two persons.



Rathee was fatally shot by unidentified assailants on February 25 near a railway crossing in Bahadurgarh, Jhajjar. The Jhajjar police, on March 2, had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for providing information about the accused involved in the murder of Rathee. Jhajjar police had recently arrested two persons named Saurabh and Ashish from Goa, who were allegedly involved in this murder case. These accused are suspected to be associated with notorious gangster Kapil Sangwan who is believed to be in the UK.



In response to questions asked about the case of vomiting blood after eating mouth freshener in Gurugram, he said that relevant officials have been directed to investigate the matter thoroughly to determine what was found, where it was found, and where it was sourced from. He said that the case will be investigated, samples have been collected, and action will be taken after the report is received.
Aiming to equip students with the skills required for the jobs of today and those of tomorrow at a young age, the Uttar Pradesh government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, has provided skill training to over 61,000 boys and girls of the state through Project Praveen.

Under this scheme, youths are being provided free skill training and new-age courses to get prepared for the job market. This project is meant for students of classes 9 to 12, studying in higher secondary schools of the state.

It is noteworthy that Project Praveen is being operated under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Secondary Education department and Uttar Pradesh Skill Development Mission. The primary objective of this project is to revamp the education system and curriculum of the state.

UPs Minister of State for Vocational Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) Kapil Dev Aggarwal disclosed that Project Praveen was initiated as a pilot project in the financial year 2022-23. During this period, 20,582 students received training across 150 government secondary schools. Besides, Kasturba Gandhi Girls School was also linked to this scheme, facilitating training for 3,450 girl students. Similarly, a total of 315 government secondary schools have been included under Project Praveen for the year 2023-24. So far, skill development training has been provided to 61,400 students through these institutes.

The skill development minister highlighted that students enrolled in classes 9 to 12 in secondary schools are receiving daily free training alongside their regular studies in trades aligned with their interests such as the information technology (IT) sector, electronics, beautician, healthcare, apparel and accounting. All courses offered are certified and approved at the all-India level by the National Council for Vocational Education and Training. Upon completion of training and assessment, students are awarded certificates that hold validity throughout the country.

Students undergoing training under Project Praveen are given training by private training centres in the school itself. These trainers are certified under the Training of Teachers (TOT) programme and registered under the Skill Development Mission.

In the event of students discontinuing their studies after completing either 10th or 12th grade, they can pursue job opportunities through the certificates obtained from Project Praveen training. However, to be eligible for this scheme, students must be enrolled in government secondary schools and have completed either 10th or 12th grade.
A 28-year-old man, who works as a photographer at the India Gate, was injured after being attacked by a visitor with a knife on Tuesday afternoon, police said on Wednesday.

The injured, identified as Nepal Singh, has received a cut in his neck and fingers, they said.

According to a police officer, the accused identified as Srimalla Yohan, (27) had come to visit Delhi's India Gate from Telangana on Tuesday afternoon. "While visiting India Gate, Yohan and Singh indulged in an argument over an issue after which Yohan attacked Singh with a knife," the officer said. Singh told the police that Yohan wanted to know the direction of the New Delhi Railway station from him.

"When he denied knowing about it, Yohan attacked him with a knife," the officer said.

The reason of the fight is still being verified, police said.

Another police officer said that Singh was taken to the hospital by other photographers from where he was discharged after treatment. He has received stitches in his neck and fingers, the officer said. Yohan was alone during the time of incident. He was overpowered by the other photographers and visitors and handed over to the police, police said.

Yohan, a native of Hyderabad, has already been facing a case of attempt to murder in Telangana and was released from jail last month, they said.

The police suspect that Yohan procured knife from a vendor at the India Gate. A case of attempt to murder has been registered against him at the Kartavya Path police station and further interrogation is on, the officer said.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the Agra metro rail from Kolkata on Wednesday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath flagged it off from Taj Mahal metro station.

The Agra metro rail is the sixth metro running in Uttar Pradesh. Notably, the construction of its primary underground section was supposed to take 32 months but it was completed in just 23 months. On December 7, 2020, Prime Minister Modi had laid the foundation stone of the Agra metro rail.

In the first phase, the metro will run for up to six kilometres, covering six stations in the priority corridor. The general public will be able to travel in the metro rail from Thursday onwards. Artificial Intelligence (AI) surveillance will be conducted within the metro stations.

It is worth mentioning that Chief Minister Yogi himself embarked on a journey in the Agra metro rail and travelled from the Taj Mahal station to the Taj East station, accompanied by public representatives.

Sharing his experience in the visitor book, the chief minister wrote, Agra Metro was virtually inaugurated by the Honourable Prime Minister today. Timeliness is important along with the quality of the project. Agra Metro has upheld this standard. Best Wishes.

On this occasion, Chief Minister Yogi said that the work on Agra metro rail began in December 2021 and within two years, the work on the first six kilometres of the priority section was completed. This includes three elevated and three underground metro stations. With the completion of this work, metro services have also started, he added.

Yogi continued, With the commencement of the Agra metro rail, Uttar Pradesh has achieved the distinction of being the first state in the country to provide metro rail services in most of its cities. Prior to this, metro rail services have already been running in Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, and Kanpur. Today, I am pleased that the sixth metro rail facility is being made available to the people of Braj and Agra as well, Yogi added.

The chief minister further mentioned that the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporations dedication to the Kanpur, Lucknow and Agra metro rail projects has been commendable. Agra metro rail has become the first in the country to achieve the record of developing three underground stations in an area of three kilometres at a fast pace by completing the work before the stipulated time. This is an accomplishment in itself, he added.

Chief Minister Yogi expressed heartfelt gratitude to the UPMRC for its service, noting that the corporation has demonstrated the effective implementation of Prime Minister Modis vision for the benefit of the people of Uttar Pradesh along with that of visitors and tourists.

He said that the Agra metro rail, like the Kanpur and Lucknow metro rails, would emerge as a symbol of public trust for the quality of work and its completion in record time.

Chief Minister Yogi mentioned that Agra is one of the oldest cities in the state, and the city of Brajbhoomi and this city is connected to the tales of valour and bravery of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for choosing Agra for the metro rail project.

The work of other facilities in Agra, like having its own airport and its civil terminal, is also progressing rapidly. Ganga water should be available for drinking water under the JICA project. The government is also doing the work of rapidly pursuing those programmes to develop this city in the form of an IT (information technology) sector on priority basis. Keeping in mind the convenience of the citizens as well as the tourists coming here, the efforts started by the double-engine government are being implemented today in the form of metro, airport and other public facilities, the chief minister added.

The chief minister extended his heartfelt congratulations to the residents of Agra for this gift being given to them before Holi. He thanked all the public representatives of Agra for their cooperation in completing these projects on time and expressed confidence that with continued support, future metro rail projects in Agra will also be completed on schedule.

After the prime minister gave the green signal, the metro rail embarked on its journey. Thirty-two students from Kendriya Vidyalaya No 1 were selected to travel in the metro train. They travelled from the Taj Mahal station to Taj East. Chief Minister Yogi flagged off the train. The children were visibly excited over their journey. Their principal, Rajesh Pandey, said that it was a delightful moment for their school.

On this occasion, Union Minister of State Kaushal Kishore, Union Minister of State Prof SP Singh Baghel, local MPs, MLAs and other public representatives were present.
In a horrific incident, a retired colonel was injured while his wife was murdered after some assailants allegedly barged into their house at Sector 2 in Panchkula on Wednesday noon and attacked them with sharp objects, said Panchkula Police. A domestic help working at the house was also injured in the attack. The murder incident has sent shock waves in the city.



According to Panchkula Police, the incident took place at around 1.30 pm when three persons entered the house and attacked Colonel RK Sharma (retd), wife Sushila Sharma and the maid. Police officials said the retired colonel and the domestic help were undergoing treatment at a private hospital.



As per preliminary investigation, the assailants, allegedly former servants hired by the family, used sharp-edged weapons to attack the victims.



Police sources said that it was around five to six months back that the colonel had fired a caretaker. He and his three friends allegedly intruded into the house, and started attacking the couple. When their present helper tried to inform the police, she was also hit with a sharp object.



Following the incident, Panchkula Police Commissioner Sibash Kabiraj and DCP Sumer Pratap Singh reached the spot. Kabiraj said the attackers allegedly took away some cash from the house. We have obtained the CCTV footage and got vital clues, he added.



He said as per initial investigation, the family had hired servants from an online website in the past. The servants came back and attacked them with sharp-edged weapons, he said.
Before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party got a shot on its arm as leaders from various opposition parties joined the ruling party at its office in Lucknow.

BJP state president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak welcomed the former MLAs of Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress into the party fold at a ceremony held at the BJP state headquarters here.

Among the notable opposition leaders who joined the BJP were former SP MLA Sanjay Garg and former BSP MLA Rajkumar Gautam, who officially became members of the ruling party.

Addressing the gathering at the party office, the BJP state president emphasised the partys commitment to its ideology and unwavering dedication to implementing government schemes for the welfare of all citizens.

He highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision for a developed nation and attributed the growing influx of members from other parties to the transformative journey led by the prime minister.

Notably, Surendra Singh, who was elected as an MLA from Bairiya in Ballia district on BJP ticket in 2017 but had contested the election as an independent in 2022 after being denied ticket, has returned to the BJP fold.

Similarly, Dr Chandresh Upadhyay, who contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election on a Congress ticket from Dumariyaganj, also joined the BJP on Wednesday.

The beeline for the BJP also saw former SP MLA Sanjay Garg and former BSP MLA Rajkumar Gautam joining the ruling party.

Garg, a former MLA from Saharanpur and president of SPs Vyapar Mandal, brings significant influence from the business community.

Gautam, who previously represented Ghazipur Sadar as a BSP MLA, has decided to align with the BJP after facing defeat in the 2022 assembly election.

Furthermore, the BJP welcomed key figures from grassroots politics, including SPs Jalaun municipality chairperson Arvind Yadav and Balrampur nagar panchayat chairperson Prince Kumar Nigam, into its ranks.

The mass defection of opposition leaders to the BJP signifies a major political realignment in Uttar Pradesh, setting the stage for a fiercely contested Lok Sabha election. With these new additions, the BJP aims to consolidate its position and further its agenda of inclusive development under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The sleuths of Special Task Force (STF) claimed to have made another breakthrough in the police constables recruitment exam paper leak case by arresting seven persons, including six from Meerut district on Tuesday night.

The accused were said to be involved in the paper leak. It is claimed that after these arrests a big network can be exposed. Six of them were arrested from Kankarkheda area of Meerut and one from Gautam Buddha Nagar.

According to the STF, many important documents and mobile phones have been recovered. After the arrest, Kankarkhera police started an investigation.

According to an official communique, the six accused arrested in the police recruitment exam leak case are residents of different areas of Meerut. They have been identified as Deepu, Bittu, Praveen, Rohit, Naveen and Sahil. After the arrest, eight mobile phones, photocopy of question paper and answer key were also recovered from them. The accused are residents of Sardhana, TP Nagar and Kankarkhera areas of Meerut.

After the arrest, the STF has started an investigation. Names of many more people have also come forward.

Meanwhile, sources said that the STF on Tuesday also got an input that one Monu Pandit, a resident of Mathura, along with one of his associates, the leader of the gang that leaked the examination paper, was living in Mukherjee Nagar in Delhi and was trying to appoint youths as paper solvers.

The STF team laid a trap in Mukherjee Nagar area and found three youths standing at a crossing. The team immediately took Pramod Kumar Pathak aka Monu Pandit into custody. Pandit initially tried to take the STF team under pressure by claiming that he was holding the post of corporal in the Indian Air Force. He also showed the Air Force identity card, after which the STF team contacted the senior officials but before they could confirm the truth, Pathak himself broke down and confessed of being dismissed from his job in 2022.

The cops also checked his mobile and found a number of chats regarding the paper leak case. They also found a message of a person in which he enquired from Pathak about getting the work done for the recruitment exams.

It was also revealed that Pathak used to take Rs 3 lakh to Rs 14-15 lakh for leaking the papers to the youth appearing for the examination by claiming that he was working in the Air Force. He disclosed that his cousin brother-in-law Mohan, a resident of Aligarh, along with Gaurav, Ashish Paliwal, who is wanted in the Jhansi case, works to leak papers and arrange solvers. Pathak also disclosed that the paper was sent to him by Akhilesh Yadav from Varanasi and Rahul from Lucknow.

The STF also raided his house in Sector 37 of Noida from where they recovered 14 admit cards, all related to Haryana Staff Selection Examination. A red diary was also recovered from the house. The diary contains work done by the gang regarding paper leaks since 2017. A note in the diary states that in 2023, the Kendriya Vidyalaya examination paper was leaked, in which a friend from Banaras went to jail. Not only this, the exam of UP Forest 2022 was also leaked in collaboration with Akhilesh. Apart from this, the jail warden exam paper was leaked in 2019.

Apart from this, two sets of papers totaling 14 pages were recovered from the possession of the accused. He said that the recovered papers were the same which came in the second shift of the Uttar Pradesh police constables recruitment examination.

Further interrogations are on by the STF team.
Cyber police Bhopal has arrested three fraudsters from a call center based in Mumbai. The accused used to charge interest up to 40 percent by giving loans through online apps. Not only this, even after receiving the amount, they used to hack the mobile data and send edited obscene photos of the loan takers to their close relatives and demand money from them also.

Recently, fraudsters also committed a similar incident with a policeman. Tortured him for several days. Extorted up to Rs 14 lakh by blackmailing. Whose complaint was lodged in Cyber Crime Branch, Bhopal and while investigating this matter, the police had reached the accused.

On February 23, policeman Sudhesh Gautam had complained to TT Nagar. He stated that he had taken a loan of Rs 50000 from Sunny Online App last year and got Rs 30,000 after deducting 40 percent. After 5 days, he was pressurised to return the money. To repay this, money had to be taken from different online apps.

To repay the loan through an online app, Sudhesh took many online loans and kept falling into the trap of fraudsters. He has given Rs 14 lakh against the loan of Rs 50000. Despite this, online app users are editing the photos and creating obscene photos and sending them to family members and people in the mobile contact list.

The accused have also edited obscene photos of their family members. The fraudsters have sent these photos to his real brother and other relatives and acquaintances.

DCP Shrutkirti Somvanshi said that after receiving the complaint, a technical investigation was conducted into the matter. The location of the mobile numbers from which victims and their relatives were called and threatened was traced. A call center in Mumbai was identified in the investigation. The phone numbers that were being used to threaten were all from this call centre. Three accused were arrested after raiding this call centre.

The accused were identified as Arvind Yadav, Adarsh Tiwari and Sheikh Saddam.
Two men have been arrested in Sohna here for carrying 549 kg of marijuana worth around Rs 1 crore in a truck, police said on Thursday.

The police action came following a tip-off on the movement of the alleged smugglers here, they added.

Inspector Vishva Gaurav

Acting on the information, a police team led by Inspector Vishva Gaurav, in-charge of crime unit at Sector 39 Police Station, reached Lakhuwas village and put up a barricade on Wednesday night.

After some time, a truck coming from Palwal side was stopped and upon inspection, the police team found 549 kg of marijuana in the vehicle, police said. The seized marijuana was worth around Rs 1 crore, the police said.

The driver could not produce any license and permit for the drugs found in the vehicle after which they were arrested, they said.

The police then arrested the truck driver Tasleem, a resident of Chundika village in Nuh district, and his helper Mukim, a resident of Hathin in Palwal district, an official said.

Inspector Gaurav said, During police interrogation, the accused revealed they had brought the marijuana from Visakhapatnam and were taking it to supply in the Tauru area. We have seized the marijuana and the truck and are questioning the accused after taking them on police remand.

An FIR has been lodged at the Sohna Sadar Police Station, he said.
The College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry of Birsa Agricultural University examined and treated about two thousand (2000) dairy animals for infertility and examined cow dung for parasitic load in 19 aspirational districts of Jharkhand. About five thousand farmers participated in the awareness programmes on these aspects. Two such awareness camps were organized in all the 19 districts. About 250 farmers participated and 100 animals were treated in each camp.

The programme was conducted in collaboration with Department of Animal Husbandry, Govt of Jharkhand under an ambitious pan-India project Pashudhan Jagriti Abhiyan (PJA) sponsored by the Government of Indias Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Ministry of Rural Development. Krishi Vigyan Kendras having animal scientist also collaborated in the camps. The 19 aspirational districts include Sahibganj, Pakur, Godda, West Singhbhum, East Singhbhum, Chatra, Palamu, Bokao, Garhwa, Dumka, Ramgarh, Giridih, Hazaribagh, Latehar, Ranchi, Lohardaga, Simdega, Khunti and Gumla.

PJA nodal officer and Dean, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry Dr Sushil Prasad said repeat breeding and anestrous has to be checked and cured as early as possible for early and regular calving. It is attributable to many causes which might be infectious, non infectious or genetic in nature. Even a simple unawareness about balanced ration and or deworming might lead to infertility. He also outlined the importance of the fertility camp initiated by the Government of India to promote Dairy farming and increase milk production.

Dr Basant Kumar, Dr Thanesh Oraon, Dr Umesh Kumar and Dr Madhurendra Bachchan, Assistant Professors of the College dwelt on the potential of milk production and dairy sector in generating livelihood opportunities. They stressed on adopting improved breeding strategies, scientific feeding, fodder cultivation and also prevention of various diseases by vaccination and regular deworming.

Farmer-scientist interaction programmes were also organized in all the districts to address farmers queries related to dairy farming operation. Medicines, feed supplements and mineral mixture supplied by Indian Immunologicals were distributed among the farmers in each camp.

The aspirational district programme (ADP) coordinated by NITI Aayog aims to quickly and effectively transform 112 most under-developed districts across the country through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) under 5 broad socio-economic themes - Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development and Infrastructure. Among states, Jharkhand has the largest number of aspirational districts.
Changes in hormones may explain why migraines are three times more common among women than men, said experts here on Sunday.

Migraine is a severe headache that starts usually on one side but can be bilateral, and associated with a pulsating or a throbbing quality. It is accompanied by nausea or vomiting, and is also associated with the irritability to sound and noise and it worsens by doing routine activity.

It can be accompanied by difficulty in concentration and it is a usually long-lasting headache - for more than four hours and can last up to 72 hours.

"Migraine is a very common headache and affects about 15 per cent of the population. People with migraine have significant family history of migraine and is accompanied by worsening during menstrual periods. The ratio of females to male is three times to one, Dr Praveen Gupta, Principal Director, Department of Neurology, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, told IANS.

"This is because of the cyclical change in the hormones of the body. Female sex hormones known as oestrogen is the main culprit for causing migraines," said Dr Sumit Singh, Director - Neurology at Artemis Hospitals.

He told IANS that the "risk of migraine is much higher in women who consume hormonal pills or use hormonal contraceptives". As per the Global Burden of Disease study 2019, worldwide migraine is the leading cause of disability among women aged 18-49. Studies also show migraines are more frequent, disabling and long-lasting in women than in mens. The fairer sex is also more likely than men to have anxiety and depression related to migraines and seek medical care and prescription drugs than men.

"Migraine is a very common headache, and is more common in females than males. Diagnosis of migraine is always clinical and it requires a consultation with a good physician or neurologist which can be diagnosed easily, sometimes imaging scans like MRI is required," Prof Vinay Goyal, Chairman Neurology from Medanta The Medicity, Gurugram, told IANS.

There are multiple new techniques available for treatment of migraine. But it is "imperative to identify precipitating symptoms for example, hunger, sunlight, exposure, sleep deprivation, stress. These are some of the symptoms which can come prior to the migraine".

It has to be theorised so as to diagnose migraine early and treat it adequately, the doctor said.

Dr J.B. Agadi, Senior Consultant Neurology, Apollo Hospital, Bangalore also pointed at the growing need for non-pharmacological options for treating migraines. "Emerging technologies like Remote Electrical Neuromodulation (REN) offer promising options for migraine sufferers. REN utilises low-level electrical stimulation to activate pain-relieving pathways in the brain, providing a clinically proven, drug-free option for migraine management," he doctor said.
If any native of Uttar Pradesh, residing in another state or abroad, or any private organisation, wishes to donate for developmental projects or infrastructural enhancement within the jurisdiction of any urban body in the state, the administrative approval for such endeavours will be processed by the respective district magistrate within 30 days of the donated amount and progress report of the work will be submitted to the government.

To prevent duplication of work under other schemes, technological tools such as geo-tagging will be employed. Additionally, the donated amount will only be deposited into the escrow account established under the scheme.

The Yogi Adityanath government approved the Uttar Pradesh Matribhoomi Arpan Yojana during a cabinet meeting held on Tuesday. This scheme enables Uttar Pradesh citizens residing outside the state, or abroad, to collaborate with the government in carrying out developmental projects for their homeland.

Urban Development Minister AK Sharma stated, Uttar Pradesh citizens residing within the country or abroad, as well as private organisations, who wish to facilitate development and infrastructure enhancement within any urban area in the state, can now contribute through this scheme.

Under this initiative, they will only be required to cover 60 per cent of the development costs, with the remaining 40 per cent being provided by the state government. Moreover, donors will receive recognition for their contributions. Their names or the names of their organisations will be prominently displayed at an appropriate location on the building or infrastructure facility, as outlined in the proposal, on a stone slab or plate of the size specified by the state government, he added.

To ensure the smooth implementation of the scheme, extensive publicity will be made both nationally and internationally. For this, cooperation of Indian embassies located in different countries will be taken and through the district magistrates, information regarding this scheme will be made available by sending letters to different states of the country and people living abroad.

Furthermore, the donors will be invited as chief guests to programmes organised during national festivals such as January 26, August 15 and October 2, as well as other government events. Various other promotional strategies will also be employed to enhance the visibility of this scheme.

Sharma mentioned that a significant number of individuals from Uttar Pradesh are employed in various cities across the country and overseas. Affluent individuals residing in different cities across the nation as well as those living abroad have a desire to contribute to the development of their hometown. However, for lack of an organised platform, they are unable to provide the desired level of support and contribution. This scheme has been specifically launched to address this need, he stated.

According to the minister, there is a huge scope for work in urban bodies. It is recognised that to effectively develop these areas and establish necessary infrastructure facilities, increasing private participation alongside government funds and schemes is crucial. This collaboration can expedite completion of work, while also introducing qualitative improvements and incorporating new technologies and ideas. The availability of private investment, technical support, and supervision will enhance the quality of work undertaken.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath paid rich tributes to Bharat Ratna Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant on his death anniversary on Thursday.

He garlanded Pandit Pants statue and remembered him as a great son of Mother India and a great freedom fighter.

Remembering the contributions of Govind Ballabh Pant, who was the first chief minister of the state and also served as the home minister of the country, Chief Minister Yogi said, He played a leading role in various movements led by Mahatma Gandhi for the countrys independence. On the reorganisation of Uttar Pradesh on January 24, 1950, he played an important role in the smooth progress of the states administration as the first chief minister of the state.

Chief Minister Yogi further said that Govind Ballabh Pant actively participated in the freedom movement by providing invaluable services to the people as the chief minister of the United Provinces in 1937.

After the sudden demise of the countrys first home minister and deputy prime minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in December 1954, Pant assumed his responsibilities as the home minister of the country, Chief Minister Yogi pointed out.

Further highlighting his contributions to the country, the chief minister mentioned that as the home minister of the country from 1955 to 1961, Govind Ballabh Pant rendered invaluable services to give recognition to the official language Hindi.

In recognition of his services to the nation, he was honoured with the highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, in 1957. Not only that, but he also served as an important member of the Constituent Assembly of India, the chief minister stated.

Chief Minister Yogi paid a humble tribute to Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant on behalf of the state, acknowledging his contributions to the state and the nation.
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying it has become a "washing machine", which the people facing corruption charges can join to "get clean".

He accused the Centre of targeting the chief ministers of non BJP-ruled states, including former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Pawar also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over various issues, including his criticism of the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Addressing a convention of the workers of his Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) at Lonavala in Pune district, Pawar said, "PM Narendra Modi, while talking about corruption, used to criticise the undivided NCP. In Parliament, a booklet was given to everyone which said what irregularities occurred when the BJP was not in power."

"The booklet mentioned the Adarsh scam and the alleged involvement of Ashok Chavan in the scam. But on the seventh day, Chavan joined the BJP and became its Rajya Sabha member...So on the one hand, you (BJP) make allegations, while on the other, you induct that person into your party," he said.

Earlier, PM Modi talked about the "corrupt" people in the NCP. "He talked about an irrigation scam worth Rs 70,000 crore in Maharashtra.

He also talked about irregularities in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank. I had then said that nobody from the NCP was involved in any irregularities in MSC Bank and dared them to conduct an inquiry by appointing a Supreme Court judge.

Now see where that person is today against whom the allegations were made in this scam," he said without mentioning Deputy CM Ajit Pawar's name. "All this shows that the BJP has become a washing machine, which those who are facing allegations of corruption can join and get clean," the former Union minister alleged.

Ajit Pawar rebelled against Sharad Pawar and joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government in July last year along with several other NCP leaders, thereby triggering a split in the party founded by the senior Pawar in 1999.

The Election Commission allotted the party name NCP and its symbol 'clock' to the Ajit Pawar-led faction. Pawar further said, "We formed the NCP and remained steadfast to the ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Today, those in power speak highly of Mahatma Gandhi but denigrate Nehru."

Just as those who fought for the country's freedom and made sacrifices accepted Mahatma Gandhi and Subhash Chandra Bose's leadership, they also accepted Nehru's leadership and his contributions, he added.

"However, the prime minister today criticises Nehru and his ideology the most. If you go through the newspapers, you will find full-page advertisements on 'Modi Ki Guarantee'. If one considers whose money is being used to publish these advertisements, the answer is that it is people's money," he added.

Pawar alleged that PM Modi promised to double the farmers' income, but in the last decade the number of farmers' suicide has increased significantly. "During his speech in West Bengal, PM Modi criticised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was an MP for 25 years and a Union minister for 5 years, and has been the CM of the state for the last 10 years. Today, people repeatedly vote for her and give the reins of the state to her. The PM should be proud of her, but he criticises her instead. This does not fit within the framework of parliamentary democracy," he said.

Meanwhile, there are allegations against NCP MLA from Pune's Maval assembly constituency, Sunil Shelke, that he was threatening leaders of Sharad Pawar-led group and asking them not to attend the the party's convention in Lonavala.

Shelke belongs to the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Talking about it, Pawar said, "I would like to ask the MLA - whose efforts led to your becoming an MLA? Who addressed the rallies in 2019, and who was the president of the party then? I had signed the AB form, and today you are threatening those who worked for your victory. If they continue to threaten my party workers, they will have to face me."

Responding to the NCP founder's remarks, Shelke said, "Pawar should have verified the allegations against me before making the remarks. I will meet him in the next eight days and ask who has given wrong information about me."

"I am very sure that some people deliberately provided wrong information about me that I am threatening party office-bearers and workers, asking them not to attend the convention in Lonavala," he said.

Meanwhile, more than a 100 office-bearers and workers, said to be supporters of Shelke, joined the NCP (SP) at the Lonavala convention. However, the MLA said nobody from his side has joined the Sharad Pawar-led group.
The Supreme Court on Thursday summoned original records pertaining to the plea of the Uddhav Thackeray group seeking disqualification of MLAs, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, from the office of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar.

The speaker had, in an order on January 10, declared the Shiv Sena bloc led by Shinde as the "real political party" after its split in June 2022. He had also rejected the Thackeray faction's plea to disqualify 16 MLAs of the ruling camp, including Shinde.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra sent for the original documents after the Shinde faction alleged forgery in the records by the Thackeray camp.

The top court, which had issued notice on the Thackeray group's petition, asked Shinde and his MLAs to file a response positively on or before April 1, and listed the plea for final hearing on April 8.

The bench said it was keeping the issue of maintainability of the petition open.

On January 22, the top court had sought responses from the chief minister and other lawmakers of his group on the plea.

The Thackeray faction, in its petition filed through MLA Sunil Prabhu, has alleged that Shinde "unconstitutionally usurped power" and is heading an "unconstitutional government".

The Shinde group had the support of 37 out of the total 54 Sena MLAs when the party split in June 2022, the speaker had noted.

The Election Commission had given the 'Shiv Sena' name and 'bow and arrow' symbol to the Shinde faction in early 2023.
StockNews.com started coverage on shares of China Pharma (NYSE:CPHI  Free Report) in a research note released on Sunday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock.

China Pharma Stock Up 1.4 %

CPHI stock opened at $0.35 on Friday. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $0.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $0.59. China Pharma has a 12 month low of $0.32 and a 12 month high of $3.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Get China Pharma alerts:

China Pharma Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Further Reading

China Pharma Holdings, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets generic and branded pharmaceutical, and biochemical products primarily to hospitals and private retailers in the People's Republic of China. The company offers products in the form of dry powder injectables, liquid injectables, tablets, capsules, and cephalosporin oral solutions.

Receive News & Ratings for China Pharma Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for China Pharma and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO  Free Report) by 36.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,028 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.s holdings in AutoZone were worth $2,611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rock Creek Group LP acquired a new stake in AutoZone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new stake in AutoZone during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. MUFG Americas Holdings Corp boosted its position in AutoZone by 166.7% during the 3rd quarter. MUFG Americas Holdings Corp now owns 16 shares of the companys stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the third quarter worth $38,000. 90.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Get AutoZone alerts:

AutoZone Trading Up 1.1 %

AZO stock traded up $34.80 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $3,139.00. 6,817 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 163,221. The stocks fifty day moving average is $2,743.15 and its 200-day moving average is $2,634.00. The company has a market cap of $54.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.70. AutoZone, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2,277.88 and a 52-week high of $3,139.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AutoZone ( NYSE:AZO Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $28.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $26.08 by $2.81. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.70% and a negative return on equity of 56.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $24.64 EPS. The companys revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that AutoZone, Inc. will post 150.41 earnings per share for the current year.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AZO shares. TheStreet cut shares of AutoZone from a c rating to a d+ rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Raymond James raised shares of AutoZone from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $2,850.00 to $3,100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 6th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $3,027.00 to $3,363.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on AutoZone from $2,779.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on AutoZone from $2,770.00 to $3,025.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $3,020.76.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on AutoZone

Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other news, COO Thomas B. Newbern sold 7,800 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,551.62, for a total value of $19,902,636.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,427,530.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other AutoZone news, Director George R. Mrkonic, Jr. sold 414 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,541.85, for a total value of $1,052,325.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,470 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,820,219.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas B. Newbern sold 7,800 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,551.62, for a total value of $19,902,636.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,519 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,427,530.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,807 shares of company stock valued at $39,669,061 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the companys stock.

AutoZone Company Profile

(Free Report)

AutoZone, Inc retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. The company provides various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AZO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for AutoZone Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AutoZone and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB  Free Report) by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,794,782 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after selling 455,901 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $823,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AVB. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 255.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 192 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 316.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1,542.9% in the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 230 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the first quarter valued at $69,000. 88.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get AvalonBay Communities alerts:

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on AVB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and cut their target price for the company from $201.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley raised AvalonBay Communities from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price target for the company from $175.00 to $191.50 in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. KeyCorp reissued a sector weight rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $188.00 to $185.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $196.34.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.3 %

AVB stock opened at $184.26 on Thursday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.07 and a 12-month high of $198.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $26.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.13, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $179.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.08.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.73 by ($1.03). The firm had revenue of $704.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $701.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 7.98%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communitiess previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. AvalonBay Communitiess dividend payout ratio is 100.76%.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

(Free Report)

As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 299 apartment communities containing 90,669 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AVB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for AvalonBay Communities Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AvalonBay Communities and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Baker Avenue Asset Management LP reduced its position in Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG  Free Report) by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 225,699 shares of the companys stock after selling 33,078 shares during the quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LPs holdings in Coupang were worth $3,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CPNG. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Coupang by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 432,036 shares of the companys stock worth $7,342,000 after buying an additional 15,088 shares in the last quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Coupang by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342,509 shares of the companys stock worth $243,823,000 after purchasing an additional 709,867 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Coupang by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,054,223 shares of the companys stock worth $51,922,000 after purchasing an additional 616,210 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Coupang by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,540 shares of the companys stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Coupang by 79.9% in the 3rd quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 342,198 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,817,000 after purchasing an additional 152,027 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.02% of the companys stock.

Get Coupang alerts:

Insider Activity at Coupang

In related news, insider Pranam Kolari sold 2,356 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.88, for a total transaction of $32,701.28. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 182,844 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,537,874.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Pranam Kolari sold 2,356 shares of Coupang stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.88, for a total value of $32,701.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 182,844 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,537,874.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Tae Jung Kim sold 5,350 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total value of $85,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 248,240 shares in the company, valued at $3,971,840. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 14.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on CPNG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coupang from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $18.50 to $21.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup lowered Coupang from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on Coupang from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group downgraded Coupang from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $18.50 in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, TheStreet raised Coupang from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Coupang has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $21.07.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on CPNG

Coupang Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Coupang stock opened at $18.94 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $15.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.60. The company has a market capitalization of $33.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Coupang, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.66 and a 1 year high of $19.99.

Coupang (NYSE:CPNG  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.40 billion. Coupang had a return on equity of 15.04% and a net margin of 5.57%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Coupang, Inc. will post 0.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coupang Company Profile

(Free Report)

Coupang, Inc, together with its subsidiaries owns and operates retail business through its mobile applications and Internet websites primarily in South Korea. The company operates through Product Commerce and Developing Offerings segments. It sells various products and services in the categories of home goods and decor products, apparel, beauty products, fresh food and groceries, sporting goods, electronics, and everyday consumables, as well as travel, and restaurant order and delivery services.

Recommended Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CPNG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Coupang Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Coupang and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX  Free Report) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,082 shares of the medical equipment providers stock after buying an additional 2,733 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLCs holdings in Boston Scientific were worth $3,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. KB Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Boston Scientific by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the medical equipment providers stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Boston Scientific by 110.0% in the 3rd quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,450 shares of the medical equipment providers stock valued at $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 10,190 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Boston Scientific by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,671,939 shares of the medical equipment providers stock valued at $193,878,000 after purchasing an additional 504,357 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Boston Scientific by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 572,962 shares of the medical equipment providers stock valued at $30,258,000 after purchasing an additional 33,133 shares during the period. Finally, Redmile Group LLC boosted its position in Boston Scientific by 97.9% during the 3rd quarter. Redmile Group LLC now owns 774,200 shares of the medical equipment providers stock worth $40,878,000 after acquiring an additional 383,022 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.11% of the companys stock.

Get Boston Scientific alerts:

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. BTIG Research reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Boston Scientific in a report on Friday, December 29th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Boston Scientific from $60.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Boston Scientific from $65.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Boston Scientific from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, November 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Boston Scientific from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $66.62.

Boston Scientific Stock Performance

BSX stock opened at $67.69 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $62.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.59. Boston Scientific Co. has a 1-year low of $46.20 and a 1-year high of $67.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $101.54 billion, a PE ratio of 63.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.78.

Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical equipment provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Boston Scientific had a return on equity of 15.99% and a net margin of 11.19%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Boston Scientific Co. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Boston Scientific

In other Boston Scientific news, EVP Jeffrey B. Mirviss sold 15,000 shares of Boston Scientific stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total transaction of $876,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,739.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Wendy Carruthers sold 6,983 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.89, for a total value of $467,092.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,508 shares in the company, valued at $3,779,820.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey B. Mirviss sold 15,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.40, for a total value of $876,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,739.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 76,460 shares of company stock valued at $4,759,945 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.71% of the companys stock.

About Boston Scientific

(Free Report)

Boston Scientific Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices for use in various interventional medical specialties worldwide. It operates through MedSurg and Cardiovascular segments. The company offers devices to diagnose and treat gastrointestinal and pulmonary conditions; devices to treat various urological and pelvic conditions; implantable cardioverter and implantable cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators; pacemakers and implantable cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers; and remote patient management systems.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BSX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Boston Scientific Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Boston Scientific and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Crestwood Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS  Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 10,924 shares of the investment management companys stock, valued at approximately $3,535,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. Cambridge Trust Co. boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 82.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 91 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 88.0% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 94 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Pacific Center for Financial Services bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.06% of the companys stock.

Get The Goldman Sachs Group alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $357.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $398.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $333.00 to $449.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $437.00 to $493.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Edward Jones started coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $409.93.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS opened at $393.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.36 and a 52-week high of $397.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.42. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $384.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $350.06.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The investment management company reported $5.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $1.86. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 7.85%. The firm had revenue of $11.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $10.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.32 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 32.86 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th will be given a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The Goldman Sachs Groups dividend payout ratio is presently 48.20%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 4,300 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.15, for a total transaction of $1,634,645.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,463 shares in the company, valued at $4,357,659.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 4,300 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.15, for a total value of $1,634,645.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,463 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,357,659.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.39, for a total value of $1,129,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,121 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,443.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,064 shares of company stock worth $15,082,153 over the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About The Goldman Sachs Group

(Free Report)

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, a financial institution, provides a range of financial services for corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals worldwide. It operates through Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions segments. The Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial advisory services, including strategic advisory assignments related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense activities, restructurings, and spin-offs; and relationship lending, and acquisition financing, as well as secured lending, through structured credit and asset-backed lending and involved in financing under securities to resale agreements.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for The Goldman Sachs Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for The Goldman Sachs Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Dana Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB  Free Report) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,763 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.s holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $2,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LYB. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 10,812 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,362 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 8,596 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in LyondellBasell Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $731,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 29.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,488 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $770,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 20.2% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,268 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. 91.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get LyondellBasell Industries alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LYB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut LyondellBasell Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded LyondellBasell Industries from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and upped their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Citigroup cut LyondellBasell Industries from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $107.00 price target on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on LyondellBasell Industries from $102.00 to $98.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $100.92.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

Shares of LYB stock traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $100.35. 211,141 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,843,171. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $96.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. LyondellBasell Industries has a 12-month low of $81.24 and a 12-month high of $102.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.84.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.07). LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 21.89% and a net margin of 5.16%. The firm had revenue of $9.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $9.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that LyondellBasell Industries will post 8.86 EPS for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 1st. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.98%. LyondellBasell Industriess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.28%.

Insider Activity at LyondellBasell Industries

In related news, CAO Chukwuemeka A. Oyolu sold 7,084 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.47, for a total value of $711,729.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,575 shares in the company, valued at $2,770,460.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Chukwuemeka A. Oyolu sold 7,084 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.47, for a total value of $711,729.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,575 shares in the company, valued at $2,770,460.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Todd Lane sold 29,229 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total transaction of $2,899,224.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 91,758 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,101,476.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,802 shares of company stock worth $4,549,606 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the companys stock.

LyondellBasell Industries Profile

(Free Report)

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. operates as a chemical company in the United States, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Poland, France, Japan, China, the Netherlands, and internationally. The company operates in six segments: Olefins and PolyolefinsAmericas; Olefins and PolyolefinsEurope, Asia, International; Intermediates and Derivatives; Advanced Polymer Solutions; Refining; and Technology.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LYB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for LyondellBasell Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for LyondellBasell Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH  Free Report) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,170 shares of the electronics makers stock after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.s holdings in Amphenol were worth $2,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Amphenol by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 48,104,261 shares of the electronics makers stock valued at $4,086,457,000 after acquiring an additional 2,752,517 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its position in Amphenol by 200.3% during the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 211,194 shares of the electronics makers stock worth $17,738,000 after purchasing an additional 140,859 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Amphenol by 2.5% during the third quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,034 shares of the electronics makers stock worth $761,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia increased its holdings in Amphenol by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,502,272 shares of the electronics makers stock valued at $126,176,000 after buying an additional 16,916 shares during the period. Finally, Fund Management at Engine No. 1 LLC raised its position in shares of Amphenol by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fund Management at Engine No. 1 LLC now owns 7,747 shares of the electronics makers stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.46% of the companys stock.

Get Amphenol alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on APH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $107.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Amphenol from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Amphenol from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Amphenol in a report on Friday, January 5th. They issued a buy rating and a $117.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Amphenol from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $102.11.

Insider Activity at Amphenol

In other Amphenol news, insider William J. Doherty sold 170,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.50, for a total transaction of $17,595,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Craig A. Lampo sold 100,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.67, for a total transaction of $10,467,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 147,045 shares of the companys stock, valued at $15,391,200.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider William J. Doherty sold 170,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.50, for a total value of $17,595,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 285,000 shares of company stock worth $29,633,250 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.22% of the companys stock.

Amphenol Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Amphenol stock traded up $0.59 on Thursday, hitting $111.10. The stock had a trading volume of 172,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,466,777. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $102.02 and a 200 day moving average of $92.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.53, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.30. Amphenol Co. has a twelve month low of $72.00 and a twelve month high of $112.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.17.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 23.94%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Amphenol Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 18th. Amphenols dividend payout ratio is currently 28.30%.

About Amphenol

(Free Report)

Amphenol Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, primarily designs, manufactures, and markets electrical, electronic, and fiber optic connectors in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Harsh Environment Solutions, Communications Solutions, and Interconnect and Sensor Systems.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Amphenol Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Amphenol and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH  Get Free Report) and OneMain (NYSE:OMF  Get Free Report) are both business services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, risk, dividends, institutional ownership and valuation.

Volatility & Risk

Bread Financial has a beta of 1.94, meaning that its stock price is 94% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OneMain has a beta of 1.65, meaning that its stock price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Get Bread Financial alerts:

Profitability

This table compares Bread Financial and OneMains net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Bread Financial 13.87% 26.24% 3.34% OneMain 14.04% 21.07% 2.78%

Dividends

Analyst Recommendations

Bread Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. OneMain pays an annual dividend of $4.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.3%. Bread Financial pays out 5.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. OneMain pays out 75.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. OneMain has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. OneMain is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Bread Financial and OneMain, as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Bread Financial 4 7 2 0 1.85 OneMain 0 4 9 0 2.69

Bread Financial presently has a consensus target price of $37.42, indicating a potential downside of 0.38%. OneMain has a consensus target price of $50.85, indicating a potential upside of 5.95%. Given OneMains stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe OneMain is more favorable than Bread Financial.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Bread Financial and OneMains gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Bread Financial $5.17 billion 0.36 $718.00 million $14.32 2.62 OneMain $4.56 billion 1.26 $641.00 million $5.32 9.02

Bread Financial has higher revenue and earnings than OneMain. Bread Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than OneMain, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.5% of Bread Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.7% of OneMain shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Bread Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of OneMain shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

OneMain beats Bread Financial on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bread Financial

(Get Free Report)

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. provides tech-forward payment and lending solutions to customers and consumer-based industries in North America. It offers credit card and other loans financing services, including risk management solutions, account origination, and funding services for private label and co-brand credit card programs, as well as through Bread partnerships; and Comenity-branded general purpose cash-back credit. The company also manages and services the loans it originates for private label, co-brand, and general-purpose credit card programs, and installment loans and split-pay products; and provides marketing, and data and analytics services. In addition, it offers an enhanced digital suite that includes a unified software development kit, which provides access to its suite of products, as well as promotes credit payment options earlier in the shopping experience. Further, the company through Bread, a digital payments platform and robust suite of application programming interfaces allows merchants and partners to integrate online point-of-sale financing and other digital payment products. It offers its products under the Bread CashbackTM, Bread PayTM, and Bread SavingsTM brands. The company was formerly known as Alliance Data Systems Corporation and changed its name to Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. in March 2022. Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

About OneMain

(Get Free Report)

OneMain Holdings, Inc., a financial service holding company, engages in the consumer finance and insurance businesses in the United States. It originates, underwrites, and services personal loans secured by automobiles, other titled collateral, or unsecured. The company also offers credit cards; optional credit insurance products, including life, disability, and involuntary unemployment insurance; optional non-credit insurance; guaranteed asset protection coverage as a waiver product or insurance; and membership plans. It sells its products through its website. The company was formerly known as Springleaf Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to OneMain Holdings, Inc. in November 2015. OneMain Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1912 and is based in Evansville, Indiana.

Receive News & Ratings for Bread Financial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bread Financial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (NYSE:FIS  Free Report) by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,004 shares of the information technology services providers stock after purchasing an additional 8,298 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLPs holdings in Fidelity National Information Services were worth $1,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Fidelity National Information Services by 2.7% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 60,473,174 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $3,307,883,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575,081 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Fidelity National Information Services by 1.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,456,658 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $1,437,381,000 after buying an additional 367,417 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Fidelity National Information Services by 115.2% in the second quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,426,414 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $789,119,000 after buying an additional 7,721,981 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Fidelity National Information Services by 18.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,534,919 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $684,057,000 after buying an additional 1,962,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fidelity National Information Services by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,498,166 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $458,850,000 after buying an additional 33,881 shares during the last quarter. 85.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Fidelity National Information Services alerts:

Insider Transactions at Fidelity National Information Services

In other Fidelity National Information Services news, Director Ellen R. Alemany acquired 735 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $60.32 per share, with a total value of $44,335.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,131,286.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Fidelity National Information Services from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. TheStreet upgraded Fidelity National Information Services from a d rating to a c rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Fidelity National Information Services in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. They set a buy rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on Fidelity National Information Services from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Fidelity National Information Services from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $69.47.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on FIS

Fidelity National Information Services Stock Performance

NYSE FIS opened at $69.83 on Thursday. Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.91 and a twelve month high of $70.52. The businesss fifty day moving average is $62.99 and its 200 day moving average is $57.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The information technology services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Fidelity National Information Services had a positive return on equity of 13.06% and a negative net margin of 54.30%. The firms quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fidelity National Information Services announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the companys board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Fidelity National Information Services Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 7th. Fidelity National Information Servicess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -18.51%.

Fidelity National Information Services Company Profile

(Free Report)

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc provides technology solutions for financial institutions and businesses worldwide. It operates through Banking Solutions, Merchant Solutions, and Capital Market Solutions segments. The Banking Solutions segment provides core processing and ancillary applications; mobile and online banking; fraud, risk management, and compliance; electronic funds transfer and network; card and retail payment; wealth and retirement; and item processing and output solutions.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FIS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (NYSE:FIS  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Fidelity National Information Services Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Fidelity National Information Services and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Halliburton (NYSE:HAL  Get Free Report) Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares in the company, valued at $339,762.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Halliburton Stock Performance

Shares of HAL stock traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $36.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,326,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,570,411. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $35.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Halliburton has a one year low of $27.84 and a one year high of $43.85. The firm has a market cap of $32.22 billion, a PE ratio of 12.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.99.

Get Halliburton alerts:

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. Halliburton had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 11.46%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Halliburton will post 3.43 EPS for the current year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 5th. This is a boost from Halliburtons previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Halliburtons dividend payout ratio is presently 23.21%.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Halliburton by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 121,551,234 shares of the oilfield services companys stock valued at $4,394,077,000 after purchasing an additional 479,877 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Halliburton by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,852,271 shares of the oilfield services companys stock valued at $1,512,961,000 after purchasing an additional 5,660,862 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Halliburton by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 25,748,754 shares of the oilfield services companys stock valued at $853,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120,274 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in Halliburton by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,538,783 shares of the oilfield services companys stock valued at $850,927,000 after purchasing an additional 782,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Halliburton by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,079,068 shares of the oilfield services companys stock valued at $627,759,000 after purchasing an additional 387,735 shares in the last quarter. 82.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on HAL shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Halliburton from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Halliburton from $44.00 to $48.00 in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a positive rating and set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Halliburton has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $48.63.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on HAL

Halliburton Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Halliburton Company provides products and services to the energy industry worldwide. It operates through two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services that include stimulation and sand control services; cementing services, such as well bonding and casing, and casing equipment; and completion tools that offer downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, and service tools, as well as liner hanger, sand control, and multilateral systems.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Halliburton Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Halliburton and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL  Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy by the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $6.45.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. National Bank Financial reissued an outperform market weight rating on shares of Hecla Mining in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com raised Hecla Mining to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, November 17th. TD Securities decreased their price target on Hecla Mining from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright decreased their price target on Hecla Mining from $9.00 to $8.75 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 8th.

Get Hecla Mining alerts:

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on HL

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hecla Mining

Hecla Mining Price Performance

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 53.8% during the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 566,574 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $2,215,000 after purchasing an additional 198,254 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 316,771 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $1,631,000 after acquiring an additional 22,205 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 225.3% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 418,270 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $1,635,000 after acquiring an additional 289,703 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 13,390,499 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $52,357,000 after acquiring an additional 298,547 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Hecla Mining by 163.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 814,376 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $3,184,000 after acquiring an additional 505,271 shares during the period. 59.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shares of NYSE HL opened at $3.96 on Friday. Hecla Mining has a 1-year low of $3.33 and a 1-year high of $7.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $3.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of -26.40 and a beta of 2.16.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The basic materials company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.02). Hecla Mining had a negative return on equity of 0.27% and a negative net margin of 11.69%. The business had revenue of $160.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.02 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.01 EPS for the current year.

Hecla Mining Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.006 per share. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 11th. Hecla Minings dividend payout ratio is -20.00%.

Hecla Mining Company Profile

(Get Free Report

Hecla Mining Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides precious and base metal properties in the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, and China. The company mines for silver, gold, lead, and zinc concentrates, as well as carbon material containing silver and gold for custom smelters, metal traders, and third-party processors; and dore containing silver and gold.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Hecla Mining Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hecla Mining and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Gulf Investment Fund plc (LON:GIF  Get Free Report) insider Patrick Grant bought 26,178 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 191 ($2.42) per share, for a total transaction of 49,999.98 ($63,459.80).

Gulf Investment Fund Stock Performance

Gulf Investment Fund stock opened at GBX 2.53 ($0.03) on Thursday. The firms 50 day simple moving average is GBX 2.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 2.21. The firm has a market capitalization of 1.05 million and a PE ratio of 6.33. Gulf Investment Fund plc has a 1-year low of GBX 1.85 ($0.02) and a 1-year high of GBX 2.56 ($0.03).

Get Gulf Investment Fund alerts:

Gulf Investment Fund Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 15th. Gulf Investment Funds dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,000.00%.

About Gulf Investment Fund

Qatar Investment Fund plc is a close-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Epicure Managers Qatar Limited. The fund is co-managed by Qatar Insurance Company SAQ. It invests in public equity markets of Qatar. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against Qatar Exchange Index.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Gulf Investment Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Gulf Investment Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC trimmed its position in shares of iShares MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEARCA:EWJ  Free Report) by 33.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 416,279 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 210,247 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC owned 0.20% of iShares MSCI Japan ETF worth $25,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capula Management Ltd purchased a new position in iShares MSCI Japan ETF during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,191,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 104.2% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 48,465 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $3,034,000 after acquiring an additional 24,728 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 47.4% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 38,949 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $2,411,000 after acquiring an additional 12,525 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of iShares MSCI Japan ETF during the 3rd quarter valued at $931,000. Finally, IPG Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 179.0% during the 2nd quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,785 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,534,000 after acquiring an additional 15,903 shares in the last quarter.

Get iShares MSCI Japan ETF alerts:

iShares MSCI Japan ETF Stock Performance

Shares of iShares MSCI Japan ETF stock remained flat at $71.37 on Thursday. 2,727,733 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,273,010. The company has a market cap of $15.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 0.68. iShares MSCI Japan ETF has a fifty-two week low of $54.56 and a fifty-two week high of $71.64. The stocks 50-day moving average is $66.60 and its 200-day moving average is $63.12.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF Profile

iShares MSCI Japan ETF (the fund), formerly Ishares Msci Japan Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of publicly traded securities in the Japanese market, as measured by the MSCI Japan Index (the Index).

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Japan ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Japan ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lowered its position in iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF (BATS:MTUM  Free Report) by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 251,959 shares of the companys stock after selling 68,760 shares during the quarter. iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF comprises approximately 0.6% of Integrated Wealth Concepts LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF were worth $35,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MTUM. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Coastal Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF by 1,428.6% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 214 shares of the companys stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF by 44.9% during the first quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 271 shares of the companys stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter.

Get iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF alerts:

iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF Stock Up 1.0 %

BATS:MTUM traded up $1.81 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $186.13. 839,954 shares of the companys stock were exchanged. The company has a market capitalization of $11.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35 and a beta of 0.91. iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF has a 12 month low of $81.37 and a 12 month high of $113.60. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $169.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $154.08.

iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF Profile

The iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF (MTUM) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Momentum SR Variant index. The fund tracks an index of large- and mid-cap US equities, selected and weighted based on price appreciation over 6- and 12-month periods and low volatility over the past 3 years.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MTUM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF (BATS:MTUM  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
KB Home (NYSE:KBH  Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $69.64 and last traded at $69.57, with a volume of 43020 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $68.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KBH has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on KB Home from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded KB Home from a hold rating to a sell rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Friday, December 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on KB Home from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on KB Home from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on KB Home from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KB Home currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $58.18.

Get KB Home alerts:

View Our Latest Report on KB Home

KB Home Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.46. The company has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a PE ratio of 9.72, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.73.

KB Home (NYSE:KBH  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 10th. The construction company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. KB Home had a return on equity of 15.63% and a net margin of 9.21%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KB Home will post 7.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KB Home Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. KB Homes payout ratio is currently 11.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Brian J. Woram sold 83,272 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total transaction of $5,040,454.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 156,119 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,449,883.07. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO William R. Hollinger sold 45,471 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.47, for a total transaction of $2,749,631.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 109,981 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,650,551.07. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian J. Woram sold 83,272 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total value of $5,040,454.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 156,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,449,883.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 373,635 shares of company stock valued at $22,400,005. Company insiders own 4.44% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of KB Home

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KBH. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in KB Home by 20.9% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 109,019 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $3,530,000 after purchasing an additional 18,818 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of KB Home by 35.5% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of KB Home by 39.7% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 96,105 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $3,112,000 after acquiring an additional 27,327 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of KB Home by 10.5% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 31,411 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 2,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its position in shares of KB Home by 7.1% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 47,231 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 3,140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.27% of the companys stock.

About KB Home

(Get Free Report)

KB Home operates as a homebuilding company in the United States. It operates through four segments: West Coast, Southwest, Central, and Southeast. It builds and sells various homes, including attached and detached single-family residential homes, townhomes, and condominiums primarily for first-time, first move-up, second move-up, and active adult homebuyers.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for KB Home Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for KB Home and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. (NYSE:TPH  Free Report) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 166,354 shares of the construction companys stock after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.17% of Tri Pointe Homes worth $4,549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Tri Pointe Homes during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,886,000. Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in Tri Pointe Homes during the 3rd quarter valued at about $427,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in Tri Pointe Homes by 719.0% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 68,549 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $1,875,000 after purchasing an additional 60,179 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Tri Pointe Homes by 110.2% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 195,680 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $5,352,000 after purchasing an additional 102,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Tri Pointe Homes by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 22,684 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. 97.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Tri Pointe Homes alerts:

Tri Pointe Homes Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE TPH opened at $34.47 on Thursday. Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.00 and a 1-year high of $36.43. The company has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.08.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Tri Pointe Homes ( NYSE:TPH Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The construction company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.24. Tri Pointe Homes had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 11.75%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. The companys revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reissued a neutral rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Tri Pointe Homes in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Tri Pointe Homes from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an outperform rating and set a $41.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of Tri Pointe Homes in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $38.20.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on TPH

Tri Pointe Homes Profile

(Free Report)

Tri Pointe Homes, Inc engages in the design, construction, and sale of single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through a portfolio of six regional home building brands comprising Maracay in Arizona; Pardee Homes in California and Nevada; Quadrant Homes in Washington; Trendmaker Homes in Texas; TRI Pointe Homes in California, Colorado, and the Carolinas; and Winchester Homes in Maryland and Northern Virginia.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Tri Pointe Homes Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Tri Pointe Homes and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS  Free Report) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,410,825 shares of the utilities providers stock after acquiring an additional 90,274 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plcs holdings in Fortis were worth $206,425,000 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. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 22.4% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 24,569 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,569 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 26,923 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 2,249 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 510,446 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $25,266,000 after purchasing an additional 159,068 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Fortis by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 212,935 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $10,540,000 after purchasing an additional 52,248 shares during the period. 50.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Get Fortis alerts:

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Fortis from a neutral rating to an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $55.13.

Fortis Price Performance

FTS opened at $39.45 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.06. Fortis Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.30 and a 12-month high of $46.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.42.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. Fortis had a return on equity of 7.00% and a net margin of 13.22%. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Fortis Inc. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortis Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.4382 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This is a boost from Fortiss previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. Fortiss dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

About Fortis

(Free Report)

Fortis Inc operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 447,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 103,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,408 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FTS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Fortis Inc. (NYSE:FTS  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Fortis Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Fortis and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
This week we are looking at a short, but pivotal text by Lenin, which laid out many of the tactics and methods that would play a key role in the building of the forces of communism in Russia. Written in 1901, Where to Begin? is a concise but masterful explanation of the need for tactical flexibility and the importance of the revolutionary press. It contains lessons that are enormously relevant to the fight for a revolutionary party today.

[We publish the full text of Lenin's Where to Begin? below]

The first years of the 20th century were a tumultuous time, both for Russia in general and for the forces of Marxism in particular. In February and March 1901, major cities across the Russian Empire were rocked by a series of mass protests organised by university students, which attracted the support and involvement of a large layer of workers. Despite its origins as a student protest against attacks on academic freedoms, the movement quickly took up broader political demands and became a rallying point for the advanced layers of the oppressed masses.

While the movement was eventually crushed by the tsarist police, it was a clear sign of the seething anger under the surface of Russian society. The trajectory of this developing mood was clear, and would later express itself in the Russian revolution of 1905, when the working class burst onto the scene. The task of the communists was clear: these layers needed to be organised and given political leadership.

In 1901, faced with these mounting class tensions, however, the Marxists in Russia consisted of isolated revolutionary circles, which were springing up particularly among the students. After growing to a certain size, these groups would typically attempt to establish local newspapers and connect with workers. But arrests would soon follow, and the process would then have to begin from scratch.

Lenin, having escaped to Switzerland from exile in Siberia only a few months earlier, was in contact with disparate groups of revolutionaries across the country lacking any cohesion or central direction. With the publication of Where to begin?, Lenin began the tireless work of uniting the Russian communists behind a joint programme, an All-Russian newspaper and a concrete strategy.

The article took the form of a rebuttal of the ideas of Rabocheye Dyelo, a journal published by a group of Russian Marxists at the time. Rabocheye Dyelo had proposed a variety of drastic changes in strategy for revolutionaries at various points in time, ranging from a complete rejection of workers political struggle to the immediate demand for ceaseless protests and a direct attack on the Tsarist state.

Lenin put forward the call for an All-Russian communist newspaper / Image: public domain

But Lenin pointed out that talk of tactics in the abstract means nothing if there is no cohesive party to carry them out. Confronted with the atomisation of the partys members, the first task of the communists was to provide an organisational framework that could allow the party to act as one.

As Lenin explains:

The immediate task of our Party is not to summon all available forces for the attack right now, but to call for the formation of a revolutionary organisation capable of uniting all forces and guiding the movement in actual practice and not in name alone.

What the party needed was a rallying point, around which comrades could organise both their internal party activity and their outward agitation and propaganda. With characteristic insight, Lenin put forward the call for an All-Russian communist newspaper as the tool for this job. Iskra (The Spark), with its editorial board in exile, beyond the reach of the tsarist secret police, provided this central organ that worked to unify Russian communists.

This national newspaper was to become a central pillar of all the activities of party members across the country. It would provide clear ideas, analysis, reports and perspectives for revolutionaries throughout Russia.

Lenin explains that, rather than replacing the comrades agitation around local issues, the national newspaper provides the revolutionary organisation with a general scaffolding or centrepiece around which the specific tasks of a local group can be framed.

By uniting the entire organisation around a single newspaper, the comrades would be strengthened both practically and politically, laying the basis for the building of a party fit for the immense tasks of the period.

In such a short article, Lenin was unable to fully outline the way forward for the party. Rather, he considered Where to Begin? to be the skeleton plan for a pamphlet which would be published one year later as What is to be Done? This fuller elaboration of Lenins proposal for the party would become a foundational text in the history of Bolshevism and will be the subject of next weeks article in this series.

Where to Begin?

by V.I. Lenin

In recent years the question of what is to be done has confronted Russian Social-Democrats with particular insistence. It is not a question of what path we must choose (as was the case in the late eighties and early nineties), but of what practical steps we must take upon the known path and how they shall be taken. It is a question of a system and plan of practical work. And it must be admitted that we have not yet solved this question of the character and the methods of struggle, fundamental for a party of practical activity, that it still gives rise to serious differences of opinion which reveal a deplorable ideological instability and vacillation. On the one hand, the Economist trend, far from being dead, is endeavouring to clip and narrow the work of political organisation and agitation. On the other, unprincipled eclecticism is again rearing its head, aping every new trend, and is incapable of distinguishing immediate demands from the main tasks and permanent needs of the movement as a whole. This trend, as we know, has ensconced itself in Rabocheye Dyelo.[1] This journals latest statement of programme, a bombastic article under the bombastic title A Historic Turn (Listok Rabochevo Dyela, No. 6[2]), bears out with special emphasis the characterisation we have given. Only yesterday there was a flirtation with Economism, a fury over the resolute condemnation of Rabochaya Mysl,[3] and Plekhanovs presentation of the question of the struggle against autocracy was being toned down. But today Liebknechts words are being quoted: If the circumstances change within twenty-four hours, then tactics must be changed within twenty-four hours. There is talk of a strong fighting organisation for direct attack, for storming, the autocracy; of broad revolutionary political agitation among the masses (how energetic we are now  both revolutionary and political!); of ceaseless calls for street protests; of street demonstrations of a pronounced [sic!] political character; and so on, and so forth.

We might perhaps declare ourselves happy at Rabocheye Dyelos quick grasp of the programme we put forward in the first issue of Iskra,[4] calling for the formation of a strong well-organised party, whose aim is not only to win isolated concessions but to storm the fortress of the autocracy itself; but the lack of any set point of view in these individuals can only dampen our happiness.

Rabocheye Dyelo, of course, mentions Liebknechts name in vain. The tactics of agitation in relation to some special question, or the tactics with regard to some detail of party organisation may be changed in twenty-four hours; but only people devoid of all principle are capable of changing, in twenty-four hours, or, for that matter, in twenty-four months, their view on the necessity  in general, constantly, and absolutely  of an organisation of struggle and of political agitation among the masses. It is ridiculous to plead different circumstances and a change of periods: the building of a fighting organisation and the conduct of political agitation are essential under any drab, peaceful circumstances, in any period, no matter how marked by a declining revolutionary spirit; moreover, it is precisely in such periods and under such circumstances that work of this kind is particularly necessary, since it is too late to form the organisation in times of explosion and outbursts; the party must be in a state of readiness to launch activity at a moments notice. Change the tactics within twenty-four hours! But in order to change tactics it is first necessary to have tactics; without a strong organisation skilled in waging political struggle under all circumstances and at all times, there can be no question of that systematic plan of action, illumined by firm principles and steadfastly carried out, which alone is worthy of the name of tactics. Let us, indeed, consider the matter; we are now being told that the historic moment has presented our Party with a completely new question  the question of terror. Yesterday the completely new question was political organisation and agitation; today it is terror. Is it not strange to hear people who have so grossly forgotten their principles holding forth on a radical change in tactics?

"The first step towards creating the desired organisation... should be the founding of an All-Russian political newspaper" / Image: public domain

Fortunately, Rabocheye Dyelo is in error. The question of terror is not a new question at all; it will suffice to recall briefly the established views of Russian Social-Democracy on the subject.

In principle we have never rejected, and cannot reject, terror. Terror is one of the forms of military action that may be perfectly suitable and even essential at a definite juncture in the battle, given a definite state of the troops and the existence of definite conditions. But the important point is that terror, at the present time, is by no means suggested as an operation for the army in the field, an operation closely connected with and integrated into the entire system of struggle, but as an independent form of occasional attack unrelated to any army. Without a central body and with the weakness of local revolutionary organisations, this, in fact, is all that terror can be. We, therefore, declare emphatically that under the present conditions such a means of struggle is inopportune and unsuitable; that it diverts the most active fighters from their real task, the task which is most important from the standpoint of the interests of the movement as a whole; and that it disorganises the forces, not of the government, but of the revolution. We need but recall the recent events. With our own eyes we saw that the mass of workers and common people of the towns pressed forward in struggle, while the revolutionaries lacked a staff of leaders and organisers. Under such conditions, is there not the danger that, as the most energetic revolutionaries go over to terror, the fighting contingents, in whom alone it is possible to place serious reliance, will be weakened? Is there not the danger of rupturing the contact between the revolutionary organisations and the disunited masses of the discontented, the protesting, and the disposed to struggle, who are weak precisely because they are disunited? Yet it is this contact that is the sole guarantee of our success. Far be it from us to deny the significance of heroic individual blows, but it is our duty to sound a vigorous warning against becoming infatuated with terror, against taking it to be the chief and basic means of struggle, as so many people strongly incline to do at present. Terror can never be a regular military operation; at best it can only serve as one of the methods employed in a decisive assault. But can we issue the call for such a decisive assault at the present moment? Rabocheye Dyelo apparently thinks we can. At any rate, it exclaims: Form assault columns! But this, again, is more zeal than reason. The main body of our military forces consists of volunteers and insurgents. We possess only a few small units of regular troops, and these are not even mobilised; they are not connected with one another, nor have they been trained to form columns of any sort, let alone assault columns. In view of all this, it must be clear to anyone who is capable of appreciating the general conditions of our struggle and who is mindful of them at every turn in the historical course of events that at the present moment our slogan cannot be To the assault, but has to be, Lay siege to the enemy fortress. In other words, the immediate task of our Party is not to summon all available forces for the attack right now, but to call for the formation of a revolutionary organisation capable of uniting all forces and guiding the movement in actual practice and not in name alone, that is, an organisation ready at any time to support every protest and every outbreak and use it to build up and consolidate the fighting forces suitable for the decisive struggle.

The lesson of the February and March events[5] has been so impressive that no disagreement in principle with this conclusion is now likely to be encountered. What we need at the present moment, however, is not a solution of the problem in principle but a practical solution. We should not only be clear on the nature of the organisation that is needed and its precise purpose, but we must elaborate a definite plan for an organisation, so that its formation may be undertaken from all aspects. In view of the pressing importance of the question, we, on our part, take the liberty of submitting to the comrades a skeleton plan to be developed in greater detail in a pamphlet now in preparation for print.[6]

In our opinion, the starting-point of our activities, the first step towards creating the desired organisation, or, let us say, the main thread which, if followed, would enable us steadily to develop, deepen, and extend that organisation, should be the founding of an All-Russian political newspaper. A newspaper is what we most of all need; without it we cannot conduct that systematic, all-round propaganda and agitation, consistent in principle, which is the chief and permanent task of Social-Democracy in general and, in particular, the pressing task of the moment, when interest in politics and in questions of socialism has been aroused among the broadest strata of the population. Never has the need been felt so acutely as today for reinforcing dispersed agitation in the form of individual action, local leaflets, pamphlets, etc., by means of generalised and systematic agitation that can only be conducted with the aid of the periodical press. It may be said without exaggeration that the frequency and regularity with which a newspaper is printed (and distributed) can serve as a precise criterion of how well this cardinal and most essential sector of our militant activities is built up. Furthermore, our newspaper must be All-Russian. If we fail, and as long as we fail, to combine our efforts to influence the people and the government by means of the printed word, it will be utopian to think of combining other means, more complex, more difficult, but also more decisive, for exerting influence. Our movement suffers in the first place, ideologically, as well as in practical and organisational respects, from its state of fragmentation, from the almost complete immersion of the overwhelming majority of Social-Democrats in local work, which narrows their outlook, the scope of their activities, and their skill in the maintenance of secrecy and their preparedness. It is precisely in this state of fragmentation that one must look for the deepest roots of the instability and the waverings noted above. The first step towards eliminating this short-coming, towards transforming divers local movements into a single, All-Russian movement, must be the founding of an All-Russian newspaper. Lastly, what we need is definitely a political newspaper. Without a political organ, a political movement deserving that name is inconceivable in the Europe of today. Without such a newspaper we cannot possibly fulfill our task  that of concentrating all the elements of political discontent and protest, of vitalising thereby the revolutionary movement of the proletariat. We have taken the first step, we have aroused in the working class a passion for economic, factory exposures; we must now take the next step, that of arousing in every section of the population that is at all politically conscious a passion for political exposure. We must not be discouraged by the fact that the voice of political exposure is today so feeble, timid, and infrequent. This is not because of a wholesale submission to police despotism, but because those who are able and ready to make exposures have no tribune from which to speak, no eager and encouraging audience, they do not see anywhere among the people that force to which it would be worth while directing their complaint against the omnipotent Russian Government. But today all this is rapidly changing. There is such a force  it is the revolutionary proletariat, which has demonstrated its readiness, not only to listen to and support the summons to political struggle, but boldly to engage in battle. We are now in a position to provide a tribune for the nationwide exposure of the tsarist government, and it is our duty to do this. That tribune must be a Social-Democratic newspaper. The Russian working class, as distinct from the other classes and strata of Russian society, displays a constant interest in political knowledge and manifests a constant and extensive demand (not only in periods of intensive unrest) for illegal literature. When such a mass demand is evident, when the training of experienced revolutionary leaders has already begun, and when the concentration of the working class makes it virtual master in the working-class districts of the big cities and in the factory settlements and communities, it is quite feasible for the proletariat to found a political newspaper. Through the proletariat the newspaper will reach the urban petty bourgeoisie, the rural handicraftsmen, and the peasants, thereby becoming a real peoples political newspaper.

The role of a newspaper, however, is not limited solely to the dissemination of ideas, to political education, and to the enlistment of political allies. A newspaper is not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator, it is also a collective organiser. In this last respect it may be likened to the scaffolding round a building under construction, which marks the contours of the structure and facilitates communication between the builders, enabling them to distribute the work and to view the common results achieved by their organised labour. With the aid of the newspaper, and through it, a permanent organisation will naturally take shape that will engage, not only in local activities, but in regular general work, and will train its members to follow political events carefully, appraise their significance and their effect on the various strata of the population, and develop effective means for the revolutionary party to influence these events. The mere technical task of regularly supplying the newspaper with copy and of promoting regular distribution will necessitate a network of local agents of the united party, who will maintain constant contact with one another, know the general state of affairs, get accustomed to performing regularly their detailed functions in the All-Russian work, and test their strength in the organisation of various revolutionary actions. This network of agents[7] will form the skeleton of precisely the kind of organisation we need  one that is sufficiently large to embrace the whole country; sufficiently broad and many-sided to effect a strict and detailed division of labour; sufficiently well tempered to be able to conduct steadily its own work under any circumstances, at all sudden turns, and in face of all contingencies; sufficiently flexible to be able, on the one hand, to avoid an open battle against an overwhelming enemy, when the enemy has concentrated all his forces at one spot, and yet, on the other, to take advantage of his unwieldiness and to attack him when and where he least expects it. Today we are faced with the relatively easy task of supporting student demonstrations in the streets of big cities; tomorrow we may, perhaps, have the more difficult task of supporting, for example, the unemployed movement in some particular area, and the day after to be at our posts in order to play a revolutionary part in a peasant uprising. Today we must take advantage of the tense political situation arising out of the governments campaign against the Zemstvo; tomorrow we may have to support popular indignation against some tsarist bashi-bazouk on the rampage and help, by means of boycott, indictment, demonstrations, etc., to make things so hot for him as to force him into open retreat. Such a degree of combat readiness can be developed only through the constant activity of regular troops. If we join forces to produce a common newspaper, this work will train and bring into the foreground, not only the most skillful propagandists, but the most capable organisers, the most talented political party leaders capable, at the right moment, of releasing the slogan for the decisive struggle and of taking the lead in that struggle.

In conclusion, a few words to avoid possible misunderstanding. We have spoken continuously of systematic, planned preparation, yet it is by no means our intention to imply that the autocracy can be overthrown only by a regular siege or by organised assault. Such a view would be absurd and doctrinaire. On the contrary, it is quite possible, and historically much more probable, that the autocracy will collapse under the impact of one of the spontaneous outbursts or unforeseen political complications which constantly threaten it from all sides. But no political party that wishes to avoid adventurous gambles can base its activities on the anticipation of such outbursts and complications. We must go our own way, and we must steadfastly carry on our regular work, and the less our reliance on the unexpected, the less the chance of our being caught unawares by any historic turns.

Notes

[1] Rabocheye Dyelo (The Workers Cause)  a journal with Economist views, organ of the Union of Russian Social-Democrats Abroad. It appeared irregularly and was published in Geneva from April 1899 to February 1902 under the editorship of B. N. Krichevsky, A. S. Martynov, and V. P. Ivanshin. Altogether 12 numbers appeared in nine issues.

Lenin criticised the views of the Rabocheye Dyelo group in his What Is To Be Done?

[2] Listok Rabochevo Dyela (Rabocheye Dyelo Supplement)  of which eight numbers were issued in Geneva, at irregular intervals, between June 1900 and July 1901.

[3] Rabochaya Mysl (Workers Thought)  an Economist newspaper, organ of the Union of Russian Social-Democrats Abroad, published from October 1897 to December 1902. Altogether 16 issues appeared: numbers 3 to 11 and number 16 were published in Berlin, the remaining numbers in St. Petersburg. It was edited by K. M. Takhtarev and others.

Lenin characterised the papers views as a Russian variety of international opportunism arid criticised them in a number of his articles published in Iskra and in other works including What Is To Be Done?

[4] The reference is to the article The Urgent Tasks of Our Movement, which was published as the leading article in Iskra, No. 1, December 1900.

Iskra (The Spark)  the first All-Russian illegal Marxist news paper, founded by Lenin in 1900. The foundation of a militant organ of revolutionary Marxism was the main task confronting Russian Social-Democrats at the time.

Since the publication of a revolutionary newspaper in Russia was impossible, owing to police persecution, Lenin, while still in exile in Siberia, worked out all the details of a plan to publish the paper abroad. When his term of exile ended in January 1900, be immediately began to put his plan into effect. In February, he conducted negotiations with Vera Zasulich, who had come illegally to St. Petersburg from abroad, on the participation of the Emancipation of Labour group in the publication of an All-Russian Marxist newspaper. The so-called Pskov Conference was held in April, with V. I. Lenin, L. Martov (Y. O. Tsederbaum), A. N. Potresov, S. I. Radchenko, and the legal Marxists (P. B. Struve and M. I. Tugan-Baranovsky) participating. The conference heard and discussed Lenins draft editorial declaration on the programme and the aims of the All-Russian newspaper (Iskra) and the scientific and political magazine (Zarya). Lenin visited a number of Russian cities  St. Petersburg, Riga, Pskov, Nizhni Novgorod, Ufa, and Samara  establishing contact with Social- Democratic groups and individual Social-Democrats and obtaining their support for Iskra. In August, when Lenin arrived in Switzerland, he and Potresov held a conference with the Emancipation of Labour group on the programme and the aims of the newspaper and the magazine, on possible contributors, on the composition of Editorial Board, and on the problem of residence. For an account of the founding of Iskra see the article How the Spark was Nearly Extinguished.

The first issue of Lenins Iskra was published in Leipzig in December 1900; the ensuing issues were published in Munich; from July 1902 it was published in London; and from the spring of 1903 in Geneva.

The Editorial Board consisted of V. I. Lenin, G. V. Plekhanov, L. Martov, P. B. Axelrod, A. N. Potresov, and V. I. Zasulich. The first secretary of the Editorial Board was I. G. Smidovich-Leman. From the spring of 1901 the post was taken over by N. K. Krupskaya, who was also in charge of all correspondence between Iskra and Russian Social-Democratic organisations. Lenin was actually Editor-in-Chief and the leading figure in Iskra. He published his articles on all important questions of Party organisation and the class struggle of the proletariat in Russia and dealt with the most important events in world affairs.

Iskra became, as Lenin had planned, a rallying centre for the Party forces, a centre for the training of leading Party workers. In a number of Russian cities (St. Petersburg, Moscow, Samara, and others) groups and committees of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party (P 1 .S.D.L.P.) were organised along Lenins Iskra line. Iskra organisations sprang up and worked under the direct leadership of Lenins disciples and comrades-in-arms: = N. E. Bauman, I. V. Babusbkin, S. I. Gusev, M. I. Kalinin, G. M. Krzhizhanovsky, and others. The newspaper played a decisive role in the struggle for the Marxist Party, in the defeat of the Economists, and in the unification of the dispersed Social-Democratic study circles.

On the initiative and with the direct participation of Lenin, the Editorial Board drew up a draft programme of the Party (published in Iskra, No. 21) and prepared the Second Congress of the R.S.D.L.P., which was held in July and August 1903. By the time the Congress was convened the majority of the local Social-Democratic organisations in Russia had joined forces with Iskra, approved its programme, organisational plan, and tactical line, and accepted it as their leading organ. By a special resolution, which rioted the exceptional role played by Iskra in the struggle to build the Party, the Congress adopted the news paper as the central organ of the R.S.D.L.P. and approved an editorial board consisting of Lenin, Plekhanov, and Martov. Despite the decision of the Congress, Martov refused to participate, and Nos. 46 to 51 were edited by Lenin and Plekhanov. Later Plekhanov went over to the Menshevik position and demanded that, all the old Menshevik editors, notwithstanding their rejection by the Congress, be placed on the Editorial Board. Lenin could not agree to this, and on October 19 (November 1, new style), 1903, he left the Iskra Editorial Board to strengthen his position in the Central Committee and from there to conduct a struggle against the Menshevik opportunists. Issue No. 52 of Iskra was edited by Plekhanov alone. On November 13 (26), 1903, Plekhanov, on his own initiative and in violation of the will of the Congress, co-opted all the old Menshevik editors on to the Editorial Board. Beginning with issue No. 52, the Mensheviks turned Iskra into their own, opportunist, organ.

[5] This passage refers to the mass revolutionary actions of students and workers  political demonstrations, meetings, strikes  that took place in February and March 1901, in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, Kharkov, Kazan, Yaroslavl, Warsaw, Belostok, Tomsk, Odessa, and other cities in Russia.

The student movement of 1900-01, which began with academic demands, acquired the character of revolutionary action against the reactionary policy of the autocracy; it was supported by the advanced workers and it met with a response among all strata of Russian society. The direct cause of the demonstrations and strikes in February and March 1901, was the drafting of 183 Kiev University students into the army as a punitive act for their participation in a students meeting. The government launched a furious attack on participants in the revolutionary actions; the police and the Cossacks dispersed demonstrations and assaulted the participants; hundreds of students were arrested and expelled from colleges and universities. On March 4 (17), 1901, the demonstration in the square in front of the Kazan Cathedral, in St. Petersburg, was dispersed with particular brutality. The February-March events were evidence of the revolutionary upsurge in Russia; the participation of workers in the movement under political slogans was of tremendous importance.

[6] The reference is to Lenins work What Is To Be Done? Burning Questions of Our Movement.

[7] It will be understood, of course, that these agents could work successfully only in the closest contact with the local committees (groups, study circles) of our Party. In general, the entire plan we project can, of course, be implemented only with the most active support of the committees which have on repeated occasions attempted to unite the Party and which, we are sure, will achieve this unification  if not today, then tomorrow, if not in one way, then in another.  Lenin
Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE:EXR  Get Free Report) COO Matthew T. Herrington sold 134 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.68, for a total value of $19,119.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,825 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,544,511. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Extra Space Storage Stock Up 1.0 %

EXR stock opened at $144.03 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $147.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.77. Extra Space Storage Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.19 and a 52-week high of $168.03.

Get Extra Space Storage alerts:

Extra Space Storage (NYSE:EXR  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.03 by ($1.01). Extra Space Storage had a net margin of 31.81% and a return on equity of 8.34%. The firm had revenue of $797.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $778.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 57.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Extra Space Storage Inc. will post 8.17 EPS for the current year.

Extra Space Storage Announces Dividend

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Extra Space Storages dividend payout ratio is presently 131.17%.

A number of research analysts recently commented on EXR shares. StockNews.com cut Extra Space Storage from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Saturday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Extra Space Storage from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Extra Space Storage in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. They set a sector underperform rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Extra Space Storage from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and increased their target price for the company from $115.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Extra Space Storage from $168.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $149.33.

View Our Latest Analysis on EXR

Institutional Trading of Extra Space Storage

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXR. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Extra Space Storage by 5.6% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,404 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Extra Space Storage by 16.5% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 1,502 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Prudential PLC bought a new position in shares of Extra Space Storage in the first quarter valued at about $625,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Extra Space Storage by 8.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,522 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $519,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Extra Space Storage in the first quarter valued at about $332,000. 66.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Extra Space Storage Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Extra Space Storage Inc, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a self-administered and self-managed REIT and a member of the S&P 500. As of September 30, 2023, the Company owned and/or operated 3,651 self-storage stores in 42 states and Washington, DC The Company's stores comprise approximately 2.5 million units and approximately 279.0 million square feet of rentable space operating under the Extra Space, Life Storage and Storage Express brands.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Extra Space Storage Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Extra Space Storage and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV decreased its holdings in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM  Free Report) by 12.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 210,400 shares of the companys stock after selling 30,111 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADVs holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $19,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PM. Fairfield Bush & CO. lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 1.1% in the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 26,141 shares of the companys stock worth $2,456,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 35.6% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,939 shares of the companys stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 1,296 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 24.7% during the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,065 shares of the companys stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 608 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 54.9% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 525 shares of the companys stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Philip Morris International by 14.7% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 8,987 shares of the companys stock valued at $844,000 after buying an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.70% of the companys stock.

Get Philip Morris International alerts:

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on PM. Argus reissued a hold rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group lowered Philip Morris International from a buy rating to a sell rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, November 16th. They set a neutral rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, November 29th. Finally, Societe Generale upgraded Philip Morris International from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $87.50 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Philip Morris International currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $105.40.

Philip Morris International Price Performance

NYSE PM traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $91.33. The companys stock had a trading volume of 328,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,869,809. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.23 and a 12 month high of $101.92. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $92.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.65. The company has a market cap of $141.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.61.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.08). Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 116.29% and a net margin of 8.53%. The business had revenue of $9.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. Philip Morris Internationals quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Profile

(Free Report)

Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Philip Morris International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Philip Morris International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV cut its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Free Report) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 466,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 17,802 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADVs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $27,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Herold Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.2% during the third quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 33,668 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,954,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 69.6% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,049 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 2,072 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 139,811 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $8,115,000 after purchasing an additional 12,121 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 101,772 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $5,907,000 after purchasing an additional 13,122 shares during the period. Finally, Jmac Enterprises LLC increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 11.4% during the third quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 12,171 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $706,000 after buying an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.98% of the companys stock.

Get Bristol-Myers Squibb alerts:

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

NYSE:BMY traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $53.31. The companys stock had a trading volume of 2,273,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,844,020. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $107.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. The firms fifty day moving average price is $50.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.36. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12-month low of $47.58 and a 12-month high of $71.07.

Bristol-Myers Squibb ( NYSE:BMY Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.15. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 50.95%. The firm had revenue of $11.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $11.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the biopharmaceutical company to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the companys leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.50%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on BMY shares. Bank of America cut Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Redburn Atlantic cut Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Thursday, November 9th. They set a hold rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Thursday, November 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $61.12.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Bristol-Myers Squibb

Bristol-Myers Squibb Profile

(Free Report)

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in non-valvular atrial fibrillation, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for various anti-cancer indications, including bladder, blood, CRC, head and neck, RCC, HCC, lung, melanoma, MPM, stomach and esophageal cancer; Pomalyst/Imnovid for multiple myeloma; Orencia for active rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BMY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bristol-Myers Squibb and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Pentair (NYSE:PNR  Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $88.00 to $94.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the industrial products companys stock. Stifel Nicolaus price target would suggest a potential upside of 18.73% from the companys previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on PNR. Barclays lifted their target price on Pentair from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Pentair from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Pentair from $72.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Bank of America raised Pentair from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Pentair from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $83.67.

Get Pentair alerts:

Check Out Our Latest Report on PNR

Pentair Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PNR opened at $79.17 on Thursday. The companys fifty day moving average is $73.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Pentair has a 12-month low of $50.15 and a 12-month high of $80.14. The company has a market cap of $13.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.20.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. Pentair had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The company had revenue of $984.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $975.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. The companys revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Pentair will post 4.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 2,260 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.85, for a total value of $153,341.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,081 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,566,045.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pentair

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PNR. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Pentair by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 16,329 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $885,000 after buying an additional 1,554 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Pentair by 54.2% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $879,000 after buying an additional 5,692 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in Pentair by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 22,141 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,200,000 after buying an additional 1,371 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its position in Pentair by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 126,084 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $7,146,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in Pentair by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 14,212 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $770,000 after buying an additional 2,098 shares in the last quarter. 88.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Pentair

(Get Free Report)

Pentair plc provides various water solutions worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Pool, Water Solutions, Industrial & Flow Technologies. It designs, manufactures, and sells residential and commercial pool equipment and accessories, including pumps, filters, heaters, lights, automatic controls, automatic cleaners, maintenance equipment, and pool accessories for residential and commercial pool maintenance, repair, renovation, service, and construction applications; and water treatment products and systems comprising pressure tanks, control valves, activated carbon products, conventional filtration products, and point-of-entry and point-of-use systems for use in residential whole home water filtration, drinking water filtration, water softening solutions, commercial total water management and filtration, and foodservice operations.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Pentair Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pentair and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
State Street Co. (NYSE:STT  Free Report)  Equities researchers at Zacks Research boosted their Q4 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for State Street in a report issued on Monday, March 4th. Zacks Research analyst S. Shah now forecasts that the asset manager will post earnings per share of $2.14 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $2.13. The consensus estimate for State Streets current full-year earnings is $7.88 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for State Streets Q1 2025 earnings at $1.55 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $2.28 EPS.

Get State Street alerts:

State Street (NYSE:STT  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 19th. The asset manager reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.21. State Street had a return on equity of 11.86% and a net margin of 10.59%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. State Streets revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on State Street from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on State Street from $89.00 to $86.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on State Street from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an overweight rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of State Street in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on State Street from $87.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $81.83.

Get Our Latest Analysis on STT

State Street Trading Down 2.0 %

State Street stock opened at $71.84 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55. State Street has a one year low of $62.78 and a one year high of $90.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.52. The businesss fifty day moving average is $74.44 and its 200 day moving average is $71.17.

State Street Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. State Streets payout ratio is currently 50.27%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Anthony Bisegna sold 2,606 shares of State Street stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total transaction of $190,238.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,737 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,294,801. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Anthony Bisegna sold 2,606 shares of State Street stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total transaction of $190,238.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,737 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,294,801. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Eric W. Aboaf sold 12,000 shares of State Street stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.90, for a total value of $886,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,015,755.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,864 shares of company stock valued at $1,390,597 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of State Street

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STT. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of State Street by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 78,667 shares of the asset managers stock worth $5,757,000 after acquiring an additional 5,902 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its holdings in shares of State Street by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 10,839 shares of the asset managers stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of State Street during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,022,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of State Street by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 510,628 shares of the asset managers stock worth $34,192,000 after acquiring an additional 94,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of State Street by 327.0% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,325,417 shares of the asset managers stock worth $88,750,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015,022 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.62% of the companys stock.

State Street Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

State Street Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of financial products and services to institutional investors worldwide. The company offers investment servicing products and services, including custody, accounting, regulatory reporting, investor, and performance and analytics; middle office products, such as IBOR, transaction management, loans, cash, derivatives and collateral, record keeping, and client reporting and investment analytics; finance leasing; foreign exchange, and brokerage and other trading services; securities finance and enhanced custody products; deposit and short-term investment facilities; investment manager and alternative investment manager operations outsourcing; performance, risk, and compliance analytics; and financial data management to support institutional investors.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for State Street Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for State Street and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Tecsys Inc. (TSE:TCS  Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as C$36.40 and last traded at C$38.50, with a volume of 3808 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$38.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TCS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Echelon Wealth Partners restated a buy rating and issued a C$45.00 price objective on shares of Tecsys in a report on Monday, November 27th. National Bankshares set a C$50.00 target price on shares of Tecsys and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, December 4th.

Get Tecsys alerts:

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on TCS

Tecsys Stock Performance

Tecsys Dividend Announcement

The company has a market cap of C$555.09 million, a P/E ratio of 251.40 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.63. The business has a fifty day moving average of C$33.86 and a 200 day moving average of C$30.45.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Tecsyss payout ratio is currently 213.33%.

Tecsys Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Tecsys Inc engages in the development, marketing, and sale of enterprise-wide supply chain management software and related services in Canada, the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company offers warehouse management, distribution and transportation management, supply management at point-of-use and order management and fulfillment, as well as financial management and analytics solutions.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Tecsys Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Tecsys and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Toroso Investments LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO  Free Report) by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,149 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 38,954 shares during the period. Toroso Investments LLCs holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 404,894 shares of the companys stock worth $21,248,000 after purchasing an additional 6,324 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,647 shares of the companys stock valued at $974,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Altria Group by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,711,773 shares of the companys stock valued at $141,690,000 after acquiring an additional 89,334 shares during the period. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $498,000. 58.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Altria Group alerts:

Altria Group Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE MO traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $41.59. The company had a trading volume of 1,530,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,495,486. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.71 and a 200 day moving average of $41.57. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $48.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group ( NYSE:MO Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Groups revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.07 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the companys board believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.43%. Altria Groups dividend payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a sell rating and issued a $36.10 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $47.22.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Altria Group

Altria Group Company Profile

(Free Report)

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Altria Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Altria Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Truist Financial Corp decreased its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR  Free Report) by 5.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 72,017 shares of the business services providers stock after selling 4,061 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corps holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $12,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,155 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 6.8% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 15,625 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 992 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 126.2% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,384 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,888 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1,851.9% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 527 shares of the business services providers stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 12,722 shares of the business services providers stock worth $1,981,000 after buying an additional 1,487 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.36% of the companys stock.

Get Broadridge Financial Solutions alerts:

Insider Buying and Selling at Broadridge Financial Solutions

In related news, VP Thomas P. Carey sold 12,731 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.02, for a total transaction of $2,559,185.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,303 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,674,169.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Thomas P. Carey sold 12,731 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.02, for a total value of $2,559,185.62. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,674,169.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, President Christopher John Perry sold 5,069 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.32, for a total value of $1,040,767.08. Following the transaction, the president now owns 59,651 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $12,247,543.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,807 shares of company stock valued at $10,938,113 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on BR. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $212.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 5th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $205.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, December 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Broadridge Financial Solutions has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $203.17.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on BR

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Up 0.9 %

BR opened at $203.02 on Thursday. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $133.97 and a twelve month high of $210.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $201.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $190.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.37 and a beta of 0.99.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The business services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.03. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a return on equity of 41.12% and a net margin of 10.82%. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 7.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Broadridge Financial Solutionss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.75%.

About Broadridge Financial Solutions

(Free Report)

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Broadridge Financial Solutions Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Broadridge Financial Solutions and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Palestinians look at destruction after an Israeli airstrike on a residential building of the Ganan family in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Adel Hana/AP FILE - A United Nations worker prepares aid for distribution to Palestinians at UNRWA warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023. The spokesperson for Israel's welfare ministry says it has stopped providing the documentation needed for international aid workers to renew their visas because the ministry does not have the investigative muscle to look into their potential militant affiliations. Hassan Eslaiah/AP Mourners gather in grief during the funeral of Israeli solider Staff sergeant David Sasson, in Netanya, Israel, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Sasson, 21, was killed during Israel's ground operation in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army has been battling Palestinian militants in the war ignited by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel. Ariel Schalit/AP A ten-year-old Palestinian boy, Yazan al-Kafarna, who was born with cerebral palsy, lies at a hospital in Rafah on Sunday, March 3, 2024. Yazan died Monday due to extreme muscle wastage caused primarily by a lack of food. His parents said they had struggled to find the proper foods for al-Kafarna, including soft fruits and eggs since they fled their home in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza. Hatem Ali/AP Palestinians look at destruction after an Israeli airstrike on a residential building of the Ganan family in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Adel Hana/AP Masked men from The Popular Committee for Protection patrol the streets armed with batons and guns in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 7, 2024. The committee are a new youth-based group that monitors prices and law and order, across markets in war-ravaged Gaza. Fatima Shbair/AP Masked men from The Popular Committee for Protection patrol the streets armed with batons and guns in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 7, 2024. The committee are a new youth-based group that monitors prices and law and order, across markets in war-ravaged Gaza. Fatima Shbair/AP Israeli soldiers mourners in grief during the funeral of Israeli solider Staff sergeant David Sasson, in Netanya, Israel, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Sasson, 21, was killed during Israel's ground operation in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army has been battling Palestinian militants in the war ignited by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel. Ariel Schalit/AP Israeli soldiers carry the casket Israeli solider Staff sergeant David Sasson as mourners gather in grief during his the funeral in Netanya, Israel, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Sasson, 21, was killed during Israel's ground operation in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army has been battling Palestinian militants in the war ignited by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel. Ariel Schalit/AP Palestinians pray for the relatives killed in the Israeli bombardments of the Gaza Strip in front of the morgue of the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Thursday, March 7, 2024. Adel Hana/AP Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardments of the Gaza Strip in front of the morgue of the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Thursday, March 7, 2024. Adel Hana/AP

U.S. President Joe Biden Biden said Thursday night the U.S. military will help establish a temporary pier on the coast of Gaza as a way to boost the delivery of aid for Palestinians trapped in the besieged territory by the Israel-Hamas war.

He unveiled the plan during his State of the Union address to Congress. The move comes after Biden last week approved the U.S. military airdropping aid into Gaza.

Biden said the temporary pier will enable a massive increase in humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

But at the same time he called on Israel to do more to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians even as its forces try to eliminate the Hamas militant group.

To Israel, I say this humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip, Biden said.

The plans follow an announcement by Hamas that negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of more Israeli hostages will resume next week, dimming hopes that mediators could broker a truce before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin at sundown Sunday..

After nearly five months of war, much of Gaza is in ruins, and international pressure is growing for Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would halt the fighting and release the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Israels near-total blockade of Gaza and the fighting have made it nearly impossible to deliver supplies in most of Gaza, aid groups say. Many of the estimated 300,000 people still living in northern Gaza have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive.

Israel launched its offensive after Hamas-led militants stormed across the border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Over 100 hostages were released in November in exchange for 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The number of Palestinians killed has climbed above 30,700, according to Gazas Health Ministry. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures but says women and children make up around two-thirds of the total casualties. It says over 72,000 people have been wounded.

Currently:

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

 Analysis: First fatal attack on shipping by Yemens Houthi rebels escalates risk for a reeling Mideast

 Leading NGOs slam Israels halt in visa renewals for aid workers in Gaza and West Bank

 Violence in the Mideast, rising threats from Islamic State group in Afghanistan pressure US and allies

 Find more of APs coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Here's the latest:

UN SPOKESMAN SAYS GAZA AID MISSIONS A MIXED BAG, DEPENDING ON ISRAELI HELP

UNITED NATIONS  U.N. humanitarian officials say that in February half of the 224 missions they planned for delivering aid to areas in the Gaza Strip where coordination with Israeli authorities is required got it and succeeded  and half did not.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday that the U.N. paused opertions in north Gaza following Israeli naval fire that hit a U.N.-coordinated food convoy heading there Feb. 5. As a result, he said, only 24 U.N. aid missions to the besieged north were planned in February  and just six were facilitated by Israeli authorities.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

By contrast, Dujarric said, of the 200 U.N. missions planned for areas south of Wadi Gaza where access required coordination, 105 were facilitated by Israeli authorities.

The U.N. spokesman said humanitarian workers in Gaza face risks from the hostilities between Israel and Hamas including bombings.

Despite the many challenges, he said, last week 19 of the U.N.s humanitarian partners provided health services to some 80,000 patients and over a dozen World Health Organization teams treated 13,000 patients. He issued an urgent appeal for tents, tarpulins, blankets, bedding and other shelter supplies.

UN OFFICIAL WELCOMES AIRDROPS OF AID IN GAZA BUT SAYS MORE LAND ENTRIES NEEDED

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

UNITED NATIONS  The U.N. official trying to spur the delivery of humanitarian supplies to more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza is welcoming air drops and the prospect of more sea deliveries. But she says the most critical need is to open more land entries into the territory.

Sigrid Kaag, the senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, told reporters late Thursday that air and sea deliveries cannot substitute for expanding and diversifying supply routes on land.

Its easier, its faster, its cheaper, particularly if we know that we need to sustain humanitarian assistance to Gazans for a long period of time, she said, speaking after briefing the U.N. Security Council behind closed doors. We need to flood the market in Gaza with humanitarian goods as well as re-energize the private sector so commercial goods can be entering in to really meet the needs of civilians.

But Kaag said thatits been made very clear to me from the outset that there is little willingness by the Israeli Cabinet to open more crossings. She pointed to Israel domestic concerns, demonstrations at crossings, and the absence of a deal to release Israeli hostages seized during Hamas Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Nonetheless, Kaag said, from her conversations she expects additional crossings to be opened and will continue urging the Israelis to do so because the goal is to expand the volume and quality of aid to Gaza.

She called the air drops of aid a symbol of support for the civilians in Gaza, but said that its a drop in the ocean.

Kaag said she has welcomed plans for a maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza, backed by a coalition that she expects the United States and other countries to be joining to accelerate its establishment.

She said the Americans may be building a temporary port with a view to provide for that much urgent humanitarian assistance and the scale-up thats needed particularly to reach the north, where the humanitarian crisis is especially dire, she said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

At the same time, I cannot but repeat, air and sea is not a substitute for land, she said. However, the additional aid at this critical juncture will be very important.

ISRAELIS WILL BE ALLOWED TO VISIT CONTESTED HOLY SITE DURING RAMADAN, ISRAELI POLICE SAY

JERUSALEM  Israels police force said Thursday that Israelis will be allowed to visit the Al-Aqsa compound during the first week of Ramadan, raising concerns about the access for Palestinians to the revered site during the holy month.

Al-Aqsa has often been the site of Palestinian protests and clashes with Israeli police, especially during times of high tension like the current war between Israel and Hamas.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Palestinians from the occupied West Bank have been unable to visit Jerusalem under Israeli government restrictions put in place immediately after an Oct. 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel killed 1,200. Israels invasion of Gaza in response has killed more than 30,000 people.

The Al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest site in Islam. Jews consider the compound the most sacred site in Judaism and refer to it as the biblical Temple Mount.

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the same number of people as last year would be allowed to enter the Al-Aqsa mosque compound for prayers during the first week of Ramadan and that this would be evaluated on a week-to-week basis throughout the holy month. The statement did not say who would be allowed onto the compound.

In 2023, over 289,000 Palestinians from the West Bank visited Jerusalem for Ramadan prayers, according to Israeli authorities.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The Israeli police did not respond to The Associated Press request to clarify the restrictions.

Ramadan is expected to start Sunday but depends on the sighting of the crescent moon.

DUTCH GROUP CONFIRMS ISRAELI TANK FIRE KILLED A REUTERS VIDEOGRAPHER IN SOUTHERN LEBANON LAST OCTOBER

BEIRUT  A report by an independent research organization in The Netherlands confirmed that Israeli tank fire killed a Reuters videographer and wounded six other journalists in southern Lebanon last October.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The journalists were covering cross-border clashes between Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group and Israeli forces on Oct. 13, just days after the eruption of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, when an Israeli tank shell landed among them.

The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, TNO, said that after two ammunition rounds struck the area where the journalists were working, arms fire and bullets whizzing through the air were heard. It said the two ammunition rounds were 37 seconds apart.

The report by TNO, which was contracted by Reuters to analyze evidence from southern Lebanon clashes on Oct. 13, was released Thursday. It said the Israeli fire in the attack lasted 1 minute and 45 seconds.

Israeli officials have said that they do not deliberately target journalists. Israel did not immediately comment on the Dutch group's findings.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In December, international human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said Israeli strikes that killed and wounded the journalists on Oct. 13, were apparently deliberate and a direct attack on civilians.

The strikes killed Issam Abdallah and wounded Reuters journalists Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, Qatars Al-Jazeera television cameraman Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, as well as AFPs photographer Christina Assi and video journalist Dylan Collins.

Assi, who was seriously wounded, was discharged from Beiruts American University Medical Center earlier this month, after nearly five months of treatment.

EGYPTIAN OFFICIALS SAY CEASE-FIRE TALKS ARE STUCK

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

CAIRO  Egyptian officials say negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza have reached an impasse over Hamas demand for a phased process culminating in an end to the war.

The U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been trying for weeks to broker an agreement on a six-week cease-fire and the release of 40 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

The officials said Thursday that Hamas has agreed on the main terms of such an agreement as a first stage, but wants commitments that it will lead to an eventual, more permanent cease-fire.

Hamas has said it will not release all of the remaining hostages without a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Palestinian militants are believed to be holding around 100 hostages, and the remains of 30 others, captured during Hamas Oct. 7 attack into Israel that triggered the war.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Hamas is also demanding the release of a large number of prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences, in exchange for the remaining hostages.

Israel has publicly ruled out those demands, saying it intends to resume the offensive after any cease-fire with the goal of destroying Hamas.

The Egyptian officials say Israel wants to confine the negotiations to the more limited agreement. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations with the media.

Both officials said mediators are still pressing the two parties to soften their positions.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The mediators had hoped to reach a deal before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin Sunday. The month of dawn-to-dusk fasting often sees Israeli-Palestinian tensions rise over access to a major holy site in Jerusalem.

 By Samy Magdy in Cairo.

NORWAY WARNS AGAINST BUSINESS WITH ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS

COPENHAGEN, Denmark  Norways government on Thursday urged Norwegian companies to avoid trade and business activities that contribute to maintaining illegal Israeli settlements. Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said that for years, Norway has been clear that the settlement policy in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is in violation of international law, including humanitarian law and human rights.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Norwegian businesses should be aware that, through economic or financial activity in the Israeli settlements in violation of international law, they risk contributing to violations of international humanitarian law or human rights, Barth Eide said.

He said that last year was also the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the UN began recording. I repeat that the injustice to which the Palestinians are subjected must stop.

CHINA CALLS FOR PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES TO JOIN UN

BEIJING  Chinas foreign minister is demanding that other members of the U.N. Security Council stop blocking the Palestinian territories from becoming a member of the United Nations.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Wang Yi reiterated Chinas call for a major international conference to draw up a roadmap and timetable for a two-state solution.

We support Palestine becoming a full member of the United Nations and call on individual members of the Security Council not to set obstacles for this anymore, he said Thursday at a news conference during the annual meeting of Chinas legislature.

Zhang Jun, Chinas U.N. ambassador, said in January that his country supports U.N. membership for the Palestinian territories as a first step toward the creation of a Palestinian state. The Security Council needs to send a clear and unequivocal signal, reaffirming the urgency of the two-state solution as the sole feasible way out, he was quoted as saying by Chinas official state media.

China, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, backed the Palestinian territories becoming a U.N. member in a joint statement issued last June during a state visit to China by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
FILE - President Joe Biden walks out of the White House to board Marine One on the South Lawn in Washington, Jan. 12, 2024. In his victory speech Tuesday, March 5, 2024 former president Donald Trump echoed false statements that the Biden administration has secretly flown hundreds of thousands of foreigners to the United States. Mark Schiefelbein/AP FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a primary election night party at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, S.C., Feb. 24, 2024. In a victory speech on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, former President Trump elevated false information that had gone viral on social media, claiming the Biden administration secretly flew hundreds of thousands of migrants into the United States. Andrew Harnik/AP

SAN DIEGO (AP)  In his Super Tuesday victory speech, former President Donald Trump elevated false information that had gone viral on social media, claiming the Biden administration secretly flew hundreds of thousands of migrants into the United States.

Many post sharing the claim referred to a report by the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that advocates for immigration restrictions. It said the administration refused to list individual airports where people arrived under a Biden parole program that allows Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans to stay in the U.S. for two years.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection each month publishes the number of migrants admitted under the program by nationality. This information is available on its website and in press releases. It does not list arriving airports.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Trump said during his speech, Today it was announced that 325,000 people were flown in from parts unknown - migrants were flown in airplane, not going through borders ... It was unbelievable. I said that must be a mistake. They flew 325,000 migrants. Flew them in over the borders and into our country."

But migrants are not being flown into the U.S. randomly. Under a Biden policy in effect since January 2023, up to 30,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela can enter the country monthly if they apply online with a financial sponsor and arrive at a specified airport, paying their own way. Biden exercised his parole authority, which, under a 1952 law, allows him to admit people only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.

Here's a closer look. CLAIM: The Biden administration has secretly flown more than 300,000 unvetted migrants into the country.

THE FACTS: An article published on Monday by the Center for Immigration Studies examined a major example of how Biden has exercised his parole authority for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Each month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection discloses how many people from these four countries were allowed to enter the country. On Jan. 26, the agency reported 327,000 were vetted and authorized for travel. There were more than 67,000 Cubans, 126,000 Haitians, 53,000 Nicaraguans and 81,000 Venezuelans.

The Center for Immigration Studies article says CBP approved flights that brought 320,000 to the United States last year. The author, Todd Bensman, learned they came to 43 airports but the government refused to divulge which ones, citing an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act for law enforcement-sensitive information.

Bensman said Wednesday that he doesn't consider the program secretive, but finds it enigmatic" and lacking in transparency.

The migrants are not coming in from parts unknown, as Trump charged. CBP vets each one for eligibility and publishes the number of airport arrivals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Social media posts, including one by Elon Musk's, charge that the administration is doing this to bring in voters.

But people admitted into the country under parole have no path to citizenship. They can obtain work permits for a limited time but voters must be U.S. citizens.

Biden has exercised parole authority far more than any of his predecessors, which Trump calls an outrageous abuse that he will end if returned to the White House. Biden has granted entry  by land or air  to at least 1 million people using parole, not just the 327,000 who flew from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua or Venezuela though December.

Angelo Fernandez Hernandez, a White House spokesperson, said Wednesday that reports of secretly flying people into the country were categorically false and that Cubans, Haitian, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans were thoroughly screened.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Nevada Independent CEO and editor Jon Ralston, left, and Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, right, speak during The Nevada Independent's "IndyTalks" series on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nev. Gabe Stern/AP

RENO, Nev. (AP)  Nevadas Republican governor showed his strongest support Wednesday for Donald Trump in his legal battles since the former president was first indicted for falsifying business records nearly a year ago.

At the same time, Joe Lombardo distanced himself from Nevada's six Republican so-called fake electors in a window into how he will weigh in on hot-button issues affecting his party leading up to the 2024 election.

Lombardo's comments came in a wide-ranging discussion with Jon Ralston, CEO and editor of The Nevada Independent, which hosts the speaker series IndyTalks. Over 90 minutes, Lombardo defended his vetoes of gun-control measures, gave himself a B+ grade for his first 14 months in office and lamented that he is still figuring out how to bring accountability to a historic $2.6 billion investment in public education.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The conversation in front of 300 people hinted at how Lombardo will wield his power within the GOP and how the moderate governor in a swing state known for split-ticket outcomes will navigate a polarizing election season.

Lombardo weighed in on what is set to be one of the tightest U.S. Senate races this cycle, endorsing retired Army Capt. Sam Brown, the front-runner in a crowded Republican primary to unseat incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen. He also painted a dreary picture if Democrats gain a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers of Nevada's Legislature.

Lombardo dismissed a question when asked to rate the enthusiasm of his endorsement of Trump on a scale of 1 to 10. He gestured to Ralston, then looked blankly at the crowd, prompting laughs before saying next question.

Elizabeth Ray, a spokesperson for Lombardo, later said the governor has consistently supported Trump and is looking forward to helping him win Nevada.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Here's a look at key moments Wednesday:

Donald Trump

Lombardo told Ralston in September that he was concerned about Trump's legal troubles, before endorsing Trump in January.

On Wednesday, Lombardo offered his clearest backing of Trump, who is navigating multiple criminal indictments. Lombardo pointed to additional information associated with the indictments that made him feel better about Trump, but he didn't elaborate. When pressed about whether Trump will be proven innocent or guilty, Lombardo pivoted to the election.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Let's forget all that. Let's talk about Biden-Trump," he said. I feel the world was safer under Trump. I feel the economic outlook, especially for Nevadans ... we were better off.

Trump endorsed Lombardo during the former sheriffs 2022 run for governor, which helped him emerge from a crowded GOP field to win the primary. Lombardo campaigned with Trump but briefly distanced himself from the former president during a debate in Nevadas general election, then called Trump the greatest president during a rally the following week.

Lombardo has maintained support of Trump while pushing back on his false claims of a stolen 2020 election. But Wednesday appeared to be Lombardo's strongest showing of support for the former president since Trump's indictments.

Hes innocent until proven guilty, Lombardo said. "And Im looking forward to his day in court.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Distance from Nevada, Washoe County GOPs

The six fake electors face felony charges for their roles in submitting certificates to Congress that falsely declared Trump won Nevada in the 2020 presidential election.

Lombardo said he has experienced personal angst over the conduct of the electors, distancing himself from the Nevada Republican Party that is further to the right. Three of the six electors from Nevada are in leadership roles in the state party.

I don't understand the need to even have it done, Lombardo said. "But thats the path they chose to go down. And well see how the chips fall.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Lombardo vetoed a bill last year that would have established felony charges specifically for fake electors. He said those actions should come with strict punishments," but the range outlined in the bill of four to 10 years in prison was too harsh.

The fake electors include Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald, who considers Lombardo a friend and has supported him and his policies, as well as Clark County GOP chair Jesse Law, who Lombardo had endorsed for another term.

Still, Lombardo's views and those of the state GOP haven't always aligned, including when Nevada GOP national committeewoman Sigal Chattah called Lombardo a laughingstock across the nation on X, formerly Twitter, after he signed two bills related to transgender rights.

Lombardo also said he was "outraged with the Washoe County GOP  Nevada's lone swing county  for excommunicating a Republican county commissioner he had appointed. The Washoe County GOP said that Clara Andriola's bipartisan votes intentionally and willfully failed to uphold the Republicans and the Republican brand, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Ive had several conversations with the players in the space, Lombardo said. "And Ive been very, very, very vocal in my absolute support for Clara."

Veto power threatened

Lombardo took aim at his Democratic opponents while defending his 75 vetoes last year, which were the highest in a single legislative session in state history.

He said he agreed with a political action committee supporting him that claims that there is a culture of corruption among Democrats in the legislature, citing what he called a lack of transparency in the legislative branch.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The phrase originally stems from conflicts of interest between part-time legislators and non-profits that received funding through a bill the Legislature approved and Lombardo signed. It was Lombardos first embrace of the attack as Democrats try to thwart his veto power ahead of next years legislative session.

In a statement, Nevada State Democratic Party spokesperson Tai Sims called Lombardo corrupt, citing the governor's vetoes of bills that Sims said would lower prescription drug and housing costs, as well as his disputes with the Nevada Commission on Ethics, including a lawsuit challenging its oversight authority.

Democrats held a supermajority in the state Assembly and were one seat away from a supermajority in the state Senate last year. If they gain a supermajority in both chambers this election cycle, they can override his veto power on party-line votes in 2025.

Nevada was one of 10 states last year where the executive and legislative branches were led by different political parties  the lowest number since 1952, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

I wouldnt want a supermajority out of both houses on the Republican side, right? Lombardo said. It just doesnt work. We've got to have that little push and pull.

___

Stern is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. Follow Stern on X, formerly Twitter: @gabestern326.
The proposed Preliminary Enquiry for three men charged in connection with a dissident republican parade in Derry on April last year has been adjourned at the local Magistrate's Court today.

Patrick Anthony Gallagher (31) of Raftery Close in Derry, Jason Lee Ceulemans (51) of Creevagh Heights also in Derry and Stephen Martin Murney (40) of Derrybeg Terrace in Newry were all due to face a PE today.

They are all charged with on dates between February 28 and April 11 last year they managed, assisted or arranged a meeting in support of a proscribed organisation namely the IRA.

They are also charged with addressing a meeting on April 10 2023 to encourage support for the IRA.

At today's hearing defence counsel Stephen Mooney said that there were 'difficulties' proceeding today with the PE.

He said that with the agreement of the court the case would be ready to proceed on March 19.

None of the accused appeared in court and the adjournment was granted until March 19.
Huge concerns exist over the prevalence of Stormont ministers making major spending decisions against the advice of senior civil servants, a committee chair has said.

Daniel McCrossan, chair of Stormonts Public Accounts Committee, was reacting after Northern Irelands Auditor General said she had been unable to discover why there was a much higher rate of ministerial directions issued in the region than other parts of the UK.

Ministerial directions are formal instructions from ministers directing their permanent secretary to proceed, despite objections, with a spending plan.

Representatives from the Northern Ireland Audit Office gave evidence to the Public Accounts Committee, following a report on the issue.

Brian ONeill told MLAs that a total of 105 ministerial directions had been issued since 1998, with an approximate value of 2.4 billion of budgeted expenditure.

He said: Approximately half of these, 51 in total, represented total expenditure of about 1.4 billion in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic when ministers and departments were seeking to release critical funds into the local economy at a time of great need.

However, we noted that since 1998, the Welsh government has only issued one ministerial direction, the Scottish government has issued five and in Westminster a total of 82 were issued.

So the use of ministerial directions in Northern Ireland has been significantly more prevalent than in any other part of the UK.

Mr ONeill said the Audit Office had recommended that the Treasury Officers of Accounts (TOA), which advises the Treasury, should consult with permanent secretaries in Northern Ireland on the issue.

Mr McCrossan said: When you look at other jurisdictions it jumps off the page, 105 ministerial directions used since 1998 with an approximate value of 2.4 billion.

Why do we issue so many more? What are we doing differently here or wrong here compared to other jurisdictions?

Auditor General Dorinnia Carville said: That is something we couldnt get an answer to when we were carrying out our study, something that we were very keen to work out why as well.

One of the things we pointed out in our report is that a ministerial direction should be a rare event because when you go back to managing public money it does suggest a conflict of opinion between the permanent secretary and their minister.

Obviously that is not somewhere that anyone wants to be.

Actually getting an evidence-based answer to your question why, we couldnt get through our evidence.

Mr McCrossan said: I think it raises significant questions Is there an attitude in some of these departments that this is just a quick way to get things done?

I dont quite understand that this region, given its size, has issued so many ministerial directions and has gotten away with it for such a significant period of time.

It really raises huge concerns.

The committee agreed to write to the TOA to invite it to give evidence on the issue.
HIGHLIGHTS Many companies have launched the image-generation feature on their AI models. A principal software engineer at Microsoft wrote a letter to the US Federal Trade Commission to investigate Copilot Designer. He said that Copilot had the potential to produce inappropriate images.

AI has been the talk of the time for a while now and the hype is surely not going to die anytime soon. With the rise of AI, what we are seeing now is deep-rooted concern over its powers. We have familiarised ourselves with text-based responses to our queries on AI, thanks to ChatGPT but image generation is new territory that people are exploring. Many companies have launched the image-generation feature on their AI models. Microsoft also has its own Copilot. A senior employee at Microsoft has now raised concerns over the safety of Copilot Designer which is a text-to-image generator and was launched in March 2023.

Also read: Copilot in OneDrive: Your personal file assistant will roll out in April 2024

Shane Jones is a principal software engineer at Microsoft. Alarmed by the issue, Jones wrote a letter to the US Federal Trade Commission and Microsofts board of directors, asking them to investigate Copilot Designer. He said that Copilot had the potential to produce inappropriate images like those depicting sex, violence, underage drinking, and drug use. He also flagged instances of political bias and conspiracy theories. He asked for more awareness to be raised about the same along with a couple of more requests.

Responding to this, Microsoft said, The company is committed to addressing any employee concerns in line with its policies and appreciates efforts to enhance the safety of its technology, quoting Business Today.

Also read: Microsoft adds a new Copilot key to Windows 11 PCs: Heres how it will help

Well, we dont know about the authenticity of Joness claims however such concerns are growing by the day. Recently, Google had to pause user access to the image generation feature on the Gemini AI owing to concerns that it generated images that were historically incorrect. Since we have just started with the text-to-image generation feature, there is a long way to go and a lot of work that needs to be done. What are your thoughts on this?
HIGHLIGHTS Samsung is preparing to launch the Galaxy A55 5G and Galaxy A35 5G in India on March 11th. Ahead of the launch, live images of the Galaxy A55 have emerged online. The leaked live images reveal the Galaxy A55 handset in mint colour.

Samsung is preparing to launch the two new Galaxy A-series smartphones Galaxy A55 5G and Galaxy A35 5G in India on March 11th. Ahead of the launch, live images of the Samsung Galaxy A55 have emerged online, providing a hint how this smartphone could look like.

The leaked live images reveal the Samsung Galaxy A55 handset in mint colour.

Also read: Samsung to launch two new Galaxy A-series phones on March 11: What to expect

In leaked images, we can see that there is a triple rear camera setup on the back and a flat frame.

Also read: Samsung Galaxy A35 5G & Galaxy A55 5G could launch in India soon: Heres what to expect

First images of Galaxy A55 found online!



I really like the flat frame look  pic.twitter.com/gncH3BE7W5  CID (@theonecid) March 4, 2024

Also, it looks like the upcoming Samsung Galaxy A55 handset could feature a metal frame.

Furthermore, the volume and power buttons can be seen placed on a raised part of the metal frame on the phones right edge.

The company recently confirmed that the upcoming Galaxy A55 5G device will feature flagship-inspired design, built with premium materials. It will come with IP67 rating for spill resistance and will be protected by a stronger Gorilla Glass compared to last years Gorilla Glass 5.

The Galaxy A55 5G will feature an advanced camera for nightography to help users shoot sharper images and videos even in extreme low light conditions.

For a smooth and seamless usage experience, the upcoming handset will be equipped with powerful processors and large vapour cooling chambers.

So far, rumours suggest that the Samsung Galaxy A55 is expected to feature a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate.

The Galaxy A55 will likely be powered by the Exynos 1480 processor, and could be available in two configurations 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage and 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage.

For photography, the Galaxy A55 could house a 50MP main camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS), a 12MP ultrawide lens and a 5MP macro lens. On the front, there could be a 32MP selfie shooter. Moreover, the device could pack a 5,000mAh battery with 25W wired charging support.
The Realme 12+ 5G shines in two key areas  design and camera. Priced at 20,999, the Realme 12+ 5G stands out due its well though out design language; something that most companies shirk off at this price point. Plus, its primary camera shows great promise with good tuning. The Realme 12+ 5G is a no brainer for those who want a eye-turner phone that clicks some great pictures. However, if youre a gamer or someone who wants long-lasting battery life, there are some options in the market that are better.

Just over a month ago, Realme launched its first 2024 in the mid-range smartphone market with its Realme 12 Pro series. Now, the company is back with its latest budget offering: the Realme 12 series, comprising the Realme 12 5G and the subject of our scrutiny, the Realme 12+ 5G. The Realme 12+ 5G aims to make its mark in a crowded market, boasting a sleek design and an impressive camera setup. With its stylish vegan leather back panel and a robust 50 MP Sony LYT-600 sensor, this device promises both style and substance.

However, it faces stiff competition from phones like the POCO X6 (review), Nothing Phone (2a) (review), and the upcoming iQOO Z7. Can the Realme 12+ 5G distinguish itself amidst such rivals? And does it live up to its promise? Lets find out!

Realme 12+ 5G Price and Availability

The Realme 12+ 5G is priced at 20,999 for the 8+128 GB variant. If you want for storage, you can go for the 8+256 GB model which is priced at 21,999. You can also get up to 2,000 off on select bank cards. The Realme 12+ 5G launched in India on March 6. It is available to purchase on realme.com, Flipkart, and offline stores.

Realme 12+ 5G Review: The best designed phone on a budget

Like the Realme 12 Pro series, the company has collaborated with French luxury watchmaker Ollivier Saveo to design the new Realme 12+ 5G. The circular camera module is modelled after the dials of luxury watches, giving it a very unique and premium look. The back features a soft vegan leather finish with a silver strip running down the centre.

The Realme 12+ 5G is available in two colours  Pioneer Green and Navigator Beige. I got the former for review, and it looks stunning. In fact, I prefer this colour over the other; it is very unique and distinctive.

The frame of the phone is not my favourite though. It is a glossy plastic frame that looks a bit cheap and attracts a LOT of fingerprints. A matte texture would be infinitely better here. The phone is quite slim though, at just 7.87 mm and it weighs only 190 g. It is one of the slimmest phones in the market at this price, which is pretty nice. It also comes with IP54 dust and water resistance, which is fairly common now.

The rear panel is nice and grippy but the phones flat sides can dig into the palm of your hand over time and make it uncomfortable to hold. Also, the vibration motor feels really cheap; the feedback is very poor. Nevertheless, the back panel alone is a work of art; a true rarity at this competitive price.

Realme 12+ 5G Review: Bright display, HDR issues

The Realme 12+ 5G houses a 6.67-inch AMOLED display with the usual niceties. You get Full HD+ resolution, 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage, and 16.7 million colours support. Theres also 120 Hz refresh rate support and HDR10+ support. Sadly though, HDR support is not available on Netflix yet and HDR videos on YouTube lag quite a bit. I hope Realme can fix this via a software update, mainly because the screen is quite bright and vivid already, so HDR content would look great on this.

Realme has also added a Rainwater Smart Touch feature where the phones touch response is unhindered even if the screen is wet. This worked quite well during my testing and it is a useful feature to have, especially in cities like Mumbai where it rains a lot.

The Realme 12+ 5G is rated to have a peak brightness of 2,000 nits but in my testing, I got a maximum peak brightness reading of 1,022 nits under bright sunlight. This is pretty good for the price and I never faced any screen legibility issues. Content also looks rich and detailed on this phone, however, the POCO X6 does show it up with its 1.5K resolution display. Overall though, a solid AMOLED panel with impressive brightness and good colour reproduction; it is primarily let down by the HDR support issue.

How does the Realme 12+ 5G perform?

The Realme 12+ 5G houses the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 processor with the Mali-G68 MC4 GPU. It comes with 8 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128 or 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Credit where its due, Im glad Realme went with UFS 3.1 instead of 2.2 since the app loading and data transfer speeds are much faster compared to the costlier Nothing Phone (2a). That aside, this chipset is definitely not the fastest on the block.

For instance, in AnTuTu v10, the phone scores 6,06,667 which pales in comparison to the scores on the Nothing Phone (2a), and the POCO X6 5G. The phone scores 961 in GeekBenchs Single Core test and 2,415 in the Multi Core test; again not the best at this budget. Then again, it does score well in PCMark Work, meaning it is pretty capable at running excel sheets, image editing, and general day to day tasks.

In GPU tests, the Realme 12+ scores 2278 points in 3D Mark Wild Life, a decent score thats sadly bested by the POCO X6 again. The phone redeems itself in GFXBench though, with good scores. So, although the Realme 12+ 5G is not the most powerful phone at this price range, it is still smooth enough for daily usage. Social media, video calls, web browsing and more work smoothly, but if youre an ardent gamer, the POCO X6 is a better option.

As for software, youve got Realme UI 5.0 based on Android 14. The company provides two years of OS upgrades and three years of security patches, which is lacklustre. And if youve read enough of my Realme reviews, you know how I feel about Realme UI. It is the most bloatware-ridden OS Ive experienced in 2023 and now, in 2024 as well. With options like the Nothing Phone (2a) with a clean OS, Realme needs to seriously step up its game in this department.

How good are the cameras?

Housing a 50 MP Sony LYT-600 main camera, the Realme 12+ 5G stands tall as one of the better camera phones in its price segment. The 50 MP sensor has an f/1.8 aperture and OIS capabilities. The other two cameras arent spectacular though  an 8 MP ultrawide shooter and a 2 MP portrait camera. Either way, its the primary camera thats the star of the show and it does shine.

Theres no missing the solid detail and dynamic range of the photos that come out of the Realme 12+ 5Gs primary camera. Shots look great with excellent HDR and vivid colours. The colours are a bit contrast-y but these look great for social media. Close-ups also have solid detail. Even though Realme has boosted the saturation of scenes, human subjects look closer to natural than theyve ever looked on a Realme phone. There is room for improvement still, but theyve come a long way.

Primary camera samples from Realme 12+ 5G

As for portraits, the Realme 12+ does well with good detail, skin tone, and edge detection. The edge detection is not perfect, but the phone does a commendable job for the asking price.

1x and 2x portrait samples from Realme 12+ 5G

Ultrawide photos and macro shots could be better; theyre just about average. Selfie photos, however, look stellar with good detail retention and dynamic range. Theres enough detail present on the faces as well. The phone allows for 4K at 30 fps video recording and 1080p video on the front camera.

Realme 12+ 5G Review: Unimpressive battery life

The Realme 12+ 5G has a large 5,000 mAh battery to keep the lights on. The phone supports 67 W SUPERVOOC charging and comes with the charger bundled in the retail box. The battery life, while decent, doesnt break the mold. Sure, the phone can last light users more than a day, but if you click photos, shoot 4K videos, and/or play games; the phone may run dry before the end of the day.

For example, one hour of running Google Maps drained the battery by a whopping 13 percent, and 15 minutes of Call of Duty: Mobile dropped the battery levels by 6 percent. The 67 W charging is pretty fast though. The phone can charge from zero to full in just 47 minutes, according to our tests.

Should you buy?

The Realme 12+ 5G shines in two key areas  design and camera. Priced at 20,999, the Realme 12+ 5G stands out due its well though out design language; something that most companies shirk off at this price point. Plus, its primary camera shows great promise with good tuning. The Realme 12+ 5G is a no brainer for those who want a eye-turner phone that clicks some great pictures. However, if youre a gamer or someone who wants long-lasting battery life, there are some options in the market that are better. One example is the POCO X6 5G that beats out the Realme 12+ in both these key areas. Also, if you want a cleaner UI, the Nothing Phone (2a) is a good option that costs just 3,000 more.
Save my User ID and Password

Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site.

Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site.
US chip kingpin Texas Instruments held a press conference on automotive applications for GaN

The US semiconductor kingpin Texas Instruments (TI) held a press conference to discuss the potential expansion of Gallium Nitride (GaN) usage in automotive and industrial scenarios, as well as discussions on the adoption ratio and competition between GaN and Silicon Carbide (SiC), two wide-bandgap semiconductors.

TI Taiwan system application engineer Martin Huang said GaN and SiC usage scenarios are primarily distinguished by voltage levels and added that GaN's competitiveness is decent in the mid-to-low voltage application range.

In recent years, the technological evolution of power modules has been rapid, Huang said. He added that applications such as electric vehicle charging stations and onboard chargers (OBCs) have gradually emerged, and many implicit new applications are also rapidly developing, indicating genuine market opportunities.

Huang said this has prompted TI to consider expanding the entry points for wide-bandgap semiconductors. He noted that the increasing number of non-traditional design architectures presents a good opportunity for developing wide-band gap semiconductors.

Huang said GaN is currently more widely used in on-board chargers in the automotive sector, while SiC has more room to play in high-voltage environments. Therefore, unless in more specific application scenarios, SiC remains the main wide-bandgap semiconductor used in automotive electronics.

Huang noted that SiC is mainly used in high-voltage applications, but GaN may appear in other mid-to-low-voltage environments. For example, GaN products have been introduced to the market for charging modules for consumer electronics in smart cabins.

As for the industrial sector, with various high and low voltage requirements, GaN also has advantages, particularly in scenarios where the unidirectional voltage is around 400V, Huang explained. In performance and technical feasibility, GaN has a significant cost advantage over SiC. He stated that GaN is expected to have a stronger market penetration in the coming years.

According to current industry information, most SiC processes still rely on 6-inch fabs with significant room for yield improvement, mainly due to limitations in crystal growth technology. GaN production has already entered the 8-inch process.

Gan has significant advantages over SiC in production capacity stability and cost structure. Except for scenarios where SiC is indispensable, customers may prefer GaN.

In the long run, GaN will also gradually upgrade to 12-inch processes. The overall trend in technological development is to replace Super Junction MOSFET products.

These MOSFET products are generally produced in 12-inch processes. For GaN to replace them, it must enter the 12-inch process to have sufficient production capacity.

Regarding the development of technologies such as GaN on SiC and GaN on GaN, Huang stated that GaN's strength lies in shrinking space and creating greater cost advantages, Huang said. Since cost reduction is the core consideration, GaN on SiC is more efficient than the other two technologies mentioned, but it also has higher costs.

Some of the drawbacks of GaN on Si in recent years have been eliminated. In the future, these technologies may only be used in scenarios with higher frequency requirements.
Warships engage in combat-oriented training

China Military Online) 13:48, March 07, 2024

Frigate Zaozhuang (Hull 542) attached to a destroyer flotilla with the navy under PLA Northern Theater Command conducts alongside replenishment at sea during a three-day combat-oriented training exercise. The recent exercise covered various subjects including main gun and close-in weapons system shooting, light arms shooting and formation maneuver. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Ma Yubin)

A warship attached to a destroyer flotilla with the navy under PLA Northern Theater Command sails toward designated waters during a three-day combat-oriented training exercise. The recent exercise covered various subjects including main gun and close-in weapons system shooting, light arms shooting and formation maneuver. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Ma Yubin)

A warship attached to a destroyer flotilla with the navy under PLA Northern Theater Command fires its main gun at mock targets during a three-day combat-oriented training exercise held in recent days. The exercise covered various subjects including main gun and close-in weapon shooting, light arms shooting and formation maneuver. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Ma Yubin)

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
A couple of heavily armed New York National Guard soldiers patrol Grand Central terminal, Thursday, March 7, 2024, in New York. Gov. Kathy Hochul is sending the National Guard to the New York City subway system to help police search passengers bags for weapons. Mary Altaffer/AP A couple of heavily armed New York State troopers patrol Grand Central terminal, Thursday, March 7, 2024, in New York. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans Wednesday to send the National Guard to the New York City subway system to help police conduct random searches of riders' bags for weapons following a series of high-profile crimes on city trains. Mary Altaffer/AP A heavily armed New York National Guard soldier stands guard at Penn Station, Thursday, March 7, 2024, in New York. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans Wednesday to send the National Guard to the New York City subway system to help police conduct random searches of riders' bags for weapons following a series of high-profile crimes on city trains. Mary Altaffer/AP Commuters walk past a couple of New York National Guard soldiers stand guard a the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station, Thursday, March 7, 2024, in New York. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans Wednesday to send the National Guard to the New York City subway system to help police conduct random searches of riders' bags for weapons following a series of high-profile crimes on city trains. Mary Altaffer/AP A commuter walks past a couple of New York National Guards soldiers stand guard a the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station, Thursday, March 7, 2024, in New York. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans Wednesday to send the National Guard to the New York City subway system to help police conduct random searches of riders' bags for weapons following a series of high-profile crimes on city trains. Mary Altaffer/AP Evidence markers dot the ground following a shooting in Northeast Philadelphia on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. Four shootings over four days in Philadelphia left three dead and 12 injured, many of them children  violence that put renewed focus on safety within the sprawling mass transit system and gave ammunition to critics of the city's progressive chief prosecutor. Joe Lamberti/AP

NEW YORK (AP)  Fear of crime on subways and buses is back as a top concern in some U.S. cities, and so are efforts to persuade public officials to take the issue seriously.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday she would task 750 members of the National Guard with helping patrol the nations busiest subway system, saying she felt New York City police need reinforcements after a shooting on a train platform and a conductor getting slashed in the neck.

Pennsylvania legislators created a special prosecutor to go after crimes committed in the transit system that serves the southeast of the state. In Philadelphia, where a spate of transit-related shootings left three dead and 12 wounded, many of them high schoolers, Mayor Cherelle Parker also promised Thursday to beef up police patrols.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Enough is enough, she said on WURD radio.

It remains to be seen whether such moves will have any effect on reducing crime in these massive public transit systems.

Hochul acknowledged that calling in the National Guard was as much about soothing fears and making a political statement as it was about making mass transit safer. The citys subways were already safe, the Democrat reasoned, but a show of force might help dispel anxieties more than any statistic.

If you feel better walking past someone in a uniform to make sure that someone doesnt bring a knife or a gun on the subway, then thats exactly why I did it, Hochul said Thursday on MSNBC. I want to change the psychology around crime in New York City.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Im also going to demonstrate that Democrats fight crime as well, she added. So this narrative that Republicans have said that were soft on crime, that we defund the police? No.

Major crimes in the New York City transit system dropped nearly 3% from 2022 to 2023, with five killings last year, down from 10 the year prior, according to police. Overall, violent crime in the subway system is rare, with train cars and stations being generally as safe as any other public place.

In Pennsylvania, overall crime has declined in recent years on the regional transit system, though there were six killings in 2023, up from a total of seven during the previous three years.

Still, the issue of safety on buses and trains is one that keeps resonating with voters  particularly as some systems recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, when passengers stayed away.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Recently its been a little unsafe. So I think they should control it before it gets out of hand, said Alan Uloa, a 43-year-old New York resident. The other day they slashed the conductor, and thats not cool.

New York Republicans hammered Democrats on crime during the 2022 midterms, a message that helped the GOP capture suburban congressional seats.

But heightened law enforcement presence can be a double-edged sword, said Alex Piquero, a criminology professor at the University of Miami and the former director of the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.

For some people, theyd like to see the added security, he said. And for other people, theyll say were overreacting.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The political tough talk can also gloss over the reality that transit crime accounts for just a tiny percentage of all crime, said Vincent Del Castillo, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former chief of New York Citys transit police.

You can have 10 to 12 murders in the system when there are literally hundreds across the city, he said. But because its so rare, it gets a lot of attention.

The four shootings linked to Philadelphia's bus system began Sunday, when a man was killed by another passenger shortly after they got off a bus.

Two more bus-related shootings in the next two days left two more dead and four injured. Then on Wednesday eight teenagers waiting to take a city bus home after school were shot, leaving a bus riddled with bullet holes.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Charles Lawson, chief of the city's transit police, vowed that officers will take an aggressive approach, using every criminal code on the book" to crack down on crime.

Were going to target individuals concealing their identity, he said. Were going to target fare evasion. Were going to target open drug use.

The Guard troops in New York won't be that active. Instead they have been tasked with helping police conduct random searches of bags, a practice in place for nearly two decades. Passengers have the right to refuse such searches, though if they do they are asked to leave the subway system.

Guard troops can't make arrests, but if they witness a crime, they can detain someone until police arrive, just as any civilian can do.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The troops were deployed Thursday, but transit riders might not have noticed as they weren't widely visible at stations or in trains. Some were seen patrolling major hubs, including Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station, where they have been a regular presence since the terror attacks of Sept. 11 , 2001.

Riders have long been split over bag checks, which are infrequent but can hold people up as they race for a train. Searches have also long been a subject of concerns iver racial profiling, though the NYPD says it takes steps to avoid that.

Sometimes when Im in a hurry and I have a bag, I dont like to be stopped, said Jerome Brooks Jr., a 44-year-old actor and musician. So then I try to see, do they stop me if theyre going to stop somebody else that doesnt look like me?

Cheryl Ann Harper, 46, said she welcomed the precaution.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

We need it, she said, noting that similar checks are common at theaters. I do it all the time. Not a big deal. If you dont have anything to hide, why you cant open up your bag?

___

Associated Press reporters Anthony Izaguirre and Michael Hill in Albany, Ted Shaffrey and Michael Sisak in New York City, Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia and Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed.

___

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Nvidia restricts CUDA usage on third-party GPUs, highlighting Chinese reliance on foreign technologies

Nvidia recently warned developers against using its CUDA on non-Nvidia GPUs, a move where the company tries to fend off other competitors. It also highlights another challenge in China's efforts to become self-sufficient in AI chip development.

According to Tom's Hardware, Nvidia updated its end-user license agreement for CUDA 11.6, warning against developers using CUDA on third-party GPUs through "translation layers," which converts one set of codes into another, on third-party GPUs. The agreement stated that reverse engineering, decompiling, or dissembling any results generated using this SDK and translating them onto non-Nvidia platforms are disallowed.

Tom's Hardware reported that Nvidia's move may target the open-sourced ZLUDA or try to stop China-based GPU developers from leveraging CUDA through the translation layers.

South China Morning Post quoted Su Lian Jye, chief analyst at Omdia, saying CUDA plays a crucial role in Nvidia's ecosystem in locking in its customer base, adding if the compatibility with CUDA was undermined, the costs of integrating codes would be so much higher.

Chinese media Observer News quoted Moore Threads' statement saying the company's MUSA/MUSIFY is independent of CUDA and does not involve Nvidia's terms regarding the end-user license agreement, reassuring developers that they can use it with confidence. China-based GPU provider Biren Technology told Observer News that its BIRENSUPA was independently developed and had nothing to do with Nvidia's updated license agreement.

In the meantime, Huawei, viewed by Nvidia as one of the primary competitors in AI chips, offered the Compute Architecture for Neural Networks (CANN), which is still in its early stages of development and lags behind CUDA in user adoption.

Multiple Chinese media reported that Nvidia may not aim at China-based competitors but at ZLUDA, an open-sourced platform. An unnamed source told Chinese media Jiamian that CUDA is a closed-source platform and cannot be used on non-Nvidia products. The updated terms did not change anything. The source added that Nvidia might attempt to confirm the proprieties of CUDA when ZLUDA became open-sourced after AMD withdrew funding. AMD and Intel provide ROCm and OneAPI, respectively.
Exclusive: Chinese ex-Google employee stole company's AI secrets while moonlighting at Ant Group affiliate

Former Googler Linwei Ding is accused of stealing AI secrets from the US tech giant while secretly working for an Ant Group affiliate just months before Ant announced its own AI division.

Ding, a former Google engineer and a Chinese national was charged by the US Department of Justice on March 6. The DoJ accused him of exfiltrating hundreds of Google's classified AI files while secretly working at two Chinese companies including Ant Group-invested Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology Company.

The Ant Group connection

It is reported that one of the companies that Ding secretly worked for while stealing Google's AI files was Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology Company. Corporate records show that one of Rongshu's principal shareholders is Ant Group-controlled Shanghai Yunju Venture Capital.

A 2022 Shanghai Securities News article covered Ant Group's investment in Rongshu. The article said it was discovered that Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology underwent a change in its business registration on February 28, 2022 and that the new shareholder, Shanghai Yunju Venture Investment, was an affiliate of Ant Group.

Shanghai Yunju Venture Capital's CEO is Ji Gang. Ji is Vice President of Strategic Investment and President of Corporate Development at Ant Group.

38-year-old Ding worked at Google as a software engineer from 2019. He was responsible for developing software deployed in Google's supercomputing data centers and therefore had access to confidential documents.

The US Justice Department's indictment shows that Ding's job responsibilities included the development of software that allowed GPUs to function efficiently for machine learning, AI applications, or other purposes required by Google or Google Cloud clients. In his role Ding was authorized to access confidential Google information related to hardware infrastructure, the software platform, and the AI models and applications they supported, the indictment said.

Ding began uploading Google's confidential information from Google's network onto a personal Google Cloud account on May 21, 2022, and continued periodic uploads until May 2, 2023, the indictment said. In total, Ding uploaded more than 500 unique files containing Google Confidential Information, including the trade secrets, the indictment added.

The perks

Beginning June 13, 2022, one month after the secret uploading activity started Ding received several emails from Beijing Rongshu's CEO Yuan Ye. Yuan offered Ding the position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO), with a monthly salary of CNY100,000 (approximately US$14,800 in June 2022), plus an annual bonus and company stock, per the indictment.

Rongshu's business involves the development of acceleration software designed for machine learning on GPU chips. The company touted its development of AI federated learning platforms, which were systems for training AI models using decentralized data sources for greater data privacy.

Ding traveled to China on October 29, 2022, and remained there until March 25, 2023. During that period, he was still employed by Google.

Beginning in or about December 2022, while in China, Ding participated in investor meetings to raise capital for Rongshu. At an April 17, 2023 meeting, Rongshu's CEO told investors that Ding was the company's CTO.

Secret trips to China

Ding never informed Google about his affiliation with Rongshu nor did Google know that Ding had traveled to China.

On December 29, 2023, Google investigators reviewed surveillance footage from the entrance to the Google building where Ding worked and discovered another Google employee scanning his work ID. When questioned the employee told investigators that Ding asked him to periodically scan the ID so it appeared as if Ding was still attending in the office while he was traveling.

On December 14, 2023, Ding booked a one-way ticket from San Francisco to Beijing on a China Southern Airlines flight scheduled to depart on January 7, 2024, the indictment alleged. On December 26, 2023, he sent an email to his manager, resigning from Google.

Gottcha!

On December 29, 2023, Google learned that Ding had represented his Chinese companies at an investor conference in Beijing on November 24, 2023. Google subsequently suspended his network access and remotely locked his Google notebook.

Google checked Ding's network activity history and discovered his unauthorized uploads from May 2022 through May 2023. On January 13, 2024, the FBI executed an additional search warrant for the contents of Ding's Google accounts.

One account contained more than 500 unique files containing Google's confidential information, including the trade secrets relating to the infrastructure and software platform that allow Google's data centers to train large AI models. The secrets also contained information about the architecture and functionality of GPU and TPU chips and systems, the software that allows the chips to communicate and execute tasks, and the software that orchestrates thousands of chips into a supercomputer capable of executing at the cutting-edge machine learning and AI technology, the indictment said.

Ant Group announced the establishment of its own AI innovation research and development department, NextEvo, led by Xu Peng in January 2024. Before joining Ant Group, Xu worked at Google for 11 years.
Subscriber content preview

Photo via CBRE [enlarge] Building 22, with its orange brick and glass facade, is at center, partially hidden by mature trees.





As the DJC first reported, exactly one year ago, Microsoft was then planning to sell its Building 22, which sits right next to Overlake Village Station, east of Interstate 520. No broker was attached at the time.





. . .
Tributes have poured in for BBC journalist and former RTE news2day presenter, Nick Sheridan, who has died at the age of 32.

Mr Sheridan was originally from Wexford, he was both an author and a journalist, and had worked for BBC Scotland for several years.

Former minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, paid tribute to Mr Sheridan.

So terribly sad to read this. It is truly awful. Nick was young, talented, vivacious, and full of potential. What a horrible, senseless loss. My thoughts are with his family, colleagues and many friends, Ms Sturgeon wrote in tribute.

Gary Smith, Head of News and Current Affairs at BBC Scotland, called him a wonderful colleague and a hugely talented journalist.

Nick has been a wonderful colleague. He was a hugely talented journalist, presenter and author - and one of those rare people who light up the lives of everyone around them. Funny, clever, kind. A lovely man, said Gary Smith.

Our hearts go out to his parents, to his partner and to all his family and friends, he added.

I cannot believe I've written this. Nick was the funniest, sharpest and best of hosts. He soothed me over many TV nerves and was just the loveliest, loveliest of men. What a ridiculous loss this is. Love to all Nick's family, colleagues and friends, paid broadcaster Catriona Stewart in tribute.
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.

If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .

Support our mission and join our community now.
An Irish couple who neglected their two pet dogs have been convicted of animal cruelty.

At Mallow District Court on Tuesday, February 20, a couple from Cork were banned from owning dogs for 10 years, fined 1,000, and ordered to pay total costs of over 3000 after being convicted of animal cruelty.

Cian and Kelly Woods of Tooreen North, Co Cork had admitted ten offences each under sections 11, 12, 13 and 19 of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 (AHWA) at a previous sitting on November 28.

Ms Woods admitted that the dogs hadnt been out in years and that they were being fed and watered from the house out through a window. The dogs were surrendered and taken for veterinary assessment. They were sedated to be shaved, during which live maggots were found in the urine-soaked hair in one of the dogs.

The charges were in connection with two West Highland Terriers, named Hunter and Muttley, removed from the defendants house by the ISPCA on September 19, 2022.

In November, ISPCA Animal Welfare Inspector Caroline Faherty told the court that she responded to a report from a member of the public to find the dogs in an extremely matted state and living in a pen full of faeces. She said that it was obvious from grass growing around the pen that the dogs hadnt been let out in a very long time. The dogs had to be lifted out of the pen as the door couldnt be opened.

Speaking about the case, Inspector Faherty said: Hunter and Muttley had to endure atrocious living conditions and it is my view that they would have become seriously ill and died had the ISPCA not been alerted to their plight. I am just glad that I got there in time and was able to see such an immediate improvement in their condition and their lives.

The case was adjourned pending a probationary report and, on passing sentence this week, Judge Colm Roberts said that he remembered the case well.

He recalled that the defendants had a child or children and the dogs were an inconvenience. He said that it was a continued and long-term situation, and that the behaviour of the defendants was wilful.

The Judge said that he had considered imposing a custodial sentence or community service and that, if the defendants had more financial clout, the fines would have been much higher. A condition of the 10-year disqualification order was that the defendants must successfully complete an animal welfare course and submit a certificate to the ISPCA before getting a dog in the future.

Judge Roberts commended on the significant work of the ISPCA in protecting animals and putting this case together.
Voters across the country will go to the polls for the first time in more than four years this Friday as Ireland votes in two referendums.

Polling stations will open at 7am and will close at 10pm as hundreds of thousands of people have their say on whether to accept or reject two proposed changes to the Constitution.

Upon arrival at polling stations - which remain largely unchanged from the 2020 general election - voters will be given two slips of paper - one white and one green.

The white sheet of paper will ask people to vote on the family amendment. In this, there is one vote for two proposed changes.

The proposals involve the insertion of additional text to article 41.1.1 of the Constitution and the deletion of text in article 41.3.1.

The green sheet of paper will ask people to vote on the care amendment. It proposes deleting articles 41.2.1 and 41.2.2 of the Constitution and inserting a new article, 42b.

These proposed changes can be found online here, or by calling 01-888-2780.

Voters will be asked to vote yes or no to each proposal.

Tomorrow Friday 8 March is polling day for the Referendums on Family and Care.



Polls open at 7am and close at 10pm.



You dont need to have your polling information card with you, but you should bring valid ID.



More info: https://t.co/y6KbJCxkwK#YourVoteYourVoice pic.twitter.com/k1itBrqJOC  An Coimisiun Toghchain, The Electoral Commission (@ElecCommIRL) March 7, 2024

Irish citizens, aged 18 or over living in the State and on the electoral register are allowed to cast a vote on Friday.

If you are eligible to vote, you should have received a polling card in the post informing you of your local polling station.

If you do not receive a card, you should contact your local council or returning officer.

At the polling station, you are advised to bring some valid form of photographic identification.

After polling closes on Friday evening, ballot papers will be transferred from polling stations to local count centres across the country.

The counting of votes will begin at nine oclock on Saturday morning.

The votes will be counted on the basis of the current Dail constituency boundaries and as they are completed, the local results will be fed to officials at the national count centre at Dublin Castle.

The overall results of both referendums are expected to be known by early on Saturday evening.
Irelands independent electoral commission, An Coimisiun Toghchain, have confirmed that the election for Limerick's directly elected mayor will take place in June.

The announcement comes following the signing into law by President Michael D. Higgins of the Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, 2023.

The law provides for the establishment of an office of mayor for Limerick City and County and for an election to select Limericks Mayor.

The election for Irelands first ever elected Mayor is scheduled to take place in early June alongside the Local and European Elections.

Ms Justice Marie Baker, The Chair of An Coimisiun Toghchain said that with the legislation now signed by the president, Limerick and Irelands first ever Mayoral election "is going to happen in early June".

"Its now time for the people of Limerick to get registered so that you can vote in this historic election for Irelands first ever elected Mayor," she continued.
Victor Constanza of Stamford, an advocate for the decriminalization of psilocybin mushrooms, testified on pending legislation Wednesday before the Judiciary Committee. Ken Dixon/Hearst Connecticut Media Psilocybin mushrooms valued at $8.5 million were seized by Connecticut State Police last year in a raid on a Burlington residence. There is poending legislation in the General Assembly that would decriminalize small amounts of the drug. Connecticut State Police / Contributed Photo

HARTFORD  Republican lawmakers on Wednesday pushed back against advocates who want to decriminalize small amounts of psilocybin mushrooms for personal use.

But for Victor Constanza, 27, of Stamford, dosing with so-called "magic mushrooms" over the last year has drastically changed his life and helped him battle an eight-year-long bout with alcoholism and PTSD that resulted in numerous hospitalizations.

"A very common analogy is it's like 10 years of therapy in five hours," Constanza told the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee in support of a bill that would reduce criminal penalties to an infraction, punishable by $150 fines for a first-time offense of possession of a half ounce of psilocybin. "I came out feeling like a different person, like I'm ready to take on the world, I'm not afraid of anything. For the first time in my life it brought me clarity and brought me some forgiveness. When it ends, it's like wow, everything is going to be alright. It helps you become a better person. It changes your mind."

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Constanza said the pending legislation should include provisions for possession limits of up to an ounce of mushrooms; allow people to grow their own, and to be able to give them away. Advocates in Massachusetts are planning a statewide ballot question in November on decriminalizing psilocybin, while it is legal in Oregon and in Colorado to possess and grow psilocybin mushrooms.

"It's an intense trip, yes," Constanza said. "But it was instant relief. I haven't any cravings for alcohol. My life has a better outlook than before." He said that while so-called microdosing  the ingestion of half a milligram or less  does not affect people who want to work or drive, higher amounts, such as a 2.5-milligram dose, would necessitate staying put with a companion not experiencing the psychotropic effects of the drug.

Under questioning from state Rep. Greg Howard, R-Stonington, Constanza admitted that impaired users should not drive. "It depends on how much you're using," Constanza said, stressing that many people just take small doses to take advantage of its anti-depressant side effects. "You're not high, per se."

Rep. Craig Fishbein of Wallingford, a top Republican on the committee, asked that if the legislature were to decriminalize possession, would people have to procure psilocybin by illegal means? Constanzo said yes, "Because that's the only way."

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

"I would fully admit I have no idea about this substance," said veteran Rep. Tom O'Dea, R-New Canaan, who in recent years, like Howard and Fishbein, opposed the state's legalization of cannabis.

Prior to Constanza's appearance, first-term state Rep. Tracy Marra, R-Darien, said that the bill, which has been introduced and failed in recent years, said that while initial testing has found doses of the drug to be effective therapy in some patients, federal studies are a year away or longer, and the General Assembly should hold off on decriminalizing.

"The state of Connecticut really lacks the resources to regulate psilocybin effectively," said Marra, a pharmacist. "This is a role for the FDA, which is already engaged in this task. Self dosing raises concerns, particularly within an unregulated market. It is imperative we let research and development and pharmaceutical companies continue to do their comprehensive due diligence on psilocybin and that thorough time-intensive FDA approval processes assures safety and effectiveness of medications for consumers."

State Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, co-chairman of the committee, asked whether Marra had followed the statewide task force that looked into the issue and issued a report on the issue. Marra said she had not read the report.
An attempted murder accused who twice stabbed his partner of 18 years after chasing her with three different knives told gardai that he never had any intention of hurting her, a trial has heard.

The defendant said he had "no idea" why he stabbed the alleged victim twice in the leg and that the incident was "still all a blur" to him.

Cristal O'Brien has told the court how her ex-partner threatened to stab her "to pieces" and broke two knives in attacking her before going to retrieve a third, in what she described as a "terrifying" attack.

Her neighbour Alice McGrath gave evidence that the accused man said he was going to kill his former partner and that he didn't care "if he did time".

The Central Criminal Court trial was briefly interrupted on Tuesday when the accused man Philip Cox was heard calling Ms O'Brien "a lying c**t" whilst she was giving evidence to the jury.

Philip Cox (39), who is originally from Tallaght in Dublin but has an address at York Street Flats in Dublin 2, has pleaded not (NOT) guilty to the attempted murder of his former partner, Cristal OBrien, at the flat complex on December 1, 2022.

Giving evidence today, Detective Garda Chris Fitzgerald told prosecution counsel, Tim O'Leary SC, that gardai had approached Mr Cox at the scene and that both the accused and Ms O'Brien received medical attention before being brought to hospital in separate ambulances.

Det Gda Fitzgerald said Mr Cox had a cut to the top of his hand, which he received after breaking into Ms McGrath's flat at York Street and smashing the window on the door. He said Ms O'Brien had been stabbed twice in the leg.

Mr Cox was arrested for the offence of production of an article in the course of a dispute when he was discharged from the Mater Hospital.

At the outset of the first interview on December 1, Mr Cox told gardai that he had a few drinks in a local pub on the night and returned to the flat at York Street where he had a drink with Ms O'Brien.

The accused said the next thing he remembered was them getting into an argument, Ms O'Brien at their front door and the gardai coming into the flat.

The defendant said he and Ms O'Brien had broken up five months previously, having been together for 18-and-a-half-years.

Asked why they broke up, Mr Cox said Ms O'Brien told him that she didn't love him anymore. He said some of their arguments could be "heated but some could be not". He said he thought things were "grand" with Ms O'Brien and that the break up had come as "a shock" to him.

He added: "She said we were living separate lives, she was in the pub most nights and I stayed at home and did the cooking and the cleaning, she would come in and wouldn't even eat her dinner".

He said "things were awkward" between them for the last six months and it was "weird" for him.

When asked whether he still loved his ex-partner, Mr Cox replied "yes" and had always told her that he would get back with her if he could. "We still text all the time," he added.

The officers asked the accused whether he thought alcohol had an effect on him that night. Mr Cox said "no" because he was "able to have a few pints and be grand". He said he maybe had eight pints and a can of Heineken on the night of the incident. He said he drank up to four times a week and was "well accustomed" to drinking.

He said he hadn't noticed that his hand was "pumping" with blood until he got into the garda van. "I feel like shite, I don't even know why I stabbed Cristal or anything, I'm not feeling good at all," he continued.

When gardai put part of Ms O'Brien's statement to him and asked whether she was telling the truth, the accused replied: "I think so yeah, no idea what happened, that stuff, f**k me".

Detectives also asked the defendant whether Ms O'Brien had any reason to lie and the accused said he didn't think so.

Asked whether he disputed stabbing his ex-partner, the accused said "no". He was also asked if he knew why he had stabbed Ms O'Brien and he replied that he had "no idea".

"Were you trying to kill her?" asked the gardai. "I don't know, I don't remember, I never had any intent of hurting Cristal ever," replied Mr Cox. He accepted that he had produced a knife.

In his second interview, gardai again read from Ms O'Brien's statement where she said that the accused had started "booting" in her neighbour's door and came straight for her. Ms O'Brien also said that she had "kicked up and swung" her legs trying to stop her ex-partner from stabbing her but that he had "got" her and "stabbed" her twice in the leg area.

Gardai asked the accused whether he had anything to say to this and the accused replied that it was "still all a blur to me".

Asked whether he accepted what Ms O'Brien had said happened, the accused said: "Well if she said, I can't remember, I believe what she said, if she said that is what happened and Alice said that's what happened that's what happened".

He said he was shocked and ashamed by his actions the previous night.

He repeated that he was "going to have to" accept what Ms O'Brien and her neighbour said happened that night as he could not remember.

"You know Cristal and Alice years, do you think they'd lie about something like this?" asked gardai. "No I don't think so," he said.

Gardai told the accused that he had stabbed his ex-partner twice but had tried to stab her more times. The accused said he didn't remember. "Nothing will ever make up for this," he added.

He said he felt "100 percent shame" and was disgusted by his actions.

He also said he didn't know why he "did it'

Under cross-examination, Det Gda Fitzgerald agreed with Eoghan Cole SC, defending, that the accused was charged with certain offences when his detention came to an end but that he was not charged with the attempted murder of his ex-partner until May 2, 2023. The garda said Mr Cox had no previous convictions.

In his opening address, Mr O'Leary told the jury that they were only deciding on one count of attempted murder but that Mr Cox had already pleaded guilty (GUILTY) to assault causing harm, aggravated burglary and to the production of a knife during the course of a dispute at the same date and location.

The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of seven men and five women, when it is expected that closing speeches will take place.
The family of the inspirational and brave young girl Saoirse Ruane have announced she has died following her long battle with cancer.

The 12-year-old from Co. Galway captured the hearts of people across Ireland when she appeared on the Late Late Toy Show, during the height, of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Having being diagnosed with a rare form of the disease in December 2019, Saoirse had to have her right leg amputated and her appearance on the Toy Show coincided with the launch of the Toy Show appeal which has helped raise millions of euro over the past three years.

Last year, Saoirse's family revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer for a fourth time and this Thursday morning they announced she died earlier this week.

"It is with broken hearts the Ruane family announces the passing of their beautiful daughter and sister, Saoirse, who passed away peacefully at home, after a long illness bravely borne, in the arms of her heartbroken parents, Ollie and Roseanna, on Tuesday, March 5 2024," read her death notice published on RIP.ie.

"Saoirse, aged just 12 years old, was surrounded, as she has been throughout her illness, by the love, care and devotion of her family, the prayers and goodwill of the community in Kiltullagh and people all over the country who held Saoirse in their hearts," it added.

Saoirse will repose at her home this Friday afternoon and her Funeral Mass will take place in St Peter and Paul's Church, Kiltullagh, Co Galway on Sunday afternoon.
Northern Irelands private and public sectors have joined together to target investors in the Republic of Ireland with the offer of dual market access to both Great Britain and Europe.

At an event in Dublin, representatives from both sectors presented the regions business proposition after the return of the Northern Ireland Executive.

The Belfast City and Region Place Partnership representatives predicted a golden era for the regions economy and its commercial property market in the coming years.

Joe ONeill, chief executive of Belfast Harbour, said: There has never been a better time to invest in the Belfast city region.

The development of a new deal around the Windsor Framework and the return of the Northern Ireland Executive complete an already impressive investment case and pave the way for prosperity in the wider region.

We are delighted to present our compelling offering to the Irish investment community and look forward to making new contacts and engaging with future partners in our journey.

Northern Ireland and the Belfast city region has a unique opportunity in the form of dual market access and we intend to make the most of it for our people, our businesses and our partners.

Marie Hunt, chairwoman of ULI Ireland, said: A strong Belfast will not only benefit both capitals, but the entire Dublin-Belfast economic corridor.

John Walsh, chief executive of Belfast City Council, said: As the powerhouse of Northern Irelands economy, we are home to a thriving ecosystem of global brands, world-class researchers and start-ups.

Our two outstanding universities, network of further education colleges and skills academies ensure the highly educated, adaptable talent pipeline needed to meet industrys demands.
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Interim Commissioner Ronnell A. Higgins speaks next to Gov. Ned Lamont during a press conference at the State Capitol in Hartford, Thursday, February 1, 2024. State leaders released details of an independent investigation into claims that thousands of traffic tickets were falsified by state police. Dave Zajac/Hearst Connecticut Media State Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, co-chairman of the legislative Judiciary Committee Photo by Ken Dixon State Sen. Gary Winfield, right, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, in a file photo with Sen. Herron Gaston, D-Bridgeport Jim Michaud / Hearst Connecticut Media Ronnell Higgins, state commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Safety Ken Dixon/Hearst Connecticut Media New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson, left, in a file photo with Lt. Jason Rentkowicz Contributed photo / Courtesy of New Haven Police

HARTFORD  Leaders of a key legislative committee want to broaden Gov. Ned Lamont's reaction to the State Police ticketing scandal by possibly making it a crime for any law enforcement employees  not just sworn police personnel, but office clerks and dispatchers, as well  to intentionally report false data.

The possible expansion of pending legislation came up during a Wednesday public hearing on a bill that would clarify rules on traffic stop ticketing information. At least 12 officers are under internal investigations and reviews after a report found "serious failures" allowed State Police to significantly misreport racial profiling data for years.

State Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, noting that an interpretation of current law indicates that police officers and state troopers can already lose their jobs if they knowingly make false reports, asked Ronnell Higgins, commissioner of the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, about the suggested expansion to other law enforcement staff. Higgins admitted he had not contemplated a wider group of employees beyond troopers within the State Police.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

"Police officers are held to a higher standard," said Higgins, who conferred with the office of the Chief State's Attorney on Lamont's proposal. "This was really responsive to what we found with the data-entry issues with the Connecticut State Police."

"If we're going to hold police officers to that standard, it would seem we should likewise hold other professions in law enforcement to a similar standard," Stafstrom said.

Last year an audit of racial-profiling data indicated that as many as 311 troopers filed false or inaccurate data for between 25,966 and 58,553 tickets, between the years 2014 and 2021. The data led to an independent report that recommended policy changes and further investigation of certain officers. Higgins, whose hiring by Lamont last year was in response to the ticketing scandal uncovered by Hearst CT Media, is still leading a department review of the issue. As many as 76 constables were also found to have filed "statistically significant" amounts of false and inaccurate records.

Stafstrom noted that the governor's bill, submitted under General Assembly rules that allow him to propose legislation, would make the intentional filing of false records a fireable offense setting off a process called decertification. He believes that state laws already on the books cover such violations. "Wouldn't it be the case that under current law, if someone were found whether it's a State Police officer or a local police officer, were found to have intentionally falsified law enforcement records, they could be decertified under the 'undermines public confidence' provision of our current decertification statute?" Stafstrom asked Higgins. "Correct?"

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

"Correct," Higgins replied in agreement.

Stafstrom, co-chairman of the committee, called Lamont's proposal a "clarification or codification" of current law, which dates back to the state's police accountability law of 2020. Higgins said that the new wording closes a potential gap in the law.

"If there are officers out there who are found to have intentionally falsified records, certainly since the police accountability bill of 2020, they should be brought up for decertification under existing law, do you agree with that," Stafstrom asked. "I do," Higgins answered.

As the committee meeting progressed in a second floor meeting room of the Legislative Office Building, Republican leaders of the House and Senate blamed low morale and what they claimed was a rise in high-profile violent crime on Democrats and the 2020 legislation. "This is not the state of Connecticut we want to live in," House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, said in a press conference held in a first floor meeting room.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

"Both House and Senate Republicans stand with our law enforcement," Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield said during the news conference. "There have been continuous efforts on the part of the majority to limit their abilities to protect themselves and individuals in their communities. Our majority here in Hartford continues to put in measures and is doubling down on these measures to prevent police officers from doing their job to protect every single one of us."

In October, the DESPP reported that overall crime declined by 4 percent in 2022, including a 3 percent reduction in violent crime, a 13 percent reduction in homicides and an 18 percent drop in robberies, as well as a 3 percent reduction in property crimes.

Minutes after the Republican charges, state Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, declined to comment on the politics of the GOP charges. "There have been a lot of claims about crime being rampant and why it's rampant," Winfield said in a brief interview. "No one has shown me anything that lines up with it. You can make any suggestions you want. I'm open to conversations. You just have to actually have real data. When we have real data we'll have real conversations."

Another bill, aimed at focusing police on larger crimes, would make tinted glass and burned-out headlights and taillights secondary offenses and exempt from direct police traffic stops.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Stafstrom asked New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson, representing state police chiefs, about tinted windows. Jacobson said that newer cars have tint ratings on windows. "There are simple things like if you put your hand behind the window and can't see your hand, it's illegal," Jacobson said. "If you can't see anything in the car it's probably illegal."
The Interstate-84 tunnel in downtown Hartford after State Police responded to a street takeoveer, which led to multiple arrests. Connecticut State Police/contributed A commuter lot in Manchester showed marks from stunts left over from a street takeover last year. Christine Dempsey/Hearst Connecticut Media Group Evidence seized after a street takeover that netted three arrests after an FBI and Connecticut State Police investigation. Connecticut State Police / Contributed Photo A screen grab of a video showing a mob of people who participated in a Tolland street takeover, jumping and stomping on a local resident's car last year. Screen grab

Some vehicles involved in street takeovers, which have caused hazardous conditions in some cases for motorists and police, could be destroyed by local police rather than auctioned under a new proposal.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker on Thursday led support for the legislation during a public hearing before the legislative Public Safety and Security Committee. He said that all his administration can do now with illegally operated dirt bikes, mini motorcycles and all terrain vehicles, is auction them, where they inevitably go back into the problematic takeovers, which have occurred throughout the state.

"We are not allowed, under state statute, to chase these vehicles so we have to be really creative," Elicker said. "As you can imagine, we don't want these to just circulate back into the community, so we would like the tools to destroy them. If there's a lien on a vehicle that we seize, we actually have to return that vehicle to the offender. What the proposed change says is that we can seize it and the lien holder, we have to give them notice, and they have 30 days to collect the vehicle. That person that gave the loan is the one who has 30 days to collect the loan, otherwise they forfeit it."

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The bill, which if approved next heads to the state Senate, would also allow towns and cities that experience street takeovers to penalize organizers, participants and spectators with monetary fines ranging from $1,000 to $2,000. Another section of the legislation would create a grant program for municipalities to enforce laws against street takeovers, which can literally overrun local police departments.

Later during the hearing in the Legislative Office Building, state Rep. Kathy Kennedy, R-Milford, whose city was the target last December of a takeover, called for felony penalties to be added to the bill. "Street takeovers are part of a larger trend of increasing lawlessness on the highways and roadways of our state," Kennedy told the committee. In the Milford takeover, a police officer was injured, while in Meriden and Tolland, takeover participants damaged the private cars of residents.

"In the town of Shelton, with advanced warning, officers were able to pro-actively respond to and disperse an attempted street takeover involving more than 500 vehicles," Kennedy said. "And in perhaps the most egregious example, 1,500 vehicles trapped holiday shoppers in parking lots and backed up I-91 in both directions for a mile during a street takeover of North Haven. Street takeovers are closing our public roads and preventing our ambulance, fire and other emergency vehicles form getting where they need to go in a true emergency."

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Rep. Greg Howard of Stonington, a top Republican on the Public Safety Committee, noted that an average police department shift in a city the size of Milford might only be a dozen or so officers.
Connecicut's state capitol Hearst Connecticut Media

HARTFORD  The State Department of Education released updated guidelines last week on Parents Bill of Rights legislation passed last summer that clarify the rights of English learners, also called multilingual learners. Although many of the guidelines are already in practice in some districts, the unified bill of rights is set to apply to the districts in July.

The guidelines include the right of English learners to have equal access to all grade-level school programming, help with translation services at important meetings and a high-quality orientation session. The last right is that parents and guardians can reach out to the Department of Education if they have questions or concerns.

"The Parent Bill of Rights for ELs/MLs is needed to organize and elevate the rights that parents have related to language access through translation and interpretation and to clarify and affirm that children identified as ELs/MLs have access to grade level content and instruction, language instruction programs, and interventions," said a spokesperson for the department in an email statement.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

English learners have increased over the past 10 years in Connecticut. They made up 10 percent of students in the 2023-2024 school year, up from 6 percent in the 2014-15 schoolyear, according from data from EdSight.

Starting in July, each board of education that runs a bilingual education program or has services that teach English as a new language is required to provide the parents and guardians of eligible students with a copy of the bill of rights in their dominant language, as well as make copies of the bill available on the school board website.

At time of writing, the bill of rights is available on a dedicated landing page at the website of the State Department of Education in 18 languages including Spanish, Hindi and Vietnamese. The wording of the rights includes text from Section 17 of Public Act No. 23-150, an omnibus legislative bill passed in June of 2023 on several education issues. However, the three-page document adds context below every right to clarify the complex legal language of the public act.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Ana Soler serves as the chairperson of the National Association of Educational Translators and Interpreters of Spoken Languages, a professional organization that provides resources and advocacy for multilingual families in early education and k-12 education.

She said she was thrilled to see Connecticut's progress toward equity of communication in schools and added that her organization was involved in grassroots efforts to provide information to Connecticut organizers.

One of the most important aspects of having these guidelines translated into various languages, as CT has done, is to provide multilingual families with the resources and information needed to navigate a new educational system (for some) and understand their roles and responsibilities when it comes to language access, she said in an email statement.

Now that the guidelines are in place, education organizers Sara Swetzoff, and Helen Quinonez from advocacy organization Make the Road Connecticut are shifting their focus to an effective rollout in the districts.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Make the Road was one of the members of the coalition that advocated for the legislation last year as more than 50 of their members testified via Zoom and in person during the public hearing at the Legislative Office Building and 50 others submitted written testimony in advance. During the hearing, parents and students from the organization urged the legislature to support this bill and shared struggles with educational language services, specifically regarding access to interpretation and translation.
THE Palestinian ambassador to Ireland was bowled over by how she was welcomed at a Cork gaelscoil, and she praised the demonstration of solidarity and support for Palestine.

Dr Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid was welcomed to Gaelscoil Pheig Sayers, in Farranferris recently, where students fervently expressed their support for the people of Palestine, with chants of saor, saor Phailistin (free, free, Palestine).

It was a fantastic occasion. I think the ambassador was really moved by the reception she got from the children, Mick Nugent, a Cork City councillor and member of the board of directors of the school, told The Echo.

The childrens choir sang and a number of the teachers, as well, accompanied with musical instruments.

The Palestinian flag is always flying on the school grounds.

Presentations were made to the ambassador, who also gave gifts to the school.

I think she was really bowled over by the reception she got.

The Palestinian death toll from the war has now reached over 30,000 people, according to Gazas health ministry.

The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says women and children make up 66% of the total.

It says 72,000 people have been wounded.

Irael launched its offensive after Hamas-led militants stormed across the border on October 7.

Mr Nugent said the Palestinian ambassadors visit to the school on Friday was poignant.

I, and Im sure others, were thinking of the children of Gaza, of a similar age. Its horrific whats going on. Children have been killed and maimed and injured and lost family members, he said.

The ambassador, he said, gave a brief address to the school during her visit, acknowledging the support, and thanking the school and wider community in Cork for their support.

In a post on X, the social media-platform formerly known as Twitter, the Mission of the State of Palestine to Ireland said the ambassador was honoured to have visited Gaelscoil Pheig Sayers and extended her heartfelt appreciation to school principal Adrian Breathnach and the exceptionally talented students.
A 39-YEAR-OLD Cork woman who was convicted about 20 times for being drunk and a danger said she was turning her life around, until someone gave her a cup of tea that she believes was spiked with something.

Jennifer Rodgers made this claim through her solicitor Eddie Burke at Cork District Court, where she pleaded guilty to another series of public order and theft offences.

It is an unmitigated disaster for this young woman. She does very well when she is not on alcohol, Mr Burke said.

Judge Mary Dorgan said: Unfortunately, when she is left to her own devices, the wheels fall off.

Sergeant John Kelleher outlined details of the incidents that gave rise to the accused woman being prosecuted.

On November 27 2023, Rodgers was asked to leave Herlihys Centra on Oliver Plunkett St, Cork, and she reacted by throwing a chair at the shopfront.

She then picked up the chair from a table outside the premises.

There was no damage caused.

Rodgers, who was living with Cork Simon Community, was arrested on Sunday morning, January 14, for stealing a bottle of vodka valued 22 from Tesco on Paul St that morning shortly after 11am.

She was charged at the Bridewell with shoplifting arising out of this, and then released on station bail.

However, she was arrested again later that afternoon and charged with stealing another bottle of vodka valued 22  this time from Dunnes Stores on Patrick St.

She also pleaded guilty to those and other thefts and public order offences. She stole a small item from Phelans pharmacy on Patrick St on September 20, 2023.

She carried out the theft of two bottles of wine at the shop section of The Flying Enterprise on January 3 of this year. She returned to the pub that evening and stole a bottle of vodka.

Ms Rodgers said: I have had time to reflect. I am a completely different person when Im on alcohol. I am not getting any younger.

Drink brings out a side of me I really dont like.

Judge Dorgan sentenced Ms Rodgers to a total of five months in relation to the various theft and public order charges.
SOME 18 months after The Echo first reported that Social Care Work graduates at the Cork campus of Munster Technological University (MTU) were at risk of graduating without officially recognised qualifications, the course remains unaccredited.

The Social Care Workers Register opened in November of 2023, introducing regulation for the first time in Ireland.

The register lists approved qualifications and, if a qualification is not listed, it cannot be used to apply for entry to the register.

Approval of social care courses is determined by Coru, the regulator for health and social care professionals, and  as reported in The Echo in September 2022  MTU Corks Social Care Work (BA) course is not currently approved.

The approval process for social care courses was introduced in 2017 and, according to Corus website, MTU Cork applied for accreditation for its social care courses only in March 2023. MTUs Cork and Kerry campuses had both initially applied for Coru approval for their social care courses early in 2022. However, it is understood that MTU Cork subsequently withdrew its initial application.

A spokesperson for Coru told The Echo that its approval process is dependent on each education provider demonstrating how their programme meets the minimum standards set by Coru. Where this is clearly evidenced, Corus programme approval process typically takes 12 to 18 months to complete.

MTU Kerrys successful application to Coru was submitted in March 2022, with the approval process taking 12 months.

Without recognition of MTU Corks Social Care Work (BA) course by Coru, graduates would not be able to become registered social care workers in Ireland. It is understood that MTU Cork has around 200 students in its course.

During a two-year transition period from last November until November 2025, Coru will offer an alternative option for applicants who have been practising in the profession for a minimum of two years out of the previous five on the date the register opens; [or if they] hold the relevant qualifications.

'GRANDPARENTING'

This means that until such time as MTU Corks Social Care Work (BA) course is recognised by Coru, its graduates would have to work for two years in the field under what is called a grandparenting process. With the grandparenting process closing in November 2025, third-year social care students graduating from MTU Cork last year would have to secure work in the social care field to accrue two years worth of experience by November 2025.

If MTU Corks Social Care Work (BA) course is not Coru-approved by October of this year, students who graduate this year would not have time to work for two years in the field before the November 2025 deadline.

However, this situation would change if MTU Corks Social Care Work (BA) course is subsequently approved.

A Coru spokesperson told The Echo: If a person holds a qualification which is subsequently listed in an approved qualifications bylaw, they are eligible to apply for registration where they must also meet all the registration requirements such as Garda vetting before the registration board will consider the application for registration.

On its website, Coru states: Programme approval is not guaranteed, and a programme may not be approved. Coru cannot comment on the status of individual programme application while the process is ongoing.

A spokesperson for Coru said: The social care courses at MTU are still going through the approval process and we expect to have a decision from the Social Care Workers Registration Board later in the year.

A spokesperson for MTU Cork told The Echo: MTU is fully committed to the Coru programme approval process. We have one social care course awaiting approval, the BA in Social Care Work on our Cork campus, and we are proactively engaging with Coru to achieve this as soon as possible.
THE principal of a Cork school has welcomed the proposed expansion of the primary school curriculum.

However, he said that its success would depend on adequate resources being made available by the Department of Education for elements such as training, material, and equipment.

Seamus OConnor of Scoil Bhride in Midleton was speaking to The Echo following the publication by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment of five draft primary curriculum specifications.

These include proposed curriculums for arts education, modern foreign languages, social and environmental education, science, technology and engineering education, as well as wellbeing education.

Mr OConnor said that he had experience working on the implementation of the proposed new curriculums when they were implemented on a pilot basis, and broadly welcomed the proposals.

He said, however, that there would be proper resourcing for training and materials for the curriculum areas needed, and was anxious to ensure the burden would not fall on schools and parents to fund materials for the new curriculum.

I would have relatively extensive experience in relation to the consultation process around this, he said, adding that there were 11 curriculum areas at present and it was proposed to reduce that to seven, the five announced yesterday as well as maths and literacy to include Irish and English.

While there are new areas in it including modern languages, overall the idea of the new curriculum is to reflect more modern society in relation to more integration of IT and so forth, he said.

The introduction of a new curriculum is fine but, as always, the devil is in the detail in relation to the resourcing that is going to come.

He pointed to the proposal to introduce modern foreign languages as a potential problem area.

The aspiration at this point is that primary school teachers currently, who have zero experience or training in introducing, lets say, French, he said. How is that going to work in reality, and how will the provision of training for teachers happen?

The consultation will run until June 7 and will involve online and in-person focus group meetings, written submissions, and an online questionnaire.

As well as seeking the views of parents, teachers, and other adult parties, the consultation process will also involve children, and will include school visits to gather their views.
TWELVE thousand multi-coloured balls are set to race down popular Cork street in aid of charity.

The annual Cork Lions Club Ball Run on Patricks Hill will take place on March 18 at 2pm to raise funds for the people of Gaza and a number of local Cork charities.

Cork Lions Club President, John Walsh said: Cork Lions Club are delighted to use this years Patricks hill Ball Run to support the people of Gaza and local Cork charities.

This is a great family friendly event and is one of our main fundraisers. We greatly appreciate the support of the people of Cork.

Each ball in the Ball Run will be individually numbered and released from a cage at the top of Patricks Hill in a colourful cascade. The balls are then guided down the hill and gathered in a trap at the bottom where the first 6 balls will win a cash prize, with first place bagging 500.

Club members will also be taking the opportunity to collect old glasses from onlookers at the Ball Run as part of their Recycle for Sight Campaign. This campaign recycles old glasses which are cleaned, graded and distributed at eye clinics across third world countries.

Balls will be sold on the hill or can be purchased online for 2 on the Lions Club website: www.corklionsclub.ie
The investigation into an attack in Cork Prison where a prisoner had his left ear bitten off resulted in a 28-year-old Czech national being arrested and charged today.

Detective Sergeant Kieran OSullivan arrested Roman Becvar and charged him under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act with assault causing serious harm to another prisoner.

He was charged under Section 4 of that act  the most serious category of non-fatal assault.

A Czech interpreter was present when the accused was being charged at the courthouse on Anglesea Street. Asked if he had any reply to the charge after caution the accused man made no reply.

The specifics of the charge state that the alleged assault occurred on April 9 2023.

Sergeant Pat Lyons said the Director of Public Prosecutions directed that the case should be heard by judge and jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court or he could plead guilty at the district court and be sentenced at the circuit court.

Solicitor Shane Collins-Daly stood in for the defendants solicitor, Charles OConnor, and applied for a copy of the prosecution statements to be sent to Mr OConnor so that the defence could decide on the issue of pleading guilty or not guilty.

There was no application for bail on behalf of Mr Becvar today. Judge Mary Dorgan remanded the accused in custody until March 14.

Depending on what is indicated by the defence it will then be a matter of whether or not a book of evidence will have to be prepared.
Two men who face multiple charges in connection with human trafficking and money laundering have appeared in court in Cork where they were remanded in custody with consent to bail.

Marian Vavrek, 46, of 5 Kontiki, Rooskey, Co Roscommon and Ladislav Bubencik, 32 of Railway Road, Charleville, Co Cork appeared before Judge John King at Midleton District Court.

Ladislav Bubencik faces three counts of human trafficking and 20 counts of money laundering, while Mr Vavrek faces three counts of human trafficking and one count of money laundering. Both men are originally from Slovakia but have been resident in Ireland for several years.

Prosecuting Sgt Linda OLeary said that instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on how to proceed were still awaited. In both cases she said that the State was objecting to the men being released on bail.

Det Sgt. Alan Lynch who is attached to the Human Trafficking Investigation and Co-ordination Unit at Garda National Protective Services Bureau told the court that he had been assisting gardai in Cork in relation to the accused.

Alleged

He said that it was alleged that the accused were part of a criminal gang that brought vulnerable people from Slovakia to Ireland and exploited their labour.

He told the court that such gangs operate by bringing people to Ireland, keeping them isolated and exploiting their work for their own personal gain. He said that human trafficking was supported by the three pillars of mobilisation, means and exploitation, which he said was evident in the cases before the court.

Marian Vavrek faces three counts of human trafficking and one count of money-laundering.

In the case of Marian Vavrek Det Sgt. Kevin McCarthy gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution. He outlined the case against Mr Vavrek and said that there were three alleged injured parties who had given statements. He said that CCTV footage showed Mr Vavrek collecting people from Dublin Airport and also using bank cards at ATMs that were not his own. He objected to bail based on the grounds that the accused was likely to continue to commit alleged offences, the seriousness of the charges he was facing and that he would allegedly intimidate witnesses.

Mr Vavreks solicitor Denis Linehan said that because the alleged injured parties were no longer residing in the country it was not practical to consider that Mr Vavrek could intimidate them. He added that the money laundering charge his client faced was in respect of 219 which he said was a minute amount.

Denied

He said that his client had denied all the charges put to him. He said that the prosecution were attaching too much significance to the fact that he collected somebody from the airport.

In the case of Ladislav Bubencik, Det Garda Shane ODonoghue gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution. He was also charged with the human trafficking of three named individuals and also with 20 counts of money laundering. He denied all of the charges put to him and gardai also objected to bail on the grounds that the accused was likely to continue to commit alleged offences, the seriousness of the charges he was facing and that he would allegedly intimidate witnesses.

Mr Bubenciks solicitor Charles OConnor said that his client had been living at the same address in Charleville for 10 years. He said that he was married and that all of his family with the exception of his grandmother were living in Ireland. He said that his children were attending the local primary school and that Mr Bubencik had no relevant previous convictions.

In the case of Marian Vavrek Judge John King said that the charges were very serious but the evidence before him essentially rested on three statements. He said that the social media and CCTV evidence had been referred to but not put before him. He added that on that basis he had some concerns about the strength of the evidence.

Remanded

He remanded Mr Vavrek in custody with consent to bail on his own bond of 600, no cash required. An independent surety cash lodgement of 20,000 was also required. The said surety is to be approved by the District Court. If bail is granted Mr Vavrek must reside at an address to be furnished to gardai at least 24 hours prior to taking up the bail bond and to be approved by them.

He must sign on at a garda station to be approved twice daily from 9am to 1pm and from 2pm to 9pm. He must also surrender his passport and any other travel documents to gardai and agree not to apply for any replacements. He was also ordered to furnish gardai with his mobile phone number, to have it turned on, kept charged and in credit and to answer any calls from gardai.

He was also ordered to have no contact whatsoever, direct or indirect with the alleged injured parties.

He was remand in custody with consent to bail to appear before Mallow District Court by video link on Tuesday, March 12 to receive instructions from the DPP.

Ladislav Bubencik was remanded in custody with consent to bail on the same conditions, except the address was specified as Railway Road, Charleville and the garda station was specified as Mallow Garda Station. He is also due to appear by video link at Mallow District Court on Tuesday, March 12.
CONCERNS have been raised about a lack of communication with residents about the felling of trees along the N28 Cork to Ringaskiddy road.

Tree and hedgerow removal works are taking place along the Carrs Hill stretch of the N28, which runs from the South Ring Rd out to Ringaskiddy, to make way for the new M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy scheme.

However, Labour Party local election candidate for Cork City South East, Peter Horgan, said that a lack of communication on the removal of trees at Carrs Hill has shocked residents in neighbouring estates such as Bloomfield, Woodbrook, and Mount Oval.

Speaking to The Echo, Mr Horgan said that residents need to be communicated with directly about the scheme.

Residents have cited to me the starkness of the tree cutting that has taken place. At the nub is a lack of outwardly, accessible, communication on what is happening, he said.

The road is happening, but more engagement with communities  so there is a buy-in on the different elements  is required.

Engagement

In response to a parliamentary question submitted by the Labour Party seeking information on the tree felling process, Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) said site clearance and tree and hedgerow removal works have been undertaken to facilitate the detailed design and advanced enabling works for the scheme.

To date, three hectares of invasive gorse and 18.7ha of trees and hedgerows have been cleared, in compliance with our Environmental Impact Statement commitments for the scheme, TII said. This clearance work has enabled the diversion of major utilities from within the route corridor.

The clearance works were also necessary to facilitate detailed ground investigation works and topographical surveys.

Furthermore, the clearance works were required to assess and mitigate the archaeological impacts of construction along the 12.5km route.

It also said that over 20ha of new trees and shrubs will be planted as part of the scheme, and that 1,200 trees and shrubs have been planted to date in advance of the main contract works.

TII has recorded a total spend to date of 48.7m on the M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy scheme up to the end of the 2023 financial year, and the Department of Transport has confirmed a grant allocation of 17.6m to progress the scheme in 2024.
Breaking into a sausage company van on Christmas week resulted in a young man getting a two-month jail term and an eight-month suspended sentence at Cork District Court.

Evan OLeary admitted getting into an OFlynns Gourmet Sausage Company van parked at Redemption Road in Cork and damaging it.

At Cork District Court the accused man, Evan OLeary of Churchfield Terrace East, Cork, has been sentenced by Judge Mary Dorgan. But in effect he has already served the sentence as he has been in custody on the charges since the crime was committed.

The 28-year-old was charged with counts of getting into the van and causing damage to the cowling and wiring of the vehicle on December 22, 2023.

Evan OLeary previously told Judge Mary Dorgn: I was meant to go into treatment before Christmas but I had a relapse. I just got these two charges and regret them.

The guards said you are on drugs, Judge Dorgan said.

Evan OLeary replied: No, I had a slip. I am on methadone. The same defendant also admitted stealing 189 worth of alcohol on November 23, 2023 at Dunnes Stores at Blackpool shopping centre. He was stopped by security officers outside the premises and the alcohol was recovered.

Joseph Cuddigan solicitor said of the accused: He stayed off all substances. Unfortunately, he relapsed. He associated with people he should not have associated with. He is now totally detoxed. There are also mental health issues."

On the question of whether there was any prospect of compensation, Mr Cuddigan said, I would not have thought so. He will be on social welfare on his release from prison.

The young man was sentenced to two months on the shoplifting. In relation to the break-in to van he was given eight months suspended and the probation service was asked to assess hit suitability for 200 hours of community service. He was found suitable. Judge Dorgan said he could do that community service on his release from prison.

Mr OLeary was released from prison today as the two-month prison term was effectively served by virtue of him being remanded in custody from December 2023.
Baltimore RNLI got a call out to Cape Clear Island last night when a man living there required a medical evacuation.

A spokesperson for the volunteer lifeboat crew shared that they launched their all-weather lifeboat at 10.50pm, following a request from the Irish Coast Guard to provide the medical evacuation.

Conditions during the call out were described as fresh with a south easterly force 5 wind and poor visibility.

They arrived at North Harbour on Cape Clear Island at 11.25pm, where, after a quick assessment by a Casualty Care lifeboat crew member, the man was brought onboard the lifeboat, which departed the island minutes later and returned to the station in Baltimore just before midnight.

The man evacuated was then handed over to the care of HSE Ambulance crew.

There were seven volunteer crew onboard the lifeboat, Coxswain Aidan Bushe, Mechanic Brian McSweeney and crew members Kieran Collins, Don ODonovan, Jerry Smith, Stuart Musgrave and Maria Coleman.

Kate Callanan, Baltimore RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer said, Whilst this callout was very similar to a medevac carried out from Cape Clear Island exactly two weeks prior, it was very different for Maria Coleman as this was her first shout as a fully qualified member of the Baltimore Lifeboat crew.

Congratulations to Maria from all at Baltimore RNLI. Please remember if you find yourself in a medical emergency whilst on an island call 999 or 112.
Niamh Harrington, supported by Cope Foundation

My name is Niamh and I am always willing to help people out. Also, I am very kind and caring and Ive seen a lot in the last 29 years of my life.

I am supported by Cope Foundation and I have a disability. Its called dyspraxia, but the emotional side. I have a learning disability too sometimes. I always tell people what kind of a disability I have because it actually doesnt bother me anymore.

Niamh Harrington.

I am proud of how far I have come, even though I have my disability.

I think inclusion is very important for people in Cope Foundation. We cant have our disability overcloud our life and we should be treated the same as everyone. It doesnt mean that we cant achieve the same things as people without a disability.

I help other people being on the Advocacy Council in Cope Foundation. We are a group who represent everyone in Cope Foundation. We help other people make their own decisions as it can be scary sometimes, but in a group its easier. We help people realise that they have a right to make their own decisions.

Some people might not agree with our decisions, but we are adults and we are happier when we are making our own decisions.

We want to help Cope Foundation to have a better understanding of us. People need to have trust in us! Our loved ones arent going to be around forever so we all need to learn to be independent and make our own decisions, or else well never be okay in the world.

I am also part of a human rights committee in Cope Foundation, so Im very busy. I did a four-week course in MTU last year in self-advocacy. I learned a lot about what rights are and also learned more about what to do in life if youre not getting your rights.

In Ireland, there are not enough support or facilities out there for people with disabilities. It can be frustrating sometimes, but I am doing my best to change things.

Gillian Keating and Caroline O'Driscoll.

Gillian Keating and Caroline ODriscoll, I WISH

I Wish was born out of a dream to change and influence the world we live in. To do something to increase female participation in STEM. To give girls a voice.

We figured if we motivate and equip those young women with the curiosity and drive to solve the problems the world is facing, it would ensure equality and diversity of thought.

Through the I Wish movement, we have seen over 63,000 girls think about STEM differently and begin to realise their dreams and ambitions through STEM.

Through our community of I Wish partners, I Wish alumnae and role models, supported by a large network of teachers and parents, we are working towards a model that drives real change by influencing policy.

Emphasising the need for inclusive interventions and inspiring female students to envisage a future for themselves in STEM is what #InspireInclusion is all about for us here at I Wish.

Bhagya Barrett.

Bhagya Barrett, co-founder of Rebel City Distillery. Cork citys first distillery in half a century

As the only woman of colour leading a distillery in Ireland, inspire inclusion for me goes beyond diversity acknowledgment; its about celebration. I believe in creating spaces where everyone feels valued, heard, and empowered to contribute their unique perspectives.

This involves breaking down barriers, challenging stereotypes, promoting equal opportunities, and recognising the richness that diverse voices bring to the table.

Embracing and appreciating the multi-faceted experiences, talents, and strengths of each woman is crucial in building a vibrant and equitable community for all.

Our flagship spirit from Rebel City Distillery, Maharani Gin, is more than just a gin, its a homage to revolutionary women worldwide. Each sip pays tribute to the strength and achievements of women who have challenged norms and paved the way for change. From ethically sourcing signature spices to supporting the Women Sun Spice Collective, our gin embodies inclusivity and empowerment. It serves as a toast to the countless revolutionary women, inspiring us to craft not just a beverage but a celebration of their enduring impact.

Dominique Corcoran.

Dominique Corcoran, Founder of Saol Yoga @yoga_with_dominique).

I run a wellness business based in Durrus, offering yoga classes and retreats, sound healing, meditation and swimming lessons. Im also Social Media Officer in the 2024 Committee of Network Ireland West Cork.

Inspired inclusion invites us to open our minds and hearts to everyone. To provide a welcoming and empowering space where people from all backgrounds can have an equal opportunity to meet and share ideas and experiences to the betterment of each other. It also means actively working against discrimination in all its forms.

Olive Walsh

Olive Walsh, Provest

I am a member of the team at Provest, a Pension & Investment Consultancy company based in Cork. I have worked in financial services for many years and it is very evident to me that our current private pension system is not very inclusive for women.

If they have a private pension scheme, and many dont, they often have a smaller fund at retirement than their male counterparts. This is, in part, due to the fact that many women, myself included, have taken time out of employment during their lifetime to care for children or family members and some will work reduced hours during their lifetime also for the same reasons. Their unpaid role as a carer in the home is not taken into account for private pension provision.

The State Contributory Pension model has become more inclusive, however the taxation structure of private pensions only offers tax relief for pension contributions made from paid employment.

Womens pension provision needs to be at the forefront of future pension policy decisions.

Auto-enrolment, which is currently being finalised by the Department of Social Protection, should include some provision for women as carers and home-makers.

Your private pension contributions should not have to stop when you leave paid employment to care for your loved ones. There should still be some form of top up scenario for your pension contributions in this instance.

At Provest, we urge the Department of Social Protection to use the auto enrolment scheme to correct this imbalance.

We all need to inspire policy-makers to look at alternative and more inclusive ways of acknowledging the valuable unpaid work carried out by women as carers and home-makers when calculating future pension entitlements.

Women also need to be inspired to value themselves enough to seek specific professional financial advice on how to best maximise their future pension entitlements.

Nora Lawton, Springboard Communications' Director. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan /OSM PHOTO

Nora Lawton, Director, Springboard Communications

I am a Director at Springboard Communications and also handle the PR for the West Cork Branch of Network Ireland. I have worked in the communications industry for over 20 years - in the last decade, I have been actively encouraging agency bosses and clients to broaden their DEI+Belonging commitments and to create authentic work environments where differences dont matter.

If anything, critical thinking, active debate and simply not accepting the status quo - all this is encouraged.

Creating safe spaces, coupled with a sense of belonging and mutual accountability, is important. After all, if we see it, we can feel it and well believe it. And everyone has a valid contribution to make.

Majella Galvin.

Majella Galvin, DNG Galvin - Estate Agent

Inspired Inclusion, to me, is the aspiration for a society where everyone feels empowered, valued, and celebrated for their individuality and contributions.

Its about fostering environments where diversity flourishes, barriers diminish, and opportunities are accessible to all, regardless of gender or any other identifier.

Inspired Inclusion ignites a shared dedication to uplift one another, amplify diverse voices, and advocate for equality in every facet of life, not only on International Womens Day, but every single day.

Remi Kolawole, CEO of Solid-Link Consulting Ltd (pictured above)

Inspiring inclusion on International Womens Day means recognising and celebrating the diverse achievements and contributions of women worldwide. In our community, I believe our strength lies in embracing diversity and fostering an environment where everyone is valued and heard.

On this special day, I commit to watch out for others, engage with the community in a way that brings positive change, and actively contribute to creating a more inclusive space. Speaking up is essential, not just for myself but for those who may need support. I believe that collectively using our voices will inspire positive change and cultivate a culture of inclusion.

Lets join forces to champion the cause of equality, empower each other, and appreciate the unique perspectives each woman brings to the table.

Heres to a future where every woman feels seen, heard, and appreciated. Happy International Womens Day!

Join Solid-Link Consulting Ltd, at 12, South Mall, for their IWD networking event on March 8, 4.30pm to 7.30pm.

Queenie O'Riordan.

Queenie ORiordan, Founder, The SISTER HUB, Aghada Co. Cork

Inspire Inclusion encapsulates the core mission and values of The SISTER HUB Aghada, the first multicultural support network for women in and around East Cork.

Its about embracing diversity as a source of strength and actively working to break down barriers that inhibit inclusivity. Through our actions and advocacy, we aspire to inspire others to embrace the beauty of differences, promote equality, and create a more inclusive society where all women can thrive and succeed.
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (March 7, 2024)  To commemorate Women's History Month, three spoken word artists are slated to share their works and experiences as part of the Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) Community Connections Performance and Lecture Series.

The event, Dont Touch My Pen: Continuing the Tradition of Womens Poetic Voices," is Thursday, March 28 at 7 p.m. in the Mickey L. Burnim Fine Arts Center. Dont Touch My Pen: Continuing the Tradition of Womens Poetic Voices will feature North Carolina poet laureate Jaki Shelton Green, poetry slam champion Ayanna Albertson and professional spoken word artist and Piedmont poet laureate Dasan Ahanu. Admission is free but registration is required on the event site.

Because March is Womens History Month, organizers are hopeful this multi-generational experience speaks to the importance of the female voice, influence, and legacy.

These experiences center womens contributions to the arts and keep the historical impacts women continue to make at the forefront, while allowing our students to see professional artists right here on campus, said Nichole Lewis, ECSU interim associate vice chancellor of Student, Alumni, and Constituent Engagement.

Community Connections events are sponsored and supported by a combination of ECSU student fees, title sponsorship from Microsoft, First Citizens Wealth Management, Duke Energy Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts, and private donations from Trustee Phyllis Bosomworth.

For more information email ecsucommunityconnections@ecsu.edu. For accessible seating options, email ada504-coordinator@ecsu.edu.

What: Dont Touch My Pen: Continuing the Tradition of Womens Poetic Voices, Community Connections Performance and Lecture Series

Who: Jaki Shelton Green, North Carolina poet laureate; Dasan Ahanu, Piedmont poet laureate and professional spoken word artist, and; Ayanna Albertson, poetry slam champion.

When: Thursday, March 28, 2024, 7 p.m.

Where: Mickey L. Burnim Fine Arts Center

About Elizabeth City State University

Elizabeth City State University provides students with a high-quality, affordable education. A constituent member of the University of North Carolina System, ECSU develops courageous, resilient, and empowered leaders through excellent student-centered, experiential learning. ECSU offers baccalaureate, professional, and masters degrees across a wide variety of disciplines. Come to Discover. Leave to Conquer. Visit www.ecsu.edu.




Philippine swine production poised for growth amid ASF battle



Swine production in the Philippines is anticipated to see an uptick this year, albeit at a slower rate, as the country makes progress in combating African swine fever (ASF), Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.

Chester Warren Tan, president of the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc in the Philippines, projects a 3% increase in domestic hog output despite ongoing challenges.

Speaking at an event in Quezon City, Tan expressed optimism about the positive trend in production amidst lingering issues.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), total swine inventory as of end-September 2023 stood at 9.86 million heads, reflecting a 2.1% decline from previous figures.

However, this volume still falls short of pre-ASF outbreak levels, which were around 13 million heads.

In 2023, local swine production reached 1.79 million metric tonnes (MT), a slight increase from the previous year's 1.73 million MT.

Tan emphasised the significance of recent achievements, such as securing the Guinness World Record for the most variety of pork dishes on display, as morale boosters for local swine raisers.

Philippines Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr shares Tan's optimism, foreseeing the gradual elimination of the virus by next year with the accreditation of at least one vaccine by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Tiu Laurel noted that two vaccine firms are awaiting approval, with two more expected to apply soon, signalling progress in the fight against ASF.

- Philippine Daily Inquirer
CG Power and Industrial Solutions Limited (CG), Renesas Electronics and Stars Microelectronics had signed a Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) to establish a JV to build and operate an OSAT facility in India. The Union Cabinet approved the project of the JV under Indias Semiconductor scheme.

The JV between CG, a part of Tube Investments of India Limited and the Murugappa Group, Renesas Electronics and Stars Microelectronics, a Thailand-based Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) provider brings together unique capabilities of the partners with a vision to Make in India for the World. CG, with around 86 years of manufacturing expertise, is keen to build semiconductor capabilities and ecosystem in India. Renesas, a leading semiconductor company headquartered in Japan, will provide advanced semiconductor technology and expertise. Stars Microelectronics, a Thai based OSAT, will provide both technology for legacy packages and training and enablement.

The JV will be 92.3 % owned by CG, with Renesas and Stars Microelectronics each holding equity capital of approximately 6.8 % and 0.9 %, respectively. The JV plans to invest INR 7,600 crores over a five-year period, which will be financed through a mix of subsidies, equity, and potential bank borrowings as required.

The JV will set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Sanand, Gujarat, with a capacity that will ramp up to 15 million units per day. The JV will manufacture a wide range of products  ranging from legacy packages such as QFN and QFP to advanced packages such as FC BGA, and FC CSP. The JV will cater to industries such as automotive, consumer, industrial, 5G, to name a few.

Commenting on this new venture, Mr. S. Vellayan, Chairman, CG Power and Industrial Solutions Limited, said, CGs entry into the semiconductor manufacturing marks a strategic diversification for us. Our partners, Renesas and Stars Microelectronics, will make our learning curves steeper and help us focus on innovation and excellence. This is a very exciting phase for the entire nation, and we are very keen to build out Indias semiconductor capability and ecosystem. Mr. Natarajan Srinivasan, Managing Director, CG Power and Industrial Solutions Limited, added, It is a matter of great pride for CG to implement this project of National importance.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Hidetoshi Shibata, CEO of Renesas said, India is a critical part of Renesas business. We value its innovative landscape and robust potential growth and are committed to accelerating our investment in India. By partnering with the Murugappa Group and Stars Microelectronics, we will bolster Indias semiconductor ecosystem and address the growing semiconductor demand for the customers worldwide.

Mr. Prompong Chaikul, Chairman of Executive Committee of Stars Microelectronics (Thailand) Public Co., Ltd added, We are deeply honored to join forces in this thrilling venture. Leveraging our expertise and experience in OSAT, we are committed to providing robust support to ensure the success of this project in India.

Lesen Sie mehr zum Thema
In the highly competitive global semiconductor market, manufacturers are constantly striving for shorter time-to-market. At the same time, the demand for fluid and high-resolution graphical displays is increasing. Infineon Technologies addresses this with a new strategic collaboration.

Infineon Technologies announced its strategic collaboration with Qt Group, a global software company providing cross-platform solutions for the entire software development lifecycle. This collaboration brings Qt's lightweight, high-performance graphics framework to Infineon's graphics-enabled TRAVEO T2G cluster microcontrollers and represents a paradigm shift in graphical user interface (GUI) development.

Microcontrollers nowadays offer extensive graphical capabilities that enable compact designs, cost-efficiency, and lower power consumption. With features such as instant boot-up, small footprint and efficient real-time processing, they are widely used in various sectors, including automotive instrument clusters, two-wheelers, construction machinery, industrial and medical applications. Infineon's TRAVEO T2G MCUs are designed to meet the requirements of these applications, especially the TRAVEO T2G cluster family. This device family provides graphical user interfaces with high refresh rates and up to full HD resolution. By integrating the Qt graphics solution directly into these MCUs, Infineon further optimizes these devices and enables intelligent rendering technology with benefits such as:

Up to 5x more efficient memory usage compared to the market average.

Up to 2x faster boot time compared to average boot times in the market.

Up to 50 percent shorter time to market, from design to production.

Whether in the automotive industry, healthcare or industrial automation, responsive user interfaces with high-quality graphics are essential, said Toni Paila, Director, Qt for MCUs at Qt Group. However, the MCUs used for these applications typically lack integrated advanced design and development tools especially for modern user interfaces. We are therefore proud to support Infineon in bridging this gap and enabling device manufacturers to deliver outstanding user interfaces with low memory footprints on their MCUs. This will allow designers to create GUIs that were previously considered impossible due to resource constraints.

Qt's efficient design and development workflow, coupled with over 30 years of production experience in various industries, has accelerated our UI application development, said Ralf Kodel, Vice President Microcontrollers at Infineon. By extending this efficiency to our microcontrollers, our customers can significantly shorten the time to market  from product design to production.

A live demonstration of Qt for MCUs on Infineon`s TRAVEO T2G will be showcased at Qt`s booth at Embedded World 2024 in Nuremberg from April 9 to 11 in Hall 4, Stand 4-258.

Availability

The TRAVEO T2G cluster microcontroller products featuring Qt's advanced graphical libraries are now available.

Lesen Sie mehr zum Thema
It's charging developers who lead users outside the Play Store as part of the Digital Markets Act.

Yesterday Google outlined the changes it will make to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) that goes into effect starting today. One important detail it left out, however, was whether it would charge developers who directed users outside the Play Store to sideload apps  and if so, how much.

Now, Google has revealed that it will indeed charge developers even if they don't use the Play Store, just like Apple did with the App Store. Per new details found in the Play Console help section, the company will charge two new fees:

An initial acquisition fee of 10% for in-app purchases or 5% for subscriptions for two years. This represents the value Play provided in facilitating initial user acquisition. An ongoing services fee of 17% for in-app purchases or 7% for subscriptions. This covers ongoing Play services like parental controls, security, fraud prevention, and app updates.

Developers can opt out of ongoing fees after two years if users agree, but ongoing Play services will no longer apply. "Since users acquired the app through Play with the expectation of services such as parental controls, security scanning, fraud prevention, and continuous app updates, discontinuation of services requires user consent as well," Google stated.

Google included the following chart to show how the fees will apply to a hypothetical "Fantastiq App":

Google

With this, Google is taking a similar approach to Apple, which reduced App Store commissions but introduced new fees. Namely, Apple tacked on on a new 3 percent payment processing fee for transactions that go through its store. And a new core technology fee will charge a flat 0.50 fee for all app downloads, regardless of whether they come from the App Store or a third-party website, after the first 1 million installations.

Google is justifying the fees by touting the value it provides in the Android ecosystem: "Play's fees support our investment in Android and Google Play and reflect the value provided by Android and Play, including enabling us to distribute Android for free and provide the continuously growing suite of tools and services that help developers build successful businesses, all while keeping our platforms safe and secure for billions of users worldwide."

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney already blasted Google's post about DMA compliance yesterday, before the new fees were even made public. "Google announced its malicious compliance plans for the European DMA law... it looks like their illegal anti-steering policy will be replaced by a new Google Tax on web transactions. We'll likely soon learn how he and other developers react to the new fees.
Microsoft has announced that it's holding an event on March 21 that will focus on its upcoming generative AI devices and features. The event entitled "Advancing the new era of work with Copilot" will start at 9AM Pacific/12PM Eastern time that date. Microsoft promises to unveil "the latest in scaling AI in your environment with Copilot, Windows and Surface," but it has shared no other details on what its announcements could be.

As Windows Central had previously reported, the company is expected to launch the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 on March 21. They're apparently slated to be Microsoft's first AI PCs that will be equipped with the new Intel Core Ultra or Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors. Both models have neural processing units (NPUs) that boost AI capabilities, which is why the upcoming Surfaces will most likely be the first to support the new AI features coming to Windows 11.

Those new AI features could include real-time live captions and translations, upscaling for games and frame rate smoothing. Microsoft is also reportedly working on a feature called AI Explorer that will give users a way to conduct searches across apps, documents, web pages, images and chats using natural language. Windows Central said AI Explorer might have the capability to understand context and suggest actions based on what's on the screen. It could also create a history of the tasks a user does on their computer to make them searchable later on. We'll know for sure if Microsoft truly is launching new Surface devices and new AI features a couple of weeks from now  we will, of course, keep you updated on what the company reveals.
At its 14th Ability summit, which kicks off today, Microsoft is highlighting developments and collaborations across its portfolio of assistive products. Much of that is around Azure AI, including features announced yesterday like AI-powered audio descriptions and the Azure AI studio that better enables developers with disabilities to create machine-learning applications. It also showed off new updates like more languages and richer AI-generated descriptions for its Seeing AI tool, as well as new playbooks offering guidelines for best practices in areas like building accessible campuses and greater mental health support.

The company is also previewing a feature called Speak For Me, which is coming later this year. Much like Apples Personal Voice, Speak For Me can help those with ALS and other speech disabilities to use custom neural voices to communicate. Work on this project has been ongoing for some time with partners like the non-profit ALS organization Team Gleason, and Microsoft said its committed to making sure this technology is used for good and plan to launch later in the year. The company also shared that its working with Answer ALS and ALS Therapy Development Institute (TDI) to almost double the clinical and genomic data available for research.

One of the most significant accessibility updates coming this month is that Copilot will have new accessibility skills that enable users to ask the assistant to launch Live Caption and Narrator, among other assistive tools. The Accessibility Assistant feature announced last year will be available today in the Insider preview for M365 apps like Word, with the company saying it will be coming soon to Outlook and PowerPoint. Microsoft is also publishing four new playbooks today, including a Mental Health toolkit, which covers tips for product makers to build experiences that support mental health conditions, created in partnership [with] Mental Health America.

Ahead of the summit, the companys chief accessibility officer Jenny Lay-Flurrie spoke with Engadget to share greater insight around the news as well as her thoughts on generative AIs role in building assistive products.

In many ways, AI isnt new, she said, adding this chapter is new. Generative AI may be all the rage right now, but Lay-Flurrie believes that the core principle her team relies on hasnt changed. Responsible AI is accessible AI, she said.

Still, generative AI could bring many benefits. This chapter, though, does unlock some potential opportunities for the accessibility industry and people with disabilities to be able to be more productive and to use technology to power their day, she said. She highlighted a survey the company did with the neurodiverse community around Microsoft 365 Copilot, and the response of the few hundred people who responded was this is reducing time for me to create content and its shortening that gap between thought and action, Lay-Flurrie said.

The idea of being responsible in embracing new technology trends when designing for accessibility isnt far from Lay-Flurries mind. We still need to be very principled, thoughtful and if we hold back, its to make sure that we are protecting those fundamental rights of accessibility.

Elsewhere at the summit, Microsoft is featuring guest speakers like actor Michelle Williams and its own employee Katy Jo Wright, discussing mental health and their experience living with chronic Lyme disease respectively. We will also see Amsterdams Rijksmusem share how it used Azure AIs computer vision and generative AI to provide image descriptions for over a million pieces of art for visitors who are blind or have low vision.

This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.
Warning: The following article covers matters of a sensitive nature.

A SpaceX employee has filed a lawsuit against the company, accusing it of siding with a supervisor who pressured her into having sexual relations with him. The plaintiff said that she and other female employees also had to endure "humiliating comments" questioning their credentials, that she was passed up for promotions in favor of male candidates and that she experienced retaliation when she complained about being paid less than her male counterparts.

The plaintiff, Michelle Dopak, has been working at the aerospace corporation's headquarters in California since 2017. According to her complaint, she experienced discrimination early on in her employment when she was passed up for job opportunities in favor of external male candidates. Her male colleagues allegedly spread rumors about their female coworkers, as well, claiming that they only got their jobs because of their looks. Dopak and two of her female colleagues met with Gwynne Shotwell to complain about both issues  "an action that no male colleague or employee at SpaceX would ever feel the need to do to justify their hiring and stop such discriminatory actions," the lawsuit reads. The SpaceX president, however, apparently didn't take any action.

After a reorganization in 2019, the plaintiff was placed under the supervision of a male boss who allegedly pressured her into having a sexual relationship that lasted years. When she got pregnant as a result, she said her married supervisor offered her $100,000 to have an abortion, which she had refused. She also accused SpaceX of colluding with her boss to transfer 48,289 shares worth $3,718,253 out of his name so that he could get out of paying child support.

Her complaints didn't end there. After getting promoted to a position she had been chasing for years, she found out that a male colleague who was hired at the same time was being paid $5,000 more. The company officials she talked to about the pay disparity couldn't justify it and allegedly offered her only $2,500 more if she also took a reduction in stock benefits. In the lawsuit, the plaintiff said the offer was "a message that if you complain at SpaceX, we will just retaliate against you and find other ways to punish you."

The lawsuit accuses SpaceX of forcing female employees who have claims of sexual harassment and discrimination into bringing their claims to arbitration so that they could be kept secret from the public. "SpaceX has also attempted to coerce and force [the plaintiff] into only bringing her claims in arbitration even though such claims are barred from being forced to arbitration," the complaint continues.

The plaintiff is asking for general, compensatory and consequential damages, including lost wages, earnings and other employee benefits. She's also asking the court to prohibit SpaceX from continuing any "unfair and unlawful business practices." SpaceX is currently facing another proposed class action lawsuit that claims it pays women and minorities tens of thousands less than what it pays white male employees. In January, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against SpaceX, as well, accusing it for illegally firing a group of engineers who criticized Elon Musk for making crude jokes on X about the sexual misconduct accusations against him.
Space and fashion lovers have a crossover accessory right now, and it's not just because there are some moons and stars dotted across it. Coperni, a French luxury brand, has unveiled the Air Swipe Bag, made entirely of NASA's nanomaterial silica aerogel, Fast Company reports. Scientist Steve Jones first created the substance for NASA's 1999 Stardust mission, which brought samples back from the Wild 2 comet.

The Air Swipe Bag weighs only 1.1 ounces, with just 0.2 percent of its matter actually tangible. The rest is air that moves through the Aerogel's trillions of channels. Aerogel is renowned for its lightweight build, taking the title of lightest matter in the 1990s, with a second version breaking that record. NASA previously dubbed the substance "solid smoke," and one look at the bag shows how true that statement is. Coperni's Instagram post even had one Instagram user comment: "This looks like my bong when it's filled with smoke and I'm obsessed."

While Aerogel is just being used to create a small bag, in this case, it's one sturdy accessory. The substance can hold 4,000 times its weight (far more than this purse can fit) and withstand up to 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit. It's no surprise then that, when not being made into bags, Aerogel has been used for tasks such as insulating Mars rovers.

The Air Swipe Bag isn't listed for sale on Coperni's website yet, but if you want an accessory this powerful, it's likely going to cost you. Space travel and fashion are two things that never come cheap.
A Lake Oswego, Oregon, resident and father has been accused of secretly drugging three of his 12-year-old daughter's friends during a sleepover hosted at his home.

Michael Meyden, 57, who the girls described as "very involved" in the weekend activities, allegedly mixed benzodiazepine into mango smoothies he offered them that evening.

In August 2023, police arrived at the Randall Children's Hospital after it was reported that the girls had been exposed to an unknown prescription drug following a sleepover at a friend's house. Detectives investigated, finding that Meyden was responsible for the drugs present in the girl's bloodstreams.

RELATED: Robert Pattinson Has A Drug Problem? PHOTOS & REPORT Alleged Use With Dylan Penn & Friend After Kristen Stewart Reunions

According to documents obtained by 'USA Today,' the girls had all tested positive for benzodiazepine, commonly called "benzos." The drug is a depressant used to slow down the nervous system resulting in sleepiness, relaxation, or hypnosis. It is prescribed for anxiety, with common prescriptions under the names Valium, Xanax and Klonopin.

He turned himself into Clackamas County Jail on Feb. 28, where he was indicted on three counts of causing another to ingest a controlled substance, three counts of application of a schedule-4 controlled substance to another, and three counts of delivery of a controlled substance to a minor.

The girls alleged Meyden gave them each two smoothies each between 9 pm and 11 pm. Drinks were described as orange with "tiny white chunks throughout." Each cup included different colored straws.

One girl who just sipped the drink "to be nice" and "barely drank any at all" because she didn't like how it tasted, was able to remain sober. She sent a text message to her parents, police say, which helped them crack the case.

RELATED: 5 Hollywood Stars Who Destroyed Their Careers With Alcohol, Drug Abuse

The girl alleges Meyden tried to pull one of the girls to the side of the bed while she pretended she was asleep. Once he left the room, she texted her mother as soon as she could.

"Mom please pick me up and say had family emergency. don't feel safe. might not respond but please come get me (crying emoji), Please. Please pick up. Please. PLEASE," the text alarmed.

She connected with a family friend, telling them she felt "unsafe because of her friend's dad," when they picked her up.

Court documents revealed an officer interviewed one attendee 12 hours after the incident. Police said she felt "woozy, hot, and clumsy" after ingesting the smoothie and couldn't recall much after she "blacked out."

A representative from the Clackamas County Jail has informed 'USA Today' that Meyden has since been released after pleading not guilty. His bail was set at $50,000.

Mr. Meyden is presumed innocent, Meyden attorney, Mark Cogan told NBC News on Tuesday. We have not seen the evidence. The indictment was issued by a grand jury behind closed doors where no judge, no defense attorney, was allowed. And we hope that people will reserve judgment until all the facts are known.
'Mob Wives' star Renee Graziano appeared on the Dumb Blonde podcast where she revealed how she survived abuse, addiction, and the road to recovery after undergoing surgery.

Graziano, 55, described her harrowing journey she experienced after getting a brazilian butt lift, often referred to as a BBL, saying she got her body done "so nobody could talk about me anymore."

"I thought I was gonna have this fabulous figure. I have plastic surgery season one, gone terribly wrong  I die," she begins.

RELATED: 'Mob Wives' Season 4 Spoilers: Renee Graziano Receives Letter From Junior And AJ Gets Angry [VIDEO]

"Surgery day I go in, he does like... a seven hour surgery in four and a half hours. They put the garment on me, they rip me open, I bleed out. Emergency second surgery, never calls 9-1-1, I lost 6.3 pints of blood," she explained.

She continued: "The next day my mom comes and she hears me, and she comes running. I said 'I'm dying.' And I was cold  I was blue. I remember the woman in the ambulance saying 'stay with me, stay with me, stay with me,' and I was like 'just let me go.' "

After a four pint blood transfusion, Graziano went home where she recalls noticing an off-putting smell. With a fever of 101, she was told to return to the hospital where doctors.

"They start with Vancomycin  I'm Vancomycin resistant," she remembered. "Father calls, and the priest says, 'you should say goodbye to your daughter.' "

RELATED: 'Mob Wives' Season 5 VH1 News: Renee Graziano Sends Big Ang A Message Via Twitter, Could The Two Reunite In New Episode? [VIDEO]

Preparing to die, Graziano explained that over the next four days she'd read her Catholic Last Rites twice. After grappling with being Vancomycin resistant, she admitted she and her mother thought it was over. However, a twist of events happened after her father had a word with the doctor.

"I think my father might have threatened the doctor," she laughed. "The next day I was on my road to recovery! They said I've defied medical history."



"My plastic surgeon never showed up  ever," she concluded.

"After all the s***t you've been through, Renee, you're still f****g standing, you're still punching life and telling em' it hits like a b***h. You're one tough cookie, dude," host Bunny told Graziano.

BBLs are notorious for having the highest health risks of all cosmetic surgeries. A 2019 report by American Society of Plastic Surgeons stated the procedure has a mortality rate of up to 1 in 3,000.

The mob diva  who was known for sparring with the other women during the hit VH1 series  is now excited to see what's next. She's currently promoting her latest work, launching the very first "Mob Wife" AI headshot pack.
The sheriff's office of Kentucky is investigating after local Dairy Queen employees claim they were forced to eat ice cream contaminated with cleaning solution.

WKYT reported that parents were left concerned after the alleged incident happened at work on a Friday night.

"Oh, I was livid. I was livid," parent Angela Patton told the news outlet.

Her 17-year-old daughter was called into work for a mandatory team meeting. Her daughter claimed the team was told they were going to be eating ice cream that was contaminated with cleaning solution.

"They were told by the manager that whether or not they liked chocolate ice cream, they were going to eat it today," Patton claimed.

RELATED: Wendy's To Introduce Uber-Like Price Surging For The First Time Ever

Patton told the news outlet that many of the involved employees were minors, including her daughter. She and several others quit after the alleged incident.

"Some of the kids had complained that they had a burning sensation when they swallowed the ice cream," Patton alleged. She also stated some employees had to be taken to the emergency room for treatment.

According to Business Insider, the manager of the Campton Dairy Queen told workers they hadn't cleaned the ice cream machine properly, so they would be served the contaminated ice cream as a punishment.

Franchise owner Steve Caudill responded to the claims in a statement to WKYT, stating, "The safety of our fans and crew members is our top priority."

"When we received complaints, we immediately began an investigation, which is ongoing. We are reviewing our processes and covering expenses for crew members involved. The manager involved is no longer employed at our restaurant," the statement continued. "Know that we contacted local law enforcement to assist and we are fully cooperating with their investigation."

RELATED: Trader Joe's Recalls Chicken Soup Dumplings For Potentially Containing Permanent Marker Plastic Debris

"We still have multiple people coming in to give statements, but as of now, it's still under investigation," Deputy Elijah Banks stated.

To date, no charges have been filed. However, Patton wants to see that change in the near future.

"I do have a meeting scheduled with a lawyer," she said. "What they've done is not right."
Two actors will reprise their "The Big Bang Theory" characters in the upcoming series finale of "Young Sheldon" in May.

The show's official Instagram account has announced that Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik will reunite and reprise their roles as Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler, respectively, for the upcoming series finale of the spinoff prequel.

"BIG news -- @therealjimparsons and Mayim Bialik will reprise their roles of Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler in the #YoungSheldon finale! Our lips are sealed until then," the post read.

Parsons and Bialik's last on-screen appearance together dates back to when "The Big Bang Theory" ended in 2019 after 12 seasons, per CinemaBlend.

While Parson is involved in "Young Sheldon" as the narrator and one of the executive producers, it will be his first time appearing on camera for the show. Bialik also did some voiceover work for two previous episodes of the spinoff.

Other information about the "Big Bang Theory" duo's reunion and appearance on the show are yet to be announced.

In other news, the spinoff prequel of "The Big Bang Theory" will have a sequel. Per The Hollywood Reporter, it will focus on Sheldon's older brother Georgie Cooper (Montana Jordan) and his fiancee Mandy McAllister (Emily Osment) as they raise their own family in Texas.

The Warner Bros. TV-produced "Young Sheldon" spinoff will reportedly be a part of CBS' 2024-2025 broadcast season. The show's executive producers, Chuck Lorre, Steven Molaro and Steve Holland, will work on the upcoming series that has been in development since January.

Another "The Big Bang Theory" spinoff is reportedly being developed by Lorre and Warner Bros. TV for Max, per THR.

"Young Sheldon" is a story about "a brilliant yet awkward 9-year-old Sheldon Cooper" who lands in high school, leaving everyone stumped with his smarts, per Netflix's description of the series.

This "The Big Bang Theory" spinoff prequel begins in the timeline of 1989, following Sheldon's early life as a child prodigy in the fictional town of Medford, Texas.

Its main cast includes Iain Armitage as young Sheldon, Zoe Perry as his mother, Mary, and Lance Barber as his father, George. Jordan and Raegan Revord play the roles of Sheldon's older brother, Georgie, and younger sister, Missy, respectively.

The show premiered in September 2017. After seven years and seven seasons, "Young Sheldon" will end and release its season finale on May 16 on CBS.
Some images, allegedly created by Artifical Intelligence (AI), have surfaced in recent weeks involving Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Black American supporters.

Trump, 77, is known to court his African American supporters. However, there is no solid evidence that the images are coming from the nominees presidential campaign. Despite this, fans and fellow voters are continuing to share the images across social media.

BBC Panorama reported that Trump supporters have been creating and sharing the AI-generated images as encouragement to Black voters to vote Republican in the 2024 election.

RELATED: Ivanka Trump Used ChatGPT To Get Life Advice, Here's What The AI Said

Black Voters Matter co-founder, Cliff Albright, stated that the suspected manipulated images were made with the intention of pushing a "strategic narrative" designed to show Trump as "popular" in the Black community.

One of the photos circulating was reportedly created by Florida conservative radio host, Mark Kaye, who has more than one million Facebook followers. He claims he never said the pictures with Black supporters were "accurate."

"I'm not a photojournalist. I'm not out there taking pictures of what's really happening. I'm a storyteller," Kaye said in a statement to BBC.

"I'm not claiming it is accurate," he continued. "I'm not saying, 'Hey, look, Donald Trump was at this party with all of these African American voters. Look how much they love him.' "

RELATED: Trump Addresses 'Blood' Marks On His Hand: 'It's AI'

Amid the rise of digital technology, the National Conference of State Legislature has addressed Artificial Intelligence in elections and campaigns, saying "Artificial intelligence is new, but change in how campaigns and elections operate is not."

"In 2023, legislation may use different terms such as 'deepfake,' 'synthetic media' or 'deceptive media' when referring to AI. These terms all refer to what people commonly think of as AI but may have different implications depending on what term is used and how statute defines it," they stated.

According to The Guardian, AI has already caused problems in the 2024 election. Robocalls, which utilized AI to copy president Joe Biden's voice, prompted voters not to vote in the New Hampshire primaries.

The FCC has since issued a cease-and-desist order to Lingo Telecom, one of the two companies in question responsible for the robocalls.
Swiss lawmakers on Thursday narrowly backed moves towards allowing the use of frozen Russian state assets to fund war reparations in Ukraine.

The issue has been hotly debated in Switzerland, where discretion in the key banking industry and the country's tradition of neutrality are highly valued.

The upper house of parliament voted by 21-19 in favour of a series of government-backed motions, with three abstentions. The lower house passed them last year.

They pave the way for the government to work on an international legal basis for using frozen aggressor-state assets to pay for reparations in attacked countries.

More than $8 billion in Russian central bank reserves and assets are held in Switzerland.

"The facts are very clear indeed," Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told parliament's upper house.

"Russia has seriously violated international law. It must therefore repair the damage caused.

"International discussions are under way regarding compensation mechanisms and Switzerland is participating with its knowledge, its skills and all its history in this area."

Bern will now seek to establish the international legal basis needed for a reparations mechanism to be developed at the global level.

It would be aimed at allowing frozen funds from an aggressor's central bank, or assets of its state-owned companies, to be legally transferred to an attacked state.

- Lively debate -

Thursday's vote followed a lively debate in the upper chamber.

There was concern about whether Switzerland's image on neutrality might be harmed, and whether Switzerland was doing enough when there was war in Europe.

Cassis argued that since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Switzerland had supported the affected populations with around three billion Swiss francs ($3.4 billion).

The government also aims to spend around 1.5 billion Swiss francs on Ukraine and the region between 2025 and 2028. Switzerland also plans to host a peace conference later this year.

"We don't have to blush when we talk about Ukraine on the international stage," Cassis said, whether it was on the financial, diplomatic or humanitarian front.

Switzerland's long-standing position is one of well-armed military neutrality.

It has refused to send arms to Kyiv or allow countries that hold Swiss-made weaponry to re-export it to Ukraine.

But it has matched the European Union's economic sanctions on Russia.

The economic affairs ministry said in May last year that 7.4 billion Swiss francs of Russian central bank reserves and assets were being held in Switzerland.

Switzerland has also frozen 7.5 billion Swiss francs in Russian funds and assets owned or controlled by sanctioned persons, companies or entities, the ministry said at the time.

The country is a long-favoured destination for wealthy Russians and their assets.

The Swiss Bankers Association estimated that in March 2022, Russian clients held approximately 150 billion Swiss francs in banks in Switzerland.

rjm/nl/jj
China explores Chinese way of addressing hotspot issues: FM

Xinhua) 14:23, March 07, 2024

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Learning from international practices and drawing wisdom from Chinese culture, China has found the Chinese way of addressing hotspot issues, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

China is committed to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and to political settlement, Wang said at a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress.

"On all hotspot issues, China always promotes talks for peace and never adds fuel to the fire," he said.

China upholds objectivity and impartiality, he said, adding that the country always decides its position on issues based on their own merits and rejects double standards.

China insists on addressing both symptoms and root causes. It is important to cool down hotspot issues as quickly as possible to prevent them from escalating and spilling over, he said, adding that it is also important to systematically analyze the root causes.

"We will work with all countries to build consensus for ending conflicts, pave the way for peace talks, and strive for a world of lasting peace and common security," he added.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
YOKOHAMA, Mar 07 (News On Japan) - At a station in Yokohama City, unsold bread from the night is being sold using coin lockers, becoming a daily sell-out sensation.

In an effort to reduce food waste, the city has collaborated with local bakeries for this initiative. At Kannai Station on the Yokohama Municipal Subway, a line forms in front of a coin locker, now converted into a vending machine, offering leftover bread at 30% off.

A customer who managed to purchase the bread shared, "Usually, it's sold out by the time I pass by. Today is the first time I bought it."

The popularity of this initiative is evident as it sells out daily. The Yokohama City government started this in collaboration with local bakeries.

Masahiro Nakayama, from the Yokohama City SDGs Future City Promotion Division, said, "There are various items that get discarded daily, but we settled on bread since it can be stored at room temperature. We hope this initiative can serve as a trigger for people to think about reducing food waste."

The bread sold in the lockers comes from "Midori-do Pan," a bakery located just a short walk from Kannai Station. Despite the colorful display of delicious bread in the morning, not all of it gets sold.

Toshiaki Fujii from Midori-do Pan explained the unique situation leading to surplus bread, "If there's nothing left on the shelves by the evening, it might look odd for a bakery. So, we do bake a bit extra for appearances."

The bakery does not reduce prices before closing, as they want customers to visit at different times. Leftover bread is sometimes used for staff meals, but unfortunately, some have to be discarded.

To minimize waste, the bakery decided to start selling the leftover bread in coin lockers by closing an hour earlier.

Around 6 p.m., a staff member heads to the station with large bags filled with unsold bread.

"It's over 5 kilograms in each hand," said the staff member.

Only bread without perishable fillings, such as plain bread and salt bread, can be sold in the lockers. Within an hour of stocking the lockers, the bread is sold out.

A satisfied customer said, "I was looking forward to the bread being stocked in the lockers. It's a shame to waste it."

Source: ANN
Police forces across the south east region have formed a new partnership as part of renewed efforts to intensify their battle against rural crime.

The South East Partnership Against Rural Crime (SEPARC) consists of Hampshire Constabulary, Thames Valley Police, Sussex Police, Surrey Police, and Kent Police.

Throughout the past couple of weeks, they have undertaken a number of localised and co-operative operations tackling agricultural and environmental criminals.

Operations include disrupting offenders alongside the National Rural Crime Team, providing security advice at service stations and stopping suspicious vehicles on the strategic road network.

The latest figures show that the cost of rural theft in the UK has shot up by nearly a quarter, as highly organised gangs of criminals continued to plague the countryside.

Lucy Hutson, rural policing lead for Hampshire Constabulary, said rural crime had an enormous impact on those effected.

"It often sees local businesses suffer serious financial loss, and can destroy the livelihoods of hardworking farmers," she said.

Its so important that people can live in, work in and visit our rural spaces without fear of being targeted by criminals.

This week of action has given us the opportunity to utilise the skills and expertise of specialist policing teams from our neighbouring forces, to bring the fight to criminals who operate across county borders in the south east.

In Hampshire specifically, the group focused on thefts of farm machinery and plant vehicles (FMPV), which have increased in frequency.

This type of crime is often perpetrated by transient offenders, who travel across county borders to steal and transport stolen goods.

On Thursday and Friday last week, SEPARC conducted an operation across Hampshire with a view to stopping thieves in transit.

Part of this operation took place in the north of the county, with a second group of officers focusing their efforts at Portsmouth International Port.

Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Barber said rural crime had a significant impact on the region's farmers and rural businesses.

He said: The launch of SEPARC will establish cross-border collaboration between police forces across the South East in tackling the most serious and organised rural crime.

Thames Valley Police is already making great strides in driving down incidents of rural crime."
The Welsh government has been warned that its proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) threatens the future of two important ram sales.

Held annually in Mid Wales, the Wales & Border Ram Sales have a turnover of more than 2 million and provide 200 part time jobs for the local community.

Organised by the National Sheep Association (NSA) for over 45 years, both sales have helped to improve the Welsh sheep breeding flock.

But now the body has warned the Welsh government that its future vision for the industry, as part of the proposed SFS, could be 'catastrophic' for them.

Concerns centre on the governments current proposals set out in the SFS consultation, which, according to its own impact assessment, could mean a projected reduction of 122,000 livestock units across Wales in the next five years.

NSA Wales & Border executive director, Jane Smith said: "This will hit not just farmers, but allied industries too and could lead to the demise of Welsh farming as we know it.

The sales attract vendors and buyers from across the UK and beyond, providing quality, veterinary inspected rams within easy reach of Welsh buyers.

Ms Smith said this in turn continually improves the Welsh breeding flock, helping to maintain the PGI status of its lamb.

She explained that the Welsh meat and meat products sector is worth 1.4 billion and vital to rural Wales in terms of the economy, culture and landscape.

She said: "The NSA Wales & Border ram sales play an important role in contributing to the business of several local auctioneers.

"Last years main sale at the Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells had a 2,050,929 turnover, while Augusts early sale had a turnover of 104,786."

The sales significance were underlined when the Princess Royal attended the 40th anniversary sale in 2018, the Queen Mother having supported them from 1981 to the mid 1990s.

It comes after farmers created a symbolic display of 5,500 pairs of wellies on the steps of the Senedd to represent the jobs forecasted to be lost through the SFS proposals.

Each of the 5,500 wellingtons represents an agricultural job that is projected to be lost based on 100% take up of the SFS, as based on figures from the governments own impact assessment.

Last week, over 10,000 farmers took to the streets of Cardiff recently over rising anger at the government's vision for the industry.
A genetic mutation makes Labradors constantly hungry.

Some Labradors are always hungry due to a genetic mutation

Scientists say that the pooches are hard-wired to crave food while burning fewer calories, meaning owners have to beware of the "double whammy" effect to keep their pets slender.

The mutation is present in a quarter of Labradors and two-thirds of flat-coated retrievers.

University of Cambridge expert Dr. Eleanor Raffan explained that dogs, in a similar manner to humans, have genes that influence both interest in food and their metabolic rate.

The scientist told BBC News: "It shows us the power of our genes to change how we feel about food.

"If we get dealt a genetic hand of cards that makes us feel hungry or always want to eat, it takes greater effort to stay slim."

The research develops previous studies into a mutation in a gene known as POMC - which makes dogs hungrier between meals but means they use around 25 per cent less energy while resting.

Dr. Raffan added: "Dogs with this genetic mutation face a double whammy: they not only want to eat more, but also need fewer calories because they're not burning them off as fast."
Ariana Grande plans to share "her side of the story" regarding her love life on her new album.

Ariana Grande is preparing to release her new album

The 30-year-old pop star split from Dalton Gomez in 2023, and Ariana intends to tell her truth on 'Eternal Sunshine', her much-anticipated new studio album.

A source told Us Weekly: "Ariana thinks these songs will provide a lot of insight for her fans."

The upcoming album will also explore Ariana's subsequent romance with Ethan Slater.

The insider shared: "[Its] her side of the story regarding Dalton and Ethan."

On the other hand, another source has described 'Eternal Sunshine' as a "concept album".

The insider explained: "Ariana is playing with different characters, some of the lyrics come from her personal life, but others are just her playing a fun character for her fans."

Ariana previously revealed that she hopes her new album will help to dispel some of the myths that surround her love life.

The chart-topping star - who was previously engaged to comedian Pete Davidson - admitted to being frustrated by the speculation that surrounds her relationships.

During an appearance on the 'Zach Sang Show' in February, Ariana explained: "I feel like we dont need to go into any specifics, but, of course, theres like an insatiable frustration, inexplicable, hellish feeling with watching people misunderstand the people you love and you and anything.

"Im so nervous because pieces of [the album] touch on things that are real and then pieces of it are also just, like, part of the concept."

Ariana also described 'Eternal Sunshine' as the most emotional record of her career.

The pop star added: "The thing that was beautiful about it was, when I was writing ['Eternal Sunshine'], it was with no intention for the world to hear it.

"I was just kind of [like], Lets just go. Lets see what comes out. And then, when I was done, I remembered that people will hear it and sometimes, people will sensationalise things and assign meaning to certain things. And I wanted to make sure that I combed through, just to make sure that it was what I intended."
Paula Abdul has accused Nigel Lythgoe of "victim shaming" following her sexual assault allegations.

Paula Abdul has slammed Nigel Lythgoe

The 61-year-old star launched a lawsuit against the 'American Idol' executive producer in December, accusing him of assaulting her on two separate occasions, and Abdul has now slammed his reaction to her accusations.

A statement from her lawyer said: "Mr. Lythgoes answer to Ms. Abduls complaint is classic victim shaming.

"These are the defences that many women like Ms. Abdul had to adopt to deal with men who abuse their power."

In a recent legal filing, Lythgoe suggested that he actually had a good relationship with the TV star, sharing a series of texts and tweets that furthered that idea.

However, Abdul has now claimed that those messages distort the reality of their relationship.

Her statement added: "While Mr. Lythgoes answer cherry-picks from years of messages with Ms. Abdul to try to discredit her claims, what his selections fail to show are the numerous instances of overt sexual harassment he forced Ms. Abdul to tolerate.

"On March 8, 2014, Mr. Lythgoe wrote to Ms. Abdul: 'When you get back to LA will you please make love to me! Slowly and lovingly!' When Ms. Abdul failed to respond, Mr. Lythgoe proclaimed: 'Ill take that as a YES then!'

"On April 10, 2014, he similarly wrote, in response to a message from Ms. Abdul about SYTYCD auditions in Las Vegas: 'Ill come if you promise a big wet kiss!'"

Abdul claims that Lythgoe showered her with unwanted attention for years, including during their time on 'American Idol' and 'So You Think You Can Dance'.

The lawyer said: "There are several instances of such verbal assaults against Ms. Abdul, which are evidence of the frequent abusive behaviour that Ms. Abdul was subjected to during her time on 'American Idol' and 'SYTYCD'."

Abdul is suing for sexual assault/battery, sexual harassment, gender violence and negligence.

Lythgoe has denied the allegations.

The 74-year-old TV producer recently described Abdul as a "well-documented fabulist", adding that her filing is full of "wild and unsubstantiated allegations".
TOKYO, Mar 08 (News On Japan) - Hotel prices in Japan have shot through the roof, leaving locals struggling to find affordable accommodation, while foreign tourists seem unfazed.

A tourist from Australia mentioned spending about 30,000 yen per night for a three-week stay, totaling 600,000 yen, which they consider normal. Meanwhile, a European visitor staying in Tokyo for a week finds the rate of 70,000 yen per night surprisingly affordable compared to European prices, which can be double that amount.

On the other hand, a woman from Aichi Prefecture finds the rates in Tokyo's city center, exceeding 10,000 yen per night, too steep. She was shocked to find a seafood bowl in Tsukiji priced over 5,000 yen, joking that it seemed one zero too many for their budget.

The average hotel price in Tokyo has surged from around 6,000 yen during the pandemic to nearly 16,000 yen now. The era of fixed prices has given way to dynamic pricing, where rates fluctuate in real-time based on supply and demand.

This aggressive pricing is supported by strong inbound demand, but it's the business travelers who are feeling the pinch. A male company employee noted that the influx of foreign guests makes it difficult for domestic business travelers to afford the rates, sometimes resorting to capsule hotels or manga cafes when budgets are exceeded.
To read the full story, become a PRIME member today.

PRIME Unlimited Access to

Insightful Industry Information

All Corporate Members and TexPro Subscribers are eligible to access F2F PRIME CONTENT using the same login credentials.
With films like Ek Villain, Brothers, Mission Majnu and Shershaah under his belt, actor Sidharth Malhotra has established himself as the go-to actor for action in Bollywood. His transformation from a Kukad Kamal Da to a Yodha is noteworthy, and a testament to his ability and dedication as an actor. Sidharth's latest film 'Yodha,' will see him take to the skies, taking the action a notch higher as he looks to take down terrorists who have hijacked a flight.

In an exclusive BTS video from his upcoming film Yodha, fans got a peek behind the curtain as Sidharth Malhotra and his Yodha team revealed the secrets behind some of the film's most intense action scenes. In the video, Sidharth can be seen practising close-quarter combat skills and performing the high-octane stunts himself, highlighting how he has become Bollywood's top action star.

In the video, renowned South African action choreographer Craig Macrae, revealed that Sidharth Malhotra was a quick study, who picked up hand-to-hand combat and knife techniques very quickly, even though they were new to him. Such adaptability is a testament to Sidharth's experience with action films over the years. The award-winning action director mentioned that Sidharth was particularly easy to teach, learning complex techniques in just one showing, and handling the action scenes "like a boss", - praise of the highest order for Sidharth Malhotra from one of the best professionals in the industry today.

'Yodha' had previously taken the internet by storm with an action-packed trailer that showed Sidharth Malhotra at his best, leaving fans eager to see more of the high-flying action. The release of this BTS action video has taken the anticipation a step further, promising even more action than anticipated, and we can't wait to see Sidharth Malhotra rock the screens when Yodha hits the big screens on March 15th.
Oscars 2024: The Oscars, a ceremony rich in history and prestige, have been celebrating the achievements of actors and filmmakers since the 9th Academy Awards. One of the highly anticipated categories each year is the Best Supporting Actor award, recognizing exceptional talent in supporting roles. From its inception, where winners received plaques, to the present day where the iconic Oscar statuette is awarded, this category has seen 87 actors honored for their outstanding performances. Walter Brennan was the first to receive this accolade for "Come and Get It," with Ke Huy Quan being the latest recipient for "Everything Everywhere All at Once."



Top Contenders for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars 2024

In the upcoming 2024 Oscars, several actors have emerged as frontrunners in the Best Supporting Actor category, showcasing a diverse range of performances. Sterling K. Brown delivers a compelling performance in "American Fiction" as Dr. Clifford "Cliff" Ellison. Directed by Cord Jefferson, the film explores the life of a disillusioned novelist-professor whose satirical take on stereotypical Black literature is mistakenly taken seriously by the liberal elite.

Robert De Niro is another notable contender for his role in "Killers of the Flower Moon." This epic western crime drama, directed by Martin Scorsese, features De Niro as William King Hale. The film is an adaptation of David Grann's 2017 non-fiction book, delving into a series of murders in the Osage nation.

Robert Downey Jr. is in the running for his portrayal of Lewis Strauss in "Oppenheimer." Directed by Christopher Nolan, this epic biographical thriller shines a light on J. Robert Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy, and his significant role in the development of the atomic bomb. Downey Jr.'s performance adds depth to the narrative, focusing on the historical figures behind the Manhattan Project.

Ryan Gosling is nominated for his role as Ken in "Barbie," a fantasy comedy film directed by Greta Gerwig. Alongside Margot Robbie, who plays Barbie, Gosling's portrayal explores themes of self-discovery and adventure, bringing a fresh perspective to the iconic Mattel characters.

Mark Ruffalo rounds out the list of top contenders with his performance in "Poor Things." Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and based on Alasdair Gray's novel, the film tells the story of Bella Baxter, played by Emma Stone, and her tumultuous relationship with Duncan Wedderburn, a character brought to life by Ruffalo's nuanced performance.

The Best Supporting Actor category at the Oscars 2024 promises to be a showcase of talent, with these actors delivering performances that have captured the attention of audiences and critics alike. As the Oscars approach, anticipation builds to see which actor will take home the prestigious award.
Ajith Kumar's Hospital Visit Sparks Concern: Reports of actor Ajith Kumar visiting a renowned private hospital sparked concern among fans on Thursday. However, sources close to the actor clarified that he was in good health and had simply gone to Apollo Hospitals for a routine check-up.

According to reports, sources close to actor Ajith Kumar have clarified recent concerns regarding his health status following his hospital visit. A report suggests that Ajith regularly undergoes health check-ups, particularly before international travel, as it's a mandatory precaution. However, the attention surrounding his visit was unprecedented this time. Ajith's routine medical examination was elevated to a newsworthy event due to his celebrity status, despite it being a regular occurrence for him.

Ajith Kumar's Vidaa Muyarchi

Ajith Kumar is presently engaged in the production of an intense action-packed film titled "Vida Muyarchi," directed by Magizh Thirumeni and produced by Subaskaran Allirajah under the banner Lyca Productions.

Magizh Thirumeni, renowned for his knack for crafting sophisticated entertainers, has notable works like "Kalaga Thalaivan," "Thadam," and "Thadaiyara Thaaka" to his credit. Alongside Ajith, the star-studded cast includes Arjun Sarja, Trisha, Regina Cassandra, and actor Arav, among others.

Unfortunately, the film unit faced a tragic setback during their shoot in Azerbaijan. Milan, a prominent art director in Tamil cinema and a key member of the team, unexpectedly passed away due to a heart attack while on location. Milan, who had contributed to numerous of Ajith's earlier projects such as "Billa," "Aegan," "Veeram," "Vedalam," and "Vivegam," had an illustrious career spanning over 30 films.

Following Milan's untimely demise, Ajith and Magizh Thirumeni, deeply affected by the loss, prioritised the health of their team members by arranging medical check-ups to ensure their well-being amidst the shoot.
Photo Credit:

Prabhas, the pan-India star is currently juggling between the sets of his two upcoming films which include the most prestigious production titled 'KALKI 2898 AD.' The movie is in the news for its exciting back-to-back updates. The team is finishing up the filming of the remaining work and has returned to India from Italy, recently.

Bollywood siren Disha Patani is also part of the film's renowned crew, which is going to be the biggest and most remarkable movie of her entire career in the film industry. The actress has been sharing behind-the-scenes information from the locations that she has been shooting for Kalki 2898 AD with Prabhas under the direction of Nag Ashwin.

As per the updates posted by the actress herself, she touched down back in India from Italy, after finishing shooting for what is rumoured to be a song, featuring Prabhas along with her. She posted a picture on her Instagram saying that she is back in India.

Disha Patani & Prabhas' Picture From Italy Goes Viral

The recent image of Prabhas and Disha Patani is from the location and the duo is all smiles and quite cheerful, if we can say it from the looks. Clad in their costumes specially curated for the purpose, both of them looked wrapped in warmers with a beautiful turquoise sea and mountains as their backdrop. Fans of Prabhas are making the picture viral.

If the post-production VFX work comes back satisfactorily, the makers are strictly going to release the movie on May 9 this year. However, depending on the quality of the work, the decision on Kalki 2898 AD postponement will be made.

The epic mythological sci-fi film boasts an ensemble cast including Prabhas, Kamal Haasan, Amitabh Bachchan, and Deepika Padukone.

The movie is being helmed by Nag Ashwin. Vyjayanthi Movies banner is bankrolling the film on a massive budget of Rs 600 Crore. Djordje Stojilijkovic is cranking the camera for this science fiction action thriller. Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao worked as the film's editor. Santhosh Narayanan is the film's music composer.
Photo Credit:

The second week of March 2024, there is an exciting lineup of films that are going to hit various OTT platforms starting from Amazon Prime Video to Tentkotta and ETV Win.

There are about 12 new and different genres of interesting south-Indian films ready to hit the digital streaming platforms. Check out the full list here.

Breathe On Aha

Nandamuri Chaitanya Krishna's Breathe, a thriller movie is now ready to stream on the first-ever Telugu OTT platform, Aha Video from March 8. The movie was directed by Vamsi Krishna Akella.

Valari On ETV Win

Ritika Singh's latest horror thriller Valari is now enthralling the viewers on the OTT app ETV Win. In this movie, the actress played a dual role. Mruthika Santhoshini wrote and directed the movie. Sriram, Subbaraju, and Uttej among others played key roles.

Yatra 2 On Prime Video

Yatra 2 is the sequel to the biographical film on the remarkable Andhra Pradesh politician, late YS Rajasekhar Reddy. The movie was written and directed by Mahi V Raghav. The first part was released in 2018.

Sound Party On Aha

Bigg Boss Telugu fame, winner VJ Sunny, who made his debut in the entertainment industry as an achor, became a main lead in the Telugu film titled Sound Party. The movie is finally hitting the OTT platform Aha Video along with several other films, this week.

Devil On Tentkotta

Prakash Veer's directorial, Devil, featuring Drashan is now hitting the digital streaming platform straight. The movie will be available on the OTT platform Tentkotta.



Merry Christmas On Netflix

Makkal Selvan Vijay Sethupathi made his grand Bollywood debut with Sriram Raghavan's directorial titled Merry Christmas. The movie stars Katrina Kaid and is now finally making the debut on OTT giant Netflix from March 8.



Thookudurai On Prime

Comedian-turned-protagonist Yogi Babu, who acted in several films as a lead actor is back with a comedy-horror titled Thookudurai. This movie will be streaming on Prime Video from March 8.

Nandhivarman On Tentkotta

Featuring Suresh Ravi, Asha Gowda, and Nizhalgal Ravi among others in key roles, Nandhivarman is the story set thousand years ago in a village called Anumanthapuram. It is about the gold treasure in the temple that belongs to the Pallava King Nandivarman.

Vadakkupatti Ramasamy On Prime Video

Santhanam's latest release, a period film in comedy genre, Vadakkupatti Ramasamy, is now ready for its OTT debut. Amazon Prime Video will stream the movie from March 8. Megha Akash, Mottai Rajendran, Cool Suresh, John Vijay, MS Bhaskar among others played key roles.

Enaku Endey Kidaiyaathu On Aha

This movie is a thriller written and directed by Vikram Ramesh, in which he also played a key role. The movie originally hit the screens on October 6, 2023 and will now be available on Aha Video for its digital streaming. A cab driver, who is about to quit his job turns his life upside down after picking up a girl from a bar.

Anweshippin Kandethum On Netflix

Darwin Kuriakose's latest crime thriller, Anweshippin Kandethum stars Tovino Thomas, Siddique, and Arthana Binu. The movie revolves around two real-life crimes including a police's suicide.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 6, 2024) - Atomic Minerals Corporation (TSXV: ATOM) ("Atomic" or the "Company") - Further to the Company's news release on February 5, 2024 in which it entered into a letter of intent to acquire an extensive uranium land package, consisting of nine properties totaling just under 6,500 hectares within very close proximity to the Athabasca Basin in Northern Saskatchewan (the "Property"), the Company is pleased to announce it has signed an Asset Purchase Agreement (the "Purchase Agreement") with the vendors of the Property. The Purchase Agreement remains subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange").

Terms of the Acquisition

The Company purchased the Property from arm's length vendors in exchange for the following:

a payment of $100,000 due within five days of Exchange approval;

issuance of 6,000,000 common shares in the capital of the Company (the " Shares ") within five days of Exchange approval; and

a second payment of $100,000 due on the 6-month anniversary of Exchange approval.

There is a 2% NSR on any future production. The Company can reduce the NSR to 1% through a $1,000,000 cash payment.

All Shares issued pursuant to the Purchase Agreement will be restricted from trading for four months and one day after issuance.

Two of the Project properties lie proximally or close to known deposits and a third hosts a 1957 historic resource. Highlights from the property package include:

Bleasdell Lake - host to a 1957 historic resource of 620,700 pounds of U3O8 contained within two zones.

Parks Lake - 3 km to SE of historic Rabbit Lake Mine and 2 km to 4km E to NE of Uranium Energy Corp.'s Horseshoe and Raven deposits.

Pistol Lake - completely surrounded by Cameco and 600 metres north of their Sand Lake deposit.

The 1957 Bleasdell Lake historic resource was disclosed in a shareholder report for Columbia Metals Exploration Co. Ltd. dated November 9, 1957 (the "Shareholder Report"). There is no technical report. The historic resource is relevant to the potential of the Bleasdell Lake property and is reliable as it was calculated to the standards of the day. The estimate was based on closely spaced shallow drill holes and more widely spaced deeper drill holes. The calculations, methods or parameters were not disclosed in the Shareholder Report. The resource would be comparable to a current inferred resource. There are no more recent estimates though subsequent geologists visited the Property in the 1960's and 1970's, confirming the showings and the drilling was completed. The Company will need to twin a significant number of the historic drill holes to upgrade or verify the historical estimate as current mineral resources.

A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. Therefore, Atomic is not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource.

Atomic CEO Clive Massey commented: "With this Saskatchewan acquisition, Atomic now holds significant land positions in the two largest producing North American uranium districts, the Athabasca Basin and the Colorado Plateau. While the Bleasdell Lake historic resource may turn out to be the jewel, both Parks Lake and Pistol Lake hold significant exploration potential given Pistol Lake is mere meters away from Cameco's 5,000,000 pound Sand Lake1 discovery. Our technical team is currently reviewing the data rooms for the various projects with the objective of generating drill targets for near term diamond drilling."





Figure 1. The Saskatchewan Project Locations



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10252/200773_ebe78d58e4960b4a_002full.jpg



Table 1. The Saskatchewan Project Tenures

Title Number Claim Name Effective Date Good To Date Area (ha) MC00017797 Carswell 10/26/2023 1/24/2026 556.60 MC00017923 Baby Loon 11/21/2023 2/19/2026 859.67 MC00017924 Astleford 11/21/2023 2/19/2026 579.14 MC00017989 Tuma 12/4/2023 3/4/2026 705.48 MC00018301 Archie 1/11/2024 4/11/2026 263.55 MC00018463 Big Sardine 1/17/2024 4/17/2026 2760.27 MC00018466 Horn 1/17/2024 4/17/2026 515.93 S-111700 Pistol 11/25/2010 2/22/2024 225.00 S-112000 Parks 12/3/2010 3/1/2024 33.00 Total





6498.65

A brief summary of each of the nine claims is as follows:

Bleasdell Lake lies to the east of the Athabasca Basin, 95 kilometres southwest of Lynn Lake, Manitoba. Exploration in the late 1950's discovered two uranium bearing pegmatite dykes on the west shore of Bleasdell Lake. The 400 metre Horn Zone hosted zones of 90 metres of 0.12% U3O8 over 2.56 metres and 0.062% U3O8 over 1.21 metres, while drill width intersections over the entire 400 metre ranged from 0.091% U3O8 over 1.86 metres to 0.2025% U3O8 over 2.99 metres. There is little information on the Jackpine Zone located 450 metres along strike to the northwest. The sampling, trenching and diamond drilling defined a 1957 historic resource of 620,700 pounds of U3O8 contained within two zones.

A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. Therefore, Atomic is not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource.





Figure 2. Bleasdell Lake Project



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10252/200773_ebe78d58e4960b4a_003full.jpg

Parks Lake lies in a highly prospective area on the eastern side of the Athabasca Basin, 3 km to SE of historic Rabbit Lake Mine and 2 km to 4km E to NE of Uranium Energy Corp.'s Horseshoe and Raven deposits. Parks Lake is completely surrounded by majors, with Uranium Energy bordering to the west and south and Cameco bordering to the east and north. Conductors appear to trend from Uranium Energy's land onto the Parks Lake property, suggesting a high priority target.





Figure 3. Parks Lake Project



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10252/200773_ebe78d58e4960b4a_004full.jpg

Pistol Lake also lies in a highly prospective area on the eastern side of the Athabasca Basin and is completely surrounded by Cameco. The Cameco Sand Lake Uranium Deposit lies 600 metres from the southern claim boundary. Recent drilling has been undertaken on most of the nearby claims according to the property vendor, suggesting conductors that appear to trend onto the Pistol Lake property are high priority targets.





Figure 4. Pistol Lake Project



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10252/200773_ebe78d58e4960b4a_005full.jpg

Carswell Lake lies in the Cluff Meteorie Crater approximately 15 kilometres to the north of the Cluff Lake Mine. Carswell Lake hosts an historic showing and three historic drill holes and is completed surrounded by Uranium Energy Corp. Four historic showings have been documented in the provincial mineral inventory database.

Two other clams lie in the same area as Carswell Lake. Tuma Lake covers an aeromagnetic anomaly approximately 10 kilometres to the northeast of Carswell Lake. Big Sardine is contiguous to Tuma Lake and lies along a significant fault system.

Baby Loon Lake lies to the south of the eastern side of the Athabasca Basin and covers two historic uranium showings near the Needle Falls Shear Zone. Astleford Lake is contiguous to the south and covers the potential strike extension of the zone.

Archie Lake lies contiguous to north, east and west to NexGen Energy, in the southwest edge of the Athabasca Basin. The assessment records need to be reviewed for conductors within the property, prior to the initiation of 2024 exploration.

Atomic is committed to responsibly advancing the Propertywith a focused exploration strategy aimed at uncovering the full potential of these assets. The Company's dedication to sustainable practices, community engagement, and ethical exploration will drive the development of these projects.

The data disclosed in this news release are related to historical exploration and drilling results. Atomic has not undertaken any independent investigation of the sampling, nor has it independently analyzed the results of the historical exploration work in order to verify the results. Atomic considers these historical exploration and drill results relevant as the company is using these data as a guide to plan exploration programs. The Company's current and future exploration work includes verification of the historical data through sampling and drilling.

Qualified Person

Mr. R. Tim Henneberry, P.Geo. (BC), an advisor to the Company, is the "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and is responsible for the technical contents of this news release and has approved the disclosure of the technical information contained herein.

About the Company

Atomic Minerals Corporation is a publicly listed exploration company on the Exchange, trading under the symbol ATOM, led by a highly skilled management and technical team with a proven track record in the junior mining sector. Atomic's objective is to identify exploration opportunities in regions that have been previously overlooked but are geologically similar to those with previous uranium discoveries. These underexplored areas hold immense potential and are in stable geopolitical and economic environments.

Atomic's property portfolio contains uranium projects in three locations within North America, all of which have technical merit and or are known for hosting uranium production in the past. Three of the properties are located on the Colorado Plateau, an area which has previously produced 597 million pounds of U3O8. Three others are in the prolific Athabasca Basin region.

For additional information about the Company and its projects, please visit our website at www.atomicminerals.ca.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"Clive Massey"

Clive H. Massey

President & CEO

For further information, please contact:

Dave Langlais

(778) 316-5105

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor their Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking" statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

________________________

1 *Source for Sand Lake Resource is Saskatchewan Mineral Deposit Index: https://applications.saskatchewan.ca/Apps/ECON_Apps/dbsearch/MinDepositQuery/default.aspx?ID=2144

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200773

SOURCE: Atomic Minerals Corp.
Latest DUALCOOL Model Boasts Sophisticated Design, Company's DUAL Vane System, and the Comfort-Enhancing Soft Air Feature

SEOUL, South Korea, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- LG Electronics (LG) is revealing its efficient, new DUALCOOL residential air conditioner at MCE 2024 - one of Europe's biggest heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) exhibitions - in Milan, Italy, from March 12-15. Leveraging LG's latest air conditioning technologies, including the comfort-enhancing Soft Air function, the new DUALCOOL provides a year-round pleasant indoor environment.

With its sophisticated 'interior fit' design and refined matte finish, the latest LG DUALCOOL air conditioner is a stylish addition to the home. The advanced, new model integrates a dual outlet structure that delivers fast, optimized temperature control and gentle, indirect airflow that won't leave users feeling chilly. Equipped with the efficient and reliable Dual Inverter Heat Pump Compressor, LG's innovative air conditioner performs reliably in any season and boasts an EU energy efficiency rating of A+++.1

Comfortable Air Flow

The air conditioner's Soft Air function, created in response to consumer feedback, lets users enjoy customized cooling and a soothing, indirect breeze. When the function is activated, the lower vane closes so that air is discharged through the front-facing outlet only. Rather than being directed at sitting or standing height, the airflow moves downward from the ceiling for a gentler, more refreshing cooling experience.

Incorporating the innovative DUAL Vane system, the LG DUALCOOL air conditioner sends warm or cool air in multiple directions to deliver fast, effective temperature control. Its two independent vanes help extend airflow range to an impressive 22 meters; a 22 percent increase compared to previous models. It also outperforms single-vane solutions by up to 23 percent in cooling and 6 percent in heating.2 Moreover, the new air conditioner prioritizes user comfort with its effective airflow delivery method: channeling air upward and outward from above head-height when cooling, and sending airflow down toward the floor when heating.

The latest DUALCOOL model also employs the company's Human Detection Sensor, which detects the distance between the air conditioner and the room's occupant(s) and changes airflow mode (direct or indirect) accordingly. Users can adjust the sensor's settings so that, based on their proximity to the indoor unit, the DUALCOOL will produce either direct, indirect or strong airflow.

Proactive Energy-Saving

With energy prices in the EU continuing to rise, customers across Europe are increasingly prioritizing efficiency when seeking new HVAC solutions for the home. Equipped with the Dual Inverter Heat Pump Compressor, as well as various smart energy management features, the DUALCOOL air conditioner can help lower the cost of household climate control. Achieving an A+++ European Energy-related Product (ErP) rating, the new model offers year-around efficiency with a 9.5 Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) in cooling operation and 5.1 Seasonal Coefficient of Performance (SCOP) in heating.1

DUALCOOL users can save energy by setting up electricity-usage target with the kW Manager. Through the ThinQ app, it makes it possible to monitor energy consumption in real time and can alert the user if the target they've established has been exceeded. Through regularly monitoring electricity usage and analyzing operating information, the kW Manager is able to determine the most energy-efficient range of operation for a variety of different scenarios.

Offering another way to help reduce running costs, the DUALCOOL's Human Detecting Sensor automatically puts the air conditioner in energy-saving mode if no one is detected in the room. Meanwhile, the Window Open Detecting feature can prevent energy waste as well, activating energy-saving mode if the temperature in the room suddenly rises or falls.

Easy and Convenient Indoor Unit Care

The convenient Auto Cleaning feature automatically dries the DUALCOOL's interior, boosting hygiene by removing any moisture and preventing mold from forming. Helping to maintain cleanliness inside the air conditioner during the colder months of the year, the Freeze Cleaning feature defrosts the heat exchanger to effectively wash away bacteria, dust, debris, and odor-causing contaminants.3

"Our latest LG DUALCOOL residential air conditioner is designed to provide optimal indoor comfort in all seasons," said James Lee, head of the Air Solution Business Unit of LG Electronics Home Appliance & Air Solution Company. "LG is committed to setting new standards in home climate control and will continuously introduce high-efficiency and environmentally-friendly HVAC innovations."

Visitors to MCE 2024 from March 12-15 can experience all of LG's latest HVAC solutions, including the new LG DUALCOOL, at the company's booth (U28/Z16, Hall 5, Fiera Milano).

The new LG DUALCOOL air conditioner is set to launch in Italy on April, with availability in other EU countries.

1 Based on the energy labelling class for air conditioners in accordance with EU Regulation (EU) 2009/125/EC. The new DUALCOOL model satisfies the energy efficiency conditions of A+++ class with a 9.5 Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) in cooling operation and 5.1 Seasonal Coefficient of Performance (SCOP) in heating. 2 Based on LG Internal test conducted according to LG internal test methods comparing cooling time of the model with single vane (S3-M12KL2MB) and the model with DUAL Vane (S3-M121L1C0). The new DUALCOOL air conditioner cools up to 23 percent faster in cooling mode and heats up to 6 percent faster than the previous model using Jet Mode at a chamber of 50.1 meters3 , measuring the time it took to reach 5 degree Celsius from the initial average room temperature. For the cooling mode, the testing was conducted under the condition of an indoor temperature of 330.3 degrees Celsius and a relative humidity (RH) of 605 percent, and an outdoor temperature of 350.3 degrees Celsius with RH of 505 percent, a set temperature of 18 degrees Celsius was used. For the heating mode, with an indoor temperature of 120.3 degrees Celsius and RH of 605 percent, and an outdoor temperature of 70.3 degrees Celsius with RH of 875 percent, a set temperature of 30 degrees Celsius was applied. 3 Based on TUV Rheinland Korea conducted according to LG internal test methods measuring the reduction rate of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It removes up to 99.0 percent of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from the heat exchanger within the indoor unit according to tests conducted by TUV Rheinland with models SQ07EDETHN, SQ06BDAWAJ, SQ07SDJBAN and SQ09MDKWAN. Freeze Cleaning mode operation time is confined up to 65 minutes, and the function can be operated through LG ThinQ app only. The performance result may vary depending on actual use environmental conditions and is not guaranteed for continuous exposure to hazardous environments. (Report No. KR23LGPO, KR2357TB, KR2384CM, KR230RH9, KR237IO2, KR235J9N, and KR23OGEG)

About LG Electronics Home Appliance & Air Solution Company

The LG Home Appliance & Air Solution Company is a global leader in home appliances, air solutions as well as smart home solutions featuring LG ThinQ. The company is creating various solutions with its industry leading core technologies and is committed to making life better and sustainable for consumers and the planet by developing thoughtfully designed kitchen appliances, living appliances, HVAC and air purification solutions. Together, these products deliver enhanced convenience, superb performance, efficient operation and sustainable lifestyle solutions. For more news on LG, visit www.LGnewsroom.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2356765/LG_New_DUALCOOL_residential_air_Conditioner_1.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2356766/LG_New_DUALCOOL_residential_air_Conditioner_2.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2356767/LG_New_DUALCOOL_residential_air_Conditioner_3.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/lg-unveils-brand-new-dualcool-air-conditioner-at-mce-2024-in-milan-302082270.html
Joining forces, iRangers and Gunbrig unveil DeepDive World, uniting their expertise in cybersecurity and IT advisory to offer unparalleled services. This merger, stemming from a productive partnership, aims to provide comprehensive cybersecurity, innovative cloud solutions, and transformative IT strategies, ensuring robust growth and resilience for clients in a digital-first world. CEOs Dima Zodek and Misha Hanin are enthusiastic about creating a unified platform that meets the unique needs of clients.

MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / March 6, 2024 / iRangers and Gunbrig, two leading companies in the realms of cybersecurity and IT advisory services, are excited to announce their merger to create DeepDive World. This strategic move is founded on a longstanding partnership between the two firms, aiming to leverage their combined strengths to offer unmatched services in comprehensive cybersecurity, innovative cloud solutions, and transformative IT strategies. This collaboration ensures robust growth and resilience for clients across various sectors, helping businesses thrive in a digital-first environment.









Dima Zodek, CEO of Gunbrig, expressed enthusiasm about the merger, stating, "Joining forces with iRangers marks a significant milestone in our journey to provide top-tier cybersecurity and IT infrastructure solutions. This merger not only amplifies our capabilities but also enables us to offer customized strategies that meet the unique needs of our clients, ensuring their security and success in the digital age."

Misha Hanin, CEO of iRangers, added, "By combining our expertise, we forge a path to deliver technological success that addresses the evolving challenges of today's business landscape. Our unified approach will offer seamless, integrated solutions that empower our clients to achieve their objectives more efficiently."

Introducing Applied Digital Consultancy

DeepDive World's innovative "Applied Digital Consultancy" approach sets it apart from other consulting firms. This methodology transcends traditional consultancy's theoretical advice by focusing on hands-on design and implementation and taking responsibility for the success of our recommended strategies. This approach ensures that our solutions are not only viable but also effectively applied to drive real-world success.

What Clients Can Expect: DeepDive World is committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation, excellence, and customer satisfaction. Clients can look forward to a range of enhanced services, including:

Proactive Cybersecurity Defenses: Implementing cutting-edge security measures to protect against evolving cyber threats.

Strategic IT Consulting: Offering expert advice to optimize IT infrastructure and digital transformation initiatives.

Innovative Cloud Solutions: Designing and deploying scalable cloud-based solutions tailored to businesses' specific needs.

Success Stories

Our portfolio includes transformative projects, such as a comprehensive cybersecurity overhaul for a Fortune 500 company and developing a bespoke cloud migration strategy for a leading e-commerce platform. These success stories exemplify our commitment to delivering our clients tangible results and strategic value.

Looking Ahead

As we look to the future, DeepDive World is not just focused on meeting the current demands of the digital landscape but is also investing in research and development to anticipate and innovate for the challenges of tomorrow. We aim to continue setting new standards in the industry, ensuring that our clients are always at the forefront of technological advancements.

Get in Touch

For more information about DeepDive World and how our services can benefit your business, please contact us at:

Email: info@deepdive.world

Phone: +1 (855) 996-4742

Website: https://deepdive.world/

Join us in this exciting journey towards a secure and innovative digital future.

Contact Information

Rob Zacharias

COO of DeepDive World

rob.zacharias@deepdive.world

SOURCE: DeepDive World

View the original press release on newswire.com.
LOMBOK, Indonesia, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sea6 Energy, a technology pioneer in the Blue Economy, has launched the world's first large-scale mechanized tropical seaweed farm off Ekas, on the island of Lombok, Indonesia. The one-square-kilometer seaweed farm marks a significant milestone in establishing the scalability of sustainable tropical seaweed cultivation for the production of large industrial applications such as biofertilizers, bioplastics, and the continued research and development of renewable chemicals and fuels.

The challenges in harvesting tropical seaweed at- scale have been seen as a significant barrier to growth in the industry, and the key reason for limited research on the seaweed feedstock's applicability in large industrial applications. By automating various workflows of seaweed cultivation, from seeding to harvesting, and developing proprietary processing know-how that dramatically enhances the feedstock's shelf life, Sea6's vertically integrated state-of-the-art technology platform increases smallholder farmer productivity and firmly positions the oceans as the next frontier for scalable agriculture biomass for a sustainable planet. The launch was attended by dignitaries in Indonesia, including Luhut B. Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Minister of Fisheries, Minister of Industry as well as the Indian and UAE Ambassadors to Indonesia. Their presence underscores the importance of this innovative project in promoting environmental stewardship and fostering economic growth in the region. H.E. Mr. Sandeep Chakravorty, Ambassador of India to Indonesia and Timor Leste, added, "Largescale Seaweed cultivation project in Lombok is a shining example of India-Indonesia cooperation in blue economy. Sea6 Energy is a product of India's biotechnology innovation ecosystem. They are pioneers of seaweed cultivation and processing technologies globally. Greater investment in seaweed cultivation can meet the challenges of producing biodegradable industrial raw materials such as biofuels and bio plastics. Sea6's investments in Indonesia are creating local green jobs, developing skills, creating opportunities, and building a sustainable local economy. We are delighted that a company like Sea6 is committed to scaling up of seaweed cultivation and processing in Indonesia."

Seaweed is gaining in popularity because of its potential to be used as an input feedstock to make many products that would otherwise be made today from fossil fuels or land-based biomass, which is increasingly in conflict with the human food supply chain. Sea6's one-square-kilometer seaweed farm is poised to revolutionize the ocean economy by maximizing efficiency, minimizing environmental impact, and ensuring the highest standards of product quality, safety, and traceability while creating employment opportunities for coastal communities. "We are honored to inaugurate the world's first mechanized tropical sea farm, a testament to our unwavering commitment to innovation and sustainability in the Ocean Economy," said Nelson Vadassery, co-founder and CEO of Sea6 Energy. "This groundbreaking initiative not only showcases the immense potential of sustainable seaweed cultivation but also underscores our collective responsibility to develop sustainable products for future generations."

Due to Sea6's potential for scale, the company has attracted nearly USD $30 million of international investment over the past ten years, including Netherlands-based sustainable aquaculture fund Aqua-Spark, India's Tata Capital, BASF Venture Capital, Twin Towers Ventures, and Singapore-based family offices, Silverstrand Capital and Potato Impact Partners. In 2023, Temasek Foundation provided a grant to support the pilot of the automation and mechanization of the tropical seaweed farm in Ekas. Shrikumar Suryanarayan, Chairman of Sea6 Energy, said, "The support of the Government of Indonesia along with the commitment of our investors and supporters has been instrumental in bringing this landmark project to fruition."

For more information about Sea6 Energy please visit. www.sea6energy.com

About Sea6 Energy:

Sea6 Energy is a pioneering Blue Economy company. Vertically integrated along the entire seaweed value chain, Sea6 uses cutting-edge technology and innovation to transform farmed tropical seaweeds into the ultimate versatile and renewable feedstock for a sustainable future.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2356035/Sea6_Energy_Indonesia.jpg

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2356037/Sea6_Energy_seaweed_farm.jpg

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/sea6-energy-launches-worlds-first-large-scale-mechanized-tropical-seaweed-farm-off-the-coast-of-lombok-indonesia-302082338.html
The Millstone Power Station in Waterford. Legislation currently being considered by the General Assembly's Energy and Technology committee seeks to study the feasibility of building a new nuclear reactor at the power plant. Morgan Kaolian AEROPIX/ST

A state legislative committee is considering a bill that calls for studying the feasibility of adding a new nuclear reactor at the Millstone Station power plant in Waterford.

State Sen. Norman Needleman, co-chairman of the Energy and Technology Committee, said the legislation was introduced by state Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport. Steinberg was not available for comment Wednesday on the proposed bill.

Needleman, a Democrat from Deep River, said whether or not a new reactor is built at Millstone has more to do with market conditions and technology issues than it does with Connecticuit lawmakers coming out in support of such a plan.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

"They need to have the revenue stream to justify doing this," he said of Dominion Energy, the Virginia-based utiity company that owns the power plant.

The discussion centers on what is known as "advanced nuclear reactors." The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission describes advance reactors as those using "different technologies from existing operating reactors such as passive safety features, using different fuel or coolant, or scaling the entire reactor smaller."

The Nuclear Energy Institute describes the advantages of advanced nuclear reactors as being safer than the current technology being used in nuclear plants across the country and having components that can be manufactured in factories rather than onsite, which would lower development costs and the amount of time needed to deploy them. Advanced nuclear reactors are also easier to integrate with intermittent renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, according to the NEI.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Susan Adams, a Dominion Energy spokeswoman, said "although the technology is not fully developed, Dominion, like most utilities operating nuclear power stations in the U.S., is considering small modular reactors as an emerging option for new carbon-free power."

If an advanced reactor were to be developed at Millstone, Adams said there's been no determination at this point where it would be located on the grounds of the Waterford power plant.

But Needleman said he was told by Dominion officials during a visit to the facility that an advanced reactor would be where Unit 1 was located. Unit 1 is one of three reactors that previously operated at the plant, but was shut down in November 1995 and permanently closed in July 1998.

"It would cost them a lot of money to pull a reactor" that is still operating, Needleman said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Adams said decommissioning is the final step in the lifecycle of a nuclear power plant, and that hasnt yet happened with Unit 1.

Officials with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection wrote in a draft report released last month that "there is considerable national interest in developing and deploying advanced nuclear reactors, including small modular reactors and other advanced reactor designs, to augment, and possibly replace, the current U.S. nuclear fleet."

"Within New England, advanced nuclear reactors also have the potential to provide a source of firm, dispatchable power to complement non-dispatchable renewable energy technologies, such as solar and wind power, needed to meet decarbonization mandates, and to provide a source of stored energy in the region to help meet winter reliability needs," the report reads in part.

But the DEEP report warned that "commercial deployment of advanced nuclear technologies is in its early stages elsewhere in the U.S., with unique federal subsidies and support."

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

"As such, the cost and investment pathways for developing advanced nuclear technologies in New England is uncertain," the DEEP report states. "The upfront costs and risks to build out the first several units of a particular technology that will be required to fully realize these learnings and lower costs are likely to be significant. Cost risk represents an especially high barrier to deployment for first of a kind."

Dominion Energy is supportive of the study being proposed in the bill known as HB 5357.

"Dominion Energy appreciates the support of the legislature and looks forward to collaborating with DEEP and policymakers on solutions for continued operation of Millstones existing units and how to achieve the policy environment necessary to fully leverage the potential for new nuclear power in meeting increased energy demand as well as the states decarbonization goals," written testimony submitted to the Energy and Technology Committee, reads in part.

Millstone began operating in 1970 and at one time had three operating units. The two remaining reactors produce 2,100 megawatts of electricity.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Millstone's Unit 2 is currently licensed through 2035 and Unit 3 is licensed through 2045, Adams said. Dominion officials announced in January that the company would be applying for subsequent license renewal to extend the life of both units for an additional 20 years, to 2055 and 2065, respectively.


The Opening Ceremony of APE 2024







Mr. Sukumar Verma, Managing Director, Informa Markets Singapore



Prof. Tjin Swee Chuan, Chairman of LUX Photonics Consortium



Dr. Prof. Yuhong Bai, Director of Light: Science & Applications



Mr. Perry Shum, President of IEEE Photonics Society



Mr. Carlos Lee, Director General of European Photonics Industry Consortium

SINGAPORE, Mar 7, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - Organised by Informa Markets, the inaugural Asia Photonics Expo (APE), is successfully launched at Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore on the opening day. With an exhibition area of 15,000m, APE 2024 attracted 350 international exhibitors showcasing a wide range of sectors including optical communication, optics, lasers, infrared, sensing, and displays. It provides a comprehensive platform for business, technology exchange, and networking, enabling industry professionals to engage in meaningful discussions with leading companies and experts. APE 2024 aims to promote in-depth communication and business collaboration between professionals in the photonics ecosystem.The opening ceremony of APE 2024 attracted numerous distinguished guests and industry professionals. Notable speakers included Mr. Yang Xiancheng, Founder and Executive President of China International Optoelectronic Expo (CIOE), Mr. Sukumar Verma, Managing Director, Informa Markets Singapore, Prof. Tjin Swee Chuan, Chairman of LUX Photonics Consortium, Dr. Prof. Yuhong Bai, Director of Light: Science & Applications, Mr. Perry Shum, President of IEEE Photonics Society, and Mr. Carlos Lee, Director General of European Photonics Industry Consortium.On behalf of the organiser, Mr. Sukumar Verma shared: "Asia Photonics Expo is reflective not only of the strength of the local industry, but also the interest from international markets to come explore partnership and investment opportunities in Singapore and the wider Southeast Asia region. The trade show is further complemented by a range of industry conferences, academic forums and seminars for knowledge and networking."Echoing this, Prof Tjin Swee Chuan, Chairman, LUX Photonics Consortium said: "It is very heartening to have the first trade show for Photonics industry held in Singapore. This is especially significant for LUX Photonics Consortium where we have been focusing our effort to bring together a very engaging networking platform for both research, academia and industry locally to discuss, exchange and collaborate for novel photonics technologies adoption by industry."Adding on, Dr. Prof. Yuhong Bai, Director of Light: Science & Applications said: "The Asia Photonics Expo provides exhibition for worldwide optics and photonics enterprises, in particular showcasing the growth of Asian industry. Beyond exhibition, it is also a superior platform for learning, discovering and collaborating."Mr. Perry Shum, President of IEEE Photonics Society highlighted the importance of Singapore as a symbol of progress and connectivity: "It is here, in the heart of Asia, where the seeds of the photonics revolution take root and flourish. This expo transcends mere technological showcase; it stands as a crucible for collaboration and a catalyst for transformative innovation."Mr. Carlos Lee, Director General of European Photonics Industry Consortium expressed in his speech that: "APE is a comprehensive platform catering to the photonics industry and application fields. I hope APE is able to facilitate global exchange and collaboration in photonics technology, driving progress and innovation in the global photonics industry."During the exhibition, APE will also hold a series of site tours for visitors to experience local photonics research and innovation centres. These events provide participants with opportunities to engage and stay updated on the latest trends and market opportunities in the photonics industry.The success of APE 2024 will further stimulate growth in Asia's photonics industry and open up new prospects for the future. It breathes new life into the photonics industry, and we eagerly anticipate more innovations and collaborations that will drive the industry towards a brighter future.About Asia Photonics ExpoOrganised by Informa Markets - the world's leading tradeshow organiser, Asia Photonics Expo (APE) holds at Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore from 6 to 8 March 2024. APE will focus on the latest cutting-edge innovative technologies and the emerging application markets in Asia, aiming to promote the in-depth communication and business collaboration between the photonics upstream and downstream professionals. It will cover the entire optoelectronic ecosystem to showcase the latest products in optical communication, precision optics, laser, infrared, sensor, and display fields, targeting the top-notched optoelectronic innovative technologies and solutions of nine major application areas in optical communication/information processing and storage, consumer electronics, advanced manufacturing, surveillance and security, semiconductor processing, energy, sensing and measurement, lighting and display, and medical. APE is the one-stop sourcing platform for industry players to find new products and technologies and follow market trends.With an exhibition area of 15,000 square meters, APE is expected to attract 350 enterprises, and more than 5,000 visitors to attend the show. As a significant event in the Asian photonics industry, APE also features a diverse range of conferences and activities, including the Asia Light Conference, The Asia Photonics Industry Development Forum, PHOTONICS @ SG 2024 Conference and many more.For more details about Asia Photonics Expo, visit: www.asiaphotonicsexpo.comFor media enquiries, please contact:Ms. Carrie WuInternational Marketing ExecutiveCarrie.wu@informa.comMs. Belinda GohSenior Marketing Managerbelinda.goh@informa.comSource: Informa PlcCopyright 2024 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Papendrecht, 07 March 2024

KEY FIGURES 2023

Revenue: EUR 4.28 billion

(2022: EUR 3.58 billion)

EBITDA: EUR 1,016 million

(2022: EUR 604million)

Net profit: EUR 601 million

(2022: EUR 241 million)

Order book: EUR 6.01 billion

(2022: EUR 6.11billion)

Royal Boskalis B.V. (Boskalis) has concluded a historic 2023. Both revenue and earnings reached a record level with all parts of the business contributing to these impressive figures.

Revenue increased by 20% to EUR 4.28 billion (2022: EUR 3.58 billion).

EBITDA increased 68% to EUR 1,016 million (2022: EUR 604 million) and EBIT increased 135% to EUR 701 million (2022: EUR 298 million).

Net profit increased by nearly 150% to EUR 601 million from EUR 241 million in 2022.

Peter Berdowski, CEO Boskalis:

"2023 was a particularly successful year for Boskalis, in which we broke many records. Net profit rose by almost one hundred and fifty percent to a record high of over EUR 600 million and EBITDA to over one billion euros. It is great to see that all parts of the business contributed to these impressive figures. All our employees deserve a big compliment for the dedication, professionalism and teamwork with which we were able to achieve these successes.

At Dredging & Inland Infra, the vessels were very well occupied on large projects in the Middle East, Far East and Europe. We worked hard on the development of innovative infrastructure, such as the Fehmarnbelt tunnel in Denmark and Manila International Airport. We were also busy with various climate adaptation projects, such as the protection of a stretch of coast of Togo and Benin and closer to home, the reinforcement of the Markermeer dike north of Amsterdam. Climate adaptive measures received a lot of attention during COP28 in Dubai. With our coastal defense and riverbank protection activities, we offer innovative solutions to protect against the effects of climate change. The requirement for such measures became apparent late 2023 when large parts of Europe were under threat of flooding due to extreme weather.

With our Offshore Energy activities, we once again made a significant contribution to the energy transition. In 2023, we were involved in the construction of 29 offshore wind farms worldwide, accounting for 50% of our offshore revenue. We completed our first wind project in the United States and were busy with several wind projects in Taiwan and Europe. Our heavy transport vessels were involved in a large number of high-profile transports in 2023. Very recently, we acquired ALP Maritime. With this acquisition, we strengthened our position in the Anchor Handling Tugs (AHTs) market and added eight powerful vessels to our fleet. Finally, our previous additions to the group - Subsea Services and Marine Survey - again contributed strongly to the successful year.

Salvage once again managed to attract international media attention with the successful removal of 1.1 million barrels of oil from the 48-year-old FSO Safer in the Red Sea off Yemen. We are pleased that this operation was completed in time, before turmoil broke out in the region.

With pride we look back, and with confidence we look forward. We reaped the benefits of our Sustainable Growth strategy and 2024 also seems to promise a fine harvest. The order book is well filled and the market outlook is also good. We will continue on our successful path of creating innovative infrastructure, protecting through climate adaptation and advancing the energy transition."

DIVISIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

In the Dredging & Inland Infra segment, revenue was almost stable with a strong operational result. Both trailing suction hopper dredgers and cutter suction dredgers were very well utilized at over 40 weeks. Last year Boskalis' projects included the construction of the new Manila airport in the Philippines, the innovative polder (Pulau Tekong) and port expansion (Tuas Terminal 2) in Singapore and a new port for a futuristic sustainable city in Saudi Arabia.

Last year, Boskalis was also active internationally in providing climate adaptation solutions (coastal defenses, dikes and rivers) with which we protect against the effects of climate change. In the Netherlands, Boskalis was active on a large number of projects such as the ongoing multi-year project to strengthen the Markermeer dike north of Amsterdam, and in West Africa part of the eroded coastline of Togo and Benin was restored and strengthened as part of the West African Coastal Areas Management program.

At Offshore Energy, revenue increased 41% with a very strong operational result. All business units contributed to these particularly strong financial figures, with the largest absolute increase coming from the offshore wind business. Last year, half of the divisional revenue came from offshore wind and Boskalis was active on 29 offshore wind projects during the year, including sizable installation projects in Taiwan, Europe and the United States.

Our Marine Transport & Services business unit carried out some high-profile projects with its heavy transport vessels, such as the transportation of the heavily damaged 330-meter FPU Zafiro Producer on the BOKA Vanguard to a scrapyard in cooperation with Salvage. The most recent additions to the group - Subsea Services and Marine Survey - again made very strong contributions. Across the board, the division was able to successfully respond to strong market demand from both the offshore wind and traditional oil and gas markets.

Salvage had a busy and good year with numerous high-profile projects, including the FSO Safer oil removal project in Yemen, where 180 million liters of oil were removed from this old and decaying tanker. And last summer Boskalis successfully managed to save the Dutch Wadden Islands from a potentially major environmental disaster by successfully extinguishing and salvaging the burning car carrier Fremantle Highway.

FINANCIAL POSITION

Boskalis' financial position is healthy. With a cash position of EUR 769 million and only EUR 246 million in debt, Boskalis has a financial net cash position of EUR 523 million. With the available cash and cash equivalents and (unused) bank facilities, Boskalis has an immediately available financing capacity of more than EUR 1.0 billion. The solid solvency increased to 52.4% and Boskalis comfortably meets its financial covenants.

The size of the order book amounts to EUR 6.0 billion. With the well-filled order book and favorable market outlook, we are positive about the outlook for 2024.

SAFETY & PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENTS

Safety is a top priority at Boskalis. With the help of our NINA (No Injuries, No Accidents) safety program, everything is aimed at ensuring that our employees and subcontractor personnel return home safely every working day.

Last year a great deal of attention was paid to the Human Excellence strategic pillar. Besides personal development of our employees, recruiting well-trained personnel is an important part of this pillar. As an extension to the head office in the Netherlands and to accommodate our growth ambitions, a new office is being developed in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Already, nearly 300 colleagues of 20 different nationalities work here and the size of the office is expected to double in the coming years.

INNOVATION

In addition to our craftsmanship and years of experience, our innovative strength is an important distinguishing factor. This concerns both innovative modifications to our existing equipment, the design of and investment in new fuel-efficient equipment, alternative contract structures we enter into with our clients and the pioneering working methods we develop on projects. Where we are always looking for opportunities to grow and create sustainable value, we also seize opportunities to reduce our impact on the environment. For example, in October 2023, we announced the order for a new state-of-the-art trailing suction hopper dredger that will be equipped to run on methanol. In addition, over the past year we have equipped a number of offshore vessels with innovative energy storage systems, reducing fuel consumption as well as CO2 and nitrogen emissions.

ROAD TO NET ZERO

In 2023, we made good progress in our efforts to reduce carbon emissions and completed a study on how to measure and monitor our "road to net zero by 2050" progress. We support the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) transition path to net-zero 2050 established in July 2023. As part of this path, there is a medium-term ambition for the maritime sector to reduce carbon intensity. In line with this path, we aim for a 10% reduction in carbon intensity in 2030 compared to 2023. We intend to achieve this partly through energy efficiency measures and partly through the use of renewable fuels. Using our carbon intensity ratio indicator, we monitor progress against our ambition and are able to track the energy efficiency of our fleet on a vessel-by-vessel level.



Annual Review and Sustainability Report

Additional information is available in the Annual Review 2023 and Sustainability Report 2023 on https://boskalis.com/reports.



KEY FIGURES 2023 2022 (in EUR million) Revenue 4,283 3,578 EBITDA 1,016 604 Net result from JVs and associates 11 21 Operating result 627 271 Exceptional items (charges/income) 74 26 EBIT 701 298 Net profit 601 241 End 2023 End 2022 Net financial position incl lease liabilities: cash (debt) 523 237 Solvency 52.4% 48.6% Order book 6,007 6,107

Definitions: EBITDA is EBIT before depreciation, amortization, impairment and other exceptional charges; Operating result is EBIT adjusted for exceptional items. EBIT(DA) and operating result include our share in the net result of joint ventures and associates.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Martijn L.D. Schuttevaer

press@boskalis.com

T +31 786969310

This is an English translation of the Dutch press release. In the event of any disparity between the Dutch original and this translation, the Dutch text will prevail.

Boskalis is a leading global services provider operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors. The company provides creative and innovative all-round solutions to infrastructural challenges in the maritime, coastal and delta regions of the world. With core activities such as coastal defense, riverbank protection and land reclamation Boskalis is able to provide adaptive and mitigating solutions to combat the effects of climate change, such as extreme weather conditions and rising sea levels, as well as delivering solutions for the increasing need for space in coastal and delta regions across the world. The company facilitates the development of offshore energy infrastructure, including renewable wind energy. Boskalis is furthermore active in the construction and maintenance of ports, waterways, access channels and civil infrastructure, thus helping to facilitate trade flows and regional socio-economic development. In addition, Boskalis is a global marine salvage expert and has a strategic partnership in terminal services (Smit Lamnalco). With a versatile fleet of more than 600 vessels and floating equipment and approximately 10,000 employees, including associates, Boskalis is creating new horizons around the world.

This press release can also be found on our website www.boskalis.com.

Attachments
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - Defiance Silver Corp. (TSXV: DEF) (FSE: D4E) (WKN: A1JQW5) ("Defiance" or the "Company") is pleased to report that no appeal has been filed in connection with the favorable ruling of the Mexican Court restoring the Company's rightful ownership to the mining concessions forming part of the Tepal project (see the Company's news release dated February 15, 2024 for more details). As a result, the judgement is now fully enforceable, and Geologix Explorations Mexico, S.V de C.A, a subsidiary of the Company, is now confirmed as the legitimate and rightful owner of the concessions.

Update on Private Placement

On February 5th, the Company announced a private placement of up to C$3,000,000 comprised of units priced at $0.10 per unit (the "Offering"), with each unit comprised of one common share of the Company (each a "Common Share") and one half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole common share purchase warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will be exercisable to acquire one Common Share (each a "Warrant Share") at a price of C$0.20 per Warrant Share at any time on or before the date which is 24 months after the closing of the Offering (see the Company's news release for more details). On February 28th, the Company announced a first closing of the Offering (see the Company's news release for more details).

The Company intends to proceed shortly with a second closing of the Offering and will issue an updating news release following the closing. The Offering remains subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Defiance Silver Corp.

Defiance Silver Corp. (DEF | TSX Venture Exchange; DNCVF | OTCQX; D4E | Frankfurt) is an exploration company advancing the district-scale Zacatecas project, located in the historic Zacatecas Silver District and the Tepal Gold/Copper Project in Michoacan state, Mexico. Defiance is managed by a team of proven mine developers with a track record of exploring, advancing, and developing several operating mines and advanced resource projects. Defiance's corporate mandate is to expand the San Acacio and Tepal projects to become premier Mexican silver and gold deposits.

On behalf of Defiance Silver Corp.

"Chris Wright"

CEO & Chairman of the Board

For more information, please contact: Investor Relations at +1 (604) 343-4677 or via email at info@defiancesilver.com

www.defiancesilver.com

Suite 2900-550 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6C 0A3

Canada

Tel: +1 (604) 343-4677

Email: info@defiancesilver.com

Disclaimer

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.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Information contained in this news release which are not statements of historical facts may be "forward-looking information" for the purposes of Canadian securities laws. Such forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking information. The words "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "contemplate", "plan", "intends", "continue", "budget", "estimate", "may", "will", "schedule", "understand" and similar expressions identify forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things: the Company's ability to close a second tranche of the Offering.

Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Defiance, are inherently subject to significant technical, political, business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. Factors and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things: political risks associated with the Company's operations in Mexico.

There can be no assurances that forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as many factors and future events, both known, and unknown could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to vary or differ materially from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements contained herein or incorporated by reference. Accordingly, all such factors should be considered carefully when making decisions with respect to Defiance, and prospective investors should not place undue reliance on forward looking information. Forward-looking information in this news release is made as at the date hereof. The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect changes in assumptions, changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200786

SOURCE: Defiance Silver Corp.
CHICAGO, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Egg Processing Market valued at USD 37.5 billion in 2024, highlights a remarkable growth projection, anticipated to escalate to USD 47.2 billion by 2029, indicating a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7% from 2024 to 2029 according to a report published by MarketsandMarkets. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) report of egg product export information in 2022, The high export value of USD 718.92 million in 2022 and the diversity of top export markets such as Canada, Mexico, and South Korea indicate a strong international demand for processed egg products. This shows that the processing market is expanding to meet this demand, potentially driven by factors like convenience, longer shelf life, and safety assurances offered by processed products. Additionally, the USDA's resources offering guidance and market reports suggest proactive support for the industry, potentially fostering innovation and expansion into new markets, further contributing to the growth of the egg processing market.

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=124810046

Browse in-depth TOC on "Egg Processing Market"

83 - Tables

56 - Figures

150 - Pages

The organic egg products segment is the fastest-growing market in the upcoming forecast period.

The demand for organic egg products is on the rise, driven by consumer trends favoring perceived health benefits, food safety concerns, animal welfare considerations, and environmental sustainability. According to the United Egg Producers, organic and cage-free shell egg production has increased from 29.3% (96.1 million hens) in 2021 to 34% (106.2 million hens) in 2022 to meet the consumers are concerned about the welfare of animals raised for food production, and organic certification ensures that hens have access to outdoor space and are not given antibiotics or growth hormones.

According to the blog provided by the Egg Carton Store Blog in September 2023, organic egg products are experiencing a surge, driven by health-conscious consumers seeking high-quality, ethical food. Consumers are willing to pay more for organic eggs due to concerns about food quality and production methods. Rising disposable incomes, increased availability, and effective marketing further fuel demand. For instance, EIPRO-Vermarktung GmbH & Co. KG (Germany) offers a variety of organic egg products, including whole egg, egg yolk, egg white, and liquid and frozen egg alternatives. Their organic egg products are pasteurized for safety and come in a variety of packaging options.

Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=124810046

Europe accounts for the second dominant position within the egg processing market throughout the forecast period.

According to the European Commission in 2023, the European Union (EU) has over 350 million laying hens, producing nearly 6.7 million tons of eggs annually. France, Germany, Spain, and Italy are the top producers, accounting for more than half the EU's production. Processed egg products are becoming increasingly popular in Europe, driven by growing consumer concerns about animal welfare and environmental impact are pushing egg processors to adopt more sustainable practices, such as sourcing eggs from cage-free hens and using recyclable packaging. However, adapting to evolving consumer preferences and addressing welfare concerns are the major factors contributing to the growth of the market.

According to the European Union in 2022, an estimated 2 million tons of eggs will be used for the egg processing industry. These products offer convenience, extended shelf life, and consistent quality, making them popular in foodservice, bakeries, and manufacturing industries. Additionally, innovation in processing technologies and product development will be crucial for the industry to adapt to changing consumer preferences and market dynamics. Major players in the European egg processing market include Interovo Egg Group BV (Netherlands), IGRECA (France), Eurovo Srl (Italy), and Avril SCA (France). The market is highly fragmented, with the presence of many regional players, and key players require high R&D investments to cater to changing consumer demands.

Prominent industry players, including Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (US), Rose Acre Farms (US), Ovobel Foods Limited (India), SKMEgg.com (India), Interovo Egg Group BV (Netherlands), IGRECA (France), Eurovo Srl (Italy), Avril SCA (France), Rembrandt Foods (US), and Hillandale Farms (US), wield substantial influence in the egg processing market. These entities boast robust manufacturing facilities and well-established distribution networks across pivotal regions such as North America, Europe, South America, and the Asia Pacific, ensuring a widespread presence and accessibility of their products.

Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=124810046

Browse Adjacent Reports @ Food and Beverage Market Research Reports & Consulting

Related Reports:

Lecithin and Phospholipids Market by Source (Soy, Sunflower, Rapeseed, Egg), Type (Fluid, De-Oiled, Modified), Application (Feed, Food (Confectionery Products, Convenience Food, Baked Goods) Industrial, Healthcare), Nature & Region - Global Forecast to 2027

Protein Ingredients Market by Source (Animal, Plant, Insect, and Microbial), Form (Dry and Liquid), Application (Food & Beverages, Feed, Cosmetics & Personal Care Products, and Pharmaceuticals), and Region - Global Forecast to 2028

About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets has been recognized as one of America's best management consulting firms by Forbes, as per their recent report.

MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients.

Earlier this year, we made a formal transformation into one of America's best management consulting firms as per a survey conducted by Forbes.

The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing.

Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. The KnowledgeStore (our Market Intelligence Cloud) integrates our research, facilitates an analysis of interconnections through a set of applications, helping clients look at the entire ecosystem and understand the revenue shifts happening in their industry.

To find out more, visit www.MarketsandMarkets.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Contact:

Mr. Aashish Mehra

MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

USA: +1-888-600-6441

Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com

Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/egg-processing-equipment-market.asp

Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/

Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/egg-processing-equipment.asp

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2297424/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/egg-processing-market-worth-47-2-billion-by-2029--exclusive-report-by-marketsandmarkets-302082490.html
Pony.ai, a leading global autonomous mobility company, held a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony today with the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg ("The Government") to advance the development of autonomous mobility in Luxembourg. The MoU was signed by Pony.ai Co-Founder and CEO Dr. James Peng and Luxembourg's Minister of the Economy Lex Delles. This MoU represents a collaborative partnership between Luxembourg and Pony.ai, with the objective of fostering the research, development, and deployment of autonomous vehicles in Luxembourg.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306928526/en/

Delegation from the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg visits Pony.ai's office in Fremont, California, March 6, 2024 (Photo: Business Wire)

As a global leader in innovation and technology, Luxembourg presents an excellent opportunity for Pony.ai to further develop its leading autonomous mobility technology in Europe. Pony.ai, with the support of Luxinnovation and local stakeholders, intends to set up a regional hub in Luxembourg, which will serve as a center for Pony.ai's cutting-edge research and development of autonomous vehicle technology. Pony.ai's Luxembourg-based hub will be pivotal in driving technological advancements and tailoring solutions for the European market. In addition, the Government and Pony.ai aim to develop a robust local network to support operational capabilities in Luxembourg. Pony.ai looks forward to building strong local partnerships to support this effort.

Pony.ai co-founder and CEO Dr. James Peng said: "As a leading global autonomous vehicle company, Pony.ai is delighted to partner with Luxembourg as we continue our global expansion. We aim to bring to this partnership our cutting-edge AV technology, comprehensive training programs, and a commitment to establish a regional hub in Luxembourg as we continue our global expansion."

Luxembourg Minister of the Economy Lex Delles said: "The intelligent mobility sector is one of our priorities with regard to the diversification of Luxembourg's economy. Our aim is to make the Grand Duchy a pioneer in the field of autonomous driving on a European scale. As such, I am very pleased with the signature of an MoU with Pony.ai, a leader in autonomous mobility technologies and services. The signature today formalizes our collaboration and is an important step towards creating a synergy between the technical expertise of Pony.ai and the Luxembourg government's political strategy. The latter aims to promote research and technological development, job creation and sustainable economic growth."

Pony.ai is a leader in autonomous mobility and in the commercialization of autonomous driving, operating Robotaxi, Robotruck and Personally Owned Vehicle (POV) business units, developing the safest autonomous driving capabilities on a global scale. Pony.ai is excited to continue its expansion into Luxembourg and the European market. For the past year, Pony.ai has engaged in detailed conversations surrounding robotaxi deployment use cases and opportunities with local stakeholders in Luxembourg and believes the country is an exciting and innovative region to introduce Pony.ai's leading autonomous vehicles.

About Pony.ai

Leading global autonomous driving company Pony.ai, Inc. ("Pony.ai") is pursuing an ambitious vision for autonomous mobility. We aim to bring safe, sustainable, and accessible mobility to the entire world. We believe that autonomous technology can make our roads exponentially safer for travelers. Founded in late 2016, Pony.ai has been a pioneer in extending autonomous mobility technologies and services at a rapidly expanding footprint of sites around the world. Pony.ai has formed partnerships with leading OEMs, including Toyota, SAIC, SANY, FAW Group, GAC Group, etc. To date, Pony.ai has driven over 30 million autonomous testing and operation kilometers (over 18.6 million miles) on open roads worldwide.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306928526/en/

Contacts:

Adam Steinberg

Media@pony.ai
CE Marking Paving the Way for Commercializing the World's First Light Field Powered Subjective Tele-Refractor in Europe

CHRIST CHURCH, Barbados, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Evolution Optiks Limited, a privately held company specializing in light field technology, today announced the CE marking under the European Medical Device Regulation of its Tele-Refractor LFR-260 by its wholly-owned subsidiary Evolution Optiks (Europe) Limited, based in Liechtenstein. This is a major milestone that will enable the company to launch its plans to commercialize the disruptive device in the European Economic Area (EEA) and other CE mark countries. The LFR-260 is intended to be used for distance vision testing to evaluate the visual refractive state of the patient.

Technically, the CE marking indicates that a product complies with all relevant EU directives and regulations concerning health, safety, and environmental protection standards. It is mandatory for a wide range of products, including medical devices, to be marketed in the EEA.

But beyond that, the CE marking is the culmination of a journey that the team of Evolution Optiks began in 2018 when they set out to revolutionize the way eye exams are done. They envisioned a device that would do away with the tedious back-and-forth guessing game patients experience when trying to tell which of the various lenses put in front of their eyes make the letters on the wall chart clearer. The unique QuadView of the fully digital LFR-260 shows up to four slightly different prescriptions simultaneously - no lenses or wall chart required. Also, the device was to be usable outside of the doctor's office or optician's shop to make eye exams more accessible, more frequent, and affordable. All of this became possible through the proprietary light field technology of Evolution Optiks. The result is a compact, portable device that can be operated remotely from anywhere in the world and provides a modern user experience for patients and practitioners alike.

"While the CE marking allows us to transition to commercialization, we will keep refining our technology and continuously add new features to our LFR-260 refractor, the flagship of our Optokare product line. Through our cloud service and over-the-air updates, our customers can benefit from this ongoing optimization. The recent introduction of an AI framework in particular takes the scope of what a simple eye exam can tell about a patient's health and wellness to a whole new level", says Raul Mihali, President & CEO of Evolution Optiks.

"Our sales team will be operating out of our subsidiary in Liechtenstein, which is the perfect hub for the European market, both geographically and economically. It gives us access to all EU and EEA countries as well as Switzerland. Further key location factors are the modern infrastructure and the highly qualified multilingual workforce coming from nearby Austria, Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland. The planned launch in this large key market will establish a strong foundation for the commercial success and a high market penetration of the LFR-260", adds Andreas Kusay, Chairman of Evolution Optiks.

The eye and healthcare market abounds with opportunities for a device like the LFR-260. Its key features and capabilities that set it apart from traditional refractors are obvious. The significantly reduced examination time means shorter waiting times and an increased patient throughput. In large optician chains, one qualified optician can serve several outlets remotely. Also, people in underserviced areas get easier access to eye exams.

Founded in 2014, Evolution Optiks Limited is commercializing an extensive and ongoing portfolio of innovation and is on track to revolutionizing how digital information is being consumed. The company's primary categories of interest are optometry instruments, neuro-optical screening and training devices and, more broadly, it is exploring solutions based on vision-adapted, multi-view and light field displays, with applications in medicine, consumer solutions, advertising and media, automotive and avionics.

www.evolutionoptiks.com, www.optokare.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/evolution-optiks-secures-ce-marking-for-groundbreaking-eye-care-device-302082236.html
Autotaxin inhibitor, IOA-289, recently received the proposed INN cambritaxestat

Cambritaxestat is in the Phase I AION-02 trial in combination with chemotherapy in metastatic pancreatic cancer

It is the first autotaxin inhibitor to be investigated in cancer patients

AMSTERDAM and GENEVA, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- iOnctura, a pioneering, clinical-stage biotechnology company developing transformative cancer therapies, today announces that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) to its autotaxin inhibitor cambritaxestat for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

After assessing its novel chemical and biological properties including an attractive non-clinical safety and efficacy profile, the US FDA has granted Orphan Drug Status, conferring certain benefits during development and commercialization.

Following a separate submission process the World Health Organization has proposed the International Nonproprietary Name (INN) of cambritaxestat.

Cambritaxestat is being developed as a first-in-class therapy for highly fibrotic cancer indications. The drug's lead indication is metastatic pancreatic cancer where it is being combined with standard of care nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine in the Phase I AION-02 study.

Inhibition of autotaxin is a novel treatment strategy that offers a three-pronged attack on the tumor through direct cancer cell inhibition, immune effector stimulation and inhibition of fibrotic processes, giving drugs and immune cells better access to the tumor.

Translational research showing the potential of cambritaxestat in multiple cancer models, including pancreatic cancer, has recently been published in the ESMO journal Immuno-Oncology and Technology (IOTECH), Cancer Research, the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, and Cancers. Across these publications, cambritaxestat showed strong reduction of metastasis and tumor outgrowth in preclinical models, as well as safe and tolerable dosing in healthy volunteers.

Catherine Pickering, Chief Executive Officer, iOnctura, said: "There is an urgent need to develop new therapies for pancreatic cancer which is currently the third largest cause of death by cancer in the U.S., and the fourth in Europe. Although survival of patients with pancreatic cancer has improved in recent years, it still stands at just 13% after five years. This Orphan Drug Designation will support our goal to accelerate cambritaxestat through the clinic to provide a new treatment to patients with limited options."

About iOnctura

iOnctura is a clinical-stage biotech developing selective cancer therapies against targets that play critical roles in multiple tumor survival pathways. This pioneering approach to drug development is expected to offer significant clinical benefits over the traditional approach of targeting a single pathway alone. iOnctura has progressed two therapeutic candidates into mid-stage clinical development: Roginolisib, an allosteric modulator of PI3Kd; and cambritaxestat, a highly selective, non-competitive autotaxin inhibitor. IOA-359, a TGF- pathway inhibitor is also undergoing an extensive pre-clinical program in preparation for first-in-human studies. iOnctura is backed by specialist institutional investors including M Ventures, Inkef Capital, VI Partners, Schroders Capital, European Innovation Council and 3B Future Health Fund. iOnctura BV is headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands with its wholly owned Swiss subsidiary, iOnctura SA, located in Geneva, Switzerland.

About cambritaxestat (IOA-289)

Cambritaxestat is an orally dosed molecule that has shown preclinically to inhibit the growth and proliferation of cancer cells, stimulate immune cell infiltration into tumors and inhibit the development of fibrosis. Cambritaxestat is being developed as a first-in-class therapy for highly fibrotic cancer indications that overexpress autotaxin including pancreatic, liver, colorectal, ovarian and breast cancers. A Phase I study of cambritaxestat in combination with chemotherapy in metastatic pancreatic cancer started in Q4 2022 (NCT05586516).

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/us-fda-grants-orphan-drug-designation-for-ioncturas-first-in-class-autotaxin-cancer-therapy-302082016.html
CARGOTEC CORPORATION, PRESS RELEASE, MARCH 7 2024 AT 10 AM EET

MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has received a large order for three cranes that will be installed onboard a state-of-the-art cable layer due delivery from global shipbuilder VARD.



The contract has been booked into Cargotec's first quarter 2024 order intake, with crane supply scheduled for the third quarter of 2025. MacGregor will deliver a 100-tonne active heave-compensated (AHC) crane, a 20T Offshore crane and a 3T deck crane to Prysmian, to equip the Italian owner's third NB970 cable laying vessel from VARD.



In addition, MacGregor has been contracted to supply its OnWatch solution, including 24/7 technical service support worldwide. Developed for advanced subsea operations, the 191-metre long Prysmian cable layer will be capable of complex installation works, including simultaneous lay and burial with heavy-duty ploughs. It is equipped with cutting-edge DP3 positioning and seakeeping systems. At 19,000 tonnes, the vessel will take its place among the highest cable loading capacity ships in the market.



MacGregor has been a reliable supplier for VARD on multiple projects over many years, said Pasi Lehtonen, Senior Vice President, Offshore Solutions. "This is a significant order for MacGregor's offshore handling business, and we are pleased to supply VARD with yet another package of our high performance cranes," he said. "The market continues to respond well to our unique and modern designs, which combine resilience in service and lightweight round-shaped jibs."



MacGregor's wide range of well proven AHC cranes, including its subsea cranes, offer accurate lifts in all conditions, including extreme environments with temperatures from plus to minus 40C. They can be delivered with hydraulic or electric winch drives.The initial phase of construction on the new vessel will take place at Vard Shipyards Romania - Tulcea, with completion in Norway and handover to the owner due by the beginning of 2027.Pasi Lehtonen, Senior Vice President, Offshore Solutions, MacGregorTel: +358 405576881, Email: pasi.lehtonen@macgregor.comKarolina Hogga, Marketing and Communications Manager, MacGregorTel: +47 95207012, Email: karolina.hogga@macgregor.comMacGregor is a leader in sustainable maritime cargo and load handling with a strong portfolio of products, services and solutions, allShipbuilders, shipowners and operators are able to optimise the lifetime profitability, safety, reliability and environmental sustainability of their operations by working in close cooperation with MacGregor.www.macgregor.comMacGregor is part of Cargotec. Cargotec's

Attachment
PANAMA CITY, PANAMA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Quartier proposes to improve the current vacation rental regulations in Panama by balancing market needs and government regulations.

Legal Restrictions and Control Measures on Vacation Rentals in Panama in 2024

In the current landscape of vacation rentals in Panama, legal restrictions, specifically in the Panama District, have created a challenging environment. Article 21 of Law 80 from November 8, 2012, prohibits leases of less than 45 days without a public tourism accommodation permit, laying the foundation for the control and regulation of unauthorized temporary lodgings.

In response, local authorities have implemented active measures to shut down and penalize these clandestine lodgings. Fines, ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 US dollars, are applied proportionally to the severity of the infraction and the recurrence of the landlords.

Vacation Rental Companies and Their Regulatory Proposals

Vacation rental companies have been key players in this scenario, facing criticism from the hotel industry for contributing to unfair competition. The exponential growth of such companies has intensified the debate over regulation and market fairness.

Facing this situation, the proposed regulation suggests replacing the 45-day rule with a 10% tax on rentals through these platforms in Panama City. This tax aims not only to control the market but also to raise funds for the international promotion of Panama as a tourist destination.

Hotel Industry vs. Sharing Economy

The hotel industry advocates for greater international promotion as a solution to improve occupancy, while vacation rental companies like Airbnb, Vrbo, or Quartier defend the sharing economy and the offer of unique experiences at various prices. This divergence of perspectives raises questions about the appropriate balance between regulation and market diversity.

Quartier, the vacation rental company mentioned earlier, continues to fight for a solution tailored to current realities and visitor behavior. Its business model attracts both tourists and professionals coming to Panama for business, many of whom prefer the freedom of an apartment without giving up hotel comforts. They argue that market freedom should be accessible to companies that can offer an alternative to better meet the needs of those visiting Panama.

The Future of Vacation Rentals in Panama

The future of vacation rentals in Panama remains uncertain, facing regulatory challenges but also presenting opportunities for constructive dialogue. How these issues are addressed will determine the future of the vacation rental industry in the country.

Contact Information:

Joaquin Roca

+507-64728600

Presidente del Grupo Quartier

jroca@quartierpanama.com

SOURCE: Quartier Home Suites

View the original press release on accesswire.com
MUNICH, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / EBD Group is thrilled to welcome the global biopharma community to Barcelona, Spain, March 18-20. Over 3,700 delegates are looking forward to meeting one-to-one to elevate life science partnerships globally.

Partnering is in full swing with 2,000+ meetings being requested per day. On top of one-to-one meetings, the event offers engaging workshops and panels, innovative company presentations, an active exhibition and a variety of networking opportunities making it an unrivalled forum for companies across the biotech value chain to meet and do business.

The session "For a greener globe: Biopharma's journey to a sustainable future" is scheduled for the afternoon on Monday, March 18. The panel will be moderated by Jordi Ferrer, Investing Director at Ship2B Ventures and Mar Guell, Director, Sustainable Business at Kreab, with distinguished panelists Jose Maria Fernandez, Partner at Aliath Bioventures , Jean-Patrick Hennebelle, SVP, Head of Global Late- Stage Partnering at IPSEN , Joe Hopcraft, Client Partner, Biotech at IQVIA and Stephane Thiroloix, CEO at AlgoTx .

Tuesday will feature the popular session, "A Day in the life of an experienced dealmaker" with Anton Gueth, Managing Director at EVOLUTION Life Science Partners , Matthias Mullenbeck, SVP, Head Global Business Development and Alliance Management at Merck KGaA , Michael Palladinetti, Global Head of Business Development & Licensing at Sanofi , Evonne Sepsis, Founder and Managing Director at ESC Advisors and Nigel Sheail, Venture Partner at Versant Ventures .

Tuesday will also feature the exciting return of the Startup Spotlight to BIO-Europe Spring. This lively competition will offer a selected group of startup companies the opportunity to make a 4-minute pitch and participate in a live feedback session with judge panel members Hakan Goker, Managing Director at M Ventures , Stephanie Marrus, Managing Director at University of California San Francisco , Raul Martin, Partner at Ysios Capital and Oscar Perez, CSO at Ferrer .

Additionally, high-level executives from pharma, biotech, and the investment sector are confirmed to participate in panels and fireside chats covering a wide range of topics including the latest insights on therapeutic areas, challenges and learnings from business development trends, and various perspectives on a variety of partnership models.

Registration and event information are available online .

Additional links and information:

Follow BIO-Europe Spring 2024 on X @EBDGroup (hashtag: BIOEuropeSpring) or LinkedIn

About EBD Group

EBD Group's overriding mission is to help collaborations get started across the life science value chain. Our range of partnering conferences has grown to become the largest and most productive conference platform in the industry. Each one of our landmark events held in key life science markets around the world is powered by our state-of-the-art partnering software, partneringONE  , that enables delegates to efficiently identify and engage with new opportunities via one-to-one meetings. Today our events (BIO-Europe  , BIO-Europe Spring  , Asio Bio Partnering Forum, BioPharm America, Biotech Showcase, DigiMed Showcase, ChinaBio  Partnering Forum, and BioEquity Europe) annually attract more than 15,000 senior life science executives who engage in over 50,000 one-to-one partnering meetings. These vital one-to-one engagements are the wellspring of deals that drive innovation in our industry. EBD Group is an Informa company. For more information, please visit www.ebdgroup.com .

Media Contacts:

MC Services AG

+49 89 2102280

contact@mc-services.eu

Guadalupe Rodriguez

EBD Group

grodriguez@ebdgroup.com

SOURCE: EBD Group

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Second Indian site planned as it becomes the digital crossroads for the East and the West

LONDON, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Colt Data Centre Services (Colt DCS), a leading global provider of hyperscale and large enterprise data centre solutions, has announced the expansion of its presence to Southern India with the acquisition of a new 10-acre plot in Chennai. It plans to deliver a hyperscale data centre in the fast-growing digital hub of Ambattur, Chennai by 2027.

Chennai is India's fifth largest city by GDP and population, has a large and quickly growing digital market with a goal to become a $1 trillion economy by 2030. With the country's highest network speeds and serving as a major landing station for fibre networks, it directly connects India to the rest of the world. Colt DCS' expansion to the region will support the rapid digitalisation of industries in the area by providing the IT power capacity, security and accessibility required for businesses looking to scale up their operations.

The new site builds on Colt DCS' growth and will mark its 18th data centre globally, providing the infrastructure capacity for the rapid digitalisation of industry, mass cloud adoption and emerging technology such as AI. The plan also builds on Colt DCS' presence in India following the phase one completion and first customer in its Mumbai data centre. The new site is set to deliver a minimum of 70 MW of IT capacity.

With the rapid growth of India's digital market, having an experienced partner with a proven local track record in building large scale data centres, allows multinational organisations access to this new and competitive region. In common with other new Colt DCS data centre developments, the large-scale site will give customers a huge amount of capacity to grow into.

The site is set to be completed in 2027. Colt DCS is working with local contractors and supply chains to reduce the environmental impact of the scope 3 emissions and stimulate the economy of the surrounding area.

Richard Wellbrock, Chief Commercial Officer, at Colt DCS, said: "India's digitization efforts are accelerating, driving continued economic development. We view the Indian data centre market as a significant opportunity for growth and remain dedicated to supporting its development. The establishment of our new site in Chennai doubles our commitment to this market, enabling us to better facilitate the expansion of our customers into this thriving region."

Pratap Mane, Country Head India, at Colt DCS, said: "Chennai has always been a strategically important location for us for our expansion plans in India, due to the presence of multiple cable landing stations and large enterprise businesses. We expect the demand for data centres to continue to grow exponentially with the increased digitisation, adoption of AI and cloud services in India. The Tamil Nadu State Government on its part has been very proactive and is keen to develop Chennai as the number one destination for data centres in India. Colt DCS will deliver this project with global standards, sustainable design and with a high build quality for our hyperscale & large enterprise clients."

Notes for the media:

About Colt DCS

Colt DCS provides true service and operational excellence in the sustainable design, build, delivery and operational management of hyperscale data centres across Europe and APAC. We provide data centre solutions to hyperscale and large enterprise customers across 17 state-of-the-art carrier neutral data centres spanning 7 cities.

Our hyperscale and colocation solutions allow our customers freedom to plan effectively for the growth of their business, knowing that their data centre strategy is ready for the demands of tomorrow.

We have over 25 years of experience in the industry, delivering on our vision of being the most trusted and customer centric data centre operator in the market. We put environmental awareness at the heart of everything we do because we know it's the right thing to do for our planet. That's why we're taking the ownership to reduce our environmental impact globally and make sustainability a key strategic driver.

As part of our sustainability journey, Colt DCS has set comprehensive near- and long- term Science Based Targets to cut our emissions in line with the SBTi's latest Net Zero Standard.

www.coltdatacentres.net

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2356386/Chennai_Colt.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/colt-dcs-plans-new-data-centre-in-chennai-to-expand-presence-in-asia-pacific-302082162.html
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER STATE OR JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (596/2014/EU).

PR REF: PR/04 2024

Successful completion of the initial offering on the iconic artwork from Francis Bacon 'Three Studies for Portrait of George Dyer, 1963'

Closing of the Offer Period and Trading on the ARTEX MTF to commence on Friday 8 March 2024

Luxembourg, 7 March 2024

The offering of 550,000 class B redeemable shares (the " Class B Shares " or the " Offered Shares ") of Art Share 002 S.A. , a public limited liability company (societe anonyme) governed by the laws of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, having its registered office at 16, rue Eugene Ruppert, L-2453 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and registered with the Luxembourg register of commerce and companies (Registre de Commerce et des Societes de Luxembourg) under number B273672 (the " Company " or " Art Share 002 ") (the " Offering ") in Francis Bacon's iconic artwork 'Three Studies for Portrait of George Dyer, 1963' (the " Artwork ") was successfully completed (and oversubscribed) by way of a private placement to qualified and/or professional investors located in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland.

" or the " ") of , a public limited liability company (societe anonyme) governed by the laws of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, having its registered office at 16, rue Eugene Ruppert, L-2453 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and registered with the Luxembourg register of commerce and companies (Registre de Commerce et des Societes de Luxembourg) under number B273672 (the " " or " ") (the " ") in Francis Bacon's iconic artwork 'Three Studies for Portrait of George Dyer, 1963' (the " ") was successfully completed (and oversubscribed) by way of a private placement to qualified and/or professional investors located in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland. As per the terms of the Offering, 412,500 Class B Shares corresponding to 75% of all the Class B Shares issued by the Company were subscribed and shall, subject to lock-up arrangements, be admitted on to the ARTEX MTF as from Friday 8 March 2024 (the " Admission ").

"). The price per Class B Share was fixed at EUR 92.20 for an aggregate value of EUR 38,032,500, equivalent to USD 41,250,000 by applying the exchange rate as published by the European Central Bank at 16:00 (CET) on 4 March 2024 of USD 1 = EUR 0.9220.

Trading of the Class B Shares on the ARTEX MTF shall commence with an opening auction commencing at 12:50 PM CET and then into contiunous trading from 1:00 PM CET under symbol BAC1EU (ISIN: LU2583605592).

The final offering memorandum detailing the terms of the Offering, together with the pricing statement, was published by the Company on 7 March 2024 and is available to view on its website at www.artshare002.com(the "Offering Memorandum").

Admission Highlights

On Admission, the Company will have a market capitalisation of approximately EUR 50.7 million, equivalent to USD 55 million and have 550,000 Class B Shares in issue.

Zeus Capital Limited, a UK Investment Bank regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK, acted as sole bookrunner for the Offering. Linklaters, LLP acted as legal advisers to the sole bookrunner.

Security details as follows: Ticker Symbol: BAC1EU ISIN: LU2583605592 WKN: A3D7ZH Bloomberg Ticker: BAC1EU AW EQUITY







H.S.H. Prince Wenceslas of Liechtenstein, co-founder and Chairman of ARTEX MTF, commented:

"We are very proud to announce the success of this final step towards the trading of a work of art, a first in art history. The strong interest shown by qualified investors over the last couple of weeks is a major mark of confidence in our new regulated and accessible art focused multilateral trading facility."

Yassir Benjelloun-Touimi, co-founder and CEO of ARTEX MTF, added:

"The enthusiasm generated by this offering is excellent news for all those who believe in the potential of democratising investment in art. From 8 March, everyone will be able to trade in art on the ARTEX MTF, paving the way for the development of a new asset class. This admission is the first ever listed masterpiece, and we are now excited to bring other masterpieces we have in the pipeline."



Francis Bacon, Three Studies for Portrait of George Dyer, 1963  The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved, DACS 2024 / Photo by The Makers Photography

The Admission is expected to take place on ARTEX MTF AG, a public limited liability company (Ak-tiengesellschaft), incorporated under the laws of Liechtenstein, having its registered office at Wuhrstrasse 6, 9490 Vaduz, Liechtenstein and registered with the trade and companies register of Liechtenstein under number FL-0002.682.571-2, being a multilateral trading facility regulated and supervised by the Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority ("ARTEX MTF").

* * *

About Art Share 002 S.A.

Art Share 002 is a public limited liability company (societe anonyme) incorporated under the laws of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg existing as securitisation undertaking (organisme de titrisation) within the meaning of the Luxembourg law of 22 March 2004 on securitisation, as amended (the "Securitisation Law"). It has been set-up to issue shares, tracking the economic risk associated with the Artwork and any other associated risk within the meaning of article 53 of the Securitisation Law, financed, inter alia, by the issuance of the Class B Shares.

Art Share 002 was established to facilitate fractional investment in the Artwork through the issuance of the Class B Shares (i.e., undertaking a securitisation transaction of the Artwork).

The principal activity of Art Share 002 is to hold and securitise the Artwork, as well as assuming risks, existing or future, relating to the holding of the Artwork. Its principal activities to date have been limited to organisational activities, including entering into certain agreements (i) for the acquisition of the Artwork and (ii) those necessary for the preparation and execution of the Offering and the Admission.

It is intended that the Artwork to be displayed, on loan to cultural institutions such as museums to enhance accessibility to the public. This will add a unique social impact dimension to the transaction and contribute to the goal of the democratisation of iconic artwork.

Art Share 002 is managed by a board of directors who are Mrs Ursula Schmidt, Mr Edouard de Burlet and Mr Ronan Le Bouc.

Art Share 002 does not expect to generate revenues or cashflows from lending, for free, the Artwork to cultural institutions such as museums. It will not conduct any business activities except for activities relating to the ownership, maintenance and promotion of the Artwork and, as such, these activities shall be limited to a passive administration of the ownership of the Artwork.

The Company's strategy will be to display and promote the Artwork in a manner designed to improve public understanding of it.

Press contacts

France and Global

Alienor Miens | Alienor.miens@margie.fr| +33| +33 (0)6 11 84 34 92

Bookrunner

Zeus Capital Limited

Ben Robertson

Art Share 002 S.A

Please contact Alienor Miens as indicated above.

DISCLAIMER

This publication is an announcement and not a prospectus for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (the "Prospectus Regulation"), and as such does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase securities of Art Share 002.

These materials do not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for, or otherwise invest in, securities in the United States. The securities mentioned herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act"). The securities may not be offered or sold in the United States (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act) except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. There will be no public offer of securities in the United States.

In any member state of the European Economic Area, this communication is only addressed to and is only directed at qualified investors in such member state within the meaning of the Prospectus Regulation, and no person that is not a qualified investor may act or rely on this communication or any of its contents.

In so far as forecasts or expectations are expressed in this investor relations news or where our statements concern the future, these forecasts, expectations, or statements may involve known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or developments may vary, depending on changes in the operating environment. Art Share 002 does not assume an obligation to update the forecasts, expectations or statements contained in this release. The information contained in this announcement is for background purposes only and does not purport to be full or complete. No reliance may be placed by any person for any purpose on the information contained in this announcement or its accuracy, fairness, or completeness. This announcement is not for publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into Australia, South Africa, Canada, Japan, New Zealand or the United States (including its territories and possessions, any State of the United States) or any other jurisdiction where to do so would constitute a violation of the relevant laws of such jurisdiction. The distribution of this announcement may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions and persons into whose possession any document or other information referred to herein comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restriction. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The Offered Shares may not be offered or sold in the United States unless registered under the Securities Act except pursuant to a transaction exempt from, or not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. The Offering and sale of the Offered Shares has not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or under the applicable securities laws of Australia, South Africa, Canada or Japan and New Zealand. Subject to certain exceptions, the Offered Shares may not be offered or sold in Australia, Canada or Japan, New Zealand or to, or for the account or benefit of, any national, resident or citizen of Australia, Canada, or Japan. There will be no public offer of the Offered Shares in Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United States.

In the United Kingdom, this announcement is being distributed only to, and is directed only at, persons who: (A) (i) are "investment professionals" specified in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") and/or (ii) fall within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (and only where the conditions contained in those articles have been, or will at the relevant time be, satisfied); and (B) are "qualified investors" within the meaning of Article 2 of the Prospectus Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2017/1129) as it forms part of retained EU law as defined in the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons").

In the European Economic Area (the "EEA"), this announcement is addressed only to and directed only at, persons in member states who are "qualified investors" within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation (Regulation ((EU) 2017/1129) ("Qualified Investors"). This announcement must not be acted on or relied on (i) in the United Kingdom, by persons who are not Relevant Persons, and (ii) in any member state of the EEA, by persons who are not Qualified Investors.

Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement relates is available only to: (i) in the United Kingdom, Relevant Persons; and (ii) in any member state of the EEA, Qualified Investors, and will be engaged in only with such persons. For the avoidance of doubt, no offer to the public will made in the United Kingdom and no application will be made for the Offered Shares to be traded on a regulated market in the United Kingdom.

The Company has not authorised any offer to the public of securities in Switzerland. With respect to Switzerland, no action has been undertaken or will be undertaken to make an offer to the public of securities requiring publication of a prospectus in Switzerland. As a result, the Offered Shares may only be offered in Switzerland to any legal entity which is a professional investor as defined in article 4(3) of the Swiss Federal Financial Services Act of 15 June 2018.

This announcement may include statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements may be identified by using forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "estimates", "plans", "projects", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "may", "will" or "should" or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy, plans, objectives, goals, future events or intentions. Forward-looking statements may and often do differ materially from actual results. Any forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current view with respect to future events and are subject to risks relating to future events and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to the Company's business, results of operations, financial position, liquidity, prospects, growth, and strategies. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Each of Art Share 002 and Zeus Capital Limited, expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update, review or revise any forward-looking statement contained in this announcement whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. Any subscription or purchase of the Offered Shares in the possible Offering should be made solely on the basis of information contained in the Offering Memorandum. The information in this announcement is subject to change. Before subscribing for or purchasing any Offered Shares, persons viewing this announcement should ensure that they fully understand and accept the risks which set out in the Offering Memorandum when published. No reliance may be placed for any purpose on the information contained in this announcement or its accuracy or completeness. Neither this announcement, nor the references herein to the Offering Memorandum, shall form the basis of or constitute any offer, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for any Offered Shares nor shall it (or any part of it) or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract thereof. Art Share 002 may decide not to go ahead with the Offering and there is therefore no guarantee that the admission will occur. You should not base any financial decision on this announcement. Acquiring investments to which this announcement relates may expose an investor to a significant risk of losing all of the amount invested. Persons considering making investments should consult an authorised person specialising in advising on such investments. Neither this announcement, nor the Offering Memorandum referred to herein, constitutes an investment recommendation concerning the Offering. The value of the Offered Shares can decrease as well as increase. Potential investors should consult a professional advisor as to the suitability of the Offering for the person concerned. None of Zeus Capital Limited or any of its affiliate or any of its or their affiliates' directors, officers, employees, advisers or agents accepts any responsibility or liability whatsoever for/or makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information in this announcement (or whether any information has been omitted from the announcement) or any other information relating to Art Share 002, its subsidiaries or associated companies, whether written, oral or in a visual or electronic form, and howsoever transmitted or made available or for any loss howsoever arising from any use of the announcement or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith.

Information to distributors in the EEA

Solely for the purposes of the product governance requirements contained within: (i) EU Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments, as amended ("MiFID II"); (ii) Articles 9 and 10 of Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2017/593 supplementing MiFID II; and (iii) local implementing measures (together the "MiFID II Product Governance Requirements"), and disclaiming all and any liability, whether arising in tort, delict, contract or otherwise, which the Company, in its capacity as "manufacturer" for the purposes of the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements may otherwise have with respect thereto, the Offered Shares have been subject to a product approval process, which has determined that such Offered Shares are: (a) compatible with an end target market of retail investors and investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties, each as defined in MiFID II; and (b) eligible for distribution through all distribution channels as are permitted by MiFID II (the "Target Market Assessment"). Notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, "distributors" (for purposes of the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements) should note that the price of the Offered Shares may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment; the Offered Shares offer no guaranteed income and no capital protection, and an investment in the Offered Shares is compatible only with investors who do not need a guaranteed income or capital protection, who (either alone or in conjunction with an appropriate financial or other adviser) are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of such an investment and who have sufficient resources to be able to bear any losses that may result therefrom. The Target Market Assessment is without prejudice to the requirements of any contractual, legal or regulatory selling restrictions in relation to the Offering, including the selling restrictions described in "Notice to Investors (Selling Restrictions)". Furthermore, it is noted that, notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, the financial intermediaries acting as placement agents (the "Placement Agents") will only procure investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties. For the avoidance of doubt, the Target Market Assessment does not constitute: (i) an assessment of suitability or appropriateness for the purposes of MiFID II; or (ii) a recommendation to any investor or group of investors to invest in, purchase, subscribe for, or take any other action whatsoever with respect to the Offered Shares. Each distributor is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the Offered Shares and determining appropriate distribution channels.

Information to distributors in the UK

Solely for the purposes of the product governance requirements of Chapter 3 of the FCA Handbook Product Intervention and Product Governance Sourcebook (the "UK Product Governance Requirements"), and/or any equivalent requirements elsewhere to the extent determined to be applicable, and disclaiming all and any liability, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise, the Company, in its capacity as "manufacturer" (for the purposes of the UK Product Governance Requirements) may otherwise have with respect thereto, the Offered Shares have been subject to a product approval process, which has determined that the Offered Shares are: (a) compatible with an end target market of retail investors and investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties, each as defined in Chapter 3 of the FCA Handbook Conduct of Business Sourcebook (the "U.K. Target Market Assessment"). Notwithstanding the U.K. Target Market Assessment, "distributors" (for the purposes of the UK Product Governance Requirements) should note that: the price of the Offered Shares may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment; the Offered Shares offer no guaranteed income and no capital protection; and an investment in the Offered Shares is compatible only with investors who do not need a guaranteed income or capital protection, who (either alone or in conjunction with an appropriate financial or other adviser) are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of such an investment and who have sufficient resources to be able to bear any losses that may result therefrom. The U.K. Target Market Assessment is without prejudice to the requirements of any contractual, legal or regulatory selling restrictions in relation to the Offering. Furthermore, it is noted that, notwithstanding the U.K. Target Market Assessment, the Placement Agents will only procure investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties for the purposes of the U.K. MiFIR Product Governance Rules. For the avoidance of doubt, the U.K. Target Market Assessment does not constitute: (i) an assessment of suitability or appropriateness for the purposes of Chapter 9A or 10A respectively of the FCA Handbook Conduct of Business Sourcebook; or (ii) a recommendation to any investor or group of investors to invest in, or purchase, or take any other action whatsoever with respect to the Offered Shares. Each distributor is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the Offered Shares and determining appropriate distribution channels.

Information for Swiss investors and distributors in Switzerland

The Offered Shares can only be offered and placed with the following categories of professional clients that are also qualified investors in Switzerland:

Professional clients according to article 4 para. 3-5 Financial Services Act (" FinSA ") that do not wish to make use of their right to opt-in to be considered as retail clients.

") that do not wish to make use of their right to opt-in to be considered as retail clients. High-net-worth retail clients and private investment structures created for them according to art. 5 para. 1 FinSA who have declared that they wish to be treated as professional clients (opting-out), for whom a prudentially supervised financial intermediary provides portfolio management in accordance with art. 10 para. 3ter Collective Investment Schemes Act ("CISA"), and these investors have been informed that they are deemed qualified investors and have been ex-plained the risks that this entails and have been informed that they have the option of declaring that they do not wish to be deemed qualified investors and have not made use of this option.

Accordingly, the Offered Shares will neither be offered to retail clients nor to non-qualified investors and no prospectus will be drafted under the FinSA. In the case where Art Share 002 would qualify as a foreign collective investment scheme under the CISA, no approval by FINMA and no appointment of a Swiss representative and paying agent are required due to the restriction to place the Offered Shares exclusively to per se qualified investors in Switzerland as described above.

Distributors in Switzerland must observe these selling restrictions.
Kamux Corporation, Press release, 7.3.2024 at 12:00

HAMEENLINNA, Finland, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kamux invites investors, analysts and media representatives to its Capital Markets Day on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.

CEO Tapio Pajuharju and other members of the Kamux Management Team will host the event. During the event, the Management Team will present Kamux's updated strategy and long-term targets.

The CMD will be held as a hybrid event. Institutional investors, analysts and media representatives are welcome to attend the event at Clarion Hotel Aviapolis, Karhumaentie 5, Vantaa, Finland at 14.00-17.00 EET. Coffee will be served before the event starts and approximately halfway through the event. Kamux will also host two showroom visits, one directly before the event and a second one after the event.

Those participating the event on site are requested to register by email to ir@kamux.fi by March 14, 2024. Please let us know if you wish to participate the showroom visit, and if you will participate the visit before or after the event. Kamux will organize transportation from Clarion Hotel Aviapolis to the showroom and back.

Due to limited number of seats on site, we will confirm your participation to the CMD separately via email.

The Capital Markets Day can also be followed as a live webcast at https://kamux.videosync.fi/2024-cmd. A recording of the webcast and materials will be available at www.kamux.com after the event.

Agenda:

12.45-13.45 Showroom visit #1

14.00 CMD begins

17.00 CMD ends

17.00-18.00 Showroom visit #2

For further information, please contact:

Katariina Hietaranta, Head of Communications & IR, tel. +358 50 557 6765

Kamux Corporation

Communications

Kamux is a retail chain specialized in used cars and related integrated services that has grown rapidly. Kamux combines online shopping with an extensive showroom network to provide its customers with a great service experience anytime, anywhere. In addition to digital channels, the company has a total of 78 car showrooms in Finland, Sweden and Germany. Since its founding in Hameenlinna, Finland, in 2003 the company has sold over 500,000 used cars, 68,257 of which were sold in 2023. Kamux's revenue in 2023 was EUR 1,002 million and its average number of employees was 885 in terms of full-time equivalent employees. Kamux Corporation is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. For more information, please visit www.kamux.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/invitation-to-kamuxs-capital-markets-day-on-march-20-2024-302082765.html
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Coin Strategy is pleased to announce the release of their annual performance report for the year 2023. It has been a year of exceptional growth and achievement, marked by robust returns and strategic advancements in their portfolio management approach.

In 2023, Coin Strategy's managed portfolios experienced a remarkable growth rate This substantial increase reflects the effectiveness of their investment strategies, as well as the resilience and potential of the cryptocurrency market.

Their AI-powered trading algorithm continued to outperform traditional market benchmarks, delivering consistent returns and minimizing downside risk. Through adaptive learning and data-driven decision-making, they capitalized on market opportunities and navigated volatility with agility.

The valuable insights and recommendations provided by their team of 12 analysts played a pivotal role in optimizing portfolio performance. Their in-depth market research and strategic trade placements complemented the algorithmic approach, enhancing overall portfolio resilience and returns.

Coin Strategy is proud to maintain a high level of client satisfaction, with many investors achieving their financial goals and objectives through their tailored investment solutions. Their commitment to transparency, communication, and personalized service remains unwavering as they continue to prioritize the needs and interests of their clients.

Looking ahead to the year 2024, Coin Strategy anticipates even greater opportunities and growth potential in the cryptocurrency market. The recent approval of Bitcoin ETFs and increasing adoption of digital assets in nontraditional markets are expected to fuel significant market expansion and investor interest.

With cryptocurrency hype reaching new heights and Bitcoin's inclusion in ETFs opening doors to broader investment participation, Coin Strategy predicts 2024 to be a year of maximum expected growth. Their innovative strategies, combined with market expertise and technological advancements, position them to capitalize on these opportunities and deliver superior returns for their clients.

In conclusion, 2023 has been a year of immense progress and success for Coin Strategy. They remain committed to their mission of empowering investors with innovative solutions and expert guidance in navigating the dynamic cryptocurrency landscape. As they look towards the future, they are excited about the possibilities that lie ahead and are dedicated to delivering value, excellence, and growth for their clients.

For more information on Coin Strategy's performance and investment opportunities, please feel free to contact them:

Media Contact

Organization: Coin Strategy

Contact Person: Kelvin Blake

Website: https://coinstrategy.io

Email: support@coinstrategy.io

City: Zurich

State: Zurich

Country: Switzerland

SOURCE: Coin Strategy

View the original press release on accesswire.com
BRUSSELS, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the European Commission launches the 2025 edition of the European Capital of Smart Tourism and the European Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism competitions. Tourism destinations across Europe are invited to submit their innovative practices of smart and sustainable tourism to become leading examples in European tourism.

As the EU's third largest eco-system, tourism plays a crucial role in economic growth and job creation. The Smart Tourism initiative recognises cities implementing new digital tools and practices such as equal opportunity and access to visitors, sustainable development and support to creative industries and local talent. With these competitions, the European Commission promotes and awards the future of smart and sustainable tourism in Europe.

To compete for the 2025 titles, cities are asked to demonstrate their innovative tourism practices and submit their applications using an online form. Applications will first be evaluated by a panel of independent experts. In the second step, shortlisted cities will be asked to present their city's candidature in front of the European Jury. The European Jury will select two winners, the 'European Capital of Smart Tourism 2025' and the 'European Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism 2025', which will be announced in November 2024.

Both competitions are open to cities across both the EU, as well as the non-EU countries that take part in the Single Market Programme (SMP)[1] - former COSME Programme.

European Capital of Smart Tourism 2025 - Smart gets you further

The European Capital of Smart Tourism competition has a proven track record of success. The 2025 European Capital of Smart Tourism is the sixth edition of the competition. Dublin was selected as the 2024 Smart Capital. Previous winners include Pafos and Seville as 2023 Capitals, Bordeaux and Valencia as the 2022 Capitals, Gothenburg and Malaga as the 2020 Capitals, while Helsinki and Lyon won the inaugural competition and jointly held the 2019 titles. Since 2024, there is only one winner of the European Capital of Smart Tourism competition due to a change in competition rules, whereas previous editions featured two winners annually.

The European Capital of Smart Tourism 2025 will benefit from communication and branding support throughout 2025 which will tell the story of the outstanding smart and innovative practices that made it stand out and win. This will include the production of a promotional video, a large hashtag sculpture to install in a prominent location, diverse promotional activities and visibility at EU level and internationally. The winner will also have the chance to join a growing and active network of smart destinations that were shortlisted in the five previous editions of the competition, exchange best practices and learn from one another.

The European Capital of Smart Tourism competition is open to cities with a population of over 100.000. For more information, please refer to the European Capital of Smart Tourism Guide for Applicants.

European Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism 2025 - Green leads the way

The European Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism is the successor of the European Destinations of Excellence (EDEN) competition which was first introduced by the European Commission in 2007 to reward non-traditional, emerging sustainable tourism destinations in Europe.

The competition is founded upon the principle of promoting the development of sustainable tourism in smaller destinations which brings value to the economy, the planet, and the people. Being the European Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism 2025 will allow the winning city to serve as an inspiration to other tourism destinations across Europe, enhance their city's profile as a quality travel destination, attracting visitors and generating economic growth in a sustainable way.

The Green Pioneer competition is open to cities with a population between 25.000 - 100.000. For additional information, please refer to the European Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism Guide for Applicants.

For both competitions, applications must be received by: 31 May 2024 at 17:00 CET.

For all the latest updates on the Smart Tourism initiative, follow us on our website , Facebook, or Twitter , and subscribe to our EU Smart Tourism Podcast series in Spotify and Amazon Music .

Contact:

European Smart Tourism Secretariat:

Sandra Bumbar-Malchow or Antigoni Avgeropoulou

info@smarttourismcapital.eu, +49 (0) 30 70 01 86 390

[1]Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Turkiye and Ukraine; https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/smp/guidance/list-3rd-country-participation_smp_en.pdf

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/european-commission-announces-new-competitions-for-2025---european-capital-and-green-pioneer-of-smart-tourism-302082786.html
MILAN, Italy, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- JAKALA, a European data-driven powerhouse, emerges onto the business scene. While its origins lie in Milan, its impact extends beyond national boundaries. Headquartered at the prestigious Palazzo Mellerio, the company, bolstered by FFW's inclusion in the Group and other strategic acquisitions across Europe, aims to lead globally in the field. Thanks to these integrations, JAKALA not only enhances its offering of digital solutions but also expands its geographical reach, creating a true powerhouse at the European level and initiating its expansion beyond overseas.



JAKALA's international journey is characterized by its increasingly consolidated leadership in data transformation through artificial intelligence. With an advanced approach to analyzing available information, coupled with high-profile human expertise, JAKALA emerges as a reliable partner for its clients. Its ability to interpret diverse data, including those related to geospatial localization, enables the extraction of measurable insights, guiding business decisions and enhancing investment performance.

In a year marked by significant transformation and expansion, JAKALA demonstrated exceptional performance in 2023, achieving double-digit growth that propelled global revenues to 520 million. Geographic diversification has surged, with almost 50% of revenues originating outside Italy.

This new important step up has prompted a new organizational model to address JAKALA's evolving international presence, with Stefano Pedron as Global CEO, overseeing the different Heads of Regions across the markets where the company currently operates.

The audacious objective is clear: to bring JAKALA into the top 5 global players in its domain: "Our continuous growth is the result of a collective effort across all Regions, reinforcing our shared commitment to fostering collaboration, efficiency, and innovation on a global scale," declares Pedron.

In confirmation of its ambitious expansion journey, JAKALA has appointed Brian Whipple as a Board Member. He is one of the foremost experts in Marketing, Media & Technology in the United States and former Global CEO of Accenture Song. Whipple said: "JAKALA is a character from my favorite book when I was a boy, Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book'. I decided to join JAKALA to take on the challenge of growing globally. We want to keep the special things that made JAKALA unique so far: how people work together, collaborate, and interact with their managers, like a big family. It's a tough goal to achieve, especially with thousands of people and diverse cultures around the world."

Following Brian Whipple's appointment, Glen Hartman, former Head of Accenture NA, joined the team as the Head of JAKALA North America, with the mission of establishing JAKALA in this market as a solid and credible player: "It's fascinating to see how JAKALA analyzes diverse data, bringing them together and enriching them," explains Hartman. "Our unique methodology seamlessly integrates across all channels, allowing us to create personalized experiences for our clients. As we embark on our journey in North America, the goal is to present JAKALA as a fresh brand, leveraging the opportunities offered by the world's fastest-growing market, even though it has already established a strong presence in Europe."

As for the European organization, Enrico Bazzi, previously COO and among the key founders of JAKALA, is the Head of JAKALA Italy. "I saw JAKALA come to life with Matteo de Brabant. We began with only four people, and now we've organized ourselves to excel in the digital world," explains Bazzi. "Our mission is to assist companies in accelerating the adoption of data and artificial intelligence, generating a positive impact on our clients' businesses, as well as on individuals and organizations."

"What sets JAKALA apart is its people and culture. During my visit to their offices, I was impressed by the multitude of individuals embodying a strong entrepreneurial spirit. Their unwavering commitment to prioritizing the client's needs is truly remarkable," highlights Michael Koefoed Steensbord Drejer, former co-Founder and CEO of FFW and new Head of JAKALA Germany, UK & Nordics. "Moreover, at FFW, we have always placed significant emphasis on the technological aspect of our operations, and JAKALA's tech offering perfectly complements our own. This presents an exciting opportunity for continuous growth and specialization."

Luis Ferrandiz, Head of JAKALA Iberia & Latam, remarks: "JAKALA's extraordinary performance in 2023 reflects our strong commitment to the Spanish market and the Iberia Region. Our aim is to achieve a 20% growth rate in the Spanish market by 2024, facilitated by the integration of new business lines centered around Artificial Intelligence and engagement strategies. This milestone marks the beginning of an exciting stage of expansion and consolidation of our presence in Spain, and the strategic leap towards Latin America."

"Entrepreneurship is part of JAKALA DNA. The company is still led by its founders, who made a wonderful job gathering people with the same mindset," adds Guillaume Cardon, Head of JAKALA France. "Each day, as decisions are made, every member has the opportunity to contribute to JAKALA's exciting story. What sets JAKALA apart is its ability to offer clients a comprehensive value proposition: from strategic planning to seamless implementation, harnessing the power of AI, and ensuring effective delivery and activation."

"The story of JAKALA is closely intertwined with its tagline: 'Together to Get There', a narrative of collaboration and determination, positioning the company as a trailblazer in the data literacy landscape. 'Together to Get There' is the approach of a company that has chosen to partner with its clients and work alongside to achieve their goals on a global scale," explains Paolo Pedersoli, Head of Global Development.

As a leader in the data and AI-driven realm, JAKALA stands out for its ability to seamlessly amalgamate strategy, technology, creativity, and operations to guide businesses in developing their ventures and delivering impactful projects. In an era where innovation necessitates agile adaptations, JAKALA stands at the vanguard, offering flexible and scalable solutions, thanks to a cohesive ecosystem of hybrid-skilled professionals and unparalleled assets.

"The story of JAKALA is a tale of collaboration, vision, and ambition," continues Pedersoli. "It unfolds as a narrative of talented people working together, navigating the complexities and uncertainties of an ever-evolving landscape, where the benchmark for customer expectations perpetually ascends. In this context, our motto 'Together to Get There' gains profound significance: we stand prepared to journey alongside our clients towards their unique destination, wherever sustainable and resilient growth awaits."

For more information:

www.jakala.com

JAKALA Media & PR Manager

Fiore Fanelli | fiore.fanelli@jakala.com

Press Office LaPresse - ufficio.stampa@lapresse.it

A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9dd5522e-0657-4b1e-ab89-4e3e61c12e4a
BARCELONA, Spain, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2nd New Calling Industry Development Forum at MWC 2024, hosted by GTI and China Mobile and co-hosted by Huawei, saw Chen Haiyong, President of CS&IMS Domain, Huawei Cloud Core Network Product Line, deliver a keynote speech entitled "Intelligence Boosts Innovation, Collaboration Wins the Future". In this speech, he explained the strategy for evolution towards 5.5G calling networks and proposed a path for the voice industry in the 5.5G era to achieve business success in multiple dimensions, such as content and platform operations. Intelligence empowers more innovative services and better experiences for New Calling. It helps build a platform for the application ecosystem, opens up new communication options, drives new growth in the voice industry, and achieves shared business success.

Communication for conveying content, and content for creating value

Communications technologies were developed to ease the communication between people, especially those over long distances.

Chen believes that this technological evolution will pave the way for success in the voice industry. For example, ultra-HD videos were added to enable the dial pad to turn into a new media platform, opening up new space for operators' content operations. Intelligent and interactive capabilities were added to transform a call into a virtual assistant, providing users with services such as translation, call pickup, and speech-to-text conversion. Data channels were added to connect calls to the Internet, enable enterprise numbers to serve as an enterprise service platform, and upgrade the dial pad to a service portal. For example, with interactive menus, users can query and subscribe to telecom services as well as book meals or other services, without installing or registering with any apps. New Calling will bring new value to operators' platform-based operations.

Intelligence driving New Calling and improving communication experiences

Chen stated that Huawei launched New Calling during last year's MWC to help operators shift their business models from voice-only to content operations. With the 1+3+N architecture, New Calling leverages the voice & video fundamental network to enable three competitive calling capabilities - UHD calling, interactive calling, and intelligent calling. These capabilities help roll out an array of innovative services. Over the past year, Huawei has helped leading operator attract millions of New Calling users.

This year, Huawei will release New Calling-Advanced to upgrade the intelligence capabilities of New Calling. The Multi-modal Communication Function (MCF) will be introduced to integrate Huawei-developed and third-party intelligent processing components. MCF-based multi-modal communications will give rise to a variety of atomic services, such as real-time translation and real-time voice driven avatars, enabling operators and industry partners to create more new services and scenarios. New Calling is stepping into the 5.5G multi-modal communications era.

Developing the dial pad into a service platform

Chen pointed out that the native dialer offers operators a natural edge, and that industry partners should jointly develop the native dialer into a service platform to deliver more value-added services. With the native dialer, New Calling can leverage high bandwidth and high-performance computing to provide users with optimal experiences. In addition, New Calling enables industry users to customize various services based on mini apps and interactive capabilities brought by IMS data channels, maximizing the value of operators' calling networks.

The growth of the New Calling industry requires collective efforts from operators, chip and terminal vendors, and standards and industry organizations. Huawei welcomes more partners to participate in the development of New Calling.

CONTACT: Dongming.Yin@huawei.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2357055/image_5001747_32248003.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/huaweis-chen-haiyong-intelligence-boosts-innovation-collaboration-wins-the-future-302082823.html
Zurich, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hitachi Energy today announced that Andreas Schierenbeck will be appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2024. Claudio Facchin, Hitachi Energy CEO, will step down at the end of June 2024. Andreas will engage with the Hitachi Energy Board, Executive Team and Claudio to ensure a smooth transition prior to the handover on July 1, 2024.

Andreas joins Hitachi Energy from HH2E, a new green-hydrogen production company, where he is currently co-founder and board member. He previously worked as CEO of Uniper from 2019 to 2021, where he launched the company's decarbonization strategy. Prior to that he was the CEO of thyssenkrupp Elevator, where he led the transformation of the company into a global leader leveraging digital technology from 2013 to 2018. Between 1992 and 2012, Andreas held various management positions within Siemens, including President and CEO of Siemens Building Technologies in the US between 2010 and 2012 and Senior Vice President in the Siemens electric utility sector in Switzerland. He holds a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the TU Dresden and an Advanced Management Certificate from Harvard University in the US. Andreas is a German citizen.

"I would like to welcome Andreas to Hitachi Energy to lead the next phase of exciting growth for the business. I would also like to express my appreciation to Claudio for his great leadership transitioning and transforming the company over the last four years from the carve-out of ABB's Power Grids business through the Hitachi ABB Power Grids Joint Venture (JV) into Hitachi Energy, a fully-owned subsidiary of Hitachi Group", said Keiji Kojima, Representative Executive Officer, President & CEO of Hitachi, Ltd. "I look forward to continuing to support Hitachi Energy's growth plan under the leadership of Andreas, and I wish Claudio all the best for the journey ahead."

"Following a planned transition and a thorough selection process, we have appointed Andreas Schierenbeck as the successor to Claudio Facchin", said Alistair Dormer, Chair of Hitachi Energy and Executive Vice President, Executive Officer and General Manager of Green Energy & Mobility Strategy Planning Division, Hitachi Ltd. "Claudio can be proud of his four years as CEO, and it has been a pleasure working with him during the past two years, supporting him and the Executive Team to deliver the transformation into Hitachi Energy, the leading power grids technology and solution provider. The Hitachi Energy 2030 growth plan centered around the commitment to continuously invest in innovation and partnerships to serve our customers is a solid foundation to build on, and I look forward to working with Andreas and the entire Hitachi Energy leadership team as we accelerate the delivery of the Hitachi Energy growth plan. Andreas' experience of delivering transformational growth across sectors will help Hitachi Energy to scale growth and synergies with Hitachi."

"It's been an honor and a privilege to lead the transition to Hitachi Energy, working alongside the Executive Team and the entire Hitachi Energy organization across the globe", said Claudio Facchin, CEO of Hitachi Energy. "The authentic passion and unwavering ownership of this team has been a limitless source of energy and motivation for me personally. Together with Hitachi teams, we have worked with customers and partners to advance the world's energy system to be more sustainable, flexible and secure. The extraordinary achievements of Hitachi Energy would not have been possible without the continuous support from Hitachi Group. I look forward to onboarding Andreas, together with the Executive Team and the Board of Hitachi Energy, until the handover on July 1, 2024."

"I am thrilled to embark on this journey as the new CEO of Hitachi Energy, steering the company towards new horizons in an era of transformation, where the demand for electricity is surging due to the rapid electrification of transport, buildings, and industries", said Andreas Schierenbeck. "It is a profound honor to lead an experienced team so deeply committed to quality, innovation and sustainability as we help our customers and society accelerate towards a greener future. Together, we will continue to expand Hitachi Energy's profitable business, ensuring that our collective efforts contribute significantly to a sustainable and electrified future."

Hitachi Energy to appoint Andreas Schierenbeck as new Chief Executive Officer

- End -

About Hitachi Energy

Hitachi Energy is a global technology leader that is advancing a sustainable energy future for all. We serve customers in the utility, industry and infrastructure sectors with innovative solutions and services across the value chain. Together with customers and partners, we pioneer technologies and enable the digital transformation required to accelerate the energy transition towards a carbon-neutral future. We are advancing the world's energy system to become more sustainable, flexible and secure whilst balancing social, environmental and economic value. Hitachi Energy has a proven track record and unparalleled installed base in more than 140 countries. We integrate more than 150 GW of HVDC links into the power system, helping our customers enable more wind and solar. Headquartered in Switzerland, we employ more than 40,000 people in 90 countries and generate business volumes of over $10 billion USD.

https://www.hitachienergy.com

https://www.linkedin.com/company/hitachienergy

https://twitter.com/HitachiEnergy

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi drives Social Innovation Business, creating a sustainable society through the use of data and technology. We solve customers' and society's challenges with Lumada solutions leveraging IT, OT.

Attachment
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Aztec Minerals Corp. (TSXV:AZT)(OTCQB:AZZTF) announces the final results of Au and multi-element analysis for its 2023 RC drill program at the Cervantes project in Sonora, Mexico. The RC drill program comprised 1,646 meters in 13 RC drill holes testing the California porphyry gold target located in the district of Soyopa, Sonora, Mexico. Total drilling by Aztec Minerals on the Cervantes project since 2016 now totals 67 drill holes and 12,134m.

The California target of near surface, oxide gold porphyry mineralization was successfully expanded, and the presence of anomalous copper, molybdenum and silver, in addition to significant gold mineralization, corresponds well in relation to the top of large, strong IP chargeability anomaly astride an aeromagnetic low anomaly.

RC drill results at the California target returned significant gold mineralization from the 2023 RC drill program on the Cervantes property located in Sonora, Mexico. The multi-element ICP results show good, positive relationships between Au, Cu, Bi, Ag, As, W and K (potassic alteration), negative relationships with Mo, Sb and Ca. The multi-element grades support the potential for an Au-Cu porphyry deposit at depth.

2023 California Target Drill Highlights

All drill holes intersected oxidized Au mineralization.

The California target continues to be open.

The California target now has an area of 1,000 m by 300m drill demonstrated.

The California target was found to continue on strike to the east at least another 400 m.

The primary focus of the Phase 3A RC drill program at Cervantes was to expand the previously drilled California zone. This was done successfully. To-date, every hole drilled at California has intersected near surface, oxidized gold mineralization with minor copper oxides.

Reported lengths are apparent widths, not true widths, and the observed gold mineralization is hosted in the California porphyry intrusive complex and is widely distributed in disseminations, fractures and veinlets within its quartz-feldspar porphyry, feldspar porphyry stocks, quartzites and related hydrothermal breccias.

Figure 1: California Zone Drill Progress Map

Link to Figure 1: California Zone Drill Progress Map

Holes CAL23-32 to CAL23-44 intersected significant gold mineralization, see table below, extending the known mineralized zone at depth, and also to the north, east and south of the California zone. The RC Phase 3A drilling program has been completed. It covers an area now measuring approximately 1,000 metres long by 300 metres wide, with demonstrated, continuous anomalous mineralization up to 265 metres depth vertically. The porphyry gold-copper mineralization is still open in all directions.

The multi-element ICP results show good, positive relationships between Au, Cu, Bi, Ag, As, W and K (potassic alteration), negative relationships with Mo, Sb and Ca. This will assist in vectoring exploration targets for expanding potentially economic mineralization in a porphyry deposit model. The multi-element ICP values support the exploration model of the California zone being at the highest portion of a porphyry system, where an overlying high sulfidation zone has been eroded away.

Every 2021-23 drill hole except one of the 44 drill holes successfully completed at the California and the adjoining California Norte targets has intersected near surface, oxidized gold mineralization with minor copper values. The 2023 RC drilling exploration program has continued the expansion of the footprint and the depth of the California target Au mineralization and alteration associated with the California porphyry intrusive complex with continued intercepts of broad gold mineralization.

The drill holes were mainly placed in step-out rows subparallel to the 2017-2018 drilling, oriented with azimuths 230 - 260, generally inclined at minus 65 degrees from horizontal. The rows were spaced approximately 50m to 100m apart and along the rows the collar spacings were 70m to 150m. There were four near vertical drill holes and three drill holes with azimuth perpendicular to the pattern that were made to test that there is no drill pattern bias in the results. One metallurgical drill hole (CAL22-027) was made by twinning at 25m distance a prior RC drill hole.

Drilling has also expanded the footprint of the known extents of the mineralized and phyllically altered California porphyry intrusive complex, demonstrating alteration zoning from east to west of argillic to phyllic alteration, multiple stockwork veining and hydrothermal brecciation types and stages, and confirmed the prior IP survey chargeability anomaly was related to disseminated sulfides. The 2022 core drilling program has shown that Au mineralization is limited by the enveloping argillic alteration, and seems to prefer to be close to the argillic/phyllic alteration boundaries.

The gold mineralization is strongly positively associated with Cu, As, Ag, Bi, W and K, while Mo, Sb and Ca anomalies are as haloes distal to the gold, Hg is usually undetectable, Pb and Zn are mainly distal, and Ba has a wide distribution.

The controls on mineralization/zoning are still to be identified. However, the dioritic quartz-feldspar porphyry (Qfp) and hydrothermal breccia (Hbx) lithologic units are seemingly the preferred hosts. The Qfp, Hbx and gold mineralization may be dipping to the north into the California Norte target. The gold mineralization appears to be widely distributed in disseminations, fractures and veinlets at high levels within its quartz-feldspar porphyry, feldspar porphyry stocks, quartzites and related hydrothermal breccias.

The planned testing of the California zone of the Cervantes phase 3A RC drilling program is complete. The primary objectives of the 2021 - 2024 exploration program are to better define the open pit, heap leach gold potential of the porphyry oxide cap at California, evaluate the potential for deeper gold - copper porphyry sulfide mineralization underlying the oxide cap, test for north and west extensions of the California mineralization. In 2024, subject to available funds, it is planned for further technical studies, reconnaissance work on other targets, metallurgical testing and the Cervantes phase 3B RC drilling program of approximately 20 drillholes comprising 2,850 meters including the California North and Jasper targets.

The following is a summary tabulation of all 2021-2023 RC and Core drill hole results:

Table 1: Cervantes 2021-2023 Drilling Select Multi-Element Results with Gold

AZTEC MINERALS CORP CERVANTES PROJECT RC DRILLING Table1: Drill Hole Select Multi-Element Results with Gold Hole No. From To Interval Gold (gpT) Copper (%) Silver(gpT) Molybdenum PPM m m m* CAL22-001 16.72 110.96 94.24 1.038 54.72m/0.361 72.96m/4.112 CAL22-002 4.6 103.36 98.76 0.374 16.72m/0.153 41.04m/1.226 CAL22-003 45.6 91.2 45.6 0.422 63.84m/0.107 53.2m/2.946 CAL22-004 0 165.68 165.68 1.002 159.6m/0.065 167.2m/1.908 CAL22-005 0 136.8 136.8 1.486 118.56m/.091 118.56m/2.661 CAL22-006 16.72 117.04 100.32 0.749 138m/0.103 165.68m/3.243 CAL22-007 83.6 147.44 63.84 0.465 107.92m/0.079 89.68m/1.429 CAL22-008 0 54.72 54.72 0.884 33.4m/0.122 30.4m/2.36 59.28m/0.096 59.28m/59.65 CAL22-009 0 86.64 86.64 0.5 74.48m/0.138 76m/2.386 CAL22-010 0 138.32 138.32 0.53 95.76m/0.224 127.7m/3.567 CAL22-011 25.84 158.08 132.24 0.427 21.52m/0.053 66.88m/2.279 65.36m/0.053 65.36m/1.502 CAL22-012 41.04 193.04 152 0.872 123.12m/0.095 165.68m/3.463 CAL22-013 139.84 147.44 7.6 0.209 54.72m/0.055 74.48m/1.489 CAL22-014 0 54.72 54.72 0.484 31.92m/.0615 27.36m/1.361 CAL22-015 4.56 72.96 68.4 0.421 30.4m/.0622 21.28m/2.779 CAL22-016 0 56.24 56.24 0.475 25.84m/.0981 12.16m/2.325 CAL22-017 28.88 53.2 24.32 0.315 31.92m/0.045 12.16m/1.475 19.8m/209.8 50.2m/0.069 10.64m/2.771 74.48m/144.57 CAL22-018 24.32 48.64 24.32 0.216 53.2m/0.078 86.65m/2.174 191.52 202.16 10.64 0.273 68.4m/0.062 28.88m/1.116 39.52m/122.46 CAL22-019 153.52 167.2 13.68 0.269 16.72./0.0803 59.28m/1.549 7.6m/126.6 Hole No. From To Interval Gold (gpT) Copper (%) Silver(gpT) Molybdenum PPM m m m* CAL22-020 15.2 18.24 3.04 0.321 4.56m/1.833 CAL22-021 100.32 104.88 4.56 0.409 3.04m/.0707 3.04m/2.2 CAL22-022 97.5 106.5 9.0 1.72 36m/0.069 36m/1.313 79.5m/38.15 150 166.5 16.5 0.341 28.5m/0.21 28.5m/3.705 CAL22-023 12.0 40.5 28.5 0.537 4.5m/0.0857 33m/1.118 81.7 89.2 7.5 0.429 7.5m/0.0743 7.5m/1.64 CAL22-024 0.0 48.0 48.0 0.444 49.5m/0.0521 51m/1.644 75.0 81.0 6.0 0.247 4.5m/1.06 CAL22-025 0.0 9.0 9.0 0.203 90m/0.0658 48m/1.083 51.0 63.0 12.0 0.26 130.5 139.5 9.0 0.646 160.5m/113 CAL22-026 0.0 213.0 210m/40 CAL22-027 0.0 120.0 120.0 0.677 99m/0.1812 154.5m/3.499 CAL22-028 49.5 54.0 4.5 0.545 1.5m/1.3 226.5 235.5 9.0 0.442 1.5m/1.7 106.5 m/18 CAL22-029 48.0 54.0 6.0 0.277 1.5m/0.0623 10.5m/1.343 130.5 187.5 57.0 0.773 54m/0.0681 39m/1.373 CAL22-030 75.0 82.5 7.5 0.315 18m/0.0817 18m/1.425 115.5 121.5 6.0 0.544 16.5m/1.955 CAL22-031 0.0 135.0 135.0 0.564 0.0 28.5 28.5 0.873 37.5m/0.0556 37.5m/2.615 49.5 135.0 85.5 0.581 85.5m/0.0373 85.5m/1.946 2023 RC CAL23-032 83.6 91.2 7.6 0.274 9.1 m/0.0154 10.7 m/3.01 9.1 m/1.33 CAL23-033 45.6 59.28 13.68 0.338 13.7 m/0.009 13.7 m/0.57 13.7 m/5.44 CAL23-034 53.2 83.6 30.4 1.035 35 m/0.1174 35 m/2.7 35 m/9.1 68.4 69.92 1.52 13.8 1.5 m/0.4294 1.5 m/41.8 1.5 m/10 Hole No. From To Interval Gold (gpT) Copper (%) Silver (gpT) Molybdenum ppm m m m* CAL23-035 0 30.4 30.4 0.697 38.1 m/0.0839 38.1 m/0.43 38.1 m/1.6 CAL23-036 42.56 53.2 10.64 0.901 39.6 m/0.0605 35.1 m/1.83 29 m/8.4 51.68 53.2 1.52 5.003 1.52 m/0.0337 1.52 m/6.4 1.52 m/43 107.92 115.52 7.6 0.414 7.6 m/0.0205 7.6 m/1.6 7.6 m/10.6 CAL23-037 0 25.84 25.84 0.257 51.8 m/0.0369 45.7 m/1.1 48.8 m/10.3 91.2 95.76 4.56 0.658 12.1 m/0.0403 4.5 m/1.98 4.5 m/6.7 156.56 164.16 7.6 0.358 10.7 m/0.0353 7.6 m/0.52 10.7 m/14.4 CAL23-038 47.24 59.44 12.2 0.947 12.2 m/0.011 12.2 m/4.17 12.2 m/46 48.76 50.29 1.52 4.278 1.52 m/0.0419 1.52 m/29.4 1.52 m/85 72.96 83.6 10.64 0.391 10.6 m/0.0029 10.6 m/0.12 10.6 m/91.3 CAL23-039 4.56 25.84 21.28 0.2121 21.3 m/0.0094 21.3 m/0.65 21.3 m/10.8 7.6 9.12 1.52 1.352 1.52 m/0.0122 1.52 m/0.9 1.52 m/12 CAL23-040 10.64 22.8 12.16 0.365 10.6 m/0.0134 10.6 m/1.65 10.6 m/3 CAL23-041 0 57.76 57.76 0.424 57.8 m/0.2059 57.8 m/2.63 57.8 m/0.3 CAL23-042 0 12.19 12.19 0.48 24.4 m/0.1758 21.3 m/1.82 12.2 m/<2 65.53 73.15 7.6 0.353 7.6 m/0.1768 7.6 m/4.3 7.6 m/9 CAL23-043 0 6.08 6.08 0.235 6.1 m/0.0483 6.1 m/1.9 6.1 m/2.5 CAL23-044 0 59.44 59.44 0.276 74.7 m/0.0724 62.4 m/0.65 59.4 m/3.5 JAS22-001 10.64 19.76 9.12 0.332 69.9m/0.215 65.4m/2.723 19.76m/144.92 200.6m/0.117 JAS22-002 19.5m/0.041 87m/46.1 7.5m/0.173 80m/32.2 PUR21-001 16.72 19.76 3.04 0.323 51.68m/0.069 83.6m/1.942 PUR21-002 22.8 31.92 9.12 0.334 31.9m/0.168 3.04m/1.8 13.68m/0.076 PUR21-003 18.2m/0.0518 3.04m/1.5 PUR22-004 25.8m/325.35

*All intercept interval widths are not true widths and intercept true widths are not yet estimated. Au grades are in grams per ton, "gpT"

Drill samples RC cuttings mainly are collected every 1.5m from all core drill holes. The samples are analyzed by Bureau Veritas for gold with a 30-gram sample size using the method FA430 followed by MA300. Over limits, when present, are analyzed by AR404 or FA550. All holes contain certified blanks, standards, and duplicates as part of the quality control program. The QA/QC has delivered excellent results to date good data integrity. The samples are shipped to and received by Bureau Veritas Minerals laboratory for the gold and multielement geochemical analysis.

Cervantes Project Overview

Cervantes is a highly prospective porphyry gold-copper project located in southeastern Sonora state, Mexico. The project lies 160 km east of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico within the prolific Laramide porphyry copper belt approximately 265 km southeast of the Cananea porphyry copper-molybdenum mine (Grupo Mexico). Cervantes also lies along an east-west trending gold belt 60 km west of the Mulatos epithermal gold mine (Alamos Gold), 35 km northeast of the Osisko San Antonio gold mine, 45 km west of the La India mine (Agnico Eagle), and 40 km northwest of Santana gold deposit (Minera Alamos).

View: Cervantes Project Location Map

Cervantes Project Highlights

Large well-located property (3,649 hectares) with good infrastructure, road access, local town, all private land, water wells on property, grid power nearby

(3,649 hectares) with good infrastructure, road access, local town, all private land, water wells on property, grid power nearby Seven prospective mineralized zones related to high level porphyries and breccias along a 7.0km east-northeast corridor with multiple intersecting northwest structures

to high level porphyries and breccias along a 7.0km east-northeast corridor with multiple intersecting northwest structures Distinct geophysical anomalies, California target marked by high magnetic and low resistivity anomalies, high radiometric and chargeability anomalies responding to pervasive alteration

California target marked by high magnetic and low resistivity anomalies, high radiometric and chargeability anomalies responding to pervasive alteration Extensive gold mineralization at California target , 118 soil samples average 0.44 gpt gold over 900 m by 600 m area, trench rock-channel samples up to 0.47 gpt gold over 222 m

, 118 soil samples average 0.44 gpt gold over 900 m by 600 m area, trench rock-channel samples up to 0.47 gpt gold over 222 m Already drilled the first discovery holes at the California target, intersected gold oxide cap to a classic gold-copper porphyry system, drill results up to 1.49 gpt gold over 137 m and 1.00 gpT gold over 165m

at the California target, intersected gold oxide cap to a classic gold-copper porphyry system, drill results up to 1.49 gpt gold over 137 m and 1.00 gpT gold over 165m Excellent gold recoveries from preliminary metallurgical tests on drill core from California target; oxide gold recoveries in bottle roll tests range from 75% to 87%

from preliminary metallurgical tests on drill core from California target; oxide gold recoveries in bottle roll tests range from 75% to 87% California IP geophysical anomaly wide open laterally and at depth, IP chargeability strengthens and broadens to >500m depth over an area 1100 m by 1200 m, and has been confirmed by exploration drilling

laterally and at depth, IP chargeability strengthens and broadens to >500m depth over an area 1100 m by 1200 m, and has been confirmed by exploration drilling Three-Dimensional IP Survey conducted in 2019 extends strong chargeability anomalies to the southwest covering Estrella, Purisima East, and Purisima West, coinciding well with alteration and Au-Cu-Mo soil geochemical anomalies

conducted in 2019 extends strong chargeability anomalies to the southwest covering Estrella, Purisima East, and Purisima West, coinciding well with alteration and Au-Cu-Mo soil geochemical anomalies Cervantes Project Aeromagnetics Survey completedin 2019 found a magnetic low associated with the California Au porphyry

California Target

In 2017-18, Aztec completed a Phase 1, 17 diamond core hole drill program, totaling 2,675 meters (m) (see news release dated June 26, 2018). Phase 1 drilling tested the California target 900m by 600m gold-in-soils anomaly that averaged 0.44gpt covering hydrothermal breccias within the Quartz feldspar porphyry stock intruding Paleozoic siliciclastic sediments.

In 2019 a series of technical studies were conducted including airbourne geophysics (Gravity, magnetics, radiometrics, and VLF, surface IP, soil and outcrop geochemistry, and geologic mapping and completing initial metallurgical studies with positive results.

Then in late 2021 and into 2022, Aztec completed a Phase 2, 26-hole, RC (reverse circulation) drill program totaling 5,267 m focused on expanding the California target with two drill hole fences parallel to and on either side of the 2017-18 Phase 1 drill hole fence. The Phase 2 RC drilling program was followed by the Phase 2 oriented core drilling program of 2,588 meters in 11 drill holes combined successfully expanded the primary California target to an area measuring approximately 1,000 meters long by 300 to 500 meters wide, with demonstrated, continuous anomalous mineralization to over 265 meters depth vertically.

The porphyry gold-copper mineralization is still open in all directions. Aztec's drilling to-date has consistently intersected an oxidized gold cap to a porphyry-type gold-copper-silver system at California, including multiple 100+ meter widths of exceeding 0.40 gpt gold.

Highlights of the 2017-18 Phase 1 diamond core and 2021-22 Phase 2 RC and Core (see news releases dated June 14, 2022 and December 27, 2022) drill programs are as follows:

137m @ 1.49 gpT Au incl 51.7m @ 3.42 gpT Au, 119m @ 0.091% copper in CAL22-005

165m @ 1.00 gpT Au incl 24.4m @ 4.25 gpT Au, 160m @ 0.065% copper in CAL22-004

152m @ 0.87 gpT Au, incl 33.5m @ 2.05 gpT Au, 123m @ 0.095% copper in CAL22-012

94m @ 1.04 gpT Au incl 15.2m @ 3.96 gpT Au, 55m @ 0.36% copper in CAL22-001

100m @ 0.75 gpT Au incl 9.14m @ 3.087 gpT Au, 138m @ 0.10% copper in CAL22-006

160m @ 0.77 gpT gold incl 80m @ 1.04 gpT gold, 0.11% copper in 18CER010

139m @ 0.71 gpT gold incl 20m @ 2.10 gpT gold, 0.16% copper in 17CER005

118m @ 0.63 gpT gold incl 43m @ 1.18 gpT gold, 0.16% copper in 17CER003

122m @ 0.60 gpT gold incl 62m @ 0.88 gpT gold, 0.06% copper in 18CER007

170m @ 0.42 gpT gold incl 32m @ 0.87 gpT gold, 0.06% copper in 18CER006

Preliminary metallurgical tests on California drill cores were conducted in 2019 (see news release dated March 12, 2019). Drill core samples were grouped into 4 separate types of mineralization: Oxide 1, Oxide 2, Mixed Oxide/Sulfide and Sulfide. The preliminary results of bottle roll tests showed excellent potential for heap leach gold recovery, as follows:

85.1% recovery on 2.0mm material and 94.3% on 75-micron material in sample Oxide 1

87.7% recovery on 2.0mm material and 94.2% on 75-micron material in sample Oxide 2

77.9% recovery on 2.0mm material and 89.0% on 75-micron material in sample Mixed Oxide/Sulphide

51.2% recovery on 2.0mm material and 78.7% on 75-micron material in sample Sulphide

Additional Exploration Targets

Purisima East - outcropping gossans, altered and mineralized diatreme breccias and porphyry intrusions marked by a 700m by 600m geochemical soil anomaly in 193 samples that average 0.25 gpt gold, a small historic 'glory hole' mine where rock chip sampling returned high-grade mineralization up to 44.6 gpt gold.

Estrella - outcrops of gossan and sulfides in silicified Paleozoic sediments near quartz porphyry dikes with rock chip samples up to 3.9 gpt gold and 2,010ppm copper.

Purisima West - a mirror image of Purisima East in size and type of gossans, altered and mineralized breccias and intrusions in association with gold and copper soil anomalies.

Jasper - 2017 trenching returned skarn/replacement-type mineralization up to 0.52% copper and 0.62 gpt gold over a 92.4 m length. In 2022 RC drilling found a broad zone of copper - gold mineralization in JAS22-001.

California North - coincident IP chargeability and gold-copper-molybdenum soil geochemical anomalies with demonstrated gold - copper mineralization by RC drilling, it may be a north extension of the California target

Other zones - porphyry alteration and geochemical soil anomalies mark the Jacobo and Brasil prospects but more work is required to expand and define these targets

Allen David Heyl, B.Sc., CPG., VP Exploration of Aztec, is the Qualified Person under NI43-101, supervised the Cervantes exploration program. Mr. Heyl has reviewed and approved the technical disclosures in this news release.

"Simon Dyakowski"

Simon Dyakowski, Chief Executive Officer

Aztec Minerals Corp.

About Aztec Minerals - Aztec is a mineral exploration company focused on two emerging discoveries in North America. The Cervantes project is an emerging porphyry gold-copper discovery in Sonora, Mexico. The Tombstone project is an emerging gold-silver discovery with high grade CRD silver-lead-zinc potential in southern Arizona. Aztec's shares trade on the TSX-V stock exchange (symbol AZT) and on the OTCQB (symbol AZZTF).

Contact Information - For more information, please contact:

Simon Dyakowski, President & CEO, Director

Tel: (604) 685-9770

Fax: (604) 685-9744

Email: info@aztecminerals.com

Website: www.aztecminerals.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. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects" or "it is expected", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from results contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. When relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: Aztec Minerals Corp.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Sonata Harmoni.AI, integrating Microsoft Azure AI services, will help customer reimagine business with Generative AI, differentiating themselves in the marketplace

BANGALORE, India, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The leading Modernization Engineering company, Sonata Software (NSE: SONATSOFTW), (BSE: 532221) in a significant step to accelerate the adoption of responsible-first AI across enterprises has announced the integration of Sonata Harmoni.AI with Microsoft Azure AI service. This integration complements Sonata's collaboration with Microsoft Fabric and its position as a Microsoft AI Partner Council member.

Listed on Azure Marketplace, Sonata Harmoni.AI is the responsible-first AI offering with a bouquet of Industry solutions, service delivery platforms, and accelerators using Generative AI.

This integration of Sonata Harmoni.AI with Microsoft Azure AI empowers customers with Responsible first solutions that underscore robust data security, privacy features, and governed utilization of generative AI. Utilizing Microsoft Azure AI services, Sonata Harmoni.AI will fuel the institutionalization of Generative AI solutions and allow customers to differentiate in the marketplace, enhancing both customer experience and operational efficiency.

"Our 30-year collaboration with Microsoft underscores our dedication to empowering customers for success in the evolving AI landscape and modernization journey. The integration of Microsoft Azure AI services with Harmoni.AI represents a pivotal advancement, enhancing our ability to deliver AI solutions that expedite customer adoption, enable distinct use cases, boost productivity, and foster secure innovation. We believe the Generative AI offerings resulting from this integration will empower developers and organizations to swiftly create responsible, intelligent, and forward-looking solutions using intuitive APIs and models," said Samir Dhir, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Sonata Software.

"In the dynamic digital landscape, Sonata's commitment to responsible AI aligns with our vision of enabling customers to stay ahead and thrive in this era of continual evolution," said Ali Dalloul, Vice President, customer experience engineering, Azure AI at Microsoft. "By integrating Microsoft Azure AI services, Sonata's Harmoni.AI empowers individuals, and enterprises to unlock new business outcomes."

Sonata Software enjoys a long-standing collaboration with Microsoft and has consistently earned accolades such as Member Inner Circle for Microsoft Business Applications, Microsoft Cloud Partner, and various Solutions Partner designations across strategic domains. These include Business Applications, Data & AI (Azure), Digital & App Innovation (Azure), Infrastructure (Azure), Modern Work, and Security.

About Sonata Software

In today's market, there is a unique duality in technology adoption. On one side, extreme focus on cost containment by clients, and on the other, deep motivation to modernize their Digital storefronts to attract more consumers and B2B customers.

As a leading Modernization Engineering company, we aim to deliver modernization-driven hyper-growth for our clients based on the deep differentiation we have created in Modernization Engineering, powered by our Lightening suite and 16-step Platformation playbook. In addition, we bring agility and systems thinking to accelerate time to market for our clients.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, India, Sonata has a strong global presence, including key regions US, UK, Europe, APAC, and ANZ. We are a trusted partner of world leading companies in TMT (Telecom, Media and Technology), Retail & CPG, Manufacturing, BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance) and HLS (Healthcare and Lifesciences) space. Our bouquet of Modernization Engineering Services cuts across Cloud, Data, Dynamics, Contact Centers and around newer technologies like Generative AI, MS Fabric, and other modernization platforms.

For more information, please visit https://www.sonata-software.com/

Logo:https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/689012/4257625/Sonata_Software_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/sonata-software-supercharges-harmoniai-with-microsoft-azure-ai-to-drive-responsible-first-ai-adoption-across-enterprises-302082887.html
No. Sallys was notI dont know why but my father wouldnt go there. He wouldnt step foot in there, Giamatti replied. My grandfather settled in New Haven when they came from Italy. So my grandfather had already grown up there going to Pepes.

New Haven-style apizza has been having a moment in the spotlight. Apizza-style pizzerias are spreading across the country and news outlets like the New York Times have published stories asking whether the style could withstand the growth in popularity. Gagliard is confident it will. And the recognition, he said, is overdue.

"When people are talking about coal-fired pizza throughout the country, that excites a lot of people in Connecticut and New Haven because they've grown up with it their whole lives," he said. "There are a lot of different pizzerias in New Haven. But we all celebrate and thrive off each other. To see it be on a national stage is very exciting for us and we take it as something humbling."

Pepe's, established in New Haven in 1925, now has Connecticut locations in Danbury, Fairfield, Manchester, Mohegan Sun, Waterbury and West Hartford, with a future location opening on Stamford's High Ridge Road. The pizzeria has also expanded up and down the East Coast in recent years, with current restaurants in Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Virginia.
BEIJING, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 4th, iSoftStone and Huawei signed a Memorandum of Understanding launching cooperation in the Middle East and Central Asia in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. In the future, both parties will adhere to the principle of mutually beneficial cooperation, jointly enhancing the ecological development and partnership collaboration in the Middle East and Central Asia. Harnessing Huawei's strengths in cloud computing technology, services, and global network coverage, and combining them with iSoftStone's expertise in digital consulting, design, technology, and empowerment capabilities, as well as its advantages in products, services, and solutions for large enterprises and various industries, the two parties will establish dedicated sales teams. Collaboratively, they will formulate market strategies to achieve mutual expansion objectives.

Huawei Saudi Arabia CEO Yang Yang and iSoftStone Chairman and CEO Liu Tianwen engaged in cooperative negotiations. Also present at the discussion were Qi Xiao, President of Huawei's Middle East and Central Asia Cloud Business Department; Zou Siyi, Head of Huawei Saudi Enterprise Business Department; Dong Libin, Head of Huawei Cloud Marketing Department; Luo Shihua, Head of Huawei Cloud Consulting and Solution Sales Department in the Middle East and Central Asia; Xu Liangdong, Head of Huawei Cloud Ecology and Partner Development Department in the Middle East and Central Asia. From iSoftStone, attendees included Director Huang Ying, Senior Vice President Tang Fanghu, Vice President Yin Lu, and Zhang Hai, Overseas ICT Sales General Manager.

During the discussion, Huawei emphasized the business development in the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia. The growth in sectors such as telecommunications, government enterprises, and Huawei Cloud has been rapid and promising. Huawei extended a warm welcome to capable partners like iSoftStone to join forces and explore international markets together, seizing the opportunity to expand collectively. There is significant potential for development in areas such as urban governance, digital parks, and cloud infrastructure. With a collaborative effort between Huawei and iSoftStone, we aim to tailor services and solutions to meet the specific business scenarios in the Middle East market.

During the meeting, Chairman Liu Tianwen of iSoftStone expressed the firm commitment to strategically investing in the Middle East market. He conveyed confidence in seamless collaboration with Huawei's representative office and envisioned a comprehensive synergy to deepen the advancement into international markets alongside Huawei. Chairman Liu introduced iSoftStone's capabilities in digital technology services and industry solutions. Emphasizing key areas such as iSoftStone consulting, cloud intelligence services, implementation services for enterprise software, and capabilities in digital technology research and development. He highlighted a series of matured solutions encompassing digital parks, data middle office, system integration, AI large models, smart vehicles, hardware servers, and more.

As a steadfast strategic partner of Huawei Cloud for many years, iSoftStone has been working hand in hand, leveraging domestic industry expertise and mature cases to replicate success in overseas markets. The focus is particularly on Southeast Asia and the Middle East, driving deep collaboration between Huawei Cloud and local enterprises. In 2023, iSoftStone established its international business headquarters in Singapore, laying the groundwork for the international business management and operational system. This initiative extends support to and covers the digital business expansion and delivery in countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Thailand, and Malaysia. iSoftStone views this signing as a pivotal opportunity to escalate its commitment, channeling increased investment towards fortifying its overseas technical service capabilities and solution expertise. iSoftStone aims to bolster its collaboration with Huawei Cloud across various facets, including brand value, technical support, channel expansion, and ecological cooperation, collectively propelling them towards a new frontier of international business cooperation.

In recent years, iSoftStone has strategically aligned itself with the evolving landscape of opportunities presented by digitization, intelligentization, sustainability, and internationalization, closely aligning with national and customer strategies, deepening its international footprint. Huawei Cloud is not only the domain where iSoftStone and Huawei engage in deep collaboration but also serves as the collaborative cornerstone for both parties to expand internationally. This is particularly evident in regions like the Middle East and Central Asia, which hold significant market potential. The joint overseas endeavors are poised to achieve mutual benefits, fostering a win-win scenario and collectively leveraging the digital prowess of China to drive global economic development.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2357059/image_1.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2357060/image_2.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/sailing-the-seas-through-the-clouds-isoftstone-and-huawei-signed-memorandum-of-understanding-launching-cooperation-in-the-middle-east-and-central-asia-302082937.html
MineHub launches Business Confirmation Module, a digital tool dedicated to streamlining the contract execution process.

Key features of the tool include streamlined negotiations, reduced errors and disputes, and improved internal compliance.

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - MineHub Technologies Inc. (TSXV: MHUB) (OTCQB: MHUBD) ("MineHub" or the "Company"), a leading provider of digital supply chain solutions for the commodity markets, is pleased to announce the launch of its Business Confirmations Module, an innovative tool designed to transform the way sellers and buyers engage in contract negotiations. This software module allows seamless sharing of structured contract terms, paving the way for efficient agreements through an audited approval workflow to ensure compliance. In an industry where producers and sellers traditionally handle the contract process manually, MineHub is introducing a software-based solution that will standardize and streamline the terms negotiation workflow, offering a more comprehensive suite of tools.

Andrea Aranguren, CEO of MineHub, expressed excitement about the new offering, stating, "At MineHub, we are dedicated to driving innovation in the mining industry. Our Business Confirmations Module empowers sellers and buyers by providing a centralized platform for sharing structured contract terms, ultimately reducing negotiation time and improving overall efficiency in the contracting process. I believe this technological advancement will not only enhance the efficiency of contract negotiations but will also contribute to the overall growth and compliance of the industry."

Key features of MineHub's new Business Confirmations Module include:

Streamlined Negotiations: Sellers can wrap up negotiations quickly and efficiently by simplifying the terms entry and communication process.

Reduced Errors and Disputes: Trade terms are presented in a standardized manner and approvals are securely uploaded to the system, eliminating the risk of lost approvals or different contract versions in email inboxes.

Improved Internal Compliance: The tool offers a scalable and collaborative solution for tracking approvals internally, addressing the administrative challenges faced by many customers who have previously invested significant time and resources in creating custom internal tools.

The Business Confirmations Module has already been rolled out to select customers and has undergone extensive testing on MineHub's network. It is now available for all MineHub customers and their respective customer bases.

About MineHub Technologies

MineHub is the digital supply chain platform for the commodity markets, making raw material supply chains more efficient, resilient and sustainable. MineHub provides enterprise-grade digital solutions that connect buyers, sellers, laboratories and financiers within physical commodities supply chains in a digitally integrated workflow powered by data that is useable, shareable, verifiable and unforgeable. Users of MineHub solutions are in full control of their supply chains, enabling them to optimize their use of resources, respond better and faster to disruptions, and provide a better customer service. Global enterprises already use MineHub solutions as part of their logistics, compliance, trade management and financing operations.

Andrea Aranguren

CEO, MineHub Technologies Inc.

For further information regarding MineHub, please email info@minehub.com or visit our website at www.minehub.com. Tel: (604) 628-5623

Cautionary Note Regarding 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 release.

This news release contains statements that are considered "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation ("forward-looking statements") with respect to MineHub including, but not limited to, statements with respect to MineHub's future operational plans, the timing of such plans and anticipated customers. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts are generally, but not always, identied by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although MineHub believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results or realities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such material risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to raise sufficient capital to fund its operations, applications and for general working capital purposes, changes in economic conditions or nancial markets, changes in laws or regulations that could have an impact on the Company's operations, dependence on its key management personnel and market competition. Other risk factors are identified in the Company's management discussion and analysis, available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. There may be other risk factors not presently known that management believes are not material that could also cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. Although the Company has attempted to identify risk factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those disclosed in the forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Also, many of the factors are beyond the control of the Company. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The forward-looking information is made as of the date included herein, and the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise such forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are based on the reasonable beliefs, estimates and opinions of MineHub's management on the date the statements are made. However, except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors should change.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200711

SOURCE: MineHub Technologies Inc.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - Hypercharge Networks Corp. (NEO: HC) (OTCQB: HCNWF) (FSE: PB7) (the "Company" or "Hypercharge"), a leading, smart electric vehicle ("EV") charging solutions provider, is pleased to announce it has delivered 128 Level 2 EV chargers to the Lark Group of Companies ("Lark") for its City Centre 4 development (the "Project"), a new premium office and retail building located in Surrey, BC, with installation due to be completed in Summer 2024.

Lark is an award-winning development and construction group with an extensive portfolio of office, mixed-use, residential, and recreational projects. In addition to founding the Health and Technology District, which City Centre 4 is located within, Lark has delivered a wide variety of healthcare, recreational and mixed-use facilities across British Columbia.

Under the Project, first announced in March 2023, Colwin Electrical Group, a Hypercharge Preferred Partner, will manage the EV infrastructure requirements and installation of all 128 Level 2 charging stations at City Centre 4 in the second half of 2024. Locally owned and operated in Port Moody, BC, Colwin Electrical Group delivers a range of electrical services from system design, cost planning and commercial installation to thermal imaging diagnostics and responsive maintenance service.

"This project highlights the significant fulfillment progress on our growing backlog and ability to offer turnkey technology to commercial buildings focused on supporting sustainable transportation options," said Chris Koch, Head of Growth & Partnerships at Hypercharge. "The City Centre 4 development is located near prominent retail, education, and hospitality facilities, making it a prime spot for Hypercharge charging stations that will be accessible to both the building's tenants and the public. With our revenues recognized on delivery, we expect the project to accelerate the near-term monetization of our backlog."

-##-

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 residential and commercial buildings, fleet operations, and other rapidly growing sectors. Driven by its mission to accelerate EV adoption and enable the shift towards a carbon neutral economy, Hypercharge is committed to providing seamless, simple charging solutions by offering industry-leading equipment and a robust network of public and private charging stations. Learn more: https://hypercharge.com/.

On behalf of the company,

Hypercharge Networks Corp.

David Bibby, President & CEO

Contacts

Investor Relations:

Chris Tyson | Executive Vice President | MZ Group

HC@mzgroup.us | (949) 491-8235

Media Contact:

Kyle Kingsnorth | Head of Marketing | Hypercharge

kyle.kingsnorth@hypercharge.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "will", "estimates", "believes", "intends", "expects" and similar expressions which are intended to identify forward-looking statements. More particularly and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements regarding the expected installation of EV charging stations under the Project and the expected timing thereof. Forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and the actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, assumptions and expectations, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Readers are cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, as such information, although considered reasonable by management of the Company at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and are expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statement. Except as expressly required by securities law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither NEO Exchange Inc. nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in policies of NEO Exchange Inc.) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200740

SOURCE: Hypercharge Networks Corp.
Lauterach, Austria--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - The international transport and logistics company Gebruder Weiss ended its 2023 fiscal year with a net revenue of 2.47 billion euros (2022: 3 billion euros). Despite this decline, the company remains above its growth trend seen between 2015 and 2020. The coronavirus-related effects of the two previous years did not persist in 2023. At 774 million euros, net revenue in the Air & Sea business area subsequently returned to levels seen in previous years. Given the higher freight rates shipping lines and airlines charged, Gebruder Weiss generated 1.27 billion euros in this segment in the previous year. Revenue was also stable in the Land Transport and Logistics business areas at 1.45 billion euros (2022: 1.48 billion euros), with declining energy and fuel prices. The equity ratio increased to 63 percent (2022: 60 percent), ensuring the company's ability to handle crises and positioning it as an ideal employer.





Gebruder Weiss

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10370/200813_logistics_gw_2023.jpg

"Despite the challenges posed by general economic conditions, we have been able to help our customers enjoy success in their global sales markets with our first-rate service and increase the presence of Gebruder Weiss with new locations in the USA and Germany. This is due first and foremost to the wholehearted dedication shown by our employees. Geopolitical conflicts and weaker global economic output had a negative impact on revenue and transport volumes. Our stable financial situation meant that, in 2023, we were still able to implement a comprehensive investment program to expand both locations and services," says Wolfram Senger-Weiss, CEO of Gebruder Weiss. Many projects that had to be postponed as a result of COVID-19 could now be carried out in 2023.

Investments in network expansion

With a record investment volume of 187 million euros, Gebruder Weiss substantially expanded its network in the German and US markets, as well as South-Eastern Europe, while also investing in customer projects and sustainable energy generation. In Bavaria in particular, the logistics company consolidated its position through acquisitions and real estate purchases in Bayreuth, Konradsreuth and Nuremberg and the construction of a new freight forwarding terminal in Straubing. The US network was expanded to include locations in Miami and Laredo, Texas. Other investment projects included a second location in Bucharest, the enlargement of the logistics terminal in Hungary, and the construction of a new logistics warehouse in Graz and Reutte, Tyrol. As a result of the acquisitions, the number of employees at the 180 locations worldwide increased to 8,600 (2022: 8,400).

At the same time as it works to expand its network, Gebruder Weiss has also been investing in the digitalization of supply chain management. Warehouse analysis functions (Warehouse Analytics) have been added to the web-based customer portal myGW. The portal offers transparency along the entire supply chain and serves as a central information and communication platform for customers and their global shipments, covering everything from real-time tracking to estimated times of arrival (ETA).

North American growth continues

In North America, Gebruder Weiss continued strategic expansion across the continent with a newly opened office and warehouse in Laredo, Texas, leveraging the largest inland port in North America to provide additional road, air, and sea logistics services for the critical flow of trade between the U.S. and Mexico. Gebruder Weiss also opened an air and sea freight hub in Miami to facilitate transport between Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean, and a 106,000-square-foot warehouse in Elgin, Illinois, near the North American headquarters office in Wood Dale, Illinois. On the capabilities front, the team added highly specialized experts in breakbulk and complicated cargo projects and expanded road transport capabilities with new key hires and full truckload services. Notably, Gebruder Weiss USA was named a winner in the 2023 Excellence in Customer Service Awards from Business Intelligence Group. Daniela Hendricks, Chief Compliance & Process Officer, was recognized with a Supply & Demand Chain Executive 2023 Pros to Know award.

"2023 was a pivotal year in which we cemented our logistics leadership in nearshoring by opening multiple key locations and bringing in talented leaders to expand our depth of services," says Mark McCullough, CEO of Gebruder Weiss USA. "At the same time, our employees continued to receive accolades for the quality of their work, and I appreciate our entire teams' ongoing efforts to foster a collaborative culture and surpass customer expectations."

More renewable energies

The company made progress in decarbonizing its own business activities. Three-quarters of the company's own electricity requirements in the DACH region are already met by its own solar power. In 2023, the logistics expert commissioned nine further photovoltaic systems (PV) in the DACH region and Eastern Europe. A total of 27 PV systems generated 5,850 megawatt hours of electricity, doubling the amount of CO2 emissions saved to 2,750 tons. Gebruder Weiss has also been helping improve the green credentials of the electricity mix in Germany since 2011 with its wind farm in Northern Germany.

The company's attention is increasingly on its own vehicle fleet as part of its goal to achieve climate neutrality in the operation of its own assets and trucks by 2030. The logistics company already uses e-vans to deliver goods ordered online to end customers in Austria, Hungary, Croatia, and Romania. Two battery-powered trucks will be launched in Germany this year, and further e-trucks and e-delivery vehicles will be purchased in Austria. To manage the transition period to e-mobility, the company is converting a large part of its own truck fleet in Austria to hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO).

Following the downturn in global trade and signs of a recession, Gebruder Weiss expects a slight economic upturn in the second half of 2024, thereby translating into more positive revenue development fed by the success of individual national companies. Wolfram Senger-Weiss noted, "We are now benefiting from the fact that we have a global position and can swiftly respond to economic upturns in individual regions with the necessary local logistics services. At the same time, we see confirmation of our "best of both worlds" strategy. The last few years in particular have shown how important it is to invest in both the development of the operational network and the company's digital expertise."





The Managing Directors of Gebruder Weiss (from the left): Peter Kloiber, Wolfram Senger-Weiss (CEO), Lothar Thoma and Jurgen Bauer (source: Gebruder Weiss / Ohligschlager)

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10370/200813_8a3cab34842eaa1a_003full.jpg

About Gebruder Weiss

With its head office in Lauterach (Austria), Gebruder Weiss Holding AG is a global full-service logistics provider with around 8,600 employees and 180 company-owned locations. The family-run organization with a core business of overland transport, air and sea freight, and logistics, Gebruder Weiss is the world's oldest transport company with a history that dates back more than 500 years. The business presence in North America includes headquarters in Chicago and offices in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, Laredo, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. The company has implemented a wide variety of environmental, economic, and social initiatives and is considered a pioneer in sustainable business practices. The company's emphasis on superior customer service and a combination of digital and real-world expertise enables the organization to respond to customer needs in a swift and flexible way. For more information visit www.gw-world.com/us.

Contact

Gebruder Weiss North America

Karolyn Raphael

Karolyn@wingermarketing.com

312-494-0422

www.gw-world.com/newsroom/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200813

SOURCE: Gebruder Weiss
Robert M. Helfend Recognized Among the Elite 5% of Attorneys by Super Lawyers for Exceptional Legal Expertise and Peer-Endorsed Professional Excellence

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Renowned Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer Robert M. Helfend has been honored with inclusion in the esteemed Super Lawyers list for the 2024 year, acknowledging his exceptional legal expertise and steadfast commitment to justice. This recognition highlights Mr. Helfend's significant achievements and his unwavering dedication to serving his clients with the utmost integrity and professionalism.

Super Lawyers, a distinguished rating service, celebrates legal professionals who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional accomplishment. Its patented selection process is meticulously designed to identify lawyers who stand out in their practice areas, ensuring that only the top 5% of attorneys are selected each year. This rigorous process, peer-influenced and research-driven, underscores the exceptional quality of lawyers listed.

Robert M. Helfend's selection to the Super Lawyers list is a testament to his skillful advocacy, profound legal acumen, and the high respect he commands among his peers. It is a mark of prestige that signifies his outstanding contributions to the legal field, particularly in criminal defense, where his expertise has consistently led to successful outcomes for his clients.

Super Lawyers employs a patented multiphase selection process (U.S. Pat. No. 8,412,564) aimed at crafting a credible, comprehensive, and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys. This process serves as an invaluable resource for individuals and businesses seeking top-tier legal representation, ensuring they are choosing from among the best in the legal industry.

As a featured attorney in Super Lawyers' expansive directory, Robert M. Helfend gains recognition alongside the nation's most esteemed legal professionals. His profile, detailing his credentials, achievements, and areas of expertise, serves as a vital tool for those in need of experienced legal counsel.

Contact info:

Helfend Law Group

13101 Washington Blvd., Suite 464

Los Angeles, CA 90066.

Phone: (800) 834-6434

About Robert M. Helfend Robert M. Helfend is a distinguished criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles with over three decades of experience. Known for his tenacity, dedication, and seasoned legal expertise, Mr. Helfend has successfully defended clients in a vast array of criminal cases, earning him a reputation as one of the most reliable and skilled defense attorneys in Southern California.

About Super Lawyers Super Lawyers is a reputable rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have achieved a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process includes independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations, ensuring that those who are named Super Lawyers represent the top echelon of their profession.

Contact Information

Robert Helfend

Owner

admin@robertmhelfend.com

800-834-6434

SOURCE: Helfend Law Group

View the original press release on newswire.com.
Costa Mesa, California--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - #1 New York Times bestselling author and neuropsychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen and child psychologist Dr. Charles Fay have teamed up to reveal what's missing from most parenting books. It's the fact that you need to address both the brain and the mind of your child (and yourself) to raise good and strong humans effectively.



Raising Mentally Strong Kids: How to Combine the Power of Neuroscience with Love and Logic to Grow Confident, Kind, Responsible, and Resilient Children and Young Adults will be released on March 26, 2024, and is available for pre-sale now on Amazon and other popular retailers with an opportunity for pre-orders.

In a time when so many children and young adults seem to be struggling, parents are looking for help in bringing up mentally healthy kids who are equipped to thrive. Finally, evidence-based help is now available for overwhelmed parents who are trying their best but feel like they're falling short.

In this groundbreaking book where neuroscience meets love and logic, parents are given practical tools to help children of all ages go from behavioral problems like defiance, meltdowns, and power struggles to be:

Responsible, confident, kind, and resilient

Better prepared to make good decisions

More focused and motivated

Better able to have healthy relationships and more.

Dr. Amen and Dr. Fay's approach is designed to help parents raise great kids who are on their way to reaching their full potential, including their best possible mental health.



"In this book, I will provide you with a wealth of information to help you and your children develop strong brains," said Dr. Amen, co-author and double-board certified psychiatrist and founder of Amen Clinics and BrainMD. "It's been my life's passion, and it is an honor to share it with you."



About the Authors

Daniel G. Amen, MD

Dr. Amen is a former US Army infantry medic, physician, double-board certified psychiatrist, 12-time New York Times bestselling author, and founder and CEO of Amen Clinics with 11 locations across the nation. Amen Clinics has built the world's largest database of brain scans related to behavior, totaling more than 250,000 scans on patients from 155 countries.

Dr. Amen's research team has published more than 85 scientific articles and Discover Magazine named his research as one of the Top Stories in Science for 2015. Dr. Amen has also written, produced, and hosted 17 national public television specials about the brain that have aired over 135,000 times across North America. He has appeared on numerous television shows, including Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, The Doctors, Today Show, Good Morning America, and The View. He has a massive following on social media with over 3.3 million followers on Instagram, 2.6 million followers on TikTok, and hundreds of thousands more on Facebook. He is widely regarded as a gifted teacher.



Charles Fay, Ph.D.



Charles Fay, Ph.D. is a parent, internationally recognized author, consultant, and highly skilled public speaker.

Millions of educators, mental health professionals, and parents worldwide have benefited from his practical and down-to-earth solutions to the most common and frustrating behaviors displayed by youth of all ages. These solutions come directly from years of research and clinical experience serving severely disturbed youth and their families in psychiatric hospitals, public and private schools, and homes.

Dr. Fay's interest in education and psychology was piqued as a child from years of exposure to some of our nation's most dynamic experts in these fields. This early exposure came as a result of participation in training events with his father, Jim Fay. Jim is one of the nation's leading experts on child discipline and has over fifty years of experience in public education. The internationally recognized Love and Logic approach was literally developed around Charles Fay as he grew. Now he jokes, "I think that's why I became a psychologistjust to figure out what they were doing to me as a kid. Butlet me be clearI absolutely adore my mom and dad as a result."

Media Contact:

Natalie Buchoz

Email: nbuchoz@amenclinic.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200687

SOURCE: Reputation Rhino
Cleaning industry's leading annual gathering brings together industry innovators to launch products, network and learn.?

LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / ISSA Show North America, the largest and most comprehensive event dedicated to the worldwide cleaning and facilities industries, today announces exhibiting brands for the 2024 event, which returns to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, November 18-21.??

ISSA Show North America is the most expansive gathering of more than 600 brands dedicated to the commercial, institutional and residential cleaning industry by promoting technological advancement, strengthening global hygiene policies and supporting sustainability. Notable exhibitors already confirmed to exhibit include Clorox-Pro, Georgia-Pacific Professional (GP PRO), Hoover & Oreck Commercial, Kimberly-Clark Professional, Proctor & Gamble Professional (P&G PRO), Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Sofidel Group, SC Johnson Professional and more to be announced.??

The annual event, held with the Building Service Contractors Association International's (BSCAI) Contracting Success conference, draws an international presence of more than 13,000 registered industry professionals to explore the newest advancements in tools, equipment, products and services. Exhibitors on the expo floor display a broad range of products including cleaning agents, floor and carpet care, paper products, restroom care and supplies, waste management and safety supplies.??

Extensive educational programming includes over 140 education sessions highlighting the latest trends and best practices along with complete technical training to earn professional certifications. Topics include solutions in healthcare, hospitality, facility operations, residential cleaning, technology and innovation, business development and marketing solutions, and environmental, social and governance (ESG). In conjunction with educational offerings, attendees gain exclusive access to workshops led by industry experts and healthcare professionals.??

"We are anticipating an even more robust ISSA Show North America this year," shares Ed Nichols, Show Director, ISSA Show North America. "Building on last year's successes, especially with overall participation and our new location, we are excited to present our new Innovative Leaders Program to the market and deliver on our comprehensive strategy to drive more engagement from across the entire cleaning ecosystem. This will result in more exhibiting companies and products, more hands-on and interactive demonstrations, and even more educational opportunities, contributing to a safer and more efficient industry standard for years to come."?

"For our first year in a new location, the 2023 show far exceeded our expectations. Mandalay Bay proved to be the ideal location for ISSA to celebrate the association's centennial anniversary," says John Barrett, ISSA Executive Director. "Building on the positive feedback we received from last year's event, we are poised to deliver even more in 2024-more educational offerings, more networking opportunities, more attendees and more exhibitors. We look forward to thousands of cleaning professionals and key decision-makers joining us once again this November in Las Vegas for the industry's most important event."

Increased opportunities for face-to-face engagement at this year's exhibition will include the Innovative Leaders Program, recognizing 50 products and services each year, expo floor networking in curated spaces in Sustainability Hubs and the Clean Meet Zone, hosting intimate fireside chats throughout the three days.??

ISSA Show North America continues to deliver impactful solutions to the commercial, institutional, and residential cleaning markets. The latest event edition marked a 15% increase in attendance from 2022, as professionals from all corners of the industry gathered to connect with potential clients, suppliers and partners. Through 15 years of ISSA Show North America's annual gatherings in Las Vegas, the event has contributed a cumulative economic impact of USD $310 million, assembling a collective attendance of 213,000 industry professionals from every facet of the cleaning and professional services industries for in-person collaboration.?

Registration for the November event will open in June. Visit www.issashow.com to stay up to date on announcements.?

Future dates for ISSA Show North America at Mandalay Bay Convention Center:?

November 10-13, 2025 (exhibit days November 11-13)

November 16-19, 2026 (exhibit days November 17-19)

November 8-11, 2027 (exhibit days November 9-11).

About ISSA Show North America

In partnership with ISSA trade association, ISSA Show North America?offers an unmatched conference program featuring over 100+ education sessions, workshops, panels, training and certification courses over four days. The event and the association are committed to changing the way the world views cleaning by providing its members with the business tools they need to promote cleaning as an investment in human health, the environment, and an improved bottom line.?

For more information about ISSA Show North America, visit?www.issashow.com.??Follow ISSA Show North America on LinkedIn, Facebook,?Instagram, X and YouTube.?

About ISSA

With more than 10,500 members-including distributors, manufacturers, manufacturer representatives, wholesalers, building service contractors, in-house service providers, residential cleaners, and associated service members-ISSA is the world's leading trade association for the cleaning industry. The association is committed to changing the way the world views cleaning by providing its members with the business tools they need to promote cleaning as an investment in human health, the environment, and an improved bottom line. Headquartered in Rosemont, Ill., USA, the association has regional offices in Milan, Italy; Toronto, Canada; Sydney, Australia; Seoul, South Korea; and Shanghai, China. For more information about ISSA, visit www.issa.com or call 800-225-4772 (North America) or 847-982-0800. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube.??

About Informa Markets

Informa Markets, a subsidiary of Informa plc (LON:INF), creates platforms for industries and specialist markets to trade, innovate and grow. Our portfolio comprises more than 550 international B2B events and brands in markets including Engineering, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Infrastructure, Construction & Real Estate, Fashion & Apparel, Hospitality, Food & Beverage, and Health & Nutrition, among others. We provide customers and partners around the globe with opportunities to engage, experience and do business through face-to-face exhibitions, specialist digital content and actionable data solutions. As the world's leading exhibitions organizer, we bring a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, visit www.informamarkets.com.?

Media Contact:?

Abby Portwood?

Informa Markets?

Infrastructure and Construction PR?

ConstructionPR@informa.com

SOURCE: INFORMA MARKETS - INFRASTRUCTURE AND CONSTRUCTION

View the original press release on accesswire.com
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.
A Premier Investment Opportunity in Atlanta's Thriving GA-400 Northern Corridor

ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Viking Capital is excited to announce its 26th multifamily investment opportunity, Dawson Forest, located in the heart of Atlanta's Expanding GA-400 Northern Corridor. This exceptional property offers 268 units and is strategically positioned in Dawson County, one of Georgia's fastest-growing counties. Dawson County ranks fifth on the list of the 3,000 fastest-growing counties in the U.S., making it a prime location for investment.





Dawson Forest is ideally situated in the "path of progress," extending from Atlanta to Alpharetta and further north towards Dawson County. The area's market growth is driven by an influx of jobs from Fortune 500 companies such as Google, Microsoft, and JP Morgan. Additionally, the property is located directly across from the North Georgia Premium Outlets, offering residents access to high-end retail establishments like Kate Spade, Gucci, West Elm, and Pottery Barn.

Built in 1998, Dawson Forest presents investors with an ideal opportunity to acquire a value-driven asset with the potential to yield average premiums of $250 or more. Despite the development of four new Class-A properties in 2018 boasting significantly higher monthly rents, Dawson Forest remains well-positioned as the more affordable option in the market.

The property is strategically zoned for esteemed schools, including Robinson Elementary, Dawson County Middle, and Dawson County High, boasting an impressive "8/10" rating. Dawson Forest enjoys strong tenant demand from the manufacturing and education sectors, coupled with a shortage of multifamily residences, significant value-add potential, and numerous amenities, making it an outstanding investment opportunity.

For more information about Dawson Forest and Viking Capital's investment opportunities, visit https://www.vikingcapitalinvestments.com/dawson-forest-org

Contact Information

Ashley Penrod

Director of Marketing

apenrod@vikingcapllc.com

2088599720

SOURCE: Viking Capital

View the original press release on newswire.com.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / PPX Mining Corp. (the "Company" or "PPX") (TSX.V:PPX)(BVL:PPX) is pleased to announce that in February 2024, the two diamond drill holes focused on Callanquitas East and its branches were completed, with a total of 376.4 meters drilled from an underground level chamber (2970 masl). The results from the first hole, CA-24-07, intercepted an oxidized breccia with grades of 12.05 g/t Au and 300.9 g/t Ag over 5.25 meters (drilling length at 116.05 meters to 121.30 meters). This included a 3.15 meters intersection grading 19.70 g/t Au and 415.3 g/t Ag in oxides at 116.65 meters. The hole was continued and intercepted a vein of sulfide mineralization over 9.2 meters of drill length grading 10.34 g/t Au, 1670.8 g/t Ag, and 4% Cu at 141.8 meters which includes 1.70 meters grading 33.08 g/t Au, 8174.2 g/t Ag and 13.1% Cu at 142.8 meters. The CA-24-08 drill hole sample results are still pending, but visually the oxidized breccia was intercepted with a width of 1.95 meters. The two drill holes started at the same underground drill chamber near at the 2970 meters level. Table N01 below, demonstrates the mineralized intersections of the drill hole CA-24-07 and the grades obtained with the details of the orientation and dip of the structure.

The drillholes intercepted the Callanquitas East structure, and are located to the north and below the area of ??the historic drilling carried out in 2018, at a depth of 2970 mal. The location of these new intercepts is located more than 50 meters below the mined areas (see longitudinal section below of Mina Callanquitas), the nearest historical drilling is CA-12-44.

The intersections in the two drillholes confirms the continuity at depth of the Callanquitas East structure, with good mineralization and high grades of Au and Ag in the material assayed. The grades seen in the Table N01 demonstrate that the mineralization extends down dip and plunge with continuing mineralization in this area.

Callanquitas East consists of several hydrothermal breccia events and faults that were mineralized at different stages. The structure cuts quartz sandstones and siltstones. The hydrothermal alteration in these units is predominantly sericite - quartz. The mineralization intercepted by CA-24-07, consists of Fe oxides (FeOx), located in the matrix of the hydrothermal breccias. This is replaced by more than 20% goethite and limonite and in addition some sections are completely replaced by FeOx and a few sections with a fault breccia.

The drill hole CA-24-07 also intercepted an important and well mineralized sulfide vein with high grades of Au, Ag and Cu, over good intercept lengths. The original vein is replaced by massive sulfide intergrowths with quartz. This vein intersects the Callanquitas East breccia, and with the appearance of a tensional system with an approximate orientation of N320 dipping -75 degrees. This vein (with oxides) was located in the upper mining levels of the Mina Callanquitas.

PPX, in cooperation with PLP, agreed to sample the mineralized areas of the structure with these holes in the current drilling program, prioritizing the Callanquitas breccia and adjacent host rock. Sampling was completed in the drill hole CA-24-07 and assay results have been received, and sampling has been completed for drill hole CA-24-08 but the assay results are pending.

In the longitudinal section we can notice that the mineralization to the north and south of Callanquitas East is open along strike and at depth. The two drill holes demonstrate continuity of the Callanquitas breccia and will assist in planning future drilling in this area.

John Thomas, CEO, commented: "The results of CA-24-07 encourage us to continue drilling below the mined area of Callanquitas East. The ore appears to continue at depth with good grades of Au and Ag in an oxidized breccia. In addition, drill hole CA-24-07 showed the presence of a sulfide vein with spectacular grades in Au, Ag and Cu, in addition to good thickness, having the highest value in terms of contained metals ever obtained from the Igor concessions. This vein represents a new target for future drilling. Work planned to expand the resources for both Callanquitas East and West will continue, based on these excellent results. The Company is designing a second phase of drilling at Callanquitas for the first quarter of 2024, with the objective of defining the definitive geometry of the Au and Ag precious metals mineralization."

Core Sampling and QA/QC Protocols: PPX geologists collect core diamond drill core samples immediately following geological and geotechnical logging. Samples are collected based on natural fractures and their geological characteristics based on their individual runs. Samples are separated by obvious geological boundaries such as rock types, mineralization styles, and hydrothermal alterations associated. Samples are collected by cutting the core in half, using a diamond saw. The second half is retained for future review analysis, future studies, and reference. Samples are sealed, labeled and stored in a secure area before shipment to SGS laboratories in Trujillo-Lima, Peru. Gold and silver analyze are performed using a fire assay method with a CN solution. Blanks and standards are inserted approximately at every 10 samples; Duplicate samples are included at similar intervals. Duplicate fire assay tests approximately every 30 samples are sent to a second laboratory for reanalysis. The gold equivalent is calculated as: Au Eq = (Au gpt) + (Ag gpt/90).

About PPX Mining Corp:

About PPX Mining Corp: PPX Mining Corp. (TSX.V: PPX.V, SSE: PPX, BVL: PPX) is a Canadian exploration and development company with assets in northern Peru. The Company's 100% owned Igor gold and silver project is located in the prolific northern Peruvian gold belt in the department of La Libertad. PPX is pursuing a two-pronged strategy to further develop and explore Project Igor. The Callanquitas structure is open along strike and at depth. Parallel structures have not yet been explored. The new discoveries in Portachuelos in 2018, as well as the exploration targets in Domo and Tesoros, show that the Igor Project is becoming a district-scale project with multiple deposits and mineralized zones. Evaluating mineral development alternatives in parallel with exploration drilling will provide dual catalysts for growth and increased shareholder value.

All scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Eddy Canova, PGeo., External Consulting Geologist of PPX Mining Corp., who is a qualified person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101.

John Thomas

Chief Executive Officer

82 Richmond Street East

Toronto, Ontario M5C 1P1

Canada

416-361-0737

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement:

This press release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements") as such terms are defined by applicable securities laws, including, but not limited to statements regarding test results, future plans or management estimates. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance and often contain words such as "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," and "intend,", statements that an action or event "may,""might," "could," "should," or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond the Company's control, and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to many various factors. Such uncertainties and risks include, among others, delays in obtaining or inability to obtain required regulatory approvals in connection with this transaction. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, the Company cannot guarantee that the events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. The timing of events and circumstances and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, one should not place undue reliance on forward- looking statements. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of today's date, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or publicly revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by law.

SOURCE: PPX Mining Corp.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Fran and Mark Rabinowitz Fran Rabinowitz / Contributed photo The Rabinowitz family Fran Rabinowitz / Contributed photo Mark Rabinowitz Fran Rabinowitz / Contributed photo

BRANFORD  Mark Rabinowitz, an educator who saw the best in each child and the glass as half full, died peacefully on March 1, his family said. He was 71.

An inductee in Branfords Education Hall of Fame, Rabinowitzs education career spanned more than 40 years. He retired as principal of Mary R. Tisko Elementary School in 2010 but continued working as a sought-after school psychologist in various schools until last June, even when he was on full-time oxygen, his wife Fran Rabinowitz said.

He just loved kids, and he cherished them. He saw the good in everyone. He never saw anything negative in people, Fran Rabinowitz said. And I think that's why he was so good at being an educator. As a principal, many times you're dealing with the kids that are having some issues, right? He loved them all.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Mark Rabinowitz had been ill, experiencing difficulty with breathing for the past five years and eventually relying on oxygen 24/7, Fran Rabinowitz said. The hospice doctor said he felt he knew Mark Rabinowitz because so much of the staff either went to his school or had kids in his school, she said.

Rabinowitz began his career as a school psychologist. At age 32, he became principal of John B. Sliney Elementary School. He was integral in making Tisko School what it is today, according to current principal Jim OConnor, by helping expand what was then Damascus School from K-2 to K-4.

OConnor, who became principal of Tisko after Mark Rabinowitzs 19 years in the position, said Mark Rabinowitz was humble and always put kids first.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

He was the foundation of our school and our community, OConnor said. He is the essence of everything we do in our community. Hes created a great foundation for Branford in his tenure here. Hes irreplaceable.

Mark Rabinowitz's mantra at Tisko was being the best you could be, Fran Rabinowitz said. His approach to learning included continuously monitoring student data, leading to high performance outcomes and the Institute for Educational Excellence Award, according to Branfords Education Hall of Fame.

Mark Rabinowitz knew each students name and learning performance, included lessons about values in his morning announcements and attended all school functions, the hall of fames website says.

Dressing up for Halloween, spending the night with 100 fourth graders in the gymnasium and jumping into the swimming pool with the fourth graders at the end of each school year are part of his humanistic persona, it says.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

His connections with students were lasting, as Mark and Fran Rabinowitz were often invited to former students weddings.

Fran Rabinowitz is also an educator. The two met when Mark Rabinowitz was a school psychologist. They were married for 43 years. This past Valentines Day, Fran Rabinowitz had to leave town for a conference, but when she got back, Mark Rabinowitz had a huge bouquet of flowers waiting for her, she said. They have three children and six grandchildren.

Fran Rabinowitz said Mark Rabinowitz was patient, gentle and nurturing. He loved Jimmy Buffett and Judy Collins. And he was most comfortable wearing T-shirts, shorts and sandals.

That was his favorite outfit, and that's how he faced life, Fran Rabinowitz said. He wasn't ever uptight or he didn't worry about what others thought. He just was genuinely himself.
Discover the inspiring journey of Dynamic Auto Movers, led by Entrepreneur Daniel Vasquez. Learn how his vision and dedication have transformed auto transport, offering innovative solutions, unparalleled customer service, and partnerships with top athletes and associations.

MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Dynamic Auto Movers LLC is an emerging force in the auto transport industry. In the latest advancement, the company proudly celebrates its 10th anniversary, showcasing a decade of unmatched success and innovation under the dynamic leadership of founder Daniel Vasquez.

In order to celebrate the completion of decade in the field, Dynamic Auto Movers innovates the auto transport sector by prioritizing efficiency, safety, and personalized service. The company's success story is built on strategic lead acquisition and pivotal partnerships with auction houses. With a relentless focus on excellence in shipping and logistics, Dynamic Auto Movers ensures effective and fast communication throughout the transport process, offering a same-day response to inquiries.

As Open Transport service, the company's commitment to safety is underscored by the exclusive use of DOT licensed drivers, eliminating truck transfers to guarantee that each vehicle stays on the same carrier throughout the journey. For a touch of luxury, their Enclosed Transport offers the red carpet treatment for your vehicles. The hard-sided enclosed trucks with lift gates ensure that the client's car is shielded from dirt, dust, and debris, delivering it in the same pristine condition as when it was picked up.

Dynamic Auto Movers specializes in Exotic Car Transport, providing insured, bonded, and reliable services for transporting any type of exotic vehicle door-to-door. The team understands the unique needs of exotic cars and ensures their safe and secure delivery.

With a rich history of transporting antiques, the Classic Car Transport service boasts a large network of classic car collectors as clients. The company's drivers recognize the significance and value of these vehicles, handling them with utmost care and attention.

As the industry faces challenges, Dynamic Auto Movers stands out by investing in the future with advanced software and equipment. The company's dedication to staying ahead is evident in its latest software and equipment, making it the top choice as a transportation partner. Furthermore, a new training system for all employees, covering cross-training in all relevant areas, ensures that the workforce is equipped to meet the evolving needs of the industry.

Dynamic Auto Movers sets itself apart by assigning a personal representative to each client, ensuring a seamless experience from booking to delivery. The company values its relationships with drivers, maintaining professional connections to guarantee the safe transport of each customer's vehicle.

Established in 2014 when Vasquez was just 22, Dynamic Auto Movers has risen to prominence through a relentless commitment to customer satisfaction, innovative logistics solutions, and ethical business practices.

About the company - Dynamic Auto Movers:

At Dynamic Auto Movers, the company presents itself on delivering comprehensive and reliable vehicle and auto shipping services that exceed expectations. With a steadfast commitment to transparency and customer satisfaction, it offers competitive prices with no hidden upfront or additional fees.

For further details, visit the following link: https://dynamicautomovers.com/

Media Contact

Organization: Dynamic Auto Movers

Contact Person: Daniel Vasquez

Website: https://dynamicautomovers.com/

Email: support@dynamicautomovers.com

City: Miami

State: Florida

Country: United States

SOURCE: Dynamic Auto Movers

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Video: Cut Canvas Creative/Kip Evans

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / The clock is ticking: half of the Earth's coral reefs and 85% of shellfish reefs have been lost to date.1

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Mary Kay Inc. are urgently working together to protect and restore some of the remaining reefs.

Mary Kay and TNC's partnership blossomed in 1987 and spanned over more than three decades totaling 100 conservation projects supported by Mary Kay all around the globe. The focus of Mary Kay has been to invest in nature-based solutions that help safeguard our lands and waters for future generations by tacking climate change challenges and biodiversity loss. Mary Kay is a proud supporter and advocate of TNC's Super Reefs initiative, a collaborative effort to discover the secrets of these aptly named "super reefs" and help coral reefs persist in a warming world.

Did you know?

As part as its mission to conserve the Earth's land and water, TNC aims to conserve 4 billion hectares of ocean by 2030 including coral reefs.

TNC has already made great strides in advancing the Super Reefs work:

TNC recently completed the initial assessments of Super Reef areas with greatest potential for conservation achievements. Based on a variety of ecological factors, scientists have identified a potential Super Reef location including high biodiversity and presence of corals that have recovered from heat stress. Current areas of interest for super reefs include Hawaii, Palau, Indonesia, the Marshall Islands, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, and Belize .

with greatest potential for conservation achievements. Based on a variety of ecological factors, scientists have identified a potential Super Reef location including high biodiversity and presence of corals that have recovered from heat stress. Current areas of interest for super reefs include . Supporting community-led conservation is critical to how TNC approaches conservation. Coral reefs provide both natural and socioeconomic benefits as coastal communities around the world are dependent on their health. The potential Super Reef sites identified are vital for both biodiversity and the social and economic wellbeing of indigenous people inhabiting the islands.

This game-changing work is already having an impact locally in Palau and on the volcanic islands and coral atolls of Micronesia and Polynesia where the Super Reefs program helps communities and governments build resilience and adapt to local and global changes.

What is next in 2024?

TNC is now set to move to the next phase of work including collecting data for the hydrodynamic modeling enabling researchers to predict oceanographic conditions conducive to the thriving of super reefs such as temperature and flow. The data will be shared with local communities so that they can provide feedback and input the shaping and outcome of the initiative.

Once the models are complete, TNC's partners from Stanford University will conduct coral heat stress tests to validate the Super Reef sites, after which TNC will begin working with local communities, partners, and stakeholders to improve the management of these Super Reef sites to ensure the Super Reefs continue to survive and reseed adjacent areas-with the long-term goal of scaling solutions globally.

"Mary Kay Ash, our iconic founder, believed that there are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened. We are honored to join forces with the first type of people to develop the tools and resources needed to protect our oceans for generations to come," said Deborah Gibbins, Chief Operating Officer, Mary Kay Inc.

For the most recent updates on Mary Kay's global sustainability strategy and the latest report, click here.

1The Nature Conservancy, 2023 Annual Report, The Making of a Million. Retrieved from: https://www.flipsnack.com/F98E67AA9F7/the-making-of-a-million-2023-texas-annual-report/full-view.html

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Mary Kay on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Mary Kay

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/mary-kay

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Mary Kay

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - Hemostemix Inc. (TSXV: HEM) (OTCQB: HMTXF) (FSE: 2VF0) ("Hemostemix" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the non-exclusive engagement of Oak Hill Asset Management Inc. ("OHAM"), an Exempt Market Dealer to provide capital markets advice related to the Company's capital markets strategy. Services include advice on the structure of equity or debt capital financing and the identification of potential future investors.

The Company intends to raise approximately C$6 million in low-dilution capital (the "Offering"). Proceeds will be used to re-establish production of ACP-01 for sale as an exempt compassionate treatment and to complete its phase III CLTI clinical trial.

Pursuant to an engagement letter between the Company and OHAM, the Company has agreed to pay OHAM a cash fee of $12,000 plus $20,000 in common shares as a work fee. Additional fees would be paid on any financing raised by OHAM.

Proceeds from the Offering will allow the Company to lease ready-to-occupy cGMP production capacity in Puerto Rico in 2024 and generate revenue by the end of 2025 through 30-40 exempt compassionate treatments per month, while scaling production and progressing its clinical trial. Sales of ACP for CLTI treatments will be through clinical trial sites (to patients who do not meet inclusion criteria), through limb salvage clinics and podiatrists. To-date, seven clinical trial sites have agreed to refer patients to Hemostemix for exempt compassionate treatments; and, have agreed to process up to 226 of Hemostemix's referrals to them per month.

Puerto Rico's Act 60 legislation enables the company to obtain 50% cash back on eligible expenses including clinical trials. Additionally, ACT 60 provides the company with a 15-year 1% profit tax structure, and a 20% tax credit for offshore expenses.

The structure and price of the Offering has yet to be determined and the Company will issue a follow-up news release once details are available. The Company is confident that it can be completed on a low-dilutive basis that appropriately values the significant, near-term revenue and cash flow streams.

"The 498 treatments of ACP, including the seven clinical studies published in peer reviewed journals to-date, demonstrate ACP is safe and effective in the treatment of peripheral arterial disease and three forms of heart disease," stated Thomas Smeenk, CEO. "It is remarkable that the clinical trial sites will be able to refer and see up to 226 no-option referrals. Compared to no-option and amputation, an ACP injection under exemption to save the limb makes sense," Smeenk said.

ABOUT HEMOSTEMIX

Hemostemix is an autologous stem cell therapy company, founded in 2003. A winner of the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer Award, the Company has developed, patented, and is scaling a patient's blood-based stem cell therapeutics platform that includes angiogenic cell precursors, neuronal cell precursor and cardiomyocyte cell precursors. For more information, please visit www.hemostemix.com.

For further information, please contact: Thomas Smeenk, President, CEO & Co-Founder

EM: tsmeenk@hemostemix.com PH: 905-580-4170

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking information. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information in relation to: the engagement of Oak Hill Financial, the sales of ACP-01 as an exempt compassionate treatment, the licensing of ACP-01, the Trademark Know Your Health! and related results, including the commercialization of ACP-01. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. This forward-looking information reflects Hemostemix's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Hemostemix and on assumptions Hemostemix believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to: the underlying value of Hemostemix and its Common Shares; the successful resolution of the litigation that Hemostemix is pursuing or defending (the "Litigation"); the results of ACP-01 research, trials, studies and analyses, including the analysis being equivalent to or better than previous research, trials or studies; the receipt of all required regulatory approvals for research, trials or studies; the level of activity, market acceptance and market trends in the healthcare sector; the economy generally; consumer interest in Hemostemix's services and products; competition and Hemostemix's competitive advantages; and Hemostemix obtaining satisfactory financing to fund Hemostemix's operations including any research, trials or studies, and any Litigation. 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 Hemostemix to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the ability of Hemostemix to complete clinical trials, complete a satisfactory analyses and file the results of such analyses to gain regulatory approval of a phase II or phase III clinical trial of ACP-01; potential litigation Hemostemis mayface; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; general capital market conditions and market prices for securities; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; the actual results of future operations including the actual results of future research, trials or studies; competition; changes in legislation affecting Hemostemix; the timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; long-term capital requirements and future developments in Hemostemix's markets and the markets in which it expects to compete; lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals; and risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic including various recommendations, orders and measures of governmental authorities to try to limit the pandemic, including travel restrictions, border closures, non-essential business closures service disruptions, quarantines, self-isolations, shelters-in-place and social distancing, disruptions to markets, disruptions to economic activity and financings, disruptions to supply chains and sales channels, and a deterioration of general economic conditions including a possible national or global recession or depression;the potential impact that the COVID-19 pandemic may have on Hemostemix which may include a decreased demand for the services that Hemostemix offers; and a deterioration of financial markets that could limit Hemostemix's ability to obtain external financing. A description of additional risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information can be found in Hemostemix's disclosure documents on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. Although Hemostemix has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of Hemostemix as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, it is Subject to change after such date. However, Hemostemix expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200905

SOURCE: Hemostemix Inc.
Hari Mari, a Dallas, TX-based sandal brand, raised $10M in Equity funding.

The round was led by financial services entrepreneur Landon Smith.

The company intends to use the funds to further enhance its growth plans in the casual footwear and lifestyle space.

Led by CEO Jeremy Stewart, Hari Mari is a sandal brand known for infusing color and comfort into its flip flop lines.

Commenting on the news, Jeremy Stewart: Hari Mari makes best-in-class footwear and delivers exceptional value to its great customers. With this raise under our belt, were investing in our core high-margin flip flop and slipper lines, expanding our audience reach, and strengthening our position to set Hari Mari up for sustainable, long-term growth in the market.

FinSMEs

07/03/2024
Maybell Quantum, a Denver, CO-based quantum infrastructure company, raised $25M in Series A funding.

The round was led by an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., with participation from Lavrock Ventures, Caruso Ventures, Mark IV Capital, Decisive Point, In-Q-Tel, and Olive Capital. In connection with the investment, Chris Darby, Global Head of Venture Investments at Cerberus, will join the Maybell Board of Directors.

The company intends to use the funds to scale manufacturing and open a new production facility in 2024.

Led by CEO Corban Tillemann-Dick, Maybell Quantum is a quantum infrastructure company whose mission is to deliver tools to solve quantum challenges, offering solutions that are more accessible, reliable, and performant. Their cryogenic platforms  the Fridge and the Big Fridge  offer premier reliability and usability for researchers and entrepreneurs. In 2023, Maybell launched MayQ Labs, expert-managed quantum research spaces in Denver and Copenhagen offering tools to entrepreneurs in an effort to accelerate progress in quantum innovation.

FinSMEs

07/03/2024
Sionna Therapeutics, a Boston, MA-based clinical-stage life sciences company, raised $182M in Series C funding.

The round was led by Enavate Sciences with additional new investors Viking Global Investors and Perceptive Advisors, as well as participation by all existing investors including RA Capital, OrbiMed, TPGs The Rise Fund, Atlas Venture, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and Q Healthcare Holdings, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of QIA.

The company intends to use the funds to support the clinical development of first-in-class small molecules designed to fully restore the function of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein by stabilizing the first nucleotide-binding domain (NBD1).

Led by CEO Mike Cloonan, Sionna Therapeutics is a clinical-stage life sciences company dedicated to developing treatments for cystic fibrosis (CF) by normalizing the function of CFTR, the key protein associated with disease progression in CF. It is advancing a pipeline of small molecules engineered to correct the protein defects caused by F508, the most common mutation that affects the CFTR protein. The company has a portfolio of programs directly targeting correction of NBD1, the key and mechanism to enable a restoration of F508-CFTR function, and complementary programs targeting ICL4 and TMD1.

Commenting on the news, Mike Cloonan said: We are encouraged by the strong interest and validation from the excellent investors in our upsized Series C financing. This capital raise provides financial flexibility positioning us to execute our clinical development plan with funding through 2026 and multiple value-creating clinical readouts. We are also pleased to welcome Dr. Fleming to our Board and look forward to insights from his more than 30 years of experience in the health care industry.

FinSMEs

06/03/2024
StackOne , a London, UK-based provider of an embedded integration platform as a service (embedded IPaaS), raised $3.6M in Seed funding.

The round was led by Episode 1, with participation from Playfair Capital, Portfolio Ventures, Charlie Songhurst, Sequoias Scout fund, and other investors. Angel investors included the co-founder of Github, as well as executives at Google, Microsoft, Salesloft, Tessian, Hackajob, and more.

The company intends to use the funds to invest in AI to grow its unified API offering for the enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) sector and further expand its presence in the US, EU, and Australian markets.

Led by CEO Romain Sestier and CTO Guillaume Lebedel, StackOne provides an integration platform that provides SaaS vendors with a single unified API enabling enterprise-grade B2B integrations with an entire industry at once. Its solution offers platforms with a way to connect with established HRIS tools, empowering seamless workflows. The pre-mapped unified API provides a real-time interface for interacting with multiple platforms while protecting sensitive data.

Commenting on the news, Romain Sestier said: The response to StackOne and our integration platform has been nothing short of amazing. When we set out to build StackOne a year ago after I left Google, our vision was to build an enterprise-grade integration platform for modern SaaS companies. Today, we are thrilled to have the backing of Episode 1 and Playfair to support StackOnes vision. Episode 1 and Playfair see StackOnes value in providing a customizable, real-time unified API for B2B SaaS companies. We are excited to receive this seed funding as it helps us further our mission to ensure our SaaS clients are always delivering the best possible integrations to their customers and partners.

FinSMEs

07/03/2024
Big Bs personal photographer recently revealed that the actor is very fond of social media and handles his own accounts

Delivering an array of splendid performances through films, Amitabh Bachchan has truly etched his name in the hearts of thousands of fans across the country. However, his connection goes deeper when it comes to communicating on social media platforms. Despite having a busy schedule, the 81-year-old never fails to connect with his fans, which makes him one of the most interactive celebrities in the present time. At a time when actors are known for assigning their social media duties to their PR teams, Big B is very particular about the same as he managed his own social media including his Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly known as Twitter).

Advertisement

The actor is also very on Tumblr and often shares blog posts to pen down his thoughts.

Big B edits his own pictures, writes captions

According to a paparazzi handle, Amitabh Bachchans personal cameraman, Paresh Mehta who has been working with the actor for several years, recently shared that Big B is very fond of social media.

Mentioning that the actor wants his photo library on a regular basis without fail, he shared that Big B selects his own photos, edits them himself, and even writes suitable captions for Instagram posts.

Advertisement

That being said, with personal views and thoughts across blogs and tweets to interesting captions on Instagram, it is quite evident that Bachchan is the owner of his social media handles.

Advertisement

The actors latest Instagram post shows him returning home from work late at night. The video is shot inside his car, showing Big B enjoying a soulful song while remaining on his phone. Besides that, he also shared a blog post, penning down his experience after attending Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchants pre-wedding celebrations in Jamnagar, Gujarat. The entire Bachchan family were seen in attendance for the three-day bash.

Work front

Last seen in Tiger Shroff and Kriti Sanons Ganapath, Amitabh Bachchan has a couple of big projects in the pipeline. He will be next seen in the sci-fi action film Kalki 2898 AD , which is slated for release in 2024.

He is also collaborating with Rajinikanth for the Tamil film Vettaiyan, marking their reunion after Mukul Anands 1991 film Hum.
In the video shared by Namita, she revealed how she became anaemic and the heavy bleeding made it uncomfortable for her to sit during the shooting of Shark Tank

Namita Thapar, the executive director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals and a judge on Shark Tank India, is currently garnering applause for her bold step where she bravely spoke about her struggles with perimenopause. In one of the episodes of the business reality shows Shark Tank India, Namita reflected on the topics that are hardly discussed on a bigger platform and candidly discussed the challenges she faced during the transitional period before menopause. She even dropped a post on her X handle, sparking a conversation surrounding womens health.

Advertisement

Namitas Instagram post featured a short note and a video from the show where she shared her experience during perimenopause. Namita wrote, Women dont prioritise their health & dont speak up. Ive used the Shark Tank platform to speak about my experiences with mental health, IVF, fitness & now perimenopause. Most women are not aware of the symptoms, or treatment options, lets get educated & take charge of our health.

Women dont prioritise their health & dont speak up. Ive used the shark tank platform to speak about my experiences with mental health, IVF, fitness & now perimenopause. Most women are not aware of the symptoms, treatment options, lets get educated & take charge of our health pic.twitter.com/b89LnGJVWN  Namita (@namitathapar) March 4, 2024

Advertisement

In the video shared by Namita, she revealed how she became anaemic and the heavy bleeding during her periods made it uncomfortable for her to even sit while shooting for Shark Tank. As the video proceeded, Namita also divulged that her haemoglobin went to 8 (g/dl), thereby compelling her to take injections for five months.

The Shark Tank judge opened up on the challenges after the founders of Matri, a company creating devices to alleviate menstrual pain, made it to the stage to pitch for their brand.

Advertisement

Soon after the video was dropped, people started heaping praises on Namita for speaking about the seldom-discussed topic. One user emphasised the need to raise awareness around womens health saying, Thank you for breaking the silence and sharing your journey. Women need to prioritize their health and speak up. Education empowers us to take control. Lets continue raising awareness and supporting each other.

Advertisement

Another praised Namita saying, Being an entrepreneur, you have the guts to talk about how this issue but the medical industry is profiting from this problem rather than trying to educate people. I adore you so much.
Amid Sushant Singh Rajputs case, a special court in Mumbai granted permission to actor Rhea Chakraborty and her brother to travel abroad (Thailand) for a vacation. The actress sought permission for the same.

The Bombay High Court has reserved the order on the plea submitted by Rhea Chakraborty in Sushant Singh Rajputs case. The Jalebi actress moved the court requesting that the Look Out Circular issues against her by the CBI be quashed. This also includes her father and brother.

Advertisement

Last year in December, Rhea approached the Bombay High Court seeking suspension of a Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against her. She had stated she needed to travel to Dubai for professional commitments. The Central Bureau of Investigation had opposed relief being granted to the Jalebi actress.

Chakraborty has been facing prosecution in a drugs case following the death of her then-boyfriend and actor Sushant Singh Rajput on June 14, 2020. Her advocates Abhinav Chandrachud and Prasanna Bhangale told the court the CBI did register a FIR against the actress but never summoned her and nothing has happened in the case for the last few years. The bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Shyam Chandak asked them if the actress traveled abroad in these last few years.

Rhea on her jail term

Rhea Chakraborty has faced several criticisms on her personal front after the demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput back in 2020. The actress was in the Byculla jail for 28 days on charges of procuring drugs for the late actor.

She said, I experienced a unique kind of love and resilience within those women. They found happiness in small things. They grabbed happiness when they got it. They know how to enjoy a moment, and they are some of the happiest people I have met.
State Trooper Brian North, right, sits with his defense attorney Frank Riccio in Connecticut Superior Court on the fourth day of his trial in Milford March 7, 2024. North is charged with manslaughter for shooting 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane in January 2020 in West Haven after a chase from Norwalk on Interstate 95. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media Assistant state prosecuting attorney Andrew Slitt questions a witness on the fourth day of state Trooper Brian Norths trial in Connecticut Superior Court in Milford March 7, 2024. North is charged with manslaughter for shooting 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane in January 2020 in West Haven after a chase from Norwalk on Interstate 95. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media State Trooper Brian North appears in Connecticut Superior Court on the fourth day of his trial in Milford March 7, 2024. North is charged with manslaughter for shooting 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane in January 2020 in West Haven after a chase from Norwalk on Interstate 95. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media Douglas Lacey, a private audio and visual forensic expert is sworn in as a witness on the fourth day of state Trooper Brian Norths trial in Connecticut Superior Court in Milford March 7, 2024. North is charged with manslaughter for shooting 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane in January 2020 in West Haven after a chase from Norwalk on Interstate 95. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media Defense attorney Frank Riccio cross examines a witness on the fourth day of state Trooper Brian Norths trial in Connecticut Superior Court in Milford March 7, 2024. North is charged with manslaughter for shooting 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane in January 2020 in West Haven after a chase from Norwalk on Interstate 95. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media Lead state prosecuting attorney Robert Devlin questions a witness on the fourth day of state Trooper Brian Norths trial in Connecticut Superior Court in Milford March 7, 2024. North is charged with manslaughter for shooting 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane in January 2020 in West Haven after a chase from Norwalk on Interstate 95. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media Defense attorney Frank Riccio, left, and lead state prosecuting attorney Robert Devlin stand during testimony on the fourth day of state Trooper Brian Norths trial in Connecticut Superior Court in Milford March 7, 2024. North is charged with manslaughter for shooting 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane in January 2020 in West Haven after a chase from Norwalk on Interstate 95. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media Retired state police Sgt. Thomas Kiely is sworn in as a witness on the fourth day of state Trooper Brian Norths trial in Connecticut Superior Court in Milford March 7, 2024. North is charged with manslaughter for shooting 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane in January 2020 in West Haven after a chase from Norwalk on Interstate 95. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media State Trooper Brian North, second from right, stands in Connecticut Superior Court on the fourth day of his trial in Milford March 7, 2024. North is charged with manslaughter for shooting 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane in January 2020 in West Haven after a chase from Norwalk on Interstate 95. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media Lead state prosecuting attorney Robert Devlin questions a witness on the fourth day of state Trooper Brian Norths trial in Connecticut Superior Court in Milford March 7, 2024. North is charged with manslaughter for shooting 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane in January 2020 in West Haven after a chase from Norwalk on Interstate 95. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media State Trooper Brian North, right, speaks with his defense attorney Frank Riccio in Connecticut Superior Court on the fourth day of his trial in Milford March 7, 2024. North is charged with manslaughter for shooting 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane in January 2020 in West Haven after a chase from Norwalk on Interstate 95. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media State police Sgt. Ross Dalling is sworn in as a witness on the fourth day of state Trooper Brian Norths trial in Connecticut Superior Court in Milford March 7, 2024. North is charged with manslaughter for shooting 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane in January 2020 in West Haven after a chase from Norwalk on Interstate 95. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media

MILFORD  The prosecution in the trial of Brian North, the state trooper charged with manslaughter in the 2020 shooting death of 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane on an Interstate 95 underpass in West Haven, rested its case Thursday afternoon.

Norths lawyer, Frank Riccio, will begin the defenses case Friday, but North had not announced whether he would take the stand. When asked whether North had made up his mind yet, Riccio said, That will be known tomorrow.

On Thursday, attorneys continued to examine the moments leading up to Soulemanes death through video footage and law enforcement testimony. The state's final witness was a medical examiner who testified that an autopsy determined Soulemane sustained nine gunshot wounds, three of which would have each been fatal by themselves.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The first witness called to the stand by Inspector General Robert Devlin was state police Sgt. Ross Dalling, one of the officers who surrounded the stolen Lyft driven by Soulemane on Campbell Avenue Jan. 15, 2020, after he crashed it following a pursuit.

Devlin questioned why officers didnt do more to deescalate the situation. Dalling said they couldn't.

He said the officers just relied on our training and thats what happened, Dalling said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Thats what happened? Devlin asked.

Correct, Dalling replied.

And youre pulling a dead boy out of the car then, thats what happened, Devlin said, before Riccio objected.

Youre telling me that nobody could have taken a different path on this, safer path, better path, youre saying that couldnt happen? Devlin asked again.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

No, Dalling said. I mean we could all be a Monday morning quarterback, sir, but its just not feasible in that time.

The exchange has typified the trial, where the central question is whether Norths use of deadly force against Soulemane was justified.

North, 33, is the first Connecticut law enforcement officer charged in a fatal on-duty shooting in nearly two decades. He rejected a plea offer in the case calling for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, with a right to argue for less time behind bars.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Dalling testified that Soulemane was unresponsive in the drivers seat after crashing into an SUV off Exit 43, staring straight ahead, before Robert Rappa, a West Haven police officer, used a baton to break a car window to get inside. Once the window broke, he said he saw Soulemane moving, but couldnt see how.

Dalling said as he went to the drivers side to assist North, Trooper Joshua Jackson at some point used his Taser and North fired his gun.

What was the time gap between the Taser deployment and the firing of the shots? asked Devlin.

It all happened very quickly, Dalling said. So, moments.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In his cross-examination, Riccio stressed the dangerousness of the situation, saying officers were pursuing a reported carjacking suspect and saw Soulemane driving in a reckless fashion during the Interstate 95 chase.

Devlin questioned Dalling again, asking him why officers couldnt pause to create a plan.

Its just not realistic, sir, Dalling replied.

Resuming a line of questioning he used Wednesday with other police who responded to the scene, Devlin asked why officers couldnt go into their cruisers to take cover, figure out how to safely proceed with the attempted arrest, and potentially call a supervisor. Dalling said Jackson and North communicated very well as North told Jackson to use his Taser.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

There were no other words exchanged between state troopers and West Haven police.

Retired state police Sgt. Thomas Kiely, the evening shift supervisor on the day of the shooting, was the next witness. When he heard there were shots fired, he responded to the scene and got a quick synopsis from North about what had happened, he testified.

North told Kiely that after a West Haven officer broke the Hyundai window, Soulemane showed a knife from his waistband and North fired his weapon, Kiely said.

Douglas Lacey, a certified forensic video examiner, was the third witness Thursday. He enhanced two recordings related to the incident: the footage from both Norths and Jacksons body-worn cameras.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Supervisory Assistant States Attorney Andrew Slitt, Devlins co-counsel in the case, played the footage frame-by-frame for the jury. The clips were roughly 11 seconds each.

Riccio then questioned Lacey.

We can agree that at the scene, the participants in these videos didnt have the benefit of enhancements and filters and lenses, correct? Riccio said.

Thats correct, they wouldve been observing it with their naked eye, Lacey said, and added that the human eye is more sensitive to light than camera lenses.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The states last witness was Jacqueline Nunez, an associate medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on Soulemane the day after he died.

She testified that Soulemane died from gunshot wounds to his torso and extremities, and ruled his death a homicide.

Nunez said she found nine gunshot wounds on Soulemane  four on his chest or torso and five on his arms. One of the wounds on his right arm was a graze wound.

Devlin's official report on the shooting as inspector general says North fired seven shots and he was the only shooter.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Devlin went through each gunshot wound examined in the autopsy. Nunez testified that at least three of the gunshot wounds on Soulemanes chest  two which hit his heart and another which hit his aorta  wouldve been fatal by themselves.

She also took blood samples, which tested positive for the presence of marijuana. Nunez said there were no indications of any other drugs or alcohol.

The state also called Lisa Ragaza, a forensic science examiner with the states forensic laboratorys firearms unit, who said the seven bullets recovered from the scene came from Norths gun.

Devlin, a former judge and the states first inspector general, appointed in 2021 to review all police uses of deadly force statewide, repeatedly quizzed the officers about why they didnt try to make a plan that wouldnt have resulted in Norths fatal shooting of Soulemane. He noted that Soulemanes vehicle was boxed in and heavily damaged after rear-ending an SUV.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Jackson, a fellow trooper and friend of Norths, said that wouldnt have been feasible. He said he was afraid Soulemane, who he said initially appeared unresponsive after he rear-ended an SUV but started grabbing for a knife once the window was broken, could have driven onto a sidewalk away from the scene, or lurched across the vehicle at the officers standing outside.

Devlin noted that Soulemane would have had to get out of the bucket drivers seat of the vehicle while avoiding the steering wheel, then move over the center console and the other seat of the car in order to get at the officers. He said police had been in complete control of the incident, and that their sole effort at communicating with Soulemane was Jackson yelling at him to get out of the car twice immediately after the crash.

At one point, Devlin asked Jackson whether running up to the vehicle had endangered officers safety.

Jackson replied, Correct.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In his cross-examination, Riccio walked through the incident, starting with dispatchers alerting troopers to a carjacking and that the driver had a knife.

This wasnt a plan. Did you have time to make a plan? Riccio asked.

There was no time to make a formal plan, Jackson said, noting the incident transpired over about a minute.

Prior to the pursuit, the 19-year-old Soulemane, whose family said he suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, acted erratically while armed with a knife at an AT&T store in Norwalk, then assaulted a Lyft driver before stealing his vehicle at a gas station, witnesses testified.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Devlin began the trial by calling family and friends of Soulemane to the stand who recalled the teens issues with mental illness.

Witnesses on Monday also testified about the run-up to the fatal shooting, including Soulemane acting erratically in the AT&T store before he stole the Lyft car.

On Tuesday, the Lyft driver testified that he was afraid for his life during the incident, and a Norwalk officer who responded to the scene also testified. Both of the men testified that they pulled guns during the incidents, but neither fired their weapon.

If found guilty, North would face up to 40 years in prison, five of which would be mandatory.
An independent US testing laboratory said it has found high levels of cancer-causing chemical benzene in several acne treatments from brands including Proactiv, Clearasil and Estee Lauders Clinique

Some popular acne products in the US are found to have benzene. Pixabay (Representational Image)

An independent testing laboratory in the United States says it has found the cancer-causing chemical benzene in a number of widely used acne products. High levels of the chemical were discovered in some acne treatments from brands including Proactiv, Target Corps Up & Up, and Estee Lauders Clinique, according to a Reuters report.

Advertisement

The independent laboratory, Valisure, also filed a petition with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), asking the regulator to recall these affected products, all of which contain the ingredient benzoyl peroxide.

What is benzene? What is Valisure saying? Lets take a closer look.

Whats benzene?

Benzene is a colorless liquid that is highly flammable and has a sweet odor. It is found in volcanoes, crude oil, gasoline, forest fires and cigarette smoke, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Benzene is used in the manufacturing of various industrial products, including chemicals, dyes, detergents, and some plastics.

Long-term exposure to elevated levels of the chemical can cause leukemia, a cancer of the blood cells.

The FDA states that benzene should not be used to produce drug substances, excipients, or drug products because of their unacceptable toxicity.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, inhaling just 0.4ppm of benzene heightens the risk of cancer, leading to one additional cancer case per 100,000 people, Daily Mail noted.

Advertisement

The popular acne treatments tested by Valisure contained benzoyl peroxide. Pixabay (Representational Image)

In 2022, Connecticut-based Valisure found benzene in several consumer items such as sunscreens, hand sanitisers, and dry shampoo , prompting companies, including Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson, to recall their products.

The lab reported in 2019 that the active ingredient  ranitidine  in the heartburn drug Zantac could likely form a carcinogen called NDMA, resulting in the FDA pulling the drug from the market.

Advertisement

Do popular acne products have benzene?

Valisure tested 66 acne treatment products that have benzoyl peroxide, including creams, lotions, gels and washes available over the counter or via prescription, as per a Bloomberg report.

The FDA allows up to two parts per million of benzene. However, the testing lab said it found up to nine times that amount in some products.

Advertisement

Proactivs 2.5% benzoyl peroxide cream had 1,761 parts per million of benzene, Valisures testing revealed, noted Bloomberg.

An acne treatment from Estee Lauders Clinique had 401 parts per million of the chemical. Reckitt Benckiser-owned Clearasil showed 308 parts per million of the carcinogen when exposed to high temperatures for over two weeks, the report added.

Advertisement

The harmful chemical was also found in PanOxyl, Walgreens acne soap bar, and Walmarts Equate Beauty acne cream among others, as per Reuters.

Valisure president David Light said this happens as benzoyl peroxide can decompose into benzene over time. The company said this was particularly seen when products were tested at higher temperatures.

Light told CBS News they tested the consumer items at higher temperatures as the acne medication can be exposed to heat for a long spell in many situations like sitting in a car on a sultry day or when taking a hot steam bath.

The benzene we found in sunscreens and other consumer products were impurities that came from contaminated ingredients; however, the benzene in benzoyl peroxide products is coming from the benzoyl peroxide itself, he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

In its petition to the FDA, Valisure urged the regulator to recall these products that have unacceptably high levels of benzene, launch an investigation and revise industry guidance, Reuters reported.

Reactions to the findings

Reckitt said in a statement that all Clearasil products, when used and stored as directed on their labels, are safe. It also reportedly said that the findings reflect unrealistic scenarios rather than real-world conditions.

Reckitt said all its Clearasil products are safe. Reuters (Representational Image)

Estee Lauder said Clinique uses benzoyl peroxide in one product, which is safe for use as intended, according to Reuters.

Estee Lauder and Reckitts shares fell 2 per cent respectively after the findings were made public. Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd which produces Proactiv witnessed a tumble of 2.4 per cent at the close in New York on 6 March, reported Bloomberg.

The discovery made by Valisure regarding benzoyl peroxide acne treatment products is deeply troubling and gives renewed importance to the need to empower the FDA to immediately act once we are made aware of the dangers of prescription or over-the-counter drugs, US Representative Rosa DeLauro said in a statement.

Benzoyl peroxide products saturate the current market and millions of consumers are unknowingly using a product that increases their exposure to life-threatening carcinogens, Bloomberg cited her statement as saying.

An FDA spokesperson told CBS News that the agency acts on information provided from a variety of sources, such as that provided by Valisure, but such data must be verified as accurate and reproducible before it can be utilised to make regulatory decisions such as recommending product sale suspensions and recalls.

The FDA further said it would apprise the public about benzene in drug products, as appropriate.

With inputs from agencies
The Indian Consulate in Dubai has announced a new insurance scheme  Life Protection Plan  for blue-collar workers in the UAE which will ensure compensation for their families in the event of their death due to accidents or natural causes. Heres why it is a big deal

Indian workers line up to board a bus after a day's work in Dubai, 18 November 2005. Reuters File Photo

A new life insurance plan for blue-collar Indian workers has come into effect in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 1 March. The Indian Consulate in Dubai announced the Life Protection Plan (LPP) which is aimed at providing financial support to the kin of deceased workers.

The scheme will benefit lakhs of Indian workers employed in the UAE. Heres how.

Advertisement

What does LPP entail?

The Life Protection Plan can be availed at annual premiums ranging from Dh37 (approximately Rs 834) to Dh72 (about Rs 1,623) for people aged 18 to 70 years, as per a Khaleej Times report.

If a worker dies due to an accident or natural causes, beneficiaries will get compensation of up to Dh75,000 (approx Rs 16,90,922), depending on the selected premium.

The initiative also offers a Dh12,000 (about Rs 2,70,547) coverage for the repatriation of the insured employees body, the report added.

The insurance package also covers permanent complete or partial disability due to accident.

Exhausted Indian labourers sit under a real-estate advertising poster that reads: Invest in life, in Dubai, 10 September 2005. Reuters File Photo

Annual premium and benefits

For Dh72 premium every year, the compensation is Dh75,000

For Dh50 (approximately Rs 1,127) per year, it is Dh50,000

Advertisement

For Dh37 per year, it is Dh35,000

Why was it needed?

The UAE houses 3.5 million (35 lakh) Indians, out of which 2.27 million (22.7 lakh) are blue-collar workers.

Several companies in the oil-rich UAE provide health insurance and compensation for work-related injuries and deaths, however, there is no compulsory coverage in case of employees natural death.

Advertisement

To tackle this, the Indian Consulate in Dubai facilitated a joint meeting between major companies in the UAE recruiting Indian blue-collar workers and the insurance service providers  Gargash Insurance Services LLC and Orient Insurance PJSC  to come up with an insurance plan that could cover natural and accidental deaths of the workers, according to a press release.

Advertisement

It further said that it was noticed that most companies are insuring their employees under Health Insurance and Workers Compensation [work-related injuries & deaths].

However, there is no mandatory insurance coverage for the natural death of employees, and hence the legal heirs/dependents of the deceased do not receive any compensation in cases of natural death, Gulf News reported citing the release.

Advertisement

Speaking about the insurance package, Consul General of India in Dubai Satish Sivan said, The welfare of the Indian community remains our utmost priority.

Keeping in view a large number of natural death cases of workers in a year and in order to provide some financial benefits to the family of the deceased, the Consulate-General of India, Dubai, encourages all companies to consider a subscription to the Life Protection Plan, Gulf News quoted him as saying.

Deaths of Indian workers

Last year, 1,513 Indians died in Dubai, of which 1,000 were workers. In 2022, 1,100 workers died in Dubai out of a total of 1,750 deaths, the Indian mission noted. It has been observed that in more than 90 per cent of the cases, the cause of death is natural, the press release said.

An Indian government data presented in Parliament in 2022 revealed that the most number of deaths of Indian workers were reported in member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)  Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia  between 2019 to 2021, including the pandemic years, The Hindu reported.

In 2020, as many as 2,454 Indian labourers died in the UAE, a rise from 1,751 casualties a year back. This figure increased to 2,714 in 2021.

As many as 30 million migrants from Asia and Africa are working in these six Gulf countries, of which 80 per cent are employed in low-paid sectors such as construction, hospitality and domestic work.

A concerning report by a group of human rights organisations released in 2022 found that 10,000 migrant workers from South and Southeast Asia die every year in the Gulf countries.

Over half of the deaths are unexplained and are mostly attributed to natural causes or cardiac arrest, The Guardian piece mentioned citing the report. It also stated that low-paid migrant workers in the Gulf are exposed to several health risks such as heat and humidity, air pollution, psychosocial stress, hypertension, overwork and abusive working conditions, poor occupational health and safety practices.

Long hours of manual labour in searing temperatures can result in heat stress, which can lead to organ damage, the report stated, as per The Guardian.

Around 22.7 lakh Indians are working as blue-collar workers in the UAE. AFP File Photo

Migrants are also sometimes duped by agents with the allure of making good money in Dubai in just a few years. While workers often take loans to pay agents, they hardly make the promised sums from their income as cleaners or labourers on construction sites, according to a 2017 Reuters report.

The Indian government and non-governmental groups have received a series of complaints, including non-payment of wages and abuse, from migrant workers over the years, the report noted at the time.

Ramanna Chitla, who had worked in Dubai for 16 years, told Reuters in 2017 that workers were underpaid and poorly treated there.

They dont visit doctors when they are unwell to save money, Chitla said, adding that deaths reported as ill health were many times due to an exploitative work environment.

With inputs from agencies
The Indian Navy has commissioned its second base in Lakshadweep, the INS Jatayu, on Minicoy Islands. This base will serve as the eyes and ears of the maritime force in the Indian Ocean, at a time when China is growing closer to the Maldives and exerting more muscle power in the waters

Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar presents a memento to Lakshadweep Administrator Praful Khoda Patel during the commissioning of naval base 'INS Jatayu', in Minicoy, Lakshadweep Islands. PTI

India is standing strong in protecting its borders and enhancing its reach in the neighbourhood, especially in the Indian Ocean region. And with that in mind, the Indian Navy commissioned its new base, INS Jatayu, on Lakshadweeps Minicoy island on Wednesday (6 March).

INS Jatayu will be Indias second base in Lakshadweep. The Navys first base on the islands, INS Dweeprakshak in Kavaratti, was commissioned in 2012.

Advertisement

What do we know about INS Jatayu? Why does it matter to India? What role will it play? We give you the answers to these questions and more.

All about INS Jatayu

The origins of INS Jatayu lie in the Naval Detachment Minicoy set up in the early 1980s as a small unit with limited responsibilities. This has now been expanded into an independent base that will enhance the overall operational capability of the Indian Navy.

On Wednesday, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar commissioned the second naval base in Lakshadweep at a function held in Minicoy. Lakshadweep administrator Praful Patel, Southern Naval Command Chief Vice Admiral V Srinivas and Western Naval Command Chief Vice Admiral Sanjay J Singh were present during the function.

#IndianNavy Commissions #INSJatayu at Minicoy, the southernmost island of Lakshadweep.

Another step towards Navys efforts to incrementally augment security infrastructure at the strategically important islands. pic.twitter.com/Bi3BkFia3K  SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) March 6, 2024

Advertisement

Speaking at the event, the Navy chief also explained the reason for the name  Jatayu. He said that it was named after the mythical creature in the epic Ramayana who tried to stop the abduction of Sita.

Advertisement

In the Ramayana, Jatayu was the first responder, trying to stop the abduction of Sita ji, even to the peril of his own life, exemplifying service before self. So the naming of this unit as Jatayu is an apt recognition of this spirit of providing security surveillance and selfless service, Admiral R Hari Kumar was quoted as saying.

Advertisement

The navy chief added that the information relayed by Jatayu to Lord Ram provided crucial situational awareness.

Similarly, we expect that this unit will provide situational awareness to the Indian Navy in maintaining good maritime domain awareness of the entire region. INS Baaz to the east in the Andamans and now the INS Jatayu in the west will serve as eyes and ears to the Navy to safeguard our national interest, Kumar further said.

Advertisement

Significance of INS Jatayu

As Admiral Kumar said, INS Jatayu will serve as Indias eyes and ears in the region. And how is that possible? Firstly, INS Jatayu is located just about 130 km from Thuraakunu, the northernmost island of Maldives. This will enable India to keep a better watch on the Maldives , with whom ties are strained as of now.

In fact, the Maldives has been inching closer to China, permitting for submarines and research vessels to dock there. Only last month, Chinese research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 03 carried out oceanic surveys in the outside limits of the EEZs of India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives while eventually berthing at the archipelago nation.

INS Jatayu will also add teeth to the Navy in the Indian Ocean region, at a time when it is witnessing an upsurge in maritime terror, crime, and piracy. Minicoy in Lakshadweep is centrally situated to the vital Sea Lines of Communications (SLOCs). The base will serve as a rest and replenishment base for the navy ships patrolling the region.

Indian Naval officers march past during the commissioning of naval base INS Jatayu, in Minicoy, Lakshadweep Islands. PTI

Captain DK Sharma (retired) of the Indian Navy in a BharatShakti.in report says: INS Jatayu is just sitting north of the 9-degree channel through which 90 per cent of the world trade moves in this part of the world. Just like how we developed Andaman and Nicobar 20-30 years back, the focus has shifted here because the situation demands it; because Male is getting closer to the Dragon, the Chinese things, the footprint is increasing.

Effectively, what this means is that through INS Jatayu, the Indian Navy hopes to counterbalance Chinas growing influence in the region.

A similar observation was made by Naval Officer-in-Charge (Lakshadweep) Captain Lovekesh Thakur. In a PTI report, he was quoted as saying, The island is located on traditional trade routes, it is strategically important. Because of the strategic location, specifically Minicoy, it is a place for gathering information on the shipping movement.

He added that having a base with enhanced surveillance will be of great importance to the country and also provide as a springboard for better deployment of resources.

And with INS Jatayu on the West and INS Baaz on the east in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Indias southern area around the Indian Ocean would be covered and protected.

Interestingly, the timing of the commissioning of INS Jatayu comes at the time when plans are afoot of developing a full airport, which shall be used for civilian and military purposes. According to The Print, the airstrip will cater to both fighter jets and transport aircraft. The Indian Air Force (IAF) will be the lead agency for this project.

This is crucial as Lakshadweep has only one airstrip at Agatti but that can be used only by narrow-body aircraft.

With inputs from agencies
PM Modi is in Srinagar for a days visit during which he will address thousands at the Bakshi Stadium and inaugurate a slew of development projects worth more than Rs 6,400 crores. This will be the PMs first visit to Kashmir since Article 370 was abrogated in 2019. To prevent any threats, multi-layer security cover has been deployed in the area

Its a big, big day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be travelling to Srinagar today where he will address a public meeting and unveil multiple development projects worth more than Rs 6,400 crore in Srinagar. The visit assumes even more importance as this is the prime ministers first to the region after Article 370 was abrogated five years ago.

Advertisement

Earlier, PM Modi giving an account of his visit to Srinagar wrote on X, I will be in Srinagar tomorrow, 7th March to take part in the Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir programme. Various development works will also be dedicated to the nation. Notable among them are works worth over Rs 5,000 crore relating to boosting the agro-economy. Various works linked with tourism will also be dedicated to the nation.

As the excitement builds for the PMs visit, we take a closer look at what to expect and the top-notch security arrangements to ensure security.

Modis jam-packed schedule

PM Modis day in Srinagar will begin around noon when he will land at Srinagars technical airport. From there, he will board the helicopter to Badami Bagh cantonment and head to Indian Armys 15 Corps headquarters.

Advertisement

His cavalcade will pass through city routes and reach the Bakshi Stadium, where he will address thousands of people and unveil development projects worth more than Rs 6,400 crore. According to an official statement, the PM will launch nationwide projects related to the tourism sector worth more than Rs 1,400 crore under the Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive) schemes, including a project for the integrated development of the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar.

Advertisement

In addition, Modi will also launch the Dekho Apna Desh Peoples Choice Tourist Destination Poll and the Chalo India Global Diaspora campaign as well, besides announcing tourist destinations selected under the Challenge-Based Destination Development (CBDD) scheme.

The area around Bakshi Stadium, where PM Modi will address the crowds, is draped in the flags of BJP. PTI

It is also expected that Modi will distribute appointment letters to nearly 1,000 newly-recruited government employees in Jammu and Kashmir and also interact with the beneficiaries of various central schemes, including women achievers, farmers and entrepreneurs.

Advertisement

The PM will also dedicate the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme under which 2.5 lakh farmers will be provided skill development through the Daksh Kisan portal. Under the programme, around 2,000 Kisan Khidmat Ghars will be established and robust value chains will be put in place for the welfare of the farming community.

Advertisement

Some reports have also said that Modi will also meet and condole with the families of those Jammu and Kashmir policemen, who have died recently.

Following all this, he will head back to the airport and return to the countrys capital  New Delhi.

Security measures tightened

In light of PM Modis visit, authorities have increased their vigilance and implemented a high-security posture in Kashmir, with NDTV reporting that the preparations involve the biggest security exercise in recent times.

Thousands of policemen and paramilitary troopers have been deployed across Srinagar and the area around Bakshi stadium where Modi will address the crowd has been turned into a fortress.

Security personnel check vehicles ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit, in Srinagar. PTI

Frisking of civilians and security checks of vehicles will increase today on account of PM Modis visit and check points have also been installed at various points across the city. Barricades have also been installed across the city as an effort to avoid any untoward incident. Moreover, according to a Greater Kashmir report, some of the high-rise buildings around the stadium have been taken over for surveillances purposes and sharpshooters have also been positioned.

In addition to this, the city of Srinagar has also been declared as Temporary Red Zone for the operation of drones and quadcopters. This means that no drones or quadcopters will be allowed in Srinagar.

Marine Commandos (MARCOS) patrol the Jhelum river after security was beefed up ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Kashmir valley, in Srinagar. PTI

Officials have also placed marine commandos in and around the Jhelum river and the Dal Lake.

For Modis address at Bakshi Stadium, over 1,000 buses have been pressed into service to ferry people. According to BJP workers, the address will be witnessed by two lakh people and the security measures are in place to handle such a crowd. Incidentally, the stadium only has an official seating capacity of 20,000.

Of the two lakh people expected at the grounds, many of them are government employees, who have been asked to attend, reported The Hindu earlier. The report said that 13 government departments had been told to send their employees to Bakshi Stadium.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah criticised the authorities on forcing government officials to attend the rally today. In a PTI report, he was quoted as saying, Employees, men and women in 1000s are being asked to assemble between 4:30 am and 5:30 am in the freezing temperatures to be bused to the venue. This participation isnt optional, its compulsory. Employees who dont show up are been threatened with disciplinary action by their department heads.

Examinations for school students have also been cancelled after the dates of some of the scheduled board exams coincided with the 7 March rally.

The authorities have also issued a traffic advisory, as several roads in and around Srinagar will be blocked for the PMs movement.

Security personnel stand guard outside the Bakshi stadium. The area has been turned into a fortress ahead of PM Modis important visit to Srinagar. PTI

Importance of Modis visit

Prime Minister Modis visit to Srinagar is particularly poignant. Even though he visited Jammu earlier on 20 February, this will be his first to Kashmir since Article 370 was abrogated and the regions statehood was removed. The last time Modi was in Kashmir was in 2019 where he had also taken a boat ride in Dal Lake.

But beyond the symbolism, his first visit is also expected to lay the groundwork for the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The PM will speak about how development has been brought about in the region and it is expected that he will lambast the Congress, National Conference and PDP for failing to bring prosperity to Kashmir during their long tenures.

PM Modi had last visited Kashmir in 2019. At the time, he had taken a boat ride on the Dal Lake. Image Courtesy: @narendramodi/X

Modis visit to Srinagar will also consolidate the BJPs efforts to remove the Dilli ki Doori (the distance from Delhi) and Dil Ki Doori (the distance from the heart).

Political observers will also pay close attention to Modis address at the Bakshi stadium to see if he drops any hints about holding Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Its important to note here that Jammu-Kashmir has not had an elected government since 2018. In fact, while ruling in favour of abrogation of Article 370 in December 2023, the Supreme Court had also underlined the need to hold Assembly elections in J-K before 30 September of this year.

The BJP also hopes to portray a sense of normalcy in Kashmir through the PMs visit. Ravinder Raina, the J&Ks BJP president, was quoted as telling VOANews, Modi has written the new chapter of development in J&K by opening the gates of treasure of India for the people of the region. His visit on March 7th will be remembered as a historic event.

Interestingly, Modis visit to Srinagar comes at a time when the Opposition is in disarray in the region. The National Conference has announced that it will contest all three Lok Sabha seats in the Valley, an indication that talks with its alliance partners  the Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  had failed. This move also puts a huge question mark on the future of the Peoples Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an alliance of political parties in the Valley that was formed in 2020 to fight for the restoration of J&Ks special status.

With inputs from agencies
US president Joe Biden will deliver his third and final State of the Union address before the November presidential election on Thursday (7 March). Heres where you can watch the event, and what should you expect?

The State of the Union address is a constitutional mandate that requires the President to inform Congress about the country's current situation and highlight policy goals for the coming year. File image/AP

US president Joe Biden will deliver his third and final State of the Union address before the November presidential election on Thursday (7 March).

Its crucial in many ways. First, the timing, which is a day after Super Tuesday . The speech is also scheduled amid imminent threats of a government shutdown and delays caused by the House Speaker election.

Advertisement

For the unknown, the State of the Union address is a constitutional mandate that requires the President to inform Congress about the countrys current situation and highlight policy goals for the coming year.

Biden accepted House Speaker Mike Johnsons invitation to speak at the Joint Session of Congress, expressing his excitement on X (formerly Twitter). The Hill will broadcast the event live at 9 pm EST (7.30 am local time).

But where should you watch the event, and what can you expect? Here is a closer look.

Where can you watch the speech, and how will the US Capitol look?

You can find the State of the Union on all major networks, which will be carrying it live. It will also be streamed online by the White House and The Associated Press. The speech starts at 9 pm EST.

Advertisement

You might notice a new face behind Biden when he starts his speech. Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana became the House Speaker in October after unhappy Republicans ousted Representative Kevin McCarthy of California. Representative Nancy Pelosi had the job before McCarthy but lost it when Democrats failed to keep the majority in the 2022 midterm elections.

Advertisement

That makes Johnson the third House Speaker to sit behind Biden during a State of the Union, reflecting the political instability in Washington and a challenging shift for Biden. House leadership has fallen further under the sway of the chambers right flank, making it harder for the president to cut deals with the opposing party.

Advertisement

Why should it be watched closely?

No president gets a free pass on the worlds biggest stage, but Biden will be watched more carefully than most because of his age. At 81 years old, hes the oldest commander-in-chief in history, and he would be 86 at the end of a potential second term.

Advertisement

The State of the Union is a chance for Joe Biden to dispel doubts about whether hes up for the job at an age when most Americans are retired. File image/AP

Donald Trump, Bidens Republican predecessor and likely opponent in this years election, is 77. A majority of US adults doubt either of them have the mental capabilities to serve as president, according to a new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research.

The State of the Union is a chance for Biden to dispel doubts about whether hes up for the job at an age when most Americans are retired. Any verbal slips or apparent confusion would provide fodder for his opponents.

What will be the agenda?

Keep your ears open for any new policy proposals. The State of the Union is a chance for presidents to lay out their goals and rally Americans to support their plans. For example, Biden used a previous speech to discuss his unity agenda, which included expanded healthcare benefits for veterans.

The White House hasnt disclosed specific proposals that will be in this years speech. But he could reference unfinished business from his first term, and hell likely press for military assistance for Ukraine to reinforce American leadership overseas.

Who are the special guests?

There are more than just lawmakers and top officials in the chamber for the speech. Politicians bring guests to the gallery to put a face to whatever issue they want to highlight.

The most high-profile guests are invited by the White House and are often recognised during the presidents speech. So far, the White House has disclosed only one, Kate Cox, a Texas woman who was unable to get an abortion in her home state even though her health was in danger and her foetus had a fatal condition. Democrats are eager to demonstrate how the US Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v Wade has limited reproductive rights.

Lawmakers will have their own guests too. Johnson and two New York representatives are bringing police officers whose brawl with migrants in Times Square caused a political uproar among Republicans who have blamed Biden for loose border security. Representative Elise Stefanik, another New York Republican, invited a Border Patrol officer who also serves as a union official.

What else should you keep an eye out for beside Bidens speech?

Television cameras will pan across the chamber during the State of the Union, so youll have a clear view of everyone in the audience too. This is a chance for lawmakers and guests to send a message of their own with their clothing.

US president Joe Bidens State of the Union address is crucial in many ways. First, the timing, which is shortly after Super Tuesday. Then, the speech is scheduled amid imminent threats of a government shutdown and delays caused by the House Speaker election. File image/AP

Democratic women wore white, the colour of the womens suffrage movement, during Trumps State of the Union in 2019. In 2022, some lawmakers wore blue and yellow ribbons to show their support for Ukraine. (The countrys ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, was a guest as well.)

Can we expect a protest?

You might think that everything about the State of the Union is scripted, but thats not the case. Even in a tightly controlled environment, its still possible that someone could stage an interruption. Biden has been shadowed around the country by protests over his support for Israels war in Gaza. Activists have also planned a demonstration in Lafayette Square near the White House before the speech.

In addition, Republicans have earned a reputation for interruptions. Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado heckled Biden during his State of the Union in 2022. Then in 2023, some Republicans shouted at Biden when he accused them of trying to cut Social Security and Medicare. I enjoy conversation, Biden said as he urged Congress to unite behind protecting the safety net programs.

Johnson is trying to tamp down on outbursts from his caucus. He encouraged House Republicans to show decorum during the speech, according to a person familiar with his remarks at a private meeting on Wednesday.

Protests can come in other forms too. Pelosi theatrically ripped up a copy of Trumps speech after the State of the Union in 2020.

What is the Republican response?

If youre not tired of politics when the State of the Union is over, stay tuned for more. The opposing party traditionally stages its own response to the speech. This year, Republicans chose Senator Katie Britt of Alabama. At 41 years old, shes the youngest female senator and some party leaders hope she could be a rising star.

But whatever she says, many will be waiting to see Trumps own response. In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump promised to provide LIVE, Play by Play commentary on Bidens speech. As Trump cruises toward the Republican presidential nomination, his remarks will help frame the stakes of the election.

With inputs from AP
Intense speculations of a likely alliance between Odishas ruling Biju Janata Dal and the BJP-led NDA are doing the rounds. CM Naveen Patnaiks party was a part of the NDA 15 years ago and rekindling the tie-up now is a win-win for both parties. Heres why

A formal alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Odishas ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is likely on the cards. Top leaders of both parties went into a huddle on Wednesday (6 March) to chart the course of a possible coalition.

If a deal is reached, the BJD led by Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik will return to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold after 15 years. The speculations about a coalition between the two rivals in Odisha gathered momentum after the BJD backed Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to get him elected to the Rajya Sabha in the recent elections.

Advertisement

What happened in the meetings on Wednesday? Why did BJD leave the BJP-led NDA bloc? How will the alliance help both parties ahead of crucial polls this year? Lets take a closer look.

BJD, BJP leaders hold separate meetings

Senior BJD leaders flocked to Naveen Niwas, the residence of Odisha CM Patnaik in Bhubaneswar, to deliberate on the alliance. The chief minister reportedly took feedback from his partys leaders on joining the NDA in a meeting that lasted for three and a half hours.

In the discussions, it was resolved that since by 2036, Odisha will complete 100 years of its statehood and the BJD and the Chief Minister have major milestones to be achieved by this time, therefore the BJD will do everything towards this in the greater interests of people of Odisha and the State, BJD vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra in a statement, as per The Hindu.

Advertisement

VIDEO | Here's what Biju Janata Dal vice president Debi Prasad said on the possibility of his party's alliance with BJP in Odisha.



"BJD, as a regional party under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik, is propelling Odisha to new heights. Therefore, for the betterment of the people pic.twitter.com/QOr5UjpJAg  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 6, 2024

Advertisement

BJP national president JP Nadda met the saffron party leaders from Odisha at the party headquarters in Delhi.

Former Union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram, who attended the meeting, said the Odisha BJP unit suggested fighting the elections alone. However, the central leadership would decide whether to forge an alliance or not.

Advertisement

Since the BJP is a national political party, the final decision lies with the central leadership. Whatever decision the central leadership takes, it will be binding for all. There were discussions about the alliance in the meeting, he was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

BJD leader VK Pandian, who is believed to be a close aide of CM Patnaik, also convened multiple meetings with the BJP central leaders, reported Indian Express.

Advertisement

The buzz about a likely alliance between the two parties has been going on for some time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited Odisha twice since February. Addressing public gatherings both times, he did not attack the Odisha government even though the BJP has emerged as the BJDs prime opponent in the state in recent years.

Instead, the PM referred to the Odisha CM as his mitra (friend). In his recent visit to the state this week, Modi called Patnaik a Lokpriya (popular) CM and hinted that the BJD will play a key role in the NDAs target of 400 seats in the summers Lok Sabha polls.

The Odisha CM also lauded Modi, saying, The Prime Minister has set a new direction for India. He is taking India on an accelerated drive to make it an economic powerhouse. India is now the fifth largest economy marching forward to be the number three in a few years, The Hindu reported.

When BJD tied up with BJP 15 years ago

Formed in 1997, the BJD forged an alliance with the BJP the next year. The two parties fought their first Lok Sabha polls together in 1998, winning 16 out of 21 seats in Odisha and securing 48.7 per cent combined vote share.

In the 1999 Lok Sabha polls, the BJD-BJP alliance scripted a thumping victory in Odisha bagging 19 seats, with a vote share of 57.6 per cent.

The BJP and the BJD fought the Odisha Assembly elections together for the first time in 2000, with Naveen Patnaik becoming the CM for the first time. They won 106 out of 147 seats with a 47.6 per cent vote share. Out of the 84 contested seats, Patnaiks party bagged 68, while the BJP clinched a victory on 38 out of 63 allocated seats.

The alliances success continued in 2004. In the Lok Sabha polls, they won 18 out of Odishas 21 seats, despite the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coming to power at the Centre.

In the 2004 Assembly polls held simultaneously, the combine secured 93 seats and a 44.5 per cent vote share. With the same seat-sharing formula, the BJD won 61 seats and the BJP got 32.

The alliance fell apart following the 2008 anti-Christian riots in Odisha that left 38 dead. The BJD severed ties with the BJP just ahead of the 2009 elections.

The BJP contested solo on 145 out of 147 Assembly seats in 2009 but won just six with a 15.5 per cent vote share. It could not gain even a single Lok Sabha seat from Odisha that year.

On the other hand, the BJD won 103 of the 129 contested seats, securing 38.9 per cent of the votes in the 2009 Assembly elections. It won 14 seats in the Lok Sabha polls with a vote share of 37.2 per cent.

The BJD continued to maintain its sway in Odisha even when the Modi wave took over the country in 2014. Patnaiks party won 20 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, with a 44.8 per cent vote share. The BJP could manage to secure the remaining seat, with a 21.9 per cent vote share.

In 2019, the BJPs fortunes improved in Odisha, with the party increasing its tally in both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. The saffron party won eight seats in the Lok Sabha polls, while the BJDs tally fell to 12. One seat was taken by Congress.

In the Assembly polls, the BJP emerged as the main Opposition party to the BJD, winning 23 seats and 32.8 per cent vote share. Patnaik became the Odisha CM for a record fifth time with his party claiming victory in 113 seats.

How the alliance benefits both parties

The BJP and the BJD have maintained cozy ties since 2019. Patnaiks party has supported the NDA at the Centre in crucial issues, including the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, GST, demonetisation, Delhi services bill, and so on.

The alliance favours both parties. While PM Modi is aiming to return for a third straight term at the Centre, Patnaik wants to consolidate his position as the longest-serving CM in Indias history, noted The Hindu.

A BJP-BJD alliance will benefit both parties. PTI File Photo

As per reports, the tie-up between the two parties could be announced on Thursday (7 March). According to Indian Express sources, the BJP could fight more seats in the Lok Sabha, while the BJD could contest in more than 100 of the total 147 Assembly seats.

The alliance would be a big boost for the BJP, which is seeking to return to power at the Centre in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The party aims to win 370 seats in the lower house on its own and has set a target of 400-plus for the NDA.

The alliance will be a win-win for both parties as the BJP is more concerned about returning to power at the Centre with a record margin. With the BJD seeking a sixth straight term in Odisha, a tie-up with the BJP, the main opposition party, will also ensure it a smooth victory, a senior BJD leader told Indian Express.

The alliance would also help the BJP raise NDAs tally in the Rajya Sabha where the bloc does not enjoy a majority yet. The BJD has nine MPs in the Upper House.

As the BJP has already established its political and electoral dominance in the Hindi heartland states, the leadership wants to see the party grow in the eastern and southern states too. This would be one major leap in its journey towards it, a senior party leader was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

With inputs from agencies
Hackers from Pakistan and China attempted to take down websites of the Ram Mandir, Prasar Bharati and some Uttar Pradesh infrastructure websites during the inauguration of the Ram Mandir in January. India, which blocked over 1,200 IP addresses, also used indigenous artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies to pre-empt attacks

India blocked over 1,200 IP addresses around 22 January  an overwhelming majority of them from China.

While India was witnessing the inauguration of the Ram Mandir in January, hackers from China and Pakistan were attempting to launch cyberattacks on a number of Indian websites.

India blocked over 1,200 IP addresses around 22 January  an overwhelming majority of them from China.

But what happened? How did India avert a fusillade of cyber attacks?

Advertisement

Lets take a closer look:

According to Economic Times, hackers from Pakistan and China attempted to take down websites of the Ram Mandir, Prasar Bharati and other some infrastructure websites in Uttar Pradesh.

Officials said the government was expecting attacks during the inauguration.

According to the 420.in, the Centre had deployed people from the Ministry of Home Affairs Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy), the Intelligence Bureau (IB), and CERT-In in Ayodhya.

Officials told Economic Times that Telecom Security Operation Centre (TSOC) was keeping an eye on 264 websites including Ram Temple, Prasar Bharti, UP Police, the UP airport, UP tourism and the power grid.

Around 140 IP addresses were taking aim at the Ram Temple and Prasar Bharti websites.

The government then told ISPs to block addresses from China and Pakistan on 21 January.

Advertisement

However, malicious attacks from those nations only increased.

After blocking 1,244 IP addresses, the attacks reduced, an official told the newspaper.

Advertisement

Another official also said attempts were made from inside India to attack digital infrastructure.

Before the inauguration of Ram Temple, a similar strategy was put in place to guard the digital infrastructure during the G20 summit, an official said.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) used indigenous artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies to pre-empt cyber attacks.

The DoT had also used digital data to handle crowd management, as per the newspaper.

Advertisement

According to BNN Breaking.com, attacks also originated from Pakistan, Hong Kong, and Cambodia.

Hackers from China and Pakistan were attempting to launch cyberattacks on a number of Indian websites during the Ram Mandir inauguration. PTI

The piece noted that the development is a stark reminder of the ongoing battle in the digital domain, necessitating a forward-looking approach to cybersecurity.

This pivotal moment in Indias digital security narrative marks a significant step towards understanding and combating international cyber threats. As the country continues to navigate the challenges of a digitized world, the lessons learned from the Ram Mandir inauguration cyber-attacks will undoubtedly shape its cybersecurity strategies for years to come, the piece said.

Advertisement

It said the incident highlights the need to improve digital defences as well as the need for international cooperation.

As we move forward, embracing a dynamic and comprehensive approach to cybersecurity will be crucial in safeguarding national interests in an increasingly connected world, the piece concluded.

That India witnessed a spate of cyber attacks during the Ram Mandir inauguration should hardly come as a surprise.

Over 400 million cyber threats in 2023

India in 2023 saw over 400 million cyber threats across approximately 8.5 million endpoints  averaging 761 detections per minute.

Surat (15 per cent) and Bengaluru (14 per cent) report the highest number of detections, a report in December showed.

There were 49 million behaviour-based detections, constituting 12.5 per cent of the total detections, according to the report by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) in collaboration with enterprise cybersecurity solutions provider Seqrite.

Over 50 per cent of detections are associated with removable media and network drives and nearly 25 per cent of attacks result from clicking on malicious links in emails and websites.

An average of three attacks per month per Android device were observed in 2023.

Malware stands as a significant threat with cybercrime engineering becoming increasingly intricate with diverse attack methodologies. Additionally, ransomware authors continually evolve their methodologies and employ sophisticated techniques to evade traditional signature-based detection, said Vinayak Godse, Chief Executive Officer of the Data Security Council of India.

Shockingly, fake and malicious applications hosted on the Google Play Store have been downloaded by millions of users, including SpyLoan apps, fake apps, HidAdd apps, and more, the findings showed.

Ransomware attacks evade traditional signature-based detection techniques to pose a bigger threat which is evident in the malware vs ransomware incident ratio findings, according to the report.

Cryptojacking emerged as a significant threat with over 5.28 million detections in a year.

Trojans (41 per cent) and infectors (33 per cent) contribute significantly to the attack spectrum.

The automobile industry experienced the highest number of detections, followed by the government and education sector.

Todays cyber landscape demands collaborative efforts and innovative solutions, said Vishal Salvi, CEO of Quick Heal Technologies.

The Wire in a report noted that state-sponsored cyber attacks against India saw a 278 per cent rise between 2021 and September 2023.

Services companies, including information technology (IT) firms and business process outsourcing (BPO) firms, saw the highest share of attacks.

Attacks on government agencies increased 460 per cent, while startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) saw an incredible 508 per cent increase.

The Economic Times also noted that India, which witnessed 13.7 per cent of all cyber attacks, is the most targeted country globally.

With inputs from agencies
US president Joe Biden will command all the attention as he delivers the State of the Union address in Washington, DC. The annual address has a long, interesting history that dates back to George Washington. Over the years, different presidents have put their own spin to it

President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol in 2023 in Washington, as Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy listen. Biden is set to use his State of the Union address to promote his vision for a second term. File image/AP

Washington, DC is all gearing up for what is called the biggest night in American politics. Ironically, some also call it the dullest night of the year in television. What are we talking about? Its The State of the Union, an annual address the US president delivers before a joint session of Congress.

Advertisement

This years State of the Union, which will be delivered by Joe Biden today (7 March), assumes even more significance, as the country is all set for the presidential polls to be held in November.

Ahead of the event, heres a look at some State of the Union history.

What is the State of the Union?

The US Constitutions Article II, Section 3 states: The president shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.

Though the language of the Constitution did not define time to time, President George Washington established the precedent that it would be an annual report.

Advertisement

The Capitol is seen ahead of President Joe Bidens State of the Union address, in Washington, DC. AP

Who delivered the first State of the Union address?

That honour is held by George Washington. On 8 January 1790, stood up in in Federal Hall in New York City and delivered the State of the Union in a speech, as is done today. He addressed a variety of topics including national defence, foreign policy, economics and education.

Advertisement

According to an NPR report, it was a short speech; Washington limited himself to fewer than 1,100 words and got through them all in about 10 minutes.

Does it always have to be a speech?

The short answer is no. For his first address on 8 December 1801, Thomas Jefferson sent written copies to both houses of Congress to be read by each chambers clerks. Jefferson wanted to simplify what he believed was an aristocratic imitation of the British monarchs speech from the throne, which he thought ill-suited for a republic. The practice of sending written copies to Congress continued for more than a century.

Advertisement

Woodrow Wilson later resumed the tradition of delivering the annual message in person on 8 April 1913. Hes also credited with transforming the speech from a report on executive branch activity into a blueprint for the presidents legislative agenda for the year.

When did it become known as the State of the Union address?

Advertisement

Its important to note here that it wasnt always called the State of the Union address. Initially, it was called the presidents Annual Message to Congress. It was Franklin D Roosevelt in the 1930s who use the phrase State of the Union and since then it has become a popular term.

Has the speech been affected by technology?

US president Calvin Coolidge delivered the first speech broadcast on radio in 1923. Harry Trumans address in 1947 was the first broadcast on television. Lyndon B Johnson recognised the importance of having a national audience when he moved the speech from mid-afternoon to 9 pm in 1965 to attract the largest number of TV viewers. George W Bushs 2002 speech was the first available as a live webcast on the White House website.

US president George W Bushs 2002 State of the Union address was the first to be available as a live webcast on the White House website. File image/AFP

Is there a State of the Union speech every year?

No. Recent presidents  Ronald Reagan in 1981, George HW Bush in 1989, Bill Clinton in 1993, George W Bush in 2001, Barack Obama in 2009, Trump in 2017 and Biden in 2021  did not give an official State of the Union address their first year in office. That speech would have come soon after their inaugural addresses. However, many of them still gave a major speech to Congress soon after their inauguration.

Has it always been delivered in person since Wilson resumed it?

No. Harry Truman sent his final message in print, as did Dwight Eisenhower in 1961 and Jimmy Carter in 1981. As Eisenhower recovered from a heart attack in 1956, he prepared a seven-minute, filmed summary of the message from his retreat in Key West, Florida, that was broadcast nationwide. Richard Nixon sent a printed message in 1973; his staff said an oral message would have come too soon after his second inaugural address.

Which presidents didnt deliver a State of the Union message?

William Henry Harrison, who died 32 days after his inauguration in 1841, and James A Garfield, who was assassinated in 1881 after 199 days in office.

With inputs from AP
Nikki Haleys evolution from a Donald Trump acolyte to arch rival in the late days of the Republican nominating race left her as the standard-bearer for the partys dwindling anti-Trump faction

Nikki Haley ended her bid for being the Republican presidential candidate on Wednesday, following a disappointing Super Tuesday. File image/Reuters

For months, Nikki Haley claimed that she is the only Republican candidate capable of defeating Joe Biden. But voters didnt buy it. As time passed, evidence for her argument weakened, and she failed to gain traction among Republican voters. Finally, Haley ended her bid for being the Republican presidential candidate on Wednesday, following a disappointing Super Tuesday.

Advertisement

In her brief statement after quitting, as reported by NBC News, she did not endorse Trump, saying, It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that, Haley said. At its best politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people.

However, this was not the case when she began, when the former US ambassador to the United Nations spoke fondly of working for her former boss Donald Trump.

Heres how her failed presidential campaign went from dutiful to defiant.

Dutiful beginning and defiant ending

During much of her campaign, Haley emphasised that Trump was the right president at the right time. Her initial stance positioned her as a dutiful supporter of the Trump administration.

Advertisement

But when Haley suddenly found herself in a head-to-head battle with the Republican frontrunner, who hurled a bevy of insults her way, she unleashed a torrent of attacks in return. The 77-year-old Trump, she now said, was too old and too chaotic to send back to the White House for a second four-year term.

Advertisement

Haleys evolution from a Trump acolyte to arch rival in the late days of the Republican nominating race left her as the standard-bearer for the partys dwindling anti-Trump faction.

Her defiant stand against her former boss won her the support of some independents and moderate Republican voters, along with the backing of donors who poured tens of millions of dollars into her campaign in its final months.

Advertisement

Haley, 52, never seriously challenged Trump in opinion polls. On Wednesday, she ended her campaign. She said it was likely Trump  who repeatedly belittled her candidacy  would be the Republican nominee but did not endorse him.

By the time she decided to drop out, she had been abandoned by some former allies and left with no clear political future in a party dominated by the man who now will lead its presidential ticket.

Advertisement

By the time Nikki Haley decided to drop out, she had been abandoned by some former allies and left with no clear political future in a party dominated by the man who now will lead its presidential ticket. Reuters

Even so, Haleys ascent was notable. Stuck in single digits in polls for much of the race and overshadowed by more prominent names in a crowded field, Haley, the only woman in the Republican contest, nonetheless outlasted all other candidates and was Trumps last remaining rival. Polls on hypothetical general election matchups showed her beating Democratic President Joe Biden.

She pivoted from nuance to direct assault, Chip Felkel, a veteran Republican strategist from South Carolina, said in February.

I wish she had done it sooner, he added.

Haleys political rise began in earnest in 2010, when she was elected governor of South Carolina, becoming the first woman to hold that post in the Southern state and the second person of Indian descent to serve as a US governor. She served from 2011 to 2017.

When Trump ran for president in 2016, Haley backed two of his rivals before saying she would support Trump if he became the Republican nominee, even though she was not a fan of his.

She worked for Trump for two relatively drama-free years at the UN and played a key role in withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, which was signed under Democratic President Barack Obama and had been unpopular among conservatives.

The end of the road

She initially said she would not run for president in 2024 if Trump made a bid. When she changed her mind and decided to launch her campaign in February 2023, she phoned Trump as a courtesy and he later recounted giving her his blessing.

Haley stuck to a policy-focused message on the campaign trail and tried to distinguish herself as the most capable contender on foreign policy. While almost all the Republican candidates staked out a tough position on China, Haleys unabashed support for Ukraine represented a contrast with Trump, who said the conflict was not central to US national security.

It was not until a series of combative debate performances starting in late August that she gained any real traction.

Several major donors, including hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin and Wall Street investor Stanley Druckenmiller, started looking her way, particularly as the campaign of Florida governor Ron DeSantis, once seen as Republicans best shot to move on from Trump, floundered.

In November, AFP Action, a political advocacy network backed by billionaire Charles Koch, endorsed Haley. The group deployed an army of thousands of on-the-ground door knockers and organisers and blanketed the airwaves on her behalf.

By December, Haley had surpassed DeSantis in most national polls and replaced the former governor in the No 2 spot, though Trumps massive lead was never threatened.

Republican presidential candidate and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley waves as she leaves the stage at a campaign event in South Burlington, Vermont, US. Reuters

Haley had complimented the former president as much as she criticised him during the race, so much so that she often was asked if she was angling to be his running mate  a question she called highly offensive.

But as the field narrowed from roughly a dozen major candidates to just Haley and Trump by the end of January, their attacks on each other escalated.

Trump called her a birdbrain and brain-dead, and mocked the dress she wore at her New Hampshire primary night party. He frequently referred to her, in speeches and on social media, by mispronounced and misspelled versions of her birth name, Nimarata.

At a campaign event in New Hampshire, he said Haley, the daughter of immigrants from India, was not presidential timber.

Haley returned fire, bashing Trump for spending more than $50 million (Rs 414 crore) in campaign funds on legal fees and calling him a grumpy old man.

She said he was a liar and implied he was going senile. Her campaign team called him a chicken for refusing to debate her and even put one of her staff in an inflatable chicken suit at some events to drive the point home.

Haley promised to make America normal again  a jab at Trumps Make America Great Again, or MAGA, movement.

Her refusal to bow out after losses in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire incensed the former president, who lined up support from all but one member of South Carolinas congressional delegation to try to show her lack of popularity in her home state. After she lost there, too, she soldiered on, saying that voters deserved a choice, even as she seemed to accept the race was slipping out of reach.

Haley embraced her status as an outsider in the waning days of the campaign, telling voters she didnt need the support of other elected officials.

All those congressional members around him are the same ones that havent done anything for us, she said at one campaign stop in February in South Carolina.

Trump can have em.

With inputs from Reuters
Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora has scripted history after becoming the first member of the Sikh community to take the oath as a minister in Pakistans Punjab province. The 48-year-old is a legislator from Narowal district

Born in Nankana Sahib, Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora holds a postgraduate degree in entrepreneurship and SME management from Government College University in Lahore. Image Courtesy: @SardarArora/X

Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora, a legislator from Pakistans Narowal district, scripted history on Wednesday as he became the first member of the Sikh community to take the oath as a minister in Punjab province, representing the minority in the provincial assembly.

He was sworn in as a minister in the cabinet of the newly elected Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) government led by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaf Sharif, the daughter of three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, according to News18.

Advertisement

The ceremony was held at the Governors House in Lahore.

The 48-year-old, who hails from Narowals Kartarpur, while speaking to The Indian Express, said, It is for the first time since partition in 1947 that a Sikh has been inducted in the cabinet of Punjab province. I wont just work for the safety and well-being of Sikhs but all minorities, including Hindus and Christians living in Pakistan.

Heres all we know about him.

About Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora

Born in Nankana Sahib, Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora holds a postgraduate degree in entrepreneurship and SME management from Government College University in Lahore, according to PTI.

His family has been associated with the protection and welfare of the Sikh holy sites at Kartarpur.

Advertisement

Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora took oath as a member of Member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab (Pakistan).



Arora was born in Nankana Sahib. He earned his degree from the University of Punjab, Lahore. Few days ago he was unanimously elected the president of the Pakistan Sikh pic.twitter.com/xS9pNdAhTd  Ravinder Singh Robin     (@rsrobin1) March 6, 2024

Advertisement

According to The Indian Express report, Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora revealed that during the 1947 partition, his family opted to remain in Pakistan rather than migrate to India, unlike the majority of Sikh and Hindu families. I was born in Nankana Sahib but later we moved to Narowal. My grandfather had chosen to stay back in Pakistan during the partition at the insistence of his dear friend. Just for the sake of friendship, he had chosen to stay back, he said.

Advertisement

Before entering politics, he worked for the World Banks Poverty Reduction Programme in Pakistan.

In 2008, Arora founded the Mojaz Foundation, a charity that helps Pakistans underprivileged people.

His political journey

According to Aroras profile on the Punjab Assembly website, he was elected to the provincial assembly of Punjab in 2020 for a second consecutive term, as per PTI.

Advertisement

During his first term in the Punjab legislature, which ran from 2013 to 2018, he became the first Sikh politician since 1947. During the years 201417 and 201718, Arora presided over the standing committees on investment and commerce and human rights and minorities issues, respectively.

His profile also says he was a key player in the enactment of The Punjab Sikh Anand Karaj Marriage Act 2018, which made Pakistan the first nation to implement the Sikh Marriages Registration Act.

In addition, he held positions as general secretary of the Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) from 2009 to 2013, a member of the National Commission for Minorities under the Ministry of National Harmony from 2011 to 2013, and a member of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) in the Government of Punjab.

In the recent Pakistani elections, Arora was re-elected as MPA from Narowal. He was also appointed as Ambassador at Large for the Kartarpur Corridor last year, succeeding Sardar Ameer Singh, according to to Hindustan Times.

The Kartarpur Corridor connects Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev, to the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district, India. Former PM Imran Khan inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor in November 2019 to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, facilitating Indian Sikh pilgrims visa-free visits to one of their religions holiest sites in Pakistan, as per the news agency.

His nomination as president of the PSGPC also coincided with a critical period in which initiatives were being undertaken to conserve cultural heritage places, such as Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib, and to encourage religious tourism.

According to News18, is brother-in-law, Manjit Singh Pinka, was wanted by India for the 1984 hijacking of IC 405, which ran from Srinagar to Lahore, hence, his latest appointment is not without controversy.

His goals

Its expected that Arora will be given the minority affairs post, according to the Indian Express.

In spite of the difficulties minorities in the Muslim-majority country face  such as the declining numbers of Sikhs and Hindus  Arora is upbeat about the future.

He said in a phone interview with The Indian Express that in addition to the Sikh population, he is dedicated to helping all minorities living in Pakistan, including Christians and Hindus.

In his ideal Pakistan, minorities would have equal access to basic infrastructure and opportunities.

To protect the safety and security of all minority groups, he emphasised his plans to address minority welfare, the necessity of putting laws like the Sikh Marriage Act into effect and creating an Interfaith Harmony Policy.

We will also ensure that the two per cent quota for minority students in educational institutions of Pakistan is implemented in letter and spirit, he told the newspaper.

With inputs from agencies
The Abraham A. Ribicoff Federal Building, home to the United States District Court in Hartford, Conn. The U.S. attorney's office said Boulous Hanna, a 66-year-old New London dentist, has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for evading paying $250,000 in taxes. File Photo

HARTFORD  A New London-based dentist has been sentenced to almost a year in prison for evading paying almost a quarter million dollars in taxes, officials say.

In a release on Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut's office said Boulous Hanna, a 66-year-old East Lyme resident also known as Paul, was sentenced to 10 months in prison, followed by three years of probation, in federal court on Hartford. It said Judge Omar Williams also ordered Hanna to pay a $25,000 fine in addition to his restitution obligation.

The U.S. attorney's office said Hanna is the sole owner of Paul Hanna DMD PC, a dental practice in New London. It said Hanna takes fees from dental patients in the form of personal checks, cash, and credit card payments, adding he owns the building where his dental practice is located and the practice pays rent to Hanna individually.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

For each of the 2000 through 2009 tax years, the U.S. attorney's office said, Hanna filed an individual income tax form for himself and his wife, and paid the tax due and owing for those years, typically by having withholdings during the year sufficient to cover his tax liability.

But for the 2010 through 2012 tax years, the U.S. attorney's office said, Hanna filed a tax return for himself and his wife but did not pay the tax due and owing.

As a result, the U.S. attorney's office said, from approximately April 2012 through 2017, Hanna was subject to IRS collections enforcement for the 2010 through 2012 tax years. It said that included forced collection activity, such as liens placed on property and seized payments taken by way of levy.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The U.S. attorney's office said Hanna earned approximately $1.6 million in taxable income from his work as a dentist and from rental income from 2013 to 2020. However, it said, he failed to file tax returns for any of those years, resulting in a loss to the IRS of $244,541.

In addition to failing to file personal federal income tax returns, the U.S. attorney's office said, Hanna attempted to evade the assessment of tax by paying himself management fees instead of a reasonable wage. It said he operated in cash by self-endorsing business checks to himself and cashing these checks to keep money out of his personal bank accounts, and paying personal expenses directly from his business accounts without reflecting those payments as income.
Todays joining is nice. The way they have welcomed me is overwhelmingEverybody knows corruption is to be fought, ex-judge of Calcutta High Court told media after formally joining BJP on Thursday

Days after quitting from the post of Calcutta High Court judge, Abhijit Ganguly Thursday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Ganguly was inducted into the party by West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari.

Other senior party leaders were also present at the BJP state office where Ganguly formally joined the political faction.

Advertisement

It is being speculated that Ganguly will contest Lok Sabha 2024 polls. Reports claim that the BJP will field him as their candidate for the Tamluk Lok Sabha seat from West Bengal.

Objective is to oust corrupt TMC

Soon after formally joining the BJP, Ganguly said he would work as a party soldier to dethrone the corrupt Trinamool Congress from West Bengal.

Today, I have joined a new field. I am happy to join the BJP and will work as a party soldier. Our objective is to oust the corrupt TMC regime from the state, Ganguly said.

#WATCH | Kolkata, West Bengal | Former Calcutta High Court judge Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay joins the BJP in the presence of state party chief Sukanta Majumdar, LoP Suvendu Adhikari and others. pic.twitter.com/hOPGX9p33j  ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2024

Advertisement

Joining BJP is nice

After joining the BJP, Ganguly said: Todays joining is nice. The way they have welcomed me is overwhelmingEverybody knows corruption is to be fought.

Advertisement

Speaking about the Sandeshkhali incident in which TMC strongman Sheikh Shahjahan is accused of alleged sexual atrocities on women and land grabbing in the district, Ganguly said: It is a very bad incident. The state leaders have gone there. They have been prevented from reaching there. Despite that, they have reached and stood beside the women there and BJP is taking up the cause of oppressed people in Sandeskhali.

Advertisement

#WATCH | After joining the BJP, Abhijit Gangopadhyay - former Calcutta High Court judge - says, "Today's joining is nice. The way they have welcomed me is overwhelming...Everybody knows corruption is to be fought."



On Sandeshkhali, he says, "It is a very bad incident. The state https://t.co/lNvTkAOZ9B pic.twitter.com/U17FgNDblL  ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2024

Advertisement

Two-day Math

Ganguly, hailed as an anti-crusader by many and criticised as a partisan judge by others, announced his decision to join politics on March 3.

Just two days after that, on March 5, Ganguly resigned from the post of Calcutta High Court judge and just a couple of days after, he formally joined the BJP.

Interestingly, he resigned ahead of his retirement in August this year.

BJP better than TMC

In an interview with News18, Ganguly said, the BJP is better than the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress and the Congress party.

TMC a club, Congress a family zamindar party

The TMC is obviously not a political party. They are a club. The Congress is a family zamindar party. Compared to the TMC, the Congress and BJP fare better, Ganguly said.

However, the TMC is the worst party I have ever seen, he added.

Ganguly also praised PM Modi and said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a hardworking man who is trying to pull India out of great danger. His leadership is definitely good. He is doing a lot of things.

Gangulys opinion on Mamata

Although she is a veteran politician, my opinion of her is poor, Ganguly said.

Is there any administration in Bengal? Law and order is at an all-time low. Why do political parties have to come to court for permissions for meetings? This is Bengal, which has a rich heritage. She fails in every aspect  as an administrator, leader, he added.

Gangulys switch from Bench to BJP

In an interview with India Today, Ganguly said he was approached by the BJP through some common friend and he also approached the party.

" I was on leave for seven days and at the end of the leave, BJP approached me through some common friend and I also approached the BJP through some common friends, those common friends and we talked to each other for the first time and thereafter, I decided to resign and it is a matter of three, maximum three, four days discussion, that I decided," Ganguly said.

He further said nobody can blame or accuse him of doing any adjudication with anything political in mind because before joining politics, he never sat in the courtroom for adjudication of any matter.

Ganguly judgement irked TMC

Ganguly is not a favourite of TMC for his judgments that were not in favour of the West Bengal government. In 2022, he directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teachers and non-teaching staff in government schools in the state.

In April 2023, the judge ordered the CBI to probe a suspected recruitment scam in civic bodies across Bengal. Both CBI and ED have told the Supreme Court that the two scams are related.

Mamata Banerjees nephew Abhishek Banerjee, his wife and his parents are all suspects in the school recruitment scam.

On January 8, Ganguly told the media outside court that the source of Abhisheks properties should be probed.

Ganguly joined the high court as an additional judge in 2018 and was made a permanent judge in July 2020. He was a West Bengal Civil Service officer before he quit his job around a decade ago to become a lawyer.

With inputs from agencies
In 2015, New Delhi and Tokyo had inked a historic deal to run high-speed bullet trains in India. As per a report, the Indian Railways is confident to show a green flag to Indias first bullet train by June-July 2026 in Gujarat

The first bullet train project is expected to boost connectivity, and foster economic growth in commercial cities of Mumbai, Surat and Ahmedabad. PTI File

By mid-2026, 508 km distance between Ahmedabad and Mumbai will be covered in half a time which now takes almost six hours. Wondering how? Japans bullet trains will start chugging on the stretch traversing between the two cities at speed of up to 320 kph.

India is expected to finalise a deal with Japan to procure two dozen bullet trains by the end of March.

Advertisement

To recall, in 2015, New Delhi and Tokyo had inked a historic deal to run high-speed bullet trains in India.

The bullet train project is being implemented by the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) which has recently shared a video showing progress in the rail project.

The bullet train project is expected to usher in economic growth as well as boost connectivity in commercial cities of Mumbai, Surat and Ahmedabad.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address in Rajya Sabha during the interim-Budget 2024 session, had reiterated the aim to run bullet trains in the country in the next 5 years.

1- In March, India is expected sign an agreement with Japan to procure all 24 Shinkansen or bullet trains, reported Times of India

Advertisement

2- Indian Railways is confident to show a green flag to the Indias first bullet train by June-July 2026 in Gujarat

3- The NHSRCL will tender all contracts, including those for the procurement of trains and operational systems by August 15 of the ongoing year

4- The bullet train corridor which will run between Ahmedabad and Mumbai is expected to be 508 km long and will have limited stop and all stop services

Advertisement

5- The limited stop service will reduce the time to just two hours and all stop service will take about 2 hours and 45 minutes

6- Once the train hits speeds of up to 320 kph the time between the two cities, which currently takes around 6 hours, will be reduced significantly

Advertisement

7- Progress of bullet train corridor project: It is faster in Gujarat than in Maharashtra. As per officials, in Gujarat 48.3 per cent work is completed, while in Maharashtra it is slower at about 22.5 per cent

8- Over the past year, more than 100 km of the viaduct (elevated stretch) has been completed in the corridor, and six river bridges have been built. Out of routes 20 bridges in Gujarat, seven have been constructed

Advertisement

9- A ToI report quoted a railway official saying bullet trains in Maharashtra have seen remarkable progress in recent months and they are making up for time lost because of delayed permissions by the Thackeray-led government

10- The Maharashtra government has instructed all district collectors to complete the handover of land by the end of March 2024
The marine vessel True Confidence, a bulk carrier, had reported a fire onboard after it was hit by a drone or missile. The attack had led to the death of three members on board

The Indian Navy, on Wednesday, responded to the aftermath of yet another lethal maritime incident in the Gulf of Aden. The services stealth guided-missile destroyer, INS Kolkata, rescued the crew of Barbados-flagged MV True Confidence, including one Indian national, from what could have been a harrowing fate.

The marine vessel True Confidence, a bulk carrier, had reported a fire onboard after it was hit by a drone or missile. According to a report by AFP, the attack had led to the death of three members on board.

Advertisement

The crew had also sustained critical injuries and were forced to abandon the ship. The merchant vessel was approximately 54 nautical miles (nm) southwest of Aden.

INS Kolkata, which is deployed in the region for Maritime Security Operations, arrived at the location around 4:45 pm and managed to rescue 21 members, including one Indian national. The Indian Navy provided immediate medical aid to the crew. They were then evacuated to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.

The rescue operation involved the use of an integral helicopter and boats.

The spokesperson of the Indian Navy shared a dramatic video of the ordeal on social media.

#IndianNavy's swift response to Maritime Incident in #GulfofAden.



Barbados Flagged Bulk Carrier MV #TrueConfidence reported on fire after a drone/missile hit on #06Mar, approx 54 nm South West of Aden, resulting in critical injuries to crew, forcing them to abandon ship. pic.twitter.com/FZQRBeGcKp  SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) March 7, 2024

Advertisement

Indian Presence In Gulf Of Aden

Ships operating in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea have seen multiple attacks by the Yemen-based Houthi terrorists since November last year. The Houthis campaign is intended to signal solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

Advertisement

Indias response to this development in the economically and strategically valuable region has been swift. Ajay Bhatt, the Minister of State for Defence, had told the Lok Sabha last month that in light of the maritime security situation in the region, Indian Navy units are being deployed off the Gulf of Aden, Djibouti, in the North and Central Arabian Sea, and off East Coast of Somalia.

Advertisement

Heres a look at recent rescue operations that the Navy has carried out in the past couple of months.

Rescuing Drone-hit Vessels

On March 4, the Liberian-flagged MV MSC Sky II, positioned roughly 90 Nm southeast of Aden was reported on fire due to a drone/missile attack.

INS Kolkata responded to the incident, with a specialised firefighting team of 12 personnel assisting in the firefighting efforts. Specialist explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team also embarked on the vessel and provided assistance in residual risk assessment, the Navy spokesperson highlighted.

Advertisement

#IndianNavy swiftly responds to a Maritime Incident in #GulfofAden



Liberian-flagged MV #MSCSkyII transiting approximately 90 Nm South East of Aden was reported on fire due to drone/ missile attack PM 04 Mar.

#INSKolkata, mission deployed in the region for maritime security pic.twitter.com/AG15Krocjr  SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) March 5, 2024

One of the Indian Navys destroyers provided critical EOD and medical assistance to the Palau-flagged MV Islander on February 22. The vessel had likely been attacked by a drone/missile and had caught fire. Indian Naval EOD specialists embarked on the MV, sanitised it for residual risk and cleared it for onward transit.

The service also provided medical assistance provided to injured crew members.

#IndianNavy's Mission Deployed Destroyer provides critical EOD & medical assistance to MV in distress.



Palau Flagged MV Islander caught fire after an attack by likely drone/ missile #22Feb 24.

Responding swiftly to the distress call, #IndianNavy's destroyer on pic.twitter.com/TLxc6CbqOn  SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) February 24, 2024

The Indian Navys guided-missile destroyer, INS Visakhapatnam, came to the assistance of British oil tanker MV Marlin Luanda after the ship was attacked by Houthis on the night of Jan 26. The distressed merchant vessel had 22 Indian and 1 Bangladeshi crew onboard.

#IndianNavy's Guided missile destroyer, #INSVisakhapatnam, deployed in the #GulfofAden responded to a distress call from MV #MarlinLuanda on the night of #26Jan 24.

The fire fighting efforts onboard the distressed Merchant Vessel is being augmented by the NBCD team along with pic.twitter.com/meocASF2Lo  SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) January 27, 2024

Dealing With Piracy Pinches

Apart from responding to the aftermath of drone strikes and missile hits, the Indian Navy has also dealt with piracy situations.

In January, INS Sumitra responded to a distress message regarding the hijacking of an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel (FV) Iman. Pirates had boarded the vessel and taken the crew hostage.

The Indian warship, which has been deployed on anti-piracy operations on the East Coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, intercepted the vessel and coerced the pirates to safely release crew along with the boat.

Swift response by #IndianNavy's Mission Deployed warship ensures safe release of hijacked vessel & crew.#INSSumitra, on #AntiPiracy ops along East coast of #Somalia & #GulfofAden, responded to a distress message regarding hijacking of an Iranian flagged Fishing Vessel (FV) pic.twitter.com/AQTkcTJvQo  SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) January 29, 2024

The Indian Navy has reiterated its commitment to the safety and security of merchant shipping and seafarers.
In his maiden Jammu visit after August 2019, PM Modi is expected to announce development schemes and address the thousands of people at Bakshi Stadium

PM Modi is expected to address public at Srinagar's Bakshi Stadium today. Heavy security and a 'Temporary Red Zone' has been declared in Srinagar. PTI File

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has touch down in Jammu and Kashmir, his first visit after the nullification of Article 370 in August 2019.

Ahead of the Prime Ministers visit, the Bharatiya Janata Partys Jammu and Kashmir unit has released a host of video posts showing enthusiasm among people of the valley.

The party also released a less-than-a-minute clip showing PM Modis earlier address where he spoke about abrogation of Article 370.

Advertisement

Article 370 is now history. Films about it will provide accurate insights, aiding in the understanding of significant history pic.twitter.com/H6omsVc3Nx  BJP Jammu & Kashmir (@BJP4JnK) March 7, 2024

Here are 10 points why PM Modis Jammu visit is important

1- PM Modis visit to Jammu holds a special significance as it is his first trip since the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019

Advertisement

2- The Prime Ministers Jammu visit is also keenly watched as it comes ahead of the Lok Sabha 2024 elections

3- Opposition parties are also hoping for a possible announcement of Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir. Last year, the Supreme Court had directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to conduct polls to the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir by September 2024. The Union Territory is without any elected government since June 19, 2018 when BJP withdrew support to Mehbooba Mufti-led government. The ECI is set to hold a comprehensive security review with the home ministry on March 8-9 to assess whether assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) can be held alongside the Lok Sabha polls

Advertisement

4- Immense enthusiasm is seen among people of Jammu and Kashmir as thousands of people flock to the Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar, the venue of PM Modis rally on Thursday

5- Jammu and Kashmir has turned into a fortress ahead of PM Modis visit to the valley. Srinagar has been declared as Temporary Red Zone and flying of drones and quadcopters has been temporarily banned in the city

Advertisement

6- In his maiden Jammu visit after August 2019, PM Modi will inaugurate 43 schemes, including the Dekho Apna Desh Peoples Choice Tourist Destination Poll, the Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign, and the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme that aims to train 2.5 lakh farmers

7- To help improve the overall experience of tourists and pilgrims visiting prominent pilgrimage and tourism sites nationwide, PM Modi will dedicate to the nation and launch multiple initiatives under the Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD schemes worth more than Rs 1,400 crore.

Advertisement

8- Initiatives worth nearly Rs 5,000 crore to foster agro-economy in the Union Territory are expected to be announced under programme Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir by the Prime Minister

9- PM Modi will also distribute nearly 1,000 appointment letters to newly-recruited government employees in Jammu and Kashmir and also interact with the beneficiaries of various central schemes, including women achievers, farmers and entrepreneurs

10- Ahead of PM Modis visit, BJPs Jammu and Kashmir spokesperson Altaf Thakur said, Besides developmental projects, there is every possibility that he (PM Modi) will convey some good news to people of Kashmir.
The news from Pakistan is interesting. Not Shehbaz Sharifs return as prime minister. Thats just another contrived leaf in the countrys electoral history with a rather more than usual dose of blatant interference. What is news is that Indian authorities seized a consignment of dual-use items abroad a Malta-flagged vehicle originating from China and destined for Pakistan. It seems the iron brother remains steadfast in the area of nuclear assistance, even while its interest flags in commercial enterprises.

Advertisement

Indian intel makes a grab

The report is rather limited. All that Customs authorities in Mumbai are willing to say is that two advanced Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines manufactured by GKD, Italy and bound for the port of Karachi were seized by Indian customs at Mumbai Port. The consignment was shipped on 9 January on a merchant vessel CMA CGM Attila, a Malta-flagged vessel from Shekou Port in China, and was heading to Karachi Port with Cosmos Engineering being the consignee. Not that this was stated in the original bill of lading. That mentioned the consigner as Shanghai JXE Global Logistics Co Ltd and the consignee as Pakistan Wings Pvt Ltd of Sialkot turned out to be false. The real consignee was Cosmos Engineering which is involved in manufacturing a range of items but describes itself as a sourcing and procurement agency also. It has been in the eye of interest in the past, when it tried to acquire thermo-electric instruments from an Italian firm, and which was also seized.

There are many more such instances, nearly all involving China. Most recently, this was apparent in October 2023 when the US announced sanctions on three Chinese companies for missile proliferation to Pakistan. What is interesting is the areas that are seeing Chinese assistance. These include razing materials, which are used to join components in ballistic missile rocket engines and in the production of combustion chambers. Beijing Luo Luo Technology Development Co Ltd supplied mandrels and other machinery for use in solidpropellant rocket motors. Another Chinese company supplied Dglass glass fibre, quartz fabric, and high silica cloth, all of which have applications in missile systems. In other words, core and dual-use equipment for Pakistans missile effort, all of which has been going on at least since the 1990s. Its interesting that the US sanction list doesnt mention Pakistani entities at all. This information would have been known, certainly to Indian intel, at least in part. How many other shipments have passed without detection is unknown, given that such stray seizures are likely to be the tip of the iceberg. The question arises why the US doesnt call out Pakistani entities involved in such transactions.

Advertisement

The US and its allies have long been partnering against nuclear and missile proliferation, with the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) launched in 2003, and with some 111 countries endorsing the move which is a non-treaty based voluntary effort to interdict and share information on any proliferation activities. Sri Lanka is a participant. India is not. Delhi stayed away from the PSI given the years of efforts to stop Indias own independent efforts at building a minimum nuclear deterrent. In 2016 however, India joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) which also allows it access to sensitive technologies and makes it part of the non-proliferation effort.

Advertisement

India is also part of the Wassenaar Arrangement, which is a node for curbing industrial technology for proliferation, which is chaired last year. China is not a member of either, but claims to adhere to its guidelines. Clearly, it does not. US Congressional publications detail Chinese proliferation activities to Pakistan and others, including Beijings supply of civil nuclear reactors in Chashma, which is disallowed under the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to which China is a signatory. Beijing argues this is covered under an original treaty which predates its entry into NSG. Members however explicitly did not agree with this interpretation. Yet, no one objected to the signing last year for the construction of Chashma 5 by China and Pakistan.

Advertisement

In the past, so-called legitimate imports for its civilian nuclear reactors, often concealed parts for its nuclear weapons program. Despite all this, the position now is that the parts are being supplied not by the Chinese government, but by entities in China. That would be reasonably understandable in a democracy. Under Beijings ever-increasing control, any such transhipment is impossible. Yet Beijing enjoys access to technologies of all kinds, and it is only recently that some controls have been instituted. Pakistan in effect, therefore has access to all tech available to China.

Advertisement

Those missile tests are expensive

Now consider another set of issues. Pakistan tested the Ababeel Medium Range ballistic missile (MRBM) in October 2023, which is assessed as aspiring to launch MIRVs (multiple independently targeted re-entry vehicles) an elite technology club that was so far limited to five countries including China, and perhaps India.

In October 2023 it tested the Ghauri MRBM for its readiness. In December it tested the Fatah -2 which is alleged to be a 400 km missile. And in March it inducted some 12 JF-17s for its airborne nuclear-capable fleet. All that takes a lot of money. Estimates for North Korea is broadly $3 million for a short-range missile to $10 million for a long-range missile. While North Korea has been castigated for starving its people to fund its nuclear programme. Pakistan to do it justice, may not have the same indifference, but its debt and liabilities spiralled 27.2 per cent to reach Rs 81.194 trillion end of December 2023, over the same period of the previous fiscal year.

That means either that already scarce funds are being diverted to this area, or that it is receiving help from some outside source. That source has so far been only China (and to a lesser extent North Korea). It seems at the minimum, that while Beijing is now drawing back from further funding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, it has no qualms about sustaining a hugely expensive nuclear and missile programme.

In sum, the recent seizures underline how much China uses Pakistan for its own ends, mostly to the latters detriment, which includes the huge debt that Islamabad is reeling under. More dangerous however is the nuclear and missile link which Pakistan wrongly sees as Iron brothers generosity. It is not. When it comes to the push, China will demand that Pakistan use its nuclear and missile inventory to at the very least present a two-front threat. That would be extremely unwise, given not just the muscular approach to such threats by the present government, but that it doesnt serve its own core interests.

India-China skirmishes will continue. But both will steer clear of outright war. The US and others will use the situation for their own ends, as they have so far. In simple words, the bigger countries will continue on their usual well-trodden path. Pakistan on the other hand will teeter again on the edge. Islamabad has so far wisely refrained from such adventurism. It may not have that luxury in future.

The writer is a Distinguished Fellow at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi. She tweets @kartha_tara. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_s views_.
To understand Israels perspective better in a war that is raging on in the Middle East and polarizing global opinions, blurring the line between right and wrong, and fanning culture wars across continents, I engaged Dr Max Abrahms, one of the worlds leading experts on terrorism, and a professor of political science and public policy at Northeastern University, in a free-wheeling conversation recently in New Delhi. Dr Abrahms, who has held various affiliations with Stanford, Princeton, Harvard Universities at different times, believes that the nature of the war between Israel and Hamas, the terrorist organization, will soon undergo a transformation. The following are excerpts from the interview that has been reproduced in full.

Advertisement

Are you surprised by the reaction to Israels response, which was inevitable given the magnitude of what happened on 7 October? Surely, a terrorist attack on such a scale couldnt have gone unanswered?

Ive been extremely surprised by the reaction. I want to focus on the reaction in so-called Western countries, specifically in the United States, but also Canada, Australia, western European countries like France and the UK.

I want to compare the response to Operation Al-Aqsa flood  the Hamas terrorist rampage on October 7th to the 9/11 attacks. After 9/11, the American public came together. It was a time of consensus, an understanding that terrorism was bad and that we needed to counter the terrorists. Now a lot of that went wrong because of especially the Iraq war and some overreactions also in terms of the Patriot Act and clamping down on civil liberties that exceeded the objective threat facing Americans. However, the spirit of it was to counter these people who nobody could negotiate with, and they were committed to killing as many civilians as possible.

Advertisement

It was a time of tremendous patriotism in the US. Streets were painted red, white and blue. Flag companies couldnt keep up with demand. And I compare that to what weve seen since October 7th, and Im frankly appalled.

The former consensus that terrorism was bad has shattered. And now what you see commonly Im not talking about errant cases. These are not anomalous cases but a standard response in American cities has been for large mobs of people in the thousands screaming for not just an intifada, but a global intifada, and the difference is substantial.

Advertisement

They are not only calling for Palestinians to rise up against Israelis, they are calling for uprisings, lawlessness and yes, violence in the West, against civilians, especially against Jewish civilians. And so probably the number one slogan that you see at these events is for a global intifada, even more so than Free Palestine and From the River to the Sea These two slogans are not objectionable to me because those are expressions of political preferences. Somebody in the US wants Palestine to be free from the river to the sea. Thats a political preference, and that is constitutionally protected.

Advertisement

However, what is not constitutionally protected is inciting imminent lawlessness against American citizens locally, and we see that many, many, many, times a week in the US. We see in Toronto, in Montreal, weve seen it in Melbourne, in London, in Paris, and many, many other Western cities To the point where it actually feels as if 2024 has rekindled the pogrom against Jews. They no longer feel safe.

Advertisement

And this is not just due to their own misperceptions or history of victimization. The police forces say that they are not actually safe. The police officers in various cities have to evacuate synagogues, they have to amass in huge numbers to protect local Jewish populations and the police themselves are very frequently the target of this lawlessness and violence.

So, the difference between the post-9/11 response and the response that weve seen to the Hamas attack could hardly be starker. Al Qaeda was very unpopular in the West, but the same is not true of Hamas. Its not uncommon at all to see terrorist flags at these events. Hamas flags or the leaders of Hamas being held up on posters Ive seen Hezbollah flags. Ive seen jihadist flags like black flags that were used not exclusively, but also by the Islamic State. There seems to be a reluctance to clamp down, to crack down on overt supports for terrorism, including in the US, and its shocking and highly problematic.

Would you put it down to weak leadership from Western leaders?

I think one of the main causes is that the target of the attack was Jews. I think that there is a willingness to stand aside when Jews are targets. I think that a very common problem is that people do not make a distinction between the actions of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Jewish civilians living in the diaspora so Jewish civilians are blamed for every Gazan and who gets killed in the Israeli counterterrorism response.

This creates a very dangerous environment conducive to terrorism. Ill also say that the Palestinian movement has been very savvy about broadening its appeal, especially in the US, but throughout the West Making themselves very popular on the far Left. Very popular among progressives. The same is true of the Houthis, who have now become a big progressive cause, even though neither Hamas nor the Houthis supports many of the main issues that progressives claim to care about  like womens rights or free speech.

The Palestinian movement, in particular, has managed to broaden by attracting other minorities, including blacks, in the US and many other minorities. Its very sad to me (because) American Jews were at the forefront of the Civil Rights movement in the US and in the West. Jews, for decades, put their necks out there and actually voted against their own interests, in many cases to help minorities.

But there are relatively very few Jewish rallies because its dangerous to do so. And at the Jewish rallies, theyre limited almost entirely to Jews, and so Jews have not gotten the kind of reciprocity you would expect given the enormous role that they have played in the progressive movement and for the benefit of literally every kind of minority living in the West.

Instead, these people have all flocked to the side which wants to harm the Jews.

Anti-Semitism was blamed on Hitler, and rightly so. But the anti-Semitism that we are witnessing right now in different parts of the world, what would that be blamed on?

Anti-Semitism today comes from many different sources. If I were to divide them up analytically, I would say that there are still anti-Semites on the far Right, but increasingly we see anti-Semitism on the Left and the Left also includes in practice, Islamists. Today the bigger anti-Semitism problem facing many countries, including the US, is from the Left. There are some very bad anti-Semites on the far Right, but there arent nearly the number of them as you see on the Left, the thousands and thousands of people chanting for a global intifada against Jews come from the Left.

While Biden has been backing Israel, hes facing a lot of pushback from his own party. A section of the Democrats is against him, and many have warned him that in the upcoming presidential elections, the Democrats are going to face a problem from some of their core voters, the Arab Americans, for instance. How do you see this playing out? Is the new generation misunderstanding the extent to which Jews are being persecuted?

Theres a very common view among Jews themselves that the reason why theres anti-Semitism is because theres some kind of a misunderstanding. Many Jewish organisations which are well-intended believe that the key to reducing anti-Semitism is with Holocaust history, but does anti-Semitism generally come from ignorance? It comes from hatred.

Many of the strongest anti-Semites, the most disgusting anti-Semites, are actually quite interested in Holocaust history. They spend their own time reading about it. They know more about the Holocaust than most people. It in no way reduces their anti-Semitic impulse.

Youre quite right that the Democratic Party is quite interesting now with respect to its position both towards Jews and towards Israel. I have been impressed by the Biden administrations response to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood Biden has done a number of things which I applaud him for. He has consistently recognized the October 7 attack as a terrorist attack, he has recognized Israels right and obligation to respond to the terrorists. He deployed military assets to the eastern Mediterranean which may well have been the factor that deterred the head of Hezbollah (Hassan) Nasrallah from opening up a legitimate second front against northern Israel.

Biden has been forthcoming with weapons for Israels counterterrorism mission in Gaza and he has also been a supporter of Israel diplomatically, especially at the United Nations in terms of vetoing anti-Israel resolutions that didnt end up passing.

Even the Hamas leadership has expressed surprise at how much the Biden administration has gotten Israels back. However, Bidens stance has not gained him much support in the US for two main reasons. The first is that his views are more pro-Israel than most Democrats, and in fact the global intifada movement is made-up of progressives who are a major part of the Democratic Party, especially among American youth, so they call President Biden genocide Joe.

Theyre extremely upset with Biden His pro-Israel stance may well cost him reelection. Support for Israel will hurt Biden especially in Michigan, where as a percentage of the state there are a large number of Arabs and Muslims. They definitely do not share his views about Israel.

I also know a number of people who are in the foreign policy field like I am. And they too, are unhappy with Biden, but for opposite reasons. They think that Biden has essentially been too soft, and the softness that they see pertains to Qatar and also Iran  major state sponsors of terrorism. And they would like to see And theyve been calling for this for many, many years For a stronger American response especially against Iran.

These are the kinds of people you know who opposed the Iran nuclear deal. They supported maximum pressure against Iran to derail the nuclear deal, and they see the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, and all of its groups launching attacks against Americans A large one in Jordan about a month ago Attacks in Iraq and Syria They see Iranian ties to, obviously, Hezbollah, but also Hamas, and the Hawks do not believe that the US can respond in a piecemeal fashion against the radical tentacles. They believe that the fight needs to be taken to Tehran. So, although Biden has been very pro-Israel, especially considering where large portions of his party stand, he hasnt benefited politically.

Let me push you on this. Biden is a cold warrior. He is of a certain age. But you do not have to be of Bidens age to understand that Israel is the wronged party here. They are the ones who received an unprovoked attack on civilians. Women have been raped, children have been butchered. So why would a large part of the youth in Western societies Democracies in the West supporting the Islamists cause? What ideological position is driving this? Why is the distinction between right and wrong getting blurred?

Many people in the West deny outright what Hamas did. Theres a lot of disinformation to try to minimize the barbarism that was carried out on October 7th. But the bigger problem is that many people in the West think that Israel deserved it. That the Palestinians are occupied and so any kind of resistance is justified under such a political environment. And my argument against that would be that certain atrocities are never justified under any circumstance. Committing mass sexual violence against civilians, taking babies hostages, torturing families, going house to house in kibbutz Slaughtering families is unacceptable under any political arrangement.

Furthermore, Hamas does not support a two-state solution. And although it is true that the current government in Israel also does not support a two-state solution it has to be understood that there was a time when Israelis  the majority of them according to credible polls  did support a two-state solution in the early days of the Oslo peace process (Oslo Accords) in 1993 and 1994.

You could look at the data and you could see that the majority of Israelis were on board with making major territorial concessions to the Palestinians, leading to a viable, contiguous Palestinian state. But under Yasser Arafat, the terrorist violence didnt subside, and in fact increased as Oslo went on and erupted even further during the second intifada.

It was in that political climate that the peaceniks in Israel increasingly became a minority. Benjamin Netanyahu has risen to power and has moved to the political right because the Israeli public moved to the Right in response to the terrorist attacks.

I personally would like to see more effort to reform the Palestinian leadership, such that a leader  who currently does not exist  who has some kind of mandate over the entirety of the Palestinian population Someone the Israelis could genuinely work with in order to move towards a two-state solution.

At the current time, there is no Palestinian leader like that. Mahmoud Abbas is not the man for this job. He is too old Hes too weak and hes too disrespected among the Palestinians But I am quite sure that if there were a Palestinian leader to emerge in the way that Im describing, there would be a partner in Israel for more serious discussions about a two-state solution.

What do you think is going to be the endgame? The pressure on Israel is increasing and Netanyahu has said that hes going to go ahead with the Rafah offensive. So how do you think this is going to pan out?

Thats your toughest question. My understanding is that kinetic operations at the rate that weve seen in Gaza are not going to continue indefinitely. I mean To put a number on it, I would imagine that the war in Gaza is very different within three months time.

There is an understanding within Israel that the Rafah operation in southern Gaza needs to happen. That Hamas is hiding out there in large numbers. And its also believed that many of the hostages are located there as well. I believe that the Rafah operation is almost definitely going to happen even though theres so much opposition to it internationally, and even within the Biden administration (where) its quite controversial.

There are 1.4 million civilians I believe that have fled in very tight quarters into that area. Israel is going to need to evacuate the civilians in order to properly take on Hamas. So, Im hoping for the maximum number of Hamas deaths with the minimum amount of harm to the local population.

I believe that after this mission is done, that Israel will transition It will continue to engage in selective strikes from the air, maybe some special operations forces on the ground to go after high-value targets, but we wont see the samekind of military response that weve seen.

I think that Israel does not actually want to oversee Gaza. For many, many years, even before the beginning of the Oslo peace process in 1993, there was a discussion called Gaza First. Your readers can look it up Israel has been trying to disentangle itself from Gaza for decades. Theres very little appetite or interest in occupying Gaza. Thats also a common misunderstanding that what Israel wants to do is expand its territory and take Gaza. Its not true.

What Israel wants is a peaceful Gaza. There are no Jews living in Gaza So, Gaza, whether theres a state or not, is Palestinian. Already Israel is taking a number of actions which suggest that it will be withdrawing but also very mindful of the continued security threat out of Gaza.

Gaza is now bisected. It is literally cut in half by a huge road thats going to be used to ensure that Gaza is not again used as the kind of terrorist safe haven which enabled Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. Also, within Gaza itself, theres essentially a security buffer A major wall area being built up to push militants further away from Israel.

So, I think that Israel will have a diminished role in Gaza, but obviously keep its eye on it for the required military responses. Itll be interesting how much buy-in there is from other countries in terms of the Gaza reconstruction. There needs to be an enormous amount of reconstruction in Gaza. How much of a role will the Saudis play? How much of a role will the will the UAE play? How supportive will Egypt be? These are unresolved questions.

The war could also change in a very different way. Thus far, it has primarily involved Gaza, but I would not rule out a second front opening up by Hezbollah, that seems less likely now than it did before, because there have been so many opportunities for it to open up But make no mistake, Israels northern border remains a tinderbox.

And there is growing consideration among the important decision-makers in Israel about actually engaging in what political scientists would call a preventative war, or sometimes its called a preventive war The basic idea of a preventive war is that you believe that war with your adversary is inevitable in that time only hurts you, and so given those two considerations, it can incentivize going to war now over going to war at a time which would be more propitious for your adversary.

There is a sense among some Israelis that the iron is hot now and that theres a lot of support in Israel for military operations given the atrocity it recently faced at the hands of Hamas. So, it is possible that the next stage in this war will be in Lebanon and in northern Israel, more so than in Gaza.

There are 20 per cent of Israelis sometimes called Arab-Israelis or Muslim-Israelis, and they have been very quiet. They havent unleashed an intifada within pre-1967 Israeli borders. But theres no guarantee that pre-1967 Israel will remain quiet in that area. Ramadan is approaching on March 10th. The government in Israel sometimes does things which exacerbate relations and could even be provocative. So, I wouldnt rule out the possibility either of a more standard intifada opening up during Ramadan, especially if Israel goes ahead with the Rafah mission.

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
As Mozambique grapples with the ongoing insurgency orchestrated by Al-Shabaab, the plight of its people worsens by the day

Mozambique, a country nestled in southeastern Africa, is grappling with a multifaceted crisis that has drawn global attention. The focal point of this crisis lies in the northern provinces, particularly Cabo Delgado, where a terrorist insurgency spearheaded by a group known as Al-Shabaab has wreaked havoc. Despite Mozambiques rich natural resources, including significant reserves of natural gas, the insurgency poses a severe impediment to the nations development and stability.

Advertisement

Emergence of Al-Shabaab in Mozambique

In recent years, Al-Shabaab, a group distinct from its namesake in Somalia but with ties to the Islamic State, has intensified its activities in Mozambiques Cabo Delgado province. Initially, the region was considered safe, but relentless attacks by the insurgent group have shattered this perception. The violence has forced over 100,000 people to flee their homes, with reports indicating that almost 60 per cent of these displaced individuals are children.

The atrocities committed by Al-Shabaab have resulted in a dire humanitarian situation. Testimonies from survivors paint a grim picture of the terror inflicted upon innocent civilians. Villages are being attacked, homes destroyed, and lives lost. The situation is particularly dire in Chiure district, where residents have been terrorised by armed assailants, leading to mass displacement and untold suffering.

Advertisement

Mass displacement and child abduction

The sounds of gunshots woke us up. They began to chase people. We watched as they cut off the mens heads with machetes, and we ran away with the little we had. Those terrorists are evil, said Josefina Gabriele, a displaced person from Chiure district, Cabo Delgado province. Look how groups of men arrived with firearms and machetes and came to burn the cars. We were terrified, and on February 20, we fled here. Weve been here for a week and have not eaten almost anything. All of us who have come here are suffering! said Mendes Luciano, another displaced person from Chiure district, Cabo Delgado province.

Advertisement

The scale of displacement is staggering, with tens of thousands seeking refuge in makeshift camps or fleeing to neighbouring towns like Namapa. Among the displaced, children are disproportionately affected, with over 61,500 rendered homeless due to the surge in terror attacks. Worse still, reports suggest that numerous children have gone missing, raising fears that they may have been abducted by the terrorists. Al-Shabaabs notorious use of child soldiers, some as young as 12 years old, exacerbates these concerns.

Advertisement

Government response and international assistance

Despite the escalating crisis, Mozambiques government has been criticised for downplaying the severity of the threat posed by Al-Shabaab. Refusal to declare a state of emergency raises questions about the governments commitment to addressing the crisis effectively. Moreover, the reluctance to alarm international investors, particularly in the energy sector, has led to apprehensions about prioritizing economic interests over human security.

Advertisement

In response to the insurgency, Mozambique has sought assistance from international partners. An international force comprising troops from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community has been deployed to combat the insurgency. However, with the missions impending conclusion, Mozambique is exploring alternative defense partnerships. Notably, Algeria has pledged support, although the specifics of this aid remain undisclosed.

As Mozambique grapples with the ongoing insurgency orchestrated by Al-Shabaab, the plight of its people worsens by the day. Without decisive action and robust international support, the suffering endured by innocent civilians will persist, while the perpetrators of terror continue to operate with impunity. The urgency of the situation demands coordinated efforts to quell the insurgency and restore peace and stability to Mozambiques embattled regions.

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
As humanity ventures further into the cosmos, nuclear energy emerges as both a beacon of progress and a harbinger of peril

Will there be a lunar nuclear plant soon? AP

In the realm of scientific endeavours, sometimes reality appears to mimic the wildest imaginations. Picture this: a nuclear power plant on the moon. It sounds like a plotline ripped from a James Bond movie, but its a proposal being seriously entertained by Russia and China.

Why the Moon?

In 2021, Russia and China inked an agreement to construct a lunar research stationa base on the moon. However, such installations demand substantial energy resources to operate efficiently.

Advertisement

Solar power limitations

Solar energy, seemingly the most obvious choice, falters due to the prolonged lunar nights, which can last up to 14 days, rendering solar panels ineffective during these periods.

Thus, the proposal for a nuclear power plant emerges as a viable alternative. The allure lies in its ability to provide uninterrupted power throughout the lunar cycle.

The plan unfolds

The timeline set by the head of Russias space agency aims for the installation and delivery of the plant by 2035. But how feasible is such a venture? While the technical aspects seem manageable, such as deploying the reactor with robots, a crucial challenge remains unresolved: cooling the reactor.

Advertisement

Cooling conundrum

Nuclear reactors demand copious amounts of water for cooling, a resource-scarce on the moon. Until a solution is found, the dream of a nuclear-powered lunar colony remains just thata dream.

The concept of utilising nuclear energy in space isnt entirely novel. In 1969, during the Apollo 12 mission, astronauts deployed a nuclear generator on the moon, showcasing the viability of nuclear power beyond Earths atmosphere.

Advertisement

NASAs vision

Echoing Russia and Chinas ambition, NASA too harbours plans for a sustained lunar presence, including a nuclear reactor to power their proposed long-term lunar base. In 2022, NASA awarded contracts to private companies to design lunar reactors. These reactors must meet stringent criteria, balancing weight constraints with power output requirements.

Advertisement

Nuclear energys promise and peril

While nuclear power holds promise for advancing space exploration, it also introduces significant risks. The potential fallout of a failed lunar nuclear mission, akin to Russias Luna 25 mishap, underscores the need for caution.

Moreover, the militarisation of space looms as a pertinent concern, with allegations of nations seeking to weaponise nuclear technology beyond Earths atmosphere.

Advertisement

As humanity ventures further into the cosmos, nuclear energy emerges as both a beacon of progress and a harbinger of peril. While it may unlock unprecedented opportunities for space exploration, it demands careful navigation to avoid catastrophic consequences. Thus, the pursuit of nuclear power on the moon symbolises not just a technological ambition but a moral imperative to safeguard our cosmic endeavours.

In essence, as we reach for the stars, we must ensure that our ascent is marked not by hubris but by wisdom and foresight.

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
The Iranian quest for a Sudanese base and the escalating tensions in the Red Sea region reflect the intricate interplay of geopolitical interests and regional dynamics

Reports recently surfaced suggesting Irans interest in establishing a base in Sudan. However, Sudans government declined the proposal sparking questions regarding the relationship between the two nations and the broader geopolitical implications.

Irans strategic move

Irans interest in a Sudanese base stems from its desire to secure access to the Red Sea, a crucial maritime route. Being situated on the opposite side of the Persian Gulf, Iran lacks direct access to this strategic waterway. With regional rivals such as Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt already having access, Iran views establishing a base in Sudan as a means to counterbalance their influence and assert its presence in the region.

Advertisement

Sudans rejection

Despite Irans offer, Sudans government rejected the proposal. This decision was influenced by Sudans strategic alignment with the West, particularly evident since the military coup in 2019 that ousted Islamist dictator Omar al-Bashir. The new regime sought to repair relations with Western powers as evidenced by Sudans recognition of Israel in the context of the Abraham Accords. Aligning with Iran would jeopardise these diplomatic gains and potentially lead to backlash from Western nations.

Sudans internal dynamics further complicate its foreign policy decisions. The country is embroiled in a civil war between the military and paramilitary forces. The governments need for weapons to combat rebels creates an opportunity for Iran to exploit offering support in exchange for strategic concessions.

The Houthi factor

The Red Sea region faces escalating tensions due to maritime threats posed by Yemens Houthi rebels. Recent attacks on commercial ships and undersea fibre optic cables highlight the vulnerabilities of this vital maritime route. Disruptions to undersea cables can have far-reaching consequences, affecting global internet connectivity and disrupting international trade.

Advertisement

The Houthi rebels tactics including attacks on ships and demands for permits to navigate the Red Sea raise concerns about their intentions. While initially framed as efforts to deter Israel and address conflicts in Gaza, their actions suggest a broader agenda driven by financial gains and strategic leverage.

Triumphing over the oppressed Palestinian people and in retaliation for the American-British aggression against our country. The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a targeting operation against an Israeli ship MSC SKY in the Arabian Sea with several suitable naval missiles, and the hit was accurate and direct, said Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea.

Advertisement

The refusal of Sudan to accommodate Irans interests coupled with escalating tensions in the Red Sea underscores the complexities of regional geopolitics. The possibility of Sudans regime shifting alliances and the Houthis evolving strategies pose significant challenges for global powers seeking to maintain stability and security in the region.

The Iranian quest for a Sudanese base and the escalating tensions in the Red Sea region reflect the intricate interplay of geopolitical interests and regional dynamics. As various actors manoeuvre for influence, the stakes remain high, with implications extending far beyond the immediate vicinity. Navigating these challenges requires a nuanced understanding of the evolving geopolitical landscape and proactive efforts to mitigate potential conflicts and disruptions.

Advertisement

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
The relationship between America and TikTok is fraught with tension and uncertainty with the fate of the platform hanging in the balance as lawmakers grapple with complex geopolitical considerations and domestic concerns

TikTok, the social media sensation that has taken the world by storm, has found itself embroiled in a love-hate relationship with America. While the American populace embraces the platform with open arms, American politicians, on the other hand, have their reservations.

Americans love TikTok

TikTok has become a cultural phenomenon in the United States, captivating millions with its short-form videos and viral trends. It boasts a massive user base, with an estimated 150 million users in the country, making the US its largest market by user count.

Advertisement

However, despite TikToks popularity among the masses, American lawmakers have expressed concerns regarding the platforms ties to China and its parent company, ByteDance. This unease has led to repeated attempts by politicians to impose restrictions on TikToks operations in the United States.

Attempted ban

Once again, the spectre of a ban looms over TikTok as 19 lawmakers have introduced a bill aimed at forcing ByteDance to divest its ownership of the platform or face a US ban. This bipartisan effort underscores the gravity of the situation and the bipartisan backing for such measures.

The bill, if passed, would give ByteDance 165 days to sell TikToks US operations, effectively severing ties between the platform and its Chinese parent company. This move aims to address concerns about potential influence from the Chinese government, given ByteDances headquarters in Beijing.

TikToks Chinese connections

TikToks association with China has been a source of contention, particularly with reports of the Chinese government acquiring a stake in ByteDance. Despite assurances from TikTok that this arrangement only affects its operations in China, lawmakers remain wary of potential implications for its global operations.

Advertisement

Failure to comply with the proposed law would result in TikTok being blocked from all app stores and internet platforms in the United States, effectively cutting off access to its American user base. This threat highlights the seriousness of the situation and the potential ramifications for TikToks future in the country.

Advertisement

Conflicting stances

The conflicting stances on TikTok within the American government reflect the complexity of the issue. While some politicians advocate for a ban citing national security concerns, others, including President Joe Biden, have joined the platform for election campaigning, showcasing a lack of consensus on how to address the issue.

Previous attempts to ban TikTok in the United States have been met with resistance and ultimately failed to materialize into concrete action. Whether America will succeed in regulating TikTok this time remains uncertain, but one thing is clear  the battle between TikTok and American lawmakers is far from over.

Advertisement

The relationship between America and TikTok is fraught with tension and uncertainty with the fate of the platform hanging in the balance as lawmakers grapple with complex geopolitical considerations and domestic concerns.

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
Holy Trinity Catholic Academy in Shelton, Conn. on Thursday, July 30, 2020. The school is opening on August 31 for in person instruction five days a week. Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media

SHELTON  Holy Trinity Catholic Academy is accepting 4-year-olds into its 2024-25 kindergarten class, according to the private institutions head of school.

As a private institution, HTCA is not subsidized by state funds, meaning it is not forced to abide by the new state law which changed the cutoff date for children to enter kindergarten from Jan. 1 to Sept. 1. The law requires that all students must be 5 years old to start school for the 2024-25 school year.

We are putting the word out that we are not abiding by the new state law, said Head of School Lisa Lanni, adding that the school will accept those 4-year-olds who are 5 by Dec. 31. Our acceptance process has not changed.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The Shelton school district is in compliance with the new state law, according to Superintendent Ken Saranich, and a section for incoming kindergarten parents has been created on the district's website. The page contains all necessary information about kindergarten admission and a link to the assessment needed to be completed if the child's age and birth date fall outside the new state law.

Saranich said the district has received 67 requests for waivers through mid-February. Saranich said the parent must fill out the assessment, which then goes to the principal at the school at which the child would attend. A decision will then be made concerning the child's status.

The state legislature voted last spring to change the cutoff, a move which drew backlash from some parents and advocates, charging that many families would take a financial hit now that they would have to pay for an extra year of pre-K or childcare.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Supporters of the new law stated that the new cutoff date was more in line with that of other states and would make life easier for kindergarten teachers, who would now have students who are older and more mature.

Lanni said allowing 4-year-olds into kindergarten would allow for a seamless transition for about 13 students in the academys pre-K program.

We have a vibrant and strong pre-K program ... we would not want them to do another year and not move forward, Lanni said. They are more than ready for kindergarten.

Since HTCA is outside the public school system, Lanni said no parent needs to obtain a waiver  as is required in public school districts like Shelton  for a child born before the newly established cutoff date. The school also provides busing for students.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Lanni said the academy presently has one kindergarten classroom with 18 students, a teacher and teachers aide. If kindergarten registrations rise above her preferred class size for this age group, she said the academy can add classrooms.
In the ever-evolving landscape of international relations, the United States government recently shifted its strategy concerning sanctions on Zimbabwe, opting for a more precise and targeted approach. This departure from the previous method of widespread sanctions marks a significant change in how global powers address issues of corruption and political repression in foreign nations.

Advertisement

Zimbabwe faces US sanctions for long

For years, Zimbabwe has been a focal point of US sanctions due to allegations of corruption, political oppression and human rights violations within the ruling ZANU-PF party. The country, led by figures like former president Robert Mugabe and his successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, has faced economic and political turmoil amid accusations of autocratic behaviour.

The recent adjustments to US sanctions reflect a departure from the conventional blanket measures employed in the past. Instead of imposing broad restrictions that often affected ordinary citizens, the US has now opted for a more targeted approach. The latest round of sanctions, announced by the US Treasury Department, focuses specifically on key individuals and entities within the Zimbabwean government and business sphere.

Advertisement

Emmerson Mnangagwa under sanctions

President Mnangagwa, who succeeded Mugabe after a coup in 2017, finds himself among the primary targets of the new sanctions. Accused of facilitating corruption and political repression, Mnangagwa is alleged to have been involved in activities such as protecting gold and diamond smugglers and misappropriating state assets. The sanctions also extend to other high-ranking officials, including vice presidents and the defence minister, implicated in similar offences.

Advertisement

However, what sets this iteration of sanctions apart is its precision. Unlike previous measures that cast a wide net, the current sanctions specifically target just 11 individuals and three companies directly involved in perpetuating corruption and repression. This tailored approach aims to spare ordinary Zimbabweans from the brunt of economic hardship while still holding accountable those responsible for systemic abuses.

Advertisement

The decision to refine the sanctions framework reflects a broader shift in US foreign policy towards Zimbabwe. Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury, Wally Adeyemo, emphasized that the sanctions are not intended to harm the people of Zimbabwe but rather to target those perpetuating injustice and corruption. This clarification seeks to distinguish between punitive measures aimed at the ruling elite and support for the broader population.

Advertisement

The changes we are making today are intended to make clear what has always been true: our sanctions are not intended to target the people of Zimbabwe," said Adeyemo.

Unsurprisingly, Zimbabwes government has framed the sanctions revision as a victory, albeit with reservations. While President Mnangagwa and his wife remain under sanctions, officials see the reduction in the number of targeted entities as a validation of their foreign policy stance. However, they express discontent that sanctions still affect the First Family, linking their removal to the broader lifting of sanctions on the nation.

Despite these reservations, the adjusted approach to sanctions represents a step towards a more nuanced and effective foreign policy strategy. By focusing on individuals directly involved in corruption and repression, the US aims to alleviate the burden on ordinary Zimbabweans while still holding accountable those responsible for systemic injustices. This shift signals a departure from the ineffective blanket measures of the past and a move towards targeted precision in addressing global issues of concern. As the international community observes these developments, the hope is that this new approach will pave the way for more constructive engagement and positive outcomes in the future.

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
Two days after Hamas launched a horrific attack on Israel, on 7 October 2023, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his televised address announced five goals for his government and the IDF, which included among others destruction of Hamas.

Destruction of Hamas is a military task which the IDF is pursuing in conjunction with other security agencies. The task requires the IDF to capture and kill Hamas political and military leadership and as many members as possible, destroy the groups command and control capability and degrade its logistical capability and Gaza Metro. Implicit in the tasks is securing the release of hostages and restoring deterrence against any further attack on Israel.

Advertisement

Like most other modern militaries, the IDF too has struggled to find an answer to how to deal with a terrorist organisation which has the support of its people and external agencies. Ever since Operation Accountability and Operation Grapes of Wrath against Hezbollah in the 1990s the IDF operations have followed a predictable pattern, barring few exceptions  the IDF operations commence with air force strikes killing a few terrorist leaders followed by a ground offensive when the group is still unbalanced, largely using standoff weapon systems. However, the terrorist groups recover soon and fight back.

The IDF finds it difficult to keep the pressure and a negotiated settlement is sought, with international support, to terminate the war. Thereafter, Israel enjoys a limited period of peace before the next round of violence starts. The Israeli military doctrine is heavily biased in favour of the overwhelming use of air power and precision strikes, which the terrorist groups can counter by concealing fighters and resources, minimising electronic signatures, and using the Gaza Metro. The Israeli strategy euphemistically called the  mowing the grass  strategy could never find a permanent solution to the raids by Hamas and other terrorist groups.

Advertisement

To counter the predictability in operations, almost a decade ago, the IDF had conceptualised a plan involving large-scale ground manoeuvre and capturing the three largest cities in Gaza - Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah  in two weeks. For some reason, the plans were shelved and never implemented.

During the tenure of Gadi Eisenkot, 21st Chief of Staff of the IDF, a plan codenamed, Operation Lightning Strike was also developed to overcome some of the challenges to ground manoeuvre. This was attempted in May 2021 with partial success, hence could not be repeated after the 7 October attack.

Advertisement

In the wake of the 7 October attack, the IDF had no plans for operations in the depth area, once the ground offensive began and had to hurriedly make one from scratch. On 20 October 2023, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced IDFs three-phase plan  air and ground campaign to destroy Hamas and its infrastructure, followed by low-intensity operations to destroy pockets of resistance and finally the creation of a new security regime and withdrawal of IDF.

Advertisement

The IDF conducted air campaigns and standoff attacks before initiating ground operations on 27 October. By then the element of surprise was lost and the Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters had dispersed among the population and prepared defences. The ground offensive has been launched in three successive phases, starting with capturing, and clearing Gaza City on 27 October, followed by operations in Khan Yunis at the end of December 2023. The IDF is yet to commence ground operations in Rafah  a far cry from the plan of a decade ago which mandated simultaneous operations in the three cities to terminate within two weeks.

Advertisement

Within 48 hours of the attack on 7 October, Israel was able to mobilise 350,000 reservists, and in the initial days of operations, there were five divisions, consisting of around 10,000 to 20,000 soldiers each operating in the Gaza Strip. In the first three months, the tempo of operations was fierce, which is reflected in the casualties suffered by Palestinians and infrastructure destroyed. After that, the operational momentum reduced and by February 2023, the last of the reserve units were withdrawn from Gaza and only two divisions - the 98th and 162nd  are still operating with reduced strength.

Four and a half months after Israel launched its ground offensive, the IDF has very few successes to show for all its efforts. By the second week of February 2024, as per the US assessment , the IDF had killed 30 per cent of Hamas fighters, out of the initial estimate of 25,000 to 30,000 fighters. During the same period, the support for Hamas has tripled among Palestinians which may have resulted in many joining or at least tacitly supporting the actions of the group.

The IDF is operating with a reduced number of formations and strength, resulting in its diminishing control over the Gaza Strip, as evidenced by a resurgence in Hamas activities. Reportedly Hamas fighters, police and bureaucrats are reasserting their authority even in the areas controlled by the IDF.

The IDF has neutralised a large number of lower-level military leaders of Hamas, but the top rung, including Yahya Sinwar has eluded the IDF. Hamas is reportedly working on contingency plans in case the IDF neutralises Sinwar. In any case, terrorist groups are known to survive the loss of their leaders and members. It is quite likely that even if Israel destroys Hamass military wing, the idea of Hamas may survive. It has also been empirically established only 7 per cent of terrorist groups have been terminated using military means.

The Netanyahu government needs to rethink its political and military objective of destroying Hamas.

The author is a Research Fellow at MP-IDSA. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
Apples denial of Epics application could prompt scrutiny of its compliance with the DMA. This development follows Apples recent adjustments to its app distribution policies in response to feedback, aiming to align with the DMAs requirements

Apples denial of Epic's application could prompt scrutiny of its compliance with the DMA. This development follows Apples recent adjustments to its app distribution policies in response to feedback, aiming to align with the DMA's requirements

Apple has barred Epic Games from acquiring a developer account intended for launching a new app store on iPhones in Europe. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney views this action as retaliation for Epics antitrust actions, lawsuit against Apple, and critiques of Apples App Store policies, as reported by CNBC.

The conflict stems from a disagreement since 2020 regarding Apples 30 per cent commission fees, resulting in a lawsuit from Epic and subsequent policy adjustments by Apple. Amid this dispute, Apple defended its rejection of Epics application for a developer account, citing Epics past contractual violations and ongoing legal disputes.

Advertisement

This clash occurs against the backdrop of the European Unions Digital Markets Act (DMA), a new antitrust law aiming to promote competition by allowing third-party app stores. Sweeney criticized Apples refusal to grant Epic a developer account, interpreting it as a demand for loyalty and silence on public critique.

Apples denial of the application, the first known instance of such, could prompt scrutiny of its compliance with the DMA. This development follows Apples recent adjustments to its app distribution policies in response to feedback, aiming to align with the DMAs requirements.

The dispute comes as EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager emphasizes the DMAs focus on app stores, prioritizing fair access for smaller app stores to operating systems.

Epics challenge to Apple coincides with concerns about tepid demand for iPhones in China, as Apple faces a 12% stock decline this year. Regulatory and competitor efforts to establish rival marketplaces on Apples devices pose a significant threat to its profits and control over its ecosystem.

Advertisement

European lawmakers are enforcing third-party marketplaces on Apples devices through the DMA, while Brussels antitrust regulators recently fined Apple 1.84 billion for impeding competition from music streaming rivals via App Store restrictions, marking Apples first penalty for breaching EU rules.

Apple blocked Epics efforts to leverage the DMA on Wednesday, citing past breaches of contract in their ongoing legal dispute.

Advertisement

(With inputs from agencies)
The fire at Teslas German factory has already cost Elon Musk $1 billion in damages. This figure is only set to grow as the factory will remain shut for a number of days. Tesla makes at least a thousand cars every day at the factory

The fire at Tesla's German factory has already cost Elon Musk $1 billion in damages. This figure is only set to grow as the factory will remain shut for a number of days. Tesla makes at least a thousand cars every day at the factory

A team of environmental extremists identifying themselves as the Volcano Group caused a power outage at Teslas German factory on Tuesday by committing arson.

The fire caused some serious damage to portions of Teslas Gigafactory, to the tune of $1 billion. This is in addition to the loss that Elon Musks Tesla will have to put up with because of the factory shutting down and production being halted for a couple of days.

Advertisement

Over 60,000 residents in Brandenburg and parts of Berlin were affected when a high-voltage power mast near Teslas Grunheide factory was set on fire, raising concerns about safeguarding critical infrastructure from vandalism and sabotage.

The group, in a statement to the media, claimed responsibility for the act, referring to Teslas CEO Elon Musk as misery Musk, and stating that the destruction of the Gigafactory and the removal of technofascists like Musk were steps toward liberation from the patriarchy.

The factorys senior director, Andre Thierig, estimated Teslas economic losses from the production stoppage to be in the high hundreds of millions of euros, as approximately 1,000 vehicles per day cannot be manufactured. The Grunheide factory, Teslas first in Europe, produces the Model Y crossover for various European markets, including Germany.

Advertisement

Emergency power still relies on the local substation, which was disconnected from the grid due to the attack, causing backup systems to fail. With ventilation in Grunheide knocked out, all 12,500 employees were sent home, and repairs could take several days.

The Volcano Group, described by Musk as the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth, remains elusive. Their sporadic attacks target remote locations, damaging vital infrastructure such as telecommunication networks, trains, and manufacturing plants.

Advertisement

The Federal Association for the Protection of Critical Infrastructures in Germany emphasizes the need for enhanced security measures, suggesting the use of drones for monitoring.

This incident is not the first time the Volcano Group has targeted Teslas factory. In May 2021, during the plants construction phase, they disrupted the power supply. Brandenburgs industries minister, Jorg Steinbach, expressed solidarity with Tesla and vowed to prevent further attacks.

Advertisement

The attack adds to Teslas challenges in Europe. Local opposition to the factorys expansion and environmental concerns have been raised, and reports of water pollution have surfaced. Additionally, earlier this year, production was halted due to disruptions in the supply chain caused by attacks in the Red Sea.

Despite the setback, the halt in production may help reduce unsold inventory levels in Europe, potentially mitigating the need for further price incentives.

Advertisement

(With inputs from agencies)
Worldcoin, the eye-scanning global cryptoproject by Sam Altman has hit yet another hurdle, with Spain issuing an order to stop its operations. Worldcoins operations involved scanning a users and collecting their biometric data, something which several countries feel is extremely unsafe

Worldcoin, the eye-scanning global cryptoproject by Sam Altman has hit yet another hurdle, with Spain issuing an order to stop its operations. Worldcoin's operations involved scanning a user's and collecting their biometric data, something which several countries feel is extremely unsafe

Sam Altmans cryptocurrency project, Worldcoin faced a massive setback earlier this week as Spain took steps to block the eye-scanning crypto over fears of the depth and breadth of data that it would collect.

Sam Altmans cryptocurrency initiative has been embroiled in several controversies across th world, due to its plans to gather users personal data using an eyeball-scanning device known as the orb.

Advertisement

The Spanish data protection regulator, AEPD, has issued an order for Worldcoin to immediately cease the collection of personal information within the country and to stop using any data it has already acquired.

The AEPD is expected to announce this precautionary measure soon. It will also be granting Worldcoin a 72-hour window to demonstrate compliance with the order, as per a report by The Financial Times.

Last year, the AEPD raised concerns regarding the involvement of minors in the technology, prompting Worldcoin to implement new age verification procedures. Worldcoin, founded by Altman in 2019, incentivizes individuals globally with tokens of its own cryptocurrency in exchange for consenting to undergo eye scans by the orb.

These scans serve as a means of identification, aimed at establishing a reliable method of distinguishing between humans and machines, particularly as artificial intelligence advancements continue.

Advertisement

The decision by the Spanish regulator represents another setback for Altman, alongside Worldcoin co-founders Max Novendstern and Alex Blania, who have faced challenges in various parts of the world. Last summer, startup, headquartered in San Francisco and Berlin, opted against launching its crypto tokens in the United States due to the countrys stringent crackdown on the digital assets sector.

Advertisement

Worldcoins token remains unavailable in some of the biggest crypto markets in the world, including China and India. Other countries, like Kenya, have ordered the project to cease operations last year.

Additionally, the UKs Information Commissioners Office has announced its intention to investigate Worldcoin. While some jurisdictions have questioned the feasibility of the Worldcoin token, Spains recent crackdown specifically targets the startups primary objective of establishing a means to verify customers personhood  a crucial endeavor, according to Altman, in a world where distinguishing sophisticated AI from humans poses challenges.

Advertisement

Amid mounting scrutiny, Altman expressed his willingness to the possibility of Worldcoin existing without its native cryptocurrency. According to sources familiar with the matter, Worldcoin has amassed 4 million users, with approximately $250 million in investments from notable backers, including venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Khosla Ventures, internet entrepreneur Reid Hoffman, and, prior to the collapse of his FTX venture, Sam Bankman-Fried.

Advertisement

The projects visibility has sparked media interest and led to a handful of consumer complaints in Spain, particularly as queues formed at Worldcoin stands in shopping centres offering cryptocurrency in exchange for eye scans.

In January, the data protection authority in the Basque country issued a warning regarding the eye-scanning technology employed by Worldcoin at a mall in Bilbao, asserting that it falls under biometric data protection regulations and necessitates a risk assessment.
Linwei Ding, a former software engineer at Google, allegedly stole over 500 unique files of confidential information from Google and sold it to a Chinese company. Ding took up a job as a CTO in a China-based tech company, while he was still working for Google, at one of their US campus

Linwei Ding, a former software engineer at Google, allegedly stole over 500 unique files of confidential information from Google and sold it to a Chinese company. Ding took up a job as a CTO in a China-based tech company, while he was still working for Google, at one of their US campus

The Justice Department revealed on Wednesday that a former software engineer at Google, Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, has been indicted for allegedly stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets from the company. Ding, a Chinese national, was apprehended in Newark, California, and faces four counts of federal trade secret theft, with each count carrying a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Advertisement

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the charges during an American Bar Association conference in San Francisco, emphasizing the ongoing concerns regarding Chinese economic espionage and the national security risks associated with advancements in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

FBI Director Christopher Wray underscored the severity of the situation, stating, Todays charges are the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the Peoples Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation. Wray emphasized the detrimental impact of such theft on American jobs and its significant economic and national security repercussions.

Google stated that it had identified the employees theft of numerous documents and promptly reported the matter to law enforcement authorities.

According to Google spokesman Jose Castaneda, the company has stringent measures in place to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of its confidential commercial information and trade secrets. Castaneda emphasized that following an investigation, it was determined that the employee had illicitly obtained multiple documents, prompting Google to swiftly involve law enforcement agencies. He expressed gratitude to the FBI for its assistance in safeguarding Googles information and affirmed the companys commitment to ongoing collaboration with law enforcement.

Advertisement

In the competitive landscape of high technology, artificial intelligence serves as a primary arena for rivals, with significant implications for both commercial success and security.

The indictment unveiled on Wednesday in the Northern District of California alleges that Linwei Ding, employed by Google since 2019 and entrusted with access to sensitive information regarding the companys supercomputing data centres, initiated the unauthorized transfer of hundreds of files to a personal Google Cloud account two years ago.

Advertisement

According to prosecutors, shortly after the onset of the theft, Linwei Ding was offered the position of chief technology officer at a fledgling technology company in China. This company highlighted its use of AI technology and enticed Ding with a monthly salary of approximately $14,800, along with an annual bonus and company stock.

Advertisement

The indictment outlines that Ding travelled to China, engaged in investor meetings for the company, and endeavoured to secure capital for its operations. Additionally, he established and assumed the role of chief executive officer at another startup based in China, focused on training large AI models utilizing supercomputing chips.

Notably, Ding did not disclose his involvement with these Chinese companies to Google, which revealed that he was a junior employee during the investigation. Ding resigned from Google on December 26th.

Advertisement

Shortly after his departure, Google officials discovered that Ding had presented himself as the CEO of one of the Chinese companies at an investor conference in Beijing just three days later. Furthermore, surveillance footage revealed that another employee had been scanning Dings access badge at Googles US facility to create the appearance that Ding was present in the office, while he was actually in China.

Upon uncovering these discrepancies, Google suspended Dings network access, locked his laptop remotely, and began going through his network activity history. Subsequently, in January, the FBI executed a search warrant at Dings residence, seizing his electronic devices. Another warrant was issued to obtain the contents of Dings personal accounts, revealing over 500 unique files of confidential information allegedly stolen from Google.

(With inputs from agencies)
Just like Googles Gemini AI image creator, Microsofts Copilot, which is powered by OpenAIs ChatGPT is also capable of preparing some very problematic, but very convincing fake images. A whistleblower sent letters to US regulators and Microsofts board to warn them of this issue

A Microsoft engineer has raised concerns about offensive and harmful images produced by the companys artificial intelligence image-generator tool. Shane Jones, who considers himself a whistleblower, has sent letters to US regulators and Microsofts board of directors, urging them to take action, as per a report by the Associated Press.

Jones recently met with US Senate staffers to discuss his concerns and sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which confirmed receipt but declined further comment.

Advertisement

Microsoft stated its commitment to addressing employee concerns and appreciated Jones efforts in testing the technology. However, it recommended using internal reporting channels to investigate and address the issues.

Jones, a principal software engineering lead, has spent three months trying to address safety concerns about Microsofts Copilot Designer. He highlighted the risk of the tool generating harmful content despite benign prompts. For example, when prompted with car accident, Copilot Designer may include inappropriate, sexually objectified images of women.

Jones emphasized to FTC Chair Lina Khan that Copilot Designer poses significant risks by generating harmful content despite innocent user requests. For instance, when prompted with car accident, it sometimes includes sexually objectified images of women. He also highlighted other concerning content like violence, political bias, underage drinking and drug use, copyright infringement, conspiracy theories, and religious imagery.

Advertisement

Jones has previously raised these concerns publicly. Initially advised by Microsoft to approach OpenAI, he took his findings to them. In December, he posted a letter on LinkedIn addressed to OpenAI, which led to Microsofts legal team demanding its deletion. Despite this, Jones has persisted, bringing his concerns to the US Senates Commerce Committee and the Washington State Attorney Generals office.

Advertisement

Jones highlighted that while the main issue lies with OpenAIs DALL-E model, users of OpenAIs ChatGPT for AI image generation are less likely to encounter harmful outputs due to different protective measures implemented by the two companies.

Many of the concerns with Copilot Designer are already managed by ChatGPTs built-in safeguards, he conveyed via text.

Advertisement

The emergence of impressive AI image generators in 2022, including OpenAIs DALL-E 2 and the subsequent release of ChatGPT, generated significant public interest, prompting tech giants like Microsoft and Google to develop their own versions.

However, without robust safeguards, the technology carries risks, enabling users to create harmful deepfake images depicting political figures, war scenes, or nonconsensual nudity, falsely attributing them to real individuals.

Advertisement

In response to concerns, Google temporarily suspended the Gemini chatbots image generation feature, particularly due to controversies surrounding depictions of race and ethnicity, such as placing people of color in Nazi-era military attire.

(With inputs from agencies)
A school in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, has introduced, Indias first AI teacher robot. Created by Maker Labs and based on generative AI, the robot is called Iris. Capable of teaching subjects from nursery to Class 12, Iris currently communicates in English, Hindi, and Malayalam

A school in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, has introduced, India's first AI teacher robot. Created by Maker Labs and based on generative AI technology, the robot is called Iris. Capable of teaching subjects from nursery to Class 12, Iris currently communicates in English, Hindi, and Malayalam

In a groundbreaking move that might revolutionise Indian education, a school in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, has introduced, the countrys first AI teacher robot. Created by Maker Labs and based on generative AI technology, the robot is called Iris.

Announcing the milestone on Instagram, Maker Labs stated, Breaking boundaries in education: Introducing IRIS, Indias first AI teacher robot based on generative AI. The company expressed its vision to transform education by leveraging AI to create personalized learning experiences. With Iris, educators can deliver engaging and effective lessons tailored to each students needs and preferences like never before.

Advertisement

In a video shared on social media, the robot is unveiled on stage at KTCT Higher Secondary School in Kerala, showcasing interactions with students inside the classroom. Iris was inaugurated by Dr K Rajeev, Director of the Space Physics Laboratory (SPL) of VSSC. The video highlights how the AI teacher has quickly become a close companion to the students at KTCT Higher Secondary School.

The AI Teacher Robot Iris is far more than just a silent observer in the classroom; its an interactive learning companion powered by cutting-edge Robotics and Generative AI technologies. Equipped with a dedicated Intel processor and coprocessor, Iris ensures smooth performance, while its user-friendly Android App interface puts control and interaction at users fingertips, guaranteeing a tailored learning journey.

Advertisement

Iris was built as part of the Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL), a 2021 NITI Aayog project to boost students extracurricular activities in schools.

Functioning as an AI voice assistant, Iris responds to user inquiries, delivers explanations, and presents educational content.

Additionally, Iriss hands, boasting 5 degrees of freedom each, enable it to handle objects, conduct demonstrations, and participate in hands-on learning experiences.

Advertisement

It also has a 4-wheel chassis, which allows Iris to manoeuvre freely within the environment she is deployed in, facilitating interaction with users and navigating through spaces effortlessly.

Capable of teaching subjects from nursery to Class 12, Iris currently communicates in three languages  English, Hindi, and Malayalam  with plans to expand its linguistic repertoire to over 20 languages. Furthermore, Iris is equipped with content-filtering capabilities, ensuring inappropriate content related to drugs and violence is blocked, promoting a safe and conducive learning environment.

Advertisement

The introduction of Iris signifies a significant advancement in the fusion of technology and education, promising to elevate learning outcomes and inspire students in novel ways. As educational institutions embrace the digital era, innovations like Iris offer a glimpse into the future of learning, where AI-driven tools complement traditional teaching methods, fostering a more immersive and effective educational environment.
At least 35,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced due to the violence by the militant Boko Haram group and a breakaway faction backed by the Islamic State group.

The United Nations office in Nigeria said late Wednesday that at least 200 people, predominantly women and children displaced by violence in northeastern Nigeria, were kidnapped by Islamic extremists.

The incident happened as the victims were searching for firewood near the border with Chad. According to the U.N., the victims had ventured from several displacement camps to gather firewood in Borno states Gamboru Ngala council area when they were ambushed and taken captive. This incident is the latest attack in the conflict-affected region, where frequent abductions and killings severely restrict movement.

Advertisement

The exact number of people abducted remains unknown but is estimated at over 200 people, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Nigeria Mohamed Fall said in a statement about the attacks, which occurred several days ago but whose details are only emerging now because of limited access to information in the area.

While an unspecified number of older women and children under 10 have reportedly been released, scores of IDs remain unaccounted for, according to protection partners," Fall added.

Locals blamed the attack on Islamic extremist rebels who launched an insurgency in Borno in 2009 seeking to establish their radical interpretation of Islamic law in the region. At least 35,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced due to the violence by the militant Boko Haram group and a breakaway faction backed by the Islamic State group.

Advertisement

Many of those fleeing the violence are in displacement camps like the ones in Gamboru Ngala where security is limited to areas near the camp, leaving them either to starve in the camps  amid dwindling aid  or risk their safety in search of food.

The latest attack is a stark reminder that women and girls are worst hit by the conflict, Fall said as he called for the immediate release of the victims. This act of violence against already traumatized citizens offends our common humanity, he said.

Advertisement

Nigerian security forces fighting the insurgents are overstretched as they also battle dozens of armed groups attacking remote communities in other parts of the northern region. The crises have added pressure on Nigerias President Bola Tinubu, who was elected last year after promising to end the violence.

With inputs from agencies.
The announcement of Senegal polls date came as news broke that the Constitutional Council had rejected a proposal by civil, political and religious leaders that the polls be held on June 2

Senegal will vote for a new president on 24 March, the spokesperson of the Senegalese government announced after a meeting of the Council of Ministers.

Spokesperson Abdou Karim Fofanathe also announced the dissolution of the incumbent government as well as the appointment of a new prime minister and other ministers.

The announcement of the delayed presidential elections date in Senegal came as news broke that the Constitutional Council had rejected a proposal by civil, political and religious leaders that the polls be held on June 2.

Advertisement

The announcement gives Senegals election authority less than three weeks to prepare for the crucial vote.

Senegal elections 2024: Who are the frontrunners?

Incumbent president Macky Sall has been prevented from running for the post again because of term limits.

He had endorsed Prime Minister Amadou Ba, an election frontrunner, who has now been replaced by Sidiki Kaba who was the interior minister.

Poll postponement led to chaos

Just weeks before the scheduled February 25 presidential elections in Senegal, Sall had announced postponement for 10 months. Following the announcement, the West African plunged into chaos as opposition protests filled the streets.

The move to delay polling was rejected by Senegals highest election authority, the Constitutional Council, and it ordered the government to soon set a new election date at the earliest.

Advertisement

Reason for postponement of election

In postponing the election, Sall had cited the controversies over the final list of candidates  some of whom were disqualified  as a major concern that could threaten the countrys stability.

But the opposition accused him of a constitutional coup, alleging that he was plotting to prolong his stay in office.

Advertisement

Sall had already said he would step down by when his tenure is due to end on April 2, but there had been concerns over who would take over from him if the date of polling was not announced before then.

With inputs from agencies
Pre-k students work on activities at Long Hill Elementary School, in Shelton, Conn. Feb. 21, 2024. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media Pre-k teacher Robin Robinson works with pre-k students in their classroom at Long Hill Elementary School, in Shelton, Conn. Feb. 21, 2024. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media Director of Curriculum Kristen Santilli works with students in their classroom at Long Hill Elementary School, in Shelton, Conn. Feb. 21, 2024. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media

SHELTON  Three years ago, Ken Saranich took over as superintendent faced with a Pre-K program that was being described as failing.

The Pre-K program  which takes 3 and 4 year olds with special needs and their typical peers  faced angry parents, tanking enrollment and criticism for failing to follow Connecticut Early Learning Development Standards. The program was faulted for not being close to a 1-to-1 ratio of special needs to typical peers.

Three years and hundreds of hours of work later, the districts pre-K program has turned around, becoming one of three such programs in Fairfield County to be National Association for the Education of Young Children accredited. It's also now burgeoning with students both with special needs and typical peers.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

This is fantastic, said Saranich as he recently watched the children working in one of the two pre-K classrooms at Long Hill School.

The district had been charging typical peers about $2,000 annually to attend prior to Saranichs arrival as superintendent but he said the fees were a major reason families stayed away from the program.

When I took over as superintendent, we were in another world in pre-K, Saranich said. We were failing ... there was a sharp decline in the amount using the program, especially the enrollment with typical peers. The state came at us ... we didnt have the proper ratio of special needs to non-disabled peers."

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Saranich thought about how they could build a program with the money the district was receiving. That was when the district chose to go for grants, which he said turned program from failing to high marks.

Pre-K has two classrooms each in Mohegan and Long Hill schools. Students can attend either in mornings or afternoons for free.

Shelton is one of the few programs in Connecticut that does not charge on a sliding scale fee. Saranich said the district could only charge the typical peers as special education students are required to attend for free.

Being accredited is a real feather in the public schools cap, Saranich said. To make this happen was such a monumental task. It was truly a collaborative effort, from teachers to paraprofessionals, even (Director of Facilities) John Calhoun. What he and his crew did to put the proper playgrounds in place was great. This is a real moment of pride for this district.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

To receive NAEYC accreditation, the district had to demonstrate it meets standards in 10 areas, including curriculum, teaching approaches, nutrition and health, staff qualifications, physical environment and program leadership and management.

The change began three years ago when Kristin Santilli, then newly named director of curriculum, instruction, and data pre-K 12, began seeking grant money to improve the program.

It was during that process she learned that becoming NAEYC accredited would aid in helping the students and obtaining funds to help bring in new curriculum and materials to make the pre-K more attractive to parents in Shelton.

I applied for a School Readiness Grant to secure funds for the pre-K to make some desired programming changes as well as bring our program to a much more rigorous level, Santilli said. As result of receiving funds, the requirement for us was to get NAEYC accredited.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In the years since, Santilli said the district was awarded the funds, with the amounts dependent on the number of slots assigned to students.

The district received $45,000 in 2022 with 10 special needs children enrolled, $202,500 in 2023 with 45 enrolled and $337,500 for the present fiscal year with 75 enrolled. Money went to curriculum materials and required furniture and toys for the rooms, all of which was supplied by the teachers in the past.

The district also brought in a pre-K coordinator to oversee the transformation and lead it into the future.

Rebecca Verdicchio, the program coordinator, said there has been a real change in the program, including now having a curriculum.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

We also have increased our typical peers who attend the program," she said. "The ratio of disabled and non-disabled peers is more equitable. Should be 1-to-1, but we are between 40 and 50 percent.

Pre-K had just been located at Mohegan School, but with these improvements being made and a new push to market the now free offering to all families, Saranich, in 2023, chose to expand the program, with classrooms at Mohegan and Long Hill schools.

We have a lot more interest, said Verdicchio, adding that there are some 110 students in the program now.

Overall, the program can have a maximum of 20 students per pre-K classroom with two sessions a day. Sunnyside and Long Hill schools feed the Long Hill School program, with Elizabeth Shelton, Booth Hill and Mohegan schools feeding the Mohegan School program.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Its a win-win ... these kids in the pre-K program are able to start here and stay here, said Long Hill Principal Andrea DAiuto about those students who would be at her school for kindergarten. We get to know them and cater to their needs and give them a sense of home.

DAiuto said the pre-K program allows the students to get a sense of the culture and school climate will learning though play-based curriculum.

It is so important, said Robin Robinson, a pre-K teacher with 15 years of experience, the past two in Shelton.

We must service our children with special needs, we are required to do that, but it is so important for all children to learn through playing, develop social skills ... here get that, Robinson added. If they were just home with parents, they are not learning to share, to take turns.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Robinson said teaching this age group remains her passion.

Its wonderful watching them learn together, she said. It is also good for the typical peers ... they are a model for the special needs students. They are learning from the typical peers, but they also have their time to shine as well. Its a team effort.

Robinson arrived after the program began its transformation, but she acknowledged the Shelton program stands above most with the curriculum that offers strategies, materials and intentional ways of teaching geared to all the abilities of the children.

The program includes circle time, read alouds, various learning centers from math to literacy, writing to science, and promotion of positive peer relationships as part of a social emotional learning focus.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Santilli said the district will continue to receive the grant funds, which helps cover salaries for the pre-K coordinator, an occupational therapist and school readiness liaison. The remainder of the staff costs fall in the Board of Education budget.
The accord takes place against the backdrop of Somalia and Ethiopias conflict over Somaliland, a breakaway province. Last month, Somalia declared that it had also concluded a defense agreement with Turkey that included defense cooperation for Somalias maritime assets

Turkey is required by the defence agreement signed on February 8 to train and equip the Somali navy to effectively defend its territorial waters against dangers like piracy, terrorism, and "foreign interference" Image Courtesy AFP

The latest development in the two countries growing relationship came on Thursday when the Turkish energy minister said that Turkey and Somalia had achieved an agreement enabling the Horn of Africa country to cooperate on gas and oil.

The accord takes place against the backdrop of Somalia and Ethiopias conflict over Somaliland, a breakaway province. Last month, Somalia declared that it had also concluded a defense agreement with Turkey that included defense cooperation for Somalias maritime assets.

Advertisement

According to Turkey, the agreement signed on Thursday covers oil exploration, production, development, and exploitation of Somalias onshore and offshore blocks.

We aim to strengthen Turkeys presence in the Horn of Africa with these collaborations in the energy field, Turkeys Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on X, formerly Twitter.

Somalias petroleum and mineral resources ministers, Abdirizak Omar Mohamed, was in Istanbul for the deal.

Abdirizak Omar Mohamed, the minister of mineral resources and petroleum for Somalia, was in Istanbul for the agreement.

Turkey, which plays a significant role in Somalia, is one of the states vying for influence in a nation on the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, which serves as a route to the Red Sea.

Advertisement

Turkey is required by the defence agreement signed on February 8 to train and equip the Somali navy to effectively defend its territorial waters against dangers like piracy, terrorism, and foreign interference.

(With agency inputs)
China will continue to work for peaceful reunification with Taiwan, Wang said, but warned that anyone who supports independence for Taiwan would pay a price.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a press conference on the sideline of the National People's Congress in Beijing, Thursday, March 7, 2024.- AP

China accused the United States of devising tactics, saying that President Biden is obsessed with suppressing Beijing, a move that will ultimately backfire and harm Washington itself.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi further criticised the Biden administration for expanding its sanctions lists to include more companies based in China.

Addressing the media during the annual meeting of Chinas legislature, Wang Yi said that relations with the U.S. have improved since President Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met in November, but that America has not fulfilled its promises.

Advertisement

If the U.S. always says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major power? If the U.S. gets nervous and anxious when it hears the word China, where is its confidence as a major power? he said. If the U.S. is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself."

The minister also vowed to deepen relations with Russia, as Beijing continues to assert the importance of what it calls a multipolar world order.

Wang, a 70-year-old veteran diplomat who has earned Xis trust, returned to the foreign ministers post last summer after his successor, Qin Gang, was abruptly dismissed without explanation after a half year on the job.

Advertisement

China alleges the U.S. is trying to contain and suppress its high-tech development and industrial policy, while both militaries eye each other closely amid increased deployments across East Asia.

So we urge the U.S. to understand the historical development trend, objectively and rationally look at Chinas development (and) actively and pragmatically carry out interactions with China.

Advertisement

Beijing also faces ongoing geopolitical confrontations on multiple fronts, including with Europe on trade and the Ukraine war, Japan across a variety of issues, as well as the Philippines over the South China Sea, a regional hotbed of competing territorial claims.

Wang said China is willing to work with Russia to foster new drivers of cooperation and consolidate friendship.

Advertisement

China and Russia had declared a no limits partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing just days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, triggering the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two.

Wang also announced an expansion of its visa-free travel scheme, saying that China will offer visa-free travel to nationals from Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Australia, Belgium and Luxembourg from March 14.

Advertisement

Wang accused the United States, without mentioning it by name, of stirring up trouble in Taiwan and the South China Sea. China says that self-governing Taiwan is part of China and should be under its control, and it claims a wide swath of the South China Sea, putting it at odds with the Philippines, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian neighbours.

The Philippines and the U.S. have accused China of aggressive tactics in trying to block Philippines ships from reaching reefs and other outcroppings that both sides claim, most recently in a collision between coast guard vessels of both countries this week.

For unreasonable provocations, we will take just countermeasures, Wang said. We also advise certain countries outside the region not to stir up trouble, choose sides, and not to become disruptors and troublemakers in the South China Sea.

He said countries that insist on maintaining official ties with Taiwan are interfering in Chinas domestic affairs. Most countries, including the United States, dont have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but China objects to visits by U.S. lawmakers to the island and U.S. sales of military equipment for its defence.

China will continue to work for peaceful reunification with Taiwan, Wang said, but warned that anyone who supports independence for Taiwan would pay a price. Most Taiwanese prefer to remain separate from China without antagonizing it. They fear Chinese rule could endanger their freedoms and democracy, particularly after Chinas crackdown on Hong Kong.

Our bottom line is also very clear, Wang said. That is Taiwan will never be allowed to split from the motherland.

With inputs from agencies.
The Uyghurs are a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority in Xinjiang, numbering about 10 million. Rights groups accuse Beijing of mistreating them widely, including depriving them of their complete religious freedom. China vehemently disputes any wrongdoing

Following a wave of ethnic riots in 2017, China allegedly initiated a harsh security crackdown in Xinjiang, resulting in the detention of over a million members of various Muslim minorities in re-education centers, according to rights groups Image Courtesy AP

The top Communist Party official in Xinjiang stated on Thursday that it is inevitable for Islam to become more Sinicized in the Muslim-majority northwest Chinese region, where Beijing is accused of violating human rights.

Everyone knows that Islam in Xinjiang needs to be Sinicised, this is an inevitable trend, regional party chief Ma Xingrui told reporters at a largely scripted briefing on the sidelines of Chinas annual parliamentary sessions in Beijing.

Advertisement

The Uyghurs are a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority in Xinjiang, numbering about 10 million. Rights groups accuse Beijing of mistreating them widely, including depriving them of their complete religious freedom. China vehemently disputes any wrongdoing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged adherents to prioritize their allegiance to the Communist Party and has frequently advocated for the Sinicization of religions, including Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity. An Australian think-tank analysis estimates that since 2017, over two-thirds of Xinjiangs mosques have suffered damage or have been completely destroyed.

Ma and other regional representatives attempted to portray Xinjiang as welcoming to global business and tourism during the press conference while also applauding the regions economic growth and disputing American claims of forced labor and cultural genocide.

Ma, the eminent former governor of the affluent Guangdong province before being moved to Xinjiang in 2021, emphasized the significance of coordinate security and development.

Advertisement

The three forces are still active now, but we cannot be afraid (to open up) because they exist, said Ma, using a political slogan referring to ethnic separatism, religious extremism and violent terrorist forces in Xinjiang.

Following a wave of ethnic riots in 2017, China allegedly initiated a harsh security crackdown in Xinjiang, resulting in the detention of over a million members of various Muslim minorities in re-education centers, according to rights groups.

Advertisement

We have carried out a severe crackdown on terrorist activities, issued and implemented anti-terrorism laws to  combat various forms of terrorism, senior Xinjiang parliamentarian Wang Mingshan told the local media.

However, the most of the briefing covered Xinjiangs potential for tourism, economic growth, and what the authorities called cultural preservation.

According to the regions chairman, Erkin Tuniyaz, Xinjiang received nearly 19 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) in fiscal aid from other provinces in addition to 565.7 billion yuan ($78.5 billion) in central government transfers last year, which accounted for 72.7% of local government spending.

Advertisement

Tuniyaz and former regional chairman Shohrat Zakir, two Xinjiang officials blacklisted by the US due to human rights violations in the region, flanked Ma.

Over 4,390 international visitors to Xinjiang in 2023, according to officials, and the regions total installed renewable energy capacity of 22.61 million kilowatts last year brought it to 64.4 million kilowatts, or nearly half of Xinjiangs power capacity.

Advertisement

A significant hub for the production of solar cells, Xinjiang has been marred by reports of forced labor.
In the report, the Taiwanese defence ministry claims that China has launched multi-front saturated grey-zone tactics to harass Taiwan, including increased patrols of ships and planes

A Chinese coastguard ship sails during a military drill near Fuzhou, Fujian Province, near the Taiwan-controlled Matsu Islands that are close to the Chinese coast, China, April 8, 2023. Reuters

China has ramped up its grey-zone warfare against Taiwan to further its efforts to saturate the independently governed island nations with balloons, drones and civilian boats, a Taiwan military report has said. Interestingly, the report came out at a time when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned supporters of Taiwans cause of getting burned for playing with fire.

Advertisement

By stepping up grey-zone warfare, China aims to exhaust Taiwan without engaging in open combat.

During a press conference at the Two Sessions, Wang said Wang said the one-China principle is the general consensus of the international community, and condoning support for Taiwan independence is a challenge to Beijings sovereignty.

What does that Taiwanese report say?

In the report, accessed by Reuters, the Taiwanese defence ministry claims that China has launched multi-front saturated grey-zone tactics to harass Taiwan, including increased patrols of ships and planes.

China has attempted to increase burdens of our naval and air forces and to obscure the existence of the median line in the strait, the report said, referring to an unofficial border between the two sides, which Chinas forces have begun regularly crossing in recent years.

Advertisement

It added China has also incorporated research and militia vessels in a move to disguise military activities with civilians.

What does Taiwan plan on doing?

In the event of increased military activity, Taiwans defence ministry says the country will preserve its troops by boosting the resilience of its infrastructure and running drills to ensure Taiwan forces survive in a prolonged conflict in case war breaks out.

Advertisement

Taiwan is also taking notes from the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas war to better prepare itself as a belligerent China threatens its sovereignty.

The ministry said it is stockpiling weapons and fuel to endure a prolonged war with China.

Taiwan anticipates that in a war-like situation, China will try its best to resist external forces from helping the island nation. Therefore, the island is working to diversify its command systems and incorporate more mobile and long-range weapons, as well as artificial intelligence, while boosting connections with democratic allies, including the United States.

Advertisement

With inputs from Reuters
Wang Yi underscored that China would not allow anyone to abuse its goodwill and that the country does not accept the distortion or deliberate infringement of maritime laws

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends a press conference on the sidelines of the NPC, in Beijing. Reuters

Amid a back-and-forth between the Philippines and China, Beijing reiterated that it will legitimately defend its rights in the South China Sea as the two nations remain entangled in a standoff.

China makes territorial claims in almost the whole of the South China Sea and has sought to assert sovereignty there despite competing claims from Southeast Asian nations and an international arbitration ruling that its stance has no legal basis.

Advertisement

Addressing a press conference at the Two Sessions, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, We will legitimately defend our rights in accordance with the law. On maritime disputes, China has always maintained a high degree of restraint.

He, however, underscored that China would not allow anyone to abuse its goodwill and that the country does not accept the distortion or deliberate infringement of maritime laws.

Whats going on in the South China Sea?

Tensions between China and the Philippines have flared up in recent months as ships from both sides have clashed in the contested reefs, with the most recent dispute taking place this week.

Both the Philippines and China have refused to back down with Manila saying that the most recent conflict is the most serious incident yet for the Philippines.

Advertisement

Earlier this week, Chinas coastguard water cannoned a Philippine vessel, shattering its windshield and injuring four Navy personnel. A top admiral was on board the ship, according to the Philippines South China Sea task force.

This is the most serious incident yet, task force spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said, accusing China of deliberately stirring up trouble and maliciously inciting hype.

Advertisement

In fact, Manila on Tuesday summoned Chinas deputy chief of mission over the countrys aggressive actions in the South China Sea.

Australia, ASEAN call for peace

Australia and Southeast Asian nations on Wednesday called for restraint in the contested South China Sea as they ended a three-day summit.

A joint statement by Australia and ASEAN called for a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific, as Beijing looks to increase its presence in the South China Sea.

Advertisement

We recognise the benefits of having the South China Sea as a sea of peace, stability, and prosperity, the statement said.

We encourage all countries to avoid any unilateral actions that endanger peace, security and stability in the region.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi took questions from reporters at the Two Sessions press conference and gave an insight into Chinas policy and perspective on wide-range of issues

Chinas biggest annual political gathering, the Two Sessions, is being keenly observed worldwide as statements from top Chinese diplomats will give an insight into the whys and hows of Beijings policies and perspectives.

On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi addressed the media during the Two Sessions. From the Russia-Ukraine war to Taiwans fight for independence, the diplomat touched upon subjects that made headlines across the world.

Advertisement

Heres what Wang Yi said that grabbed global attention

1- When asked about ties with the US, Foreign Minister Wang Yi accused the Western country of suppression. He said that Washingtons misconceptions and unfulfilled promises continue to sour its relationship with Beijing, however, a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Joe Biden last year has borne some fruits and there has been some improvement

Terming its unilateral sanctions as unfathomable and absurd, Wang Yi said, If the US says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major country?

2- On questions about its continued conflict with Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, Wang Yi reiterated its One China Policy and said those who support Taiwans independence will get burned for playing with fire

Advertisement

3- As the war between Israel and Hamas continues with no end in sight, China has said it will continue to pitch Palestines full membership at the UN.

Wang Yi stated China will continue to advocate peace and coexistence between the two warring sides and will push for a two-state solution to bring justice to Palestinians and end breathing ground of extremism

Advertisement

4- The foreign minister defended its close ties with Russia and said that both countries show a new paradigm of great power co-operation that is completely different from the Cold War era. Notably, Russia and Chinas bilateral trade reached a record $240bn in 2023.

Since the war began in Feb 2022, China has positioned itself as a neutral party in the Russia-Ukraine war

Advertisement

5- On being asked about its dispute with the Philippines in the South China Sea, Wang Yi said Beijing has exercised a high degree of restraint in its maritime disputes. While terming Chinas approach as optimistic, he said China will not let its goodwill be abused and it will legitimately defend its rights in accordance with the law.

Advertisement

Tensions between Beijing and Manila have soared in recent months as ships and vessels from both countries have clashed with both sides contesting territory in the South China waters
The Chinese foreign minister added that the long-cherished wish of the Palestinian people to create an independent country can no longer be ignored and that the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people cannot continue for generations without being corrected'

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday says that Beijing supports the full membership of the Palestinian state in the United Nations.

We support Palestine becoming a formal member of the United Nations, foreign minister Wang Yi told journalists at a press conference.

Yi was addressing a press conference during Chinas two-sessions meeting.

Advertisement

The catastrophe in Gaza once again reminded the world that the fact that the Palestinian territories have been occupied for a long time can no longer be ignored, Wang added.

The Chinese foreign minister added that the long-cherished wish of the Palestinian people to create an independent country can no longer be ignored and that the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people cannot continue for generations without being corrected.

Wang said that China will advocate the speedy resumption of ceasefire talks between Israel and Gaza as well as push for a two-state solution to ensure peaceful coexistence between the two warring sides.

Beijing has been calling for an immediate ceasefire since the start of the current Israel-Hamas war in October last year.

Advertisement

Disgrace for civilisation

It is a tragedy for humankind and a disgrace for civilisation that today, in the 21st century, this humanitarian disaster cannot be stopped, Wang told reporters at the press conference.

No reason can justify the continuation of the conflict, and no excuse can justify being desperately killed, Wang said.

The international community must act urgently, making an immediate ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities an overriding priority, and ensuring humanitarian relief an urgent moral responsibility, he added.

Advertisement

Israel-Hamas truce talks

Meanwhile, a possible ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is still in limbo as negotiation talks failed to make any breakthrough. The two warring parties have been blaming each other for stalling the discussions.

The United States on Tuesday revised language in a draft United Nations Security Council resolution to back an immediate ceasefire of roughly six weeks in Gaza together with the release of all hostages, according to the text seen by Reuters.

Advertisement

The US wants any Security Council support for a ceasefire to be linked to the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

With inputs from agencies
Speaking on the issue, Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the one-China principle is the consensus of the international community and condoning support for Taiwan independence is a challenge to Beijings sovereignty.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the mobilisation of patriots in Taiwan and abroad to counter pro-independence movements on the self-governing island. During a meeting with the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, a political organisation based on the mainland and separate from Taiwans primary opposition party, Xi urged the group which is aligned with the ruling Communist Party to unite all patriots from home and abroad both inside and outside of Taiwan.

Advertisement

Speaking on the issue, Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the one-China principle is the consensus of the international community and condoning support for Taiwan independence is a challenge to Beijings sovereignty.

Wang reiterates Beijings refrain that it will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with Taiwan and that it will not allow Taiwan to be separated from the mainland. He also warned that those who support Taiwans independence will get burned for playing with fire.
The threat of all-out famine has now materialised. The court needs to act now to stop the imminent tragedy by immediately and effectively ensuring that the rights it has found are threatened under the Genocide Convention are protected, South Africa said in a statement

South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to impose further emergency measures on Israel as the people of Gaza cannot wait, citing the threat of famine affecting Palestinians, according to a report.

According to Al Jazeera, citing a a statement released on Wednesday, South Africa petitioned the court to order that all parties cease hostilities and release all hostages and detainees.

Advertisement

The threat of all-out famine has now materialised. The court needs to act now to stop the imminent tragedy by immediately and effectively ensuring that the rights it has found are threatened under the Genocide Convention are protected, Al Jazeera quoted South Africa as saying in a statement.

South Africa also asked the court to order that Israel take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address famine and starvation in Gaza.

It stated that due to the extreme urgency of the situation, the International Court of Justice, often known as the World Court, should adopt these actions without holding further hearings.

Meanwhile, according to the UN, if nothing is done, a widespread famine in the Gaza Strip is almost inevitable.

According to Al Jazeera, aid organisations attribute the scarcity of food in the enclave, which has been under Israeli siege and attack since 7 October, to military activities, insecurity, and significant barriers to the transportation of necessary supplies.

Advertisement

Health officials in Gaza have reported that over 30,000 people have died in the strip during the five-month conflict.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is preparing to commence historic hearings on the legality of Israels 57-year occupation of Palestinian territories. Scheduled for a week at The Hague, the proceedings coincide with Israels ongoing military offensive in Gaza, resulting in the death of over 29,000 Palestinians since October 7, added the report.

Advertisement

Distinct from the genocide complaint filed by South Africa against Israel for alleged violations in the current conflict, the ICJ hearings focus on Israels occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem since 1967.

As reported by Al Jazeera, Palestinians seeking these areas for an independent state argue that the occupation breaches three fundamental principles of international law.

Advertisement

Israel strongly denies committing genocide in Gaza. However, the ICJ, in January, ruled that it had jurisdiction to hear South Africas case against Israel, in which the latter is accused of breaching the Genocide Convention.

The court ordered Israel to do all it could to prevent death, destruction, and any acts of genocide in Gaza. However, the panel of judges stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive that has laid waste to the Palestinian enclave.

Advertisement

With inputs from agencies
Hamas delegation has left Cairo with no breakthrough in talks aiming to secure a new truce in the terrorist groups war with Israel. However, talks remain ongoing between all parties to reach a ceasefire agreement before Ramadan, according to a report

A Palestinian woman along with a child stands in front of the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Khan Yunis. AFP

Hamas delegation has left Cairo with no breakthrough in talks aiming to secure a new truce in the terrorist groups war with Israel, Egypt-based Al-Qahera news reported on Thursday, citing an official source.

However, talks remain ongoing between all parties to reach a ceasefire agreement before Ramadan, which is expected to begin on 10 March, added the report.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official accused Israel of having thwarted all efforts by mediators to reach a deal before Ramadan.

Speaking to news agency Reuters, senior official Sami Abu Zuhri said Israel insists on rejecting elements of the deal that would lead to a pause in fighting, ensure the entry of aid, and facilitate the return of internally displaced people back to their homes.

Hamas representatives arrived in Cairo on 3 March after a US official indicated that Israel had endorsed a framework for a temporary ceasefire and exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

However, by early evening there was no delegation from Israel for the talks mediated by envoys from Qatar, Egypt and the United States, with Israeli media reporting that Israel had not sent a team after the Palestinian group declined to share a list of captives who were still alive in the besieged territory.

Advertisement

With inputs from agencies
China to continue speaking for justice, promoting win-win cooperation: FM

Xinhua) 14:32, March 07, 2024

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China will deliver on its commitment to upholding justice and advance win-win cooperation, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

In 2024, China will stay committed to an independent foreign policy of peace and firmly safeguard its national sovereignty and dignity, Wang said at a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress.

Reviewing China's diplomatic work in 2023, Wang said the country has taken steps to promote international solidarity and cooperation, offered solutions to various crises and challenges, and contributed to world peace and development, breaking new ground in China's diplomatic theory and practice.

China will maintain stable relations with major powers, join hands with its neighboring countries for progress, and strive for revitalization with the Global South, Wang said, adding that the country will practice true multilateralism and promote democracy in international relations.

China will strive to provide more Chinese solutions to both regional hotspots and global issues, creating new opportunities for the world with its own development, Wang said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 07: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address during a joint meeting of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on February 07, 2023 in Washington, DC. The speech marks Biden's first address to the new Republican-controlled House. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Drew Angerer/Getty Images Shayan Raghoo, a junior at New Britain High School, meets with Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Tuesday after being named as his guest to this year's State of the Union address. The senator met Raghoo last month at forum over his legislation, the Kids Online Safety Act. Courtesy/ Sen. Richard Blumenthal

Reproductive rights, social media use by teens, education and the safe release of hostages are among the accomplishments and political activism that some Connecticut guests to this year's State of the Union address are being recognized for.

Most of Connecticut's congressional delegation announced on Thursday morning who their guests would be for President Joe Bidens 2024 State of the Union address that night.

The announcements followed Sen. Richard Blumenthal's news earlier this week that New Britain High School junior Shayan Raghoo was accompanying him to highlight her work in raising awareness about how social media is harming youth.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

U.S. Rep. Jahanna Hayes, D-5th District, also pulled from the schools to find her guest, inviting James Accomando, a former president for both the Connecticut and national parent teacher associations. He currently serves as the Connecticut PTA federal legislative chairman.

"Jim and I share the belief that strengthening family-school partnerships, supporting sensible solutions to keep students safe in their communities, and funding education are key," Hayes said.

Hayes, a Wolcott resident who was named National Teacher of the Year under former President Barack Obama's administration, said she has long worked with Accomando, who is trying to bridge the gap between parents and teachers. The PTA has also supported some of the bills Hayes has co-sponsored.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, invited Dr. Vrunda B. Desai, an obstetrician-gynecologist and Yale University adjunct professor, as his guest to the president's speech.

"When the Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade two years ago, it threatened the availability of health care services around the country," Himes said. "Now states are moving to pass legislation that could harm womens access to critical medical treatment, ranging from contraception to in vitro fertilization."

Desai said she appreciates the chance to speak and work with Himes to ensure those in Connecticut and throughout the country can access the health care they deserve, especially reproductive health.

As a physician, I know the importance of ensuring access to health care for women and families," Desai said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Himes said he hopes Congress can restore reproductive protection for women and families nationally.

"The recent effort to limit IVF in Alabama is just one example of how restrictions on reproductive health may have repercussions for all families and their ability to bring healthy children into this world," Himes said. "I am thankful to the highly qualified medical experts like Dr. Desai who use their skills to help their patients thrive and to ensure that the rights afforded to all in Connecticut remain available nationwide.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney's guest is Waterford resident Jerry Fischer, who worked alongside the Vernon Democrat representing the 2nd District for the safe release of Liat Beinin Atzili. Atzili is Fischer's cousin who had been taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack on an Israel settlement.

The pair held a virtual event Thursday afternoon with Yehuda Beinin, Atzili's father, to discuss the importance of having another ceasefire and restoring a successful process to release the remaining hostages. They also shared the need for humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Once a seldom-used holdover from Hong Kongs British colonial past, the sedition offense was revived in 2019 in the wake of the democracy protests in the financial center by Beijing

In a decision that is anticipated to impact both the governments new national security law and the ongoing trials of news organisations, Hong Kongs appeal court reduced the bar for convictions of sedition Thursday.

Once a seldom-used holdover from Hong Kongs British colonial past, the sedition offense was revived in 2019 in the wake of the democracy protests in the financial center by Beijing.

Advertisement

As per reports, it was used in 2022 during the first sedition trial since Hong Kong was turned over to China in 1997, leading radio DJ and democracy activist Tam Tak-chi was found guilty. His sentence included seven counts of uttering seditious words and forty months in prison for a total of eleven offenses.

Judges rejected Tams appeal Thursday, ruling it was unnecessary to prove intention to incite violence to convict a defendant of sedition.

Modern experiences show that seditious acts or activities endangering national security now take many diversified forms, they said in a written judgment.

(To) effectively respond to seditious acts or activities endangering national security, seditious intention has to be broadly framed to encompass a myriad of situations.

Advertisement

Thursdays ruling will have binding effects on lower courts in similar cases, including the ongoing trials of two shuttered news outlets, Stand News and Apple Daily, for seditious publications.

It will also serve as a judicial benchmark as the government drafts its own national security law  which will co-exist alongside the law Beijing imposed in 2020  with a view to raise the penalty for sedition offences.

Advertisement

During the national security laws public consultation last month, authorities suggested expanding seditious intention to cover inducing disaffection against Chinas Communist leadership and socialist system, as well as Beijings apparatuses in Hong Kong.

Thursdays decision also diverges from a ruling made in October by Britains Privy Council  a top authority in the common law world.

Advertisement

In a case related to the Sedition Act of Commonwealth member Trinidad and Tobago, the Privy Council decided that the true interpretation of sedition must have an intention to incite violence or disorder.

Hong Kong High Court Chief Justice Jeremy Poon said Thursday the court has reservations on whether the Privy Council ruling is applicable.

Advertisement

Seditious intention in any given criminal code must be interpreted by reference to the specific legal and social landscape in which it exists, he said.

Tam, who took part in Hong Kongs massive and at times violent democracy protests that kicked off in 2019, is also among a group of 47 activists accused of subversion in the citys largest national security case.

With inputs from AFP
Through Wagner and other organizations, Russia maintains a significant presence in African nations like Sudan, encouraging the rise of authoritarian regimes, fostering instability, and stealing resources to finance its military campaign against Ukraine

Previous claims that Ukrainian special forces participated in operations in Sudan and carried out strikes against insurgents backed by Wagner have surfaced in different media outlets Image Courtesy Reuters

Small Ukrainian army units have reportedly participated in fighting against Russian proxies in Sudan, assisting the leader of that nation in repelling rebel forces backed by the Wagner Group.

Through Wagner and other organizations, Russia maintains a significant presence in African nations like Sudan, encouraging the rise of authoritarian regimes, fostering instability, and stealing resources to finance its military campaign against Ukraine.

Advertisement

Previous claims that Ukrainian special forces participated in operations in Sudan and carried out strikes against insurgents backed by Wagner have surfaced in different media outlets.

The Wall Street Journal claims that in the summer of 2023, under siege by rebel troops, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the de facto ruler of Sudan, pleaded to Ukraine for help. In April 2023, a civil war broke out in the African nation between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the military government of Burhan.

As the outlet noted, Burhan had been quietly supplying Kyiv with weapons since shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Kyiv responded favorably in an effort to reduce Russias influence overseas.

According to reports, Ukrainian commandos arrived in Sudan in the middle of August 2023, joined the battle to drive rebel forces from Khartoum, and gave Burhans guards fresh weapons, supplies, and instruction. The Wall Street Journal claims that no Ukrainian team that was sent to Sudan suffered any casualties.

Advertisement

Kiev has not acknowledged its participation in the Sudanese conflict in public. Engagement in the fighting may jeopardize ties with important allies such as the United States, which has charged both the rebel and government troops of war crimes and called for an end to military assistance to the combatants.

In September 2023, Zelensky and Burhan had a unplanned meeting at Irelands Shannon Airport to talk about security issues and the actions of parties with Russian support in Sudan.
Following a series of agreements in recent months, the United States, China, India, South Korea, and Russiawhich has provided the majority of Vietnams military hardware for decadesare now the nations top allies in Southeast Asia

Vietnam's Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong attends a joint statement with U.S. President Joe Biden at the Communist Party of Vietnam Headquarters in Hanoi, Vietnam, September 10, 2023. REUTERS

Vietnam, which is ruled by the Communist Party, strengthened its relations with Australia on Thursday, marking the most recent achievement in its bamboo diplomacy after it did the same with the worlds leading nations last year in an effort to manage escalating tensions across the globe.

Following a series of agreements in recent months, the United States, China, India, South Korea, and Russiawhich has provided the majority of Vietnams military hardware for decadesare now the nations top allies in Southeast Asia.

Advertisement

Details about Vietnams increasingly flexible foreign policy strategy and the key diplomatic accords it has signed in recent months are provided below.

WHAT IS BAMBOO DIPLOMACY?

A regional manufacturing powerhouse, Vietnam is an increasingly strategic player in global supply chains.

To bolster this position, the countrys most powerful figure, Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, used in 2021 the imagery of strong roots, stout trunk, and flexible branches of the bamboo plant to describe Vietnams foreign policy approach of having more friends, fewer foes.

CHINA

Vietnam and China agreed in December to build a community with a shared future during a visit to Hanoi by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The two nations signed 36 cooperation documents in areas such as transport infrastructure, trade, security and digital economy, and published a joint declaration with wide-ranging commitments.

China is Vietnams largest trading partner and a vital source of imports for its manufacturing sector, but the two communist countries have been for years embroiled in disputes in the South China Sea - the latest in May. Tensions have subsided somewhat more recently as Beijings attention has focused on another claimant in the waterway, the Philippines.

Advertisement

UNITED STATES

Vietnam and the United States elevated in September their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the highest level in Vietnams ranking, and announced closer cooperation on semiconductors and critical minerals during a visit to Hanoi by U.S. president Joe Biden.

The United States, which is the top importer of Vietnams goods, pushed for the upgrade as part of its strategy to secure uninterrupted access to global supply chains and to contain China in the South China Sea.

Advertisement

JAPAN

Vietnam and Japan in November upgraded their relations to Vietnams top tier during a visit by Vietnamese president Vo Van Thuong to Tokyo, agreeing to boost security and economic cooperation.

Japanese multinationals, including Canon, Honda, Panasonic and Bridgestone, are among the largest foreign investors in Vietnam.

SOUTH KOREA

Vietnam and South Korea elevated their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in December 2022 during a visit to Seoul by then Vietnamese president Nguyen Xuan Phuc, focusing on trade, investment, defence and security.

Advertisement

South Korea is the largest source of foreign investment in Vietnam, with Samsung Electronics being the largest single foreign investor in the country where it assembles half its smartphones.

In June the two countries signed 17 additional agreements, including on security and critical minerals during a visit to Vietnam by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Advertisement

VATICAN

Vietnam and the Vatican agreed in July to have the first post-war resident papal representative in Hanoi during a visit to meet Pope Francis by Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong. The representative was appointed in December.

Home to nearly 7 million Catholics, Vietnam broke relations with the Vatican after the Communists took over the reunited country at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Talks to appoint a papal representative had started in 2009.

TRADING HUB

Vietnam is part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic union and has free trade deals with the European Union, Britain, Chile and South Korea. In July it added Israel to its list of free-trade partners.

It is also a member of wider trade pacts, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which includes Canada, Australia and Mexico, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which includes China and Japan.

With inputs from Reuters
The Indian Navy said that INS Kolkata swiftly acted against Wednesdays maritime incident and all the crew members were safely evacuated to Djibouti

The Indian Navy on Wednesday rescued as many as 21 crew members, including one Indian national, after it received a distress call from a merchant vessel which caught fire after being hit by a missile in the Gulf of Aden.

Taking to X, the Indian Navy said that INS Kolkata swiftly acted against Wednesdays maritime incident and all the crew members were safely evacuated to Djibouti.

Advertisement

#IndianNavy's swift response to Maritime Incident in #GulfofAden.



Barbados Flagged Bulk Carrier MV #TrueConfidence reported on fire after a drone/missile hit on #06Mar, approx 54 nm South West of Aden, resulting in critical injuries to crew, forcing them to abandon ship. pic.twitter.com/FZQRBeGcKp  SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) March 7, 2024

#IndianNavys swift response to Maritime Incident in #GulfofAden. Barbados Flagged Bulk Carrier MV #TrueConfidence reported on fire after a drone/missile hit on #06Mar, approx 54 nm South West of Aden, resulting in critical injuries to crew, forcing them to abandon ship, the Indian Navy wrote on X on Thursday.

Advertisement

#INSKolkata deployed for #MaritimeSecurityOperations, arrived on location at 1645 hrs & rescued 21 crew, incl one Indian national, using integral helicopter & boats. Critical medical aid provided to injured crew, it added.

The crew of #TrueConfidence were subsequently evacuated to Djibouti, PM #06Mar, it further said.

On Wednesday, INS Kolkata promptly answered a distress signal from the Liberian-flagged container vessel MSC Sky II, reportedly targeted by a drone or missile in the southeastern region of Aden.

Advertisement

Following the 7:00 pm distress call, the INS Kolkata mission swiftly redirected to provide essential aid. By 10:30 pm, the mission arrived near the assaulted vessel, as per an official statement.

Additionally, based on the request of the master, the Merchant vessel (MV) was escorted from the scene of the incident to the territorial waters of Djibouti by the Indian Navy ship.

According to the statement, the crew of 23 personnel, including 13 Indian nationals are safe and the vessel is proceeding to her next destination.

Advertisement

Earlier on Tuesday, a 12-member specialist firefighting team, ex-Kolkata, embarked on the MV and provided assistance in extinguishing the residual fire and smoke. Additionally, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team also embarked on the MV for residual risk assessment.

Last month, responding to the distress call from the Fishing Vessel, an Indian Naval ship, mission deployed in the North Arabian Sea for maritime security operations, provided damage control assistance and undertook strengthening of the hull, rendering the boat safe for further transit.

Advertisement

Medical aid was also extended to three injured crew members.

The relentless and persistent efforts of the Indian Navy reaffirm its resolve towards the safety of all vessels and seafarers transiting in the region, the statement added.

With inputs from agencies
Fazlur Rehman, the leader of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazlur (JUI-F), told reporters on Wednesday that the Pakistani Army must adhere rigorously to its duty as the nations protector

Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the JUI-F, who overthrew Khan's rule in April 2002 and served in the Shehbaz-led government for 16 months, has declared his intention to sit in the opposition in the current parliament Image Courtesy Agencies

The head of JUI-F, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, has questioned the Pakistan Armys role in the purported manipulation of the February 8 elections that installed the PML-N-led government in the Central and Punjab province, stating that the army cannot be respected as a political decision-maker.

Fazlur Rehman, the leader of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazlur (JUI-F), told reporters on Wednesday that the Pakistani Army must adhere rigorously to its duty as the nations protector.

Advertisement

The Army as a defender of Pakistan is respected, but not as a political decision-maker. I dont accept the February 8 electoral mandate because of massive rigging. I hold those (military establishment) responsible who have done it, not those for whom (PML-N of Sharifs) it was done, the cleric said.

Over the course of its more than 75-year history, the army has dominated Pakistan and had significant influence on security and foreign policy issues.

The JUI-F and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khans party, have been particularly critical of the military establishment, accusing it of stealing their mandate to impose a coalition led by Shehbaz Sharif.

Khan, who was sentenced to 31 years in three separate incidents and has been detained since August of last year, referred to election manipulation as the mother of all rigging.

Advertisement

In order to tie the provision of the IMFs financial aid to Pakistan to the examination of the elections in February, he even made a call to the organization.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the JUI-F, who overthrew Khans rule in April 2002 and served in the Shehbaz-led government for 16 months, has declared his intention to sit in the opposition in the current parliament.

Advertisement

The military establishment sabotages the electoral process and interferes in the democratic procedures. The resolutions of Corps Commanders Conference cannot deter criticism of it, he said.

The Corps Commanders Conference refuted on Wednesday the claims of political meddling and manipulation of the February polls against the military forces.

Not sparing the Pakistani judiciary, Fazlur Rehman said: How can this judicial system accept 100 cases in a weeks time against a person (Imran Khan) fallen out of favour of the military and decide in favour of another 100 against a person (Nawaz Sharif), who has won the favour of the Army?

Advertisement

Our judiciary now says former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was not given a fair trial 45 years after his hanging (at the behest of military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq) when all the judges died. Can he come back now? he asked.

The Pakistan Supreme Court on Wednesday declared that the trial of Bhutto was unfair and lacked due process.

Advertisement

(With agency inputs)
At the time when the door was knocked down by protesters, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was giving his daily morning press conference inside

A group protesting over the disappearance of 43 students from Ayotzinapa in 2014 tries to force their way into the National Palace to protest against the government's lack of results in investigating the case, in Mexico City, Mexico, March 6, 2024. REUTERS.

An unusual protest sparked in Mexico, where a group knocked down a door of the countrys presidential palace in agitation over the disappearance of 42 students in 2014.

Video on local television stations, Wednesday morning, showed protesters ramming down the door using a white pickup truck from Mexicos state electrical company.

At the time when the door was knocked down by protesters, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was giving his daily morning press conference inside.

Advertisement

 Mexico are at it!



Protestors break down the door of the Presidential Palace



Its not a coincidence that just about EVERY country on Earth are revolting against their Elites & Governments



We are in the middle of a Global Mass Human Awakening - it will only get bigger pic.twitter.com/nIcV7oURFP  Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) March 6, 2024

Tear gas was used by police at the scene to disperse the protesters. Also, barriers were erected within the presidential palace to prevent the protesters from entering the building.

Advertisement

By early Wednesday morning, the door to the palace was secured and no protesters were inside the building. However, more than 100 agitators remained camped outside.

As per reports in local media, some of the protesters involved in the smashing of the door have been arrested.

Protestors manipulated by rights groups

President Lopez Obrador alleged that the protesters were being manipulated by rights groups that were against his government and did not want the truth about the case to come out.

Advertisement

Obrador further said he was not going to repress the protest and his government would continue to investigate the case of the missing students.

The door will be fixed and there will be no problem, said the president, who also informed that the protesters would meet with members of his government.

The president also continued to attack the lawyers of the missing students parents, saying they prohibited them from speaking with him, again offering no evidence for the claim.

Advertisement

Obrador emphasised that his government was continuing to look for the students and said he would speak with the parents in time.

Whats the case?

On the night of September 26, 2014, as many as 43 students of the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College, who were part of a larger group of pupils, came under attack in the city of Iguala, Guerrero.

Advertisement

The case was handed over to the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts for investigation by a panel appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights who were tasked with probing the matter. In their findings, GIEI said the Army, Navy, police and intelligence agencies knew, minute by minute, where the students were.

In July last year, GIEI panel member Carlos Beristain said They all collaborated to make them disappear.

The previous government, in its initial findings, concluded the 43 had been kidnapped by corrupt police in cahoots with a local drug gang who believed the students had been infiltrated by members of a rival outfit. The gang then killed the students and burned their bodies, report added.

However, the current government and GIEI say the account was riddled with errors and true information was hidden by officials.

GIEI said it had received incomplete information and the Defence Ministry hid documents showing where 17 of the 43 students were taken, and who was involved.

After Lopez Obrador came to power in 2018, he created a truth commission to look into the case and renewed the mandate of the GIEI, which had been constituted in 2014.

A report published in July 2023 said as per the investigation it was found that members of the navy and the army had carried out secret, unreported joint operations and manipulated information relevant to the case.

With inputs from agencies
The possibility of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine - from the expansion of participants in proxy forces used for military confrontation with Russia to a large-scale war in Europe - cannot be ruled out, said Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky

A view shows a bomb crater and residential buildings destroyed by a Russian air strike in the village of Borova, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine on Wednesday. Reuters File

A high-ranking Russian military official has warned that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has the potential to escalate into a full-fledged war across Europe.

According to a Reuters report, citing state RIA news agency, Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, who leads the Russian armys Military Academy of the General Staff, expressed in an article published in Military Thought, a defence ministry publication, that the likelihood of Moscows forces engaging in a new conflict is significantly increasing.

Advertisement

The possibility of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine - from the expansion of participants in proxy forces used for military confrontation with Russia to a large-scale war in Europe - cannot be ruled out, Reuters quoted him as saying to RIA.

The main source of military threats to our state is the anti-Russian policy of the United States and its allies, who are conducting a new type of hybrid warfare in order to weaken Russia in every possible way, limit its sovereignty and destroy its territorial integrity, he added.

The likelihood of our state being purposefully drawn into new military conflicts is significantly increasing.

The conflict in Ukraine has triggered a deep crisis in Russias relations with the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. President Vladimir Putin has cautioned that the West risks inciting a nuclear confrontation by deploying troops to intervene in Ukraine.

Advertisement

Putin framed his decision to deploy tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022 as a necessary military operation to safeguard Russias security against a perceived threat from the increasingly hostile Ukrainian leadership, supported by the United States.

Conversely, Kyiv asserts that it is defending itself against an aggressive campaign aimed at subjugating its national identity.

Advertisement

Zarudnitskys remarks come at a pivotal moment as Western nations rush to bolster Ukraine with additional military support and financial aid following Kyivs unsuccessful counteroffensive last summer, amidst a backdrop of Russian forces gaining momentum on the battlefield.

According to Reuters, citing RIA, Zarudnitsky proposed several reforms to Russias military and security apparatus, advocating for a greater reliance on allied nations to ensure Russias security and fostering national unity around defence priorities.

Advertisement

With inputs from agencies
Hussain and Hassan had applied to the court, through their attorney Qazi Misbahul Hassan, to have the warrants against them in the Avenfield Apartments, Al-Azizia, and Flagship Investment references suspended

Barrister Misbah argued in court at the hearing that although Hassan and Hussain were both granted temporary bail, permanent arrest warrants were nonetheless issued for them Image Courtesy Agencies

Hussain and Hassan Nawaz, the sons of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, had permanent arrest warrants issued against them; on Thursday, an accountability court in Islamabad postponed the orders until March 14 in connection with three corruption charges linked to the Panama Papers.

Hussain and Hassan had applied to the court, through their attorney Qazi Misbahul Hassan, to have the warrants against them in the Avenfield Apartments, Al-Azizia, and Flagship Investment references suspended.

Advertisement

Today, Judge Nasir Javed Rana of the Accountability Court made the announcement regarding the Avenfield reference.

The court order, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, stated that both the accused are allowed to surrender before the court, failing which the law shall take its own course.

It made clear that the defendants, who were also the cases petitioners, desired to appear in court in good faith and submit to legal proceedings.

The order noted that the court agreed with the NAB prosecutors submission that the purpose of the perpetual warrant of arrest is to procure attendance of the accused and if accused intends to surrender himself before the court, he may be given an opportunity to face the trial.

On behalf of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Deputy Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar, Usman Masood, and Sohail Arif appeared in court today.

Advertisement

Barrister Misbah argued in court at the hearing that although Hassan and Hussain were both granted temporary bail, permanent arrest warrants were nonetheless issued for them.

He informed the judge that three of the five defendants in the Avenfield reference had received sentences from accountability courts before being found not guilty by the Islamabad High Court.

Advertisement

The lawyer said his clients Hassan and Hussain both wanted to return to Pakistan on March 12 and appear before court . Hence, the arrest warrants should be suspended, he prayed.

The warrants, according to Barrister Misbah, are intended to return the accused parties to the court. At this point, NAB prosecutor Arif contended in court that a court presence was required to cancel the perpetual arrest warrants.

Advertisement

He did, however, state that Hassan and Hussain should be given the chance to appear in court if they so desired.

The accountability court had heard arguments from both sides and had deferred judgment before making a decision.

In the hearing held a day earlier, Hussain and Hassans counsel had informed the judge that their clients were residents of Saudi Arabia and the UK, respectively, and were nominated as accused persons in the trio of references along with Nawaz, Maryam, and retired Captain Safdar.

Advertisement

He had stated that when neither of them was in Pakistan, the trial in these cases had started. Attorney Qazi Misbah claimed that the state had never made an effort to follow the proper procedures to carry out the legal process, such as issuing notices, arrest warrants, and proclamations, and that they were ignorant of the official legal system.

He went on to say that Hussain and Hassan had made the decision to appear in court and be put on trial.

The lawyer stated that both of the former premiers sons are scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on March 12 and asked the court to revoke their arrest warrants so they could appear in court to turn themselves in.

It should be noted that Maryam and Nawaz were both found guilty in the Avenfield reference days before the previous general election.

In December 2018, Nawaz was found guilty in the Al-Azizia case as well, while he was found not guilty in the Flagship Investment case.

Before the Islamabad High Court, Nawaz, Maryam, and her spouse contested their conviction in the Avenfield case. Nawaz contested the verdict in the Al-Azizia case as well.

But Nawaz was labeled a proclaimed offender by the IHC after he left the country and did not return.

Maryam and retired Capt Safdar pursued the case while he was in the UK, and in the end, the IHC overturned their conviction.

When Nawaz went back to Pakistan in October of last year, his appeals against his convictions were reopened, and as a result, his convictions in both cases were overturned by the IHC.
At a special session of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Pakistans Ambassador Munir Akram clarified that 500,000 undocumented Afghans left Pakistan voluntarily. He said that characterising Pakistans protective environment as unfavourable for Afghans is inaccurate and offensive

Months after thousands of Afghans had to return to their home country after Pakistan set a deadline for them to leave, Islamabad has defended its action by saying that no one was forced to deport.

At a special session of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Pakistans Ambassador Munir Akram clarified that 500,000 undocumented Afghans left Pakistan voluntarily. He said that characterising Pakistans protective environment as unfavourable for Afghans is inaccurate and offensive.

Advertisement

Last year, Pakistan began deporting undocumented Afghans who missed the deadline to leave voluntarily. Akram says that 98 per cent of them left on their own accord with the remaining two per cent engaged in illegal activities including terrorism and drug smuggling.

Even today, over one million undocumented Afghans remain in Pakistan. They should return forthwith. We have made several exceptions for those with Afghan ID cards, POR cards, for those who may be vulnerable if they return, he said.

Thousands of Afghans with expired visas or incorrect documents have been living in Pakistan since 2021 after the Taliban took over Afghanistan hoping to restart their work in Western nations. Most are still eligible to settle in Western countries on humanitarian grounds.

Humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan

Akram claimed that Pakistan, which is itself reeling under an economic crisis, has an obligation to provide humanitarian assistance to its neighbour Afghanistan.

Advertisement

Afghanistans socio-political situation has been in shambles ever since the Taliban took over control in 2021. From blatant disregard for womens rights to a shrinking economy, life under the Taliban has been difficult for Afghans.

Therefore, Akram took the stage to urge the international community to help Afghanistans banking and other commercial activities as well as create conditions to release of Afghanistans frozen assets to its Central Bank.

Advertisement

Pakistan considers sustained engagement with the Afghan interim government to be essential to normalise the situation in Afghanistan, the ambassador said.
The 25-year-old woman was viciously attacked and sexually assaulted while out on her nightly stroll through the heart of Warsaw. She passed away in the hospital last week

Following the shocking news of the death of an Belarusian immigrant after being raped, which shocked the community of Belarusian exiles in Poland, almost a thousand people demonstrated against sexual violence in Warsaw on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old woman was viciously attacked and sexually assaulted while out on her nightly stroll through the heart of Warsaw. She passed away in the hospital last week.

Advertisement

Since then, a 23-year-old man has been arrested and charged with the assault, which infuriated womens rights organizations and the sizable Belarusian community that was leaving their nation for Poland.

Demonstrators gathered to grieve at the scene of the attack, lighting candles and placing flowers.

She came to Poland in search of a better life. And in Poland, her life was taken away from her, Maja Stasko, the protests co-organiser, told crowd.

The participants, asked by the organisers to dress in black, held signs in Belarusian and Polish with slogans including Women are not prey and I was just walking home.

According to official data, Poland in 2023 was hosting nearly 80,000 Belarusians, many of them fleeing for the neighbouring country out of fear of political repression at home.

Advertisement

It was a pure shock for all of us, Anna, a Belarusian working in IT in Poland who declined to give her full name, told AFP of the attack.

We fled from Belarus to search for peace here, and now we became victims of not the regime, but of men, the 25-year-old said.

Advertisement

The organisers said the Belarusians who fall victim to sexual violence abroad were facing additional obstacles as refugees, including distrust towards the law enforcement services.

We have such experiences with the police that it is hard for us to believe that if we call the police, they will believe us and that someone will act on this, Nasta Bazar, a Belarusian activist, told AFP.

Advertisement

I would really want every woman to know that there will always be women who will support them and that there are Belarusian organisations out there that help, Bazar added.

The rally was joined by womens rights campaigners and participants from Ukraine, with around a million refugees from the war-torn country currently living in EU member Poland.

Advertisement

With inputs from AFP
Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardments of the Gaza Strip in front of the morgue of the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Thursday, March 7, 2024. Adel Hana/AP President Joe Biden holds a Laken Riley Botton as delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol, Thursday March 7, 2024, in Washington, while Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., watch. Andrew Harnik/AP Parachutes drop supplies into the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Maya Alleruzzo/AP Palestinians attend a mass funeral of people killed in the Israeli offensive on Khan Younis in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Hatem Ali/AP Palestinians attend a mass funeral of people killed in the Israeli offensive on Khan Younis in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Hatem Ali/AP People pass by a fence with photographs of Israelis who are being held hostage in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Oded Balilty/AP People pass by a fence with photographs of Israelis who are being held hostage in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Oded Balilty/AP A Palestinian carries a relative killed in the Israeli bombardments of the Gaza Strip in front of the morgue of the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Thursday, March 7, 2024. Adel Hana/AP Palestinians pray for the relatives killed in the Israeli bombardments of the Gaza Strip in front of the morgue of the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Thursday, March 7, 2024. Adel Hana/AP Palestinians pray for the relatives killed in the Israeli bombardments of the Gaza Strip in front of the morgue of the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Thursday, March 7, 2024. Adel Hana/AP Israeli soldiers carry the casket Israeli solider Staff sergeant David Sasson as mourners gather in grief during his the funeral in Netanya, Israel, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Sasson, 21, was killed during Israel's ground operation in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army has been battling Palestinian militants in the war ignited by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel. Ariel Schalit/AP A view of the Dome of the Rock shrine at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound during dusk, ahead of Ramadan, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Leo Correa/AP

WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden ordered the U.S. military Thursday to set up a temporary port off the coast of Gaza, joining international partners in trying to carve out a sea route to deliver food and other aid to desperate Palestinian civilians cut off by the Hamas-Israel war and by Israeli restrictions on humanitarian access by land.

While reiterating his support for Israel, Biden used the announcement and the bright spotlight of his State of the Union speech to renew months of U.S. calls to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change how he conducts the war, including by allowing in more aid to Gaza and doing more to protect humanitarian workers there.

To the leadership of Israel I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip, Biden declared before Congress. He repeated calls as well for Israel to do more to protect civilians in the fighting, and to work toward Palestinian statehood as the only long-term solution to Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The U.S. announcement, signaling deepening U.S. involvement in the war and the escalating fighting in the region, comes as Biden faces pressure to act more forcefully to ease what the U.N. says are near-famine conditions for many of Gaza's 2.3 million people.

It also shows the administration resorting to an unusual workaround after months of appealing to Israel, the U.S.'s close ally and top recipient of military aid, to step up access and protection for trucks bearing humanitarian goods for Gaza.

Meanwhile Thursday, efforts to reach a cease-fire before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts within days, appeared stalled. Hamas said its delegation had left Cairo, where talks were being held. The outline for the cease-fire included a wide infusion of aid into Gaza.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

A widening humanitarian crisis across Gaza and tight Israeli control of aid trucks has left virtually the entire population desperately short of food, the U.N. says. Medical workers in northern Gaza this past week reported 15 children dead of starvation there. In a meeting pressing Israel Ambassador Michael Herzog to provide access and security for more aid trucks, the U.S. international development director, Samantha Power, warned that blockaded Gaza faced a real risk of famine," her office said Thursday.

Israel accuses Hamas of commandeering some aid deliveries.

The U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview Bidens announcement before his State of the Union speech, said the planned operation will not require American troops on the ground to build the pier that is intended to allow more shipments of food, medicine and other essential items from a port in the Mediterranean island country of Cyprus.

The U.S. officials said it would likely take weeks before the pier was operational. They gave few other immediate details.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

One of the options under consideration is for the military to provide a floating pier called a JLOTS, or Joint Logistics-Over-the-Shore, another U.S. official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss the options before a decision has been made. The large floating pier allows supplies to be delivered without having a fixed port in place, alleviating the need to have troops on a dock on shore. Ships can sail to the pier, which is secured by anchors, and dock there.

Defense Department spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement Thursday that U.S. officials and international partners were looking at options, including using commercial companies and contractors to aid in the delivery.

Officials from the U.S., Europe, Israel and the Middle East have already been deep in discussions and preparations on the possibility of opening a maritime sea route.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in November offered use of his countrys port in Larnaca for aid deliveries to the Palestinian enclave, a 230-mile (370-kilometer) journey from Cyprus.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

European Union Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen planned to visit Larnaca on Friday to inspect installations.

Cyprus early on invited authorities from Israel, the U.S. and other European countries to join Cypriot agents in vetting all shipments so nothing could be used by Hamas against Israel.

Aid groups have said their efforts to deliver desperately needed supplies to Gaza have been badly hampered because of the difficulty of coordinating with the Israeli military, the ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of public order. It is even more difficult to get aid to the isolated north.

The United Arab Emirates also says it is working with its partners, including chef and humanitarian Jose Andres and his World Central Kitchen, to launch deliveries by sea, and is finishing details and timing.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

While land routes could be the most efficient way to get aid into Gaza, one of the senior U.S. administration officials said, Biden has directed that we not wait for the Israelis to get more humanitarian help in, more quickly.

Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, told reporters late Thursday after briefing the U.N. Security Council behind closed doors that air and sea deliveries cannot substitute for expanding and diversifying supply routes on land, which remains the optimal solution.

The Biden administration's latest move provides one more layer to the extraordinary dynamic thats emerged as the United States has had to go around Israel, its main Mideast ally, and find ways to get aid into Gaza, including through airdrops that started last week.

Biden has been a crucial partner to Netanyahu's military offensive following Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks in Israel. That includes providing bombs and other weapons to Israel and fending off efforts to censure Israel in the United Nations for the growing deaths among Gaza civilians.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

But administration officials have grown frustrated at Netanyahu for seeming to shrug off much of the U.S. pressure for Israel to do more to reduce civilian deaths and to allow in humanitarian aid.

The World Food Program says an average of 99 aid trucks a day entered Gaza in February, one-fifth of what is needed.

"This is an expensive, inefficient workaround to a problem that has other ready solutions," Brian Finucane, a former State Department official now with the International Crisis Group, said of the U.S. announcement on a temporary port and wartime sea route.

Its another symptom of the pathology of the overall approach to the war in Gaza ... which is that the Biden administration is unwilling to use U.S. leverage either unilaterally or multilaterally" to try to influence conduct of the war by Netanyahu, Finucane said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Pressure on the Biden administration surged last week after Gaza health officials reported more than 100 people killed at an attempted aid delivery to the isolated north. Israel said its forces fired warning shots when members of the crowd began moving toward them. Witnesses and medical workers told The Associated Press that most of those injured were shot when Israeli forces fired into the crowds of hungry people.

International mediators had hoped to alleviate some of the immediate crisis with a six-week cease-fire, which would have seen Hamas release some of the Israeli hostages it is holding, Israel release some Palestinian prisoners and aid groups be given access to to get a major influx of assistance into Gaza.

Palestinian militants are believed to be holding around 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others captured during Hamas Oct. 7 attack.

Egyptian officials said Hamas has agreed to the main terms of such an agreement as a first stage but wants commitments that it will lead to an eventual more permanent cease-fire. They say Israel wants to confine the negotiations to the more limited agreement.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations with media. Both officials said mediators are still pressing the two parties to soften their positions.

Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said Israel refuses to commit to and give guarantees regarding the cease-fire, the return of the displaced, and withdrawal from the areas of its incursion. But he said the talks were still ongoing and would resume next week. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Mediators had looked to Ramadan, which is expected to begin on Sunday, as an informal deadline for a deal because the month of dawn-to-dusk fasting often sees Israeli-Palestinian violence linked to access to a major Jerusalem holy site. The war already has the wider region on edge, with Iran-backed groups trading fire with Israel and the United States.

Netanyahu has publicly ruled out Hamas demands for an end to the war, saying Israel intends to resume the offensive after any cease-fire, expand it to the crowded southern city of Rafah and battle on until total victory. He has said military pressure will help bring about the release of the hostages.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

___

Sewell reported from Beirut and Magdy from Cairo. Tara Copp contributed from Washington.

___

Find more of APs coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Police quickly arrested a man and said the deaths did not appear to be linked to domestic or intimate partner violence. The scene is obviously a horrific one, police chief Eric Stubbs told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, without providing details

Ottawa Police Service officers walk past a door smeared in blood after four children and two adults were found dead inside a neighbouring house in the Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven, Ontario, Canada March 7, 2024. REUTERS

Six people, including four children, were killed in the Canadian capital Ottawa late on Wednesday, police said on Thursday, sending chills to entire country where mass murders are rare.

Police quickly arrested a man and said the deaths did not appear to be linked to domestic or intimate partner violence.

The scene is obviously a horrific one, police chief Eric Stubbs told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, without providing details on how the victims died.

Advertisement

Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe, in a social media post, said it was one of the most shocking incidents of violence in our citys history.

Ottawa, which has a population of one million, saw 14 murders in 2023 and 15 in 2022.

The victims were found inside a house in the southwestern suburb of Barrhaven and have not been identified.

Police arrived on the scene following emergency calls shortly before 11 p.m. on Wednesday, they said in a statement.

Mass killings in Canada are infrequent. In December 2022, a man shot five people in a Toronto suburb before being gunned down by police.

In September that year, a man stabbed and killed 11 people in the western province of Saskatchewan. He died of a cocaine overdose shortly after being arrested by police.

Advertisement

With inputs from Reuters
The former minister of defense is requesting a new mandate that would last until 2029. As the head of the European Commission since 2019, he has managed several crises, including the Covid pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine

The former German defense minister is vying for a second term as EU chief until 2029. AFP

The largest party in the EU parliament, the conservative European Peoples Party (EPP), supported European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyens candidacy for a second term on Thursday.

The former minister of defense is requesting a new mandate that would last until 2029. As the head of the European Commission since 2019, he has managed several crises, including the Covid pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine.

Advertisement

The 65-year-old German needs to win the support of the EU parliament in order to be renamed to the position, and the EPPs support is crucial.

At the party congress in Bucharest, 400 EPP delegates voted in favor of von der Leyen and 89 voted against it.

In her words after the vote, von der Leyen thanked the EPP representatives at the congress  including lawmakers, party leaders and 12 heads of state and government  for their trust, support and determination.

We have now 90 days to go till election day Now its time to get out there and convince the people, to win their hearts and to win their minds, she said.

- Defining moment -

In a speech ahead of the vote, she said the EU faced a defining moment.

Our peaceful and united Europe is being challenged like never before. By populists, by nationalists, by demagogues. Whether its the far right or its the far left, she said in the Romanian capital.

Advertisement

They want to trample on our values, and they want to destroy our Europe. And we, the EPP, will never let that happen, she added.

During the conferences opening day Wednesday, EPP leader Manfred Weber hailed von der Leyen as a solid leader, adding that Europe would be in good hands with her at the helm.

Advertisement

As the largest grouping in the parliament, the EPP is keen to put on a show of strength ahead of the European elections.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis hosts the meeting, also attended by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, his Greek and Swedish counterparts Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Ulf Kristersson, and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.

Advertisement

Scheduled to take place from June 6-9, the European elections will reshuffle the political balance in Brussels, including at the Commission.

Within the EPP, von der Leyen  the first woman to hold the top EU post  enjoys broad support and her (policy) record gives her a positive image, said Thierry Chopin, special adviser at the Jacques Delors Institute.

Advertisement

But she has come under fire in recent years, particularly from Frances liberal conservatives who have denounced a form of technocratic drift that is harming our farmers.

Von der Leyens flagship achievement in her first term  the European Green Deal  is turning politically toxic, with farmers mobilising across Europe.

Italian far-right League partys Matteo Salvini echoed the anger Thursday saying, What is destroying Europe are the crazy policies of this wretched and sinister Commission which has worked to ruin Italian and European farmers through taxes, idiotic rules.

Faced with growing discontent and far-right parties riding high in polls, von der Leyen has relegated climate concerns to the backburner since announcing her bid a few weeks ago.

- Right-wing pressure -

In another shift, the EPP called for asylum-seekers to be moved to safe third countries to assess their claims in its manifesto adopted at the congress on Wednesday.

Von der Leyen appears to be looking for votes further to the right, said Chopin, in particular by moving closer to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with whom she recently travelled to Kyiv.

Having secured a narrow backing of just nine extra votes at the European Parliament in 2019, she knows that she must gather as many votes as possible to ensure a majority, he stressed.

Von der Leyen on Thursday insisted that while continuing to fulfil international obligations. it is us, the Europeans, who decide who comes to Europe and under what circumstances, and not the organised crime (gangs) of smugglers and traffickers.

At their gathering in Rome over the weekend, Europes Socialists (PES)  the second-largest force in the European Parliament  underlined the importance of the June elections ahead of expected surging support for right-wing groups.

With inputs from AFP
The RIA news agency cited the report from the FSB, which stated that the groups members had been preparing to commit a terrorist act against one of the Jewish religious institutions in Moscow

According to the FSB, an ISIS cell based in Kaluga, southwest of Moscow, had been preparing to shoot worshippers at a synagogue in the capital of Russia Image Courtesy Agencies

Russian state news outlets announced on Thursday that the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia had foiled an Islamic State cells attempt to assault a Moscow synagogue.

The RIA news agency cited the report from the FSB, which stated that the groups members had been preparing to commit a terrorist act against one of the Jewish religious institutions in Moscow.

Advertisement

According to the FSB, an ISIS cell based in Kaluga, southwest of Moscow, had been preparing to shoot worshippers at a synagogue in the capital of Russia.

While being arrested, the terrorists put up armed resistance to the Russian FSB officers, and as a result were neutralized by return fire, the FSB said in a statement.

Firearms, ammunition, as well as components for the manufacture of an improvised explosive device were found and seized, the statement added.

The FBI stated that the attackers were neutralized by return fire when they opened fire during the attempted arrest.

The FSB released a video that appeared to show two dead bodies inside a residence, along with weapons, ammo, and knives discovered during a search, according to the Zvezda news outlet, which is linked to Russias army and security establishment.

Advertisement

The number of fatalities in the operation was not disclosed by the FSB.

It mentioned that the fighters belonged to the Islamic States Afghan branch but did not specify which country they were citizens of.

Russian officials regularly declare that planned attacks by groups suspected of being Islamists have been foiled.

The FSB reported earlier this month that it had killed six alleged ISIS fighters in the southern part of Ingushetia, which is predominantly Muslim.

Advertisement

Under the Israel-Hamas war, tensions between Russias Muslim and Jewish populations have occasionally erupted. The conflict began when terrorists led by Hamas ravaged southern villages, killing almost 1,200 peoplemostly civiliansand kidnapping 253 more to Gaza.

After a jet from Tel Aviv arrived at an airport in Dagestan, another Caucasian country with a majority of Muslims, protesters invaded the facility last October.
In economic cooperation, we (India & Japan) see the potential for the quantum jump of Japanese investment into India, especially from SMEs. We also underlined seeking to realise our shared target of 5 trillion Yen in terms of overall investment, said Jaishankar during a joint press conference with his Japanese counterpart Kamikawa Yoko

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that in economic cooperation India and Japan see the potential for the quantum jump of Japanese investment into India, especially from SMEs.

#WATCH | EAM Dr S Jaishankar delivers a joint Press statement along with Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko, in Tokyo



"...In economic cooperation, we (India & Japan) see the potential for the quantum jump of Japanese investment into India, especially from SMEs. We also pic.twitter.com/WBNvhn431t  ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2024

Advertisement

Addressing a joint press conference alongside Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko in Tokyo, Jaishankar said, In economic cooperation, we (India & Japan) see the potential for the quantum jump of Japanese investment into India, especially from SMEs. We also underlined seeking to realise our shared target of 5 trillion Yen in terms of overall investment.

Jaishankar said India welcomes Japans development role in Indias North East which will be crucial in transforming the connectivity and industrial landscape of that region.

Earlier, in his opening remarks at the 16th India-Japan Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue, Jaishankar said India sees Japan as a natural partner in its journey, development and transformation, and in its quest for peace, prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

Advertisement

The External Affairs Minister also said that 2023 was a landmark year in the bilateral relationship.

We see Japan as a natural partner in Indias journey, development and transformation, and in its quest for peace, prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific, said Jaishankar, who is in Tokyo for the second leg of his four-day visit to South Korea and Japan.

Advertisement

The minister also addressed the Raisina Roundtable earlier in the day, which is a key step towards enhancing track 2 exchanges between India and Japan.

India and Japan are members of QUAD - a four-member strategic security dialogue that also includes the US and Australia.

Jaishankars visit and meetings in Tokyo will provide strategic guidance to Indias functional cooperation in various areas, impart further momentum to bilateral exchanges, and set the agenda for future cooperation, the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi said in a statement ahead of his visit.

Advertisement

With inputs from agencies
The announcement follows South Koreas antitrust regulator, Fair Trade Commission (FTC), sending inspectors to the office of AliExpresss South Korean unit last week to probe the platforms consumer protection practices, according to Yonhap news agency

As South Koreas use of Chinese e-commerce platforms, such as Alibabas AliExpress and Temu, has increased, the countrys personal data protection watchdog announced on Thursday that it is investigating the consumer data practices of major overseas shopping platforms.

Following concerns raised by a parliament audit last year regarding the handling of data by platforms like AliExpress and PDD Holdings international discount e-commerce platform Temu, the Personal Information Protection Commission said it has been looking into foreign e-commerce platforms since last month.

Advertisement

The commission stated in a statement that it is examining the suitability of their safety precautions, international transfers, and policies for processing personal information. If any laws in South Korea are broken, it will take action.

The announcement follows South Koreas antitrust regulator, Fair Trade Commission (FTC), sending inspectors to the office of AliExpresss South Korean unit last week to probe the platforms consumer protection practices, according to Yonhap news agency.

The FTC, Alibaba and Temu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

South Koreans e-commerce purchases from China including from platforms like AliExpress and Temu rose 121% on year in 2023 to 3.3 trillion won ($2.48 billion), taking up nearly half of its total overseas e-commerce purchases, according to Statistics Korea data.

Advertisement

AliExpress, which began services in South Korea in 2018, invested about 100 billion won in the country in 2023 to expand its footprint, Daishin Securities analyst Lee Jee-eun said.

Investors are watching whether it and other Chinese e-commerce platforms fast user growth in South Korea will affect established players such as Naver Shopping and Coupang, although faster shipping and easy returns of local firms may keep the influence of Chinese platforms price competitiveness at bay, Seoul-based analysts have said.

Advertisement

With inputs from Reuters
Titled The Conspiracy to oust me from the Presidency, Rajapaksas book was out for sale starting Thursday but there was no official book launch

Former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa ended a long silence over his ouster Thursday by releasing a book claiming that geopolitical rivalry between China and other countries was responsible for his downfall.

Titled The Conspiracy to oust me from the Presidency, Rajapaksas book was out for sale starting Thursday but there was no official book launch.

Advertisement

Is it India?

What the book says: There was, in fact, a major foreign power that was insisting that I should not resign and they had demonstrated their willingness to do whatever it takes to keep Sri Lanka with essentials.

The context: Gotabaya Rajapaksas resignation and fleeing away from the country to the Maldives in mid-July 2022 came after India had extended a credit line with assistance worth USD 4 billion when Sri Lankas economy went bankrupt with long queues for essentials and fuel for four months preceding this development.

Is it the US?

What the book says: Chinese funded infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka after 2006 brought in an element of geopolitical rivalry  It would be extremely naive for anyone to claim that there was no foreign hand in the moves made to oust me from power.

The context: The US had warned Sri Lanka about the risks of falling into a debt trap because of the infrastructure deals it had signed with China. He did not name any country but sentences such as Some countries like to portray themselves as the guardians of democracy and the rule of the law world over make it obvious to which Western nation he is pointing fingers at.
State Department spokesman Matt Miller told the Washington Post that the Biden administration has followed the procedures Congress itself has specified to keep members well-informed and regularly briefs members even when formal notification is not a legal requirement.

The United States has reportedly approved and delivered over 100 weapons sales to Israel, including thousands of bombs since the war between Israel-Hamas erupted. The sales included thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs and other weapons; the Washington Post reported.

According to the report, since the beginning of the conflict, only two foreign military sales to Israel have been disclosed publicly. These sales invited public attention because the Biden administration circumvented Congress to approve the packages by invoking emergency authority, it added.

Advertisement

Former Biden administration official Jeremy Konyndyk, speaking to the Washington Post, said on the significant number of weapon sales to Israel in a short period. Konyndyk suggested that this level of support from the United States indicates Israels reliance on it to sustain its operations against Hamas in Gaza. As president of Refugees International, Konyndyk has urged the U.S. to use these weapon sales as a means to pressure Israel to cease-fire in Gaza.

State Department spokesman Matt Miller told the Washington Post that the Biden administration has followed the procedures Congress itself has specified to keep members well-informed and regularly briefs members even when formal notification is not a legal requirement.

Miller also said that US officials have engaged Congress on arms deliveries to Israel more than 200 times since October.

Advertisement

The heavy death toll from Israels war in Gaza has led to much international alarm. President Joe Biden has previously referred to Israeli bombing as indiscriminate, opens new tab but Washington has not called for a ceasefire, saying such a measure would benefit Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which governs Gaza.

According to Israeli tallies, Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed thousands of people. Israels subsequent assault on Gaza has killed approx. 30, 000 Palestinians, over 1 per cent of the 2.3 million population there, according to Gazas health ministry.
London-based consumer tech brand Nothing just announced that it has appointed Sudhisthir Singh as Head of Human Resources for its India business. The news comes days after the launch of Nothing Phone (2a) smartphone at an event in Delhi.

In his 18 years of career in the HR domain, has worked with brands like Bharti, Walmart, Swarovski, RPSG, and BharatPe, and is transitioning from his most recent role as Senior Associate Director at KPMG, said the company.

At Nothing, Yudhisthir will be leading overall HR responsibilities along with delivering on the Global HR strategy and aligning people priorities with Nothings business objectives in India.

His role will be instrumental in advancing Nothings mission to create cutting-edge tech products for the young and creative demographic by building and enhancing talent capabilities while fostering a high-performance culture that empowers the India team to thrive and succeed, said the company.

Regarding the new role, Yudhisthir Singh said:

I am excited to be a part of Nothing. I was always a fan of their tech and innovative products, and now I get to be a part of their journey. Its great to be a part of such a dynamic brand that stands out in a crowded market. I look forward to doing substantial work with them.

Speaking on the appointment, Pranay Rao, Marketing Director, Nothing India said:

We are thrilled to welcome Yudhisthir to our organization. With his extensive experience and talent-building capabilities, he will be a valuable addition to our team.
Gov. Ned Lamont attended a press conference by workers and labor leaders on the steps of the Connecticut Supreme Court in June 2018. On Tuesday, Lamont announced an agreement to provide unionized state employees a 2.5 percent pay increase over the next year. H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media

HARTFORD  Gov. Ned Lamont announced a tentative agreement with a coalition of state employee labor unions on Wednesday to preserve an annual 2.5 percent wage increase over the next fiscal year.

The agreement applies to the final year of a four-year, $1.9 billion contract with the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition that was ratified by lawmakers in 2022.

That contract included wage and step increases in each of the first three years, along with a clause allowing the state and the unions to re-negotiate those hikes for the final fiscal year ending on June 30, 2025. Those raises will stay the same under the reopener agreement.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In a statement Wednesday, Lamont praised the work of the roughly 45,000 state employees that fall under the SEBAC coalition. Those include health care and social service workers, police officers, university professors, prosecutors, judicial staff and corrections officers.

This agreement continues the current wage pattern, reflecting our need to ensure the retention of our best employees while recognizing the need to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, Lamont said. I want to thank our union partners and our negotiating staff for their efforts with this agreement.

Members of each of the 15 individual labor unions within SEBAC will now get a chance to vote on the agreement. If approved by the unions, the agreement will go to the state's General Assembly for ratification.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

We continue to face a service crisis due to recruitment and retention lapses at many of our work sites," SEBAC said in a statement on its website.

"We have full contract negotiations beginning in 2025, and pension and healthcare negotiations coming up soon with the expiration of the current master SEBAC agreement in 2027. With that in mind, it made sense to resolve this years Reopener as quickly as possible in time for legislative approval prior to the July 1, 2024, effective date.

The cost of the latest agreement has yet to be determined by the states fiscal analysts, according to Chris Collibee, a spokesman for the Office of Policy and Management. A report tied to the original contract estimated the cost of wage a 2.5 percent wage increase in fiscal 2025 to be roughly $96.5 million (not including the costs of the step increases).

Republicans have criticized Lamonts agreements with labor unions as overly-generous at a time when the states budget is pushing up against mandatory spending caps, thus limiting lawmakers ability to spend money elsewhere.

House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, said Wednesday that Republicans will heavily scrutinize the reopening agreement and push for changes to remote-work policies for state employees.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Its frustrating that the governor continues to give out salary increases, bonuses and praise for our workers without having a conversation about the impact of telework, Candelora said, adding that hes fielded calls from constituents complaining that they cant get state employees to answer the phone at their offices.
WILLIAMSBURG, VA - JULY 28: John Hinckley Jr. poses for a portrait in a park next to the Williamsburg Regional Library on Thursday July 28, 2022 in Williamsburg, VA. Hinckley, who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981 is now free. He is trying to launch a music career. (Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images) The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Im

John Hinkley Jr., the folk musician and would-be assassin of Ronald Reagan, will this month make a second attempt at playing a show in Connecticut. And the venues owners say booking the controversial artist is all about redemption.

I was a little skeptical, but then I thought turning this away would, kind of like, disprove  for lack of a better phrase  what the scene is about, Oliver Vegas, co-owner of Hotel Huxley in Naugatuck, said. I dont know him well. Hes not much of an outward guy the past few years. But all Im really saying here is all this stuff regarding cancelation is just more reminder that he was a bad person in the past and that I think shouldnt be.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Hinckley in 1982 was found not guilty of his charged crimes by reason of insanity and spent nearly 40 years under psychiatric care  in a hospital until 2016 and supervised care with family afterward. He was released in 2022 and attempted to embark on a tour promoting his musical project. But the tour didnt really happen. Shows in Brooklyn, Virginia and even Hamden were cancelled.

"My Redemption tour is becoming the cancellation tour," Hinckley told Rolling Stone in 2022.

On March 30, Hinckley is set to bring his acoustic-laden folk music to Hotel Huxley in Naugatuck, one of Connecticuts newest concert venues. Black Richard, a Danbury-based rock act, will join him. As for the controversy surrounding Hinckleys past and recent cancellations, Vegas said he isnt worried and plans on going forward with the show no matter what. It is, Oliver said, as Hinckley sings in one of the songs off his 2023 album, Redemption, Everything is gonna be all right.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

This photo taken by presidential photographer Mike Evens on March 30, 1981 shows police and Secret Service agents reacting during the assassination attempt on then US president Ronald Reagan, after a conference outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.. Reagan was hit by one of six shots fired by John Hinckley, who also seriously injured press secretary James Brady (just behind the car). Reagan was hit in the chest and was hospitalized for 12 days. Hinckley was aquitted 21 June 1982 after a jury found him mentally unstable. (Photo by MIKE EVENS / CONSOLIDATED NEWS PICTURES / AFP) (Photo by MIKE EVENS/CONSOLIDATED NEWS PICTURES/AFP via Getty Images) MIKE EVENS/CONSOLIDATED NEWS PICTURES/AFP v

But things in Connecticut werent all right in 1980. Hinckley became obsessed with the film Taxi Driver and its star, Jodie Foster. According to trial transcripts, investigative notes and news stories from the time, Hinckley found out Foster was set to attend Yale in the fall of 1980 and followed her to New Haven.

He called Fosters dorm room multiple times, telling her he was the one leaving her notes. Eventually, she stopped answering, but the calls kept coming and he continued slipping letters, preserved in case files, under her door. The letters profess his love for her and his scheme to kill Reagan to impress her  similar to the plot of Taxi Driver in which a reclusive cabbie plans  then balks on  an attempt to kill presidential candidate George Wallace.

(Original Caption) Some of the evidence in the trial of John W. Hinckley was made available to the media here on June 12th. This is a note written to actress Jodie Foster on March 6, 1981, just over three weeks before President Reagan was shot. Bettmann/Bettmann Archive

Reagan survived the 1981 attempt and Hinckley was quickly apprehended. Foster was compelled to provide testimony during the trial, during which she discussed her communications with Hinckley. She said she stopped reading his letters and didnt know any had mentioned killing the then-president.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

(Original Caption) New York: Secret Service agents said 4/8, they are worried that publicity over the latest bizarre threat to president Reagan's life could spawn a series of assassination attempts. Edward Richardson, arrested 4/7, for threatening the president's life in an imitation of accused would-be-assassin John Hinckley Jr., wrote in this letter found in his New Haven hotel room, "I depart now for Washington, D. C., to bring to completion Hinckley's reality." The letter is signed "Edward Richardson peoples Court." Bettmann/Bettmann Archive

Foster didnt speak about the incident for nearly 20 years.

It was a very difficult time in my life. I dont like to dwell on it too much because I never wanted to be the actress who was remembered for that event. Because it didnt have anything to do with me. I was kind of a hapless bystander, Foster told CBS in a 1999 interview. What a scarring, strange moment in history for me to be 17 years old, 18 years old, and to be caught up in a drama like that.

(Original Caption) New Haven, Connecticut: Acress Jodie Foster is shown among other incoming Yale students last September during a welcoming address by Yale President Bartlett Giametti. According to sources, she has received three notes at her apartment from accused Presidential attacker, John W. Hinckley Jr., during the school year. April 1, 1981. Bettmann/Bettmann Archive

In an interview in 2022, shortly after Hinckleys release, also with CBS, Hinckley expressed remorse for the shooting and for involving Foster and said he was glad he failed.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

I dont know anybody else whos certainly had a life like Ive had, he said in the interview. I mean, what I tell people now, if you want to get to know John Hinckley, listen to his songs.

Hinckley will perform at the Huxley Hotel on Old Firehouse Road in Naugatuck on March 30 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 at the door and $15 in advance. Advance tickets can be purchased by contacting the venue through Facebook or Instagram.
FILE - Items are displayed in the Google Store at the Google Visitor Experience in Mountain View, Calif., Oct. 11, 2023. The Justice Department says a former software engineer at Google has been charged with stealing artificial intelligence technology from the company while secretly working with two companies based in China. Linwei Ding was arrested in Newark, California., on four counts of federal trade secret theft. Eric Risberg/AP

WASHINGTON (AP)  A former software engineer at Google has been charged with stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets from the company while secretly working with two companies based in China, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

Linwei Ding, a Chinese national, was arrested in Newark, California, on four counts of federal trade secret theft, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The case against Ding, 38, was announced at an American Bar Association conference in San Francisco by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who along with other law enforcement leaders has repeatedly warned about the threat of Chinese economic espionage and about the national security concerns posed by advancements in artificial intelligence and other developing technologies.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Todays charges are the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the Peoples Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation, FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences.

Google said it had determined that the employee had stolen numerous documents and referred the matter to law enforcement.

We have strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets, Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said in a statement. "After an investigation, we found that this employee stole numerous documents, and we quickly referred the case to law enforcement. We are grateful to the FBI for helping protect our information and will continue cooperating with them closely.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

A lawyer listed as Dings defense attorney had no comment Wednesday evening.

Artificial intelligence is the main battleground for competitors in the field of high technology, and the question of who dominates can have major commercial and security implications. Justice Department leaders in recent weeks have been sounding alarms about how foreign adversaries could harness AI technologies to negatively affect the United States.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a speech last month that the administrations multi-agency Disruptive Technology Strike Force would place AI at the top of its enforcement priority list, and Wray told a conference last week that AI and other emerging technologies had made it easier for adversaries to try to interfere with the American political process.

Garland echoed those concerns at the San Francisco event, saying Wednesday that, As with all evolving technologies, (AI) has pluses and minuses, advantages and disadvantages, great promise and the risk of great harm.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The indictment unsealed Wednesday in the Northern District of California alleges that Ding, who was hired by Google in 2019 and had access to confidential information about the company's supercomputing data centers, began uploading hundreds of files into a personal Google Cloud account two years ago.

Within weeks of the theft starting, prosecutors say, Ding was offered the position of chief technology officer at an early-stage technology company in China that touted its use of AI technology and that offered him a monthly salary of about $14,800, plus an annual bonus and company stock. The indictment says Ding traveled to China and participated in investor meetings at the company and sought to raise capital for it.

He also separately founded and served as chief executive of a China-based startup company that aspired to train large AI models powered by supercomputing chips, the indictment said.

Prosecutors say Ding did not disclose either affiliation to Google, which described him Wednesday as a junior employee.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

He resigned from Google last Dec. 26.

Three days later, Google officials learned that he had presented as CEO of one of the Chinese companies at an investor conference in Beijing. Officials also reviewed surveillance footage showing that another employee had scanned Ding's access badge at the Google building in the U.S. where he worked to make it look like Ding was there during times when he was actually in China, the indictment says.

Google suspended Ding's network access and locked his laptop, and discovered his unauthorized uploads while searching his network activity history.

The FBI in January served a search warrant at Ding's home and seized his electronic devices, and later executed an additional warrant for the contents of his personal accounts containing more than 500 unique files of confidential information that authorities say he stole from Google.
FILE - A page from the 2019 U.S. Medicare Handbook is displayed on Nov. 8, 2018, in Washington. About half of Medicare Advantage members left their plans by the end of five years, according to a study published in 2023. Most switched to another Medicare Advantage plan, but not necessarily because they liked Medicare Advantage. Returning to Original Medicare can be tricky after you first sign up, because you may not be able to get a Medigap plan. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

About half of Medicare Advantage members left their plans by the end of five years, according to a 2023 study from Brown University School of Public Health. Most switched to another Medicare Advantage plan, but not necessarily because they liked Medicare Advantage. Returning to Original Medicare can be tricky after you first sign up, because you may not be able to get a Medicare Supplement Insurance plan, known as Medigap.

But for people with serious or chronic health conditions who have Medicare Advantage, limited provider networks and prior authorization requirements may make it difficult or expensive for them to get the care they need. Its helpful to understand your options.

WHEN MEDICARE ADVANTAGE ISNT THE RIGHT PLAN

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Medicare Advantage plans typically require members to get health care from doctors and hospitals within a network. Members might have trouble if their doctor falls out of network or they want to see a specialist who doesnt take their plan. Medicare Advantage plans also may require you to get approval before they cover some services or medications.

While most Medicare Advantage enrollees are in plans with a $0 premium, getting medical care costs money, and Medicare Advantage plans can have an annual out-of-pocket maximum as high as $8,850 in 2024.

Joanne Giardini-Russell, owner of the insurance agency Giardini Medicare in Michigan, recalls a client who had a Medicare Advantage plan and got cancer. He was hitting his max out-of-pocket year after year, she says. And then throw in prior authorizations, which he wasnt a fan of.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

WHEN YOU CAN CHANGE PLANS

If you have Medicare Advantage and you want to switch plans or go back to Original Medicare, there are two annual opportunities: Medicares fall open enrollment from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7 and Medicare Advantage open enrollmentfrom Jan. 1 to March 31.

However, if you want to return to Original Medicare and you have health issues, you may not qualify for Medigap, which helps keep Original Medicare affordable. In most states, after Medigaps initial enrollment period  in which you can buy any plan from any insurer, regardless of health status  companies can decline to cover you.

Everybody thinks the open enrollment in the fall is going to save them, Giardini-Russell says, remembering a client with a Medicare Advantage plan who couldnt qualify for Medigap due to a heart condition.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

She said, I thought in November, you could just change during open enrollment, Giardini-Russell says. She didnt have any way to get out.

WHAT ARE THE EXCEPTIONS?

There are two trial rights scenarios in which someone with Medicare Advantage can switch back to a Medigap plan without a medical exam:

 If you start with a Medicare Advantage plan when you first qualify for Medicare, you have 12 months to go back to Original Medicare with any Medigap plan.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

 If you have a Medigap plan and drop it to try a Medicare Advantage plan for the first time, you have 12 months to return to Original Medicare and the Medigap plan you dropped, as long as the company still sells it.

If you work with an insurance agent, they might also know which Medigap company would approve you based on your health. There are some that will treat certain conditions differently than others, says Adam Hyers, an insurance broker and founder of the insurance agency Hyers and Associates in Columbus, Ohio. We keep a list of who might be more likely to accept a client who is in a gray area.

In four states, residents have a chance at least once a year to buy a guaranteed-issue Medigap plan: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and New York. There are also quirky exceptions: In 2022 and 2023, Blue Shield of California offered an underwriting holiday during which California residents could join Medigap Plan G without medical underwriting.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois offers guaranteed-issue Medigap plans to Illinois residents. Obviously, the premiums are going to be higher, because theyre going to have higher claims, says Cynthia Pruemm, founder and CEO of SIS Financial Group in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In the worst-case scenario, moving out of your plans service area grants you another chance at guaranteed-issue Medigap.

WHAT IF YOU CANT GET MEDIGAP?

If its not possible to get Medigap, you may have to find the best Medicare Advantage plan for your needs. Dont get sidetracked by perks; pay attention to doctors and drug coverage.

For guidance, call a broker rather than the providers directly. You want to talk to somebody whos independent, that represents all of the companies, Pruemm says.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

______________________________

This article was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet. Kate Ashford is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: kashford@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @kateashford.

RELATED LINKS:

NerdWallet: What is Medicare Advantage open enrollment? https://bit.ly/nerdwallet-medicare-advantage-open-enrollment

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

METHODOLOGY

Brown University School of Public Healths study, published in the JAMA Health Forum, included 524,442,225 beneficiary-year observations representing 82,377,917 unique Medicare beneficiaries from 2011 to 2020. The primary source of data for this analysis was the Medicare Master Beneficiary Summary File (MBSF). Data analysis took place from September 2022 to March 2023.
Smallwood Dam Photo provided by FLTF

While some of the residents who are appealing the Four Lakes special assessments say its unfortunate that the appeal delayed dam restoration, they conclude that Midland and Gladwin counties got ahead of themselves.

It seems they didnt have their ducks in a row, said attorney Michael Homier of Grand Rapids Foster Swift Attorneys, who is representing the Heron Cove Association, made up of hundreds of residents, that filed an appeal to the special assessment district.

As a result of the Feb. 21 filed appeal in Midland County Circuit Court, the Four Lakes Task Force said Monday it is suspending restoration construction work in the coming months. The Four Lakes Task Force, the delegated authority by Midland and Gladwin counties, will be suspending work on Edenville, Sanford, Secord and Smallwood dams. Also, Edenville Dams final phase of construction is being delayed.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

No outcome of this appeal will be more painful for the community than to be looking at these dams in 2025 and see no construction underway, said Four Lakes Task Force President and Chairman Dave Kepler on Tuesday. FLTF is obligated and committed to restoring these lakes.

When asked if he had anticipated the appeal, Kepler said, Appeals are part of the process of establishing a lake level special assessment, so we knew that there could be appeals.

The task force speculates that the appeal process could take several months, and the task force is not able to issue bonds in June as planned to finance the final phases of the Four Lakes dam reconstruction project. Additional costs are now accruing that will impact the community with an uncertain outcome.

Homier said the task force and the counties jumped the gun by being at the point of issuing bonds before they had a confirmed special assessment district.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

More importantly, a lot of people will lose their homes over this special assessment, Homier said.

He said the more than 8,000 property owners in the Special Assessment District werent responsible for the May 19, 2020 dam failures and now they are being asked to decide between keeping their home or having a lake.

He said a lot of the homeowners are on a fixed income and/or are seniors, and they are being asked to shell out a third or half of their property value to the Four Lakes Special Assessment.

In some cases, (the assessment) is more than the value of their property, Homier said, especially regarding vacant lots.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Homier said the State of Michigan should be on the hook for the costs of restoring the dams. He said the State of Michigan spends $15.2 billion in general fund spending and $81.7 billion in total spending per year, so in his opinion, they could find the $217 million needed to fund the dam restoration.

Last October, the task force issued a timeline for the reopening of the four lakes, which is now up in the air in light of the suspension of the work. At that time, Smallwood was expected to open before Memorial Day 2025, Secord in summer or fall 2025, Sanford before Memorial Day 2026, and Wixom after Memorial Day 2026.

The target return dates will depend on if there is a resolution to the appeal before September, Kepler said. If there is a positive resolution before September, we are still likely adding a least a few months to (the timeline for) Wixom. The other dams all remain permitted and have construction on them underway, so maybe a month or two (will be added to their timelines). The longer this takes, the more uncertain the timing becomes.

Below is the Four Lakes Task Force's anticipated work suspension schedule:

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Secord Dam - Work will be suspended in June 2024 shortly after the completion of the auxiliary spillway.

Smallwood Dam - Work will be suspended in August 2024 after the auxiliary spillway is complete and the low flow outlet is stabilized.

Edenville Dam - The final phase of the Edenville Dam, scheduled to start by May 2024 (pending permit), is now delayed until financing is assured. After the completion of the current embankment improvement project in September 2024, work will be suspended.

Sanford Dam - Work will be suspended in December 2024 after completion of the current east side work.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Saturday Night

Partly cloudy in the evening with more clouds for later at night. Low 42F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.
Meals on Wheels Mesa County and the Health and Safety for Bike Helmets Project received a combined donation of $3,500 on Wednesday from the Rotary Club of Grand Junction Foundation.

The donation went to the St. Mary's Foundation for the Health and Safety for Bike Helmets Project. Funds are then used to buy helmets for area kids and work directly with School District 51, Grand Junction Fire Department and area law enforcement to promote bike safety.

Rotary presented a $2,500 check for the Health and Safety for Bike Helmets Project and a $1,000 check to Meals on Wheels Mesa County during a ceremony at the Bookcliff Country Club. The Health and Safety for Bike Helmets Project is a grant-funded St Mary's Regional Hospital program intended to facilitate youth safety through through the use of bike helmets.

Rotarys donation to the Bike Helmets Project is estimated to be enough to pay for around 250 helmets for children aged 18 and under. According to Rotary, the donation aligns with their values on child education and health.

The Meals on Wheels program has provided nutrition and sustenance to Mesa Countys homebound and elderly population since 1970 through home-delivered meals and community dining centers. Meals on Wheels currently serves around 544 meals per day, which is a decrease from the approximately 800 meals a day that the program served before recent reductions in state and federal funding.

The Rotarys donation to Meals on Wheels was inspired by a $1,000 donation from Dave Huerkamp, a member of the Rotary and President of ProSpace Interiors, a family-owned and operated office and healthcare furniture dealership.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
FILE - Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis looks on during a hearing on the Georgia election interference case, Friday, March, 1, 2024, in Atlanta. On Wednesday, March 6, Ashleigh Merchant, the lawyer who initiated the effort to remove Willis from the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump, walked state lawmakers through her investigation into the Willis' romantic relationship with a special prosecutor and why she believes it creates a conflict of interest.
This photo provided by Kia shows the 2024 Niro. The Niro starts at $28,315 and gets up to an EPA-estimated 53 mpg in combined city/highway driving. (Courtesy of Kia America via AP) AP This photo provided by Kia shows the 2024 Sportage Hybrid. The hybrid version of the Sportage is the Edmunds Top Rated SUV for 2024 and gets up to 43 mpg combined. (Courtesy of Kia America via AP) AP This photo provided by Toyota shows the 2024 RAV4 Hybrid. The hybrid version of the RAV4 gets up to an estimated 39 mpg combined and is quicker than a regular RAV4. (Courtesy of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. via AP) AP This photo provided by Hyundai shows the 2024 Tucson Hybrid. The hybrid version of the Tucson doesn't cost much more than a comparable gas-only model and gets up to an estimated 38 mpg combined. (Courtesy of Hyundai Motor America via AP) AP This photo provided by Honda shows the 2024 Honda CR-V. The hybrid version of the CR-V comes well equipped with features and gets up to an estimated 40 mpg combined. (Courtesy of American Honda Motor Co. via AP) AP

Buying a hybrid vehicle can be a smart way to help save money on gas and reduce your carbon footprint compared to a conventional gasoline-only vehicle. In recent years, automakers have also greatly expanded the availability of hybrid SUVs. These models can get impressive fuel economy while providing plenty of cargo space, available all-wheel drive, and the latest in technology and driver assist features. Edmunds experts have picked five of the best new hybrid SUVs on sale today for under $35,000. Theyre listed below in order of affordability, and all prices include the destination charge.

The 2024 Niro is a small hybrid crossover SUV that also gets the best fuel economy of the models featured here. According to the EPA, the Niro can get up to 53 mpg in combined city/highway driving. The Niro also provides the utility you might expect from a bigger and more expensive SUV. Theres plenty of space in the second row and the 22.8-cubic-foot cargo area is useful enough for most daily errands. In addition to its low price, the 2024 Niro Hybrid is backed by Kias impressive standard warranty and roadside assistance coverage plans. The main downsides to the Niro are slow acceleration and a lack of available all-wheel drive.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Base starting price, including destination: $28,315

Edmunds top-rated hybrid SUV is also one of the most affordable. The 2024 Sportage Hybrid is one size larger than the Niro in Kias hybrid SUV lineup and has more interior room. Its also more enjoyable to drive. The Sportage Hybrid has a turbocharged hybrid powertrain that makes plenty of power when merging onto freeways and without the droning noise common with many hybrids. Its not quite as fuel-efficient but it still gets up to an EPA-estimated 43 mpg combined. The Sportage Hybrid provides up to 39.5 cubic feet of cargo space behind its back seat. In addition, owners benefit from Kias long warranty and roadside assistance plans. The climate and media controls can be distracting to use, but otherwise the Sportage Hybrid is about as vice-free as an SUV can get.

Base starting price: $29,965

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

We think the 2024 RAV4 Hybrid is the best version of this popular crossover SUV. Supplying more power than a standard RAV4, the RAV4 Hybrid is also far more fuel-efficient, returning up to an EPA-estimated 39 mpg. Every RAV4 Hybrid has all-wheel drive to help out with wintertime driving. Select the rugged-looking Woodland Edition and your RAV4 Hybrid will also have an off-road-tuned suspension and all-terrain tires. Who says hybrids have to be dorky? Theres plenty of utility, too, with up to 37.6 cubic feet of cargo space behind the back seats. Some drivers might be put off by the RAV4s noisy engine or dated-looking center touchscreen graphics, but overall this is a pretty compelling hybrid.

Base starting price: $33,075

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Though it is one of the most expensive and least efficient models on this list, there are good reasons to choose a 2024 Tucson Hybrid. Its mechanically related to the Sportage Hybrid and has the same turbocharged hybrid powertrain that gets up to 38 mpg combined. Its pleasing to drive and has standard all-wheel drive. The Tucson Hybrid delivers utility by way of 38.7 cubic feet of cargo space behind its back seats. Add a terrific warranty plus other perks, such as a three-day return policy to swap for a different Hyundai, and youve got a value-packed hybrid.

Base starting price: $33,950

Technically, the 2024 CR-V hybrids price creeps over our limit when you include the destination charge. Honda only equips the hybrid powertrain on the CR-Vs more expensive  and better-equipped  trim levels. But spending the extra Benjamins is pretty easy to justify. The CR-V boasts a roomy interior and a smooth ride over bumps. Hondas hybrid powertrain also supplies quick acceleration and fuel economy of up to 40 mpg combined. Open the rear liftgate and youll find 39.3 cubic feet of cargo area. The CR-Vs hybrid powertrain makes competitive power but can sound noisy and strained on hilly terrain.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Base price: $35,400 (Sport Hybrid trim level)

EDMUNDS SAYS

Each of these hybrid SUVs delivers impressive fuel economy, plenty of utility, and good value at a base price under $35,000. And of these, which one is the best? That would be the 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid. It has won the Edmunds Top Rated SUV award for two years in a row.

____________

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds.
A Grand Junction man convicted as a habitual domestic violence offender in 2018 wont get that designation removed from his criminal record, the Colorado Court of Appeal ruled on Feb. 29.

Jesus Villarruel had previously pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges, twice in 2014 and once in 2017, that each underlying factual basis included an act of domestic violence, the court wrote.

But in 2018, he was again charged and convicted on a new misdemeanor, third-degree assault that also included an act of domestic violence. As a result of the four convictions, he was additionally charged with being a habitual domestic violence offender, a class 5 felony, and sentenced to three years in prison.

He has since been released.

Villarruel, 52, appealed that habitual offender conviction, and persuaded a different three-judge panel of the appeals court that his second underlying convictions in 2014 wasnt proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

That court remanded the case back to the district court with orders to see if that conviction had merit, which it did.

Villarruel appealed again, saying the district court should not have used transcripts from that 2014 trial, that there was insufficient evidence supporting upholding his conviction as a habitual offender, and that the court violated his Sixth Amendment rights because he couldnt cross-examine a transcript.

A new three-judge panel rejected each argument.

The prosecution offered the transcript as evidence that Villarruel pleaded guilty in (2014) to criminal mischief that included an act of domestic violence, Judge Grant Sullivan wrote in the ruling, which was joined by Judges Stephanie Dunn and Neeti Pawar.

On appeal, the people argue that the transcript was admissible under the hearsay exception for public records and reports, Sullivan added. Here, however, the transcript was admitted for the limited purpose of showing that Villarruel pleaded guilty to a specific charge involving domestic violence in a previous Mesa County proceeding. The prosecution did not offer the transcript to prove the truth of any witnesss testimony.

The court also wrote that because the transcript was used for that purpose only, there was no witness to cross-examine.

The court also rejected Villarruels argument that the court shouldnt have re-adjudicated him as a habitual offender, saying its remand to the lower court was simply to establish if the 2014 conviction was proven and did involve domestic violence.

In his first appeal, Villarruel challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the domestic violence finding in (the 2014 conviction) only not his other two misdemeanors, Sullivan wrote.

Agreeing with Villarruel, the (first appellate court) instructed the district court to hold further proceedings on the prior conviction  only, he added. Contrary to his arguments, the (previous appeal) did not wipe the slate clean by rendering his entire (habitual) adjudication a nullity.

Villarruel had been arrested in 2016 at the Mesa County Justice Center that could have led to separate assault and obstruction charges, but didnt, when he allegedly yelled at court deputies that he was glad that Mesa County Deputy Derek Greer was shot to death, according to his arrest affidavit at the time.
While far more Coloradans voted in the Republican primary where former President Donald Trump won handily, President Joe Biden earned a far greater percentage of votes in the Democratic primary on Tuesday.

But although about one-third of Republican primary voters chose former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley over Trump, Biden won about 83% of the vote in his primary, losing more than 8% of Democratic voters to, well, no one.

Regardless, what that means is that all of Colorados 87 Democratic delegates to that partys national convention will go to Biden; Trump will have two-thirds of the GOPs 37 delegates.

Under party rules, if a Republican candidate wins more than 20% of the primary vote, they qualify for delegates. For Democrats, the threshold is 15%, meaning the noncommitted votes wont translate into convention delegates.

Its clear that Donald Trump and Joe Biden will be our respective presidential nominees, said Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Shad Murib. The road to victory will run through Colorado. Democrats cant take Colorados 10 electoral college votes for granted, and with so many competitive congressional races, the House majority could very well be decided in our state.

The Colorado Democratic Party asked for the none-of-the-above option to give voters a chance to cast their ballots against Biden, but not for any specific alternative. Its only the second time the party has placed that option on the presidential primary. The first time was in 1992.

Colorado was one of six states to have a similar noncommitted vote choice on Super Tuesday, with the option available to Democratic voters in other primaries elsewhere in the nation.

More than 100,000 voters, or 13%, cast uncommitted votes in Michigans Democratic primary last week, for example, and 19% chose the noncommitted option in Minnesotas Democratic race on Tuesday.

In states across the country, Democrat voters turned out to vote against Biden, said Rachel Lee, deputy communications director for the Republican National Committee. In North Carolina, a key battleground state, Biden ceded 12 points to no opponent, with Democrat voters selecting no preference over the sitting president.

Overall, the results of the Super Tuesday primaries, which Trump won all except for Vermont, gives the former president a total of 1,004 convention delegates, all but clinching the nomination. He needs 1,215 to win it all. Haley suspended her presidential bid on Wednesday.

Biden, meanwhile, has 1,506 of the 1,968 delegates needed to win his partys nomination.

As in the statewide vote, Trump far outperformed Biden in the 26 counties that make up the 3rd Congressional District, not counting the few precincts in Eagle County that also are in the district.

There, Trump pulled in 95,837 votes compared to Bidens 53,923. Haley won 35,507 in the district, winning three of those counties, Pitkin, San Juan and San Miguel. (She also led Trump in Boulder, Denver, Routt and Summit counties.)

Statewide, Trump pulled in 519,023 votes compared to Haleys 274,326. Biden received 447,846 votes and 43,725 voted noncommitted to a Democratic candidate.

It is unknown who unaffiliated voters cast their ballots for, but the vast number of them, 265,871, voted in the Republican primary compared to the 119,769 in the Democratic contest.

Voter turnout statewide in both primaries combined was about 36%.
March 6, 2024

Release

Readout of U.S.-Oman Joint Military Commission

Department of Defense Spokesman Maj. Pete Nguyen provided the following readout:

The United States and the Sultanate of Oman held the U.S.-Oman Joint Military Commission (JMC) in Muscat, Oman, on March 5-6, 2024. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for the Middle East Daniel Shapiro led the U.S. delegation. Secretary General, His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Bin Nasser Al-Za'abi, led the Oman delegation.

The JMC is the premier bilateral forum for senior U.S. and Omani government and defense officials to discuss ongoing defense and military cooperation and to advance the U.S.-Oman defense relationship.

DASD Shapiro and Secretary General Al-Za'abi reaffirmed the strength of the U.S.-Oman strategic partnership. The delegations conferred on a broad range of security challenges throughout the region, including maritime and border security threats as well as the importance of deterring threats from any state or non-state actor seeking to exploit tensions in the region. The U.S. participants also briefed on developments in the Israel-Gaza war, U.S.-led efforts to restore security for commercial and naval vessels in the Red Sea, and U.S participates collaborated with their Omani counterparts on ways to grow the defense partnership over the coming years, including by strengthening border security initiatives and maritime domain awareness. The JMC included sessions on defense cooperation, military operations and agreements, and strategic initiatives.

The U.S. delegation expressed gratitude for Oman's continued partnership and its leadership role in advancing a more prosperous, stable, and secure Middle East. Both sides agreed on the importance of strengthening the U.S.-Oman defense and security partnership through joint training, exercises, and working together to expand regional cooperation to address shared threats.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3698420/

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






March 6, 2024

Release

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Phone Call With the Kuwaiti Minister of Defense, His Excellency Sheikh Fahad Youssef Al-Sabah

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj Gen Pat Ryder provided the following readout:

Today, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke by phone with the Kuwaiti Acting Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, and Minister of Interior, His Excellency Sheikh Fahad Youssef Al-Sabah, to reaffirm the strong bilateral defense partnership between the United States and Kuwait.

Secretary Austin congratulated the Minister on his recent appointment as Minister of Defense and thanked Kuwait for longstanding and critical hospitality in hosting U.S. forces. Secretary Austin also acknowledged Kuwait's leading role in working to achieve regional stability and security.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3698567/

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Additional Contractors Indicted for Rigging Bids and Defrauding the U.S. Military in South Korea

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

For Immediate Release

Office of Public Affairs

A federal grand jury in the Western District of Texas returned a superseding indictment today charging a third South Korean national and a South Korean company for their roles in a bid-rigging conspiracy and a scheme to defraud the United States in connection with operation and maintenance work for U.S. military installations in South Korea.

According to the superseding indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Hye Yeon "Rachel" Jo was the CEO of DESCA Co. Ltd. (DESCA), a company that performed subcontract work on U.S. military installations in South Korea. Beginning at least as early as November 2018, Jo and DESCA, along with others, conspired to rig bids and fix prices for subcontract work, and defrauded the U.S. Department of Defense to obtain millions of dollars in repair and maintenance subcontract work at U.S military installations in South Korea. Hyuk Jin Kwon and Hyun Ki Shin, who conspired with Jo and DESCA, were previously indicted on similar charges on March 16, 2022.

"These alleged crimes targeted United States military installations overseas, where we make significant investments to protect our strategic interests," said Director Daniel Glad of the Justice Department's Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF). "The Antitrust Division and our PCSF partners around the globe will continue to investigate and pursue charges for illegal conduct that targets U.S. military spending, wherever it occurs."

"Fair and open competition is crucial to protecting the interests of the American taxpayer," said Special Agent in Charge Stanley A. Newell of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service's (DCIS) Transnational Operations Field Office. "The dedicated professionals of DCIS, along with our partners from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID), FBI and PCSF, remain vigilant in our efforts to bring to justice those who threaten the integrity of our military procurement system."

"This adjudication was made possible by combining the investigative forces of Army CID's Far East Fraud Resident Agency and the Republic of South Korea. These international partnerships are invaluable and help protect the integrity of the contracting and bidding process of the U.S. military," said Special Agent in Charge Keith K. Kelly of the Army CID's Fraud Field Office. "The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division is committed to identifying and holding accountable all those who would attempt to defraud the U.S. government and the American people."

"Today's indictment continues the results of the FBI's investigation into a South Korean company for conspiring to defraud the United States," said Assistant Director Michael Nordwall of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division. "The defendants orchestrated a scheme to rig bids and fix prices to obtain millions of dollars in contract work on military bases. As this case demonstrates, the FBI is committed to taking meaningful action to maintain a fair and free marketplace both at home, and abroad."

The eight-count indictment charges Jo, DESCA, Kwon and Shin with one count of conspiracy to restrain trade (violating the Sherman Act), one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and six counts of wire fraud. This indictment is the second in an investigation into bid rigging and price fixing for operation and maintenance work for U.S. military installations in South Korea. A South Korean company was previously sentenced for participating in the conspiracy and fraud scheme on Sept. 12, 2023.

The defendants face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals and a maximum penalty of a $100 million fine for corporations for the violation of the Sherman Act. They also face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for violating the wire fraud statute. The maximum fines may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by victims if either amount is greater than the statutory maximum. Upon a conviction, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Antitrust Division's Washington Criminal II Section, Army CID, FBI and DCIS investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Daniel E. Lipton and Daniel P. Chung of the Antitrust Division are prosecuting the case, with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew B. Devlin for the Western District of Texas.

Anyone with information about this investigation or other procurement fraud schemes should notify the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF) at www.justice.gov/atr/webform/pcsf-citizen-complaint. The Justice Department created the PCSF in November 2019. It is a joint law enforcement effort to combat antitrust crimes and related fraudulent schemes that impact government procurement, grant and program funding at all levels of government - federal, state and local. For more information, visit www.justice.gov/procurement-collusion-strike-force.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Topic: Antitrust

Component: Antitrust Division

Press Release Number: 24-257

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Estonia holds strategic security dialogue with Romania

Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

06.03.2024

On 5 and 6 March, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jonatan Vseviov and Secretary General of the Ministry of Defence Kusti Salm hosted their colleagues from the foreign and defence ministries of Romania as part of a strategic dialogue. The main topics of discussions were the defence and security policy of Europe and the Alliance, NATO's upcoming Washington summit and Russia's war against Ukraine. The two-day meeting also included security briefings and a visit to the Tapa military base.

The discussion on defence and security policy focused on reinforcing the eastern border and increasing the real defence capabilities of Europe and NATO. "The eastern border states of NATO and the European Union share a similar geopolitical reality and perception," Secretary General Vseviov said. "It is essential for the security policy of the region that these countries boost their cooperation and ties."

"Russia's continued war of aggression in Ukraine is prominent in the thoughts and discussions of Europeans from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. Romania is Estonia's important partner and NATO Ally. I am glad we were able to talk about defence cooperation and share our respective positions ahead of the quickly approaching Washington summit," Secretary General Salm said.

"We are standing at a critical juncture in the war in Ukraine, with Ukraine urgently needing our help in mainly weapons aid as it fights for Europe's freedom and security. It is important for both countries individually and the European Union to quickly make the decisions that help Ukraine win this war," Vseviov said.

They also emphasised that the NATO summit in Washington must deliver clearer messages and more concrete steps to Ukraine on its path to joining the Alliance. "We cannot get stuck in the Vilnius summit and we must make quick process in Ukraine's accession process," Vseviov emphasised.

At the Tapa military base, Commander of the Estonian Division Major General Veiko-Vello Palm briefed his Romanian colleagues on the capabilities of Estonia and Allies in defending the eastern border of NATO and the European Union.

It was the first meeting between Estonia and Romania held in the strategic dialogue format.

The Romanian delegation was headed by Ana Tinca, State Secretary for Strategic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Major General Mihail Iancu, Undersecretary for Defence Policy at the Ministry of Defence. It was the first international visit for Ana Tinca who recently took office as State Secretary.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






China slams US' citing mutual defense treaty to back Philippine provocations in South China Sea

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Mar 06, 2024 05:32 PM

China on Wednesday reiterated its stance over South China Sea including the Ren'an Jiao (Ren'ai Reef) and slammed the Philippines' provocations and the US' backing the Philippines regardless of the facts.

Ren'ai Jiao is part of China's Nansha Islands, and China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their surrounding waters, including the reef, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a routine press briefing.

The Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) has taken necessary law enforcement measures against the Philippines' provocative actions in Ren'ai Reef, which were legitimate, professional, and restrained. In this incident, it is clear who is provoking and causing trouble, who is violating international law, and who is endangering peace and stability in the South China Sea. The truth is clear for all to see, Mao said.

The US State Department disregards facts, distorts right and wrong, baselessly attacks and accuses China's legitimate actions to safeguard its rights, and frequently threatens China by invoking the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty. It backs and encourages the Philippines' provocative actions of encroachment. China firmly opposes this, Mao stressed.

The so-called South China Sea arbitration, which is cited by the Philippines and some countries as a standard, seriously violated international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and is completely illegal and invalid, Mao said.

The dispute on Ren'ai Reef is a bilateral issue between China and the Philippines, and any third party, including the US, should not take advantage of the situation or intervene. China's determination to defend its legitimate rights is unwavering, and the Philippines' attempts of provocation will not succeed.

China advises the US not to use the Philippines as a pawn to disrupt the situation in the South China Sea, and the Philippines should not allow itself to be manipulated by the US. History teaches the lesson that countries acting as a pawn will ultimately become abandoned pieces.

A joint statement by Australia and the ASEAN stated that countries should avoid taking actions that impact peace and tranquility in the South China Sea.

In response to a question on the statement and the Philippines' accusation against China, Mao said she had not seen the full text of the statement, but in principle, the current situation in the South China Sea is generally stable.

China's position is consistent and clear. We will continue to be committed to properly managing differences with relevant countries through dialogue and consultation, fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea with ASEAN members, actively promote consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and jointly safeguard peace and stability throughout the region.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






FILE - This May 18, 2021, photo shows a woman typing on a laptop on a train in New Jersey. Becoming self-employed can be an exciting journey, but its also possible to make expensive mistakes. These mistakes can create financial setbacks that stunt your growth or impact your financial security in the present and future if caution isnt taken. Jenny Kane/AP

When you become self-employed, you join millions of other business owners hoping to materialize their dreams. However, navigating the murky waters of self-employment can be challenging, especially during the early stages.

While there are no guarantees in business, there are some strategies that could increase your chances of success, especially financially. Here are a few mistakes to avoid as a self-employed person.

1. NOT DELEGATING OR PRIORITIZING

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Self-employed people often act as their own stunt doubles in their business during the incipient stages because of budget constraints. However, trying to do it all on your own may be a mistake, says Ronne Brown, owner of Girl CEO and Herlistic in Washington, D.C.

We have to understand that we go fast by ourselves, but we go far as a team, she says. For people who feel they cant afford to delegate, Brown says to keep your expenses low until you can afford to do so.

If you do decide to delegate, its key to spend your dollars in ways that help your business grow. To do this, people should consider focusing on the business operations and systems versus just aesthetics, Brown says. Doing this effectively often requires prioritization.

In the beginning, people are always focused on the look. But thats not what truly creates the income in business, she says.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Brown suggests prioritizing bookkeepers and accountants, building automations or hiring someone to generate leads. Also, keep in mind that you can usually deduct the cost of contracted labor from your business taxes.

2. NOT SAVING FOR RETIREMENT

Saving for retirement as an entrepreneur can easily fall to the bottom of your priority list. This is a common mistake self-employed people make, says Preston Cherry, a certified financial planner in Green Bay, Wisconsin. While it can be smart to reinvest income you generate into your business, it may be equally important to build an emergency fund with three to six months worth of expenses and invest in your retirement savings.

Cherry says self-employed people have multiple retirement savings accounts to choose from, including an IRA or a solo 401(k).

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Not only are you as a business owner saving for your retirement, you are also getting to deduct the contributions (for) tax planning as well, Cherry says.

Contributions made to traditional solo 401(k)s and traditional SIMPLE IRAs can provide tax advantages like lowering your taxable income and enabling your investments to grow tax-deferred. That means your tax bill is deferred until you withdraw the money in retirement.

SEP IRAs are designed for self-employed people or small businesses with few or no employees and have similar characteristics.

3. SPENDING MONEY ON COURSES YOU DONT TAKE

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

As a new entrepreneur, you may want to amp up your knowledge to make your business more profitable. That could mean spending money on courses or training, which can sometimes cost a pretty penny. While investing in yourself can be worthwhile, you may not get a return on your investment if you dont take the courses and apply the knowledge.

Make sure that you are fully committed and that you are dedicated to actually doing the work and sitting down and making time before you invest in any course or class, says Brown. You cant have excuses. People buy stuff with an excuse in mind.

Brown also recommends doing your homework before investing in a course, especially on social media. You can do this by looking beyond good content and ensuring the person youre buying courses from has a proven track record of delivering results.

For me, when Im looking for a mentorship or Im looking for people to train me, Im looking at the personal success that they are having in the area that I am looking to grow in, she says.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

4. NOT CONSIDERING HEALTH CARE COSTS

Health care may be a worry for self-employed people, especially when they dont have employer support. A health savings account is one way to make the financial load lighter since there are many tax benefits.

Theres no tax going in. Theres no tax while in it, and theres no tax coming out, Cherry says.

With HSAs, contributions are made pretax, interest grows tax-free and qualified withdrawals are tax-free. In 2024, single individuals can contribute up to $4,150, while families can contribute up to $8,300.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

You must have a high-deductible health care plan to be eligible to open an HSA as a self-employed person. Another option to make health care more affordable is taking the self-employed health insurance deduction if you qualify.

5. NOT HAVING A CLEAR WHY

Entrepreneurship can be a way to make extra money or materialize your dreams, but it can also become a money pit. For this reason, its important to have a clear why, Cherry says. Having a clear purpose can also help you know when to keep pushing through difficulties and when to stop.

Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Its not supposed to be. Its not the only way to wealth.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

________________________

This column was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet. The content is for educational and informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. Elizabeth Ayoola is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: eayoola@nerdwallet.com

RELATED LINK:

NerdWallet: 25 ways to make money online, offline and at home https://bit.ly/nerdwallet-how-to-make-money-online-and-offline
Chinese Foreign Minister urges countries outside the region not to stir up trouble in South China Sea

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Mar 07, 2024 12:53 PM

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday urged countries from outside the region to not stir up troubles in the South China Sea, as he vows to take justified actions to defend China's rights and respond with prompt and legitimate countermeasures.

Wang made the remarks at a press conference at the ongoing second session of the 14th National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.

The Chinese people have worked for generations in the South China Sea, and islands and reefs in the South China Sea have long been territories administered by the Chinese governments in accordance with law, Wang said.

Today's South China Sea is the world's busiest, safest and freest sea lane, as 50 percent of commercial ships with one third of maritime trade sail past the region without any disruptions or obstacles over decades, Wang said.

"In the current turbulent world, peace and stability in the South China Sea has been maintained thanks to the collective efforts of China and ASEAN member states, and the most important experience we have drawn is that we must adhere to two principles: first, differences should be properly managed and resolved through dialogue, consultation, or negotiation between states directly involved. Second, peace at the sea should be upheld by China and ASEAN member states working together," the foreign minister said.

On maritime disputes, China has maintained restraint, advocated seeking a solution that all sides can accept based on the spirit of good neighborliness and friendship as well as the respect on history and legal facts, Wang said.

"However, abusing our good will should not be allowed, and distorting maritime laws cannot be accepted. In face of deliberate infringements, we will take justified actions to defend our rights in accordance with the law. In face of unwarranted provocation, we will respond with prompt and legitimate countermeasures," Wang stressed.

"We urge countries from outside of the region to not stir up trouble, not to take sides, and not to become spoilers or perpetrator in the South China Sea," he said.

China is willing to work with ASEAN member states to strive for an early conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and to ensure that the South China Sea remains a sea of peace and cooperation.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






China expresses disappointment after US used veto on a cease-fire in Gaza for a fourth time

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Mar 06, 2024 02:06 PM

China is deeply disappointed that the UN Security Council's call for a cease-fire had been forcibly blocked by the United States for a fourth time, Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, said in a statement on Tuesday. As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan approaches, the international community must push for an immediate cease-fire and an end to the conflict with the strongest sense of urgency and the greatest political determination.

According to the statement, the current results of the Council's vote clearly show that the vast majority of Council members are unanimous on the issue of a cease-fire in Gaza, while the US exclusively abused its veto power to stifle the Council's consensus, which has caused widespread discontent in the international community.

Geng said that the immediate cease-fire in Gaza is necessary to save innocent civilians, a prerequisite for humanitarian relief and a key to avoid further escalation and proliferation of the conflict. International community has to push for an immediate cease-fire to preserve the hope of survival for the people of Gaza.

"We urge Israel to immediately reverse its course, cancel its plan of attack on Rafah, stop its military assault on Gaza and end its forced transfer and collective punishment of the Palestinian community," Geng said. "We call on the countries concerned to put aside geostrategic and domestic political considerations, to be truly impartial and responsible, and to make the right choice and play a constructive role in promoting a cease-fire in Gaza."

Gaza, which remains under fire, is facing an unprecedented humanitarian disaster, with extreme shortages of survival supplies. Nearly 600,000 people are on the brink of starvation and social order is on the verge of collapse.

Geng said that China urges Israel, as the occupying party, to fulfill its obligations under international law by guaranteeing the safe, rapid and unimpeded entry of sufficient humanitarian supplies and by taking practical measures to safeguard the safety of humanitarian agencies and personnel and provide them with the necessary facilities to carry out their relief work. Geng said that resolutions 2712 and 2720 adopted by the Council must be fully implemented.

Geng emphasized that the two-state solution is the only viable way to resolve the Hamas-Israeli conflict. The recent public rejection of the two-state solution by some Israeli political figures and the rejection of any international efforts to realize an independent Palestinian State are alarming.

"China calls for intensified international and regional diplomatic efforts to reshape a credible multilateral process, revitalize the political prospects for the two-state solution and restart direct negotiations between Palestine and Israel," Geng said. "We advocate the convening of an international peace conference of greater scale, scope and effectiveness. We support Palestine's full membership in the UN as soon as possible."

China will continue to work with the international community to maintain unremitting efforts to put an end to the fighting in Gaza, and alleviate the humanitarian disaster, to implement the two-state solution and to realize long-term peace and security in the Middle East, Geng said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Deeper defence cooperation between Sweden and Germany

Government Offices of Sweden

06 March 2024

On 5 March, Minister for Defence Pal Jonson received his German counterpart Boris Pistorius.

During the visit, they discussed the security situation, current NATO and EU issues, support to Ukraine and bilateral defence cooperation. The defence ministers also signed a joint letter of intent on deeper cooperation between Sweden and Germany.

"This visit is an important step for intensified cooperation between Sweden and Germany. Once both countries are NATO members, possibilities for cooperation will expand. This applies particularly to cooperation on security in the Baltic Sea region," says Mr Jonson.

Sweden and Germany previously signed a joint letter of intent in 2017. It has now been updated in light of Sweden's forthcoming NATO membership, with the aim of intensifying and expanding cooperation. The letter of intent enables both countries' armed forces and defence agencies to expand on their current cooperation and promote new initiatives.

While Mr Pistorius was in Sweden, he also visited the Swedish Defence Conscription and Assessment Agency.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






DR Congo: Civilians in the firing line as use of heavy weapons signals alarming new phase of armed conflict in the east

ICRC - International Committee of the Red Cross

Goma (ICRC) - A sharp uptick in the numbers of civilians wounded by heavy weapons in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is threatening to overwhelm health facilities already struggling to provide care, further worsening one of the world's largest and most complex humanitarian crises, Robert Mardini, director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), warned during a five-day visit to the country.

News release

06 March 2024

Democratic Republic of the Congo

"What we are seeing now in eastern DRC is in many ways unprecedented and extremely worrying. With the latest upsurge in hostilities since early February, hundreds of badly injured civilians, many of them women and children, have been streaming into healthcare facilities in North Kivu - 40 percent of them victims of shelling or other heavy weapons used in densely populated urban areas. This new dynamic is adding to the deep suffering of huge numbers of civilians already worn down by decades of conflict," said Mr Mardini.

Under international humanitarian law, parties to a conflict have a responsibility to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and must take all feasible precautions to spare them from harm.

"The use of explosive weapons in populated areas - including near displaced camps - is very likely to have indiscriminate effects, meaning they can kill and wound civilians. This is precisely what we see happening in North Kivu today - with devastating consequences," Mr Mardini added.

Fighting has intensified in recent weeks between DRC government forces and the M23 armed group - the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups reported to be active in the strategically important and resource-rich region, which has been at the epicentre of multiple conflicts since the 1990s.

Civilians are bearing the brunt, with some 7 million displaced from their homes, many of them multiple times - 2.5 million of them in North Kivu alone.

The complexity of humanitarian challenges is in stark evidence at the ICRC-supported Ndosho hospital in Goma, North Kivu's provincial capital. With a daily influx of wounded civilians - many of them children - the hospital is at more than double its normal capacity with more than 130 beds, many of them in tents.

Patients arrive on the backs of motorbikes or public transport from conflict zones around the town of Sake, a mere 25 kilometres away, often fleeing with nothing and separated from their families. Increasing numbers have very serious injuries requiring complex surgery and amputations; some die while trying to reach the hospital.

In one ward, a young mother - visibly traumatised - tries to comfort her four-year-old daughter suffering from shrapnel wounds on her face and body. Her other two children were killed in the attack on their home in Sake. Another woman whose leg had to be amputated following an attack on the displaced camp where she was living near Sake similarly lost two of her children. Nearby, a five-year-old girl who saw her mother killed and who was herself badly injured lies motionless and silent. Dozens of others have their own harrowing stories.

Other patients' injuries remain largely hidden. Sexual and gender-based violence became endemic during DRC's multiple conflicts and remains a major concern in this current phase. Many cases are never reported, for fear of stigma or reprisals, so the full magnitude of the problem is unclear. ICRC-trained psychologists provide mental health and psychosocial support - but needs far outstrip the limited response capacity.

Former child combatants are also among those recovering from physical and mental trauma in the hospital. One 15-year-old boy recruited by an armed group now desperately wants to return home and go to school, but he's afraid of being rejected by his family. Recruitment of children into fighting forces is a major concern - with a 45 percent increase recorded by the UN in the first six months of 2023 compared to the previous year.

"Seeing the levels of suffering here is really distressing - and this is just a snapshot of the scale and complexity of humanitarian challenges in the DRC," said Mr Mardini at Ndosho hospital. "We are witnessing a protection crisis on a vast scale, one that is preventable."

"Humanitarian response - while vital - is clearly not the solution. For our part, the ICRC works closely with the DRC Red Cross to protect and assist people affected by the conflict - for example by strengthening physical and mental healthcare for the wounded, sick, and traumatized; improving water supply and sanitation; and reuniting families.

"Yet the single most effective way to reduce the suffering we are witnessing is for the parties to the conflict to meet their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians. We call on them to do so as a matter of the greatest urgency," added Mr Mardini. "Failure will spell a bleak future for millions of Congolese who have known war all their lives."

About the ICRC

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a neutral, impartial and independent organization with an exclusively humanitarian mandate that stems from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It helps people around the world affected by armed conflict and other violence, doing everything it can to protect their lives and dignity and to relieve their suffering, often alongside its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran impounds US oil cargo in Persian Gulf

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Mar 6, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Following a court order after the Iranian EB patients filed a complaint against the US, the Islamic Republic of Iran confiscated a US oil cargo in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday.

A group of Iranian patients suffering from Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a rare inherited skin disorder, filed a complaint against the US at the international relations legal court (branch 55) in Tehran.

The patients alleged that the sanctions imposed by the US and other Western countries prevented a Swedish company from selling special medical bandages and pharmaceuticals to Iran, causing serious physical and mental harm to them.

As a result of the order issued by the court, an oil cargo belonging to the US was seized from the ADVANTAGE SWEET oil tanker in the Persian Gulf.

The value of the oil shipment is estimated to be more than $50 million.

3266**2050

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Palestine situation demands more than mere statements: Iran to Islamic states

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Mar 6, 2024

Jeddah, IRNA -- While there are no significant differences among Islamic states regarding their support for Gaza, the situation in Palestine demands more than mere statements, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has said.

The Iranian foreign minister participated in an emergency meeting of foreign ministers from Islamic countries in Jeddah to assess the Gaza situation.

Following the meeting, Iran called for all Islamic states to swiftly sever diplomatic ties and halt trade with the Zionist regime, Amirabdollahian said after the meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah when speaking to reporters late on Tuesday.

The Zionist regime's attempts to erase the history and identity of occupied Palestine pose a grave danger, he emphasized.

He also said that the US talks about humanitarian aid, which is really hypocritical because they have stood by the Zionist regime all along the war and even managed the battle for the Israeli regime.

He said that the Israeli regime should be prosecuted in The Hague as a war criminal.

The OIC, which comprises 57 member states and has its secretariat in Jeddah, convened the foreign ministerial meeting on Gaza at the request of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Last month, during a hearing on the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the OIC secretary general and a legal team presented an oral statement at the International Court of Justice in The Hague and highlighted the Israeli regime's crimes against the Palestinian people, particularly in the Gaza Strip.

An OIC statement then announced that the secretariat of this organization, along with the media, have started monitoring the crimes of the Zionist regime against the Palestinians and are in the process of setting up a legal observatory to document those crimes.

Back in October, the OIC convened an extraordinary meeting of its executive committee at the level of the foreign ministers to review the situation in Gaza.

9417**4354

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iraqi resistance hits Haifa airport power plant

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Mar 6, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Iraq's Islamic Resistance says it has once again targeted the Israeli city of Haifa in the occupied Palestinian territories with drones.

According to IRNA, quoting the media of the resistance forces, the power plant of Haifa was hit by a drone, plunging the city airport into darkness late on Tuesday.

This is the second attack by Iraq's Islamic Resistance on the Israeli city in less than three days in support of the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip. On Friday, the group said that it had attacked a chemical warehouse in Haifa port with drones

The Zionist media also confirmed Friday's attack, saying there was the activation of the defense system in Haifa port and the sound of an explosion.

This is the first time an alarm raised in Haifa since the start of the war on Gaza, the media said.

As Israel goes ahead with its genocidal war, regional resistance groups including Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Ansarullah, and Iraq's Islamic Resistance keep targeting US and Israeli interests in an effort to exert pressure on the regime to end its bloodshed in Gaza.

4399

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Yemeni army targets American warships in Red Sea

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Mar 6, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- The Yemeni army has targeted two American warships in water off the country's west coast in solidarity with the Palestinian people and in response to the US-UK aggression against Yemen.

Yahya Saree, the spokesperson of the Yemeni National Army, announced about the attack on American destroyers in a statement on Tuesday night quoted by Al-Masirah network website.

"The Naval forces, Missile forces, and air forces of the Yemeni armed forces, with the help of God, carried out a qualitative military operation in which they targeted two American warship destroyers in the Red Sea,", Saree said.

The operation was carried out with a number of naval missiles and drones, he said adding that the Yemeni armed forces will not hesitate to expand their operations against all hostile targets in response to the calls of the Yemeni nation to provide support and assistance to the Palestinians, who until this moment are being subjected to aggression and siege.

The spokesman reiterated that the Yemeni operation will not stop until the aggression stops and the siege imposed on the Palestinians in Gaza Strip is lifted.

There were no immediate reports of any damage caused to the warships by Yemeni drones and missiles

Yemeni forces launched their operations against Israeli or Israeli-bound ships in the Red Sea but over the past month, they have intensified attack on US and British ships in retaliation for the two countries' aggression against Yemen.

Yemen's military and government officials have repeatedly warned Washington and London that their actions would not go unanswered, saying Yemen reserves the right to respond to any aggression against its sovereignty.

Yemen's Defense Minister, Major General Mohammad Nasser Al-Atefi, recently said that his country is not afraid of the US and that it will not stop its operations unless the massacre of the Palestinian people in Gaza is stopped.

4399

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Yemeni armed forces say hit American warships in Arabian Sea

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Wed / 6 March 2024 / 11:54

Yemeni armed forces say they have launched a military operation against American warships sailing in the Arabian Sea as part of their campaign to force the Israeli regime to end its aggression against the people of Gaza.

Spokesman of Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree said on Tuesday that the Yemeni forces carried out "a qualitative military operation targeting two American warships in the Red Sea through our naval forces, missile force, and drone air force."

"The operation was executed with many naval missiles and drones," he added.

The spokesman said the operation was carried out "in support of the oppressed Palestinian people and as part of the response to the American-British aggression against our country."

"The Yemeni Armed Forces will not hesitate to expand their operations against all hostile targets in response to the calls of the free from our great people and our Islamic nation in providing support and assistance to the Palestinian people who are still under aggression and siege to this moment," Saree said.

He added that the operations of the "Yemeni Armed Forces will not stop until the aggression ceases and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted."

In his Monday statement to the media, Saree reiterated that Yemen will continue preventing ships linked to Israel from sailing in regional waters until the regime stops its aggression on Palestinians in Gaza and lifts its siege on the territory.

He said Yemen will not hesitate to carry out more military operations in the Red Sea and in the Arabian Sea to defend Yemen against US and British attacks on the country and to support Palestine.

Yemen's Armed Forces have been striking Israeli-linked ships since November last year in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, where more than five months of Israeli war has killed some 30,631 people, mostly women and children, and injured more than 72,000 others.

Targeting Israel-linked vessels in the Red Sea and in the Gulf of Aden is part of Yemen's push to force the Israeli regime to end its brutal aggression against the Palestinians in Gaza.

Yemen's telecoms minister Misfer Al-Numair told Yemen's al-Masirah television network on Monday all ships have to obtain a permit from the Yemeni government based in the capital Sana'a before entering the country's territorial waters.

"Yemen's telecoms ministry is ready to assist processing requests for permits and identification by ships from the Yemeni Navy, and we insist on the issue of obtaining permits because of our concern for the safety of these ships," Al-Numair told Yemen's al-Masirah television network.

End item

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran FM calls for Israeli expulsion form UNGA

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Wed / 6 March 2024 / 11:52

"Expelling the Israeli regime from the UN General Assembly is a necessary action," according to the Iranian foreign minister at the meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held in the Saudi city of Jeddah Tuesday.

Tehran-ISNA- Iran's foreign minister has condemned the "unprecedented" crimes Israel has committed in the besieged Gaza Strip over the past five months.

The Israeli hostilities prove the regime is "deliberately" pursuing the policy of destroying Palestine, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian stated.

The Iranian minister was addressing an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)'s foreign ministers in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Tuesday.

The meeting, requested by Iran and some other Islamic countries, was held to review the latest developments in Gaza and to discuss effective measures to halt the Israeli campaign of death and destruction in the besieged Palestinian territory.

"In a situation where we are once again witnessing the inability of the UN Security Council to deal with the oldest and most bitter humanitarian crisis in contemporary history, the consensus of Islamic countries to find practical ways and take more serious measures to support the Palestinian people and help find a way out of the status quo is absolutely urgent and necessary," Amir-Abdollahian told the OIC meeting.

Warning that the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza as well as atrocities in the occupied West Bank have reached an "unprecedented" level, Iran's top diplomat said Washington, through its unwavering support for Israel, is practically giving the regime a "green light" to go ahead with a planned military invasion of Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's population is now crammed into the southern city bordering Egypt.

"It is unfortunate that senior officials of the United States, with their stances, are practically giving the Zionist regime a green light to launch a military attack on Rafah."

The Iranian foreign minister said Washington's blatant obstruction of UN Security Council measures to prevent the Israeli aggression in Gaza shows relying on the US to "prevent the ongoing genocide is an illusion and more of a diplomatic joke."

The US is an accomplice and partner in the crimes of Israel, Amir-Abdollahian said, adding that the "crocodile tears" by certain US officials over the humanitarian situation in Gaza "do not change the reality."

The foreign minister told the OIC that any economic and financial relations with the Israeli regime amounts to "facilitating the continuation of its heinous behavior" toward the Palestinians.

Calling for a broader boycott of products manufactured by Israeli companies, Amir-Abdollahian said under the current circumstances it is imperative for the OIC to "take decisive and effective practical measures to support the Palestinians."

"This is our human and Islamic duty towards our Palestinian brothers and sisters. Preventing a new disaster against the Palestinian nation is an immediate necessity," he said.

The Israeli regime launched the savage campaign in Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out a surprise operation against the occupying entity in response to the regime's never-ending atrocities against Palestinians.

The regime has since killed at least 30,600 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble.

End Item

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Stella Offner, associate professor of astronomy, at The University of Texas in Austin discusses her research during a live program hosted online with the McDonald Observatory in West Texas. John Davis/Stocktrek Images/Getty Images/Stocktrek Images Stella Offner, associate professor of astronomy, at The University of Texas in Austin discusses her research during a live program hosted online with the McDonald Observatory in West Texas Walter Bibikow/Getty Images Stella Offner, associate professor of astronomy, at The University of Texas in Austin discusses her research during a live program hosted online with the McDonald Observatory in West Texas. Mabry Campbell/Getty Images Stella Offner, associate professor of astronomy, at The University of Texas in Austin discusses her research during a live program hosted online with the McDonald Observatory in West Texas. Walter Bibikow/Getty Images

Space exploration is evolving as images from observatories around the globe capture and find answers to new discoveries while continuing to expand human knowledge of what lies in the universe and new applications in artificial intelligence to help along the way.

For skywatchers choosing to stay up to date on what's new, Stella Offner, the associate professor of astronomy, at The University of Texas is hosting a live streaming lecture in partnership with McDonald Observatory.

The online event is part of the 2024 Great Lecture series that went live on Feb. 24 on the McDonald Observatory YouTube channel with Offner, opening the lecture with Advancing New Frontiers in Astronomy Data Analysis, Modeling, and Discovery with Artificial Intelligence.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

AI techniques, combined with numerical simulations and theoretical models, can effectively cut through the messiness of observations to provide insights into underlying physical behavior, a portion of the lecture series stated on the University of Texas website. The recent revolution in artificial intelligence, together with advances in observational capabilities and numerical methods, has opened new frontiers of scientific analysis.

Below is the McDonald Observatory YouTube channel with the uploaded lecture from Feb. 24 featuring Offner exploring how stellar feedback impacts molecular clouds. And questions on the past and future evolution of star-forming regions, as noted on the YouTube clip.

The next live event is scheduled for Thursday, March 7, at 7: 30 pm. with the lecture Decoding Starbirth with AI.
Islamic Resistance in Iraq targets power station at Haifa airport

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Wed / 6 March 2024 / 11:46

The Resistance stresses the operation was in solidarity with the people of Gaza and in retaliation to the atrocities committed by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian civilians.

Tehran-ISNA- The Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced that its fighters targeted the power station at the occupied Haifa airport on Tuesday using a drone.

The Resistance stressed that the operation was in solidarity with the people of the Gaza Strip and in retaliation to the atrocities committed by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian civilians, including children, women, and the elderly, vowing to "continue targeting enemy strongholds."

The operation comes a couple of days after the Iraqi Resistance confirmed targeting a chemical substance terminal in the occupied port of Haifa also through a drone attack, as part of the second phase of its operations, which includes the enforcement of a blockade on Israeli maritime navigation in the Mediterranean and putting Israeli ports out of service.

On February 25, Akram al-Kaabi, the Secretary-General of the al-Nujaba Movement, a faction that operates under the umbrella of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, affirmed that the Resistance will maintain operations to force US forces out of the country and will not stop attacking Israeli targets in occupied Palestine.

"We will not abandon" the objective to "liberate Iraq" from US presence and support Palestine by striking the Israeli occupation, he underlined.

End item

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






National Security Council Ramadan Travel Warning

Israel - Prime Minister's Office

The 37th Government

06.03.2024

The month of Ramadan - which has unique religious significance in the Islamic world - is from 10 March-8 April 2024. Islamic terrorist organizations see Ramadan as an opportunity to perpetrate attacks and violent acts. During this period, there will be increased incitement and calls by radical Islamic elements (especially Global Jihad organizations such as ISIS and Al-Qaida) to carry out attacks.

The National Security Council (NSC) estimates that the terrorist organizations are expected to utilize the Swords of Iron War and tension surrounding the Temple Mount and the Al-Aqsa Mosque to spur militants and supporters to attack Israeli and Western targets. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have already called for attacks on Israelis during Ramadan, including overseas.

Therefore, the NSC reiterates its recommendation for the Israeli public to be responsible while traveling abroad and to act in accordance with the NSC travel warnings.

At present, the level of travel warnings to the various countries - as noted on the NSC website - remains unchanged.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Eastern border counter-mobility plan approved by Latvia, EUR 303 million to be invested in strengthening of border

Republic of Latvia - Ministry of Defence

03/06/2024

In Latvia

Defence policy

Information prepared by Media Relations Section

On Tuesday, 5 March, Cabinet of Ministers approved border fortification and counter-mobility plan for eastern border.

Eastern Border Fortification and Counter-mobility Plan is part of the Baltic Defence Line initiative, which covers the whole length of border with Russia and Belarus. National Armed Forces intend to create defence force support outposts - defence posts with reinforced structures and fortification for troops with various obstacle lines, anti-tank trenches, ammunition and mine storages.

According to defence plans, reinforcement of eastern border will restart in March of this year, and total investment into strengthening of the defence on eastern border will reach 303 million euro over the next five years.

To prevent enemy movement, Latvia will reconstruct the existing roads to make border more secure by adding anti-tank trenches, whereas border area drainage ditches will be converted into anti-tank tranches later on.

Obstacle lines of different types will be installed. For example, anti-tank trenches will be reinforced with concrete blocks and structures, such as the so-called dragon's teeth and anti-tank mines. Obstacle lines will be adjusted to the terrain, making full use of natural obstacles such as swamps, forest patches and other natural obstructions.

Border area will also be equipped with specially designated and safe storages for explosives, mines and engineering equipment that can be quickly dispatched to reinforce defence line. Latvia will also develop plans detailing how to prepare for immediate and effective closing of main transport routes, such as roads, railway lines and bridges, to prevent enemy from advancing.

As reported earlier, Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian defence ministers approved the Baltic Defence Line initiative during trilateral meeting in January. It will strengthen the defence of eastern border of the Baltic countries and NATO. Closely coordinated construction of the Defence line will be separately funded by each participating country.

Baltic Defence Line will significantly enhance military defence infrastructure and capabilities of Baltic countries, preventing Russia from any potential swift military attacks. This initiative is in line with NATO's defence plans.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Landsbergis met with Romania's Foreign Minister: "We need to bring together like-minded people and seek to take ambitious decisions on the security of NATO's eastern flank"

Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

2024.03.06

On 6 March in Bucharest, Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabrielius Landsbergis, met with the Romanian Foreign Minister Luminita-Teodora Odobescu. The Foreign Ministers discussed measures to strengthen deterrence and defence on NATO's eastern flank and how to help Ukraine fight against Russia's aggression.

"Washington's NATO summit requires solutions that strengthen the security of the eastern flank states. Lithuania and Romania's positions on these issues are especially similar. Thus, we must work hand in hand to bring together like-minded people and strive for ambitious solutions," said Landsbergis.

The Foreign Ministers also agreed to seek to ensure a sustainable, predictable and lasting commitment to provide military support for Ukraine.

"We urgently need to find ways to ensure the production of armaments and ammunition and supply Ukraine with them. This is our shared (EU) commitment, which must be fulfilled with the utmost urgency and with the help of EU instruments," said Landsbergis.

"We must continue to work together on the 14th sanctions package containing a strong component of sectoral and individual sanctions," the head of Lithuanian diplomacy said, stressing that sanctions against Belarus must also be tightened, thus preventing the circumvention of sanctions against Russia.

The Foreign Ministers of Lithuania and Romania also expressed their support for Ukraine's and Moldova's aspirations to become members of the European Union. We want to start accession negotiations as soon as possible. It requires the implementation of all the recommendations of the European Commission. Lithuania is ready to contribute to Moldova's capacity development in EU integration.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






The heel-to-toe U.S. presence in the region is iron-clad, says A. Anusauskas

Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence

2024-03-06

International cooperation | Minister's news | Security and defense policy

"Thank you for the unceasing security and defence assistance from the United States, it helps to strengthen Lithuania's security and our defensive capabilities significantly," said Minister of National Defence Arvydas meeting U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin in Washington, March 5.

U.S. Secretary of Defense commended Lithuania's steadfast commitment and contribution to the Alliance security.

Minister underscored Lithuania's special dedication to the areas highlighted in the recently signed 2024-2028 bilateral defence cooperation agreement with the U.S., namely, development of an integrated air defence architecture in the Baltic region, assistance with national division and long-range fire support capability development.

The counterparts underscored the continued enhancement of deterrence in the Baltic region. "U.S. force presence in Lithuania is crucial for deterrence," said A. Anusauskas. "Lithuania particularly appreciates the persistent U.S. military presence in Lithuania. We are constantly improving host nation support. Soon we will able to offer your troops brand-new military infrastructure in Pabrade."

Minister A. Anusauskas noted that Lithuania was doing the homework, investing to upgrade the Armed Forces, developing a national division. Lithuania allots 2.77 percent of GDP for defence this year with further target set on 3 percent of GDP.

The Lithuanian-U.S. defence cooperation has gained more quality over the recent years. "I would like to note that Lithuania continues to lead among the Baltic states in defence procurement from the U.S. Over 20% of our new weaponry and defence equipment acquisitions comes from the United States. We were among the pioneer Switchblade buyers," stated A. Anusauskas.

Minister underscored that Lithuania was aiming for a wider cooperation with the U.S. defence industry. "We recognize a pronounced need for a U.S.-Lithuanian defence industry cooperation and attraction of investment to Lithuania," he said. Lithuania's defence procurements from the U.S. have seen a significant increase in recent years along with the necessity to have a safe, continuous and fast weaponry and ammunition supply and support.

"Ukraine, more than ever, needs us to do more. Our assistance to Ukraine will not stop," said A. Anusauskas to Secretary Austin addressing the importance of military assistance to Ukraine. Lithuania has provided military assistance for over EUR 525 million since the beginning of the war to date to Ukraine, while the sum with civilian assistance soars to over 1.4% of national GDP. "Europe's military support to Ukraine is growing and is said to grow more. However, continued United States military aid to Ukraine remains critical," Minister stressed.

He and Secretary of Defense discussed regional security, upcoming NATO Summit in Washington and cooperation opportunities in the Indo-Pacific.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






U.S. and ROK Marines Conduct Exercise Freedom Shield 24

US Marine Corps News

6 Mar 2024 | 1st Lt. Keyon Whyte III MEF Information Group

CAMP MUJUK, 47, SOUTH KOREA -- U.S. Marines from across III Marine Expeditionary Force, and Marines from 1st Marine Division, I MEF, deployed from Japan and the United States to join their Republic of Korea counterparts as the Combined Marine Component Command during Freedom Shield 24.

Freedom Shield is an annual United States Forces Korea training exercise designed to enhance the combined defensive capabilities of the CMCC in support of USFK, the Combined Forces Command, the United Nations Command, and the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff. The exercise provides both forces the opportunity to continue to strengthen the ROK-U.S. Alliance.

"We look forward each year to the opportunities to work alongside our Republic of Korea Marine Corps counterparts," said Lt. Gen. Roger Turner, commanding general of III MEF and commander of the CMCC. "The partnership between our two Marine Corps is unrivaled, and our bonds of friendship and comradery run deep in support of the ROK-U.S. Alliance."

During the exercise, the CMCC will rehearse force-wide command and control of combined ROK-U.S. forces to improve their collective defensive posture.

"FS24 is an excellent opportunity to strengthen the ROK-U.S. alliance," said Lt. Gen. Kim Kye Hwan, commandant of the Republic of Korea Marine Corps. "This exercise is a great opportunity to showcase clearly that the ROK-U.S. Marine Corps team is at the center of the ROK-U.S. Alliance."

A key aspect of this year's training is rehearsing combined, multi-domain operations by leveraging land, air, sea, and non-kinetic assets to protect the combined security interests of both nations. This year's emphasis on multi-domain operations enables the CMCC to rehearse the command and control of a wide range of military capabilities, resulting in a combined ability to respond to new and dynamic security challenges.

In conjunction with Freedom Shield 24, III MEF will also have units conducting field training exercises with their ROK Marine Corps counterparts consisting of close air support training, live fire training events, logistics training, and subject matter expert exchanges. The frequency and depth of combined training underscores a shared commitment to regional security and defense of South Korea.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






A look at the Defence news 26 February - 3 March

Netherlands Ministry of Defence

News item | 06-03-2024

Last week, military clothing and equipment was stolen during transport from the Netherlands to the United Kingdom. The military goods were intended for Ukrainian military personnel undergoing training in the UK, and were stolen from the commercial truck transporting them.

War veteran Max Wolff added to British memorial wall

On 27 February, the name of Dutch World War II veteran Max Wolff was added to a memorial plaque in Portsmouth, England. This is the port from where the fleet departed for the large-scale landing in Normandy on 6 June 1944. D-Day was the start of the liberation of Western Europe. On 6 June of this year, it will be 80 years since the troops landed on the beaches of Normandy. To mark the start of the official commemorations, the British added 12 names to the plaque, one from every other allied country that took part in the operation. The Normandy Memorial Wall displays the names of the British fallen.

General Eichelsheim visits Czech arms manufacturers supplying Ukraine

The DITA self-propelled howitzer is a modern artillery system that can hit targets dozens of kilometres away. Ukraine urgently needs weapons of this kind. The Netherlands therefore recently ordered nine units for delivery to that country. The weapons are part of a large Dutch order for Ukraine that will be fulfilled by two arms manufacturers in the Czech Republic. Netherlands Chief of Defence General Onno Eichelsheim paid them a visit last week.

Military personnel clear oil on Bonaire

Nearly 20 military personnel have been helping to clean up the oil spill on Bonaire since the end of February. The clean-up operation was started following a request from the public administrative body of the Caribbean island. The substance presumably came from a ship that capsized off the southern coast of Tobago on 7 February.

The Netherlands to donate watercraft to Ukraine

Hezbollah arrests three Dutch servicemen

Three Dutch service personnel were recently detained by the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. This took place while they were carrying out reconnaissance in a suburb of the capital city, Beirut. They returned to the Dutch embassy unharmed through the agency of the Lebanese army. The three are part of a defence team that has been in the country since mid-October to support the Dutch embassy, if required in light of the current security situation.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Australia, ASEAN call for Gaza ceasefire

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 16:12, March 06, 2024

MELBOURNE, Australia, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of Australia and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Wednesday following a special summit held in Melbourne.

In a statement issued to mark the end of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit, leaders reiterated their shared concern about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and urged for an immediate and durable ceasefire.

"We condemn attacks against all civilians and civilian infrastructure, leading to further deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza including restricted access to food, water, and other basic needs," they said in the Melbourne Declaration.

"We call for rapid, safe, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access to all those in need, including through increased capacity at border crossings, including by sea," they said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Israel okays construction of 3,500 more settler units in West Bank

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 06 March 2024 6:39 PM

Israel has approved plans for the construction of 3,500 more settler units in the occupied West Bank as the occupying regime keeps bombing the besieged Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, the regime approved the construction of 2,350 units in Ma'ale Adumim settlement in east of Jerusalem al-Quds, 300 units in Kedar settlement and 694 in the Efrat, both situated in south of Bethlehem, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Bezlal Smotrich, the finance minister, said the new units will be added to a record number of more than 18,500 units already approved by the cabinet of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli authorities seized some 2,640 dunums of Palestinian-owned lands in the towns of Abu Dis, Al-Eizariya, and Arab Al-Sawahra, east of Jerusalem al-Quds last week, Wafa further said.

The West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmud Abbas, has strongly condemned the new plans.

The Israeli regime has over the past decades advanced plans to build new illegal settlements while the US and its allies have historically done little to pressure Tel Aviv to halt or roll back the expansion.

Tel Aviv has stepped up settlement expansion since December 2022, when Netanyahu staged a comeback as the head of a cabinet of hard-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.

The international community views the settlements as illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions due to their construction on the occupied territories. Hundreds of the settlements have been built across the West Bank since Tel Aviv's occupation of the territory in 1967.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state with East al-Quds as its capital.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iraq's resistance conducts drone strike on Israeli airport

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 06 March 2024 5:55 PM

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq says it has conducted a drone operation targeting an airport in the Israeli-occupied territories in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

The Iraqi umbrella group of anti-terror groups said in a statement published on its Telegram channel on Tuesday that it targeted the airport at Kiryat Shmona near Lebanon.

It added the operation was carried out in response to Israel's massacre of Palestinian civilians, including women and children, in Gaza.

The resistance underscored it would continue anti-Israel operations.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has carried out several attacks on Israeli targets in recent months.

Last week, the group launched a drone attack on a chemical facility in the Israeli port of Haifa.

The resistance group has also struck major US military bases in Syria and Iraq amid resentment over Washington's unqualified support for Israel's campaign of genocide in Gaza.

Israel has killed more than 30,600 Palestinians and injured at least 72,000 in Gaza since October7, 2023.

The regime ignited its bloody war machine after it was caught off-guard by Operation Al-Aqsa Storm conducted by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on that October day.

Washington has also used its veto power to block resolutions drafted by the United Nations Security Council demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






China supports holding international peace conference recognized by both Russia and Ukraine: Wang Yi

Global Times) 16:00, March 07, 2024

China supports the holding of an international peace conference that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine and ensures the equal participation of all parties and fair discussions on all peace plans, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks at a press conference Thursday on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress.

On the issue of Ukraine, Wang said that China has always adhered to an objective and impartial position, insisting on promoting peace and dialogue. All out efforts point to one goal, that is, to pave the way for ending the conflict and starting peace talks, Wang noted.

Past experience shows that a conflict, when prolonged, tends to deteriorate and escalate, even to the extent unthinkable for parties concerned. In the absence of peace talks, misperception and miscalculation will accumulate and may lead to an even bigger crisis. Lesions in this regard should not be forgotten, he said.

All conflicts have to end at the negotiating table. The earlier the talks start, the sooner peace will arrive, Wang remarked.

China supports the holding of an international peace conference that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine and ensures the equal participation of all parties and fair discussions on all peace plans, he said, hoping the early restoration of peace and stability on the European continent and China will continue to play a constructive role in this regard.

Wang said he believed that as long as all parties adhere to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, and as long as they properly resolve their reasonable relationships, Europe can truly establish a balanced, effective, and sustainable security framework.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Douglas Weber Photo provided by Midland County Jail

After escaping justice for almost three decades, Douglas Weber will be sentenced March 7 for raping a Midland County woman in 1996.

In December 2023, Weber, 59, pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Weber has been housed in the Midland County Jail since Nov. 1, 2022.

Midland County Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks said pursuant to a plea agreement, a first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge against Weber was dismissed along with a charge of assaulting a prison employee. Per the agreement, Weber would serve five to 15 years in prison and abide with the lifetime sex offender registry conditions.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The sexual assault survivor, now in her mid-40s, was in the courtroom for Webers hearing in December.

You could see a wave of relief come over her, Brooks told the Daily News in a previous story. It was not something she expected. I hope this will bring her some closure.

The victim was 18 years old and driving home on Jan. 7, 1996 when her car broke down in Midland County. Weber, whom she didnt know, stopped and offered to give her a ride home. Instead, Weber drove her to a rural area and attacked her. Though the woman tried to get away, Weber forced her to the ground and raped her.

After the assault, Weber drove away with the victim and reportedly saw lights, which he thought were from a police car. He let her out of the car, and the teen made it home and told her mother what had happened.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The victim immediately went to the hospital for a rape kit, and the DNA that was collected helped link Weber to the crime, along with help from a genealogy profile. Prior to the December guilty plea, Weber unsuccessfully tried to suppress the DNA evidence.

In 1996, there was a statute of limitations on criminal sexual conduct unless there was DNA from the unknown suspect.

In 2015, the attorney general and prosecuting attorneys association asked legislators for funding to test the rape kits, funding which was offered in 2016. In 2017, Midland County tested the 1996 rape kit with no match.

Midland County Sheriffs Detective Brent Benzing, who had recently undergone related training, suggested examining ancestral DNA and tracked it to someone related to Weber. Benzing took it further and narrowed the search to identify Weber.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Investigators are using forensic evidence on genealogy sites to build out family trees to generate potential suspects. Such databases have been helping law enforcement solve crimes dating back to the 1970s, said Brooks.

Midland County Sheriff Myron Greene said Benzing presented evidence to Parabond NanoLabs of Reston, Virginia, which works with genealogy databases. The evidence led to a family member of Weber who lived in Canada and had a direct relative in the Midland area.

Authorities went to that relative and got a DNA sample and sent that back to the lab. Lab technicians then generated a possibility of 10 suspects in the open rape case. Greene said they then looked at people who lived or were in the Midland area in 1996 and attempted to get DNA from them.

Weber was one of the suspects for whom they were able to establish probable cause and get a search warrant for his DNA. Greene said it was sent to the Michigan State Police lab and it came back a match.
US-owned carrier struck off Yemen's port of Aden: Security firm

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 06 March 2024 3:37 PM

A US-owned bulk carrier has been hit off the southwestern coast of the port city of Aden in what appears to be another retaliatory operation by Yemen's armed forces.

"A nearby vessel reported an explosion in the proximity of the Barbados-flagged, publicly US-owned bulk carrier," said the British maritime security firm Ambrey.

"Reports confirmed the bulker had been struck and sustained damage," Ambrey stated. It added that a rescue operation was "underway with parts of the crew already in lifeboats."

"Ambrey observed an Indian Navy military vessel drifting in the vicinity of the last known position of the affected vessel (...) Further reports stated that rescue and salvage operations were underway," it said.

Reuters quoted a shipping source as saying that three crew members were missing from the bulk carrier True Confidence and four others have been badly burned. The shipping source, who declined to be identified, said the vessel appeared to have been abandoned.

A US defense official said smoke was seen coming from True Confidence. The official, who declined to be named, told Reuters a lifeboat had also been seen in the water near the ship.

Yahya Saree, the spokesman for Yemen's armed forces, said the military attacked the ship with "appropriate missiles." The strike was accurate, he said.

The operation came after the ship's crew rejected warning messages from the Yemeni naval forces, Saree said.

Saree urged all ships sailing through the region to respond to calls from the Yemeni naval forces.

Yemen's armed forces have been striking Israeli-linked ships since November 2023 in a campaign to force the Israeli regime to end its brutal aggression in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The United States and Britain have been carrying out strikes against Yemen since early January to force Yemen to stop its strikes on Israel-linked ships. That has caused Yemenis to expand their maritime strikes to target ships owned by the two countries.

At least "15 commercial ships have been impacted" since November, including four US ships, Pete Nguyen, the US Department of Defense spokesman, said on March 1.

The flurry of strikes has caused several shipping firms to suspend passage through the Red Sea, which usually carries around 12 percent of global trade.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Hezbollah's deputy chief: Gaza truce to bring halt to cross-border clashes with Israel

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 06 March 2024 11:18 AM

A high-ranking official of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement says a halt to fighting in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible would trigger an end to confrontations along Lebanon's southern border with the 1948 Israeli-occupied territories.

Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said his group would stop its operations against Israeli military outposts if the Tel Aviv regime decides to put a complete end to its relentless hostilities in the besieged Gaza Strip, noting that all issues related to southern Lebanon would be effectively resolved then.

Sheikh Qassem also reacted to a recent visit by senior US official Amos Hochstein to Beirut, stressing that there would be a ceasefire in Lebanon once such a measure comes into effect in Gaza. "Hochstein can make whatever comment he wishes. Nevertheless, we will do our job."

Hochstein, an adviser to US President Joe Biden, said on Monday that a diplomatic solution is key to ending five months of intensifying cross-border clashes between Hezbollah and Israel.

"A diplomatic solution is the only way to end the current hostilities", Hochstein told reporters after meeting Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut.

He asserted escalation will not resolve this crisis and will certainly not help Lebanon rebuild and advance forward at this critical time in Lebanon's history.

"A temporary ceasefire is not enough. A limited war is not containable and the security paradigm along the Blue Line has to change in order to guarantee everyone's security," Hochstein added.

"If Israel commits an act of folly [and carries out an attack on Lebanon], it will suffer a more ignominious defeat. They (Zionists) threaten us with aggression and we respond to them with stability, resistance and struggle," Sheikh Naim added.

The Hezbollah deputy secretary general also dismissed threats by Hochstein and other US officials that Israel would expand its attacks in southern country and drag the Arab country into a broader war, emphasizing they are in no position to make anti-Lebanon threats.

The Israeli regime has been attacking southern Lebanon off and on since October 7, when it launched the devastating campaign of death and destruction in Gaza.

In retaliation, Hezbollah has launched near-daily rocket attacks on Israeli positions.

At least 280 people have been killed on the Lebanese border, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also 44 civilians.

Israel says at least ten of its troopers and six illegal settlers have been killed in the area.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Mar. 5: 'Axis of Resistance' operations against Israeli occupation

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 06 March 2024 10:17 AM

By Press TV Website Staff

Amid Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 30,500 Palestinians so far, including at least 14,000 children, resistance groups in Palestine and across the region continue their operations against the Tel Aviv regime and its Western backers.

The operations carried out by the Palestinian and regional resistance groups on Tuesday, March 5, are as follows:

Al-Quds Brigades' operations on Mar. 5:

Targeted the settlement of "Karmei Tzur" with explosive devices and withdrew safely.

Engaged in clashes with Israeli forces in the Abbasiya axis and Al-Muqayti Alley using appropriate weapons, confirming casualties.

Targeted Israeli forces invading Jenin with a heavy barrage of bullets and explosive devices.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' operations on Mar. 5:

Targeted the Israeli forces storming the Gaza City in the vicinity of Al-Quds Open University and Nablus Street with bullets.

Engaged in clashes with armed Israeli settlers guarded by Israeli troops near Yousef's Tomb in Balata village using appropriate weapons.

Bombed a gathering of Israeli soldiers with short-range rockets in the combat axis south of Gaza City.

Engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli forces after they infiltrated Balata village camp, using machine guns and explosive devices.

Engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli forces and their military vehicles in the Shqeir area of Kafr Dan town west of Jenin, using machine guns and explosive devices.

Engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli soldiers and their vehicles with mortar shells at the axes in the Gaza Strip.

Targeted an Israeli military tank with an R.P.G shell west of Khan Yunis city, resulting in many casualties.

Mujahideen Brigades' operations on Mar. 5:

Bombed the gatherings of Israeli forces south of Gaza with short-range rockets in a joint operation with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.

Sniped an Israeli regime soldier in the south of the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City.



Al-Asifah Forces' operations on Mar. 5:

Engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli forces using machine guns and explosive devices at Balata camp east of Nablus.

Hezbollah's operations on Mar. 5:

Eastern sector:

At around 14:20 local time, the Kiryat Shmona settlement was targeted with appropriate weapons.



At around 14:30 local time, Israeli soldiers on Al-Tayhat Hill were targeted with missiles.

At around 14:30 local time, Israeli soldiers on Al-Tayhat Hill were targeted with missiles. At around 14:30 local time, the headquarters of the 769th Eastern Brigade in the Kiryat Shmona barracks was targeted with appropriate weapons.

At around 15:25 local time, a Merkava tank was targeted on Al-Tayhat Hill.

At around 17:00 local time, the Ruwaisat Al-Alam site in Kafr Shuba was targeted with missiles.

At around 18:30 local time, Israeli soldiers near Al-Baghdadi's site were targeted.

At around 20:10 local time, the Kafr Blum settlement was targeted with dozens of Katyusha rockets.

At around 20:10 local time, a building in the Kiryat Shmona settlement was targeted, confirmed casualties.

Western sector:

At around 01:00 local time, Israeli forces in the vicinity of the Raheb site were targeted with artillery shells.

At around 12:05 local time, Israeli forces were targeted at the Birkat Risha site with missiles.

At around 14:15 local time, a Merkava tank was targeted in the Natua settlement.

Iraqi resistance's operations on Mar. 5:

Targeted power stations at the Haifa Airport in the occupied territories with a volley of drones.

Yemeni military's operations on Mar. 5:

Targeted two American warships in the Red Sea with several naval missiles and drones.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






ASEAN, Australia call for Gaza truce despite Singapore's refusal to condemn starvation

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 06 March 2024 9:43 AM

Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have denounced Israel's ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, calling for "an immediate and durable humanitarian ceasefire" in the besieged territory as the holy fasting month of Ramadan approaches.

"We condemn attacks against all civilians and civilian infrastructure, leading to a further deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza including restricted access to food, water, and other basic needs," a joint statement by Australia and ASEAN read on Wednesday following a three day summit in Melbourne.

"We urge for an immediate and durable humanitarian ceasefire," added the statement.

Despite a broad agreement behind the call for an immediate truce in Gaza, the 10-member South Asian bloc and Australia had earlier struggled to find common ground on the war in the besieged territory and were split on the wording of a joint declaration.

A working draft of the joint declaration earlier in the week hinted at the divisions on display behind closed doors as Singapore balked at a suggestion to condemn "the use of Israeli-led starvation" in Gaza, language that would have infuriated Israel.

The leaders also argued over whether the joint statement should call for a total ceasefire or a more temporary "humanitarian" pause.

The call came as Australia has exported weapons and offered military assistance to Israel, for the use of the occupation forces during the Gaza genocide and crimes against humanity.

The aid Australia has provided since October has been the export of F-35 fighter jet parts as well as military intelligence through the government's surveillance work at Pine Gap -- a facility in Australia's northern territory, which is jointly operated by the US and Australia.

Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the intensified violence against the Palestinians.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 30,631 Palestinians and injured over 72,000 others, according to health authorities in Gaza.

The Tel Aviv regime has also imposed a "complete siege" on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million people living there.

The United Nations has already warned that in the absence of any changes in the Israeli regime's ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, the territory is on course to experience all-out famine.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Hezbollah launches heaviest rocket attack after Israeli strike kills family

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 06 March 2024 9:34 AM

Fighters from the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement have launched heavy rocket barrages at an Israeli kibbutzim in the northern sector of the 1948 occupied territories in response to an air raid that killed three civilians in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon's Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network, citing a brief Hezbollah statement, reported that resistance fighters fired dozens of Katyusha-type rockets at Kfar Blum kibbutz in the Upper Galilee region on Tuesday evening.

It said the rocket fire was in retaliation for a deadly Israeli attack on a house in the southern Lebanese town of Houla, which killed all members of a three-strong family.

A Hezbollah rocket struck the yard of a home in Kfar Blum, causing damage, local Israeli authorities said.

A municipality spokeswoman said, 'It is a very heavy barrage."

Earlier, Hezbollah had fired a large barrage of rockets at the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shemona.

The resistance fighters also targeted the Avivim moshav, located less than one kilometer from the Blue Line with Lebanon, with a salvo of rockets "in response to Israeli attacks on villages and civilian homes in southern Lebanon.'

Al-Mayadeen TV reported that more than 50 rockets were fired from southern Lebanon toward the Upper Galilee region, noting that the majority of the projectiles successfully struck designated targets in the Israeli-occupied lands.

Israeli media outlets said the rocket barrages were one of the heaviest to be launched toward the Upper Galilee since the start of cross-border confrontation on October 8, noting that the attacks caused a power outage in the area.

The Israeli regime launched the devastating war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory's Hamas-led Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity.

The Israeli military has also been carrying out attacks against the Lebanese territory since then, prompting retaliatory strikes from Lebanon's resistance movement Hezbollah in support of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

The movement has vowed to keep up its retaliatory operations as long as the Tel Aviv regime continues its onslaught on Gaza.

The Israeli war on Gaza has killed at least 30,717 people, most of them children and women. Another 72,156 individuals have also been wounded.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Israel continues to kill civilians in Gaza

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 06 March 2024 3:02 AM

More civilians fall victim to Israel's latest airstrikes on the Gaza Strip as the regime's genocidal war on the besieged territory enters its sixth month.

An Israeli bombing of the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in the Gaza City on Tuesday killed two Palestinians and injured several others.

The city has also witnessed another attack on Palestinians queuing for aid deliveries, leaving several of them seriously injured.

In central Gaza, six civilians, including a journalist working for the Al-aqsa channel, were killed in the Israeli bombardment of Deir-Al-Balah.

The number of journalists killed since the start of Israel's genocidal war now stands at 133.

To the south, Reports say Israel has cut internet access in large areas in Rafah.

Since the start of the aggression, Israel has killed at least 30,631 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the latest count by the Gaza Health Ministry.

Children are dying of starvation and dehydration in northern Gaza as Israel's throttling of aid has cut off the supply of vital resources into the area for months, according to the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke of "grim findings" at two hospitals in northern Gaza after a WHO team finally managed to visit the area for the first time since October.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iraqi resistance hits Israel's Haifa airport with drones

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 06 March 2024 2:23 AM

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq says it has launched a new attack against targets in the Israeli-occupied territories in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of anti-terror fighters, in a statement published on its Telegram channel on Tuesday, that it targeted the power station at Israel's Haifa airport using drones.

It added the operation was carried out in response to Israel's massacre of Palestinian civilians, including women and children, in Gaza.

The Iraqi resistance underscored that it would continue to target the occupying regime until the complete "destruction of enemy strongholds."

The Islamic resistance in Iraq has carried out several attacks on Israeli targets in recent months.

Last week, the group launched a drone attack on a chemical facility in the Israeli port of Haifa.

"In continuation of our approach to resisting the occupation and supporting our people in Gaza, our (fighters), using drones, attacked the port of Haifa in the occupied territories in Palestine," the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said in a statement on the first of February.

The resistance group has also struck major American military bases in Syria and Iraq amid anger over the US support for Israel's genocide in Gaza.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq also claimed responsibility for the attack in late January on Jordan's border with Syria that left three US soldiers dead.

The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's atrocities against the Palestinians.

Since the start of the aggression, Israel has killed at least 30,631 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the latest count by the Gaza Health Ministry.

The US, Israel's traditional ally, has backed Tel Aviv's attacks on the Palestinian territory and provided the regime with extensive military support since the onset of the war.

Washington has also used its veto power to block the United Nations Security Council's resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Philippine president alarmed by Chinese attack in South China Sea

Water cannons injured four people on ship carrying supplies to Ayungin Shoal outpost.

By BenarNews staff 2024.03.06 -- This week's confrontation between Chinese and Philippine ships in the hotly disputed South China Sea signifies a "dangerous" and unprecedented escalation of Beijing's harassment in the waterway, Filipino officials indicated on Wednesday.

The incident around Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal marked the first time that injuries were reported in any of the tense incidents at sea that have become more frequent lately, as Chinese ships try to block Philippine ships and boats from delivering supplies to Manila's military outpost there.

Four crew members aboard a military-contracted Philippine ship sustained minor injuries when a water cannon blast from China Coast Guard ships shattered the windshield on the bridge during the incident on March 5, Filipino officials said.

Vice Adm. Alberto Carlos, chief of the Philippine military's Western Command, was aboard the Unaiza May 4, the civilian ship that was targeted by the water cannons, and said he witnessed the scene up close.

"It's very unusual. One hour (they were) circling us. I told myself it's an indication they are really serious in monitoring us," Carlos told BenarNews.

He said the Chinese presence had surged hours before dawn broke on Tuesday.

"When they water cannoned us, we were very slow. ...We were not fast enough to run away from the water cannons," he said. "They hit the windshield, but the crews were prepared for possible flooding in the engine room."

Carlos said he dropped for cover when the water cannon hit the target - the impact shattering the windshield was caught on video. Tuesday's incident marked the first time that Manila said people had been injured in these incidents.

The Unaiza May 4 was on a mission to bring provisions and remove some Filipino troops aboard the BRP Sierra Madre. Manila grounded the World War II-era navy ship on Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal to serve as its outpost there.

But the supply ship was forced to abandon its mission after two China Coast Guard ships blocked its path and fired water cannons at it, breaking windows, nearly flooding its interior and injuring some crew members.

Carlos said the Unaiza May 4 is larger than previous contracted-ships.

"We check whether we can use it in future resupply missions. It was an exciting trip. We tried. The mission to find out whether it can dock close to Sierra Madre failed," the naval officer said. "We will do it again. We have to test if this can enter the shoal."

Protest

The Philippines formally filed a diplomatic protest over Tuesday's incident, making it the 10th protest lodged against China in 2024, and the 142nd since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. came to power in 2022.

The incident fueled calls for the Marcos administration to invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States. The treaty calls on both nations to come to each other's military aid in times of external aggression.

On Wednesday, Marcos sought to calm public fears and said that while he viewed Tuesday's incident as alarming, there was no need to invoke the treaty at this time.

"However, we continue to view with great alarm this continuing dangerous maneuvers and dangerous actions that are being done against our seamen, our Coast Guard," Marcos said in a statement.

"And this time, they damaged the cargo ship and caused some injury to some of our seamen, and I think that we cannot view this in any way but the most serious way," he said.

China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, while the Philippines maintains that the shoal is located inside its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the waterway. Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan also have territorial claims to the sea.

China has defended its action, saying it was justified because the Philippines intruded into its waters, despite the shoal internationally recognized as within Manila's territorial jurisdiction. In 2016, the Philippines won a landmark case in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that threw out China's expansive claims.

In Beijing, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman on Wednesday called the China Coast Guard's actions "justified, lawful, professional, restrained and beyond reproach."

"The so-called arbitral award on the South China Sea arbitration that the Philippines and a handful of countries regard as a benchmark goes against international law including UNCLOS and it is completely illegal, null and void," spokeswoman Mao Ning said, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

ASEAN-Australia statement

Meanwhile in Australia, participants at a special summit to mark the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN-Australia Dialogue Relations issued the Melbourne Declaration, which included calls for peace in the South China Sea region.

"We encourage all countries to avoid any unilateral actions that endanger peace, security and stability in the region. We emphasize the need to maintain and promote an environment conducive to the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea negotiations," the statement said.

Responding to reporters, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday said, "I am very concerned and Australia is concerned about any unsafe and destabilizing behavior in the South China Sea. It is dangerous and it creates risks of miscalculation which can then lead to escalation.

"[T]here is a general recognition that we need to make sure that activity in the South China Sea alleviates any tension, doesn't add to it."

On Wednesday, Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Teresita Daza said the Marcos administration had made sincere efforts to lessen the tensions in the South China Sea by allowing departmental representatives to hold discussions with their Chinese counterparts.

"China however has made references to supposed agreements or arrangements out of these discussions," Daza said.

"The Philippines has not entered into any agreement, abandoning its sovereign rights and jurisdiction over EEZ and continental shelf, including in the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal," she said.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller condemned China's latest actions and called on it to stop its "dangerous and destabilizing conduct" in the South China Sea.

"As provided under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, the 2016 arbitral decision is final and legally binding on the PRC and the Philippines, and the United States calls upon the PRC to abide by the ruling and desist from its dangerous and destabilizing conduct," he said on Tuesday, using an acronym for the People's Republic of China.

Miller said the mutual defense treaty extends to armed attacks on Philippine ships, including those of the coast guard, anywhere in the South China Sea.

The Pentagon had previously said it was prepared to assist Manila if it invoked the 1951 treaty amid threats from other nations.

Jojo Rinoza and Jeoffrey Maitem in Manila contributed to this report.

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news service.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content March not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Armenia Officially Asks Moscow To Remove Russian Border Troops From Yerevan Airport

By RFE/RL's Armenian Service March 06, 2024

YEREVAN -- Armenia said it has sent an official request to Moscow asking it to remove Russian border troops from the Zvartnots international airport in the country's capital as Yerevan continues to distance itself from Moscow amid a souring of bilateral relations.

"Armenia has a clear position in this matter. The Russian Federation was informed via an official letter about that clear position," Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigorian told reporters on March 6, adding that according to Yerevan's position, the airport must be served solely by Armenian border troops.

Russia's border guard service forms a part of the Federal Security Service structure in Armenia and has been present at Zvartnots airport since 1992. An agreement stationing them there does not specify the roles of Russian border guards, but it does say they can use the airport for transportation needs.

Armenia has been distancing itself from its traditional ally Russia in recent months while at the same time moving closer to the West. Yerevan previously has brought up the subject of the airport but Grigorian's comments on March 6 are the first time Armenia has officially made the request.

"The acquisition of military equipment with Russia has dropped from 96 percent to less than 10 percent. This means that Armenia is implementing a diversification policy that requires partners not only in the West, but also in Asia and in other different directions. Big changes are taking place. Armenia is diversifying its economy and security," Grigorian added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has previously said that no official decisions regarding the withdrawal of Russian border guards from Zvartnots had been taken because Moscow had not "officially" received such a request.

Grigorian's statement comes less than two weeks after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said in an interview with the France 24 television channel that his country had frozen its membership in the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), accusing Moscow of calling on Armenian citizens to overthrow his government.

The CSTO is at the heart of Armenia's turn away from Moscow. The Pashinian government has long criticized the CSTO for its "failure to respond to the security challenges" facing Armenia.

Armenian authorities have accused Russian peacekeepers deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 of failing to stop Azerbaijan's lightning offensive last September, which ended with Baku's regaining control over the breakaway region that for three decades had been under ethnic Armenian control.

Moscow has rejected the accusations, arguing that its troops didn't have a mandate to intervene and charging that Pashinian had effectively paved the way for the collapse of separatist rule in the region by previously acknowledging Azerbaijan's sovereignty over it.

Pashinian declined to attend the CSTO's summit in Minsk in November and said in a televised Q&A session then that any decision about Yerevan's continued membership in the group -- which also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan -- would be based on Armenia's "own state interests."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/armenia-russian-border- guards-remove-yerevan-airport/32850687.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






France To Sign Defense Deal With Moldova Amid Warnings Of Russian Interference Ahead Of Elections, Referendum

By RFE/RL's Moldovan Service March 06, 2024

French President Emmanuel Macron and his Moldovan counterpart, Maia Sandu, are due to sign a defense pact, the Elysee Palace said on March 6, amid warnings that Russia is seeking to destabilize the southeastern European nation ahead of presidential elections and a plebiscite on membership in the European Union later this year.

The deal between France and Moldova is to be signed on March 7 during Sandu's trip to Paris, the French presidency said in a statement.

"A defense cooperation agreement and a road map for economic cooperation will be signed during the visit," the statement said, without providing further details.

"The president...will reiterate France's support for the independence, sovereignty, and security of the Republic of Moldova, in the context of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," it added.

The announcement comes a day after Moldova's Intelligence and Security Service (SIS) issued a stark warning that Russia is planning moves to destabilize the former Soviet republic which seeks to shake off Moscow's decades-long influence and become a member of the EU.

SIS chief Alexandru Musteata said on March 5 that his agency has come into possession of "certain data" about actions planned for this year and the next one that would compromise Moldova's accession to the EU and bring it back under Russia's sphere of influence.

"The details point to strategies for 2024 and 2025 that involve supporting pro-Russian political actors with ties to the intelligence services, organized crime groups, and the Kremlin leadership," Musteata said.

France and Moldova reached a first agreement in September on the training of military personnel, regular consultations on defense, and intelligence sharing.

Details of the content of the French-Moldovan agreement have not been made public, but Macron reiterated during a visit to Prague on March 5 that Ukraine's Western European allies must also focus on strengthening security assistance for Moldova.

France is also hosting an online meeting of EU defense and foreign ministers on March 7 to discuss increasing support for Ukraine, but also for Moldova, which Paris said is facing "increasing destabilization moves" by Russia.

Pro-Western Sandu, under whom Moldova made an abrupt U-turn from Russia to Europe, is up for reelection later this year after handing an upset defeat to Moscow-backed incumbent Igor Dodon in 2020.

With Sandu at the helm, neutral Moldova also strongly condemned Russia's invasion of neighboring Ukraine, firmly aligning itself with Kyiv while tightening its ties with its other neighbor, EU and NATO member Romania, with whom Moldova shares a common language and history.

Moldova is also due to hold a yet-to-be-scheduled nationwide referendum this year on joining the EU after receiving an invitation in 2022. Sandu has indicated that she would prefer that the presidential election and the EU membership referendum be held together.

Presidential and parliamentary elections are also scheduled later this year.

SIS chief Musteata said that his agency's intelligence suggests Moscow would use tools from its old playbook to sow instability in Moldova.

"We predict that attempts would be made to trigger several social and political crises, to spark clashes and to incite interethnic hatred that would lead to security crises in the Gagauz autonomy or the Transdniester region," Musteata said.

Semi-autonomous Gagauzia is populated mainly by ethnic Turkish Gagauz who speak Russian and have adopted Russian Orthodox Christianity.

Moscow-backed Transdniester, which declared independence from Moldova in 1990 and fought a war with Chisinau that was tilted in the separatists' favor by Russian troops who continue to be stationed in the region, has recently "appealed" to Moscow for support to offset what it said was pro-Western Moldova's "unbearable pressure."

The appeal, which largely seemed orchestrated by the Kremlin itself, rang alarm bells in Western capitals as a prelude to a possible "unification" of the separatist region with Moscow.

"Moldova is facing increasingly aggressive attempts at destabilization," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said on February 29.

Lemoine also anticipated that during the meeting primarily intended to support Ukraine, the participants would also come up with concrete ideas regarding the defense of countries threatened by Russia, especially the Republic of Moldova.

With reporting by Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova-france-defense- deal-intelligence-russia-meddling/32849952.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Davenport University recently launched a bilingual program that teaches courses one week in English and the next week in Spanish. Courtesy of Davenport University

Leaders at Davenport University have announced an initiative that leads to bilingual degrees with professional proficiency in English and Spanish.

Casa Latina at Davenport, which includes a Midland campus, has a unique approach by offering courses with one week fully in Spanish and the next week fully in English. Graduates of this program will enhance the pool of bilingual talent for businesses, while offering a solid path to careers in business, technology, healthcare, urban education and the sciences.

Casa Latina is the only program of its kind in the nation with 12 undergraduate and graduate degrees tailored to students who will not only become experts in their fields, but will join the workforce ready to lead in a bilingual world. Degree programs include accounting, business administration, education, human resource management, health services administration and technology project management. Students can apply now for courses beginning fall 2024.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The Casa Latina program is fully online, giving students the flexibility they need to begin and finish their degrees.The program will be available worldwide, and Davenport will consider work experience and education credits, reducing the time it takes to earn a degree. Scholarships are available for full-time students: $9,200 for undergraduates and $5,000 for graduate students. Students attending part-time will be awarded a prorated amount.

Davenport University saw the need for this bilingual program after studying the needs of employers across the country. Carlos Sanchez, the executive director of Casa Latina, believes the uniqueness of this program will appeal to the Latino community by offering key bachelor and master degrees along with wrap-around support for students. Davenports Casa Latina program offers bilingual and bicultural student support in admissions, financial aid, counseling, tutoring and library services.

Davenport is taking an innovative, bold approach with Casa Latina, Sanchez said. We are creating this bilingual program that will provide an opportunity for Latino students to overcome so many challenges. We are taking barriers down related to language, finances and geography. We have virtual bilingual tutoring, and we have staff dedicated to advising our Casa Latina students.

President Richard J. Pappas and Executive Vice President of Academics and Provost Gilda Gely know Casa Latina will serve students and employers while aligning with Davenports commitment to reach underserved populations in higher education. Despite being the fastest growing population in the country, Latinos are the least represented in higher education. In the U.S., only 18% of adults over the age of 25 who identify as Hispanic or Latino have a bachelors degree or higher. Thats compared to 37% of white/non-Hispanics. Pappas said Davenport is focused on closing this gap.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

We have taken direction from people within the Latino community to understand the needs and challenges they have to continue their education, Pappas said. We are absolutely committed to creating an environment with all the tools necessary for bilingual students to graduate ready to work and lead in bilingual environments.

Gely has been instrumental in the development of Casa Latina and believes it is the right program to give bilingual speakers the opportunity to become confident in their ability to succeed in college and in the workplace.

At Davenport, we have taken the position that Latino students do not have to fit into our mold, but rather we will meet them where they are and support them as they realize their potential, Gely said. We have been working toward launching this bilingual program with their success at the forefront of its development. This is truly an exciting moment and opportunity.

Those interested in supporting Casa Latina can find out more here. Casa Latina has an advisory board to ensure integration into the community with opportunities for networking and internships. Davenport offers career services support throughout a graduates lifetime.
Secretary Blinken's Call with Jordanian Foreign Minister Safadi

US Department of State

Readout

Office of the Spokesperson

March 6, 2024

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi today. Secretary Blinken thanked Jordan for its close partnership in coordinating joint U.S.-Jordan airdrops to Gaza to provide life-saving humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians and emphasized that it is critical significant amounts of additional humanitarian assistance be delivered. They discussed efforts to secure an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza over a period of at least six weeks as part of a deal that would release hostages and surge humanitarian assistance. Secretary Blinken underscored the need to preserve the historic status quo at Jerusalem's Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount and recognized the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan's special role with respect to the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Secretary Blinken's Call with Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis

US Department of State

Readout

March 6, 2024

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke yesterday with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The Secretary and the Prime Minister reaffirmed the importance of the U.S.-Greece bilateral relationship and our shared values as NATO Allies to promote peace and prosperity. The Secretary thanked the Prime Minister for Greece's continued contributions to Ukraine's security.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Treasury Targets Companies and Vessels Facilitating Qods Force and Houthi Commodity Shipments

U.S. Department of the Treasury

March 6, 2024

WASHINGTON -- Today, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took additional action to target shipments of Iranian commodities undertaken by the network of Iran-based, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF)-backed Houthi financial facilitator Sa'id al-Jamal. Today's action targets two Hong Kong- and Marshall Islands-based ship owners and two vessels for their role in shipping commodities on behalf of al-Jamal, and follows a February 27 action targeting a related vessel, the ARTURA. The revenue generated through al-Jamal's network continues to enable Houthi militant efforts, including ongoing and unprecedented attacks on international maritime commerce in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

"The IRGC-QF and the Houthis continue to rely on the illicit sale of commodities to finance theirattacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden," said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. "The United States remains resolved to hold accountable those who enable these destabilizing activities."

Today's action is being taken pursuant to the counterterrorism authority in Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended. Sa'id al-Jamal was designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, on June 10, 2021 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the IRGC-QF. The IRGC-QF was designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 on October 25, 2007 for providing support to multiple terrorist groups. The U.S. Department of State designation of Ansarallah (commonly known as the Houthis) as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group, pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, became effective February 16, 2024.

IRGC-QF AND HOUTHI COMMODITIES SHIPMENTS

Palau-flagged RENEEZ, which is owned and managed by Marshall Islands-based Reneez Shipping Limited, has transported tens of thousands of metric tons of Iranian commodities for the network of Iran-based IRGC-QF-backed Houthi financier Sa'id al-Jamal. Al-Jamal's network often uses falsified cargo documents to mask the Iran-origin cargo onboard and to obfuscate its ties to Iran and al-Jamal's network.

Reneez Shipping Limited is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Sa'id al-Jamal. The RENEEZ is being identified as blocked property in which Reneez Shipping Limited has an interest.

The Panama-flagged ARTURA was sanctioned as part of the February 27, 2024 action for transporting Iranian commodities on behalf of al-Jamal. ARTURA falsified its Automatic Identification System (AIS) to indicate it was traveling north from Singapore while the vessel was in the process of conducting a ship-to-ship (STS) transfer with the Panama-flagged ETERNAL FORTUNE. ETERNAL FORTUNE, which is owned by Hong Kong-based Hongkong Unitop Group Ltd, also emitted a false AIS signal while receiving the STS transfer from the ARTURA.

Hongkong Unitop Group Ltd is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Sa'id al-Jamal. The ETERNAL FORTUNE is being identified as blocked property in which Hongkong Unitop Group Ltd has an interest.

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS

As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC's regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons.

In addition, financial institutions and other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with the sanctioned entities and individuals may expose themselves to sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC's ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC's Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here.

Click here for more information on the individuals and entities designated today.

###

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Gaza: 'Children are dying from hunger', says UN aid coordinator

6 March 2024 - "Hunger has reached catastrophic levels," Jamie McGoldrick, the UN's Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told journalists at UN Headquarters on Wednesday, describing a two-day visit to war-ravaged Gaza.

"Children are dying from hunger," he said via videolink, as media reports indicate that at least 20 children have succumbed to starvation in the besieged and bombarded enclave, including most recently a 14-day-old baby.

Calling for a plan to address this crisis, he said immediate needs would include using a military access road to northern Gaza for a minimum of 300 aid trucks every day.

Hunger in the enclave has grown exponentially since the Israeli invasion began in October, triggered by Hamas-led attacks on Israel that left 1,200 dead and 240 taken hostage.

Lack of water amid gender-based violence

During visits to the Misq and Layan camp in Al Mawasi in southern Gaza, Mr. McGoldrick said displaced women conveyed the impact of the war and of the huge scale of need, which include privacy, security, hygiene and the inability to prepare for Ramadan.

The women said daily life in a community-driven camp entails facing sexual harassment on the way to unsegregated toilets, a lack of clean water and gender-based violence, he said.

One woman said she had given birth and then was forced to move to the camp two days later with her other children, one of whom is living with disabilities, he said, adding that the women admitted she was unable to breastfeed her newborn due to the lack of food.

At night, walking through the camps, "you can hear the women crying", he said.

Famine looms alongside feared Rafah invasion

Some of the people he met said they had been displaced multiple times, and that if Israel's expected ground invasion of Rafah occurs, there is no system in place to safely evacuate those already seeking shelter in the south.

"People want to get back to a normal life," he said. "Hopefully, we get some sort of pause which will allow us to stabilize people's health and food security. It's something we're hoping for in the coming weeks."

Given the conditions facing people in northern Gaza, with a lack of healthcare, food and other basic essentials, the Humanitarian Coordinator said there will be "a lot preventable deaths" linked to current squalid living conditions.

A more detailed report on famine is expected in the coming weeks, but Mr. McGoldrick said the findings will likely confirm what is already known: hunger is spiralling.

Land deliveries more effective than airdrops

While airdrops and naval aid deliveries are helpful, road transport remains the most effective way to get the volume of urgently required aid to those who need it, he said.

Right now, airdrops contain supplements for children and ready-to-eat pre-cooked meals, while trucks deliver flour and food parcels from UNRWA and WFP.

One truck could deliver between 20 and 30 metric tonnes, about 10 times the amount of one aircraft conducting an aid drop.

Egypt is the main land entry point for aid, via the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza, he said. Right now, Sigrid Kaag, the UN Security Council-mandated Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, is working with Egyptian officials to improve the effectiveness of aid deliveries, he said.

The UN Spokesperson said Ms. Kaag will be briefing the Council on Thursday.

Predictable supplies urgently needed

"What's needed now is a predictable supply of essentials into Gaza", he said, which includes more open routes, security for humanitarian workers and access to those in need, facilitated by the military controlling affected areas.

Working with Israeli authorities, the UN's efforts continue to try to get much-needed items, like insulin for children who need it, into the enclave. Efforts also include advocating for safely using an access road into the north, he said, noting that a recognizance mission on Thursday will determine the route's safety.

He said that Israel saw last week how difficult it is to get aid delivered, referring to the deaths of more than 100 desperately seeking aid in northern Gaza.

Those outside the humanitarian field think it's a matter of sending trucks, "but you don't realize how desperate people are", he said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






UNRWA Situation Report #86 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem - All information from 3-4 March 2024, is valid as of 4 March 2024 at 22:30

UNRWA

6 Mar 2024

Key Points

The Gaza Strip

Intense Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea continued to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of civilian infrastructure. Israeli airstrikes continue in heavily populated Rafah in southern Gaza, where on 2 March there were reports of airstrikes near an MSF supported primary maternal field hospital.

WHO and UNICEF raised concerns that child malnutrition levels in northern Gaza were particularly extreme, with now at least 15 children reported to have died from malnutrition and dehydration in Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza, with a further six acutely malnourished children at risk of death. UNICEF spokesperson stated that malnutrition rates for children under five in northern Gaza, where access to aid has been limited, were three times higher than those in the south.

The first three days of March saw a marginal increase in the number of trucks entering with an average of 127 trucks per day entering Gaza, well below the operational capacity of both border crossings. February saw a very low number of trucks entering Gaza with an average of nearly 99 trucks entering per day. The number of trucks entering Gaza remains well below the target of 500 per day, with challenges bringing supplies in through both Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) and Rafah. UNRWA trucks have struggled to enter the Gaza Strip due to the war and the inconsistent opening of both crossings. Security to manage the crossing has been severely impacted due to the killing of several Palestinian policemen in Israeli airstrikes near the crossings in early February.

As of 4 March, the total number of UNRWA colleagues killed since the beginning of hostilities is now 162, an increase of two. As of 4 March, up to 1.7 million* people (over 75 per cent of the population) ** have been displaced across the Gaza Strip, some multiple times.*** Families are forced to move repeatedly in search of safety. Following intense Israeli bombardments and fighting in Khan Younis and the Middle Area in recent weeks, a significant number of displaced people have moved further south.

This includes one million individuals residing in or near emergency shelters or informal shelters. As of 12 October, approximately 160,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were recorded in UNRWA shelters in North Gaza and Gaza governorates. UNRWA currently estimates that the population of North Gaza and Gaza governorates to be up to 300,000 people. The ability of UNRWA to provide humanitarian support and updated data in these areas has been severely restricted. The ongoing hostilities, evacuation orders issued by Israeli Security Forces (ISF), and the constant need for safer locations have resulted in people being displaced multiple times.

** UNRWA reported in Situation Report 64 that up to 1.9 million IDPs were either residing in 154 UNRWA shelters or near these shelters. Due to the continued escalation of fighting and evacuation orders, some households have moved away from the shelters where they were initially registered.

*** There are instances where the same IDPs are registered in multiple shelters due to the fluid movement of populations; hereafter, estimates are used for these shelters. UNRWA plans to conduct a more accurate count of IDPs in shelters, including informal shelters, as soon as the security situation allows.

The West Bank, including East Jerusalem

Between 29 February and 4 March, 138 ISF search and arrest operations were recorded across the West Bank, with at least 90 Palestinians detained during this period. There were eight Palestinian fatalities reported, of whom three were children.

On the night of 3 March, a large ISF operation took place in Nur Shams Camp, northern West Bank. Significant damage to infrastructure including roads was reported. UNRWA schools inside the refugee camp were forced to close for a day. In the early morning of 4 March, an ISF operation in Al Am'ari Camp in the central West Bank resulted in the killing of one Palestine refugee during the exchange of fire.

On 1 March, settlers reportedly established a new outpost on Palestinian-owned land south of Al Lubban a-Sharqiya village (northern West Bank), enforced by access restrictions on Palestinians by ISF. This followed the confiscation of land in the area by ISF on 29 February. West of Bethlehem, bulldozing of Palestinian land was reported on 4 March near Husan village, purportedly to facilitate the expansion of the West Bank Barrier.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Briefing Security Council on Afghanistan, Special Representative Urges de Facto Authorities Reverse Repressive Policies towards Women

Meetings Coverage

Security Council

9565th Meeting (AM)

SC/15612

6 March 2024

Speaker Cautions against Normalization of Taliban without Independently Verified Improvements to Human Rights Situation without Independently Verified Improvements to Human Rights Situation

Calling for sustained international engagement towards an Afghanistan at peace with itself and its neighbours, the head of the Organization's mission in that country called on its de facto authorities to reverse its repressive policies towards women.

Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said that while day-to-day security has improved for millions of people since the Taliban takeover, this has come at an enormous cost. Noting the denial of rights, the repression of women and girls, public displays of violence, lack of inclusive governance and the marginalization of minorities, she highlighted the arbitrary detention of women for alleged Islamic dress code violations. This has a chilling effect among the wider female population, many of whom are now afraid to move in public, she said.

Noting that the de facto authorities did not attend the second meeting of Special Envoys in Doha in February, she said they explained that their decision to not attend was out of concern that they were not being treated as a full stakeholder in discussions about Afghanistan. They also stressed that consultations should be genuine and not merely a matter of the international community communicating its decisions to them, she said, pledging to make every effort to encourage their participation at the next meeting.

Highlighting the international community's commitment to the Afghan people, she said that donors have provided nearly $8 billion in funding for humanitarian needs and basic human services. Also expressing concerns over the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan, she encouraged donors to identify areas where they can provide longer term sustainable assistance that directly benefits the Afghan people.

Also briefing the Council today was Fatima Gailani, Chair of the Afghanistan Future Thought Forum, who described the more than 40 million Afghans inside the country as victims of the kleptocratic system of the past. After 46 years of turmoil and geopolitical wrangling, "Afghans are more fragmented today on issues ranging from war or peace, effective engagement, punitive measures to aid priorities and governance reforms," she said. Stressing the importance of avoiding polarizing approaches that only help promote radical ideas, she called for a national dialogue on the root causes of chronic poverty, protracted armed conflict, instability and social and political fragmentation.

The representative of Afghanistan also addressed the Council today, expressing support for UNAMA's efforts, and stressing that the Taliban do not represent the people of his country. The current status quo of unilateral rule, systematic violations and disregard for people's demands is in conflict with the values of Afghan people, he added. He also cautioned against the normalization of the Taliban without independently verified improvements to the human rights situation.

On the meeting of the Special Envoys, he said the inclusion of civil society was crucial, and commended the principled stance of the United Nations in including the voices of the people of Afghanistan at that meeting. Calling for the adoption of a road map or an action plan with defined objectives and specific timelines, he said whoever is appointed as the Secretary-General's Special Envoy to the country must be perceived as unbiased and should be committed to promoting the best interests of the Afghans, free from external influences.

When the floor opened, Council members expressed support for UNAMA's work and the renewal of its mandate. The representative of the United States was among many speakers who drew attention to the severe restrictions placed by the Taliban on women and girls' ability to exercise their rights, get an education and participate in the workforce. Washington, D.C., continues to partner with Afghan women to help them prepare for the day when they can participate fully in society, he said, stressing that women's contribution will add over $1 billion to the Afghan economy. "It is Afghanistan's loss if women and girls are unable to reach their full potential," he added.

Malta's delegate urged the Taliban to immediately release Manizha Seddiqi, a women's human rights defender who has been imprisoned without charges since December 2023. "A political solution for the future of Afghanistan is not possible without a legitimate and inclusive political process in which the rights of women and girls must be fully respected, and the diversity of Afghans are represented," she said.

Despite the grim forecast of Western countries, the representative of the Russian Federation said, Afghanistan has not become a black hole, even after the irresponsible withdrawal of foreign military forces and the flight of its former President. The de facto authorities ended up with a financially starved country, fully reliant on international infusions, but the Taliban have shown that they are interested in international engagement and regional cooperation, he said, calling for patient dialogue, without blackmail and pressure.

The Council also heard from delegates of neighbouring countries, who noted that a stable Afghanistan is crucial to regional security. The representative of Pakistan called for a realistic road map, with reciprocal steps by the interim Government and the international community, leading to the country's integration into the international community. Objecting to the reference to an "unfavourable protection environment in Pakistan" in the Secretary-General's report, he said his country has sheltered almost 5 million Afghan refugees for over 40 years at great economic, social and security cost with little help from the international community.

The representative of Iran said his country, which is burdened with sanctions, faces challenges with illegal immigration. Iran has been denied access to basic border-monitoring equipment, he said, adding that the legitimate concerns of neighbouring countries must be prioritized and addressed. India's delegate stressed the need to counter terrorism, bring in inclusive governance and safeguard the rights of women, children and minorities in Afghanistan.

THE SITUATION IN AFGHANISTAN

Briefings

ROZA OTUNBAYEVA, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), noting that Council resolution 2721 (2023) provides a clear goal for the international community's engagement with the de facto authorities of that country, said that the end state is "an Afghanistan at peace with itself and its neighbours". Recalling the second meeting of Special Envoys in Doha in February, she said that despite the decision of the de facto authorities not to attend, that event was important as it reiterated the international consensus on the need for continued engagement. It also helped key stakeholders of the international community to clarify the way forward and ensured that the needs of the Afghan people remained high on the international agenda. Further, it established this group of Special Envoys as a standing mechanism and reiterated ongoing concerns about human rights in Afghanistan.

Expressing concern about the denial of women's and girls' access to education and work, as well as their removal from many aspects of public life, she pointed to recent arbitrary detentions for alleged Islamic dress code violations. This has a chilling effect among the wider female population, many of whom are now afraid to move in public, she said, calling on the de facto authorities to reverse these restrictions. The de facto authorities explained that their decision not to attend Doha was not a rejection of engagement with the international community but a reflection of their concern that they were not being treated as a full stakeholder in discussions about Afghanistan. Pledging to make every effort to encourage their participation at the next meeting, she said they also stressed that consultations should be genuine and not merely a matter of the international community communicating its decisions to them. Not all the de facto authorities are convinced about the need for the Independent Assessment, she said.

The Mission's extensive monitoring and advocacy, she continued, has highlighted the denial of the rights of the population, the well-documented repression of women and girls, public displays of violence, a lack of inclusive governance and the marginalization of minorities. While it is true that day-to-day security has improved for millions of people since the Taliban takeover, this has come at an enormous cost. Highlighting the international community's commitment to the Afghan people, she said that donors have provided nearly $8 billion in funding for humanitarian needs and basic human services. They have also responded to specific emergencies such as the earthquakes in 2022 and 2023. A number of countries have retained their diplomatic presences in Kabul, she said, adding that the World Bank has just approved an adjusted approach to Afghanistan that unlocks more funding for basic needs.

Noting that Afghanistan has long been the source of instability and terrorism, and the home of millions of refugees who have been driven to neighbouring countries, as well as far away, she said the relative stability that exists now should be appreciated. However, there are well-founded concerns over the presence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan, she said, noting that it is not only Da'esh but also Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP). The Mission will maintain its engagement with the de facto authorities on respect for human rights, as well as inclusive political decision-making. Encouraging donors to identify areas where they can provide longer-term sustainable assistance that directly benefits the Afghan people, she said assistance in basic services is a lifeline for the most vulnerable Afghans, with the majority of the beneficiaries constituting women. UNAMA will also promote measures to support economic stabilization as a foundation for poverty reduction, she added.

FATIMA GAILANI, Chair of Afghanistan Future Thought Forum , stressed the need to ensure a peaceful Afghanistan fully reintegrated into the international community. Accordingly, she urged for the inclusion of all critical stakeholders and effective diplomacy to bridge the existing gaps. "Afghans are more fragmented today on issues ranging from war or peace, effective engagement, punitive measures to aid priorities and governance reforms," she observed, calling for dialogue processes and international forums based on constructive approaches. More than 40 million Afghans inside the country are victims of bad strategies and a kleptocratic system of the past. The humanitarian plight of Afghans cannot be ignored, she said, noting the importance of access to their assets and financial markets. "Failure to do so will further isolate Afghanistan," she cautioned.

To ensure effective engagement, she continued, it is vital to avoid polarizing approaches that only help promote radical ideas on all sides and preclude practical solutions. In this regard, she underscored the need to address the basic needs of Afghans and strengthen trust through structured engagement. A road map is also needed to reintegrate Afghanistan into the international community in line with its commitments. "However, such an engagement cannot be swayed by partisan interest groups or by ignoring a side that carries more weight and needs a seat at the table," she said. In light of 46 years of turmoil and geopolitical wrangling affecting Afghanistan, she stressed the need to build a national consensus on fundamental issues that constitute the root causes of chronic poverty, protracted armed conflict, instability and social and political fragmentation.

Statements

The representative of Japan , Council President for March, spoke in his national capacity to welcome that participants of a meeting of Special Envoys, held in Doha in February, agreed on the importance of continued engagement with the Taliban. Such a meeting would have been an ideal opportunity for the Taliban and international actors to communicate their positions directly, build confidence and deepen engagement. Further, "participating countries would have been able to explain to the Taliban the need to address human rights and other issues", he said. Supporting the Secretary-General's intention to make such a meeting a standing format, he expressed hope that the Taliban will participate in the next one. "Needless to say, various actors  including women  must participate in processes concerning Afghanistan," he stressed, adding that the UN Special Envoy for Afghanistan should be appointed "sooner rather than later" pursuant to resolution 2721 (2023).

The representative of the Russian Federation said it was the irresponsible withdrawal of foreign military forces and the disgraceful flight of former President Ashraf Ghani that brought the Taliban movement to power in Afghanistan. The de facto authorities ended up with a financially starved country, fully reliant on international infusions. While Afghanistan did not become a black hole despite the grim forecast from Western countries, she said, the country will find it very difficult to resolve the long-standing issues. Dialogue should be patient, without blackmail and pressure, he said, adding that the Taliban have shown that they are interested in international engagement and regional cooperation. But it is very difficult to progress if the reciprocal steps depend on approval from various Western donors with their own narrow interests, he cautioned. Expressing concern about continued security risks posed by the terror group Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan (ISIL-K) and related foreign fighters, he said the group strengthened its presence during the years of United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military presence.

The representative of the United States highlighted UNAMA's work in Afghanistan, expressing full support for the renewal of its mandate. The Taliban continues to deny women and girls the ability to exercise their rights, restricting them from secondary or higher education and preventing women's full participation in the workforce. Further, the Taliban is also detaining women deemed non-compliant with the hijab decree. Washington, D.C., continues to partner with Afghan women to help them prepare for the day when they can participate fully in society. Surveys show that more than 85 per cent of the Afghan population believes women should have equal access to education. Stressing that women's contribution will help create a more resilient society and add over $1 billion to the Afghan economy, he said that "it is Afghanistan's loss if women and girls are unable to reach their full potential". He also strongly supported the Council directive to appoint the UN Special Envoy to work with the international community, the Taliban and other Afghans.

The representative of the Republic of Korea , while taking note of the Taliban's efforts to counter narcotics, enhance security and increase outreach, reiterated that "excluding Afghan women can never enable the necessary inclusivity that can sustain a country". He also stated that a "considerable portion" of Afghanistan's humanitarian needs stems directly from the Taliban's policies. While Seoul has provided $74 million in humanitarian assistance since the Taliban's takeover, he pointed out that  since such provision  the number of women and girls at heightened risk of gender-based violence has increased and international organizations have had difficulty running schools. Stressing that this "policy-induced aspect of humanitarian needs" should be highlighted in engagements with the Taliban, he urged the appointment of a Special Envoy to promote coherence and coordination in international engagement and induce necessary policy changes. "Fragmented engagement by different actors focusing on different priorities are enabling the Taliban to select counterparts and consolidate misguided policies," he observed.

The representative of Guyana , speaking also for Algeria , Mozambique and Sierra Leone , encouraged all parties to continue engaging on the recommendations of the Independent Assessment report. Considering that women make up almost half of the Afghan population, it is imperative to include them in the development process, she said, calling upon the Taliban to swiftly reverse all policies that discriminate against women and girls and curtail the enjoyment of their human rights, including rights to education, freedom of movement and employment. It is essential to reopen schools and universities for women and girls and stop arbitrary arrests of women. Urging the Taliban to respect the country's obligations according to international law, she noted that Afghanistan is home to one of the youngest populations in the world. Therefore, access to quality education for youths, including girls, will help boost economic growth and development. Also expressing concern about the security challenges related to terrorism, drugs and weapons trafficking, she acknowledged the Taliban's efforts to combat drug trafficking and end opium cultivation. She called on the international community to support farmers in transitioning to alternative crops and also stressed the importance of humanitarian aid.

The representative of China said that, since the interim administration took office, the domestic situation in Afghanistan has improved. However, the country still faces severe challenges regarding the humanitarian situation, economic development and terrorism. To break the deadlock and play a positive role in the stable development of Afghanistan, the promotion of practical cooperation with the country should be prioritized. The international community should support the restoration of the Afghan banking system to contribute to the country's long-term development. Through patient communication with Afghan authorities, it should also gradually enhance trust in the outside world, create favourable conditions for dialogue and engagement and avoid imposing programmes on the country. Further, the Council should make timely adjustments to the sanction regime and reinstate exemptions to the travel ban for relevant members of the Afghan authorities, he said, noting that illegal unilateral sanctions imposed on the country should be terminated.

The representative of the United Kingdom , pointing out that restrictions on the rights of women and girls are becoming stricter and that over half of Afghanistan's population will require humanitarian assistance in 2024, underlined the need to collectively support the Afghan people. Noting that the future path for an Afghanistan at peace with itself and its neighbours is laid out in resolution 2721 (2023), she urged moving forward with the formation of a small contact group and the appointment of a UN Special Envoy. She stressed, however, that the Taliban must meet its international obligations to make further progress, underscoring: "Afghanistan cannot be self-reliant when it excludes 50 per cent of its people from society." Further, without inclusive governance, it will not find lasting peace. Also underlining the need for urgent action to address the humanitarian situation in the country, she reported that the United Kingdom's bilateral aid programme for 2024 currently stands at $144 million.

The representative of Switzerland said Afghanistan continues to face an economic crisis and human rights crisis, in addition to the climate crisis that is affecting the region. Growing competition for water is likely to exacerbate instability, she said, adding that UNAMA is well-placed to promote dialogue and promote sustainable water management. Almost half the population lives in poverty, she noted, adding that the economic prospects for the population remain bleak. The Taliban's actions, such as excluding half the population from public life, are detrimental to the economy and society, she said, expressing concern about the fear and insecurity it reinforces among female population. Half of all the children are denied a secondary education while the other half receives what is essentially a secondary education, she said, adding that the Mission's mandate provides it the tools to perform its work even under such complex circumstances.

The representative of France said that millions of women and girls in Afghanistan remain deprived of their most basic rights and freedoms due to the Taliban's deliberate decision to eliminate women from public, economic and political life. He condemned this systematic discrimination, noting that it constitutes a policy of segregation. The security situation also remains worrying, he said, stressing that Afghanistan must not become a sanctuary for international terrorism. Additionally, he voiced concern over drug cultivation and trafficking, noting the increase in methamphetamine trafficking in the region. Responding to the needs of the Afghan population, France has paid more than 140 million to humanitarian aid since 2021 and will continue its assistance in health, education and food security. During the Global Refugee Forum in December 2023, France committed to resettling Afghan women in France via the "Women in danger" provision. He also reiterated France's support for UNAMA and the appointment of a Special Envoy.

The representative of Ecuador said: "For young Afghan women, March will be a reminder of the de facto regime's ban on continuing their secondary studies." Expressing concern over information regarding the education provided in madrassas in the country, he said that this could further perpetuate gender inequality and "become a cornerstone for the policy principles that the de facto regime proposes for the future of Afghanistan". Such regime's reluctance to include women in economic life further reduces the possibilities for finding a way out of the country's humanitarian crisis. He went on to underline UNAMA's role in ensuring timely access for humanitarian workers despite insecurity, movement restrictions and bureaucratic red tape imposed by the regime  particularly against female humanitarian personnel. On the February meeting of Special Envoys in Doha, he encouraged the Secretary-General to continue pursuing dialogue to, inter alia, allow for the reversal of edicts restricting the rights of women and girls.

The representative of Slovenia condemned reported public executions and corporal punishment in public spaces, also voicing concern about continued extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and systematic restrictions on human rights defenders and journalists. Urging the Taliban to release all detained women's rights activists, she called for the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women and girls in all spheres of public life. Since 2016, she noted, Slovenia has been providing financial support to the Mine Detection Polyclinic in Kabul, which continues to employ women personnel, asking: How bright could Afghanistan's future be if women and girls could become doctors, teachers, engineers, scientists and artists? Stressing that all humanitarian operations need safe and unhindered access, she cited gravely concerning security challenges for Afghanistan and the region. She expressed support for stronger engagement with the Taliban  but with the non-negotiable understanding of their obligations to bring the process further.

The representative of Malta noted that the Secretary-General's report documents a 38 per cent increase in recorded conflict-related security incidents, largely attributable to narcotics. Almost half of Afghanistan's population lives in poverty, with the Taliban responsible for 95 per cent of humanitarian access incidents. She cited escalating human rights violations targeted against civilian and security personnel of the previous regime, media, civil society and women's rights activists  with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reporting a 30 per cent increase in women and girls at risk of gender-based violence. Urging the Taliban to immediately and unconditionally release Manizha Seddiqi, a women's human rights defender who has been imprisoned without charges since December 2023, she stressed: "A political solution for the future of Afghanistan is not possible without a legitimate and inclusive political process in which the rights of women and girls must be fully respected, and the diversity of Afghans are represented."

The representative of Afghanistan , expressing support for UNAMA's efforts to foster peace and prosperity in his country, also voiced appreciation for the donor system and stressed the need for continued assistance. The meeting of the Special Envoys demonstrates the beginning of a new phase of international support for a democratic Afghanistan. The inclusion of civil society was crucial, he said, commending the principled stance of the United Nations in including the voices of the people of Afghanistan at that meeting. The current status quo of unilateral rule, systematic violations and disregard for people's demands are in conflict with the values of Afghan people, he underscored, adding that it is vital to ensure that the Taliban maintain all international commitments towards counter-terrorism and human rights.

No concession must be made that can institutionalize Afghanistan's gender apartheid, he said, cautioning against the normalization of the Taliban without independently verified improvements to the human rights situation. Calling for the adoption of a road map or an action plan with defined objectives and specific timelines, he stressed that future meetings must ensure balanced representation of all relevant Afghan groups. The Taliban are only one internal stakeholder and do not represent the people of Afghanistan, he stressed. Welcoming the recommendation to appoint a Special Envoy, he said the selection process should take into consideration factors such as leadership, diplomatic skills and relevant experience. The Special Envoy should pursue the start of a result-oriented political process as a matter of priority, he said, adding that whoever fills that role must be perceived as unbiased and be committed to promoting the best interests of the Afghan people, free from external influences.

Reiterating the Secretary-General's call for reversing the bans on women from education and employment, he called attention to the report of the Special Rapporteur. It points to the erasure of women and girls from public life, the harsh enforcement of dress codes on women, the arbitrary detention of activists and journalists and torture of former security personnel, among other violations. The end-state objective of achieving a peaceful Afghanistan can only be realized through national legitimacy and principled international engagement, he stressed.

The representative of India stressed the need to counter terrorism, bring in inclusive governance and safeguard the rights of women, children and minorities in Afghanistan. The international community must maintain focus on Afghanistan and its people. Over the past two years, India's assistance has primarily focused on food security, medical supplies and education. To ensure food security and fight the locust menace, India has provided 50,000 metric tons of wheat and supplied 40,000 litres of the pesticide malathion. Turning to education, she noted India's scholarship programmes for Afghan students and highlighted that it has provided online educational opportunities to 1,000 Afghan students  including 300 women  in the current academic year. India also continues to deliver lifesaving medicines to different hospitals in Afghanistan. Additionally, to assist the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in its fight against drugs, India has partnered with the Office to provide hygiene kits, clothing, medical assistance and humanitarian kits for their rehab camps.

The representative of Pakistan said that the international community must help millions of destitute Afghans through the provision of "unconditional" humanitarian assistance. It is also important to support Afghanistan's economy and, to this end, the international community should help revive the banking system and facilitate the release of frozen assets to the country's central bank. For its part, Afghanistan's interim Government must fulfil its international obligations  especially regarding the fundamental rights of women and girls  promote inclusivity and, above all, eliminate terrorism within and from Afghanistan. He called for a realistic road map, with reciprocal steps by the interim Government and the international community, leading to the country's integration into the international community. He also detailed several objections with the Secretary-General's report, including its assertion of an "unfavourable protection environment in Pakistan". On that, he underscored that his country has sheltered almost 5 million Afghan refugees for over 40 years at great economic, social and security cost with little help from the international community.

The representative of Iran said that terrorism, drug-trafficking and border-control deficiencies continue to threaten the stability of Afghanistan and its neighbours. Iran still faces challenges with illegal immigration and, while the migration of millions of Afghans to Iran has burdened a country under sanctions, the international community has shown little sensitivity. Iran has been denied access to basic border-monitoring equipment, he reported, stating that this underscores the differing priorities and concerns of neighbouring countries and the global community regarding Afghanistan. Underlining the importance of maintaining continuous international engagement with the de facto authorities, he nevertheless stressed that the legitimate concerns of neighbouring countries must be prioritized and addressed in all such initiatives. Such concerns include establishing an inclusive Government, safeguarding the rights of all ethnic groups, combating terrorism, preventing illegal immigration and addressing drug-trafficking. He said that, for his country, a crucial sign of an inclusive Government is "improving the lives of the Afghan people and bringing back refugees".

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






8th FW, allies participate in maritime strike exercise

Published March 6, 2024

By Capt. Kaylin Hankerson

8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

KORAT ROYAL THAI AIR FORCE BASE, Kingdom of Thailand (AFNS) -- U.S. Air Force 8th Fighter Wing aircraft and personnel participated in a maritime strike exercise scenario as a part of Joint Exercise Cobra Gold 24 at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Kingdom of Thailand, Feb. 29.

Two F-16 Fighting Falcons assigned to the 80th Fighter Squadron integrated with U.S. Army AH-64 Apaches, a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon, Royal Thai Air Force JAS-39s and Royal Thai Navy vessels to find, target and destroy simulated maritime targets in the Gulf of Thailand. Designed to test the interoperability of joint and multinational assets, the exercise scenario demonstrated the combined force's readiness to operate throughout the region.

"We integrated and put together all the different components from the other services and countries," said Capt. Kevin Saval, 80th Fighter Squadron pilot and mission commander. "I think the biggest learning point in the scenario for all was fine-tuning the communication flow... pushing information from the ground assets, from the naval assets to us in the air and back was great training."

The 8th Fighter Wing, also known as the Wolf Pack after the success of Operation Bolo launched from Ubon Air Base, Kingdom of Thailand, in 1967, has maintained participation throughout Joint Exercise Cobra Gold's 40-year history. Each year, aircraft and support personnel forward deploy for the opportunity to demonstrate U.S. Air Force capabilities, work with Royal Thai Air Force counterparts and develop a strong combined force.

"Cobra Gold is an invaluable opportunity for personnel from all participating nations to engage and improve the combined force," said Col. Matthew C. Gaetke, 8th Fighter Wing commander and Cobra Gold 24 U.S. Air Forces commander. "Bringing the Juvats [80th Fighter and Fighter Generation Squadron] out to this iteration of the exercise and seeing our young airmen test their abilities to operate alongside our allies and mission partners proves how strong we can be together as one force toward a common goal."

Cobra Gold is the largest joint exercise in mainland Asia, exemplifies the U.S.' long-standing alliance with the Kingdom of Thailand, and reflects a shared commitment to preserving a peaceful, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific region.

"The Kingdom of Thailand is one of our [the U.S.'s] oldest treaty allies," said Gaetke. "And Cobra Gold is just one way we work together, help each other get better and practice tackling the kinds of tough problems no single country can solve alone."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






2nd Fleet, Expeditionary Strike Group 2 Execute NATO Maritime Mission for Steadfast Defender

US Navy

06 March 2024

From Petty Officer 1st Class Ryan Seelbach, Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet Public Affairs

BOD, NORWAY -- In the frigid climate just north of the Arctic Circle, a contingent of maritime personnel from Norfolk, Va. are forward deployed to command and control the largest NATO exercise in decades. Commander, Task Force North (CTF North) staff arrived in Bod, Norway Feb. 11 to establish, maintain and execute maritime missions during Steadfast Defender 2024.

Reinforcing the trans-Atlantic link between NATO Allies and partners is a major goal of this maritime command element headquarters, which is comprised of staff from U.S. 2nd Fleet and Expeditionary Strike Group 2. Their forward presence and leadership in the exercise enables NATO maritime units to operate seamlessly in any environment.

Vice Adm. Doug Perry, commander, Joint Force Command Norfolk and 2nd Fleet, emphasized that CTF North demonstrates North America's commitment to NATO.

"My 2nd fleet staff are operating forward as CTF North to oversee fourteen Allied and partner navies throughout the maritime operations," said Perry. "Steadfast Defender is a valuable experience for our Norfolk-based team, who are gaining proficiency commanding mission ready forces in the European operating area. Interoperability is essential because NATO faces the most dangerous and unpredictable security environment in decades. So this is an incredible demonstration of NATO's unity, resilience, and readiness to respond to an attack on this defensive alliance. The NATO Alliance is ironclad, and we are ready, if challenged."

Reestablished as a fleet headquarters to defend the maritime avenues of approach between North America and Europe, and oversee deterrence and security of the Atlantic Ocean and east coast of the United States, 2nd Fleet maintains a "maneuver arm" element to respond across the Atlantic Ocean and into the High North. This capability can involve commanding and controlling forward forces from 2nd Fleet headquarters in Norfolk, or sending an expeditionary maritime command element forward to oversee forces in theater. CTF-N is exercising that second construct.

Sailors assigned to CTF North provide a wide range of expertise to include operational coordinators, maritime operations center personnel and military planners.

Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson, deputy commander, CTF North, explained that the staff, made up of British, Canadian, Dutch, Danish, French, Finish, Norwegian, and U.S. personnel are integrating with each other and learning through each engagement.

"Training in Norway, especially in the Arctic, is an invaluable opportunity for U.S. service members supporting Steadfast Defender. As a joint force, we are showing our ability to integrate with NATO allies and Sweden," said Nicholson. "Our ability to rapidly deploy a sophisticated NATO command element headquarters, largely staffed by the U.S., seamlessly into a Norwegian facility in a strategically important location would not have been possible without a strong U.S.-Norway partnership. For us, it's more than just words, we are showing our dedication to the alliance and security in the region through our actions."

The staff is residing and working in Bod during exercise Steadfast Defender providing around the clock command and control to all exercise-related maritime activities. Capt. Michael Desmond, CTF North's chief of staff, underscored the importance of all team members' contributions.

"We are proud to be here in Norway, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to our Allies and Partners," said Desmond. "Everyone on this exceptional headquarters staff brings unique expertise that helps to strengthen the Alliance by developing interoperability and capacity-building across a spectrum of warfighting readiness."

Second Fleet develops and employs maritime forces ready to fight across multiple domains in the Atlantic and Arctic in order to ensure access, deter aggression and defend U.S., allied, and partner interests.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Bataan ARG, 26th MEU(SOC) to Return to Homeport

US Navy

06 March 2024

From Amphibious Squadron 8 Public Affairs

STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR -- The ships of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), along with the embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (MEU(SOC)) exited the Mediterranean Sea after conducting operations in the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of operations, March 5, 2024. In the coming weeks, Sailors and Marines will sail across the Atlantic Ocean and return home to Norfolk, Virginia and Camp LeJeune, North Carolina.

Since December, the Bataan ARG and the 26th MEU(SOC) have conducted training, exercises, and operations in the U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command areas of responsibility in support of maritime stability and security in defense of U.S., allied, and partner interests.

"Throughout our time in the U.S. Fifth and U.S. Sixth Fleet regions, the Sailors and Marines of the Bataan ARG and 26th MEU(SOC) showcased the unique capabilities that we bring as a response force to our allies and partners," said Amphibious Squadron 8 Commodore, Capt. Martin Robertson. "Our presence in the Eastern Mediterranean was exactly what our nation needed: an integrated Navy and Marine Corps force ready to respond when called upon."

Completing this transit and entering the Atlantic Ocean is a major milestone and one of the last scheduled operations of the Bataan ARG and the 26th MEU(SOC)'s nearly 8-month deployment.

The Bataan ARG is comprised of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5), Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50), and San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19). The ships deployed from Norfolk, Virginia, July 10, and have conducted training, exercises, and operations to support maritime stability and security in defense of U.S., allied, and partner interests.

The 26th MEU(SOC) serves as one of the Nation's premier crisis response forces capable of conducting amphibious operations, crisis response, and limited contingency operations, to include enabling the introduction of follow-on forces and designated special operations, in support of theater requirements of the Geographic Combatant Commander. Coupled with the BAT ARG, the 26th MEU(SOC) serves as a premier stand-in force with a full complement of all-domain capabilities to operate persistently within the littorals or weapons engagement zones of an adversary.

Headquartered in Naples, Italy, NAVEUR-NAVAF operates U.S. naval forces in the U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command areas of responsibility. U.S. 6th Fleet is permanently assigned to NAVEUR-NAVAF and employs maritime forces through the full spectrum of joint and naval operations.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Australia, ASEAN Warn Against Confrontations in South China Sea

By VOA News March 06, 2024

Members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations are urging calm among those who operate in the increasingly volatile South China Sea.

The plea was made Wednesday in a joint statement between ASEAN and Australia at the end of a three-day summit in Melbourne. The summit marked the 50th anniversary of Australia establishing formal ties with ASEAN.

The declaration said Australia and ASEAN "recognize the benefits of having the South China Sea as a sea of peace, stability and prosperity," and encouraged "all countries to avoid any unilateral actions" that could threaten those aspects.

But the statement did not include language that directly called out China for numerous confrontations with others in the region. The latest incident occurred Tuesday near the Second Thomas Shoal, when two Philippines Coast Guard ships were confronted by Chinese Coast Guard ships.

Manila says one of its ships sustained damage in a collision with a Chinese vessel as it carried out "dangerous" blocking maneuvers, while four coast guardsmen on the other Philippine ship were injured when it was hit by water cannon from the Chinese Coast Guard ships.

The two Philippine ships were escorting two civilian vessels carrying supplies and a fresh rotation of troops to a Philippine warship intentionally grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal to maintain the archipelago's claims to the submerged reef.

China has claimed sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea, ignoring competing claims by regional neighbors, including the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Beijing and Manila have been locked in a bitter standoff over the Scarborough Shoal, a fisheries-rich atoll that was seized by China in 2012, despite it being inside the Philippines' 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

An international arbitration tribunal in the Hague said in 2016 that China's claims had no legal basis - a decision Beijing has rejected.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Fire departments battle an industrial fire near 15 Mile Road and Groesbeck Highway in the Detroit suburb of Clinton Township, on Monday, March 4, 2024. (Robin Buckson/Detroit News via AP) Robin Buckson/AP

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP)  A large fire followed by multiple explosions at a building in suburban Detroit killed one person and injured a firefighter.

A look at what we know about the site, including investigators' questions surrounding the vaping supply distributor operating there.

WHAT CAUSED THE EXPLOSIONS AND FIRE?

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Authorities believe canisters containing gas chemicals may have been responsible for the repeated explosions reported by first responders and witnesses. They haven't yet determined the cause of the fire. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is among those investigating.

The building housed a distributor for the vaping industry called Goo, and canisters stored inside contained nitrous and butane, said Clinton Township Fire Chief Tim Duncan. The size of those containers wasn't immediately clear.

The business wasn't permitted to have those materials, Township officials said Tuesday. Duncan said the last inspection of the site in 2022 did not show this amount of material.

Duncan said a truckload of butane canisters had arrived within the past week at the building and more than half of that stock was still on site when the fire began. There were also more than 100,000 vape pens stored there, the fire chief said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The Associated Press left phone and email messages with Goo on Tuesday.

Owners and employees are cooperating with investigators, said Clinton Township Police Chief Dina Caringi. Authorities and witnesses described repeated booms that even shook nearby cars as the gas canisters exploded; some canisters were found embedded in neighboring buildings.

Ben Ilozor, a professor of architecture, construction and engineering at Eastern Michigan University, said the size and strength of the fire made sense after he learned what was on site.

All of the vape pens are missiles, he said. "All of the canisters. Its a missile. As they are catching temperature, they are exploding and combusting, and thats why it wouldnt just happen at once. It would be continuous, depending on the level of heat they are exposed to.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Butane is highly flammable; nitrous can increase a fires intensity and explode when heated inside a container. The failure of lithium batteries like those in vaping and e-cigarette devices is another known fire hazard.

WHAT CAUSED THE DEATH AND INJURY?

Authorities believe the man was watching the fire when one of the canisters struck him after traveling a quarter of a mile from the building.

The firefighter was believed to be injured by glass after one of the canisters hit the windshield of a vehicle.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

IS THERE STILL DANGER?

Clinton Township officials asked residents to stay away from the site and said it would be fenced off and guarded as cleanup begins. But there is no sign of dangerous air quality in the area, Fire Chief Tim Duncan said Tuesday.
Security Tightened, Some Residents Detained Ahead of Modi's Kashmir Visit

By Muheet Ul Islam March 06, 2024

Authorities on the Indian side of Kashmir are on high alert ahead of a scheduled visit to the region by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, March 7. This will be Modi's first visit since his government stripped the disputed area of its special status as a semiautonomous region in 2019. Kashmir is India's only Muslim majority region.

Thousands of troopers, including local police and paramilitary forces, have been deployed in Srinagar, the capital. Fences installed by the Jammu and Kashmir, or J&K, government and flags of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, will welcome him at Bakshi Stadium in the Wazir-Bagh neighborhood where he is scheduled to address the public.

Security forces deployed around Srinagar have taken other security measures ahead of the visit, including frisking commuters, which has offended some residents, and using sniffer dogs in the search for banned substances.

"Frisking is a form of harassment, and we Kashmiris have been subjected to it for decades. I believe nothing has changed in Kashmir; rather, the situation has in fact worsened," said Jahangir Khan, a resident of Srinagar.

"The slogan of the security forces, 'Respects all and suspects all,' is full of hypocrisy. How can you respect everyone if you suspect everyone?" he said, adding that in recent days, most residents have preferred to stay at home.

Modi, according to a statement issued from his office through the Press Information Bureau, will participate in a program titled "Developed India  Developed Jammu Kashmir."

During the program, the prime minister is expected to "dedicate" an agriculture development program worth more than $600 million "for boosting agri-economy in J&K," a press statement read. He will also "launch multiple projects related to the tourism sector," the statement added.

The BJP sees Modi's visit to Kashmir as a move to gain support for a third consecutive term in power with nationwide elections scheduled for April. Politicians associated with the J&K branch of the BJP contend that more than 200,000 people from Kashmir are expected to be on hand for the prime minister's arrival at Bakshi Stadium.

Modi "has written the new chapter of development in J&K by opening the gates of treasure of India for the people of the region," Ravinder Raina, the J&K's BJP president, told reporters on Tuesday. "His visit on March 7th will be remembered as a historic event."

Raina added that people of the Himalayan territory "admire" Modi and that is why they will visit the capital from various parts of the valley in large numbers to "catch his glimpse."

"The stadium does not have the capacity to accommodate 200,000 people, therefore arrangements are made at several locations in Srinagar so that everyone can see and hear him on big screens," Raina said. "Every household in Kashmir appreciates Prime Minister Modi's effort he took for the betterment of people of J&K."

Some locals said they didn't expect the Modi visit to produce benefits, in part because of the region's loss of its special status.

"People were robbed of their rights on 5 August, 2019. The special status was never an obstacle to develop the region. No one expects anything from Modi and his government," said Mohammad Ayaz, another resident of Srinagar. "People have a clear picture in front of them. People here know who is working for their betterment and who is misleading them."

The "unemployment rate in J&K has surged to an all-time high," Ayaz told VOA. "BJP can try everything to win seats, but they won't succeed either in Kashmir, Jammu or in Ladakh."

Kashmir's loss of its special status led to the division of the region into two federal territories - Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Both areas are ruled by the central government and have no legislatures of their own.

On March 4, The Hindu, a newspaper in New Delhi, reported that the J&K administration was mobilizing thousands of government employees to attend Modi's rally. The report said that 13 government departments had been told to send their employees to Bakshi Stadium.

"Yes, this is true. Many government employees, including those from the J&K Bank, have been instructed to visit the venue at 5:30 a.m.," a government employee told VOA on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

"The administration is not only compelling government employees but also private schools by asking them to send their vehicles to ferry employees to the stadium," he added.

"Everyone has to abide or else he or she will face the consequences," the employee said. "No unknown person would be allowed to enter the venue, as the government has prepared the list of individuals after security agencies cleared their names following a proper verification."

Many residents of Srinagar said their family members had been detained by local police in the lead-up to Modi's visit.

"My friend has been detained because of his past," a resident of the Soura neighborhood of Srinagar told VOA. "He will be released after Modi travels back to Delhi."

Vidhi Kumar Birdi, inspector general of the Kashmir police, was approached for his comments. He disconnected the call as soon as he was questioned.

India and Pakistan have both claimed Kashmir since the two countries gained independence from Britain in 1947. They administer parts of the region with a "Line of Control" as the de facto border.

Wasim Nabi and Ayesha Tanzeem contributed to this report. Some information came from the Associated Press.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






3 Killed, 4 Hurt in Houthi Strike on Commercial Ship

By Carla Babb March 07, 2024

An anti-ship ballistic missile launched Wednesday from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen killed three crew members on a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Aden, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

It was the first fatal strike by Iran-backed Houthi militants since the onslaught on international shipping lanes began in mid-November. It was the fifth such missile fired by the Houthis in two days, CENTCOM said.

The Houthi missile hit the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence and caused a fire in the pilothouse, defense officials told VOA.

Four were injured by the attack, three of whom were in critical condition, CENTCOM said. The attack forced the 23-member multinational crew to abandon ship, according to defense officials.

The Philippines said Thursday two of those killed and two others injured in the attack were Filipino crew members.

The USS Philippine Sea, an American guided-missile cruiser, was trying to assist in rescue efforts, one official said. An Indian destroyer was first on the scene to help with rescue, he added.

More than a dozen commercial ships have been impacted by Houthi drones or missiles since mid-November. Those vessels have included an aid ship with grain bound for Yemen and at least one ship with cargo bound for Iran. One vessel carrying fertilizer, the MV Rubymar, sank over the weekend after being damaged in a Houthi attack last month.

"We are seeing the risks caused to property, life, to the ecology in the area by these continued activities," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Wednesday. "We call on the Houthis to cease all attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea."

A coalition of about two dozen countries, including the United States and Britain, has been working to secure the region from the Houthi attacks since mid-January.

The U.S. and British militaries have launched multiple combined operations against the Houthis, and the U.S. has also carried out near-daily strikes to take out incoming Houthi missiles and drones, along with weapons that were prepared to launch.

Asked by VOA on Tuesday whether there was enough military power in the Red Sea region to stop the attacks, Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder said the United States has "a significant amount of capability already in the region."

"But it's not just about the U.S. We will continue to work with allies and partners, and as we continue to need more, we'll certainly work with them," he added.

On Tuesday, the Houthis targeted the USS Carney, which shot down bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, according to U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East.

The U.S. also launched airstrikes destroying three anti-ship missiles and three suicide drone boats, the command said.

The Iranian proxies have said their attacks against international shipping lanes are carried out in solidarity with the Hamas government in Gaza.

Hamas terrorists launched a brutal attack that killed hundreds of Israelis on October 7. Israel responded with an operation to root out Hamas in the Gaza Strip, an ongoing operation that has killed thousands.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Operation Iron Swords - Day 152 - 06 March 2024

The war in Gaza continues for its 151st day, leaving more than 30,000 dead so far, while Hamas and Israel may or may not be close to reaching a ceasefire agreement before the month of Ramadan.

According to Israeli media, the fears of the Israeli security authorities regarding the upcoming Ramadan season in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem are rising, amid warnings from the Israelis that Hamas may exploit the most important time for Muslims as an opportunity to ignite the scene. The biblical holidays for the Jews this year intersect with the second week of Ramadan, which may open the door to a new battle in Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Ramadan is celebrated Mar 10, 2024  Apr 9, 2024. Purim is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the survival of the Jewish people from annihilation in the 5th century BCE. The story is told in the Book of Esther and is known as the Feast of Lots. Purim dates are March 2324, 2024.

Prime Minister's Office Statement: "At a meeting of all security elements chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it was decided: Israel strongly safeguards freedom of worship for all faiths, at all sites in Israel, especially the Temple Mount; Ramadan is sacred to Muslims; its sanctity will be upheld this year, as it is every year. During the first week of Ramadan, the entry of worshippers to the Temple Mount will be permitted, similar to the numbers in previous years. A weekly assessment of the security and safety aspects will be held; a decision will be made accordingly."

At the end of the discussion it was decided that there will be no age limit for entering the Temple Mount, but there will be quotas.

The potential Republican candidate for the US presidential elections, Donald Trump, announced his support for the war that Israel has been waging on the Gaza Strip for 5 months, after he had previously criticized Tel Aviv, whether for killing large numbers of Palestinian civilians or for failing to prevent the attack launched by the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas) . ) on October 7 last year. In a statement described by Agence France-Presse as the clearest yet, Trump answered yes in response to Fox News about whether he was in Israels camp.

In response to another question about whether he agreed with the way Israel was waging its war on Gaza, the former American president replied, You must end the problem. To justify his position, Trump said that Israel was subjected to a horrific invasion last October 7, and that this would not have happened if he were president. He considered that Hamas attacked Israel because it did not show any respect for the Joe Biden administration .

The Hill newspaper said that Trump had previously avoided expressing a clear position on the Israeli war on Gaza, and was content with recalling his administrations positions in support of Israel. Last November, the former US president criticized Israel over its war on Gaza, describing what was happening as terrible and terrible. Trump also criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Galat, and spoke about the failure of Israeli intelligence to prevent the attack launched by Hamas. At that time, Israeli Channel 12 described the former US presidents statements as surprising.

War Termination

"Al-Quds" magazine claimed that according to the information received, Hamas in its first response to the negotiations of the past weeks in Paris and Cairo, during the recent trip of "Khalil al-Lahiya", a senior member of the Hamas political office to Cairo, in a written letter which was presented to "Abbas Kamel", the head of Egypt's intelligence agency, stated his demands as follows:

1. Stopping the war in Gaza one week before the start of the exchange operation

2. The explicit recognition of the Israeli side to withdraw from Gaza along with international guarantees for the true realization of this withdrawal.

3. Non-acceptance of a humanitarian interruption and emphasis on the necessity of a complete cessation of the war in Gaza

4. Complete freedom of movement in Gaza and agreeing to the unconditional return of all displaced persons to their homes and areas.

5. Issuing permission for aid to enter Gaza without establishing security arrangements from the first day of the implementation of the exchange of prisoners

6. The release of all Palestinian prisoners inside the Palestinian territories and in their own regions and not agreeing to the release of the prisoners outside the Palestinian territories.

7. The complete release of 57 Palestinian prisoners who were released from the prisons of the regime during the Palestinian prisoner exchange operation with Gilad Shalit of the Zionist military in October 2011, but were arrested again by the Israeli army and are in prison. These people will not be considered among the prisoners in the exchange operation.

8. Those arrested inside the occupied territories and Quds will be an important part of this exchange operation, and the resistance of Israel's attempt to veto the names of these people will not be recognized.

9. Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups will present the names of the first group of Zionist prisoners on the exchange list only 48 hours before the start of the operation, and they will not want any pre-determined list and discussion and opinion about the number of prisoners or bodies. He accepted, because the operation of counting and determining the status of Zionist prisoners will be a time-consuming matter even after the end of the war.

The list of the first group of Palestinian prisoners considered by Hamas for exchange is as follows:

A: 160 Palestinian prisoners who have heavy sentences or life imprisonment. This list includes these people: 1. Marwan Barghouti

2. Ahmad Saadat

3. Abdullah Barghouti

4. Ibrahim Hamed

5. Abbas Seyed

Other people under these sentences should be released regardless of the prison term and sentences issued, as well as their affiliation with different Palestinian groups or territories.

b) All women should be freed, regardless of the decrees issued, their orientation towards different Palestinian groups or the area of ??residence

c) All sick Palestinian prisoners, regardless of the issued orders, age and identity, including the Palestinian prisoner of the Zionist regime, "Walid al-Daqa", must be released from the prisons of the regime.

d) All elderly people (meaning people over 60 years old based on international definitions)

e) All children and minors should be released regardless of their sentence and identity (it means people under 18 years old based on international standards)

The second group of prisoner exchanges and future exchange operations: After the completion of the first prisoner exchange operation, the second exchange operation will begin simultaneously with the agreement for a ceasefire and the implementation of Israel's complete withdrawal from Gaza and the reopening of all crossings for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza without Israeli supervision. If the above objectives are not fulfilled, the exchange operation of other groups, whether of living prisoners or the bodies of Zionist prisoners in the resistance prison, will be stopped.

At the end of this letter, while appreciating the efforts of the Egyptian side in order to achieve a ceasefire, Hamas has emphasized that Cairo cannot negotiate with the Israeli side regarding the conditions contained in this written message, because the aforementioned conditions, the demands of The final and unconditional Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) are considered.

The Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) announced that it will continue to negotiate through mediators to reach a ceasefire agreement with Israel. Negotiators from Hamas, Qatar and Egypt are meeting in Cairo to try to reach an agreement regarding stopping the Israeli aggression for 40 days before the beginning of the next month of Ramadan, in the absence of an Israeli delegation.

Hamas stressed in its statement that it had shown great flexibility with the aim of reaching an agreement that would guarantee a comprehensive cessation of aggression. Despite this, it indicated that Israel is still evading the obligations related to this agreement, especially those related to a permanent ceasefire, the return of the displaced, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip , and providing for the needs of the Palestinian people. Hamas also explained that it would continue to negotiate through various mediators to reach an agreement that meets the demands and interests of the Palestinian people.

For his part, the leader of the Hamas movement, Osama Hamdan, stated that the movement presented during the past two days its vision of the proposal presented by the mediators to complete the prisoner exchange deal with Israel during the past two days. He stressed that Hamas is steadfast in its demands for a ceasefire, the complete withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced, and the start of reconstruction operations.

Hamdan said that what Israel failed to achieve on the battlefield, it will not achieve at the negotiating table. He stressed, during a press conference in Beirut, that any prisoner exchange could not take place until after a ceasefire and the fulfillment of all Hamas conditions.

For his part, Hamas Political Bureau member Bassem Naim said that the problem of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip now lies in the person of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and behind him the American administration, because were it not for the cover and opportunities that this administration gave to the Zionist government over the course of 5 months, These massacres and genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip would not have occurred, as it allocated $14 billion, supplied weapons to the occupation, used the veto, participated directly in managing the battle, moved aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines, and participated in the information intelligence management of the battle. Therefore, it is leading the battle through Israel.

Naim added - in exclusive statements to Al Jazeera Net - that this American position has nothing to do with the Hamas movements demands related to a ceasefire, because Hamas does not have miraculous demands. We are talking about a ceasefire and not a humanitarian truce as the American administration wants. We are talking about the truth. Withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, we are talking about the return of the displaced to their homes. These are normal demands after the war. What prevents people from returning to their homes from which they were displaced, even though they were already destroyed?

He stressed that these are very natural and logical demands. On the contrary, the demands are supposed to be much harsher than this. The principle is that the occupation should be punished for the massacres and crimes it committed against our people and the infrastructure they destroyed.

Minister in the Israeli war government, Benny Gantz , continues his meetings in Washington despite the attack on him by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies. Yesterday, Tuesday, he met with US Secretary of State and Defense Anthony Blinken and Lloyd Austin, who stressed the need to take urgent steps regarding the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip . Axios quoted American officials as saying that Gantz was informed during his talks in Washington of the extent of President Joe Biden's administration's frustration with the Israeli government.

During his meeting with Gantz, Blinken stressed the need for Israel to take urgent steps to expand the scope of delivery and distribution of humanitarian aid, including by opening additional crossings. The US State Department said that Blinken stressed to Gantz during his meeting at the US State Department headquarters the need for a credible and implementable humanitarian plan before any major military operation in Rafah. Blinken also stressed that Washington supports steps aimed at promoting lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

For its part, the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) announced that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed, during his meeting with Gantz, his deep concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. A Pentagon official said that the meeting was not scheduled in advance and that it was arranged suddenly. The Pentagon spokesman said that Gantz met with Austin and did not present any plans for a military operation in Rafah.

Axios quoted American officials as saying that Gantz was informed during his talks in Washington of the extent of President Joe Biden's administration's frustration with the Israeli government. Meanwhile, Israeli officials said that Gantz was surprised during his talks by the intensity of the criticism of Israel and the extent of the distance with the United States.

Axios reported, citing American officials, that the aid convoy disaster in Gaza was a turning point for the Biden administration, adding that during his meeting with US Vice President Kamala Harris and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Gantz faced severe criticism and difficult questions regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the Israeli war strategy. Gantz said that during his meetings in Washington with the US Vice President and the National Security Advisor, he stressed the importance of completing the mission of eliminating the threat posed by Hamas. He added that he discussed finding a solution to transfer humanitarian aid in a way that reaches the population and not Hamas.

Gantz indicated that he stressed the necessity of achieving all the goals of the Israeli military operation in Gaza, which would provide a better future for the entire region, as he put it. He also stressed the importance of working to establish an international administration in cooperation with the countries of the region and as part of enhancing the normalization process. Gantz said that he assured Harris of his ultimate commitment to the return of Israeli prisoners, thanking the United States for the great pressure it is exerting.

National Security Council officials watered down parts of Kamala Harris' speech on Gaza, NBC reported, citing US officials. NBC said Harris's original draft of her speech was harsher toward Israel over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Gantz's visit to the United States continues to raise more reactions, criticisms, and accusations inside Israel, as the Prime Minister's Office demanded that he not provide any assistance in organizing this visit. In this context, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich expressed his regret that Gantz traveled to Washington on his own without coordination with Netanyahu. Smotrich said that the only Israeli response to returning the detainees must be to return to a very intense war and actually enter Rafah instead of just talking, according to him. Smotrich stressed that pressure on Hamas, especially during the month of Ramadan, will make it kneel and return the detainees, according to his claim.

For his part, former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman renewed his criticism of the Netanyahu government, describing it as lacking the right to exist, as he put it. Lieberman added in an interview with Israeli Channel 12 that the government is causing frustration and that the motives of the people participating in it are political, according to him.

Gantz began a visit to Washington to meet with American officials and discuss a temporary ceasefire and the need for a significant increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to a White House official. Gantz is a minister without portfolio and a former defense minister, and a former rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his National Union party (center) leads by a large margin in voting intentions, at a time when the Israeli coalition government appears more fragile.

The Wall Street Journal quoted an informed official as saying that Gantz informed Netanyahu of his visit to Washington after setting the agenda, and that Netanyahu was surprised by Gantzs visit and was extremely angry. It stressed that Gantz's visit to Washington reflects a sharp division in the Israeli political leadership.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had directed the Israeli embassy in Washington not to provide services to the minister in the War Council, leader of the State Camp party, Benny Gantz, or to accompany him on his visit to the United States, which he begins today. Israeli Army Radio, which reported the news, reported that those close to Gantz arranged the visit independently and without seeking help from the embassy in Washington.

Netanyahu and those close to him had previously accused Gantz of arranging travel to the United States to meet with senior officials without coordinating with the Prime Minister in accordance with the internal regulations and without obtaining prior permission from him. Tensions raged between the two sides following previous accusations by Netanyahu of Gantz of circumventing the Prime Minister, communicating with the Americans behind him, and coordinating positions with the administration regarding the war and prisoner exchange deals.

A report by the " Wall Street Journal " revealed that Arab and American negotiators presented a proposal for a short-term truce in the Gaza Strip, in order to "buy time" with the aim of reaching a permanent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, at a time when negotiations aimed at reaching an agreement are complicated before Ramadan (starts March 10 or 11). The negotiators said, according to the newspaper, that pushing for a shorter-term ceasefire, which may last for a few days, may prove to each side that the other party is serious about a long-term agreement.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Egyptian officials as saying that Hamas is trying to achieve a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip, in addition to committing to a permanent ceasefire after the proposed six-week truce, in exchange for the release of... Release the living hostages held by it.

Israel has rejected these demands so far, which has made the negotiations thorny, as Hamas (listed on US terrorist lists) clings to the demand for residents to return to their homes to use it as an important political victory, according to the newspaper. The mediators also hope to persuade Israel to accept the completion of a humanitarian truce that will allow the flow of aid, in light of the scarcity of supplies in the Strip, especially in the north.

Operational Update

Although more than 5 months have passed since the Israeli operation in Gaza, the resistance is still directing successive strikes against the occupation forces, and the success of its operations indicates the state of impasse that the occupation army is experiencing, and the state of heavy bleeding that has occurred in it in terms of losses in officers, soldiers and military vehicles.

According to analysts, the emergence of serious crises in the occupation army is a strong indication of a profound failure during the war on the Gaza Strip. This also raises a major question about the reality of who is fighting the war, in light of talk about the presence of foreign soldiers on the battlefield, in addition to dozens of security companies and fighters. From mercenaries.

Writer and political researcher Moin Manna believes that the war on Gaza constituted a major failure for the occupation army and exhausted its forces, especially the ground forces, which have become dilapidated as a result of the resistance strikes, and reconstitution operations are taking place continuously. He pointed out that the repeated request for calm or a truce is a manifestation of the exhaustion to which the occupation is exposed in Gaza. Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, he said that the army was unable, despite more than 5 months of war, to achieve a real achievement in the Gaza Strip, neither at the level of tunnels, nor at the level of tactics, nor at other levels. He added that the occupation army's crises in the war on Gaza emerged through its inability to identify targets as a result of the intelligence blindness it faces, in addition to the tactical surprises it faces in the field.

The killing and wounding of thousands of soldiers during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and its subsequent ground invasion of the Gaza Strip reinforced the need for more human mobilization within the ranks of the occupation army. Israeli media reported that the army is suffering from a shortage in personnel, and that it needs about 7,000 additional officers, and Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted a statement from the occupying army that half of the required forces will be distributed on combat missions.

The statement revealed that although the army needed to promote 7,500 conscripts to compensate for the shortage among officers and non-commissioned officers, the government only allowed 2,500 to be promoted due to double the budget. The newspaper suggested that the process of compensating for the shortage of officers would be difficult, as it requires time and effort to train new officers. It is also noteworthy that the elite Givati Brigade decided to expel 9 soldiers from combat in the Gaza Strip, due to problems with operational discipline among the soldiers.

Israeli media reported that there was a fear among army leaders about the acceleration of the voluntary departure of army personnel, noting that this crisis comes at a time when the army needs to increase the number of its forces in light of the significant increase in the tasks assigned to it. The newspaper "Israel Today" indicated in a report that senior officers in the army are very concerned about the raging debate among young people who are serving, as well as among older permanent service members, who also report their desire to be discharged from service, due to the burden placed on them compared to soldiers. Precaution.

The report said that the burden falls not only on the fighters, but also on the vast majority of permanent service members, including combat support. It pointed out that the Israeli army leadership is particularly concerned about the effects of the war on the Intelligence Division, as many of its members feel responsible for the failure, and fear a mass resignation that will lead to a severe shortage of manpower in the division.

The Israeli Channel 14 also revealed a massive wave of mass resignations that included a large number of officers and officials in the department of the Israeli army spokesman, Daniel Hagari, in protest against the conduct of military operations in the Gaza Strip.

Press reports revealed that soldiers in the elite forces and reserve brigades announced their refusal to join the army to participate in the war on Gaza. The Hebrew newspaper "Haaretz" reported in a report that a group of Israeli soldiers in the elite Givati Brigade refused to participate in the war on the Gaza Strip, accusing the army of neglecting their psychological and physical safety.

In this context, Israeli Radio indicated that there was a state of chaos at the organizational level in some reserve battalions. It added that soldiers left with the approval of the officers responsible for them, after it became clear that the army intended to bring them into the Gaza Strip to carry out combat missions for which they were not qualified, explaining that they were summoned at the end of last December.

In this regard, Manna points out that army members are now resorting to requesting legal advisors for fear of being killed by their colleagues if it is necessary to activate the Hannibal Directive, which is a measure used by the Israeli army to prevent the capture of its soldiers, even if it means killing them. It should be noted here that Israeli army data showed that dozens of soldiers were killed and hundreds injured by mistake since the start of ground battles in the Gaza Strip on October 27, 2023.

The army is facing a crisis regarding the exemption of ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his government is looking for a solution to end the exemption of ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service. Netanyahu added at the end of last month, "We will set goals for recruiting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army and the national civil services. We will also determine means to implement these goals."

In 2018, the Supreme Court in Israel invalidated a law exempting religious Jews from conscription, and said that the need required all Israelis to share in bearing the burden of military service.

The new appointments recently issued by the Chief of Staff of the occupying Army, Herzi Halevy , to senior positions, aroused the dissatisfaction of retired soldiers and officers, led by Reserve Major General Yitzhak Brik, who strongly attacked the Chief of Staff and the commanders of the General Staff. In any enlightened place in the world, the Chief of Staff and his generals would be immediately dismissed or forced to resign after any failure, Brik said, adding that the lax leadership of the Chief of Staff and his generals, arrogance, arrogance, and complacency is what caused the terrible disaster, which is one of the worst disasters Israel has ever known since its establishment.

Halevy had announced a series of changes in senior military positions, for the first time since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, during which a new commander was appointed for the multi-tasking unit, and new commanders were appointed for the Golani Brigade, the Southern Brigade in the Gaza Division, and the 1st Brigade. The list also includes 3 senior commanders with the rank of brigadier general, 11 new commanders with the rank of colonel, in addition to 26 others who were transferred between units at the same rank.

Israeli reports revealed deep differences between the government and the Israeli army, due to the government's management of the war and its post-war plans in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Channel 12 website said that a sharp confrontation took place between Chief of Staff Halevy and ministers in Netanyahu's government, who criticized the army's failure to achieve achievements in the war on the Gaza Strip, stressing that the ground attack launched by the army on the Strip "is not going well."

Deep disagreements had previously occurred between the Prime Minister and the army leadership regarding preparations to begin a military operation in Rafah, and according to a political affairs analyst on the Israeli Channel 12, Yaron Abraham, Netanyahu is demanding the occupation of Rafah, while the Chief of Staff stresses the need to secure the appropriate conditions.

The military spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaida, previously spoke for the first time during a media statement about the presence of mercenaries fighting with the Israeli army. A Washington Post report also revealed that American soldiers went to fight in Gaza and were killed after participating in the war alongside Israel. French MP Thomas Portes previously revealed that more than 4,000 Israeli soldiers participating in the war on the Gaza Strip are French with dual citizenship. A video clip circulated on social media showing heavily armed soldiers hiding behind a wall, speaking the Ukrainian language.

The presence of foreign soldiers and mercenaries may confirm the truth of the statement that the occupation army only announces a small percentage of the number of deaths resulting from resistance strikes in Gaza.

Operational Update - Gaza

Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.

The provision of essential water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH) services in Gaza remains severely hindered by the months-long cut in power supply across Gaza, limited fuel supplies for backup generators, the destruction of infrastructure, and access constraints. According to UNICEF, 81 per cent of households lack access to safe and clean water, with IDPs living in overcrowded collective centres or informal sites being among the most affected.

The military and strategic expert, Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi, said that the ground battles in the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip , have become based on skillful combat between the resistance and the occupation army, describing what is happening as an individual versus individual fight.

Al-Duwairi explained - during his analysis to Al-Jazeera - that the occupation operation in Khan Yunis underwent several fundamental changes in terms of assembling forces for operational purposes, as after every failure, forces are assembled and dealt with according to a short-time vision that revolves around re-responding to the defensive movements of the resistance.

He pointed out that the residential city of Hamad in Khan Yunis has two brigades out of 6 in the area, most of which are active and not reserve forces, revealing active resistance operations taking place as they are areas of the subsequent occupation forces, and hence the policy of "fighting from behind enemy lines."

The military expert pointed out that Gaza City is larger in area than Khan Yunis, and the construction is continuous and the defense was based on defensive partitions, while the area is smaller in the southern city and it contains paratroopers and special forces supported by tanks.

Major General Al-Duwairi confirmed that the current Israeli war on the Gaza Strip changed historical controversial concepts that were taught in Arab institutes, which state that Israel cannot wage a long war and that it is sensitive to human losses. He added that this war has changed perceptions, as Israel has the ability to continue a long war of attrition, but it is working to compensate for everything it loses around the clock, while the human losses are not fully announced, citing reports indicating that 16,000 people were killed in the ranks of the occupation forces, including Dual nationality.

The Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Jihad movement, broadcast scenes that it said showed its fighters bombing sites where Israeli soldiers and military vehicles were gathered in the northern Gaza Strip with mortar shells. The scenes showed fighters from the Al-Quds Brigades targeting occupation soldiers in their areas of deployment in the northern Gaza Strip.

IDF forces, under the direction of the Amman and the Shin Bet, killed Amar Atiya Darwish Eladini, the head of the Hamas terrorist organization's headquarters in the Central Camp area. Eladini served as an activist in the organization for decades. As part of his position, he was responsible for burying rockets and was also in charge of rocket launches from Operation Cast Lead to the current war. Eladini took a central part in the preparations for the murderous attack on 7/10, and during the fighting promoted the firing of trees against our maneuvering forces in the Gaza Strip and at the same time led TMS launches towards Tel Aviv and other surrounding settlements.

In addition, as part of joint strikes by the Air Force and the fire center of the Southern Command, a number of targets of the terrorist organization Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the northern Gaza Strip in the Jabaliya region were attacked in recent days in response to the recent launches towards the settlements of Otaf and Sderot in particular. Among the targets that were attacked, hideout apartments where many terrorists fortified themselves and where weapons were stored, additional IMD warehouses, launch pits and shafts in the area.

The forces of the 98th Division continue the "Crown of the West" operation in the Hamed neighborhood in the west of Khan Yunis and eliminate terrorists in the area. Directing the fire complex of the Northern Brigade in the Gaza Division, a fighter jet attacked and killed two terrorists in the Beit Hanun area who fled to a military building. Fighter jets attacked two terrorists who took part in the massacre in Nir Yitzhak on October 7 and were in a military infrastructure. In addition, two platoon commanders and a squad commander of the Hamas Najaba forces who were in a military infrastructure were eliminated.

The Nahal Brigade's combat team continues to operate in the center of the Gaza Strip and eliminated about twenty terrorists during the last day through sniper fire, the targeting of a remotely manned aircraft and a fighter jet. In one of the attacks, as part of a sniper ambush initiated by the forces, the fighters killed 15 terrorists.

In another attack, the brigade's fire complex together with the Air Force and with intelligence guidance closed a rapid circle and a fighter jet attacked a terrorist infrastructure from which terrorists launched anti-aircraft fire at the troops. After the attack, the echoes of many explosions were seen, indicating that there was a large amount of ammunition in the area.

The combat team fighters of the Givati Brigade operating in the Hamed neighborhood in Khan Yunis identified a number of terrorists, a combat helicopter attacked and eliminated them. Later, the fighters identified an armed terrorist moving towards them and eliminated him.

The fighters of the commando formation continue to search the buildings in the Hamad neighborhood and eliminate terrorists. During the searches, the fighters located Kalashnikov-type weapons and cartridges. In searches around the neighborhood, the fighters of the 7th Brigade combat team located weapons and military equipment. The brigade fire complex targeted an aircraft that eliminated two terrorists identified in the area.During an ambush, the fighters of the Bislah brigade's combat team (828) identified five armed terrorists and killed them with short-range fire.

Operational Update - Judea-Samaria

It is noteworthy that the Israeli occupation army, in parallel with its devastating war on the Gaza Strip, escalated arrest campaigns and raids into cities and towns in the West Bank, which left dozens of martyrs and thousands of detainees, according to Palestinian sources.

Palestinians were injured during confrontations with the occupation forces in Bethlehem in the West Bank , while Germany and the Palestinian Authority condemned Israel's approval of the construction of about 3,500 new settlement units, most of them in the Maale Adumim settlement , east of Jerusalem. Confrontations broke out between Palestinian youths and the occupation forces, which stormed the city of Bethlehem and the Dheisheh refugee camp in the city, on Wednesday evening, and fired live bullets.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that 4 people were injured during the confrontations in Bethlehem, and Palestinian websites reported injuries in the Dheisheh camp. Raids and arrests continue in West Bank cities and camps, as part of a broad Israeli escalation since the Palestinian resistance launched the Al- Aqsa Flood Battle on October 7th. In occupied Jerusalem , the Israeli occupation authorities demolished a wall and bulldozed land for the Burqan family in the town of Silwan, south of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque .

Local sources reported that the occupation police and municipal crews, accompanied by a bulldozer, stormed the Ain al-Loza neighborhood in the town of Silwan this morning, and began demolishing the wall and bulldozing the land under the pretext of building without a permit.

On the other hand, the Palestinian Authority and Germany condemned the approval of the Supreme Planning Authority in Israel for plans to build about 3,500 new settlement units in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "settlement settlements are invalid and illegal, and represent an explicit call for the continuation of the cycle of violence and wars."

The Palestinian statement also condemned the statements of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich , who "boasts that his period witnessed great prosperity and growth in the deepening of settlements." The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said that the global failure to implement international legitimacy resolutions encourages Smotrich and others like him to continue undermining the opportunity to achieve peace.

For its part, Germany called on the Israeli government to immediately withdraw its approval to expand settlements, and considered such a measure a "dangerous violation of international law." The German Foreign Ministry said, "We strongly condemn the approval to establish more settlement units in the West Bank." Israeli media said today that the Supreme Planning Commission approved the construction of about 3,500 new settlement units in the West Bank. She indicated that the decision includes the settlements of Maale Adumim and Kedar, east of Jerusalem, and Efrat (south).

The United States, the European Union, and many Western countries have called on Israel - in recent months - to stop settlement activity and settler violence in the West Bank, as estimates indicate that there are more than 720,000 settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The Israeli occupation forces stormed the city of Nablus in the West Bank at dawn today, Wednesday, and conducted their patrols in the streets and besieged the eastern area. They deployed sniper teams in various locations and raided several homes in the city, hours after a boy was killed by bullets from the occupation army near the town of Huwwara, south of Nablus. Several other cities, including Hebron and Tulkarm, also witnessed similar raids.

Al Jazeera correspondent Montaser Nassar reported that the occupation forces stormed the eastern area of ??Nablus and pushed military reinforcements around Joseph's Tomb. The Palestinian Ministry of Health had previously announced the death of a boy who was shot dead by the occupation army near the town of Huwwara, south of Nablus.

For its part, the Israeli army said that a soldier was injured as a result of a stabbing attack carried out by a Palestinian boy near the Yitzhar settlement, south of the city. The Israeli Beilinson Hospital in Tel Aviv described the condition of the soldier injured in the operation as serious.

Today at dawn, the occupation forces stormed the city of Hebron, south of the West Bank, and conducted patrols in the city's streets. Al Jazeera's correspondent in Hebron said that the occupation forces raided a residential building near Al-Ansar Mosque in the center of Hebron, searched homes and arrested 4 Palestinian citizens, noting that the occupation forces' raid lasted two hours before they withdrew.

The city of Bethlehem also witnessed an occupation raid and raid on residential buildings, and the raids included the town of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem. An occupation military force raided several neighborhoods in Tulkarm and Qalqilya and launched raids and searches.

Correspondent Montaser Nassar explained that the night and dawn raids and arrest operations have been continuing in the West Bank on a daily basis since last October 7, as the Palestinian Prisoners Club announced that the occupation forces have arrested more than 7,340 Palestinians since that time, and imposed collective punishments through completely closed iron gates. In some West Bank towns and barriers between cities and towns of the occupied West Bank.

Operational Update - Lebanon

Fighter jets attacked a Hezbollah military structure in the Yaron region and another military structure of the organization in the Kafra region. In addition, IDF forces attacked to remove a threat in the Kfar Ham area. Earlier today, IDF forces shot down an explosive Hezbollah drone that was detected crossing Lebanese territory into the Metula area in the north of the country. Additional forces were dispatched to the scene, there were no Israeli casualties.

Operational Update - Syria / Iraq

The Iraqi Islamic Resistance has announced that its forces targeted Kiryat Shmona airport with several drones in the north of occupied Palestine. In a statement on Wednesday, the Iraqi Islamic Resistance said that as part of the second phase of its operations in support of the oppressed people of Gaza, its forces targeted Kiryat Shmona airport in northern part of occupied Palestine with several drones. The Iraqi Islamic Resistance also emphasized its continued operations against the enemy's positions. Earlier today, the Iraqi Islamic Resistance targeted the power plant of the Haifa Airport in occupied Palestinian territories. As Israel goes ahead with its genocidal war, regional resistance groups, including Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Ansarullah, and Iraq's Islamic Resistance keep targeting US and Israeli interests in an effort to exert pressure on the regime to end its bloodshed in Gaza.

Operational Update - Yemen

Theresa Fallon reported that 4 of 15 undersea communications cables in the Red Sea have been cut, affecting 25% of data traffic flowing between Asia and Europe. On 05 March 2024, officials reported that three or four cables under the Red Sea that provide global internet and telecommunications were cut by Yemen's Houthi rebels. The Red Sea contains 17% of all international internet data traffic, so if all the cables are cut, it would disrupt Europe's communication with India and East Asia and hit North and East Africa. Andy Stone, Communications at Meta, reported "Earlier today, a technical issue caused people to have difficulty accessing some of our services. We resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we apologize for any inconvenience." Facebook was once more a place to see questionable information, opinions and photos of people enjoying their wee lives.

Officials in the United States say undersea telecommunications cables in the Red Sea were cut, disrupting 25 percent of data traffic between Asia and Europe. A US official told the BBC they were attempting to find out if the cables had been sabotaged or if it was the result of an anchor dragging along the seafloor.

Four out of nearly 20 submarine cables in the Red Sea  Seacom, TGN-Gulf, Asia-Africa-Europe 1 and Europe India Gateway  were cut on Tuesday, according to HGC Global Communications, which operates on the cables. Officials are still trying to figure out how they were cut. Theories include that it could have been an anchor catching the cables or a deliberate disruption.

A commercial ship owned by a company in Liberia was subjected to a Houthi attack in the Gulf of Aden, while Reuters quoted the owner of the targeted ship as losing contact with 20 members of the ships crew and 3 armed guards. The ship's owner indicated that it was drifting as a fire continued on board, after a missile hit it 50 nautical miles southwest of Aden, pointing out that the crew of the targeted cargo ship had left.

Three sailors are missing and four others were injured following an attack on a Barbadian-flagged American ship in southern Yemen. According to the international groupTasnim news agency , the British Maritime Trade Operations Organization, reported that a commercial ship was damaged in an attack in southern Yemen. Embry security company also announced that an American ship with the flag of Barbados received a warning to change course from the Yemeni army.

Following these incidents, Reuters news agency reported, quoting shipping sources, that three sailors were missing and four others were injured due to the attack on this American ship. The owner of the ship said that the vessel was hit by a missile, which is believed to have been fired from Yemen. A shipping source, who declined to be identified, said the crew apparently abandoned the ship. A US defense official said smoke was billowing from the ship True Confidence and a lifeboat was seen in the water near the ship.

In this context, military and strategic expert Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi suggested that the ship was likely targeted by guided cruise missiles (land-sea) with a range exceeding 100 kilometers, or drones. During his analysis for Al Jazeera, Al-Duwairi ruled out hitting the target ship with ballistic missiles because they are not accurate in hitting moving targets.

He stated that there is no Houthi presence on the strip from Aden to Bab al-Mandab, as their presence is concentrated in the mountainous area, which is between 15 and 25 kilometers from the coast, while the distance between the city center of Aden and Ras Bab al-Mandab (Sheikh Saeed) is estimated at 160 kilometers. The strategic expert added that the Houthis control the vital mass of Yemen, from the outskirts of Marib to the Red Sea, and from the Saudi border north to the city of Taiz, while they have no presence at sea.

Regarding the ships crew leaving with lifeboats, Al-Duwairi revealed that it is on its way to sink within the next few hours and days, explaining that this depends on the hole caused by the injury and the amount of sea water flowing into it. Al-Duwairi again praised the Houthis' ability to employ their military capabilities to disrupt international trade in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab, which was clearly reflected in shipping prices, which were severely affected. It should be noted that a British cargo ship - carrying combustible fertilizers - sank a few days ago in the Gulf of Aden after the Houthis targeted it with a number of naval missiles on February 18.

Maps

All maps are lies. Not only is it easy to lie with maps, it is essential, wrote cartographer Mark Monmoneir in his book How to Lie with Maps. He showed that condensing complex, three-dimensional spaces onto a two-dimensional sheet of paper [in old days] is bound to be reductive. But it is impossible to comprehend the war in Gaza without reference to maps, otherwise the entire conflict is reduced to an endless series of meaningless acts of random violence and the suffering of civilians. The first characteristic of guerrilla warfare is the loss of a front line. Evidently, different mappers have different ideas of how to depict the war in Gaza, notably those that seek to depict Israeli progress in the ground campaign. Part of the problem is latency. The news that forms the basis of the maps takes time to filter out to mappers, and the cartographers take time in crafting their maps, and it takes time to curate them. These processes are uneven among mappers, so their maps may differ in detail. Probably there is some ideological bias, or at least thematic apperception, which is understandable in wartime. It may come as no surprise that al-Jazeera maps depict rather less Israeli territorial progress than other sources. Finally, there remains the epistemological question of just exactly what are the colored in areas depicting. Naively, this might be understood as areas of Israeli control, that are no longer contested by the HAMAS. Or possibly these are areas of Israeli presence, in many of which the possibility of an RPG-wielding HAMAS militant popping out of a tunnel unexpectedly remains a live possibility. With the "zero-range" combat characterized by small unit tactics on both sides, maps may be prey to a fallacy of misplaced concreteness.

Bystanders

Oxfam spokeswoman Fatouma Shida said that Israel is using starvation in the Gaza Strip as a weapon of war, and considered dropping humanitarian aid by air not a solution. During an interview with Al Jazeera, Sheda described the situation in the Gaza Strip as a humanitarian catastrophe, stressing the necessity of a permanent ceasefire as the Palestinian people there are suffering from starvation.

She pointed out that the situation in Gaza is dangerous for 90% of civilians who suffer from food insecurity, pointing out that targeting humanitarian aid convoys is an ongoing Israeli pattern, the latest of which is the flour massacre on Al-Rashid Street. She stressed that Oxfam considers airdropping aid not a solution, even if it is a last resort, noting that humanitarian teams were working in the Gaza Strip, and called for the necessity of opening the crossings and bringing aid into Rafah (south) as well as northern Gaza.

The Oxfam spokeswoman said that it is impossible to understand the obstruction that is occurring in the ceasefire talks, and added, "We have seen the impact of increasing hostilities from the Israeli government and an imminent threat to invade Rafah." She warned of the death of 16 children due to hunger and the suffering of 300,000 children from acute malnutrition, before concluding her speech by saying that the situation is catastrophic, and that a ceasefire is urgent to contain the threat of famine.

The Regional Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ) told Al Jazeera that 80% of the population of Gaza are classified as being in a state of disaster and famine due to hunger, and the entire population of Gaza is classified as being in an emergency state due to the low level of food security.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, accused Israel of deliberately bombing humanitarian convoys in Gaza despite knowing their routes. She pointed out that the Israeli occupation does not want any aid to reach those in need, and that it is waging a clear war of starvation. Fakhri called for imposing sanctions on Israel for ignoring the decisions of the International Court of Justice . He wondered why Washington dropped aid by air despite the chaos it caused?

United Nations experts also accused Israel of carrying out a starvation campaign in the Gaza Strip, and called on it to stop it immediately. Experts confirmed that Israel has been deliberately starving the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip since October 8. They pointed out that Israel is targeting civilians searching for humanitarian aid and relief convoys, and called on it to put an end to what they said was a campaign of starvation and targeting of civilians in the Gaza Strip.

The experts said that Israel does not respect its international legal obligations, does not comply with the interim measures of the International Court of Justice, and commits brutal crimes. The UN experts warned against using humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip in negotiations to stop the war.

For his part, the spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations said that the enormous needs for food and medicine in Gaza make what reaches the Strip very limited. The regional spokesman for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Salim Owais, said that children in the Gaza Strip are paying the highest price for the war. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Owais called for urgent international action, noting that what is happening in Gaza is a test of human conscience.

An emergency meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation countries in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, yesterday, Tuesday, called for an immediate and unconditional cessation of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip , and the opening of humanitarian corridors to bring aid into the Strip without obstacles. In his speech before the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stressed the need to take immediate action regarding Gaza, even if it was unilateral.

A closing statement of the meeting, in its special session to discuss the Israeli aggression against Gaza, called for providing humanitarian, medical and relief aid, providing water and electricity, and opening humanitarian corridors to deliver urgent aid to the Gaza Strip without obstacles and in an adequate manner. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation statement affirmed its categorical rejection and response by all means to any attempt to displace, expel, or forcefully transfer the Palestinian people from their land.

The statement also called on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to quickly complete the investigation into the war crimes committed by officials of the Israeli colonial occupation government against the defenseless Palestinian people. The ministers stressed the importance of bringing criminals to international justice, thanking South Africa, Comoros, Djibouti, Bolivia, Bangladesh, Venezuela, Chile and Mexico for referring the situation in the State of Palestine to the International Criminal Court.

The organization also called on member states that are members of the International Criminal Court to refer crimes committed in Palestine to the court as soon as possible.

Diplomatic sources told Al Jazeera that the United States distributed an amended draft resolution for the third time to members of the UN Security Council that supports diplomatic efforts to conclude a quick and urgent agreement for an immediate ceasefire for a period of 6 weeks in the Gaza Strip, in addition to the release of all hostages once the parties agree.

The sources added that the amended US draft resolution confirms the Council's full support for using the window of opportunity provided by the ceasefire to intensify efforts to create conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities and to establish lasting peace in accordance with Resolution 2720.

Washington said that it plans to allow time for negotiations on the draft resolution and will not rush to vote on it. The draft resolution requires the support of at least 9 countries for its adoption, in addition to the non-use of the veto power by any of the five permanent members of the Security Council (America, Britain, France, Russia, and China).

For its part, Reuters said that the version presented by Washington for the first time two weeks ago called for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, noting that the amended draft resolution currently presented to the Security Council reflects statements made by US Vice President Kamala Harris. The agency added that the US administration wants to link the ceasefire to the release of the remaining Israeli prisoners in Gaza, whose number Israel estimates at about 130.

The editor-in-chief of the British Middle East Eye website, David Hirst, said that it is time for Islamic countries to stop playing the role of spectators to what is happening in the Gaza Strip , and to rush to confront America and Europe to take initiatives to stop the Israeli war on Gaza. In his article on the website, Hirst stressed that Islamic countries must destroy, through actions, the pretext on which the apartheid state bases its commission of genocidal massacres in the Gaza Strip under the pretext of self-defense. He added that the United States and the European Union are not in a political mood that allows them to reject all proposals that may come to them, such as accepting other military forces on the ground, under the guise of peacekeeping operations or providing aid to the starving people in Gaza. Hirst added that what will motivate this is the fact that this year is an election year, which means a diligent effort to take balanced positions to attract the votes of angry voters, in addition to the fact that the United States, for example, is exhausted by the problems of the region after three decades of failed interventions, and it has become clear that its ability to intervene has diminished. Deterring the Ansar Allah group (Houthis ) in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and armed organizations in Iraq. He stressed that it is time for Israel to feel the pressure of the cold Western hand, highlighting that the size and strength of the shock can only reach it through its closest allies, and only then will it be ready to negotiate with the people of Gaza, whom it is doing everything in its power to crush. Hirst said that if he were in the place of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he would feel able to escape punishment and accountability, and he would continue his eternal war, in the absence of any real international pressure to hold him accountable and deter him. The British writer explained that in the absence of a decision to take strategic steps by Islamic countries, South Africa remains the only country moving in the direction of deterring Israel and stopping it from continuing its genocide in Gaza, despite the risks of being held accountable by Israels allies, especially the United States. Hirst quoted Faisal Dawji, former media director for the South African government, as saying, We went to the International Court of Justice, looked around, and there was no one to support us. He spoke of pressure on his country to withdraw the case before the initial ruling. Dawji said, "What is happening in the occupied territories is 10 times worse than the apartheid that we witnessed in South Africa, and the West is complicit in apartheid and genocide."

Axis of Resistance

The IRGC Quds Force commander said: Today, the resistance front, especially the Hamas forces, in the Al-Aqsa storm operation, relying on their faith and the weapons they have, have become aggressive and heroically challenged the Israeli army. Sardar Ismail Qaani, commander of the Qods Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who attended the last official meeting of the fifth term of the Assembly of Leadership Experts, pointed out that the defense of the oppressed has a special place in our religious culture and in this era The example of the oppressed are the Palestinian people, he added: Our Imam Azim al-Shan always emphasized on the defense of the oppressed Palestinian people, both during the suffocation of the previous regime and after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, when Islam gained sovereignty in the country. However, today the type of this defense is different from the past and according to the order of the Imam, the formation of resistance nuclei for the defense of the oppressed has been institutionalized.

Emphasizing that the cores of the resistance grew step by step with the blessing of the sincerity of the Imam (RA) and then the great efforts of the Supreme Leader to reach today's power, he added: "When you look closely at the situation of the Palestinian Mujahideen in the last two decades, you will see that the Palestinian youth who Once upon a time, they defended themselves with bare hands and stones, today the resistance front, especially the Hamas forces, in the Al-Aqsa storm operation, relying on faith and the weapons they have, have become aggressive and heroically challenged the Israeli army.

The commander of IRGC's Quds Force further pointed out that the occupying Quds regime exaggerates its successes with media tools and added: This is despite the fact that it had only one major victory in this war, which is that it killed about 40 thousand people. Most of them are women and children, while the Palestinian youth have been able to preserve their land and dignity and make Israel poor with their resistance.

Sardar Qaani emphasized that the destruction of Gaza will definitely be rebuilt, but the credibility and reputation of the occupying Jerusalem regime will not be restored, adding: This battle showed that the resistance front is a united group that has many capabilities, although it is still using all its capabilities. and it was also proved that no one can ignore the resistance front.

Bassem Naim, a member of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) in Gaza, said that the movement does not have miraculous demands for a ceasefire in the Strip, and that it shows great flexibility regarding the issue of the prisoner exchange deal if the enemy agrees to its terms. But the problem lies In the person of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and behind him the American administration.

He added - in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Net - that "if the American administration is concerned with reaching a ceasefire before the month of Ramadan and preventing a regional explosion, it has the tools to pressure the Zionist government to force it to accept an immediate ceasefire with the rest of the conditions presented by Hamas."

A member of Hamas's political bureau confirmed that the US administration knows very well that "Netanyahu is stalling and evading, and does not want to reach a ceasefire so as not to be held accountable for the failure of last October 7 and beyond, and the major repercussions on the internal Zionist community." Naim accused the American administration of being contradictory with itself as it talks about a ceasefire, wants humanitarian calm and protects civilians, but in the political field it continues to obstruct the international will, and uses its veto more than 4 times to prevent reaching a ceasefire.

The Hamas leader attributed this American contradiction to internal electoral reasons. Therefore, they are seeking a temporary humanitarian ceasefire, but in reality this is considered a tactical change in the situation and not a strategic change in the battle, and therefore the ball is in the court of the American administration and in the court of the Zionist government until we reach a ceasefire. This is possible if they accept the vision presented by the Hamas movement to reach a ceasefire.

Regarding Hamas vision for a ceasefire that it proposes, Naim said that the American position has nothing to do with the movements demands related to a ceasefire, because Hamas does not have miraculous demands regarding a ceasefire. We are talking about a ceasefire and not a humanitarian truce as the administration wants. America, and we are talking about the right to withdraw Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and we are talking about the return of the displaced to their homes from which they were displaced.

Therefore, the problem of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip now, as a member of the Hamas political bureau says, lies in the person of Netanyahu, and behind him is the American administration, because without the cover that this administration gave the Zionist government in terms of opportunities over the course of 5 months, these massacres and genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip would not have occurred.

Naim added that the United States has allocated $14 billion to the occupation, supplies it with weapons, uses veto power in the Security Council, participates directly in managing the battle, moves aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines, and participates in the information intelligence management of the battle, so it is the one leading the battle through Israel.

He concluded his statements by saying that Hamas's demands are very natural and logical, and on the contrary, the demands are supposed to be much more severe, and the principle is that the occupation be punished for the massacres and crimes it committed against our people and the infrastructure it destroyed. The second thing is that Hamas also confirmed that it can show flexibility. "It is significant regarding the issue of the prisoner exchange deal if the enemy agrees to these conditions."

American Jewish philosopher Judith Butler described the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) as an act of armed resistance against the oppression that Palestinians have been experiencing for decades. Butler explained, "We can have different views about the Hamas movement as a political party, or about the armed resistance, but I believe that the most truthful and historically accurate is that the events of October 7 (in reference to the Al- Aqsa Flood operation launched by the Palestinian resistance, led by the Hamas movement) are an act." "Armed resistance, not a terrorist or anti-Semitic attack."

While the American philosopher confirmed that the attack against the Israelis was painful for her, she said, I would be stupid if I decided that the only violence in the scene is the violence practiced against the Israelis... violence against the Palestinians has been going on for decades. Butler added, "What happened was an uprising stemming from a state of oppression, and against the state of violence towards them."

She continued, "Let us be clear. You can be with or against the armed resistance... with or against Hamas... but let us at least call it armed resistance, and then we will have a discussion: Are you doing the right things or doing them in the right way, or should strategies be changed?" Philosopher Judith Butler is one of the most prominent leaders of contemporary critical theory. She is an American Jew of Russian-Hungarian origins, born on February 24, 1956 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Allied for Democracy

On the eve of the sixth month of the Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip , Israel seemed divided among itself regarding the priorities of the war, but it was unanimous among itself on the continued fighting of the Palestinian resistance factions - led by the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) - with the compass of those in the sector being the recovery of all Israeli detainees.

Public opinion among the Israeli public supporting the war was formed as a result of the collective shock it received on October 7, 2023 with the start of the  Al-Aqsa Flood  battle, which formed a feeling of existential threat, and thus a widespread consensus that Israel was fighting a war without a choice, and this is what was promoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu .

On the basis of extremely broad Israeli public support for the war's goals and for the IDF's ground operations of returning all detainees, destroying the military arsenal of the Palestinian resistance, and ending Hamas' rule, Netanyahu maneuvered to prolong the war, which coincided with his personal political interest in remaining in the prime minister's chair and avoiding prosecution for corruption.

However, the high number of dead and wounded Israeli soldiers reflected the Israeli failure to eliminate Hamas militarily and politically, and this posed a major challenge to the internal communitys ability to withstand, amid the expansion of protests demanding the conclusion of a comprehensive exchange deal that would guarantee the return of all detainees, which cast a shadow over the political and partisan scene in Israel.

In light of the war and the ongoing debate regarding achieving its goals and the state of clash in the diplomatic and political tracks with the White House and Western countries, the Israeli political map is witnessing a state of division, between absolute and supportive support for Netanyahu and opposition to his policies in managing the war and the issue of detainees.

On the one hand, Netanyahu enjoys absolute support from the ruling coalition headed by the Likud Party , the ultra-Orthodox camp represented by the Shas party headed by Aryeh Deri , the Torah Judaism party headed by Moshe Gaffni, and the extreme right camp represented by the Jewish Greatness party headed by Itamar Ben Gvir . And the "Religious Zionism" coalition led by Bezalel Smotrich .

On the other hand, the opposition bloc expresses its reservations about Netanyahus approach to managing the war and places the detainees issue on the list of priorities, represented by the There is a Future party headed by Yair Lapid, the  Israel Our Home party led by Avigdor Lieberman , and the Labor Party headed by Merav Michaeli.

At a distance from all components of the Israeli political map, the Arab parties represented in the Knesset oppose the war. They are the Front and Change, headed by Ayman Odeh, and the United List, headed by Mansour Abbas. They call for a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip, and the start of a political process for the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital. East Jerusalem is on the June 4 border alongside Israel.

In reading the contrast of these positions, political analyst Akiva Eldar says, Continuing the war and the certainty that it is unlikely to achieve its goals - especially ending Hamas civilian rule and liberating the detainees - has reinforced the prevailing belief in the Israeli political scene that Netanyahu is using the prolongation of the war to make personal reconciliation to remain in power.

The political analyst explained to Al Jazeera Net that "Netanyahu - who will not hesitate to dismantle the emergency government and dispense with the alliance with the National Camp headed by Benny Gantz - has so far enjoyed the support of the government coalition that relies on the extreme right and the Haredi parties, as this coalition of 64 members in the Knesset appears cohesive ." With the exception of the position of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant , who opposes Netanyahus policies in managing the war.

He pointed out that the convergence of the interests of the ruling coalition gives Netanyahu a lifeline, enabling him to continue maneuvering, continuing the war, and challenging the US administration, which is betting on Gantz as an internal pressure card, as he meets with Washington on everything related to war priorities.

Eldar recalled the tension and disagreements between Netanyahu and Gallant regarding everything related to the conduct of the war, responding to President Joe Bidens demands regarding the exchange deal, implementing a temporary ceasefire, and making changes in the composition of the government coalition. The political analyst believes that Netanyahu - who is facing multiple internal crises centered around his failure to achieve the goals of the war - finds himself facing a turning point in his political career due to the Haredi recruitment law, which is the law that enjoys the support of the majority of political parties from the coalition and the opposition.

In turn, spokesman for the Peace Now bloc, Adam Clare, says, With the passage of time and the fact that the wars objectives were not achieved and the battles and clashes intensified in the northern and central Gaza Strip - the areas that the Israeli army claimed to control - positions varied regarding the priorities of the war, even within the emergency government.

Clare - an activist in the movement calling for the liberation of detainees and stopping the war - explained to Al Jazeera Net that these disagreements reflect the escalation of protests in the Israeli street and the demand to stop the war and restore all detainees at all costs, and have contributed to undermining general social solidarity and flexibility, and are now casting a negative light on the issue of detainees and support. popular support for the war effort.

He added, "The long war and the military failure to achieve the war's goals contributed to causing cracks in the Israeli popular consensus regarding the continuation of the war, which expanded to additional fronts and became complicated with the vast majority of detainees remaining in captivity."

Clare pointed out that the opposition disagrees with Netanyahu on the priorities of the war and not on the principle of fighting, and places the issue of liberating detainees at the top of its priorities, but it seeks to exploit crises, external pressures and all cumulative circumstances in order to replace Netanyahu in the current Knesset or go to early elections in light of the war and divisions.

Recently, political differences and divisions have returned to the forefront in Israeli public discourse, according to a position issued by the Center for National Security Research at Tel Aviv University , which poses major challenges to social resilience in Israel.

According to the estimates of General Meir Alran, former assistant to the head of the Military Intelligence Service (Aman), and sociologist Anat Shapira, who drafted the situation assessment for the research center, the continuation of the war and the return of disputes and divisions demonstrated the erosion of social solidarity and reduced confidence in the various Israeli systems and institutions and the way decisions are made, and cast "It casts a shadow of doubt on the motives of civil society organizations and parties."

Alran and Shapira believe that policymakers and politicians in Israel must be very careful to avoid toxic and insulting political discourse, and avoid voting with political polarization on sensitive issues related to the war and over which there have been disagreements, such as the issue of detainees, which would deepen the rift in Israeli society and show The fragility of the home front.

In short, Alran and Shapira say in assessing the situation that the return of toxic political discourse and division may be major negative factors in building the social capacity necessary for Israeli society to recover from the severe crisis and the repercussions of the war and the negative effects and accumulations, which would contribute to deepening the division in Israeli society, even with issues related to war and detainees.

Minister in the Israeli war government, Benny Gantz , continues his meetings in Washington despite the attack on him by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies. Yesterday, Tuesday, he met with US Secretary of State and Defense Anthony Blinken and Lloyd Austin, who stressed the need to take urgent steps regarding the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip . Axios quoted American officials as saying that Gantz was informed during his talks in Washington of the extent of President Joe Biden's administration's frustration with the Israeli government. During his meeting with Gantz, Blinken stressed the need for Israel to take urgent steps to expand the scope of delivery and distribution of humanitarian aid, including by opening additional crossings. The US State Department said that Blinken stressed to Gantz during his meeting at the US State Department headquarters the need for a credible and implementable humanitarian plan before any major military operation in Rafah. Blinken also stressed that Washington supports steps aimed at promoting lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

For its part, the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) announced that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed, during his meeting with Gantz, his deep concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. A Pentagon official said that the meeting was not scheduled in advance and that it was arranged suddenly. The Pentagon spokesman said that Gantz met with Austin and did not present any plans for a military operation in Rafah.

Axios quoted American officials as saying that Gantz was informed during his talks in Washington of the extent of President Joe Biden's administration's frustration with the Israeli government. Meanwhile, Israeli officials said that Gantz was surprised during his talks by the intensity of the criticism of Israel and the extent of the distance with the United States.

Axios reported, citing American officials, that the aid convoy disaster in Gaza was a turning point for the Biden administration, adding that during his meeting with US Vice President Kamala Harris and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Gantz faced severe criticism and difficult questions regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the Israeli war strategy.

Gantz said that during his meetings in Washington with the US Vice President and the National Security Advisor, he stressed the importance of completing the mission of eliminating the threat posed by Hamas. He added that he discussed finding a solution to transfer humanitarian aid in a way that reaches the population and not Hamas. Gantz indicated that he stressed the necessity of achieving all the goals of the Israeli military operation in Gaza, which would provide a better future for the entire region, as he put it.

He also stressed the importance of working to establish an international administration in cooperation with the countries of the region and as part of enhancing the normalization process. Gantz said that he assured Harris of his ultimate commitment to the return of Israeli prisoners, thanking the United States for the great pressure it is exerting.

National Security Council officials watered down parts of Kamala Harris' speech on Gaza, NBC reported, citing US officials. NBC said Harris's original draft of her speech was harsher toward Israel over the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Gantz's visit to the United States continues to raise more reactions, criticisms, and accusations inside Israel, as the Prime Minister's Office demanded that he not provide any assistance in organizing this visit.

In this context, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich expressed his regret that Gantz traveled to Washington on his own without coordination with Netanyahu. Smotrich said that the only Israeli response to returning the detainees must be to return to a very intense war and actually enter Rafah instead of just talking, according to him. Smotrich stressed that pressure on Hamas, especially during the month of Ramadan, will make it kneel and return the detainees, according to his claim.

For his part, former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman renewed his criticism of the Netanyahu government, describing it as lacking the right to exist, as he put it. Lieberman added in an interview with Israeli Channel 12 that the government is causing frustration and that the motives of the people participating in it are political, according to him.

Last Monday, Gantz began a visit to Washington to meet with American officials and discuss a temporary ceasefire and the need for a significant increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to a White House official. Gantz is a minister without portfolio and a former defense minister, and a former rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his National Union party (center) leads by a large margin in voting intentions, at a time when the Israeli coalition government appears more fragile.

The Wall Street Journal quoted an informed official as saying that Gantz informed Netanyahu of his visit to Washington after setting the agenda, and that Netanyahu was surprised by Gantzs visit and was extremely angry. She stressed that Gantz's visit to Washington reflects a sharp division in the Israeli political leadership.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had directed the Israeli embassy in Washington not to provide services to the minister in the War Council, leader of the State Camp party, Benny Gantz, or to accompany him on his visit to the United States, which he begins today. Israeli Army Radio, which reported the news, reported that those close to Gantz arranged the visit independently and without seeking help from the embassy in Washington.

Netanyahu and those close to him had previously accused Gantz of arranging travel to the United States to meet with senior officials without coordinating with the Prime Minister in accordance with the internal regulations and without obtaining prior permission from him. Tensions raged between the two sides following previous accusations by Netanyahu of Gantz of circumventing the Prime Minister, communicating with the Americans behind him, and coordinating positions with the administration regarding the war and prisoner exchange deals. Since October 7, 2023 , Israel has been waging a devastating war on the besieged Gaza Strip, which has left tens of thousands of civilians martyred and wounded, most of them children and women, in addition to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and massive infrastructure destruction.

A group of Democratic representatives in the US House of Representatives informed President Joe Biden that the Israeli invasion of Rafah could violate Washington's requirements regarding the need for the use of military aid to be consistent with humanitarian principles and US law, according to the " Axios " website. The website said that more than 36 Democratic representatives sent a letter to Biden, reminding him of what was contained in a memorandum he signed last month demanding that any recipient of US military aid provide written and reliable guarantees that he would abide by international law.

The Democratic representatives stressed that the military operation that Israel intends to implement in Rafah is likely to conflict with the memorandum, pointing out the absence of a credible plan to protect Palestinian civilians. The lawmakers urged Biden to "use all available means to ensure that all beneficiaries of American aid are held accountable in accordance with the obligations included in the memorandum."

Among the signatories of the letter were Representatives Joaquin Castro from Texas, who led the campaign, Jamie Raskin from Maryland and Jan Schakowsky from Illinois, and others described by the Axios report as representatives who are allies and close to Biden. The report added that the letter will put new pressure on the Biden administration to consider suspending aid to Israel if it goes ahead with the process. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has until March 25 to report that Israel has signed the commitment sought by the memorandum, otherwise US arms transfers to Israel will be suspended.

Democratic members of Congress and officials in the Biden administration expressed concerns that launching a large-scale operation in Rafah, which includes more than a million Palestinians, could lead to a human rights disaster. Biden earlier informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of his opposition to the operation without a plan to ensure the safety of civilians.

More senior allies of US President Joe Biden in the Senate are demanding that the United States act directly to stop the war in the Gaza Strip or at least alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians, while a number of them are adopting calls to reduce military aid to Israel. An Associated Press report revealed that recent days have seen opposition to the war swell within Congress , led by Independent Senator Bernie Sanders and a small group of progressive Democrats in response to the rising civilian death toll in Gaza.

Senator Chris Coons - a close confidant of Biden in Congress - says, The time has come to tighten up with Benjamin Netanyahus government regarding how it is managing the war. According to the Associated Press, Israel still enjoys bipartisan support in Congress, and the possibility of reducing military aid is uncertain despite the influence exercised by these Democrats , but tensions may be evident tomorrow , Thursday, as Biden speaks to Congress about the conflict in his State of the Union address.

The report added that the war in Gaza is not the only issue in the Middle East that is creating opposition within the party, as some Democrats are seeking to enact legislation to force the administration to obtain permission from Congress to continue military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen , leading to a potential confrontation over the authority to wage war. However, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Democratic Caucus as a whole have largely stopped taking action on the US role in Middle East conflicts.

The Associated Press revealed that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin told the committee late last year that no legislation related to the Middle East would be passed until the war in Gaza ended. Democrats are between two fires: the first is the increasing political opposition at the national level, especially among Muslim and Arab American voters due to the Biden administrations support for the Israeli war on Gaza , and the second is that they are hesitant to oppose Bidens approaches towards the war so that these criticisms do not contribute to weakening Bidens arduous campaign. For re-election against former President Donald Trump .

In the past few days, Senator Chris Coons, a senator from Biden's home state of Delaware, called on the United States to cut off military aid to Israel if Netanyahu goes ahead with an attack on the city of Rafah without a clear plan to protect more than a million civilians sheltering there. Coons added, "Continuing American military support for Israel at current levels becomes unacceptable when Israel shows that it is not ready to listen to us." Senator Jack Reed, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called on Biden to deploy the US Navy to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. In turn, Senator Tim Kaine - a Biden ally - challenged the US strikes on the Houthis, saying that "American strikes are unlikely to stop attacks in the Red Sea ," and called on Israel to "change course."

Patty Murray, a senator from Washington , said in a sharp speech in the chamber hall, Israel must understand that the large number of civilian casualties and the destruction they have caused in Gaza cannot continue, stressing that this war is not in line with American interests and does not make Israel safer. . Biden's allies in Congress are trying to send a message that Netanyahu's behavior in the war is not in the interest of the United States , said Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts.

Operation Iron Swords - By the Numbers

72,156 Gazans injured

40,000 Gazans killed, including buried under rubble

33,000 Gaza targets attacked

30,717 Gazans martyred

15,000 rocket launched from Gaza

14,492 Israelis were injured [i24 TV]

13,430 Gazan children martyred

13,000 HAMAS combatants killed [N12]

12,000 HAMAS combatants killed [IDF]

11,000 arrested by Israelis in the West Bank in 2023

9,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons

9,000 IDF psychological assistance

9,000 Gazan women martyred

8,000 Gazans missing

7,335 arrested by Israelis in the West Bank since Oct.7th

6,000 HAMAS combatants killed [HAMAS]

5,500 IDF wounded [reports]

4,650 West Bank Palestinians wounded

3,484 administrative detainees

3,400 wanted persons arrested throughout Judea and Samaria

2,976 IDF wounded [IDF]

1,609 terrorists killed on the first day

1,500 wanted persons arrested throughout Judea and Samaria affiliated with Hamas

1,200 Israelis killed on the first day

575 Israeli officers and soldiers killed

431 West Bank Palestinians martyred

246 Israeli officers and soldiers killed in Gaza

202 Hezbollah fighters were killed in Lebanon

126 people recovered, including 91 Israelis, 11 bodies, and 24 foreign workers

116 living hostages in Palestinian custody

50 civilians killed in Lebanon

29 IDF deaths were caused by "friendly fire"

15 Israelis killed in the West Bank and Israel

Many of these numbers fluctate, up and down, with no apparent explanation.

The Palestinian resistance says that the losses of the Israeli forces are much greater than what is announced. Al Jazeera military and strategic expert Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi expressed his conviction that the numbers of dead and wounded announced by Israel cannot represent the truth, due to a discrepancy between the Israeli armys data and the Walla website, which is close to the army itself.

In an interview with RT, Military strategist retired Tunisian Brigadier General Tawfiq Didi said that the number of Israeli army deaths in the Gaza battles is much greater than what Israel announces. Didi explained in an interview with the Best Saying program on RT channel, The number of people killed in battles can be easily known, as the equation in wars is that for every 3 wounded there is a dead person, and the numbers now in Israel hover around 12,500 wounded and disabled people, and when we divide by Three, we find that the death toll exceeds 4,000, especially after eliminating more than a thousand tanks and armored vehicles, and I know what happens when Kornet missiles hit a tank. Its ammunition explodes and no one is left alive.

He added, "The Israelis announce their dead only of those of Jewish origin and of the first race, meaning all Arabs, Falash, and those who are among them. They are not counted because they are of the second category. So I am sure that the number exceeds 4 thousand dead, and this is a very easy military calculation."

He pointed out, "The Palestinian resistance documented everything it did, unlike the Israelis. The resistance documented shooting at tanks and armored vehicles and destroying the houses in which the Israeli soldiers were holed up, and we saw them being killed... We saw the Kornet hitting the tanks, we saw Al-Yassin 105, so the difference is clear."

Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed have been held as hostages in Gaza since 2014 and 2015, respectively. Unlike the roughly 240 people kidnapped in the Hamas October 7 terrorist attacks, the campaign for the release of Mengistu and al-Sayed has received little publicity. Mengistu is known to suffer from what HRW deemed "serious" mental health issues. "Avera crossed one of the safest borders in the world, under the eyes of the security services," recalled Gil Elias, a relative. "We're talking about a mentally ill person who got lost." The calls for the release of Mengistu and al-Sayed have been barely audible during the many years they have been held captive in Gaza.

Lord Roberts of Belgravia (Con) stated 08 February 2024 "My Lords, even if we were to take as accurate Hamass statistics and the 27,500 figure  there is no reason why we should; we do not do that with Putin or ISIS  if one subtracts the number of Gazans who have been killed by the quarter or so of the Islamic Jihad and Hamas rockets that fall short, one is left with a less than 2:1 ratio of civilians to Hamas terrorists killed, of whom there have been more than 9,000 so far. War is hell, and every individual civilian death is a tragedy, but  I speak as a military historian  less than 2:1 is an astonishingly low ratio for modern urban warfare where the terrorists routinely use civilians as human shields. It is a testament to the professionalism, ethics and values of the Israel Defense Forces."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Russo-Ukraine War - 06 March 2024 - Day 741

Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]

The UK Ministry of Defence reported that on 5 March 2024, Ukraine's Military Intelligence (HUR) stated they had attacked and sunk the Russian BYKOV-class patrol ship SERGEI KOTOV, close to the Kerch Straits in the eastern Black Sea. HUR stated the attack on the SERGEI KOTOV used 'Magura V5' maritime uncrewed surface vehicles (USV); the same type of USVs used in the 14 February 2024 attack on the Russian Landing Ship, TSEZAR KU N I KOV.

The SERGEI KOTOV only commissioned into the Black Sea Fleet in July 2022. It had been previously targeted by USVs in July and September 2023, sustaining minor damage and returning to service shortly after on both occasions.

This is the third Russian Black Sea Fleet vessel sunk in the past five weeks. Likely because of Black Sea Fleet losses, on 15 February 2024, the Black Sea Fleet Commander, Admiral Viktor Sokolov, was dismissed. Ukraine continues to limit the freedom of manoeuvre of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of March 6, there were 76x combat engagements.

Russian forces launched a total of 5x missile and 75x air strikes, carried out 65x MLRS attacks at the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements. Unfortunately, Russian attacks resulted in wounded civilians. Residential private and apartment buildings, as well as other infrastructure were destroyed and damaged.

Volyn and Polissya axes: no significant changes. No signs of formation of an offensive group.

Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: Russia maintains its military presence in the areas of russia bordering Ukraine. Russia continues its sabotage and reconnaissance activities, shelling Ukrainian settlements from the territory of Russia and increases the density of minefields along the state border of Ukraine. Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Kam'yanka (Sumy oblast) and Kozacha Lopan' (Kharkiv oblast). More than 30x settlements came under Russian artillery and mortar fire, including Yeline, Kostobobriv (Chernihiv oblast), Stara Huta, Mykolaivka, Basivka, Oleksandrivka (Sumy oblast), Udy, Kozacha Lopan', Ambarne (Kharkiv oblast).

Kup'yans'k axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 3x attacks in the vicinity of Tabaivka (Kharkiv oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 20x settlements, including Zapadne, Syn'kivka, Stepova Novoselivka, Kotlyarivka (Kharkiv oblast).

Lyman axis: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 7x assaults near Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Terny, Spirne (Donetsk oblast), where Russian forces, with air support, made attempts to breach Ukrainian defense. Russian forces launched an air strike in the vicinity of Yampolivka (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at around 15x settlements, including Makiivka, Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Terny, Yampolivka, Tors'ke, Serebryanka (Donetsk oblast).

Bakhmut axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 11x attacks in the vicinities of Ivanivske, Klishchiivka, Andriivka (Donetsk oblast), where the Russian occupiers made attempts to improve their tactical situation. Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Bohdanivka, Stupochky, New York (Donetsk oblast). More than 10x settlements came under artillery and mortar fire, including Hryhorivka, Chasiv Yar, Klishchiivka, Andriivka (Donetsk oblast).

Avdiivka axis: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 20x attacks in the vicinities of Berdychi, Tonen'ke, Pervomais'ke, Nevel's'ke (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Pokrovsk, Netailove (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at around 15x settlements, including Novobakhmutivka, Berdychi, Pervomais'ke, Nevel's'ke (Donetsk oblast).

Novopavlivka axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to hold back Russian forces in the vicinities of Heorhiivka, Pobjeda, Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast). In that area, Russian forces , with air support, made 18x attempts to breach Ukrainian defense. The adversary launched air strikes near Krasnohorivka, Vodyane, Urozhaine (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 20x settlements, including Krasnohorivka, Heorhiivka, Paraskoviivka, Vuhledar (Donetsk oblast).

Orikhiv axis: the Russian adversary conducted 4x unsuccessful attacks in the vicinity of Robotyne (Zaporizhzhia oblast). Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Staromaiors'ke (Donetsk oblast), Novodarivka, Chervone (Zaporizhzhia oblast). More than 15x settlements, including Malynivka, Charivne, Bilohir'ya, Novodanylivka, P'yatykhatky (Zaporizhzhia oblast), were under Russian artillery and mortar fire.

Odesa operational-strategic group, Prydniprovs'ke (Kherson) axis: Russian forces conducted no offensives.

More than 30x settlements, including the city of Kherson, Zolota Balka, L'vove, Antonivka, Stanislav (Kherson oblast), were under Russian artillery and mortar fire.

During the day of March 6, the Ukrainian Air Force launched air strikes on 7x concentrations of Russian troops.

The Ukrainian missile troops hit 1x ammunition depot, 4x artillery systems of Russian invaders.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that in Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the tactical situation and inflicted fire damage on cluster of manpower and military hardware of the 14th mechanised, 25th airborne, and 68th jaeger brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Novosyolovka, Serebryanka (Donetsk People's Republic), and Sverdlovka (Lugansk People's Republic).

In addition, three counter-attacks launched by the AFU 32nd Mechanised Brigade, 57th Motorised Infantry Brigade were repelled near Sinkovka (Kharkov region) and Terny (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 165 Ukrainian troops, one tank, and three motor vehicles.

In the course of counter-battery warfare, three Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery systems, and one U.S.-made M198 howitzer were neutralised.

In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces took more advantageous lines along the front lines and inflicted losses on units of the AFU 5th, 92th assault brigades, 22nd, 28th, 54th mechanised brigades, and 56th Motorised Rifle Brigade near Bogdanovka, Kleshcheyevka, Andreyevka, Zakotnoye, and Pershe Travnya (Donetsk People's Republic).

Two counter-attacks of the AFU 31st and 33rd mechanised brigades were repelled near Novomikhailovka and Pobega (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 260 Ukrainian troops, two tanks, two armoured fighting vehicles, 14 motor vehicles, one Msta-B howitzer, and two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems. In addition, three AFU ammunition depots were destroyed.

In Avdeyevka direction, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces took more advantageous lines and positions.

Losses were inflicted on manpower and hardware of the AFU 23rd, 42nd, 47th, 53rd, 61st, 92nd mechanised brigades, and 59th Motorised Rifle Brigade near Novopokrovskoye, Ocheretino, Novosyolovka Pervaya, and Toretsk (Donetsk People's Republic).

In addition, three attacks launched by AFU assault detachments were repelled near Leninskoye and Novgorodskoye, as well as nine counter-attacks near Berdichi, Tonenkoye, Pervomayskoye, Orlovka, and Vodyanoye (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 460 Ukrainian troops, two tanks, one of which was the U.S.-made Abrams tank wiped out by the T-72B3 tank crew by the first shot, one Buk self-propelled air defence system, four infantry fighting vehicles, two armoured fighting vehicles, and five motor vehicles.

In the course of counter-battery warfare, one Msta-B howitzer, two U.S.-made M119 howitzers, one U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS, and one U.S.-made AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery warfare radar station were neutralised.

In South Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok Group of Forces improved the tactical situation and inflicted losses on enemy manpower and hardware near Mirnoye and Ugledar (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 210 Ukrainian troops, two tanks, three motor vehicles, one Stela-10 anti-air system, and one ammunition depot.

In Kherson direction, units of the Dnepr Group of Forces inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the AFU 118th Mechanised Brigade, 126th Territorial Defence Brigade, and 23rd Ukrainian National Guard Brigade near Rabotino, Verbovoye (Zaporozhye region), Tokaryovka, Sadovoye (Kherson region), and Vyshetarasovka (Dnepropetrovsk region).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 30 Ukrainian troops and two motor vehicles.

Operational-Tactical Aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Groups of Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation wiped out aircraft, aircraft ammunition and POL depots on Lozovatka airfield (Dnepropetrovsk region) and Starokonstantinov airfield (Khmelnitsky region), one ammunition depot of the Donetsk operational-tactical group, as well as manpower and military hardware in 113 areas.

Over the past 24 hours, air defence units shot down nine U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles and one French-made AASM Hammer guided aerial bomb.

Moreover, 135 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were intercepted near Sladkoye, Pavlovka, Signalnoye, Verkhetoretskoye, Orlynskoye (Donetsk People's Republic), Golikovo, Chernopopovka, Novodruzhesk (Lugansk People's Republic), Mirnoye, Magedovo, Shevchenkovo, and Novoye (Zaporozhye region).

In total, 576 airplanes and 267 helicopters, 14,440 unmanned aerial vehicles, 481 air defence missile systems, 15,377 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,234 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 8,309 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 19,415 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.





NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Five New Mexico Compound Defendants Sentenced to Life in Prison in Connection with Kidnapping and Terrorism Plot

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

For Immediate Release

Office of Public Affairs

A federal judge in New Mexico today sentenced five defendants: Jany Leveille, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, his sisters Hujrah Wahhaj and Subhanah Wahhaj, and Subhanah's husband, Lucas Morton. Siraj, Hujrah and Subhanah Wahhaj, and Lucas Morton were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Per the terms of her plea agreement, Leveille was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Upon her release from prison, Leveille will enter removal proceedings.

On Oct. 17, 2023, after a three-week trial, a federal jury convicted Siraj Wahhaj and Lucas Morton of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to murder an officer or employee of the United States. Hujrah Wahhaj, Subhanah Wahhaj and Lucas Morton were additionally convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death and kidnapping resulting in death. Jany Leveille pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and being in possession of a firearm while unlawfully in the United States on Aug. 8, 2023.

According to publicly available court records, in December 2017, the group, led by Leveille, abducted Siraj Wahhaj's three-year-old son, Abdul Ghani, from his mother in Georgia and transported him to a remote property in Amalia, New Mexico. The group intended to use the child as a prop in a plan to rid the world of purportedly corrupt institutions, including the FBI, CIA, and U.S. military, and to kill those who did not convert and follow Leveille. The planning and training for this conspiracy took place at a heavily fortified, purpose-built, militarized compound in Amalia.

After Abdul Ghani died at the compound, Leveille prophesized, and the rest of the group believed, that Abdul Ghani was going to resurrect on Easter, which was April 1, 2018, and that he would lead the group to face society and kill those who did not join them. In response, the group's firearms and tactical training ramped up in frequency, intensity, and complexity in anticipation of the Easter resurrection. When Abdul Ghani did not resurrect on Easter, Leveille began to talk about him returning around the time of his birthday (Aug. 6, 2018) or as Subhanah Wahhaj's soon-to-be born child.

On Aug. 3, 2018, the Taos County Sheriff's Office's Tactical SRT Unit integrated with agents from New Mexico Office of the Superintendent of Insurance and executed warrants on the heavily fortified compound. SRT was able to secure the compound and the suspects without incident or a single shot fired. Additionally, the children in the compound were secured and safely turned over to child welfare authorities. While clearing the compound, weapons, ammunition, and training documents were discovered confirming intelligence that had been received. During a subsequent search of the compound on Aug. 6, 2018, Abdul Ghani's birthday, law enforcement located the remains of Abdul Ghani in an underground tunnel. The investigation found Abdul died on Christmas Eve, 2017, before anyone was aware the group was in New Mexico.

The FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the Taos County Sheriff's Office, NM Office of the Superintendent of Insurance, and the 8th Judicial District Attorney's Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly Brawley and Tavo Hall for the District of New Mexico and Trial Attorneys Jessica Joyce and George Kraehe of the National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section prosecuted the case.

Topic: Counterterrorism

Components: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

National Security Division (NSD)

USAO - New Mexico

Press Release Number: 24-260

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Press statements - Melbourne

Transcript

Wednesday 6 March 2024

Melbourne

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

The Hon Anthony Albanese MP

Prime Minister of Australia

HE Mr Sonexay Siphandone

Prime Minister of the Lao People's Democratic Republic

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: Thank you for joining us. It has been a privilege to welcome the leaders of Southeast Asia to Melbourne this week, to mark 50 years of formal partnership between Australia and ASEAN. I was very pleased to co-host this historic Summit with Prime Minister Sonexay of Laos. Australia shares a warm bond with Lao PDR and it's fitting that one of the achievements of this week was the upgrading of Australia's relationship with Lao PDR to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. I look forward to continuing to work with you, Prime Minister, to support your Chair here, and I thank Lao PDR for its support, as Australia's ASEAN country coordinator. I also want to thank my counterparts from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam for their contributions and their commitment to this crucial partnership for Australia. And to the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, Australia will continue to support Timor-Leste's pathway to ASEAN membership.

Together, we achieved a great deal of agreement today. All of it built on a shared understanding that the ASEAN-Australia partnership has never been stronger, or more important to the peace, stability and prosperity of our region. ASEAN itself is a powerful force for regional stability. Because, as all of us acknowledge, peace is the essential precondition for prosperity. For our region to flourish and for our people to succeed into the future, we must continue to preserve that peace and security through the rules and rights that uphold the sovereignty of all nations, and the dignity of every individual.

My Government is focused on ensuring that the partnership between Australia and ASEAN can shape the future of our region. We understand this is not just about deepening engagement between governments. It's about strengthening and diversifying the business and trade and education connections, which have played a central role in the economic transformation of our region. The work that all of us can do together on climate change, maritime cooperation, and the clean energy transition, will make a real difference in the future of our region, and to the lives of our citizens. For all that we have achieved together through half a century now, untapped potential remains. Australia has so much to offer the region - an abundance of energy, minerals and resources, a highly skilled workforce, and a world-class education system. But we can do more, and we can do it better, to lift our two-way trade and investment relationship, and to make it easier for our people to engage with each other. That is why we're improving access to long validity visas for Southeast Asian travellers, to show that Australia is open for business, tourism, trade. We're also implementing other key recommendations of our Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040. And I do want to thank Mr Nicholas Moore, who addressed the Summit this morning, for the work that he did in developing that strategy. Because while trade, investment and business collaboration between Australia and Southeast Asia is strong, it can be stronger in the future. As a group, the countries of ASEAN are expected to be the world's fourth largest economy by 2040. But Australia's foreign direct investment into ASEAN equals only a little over three per cent of where we invest overseas. To be truly engaged, to be a partner and a participant in this growth and success, Australia needs to be invested. And the Southeast Asia Economic Strategy is our blueprint for doing just that. That is why I announced yesterday that Australia is establishing a $2 billion Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility to catalyse greater Australian investment in Southeast Asia. Through this Facility, our Government is saying to Australian companies that we want them to invest in Southeast Asia for the health of their own businesses, and the broader Australian economy - and here's how we are going to help. We have also appointed ten Business Champions, implementing another of the Economic Strategy's key recommendations. These are senior Australian business leaders who will help set the agenda for future growth in the commercial relationships we have with the countries of Southeast Asia. To help Australian tech companies enter new markets in Southeast Asia, I also announced yesterday that we will establish new regional landing pads in Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta. These will help open up important business for Australia's tech enterprises, as the digital economy in Southeast Asia is projected to be worth up to $1 trillion by 2030. And, to provide a stronger focus for collaboration and people to people links, I'm proud to announce the establishment of a dedicated ASEAN-Australia Centre. The centre will be a focal point for engagement, fostering deeper cultural ties and people-to-people links and lift Southeast Asia literacy here in Australia. And alongside all of this Australia's investing in scholarships, in climate change and energy collaboration, and infrastructure partnerships, building on the excellent work done in these areas in previous years.

The Vision Statement and the Melbourne Declaration that we issued today speak to our strong consensus and a shared sense of purpose. Together, we have every reason to be optimistic for the future security of our region, for the future prosperity of our economies, for the future success of our citizens, and for the future strength of our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the decades ahead. Thank you very much.



SONEXAY SIPHANDONE, PRIME MINISTER OF THE LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC: Your Excellency Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia, friends - first and foremost in my capacity as the ASEAN country coordinator for ASEAN-Australia dialogue relations, and co-chair of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Australia dialogue relations, I'd like to express my sincere appreciation to His Excellency Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia, for the warm welcome and cordial hospitality extended to the Laos delegations and all ASEAN member states. I also commend the excellent preparation made for this historic ASEAN-Australia Special Summit. This year marks 57 years of ASEAN's establishment and 50 years of ASEAN-Australia dialogue relations. These numbers affirm that Australia is ASEAN oldest and closest friend. Its long standing and most important dialogue partner, engaging with ASEAN throughout its evolution. Since the establishment of dialogue relations in 1974, ASEAN-Australia cooperation has continuously deepened and expanded, encompassing a wide range of areas of cooperation such as political security, economy, socio-cultural cooperation. This partnership has led to the elevation of ASEAN-Australia dialogue relations to a comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2021. ASEAN greatly appreciates and compliments Australia for its active participation in all ASEAN, as well as for its consistent support of ASEAN's centrality in the evolving regional architecture, including the ASEAN outlook on the Indo Pacific. ASEAN-Australia dialogue relations over the past 50 years have been meaningful, substantive and mutually beneficial, contributing to the strengthening of the ASEAN community, as well as maintaining and promoting peace and security, stability and development in the region and the world at large. ASEAN has a strong commitment and aspirations to further advance policy and Australia cooperation in the future. And today, the leaders of ASEAN and Australia have gathered here in Melbourne to review the past 50 years of cooperation and set a joint direction for the future. And today's Special Summit concluded successfully, we celebrated achievements of ASEAN-Australia dialogue relations over the past 50 years and the elevation to ASEAN of our dialogue relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is a reaffirmation of our fruitful past relations and future cooperation. During this Special Summit we jointly set the vision for the ASEAN-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership for the next 50 years, we adopted two key outcome documents - namely, the ASEAN-Australia Leaders Vision Statement - partners with peace and prosperity - and the Melbourne Declaration - a Partnership for the Future. These documents outline the areas of cooperation between ASEAN and Australia. I won't delve into the details, I suggest media take a closer look at the information in these common documents. On this occasion Australia has announced numerous initiatives that are truly appreciated and supported, mentioned earlier by His Excellency, Prime Minister of Australia, such as the initiative to ensure the concrete implementations of the Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, including improvements of visa access, facilitating business related travel, and fostering greater trade and investment, increasing development of Australia's investment in Southeast Asia. Also the announcement of the Medical Australian Partnership as a regular cooperation mechanism, including the expansion of cooperations under the partnership for infrastructure initiative. Also, the increase of 110 scholarships for ASEAN-Australia, including the establishment of the ASEAN-Australia Centre. The Lao PDR has been serving as the country coordinator for ASEAN-Australia dialogue relations for a three-year term, from 2021 to 2024. A period marked by several important events such as the establishment of the ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2021, and also the Lao PDR ASEAN Chairmanship in 2024, and the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Australia dialogue relations in 2024. The Lao PDR is delighted and honoured to have served as the country coordinator throughout this significant three year period. I'd like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt appreciations to all ASEAN member states and Australia for their cooperation and support, which have been instrumental in enabling Lao PDR to fulfil this important role. On a bilateral note, the Lao PDR highly values its engagement and partnership with Australia over the past 72 years, and I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the Government and people of Australia for their continued support in the socio-economic development of the Lao PDR, and most notably for their support of the Lao PDR as ASEAN Chairmanship in 2024. Importantly, the Lao PDR is committed to working closely with Australia to further strengthen the Lao PDR-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, announced this morning. This Partnership aims to deliver real benefits to our nation, contributing to the enhancement of cooperations between ASEAN and Australia in the future. And in 2024, as the Lao PDR assumes the ASEAN chairmanship and the theme ASEAN enhancing connectivity and resilience, it is also the 'Visit Laos Year 2024'. I take this opportunity to extend an invitation to all friends from the media and the people of Australia to visit Lao PDR.

PRIME MINISTER ALBANESE: Can I conclude with just two things. One is - an event like this doesn't just happen, and I want to thank the public servants, staff, police and security of the journalists, the staff here of the Convention Centre, cleaners, drivers, caterers, interpreters - this doesn't just happen, people make it happen, and it's happened very smoothly and given a great deal of honour to Australia in hosting this event. To the Victorian Government - I thank you and to the people of Melbourne, I thank you as well. The second point I want to make is just for our ASEAN visitors, please travel safely and have a safe journey home. Thank you very much.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






ASEAN-Australia Leaders' Vision Statement - partners for peace and prosperity

Joint statement

Wednesday 6 March 2024

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

The Hon Anthony Albanese MP

Prime Minister of Australia

We, the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Australia, gathered here in Melbourne on 6 March 2024 on the occasion of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN-Australia Dialogue Relations.

We reaffirm our steadfast commitment to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that is substantive, meaningful and mutually beneficial, based on friendship, mutual trust, shared interests and a positive vision for our region's future.

ASEAN and Australia will build on our strong history of cooperation and partnership over the last 50 years. Strong people-to-people ties will remain a foundation of our partnership. We will continue to reinforce the economic architecture. This architecture has transformed our region, elevated the living standards of our peoples and continues to support our prosperity. We will work to enhance regional connectivity towards a sustainable future, and seek to accelerate human resource development to be more competitive, agile and resilient. Together we will tackle common global challenges, including climate change and biodiversity loss, marine plastic debris, natural disasters, food and energy security, sustainable water resources management, poverty, pandemics, transnational crimes, and sustainable development, by sharing inclusive and equitable solutions to assure the well-being and resilience of our communities.

To ensure continued sustainable growth and prosperity, we will work together to promote an open, inclusive and transparent rules-based regional architecture in the Indo-Pacific region, in which ASEAN is central, and where the objectives and principles of the Charter of the United Nations (UN), ASEAN Charter, Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) and ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) are respected and upheld. We want a region where sovereignty and territorial integrity is respected. We strive for a region where differences are managed through respectful dialogue, not the threat or use of force. We seek a region where disputes are settled peacefully in accordance with the universally recognised principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

We will continue to work together to contribute to the maintenance of peace and stability, as well as to enhance cooperation for sustainable development and prosperity in the region, particularly in support of the ASEAN community-building and integration process. We will continue to promote a rules-based regional architecture that upholds international law, with ASEAN at the centre, to maintain respectful, stable and peaceful relations between states. We will promote strategic trust and ensure transparent, predictable and responsible behaviour. We will foster closer and more productive cooperation and engagements through ASEAN-led mechanisms and other relevant regional and multilateral institutions. We will work together to promote open communication and dialogue within ASEAN-led mechanisms, to enhance mutual understanding, reduce the risks of miscalculation, and prevent conflict. We will continue to emphasise and reinforce ASEAN's integral role as the region's leading convener for strategic dialogue.

As we look to the next 50 years, we look forward to enhancing our partnership, which has significantly contributed to the peace, security, stability and prosperity of our region. We are excited by the opportunities ahead for our region and look forward to embracing these together.

Adopted in Melbourne, Australia on the Sixth Day of March of the Year Two Thousand and Twenty-Four at the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN-Australia Dialogue Relations.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






'Melbourne Declaration' affirms ASEAN and Australia partnership for the future

Media release

Wednesday 6 March 2024

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

The Hon Anthony Albanese MP

Prime Minister of Australia

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Timor-Leste have reaffirmed their commitment to securing peace, stability, prosperity and a sustainable future for the region.

Prime Minister Albanese hosted the leaders of the Lao PDR, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Timor-Leste in Melbourne at the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit.

Themed "A Partnership for the Future", the Summit marked 50 years since Australia became ASEAN's first Dialogue Partner.

Leaders committed to working together to address shared challenges while embracing opportunities that will benefit all who live in our region.

Prime Minister Albanese and ASEAN Leaders adopted the ASEAN-Australia Joint Leaders' Vision Statement and the Melbourne Declaration which set out the next 50 years of our enduring partnership to promote an open, inclusive and transparent region with ASEAN at the centre.

Leaders set out their shared aspirations for the region's future, committing to work together to contribute to the maintenance of peace and stability, as well as enhance cooperation for sustainable development and prosperity in the region. They identified areas of practical cooperation for the future, ranging from deepening economic and socio-cultural ties to strengthening educational and environmental cooperation. These outcomes reinforce Australia's commitment to Southeast Asia and ASEAN - now, and into the future.

In line with Australia's deep and enduring ties with ASEAN and the priority the Government places on building stronger partnerships with Southeast Asia, today Prime Minister Albanese announced:

Establishing an ASEAN-Australia Centre in Canberra. Commencing on 1 July 2024, the Centre will be a focal point for engagement with ASEAN and promote greater Southeast Asia cultural literacy in Australia. The Centre will focus on strengthening business, education, cultural and community connections between Australia, ASEAN Member States and Timor-Leste.

Commencing on 1 July 2024, the Centre will be a focal point for engagement with ASEAN and promote greater Southeast Asia cultural literacy in Australia. The Centre will focus on strengthening business, education, cultural and community connections between Australia, ASEAN Member States and Timor-Leste. More than 75 new Aus4ASEAN scholarships , some of which will be co-funded by Australian universities, and 55 fellowships for emerging leaders from the region to have a world-class Australian education.

, some of which will be co-funded by Australian universities, and for emerging leaders from the region to have a world-class Australian education. An Energy Cooperation Package under the Aus4ASEAN Futures Initiative to enhance ASEAN-led regional energy policy and planning, including implementation of the ASEAN Strategy for Carbon Neutrality. The package will support the ASEAN Centre for Energy and the establishment of an ASEAN Centre for Climate Change in Brunei Darussalam.

under the Aus4ASEAN Futures Initiative to enhance ASEAN-led regional energy policy and planning, including implementation of the ASEAN Strategy for Carbon Neutrality. The package will support the ASEAN Centre for Energy and the establishment of an ASEAN Centre for Climate Change in Brunei Darussalam. Providing English language training for Timor-Leste to support its path to full ASEAN membership. The package will enable valuable training to help Timor-Leste engage effectively in ASEAN.

During the Special Summit, the Prime Minister reiterated Australia's commitment to deepening two-way trade and investment with ASEAN to drive growth that creates jobs and realises economic benefits for all people in the region. The Albanese Government announced a number of initiatives to implement key recommendations from Invested: Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, launched last year:

Establishing a $2 billion Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility to catalyse Australian investment in the region in key sectors such as infrastructure and the clean energy transition;

Extending Australia's Partnerships for Infrastructure initiative that supports efforts to improve regional infrastructure development and attract more diverse, quality infrastructure finance;

Appointing 10 Business Champions to facilitate greater commercial links between Australia and the economies of ASEAN, ensuring Government and the private sector work in tandem to boost our two-way trade and investment;

Establishing new regional 'Landing Pads' in Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City to bolster Australian technology exports and support the region's digital transformation;

Improving visa access for Southeast Asia, with the extension of the Business Visitor Visa from three to five years, and the introduction of the Frequent Traveller stream, providing 10 year visas for eligible ASEAN Member States. This sends a clear signal that Australia is open for business;

Announcing the location of regional hubs for Investment Deal Teams in Singapore, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City; and

The first business mission under the Australia-Southeast Asia Business Exchange to Singapore and Malaysia in April focusing on green energy transition.

The Albanese Government also announced the extension of initiatives to support the clean energy transition and practical maritime cooperation, including:

Implementing the next phase of the Mekong-Australia Partnership to deepen Australia's engagement in the Mekong subregion to address shared challenges, including water security, climate change and transnational crime.

$64 million to enhance Australia's Southeast Asia Maritime Partnerships. This will expand Australia's maritime cooperation with regional partners and contribute to the security and prosperity of the region, consistent with the priorities of Southeast Asian countries.

A $10 million specific Climate and Clean Energy Window as part of the Southeast Asia Government-to-Government Partnerships Fund announced in 2023. This will facilitate knowledge sharing and capacity building in addressing climate change.

Quotes attributable to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:

"It has been an honour to host leaders from ASEAN and Timor-Leste in Melbourne as we mark 50 years of partnership between ASEAN and Australia. "ASEAN binds our region together and I can say with confidence that our partnership has never been stronger or more consequential to our mutual prosperity and to the stability of the region we call home. "Australia is committed to being an exemplary partner to the countries of Southeast Asia - we will continue to be constructive, and to engage with respect, honesty and trust, and, importantly, to listen. "ASEAN and Australia's economies are deeply intertwined. We want to play a bigger role in Southeast Asia's pursuit of economic opportunity, development, and growth. "My Government has made serious, sustained and consistent international engagement a priority - working together with our friends and partners to shape the future we want to see."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






A stronger partnership between Australia and Laos

Media release

Wednesday 6 March 2024

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

The Hon Anthony Albanese MP

Prime Minister of Australia

Prime Minister Albanese and HE Mr Sonexay Siphandone, Prime Minister of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, signed an agreement elevating ties between Australia and Laos to a Comprehensive Partnership.

Australia is proud to be one of Laos' longest-standing partners, a relationship built on mutual respect, understanding and close cooperation.

The Australia-Laos Comprehensive Partnership will drive bilateral cooperation across four pillars, reflecting our shared priorities for the future:

People, education and human resource development;

Economics, trade and investment;

Climate, environment and energy; and

Defence and law enforcement.

Australia's Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 identified agriculture and food, resources and green energy as key areas of opportunity for Australian business in Laos. The Comprehensive Partnership will also support Laos to maximise sustainable development in these sectors.

Prime Minister Albanese also announced that Australia has committed $3 million to Monash University's World Mosquito Program to assist in the elimination of dengue fever in Laos. The program will fund research and allow Australia to share world-class knowledge and resources to manage the spread of dengue fever in Laos.

Quotes attributable to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

"I am honoured to Co-Chair this week's ASEAN Special Summit with Prime Minister Sonexay.

"This milestone Comprehensive Partnership reflects our commitment to bring Australia and Laos even closer together."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Press statements - Parliament House, Canberra

Transcript

Thursday 7 March 2024

Parliament House, Canberra

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

The Hon Anthony Albanese MP

Prime Minister of Australia

HE Mr Pham Minh Chinh

Prime Minister of Vietnam

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: It is indeed an honour to host my friend Prime Minister Chinh here in Canberra. It has been a pleasure to welcome you and your delegation to Australia and to return the generous hospitality that I received in Vietnam last June. Coming together like this energises the Australia-Vietnam relationship.

Prime Minister Chinh, your visit follows what has been a very momentous Special Summit to mark 50 years of Australia's partnership with ASEAN that we held in Melbourne over recent days. Last year, Australia and Vietnam celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations. Those five decades have seen Australia and Vietnam build an enduring partnership, a friendship based on trust, mutual respect, family and community ties and a shared vision for an open, stable and prosperous Indo Pacific. Elevating our ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership today places Australia and Vietnam among each other's most significant partners. It reflects our shared ambition for the future. Today, Prime Minister Chinh and I had a productive discussion spanning the breadth of our partnership, climate change and energy cooperation, digital transformation and innovation, trade and investment, agriculture, education and defence. I'm proud that our new partnership has a specific pillar on climate, environment and energy cooperation. Both Australia and Vietnam have committed to net zero. I'm pleased today that we have agreed to establish an annual dialogue between Australia's Minister for Resources and Vietnam's Minister for Industry and Trade. This will be a platform for greater collaboration in our energy and resources sectors, including critical mineral supply chains in support of our targets. Our marine science agencies have also signed a new agreement to strengthen their ability to monitor climate change's impact on the marine environment. I am also pleased Australia and Vietnam are working together to seize the opportunities of technological transformation. Through a new pillar in our partnership, we have committed to building capacity across science, innovation and technology cooperation. Our innovation cooperation is also demonstrated by the five-year extension of our MoU between the CSIRO and Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology. Prime Minister Chinh and I discussed our shared determination to grow our trade and investment links to support both our country's economic prosperity. In 2022, the latest figures available, trade between Australia and Vietnam reached $25.7 billion. This was an increase of 75 per cent over just the two years from 2020 and make Vietnam Australia's 12th largest trading partner. My Government is already implementing the recommendations of the Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, the report delivered by Mr Nicholas Moore. To strengthen business ties and grow investment between our two countries, I announced in Melbourne earlier this week, this will include extending the landing pad program supporting Australian tech companies in Vietnam to work intensively in new markets. As export focused countries, we recognise the opportunities to create jobs for Australians and Vietnamese alike. Work is being done right across the breadth of my Government to build trade and investment ties with Vietnam.

The first Annual Australia Vietnam Trade Ministers dialogue was held in Melbourne on the 5th of March Austrade and Vietrade signed an agreement to support improved promotion of trade and investment opportunities. And I'm pleased to announce that implementation arrangements have been agreed to enable 1000 Vietnamese workers to work in the agricultural sector to fill labour gaps in rural and regional Australia. Workers are expected to begin arriving this year. Our economic cooperation is also underpinned by our educational and institutional links. I'm particularly pleased that we have renewed our framework for cooperation on education, supporting more partnerships between Australian and Vietnamese education institutions. We also discuss the importance of cooperation to protect and promote regional security and stability. I'm proud today, we're announcing a new peacekeeping partnership to further our important cooperation in this field and that we have elevated the Australia Vietnam Security Dialogue to the Ministerial level to advance cooperation on law enforcement issues.

All of these initiatives are sustained and strengthened by the depth of the people to people ties between our nations. There are over 350,000 Australians of Vietnamese heritage and Vietnamese is the fourth most common language spoken at home in Australia. Our connections endure across generations and geography. Working together as Comprehensive Strategic Partners, I am confident that Australia and Vietnam can rise to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow and I ask Prime Minister to address his remarks.

HE MR PHAM MINH CHINH, PRIME MINISTER OF VIETNAM: Honourable Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, distinguished delegates, on behalf of the delegation of the Vietnamese Government, I'd like to extend my thanks to the Government and people of Australia for the warm welcome, cordial reception and the excellent sentiment and friendship extended to us. We're elated to extend our congratulations to Australia on its socioeconomic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, improving the welfare of the people, thereby contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world. I'd also like to congratulate Australia on having successfully convened the ASEAN Australia Special Commemorative Summit to celebrate the 50th anniversary of relation between ASEAN and Australia. The Summit has a wide range of very successful agenda items, warm welcome, accent arrangements, depicting the friendship between Australia and ASEAN countries. Let me take this opportunity to appreciate the support of Australia for Vietnam's reform and integration, particularly via the provision over 26 million vaccine doses and high level of ODA to Vietnam. Especially during Vietnam's efforts to combat COVID-19, Australia has been one of the top vaccine providers to Vietnam in which and the top paediatric vaccine provider to Vietnam. Mr Prime Minister, distinguished delegates, in Melbourne, I have discussed a number of new items in the Vietnam Australia ties after 50 years of diplomatic relations and 15 years of Comprehensive Partnership, six years of Strategic Partnership and in the very successful bilateral talks today, the Prime Minister and I represented the two Governments to announce the upgrade of the Vietnam Australia ties to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the highest level, the highest framework of cooperation between Vietnam and a partner. This helps different cooperation, two countries fulfilling the interest of the two peoples and contributing to peace cooperation, development in the region and the world, which I can briefly summarise in six key points.

First, we are witnessing increasing political trust and diplomatic cooperation. Second, a higher level of economic trade investment cooperation with greater depth effectiveness. Third, we are bolstering cooperation in science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, green transition in a more robust manner. Fourth, the two sides also engaging in greater cooperation in culture, education, training, environment, climate action in a comprehensive and deeper manner. Fifth, People-to-people exchange connections among various generations are sincere and very much strengthened. And six, we are having greater mutual understanding in terms of defence and security with efforts towards peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

These are six points that are further strengthened in our bilateral ties as we have discussed in the bilateral talks and the upgrade of the Vietnam-Australia ties to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. I fully share the view from Minister Albanese and we agree on the need to further deepen regional and international cooperation. The two countries should also continue to support each other at multilateral forums, particularly the UN, ASEAN led arrangements and promote dialogue, build trust among countries, harness the centrality of ASEAN, enhance the utilisation of Mekong's separation cooperation arrangements. The two countries also hope that conflicts around the world will soon be settled via peaceful means. Humanitarian aid will be further promoted and the threat or use of force will be avoided. It is also a need for us all to respect the UN Charter and international law and protect the people so that no one is left behind. When it comes to the South China Sea, the two sides reiterate the importance of peace, stability, freedom, security, safety, freedom of navigation, of flight in the South China Sea. The need to peacefully settle disputes on the basis of respect for international law, particularly the UNCLOS of 1982. We also agree on the need to continue to exchange information, bolster maritime cooperation to make South China Sea into a sea of peace, stability, friendship, cooperation and development, thereby bringing greater benefits to the peoples in the region and relevant countries. The two sides agree to create favourable conditions to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of the people and businesses of both countries residing, working and studying in Vietnam and Australia. I'd like to thank Australia for having supported Vietnamese students and nationals with the number of over 300,000 people to reside and study in Australia. We also welcome the favourable conditions that Australia has provided for these people to lead stable lives in the country. On this occasion, complete authorities from both countries have also signed eleven important cooperation documents on defence, trade, energy, education, science, technology, justice, among others. We have agreed to instruct relevant authorities to actively engage with each other in implementing these agreements and, as the Prime Minister of Australia has mentioned, from merely reaching an agreement to implementing such an agreement remains a procedure that we need to partake in in the most serious manner through meetings and discussions under flexible formats. I've also agreed with Prime Minister Albanese that we can meet with each other either through visits or on the sidelines of multilateral events, to review past efforts, decipher the reason why certain items have not been implemented and determining the way forward to implement such items in a more effective manner.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, dear Vietnamese and Australian members of the press, we are confident that with the upgrade of bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Vietnam and Australia have entered a new chapter in the history of bilateral relations with very substantive, effective and sustainable items of cooperation across the board. This will help fulfil the interest of the two peoples and actively contribute to peace, stability, cooperation, development and friendship in the region and the world.

Thank you very much.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

(THE CONVERSATION) When the U.S. government shuts down, the immediate and most visible impact is a rupture in its day-to-day operations.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

But beyond these functions and the individual workers and families affected, could a short or lengthy shutdown affect the broader U.S. economy as well?

Constantine Yannelis, a professor at the University of Chicago, and I examined data from the 2013 government shutdown to better understand its impact.

An economic speed bump

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

A primary channel through which a shutdown affects the economy is through withheld or forgone pay from federal employees who dont receive their paychecks.

Since consumer spending makes up about 70% of economic activity in the United States, withholding pay from even some of the 2 million or so government workers could introduce a significant economic speed bump in the short run.

And thats exactly what we saw in October 2013, when a partisan standoff in Congress led to a partial shutdown of the government that lasted a little over two weeks.

Well over 1 million federal employees were affected and didnt receive a paycheck during the shutdown. Some were furloughed  sent home and told not to do anything related to their job. Those deemed essential or exempted  such as security personnel screening passengers at airports or border patrol agents  were required to continue working at their jobs, although they were not receiving paychecks. The government eventually paid both groups the money owed them, regardless of whether they worked, after Democrats and Republicans reached an agreement on Oct. 16, 2013.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

My colleague and I sought to understand how households responded by tracking how they behaved in the days leading up to, during and following the shutdown using detailed financial data.

We obtained this anonymized data from a personal finance website where people track their income, expenses, savings and debt. Using the paycheck transaction descriptions, we identified over 60,000 households that contained employees of federal agencies affected by the shutdown. These affected employees included both those who were asked to work without pay and those who were furloughed.

As a comparison group, we also identified over 90,000 households with a member who worked for a state government. That would likely mean they have fairly similar levels of education, experience and financial security, yet their paychecks were unaffected by the shutdown.

Short-term impact on spending

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Our study led to two primary findings.

First, we found that the shutdown led to an immediate decline in average household spending of almost 10%. Surprisingly, despite the fact that most federal workers have stable jobs and income sources, they were quick to cut spending on pretty much everything, from restaurants to clothing to electronics, just days after their pay was delayed.

While households with less money in the bank cut their spending by larger amounts, even those with significant resources and easy access to credit reduced their expenditures.

Second, households with a member who was furloughed and required to stay home from work slashed their spending more dramatically  by 15% to 20%, or almost twice as much as the average of those affected. This larger decline reflected the fact that these households suddenly had a lot more time on their hands. Rather than going out to eat or paying for child care, for example, they could spend more time, say, cooking or watching their own children.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

These types of behavioral changes are what help spread the economic effects of a shutdown from the slice of the population thats immediately affected to a wider group of businesses and individuals in Washington, D.C. And in regions with substantial numbers of federal workers, these declines in spending can greatly hurt the health of the local economy in the short run.

Long-term impact?

Whether or not a shutdown has a longer-term economic impact depends on whether employees are paid their forgone wages after its conclusion  and how long the shutdown lasts.

In 2013, the government repaid even furloughed workers what they would have earned had the shutdown not happened.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

This repayment, essentially increasing the size of their first post-shutdown paychecks, had significant and immediate effects on household spending. A sudden spike in spending occurred in the days after the paychecks were disbursed, largely erasing some of the most dramatic declines in spending during the previous two weeks.

The government has usually paid all its employees, essential or not, back pay after other shutdowns, such as those in the 1990s. While Congress is legally required to pay federal employees who worked during the shutdown, theres no law requiring the same treatment for nonessential workers.

In addition, the longer the shutdown lasts, the worse its impact. Households might deplete savings or hit their credit card limits as the impasse stretches day after day, giving them additional time to adjust their spending in ways that they could not do with only a few days notice. For instance, in 2013, bills for health insurance or tuition payments were largely unaffected. Had that shutdown persisted, households may have started to cut back here as well.

So if Congress refuses to offer furloughed workers back pay, or the shutdown lasts months rather than weeks, the economic impact could be severe.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

However, if a shutdown is resolved in a relatively short amount of time, with workers being paid back their regular income, the damage would likely be fairly contained.

This is an updated version of an article originally published on Jan. 19, 2018.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/how-much-does-a-government-shutdown-hurt-the-economy-depends-how-long-it-lasts-224587.
Law revision to enhance governance, supervision

Global Times

Important part of establishing a law-based government

By GT staff reporters Published: Mar 06, 2024 09:57 PM

Chinese lawmakers started deliberating a draft revision to the Organic Law of the State Council on Tuesday. This marks the first revision of the law, which was adopted in December 1982 when the country's current Constitution was formulated.

Chinese experts believe that the revision to the law will help standardize the operation of the State Council and improve its scientific and democratic level.

The law has played a significant role in ensuring that the State Council performs its duties in accordance with the Constitution and other laws, said Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, when explaining the bill at the opening meeting of the second session of the 14th NPC.

Revising the law is a necessary step for the State Council to uphold the Communist Party of China (CPC)'s overall leadership and strengthen the all-around improvement of the government, said Li, adding that it provides an institutional guarantee for the State Council to adhere to its people-centered principle and its fundamental purpose of wholeheartedly serving the people.

The draft revision is an important part of the efforts to fully implement and enforce the Constitution and establish a law-based government, as well as an effective measure to reform Party and state institutions and modernize the country's system and capacity for governance, according to Li.

The draft revision, which contains 20 articles, includes provisions concerning the nature and position of the State Council per the Constitution, which stipulates that the State Council, namely, the Central People's Government, is the executive organ of the highest state organ of power, and is the highest state administrative organ.

The draft explicitly outlines the State Council's commitment to building a law-based, innovation-driven, and service-oriented government of integrity, among other things.

It also refines the expressions regarding the functions and powers of the State Council.

The draft adds a provision that the State Council exercises unified leadership over the work of local state administrative organs at all levels nationwide, which some Chinese experts regard as a key emendation.

The revision to the law grants the State Council the exercise of unified leadership over local state administrative organs, which is compatible with the country's current entire system of state power operation, said Zhuang Deshui, deputy director of the Research Center for Government Integrity-Building at Peking University.

This can help all local administrative organs better implement the policies of the central government and fulfill their responsibilities, he explained.

The draft revises provisions on the members of the State Council, further clarifying the duties of vice premiers and state councilors, and also adds the governor of the People's Bank of China as a member of the State Council.

Zhuang pointed out that this emendation can improve the administrative status of the governor of the People's Bank of China and encourage it to better participate in decision-making within the State Council. It is also conducive to the implementation of the central government's financial policies, ensuring financial security and strengthening supervision over the financial sector.

It also modifies provisions governing the State Council's departments and their duties and powers, and improves the meeting system of the State Council.

The draft adds that matters discussed and decided at plenary and executive meetings of the State Council shall be disclosed in a timely manner, except those that require confidentiality according to law.

In the past, we had the Regulations of the PRC on Disclosure of Government Information.

Now, this amendment clarifies the timely disclosure of government affairs after the decision is made, reflecting the spirit of democratic supervision, Zhuang noted.

In addition, the draft revision introduces systems and measures to ensure that the State Council exercises its functions in full and in accordance with the law.

However, a few foreign media outlets misinterpreted the draft revision, claiming it aims to consolidate central power.

Zhuang rejected this rhetoric, stressing that those foreign media outlets misread both the connotations and denotations of the revision.

From the perspective of organizational structure, the revision can better allow the State Council to play its role, perform its duties and operate scientifically. Regulating the functions and operation of Party and government organs at all levels through the rule of law is a significant achievement we have made since the 18th CPC National Congress. This is expected to improve the scientific and democratic level of the State Council's operation as well as the Party leadership, according to the expert.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






China, Russia forged a new paradigm of major-country relations different from obsolete Cold War approach: Wang Yi

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Mar 07, 2024 11:54 AM

China and Russia have forged a new paradigm of major-country relations that differs entirely from the obsolete Cold War approach, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday, adding that the relation is of great value in maintaining global strategic stability.

Wang made the remarks at a press conference Thursday on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress.

Wang said the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination between China and Russia in the new era is maintaining a high level of operation under the strategic guidance of two head of states, with political mutual trust continuing to deepen, with mutually beneficial cooperation and complementary advantages, and surging enthusiasm in people-to-people exchanges.

Last year bilateral trade volume reached a record high of $240 billion, surpassing the established target of $200 billion ahead of schedule, he noted.

Russian natural gas is fueling numerous Chinese households, and Chinese automobiles are running on Russia roads. All this shows the strong resilience and broad prospects of China-Russia mutually beneficial cooperation, Wang said.

Maintaining and growing the China-Russia relationship is a strategic choice by the two sides based on the fundamental interests of the two peoples. It is also what we must do to keep pace with the trend of the world.

China and Russia have forged a new paradigm of major-country relations that differs entirely from the obsolete Cold War approach. On the basis of non-alliance, non-confrontation and not targeting any third party, China and Russia strive for lasting good-neighborliness and friendship and seek to deepen their comprehensive strategic coordination, Wang noted.

Hegemony is unpopular and division has no future. Major countries should not confront each other, and the Cold War should not return, Wang emphasized.

He said that China-Russia relations adapt to the trend of multipolarity and democratization of international relations, and are of great value in maintaining global strategic stability, promoting positive interactions among major countries, and advancing cooperation among emerging powers.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia. We will jointly hold the China-Russia Cultural Year, facing new opportunities for the development of bilateral relations. China is willing to work with Russia to further cultivate new momentum for cooperation and continuously strengthen the friendly foundation between the two peoples, Wang said.

Russia is currently the rotating chair of the BRICS countries, while China will take over the rotating chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the second half of this year.

Both sides will enhance international multilateral cooperation, uphold true multilateralism, maintain the international system centered on the United Nations, and safeguard regional and global security and stability, Wang added.



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Chinese lawmakers deliberate draft revision to Organic Law of the State Council, the first such revision for 40 years

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Mar 06, 2024 12:15 PM

Chinese lawmakers on Tuesday started deliberating a draft revision to the Organic Law of the State Council. This marks the first revision of the law, which was adopted in December 1982 when the country's current Constitution was formulated.

The law has played a significant role in ensuring that the State Council performs its duties in accordance with the Constitution and other laws, said Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, when explaining the bill at the opening meeting of the second session of the 14th NPC, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Revising the law is a necessary step for the State Council to uphold the Party's overall leadership and strengthen the all-around improvement of the government, said Li, adding that it provides an institutional guarantee for the State Council to adhere to its people-centered principle and its fundamental purpose of wholeheartedly serving the people.

For over 40 years, the Organization Law of the State Council has not been amended since it was adopted in December 1982 , Li noted.

In order to adapt to new situations, tasks, and requirements, it is necessary to amend the law based on a careful summary of practical experience. This will help deepen the spirit and achievements of the reform of Party and state institutions through legal provisions, further improve the organizational and working systems of the State Council, ensure the correct political orientation, comprehensively strengthen the government's self-construction, and provide solid legal guarantees for building a law-based government that is satisfactory to the people, innovative, clean, and service-oriented, according to Li.

The draft revision, which contains 20 articles, includes provisions concerning the nature and position of the State Council per the Constitution, which stipulates that the State Council, namely, the Central People's Government, is the executive organ of the highest state organ of power, and it is the highest state administrative organ, according to the Xinhua report.

The draft explicitly outlines the State Council's commitment to building a law-based, innovation-driven, and service-oriented government of integrity, among others.

It also refines the expressions regarding the functions and powers of the State Council and adds a provision that the State Council exercises unified leadership over the work of local state administrative organs at all levels nationwide.

The draft revises provisions on the members of the State Council, further clarifying the duties of vice premiers and state councilors. It adds the governor of the People's Bank of China as a member of the State Council.

It also modifies provisions governing the State Council's departments and their duties and powers, and improves the meeting system of the State Council.

In addition, the draft revision introduces systems and measures to ensure that the State Council exercises its functions in full and in accordance with the law.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






HK lawmakers vow to complete Article 23 legislation 'at full speed'

Global Times

Public interest defense proposed, collusion with foreign forces a more severe crime: consultation results

By Chen Qingqing and Zhao Yusha Published: Mar 06, 2024 10:01 PM

Some lawmakers in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), who are also the deputies to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), returned to Hong Kong and attended a joint meeting on the Article 23 legislation on Wednesday, as finishing the legislation is seen as the most pressing issue for the city. Some NPC deputies from the HKSAR said they will work at full speed to complete it.

The panel on security, the panel on administration of justice and legal services and the subcommittee to study the matters related to the Article 23 legislation held a joint meeting on Wednesday afternoon, where Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung said the support rating during the public consultation period exceeded 99 percent, indicating that the majority of Hong Kong residents support the legislation.

There were 97 pieces of opinions opposing, and Tang noted the figure includes 12 from anti-China organizations or fugitives.

The crimes receiving the most feedback were seditious intent, leaking national secrets and overseas crimes, with most supporting the establishment of extraterritorial effectiveness, Tang said. Also, some opinions proposed improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms, which would be considered if appropriate, he said.

Some lawmakers raised questions during the meeting about the exception clause of the legislation, especially when it comes to the press and social media. For instance, lawmaker Regina Ip pointed out that there are already panic-inducing statements online, such as discussions about social media platforms like Facebook and Telegram to be discontinued under the law.

Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok responded that there is no intention to control social media platforms, or prevent their existence.

Lam emphasized that the legislation targets individuals who use social media platforms to spread certain information. As a financial and trade center, Hong Kong is a place of information flow where there absolutely is no ban on media, he stressed.

The HKSAR government also issued a statement on Wednesday disapproving and condemning Bloomberg's reports about Hong Kong banning social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube, saying that it falsely reported that the HKSAR would introduce legislation banning the operation of these platforms in the city and caused misunderstanding and panic concerning Article 23 legislation.

In the document summarizing the consultation results, the government indicated that it is considering adopting four recommendations related to crimes in the draft, including those involving collusion with foreign forces under the national security law to be "considered as a more severe degree of crime."

It's also considering adding a defense of public interest for crimes related to national secrets, introducing provisions similar to "protection of information" for the protection of national secrets; and that "espionage activities" should encompass the use of drones.

Regarding the defense of public interest, the government clarified that the so-called public interest must be of significant importance and that such public interest must outweigh the risks to national security.

The threshold should be very high, not merely to satisfy public curiosity. In most cases, this threshold will not be met, according to the government.

Some Hong Kong media, citing unnamed sources, said the draft of the legislation will be submitted for the first and second readings at the LegCo as soon as next week, and the law is expected to be passed in mid-April.

"The Article 23 legislation is a constitutional responsibility of Hong Kong, and it has been an outstanding task owed to the central government since Hong Kong's return to the motherland," Starry Lee Wai-king, a Hong Kong member of the Standing Committee of the NPC, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Before the two sessions, the LegCo's internal committee has already established a working group on the matter. Once the first reading is finished, a bill committee will review it. The timing of the passage of the Article 23 legislation will depend on the LegCo's procedures, but it's clear that there is a social consensus for swift review and passage of the legislation which will further strengthen Hong Kong's security, Lee said.

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang met the Hong Kong and Macao members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing during the two sessions on Wednesday.

Irons Sze, a member of the CPPCC National Committee from Hong Kong, told the Global Times on Wednesday that Ding said that Hong Kong residents support the Article 23 legislation and hope that Hong Kong will complete the law as soon as possible, and that we are still facing complicated external situation.

In recent days, some Western politicians and media in the US have rushed to attack the Article 23 legislation and spread fear and unease, therefore completing the legislative work as soon as possible leaves no time for external forces to further deploy actions to obstruct the process, Lau Siu-kai, a consultant from the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies who is also a senior policy advisor, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"Completing the legislation as soon as possible is also conducive to maintaining national security and the stability in Hong Kong," Lau said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning's Regular Press Conference on March 6, 2024

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China

2024-03-06 19:32

AFP: Today, Australia and ASEAN released a joint declaration, encouraging all countries to avoid any unilateral actions that endanger peace, security and stability in the South China Sea. The declaration comes after a series of incidents involving Chinese and Philippine ships. The Philippines has also accused China of deliberately stirring up trouble in the South China Sea and maliciously inciting hype about the situation. Does the Foreign Ministry view the Australia-ASEAN statement as being targeted at China? And what is China's response to the Philippines? Will any of these statements stop China from aggressively asserting its territorial claims in the South China Sea?

Mao Ning: Concerning the joint declaration issued following the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit, we noted relevant reports but have not yet seen the full text of the declaration. The situation in the South China Sea is generally stable. China's position on the South China Sea issue is very clear and consistent. We will stay committed to properly handling disputes through dialogue and consultation with countries concerned, and would like to work with ASEAN countries to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), advance the consultation on a code of conduct in the South China Sea and jointly safeguard peace and stability in the region.

On the incident that happened at Ren'ai Jiao on March 5, I offered information yesterday and elaborated on China's stern position. The reason behind the incident is that the Philippines broke its promise and infringed on China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. China took necessary measures in accordance with the law, and our operations are professional, restrained, justified and lawful. The responsibility for the incident lies completely with the Philippines. What the Philippines should do is immediately stop its infringement and provocation in the South China Sea. China will continue firmly safeguarding its own legitimate sovereignty, rights and interests in accordance with domestic and international law.

On China's claims in the South China Sea that you mentioned, we've elaborated on them on multiple occasions, which you may refer to. I want to stress that China has indisputable sovereignty over Nansha Qundao and its adjacent waters, including Ren'ai Jiao. This is established in the long course of history, and complies with international law, including the UN Charter.aa

CCTV: After sitting in on the two sessions, many foreign diplomatic envoys received CCTV's interview yesterday and said that they attached great importance to China's opening-up policy and thought that China's high-quality development and high-standard opening-up will benefit the world. What's the Ministry's response?

Mao Ning: The two sessions are an important political event in China and a window for the rest of the world to observe and understand China. We welcome foreign diplomatic envoys to sit in on the two sessions.

When delivering the Report on the Work of the Government, Premier Li Qiang sent an important message that China will pursue higher-standard opening up and promote mutual benefits.

First, we will do more to attract foreign investment and further shorten the negative list for foreign investment. All market access restrictions on foreign investment in manufacturing will be abolished, and market access restrictions in service sectors, such as telecommunications and healthcare, will be reduced. We will strengthen services for foreign investors and make China a favored destination for foreign investment. We will make it easier for foreign nationals to work, study, and travel in China.

Second, we will strive for solid progress in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. We will carry out the eight major measures for supporting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. We will steadily advance cooperation on major projects and implement a number of "small yet smart" projects for improving people's wellbeing. We will promote cooperation in fields such as digital development, green development, innovation, health, culture, tourism, and poverty reduction.

Third, we will deepen bilateral, multilateral and regional economic cooperation, promote the implementation of free trade agreements that have entered into force, negotiate and sign high-standard free trade agreements and investment agreements with more countries and regions, comprehensively and deeply participate in WTO reform, foster an open world economy and deliver more benefits generated from win-win cooperation to people of all countries.

Openness brings progress and cooperation opens up a brighter future. China will not waver in our resolve to open wider at a high standard and our determination to share development opportunities with the rest of the world. China will uphold openness and enhance mutually beneficial cooperation with all countries for common development.

Reuters: Vanuatu police and officials say six Chinese fishing boats were found to be violating the country's fisheries law after being inspected by local police who were patrolling waters on board a US Coast Guard boat. Vanuatu officials told Reuters that it was the first time in several years that police could inspect Chinese boats that fish in the country's exclusive economic zone and then offload their catch in other countries. What are the measures China will take in light of this event?

Mao Ning: I am not aware of the specifics. Let me say more broadly that China respects the sovereign rights and exclusive jurisdiction that coastal states enjoy in their exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in accordance with international law, fully fulfills flag state's obligations, exercises strict supervision over distant-water fisheries, and carries out cooperation on the conservation and use of fisheries resources with relevant countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

China News Service: On the incident that happened at Ren'ai Jiao yesterday, the Spokesperson of the US Department of State said that the provocative actions by China demonstrated disregard for the safety of Filipino personnel and international law. He commented that the US stands with its Philippine allies in the face of these dangerous and unlawful actions. The US called on China to observe the arbitral award on the South China Sea and stop its dangerous and destabilizing actions. The Pentagon Press Secretary said that the dangerous actions by China resulted in injuries to Filipino crew members and demonstrated disregard for international law. What's your response?

Mao Ning: Ren'ai Jiao is part of China's Nansha Qundao. China has indisputable sovereignty over Nansha Qundao and its adjacent waters, including Ren'ai Jiao. This is established in the long course of history, and complies with international law, including the UN Charter. China Coast Guard took necessary law enforcement measures in accordance with the law against the infringement and provocative moves by Philippine vessels at Ren'ai Jiao. The measures are justified, lawful, professional, restrained, and beyond reproach.

Who is the troublemaker making provocations behind this incident? Who breaks international law and endangers peace and stability in the South China Sea? The facts and truth is crystal clear. The US Department of State who disregards facts and confuses right with wrong has made baseless attacks against China's legitimate and lawful actions to safeguard our rights. It has arbitrarily threatened China by resorting to the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty to embolden the Philippines and endorse its acts of infringement and provocation. We firmly oppose it. The so-called arbitral award on the South China Sea arbitration that the Philippines and a handful of countries regard as a benchmark goes against international law including UNCLOS and it is completely illegal, null and void.

Ren'ai Jiao is a bilateral issue between China and the Philippines. The US or any third party should not exploit the issue to sow discord, still less make interventions. China has unwavering determination and will in safeguarding its legitimate rights. The Philippines' attempt of making infringements and provocations will not succeed. China urges the US to refrain from using the Philippines as a pawn to destabilize the South China Sea. The Philippines also needs to refrain from being manipulated by the US. Lessons from history tell us that a pawn will only end up being abandoned.a

Reuters: Russia's space agency said Russia and China are considering putting a nuclear power plant on the moon from the years 2033-35, which the agency's chief said could one day allow lunar settlements to be built. Are there any details from China on this plan and its ambition?

Mao Ning: I'm not aware of the specific information and would like to refer you to competent Chinese authorities.

***********************************************

The second session of the 14th National People's Congress will invite Member of theaPolitical Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi to hold a press conference on "China's foreign policy and foreign relations" at the Press Conference Hall, Media Center at 10:00 am on Thursday, March 7. There will be no regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tomorrow. The press conference will resume on March 8.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






China says upgrade, trade-in policy creates billion-dollar market

GDP goal of 5% is achievable as economy recovers and shows new results, says state planner.

By RFA Staff 2024.03.06 -- China's top state planner has projected a multi-billion-dollar market from Beijing's policy pushing for industries to upgrade their equipment and citizens to trade in their old vehicles and home appliances for new ones.

The domestic consumption push, an integral part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's latest mantra to unleash "new productive forces," is seen as instrumental to Beijing's efforts to revive growth.

Zheng Shanjie, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, also assured the media that Beijing's 5% GDP goal is achievable.

"This goal is in line with the annual requirements of the '14th Five-Year Plan' and matches the potential of economic growth, a goal that can be achieved with positivity and hard work," he told reporters at a press conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress Wednesday.

Zheng said the economy is recovering and showing new results, without specifying. One such potential result could be the over 5 trillion yuan (US$694 billion) that is forecast to be created annually as industries and companies upgrade their equipment to raise development quality.

"Chinese industries and the agricultural sector last year invested about 4.9 trillion yuan in equipment. The push to raise quality development will only increase demand for equipment upgrade," he said at the joint briefing with China's finance minister, commerce minister, central bank chief, and head of the securities regulator.

The campaign will focus on industrial, agricultural, construction, transport, education, cultural tourism and healthcare, where the upgrade will foster reduced carbon emissions, safety, digital transformation and smart intelligence, Zheng added.

Similarly, Zheng described the trade-in market for vehicles and home appliances as "huge" and in the "trillion yuan" level, given that car and white goods ownership last year reached 336 million units and 3 billion units, respectively.

The upgrade and trade-in drives could enhance China's efforts to build a circular economy, he noted.

"The promotion of such large-scale equipment upgrade and consumer goods trade-in is a systematic project ... to be supported by fiscal, financial and tax policies."

"New productive forces" was coined by President Xi during a trip to the rustbelt Northeast region last September, where he highlighted the need for a new economic model. In Xi's China, the state's role is expanding and the private sector is retreating.

Central government agencies and local governments are now focused on putting the new vision into play. Chinese Premier Li Qiang in his maiden government work report on Tuesday called for a "new leap forward" to modernize the industrial system and accelerate the development of new productive forces across sectors like electric vehicles, hydrogen power, new materials, life sciences and commercial spaceflight.

To support the domestic demand policy, Beijing will issue 1 trillion yuan of special long-term bonds this year, and more in the next few years.

The thrust of China's economic policy direction is "seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability through advancement, and in construction before destruction," according to the Chinese premier's work report.

As such, authorities could be banking on "new productive forces" to buffer the structural challenges that clouded the outlook of the Chinese economy, like a deepening real estate market crisis, local government indebtedness and economic issues due to demographic shifts. Li's report offered little details on structural reforms which some analysts said are crucial to address fundamental problems.

Externally, China's foreign trade will face a severe situation, commerce minister Wang Wentao said at the press conference.

Echoing the complexity and unpredictability of the external environment, People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng stressed that the central bank will leverage on monetary policies and intensity macro-control policies to ensure stability.

"China's monetary policy toolbox is still rich [with tools at our disposal], and there is still sufficient room for monetary policy [adjustments]," Pan said, adding that the bank will keep the yuan basically stable.

Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content March not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US lawmakers introduce latest TikTok ban bill

A Senate bill was also approved that would ban Chinese biotech firms accused of harvesting Americans' DNA data.

By Alex Willemyns for RFA 2024.03.06 -- A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a new bill that would allow for a ban on TikTok if its Chinese parent company ByteDance does not divest from the social media app.

Led by Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin and chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, the lawmakers said the bill would allow the U.S. president to ban foreign-owned social media apps deemed national security threats.

But the owners of those apps would be given a grace period to sell the apps to American owners to avoid the ban, they said.

"This bill is not a ban, and it's really not about TikTok. This bill is a choice," said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois and his party's top member on the committee, at a press conference.

"It's a choice for ByteDance, as well as any other social media app controlled by a foreign adversary," he said. "ByteDance has repeatedly used the TikTok platform in ways that undermine not just American national security, but the interests of its users."

The bill, which will be formally introduced to the House of Representatives on Thursday, is similar to one introduced by the Senate Intelligence Committee last year that was backed by the Biden administration. The White House called the new bill "welcome."

Foreign media control

Both Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi told reporters that it is not possible for ByteDance, as it claims, to operate independently of China's government and to keep user data secure from authorities.

Krishnamoorthi noted that TikTok editor-in-chief Zhang Fuping, for instance, is also the general-secretary of the company's Communist Party of China cell, which acts as the official liaison with Beijing.

"In China," Gallagher added, "there is no such thing as a private company. The ruling authority, the Chinese Communist Party, and its leader Xi Jinping, have their hands deep in the inner workings of the company with devastating consequences for our personal freedoms."

He said that meant America's most popular social media app was a propaganda threat, likening the situation to a hypothetical one in which Soviet officials ran the New York Times, Washington Post and network TV stations ABC and NBC at the height of the Cold War in the 1960s.

"TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is legally required to support the work of the Chinese Communist Party," he said. "And under ByteDance's ownership structure, the Chinese government has the ability to manipulate TikTok's algorithm surveillance."

ByteDance has strenuously denied claims it takes orders from Beijing, with its CEO last year telling Congress that the company was prepared to undergo auditing of its servers to prove user data was secure.

Liu Pengyu, the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday he believed the bill was the latest attempt to "deliberately overstretch the concept of national security to wear down Chinese enterprises."

He denied Beijing influenced TikTok's American operations.

"The company concerned is a private enterprise that conducts business in the U.S. in accordance with market principles and international rules and complies with U.S. laws," Liu said in an email, appealing for "fair, just and non-discriminatory treatment."

Biotech ban

The TikTok bill was not the only bill before Congress on Wednesday that could ban Chinese companies from a U.S. presence.

A Senate committee separately approved 11-to-1 a bill that would ban U.S. federal agencies from working with Chinese biotech firms accused of surreptitiously collecting Americans' genetic information.

That bill passed with bipartisan support in minutes, with only Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, voting against it, after explaining he was concerned anti-China sentiment was clouding good policy.

There was an American company that "also does business in China that really loves this bill because it bans their competition," Paul said, adding that he had "no love lost for some of these companies" as one of the most vocal critics of China's collection of genetic data.

"You know, over the last year or two, I've been quite concerned with what's been going on in China with DNA synthesis with the possibility that the [COVID-19] virus came from the lab in Wuhan," Paul said.

"I do worry, though, that as our anger builds with China, that this idea of disengaging really has an overlay of provincial interests," he added, cautioning that some bills were verging on "protectionism."

The most prominent of the firms targeted by the bill, WuXi Apptec, last month denied collecting genetic data and rejected the claim it poses a national security threat due to its own ties to China's government.

Edited by Malcolm Foster.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content March not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Chinese FM raises four questions for US, urging Washington to fulfill its commitments

Global Times

Wang Yi rebukes Blinken's remarks, says 'unacceptable that certain countries must be at the table while others can only be on the menu'

By Global Times Published: Mar 07, 2024 10:37 AM

When talking about the China-US relations, the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi raised four questions to the US during a press conference on Thursday, urging the US to view China's development objectively and rationally, and act to fulfill its commitments.

If the US says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major country? If it gets jittery whenever it hears the word "China," where is its confidence as a major country? If it only wants itself to prosper but denies other countries' legitimate development, where is international fairness? If it persistently monopolizes the high end of value chains and keeps China at the low end, where is fairness in competition? Wang responded to a question about the China-US relations.

No matter how the international situation changes, China has always maintained the stability and continuity of its policy toward the US, Wang said, noting that China has always handled China-US relations with an attitude of responsibility toward history, the people, and the world.

Our position is the three principles proposed by President Xi Jinping- mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation. They are a statement of the experiences and lessons of the 50-plus years of China-US relations, and represent the right way for interactions between major countries. They should be observed and acted upon by both sides, Wang said.

Mutual respect is the precondition, because interaction sustains only when differences in social and political systems are respected and acknowledged. Peaceful coexistence is the baseline, because conflict and confrontation between two major countries like China and the US have unimaginable consequences. Win-win cooperation is the goal, because when working together, China and the US can do great things conducive to the two countries and the world, the Chinese Foreign Minister said.

Since the meeting between the leaders of the two countries in San Francisco in November 2023, there has indeed been some progress in improving China-US relations, which fully aligns with the wishes and interests of the peoples of both countries and the world, Wang said.

However, it must be pointed out that the US side's incorrect perceptions of China continue, and the commitments made by the US have not been truly fulfilled. The means of suppressing China are constantly being innovated, and the list of unilateral sanctions is continuously extending, reaching an unimaginable level of seeking to place blame, he said.

We urge the US to be clear-eyed about the trend of the times, view China's development objectively and rationally, engage in exchanges with China proactively and pragmatically, and act to fulfill its commitments, Wang said.

In response to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's "table and menu" remarks, Wang said countries should not be categorized according to their "strength." Those with the bigger fist should not have the final say. And it is definitely unacceptable that certain countries must be at the table while some others can only be on the menu.

Multipolarity doesn't mean multiple blocs, or fragmentation, or disarray, Wang said. All countries must act within the UN-centered international system and pursue cooperation under global governance, Wang said.

The challenge for the US comes from itself, not from China. If the US is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself, Wang said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Xi calls on political advisors to build consensus for Chinese modernization

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:02, March 07, 2024

BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called on Chinese political advisors to build broad consensus to contribute to Chinese modernization, when he participated in a joint group meeting during the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, urged political advisors from different political parties, organizations, ethnic groups, sectors, and all walks of life to conduct in-depth research and actively offer suggestions based on the major strategic tasks laid out by the 20th CPC National Congress and the arrangements made by the Central Economic Work Conference.

The meeting was attended by political advisors from the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK), the sector of science and technology, and the sector of environment and resources.

Xi extended festive greetings and best wishes to the country's women of all ethnic groups and from all walks of life ahead of International Women's Day, which falls on March 8.

Wang Huning, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, and Cai Qi, director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, joined the discussion. Wang and Cai are both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

At the joint group meeting, six national political advisors spoke on topics ranging from cross-Strait cooperation in industrial and supply chains to internet core technologies and environmental protection.

After attentively listening to the political advisors, Xi made an important speech. He said the CPC Central Committee united and led the whole Party and Chinese people of all ethnic groups to fulfill the major economic and social development goals in 2023, adding that political advisors contributed their efforts and wisdom to this hard-earned achievement.

On the work related to Taiwan, Xi urged the RCCK to unite all patriots from home and abroad, in and out of Taiwan to step up opposition against "Taiwan independence," expand support for national reunification, and jointly advance the peaceful reunification of China.

He called for active efforts to promote exchanges and cooperation in fields such as sci-tech development, agriculture, culture and youth development across the Taiwan Strait and deepen cross-Strait integrated development.

Xi called on political advisors and all people in the science and technology sector to strengthen basic research and applied basic research, strive to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields, and create new drivers for developing new quality productive forces.

Xi urged political advisors from the sector of environment and resources to make new contributions to ecological and environmental protection and sustaining high-quality development with high-level protection.

He called for fully and accurately implementing the guidelines of targeted, science-based and lawful pollution control, advancing green and low-carbon social and economic development, and promoting carbon emission peaking and carbon neutrality in an active and prudent manner.

Noting this year marks the 75th anniversary of the CPPCC's establishment, Xi emphasized the need for the CPPCC to promote the specialized consultative body's institutional development, and urged political advisors to enhance their ability to perform duties for new advances in the work of the CPPCC and the multi-party cooperation.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Chinese leaders join NPC deputies, political advisors in deliberation, discussions

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:05, March 07, 2024

BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Senior Chinese leaders Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi on Wednesday attended deliberation at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) and group discussions at the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Li Qiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and premier of the State Council, urged Guangdong Province to take the lead in advancing Chinese modernization, when joining NPC deputies from the province in a deliberation.

He urged the province to advance reform and opening-up with stronger determination and greater efforts, promote coordinated development between regions and between urban and rural areas, improve people's livelihood, and boost high-quality development.

When joining political advisors from the sectors of economics and agriculture, Li said that China will continue to implement proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy this year.

Efforts will be made to promote innovation of policy tools and coordination of various policies, boost domestic demand, foster new growth drivers and advantages, pursue innovation-driven growth, and improve the resilience and competitiveness of industrial and supply chains, Li said.

While attending discussions of political advisors from the China Democratic League and the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party, Zhao Leji, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, expressed hopes that they will find their due position and maintain clear orientation in the process of Chinese modernization.

Zhao called on them to fortify confidence in development, actively participate in state affairs and fulfill their duties, unify people's will and pool strength to the largest extent, and give full play to the unique features and advantages of their sectors.

While joining political advisors from ethnic minorities, Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, called on them to actively fulfill their duties and responsibilities and step up efforts in consultation and deliberation.

Wang stressed the need for the political advisors to contribute to forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation and promoting ethnic unity and progress.

Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, participated in a joint group meeting of political advisors from the sectors of literature and arts and sports. He urged them to contribute wisdom and effort to advancing Chinese modernization, and make contributions to building China into a leading country in culture and sports.

Cai also called for efforts to promote a deeper integration of culture and tourism, and launch public fitness activities extensively.

Ding Xuexiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese vice premier, attended a joint group meeting of political advisors from special administrative regions (SARs) of Hong Kong and Macao.

Ding underlined the support for Hong Kong in completing the legislative process of Article 23 of the HKSAR Basic Law as soon as possible, and stressed the need to perfect systems and mechanisms for safeguarding national security in Macao and ensure the steady and sustained implementation of "one country, two systems."

Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, participated in a joint meeting attended by political advisors from the Jiu San Society and the group of personages without party affiliation.

He stressed winning the tough and protracted battle against corruption.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police president Kyle Knight (left) presents a certificate of accreditation to Josh Glass, Manistee City Police Department chief, and officer Chris Franckowiak March 5, 2024 during a city council meeting. Kyle Kotecki/News Advocate

Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police executive director Ron Wiles said of the roughly 600 police agencies in Michigan, Manistee is only the 67th to achieve accreditation.

"They have just achieved a significant professional accomplishment  something that the vast majority of police agencies across the state of Michigan have not yet accomplished," Wiles said. "For an agency the size of the Manistee Police Department to accomplish this is significant."

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In order to achieve accredited status, the department had to comply with 108 standards. A visit by assessors to check for compliance and a public feedback portion were also part of the accreditation-seeking process.

Association president Kyle Knight presented a certificate of accreditation to Josh Glass, Manistee police chief.

"When he comes to conferences, Josh represents your city so well. He takes it serious. He brings a lot of stuff to the table. We have great dialogue," Knight said. "... There's a lot to be said for that, because some chiefs will go there and treat it like a summer camp or a fall camp. Josh goes there to gain knowledge."

Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police president Kyle Knight (left) presents a certificate of accreditation to Josh Glass, Manistee City Police Department chief, March 5, 2024 during a city council meeting. Kyle Kotecki/News Advocate

Glass said the accreditation would not have happened were it not for the accreditation team consisting of Detective Sgt. Kirsten Goodspeed, officer Chris Franckowiak, Sgt. Douglas VanSickle and now-retired Sgt. Steve Schmeling.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

"All the credit should go to them," Glass said. "There were times when our department  like a lot of departments  struggled with staffing and how we cover calls for service and they never used that as an excuse and kept pushing forward. This does not happen unless they buy in. It's because of them."

City manager Bill Gambill said he was proud of the police department.

"I want to acknowledge and thank Chief Glass, the accreditation team and the entire police department for their work on the accreditation," Gambill said. "I know it took a lot of dedication, and I appreciate that."

Wiles said it was a "phenomenal" achievement.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
What's on Pyongyang's Weapons Shopping List in Moscow?

By Christy Lee March 06, 2024

Moscow has a range of military technologies that it could offer Pyongyang in exchange for munitions to sustain its war in Ukraine, with advanced missile technologies high on the list, analysts say.

North Korea has been providing munitions to Russia since its leader, Kim Jong Un, visited Russia last September and met with President Vladimir Putin.

Since September, Pyongyang has shipped about 6,700 containers of munitions to Russia, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonshik said at a press briefing on February 26. He said the containers could carry more than 3 million 152 mm artillery shells or 500,000 122 mm rounds.

Those munitions are making a difference on the battlefield. The Security Service of Ukraine said last month that North Korean ballistic missiles have been killing and injuring civilians since December.

Shin said that North Korea has cranked up its hundreds of munitions factories to operate "at full capacity," and that in return, Moscow is providing Pyongyang with raw materials and parts to manufacture weapons, in addition to food.

He also said Moscow is expected to transfer more military technology, which could embolden North Korea to escalate threats in the region.

South Korea's National Intelligence Agency said in November that Russia was the most likely source of technology that Pyongyang needed to launch its Malligyong-1 satellite into orbit the same month.

But the question remains as to what kind of weapons technology is Russia willing to send to North Korea that would increase the threat it poses to South Korea and the United States?

Analysts say Russia could provide technologies that would refine Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

Michael O'Hanlon, director of research and foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, told VOA on Friday via email that Moscow most likely would provide missile technology to North Korea, "but nuclear weapons design information can't be ruled out."

What would concern South Korea the most would be short-range ballistic missile technology, including guidance systems, according to Bruce Bechtol, a former intelligence officer at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency who is now a political science professor at Angelo University in Texas.

"The North Koreans may be looking for technology that will help those missiles evade ballistic missile defenses as they're attacking the South," Bechtol said Monday during a phone interview with VOA. "The Russians do have that technology, and this is something that we must pay attention to."

Moscow's transfer of guidance and reentry capabilities of intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, would be the "most dangerous to the American homeland, according to David Maxwell, vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy.

"Advanced technology and capabilities to support an ICBM program" probably is "what North Korea wants the most," Maxwell told VOA during a telephone interview on Monday.

Analysts say Russia could also provide technologies that could enhance the development of satellite cameras, submarines, advanced fighter jets, air defense capabilities and tanks.

Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corporation, told VOA in a telephone interview this week that Russia has technology that would allow North Korea to pack greater explosive power into a small warhead, but "may be reluctant to give North Korea sophisticated miniaturization technology."

Bennett said North Korea may have a nuclear warhead with 10 kilotons yield, but it probably does not have advanced miniaturization technology that could pack 350 kilotons of explosive power into a warhead like that of a U.S. Minuteman III ICBM.

Analysts say regardless of what weapons technology Russia transfers, it would be difficult to detect.

Bennett pointed out that Russian scientists seemed to have flown from Moscow to Pyongyang on a Russia military plane in September, two months before North Korea launched a spy satellite.

It could be difficult to discern if Russians spotted in Pyongyang are military experts now that North Korea has opened up its border to Russian tourists, said Bechtol.

Russian tourists visited North Korea in February for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic.

A North Korean IT delegation returned home on Friday after attending the Eurasia IT forum in Moscow, and a delegation on the North Korea-Russia joint committee on fisheries returned home on February 29 from Russia, according to KCNA, the state news agency of North Korea.

Additionally, Kim received a Russian-made vehicle from Putin on February 18, according to KCNA. Russian state media Tass on February 19 did not confirm the make or model, saying only that Kim examined an Aurus luxury car during his visit.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






India Sets Up New Indian Ocean Naval Base

By Anjana Pasricha March 06, 2024

India has commissioned a new naval base on an island that lies off its southwest coast, as it looks to strengthen its presence in the Indian Ocean amid growing concerns about China's expanding footprint in the strategic waters and a downturn in ties with the Maldives.

The base, called INS Jatayu, lies on Minicoy, the southernmost island in India's Lakshadweep archipelago, which straddles key trade routes. It will be India's second naval base on the archipelago and is closer to the Maldives.

After commissioning the base Wednesday, India's navy chief, Admiral Hari Kumar, said it was crucial to recognize the pressing need for heightened surveillance amid prevailing geopolitical developments, according to Press Trust of India.

The navy has said that the new base is "part of efforts to augment security infrastructure at the strategically important" islands.

The announcement of the new naval base comes as the Maldives, under its new government, which took power last November, moves closer to New Delhi's rival, China.

The Maldivian defense ministry said Tuesday it has signed an agreement with China on provision of military assistance to the archipelago, but gave no details. The Maldives has also asked India to withdraw about 80 security personnel deployed on the archipelago to operate helicopters and other aircraft for surveillance and rescue missions.

Analysts say that the new base on Minicoy Island will be a strategic counter to China, which New Delhi suspects will strengthen its military presence in the Maldives as those two countries move rapidly to build strategic ties.

Over the past decade, concern has grown in New Delhi that infrastructure projects China has built in places like Hambantota port in neighboring Sri Lanka and Gwadar in Pakistan are bringing the rival Asian nation closer to India's shores.

"China's forays into the Indian Ocean are a concern. By building such bases, India is looking to avoid a situation where China will acquire a dominance on the western side of the Indian Ocean," said Sreeram Chaulia, dean of the Jindal School of International Affairs.

The new naval base was commissioned a week after Mauritius and India inaugurated an India-financed airstrip and a jetty on the tiny island of Agalega. Mauritius is an Indian Ocean outpost that lies close to Africa and has strategic significance. Mauritius' prime minister, Pravind Jugnauth, denied reports that Agalega would serve as a military base but said the infrastructure will help modernize and strengthen security.

Analysts say that the airstrip and jetty can be used by India to facilitate air and naval patrols in the southwest Indian Ocean, which is a transit point for key maritime routes. Oman has also given India access to its Duqm Port for logistics and support to facilitate its naval presence in the western Indian Ocean.

"India wants to project power further and further away from Indian shores," said Chaulia. "The long-term objective is to preempt the Chinese encroachments in the region, but we also must show our leadership in the region by protecting sea lanes of communication and countering threats such as piracy to merchant shipping."

Analysts point out that boosting the country's naval capabilities has become a major focus for India due to China's growing presence in the Indian Ocean. Relations between the Asian giants have worsened in recent years following a bitter military standoff along their Himalayan border. The Indian Ocean is a hugely strategic waterway for both countries, carrying their energy and other trade.

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday that India, which had earlier focused on strengthening its land borders, is now "rebalancing its military resources" due to the "increased movement of our adversaries in the Indian Ocean region and the commercial importance of the region." He was inaugurating a new building at the Naval War College in Goa.

He said India will ensure that no one exercises hegemony in the Indian Ocean region.

"The navy is ensuring that no country, with its overwhelming economic and military power, is able to assert dominance over friendly countries or threaten their sovereignty," Singh said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran Navy unveils new equipment

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Mar 6, 2024

Bandar Abbas, IRNA -- The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy has unveiled 42 pieces of new military equipment as part of efforts to modernize the fleet and to boost its defense capabilities.

Among the equipment unveiled on Wednesday were the improved versions of the tethered drone 305, the 12-launcher Sanjar drone, and the Bavar 5 which were added to Sahand destroyer.

The Sahand destroyer now features the first medium-range Sayyad 3 air defense system and Kamand precision missile defense system.

The number of cruise missiles launchers for Alborz destroyer were also increased.

Rear Admiral Abbas Fazelnia, a senior commander at the Iranian Army Navy said that the Hovercraft 104 was equipped with the Nasir missile system, Valfajr ground attack cruise missiles, indigenous smart mine-propelled electric torpedo and Shahid Ghahramani 76-mm and 30-mm caliber sea cannon shells.

These achievements were made possible through the collaborative efforts of Iranian strategic naval staff, defense industry experts, dedicated marine industry specialists, scientific institutions, and industrialists, Fazelnia said.

9376**9417**4261

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran should expand strategic defense depth as far as Mediterranean: Leader's advisor

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 06 March 2024 9:49 PM

A senior military adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei urges that Iran expand its "strategic defense depth" as far as the Mediterranean Sea.

Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, a former chief commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), made the remarks during an event held at Tehran's Imam Hussein University on Wednesday.

"We have no choice other than lending more depth to [the dimensions of] the country's defense and security," Safavi said.

"The depth of our strategic defense is the Mediterranean Sea," he noted, adding, "We should expand our strategic [defense] depth by 5,000 kilometers (3,106 miles)."

He described the Mediterranean and the Red Sea as "strategic spots."

"The Corps Navy and Aerospace Division should focus on these spots, since future wars will be seaborne and airborne."

Iran's naval forces, featuring the country's Navy and the IRGC Navy, have boosted their capacities to become capable of carrying out unique missions across the high seas.

This has helped expand the country's strategic depth from the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the northern parts of the Indian Ocean to distant waters.

Last May, the Islamic Republic's 86th naval flotilla concluded a historic round-the-world voyage across the international waters, establishing an outstanding achievement despite the United States-led sanctions that have come to target the country.

Commenting on the achievement, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Shahram Irani said at the time that his force had, through deployment to the high seas and conclusion of the lengthy naval mission, established and expanded its strategic depth, foresight in maritime prowess, and regional identity and influence.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran confiscates US oil cargo in Persian Gulf

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 06 March 2024 10:22 AM

Iran has seized a US oil cargo over a lawsuit filed by patients with a rare skin disease, whose lives are at risk due to inhumane US sanctions.

The US oil cargo was carried by the Marshall Islands-flagged Advantage Sweet in the Persian Gulf.

Reports said the confiscation took place upon a court ruling in favor of the patients afflicted with epidermolysis bullosa (EB) or butterfly patients.

In their compliant, the EB patients, who are characterized by extreme fragility of the skin and mechanically induced blistering, claimed damages against the US.

They said that the Western sanctions, especially those by the US, have prevented a Swedish company from selling medicines to Iran and caused severe physical and mental harm to them.

The United States reinstated its sanctions against Iran in May 2018 after leaving a United Nations-endorsed nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic and five other countries.

Since then, MAlnlycke Health Care, a Swedish medical device company headquartered in Gothenburg, has stopped selling pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, including special bandages for EB patients, to Iranian companies, citing the unilateral US sanctions.

The move has deprived EB patients of essential medical items, killed many of them, and inflicted serious physical injuries such as amputation to some of the patients.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran's Armed Forces maintain full intelligence dominance over enemies: Army chief

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 06 March 2024 9:54 AM

The chief commander of the Iranian Army says the Islamic Republic's Armed Forces maintain complete dominance in the field of intelligence over the enemies and are fully prepared to defend the country's national interests.

Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi made the remarks during a ceremony attended by high-ranking military officials and commanders for the delivery of new combat-defensive equipment to the Iranian Navy in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Wednesday.

A total of 42 items of watercraft equipment and weapons joined the Navy's fleet.

Praising the Iranian Army's remarkable progress in the field of military industry, Mousavi said the assistance provided by the country's government, the Defense Ministry, universities and knowledge-based companies contributed to the fulfillment of such goals, making "Iran and Iranians proud."

The US, which supports the child-killing regime of Israel, is "busy forcing others to adopt baseless positions though deception and coercion, and they reveal their seditious nature in different ways," the top commander said.

"Iran's Armed Forces, with complete intelligence dominance over adversaries, are ready to defend the country's national interests at any required level, and on this path, they will not back down an iota from the country's soil and the ideals of the Islamic Revolution," he added.

Domestically-developed guided missile destroyers, Azarakhsh (Thunderbolt) speedboats, minesweeper helicopters and Sanjar drones were among dozens of new military equipment delivered to the Iranian Navy on Wednesday.

During the ceremony, 16 items of achievement were also unveiled in the field of defensive military equipment, marine sensors, underwater and subsurface telephone system, oxygen generating devices, jamming and surveillance systems as well as wiretap and interception systems.

A large number of cruise missiles, electric torpedoes, three types of smart naval mines, homegrown cannon projectiles, missile guidance systems and underwater weapons were also delivered to the Navy.

'Four naval groups protecting Iran's interests across oceans'

Speaking at the ceremony, Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Shahram Irani also hailed the force's combat readiness, saying that by equipping its naval units, the force manifested the Islamic Republic's ability to produce new equipment and weapons.

"We are proud that four naval groups of the Army are simultaneously protecting the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the deep oceans," Irani said, adding, "With the help of God and by equipping the Navy, we are witnessing the ability in our commando units to manufacture new equipment and weapons."

Highlighting the principle of development in the Navy, the top commander said, "During international drills with military forces of other countries, they acknowledge the prowess of the strategic Navy of the Iranian Army and the great strides of the Army in carrying out international missions."

Iranian military experts and engineers have in recent years made remarkable breakthroughs in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the armed forces self-sufficient.

Iranian officials have underscored that the country will not hesitate to strengthen its military capabilities, including its missile power, which are entirely meant for defense and deterrence, and that Iran's defense capabilities will be never subject to negotiations.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has on several occasions called for efforts to boost Iran's defense capabilities.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Jailed Politician Tajzadeh Calls Out Khamenei After 'Historic Failure' Of Iranian Elections

By RFE/RL's Radio Farda March 06, 2024

Prominent Iranian reformist politician Mostafa Tajzadeh, who is currently imprisoned at Tehran's notorious Evin prison, has sharply criticized recent elections in Iran, calling them a "historic failure" for the country's ruling regime.

In a letter published on his Telegram channel on March 5, Tajzadeh squarely places the blame for this failure on the shoulders of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic republic and boldly challenges his domestic and international policies, denouncing them for their contribution to the nation's crises.

The March 1 elections for a new parliament, or Majlis, and a new Assembly of Experts, which elects Iran's supreme leader, were the first since the deadly nationwide protests that erupted following the September 2022 death while in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She was detained for an alleged Islamic dress-code violation.

Tajzadeh's criticism focuses on the dismal voter turnout -- a historic low of 41 percent -- and the negligible percentage of votes garnered by elected officials. He accused Khamenei of failing to recognize and address the widespread dissatisfaction among Iranian citizens despite promoting a slogan of "maximum participation."

According to Tajzadeh, Khamenei's inaction has exacerbated the disconnect between the government and its citizens, leaving many Iranians despondent and without hope for meaningful change.

Tajzadeh also called out authorities for a lack of transparency in reporting detailed election results, such as the number of spoiled ballots, particularly in critical regions like Tehran, which has only added to the public's mistrust and skepticism of the leadership.

Tajzadeh, who served as deputy interior minister under reformist President Mohammad Khatami, said declining participation in elections since 2019 shows Khamenei has failed to learn from the numbers and instead persists with policies that have led to "widespread poverty, pervasive corruption, and increasing anger and desperation among the people."

Amid Iran's economic and social turmoil, Tajzadeh argues that the nation's leadership must acknowledge its mistakes, prioritize civil and political freedoms, and focus on development over "ambition and adventurism."

He also questioned the legitimacy and effectiveness of the Assembly of Experts, suggesting that genuine reform is needed to align the institution with the people's will.

Tajzadeh was first arrested in 2009 during mass protests disputing the reelection of then-President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, who ran against opposition reformist candidates Mehdi Karrubi and Mir Hossein Musavi.

In 2010, Tajzadeh was convicted of harming national security and propaganda against the state. He was released in 2016 after serving most of his seven-year sentence.

After his release, Tajzadeh often called on authorities to free Karrubi and Musavi, who have been under house arrest for more than a decade.

In October 2022, a branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Tajzadeh to the current five-year term he is serving. Tajzadeh declined to speak in court during the hearing after a request he made to talk one-on-one with his lawyer was rejected.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-tajzadeh-elections- historic-failure-turnout-khamenei/32850752.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






IAEA Board of Governors on the JCPoA, March 2024: E3 statement

France, Germany and the UK (E3) gave a joint statement to the IAEA Board of Governors on Iran's implementation of its nuclear commitments under the JCPoA.

6 March 2024

Chair, On behalf of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, I thank Director General Grossi for his latest report GOV/2024/7, and Deputy Director General Aparo for his technical briefing.

We are grateful to the Agency for the professional and impartial work of their team of inspectors and for their objective reporting on Iran's nuclear programme. We encourage the Director General to keep the Board informed of all activities and developments requiring clarification by Iran.

Regrettably, the IAEA's report again confirms that Iran continues on its escalatory path, in increasing violation of its JCPoA commitments. Over the past five years, Iran has pushed its nuclear activities to new heights that are unprecedented for a state without a nuclear weapons programme. Iran continues to refuse to reverse the de-designation of Agency inspectors and is failing to implement the Joint Statement of 4 March 2023. These actions cast reasonable doubt on Iran's willingness to fully live up to its obligation and commitment to cooperate with the IAEA. This is shown by the IAEA not being able to provide assurance of the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme.

Chair, In the reporting period, Iran has continued enriching uranium far beyond what it committed to in the JCPoA. It now possesses 27 times the JCPoA limit of enriched uranium. The recent slight reduction of the stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60 % should not lead us to false hope and wrong conclusions: enrichment up to 60 % has continued unabatedly; increasing rates of production will soon see the stockpile increase again: and downblending has amplified the sharp increase of the stockpile of uranium enriched up to 20 %. Overall, Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium has increased by 30 % in just three and half months. Iran likely now has about three significant quantities of highly enriched uranium. The IAEA defines a significant quantity as the approximate amount of nuclear material from which the possibility of manufacturing a nuclear explosive device cannot be excluded.

Iran has also installed yet more advanced centrifuges and has laid ground for a further expansion of its enrichment capabilities, including at the underground Fordow site. We recall the significant work previously reported by the IAEA on uranium metal, which is a key step for the development of a nuclear weapon, and takes Iran dangerously close to actual weapons-related activity.

Furthermore, DG Grossi rightly reports that Iran has taken no meaningful steps to implement the Joint Statement. We note that Iran has taken no substantial action in response to the DG's request to re-designate experienced Agency inspectors. Combined with Iran's continued nonapplication of the Additional Protocol, this action by Iran seriously affects the IAEA's verification and monitoring capabilities and activities. The DG states in his report that, Iran's continued lack of transparency and its active rejection of verification measures provided for in the JCPoA means the Agency has definitively lost continuity of knowledge in a variety of fields. The IAEA does not know, for example, how many centrifuges Iran has and where they may be located. This information gap has had detrimental implications for the Agency's ability to provide assurance of the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme.

Chair, The E3 have consistently worked towards a diplomatic solution that would permit Iran to return to full compliance with its international obligations and JCPoA commitments. Iran failed to prove its readiness for such a negotiated outcome by refusing reasonable proposals that were put on the table in March 2022 and again in August 2022, and has instead chosen to further advance its nuclear programme. We reiterate our call on Iran to halt its nuclear escalation. We strongly urge Iran to return to the limits imposed by the JCPoA, in particular regarding enrichment capabilities and activities; and to finally live up to the commitments it has made regarding transparency and cooperation with the IAEA necessary for effective verification and monitoring. We also urge Iran to re-apply all transparency measures that it stopped in February 2021 and that were agreed to in the 4 March 2023 Joint Statement between Iran and the IAEA, as well as to re-implement and swiftly ratify its Additional Protocol. Iran must now take serious and meaningful steps that show a genuine desire to de-escalate and to rebuild urgently needed trust between Iran and the international community. Recent public statements made in Iran regarding its technical capabilities to produce nuclear weapons go in the opposite direction and are all the more concerning and inconsistent with Iran's legal obligations under the NPT.

Chair, The DG's report makes very clear that Iran's nuclear advances significantly harm international security and undermine the global non-proliferation architecture. We will continue consultations, alongside international partners, on how best to address increasing doubts about the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme. We remain committed to a diplomatic solution and stand ready to use all diplomatic levers available to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Finally, we ask the Director General to keep the Board of Governors informed on the status of Iran's nuclear programme well ahead of the next meeting in June 2024, and provide earlier updates as necessary. We also ask for the report to be made public.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iraq: Statement by the Spokesperson on the latest executions

European External Action Service (EEAS)

06.03.2024

EEAS Press Team

The European Union expresses its regret over the latest execution of 13 individuals that took place on the same day in Iraq. The EU is also concerned by reports of up to 250 people being at risk of imminent execution in the country.

The EU reiterates, as a matter of principle, its strong opposition to the death penalty at all times and in all circumstances. It is a cruel and inhumane punishment, which represents the ultimate denial of the right to life and of human dignity. The death penalty fails to act as a deterrent to crime and makes miscarriages of justice irreversible.

The EU will continue to work for the abolition of the death penalty in the few remaining countries that still apply it.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Fight for Myanmar jade mines leaves one dead, 100 homes torched

The region has seen frequent conflict since February as armies fight for control of the lucrative industry.

By RFA Burmese 2024.03.06 -- A three-day junta raid left one man dead and 100 homes destroyed in northern Myanmar, residents told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday.

Joint military forces stormed a village in Kachin state's Hpakant township on Sunday.

The rebel Kachin Independence Army and a local resistance group, the Kachin People's Defense Force, have been attacking a nearby battalion since Feb. 26, making villages prime targets for junta attacks.

The area, known for its jade trade, has been caught between battles of rebel and junta forces vying for control of the region's gem mines.

Troops stationed near Tar Ma Hkan village torched more than 100 homes and shops in the village, residents said.

According to a villager, soldiers shot a man in his 40s as the raid continued into Tuesday.

"This junta column came to reinforce the infantry battalion, but the Kachin Independence Army and the Kachin People's Defense Force intercepted them, so they could not retreat or move forward," he said, declining to be named for fear of reprisals.

"That's why they burned the village. Shwe Nagar Pharmacy, Ma Nge Mobile Phone Shop and a grocery store were also burned and destroyed by junta troops."

More than 4,000 people live in Tar Ma Hkan village, residents said. Most villagers are employed in the jade industry, both in the mining and trade sectors.

Locals said the junta camp near Tar Ma Hkan village was captured by the Kachin Independence army and affiliated defense groups on Tuesday evening. However, RFA could not independently confirm these claims.

RFA contacted Kachin state's military spokesperson Moe Min Thein and Kachin Independence Army information officer Col. Naw Bu for more information on this battle, but neither responded by the time of publication.

Hpakant township was last attacked on Jan. 9, when junta troops used villagers as human shields following a battle with nearby People's Defense Forces.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content March not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






When Michigan voters approved recreational marijuana six years ago, the measure included an innovative mandate: using cannabis tax revenue to pay for research into the health benefits of the drug for military veterans. State officials later committed $40 million. Not a single veteran has received marijuana in a trial. Emilija Manevska/Getty Images

When Michigan voters approved recreational marijuana six years ago, the measure included an innovative mandate: using cannabis tax revenue to pay for research into the health benefits of the drug for military veterans. State officials later committed $40 million.

Not a single veteran has received marijuana in a trial.

Critics blame federal restrictions on marijuana research. The Food and Drug Administration blocked one Michigan study into post-traumatic stress disorder, contending its too dangerous to have participants inhale marijuana, even though thats how most veterans use the drug. In another series of proposed studies, it took researchers nearly two years to secure a federally approved marijuana supply for study - by law, they cant use pot widely available at dispensaries. Those studies are still months from beginning.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The delays in Michigan underscore the challenges of studying potential health benefits and consequences of marijuana in the United States, where it remains federally illegal even as it is lawful in most states.

Its very important to have empirically sound data and real-world investigations of the products that patients are actually using and the ways they are using them, said Staci Gruber, director of the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery initiative at McLean Hospital near Boston, who is not involved in the Michigan studies.

The FDA has declined to comment on proposed clinical studies involving marijuana and has said it continues to support robust scientific research needed to develop new drugs from cannabis and is committed to encouraging the research and development of these new drugs through its regulatory process.

For decades, marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, the same category occupied by heroin and LSD. That means it is deemed to have no accepted medical use and is associated with a high risk of abuse. Thirty-eight states and D.C. have legalized medical marijuana. Twenty-four states and D.C. have approved recreational marijuana.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

President Biden directed the Department of Health and Human Services in 2022 to review whether marijuana should remain Schedule I. The health agency notified the Drug Enforcement Administration in August that it was recommending marijuana be placed into Schedule III, which includes prescription medications ketamine and testosterone. The DEA is expected to decide on marijuanas classification in coming months.

Researchers have long complained about red tape strangling their ability to study marijuana.

I have to account for every milligram that Ive used and what I have left over, and I have to keep it in a gun safe in a locked room I only get into with my thumb, said Meg Haney, a professor of neurobiology and director of the Cannabis Research Laboratory at Columbia University.

In 2022, Biden signed the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, meant to speed approval of permits. Regardless of whether the drug is reclassified, legal experts argue, restrictions on marijuana research remain under the 2022 act.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Not only does it make cannabis research harder than ever, but it cements its backward, anti-science regime in place for good, Shane Pennington, a D.C. attorney who specializes in regulatory issues involving controlled substances, wrote in an analysis.

Even if marijuana is reclassified, the FDA must approve investigational new drug applications for marijuana research. The FDA approved one cannabis-related drug, Epidiolex, made from CBD, a cannabis extract that does not cause a high. The drug is used to treat rare forms of epilepsy. The FDA has approved three nausea drugs made from synthetic versions of THC, the compound in marijuana that causes a high.

The FDA has not approved any cannabis plant products, highlighting what researchers say is the agencys disdain for botanical products. The agency has seen an explosion in requests for research; in November, the FDA said it was reviewing more than 150 applications for studies into cannabis and related products.

Legal experts say that, under federal law, moving the drug Schedule III would allow doctors or state-authorized dispensaries to provide medical marijuana to patients without a prescription, as long as it does not involve interstate commerce - and with no FDA drug approval needed.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Universities often lead the way on marijuana research. Companies are unwilling to invest in gold-standard clinical trials that the FDA requires to bring a marijuana product to market, said Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, a more than five-decade-old organization that battles restrictions on marijuana use.

Marijuana, after all, can be obtained legally in most states, he said.

Why on earth in a practical sense would a pharmaceutical company spend the tens of millions, if not billions, to try to bring a botanical cannabis product to market to treat a specific symptom? Armentano said.

The FDA analysis of existing scientific research of cannabis as medicine found mixed results. It concluded there is some credible scientific support for using marijuana to treat conditions such as nausea and vomiting. The agency said it did not find support for the drug providing benefits for epilepsy, anxiety and PTSD. One study cited by the FDA examined medical records of 2,000-plus veterans with PTSD and concluded pot may worsen symptoms or nullify other treatments.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In Michigan, veterans like Anton Harb said they believe marijuana holds promise for PTSD treatment and staves off suicidal impulses. Hes a former Army artilleryman who served in Iraq and says marijuana helped ease nightmares, anxiety and depression caused by PTSD.

Cannabis set me on a path of healing, said Harb, 41. I want other veterans to be able to at least make an informed decision.

Harb has criticized the glacial pace of research. When Michigan legalized recreational marijuana in 2018, the initiative mandated that tax dollars generated from sales be spent on research approved by the FDA.

Since 2021, Michigans Cannabis Regulatory Agency has awarded $40 million in grants to the University of Michigan, Wayne State University and the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a nonprofit known as MAPS.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The FDA had approved the nonprofits first study of inhaled marijuana for vets with PTSD. The results, published in 2021 and paid for by a Colorado state grant, looked at inhalation in 76 veterans. Researchers found no safety concerns, and the veterans showed significant improvements in symptoms for smoked marijuana - but no significant difference over a placebo.

Researchers say the larger trial in Michigan, paid for with a $12.9 million state grant, will study 320 veterans.

The FDA held up the second trial over concerns about inhalation and danger to the lungs in smoking pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes and vaping, as well as THC dosing. In a Dec. 28 letter, an FDA official said the hold would be lifted if the drug delivery method changes. MAPS plans to appeal the ruling. The FDA declined to comment, saying the agencys ability to discuss pending [applications] is strictly limited by federal law.

Some experts, including a prominent pulmonologist who has studied the effects of marijuana smoking, say there is no evidence marijuana smokers are at significant risk of developing lung cancer or pulmonary disease like tobacco smokers. But a study published Wednesday found that frequent cannabis smoking may significantly increase a persons risk for heart attack and stroke. The observational study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, examined health records of nearly 435,000 Americans.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The Wayne State research also involves veterans inhaling vaporized marijuana, although researchers have not yet applied for FDA approval of the trial. Researchers first needed to secure certification of enough high-THC marijuana from the University of Mississippi for 550 veterans. That was completed only in recent weeks, after nearly two years of trying to find the supply.

The FDA has approved the University of Michigan clinical trial - which is studying CBD - illustrating the smoother path to research when not studying marijuana. Researchers are recruiting 468veterans who will take Epidiolex or a placebo to test whether it alleviates chronic pain.

Harb said he believes that CBD study is a waste. I deal with thousands of veterans, Harb said. We dont use CBD, man.

The studys lead investigator, Kevin Boehnke of the University of Michigan, acknowledged researching CBD is easier because it is not a controlled substance. He rejected Harbs criticisms, saying the study is appropriate because some veterans dont want to get high.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Forced recruitment underway in Myanmar's Ayeyarwady region

The junta began compiling lists of draft-eligible youths last month, shortly after enacting a conscription law.

By RFA Burmese 2024.03.06 -- Junta authorities in southwestern Myanmar's Ayeyarwady region are compiling lists of draft-eligible residents amid a roll-out of the country's conscription law, sources told RFA Burmese.

On Feb. 10, the junta enacted the People's Military Service Law, prompting many civilians of fighting age to flee Myanmar's cities, saying they would rather leave the country or join anti-junta forces in remote border areas than serve in the military, which seized power in a 2021 coup d'etat.

The junta has sought to downplay the announcement, claiming that conscription won't go into effect until April, but RFA has received several reports indicating that forced recruitment is already under way across the country.

Residents of Ayeyarwady region's Ingapu, Kyon Pyaw, Yae Kyi and A Thote townships said that junta authorities called a meeting of ward and village administrators in the third week of February and ordered them to gather lists of residents eligible for military service.

A resident of Kyhon Pyaw's Inn Ma village, who like others interviewed for this report spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, told RFA that authorities checked residency lists in the village and compiled a list of 35 people, both men and women, for conscription.

"There are 10 wards here and the heads of 10 households in each ward collected the lists, and handed them over to the respective ward administrators," he said. "They didn't need to collect the lists door to door, as they can find the information from the family lists. The disabled and ill were exempted from military services."

Recruiting one from each village

In Ingapu, the junta's township administration ordered ward and village administrations to recruit one person from each village-tract for military service, residents told RFA.

A resident of Ingapu's Thet Kei Tan village said that the village administrator gave superiors the name of one young man in nearby Chin Kone village, who he said "seemed willing to join the military."

"On the other side of our village, each household had to pay 10,000 kyats (US$5) if they did not want to serve," he said.

In nearby Bogale township, junta authorities organized military training for teachers in front of the town hall around mid-February, residents said. On Feb. 20, leaflets were distributed in area markets persuading people to join the military.

Township authorities called a meeting with respective ward administrators and instructed them to "focus on youths who have no parents and few relatives" for recruitment, a resident told RFA.

"It wasn't mandatory to recruit one person from each household," he said. "Authorities recommended at the meeting that the recruitment focus on youths with no parents and those who are willing to join the military to earn a salary."

In another Ayeyarwady township called Myan Aung, a resident told RFA that the recruitment process began around Feb. 15 in the wards and villages.

He also said that the junta conducted military training for 30 people at the headquarters of Infantry Battalion 51 in the seat of Myan Aung township on Feb. 27. Residents of the township were made to pay for the cost of two sets of military uniforms and the daily wages of the trainees, he said.

A member of the Ayeyarwady parliament, who declined to be named, told RFA that the junta leadership has focused on his region to recruit soldiers as it is their "stronghold."

"However, I don't think they will get the numbers they had hoped for," he said.

Another Ayeyarwady lawmaker condemned the junta's use of forced recruitment to implement the conscription law.

"Although they use the term 'military service,' people are actually being forced to work as porters or act as human shields on the battlefield," he said. "It's a grave violation of human rights."

Hundreds held in Mandalay

RFA also received reports on Wednesday that hundreds of youths aged 20-30 who had been recruited for military training from around the country are being stationed in Mandalay region's Yamethin township.

"Around 200 or 300 youths are being held at the No. 1 Police Training Depot for military training," said a resident of the township. "They have to live in dormitories there and no one is allowed to leave."

Another resident of Yamethin told RFA that, beginning on March 1, security had been strengthened at the facility.

"It's not the regular training period for new police officers," he said. "Authorities are inspecting all passers-by."

The junta's Information Ministry said in a social media post on Feb. 27 that there had been some "misinformation" circulating about the collection of personal data of men aged between 18 and 35. It also dismissed reports that junta security forces and administrative organizations are forcibly arresting people for military service.

Similarly, pro-junta newspapers said Wednesday that reports of youths being held for military training at the No. 1 Police Training Depot in Yamethin are false.

On Feb. 15, pro-junta media quoted spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun as saying that around 50,000 people will be drafted into military service each year in accordance with the country's conscription law. He added that 13 million people are currently eligible for service in Myanmar, based on a 2019 census.

Missing for more than a month

Reports of the forced recruitment in Ayeyarwady came as a resident of the region told RFA that four people arrested by junta authorities in Dedaye township for alleged possession of weapons remain missing one month after their detention.

Hlaing Myo Kyaw, Naing Myo Shwe and his wife Su Mar, and Htet Myat Soe from Dedaye's Kyeik Taw and Ka Wet Chaung villages were arrested on Feb. 4 with drones and weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades, or RPGs.

Two others from the township - former political prisoner Wai Yan Oo and his mother - were also detained at the time.

Two weeks later, on Feb. 16, authorities shot Naing Myo Shwe dead after forcing him to lead them to a site in Kyeik Taw village where more weapons were found.

A person close to the families of those arrested told RFA that Naing Myo Shwe's wife, Su Mar, was subsequently released, but the whereabouts of the other four remain unknown.

"They have been unable to contact Htet Myat Soe, Hlaing Myo Kyaw, Wai Yan Oo and his mother," he said. It's unclear where they are being held."

Attempts by RFA to contact Khin Maung Kyi, the junta's spokesperson and minister of social affairs for Ayeyarwady region, for comment on reports of forced recruitment and the case of the four missing residents of Dedaye township went unanswered.

According to Thailand's Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, junta authorities have killed 4,646 civilians and arrested 26,222 others since the military's Feb. 1, 2021, coup d'etat.

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content March not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Pakistan: 9th Political Dialogue with the European Union takes place in Islamabad

European External Action Service (EEAS)

06.03.2024

06/03/2024 Islamabad

EEAS Press Team

On 6 March, the EU and Pakistan held their 9th Political Dialogue in Islamabad.

The dialogue covered a broad range of regional and global developments and foreign policy issues, notably the many crises the international community is facing. The meeting also provided an opportunity to take stock of EU-Pakistan relations against the background of the recent general elections. In this context, the EU encouraged Pakistan to address the recommendations put forward by the EU Election Expert Mission that has been deployed upon invitation of the Pakistani government.

The EU underlined its interest to continue engaging with Pakistan as an important partner in a volatile region. The EU underlined that bilateral relations with Pakistan should be built upon the shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

The EU and Pakistan agreed on the need to further step up the swift implementation of the EU-Pakistan Strategic Engagement Plan and stressed the importance of continuing exchanges on important challenges such as counterterrorism and broader security issues while also continuing to engage on topics of climate change, energy and research cooperation. The EU invited Pakistan to Brussels for the next comprehensive Migration and Mobility Dialogue with a view to intensifying cooperation on tackling illegal trafficking of human beings. The EU will continue its engagement on trade through GSP+ and encouraged Pakistan to continue implementing the international conventions attached to the trade preferential scheme. The EU and Pakistan also agreed on the need to stand up for freedom of religion and belief. The EU will also continue to engage with Pakistan on development cooperation, notably on jointly agreed priority areas of green and sustainable development, human capital land and rule of law/human rights.

The EU and Pakistan also exchanged views on Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, and the situation in Afghanistan in the wake of the recent Doha meeting organised by the UN Secretary General AntAnio Guterres with the aim of crafting a coherent international response to the challenges emanating from Afghanistan. The EU and Pakistan also discussed the EU's priorities as outlined in its Indo-Pacific Strategy.

They agreed that multilateralism is at risk, requiring a concerted joint effort to preserve the rules-based international order.

The meeting was co-chaired by the Political Director Enrique Mora, Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs at the European External Action Service and Ambassador Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi Foreign Secretary at the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The next high-level political dialogue will take place in Brussels.



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Ninth Round of Pakistan-EU Political Dialogue

Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

06 Mar 2024

The ninth round of Pakistan-European Union Political Dialogue was held today in Islamabad. Foreign Secretary Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi led the Pakistani delegation while the EU side was led by Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service, Enrique Mora.

The Political Dialogue covered the entire gamut of Pakistan-EU bilateral relationship encompassing all areas of mutual interest with a focus on Strategic Engagement Plan (SEP), trade and development cooperation, security, climate action, migration and mobility. Important Regional and global developments were also discussed.

Expressing satisfaction over the positive trajectory of the relations, the two sides agreed to continue working towards further deepening and broadening of Pakistan-EU bilateral ties in all areas of mutual interest by regularly holding meetings of institutional mechanisms and undertaking follow-up actions.

Highlighting the importance of Pakistan-EU bilateral ties, the two sides agreed that regular high-level interactions have provided a new impetus to the relationship and underlined the necessity for close cooperation and dialogue amid rapidly changing geopolitical landscape.

Acknowledging GSP Plus as a successful template of trade for development and mutually beneficial cooperation, the Foreign Secretary underlined the need for fostering deeper collaboration with key stakeholders on both sides to bring diversification and sustainability in trade ties between Pakistan and the European Union.

The two sides also agreed to explore new opportunities under the EU's flagship programs; Global Gateway Strategy and Horizon Europe.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Meeting with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi

Vladimir Putin met with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi.

March 6, 2024

17:00

Sochi

From the Russian side, the meeting was attended by Director General of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom Alexei Likhachev.

* * *

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Director General, I am very glad to see you again in Russia. I know that you have already had detailed conversations with your colleague Alexei Likhachev, Director General of the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom.

We continue to work very actively with the IAEA. Russia continues to cooperate in a lot of very important areas and remains an undisputed world leader in this area. We not only use but actively promote nuclear energy and consider it an environmentally friendly form of energy; we do everything to improve the safety of nuclear facilities. We are building new power plants according to today's principles: Kursk nuclear power plant-2 uses fast neutrons. We are making small stations and developing a nuclear fleet. A small floating nuclear power plant was installed in the north. All this is in great demand not only in Russia, but also in the economies and energy sectors of the whole world. And we are ready to share what we have developed with all our interested partners.

As you know, we are doing a lot of work in this regard on the international arena; we are implementing numerous projects in many countries with your assistance and support. I have mentioned your assistance and support once again, because it is very important, on a planetary scale, without any exaggeration. I mean ensuring nuclear energy safety and compliance with safety standards throughout the world.

We are ready to continue working in all these areas and are grateful to you for your reciprocal steps to promote our joint work and, of course, we are ready to discuss any issues that you consider relevant. I know that you have particularly sensitive and important issues on the agenda of our meeting today, and we, of course, are ready to discuss them and do everything to ensure security in any place where we are in one way or another involved in nuclear energy.

Welcome.

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi: Thank you very much, Mr President.

It is very important for me to be here. We had our first conversation, you may remember, in St Petersburg, almost one and a half years ago, which was very important at that time. And I think everything that has occurred ever since makes this conversation even more timely.

I agree with you that these are very important times, times with challenges; and we will be discussing those, with regards to some sensitive issues, also in terms of the world energy revolution, where, like you say - and you are here with Mr Likhachev, with whom we had a long morning working with our technical teams, discussing a range of issues.

So, I think this conversation, for me, is really indispensable, really important. I value this opportunity and I am ready to discuss with you all these matters.

It is very good to be in Russia again. Thank you very much.

<...>

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Navalny's Widow Calls For Election Day Protest Across Russia That Her Husband Planned

By RFE/RL March 06, 2024

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, has urged Russians to follow through on her late husband's plan to hold a mass protest on election day by flocking to polling stations across the country at noon to cast ballots against incumbent Vladimir Putin or to spoil them.

In a video posted on social media on March 6, Navalnaya said the turnout of tens of thousands of supporters for Navalny's funeral last week in Moscow bolstered her belief that his pro-democracy campaign would continue despite his death in an Arctic prison in February.

"We need to use the election day to show that we exist and there are many of us. We are real, living people, and we are against Putin. You need to come to the voting station on the same day and at the same time - March 17 at noon," Navalnaya said in the video.

Two weeks before his death under mysterious circumstances, Navalny had called on voters turn out en masse at noon on the voting days -- March 15-17 -- to form huge lines as a show of opposition during the presidential election.

Navalny, who announced the plan as he marked the third anniversary of his incarceration on charges widely believed to be politically motivated, said the idea behind the protest was to ensure the action was "completely legal and safe."

Given that turnout at noon is traditionally high, Navalny said the protest would make it "simply impossible" to identify those who vote against Putin, whom Navalny's family, supporters, and many Western leaders blame for the death of his most vocal critic.

"What to do next? The choice is yours. You can vote for any candidate except Putin. You can ruin the ballot, you can write 'Navalny' in big letters on it. And even if you don't see the point in voting at all, you can just come and stand at the polling station, and then turn around and go home," Navalnaya said in the March 6 video.

Separately on March 6, Boris Nadezhdin, whom election officials refused to register as a candidate for the vote, announced what he called the recruitment of "observers" for the election.

The 60-year-old anti-war politician, who has openly criticized Putin and the war he launched two years ago against Ukraine, did not say how the recruitment will work as he has no right to organize a monitoring process since his candidacy was rejected by election officials over what they deemed were invalid signatures of support in his application.

After her husband's death, Navalnaya, who lives in exile in Germany, said she would continue his work.

Navalny's team has also made the same pledge, emphasizing that the opposition will continue its fight against corruption and Putin's power apparatus.

Russian elections are tightly controlled by the Kremlin and are neither free nor fair but are viewed by the government as necessary to convey a sense of legitimacy.

The Kremlin's tight grip on politics, media, law enforcement, and other levers means Putin, who has ruled Russia as president or prime minister since 1999, is certain to win, barring a very big, unexpected development.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-navalnaya-election-day- protest/32850224.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Yusuf Maitama Tuggar

6 March 2024 17:22

440-06-03-2024

On March 6, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, who is in Moscow on a working visit.

During the meeting, Moscow and Abuja reaffirmed their mutual commitment to further progressive development of Russian-Nigerian cooperation in political, trade, economic, humanitarian and other areas. The sides discussed the prospects for expanding business contacts and implementing joint projects in energy, mining and mineral processing, construction and modernising infrastructure, and agriculture.

The foreign ministers exchanged views on the key issues on the global and African agendas with a focus on UN Security Council reforms, settlement of regional conflicts, and the situation in the Sahara-Sahel region. They emphasised the priority of political and diplomatic methods of unblocking crisis situations on the continent with a leading role taken by the Africans themselves and with support from the international community. The ministers noted the close proximity of approaches to a Middle East settlement. They expressed their intention to further strengthen the coordination of actions in the UN and other multilateral platforms.

The sides also devoted considerable attention to further promotion of the Russian-African partnership in the context of implementing decisions taken as a result of the Second Russia-Africa Summit.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Statement of the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva Ambassador Gennady Gatilov at the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva, March 5, 2024

6 March 2024 16:58

439-06-03-2024

Mr. President,

Distinguished colleagues,

The session of the Conference on Disarmament (CD) is taking place against the backdrop of further deterioration of the situation in the sphere of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation. In pursuit of world domination Washington and its satellites are expanding their network of alliances against third countries and are actively implementing a range of programs that undermine global stability and regional security.

The threat associated with the destructive course of the United States and NATO to aggravate the Ukrainian crisis in order to inflict a "strategic defeat" on Russia is not abating. It's suffice to mention, for example, the recent statements of the President of France E.Macron on sending the troops to Ukraine to conduct the combat operations or the threats of Lithuania's Ambassador in Stockholm to "neutralize", i.e. eliminate Kaliningrad, since the Baltic Sea has become "internal" after Sweden's accession to NATO. And, of course, the discussions of high-ranking Bundeswehr's officers in social networks about the plans to strike the Crimean bridge with Taurus cruise-missiles provokes complete outrage. There was a very specific discussion about whether 10 or even 20 cruise missiles would be needed to destroy it. And on this background Western representatives are making hypocritical speeches about the strategic stability! By becoming more and more involved in the armed conflict, Western countries illusorily believe that they are able to increase coercive pressure on Russia without losing control over the escalation. However, this approach is not only risky but also completely futile.

For our part we are firmly committed to the postulate that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. That is why it is necessary to prevent any armed conflicts between the nuclear Powers, and thus in effect demonstrate readiness to mutually respect the security concerns of other parties, as stipulated in the Joint Statement of the Leaders of the Five Nuclear-Weapon States signed on January 3, 2022.

Against the background of Washington's highly dangerous policy, the US approach to arms control issues is twice as hypocritical. The Americans are combining the practice of deliberate dismantling of international treaties - those that hinder Washington - with cynical attempts to promote devious schemes of interaction aimed at gaining unilateral advantages and benefits. At the same time, the United States purposefully creates conditions in which the implementation of a number of arms control agreements becomes counterproductive for the other side.

Washington's calls to reduce strategic risks are also inadequate, while in reality the US itself continues to intentionally create such risks with its provocations and forceful pressure on other countries. This approach destroys the principle of equal and indivisible security, on which the maintenance of international peace, as well as regional and global stability should be based.

We are convinced that to prevent further degradation of the situation in the world and to maintain long-term stability it is necessary to make a collective efforts to build a renewed international security architecture based on the universal principles of multilateralism and genuine equality. We entrust the UN disarmament machinery, including the CD, as ever with a decisive role in finding ways to bring the arms control system out of crisis.

Mr. President,

On the agenda of the CD, we emphasize the issue of developing a multilateral legally binding instrument to prevent an arms race in outer space (PAROS). Recently, the risks of turning outer space into a foothold for aggression and a war have become real. The United States and its allies have started implementing the course of using near-Earth space for military operations and deployment of weapons systems.

The United States with the support of its allies have advanced its propaganda campaign to discredit Russia's space activities and our PAROS initiatives while in reality Washington simply tries to divert the attention of the international community from the real threats in outer space and to secure additional funding to strengthen its national military-space capabilities. At the same time, the absurdity of Washington's anti-Russian insinuations has reached truly "cosmic" scale. The US is now making unfounded accusations of some kind of activity in outer space that threatens international security and that is ostensibly connected with the "placement of nuclear weapons there".

We strongly reject such delusional speculations, which have nothing to do with reality. Russia has repeatedly reaffirmed its strict commitment to its international legal obligations, including the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. It's us, who consistently advocate the preservation of outer space for exclusively peaceful activities of all States on an equal footing. For many consecutive years we have called for negotiations on a multilateral legally binding instrument on PAROS that would contain a comprehensive ban on the deployment of any type of weapon (not just weapons of mass destruction) in outer space, as well as the use of force or the threat of force in, from, or against outer space.

We are firmly convinced that the development of such agreement remains the only way to avoid the weaponization of outer space, and, as a consequence, armed conflicts in near-Earth orbits. Ironically, it is the United States that has been blocking the implementation of this initiative for a long period of time and preventing the start of relevant negotiations.

The basis for the preparation of such a legally binding instrument exists. It is the draft treaty on the prevention of the placement of weapons in outer space, the threat or use of force against outer space objects, presented to the CD by Russia and China for consideration. We trust that the specialized UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) established upon the initiative of Russia and like-minded States, which began its work in November 2023, will facilitate the launch of negotiations by agreeing on recommendations on the substantive elements of an international legally binding instrument. The Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on PAROS, which is established for the period until 2028 pursuant to UNGA Resolution 78/238, will also contribute to the realization of these objectives.

Mr. President,

Nuclear disarmament cannot be considered in isolation from the current international situation which is characterized by increasing unpredictability, worsening crises and deepening divisions among States. Neutralizing these negative manifestations requires collective efforts. Nuclear-weapon and non-nuclear-weapon States should equally contribute to the overall reduction of international tensions, the strengthening of stability and the establishment of a realistic global disarmament agenda in accordance with the interconnected goals set out in Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

Russia has always been in favour of strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime based on NPT. The long history of this Treaty's successful functioning is evidence of its relevance to all States Parties, both nuclear and non-nuclear.

In 2023, a new NPT review cycle began. We hope that States Parties will remain committed to preserving the Treaty and will be ready to engage in more open and respectful interaction during further events in the framework of the current review, the next of which will take place here, in Geneva. At the very least, we intend to do our utmost to achieve this goal.

Russia, as an observer, is making its contribution to the work of the annual Conference on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems. The four sessions that have already taken place convincingly demonstrate that with the launch of this format, an additional opportunity has arisen to move forward the issue of creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of the Middle East.

The situation around the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) leaves much to be desired. Since 1999, the US, which was the main initiator of this Treaty, has not made a single significant step towards its ratification, limiting itself, and in fact, only declaring a certain "good intention" with regard to this instrument that has crucial importance for international security. At the same time, the US continues to maintain the Nevada Test Site on high alert without abandoning the idea of conducting a full-scale nuclear test as part of the modernization of the relevant arsenal.

Precisely this irresponsible line of the United States with regard to the CTBT, as well as the "hybrid" war launched by this State against Russia and its bid to inflict a "strategic defeat" on our Country, prompted us to withdraw ratification of the CTBT. At the same time, Russia remains a State signatory to the Treaty with all the rights and obligations that this entails, and continues to participate fully in the Preparatory Commission for the CTBT Organisation. Our country continues to observe the moratorium on nuclear testing that was introduced in 1992. Russia's commitment to the CTBT is exemplified by the completion in December 2023 of the construction of our segment of the International Monitoring System, a key element of the Treaty's verification mechanism.

We also highlight the urgent need for immediate action to strengthening the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC). This is clearly confirmed by the facts of the implementation of the United States biological-military programme in Ukraine discovered during the special military operation. At the same time, the substantiated questions officially put by Russia to the United States and Ukraine remain answered and as a consequence require resolution. We will endeavor to resolve this situation.

We will continue our constructive work to strengthen the BTWC, primarily in the relevant Working Group, including the possible preparation of a legally binding Protocol to the Convention with an effective verification mechanism. We call for support for Russian initiatives aimed at strengthening the institutional framework of the BTWC.

We note the further deterioration of an already unacceptable situation in the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). This once highly authoritative and purely technical international structure has already been turned by Western States into a tool for realizing their geopolitical interests in the Middle East and beyond. The result of the West's destructive activities has been a split in the OPCW and the loss of its independent status and authority as a universally recognized expert structure in the field of chemical disarmament and non-proliferation. We urge those States Parties to the CWC who care about the destiny of this once successful disarmament mechanism to prevent the final degradation of the Organization.

In order to counter the threat of chemical and biological terrorism we stress the importance of launching multilateral negotiations on suppressing acts of chemical and biological terrorism at the Conference on Disarmament. Strengthening the international legal basis for countering weapons of mass destruction terrorism is in the interests of all States.

Mr. President,

Despite all difficulties, the Conference on Disarmament remains a unique, non-alternative negotiating platform for the elaboration of multilateral legally binding agreements in the field of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation. The forum's Agenda, formulated many years ago, remains relevant to this day. The urgency of starting negotiations on some of the CD Agenda items becomes increasingly clear to us.

Russia has always supported efforts to seek consensus and build constructive work in the Conference on Disarmament. However, as the experience of recent years has shown, attempts are becoming more frequent to introduce into the Agenda of the Conference issues that do not correspond to the mandate of the CD or on which dialogue is already under way in other specialized multilateral fora (in particular, this concerns issues of international information security, lethal autonomous weapons systems and the military use of artificial intelligence).

Such a shift in focus distracts from the discussion of the actual issues under consideration by the CD. Together with States that share this principled position, we will continue to work towards the adoption of a balanced Programme of Work which provides for the resumption of the negotiation process.

I thank you for your attention.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks and answers to media questions at a joint press conference following talks with Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Yusuf Tuggar, Moscow, March 6, 2024

6 March 2024 16:15

437-06-03-2024



Ladies and gentlemen,

We held very substantive talks with Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Yusuf Tuggar. We reaffirmed the importance of regular political dialogue between our countries and noted progress in Russian-Nigerian relations. We are resolved not only to keep up this trend but also to strengthen it.

We will do this in all spheres of our relations but primarily in our trade and economic cooperation. We highlighted the most promising spheres such as energy, the construction of infrastructure facilities, agriculture, healthcare and education. We have agreed to focus on and to give every organisational and diplomatic support to the development, expansion and strengthening of contacts between our business communities. With this aim in view we have agreed to stimulate the activities of the Intergovernmental Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation and to make use of the capabilities of the Russia-Nigeria Business Council.

We need to improve out legal framework for implementing projects of mutual interest. We have an interest in implementing the agreement on military-technical cooperation, which has recently been extended. Our Nigerian friends are interested in this too.

We are paying priority attention to our humanitarian and cultural spheres, especially education and the training of Nigerian professionals at Russian universities. We could develop direct ties between our countries' universities. I hope we will do this soon.

We have reaffirmed out commitment to promoting the development of a fair polycentric world order. This objective trend reflects the continuing sustainable growth of the economic, financial and political prestige of countries of the Global South and East on the global stage. It is fully in line with the high principles set out in the UN Charter, which stipulate that international relations must be based on the sovereign equality of states.

We also agree on the other principles of the UN Charter such as non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states. We share the opinion that there is no place for the rudiments of neocolonial practices in interstate relations, which are still suffering from the inertia of colonial policies. Our countries are resolved to strengthen their coordination at the UN.

We maintain close cooperation and support each other, in particular, during elections to various UN bodies. Russia has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring full respect for developing countries, including African ones, and their interests during the reform of the UN Security Council. Our position, which we have put forth many times, is that the UNSC must be reformed to give broader representation to African, Asian and Latin American countries. Western countries are clearly over-represented there. This injustice must be rectified.

We talked about the persisting crises in Africa, primarily, in the Sahara-Sahel region. Recent events in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have changed the nature of relations with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Russia and the ECOWAS have been developing friendly ties for a long time. They are interested in the ability of the region's countries to preserve their common positions of solidarity in countering universal threats. This goal requires the pooling of efforts rather than dividing lines.

We expressed the hope that both sides (the new authorities in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso) and ECOWAS leadership would take steps to meet each other halfway and that inevitably arising issues would be resolved through dialogue and a search for a balance of interests. For our part, we expressed our willingness to facilitate these processes and emphasised the importance of maintaining the integration potential of the community.

We also emphasised the need to counter terrorist jihadi groups, and illegal arms, and human and drug trafficking in the region. These problems still exist in many parts of Africa. We welcome Nigeria's substantial contribution and motivation to continue countering these threats and achieve results.

We exchanged views on the situation in Sudan. Both Nigeria and Russia favour an end to the armed confrontation and support for African Union mediation. In any event, Russia is and will be making a constructive contribution to the efforts of the Africans and the international community in general to stabilise the situation in the Sahara-Sahel region. We will help the countries of the region enhance their security and the combat capability of their national armed forces and law-enforcement bodies with a view to countering persisting threats.

We could not neglect the serious situation in the Middle East, primarily due to the unprecedented escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the context of the tragedy unfolding in the Gaza Strip. We favour the consolidation of international efforts to achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible and to create conditions for the needed humanitarian and other assistance. We believe it is necessary to immediately start the real work on reaching an agreement on the foundations of a Palestinian state in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly.

We thanked our Nigerian colleagues for understanding the situation in Ukraine and the reasons that had been created over many years due to the policy of the Western countries that wanted to turn Ukraine into a serious threat to the Russian Federation, our citizens, culture and the Russian language. We appreciate Nigeria's well-balanced position on the discussion of Ukrainian issues at the UN. We agreed to continue our contacts. I consider the results of our talks to be very useful.

Question: What do you think about the status of and prospects for bilateral relations, partly in the context of implementing the resolutions from the Second Russia-Africa Summit?

Sergey Lavrov: The Second Russia-Africa Summit took place in St Petersburg in July 2023. Vice President Kashim Shettima headed the Nigerian delegation. Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar was among the members. Russian and Nigerian representatives had bilateral meetings during this summit like they did on the sidelines of the First Russia-Africa Summit held in Sochi in October 2019. After holding these meetings, it is easier to discuss the bilateral agenda. We have listed the items that include a number of areas in the real economy (energy, agriculture, the pharmaceutical industry, epidemic control, as well as transport and other infrastructure issues).

Nigeria is one of Africa's biggest countries and our priority partner in the region. Russia's relations with the African nations rest on the enduring foundation and implementation of adopted plans.

The participants in the Second Russia-Africa Summit adopted a declaration by the leaders, a plan of action in 2023-2026 and other resolutions to ensure cyber security in today's information space, to combat terrorism and to prevent an arms race in outer space. We have held these positions for a long time, and most African nations support them. In practical terms, the Americans are blocking any agreements on preventing an arms race in space at the UN. They prefer to accuse us of trying to spread the arms race in space and they express their suspicions about this. To mitigate these suspicions all they need to do is sign the treaty that has been submitted for many years and is acceptable to almost every other state.

The second summit produced one more change: we agreed to hold a Russia-Africa Foreign Minister Forum every year. We are preparing it for next autumn. Sochi is most likely to be the venue. We will start sending our proposals on the agenda and invitations soon.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's opening remarks during talks with Foreign Minister of Nigeria Yusuf Tuggar, Moscow, March 6, 2024

6 March 2024 14:25

434-06-03-2024

Mr Minister,

I welcome you and your delegation.

We are glad that you visit our country regularly. Your visits have become a good tradition. In July 2022, you visited St Petersburg as a member of the Nigerian delegation to attend the 2nd Russia- Africa summit. Today we are welcoming you as the Foreign Minister of Nigeria.

This meeting reflects the long-term friendship between our nations and good prospects for the development of our relations at this stage. We consider Nigeria a priority partner on the African continent.

In the new historical conditions, when the countries of the Global South and East, the Global Majority as we also call them, are starting to defend their interests on the international arena, we discover more common points and congruent approaches in favour of overcoming injustice in international relations and establishing an equal balance of interests in strict compliance with the principles of the UN Charter.

As African countries assert their interests on the agenda of international contacts, our joint work to promote bilateral cooperation in trade, the economy, investment, humanitarian affairs, and other areas, is becoming more effective.

I hope that we will be able to discuss all these matters with you and your representatives, productively and in detail.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Readout of National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's Call with South African National Security Advisor Sydney Mufamadi

March 06, 2024

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke on the phone yesterday with South African National Security Advisor Dr. Sydney Mufamadi. The two National Security Advisors reaffirmed the strong partnership between South Africa and the United States, and discussed a wide range of topics, including a shared commitment to providing humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza; upcoming opportunities for effective multilateral cooperation, such as through our respective G20 presidencies in 2025 and 2026; and our support for a just and durable peace in Ukraine. The two leaders confirmed the need for continued bilateral dialogue on issues of interest and concern; and noted their appreciation for the important work our two countries are doing together.

###

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Students from Onekama High School's National Honor Society chapter donate items raised from a schoolwide food drive to the St. Joseph Church food pantry in Onekama. Pictured (from left) are Ashlyn Blackmore, Heather Zielinski, Jayla Fink, Leah Gary, Caden Bradford, Mason Sinke, Peyton Clouse, Drew McIssac and Arden Bradford. Courtesy photo/Carolyn Bradford Onekama High School students Arden Bradford, Mason Sinke and Caden Bradford carry food items Feb. 29, 2024 to donate to the St. Joseph Church food pantry in Onekama. Courtesy photo/Carolyn Bradford Drew McIssac (front row, left) and Caden Bradford set a box of food items on the table of the St. Joseph Church food pantry in Onekama Feb. 29, 2024. Courtesy photo/Carolyn Bradford

ONEKAMA  Onekama High School's National Honor Society chapter recently completed a service project to help those in need in the area.

"We had an opportunity to work alongside St. Joseph's Church and run a food drive," said chapter president Julia Lapp. "We were able to include and engage students within the school by incorporating a competition to see which class can bring the most food to donate."

In total, Onekama's kindergarten through 12th grade students donated 1,600 food items to the pantry. NHS students dropped the items off last week.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Onekama students Julia Lapp (left), Ashlyn Blackmore and Leah Gary prepare to donate food items to the St. Joseph Church food pantry in Onekama. Courtesy photo/Carolyn Bradford

The grade that donated the most items will get to enjoy a pizza or ice cream party funded by the school's NHS chapter.

"This is a great way for the younger ones to understand the importance of giving back to the community," said senior Ashlyn Blackmore. "It also teaches them that they can be rewarded for their hard work. Overall, this is just a great way to show everyone that giving to their community is a great opportunity, and it means a lot to the people who receive these donations."

Lapp said Onekama residents were also able to drop off goods at the school.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Taiwan's Air Force set to conduct rare overnight drills Wednesday

ROC Central News Agency

03/06/2024 01:58 PM

Taipei, March 6 (CNA) Taiwan's Air Force will conduct a training exercise Wednesday night continuing into the early hours of Thursday, its first such overnight drill in many years, to better prepare for the multilayered battlefield of the future.

Taiwan's F-16, Mirage 2000, and indigenous defense fighter (IDF) jets will all take part in the sorties, which will involve Air Force bases in Hualien, Hsinchu, and Tainan, Air Force spokesman Wang Tzu-li (cZec) told CNA Wednesday.

The exercises will take place in airspace above waters around Taiwan, Wang said.

The Air Force has not conducted overnight sorties in many years out of concern that the loud noise from the planes might disturb residents at night, which had been a source of complaints, he said.

In a statement issued Tuesday, the Air Force Headquarters informed the public of the upcoming sorties and apologized in advance for any inconvenience the flights may cause.

The Air Force will engage in various exercises crucial to preparing it for the evolving, multilayered battlefield, and it hoped the public would continue to support its efforts to build up its capacity to defend the country's airspace, according to the statement.

When asked to comment on the planned overnight sorties, Veteran Affairs Council Minister Feng Shih-kuan (eaa), a former defense minister, said on the sidelines of a legislative hearing Wednesday that such exercises have been carried out for decades.

When he was a tactical wing leader stationed in Tainan in 1993, locals would complain about fighter jets taking off after 9 p.m. and ask the Air Force not to fly planes late at night, Feng recalled.

(By Sean Lin)

Enditem/ls

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Taiwan cautious over 'peaceful reunification' omission in China report

ROC Central News Agency

03/06/2024 11:11 PM

Taipei, March 6 (CNA) Officials and scholars in Taiwan were cautious Wednesday about the omission of the term "peaceful reunification" with Taiwan from a government work report released by Beijing the previous day at the opening of the National People's Congress (NPC).

Asked by lawmakers at a legislative hearing whether the language indicated a more hardline stance towards Taiwan by China, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Tai-san () said the government is still working to understand Beijing's intent.

In the government report delivered by Chinese Premier Li Qiang (), Beijing reiterated a call for reunification with Taiwan, but omitted the word "peaceful."

Although it is not the first time China has dropped the word "peaceful," it was often used in previous reports.

However, instead of focusing solely on specific language in the report, which also said China will boost defense spending by 7.2 percent this year, one should also consider the broader context, Chiu added.

"It's premature to draw immediate conclusions," Chiu said, emphasizing that the government is collecting additional information to better understand the situation.

Wang Hsin-hsien (), deputy director of the Center for International Relations at National Chengchi University in Taiwan, said it is "over-interpretation" to focus on the language used and the defense budget increase.

Content related to Taiwan has never been a focal point in work reports from China's State Council, Wang said at a seminar discussing developments at the NPC Wednesday. He told CNA the previous day that such work reports mainly focus on economic issues.

In a departure from previous reports, this year's does not contain the Chinese government's Taiwan work achievements in 2023, Wang said at seminar.

Although the term "peaceful reunification" was not adopted in this year's report, it was used in two separate phrases that detail "promoting the peaceful development of cross-strait relations," and "pushing the unwavering cause of reunification of the motherland," he added.

Wang said he expects China's future approach toward Taiwan will involve more actions and fewer verbal statements, following the Democratic Progressive Party's victory in the Taiwanese presidential election two months ago.

Beijing has been advancing its strategic objectives through practical issues, such as the termination of diplomatic ties between Nauru and Taiwan, and the unilateral adjustment to the M503 air route, according to Wang.

The objective of such moves could be to observe Taiwan's response during the government handover period leading up to the presidential inauguration on May 20, to get a better understanding of how Taiwan will navigate cross-strait relations in the future, he said.

They could also be perceived as "salami slicing tactics" against Taiwan, which China uses to tighten the noose step by step, to achieve its strategic goals, Wang said.

For instance, if frequent users of the M503 air route like South Korea and Japan do not express objections to its adjustment, the situation will be "settled" the way it is now, he said.

(By Lee Ya-wen, Wu Po-wei and Lee Hsin-Yin)

Enditem/AW

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






U.S. urges Beijing to 'engage in meaningful dialogue' with Taiwan

ROC Central News Agency

03/06/2024 06:27 PM

Washington, March 5 (CNA) The U.S. Department of State on Tuesday called for China to cease its pressure campaign against Taiwan and "engage in meaningful dialogue," following a Chinese official's remarks reiterating Beijing's position that the median line in the Taiwan Strait does not exist.

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang (aa) said in Beijing last week that "there exists no Taiwan Strait median line," restating China's sovereignty over Taiwan.

At the time Zhang was answering questions at a press event about American media outlets' "frequent" reports of Chinese military deployments with warships and warplanes in waters around Taiwan and the warplanes' often crossing the median line of the strait.

In response, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said that Beijing's continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait is an indication of its "unilateral attempts to change the status quo."

The spokesperson said the United States has "consistently urged restraint and no change to the status quo," a policy that has preserved peace in the region for decades and is a matter of global concern.

The U.S. urges Beijing "to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure against Taiwan."

Instead, Beijing should engage in "meaningful dialogue with Taiwan," as the U.S. believes cross-strait differences must be resolved peacefully, the spokesperson said.

Taiwan's Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (ea) said last Friday that the median line was a tacit agreement observed by Taiwan and China for many years.

Denying the existence of the line eliminates the possibility of negotiations and escalates pressure in the region, he said.

(By Shih Hsiu-chuan and Wu Kuan-Hsien)

Enditem/AW

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Taiwan-China negotiations on fatal Kinmen boat collision collapse

ROC Central News Agency

03/06/2024 03:13 PM

Taipei, March 6 (CNA) The families of two Chinese men who died when their boat capsized after colliding with a Taiwanese Coast Guard vessel near Kinmen last month returned home Tuesday after officials representing the two sides broke off negotiations without a deal.

In a statement regarding the talks, the Coast Guard said it had tried its best to satisfy the families' needs and provide a "consolation package" within the limits of Taiwanese law.

During the negotiations, however, Chinese officials "insisted on making demands that did not comply with [Taiwan's] legal system," the agency said of the case, which is still being investigated by Kinmen prosecutors.

Chen Ssu-chuan (), director of the Coast Guard's Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu branch, accompanied the families to pray for the men at a Kinmen morgue before seeing them off as they returned by boat to Xiamen.

Despite the failure to reach a consensus, "the two sides will keep their lines of communication open, and don't want to shut the doors of negotiation like this," he said.

The Feb. 14 incident occurred when Taiwan's Coast Guard responded to the presence of a Chinese speedboat that had entered into prohibited waters off the eastern coast of Kinmen.

According to the Coast Guard, the Chinese boat refused its request to board and inspect the boat, and later fled, setting off a high-speed chase which ended when the escaping vessel made a sudden right turn and its tail collided with the front of the patrol boat.

The force of the collision caused the speedboat to capsize, throwing its crew of four into the water, of which two were rescued and the other two were found unconscious and later declared dead, the Coast Guard said.

The accident sparked a furious reaction from China, in the wake of which the Coast Guard was slow to provide its own account of what happened.

The agency has said it does not have video footage of the incident, and only admitted on Feb. 22 -- eight days after it occurred -- that there had been a collision.

The evidence it says it does have, including audio recordings and radar data relating to the chase, has been turned over to Kinmen prosecutors, who requested that it not be made public as the investigation proceeds, the Coast Guard said.

On Tuesday, the Chinese representative in the negotiations -- Quanzhou City Taiwan Affairs Office deputy director Lee Chaohui () -- blamed Taiwan for the failure to reach an agreement.

"It's now been 15 days since the incident occurred, and after multiple rounds of negotiations, the Taiwan side has still yet to provide a convincing explanation of what happened," Lee said.

Lee said Taiwan's negotiators had refused to take responsibility for the men's deaths and left Kinmen on Sunday, showing a lack of will to resolve the problem.

"The Democratic Progressive Party authorities will bear responsibility for the consequences of this," he warned.

Meanwhile, one of the deceased men's family members lamented that Taiwan had "never given us the truth" about what happened.

"The boat was clearly rammed [by the Coast Guard], but no one is willing to take responsibility -- not even a single word of apology," the man said.

Speaking at the Legislature on Tuesday, Premier Chen Chien-jen () argued that the Coast Guard was acting legally when it moved to expel the Chinese speedboat, even though the men's deaths were "deeply regrettable."

Because Taiwan is governed by the rule of law, however, prosecutors will investigate what happened based on the evidence, and only after that is complete will we be able to know the truth, he said.

"If there is a need to apologize, we will apologize. If there is a need for compensation, we will provide compensation," Chen said.

(By Lin Ching-yin, Hung Hsueh-kuang, Chang I-lien and Matthew Mazzetta)

Enditem/ls

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Kinmen capsizing unlikely to escalate into cross-strait conflict: Academics

ROC Central News Agency

03/06/2024 11:35 PM

Taipei, March 6 (CNA) China is unlikely to attack Taiwan proper over the capsizing of an unregistered speedboat that entered "restricted waters" around the Kinmen islands on Feb. 14 resulting in an incident that left two Chinese crew members dead, academics said Wednesday.

The scholars were speaking at a forum held by the Institute for National Policy Research in Taipei about the incident, China's annual plenary sessions of the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and the Super Tuesday U.S. presidential election primary.

Chang Wu-ueh (aaa), an associate professor at Tamkang University Graduate Institute of China Studies, said since the incident occurred, Chinese state media have run only two articles about it, one published Feb. 19 in the People's Daily and another by Xinhua on March 1.

In addition, the highest-ranking Chinese official to have spoken publicly about the incident is Sung Tao (a), head of the Taiwan Affairs Office, he noted.

This indicates that Beijing's perception of the incident differs greatly from those of angry Chinese netizens, Chang said.

Fan Shih-ping (eaa), a professor of political science at National Taiwan Normal University, said the relatively muted response from Beijing over the incident could be due to the Chinese State Council's own campaign to crack down on unregistered, unnamed and unlicensed vessels operating in waters off China.

China may want to maintain a low profile because it knows it is in the wrong on the Kinmen incident, Fan added.

Furthermore, official and non-official interactions between Kinmen and Xiamen are mostly amicable, and with Beijing hoping to push through the "new four links" between Kinmen and Xiamen -- natural gas, electricity, water, and the building of a Kinmen-Xiamen Bridge -- it is hard to imagine the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will allow tensions to escalate over the Kinmen incident, Chang said.

Lin Ying-yu (zcZa), an assistant professor at Tamkang University's Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, described recent incidents, including China sending more weather balloons across Taiwan than in previous years, unilaterally adjusting the southbound M503 flight path and the Kinmen incident as premeditated "soap opera" rather than standalone incidents.

The first two events were meant to persuade Taiwanese that Taiwan's government does not have control over its airspace and is unable to counter any moves made by China, Lin said.

Meanwhile, China's response to the Kinmen incident is intended to divide and conquer, by inconveniencing residents on the outlying islands and shaking their faith in the the government of Taiwan, he said, citing the boarding of the Sunrise cruise ship by the Chinese coast guard on Feb. 19.

However, unlike its skirmishes with the Philippine coast guard in the South China Sea, China will absolutely not allow the Kinmen incident to evolve into an international incident, as that would give the impression Taiwan does not belong to China, Lin said.

Tung Li-wen (ec), CEO of the Foundation on Asia-Pacific Peace Studies, said any assertions that China could attack Taiwan proper over the incident are clearly fearmongering as the Chinese defense ministry has yet to issue any statement on the incident or dispatch vessels to waters off Kinmen and the Lienchiang islands.

Chang Kuo-cheng (aaaYZ), associate dean at Taipei Medical University's Center for General Education, echoed Lin's view that China has sought to use divide-and-conquer tactics in the aftermath of the Kinmen incident by trying to shape public opinion in Taiwan.

The best result Chinese authorities can hope for is to discourage Taiwan's coast guard by making it difficult for coast guard officials to enforce the law, Chang said.

Turning to China's ongoing "two sessions," Chang said that China has never made major Taiwan policy related announcements at the gatherings, and this year is expected to be no different.

He predicted that any changes Beijing deems necessary to its Taiwan policy will be made between the conclusion of the two sessions and May 20 when President-elect Lai Ching-te (ea) takes office.

Meanwhile, it is likely that efforts will be made to arrange contacts between Chinese President Xi Jinping (cea) and U.S. President Joe Biden to maintain China-U.S. relations before May 20, which means although tensions are likely to be high in the Taiwan Strait, they will remain "manageable," Chang said.

Echoing Chang, Tung said there is no reason to expect there will be any groundbreaking changes in China's Taiwan policy.

Beijing has already set the tone for its Taiwan policy over the next four years, and will not approve of anything Lai has to say about cross-strait relations in his inaugural speech, Tung observed.

(By Sean Lin)

Enditem/AW

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






NPC deputy from Taiwan delegation urges DPP authorities to handle fatal boat incident sincerely

Global Times

By Zhao Yusha and Li Meng Published: Mar 06, 2024 11:44 AM

The Taiwan authorities' handling of aftermath regarding a fatal mainland fishing boat capsize incident hurt feelings of mainland compatriots, and exposed long-standing irresponsibility of the island authority, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) from delegation of island of Taiwan said. He also demanded Taiwan authorities publicly apologize and compensate the victims' families.

The onus of the fatal incident lies entirely on Taiwan authorities, yet relevant departments within Taiwan are obscuring the truth and trying to shift blame, which is despicable, Zou Zhenqiu, an NPC deputy from Taiwan delegation and head of the Jiangsu provincial federation of Taiwan compatriots, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Zou believed the mainland should firmly adhere to its stance, demand Taiwan authorities publicly apologize and compensate for the victims.

Two fishermen from the Chinese mainland were killed after a mainland fishing boat was chased on February 14 by Taiwan authorities and capsized in the waters near Kinmen, a group of islets in the Taiwan Straits just a few kilometers from Xiamen, Fujian Province.

Families of the victims returned to mainland from Kinmen following negotiations on Tuesday failed to reach an acceptable outcome. The family members accused Taiwan authority of lacking the grace of offering a basic apology, and no one was willing to shoulder responsibility. Li Zhaohui, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of Quanzhou, Fujian accused Taiwan authorities of not telling the truth, going back on their word, and lacking sincerity. "The consequences will be borne by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities," media reported.

The issue of Taiwan authorities harassing fishing boats from the mainland has been a longstanding problem. However, the mainland has chosen to adopt a tolerant approach. Zou noted that the recent actions taken by the island authorities are very disappointing.

Zou said the DPP authorities' decision to axe tour groups travel to Chinese mainland last month has triggered deep frustration among Taiwan compatriots. "The anger is especially palpable among tourism operators in Taiwan, who even claimed that they will take to the streets to protest," said Zou.

Zou said the DPP authorities have always sought to undermine cross-Straits exchanges, Lai Ching-te of DPP, who recently won the regional election, is expected to continue this approach. "The authorities' move to suspend tour groups to the mainland is not a surprise to us given DPP's usual practice of adopting 'de-Sinicization' education, and advocating secessionism."

Zou admitted that lack of communication and exchange had negative impact on Taiwan compatriots' understanding of mainland. "Some of them have very limited understanding of the mainland, and some even have very one-sided or extreme views."

He called for more preferential policies to attract Taiwan compatriots to visit the mainland.

The drop of "peaceful reunification" in this year's Government Work Report has drawn attention from Western media. Reuters reported that "the change in language is closely watched as a possible sign of more assertive stance towards Taiwan."

Zou believed it doesn't signal that central government will deviate from the route. "Although we may adopt different approach, the direction of reunifying Taiwan by peaceful means is not changed now. Peaceful reunification is our consistent stance, and we are willing to promote peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity, in a way that is beneficial to the people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits," Zou said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan Mar. 7, 2024

ROC Ministry of National Defense

2024/03/07

PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan

1. Date:

6 to 6 a.m. (UTC+8) Wednesday to Thursday, Mar. 6-7

2. PLA activities:

8 PLA aircraft and 5 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 1 of the aircraft entered Taiwan's eastern ADIZ. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and employed CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Exercise Dragon 2024 Continues Within NATO Exercise Steadfast Defender 24

Republic of TArkiye Ministry of National Defence

06.03.2024

Exercise Dragon 2024 continues within NATO Exercise Steadfast Defender 24.

As part of the exercise, the Dragon-24 military defence drill was held in the Korzeniewo region of Poland.

Approximately 90 thousand troops from all NATO countries, as well as Sweden, participated in the exercises. While the troops performed the "river crossing operation" across the Vistula River with a movable bridge that can carry tanks, helicopters conducted observation in the exercise.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Five UK special forces arrested, investigated over Syria war crime probe

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 06 March 2024 10:52 AM

Five members of the British army's Special Air Service (SAS) have been arrested by British military police on suspicion of committing war crimes during operations in Syria.

The military's top brass on Tuesday said the troops used excessive force during a mission, killing a suspected militant in Syria, adding that they should have arrested the man instead.

The soldiers from the elite force could face murder charges over the murder they committed two years ago.

"We hold our personnel to the highest standards, and any allegations of wrongdoing are taken seriously. Where appropriate, any criminal allegations are referred to the service police for investigation," a spokesperson of the ministry of defense said.

Meanwhile, an international humanitarian rights group has called for a full, immediate investigation, if "UK forces in Syria were alleged to have committed war crimes in Syria."

"In both Iraq and Afghanistan, there's been a glaring shortfall in how the UK authorities held members of the military to account over horrific alleged misconduct, and this must not be repeated with Syria," it added, calling for "accountability and justice" and asserting that "no-one is above the law, including those who wear military uniforms or operate as part of special forces."

The SAS has been actively deployed in Syria over the past 10 years, with the declared claim of fighting against the Daesh terrorist group, which has already been driven out of all its urban bastions both in Iraq and Syria, but its remnants carry out sporadic terror attacks in both neighboring Arab countries.

Tuesday's arrest marks another instance of reported misconduct by SAS soldiers, following an independent investigation initiated in March to look into accusations of unlawful killings by British forces in Afghanistan.

An independent investigation was initiated by the British defense ministry in December 2022, following the revelation in a BBC TV documentary that numerous individuals were fatally injured by soldiers belonging to the SAS during their operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan, between 2010 and 2011.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Government commits more support for Ukraine

By Captain Peter March

4 March 2024

More troops have been deployed on Operation Kudu as part of Australia's continued support of Ukraine, two years on from Russia's illegal invasion.

Army's current rotation of 70 personnel expanded to about 90 in January, to include a junior leader training program.

As part of this commitment, soldiers from the 7th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR) deployed to the UK recently to lead Armed Forces of Ukraine personnel through the first iterations of the section commander, platoon commander, and platoon and company sergeant battle courses.

7RAR's contingent commander Major Michael Jack said realistic training was key to achieving mission success.

"The skills that are being developed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine members range from small arms training with their individual weapons, first aid and care of the combat casualty, and tactics training in rural, urban and trench environments," Major Jack said.

"The idea with these scenarios is to replicate as much of the combat situation in Ukraine as possible.

"We have weapon effects to replicate the sound of artillery and indirect fire."

Major Jack said he was proud of the part his team had played in assisting more than 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers since June 2022 as part of the wider UK-led and based training program.

"It's very humbling, and a privileged feeling to be having this key role as part of our mission," Major Jack said.

Commander 9th Brigade Brigadier Tim Orders said the quality of the training being delivered by the team was world class and a testament to the skill and professionalism of the Australian soldier.

"Junior leadership training provides an opportunity to develop skills for key personnel within the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which are critical in the nation's ongoing fight against Russia's unilateral, illegal and immoral aggression," Brigadier Orders said.

"The results of the training are helping Ukrainian recruits generate the additional capacity needed to defend their homeland."

The success of the training led the Australian Government to announce an extension and expansion of Australia's commitment to the multinational training mission throughout 2024.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






West Michigan's Silver Beach Pizza made Yelps 2024 Top 100 Pizza Spots in the United States list. Photo provided/BjelicaS/Getty Images

Were three months into 2024, but Yelp already knows where Americans like to eat their pizza this year.

To produce the list, Yelp said its most passionate and trusted reviewers and influencers, its Yelp Elites, shared their favorite pizza spots. The restaurant and services rating app identified the pizza places shared, ranking them using several factors, including total volume and number of five-star reviews written by Yelp Elite members. All the businesses ranked were marked open on Yelp as of Dec. 5, 2023.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

West Michigans Amtrak depot-turned-pizzeria Silver Beach Pizza ranked No. 99. Located at 410 Vine Street in Saint Joseph it has many five-star reviews on Yelp and is near Lake Michigan. It is open Monday through Thursday from 4-9 p.m., Friday from 4-10 p.m., Saturday from noon-10 p.m. and Sunday from noon-9 p.m.

We specialize in great thin pizza and cold draft beer served in an icy schooner, the restaurant description on Yelp read. We have 16 varieties of draft beer in addition to a full bar. We also offer gluten-free pizza crusts.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Excellent thin-crust pizza with the classic tavern cut pieces, Jim. L wrote on Feb. 19, 2024. Very good sausage, but the sauce steals the show. Just the right amount of spices. Plenty of specialty pizzas. Amazing that they can seat so many people and crank out the pizzas in a timely fashion.

Great all pizza and service, Chris W. wrote on Jan. 5, 2024. Really generous to employees and local fundraising. Excellent all the way around. Wait times in summer are what to expect in a resort town.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Whats the most popular pizza for 2024?

Detroit-style pies have been trending among Yelpers, with a 26% increase in searches from 2022 to 2023. Chicago-style pizzas also topped the pizza lists, rising 18% in searches during that same time frame.
Russia: West 'playing with fire' mulling boots on Ukraine's soil

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 06 March 2024 6:45 PM

Moscow says certain Western states are "playing with fire" by discussing the idea of sending troops to Ukraine.

The Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday it was worrying that the issue had been mentioned by President Emmanuel Macron of France.

"The French president is discussing the idea of sending a foreign contingent. They are all playing with fire."

"This is extremely irresponsible behavior for politicians."

Macron recently said the possibility of sending foreign troops to Ukraine was being discussed during a conference in Paris. He said while there was no official consensus among European leaders, the prospect "should not be ruled out."

He also said a new coalition would be set up to supply Kiev with medium- and long-range weapons.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said sending Western troops to fight in Ukraine risks provoking a nuclear war.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Peskov also condemned German officers' discussion of strikes on Russia saying this could lead to a further degradation of the situation.

Russian media first published the audio recording of a meeting of senior German military officials discussing weapons for Ukraine and a potential strike by Kiev on a bridge in Crimea.

The Kremlin's spokesman also stated that Russia is open to diplomatic ways of achieving its set objectives of the Ukraine conflict.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Ukraine Is Regrouping Forces, Aiming For New Counteroffensive 'This Year,' Says Ground Commander

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and RFE/RL's Russian Service March 06, 2024

The commander of Ukraine's ground forces said Kyiv is aiming to conduct a counteroffensive in 2024, even as the outmanned and outgunned military has faced criticism for a perceived lack of progress during its drive against invading Russian troops over the past six months.

Oleksandr Pavlyuk, named Ukraine's ground commander on February 11, said in televised remarks on March 6 that the military is now focusing on stabilizing front-line positions and regrouping troops with a goal to "conduct counteroffensive operations this year."

After a successful counteroffensive against Russian forces occupying regions in the east and south of the country, Ukraine's progress has slowed over recent months, with leaders in Kyiv pleading with Western allies for deliveries of badly needed ammunition and air defense systems.

Also on March 6, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he and visiting Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis witnessed a deadly Russian missile attack while visiting the Black Sea port city of Odesa.

Ukrainian authorities said at least five people were killed in the attack.

Mitsotakis confirmed that Russian missiles attacked the city while he and Zelenskiy were present, saying "we had explosions very close to us."

Mitsotakis added that he and the Ukrainian leader, as well as their teams, did not have time to take shelter, calling the incident "an astonishing experience."

The Russian military said its forces had struck a storage facility that was housing unmanned Ukrainian boats, although the claim could not immediately be verified.

"The goal has been achieved. The target has been hit," the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi amid tensions over Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, which is under Russian occupation with IAEA observers stationed at the site

Russian state media said the meeting took place at Putin's residence in Sochi and that Aleksei Likhachev, the head of the Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom, also participated. Grossi on February 23 called for "maximum military restraint" after a string of powerful explosions occurred near the nuclear plant that week.

"The situation continues to be very fragile," Grossi told reporters on March 4 as he announced his trip to meet Putin

Overnight, Ukrainian and Russian forces traded drone attacks that left thousands of people in western Ukraine without electricity and a gas storage depot at a Russian metal plant on fire.

Ukraine's air defenses shot down most of the drones launched by Russia in its latest wave of strikes at its territory on March 6, but the attack still left thousands of people without electricity hundreds of kilometers from the front line in the east, the military and regional officials said.

Air defenses downed 38 out of the 42 drones launched by Russia at eight regions early on March 6, the General Staff of Ukraine's military reported.

"As a result of combat actions, 38 Shaheds were shot down in the Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Kherson, Khmelnytskiy, Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Vinnytsya, and Sumy regions," the military said in a statement, adding that information about potential casualties and damages would be updated during the day.

Russian troops in the occupied part of the eastern Donetsk region also launched five S-300 surface-to-air missiles at Ukrainian targets, the military said, without elaborating.

However, debris from six Russian drones downed in the western Khmelnitskiy region, some 800 kilometers away from the eastern battlefields, fell on a power substation, triggering a fire that interrupted the power supply to more than 14,000 people in the region, Ukraine's Energy Ministry reported.

Although the fire had been largely extinguished later in the day, more than 2,500 people were still without power, the ministry said.

Farther east, Russian forces continued the indiscriminate shelling of civilian settlements near the front line in Donetsk, regional authorities said, killing at least one person on March 6.

In the village of Netaylovye, a 63-year-old man was wounded by Russian shelling and died on his way to the hospital, regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said.

In Russia, a gasoline storage depot in Kursk region near the Ukrainian border caught fire after being hit by two Ukrainian drones, regional Governor Roman Starovoit said on Telegram, adding that there were no casualties.

The reservoir was located on the territory of the Mikhailov mining and processing integrated plant in the city of Zheleznogorsk, which is one of Russia's largest industrial facilities producing and enriching iron ore.

Kyiv has not officially commented on the strike, but an anonymous source from Ukraine's Main Directorate of Military Intelligence (HUR) was quoted by Reuters as saying it was responsible for the attack.

The strike would be the HUR's second success in as many days after Russian patrol vessel Sergei Kotov was reportedly sunk early on March 5 off the coast of Moscow-occupied Crimea by what the HUR said were high-tech Ukrainian sea drones.

Feodosia is located near the Kerch Strait, which links the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

With reporting by Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-regrouping-counteroffensive- pavlyuk-drones-russia-strikes/32849840.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Russian Precision Strike on Odessa Eliminates Ukrainian Sea Drones - MoD

Sputnik News

20240306

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian military attacked a hangar in the port district of Odessa, where preparations were underway for the combat use of Ukrainian unmanned boats, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said on Wednesday.

"At 11:40 Moscow time [8:40 GMT], the Russian armed forces launched a high-precision missile attack on a hangar in the industrial port district of Odessa, where preparations were underway for the combat use of unmanned boats of Ukraine's Armed Forces. The target of the strike has been achieved. The facility was hit," the ministry said in a statement.

Earlier, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Ukraine lost nearly 166,000 troops, 800 tanks, including more than half of the Leopard tanks delivered to it, 123 aircraft and 2,400 pieces of military equipment during its counteroffensive last year.

In total, Ukraine has lost more than 444,000 soldiers since the beginning of the special military operation in 2022, the minister added.

A Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






In Odesa, the President of Ukraine and the Prime Minister of Greece listened to a briefing of the military command on the security situation and discussed the strengthening of air defense of Odesa region

President of Ukraine

6 March 2024 - 18:29

In Odesa, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is on a visit to our country, heard information from representatives of the military command on repelling Russia's full-scale invasion and building the capabilities of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

The special briefing was attended by Commander of the Ukrainian Navy Oleksiy Neizhpapa, Commander of the Air Force Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of the Odesa operational and strategic grouping of troops Mykhailo Drapatyi, and Commander of the Marine Corps grouping Andriy Hnatov.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kyriakos Mitsotakis were briefed on the current security situation in Odesa region and the southern section of the frontline, as well as on measures to counter the Russian fleet.

Separately, the military command spoke about ensuring the operation of the "grain corridor" and Ukraine's support for global food security despite all Russia's attempts to block shipping in the Black Sea.

The President of Ukraine and the Prime Minister of Greece also heard information about the consequences of Russia's air strikes on Ukrainian settlements and critical infrastructure.

The Ukrainian side conveyed information on the need to bolster air defense to protect the skies, particularly in Odesa region.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






In the port of Odesa, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kyriakos Mitsotakis inspected the functioning of the "grain corridor"

President of Ukraine

6 March 2024 - 18:17

During their visit to the Odesa Commercial Sea Port, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis inspected the functioning of the "grain corridor" in the Black Sea.

The leaders arrived at the port of Odesa, which has been repeatedly attacked by Russian missiles and drones.

According to Commander of the Ukrainian Navy Oleksiy Neizhpapa, since July 2023, the enemy has used more than 880 kamikaze drones and over 170 missiles against the port infrastructure of Odesa region.

The Vice Admiral emphasized that the Ukrainian Defense Forces forced Russian ships to leave the northwestern part of the sea. In addition, thanks to the actions of the Air Force, since December 2023, the aggressor has suspended remote mining of approach channels to Ukrainian ports from aircraft.

The President of Ukraine emphasized that the constant restoration of port infrastructure, which is subject to systematic attacks, is a rather difficult task, so it is very important to strengthen its protection.

"The number one issue is, of course, air defense, which is necessary to protect people and port infrastructure," Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.

The Head of State and the Prime Minister of Greece were briefed on the functioning of the "grain corridor" created by Ukraine in August 2023 after Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 17 last year.

Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine and Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, said that the new corridor has enabled the export of nearly 28 million tons of grain and other goods to at least 38 countries in seven months. Moreover, in December-February, the volume of goods shipped in the ports of Odesa agglomeration increased significantly.

For comparison, during the Black Sea Grain Initiative, before Russia withdrew from it, 32.8 million tons of agricultural and other products were exported from Ukrainian ports in almost a year.

"Currently, we have two caravans entering and leaving during the day. For example, today it will be 22 vessels. We had a maximum of 47 vessels, and we started with three to five," said Navy Commander Oleksiy Neizhpapa.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






President of Ukraine: I would like to thank Greece for its willingness to participate in the restoration of our cultural heritage, particularly in Odesa

President of Ukraine

6 March 2024 - 17:48

During a meeting in Odesa with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed assistance in restoring civilian infrastructure, including churches, educational institutions, and cultural heritage sites destroyed by Russian attacks.

"The vast majority of Russia's targets are ordinary civilian facilities. Houses and churches, infrastructure and schools, universities - all of this needs to be restored. And today we talked about this with the Prime Minister. And we invite Greece and Greek companies to the relevant work," the Head of State said during a conversation with media representatives in Odesa following the negotiations with Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The President is convinced that such cooperation will provide both countries with new economic and social opportunities and create jobs.

"I would like to thank Greece today for its willingness to participate in the restoration of our cultural heritage, particularly in Odesa, which has such a strong connection with Greek history and culture. We cannot allow Putin's hatred to destroy all this - our Odesa, our country, our Europe," Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.

The Head of State said that over the past night and within Odesa region alone, Ukraine's air defense forces shot down 20 "Shahed" drones, and in total, over 30 drones were shot down throughout the country overnight.

"Unfortunately, not all of them were shot down - there were some hits. This morning, another strike was launched against Odesa. And this is the real essence of Russia's actions: constant terror. And every downed "Shahed" drone, every downed Russian missile, every downed Russian military aircraft means saved lives, saved homes, saved infrastructure. That is why Ukraine needs help with air defense and other weapons," the President noted.

In addition, the Head of State said that Ukraine and Greece had started preparing a bilateral agreement on future security commitments in the framework of the G7 Joint Declaration.

"I hope that our teams will soon prepare an agreement for signing. We need to set out in it the level of cooperation and support we have achieved for this year and for the following years, as long-term cooperation yields the best results," he emphasized.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had confirmed his participation in the first Peace Summit on the implementation of the Peace Formula to be held in Switzerland.

The parties also discussed strengthening sanctions against Russia and its representatives, supporting the work of the International Criminal Court, and countering Russian disinformation.

For his part, the Greek Prime Minister expressed his condolences over the casualties caused by the Russian shelling of Odesa on March 2.

"This level of cruelty against civilians is deeply disturbing and outrageous. Today, as I was visiting Odesa, I was amazed because, on the one hand, it is a horrific picture of the destruction caused by Russia's attacks, and on the other hand, it is the resilience and courage of the Ukrainian people," he said.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis noted that Odesa is home to the Greek diaspora, whose representatives he had the opportunity to meet. The Greek Prime Minister added that the city is now an example of resistance to the Russian invasion and occupation.

"My presence here reflects the respect that the entire free world has for your heroic people, and at the same time emphasizes Greece's duty to stand by Ukraine, to support the commitment to defend your land, sovereignty and dignity of millions of citizens. Violence cannot violate international law, internationally recognized borders and territorial integrity," Kyriakos Mitsotakis emphasized.

According to the Prime Minister, a conference on Ukraine's recovery was held in Athens together with the European Investment Bank, which was attended by dozens of companies, and Greek ports have become important hubs for the transportation of goods for Ukraine.

"And, of course, Odesa region is the region where we primarily want to focus Greek recovery programs. We support your country's European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations, believing that Ukraine's accession conditions will benefit all Ukrainians. This is proven by the experience of all EU members. Therefore, your movement towards the European structures should be accelerated," Kyriakos Mitsotakis summarized.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






In Odesa, the President of Ukraine and the Prime Minister of Greece paid tribute to the victims of the Russian drone strike on a residential building

President of Ukraine

6 March 2024 - 16:51

During a working trip to Odesa region, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis honored the memory of Odesa residents killed on March 2 as a result of a Shahed UAV hitting a nine-story residential building.

On the night of March 2, another attack by the Russian Federation using kamikaze drones on the city of Odesa completely destroyed 18 apartments and damaged 36 apartments in a high-rise building at 134 Dobrovolskoho Avenue, killing 12 people, including five children. Another nine people were injured. The search and rescue operation was completed on March 3, with five people rescued.

The President of Ukraine spoke with the residents of the damaged nine-story building and neighboring houses. The people told Volodymyr Zelenskyy about their experiences during the enemy attack and thanked all the services and local authorities who rescued people and are now providing the necessary assistance.

The Head of State expressed deep condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the Russian attack and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

"We understand that this is an enormous pain, especially for those who have lost loved ones," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

According to him, all the relevant services fulfilled their duties, helping and fighting for the lives of our people.

The President emphasized the importance of providing everything necessary for those who lost their homes.

"As for the apartments and the loss of documents, the authorities will definitely help with this. Everyone will receive compensation for the destroyed housing. City and central authorities will take this issue under control," the Head of State noted.

The destroyed section cannot be restored and must be dismantled with further fortification of the supporting structures of the rest of the building. The owners of 12 destroyed apartments have applied for compensation under the eRecovery program, and six are in the process of applying and collecting documents.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Andriy Yermak met with Sanna Marin

President of Ukraine

6 March 2024 - 12:48

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak met with former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who is a member of the International Working Group on Security and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine.

The meeting was also attended by advisors to the Head of the President's Office Dariia Zarivna and Oleksandr Bevz.

Andriy Yermak thanked Sanna Marin for her efforts to support Ukraine, in particular within the International Working Group and the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, with a delegation of which she arrived on a visit to Ukraine.

"You know that in Ukraine you are highly esteemed for what you do for our country. And we are always happy to welcome you," he said.

The Head of the Office of the President informed the interlocutor about the situation at the front and Russia's recent attack on apartment buildings in Odesa with the use of Shahed drones, which killed 12 people, including five children.

He emphasized the importance of continued support for Ukraine from its partners, including financial, defense, and political support. The support of each of the world leaders is important, said Andriy Yermak.

He also noted Sanna Marin's joining the International Working Group on Security and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine.

"It is very important that you have joined this group. We expect it to deliver great results for Ukraine and the entire collective security of the Euro-Atlantic region," the Head of the Presidential Office said.

Andriy Yermak expressed his belief that Ukraine's invitation to join the Alliance will not lead to escalation, but rather will be a testament to the strength of Western democracies.

The Head of the President's Office also informed Sanna Marin about the preparation of the first Global Peace Summit in Switzerland and cooperation in this regard with key partners and countries of the Global South. The parties also discussed nuclear safety issues.

Sanna Marin, for her part, noted that apart from cooperation with the International Security Group, she and representatives of the Tony Blair Institute assist Ukraine in EU integration. According to the former Finnish Prime Minister, she will meet with representatives of the Ukrainian government and visit a number of facilities to this end.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Explosion Reverberates Through Odesa as Greek Prime Minister Visits With Zelenskyy

By VOA News March 06, 2024

The sound of a large explosion reverberated through Odesa on Wednesday, just as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis were ending a tour of the war-ravaged southern city.

The Greek leader said officials were getting into their vehicles when they heard the blast, which he said was a "vivid reminder" that Odesa is gripped by the war with Russia.

Mitsotakis said it was one thing to hear about the war and "quite another to experience war firsthand."

Zelenskyy said the explosion killed an unknown number of people and wounded more. "You see who we're dealing with. They don't care where to hit," he told reporters.

Russian officials made no immediate comment.

Zelenskyy has regularly visited cities and military units on the front line during the war, always in secrecy until after he has left. Foreign leaders have made numerous trips to Ukraine, often to the capital of Kyiv, and they occasionally have had to take refuge in shelters when air raid sirens have sounded.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, on the X social media platform, condemned what she called the "vile attack" during the Greek leader's visit. She called it a "new attempt at terror" by Russia.

Russian drone attacks

Zelenskyy showed Mitsotakis the destruction in Odesa, where the most recent major Russian attack killed 12 people a including five children a when debris from a Russian drone hit an apartment block on March 2.

Ukraine said Wednesday that it shot down 38 of the 42 drones that targeted eight Ukrainian regions, as well as destroying five Russian missiles.

Ukraine's prosecutor general said seven people in Sumy were injured in one of the drone attacks. The intercepts took place over the Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia and Sumy regions, the air force said.

Serhiy Lysak, the regional governor in Dnipropetrovsk, reported damage to a power line but said no one was hurt.

Ukrainian drone attacks

Russian officials said two Ukrainian drones attacked fuel facilities at one of Russia's largest iron ore plants Wednesday.

Roman Staravoit, governor of the Kursk region, said the attack happened at the Mikhailovsky GOK iron ore plant, causing a fire but no injuries.

Russia's defense ministry said Wednesday it thwarted two Ukrainian drone attacks over the Voronezh region, and another over the Belgorod region in western Russia.

The Kremlin on Wednesday rejected the International Criminal Court's announcement of arrest warrants issued for two high-ranking Russian commanders wanted for suspected war crimes including directing attacks against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

"We don't recognize this," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

The warrants were issued for Lt. Gen. Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash, who commanded Russia's Long-Range Aviation of the Aerospace Force, and Navy Adm. Viktor Kinolayevich Sokolov, who commanded Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

"I have repeatedly emphasized that those responsible for actions that impact innocent civilians or protected objects must know that this conduct is bound by a set of rules reflected in international humanitarian law," ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement. "All wars have rules. Those rules bind all without exception."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the development and expressed his thanks in his nightly address to "all the officials who are investigating Russian war crimes."

"Every Russian commander who orders strikes against Ukrainian civilians and critical infrastructure must know that justice will be served. Every perpetrator of such crimes must know that they will be held accountable," Zelenskyy wrote on X.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Q&A: White House Will Persist in Bid for Ukraine Aid, Kirby Says

By Iuliia Iarmolenko March 06, 2024

The Biden administration is looking at options to support Ukraine amid House Republicans' continued obstruction of a Senate-approved $95 billion foreign aid package that includes $61 billion to support Kyiv in its fight against Russia.

In a Wednesday interview with VOA, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said President Joe Biden plans to use Thursday's State of the Union address to emphasize the importance of continued support for Ukraine and highlight his administration's success in "restoring American leadership."

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

VOA: How will the president use this opportunity to convince lawmakers and House Speaker Mike Johnson of the urgent need for military support for Ukraine?

John Kirby, White House National Security Communications Adviser: I don't want to get ahead of the president's speech. Of course, he's very much looking forward to the opportunity to talk to the American people, to the Congress, and actually, quite frankly, the world about all the incredible things that he has accomplished in these three and a half years as the president of the United States. From the economy to education, to health care, to employment, as well as on the world stage, and really restoring American leadership on the world stage.

Here's what American leadership buys you. It buys you convening power. It buys you enormous capability. And it certainly buys you an effort to influence and affect the decision-making and the actions of other leaders around the world, particularly adversaries, in ways that are more in keeping with our national security interests. And supporting Ukraine is certainly first and foremost. That's about helping Ukrainian soldiers succeed in these fights against Russian aggression, but it's also a benefit to our national security because the landscape on the European continent has changed. And if we just walk away and let [Russian President Vladimir] Putin have Ukraine, which is what he still wants, then he's right up against the doorstop of NATO.

VOA: Ukraine is rationing munitions and losing territory in part because of the lack of American support. Do you still see a path forward with the supplemental package or should Ukrainians be preparing themselves for the reality where there is no American assistance?

Kirby: We're going to keep working with Congress to see if we can get that supplemental passed. It's that important. We are also working with allies and partners about contributions that they might be able to make, not that they aren't already making them a they are. But [we're] seeing what more could maybe be done. And of course, we're looking inside our own system, inside our own government, and across the administration to see if there's anything else that we might be able to do to support Ukraine. But we've got nothing. None of those efforts are going to be able to replace the volume, the scale that the supplemental would provide us.

VOA: But there might be a Plan B?

Kirby: We have never not looked at what other opportunities we might have before us. But whatever they are, they're not going to be as good as the supplemental. There's no replacing the supplemental. As I've said many times, it's not like there's some magical source out there that can do what the supplemental can do. But are we looking at options? We absolutely are. We have to, given the situation on the ground a particularly in the east.

VOA: But do you still believe the supplemental may pass?

Kirby: It's difficult to say with any certainty. That's really going to be up to Speaker Johnson. We know a and Speaker Johnson knows a that if you put that to the floor, it'll pass. There's plenty of bipartisan support for that; both sides of the aisle in the House. No question about that. The question is really: Will he put it to the floor? And only he can answer that question.

VOA: Six countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Germany, Denmark and France, recently signed bilateral security agreements with Kyiv that are meant to give Ukraine security reassurance before Ukraine joins NATO. Should we expect such an agreement between the United States and Ukraine soon?

Kirby: We have long been working with the Ukrainians, obviously making sure that they have what they need in this war, talking to them about what they're going to need whenever the war ends, because whenever and however the war ends, they're still going to have a long border with Russia that they're going to need to safeguard. So, yes, the United States is talking to our Ukrainian counterparts about what more we can do over the long term to help make sure that they can defend their own national security interests and [those of] the Ukrainian people. I don't have anything to announce or speak to right now, but these are conversations we're having with the Ukrainians.

VOA: More on the State of the Union: How will the president address the worsening situation in Gaza and U.S. strategic competition with China?

Kirby: Again, I'm not going to get ahead of the president's speech, but I would point you to the things that he has said before. On Israel: How important it is to make sure Israel can defend itself against the still viable threat by Hamas, making sure that more humanitarian assistance gets in [to Gaza, and] making sure we get the hostages out. Trying to get this new hostage deal in place so that we can get a six-week temporary cease-fire to reduce the suffering on the ground and again try to find ways to help alleviate suffering of the Palestinian people.

And on China, as you know, the president wrapped up not too long ago a meeting with President Xi [Jinping] in San Francisco. Good, constructive dialogue. We're not going to agree with China on everything, but the president believes strongly that this is the most consequential bilateral relationship in the world, and it's incumbent upon both of us as two major powers a and both of them as two major leaders a to handle that relationship in a responsible way.

VOA: The president warned of a "dangerous" situation if there is no cease-fire by Ramadan. What did he mean by that? Is he warning of more bloodshed and potential regional spillover?

Kirby: He's referring to the fact that Ramadan is obviously the holiest time of the year for Muslims and it's also a sensitive time, particularly in the Middle East, where actions take on an even larger meaning and can have an outsized impact. And so, we all want this temporary cease-fire in place as soon as possible. We obviously would have preferred to have it in place already. It's not, we're still working at that. But we recognize that as you get closer to Ramadan, whatever actions get taken is done in the context of this holiest of time for Muslims around the world.

VOA: Both the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, and the widow of a deceased Russian opposition leader Yulia Navalnaya declined the invitation to attend Biden's State of the Union address. What message was the administration trying to convey by inviting them both?

Kirby: We certainly respect their desires in terms of not attending, but obviously Ukraine is such a key partner here. And they have been fighting bravely now for a little bit over two years. And, certainly, this was an opportunity to recognize America's commitment to Ukraine, and to the fighting, the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people.

Again, we all mourned the passing of Alexey Navalny, and we all recognize his courage, his bravery, and we all of course continue to hold the Kremlin accountable for what happened to him. The president had a chance to meet with his wife and his sister to express his personal condolences and the condolences of the entire American people

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






The U.S. embassy advises spring breakers to use caution when traveling to popular hot spots in Mexico during spring 2024. courtneyk/Getty Images

Spring break officially kicks off next week, and the U.S. embassy has issued travel advisors for Mexico following last month's advisories for the Bahamans and Jamaica in response to high crime, kidnapping and homicide rates.

The embassy recommends travelers to maintain a high level of awareness for violent crimes especially for the popular destinations of Cancun, Playa Del Carmen and Tulum, with an added emphasis of heightened awareness after dark. Baja California and Jalisco states should both be avoided due to high crime and widespread kidnapping, according to the U.S. embassy.

The advisory warns against buying illicit drugs while in Mexico for the reason of counterfeit altered drugs including any pharmaceuticals.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In addition to the Mexico travel advisories the Bahamas and Jamaica were also put on high alert in late January and is still active.

The Bahamas travel advisory is at level 2, stating exercise increased caution, and the advisory for Jamaica is more severe at level 3, advising travelers to reconsider travel.

The heightened crime concerns in the Bahamas include New Providence, known as Nassau, and the Grand Bahama or Freeport Islands. These areas are where gang-on-gang violence has resulted in a high homicide rate primarily affecting the local population, a portion of the advisory reads.

Violent crimes, such as burglaries, armed robberies, and sexual assaults, are reported to occur in both tourist and non-tourist areas, urging Americans to stay vigilant when staying at short-term vacation rental properties where private security companies do not have a presence.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In Jamaica, reconsidering travel is advised also due to crime and the lack of medical services. Violent crimes, such as home invasions, armed robberies, sexual assaults and homicides are common, the advisory reads, adding that sexual assaults occur frequently, including at all-inclusive resorts.

The homicide rate reported by the Government of Jamaica has for several years been among the highest in the Western Hemisphere, the advisory said, and local police and ambulance services often do not respond effectively to serious criminal incidents or emergencies if and when they occur.

Emergency services and hospital care in Jamaica are compromised and understaffed with a lack of resources, the advisory said. In addition, private hospitals require payment upfront before admitting patients and may be unable to provide specialized care.

Both advisories urge Americans to follow precautions when traveling to these areas, such as not answering the door while staying at a hotel unless sure of who is there on the other side of the door, not physically resisting any robbery attempt and enrolling in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program to receive alerts and help U.S. officials locate travelers in an emergency.
Around the world, 64% support banning air travel where high speed rail alternative exists and 56% support air taxes to fund new high speed rail lines



New Hitachi Rail commissioned survey of 12,000 people in 12 global cities also finds over one-third of people expect to travel more by train in next five years

Within cities, 72% would use public transport more if it was better connected, with shorter journey times the biggest factor for growing usage globally.

LONDON, March 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Two-thirds (64%) of people around the world back banning air travel where high speed rail alternatives exist, according to a major report commissioned by Hitachi Rail.

The survey, carried out by SavantaComres, collected data from 12,000 people in 12 different cities around the world: Berlin, Copenhagen, Dubai, London, Milan, Paris, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, Toronto, Warsaw and, Washington D.C. This is the second year in a row that Hitachi Rail has commissioned such research.

The study offers policymakers, operators and transport planners, powerful insights into what motivates a persons transport decisions within and between cities.

Growing demand for green long-distance travel

Globally, peoples default choices for long distance travel (2.5 hours or more) is made up of 46% choosing to drive, 34% traveling by train and 16% flying. How people travel is not set in stone though and respondents believe that their travel habits will change in the next five years. Globally, over one-third (35%) expect to travel more by train, while 6% believe they will travel more by plane and 17% by car. When it comes to questions around funding more green travel, 56% support raising air taxes to finance new high speed rail, with only one third against the idea.

Growing green long-distance public transport usage is critical to hitting carbon emission reduction targets and meeting global Net Zero requirements, and the research highlights how to achieve this modal shift. Of the respondents whose default long-distance travel mode was car or plane, 63% would switch to traveling by train if it was an hour quicker and 75% would switch to traveling by train if it was cheaper.

While sustainability factors may not drive how people travel  only an important factor to 14%  the research does show that respondents back green legislative interventions. A significant majority (64%) of respondents stated they would support banning short-haul flights where high-speed rail alternatives exist. With governments increasingly exploring legislative interventions to encourage green travel, it is notable that respondents in France  where a similar policy was enacted last year  were the most supportive of this proposal (75%) out of anywhere globally.

Growing Urban public transport

When travelling within cities, driving remains the most likely mode of transport for the majority of people, but other modes of transport are increasingly important, with train and bus ridership increasing by around one-third over the past year as part of a post-Covid revival. For commuters, 60% of journeys involve a car, and 60% involve another mode of transport.

So, what barriers need to be circumnavigated to boost public transport usage? Crowding remains the single biggest barrier to people using public transport,(49%, up 1% from last years research); however, one of the issues associated with crowding  Covid-19 concerns  is no longer perceived as a major barrier (falling from 42% to 16%). In this context, 78% would be more likely to use public transport if they could avoid crowding. Interestingly, this factor becomes consistently less relevant with age (84% for 18-24yr olds versus 63% for 65+ age bracket).

There is also a demand to use public transport more in the future, with 72% saying they would be more likely to use public transport if it was better connected. This support ranges from as high as 87% in Dubai and 85% in Milan and Warsaw, to lower levels in Washington D.C. (56%) and Copenhagen (57%). Globally, almost half (49%) would still support the idea of a better connected public transport system even if it were more expensive.

Giuseppe Marino, CEO of Hitachi Rail, said: Policy makers and transport operators must take note of the high demand for better connected public transport. Almost two-thirds of people are prepared to see short haul flights banned where high speed rail alternatives exist, and 56% of people also back increased air taxes to fund high speed rail.

Our new research shows that there is a genuine demand for more green travel. Over one-third of people expect to travel more by train in the next five years and 72% would use better connected urban transport even more. The challenge now as an industry is to continue to grow seamless and sustainable rail travel at pace to meet this global demand.

Hitachi Rail is helping to deliver seamless, sustainable transport within and between cities around the world. The company is an expert in every part of the railway. It is able to use its manufacturing and digital signalling expertise to deliver urban transport solutions such as its cutting-edge autonomous metros in Milan and Copenhagen. The company pioneers high-speed solutions such as the iconic Shinkansen Bullet train in Japan and the ETR1000, which is providing seamless, sustainable travel for passengers across Italy, Spain and France.

An in-depth overview and analysis of the data can be found here.

Notes to Editors

The fieldwork for the survey was conducted by Savanta ComRes in December 2023

Sample of approx 1000 people were surveyed in each of the following: London, Berlin, Milan, Dublin, Warsaw, Washington, San Francisco, Toronto, Paris, Singapore, Sydney, Copenhagen.

Long-distance travel was defined as any journey of at least 2.5 hours

Hitachi Rails full report can be downloaded here: https://www.hitachirail.com/better-connected/



About Hitachi Rail:

Hitachi Rail is connecting the future of mobility - helping every passenger, customer and community enjoy the benefits of more seamless, sustainable transport.

With innovative technology and world-leading delivery capabilities, Hitachi Rail is a trusted partner to customers and consortia partners globally. The company is an expert in every part of the railway: from train manufacturing and maintenance to digital signalling and smart mobility. Its pioneering products, such as the iconic high speed bullet train, enable billions of passenger journeys and the transport of millions of tonnes of freight, every year.

Drawing on the powerful expertise of the wider Hitachi group companies, Hitachi Rail is uniquely placed to further enhance its offer to customers through pioneering new digital solutions and services.

In FY22, Hitachi Rail had revenues of over 5bn. The company has almost 15,000 employees in 38 countries, and it invests in its diverse and talented teams.

Hitachi Rails business is local, but its reach is global. With deep roots in its communities, the company is committed to delivering sustainable progress for all.

Find out about more by visiting hitachirail.com .

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/090644ec-8bd0-4006-9796-6888fb0d831d
NEW YORK, March 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Monteverde & Associates PC (the M&A Class Action Firm), has recovered money for shareholders and is recognized as a Top 50 Firm in the 2018-2022 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report. We are headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City and are now investigating:

Battalion Oil Corp. (NYSE: BATL ) , relating to its proposed sale to Fury Resources, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, BATL shareholders are expected to receive $9.80 in cash per share they own. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/battalion-oil-corp . It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.



, relating to its proposed sale to Fury Resources, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, BATL shareholders are expected to receive $9.80 in cash per share they own. M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MDC ) , relating to its proposed sale to Sekisui House, Ltd. Under the terms of the agreement, MDC shareholders are expected to receive $63.00 in cash per share they own. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/mdc-holdings-inc . It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.



, relating to its proposed sale to Sekisui House, Ltd. Under the terms of the agreement, MDC shareholders are expected to receive $63.00 in cash per share they own. Kinnate Biopharma Inc. (Nasdaq: KNTE ), relating to its proposed sale to XOMA Corp. Under the terms of the agreement, KNTE shareholders are expected to receive $2.3352 in cash plus an additional cash amount not exceeding $0.2527 per share they own. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/kinnate-biopharma-inc . It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.



relating to its proposed sale to XOMA Corp. Under the terms of the agreement, KNTE shareholders are expected to receive $2.3352 in cash plus an additional cash amount not exceeding $0.2527 per share they own. Inhibrx, Inc. (Nasdaq: INBX ), relating to its proposed sale to Sanofi. Under the terms of the agreement, INBX shareholders are expected to receive $30.00 in cash and 0.25 shares of the newly combined company per share they own. Shareholders may also receive a plus one CVR worth up to $5.00 in cash contingent upon certain milestones. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/inhibrx-inc . It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.



Before you hire a law firm, you should talk to a lawyer and ask:

Do you recover money for shareholders? Do you litigate and go to Court? Do you even go to the office and wear a suit?



About Monteverde & Associates PC

Our firm litigates and has recovered money for shareholdersand we do it from our offices in the Empire State Building. We are a national class action securities firm with a successful track record in trial and appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

No company, director or officer is above the law. If you own common stock in any of the above listed companies and have concerns or wish to obtain additional information free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at jmonteverde@monteverdelaw.com or by telephone at (212) 971-1341.

Contact:

Juan Monteverde, Esq.

MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC

The Empire State Building

350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4740

New York, NY 10118

United States of America

jmonteverde@monteverdelaw.com

Tel: (212) 971-1341
SEOUL, KOREA, March 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NACIFIC, the K-beauty brand, has revealed an eagerly awaited NACIFIC Office event featuring brand ambassadors ATEEZ's exclusive photocards set and office IDs on March 12th.





The event will be held exclusively through the online NACIFIC official shops (Shopee, Amazon, Lazada, Walmart, etc.). Selfie photocards set and Office ID cards set of ATEEZ will be given with the Brightening Premium Set. Each photocard features 8 members of ATEEZ's selfies with handwritten messages on the backside of each card. Moreover, the Office ID cards are crafted from PVC material, mirroring the authenticity of real employee identification cards, adding an extra layer of uniqueness.

The Brightening Premium Set comprises skincare products from NACIFIC's best-selling Phyto Niacin Brightening series, including toner, essence, sleeping mask, sheet mask pack, and All-Kill Bubble Cleansing Pack. The series is enriched with niacinamide, renowned for its exceptional brightening benefits, aiding in achieving a radiant, hydrated complexion both externally and internally.

A NACIFIC representative expressed, "We aspire to support customers in nurturing healthy skin conditions amidst the dryness and sensitivity often experienced during seasonal transitions, using our beloved Phyto Niacin Brightening series."

Meanwhile, ATEEZ continues to make strides as a prominent K-pop group, with their latest Japanese single album released on February 28th claiming the top position on the Oricon daily chart.

Media Contact

Brand: NACIFIC

Email: b2c@abillkorea.com

HK: https://www.hktvmall.com/hktv/zh/main/nacifichk/s/U0005001

SG: https://shopee.sg/nacific.sg

PH: https://shopee.ph/nacificofficial.ph

MY: https://shopee.com.my/nacific.os

TW: https://shopee.tw/nacific_official.tw

MX: https://shopee.com.mx/nacificofficial.mx

TH: https://www.lazada.co.th/shop/nacific-official-store/

BR: https://shopee.com.br/nacificofficial.br

SOURCE: NACIFIC
Papendrecht, 07 March 2024

KEY FIGURES 2023

Revenue: EUR 4.28 billion

(2022: EUR 3.58 billion)

EBITDA: EUR 1,016 million

(2022: EUR 604 million)

Net profit: EUR 601 million

(2022: EUR 241 million)

Order book: EUR 6.01 billion

(2022: EUR 6.11 billion)

Royal Boskalis B.V. (Boskalis) has concluded a historic 2023. Both revenue and earnings reached a record level with all parts of the business contributing to these impressive figures.

Revenue increased by 20% to EUR 4.28 billion (2022: EUR 3.58 billion).

EBITDA increased 68% to EUR 1,016 million (2022: EUR 604 million) and EBIT increased 135% to EUR 701 million (2022: EUR 298 million).

Net profit increased by nearly 150% to EUR 601 million from EUR 241 million in 2022.

Peter Berdowski, CEO Boskalis:

2023 was a particularly successful year for Boskalis, in which we broke many records. Net profit rose by almost one hundred and fifty percent to a record high of over EUR 600 million and EBITDA to over one billion euros. It is great to see that all parts of the business contributed to these impressive figures. All our employees deserve a big compliment for the dedication, professionalism and teamwork with which we were able to achieve these successes.

At Dredging & Inland Infra, the vessels were very well occupied on large projects in the Middle East, Far East and Europe. We worked hard on the development of innovative infrastructure, such as the Fehmarnbelt tunnel in Denmark and Manila International Airport. We were also busy with various climate adaptation projects, such as the protection of a stretch of coast of Togo and Benin and closer to home, the reinforcement of the Markermeer dike north of Amsterdam. Climate adaptive measures received a lot of attention during COP28 in Dubai. With our coastal defense and riverbank protection activities, we offer innovative solutions to protect against the effects of climate change. The requirement for such measures became apparent late 2023 when large parts of Europe were under threat of flooding due to extreme weather.

With our Offshore Energy activities, we once again made a significant contribution to the energy transition. In 2023, we were involved in the construction of 29 offshore wind farms worldwide, accounting for 50% of our offshore revenue. We completed our first wind project in the United States and were busy with several wind projects in Taiwan and Europe. Our heavy transport vessels were involved in a large number of high-profile transports in 2023. Very recently, we acquired ALP Maritime. With this acquisition, we strengthened our position in the Anchor Handling Tugs (AHTs) market and added eight powerful vessels to our fleet. Finally, our previous additions to the group  Subsea Services and Marine Survey  again contributed strongly to the successful year.

Salvage once again managed to attract international media attention with the successful removal of 1.1 million barrels of oil from the 48-year-old FSO Safer in the Red Sea off Yemen. We are pleased that this operation was completed in time, before turmoil broke out in the region.

With pride we look back, and with confidence we look forward. We reaped the benefits of our Sustainable Growth strategy and 2024 also seems to promise a fine harvest. The order book is well filled and the market outlook is also good. We will continue on our successful path of creating innovative infrastructure, protecting through climate adaptation and advancing the energy transition.

DIVISIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

In the Dredging & Inland Infra segment, revenue was almost stable with a strong operational result. Both trailing suction hopper dredgers and cutter suction dredgers were very well utilized at over 40 weeks. Last year Boskalis projects included the construction of the new Manila airport in the Philippines, the innovative polder (Pulau Tekong) and port expansion (Tuas Terminal 2) in Singapore and a new port for a futuristic sustainable city in Saudi Arabia.

Last year, Boskalis was also active internationally in providing climate adaptation solutions (coastal defenses, dikes and rivers) with which we protect against the effects of climate change. In the Netherlands, Boskalis was active on a large number of projects such as the ongoing multi-year project to strengthen the Markermeer dike north of Amsterdam, and in West Africa part of the eroded coastline of Togo and Benin was restored and strengthened as part of the West African Coastal Areas Management program.

At Offshore Energy, revenue increased 41% with a very strong operational result. All business units contributed to these particularly strong financial figures, with the largest absolute increase coming from the offshore wind business. Last year, half of the divisional revenue came from offshore wind and Boskalis was active on 29 offshore wind projects during the year, including sizable installation projects in Taiwan, Europe and the United States.

Our Marine Transport & Services business unit carried out some high-profile projects with its heavy transport vessels, such as the transportation of the heavily damaged 330-meter FPU Zafiro Producer on the BOKA Vanguard to a scrapyard in cooperation with Salvage. The most recent additions to the group  Subsea Services and Marine Survey  again made very strong contributions. Across the board, the division was able to successfully respond to strong market demand from both the offshore wind and traditional oil and gas markets.

Salvage had a busy and good year with numerous high-profile projects, including the FSO Safer oil removal project in Yemen, where 180 million liters of oil were removed from this old and decaying tanker. And last summer Boskalis successfully managed to save the Dutch Wadden Islands from a potentially major environmental disaster by successfully extinguishing and salvaging the burning car carrier Fremantle Highway.

FINANCIAL POSITION

Boskalis financial position is healthy. With a cash position of EUR 769 million and only EUR 246 million in debt, Boskalis has a financial net cash position of EUR 523 million. With the available cash and cash equivalents and (unused) bank facilities, Boskalis has an immediately available financing capacity of more than EUR 1.0 billion. The solid solvency increased to 52.4% and Boskalis comfortably meets its financial covenants.

The size of the order book amounts to EUR 6.0 billion. With the well-filled order book and favorable market outlook, we are positive about the outlook for 2024.

SAFETY & PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENTS

Safety is a top priority at Boskalis. With the help of our NINA (No Injuries, No Accidents) safety program, everything is aimed at ensuring that our employees and subcontractor personnel return home safely every working day.

Last year a great deal of attention was paid to the Human Excellence strategic pillar. Besides personal development of our employees, recruiting well-trained personnel is an important part of this pillar. As an extension to the head office in the Netherlands and to accommodate our growth ambitions, a new office is being developed in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Already, nearly 300 colleagues of 20 different nationalities work here and the size of the office is expected to double in the coming years.

INNOVATION

In addition to our craftsmanship and years of experience, our innovative strength is an important distinguishing factor. This concerns both innovative modifications to our existing equipment, the design of and investment in new fuel-efficient equipment, alternative contract structures we enter into with our clients and the pioneering working methods we develop on projects. Where we are always looking for opportunities to grow and create sustainable value, we also seize opportunities to reduce our impact on the environment. For example, in October 2023, we announced the order for a new state-of-the-art trailing suction hopper dredger that will be equipped to run on methanol. In addition, over the past year we have equipped a number of offshore vessels with innovative energy storage systems, reducing fuel consumption as well as CO2 and nitrogen emissions.

ROAD TO NET ZERO

In 2023, we made good progress in our efforts to reduce carbon emissions and completed a study on how to measure and monitor our road to net zero by 2050 progress. We support the International Maritime Organizations (IMO) transition path to net-zero 2050 established in July 2023. As part of this path, there is a medium-term ambition for the maritime sector to reduce carbon intensity. In line with this path, we aim for a 10% reduction in carbon intensity in 2030 compared to 2023. We intend to achieve this partly through energy efficiency measures and partly through the use of renewable fuels. Using our carbon intensity ratio indicator, we monitor progress against our ambition and are able to track the energy efficiency of our fleet on a vessel-by-vessel level.



Annual Review and Sustainability Report

Additional information is available in the Annual Review 2023 and Sustainability Report 2023 on https://boskalis.com/reports.



KEY FIGURES 2023 2022 (in EUR million) Revenue 4,283 3,578 EBITDA 1,016 604 Net result from JVs and associates 11 21 Operating result 627 271 Exceptional items (charges/income) 74 26 EBIT 701 298 Net profit 601 241 End 2023 End 2022 Net financial position incl lease liabilities: cash (debt) 523 237 Solvency 52.4% 48.6% Order book 6,007 6,107

Definitions: EBITDA is EBIT before depreciation, amortization, impairment and other exceptional charges; Operating result is EBIT adjusted for exceptional items. EBIT(DA) and operating result include our share in the net result of joint ventures and associates.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Martijn L.D. Schuttevaer

press@boskalis.com

T +31 786969310

This is an English translation of the Dutch press release. In the event of any disparity between the Dutch original and this translation, the Dutch text will prevail.

Boskalis is a leading global services provider operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors. The company provides creative and innovative all-round solutions to infrastructural challenges in the maritime, coastal and delta regions of the world. With core activities such as coastal defense, riverbank protection and land reclamation Boskalis is able to provide adaptive and mitigating solutions to combat the effects of climate change, such as extreme weather conditions and rising sea levels, as well as delivering solutions for the increasing need for space in coastal and delta regions across the world. The company facilitates the development of offshore energy infrastructure, including renewable wind energy. Boskalis is furthermore active in the construction and maintenance of ports, waterways, access channels and civil infrastructure, thus helping to facilitate trade flows and regional socio-economic development. In addition, Boskalis is a global marine salvage expert and has a strategic partnership in terminal services (Smit Lamnalco). With a versatile fleet of more than 600 vessels and floating equipment and approximately 10,000 employees, including associates, Boskalis is creating new horizons around the world.

This press release can also be found on our website www.boskalis.com.

Attachments
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a monumental achievement for the nation, two Malaysian hospitals have been recognised in the highly respected Newsweek & Statista's World's Best Hospitals 2024. This marks Malaysia's first-ever inclusion, signifying a pivotal moment in its journey towards becoming a global leader in medical tourism.



The listed hospitals, Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur and Sunway Medical Centre are esteemed members of the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), demonstrating the hospitals firm commitment to elevating the quality of healthcare and attracting international patients by providing exceptional care and world-class facilities to patients from around the world.

Over 80,000 medical professionals, including doctors, hospital managers, and healthcare experts from 30 countries, participated in the survey. The rigorous evaluation process involved recommendations based on expertise, experience, peer recognition, patient outcomes, hygiene, patient safety, and advanced medical technology. This inclusion in the World's Best Hospitals Survey underscores the exceptional standards of Malaysian healthcare institutions and their growing reputation amongst the global medical community.

In addition, MHTC is also proud to announce that 20 out of 30 hospitals that made it into the Worlds Best Hospitals 2024 (Malaysia) list are MHTCs members hospitals. The hospitals are:

Ara Damansara Medical Centre KPJ Puteri Specialist Hospital Aurelius Hospital Nilai Mahkota Medical Centre Beacon Hospital Pantai Hospital Ayer Keroh Gleneagles Hospital Penang Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur Pantai Hospital Penang Institut Jantung Negara  Cardiology ParkCity Medical Centre Island Hospital Penang Adventist Hospital KPJ Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital Prince Court Medical Centre KPJ Damansara Specialist Hospital Subang Jaya Medical Centre KPJ Johor Specialist Hospital-Cardiology, Oncology & Fertility Sunway Medical Centre KPJ Penang Specialist Hospital

Dr. Mohamed Ali Abu Bakar, Chief Executive Officer of MHTC, expressed immense pride on this achievement, stating, "This recognition serves as a testament to the dedication and expertise of our healthcare professionals, as well as the continuous advancements being made in our healthcare infrastructure and patient care protocols. It significantly strengthens Malaysia's position as a leading destination for medical tourism. International patients can now be confident in choosing Malaysia for high-quality, affordable, and internationally accredited healthcare services delivered with compassion and cultural sensitivity."

The inclusion in this prestigious survey goes beyond mere recognition. It presents a strategic opportunity for Malaysia to further solidify its position as a preferred destination for medical tourism. By leveraging this recognition strategically, Malaysia can attract more patients from around the world seeking top-notch medical care along with enriching cultural experiences. This symbiotic relationship not only boosts the economy but also enhances Malaysia's global reputation as a well-rounded destination for both healthcare and tourism.

This momentous achievement paves the way for continued advancements in the Malaysian healthcare sector, attracting investments, fostering innovation, and ultimately enhancing the overall patient experience. With a commitment to excellence and a growing international reputation, Malaysia is poised to become the premier choice for healthcare travellers seeking superior medical care and exceptional value.

The full list of Worlds Best Hospitals can be found here https://www.newsweek.com/rankings/worlds-best-hospitals-2024 while the list for Worlds Best Hospitals (Malaysia) can be found here https://www.newsweek.com/rankings/worlds-best-hospitals-2024/malaysia

For more information on Malaysia Healthcare and its services, please visit https://malaysiahealthcare.org/ or visit our social feeds at: www.facebook.com/MHTCMalaysia or at LinkedIn (Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council).

For media enquiries:

Chandrika Bhaskaran

Senior Manager, Communications

Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council

chandrika.b@mhtc.org.my



Falliq Effendy

Manager, Communications

Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council

m.falliq@mhtc.org.my





ABOUT THE MALAYSIA HEALTHCARE TRAVEL COUNCIL

The Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) is a government agency under the Ministry of Health Malaysia that has been entrusted with the responsibility of facilitating and promoting the countrys healthcare travel industry, recognised as a key export service sector for the country. Founded in 2009, MHTC works to streamline industry players and service providers in facilitating and growing Malaysias healthcare travel industry under the brand Malaysia Healthcare with the intended goal of making Malaysia the leading global healthcare destination. MHTC works closely with over 90 private healthcare facilities in Malaysia, who are registered members of MHTC.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/83976527-dda9-4966-b148-7e1bacf7ec5d

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/79611ec5-fc16-4dee-9894-a1fb324cfb6c
CHICAGO, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NanoGraf , the battery material company enabling stronger, lighter, longer-lasting lithium-ion batteries, today announced the opening of a new facility for advanced manufacturing and expanded R&D capabilities, increasing its Chicago footprint by nearly 400%. The companys new location, a 67,850-square-foot building at 455 N Ashland Avenue, will house manufacturing space, laboratories, inventory, and office space.



This announcement comes shortly after the ribbon-cutting at NanoGrafs Chicago headquarters at 400 N Noble Street, the Midwests first advanced silicon anode production facility. At the new building, NanoGraf will accelerate its efforts to equip U.S. soldiers in the field with a regular supply of batteries that  thanks to NanoGrafs silicon anode material  last 30% longer and are cross-compatible with more devices. NanoGraf will also use the space to work toward commercialization.

NanoGraf is developing better battery materials here in the United States, said Francis Wang, CEO of NanoGraf. With our second facility, well be able to advance our work on our Department of Defense contracts, ensuring that soldiers have the power they need to complete their missions.

Like NanoGrafs other Chicago facility, NanoGrafs new building is located in the fast-growing West Loop neighborhood. With the new location, NanoGraf expects to add 60 jobs, driving economic opportunities locally while also supporting NanoGrafs efforts to onshore the battery supply chain.

Were delighted to welcome NanoGrafs expansion within our city, said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. NanoGraf is an important part of the technological progress, STEM job growth, and economic growth happening here in the city, and we look forward to seeing their continued success.

The opening of the new space is the latest in a series of milestones for NanoGraf. In January 2024, the company announced a new contract worth up to $15 million from the U.S. Army to develop cross-compatible batteries for soldiers in the field. In December 2023, NanoGraf was awarded an $8 million contract from the U.S. Army to increase the supply of batteries to soldiers. Those two recent contracts bring NanoGrafs total U.S. Department of Defense funding to $45 million.

JLLs Max Zwolan, Scott Brandwein, and Michael Conway represented NanoGraf in lease negotiations. CBREs Matt Cowie and Larry Goldwasser represented the landlord, Prologis.

To learn more about NanoGraf, visit www.nanograf.com

About NanoGraf

NanoGraf is an advanced battery material company whose patented silicon anode technology enables longer-lasting, higher-energy, and higher-power lithium-ion batteries. NanoGraf works with more than 50 companies, including some of the worlds leading consumer electronics, household appliance, and power tool brands, and over 12 strategic partners in electric mobility (from startups to Fortune 100s). NanoGraf is a spinout of Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory.

Media Contact

Alex DiSanto

alex@propllr.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e85ebe83-6e26-469d-9d67-646606afc2d1




MOUNT VERNON, NY, March 7, 2024  Key Digital Systems, an award-winning developer and manufacturer of leading-edge digital video processing and video signal distribution solutions, is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2024. In 1999, Key Digitals first product was a video distribution amplifier custom-designed for retailer Best Buys display televisions. That modest beginning was hardly indicative of the depth of knowledge and experience of Key Digital founder Mike Tsinberg, whose work in HD and digital video began along with the infancy of the technologies in the 1980s. Working with Thomson-CSF, Philips, and Toshiba, Tsinberg pioneered ideas that played a major role in the development and refinement of digital television  both broadcast and streaming, digital video recording and the DVD (for which the Toshiba team he was on received an Emmy Award). His portfolio now includes more than 40 patents.



Tsinbergs philosophy of innovation has propelled Key Digital forward. He says, My ambition was always to create technology from scratch, which gives Key Digital enormous latitude for creativity. For his Key Digital engineering team, its not sufficient to merely deliver the core capabilities expected in a product category. Instead, built-in to their designs are elegant and transparent solutions for a host of connectivity issues that plague many AV installs, such as addressing the alphabet soup of inter-device communications (HDCP, EDID, CEC, etc.). Each product in the growing and evolving Key Digital product line is designed for value with no compromise in performance or quality and feature sets that redefine customer expectations. Signal extension in Key Digitals product line is accompanied by control, beginning with bidirectional IR repeaters, and extending to IP and Open API control.



Beyond our knowledge of how the technologies work and also their limitations, we listen to our customers, says Tsinberg. If we can build in product features that make their lives easier, we are committed to doing so. Thats why we pair signal and control distribution, why we opt for flexibility and sophistication without complex programming, why our AV over IP systems are modular for right-sizing to a projects needs, why we integrated control within our AV over IP systems while they were still in R&D, why we offer power over Ethernet whenever feasible, and why we offer the free KD-App with its intuitive iOS interface for simplified yet sophisticated system control. Its our attention to detail and real-world needs that keep our loyal customers coming back.



The 21st Century Key Digital offers an extensive product line spanning applications from restaurants and clubs to government, houses of worship, education, retail and residential. The product line ranges from extenders to switchers, matrix switchers, multi-view and video wall matrix processors, presentation switchers (including multi-format wall plate models) with extension transmission built-in, wireless extension and BYOD collaboration solutions, scalable AV over IP systems and the Compass Control Pro integrated iOS-based control system that which can extend unified iPad control to include a host of Compass Alliance partner systems beyond AV including lighting, HVAC, power and security.



We are proud of what weve accomplished in our first 25 years, says Tsinberg. We cant begin to thank our customers enough for believing in our vision. All corporations are made of people, and we have the best and thank them as well for all they do. We are also excited about the explosion of technological advancements that will shape our products and progress for the next 25 years. Just wait until you see whats already on the drawing board!



For more information:

Key Digital

Key Digital Innovation Timeline

Mike Tsinberg Profile (35th anniversary of first patent)
New York, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Bridgespan Group today launched the third season of its Dreaming in Color podcast, which celebrates the next generation of leaders building a better world. Established in 2022, the podcast creates space for leaders of color to share how they have leveraged their unique assets, abilities, and rich experiences to demonstrate excellence, drive impact, and develop a definition of success in the social sector that is sincere, inclusive, and community grounded.

For the third season, Bridgespan partner Darren Isom, host of previous seasons, passes the mic to the next generation of Bridgespan leadership: Christian Celeste Tate and Anum Qadir, manager and senior manager at Bridgespan, respectively. Across five episodes, Celeste Tate and Qadir candidly discuss with guests the work they are doing to build a better world for us all by pushing the thinking of what is possible.

This generation is entering the conversation from a different place than I did, said Isom. They have internalized and normalized conversations that were once thought of radical, and thats really exciting.

Added Celeste Tate: This seasons guests are truly reimagining our world. Across fields including poverty eradication, public safety for all, reparations, and civil engagement, they are doing incredible work to create a better world for us all. Our guests remind us that a better world is possiblebut its up to us to build it.

Available across multiple podcast platforms, Dreaming in Colors third season opened today with Michael Tubbs, founder of Eradicate Poverty in California and former mayor of Stockton, California. Episodes will be released each Thursday for five consecutive weeks.

This seasons guests, in order of appearance, are:

March 7: Michael Tubbs , founder of Eradicate Poverty in California, which aims to end poverty in the state by elevating the voices of people experiencing it, creating and implementing bold policies rooted in their needs, and advancing a state agenda focused on equal opportunity for all. He also founded Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, a network of mayors advocating for a guaranteed income to ensure that all Americans have an income floor. As mayor of Stockton, Tubbs was elected the youngest mayor ever of a large American city.





, founder of Eradicate Poverty in California, which aims to end poverty in the state by elevating the voices of people experiencing it, creating and implementing bold policies rooted in their needs, and advancing a state agenda focused on equal opportunity for all. He also founded Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, a network of mayors advocating for a guaranteed income to ensure that all Americans have an income floor. As mayor of Stockton, Tubbs was elected the youngest mayor ever of a large American city. March 14: Arlan Hamilton , founder and managing partner of Backstage Capital, a venture capital firm dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBTQ. In 2018 Arlan co-founded Backstage Studio, which launched four accelerator programs for underestimated founders in Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and London.





, founder and managing partner of Backstage Capital, a venture capital firm dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBTQ. In 2018 Arlan co-founded Backstage Studio, which launched four accelerator programs for underestimated founders in Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and London. March 21: Brea Baker , a freedom fighter and writer who has been working on the frontlines for almost a decade, first as a student activist and now as a national and global strategist. She was the youngest national organizer of the 2017 Womens March. Her upcoming book, Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership , will be published by Penguin Random House this June.





, a freedom fighter and writer who has been working on the frontlines for almost a decade, first as a student activist and now as a national and global strategist. She was the youngest national organizer of the 2017 Womens March. Her upcoming book, , will be published by Penguin Random House this June. March 28: Rebecca Dixon , president and CEO of the National Employment Law Project, a leading advocacy organization with the mission to build a just and inclusive economy where all workers have expansive rights and thrive in good jobs. She is a respected national leader in federal workers rights advocacy and is in great demand for her thought leadership on issues of labor and racial, gender, and economic justice.





, president and CEO of the National Employment Law Project, a leading advocacy organization with the mission to build a just and inclusive economy where all workers have expansive rights and thrive in good jobs. She is a respected national leader in federal workers rights advocacy and is in great demand for her thought leadership on issues of labor and racial, gender, and economic justice. April 4: Robert Rooks, CEO of REFORM Alliance, a nonprofit that aims to transform probation and parole by changing laws, systems, and culture to create real pathways to work and wellbeing. The organization is co-chaired by Grammy-nominated rap artist Meek Mill, whose incarceration spurred the international #FreeMeekMill movement, eventually leading to his original conviction being overturned.

We hope listeners learn from these guests fresh perspectives on their work, how we think about and engage one another, and how we think about ourselves, Qadir said. None of us will achieve racial equity or social justice on our own. Dialogue and reflection are key for us to be in this work together.

Learn more at https://www.bridgespan.org/dreaming-in-color.

# # #

About The Bridgespan Group



The Bridgespan Group (www.bridgespan.org) is a global nonprofit that collaborates with social change organizations, philanthropists, and impact investors to make the world more equitable and just. Bridgespans services include strategy consulting and advising, sourcing and diligence, and leadership team support. We take what we learn from this work and build on it with original research, identifying best practices and innovative ideas to share with the social sector. We work from locations in Boston, Johannesburg, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, and Washington, DC.
HOUSTON, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today Prismecs , the leader in turnkey energy and industrial services solutions, announced the addition of Adama Gaye as the new Vice President of Strategic Growth. Gaye brings 20 years of experience in international business and geopolitics to a company thats gained momentum in emerging markets since its founding in 2019. His work with Prismecs aims to enable some of the worlds toughest operations with agile and innovative service solutions.



Prismecs is focused on innovation, truly enabling industrial execution in a world that seems to be stuck in never-ending planning, said Junaid Ali, CEO of Prismecs. The seamless integration of diverse expertise that Adama brings to the table is the perfect fit as we strategically expand around the globe.

An expert and author on international relations, Gaye has global expertise in water, energy, and infrastructure. Hes a former Director of Communication at ECOWAS, West Africa's leading regional organization, and a former member of the executive management committee at Ecobank, the leading independent regional banking group with operations in 33 African countries. Gaye has also received degrees from several prestigious universities including Oxford and Sorbonne, as well as serving time as a Fellow at Harvard University, Johns Hopkins School of Advance International Studies (SAIS), Beijing University, and Stanford University.

Its an honor to join Prismecs and be tasked with bringing industrial innovation to areas of the world where we can help transform local economies and promote sustainability, said Adama Gaye, VP of Strategic Growth at Prismecs. By strategically adapting advanced technologies, we can elevate local industries, fostering a future where operational efficiency and ecological responsibility are seamlessly integrated."

Headquartered in Houston, TX, Prismecs works with industrial businesses and organizations from oil and gas and power to energy and telecom. The company has expertise in current issues like how to resource demand efficiently, and optimizing internal and external operations through strategic use of tech, expertise, and a worldview. Since 2019, Prismecs has expanded its service offerings, consistently growing the workforce to be ahead of trends and supporting the diversification of its portfolio to meet evolving industry demands. The growth reflects robust international and domestic expansion serving 15+ countries across five continents.

About Prismecs

Prismecs is the leader in turnkey energy and industrial services solutions for industrial businesses and organizations within the oil & gas, power, energy, and telecom sectors. The company offers comprehensive and innovative engineering solutions (EPCM), reliable operations and maintenance support, and cutting-edge technology services.

Prismecs is a dedicated partner for efficiently managing and optimizing operations, currently delivering a robust suite of services in 15+ countries across five continents. Prismecs strengthens access to industrial markets from project inception to product delivery and personnel support by delivering integrated, turnkey solutions for the worlds toughest operations. To learn more, visit www.prismecs.com.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/03577c0d-f29d-4525-a30c-881595f580b8
Dublin, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Simulators Market by Solution (Product, Services), Platform (Air, Land, Maritime), Type, Application (Commercial Training, Military Training), Technique, and Region (North America, Europe, APAC, Middle East, Rest of the World) - Forecast to 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Simulator market is estimated to grow from USD 26.1 billion by 2028, from USD 18.5 billion in 2023, at a CAGR of 7.1% from 2023 to 2028

This report serves as a valuable resource for market leaders and newcomers in the Simulator market, offering data that closely approximates revenue figures for both the overall market and its subsegments. It equips stakeholders with a comprehensive understanding of the competitive landscape, facilitating informed decisions to enhance their market positioning and formulate effective go-to-market strategies for Simulation. The report imparts valuable insights into the market dynamics, offering information on crucial factors such as drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities, enabling stakeholders to gauge the market's pulse.

North America is estimated to account for the largest share of the Simulator market in 2023. Simulators are rapidly displacing conventional applications in the commercial sector, such as communication, earth observation & remote sensing, and scientific purposes. The increased adoption of simulators in various civil and commercial applications is driven by their exceptional endurance and cost-effectiveness. Furthermore, the integration of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, IoT, and cloud computing into Simulatoris anticipated to further boost their demand across various sectors.

Some of the key players in the simulators market include CAE Inc. (Canada), L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (US), FlightSafety International (US), the Boeing Company (US), Thales SA (France), ECA Group (France), Saab AB (France), and Indra Sistemas SA (Spain).



Services segment is expected to hold the highest market share in 2023



Based on Solution, The simulators market is categorized into products and services, with a focus on essential components for simulator maintenance. The services segment, including software upgrades, hardware upgrades, and maintenance and support, is expected to achieve a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.3% during the forecast period. The continuous software updates tailored to training requirements are anticipated to be a driving force in the services market.



Full Mission Bridge Simulators segment by type is estimated to hold the highest market share in 2023



Based on Type, The market is further divided into types, encompassing full mission flight simulators, flight training devices, full flight simulators, fixed base simulators, driving simulators, air traffic control simulators, vessel traffic control simulators, land forces training simulators, and full mission bridge simulators. Major industry players are actively engaged in developing advanced simulators to explore emerging opportunities in air, land, and maritime platforms.



Military Training by application is expected to hold the highest market share in 2023



Based on Application, the simulator market distinguishes between military training and commercial training. The market's growth is credited to the expanding use of simulators in both military and commercial sectors. In the commercial sphere, simulators offer sophisticated training modules, reducing operational training costs. Meanwhile, in the military sector, simulators play a crucial role in training defense personnel to handle complex combat situations.



Air segment is expected to hold the highest market share in 2023 amongst other platforms



Based on Platform platform-based segmentation of the simulators market includes air, land, and maritime. Industry leaders are directing their efforts toward creating cutting-edge simulators to tap into new market potentials across these applications.



Live, virtual, & constructive simulation segment is expected to hold the highest market share in 2023



Based on Technique market also classifies simulation techniques into live, virtual, & constructive simulation, synthetic environment simulation, and gaming simulation. Various simulation techniques leverage virtual reality concepts, allowing trainees to practice intricate tasks and processes. Simulators, by exposing individuals to real-life scenarios, enhance skills and operational efficiency. Through a combination of innovative technologies and the creation of realistic scenarios, simulators facilitate interactive learning, thereby improving trainees' capabilities when faced with diverse challenges.



North America is expected to hold the highest market share in 2023



Simulators have evolved as a low-cost solution to carry out training for various commercial and military personnel worldwide. Mandates from regulatory bodies, such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), for mandatory training of commercial pilots on simulators and the rise in demand for commercial pilots are increasing the global demand for simulators. The simulators are customized per user requirements of hardware components and advanced software. Also, the replica of a machine creates easy learning for trainees to master skills.



North America covers the US and Canada for market analysis. The increasing orders to replace the old navy fleet with new ones from the US and Canada and the growing export of goods are the major factors driving the demand for new ship commanders and crew, which, in turn, is raising the demand for simulators to train them.

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 277 Forecast Period 2023 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $18.5 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $26.1 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 7.1% Regions Covered Global



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

Analysis of the key driver (Rising demand for pilot training, high-speed connectivity, Need for low-cost military training, Cost-effectiveness and safety of simulator-based training), restraint (Long product lifecycle of simulators, High cost of gaming, automobile and driving simulators) opportunities (Advancements in technology, including improved graphics and virtual reality (VR) capabilities, Trend of air accident investigation) and challenges (Stringent regulatory approvals, Complexity of reducing size and weight of military simulators) there are several factors that could contribute to an increase in the Simulation market.

Market Penetration: Comprehensive information on Simulator systems offered by the top players in the market

Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on upcoming technologies, research & development activities, and new product & service launches in the Simulator market

Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative markets - the report analyzes the Simulator market across varied regions.

Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products & services, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the Simulator market

Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares, growth strategies, and service offerings of leading players in the Simulator market

Companies Profiled

Cae Inc.

Thales

L3Harris Technologies, Inc.

Saab Ab

Indra Sistemas, SA

Boeing

Flightsafety International

Raytheon Technologies

Tru Simulation + Training Inc.

Eca Group

Cruden

Vesaro

Simworx

Cxc Simulations

Next Level Racing

Tecknotrove

Quantum3D

Simlat Inc.

Fidelity Technologies Corporation

Euramec

Pacific Simulators Ltd.

Avt Simulation

Avion Group

Precision Flight Controls

Simxperience

Pro Racing Simulators Limited

Gforcefactory B.V.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/yrydyh

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Attachment
The Midland police and fire departments respond to a vehicle crash on Oct. 12, 2022 in the area of South Saginaw Road and Rodd Street. Andrew Mullin/Midland Daily News

The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department, compiled by reporter Tereasa Nims.

Tuesday, Feb. 27

9:54 p.m. - A deputy conducted a traffic stop in Jerome Township and a 26-year-old male passenger was arrested on a warrant out of Midland County and lodged in the Midland County Jail.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

9:41 p.m. - A 40-year-old woman was cited for driving with a revoked license following a traffic stop in Warren Township. A report was forwarded to the prosecutor.

8:07 p.m. - Deputies cited a 67-year-old man following a traffic stop on a Lincoln Township roadway for driving on a suspended license. A report was forwarded to the prosecutor.

3:51 p.m. - A 29-year-old Mount Haley Township woman called deputies to report a fraud of $2,650. The woman was contacted via text to do a job. The subject sent her a check for $2,650. She was directed to keep $300, then pay another contractor the rest. The woman cashed the check at a bank and sent the other contractor $2,400 via PayPal. The woman spent her $300, then was notified by the bank that the check that was sent to her was fraudulent. The victim is being held responsible for the money the bank gave her for the bad check.

3:06 p.m. - While on patrol, a deputy located an out-of-control fire at a residence in Mount Haley Township. The fire involved a utility trailer, bales of straw, and the yard, and had reached the barn wall. Homer and Lee township firefighters responded to put the fire out. Prior to their arrival, a Consumers Energy truck stopped by with two extinguishers to help control the fire until the fire department arrived. The 60-year-old homeowner returned home after the fire departments left.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

2:19 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to Lee Township for a possible complaint of shots fired. Deputies responded, checked the area and were unable to locate anyone discharging a firearm.

2:05 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Mount Haley Township ditch. A woman called to report that her husband had rolled into the ditch in his wheelchair. She needed assistance. As a deputy pulled onto the roadway, he was called off because the Homer Township Fire Department had arrived and had helped the man out of the ditch.

11:53 a.m. - Midland police were called to Grant Lane and Waldo Avenue to assist Midland firefighters.

11:43 a.m. - Midland police responded to the 2500 block of Waldo Road for a trespassing complaint.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

9:45 a.m. - A 67-year-old Midland Township man called to report that his 39-year-old son had been hearing a high pitched squeal. A deputy checked the area and found no noise. The 39-year-old complained that he could still hear the noise even though nobody else could.

9:01 a.m. - A deputy discovered a Consumers Energy truck driver attempting to pull another truck out of the woods after it had become stuck. The deputy blocked traffic while the truck was removed from the woods.

6:26 a.m. - Midland police responded to the 1100 block of Fournie Street for a death investigation.

Tereasa Nims can be reached at Tereasa.Nims@hearsnp.com
WASHINGTON, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Virtru today announced the appointment of Tiffanny Gates to its Board of Directors. Currently serving as a Strategic Advisor to both Halcyon and Ten Eleven Ventures, as well as Operating Executive at Capitol Meridian Partners and board member to Accenture Federal Services (AFS), Gates boasts over two decades of federal cybersecurity expertise.



Gates previous positions include Senior Managing Director for National Security at AFS, CEO of Novetta, Vice President of Raytheon/Blackbird Cyber Strategies Group, and Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for ManTechs Mission, Cyber and Technology Solutions Group. A multi-time Wash100 award winner, she holds a B.S. degree from the United States Naval Academy and served in the U.S. Navy as a cryptologic officer.

Virtrus mission of empowering public agencies to collaborate more efficiently with mission partners, without sacrificing security, is critically important, and Im thrilled to join the team on this journey, said Gates. As the Department of Defense modernizes its digital infrastructure to a zero trust architecture, innovative data security tools like Virtru enable our service members to securely collaborate and share sensitive information across domains. By providing persistent protection at the data layer and maintaining fine-grained control over access, Virtru helps strengthen data security posture while supporting mission-critical partnerships and interoperability."

This appointment comes on the heels of Virtrus significant expansion with government partners, including collaborations with various U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) agencies, Combatant Commands, and Intelligence Community (IC) organizations, to facilitate data sharing among mission partners. In 2023, the company drove meaningful development to its Data Security Platform, which is designed for highly sensitive and secure government data flows.

Built on the Zero Trust Data Format (ZTDF), Virtrus Data Security Platform is delivering immense value to the defense and intelligence communities: Virtru saw 200% year-over-year revenue growth in the public sector market in 2023. Its platform also recently achieved Authorization to Operate (ATO) at the Moderate level under the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP).

Tiffanny is joining our Board of Directors at an incredibly exciting time, with our public sector efforts picking up tremendous momentum, said John Ackerly, CEO and Co-Founder of Virtru. The decades of public-sector cyber experience she carries will be invaluable as the company continues to expand and build new DoD and IC partnerships leveraging our Data Security Platform.

Virtru is also further establishing its international presence, providing support to the U.K. Ministry of Defense, Australian Defence Force and the New Zealand Defence Force.

About Virtru:

At Virtru, we empower organizations to easily unlock the power of data while maintaining control everywhere its stored and shared. More than 6,700 global customers trust Virtru to power their data-centric, Zero Trust strategies and safeguard their most sensitive data in accordance with the worlds strictest security standards. Leading providers of TDF (Trusted Data Format), the open industry standard for persistent data protection, Virtru provides encryption technology for data shared through email, collaboration tools, cloud environments, and enterprise SaaS applications. For more information, visit virtru.com.

Contact:

Nick Michael

Virtru

nick.michael@virtru.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6eafea3f-bf85-46d1-8924-b43980721438
Dublin, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Europe Insurance Brokerage - Market Share Analysis, Industry Trends & Statistics, Growth Forecasts 2020 - 2029" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Europe Insurance Brokerage Market size in terms of gross written premiums value is expected to grow from EUR 261.19 billion in 2024 to EUR 370.90 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 7.27% during the forecast period (2024-2029).







Insurance brokerage is a type of activity currently serving about 80% of insurance operations in the developed world. Insurance brokers who know the insurance market, its products, prices, and providers and understand the needs of insurance customers will gain a unique role. After looking at the practice of several European countries without insurance brokers, a very small number of insurance contracts were concluded.



The COVID-19 pandemic is pressing insurance companies to respond urgently to megatrends, most importantly, climate change and digitalization. The industry is starting to understand the physical transition more precisely and the liability risks of climate change and is revising underwriting and investments.



Given the importance of brokerage companies, the digitalization of the insurance industry also impacts the distribution channels. Aggregators, i.e., online brokers, have had their place in Europe for the past 20 years. The technological advancements ultimately shape the future of brokerage firms in Europe in the critical roles of brokers.



Brexit has an everlasting impact on every possible industry in the European Union and the United Kingdom. Brokerage firms with EU and UK operations are not exempt from this. From registration to business profitability, insurance brokers have to work more cautiously.



Europe Insurance Brokerage Industry Overview



The report includes an overview of the largest insurance brokers and online aggregators operating in the market studied. An oligopoly market with some of the major players dominating the market studied in terms of market share is covered in detail. The report covers company profiles of major players including, Marsh & McLennan Co., Willis Towers Watson PLc, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., BGL Group, and others.

A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes

Marsh & McLennan Co.

Willis Towers Watson PLC

Aon PLC

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

BGL Group

AmWINS Group Inc.

Assured Partners Inc.

NFP Corp.

Lockton Companies

HUB International Ltd

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/tixoyn

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Attachment
NEW YORK, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of JBS S.A. (JBS or the Company) (OTC: JBSAY). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.



The investigation concerns whether JBS and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On February 28, 2024, Reuters published an article entitled New York sues meatpacking giant JBS over climate claims. The article reported, in relevant part, that New York States Attorney General has accused [JBS] of misleading the public about its impact on the environment in order to boost sales. Attorney General Letitia James said JBS USA Food Co, the Brazilian company's American-based unit, has no viable plan to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, making its stated commitment to achieving that goal false and misleading.

On this news, JBSs American Depositary Receipt (ADR) price fell $0.22 per share, or 2.38%, to close at $9.02 per share on February 28, 2024.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com .

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
Dublin, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Canada Life And Non-Life Insurance - Market Share Analysis, Industry Trends & Statistics, Growth Forecasts 2020 - 2029" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Canada Life And Non-Life Insurance Market size in terms of direct written premiums value is expected to grow from USD 99.41 billion in 2024 to USD 140.61 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 7.18% during the forecast period (2024-2029).







The insurance sector is made up of companies offering risk management in the form of insurance contracts. Life insurance companies focus on legacy planning and replacing the value of human capital, while property or casualty insurance aims to replace the values of homes, cars, or valuables. Canada's population is steadily increasing, with an estimated 38.23 million people in 2021, creating a favorable environment for the insurance industry.



With the introduction of COVID-19 in Canada, the death rate per 100,000 of the population reached a new high compared to previous years, with total deaths of 808.5 in a million of the population. Due to the high costs of hospitalization, the focus shifted to life insurance. The annual median income in Canada had observed continuous growth even during the pandemic, leading people to invest in different properties and creating a market for non-life insurance.



Liability insurance, property and casualty insurance, and auto insurance each sector had observed continuous growth in net premiums written, creating a positive market for other businesses to invest in Canada's life and non-life insurance market. The net written premium for liability, property and casualty, and auto insurance will be approximately 5.9, 49.52, and 20.06 billion USD in 2021, respectively.



Canada Life And Non-Life Insurance Market Trends



Increase in GDP Per Capita is Boosting the Demand for Insurance



The GDP is divided by the nation's total population to calculate GDP per capita, a metric frequently used to gauge economic growth and potential productivity increases. The GDP of the nation increased by 20.1% from the previous year to USD 52,015 in 2021. A positive change is a sign of economic growth, and GDP per capita is a crucial indicator of a nation's economic strength. The nation's per capita income has risen recently and is forecast to keep rising. The Canadian insurance industry will grow strongly on the back of robust GDP growth and evolving regulations.



Private Technology Investments are Anticipated to Surge the Market



The US-based BriteCore cloud-based, fully managed policy administration system, the US-based Risk Genius, and the Canada-based ProNavigator are the InsurTech companies profiled in the previous quarter. Both of these companies offer services related to managing policies, acquiring or populating data, and facilitating intelligent navigation through insurance company systems. Rising People, a tool for HR, payroll, and benefits administration, and Sun Life have strategically partnered.



By Canada's Budget Plan 2021, the Strategic Innovation Fund will get USD 7.2 billion over the next seven years to encourage investment in the life sciences, automotive, aerospace, and agricultural sectors. Part of this money will go to the Net Zero Accelerator. The Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy will get USD 443.8 million over the next ten years to support the commercialization of AI, encourage research, and help develop standards.



Canada Life And Non-Life Insurance Industry Overview



The report covers the major players operating in the life and non-life insurance markets in Canada. The market is fragmented, and it is expected to grow during the forecast period due to the increasing adoption of insurtech in the sector, along with several merger and acquisition activities and other factors. Major players such as The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec, Great-West Lifeco Inc., Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, The Canada Life Assurance Company, and others have a significant share of the life and non-life insurance market in Canada.



A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes

Manulife Financial Corporation

Desjardins Group

Great-West Lifeco Inc.

Sun Life Assurance Company Of Canada

Canada Life Assurance Company

Co-Operators Group Limited

Intact Financial Corporation

Northbridge Financial Corporation

RBC Insurance Holdings Inc.

Industrial Alliance insurance*





For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/v4a2uu

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Attachment
Atlanta, GA., March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The King Center joins the King Family, civil rights leaders, and cultivators of the Beloved Community in mourning the loss of Naomi Barber King, the wife of the late Rev. Alfred Daniel Williams King, the brother of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Naomi King passed today at age 92.

Naomi King married Rev. A.D. King in 1950 and faithfully stood by his side as he and his brother organized and successfully implemented nonviolent civil rights campaigns that changed the world. She bravely endured the bombings of their Birmingham, Alabama home and one of the churches her husband pastored in Louisville, Kentucky. She continued to support Rev. A.D. King until his untimely death in 1969, which she publicly labeled, a murder.

Naomi King was a strong supporter of The King Centers founder, Mrs. Coretta Scott King after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Through lifes struggles, adversity, and the unexpected deaths of three of her five children, Naomi King persevered working in The King Center Bookstore, The King Center Archives, and as one of Mrs. Coretta Scott Kings travel companions and assistants. As a manager of The King Center Bookstore, her presence made her an unofficial greeter and ambassador for The King Center as visitors valued her acquaintance and firsthand knowledge of the civil rights movement and the King family.

In 2008, Naomi King founded the A.D. King Foundation to keep Rev. A.D. Kings memory alive and focus on youth and women empowerment, and nonviolent social change strategies as a way of life with entrepreneurship at its core. She continued her work with youth at The King Center serving 10 years as a consistent panelist for Students with King. The students were often intrigued by her presence and were always eager to ask her personal questions about the King family and her relationship with Dr. and Mrs. King. Students with King is The King Centers flagship initiative for K through 12 students that introduces the philosophy of Kingian nonviolence and offers programs that empower teachers to introduce the King Legacy into their classrooms.

In 2014, Naomi King published a book entitled "A D and ML King: Two Brothers Who Dared to Dream."

The King Family will announce homegoing celebration plans in the next few days.

About The King Center

The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (The King Center) is a 501(c) (3) organization established in 1968 by Mrs. Coretta Scott King. The King Center is the official living memorial and programmatic nonprofit organization committed to educating the world on the life, legacy, and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The King Center serves to inspire new generations to carry forward his unfinished work, strengthen causes and empower change-makers who are continuing his efforts today. The King Centers premiere educational initiative, Nonviolence365, is based on Dr. Kings nonviolent philosophy and methodology. His teachings engage participants from various sectors of society, including emerging and next-generation leaders, in modules and exercises that enhance communication, leadership, interpersonal, and conflict reconciliation skills, as well as empower individuals to address injustice.

Attachment
Dublin, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "REACH and RoHS Compliance: Protecting Revenues with Advanced Compliance" training has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



What are REACH and RoHS Compliance Training and Regulations?

This 2-day seminar will go into the specifics of the REACH and RoHS regulations, provide case studies and share lessons learned so your organization can benefit from the mistakes of others. We will review the latest on both directives and will draw out key developments and key dates (if applicable) with particular emphasis on requirements for US firms.

REACH and RoHS have been referred to as ".one of the most complex regulations in the history of the EU." Do not miss this 2-day seminar to find out why.

Objectives of Learning:

After the completion of this seminar, the participants will be able the do the following:

Understanding your organization's liability under RoHS and REACH.

Review case studies.

Discuss lessons learned applications to ensure full compliance.

RoHS and REACH guidelines

REACH Registration of Substances

Introduction to REACH

Articles and REACH

Substances of Very High Concerns (SVHC)

Supply chain communication

Compliance enforcement

Basics of RoHS

Background and content of RoHS

Responsibility for RoHS

International requirements of RoHS

Material testing methods

Build and manage RoHS/REACH compliance programs

Reporting to management and government agencies

An introduction to Global RoHS/REACH legislation, WEEE. Conflict Minerals, Anti-trafficking regulations, and CA Proposition 65

Methods of regulatory data collection

Compliance consulting on company real world scenarios

REACH and RoHS conformity have banned problematic toxic and environmentally hazardous elements such as lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenylether (PBDE) in quantities not exceeding a maximum of 0.1 percent by mass in products and new phthalate additions as a 2019 amendment.

Restrictions of the use of certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and Registration, Evaluation Authorization and Restriction of Chemical Substances (REACH) are European requirements on chemicals and chemical substances used in products.

REACH is required by the EU for products containing chemical compounds. It is also required by US exporters for all suppliers exporting products to the EU. Even though you may not be an exporter, you may have to still comply with these regulations.

Companies shipping parts or products into Europe must comply with EU REACH and RoHS regulations. EU REACH creates increased risk of product recalls or bans that must be proactively addressed to ensure continued market access. Products containing harnesses, hydraulic components, rubber, or PVC are at a higher risk of containing restricted materials.

REACH applies to solvents, fragrances, metals, alloys, pigments, dyes, fertilizers, cosmetics, detergents, polymers, electronic equipment, furniture, textile toys, etc.

10.0 RAC CREDITS



RAPS - This course has been pre-approved by RAPS as eligible for up to 10 credits towards a participant's RAC recertification upon full completion.



Who Should Attend:

This online seminar in REACH RoHS Compliance Training will provide extremely helpful assistance to all professionals in the following domains:

Automotive,

Electronics,

Medical devices,

Chemical,

Toys,

Industrial machinery

Manufacturing Professionals

Anyone new to RoHS and or REACH and need to understand the regulations

Anyone responsible for RoHS and REACH compliance

Quality Managers

Environmental Managers

Purchasers

Buyers



Key Topics Covered:

Day 1 (10:00 AM - 04:00 PM EST)

REACH Registration of Substances

Introduction to REACH

Articles and REACH

Substances of Very High Concerns (SVHC)

Supply chain communication

Compliance enforcement

Basics of RoHS

Background and content of RoHS

Responsibility for RoHS

International requirements of RoHS

Day 2 (10:00 AM - 02:00 PM EST)

A Process for Protecting Revenues

10 Steps to building a RoHS/REACH compliance program

Determining best practices for collecting data

Managing legacy systems and parts

Improving data collection by using Jig 101, IEC 62474, IPC 1752

Understanding 3rd party compliance software platforms

Manual and automated data collection

Building management reports for sourcing decisions

Incorporating compliance into standard business practices

Building templates for policy and procedures

Incorporating compliance processes into ISO 9001:2015 documentation

Building a documented system for proof of due diligence

Implementing a RoHS/REACH compliance maintenance program

REACH SCIP database

New UK versions of RoHS and REACH

Conducting compliance audits

Speakers:



Kelly Eisenhardt

Co-Founder and Managing Director

BlueCircle Advisors LLC



For more information about this training visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/wpmgr1

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.
WAWA, Pa., March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wawa, a privately held, family-owned chain of more than 1,040 convenience retail stores currently operating in six states and Washington, D.C., is getting closer to bringing its unique food and beverage offer, store experience and community commitment to Georgia! On March 7, the Company celebrated the official start of construction on its first two Georgia stores located at: US 341 & Community Road, Brunswick, GA 31520 and 356 West Orange Street Jesup, GA 31545. The events officially introduced Wawa to the community, shared expansion plans and welcomed VIP customers, local officials and charity partners. Finally, at the Community Partnership Day events, Wawa announced contributions to its first community partners  the Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia and the USO Georgia with first grant awards totaling more than $10,000 to support local initiatives. View broll of the event here ; and access folder with event photos, videos and media assets here .







Its official  Wawa is coming to Georgia, and we couldnt be more thrilled to share details of our exciting growth plans with our newest soon-to-be neighbors! said Robert Yeatts, Sr. Director of Store Operations for Wawa. Our two groundbreaking events gave us the opportunity to meet new faces and share with our new markets a little bit about our history and what makes Wawa such an ideal fit for communities here. We are thrilled to break ground on our first stores and get closer to our first grand openings in 2024.

About Wawas Growth & Expansion in Southern and Coastal Georgia

At the groundbreaking events, VIP customers, local officials and community partners received a first look at Wawas initial plans for the market including opening the Brunswick and Jesup stores in late 2024 and hosting groundbreaking events on May 1 for new stores located in Hinesville and Pooler. Wawa continues to build a pipeline of sites in southern and Coastal Georgia and currently has sites under contract in: Brunswick, Jesup, Hinesville, Pooler, Waycross, Bainbridge, Tifton, Valdosta and Albany. Over the next 5-8 years, Wawa plans to build and open 26 stores in southern and Coastal Georgia, opening 3 to 4 stores per year. To build each store, Wawa will invest approximately $7.0 million and employ, on average, 140 contractors and local partners. Once open, each store will employ an average of 35 associates, with Wawa expecting to create almost 1,000 long-term new jobs as a result of expansion in Georgia.

About Career Opportunities: Soar with Wawa!

Wawas expansion plans will create hundreds of new jobs and career opportunities for those interested in soaring with us as we continue to expand in Georgia markets. Joining the Wawa team makes you part of a longstanding tradition of success that spans decades, hundreds of stores, multiple states and counting! Its a chance to become part of a family and associate-owned company committed to putting people first, doing the right thing and making every day a little bit brighter for our communities: one hoagie, smile or experience at a time. Wawa associates have a shared stake in our success and own 39% of the company through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). View career opportunities at Wawa .

About Wawa, Inc.

Wawa, Inc., a privately held company, began in 1803 as an iron foundry in New Jersey. Toward the end of the 19th Century, owner George Wood took an interest in dairy farming and the family began a small processing plant in Wawa, PA in 1902. The milk business was a huge success, due to its quality, cleanliness and certified process. As home delivery of milk declined in the early 1960s, Grahame Wood, Georges grandson, opened the first Wawa Food Market in 1964 in Pennsylvania as an outlet for dairy products. Today, Wawa is your all day, every day stop for freshly prepared foods, beverages, coffee, fuel services and surcharge-free ATMs. Wawa stores are located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C. with nearly 1,000 locations to date. The stores offer a large fresh foodservice selection, including Wawa brands such as custom prepared hoagies, freshly- brewed coffee, hot breakfast sandwiches, hand-crafted specialty beverages, a dinner menu including burgers and an assortment of soups, sides and snacks. Forbes.com Ranks Wawa as #20 of Americas Largest Private Companies, #1 in Convenience Category for Americas Best Customer Service by Newsweek, one of Forbes 2023 Americas Best Employers for Women and New College Grads.

CONTACT: public.relations@wawa.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/479d4832-4b07-4a9b-9539-69e258642ec1
The annual general meeting of Fly Play hf. will commence at 16:00 (GMT) on 21 March 2024, and will be held at Setri, Grand Hotel, Reykjavik.

Agenda:

Report of the Board of Directors for the operational year 2023. Approval of the annual accounts for the operational year 2023. Voting on the handling of financial results for 2023. Election to the Board of Directors. Election of auditor or audit firm. Election of an external member of the Companys Audit Committee. Decision on the payments to the Board of Directors, alternate directors, and subcommittee members. Proposal for the Company's remuneration policy. Proposal for a share-based incentive plan and a proposal for the amendment of the Articles of Association to grant the Board of Directors the authority to increase the Companys share capital in relation to such an incentive plan. Proposal for the amendment of the Articles of Association to grant the Board of Directors the authority to increase the Companys share capital, in connection with a private placement, as has been announced. Proposal for the amendment of the Articles of Association to grant the Board of Directors the authority to increase the Companys share capital, in connection with potential strategic opportunities. Proposal for the amendment of the Articles of Association. Any other matter lawfully proposed.

Participation will be limited to those in attendance.

Rules relating to participation and voting at the meeting

One vote is attached to each ISK 1 of share capital. The simple majority of votes will decide issues at shareholders meetings unless otherwise required under Icelandic law or the Articles of Association. Shareholders who will not attend the meeting can vote on relevant agenda items via letter vote. A request for a letter vote shall be submitted no later than five days before the annual general meeting, to legal@flyplay.com. Shareholders have the right to propose matters to be added to the agenda and submit resolutions. A request thereof shall include reasoning for the relevant matter and a draft resolution and shall be submitted no later than at 12:00 (GMT) on 7 March 2024. A shareholder can grant a dated and written proxy. A proxy cannot be valid for more than one year. A proxy can be revoked at any time. A duly completed proxy shall be delivered to the Company before the annual general meeting commences. Proxy forms are available on the Companys website.

Other information

A final agenda, proposals of the board of directors, and meeting materials will be published no later than 7 March 2024 on the Companys website: https://www.flyplay.com/corporate-governance.

Meeting materials will also be available at the Companys headquarters at Suurlandsbraut 14, 108 Reykjavik, on weekdays between 9:00 (GMT) and 16:00 (GMT).

Should any proposals be submitted by shareholders, they will be published at least three days before the annual general meeting, along with an updated agenda.

According to Art. 63(a) of Act. No. 2/1995 on Public Limited Liability Companies candidacies for the board of directors shall be announced in writing at least five days before the annual general meeting, or before 16:00 (GMT) on 16 March 2024. Information on candidates will be published no later than 2 days before the annual general meeting.

Meeting materials will be available at the location of the meeting from 15:00 (GMT) on the date of the annual general meeting.

Reykjavik, 7 March 2024

The Board of Directors of Fly Play hf.





Attachments
BRENTWOOD, Tenn., March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CoreCivic, Inc. (NYSE: CXW) (the Company) announced today that, effective March 15, 2024, Catherine Hernandez-Blades and Alexander R. Fischer will be appointed as independent members of the Company's Board of Directors, expanding the board from ten to twelve directors, ten of whom have been determined by the board to be independent. The company also announced today that Donna M. Alvarado, who has served on CoreCivic's Board of Directors since 2003, will retire from the Board in accordance with the Company's retirement policy after the company's 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, bringing the number of board members at that point to eleven, including nine independent members. Both Ms. Hernandez-Blades and Mr. Fischer are expected to join various board committees in the future.



"We are pleased to have Catherine and Alex join our Board of Directors," said Damon Hininger, CoreCivic's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Catherine brings decades of executive leadership experience in government relations, communications, and marketing in both the private and the public sectors. She has partnered with the Federal government through her work at SAIC, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, and she has worked closely with government leaders at the state level as well. Catherine also provides community support as a board member at several non-profits. We are very excited to add her valuable perspective to CoreCivic's board."

Hininger added, "We're equally excited about the addition of Alex Fischer to our board. Alex brings diverse business, government, and non-profit experience, including extensive work in corporate strategy and property development. Alex has deep knowledge of economic development from both his leadership of the Columbus Partnership and previously as Commissioner of Economic Development and Deputy Governor for the State of Tennessee. Alex's strong board experience spans a publicly traded company as well as other private and non-profit entities."

"As we welcome Catherine and Alex, I also want to express how grateful we are to Donna Alvarado for her 21 years of thoughtful stewardship as a CoreCivic board member," Hininger continued. "Donna has been deeply engaged with CoreCivic and she's provided valued and consistent counsel as we have navigated various opportunities over the past two decades."

Ms. Hernandez-Blades, 56, formerly served as the senior brand marketing and communications executive at SAIC, Aflac, and Flex (formerly Flextronics), where she had responsibility for brand, reputation, crisis, and issues management, as well as environmental, social, and governance efforts. Previously, she held senior management positions at Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, as well as in government, including serving by gubernatorial appointment as the Executive Director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. Ms. Hernandez-Blades serves as the U.S. representative on the Advisory Board of the World Communications Forum Association - Davos, and as a Trustee for the Institute of Public Relations, an industry think tank. She is a former Chair of the Board of Operation Homefront, The Seminar, and CASA New Orleans. She holds a bachelors degree in Mass Communications from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, and is a Loyola University Environmental Communications Fellow.

Mr. Fischer, 56, is the founder of Alex R. Fischer and Company, which offers strategic advisory services on corporate strategy, real estate development and economic development, since 2021. He is also a Partner with The New Albany Company, the master developer for over 20,000 acres of mixed-use development. His prior roles include serving as President and CEO of the Columbus Partnership from 2009 to 2021 and undertaking various positions at Battelle Memorial Institute, including Senior Vice President for Business and Commercialization, from 2002 to 2009. Earlier, Mr. Fischer contributed his expertise as Commissioner of Economic Development, Deputy Governor, and Chief of Staff for the State of Tennessee between 1997 and 2002. Mr. Fischer is an active board member of Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE: WMS), where he chairs the Nominating and Governance Committee and serves on the Audit Committee; Nationwide Childrens Hospital, where he previously served as Chair; White Oak Partners, as Chair; Andelyn Biosciences; and the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation, also as Chair. He previously served on the board of trustees for The Ohio State University. Mr. Fischer holds a bachelor's degree in Economics and Public Administration and a master's degree in Urban Planning and Economic Development, both from the University of Tennessee.

About CoreCivic

CoreCivic is a diversified, government-solutions company with the scale and experience needed to solve tough government challenges in flexible, cost-effective ways. We provide a broad range of solutions to government partners that serve the public good through high-quality corrections and detention management, a network of residential and non-residential alternatives to incarceration to help address Americas recidivism crisis, and government real estate solutions. We are the nations largest owner of partnership correctional, detention and residential reentry facilities, and believe we are the largest private owner of real estate used by government agencies in the United States. We have been a flexible and dependable partner for government for 40 years. Our employees are driven by a deep sense of service, high standards of professionalism and a responsibility to help government better the public good. Learn more at www.corecivic.com.
NEW YORK, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of CI&T Inc. (CI&T or the Company) (NYSE: CINT). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.



The investigation concerns whether CI&T and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On March 7, 2024, CI&T issued a press release stating that the Company had identified certain non-cash accounting errors related to deferred income accounting for tax-deductible goodwill, as required under IFRS  International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS). Accordingly, CI&T advised that (i) the Companys audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2022, included in its annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2022 filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 28, 2023, and (ii) the Companys unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements as of and for the periods ended March 31, 2023, June 30, 2023 and September 30, 2023, each previously furnished to the SEC on a current report on Form 6-K, should no longer be relied upon[.]

On this news, CI&Ts stock price fell $0.44 per share, or 9.89%, to close at $4.01 per share on March 7, 2024.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com .

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
Two-state solution only way to break vicious cycle of Israel-Palestine conflict, eliminate the breeding ground of extremist ideologies: Wang Yi

Global Times) 16:02, March 07, 2024

People walk past destroyed buildings in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on March 6, 2024. The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 30,717 with 72,156 others wounded, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Wednesday. (Photo: Xinhua)

There is no distinction between noble and humble lives, and people should not be unfavorably labeled according to their race or religion. The failure to end the humanitarian disaster caused by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict today in the 21st century is a tragedy for humanity and a disgrace for civilization, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday.

Nothing justifies the protraction of the conflict, or the killing of the civilian population, Wang stressed when holding a press conference on Thursday on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress.

The current conflict has caused more than 100,000 civilian casualties, he noted.

The international community must act urgently to reach an immediate cease-fire and an end to the fighting an overriding priority, and to ensure that humanitarian assistance is an urgent moral imperative. The people of Gaza have a right to survive in this world, and the women and children deserve to be cared for by their loved ones, the Chinese foreign minister said.

The long occupation of the Palestinian territories and the long-cherished aspiration of the Palestinians for an independent state should not be ignored anymore. More importantly, the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinians must not be allowed to continue uncorrected generation after generation, Wang stated.

He called for restoring justice to the Palestinian people and fully implementing the two-state solution, which is the only way to break the vicious cycle of Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, to eliminate the breeding ground of extremist ideologies, and to realize enduring peace in the Middle East.

China firmly supports the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights, and has always been committed to a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue, stated Wang.

"We support Palestine's bid to become a full member state of the United Nations and call on individual Security Council members to stop obstructing this process. We propose that a larger, more authoritative and more effective international peace conference be convened to draw up a road map and timetable for the implementation of the two-state solution. China will continue to work with the international community to restore peace, save lives and uphold justice," Wang said.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Douglas Weber Photo provided by Midland County Jail

Douglas Webers charges continue to accumulate with a recent charge of swinging at a jail employee, added to his December misdemeanor convictions and his 1996 rape charge.

Weber stood mute Thursday during his arraignment in Midland County District Court, charged with assault on a jail employee stemming from a Dec. 6, 2022 incident. Midland County Sheriff Myron Greene said jail staff were removing Weber from a hearing room and Weber refused to follow orders. Then, Weber allegedly took a swing at one of the deputies.

Greene said Weber was then physically restrained. The officer sustained a scrape on his thumb.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Greene said assaults on staff do happen, but they arent common.

Weber is due back in district court for a probable cause hearing on the assault charge at 1 p.m. Feb. 7. He is being held on a $50,000 cash/surety bond on the charge.

Weber was convicted in December by a jury and sentenced to time served, 41 days, for larceny under $200 and two counts of trespassing. The misdemeanor conviction stemmed from 2021 incidents in Sanford. Weber also awaits trial on a 1996 rape charge.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Weber is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct stemming from a 1996 alleged incident. He was identified as a suspect in the case in October and was arrested for the felony on Oct. 31 with the help of a genealogy profile used by investigators. He remains jailed on a $500,000 non-10% bond in connection with the case.

Weber allegedly raped an 18-year-old woman. Midland County Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks said the woman was driving home when her car broke down around Stark and Beamish roads in Larkin Township. A man, whom the woman did not know, stopped and offered to give her a ride home. Instead, he drove her to a rural area and attacked her. Brooks said the woman tried to get away, but the man forced her down and raped her.

More Information Douglas Weber jailed on 1996 rape charge reportedly takes a swing at a deputy.
NEW YORK, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Catalent, Inc. (Catalent or the Company) (NYSE: CTLT). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.



The investigation concerns whether Catalent and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.



[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On February 5, 2024, Catalent announced that it had agreed to be sold to Novo Holdings for $63.50 per share in cash. Novo Holdings is the controlling shareholder of the Novo Group companies (including Novo Nordisk), and Catalent is one of Novo Nordisk's main manufacturing partners for the popular weight-loss drug Wegovy. As part of the transaction, Novo Nordisk will acquire three Catalent manufacturing facilities, including a plant located in Bloomington, Indiana. Then, on February 6, 2024, Bloomberg published an article reporting that the Indiana factory to be acquired by Novo Nordisk was not in compliance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety and quality standards. Citing an FDA report obtained via a Freedom of Information request, Bloomberg reported that FDA inspectors visited the Indiana factory in October and November and documented multiple instances of workers failing to ensure the quality and purity of drugs produced there. According to Bloomberg, the FDA also noted that a pest had been found somewhere on a manufacturing line handling syringes in June.

On this news, Catalents stock price fell $3.32 per share, or 5.55%, over the following two trading sessions, to close at $56.50 per share on February 7, 2024.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com .

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
CALGARY, Alberta, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pan American Energy Corp. (the Company or Pan American) (CSE: PNRG) (OTCQB: PAANF) (FRA: SS60) is pleased to announce that it has closed the first tranche (the First Tranche) of its previously announced non-brokered private placement financing (the Private Placement) for gross proceeds to the Company of C$898,749.88.



Pursuant to the First Tranche, the Company issued 1,892,105 units of the Company at a price of $0.475 per unit (each, a Unit), with each Unit comprised of one common share of the Company (each, a Share) and one Share purchase warrant of the Company entitling the holder to acquire one Share (each, a Warrant Share) at a price of C$0.55 until March 7, 2026.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Private Placement for general and administrative expenditures and to fund expenditures with respect to the Companys Horizon Lithium Property.

In accordance with National Instrument 45-106  Prospectus Exemptions (NI 45-106), the Units that were issued pursuant to the First Tranche have been, and the Units which may subsequently be issued under the Private Placement are, offered for sale to purchasers resident in all of the provinces of Canada (except Quebec) pursuant to the listed issuer financing exemption under Part 5A.2 of NI 45-106 (the LIFE Exemption). Because the Private Placement is being completed pursuant to the LIFE Exemption, the securities issued to subscribers in the Private Placement are not subject to mandatory resale restrictions in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.

There is an offering document dated February 13th, 2024 related to the Private Placement that can be accessed under the Companys profile at www.sedarplus.ca and on the Companys website at www.panam-energy.com. This offering document contains additional detail regarding the Private Placement, including additional detail regarding the expected use of proceeds from the Private Placement. Prospective investors should read this offering document before making an investment decision.

The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or available exemptions from such registration requirements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States, or in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Pan American Energy Corp.

Pan American Energy Corp. (CSE: PNRG) (OTCQB: PAANF) (FSE: SS60) is an exploration stage company engaged principally in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties containing battery metals in North America.

The Company executed an option agreement in Canada with Magabra Resources, providing for the right to acquire up to a 90% interest in the drill-ready Big Mack Lithium Project, 80 km north of Kenora, Ontario. The Company has also entered a property option agreement with Horizon Lithium LLC providing for the right to acquire a 100% interest in the Horizon Lithium Project, located within Esmeralda County  Tonopah Lithium Belt, Nevada, USA.

To register for investor updates, please visit https://panam-energy.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Jason Latkowcer

CEO & Director

Contact

Phone : (587) 885-5970

Email: info@panam-energy.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words could, intend, expect, believe, will, projected, estimated and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Companys current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events.

In particular, this press release contains forward-looking information relating to, among other things, the Private Placement, including the total proceeds to be raised from the Private Placement and the proposed use of proceeds from the Private Placement. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information, including the assumption that the Company will close the Second Tranche of the Private Placement, that the Company will raise the anticipated amount of gross proceeds from the Private Placement and that the Company will use the proceeds of the Offering as currently anticipated. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the Company. Although such statements are based on reasonable assumptions of the Companys management, there can be no assurance that any conclusions or forecasts will prove to be accurate.

Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include: the risk that the Second Tranche of the Private Placement does not close; the risk that the Company raises less than the anticipated amount of gross proceeds from the Private Placement; the risk that the Company does not use the proceeds from the Private Placement as currently expected; regulatory risks; and financing, capitalization and liquidity risks. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof, and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the contents of this press release.
/NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ITS TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS, ANY STATE OF THE UNITED STATES OR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA/

VANCOUVER, March 6, 2024 - Freegold Ventures Ltd. (TSX: FVL) (OTCQX: FGOVF) (the "Company" or "Freegold Ventures"), is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Paradigm Capital Inc. (the "Agent"), in connection with a proposed best efforts private placement financing (the "Offering") for total proceeds of a minimum of $5.0 million and up to a maximum of $7.5 million, consisting of a minimum of 12,500,000 units and up to a maximum of 18,750,000 units of the Company (the "Units") at a price of $0.40 per Unit. Each Unit will be comprised of one common share (a "Common Share") and one half of one Common Share purchase warrant of Freegold Ventures. Each whole Common Share purchase warrant will be exercisable for 2 years from the Closing Date at an exercise price of $0.52 per Common Share.

The net proceeds from the Offering will be used for general corporate and working capital purposes.

The Units will be offered for sale in each of the provinces of Canada, other than Quebec, pursuant to the listed issuer financing exemption (the "Listed Issuer Financing Exemption") under Part 5A of National Instrument 45-106 - Prospectus Exemption. The Company has filed a Form 45-106F19 with the securities commissions or similar regulatory authorities in each of the provinces of Canada, other than Quebec. As the Offering is being completed pursuant to the Listed Issuer Financing Exemption, the Units issued in the Offering will not be subject to a hold period pursuant to applicable Canadian securities laws.

There is an offering document related to this Offering that can be accessed under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca and on the Company's website at www.freegoldventures.com. Prospective investors should read this offering document before making an investment decision.

The Offering is expected to close on or about March 26, 2024 (the "Closing Date") and will be subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, including listing of the Common Shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The Agent is entitled, on the Closing Date, to a cash commission equal to 7% of the gross proceeds of the Offering and will receive broker warrants entitling the Agent, from time to time for a period of 2 years from the Closing Date, to acquire that number of Common Shares that is equal to 7% of the number of Units issued pursuant to the Offering, at an exercise price equal to the volume weighted average trading price of the Common Shares on the TSX for the five trading days immediately preceding the date hereof.

The securities have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States without registration under the U.S. Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws or compliance with the requirements of an applicable exemption therefrom. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor may there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Freegold Ventures Limited

Freegold Ventures is a TSX-listed company focused on exploration in Alaska and holds the Golden Summit Gold Project near Fairbanks and the Shorty Creek Copper-Gold Project near Livengood through leases.

Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, without limitation, the completion of planned expenditures, the ability to complete exploration programs on schedule, and the success of exploration programs.

SOURCE Freegold Ventures Ltd.
CALGARY, March 6, 2024 - MEG Energy Corp. (TSX: MEG) ("MEG" or the "Corporation") announces today that the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") has approved the renewal of the Corporation's normal course issuer bid (the "Bid").

Pursuant to the Bid, MEG will purchase for cancellation, from time to time, as it considers advisable, up to a maximum of 24,007,526 common shares of the Corporation. The Bid will become effective on March 11, 2024 and will terminate on March 10, 2025 or such earlier time as the Bid is completed or terminated at the option of MEG.

MEG's intention to continue its share buyback program is consistent with the Corporation's capital allocation strategy which includes enhancing shareholder returns through share buybacks and continued debt reduction. MEG believes there are times when the market price of its common shares may not fully reflect the underlying value of its business and future prospects. Depending on the trading price of its common shares and other relevant factors, the Corporation believes purchasing common shares represents an attractive investment opportunity and is in the best interest of MEG and its shareholders.

The maximum number of common shares to be purchased pursuant to the Bid represents 10% of the public float, as of February 29, 2024. MEG has 272,103,821 common shares issued and outstanding as of February 29, 2024. Purchases pursuant to the Bid will be made on the open market through the facilities of the TSX and/or alternative trading systems in Canada. The number of common shares that can be purchased pursuant to the Bid is subject to a daily maximum of 517,146 common shares (which is equal to 25% of the average daily trading volume of common shares from September 1, 2023 to February 29, 2024, less any common shares purchased during that period under the Prior Bid (as defined below)) with the exception that one block purchase in excess of the daily maximum is permitted per calendar week. The price that MEG will pay for any common shares under the Bid will be the prevailing market price on the TSX at the time of such purchase. Common shares acquired under the Bid will be cancelled.

As of February 29, 2024, MEG had purchased an aggregate of 16,597,600 common shares at a weighted average price of $24.48 per common share under a normal course issuer bid that runs between March 10, 2023 and March 9, 2024 (the "Prior Bid").

MEG has entered into an automatic share purchase plan ("ASPP") with BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. ("BMO") in order to facilitate repurchases of its common shares. Under the Corporation's ASPP, BMO may repurchase shares under the normal course issuer bid during the Corporation's self-imposed blackout periods. Purchases will be made by BMO based upon the parameters prescribed by the TSX and applicable securities laws, the terms of the plan and the parties' written agreement. Outside of these blackout periods, common shares may be purchased under the NCIB in accordance with management's discretion.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful.

About MEG

MEG is an energy company focused on sustainable in situ thermal oil production in the southern Athabasca oil region of Alberta, Canada. MEG is actively developing innovative enhanced oil recovery projects that utilize steam-assisted gravity drainage extraction methods to improve the responsible economic recovery of oil as well as lower carbon emissions. MEG transports and sells thermal oil (AWB) to customers throughout North America and internationally. MEG is a member of the Pathways Alliance, a group of Canada's largest oil sands producers working together to address climate change and achieve the goal of net zero emissions1 by 2050. MEG's common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "MEG" (TSX: MEG).

Learn more at www.megenergy.com

Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. These statements relate to future events or MEG's future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect" or "expected", "may", "will", "will have", "project", "should", "believe", "dependent", "ability", "leaving", "plan", "intend", "target", "potential" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by such words. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. In particular, and without limiting the foregoing, this news release contains forward-looking statements with respect to MEG's intentions with respect to the Bid and the effects of repurchases of common shares thereunder, including any enhancement to shareholder value. Such forward-looking information is based on certain assumptions and analysis made by MEG in light of its experience and perception of current conditions and expected future developments as well as other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. However, whether actual results, performance or achievements will conform to MEG's expectations and predictions is subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from MEG's expectations. Further information regarding the assumptions and risks inherent in the making of forward-looking statements can be found in MEG's most recently filed Annual Information Form ("AIF"), along with MEG's other public disclosure documents. Copies of the AIF and MEG's other public disclosure documents are available through the Company's website at www.megenergy.com/investors and through the SEDAR+ website at www.sedarplus.ca. The forward-looking information included in this news release is expressly qualified in its entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. Unless otherwise stated, the forward-looking information included in this news release is made as of the date of this news release and MEG assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

For further information, please contact:

Investor Relations

T 403.767.0515

E invest@megenergy.com

Media Relations

T 403.775.1131

E media@megenergy.com

1 Scope 1 and scope 2 emissions

SOURCE MEG Energy Corp.
TORONTO, March 7, 2024 - Orford Mining Corp. (TSXV: ORM) ("Orford" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed the mailing of its management information circular and related materials (the "Meeting Materials") for the Company's special meeting of shareholders to be held on March 27, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. (Toronto time) at 66 Wellington Street West, Suite 4100, Toronto, ON M5K 1B7 (the "Meeting").

At the Meeting, shareholders will be asked to approve a plan of arrangement pursuant to which Alamos Gold Inc. (TSX: AGI, NYSE: AGI) ("Alamos") will acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Orford ("Orford Shares") not already owned by Alamos, for deemed consideration of C$0.10 per Orford Share (the "Arrangement"), as further detailed in the Company's press release dated January 15, 2024 available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com.

The Meeting Materials are available on SEDAR+ under Orford's profile at www.sedarplus.com.

YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT

The Board of Directors of Orford (with the abstention of the interested Director) UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS that Orford shareholders vote FOR the resolution approving the Arrangement.

Shareholder Questions and Assistance

If shareholders have any questions or require more information in respect of the voting procedures or completing the form of proxy or voting instruction form, please contact the Company's transfer agent, Computershare Investor Services, by telephone at 1-800-864-6253, or by email at corporateactions@computershare.com.

Additional Information

Full details of the Arrangement are set out in the Arrangement Agreement filed on SEDAR+ on January 29, 2024, under Orford's profile at www.sedarplus.com. In addition, further information regarding the Arrangement will be contained in the Meeting Materials. All shareholders are urged to read the Meeting Materials.

About Orford Mining

Orford Mining is a gold and critical mineral explorer focused on highly prospective and underexplored areas of Northern Quebec. Orford's principal assets are the Qiqavik, West Raglan and lithium exploration projects comprising a land package totaling over 168,336 hectares in the Cape Smith Belt of Northern Quebec. The Qiqavik Project hosts several new high-grade gold discoveries along a mineralized trend in excess of 40 km. The West Raglan Project hosts a number of high-grade Raglan-style nickel/copper/platinum group metal discoveries along a 55 km mineralized trend. In early 2023 Orford acquired large claim blocks targeting Lithium in the Nunavik Region. These Lithium claim blocks have been carefully selected as having promising lithium potential after an exhaustive compilation of available data. The first field season of exploration on the lithium focused properties returned positive results. Orford also has four property positions in the Joutel region of the Abitibi District of Northern Quebec, which hosts historical deposits such as the Eagle/Telbel, Joutel Copper, Poirier Copper, and Vezza deposits. Orford continually seeks new gold exploration opportunities in North America. Orford's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol ORM. This information from neighbouring properties is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization on Orford Mining's properties.

To view further details about Orford's exploration projects please visit Orford's website, www.orfordmining.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.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to: the completion of the Transaction and the Arrangement as proposed to be effected pursuant to the Agreement; the ability of the parties to satisfy the conditions to closing of the Arrangement; the anticipated timing of the completion of the Arrangement, and statements relating to Orford's liquidity and capital resources and potential of one or more of Orford's mineral exploration properties.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Orford to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These factors include, among others, obtaining required shareholder, court, and regulatory approvals, exercise of any termination rights under the Agreement, meeting other conditions in the Agreement, material adverse effects on the business, properties and assets of Orford, and whether any superior proposal will be made. completion of the Transaction, and, in respect of statements concerning Orford's liquidy, capital resources and potential of Orford's mineral exploration properties, future prices and the supply of metals; the results of drilling; inability to raise the money necessary to incur the expenditures required to retain and advance the properties; environmental liabilities (known and unknown); general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; political instability, terrorism, insurrection or war; or delays in obtaining governmental approvals, failure to obtain regulatory or shareholder approvals. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to Orford's filings with Canadian securities regulators available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com.

Although Orford has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward- looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and Orford disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Orford Mining Corp.
VANCOUVER, March 7, 2024 - Metallis Resources Inc. (TSXV: MTS) (OTCQB: MTLFF) (the "Company" or "Metallis") today announces results from its recently completed data compilation program (the "Program") on the newly acquired Greyhound property (the "Property"). The Program included detailed analysis of geological and mining reports along with several recently discovered archived newspaper articles, providing the Company with an improved understanding of both the geology and mineralization along the 3.6 km Greyhound shear/vein. Metallis believes the large number of prospective showings highlighted on the property offer the Company multiple opportunities for the discovery of high-grade gold and silver.

Dave Dupre, Vice President of Exploration for Metallis commented, "Our research program was successful in uncovering over 20 archived newspaper articles about the property from 1895-1905 that had likely never been seen by previous operators. These articles described a significant mining camp on the Greyhound property and mentioned multiple bonanza gold grades with results as high as 35,226 g/t Au and 128,250 g/t Ag from the Bulldog Mine."

He went on to add, "We have also identified that a large amount of the past mining was achieved by driving adits horizontally along the Greyhound shear with no guidance from geological mapping, geophysical surveys, or diamond drilling. Although past operators were still able to return strong grades from historic adits, more recent work on the property has suggested the highest-grade mineralization is oriented vertically and provides opportunity for discovery above and below previously mined areas. The team is excited to apply this new knowledge as we utilize modern exploration techniques for the first time in this property's history."

Through use of multiple data sources, Metallis' technical team has been able to summarize the property's history and expand on the understanding of each prospective showing. When possible, more recent rock sampling and reporting has been prioritized.

Greyhound Mine

Exploration at the Greyhound Mine began in the late 1800's with the Upper Rufus Adit being driven into high grade silver/gold/lead/zinc shear veins discovered on Sulfur Creek. This adit was driven into the south side of Greyhound Ridge for approximately 170 m and provided material for the Greyhound smelter (stamp mill) erected in 1905 that also received material from numerous other showings across the property. Mining ceased and the smelter eventually was abandoned in 1910 with the collapse of silver prices.

In 1979, Greyhound Mining and Milling (the current claim owners) began excavating the Lower Rufus Adit, located 140 m southeast of the Upper Rufus portal. This new adit was driven 300 m with material being transported to a mill offsite. It was further extended 152m between 1980 -1991 and intercepted strong zones of high-grade mineralization. A final shipment of material was sent in the year 2000.

More recent property examinations have detailed several sampling programs in the Lower Rufus Adit with the most thorough data being derived from Hornbaker (1988). A total of 17 channel samples were collected from footage 1331 to 1406 across the vein and demonstrated very robust high-grade mineralization along a total length of 22.9m. This interval returned an average grade (using a minimum width of 5 feet) of 0.06 oz/t Au and 26.38 oz/t Ag (2.05 g/t Au and 902 g/t Ag)*.

These high-grade sections have been referenced in historic reports as "ore-shoots" and represent the highest-grade zones returned in the Lower Rufus Adit (see table below). These tabular bodies are vertically oriented, and it is likely that past miners were unable to fully exploit them with horizontal adits. It is also important to highlight that moderate grade mineralization occurs along the entire length of the Lower Rufus Adit and is not restricted to these ore-shoots.



Note: The term "oreshoot" is used in this news release to describe a segment of a mineralized shear/vein which has a grade and width which might be economic. But, as no economic studies have been performed, there is no intension to imply that the material within an "oreshoot" will necessarily constitute "ore".

Bulldog Mine

The Bulldog mine, located on the north side of Greyhound Ridge, operated from 1898 to 1906, with several surface and underground workings being completed. A historic adit measuring ~152 m in length was driven southeast, along strike within the Greyhound shear/vein with a ~60m crosscut also completed.

During historic data compilation, the Metallis team discovered 20+ old newspaper articles dating from 1898 to 1905 that referenced extremely high grades at the Bulldog Mine. One article mentioned a rock sample from a 6 to 14 inch wide vein, that carried "1,030 oz/t gold and 3750 oz/t silver*" (35,226 g/t Au and 128,250 g/t Ag). This information is historical, albeit from numerous sources, with two other samples displaying bonanza results. While the Metallis technical team regards 100+ year old newspaper articles as highly speculative, they are encouraged by the prospect of very high gold grades on the Property and look forward to commencing their own exploration efforts.

Further reporting by the Idaho Bureau of Mines and Geology (IBMG) suggests that high gold grades exist at the Bulldog, something not identified in later reporting. The IBMG, in a publication from 1920 states, "Ore from this vein, it is maintained, runs about $11 to the ton in gold, and 30 ounces of silver". Converted to today's values, that would be 18.2 g/t Au and 1026 g/t Ag.

More recent historic sampling at the Bulldog has been restricted to single day visits with rock samples taken from trenches or waste piles. These rocks have returned elevated assays of 10-20 oz/t silver and grab samples as high as 69 oz/t silver. Descriptions of the surface showing detail a 10m thick shear zone with two high grade veins separated by lower grade material, as well as elevated base metals and bornite mineralization (Kershner, 1976). In 1980, approximately 12,000 tons of material was removed from this location although there is no documentation of any results, and it is possible this was from historically stockpiled material.

Birdie

The Birdie Showing represents a parallel shear vein 125 m to the east of the Greyhound Shear. Minor production in the late 1800's is noted in historic reports that document approximately 100 feet (30 m) of workings being driven into Greyhound Ridge. A newspaper article from 1894 reported silver grades of 216 oz/t (7,387g/t)*. Work completed by Watts-Griffis-McQuat in 1981 highlighted a 3-foot chip sample just inside the portal that returned 2.42 g/t Au and 2,858 g/t Ag*. The adit has since collapsed, and the full extent of the vein is unknown in this area.

General Grant

The General Grant portal is situated 400 m southeast of the Lower Rufus. The 30 m adit supplied material to the Greyhound mill built on site in the early 1900's. No recent exploration has been completed near the adit although a bulldozer cut located approximately 100 m northwest along strike of the portal is highlighted by a 2.4 m section of 2.56 g/t Au and 366 g/t Ag*. In 1980, Noranda collected a sample from the bulldozer cut that ran 11.9 g/t Au and 2,798g/t Ag*.

Idaho

The Idaho showing occurs centrally along the Greyhound shear between the Bulldog and the Greyhound Mine. Little information is available from this location although historic reporting from the early 1900's suggests a pit was excavated and more recent grab samples by Lance (1999) returned 1.03 g/t Au and 1,771 g/t Ag *.

Buckhorn

The Buckhorn Showing is located near the Northwest end of the Greyhound shear zone approximately 650m northwest of the Bulldog Mine and 3000 m northwest of the Greyhound Mine. This showing was worked in the early 1900's and included a small shaft although little information is available. A single rock sample taken by Kershner (1976) returned 263 g/t Ag*.

Republican

The Republican showing is the most northwesterly historic working completed along the Greyhound shear. This showing was worked in the early 1900's with minor historic workings still visable. Lance (1999) describes a single grab sample taken from a dump pile that returned 5.13 g/t Au and 1,691 g/t Ag*.

* All grades mentioned in this release are historical in nature and can not be verified by Metallis Resources

Qualified Person

David Dupre, P.Geo, Vice President - Exploration and the Qualified Person, as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this release.

About the Greyhound Property

The recently acquired Greyhound Property is in Custer County, Idaho, approximately 42 km northwest of the town of Stanley. This property was the center of an active silver mining camp in the early 1900's and at one point contained a smelter and two active mines situated along a 3.6 km mineralized shear zone. Since 1910, the property has seen limited exploration and only minor development when the Greyhound Mine was reactivated and mined from 1980-1991. The last remaining ore from this period was shipped to a smelter in 2000 and the property remains substantially underexplored.

About Metallis

Metallis Resources Inc. is a Vancouver-based company focused on the exploration for gold, copper and silver on its flagship 100%-owned Kirkham Property in Canada, situated in northwest British Columbia's Golden Triangle, and on its recently acquired Greyhound Property, a gold/silver target in Idaho, USA.

Metallis trades under the symbols MTS on the TSX Venture Exchange, MTLFF on the OTCQB Exchange, and 0CVM on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Bibliography:

Heard, R.T. 1981.,

Geoogical Report on the Greyhound Mining and Milling Property For Eastern Leaseholds Inc.

Kershner & Mashnurn, 1976.,

Reconnaissance Report on the Bulldog Claim Group for Kershner & Mashburn, Consulting Engineers, Boise, Idaho

Lance, D.L. 1999.,

Geological report on the Greyhound Mine, Custer County, Idaho. For United Silver Inc.

Sampson, T, & Clark, M, 1981,

Geological Report on the Greyhound Mine Custer County, Idaho. Watts, Griffis and McQuat, Incorporated Mining and Geological Consultants

Longe, R. 1999.

A Summary Report on the Greyhound Mine, for Helio Capital Corp, Minequest Exploration Associates Ltd.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

/s/ "Fiore Aliperti"

Chief Executive Officer, President, and Director

Web: www.metallisresources.com

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Press Release may contain statements which constitute 'forward-looking' statements, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities and operating performance of the Company. The words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future business activities or performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the Company's future business activities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements because of numerous factors. Such risks, uncertainties and factors are described in the periodic filings with the Canadian securities' regulatory authorities, including quarterly and annual Management's Discussion and Analysis, which may be viewed on SEDAR at www.sedarplus.ca. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated, or expected.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated, or expected. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements.

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. The TSX-V Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

SOURCE Metallis Resources Inc.
Note: Drill Hole FTEL-23-01 has an Azimuth 354 degrees and an angle of -70 degrees, drilled to a depth of 357 feet. Assays were prepared by ALS Labs of North Vancouver, BC, using ME-MS61 and Au-AA24 analytical method codes.

Docherty noted that the drill, owned by First Tellurium, remains on site and will be available as soon as the 2024 season opens. "With the drill there and ready to go, we expect to hit the ground running this year," said Docherty. "Our permits are in place, and we plan to engage a second drill as soon as possible."



Click Image To View Full Size

Gold Sampling Results



Click Image To View Full Size

Silver Sampling Results



Click Image To View Full Size

Tellurium Sampling Results



Click Image To View Full Size

Copper Sampling Results

Molybdenum Sampling Results



Click Image To View Full Size

Tungsten Sampling Results



Click Image To View Full Size

Qualified Person

The Company's disclosure of technical or scientific information related to the Deer Horn Project in this news release was reviewed and approved by Dr. Lee Groat, Ph.D, P.Geo, Technical Advisor to First Tellurium, who is a qualified person within the context of NI 43-101.

About First Tellurium Corp.

First Tellurium's unique business model is to generate revenue and value through mineral discovery, project development, project generation and cooperative access to untapped mineral regions in Indigenous territory with sustainable exploration.

Our Klondike tellurium-gold property in Colorado and polymetallic Deer Horn Project in British Columbia anchor a diversified search for metals, working in alliance with Indigenous peoples, NGOs, governments and leading metals buyers. This is the future of mineral exploration-generating revenue by exploring responsibly and leveraging diverse partnerships.

First Tellurium proudly adheres to, and supports, the principles and rights set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and in particular the fundamental proposition of free, prior and informed consent. First Tellurium is listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange under the symbol "FTEL" and on the OTC under the symbol "FSTTF". Further information about FTEL and its projects can be found on www.firsttellurium.com.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulations services accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking information

All statements included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions made by the Company based on its experience, perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. In addition, these statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will prove inaccurate, certain of which are beyond the Company's control. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to revise or update these forward-looking statements after the date hereof or revise them to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated event.

Copyright (c) 2024 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
TORONTO, March 7, 2024 - Gold Fields Ltd. ("Gold Fields") announces the closing of the previously announced sale of all of its interest in the Asanko joint venture in Ghana (the "Asanko JV") to its joint venture partner Galiano Gold Inc. (formerly Asanko Gold Inc.) ("Galiano") and its subsidiaries (the "Transaction"). The Transaction took place pursuant to a share purchase agreement dated December 20, 2023 (the "Share Purchase Agreement") among certain of Gold Fields' wholly-owned subsidiaries, Galiano and certain of Galiano's subsidiaries.

As consideration for the acquisition of Gold Fields' joint venture interest under the Transaction, Galiano and its subsidiaries agreed pursuant to the Share Purchase Agreement to pay to a Gold Fields subsidiary, Gold Fields Orogen Holding (BVI) Limited ("GF Orogen") and an affiliate:

(1) an aggregate cash purchase price of US$150,000,000, payable as follows:







(i) US$65,000,000 (the "Initial Cash Consideration") on the closing date of the Transaction (the "Closing Date");







(ii) US$25,000,000 on or before December 31, 2025 (the "First Deferred Consideration");







(iii) US$30,000,000 on or before December 31, 2026 (the "Second Deferred Consideration"); and







(iv) US$30,000,000 upon the production of 100,000 ounces of gold from the Nkran deposit forming part of the Asanko gold mine (the "Nkran Deposit");



(2) US$20,000,000 (the "Share Consideration") to be satisfied by the issuance of 28,500,000 Galiano Shares. Based upon the daily average C$/US$ exchange rate quoted by the Bank of Canada on the Closing Date, the Share Consideration amount of US$20 million was equivalent to approximately C$27.1 million or C$0.95 per Galiano Share; and



(3) a 1% net smelter returns royalty on the Nkran Deposit from and after the date on which 100,000 ounces of gold have been produced therefrom until 547,000 ounces of gold have been produced therefrom.

The Initial Cash Consideration and the Share Consideration were subject to potential adjustment in certain circumstances set out in the Share Purchase Agreement. However, it was determined that no adjustments to the Initial Cash Consideration or the number of Galiano Shares comprising the Share Consideration were required. The Closing Date of the Transaction was March 4, 2024.

Galiano has the right to elect to satisfy up to 20% of each of the First Deferred Consideration and the Second Deferred Consideration in Galiano Shares rather than cash, provided that such issuance of Galiano Shares does not result in the Gold Fields group holding more than 19.9% of the issued and outstanding Galiano Shares. If such right is exercised in the future, such Galiano Shares will be issued at a deemed issue price equal to the volume weighted average price of the Galiano Shares on the NYSE American stock exchange for the five (5) trading days immediately preceding the date of such issuance.

Immediately prior to the Closing Date, Marsh Holdings Inc. ("Marsh"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gold Fields, owned 21,971,657 common shares of Galiano (the "Owned Shares"), representing approximately 9.8% of the issued and outstanding shares ("Galiano Shares"). On the Closing Date, GF Orogen acquired ownership of the 28,500,000 Galiano Shares comprising the Share Consideration. After giving effect to the Transaction, Marsh and GF Orogen collectively own an aggregate of 50,471,657 Galiano Shares, representing approximately 19.9% of the issued and outstanding Galiano Shares.

Marsh acquired the Owned Shares for investment purposes. GF Orogen acquired the additional 28,500,000 Galiano Shares comprising the Share Consideration on the Closing Date. GF Orogen may acquire additional Galiano Shares issued in the future in satisfaction of the First Deferred Consideration and/or the Second Deferred Consideration, as described above. Subject to the provisions of an amended and restated investor rights agreement and an amended and restated registration rights agreement, each of which were entered into by Galiano and members of the Gold Fields group concurrently with the closing of the Transaction, the Gold Fields group may from time to time acquire additional Galiano Shares or other securities of Galiano or dispose of some or all of the Galiano Shares that it owns at such time.

About Gold Fields

Gold Fields is a globally diversified gold producer with eight operating mines in Australia, South Africa, Ghana and Peru and two projects in Canada and Chile. Our shares are listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and our American depositary shares trade on the New York Exchange (NYSE). Our executive offices are located at 150 Helen Road, Sandown, Sandton 2196, South Africa.

At the time of Gold Fields' initial announcement of the Transaction dated December 21, 2023, the number of Galiano Shares comprising the Share Consideration was subject to potential adjustment in certain circumstances set out in the Share Purchase Agreement. This updated news release reflects, among other things, the actual number of Galiano Shares issued as the Share Consideration upon closing of the Transaction, and is issued pursuant to National Instrument 62-103 - The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issues. For further information, or to obtain a copy of the updated early warning report filed by Gold Fields in accordance with applicable securities laws, please contact:

SOURCE Gold Fields Ltd.
Pinwheels sit outside the Midland County Courthouse on April 11, 2022. Blue pinwheels are a national symbol for child abuse prevention. Andrew Mullin/amullin@hearstnp.com Midland County Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks. Photo provided by Midland County Prosecutor

A 58-year-old Midland man charged in a 1996 rape case waived his 21-day probable cause hearing Tuesday.

Midland County Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks said another probable cause hearing will be set for Douglas Weber, who is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He was arrested for the felony on Oct. 31, with the help of a genealogy profile used by investigators. He remains jailed on a $500,000 non-10% bond in connection with the case.

According to the Michigan attorney general, all probable cause hearings must be heard within 21 days of arraignments, unless waived.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Weber was arraigned on Nov. 2, in Midlands 75th District Court.

Brooks said that on Jan. 7, 1996, an 18-year-old woman was driving home when her car broke down in the area of Stark and Beamish roads in Larkin Township. A man, whom the woman did not know, stopped and offered to give her a ride home. Instead, he drove her to a rural area and attacked her. Brooks said the woman tried to get away, but the man forced her down and raped her.

Brooks said the suspect then told the victim to get dressed and he drove to Dublin Road. Upon seeing overhead emergency lights from a police vehicle, the suspect stopped his car and the victim was able to get out and run away.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The victim ran to her home and immediately told her mother she had been raped, and the police were called. She subsequently went to the hospital, where she was treated and a rape evidence kit was collected.

When money was freed up to run DNA rape kits in 2016, Midland County Sheriffs Office investigators in 2018 ran the evidence from the 1996 cold case. However, Brooks said there wasnt a suspect match in the system.

Det. Brent Benzing further investigated using genealogy assistance to help catch the culprit. Weber was one of the suspects for whom the sheriff's office was able to establish probable cause and get a search warrant for his DNA. Midland County Sheriff Myron Greene said it was sent to the Michigan State Police lab and it came back a match.

Greene said investigators are using forensic evidence on genealogy sites to build out family trees to generate potential suspects. Such databases have been helping law enforcement solve crimes dating back to the 1970s, said Brooks.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
During the second practice session (FP2) for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024, Fernando Alonso in his Aston Martin was quickest with a lap time of 1m28.827, edging out Mercedes' George Russell and current world champion Max Verstappen.

This session, pivotal for nighttime race preparations, unfolded under the dazzling lights of Jeddah, albeit starting ten minutes behind schedule due to FIA's inspection for safety measures concerning the pitlane's drain covers.

The early minutes saw McLaren's Oscar Piastri setting the pace to post the initial fastest lap, despite Valtteri Bottas' early mishap with a spin at Turn 1. The drivers predominantly opted for medium or hard tires, contrasting Red Bull's strategy to utilize soft tires from the beginning, which soon led to an intense battle for the top positions on the leaderboard.

Alonso, on medium tires, delivered a strong lap time of 1m29.846s, temporarily disrupted by Verstappen's brief ascendancy. However, Alonso reclaimed the top spot with an even faster lap. The session intensified as drivers switched to soft tires for qualifying simulations, a critical phase where Alonso continued to outpace his rivals, further lowering his time to a 1m28.827s, securing the fastest lap of the session.

Verstappen and Russell jostled closely behind, with Verstappen initially falling short by 0.331s and Russell subsequently leapfrogging into second place, hinting at a tightly contested race ahead. The session not only highlighted the front-runners' prowess but also showcased strategic nuances, with teams and drivers adapting to the Jeddah circuit's unique challenges.

As the session progressed into its latter stages, focusing on long-run simulations, the drivers faced additional obstacles, including traffic and technical issues, notably Lewis Hamilton's early exit due to a power issue in his Mercedes. This phase of the session was crucial for teams to gather data on tire durability and car performance over longer stints, providing insights into race day strategies.

The end of the session saw Alonso, Russell, and Verstappen leading the pack, with their performances setting the tone for an enthralling qualifying session and race.
Douglas Weber Photo provided by Midland County Jail

After escaping justice for nearly 28 years, Douglas Weber, 59, pleaded guilty Friday morning to third-degree criminal sexual conduct.

He pleaded guilty to forcing sexual intercourse on a woman in January 1996, said Midland County Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks. Weber pleaded before Midland County Circuit Court Judge Michael Beale, who returned him without bond to the Midland County Jail until his 1:30 p.m. sentencing on March 7, 2024. Weber has been jailed since Nov. 1, 2022 on a $500,000 cash/surety bond.

Brooks said pursuant to a plea agreement, the first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge against Weber was dismissed along with assaulting a prison employee. Per the agreement, Weber would serve five to 15 years in prison and abide with the lifetime sex offender registry conditions.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The sexual assault survivor, now in her mid-40s, was in the courtroom for Webers hearing.

You could see a wave of relief come over her, Brooks said. It was not something she expected. I hope this will bring her some closure.

The victim was 18 years old and driving home on Jan. 7, 1996 when her car broke down in Midland County. Weber, whom she didnt know, stopped and offered to give her a ride home.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Instead, Weber drove her to a rural area and attacked her. Brooks said the woman tried to get away, but the man forced her down and raped her.

After the assault, Weber drove away with the victim and reportedly saw lights, which he thought were from a police car. He let her out of the car, and the woman made it home and told her mother what had happened. They went to a hospital and evidence of the assault was collected, Brooks said. Police were also called.

It was an extraordinary case, Brooks said. We made the case only because she disclosed (the assault) right away.

The victim immediately went to the hospital for a rape kit, and the DNA that was collected helped link Weber to crime, along with help from a genealogy profile. Prior to the pleading, Weber unsuccessfully tried to suppress the DNA evidence.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In 1996, there was a statute of limitations on criminal sexual conduct, unless there was DNA from the unknown suspect.

Brooks said sexual assaults by strangers are rare, noting that they are mostly perpetrated by someone known to the victim. This case was unusual because it was a stranger and investigators didnt have a lot to go on.

In 2015, the attorney general and prosecuting attorneys association asked legislators for funding to test the rape kits, funding which was offered in 2016. In 2017, Midland County tested the 1996 rape kit, with no match.

Midland County Sheriffs Detective Brent Benzing, who had recently undergone related training, suggested examining ancestral DNA and tracked it to someone related to Weber. Benzing took it further and narrowed the search to identify Weber.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Brooks, who has been a prosecutor for many years, said if you had asked him in 1997 or 1998, he would have said the case would not be solved. In 2016 and 2017, he still lacked confidence, with still not much to go on.

It was a tremendous amount of effort to get this done, he said.

Investigators are using forensic evidence on genealogy sites to build out family trees to generate potential suspects. Such databases have been helping law enforcement solve crimes dating back to the 1970s, said Brooks.

Its still rare, but I think it is becoming more common, Brooks said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Midland County Sheriff Myron Greene said Benzing presented evidence to Parabond NanoLabs of Reston, Virginia, which works with genealogy databases. The evidence led to a family member of Weber who lived in Canada and had a direct relative in the Midland area.

Authorities went to that relative and got a DNA sample and sent that back to the lab. Lab technicians then generated a possibility of 10 suspects in the open rape case. Greene said they then looked at people who lived or were in the Midland area in 1996 and attempted to get DNA from them.
Midland County Sheriff Myron Greene poses for a portrait Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021 at the Law Enforcement Center. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net) (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net) Midland County Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks. Photo provided by Midland County Prosecutor

With the help of a genealogy profile, a 58-year-old Midland man was jailed Tuesday on a $500,000 cash/surety bond in connection with a July 1996 rape.

Douglas Weber is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct and arraigned Wednesday in Midland County District Court. He is set for a probable cause hearing on Nov. 15.

Midland County Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks said that on Jan. 7, 1996, an 18-year-old woman was driving home when her car broke down in Midland County. A man, who the woman did not know, stopped and offered to give her a ride home. Instead, he drove her to a rural area and attacked her. Brooks said the woman tried to get away, but the man forced her down and raped her.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

After the assault, he was driving away with her when he saw lights, which he thought was police. He let her out of the car and the woman made it home and told her mother what had happened. They went to a hospital and evidence of the assault was collected, Brooks said. Police were also called. The suspect could not be found at that time.

Weber is also being held without bond in the Midland County Jail on three misdemeanor cases involving assault and battery, trespassing and larceny under $200. The offenses allegedly occurred in July and August 2021. However, Weber didnt show for the hearings.

When money was freed up to run DNA rape kits in 2016, Midland County Sheriffs Office investigators ran the evidence from the 1996 cold case. However, Brooks said there wasnt a suspect match in the system.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Det. Brent Benzing further investigated using genealogy assistance to help catch the suspect.

Investigators are using forensic evidence on genealogy sites to build out family trees to generate potential suspects. Such databases have been helping law enforcement solve crimes dating back to the 1970s, said Brooks.

Midland County Sheriff Myron Greene said investigators presented the evidence to Parabond NanoLabs of Reston, Virginia, which works with genealogy databases, that led to a family member of the suspect who lived in Canada and had a direct relative in the Midland area.

Authorities went to that relative and got a DNA sample and sent that back to the lab. Lab technicians then generated a possibility of 10 suspects in the open rape case. Greene said they then looked at people who lived or were in the Midland area in 1996 and attempted to get DNA from them.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Weber was one of the suspects for who they were able to establish probable cause and get a search warrant for his DNA. Greene said it was sent to the Michigan State Police lab and it came back a match.

Brooks said sex assaults by strangers are often difficult to solve. But that may be changing thanks to resources for DNA.

Its still rare to have cases like this, Brooks said of the genealogy use. I think youre going to see more of them.

In 1996 there was a statute of limitations on criminal sexual conduct, unless there was DNA from the unknown suspect. There was DNA because the victim immediately reported it.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Brooks said when the victim learned there was a suspect in her case, she was overwhelmed.

She was very emotional, Brooks said. It still bothers her very much to this day.

Greene is satisfied to see an arrest in a cold case.

Since taking office, I met with the detectives to resolve all the outstanding cold cases, Greene said. I have taken an active role to ensure these cases are getting the attention they need to keep them moving forward and bring resolve for the victims and families.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
The state of Wyoming has taken a significant step in addressing its longstanding struggle with high suicide rates by implementing the 988 suicide hotline.

This critical tool in the fight against suicides has proven to be an invaluable resource for individuals facing mental health crises in the state. The 988 hotline, unlike national hotlines, operates locally in Wyoming, with trained counselors based in Casper and Greybull who are available around the clock. This localized approach ensures that individuals calling the hotline receive support from professionals familiar with the unique challenges faced by Wyoming residents.

The budget session is in full swing, and the continued funding for the 988 hotline is crucial to sustaining its operations and impact. However, there are voices within the Wyoming Legislature opposing the hotlines funding, citing a desire to reduce government spending.

Unfortunately, I cant say all of our colleagues join us in wanting to address this problem, said Rep. Cyrus Western (HD-51). The Freedom Caucus insists theyre in office to help average folks, yet actively fought against the establishment of the hotline because, they argued, it was government spending, and it wouldnt be effective.

It is essential to recognize that supporting mental health initiatives, such as the 988 hotline, is not just a matter of fiscal responsibility but aligns with a fundamentally conservative idea of prioritizing the well-being and safety of the states residents.

Wyoming has historically grappled with one of the highest suicide rates per capita in the nation, making the 988 hotline a vital lifeline for those in crisis. The opposition to its funding under the guise of reducing government spending may stem from a misunderstanding of the proper role of government.

To be clear, more work needs to be done, said Rep. Cyrus Western. But we need to ensure funding for the hotline remains in place through swings in our budget to create a continuity our community can count on.

Investing in mental health services, particularly those tailored to the unique needs of Wyomings population, is a responsible and compassionate use of public resources. The 988 hotline stands as a testament to the states commitment to addressing mental health challenges within our borders and saving lives in the process.
On March 4, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a unanimous decision reversing the Colorado Supreme Courts December ruling to remove Donald Trump from the ballot in 2024.

Some Wyoming politicians released statements to express their approval of this decision.

Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray previously filed an Amicus Curiae brief with the Supreme Court of the United States, arguing that the Supreme Court should reverse the Colorado Supreme Courts decision to bar Donald Trump from the ballot under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. Secretary Grays brief argued that Trump did not engage in an insurrection or rebellion, nor give aid or comfort to the enemies of the United States.

I am extremely pleased with the Supreme Courts decision reversing the Colorado Supreme Courts repugnant ruling, Secretary Gray said in a statement on March 4. As Wyomings chief election officer, I filed an Amicus brief in January asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse Colorados outrageously wrong and unprecedented decision. For this, I have been repeatedly attacked by the radical left-wing media, and even members of the Legislature, for my efforts to ensure that Trump will be on the ballot. Todays unanimous decision keeping Trump on the ballot marks vindication for the truth and for liberty. As Secretary of State, I will continue to fight to ensure the people of Wyomingites can choose who to elect for themselves.

U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) also released a statement on March 4 after the Supreme Court unanimously rejected state attempts to ban President Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot.

The Supreme Court unanimously tossed out an absurd political attempt to block President Donald Trump from the ballot, Barrasso said. Todays decision means that liberal activists will not silence American voters this November. Millions of voters will rightly decide our next president at the ballot box.
In the evening rain, the Perelman Center shimmers like a sturgeon. In the architectural hodgepodge of the former World Trade Center  hard by Santiago Calatravas bony Oculus, just opposite Michael Arads 9/11 memorial  you cant miss it, paneled in Portuguese marble whose natural striations seem to be wriggling their way upstream. Inside are three separate theaters, which will play host this season to Laurence Fishburnes one-man show, the New York premiere of an opera about the suicide of a Chinese American army private, and, naturally, a ballroom reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webbers Cats.

The Perelman Performing Arts Center, so-called thanks to a $75 million gift by the billionaire Ron Perelman, is, by any measure, a major addition to the arts, like a Shed South, with a little less of the craven capitalism of Hudson Yards. The aim of rebuilding terrorism-scarred downtown is nobler than that of working up a new neighborhood to plump with luxury residences, even if the result will likely be much the same. Hudson Yards has Jose Andres; here, Metropolis by Marcus Samuelsson opened in November, the latest love letter to New York.

If Metropolis loves New York, will New York love Metropolis? Im not sure. The restaurant hasnt attracted the same buzz as, say, Samuelssons Hav & Mar or the way Red Rooster did back in 2010. On a pair of visits, the dining rooms 135 seats were always at least half-full, but despite a menu that ranges across communities and boroughs  Flushing-style oysters with XO sauce, seared duck with Oaxacan mole, Korean Caribbean oxtail  Metropolis, as designed by David Rockwell, has the uncanny feel of precisely nowhere. The long space, set back in the PAC lobby, beneath a telescoping, sculptural wooden ceiling, is redolent of international airport lounge. On one wall, an artwork depicts a topographically correct New York coastline in mother-of-pearl buttons. Bathrooms are identified by an illuminated, pictographic toilet. A glass-fronted corridor at the back is faced with lounge chairs to admire a runway slice of outside view.

The menu doesnt always dispel the feeling. Much of it leans snacky, albeit in a dressed-up way: pigs in a blanket (rechristened blanketed franks), Iberified with Basque chistorra and patatas bravas sauce; bar-nosh fried pickles recast with olives and cornichons and a dip of everything-dusted mayo; four fingers of smoked hamachi to be piled with cabbage slaw and crema into tacos, an odd deli-barrio hybrid. The real point seems to be a tableside reveal that sends a cloud of savory smoke rising. The hamachi taco is doing really well on social media, our waiter told us.

Vegas maximalism, declared a friend, though Metropolis is hardly the only New York establishment practicing that. There are moments where it works: Its a gimmick to crank a rich slurry of shrimp heads and lime onto shrimp toast from a golden grinder held above, but theres no denying the deep, satisfying shrimpiness it provides.

. .

Photo: Hugo Yu. Photo: Hugo Yu.

Ed Tinoco, a New Yorker repatriated after a long stint in Chicago overseeing one of Grant Achatzs temples to gonzo gastronomy, Next, runs the kitchen. Onika Brown, formerly of Per Se, handles desserts. Their credentials are impeccable, and often, so is their cooking. I loved the long-stewed oxtail, served in a flower-painted casserole dish over coconut rice, so sweet with iron and baking spice that I broke my usual rule and ordered it twice. I was similarly enamored of rare seared duck, dry-aged two weeks, served with a mole that Tinoco has been tending and shepherding for four years. Other dishes could have used more of that obsessive focus. Too many felt like bits of theater themselves. Some were drama (whole branzino served, banchan style, with too many extraneous bits and sides to fit into tiny lettuce cups). Others were comedy (around half the cocktail list, maybe the only place in New York to find vodka infused with Murrays cheddar, put to work in a lime-green, carbonated appletini). Like all interactive theater, they offered diminishing returns.

It may be the theater where Samuelsson is most present. He acts, these days, more as a producer and ringmaster of other talent: The Samuelsson Group runs 15 restaurants around the world, a number of philanthropic initiatives, a Bahamian food festival, an accelerator fund for Black-owned businesses. Some are worthy; some are Jersey (Marcus Live! Bar and Grille, in the beleaguered American Dream megamall). Metropolis by Marcus Samuelsson, as he renders it, manages to be both. Hes married art to the Big Apple, and wound up with the big, cheesy appletini.
Google's Tensor G4 SoC is coming later this year to power the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, and possibly even the Pixel Fold 2. A new report from Korea today corroborates an earlier rumor which said the G4 would be manufactured by Samsung's foundry. It will be using the 4nm process.

The Tensor G4 will apparently have improved heat management, along with better performance and higher efficiency. So it looks like it will be a step up from the G3 in every way possible, which is definitely good news considering that the previous chipset didn't win any awards for, well, anything.

Interestingly, the Exynos 2400 featuring prominently in the Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24+ this year might have brought some more customers to Samsung's foundry, since it was pretty well received - for an Exynos, at least. It might just be that everyone had so low expectations of it that it's managed to surpass all of them, but in the end it doesn't matter why, just that Samsung's foundry could be making some more money now thanks to it.

Several voices in the tech world, including Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Open AI CEO Sam Altman seem to want to have less reliance on Taiwanese TSMC for chip making, as TSMC currently has about 50% market share. Samsung seems ready and definitely willing to help with that.

Source (in Korean)
Dear Abby Tribune File Photo

DEAR ABBY: My friend of eight years, "Lorna," had a family get-together for her daughter, who was graduating from college. I was not invited, which surprised me, since our families were always close. Both of our sons were best friends. After telling me about their party plans, Lorna asked if I could make my special cake. I felt obliged, so I made it and dropped it off the morning of their party.

Because it was a special gathering, I didn't want to put it in a cheap-looking plastic cake carrier. So I put it on the only other option I had  an ornate cut glass cake stand I had received as a gift years before. A few days after the party, Lorna and I met for breakfast and she told me she was sorry, but when her mother was washing the stand, it slipped out of her hands and she broke it. I was crushed because it had been given to me by a special friend.

I know accidents happen, but shouldn't they have offered to replace it? Lorna has mentioned that her parents were struggling financially, but she and her husband seem well-off  they have a large home and drive expensive cars. If Lorna had offered, I probably wouldn't have taken her up on it, but offering no compensation seemed odd to me. I no longer feel as close to her as before. Am I right to feel this way, or should I just let it go?

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

 SWEET TURNED SOUR

DEAR SWEET: Lorna may have money, but she apparently lacks class. She should have offered to replace the cake stand her mother broke. Of course, you could ask her to replace it, but even if she did, it wouldn't have the sentimental value of the one that was lost. In light of your long friendship, and now realizing Lorna has feet of clay, I suggest you let this go if you can. But in the future, if she asks again, think twice before putting on your apron.

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been married 46 years. During the last five, he has procrastinated about doing our income taxes to the point that we have been charged penalties. He keeps saying he'll work on it, but everything else is a bigger priority.

I gathered all the necessary documents and printed out a tax worksheet. My husband has his own small business, which complicates things. I hate this hanging over my head. I told him I won't go on our planned camping trip if this isn't done beforehand, and I intend to follow through. I can't get him to give me a straight answer for why he keeps doing this. It's ruining our otherwise great marriage.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

 MONEY WOES IN FLORIDA
These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales.
Today Japanese camera behemoth Nikon announced that it's buying Red, maker of a series of Hollywood-beloved digital movie cameras. Red will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Nikon once the deal is finalized.

This is a very interesting addition to Nikon's portfolio - for all of its brand recognition and general market share in the consumer and prosumer space, it didn't have anything nearing Red's penetration and prestige in the professional space, especially not for movie shooting. So this will propel Nikon straight into Hollywood.

On the other hand, we assume Red founder Jim Jannard and President Jarred Land will get a nice big paycheck from Nikon - the sum hasn't been disclosed, unfortunately.

Nikon says:

The agreement was reached as a result of the mutual desires of Nikon and Red to meet the customers' needs and offer exceptional user experiences that exceed expectations, merging the strengths of both companies. Nikon's expertise in product development, exceptional reliability, and know-how in image processing, as well as optical technology and user interface along with Reds knowledge in cinema cameras, including unique image compression technology and color science, will enable the development of distinctive products in the professional digital cinema camera market. Nikon will leverage this acquisition to expand the fast-growing professional digital cinema camera market, building on both companies' business foundations and networks, promising an exciting future of product development that will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in film and video production.

The Japanese company also mentions Red's "industry-defining products" in the digital cinema camera space, its various contributions to the film industry, its Academy Award, and praises it for being "celebrated by directors and cinematographers worldwide for its commitment to innovation and image quality optimized for the highest levels of filmmaking and video production".

Source
Back in mid-February a weird report claimed Oppo would simply give up on the foldable market, due to its share in the space falling last year. The company promptly reached out to us to deny the rumor, but maybe it wasn't all bunk.

A new report today from a usually reliable source says Oppo's Find N5 Flip, which was going to be the successor to the Find N3 Flip that launched last year, has been canceled. There is no reason given for this but we assume sales of the previous generations of Oppo-made Flips haven't been high enough to warrant the continuation of the line. Still, it would be a pretty surprising move, considering how nascent the foldable market is even today.

Oppo Find N3 Flip

On the other hand, the Oppo Find N5 is alive and well and will apparently even launch globally alongside the OnePlus Open 2, which could once again be the same device with a different name - just like the Find N3 and original Open.

Additionally, Xiaomi's Mix Fold 4 is allegedly going to be launching globally, it would be the first Xiaomi foldable to do so. The Mix Flip, Xiaomi's first flip-style foldable, is also coming this year, but will remain confined to China. It's a similar story for vivo - the X Fold3 will go global, the X Flip2 will stay in China. It's strange that Oppo, Xiaomi, and vivo are simply letting Samsung run away with the international market for flip-style foldables, but this is the way things are.

At least, if this rumor pans out, of course. As always, don't believe everything you read on the internet, even if it comes from a reliable source.

Source
The Matao, Guams senior mens national soccer team, goes against Singapore in the second leg of the FIFA World Cup 26 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 Joint Preliminary Qualification Round 1.
A Guam Fire Department firetruck. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $406 billion spending package that included Del. James Moylans amendments that, among other things, would provide $1.25 million to GFD to buy an interface pumper firetruck, firefighting gear and other equipment.
Judge Benjamin C. Sison on Thursday appointed attorney Arthur B. Clark, once the chief policy advisor for former Gov. Eddie Calvo, to defend Domingo Chargualaf Mendiola, the suspect in the deadly robbery shooting on Valentines Day.

The judge appointed Clark after both the Public Defender Services Corporation and the Alternate Public Defender said they couldnt represent Mendiola.

Sison first asked the Public Defender Services, which said they could not represent him, citing conflict of interest.

Alternate Public Defender Richard Dirkx also told the judge they could not take Mendiola as a client because they are already representing Jenna Rose Calinagan Manibusan, who is listed as a co-defendant in the case.

Manibusan is Mendiolas girlfriend.

Mendiola is accused of robbing and shooting 53-year-old Sumittra Lairopi on the night of Feb. 14. Lairopi died two days later, leaving behind a husband and three children.

According to the magistrates complaint, Mendiola needed money to pay a drug debt.

Sison continued Mendiolas arraignment to 2 p.m. on March 19.

Mendiolas counsel, Clark, has been a member of the Guam Bar Association since October 1989, according to the Bars website. His areas of practice include administrative law, civil litigation, construction law, contracts, corporate law, deeds, landlord/tenant and real property. The site lists him as the CEO and sole practitioner at the Law Offices of Arthur Clark, P.C.
A woman who had previously reported being assaulted by Adam Angoco Hill Jr. sent text messages to a family member Tuesday asking the relative to help her and to bring cops, according to a magistrates complaint filed in Superior Court.

Hill, 35, a registered sex offender who also has a family violence conviction, was charged Wednesday with strangulation and family violence as third-degree felonies, two counts of misdemeanor family violence and resisting arrest as a misdemeanor.

He was released on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.

At 7:40 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2023, a woman told police she had been assaulted by Hill, who became angry when his 1-year-old child was crying. The woman said she asked Hill why he was yelling at the child, and Hill grabbed the womans hair, threw her to the ground, and punched her face with his left hand while holding her hair with his right hand.

He then beat her with a broom handle, leaving her with bruises on her jaw, chin, arm, leg and back, according to the complaint.

Early Tuesday, police at the Dededo precinct received information from a family member that the woman was being held against her will. Police went to the location at different times, according to the complaint.

At 2 a.m., police went to the residence and the woman tried to yell, but Hill told her to shut up and choked her for approximately 30 seconds causing her not to breathe. One of Hills relatives came to the room and told him to stop because police were nearby, the complaint stated.

Police departed sometime after where she remained in the room fearful for her life, the complaint stated. At 9 a.m., she was able to get Hills phone and send another text message when he was away.

She told police that on Monday night, Hill threw a vape pod, hitting her leg, and hit her in the head with a shoe. He hit her arm multiple times, pushed her head against the wall and slapped her, according to the complaint.

Police noted injuries on her arm, leg, neck and head.

When police tried to arrest Hill, he refused to cooperate and resisted being handcuffed and placed in the patrol car, according to the complaint.

Hill has two previous convictions for third-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2011 and one for fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2015, according to the Guam Sex Offender Registry.

He also has a 2013 family violence conviction, according to records from the Office of the Attorney General.

If found guilty of the current charges, Hill could be sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Senators during Thursdays emergency session passed a bill seeking to expedite the Guam Power Authoritys procurement of temporary, emergency power meant to stave off load-shedding this summer.

The vote was 10-4, with Sen. Jesse Lujan absent.

Sen. William Parkinsons Bill 206-37 would waive a number of procurement regulations, with the goal of speeding along a deal for emergency power.

If it becomes law, the bill would allow GPA to go after a $25 million, two-year deal with power supplier Aggreko on an emergency basis.

The bill would require the attorney general to finish a review of the contract within five days, and if the AGs office cannot or will not complete the review, GPA will be able to continue with the procurement of emergency power, anyways.

Should another company protest the award to Aggrekowhich GPA has said is the only vendor able to provide temporary power within 100 daysthe contract would not be frozen through the usual automatic stay on procurement.

Aggreko will provide 20 megawatts of temporary power, and also help with generator repairs meant to add 34 MW to the grid.

GPA has around 270 MW capacity, which is not enough to keep up with expected power demands of up to 260 MW this summer, in the event a generator has to go offline for repairs.

Bill 206-37 is headed for the governors desk for review. From there, the AGs review will be needed and the governor will have to sign off on the Aggreko deal.

After that, the Public Utilities Commission will have to give the final authorization before GPA can proceed.

PUC last week stated it needed the 90-day limit on emergency procurements to be waived before it could approve GPAs temporary power deal.

Other waivers to procurement regulations in Bill 206-37 came at the request of GPA leadership, who have expressed concern that a procurement protest could stall out the temporary power installation.

Though the AG could lift any stay, GPA General Manager John Benavente has said the AGs office has not assisted GPA in the past.

GPA legal counsel Marianne Woloschuk asked for a total exemption from a review from the Office of the Attorney General in a letter sent to senators Monday, pointing to unreasonable demands from the AG after his recent withdrawal from representing the utility.

Moylan on Thursday said his office could still review the deal with Aggreko, despite last weeks withdrawal from representing GPA and 20 other government agencies that his office are investigating.

The AG said he would sign off on the Aggreko contract after a review, but stamp it with a disclosure that hes not representing the government officials involved.

Final approval from the AG is needed to move forward GovGuam contracts over $500,000.

A necessary review from the AG, within the five-day timeline, was ultimately left in the bill.

After the measure passed, Sen. Telo Taitague remarked that she thought there was no real reason why GPA should have pursued the temporary power deal through an emergency procurement.

Pursuing other actions may have yielded other options besides the $25 million, two-year contract that GPA is now eyeing.

She said removing any stay on a procurement protest raises a great concern.

Taitague said she hopes that load shedding didnt start, anyways, and that the generators would not increase rates for the island.
The question of where to build a new public hospital is back in the Legislatures court, with the governor vetoing Sen. Chris Barnetts Bill 185-37, which seeks to place it at Ypao Point in Tamuning.

Unless the governors pick for a hospital site changes, it will be political maneuvering among senators that decides the stalemate.

Either votes will have to swing for Ypao Point, or more lawmakers will have to back the governors preferred Mangilao-Barrigada location for the hospital.

Barnetts Bill 185-37 for Ypao Point has a higher bar to clear. Narrowly passing by a vote of 8-7, it will need the support of at least two more senators to overcome Gov. Lou Leon Guerreros March 6 veto.

The governors Bill 184-37, for a Mangilao-Barrigada hospital site, needs just one more vote to pass and get to the governors desk for signing.

It failed to pass twice this year, with a vote of 7-8 every time.

Override coming

Barnett told the Pacific Daily News hes looking to get more votes for a veto override, but whether that will come at this months legislative session or later date has yet to be decided.

Anything can happen, Barnett said. If theyre going to make an informed decision, then the decision should be to build at Ypao Point, because we have a lot of information about Ypao Point.

The majority of senators supported his bill, and Adelup had since resorted to name calling and personal attacks to support their position, instead of facts, he said.

Leon Guerrero has asserted that a fault line and the smaller size of Ypao Point35 acres to the 102 acres at her preferred siteare both non-starters for a hospital and planned medical complex.

Barnett and others have disputed these claims, pointing to the $1.48 million hospital site study Matrix Design Group prepared for GovGuam.

There is still nothing in black and white showing the federal government will provide funding for the hospital site, after numerous years of trips to Washington, D.C. seeking funds, Barnett said on Thursday.

As for allegations from Adelup that he or other senators were opposing the Mangilao-Barrigada site solely for plans to run for higher office, Barnett said, I would just say the only person whos come out and declared that theyre running for governor is Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio.

Barnett said people have approached him to run for governor, but he is now focused on getting reelected as a senator.

Well see what happens after that, he said.

Mangilao-Barrigada is best

Sen. Joe San Agustin, who championed legislation to fund the hospital and associated medical complex back in 2021, said he still believes that the Mangilao-Barrigada site is the best option.

We do need to come to an agreement, the appropriations committee chairman said.

Room to expand is the biggest need for the hospital and its associated medical campus, he said.

We know for a fact we cant build it all at one time. But if we build a hospital in Mangilao-Barrigada, you can build a complex as you move along, he said.

A veterans clinic, expanded clinical care, and other services could be tacked on over time at the site, according to San Agustin.

Theres a lot of things you can do. But we need to focus on that. If we keep thinking about staying in the box, were never going to grow and Guam is in the movement to grow, he said.

San Agustin was the legislative Democrat caucus pick for speaker, but lost the race to Democrat Speaker Therese Terlaje last year. Terlaje and the Republican caucus have formed a coalition that has often opposed moves from Adelup throughout this legislative term.

More facts, other options

Terlaje, who supports the Tamuning site, said the governor still has a chance to win over senators if more facts are presented supporting her site selection.

If that happens, anyone could move for reconsideration of the governors Bill 184-37, she said. The speaker spoke to the PDN hours before the governors veto was transmitted Wednesday.

So far, the facts favored Ypao Point, the speaker said, including the costs for infrastructure installation and the time it would take to build a new hospital.

The governor is also free to choose any other property thats in the government of Guams inventory for a hospital site, Terlaje noted.

Ypao Point is held by the CHamoru Land Trust Commission, and the Mangilao-Barrigada site is owned by the Guam Ancestral Lands Commission, meaning either would need a lease agreement and a sign-off from the Legislature.

Im hoping (the governor) is going to realize that  a new GMH needs our immediate attention or immediate action, and that we just skip to that as soon as possible, Terlaje said.

Shieh: Vote for Tamuning

Meanwhile, Guam Medical Association president Dr. Tom Shieh urged senators to override the governors veto of Bill 185-37 and do the right thing.

GMA, representing a number of major clinics across Guam and in Tamuning, have lobbied for Ypao Point due to its proximity to existing health care facilities.

Senators should place the people of Guam before the desires of the governor, said Shieh, who operates his own clinic in Tamuning.

Ypao Point was big enough to build three hospitals, the doctor said, and the existing GMH property provides another 17 acres of land that could be built on. The governor saying it was too small is crazy, he said.

Shieh also questioned the idea that a fault line prevents a hospital from being built at Ypao Point.

Look at the new buildings in Jones Town, look at (the) four big summer towers built on the cliff line, Shieh said. If there was a concern of an earthquake fault, why havent Lou declared a state of emergency and evacuate areas surrounding Ypao Point?
Cagle Cartoons Cagle Cartoons Cited by the Columbia Journalism Review website as one of the nation's top political scribes, Dick Polman is the national political columnist at Philadlephia NPR affiliate WHYY, and has covered or chronicled every presidential campaign since 1988. Cagle Cartoons

To best assess the execrable essence of Mitch McConnell, you just need to connect the dots.

After the MAGA insurrection on Jan. 6, after the dead and the injured and the feces smeared on walls, McConnell tore into Donald Trump. He said, The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president who was guilty of a disgraceful dereliction of duty.

But when the time came to convict Trump during the impeachment trial, McConnell  and other Senate Republicans who followed his lead  voted to acquit. McConnells excuse: We have a criminal justice system in this country And former presidents are not immune from being held accountable.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

We learned this week the U.S. Supreme Court may make it impossible to hold Trump accountable in the criminal justice system prior to the November election  thanks to the MAGA justices who got their jobs courtesy of McConnells cynical machinations.

See how it works? Thats his legacy.

Those of us who love democracy are too dispirited to applaud McConnells decision to step down as Senate Republican leader. The damage he has done is too sobering to warrant any celebration. He has said that his reshaping of the Supreme Court, tilting it rightward for a generation or more, is the most consequential thing Ive ever done, and he got that right.

Amazingly, hes stepping down in part because Trump doesnt think McConnell is loyal enough. McConnell saved Trump in the Jan. 6 impeachment trial, he has rigged the high court to minimize criminal accountability before the election  but Trump still calls him Old Crow and hurls racist insults at his Asian-American wife. Apparently McConnells criticism of Trump after Jan. 6 was unforgivable. Rest assured that McConnells successor as Senate GOP leader will be fitted with an airtight MAGA armband.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Trump may not to remember McConnells craven servitude, but we certainly do.

When high court conservative Antonin Scalia died suddenly in February 2016, it was President Obamas right to nominate a replacement. He tapped respected centrist Merrick Garland for the seat. But McConnell, as majority leader, refused to schedule a hearing and stonewalled the process all year long.

He held the Scalia seat open until 2017 for Donald Trump and his nominee, Neil Gorsuch. Then, in 2020, during another presidential election year  indeed, just eight days before the balloting  McConnell squeezed Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett onto the court.

So how fitting it was that within hours of McConnells step-down announcement, we learned that the MAGA-infested court  McConnells creation  has decided to throw Trump a lifeline. There are no constitutional grounds for giving a president total immunity from crimes, as the federal appeals courts recent bulletproof decision made clear, but now the Supremes say they want to weigh in on that issue anyway. Theyve scheduled oral arguments seven long weeks from now, thereby making it highly unlikely that a criminal conviction in the federal coup-insurrection trial can happen before the election  or that the trial itself might even start before the election.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Voters in a democracy need to know whether the Republican nominee is guilty of trying to end democracy. Instead, thanks to McConnells machinations, weve been forced to take another goose step toward fascism.

And thats before we even mention other rancid fruits from McConnells orchard  like the high courts abolishment of affirmation action at most universities, its hostility to anti-gun laws, and its abolishment of womens constitutional right to bodily autonomy (the fallout from the Dobbs ruling is obvious, most recently, in Alabama, where the states top jurists cited the Bible while ruling against in vitro fertilization). Thanks a lot, Mitch.

Jonathan V. Last, a wise center-right political analyst, sums it up nicely: McConnells entire adult life was spent in pursuit of two goals  The placement of conservative judges in the federal judiciary and the advancement of the Republican partys electoral prospectsTrump understood this. Which is why Trump was able to use McConnell so effectively. McConnell hates Trump. McConnell was never MAGA. McConnell is not in favor of authoritarianism. But none of that mattered because Trump was able to align McConnells primary goals with his own. And so in the end, McConnell became Trumps tool just as surely as if hed been a toadying true-believer.

We could sure use a little humor right now, so here we go: When McConnell was a newly elected lawmaker back in January 1985, he stood at the podium in a Washington ballroom and tried to entertain with this joke: I read about a Paris newspaper that conducted a major survey and asked French men what they did after making love. The results were indeed startling. Ten percent said they made love again. Fifteen percent smoked a cigarette. And 75 percent said they went home to their wives.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The guy was as funny then as he is now.
Police at the scene of a Monday morning Tamuning car fire ended up arresting a man who was on pre-trial release in a felony drug case.

Jordan Glenn Munoz Parages, 30, was charged Tuesday with possession of a Schedule II controlled substance as a third-degree felony with a notice of commission of a felony while on felony release.

Court records show Parages was also charged with methamphetamine possession in May 2023.

At 10:53 a.m. Monday, police responded to an auto fire near Sakura Noodle House in Tamuning. Parages had been called to help the person whose car was burning, according to a magistrates complaint filed in Superior Court.

An officer noticed Parages kept looking at his own vehicle and asked if there were any weapons or other items of concern in the car.

"Sir, l'm on probation, Parages reportedly said. I don't think there's anything inside but go ahead and search it."

The officer found methamphetamine in a compartment under the car radio, a sling bag with two pipes that had methamphetamine residue, resealable plastic bags and a straw with methamphetamine, according to the complaint.

Parages told police he did not buy the drugs, but that he frequently uses methamphetamine.

On May 17, 2023, police stopped Parages for driving almost 70 mph in Sinajana, according to charging documents in that case.

He didnt have a drivers license, and consented to a search. Officers found a small digital scale, a glass pipe and a plastic bag with drug residue. They also found a bag with 1.20 grams of crystal methamphetamine.

At that time, he told police he had been using the drug for five years.
Have an idea? Want to praise or comment on something? Submit your letter to the editor.
Hump day might just be your new favorite day of the week.

Starting Wednesday, March 6 through May 8, the Wednesday at the Square Concert Series is taking over Lafayette Square in New Orleans, providing free live music alongside an impressive spread of local food vendors.

As the sun sets each Wednesday, concertgoers can groove to the tunes of artists like Big Sams Funky Nation, Brassaholics and Flow Tribe, while filling up on plates from pop-ups like Que Pasta, Paella Nola and Akasias Cafe.

Over a dozen local artisans will also set up shop in the square, selling handmade goods from jewelry to clothing and ceramics.

While the event is completely free, a portion of food and drink sales go towards the Young Leadership Council of New Orleans. The YLC is a nonprofit civic organization that helps foster leadership skills in young professionals aged 21 to 42.

The Wednesday at the Square Concert Series is held at Lafayette Square, South Maestri Street, New Orleans, from 5-8 p.m. every Wednesday starting March 6 until May 8.

See the full lineup below:




Haiti - FLASH : The FBI in Puerto Rico is in charge of PM Ariel Henry





Wednesday, March 6, 2024, Jeffrey Quinones, Spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Puerto Rico, explained that his agency took care of Acting Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry upon his arrival on March 5 at Luis Munoz Marin Airport.



Quinones indicated that the accommodation and security of the Prime Minister of Haiti during his stay in Puerto Rico are managed by the island's federal agencies, primarily the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), while the next steps are being elucidated



When asked about Ariel Henry's situation, Limary Cruz, the FBI spokesperson in San Juan, said that due to the sensitivity of the subject, they could not report on Henry's situation "[...] we cannot comment, we are not going to make any statement. This is confidential information."



On the side of the Government of Puerto Rico, only Henry's arrival on the island has been confirmed, which confirms that it is indeed the federal authorities who are in charge of Prime Minister Henry



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41822-haiti-flash-update-on-the-situation-march-5-2024.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41819-haiti-politic-pm-henry-in-puerto-rico-seeks-to-return-to-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41818-haiti-flash-barbecue-threatens-the-country-with-civil-war-if-the-pm-remains-in-office.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41816-haiti-flash-haiti-deploys-the-army-against-attacks-on-port-au-prince-airport-video.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41813-haiti-crisis-the-usa-will-not-deploy-soldiers-in-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41808-haiti-flash-ariel-henry-stranded-in-the-united-states.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41804-haiti-flash-update-on-the-situation-in-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41793-haiti-flash-the-national-penitentiary-stormed-many-prisoners-escape-chaos-in-the-capital-video.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41781-haiti-flash-barbecue-announces-the-start-of-the-revolution-video.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41779-haiti-flash-the-metropolitan-area-under-attacks.html



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politic : The Secretary General of the OAS deeply concerned by the situation in Haiti





Monday March 4, 2024, Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) in a statement expressed his deep concern about the current situation of insecurity in Haiti.



"[...] It is more necessary than ever to promote cooperation efforts in the United Nations to restore security in the country. It is irresponsible that the necessary measures and actions continue to be delayed.



Without security there will be no democracy. In that sense, we reaffirm our support for the Haitian people, within the country and in the diaspora, and our commitment to continue collaborating to promote a solution that advances the much-needed democratization process in the country, seeking guarantees in human rights and protection for all and a peaceful context in which to hold free and fair elections in Haiti.



The OAS General Secretariat is determined to strengthen its cooperation with Haiti to confront the current challenges of democratic instability, unemployment, food insecurity, illiteracy, health insecurity, corruption and other sociopolitical and socioeconomic problems that affect the country and that are exacerbated by the perpetual violence of the criminal elements that have held the country hostage."



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Escape attempt at Jacmel prison

On the night of March 5 to 6, a mutiny broke out in Jacmel Prison where 700 inmates are incarcerated, who tried to escape. However, prison officers eventually managed to bring the situation under control and no prisoners escaped. The toll was 3 dead and 6 injured among the prisoners.



Delmas : The Peace Court burned down

On Wednesday March 6, 2024, the Delmas Peace Court was set on fire by armed individuals.



UN emergency appeal

Through his Spokesperson, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reiterated the need for urgent action for the security of the Haitian population, including the financing of the MMSS. The Government of Haiti and all parties must put their differences aside and move forward in defining a common project towards the restoration of democratic institutions. The intensification of violence is seriously hampering humanitarian operations, with health infrastructure on the verge of collapse.



Spain confirms its support for Haiti

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares declared Wednesday that the situation in Haiti "concerns him greatly" and recalled that Spain has already announced financial support to Haiti and as well as its participation in the Multinational Mission to Support the National Police of Haiti in its fight against armed gangs.



The 3 nuns released

The three nuns from an orphanage of the congregation of Saint-Joseph de Cluny in the community of Madeline, kidnapped Tuesday March 5, 2024 by armed individuals https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41822-haiti-flash-update-on-the-situation-march-5-2024.html , were released by their captors on Wednesday after 24 hours of confinement.



France : VISAS services closed until March 11

As a precautionary measure, the visa and French administration services of the French Embassy in Port-au-Prince are closed to the public until Monday March 11, 2024.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















The Independent, February 23, 2024

The Taliban on Thursday executed two men convicted of stabbing by gunfire in Afghanistans southeastern Ghazni province.

Thousands of people watched the public execution in broad daylight after the Taliban-led Supreme Court convicted the two men for a murder by stabbing.

The court identified the two men as Syed Jamal from central Wardak province and Gul Khan from Ghazni but did not clarify who carried out the stabbings.

The executions began shortly before 1pm at a stadium in the Ali Lala area of Ghazni and at least 15 bullets were fired as thousands gathered to watch, according to the local officials.

Relatives of the victims were asked to carry out the execution using guns, said Abu Abu Khalid Sarhadi, a spokesman for Ghazni police, but he did not specify what type of guns were used.

Supreme Court spokesperson Abdul Rahim Rashid said these men were shot from behind after court official Atiqullah Darwish read aloud a death warrant signed by Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. Ambulances later took their bodies away.

Local religious scholars had also pleaded with relatives of the victims to forgive the convicts and not proceed with the execution, but they refused.

According to a statement by the department of culture and information of Ghazni province, the execution was ordered by three lower courts and supreme leader Akhundzada, in retribution for the purported crimes.

The latest public executions, third and fourth on record since the Talibans takeover of Afghanistan, come almost 10 months after the de facto rulers had ordered the execution of a man it found guilty of five murders in 2022.

Human rights groups and international leaders have condemned the Talibans orders of public execution.

We oppose all executions as a violation of the right to life. The Taliban has been repeatedly carrying them out publicly which is a gross affront to human dignity as well as a violation of international laws and standards and cannot be tolerated, said Livia Saccardi, Amnesty Internationals interim deputy regional director for south Asia.

Talibans de-facto authorities must immediately halt all executions and abolish the death penalty and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishments, she said.

Carrying out executions in public adds to the inherent cruelty of the death penalty and can only have a dehumanising effect on the victim and a brutalising effect on those who witness the executions, the Amnesty International official said. She added that the protection of the right to a fair trial under the Talibans de facto authority remains seriously concerning.

Mariam Solaimankhil, former member of parliament from the Ashraf Ghani administration, also said public executions have started in Ghazni. Without due process or legal proceedings, decisions on life and death are being made by individual Taliban members. How can the world expect Afghans to report corruption and abuses by the Taliban under such circumstances? Would you? she asked on X, formerly Twitter.
Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., held a tele-town hall Wednesday evening where he talked about the recent passage of federal appropriations, the national debt and ongoing issues he has with the U.S. Veterans Administration, as well as taking questions from callers.

The $460 billion appropriations bill funds half of the government through the fall, averting a looming partial government shutdown that would have taken place at the end of this week.

The bill passed the house 339 to 85, with Rosendale saying he was proudly among the 85.

He said he opposed the bill because it adds to the national debt, which he said is the biggest threat to the U.S. national security, and because it included, among other things, funding for electric vehicle infrastructure and diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and what he called critical race theory.

Washington has lost its way, he said.

Rosendale also said the Joe Biden administration is damaging the countrys energy sector by holding up approvals for new coal mines to open to appease climate extremists.

He also celebrated a recent ruling by a federal judge that struck down an Obama-era moratorium on new coal mining operations on public lands.

However, the biggest topic in Rosendales opening remarks was regarding the VA, which he said is inefficient.

He said he has urged the VA to develop a consent-seeking process for patients before they use any artificial intelligence tools for obtaining diagnoses.

He also said he wants to prohibit the VA from using their finds to submit information on their clients to background check systems that are used when approving the purchase of firearms, as well as any use for diversity, equity or inclusion programs.

He also said he wants to prohibit any VA clinic from treating illegal immigrants, which many conservative lawmakers have accused the VA of doing without evidence.

This claim stems from the VA Financial Services Center processing medical claims for migrant detainees at the southern border for the Immigration Customs Enforcement under an arrangement that has existed since 2002.

VA officials have said this requires fewer than 10 employees and costs next to nothing, and while taxpayer funding is used to process the health care claims, ICE, not the VA, pays for the work and the VA has never provided health care to migrant detainees.

Services for migrant detainees are typically handled through ICE Health Service Corps, which can coordinate off-site care.

Illegal immigration and the border was also a subject of much discussion, with Rosendale claiming that the U.S. southern border is no longer under the control of the U.S. due to the Biden administrations support for open borders.

At no point has Biden advocated for open borders, although many opponents of Democrat immigration policies use that term.

Rosendale called the recent surge of migrants an invasion that would destroy capitalist American life.

Rosendale cited the recent murder of a Georgia woman as an example of the results of the harm caused by the permissive borders, because the primary suspect in the case is an illegal immigrant who was allowed to stay in the U.S. to pursue his immigration case.

Studies have repeatedly indicated that illegal immigrants are less likely to commit violent crimes than U.S. citizens.

Rosendale said he celebrates the influence of legal immigrants in the U.S. but also supports a five-year total ban on all immigration, except for those using temporary visas for agriculture workers.

He also said that many of the immigrants who make it past border security into the U.S. are terrorists, although he provided no evidence.

During the question and answer section a number of callers expressed belief in conspiracy theories regarding the border that Rosendale made no effort to dispel, including the idea that the United Nations is creating the border crisis as well as the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel.

Rosendale did not directly agree with the caller but did agree with the idea that the U.S. should leave the U.N. and not be beholden to anything they do. He also claimed with no evidence that the organization is collaborating with Hamas.

He said he also supports auditing funds the U.S. has sent to Ukraine to aid its fight against Russias invasion, and will not support any aid to them until the border is under control.

He also expressed support for term limits for the House and Senate as well as efforts to restore the countrys Second Amendment rights.
In a recent study by the University of Turku, it was found that among immigrant youths in Finland, a strong sense of identity is more closely tied to their local neighborhoods than to Finnish nationality. The study, led by Assistant Professor of Sociology Elina Kilpi-Jakonen , delves into the sense of belonging, opportunities for influence, education, transition to work life, and independence of these youths. One of the key findings is that immigrant youths do not reach the same educational levels, face more challenges in employment,

and leave their parental homes later than their Finnish peers.

Kilpi-Jakonen emphasizes the importance of supporting young people's sense of belonging and participation to strengthen their ties to society. Multiculturally diverse neighborhoods play a crucial role in this process. These areas, where the majority population does not dictate the norm, offer immigrant youths a safe space to develop their identities and engage in leisure or student council activities. However, it's essential that these youths also connect with the broader society, as highlighted by Anuleena Kimanen, a university lecturer involved in the project.

To address these challenges, the research team has provided five recommendations for schools and other entities working with youths. Schools are encouraged to cultivate a culture that improves young peoples opportunities to influence their surroundings. Discussions around Finnish identity should be inclusive, non-discriminatory, and engaging, without positioning it against immigrant backgrounds. Recognizing the family background and community of an immigrant youth as a positive resource is also crucial. Moreover, there's a need to support these youths in their educational and occupational transitions, including the possibility of returning to education. Schools should also acknowledge the value of diverse identities, ensuring that all students feel a sense of belonging and inclusion.

The study further notes that ethnic and linguistic diversity in ethnically diverse schools can facilitate a sense of belonging. Students in such schools feel accepted regardless of their ethnic or linguistic background. However, the acceptance of diversity is not universal; issues such as gender diversity can still lead to feelings of exclusion.

The project involved comprehensive analysis of nationwide registry data, group interviews in Finnish schools, and discussions with school leaders from Finland and the UK. It also included interviews with youths in culturally diverse areas about their leisure activities. Conducted by the INVEST Research Center and flagship in collaboration between the University of Turku and Abo Akademi, the study underscores the significance of culturally diverse environments in nurturing a sense of belonging among immigrant youths.

HT
Spirit Cove hosts two-day Newfie Therapy event for teachers, first responders

TimberKnolls Spirit Cove, an animal-assisted therapy organization, will offer two day-long nature and art-based mindfulness programs tailored to support K-12 educators and area first responders.

View the Slideshow

A grant from the Community Foundation of Henderson County made the pilot program possible. It will be held on the Kanuga campus on April 13 and 14.

Lisa Schiller, founder and executive director of TimberKnolls Spirit Cove, said the program intends to provide K-12 educators and first responders with the gift of stress-reducing Newfie Therapy.

While attendance is free, space is limited and registration is required. The day will include lunch, recreational downtime on the grounds at Kanuga, and a gift bag filled with art supplies and resources. Professional development certificates will also be available. For more information or to register visit newfietherapy.org/helping-heroes

The event will be facilitated by a team of experienced professionals, including:

Program Directors Lisa Schiller and Patti Sutherland

Director of Animal Training Benita Edds

Art Therapy Specialist:Hannah Glenn

Nature Therapy Specialist Betsey Sorrell

First Responder Advisoes Ed Thompson and Jennifer Williams

Teaching/School Staff Advisor/Creative Marketing Kelly Benton

Guided by trained Newfoundland Therapy dogs, attendees will engage in outdoor activities that promote inner peace and embrace art and nature-based mindfulness techniques for stress reduction.

As we continue our relocation into beautiful Western North Carolina, weve been humbled by the warm response and high interest in our animal-assisted activities and therapy dog programs, Schiller said. We are indeed grateful to the Community Foundation of Henderson County for helping us make these important retreats possible.

Specializing in the use of trained giant Newfoundlands, commonly known as "Newfies," TimberKnolls Spirit Cove extends its therapeutic support at no cost to veterans, military families, firefighters, EMS workers, doctors, nurses, teachers, children, and adults battling illness and trauma. According to Schiller, since its inception in 2018, the program has positively impacted over 137,000 individuals nationwide.

The organization closed on 16 acres in Hendersonville in December and will begin construction on a therapy ranch later this spring.

For more information about the Hope on a Leash program, contact TimberKnolls Spirit Cove Animal Assisted Therapy at 828-367-9004 or email info@newfietherapy.org
Rukhshana News, March 2, 2024

Eight people have been flogged and sentenced to prison on charges of abuse and dishonor in western Herat province, a Taliban court said Thursday.

The Taliban Supreme Court newsletter said the eight people were punished with 20 lashes each and sentenced to five months imprisonment.

The decision by Herats military court was endorsed by the Taliban Supreme Court, it added.

Following its takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban has resumed its rule by severe corporal punishment and swift executions, sometimes as a public spectacle.

Its held three public executions in the past week, the most recent in Jawzjan province.

It sparked criticism from foreign observers.
Deep River Hearst Connecticut Media file photo

State lawmakers expressed frustration following revelations three Connecticut officers submitted questionable or inconsistent reports about their work on DUI enforcement shifts  with particular concern raised that one officer was flagged before for ticket data discrepancies.

Now, officials in the town of Deep River, where the three officers worked, are moving to form a committee to examine police accountability, transparency and other issues.

Democratic state Rep. Christine Palm, whose district includes Deep River, said officials were already considering such a committee but were prompted to action by CT Insiders story last month exposing the problems with DUI enforcement shifts in the town.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

This is a time in our nations history where police culture and practices are being scrutinized, and rightfully so, Palm said. This is not defund the police or any of that [expletive], but this is really about accountability and doing right by the citizens.

Last month, CT Insider reported that an investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportations Office of the Inspector General uncovered problems with work done using federal DUI enforcement grant funds between fiscal 2016 through 2018 in Deep River  a tiny town with a police department that at the time only consisted of the three officers.

A 2022 memo describing the investigation said authorities found little evidence two constables actually had worked overtime shifts they billed for under the grant program. Authorities also uncovered 73 questionable or inconsistent activity reports by the two constables.

The memo said authorities found evidence the third officer, a resident trooper who supervised the constables, worked the overtime shifts she billed for. But authorities found 25 questionable or inconsistent activity reports by the trooper, including one DUI arrest that could not be verified.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In a voluntary interview, the trooper blamed the issues on entry problems with the dispatch system, which authorities said they confirmed using state police records, the memorandum said. The constables declined interview requests from federal authorities, but one constable "stated the whole issue comes down to paperwork which got bollixed up by the administrative assistant.

The probe prompted officials to stop sending the grant program money to Deep River in 2019; the town has not been awarded any such funding in the years since.

But the investigation closed without any action taken against the officers, according to the memorandum. The memorandum states all three retired amid the investigation after they learned of it.

Federal prosecutors declined to accept the case because of their determination that there was a lack of evidence showing criminal culpability, while a civil probe was declined in part due to the age of the allegation and resource considerations, according to the memorandum.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Emails obtained by CT Insider show officials at state police, the public safety agency that oversees the force and town leaders in Deep River were also aware of the federal probe while it was underway. But its unclear if state or town officials knew of the probes conclusions and whether they took any steps to further investigate or address the officers issues themselves.

State Sen. Gary Winfield, who co-chairs the legislatures Judiciary Committee, reacted to news of the Deep River case  and its potential ties to the ongoing state police ticket scandal  with a heavy sigh.

The public watches ticket scandals, GPS scandal, overtime scandal  scandal, scandal, scandal, scandal, said Winfield, D-New Haven. And nothing happens? Really?

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Its hard to believe it, he added.

To understand Winfields frustration, you have to step back to 2018, when the state police found through an internal probe that four troopers had intentionally created ghost traffic ticket data to appear more productive. Those four cases prompted state police to review eight months of ticket entry activity for the entire force to see if the problem was more widespread.

They closely examined 17 troopers out of a group of 35 who had at least 50 discrepancies in their ticket data that could be evidence of potentially false ticket data, according to the 2018 audit, a later state-funded audit and past reporting by CT Insider. Twelve had serious discrepancies even after accounting for hand-written paper tickets, the 2018 audit found.

One of those 12 troopers was the resident trooper in Deep River, Dawn Taylor, who had 122 such discrepancies, according to the 2018 audit, which flagged Taylor as one of eight troopers with possible training issues and/or possible misuse of the state police ticket entry database.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Despite those findings, however, the state police failed to follow up on those findings, including to determine what caused the discrepancies, an independent report commissioned by Gov. Ned Lamont later found.

The departments audit has since come under criticism for using arbitrary thresholds and for being incomplete  including because it failed to account for handwritten tickets which may have given a clearer picture of potential falsification.

A series of stories by CT Insider in 2022 broke news of the four troopers caught entering fake ticket data and of the subsequent department-wide audit. Those news reports triggered another audit of state police ticket data, this one by the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project.

The projects audit, released last June, found 130 troopers with significant discrepancies in their ticket data entry.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Taylor had the third highest number of records flagged, with 625 potentially false or inaccurate records between 2014 and 2019, when she retired, according to audit data obtained by CT Insider through a public records request  accounting for almost 34% of all the citations she wrote during that time.

The audit flagged well over half the tickets that Taylor entered in 2018 as potentially including false or inaccurate data, records shows. That number rose to nearly 80% in 2019.

That audit did not look at whether the discrepancies it identified were due to technical issues, sloppy data entry or troopers intentionally falsifying data. Officials have stressed no drivers were actually issued fake tickets.

In the wake of that audits release last June, Lamont appointed former U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly to examine the issue.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Dalys report, released in early February, corroborated the profiling projects conclusion that there were significant discrepancies in reporting ticket data accurately for years, but it said the projects report overstated the number of records that were potentially falsified.

Her report concluded that most of the active-duty troopers flagged by the June audit likely did not intentionally falsify records and instead blamed the problems on inadequate training, supervision and technology, though at least 12 troopers were referred for further investigation.

Among retired troopers, Dalys report concluded 29 likely did not intentionally falsify records, while it could not come to any findings on the remaining 14.

Deep River Town Hall Journal Register Co.

Taylors lawyer, Jeffrey L. Ment of the firm Ment Law Group LLC, said neither he nor Taylor has been told where she stood in the Daly report or in the state polices ongoing review of retired troopers flagged by the June audit.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The state police declined to comment on individual troopers. A spokesperson for Daly did not return a request for comment.

Ment said federal authorities conducting an ongoing probe into ticket data discrepancies in the state police asked for an interview with Taylor, but she declined to speak with them. Ment said authorities did not explain why they wanted to speak with her.

Ment pointed out that Taylor cooperated with the federal probe into the Deep River DUI shifts and spoke to investigators handling that case for hours.

Ment has invited investigators to send Taylor any new questions they might have in writing, he said  but she wont sit down with them for an interview.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

I dont know why they need to interview her again, and no good reasons been offered, other than its different people from the U.S. government, Ment said.

Unlike other people, [Taylor] fully cooperated, voluntarily interviewed, and the government did not take any action, added Ment, who also represents the Connecticut State Police Union.

Officials have not told Taylor whether or not she is a target of the federal investigation, Ment said.

Ment said he was not aware Taylor had one of the highest numbers of discrepancies in the June audit. However, he said that did not fit with what he knows of her character.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Trooper Taylor had a great career, and Im surprised to find her name being thrown about in this context at all, he said.

Still, officials voiced concerns.

If I were a member of the public and I were reading these stories, what would I think? said Winfield. I would think, No matter what these people do, it doesnt really matter, because they just move on. And thats not a good thing.

Fellow Judiciary Committee Co-Chair State Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, questioned the entire resident trooper program.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Under the program, small towns can contract with the Connecticut State Police to receive a resident trooper who oversees local constables, who are municipal employees.

The fact that the state is still paying for a resident trooper program is crazy to me, Stafstrom said. If these towns are too small to maintain a police force, they should be pursuing regionalization with another town or city.

Its a recipe for disaster and leads to a lack of oversight, he added.

Top Republicans on the committee did not return requests for comment.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

State police are now launching an internal review of 63 constables flagged in the June audit separately from the 130 troopers, according to Ken Barone, a co-author of the June audit and the manager of the Racial Profiling Prohibition Project.

Other reforms have been implemented, are underway or being considered based on recommendations from both the audit and Dalys report.
(JNS) - When a 27-year-old Israeli university student vacationing in Thailand on Oct. 7 was determined to fly home to join his military reserve unit, he was given an unusual seat on the sold-out and overbooked El Al flight to Tel Aviv: the plane's restroom.

"I felt for the first time that it was a war for our existence, and that we need to be here to protect our country," Itay Kahana recounted in an interview with JNS on Sunday after completing nearly five months of reserve duty. "I had no second thoughts," he added.

From paradise to firefight

On that fateful autumn morning, Kahana had completed a diving course on a Thai island and was lunching on Chicken Pad Thai on the beachfront when he and two friends got word via social media apps on their phones of the Hamas massacre underway in Israel. He quickly understood the situation was dire.

"It was the most surreal situation possible," he recalled. "In one second, we went from enjoying ourselves on this paradise beachfront to complete and total shock."

Concerned that the existence of the State of Israel was at stake, Kahana, who had no return ticket, bought a domestic flight from the southern Thai tourist island of Ko Pha-ngan, where a halfmoon party was underway, to Bangkok.

The airport was flooded with Israelis trying to get back home, but nearly all the flights to Tel Aviv were canceled, with the exception of the direct flights on El Al as well as a connecting route via Dubai, which had been flagged as a security risk due to the outbreak of war.

For three days, Kahana, who received an emergency call-up order from his IDF combat unit, desperately tried to get on an El Al flight, encouraged by his father, who said he would always regret it if he stayed in Thailand during such a fateful time. For 72 hours, he went back and forth from the airport to the city to sleep.

Finally, on the third day, 20 minutes before the midnight flight, an El Al stewardess told a group of reservists that she was taking 25 of them on the place even though it was overbooked, he recounted. Five were seated in the cockpit, five in the airline stewards' seats and 15 in the plane's washrooms.

"Of course, with my luck, I got the washroom seat," he said with a grimace.

The airline, which days later was chartered by the Israeli government to bring back reservists from around the world, charged him $650 for the one-way flight, he begrudgingly notes, which was later refunded by the military.

(His for-pay washroom flight seat left him angered at a recent El Al television advertisement, which received national and international plaudits, depicting reservists being flown home on the flagship carrier. The airline has also offered military personnel a free ticket to a European destination.)

During the eight-hour flight, Kahana walked the aisles, where other reservists were sleeping on the floor, and only had to take his assigned seat during takeoff, landing and times of turbulence. If he was in his washroom seat, he would redirect passengers to other restrooms unless it was for a quick freshening up.

The mood on the overnight flight was dour. He met a seated traveler, whom he had earlier seen in the Far East, whose farmer father was murdered during the Hamas invasion.

In the morning, he landed in an Israel at war.

Kahana, who lives in a village near the central Israeli city of Rehovot, raced to his military base not knowing if he would be sent to Gaza or to the northern border where Hezbollah was raining down missiles.

In the end, he was stationed near Ariel in Samaria amid concerns that Palestinians in other regions would join in on the violence. The day after he deployed, his unit engaged in an intense firefight with Palestinian gunmen near the village of Huwara, a hotbed of violence outside Nablus.

"A day before my flight I was getting a Thai massage and two days later I was being sprayed by an automatic weapon with 40 bullets at a distance of 100 meters," he said.

No regrets

As he completes his reserve service next week and returns to civilian life and his university studies, Kahana said he would have made the same decision to immediately return home-select plane seat notwithstanding-"in a heartbeat."

"We need to be here to protect our country," he said. "Also, just being here we showed our enemies that they don't break our spirit."

He is looking forward to his next trip abroad to relax after things calm down, preferably with an upgrade.
We don't get to choose when or where we are born. And it isn't until we are much older that we can begin to make our own life choices. In fact, most of our childhoods are spent doing what we are told, trusting those who care for us.

Such was Orange City resident Katherine MK Mitchell's life. She was born in Budapest during World War II, and named Katalin Landstein, Kati for short. She was raised along with her brother, Laci, by her mother and grandmother. Her father died in a labor camp and her grandfather left his shoes along with many others on the shore of the Danube.

As people began to hear about Mitchell's very diverse life, they asked why she didn't write her memoirs? She admitted that she didn't know how, "a life story is a very complicated thing," she said. Mitchell never had a college degree, but she had always taken night classes. She honed her skills with education and hard knocks.

"If you have a goal, someone has to show you the steps to get there," Mitchell said. She became her own teacher.

"I was always educating myself," she said. "If I wanted to write, I took a couple courses at UCLA, if I wanted to be a paralegal, I had to take paralegal courses."

She took a playwriting course in which she had to write a 1-act play. Of the three best plays, Mitchell's was picked and produced that summer. It was the beginning.

Since then, Mitchell has written several screenplays and three fiction novels. She based her characters on people she knows, but, of course, changed their names. "You have to create your characters  know them inside out," she said. What better way to develop characters than to already know them.

"From Budapest to Hollywood - Searching for the Promised Land" is the memoir of her roller-coaster ride through life. You wouldn't know how tough she had it by her appearance. For our interview, petite and slender Mitchell was dressed to the nines in a smart red turtle-neck sweater with a black blazer and black slim pants. Her confident smile could put anyone at ease. That confidence was hard won by her persistent fighting spirit.

The opening chapter of "From Budapest" begins in 1956 with an escape from communism in Hungary. She and her mother struggled to get across a snow-covered field to the saving arms of the Red Cross. The following chapters jump back and forth in time. But the sustaining force was built upon a promise her mother made to God when she was in a concentration camp that she would get her family to the promised land - Israel.

Kati, her mother and brother almost made it there in 1947 when they traveled from Marseilles to Haifa on the doomed Exodus ship. They arrived at the Haifa port only to be herded onto another ship that took them back to sea - one of many goals snatched away throughout Mitchell's life.

As a young girl, Kati aspired to be an accomplished ballerina and she was on that road to success, until it was discovered she had a heart condition. She turned to gymnastics and became an accomplished gymnast with hopes of qualifying for the Olympics. Again, life interfered and ended her Olympic dream.

Kati and her mother came to the United States. They settled in Toledo, Ohio, sponsored by her mother's first cousin. She became a dishwasher and saved her money and eventually moved to Brooklyn, New York.

A true go-getter, a nothing-can-stop-me-now kind of gal, Mitchell eventually landed in a different "promised land" - Hollywood, where she had several different careers. It wasn't easy because she was hindered by her thick Hungarian accent and the fact that she was female in a male-dominated world. Once when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she responded that she wanted to be a director. "Their faces turned into question marks as they looked at me," she wrote. "'What do you mean, director? You're a girl,' [her uncle] said."

Being a "girl" - translate to "female" - would be a problem from that point on.

Through her determination she became a talent agent, screenwriter, and a trial paralegal. She married a semi-famous actor and had a daughter. She knew many well-known producers, actors, and screenwriters - and had many stories she could tell about the industry.

Mitchell's writing style is refreshing. Of one lah-de-dah relative who thought she was better than everyone (don't we all know someone like that?) she says, "She had so many airs about her I couldn't breathe."

One chapter in her book, titled "I found the key to success. Then somebody changed the lock," could have been the theme of her life because every time she was on the verge of a lucky break, something would happen to hinder her success.

"I almost had a contract in hand and something would happen," she stated. "I was close to success  always an inch away."

But all these almost successes have made Mitchell who she is today - a confident, strong woman who knows herself well. In light of all that has happened in her life, she has made it.

In the preface, Mitchell writes, "The adventure of a lifetime is a life. A person drops into history, into a family, into a lifestyle. There are no guarantees of guidance. There is no equality. The person must rise above, float along, sink below whatever life offers."

"From Budapest to Holllywood - Searching for the Promised Land" is really about the triumph of the human spirit. We can all use this kind of inspiration.

"From Budapest to Holllywood - Searching for the Promised Land" is published by The Three Tomatoes Book Publishing and is available on amazon and booksellers everywhere. For more information about Katherine MK Mitchell and her books, visit http://www.katherinemitchellauthor.com.
(JTA)  Comedian Richard Lewis, who parlayed his neurotic Jewish personality and self-deprecating humor into a 50-year career as a standup and actor, died Wednesday. He was 76.

Lewis had been in ill health for a number of years and last April announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinsons disease two years earlier. Although he considered himself retired as a standup, he appeared again as a regular in the current season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, playing a version of himself in the HBO show created by and starring his childhood friend Larry David.

Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life hes been like a brother to me, David said in a statement released by HBO. He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that Ill never forgive him.

Lewis sensibility, in clubs and on screen, could be as dark as the funereal suits he often wore. In a signature joke, he spoke about an uncle who was so depressing that he would sit at home listening to the soundtrack of The Pawnbroker, the grim 1964 film about a Holocaust survivor.

He also is credited with the tagline from Hell, as in the ex-wife from Hell. When the Yale Book of Quotations gave him credit for the catchphrase in 2022, he tweeted, Where is my Nobel Prize?

Lewis also appeared in a number of films, including Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Mel Brooks 1993 parody, in which he played an extremely Jewish-seeming Prince John.

Lewis was born in Brooklyn and raised in Englewood, New Jersey, the son of a caterer and an actress in community theater. My father was so well known as a caterer and so booked up that he was actually booked on the weekend of my bar mitzvah so I had to have my party on the Tuesday, he once told an interviewer.

After earning a degree in marketing at Ohio State University, he began writing and regularly performing stand-up comedy in 1972. The Jewish comedians Woody Allen and Lenny Bruce were obvious role models, although Lewis proved influential in his own right: Comedy Central ranked him #45 on its list of 100 Greatest Standups of All Time in 2004.

In the 1989 sitcom Anything But Love, which ran for four seasons, Lewis establishes his character as Jewish in the first minutes of the pilot. Lewis told a British weekly, the Jewish Telegraph, in 2011 that he was not a synagogue-goer but that he consciously infused his Jewish identity into his comedy  and that he viewed comedy as a deeply Jewish act.

I have a tremendous love affair for being a Jew, he said at the time. Im so proud to be part of this people. I want to be part of anything else. He added, Because of what the Jews have gone through since literally Day One, one of the survival mechanisms was to talk about all the hell that weve been through. Its so much funnier being a Jew than anything else. If we dont find humor then were in deep trouble.

Lewis struggled with addiction issues for years, proudly explaining in 2016 that he was 22 years sober and that he mentored those in the recovery community.

That same year, Lewis acknowledged that his health had taken a toll on his performing, but that he would continue to write, act and do the occasional stand-up gig.

Ive learned to accept the fact that Im not like I used to be, he said. I try to stay healthy and sober and to give back. Ive received a lot of help. Ive lived through a lot of tsuris. The art of aging is being grateful for being alive and having some laughs and helping other people.
By

(New York Jewish Week)  The philanthropic organization Broadway Cares said it would allocate funds to Israeli civilians in need after complaints from a rabbi and pro-Israel group about the theater charitys contributions to Gaza relief efforts.

In a statement to the New York Jewish Week, the nonprofit also acknowledged that it had created confusion among our valued supporters. The group vowed to provide more information about where it was allocating the money it raised.

Transparency is of the utmost importance to us, read the statement by Tom Viola, executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. We are actively updating our in-theater fundraising communications with shows to ensure clarity regarding the breadth of where donations are directed.

Broadway Cares is the flagship charity of the theater world and is often introduced at Broadway shows following the curtain call, when stars will appeal to their audiences to make a donation into a trademark red bucket as they exit the theater. Those fundraising pitches, which happen in the spring and fall, typically focus on the organizations core mission: funding HIV/AIDS treatment as well as health care for underemployed actors.

This wonderful organization helps provide social services and safety nets for people in our industry  onstage, backstage  who are going through tough times, went a typical pitch, made at the end of a November showing of Back to the Future on Broadway. And in addition to that, [it] provides millions of dollars in grants every year to other social services and safety nets such as food banks, womens health initiatives and natural disaster relief.

Rabbi Erica Gerson recalls hearing a version of that pitch when she attended a performance of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child last year, following Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The pitch did not mention any international funding, she said, and she gave a small cash donation.

But last month, she was surprised to see that in addition to funding health care and social services, the charity also announced that it had allocated $400,000 to humanitarian groups working in Gaza  $200,000 each to Doctors of the World and the International Rescue Committee. The announcement made no mention of Israel.

The allocation announcement came as international aid groups have said Gaza is at risk of famine and warned that much of its population is underfed. The Broadway Cares announcement said the funding would go toward food, water, fuel, quality health care, essential medicines and supplies to all caught in the tragedy of this conflict and so many families facing catastrophe.

Gerson, a philanthropist whose giving also focuses on health care and emergency aid internationally, called the Gaza donations a misrepresentation of the Broadway Cares stated goals. She was particularly concerned in light of reports that Hamas has seized aid meant for civilians.

This is just completely unrelated to what they tell audience members and I felt taken advantage of, Gerson told the New York Jewish Week. I have taken them over the years at their word and I was therefore shocked.

On Feb. 10, Gerson filed a complaint with New York Attorney General Letitia James office, saying she was entirely misled by both the verbal pitch at the theater and the description on the website. The New York Jewish Week has learned that James office is reviewing the complaint.

The Gaza donations have also drawn the attention of the Zionist Organization of America, a right-wing pro-Israel organization which raised the issue with Viola in early January. It objected to the IRCs statement on Oct. 7, which said the group was dismayed by the dramatic escalation of violence and mourn[ed] the extensive loss of civilian life in Israel and Gaza today but did not mention Hamas or directly condemn its attack on Israel.

Susan Tuchman, the director of ZOAs Center for Law and Justice, also said ZOA took issue with the donations partly because the two aid organizations do not work in Israel, despite working elsewhere in the Middle East, according to their websites. Tuchman also requested that Broadway Cares direct funds to Israelis affected by the Hamas massacre and be more transparent with audiences.

Simply telling audiences that their donations are going toward helping individuals battling HIV/AIDS and other serious health concerns is not accurate, Tuchman told Viola in an email exchange she shared with the New York Jewish Week.

In response to the complaints, Viola told the New York Jewish Week on Tuesday that the organization will fund aid to Israeli civilians along with the Gaza allocations.

Our humanitarian aid supports human need and doesnt follow a political agenda, Viola said in the statement, adding later, Broadway Cares will soon be announcing a commitment to direct funds to organizations providing lifesaving aid to Israeli civilians impacted by this conflict.

Viola added that the group regularly directs a portion of its funding to those affected by natural disasters and humanitarian crises around the world. In 2023, he said, Broadway Cares awarded $17.2 million in grants, including $600,000 for disaster relief in the U.S. and Turkey. In 2022, the group also donated $300,000 to humanitarian relief in Ukraine.

Tuchman had called for Broadway Cares to donate to Israeli causes, and said she hoped it would give as much to aid Israeli civilians as it had to groups providing relief in Gaza.

We look forward to Broadway Cares finally donating funds that will go directly to helping the many Israelis whove endured so much suffering and loss, Tuchman said. We hope and expect that Broadway Cares will be as generous as it was to the two groups providing aid in Gaza.
(JNS) - A group of more than 20 parliamentarians from around the world will gather in Jerusalem this weekend, in the largest political solidarity mission to Israel since the Oct. 7 massacre.

The Christian lawmakers will add their voices to calls to dismantle UNRWA over its ties to Hamas terrorism and speak out against Iran as the chief origin of regional terrorism, and are expected to voice opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state.

The three-day Israel Allies Foundation Chairman's Conference, which will get underway Sunday, will include a visit to a hard-hit agricultural commu...
By

(JNS)  Iran-backed terror groups are plotting to turn the Islamic holy month of Ramadan into the second phase of Oct. 7 and set the Middle East on fire, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant charged on Tuesday.

The main goal of Hamas is to take Ramadan, with an emphasis on the Temple Mount and Jerusalem, and turn it into the second phase of their plan that began on Oct. 7. This is the main goal of Hamas, and it is being amplified by Iran and Hezbollah, Gallant said following a situational assessment at the Israel Defense Forces Central Command, which is responsible for...
(JNS)  Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, the military wing of Hamas, fired 40 Grad rockets in two barrages at army bases near Kiryat Shmona on Wednesday morning.

Only 10 crossed the border and several were intercepted, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

A building in Kiryat Shmona was hit, causing damage but no injuries according to police.

The Hamas terror group says its Lebanon branch fired a barrage rockets at the Kiryat Shmona area this morning.

Police said they were dealing with rocket debris at several sites in the Kiryat Shmona area.

Property was damaged and there are no reports of casualties at this stage, they said.

In response, the IDF said that it was striking the sources of the launches.

While Hezbollah controls Southern Lebanon, Palestinian terror factions, including Hamas, are active in the region. Israel holds the Lebanese government responsible for all hostilities directed against it from Lebanese territory. Hezbollah joined the war in support of Hamas a day after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack and has been conducting daily cross-border attacks since then.

Additionally, the military announced that early on Wednesday, fighter jets struck a Hezbollah weapons storage facility and military structures in the area of Ramyeh in Southen Lebanon.

A Hezbollah weapons manufacturing site in the area of Khirbet Selm was also hit overnight Tuesday, according to the IDF.

The Iranian proxy fired dozens of rockets at the Upper Galilee on Tuesday in the second round of retaliatory attacks claimed by the terror group following IAF strikes in the Beqaa Valley on Monday.

According to Hezbollah, the barrage targeted the Israeli Air Forces air control base on Mount Meron, which has been attacked several times since Hezbollah joined the war.

The IDF later in the morning confirmed that 35 launches were identified targeting the Mount Meron area, causing no injuries or damage to the Meron base.

The rockets set off air-raid sirens in Upper Galilee communities.

Following the rocket attack, IAF fighter jets struck several areas in Southern Lebanon, including the areas of Hanniyeh, Jibchit, Baisariyeh and Mansouri, according to the military. IDF artillery also hit targets in the Yaroun area in order to remove a threat.

Hezbollah continued to fire rockets and anti-tank missiles towards northern Israel throughout the day on Tuesday, bringing the total number of launches since Monday to 100.

In addition, air-raid alarms on Tuesday afternoon warned of a suspicious aerial target that penetrated the skies above the Upper Galilee. An enemy drone was subsequently intercepted by the Israeli military, Ynet reported.

On Monday evening, Hezbollah fired a volley of 60 rockets at the Golan Heights.

On Monday night, the IDF said that fighter jets struck the source of the fire, hitting a launch site in the area of the village of Kawkaba in Southern Lebanon. The IDF also reported that fighter jets struck Hezbollah military compounds in the area of Ayta ash Shab. Earlier in the day, an IDF tank struck an additional Hezbollah military compound in Kfarkela.

Also earlier on Monday, fighter jets struck sites used by Hezbollahs air defense array in the Beqaa Valley in response to the launch of surface-to-air missiles towards an unmanned aerial vehicle of the Hermes 450 type, that fell earlier today, according to the IDF spokesperson.

Hezbollah said that two of its members were killed in the Israeli strike.

The strikes were the deepest attack carried out by the IDF in Lebanese territory since the beginning of the war.

According to the military, the Davids Sling medium-range air defense system intercepted a surface-to-air missile fired at the drone, which triggered air-raid sirens in the area of Alon Tavor in the Jezreel Valley region of northern Israel. However, a second enemy missile was then launched at the drone, downing it.

Separately, the IDF on Monday killed a senior Hezbollah commander in a strike on a car in the town of Mjadel in Southern Lebanon.

The IDF identified the terror operative targeted in the strike as Hassan Hossein Salami, the head of Hezbollahs eastern command.

Salami belongs to the Nasr unit of the Hezbollah terrorist organization and commanded recent terrorist activities against IDF forces and civilian and military targets in the north of the country, tweeted IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.
(JNS)  The Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah fired a significant rocket barrage at northern Israel on Tuesday morning. The Iranian proxy said the attack was a response to an Israeli strike the previous day in the Beqaa Valley which killed a senior Hezbollah commander.

According to Hezbollah, the barrage targeted the Israeli Air Forces air control base on Mount Meron, which has been attacked multiple times since Hezbollah joined the war in support of Hamas a day after the Oct. 7 mass invasion of southern Israel.

The IDF later in the morning confirmed that 35 launches were identified in the direction of the Mount Meron area and that there were no injuries or damage to the Meron base.

The rockets set off air-raid sirens in Upper Galilee communities, with the Magen David Adom emergency medical services saying that they received no initial calls of injuries or damage.

Following the rocket attack, IAF fighter jets struck several areas in Southern Lebanon, including the areas of Hanniyeh, Jibchit, Baisariyeh and Mansouri, according to the military, which also said that artillery struck in the area of Yaroun in order to remove a threat.

It was the second round of retaliatory strikes claimed by Hezbollah since the Israeli attack in the Baalbek area, about 42 miles northeast of Beirut. On Monday evening, the terrorist group launched a volley of 60 rockets at the Golan Heights.

In response to the Zionist aggression near the city of Baalbek, Hezbollah targeted a military base in the Golan Heights with 60 Katyusha rockets, the terror group claimed in a statement.

On Monday night, the IDF said that fighter jets struck the source of the fire at the Golan Heights, hitting a launch site in the area of the village of Kawkaba in Southern Lebanon. The IDF also reported that fighter jets struck Hezbollah military compounds in the area of Ayta ash Shab. Earlier in the day, an IDF tank struck an additional Hezbollah military compound in Kfarkela.

Hezbollah said that two of its members were killed in the Israeli strike on Monday.

Fighter jets struck sites used by Hezbollahs air defense array in the Beqaa Valley, in response to the launch of surface-to-air missiles towards an unmanned aerial vehicle of the Hermes 450 type, that fell earlier today, according to the IDF spokesperson.

The strikes were the deepest attack carried out by the IDF in Lebanese territory since the beginning of the war.

The IDF identified the terror operative targeted in the strike as Hassan Hossein Salami, the head of Hezbollahs eastern command.

Salami belongs to the Nasr unit of the Hezbollah terrorist organization and commanded recent terrorist activities against IDF forces and civilian and military targets in the north of the country, tweeted IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.

The Shiite terrorist organization took responsibility for downing the UAV, and the IDF later confirmed the incident.

According to the military, the Davids Sling medium-range air defense system intercepted a surface-to-air missile fired at the drone, which triggered air-raid sirens in the area of Alon Tavor in the Jezreel Valley region of northern Israel. However, a second enemy missile was then launched at the drone, downing it.

Hezbollah said in a statement that the drone was a Hermes 450, and that it was brought down over the Nabatieh area.

Made by Haifa-based Elbit Systems, the Hermes 450 is one of Israels largest and most sophisticated drones, with a wingspan of more than 34 feet and a maximum speed of 100-plus miles per hour.
(JNS)  Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday received an award from the Israel Heritage Foundation in appreciation of his efforts to forge normalization agreements between the Jewish state and four Arab nations under the guise of the Abraham Accords.

The award, a menorah, was presented to the former president at Mar-a-Lago by IHF Executive Director Rabbi David Katz, Executive Vice President Joseph Frager, Executive President Stephen Soloway, Executive Chairman Sam Nahmias, Lewis Topper and Harley Lippman.

This menorah, which represents the eternal light of the world, is presented to President Donald J. Trump in honor and celebration of doing what no other man has ever done and that is to make peace between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan in the extraordinary Abraham Accords, reads a plaque on the menorahs base.

According to Rabbi Katz, President Trump was very happy to see everybody; he was in a very good mood.

The President was very excited to see us. He remembered me from July, when we gave him the crown of Jerusalem for moving the [U.S.] embassy to Jerusalem, Katz told Israel National News.

The rabbi said that Trump was very worried about the situation in Israel. He is very much in favor of Israel having to win the war, destroy Hamas. We spoke a little about antisemitism as well.

In addition to the Abraham Accords, Trumps achievements on Israel include moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to the countrys capital; recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights; and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over communities in Judea and Samaria.

A poll of registered New York voters suggests that a majority of Jews in the state intend to vote for Trump in November. New York Jews now favor Trump over President Joe Biden 53 percent to 44 percent, according to the Siena College poll released last week.

Sam Markstein, national political director at the Republican Jewish Coalition, has said that the poll reflects a shift among Jewish voters.

Jewish voters moving towards the GOP is a clear trend, long in the making, Markstein said, citing Lee Zeldins comparative success attracting Jewish votes in the 2022 New York gubernatorial election.
Global South is key force for reforming intl order; 2024 expected to be fruitful year for cooperation: Wang

Global Times) 16:18, March 07, 2024

Illustration: GT

The Global South is no longer the "silent majority," but a key force for reforming the international order and a source of profound hope as the world undergoes changes unseen in the last century, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday.

A stronger BRICS means a growing force for peace and an increasing international support for justice. It should not be seen as a challenge, said Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, when holding a press conference Thursday on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress. He made these remarks in response to some Western media outlets and scholars who claimed that the rise of the Global South is challenging the international order led by the West.

In a broader sense, the expansion of BRICS is the embodiment of the collective rise of the Global South and the acceleration of the process of world multipolarization. As a collection of emerging market countries and developing countries, the Global South has increased its share in the world economy to more than 40 percent, and is profoundly rewriting the map of the world economy, Wang said.

Independence is the distinct quality of the Global South and seeking strength through unity is its tradition, Wang continued.

China was, is and will be a steadfast member of the Global South. We go through thick and thin and head toward a shared future together with countries of the Global South, and we are always a crucial force for the development and prosperity of the Global South, the foreign minister stated.

According to Wang, this year will be a fruitful year for Global South cooperation, and a new starting point for unity among Asian, African and Latin American countries given that the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum will mark the 20th anniversary, and the China-CELAC Forum has been established for 10 years. In particular, the new summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation will be held in China this autumn.

We also support Russia in hosting the BRICS summit, Brazil and Peru in hosting the G20 summit and the APEC Leaders' Meeting respectively, Wang said.

China looks forward to continuing to promote unity and cooperation among developing countries to augment the strength of the South and to jointly create a shining "South moment" in global governance, he said.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro speaks during a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Platt Technical High School, in Milford, Conn. Oct. 4, 2022. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro is the dean of Connecticut's congressional delegation and one of the most colorful members of Congress  in ways both literal and figurative.

Here are five things to know about the long-serving Democratic congresswoman.

She's Connecticut's longest-tenured House member ... ever

DeLauro was first elected to Congress in 1991 and has served Connecticut's 3rd district, including New Haven and the surrounding towns, since then.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

That makes her not only the longest serving of Connecticut's current House members but also the longest serving in the state's history. Including all congressional representatives, she trails only Chris Dodd, who split 36 years between the House and Senate.

How much longer will DeLauro remain in Congress? Well she's running for reelection this year and is overwhelmingly favored to win, so she won't likely be going away anytime soon.

She's the top Democrat on the powerful Appropriations Committee

DeLauro is no back-bencher. When Democrats controlled the House during the previous Congress, she chaired the Appropriations Committee, making her one of the nation's most powerful and influential lawmakers.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Today, she remains the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, as well as the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, which directs funding to key areas.

She is known for liberal positions

DeLauro has often been the most progressive member of Connecticut's delegation (and one of the more progressive members of Congress) on both fiscal and social issues, including tax policy, health care, abortion and gun violence.

She has long been a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and is currently the only Connecticut representative part of the group.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Still, DeLauro has earned praise from more centrist lawmakers for her openness to compromise, particularly as head of the Appropriations Committee. In 2021, Politico reported she was running the committee "from the middle" in an attempt to reach broad consensus.

She's a leader on children's issues, including the child tax credit

DeLauro has long been particularly passionate about issues affecting children and families.

For years, she pushed an expansion of the child tax credit as a way to drastically reduce child poverty, and when the measure finally passed on a temporary basis as part of President Biden's American Rescue Plan, poor families saw enormous benefit.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Since the expanded child tax credit expired in 2022, DeLauro has pushed to reinstate it, arguing that it "provided unprecedented economic security for Americas middle- and working-class families."

Her personal style is proudly different

Beyond her policy achievements, DeLauro sometimes attracts attention for her personal style, including her purple hair and colorful clothing.

Asked in 2018 why she styles her hair with purple streaks, DeLauro said simply: "I wanted to do it, I love it and its fun."

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
WASHINGTON, D.C. (JTA)  For months, President Joe Biden has asked for  and Congress has debated  sending wartime foreign aid to Israel as it battles Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The bill currently on the table, passed in a bipartisan vote by the Senate last week, would see some $14 billion go to Israel as part of a $95 billion foreign aid bill. Biden is now pushing the Republican-led House to take up the bill.

The majority of the bills funds would aid Ukraine in its war against Russia, and a smaller portion is earmarked to help Taiwan deter Chinese aggression. Another portion would fund humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.

But the Israel portion of the aid is significant: Its more than three times the $3.8 billion the United States sends to Israel in a normal year. And it would be a clear signal that the United States continues to stand behind the Israeli war effort as it continues deeper into its fifth month.

Unlike Ukraine, which has made its need for U.S. funding clear, Israeli leaders have not publicly clamored for the aid. And defense specialists say that if Israel receives the money, it may not even be used in this war in Gaza. Instead, a lot of the funding is targeted toward replenishing weapons stockpiles  as well as helping Israel prepare for a potential future fight against Hezbollah, the Lebanese terror group.

Heres how the bills funding for Israel breaks down, and what lies behind the numbers.

$5.2 billion for missile defense systems as the threat from Hezbollah mounts

The largest amount of funding for Israel, $5.2 billion, is targeted toward systems that deter missiles and other airborne threats  both long- and short-range.

A senior Biden administration official told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the aid was structured with an eye to other fronts  making sure Israel has the means to prevent, or counter, any escalation on its borders.

This is for Israel to defend itself in a multi-front war and to be sure it can deter a multi-front war, the official told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Within the $5.2 billion carveout, $4 billion is for procuring short-range antimissile systems for Israels Iron Dome missile defense system. It also funds the Davids Sling system, which intercepts mid-to-long range missiles. Another $1.2 billion is for an Iron Beam antimissile system that is still in development. When operational, that system will use lasers to shoot down airborne threats ranging from drones to mortars, anti-tank missiles and rockets.

Hamas rocket fire has largely abated as Israel has depleted the group, but those missile defense systems would be especially critical in a fight against Hezbollah, which began launching rockets at Israel starting Oct. 8, a day after Hamas invasion of Israel launched the war in Gaza.

Hezbollah says its attacks are a bid to keep Israel preoccupied, and Iran has reportedly urged Hezbollah not to escalate its attacks into an all-out war. But with hundreds killed in fighting already  mostly Hezbollah fighters  the specter of broader conflict looms: Israel launched air strikes in Lebanon last week after rocket fire killed a woman in the northern town of Tzfat.

As Israel is battling to remove Hamas terrorists from Gaza, Hezbollah, with a far more deadly missile arsenal, is threatening civilian populations in the north, said Marshall Wittmann, the spokesman for AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby advocating for the bill. It is imperative that Israel immediately receives the necessary resources to defend against these threats.

Jonathan Schanzer, a vice president with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank that gets briefings from top Israel officials, said Israel might safely assume that two thirds of the up to 200,000 missiles Hezbollah possesses could reach populated areas in Israel across much of the country.

He said Israel could also face continued missile fire from countries farther afield, such as Yemen.

Thats a massive amount of interceptors needed and I dont think [Israel] is anywhere near that, he said. So I would imagine from a defensive perspective, thats a huge priority.

$800 million for precision weapons amid a mounting civilian death toll in Gaza

As the war has continued, the Biden administration has increasingly urged Israel to safeguard Palestinian civilian life and exercise greater precision in its strikes on Gaza. More than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. Israel said on Monday that it believed it had killed 12,000 Hamas combatants.

In December, Biden said Israels bombing of Gaza was indiscriminate. Israel rejects that criticism, saying that it takes steps to protect civilians when shelling in Gaza.

To enable Israels strikes to be more targeted, the bill also sets aside $801.4 million for ammunition for Israel. The Biden administration official confirmed that that money would go to precision weapons.

Israel does not want unguided missiles, the official said.

$3.5 billion for replenishing systems that have been used in the war so far

In 2021, Congress allocated $1 billion in emergency funding to help Israel replenish its Iron Dome system after a two-week conflict that May. This time, it is setting aside $3.5 billion for Israel to replenish systems and ammunition it may have burned through in the first months of the war, and to maintain systems used during the war.

Israel used money from the $3.8 billion it receives annually from the United States to pay for wartime munitions, such as Iron Dome. Israel would use these new funds to return to those priorities, including the modernization of F-15 and F-35 aircraft.

$4 billion for replenishing the U.S. weapons stockpile that Israel has depleted

The rest of the money for Israel, more than $4 billion, goes to an American priority: restocking weapons the United States keeps stockpiled in the region, including in Israel, on a contingency basis.

Those weapons stocks have been depleted, as Biden gave Israel the green light to access the stockpile.

We have these stockpiles for a reason to make sure we are ready for any emergency, the official said. The money in the bill makes sure the United States remains strong and we have readiness to respond to any emergencies.

$2 billion for Palestinian humanitarian aid

In total, the bill provides $9.2 billion for humanitarian assistance for Ukraine and Gaza. How that breaks down between the two wars is not spelled out.

But Joel Braunold, the managing director S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, who consults with U.S. officials on relief distribution, said he understood that between $1.7 billion and $2 billion would go to the Palestinians humanitarian needs.

Those needs are immense. International health organizations say Gaza is on the verge of a famine and have accused Israel of not doing enough to let in aid. Israel has countered that it is doing all it can to provide aid but does not have reliable partners on the other side of the border.

Braunold noted that the bill bans any aid from reaching the United Nations Works and Relief Agency, the Palestinian aid agency known as UNRWA which Israel says acts in collusion with Hamas.

The money will go to Gaza through bilateral and multilateral assistance, he said, referring to nonprofit organizations working in Gaza, and to international aid groups. While the bill gives significant flexibility to the administration to transfer resources between these accounts, it bans any resources from going to UNRWA.

The Biden administration has joined a number of western nations in suspending assistance to UNRWA in light of Israeli intelligence saying that a portion of its staffers were involved in the Oct. 7 massacres or affiliated with Hamas. But Biden administration officials are also pressing Israel to facilitate the entry of more humanitarian assistance into Gaza.

$60 billion for Ukraine

The lions share of the funding bill, $60 billion, is for Ukraines defense needs. The question of getting Ukraine weapons as it continues its two-year long effort to repel Russian invaders has also gotten the lions share of the attention in the debate over the bill.

Democrats and a portion of Republicans want to continue aiding Ukraine. But another faction of Republicans, allied with former President Donald Trump, are skeptical of aiding Ukraine. Republicans have demanded that the bill include provisions to tamp down a migrant crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border  though they recently rejected a compromise to that effect.

In a speech last week, Rep. Steny Hoyer, the Maryland Democrat who is among Israels staunchest defenders in his party, focused on addressing Republicans who have stalled the funding for Ukraines war.

Give the victims of Putins war crimes a vote, Mr. Speaker, Hoyer said, addressing Mike Johnson, the Louisiana Republican who is speaker of the House. Give Ukraine hope.
(JTA)  Vice President Kamala Harris called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and placed most of the onus on Israel for a shortfall in humanitarian aid entering the enclave.

The call for a cessation of fighting was not actually a change in the U.S. position on the war. In her speech, at a civil rights-focused event on Sunday in Birmingham, Alabama, Harris made clear that she was not referring to a permanent ceasefire, which progressive activists have advocated for months.

Rather, she was voicing support for the current Israeli-backed proposal, via negotiations, for a six-week truce. Harris placed the onus on Hamas to accept the terms of the deal, which would see the release of some of the Israeli hostages it is holding.

Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table, Harris said. Hamas claims it wants a ceasefire. Well, there is a deal on the table. And as we have said, Hamas needs to agree to that deal.

But Harris use of the term immediate ceasefire marked a shift of sorts in the Biden administrations language. Last week, President Joe Biden spoke of a temporary ceasefire, and National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told the New Yorker, We still dont support a general ceasefire that would leave Hamas in charge. What we do support is a temporary ceasefire, to get these hostages out and get the aid in.

The administration has thus far staunchly supported the war, which began when Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages. But recently, the Biden administration has expressed increasing frustration with Israel. Biden has said that Israels conduct in Gaza was over the top and has pressed Israel to allow in more humanitarian aid.

Increasing U.S. disapproval of Israel is also evident in polling. Gallup reported on Monday that Israels favorability among Americans had dropped from 68 percent a year ago to 58 percent today, which the polling agency called the lowest favorable rating for Israel in over two decades. The phone poll of more than 1,000 adults, taken in February, has a margin of error of 4 percent.

Harris speech  at an event in Birmingham marking the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when state troopers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge violently repressed peaceful civil rights marchers  came following a campaign last week to protest Bidens Israel police got 100,000 voters to vote uncommitted in the Michigan Democratic presidential primary.

The vice president devoted half of her remarks to the war, and demanded that Israel do more to significantly increase the flow of aid to Gaza, which aid groups say is at risk of mass famine due to the lack of food and other critical supplies.

Calls for aid gained more urgency last week after dozens died in a rush on an aid convoy, which Hamas blamed on Israeli gunfire. Israel said its troops fired minimal warning shots and that the deaths were due to a stampede. Top U.S. officials have until now blamed multiple factors for the failure to deliver aid, citing the chaos of war, Hamass theft of the aid and ineffective international agencies, as well as Israeli reluctance to fully open crossings.

No excuses, Harris said. They must open new border crossings. They must not impose any unnecessary restrictions on the delivery of aid. They must ensure humanitarian personnel, sites, and convoys are not targeted. And they must work to restore basic services and promote order in Gaza so more food, water, and fuel can reach those in need.

Harris tone and the setting  the nations first Black vice president speaking against the background of Civil Rights iconography  left an unmistakable message: Israel was losing a key bloc of the Democratic Party  minorities who, polls show, are increasingly uncomfortable with how it is conducting the war, which has so far killed 30,000 Palestinians according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

As if to emphasize the subtext in Harriss message, the crowd whooped and cheered when Harris said Israel must do more to deliver aid, and when she used the word ceasefire.
(JNS)  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday night hit back at U.S. President Joe Biden for claiming that the Jewish states incredibly conservative government risked losing it international support.

Since the start of the war, I have been leading a diplomatic campaign to block pressure designed to end the war prematurely and to secure strong support for Israel, said Netanyahu in a video message.

We have had considerable success. Today, a Harvard-Harris poll was published which shows that 82 percent of the American public supports Israel, meaning that four out of five U.S. citizens support Israel and not Hamas, he continued.

This will help us continue the campaign until total victory, added the premier.

Speaking with Seth Meyer on NBCs Late Night on Monday, Biden noted that the Israel Defense Forces campaign against Hamas in Gaza has so far had the overwhelming support of the vast majority of nations.

However, if it keeps this up without [changing]this incredibly conservative government they have, and [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir and others, mostIve known every major foreign policy leader in Israel since Golda Meirtheyre going to lose support from around the world. And that is not in Israels interest, said Biden.

The American president also signaled that a ceasefire in Gaza could be imminent, claiming that Israel had agreed to pause its military offensive during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins in early March.

Theres a process underway that I think if we get thatthat temporary ceasefire, were going to be able to move in a direction where we can change the dynamic and not have a two-state solution immediately, but a process to get to a two-state solution, a process to guarantee Israels security and the independence of the Palestinians, stated Biden.

However, Israels Ynet quoted senior Israeli officials on Tuesday morning as saying that they do not understand what the American presidents optimism is based on.

A spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that there has been no breakthrough in the negotiations, while Doha is optimistic that a deal can be reached even though gaps remain between the sides.

The Hamas terrorist group also weighed in on Bidens comments, with a source telling Reuters that the statement was premature and did not align with the situation on the ground.

Disagreements over the war against Hamas are driving Biden towards a breach with Netanyahu, who he believes can no longer be influenced even in private, The Washington Post reported earlier this month, citing insiders in Washington.

Quoting 19 senior administration officials and outside advisers, the newspaper said that Bidens mounting frustration with Netanyahu has led some White House aides to suggest that the president ramp up public criticism of the IDF operation in Gaza.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Feb. 1 that Biden is frustrated over the number of casualties in Gaza, the displacement of civilians from their homes and the lack of a road map for ending the fighting.

On Feb. 11, a senior Biden administration official told NBC News that there is a growing divide between the U.S. and Israel, specifically over the looming IDF offensive in Rafah.

Politico has reported that Biden is deeply suspicious of Israels leader and had said privately that Netanyahu was a bad fing guy.
(ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla) - One of Israel's most distinguished statesmen, Ambassador Michael Oren, a diplomat who worked at the highest levels of the Israeli government, was the featured speaker at Jewish National Fund-USA's second annual Stand with Israel Legacy Luncheon in Altamonte Springs on Feb. 12, 2024.

The "thank you" event for local partners (donors) who are members of the organization's Legacy Society was attended by over 100 philanthropists. The solidarity portions of the afternoon included a moment of silence to remember the hostages, the fallen, and the families, and for peace in Israel.

During his tenure as Israel's ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Oren worked with the White House, Congress, and the CIA on crucial strategic issues, including the Iron Dome defense system and the Iran nuclear threat. Drawing on more than 40 years of experience in governance, the military, and foreign service, and with the perspective of a historian who has lived throughout Israel and abroad, the New York Times bestselling author discussed his latest book, "2048 The Rejuvenated State," the Israel-Hamas war, and the threat of an even bigger enemy across the northern border in Lebanon.

"October 7 was more than just an outrageously barbaric attack by heinous terrorists ... It was the breakdown of a covenant," said Oren. "Every Israeli knows that this is a war not just for our security, not just to let those people come back to their homes, not just to send a message to the region ... We know that this is a battle for our national survival."

Representatives from Jewish National Fund-USA recounted how, since the morning of the "Black Shabbat," the organization's team in Israel immediately mobilized to support the devastated communities - evacuating, feeding, clothing, and providing other supplies and trauma therapy to tens of thousands of evacuees and working tirelessly to coordinate, serve, and help those in need - transforming the black, burnt, and broken into love, light, healing, and hope.

"This time last year, I could never fathom the unimaginable, unthinkable, unbelievable horrors and atrocities that would take place on October 7," said Robin Dermer, Esq., JNF-USA's director of Planned Giving, Florida. "Through the shock and sorrow, pain, and anger, through a world lens tinted with rising antisemitism and Jew-hatred, I am sharing a very different update because today we are a very different Jewish People. Time has changed all of us. We have not only changed spiritually and emotionally, but our connection to our Homeland has also grown stronger."

The organization's leaders also shared how, through an unprecedented level of charitable giving, JNF-USA has raised nearly $60 million in immediate relief funds. They also unveiled the organization's bold and visionary plans to rebuild the southern Israeli communities that were ravaged by Hamas and implementing plans for a bright and prosperous future.

"Work has already begun on a plan called "Livnot B'Yachad - Build Together," added Dermer. "Our efforts include building new houses, applying fresh coats of paint, constructing beautiful parks, repaving roads, and strategic community infrastructure. It will no longer be a region scarred by PTSD and '15 seconds to run to a bomb shelter;' it will be a region of hope, a place with thriving music, culture, sports, and educational opportunities."

Dermer also shared the many ways supporters of Israel can achieve their philanthropic goals while taking advantage of existing U.S. tax laws, including Charitable Gift Annuities, where individuals can receive a fixed income as high as 10.1 percent. She also discussed savvy ways people are utilizing Donor Advised Funds and IRAs, as well as traditional bequests.

"Jewish National Fund-USA means so much to me and my family," added Michael Beim, JNF-USA's president of the Orlando Board of Directors. "We are committed to the future of Israel, and it is a true pleasure to work with a 4-star Charity Navigator organization that shares our passion. Our partnership with Jewish National Fund-USA allows us to continue to support our homeland well into the future."

To learn more about the many meaningful ways you can leave a legacy for Israel, call 800-562-7526 or email plannedgiving@jnf.org.
(JTA)  More than a third of Americans would be reluctant to vote for a pro-Israel politician. One fifth are uncomfortable buying products from Israel. More than 40 percent at least somewhat agreed that Israel intends to cause as much Palestinian suffering as possible.

But nearly all U.S. adults believe Jews have the right to an independent country.

Those are some of the results of a survey published Thursday by the Anti-Defamation League, measuring antisemitism and anti-Israel views across the United States. The survey found that antisemitic views had increased since the ADLs last such study, taken prior to Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the ensuing war, though anti-Israel views had not.

Thursdays survey polled more than 4,000 U.S. adults in mid-January, with a 1.5 percent margin of error.

As it has for decades, the ADL presented respondents with a list of 11 antisemitic tropes  such as Jews are more loyal to Israel than to America, and Jews have too much power  and found that nearly 24 percent of respondents believed in six or more of them, an increase of four percentage points since 2022.

When it came to Israel, the surveys authors said the overall number of respondents who held anti-Israel positions had not drastically changed since Oct. 7, based on a survey taken last summer. But the group found that views had become more polarized, with more respondents saying they strongly agreed or disagreed with negative statements about Israel.

The poll found that many respondents viewed Israelis as callous or malicious toward Palestinians, with 43 percent agreeing strongly or somewhat that Israelis intend to cause Palestinians as much suffering as possible. A similar proportion said Israelis were indifferent to Palestinian suffering.

Nearly 36 percent agreed to some extent with the statement, If Israelis had their way, they would live in a world where all Palestinians were killed.

One fifth supported, strongly or somewhat, the removal of Israeli products from grocery stores. And more than a third agreed to some extent with the statement, I would not consider voting for a pro-Israel politician. (Whether that finding bears out in the upcoming presidential election remains to be seen. While they disagree on Israel policy, all major candidates say they are supporters of Israel.)

In some cases, criticism of Israel overlapped with age-old antisemitic conspiracies. The survey found that 30 percent of respondents agreed in some measure that supporters of Israel control the media. And one third somewhat or strongly agreed that Israeli operatives are secretly manipulating US national policy through [the pro-Israel lobby] AIPAC or other influence tools.

Despite the findings regarding anti-Israel beliefs, the overwhelming majority of respondents  88.8 percent  said Jews had the right to an independent country.

Anti-Israel views were more widespread among young people and correlated with antisemitism, the poll found. Surveys taken since Oct. 7 have consistently found lower levels of support for Israel among young adults.

Many respondents, especially younger Americans, expressed at least some degree of comfort with supporting Hamas. Slightly more than half of Gen Z respondents said they would be comfortable having a friendship with a supporter of the terror group. Twenty-seven percent of all respondents said it would be acceptable for a close family member to support Hamas.

Twenty-four percent of all respondents said they have a close friend or family member who dislikes Jews. Younger respondents were more likely to hold antisemitic beliefs, the poll found. Millennials agreed with the most antisemitic tropes, on average, followed by Gen Z. ADL polling showed that belief in the tropes generally declined between 1964 until 2014, when the numbers started trending upward.
(Israel Hayom via JNS) - A rare and exciting archaeological find has been unearthed in Jerusalem, providing an extraordinary glimpse into the ancient past.

During excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the Western Wall Plaza, a small-stamped clay seal was discovered dating back to the First Temple period around 2,700 years ago.

The clay seal contains ancient Hebrew writing indicating it belonged to the "Governor of the City" of Jerusalem, the highest municipal position during that time.

"This is the first time such a sealing has been found in proper archaeological excavations," said Dr. Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah, the lead excavator. "It supports the biblical record of there being a governor of Jerusalem during the First Temple period."

Experts say the seal, which depicts two figures facing each other below the inscription, was likely attached to an important letter or document. "It may have served as a logo or dispatch sent on behalf of the governor," explained Weksler-Bdolah.

The area where it was found near the Western Wall is believed to have been inhabited by high-ranking officials based on this seal and other artifacts found previously.

According to Professors Tallay Ornan and Benjamin Sass, who studied the artifact, "The title 'Governor of the City' refers to an appointed official, and governors of Jerusalem are mentioned in the Bible during the times of Kings Hezekiah and Josiah."

The clay seal will be temporarily exhibited in the mayor's office before undergoing further scientific analysis.

"This unique find brings Jerusalem's ancient past to life," said Weksler-Bdolah. "We're thrilled to reveal this small but significant artifact that deepens our understanding of the city's long and rich history."

Originally published by Israel Hayom.
(JNS)  While a senior U.N. aid official said on Tuesday that a quarter of the Gazan population is one step away from famine, Israel and the United States laid blame at the feet of the United Nations and Hamas, respectively.

The U.N. Security Council met on Tuesday afternoon to discuss food insecurity in Gaza. Much of the enclaves agricultural and food production infrastructure has been severely impacted by the war between Israel and Hamas.

But Robert Wood, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters that ultimately, Hamas is responsible for the suffering in Gaza.

It lies with Hamas because Hamas started this on Oct. 7 in its invasion, said Wood. Now we have to deal with the aftermath of that. And the important thing, as weve said over and over again, is getting assistance scaled up.

But Ramesh Rajasingham, coordination director of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told the council that, Very little will be possible while hostilities continue and while there is a risk that they will spread into the overcrowded areas in the south of Gaza. We therefore reiterate our call for a ceasefire.

Israel, though, claimed the main barrier to scaled-up aid is the United Nations itself.

Jonathan Miller, Israels U.N. deputy ambassador, told the Security Council that his delegation is fully committed to ramping up the flow and delivery of humanitarian assistance in Gaza, including the easing of the entry of aid at the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings.

He also said that the opening of additional border crossings is under discussionsomething Washington is pushing for, according to Wood.

Simply put, Israel must do more, Wood told the council. We continue to call on Israel to improve deconfliction procedures to ensure aid can move safely and securely.

Miller pushed back on assertions by U.N. officials and some member states that Israel is choking off the food supply to Gazans, describing them as attempts to spread Hamas lies and shift the blame onto Israel for inefficient distribution methods.

Israel has been clear in its policies. There is absolutely no limit, and I repeat, there is no limit to the amount of humanitarian aid that can be sent to the civilian population of Gaza, said Miller, adding that Israel approves most aid requests.

These are the facts. No one can claim otherwise, said Miller, pointing to some 20 bakeries in Gaza that he said are currently producing more than two million pita breads a day.

Miller was adamant that Israel is not the entity holding up the lines of trucks waiting at Gazas borders with Egypt and Israel, pointing to the U.N.s inefficiencies in routing the deliveries and the diversion of aid into the hands of Hamas.

Vassily Nebenzia, Moscows U.N. envoy, told the Security Council that it is high time to impose sanctions on Israel for obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Nebenzia also blasted a U.S.-circulated draft resolution calling for a ceasefire once a diplomatic agreement is reached, and in tandem with the release of hostages held in Gaza.

According to Nebenzia, the text provides another license to kill Palestinian civilians, which the United States intends to issue to Israel under UNSC authority.

Wood countered that Russia is in a poor position to speak while its assault on Ukraine continues. Wood told reporters that the U.S. mission is holding discussions about the feedback it has received from council members on its draft resolution and that there is no time frame for bringing it up for a vote.

Were going to work to find some common language that everyone can support, said Wood, who, with the U.S. mission, has vetoed three Security Council resolutions that would have imposed a ceasefire on Israel.

In response to a question from JNS, Slovenias U.N. ambassador said that while he would leave discussions on specific areas of disagreement for the council chambers, there are a few areas where he thinks the council will need to have additional work on the technical aspects of the U.S. draft resolution.

Of course, everything starts with a ceasefire. And, of course, we hope that the efforts on the ground will give results so that we have hostages released and we have a ceasefire, said Bostjan Malovrh. But no matter what happens on the ground, I think we need to try once again before the beginning of Ramadan to pass a resolution.
(JNS)  The United States on Feb.21 called on the International Court of Justice not to issue an advisory opinion that Israel must immediately withdraw from Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem.

Instead, Richard Visek, acting legal adviser at the U.S. State Department, argued on day three of public hearings at The Hague on Israels ongoing occupation that the conflict with the Palestinians should be resolved within the established framework, citing United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.

He also emphasized Israels very real security needs for the judges to consider, citing the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre as an example and pointing out that some of the participants have ignored those security considerations that persist.

In any consideration by the court of these or other issues, the challenge for the court is how to provide its advice in a way that promotes the framework rather than disrupting its balance, potentially making the possibility of negotiations even more difficult, Visek said.

In this regard, it would not, as some participants suggest, be conducive to the achievement of the established framework to issue an opinion that calls for a unilateral, immediate and unconditional withdrawal by Israel that does not account for Israels legitimate security needs, he continued.

Fifty-two countries and three international organizations are taking the stand at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the court, with the hearings going on until Feb. 26.

The court is hearing arguments due to a request submitted by the U.N. General Assembly pursuant to a Dec. 30, 2022, resolution calling for an examination of the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

A nonbinding legal opinion is expected after months of deliberation by the judges.

Israel has chosen not to send a representative, saying the court lacks jurisdiction to consider the matter.

The Prime Ministers Office in Jerusalem said in a statement on Monday that Israel does not recognize the legitimacy of the proceedings of the international court in The Hague regarding the legality of the occupation, calling it an effort designed to infringe on Israels right to defend itself against existential threats.

The proceedings are part of the Palestinian attempt to dictate the results of the diplomatic settlement without negotiations. We will continue to reject this; the government and the Knesset are united in rejecting this unacceptable course of action, the PMO added.

In December, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the U.N. resolution disgraceful, adding, The Jewish people is not occupying its land and is not occupying its eternal capital Jerusalem. No U.N. resolution can distort this historical truth.
Israeli researchers take step toward cure for Huntingtons disease

(JNS)  A new study carried out by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot has identified two molecules capable of penetrating the blood-brain barrier and reducing the levels of a defective protein that causes Huntingtons disease, an incurable neurodegenerative disorder.

The research not only slowed the progress of the disease in mouse models but even reversed some symptoms, the Institute said.

The signs and symptoms of Huntingtons diseaseslight involuntary movements, general clumsiness and increased anxietymost commonly emerge around the age of 40. The disease develops over time and inevitably leads to death.

Past attempts to treat the disease were unsuccessful, while drugs aimed at tackling the root causethe defective proteinfound it difficult to distinguish the defective protein from the normal one.

During the new study, We were delighted to find that small molecules managed to reach the brain without undergoing changes and without disintegrating along the way, said Weizmanns professor Rivka Dikstein.

While other experimental treatments require repeated brain or spinal surgery, these molecules, delivered orally or by means of an injection, could pave the way for an effective and safe treatment of Huntingtons disease, she continued.

Its become clear that a certain function of large regulatory proteins can be precisely targeted using tiny molecules without harming the overall functioning of these proteins. This understanding could lay the foundations for new treatments for a variety of diseases, she said.

New policy at Barnard bans decorations on dorm-room doors

(JNS)  Students attending New York Citys Barnard College will need to find ways to express themselves other than affixing photos or messages on the doors of their dormitories.

Leslie Grinage, the schools dean, sent out a letter on Feb. 23 informing students that by Wednesday, Feb. 28, they would need to remove any decorations on their doors. It comes in the backdrop of heightened sensibilities related to the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip followingand many have noted even beforethe Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in southern Israel.

Grinage justified the move, writing that while many decorations and fixtures on doors serve as a means of helpful communication amongst peers, we are also aware that some may have the unintended effect of isolating those who have different views and beliefs.

Columbia Universitys chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine responded that it sets a dangerous precedent. Members of the group known for its anti-Israel activity on campus said it is beyond absurd to send out a notice to Barnard students demanding we take down decor from our own dorm doors that we are paying to live in.

Yellen demands Israel take actions to support Palestinian economy

By Andrew Bernard

(JNS)  U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a list of demands for Israel to support the Palestinian economy in Judea and Samaria.

The United States urged the Israeli government to release clearance revenue to the Palestinian Authority to fund basic services and to bolster the economy in the West Bank, Yellen said on Tuesday during a press conference in Brazil ahead of a G20 finance meeting.

The statement and letter appear to be the most direct public concerns that Yellen has raised about the state of the Palestinian economy since Oct. 7.

I also recently outlined in a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu a number of steps that the United States believes must be taken, including reinstating work permits for Palestinians and reducing barriers to commerce within the West Bank, she said.

Israel collects so-called clearance revenue taxes on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, the P.A.s main source of income. The P.A. said in November that it would refuse to accept the transferred funds after Israel announced that it was deducting a portion of the revenue intended for Gaza.

Yellen said on Tuesday that a deal had been reached to transfer the funds, which have started to flow.

These actions are vital for the economic well-being of Palestinians and Israelis alike, she said.

Students meet with UVa administrators to protect Jewish students on grounds

(JNS)  Multiple antisemitic incidents and displays of anti-Israel activism have led a group of students to meet with administrators at the University of Virginia and seek action.

Joel Nied, an attorney, accompanied the students to their meeting and described the environment they have been experiencing since the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, which led to the deaths of 1,200 people. There is this movement on campus that is blatantly antisemitic, he said.

He described how some Jewish students had been spat upon, shoved, that have been called horrible names, antisemitic slurs. Nied said that one student has been so intimidated by students in his dorm, for peace of mind he has to move off campus and sleep elsewhere and stop wearing his yarmulke.

He reported that others feel they need to tuck their jewelry, their Jewish stars into their sweaters and shirts so no one sees them. So, theyre hiding. Theyre hiding their identity.

Additional events raising alarm bells include some professors canceling classes in support of Palestine and a vote scheduled to take place on Wednesdayco-sponsored by Students for Justice in Palestinefor the university to divest from Israel.

A faculty statement released after Oct. 7 advocated for the atrocity to be viewed in context, as Nied describeda word that would be hammered back to three university presidents two months later on Dec. 5, during a nearly four-hour-long U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing on campus antisemitism.

I dont know how anybody can try to contextualize what happened on Oct. 7 other than looking at it for what it was. It was a barbaric horrible attack. Theres no justification.

Hamas praises man who burned himself to death outside Israeli embassy

(JNS)  Hamas said in a statement that Biden bears full responsibility for the death of U.S. Army pilot Aaron Bushnell due to its policy that supported the Nazi-Zionist entity in its war of extermination against our Palestinian people.

Hamas said Bushnell gave his life to shed light on the Zionist massacres and ethnic cleansing against our people in the Gaza Strip.

Cornel West, the far-left independent 2024 presidential candidate, similarly offered praise, writing on X: Let us never forget the extraordinary courage and commitment of brother Aaron Bushnell who died for truth and justice! I pray for his precious loved ones! Let us rededicate ourselves to genuine solidarity with Palestinians undergoing genocidal attacks in real time!

Dr. Jill Stein, a presidential candidate for the far-left Green Party, wrote on X: Rest in power Aaron Bushnell and May his sacrifice deepen our commitment to stop genocide now.

Antisemitic rock artist Roger Waters posted a video of Bushnell killing himself as the Pink Floyd song The Gunners Dream played in the background. Waters wrote that Bushnell was an All American Hero.

A friend has described Bushnell as an anarchist. Unverified postings on Reddit also suggest staunch anti-Israel views. In a posting responding to someone describing the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on civilians and tourists, Acebush1an account identified as Bushnells that has since been wipedwrote: There are no Israeli civilians or tourists who have no part in the oppression of Palestine.

The user claimed that since he was not Palestinian, he was in no position to endorse or condemn Hamas actions, that there are no Israelis without the genocide of the Palestinian people and that Israel is a settler colonialist apartheid state.

Israel to send aid directly to north Gaza, bypassing Hamas

(JNS)  Israel will start transferring humanitarian supplies directly to the northern Gaza Strip to bypass the Hamas terrorist group, the War Cabinet decided on Saturday night.

In the coming days, trucks carrying supplies bound for the parts of Gaza already conquered by Israeli forces will enter near the Karni crossing at the northeastern end of the Strip, which was permanently closed in 2011, with the last remaining structures of the cargo terminal demolished by the Israeli military in 2022.

On Dec. 15, Israels Security Cabinet approved the opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing for the transfer of aid to the Strip after intense U.S. and international pressure. All the Israeli crossings to Gaza had been shuttered after the Oct. 7 massacre, with only Egypts Rafah crossing from Sinai remaining open.

However, Hamas has been hijacking up to 60 percent of the aid entering the Gaza Strip.

The UN Relief and Works Agency is suspending aid deliveries to northern Gaza via Egypts Rafah crossing, the Guardian reported on Saturday.

The desperate behavior of hungry and exhausted people is preventing the safe and regular passage of our trucks, Tamara Alrifai, director of external relations for UNRWA, told the British newspaper.

Sporadic protests have taken place over the past two months at Kerem Shalom in an attempt to block aid trucking from resupplying Hamas while the terrorist group continues to hold Israelis hostage and fight a war against Israel.

Activists have also attempted to block the aid trucks at the smaller Nitzana crossing to Sinai and at the Ashdod port.

Clashes broke out between Israeli security personnel and protesters at the Kerem Shalom crossing to Gaza on Feb. 22, with one of the demonstrators reportedly injured by security forces.

In Times Square, 3,000 teens gather for Jewish pride, solidarity

(JNS)  Some 3,000 Jewish teens gathered in Times Square in Manhattan on Saturday night as part of the Chabads 16th annual CTeen International Shabbaton.

The group, including 200 teens from Israel and young people from more than 50 countries, prayed for the Israeli hostages in Gaza and for peace in Israel, according to a Chabad release.

Our resilience, our spirit, our deedsthese are the true catalysts for change, Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, executive director of Merkos 302 and vice-chairman of CTeen International, said at the event.

Let us return to our communities, ready to lead and demonstrate to our brethren in Israel that they can indeed count on us, he added.

More than 100,000 people viewed a live broadcast of the event, which included musical performances and dancing, according to Chabad.

The Times Square takeover was incredibly impactful. The melodies, the collective prayers for the hostagesit felt as though the heavens themselves were moved by our actions, stated Moshe Italy, 21, of Maslul, in southern Israel.

Since Oct. 7, the youth in Israel have matured beyond their years, he added. Despite being labeled as the TikTok generation, their strength is undeniable. They are the future leaders of our nation.

Jewish, Israeli students often afraid to go to Berkeley schools, federal complaint alleges

(JNS)  Enduring Kill the Jews statements from peers. Being asked what their number is, referring to numbers tattooed on Jews during the Holocaust. Teacher-prompted walk-outs in support of Hamas terrorists. A teacher directing second-graders to write, Stop bombing babies on sticky notes displayed around the school.

These are some of the allegations against the Berkeley Unified School District in a Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Anti-Defamation League complaint filed on Wednesday with the U.S. Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights.

The complaint further alleges that peer-on-peer antisemitic bullying has escalated, as students are emboldened to emulate their teachers and perpetuate the hostility against their Jewish classmates. The situation is so bad that Jewish and Israeli students are often afraid to go to school, the complaint adds.

The eruption of antisemitism in Berkeleys elementary and high schools is like nothing Ive ever seen before, said Kenneth Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center.

The California school district, which traces its history back 145 years, serves 9,400 students in 11 public elementary schools, three middle schools and a comprehensive and an alternative high school, per its website. It also operates three preschools and an adult school.

The district states that taking pride in its diversity and treating one another respectfully and acting with integrity are among its values.

The school district is accused of doing the opposite.

It is dangerous enough to see faculty fanning the flames of antisemitism on college campuses, but to see teachers inciting hate in the youngest of grades while Berkeley administrators sit idly by as it continues to escalate by the day is reprehensible, Marcus said. Where is the accountability? Where are the people who are supposed to protect and educate students?

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the ADL, said that there is no more solemn or basic obligation than protecting our children from the moment when they walk into the doors of their schools.

To fail so monumentally that children feel forced to hide their Jewish identity for fear of reprisal is downright shocking, he added. We must demand more from our educational leaders.

Two anti-Israel protesters arrested outside Bari Weiss event in NY

(JNS)  Two anti-Israel protesters were arrested outside a 92nd Street Y event on Manhattans Upper East Side featuring Bari Weiss, a former New York Times editor and founder of The Free Press. Video footage circulating online also showed comedian Jerry Seinfeld smiling and waving at the antisemitic activists, as they accused him of supporting genocide.

Weiss delivered the 92nd Street Ys annual The State of World Jewry Address on Sunday night.

Abba Eban, then a member of Israels Knesset and a former Israeli diplomat, delivered the inaugural address in 1980. Others who have spoken in the series include Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel; former Soviet refusenik and Israeli statesman Natan Shararanky; the late Israeli writer Amos Oz; and French intellectual Bernard Henri-Levy, per the 92nd Street Y website.

Not since the founding of the State of Israel has the Jewish people faced such a crossroads. What is our future? What are our priorities? How do we secure our community for generations to come? it stated, promoting Weisss ticketed talk, which sold out.

Protesters yelled obscenities and Genocide supporter, you support genocide at Seinfeld as he left the event.

Seinfeld visited Israel in December.

I lived and worked on a kibbutz in Israel when I was 16, and I have loved our Jewish homeland ever since. My heart is breaking from these attacks and atrocities, he wrote on Instagram on Oct. 9 But we are also a very strong people in our hearts and minds. We believe in justice, freedom and equality. We survive and flourish, no matter what. I will always stand with Israel and the Jewish people.
Sagui Dekel-Chen with his wife Avital, his six-year-old daughter Bar and his two- year-old daughter Gali.

(JNS) - "I can't allow myself to get caught in the emotional rollercoaster around hostage negotiations," said Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son Sagui, 35, was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7.

"It is hard if not impossible to survive that when your loved one is being held captive by a terror organization," he told JNS.

On Oct. 7, some 200 terrorists stormed Kibbutz Nir-Oz, murdering 40 residents and abducting 80 more.

"I have been worried for Sagui's life since then. Every day is another day that the abuse the hostages are enduring could be too much," said Dekel-Chen. "Every day could be the day that Hamas captors decide that they no longer need hostages or that the captives get caught in crossfire."

Amid efforts to reach a hostage-release agreement ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Israel's War Cabinet on Saturday agreed to dispatch a delegation to Doha, Qatar, after "significant progress" was reported at the hostage negotiations in Paris.

U.S. President Joe Biden expressed hope this week that a deal could be reached within a week. "My national security adviser tells me that we're close. We're close. We're not done yet," said Biden. "My hope is by next Monday, we'll have a ceasefire."

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized last week that while Israel was prepared "to go far" to secure the hostages' release, it was not prepared to pay any price.

"Certainly not the delusional prices that Hamas is demanding of us, the meaning of which is the defeat of the State of Israel," he said.

While Israel's official position is that keeping up the military pressure on Hamas is the best way to secure the hostages' release, Dekel-Chen believes the government is prioritizing destroying Hamas over freeing the hostages.

"The state failed on Oct. 7. It must not fail the 134 remaining hostages in Gaza because we as a people and a country will never recover if they are not returned to us alive," he said.

Sagui, who grew up in the kibbutz, worked for the past 10 years on a project to convert old buses into mobile technological classrooms for underserved communities in southern Israel. On Oct. 7, he started work early, 200 yards from his home. He was one of the first to spot groups of terrorists infiltrating Nir-Oz.

Sagui sounded the alarm via the kibbutz's internal Whatsapp group, which gave residents, including his family, some time to hide in their shelters. He managed to return home to check on his wife and two daughters before going out again to defend the community. He never returned.

When Sagui was abducted, his wife Avital was seven months pregnant. He has yet to meet his new daughter.

"Sagui's daughters ask when their dad will be coming home and whether he's hurt," Dekel-Chen told JNS. "They ask why they can't go home and when they will be allowed back to the kibbutz-we don't have answers to these questions."

Dekel-Chen spent three months with the rest of his family in a hotel in Eilat in the aftermath of the attacks, before moving to temporary housing outside Kiryat Gat with other members of the Nir-Oz community.

"Aside from taking care of my children, my grandchildren and other kibbutz members, I have been actively working both in Israel and the United States to get the hostages free," he said. To that end, he is scheduled to be meeting Jewish community leaders, and possibly government officials, in the United States this week.

He intends to continue these efforts "until all the hostages are home and the remains of those who were killed on Oct. 7 or who died in captivity are returned," he told JNS.

In the meantime, Dekel-Chen said it's hard for him to picture himself returning to the place where entire young families were wiped out.

"The very reason why the State of Israel was created in 1948 was to protect its citizens from anything like what happened on Oct. 7," he said.

"Something went terribly wrong in our national purpose and there can be no redemption for Israel as a Jewish and sovereign state if the hostages are left to die while in Hamas captivity," he added.

"Sagui, we will get you home and your four girls are waiting for you."
Blog Archive: Mar 2024 (90) Feb 2024 (145) Jan 2024 (156) Dec 2023 (155) Nov 2023 (150) Oct 2023 (155) Sep 2023 (150) Aug 2023 (155) Jul 2023 (155) Jun 2023 (150) May 2023 (155) Apr 2023 (150) Mar 2023 (155) Feb 2023 (140) Jan 2023 (155) Dec 2022 (156) Nov 2022 (150) Oct 2022 (155) Sep 2022 (150) Aug 2022 (155) Jul 2022 (154) Jun 2022 (150) May 2022 (155) Apr 2022 (150) Mar 2022 (155) Feb 2022 (140) Jan 2022 (156) Dec 2021 (156) Nov 2021 (150) Oct 2021 (155) Sep 2021 (150) Aug 2021 (155) Jul 2021 (155) Jun 2021 (150) May 2021 (155) Apr 2021 (150) Mar 2021 (155) Feb 2021 (140) Jan 2021 (155) Dec 2020 (155) Nov 2020 (150) Oct 2020 (158) Sep 2020 (150) Aug 2020 (130) Jul 2020 (124) Jun 2020 (120) May 2020 (124) Apr 2020 (120) Mar 2020 (124) Feb 2020 (116) Jan 2020 (125) Dec 2019 (126) Nov 2019 (120) Oct 2019 (124) Sep 2019 (120) Aug 2019 (125) Jul 2019 (124) Jun 2019 (120) May 2019 (123) Apr 2019 (121) Mar 2019 (124) Feb 2019 (112) Jan 2019 (125) Dec 2018 (126) Nov 2018 (120) Oct 2018 (124) Sep 2018 (121) Aug 2018 (124) Jul 2018 (125) Jun 2018 (120) May 2018 (124) Apr 2018 (121) Mar 2018 (124) Feb 2018 (112) Jan 2018 (123) Dec 2017 (124) Nov 2017 (124) Oct 2017 (141) Sep 2017 (135) Aug 2017 (138) Jul 2017 (137) Jun 2017 (134) May 2017 (138) Apr 2017 (135) Mar 2017 (139) Feb 2017 (129) Jan 2017 (143) Dec 2016 (135) Nov 2016 (138) Oct 2016 (142) Sep 2016 (128) Aug 2016 (133) Jul 2016 (136) Jun 2016 (138) May 2016 (164) Apr 2016 (311) Mar 2016 (348) Feb 2016 (320) Jan 2016 (348) Dec 2015 (314) Nov 2015 (338) Oct 2015 (363) Sep 2015 (358) Aug 2015 (399) Jul 2015 (374) Jun 2015 (331) May 2015 (337) Apr 2015 (319) Mar 2015 (320) Feb 2015 (271) Jan 2015 (286) Dec 2014 (254) Nov 2014 (238) Oct 2014 (287) Sep 2014 (267) Aug 2014 (259) Jul 2014 (260) Jun 2014 (238) May 2014 (241) Apr 2014 (228) Mar 2014 (240) Feb 2014 (217) Jan 2014 (263) Dec 2013 (226) Nov 2013 (254) Oct 2013 (256) Sep 2013 (252) Aug 2013 (263) Jul 2013 (261) Jun 2013 (251) May 2013 (250) Apr 2013 (221) Mar 2013 (193) Feb 2013 (164) Jan 2013 (157) Dec 2012 (155) Nov 2012 (240) Oct 2012 (526) Sep 2012 (411) Aug 2012 (394) Jul 2012 (284) Jun 2012 (229) May 2012 (213) Apr 2012 (213) Mar 2012 (253) Feb 2012 (269) Jan 2012 (298) Dec 2011 (273) Nov 2011 (219) Oct 2011 (204) Sep 2011 (201) Aug 2011 (236) Jul 2011 (217) Jun 2011 (211) May 2011 (206) Apr 2011 (215) Mar 2011 (215) Feb 2011 (186) Jan 2011 (215) Dec 2010 (107) Nov 2010 (98) Oct 2010 (55)
(JNS) - For about a year, officials at the Florida Holocaust Museum in downtown St. Petersburg kept a closely guarded secret that the museum was seeking to become the permanent home of a treasure trove of documents from the late Elie Wiesel.

On Feb. 3, at its annual "To Life" fundraising gala, the museum's biggest annual social event, museum board chair Mike Igel let the secret out, telling the audience the Wiesel Foundation had chosen the museum to house and exhibit a collection of Wiesel's memorabilia, including his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, documents, manuscripts, letters, photographs, works of art and recordings.

During a visit to FHM last year by Wiesel's son, Elisha, Igel learned the family and the Wiesel Foundation were looking for an institution that would do more than just house and display Wiesel's collection.

"They wanted an organization that would use the collection to passionately, actively and dynamically continue Professor Wiesel's legacy, using it to create more 'Upstanders' and spread his message far beyond the museum's four walls," Igel said. "Thankfully, our proposal was built around that very theme: not just education, but action. It's what we are as an institution."

The museum will create a permanent exhibit honoring Wiesel and displaying items in the collection, including re-creating Wiesel's office.

The museum will also create an international traveling exhibit from materials in the collection and, as part of the agreement with the foundation, the nearby St. Petersburg campus of the University of South Florida will house Wiesel documents for access by the public and researchers, anchoring a new Elie Wiesel Center for Humanitarian Ethics.

Wiesel "remains a world icon. He was perhaps the greatest communicator we've ever had advocating for the importance of the lessons of the Holocaust," said Igel. "He believed that honoring the victims of the Holocaust must be an active undertaking, not just a history lesson, and that concept is integral to the museum's core mission. It's

Wiesel, who barely survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald, wrote in his most famous book, "Night," of seeing his mother and sister directed to Auschwitz gas chambers, where they perished. It also tells of how he and his father and so many others struggled to survive in the death camps, and of how he watched his emaciated father die days before the camp was liberated.

"His life's work was helping all of us, in every generation, realize that we have a collective moral responsibility not just to look evil in the face but to fight it. As he so eloquently stated, 'Human suffering anywhere should concern people everywhere,'" Igel said.

Wiesel died in 2016 at the age of 87.

The museum's pitch

Igel said about a year ago a letter from the Wiesel Foundation arrived at the museum, inviting the museum to submit a proposal on how it would handle the collection of materials. "We wondered if we should give it a shot," he said, and ultimately, the board decided to do so.

After a few rounds of conversations with the foundation, it was clear there were several other applicants vying for the collection, though Igel said they never found out who those entities were.

At each turn, after FHM received feedback from the foundation, museum officials revised plans. Eventually, FHM submitted renderings of how the Wiesel collection would become a centerpiece of the museum, making it part of signage on the renovated building and how the exhibit will be the first thing visitors encounter when they enter.

The museum learned that Wiesel's wife, Marion, 93, was delighted by the renderings, and Igel has no doubt that helped push the foundation board to offer the collection to FHM.

Another factor that may have tipped the scale in FHM's favor, he said, is its commitment to tell the story of Wiesel not just as the world-famous man who had the audience of world leaders, but also of him as a husband, father and grandfather. Re-creating his office, "where the magic happened," and telling "a full life story" will be part of the exhibit's aim, Igel said.

While FHM does not know what other institutions were vying for the collection, Igel noted that Wiesel's longtime connection to St. Petersburg was yet another factor helping the museum's bid. Wiesel was a visiting professor each winter at Eckerd College for nearly 30 years, and he got to know members of the local Jewish community, including at the museum, where he cut the ribbon when FHM moved to its current home in 1998. He also received the museum's highest honor, the Loebenberg Humanitarian Award, in 2012.

Will incorporate most, but not all, materials

Landing the collection is a huge accomplishment for the Florida Holocaust Museum and its future, Igel said. Wiesel is likely to draw visitors from all over the world to learn more about perhaps the most famous Holocaust survivor.

However, it will not be the only institution with a Wiesel collection. There is already one at Boston University, where Wiesel was a longtime professor; those materials will remain there, including correspondence between Wiesel and world figures. An initial announcement by FHM said it was receiving the "entire" Wiesel collection, but Elisha Wiesel noted in his video address to the "To Life" gala audience that FHM would receive "everything [his father] kept closest to him that did not end up in the archives at Boston University."

He said FHM and the foundation would soon enter into a contract "that will license a lifetime's work of my father's archival papers, manuscripts, correspondence recordings [and], library ..."

While Boston University does have some significant documents in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center and has previously hosted an exhibition of his papers, all of its items are kept at its archival research center and are not on public display for passersby. Researchers or members of the public can make appointments to view materials in the center's reading room, said Johanna Kaiser, communications director for the center. The university also houses the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies, but the center also does not have a museum-like display.

For now, nobody knows precisely what the Holocaust museum will receive because there are trunks of materials that have not been opened in years. In the coming weeks, museum officials will travel to New York to catalog all of the materials in the collection. Just cataloging is expected to take several months.

A boxcar, a boat and Elie

Before the museum learned that it had been awarded the Wiesel collection, FHM officials were already reconfiguring the building to accommodate their second signature exhibit-Thor, a 10-ton Danish fishing vessel that was used 80 years ago to help ferry Danish Jews under threat of extermination by Nazis to the safe-haven of Sweden. The museum is in the process of preserving the boat and prepping it for display. It will symbolize the goodness of humanity, of non-Jews who risked their lives to help rescue the Jews. It will be displayed next to the museum's original signature exhibit, a railroad boxcar believed to have transported Jews to death camps-a symbol of the worst of humanity.

With no certainty that the museum would be awarded the Wiesel collection, Igel said from the start, sketches of the new layout of exhibit space with the boxcar and Thor also included space that they hoped would become a permanent Wiesel exhibit. "It was like we were willing it to happen," he said.

Last fall, amid the gloomy news of the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7 and the ensuing war in the Gaza Strip, Igel said he got the call on Oct. 18 (his father's birthday) that the museum would get the collection. Igel said it was hard to contain his excitement when he called his wife to let her know, "We won!"

It is expected to take about a year and a half before the Wiesel exhibit is complete, but Igel hopes to have at least part of it, including his Nobel Peace Prize, on display as soon as possible, with more being phased in.

Thor should be moved into the museum this fall.

This story originally appeared in the Jewish Press of Tampa Bay.
(JNS)  With settlers in the headlines because of recent U.S. sanctions on four Israelis in Judea and Samaria who have been linked to violent attacks against Palestinians and talk about a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, one would think it was enough unwelcome news for the week. But now along comes U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and his criticism of Israels announced plan to add 3,000 homes to settlements in Judea and Samaria.

Saying that Israels expansion of settlements in the territories was inconsistent with international law, Blinken, in effect, reversed the position of the Trump administration. In November 2019, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that Israeli settlements were not inconsistent with international law.

Not only is the expansion illegal, according to Blinken, but in Washingtons judgment, this only weakens, doesnt strengthen Israels security, he said. Thanks for that advice, Mr. Secretary, but perhaps the question of what steps strengthen the security of the Jewish state is something better left for Jerusalems leadership to decide.

When declaring the expansion of existing settlements and the possible creation of new communities in Judea and Samaria illegal, on just what is Blinken basing his decision? Previous critics of settlements and their expansion leaned heavily on the Oslo Accords to support their positions. And while the addition or expansion of Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria is often blamed for Oslos failure, the fact remains that there is nothing in those agreements that prohibits either construction within or the creation of new communities in Judea and Samaria.

Palestinian violence directed against Israelis in the territories as well as in Israels cities is what destroyed Oslo, not the construction of a home in Efrat, Itamar, Elazar or anywhere else. To imply otherwise creates a moral equivalence between murder and housing construction. One may disagree with construction in this or that territory. But to suggest that simply building a houseanywhere in areas under Israels controlis comparable to the taking of innocent human lives in terror attacks is just plain wrong.

Rather than sanctioning settlers and calling Israels housing plans inconsistent with international law, I would like Blinken to shift his focus and direct his attention to what the United States is doing and can do to secure the release of American and Israeli hostages who have been held in the dungeons of Gaza in unspeakable conditions for the past five months. Israel knows that it cannot rely on the United Nations or the International Red Cross to get information about the hostages, and depending on Qatara Hamas supporterto play the honest broker is a decision for Israels political and security experts to make. However, the United States does have a significant role to play by putting direct pressure on Hamas leadership.

How so? The monetary sanctions previously announced against Hamas leadership are just one tool in the anti-terrorism tool kit. Im suggesting that Washington hold them criminally responsible for the taking of Americans as hostages by issuing indictments and arrest warrants for Ismail Haniyeh and Mousa Abu Marzouk, living in luxury in Qatar; and Marwan Issa, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, who are somewhere underground in Gaza.

U.S. law allows it, so why not use it?

If Blinken is serious about American support for Israel and its right to defend itself against atrocities such as those witnessed on Oct. 7, then delegitimizing settlements is not the road to travel.
(FLAME via JNS)  The clamor for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war is reaching a crescendofrom world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, and a recently failed U.N. Security Council resolution to ordinary people demonstrating around the globe. But a ceasefire now offers virtually no benefits and would have disastrous consequencessatisfying only the insidious goals of Hamas.

A permanent ceasefire would not liberate Gaza, and it would not stop Hamass war against Israelnor would it stop the deaths of innocent Palestinians. Above all, it would fail to meet Israels paramount goals: Return of all remaining hostages and ensure security for Israels citizens.

Indeed, forcing a ceasefire would create a nightmare in which Hamas terrorists remain in power in Gaza. Hamas would be free toand no doubt wouldrebuild its terrorist infrastructure, as it has after every ceasefire in the past.

Hamas would be unfettered in carrying out its promise to repeat the Oct. 7 massacre over and over againthus inevitably provoking an Israeli defense response and endangering more innocent Palestinians, the human shields behind whom Hamas invariably hides.

No country on Earthparticularly the United States or any of the 13 hypocritical U.N. Security Council members who voted for an unconditional ceasefire last weekwould ever tolerate such frightening conditions. A ceasefire is certainly out of the question for most Israelis, who suffered the savage consequences of Oct. 7.

Perhaps most astounding about the U.N.s impractical ceasefire option is that it totally ignores the most obvious solution: Surrender by Hamas and freeing of the hostages. Why does no world leader, international body or mainstream media outlet demand Hamass unconditional surrenderespecially since this would solve every problem a ceasefire does not?

A surrender would end the bloody war and stop the killing. It would non-violently meet Israels goals. It would allow humanitarian aid to flow without limits. It would allow Gazans and the international community to start building a free society based on peace with its neighbors.

Finally, surrender would be a huge step toward stabilizing the Middle Eastby eliminating one of Irans most vicious proxies.

In fact, theres no downside to an unconditional surrender by Hamas, yet the benefits are manifold and compelling:

Cessation of death and destruction in Gaza. No more bombs dropped, no more bullets fired, no more terrorists hiding in hospitals and schools, and no more false accusations of Israel targeting innocent Palestinians.

Fulfillment of Israels two primary war goals. Hostages would immediately be returned, and Israel could ensure its security on its Gaza border. Hamass stated mission to destroy the Jewish state by killing Jews would be permanently thwarted, ending this existential threat to Israel. Rocket barrages on the Jewish state from the enclave would cease. No more terrorists would cross from Gaza to rape, torture, kill, or take captive Israelis as Hamas did on Oct. 7. In short, Hamass unconditional surrender would mark an end to a long history of murderous terror attacks on Israels citizens.

Moreover, survivors of the massacre in southern Israel forced to evacuate due to the conflict could return to their peaceful villages and kibbutzim and rebuild their lives. The Israeli economy would begin to recover. Above all, Israeli society could begin to heal the physical and psychological wounds inflicted by Hamass genocidal rampage.

Elimination of a major jihadi threat from the Middle East. No more Hamas means one less Islamist Iranian proxy for Israel, the United States and our allies to worry aboutthough sadly still leaving Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and numerous other proxy terror groups in Syria and Iran. Nonetheless, the loss of Hamas in Gaza would deal a serious blow to the Islamic Republics imperialist ambitions and disrupt its plan to expel Jews from their homeland and create a global Islamic caliphate.

Gratifyingly, Hamass leadership could be brought to justice and punished for the heinous crimes they have committed against both Israelis and Palestinians. Hamas leaders like Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif could be put on trial, just as Nazi leaders were after World War II.

Gaza could be rebuilt and rehabilitated based on a model of peace and prosperity. Humanitarian aid could flow into the territory almost unrestricted. During the current conflict, Israel has had to severely restrict aid to Gaza because it serves as a lifeline for Hamas, which steals 66 percent of it according to Israeli intelligence. But if Hamas no longer exists, it can no longer steal aid meant for ordinary Gazans.

Early estimates suggest that it could take up to $50 billion to rebuild Gaza. Only with Hamass removal would countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who have financed reconstruction in Gaza in the past, agree to do so again.

Deradicalization of Gazan society could begin. Hamass indoctrination of its people has been violent and pervasive, imposing its radical Islamist and antisemitic doctrines on both adult Palestinians and a full generation of youth. Takeover of Gazan social managementfirst by Israel and later by peaceful Gazanspresents an opportunity to revamp Gazas education system to weed out support for terrorism, jihadism and Jew-hatred.

Organizations like UNRWA, now responsible for spreading anti-Israel hate, would be dismantled. A new civilian government could be created with a Palestinian leadership committed to economic development and peace with Israel.

Potential rebirth of the movement for resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If Palestinians in Gaza apply themselves to creating a responsible government and building a prosperous, productive societywithout threatening Israelit could serve as a model for Palestinians under the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria. At least this vision offers a realistic possibility that a two-state solutionfantasized about by so many in the international communitycould someday be implemented.

Instead of demanding a ceasefire that would resolve nothing, the international community and major media should forcefully, unequivocally demand Hamass unconditional surrender. No Hamas in the Gaza Strip means no more conflict and a better future for Palestinians, Israel and the entire Middle East.

Originally published by Facts and Logic about the Middle East.
(JNS) At the moment, 26 out of the 27 E.U. member states support an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas without requiring Hamas to unconditionally release all its hostages and surrender. At the same time, Hamas is demanding that Israel release 5,000 terrorists in exchange for the remaining hostages and exit Gaza, which would leave Hamas with a significant terrorist force intact.

The sheer arrogance of such demands appears irrational, given the crushing military defeat Hamas is suffering and its likely destruction once Israel fully enters Rafah. But Hamas and its allies propaganda war has given the terrorists hope, as they see support for Israels war waning somewhat, even in the United States.

The previous humanitarian pause in the fighting, which began on Nov. 24, 2023, is instructive. The pause was brief because, after receiving wildly disproportionate releases of terrorist prisoners, Hamas simply broke the truce and resumed its attacks. It also reneged on its agreement to provide the Red Cross access to the remaining hostages and to deliver medication to them. Israel now reports that numerous hostages have died in captivity and many of those released show signs of starvation, torture and sexual abuse.

Immediately following Hamass Oct. 7 massacre, U.S. President Joe Biden spoke of Hamas as sheer and unadulterated evil. He said the U.S. fully supports Israels war to eradicate Hamas. He committed to providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, but said, Let me be clear, if Hamas diverts or steals the assistance, they will have demonstrated once again that they have no concern for the welfare of the Palestinian people and it will end.

Biden did not follow through on this pledge. Reports indicate that the majority of humanitarian aid to Gaza has been stolen by Hamas. Instead of halting the aid, the Biden administration has been admonishing Israel to provide even more.

Hamass strategy is no secret: It is trying to maximize civilian casualties in a stunningly evil attempt effort to bring international pressure on Israel in order to force a ceasefire and save itself. As patently obvious as this is, Hamas and its cohorts have marshalled pro-terrorist allies at the U.N., as well as in Europe and the U.S. who are pushing it with everything they have.

Many world leaders, including some who backed Israel initially, now support an immediate unconditional ceasefire. As Hamas leaders have demonstrated in word and deed, such capitulation will only result in more stolen aid, more terrorism, more war and more death.

With Israel poised to conquer Hamass last stronghold in Rafah, now is the time for the international community to put an end to its culture of surrender. Instead, it should redouble its support for Israel. Moreover, this would not only be support for Israel. Veteran U.S. diplomat Dennis Ross and Executive Vice President Emeritus of the Conference of Presidents Malcolm Hoenlein have said that Arab leaders tell them not to listen to what they say publicly. They too support destroying Hamas.

Biden is also mistaken in his attempt to curry favor with antisemitic Hamas supporters in Michigan by criticizing Israel. Polls show that the overwhelming majority of both Michigan voters and Americans in general support Israel in this war.

But the White Houses mixed messages do not go unnoticed. Hamas, its allies and its Western fifth column are watching. This is the only explanation for its delusional demand that Israel release thousands of murderersmany with American blood on their handsand unconditionally end the war. If Hamas really cared about Gazas civilians, it could end their suffering today by immediate and unconditional surrender.

The Biden administrations hints that it may recognize a Palestinian state are equally disastrous. It would violate the Oslo Accords and long-standing U.S. policy, which hold that this is an issue for negotiation between Israel and the Palestinians. Recognition will only reward Hamas for its crimes; not to mention the U.S.-supported Palestinian Authoritys crimes. It is a time to hold both of them accountable. Thankfully, the Israeli government has resoundingly rejected recognition. The war cabinets rejection was unanimous, crossing partisan and ideological lines. It is encouraging that U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew has reassured Israel that the U.S. has no plans to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.

The U.S. should send a powerful message to Hamas and the P.A. that terrorism will no longer be tolerated. The U.S. veto of an Algeria-proposed U.N. resolution calling for a ceasefire was a good start, but more is needed. All aid that goes directly or indirectly to Hamas, including UNRWA funding, must be ended until all the hostages are released and Hamas surrenders. The Biden administration should also denounce P.A. chief Mahmoud Abbass plan to reward Oct. 7 terrorists with pay-to-slay pensions and suspend all direct or indirect funding to the P.A. until pay-to-slay is ended.

Most importantly, the U.S. must unequivocally support Israels plan to enter Rafah in force, thus destroying Hamas and ending the war. No more ceasefires.
(JNS)  Sigmund Freud always took a somewhat jaundiced view of the human psyche, but in the wake of the horrors of World War I, it turned even darker. Confronted with mankinds capacity to destroy itself, Freud concluded that within every living thing, there is a drive towards senescence and homeostasisa state in which things do not change. The ultimate form of such a state, of course, is death. Thus, Freud believed, all life contains within it the seed of its own destruction and dissolutiona death drive.

But Freud understood that this was not simply a desire for stasis. In 1932, he wrote to Albert Einstein, According to our hypothesis human instincts are of only two kinds: those which seek to preserve and unite  and those which seek to destroy and kill and which we group together as the aggressive or destructive instinct.

These instincts are not always opposed, however. Freud asserted that an instinct of the one sort can scarcely ever operate in isolation; it is always accompaniedor, as we say, alloyedwith a certain quota from the other side, which modifies its aim or is, in some cases, what enables it to achieve that aim.

In the unity of sex and death, Freud implied, there comes a point at which the death drive becomes a desire for the orgasmic destruction of oneself and others. Sex enables death and vice-versa.

All of this came to mind when I read that a man named Aaron Bushnell had committed suicide by setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington while shrieking, Free Palestine.

I was neither shocked nor surprised by the news. It was inevitable from the moment the pro-Hamas fifth column in the United States began its pro-terror campaign. The instant the genocidists took to the streets, it was obvious that behind all the screaming and slogans was nothing more than an inchoate murderous rage. This rage has reached such a peak of intensity that it has ceased to be mere antisemitism. It is nothing but itself. It is the death drive. These people want to die and they want others to die. Worse still, they take pleasure in that desire and its consummation.

In Hamass case, the death drive took the form of mass murder. In Bushnells case, it took the form of suicide. One could say that this is a point in Bushnells favor. At least he didnt try to take anyone else down with him. But his self-immolation has prompted statements from his ideological kin that point to something far more sinister.

Reporter Andy Ngo recently tweeted about a post on the anarchist website CrimethInc. featuring an email Bushnell apparently sent to the site stating his intentions. CrimethInc. seems to be dedicated to promoting illegal activities to further the anarchist cause. As such, its comments on Bushnells missive are disturbing, to say the least.

At first glance, it appears that the site simply wants to dissuade others from immolating themselves, saying, Lets not glamorize the decision to end ones life, nor celebrate anything with such permanent repercussions. Rather than exalting Aaron as a martyr and encouraging others to emulate him, we honor his memory, but we exhort you to take a different path.

The site never explicitly states what that different path might be. However, it does say, quite falsely, All available evidence indicates that the Israeli military will continue killing Palestinians by the thousand until they are forced to stop.

Given the necessity of forcing Israel to stop, the site muses, If protests are going to exert leverage towards stopping the genocide, it is up to people in the United States to figure out how to accomplish that. But what will it take? Thousands across the country have engaged in brave acts of protest without yet succeeding in putting a halt to Israels assault.

If your heart is broken by the horrors in Gaza and you are prepared to bear significant consequences to try to stop them, we urge you to do everything in your power to find comrades and make plans collectively, the site exhorts. Lay the foundations for a full life of resistance to colonialism and all forms of oppression. Prepare to take risks as your conscience demands, but dont hurry towards self-destruction. We desperately need you alive, at our side, for all that is to come.

All that is to come, once again, goes unnamed, but the site reemphasizes, Lets admit that the kind of protest activity that has taken place thus far in the United States has not served to compel the U.S. government to compel a halt to the genocide in Gaza. It is an open question what could accomplish that. Aarons action challenges us to answer this questionand to answer it differently than he did.

The site is careful about its rhetoric to the point of esoteric writing, but there is a small indication of what it means by differently. It states, If nothing else, Aarons action shows that genocide cannot take place overseas without collateral damage on this side of the ocean.

It is quite clear what collateral damage means in this context: dead people. Such dead people will be produced, the site forthrightly states, differently. That is, they will not be produced by suicide. People will be murdered.

I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that the implications of this are fairly obvious: The pro-Hamas fifth column in the U.S. intends to kill people. Given the atrocities of the current moment, it is impossible to imagine that most if not all of those people will be Jews. It seems that however careful they may be about saying so, the death cultists in the U.S. intend to imitate their fellow death cultists in Gaza. The death drive will seek to sate itself on American Jews as it did on Israeli Jews. The pleasures inherent are too much for the cultists to resist.

Major Jewish organizations, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and all relevant agencies should take note: Bushnells death was not just a suicide, it was also an exhortation to murder, and people are listening.
(JNS)  Its challenging to remember life in Israel before the Simchat Torah massacre of Oct. 7., but its possible. We can remember the horrid Yom Kippur, just 12 days before the massacre, that required police to control and then stop a prayer service. For over a year beforehand, Israelis were at each others throats over proposed judicial reforms. Lines were drawn between right and left, religious and secular, north and south, the center and the periphery.

On Oct. 7, however, we realized that in a divided society everyone is distracted from keeping us safe and secure. Hamas saw a...
(Jewish Journal via JNS)  Israelis may have been shocked by the recent Israel Defense Forces military intelligence report that Hamas will survive the war in Gaza. Leaked to the press in an apparent attempt to shame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials, the internal report belies their repeated pledges to destroy Hamas completely.

The bottom line, said Israeli investigative reporter Ilana Dayan, an outspoken critic of the government, about the reports findings, is that Hamas will survive this campaign as a terror group and a guerrilla group.

As jarr...


Thursday March 7, 2024

At least three seafarers have been killed in a Houthi missile attack on a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden, the United States military said, marking the first fatalities reported since the Iran-aligned Yemeni group began attacks against shipping in one of the worlds busiest sea lanes over Israels war on Gaza.



The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack on Wednesday, which set the Liberian-owned, Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence ablaze approximately 50 nautical miles (93km) off the coast of Yemens port of Aden.





advertisements

Two aerial photos released by the US military showed the ships bridge and cargo on board ablaze.These reckless attacks by the Houthis have disrupted global trade and taken the lives of international seafarers simply doing their jobs, which are some of the hardest jobs in the world, and the ones relied on by the global public for sustainment of supply chains, Central Command said.Earlier on Wednesday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said the vessel was no longer under the command of the crew and they had abandoned it.Brigadier General Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, claimed the attack in a prerecorded message, saying its missile fire set the vessel ablaze.He said the rebels attacks would only stop when the siege on the Palestinian people in Gaza is lifted.After the missile hit, the crew abandoned the ship and deployed lifeboats. A US warship and the Indian navy were on the scene, trying to assist in rescue efforts, according to The Associated Press news agency. It was unclear how many crew members were on board at the time, it said.The United Nations called on the Houthis to cease all attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, expressing serious concern about the continuing attacks, including the latest incident where the status of the crew is unknown.Dujarric said the attacks are causing risks to property, to life, to ecology in the area.Houthi fighters in Yemen have repeatedly launched drones and missiles against international commercial shipping since mid-November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians and in opposition to Israels war on the Gaza Strip.The Houthi attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to reroute to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.The True Confidence is owned by the Liberian-registered company True Confidence Shipping and operated by the Greece-based Third January Maritime, both firms said in their joint statement. They said the ship had no link to the US.However, it had previously been owned by Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based fund that finances vessels in instalments.Despite more than a month and a half of US-led air raids on the Houthis, the group has remained capable of launching significant attacks.Those attacks have included last months attack on a cargo ship carrying fertiliser, the Rubymar, which sank on Saturday after drifting for several days, and the downing of a US drone worth tens of millions of dollars.A Houthi assault on Tuesday apparently targeted the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has been involved in the US campaign against the rebels.The attack on the Carney involved bomb-carrying drones and one antitank ballistic missile, the US militarys Central Command said.The US later launched an air raid destroying three antiship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats, Central Command said.Saree, the Houthi military spokesperson, acknowledged the attack but said its forces targeted two US warships, without elaborating.The Houthis will not stop until the aggression is stopped and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted, Saree said.SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
The News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) has issued an order setting out guidelines for media networks while broadcasting on issues concerning the LGBTQIA+ community.

In its order, NBDSA pulled up India Today for using visuals and images totally out of context and held that the broadcaster violated the principle of accuracy under the Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards.

The order was passed after hearing the complaint filed by LGBTQIA+ rights advocate Indrajeet Ghorpade who approached NBDSA regarding a programme titled Nudity Sparks Outrage at USA pride parades  How Indias LGBTQ+ lead responsibly, aired in 2023 by India Today. He firmly asserted that the programme contravenes the principles of accuracy, neutrality, objectivity, good taste, decency, and others.

Details of the complaint

Ghorpade in his complaint filed on June 30, 2023, alleged that the said programme was full of factual inaccuracies and intended to spread fear and demonise LGBTQ+ people.

Ghorpade stated that one of the videos, which the anchor claims to be from USA Pride, was from an event organised by the White House. The broadcaster responded that this was mentioned as a family event. Further, the anchor, while showing the images of a trans woman who was celebrating with two trans men showing their top surgery scars stated that this was indecency and that charges were filed against the three of them for the same reason.

Ghorpade negated the claims of any charges against them and suggested that India Today should educate itself by reading what top surgery scars, trans joy and free the nipple" meant. The broadcaster responded, saying that they were merely reporting that this act of the three trans activists created outrage in the society.

One of the images of the Federation of Canadian Naturists, a nudist group, was used by the channel. Ghorpade said that they were not an LGBTQIA+ group. It's a very old image that is pulled up every Pride month by homophobic people to spread hate and fear, he stated.

The response

The media group responded to each of the allegations and strongly denied each and every one of them. They stated, When the entire impugned broadcast is seen as a whole and in its full context, the video is a celebration of diversity in sexual orientation, and it promotes the Pride Movement while lending unabashed support to the community.

The broadcaster also claimed that the programme intended to support the LGBTQ community, and to say that the pride parades in India were organised in a responsible, dignified and inclusive manner which were extremely civil, awe-inspiring and a ceremonious celebration of inclusivity and diversity.

Details of the NBDSA order

NBDSA, after hearing both parties, held that the broadcaster used visuals and images totally out of context, which were not part of the incident covered. The NBDSA also said that news channels have a potent influence on public opinion and it was necessary to highlight stereotypes that were in negative light used as a part of anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric, such as the usage of the term grooming groups to address queer people.

NBDSA directed the broadcaster to (i) use factually correct images and (ii) edit the video by expunging the objectionable parts. If editing was not possible, NBDSA directed India Today to remove the video and all hyperlinks from every platform.

NBDSA issued additional guidelines for broadcasting on issues concerning the LGBTQIA+ community. While doing so, NBDSA noted that since several complaints concerning reporting on the LGBTQIA+ community have been received, it becomes necessary to take care of the sensitivity of the issue and bring objectivity while broadcasting such issues.

It must be noted that these guidelines are issued in addition to the Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards. The guidelines issued by the NBDSA are explained below:

1. Broadcasters must avoid broadcasting any news which sensationalises the issues related to the LGBTQIA+ community, perpetuates stereotypes or creates undue fear in respect of the community.

2. Broadcasters must refrain from using any expression or slurs which may be construed as hate speech against the LGBTQIA+ community. While reporting any issue concerning the LGBTQIA+ community, broadcasters must ensure that reporting does not promote homophobia, transphobia or negative stereotypes about the LGBTQIA+ community.

3. Broadcasters must respect the privacy of LGBTQIA+ individuals and not disclose personal information, including gender identity or sexual orientation of a person without their consent.

4. Broadcasters, while reporting on any member of the LGBTQIA+ community, must endeavour to use inclusive and gender-neutral language and respect the individuals' preferred pronouns and names.

5. Broadcasters, while reporting on any issue concerning the LGBTQIA+ community, must strive for diverse representation and ensure that voices from different segments of the LGBTQIA+ community are provided a platform to express their views.

A similar case

A similar incident was reported by The News Minute where NBDSA had warned two Telugu news channels, TV9 Telugu and Sakshi TV, for their reportage about the queer community in Hyderabad in November 2021.

These channels had done a heavily promoted report about a police raid on a house party after neighbours complained of loud noise. They also broadcast visuals of those attending the party, violating their privacy and outing their sexual orientation and gender on TV. However, the authority only issued warnings to these channels without any penalty.

NBDSAs recent actions

Recently, NBDSA had taken action against several television news programs for their role in spreading hatred and communal disharmony. Considering the frequent instances of irresponsible reportage, the NBDSA, in these cases, observed that generalisations of incidents targeting the entire community are violative of the principles of Impartiality, Objectivity and Neutrality under the Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards and the Specific Guidelines covering Reportage relating to Racial and Religious Harmony. The media fraternity needs to duly follow guidelines issued by NBDSA and the Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards.

Prashant Bhaware, a lawyer and researcher, writes about the finer legal points of a case that's making news.

Geet N is a chartered accountant, arts facilitator and theatre artist and identifies as a queer person.

The views expressed are personal
Are you tired of dealing with stress and uncertainty in your life? Finding solutions to our problems can be a daunting task, especially when faced with challenges old and new.

Whether it's navigating career choices or managing relationships, life has its share of complexities. That's why an engaging guide is put together featuring the most genuine astrologers in the world for 2024.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

This carefully curated list showcases experts who excel in providing guidance and insight to help you overcome life's obstacles. These astrologers have been evaluated based on their extensive experience, specialized expertise, Celebrity Based, accessibility to clients, accuracy in predictions, Huge list of Client based, customer satisfaction, and overall reputation. With this guide, you can rest assured that you're in capable hands, ready to embark on a journey towards clarity and peace of mind.

If you're seeking trusted guidance in matters of career, love, relationship, finance, family, business, Job, Marriage Life, and more. Look no further than this curated list of the Top 10 most popular astrologers in the world.

In this exploration, lets unveil the top 10 best astrologers in the world for 2024. Meet these remarkable individuals who not only hold wide popularity but also excel in their field like no other. Let's embark on an intriguing exploration into the mystical world of astrology, where we'll unravel the remarkable skills and profound influence of these shining stars.

With a plethora of esteemed celebrity astrologers FT. Astrologer Dr.Kartick Chakraborty, in India known for recognition, finding the top 10 best Astrologers in world proved to be a challenging endeavor.

Dr.Kartick Chakraborty has held the top position for the last 10+ Years in India's Google ranking Verified Trusted Most Popular Celebrity Astrologer.

Looking for a reliable astrologer can be a daunting task, especially when you have so many options to choose from. "Are you looking for the Top 10 best astrologers in World? If so, you're in the right place. In this article, a list of the top 10 best astrologers in the world for the year 2024 has been compiled based on their experience, expertise, client base availability, accuracy in predictions, customer feedback, Customer Satisfaction and overall reputation.

So without further ado, let's dive into the list of the top 10 best astrologers in world for the year 2024, starting with Dr.Kartick Chakraborty, who has held the top position for the last 10+ years in India's Google ranking as a verified, trusted, and celebrity astrologer."

Lets go through the list of the Top 10 best astrologers in world. Ft. Dr.Kartick Chakraborty 100% Selected Listed Best astrologer in world, Latest List of 2024 Updated

1. Astrologer Dr.Kartick Chakraborty.

Astrologer Dr.Kartick Chakraborty Is One Of The Best Famous Celebrity Astrologer in India and World. Dr.Kartick Chakraborty is a highly respected Celebrity Astrologer based in India. With over a decade of experience in the field of comprehensive Astrology, Numerology, and Tantra kriya Specialist, he has successfully provided precise and effective astrological remedies to a diverse range of clients from India and other countries like :- Italy, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, France, Germany, Vietnam, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, South Africa, the USA, ( America), Dubai (U.A.E) and the UK ( London).

Dr.Kartick Chakraborty is one of the most famous astrologer in the world.

Dr. Kartick Chakraborty isn't just any astrologer  he's considered the best in the world, and it's not hard to see why. His approach to astrology blends ancient wisdom with modern insights, creating a powerful tool for transformation. What sets Dr. Kartick apart is his unwavering commitment to accuracy and authenticity.

Each consultation with him is like unlocking the secrets of the universe, with profound revelations and practical solutions that can change your life. People everywhere clamor for his guidance because they know he's not just about making predictions; he's about making a real connection and helping you find your path. Dr. Kartick's holistic approach, genuine empathy, and unparalleled expertise have earned him the title of the most demanded astrologer in the world. When you're in Dr.Kartick's hands, you know you're in the presence of true astrological mastery.

How can Dr. Kartick Chakraborty, the most genuine astrologer in the world help you?

- Career Guidance: Dr. Kartick can provide insights into suitable career paths, job opportunities, and potential challenges in the workplace based on your astrological chart. His guidance can help you make informed decisions about your career trajectory, navigate career transitions, and overcome professional obstacles.

- Financial Matters: Whether you're facing financial struggles, seeking investment opportunities, or planning for long-term financial stability, Dr. Kartick can offer astrological insights and remedies to improve your financial situation. He can help you identify auspicious times for financial endeavors and suggest practical strategies to attract wealth and abundance.

- Relationship Issues: Dr. Kartick can analyze the astrological compatibility between you and your partner, offering insights into the dynamics of your relationship. Whether you're experiencing conflicts, communication issues, or compatibility concerns, his astrological guidance can help you navigate relationship challenges and foster greater harmony and understanding.

- Health Concerns: Astrology can provide insights into potential health vulnerabilities and areas of wellness based on your astrological chart. Dr. Kartick can offer guidance on preventive measures, lifestyle adjustments, and astrological remedies to promote physical and emotional well-being.

- Family Dynamics: If you're dealing with family disputes, generational conflicts, or challenges in familial relationships, Dr. Kartick can offer astrological insights and remedies to foster harmony and understanding within your family. His guidance can help you navigate complex family dynamics and strengthen familial bonds.

- Personal Growth and Self-Discovery: Astrology can serve as a tool for self-reflection, personal growth, and spiritual development. Dr. Kartick can help you explore deeper aspects of your psyche, soul purpose, and karmic patterns, facilitating profound insights and personal transformation.

- Life Transitions: Whether you're facing major life transitions such as marriage, parenthood, relocation, or retirement, astrology can provide guidance and support during times of change. Dr. Kartick can offer insights into the cosmic energies at play and suggest strategies to navigate transitions with grace and resilience.

- Emotional and Psychological Well-being: Astrology can shed light on emotional patterns, psychological tendencies, and past traumas encoded in your astrological chart. Dr. Kartick can offer supportive guidance, validation, and empowerment as you navigate emotional healing, self-awareness, and inner peace.

- Spiritual Guidance: If you're seeking spiritual guidance, enlightenment, or connection to higher consciousness, astrology can offer profound insights into your spiritual journey. Dr. Kartick can help you explore mystical aspects of astrology, deepen your spiritual practice, and align with your soul's purpose.

- Life Purpose and Direction: Astrology can illuminate your life purpose, strengths, talents, and potential avenues for growth and fulfillment. Dr. Kartick can help you gain clarity about your life path, set meaningful goals, and take aligned action steps towards manifesting your dreams and aspirations.

Why people trust Dr. Kartick Chakraborty as the most popular astrologer in the world?

- Expertise in Astrology and Vashikaran Techniques: Dr. Kartick Chakraborty's extensive knowledge and expertise in astrology, coupled with his mastery of Vashikaran techniques, set him apart as a distinguished astrologer. His deep understanding of celestial movements, planetary alignments, and astrological principles allows him to provide profound insights into various life aspects.

- Insights into Diverse Life Aspects: Dr. Kartick's ability to delve into diverse life aspects, including career, finances, relationships, and family dynamics, makes him invaluable to his clients. Whether it's navigating career choices, resolving financial hurdles, or improving relationship dynamics, his astrological guidance offers clarity and direction.

- Personalized Approach: What distinguishes Dr. Kartick is his personalized approach to astrology. He takes the time to understand each client's unique circumstances, challenges, and aspirations. By tailoring his guidance to resonate with individual needs and goals, he ensures that his advice is not only accurate but also deeply impactful.

- Compassionate and Empathetic Nature: Dr. Kartick's compassionate and empathetic nature shines through in his interactions with clients. He genuinely cares about their well-being and strives to provide support and guidance with utmost sincerity and understanding. This genuine concern fosters a strong sense of trust and connection between Dr. Kartick and his clients.

- Proven Track Record: Dr. Kartick's track record of delivering accurate predictions and transformative solutions speaks volumes about his credibility and effectiveness as an astrologer. Many individuals have attested to the positive impact of his guidance on their lives, from overcoming obstacles to achieving personal and professional success.

- Global Acclaim and Recognition: Dr. Kartick's reputation extends far beyond his local community, garnering acclaim and recognition on a global scale. His profound insights, compassionate approach, and proven results have earned him widespread admiration and respect from clients around the world.

- Positive Impact on People's Lives: Ultimately, what sets Dr. Kartick apart as the most popular astrologer in the world is the positive impact he has on people's lives. His guidance illuminates paths, resolves dilemmas, and empowers individuals to lead happier, more fulfilling lives aligned with their true purpose and potential.

Astrologer Dr.Kartick Chakraborty Is One of the Best Celebrity Astrologer in World. Dr.Kartick Chakraborty has held the top position for the last 10+ Years in India's Google ranking Verified Trusted Celebrity Tantrik Astrologer.

Astrologer Dr.Kartick Chakraborty Is One of the Best Celebrity Astrologer in World. Dr.Kartick Chakraborty has held the top position for the last 10+ Years in India's Google ranking Verified Trusted Celebrity Tantrik Astrologer.

Awards received by Dr. Kartick Chakraborty - Best Astrologer in the World.

Dr.Kartick Chakraborty Awards:

Awards Dr.Kartick Chakrabort

 Gold Medalist Award Winner Dr.Kartick Chakraborty...(2014)

 Global Choice Award Winner Dr.Kartick Chakraborty (2015)

 Diamond Crown Award Winner Dr.Kartick Chakraborty...(2016)

 International Education Award Winner.(2019)

 Assam Gourav Award Winner Dr.Kartick Chakraborty (2021)

 India's Best Trusted Tantrik Astrologer (2022)

 Bharat Bhushan Award Winner ( Govt.Of India) ( New Delhi ) (2023)

* Book Of World Record Holder Dr.Kartick Chakraborty (2023)

 East India Award Record Holder Dr.Kartick Chakraborty (2023)

 Best Astrologer Of The Year (2023)

 Nobel Award Winner (Global Human Rights Trust) (2023).

 Uttam Bharat Puruskar Award winner Dr.Kartick Chakraborty ( 2024).

 ISO 9001:2015 CERTIFIED TANTRIK ASTROLOGER 

Consultations with Celebrity Tantrik Astrologer Dr. Kartick Chakraborty are available online so that clients can receive his services from the comfort of their homes. Online consultations can be arranged via phone, video call, or Skype..

 Contact Dr. Kartick Chakraborty 

 BOOKING ON / VIP BOOKING:-

 +91 9577319932 

 WEBSITE :- https://astrologeringuwahati.com/ 

 Email I'd :- Kartickchakraborty111@gmail.com 

Instagram I'd :- https://www.instagram.com/kartick__chakraborty/

Facebook Page :- https://www.facebook.com/Astrologerkartickchakraborty

 License No: DKC/NJK/827959/2017/AS 

Dr.Kartick Chakraborty has more than 18 Lakh satisfied clients all over the world (approx. 1.8Million+ satisfied clients), He has millions of satisfied clients in more than 57 countries of the world.

1.8+ Millions Worldwide Satisfied Clients 500K+ Horoscopes Predictions  300K + Love Relationship Predictions Globally.

Celebrity Astrologer Dr.Kartick Chakraborty Recently featured in Many National And International Media.

Celebrity Astrologer Dr.Kartick Chakraborty has a huge list of clientele.

Best Astrologer in world:- Uncover the mysteries of finances, peace, love, and harmony with Dr. Kartick Chakraborty, hailed as the preeminent astrologer in world. Drawing upon the profound wisdom of astrology, Dr. Kartick Chakraborty offers unparalleled insights into various facets of life, including career, finances, familial disputes, relationship dynamics, and more. With a profound understanding of astrological principles and Vashikaran techniques, he tailors personalized solutions that resonate with the cosmic energies, guiding individuals towards a path aligned with the stars for a fulfilling journey. Whether it's reigniting lost love or resolving conflicts in family or finance, Dr. Kartick Chakraborty's astrological expertise serves as a beacon, illuminating the path to enduring happiness and prosperity in every aspect of life.

Testimonials for Best Astrologer Dr.Kartick Chakraborty: Best astrologer in the world.

1. "I have consulted with many astrologers over the years, but none have impressed me as much as Dr. Kartick Chakraborty. His deep understanding of astrology combined with his compassionate nature truly sets him apart. His insights have been incredibly accurate, and his guidance has helped me navigate some of the most challenging times in my life. I highly recommend Dr. Kartick to anyone seeking profound and insightful astrological guidance."

2. "Dr. Kartick Chakraborty is simply exceptional. His knowledge of astrology is vast, and his ability to interpret astrological charts with precision is unmatched. What truly stands out, however, is his genuine care and concern for his clients. He takes the time to listen attentively and provides guidance that is not only accurate but also deeply insightful. Dr. Kartick has been an invaluable source of support and wisdom in my life, and I am grateful for his guidance."

3. "I cannot recommend Dr. Kartick Chakraborty enough. His astrological readings are nothing short of transformative. His profound insights have helped me gain clarity and understanding in areas of my life where I felt lost. Dr. Kartick's compassionate approach and his commitment to helping others shine through in every session. If you're looking for an astrologer who truly cares about your well-being and offers practical, meaningful guidance, look no further than Dr. Kartick Chakraborty."

4. Dr. Kartick Chakraborty is a true master of his craft. His depth of knowledge and his ability to communicate complex astrological concepts in a clear and accessible manner are truly impressive. I have sought his guidance on numerous occasions, and each time, I have been blown away by the accuracy and relevance of his insights. Dr. Kartick has a gift for helping people see their lives from a broader perspective, and his guidance has been invaluable to me personally and professionally. If you're seeking profound astrological wisdom and genuine support, Dr. Kartick Chakraborty is the one to turn to.

Services :- Astrological Consultancy, Best astrologer in world.. Vashikaran Kriya Specialist ...Business Problems... Love Match Making...Visa Problems... Career Problem....Intercaste Marriage.. Love Back....Kundli Matching..Love Problems.... Husband Wife Problems.. Gf|Bf Problems... Parents Approval. Ex Love Back... Remove Stress. Delay In Marriage.... Desired Partner. Lost Love Back...Family Issues. Love Breakup...Love Marriage Problem...Love Back Specialist ...Business Problems...Parents Approval...Child Problems...Family Disputes...Husband/Wife Solutions...Girlfriend/Boyfriend Solutions...Financial Problem Solutions ...Health Problem Solutions..

Reference Link:- https://www.hindustantimes.com/brand-stories/top-5-best-celebrity-astrologers-in-india-latest-list-of-2023-updated-101685528589328-amp.html

Chambers & Branches :-

Kamakhya Temple || Mumbai || Delhi,NCR || Pune || Ahmedabad || Hydrabad || Bangalore || Surat || Kolkata || Siliguri || Noida || Bhubeneswar || Indore || Jaipur || Dibrugarh || Silchar || Dhupguri || Chennai || Singapore || Malaysia || South Africa || Dubai || Australia || New Zealand || USA || London || Nepal || Bhutan || Denmark ||.

2. Susan Miller

Susan Miller Is one of the 2nd best Astrologer in the world. Susan Miller Is based in America ( U.S.A).

Renowned for her accurate monthly horoscopes and astrology website, Astrology Zone, Susan Miller is a stalwart figure in the field of astrology. Her meticulous analysis and insightful predictions have earned her a global following, with millions of readers relying on her guidance each month. Through Astrology Zone, Miller provides comprehensive forecasts that address various aspects of life, from career and relationships to health and finance. Her dedication to astrology and her commitment to empowering others with celestial wisdom have solidified her reputation as one of the foremost astrologers in the world.

3. Jonathan Cainer

Jonathan Cainer Is one of the 3rd best Astrologer in the world. Jonathan Cainer Is based in United Kingdom.

Jonathan Cainer was a highly respected astrologer known for his newspaper columns and bestselling books. His engaging writing style and profound astrological insights captivated readers across the United Kingdom and beyond. Cainer's horoscopes were revered for their accuracy and depth, offering guidance and solace to millions of people seeking direction in their lives. Beyond his contributions to newspapers and literature, Cainer's influence extended to the broader astrological community, where he was regarded as a pioneer and a visionary. His legacy continues to inspire aspiring astrologers and enthusiasts, reminding us of the enduring power of astrology to illuminate the human experience.

4. Yasmin Boland

Yasmin Boland Is one of the 4th best Astrologer in the world. Yasmin Boland Is based in Australia.

Yasmin Boland is a bestselling author and astrologer known for her profound insights and accessible approach to astrology. Through her books and online presence, Boland has empowered countless individuals to understand and harness the power of the stars in their daily lives. Her engaging writing style and relatable advice have made astrology more approachable to a diverse audience, cementing her reputation as a leading figure in the field.

5. Chani Nicholas

Chani Nicholas Is one of the 5th best Astrologer in the world. Chani Nicholas Is based in Canada.

Chani Nicholas is an intersectional astrologer and writer, renowned for her inclusive approach to astrology. Through her writings and teachings, Nicholas explores the intersections of identity, social justice, and the cosmos, offering a transformative perspective on astrological practice. Her work emphasizes empowerment, self-discovery, and collective healing, resonating deeply with individuals seeking to navigate the complexities of modern life with astrological guidance.

6. Shelley von Strunckel

Shelley von Strunckel Is one of the 6th best Astrologer in the world. Shelley von Strunckel Is based in Switzerland.

Shelley von Strunckel is a prominent astrologer known for her regular columns in newspapers and magazines. With her insightful analysis and elegant prose, von Strunckel has captured the attention of readers worldwide, offering them a glimpse into the mysteries of the cosmos. Her astrological forecasts blend tradition with modern insights, providing readers with practical guidance and spiritual wisdom to navigate life's ebbs and flows.

7. Kelli Fox

Kelli Fox Is one of the 7th best Astrologer in the world. Kelli Fox Is based in New Zealand.

Kelli Fox is the founder of Astrology.TV and a widely recognized astrologer known for her horoscope forecasts. Through her online platform, Fox has reached a global audience, offering daily, weekly, and monthly horoscopes that resonate with readers seeking clarity and direction in their lives. Her down-to-earth approach and compassionate insights have made her a trusted source of astrological wisdom in the digital age.

8. Rob Brezsny

Rob Brezsny Is one of the 8th best Astrologer in the world. Rob Brezsny Is based in United States.

Rob Brezsny is a prominent astrologer known for his Free Will Astrology website, where he offers weekly horoscopes infused with poetic language and philosophical insights. Brezsny's approach to astrology emphasizes the idea of free will and personal empowerment, encouraging individuals to embrace their unique paths and make conscious choices in alignment with their deepest desires. His horoscopes are celebrated for their creativity, wit, and ability to provoke contemplation, making him a beloved figure in the astrological community worldwide.

9. Steven Forrest.

Steven Forrest Is one of the 9th best Astrologer in the world. Steven Forrest Is based in Singapore.

Steven Forrest is a highly respected astrologer and author recognized for his expertise in evolutionary astrology. Through his books, workshops, and lectures, Forrest has become a leading figure in the field, offering profound insights into the soul's journey and its evolutionary purpose. His compassionate approach to astrology emphasizes personal growth, healing, and spiritual awakening, inspiring individuals to explore their astrological charts as maps of the soul. Forrest's teachings have earned him a devoted following globally, as he continues to empower others to navigate life's challenges and embrace their true selves through the wisdom of the stars.

10. Wendy Stacey.

Wendy Stacey Is one of the 10th best Astrologer in the world. Wendy Stacey Is based in South Africa.

With her extensive knowledge and passion for astrology, Stacey has made significant contributions to the astrological community through her teaching, writing, and organizational leadership. As an advocate for astrological education and research, Stacey works tirelessly to promote the understanding and appreciation of astrology as a valuable tool for personal growth and collective transformation.

Top 10 Best Astrologer in World - Latest list of 2024 Updated.

Compiled by Indianstories.live.

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.
Bill Gates in India: Microsoft founder Bill Gates shared his experience visiting India and said that he was deeply impressed by the development in the country. Bill Gates wrote on his blog, Last week, I got my wish and returned to Indiaand now that Im home, I cant wait to go back for another visit. Reflecting on his meeting with PM Narendra Modi, Bill Gates revealed that they talked about how the Gates Foundation played an instrumental role in supporting some of the country's goals. Bill Gates India Visit: Bill Gates and Paula Hurd posing for a photograph at a pre-wedding bash of Mukesh Ambani's son Anant Ambani in Jamnagar.(AP)

"I had the privilege of spending an hour with Prime Minister Modi and some of his cabinet ministers. We had a great conversation about how the Gates Foundation can continue to support Indias goals on digital technology, women-led development, and innovation in agriculture, health, and climate change," he wrote.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Writing about his trips to Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar where he met Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, he wrote, "My trip got off to a great start on Tuesday in Hyderabad, where social media star Dolly Chaiwala made me a delicious cup of chai. It was the perfect cure for jet lag. In Hyderabad I also met with Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, whom Ive known for years, and other experts who got me up to speed on the latest in digital public infrastructure, or DPI."

I got to see Indias DPI in action when I toured an agricultural monitoring center in Bhubaneswar. At this facility, government agriculture experts send advice and real-time updates to 6.5 million farmers via phone, he added.

On visiting Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, he wrote, "I love talking with college students, and my visit to the New Delhi campus of the Indian Institutes of Technology was no exception. The students and faculty were brimming with ideas and optimism about the innovations that will help solve some of the worlds biggest challenges."

Bill Gates concluded his trip by attending Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant's pre-wedding festivities in Jamnagar.

"My trip was scheduled around the pre-wedding celebration of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant. Here I am with Paula Hurd and Nandan and Rohini Nilekani," he concluded.
(Bloomberg) -- Hedge fund managers that wagered billions on Chevron Corp.s October deal to buy Hess Corp. are sticking to their bets despite another roadblock that could potentially torpedo the acquisition. HT Image

Exxon Mobil Corp. said last week it has the first right to purchase Hesss stake in a lucrative offshore oil development they jointly own off the coast of Guyana, the crown jewel of Chevrons $53 billion acquisition. It follows escalating tensions between Guyana and neighbor Venezuela that have prompted some to reassess the likelihood of the takeover going through.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Thats increasing the risks for hedge funds like Millennium Management, Pentwater Capital Management, Balyasny Asset Management and others, which scooped up almost an eighth of Hesss shares by the end of December, more than $5 billion total  making it one of the most popular merger-arbitrage positions for the group, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Millennium, Pentwater and Balyasny declined to comment, while a representative for Adage Capital Management didnt respond to requests for comment.

I am not denying that this is a fly in the ointment, said Roy Behren, co-chief investment officer at Westchester Capital Management, one of the institutional investors with a significant position in Hesss shares. But despite the noise surrounding this and the Venezuela situation, we still believe the deal is more likely to be completed than not.

Investors at two hedge funds with large merger-arbitrage wagers on the deal echoed the sentiment. They asked not to be named because they arent authorized to speak publicly. The difference between Hesss trading price and the value of the takeover offer had narrowed to about $7 on Tuesday, from as wide as $11 following the Exxon announcement earlier last week, another sign of growing market confidence that the deal will get done.

Yet, in another blow to investors, Exxon filed for arbitration on Wednesday to retain preemption rights in the Guyana oil field, pushing the spread to above $9.

The risks involved with the Hess deal illustrate the complexities of betting on the outcomes of large corporate takeovers. Merger-arbitrage investors are already navigating a tougher antitrust environment under the Biden Administration, and dealmaking is only just starting to bounce back after a steep slowdown last year.

Despite sticking to their bets, some of the big hedge funds are still more cautious about the deal now than they were when it was announced given the recent developments.

Part of the complication for arbitrage traders was that the stake dispute stemmed from Exxon and Chinese oil giant Cnooc Ltd.s joint operating agreement with Hess regarding the Guyana asset. Because the contract isnt public, its hard for investors to assess how it may play out, and its impact on deals closing timeline, which is scheduled around mid-2024.

Chevron has made it clear that it doesnt think the right of first refusal issue is applicable, and most investors seemed to have gotten around to that view, said Frederic Boucher, a risk-arbitrage analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group, which is a market maker in Hesss securities. Chevron said last week that its fully committed to the Hess deal and doesnt believe the contract or discussions with Exxon will prevent its completion.

The possibility that Exxon might eventually make a bid for Hess outright might have contributed to the spread narrowing, Boucher added.

We owe it to our investors and partners to consider our preemption rights in place under our Joint Operating Agreement to ensure we preserve our right to realize the significant value weve created and are entitled to in the Guyana asset, Exxon said in a statement.

Geopolitical tensions  another key uncertainty  have also abated after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro exchanged gifts with Guyanas President Irfaan Ali on the sidelines of the recent Community of Latin American and Caribbean States meeting.

The market now appears to be pricing in anywhere between a 65% to 75% likelihood of the deal going through  up from 55% to high-60% last week, according to several market specialists, based on varying assumptions of Hesss standalone value if the merger fails.

Many hedge funds also owned sizable options positions that appeared to protect against a drop in Hesss share price, though its not possible to discern from regulatory filings how much of a decline theyre shielded against.

Roller-Coaster Ride

The Chevron-Hess deal was a welcome relief for merger-arbitrage investors who had struggled for much of last year to find attractive opportunities because of a slowdown in dealmaking. They reckoned the acquisition was less likely to face the intense regulatory scrutiny that Microsoft Corp.s takeover of Activision Blizzard Inc. was confronted with. Because it was the second largest oil merger announced last year, gains were touted to be hefty if the deal went as planned.

The first signs of trouble came in December, when Venezuela threatened to seize mineral-rich regions in Guyana. Hesss stock fell to about $14 below the value of Chevrons bid, the widest gap since the deal was announced.

Concerned hedge fund executives from London and New York flocked to the Guyana Energy Conference & Supply Chain Expo in Georgetown last month as geopolitical tensions between the two South American countries simmered, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Georgetowns top hotels were fully booked due to the surge in demand, and some fund managers ended up having to share rooms, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. Prices for round-trip business class tickets from London to the capital city of Guyana surged to more than 10,000 at the time.

Now, fund managers are waiting to see whether the stake dispute gets resolved via negotiations. Chevron said that it would cancel the takeover if the dispute does go to arbitration and Exxon wins.

Brett Buckley, an event-driven strategist at Wallachbeth Capital, called it a high-consequence, low-probability event, adding that while the preemptive rights dispute with Exxon and Cnooc adds an extra layer of risk for arbitrage investors, its unlikely that it would impact the deal outcome.

These disputes can arise during transactions like this, he said. It should be amicably resolved by the relevant parties.

--With assistance from Kevin Crowley and Katherine Burton.

(Updates to add context on Exxon filing for arbitration in the seventh paragraph and tweaks second chart to show Wednesdays spread.)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Union minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday announced five major decisions taken by the Narendra Modi government in its cabinet meeting. The decisions range from allowance hikes and minimum support price hikes to new schemes for artificial intelligence. The announcement comes in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls that are likely to be held in May this year. Here's a look at the major decisions announced by the union minister today: Union minister Piyush Goyal briefs the media on Cabinet decisions.(PTI)

4% increase in dearness allowance

The Union Cabinet approved a hike in Dearness Allowance to government employees and Dearness Relief to pensioners by 4 per cent. The new rate will be effective from January 1, 2024, and will represent an increase of 4 per cent over the existing rate of 46 per cent of the basic pay/pension.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

In addition to the hike in Dearness Allowance (DA), the central government has also raised various allowances such as transport, canteen, and deputation by 25 per cent. Moreover, House Rent Allowance (HRA) has been increased from 27 percent, 19 percent, and 9 percent of the basic pay to 30 percent, 20 percent, and 10 percent, respectively.

Continuation of  300 Ujjwala subsidy

The Cabinet approved the continuation of a targeted subsidy of 300 per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to 12 refills per year for the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY). Beneficiaries can avail of this scheme starting April 1, 2024, till March 31, 2025. The total expenditure for this will be 12,000 crores, union minister Piyush Goyal has said.

 10,371 crore outlay for IndiaAI Mission

The Cabinet has endorsed a comprehensive nationwide initiative titled 'IndiaAI Mission' with a budget of 10,371.92 crore spanning over five years. According to a press release of the cabinet, the mission aims to advance the vision of fostering indigenous AI development.

"The IndiaAI mission will establish a comprehensive ecosystem catalyzing AI innovation through strategic programs and partnerships across the public and private sectors. By democratizing computing access, improving data quality, developing indigenous AI capabilities, attracting top AI talent, enabling industry collaboration, providing startup risk capital, ensuring socially impactful AI projects, and bolstering ethical AI, it will drive responsible, inclusive growth of India's AI ecosystem," the government said in a press release.

Govt raises MSP for raw jute by  285 per quintal

The government has increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for raw jute by 285 per quintal. This means the minimum support price of raw jute has increased to 5335 per quintal. "This would ensure a return of 64.8 per cent over the all India weighted average cost of production. The announced MSP of raw jute for 2024-25 season is in line with the principle of fixing the MSP at a level of at least 1.5 times all India weighted average cost of production as announced by the Government in the Budget 2018-19," the government said in its release.

 10,037 crore for the Uttar Poorva scheme

The Cabinet approved 10,037-crore scheme to promote industrialisation in the Northeast region. "The proposed scheme envisages approximately 2180 applications, and it is anticipated that direct employment opportunities of about 83,000 will be generated during the scheme period. A significant number of indirect employment is also expected to be generated," the press release noted.
As The Mompreneurs Show finalised the winners among the mom-led startups, HT Media MD and CEO Praveen Someshwar held a masterclass as a distinguished mentor for the final set of mom entrepreneurs. Praveen shared his real-life learnings from his time in Pepsi to Hindustan Times, experiences and advice about building brands. HT Media MD and CEO Praveen Someshwar held a masterclass of the top finalists of the show.

The Mompreneurs show is a hunt for India's top mom-led startups. Fever FM and Radio One are the radio partners. Startup India, the government's nodal body to support Startups, was among the support partners. The Mom Co. is the sponsor of Mompreneurs.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Stride Ventures, a renowned venture debt fund, joined the show promising the winner $10,000 cash prize in the form of a grant over and above the cash and media assets of 1 crore that the Good Glamm Group has committed for the winners.

During his mentorship masterclass, Praveen Someshwar was asked several questions on brand building, growth, investing in branding versus performance marketing, investment and strategic landscape etc.

Before joining the Hindustan Times, Praveen Someshwar led PepsiCo's business in the food and beverage sector across Asia. Previously based in Hong Kong, he managed all PepsiCo businesses across Asia, excluding China and India.
Pune E-Stock Broking IPO: The initial public offering for Pune E-Stock Broking IPO opens for subscription today (March 7). The price band of the issue has been set in the range of 78 to 83 apiece of face value of 10 each. The IPO will close on March 12 and the lot size consists of 1,600 shares in which investors can bid for a minimum of 1,600 shares and in multiples thereof. Pune E-Stock Broking IPO: The IPO opens on March 7. Check latest details here

Pune E-Stock Broking IPO Company details

Pune E-Stock brokerage Ltd is a corporate brokerage business which provides its clients with a platform for trading Equity, Futures & Options, Currency, and Commodities with the Stock Exchange.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Pune E-Stock Broking IPO details

The IPO is worth 38.23 crore and comprises a fresh issue of 4,606,400 equity shares with a face value of 10. There is no offer-for-sale component as this is completely a fresh issue. In the IPO, not more than 50% of the shares in the public issue is reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIB), not less than 15% for non-institutional Institutional Investors (NII), and not less than 35% of the offer is reserved for retail investors.

Pune E-Stock Broking IPO: Objectives

The net proceeds from the IPO will be used by Pune E-Stock Broking to fund its general corporate purpose as well as its working capital requirements, it said.

Pune E-Stock Broking IPO: Registrar

The registrar for the Pune E-Stock Broking IPO is Bigshare Services Pvt Ltd. The book running lead manager is Share India Capital Services Private Limited and the market maker is Share India Securities.

Pune E-Stock Broking IPO: Promoters of the company

Pune E-Stock Broking promoters are Sandip Sunderlal Shah, Paresh Sunderlal Shah, Daidipya Ghodnadikar, Vrajesh Navnitbhai Shah, Devendra Ramchandra Ghodnadikar, and Vrajesh Krishnakumar Shah.

Pune E-Stock Broking IPO GMP

Pune E-Stock Broking IPO GMP or grey market premium was 0 implying that the shares were trading at their issue price of 83 with no premium or discount, as per investorgain.com.
Tesla said on Thursday it is quitting Australia's major auto lobby and resigning from its board, accusing the group of misleading consumers over the government's proposed fuel efficiency standards and the potential impact on car prices. The logo of car manufacturer Tesla(Reuters)

In a letter addressed to Australia's Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), Tesla said the country's biggest auto industry body "has repeatedly made claims that are demonstrably false."

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

"Tesla is also concerned that it is inappropriate for the FCAI to foreshadow or coordinate whether and how competitor brands implement price changes in response to environmental regulations," the U.S. electric vehicle market leader said.

Tesla said it has requested Australia's competition regulator to investigate FCAI's comments.

The FCAI, which includes top leaders of major car brands, did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment. Tesla said it would cease to be a member in June.

Until recently, Australia was the only developed country apart from Russia to either not have or be developing fuel efficiency standards.

The current centre-left Labor government, which won power in 2022, plans to develop a fuel efficiency model that aims to limit the average carbon emissions of new vehicles sold from next year.

That could prompt manufacturers to send more EVs to Australia and further boost adoption, putting the country in line with standards adopted in most other developed economies.

The FCAI on Wednesday said the government had opted to impose a fuel efficiency standard with "extremely aggressive targets and severe penalties to be effective on very short notice" from Jan. 1, 2025.

This could cause significant disruption for large sections of the industry, and result in fewer choices and higher prices for consumers, FCAI said.

The government has closed consultations on its preferred model and is aiming to introduce legislation later this year.
After several complaints of exorbitant water tanker prices in crisis-hit Bengaluru, the district administration has fixed the price caps based on the quantity of water and the distance of delivery place. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), which is responsible for the water supply in the IT capital, has even hired 200 water tankers to supply water. Karnataka govt fixes water tanker prices in crisis-hit Bengaluru. Full details

Also Read - Tejasvi Surya warns of protests if Bengaluru water crisis not resolved in 7 days

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The new regulated prices of water in Bengaluru

If a delivery area of water is under 5 km range, a 6000-liter tanker will cost up to  600.

600. If a delivery area of water is between 5 km to 10 km range, a 6000-liter tanker will cost up to  750

750 If a delivery area of water is under 5 km range, 8000-liter tanker will cost upto  700.

700. If a delivery area of water is between 5 km to 10 km range, a 8000-liter tanker will cost up to  850.

850. If a delivery area of water is under 5 km range, a 10,000-liter tanker will cost up to  1000.

1000. If a delivery area of water is between 5 km to 10 km range, a 10,000-liter tanker will cost up to  1,200.

Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar conducted a special meeting with the BBMP and BWSSB officials and said there must be a proper plan to combat the water scarcity in Bengaluru. As there is a summer ahead, he also directed both bodies to be well prepared if the crisis worsens further.

Earlier, private water tankers charged anywhere between 500 and 2,000 for a 1000 liter water tanker. The Karnataka government then took over the water supply and asked all private water suppliers to register themselves with BBMP for further operations.

The state is severely hit by the drought and over 3,000 borewells in the city have dried up, out of 7,000 borewells.
Karnataka Minister and Congress leader Ramalinga Reddy alleged on Wednesday that the state was a 'terrorist port' during the BJP tenure. Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy.(Arijit Sen/HT Photo)

"What did the previous government do to avoid terrorist acts in the state?" Reddy asked, responding to criticism against the Congress government following a blast at Bengaluru's Rameshwaram cafe and pro-Pak slogan allegations.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

"I'm not justifying the bomb blast in Bengaluru. Action should be taken against those who were involved in the blast, they should be put in jail and given ideal punishment," the minister said.

READ | Karnataka Minister's remarks raise pitch for 'Dalit CM' call

He further claimed that criminal activities have declined under the Congress government compared to the previous BJP government's tenure.

"There were serial bomb blasts in 6 places during the tenure of the BJP government. There were blasts near Chinnaswamy Stadium, Malleswaram, Airport, and Mangalore when there was a BJP government. Terrorists were in the way of the BJP government. Bomb blasts and criminal activity have been very low during our period as compared to the BJP. Next, we will take full control. The police know what to do, should they ask all the BJP members to do their work?" Reddy said.

READ | Southern Lights | Lok Sabha election a tightrope walk for BJPs new Karnataka president

He accused the BJP of dividing people for votes. "The favoring of minorities is all a lie. The people in the country are all the same. The BJP divides the people for votes," he said.

Responding to a question about some ministers defending those who allegedly raised pro-Pak slogans outside Vidhan Soudha, the minister said, "Go and ask whoever said that, slogans were not shouted."

READ | Karnataka to reintroduce Girish Karnad, P Lankesh works in textbooks: Report

Earlier on March 4, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) handed over the blast probe to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which has re-registered the case and started an investigation.

Over half a dozen people got injured after a low-intensity blast took place on March 1 in the Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru's Whitefield area.
Former union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has condemned UT administrations decision to cancel the UT employees housing scheme. These individuals, bound by the schemes conditions preventing them from building other homes, are now left in rented accommodations indefinitely due to the BJPs decision, said Bansal. (HT File Photo)

Bansal highlighted that over 16 years after launching the Self-Financing Employee Housing Scheme for its employees in 2008, the UT administration has shelved the project due to spike in land costs, shattering the hopes of over 4,000 employees, many of whom even died waiting for a flat.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

These individuals, bound by the schemes conditions preventing them from building other homes, are now left in rented accommodations indefinitely due to the BJPs decision.

Taking on the BJP, Bansal said it is a display of hypocrisy, stating that this move proves that the promises made in the BJP manifesto are merely words on paper, designed solely to secure votes. Bansal pointed out the irony of the BJPs actions, likening it to the shelving of other welfare schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. He emphasised that the BJPs priorities do not lie in serving the publics interests and vowed that the Congress party would make this issue a focal point in the upcoming elections. Bansal assured the people of Chandigarh that if Congress were to come into power, they would address and resolve this matter promptly.
A bomb threat call was received by Delhi University's Ram Lal Anand College on Thursday, ANI reported, citing the police. All students and stuff at the were evacuated.(Ram Lal Anand College website)

The alleged call was received at around 9.34am on Thursday following which the police along with an ambulance, Bomb Disposal Squads (BDS), and Bomb Disposal Teams (BDT) reached the college.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

All students and college staff were evacuated. The police later said that threat turned out to be a hoax, reported PTI.

A bomb threat call was received by the staff of Ram Lal Anand College, University of Delhi at around 9:34 hours. Immediately, police along with Ambulance, Bomb Disposal Squads (BDS), and Bomb Disposal Teams (BDT) reached the college and students were evacuated, DCP South West Rohit Meena was quoted as saying by ANI.

Meena added that the teams thoroughly searched the whole college campus after evacuation but no trace of the bomb was found yet.

We thoroughly searched the whole college campus after evacuating the campus. There was no trace of the bomb... Whosoever has made that call, we are investigating it, Meena told ANI.

Another police officer told PTI that the call was made from an international number.

"It is suspected that some mischievous element made the call from an international number," the officer said, adding that the police might register an FIR in the matter.
Michael Marchant bends down by Sunnys grave, holding a pack of marigolds he had brought some minutes ago this afternoon from florist Rajesh at the cemetery gateway. He suddenly lifts his arm to wave at Ram Kumar, the graveyard attendant walking towards Michael with a rag and a water bucket. They silently wash the winged angel installed atop the grave, working their way down, scraping off the hard encrusted dust from the tombstone. The grimy engraving gradually becomes decipherable. Some of the inscriptions black granite is lost, but the outlines of the alphabets remain. Michael Marchant is a photographer from Zurich in Switzerland.

A photographer from Zurich in Switzerland, Michael has been coming on-and-off to India for the last 40 years. Each time he is in Delhi, he faithfully visits Sunnys grave at the Indian Christian Cemetery in Paharganj.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

During my first visit to Delhi in the autumn of 1984, I was staying at the Vivek hotel in Paharganj, and one afternoon I walked into this cemetery, and stumbled into Sunny, discovering on his gravestone that we were born around the same time.

Sunny, the gravestone reveals, was born in 1959, the year of Michaels birth, and lived for only five months.

After adorning Sunnys grave with marigolds, Michael plops down on the dusty ground. The cemetery is empty except for its hundreds of graves, its hundreds of trees, and its handful of friendly dogs. I like to think Im living Sunnys share of life as well. Michael talks of Sunny as if they were long-time intimates. When I sit beside him, I think about the things I have been able to do in my life, about the pleasures and experiences I have encountered in my beloved India while Sunny lived too briefly.

Michael draws out his mechanical German-made analogue camera from a threadbare jungle-green Billingham bag, and methodically snaps portraits of Sunnys grave from various perspectives. At one point, after the manner of early photographers, he covers his head, and covers his elaborate camera, with a red cloth. Some time later, he returns the camera to its made-in-England bag, and gets up to leave.

Flying back to Zurich in a week, Michael turns towards the cemeterys exit, muttering, See you, Sunny.
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Thursday sentenced three persons to life in prison for killing 23-year-old Ankit Saxena in a hate crime in west Delhis Raghubir Nagar because he was in an inter-faith relationship with their kin in February 2018. A file photo of Ankit Saxena.(File)

Taking into consideration your age, background, antecedents and the work that you did before the incident, I am sentencing you to life imprisonment, said additional sessions judge Sunil Kumar Sharma.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The court also imposed a 50,000 fine each on the three convicts, the girls father Akbar Ali, her mother Shehnaz Begum, and her uncle Mohammad Salim guilty of murder, which will be given as compensation to Ankit Saxenas family.

Ankit Saxena, a photographer by profession, was stabbed to death by his girlfriends parents, brother, and maternal uncle on February 1, 2018, because they disapproved of their relationship. Ankits mother Kamlesh ran to the street where her son was being thrashed by his girlfriends family and tried to save him. In front of her eyes, his throat was slit by a knife. She, too, was assaulted.

Saxenas family with the help of other people took him to Guru Gobind Singh Hospital in an e-rickshaw, where he died before reaching the hospital.

The judge convicted the three on December 23, 2023, holding that the prosecution had been able to establish the murder and the relationship between Ankit and his girlfriend Shehadi that led to the murder in full public view.

In its December verdict, the court convicted the three for the charge of the offence punishable under Section 302 (murder)and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The court had additionally convicted Shahnaz Begum under section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of IPC for assaulting Saxenas mother, Kamlesh Saxena, while she was trying to protect her son.

The prosecution relied upon 28 witnesses with key witnesses being Saxenas father, Yashpal Saxena, mother and his friends, Nitin, and Anmol.

In 2018, after Ankit was killed, tension gripped Raghubir Nagar, a lower-middle-class colony, and several attempts were made by local leaders to further communalise the case of hate crime. Ankits father, Yashpal, and his sons friends, however, made several public appeals against this..
Jaipur: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Rajasthan on Thursday made a series of promises from filling 3 million vacant posts in government to Rs.1 lakh a year apprenticeship for youths after graduation if his party is voted to power in the coming Lok Sabha election. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.(Congress/X)

Addressing a rally in Rajasthans Banswara as part of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Gandhi promised five justices to youths, including filling government vacancies, permanent jobs, freedom from recruitment exam paper leaks, social security for gig workers and a startup fund for youths below 40 years of age.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Gandhi also promised a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for crops to farmers, social security for gig workers and a Rs.5,000 crore fund for startups. He also assured that a law would be enacted to curb government recruitment examination question paper leaks.

Also Read | In manifesto, Congress to woo women, gig workers, MSMEs

Congress has given a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) to farmers in its manifesto, he said.

He said that the Congress would provide the right to employment. Every young diploma and degree holder in the country will have the right to apprenticeships in the private and government sectors, said Gandhi. They will get a one-year apprenticeship during which they will be paid Rs.1 lakh in a year, he said.

Gandhi also promised the implementation of a social security law for gig workers such as drivers, guards and delivery boys, as has been introduced in Rajasthan.

In Rajasthan, a law was made for their protection, their pension, their social security. We will implement the same law which was made in Rajasthan across the country, Gandhi said.

Also Read | Opposition-ruled states, Rahul Gandhi bet big on elusive caste surveys

On the paper leak issue, he promised that Congress would standardise the government recruitment exam process and stop its outsourcing.

Gandhi once again reiterated the need for a caste census and assured a census if Congress came to power. A majority of the population, including OBCs [Other Backward Classes], tribals, Dalits, minorities and poor general castes are not getting participation in the country. And, there is a need for caste census in the country, which Congress will get done after being voted to power, Gandhi said.

He alleged that the Centre has closed all doors for youths. Youths aspired to get into the army, but the Centre brought the Agniveer Scheme, privatised the public sectors, and shut down government schools and hospitals, Gandhi said.
LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said that prior to 2017, neither the farmers nor their crops were secure in Uttar Pradesh. There was a lack of regular electricity, and farmers faced challenges in obtaining seeds, fertilisers, water, and even respect. UP CM Yogi Adityanath along with deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brijesh Pathak participating in the Sankalp Ki Siddhi programme at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow on Thursday. (HT photo)

Speaking at the Sankalp Ki Siddhi programme at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Gomti Nagar, he said, Under the leadership of prime minister Narendra Modi, the Uttar Pradesh government is always ready to take care of farmers interests.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

In Uttar Pradesh, everything is being done in the name of Lord Ram, so there is no need for farmers to worry, he said. The CM assured farmers and members of farmer unions from across the state that the double-engine government is diligently working to fulfill the prime ministers vision through the electricity bill waiver programme.

As many as 1,478,591 farmers in the state have private tube wells. Among these, 1,348,093 private tube wells have a power capacity of 10 horsepower or less. There are 128,944 tube wells with a capacity of 10 to 15 horsepower. Similarly, 8,923 tube wells have a capacity of more than 15 horsepower. All of these are being linked with the bill waiver scheme, he said.

We have implemented the scheme with retrospective effect from April 1, 2023. For this, the government allocated a budget of 1,500 crore last year, and this time, a provision of 2,400 crores has been made. We express our gratitude to the farmers. We have fulfilled the promise made to them, he added.

Emphasising the benefits of installing solar panels on tube wells to generate electricity, the chief minister urged farmers to join the PM-KUSUM Yojana. Efforts should be made to connect approximately 1,478,000 farmers in the state with the PM-KUSUM Yojana on a priority basis. This will directly benefit around 65 lakh members of nearly 15 lakh farmer families in the state, he said.

The chief minister emphasised that the double-engine government prioritises the welfare of farmers. After coming to power in 2017, our first step was to waive the loan of 36,000 crore of 86 lakh farmers, he said.

Deputy chief ministers Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya, finance minister Suresh Khanna, agriculture minister Surya Pratap Shahi, and energy minister AK Sharma were present at the programme.
KANPUR A day after the father of a deceased gangrape victim allegedly ended his life in UPs Hamirpur district on Wednesday, the police booked a brick kiln contractors wife and daughter for abetment to suicide. The FIR was registered against Nirmala, wife of a brick kiln contractor Ram Roop Nishad and their daughter, under Section 306 of the IPC, said police. The deceased was the father of one of the two maternal sisters, aged 14 and 15, who were found hanging in a village in Kanpur district on February 29 after being gangraped. (Pic for representation)

The deceased was the father of one of the two maternal sisters, aged 14 and 15, who were found hanging in a village in Kanpur district on February 29 after being gangraped. He was the complainant in the case of gangrape and suicide of the two girls lodged with Ghatampur police in Kanpur.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

According to his kin, the man allegedly died by suicide as the accuseds family members were pressurising him to withdraw the gangrape case. The body was found hanging from a Babool tree late on Wednesday noon, about two km away from his dwelling. He had left the house without telling anyone and his family found the body during the search.

The girls family members had earlier alleged that the minors were gang-raped a few days before their deaths by the contractor of the brick kiln, Ram Roop, 48, his son Raju, 18, and nephew Sanjay, 19. The victims and the accused hailed from the same village in adjoining Hamirpur, the police said.

The accused had also made a video of the act to blackmail the girls, which was recovered during investigation, the police said. The bodies were recovered on February 29 and all the three accused were arrested by Kanpur police the same day. They were booked under IPC sections 376D (gang rape), 306 (abetment to suicide) and the Protection Of Children Against Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

The question arose as to why the family was not provided security as it was allegedly under immense pressure to withdraw the case.

On Tuesday, Nirmala had created a ruckus in Hamirpur and fought with the father of one girl, pressuring him to withdraw the case, the family told police. Subsequently, SHO of Sisolar police station, Sanjay Singh, was removed for dereliction of duty.

The issue acquired political overtones as Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi both questioning the BJP governments failure in checking the significant rise in gender violence and injustice.

In a post on X, Priyanka stated: Two minor girls, who were victims of gang rape, committed suicide. Now, the father of one of these girls has also committed suicide. Allegation is pressure was being mounted on him to compromise. It has become a norm to destroy the families of victims in Uttar Pradesh. In this lawlessness, being a woman has become a crime, there is no semblance of law...

Quoting the incident, Rahul Gandhi wrote on X: Demanding justice in double engine government is considered a double crime. In BJP-ruled states, victims and their families are treated like enemies to protect a fabricated image. Raise your voice against this horrific injustice or else this tyranny will reach you too.
MUMBAI: A special court designated for the Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1995, (NDPS) on Wednesday allowed actor Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik to travel to Thailand between March 12 and March 20 with their parents for a family holiday. Rhea further desired to travel to Sri Lanka from March 22 to March 25. MUMBAI, INDIA - NOVEMBER 29, 2017 : Rhea Chakraborty was spotted at an eatery in Khar (W) on Wednesday November 29, 2017 in Mumbai, India. (Freelance photo by Yogen Shah) (Yogen Shah)

This order came a week after the High Court cancelled the lookout circular (LoC) issued by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Rhea, Showik, and their father in 2020 in connection with the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

A LoC issued by an investigating agency can request the Bureau of Immigration to detain a person, stop the person from boarding a plane or simply inform the agency concerned about the persons exit from the country.

Earlier this month, the actor and her brother had filed an application requesting the court to return their passports to visit Thailand from March 12 to March 20 for a short holiday. The application added that the actor had been invited to the Red Carpet India Pvt Ltds Holi celebration event in Sri Lanka and wished to attend that from March 22 to March 25.

The applicants (Rheas) profession required her to travel abroad for various assignments and any impediment in this regard directly affects her right to earn a livelihood, Rheas application stated.

Sushant Singh Rajputs death in his Bandra home on June 14, 2020, sparked controversy and speculation, leading to investigations by various agencies, including the CBI and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). Rhea Chakraborty, who was in a relationship with Rajput at the time, has been at the centre of the investigation.

CBI entered the scene after an FIR was filed in Patna, later transferred to the CBI by the Supreme Court. LOCs against Rhea and her brother, Showik Chakraborty, were issued as part of the investigation.
MUMBAI: The Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) central leadership reminded its two allies in Maharashtra  the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)  about their diminished powers over a two-day meeting presided over by union home minister Amit Shah. This has elicited murmurs of displeasure among leaders of both parties over the seat-sharing numbers for the Lok Sabha elections revealed in the initial talks on Tuesday and Wednesday. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited the Aapla Dawakhana (Balasaheb Thackeray health centre) near Worli on Thursday. (Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

Also Read: Amit Shah meets Eknath Shinde; Ajit Pawar to finalise seat-sharing formula

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

While Shiv Sena is expected to get 10 to 11 seats, 4 have been marked for NCP, with BJP rooting for 34 seats. Shah had reportedly told leaders that the ruling alliance has a better chance of winning if maximum seats are fought on BJPs symbol.

Reacting to this, Sena leader Ramdas Kadam said the central leadership should review the numbers or the party may lose its credibility. NCP leaders concurred on the numbers.

A senior BJP leader, requesting anonymity said, The strength of a candidate and winning potential of the party are benchmarks BJP has set while allocating seats. While Shinde has insisted on holding on to the constituencies held by his MPs, the BJP wants some of them to contest on the lotus symbol. Ajit Pawar does not have any bargaining power in the absence of sitting MPs.

The BJP leadership has also reminded Sena that Shinde was made the chief minister despite BJP holding more than double MLAs and MPs. Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Thursday: We have 115 MLAs (including independents and smaller parties) but we made Shinde chief minister and are supporting him. The ruling party has also assured Sena a larger chunk in the assembly elections, scheduled later this year.

Also Read: How has Maharashtra voted in Lok Sabha elections historically?

Kadam lashed out at the secondary treatment being meted out by BJP. We joined hands with BJP trusting PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. The partys treatment of the allies is sending a wrong message, he said, calling attention to his son, the Dapoli MLA Yogesh Kadam getting the short shrift by BJP leaders. Public works minister (and BJPs Ratnagiri in-charge) Ravindra Chavan has been taking on development works in Dapoli without taking my son into confidence. BJP ensured my defeat in 2009 despite having our alliance with them, he said.

Of the four seats the united NCP won in 2019, BJP is insisting the Ajit Pawar-led NCP take only three  Baramati, Shirur and Raigad. BJP is looking to field Udayanraje Bhosale from Satara constituency, who won the seat in the 2019 polls as NCP candidate but lost it in the by-poll six months later after joining BJP.

NCP is also eyeing Parbhani, Shirur and Osmanabad. The Parbhani constituency has been a united Shiv Sena stronghold, and defeating Shiv Sena (UBT) will be a tall order for NCP. A similar situation prevails in Osmanabad, said NCP leaders. They feel BJP is going back on its promise of nine Lok Sabha and 90 assembly seats when the party split in July, 2023, and the Ajit Pawar-led faction joined the alliance government.

This is an action replay of what BJP did to Chirag Paswan in Bihar, head of the Lok Janshakti Party. If they give us few seats what are the chances of them not suppressing us during the assembly elections, expressed an NCP MLA, adding with a handful of seats, the Sharad Pawar faction comes out stronger with double the number of seats.

Responding to the palpable unrest, the partys national working president Praful Patel said: Seat-sharing among the three parties is yet to be finalised, which is expected to be completed in two days. We have not given up our claim.

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the ruling parties have differences over two to three seats, which will be resolved soon with a realistic approach.

Leaders from alliance partners speak about seat sharing to attract attention of the leaders and push their case, but mature and big leaders like us need not pay any heed, said Fadnavis. They should also keep in mind that BJP is the stronger and largest party, despite which we made Shinde-saab the chief minister because we are happy that the real Sena has come to us. We will fight the elections together.
A major fire broke out in the locked second-floor flat of a highrise building in Greater Noidas Gaur city, 16th Avenue on Thursday morning, said police, adding that no casualties were reported. At 9:40am, a major fire broke out in the second-floor locked flat of a highrise in 16th Avenue. (HT sourced video screengrab)

Pramod Kumar, police outpost in-charge of Gaur City 2 in Bisrakh police station, said, At 9:40am, a major fire broke out in the second-floor locked flat of a highrise in 16th Avenue, Bisrakh.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

As the fire station received information from residents, three fire tenders from the surrounding fire station rushed to the spot and doused the flames after two hours of continuous efforts, said SI Kumar, adding that the fire was controlled around 11am.

Also Read: Fire breaks out at Greater Noida high-rise, none hurt

The SI said, During investigation, it came to light that the flat owner, Rahul Pandit, had gone to Jammu and Kashmir for a trip. The flat was locked when a fire erupted. Prima facie, it was suspected that the fire broke out due to a short-circuit. However, investigations are under way to find the exact cause behind the fire.

Pandits flat was completely gutted in fire, and he was informed. As the fire spread rapidly, the third-floor mat and other household items burned, said SI Kumar.

He further said, The fire-fighting system of the highrise worked but as the fire was rapid, fire tenders were called.

Videos of the inferno were circulated on social media platforms.

Gautam Budh Nagar, chief fire officer, said, Pandit left the flat on Wednesday. With the help of the maintenance team, we broke the lock to control the fire.

In a similar incident on February 26, a fire broke out at a fourth-floor flat of a highrise building in Greater Noidas Gaur City 2.
Raipur: A four-year-old girl died of burn injuries after a major fire broke out in a government-run residential school in Chhattisgarhs Bijapur district, officials aware of the matter said on Thursday. (Representative Photo)

The fire broke out at around 1am on Thursday at the porta cabin (prefabricated portable structure) school for girls in Chintakonta village under Awapalli police station limits in Bijapur, said officials.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, and district administration has launched a probe into the matter, a senior district official said, adding that the deceased was not a school student.

Officials said that as the fire broke out, all 380 students of the facility, were safely evacuated by porta cabin staffers and local villagers.

After being alerted, a fire brigade team reached the spot, and the blaze was brought under control with the help of villagers, officials said.

Visuals of the spot showed the complete porta cabin structure gutted in the fire.
A five-year-old child died, and seven others were injured when the van they were in, rammed into the divider near Aashakheda village on the Lucknow-Kanpur highway in Sohramau, Unnao, on Thursday. The van lost control and flipped over on impact. For representation only (HT File Photo)

Locals rushed to the aid of the trapped children and promptly alerted the authorities. The injured children were rushed to CHC, Nawabganj.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The police said the deceased child was identified as Rudra, 5. Initial reports indicated that Rudra was seated in the front of the van at the time of the collision.

Meanwhile, the injured students received necessary medical care at the CHC.

SHO Sohramau Kamal Dubey said that the families of the children have been informed about the tragic accident. The children who are injured have been shifted to a private hospital in Lucknow for advanced treatment.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created Naya Bharat in 10 years with no discrimination on the basis of jaati (caste) or kshetra (region). Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressing the Scheduled Caste Mahasammelan organised by the BJP Scheduled Caste Morcha, in Agra on Thursday. (AGENCY)

The prime minister believes in Sarvjan Hitay Sarvjan Sukhaye (Benefit of all, prosperity for all), he added. Yogi Adityanath was addressing the Anusuchit Varg Mahasammellan organised by the BJP Scheduled Caste Morcha in Agra.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Its an India that aspires to integrate every village, poor person, farmer, youth and woman into the societal mainstream to empower them to lead dignified lives and forge ahead. It is not founded on caste, religion, or language. The guiding principle behind this endeavour is Sabka saath, Sabka Vikas, he said.

We named the new international airport at Ayodhya after Maharishi Valmiki, had a 25- feet statue of Sant Ravidas unveiled in Kashi and developed a park and museum and enhanced road connectivity to it (the place). Scholarship for Scheduled Caste students has been doubled. The poor are being provided patta of land and efforts to provide them houses are being made, Yogi Adityanath said.

The double engine regime is working day and night for social justice. All our efforts are led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is taking the nation to new heights, the chief minister said. Even those sections of society that were deprived of their rights since independence are experiencing a sense of inclusion and development under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi today, he said.

Today, we pay homage to Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar. Honouring Baba Saheb signifies respecting the marginalised communities and upholding the Constitution, he said.

Furthermore, he stressed that honouring Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar translates to upholding the values of the Constitution and the parliamentary system of India.

He also mentioned Panch Teerth Yojna by prime minister to give respect Dr BR Ambedkar.

He underscored the collaborative efforts of the double engine government, citing examples such as the establishment of a university in Azamgarh named after Maharaja Suheldev, and the restoration of the Maharaja Bijli Pasi Qila in Lucknow.

CM renames Agra Fort metro station after Ambedkar
While some schools in Pune have started preparing to remove students who have taken admission in Class 1 and studied up to Class 8 under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the director of primary education, Sharad Gosavi, has issued a circular making it clear that if parents are willing to pay the fees of the respective school and the students want to complete further education in that school, no school can expel RTE students after Class 8. The state school department recently amended the RTE Act according to which, RTE admission will not be given to an unsubsidised English medium school if there is a government or subsidised school within an area of one kilometre. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The circular states: It has come to light that some schools are forcibly issuing school leaving certificates to students. If students are forcibly given school leaving certificates, it can affect the students minds. Therefore, if the RTE students have decided to study in the same school after Class 8 and their parents are ready to pay the fees charged by the school and keep the admission, the said child should not be denied admission to the school or be forced to drop out.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Gosavi has ordered that all concerned education officers should issue strict instructions to all the schools that have given admission under RTE 25% and implement the same at their level.

Earlier, a letter was sent to parents by City International School, Pune, stating that a school leaving certificate will be issued to RTE students once they complete Class 8. The Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena raised objections to this and protested against the school and complained to the state director of education following which, the state director of primary education, Gosavi, released the circular.

The City International School had given a letter about removing the students from the school. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena protested against it. Also, a complaint against the school was filed with the director of education. The director has now written a letter to the school. If the school does not follow the law, we will take the law into our own hands, said Amol Shinde, city president, Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena.

The state school department recently amended the RTE Act according to which, RTE admission will not be given to an unsubsidised English medium school if there is a government or subsidised school within an area of one kilometre. The amendment has led to anger amongst the parents. Under the RTE Act, the government gives the fee reimbursement amount to schools only up to Class 8 due to which, students have to find another school after Class 8.
Mar 8, 2024 12:47 PM IST

Visit the official website of BSE Telangana at bse.telangana.gov.in.

Click on TS SSC Hall Ticket 2024 link available on the home page.

A new page will open where candidates will have to enter the required details.

Click on submit.

Your admit card will be displayed on the screen.

Check the admit card and download it.

Keep a hard copy of the same for further need.
Bihar Public Service Commission will release BPSC TRE 3.0 Admit Card 2024 on March 7, 2024. Candidates who will appear for the School Teacher Competitive examination can download the admit card through the official website of BPSC at bpsc.bih.nic.in. BPSC TRE 3.0 Admit Card 2024 releasing today, heres how to download

Before downloading the admit card, the candidate will upload the updated passport size photograph in his/her Dashboard after login and if there is an error in the name, father's name and mother's name in the online application of any candidate, that should be corrected too.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The examination center name allotted to the candidate will be in the form of code, in which the center code and the name of the district will be mentioned in the admit card. The detailed information regarding examination center code will be made available from March 12 onwards.

BPSC TRE 3.0 Admit Card 2024: How to download

To download the admit card, candidates can follow the steps given below.

Visit the official website of BPSC at bpsc.bih.nic.in.

Click on BPSC TRE 3.0 Admit Card 2024 link available on the home page.

A new page will open where candidates will have to enter the required details.

Click on submit.

Your admit card will be displayed on the screen.

Check the admit card and download the page.

Keep a hard copy of the same for further need.

The BPSC School Teacher examination will only be held on March 15 across the state. The exam will be conducted in two shifts- first shift from 9.30 am to 12 noon and second shift from 2.30 pm to 5 pm.
University of Calicut has declared Calicut University Result 2024 for UG, PG semesters, revaluation on March 7, 2024. The undergraduate and postgraduate results can be checked on the official website of Calicut University result page at results.uoc.ac.in. Calicut University Result 2024 for UG, PG semesters, revaluation out, link here

The results have been declared for B.A, B.Com. B.Sc, BCA, B.B.A, M.A History, MSc Mathematics and more. The registration number is required to check the results for various courses.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Calicut University Result 2024: How to check

To check the results, candidates can follow the steps given below.

Visit the official website of Calicut University at uoc.ac.in.

Click on Student Zone and a drop down box will open.

Now click on examination and then on results.

A new page will open where candidates will have to click on the subject to check their result.

Enter the required details and click on submit.

Your result will be displayed on the screen.

Check the result and download the page.

Keep a hard copy of the same for further need.

For more related details candidates can check the official website of University of Calicut.
In a significant step, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Chandrasekhar launched the Future Ready, Job Ready Skills targeting 4 lakh youth of Kerala over the next three years. Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Chandrasekhar launched the Future Ready, Job Ready Skills that aims to equip 4 lakh youth of Kerala with relevant and cutting-edge skills over the next three years.(ANI/ Representative Image)

The move is being seen as a step towards accelerating the pace of skill development and ensuring that Indias youth is equipped with relevant and cutting-edge skills.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The Future Ready, Job Ready Skills comes under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) and aligns with the visionary goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047 as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

As per a press release, the core of this initiative is backed by PMKVY 4.0, which is designed to impart futuristic skills to approximately 4 lakh young individuals over the next three years.

Also read: Study abroad: University of Hull, Cambridge collaborate to launch London Study Centre, applications open

The program emphasizes domains like Additive Manufacturing, 3D printing AI - Data Quality Analysis, Drone Manufacturing, and Electric Vehicle Service Technician training, equipping the youth with cutting-edge skills demanded by emerging industries.

Furthermore, the scheme will be easily accessible to skill training courses through colleges and Universities, Schools, ITIs, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras, Jan Shikshan Sansthans, and other existing institutes.

Union Minister Chandrashekhar said, Knowledge is power, but what is even more powerful is knowledge with skills. The Narendra Modi Government envisages empowering youth in Kerala with all skills in the next 5 years.

German Language Training Program for Healthcare Professionals

Another significant component of the initiative is the German Language Training Program for Healthcare Professionals which is implemented in collaboration with NSDC International under the Skill India International initiative.

The training program is designed for healthcare workers, particularly the young women from Kerala, by providing them with the linguistic proficiency required to effectively communicate with German-speaking patients and colleagues, thereby enhancing their global employability.

Notably, the two-month comprehensive residential training program was launched at Chandigarh, wherein students cleared the B1 level of German language proficiency. The training was imparted by German Native professional trainers.

Union Minister Chandrasekhar distributed job offer letters and free B2 training in Germany to successful candidates during the program.

Language Proficiency Program

Furthermore, the event also saw the launch of the Language Proficiency Program at the National Skill Training Institute (NSTI-Women), Thiruvananthapuram.

Also read: TS LAWCET & TS PGLCET 2024: Check out the important dates, fee structure, medium of exams & more before applying

The program, which has been developed in partnership with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), offers comprehensive courses in German and Japanese languages, empowering the youth to enhance their linguistic prowess and compete for lucrative international career opportunities.

The event was attended by a host of dignitaries, including Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary of, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Trishaljit Sethi, Director General, Directorate General of Training at the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, among others.
The Delhi University has allocated a fund of 67.71 crore for setting up a WiFi network across all its college campuses as well as in an upcoming girls hostel in northwest Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar, according to an official document. Delhi University allocates  67.71 crore for setting up a WiFi network across all its colleges on both north and south campuses, and the Dhaka Hostel complex. (File Photo)

The WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) connectivity will be set up across about 90 colleges of Delhi University, on both north and south campuses and the Dhaka Hostel complex, the document said.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The execution of the work will be funded from the loan corpus of 938.33 crore taken by the varsity from the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) in October last year to undertake various developmental projects.

A loan share of 261.33 crore from this corpus has been sanctioned by the HEFA for setting up the WiFi network as well as to start the work for the construction of a building for the Faculty of Technology.

Also read: International Womens Day 2024: Planning to start your own venture? Here are 5 govt schemes that you should know!

The HEFA is a joint venture company of Canara Bank and the Ministry of Education which provides financial assistance for the creation of educational infrastructure and research facilities in India's premier educational Institutions.

The Delhi University had applied for a HEFA loan in 2022 to meet its infrastructural needs and expansion plans including setting up DU's east Delhi campus in Surajmal Vihar, and opening a new college in Najafgarh, among other projects.

The agency has also approved proposals for five other projects to get funding from the HEFA loan, work on which will begin as and when the funds are sanctioned.

Also read: Bank of Baroda Recruitment 2024: Registration for Managerial posts ends tomorrow
Jujutsu Kaisen creator Gege Akutami has been catching the fans' hands since time immemorial for breaking their hearts on countless occasions. The upcoming JJK manga chapter is going to be a bittersweet event for longtime followers of the action-packed saga of dark sorcery. While major character deaths are often a reminder of how merciless the alternate fictional world they reside in is, Satoru Gojo and Kento Nanami's deaths were possibly some of the most tragic unfoldings fans still haven't come to terms with. Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 253, releasing on March 11, will bring back fan-favourites Gojo and Nanami in a brief cameo.(Amazon Prime Video)

The upcoming chapter is expected to be released with official translations on Monday, March 11, at 12 am KST. It will turn the time back, revealing a flashback with the much-adored potent duo.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The previous chapters have been centred around the ruthless fight between Sukuna and several others, including Yuji, with Maki finally taking over the reins. She emerged as the real GOAT, who's been able to unleash a scathing attack on the King of Curses. However, it appears that her good hours have run out of time, and Sukuna is ready to let loose his unbridled fury, which he's been significantly holding back due to previous injuries.

JJK Chapter 253 colour page:

The next Jujutsu Kaisen manga chapter will also mark the sixth anniversary of these Japanese graphic novels. Therefore, it will come along with another popularity poll and a colour spread, boasting Maki's much-needed vicious attack on Sukuna. A Volume 26 cover with Gojo has also pushed fans into a frenzy of confused excitement.

Also read: Jujutsu Kaisen-Fortnite collaboration coming soon? New leaks hint at 2nd ambitious crossover

Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 253 spoilers:

The recently outed JJK 253 leaks reveal that Sukuna's fight with Maki is coming to an end soon, with the latter left severely injured. Titled Inhuman Makyo Shinjuku Showdown, Part 25, this chapter will see Sukuna trying everything at his disposal to hurt Maki.

Although she may be able to evade these slashes initially, she will reportedly get hit by a car, a moment working to Sukuna's advantage. However, even as Ino jumps in to defend her, Maki understands well enough that she must put it all to an end without further delay.

JJK 253's alleged narration also lets us in on Sukuna's thought process, as he'd been waiting his turn to go up against Maki ever since his battle with Gojo. Overcome with maddening ambition, he will hit her with Black Flash, presumably leading to Maki's defeat.

Satoru Gojo and Kento Nanami's return:

The Monday chapter is set to commence with a look into the past. Therein, Gogo, Nanami and Mei Mei contemplate who the strongest Grade-1 sorcerer might be, excluding the candidates from the Big 3. Though a flashback shown far after the major duo's deaths, it is a signalling foreshadowing for what's coming ahead in this war against Sukuna.

After Maki's supposed defeat, Kusakabe will be pushed to the edge to take his stand as the last sorcerer worthy of being pitted against the King of Curses. According to the older conversation, however, it seems he doesn't see himself as fitting to take over the great post. Yet again, he's reluctant to jump in despite all the fallen warriors, but is left with no choice but to face Sukuna, and possibly kill him.

Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 253 will be available to read on the official websites of Viz Media, Shueishas MangaPlus, or the Shonen Jump Plus app
Director Anurag Kashyap reviewed the Malayalam films Manjummel Boys and Bramayugam on Letterboxd, and he had nothing but praise for them. While he seemed hesitant if Hindi cinema could live up to what the Malayalam film industry was doing, he changed his mind once he watched Laapataa Ladies. See his review. (Also Read: Bramayugam OTT release: Here's when and where you can stream Mammootty's new movie) Anurag Kashyap was all praise for Manjummel Boys and Bramayugam

In Hindi they can only remake such ideas

Anurag seemed sad at the state of affairs in Bollywood when he left a review for Manjummel Boys on Letterboxd. He wrote, Simply extraordinary piece of confident mainstream filmmaking. So much better than all the big budget filmmaking in india. Such confidence, such impossible storytelling. I was wondering how does one even sell this idea to a producer. In Hindi they can only do remakes of such ideas. Hindi cinema really is so far left behind with three back to back brilliant Malayalam films. (sic)

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Jealous of Malayalam filmmakers

Anurag also reviewed Bramayugam on the portal, writing that he was jealousof the audacity of Malayalam filmmakers. He wrote, I am just so jealous of Malayalam filmmakers .. the courage, the audacity and the amazing discerning audience of Kerala that empowers the filmmaking..I am so insanely jealous. (sic) He was also all praise for Mammootty, stating that he will watch Kaathal: The Core next, and Mammooty..what has he done..next on the list is Kathal.. (sic)

My heart is so full, I cried like a baby

However, Anurag seemed to find some solace after watching Kiran Raos Laapataa Ladies. My heart is so full after seeing Kirans such soulful sincere film. Cried like a baby. And seeing a packed house brings back the hope and faith in Hindi cinema and its audience. Beautiful writing, sincere and honest performances. Bliss, (sic) he wrote on the website.

He penned a longer note on Instagram, part of which read, Aah..made my day , after watching two back to back brilliant Malayalam films (Manjummel boys and Bramayugam) and feeling why are we not doing it in Hindi cinema and then saw that Kiran actually has gone and done it, like @vidushak did with AIR. It has been a great beginning of 2024 for cinema in india for me. (sic)

Entertainment! Entertainment! Entertainment!  Click to follow our Whatsapp Channel  Your daily dose of gossip, films, shows, celebrities updates all in one place.
Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant's opulent pre-wedding bash in Jamnagar made headlines not only in India but the world over. Vogue US interviewed the couple, revealing details about the outfits they chose, the decor that welcomed their VIP guests and even the privilege of being able to experience it. (Also read: Radhika Merchant's message for father figure Mukesh Ambani: You have been) Radhika Merchant and Anant Ambani celebrated their wedding with friends and family from all over the world.

A privilege few experience

The entire three-day event reportedly cost the Ambani family 1250 crore, which still doesn't make a dent in billionaire businessman Mukesh Ambani's 8,00,000 crore fortune. However, Radhika realises this is something only very few people can enjoy. "I recognize that this is a privilege few people experience, and I truly feel blessed, she said in the interview. I hope that our wedding will bring global attention to Vantara, the largest animal rehabilitation center in the world, a project that my husband and I hold very close in our hearts.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

A royal treatment for guests

Radhika also spoke about organising the event at such a large scale for thousands of guests. On day 2, the couple held a lunch on the grounds of Vantaras Rescue and Rehabilitation Center. We went to great lengths to accommodate our 1,500 guests, complete with an audio-guide system to ensure that everyone could connect with the animals that have been given a new lease on life here, Radhika revealed.

The wedding

Radhika and Anant have dated for many years before they decided to tie the knot. The actual wedding will be in July. Guests from around the world were in Jamnagar, Gujarat to attend the pre-wedding festivities of Mukesh Ambani's youngest son, Anant.

The guest-list included Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Sidharth Malhotra, Kiara Advani, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Varun Dhawan, Anil Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, Ibrahim Ali Khan, Ananya Panday and Aditya Roy Kapur, Rani Mukerji, MS Dhoni, and Rohit Sharma. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Ivanka Trump, Karlie Kloss and many other known names from world over had arrived for the celebrations.
Ricky Stanicky movie review: On the face of it, Peter Farrelly's comedy offers a crossover not many would have seen coming. Days after wrestling it out in The Iron Claw, Zac Efron shares the screen space with none other than WWE superstar John Cena. However, you'd come to this movie for the casting, but stay back for its sweet, feel-good story. Ricky Stanicky movie review: Zac Efron and John Cena are charming in this feel-good film

(Also Read  The Iron Claw movie review: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White deliver a suplex to the heart, a power bomb to the soul)

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

What's Ricky Stanicky about?

During a childhood prank gone wrong, Dean (Zac) invents the name of Ricky Stanicky to save himself from the cops. From that day, the name sticks with Dean and his two pals and the bro code is that Ricky Stanicky is the best friend they never had. They often use him as a cover to get away from adulting, even from their respective partners. But when they're cornered into confessing that their friend doesn't exist, they hire a hopeless actor, Rod (John), to play Ricky Stanicky.

What works

It's an exciting premise with very slim chances of it going wrong. And it doesn't. Six years after winning an Oscar for the more ruminating Green Book, Peter Farelly returns to his rom-com roots. Sans his partner-in-crime Bobby Farrelly (they co-directed the Dumb and Dumber franchise), Peter proves that his command over fleshing out characters and building situational comedy is still intact.

To help him out there is his actor from the 2022 directorial The Greatest Beer Run Ever, Zac Efron. He's been coming of age ever since his breakthrough with High School Musical in 2006, but Zac still finds a way to make his graph look fresh and relatable. At 36, he's still got the youthful charm of the Zac Efron from 15 years ago. He may not have to go all Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile here; Ricky Stanicky is his comfort zone and he makes the homecoming look convincing each time.

John Cena, on the other hand, brings the electrifying personality that a character with mistaken identity demands. His mic work back in early WWE days are proof that the actor shoots zingers like a pro. It's also refreshing to see a tough guy not be afraid to poke fun at himself  John Cena can be spotted doing everything outrageous  from mimicking pop icons on stage with a porno touch to praying for mercy in an impromptu bout when Dean hits him with a light slap.

What doesn't work

Unlike the great mistaken identity movies like Chris Columbus' 1993 cult Mrs Doubtfire, Ricky Stanicky fails to be memorable both as a character and a movie. Of course, John Cena isn't a patch on Robin Williams, but even co-writers Jeffrey Bushell, Brian Jarvis, and James Lee Freeman struggle to infuse even a single personality trait that holds recall value. Ricky Stanicky is entertaining as long as he's on our screen? But will we miss him? Do we want him to be a real person, and not just an invented one? Not really.

Unfortunately, Ricky Stanicky also suffers from the classic handicap of giving the black sideguy a short shrift. Sure, Jermaine Fowler gets an arc of his own. He's a gay man who struggles to be as productive as his partner. He keeps blaming all his personal and professional shortcomings on Ricky Stanicky, but unlike Dean, isn't in denial and knows he needs to get out of that rabbit hole. And he does, thanks to Rod. But his resolution is relegated to the end-credits as Dean is made to steal the spotlight.

Ricky Stanicky has been in the making for 14 years. The previous choices for the titular role included the likes of James Franco, Joacquin Phoenix, and even Jim Carrey. It's easy to imagine Ricky Stanicky as a better, if not a great movie, had any of them would've been the eventual pick. But in the hands of John Cena, Ricky Stanicky remains fun as long as it lasts. And for everything it lacked, it can blame that on a mischievous (imaginary) friend.

Entertainment! Entertainment! Entertainment!  Click to follow our Whatsapp Channel  Your daily dose of gossip, films, shows, celebrities updates all in one place.
On the third anniversary of the indie Tamil song Enjoy Enjaamis release, it courts controversy again. Music composer and producer of the number, Santhosh Narayanan, took to Instagram to commemorate three years of the songs release. But his claim, that he hasnt seen a single penny for the number, shocked fans even three years later. (Also Read: Amid Aviru's claims, Santosh Narayanan calls Enjoy Enjaami a team effort, says he composed it) Santhosh Narayanan shocked fans when he revealed him, Dhee and Arivu haven't been paid for Enjoy Enjaami(Instagram)

Santhoshs statement

Santhosh shared a video on Instagram in which he revealed to fans that him, Arivu and Dhee did not receive a single penny for the song that went viral when it released. He said, It had over a billion streams. I wanted to spill the beans on how much we have received in net income or revenue. All the three artists put together, we received a whopping zero cents from this song.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

He also added that he tried reaching out to the label, Maajja but has not heard back from them, accusing them of also stealing his YouTube channel. Unfortunately we tried our best to reach out to the label, there were some great world-renowned artists involved in this. Unfortunately, we are yet to receive any of the revenue. My YouTube channel was also stolen and the same label has been receiving revenues on that, he claimed.

AR Rahmans involvement

Oscar-winner AR Rahman had heavily promoted Maajja in 2021, an indie music label based in Chennai and Toronto. However, the musician has now publicly distanced himself from the label, telling YourStory, I dont have any financial benefit or shareholding in the company. I just did this out of goodwill. All the videos of me mentoring were pulled out long ago.

Santhosh took to X to clarify Rahmans involvement or lack of in the fiasco, writing, My dearest @arrahman sir has always been a pillar of support without any expectations through the entire Maajja fiasco and he is also a victim of many false promises and malice. He added, Many indie artists including Arivu, Svdp, Dhee and many others including myself have also never been remitted our revenues in any form and have been bullied with emails. I understand that emotions are high and would urge you all to support the indie artists in this juncture.

A screen grab of Dhee's Instagram story(Instagram)

Dhee also shared his post on Instagram, writing, I hope this explains well. Its hard to see comments criticising ARR, as he has been nothing but supportive from day one. I have learnt from my own experiences that whats on the internet and real life can be entirely opposite to what most people believe.

Entertainment! Entertainment! Entertainment!  Click to follow our Whatsapp Channel  Your daily dose of gossip, films, shows, celebrities updates all in one place.
The trial and conviction of a movie armourer in connection with a fatal shooting on the set of the Western movie Rust has given Alec Baldwin and his legal team a unusual window into how his own trial in the death could unfold. (Also Read: Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Halyna Hutchins' death) Actor Alec Baldwin is said to have skipped his own safety training during the making of Rust(AP)

A New Mexico jury deliberated less than three hours Wednesday before convicting armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. She was swiftly taken into custody as she awaits sentencing, facing up to 18 months in prison.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Baldwin figured prominently into testimony and closing arguments over two weeks that highlighted his authority as a co-producer and the lead actor on Rust. Both the prosecution and defense in Gutierrez-Reeds trial dissected video footage of Baldwin before the fatal shooting for clues about breakdowns in firearms safety.

Baldwins trial is scheduled for July and will involve the same judge and prosecutors as well as many of the same witnesses. Baldwin has maintained that he pulled back the guns hammer, but not the trigger, and the weapon fired, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

Having seen Gutierrez-Reed's trial play out will be a boon to Baldwin and his legal team, said Emily D. Baker, a legal analyst and former Los Angeles deputy district attorney who wasn't involved in the case, but followed it closely.

Theyre in the incredible position of getting to watch this prosecutor in action, see how this judge works, and come in knowing exactly what these experts are going to say and how they present to the jury, Baker said Wednesday. I dont think Baldwins going to want to deal in this case, and I think his legal team will tell him this is a very different case than the case against Hannah.

A weapons expert for the prosecution in Gutierrez-Reed's case gave strong testimony, Baker said. But the armorer expert was aligned with what Baldwin's team has been saying all along  that it wasn't his job to check the weapon, Baker said.

Expert witness and movie firearms consultant Bryan Carpenter testified that images showed Baldwin firing blanks toward a camera within a no-go zone at close range, flouting safety protocols as he commanded crew members to quickly reload his revolver, and waving a gun like a pointing stick after the close of one scene. Another clip captures the sound of Baldwin firing a gun after a director calls out, Cut!

Investigators haven't found any video recordings of the shooting, which took place during a rehearsal inside a makeshift church on Oct. 21, 2021, on a movie set outside Santa Fe. But Gutierrez-Reed's trial included previously undisclosed testimony from eyewitnesses to the shooting.

Those witnesses included Souza, who felt the shock of a bullet's impact as he moved in for a view of the camera monitor  but never saw the gun that shot him.

A camera-dolly operator and the assistant director Dave Halls also gave visceral accounts of the revolver firing and the aftermath. Script writer Mamie Mitchell testified that the script didn't call for Baldwin to point the gun.

Alec Baldwins conduct and his lack of gun safety inside that church on that day is something that hes going to have to answer for, prosecutor Kari Morrissey said in her closing arguments against Gutierrez-Reed. Not with you and not today. Thatll be with another jury, on another day.

Morrissey and co-counsel Jason Lewis presented the case against Baldwin to a grand jury in January and secured an indictment on the single felony count that gives them two pathways to prosecution. A recent analysis of the gun gave them the opportunity to reboot the case after an initial involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin was dismissed.

That analysis by Forensic Science Services in Arizona concluded the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver.

The author of an earlier FBI report on the gun testified at the Gutierrez-Reed trial that the gun arrived with all safety features in working order, and that only way the revolver would fire with the hammer full retracted was to strike it with a mallet and break it.

Defense attorneys for Baldwin have shown no sign of compromise with special prosecutors appointed by Santa Fe-area District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, who is running for reelection and confronting a Democratic primary challenge by a former DA in June.

A February fundraising message from Carmack-Altwies vowed justice for Hutchins and her family no matter who else is involved, without naming Baldwin.

No one avoids culpability due to fame, wealth, or connections in my jurisdiction, she wrote.

During Gutierrez-Reed's trial last week, one witness for the prosecution stated the obvious as a prosecutor asked, Is Mr. Baldwin on trial today?

It appears that he is a bit, yes, said Ross Addiego, a crew member who witnessed the fatal shooting at close range and has sued Baldwin in civil court.

The lawsuit is one in a series of legal actions, including wrongful death claims filed by members of Hutchins family, centered on accusations that the defendants were lax with safety standards. Baldwin and other defendants have disputed those allegations.

The filming of Rust moved to Montana after the shooting in New Mexico, under an agreement with Hutchins' widower, Matthew Hutchins, that made him an executive producer.

___

Dalton reported from


Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said India has emerged as a militarily strong nation under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was ready to give a befitting response to any threat on its borders. Speaking at the NDTV Defence Summit, he said, history shows that India has never been the first to attack any country, but if we face any threat on our borders the defence forces are fully prepared to tackle the situation with strong retaliatory action.



The defence minister said that the morale of the countrys armed forces is very high and they are always fully prepared for war by land, air or sea. This is a must even at times of peace, he added.



If anyone attacks India, our forces will respond strongly and give a befitting reply," he added.



The defence ministers response to a question came in the backdrop of the continuing tension with China in Ladakh, as well as the northeast.



He said that India was now a key global economic as well as strategic power and under the strong leadership of PM Modi the country was having a bigger say in global affairs.



Other countries now listen to what India has to say, the defence minister remarked.



In the future, India will not only emerge as a fully developed country (Viksit Bharat) but also a strong military power, he added.



The defence minister said the armed forces are the pride of the nation and the government was ready to do whatever is required to bolster morale and enhance respect for the soldiers.




Actor Kajal Aggarwal recently attended the launch of a store in Hyderabad with her father Vinay. She had an unpleasant experience there, if videos doing round on X are anything to go by. The actor looked upset when a man touched her inappropriately while clicking a selfie. (Also Read: Kajal Aggarwal says South film industry has 'ethics, discipline' which Hindi cinema lacks) Kajal Aggarwal was surprised when a fan touched her waist while clicking a selfie at an event(X)

What happened

Kajal was attending the launch of a store in Hyderabad recently. During the stores launch, she entertained a man request to click a selfie. However, in videos shared by fans on X, he can be seen touching her, holding her waist while clicking the picture. Kajal looked visibly appalled, gesturing him to get away from her. The video from the event has been shared on X, with fans calling out the mans behaviour. The actor however didnt let that hinder the event, taking questions from attendees after that.

Unfortunately, she is not the first female actor this has happened to. Sara Ali Khan, Aparna Balamurali, Aahana Kumar were few of the actors who were inappropriately touched at events just in the last year.

Upcoming work

Kajal took a break from cinema after welcoming a baby boy, Neil, with her husband Gautam in 2022. She is back to work and will soon be seen in the Telugu film Satyabhama and Tamil film Indian 2. The former will see her play a police officer and her role in the latter film has been kept under wraps.

Talking to NTV at the event, she said, Ive always been a great admirer of cinema where I get to play powerful characters. I have two huge releases coming up. Satyabhama, as well as Indian 2. My role in both is phenomenal and I am waiting and excited for you all to watch it. Ive always wanted to branch out into strong cinema. Ive been waiting for good scripts. I am happy now.

Entertainment! Entertainment! Entertainment!  Click to follow our Whatsapp Channel  Your daily dose of gossip, films, shows, celebrities updates all in one place.
Russia is now the worlds most heavily sanctioned country, with unprecedented punitive action targeting its energy exports, central bank, and other sectors. Given Russias economic resilience amid such economic restrictions and Indias dependence on Russia for its defence and energy requirements, this issue brief highlights the economic rationale for New Delhi to maintain existing trade ties with Moscow despite continued geopolitical pressures to the contrary. India-Russia Relations

Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, there have been appeals and policy advice from various quartersboth in the West and domesticallyfor New Delhi to abandon its long-standing ties with Moscow and join Team America. However, India has remained cognisant of securing its geopolitical and geostrategic interests through its dealings with Russia.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

For context, on 5 December 2022, the G7, Australia, and 27 European nations imposed a price cap on Russian shipborne exports of crude oil to curtail Moscows ability to bankroll the Ukraine war and maintain stable prices worldwide. The price cap, following a European Union (EU) ban on purchasing seaborne Russian crude oil, was set at $60 per barrel, with a review to be held every two months starting in mid-January 2023.

Russia is now the worlds most heavily sanctioned country, with restrictions imposed to block its access to the international financial system and bank accounts needed to fund its war efforts. Export controls were also implemented to restrict Moscows ability to import products needed to equip a modern military, such as computer chips. At present, over 30 nations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Japan, and the EU states are involved in this unprecedented punitive effort, applying price caps on Russian energy exports, freezing Russian Central Bank assets, and restricting Russias access to SWIFT, the leading system for international financial transfers.

Given Russias economic resilience amid such economic restrictions and Indias continued dependence on Russia for its defence and energy requirements, this issue brief assesses the economic rationale for New Delhi to continue to maintain ties with sanctions-afflicted Moscow.

The paper can be accessed by clicking here.

This article is authored by Aditya Bhan, ORF.
Akash Bhatnagar Actor Aamir Khan

In 2007, Aamir Khan turned director with the emotional drama Taare Zameen Par (TZP) starring him alongside Darsheel Safary. The film shed light on the lesser-known condition of dyslexia and struck a chord with the audience, emerging a critical and commercial success. Last year, Khan announced that his next film titled Sitaare Zameen Par (SZP) and now, we have learnt that the film will centre around Down Syndrome.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

In TZP, Khan played a teacher who helps Safarys character Ishaan Awasthi with his dyslexia. This time, the actor-filmmaker aims to bring a conversation around Down Syndrome. A source close to the development reveals, Just like TZP, Aamir Khan wanted to bring focus on another condition that gets stigmatised in our society through Sitaare Zameen Par. Thats when he found a heartfelt story that sheds light on Down Syndrome and what people dealing with that go through. He wants to handle the subject very sensitively and create an impact that makes people suffering from the syndrome be treated as equals.

The source added that other details about the film are under wraps for now. It is yet to be revealed if Khan would make his directorial comeback with the film or just produce it. Actor Genelia Deshmukh also stars in the film which is scheduled to release on Christmas this year.

Earlier, in an interview with News18, Khan had said, With Sitaare Zameen Par, we are moving 10 steps ahead with the same theme. TZP was an emotional film. (But) This film (SZP) will make you laugh. That film made you cry, this one will entertain you. The theme is the same. Thats why we kept this name very thoughtfully. We all have flaws, we all have weaknesses, but we all also have something special, so we are taking forward this theme. He added that in TZP, his character helped the special child Ishaan but in SZP, nine boys, who have their own issues, help me. Its the opposite.

For the unversed, Down Syndrome is a genetic disorder caused when abnormal cell division results in extra genetic material from chromosome 21. It causes developmental and intellectual delays. Interestingly, the school that Khans character visited as a teacher in TZP was for kids with special needs like Down Syndrome. We reached out to Khan and his team for a comment but they were unavailable for the same.
Ahead of the upcoming assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh, the ruling YSR Congress Party on Wednesday invited senior Kapu leader and former minister Mudragada Padmanabham to join the party, people familiar with the matter said. A prominent face of Kapus, a predominant community in East Godavari district, Padmanabham has been spearheading a campaign for the last three decades seeking inclusion of Kapus and their sub-castes into the list of Other Backward Classes (HT)

A delegation of YSRCP led by Jakkampudi Ganesh, brother of Rajanagaram MLA Jakkampudi Raja, went to Kirlampudi village in Konaseema district to hold talks with 71-year-old Padmanabham and invited him to join the party.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

YSRCP regional coordinator for East Godavari and Konaseema districts and Lok Sabha member Peddireddy Mithun Reddy also had a telephonic conversation with Padmanabham and told him that YSRCP president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had extended an invitation him to join the party.

Jagan has sought the Kapu leaders support to the YSRCP in the coming elections. He has offered ticket to either Padmanabham or his son Giri Babu in the assembly elections, most likely from Pithapuram assembly constituency, a party leader familiar with the development said.

The senior leader is likely to come to Tadepalli next week to meet Jagan. In all probability, he might join the party on March 12, the party leader quoted above said.

A prominent face of Kapus, a predominant community in East Godavari district, Padmanabham has been spearheading a campaign for the last three decades seeking inclusion of Kapus and their sub-castes into the list of Other Backward Classes and extension of reservations in education and employment.

On January 31, 2016, Padmanabham had organised a Kapu Garjana (Roar of Kapus) rally at Tuni in East Godavari district to raise the demand for inclusion of Kapus in the OBC list. The rally turned violent with the protesters going berserk, attacking public properties and setting fire to Ratnachal Express travelling between Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada. Though there were no casualties in the arson, a few railway employees were injured in the incident.

Hundreds of Kapu agitators, including Padmanabham, were arrested by the police then and several cases were lodged against them. The Kapu agitation continued for the next three years and more cases were lodged against the protesters in the process.

In February 2021, the Jagan government dropped all the pending cases against the Kapu activists including Padmanabham.

Recently, Padmanabham had extended support to Jana Sena Party led by popular actor Pawan Kalyan who also hails from the Kapu community. But with the actor joining hands with the Telugu Desam Party and accepting only 24 assembly seats, Padmanabham dropped his plan. On February 29, the Kapu leader wrote a letter to Pawan Kalyan saying that he has decided not to associate himself with Jana Sena Party, as there was no proper response from the party leadership.
A second Indian national has died while serving with the Russian Army on the front lines of the conflict with Ukraine, increasing pressure on Indian authorities to identify and repatriate all citizens reportedly forced to fight alongside Russian troops after taking up support jobs. Russian Army servicemen stand near a mobile recruiting centre, during an exhibition of military hardware used in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as it arrived on a train promoting the Russian army, in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on March 3. (REUTERS)

The Indian embassy in Moscow confirmed the death of Indian national Mohammed Asfan in a post on X. The 30-year-old from Hyderabad travelled to Russia late last year, and reports said that he was seriously injured along with two other Indians in hostilities in a conflict zone last month. According to Asfans family, he is survived by his wife and two children.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

We have learnt about the tragic death of an Indian national Shri Mohammed Asfan. We are in touch with the family and Russian authorities. Mission will make efforts to send his mortal remains to India, the Indian embassy posted on X.

The embassy didnt provide details about the exact circumstances of Asfans death or how he had gone to the conflict zone.

Earlier, 23-year-old Hemal Ashwinbhai Mangukiya, a resident of Surat in Gujarat, was killed in a Ukrainian air strike while serving as a security helper with the Russian Army at Donetsk, a part of Ukraine occupied by Russia. Mangukiya travelled to Russia last December.

Asfans elder brother Mohammad Imran said he went to Russia on a flight from Chennai via Sharjah in November 2023. He contacted a travel agent, who ran a YouTube channel called BabaVlogs and offered him a job in Russia. He was told he has to assist the Russian Army and wouldnt be deployed on the front lines, Imran said.

Imran added that Asfan signed a one-year contract on November 13, 2023. The contract was in Russian and the agent told us that it was safe to sign the agreement, he said.

Another brother of the victim, Mohammed Irfan, contacted Hyderabad MP and All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi after the family was unable to contact Asfan over the past week. We got confirmation of his death today [Wednesday], said Owaisi, who has taken up the case of several young men from Telangana serving with the Russian Army who now want to return home.

Reports also said a letter sent by a recruitment agent for facilitating Asfans Russian visa application stated he earlier worked in a semiconductor firm in Hyderabad and had been offered a job to provide IT services in Russia. However, Asfans relatives said he was an employee of a clothes store till last September and had no IT skills.

People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that the Indian side has stepped up efforts to bring back all Indians serving with the Russian military. However, there is still no clarity on the actual number of Indians in the Russian Army, with some reports suggesting it could be about 100.

With these deaths, it can be expected that more Indian nationals will reach out to authorities for help to return to the country, one of the people cited above said.

The external affairs ministry confirmed last month that 20 Indian nationals serving with the Russian military have so far approached the Indian mission in Moscow seeking help for their discharge. Several of them were discharged after Indian authorities took up their case in Moscow and New Delhi.

The Russian side is now taking the matter more seriously, a second person said, adding the issue had been complicated because some Indians were recruited from places such as Dubai.

Besides BabaVlogs, several agents have been accused of duping young men from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and sending them to Russia to take up support jobs in the army. The external affairs ministry has said that every case brought to the attention of the Indian Embassy in Moscow has been strongly taken up with the Russian authorities.

India has advised its citizens to stay away from getting caught up in the Russia-Ukraine conflict following reports that some Indians with support jobs in the Russian Army had been forced to fight alongside Russian troops.

Earlier, there were reports of up to 200 men from Nepal being recruited by the Russian military. Nepals foreign ministry acknowledged in December that six Nepalese nationals serving in the Russian Army were killed in the war with Ukraine.

The war triggered by Russias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 is now in its third year. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has verified 30,457 civilian casualties, including 10,582 killed and 19,875 injured, since the war began.
Hectic parleys were underway between the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday for a possible alliance ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik. (PTI File Photo)

According to leaders of both the parties, the two former allies, who parted ways in 2009, were working out the contours of a seat-sharing pact for the assembly elections and Lok Sabha polls, which is scheduled to be held in Odisha simultaneously this summer. The BJD is considered a friendly party to the ruling BJP, having lent support to the Union government for the passage of crucial bills.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

But it was being pursued by the BJP to renew its ties with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as part of the coalitions efforts to win 400+ seats in the polls.

On Wednesday, BJD chief and Odisha chief minister, Naveen Patnaik held meetings with senior party leaders in Bhubaneshwar. Meetings were also held in the national capital where the BJP discussed the specifics of seat-sharing both for the 147 assembly seats and the 21 Lok Sabha seats.

The BJPs core group on Odisha also met in the Capital to discuss candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, ahead of the central election committees meeting.

The BJP wants to contest more seats than the BJD. In the last election the party won eight of the 21 seats and this time it is keen to contest more than 15 if the two parties announce an alliance. Similarly, it has put forth a number for the assembly as well... said a party functionary, requesting anonymity.

Also Read: Odisha BJP chief denies any alliance with BJD for Lok Sabha and Assembly polls

In 2019, the BJD won 112 assembly seats to form the government in the state, while the BJP won 23, which was 13 more than the tally in 2014.

In the Lok Sabha, the BJD won 12 seats, the BJP eight and the Congress one.

After two meetings of senior leaders at Naveen Patnaiks residence chaired by the CM, the BJD issued a cryptic statement.

Odisha is heading towards next level of development and efforts are on by the CM Naveen Patnaik-led government in this regard. Odisha will complete 100 years of its statehood and BJD and CM has major milestones to be achieved by this time. Therefore, Biju Janata Dal will do everything towards this in the greater interests of people of Odisha and the State. The party supremo will take the decision which will be apt for Odisha, said party vice-president and senior MLA Debi Prasad Mishra.

Also Read: PM Modi to visit Odisha on March 5 amid speculations of alliance with BJD

Senior BJD leader Arun Sahoo added that several issues were discussed. The BJP also played its cards close to its chest.

There was discussion on alliance but nothing is final now. The top leaders of the party will decide on it. But we have told that we will fight alone. We gave our opinion, but whatever the central leaders of the party decide, we will abide by it. Various issues on how to fight elections were discussed at the crucial meeting, said BJP MP and former Union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram.
BJP leader Pramod Yadav was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, police said. The incident took place near Bodhpur village turn under the Sikarara police station area of Jaunpur district. BJP leader Pramod Yadav shot dead in Jaunpur.

The assailants stopped Pramod Yadav, 55, on the pretext of giving a card, according to police, and shot him three times.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The assailants fled the scene leaving their bike at some distance.

Yadav, the Jaunpur district unit president of BJP Kisan Morcha, was rushed to the hospital where the doctor declared him brought dead.

Jaunpur Superintendent of Police (SP) Ajaipal Sharma said that several teams have been deployed to ensure the arrest of the assailants and the initial investigation has led to some important clues.

Further investigation is underway.

Pramod Yadav had contested the 2012 assembly elections from the Malhani seat on the BJP symbol against Jagriti Singh, wife of former MP and strongman Dhananjay Singh. However, the duo got divorced in 2017 and Dhananjay Singh later got married to Srikala Reddy.

On Wednesday, an MP/MLA court sentenced Dhananjay Singh to seven years of imprisonment in a 2020 kidnapping and extortion case. Presently with the Janata Dal (United), Singh was reportedly preparing to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Jaunpur. But the conviction now makes him ineligible under the Representation of the People Act to contest election.

Additional Sessions Judge Sharad Kumar Tripathi, who held Singh and his associate Santosh Vikram guilty in the case of kidnapping of Namami Gange project manager Abhinav Singhal on Tuesday, also imposed a fine of 75,000 on each of them, District Government Counsel (Criminal) Satish Pandey said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is busy finalising tie-ups, bringing more parties into the fold of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as more partners will be key in helping the BJP retain power with a bigger victory margin. The face of the partys election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is spearheading the outreach, addressing rallies and announcing projects that he says will pave the path for a Viksit Bharat in the next two decades. He has also taken the fight to the oppositions bastion, in West Bengal for instance, where the party has set its sight on a bigger prize. The PM on Wednesday upped the ante by targeting the state government for failing to secure law and order and safety of women in wake of the Sandeshkhali incident. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Abhinandan' programme at Barasat in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on Wednesday. (PTI Photo)

With a little help from friends

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

To meet the target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of winning over 400 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, with a little help from its allies, the BJP is busy stitching alliances in the run up to the polls. The party that boasted of leading the NDA, a coalition of politically disparate entities such as the Maharashtra-based Shiv Sena and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of Jammu and Kashmir after it came to power at the centre in 2014, hit a rough patch when its partners walked out of the NDA, miffed at the party allegedly undermining partners.

The first to snap ties was the TDP in March 2018 over the issue of special status to Andhra Pradesh, followed by the PDP in July that year after the coalition government in J&K collapsed. In 2019, the Shiv Sena walked out following a disagreement over power-sharing in Maharashtra. A year later, the first ally on board, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) quit in protest over the farm laws that were later repealed. Ties with the Tamil Nadu-based AIADMK have been frosty since 2023, casting a shadow on the alliance.

Given the role that the allies will play in helping score a better performance in the upcoming election, the party has made good with Nitish Kumars Janata Dal (United) in Bihar and Naveen Patnaiks Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha, both allies that were part of the NDA in 1999 when the coalition went on to win a majority. While the JD(U) is already on board and a partner in the Bihar government, a formal announcement with the BJD is expected soon.

Also on the cards are ties-ups with TDP, Jana Sena and a clutch of other regional entities.

Modi in Kashmir

At a meeting of political parties from Jammu and Kashmir in June 2021, PM Modi asserted his commitment to restoring democratic processes in the erstwhile state, including elections, and said he wants to remove Dilli ki Doori (the distance from Delhi) as well as Dil Ki Doori (the distance from the heart).

The meeting came two years after the Parliament passed the bill to abrogate Article 370 from J&K and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories - Ladakh and J&K. The misgivings of the political class over the changes in J&Ks status and the lack of electoral process notwithstanding, the Supreme Court upheld the abrogation of Article 370 that gave the former state special status.

With elections around the corner, PM Modi will be in J&K on Thursday to announce a slew of projects and programmes worth over 5,000 crore to boost the agro-economy. This is the PMs first visit since 2019 and will be keenly watched as it marks the resumption of the electoral exercise in the region.

Though preparations have begun in full steam for the Lok Sabha polls in the UT, there is palpable interest in whether assembly polls will be held as per the SCs instruction. The apex court in its ruling in December last year had instructed for assembly polls to be held by September this year.

Modis message from Sandeshkhali

PM Modis Didi O Didi jibe at West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee during the 2021 assembly elections was perceived to have alienated the women voters in the state. Although the BJP went on to bag 77 (later fell to 70) of the 292 seats, it could not win over the women voters, who chose to vote for Bannerjee and her Trinamool Congress (TMC). With an eye on Bengal, the party has made amends to put the spotlight on women and the alleged atrocities inflicted on them by people with political clout.

PM Modi on Wednesday sent out a message to the women during his visit. TMC leaders are committing atrocities against sisters and daughters of poor, the Dalit and tribal families at various places. The women of Bengal and the country are angry. This storm of Sandeshkhali will reach every part of West Bengal, and decimate the TMC across the state, he said.

After his rally in Barasat in the North 24 Parganas district, the PM interacted with a group of women from Sandeshkhali (in the same district) and heard in detail their ordeal at the hands of local TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan, who is currently in CBI custody. The BJP has been leading a campaign against the TMC governments failure to rein in Shahjahan and restore law and order in Sandeshkhali. With the PM weighing in, the BJP is confident of winning over Nari Shakti (women power).

The PMs message, that the incidents of violence against women that took place in Sandeshkhali will put anyone to shame, is expected to resonate with the voters.
Bengaluru: The health officials in Bengaluru rural raided private Aasare hospital in Nelamangala for allegedly carrying out sex determination tests and illegal abortions. Health officials said, despite strict prohibition, sex determination tests was carried out at the hospital. (HT)

Despite strict prohibition on sex determination and embryo killing, Aasare hospital run by Dr. Ravi Kumar, has been clandestinely carrying out these procedures, said district health officer (DHO), Dr. Sunil Kumar.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Health officials suspect that abortions have been conducted at the hospital without the requisite licence mandated by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, and crucial scanning reports have been omitted. Operations have allegedly taken place in unlicenced areas with inadequate records maintained, further compounding the gravity of the violations.

Acting on a tip-off, the health and family welfare department raided the hospital and found irregularities in maintaining the records. We found the hospital did not maintain the records and suspect the doctors of feticide, added the DHO.

The health officials then filed a police complaint against the hospital authorities.

We have registered a case against Aasare hospital owner Dr. Ravi Kumar under sections 312 (causing miscarriage), 313 (causing miscarriage without womans consent), 315 (act done with intent to prevent child being Born alive or to cause it to die after birth), and 316 (causing death of quick unborn child by act amounting to culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), said N Rakesh, the inspector at Nelamangala town police station.

On October 15, 2023, the Bengaluru police busted a gang that allegedly committed multiple feticides in a farmhouse in Mandya for the past three years. The police arrested nine people, including two doctors from the farmhouse. Police suspect the gang carried out more than 300 illegal female feticides and nearly 900 sex determination tests over the period.

Following the incident, the Bengaluru health officials became vigilant and started conducting random checks on hospitals and diagnostic centres, said the DHO.
The CBI on Thursday busted a major human trafficking network that was sending Indians to Russia scamming them with fake job offers after two Indians died on the war front. The officials said searches were conducted in seven cities including Delhi, Trivandrum, Mumbai, Ambala, Chandigarh, Madurai and Chennai, in connection with the job scam that sent several Indians to Russia's battlefront against Ukraine. Cases have been registered against various visa consultancy firms and agents for sending young Indians to Russia in the name of lucrative jobs. CBI said 35 such cases have been found and certain suspects have been detained for questioning at various locations. Over 50 lakh, incriminating documents, electronic records like laptops, mobiles, desktops etc., have been seized. Hyderabad's Mohammed Asfan was told he had got the job of helper in the Russian army. But he was sent to the war front.

The issue of Indians being forced to fight Russia's war in a job scam came to the notice of the ministry of external affairs and it is said to be in touch with the Russian authorities to ensure an immediate release. Apart from Hyderabad's Mohammed Asfan, 23-year-old Hemal Ashwinbhai Mangukiya, a resident of Surat in Gujarat, was killed in a Ukrainian air strike while serving as a security helper with the Russian Army at Donetsk, a part of Ukraine occupied by Russia.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

What is the job scam luring Indians to come to Russia?

Several Indians in the last few months claimed they were forced to join the Russian army while they were promised jobs as helpers in the army. The name of Baba Vlogs, one YouTube channel scamming youngsters from India into this racket has come to the surface. In connivance with agents who will provide the wrong translation of documents, these platforms are offering jobs and sending Indians to Russia. The brother of Hyderabad's Asfan said the agent told Afsan to sign the contract which was a one-year contract to serve the Russian army.


CBI weighing legal options to transfer Sheikh Shahjahan from Kolkata to Delhi After getting the custody of Sheikh Shahjahan, the accused mastermind in the January 5 attack on ED and CAPF personnel at Sandeshkhali in West Bengal, the CBI sleuths are now mulling legal options on how to transfer the suspended Trinamool Congress leader to New Delhi. Sources said the central agency is planning to adopt the same strategy that was adopted in the case of Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mondal, who is currently in judicial custody in Tihar Jail in New Delhi in connection with the cattle smuggling case in West Bengal.



At that time, all the cases against Mondal were first transferred from a special CBI court at Asansol in West Bengal to the Rouse Avenue Court in New Delhi.



Thereafter, Mondal was transferred from the correctional home at Asansol to Tihar Jail in New Delhi.



Sources said that with the same strategy in mind, the CBI has given the charge of investigation in the cases against Sheikh Shahjahan to its Deputy Superintendent Susanta Bhattacharya. He was the man who successfully carried out the investigation against Mondal in the school job case.



Meanwhile, Sheikh Shahjahan spent a sleepless night in CBI custody, constantly sitting on a bench in the room where he has been housed at the agencys Nizam Palace office in central Kolkata.



After being handed over to the CBI by the CID on Wednesday evening, he was first taken to a central government-run ESI Hospital for a medical check-up and then to the Nizam Palace.



Sources said he was questioned by the CBI for over an hour and then was given dinner. His interrogation started again from 11 a.m. on Thursday after he had his breakfast.




The suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan, arrested in connection with the attack on Enforcement Directorate officials, was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday following two orders by the Calcutta high court to do so on two consecutive days. The CBI officials took him to an ESI Hospital at Joka in southwest Kolkata for a medical checkup and then to Nizam Palace, the city office of the central investigating agency. (Also Read: How Shahjahan Sheikh scripted rags-to-riches story by maintaining political clout) Suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh is being taken to ESI Hospital in West Bengals Joka for a medical checkup.

In a video widely circulated on social media, Shahjahan, the key accused in the Sandeshkhali extortion, land grab, and sexual assault cases, was seen escorted by CBI officials to the hospital. The sight of CBI officials almost dragging Shahjahan towards the hospital drew immediate reactions from BJP leaders. They noted the contrast between the treatment by the central agency officers and the West Bengal police officers who were walking behind the suspended TMC leader while taking him to court.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

CBI is treating Sheikh Shahjahan, like he should be treated - a criminal and not like how WB Police treated him, as if he was the Chief Minister of Bengal BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya said in a post on X. Shame on Mamata Banerjee for defending a rapist and using state Govt agencies to intimidate the victims of Sandeshkhali.

BJP Bengal president Sukanta Majumdar wrote, CBI is rightfully treating Sheikh Shahjahan as a criminal, unlike the biased treatment by West Bengal Police. It's appalling that Mamata Banerjee is defending a rapist and misusing state agencies to intimidate Sandeshkhali victims. Justice must prevail!

Kanchan Gupta, a senior adviser in ministry of information and broadcasting, said, When Bengal Police produced Sandeshkhali tormentor Sheikh Shahjahan in court a week ago, he was walking in a nawabi style. In CBI custody, hes shuffling like a khansama (servant).

Also Read: Bengal Governor sees light at end of tunnel after TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan's arrest

Attack on ED officials

Shahjahan was arrested in a case related to a mob attack on ED officials at Sandeshkhali on January 5 when the central agency had gone to search his premises in connection with an alleged ration distribution scam. The CBI on Tuesday failed to get the custody of suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh from the West Bengal CID even after waiting for more than two hours.

In a fresh directive on Wednesday, the high court directed the state government to "immediately implement" its Tuesday's judgement to transfer a case on the attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials at Sandeshkhali to the CBI and hand over custody of the main accused Sheikh to the central agency.
The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that environment and natural resources held in public trust cannot be eroded for private or commercial gain, slamming what it said was the audacity of the then Uttarakhand forest minister Harak Singh Rawat, who brought in forest officer Kishan Chand to illegally fell over 6,000 trees and make unauthorised construction for the Pakhrau tiger safari project at the Corbett Tiger Reserve before the projects final layout was approved. The court was hearing a petition by environmental activist Gaurav Kumar Bansal (ANI)

The court was hearing a petition by environmental activist Gaurav Kumar Bansal and its observations were based on the findings of a central empowered committee (CEC) it appointed.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Justice BR Gavai, heading the bench, termed it a classic case of neglecting public trust doctrine, stating, This case illustrates how collusion between a politician and a forest officer resulted in significant environmental damage for political and commercial gain.

The judgment noted, The aesthetic use of natural resources cannot be eroded for private or commercial interests unless courts deem it necessary for public good.

The court said Rawat and Chand considered themselves above the law, felling nearly 6,000 trees despite clearance for only 163 to construct buildings under the pretext of promoting tourism.

Rawat was part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the time but was expelled from the party in 2022.

The CEC found Chand was posted at Kalagarh in September 2019 despite objections, and the minister overruled senior officers recommendations against his posting.

Relying on the same report, the court cited how the appointment of Chand, earlier accused of irregularities at Rajaji Tiger Reserve, was objected to by senior officers of the forest department, the vigilance department and the police department  and noted how Rawat overruled these concerns.

The bench said the nexus was evident since the minister overruled a recommendation by the secretary of forests in 2021 to suspend Chand over irregularities linked to him when he was posted at Kalagarh.

The CEC named the minister the main architect, with its report finding that concrete buildings were constructed instead of approved bamboo structures, and additional civil structures were erected without approval, escalating the budget from Rs.26.81 crores to Rs.102.11 crores.

The court, directing a committee to examine tiger safari guidelines, asked it to assess environmental damage and held the state liable to recover costs from delinquent officers, stating: The executive cannot relinquish natural resources for private or commercial use under public trust doctrine.

As the CBI investigates on the Uttarakhand High Courts direction, the top court asked the agency to effectively investigate and kept proceedings pending to monitor the case
Congress leader Padmaja Venugopal, the daughter of former Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran, on Thursday joined the BJP here, saying she was not happy with the grand old party for several years and it lacked a strong leadership. Former Congress leader from Kerala Padmaja Venugopal addresses media after joining Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of party leader Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi on March 7.(PTI)

Venugopal joined the BJP in the presence of the senior party leaders, including its Kerala in-charge and former Union minister Prakash Javadekar.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Addressing a press conference with the BJP leaders at the party headquarters here, Venugopal said she was so happy to have joined the BJP but a "little bit tense also" because she stood with the Congress for several years.

"I decided to quit because I was not happy with the Congress for so many years, especially since the last assembly elections in the state (Kerala)," she told reporters.

Venugopal said that she tried to reach out to the Congress top brass several times to discuss her grievances but was never given an appointment.

She said, "There should be a strong leadership in every party. In the Congress, there is no leadership. I have great respect for Sonia ji but I can't see her. She didn't give (me) an appointment."
Those lobbying for tickets, it is said, at the Congress headquarters on New Delhis 24, Akbar Road, never get it as the real influence works elsewhere. But this does not deter party workers from around the country from flocking to the headquarters in an election season. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Madhya Pradeshs Ratlam on Wednesday. (PTI)

Is Rahul Gandhi planning to contest from Amethi?

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Aspirants have been queuing up with their resumes for tickets at the headquarters ahead of the national polls this summer even as the party is yet to take a call on them including whether Rahul Gandhi will contest again from Amethi. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was first off the blocks with its list of 195 candidates before two of them withdrew their candidature.

The Congresss Central Election Committee is scheduled to hold its first meeting for the selection of candidates at 6pm on Thursday. There has been a growing clamour for Gandhi to contest from Amethi, which he represented from 2004 to 2019 but lost in the last election.

On February 19, Gandhi spoke about his long-standing relationship with Amethi when he arrived there as part of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Gandhi spoke about social justice and unemployment while underlining a bond of love with Amethi.

Amethi district Congress chief Pradeep Singhal has said Gandhi would contest from his former constituency even as party workers have started campaigning for his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in neighbouring Raebareli. People aware of the matter said party leaders are also discussing whether to field Rahul Gandhi from Raebareli and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra against Union minister Smriti Irani in Amethi.

TMC veteran joins BJP

In West Bengal, Trinamool Congress (TMC)s Tapas Ray defected to the BJP on Wednesday, dealing a blow to the states ruling party ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The defection came even as TMC was already under fire for shielding its local functionary Sheikh Shahjahan, who was arrested this week after being on the run for weeks.

What is perhaps more disturbing for Bengals ruling party is that the BJP remains a viable option for disgruntled leaders even after the BJP badly lost the last assembly polls. Ray has never ventured out of West Bengal in his long political career. In that sense, his national importance might be limited.

Rays exit came a day after Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay resigned to join the BJP.

Mayawatis intriguing silence

Parties, big or small, have been involved in hectic poll-related activities but Mayawatis Bahujan Sama Party (BSP) is hardly making any news. The last tweet from her account was on February 28 when she condoled the demise of an associate. The last important news from the BSP was on February 19 when Mayawati announced the BSP would contest the 2024 national polls on its own.

The BJP has, meanwhile, fielded Ritesh Pandey from Ambedkar Nagar after he defected from BSP. The BSPs support base has eroded since Mayawati became the chief minister for the fourth time with a full majority in 2007. It could win just one seat in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly in 2022.

The BSP contested the 2019 national polls in alliance with the Samajwadi Party and improved its tally from zero to 10 seats. It ended the alliance blaming SP for the poll debacle. Ahead of the 2024 national polls, the question remains whether Mayawati can revive the party.
The construction work at the Ram temple complex in Ayodhya will be completed by December this year, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust said on Thursday. An idol of Lord Ram is decorated with garlands at Sri Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya.

Nearly 75 lakh devotees have visited the temple since the consecration of Ram Lalla idol on January 22, officials said.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Anil Mishra, member of the temple trust, said that currently about 1,500 workers have been employed and more than 3,500 additional workers will be deployed soon to speed up the construction of remaining two floors of the three-storey temple building. The ground floor of the temple was built in December last year.

READ | Ram Temple construction restored Indias lost prestige: Champat Rai

A meeting of the temple construction committee was held recently and it was decided to complete all the constructions in the Ram Janmabhoomi complex by the end of this year, Mishra said.

The sanctum sanctorum is on the ground floor of the temple and the court of Lord Ram will be installed on the first floor as after having 'darshan' of Ram Lalla, devotees will be able to have 'darshan' of Lord Ram's court, he said.

The work of building the main spire and another spire of the grand temple is going on at a fast pace, while the peaks will be ready in 300 days, the temple trust member said.

There will be a total of five peaks in the temple, of which three peaks were prepared before the consecration ceremony, Mishra said, adding that the main peak is being built 161 feet high with a layer of gold on it.

READ | Nagara architecture, 392 pillars, 5 mandaps: The key features of Ram Mandir

The 'parkota' of the temple will also be ready before the arrival of monsoon to protect devotees from rain and sun, he said.

At the complex, temples of six gods and goddesses will be built along the parkota, besides temples of seven sages will also be constructed, he said.

He said that L&T, the company which is constructing the temple, is going to field an army of workers, currently 1,500, from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Temples of Hindu saints described in ancient religious texts, including Valmiki, Vashishtha, Vishwamitra, Agastya, along with Nishadraj and Ahilya, are also to be built in the complex, Mishra said.

Apart from this, the road from Tedhi Bazaar at the western end of the Ram Janmabhoomi to a post office via Ashrafi Bhawan and Vibhishan Kund will be widened by 15 metres. This road is being widened in view of the rising number of devotees, Ayodhya's District Magistrate Nitish Kumar said.

More than two lakh devotees are visiting the Ram temple on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, whereas on other days around 1.5 lakh devotees are arriving, Prakash Gupta, officer in-charge of the Ram temple trust, said.
A day after the deadline for the State Bank of India (SBI) to submit details of electoral bonds (EBs) purchased since April 12, 2019, to the Election Commission of India (ECI) ended, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) approached the Supreme Court on Thursday demanding contempt action against the public sector bank for defying the courts directive. ADR mentioned the matter before CJI Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud seeking a hearing on March 11. (Reuters file photo of SBI logo)

ADR, a non-profit organisation which is the lead petitioner in the judgment striking down the Centres 2018 EB scheme, mentioned the matter before Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud seeking a hearing on March 11 when the SBIs application for extension of time till June 30 is likely to be taken up.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan submitted before the CJI that the ADR has sought initiation of contempt proceedings against the SBI for abiding by the court-mandated deadline of March 6 to submit full details of EBs purchased since April 12, 2019, to the ECI.

Responding, justice Chandrachud, who headed the bench in the EB case, said that the contempt plea will come up with the SBIs plea if the petition has been duly numbered and verified.

Bhushan assured the court that he would complete the formalities.

On March 4, the SBI had moved its plea for extension of time till June 30 arguing that decoding the data and matching donors to the donations would be a complex process.

Also Read: SBI seeks more time from Supreme Court for disclosing electoral bond details

The application, if allowed, will mean disclosure of donors and recipients of EBs will come only after the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, which are expected to be conducted between April and May this year.

The bank highlighted that it needs to decode details of 22,217 EBs, which would involve decoding, compiling and comparing 44,434 (twice the number of EBs issued) information sets because the details relating to buyers and recipients of bonds are kept in two different information silos.

On February 15, a five-judge bench struck down the Centres 2018 EB scheme of political funding, declaring it to be unconstitutional because it completely anonymised contributions made to political parties and added that restricting black money or illegal election financing -- some of the articulated objectives of the scheme -- did not justify violating voters right to information in a disproportionate manner.

The bench, led by CJI Chandrachud, at the time also directed SBI  the only designated EB-issuing bank -- to forthwith stop the issuance of EBs, adding that the bank will submit details of EBs purchased since April 12, 2019, till that date to the poll watchdog by March 6.

By March 13, the judgment ordered all funding received by political parties since April 12, 2019  when the court issued an interim direction to the parties to submit such information with ECI -- shall be made public by putting the information on the ECIs website.

With the SBI asking for extension, the ADR moved a contempt plea on Thursday labelling the SBIs extension request as malafide and an attempt to thwart transparency efforts before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Rebutting the banks claims, the ADR said that the SBI India possesses the necessary infrastructure to swiftly compile and disclose information on electoral bonds.

The SBIs IT system, designed for managing electoral bonds, is already in place and can easily generate reports based on the unique numbers assigned to each bond... the bank has records of the unique numbers allotted to each electoral bond and the Know Your Customer (KYC) details of purchasers, stated the plea.

Adding that the SBI has a vast network of branches and a well-functioning IT system, the contempt plea said the bank can compile data for about 22,217 EBs straightforward.

Stressing the significance of transparency in political financing, the ADR argued that voters have a fundamental right to know about the substantial sums of money contributed to political parties through EBs and that the lack of transparency goes against the essence of participatory democracy enshrined in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.

In its extension plea moved on March 4, the SBI sought to bring to the courts notice certain practical difficulties with the decoding exercise and the timeline fixed for it.

It is submitted that due to the stringent measures undertaken to ensure that the identity of the donors was kept anonymous, decoding of the EBs and the matching of the donor to the donations made would be a complex process, stated the plea, referring to the 2018 EB scheme and the standard operating procedure that SBI formulated for 29 authorised branches, spread all over India, with regard to sale and redemption of bonds.

According to the public sector bank, not only were details of purchases made at SBI branches not maintained centrally at any one place, but the data related to the issuance of the bond and the data related to the redemption of the bond were also recorded in two different silos.

No central database was maintained. This was done so as to ensure that donors anonymity would be protected. It is submitted that donor details were kept in a sealed cover at the designated branches and all such sealed covers were deposited in the main branch of the applicant bank, which is located in Mumbai, the plea said.

At the other end, SBI said, at the time of redemption by a political party, the original bond, and the pay-in slip would be stored in a sealed cover and sent to the SBIs main branch in Mumbai.

It can thus be noted that both sets of informations were being stored independently of each other. Thus, to re-match them would be a task requiring a significant amount of effort... the retrieval of information from each silo and the procedure of matching the information of one silo to that of the other would be a time-consuming exercise, its plea said.

SBI added that some of the details such as number of bonds are stored digitally while the other set of details such as name of purchaser, KYC etc are stored physically.

The purpose of not storing all details digitally was to ensure that it cannot be gathered easily to achieve the object of the scheme, said the plea, adding the timeline of three weeks fixed by the court in its February 15 judgement would not be sufficient for the entire exercise to be completed.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday issued a stern warning to countries challenging India's sovereignty. His remark comes amid recent tensions along the borders with China along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh and northeast's Arunchal Pradesh. Defence minister Rajnath Singh(ANI)

In an interaction with NDTV, Rajnath Singh said, We have to be ready for war at all times... even in peacetime. We have to be ready.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The defence minister exuded confidence in the ability of the Indian defence forces and highlighted that India is in a position to give a befitting reply if attacked by anyone.

"Whether from land, air, or sea... if anyone attacks India our forces will respond strongly. We have never occupied anyone's land but, if anyone attacks us, we are in a position to give a befitting reply," said Rajnath Singh.

ALSO READ| India ensures no one exercises hegemony in Indian Ocean Region: Rajnath Singh

During the interaction, Rajnath Singh hailed the Narendra Modi government for its policies to strengthen India's armed forces. He highlighted the importance of make-in-India initiatives to bring "self-reliance" to the military and ensure its modernisation.

"In 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government came to power, we put the defence sector as our main priority. 'Atmanirbharta', or 'self-reliance', was encouraged... we introduced many make-in-India initiatives and our focus was on military modernisation," said the defence minister.

"I am not saying previous governments did not emphasize the defence sector. But we brought 'Aatmanirbharta' in the defence sector," he added.

ALSO READ| China ramps up defence budget by 7.2%, India will feel the heat

Tensions with China

In recent years, there have been multiple confrontations between India and China along the border between the two countries. India's security forces have stood up against China's attempts at incursions in Doklam(Sikkim), in Galwan Valley(Ladakh) and near Pangong Lake (Ladakh).

China continues to stake claim over Arunachal Pradesh, undermining India's sovereignty.
A Delhi court on Thursday ordered chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to appear before it on March 16 after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a fresh complaint a day earlier seeking his trial for evading its summons for questioning in the money laundering case related to the alleged irregularities in now-scrapped 2021-22 Delhi excise policy. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. (HT PHOTO)

Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Divya Malhotra took cognisance of the complaint while directing Kejriwal to appear physically in court. Kejriwal was earlier directed to appear before the court on March 16 in connection with a separate ED complaint filed on February 3.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

ED submitted that Kejriwal has no legal right to know whether he is being summoned as a witness or an accused. It is a wilful and intentional disobedience to the summons, making out an offence under Section 174 [disobeying a legal order] of the IPC [Indian Penal Code]...the grounds raised by him [Kejriwal] for not complying with the summons are frivolous and vexatious and therefore, prima facie the offence is made out, argued additional solicitor-general SV Raju, who appeared for ED.

He referred to Kejriwals replies to the ED summons and said it is unheard of that a person being summoned wants to know whether he is being summoned as a witness, a suspect, or an accused. It appears that the person is interrogating the investigating officer and not the other way aroundUnder which provision is he supposed to know under what role is he being called? He wants information that cannot be divulged, Raju told the court. He added the investigation in the case is being hindered because Kejriwal is not joining it.

On EDs first complaint, the court on February 7 directed Kejriwal to physically appear before it. The court said he was legally bound to appear before ED when summons were issued. By that time, Kejriwal had skipped five summons since November 2.

On February 17, Kejriwal appeared in the court virtually. He submitted that he could not appear physically due to the ongoing budget session. Since then, he has skipped three more summons. Kejriwal on Monday wrote a letter to the agency saying he is ready to answer its questions via video conferencing after March 12.

The ED blamed Kejriwal in its first complaint for intentionally ignoring its summons and raising frivolous objections. The agency added Kejriwal was summoned over the role of several people, including himself, in the excise policy, and to trace the proceeds of the alleged crime.

Aam Aadmi Party leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh have been among those arrested in the case. Kejriwal has been mentioned in the ED charge sheets, but has not been named an accused.
Good evening! Here are the top stories in your evening news bulletin. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the gathering during the 'Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir' program, at Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar on Thursday. (ANI )

Narendra Modi in Kashmir: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing a public rally in Srinagar's Bakshi stadium, on Thursday hit out at the Opposition, including the Congress, claiming that some families were misguiding not only the people of Jammu and Kashmir, but the entire nation over the now-abrogated Article 370. The Centre-led by Prime Minister Modi abrogated the provisions of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, and bifurcated the erstwhile state into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. For decades, the Congress and its allies misled the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the country for political gains in the name of Article 370. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are now aware of the truth that whether Jammu and Kashmir benefited from Article 370 or only a few families took advantage of it. The talent of Jammu and Kashmir is getting its due respect today as there is no Article 370 now, Modi said. Read story.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Why temperatures dropping in Delhi: The mercury plunged five degrees below normal to 8.8C on Thursday, extending an unusually chilly start to March for the Capital. Delhis minimum temperature has now remained below 10C for the fourth straight day. Delhi last had three straight days of sub-10C minimum temperatures in March over 20 years back in 2003. Delhis minimum temperature was 9C on Wednesday and Tuesday. It was 9.5C on Monday. In March 2003, the minimum was below 10C between March 57 8.6C , 8.6C and 9.7C. The minimum temperature was below 10C for five consecutive days in March 1990. The impact of cold north-westerly winds was likely to continue, keeping minimum temperature around 9C on Friday as well. This is an unusual spell, largely arising due to the recent western disturbance on March 2 and 3. It led to fresh snowfall in the higher reaches in northwest India...ice-cold winds from the mountains was blowing towards the plains. This is keeping the day-time temperature in check and fairly chilly at night, said India Metrological Department scientist Kuldeep Srivastava. Read story

ADR moves Supreme Court on electoral bonds case: A day after the deadline for the State Bank of India (SBI) to submit details of electoral bonds (EBs) purchased since April 12, 2019, to the Election Commission of India (ECI) ended, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) approached the Supreme Court on Thursday demanding contempt action against the public sector bank for defying the courts directive. ADR, a non-profit organisation which is the lead petitioner in the judgment striking down the Centres 2018 EB scheme, mentioned the matter before Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud seeking a hearing on March 11 when the SBIs application for extension of time till June 30 is likely to be taken up. Advocate Prashant Bhushan submitted before the CJI that the ADR has sought initiation of contempt proceedings against the SBI for abiding by the court-mandated deadline of March 6 to submit full details of EBs purchased since April 12, 2019, to the ECI. Read story

All eyes on Congress election meeting today evening: Those lobbying for tickets, it is said, at the Congress headquarters on New Delhis 24, Akbar Road, never get it as the real influence works elsewhere. But this does not deter party workers from around the country from flocking to the headquarters in an election season. Aspirants have been queuing up with their resumes for tickets at the headquarters ahead of the national polls this summer even as the party is yet to take a call on them including whether Rahul Gandhi will contest again from Amethi. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was first off the blocks with its list of 195 candidates before two of them withdrew their candidature. The Congresss Central Election Committee is scheduled to hold its first meeting for the selection of candidates at 6pm on Thursday. There has been a growing clamour for Gandhi to contest from Amethi, which he represented from 2004 to 2019 but lost in the last election. On February 19, Gandhi spoke about his long-standing relationship with Amethi when he arrived there as part of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Gandhi spoke about social justice and unemployment while underlining a bond of love with Amethi. Read story

IndiGo seat without cushion: Yavanika Raj Shah, an X user travelling with IndiGo from Bengaluru to Bhopal, was shocked to find missing cushions on two seats. Later, Shah shared about the incident on the microblogging platform with a sarcastic remark. She also added a picture of the cushionless seats. After the post went viral, the airlines also responded to it. The image she shared shows two seats without any cushions on them. IndiGo also took to the comments section and wrote, "Ma'am, thank you for speaking with us. The seat cushions were replaced prior to the flight for cleaning purposes. Our cabin crew promptly informed the customers who were allotted these seats. This is a standard practice for cleaning during transit as and when required. We are committed to providing the highest standards of cleanliness and hygiene to our customers." Read story
Former Delhi University professor Gokarakonda Naga Saibaba was released from a prison in Nagpur on Thursday two days after the Bombay high court acquitted him and five others, saying the prosecution failed to prove their suspected links with Maoist rebels. Former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba being released from the Nagpur Central Jail, two days after the Bombay High Court acquitted him in an alleged Maoist links case in Nagpur on March 7. (PTI)

Saibaba cited his poor health and said he would be unable to talk. I will need to receive medical treatment first, and then I will be able to speak, he said as his wife, Vasanta Kumari, brother Ramdev, friend Ravi Chandra, lawyer Nihalsingh Rathod received him outside the jail around 11am.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Saibabas family waited outside the prison throughout the day on Wednesday for his release but were told that the jail authorities had received a confirmation order.

Also Read | Hope no future obstacles to his freedom, says Vasantha Kumari on Saibabas release

The high courts Nagpur bench overturned a 2017 judgment of a sessions court in Gadchiroli sentencing Saibaba to life imprisonment. It emphasised that merely accessing content related to Communist or Maoist ideology, including violent videos, was not inherently illegal unless there was concrete evidence linking the accused to specific acts of violence or terrorism.

Pandu Pora Narote, who was among those acquitted along with Saibaba, passed away in prison in August 2022. During his decade-long imprisonment, Saibaba contracted COVID-19 twice and swine flu once. He was diagnosed with health conditions, including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with left ventricular dysfunction, a brain cyst, kidney stones, and acute cervical spondylitis.

His wife alleged he did not receive the necessary treatment. She added her family was compelled to vacate university housing and received only half of his salary until 2021 when he was terminated from his position.

Also Read | Editorial: The tortuous path to justice

In 2022, Saibaba staged a three-week protest in Nagpur jail, including a four-day hunger strike, for a water bottle in his cell. He protested against a wide-angle CCTV camera recording the toilet and bathing area of the prison. The jail authorities later allowed him to keep a water bottle, and the camera angle was adjusted. Saibaba was refused permission to attend his mothers funeral in 2020.

In August last year, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Mary Lawlor criticized Saibabas prolonged detention as inhumane. Lawlor expressed serious concerns for his health and called for his immediate release.
Ms. Ma was two days into her part-time job at AA Bakery when she was stabbed eight times in May 2023. Since the attack, Ma, who asked that her first name be withheld, has moved out of her Chinatown home and fears for her safety. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

Ms. Ma struggles to sleep.

Late at night, the 60-year-old survivor of the AA Bakery stabbing replays what happened to her on May 29, 2023. The former cashier hasnt forgotten a single detail about that day: the attackers trembling mouth, the flash of a knife, the odd sensation of blood spurting from her head, the customer who kept yelling, quickly, quickly! as she faded in and out.

Ma, whom the Chronicle agreed to identify only by her last name because she was the victim of a violent crime, has a lot of unanswered questions: Why did this happen? What should happen to Fook Poy Lai, the 61-year-old man who allegedly attacked her one week after being released from a state mental hospital and who previously stabbed the bakery owners father in 2016? And will her adopted city of San Francisco, her home since 2003, ever feel safe again?

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Im so scared, Ma said in Mandarin. I dont know if this happens again if Ill be so lucky to survive.

The attack

Ma cradles her left hand, which is still weakened from nerve damage sustained when she was stabbed in May 2023 while working at AA Bakery as a part-time cashier. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

It was a busy Monday morning and Mas second day working the cash register at the Chinatown bakery. She had picked up the part-time job in addition to her housekeeping duties at the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott hotels out of boredom, she said.

Ding Lee, a bakery regular and longtime board member for the historic Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, was having his usual  a pineapple bun and milk tea  with his best friend. Lee was getting a cup of water with his back turned to the counter when he heard a scream.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

He whipped around and saw a man, arms locked around the cashier, stabbing her as she struggled. He could see blood spurting from her back and knew, from his decades working as a surgical technician before retiring, that she might have minutes to live. He started counting.

Ma broke free and collapsed in front of the counter. Lees friend rushed to her side and staunched the blood while Lee called 911. Lai walked out of the bakery and stood on the sidewalk, witnesses said. It was a strange scene, Lee recalled, as passersby bustled past the storefront window, oblivious to the carnage inside.

Five minutes later, the police arrived. The attacker dropped his knife and was arrested without resistance, Lee recalled. About three minutes after that, the ambulance arrived.

Ma was stabbed eight times on her head and left shoulder.

I still dont know how I survived, how I got through it, she said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The aftermath

Nine months after she was stabbed while working at AA Bakery, allegedly by a man who had been released from a state mental health hospital a week earlier, Ma struggles to sleep through the night and is scared of leaving her sisters house except for medical appointments. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

Ma is the middle of five children born in Toishan, a city in southern China, to a factory worker mom and bus driver dad. She immigrated to the U.S. with her then-teenage daughter in 2003. Her life philosophy is simple: Work hard and do good things for others, and good will come to you.

That culture of self-sufficiency makes immigrant Chinese women resilient, but it can also make them resistant to help, said Sarah Wan, executive director of Community Youth Center, a nonprofit serving monolingual Asian victims of crime. When an Asian person is attacked in San Francisco, CYC advocates are usually among the first people to visit them at the hospital to translate, explain medical procedures and help navigate life after being discharged.

They are afraid of people knowing they are victims, Wan said. They think people will blame them. They dont want to see mental health professionals, because they dont want people to think theyre crazy.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Wan visited Ma on her second day in San Francisco General Hospital, while she was still in intensive care. In the days after she was attacked, Ma was in relatively good spirits. She felt comforted by Wan and grateful to her daughter and two grandsons, who had flown 14 hours from China to be with her.

When her 6-year-old grandson saw her lying in the hospital bed, Ma recalled, he asked her, Grandma, if you were stabbed eight times, how are you still alive?

Everyone found it so funny. I felt it was a good question, Ma said. She recalled telling him, Its because Grandma has always been a good person. If I can help people, Id help them. So the heavens protected me.

But after she left the hospital, reality set in. Her wounds were taking a long time to heal. She had nerve damage in her shoulder that weakened her left hand, making it clumsy and useless, even after hours spent exercising it under orders from her physical therapist.

Having moved from her bustling Chinatown home to her sisters house on the citys outskirts, she felt robbed of her independence.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Before the attack, Ma was so cheerful that her friends nicknamed her kaixinguo, which literally translates to happy fruit but is the Chinese word for pistachio. She said she feels like a changed person now.

In her basement bedroom of her sisters house, she spends hours watching Chinese-language television news coverage of Bay Area attacks on Asian people. She finds it both stressful and comforting, she said: a reminder of how it could have been worse.

Ma still feels searing rage toward her attacker. She doesnt hate anyone, but said she hates him. She said she met with District Attorney Brooke Jenkins at a Chinatown restaurant and told her not to let him out.

I just hope that they only release mentally ill criminals after they have been treated and recovered from their mental illness, she said.

Lai was charged with multiple felonies, including attempted murder, and is in custody. His criminal proceedings have been suspended as the court evaluates whether he is competent to stand trial, according to the San Francisco District Attorneys Office. Thats because the court-appointed doctor has had difficulty scheduling a Cantonese translator for Lai, according to the Public Defenders Office.

In response to the AA Bakery attack, Assembly Member Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, introduced a bill requiring longer hospital stays for violent, mentally ill offenders.

Ma used to take walks in parks. Now, she walks in the paved backyard behind her sisters house, too afraid to leave it except for doctor appointments.

The recovery

Ma performs physical therapy as she recovers from injuries sustained from being stabbed in May 2023 while working at AA Bakery in San Franciscos Chinatown. With support from the nonprofit Community Youth Center, Ma is working to recapture the joy that defined her life and got her nicknamed Pistachio by her friends. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

The Community Youth Center has been a bright spot in her nine-month recovery. Pulled into the movement to combat anti-Asian hate in 2020, the nonprofit provides culturally sensitive victim services at all hours of the day, which the citys Police Department and District Attorneys Office cannot, said Michael Wong, program director of victim services.

They dont have language capacity to cover all Asian victims  Vietnamese and Thai and Cambodian, Wong said. Even if they have capacity, they dont have time to case-manage for the victim.

In 2023, the nonprofit distributed about $35,600 in victim support funds to 41 victims and served 83 Asian American and Pacific Islander victims of crime, mostly of assaults and robberies, including Ma.

Ma says talking to the Cantonese-speaking Community Youth Center counselor helps. For an hour each week, she pours out every miserable thought, and it makes her feel lighter. She said she tries to hide her despair from family members because she doesnt want to upset them.

Because they have seen me go through such terrible things, they know Im not happy, she said. But I try hard to make sure they dont know about it.

Ma leans on Raymond Zhang and Jackie Deng, her victim advocates from the Community Youth Center. Zhang, 25, joined CYC fresh out of graduating from UC San Diego to run workshops teaching the elderly how to use smartphones. He joined the victim advocate team during the pandemic.

After the attack, Ma had no idea how she would pay rent on her Chinatown single-room-occupancy unit. Zhang helped her obtain $2,000 from the Community Youth Centers victim support fund to cover two months rent.

The victim advocates also helped her apply for worker compensation and a program offering free Muni rides in San Francisco to disabled residents. They drive her to doctors appointments. The job can be emotionally difficult, Zhang said.

Its something we have to carry in our heart and just know we have to help the victim because theyre the one who suffers the most, Zhang said.

In February, Ma dyed her hair burgundy. Its still cropped short from being shaved for surgery. The vibrant color makes her feel more like herself. She dons leopard print leggings and orange slippers adorned with the words Im happy in bubble letters, to welcome visitors to her sisters home.

Ma doesnt know when shell dare leave the house alone again or when her injured hand will regain its strength. But the dream of traveling to China to see her grandsons keeps her going.
Kolkata: Former Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who resigned from service on Tuesday, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday afternoon drawing strong reaction from Trinamool Congress chairperson and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee who questioned the credibility of the judgments he passed. Former Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay joined the BJP on Thursday. (HT photo)

I will be an allegiant and disciplined soldier of the party. I will need advice from senior leaders every minute. Our primary target is to send off a corrupt government and a corrupt party. I am sorry to see Bengal falling behind in every sphere. Bengal needs a BJP government, Gangopadhyay said after accepting the partys flag from state and central leaders.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The joining ceremony was short and Gangopadhyay did not take questions from the media, saying he had explained himself before reporters twice since Sunday when he first announced his decision to quit service.

Amid speculation that BJP may field him as a candidate in the coming Lok Sabha polls, Gangopadhyay sent his resignation directly to the President on Tuesday morning, five months before retirement. It came into effect immediately under Article 217 (1) (a) of the Constitution.

Also Read: TMC will not last till 2026, says ex-Calcutta HC judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay

One of the statements Gangopadhyay made on Tuesday has made him a target of the ruling party, which was at loggerheads with the judge since 2022 over several of his judgements that went against the government and his remarks on top TMC leaders including the partys national general secretary and the chief ministers nephew Abhishek Banerjee.

While arguing on Tuesday that personal attacks by TMC leaders prompted him to join politics, Gangopadhyay said: I had very little time to decide. I approached BJP and BJP approached me over the last seven days. Thats why I was on leave during this period. I stopped adjudicating so that nobody can raise an allegation.

TMC leaders have alleged that irrespective of whether Gangopadhyay was on leave or not, his admission is a proof of a sitting judges connection with BJP. The party is consulting legal experts.

Addressing a rally of the TMCs women members in Kolkata on Thursday afternoon, where Abhishek was also present, Banerjee targeted Gangopadhyay, referring to him as BJP Babu instead of taking his name.

He was in touch with BJP while hearing cases. BJP Babu was passing one order after another under instructions from BJP and justice was crying in a corner. People of Bengal realize very well what sort of judgements were passed by him, Banerjee said.

Also Read: A decision that lowers the prestige of the judiciary

I may not be allowed to question a judge but I can always question a judgment. BJP Babu cancelled so many appointments. He could have told us to review the employments but instead he summarily took the jobs of so many youths while BJP raised a hue and cry, Banerjee said, indirectly referring to the bribe-for-job scam in the education department.

In May 2022, the judge ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the appointment of non-teaching staff (Group C and D) and teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission and West Bengal Board of Secondary Education between 2014 and 2021. The appointees allegedly paid bribes in the range of 5-15 lakh to get jobs after failing the selection tests. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which started a parallel probe into this, arrested the then education minister Partha Chatterjee in July 2022.

The judge cancelled the appointments of a few thousand teachers who were suspected to have paid bribe to get into service.

In April 2023, the judge ordered CBI to probe a suspected recruitment scam in civic bodies across Bengal. Both CBI and ED have told the Supreme Court that the two scams are related.

A host of TMC leaders, including Abhishek Banerjee, are suspects in these cases, the federal agencies have claimed in court.

Gangopadhyay ordered probes into 10 more cases in which various government departments were accused.

Dismissing Banerjees allegation that Gangopadhyay passed orders under instructions from BJP, the partys former state president Dilip Ghosh said: Had that been the case wouldnt we put Mamata and Abhishek Banerjee behind bars before others? This is a baseness allegation. BJP does not interfere in the functioning of courts.
Two days after resigning as a judge in the Calcutta High Court, Abhijit Gangopadhyay on Thursday joined the BJP. Former Calcutta High Court judge Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay joins BJP in the presence of BJP WB President Sukanta Majumdar and Leader of Opposition in State Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, at BJP office, in Kolkata on March 7.(PTI)

Earlier, on Tuesday, after resigning as the high court judge, he had announced that he would be joining the saffron party.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

"Today, I have joined a new field. I am happy to join the BJP and will work as a party soldier. Our objective is to oust the corrupt TMC regime from the state," he said after his official joining.

He was given a grand welcome at the BJP office in Salt Lake, as state party president Sukanta Majumdar handed him the party flag.

"West Bengal's politics needs a person like Abhijit Gangopadhyay," BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who is also the leader of the opposition in the assembly, said.
New Delhi The right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, live a life free from disease and sickness, and for farmers, access to uncontaminated soil must be protected even as the country generates employment and industry, the Supreme Court said in its judgment while putting its stamp of approval on the closure of Vedantas copper smelting plant in Tamil Nadus Thoothukudi. The Supreme Court ruled that the plant should stay shut. (ANI)

The ultimate aim of all our endeavours is for all people to be able to live the good life. Without these basic rights, increased revenue and employment cease to have any real meaning. It is not merely about economic growth but about ensuring the well-being and dignity of every individual, emphasised the bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, in its February 29 judgment that was released on Wednesday.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

As we pursue development, we must prioritise the protection of these rights, recognising that they are essential for sustainable progress. Only by safeguarding these fundamental rights can we truly create a world where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and prosper, added the bench, also comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.

The 17-page judgment by the bench provided detailed reasons why the plant by Sterlite Copper, the Indian subsidiary of Vedanta Resources, a global mining and metals conglomerate, must stay shut. The plant has remained shut since 2018 over violations of environmental norms and protests of the local population against its operation.

Outlining the doctrines of sustainable development, the polluter pays principle, and the public trust doctrine, the top court underlined that these serve as a reminder that economic activities should not come at the expense of environmental degradation or the health of the population.

In addition, the public trust doctrine, recognised in various jurisdictions, including India, establishes that the state holds natural resources in trust for the benefit of the public. It reinforces the idea that the state must act as a steward of the environment, ensuring that the common resources necessary for the well-being of the populace are protected against exploitation or degradation, noted the bench.

The 17-page judgment added that the public trust theory and sustainable development standards highlight balancing economic interests with environmental and public welfare concerns.

While industry has played a role in economic growth, the health and welfare of the residents of the area is a matter of utmost concern. In the ultimate analysis, the state government is responsible for preserving and protecting their concerns, said the court.

The bench further rendered its views on the concept of intergenerational equity. The planet and its invaluable resources must be conscientiously conserved and responsibly managed for the use and enjoyment of future generations, emphasising the enduring obligation to safeguard the environmental heritage for the well-being of all, it said.

Stating that the right to a clean environment is an indispensable entitlement extended to all, the bench stressed that polluted air not only has a detrimental impact on all life forms including humans, but also triggers a cascade of ecological ramifications.

The same is true for polluted water, where pervasive contamination poses a profound threat to the delicate balance of ecosystems. The impact of environmental pollution and degradation is far reaching: it is often not only severe but also persists over the long term, said the court.

It lamented that the adverse effects of polluted air are felt more deeply by marginalised and poor communities.

It is an undeniable and fundamental truth that all persons have the right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, live a life free from disease and sickness, and for those who till the earth, have access to uncontaminated soil. These rights are not only recognized as essential components of human rights but are also enshrined in various international treaties and agreements...As such, they must be protected and upheld by governments and institutions worldwide, even as we generate employment and industry, it held.

With environmental concerns underpinning the judgment, the bench dismissed Vedantas appeal against the 2020 Madras high courts judgment that had upheld the shutdown notice to the plant by the Tamil Nadu government and the state pollution control board. It pointed out that repeated violations by the plant relating to disposal of copper slag, gypsum and other hazardous waste remained a matter of serious concern despite a slew of directives issued to Vedanta by the Supreme Court in 2013 to ensure proper authorisation and disposal mechanism.

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Tuticorin in May 2018 against a proposed expansion of Sterlites 400,000-tonne annual capacity smelter. After the protests turned violent and police opened fire, 13 protesters died.

A week later, the state pollution control board and the state government ordered the plant shut for alleged pollution.
Three-feet-tall Ganesh Baraiya didn't let his height stop him from achieving his dream of becoming a doctor. Due to his short height, now 23-year-old Dr Baraiya was disqualified from pursuing MBBS by the Medical Council of India, some years ago. An undeterred Baraiya then took the help of his school principal, approached the District Collector, the state Education Minister and then knocked on the doors of the Gujarat High Court, reported news agency ANI. Three-feet-tall Ganesh Baraiya didn't let his height stop him from achieving his dream of becoming a doctor. (ANI)

Baraiya lost the case at the Gujarat High Court. He then approached the Supreme Court, won the case in 2018 and was admitted into MBBS in 2019. Having completed his MBBS, Dr Baraiya worked as an intern at Sir-T hospital in Bhavnagar.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

"After I passed Class 12 and cleared the NEET exam to enrol into MBBS and filled up the form, the Medical Council of India committee rejected me for my height. They said that I would not be able to handle emergency cases because of my short height. Then, I spoke to my principal of Nilkanth Vidyapeeth Dr Dalpath Bhai Katariya, and Revasish Servaiya all about this, and asked them what we can do about it," Dr Baraiya told news agency ANI.

"They told me to meet the Bhavnagar Collector and the Gujarat Education Minister. Following the direction of the Bhavnagar Collector, we decided to take the case to the Gujarat High Court. Two other candidates were with us who were differently abled...We lost the case in the High Court but then we decided to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court," he added.

ALSO READ| Maharashtra Medical Council to launch an app to combat fake doctors in state

How Dr Baraiya's MBBS journey started

In 2018, the Supreme Court ordered his admission to the MBBS course. But by then, the 2018 admission to MBBS course had been completed. So the Supreme Court said that he would get admission in the 2019 MBBS course.

"I took admission at the Government Medical College at Bhavnagar and my MBBS journey started," shared Dr Baraiya.

ALSO READ| PGI Chandigarh doctors innovation paves way for easier recovery from long-bone fractures

First impression on patients

Dr Baraiya's first impression on his patients is influenced by his short height. He has shared that patients judge him for his height initially. But over time, they get comfortable and accept him as their doctor.

"Whenever patients see me they are a bit startled at first but then they accept me and I also accept their initial behaviour. They behave with me cordially and with positivity. They become happy as well," said Dr Baraiya.
The Congress manifesto is likely to feature a plan to give gig workers comprehensive social security cover, a road map to revamp the Goods and Services Tax (GST) with simplified structures to benefit small businesses and may also promise amendments to cut federal agencies overarching powers, party officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday. **EDS: IMAGE VIA @kharge POSTED ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2024** New Delhi: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge receives the party's draft manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by the Congress Manifesto Committee. (PTI Photo)(PTI03_06_2024_000344A)

The party may also repackage the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) programme  which found few takers during the 2019 elections  and offer 6,000 per month to the eldest woman in the countrys 20% poorest families.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The Congress manifesto committee handed over the draft manifesto to party chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday.

A senior member of the Congress manifesto panel said the party will reaffirm its commitment to a universal basic income scheme. The bottom 20% of the population needs income support to match the basic income of 6,000 per month, which may be given to the eldest woman of the household, said the person.

The Congress will also keep open the possibility of providing reservations for women in government jobs, said other members involved in framing the manifesto.

Also Read: Congress may assure scholarship package for caste groups in election manifesto

The social security cover for gig workers, which may be offered as a right-based law, will likely encompass pension, disability and life insurance. The plan has been modeled on a law that former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot implemented in the state last year.

Social security will be funded by a small contribution from the gig workers and a larger portion from the central government, said a person aware of the plan.

To be sure, the Narendra Modi-led Union government laid down provisions for social security for gig workers in the Code on Social Security, 2020. However, this law hasnt been implemented yet. The central law recognised gig workers and provided for framing of suitable social security schemes on matters relating to life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, old age protection, among others.

Also Read: Congress may assure scholarship package for caste groups in election manifesto

The manifesto committee has also proposed radical GST reforms to benefit micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). We are not asking for a repeal of the GST. But, in the manifesto, we will talk about radically reforming the indirect tax regime to provide MSMEs a fair and level-playing field. The tax structure will be simplified, said another panel member.

Officials also said the party aims to nearly double the number of existing scholarships for students and offer a matriculation-to-PhD scholarship package for students from SC, ST and OBC communities. On the economic front, the party will keep its eyes trained on creating jobs and attracting more private investment. Another Congress functionary who joined Rahul Gandhi for the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on Tuesday, said, Our manifesto will promise legal amendments to cut some arbitrary powers of federal agencies. In our meetings with stakeholders, many pointed out that ED and IT have been given sweeping powers to arrest anyone and that has set it a climate of fear.
Navy chief Admiral R Kari Kumar on Wednesday hailed the navys new MH-60Rs as among the most potent multi-role helicopters in the world, saying they will significantly enhance Indias maritime capabilities to secure its national interests. The navy received its first two MH-60R choppers at Kochi two years ago. (HT Photo)

As far as Indian Navy is concerned, we have an unequivocal commitment to the country --- of protecting, preserving, promoting and pursuing national interests in the maritime domain. With their cutting-edge sensors and multi-mission capabilities, the MH-60Rs will augment our maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare capabilities, he said as the navy raised its first squadron of the MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, imported from the US, at INS Garuda in Kochi.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The Seahawk squadron was raised with the six helicopters thus far delivered to the navy. India ordered 24 Lockheed Martin-Sikorsky MH-60R multi-role helicopters from the US four years ago to modernise its ageing helicopter fleet. The helicopters will strengthen the navys anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and surveillance capabilities.

All helicopters will be delivered by 2025.

The new squadron was commissioned as INAS (Indian Naval Air Squadron) 334, commanded by Captain M Abhisheik Ram. The Seahawk is the maritime variant of the Black Hawk helicopter. The helicopter has been rigorously tested in Indian conditions and is fully integrated into the naval fleet, and their advanced weapons, sensors and avionics make them ideal for the Indian Navys maritime security needs.

The highlight of the ceremony was a fly-past by a formation of the Seahawks and the traditional water cannon salute to mark the historic moment, the navy said in a statement.

The helicopter is designed for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, search and rescue, medical evacuation and vertical replenishment.

The navy received its first two MH-60R choppers at Kochi two years ago. The helicopters are expected to be the mainstay of the navys anti-submarine warfare, anti-ship warfare and airborne early-warning capabilities in the coming decades.

Armed with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, MK 54 torpedoes and advanced precision weapons, the twin-engine helicopters can operate from frigates, destroyers and aircraft carriers.

The commissioning of the advanced MH-60R helicopters by the Indian Navy marks the beginning of a new era of collaboration and partnership between the US Navy, the Indian Navy and Lockheed Martin. Our collaboration with India is rooted in a shared dedication to maritime security and ensuring a safe and open Indo-Pacific. As the proud manufacturer of the helicopters, we are committed to equipping the Indian Navy with state-of-the-art solutions to meet their 21st century security challenges, said Air Vice Marshal Michael Fernandez (retd), country head, Lockheed Martin India.

The navy first moved a case to buy multi-role helicopters, a critical operational necessity, around 18 years ago. The government-to-government contract for the MH-60R helicopters is worth around 17,500 crore.

The MH-60R helicopter will enhance Indias blue-water capabilities, extending the operational reach of the navy and supporting sustained naval operations across spectrums and over vast maritime domains. The Seahawks deployment in the Indian Ocean region will strengthen the Indian Navys maritime presence, dissuading potential threats and ensuring a secure and safe environment in this strategically crucial region, the navy said in statement earlier this week.
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar described India and Japan as natural allies during his on-going three day visit (March 6-8) to that country. Japan is also a QUAD partner of India along with Australia and the US with the goal of providing counter-balance to the world against authoritarian China. File photo of EAM Jaishankar with his Japanese counterpart Yoko Kamikawa

While EAM Jaishankar will be holding a strategic dialogue with his Japanese counterpart Yoko Kamikawa, the Indian Minister in his carefully crafted language has communicated that Japan should be prepared to deal with new India by shedding the past legacy. In short, the two countries will have to develop new rules of engagement and the bilateral relationship will stagnate if Japan behaves like a transactional power and does not share advanced technology with its QUAD ally.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Even though Japanese car makers have been in India for the past 25 years, the total car exports out of the country have not gone beyond USD 5 billion. Compare this with Apple exporting nearly 65000 crore worth of iPhones from its one lakh mobile manufacturing facilities in India in 2022-2023 and the big picture becomes even more clear.

Although both Japan and India are facing expansionist China on their doorsteps with Russia adding further pressure on Tokyo, the Fumio Kishida government is still hedging its bets on Beijing with Japans pacifist doctrine becoming a major hurdle in India-Japan defence cooperation. Another hurdle is Japans unwillingness to transfer technology to India especially when PM Modi is committed to the Make in India concept to make Bharat a military-industrial power.

It is due to reluctance of Japan on technology sharing and hard conditions on military platform sale to India that the deal to purchase 12 amphibious search and rescue aircraft from Tokyo was still born due to conditions imposed by Japanese leadership operationally.

Today, India is interested in manufacturing unicorn antennas and lithium ion battery based submarines for the Indian Navy in India through the transfer of technology route from Japan. While Japanese military leadership has shown keen interest in the Indian proposal at the apex level, it is quite evident that Tokyo is reticent in sharing top end technology with its QUAD partner even through the direct government to government acquisition route.

The unicorn antennas add to stealth of warships and the lithium battery submarines are several notches above operationally over the normal diesel-electric submarine and the advanced independent propulsion submarine as prolongs the endurance of submarines under water and adds to operationally with faster charging of battery.

India looks towards Japan as a key partner in its progress towards a developed nation. But time has also come for Japan to recognize that India is not the country it used to be a decade ago.
A 33-year-old Indian-origin woman on Wednesday appeared before a UK court charged with the murder of her 10-year-old daughter, who was found dead at their home in a town in the West Midlands region of England. Picture of Shay Kang as posted by Sandwell Police on X.

Jaskirat Kaur, also known as Jasmine Kang, appeared before Wolverhampton Magistrates Court charged with the murder of Shay Kang, described as bright and fun-loving in a tribute from her school. West Midlands Police said the girl had been found with injuries at an address in Rowley Regis on Monday and pronounced dead at the scene.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

"Our thoughts remain with Shays family and friends. Her tragic death has had a profound impact on those who knew her as well as the wider community. We ask that they are left to grieve in private as our enquiries continue, said Detective Inspector Dan Jarratt of West Midlands Police.

READ | Indian-origin woman in US loses life savings to online scam; met accused on dating app

"The community has understandably been left shocked by whats happened, and we'll continue to have a police presence and offer our support in the area over the coming days, he said.

Kaur had been arrested on Monday from the residential property where her daughters body was found. A cordon remains in place at the property on Robin Close and a post-mortem is to be held in due course to establish the cause of death.

At this stage we are not looking for anyone else as part of the investigation, the police said at the time.

Brickhouse Primary School, where Shay was a pupil, issued a statement to say the school was deeply saddened by the tragic death.

READ | Indian-origin man charged with murder of Indian woman in UK

Shay was a bright, happy, fun-loving child who was well liked by all, and she will be very sadly missed by everyone. School is the heart of the community and we have already begun working with our children and staff to support them following this devastating news, read the statement.

Tributes including toys, cards and balloons have since been laid near the police cordon on Robin Close in the town of Rowley Regis, where the schoolgirl lived with her mother. Some parents of children who attended the same school have also set up an online Go Fund Me fundraiser to collect money for Shay's funeral, with over GBP 3,800 raised so far.

The fundraiser reads: As you may be aware she had no family except her mum. The purpose of this is to come together as a community to help raise funds for her funeral and to also help with flowers, head stone etc.

She didnt deserve this at all and the best we can do is make sure she flys (sic) high in the most beautiful way.
Taking a dig at China, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said Beijing has not observed longstanding written agreements with India and blamed it for the bloodshed at the borders in 2020, the first in more than four decades. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addresses a gathering at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy on 'Broadening Horizons: India-Korea Partnership in the Indo-Pacific', in Seoul on Tuesday.(Jaishankar/X)

Speaking here at the inaugural Raisina Roundtable in Tokyo, an event by the think tank, Jaishankar also spoke about how he expected a change in Russias direction towards the rest of the world and it may likely want multiple options in Asia.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

On a two-day trip to Japan, Jaishankar elaborated on the changing world order, saying, There is a reality of a very big power shift in the Indo-Pacific. When there are very big shifts in capabilities and influence and presumably ambitions, then there are all the accompanying ambitions and strategic consequences.

Now, it's not an issue whether you like it or you don't like it. There's a reality out there, you have to deal with that reality, he said and added, Ideally, we would assume that everybody would say, okay, things are changing, but let's keep it as stable as we can.

Unfortunately, that's not what we have seen in the last decade of our own experience in the case of China, for example, is between 1975 to 2020, which is really 45 years, there was no bloodshed on the border, and in 2020, changed, he said.

We can disagree on many things, but when a country actually sort of does not observe written agreements with a neighbour, I think, you have caused ... because ... then raises a question mark about the stability of the relationship and frankly, about intentions, Jaishankar said in response to a question.

The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area.

The ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.

"We see it in conflict in Europe, in disregard for international law in Asia, and in the ongoing developments in the Middle East and often in the weaponisation of the normal," he said earlier in his prepared address.

"Longstanding agreements are not being necessarily observed, raising question marks about the stability of the environment in which we all operate," he said, referring to the 1993 Border Peace and Tranquillity Agreement (BPTA) and the 1996 agreement on Confidence Building Measures in the Military Field Along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas.

Answering a question after his speech, he said, "That is why for India, in a changing world, our own equilibrium, our own balances with other countries are changing as well. They don't have to be acrimonious, but the balance is changing."

The External Affairs Minister had on March 2 in Delhi raised a similar point while speaking at an interactive session of a think tank. China must adhere to border management pacts and there has to be peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) for improvement in Sino-India ties, Jaishankar asserted amid the lingering military face-off in eastern Ladakh.

In his remarks, in an apparent reference to Indias increasing economic strength, he said, We cannot become, in GDP, from number 11 to number five and (expect) everything remains the same. It will not remain the same.

But how to create new equilibriums ... in a less frictional manner ... I think that today, the management of the global order, some of us are trying to help. Some of us have other approaches to countries in various sectors and also that broadens the spectrum, the Minister added.

The Minister also made an interesting comment about Russia and its changing approach. Pointing out how, during the last two years, Russias relationship with the West has broken down because of the Ukraine conflict, he said, Economically, it means that a lot of access Russia had to the Western world is no longer there and historically, Russia has always put a premium that is the main axis for them.

So you actually have today the prospect that Russia is turning more and more towards Asia. It can also turn to other continents but I would say Asia is the most dynamic possibility for them, he observed.

The flow of Russian trade of investments of resources, and available collaborations towards Asian destinations will not be a short-term trend and continue for some years, he added.

So I expect, actually, almost like a change in Russia's direction towards the world and I think it has very interesting implications for us in Asia, because like any big power Russia will also want multiple options, Jaishankar added.
New Delhi: India and Japan on Thursday agreed on the need for new steps to prepare the bilateral relationship to respond to emerging geopolitical and geo-economic trends as external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Japanese counterpart Yoko Kamikawa held talks in Tokyo. EAM S Jaishankar held talks with Japanese counterpart Yoko Kamikawa in Tokyo (Twitter/@DrSJaishankar)

The two sides have made good progress in defence and security ties, Jaishankar told a media interaction, noting that the Indian Army is currently conducting a joint exercise with Japans Self-Defense Force in Rajasthan. The three services and the Coast Guard of the two countries are engaging with greater ease through a new arrangement on reciprocal access to logistics, he said.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

We agreed on the need for new steps...to make this relationship prepared for, and responsive to, the emerging geopolitical, geo-economic and geo-technological trends..., Jaishankar said.

There were exchanges regarding cooperation in the areas of military jointness and new domains such as cyber and space. The two sides also took stock of progress in their defence equipment and technology cooperation framework, he said.

Jaishankar said there is a lot of potential in economic cooperation for a quantum jump of Japanese investment into India, especially from SMEs. The two sides are working to achieve the shared target of five trillion yen in overall investments.

In the context of Indias commitment to the improvement of infrastructure, Jaishankar emphasised the importance attached to the timely execution of flagship projects such as the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed railway. He also welcomed Japans development role in Indias northeastern states, saying this will be crucial in transforming connectivity and industry in that region.

It will benefit not only our two countries but also other countries in the neighbourhood through a network of forward and backward linkages. We further agreed to explore coordinated development partnership initiatives by our agencies in third countries, he said.

We also concurred on the need to work together to enhance each others economic security and supply chain resilience by taking a strategic view of trade and technology. In this context, we discussed possibilities in the semiconductor ecosystem, green technologies and digital payments by leveraging our complementary strengths, he added.

Jaishankar said he had spoken to Kamikawa about the need for a more facilitative visa regime for Indian tourists and other citizens travelling to Japan. We also discussed the shared interest we had in providing greater avenues of mobility for Indian talent and Indian skills to Japan, he said.
Two teenagers were attacked and robbed by as many as 12 people on Wednesday afternoon at a park in San Franciscos Bayview neighborhood. Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle

Two 17-year-old boys were hospitalized after San Francisco police said they were attacked and robbed by around 12 people Wednesday afternoon at Hilltop Park in the citys Bayview district.

The attackers, who police said ranged in age from around 12 to 20, stole two cellphones and a pair of shoes from the teenagers, police said.

The attack occurred around 4 p.m. at the park. The two victims suffered injuries that were not life-threatening and were taken to a hospital for treatment, police said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
The death of a 30-year-old man from Telangana who was duped into fighting the war in Ukraine has brought anxiety to the family of another such young man stranded in Russia. Syed Nawaz Ali, a head constable with the Karnataka Police, said he's unable to contact his son and doesn't know whether he is alive, reported The Indian Express. This photo taken on February 22, 2024, shows a picture printout of Indian national Mohammed Asfan, seen wearing Russian military fatigues who last called family from the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don before being deployed amid the conflict in Ukraine.(AFP)

What should we do and whom do we need to approach? I want to see my son come back alive, Ali was quoted as saying.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

It has recently been revealed that three youths hailing from Kalaburagi, Karnataka, who ventured to Russia for employment as security guards, are now allegedly ensnared in a private military outfit and dispatched to the Russia-Ukraine border.

Also Read: Who was Mohammed Asfan, Hyderabad man forced to fight Ukraine war killed in Russia?

Syed Nawaz Ali last month penned a letter to Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner Fouzia Tarannum and state minister Priyank Kharge, urging immediate action to repatriate his son and companions.

The Karnataka government wrote to the External Affairs Ministry to take this matter seriously and come to their rescue immediately.

In what is said to be a job fraud, three from Kalaburagi district and one from neighbouring Telangana got stranded on the Russia-Ukraine border, after they were allegedly sent to Russia by their recruiters with a promise that they will be working as army security helpers, but were being forced to fight in Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine against their will.

The Indian Embassy in Moscow on Wednesday confirmed the death of the man from Telangana, identified as Mohammed Asfan, adding that they are in touch with the family here.

"We have learnt about the tragic death of an Indian national Shri Mohammed Asfan. We are in touch with the family and Russian authorities. Mission will make efforts to send his mortal remains to India," Indian embassy in Moscow said in a post on 'X'.

After the confirmation of Asfan's death, Syed Nawaz Ali, talking about his son Syed Ilyas Hussaini, said, He came home in December and stayed here for some days. It has been five days that we have been able to talk to Hussaini. He is not reachable and we do not know whether he is alive. I beg the government to save my child.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday alluded to a connection between the Enforcement Directorate raids at then TMC MLA Tapas Roy in January and his switching to the BJP weeks later. In a social media post on X, Kejriwal claimed that individuals are being coerced into joining the BJP under the threat of legal action. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal during press conference in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday, February 27, 2024. (HT PHOTO/ Hindustan Times)

"This is the truth of ED and Modi government," Kejriwal said. "How people are included in BJP by getting harassed by ED. After getting the ED raid done, the question is asked - where will you go - BJP or jail? Those who refuse to go to BJP, they send them to jail."

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Also Read: ED files complaint in court against Arvind Kejriwal for non-compliance of summons

Kejriwal asserted that joining the BJP seems to be a way to evade legal consequences, claiming, "If Satyendar Jain, Manish Sisodia, and Sanjay Singh join BJP today, they will get bail tomorrow itself. It is not that these three have committed any crime, they just refused to join BJP."

If I join BJP today, I will also stop getting summons from EDPrime Minister, be afraid of God. It is not the same all the time. And time is very powerful.

Tapas Roy resigned as TMC MLA on Monday, citing disillusionment with the party leadership, and joined the BJP on Wednesday.

"I have joined the BJP today, as I want to fight against the misrule and atrocities of the TMC," he said, after being handed over the party flag from BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar and Suvendu Adhikari here.

I will fight with all my might against the corruption and misrule of TMC. I will work under the leadership of Narendra Modi and follow the directives of the party till my last breath, he added.

Roy's decision to switch allegiance to the BJP raised a few eyebrows since his residence was raided by ED sleuths in January in connection with the alleged irregularities in civic body recruitments.
The Kerala cabinet on Wednesday decided to declare human-wildlife conflict as a state-specific disaster in the wake of recent spurt in human fatalities in wild animal attacks and announced several measures to mitigate the issue. A note from the office of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the cabinet decided to involve the state disaster management authority in coordination with other government departments in finding solutions to the vexing problem (PTI)

At least three people were reported killed in wild animal encounters in the state this week alone, triggering huge protests by locals and opposition parties in those areas. While Indira Ramakrishnan and Valsala were stomped to death by wild elephants in Idukki and Thrissur districts respectively, a farmer named Abraham was killed in a wild gaur attack in Kozhikode district.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

A note from the office of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the cabinet decided to involve the state disaster management authority in coordination with other government departments in finding solutions to the vexing problem. Committees will be formed at the state, district and grassroot level and responsibilities and modes of operations will be finalised soon.

The state-level committee will have the chief minister as the president, chief secretary as the convenor and ministers of forests, revenue, local self-government institutions and SC/ST welfare as members. This committee will provide essential directions at the state-level, the CMO statement said.

Another control committee will be set up at the state level with chief secretary as the president and secretaries of home, revenue, forest, LSG, SC/ST, agriculture departments, head of forest department, PCCF and chief wildlife warden and member secretary of disaster management department as members.

The government decided to appoint the Chief Wildlife Warden as the nodal officer for the human-wildlife conflict and set up a control room at the headquarters of the forest department with adequate communication facilities.

Among other measures announced by the cabinet on Wednesday are appointing more temporary watchers in areas inhabitated by people where wild animal attacks are frequent, clearing dense vegetation in private estates, plantations close to actual forests, strengthening rapid response teams with more personnel, equipment and vehicles, formation of special alert committees at forest stations and ensuring adequate water supply within forests for wild animals.

It was also decided to convene meetings with officials of neighbouring states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as part of building coordination in mitigating the conflict.

Meanwhile, late on Wednesday, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) issued an order to kill the gaur that killed a farmer in Kakkayam in Kozhikode district. The order was issued following huge protests by locals in the area that have been complaining of gaur attacks for the past few years. Several meetings were held in the presence of the district collector and the forest minister to address the demands of the family members of the victim and the locals.
Kochi: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched Indias first state-run over-the-top (OTT) platform CSpace in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. In the first phase, 42 films, including 35 feature films, six documentaries and one short film have been admitted to CSpace (Twitter Photo)

The platform, which will be managed by the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), will feature award-winning films, short films, documentaries and other content that have not received a wide theatrical release but have great artistic and cultural merit, said people aware of the matter. Those screened at major international film festivals will find an opportunity to be screened on CSpace.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

A curator panel of 60 eminent experts has been chosen by the KSFDC to evaluate content submitted to the platform. A panel of three members will judge each piece of content and decide whether it is worthy artistically of being screened through the platform, said the people.

In the first phase, 42 films, including 35 feature films, six documentaries and one short film have been admitted to CSpace and will be available to the public for streaming. CSpace is available for download on both Andriod and iOS.

The platform will operate on a pay-per-view basis. Users are required only to pay Rs.75 to watch a film and even less amount to view short films. Half the amount the public pays for a piece of content goes to its creator.

In January this year, KSFDC chairman and renowned filmmaker Shaji N Karun, told HT that CSpace was a parallel cultural move.

He said CSpace would stream the kind of varied or different films made in Malayalam that deserve to reach a global viewership. Our objective is to improve the quality of our audience. Right now, Tamil and Telugu films are the highest grossers in theatres, in Kerala. We want to help change the behaviour pattern of the audience, he said.

CSpace was launched at a time when the Malayalam cinema is finding resonance in different parts and corners of India and the world thanks to the existing OTT giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Known for realistic storytelling and content-driven scripts, Malayalam films led by its new-age actors and technicians can transcend language barriers and cultivate new fans.

There is a cost of almost 50% we are bearing to ensure technical aspects of a film, rental cost, quality upgrades, website maintenance etc. The remaining 50% of the revenue from a film being streamed will go to its producer. If its a director who got a state or national award, a share of the revenue will be given for intellectual rights of the film as well. This is a creator-friendly platform in that sense where we are giving them a slice of the revenue, Karun has earlier said.
There was a time in the not-too-distant past when the Muslim vote was considered as the power behind the throne A little vote swing here, a marginal shift there could be the difference between victory and defeat. Prime Minister Modi subsequently held several events with notable Pasmanda Muslims later in the year. (AFP File Photo)

Not anymore.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi sounding the bugle for electoral battles to be fought in 2024, with his clarion call of `400-paar, there are 400-plus battles lined up in New India, which will further underline the fate of this once powerful vote bank.

The establishment of Ram Rajya, the onset of Amrit Kaal and Treta Yuga and the emergence of Ayodhya- Dham are building blocks of this New India. It is leaving behind the political legacies of the Gandhi-Nehru era in the face of the rising tide of Hindutva.

Naturally, such a tectonic shift in the political paradigm has consequences. In popular election analyses, Muslims are often treated as a homogeneous voting bloc. In reality, they are as divided on economic and class lines as any other bloc.

So, how are the Muslims reacting to these new changes? Certainly, there appears to be some evidence of consolidation. Studies of Muslim votes in state assembly elections since the 2019 general elections, Modis second term, suggest that.

Surveys by the Lokniti Programme for Comparative Democracy at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) show that in the 2020 Bihar elections, about 77 per cent of Muslims voted for the anti-BJP Mahagathbandhan; in the 2021 West Bengal elections, 75 per cent of the community voted for the incumbent Trinamool Congress; and in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh elections, 79 per cent of Muslims voted for the opposition Samajwadi Party.

There are at least two features of the doctrine of New India which are relevant, says Hilal Ahmed, associate professor, at CSDS. First, it offers a revisionist interpretation of the post-colonial history of Indian politics. The Congresss emphasis on a socialistic pattern of society is described as an economic betrayal while accommodation of Muslim leaders in non-BJP parties is termed as a form of appeasement. Second, it is argued that the role of the state is to facilitate the smooth functioning of the market and, therefore, there is no need for old style identity-based affirmative action.

Caste remains relevant to the Muslim community, even though it may not have a religious or ideological underpinning; it manifests socially in a hierarchical form like caste in Hindu communities. Muslim caste identity is divided into three categories: Ashraf, Ajlaf, and Arzal. The Ashraf are self-proclaimed descendants of Muslim immigrants who came to the Indian subcontinent from the Middle East and Central Asia. The Ajlaf and Arzal are primarily Hindus who converted to Islam and correspond to Backward Class (OBC) and Dalit subcastes, respectively.

These two backward formations have begun to refer to themselves collectively as Pasmanda, a Persian term for those left behind. And it is this grouping which has been the object of BJP's attention. It came in the form of the ruling party's outreach to the Pasmandas during its 2022 national executive meeting in Telanganas capital city Hyderabad.

Prime Minister Modi subsequently held several events with notable Pasmanda Muslims later in the year. Feyaad Allie, a post-doctoral fellow in the Government Department at Harvard University, conducted a survey of 2,000 Muslims in 2022 in UP.

When asked about state elections in Uttar Pradesh in 2012, a small percentage of Muslim voters reported that they voted for the BJP candidate. By 2017, 12.6 per cent of general Muslims and 8 per cent of Pasmanda Muslims reported support for the BJP. Interestingly, by the 2022 state elections, BJP support among general Muslims fell to 9.8 per cent while support among Pasmanda Muslims increased slightly to 9.1 per centthe BJPs recent inroads with the Pasmanda communityalong with targeted 2024 election outreach  suggests that increased Pasmanda support for the BJP is entirely possible. But when this outreach occurs alongside efforts to mobilize Hindus on their collective religious identity, voting for the BJP can become a hard sell for Muslims, regardless of caste," he noted in an essay for Carnegie Endowment.

Yet, the comparison tells the story. After the 2019 elections five per cent of Indian Members of Parliament are Muslim, while they make up around 15 per cent of the countrys population, commented data journalist Katharina Buchholz.

For comparison, the current Lok Sabha is more than 90 per cent Hindu, while Hindus make up just under 80 per cent of the Indian population.

In the earlier 16th Lok Sabha, in 2014 when Modi was elected to power for the first time, Muslim representation had dipped to its lowest so far at 22. Its highest mark was in 1980, with the landslide victory of Congress under Indira Gandhi, which elected 49 Muslim MPs, the highest number, in the Lok Sabha.

When the Sachar Committee Report, Social, Economic and Educational Status of Muslim Community of India, was presented in 2006, it raised an age-old issue still haunting New India in 2024. The general sense of unease among Muslims can be seen on a number of fronts  in the relationships that exist between the Muslims and other Socio-Religious Communities (SRCs), as well as, in the variations in understanding and interpreting them, it reported.

Adding to this war of perceptions, says Hilal Ahmed, It is worth noting that the doctrine of New India is religion neutral. This stated neutrality contributes directly to the Modi-led BJPs attitude towards Muslims in an interesting manner. BJP leaders speak of Muslims in two distinct ways: Muslims of India are part of an international Islamic ummah, and for that matter they have to prove their patriotism.

Second, Muslims are an unimportant constituent of a larger national community, the citizens, and therefore, there is no need to address them as a specific social group/minority. In other words, Muslim identity is either defined as a visible threat to the nation or it is invisiblized to reproduce the nation as an undifferentiated collectivity.

The paradoxes continue to grow as New India goes to the polls: Muslim participation in the electoral processes may not ensure Muslim representation in Parliament; diversity of Muslim population is adding to under-representation in governance; Muslims have seen their community leaders unable to meet voter aspirations. How can Muslims today work their way across these paradoxes and remain as rightful citizens of the Republic? The next few weeks may provide an answer.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of spreading false information about Sandeshkhali, where women have accused TMC leaders of sexually abusing them, and asserted that the state is the safest place in the country for women. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee leads a procession on the eve of International Women's Day in Kolkata on March 7.(AP)

Banerjee, who is also the chairperson of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) made the remarks while addressing a TMC Mahila Wing Rally in Kolkata.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

"Some people are spreading fake information about Sandeshkhali. BJP leaders are spreading canards about the safety of women in West Bengal but they maintain a stoic silence when women are tortured in BJP-ruled states," Banerjee was quoted as saying by PTI. "West Bengal is the safest state in the country for women," she said.

Mamata Banerjee's remarks come a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi tore into the TMC over the alleged sexual assaults in Sandeshkhali saying that the womens rage will not be confined in Sandeshkhali and will sweep through West Bengal.

TMC has committed a grave sin by torturing mothers and sisters. Anybodys head will hang in shame after seeing what happened in Sandeshkhali. But the TMC is not bothered about your pain. The TMC government is using its full strength to shield the culprits. But the state government first got a shock from the high court and then the Supreme Court, Modi said.

In Thursday's speech, she also criticised former Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who joined the BJP earlier today.

"We will ensure your defeat no matter from where you contest in the Lok Sabha polls," Banerjee said.

She also accused the former high court judge of taking away jobs of thousands of youths through his judgements. "The youths will not forgive you. All your judgments are under question. We will ensure your defeat," she alleged.

Sandeshkhali case



The island village of Sandeshkhali in the North 24 Parganas district has been in the eye of the storm since January 5, when ED officers arrived to search the home of Shahjahan, a close aide of former minister Jyoti Priya Mallick, who was arrested in October last year in connection with an alleged ration distribution scam. The ED team came under attack from an angry mob, leaving three officers injured.

On February 7, other violent protests began erupting in Sandeshkhali and other nearby villages, with groups of residents led mostly by local women, alleging sexual harassment at the hands of local TMC leaders including Sheikh Shahjahan, his brother Sirajuddin, and other associates Shibaprasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar. Other villages have claimed that Shahjahan and his associates also indulged in landgrab.

Shahjahan, a former TMC zila parishad leader, was arrested by the state police on the orders of the high court on February 29. The CID later took over the investigation.

On Wednesday, Shahjahan, was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the state police on the orders of the Calcutta high court.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday criticised former Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hours ago. Former Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.(PTI)

"We will ensure your defeat no matter from where you contest in the Lok Sabha polls," Banerjee said an apparent reference to the former judge, according to PTI.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The Trinamool Congress chief also accused Gangopadhyay of taking away jobs of thousands of youths through his judgements.

"The youths will not forgive you. All your judgments are under question. We will ensure your defeat," Mamata Banerjee alleged, reported PTI.

Gangopadhyay, who resigned as a judge of Calcutta High Court on Tuesday morning, joined the BJP on Thursday.

He was given a grand welcome at the BJP office in Salt Lake, as state party president Sukanta Majumdar handed him the party flag, according to ANI.

"Today, I have joined a new field. I am happy to join the BJP and will work as a party soldier. Our objective is to oust the corrupt TMC regime from the state," Gangopadhyay said after joining the BJP.

He also spoke on the Sandeshkhali incident, where women have accused TMC leaders of sexually abusing them.

It is a very bad incident. The state leaders have gone there. They have been prevented from reaching there. Despite that, they have reached and stood beside the women there and BJP is taking up the cause of oppressed people in Sandeskhali, the former high court judge said, reported ANI.

Welcoming him into the party fold, Sukanta Majumdar said that Gangopadhyay as high court judge worked for deprived, exploited victims of Bengal.

"As a State President of BJP I welcome former Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay to our party, to the family of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I believe the way he has worked as a Justice for deprived, exploited victims of Bengal, he will carry forward that work with the leadership of the BJP".

"In the coming future, Bengal's politics will take a turn. This is the right time for the educated youth of Bengal to come forward and contribute to turning the politics of the state for good," he added.

Who is Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay?

A high court judge since 2018, Justice Gangopadhyay is known for his rulings which triggered controversies.

According to reports, Justice Gangopadhyay was born in Kolkata in 1962. He attended Mitra Institution, a Bengali medium school in south Kolkata.

After completing his graduation from Hazra Law College in Kolkata, Justice Gangopadhyay started his career in Uttar Dinajpur district, wherein he worked as a West Bengal Civil Service Grade A officer. He later quit as a civil service and began practising as a state lawyer in the Calcutta high court.

Justice Gangopadhyay was elevated to the post of additional judge in 2018 and became a permanent judge two years later.

As a high court judge, Justice Gangopadhyay sparked a major controversy last April by giving an interview to a TV channel. The then judge was hearing a case related to the school jobs for cash scam.
As scores of people from across Jammu and Kashmir thronged Srinagar's Bakshi Stadium to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally, People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday alleged that the government employees were being coerced into attending the event to project a false image of normalcy in the valley. The People's Democratic Party (PDP) president said the scene "stands contrary" to earlier visits by previous prime ministers like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.

In a post on X, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister claimed the government employees were compelled to gather at five in the morning in sub-zero temperatures at Budgam bus stand, where they were transported to PM Modi's rally.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Disheartening to see employees being forcibly mobilized to paint a pretty picture that all is well post 2019 & that people here are celebrating their own collective disempowerment & humiliation.

She compared this alleged situation unfavourably to past visits by previous prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr Manmohan Singh during the peak of the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. Mufti reminisced about how during those visits, common people attended the events with enthusiasm and returned with hope in their hearts.

But this time Kashmiris know that everything spoken at Bakshi stadium will be to showcase the so called benefits of illegal abrogation of Article 370 akin to putting salt to their wounds, Mufti claimed.

This visit is only meant to address & drum support amongst BJPs core constituency in the rest of India for the upcoming parliament elections, she added.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah had made a similar claim accusing the Jammu and Kashmir administration of "pulling out all stops" to ensure a crowd for Prime Minister Modi's rally in Srinagar and said the BJP would not be able to do so on its own.

"Employees, men and women in 1000s are being asked to assemble between 4:30 am and 5:30 am in the freezing temperatures to be bused to the venue. This participation isn't optional, it's compulsory. Employees who don't show up are been threatened with disciplinary action by their Dept heads," he said.

"Tomorrow the godi media and agencies will be gushing about the 'historic crowd' gathered to hear PM Modi in Srinagar. What they will conveniently forget to mention is that almost none of the people there will be attending of their own free will. The dictatorial Jammu and Kashmir government has pulled out all stops to give the PM a crowd because the BJP can't manage anything in J-K without the administration," Abdullah said in a post on X.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing a public rally in Srinagar's Bakshi stadium, on Thursday hit out at the Opposition, including the Congress, claiming that some families were misguiding not only the people of Jammu and Kashmir, but the entire nation over the now-abrogated Article 370. Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during the 'Viksit Bharat, Viksit Jammu & Kashmir' programme in Srinagar on Thursday, (PTI)

The Centre-led by Prime Minister Modi abrogated the provisions of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, and bifurcated the erstwhile state into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Follow Live Updates on PM Narendra Modi in Srinagar

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

For decades, the Congress and its allies misled the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the country for political gains in the name of Article 370. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are now aware of the truth that whether Jammu and Kashmir benefited from Article 370 or only a few families took advantage of it. The talent of Jammu and Kashmir is getting its due respect today as there is no Article 370 now, Modi said.

Also Read | Who is Kashmir's Nazim who impressed PM Narendra Modi and got a selfie?

Modi arrived in Srinagar to unveil a slew of development projects worth more than 6,400 crore and address a public meeting. This is Modi's first visit to the Kashmir valley after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

Modi attended the "Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir" programme at Srinagar's Bakshi Stadium where he announced multiple projects related to agriculture and tourism.

Modi unveiled multiple development projects worth more than 6,400 crore at the 'Viksit Bharat, Viksit Jammu Kashmir' programme at the stadium.

"The feeling of coming to this heaven on earth is beyond words There was an era when the law implemented in other parts of the country could not be implemented in Jammu and Kashmir. There was an era when schemes for the welfare of the poor were implemented across the country, but our brothers and sisters of Jammu and Kashmir were deprived of the benefits. And see now, how the times have changed," Modi said at the public gathering.

He also distributed appointment letters to nearly 1,000 newly recruited government employees in Jammu and Kashmir and also, interact with the beneficiaries of various central schemes, including women achievers, farmers and entrepreneurs.

Also Read | PM Modi folds hands seeing majestic Shankaracharya Hill during Kashmir visit

Hundreds of BJP supporters, wearing tricoloured turbans, also reached the venue while security personnel had a tough time managing the crowd. Officials said tight security arrangements were in place but there were no restrictions on the movement of people.

Life was normal across the Kashmir valley and most of the shops and other business establishments were open.

The security apparatus has secured the road from Badamibagh Cantonment to Bakshi Stadium. Tricolours, BJP flags and hoardings welcoming Modi have been put up along the route that will be taken by Modi. Stringent security arrangements have been put in place to ensure an incident-free visit, they said.

Security personnel have been deployed in large numbers along the routes to be taken by Modi in Srinagar while barricades have been set up at several places, they said.

The prime minister also launched 43 projects that will develop a wide range of pilgrimage and tourist sites across the country. He also launched the first-ever countrywide initiative to identify the pulse of the nation on tourism in the form of 'Dekho Apna Desh People's Choice 2024'.
Assam chief minister and Northeast Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies will win 22 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the northeast in the upcoming general elections. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. (ANI Photo)

Out of the 25 seats, NDA will win 22. Thats confirmed. We might not win 3 seats in Assam. The figure might increase to 23 seats for us as well. Its going to be a simple election (for us). Nothing much to worry about, he said.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

In 2019, the BJP had 14 seats while its allies bagged 4, taking the NDA total to 18. In Assam, the party had won 9 seats, with Congress bagging 3 and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and an Independent candidate winning one seat each.

We will surely win 11 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam. Theres no competition there. And God willing, we might win 12 as well. Our candidates will win with margins of 100,000-200,000 votes this time. We are not too bothered about the elections and are focusing on development work, Sarma said.

BJP is contesting on 11 seats in Assam and its coalition partners, the Asom Gana Parishad and the United Peoples Party Liberal (UPPL), will put up candidates in two seats and one seat, respectively.

Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, Sarma also briefed about Prime Minister Narendra Modis two-day visit to Assam starting Friday, during which he will inaugurate, or lay foundation stone of central and state government projects worth around 18,000 crore.

Sarma said Modi will arrive in Assam on Friday evening and spend the night at the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR). The following morning he will visit the park for around two hours before departing for Arunachal Pradesh where he will take part in two programmes.

He will return to Assam later in the afternoon and inaugurate the 84-feet-tall statue of legendary Ahom general Lachit Borphukan at Jorhat with a 41-feet-tall pedestal. He will address a public rally at Meleng Meteli where the PM will inaugurate several central and state government projects, Sarma informed.

The PM will deliver 5,55,555 houses to Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana (PMGAY) beneficiaries and inaugurate the new Tinsukia Medical College and Hospital. He will also lay the foundation stone of Sivasagar Medical College and Hospital. A cancer care unit for children valued at 300 crores will be inaugurated virtually.

He will inaugurate several petroleum projects, including the expansion in capacity of oil refineries in Digboi and Guwahati in Assam. The PM will also inaugurate several railway projects, the CM said.
President Xi engages in lively discussion with deputies

16:43, March 07, 2024 By Xu Wei ( Chinadaily.com.cn

President Xi Jinping takes part in a deliberation on Tuesday with his fellow deputies from the delegation of Jiangsu province at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing. [Photo/Xinhua]

For the national lawmakers from Jiangsu province, the panel discussion with President Xi Jinping on Tuesday afternoon was a moment they "have long waited for". It was a session permeating messages of confidence, encouragement and vigor.

The president, who represents the province as a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress, engaged in lively deliberations with his fellow deputies over the nation's top issues: ensuring self-reliance in science and technology, pursuing high-quality development, better preserving cultural heritage, advancing the common prosperity drive and amplifying craftsmanship.

He highlighted the important role of Jiangsu, an economic powerhouse that accounted for about one tenth of the national GDP, as the nation forges ahead in the Chinese path to modernization.

He urged deputies from the province, located in China's more developed eastern region, to "assume major responsibilities'' and contribute to the nation's overall development with stronger confidence and enthusiasm.

Xin Changxing, the Party chief of the province, shared with the president how the vision put forward by Xi on the province's development has been translated into reality.

Last year, the province's GDP grew by 5.8 percent year-on-year, higher than the national average of 5.2 percent, with its R&D intensity - the ratio of R&D to GDP - reaching 3.2 percent, higher than the national average of 2.64 percent.

A standout moment came when Wu Huifang, the Party chief of Yonglian village in Zhangjiagang, shared with the president his personal stories and the development of his village.

Last year, the village's income from industries and the agricultural sector reached 161.6 billion yuan ($22.4 billion), with the average income of its residents reaching 73,000 yuan.

The president underlined the example of the village as a shining example for the nation's common prosperity, an essential requirement for the Chinese path to modernization.

"On the path of rural vitalization toward common prosperity, you're the forerunners, and (you) should forge this path ahead," he said.

Xi also responded positively to the account shared by Sun Jingnan, a welder from CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Co.

"Master craftsmen are the cornerstone and pillars of the Chinese nation's edifice," he said. "As the transportation sector advances step by step, leading internationally, the artisans play a crucial role. It's not enough to have well-designed blueprints; ultimately, it depends on the skill of the welders."

He highlighted the need to develop China's vocational education, foster the spirit of craftsmanship, and ensure good working conditions and treatment for them.

The president also showed special interest as he listened to the contribution from Song Yan, the deputy head of the Nanjing Museum Administration.

He asked Song about the preservation of the ancient city walls of Nanjing, before sharing his personal attachment to museums.

"I have loved visiting museums since I was a child. When I was young, I visited almost all the museums in Beijing," the president said as he recollected memories of him riding a bicycle to school and how Beijing's ancient city wall had impressed him.

He called for better construction of the nation's museums and fully leveraging the educational function of museums to enhance people's sense of history through in-depth engagement with museums.

The word "people" was among the most-mentioned throughout the interaction, which lasted about 90 minutes.

Xi said he was more than delighted to see the people living happy lives during his two fact-finding trips to the province last year.

He called for stronger precautionary measures to be adopted in ensuring work safety and to protect people's life and property.

"We must continue to put the people at the center, and strive to improve the level of public well-being and consolidate the momentum of economic recovery."

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Graffiti stenciled outside Boichik Bagels Berkeley flagship location. Owner Emily Winston called the graffiti, which says Israel baby killer, antisemitic. Provided by Emily Winston

Boichik Bagels in Berkeley was targeted with antisemitic graffiti, owner Emily Winston said Thursday.

The words Israel baby killer were spray-painted in three spots on the sidewalk outside Boichiks College Avenue store Wednesday afternoon, Winston said. She believes the graffiti was placed there in broad daylight sometime after the manager left at 3 p.m.

Right away I thought, This is antisemitic,  Winston, who is Jewish, told the Chronicle on Thursday. There are no two ways around it.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Since opening its first location in 2019, Boichik Bagels has become a Bay Area culinary sensation, with three San Francisco locations set to open this spring. Winston believes the shop was singled out for being a Jewish-owned business.

Winston said she has not made any public statements about the war in Gaza, but that I have received threats on Instagram because we have said nothing. People are posting that we should be boycotted.

Winston said she reported the graffiti to police Wednesday afternoon. She later used paint remover to scrub the graffiti off the sidewalk.

Berkeley police said they had no information to share about the incident.

It is not the first Jewish-owned store in the Bay Area to be targeted in recent months over anger at Israels response to the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Smitten Ice Cream, the popular Bay Area ice cream chain, shuttered its Mission District store for several days last year after vandals smashed some of the storefront windows and spray-painted FREE PALESTIEN on one window, misspelling Palestine.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

At UC Berkeley, administrators are struggling to navigate campus rancor over Israel and Gaza. A lawsuit filed late last year accused the university of allowing the unchecked spread of antisemitism on its campus after student groups barred Zionists as speakers at their meetings.

Winston said she has no plans to close her shop. She said the hurtful graffiti was unfair to the diverse group of staff members who make and sell the shops bagels.
People with exotic pets such as macaws, cockatoos or a variety of soft-shell turtles will have to register them with the state wildlife department, according to the Living Animal Species (Reporting and Registration) Rules, 2024 issued by the Union environment ministry on February 28. These rules do not apply to other wildlife that is already protected under the Wildlife Protection Act and cannot be kept in captivity (HT)

The species covered by these are those listed under Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Animal species means any living specimens of any animal species listed in Schedule IV appended to the Act which covers species under the Convention, the notification shared by ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) on Wednesday said.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

These rules do not apply to other wildlife that is already protected under the Wildlife Protection Act and cannot be kept in captivity.

Section 49 M of the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act 2022 provides for registration of possession, transfer, reporting of birth and death of living scheduled animal species which are listed in the Appendices of CITES and listed in the Schedule IV of the Act and it is the rules regarding this that have been issued on February 28 and have already come into effect.

India is a party to the CITES, which requires that appropriate measures are taken to enforce the provisions of the Convention.The newly inserted Section M of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 last year mandates that anyone possessing exotic wild animals listed under Schedule IV of the Act must obtain a registration certificate from the Management Authority to comply with CITES regulations. This registration requirement also applies to any transfer of the animals or birth of offspring from them, with the Rule prescribing the process for such registration. One significant challenge facing our ecosystems is the harmful impact of invasive alien species on native biodiversity due to accidental escapes. We hope that this Rule will aid in monitoring such accidental escapes by establishing accountability for both the owner and the Authority, said Debadityo Sinha, lead, climate & ecosystems, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.The opportunity created to launder illegal stocks of exotic CITES species vide the Voluntary Disclosure Scheme (VDS) in 2020 was brought to the attention of the Parliamentary Standing Committee which was looking into the amendments to the Wildlife Act. It was also submitted that the infiltration of exotic species poses a threat of zoonotic diseases due to lack of disease surveillance. The DRI also flagged this issue in Chapter IV of its report 2020-21 report titled  Smuggling in India. Strangely the Ministry of Environment, pushed ahead with the amendments and included the CITES Chapter in the Wildlife Act. As a result, we now have the Living Animal Species (Reporting and Registration) Rules, 2024 framed to permit registration of exotic species with various conditions specified. But with poor veterinary infrastructure and lack of trained officers in the Forest Departments, it would be naive to assume that the slew of conditions specified in the Rules and the consequent violations will actually be monitored on the ground. The ill-advised VDS then leading to the amendments, ignoring the suggestions of the Parliamentary Committee and now the Rules, have set the stage for legalising the hitherto illegal Pet Trade and establishment of Rescue Centres to the detriment of the countrys indigenous wildlife species, said Praveen Bhargav, Trustee  Wildlife First, Former Member  National Board for Wildlife.

The Union ministrys February 28 notification states that all persons possessing a living specimen of any of the listed animal species are required to apply for registrations of such possession within a period of six months from the date of commencement of these rules and thereafter within 30 of coming into possession of such animal species to the concerned State Chief WildLife Warden, through the PARIVESH 2.0 portal.

Further, any transfer of possession and birth of osprings of such specimen(s) shall also be registered and death of such specimen(s) shall be reported, to the concerned Chief Wild Life Warden through the PARIVESH 2.0 portal in accordance with these Rules, the notification states.

HT reported on April 13 last year that those who breed exotic species protected under Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and listed in Appendix 1 of schedule IV of Wildlife Protection Act 2022 can now obtain Breeders of Species Licence under the Breeders of Species Licence Rules, 2023 notified on April 24 by the union environment ministry.

Appendix 1 of schedule 4 of the Wildlife Protection Act 2022 has species of various bears and pandas such as the Red Panda, various species of dogs, wolves, cats, apes, chimpanzees, gibbons, lemurs, squirrels, armadillos, various birds including Hornbills, Macaws, Parakeets, Owls, various reptiles among others. Appendix 1 of schedule 4 are endangered exotic animals and plants and import rules are stricter for them.

The Wildlife Protection Act 2022 seeks better implementation of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). It proposes to rationalise and amend the schedules that list out wildlife species to ensure better care of seized animals and disposal of seized wildlife parts and products according to MoEFCC.

Wildlife experts said these rules and notifications indirectly regularlise/normalise the illegal acquisition of exotic species before the Wildlife Protection Amendment Act 2022 came into force. Although the precise proportion of trafficked animals within the pet trade remains uncertain, the sheer volume of wild animals traded annually in both domestic and international markets is staggering. Many pet owners perceive themselves as animal lovers, enthusiasts, and collectors, often unaware of the consequences of their demand for such animals. There are other motivations for owning and illegally trading wild animals, says Wildlife Trust of India.

According to recent reports, more than 70,000 native and exotic species were trafficked via air . The Centre had introduced a one-time amnesty program through the MoEFCC. In turn, a total of 32,645 individuals voluntarily declared their possession of exotic and native species from June to December 2020. The disclosures are not public.
The standing committee of the national board for wildlife (NBWL) has approved a proposal to divert 20.42 ha of forest land from the core zone of Kaziranga Tiger Reserve and 364.98 ha from the eco-sensitive zone of the reserve for widening and improvement of an existing road to a four-lane configuration. The standing committee also discussed implementation of eco-sensitive zones around national parks and sanctuaries (PTI)

The proposal includes construction of elevated road in three stretches of about 20 km, 10 km and 5 km which will act as a mitigation measure to facilitate movement of animals, the minutes of the standing committees meeting dated February 28 said.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

But environmental activists are not convinced. The standing committees clearance to the road on February 22 came days ahead of the Supreme Court order reprimanding the Uttarakhand government for allowing illegal constructions and felling of trees in the Corbett tiger reserve.

SC in its order on Wednesday gave a conditional nod for the Pakhro tiger safari at Jim Corbett tiger reserve limiting only injured, rescued or orphaned cubs in the wild to be kept there but also ordered the constitution of an expert committee to look into whether tiger safaris can be permitted in buffer or fringe areas of national parks in the country.The bench said: This is a classic case to show how the public trust doctrine has been thrown into the dustbin. It shows how nexus between politicians and bureaucrats led to heavy damage to the environment.

The widening of the road stretch in Kaziranga tiger reserve from Kaliabor to Numaligarh section has been approved with the standing committee specifying 34 conditions including that National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) shall not carry out any construction activities on the animal corridors during flood season (June to September); that the height of the flyovers should not be less than nine meters at any point of the horizontal portion of the flyover except t where they descend; that there be minimal tree felling ; that no construction activities be carried out between the sunset and sunrise within the protected area as well as animal corridors; and that a mitigation and wildlife conservation plan be submitted within two months.

SP Yadav, member secretary, NTCA said during the meeting, as per the minutes, the road passes along the periphery of Kaziranga Tiger Reserve and is a very important road. The mitigation measures suggested in the proposal would be state of the art and would be one of the best examples in the world.

Sandeep Kumar, principal chief conservator of forests, Assam said during the meeting that the proposal has been made for mitigation measures with complete elevation of road for three stretches of 20 km, 10 km and 5 km. The purpose of the project is to ensure 24 x 7 movement of animals across the road. The proposal is a mitigation plan in itself. Lot of research has gone into this mitigation plan with WII (Wildlife Institute of India) and NTCA on board. There are 11 corridors identified in the area and to facilitate the animal movement, the road would be elevated in three stretches, the minutes of the standing committee meeting dated February 28 states.

Now the question is how only an elevated road would ensure 24 x 7 movement of animals across the road if the villages / construction/ Resorts / boundary walls etc on the corridor are not completely removed? The obstruction to animals on the corridor are anyway going to be there. Agricultural land in the area is being converted to non agricultural rapidly and each passing day new 5 star hotels and resorts are coming up in the close vicinity of the park, said RTI activist Rohit Choudhury.

The standing committee has also considered other proposals in tiger reserves. It has recommended a proposal for use of 40.86 ha of forest land from tiger corridor connecting Nagarjuna Sagar Tiger Reserve (NSTR) and Sri Venkateswara National Park for development of expressways, economic corridors and inter corridors under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase- II: Bengaluru- Kadapa- Vijayawada Economic Corridor in Andhra Pradesh. SP Yadav said during the meeting that the project is of Bharatmala Pariyojana and the mitigation measures that have been suggested appear to be adequate and therefore the proposal may be recommended. The committee has recommended various conditions to mitigate impacts.

The standing committee also discussed implementation of eco-sensitive zones around national parks and sanctuaries. The notification of an ESZ contains various provisions but none of them are implemented on the ground which includes preparation of a zonal master plan for the area.

Members highlighted the case of construction of a highway in the ESZ of Velavadar National Park. Every year, several blackbucks die due to accidents here. The Standing Committee decided that the environment ministry shall take opinions and suggestions from the State/UTs on the landscape level conservation planning, matters related to implementation of provisions contained in the ESZ notifications and human-wildlife conflict issues in future NBWL meetings.

The minutes reveal that, with the exception of some mobile towers in the core areas of 2 Tiger Reserves, all other projects for roads, transmission lines, and infrastructure are recommended for approval, several of which involves core areas of Tiger Reserve. Even proposals like medical college are approved in the eco-sensitive zones of Sariska Tiger Reserve, which not being a site-specific activity could have been avoided. What is worrisome is that the minutes of minutes lack any details of the discussion among the Standing Committee members, and only provides the chronology of the recommendations by other authorities and conditions prescribed by the Standing Committee members. Consequently, it is difficult to even term them as minutes of meeting and to discern whether there have been actually any deliberations at all by the Standing Committee, said Debadityo Sinha, Lead- Climate & Ecosystems, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.

For the sake of transparency and public accountability, the deliberations of each members of the Standing Committee should be recorded in detail, and possibly video recordings should be made available, she added.
A decade after founding Jana Sena Party(JSP) amid a lot of hype, popular Tollywood actor Pawan Kalyan is now virtually at crossroads of his political career, facing a bleak future for himself and his party in the coming years. When Pawan Kalyan floated his party in March of 2014, he did not have much time to contest the assembly elections held in April of the same year (ANI)

Kalyan floated the Jana Sena in March 2014, three years after his elder brother and megastar of Tollywood Chiranjeevi merged his fledgling political party  Praja Rajyam  with the Congress, after he realised the futility of running a political party in the state where there is no political vacuum. He quietly accepted the Rajya Sabha seat and joined the then Manmohan Singh cabinet.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Ten years down the line, Kalyan is facing a similar situation as he is struggling to find a space in the Andhra politics dominated by two major regional parties  YSR Congress Party and Telugu Desam Party.

When Kalyan floated his party in March of 2014, he did not have much time to contest the assembly elections held in April of the same year, soon after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Except huge fan following and a euphoric Kapu community which he belongs to, his party had no organisational structure and leadership that would take a plunge into politics immediately.

So, the actor chose to support the Telugu Desam Party-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance and helped it come to power. But in the next five years, too, Kalyan did not make any attempt to build up his party as a strong force to reckon, even as the YSRCP led by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy grew from strength to strength and encroached upon whatever little space the Jana Sena had in the state.

Just before the 2019 elections, Kalyan suddenly woke up from the slumber and weeks before the assembly elections, started attacking the TDP led by N Chandrababu Naidu. He even criticised the Narendra Modi government for betraying the people on issues like granting special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

He joined hands with the Communist parties and the Bahujan Samaj Party to fight the 2019 elections, in which Jagan Mohan Reddy emerged victorious with a thumping majority of 151 out of 175 assembly seats. Jana Sena ended up with just around 5% vote share and one MLA, who eventually joined the YSRCP. Kalyan lost both the seats he had contested  Gajuwaka in Visakhapatnam and Bhimavaram in West Godavari.

Soon after the elections, Kalyan was back into his shell, coming out occasionally to take part in film shootings. He did not give up the politics completely  he dumped the Left parties and the BSP, and joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has also become insignificant in the state politics.

But the alliance was not visible on ground, as both the parties never organised any programmes together. The Jana Sena Party tested its ground by contesting the local body elections in 2020-21, but drew a virtual blank in all the districts. Kalyan took up a few public outreach programmes, but they were more of a personal show, rather than an effort to build up the party at the grassroots level.

Even as the TDP was bouncing back to regain its lost ground in the last five years and emerging as a major threat to the YSRCP, the JSP remain subdued with not many public outreach programmes.

However, Jana Sena Party continued to be the rallying point for the Kapu community and its allied sub-castes who account for nearly 25% of the electorate. The Kapus, who had voted mostly for YSRCP in 2019, were frustrated with the Jagan government and had been hoping to see Pawan Kalyan as their saviour in the 2024 elections. They desperately tried to project him as the prospective chief minister, but he did not live up to their expectations and did not focus on building up the party, political analyst Mallu Rajesh said.

As the elections were fast approaching, Kalyan realised that the TDP has emerged as the front runner for power; so, he entered into an alliance with the TDP. On the other hand, Chandrababu Naidu, too, desperately needed the support of the Kapu community and hence, joined hands with Kalyan.

But what disappointed the Kapu leaders is the way Kalyan meekly surrendered to the TDP and accepted only 24 assembly seats and three Lok Sabha seats as part of the alliance. Veteran Kapu leader and former MP Ch Harirama Jogaiah, who is heading Kapu Samkshema Sena, said the Jana Sena Party chief has terribly disappointed the community.

Jana Sena chief should have demanded a respectable number, around 50 assembly seats, from the TDP, as Naidu cannot come to power without Pawan Kalyans support. He should have also got a firm commitment from Naidu on power sharing between the two parties with him being in the CM post for the first two years, Jogaiah said.

Another Kapu leader and YSR Congress party spokesman Ambati Rambabu said Kalyan had betrayed the trust of his community. How can he expect to become the chief minister by accepting just 24 seats? It is better he merges his party with the TDP just like his brother Chiranjeevi merged his Praja Rajyam Party with the Congress earlier, he advised.

Kalyan, however, defended his move. I accepted only 24 seats because my primary objective is not to become the chief minister but to dethrone the Jagan government first, he said.

He admitted that he had not amassed wealth like Jagan nor did he have four decades of organised political experience like TDP. We are building every brick and house. We dont need suggestions. We need people who are ready to fight, he said.

Another political analyst Sriram Karri said 10 years was too long a period for any political party to sustain. When he launched the party in 2014, people looked at him as a hero. But in the last 10 years, he proved to be only a side-hero. The 2024 election was an opportunity for him to emerge as a hero again, but he chose to play second fiddle to the TDP by accepting 24 seats. Maybe, he is looking for 2029 elections, but that is a long way to go, Karri said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his reverence to the Shankaracharya Hill and the temple atop it during his Kashmir visit on Thursday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his reverence to the Shankaracharya Hill and the temple atop it during his Kashmir visit on Thursday.(X(formerly Twitter))

Taking to X(formerly Twitter), PM Modi shared pictures of himself posing in devotion to the Hindu shrine on Thursday. He captioned the images, writing: Upon reaching Srinagar a short while ago, had the opportunity to see the majestic Shankaracharya Hill from a distance.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

In his maiden visit to the valley since the abrogation of Article 370 by his government, PM Modi also met local entrepreneurs and craftsmen at an exhibition in Srinagar, showcasing the local products of Jammu and Kashmir.

ALSO READ| Who is Kashmir's Nazim who impressed PM Narendra Modi and got a selfie?

Significance of the Shankaracharya Hill for Hindus

Hindus believe that the temple atop the hill was visited by Adi Shankara, a Hindu scholar and preacher. The hill and the temple atop it derive its name from Adi Shankara. Hindus frequent the temple during the Amarnath Yatra. During the yatra, Lord Shivs holy mace is carried to the temple.

ALSO READ| PM Modi in Srinagar: 'Congress was misguiding Jammu and Kashmir on Article 370

PM Modi's programme in Kashmir

Prime Minister Modi attended the 'Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir' program at the Bakshi Stadium.

In a significant step to boost agri-economy in Kashmir, PM Modi will inaugurate initiatives worth nearly 5,000 crore.

He will also launch nationwide projects related to the tourism sector worth more than 1,400 crore under the "Swadesh Darshan" and "PRASHAD" (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive) schemes. It includes a project for the integrated development of the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar.

PM Modi will also distribute appointment letters to nearly 1,000 newly recruited government employees in Jammu and Kashmir. He will interact with the beneficiaries of various central schemes, including women achievers, farmers and entrepreneurs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday unveiled a slew of development projects worth more than 6,400 crore at Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar. Participating in the Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir programme, Prime Minister Modi launched the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme worth 5,000 crore to boost agri-economy in the Union Territory. Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during the 'Viksit Bharat, Viksit Jammu & Kashmir' programme, in Srinagar, Thursday, March 7, 2024.(PTI)

HADP is an integrated program encompassing the full spectrum of activities in the three major domains of agri-economy viz Horticulture, Agriculture and Livestock husbandry in Jammu and Kashmir.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The programme is expected to equip about 2.5 lakh farmers with skill development via dedicated Daksh Kisan portal. Under the programme, about 2000 Kisan Khidmat Ghars will be established and robust value chains will be put in place for the welfare of the farming community.

Also Read: Mehbooba Mufti's forcibly mobilized charge on PM Modi's Srinagar rally

He also dedicated to the nation multiple projects related to the tourism sector worth more than 1,400 crore under Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD scheme.

The prime minister landed at the Srinagar airport and then flew to Badamibagh Cantonment, the headquarters of the Army's 15 or Chinar Corps.

Modi laid a wreath at the War Memorial at the Badamibagh Cantonment and paid tributes to the fallen soldiers. He then drove to Bakshi Stadium via Gupkar and Zero Bridge in a cavalcade to participate in the 'Viksit Bharat, Viksit Jammu Kashmir' programme.

Also Read: Narendra Modi in Srinagar: PM says Congress was misguiding Kashmir over Article 370

PM Modi launched the "Dekho Apna Desh People's Choice Tourist Destination Poll" and the "Chalo India Global Diaspora" campaign as well, besides announcing tourist destinations selected under the Challenge-Based Destination Development (CBDD) scheme.

The campaign is being launched based on the call of the Prime Minister, in which he requested Indian diaspora members to encourage at least 5 non-Indian friends to travel to India. With more than 3 crore overseas Indians, the Indian diaspora can serve as a powerful catalyst for Indian tourism, acting as cultural Ambassadors.

The prime minister also launched 52 projects that will develop a wide range of pilgrimage and tourist sites across the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address at Srinagar's Bakshi Stadium on Thursday.

Narendra Modi Kashmir visit Highlights: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar today to take part in the Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir initiative. During this visit, he inaugurated and dedicated multiple developmental projects worth Rs. 6,400 crore, including the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme, valued at Rs. 5000 crore, aimed at enhancing the Union Territory's agricultural economy....Read More

Thursday's visit marks PM Narendra Modi's first trip to Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370.

Key projects inaugurated in Srinagar today -

 In the realm of tourism, PM Modi inaugurated multiple projects totalling over Rs. 1400 crore under the Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD schemes. This includes initiating the Integrated Development of Hazratbal Shrine project in Srinagar.

 He distributed appointment letters to approximately 1000 new government recruits in Jammu and Kashmir. Additionally, he engaged with beneficiaries of various government schemes, including women achievers, successful farmers, entrepreneurs, and others.

 PM Modi also introduced the nation's first-ever initiative, 'Dekho Apna Desh People's Choice 2024', to gauge the pulse of the nation on tourism. The initiative aims to involve citizens in identifying preferred tourist attractions and understanding perceptions across five tourism categories.

 A total of 43 projects aimed at developing pilgrimage and tourist sites across the nation are set to be launched, encompassing significant religious destinations such as the Annavaram Temple in Andhra Pradesh and the Navagraha Temples in Tamil Nadu.

 Furthermore, PM Modi also kickstarted the Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign, seeking to motivate the Indian diaspora to become ambassadors for Incredible India and promote tourism to the country.
New Delhi: Legendary Kuchipudi dancing couple Raja and Radha Reddy and Goan folklorist Vinayak Khedekar were among the seven eminent artistes to be bestowed with the Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowship for 2022 and 2023 on Wednesday. A total of 94 artistes from varied fields of performing arts were also presented with the Akademi awards for the corresponding period. President Droupadi Murmu honours Kuchipudi exponents Raja and Radha Reddy during the Sangeet Natak Akademi awards ceremony, at Vigyan Bhawan on Wednesday, (HT Photo)

President Droupadi Murmu, who presented the prestigious awards and fellowships, during a ceremony at the Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi, highlighted the role of artistes in awakening society through their art.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Artistes have been challenging stereotypes and prejudices through their art. They have been awakening society through their art. Our arts are the best example of Indias soft-power which is why it is part of Indias foreign policy, Murmu said, adding there are many examples when artistes used their art for social welfare.

Congratulating the recipients of Akademis fellowship and awards, the president said they will continue to enrich the Indian art tradition through various forms and genres of music and drama.

The general council of Sangeet Natak Akademi, also known as National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, selected the fellows and awardees last month.

The fellows are folklorist and author (Padma Shri) Vinayak Khedekar, veena player R Visweswaran, Kathak dancer Sunayana Hazarilal, Kuchipudi dancing couple (Padma Bhushan) Raja and Radha Reddy, theatre director Dulal Roy, and playwright DP Sinha.

A total of 94 eminent artistes in the field of performing arts expressed in the form of music, dance, drama, folk and tribal arts, puppetry and allied theatre art forms received the Akademi awards for 2022 and 2023.

The Akademi awards, conferred since 1952, not only symbolise the highest standard of excellence and achievement, but also recognise sustained individual work and contribution, the Union ministry of culture said in a release. Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna) is the highest honour given to eminent artist in the field of performing arts for his/her exceptional contribution to his/her performing art form, it added.

The honour of Akademi fellow carries a purse money of 3 lakh while the Akademi award carries a purse money of 1 lakh, besides a tamrapatra (souvenir) and angavastram (stole).

Union culture minister G Kishan Reddy and MoS culture Arjun Ram Meghwal also attended the ceremony.
The Supreme Court rejected the central governments plan to allow zoo animals inside tiger reserves for proposed tiger safaris, terming it completely contrary to conservation aims and paved the way for entirely new set of guidelines for how tiger safaris are established and maintained. The order pertained to the controversial Pakhrau tiger safari in the Corbett Tiger Reserve, which the court allowed to be set up but with conditions (ANI)

The order pertained to the controversial Pakhrau tiger safari in the Corbett Tiger Reserve, which the court allowed to be set up but with conditions. Main among these was that the recommendations by a committee it appointed to look into environmental violations are followed, including on the issue of assessing how much damage has been wrought on the sanctuary and the ways recoveries can be made from officials responsible.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Allows tiger safari, with riders.

The new guidelines that the court ordered to be drawn up will be by a four-member committee consisting of representatives from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Wildlife Institute of India, the court-appointed central empowered committee (CEC) and an officer not below Joint Secretary rank in the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC). It will need to submit its first report in three months, the court ordered.

Until then, existing safaris can only house injured, conflicted or orphaned tigers from the wild. Uttarakhand was told to relocate or establish a rescue centre near the proposed Pakhrau safari in the Corbett Tiger Reserve.

The safaris that are already existing and the one under construction at Pakhrau will not be disturbed. However, insofar as the safari at Pakhrau is concerned, we direct that the State of Uttarakhand to relocate or establish a rescue centre in the vicinity of the tiger safari. The direction of this court with respect to the establishment and maintenance of tiger safaris, upon receipt of the recommendations of the committee proposed to be appointed, will also be applicable to the existing safaris, including the safari to be established at Pakhrau, said the order.

The judgment came on a petition by environment activist and lawyer Gautam Kumar Bansal, challenging widespread illegal tree felling and unauthorised permanent constructions at Pakhrau for the safari, even before final approvals were put in place. The petitioner also contested the 2019 NTCA guidelines allowing sourcing of zoo animals.

The bench headed by Justice BR Gavai quashed those contrary provisions, noting earlier 2012 and 2016 guidelines emphasised rehabilitating only certain non-releasable tigers at such safari facilities.

The 2019 guidelines...provide for sourcing of animals from zoos in the tiger safaris. In our view, this would be totally contrary to the purpose of tiger conservation... To that extent the contrary provisions in the 2019 Guidelines stand quashed, the bench said.

While the Centre argued safaris in buffer zones would provide employment and promote wildlife-human coexistence, the court maintained they can only serve the limited 2016 mandate of housing non-releasable felines.

The court was informed that the work on the Pakhrau tiger safari was 80% complete. It directed the state of Uttarakhand to relocate the existing rescue centre at Corbett near to the proposed tiger safari, and held that the provisions of the 2016 guidelines be scrupulously followed while undertaking construction of tiger safaris.

The bench also criticised vesting final authority over safari animals with the Central Zoo Authority instead of the tiger conservation body NTCA as not in harmony with the Wildlife Protection Act.

The judges underscored that without protecting tigers, the entire ecosystem revolving around them cannot be secured. Though the Centre cited reduced poaching and rising tiger numbers nationwide, the bench deemed this not sufficient.

In a 159-page order, Justice Gavai noted the ground realities of rampant illegal activities like large-scale felling in Corbett cannot be ignored, necessitating expert intervention for better reserve management.

The committee will examine if tiger safaris should be allowed in reserve buffer/fringe areas at all. If permitted, it must frame eco-centric guidelines ensuring minimal environmental damage, with safaris near rescue centers as mandated earlier.

Its broader mandate includes pan-India measures for effective tiger reserve protection and determining permissible activities in buffer zones, construction norms, capping resort numbers and noise pollution controls, given rampant commercialization.

A separate investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation, ordered by the high court, is underway into the Corbett tree felling case, with prima facie findings implicating then state forest minister Harak Singh Rawat and then forest officer Kishan Chand for brazenly disregarding laws.

The agency was directed to complete its parallel probe against errant officials within six months and a status report in three months.

The Court asserted the state cannot run away from its responsibilities to restore the damage done to the forest and must undertake damage assessment, determine valuation and recover costs from those responsible.

Examining provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, the Supreme Court noted the pivotal tiger conservation role of NTCA and the higher statutory standing of tiger reserves over sanctuaries/parks. It highlighted buffer areas as critical for absorbing poaching shocks and fostering dispersing tiger populations.

Corbetts notified area spans 1,288 sq.km, including over 800 sq.km of core critical habitat, while the remaining 466 sq.km constitutes crucial buffer.

The reserve has highest tiger population in the country with 260 tigers among the countrys 53 tiger reserves, according to the tiger census report released last year.
States need to abandon populism and be wary of indiscriminately disbursing freebies, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday, advising the Kerala government to exercise prudence in fiscal matters, while hearing the states suit against the Centres borrowing cap restrictions. The Supreme Court building is seen in New Delhi. (AP)

States are under so much pressure of populism... there is an additional pressure of freebies, a bench of justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan told the Kerala government, which agreed to accept the Centres proposal to borrow an additional 13,608 crore for the time being, subject to meeting certain stipulations.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Even as the state claimed that it needs at least 15,000 crore more to tide over a looming financial crisis, the court said that the Centre and state should have another round of meetings to find a way forward.

At the same time, the bench implored the Centre to have a meaningful dialogue with the Kerala government, observing that a state is an integral part of the Union and that the Centre should cure the ailing part of its body while ensuring that the infection does not spread.

It added that the Centre should not put the withdrawal of the suit by Kerala as a precondition for allowing additional borrowing. The Supreme Court is engaged in this kind of litigation for the first time... these are interesting propositions on the principles of borrowing and fiscal prudence in a federal structure. By putting a condition of withdrawal on them, you are also pre-empting an adjudication by this court, the bench told attorney general (AG) R Venkataramani and additional solicitor general (ASG) N Venkatraman.

We are only facilitating the talks. The dialogue must continue. Thats the strength of the relationship between the Centre and states...when you agreed to give them an additional 13,600 crore, you put twin conditions. We dont have any quarrel with the first set of conditions in so far as they stipulate certain terms. But asking them to withdraw the suit also pre-empts the court from going into the question of whether the suit is justiciable or not...We would like to adjudicate this controversy whether it happens to state A or state B, the court said.

The bench, however, agreed with the Centres submissions that fiscal prudence by states ought to be looked into and that one state cannot be an exception.

We acknowledge the fact that the entire world is recognising us as a booming and vibrant economy. Whenever we (judges) also go out, we get the same feeling and its based on correct facts and figures. There are strong pillars on which our economy is thriving, the bench commented after the two law officers submitted that the Centres borrowings have been on a consistent decline over the last few years and that the economy has remained stable.

The bench said it will not pass any judicial order regarding the allocation, nor fix any next date of hearing in the matter because it wants the Centre and state to resolve the impending crisis through talks.

Turning to senior counsel Kapil Sibal, who represented the Kerala government, the bench said that states political leaders should refrain from issuing statements on the subject when the court has taken up the matter at the instance of the state government.

Sibal assured the bench of this, but claimed that Kerala was entitled to 13,608 crore under its own policy for this year and that this amount would allow the state to tide over only for a week. To this, the court said: You said you are desperate for additional funds. But you are not even taking whats being offered to you. You should rather accept it and then ask for more. Sibal accepted the courts suggestion.

The bench was hearing a plea filed by the Kerala government, claiming it has no money to clear outstanding arrears of salaries, pension, provident fund for state employees and for other beneficiaries in the state under various welfare schemes of the government.

The Pinarayi Vijayan government has challenged two letters issued by the Union finance ministry last year and certain amendments made to the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act in 2018 for imposing a net borrowing ceiling (NBC) on the state by limiting borrowings from all sources, including open market borrowings.

The Centre, on its part, has argued that the financial edifice of the state has several cracks. It has given statistics to showing the revenue deficit in Kerala as percentage of gross state domestic product (GSDP) to be 3.17% for 2021-22, higher than the all-states average of 0.46%, and the fiscal deficit rate for Kerala to be 4.94% compared to an all-state average of 2.80%.

The suit filed by Kerala also raised a fundamental issue of fiscal federalism. The orders and amendment create unconstitutional limits and impediments on the state to borrow and regulate its own finances, therefore violating the provisions and principles of fiscal federalism under the Constitution, it argued.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain an Enforcement Directorates petition against guidelines imposed by the Calcutta high court that restrained the agency from disclosing information about its probe before filing the charge sheet in the Rujira Banerjee case. HT Image

The restrictions were placed by the high court in October last year on a petition by Rujira Banerjee, wife of Abhishek Banerjee, a Trinamool Congress MP, in connection with the agencys money laundering probe into the alleged teacher recruitment scam. Rujira Banerjee had alleged that the central probe agencies and the media were indulging in character assassination and tarnishing her family by regularly publishing information regarding the probe being carried out by the agencies, including ED.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

A bench of justices Hrishikesh Roy and PK Mishra told the agency to withdraw its petition before the top court and approach the high court. It is an interim order. You withdraw and file your response before the high court or else we are dismissing it.

Additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju initially indicated reluctance to withdraw the case. The order is in the nature of a final relief. Nothing remains in this case as guidelines have been issued. The bench, however, pointed out that it was still open for ED to file its response before the high court as the matter is pending over there and turned down Rajus request to keep the matter pending till the high court takes up the case.

In her petition that led to the October 17 order of the high court, Rujira Banerjee accused the probe agencies of selective leaks to hurt her familys reputation. Her petition alleged that such leaks affected her privacy and denied her a fair trial. Abhishek Banerjee is the nephew of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

The high court issued guidelines asking all central probe agencies not to disclose any information to the public or media about the raids, searches and interrogations in connection with any accused, suspect or witness in the case concerning the petitioner before filing the charge sheet.

The high court order, applicable only to Rujira, said, the investigating agencies shall not disclose to the public or the media the circumstances, reasons and/or details of the interrogation, raids and search of any particular person, be he/she an accused, a suspect or a witness.

The order further directed the federal agencies not to give advance information to media or allow them to accompany the probe teams during any raid, interrogation, or search and seizures.

In the same order, the high court also asked the media to report objectively and fairly based on concrete material.

It also asked the media to refrain from publishing photographs of any person linked to the investigation of the case and directed them not to publish or broadcast or telecast live video, audio or print footage of the raid, search and seizure, or interrogation by the agency. These directions were to be effective till January 15. No order has since been passed modifying these directions.
California Maritime Academy President Mike Dumont signed on to be interim leader for two years to address the schools toxic culture and low enrollment. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle The California Maritime Academy in Vallejo is located on the waterfront of San Francisco Bay. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle The Carquinez Bridge looms over a bear silhouette near the California Maritime Academy campus. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

Mike Dumont guided his blue Porsche Cayenne down Maritime Academy Drive in late February, the last glimmers of sunlight shooting across the California State University systems smallest campus.

Eight months earlier, when Dumont took over as Cal Maritime Academys interim president, hed known he faced a difficult assignment: Diversify and grow what has been a homogeneous student body. But now, as he drove through the Vallejo campus, he understood the full extent of his challenges.

The school just north of the Carquinez Bridge is the only maritime academy saddled with the budgetary concerns of the nations largest four-year public university system. It has a campus culture critics have deemed unwelcoming for female and LGBTQ students and plummeting enrollment that only exacerbates the financial worries. Yet, its being called upon to help solve the maritime industrys staffing crisis.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The issues were facing are just so complex, Dumont said. This job is harder than negotiating with the Taliban. Its harder than being in combat.

Once the highest-ranking openly gay officer in the United States military, Dumont, 63, served combat tours in El Salvador, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. He assisted the special-operations team that killed Osama bin Laden. He helped negotiate the release of Army soldier Bowe Bergdahl from Taliban captivity.

The California Maritime Academy is a key training ground for civilian mariners who operate U.S. seaports. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

None of that could prepare Dumont for California Maritime Academy, where a steep decline in enrollment  from 1,107 undergrads in 2016 to 715 today  has repercussions for the global supply chain and national security.

The only maritime academy west of the Mississippi River is a key training ground for civilian mariners who operate U.S. seaports and handle about 65% of the countrys imports and exports. Cadets who graduate with bachelors degrees in one of Cal Maritimes marine majors also receive U.S. Coast Guard licenses. Some others go on to serve in the Navy, Army, Marines or Air Force.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Civilian merchant mariners are the same people who are going to operate our U.S.-flag vessels and hold officer positions in the military, Dumont said. So, when you think about it, its really a national security imperative for us to get more students through this school.

It doesnt help that fewer people are pursuing careers on the sea. According to independent research consultancy Drewry, 9% of maritime industry jobs went unfilled last year, up from 5% in 2022.

Which leaves Dumont with a conundrum: How does he make more high school and community college students aware of a cash-strapped maritime academy with limited name recognition? More specifically, how can Dumont make the campus more diverse when it has not historically been inclusive?

Women account for less than 20% of Cal Maritimes student body. Though Dumont said he knows more than a half-dozen cadets who identify as nonbinary or transgender, only one such student felt comfortable being listed in the schools official records.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

This comes almost 2 years after dozens of cadets gathered on the quad in November 2021 to protest what they considered a pervasive campus culture of homophobia, transphobia and racism. In response to those demonstrations, Cal Maritime published two academy-mandated reports in 2022 from third-party experts on student rights and sexual assault.

Students study in the library at the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo. The school has experienced a steep drop in enrollment: from 1,107 undergrads in 2016 to 715 today. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

One report found a wide range of issues on the schools training ship, where cadets had reported sexual misconduct, as well as frequent use of derogatory language toward Black, gay and transgender students. The other report described a campus atmosphere of dread among students, many of whom were hesitant to formally report misconduct because they feared retaliation from fellow cadets and didnt trust the administration to make necessary changes.

Females expressed an understanding that it is not a matter of if they will experience sexual harassment or assault, but when and how often,  the report concluded. Many decide to tough it out in order to complete their program and move on to work and attempt to succeed in their field.

In November 2022, after the two reports highlighted incidents that had been privately discussed among students and faculty, Cal Maritime President Thomas Cropper announced he would retire at the end of the school year. That winter, Rep. Salud Carbajal of Santa Barbara, a senior Democrat on a congressional maritime subcommittee, wrote a letter to then-interim CSU Chancellor Jolene Koester lambasting Croppers inexcusable response to the campus protest and arguing that CSU would be remiss not to appoint a new president who prioritizes inclusivity.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Days later, Dumont received a call from Koester, whod heard about his work as a higher education consultant. At the end of their first sit-down last February, Koester asked Dumont to serve one year as Cal Maritimes interim president.

But Dumont knew that systemic change requires more than a year. After he convinced his husband to let him take a 50% pay cut to leave his executive-level corporate position for full-time academia, Dumont signed a two-year contract with Cal Maritime.

The California Maritime Academy campus, shown from the Golden Bear training ship, was described in a 2022 report as having an atmosphere of dread among students. Many of them said they were hesitant to formally report misconduct because they feared retaliation from fellow cadets and didnt trust the administration to make necessary changes. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

I felt called to it, said Dumont, who hopes to get undergrad enrollment above 1,000 and the female population north of 30% before his contract ends. I wanted to help make the maritime industry more inclusive so people wouldnt have to go through some of what Ive gone through.

On that sunny recent Friday, Dumont strolled through Cal Maritimes quad as he reflected on the 17 years he spent in the U.S. Navy under dont ask, dont tell, the federal policy that allowed gay people to serve in the U.S. military if they kept their sexual orientation a secret.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

It hadnt taken Dumont long to realize how inconsistently the law was enforced. For almost two decades, Navy colleagues werent punished for asking Dumont questions about his sexuality. Yet, even though Dumont would lie about his romantic interests, his superiors threatened to investigate him on several occasions.

Through it all, Dumont didnt consider quitting the Navy. There was something rewarding, he said, about succeeding in a field that didnt want him. Years after President Barack Obama repealed dont ask, dont tell in fall 2011, Dumont became the militarys highest-ranking openly gay officer when the Navy promoted him to three-star admiral.

In less than a decade, he would serve as chief of staff for the raid on bin Ladens compound in eastern Pakistan, a lead negotiator for the prisoner exchange with the Taliban that brought Bergdahl back stateside and deputy commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Dumonts official job description included overseeing the protection of North America.

Yet all that was in a way less daunting for Dumont than what he encountered at Cal Maritime, where news of his hire drew considerable backlash. Three windows in the back of Dumonts house were shot out with a pellet gun during his first week on campus in mid-July. Upset that the new president had no college-administrator experience, some professors complained to CSUs board of trustees about his hire.

California Maritime Academy President Mike Dumont walks along the waterfront of the university in Vallejo. He hopes to get undergrad enrollment above 1,000 and the female population north of 30% before his two-year contract ends. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

Undeterred, Dumont introduced his husband at a university-wide assembly in late August and told hundreds of students that he is intolerant of intolerance. In the eight months since Dumont arrived on campus, he has suspended or expelled four cadets for breaking the universitys code of conduct.

What Ive seen with President Dumont is really an increase in accountability, said Lennon Prothro-Jones, Cal Maritimes dean of students. I think hes made a great deal of effort to get to know the students well enough to understand whats really going on, not just the filtered version.

Nonbinary and transgender cadets worried about discrimination can now apply to live in a residence hall with a gender-inclusive floor, where roommates must be open to sharing space with people of any sex or gender identity. The 2-year-old Inclusion Center offers a meeting space for the Black Student Association, the Queer Student Association and other student-run organizations.

Meagan Nance, who was hired in January 2023 as Cal Maritimes first director of inclusion initiatives, has helped organize a Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony, a Pride Summit to develop LGBTQ leaders and a graduation reception for LGBTQ students. Since that on-campus protest, Cal Maritime has also revamped its complaint-reporting process by hiring a Title IX director, bolstering campus-wide training on sexual harassment and how to report misconduct, and bringing in a full-time advocate for victims.

But Garrett Dasigan, a senior mechanical engineering major and the only transgender student listed in the schools official records, said the biggest changes came when Cal Maritime updated its uniform and naming policies.

California Maritime Academy student Garrett Dasigan, shown in the schools library, said that since the administration has made more effort to be inclusive, it feels like the transgender and nonbinary students have more of a voice than we used to. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

If nonbinary or transgender students want to alter their appearance, they no longer have to out themselves to the administration for permission. Those same students are also called by their chosen name.

This change was particularly important for Dasigan. They said memories of professors and resident-hall officers referencing them by their birth name as a freshman were some of the most uncomfortable of their college career.

It does feel like we have more of a voice than we used to, Dasigan said. Theres still a lot of work to do, but there has been progress.

Some arent so certain. One student in the Queer Student Association, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of harming their employment opportunities, voiced frustration about the administrations refusal to let cadets wear personalized graduation stoles or raise an LGBTQ Pride flag on the quad.

Its going to take forever to change the culture here, and its probably never going to be perfect, the student said. But we need to have those conversations, and we need to not just be having them in the admin building. We need to have them as a whole campus community.

Others on campus are upset about the changes that have been made. Elizabeth McNie, an associate professor of marine transportation, said she has heard people complain about Cal Maritime getting woke and losing its identity in the process.

Flags promoting inclusivity hang on the wall inside the Inclusion Center at the California Maritime Academy. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

But to her, plenty was wrong with the schools old identity.

While working on a commercial cruise one summer during her time as a student at Cal Maritime in the early 1990s, McNie said, she was kidnapped and raped by someone not affiliated with the university. Weeks later, when she returned to campus, she felt like she had no one she could tell. Cal Maritime had no Title IX office, and McNie didnt know whether there was anyone to whom she could report the sexual assault.

There was a feeling of, Youve just got to deal with it on your own,  McNie said.

In 2017, when she came back to Cal Maritime for a professorship after stops at Harvard, Purdue and the University of Colorado, McNie saw that women and LGBTQ students were dealing with some of the same issues she had endured 25 years earlier. She started telling cadets to call her cellphone whenever they were in crisis. Now, whenever McNie awakes in the middle of the night to a call from a frantic student, she thinks about the strides Cal Maritime must continue to make.

That is, if it can stay open.

CSU administrators have asked Dumont to cut $1.4 million from the university budget by summer 2025. Though the best way for Cal Maritime to ease CSUs money woes might be increasing enrollment, the question is how a tiny school with no marketing department can publicize its selling points.

California Maritime Academy President Mike Dumont walks through the halls of the athletics department. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

With an annual in-state tuition of just $7,116, and numerous recent grads earning six-figure salaries for six-month shipping contracts, Cal Maritime often cracks U.S. News & World Reports list of the 20 best colleges for social mobility. There are also the summer training cruises to tropical locales, the state-of-the-art simulation center and the 90-acre campus with sweeping views of the northern San Francisco Bay.

After giving two visitors a recent campus tour, Dumont climbed into his Porsche and started driving toward the building aptly called the Aquatics Survival Center. As he explained why this is the hardest job he has ever had, he paused as he glanced toward the deep-blue water below.

It really is such a special place, Dumont said. We just need to make more people aware of it.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday took custody of Trinamool Congress strongman Sheikh Shahjahan from the West Bengal Police after a dramatic day where the Calcutta high court reiterated its order to transfer the controversial leader to the federal agency. CBI officials take Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan, accused in the Sandeshkhali case, from Bhavani Bhawan (West Bengal Police headquarters), in Kolkata, on Wednesday. (PTI)

The high court had asked the state police to hand over Shahjahan, who is battling charges of extortion, embezzlement, land grab, and sexual violence, to CBI on Tuesday. But the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) refused after a brief standoff, arguing that the state government had moved the Supreme Court against the order.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

But on Wednesday, the top court refused to urgently hear the plea.

Hours later, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) moved a contempt petition before a division bench presided by justice Harish Tandon against the state government, saying that it did not implement the March 5 orders of the division bench presided by chief justice TS Sivagnanam.

We do not find any fetter or impediment on our part in not directing the implementation of the said order in a pending contempt application despite the fact that a Special Leave Petition is pending before the Supreme Court. Furthermore, the fact remains there is no interim order of stay of the operation of the said order passed as of this time, said the bench, directing the state police to hand over Shahjahan to CBI by 4.15pm on Wednesday.

The court will hear the contempt petition after three weeks. It asked the alleged contemnors to file affidavits within two weeks. Finally, at 6:30pm, the 45-year-old leader was handed over to CBI, which has filed three first information reports against unknown people.

Shahjahan, who was in custody of the Criminal Investigation Department of the state police, was handed over to us on the orders of the Calcutta high court. Further investigation is going on, said a senior CBI official, requesting anonymity.

The agency first took Shahjahan to the ESI hospital for a medical checkup and then to the CBI office at Nizam Palace where he is likely to be questioned.

The West Bengal government mentioned the matter in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, seeking an urgent hearing. However, the matter was not listed for hearing even on Thursday.

The developments came on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally at Barasat in North 24 Parganas and met five of the women victims from Sandeshkhali.

The island village of Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district has been in the eye of the storm since January 5, when ED officers arrived to search the home of Shahjahan, a close aide of former minister Jyoti Priya Mallick, who was arrested in October last year in connection with an alleged ration distribution scam. The ED team came under attack from an angry mob, leaving three officers injured. But, on February 7, other violent protests began erupting in Sandeshkhali and other nearby villages, with groups of residents led mostly by local women, alleging sexual harassment at the hands of local TMC leaders including Shahjahan, his brother Sirajuddin, and other associates Shibaprasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar. Other villages have claimed that Shahjahan and his associates also indulged in landgrab.

Shahjahan, a former TMC zila parishad leader, was arrested by the state police on the orders of the high court on February 29. CID later took over the investigation.

The state government has repeatedly accused the Opposition of politicising the event. But the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party wants to use Sandeshkhali as a referendum on the TMC governments grip on law and order in the state. A number of national panels  including the National Commission of Women, the National Commission of Scheduled Castes and the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes  have visited the area and later said that they documented serious allegations against Sheikh and his associates. On Tuesday, the Calcutta high court transferred the investigation into the attack on ED officials to CBI and asked the state police to hand over the suspended TMC leader to the federal agency by 4:30 pm on Tuesday.

The court also lambasted the state police for trying to shield the strongman. The state police had played a hide-and-seek methodology in all probabilities to shield the accused who undoubtedly is a highly politically influential person who has demonstrably shown that he is and would be in a position to influence the investigation if allowed to rest with the state police, it held.

TMC has committed a grave sin by torturing mothers and sisters. Anybodys head will hang in shame after seeing what happened in Sandeshkhali. But the TMC is not bothered about your pain. The TMC-government is using its full strength to shield the culprits. But the state government first got a shock from the high court and then the Supreme Court, Modi said at the rally.

The state police have some rights when it comes to questioning an accused and told the court about that. Whats wrong in that? The high court sometime uses its discretion saying that it is not relying on the state police and relies on central agencies. Several questions are surfacing on this, TMC leader Jay Prakash Majumdar told the media.
Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said in his political career of 15 years, he never needed to attack his critics and opponents. On the prospect of a strong fight in his constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, as BJP has fielded Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar from the seat, the three-term MP from Thiruvananthapuram said the CPM candidate should not be taken lightly and so it will be a three-cornered contest from Thiruvananthapuram. The Congress has not yet announced the candidate list for the coming election but Shashi Tharoor's name is expected because of his record winning streak. Shashi Tharoor said Rajeev Chandrasekhar is a well-known business person and he expects a gentlemanly contest.

"Don't forget that I took the seat from the Communist Party and the gentleman who is the candidate now, was the sitting MP when I came into the fray. He did not contest again at that time and it has now been 15 years that he is out of the fray. So it remains to be seen how Mr Pannyan Raveendran (CPM candidate in 2024) does...BJP has come second in the last two Lok Sabha elections. So, they have to be taken seriously," Tharoor said.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

On Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Shashi Tharoor said he is a very well-known business figure and a minister for a couple of years. "I know him and he knows me. I am hoping it will be a fair and gentlemanly electoral contest. I don't think that I have needed, in my 15 years in politics, to ever attack any of my critics. I welcome them all, I welcome the opponents. Let the public decide who they want to represent them in Delhi," Tharoor said.

Though the Congress and the CPM are INDIA partners, the CPM announced candidates and fielded Pannyan Raveendran who was the MP before 2009.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar has already started criticising the Congress and the CPM and said both of them held hostage the dreams of the youth. "Both the INDI partners -- Cong and CPM are same in terms of creating opportunities for youth -- Zero. Kerala and Thiruvanthapuram's development and dreams of its youth and women hv been held hostage by TWO defunct and inept ideologies of Cong & Left and we need to change that," the BJP's Thiruvananthapuram candidate wrote on X commenting on a report that only 5,839 jobs were created in Kerala in the last eight years.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday decided to hear on April 9 the appeal filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against the bail granted to activist Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima Koregaon violence case and extended the stay on the Bombay high courts December 19 ruling that ordered his release on bail. The Supreme Court has also extended the stay on the Bombay high court order granting bail to Gautam Navlakha (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

The bench of justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti also heard a separate petition filed by Navlakha to request shifting the location of his house arrest to Mumbai. Navlakha, who faces a probe under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence case, is currently under house arrest in Navi Mumbai.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju opposed Navlakhas petition and argued that he was yet to pay the 1 crore spent on maintaining round-the-clock security cover provided by the Maharastra police.

Senior advocate Nithya Ramakrishnan appearing for Navlakha, disputed the amount alleging that the NIA was trying to extort the money from the petitioner who has no source of income.

ASG opposed Ramakrishnans choice of words. The bench eventually posted the petition or a hearing on April 9 when it will take up NIAs petition challenging the high courts bail order.

Navlakha, aged 72, was arrested in April 2020 in connection with the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence in Maharashtra. He is accused of having links with the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and faces charges under UAPA.

The Bhima Koregaon case pertains to alleged inflammatory speeches made at an Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune on December 31, 2017 which, police claimed, triggered violence the next day near Koregaon-Bhima war memorial on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city. One person was killed in the incident.

Navlakha, one of the 16 activists and intellectuals accused in the Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case, allegedly gave an inflammatory speech during the Elgar Parishad conclave at Shaniwarwada, Pune on December 31, 2017. Charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, he was arrested in April 2020.

The activist was granted temporary house arrest on November 10, 2022 due to his deteriorating health after spending over three years at the Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai. He was placed under house arrest on November 19 in Navi Mumbai.
Tipra Motha Party lawmakers Animesh Debbarma and Brishaketu Debbarma were on Thursday sworn in as ministers in Tripura a day after the party joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura government. TIPRA Motha Party founder Pradyot Kishore Debbarma was among those who attended the ceremony. (X)

Governor Indra Sena Reddy Nallu administered the two the oath. TIPRA Motha Party founder Pradyot Kishore Debbarma was among those who attended the ceremony.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

There are always responsibilities. An Opposition leader has a kind of responsibility while a minister has different responsibility. I shall do my duty, said Animesh Debbarma.

Animesh Debbarna, a computer science engineer, worked in multinational corporations before returning to Tripura. He floated the National Conference of Tripura (NCT). He was re-elected to the assembly on a TIPRA Motha Party ticket in 2023.

Brishaketu Debbarna said the Greater Tipraland remains on their partys agenda. ...people may ask when will it happen. See, Ram Temple was built after 500 years of struggle. Our movement was started since three years. ...we can obviously continue our movement.
A week after two minor girls were found hanging from a tree in a field after they were allegedly gang-raped, the father of one of the girls was also found dead on Wednesday in Hamirpur, PTI reported, citing the police. Two minor girls were found hanging from a tree at a brick Kiln in the village of Barauli in the Ghatampur area of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh on February 28.(PTI)

The body of a 45-year-old man, resident of a village under the Sisolar police station area, was found hanging from a tree on Wednesday under unknown circumstances. Superintendent of Police (SP) Deeksha Sharma said.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The police are yet to register an FIR regarding the alleged suicide.

The deceased is the father of one of the girls who were found hanging in a village in Kanpur's Ghatampur area on February 28.

Family members had alleged that the girls were raped by three men  Ramroop Nishad, (48), his son Raju (18) and nephew Sanjay (19)  a few days ago. They also allegedly made a video of the girls and were threatening them.

All of them were subsequently arrested. They have been booked under the Indian Penal Code sections 376D (gang rape), 306 (abetment to suicide) and the Protection Of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

On Wednesday, the kin of the deceased father of one of the girls, alleged that he died allegedly by suicide as the accused's family members were threatening them to compromise on the rape case.

The police, however, have declined to comment on the allegations, reported PTI.

"Further action regarding the incident will be taken based on the complaint filed by the family members", Sharma said.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi hit out at the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government over the incident.

"In Uttar Pradesh, if victimized girls and women ask for justice it has become a rule to destroy their families, from Unnao, Hathras to Kanpur- wherever women were tortured, their families were destroyed. Being a woman has become a crime in this jungle raj where there is no such thing as law left," Gandhi wrote in a post on X on Thursday.

"After all, what should crores of women of the state do, where should they go?" she asked.
Dehradun: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday directed officials to constitute a committee to prepare for the upcoming Char Dham Yatra. Char Dham pilgrim numbers crossed the 5.6 million mark in 2023. (HT file photo)

Dhami said police officers of the rank of additional superintendent and above should be appointed to manage traffic during the pilgrimage period.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Shortcomings and problems that have come to light in the yatra during previous years should be removed this year by taking lessons through such experiences. CCTV should be installed on Char Dham routes and sensitive areas. Along with the passengers, the interests of the local people should also be kept in mind. Live monitoring of all the Char Dhams should be done from the government level and the disaster control room should be operated properly, he said.

Also Read: Portals of Badrinath Dham to be opened on May 12

Dhami added pilgrims should have access to weather forecasts. For this arrangements should be made to send alert messages on the mobile phones of pilgrims. There should be regular cleaning of footpaths and routes. Special cleanliness should be maintained in the toilets built on the yatra route. The number of toilets should also be increased on the yatra routes, he said.

The CM also instructed officials to ensure a plastic- free Char Dham yatra. Even before the commencement of the yatra, arrangements for 24-hour power supply should be ensured in all the Dhams. Streetlights should also be installed on routes. Besides, smooth drinking water supply arrangements should also be made on the yatra routes, he said.

Dhami put emphasis on improving the condition of Char Dham routes before the pilgrimage commences.

Places where most of the roads are blocked should be identified and arrangements for JCB/earth moving machines should be made. If any route is closed during the yatra, arrangements should be made to open it immediately. To assess the requirement of buses and taxis for yatra, arrangements should be made in advance, he said.

Dhami directed officials to expand health-related arrangements on the yatra route soon. Along with the deployment of medical and requisite staff, arrangements should be made for life-saving medicines, equipment, portable oxygen cylinders and ambulances/air ambulances in temporary medical centres on the yatra routes. To prevent diseases in horses and mules, veterinarians should be deployed on the routes, he said.

The CM said that during the months when pilgrims travel on the routes, arrangements should be made for deployment of security forces. Wherever necessary, temporary police posts should also be established. Officials/ /departments doing good work during the yatra will be felicitated by the state government, he said.

Also Read: 200 pilgrims died during Char Dham yatra this year: Govt data

The portals of Badrinath Dham will open at 6 am on May 12 this year. Char Dham shrines remain shut for around six months every year, opening in summer (April or May) and closing with the onset of winter (October or November). Char Dham yatra broke all-time record last year with pilgrim influx crossing 5.6 million mark. In 2022, over 4.6 million pilgrims had visited the four revered Himalayan shrines.

Last year 245 pilgrims had died during the Char Dham journey due to health ailments and other issues. Of 245 pilgrims,120 deaths were reported on the Kedarnath Dham Yatra route, 46 deaths on the Badrinath Dham route, 30 deaths on the Gangotri Dham route and 39 on the Yamunotri Dham route. Nine deaths were also reported on the Hemkund Sahib route in the Chamoli district, according to state government data.
In November last year, Mohammed Asfan, a resident of Hyderabad, and two other youths from Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir reached Russia as they were promised jobs as helpers in Russian government offices by the agents. The last time Mohammed Asfan had spoken to his family was on December 31, 2023. On Wednesday, March 6, the Indian embassy in Moscow confirmed the death of the 30-year-old man. Mohammed Asfan, a resident of Hyderabad, had left for Russia in November last year.

"We have learnt about the tragic death of an Indian national Shri Mohammed Asfan. We are in touch with the family and Russian authorities. Mission will make efforts to send his mortal remains to India," the Indian embassy in Moscow said in a post on 'X' (formally Twitter).

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Mohammed Imran, brother of Mohammed Asfan, has expressed concern about the confirmation of his brother's death and said the agents who were involved in trapping Asfan should be arrested.

Who was Mohammad Asfan?

According to Mohammed Imran, the agents, one of whom has an office in Dubai and runs a vlog called Baba Vlogs and two others from Mumbai, had taken  3 lakh each from the youth.

Mohammed Imran shows his brother Mohammed Asfan photo who is stranded in Russia along the war-torn Ukraine border, at their home in Hyderabad, on February 22, 2024.(AFP)

After reaching Moscow, Mohammed Asfan and the two others were made to sign a document in Russian. But later realised that they were recruited as helpers in the Russian Army, Mohammed Imran claimed.

Mohammed Asfan had also contacted the agents and informed them that they were being trained to use weapons, but the agents again lied to them saying it was a part of the job. But, the youths were subsequently taken to the Russia-Ukraine border, Mohammed Imran said.

Also Read | Ukraine war: 7 Indian tourists from Punjab, Haryana tricked into joining Russian Army, seek help

Ukraine war: 7 Indian tourists from Punjab, Haryana tricked into joining Russian Army, seek help Mohammed Imran said when they had contacted the agents recently, they said that Asfan's agreement was cancelled. He was also informed that Mohammed Asfan was injured.

Meanwhile, AIMIM sources told news agency PTI that the party's chief Asaduddin Owaisi had contacted the Indian embassy in Moscow after Mohammed Asfan's family had been repeatedly approaching him in this regard over the past few days.

An official from the Indian embassy in Moscow reportedly confirmed to Asaduddin Owaisi about Mohammed Asfan's death.

Mohammed Imran, meanwhile, claimed that agents in Russia, who are in contact with him, are saying that Mohammad Asfan is alive and is in the Marinca territory of Ukraine. They cancelled his agreement on February 16 with another source. "Agents are saying he is alive, but the embassy says he is dead," news agency ANI quoted Mohammed Asfan as saying.

Mohammed Imran said one of his brother's friends in Russia told him that his brother got bullet injuries. "We got news of his injury on January 23. One of his friends, Arbab Hussain, told me of his bullet injuries via voice message. I am suspicious of misinformation about his death. We can only trust the embassy, not the agents. But agents are saying he is alive. If this is true, we want justice," he said.

Asaduddin Owaisi flagged the issue last month

On February 21, Asaduddin Owaisi had told the media that family members of Indian youth, including some from Telangana, had met him and informed that their kin were duped by agents on the promise of jobs and taken to Russia, but were allegedly sent to fight on the Russia-Ukraine border.

The Hyderabad MP had requested the Union government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar to hold talks with the Russian government to bring the youth safely back to India. He also claimed that the two batches of people were sent to Russia from all across the country.

On Wednesday, the MEA said they were in touch with the family and Russian authorities and are making efforts to send his mortal remains to India.

Another Indian killed in February

Hemal Ashwinbhai Mangukiya from Gujarat was killed in an attack by Ukraine in Russian-occupied Donetsk on February 24. Hemal Ashwinbhai Mangukiya, a resident of Surat in Gujarat, was killed in a Ukrainian air strike while serving as a security helper with the Russian Army. He had travelled to Russia last December.

(With inputs from PTI, ANI)
On May 5, 2022, a judge in the Calcutta high court (HC) heard a petition within hours of its filing. The matter concerned the unpaid dues of a retired teacher, and the presiding judge ordered the state government to clear the pension and unpaid salary for 25 years of a septuagenarian retired school teacher, Shyamali Ghosh, within four weeks  with 10% interest.

The retired school teacher called the judge a messiah to people like her.

The same judge made a surprising visit to the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on September 11, 2023. A girl who had lost both legs in a road accident was admitted there and the judge came to meet her and offer assistance to her family.

I read about her in a newspaper. I told the family to contact me if they ever need any help, the judge told reporters who had followed his car in anticipation of a newsbreak. I cant describe how sorry I feel for the girl, the judge said as he briskly wiped his eyes, the footage beaming into millions of homes with televisions.

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay is no stranger to making headlines. On Tuesday, he resigned from service five months before he was due to retire. On March 7, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The 62-year-old judges resignation, which came days after he told news channel ABP Ananda about his plans, does not seem to surprise too many people in West Bengal. Indeed, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) had been accusing him of passing orders for political reasons since 2022.

The state government and the high court judge have had a contentious relationship and it has played out publicly  at one point, the Supreme Court was compelled to intervene.

Humble beginnings

Born into a middle-class family in Kolkata, Gangopadhyay studied at Mitra Institution, a vernacular-medium school at Bhawanipore. After passing out in 1979, he went on to study law, as his father did, at the Hazra Law College.

He joined the West Bengal Civil Service as an officer in the Uttar Dinajpur district, which he quit after a few years to practice law.

Gangopadhay was appointed to the Calcutta high court as an additional judge in 2018 and was made a permanent judge in July 2020.

Today, opinions about the judge are sharply divided  one side thought the judges crusade against rooting out corruption in the state was commendable, and the other side thought that the judge was too quick to judge showing his bias against the state government.

Gangopadhyay represented the TMC government in several cases. In a case involving a private steel company that I was representing, he appeared for the Steel Authority of India. I remember him seeking adjournment on hearings multiple times so that he could file an affidavit, said Ritzu Ghosal, a Congress leader and high court bar association member. I have seen many outstanding lawyers becoming judges. Gangopadhyay was certainly not one of them, Ghosal added.

Grabbing eyeballs

Courtroom No 17, where Gangopadhyay heard his cases, drew inquisitive lawyers, commoners and reporters in sizeable numbers. On days when a TMC leader faced charges of corruption, the crowds swelled, as did the viewership numbers of news channels and the high courts YouTube channel where hearings are telecast live.

According to lawyers, what set the former judge apart from his colleagues was the speed at which he completed hearings and his affinity for speaking to the media. Taking his fraternity by surprise, Gangopadhyay gave his first interview to ABP Ananda in September 2022. He talked of certain facets of his professional and personal life and said he would never compromise his honesty.

I have always been honest and will continue to be so. If I sit to judge cases of corruption I will pass strong orders, he said, observing that corruption has become an accepted part of public life.

In the interview, justice Gangopdhyay while justifying his orders on a CBI probe into the teacher recruitment case, said that Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee could face a jail term of three months for alleging that a section of judiciary was hand in gloves with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Excerpts from the interview, which the channel aired before the official telecast on September 19, 2022, triggered a row. A public interest petition was filed at the high court seeking a ban on the telecast. Since the state government was made a party to the case, the then advocate general SN Mookherjee expressed his reservations about a sitting judge giving an interview.

In his petition, SK Saidullah, a private citizen, stated that Such an interview is contrary to the Restatement of Values of Judicial Life and the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, and therefore, immediate restrain order should be issued to prohibit respondent No. 2 (the channel) to telecast any such interview.

A division bench however allowed the telecast saying The petition is based upon mere apprehension...

Gangopadhyay's criticism of the TMC

Over the last two years, Gangopadhyay butted heads with the TMC for ordering federal agencies to probe at least a dozen complaints against government departments, ministers and ruling party leaders.

In two of these cases  a bribe-for-job scam in schools and a similar alleged scam in municipal bodies  chief minister Mamata Banerjees nephew and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is a suspect along with his wife and parents, according to the investigating agencies, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (ED).

In May 2022, Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay ordered the CBI to probe the appointment of non-teaching staff (Group C and D) and teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission and West Bengal Board of Secondary Education between 2014 and 2021.

In the teacher recruitment case, ED arrested the then education minister Partha Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee in July 2022. In its chargesheet, ED said it traced cash, jewellery and immovable property worth 103.10 crore linked to the duo. Around a dozen TMC leaders and government officials were subsequently arrested.

The Supreme Court's involvement

In April 2023, the Supreme Court asked the acting Chief Justice of the Calcutta high court to reassign the teacher recruitment case pending before justice Gangopadhyay to another judge. The Supreme Court passed the order after hearing a petition filed by TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, who brought justice Gangopadhyay's interview with ABP Ananda and its transcript on record before the Supreme Court bench.

"Judges have no business granting interviews on matters which are pending. And if they do so, they cannot hear the case...They have no business participating in the proceedings. We are absolutely clear on that, said the Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud in the order.

We have considered the note prepared by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay and have also perused the transcript of the interview. The transcript has been authenticated on April 26, 2023, by the interpreting officer Having considered the transcript, we direct that the Acting Chief Justice of the HC of Calcutta shall reassign the pending proceedings in the case to some other judge of the Calcutta High Court, said the SC bench.

Now, a political career

I am joining the BJP because it is the only national party. Prime Minister Modi is a good man., Gangopadhyay said on Tuesday after resigning from his post.

I had very little time to decide to join. I approached BJP and BJP approached me over the last seven days. Thats why I was on leave during this period. I stopped adjudicating so that nobody can raise an allegation, he added.
New Delhi:With the Quad Leaders Summit unlikely to be held before November because of elections in India and the US, the focus has shifted to framing a work programme that will lead to deliverables in areas ranging from maritime security to infrastructure, people familiar with the matter said. The four Quad leaders at the 2023 summit in Hiroshima: PM Anthony Albanese, PM Narendra Modi, PM Kishida Fumio, President Joe Biden. (File photo/Australian government)

An initial plan for leaders of Quad member states  India, Australia, Japan and the US  to meet in January fell through because US President Joe Biden was unable to take up Indias invitation to be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

As India will head into its election cycle by April and the US presidential election is scheduled for November 5, the earliest available window for the Quad Leaders Summit is sometime in November, the people said on condition of anonymity. This will be preceded by the Quad foreign ministers meeting to be hosted by Japan in the summer. While no dates have been finalised for this meeting, it is unlikely to be held before July, they said.

Also Read: Others cannot have a veto on our choices: Jaishankar at Quad Think Tank Forum

The range of Quad working groups had already been tasked to frame a work programme with deliverables in January and this work is continuing, one of the people cited above said.

One key area the four Quad members are looking at for providing deliverables for the planned summit is economic security initiatives, which includes critical minerals, resilient supply chains and infrastructure projects, the people said. For example, in the case of critical minerals, the work is focused on sourcing rare earths, the needs of the Quad members and their vulnerabilities, the people said.

While the Quad members have always highlighted an inclusive agenda to foster an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific, much of the work is aimed at countering China in crucial areas such as infrastructure and telecommunications by offering alternatives that are transparent to countries in the region.

Important work is also being done by the health security working group, which evolved from the earlier vaccine working group created during the Covid-19 pandemic, the people said. This includes direct contacts between health authorities of the four countries to prepare for future epidemics and medical emergencies.

In the field of maritime security, the Quad members are working to build the capacity of partners across the Indo-Pacific to maintain maritime security and maritime domain awareness and to ensure that the regions waters are used according to international law.

Also Read: India, Australia need each other for open, stable Indo-Pacific: Australian envoy

This includes the Quads launch of the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), which uses commercial satellite data to enable partners to monitor their waters to counter unregulated fishing and illegal shipping. As part of IPMDA, HawkEye 360, a leading defence technology company, was awarded a contract last October to provide satellite data and analytics to ensure the Indo-Pacific remains open and stable.
Ashneer Grover, the co-founder and former managing director of BharatPe, known for his enigmatic Twitter posts (now X), on Thursday criticised the Indian judicial infrastructure, as he commented on the case involving former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba. A division bench of Justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki SA Menezes of the Bombay high court's Nagpur bench overturned GN Saibaba's sentence in an alleged Maoist links case terming the sanction for prosecution granted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) as "null and void." BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover and former DU professor GN Saibaba.

The court said the sanction given under UAPA by the state authority was without application of mind and the report submitted by the independent authority recommending invocation of UAPA provisions in the case was "cryptic and a laconic half page communication".

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Referring to Sunny Deol's famous dialogue from the movie Damini, Ashneer Grover wondered why the Bollywood actor kept complaining about Tareekh pe Tareekh!

He got a rather speedy trial as compared to situation on ground, Ashneer Grover wrote while commenting on a post of TV Mohandas Pai, the former Infosys CFO and chairman of Aarin Capital.

The biggest failure of our republic in last 75 years is the failure of our Justice system to deliver justice in time!When will Indian citizens get Justice as guaranteed by our constitution?We need massive judicial reforms , Mohandas Pai wrote while reacting to a news on the acquittal of GN Saibaba.

On Tuesday, the high court set aside the life sentence of GN Saibaba in an alleged Maoist links case, noting that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.

On Thursday, GN Saibaba was released from the Nagpur Central Jail, where he had been lodged since 2017 after his conviction by a trial court in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district. Before that, he was in prison from 2014 to 2016 and was subsequently granted bail.

"My health is very bad. I can't talk. I will have to first take medical treatment, and then only I will able to speak," Saibaba, who has been wheelchair-bound, told reporters after coming out of the jail.

A family member was waiting for him outside the jail.

(With inputs from PTI)
Annie is a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle. She previously was a digital producer for The Chronicles Datebook section. She graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in 2017 with a degree in journalism. During her time there, she spearheaded a culture column, produced radio pieces for NPR-affiliate station KCBX, and was a DJ and writer for KCPR, the campus radio station. Before joining the Chronicle, she was an associate producer at SFGATE and interned at VICE and Flood Magazine. Shes particularly interested in communities and scenes that are often misunderstood.

She can be reached at avainshtein@sfchronicle.com.
Menstruation has been stigmatized for millennia. The Old Testament refers to menstruation as the infectious time,' while Hinduism calls it asaucha,' which has connotations of impurity or shame. "You'd think this means we'd have a big celebration when menopause comes, as we're not unclean anymore. But this isn't the case," said Rachel Weiss, a psychosocial counsellor in the UK, told DW. (Also Read | 11 tips for women to prevent heart attack after menopause) Menopause has been overmedicalized for decades, but experts are calling for a major societal shift in how it is viewed. (Freepik)

Menopause is still a taboo subject today. Weiss said the first time she saw it mentioned on TV was in 2017 in a BBC documentary called "The Menopause and Me," and it taught her a lot about the many ways menopause can affect people.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Modern science has fuelled the stigma. Scientists in the 20th century (predominantly male) discovered that the hormone estrogen could be used as a hormone treatment for symptoms of menopause. The research led menopause, a normal life event, to be turned into a hormone deficiency disease which requires diagnosis and treatment.

Hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) was later advertised as a cure' for menopause. The hormone pills Premarin, men were told in the 1950s, make a woman "pleasant to live with once again". The stigma is still around today and leads many women to feel unable to talk about their experiences with menopause.

"Imagine if you medicalized puberty and told kids that going through puberty will be horrendous, and then tell them there's a pill that would stop it happening. This is how menopause is often presented," said Weiss.

What is menopause?

"I think when you get into perimenopause, you notice a lot of changes. I can feel the hormonal shifts happening, the sweating, the moods  you're all of a sudden furious for no reason," Gwyneth Paltrow said in an interview in 2018.

Menopause marks the end of menstrual cycles and fertility in women. It stems from the gradual decline of reproductive hormones, primarily estrogen and progesterone, produced by the ovaries.

Menopause lasts seven years on average and typically occurs in women in their late forties to early fifties.

This hormonal shift triggers a wide range menopausal symptoms like hot flushes, night sweats, and mood swings. 38% of women describe these symptoms as moderate to severe.

Lancet studies

A new series of studies published on Tuesday in the Lancet argues for a new approach to managing menopause.

The studies urge societies to move away from the medicalized view of menopause in favour of a broader model that supports women transitioning this life stage.

"The experience of menopause differs for every person. Our series calls for an individualized approach where women are empowered with accurate, consistent and impartial information to make informed decisions which are right for them over the menopause transition," study series co-author Martha Hickey, University of Melbourne, told reporters.

One of the studies highlighted that early menopause needs to be taken more seriously. Women who go through early menopause have a higher chance of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis.

Around 8-12% of women globally experience early or premature menopause, but it's higher in some countries like India, where one in five women go through early menopause in their early thirties or early forties. Diagnosis of early menopause is often delayed and poorly managed, according to the study.

Another study challenged the widely held belief that menopause is associated with poor mental health. It found no compelling evidence that menopause increases the risk of anxiety, bipolar disorder, or psychosis. Depressive symptoms can be common, but predominantly in people with previous depressive disorders.

"It's not that the lack of estrogen causes depression. It's just that all the other social and cultural factors around menopause add to people feeling worthless. For many it happens when their teenagers are going through hormonal changes and being horrible, or elderly parents getting ill. It can be a big storm," said Weiss.

Tackling menopause stigma

A major theme of the Lancet study series is the need to tackle the shame and stigma around menopause.

One study says that normalizing menopause and providing easy access to unbiased, credible information can be empowering for women and help them make decisions about its management.

"More broadly, challenging widespread stigma about menopause as a period of decline and decay and creating a more menopause-friendly work environment might help to empower women," the study authors write.

In 2017 Weiss founded the charity menopause cafe, which runs events where anyone can discuss, and listen to, people's experiences with menopause. The studies credit menopause cafe as an effective way to empower women going through menopause and create a less medicalized narrative of it.

"One of the reasons our charity exists is to help people talk through their experiences with menopause and see if it might need medical attention or not. There is a place for HRT, especially for the 20% of people who have horrendous menopause symptoms, where it is primarily a medical problem. Medication (not only HRT) can also be useful for others if their physical symptoms significantly affect their quality of life," said Weiss.

The Lancet studies highlight how deep in society stigma around menopause goes. Many women report feeling shamed for menstruating as girls, then feeling shamed for not menstruating as older women, one study says.

"Women have been socialized not to mention our periods. But a deeper aspect is gendered ageism. I've heard women saying they can't tell their boss they're going through menopause because it will mean they're past it. Age in our society means worthless as a woman," said Weiss.

Growing discourse about menopause in some countries like the UK is raising awareness and helping to reduce shame and stigma, but the Lancet studies hope to make deeper changes in how menopause is viewed as a life experience rather than a disease that needs to be feared.
Coffee, the world's favourite beverage, has long been a popular companion for its energising properties, whether enjoyed as a midday pick-me-up or a morning boost. Celebrated for its wonderfully bitter notes, this aromatic elixir comes in a variety of flavours, including espresso, latte, cappuccino, mocha, Irish coffee, traditional Americano and more. The quest to identify the finest coffee on the planet has sparked endless debate among connoisseurs. TasteAtlas, a well-known food and travel reference company, has produced a definitive guide to the best coffee in the world. They have recently released their carefully compiled list of the 'Top 38 Coffees In The World', providing coffee lovers with an unrivalled exploration of the finest brews from around the world. (Also read: 5 unique coffee preparation techniques that you must know ) According to TasteAtlas, Indian filter coffee is the second best-rated coffee in the world.(Pinterest )

Best coffees in the world

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Check out the list of top 10 coffees in the world, as ranked by TasteAtlas:

1. Cuban Espresso, Cuba

2. South Indian Coffee, India

3. Espresso Freddo, Greece

4. Freddo cappuccino, Greece

5. Cappuccino, Italy

6. Turkish Coffee, Turkiye

7. Ristretto (Italy)

8. Frappe (Greece)

9. Eiskaffee (Germany)

10. Vietnamese Iced Coffee (Vietnam)

The top drink on the list is 'Cuban Espresso', which is an espresso shot sweetened with sugar and dark roast coffee. The sugar is added while the coffee is brewing. Espresso is made using an electric espresso machine or a stovetop espresso maker. The method of preparation also leaves a pale brown foam on top of the coffee. In second place is the South Indian favourite, Faviuyrite filter coffee. This is made with an easy-to-use yet efficient Indian filter coffee maker. This stainless steel machine has two chambers: the lower chamber drips the brewed coffee, while the upper chamber holds the ground coffee thanks to a perforated base. This method of making coffee is very popular in southern India.

To have freshly brewed coffee ready in the morning, many people set the filter overnight. Sugar and warm milk are added to this mixture. This coffee is served with a small saucer called a "dabara", which resembles a bowl, and in a small steel or brass cup. It is customary to transfer the coffee from one cup to another before serving in order to create foam. If you haven't yet tasted this delicious coffee, now is the perfect time to indulge in this ultimate filter coffee delight.
Travelers from India now comprise the second-largest market for Rail Europe for the first time in 90 years. DW asked some of them to share their experiences. "Europe has been so popularized by pop culture so it was definitely on my bucket list to do a Europe trip," 30-year-old Kritika Goel told DW. The social media content creator from Vellore, a city in southern India's Tamil Nadu state, said that she has always been fascinated by European history, culture and its stunning landscapes. Train delays in Europe do not deter young Indians from exploring the continent by rail(Kritika Goel)

So much so, that the 30-year-old finds herself returning to explore the continent every three or four months. And Goel is not the only Indian who has discovered the joys of exploring Europe across its railways. India is now the second-largest market for Rail Europe, a company that makes European train travel more accessible to international travelers, after the United States  outpacing both China and Japan. The company provides tickets for some 200 rail operators across Europe. (Also read: Travelling to Portugal? 5 things to know about Florida of Europe from gentle lifestyle to attractive tax policies )

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Train travel inspired by Bollywood

YouTuber Pratik Jain was introduced to the beauty of Europe through India's Hindi film industry, Bollywood, which features many popular European cities and famous landmarks in its movies. The 30-year-old from India's financial capital Mumbai last year traveled to five European countries  France, Germany, Belgium, Italy and the Czech Republic  using an all-in-one train ticket known as a Euro Rail pass.

"I spent over 250 ($270) for a four-day pass which is convenient, provides time flexibility and is cheaper as compared to flight tickets," Jain said, referring to the ticket that gives unlimited access to a wide network of trains across Europe.

"Europe has good railway connectivity which makes the journey smoother and less hassle. However, if you are only visiting one or two countries you can also use other options like [budget bus company] Flixbus and flights."

Devang Sethi, a 35-year-old former software engineer who now works as a travel vlogger, has also found train travel to be a winner. He has traversed most parts of Europe using the railway. All he needed was his backpack and a Eurail pass, he said. "This pass covers over 33 countries including Turkey and Bulgaria. I have taken a first-class pass and was offered free food in places like Scotland."

Europe attracting more Indian travelers

Despite hurdles like visa delays and logistical issues, a significant number of Indians have visited popular European destinations  including Switzerland, France, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Austria with a growing interest in Eastern European countries like the Czech Republic and Hungary.

"Despite challenges like visa delays, the Indian market has displayed remarkable resilience and a strong enthusiasm for European travel," Bjorn Bender, Rail Europe's President and CEO, told DW. "The Swiss Travel Pass and Eurail Passes are particularly popular among Indian outbound travelers for their flexibility and convenience, allowing seamless exploration of multiple destinations," said Bender.

Rail Europe has recorded a 60% growth in global revenue amid the increasing popularity of European destinations among Indian travelers. Goel told DW about some of her favorite train journeys across Europe. "The highlight was experiencing the Glacier Express in Switzerland; I'll never forget the spectacular views of the Swiss Alps on that eight-hour train journey, the content creator said.

Also, some of the train journeys I've taken around France and Italy have been breathtaking. Sethi said that her only issues were delayed trains, but highlighted the convenience of not needing to make a reservation. "During the busy season and at some places, you may need to pay extra for a seat, otherwise, it is very smooth and convenient," said Sethi. "These are only minor challenges."

But that does not appear to deter young Indians from making the journey to Europe and exploring the continent by train. "With India currently holding the position as the world's fifth-largest economy and its population surpassing that of China, reaching 1.4 billion ... we anticipate approximately 40 million outbound travelers from India in the coming years," said Bender.
It was my second day in India. I was presenting my credentials to the Honble President, Droupadi Murmu. As I entered the hall with my all-women Norwegian team to meet her, she looked at us and exclaimed words in Hindi that were translated to me as women's power.

That was my introduction to the worlds largest democracy, one with a woman President, a woman finance minister and a Parliament that had just adopted a Bill reserving two-thirds of the seats in the Lok Sabha for women.

I felt I was in the right place at the right time.

I represent the Norwegian foreign service, which presently has a ratio of 48% women and 52% men posted as ambassadors worldwide. It is important to underline that this is the first year of nearly 50% of women ambassadors, so it has taken us time to get here. In general, 55% of employees in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs are women, which has been the case for much longer, showcasing the extra time it takes for women to climb up the ladder.

The growing number of women in the Indian foreign service is also impressive and shows progress. The Indian ministry of external affairs sets a good example with an increasing number of divisions headed by women, an increasing ratio of women ambassadors posted worldwide and since 2022, the first ever Indian woman permanent representative to the United Nations in New York.

However, having said that, it is 2024, and being a woman ambassador is still noticed, making us continually reflect on what more must be done. Research done by several institutes globally refers to gender inequality among diplomatic corps worldwide, especially when it comes to appointments as ambassadors. The key to solving this challenge is to work at all levels, all the time.

It is no coincidence that we have managed to reach a near 50/50 ratio in our diplomatic service, our government and several businesses. Measures taken in Norway for the last several decades, like parental leave, right to childcare, and 40% reservation for women on boards in public limited companies have given women greater manoeuvrability to work on an equal footing. We celebrated 40 years of legislation promoting gender equality already in 2018. Some studies suggest that Norway would have lost 3300 billion NOKs ($317 billion) in income in the 40 years preceding the law if it had not been applied.

In a historic move in 2023, the government took a step further and proposed that medium-sized and large companies should also have at least a 40% gender balance on the boards of private limited companies. This will be gradually introduced already from 2024 and the aim is to cover around 20,000 companies. Norway is the first country in the world to take this step.

Our new action plan for womens rights and gender equality in Norways foreign and development policy (2023-2030) outlines concrete measures Norway will take both internally and externally. It aims to contribute to achieving the SDGs by 2030, particularly Goal 5, on womens rights and gender equality.

We will continue to assert ourselves on the global stage to achieve gender equality and safeguard the rights of all girls and women through strategic cooperation with diverse partners, diplomatic efforts in multilateral and bilateral forums, and financial contributions, particularly through development funds. Furthermore, we are committed to our objective of a minimum of 50% of all bilateral aid explicitly prioritising gender equality as a principal or significant target.

Internally, it is our aim that all staff should possess a solid understanding of efforts to combat sexual harassment, aligning with our international obligations. We will also continue to build competence and offer training on gender equality and womens rights including sexual and reproductive health and rights, as well as queer rights across the board. We are living in a post-pandemic era, with raging wars and the dire need for humanitarian assistance in several parts of the world. Therefore, we have also strengthened our existing action plans on women, peace and security (2023-2030) and efforts for women in humanitarian settings covered in Norways humanitarian strategy.

Lastly, we are also focusing our efforts on technology and equality. To leave no one behind, all girls and women need access to digital technology, and they need to be taught the skills to use it. If technology is created by men  for men  we risk missing out on innovations that could have improved the lives of half of the planets population.

To end with a few more examples, I would like to share that in Norway, Prime Minister Stres cabinet has 45% women. At the Norwegian embassy in Delhi, we are 46% men and 54% women. As I attended my first Republic Day celebrations in India this 26 January, Indias focus on Nari Shakti resonated with me deeply.

We are not just breaking the glass ceiling. We are not just breaking patriarchal rules. We are aiming to break generations of habits, and (bad) habits die hard. Its time they did.

May-Elin Stener is Norways ambassador to India. The views expressed are personal
The government on Thursday announced the national-level IndiaAI Mission with a budget outlay of 10,371.92 crore. The project marks a significant step towards bolstering the country's artificial intelligence (AI) system, the Ministry of Electronics and IT said in a statement. Artificial intelligence. (Thinkstock)

AI is going to be a kinetic enabler for India's digital economy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always said that India is going to fully exploit the power of AI for the benefit of its citizens and for the expansion of its economy. The mission will catalyse Indias AI ecosystem and position it as a force shaping the future of AI for India and for the world, the release quoted Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, as saying.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Here is all you need to know about IndiaAI Mission:

(1.) The IndiaAI Mission has various components, namely IndiaAI Compute Capacity, IndiaAI Innovation Centre (IAIC), IndiaAI Datasets Platform, IndiaAI Application Development Initiative, IndiaAI FutureSkills, IndiaAI Startup Financing, and Safe & Trusted AI.

(2.) Under IndiaAI Compute Capacity, a cutting-edge, scalable AI computing infrastructure will be erected by deploying more than 10,000 Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) through strategic public-private collaborations.

(3.) IAIC will be a leading academic institution for streamlined implementation and retention of top research talent, while Datasets Platform is to ensure data-driven governance and catalyzing AI-based innovation and research.

(4.) The FutureSkills programme will expand the reach of AI education, while the Startup Financing Mechanism will faciilitate streamlined access to funding of budding artificial intelligence startups.

(5.) The financial outlay on the IndiaAI Mission will be made over the next five years. Also, the outlay will ensure a structured implementation of the IndiaAI Mission through a public-private partnership model.
Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, expressed his appreciation for the remarkable hospitality extended to him during the pre-wedding celebrations of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Gates shared a wholesome picture along with a sweet note on Instagram, where he praised Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani for their incredible efforts in making the celebrations memorable. Bill Gates alongside his girlfriend Paula Hurd, Anant Ambani and Mukesh Ambani. (Instagram/BillGates)

As I reflect on the past week in India, one thing stands out: The incredible hospitality everyone showed Paula and me, especially from Mukesh and Nita at the beautiful celebration of their son Anant and his fiancee Radhika, wrote Bill Gates in the caption of the post. (Also Read: Bill Gates on his 1st Indian wedding, Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant's: 'Will be hard to go to another')

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The image shows Gates alongside his girlfriend Paula Hurd, Anant Ambani and Mukesh Ambani.

Take a look at the post here:

This picture was shared just a few hours ago on Instagram. Since being posted, it has garnered more than one lakh likes, and the numbers are still increasing.

Earlier, Bill Gates also shared a picture with Nandan M. Nilekani, the Co-Founder and Chairman of Infosys Limited and his wife. In the caption of the post, he thanked Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant. He also shared how their pre-wedding festivities gave him a chance to catch up with old friends. (Also Read: Anant Ambani, Radhika Merchant pre-wedding bash: Bill Gates shares pic with Mark Zuckerberg, compliments his dressing)

In the caption of the post he wrote, "This was my first time attending a wedding celebration in India, and it was incredible. Congratulations, Anant and Radhika. Thank you for having us and giving us an excuse to catch up with old friends. The picture he shared shows him and Raud sporting traditional Indian attire.

Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchants three-day-long pre-wedding festivities concluded on March 3. The grand event was attended by business tycoons from around the world. Not only that, but pop stars such as Rihanna, Shreya Ghoshal, Arijit Singh, and Diljit Dosanjh even performed during the celebrations.
Yavanika Raj Shah, an X user travelling with IndiGo from Bengaluru to Bhopal, was shocked to find missing cushions on two seats. Later, Shah shared about the incident on the microblogging platform with a sarcastic remark. She also added a picture of the cushionless seats. After the post went viral, the airlines also responded to it. Snapshot of the seats without a cushion on an IndiGo flight. (X/@yavanika_shah)

"Beautiful @IndiGo6E  I do hope I land safely! This is your flight from Bengaluru to Bhopal 6E 6465," wrote Shah in the caption of the post. (Also Read: IndiGo passenger smokes 'beedi' onboard Delhi-Mumbai flight, then this happened)

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The image she shared shows two seats without any cushions on them.

Take a look at the post here:

This post was shared just a day ago on X. Since being posted, it has garnered over seven lakh likes, and the numbers are only increasing. The post also has close to 8,000 likes and numerous comments.

IndiGo also took to the comments section and wrote, "Ma'am, thank you for speaking with us. The seat cushions were replaced prior to the flight for cleaning purposes. Our cabin crew promptly informed the customers who were allotted these seats. This is a standard practice for cleaning during transit as and when required. We are committed to providing the highest standards of cleanliness and hygiene to our customers." (Also Read: IndiGo passenger spots cockroaches on flight. Heres what the company said)

Many others also flocked to the comments section of the post to share their reactions.

Check out how people reacted:

An individual wrote, "Saw a similar seat while flying Indigo from Mumbai to Indore last week. They fixed the cushion only after the actual passenger turned up. Maybe they are facing cushion shortage and using it as per demand!"

A second joked, "What fee does one have to pay to book such a therapeutic seat with an acupressure facility."

"Do you still need to 'fasten your seat belts,'" commented a third.

A fourth said, "Indigo has really declined in services over the past couple of years."
Michael Farchi, a resident of Agoura Hills, had an unexpected and distressing encounter during his time at the Venetian's Palazzo Tower in Las Vegas, USA. While peacefully sleeping, Farchi was jolted awake by an intense and agonising pain in his testicles, which was caused due to a scorpion sting, reported CBS News. The scorpion was found clinging to the man's boxers. (Unsplash)

"I woke up with sharp pain in my private area. Didn't know what it was. I reached my hand to see what was happening under the covers and got another sharp pain," Farchi told ABC Los Angeles affiliate KABC.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

As per ABC News, when he reached down to find the source of his excruciating pain, he discovered the scorpion clinging to his boxers. The small, venomous creature stung him at least three to four times. The exact species of scorpion and the toxicity level of its venom are not clear. (Also Read: Scorpion bites woman passenger onboard Air India flight)

He then visited a nearby hospital to receive treatment and later reported the incident to the hotel staff. He stated that he still needed to pay for the hotel. He is now suing Venetian's Palazzo Tower for an unspecified amount.

Farchi's attorney, Brian Virag, said to ABC News, "Nobody staying in Vegas needs to be exposed to deadly scorpions while they're sleeping, let alone on their private parts, their testicles."

Although Virag expressed confidence in the resort's policies and processes to prevent circumstances similar to the one Farchi encountered, the attorney suggested that it is another matter entirely to guarantee that the procedures are being followed. He also pressed on the fact that it is a good idea to always inspect a hotel room and its surrounding areas upon checking in, reported 8newsnow.

Venetian's Palazzo Tower told 8newsnow that, The resort has protocols for all incidents, and we can confirm they were followed in this incident.
Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho, was recently in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His colleagues gifted him a thawb, it is a long robe worn by men in this Middle Eastern country. He was also given a traditional scarf called shemagh with an agal - a black cord that keeps the shemagh in place on the wearers head. Vembu wore the outfit and attended a team dinner in Riyadh. He even shared pictures of himself in the attire on X. Expectedly, they have received numerous responses from people. Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu in thawb. (X/@hyther)

My colleagues got me the thawb, the Saudi national dress. Last evening dinner in Riyadh before flying back to Chennai, wrote Vembu while sharing a few pictures on X.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

One of the pictures shows Vembu posing for the camera in thawb. Another shows Vembu posing with Hyther Nizam, President, Zoho Middle East and Africa and VP of Product Management. The third picture shows Vembu and Nizam posing with their other colleagues.

Take a look at the pictures shared by Zoho CEO here:

Hyther Nizam also posted the same pictures on X with the caption, After hectic days in LEAP 24 Saudi Arabia.

Vembu shared these pictures on March 6. They have since collected over a lakh views and the numbers are still increasing.

Additionally, the post has received a flurry of likes and retweets. Many even flocked to the comments section of the post to share their thoughts.

Heres how people reacted to this post here:

At first glance, I was like where Sridhar is in this pic. I am used to veshti-cladded Sridhar, posted an individual.

Another added, Looking great, sir!

Elegant, expressed a third.

A fourth joined, This suits you very well!

Looks good, chimed in a fifth.

A sixth shared, Wow! Superb, sir.

What are your thoughts on this?
Sweden on Thursday became the 32nd member of NATO in the shadow of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, turning the page on two centuries of non-alignment and capping two years of torturous diplomacy. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken listens, during joint press statements on Sweden's entry into NATO at the State Department in Washington, U.S., March 7, 2024. REUTERS/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades

Days after Hungary followed key holdout Turkey and became the last NATO member to sign off, Sweden ceremonially handed over accession documents to the United States, the leading force of the transatlantic alliance that promises joint security for all.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

"It is a major step but, at the same time, a very natural step," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said at the State Department.

The accession "is a victory for freedom today. Sweden has made a free, democratic, sovereign and united choice to join NATO," he said.

President Joe Biden, whose rival Donald Trump has disparaged NATO as unfairly burdening the United States, said in a statement that the alliance was stronger and "more united, determined and dynamic than ever" with Sweden.

The Swedish prime minister was set later Thursday to attend the annual State of the Union address by Biden, who has been struggling to persuade Trump's Republican Party to approve new aid to Ukraine.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that few would have expected Sweden as well as Finland to join NATO before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

There is "no clearer example than today of the strategic debacle that Putin's invasion of Ukraine has become for Russia," Blinken said.

Sweden has not been involved in a war since the Napoleonic conflicts of the early 19th century.

Sweden and Finland, while militarily intertwined with the United States and both members of the European Union, had historically steered clear of officially joining NATO, formed in the Cold War to unite against the Soviet Union.

Finland and Sweden launched a joint bid quickly after the invasion of Ukraine, which itself had unsuccessfully sought to join NATO -- an alliance that under Article 5, considers an attack on one member an attack on all.

Finland successfully joined in April 2023, but Sweden's membership was stalled by Turkey.

"Good things come to those who wait," Blinken said as he received the documents from Sweden. "Some doubted we'd get here; we never did."

'Historic day'

Russia has vowed "countermeasures" over Sweden's entry into NATO, especially if the alliance's troops and assets deploy in the country.

Sweden's blue and golden-yellow flag is expected to be hoisted on Monday at the Brussels headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who is from neighboring Norway, hailed a "historic day."

"After over 200 years of non-alignment Sweden now enjoys the protection granted under Article 5, the ultimate guarantee of allies' freedom and security," he said in a statement.

Before agreeing to ratify membership, Turkey used its leverage to press Sweden, known for its liberal asylum policies, to crack down on Kurdish militants who have campaigned against Ankara.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later demanded action after protesters, enjoying Swedish laws on free speech, desecrated Islam's holy book the Koran.

In a clear if unstated sweetener, the United States dangled the prospect of F-16 warplanes to Turkey, which has faced the wrath of US sanctions over a major military purchase from Russia.

The Biden administration in January approved $23 billion in F-16 warplanes to Turkey swiftly after it ratified Sweden's membership.

The United States simultaneously pushed ahead with $8.6 billion in more advanced F-35 jets for Greece, a fellow NATO member that has a historic rivalry and frequent tensions with Turkey.

Even with Turkey's blessing, Sweden faced another obstacle as it needed approval of a last country -- Hungary, whose nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, has often thumbed his nose at Western allies.

The Hungarian parliament ratified Sweden's membership on February 26. But in one last hiccup, Hungary could not formally sign the accession document due to a brief absence in the mostly ceremonial post of president, after an Orban ally resigned in a scandal over pardoning a convicted child abuser's accomplice.
A United Airlines Boeing 777 is readied for departure to Honolulu while another plane taxis towards the runway at San Francisco International Airport. An SFO-bound United flight from Hawaii made an emergency landing after engine failure on Monday. Paul Chinn/The Chronicle

A United Airlines flight traveling from Honolulu to San Francisco encountered an engine failure over the Pacific Ocean earlier this week, aviation records show.

The crew on the Boeing 757-300, with the registration N57869, declared an emergency on Monday while the flight was approximately 270 nautical miles from its destination, reporting a shutdown of the right-hand engine. The aircraft managed to land safely at San Francisco International Airport nearly an hour after the incident.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

On Monday afternoon, United flight 214 experienced an engine issue shortly before its arrival at San Francisco International Airport, a spokesperson from United told the Chronicle in a statement. The flight landed safely and passengers deplaned normally.

The flight, operating under the designation UA214, typically shuttles between Honolulu and San Francisco. Additional data from Planespotters.net shows that the aircraft involved is a 21-year-old plane formerly operated by American Trans Air and Continental Airlines.

Following the landing, emergency services inspected the aircraft and recommended it taxi to the apron, with emergency services on standby. The plane remained grounded in San Francisco for approximately 36 hours after the incident.

In the event of an engine failure, standard procedure allows an aircraft to continue flying on one engine until reaching the nearest airfield, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

A United Airlines flight is unloaded in Houston in December. A United flight originating from Houston Monday experienced mechanical issues, resulting in flames erupting from the rear of an engine shortly after takeoff. Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle

Several similar events occurred this week.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

On Thursday, officials at SFO said, a piece of tire from a United Airlines planes landing gear peeled off from a Japan-bound flight shortly after takeoff. The tire landed in an employee parking lot and there were no injuries, officials said.

Another United Airlines flight, originating from Houstons Bush International Airport, experienced mechanical issues, resulting in flames erupting from the rear of an engine shortly after takeoff on Monday. The 21-year-old Boeing 737, bound for Fort Myers, made an emergency landing back in Houston.

Similarly, an Alaska Airlines flight from Portland to Phoenix had to execute an emergency landing on Wednesday because an odor was detected on board, according to an airline spokesperson.

These incidents follow closely on the heels of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max incident two months ago, where a door panel blew off midflight, triggering heightened scrutiny and concerns regarding overall airline safety.
Any adult who can legally own a gun can now carry one openly in South Carolina after Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill into law Thursday, just a day after it received final legislative approval. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster speaks to supporters gathered at a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump at Coastal Carolina University ahead of the South Carolina Republican presidential primary in Conway, South Carolina, U.S., February 10, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Wolfe/File Photo

Gun rights supporters have pushed for the law for nearly a decade, first allowing open carry for people who took the training to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Encouraging that kind of training was one of the biggest roadblocks for the new law. A Senate proposal to provide millions of dollars for free gun training across the state needed to get a concealed weapons permit was part of what cleared the way.

The law also provides stiffer penalties for people who repeatedly carry guns in places where they would still be banned, like schools or courthouses, or commit crimes while armed, whether they use the weapon or not. The penalties can be enhanced if the offender doesn't have a concealed weapons permit.

With the governor's signature in a private ceremony in his office with at least a dozen lawmakers, South Carolina joined 28 other states that allow open carry of guns without a permit, including nearly every state in the Deep South.

For Gov. Henry McMaster, the stiffer penalties for criminals possessing guns when they shouldn't and people who illegally use weapons was the most important part of the new law.

Now law enforcement, prosecutors and judges can keep career violent criminals behind bars where they belong where they can no longer hurt innocent South Carolinians, McMaster said in a statement after the Senate approved the compromise Wednesday. The House passed it on Tuesday.

Gun rights advocates put heavy pressure on senators to get rid of extra penalties for people without concealed weapons permits, saying there should be true open carry with no incentive to get a permit and suggesting people legally carrying guns could be harassed.

But Sen. Rex Rice said the bill is about the best gun rights law the state can get.

It gives law-abiding citizens the right to carry a gun with or without permit. And it also puts the bad guys in jail if they are carrying guns and shouldnt," the Republican from Easley said.

Some law enforcement leaders were lukewarm or against the bill, saying they worried about their officers encountering armed people at shooting scenes having to make a split-second assessment about who is a threat and who is trying to help and a lack of required training for people to carry guns in public.

Other opponents said letting people as young as 18 openly carry guns could lead to high school seniors carrying guns in their cars just off campus and turning arguments into shootings or a driver cutting off another ending in a side-of-the-road shootout.

Sen. Josh Kimbrell said those are all crimes and will remain crimes, and responsible gun owners shouldn't be penalized from exercising their 2nd Amendment rights.

If you're going to pull out a pistol in public and point it at someone because you are pissed off that they took your parking space. we're not allowing that," the Republican from Spartanburg said.
China will be a global force for peace and stability, the country's foreign minister Wang Yi said Thursday in a wide-ranging press conference where he hit out against US "suppression" and expressed support for Palestinians. HT Image

"In the face of complex turmoil in the international environment, China will persist in being a force for peace, a force for stability, and a force for progress in the world," Wang told reporters.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Wang met the press on Thursday on the sidelines of China's largest annual political gathering, which opened in Beijing earlier this week.

The "Two Sessions" -- parallel meetings of China's rubber-stamp parliament and political consultative body -- offer a rare glimpse into the strategy of the Communist Party-led government for the year ahead.

This year's gathering is being closely watched for signals as to Chinese leaders' confidence in current geopolitical conditions, as tensions persist across the Taiwan Strait and Russia's war in Ukraine enters its third year.

China's expanding political reach has sparked friction on multiple fronts, with Wang's press conference coming after Southeast Asian and Australian leaders warned this week against Chinese actions that "endanger peace" in the South China Sea.

China has increasingly flexed its muscles in the South China Sea, which it claims almost entirely despite an international arbitration ruling that declared its stance baseless.

Chinese coast guard boats were accused on Tuesday of badgering a flotilla of Philippine ships on a resupply mission.

"We resolutely oppose all acts of hegemony and bullying, and will strongly uphold national sovereignty and security as well as development interests," Wang said on Thursday.

He hit out at what he called efforts by Washington "to suppress China", saying "the desire to heap blame under any pretext has reached an unbelievable level".

And the top diplomat warned that people seeking independence for self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory, would be "liquidated by history".

Wang reiterated China's support for Palestinians when asked about the ongoing conflict in Gaza, saying Beijing supports full United Nations membership for a Palestinian state.

"The catastrophe in Gaza once again reminded the world that the fact that the Palestinian territories have been occupied for a long time can no longer be ignored," Wang said.

"The long-cherished wish of the Palestinian people to establish an independent country can no longer be evaded, and the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people cannot continue for generations without being corrected," he added.

Beijing has been calling for an immediate ceasefire since the start of the current Israel-Hamas war in October last year.

Wang on Thursday also defended Beijing's close relationship with Moscow, saying that "China and Russia have set a new paradigm for major power relations that is completely different from the old Cold War era."

The foreign minister said that bilateral ties rested on "the basis of non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third parties".

Western powers have criticised Beijing for refusing to condemn Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

China says it is a neutral party in the Ukraine war, but its strategic partnership with Russia has grown closer since the start of the war.

Wang also told reporters on Thursday that the European Union's portrayal of China as a rival was "not factual or feasible", amid efforts by the bloc to fend off competition from China in areas including technology, energy and electric vehicles.

bur-tjx/je/cwl
At least three crew members of a commercial ship were killed in a missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels, the Associated Press reported. The survivors were compelled to abandon the vessel. This incident signifies a notable escalation in Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, which commenced in October following the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. In this image obtained from the US Central Command (CENTCOM) on March 6, 2024, shows the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier after it was hit by anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) launched from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. (AFP)

According to the US military's Central Command, the commercial ship  True Confidence  sustained significant damage when it was struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from a Houthi-controlled area in Yemen.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Following the missile strike, the crew evacuated the ship and launched lifeboats. A US warship and the Indian navy were at the scene, assisting in the rescue operations. The exact number of crew members aboard during the attack remained uncertain.

The assault on the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence further exacerbates tensions along a vital maritime pathway connecting Asia and the Middle East to Europe, disrupting global maritime traffic.

According to Reuters reports, the Greek True Confidence operators said the vessel was adrift and engulfed in flames. They indicated a lack of information regarding the status of the 20 crew members and three armed guards, including 15 Filipinos, four Vietnamese, two Sri Lankans, an Indian, and a Nepali national.

Houthis' statement

According to a Reuters report, the Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack that ignited the Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged vessel True Confidence approximately 50 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen's port of Aden.

Houthis declared the strike accurate, resulting in a fire onboard the ship. The targeting operation came after the ships crew rejected warning messages from the Yemeni naval forces, a CNN report quoted Houthis' statement about the attack.

The Houthi statement reiterated the group's backing for the Palestinian people and affirmed their commitment to continue the attacks in the Red Sea until the cessation of Israeli aggression and the lifting of the siege on the Gaza Strip.

Houthi rebels' attacks in the Red Sea

The rebels have targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters repeatedly during the Israel-Hamas war. However, until Wednesday, they had not caused any casualties among the crew members. Some of the vessels targeted included at least one carrying cargo bound for Iran, which is the main supporter of the Houthis, and an aid ship later destined for Houthi-controlled territory.

Despite over a month and a half of US-led airstrikes, Houthi rebels have maintained their ability to carry out significant attacks. These include the recent attack on the Rubymar, a cargo ship transporting fertilizer, which sank after drifting for several days, as well as the downing of an American drone valued at tens of millions of dollars.

The reason behind the Houthis' targeting of the True Confidence remains unclear. However, it's worth noting that the ship was previously owned by Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based fund that finances vessels through instalment plans. Oaktree declined to provide further comment on the matter.

(With inputs from Associated Press, Reuters)
The Maldivian defence force on Thursday said it will have operational authority over the helicopter given by India to the island nation and the civilian crew that will pilot it. Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu.(AP)

Addressing a press conference, the Principal Director of Plans, Policy, and Resources Management for the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), Colonel Ahmed Mujuthaba Mohamed said that discussions are underway for withdrawing Indian troops from the Maldives.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

He emphasised that the government of President Mohamed Muizzu has decided not to permit any foreign troops to remain stationed in the Maldives beyond May 10, PSM News, the state broadcaster reported.

Last week, India said its first civilian team of technical experts has reached the Maldives to replace the military personnel operating an advanced light helicopter in the island nation.

Also Read | India opens key naval base close to Maldives

"The first team of technical personnel to operate the advanced light helicopter has reached the Maldives. It will replace the existing personnel who were operating this platform," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing on February 29.

Following a second meeting of the high-level core group that was set up to address the issue of withdrawal of the Indian military personnel, the Maldivian foreign ministry had said India will replace all its military personnel in two phases by May 10.

India's ties with the Maldives came under stress as Muizzu, seen as a pro-China leader, maintained after assuming charge as the president in November that he would keep his election promise of expelling all Indian military personnel from his country.

Also Read | President Mohamed Muizzu sets deadline for Indian troops to leave Maldives

Muizzu had set March 10 as the deadline for the withdrawal of the first group of Indian military personnel from his country.

His government this week signed a deal with China's military under which Beijing will supply "non-lethal" weapons to the Maldives free of cost. Local media quoted President Muizzu as saying that the non-lethal weaponry would include tear gas and pepper spray.

Colonel Mujthaba also said that the Indian helicopter stationed in Addu City is currently undergoing repairs, and in its place, 26 civilians have arrived in the Maldives with a replacement helicopter.

He noted that the familiarisation process is in progress and said the Indian troops will depart from the Maldives as planned. He also said the MNDF will have operational authority of the Indian civilians and vehicles associated with the helicopter.

According to the Maldivian government, 88 Indian military personnel were in the Maldives primarily to operate two helicopters and an aircraft that have carried out hundreds of medical evacuations and humanitarian missions.

The Indian aviation platforms have provided humanitarian and medical evacuation services to the Maldivians for the last few years.

Muizzu defeated India-friendly incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the presidential runoff held in September last year.

The Maldives is one of India's key maritime neighbours in the Indian Ocean region. The overall bilateral ties, including in defence and security, witnessed an upward trajectory under the previous government in Male.
Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora, a three-time member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA) in Pakistan, became the first member of the Sikh community to take oath as a minister in the Punjab province on Wednesday, representing the minority in the provincial assembly. The cabinet in the province was formed by the newly elected Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) government led by chief minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the daughter of the three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Ramesh Singh Arora(HT_PRINT)

Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora, 48, is a legislator from the Pakistani district of Narowal. In a phone call with The Indian Express, Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora said, It is for the first time since Partition in 1947 that a Sikh has been inducted in the cabinet of Punjab province. I wont just work for the safety and well-being of Sikhs but all minorities, including Hindus and Christians living in Pakistan.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Who is Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora?

-Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora, born in Nankana Sahib, holds a postgraduate degree in entrepreneurship and SME management from Government College University, Lahore.

-Before entering politics, Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora contributed to the World Bank's Poverty Reduction Programme in Pakistan. In 2008, he established the Mojaz Foundation, dedicated to assisting the underprivileged in Pakistan.

-In the recent Pakistani elections, Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora was re-elected as MPA from Narowal, his hometown and the location of Gurdwara Sri Kartarpur Sahib, Guru Nanak's final resting place. He was also appointed as Ambassador at Large for the Kartarpur Corridor last year.

According to The Indian Express report, Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora mentioned that during the 1947 partition, his family opted to remain in Pakistan rather than migrate to India, unlike the majority of Sikh/Hindu families. I was born in Nankana Sahib but later we moved to Narowal. My grandfather had chosen to stay back in Pakistan during partition on the insistence of his dear friend. Just for the sake of friendship, he had chosen to stay back, he said.

Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora played a significant role in implementing the Sikh Marriage Registration Act 2017 in Pakistan. He introduced the bill as a private member and unanimously passed by the Assembly in March 2018.

Recently, Arora was unanimously elected as the president of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) for a three-year term.

Aroras role as head of Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee

Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora was unanimously elected as the President of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) on March 1, serving a three-year term.

Arora, PML-N, was also appointed as the ambassador to the Kartarpur Corridor last year, succeeding Sardar Ameer Singh.

The Kartarpur Corridor connects Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev, to the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district, India. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor in November 2019 to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, facilitating Indian Sikh pilgrims' visa-free visits to one of their religion's holiest sites in Pakistan.
Pakistan's newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for congratulating him on his re-election. Pakistan's newly-elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.(Agencies)

"Thank you @narendramodi for felicitations on my election as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Sharif wrote in a post on X.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Shehbaz Sharif, 72, clinched his second term as Pakistan's prime minister on March 3, securing 201 votes in parliament amidst protests. Pakistan President Arif Alvi administered oath to Shehbaz Sharif at the Aiwan-i-Sadr.

Sharif's party, the PML-N, is leading a coalition government alongside Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif had endorsed his younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif, for the prime minister's position and party loyalist Sardar Ayaz Sadiq for the speaker of the national assembly role.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Shehbaz Sharif on taking oath as the 24th prime minister of Pakistan.

"Congratulations to @CMShehbaz on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan," Modi posted on X.

In his victory speech in the National Assembly soon after he was elected as the 24th prime minister and for a second time since 2022, Sharif said his government would not allow the country to become part of some "great game" and would maintain cordial relations with neighbours based on the principles of equality, according to PTI.

"We will keep ties with neighbours on the basis of equality, he said.

Sharif, however, had also raked up the Kashmir issue and equated it with Palestine. "Let's all come together...and the National Assembly should pass a resolution for the freedom of Kashmiris and Palestinians," he had said.

Who won in Pakistan election?



 Independent candidates aligned with Imran Khan's PTI claimed 93 out of 265 national assembly seats.

 Nawaz Sharif's PML-N emerged victorious at 75 seats in the national assembly.

 Pakistan People's Party (PPP) secured 54 seats in the national assembly.

 Karachi-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P), representing Urdu-speaking people who migrated from India during partition, got 17 seats.

 Election to one seat was postponed following the death of a candidate.

As per Pakistan's constitution, a party must win 133 out of the 265 contested seats in the 266-member national assembly to form a government.
A month after Alabama Supreme Court's ruling raised concerns over future of vitro fertilization providers the Gov. Kay Ivey has come out to protect citizens' rights with a new legislation. Alabama state Sen. Tim Melson talks with media after the Senate passed the SB159 bill (IVF Fertility Bill), Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)(AP)

Alabama Gov. has signed a new legislature to protect providers from lawsuits and criminal prosecution for the damage or death of an embryo during IVF services.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Earlier the Alabama Supreme Court had ruled that embryos are children, leading to concerns about civil liabilities for clinics and prompted an outcry from patients and other groups.

The decision triggered wide outcry across the country and as a result three major IVF providers had paused services. Patients in Alabama also shared stories about having upcoming embryo transfers abruptly canceled and their paths to parenthood put in doubt.

I am pleased to sign this important, short-term measure into law so that couples in Alabama hoping and praying to be parents can grow their families through IVF," said Ivey, a Republican.

Cheering the decision Republican Sen. Tim Melson, who sponsored the bill, said he was "just elated to get these ladies back on schedule.

Doctors from Alabama Fertility, one of the clinics that had paused IVF services, watched as the bill got final passage. They said it will allow them to resume embryo transfers starting tomorrow.

We have some transfers tomorrow and some Friday. This means that we will be able to do embryo transfers and hopefully have more pregnancies and babies in the state of Alabama, Dr. Mamie McLean said after the vote.

Alabama Supreme Court Ruling

Last month the state Supreme Court had allowed three couple whose frozen embryos were destroyed in a storage facility accident, to pursue lawsuits of their extrauterine children. This ruling that treated an embryo or gestating fetus as wrongful death of a child raised concerns about civil liabilities for clinics

Even as Republicans claim their immunity proposal is a solution for clinics concerns they have failed to address the legal status of embryos created in IVF labs.

Meanwhile, Democrats have proposed a legislation stating that a human embryo outside a uterus cannot be considered an unborn child or human being under state law. They feel this is the only legal way to deal with the issue. Republicans have not brought the proposal up for a vote.

I think there is too much difference of opinion on when actual life begins. A lot of people say conception. A lot of people say implantation. Others say heartbeat. I wish I had the answer, said Melson, the bill sponsor.
Mar 8, 2024 10:10 AM IST

During his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden cited a 2021 report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy think tank, stating that 55 of the countrys largest corporations had made $40 billion in profit in their previous fiscal year but hadn't paid any federal corporate income taxes.

Biden claimed, Remember in 2020, 55 of the biggest companies in America made $40 billion and paid zero in federal income taxes. Zero. Not anymore. Thanks to the law I wrote and we signed, big companies have to pay a minimum of 15%.

Bidens assertion of not anymore is inaccurate

While his 15% corporate minimum tax aims to reduce the number of major companies not paying federal taxes, it doesnt guarantee that none of the previously mentioned companies will continue to do so. The minimum tax, applies to book income reported to investors, only applies to companies with at least $1 billion in average annual income.

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, only 14 of the 55 non-paying companies reported having US pre-tax income of at least $1 billion.

Matthew Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, acknowledged the tax as a positive step but noted that it might not eliminate the phenomenon of zero-tax profitable corporations. He emphasized that the more accurate phrasing would be that the minimum tax will "help" ensure that "the most profitable" corporations pay at least some federal income tax.

Fact checking Biden's Covid-19 address

While addressing the pandemic time he suggested that more than 1 million American lives were lost to Covid-19 under the Trump administration. This statement requires context, as the US didnt reach its millionth death until May 2022 when Biden was in office. While a huge numbers of lives were lost during the Trump administration, the official count surpassed a million deaths in May 2022 during Biden's presidency.

As of February, over 1.18 million people in the US have died from Covid-19 according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Just hours before former US President Donald Trump was informally anointed as the Republican party's presidential candidate, his legal team has formally requested a new trial in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case. Columnist E Jean Carroll (L). Ex-US President Donald Trump.(AFP)

The case revolves around compensatory and punitive awards totalling $83 million, awarded to Carroll, who accused Trump of sexually abusing her in a department store dressing room during the mid-1990s.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Alina Habba, Trump's legal counsel, contends that the awarded sum is exorbitant and should be significantly reduced. The argument posits that punitive damages could be scaled down to no more than $36.6 million, particularly if the compensatory component, earmarked for restoring Carroll's reputation, is also diminished. Trump's lawyers cite pertinent case law to support their stance.

ALSO READ| Judge slams Donald Trumps mistrial request as nonsensical and futile in E Jean Carroll defamation case

The defamation trial is erroneously instructed

The legal team further contends that a new trial is warranted due to excluded evidence and erroneously instructed.

They assert, This Courts erroneous decision to dramatically limit the scope of President Trumps testimony almost certainly influenced the jurys verdict, and thus a new trial is warranted.

The 45th US president's testimony on this matter was stricken from the record by Judge Lewis Kaplan, claims the former president's legal team.

The counsel's statement read, President Trumps testimony about his own state of mind is the most relevant and probative evidence on the issue of common-law malice, and he was uniquely positioned to address it.

By erroneously foreclosing any such testimony  and erroneously striking the one sentence of President Trumps testimony on this point  the Court all but assured that the jury would make a baseless punitive-damages award.

While challenging E. Jean Carroll punitive charges, Trumps legal team argued that Judge Kaplans instructions to the jury were flawed. They contended that the instructions were incorrect as they does not require a showing that intent to injury was the sole  motivation for the challenged statements according to New York law.

ALSO READ| Will billionaire Elon Musk bankroll Biden or Trump for US presidential campaigns? Here's the answer

This legal woe comes amidst Trump's broader legal challenges, including a recent $454 million judgment for inflating property values to secure favourable bank loans and insurance rates.

Plus, later this month, looming legal action related to a payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election may impact Trump's presidential campaign.
Former president Donald Trump has said he is set to do a Play by Play of president Joe Bidens upcoming State of the Union address. In a Truth Social Post, Trump wrote, I am pleased to inform you that tomorrow night we will be doing a LIVE, Play by Play, of Crooked Joe Bidens State of the Union address. Donald Trump is set to do a Play by Play of Joe Biden's State of the Union address (Photo by TANNEN MAURY and Brendan Smialowski / AFP)(AFP)

I will correct, in rapid response, any and all inaccurate Statements, especially pertaining to the Border and his Weaponization of the [Department of Justice], FBI, [attorney generals], and District Attorneys, to go after his Political Opponent, ME (something never done before in this Country!), Trump added. We did this once before to tremendous success  Beating All Records. It is important for the Country to get the TRUTH! The former president did not clarify what platform the Play by Play would take place on.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Last year, Trump made a similar announcement, saying there would be a Play by Play of Bidens address. He said that if the speech was properly done, and if Joe has just a modestly good night, this speech has the opportunity to rival any of the Worlds great orators, including, Lincoln, Washington, and, of course, the late, great, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Winston Churchill.

(Donald J. Trump/Truth Social)

Joe Bidens State of the Union address

Biden is preparing to deliver the third State of the Union address of his presidency. This gives him an opportunity to highlight his successes. He is also expected to outline the priorities for the future.

Notably, the upcoming address will be the first since he announced his re-election bid last year. He will face Trump, his Republican predecessor, in Novembers general election. The two are in a close fight, according to polls.

This years State of the Union is scheduled for 9 pm local time on Thursday, March 7 (02:00 GMT on Friday, March 8). It is delivered to a joint session of Congress, meaning members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives will attend the address.
Students walk to class through the Sather Gate on the UC Berkeley campus. Applications for the fall term at the University of California system rose slightly this year, with an increase in transfer applications driving the bump. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

Applications for the fall term at the University of California system rose 1.5% compared with last year, with more than 250,000 students vying for places in the nine-campus system, including first-year students and transfers.

The increase comes after a dip in applications across the UC system for fall 2023, when numbers fell by 2% after hitting record highs in 2022. Officials attribute this years uptick to a rise in applications from California residents, students from historically underrepresented groups and transfer students from community, state and private colleges nationally and internationally.

Michael V. Drake, UC system president, said in a statement he was pleased that students with a wide range of backgrounds and life experiences were applying to the prestigious public universities.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The increase in applications underscores the quality of the educational experience and the long-term social mobility a UC education can provide underrepresented students, Drake said.

While systemwide applications were up slightly, the number of first-year applications for fall 2024 remained relatively unchanged, hovering just under 207,000. Thats slightly down from a record-setting 211,000 in 2022, which followed a boom in first-year applications starting in 2021, the year standardized testing requirements were dropped.

But the number of first-year applications from California residents, which has been steadily rising for four years, went up by 1.2% for the upcoming fall term, accounting for 65% of all first-year applications.

Of those California applicants, 47% were from groups historically underrepresented in higher education, which the UC system defines as students from Black, Hispanic/Latino American Indian and Pacific Islander racial backgrounds  a slight rise from last years 46.4%. System-wide, applications from these groups increased by 2.7%, according to UC.

UC officials said that the numbers are the result of UCs intentional efforts to ensure that each class of undergraduates is reflective of the state it serves.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

These application numbers confirm we are headed in the right direction, Han Mi Yoon-Wu, associate vice provost for undergraduate admissions at UC, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the number of first-year applications from out-of-state students decreased for the second year in a row, dropping 3.7% between fall 2023 and fall 2024. The number of international first-year applicants stayed steady. As part of a 2021 budget deal, Gov. Gavin Newsom and UC signed a four-year compact to cap the enrollment of out-of-state and international students at UC campuses to make more room for California residents.

The UC system saw its largest bump this year in the number of transfer applicants, which rose by 9% between 2023 and 2024 after two consecutive years of decreases. Transfer applicants from California community colleges, which make up 80% of transfer applications, increased by 8%. Officials said the numbers show a rebound in interest from community college students after pandemic enrollment declines there across the country.

Admissions decisions for the fall term at all UC campuses will be sent to applicants through the end of March.
A morning run on a college campus. A desperate attempt to call 911. A tragic end. Tammy Nobles said her daughter Kayla Hamilton's murder was "preventable" (Image provided by Tammy Nobles)

That is what happened to Georgia nursing student Laken Hope Riley. The 22-year-old Augusta University student, who had a bright future ahead was brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant. She died from "blunt force trauma.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

University of Georgia students gather at the Tate Plaza on campus in Athens, Ga., Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, to pay tribute to Laken Riley (Nell Carroll/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)(AP)

As #SayHerName trends on social media, there is another name that comes to mind  another innocent young woman whose life was cut short when she was raped and strangled to death by an illegal immigrant  an alleged MS-13 gang member. Kayla Marie Hamilton, the autistic 20-year-old daughter of Tammy Nobles, met a tragic end, just like Laken.

Kayla was killed in her mobile home in her bed in Maryland days after her birthday in 2022. A 17-year-old El Salvador native was later arrested.

Is there a common thread between the two deaths? Tammy says there certainly is.

Joe Biden could've ensured the border was not wide open

Both the monsters came across the border illegally, Tammy told Hindustan Times in an interview. Both had previous criminal records and were allowed to go anywhere they wanted in the US. The Department of Health and Human Services failed Kayla because they did not make that one phone call to El Salvador to see if the suspect had a criminal record."

Both murderers were seeking asylum. You don't seek asylum when you already committed crimes previously and you go on to murder young women who had their whole lives ahead of them, she added.

The Biden administration recently touted a decrease in migrant encounters after the ending of Title 42. Almost a 70% drop in numbers were reported. However, despite the decline, an influx of illegal immigrants is still overwhelming various cities across the nation.

'Kayla and Laken would be alive, if only'

Kayla and Laken would be alive if only the government had done its job, Tammy said. Joe Biden could've ensured the border was not wide open. It's ok if individuals want to come here for a better life, but every border crosser should be vetted and background-checked to make sure they don't have criminal records in their country and aren't on gang lists.

Lakens killer, Jose Antonio Ibarra, was charged with malice and felony murder, aggravated battery, kidnapping, concealing the death of another and other charges. Kaylas killers identity is being withheld as he is a minor. He has been charged with first-degree murder, and rape and robbery.

This photo, provided by the Clarke County Sheriff's Office, shows Jose Ibarra, 26, on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 (Clarke County Sheriff's Office via AP)(AP)

I screamed an animalistic scream

Kayla was beautiful inside and out. She loved life and God. She showed the world that being yourself was ok and you didnt have to follow everyone else, Tammy said of her daughter.

Tammy Nobles and Kayla Hamilton (Image provided by Tammy Nobles)

Kayla and I shared a great bond. I was a single parent raising her on my own from the age of 4-9, until I met someone wonderful who became her stepdad, she added. Kayla and I were very close and she would share everything with me. I love my baby more than anything and would do anything for her.

Tammy Nobles and Kayla Hamilton (Image provided by Tammy Nobles)

Tammy opened up about the horrifying moment she learned about her daughters murder. Nothing prepares a parent when you get that phone call saying your child has been found deceased with injuries consistent with a homicide. I screamed an animalistic scream filled with pain and anguish. I fell to the ground while screaming. I couldn't breathe and I felt like I was going to die too, she recalled.

I know how her mother feels

I feel for Lakens family, Tammy said. I know how her mother feels. I am so sorry this happened to her family. We both now have to live without our daughters who will never get married, have children or a career.

Laken Hope Riley (GoFundMe)

Tammy found a lawyer in California who is helping her sue the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Health and Human Services for $100 million for the preventable murder of Kayla. I will continue fighting for justice and sharing Kayla's story to bring awareness and change, Tammy said.

Kayla Hamilton (Image provided by Tammy Nobles)

Kayla wanted me to dye her hair and do a TikTok with her. None of this will ever happen again because of the government's failure to keep us safe, she added.

This upcoming election is going to be very important

Laken and Kayla's murders are not the only cases involving illegal immigrants. In January 2016, Sarah Rae-Ann Root, who was born in 1994, was killed by a drunk driver named Eswin Mejia in Omaha, Nebraska. He was an illegal immigrant and was placed on the ICE Most Wanted List until his arrest.

At the time of the crash that killed Sarah, Mejia's blood alcohol content was 0.241, which is three times the legal limit. He was later called back for mandatory drug screening, but he never showed up. He remains a fugitive.

Another death is that of 16-year-old Texas girl Lizbeth Medina, who was killed by an illegal immigrant from Mexico in December last year. Rafael Govea Romero allegedly fatally stabbed Medina in the bathtub of an apartment she shared with her mom. He was charged with capital murder.

Tammy stressed the importance of background checks to ensure people are not crossing the borders illegally. That is a crime! she exclaimed. And they get a free pass? Americans safety needs to come first.

This upcoming election is going to be very important. We need a president who is going to put Americans safety and well-being first, she concluded.
United States President Joe Biden is expected to deliver his third State of the Union address at 9pm ET tonight. It is expected to be a pivotal moment not only to underscore his mental capability to run for second term, but also to set the tone for his re-election bid. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks before a meeting of his Competition Council, in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 5, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo(REUTERS)

United State's oldest president is scheduled to speak tonight at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. It will be delivered to a joint session of Congress, with both the Senate and the House of Representatives in attendance. Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Mike Johnson will be seated behind Biden, and the president's cabinet and Supreme Court justices may also be present.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

As is customary, the opposing political party delivers a rebuttal to the president's State of the Union. This year, Senator Katie Britt of Alabama will provide the Republican rebuttal, outlining the party's vision for the nation's future.

State of the Union tonight: What to expect

Biden's Expected Defence

This year's address gains heightened significance as it marks Biden's first address since announcing his candidacy for a second term. It also comes amidst mounting criticism and concern about his mental capability to run the country. It's expected that he will try to quell voter concerns about his job performance and make an election pitch against Donald Trump.

Biden is likely to address key issues that have defined his presidency, including the future of US democracy, support for foreign allies like Ukraine and Israel, and challenges such as migration at the US-Mexico border. Moreover, he is expected to emphasize efforts to bridge political partisanship in Washington, DC.

Biden's Expected Offensive

Biden is expected to go all out against his political rival, Donald Trump and counter him on all the claims from immigration to economy. He will position himself as defender of American democracy against perceived threats from Trump and his supporters.

Biden will claim credit for his administration's accomplishments, particularly in addressing the state of the economy, which has shown improvement since the start of his term. Reproductive rights, an issue resonating with Democratic voters, may also feature prominently in his speech.

Biden's Expected Proposals

According to a Bloomberg report Joe Biden is expected to propose an increase in the minimum tax rates paid by major US and multinational corporations to 21%. He may also pitch to eliminate breaks for companies with high-paid executives in his election-year State of the Union address. The report claims, the proposal will impact corporations valued at $1 billion or more, raising their minimum tax rate from the 15% level implemented earlier in his term.

US president Joe Biden is likely to urge Republican lawmakers to pass a bipartisan immigration bill, a that was previously blocked by Trumps allies in Congress. He may push Congress to pass supplemental funding for Ukraine and Israel, two top US allies.

What is State of the Union

The State of the Union is an annual speech that fulfills a constitutional requirement for the president to provide Congress with information on the state of the nation. It serves as a substantial platform for Biden to address the American people, Congress, and the broader global community.

The State of the Union is a historical tradition that traces back to George Washington's inaugural address in 1790. Over the years, it has evolved in format and nomenclature, becoming the official

The 2024 State of the Union is anticipated to be a critical moment for Biden, given the upcoming presidential election where he is expected to face his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump. Recent polls indicate a tight race, underscoring the importance of Biden's address in making a persuasive case for a second term.
Murdered Georgia student Laken Rileys parents reportedly turned down an invite from Rep. Mike Collins to the State of the Union on Thursday, March 7. Collins (R-Ga.) represents Georgias 10th Congressional District of Athens. This is where Riley was attacked and killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra, an illegal immigrant. Laken Rileys parents turned down an invite from Rep. Mike Collins to the State of the Union (GoFundMe, Representative Mike Collins/Facebook)

Collins took to X to announce that there will be a vacant seat at the presidential address in her honour. I invited Laken Rileys parents to the State of the Union address, but understandably, they have chosen to stay home as they grieve the loss of their daughter, Collins wrote.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Therefore, the seat reserved for my guest will remain vacant to honor Laken and all American victims of illegal alien crime, he added. As Joe Biden attempts to paint a rosy picture of the crime-ridden country he has created, he will look up at an empty seat that memorializes those weve lost because of his open border policies.

Laken Rileys murder

Riley was a nursing student at Augusta University and was out on a morning run last month when she was murdered. She was found dead near a lake on the University of Georgias campus in Athens. Official police reports said she died from "blunt force trauma.

A White House spokesperson previously released a statement on Rileys death. "We would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Laken Hope Riley, the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "People should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law if they are found to be guilty. Given this is an active case, we would have to refer you to state law enforcement and ICE."

Ibarra, 26, was later charged with malice and felony murder, aggravated battery, kidnapping, concealing the death of another and other charges. Police said the incident was a crime of opportunity.
The prime suspect in deceased Florida teen Madeline Sotos death allegedly started sexually abusing her almost two years ago, it has been revealed. Police announced on March 1 that her body was found by Osceola County deputies in the wooded area along Hickory Tree Road, after she went missing. Madeline Soto death: Prime suspect in Florida teen's demise allegedly began to sexually abuse her two years back (Orange County Sheriffs Office)

Sotos mothers boyfriend, 37-year-old Stephan Sterns, has been accused of beginning to abuse the 13-year-old girl in August 2022, an arrest affidavit filed in Osceola County published by WESH has revealed. Sterns has been arrested on unrelated charges of sexual battery and possession of child sexual abuse. Disturbing images were reportedly found on his phone after a search.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Kissimmee Police Department document revealed that his phone had photos of private parts of a young girl, with whom the suspect engaged in sexual acts. Metadata timestamps said the images and videos date back to August 2022, according to the affidavit. The victims identity was not disclosed, but a birthdate matched Sotos, according to Fox 35 Orlando.

Was Madeline Soto a victim of sexual abuse?

While Kissimmee Police Chief Betty Holland had refused to reveal whether Soto was a victim of sexual abuse, the affidavit later released cites the missing juvenile. The Orlando Sentinel reported that another alleged incident also took place on an unspecified date. At the time, Soto was 12 years old. Detective confirmed the room where some of the incidents took place. It was inside the apartment when Sterns and Sotos mom lived with her.

Soto disappeared on February 26 after Sterns dropped her off at Peace United Methodist Church on Town Loop Boulevard  some blocks away from Hunter's Creek Middle School, which Soto attended. Orange County Sheriff John Mina said she was possibly already dead before her body was hidden.

We believe she was already dead at the time and that Stephan Sterns moved her body in the early morning hours on that day, Mina said. We have video evidence that shows Stephan Sterns discarding items in a dumpster in that apartment complex in Kissimmee at 7:35 a.m.
Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Hutchins was fatally shot on the set of the Western movie in 2021. Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Halyna Hutchins' death (Photo by Luis Snchez Saturno / POOL / AFP)(AFP)

After three hours of deliberation, the 26-year-old was convicted by a jury on Wednesday, March 6. The jury found that Gutierrez-Reed was responsible for the live rounds on set, and one of those killed Hutchins after Alec Baldwin fired a gun during a rehearsal.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Gutierrez-Reed has been taken into custody by police. Her lawyers said she will appeal the conviction. Gutierrez-Reed now faces up to 18 months behind bars.

Prosecutors found that Gutierrez-Reed flouted gun-safety protocols on multiple occasions. Taking safety measures could have detected the live rounds she allegedly unknowingly brought onto the set of the film, at a ranch outside Santa Fe, New Mexico.

This was a game of Russian roulette every time an actor had a gun with dummies, prosecutor Kari Morrissey said during closing arguments, according to New York Post. Hannah Gutierrez failed to maintain firearms safety, making a fatal accident willful and foreseeable.

What are Hannah Gutierrez-Reeds lawyers saying?

A charge Gutierrez-Reed was found not guilty of was a second charge, tampering with evidence. Her lawyers said there were actually larger safety issues on the set, and she was only being made a scapegoat. It was not in the script for Mr. Baldwin to point the weapon, defense attorney Jason Bowles told jurors.She didnt know that Mr. Baldwin was going to do what he did.

In January, Baldwin was indicted on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. The gun went off while Baldwin was pointing it at Hutchins during a rehearsal. The weapon had a live bullet loaded in the chamber. While Hutchins died, director Joel Souza was wounded. Baldwin has claimed he did not pull the trigger. His case is expected to go to trial in July.
Far-right Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene voiced her exasperated concerns against the Biden administration in a lambasting tweet ahead of the State of the Union address on Thursday. She took the time to sum up the scene in her own words, with a photo of Capitol Hill to prove her point. Marjorie Taylor Greene bashes Joe Biden in lambasting tweet after his administration erects a fence around the US Capitol to protect him ahead of the State of the Union address at 9 pm.(X)

Her tweet read:

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

"The State of the Union summed up in one picture.

The Biden admin will erect a fence around the Capital in the dark of night but absolutely refuses to build a wall and seal our border to defend innocent Americans like Laken Riley.

The SOTU is not about Israel and Hamas or Ukraine and Russia, its supposed to be about the United States of America.

Any attempt to tie Americas border security to funding foreign wars and aid will be met with extreme contempt by the American people, and rightfully so!"

Another Marjorie Taylor Greene tweet bashing Joe Biden:

Following her initial tweet, the Republican congresswoman continued to post more critical tweets targetting Biden. Another recent post has her calling out the president's administration for providing security to their political leader in the middle of the night, but refusing to do the same for the American people.

Yet again, this tweet also name-drops Laken Riley: If Joe Biden secured our Southern border, Laken Riley would still be alive. The State of the Union is Laken Riley.

Joe Biden's State of the Union Address:

President Joe Biden's State of the Union address will begin at the Capitol on Thursday, March 7, at 9 pm local time. The presidents often use this political theatre to propose new policies. However, with everything happening in the US surrounding the issue of national security, women's rights to reproductive health care and Israel's ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip, a lot is at stake for him. Moreover, it all comes with the added baggage with this being his last session before the upcoming 2024 presidential elections in the fall.

Biden addressing this Joint Session of Congress is bound to either make or break his political stance, especially since his speech essentially works as an audition piece for his re-election campaign, too.

However, as videos of his administration building a fence around the US Capitol to protect him continue going viral online, his odds aren't looking great. Like Rep Greene, many netizens also took to their social media profiles to bash him and call out his hypocrisy.

Comments like Wow, fences and walls work? and I thought democrats said walls dont work? flooded posts reporting on the issue on X (formerly Twitter). This move follows just days after Elon Musk blasted Biden for importing voters and laying the groundwork for something far worse than 9/11, in reference to a secret Biden program flying 320,000 migrants into the country being exposed.

Marjorie Taylor Greene reiterates the same line of thought around national security by name-dropping Laken Riley in her tweet. The 22-year-old was murdered on the University of Georgia campus while running on a trail. New reports related to the case highlight that her suspected killer's (also an illegal migrant) brother is affiliated with a violent Venezuelan gang - Tren de Aragua.
US lawmakers recently presented a bill that would oblige Chinese tech giant ByteDance to divest from widely used video-sharing app TikTok within six months or face a ban. The US House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Thursday is expected to hold a legislative hearing and vote on the bill that aims to ban TikTok, (REUTERS)

The White House called the new bipartisan bill a welcoming move as officials have expressed worries that Chinese authorities could easily access the data from the app.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The US House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Thursday is expected to hold a legislative hearing and vote on the bill called Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. As many as 19 bipartisan lawmakers introduced the bill on Tuesday.

Representative Mike Gallagher, the Republican chairman of the House select China committee, and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, the panel's top Democrat, have co-authored the bill. They both are the members of the Intelligence Committee and they recently visited Taiwan and the larger Indo-Pacific area.

Also Read: Biden campaign lambasted for joining Chinese-app TikTok despite security concerns

What does the bill say?

It sees ByteDance and TikTok as applications controlled by foreign adversary, urging the parent firm to sell off the video app in 165 days or face a ban.

The bill would establish a framework for the president, with the assistance of the FBI and other intelligence agencies, to classify certain social media platforms controlled by foreign enemies like Russia and China, imposing national security threats to the United States.

If an app was declared a risk, it would be removed from online app stores and web hosting providers until it terminated relations with businesses controlled by the foreign competitors. That means TikTok, which FBI Director Christopher Wray has claimed poses a threat to national security, could face a possible ban unless ByteDance acts rapidly to divest it.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Gallagher said: TikTok could live on and people could do whatever they want on it provided there is that separation.

He further appealed to US ByteDance investors to offer their support to a sale, stressing that it is not a ban - think of this as a surgery designed to remove the tumor and thereby save the patient in the process.

It is the most recent move to outlaw TikTok, following last year's measures that failed to gain traction and were denounced as unconstitutional.

Here's how TikTok and White House reacted

Slamming the bill, TikTok spokesperson called the move an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much they authors try to disguise it.

This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs, Alex Haurek said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the White House has expressed strong support for the bipartisan proposal, although it is still considering certain amendments.

According to a National Security Council spokesperson, the Biden administration has collaborated with legislators from both parties to develop a long-term legal solution to tackle the risks of technology services that operate throughout the United States and compromise Americans' sensitive data and overall national security.

This bill is an important and welcome step to address that threat, the NSC said, as per Punchbowl news.

Also Read: Ban TikTok, Republican presidential candidates vow to shut down social media app during GOP debate

TikTok: A popular app in the US

TikTok is widely use in the the United States and it is particularly popular among youngsters.

Last year, senators proposed legislation to ban the app, but the effort was stymied due to lobbying from the corporation.

Former President Donald Trump attempted to restrict TikTok in 2020, but the effort was likewise unsuccessful.

The app is additionally prohibited on government devices. However, President Joe Biden's re-election campaign joined TikTok last month, facing immense backlash from the Republicans and critics.
On Monday, a Florida-bound United Airlines Boeing aircraft was forced to do an emergency landing in Texas shortly after takeoff when its jet engine erupted in flames. Florida bound United Airlines' passengers witness engine blaze

The mishap was captured on lens, showcasing vivid orange sparks emanating from beneath the aircrafts left wing, alarmingly close to the passenger windows.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The video, which quickly went viral, shows the flames so intense that they appeared almost white against the dark backdrop of the night sky. Amidst the chaos, a crewmembers voice could be heard over the intercom, Hey ladies and gentlemen, we realized something happened outside, and the footage abruptly ended.

ALSO READ| Alaska Airlines: What you should know if you are about to fly on a Boeing 737 Max 9

The Fort Myers, Florida-bound United Airlines Flight 1118, which had departed from George H. Bush Intercontinental Houston Airport, was forced to make an immediate return at approximately 7 p.m., mere minutes into its journey. The flight had been airborne for approximately 15 minutes of the planned two-hour trip when the engine issue arose, according to passenger Dorian D. Cerda (who shared the spine-chilling video.)

No injuries were reported in the mishap yet.

ALSO READ| United Airlines flight makes emergency landing in Denver due to a cracked windshield

In a statement to Storyful, United Airlines confirmed that flight 1118 returned to Houston shortly after takeoff due to an engine issue. The flight landed safely and the passengers deplaned normally. The airline also ensured that alternative arrangements were made, stating, we arranged for a new aircraft to take our customers to their destination.

Travelling on Boeing is really concerning nowadays

The aircraft was a Boeing 737-900, a model sharing similarities with the newer Max fleet. Notably, the Max fleet faced grounding earlier in January when a mid-cabin exit door plug blew out from an Alaska Airlines plane mid-air over Oregon.

United Airlines flight is yet to disclose the exact reason for the engine fire.

The Federal Aviation Administration has taken up the investigation to find out the exact reason leading to the blaze.

This recent United Airlines incident adds to the plethora of ongoing mishaps in US domestic aircrafts, questioning the assurance of passenger security during air travel.
Kate Middleton's absence from the public has fueled several unsubstantiated conspiracy theories regarding her return to royal duties. Royal watchers are keen to learn about her comeback following her abdominal surgery in January. Princess of Wales Kate Middleton was scheduled to takeover her duties after Easter holiday, that was set to kickstart from April.(via REUTERS)

Kate, 42, appeared in public for the first time since her surgery on Monday, but a new report claims that her royal return is likely to get delayed. She was initially scheduled to takeover her duties after the Easter holiday.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Earlier this week, the United Kingdom's Defence Ministry announced that Kate, as Colonel of the Irish Guards, would conduct a formal review of the regimental troops as part of Trooping the Colour. However, the announcement was made without taking confirmation from the palace. Following this, the ministry altered the listing on their website.

Also Read: Prince William skips royal ceremony due to personal matter, sparking health concerns about Kate Middleton

Why isn't the palace providing clarity over Kate's health?

According to Daniela Elser of News.com.au., if the reports of her appearance at Trooping the Color are true then it would take place two months after her originally planned return to work. The grand event is slated for June 8.

The palace not being able or unwilling to confirm Kates attendance at an event involving a few hours of standing, carriage-riding, and waving in June, three months from now, is unsettling. It is already seven weeks from the princess surgery and five weeks since she left hospital," Elser wrote.

The Royal family is very particular about the fact that how their family members are portrayed in public. While they revealed all the news about King Charles' cancer diagnosis and treatment, it seems they have failed to manage information about Kate's surgery and recovery.

Things are a shambles, and there is now the prospect that the princess might still be off sick for months. Disaster, meet dynasty. Dynasty, meet debacle," Elser said.

Also Read: King Charles set to visit Australia despite shocking cancer diagnosis

Palace breaks silence on Kate health rumours

In response to questions about Kate's public absence, the Palace clarified that her surgery was not related to cancer and that the Princes of Wales desire to keep her personal medical information private.

Meanwhile, Kate's uncle Gary Goldsmith, who has participated in Celebrity Big Brother, was seen discussing the Royal family with fellow contestants. He said that his niece is getting the best care in the world. He, however, refused to speak further about her recovery due to a "code of etiquette".

Although officials have declined to provide any further updates on her whereabouts, royal spokesperson have insisted that she is doing well.

On being asked about Kate's condition and social media rumours, a spokesman told People magazine that Prince of Wales is concentrating on his work and not on social media.
St Andrews, Mar 7 (The Conversation) The Gulf of Guinea  a coastal region that stretches from Senegal to Angola  is endowed with vast reserves of hydrocarbon, mineral and fisheries resources. HT Image

It is also an important route for international commerce, making it critical to the development of countries in the region.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

For a long time, however, countries in the Gulf of Guinea havent properly monitored whats happening in their waters. This has allowed security threats at sea to flourish. The threats include illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, drug trafficking, piracy and armed robbery, and toxic waste dumping.

For instance, in 2020, the International Maritime Bureau reported that the region had experienced the highest number of crew kidnappings ever recorded: 130 crew members taken in 22 incidents. In 2019, 121 crew members were kidnapped in 17 incidents.

Regional action to address these threats is being taken. In 2013, heads of state signed the Yaounde Code of Conduct  a declaration to work together and address the threats.

This also involved setting up a large hub, known as the Yaounde Architecture (made up of different divisions), which coordinates and shares information on whats happening at sea.

Since the Yaounde Code of Conduct was signed in 2013, there has been some progress. As we found in a new study, tech-driven tools have been playing a vital role in addressing security threats at sea in west and central African countries.

For instance, Nigeria was once designated a piracy hotspot but, in 2022, was delisted. This was in large part due to the use of technology.

Tech tools have helped countries to more efficiently manage and monitor the marine environment. They also support information sharing among law enforcement agencies. This has led to successful interdictions and enabled the prosecution of pirates in the region.

The tech tools

Cargo and fishing vessels are required, under international law, to be fitted with systems that transmit data showing where they are.

Since the signing of the Yaounde Code of Conduct, we found that new technology is now using this location data to help countries in the Gulf of Guinea monitor their waters.

Tools and systems  like Radar, Yaounde Architecture Regional Information System (Yaris), Sea-Vision, Skylight and Global Fishing Watch  are integrating information from various surveillance and location monitoring systems and satellite data to identify suspicious behaviour. This has significantly helped to improve efforts to combat security threats.

Countries in the Gulf now have increased awareness of vessel activity in their waters and are able to make more informed responses in emergencies, like piracy or armed robbery and oil theft.

For instance, in 2022 the Heroic Idun tanker, evaded arrest in Nigeria for suspicious behaviour, then travelled on to Equatorial Guinea. Using the Yaounde Architecture system, Equatorial Guinea held the vessel at Nigerias request and it was later fined.

Without the Yaounde Code of Conduct, and the new tech that it has introduced, the sharing of information, capture of evidence and cooperation between countries would not have been possible.

Nigerias tech advancements

Nigeria is a prime example of a country where investment in technology-based infrastructure has helped it to tackle threats to security and development.

Over the past three years, Nigeria has deployed a range of tech tools. For instance, the navy deployed the Regional Maritime Awareness Capability facility, which receives, records and distributes data and the mass surveillance FALCON EYE system.

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has also made advancements through its Deep Blue Project. This includes a central intelligence and data collection centre which works with special mission vessels (like unmanned aerial vehicles) to take action against threats.

Nigeria has since had a reduction in piracy and armed robbery at sea. Once designated a piracy hotspot, the country was delisted as a hotspot in 2022.

Cautious optimism

Evidently, technology has an important role to play in enhancing safety and security at sea. But its not without its challenges, as we identified in our study.

First, an over-reliance on external tech tools has resulted in a lack of ownership of the technology. This affects the sustainability of the projects.

For instance, once EU funding for YARIS expires, the operating costs will be transferred from the EU to Yaounde Architecture states. But there are still no clear plans from regional states on how to sustain YARIS.

Second, people with specific expertise are needed to use the tech. But many countries cant afford to hire them, or arent producing human resources with this expertise. Even when personnel have received training, they may not have access to the tools (which arent available at the country level) to apply what they have learnt.

Third, existing monitoring systems such as AIS and VMS can be switched off, a vulnerability that criminals continue to exploit. Radar systems can fill these gaps, but theres a lack of RADAR coverage along coastlines. Related to this, the scarcity of national data centres for long range vessel identification and tracking (due to lack of investment) makes using existing technology difficult.

Fifth, there are challenges related to communication difficulties, the absence of internet connections onboard some vessels or low internet speed.

Finally, private operators like the shipping industry arent using the services provided by the Yaounde Architecture. This smacks of politics and lack of trust in the regional solutions.

Vessel operators report incidents instead to agencies outside the region, such as Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade - Gulf of Guinea (based in France) or the International Maritime Bureau in Malaysia and these agencies often broadcast the information without confirming with the regional architecture. This undermines the ability of regional agencies to do their work effectively.

Its in the best interests of Atlantic nations to cooperate and coordinate on meeting maritime security challenges.

Technology can play a key role in this. But its vital that countries enhance technological know-how, and ensure that external partners and businesses use the available technological services. This will be a big step towards a secure and collaborative maritime environment. (The Conversation) GRS GRS
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott ended the departments attempt to search the offices of San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center, also known as Indybay, after an anonymous user appeared to confess to a crime. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle 2023

When a group of self-proclaimed anarchists bragged on an online message board about smashing windows at a San Francisco bank, police saw evidence of a felony  and a quick link to a suspect.

Law enforcement officials emailed a warrant to San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center  or Indybay  in January, weeks after spotting the post that purportedly confessed to vandalizing the police credit union on Irving Street. The crime unfolded shortly after 1 a.m. on Jan. 18, when a perpetrator shattered 18 glass windows at the building and set off an alarm.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Linda Colfax issued the order to search Indybays electronic data, seeking the email and Internet Protocol address for whoever had written the post hours after the incident, according to documents reviewed by the Chronicle. Colfax cited an affidavit by police Sgt. Michael Canning that provided probable cause that a felony had been committed.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

But on Thursday, representatives of the Police Department said they would not pursue the warrant. When Police Chief Bill Scott found out about it, he ordered officers to stand down over concerns that it violated the First Amendment, spokespeople for the department said in a statement.

The post in question on Indybay.org was by an anonymous person on a public forum claiming responsibility for felony vandalism of a business, the statement read, adding that Indybay had invoked the Shield Law, a state statute that protects journalists and news organizations from identifying their confidential sources.

Indybay had challenged the warrant in court while also fighting a nondisclosure condition that law enforcement had included to prevent the site from discussing its existence for 90 days. During a court hearing Thursday morning, a judge lifted the gag order.

A volunteer-run online forum where people can post their own news articles or news releases, Indybay has published at least two other anonymous posts in which the writer appears to confess to an act of vandalism. On Oct. 10, 2023, a contributor using the handle some anarchists claimed to have smashed nine windows at a military recruiters office in Daly City. A separate post on Dec. 6, contributed by anarchists, boasted about shattering every window at a San Francisco Nationwide subsidiary.

Staff at Indybay did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Californias Shield Law amounts to an absolute prohibition on search warrants to get journalistic materials, said David Greene, senior staff attorney and civil liberties director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which represented Indybay and filed a motion in San Francisco Superior Court to quash the search warrant.

Although Greene acknowledged that Scott ultimately made the right call in this case, he believes that many free speech advocates will still be angry that the department sought a warrant in the first place.

Five years ago, the department came under fire for raiding the home of journalist Bryan Carmody, a freelance videographer who supplied three Bay Area television stations with a copy of the policy report connected to the death of former San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi.

In that instance, officers tried to knock down the gate of Carmodys Outer Richmond home with a sledgehammer. When Carmody willingly opened the gate, police put him in handcuffs while they stormed inside.

That was considered a huge mistake, Greene said, noting that the Police Department had beefed up protections for journalists as part of the citys $369,000 settlement with Carmody.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Karl Olson, an attorney who specializes in public records, ascribed the issuance of the warrant to police incompetence and lack of familiarity with the First Amendment. He expressed surprise that San Francisco law enforcement had tested the limits of journalist protections so soon after the high-profile episode with Carmody.
The Royal family has been dodging its share of health scares in the past few months. However, the unfortunate scenario has somehow resulted in more drama and familial politics than one could've fathomed. King Charles III's cancer diagnosis was the first nail in the coffin. Yet this unravelling predicament has positively turned around for Queen Camilla's media presence. Prince Harry's return to the UK to temporarily helm royal responsibilities has been on the table for a while, just as it's been snatched away on other occasions. Insiders continue to spill their jars of tea, and the newest gossip has once again marked the continued streak of bad blood between Queen Camilla and her stepson, Prince Harry. FILE - Britain's King Charles III, from bottom left, Camilla, the Queen Consort, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex watch as the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II is placed into the hearse following the state funeral service in Westminster Abbey in central London Monday Sept. 19, 2022. Queen Camilla, once seen as the scourge of the House of Windsor, the woman at the heart of King Charles IIIs doomed marriage to the late Princess Diana, has emerged as one of the monarchys most prominent emissaries. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, Pool, File)(AP)

In the meantime, as the Princess of Wales is on her road to recovery following her abdominal surgery, hilarious bits of comedy surrounding her disappearance controversy hit the internet. The inflated issue rose to such heights that the Palace had no resort but to silence these memes with an old reminder. As Kate Middleton juggled with all that, King Charles' ongoing treatment and Prince William's brief departure from the royal scene due to personal reasons has left all the reins in the Queen consort's hands - a matter not so close to the Duke of Sussex's heart. While she's actively contributing to keeping the lights on in the Palace, Prince Harry's having none of it.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Prince Harry - Queen Camilla's tussle continues:

Media reports suggest that the Queen has been working overtime since King Charles' diagnosis. After all the hard work, she now plans to spend time with her husband. Her active role in the royal game proves she doesn't want to let him down. On the other hand, Harry's frown just can't seem to turn upside down.

A royal insider told The Times that the Queen didn't expect herself to step up like this, but she is absolutely prepared to do what needs to be done for the institution."

Also read: Gary Goldsmith blasts Prince Harry for throwing niece Kate under the bus

Previous reports have already hinted at how Prince Harry didn't like sharing the room with her during his brief visit to the UK to confirm his father's well-being. And, well, the bad blood seems to have been reciprocated from the other side, too. RadarOnline's conversation with a palace courtier confirmed that the Majesty was furious Harry flew in from his ritzy California home without getting palace approval.

Just as outraged as she was about Harry using this delicate moment as a loving son PR [stunt], he's equally had a hard time digesting that she's leading the family.

Royal commentator Kinsey Schofield recently appeared on GB News to discuss why Prince Harry will NOT return to the Royal family any time soon. Without sugar-coating anything, Schofield said that Queen Camilla's current commanding position in royal affairs has pushed Prince Harry away from temporarily supporting his family. Camilla's elevated position is likely something not sitting well with him right now, she added.

While he loved Queen Elizabeth II, he  resents the idea of Queen Camilla  he felt like that's a position his mother should be in. I imagine the idea of her leading the family is something he has a hard time digesting.

Harry's dislike for the Queen was avidly articulated in his memory Spare, wherein he openly accused her of spilling royal secrets to gain the media's favour. While the jury is still out on those claims, Queen Camilla has undoubtedly won this run in their never-ending passive, yet fiercely confrontational match.
In a monumental step towards combating cervical cancer on a global scale, major health donors have pledged nearly $600 million to tackle the disease.

The World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the UN children's agency UNICEF announced this historic funding commitment at the first-ever global forum dedicated to fighting cervical cancer in London.

Global Commitment to Combat Cervical Cancer

The funding will be directed towards expanding access to essential preventive measures such as vaccination, screening, and treatment worldwide. It includes $400 million from the World Bank over three years, $180 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and $10 million from UNICEF.

This significant financial backing reflects a unified global strategy to address the disproportionate burden of cervical cancer in low-resource settings.

Cervical cancer claims the life of a woman approximately every two minutes, with 90% of these deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries where access to preventative vaccines and screening is limited.

"We have the knowledge and the tools to make cervical cancer history," stated Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization (WHO)'s Director-General. However, despite the availability of effective programs, these initiatives have not yet reached the necessary scale.

The WHO has endorsed the adoption of a one-dose vaccination strategy to protect more girls, a move supported by countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, which pledged to introduce the vaccine as soon as possible.

Read Also: First U.S. Over-The-Counter Birth Control Pill Arrives

Overcoming Challenges in Path Towards Cervical Cancer Eradication

Despite the availability of effective tools, challenges such as supply constraints and delivery obstacles have hindered progress in cervical cancer prevention and treatment.

The forum's commitments signal a renewed determination to overcome these barriers and prevent annual cervical cancer deaths from escalating to an estimated 410,000 by 2030.

The forum's outcomes underscore a remarkable display of global solidarity, with countries and organizations pledging support towards the elimination of cervical cancer.

The focus now shifts towards translating these pledges into action, ensuring equitable access to prevention, screening, and treatment for women and girls worldwide.

As initiatives are rolled out and programs are scaled up, there is renewed hope for a future where cervical cancer becomes a disease of the past.

The commitments made at this forum represent not only financial support but also a collective commitment to saving lives and ending the suffering caused by cervical cancer.

With continued collaboration and dedication, the goal of eradicating cervical cancer worldwide may soon become a reality.

Related Article: Florida: Health Officials Warn of 'False Information' Regarding Measles Situation
A woolly mammoth could be free to wander the planet again thanks to a major breakthrough.

Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas-based biotech firm, revealed a significant development in its effort to save the 16-foot-long, 6-ton beast from extinction.

Woolly Mammoth de-extinction?

On Wednesday, March 6, Colossal Biosciences announced the creation of a group of stem cells from an Asian elephant with the aim of regenerating a species that would resemble the woolly mammoth, as Reported by The New York Post.

"This is probably the most significant step in the early stages of this project," George Church, a professor at Harvard University and co-founder of the firm, told National Public Radio (NPR).

Nearly 4,000 years ago, the woolly mammoth became extinct. Although the firm would not recreate the identical species, it would design a new animal with comparable characteristics, such as a thick fur coat and enough fat to endure subzero conditions.

"It will walk like a Woolly Mammoth, look like one, sound like one, but most importantly it will be able to inhabit the same ecosystem previously abandoned by the Mammoth's extinction," the company stated.

According to The Washington Post, the business has ambitious plans to combine an elephant egg with a stem cell genetically modified with a mammoth's DNA. An elephant would then be used as a surrogate mother, with the expectation that she would give birth to the embryo.

See Also: Skull From Over 70 Million Years Ago May Have Revealed New Dinosaur Related to T. Rex

Not in Favor

However, not everyone supports Colossal Biosciences' objective.

Tori Herridge, a paleontologist from the University of Sheffield in England, has cautioned that any live elephant who gives birth to a new mammoth would experience pain. She expressed her concern about the number of dying elephants to obtain a single woolly mammoth.

Karl Flessa, a geosciences professor at the University of Arizona, was more direct, calling it "irresponsible." He added, "If you're going to release a herd into the Arctic tundra, is that herd going to go marching off to its second extinction in the face of global warming?"

The Washington Post reported that Colossal Biosciences has stated its intention to employ artificial wombs in the future, should all plans pan out.

The company reportedly believes that woolly mammoths may be useful tools in the fight against climate change because wandering herds could prevent the melting of permafrost, a layer of frozen earth that releases carbon into the sky.

See Also: Zimbabwe: Over 100 Elephants Dead in Drought-Is Climate Change to Blame?
The popular social media app TikTok is in the crosshairs of lawmakers in Congress who are looking at forcing its Chinese owners to sell it or be banned in the United States.

There are approximately 170 million users in the U.S. and it is especially popular among teenagers and young adults.

However, the heads of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have indicated that ByteDance Ltd.'s ownership of TikTok is a threat to U.S. national security.

The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce is holding a hearing on the issue on Thursday morning and could vote on bipartisan legislation giving ByteDance 165 days to divest from the short video app or face a U.S. ban.

.



The bill was sponsored by Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL).

They say the bill addresses the immediate national security risks posed by TikTok and establishes a framework for the Biden Administration to "protect Americans from future foreign adversary controlled applications."

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a Wednesday briefing that the president supports the legislation.

"This bill is important," Jean-Pierre said. "We don't see this as banning these apps - that's not what this is - but by ensuring that their ownership isn't in the hands of those who may do us harm."

"This is about our national security, obviously, and this is what we're focused on here," Jean-Pierre added. "And we would want to see this bill get done so it can get to the President's desk."

"This bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it," a company spokesperson told Reuters. "This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans."

The federal government has already banned TikTok on its equipment due to concerns about the data that is being collected.

That didn't stop the Biden reelection campaign from starting its own TikTok account last month.

When questioned about sending a mixed message, Jean-Pierre responded, "We are going to try to meet the American people where they are."
Hamas said on Thursday (Mar. 7) that its delegation has left Cairo and talks about a potential ceasefire and hostage release would resume next week, making it extremely unlikely that mediators would broker a deal before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Mediators have looked to Ramadan as an informal deadline due to the daytime fasting becoming a factor in Israeli-Palestinian violence linked to access to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a holy site for both Jews and Muslims.

What makes matters worse is that the major Jewish feast of Passover is normally within the Muslim Ramadan and close to the Christian Holy Week.

The war already has the whole Middle East on edge, with Iran-backed groups trading fire with Israel and the United States, the Associated Press reported.

Egyptian officials had earlier said the negotiations had reached an impasse over Hamas's demand for a phased process culminating in an end to the war. But they did not rule out a deal before Ramadan, which is expected to begin on Sunday (Mar. 10).

Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said that Israel refused to "commit to and give guarantees regarding the cease-fire, the return of the displaced, and withdrawal from the areas of its incursion." He also said that the talks were still ongoing and would resume next week.

There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials and negotiators.

Read Also: Red Sea Crisis: First Deadly Houthi Strike on Commercial Vessels Leaves 3 Dead

On the Brink of a Truce

Egyptian officials involved in the negotiations told reporters on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations with the media that Hamas has agreed to the main terms of the agreement as a first stage but also wanted commitments that it would lead to an eventual more permanent ceasefire.

On the other hand, Israel wanted to confine the negotiations to a more limited agreement. They added that mediators were still pressing the two parties to soften their positions.

Hamas said it would not release all of the remaining hostages without a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory.

Palestinian militants were believed to be holding around 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others captured during Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war.

The group also demanded the release of a large number of prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences, in exchange for the remaining hostages.

The development posed a major dilemma for Israel, which at some point might have to choose between its two main goals of bringing back the hostages and trying to annihilate Hamas.

Ramadan is a time of heightened prayer, fasting, reflection, and charity for Muslims the world over, who hold festive nightly gatherings with family and friends after fasting ends at sundown.

The lunar month was expected to begin Sunday or Monday (Mar. 10 or 11), depending on the sighting of the moon.

Related Article: Israel's Dilemma: Save Remaining Hostages or Eradicate Hamas
Texas-style breakfast tacos from Oakland pop-up Gold Star Tacos. Cesar Hernandez/The Chronicle

Barbecue might be the crown jewel of Texas cooking, but my heart belongs to another: breakfast tacos. Finding them in the Bay Area, however, is not easy.

Fortunately, a new pop-up called Gold Star Tacos is changing that. Started by Justin Lanska, the pop-ups food teleported me back to the Lone Star State.

I had the pleasure of visiting a recent pop-up at Sfizio in Oakland, where each taco ($5-$6) was better than the last. One featured scrambled egg curds and crispy house-cured bacon; another had chunky stewed beef with a cumin-forward spice profile; and a third, the sleeper hit, starred mushroom seasoned to taste like chorizo. All were cradled in soft, supple flour tortillas, which are handmade with rendered bacon fat. The salsa selection was on-point too, with the standout being a smoky jalapeno one.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Breakfast tacos arent impossible to find in the Bay Area, but they are rare. Smokin Ds BBQ pop-up and farmers market stand in San Francisco pairs eggs with brisket; S.F. pop-up LoJo combines eggs with steak; and Rico Rico Taco swirls eggs and chorizo on corn tortillas. In St. Helena, Austin-inspired Ray Rays Tacos recently announced a brick-and-mortar for its breakfast tacos.

The advantage at Gold Star is everything is made from scratch, including salsas, tortillas and chili.

Frito pie with kimchi from Oakland pop-up Gold Star Tacos Cesar Hernandez / The Chronicle

The last ingredient is used to top Frito pies ($8), chips topped with savory chili, sour cream and cheese. Pro tip: Add kimchi ($1.50), it levels up the whole experience. The Korean pickled cabbage brings acidity, which provides a lovely contrast to the dish.

Lanska used to have a food truck called Powered By Pork, which paired Vietnamese and Mexican flavors on a tortilla  informed by his San Jose upbringing. He was looking to open a brick-and-mortar space, but the pandemic halted momentum. Instead, he bounced around, working as a butcher and staging at breakfast taco spots in Texas. Lanska had long wanted to start a breakfast taco concept. When he saw that Oaklands Sfizio was hosting pop-ups, he connected with owner Matt Solimano and debuted Gold Star at the end of last year.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

While Texas serves as inspiration, Lanskas tacos are also influenced by local outfits. If the flour tortillas seem similar to Xulo, thats because they are. One day, the tortilla outfit asked for some temporary help on social media, and Lanska answered the call. Those tortilla-making tips helped him create a recipe of his own. While working at Oakland burger spot Lovelys, Lanska learned how to make chili. His version adds extra carrots and aromatics.

At last, theres no need to go to Texas to try breakfast tacos. Just hit up the next Gold Star pop-up.

Gold Star Tacos. Check online for pop-up details. instagram.com/goldstartacos
As expected, President Joe Biden won Hawaii's Democratic caucus on Wednesday and took another step closer toward solidifying his nomination for a second term in the White House.

According to USA Today, Biden leads all candidates with 66% of the vote, with 99% of the vote counted as he swept through Super Tuesday like a gale force wind. However, only 1,500 residents cast ballots, with 29.1% writing in "uncommitted."

That is the highest percentage of "uncommitted" ballots in any state this election cycle.

This comes as many progressives have voted "uncommitted" in response to Biden's handling of the conflict in Gaza and the greater Middle East.

USA Today quoted Barbara Altemus, a 74-year-old woman who voted "uncommitted" to send a message. "I'm not agreeing with Hamas. I don't believe in violence," Altemus told USA Today. "But if you look at the violence, neither side is right, I hope that Biden and the Democratic Party, wake up (to this). "

According to Micah Kosasa, a district chair with the Hawaii Democratic Party, the contest, organized by the party, blended aspects of both a primary and a caucus.

"We used to have a (traditional) caucus," Kosasa said. "That is not the setup anymore that we are doing. It's much more of a poll where you just fill out a ballot and turn it in."

Results were released by local party officials after 10 pm, withholding the delegation allocation as results continued to come in. Thus, the distribution of Hawaii's 22 delegates remains pending.
Police in Massachusetts have made one arrest and are looking for one more suspect in the brutal ambush killing of a woman and her 11-year-old daughter on a Worcester street.

Police say the killings took place just after 3 p.m. on Tuesday in the area of Lisbon St. and Englewood Ave.

The pair had just parked their SUV when the gunmen opened fire on the vehicle. Several bullet holes were visible in the windshield.

Police found the bodies of Chastity Nunez and her daughter Zella inside the vehicle. An ambulance rushed them to the hospital but it was too late to save their lives.

"This makes no sense. That's a baby. That's a little girl and her mom," Tyrae Sims, Zella's godfather told WBZ-TV.

Worcester Public Schools officials had counselors available to students affected by the murder of a classmate.

28 yo Karel Manguel of Worcester was arrested in connection w/ the shooting that killed Chasity Nunez & her 11 yo daughter Zella. Hell be charged with armed assault to murder & carrying a firearm without a license. Dejan Belnavis is still wanted. @NBC10Boston @WorcesterPD pic.twitter.com/8RAcroHTdm  Kathy Curran (@KathyReports) March 7, 2024

Worcester Police announced the arrest of Karel Manguel, 28, of Worcester on Thursday morning. They are still searching for Dejan Belnavis, 27, on armed assault with intent to murder and a chargeof possession of a firearm without a license. Police warn that he should be considered armed and dangerous.

Police did not release a possible motive for the killing but were reportedly looking if there was a connection to another recent homicide in the city.

The Worcester Police Department is searching for twenty-seven-year-old Dejan Belnavis. He is wanted for charges connected to the murder of Chasity Nunez and eleven-year-old Zella Nunez. He should be considered armed and dangerous. pic.twitter.com/QJ2a3wbPl2  Worcester PD (@WorcesterPD) March 7, 2024

City Manager Eric D. Batista issued a statement on the killings saying: "An act of such violence has no place in our City. The residents of Worcester deserve better, and we will stand alongside our community in sorrow and solidarity."

Zella was involved in the non-profit Our Bright Future youth education program in the city.

In a Facebook post, the group stated: "Our sincere condolences to the Nunez family. Zella, you are loved, and may you both rest in peace."


The United States plans on building a temporary port on the Gaza shoreline in the next few weeks to allow for delivery of humanitarian aid on a much larger scale than would be possible with trucks.

It is being reported by The Guardian that Joe Biden is preparing to announce the recent development in his upcoming State of the Union speech.

"We are not waiting on the Israelis. This is a moment for American leadership," a senior US official said on Thursday.

The statement and action can easily be interpreted as meaning the United States is growing frustrated with what it feels is Israel's obstruction of road deliveries on a substantial scale.

US military engineers will be tasked with building the pier will be operating from ships just off the Gaza coastline and they won't even need to step ashore, according to US officials familiar with the plan.

The deliveries themselves will be shipped from the port of Larnaca in Cypress, which will become the main relief hub.

"Tonight, the president will announce in his State of the Union address that he has directed the US military to undertake an emergency mission to establish a port in Gaza, working in partnership with like-minded countries and humanitarian partners," the official said. "

This port, the main feature of which is a temporary pier, will provide the capacity for hundreds of additional truckloads of assistance each day.

"The United Nations believes Israel is deliberately trying to starve Palestinians. Biden will reportedly also announce the opening of a new land crossing into the occupied territory and the coastal strip.

President Biden has faced stiff criticism from within the Democratic Party for failure to open up Gaza to more aid, and a looming famine, and have accused him of complicity in the deaths of 30,000 Palestinians.

The Israelis will be able to conduct inspections of the aid shipments in Larnaca, administration officials said.

"We will coordinate with the Israelis on the security requirements on land and work with the UN and humanitarian NGOs on the distribution of assistance within Gaza," a senior official said.

"Initial shipments will come via Cyprus enabled by the US military and a coalition of partners and allies. This new significant capability will take several weeks to plan and execute. The forces that will be required to complete this mission there are either already in the region or will begin to move there soon."

The White House said that the operation would not involve US military personnel in Gaza, as the port and its temporary pier could be built from off the coast.

"The concept that's been planned involves the presence of US military personnel on military vessels offshore but does not require US military personnel to go ashore to install the pier or causeway facility that will allow the transportation and humanitarian assistance ashore," a senior official said.
Two years after Russia invaded Ukraine, Sweden has officially joined NATO. The Scandinavian nation was forced to face its national security policies and ultimately concluded support for the alliance was in its best interest of safety.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson submitted final documentation to the U.S. government on Thursday, finally bringing the prolonged process to completion.

"Good things come to those who wait," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said as he received Sweden's accession documents from Kristersson.

Blinken added that "everything changed" after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and noted several polls attesting to a considerable shift in Swedish public opinion on joining NATO.

"Swedes realized something very profound: that if Putin was willing to try to erase one neighbor from the map, then he might well not stop there."

Sweden and Finland share a 1,340 km border with Russia, and for NATO, this marks the most significant addition in decades.

It also creates a massive dent in the plan of Russian President Putin Vladimir, who has boldly fought against any further growth for the alliance.

"Today is a truly historic day. Sweden is now a member of NATO," Kristersson said. "We will defend freedom together with the countries closest to us - both in terms of geography, culture, and values."

As a NATO member, Sweden will benefit from the alliance's defense guarantee, which states an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all.

Hakan Yucel, 54, an IT worker in the Swedish capital, said of the accession: "Before, we were outside and felt a little bit alone ... I think that the threat from Russia, it's going to be much less now."

Contributions to NATO forces from the Nordic country include state-of-the-art submarines and a substantial fleet of domestically produced Gripen fighter jets. This is a crucial link between the Atlantic and the Baltic.

Russia has sent ominous threats to take unknown "political and military-technical counter-measures" regarding Sweden's move.

"Joining NATO is really like buying insurance, at least as long as the United States is actually willing to be the insurance provider," said Barbara Kunz, a researcher at the defense think tank SIPRI.

For more than 200 years, Sweden has objected to military alliances and adopted a neutral stance in times of war. The newfound membership represents a clean break from outdated traditions for the nation.

As recently as 2021, Sweden's defense minister continuously declined NATO membership, only for the then-Social Democrat government to apply following suit with its neighbor, Finland just a few months later.

"I guess [Sweden] had to take a stance really and I'm happy that we actually did and that we are safeguarded by NATO because the tension with Russia has been growing for a couple of years," said Carl Fredrik Aspegren, 28, a student in Stockholm.

Although Finland was accepted into the alliance last year, Sweden was left hanging in the balance due to hesitation from Turkey and Hungary, both of which are on friendly terms with Russia.

Turkey approved Sweden's application in January, while Hungary further delayed the ratification until Kristersson visited Budapest in good faith on Feb. 2. It was then both countries agreed to a fighter jet deal.
The Department of Justice says one of its enforcement priorities moving forward will be policing artificial intelligence being used to commit crimes.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco spoke about the issue in keynote remarks Wednesday at the American Bar Association's San Francisco meeting on white-collar crime.

"The global threat landscape is changing rapidly," Monaco said in prepared remarks. "And, as always, we're evolving to meet new and emerging threats, including those from the malicious use of disruptive technologies."

She warned that the potential for AI to be used for illegal purposes looms larger than ever.

"Fraud using AI is still fraud," Monaco said. "Price fixing using AI is still price fixing."

She says enhanced sentencing, like increased penalties for criminals who use a gun, should be extended to criminals who use AI as a weapon.

Monaco warns that compliance officers should how well their company's programs mitigate the most significant risks of violations. And for a growing number of businesses, that now includes the risk of misusing AI.

The Justice Department says that it will now assess a company's ability to manage AI-related risks as part of its overall compliance efforts.

A new initiative called "Justice AI" will bring together leaders across industry, academia, law enforcement, and civilians to address the impacts of AI.

Monaco was attending the first of those meetings in San Francisco on Thursday.

"We will use these conversations to inform the Department's AI policy on a range of fronts, including the corporate compliance issues I've asked the Criminal Division to consider," she said.

On Wednesday the Justice Department brought charges against a former Google software engineer who is accused of stealing AI trade secrets from the company while secretly working with two China-based companies.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said the charges were the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the People's Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican firebrand from Georgia, said she'll heckle President Joe Biden if he lies during the State of the Union address Thursday evening the same way she interrupted him last year.

"If he's a liar, he should be called out," Greene told CNN. "We'll see how he talks tonight and then I'll decide then."

Greene told the news outlet that she would be passing out buttons to honor Laken Riley, the 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia who was killed last month.

Jose Antonio Ibarra, 27, an undocumented migrant from Venezuela, has been accused of killing her.

Republicans have seized on Riley's slaying to criticize Biden on his handling of immigration policy and the crisis at the Southern Border.

"Is he going to come before Congress and lie to us and the American people about the state of our union? Or is he going to say Laken Riley's name? Because Laken Riley is the state of our union. And this is what Americans care about. We care about our border," Greene told CNN.

At last year's address, Greene and Rep. Lauren Bobert, a Republican from Colorado, badgered Biden during his speech when he talked about the military pullout from Afghanistan and the amounts of fentanyl coming across the border.

When Biden said Republicans wanted to cut Medicare and Social Security, Greene stood up to yell: "You lie! You lie! Liar."

The president responded by suggesting the GOP appeared to reach a consensus with him and other Democrats to preserve the social programs.

"As we all apparently agree, social security and Medicare are apparently off the books now. We've got unanimity," he retorted.
After the assassination of Haiti's President Jovenel Moise in 2021, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry stepped in despite wide protest among the citizens of Haiti. But with the support of the Biden administration, Henry quickly assumed the role.

It has been reported by the Associated Press that nearly three years later, Henry's handle over the country's power is reaching an inevitable close. Now, Washington is faced with even bigger problems as it works overtime to prevent the country's deterioration into complete pandemonium.

"They messed it up deeply," James Foley, a retired career diplomat and former US ambassador to Haiti, said in an interview about the Biden administration's support for Henry.

"They rode this horse to their doom. It's the fruit of the choices we made."

The prime minister left Haiti 10 days ago and has traveled in silence from South America to Africa to New York and now Puerto Rico as he quietly tries to negotiate his return home, which is becoming highly unlikely.

A mass jailbreak of hundreds of murderers, kidnappers, and other violent offenders has incited chaos across the nation, especially when noting the almost complete withdrawal of police from state institutions.

Another attack on law enforcement by armed groups swearing to continue until Henry's resignation currently has the capital at its mercy. The acting prime minister, filling in while Henry is abroad, has implemented a nighttime curfew through Sunday, however, to no avail.

The United States blind support for the unpopular prime minister has led to the demise of the situation, according to Monique Clesca, a Haitian writer and member of the Montana Group, a coalition of civil, business, and political leaders that has come together in hopes to promote a "Haitan-led solution" to the crisis.

The main objective for the group is to find a replacement for Henry with the help of a committee made up of nonpolitical technocrats that will facilitate focus and clear the way for elections.

Henry continues to delay the promise of organizing a country-wide vote as he shows no interest in relinquishing power.

What could have been Haiti's first vote in a decade, Henry stalled potential progress in Guyana last week in a meeting with Caribbean leaders, impeding the election to mid-2025.

"He's been a magician in terms of his incompetence and inaction," said Clesca. "And despite it all, the US has stayed with him. They've been his biggest enabler."

The United Nations revealed more than 8,400 people were killed, injured, or kidnapped, more than double the number in 2022 under Henry's watch. They estimate that nearly half of Haiti's 11 million population needs humanitarian assistance.

Still, the US continues to stand vigorously behind Henry.

"We've Been Having These Conversations For Some Time"

"He is taking difficult steps," Brian Nichols, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said in October 2022, as Haitians poured into the streets to protest the end of fuel subsidies. "Those are actions that we have wanted to see in Haiti for quite some time."

Just last month, amid demonstrations demanding his resignation, a top US diplomat came to his defense.

"Ariel Henry will leave after the elections," US charge d'affaires Eric Stromayer told a local radio station.

However, the Biden administration isn't alone to blame for Haiti's failures.

The country has suffered from poverty, corruption, lawlessness, and the after-effects of natural disasters for decades now. Factionalism among political elites has made it difficult for the US to find trustworthy partners, as most have strong ties with the criminal underworld.

"It's an occupational hazard with Haiti," Foley said. "It's just too hard, too complicated, too insoluble."

Without openly endorsing Henry, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre revealed the United States' long-term plan to help the country achieve good standing for Haitians to administer elections.

Jean-Pierre, whose own parents fled Haiti, gave way to the neglect Haiti has suffered in Washington as of late. In a moment of error, Jena-Pierre confused the Haitian president with the prime minister.

"It's the Haitian people - they need to have an opportunity to democratically elect their prime minister," Jean-Pierre said Wednesday. "That's what we're encouraging."

"But we've been having these conversations for some time."

Nichols is scheduled to speak on Haiti and its current condition when he delivers a speech on US policy in Latin America hosted by the Council of Americas in Washington.

"The US for too long has been too present, too meddling," said Clesca. "It's time for them to step back."
At least 551 bystanders died in chases from 2017 to 2022, a Chronicle investigation found. Getty Images

Regarding Police chases are killing more and more Americans. With lax rules, its no accident (In-Depth, SFChronicle.com, Feb. 27): I was a new San Jose Police lieutenant in 2003, and Chief William Lansdowne was addressing newly promoted personnel. Someone asked about our pursuit policy. Lansdownes response without hesitation: If the speed limit is 25 and you light a guy up, you hit 26 and all you have is CVC (traffic violation) or a property crime, terminate.

There was some adjustment. Command staff scrutinized and verified details that officers reported during pursuits, including speed and distance traveled. Captains and lieutenants were required to get out of the office and drive the reported pursuit routes.

The change took time. People made mistakes. There was training and in some cases discipline. The direction from the top was clear: Pursuits were dangerous and only to be initiated under extreme circumstances and continually evaluated.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Chief Lansdowne was ahead of his time. We did not chase unless it was a serious violent felony. We would catch the crooks another day in a safer manner. I am sure there are officers, community members and suspects who are alive today because Bill Lansdowne had the courage to change the culture of the department, or as he would demand from his command staff, Have the courage to say no.

Anthony Ciaburro, retired police chief, East Bay Regional Park District; retired captain, San Jose Police Department

Protest against Hamas

Regarding Protest mischaracterized (Letter to the Editor, March 6): If the signs of those who wanted to feel part of the Unity March against antisemitism had signs that read: Hamas, lay down your arms, return the hostages! Then cease-fire! you would have been accepted as peace loving Jewish allies.

An important Jewish value is that we are instructed to defend ourselves in light of attacks by an enemy. You cant have a cease-fire without two sides agreeing to it.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

So far, Hamas has rejected a six-week cease-fire negotiated by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt and wont release a list of the people it holds. This is unconscionable.

Please read the Hamas charter to learn that it pledges to wipe out Israel and all Jews. If you value Jewish life and the lives of Palestinians help us get rid of Hamas.

Dorothea Dorenz, Berkeley

Fight domestic violence

Regarding An S.F. coalition is trying to open a downtown womens shelter. This is how voters could help (San Francisco, SFChronicle.com, March 1): Homelessness is a major crisis in California, but society rarely recognizes its strong link to domestic violence.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

This is why I applaud Laura Waxmans article, which highlights the important work being done by organizations like the San Francisco Womens Housing Coalition and brings to light the link between domestic violence and homelessness.

Of those who experienced intimate partner violence in the six months before their homelessness in California, 40% said it was a reason they left their home, according to a study conducted by the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative.

Domestic violence is everywhere. But it is also healable and preventable. It requires comprehensive state and local strategies to address the relationship between domestic violence and homelessness. We need to listen to survivors who say that offering flexible financial assistance and permanent, affordable housing would help them avoid homelessness.

Domestic violence and homelessness are inextricably intertwined, and we cannot solve one without addressing the other.

Debbie I. Chang, president and CEO, Blue Shield of California Foundation

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Protect democracy

In the new super-charged gilded age, where tech billionaires buy elections and political influence in San Francisco and around the country, citizens must take a stand. We demand appropriate governmental guardrails and regulations are put in place to stop this kind of dangerous influence peddling that threatens our democracy.
Bob Egelko has been a reporter since June 1970. He spent 30 years with the Associated Press, covering news, politics and occasionally sports in Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento, and legal affairs in San Francisco from 1984 onward. He worked for the San Francisco Examiner for five months in 2000, then joined The Chronicle in November 2000.

His beat includes state and federal courts in California, the Supreme Court and the State Bar. He has a law degree from McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento and is a member of the bar. Coverage has included the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, the appointment of Rose Bird to the state Supreme Court and her removal by the voters, the death penalty in California and the battles over gay rights and same-sex marriage.

He can be reached at begelko@sfchronicle.com.
TA'AKTANA, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Labuan Bajo is slated to debutspring 2024.Situated in the scenic town of Labuan Bajo amidst the enchanting landscapes of Flores island, which is home to one of the world's highest populations of the endangered Komodo dragons, TA'AKTANA will proudly join The Luxury Collection as Marriott Bonvoy's first property in the region. Flores, Indonesia's newest luxury resort, TA'AKTANA will offer discerning travelers an unparalleled experience that will seamlessly blend tradition with modern elegance.

Nestled between lush forests and the azure hues of the Flores Sea, the resort spans 16 hectares of pristine terrain and boasts 70 exquisitely designed guest rooms and suites, including overwater villas and family-friendly accommodations with 24-hour butler service. The resort's coveted Sea Villas are the first of their kind in Labuan Bajo, promising overwater opulence that will immerse guests in the unforgettable beauty of the resort's local surroundings.

TA'AKTANA is a destination itself - offering exceptional comfort and amenities. Guests can unwind in expansive pools offering breathtaking views of the Flores Sea, indulge in wellness with rejuvenating treatments or embark on a gastronomic journey like no other. The resort will provide exceptional epicurean experiences through inspired cuisines at the all-day dining restaurant, two specialty restaurants, and an overwater destination bar with panoramic sunset views. Families can enjoy the resort's dedicated kids' club, where little explorers can immerse themselves in captivating fun. Additionally, the resort features two state-of-the-art meeting venues and a grand wedding chapel for unforgettable gatherings and celebrations.

Hotel website
ATLANTA, Ga.  As the largest hotel owners association in the world, AAHOA (Asian American Hotel Owners Association) extends its congratulations to Kevin Carey as the newly appointed interim President and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA). With experience and leadership in the hospitality sector, Mr. Carey's appointment marks a new milestone in advancing the industry, following the announced resignation of former AHLA President and CEO William (Chip) Rogers.

AAHOA remains committed to working collaboratively with AHLA under the leadership of Carey (formerly AHLA Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer) to promote and protect the interests of hotel owners and the hospitality industry.

We thank Chip Rogers for his service to the industry, and welcome Kevin Carey as AHLAs interim President and CEO, said Laura Lee Blake, President & CEO of AAHOA. We look forward to working with Mr. Carey to continue strengthening the hospitality industry. Together, AAHOA and AHLA can continue on a path of advocacy and progress to address the challenges facing the hospitality sector and ensure a stronger future moving forward.

We extend our congratulations to Mr. Carey and anticipate a positive and constructive partnership to benefit our members and the industry at large, said AAHOA Chairman Bharat Patel. Through collaboration, we can proactively address and shape the industry's growth and achieve new milestones for our members moving forward.

About AAHOA

AAHOA is the largest hotel owners association in the nation, with Member-owned properties representing a significant part of the U.S. economy. AAHOA's 20,000 members own 60% of the hotels in the United States and are responsible for 1.7% of the nation's GDP. More than one million employees work at AAHOA member-owned hotels, earning $47 billion annually, and member-owned hotels support 4.2 million U.S. jobs across all sectors of the hospitality industry. AAHOA's mission is to advance and protect the business interests of hotel owners through advocacy, industry leadership, professional development, member benefits, and community engagement.
Berlin, Germany  The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) today launched a pioneering readiness roadmap, aiming to simplify sustainability reporting in the Travel & Tourism sector.

Launched during ITB Berlin, WTTC and Oliver Wyman announced the Sustainability Reporting Readiness Roadmap, a strategic tool to guide businesses through sustainability frameworks, compliance timelines, and readiness assessments, simplifying the journey towards sustainable compliance.

This roadmap is more than just a tool; its a strategic compass, enabling companies to decode sustainability reporting complexities, identify relevant compliance standards, and evaluate their sustainability data and platform maturity.

The call to action is clear: governments must offer sector-specific guidance and phased requirements to ease companies into this new sustainability era. This roadmap provides both the public and private sector the direction needed to begin their journey of sustainability reporting.

Alongside the Roadmap, WTTC and Oliver Wyman also release a new report Navigating the Sustainability Journey: The Impact of Mandatory Reporting on Travel & Tourism, designed to tackle the sectors unique sustainability challenges.

The report explores the impact of the three most influential sustainability reporting frameworks on the sector  the Corporate Social Responsibility Directive (CSRD), the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Climate-Related Disclosures  and offers insights to navigate the changing regulatory landscape effectively.

According to the report, some Travel & Tourism companies are unprepared for the imminent sustainability compliance standards, with urgent action needed, especially concerning complex supply chains and Scope 3 emissions reporting.

Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: Sustainability reporting is no longer negotiable for Travel & Tourism businesses. It is a challenge we must confront head-on.

Our Roadmap serves as the trusted navigator through the intricacies of sustainability reporting, acting as a guide and providing clarity. It is not merely about meeting regulatory requirements; it is about propelling businesses towards sustainable growth and resilience.

Dan Darcy, Principal with Oliver Wymans Transportation & Services practice, said: Sustainability reporting requirements are a significant challenge for Travel & Tourism companies  cross-border organisations with broad value chains who have weathered a pandemic and subsequent resurgence in demand.

But these requirements are essential for protecting the destinations, ecosystems, and communities that inspire travellers. By setting ambitious goals and showing progress, we will prove our industrys commitment to sustainability.

As the sector embarks on this journey towards greater transparency and sustainability, the roadmaps diagnostic tools enable companies to pinpoint their sustainability standing, bridge gaps, and chart a path towards compliance and a sustainable future.

To access more information and read the report in full, please click here.
Despite all the talk of how technology will eventually take our jobs, the future of work is, for the moment at least, human-dependent. And people remain a businesss greatest asset. To keep employees as happy and productive as possible, leaders must treat them with compassion, kindness and humanity. Once you create a human-centric culture that serves the needs of people first, youll then start to see the benefits for your business.

In this article, well define human-centric leadership, explore the key principles that underpin it, provide strategies for adopting it, and discuss the benefits that make it so powerful.

What is human-centric leadership?

Putting people first is at the heart of human-centric leadership. Its about valuing individual qualities, understanding the circumstances of your employees, and seeing them as people rather than job titles.

Traditionally, a good leader commanded respect, made big decisions, and inspired the team, but now, establishing a human connection is more important than ever. According to a recent Gallup survey, people need trust, stability, hope, and compassion to be successful employees.

There was a move towards a more human style of leadership before the pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis then prompted a collective reassessment of the world of work that crystallized that shift. Hard skills (those based on technical and professional competencies) that were once deemed important became less significant, and hybrid and remote working blurred the boundaries between our working and personal lives. These changes made it more important than ever for managers and leaders to put people first.

What are the principles of human-centric leadership?

Research by Gartner has identified three qualities of a human-centric leader:

Authenticity - allowing true self-expression and acting with purpose

- allowing true self-expression and acting with purpose Empathy - showing genuine care for the needs and wellbeing of workers

- showing genuine care for the needs and wellbeing of workers Flexibility - having the desire and will to adapt working conditions to meet the needs of employees

The participants of a recent Boston Consulting Group survey identified more characteristics of human-centric leaders. In addition to empathy, the 4,000 participants felt leaders should display:

Consideration - building a good rapport with the team and respecting their views

- building a good rapport with the team and respecting their views Listening - listening to the opinions of staff and building their views into future plans

- listening to the opinions of staff and building their views into future plans Team development - creating opportunities for team members to progress and develop their skills

- creating opportunities for team members to progress and develop their skills Self-reflection - understanding yourself as a leader and the areas where you can improve

- understanding yourself as a leader and the areas where you can improve Transparency - communicating openly and honestly and sharing the companys challenges, performance, and goals.

The crux of this leadership style is putting people at the heart of the organizations efforts. Human-centric leaders recognize that people are not just another asset, like materials or a building, but are vital contributors who are the foundation of the business.

That vision differs from traditional task-orientated leadership, which focuses on deadlines, results, profitability, and performance. This business-centric approach can be effective, particularly when it comes to keeping shareholders happy, but having a profitable business with a thriving workforce rather than at the expense of your workforce has to be the better way.

The power of human-centric leadership

Every business is human-centered. Even those whose value comes from technology or other intellectual assets still rely on people, so why does the whole idea of being human-centered sound so radical and exciting?

The reality is that leaders are often so focused on the metrics that they forget they are dealing with humans with worries, frailties, strengths, weaknesses, and commitments outside of work. When those humans dont fit into certain categories or stop being productive, they dont think about the personal or work-related issues behind it, but instead see them as part of the problem.

What organizations have started to realize, and the pandemic played a big part in this, was that people shouldnt just have to suck it up. Theres a lot more going on in peoples lives beyond the surface level, and treating employees as individuals and taking the time to recognize their struggles and contributions can produce powerful results.

The hospitality industry is particularly dependent on its workers, as employee well-being is tightly linked to the quality of service they provide for customers.

Traditional leadership models that focus solely on profit margins at the expense of investing in human capital will not be able to attract and keep a talent pool geared for longevity, productivity and success. Developing employee-centric leadership models that promote human values and a positive company culture is essential. Markus Venzin, EHL Group's CEO

What are the benefits of human-centric leadership?

Employees priorities have shifted dramatically over the last few years, both in response to the pandemic and as a result of the changing attitudes of younger generations. Younger workers are not motivated by stability and survival like their parents and grandparents were. They want to work for organizations that prioritize ethics and their wellbeing and will proactively search for workplaces that can support that.

Here are some of the benefits a human-centric leadership can bring:

Improved engagement

Employees who feel valued and listened to are more engaged at work. According to Gartner, 37% more employees say they are engaged when they have a human-centric leader. Thats particularly significant given that highly engaged employees boost team performance by 27%.

Increased motivation

Employees under more considerate leadership and who have greater flexibility are more likely to feel happy at work. That has a positive effect on productivity, with research from the University of Warwick suggesting happy employees are 12% more productive.

Lower staff turnover

83% of employees believe their wellbeing is equally important as their salary, while 77% would leave a company that didnt prioritize their wellbeing. The same research found that employees would leave their jobs for one that gave them more control over their working hours (72%), better supported their growth (72%), or let them have more control over where they work (66%).

More creativity and innovation

Human-centric leaders give their teams a sense of psychological safety, allowing them to voice their opinions, take moderate risks, and be creative without the fear of judgment, recrimination, or negative consequences. That increases creativity and innovation in the workplace and helps to keep businesses one step ahead.

A healthier workplace culture

A company culture based on trust, empathy, and open communication encourages authenticity in the workplace and allows employees to be open about their motivations and personal goals.

Human-centric leadership is not just nice to have

While we can see the benefits of human-centric leadership, we must also point out the consequences of traditional leadership styles that prize profitability over human needs.

Human-centric leadership is essential for organizations seeking to improve their Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standing, which is becoming increasingly important in the decision-making processes of investors, consumers, and employees.

Ignoring this trend can have disasterous results for a companys reputation and human resources. Consider this anecdote concerning ESG issues from a recent article:

Last year, there was a backlash against ESG when Tesla was removed from the S&P 500 ESG Index due to concerns about employee safety and working conditions. In response, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, called ESG a "scam" and "part of a leftist agenda." Additionally, regulators have accused Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and BNY Mellon of making misleading claims about the presence of ESG factors in their investment processes. Despite some of the world's largest organizations criticizing ESG, it is generally considered to be a simple case of growing pains. The reality is that ESG is being driven by market forces, so it is here to stay, whether or not some of the world's largest organizations like it. Stefan Guldenberg, Full Professor and Academic Director, Graduate School EHL Hospitality

How do you become a human-centric leader?

To become a human-centric leader, you must prioritize people and purpose over profit. Thats not to say money isnt important. Its about recognizing that sustainable profitability comes from happy, healthy, and engaged workers rather than those who are burnt out, stressed, and driven by uncertainty and fear.

Creating human-centric leaders does not happen overnight. Its a process that requires commitment, re-learning, and a new set of tools. EHL Graduate School has recently updated the curriculum of its masters degree programs, MBAs, and Executive Education to embrace human-centric leadership. The programs help prepare leaders to adopt a people-first mindset and implement practices that support employee wellbeing and a healthy company culture.

Fundamentally, human-centricity requires a holistic approach that starts with the leaders themselves. As they change their approach, it filters through to all parts of the organization and positively impacts the culture. By adopting a people-focused style, you can develop a loyal and engaged workforce who will grow with you and stay for the long term.
At the "Green Transformation of the Hotel Industry" panel at ITB Berlin, industry representatives discussed resource conservation and sustainability

How can hotels help to reduce the industrys carbon footprint? Experts examined this from a scientific and business angle at a panel discussion at ITB Berlin. To begin with, Prof. Sandra Rochnowski of Hochschule fur Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin (HWR Berlin) presented a pilot study undertaken in collaboration with Hotel Relais & Chateaux Gut Steinbach in Bavaria. At the subsequent discussion round, leading hotel industry stakeholders presented examples of best practices.

Hotel Relais & Chateaux Gut Steinbach in Bavaria is surrounded by 35 hectares of woods. As well as being a place to relax it also stores CO2. In a pilot study, Sandra Rochnowski, professor of tourism economics and head of the Institute for Sustainability at HWR Berlin, also examined how forests could offset emissions.

After her keynote speech, Sandra Rochnowski moderated a panel discussion with industry representatives. Richard Seusing, authorised signatory for B&B Hotels, talked about explaining sustainability to guests in practical terms without lecturing them. Initiatives included minimising the amount of packaging at breakfast and shower challenges, using the least amount of water indicated as possible.

Many B&B Hotels now have charging points provided by Wirelane. Hakan Ardic, vice president, Hospitality & Mobility at Wirelane, emphasised the importance of using electric transport for sustainable tourism. One obstacle to expanding the charging infrastructure for EVs was confusion among landlords and property lessees over responsibilities, which delayed or even blocked approval in some cases. In that context, Yvonne Brabant, head of Asset Management Hospitality at Union Investment Real Estate, stressed how important it was for operators and landlords to show a united front.

However, even apparently minor product decisions can positively affect the environment. A hotel using Ada Cosmetics sustainable soaps displayed a certain mindset, said Andre Roeske, senior vice president, Sales at Ada Cosmetics. Darvin Nowak, CSR director at Greif Mietwasche, emphasised how important suppliers were in the certification process for hotels. According to Andreas Westerburg, head of Hotel Development & Member Services at BWH Hotels Central Europe, in addition to having the right partners it was particularly important to raise awareness among employees for sustainability issues and spark their fascination for the subject.
Dubai, UAE  The Future Hospitality Summit (FHS), the regions most influential hospitality and tourism investment event - now transformed and titled FHS World  and double in size - returns to Dubai this September.

Previously known as AHIC and running for 19 years, FHS was last held in Dubai in 2022 and is back for 2024 with a bigger, bolder and better-than-ever event, renamed FHS World to highlight the continued growth of the regions hospitality and tourism sector and the evolution of FHS as the leading event of its kind.

Organised by The Bench and taking place 30 September to 2 October at Madinat Jumeirah under the theme Invest in o

ur Future, FHS World will be twice the size as the last Dubai event, with a host of new features and focus areas, and a more personalised, immersive experience than ever before.

Jonathan Worsley, Chairman of The Bench, said: We are thrilled to be back at Madinat Jumeirah, where it all started in 2005. This year, we have added The Arena to our event canvas which almost doubles our floor space for FHS. This has allowed us to put together our biggest summit to date with an expected attendance of over 1,500, including 200 speakers, 300 investors and 100 sponsors.

Alex Lee, Chief Commercial Officer of Jumeirah Group, said: As part of our Mission 2030 strategy we have ambitious plans to evolve our brand and grow our portfolio internationally. Were very proud to host FHS World at Madinat Jumeirah and look forward to playing our part in shaping the future of luxury hospitality.

This year, there will more emphasis on technology, green construction and sustainability, with a dedicated ESG Lab focusing on environmental, social and governance issues. FHS World will also have an investors lounge and an expanded exhibition area complete with its own mini Expo, featuring country pavilions showcasing investment opportunities, projects, plans and partnership prospects.

Key themes, features and attractions for FHS World  and beyond  were discussed among The Bench team, hospitality leaders and industry peers at the FHS Advisory Board meeting, followed by the FHS World Launch Reception, held last week at the Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates, Dubai.

FHS World creates an intersection for the world of hospitality where the industry invests in its future. We are delighted to be back in Dubai in six months time with a bigger, bolder and better event than ever before. Delegates can expect the usual strong debate, dealmaking, insight and announcements that FHS is known and loved for, along with many more new, personalised and immersive features that reflect the continued growth of our ever-evolving travel, hospitality and tourism sectors. This year we are adding more ways for attendees to engage with conference content through multiple stages and nine conference tracks, added Worsley.

The Bench itself is also growing in line with FHSs expansion, with new senior appointments among its multi-cultural, highly experienced team. Daria Smith has taken up the position of Portfolio Director; Oliver Marks is now Head of Sales and Strategic Partnerships, Middle East; and Son-Trang Nguyen is Production Manager. A number of trainees have also taken up permanent positions across marketing, production and operations under The Benchs policy of team member development and promoting from within.

FHS is firmly established as the leading event of its kind in the region, with two growing, annual events that underpin the unprecedented expansion of the Middle Easts tourism offering. This year, FHS Saudi Arabia is on from 29 April  1 May at the Mandarin Oriental Al Faisaliah in Riyadh, followed by FHS World, 30 September  2 October at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.

Registrations are now open at https://www.futurehospitality.com/ae.

About The Bench

The Benchhas established a legacy for delivering world-leading investment forums and conferences in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. The key principle behind these platforms has remained "dealmaking'. Transforming the way business connect, Bench has developed a reputation for creating innovative and high-impact meeting spaces for the industry.

For over two decades - government leaders, tourism ministries, global travel & tourism associations, the world's most influential hospitality brands, hotel owners & investors, renowned restaurant groups, airlines & aviation authorities, destination developers, asset managers, financial groups and consultants  have been participating in The Bench's events for their respective objectives. These include AHIC, AHIF, GRIF, FHS, AHF, IDEEA, AviaDev and RENEW where industry players showcase their brands, position themselves as thought leaders or innovators, and connect with the right opportunities and knowledge.

Learn more on thebench.com

About FHS World

Dates: 30 September  2 October 2024

Location: Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, UAE

Sponsors: Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts as Host Sponsor; Italia Hospitality and SMIT Morocco as Country Pavilion Sponsors; Hilton, NEOM, Radisson Hotel Group and Taiba Investments as Platinum Sponsors; Accor, Club Med, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, Millennium Hotels and Resorts, Minor Hotels and Rotana as Emerald Sponsors; Aleph Hospitality, ARC, Adyen, Barriere, CBRE, ELAF, HVS, IHCL, JLL, JT & Partners, Knight Frank, Leva, Louvre Hotels Group, QUO, Rikas, Rove Hotels, The Ascott Limited, United Hospitality Management and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts as Gold Sponsors; Aldar, EHL, H World International, STR and Time Hotels as Silver Sponsors; SOHO Hospitality as GRIF Gold Sponsor, Foresite Creative as GRIF Data Partner; Lock Stock & Barrel as After Party Host; HAMA, Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, Sustainable Hospitality Challenge, The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management and UN Tourism as Supporters.

Anne Bleeker

In2 Consulting

+971 56 603 0886

The Bench
Chinas exports to US rise 8.1% in first two months of 2024 despite Washingtons protectionism

17:03, March 07, 2024 By Ma Jingjing ( Global Times

China's exports to the US reached 522 billion yuan ($72.52 billion) in the first two months of 2024, up 8.1 percent year-on-year, which analysts said reflects the strong competitiveness of Chinese products despite Washington's protectionism.

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Thursday, the US remained China's third largest trade partner in January and February, with bilateral trade up 3.7 percent on a yearly basis to reaching 707.7 billion yuan.

China's imports from the US fell 7 percent to reach 185.7 billion yuan.

China's trade surplus with the US hit 336.3 billion yuan during the period, up 18.8 percent year-on-year, GAC data showed.

"The remarkable growth in China's export to the US during a slack season is uplifting, underscoring the important trade relations between the two countries," Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Although China and the US have engaged in dialogues in a variety of fields following the meeting between the two heads of state in San Francisco in November, they failed to reach consensus in many aspects. The US needs to send more cooperation signals to the market, Zhou said.

Dismissing Western media hyping up that Mexico replaced China as the top exporter to the US in 2023, Zhou said that Chinese goods are internationally competitive, and without Washington's political interference, there is still possibility that China and the US will continue to be each other's most important trade partners.

He said there is a great potential for China to export machinery products, electric vehicles and charging equipment to the US. While the US aims to revitalize its domestic manufacturing sector, China also has advantages in exporting intermediate products and components.

In response to the US investigation into Chinese made vehicles that use "connected" car technology, Zhou said the US' protectionist moves bring harms to market stability and global industrial and supply chains.

"If the US wants to reach some achievements in climate change and green development, it should fully give play to each country's advantages across the global market and reduce the trade barriers," he said.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Trip Riggs - Chief Financial Officer - Omni Hotels

Omni Hotels & Resorts announced the appointment of Trip Riggs as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), reporting to President Kurt Alexander. Riggs will oversee the company's finance and accounting functions and play a vital role in driving performance and growth within the executive leadership team.

Regarding the appointment, Kurt Alexander shared: "Trip has a demonstrated track record of leading high performing teams that support the business in generating best in class returns. We are excited to have him on the team, and we believe his expertise will allow Omni to further strengthen our unique owner-operator-brand position in the industry."

Trip Riggs joins Omni Hotels & Resorts after serving as Co-President and Chief Financial Officer at Balfour Senior Living in Louisville, Colorado. In this role, he led enterprise-wide financial performance and the new development pipeline. Riggs' expertise also extends to his prior roles as divisional CFO for both hospitality and real estate at Vail Resorts and in development and portfolio management at Stonebridge Companies.

Trip graduated from Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Hospitality Management, where he focused on real estate development, finance, and accounting. Additionally, Trip has served on the board of Colorado Outward Bound School for over ten years, including a chairmanship, which reflects his commitment to serving others.

As part of Omni Hotels & Resorts' ongoing commitment to providing exceptional guest experiences across their portfolio of over fifty distinct hotels and resorts throughout North America, Riggs' appointment comes at a pivotal time for the company. By leveraging his expertise alongside other key members of the executive team, Riggs will help shape Omni's future growth strategy and will be instrumental in driving its implementation.
Dr Stefan Ebener gave visitors to the trade fair a glimpse into the future on Tuesday afternoon.

In the future travel planning will be supported by personalised travel agents and multimodal online platforms. Examples of this were presented by Dr. Stefan Ebener of Google Germany at the ITB Berlin

With every seat taken in the hall at the ITB Berlin Convention it was obvious that the organisers had struck a nerve with their choice of subject, Generative AI. On Tuesday afternoon Dr. Stefan Ebener, Head of Customer Engineering at Google Germany, gave visitors to ITB an insight into the future. By video they were able to experience a Google search that differed fundamentally from what they have previously experienced: a search that is both interactive and multimodal. Within just a few months this new Google search will become accessible worldwide, Ebner revealed, and he predicted that the impact on the travel sector will be massive.

Already, Ebener reported, the traditional search using search terms would no longer be the method used by millennials and Generation Z to obtain inspiration for new trips or to prepare for their journeys. Searches will be conducted above all using images, via Google image search and using photos on Instagram, Ebener explained. From this process Ebener also obtained a useful tip for tourism marketing: fascinating and convincing visual offers, especially in the form of photos and videos, are the key to attracting new visitors.

Another trend is that of the hyper-personalised travel assistant, capable of dealing with various media, providing useful support prior to and during the trip. Most people spend more time in planning, preparation and dreaming than they do on the actual trip itself, according to Ebener. Even at the booking stage such assistants are able to enquire about and implement particular wishes, for example in the case of travelling with small children. Where doubts exist it can also use a video recording to establish whether accident damage to a rented car is covered by the insurance. The magic word here is multimodality  users can apply various media, photos and videos too, in order to interact with the system

The key to much of this is Googles new Gemini AI, which can be used by accommodation providers, for example, to automatically produce descriptions of buildings on the basis of videos. It has been possible to train the software so that it addresses the needs of its customers in a way that is precisely customised to specific target groups. Ebener explained that one should think of an AI system in much the same way as a trainee who has newly joined the company. The latter may be highly qualified and well informed about the world but initially has no idea what it is that the company actually does and how to serve the needs of customers. However, once the AI has been instructed it becomes a highly effective tool. In this case the decisive factor is not the model that is used but the platform and the real time access to information ", explains Ebener.
168 Room TRIBE Krakow Stare Miasto to Open 2025 in Poland

168 Room TRIBE Krakow Stare Miasto to Open 2025 in Poland

Acco today announces the signing of the 168-room TRIBE Krakow Stare Miasto in Poland. Expected to open in 2025, the new construction hotel will be located in the centre of Krakow, and will be the first hotel under the lifestyle TRIBE brand in the country.

Acco today announces the signing of the 168-room TRIBE Krakow Stare Miasto in Poland. Expected to open in 2025, the new construction hotel will be located in the centre of Krakow, and will be the first hotel under the lifestyle TRIBE brand in the country.

The hotel will be conveniently located on Worcella Street, near the Krakow GAowny railway station, the Galeria Krakowska shopping centre and Planty, one of the largest parks in the city. With easy access to many local attractions such as Krakow Barbican, FloriaAska Gate, and the Main Market Square, the new hotel will be the ideal getaway to visit the city.

The opening of TRIBE Krakow Stare Miasto will add to Accor's growing portfolio in Krakow, including Mercure Krakow Stare Miasto and other four existing properties under the ibis brand family. TRIBE Krakow Stare Miasto is owned and will be operated by AccorInvest - a strategic hotel investor, owner and operator - under a management agreement with Accor.

"The addition of TRIBE Krakow Stare Miasto marks an important step in our ambition to expand in Krakow, one of the most sought-after destinations in Poland for business and leisure. We are confident that this outstanding property will win the hearts of travellers seeking to experience the city from one of its most exciting locations. We look forward to opening the hotel with our trusted partner AccorInvest and adding another great property to be enjoyed by guests in Poland and around the world  said Jacek Stasikowski, Development Director Poland Accor.

"We are proud to be the first to introduce the TRIBE brand in Poland. Through our longstanding partnership with Accor, we believe TRIBE Krakow Stare Miasto will bring something unique right in the heart of the city and provide travellers with a completely new hospitality experience. The TRIBE hotel in Krakow is another step in AccorInvest's transformation by contributing to the reshaping and valorisation of our hotel portfolio in Europe, particularly in the midscale and economy segments." - commented Dominik SoAtysik, COO Eastern Europe in AccorInvest.

Founded in 2017, the TRIBE hotel brand promises "more for less" and focuses on travellers craving design hotels at affordable prices. The interior of the hotels is aesthetic, modern and individual with functional guest rooms and the "Social Hub" as TRIBE Signature. Selected design pieces and high-quality bath amenities by Kevin Murphy are combined with standardised furnishings and second-hand elements to create an eclectic and unique mix for each hotel. TRIBE hotels are designed to give guests everything they need and nothing they don't. The brand is present in 11 countries around the world  from Perth and Bangkok to London and Paris, from the famous Kuta beach in Bali to the spa town of Baden-Baden in Germany.

TRIBE Krakow Stare Miasto will offer guests stylish rooms and interiors and a wide range of amenities such as a restaurant, bar, as well as a fitness and wellness area. The hotel's interiors have been carefully designed by Spanish studio Stone Designs and will feature dark colours, velvet curtains and chevron flooring, inspired by David Lynch's artistic vision. The communal areas will also include film posters by Polish artists and elements inspired by William Eggleston and Edward Hopper.
Joint Industry Statement on Google Search and Article 6.5 of the Digital Markets Act

Associations representing the airline, hospitality and retail sectors are closely following Alphabets recent changes to Google Search that aim to comply with Article 6.5 of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The changes on Googles verticals (retail, airlines, hotels/restaurants) should not redirect traffic to online search services (OSSs) and lead to a reduced visibility of organic results of direct suppliers/merchants websites.

The DMA represents an important legislative tool to tackle practices of gatekeeper platforms. We strongly believe it should benefit businesses using online platforms and lead to fairer and more open digital markets.

The changes proposed by Alphabet to Google Search should ensure a level playing field among all market participants and offer the best options to consumers. Concretely, it should not lead to situations where the economic power of large online intermediaries is further entrenched and where consumers are not presented with a variety of choices.

The process through which stakeholders are consulted and informed of changes by Google should also be improved in the future. The business users and merchant community were only involved very late in the process. At the end of 2023, Google was not able to communicate which features of the test search product would be kept and which would be replaced. Most businesses around Europe are therefore unaware of the changes and have planned their business and marketing activities without taking the scheduled changes by Google into consideration.

Therefore, the below-signed associations expect that visibility of organic results of direct suppliers and merchants on Google Search will not be reduced. Furthermore, we expect expeditious communication on the changes from Google. We encourage the European Commission to ensure compliance, closely monitor the implementation and set up an independent system which will measure the impact on business users from 6 March 2024, with the view to identify and correct any harmful unintended effect on business users.

About Airlines for Europe

Airlines for Europe (A4E) is Europes largest airline association. Based in Brussels, A4E works with policymakers to ensure aviation policy continues to connect Europeans with the world in a safe, competitive and sustainable manner. As a key initiator of aviation's Destination 2050 roadmap, A4E and its members committed to achieve Net Zero carbon emissions for their own operations by 2050. With a modern fleet of over 3,300 aircraft, A4E airlines carried over 610 million passengers in 2022 and served nearly 2,000 destinations. Each year, A4E members transport more than 4 million tonnes of vital goods and equipment to more than 360 destinations either by freighters or passenger aircraft.

About Ecommerce Europe

Ecommerce Europe is the united voice of the European Digital Commerce sector, representing the interests of companies selling goods and services online to consumers in Europe. Our mission is to act at EU level by engaging with policymakers to create a better regulatory framework for all e-merchants. Ecommerce Europe is a platform where our members can stay informed, exchange best practices, and define common positions on EU legislation impacting the sector.

About European Hotel Forum

The European Hotel Forum is a pan-European association bringing together the diversity of the hotel industry in Europe, both in terms of geographical locations and in the variety of professionals involved, including independent hotel groups, hotel chains, hotel owners and managers. The organisation represents a cross-section of the European hospitality industry, encompassing over six thousand European hoteliers and 750,000 European hotel rooms.

About EuroCommerce

EuroCommerce is the principal European organisation representing the retail and wholesale sector. It embraces national associations in 27 countries and 5 million companies, including leading global players and many small businesses. Over a billion times a day, retailers and wholesalers distribute goods and provide an essential service to millions of business and individual customers. The sector generates 1 in 7 jobs, offering a varied career to 26 million Europeans, many of them young people. It also supports millions of further jobs throughout the supply chain, from small local suppliers to international businesses. EuroCommerce is the recognised European social partner for the retail and wholesale sector.

About HOTREC

HOTREC is the umbrella association of Hotels, Restaurants, Bars and Cafes and similar establishments in Europe. It brings together 46 national associations in 36 European countries and serves as the voice of European hospitality. The industry counts 2 million businesses, 99% of them being Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), provides 10 million jobs and contributes to 3% of the EU GDP. HOTRECs mission is to represent and champion the industrys interests towards the EU and international institutions, foster knowledge sharing and best practices among its members to promote innovation and serve as an expert platform for the hospitality sector.

About Independent Retail Europe

Independent Retail Europe is the European association that acts as an umbrella organisation for groups of independent retailers in the food and non-food sectors. Our members are groups of independent retailers, associations representing them as well as wider service organizations built to support independent retailers. Independent Retail Europe represents 23 groups and their 462.000 independent retailers, who manage more than 737.000 sales outlets, with a combined retail turnover of more than 1,385 billion euros and generating a combined wholesale turnover of 604 billion euros. This represents a total employment of around 6,4 million persons.
How Can We Transform Travel into a Force for Good?

Pollution, overtourism, and local residents displaced by tourists. These are just some of the concerns that have plagued destinations such as Venice, Barcelona, and Hat Maya, the bay made famous by the film, The Beach, in Thailand. But it doesn't have to be this way.

In a world where travel has become an integral part of our lives, it's crucial to recognize that our choices impact the environment, communities, and destinations we visit. But that impact can also be a force for good.

Travelers are already clamoring for more sustainable travel options. In 2021, 83% of global travelers told the World Travel and Tourism Council that sustainable travel is vital, and travel companies are responding  according to recent research by Amadeus, 46% of respondents will increase Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment in 2024 compared to 2023.

We believe that travel can lead to positive social and environmental change, and it's our collective intention to protect and improve the world around us.

So how is Amadeus contributing to a more sustainable travel industry? Here are just some of the ways that we are transforming travel into a force for good.

Environmental impact: Paving the way to decarbonization

Amadeus is on a journey to be carbon neutral by 2025 in relation with its emissions for scope 1 and scope 2  five years earlier than originally planned. Our data center has been carbon neutral since 2019 thanks to the use improved energy efficiency and market-based mechanisms like Guarantees of Origin of renewable energy. Through our partnership with Microsoft, we are progressively migrating to public cloud technology which allows greater environmental efficiency, scalability, and flexibility.

Secondly, we support customers with solutions that allow travelers to prioritize more sustainable travel options or allow our customers to reduce CO 2 emissions. Cytric Travel & Expense allows corporations to embed sustainable travel content and policy, and it provides clear actionable CO 2 emissions reports. Altea DCS Flight Management helps airlines reduce fuel consumption, decreasing emissions, and costs; while Amadeus Airport Sequence Manager optimizes the planning of aircraft movement and slot assignment, as well as minimizing the time aircraft spend on the runway, which also lowers fuel consumption. Finally, Amadeus Common Use Services, which allows airports to host passenger processing applications on the cloud instead of on core airport infrastructure, also greatly reduces energy consumption.

Additionally, Amadeus also partners with companies like Volantio to help carriers fly more passengers without flying more aircraft, optimizing capacity with the effect of rationalizing CO 2 emissions per pax flown.

But driving change is a team effort, so we're always looking for new partnerships to make a sustainable future a reality. In 2022, we joined forces with Travalyst, a not-for-profit organization founded by Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, which works with global travel brands around the world to scale the provision of consistent sustainability information. In 2022, we also became the first travel company to join the Green Software Foundation (GSF), which has the ambitious goal of developing green software to help reduce the information, communications and technology (ITC) sector's greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030. And most recently, we invested in CAPHENIA, a future producer of sustainable aviation fuel.

Of course, we're helping travelers too. Through our partnerships with CHOOOSE and CarbonClick, travelers can calculate the emissions for their journey and purchase offsets for their trip.

Social Impact: Empowering communities, purpose-driven businesses, and our talent through action

Now let's shift our focus to the heartbeat of our company  our employees. At Amadeus, our people are at the heart of everything we do, and we want to foster an inclusive and engaging culture where everyone can thrive.AUAUWe encourage and promote a number of Employee Resource Groups, including Amadeus Women's Network, Amadeus Proud, and the Digital accessibility community.AUWe believe in equal opportunity and our development programs, cross-functional learning, and international mobility opportunities support us to achieve this goal.

As a global organization, we acknowledge our unique position and capacity to maximize the positive impact travel and tourism industry can create in society. An example of what we do in this space is Amadeus Volunteer Day. In last year's edition, more than 3,200 employees across 80 sites worldwide dedicated their time to causes that matter. This isn't just about numbers; it's about the joy of making a difference, whether it's through education, mentoring programs, or environmental protection initiatives. To highlight a few, colleagues in Colombia inspired girls to pursue careers in technology in a school for children with socioeconomic challenges; in Stockholm, we hosted a job fair with our customers to provide internship opportunities for newly arrived immigrants with academic backgrounds; and in Germany, we raised funds for long-term NGO partners while cleaning up the environment.

Since 2010, Amadeus has implemented community support initiatives in collaboration with 500 social organizations and 100 educational institutions in the countries in which we operate, to benefit 5 million people.

Additionally, at an industry level, we engage with start-ups to create positive social change through initiatives such as Travel4Impact. Created in partnership with IE University in Madrid, Travel4Impact is designed to benefit small and medium-sized travel and tourism companies in their sustainability goals and beyond. This program is about creating a network of impact-driven entrepreneurs who believe in the power of positive change, and since 2021, it has been supporting over 60 members from across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific through 3 launchpad phases and continuous networking opportunities. According to a survey carried out by our partner IE, thanks to this program, 88% of participants have improved theirAUunderstanding of how toAUintegrate sustainability intoAUtheir business strategy.

Governance: Upholding sustainability standards

Governance is the backbone of our journey towards a more sustainable future. In 2023, Amadeus proudly received a silver medal from EcoVadis, placing us in the 92nd percentile of sustainability performers in the travel sector. Think of it as our way of ensuring that the journey we're on aligns with the highest standards of sustainability.

In the end, the story of sustainable travel isn't just about Amadeus; it's about our customers, our partners, and travelers. To make a real impact, all of us must make a collective effort to protect and improve the places we visit. So, as you plan your next adventure, remember  your journey can be more than a vacation; it can be a positive force for change. Let's embark together on this travel odyssey towards a more sustainable future.
Amy Gutmann, Ambassador of the United States to Germany: The USA focusses on sustainable tourism

US ambassador Gutmann aiming for 2.5 million by 2028 - high priority for sustainability - Cities focus on the US lifestyle.

Travel from Germany to the United States of America has returned to pre-pandemic levels. Speaking at ITB Berlin, on Wednesday the US ambassador to Germany, Amy Gutmann, stated that the two million mark has again been exceeded, and is now within 85 per cent of the 2019 figure.

Initial booking results for this year reveal that it will approach 100 per cent in 2024, Gutmann added. The aim is to achieve a total of 2.59 million tourists from Germany by 2028. In tourism to the United States itself sustainability has been assigned the utmost priority. One example that the ambassador gave was of Springville in Utah, where stargazing has been included in the list of tourism activities. Throughout the country the state of Utah is renowned for its dark skies, which remain largely unpolluted by lighting produced by human activities, which is further enhanced by the natural and very dry air.

A Democratic supporter and political scientist, Gutmann emphasizes that the government of the United States actively supports tourism promotion, because this provides an excellent basis for growth and development and can help to reduce the division of the world resulting from different political systems.

The presentations at ITB Berlin have clearly shown that the efforts being made by many US cities, including those far from the major conurbations on the west and east coasts, are using new and unique features in an effort to attract vacationers. As the second largest metropolis on the east coast, Philadelphia describes itself as the World Capital of Murals. Attempts to replace illegal graffiti by more artistic paintings, with the active support of the city authorities, has resulted in the creation of over 4,000 examples of such work. House owners with walls suitable for painting can advertise for artists. There is a long list of such owners, according to Dayana Gschechowiak from the marketing agency WTS which has been commissioned by the city for this purpose.

St. Louis is not only promoting its Gateway Arch, a world heritage site, but also its location on Route 66 and the authentic American lifestyle, as represented by both the National Blues and National Automobile Museums.
Chicago, IL (60637)

Today

Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. A few flurries are possible. High 39F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 29F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph.
Hudson, NY (12534)

Today

Snow showers this morning. Peeks of sunshine later. High 47F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 50%..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A few flurries are possible. Low 32F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Post harvest team worker Matthew Fernandes trims a cannabis bud at Affinity Grow, a Connecticut-owned and operated micro-cultivator at 47 Lower Main St. in Portland, Conn., Friday, March 1, 2024. Dave Zajac/Hearst Connecticut Media Flowering cannabis at Affinity Grow, a Connecticut-owned and operated micro-cultivator at 47 Lower Main St. in Portland, Conn., Friday, March 1, 2024. Dave Zajac/Hearst Connecticut Media

Every legal cannabis product sold in Connecticut must be grown, produced and tested here. For a full year, there has been only a single cannabis testing lab in the state, but officials have confirmed a second lab may be opening soon, which some believe could get cannabis products on the shelves quicker as the market grows.

Laboratory AltaSci closed in March last year, and Department of Consumer Protection spokesperson Kaitlyn Krasselt said the labs license was changed to inactive soon after.

That left only Northeast Laboratories to test every cannabis product sold in Connecticut. Now Analytics Labs CT, an offshoot of a Massachusetts-based laboratory, is in the process of opening up shop in Connecticut.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

State filings show an address for Analytics Labs CT in Rocky Hill. Analytics Labs founder Tiffany Madru was unable to comment for this story. Northeast Laboratories did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Krasselt said a second laboratory would allow for another option for cannabis establishments to have their products tested and confirmed that Analytics Labs is currently going through the licensure process: The laboratory applies, they submit site specific policies and procedures that are reviewed by the department, along with security plans, and the laboratory undergoes inspections. There is no timeframe for that final licensure.

Rino Ferrarese, managing partner at Affinity Grow, one of only six operating cannabis cultivation facilities in the state, said a second lab will help maintain the health of the states cannabis industry.

"The launch of a second cannabis testing laboratory in Connecticut is a positive development," Ferrarese said. "It will offer operators expanded options for release testing, method development, and all the requisite monitoring and validation needed to sustain a healthy industry committed to meeting quality and safety standards."

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

To conduct tests on cannabis in Connecticut, labs must have International Organization for Standardization (ISO) accreditation, and there are several accrediting bodies. Both Northeast Laboratories and Analytics Labs Massachusetts facility have been accredited by a company called PJLA Testing.

Ben Zachs, owner of Fine Fettle, said they have used Analytics Labs to test cannabis at their Massachusetts cannabis retail outlets. He said a second lab in the state would be great, as more operators come online, which I hope is happening sooner rather than later on the cultivation side for throughput and speed.

They're a really good lab in Massachusetts, he said. They're fair, they're honest, and I think having levels of control and accountability is always good.

A representative sample of every cannabis product sold in Connecticut is tested for the levels of cannabinoids (the compounds that produce the feeling of being high) and terpenes, which give cannabis its smell and flavor. Tests also detail the presence of heavy metals, pesticides and mycotoxins, and a variety of microbes: Mold and yeast, salmonella, E. coli, listeria and aspergillus.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Pittsfield to Host Community Meeting with EPA

PITTSFIELD, Mass. The City of Pittsfield, in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will be hosting a community meeting on Wednesday, March 27 at 6 p.m. at Herberg Middle School, Auditorium, located at 501 Pomeroy Avenue.

Representatives from the EPA will be presenting an overview of the Rest of River cleanup project and the plans to date for the Pittsfield stretch of the river. There will be focus on hearing from community members about quality of life concerns including construction noise, air quality, truck safety, transportation of materials and other related concerns.

Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback on the proposed plans.

The public is welcome and residents in Ward 4 neighborhoods are especially encouraged to attend.

For those that are unable to join in person, Pittsfield Community Television will be airing the meeting live on CityLink Channel 1303 and on PCTV Select available at pittsfieldtv.org , Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.

For more information, please contact Parks, Open Space and Natural Resources Program Manager, Jim McGrath, at (413) 499-9344.
Williamstown Health Inspector Ruth Russell updates the Board of Health as board member Ronald Stant looks on.

Williamstown Health Inspector Updates Board of Health on Training



Board of Health members, from left, Ronald Stant, Jim Parkinson, Win Stuebner, Sandra Goodbody and Devan Bartels participate in Monday morning's meeting. WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  The town's health inspector Monday updated the Board of Health on training she has been receiving since taking the position in November.

Ruth Russell told the board in a morning meeting at Town Hall that focuses for her have included learning how to do Title 5 septic inspections and food inspections.

"I went to a Title 5 seminar in Taunton last week," Russell said. "I feel like I'm getting there. Two months back, I did two Title 5 inspections in Great Barrington with the woman I'm training with.

"I'm looking forward to doing some in Williamstown so I can get a better handle on it in person."

When Russell was hired late last year, the plan was for her to be mentored by the health agent in Great Barrington, with which the town entered an intermunicipal agreement. Russell also has been taking advantage of training from the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission's Public Health Alliance, which offers three four-hour training sessions on food inspections, Russell said.

"[Great Barrington's Rebecca Jurczyk] has been coming up at least once a week," Russell said. "We also Zoom every Monday. I have another meeting every Thursday with the Berkshire Public Health Alliance.

"I'm feeling really supported and definitely getting there with training."

Russell used the opportunity of the "check in" with the board, which is advised by the health agent, to see what information the panel would like to receive from her office about her day-to-day activities.

"I don't think we've felt the need to keep track of what you're doing," James Parkinson told Russell. "On the other hand, if you have a question we could answer, we're always available. I think you can be the driver, and when you need something, ask us. You don't need to let us know everything you're doing."

Chair Win Stuebner joked that the board was "spoiled" by longtime Health Agent Jeffrey Kennedy.

"Jeff did things we had no idea what he was doing," Steubner said.

He told his colleagues that Russell has been good about calling or emailing him to ask if something came up that the board might want to know about.

"We'd rather have you overdo [information sharing] than underdo it," Stuebner said.

Monday's session marked just the second full meeting of the board since Russell took her position, but Russell said she would continue to send email updates to the board members during the months when it does not sit.

The board made no formal actions on Monday, even though it did have a potential enforcement action warned on its agenda.

Russell reported that a complaint came in to Town Hall about the 6 House Pub, where a diner claimed the plumbing was not working, there was no hot water and the restaurant was "dirty" during their visit.

Russell said she was out sick at the time the call came in, but two members of the Berkshire Public Health Alliance made a visit to the Cold Spring Road restaurant and found that the plumbing was working fine and there was, in fact, hot water.

Although there is no enforcement action needed, Russell said she planned to return to the restaurant to do a full inspection in the next couple of weeks.

Russell also updated the board on progress with a residence at 1033 Simonds Road, Route 7, near the Vermont state line. In December, she rescinded a condemnation order on the property, but the owner still is obligated to clean up "wood piling and outdoor clutter" on the property's exterior.

Russell said the owner had a deadline in May, and she is hopeful progress will be made now that the weather is warming up.

Finally, Russell notified the board that she is working on an updated well-digging permit for the town, which only had one applicable permit for wells intended for drinking water or geothermal heating and cooling.

Since the latter does not involve extraction of potable water, Russell is working to make sure the language for geothermal wells does not require lab testing, for example.

Stuebner used Monday's meeting to discuss the latest news about COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses.

Emergency room visits and hospitalizations for acute respiratory illness are down in the commonwealth and in the county, he said.

"I talked to Jim Lederer at BMC last Thursday, and as of then there were only seven COVID patients in the hospital, two flu and no RSV [respiratory syncytial virus]," Stuebner said. "All mild cases.

"Right now, we seem to be in a decline as far as respiratory illnesses are concerned, which is good."

Stuebner said it remains a concern that only 20 percent of Massachusetts residents eligible for the latest COVID-19 booster received the jab, and he wondered aloud whether there would be similar or lower numbers when the next booster, targeted for older Americans, is released this spring as reported.

On the other hand, Stuebner said new guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control again show that the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is just something that society is living with.

"You've probably read the new guidelines coming from the CDC as far as isolation," Stuebner said. "If you test positive for COVID, you no longer have to isolate for five days if you're fever free for 24 hours without the aid of Tylenol or ibuprofen and your symptoms are improving.

"Oregon and California have had these regulations in place for a couple of months and haven't seen any spike in illnesses. And, probably, it's what's happening anyway. Very few people are testing anymore. Many people in the community probably have COVID, and they don't know it. They're asymptomatic."

In other business on Monday, Parkinson told his colleagues that he recently visited the Spruces Park on Main Street and was surprised at what he saw.

"I was absolutely astounded at how much dog feces there was, untreated, all over the place," Parkinson said. "Within 10 feet, there were probably 20 piles.  Maybe it's just the winter accumulation.

"Is that a health issue?"

Stuebner noted that the Select Board currently is weighing how to manage use of the park by dog owners with unleashed pets and agreed that, in the end, fecal matter left in a public park is a public health concern.

He asked Russell to draft a letter to the Select Board on behalf of the Board of Health offering its assistance if the Select Board wishes it to be involved in the conversation.
NAHA Chosen for Apartment Wi-Fi Program

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The North Adams Housing Authority (NAHA) announced that it has been selected as a recipient of funds for the Apartment Wi-Fi Program.

This initiative aims to enhance digital equity and connectivity for residents, ensuring that everyone has equal access to high-quality internet services.

The Apartment Wi-Fi Program is a collaborative effort by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI). It is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), and covers equipment purchases, project logistics assistance, and procurement support to construct Wi-Fi networks within the residential communities. It will also provide funding for first year of operating expenses. These networks offer residents internet access that is equal to or superior to what commercial internet service providers currently offer, all at no cost to residents.

NAHA's stated in a press release that they are commited to digital equity.

"As an organization committed to promoting self-sufficiency, empowerment, and neighborhood revitalization, NAHA recognizes the critical role that internet connectivity plays in today's world. Access to reliable Wi-Fi is essential for education, employment, healthcare, and social engagement. By participating in the Apartment Wi-Fi Program, the North Adams Housing Authority aims to bridge the digital divide and empower our residents with the tools they need to thrive."

Through this program, NAHA will provide Wi-Fi access to all 305 housing units across their properties, including Greylock Valley Apartments, Riverview Apartments, Ashland Park, and Spring Park. Residents will enjoy seamless connectivity for online learning, telehealth services, job searches, and communication with loved ones.

"We believe that this initiative will significantly enhance the quality of life for our community members," NAHA stated in a press release.

NAHA is collaborating with the MAPC and other stakeholders to implement this program swiftly.
North Adams Finance Committee Finalizing New Fee Schedule

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The Finance Committee is hoping to finally complete a years-long effort to consolidate and update fees and fines that have been scattered throughout the city's ordinances.

Department heads have been consulted and ordinances scoured to pull out fees and list them in an appendix. This will allow the amounts to be updated without having to change an ordinance and will clarify the correct fee when in some cases it was not updated or found in more than one place in the ordinances.

"This is probably in the 30 years I've sat on council, definitely this is the biggest ordinance project the council has worked on," said Chair Keith Bona, who had also served on the council in the 1990s. "There were numerous committees working on it, there were numerous departments working on it."

The work had also been delayed during the pandemic and changes in administration and council.

Now all the fees and fines will be located in one place, Appendix D, which will be the reference in all ordinances.

The changes were sent to the solicitor in the fall, who came back with suggestions and recommendations that the committee reviewed on Monday. It will meet again next Wednesday, hopefully with the solicitor and mayor, to finalize the appendix.

The committee also found a couple changes that need to be made, including updates from the city clerk on outdated language. For example, the secondhand dealer ordinance has been repealed so that fee no longer applies.

One aspect that concerned the solicitor was if some of the penalties did not align with Massachusetts General Law.

"I know that the changes are referred to fines for violations as well as fees. In my opinion, the proposed changes to remove the penalties for violations of ordinances from specific sections in congregate them in Appendix D are in proper form," Bona read from the solicitor's communication. "However, I recommend the Council review the following items prior to the proposed change."

For instance, he wrote, the city has the authority to impose noncriminal penalties but state law requires a specific penalty be established for issuing noncriminal tickets to ensure they remain valid. He noted that the city has fines exceeding $300 that he did not think could be enforced because state law has set $300 as a cap for enforcement.

"This is specifically for things that could technically be criminal violations, but instead of going to court, we can issue fines instead," noted member Ashley Shade. "I'm looking at some of these numbers, Chapter 15b 'dumping' fines $500 or maximum allowed by law. That is something that we would want to take out of here or that allow us to go to court for. I think that's where the solicitor is getting at.

The committee discussed whether it would be useful to tier such fines so the city would have the opportunity to take someone to court if it so desires. It was one of the questions they should ask the solicitor, said Shade.

"If it's that egregious they should have to pay $500. Perhaps that is something that should go to criminal court," she said. "Maybe it's not as egregious as we think and we should just cap it at $300."

In another case, the city had set most parking infractions at a maximum of $50 but the MGL law it had adopted in 1981 set the max at $25. The solicitor recommended that the council confirm its adoption of that since amended statute prior to ratifying the fee schedule.

Shade also noted that some the fines were higher for violations of Americans with Disabilities Acts but others that could be construed as violations, such as blocking access for parking on a sidewalk, were not. Bona said it should also be higher for blocking a fire hydrant as well.

"I think we should look at that. If the solicitor agrees with us, I think we should implement something," she said.

The committee, with Council President Bryan Sapienza attending, also briefly discussed some violations that did not have fines, such as failing to clear a sidewalk, and questioned other fines such as leaving your keys in your car.

Bona asked the committee to read through the schedule and the solicitor's communication to prepare any questions for next week's meeting.
Martin Luther King Jr. worked at a tobacco farm in Simsbury, Connecticut, in 1944 and 1947. The state of Connecticut and Trust for Public Land are preserving the land, called Meadowood, and sheds (pictured above), with plans for an outdoor exhibit. Tod Bryant, Courtesy of Trust for Public Land / Contributed photo

Eighty years ago, a 15-year-old from Atlanta spent his summer working at a tobacco farm in Simsbury.

The teenager was Martin Luther King Jr., a then-incoming freshman at Morehouse College in Georgia, who graduated high school early and secured the summer job to earn some money for school, he wrote in his autobiography. The Civil Rights leaders connection to the 285-protected-acre property, called Meadowood, is largely why the town and other stakeholders are working to preserve the land and the remaining tobacco sheds today, in hopes of granting it a spot on the Connecticut Freedom Trail and National Register of Historic Places.

Close-up of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. shown in this photo. Bettmann/Bettmann Archive

(The tobacco sheds) are eligible for their association with Martin Luther King Jr. and other students from Morehouse who became Civil Rights leaders (and) who were there working in tobacco fields that period, Todd Levine, an architectural historian for the State of Connecticut, said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The Town of Simsbury, the Connecticut Historic Preservation Office and Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit dedicated to preserving public spaces, are part of a coalition working to turn the sheds into an outdoor exhibit and stabilize them for public viewing, a project Levine says is still in the planning stages.

It brings a lot of pride to Simsbury to even have a small connection to an iconic person like Martin Luther King, Tara Willerup, executive managing director of the Simsbury Free Library, said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Martin Luther King Jr. worked at a tobacco farm in Simsbury, Connecticut, in 1944 and 1947. The state of Connecticut and Trust for Public Land are preserving the land, called Meadowood, and sheds, with plans for an outdoor exhibit. Tod Bryant, Courtesy of Trust for Public Land / Contributed photo

In the summer of 1944, after completing his junior year of high school, King worked at a farm owned by Connecticut tobacco growers, Cullman Brothers, Inc., and returned for the same job in 1947.

King led Sunday church services in the dorms and they would attend First Church of Christ, according to Martin Luther King Jr. in Connecticut (MLK in CT), a committee made up of current Simsbury High School students.

While Connecticut was not immune to segregation, King was surprised by the lack of racial discrimination in the North, compared to his home in the Jim Crow-era South. King wrote about his newly-experienced freedoms in his letters to his family posted by The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

I never thought that a person of my race could eat anywhere but we [strikeout illegible] ate in one of the finest restaurants in Hartford. And we went to the largest shows there, he wrote in a letter to his mother, Alberta Williams King, on June 18, 1944.

The summer of 1944 proved to be pivotal for King.

Martin Luther King Jr. worked at a tobacco farm in Simsbury, Connecticut, in 1944 and 1947. The state of Connecticut and Trust for Public Land are preserving the land, called Meadowood, and sheds, with plans for an outdoor exhibit. Tod Bryant, Courtesy of Trust for Public Land / Contributed photo

He later wrote in his autobiography that following his time in Connecticut, he had a bitter feeling going back to segregation.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

It was hard to understand why I could ride wherever I pleased on the train from New York to Washington and then had to change to a Jim Crow car at the nation's capital in order to continue the trip to Atlanta, he wrote. The first time that I was seated behind a curtain in a dining car, I felt as if the curtain had been dropped on my selfhood. I could never adjust to the separate waiting rooms, separate eating places, separate rest rooms, partly because the separate was always unequal, and partly because the very idea of separation did something to my sense of dignity and self-respect.

That first summer in Connecticut inspired him to become a minister. In his application for the Crozer Theological Seminary School, he wrote that his decision to pursue ministry was cemented in the summer of 1944, when he felt an inescapable urge to serve society, a feeling that would lead him to fight for equal rights in America.

In short, I felt a sense of responsibility which I could not escape, he wrote on his application.

Martin Luther King Jr. worked at a tobacco farm in Simsbury, Connecticut, in 1944 and 1947. The state of Connecticut and Trust for Public Land are preserving the land, called Meadowood, and sheds, with plans for an outdoor exhibit. Tod Bryant, Courtesy of Trust for Public Land / Contributed photo

Meadowood in Simsbury

For decades, the story about Kings Connecticut tie was largely unknown to most residents, Levine said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In 2010, a group of Simsbury High School students created a documentary detailing Kings time in Simsbury, supported by the Simsbury Free Library.

Martin Luther King Jr. worked at a tobacco farm in Simsbury, Connecticut, in 1944 and 1947. The state of Connecticut and Trust for Public Land are preserving the land, called Meadowood, and sheds, with plans for an outdoor exhibit. Tod Bryant, Courtesy of Trust for Public Land / Contributed photo

The final product was recognized by national news outlets, and the students later formed the MLK in CT committee to raise funds for a memorial in front of the Simsbury Free Library. Throughout the project, she observed the students relating to King as a teenager and feeling empowered by his story. King was around the high schoolers age when he was called to service in Connecticut.

I think that's really the message that (the students) want the documentary to send, that they want the memorial to send and that each of these kids really takes with them: How can I make a difference? And many of them have, Willerup said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Catherine Labadia, Connecticuts deputy state historic preservation officer and staff archeologist, received a grant from the National Park Service in 2016 to study Meadowood, Levine confirmed, and in 2019, she began working with Trust for Public Land to purchase the land, which was set to be cleared for a 300-home subdivision.

In 2021, using funds from the state and Town of Simsbury, Trust for Public Land purchased the property from Indus Realty Trust Inc. for $6 million and conveyed it to the Town of Simsbury, Walker Holmes, the Connecticut state director for the organization, said in an email. The sale required $2.5 million from the Town of Simsbury, which was approved by residents after they petitioned to have the Meadowood purchase on the ballot, according to the Town of Simsbury.

Martin Luther King Jr. worked at a tobacco farm in Simsbury, Connecticut, in 1944 and 1947. The state of Connecticut and Trust for Public Land are preserving the land, called Meadowood, and sheds, with plans for an outdoor exhibit. Tod Bryant, Courtesy of Trust for Public Land / Contributed photo

The organization, town and state are working with residents to create a plan for the sheds, trails and other features of Meadowood, Holmes said. They could finish the plan by the summer earliest, she said, and there isn't an estimated completion date for the project.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development allocated $300,000 through its Good to Great Grant program to preserve the tobacco sheds and stabilize them, Levine said. The state and Trust for Public Land are also working on an outdoor exhibit that will display letters King wrote to his family in the summers of 1944 and '47, he said.

Levine hopes to open the exhibit and finish the sheds in 2025.

Long-term plans for the site include adding it to the Connecticut Freedom Trail, which features over 160 sites highlighting the accomplishments of Black Americans, and nominating it for a spot in the National Register of Historic Places to the National Park Service.

Three percent of sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places focus on Black American history, according to Trust for Public Land.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

This collective oversight deprives all Americans of a full understanding of the history of our nation, the Trust for Public Land website reads.

Martin Luther King Jr. worked at a tobacco farm in Simsbury, Connecticut, in 1944 and 1947. The state of Connecticut and Trust for Public Land are preserving the land, called Meadowood, and sheds, with plans for an outdoor exhibit. Tod Bryant, Courtesy of Trust for Public Land / Contributed photo

Simsbury's MLK memorial

The MLK in CT committee's fundraising efforts culminated in 2021, when the MLK memorial was unveiled in front of the Simsbury Free Library.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The site features five glass panels with that display text chronicling Kings time in Simsbury and its impact. The exit markers on the memorial face north and south to depict Kings journey from the southern to northern U.S. and they are made out of brownstone, native to Connecticut, according to the MLK in CT website. The committee is currently raising funds for a bench at the site made out of granite from Georgia, Kings home state, according to the website.

There are a lot of fun pieces that we're trying to connect with the mission of being in service to each other, being kind to each other, making a difference in the world (and) building character, Willerup said.

Martin Luther King Jr. in Connecticut, a nonprofit organization led by Simsbury High School students, created a memorial outside the Simsbury Free Library in 2021 to commemorate King's ties to Connecticut. Tara Willerup / Contributed photo

The students also work with the MLK Day in Simsbury committee every year to host a celebration on the January holiday, featuring a keynote speaker and the Gertrude Banks Gospel choir, Willerup said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Paris Albrecht, a senior at Simsbury High School and co-president of MLK in CT, said the committee is planning on hosting field trips for the local schools that will feature programs related to King.

Albrecht said she joined MLK in CT to learn about Kings history, as well as help carry on his legacy of combating inequality in Simsbury and beyond.
Thursday 7 March 2024, 08:16 - Last updated: 8 March, 12:36

Jimmy Cherizier, known as Barbecue, is now threatening civil war unless Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigns. The leader of the powerful gang group known as G9 is leading the uprising in Port-au-Prince and has no intention of stopping. The violence in the country has reached unimaginable levels after the initial tensions caused last weekend by armed commandos who stormed two prisons in the capital, freeing thousands of inmates and attempting to capture Toussaint Louverture International Airport. Either Haiti will become a paradise for all of us or it will be hell for everyone, said Barbecue, who showed up at a press conference wearing a bulletproof vest and wielding a machine gun. According to the latest intelligence reports, gangs control 80% of the capital. And the institutional emergency is total.

Haiti continues in chaos in the capital: assaults on airport and hospital. Still no news from the prime minister

Who is he

Cherizier was born in Delmas, near the slums of La Saline. The eldest of eight children, he witnessed his father's death when he was just 8 years old. He joined the police force at a very young age and enlisted in the Unite Departementale pour le Maintien de l'Ordre. But his military career was short-lived. Perpetrating violence, threats, and extortions, he quickly became the leader of a gang in Base Delmas 6. While he was a police officer, Cherizier allegedly organized and carried out the La Saline massacre in 2018, in which at least 71 people were killed and over 400 houses were burned. He is also accused of being involved in the Grande Ravine massacre in 2017, which killed at least nine people, and the Bel-Air massacre in 2019. Only in December 2018 was Cherizier dismissed from the police force.

The criminal career

His criminal career flows as fast as blood. He becomes the undisputed leader of the Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies, a self-proclaimed federation of gangs. The group was originally composed of nine organizations, but has since grown to include more than a dozen. Cherizier defines himself as the leader of an armed revolution. The formation of the G9 was officially announced by Cherizier in a video on YouTube on June 10, 2020, immediately after the Port-au-Prince massacre in May 2020.

Civil War

Haiti is the poorest country in Latin America, and now it is practically on its last legs. The severe crisis that opened on July 7, 2021, when President Jovenel Moise was killed in his bedroom in Port au Prince, has matured over the years into an unmanageable chaos. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, stated that the situation in Haiti is truly unbearable for the Haitian people, highlighting that since the beginning of 2024, there have already been 1,193 deaths. The institutional emergency is total, to the point that Prime Minister Ariel Henry, after a trip to Kenya to establish the Multinational Mission (Mmas) approved by the UN, and after talks in the United States, is effectively forced into forced exile, not being able to return to his homeland on his private plane. He is in Puerto Rico, or perhaps, in Jamaica. Moreover, according to journalistic sources, the prime minister received the news in flight that the USA advised him to resign to allow the start of a transition process.

Political Chaos

Since 2016, no elections have been held in Haiti, so there is no legitimate president, parliament, government, prime minister, or even a functioning Supreme Court. Various urban centers, but especially the capital, are daily prey to the raids of armed groups that assault public buildings, clash with the police, kidnap, rape, and kill, generating terror in the population that migrates from the cities to safer regions. The police are unable to counter this criminality and focus on defending buildings and infrastructure considered strategic.

The Mission

In the last week, the emergency has, if possible, further worsened, after Prime Minister Henry committed himself at a summit in the Caribbean to organize general elections by August 31, 2025. The UN Security Council has been convened for a closed-door meeting to study what to do. A step forward is expected at least regarding the Multinational Mission to support security (Mmas) led by Kenya, which needs funds to be able to function and deploy in Haitian territory.

US Pressure

The United States is certainly not pressuring the Prime Minister of Haiti to resign, said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre at a press briefing.
Former Connecticut State Police Sgt. Catherine Koeppel left the agency in October after she was involved in a hit-and-run crash in Brookfield in July 2023. An internal affairs investigation determined Koeppel had a glass of wine before the crash, was texting when the incident occurred and then lied about hitting a deer, report shows. File photo The crumpled hood is visible in this picture of Connecticut State Police Sgt. Catherine Koeppel's state-owned Dodge Charger after police say she struck the back of a car in Brookfield and left the scene in July 2023. An internal affairs investigation determined Koeppel had a glass of wine before the crash, was texting when the incident occurred and then lied about hitting a deer, report shows. Connecticut State Police body cam footage Body cam video shows the damage to a Kia Optima that was rear-ended by a state police sergeant, Sgt. Catherine Koeppel, police say. An internal affairs investigation determined Koeppel had a glass of wine before the crash, was texting when the incident occurred and then lied about hitting a deer, report shows. Connecticut State Police body camera

A former Connecticut State Police sergeant who rear-ended a woman in Brookfield last year lied to her superiors that she had hit a deer after fleeing the scene, internal affairs investigators detailed in their report about the incident.

The former sergeant, Catherine Koeppel, also later admitted to internal affairs that she had been texting at the time of the crash and that she'd had a glass of wine while out to dinner earlier that night, according to the documents obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media Group.

Koeppel, who is no longer with the state police, could not be reached for comment.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Koeppel was off-duty at the time of the July 2023 crash and driving her state-issued Dodge Charger. Troopers are allowed to take their state vehicles home and drive them off-duty, but are prohibited from operating them if they've had anything to drink.

The internal affairs report says investigators were unable to prove whether Koeppel had any alcohol in her system at the time of the crash.

But the investigation found Koeppel violated six other agency rules in the collision and its aftermath. Some of those offenses  intentionally lying to or misleading investigators, and failing to provide assistance to the other driver she hit  could have resulted in Koeppel's termination.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The investigation found Koeppel also failed to provide information to investigators in the hours after the crash when they went to her home and tried to call her and that she failed to exercise "due care" while driving her state vehicle, the report stated. The investigation also found Koeppel "exhibited conduct that reflected negatively on the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection," after investigators determined she "tailed" another driver who witnessed the collision until they moved over and let her speed past, according to the report.

Each of those offenses did not rise to the level of termination, but could have resulted in other discipline, according to the report.

The 63-page internal affairs report was obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media through a Freedom of Information Act request. Portions of it were redacted. The report revealed for the first time that officials said Koeppel had a drink the night of the crash. The report also revealed for the first time Koeppel's account of what happened that night.

State police said Koeppel "separated" from the agency on Oct. 9, one day shy of her 15-year anniversary with the department. State police have referred Koeppel to the Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training Council for possible decertification. That would prevent her from being rehired as a police officer in Connecticut for at least two years.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Koeppel was promoted to sergeant in December 2021 and was issued a 2019 Dodge Charger, an "administrative/management" vehicle, the report said.

At the time of the crash, Koeppel was a member of the State Police Western District Major Crime Squad, a unit responsible for handling high-profile cases and in-depth investigations. Whenever a murder or some other major case occurs in a small town in western Connecticut, the unit is often called to help local police with the investigation.

In addition to losing her job, Koeppel was criminally charged last year with evading responsibility and following too close in the crash. The case was dismissed after Koeppel completed a pretrial probation program.

In October, the woman who Koeppel hit filed a lawsuit against the State of Connecticut, alleging she suffered injuries and lost income as a result of the crash. The suit initially named Koeppel as a defendant, but she was removed in December. Koeppel's lawyer had objected in a court filing to her being included as a defendant under the state law granting officers immunity from personal liability, and to her being named and identified under the state's Freedom of Information Act.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The lawsuit remains ongoing in state court.

Wine at dinner, texting when crash occurred, report shows

According to the internal affairs report, Brookfield police transferred a 911 call to the state police Troop A barracks in Southbury about the accident around 9:25 p.m. on July 24, 2022. The female caller told state police a driver fled the scene after hitting her from behind as she was slowing for a red light on the northbound side of Route 7 at the Route 202 intersection.

Before she was able to process what had happened, "she was struck from the rear again," forcing her to veer left to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of her, the woman told a responding trooper, according to the report. The crash was so forceful, Koeppel and the woman she hit both had their seatbelts lock up, according to the report.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The woman told the investigating trooper that the driver of the car who hit her left the scene, but a witness described the fleeing vehicle as a "Dodge Challenger/Dodge Charger," the report stated.

Less than a half-hour after the woman reported the crash, Koeppel called Troop A in Southbury and reported she'd struck a deer on the northbound side of Route 7, according to the report. Koeppel said she was not injured and had gone home, the report stated. She also texted Connecticut State Police Sgt. Daniel Pacileo that she had hit a deer, noting that the animal was heading "west to east" over the barrier, the report stated. Included in the text messages were three photographs from Koeppel showing the damage to her Charger.

But Pacileo quickly realized the damage to Koeppel's car didn't resemble a deer strike, according to the report, and also learned that the evading vehicle in the Brookfield crash was a dark-colored Dodge Charger.

Pacileo and a second state police sergeant then went to Koeppel's home. The lights at the residence were off, but the officers could hear a voice inside the home, the report stated. The officers tried calling Koeppel, but were unable to reach her, the report and body cam footage obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media shows. Police also took photos of the Charger in the driveway of Koeppel's home and then had the vehicle towed.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

There was no video from the Charger's dash cam of the crash itself.

State police reported the woman who was hit was unhurt in the crash. But her lawyer, Joseph Foti, told Hearst Connecticut Media his client needed physical therapy for neck and back injuries and that her car was totaled in the crash. He said his client had been stopped at a red light when Koeppel slammed into her from behind and "sped off."

After seeing of her missed calls and text messages the morning after the crash, Koeppel texted Sgt. Fawn Ouellette that she had struck an occupied car, the report stated.

The report shows investigators conducted two interviews with Koeppel months after the crash.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Koeppel told investigators that between 5 and 6 p.m. the day of the crash, she drove to a restaurant in Brookfield where she had dinner with her brother and had one glass of white wine, according to the report.

She left around 9 p.m. and was driving her cruiser home when the crash occurred, Koeppel told the investigators, according to the report.

Koeppel said she "was driving with her left hand and texting with her right hand, and she looked up to see the traffic light was red. She began to slow but continued to text on her phone," the report stated. "While she was text messaging, she hit something in the roadway. She came to an abrupt stop and her phone went flying out of her hand, the contents on her passenger seat went onto the front passenger side floorboard, the seatbelt retracted, which made her aware she was in a collision, and her body went forward."

"When she finally looked in front of her, there was nothing there, so she assumed she had struck a deer," Koeppel told the investigators, according to the report.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Investigators were unable to find a receipt with Koeppel's drink order from dinner the night of the crash, the report stated. Investigators said they were unable to determine whether Koeppel "was intoxicated or potentially emotional from being involved in a collision," the report's authors concluded.

Internal affairs investigators found evidence to substantiate the six other allegations of wrongdoing brought against Koeppel related to the crash. Three of those offenses rose to the level of termination, according to the report. The other three carried less serious consequences, such as suspension without pay, according to the report.

For the first terminable offense, investigators found Koeppel had engaged in conduct that would prevent her from performing her essential job functions, because her police powers had been temporarily suspended after the crash.

They found that she also committed an "intentional act of deception" during a legal or administrative investigation by evading the scene of the crash while in her state-issued vehicle, and then "falsely reported" that she struck a deer to her troop supervisor and district commander, as well as to internal affairs investigators, the report stated.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In the report, investigators noted there was no fur or blood from a deer strike present on Koeppel's damaged car  but there was blue paint from another vehicle, including in a photograph of her gray Dodge Charger she sent to a supervising sergeant. Investigators also found Koeppel failed to provide assistance to the woman whose car she hit, the third offense the report said that could result in her termination, the report stated.

The investigation also found Koeppel "failed to provide information relative to the collision." The investigation also substantiated Koeppel's "conduct that would reflect negatively" on the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, the agency overseeing state police, after she failed to remain at the scene and then followed a witness with her car until he became nervous and moved out of her way, the report stated.

The probe also found that Koeppel failed to exercise "due care" for people's safety while driving her state-issued car  because she admitted to investigators that she had been texting on her phone, which contributed to the crash.

In a 2011 interview with Hearst Connecticut Media, Koeppel said she had pursued a career in law enforcement after her mother brought home an application to the Danbury Police Explorers. She graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York with bachelor's and master's degrees, and then was hired by the Connecticut State Police. She served as a road trooper out of Troop A in Southbury before applying to become a resident trooper in the town of New Fairfield.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Thursday 7 March 2024, 15:43 - Last updated: 8 March, 00:09

 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This article is automatically translated

As every year, March 8th celebrates International Women's Day, a symbolic date of the female struggle for equality, respect, and recognition of women's rights around the world. This occasion is not only a moment to remember the battles won, but above all to reflect on the still existing gender disparities and to promote actions aimed at achieving full parity. Let's see together why March 8th was chosen for this day, what is the history of the celebration and why it is customary to give a bunch of mimosa. The origins of a day dedicated to women are deeply rooted in the labor and feminist movements of the early twentieth century. Among the key moments, there are undoubtedly the events that took place in New York in 1908, when women in the textile sector went on strike to protest against the inhumane conditions they were forced to work in. This event was followed, on February 28, 1909, by the first national celebration of women (Woman's Day) at the initiative of the Socialist Party of America. Another key moment occurred on March 25, 1911, again in New York, with the tragic fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, which caused the death of 146 workers, mostly immigrant women, trapped inside the burning building. This tragic event highlighted the need to improve working conditions and strengthened the movement for women's rights. The proposal for an international day dedicated to women was first put forward in 1910, during the Second International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen, on the initiative of Clara Zetkin, leader of the German women's movement. At that point, following the American model, its celebration was set for the last Sunday of February: Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland, in 1911, were the first countries in Europe to celebrate this day. In Italy, the first International Women's Day was celebrated on March 22, 1922. Over the years, several explanations have been given for the choice of March 8th for the celebration of this day. Many, for example, have erroneously linked it to a fire in New York on March 8, 1909, in which many women died, probably confusing it with that of February 25, 1911. Women's Day was first celebrated on March 8th in 1914, probably just because it was a Sunday, but the celebrations were interrupted the following year by the outbreak of the First World War. On March 8, 1917, in St. Petersburg, during the Russian Revolution, many women took to the streets to loudly demand the end of the war, contributing to that protest which, after a few days, led to the fall of the Tsar. The provisional government that was formed granted women the right to vote and later it was Vladimir Lenin who established March 8th as the official day for this celebration. The choice of March 8th as International Women's Day has become a powerful symbol of the struggle for women's rights. This date is an opportunity to take stock of the situation of women in the world, celebrate the progress made, and, above all, highlight the discrimination and violence that women still suffer. It is a moment of public awareness and mobilization to promote social, political, and economic changes that ensure equal opportunities for all. Over the years, March 8th has been officially recognized by the United Nations and many national governments, turning into a day of celebrations, cultural events, debates, and awareness initiatives that involve millions of people around the world. In 1946, two women from the UDI (Unione donne italiane), Rita Montagnana and Teresa Mattei proposed adopting the mimosa flower as a symbol of Women's Day. The women of the UDI voted unanimously for this plant, convinced by two main reasons: it is the only flower that blooms in March and it is inexpensive, so it can be given to everyone. It seems that the other flowers in the running were anemones and carnations. A downside is perhaps the fact that a cut sprig of mimosa really lasts very little, but it is also true that with the right precautions, clear water enriched with a few drops of lemon and plenty of light, it is possible to extend their life a bit. The official color of International Women's Day is, among others, purple, which represents dignity and social justice for women. Every year the theme of the day changes, which this year will be "Embracing Equity", while last year it was "Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality". Other colors linked to Women's Day are green, which represents hope, and white, which recalls purity.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

It would have been so easy to make Nye a straightforward hero story: Michael Sheen resplendent in the title role of the underdog son of a miner smashing political elitism to found the NHS. Instead, Sheen spends this intriguing, dream-like play shuffling about a hospital barefoot in baggy pyjamas, haunted by flashbacks to the morphine highs of his career.

Writer Tim Price and outgoing National Theatre artistic director Rufus Norris have turned this welfare state origin story into a weird, sometimes baggy reverie, enlivened with poignant biographical insights. At first, Sheen is touchingly delighted to be treated by the public health system he helped dream into existence, a vision as beautiful as the sunny-hued daffodils on each bedside table. But the mood soon darkens as hes lost in post-operative hallucinations: the sadistic schoolteacher who beat him for his stammer, the black lung-afflicted miner father who  ironically  he couldnt or wouldnt help.

Its a bit of a tired theatrical set-up, to have an ageing famous figure reliving his life in convenient vignettes. But although the text periodically sags, Norriss direction keeps things nimble and strange. Nyes first trip to the library is a thing of wonder, with Beauty and the Beast-style living bookshelves beckoning him into a world of learning. The town council meeting where he makes his first, revolutionary France-inspired political manoeuvres unfolds on tables made of hospital beds, patients still in them.

Sheen and the cast of Nye' (Johan Persson)

Accordingly, Sheen plays Nye with a touchingly boy-like sense of gentleness and wonder: but sometimes this performance is at odds with what were told about this obstreperous, stubborn, womanising political operator. Its hard to believe that his wife Jennie Lee (Sharon Small) would surrender her own political career to him, or that post-war PM Clement Atlee (a sinuous Stephanie Jacob) would see him as such a dangerous rival that the only way to neutralise him was to give him the minister for health and housing.

The actual founding of the NHS feels like a rushed misstep here, too. Nyes showdowns with the doctors are staged a bit like hes confronting an intergalactic alien council, their looming masked faces dehumanising the actual people who make the NHS possible. The coda is hurried, too, with an underexamined, unfair-feeling scene that suggests Jennie Lee was to blame for the political failures of Bevans later years.

Norris and Price are clearly reluctant to end on a note that feels too heartwarming, too rousing. This is the polar opposite of the NHS section in the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, all happy kids bouncing on hospital beds in pyjamas. But sometimes, its hard not to wish for a bit more of that optimism  for an insight into the post-war mindset shift that turned socialism from a quaint minority interest into an urgent, collective political mission. Instead, Nyes emotional punch comes from its hushed parallels with the present day, where the NHS  like its founder  lies sick in bed, battling for its life.

National Theatre, until 11 May
 Close Gary Goldsmith becomes first Celebrity Big Brother housemate to be evicted

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The Celebrity Big Brother housemates have now waved goodbye to three contestants after Lauren Simon was evicted during Tuesday nights episode. She follows in the footsteps of the Princess of Waless uncle, Gary Goldsmith, who became the first contestant on this years series to be evicted.

Months after the reality series titan returned on ITV, the celebrity version has been resurrected in the hopes of emulating the success of the latest civilian series, which was won by Jordan Sangha in November.

Surviving contestants include X Factor judge Louis Walsh who has already shocked viewers with an incredibly rude comment  Love Island winner Ekin-Su and Strictly Come Dancing professional Nikita Kuzmin.

In the latest episode, Sharon Osbourne, who was in the series as a celebrity lodger, left the CBB house. She was only planned to be in the series for several days and was given a private en-suite bedroom separate from the rest of the housemates.

As for the eviction, it was between Fern Britton, Louis Walsh and Lauren Simon, but it was the Real Housewives of Cheshire star who was voted off.

Meanwhile, Louis launched a scathing attack on the pop duo Jedward, calling them vile, and he later made several comments about Ronan Keating.

Follow along with all the live updates as CBB airs on ITV
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Margaret Qualley is set to play Amanda Knox in a new eight-episode Hulu series.

Qualley, 29, is fresh from appearing in Yorgos Lanthimoss Oscar-nominated Poor Things and Ethan Coens Drive-Away Dolls.

Knox was 22 when she was wrongfully convicted of the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher while studying abroad in Italy.

Hulu has described the as-yet-untitled series as following both the trial and conviction and her 16-year odyssey to set herself free.

Knox was wrongfully imprisoned for four years before Rudy Guede was convicted of killing the British student.

The series has been created and will be overseen by showrunner KJ Steinberg, a producer and writer whose previous credits include This Is Us and Gossip Girl.

Knox herself is one of the executive producers for the series, as is Monica Lewinsky.

Margaret Qualley (left) and Amanda Knox (Getty)

In 2021, Knox criticised Matt Damon and director Tom McCarthy for exploiting her story in their film Stillwater, which she claimed saw them profit from her wrongful murder conviction.

Damon starred in the movie as a father who travels to France to help exonerate his daughter, who is in prison for a murder she claims she didnt commit. The story was partially inspired by what was described by press as the Amanda Knox saga.

Knox condemned the film in a lengthy Twitter thread.

Speaking to Variety, she added: Matt Damon and the director can walk away with a great story in their pocket, but meanwhile, Im still living with the consequences of people thinking that I am somehow involved in this crime that I am not involved in.

Im very open about how Ive continually felt exploited by people who are not allowing me to be a voice in my own narrative. And because I have been so vocal about that, I find it to be a kind of gross negligence of these filmmakers to not take note of that in their own development of this project, and in their promotion of this project, constantly bringing me into the equation as this idea of me, as opposed to as the real person.

Knox wrote a piece for The Independent in 2021 about how she plans to tell her daughter her life story.

I wonder how I will explain it all: Italy, tragedy, prison, injustice, she wrote. I wonder how my own mother felt, looking at me when I had this same innocent face, the kind of innocence you dont have to fight tooth and nail to prove.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

BBC presenter and childrens author Nick Sheridan has died aged 32 following a short illness.

The news was announced by the broadcaster in a post on X/Twitter on Thursday morning (7 March).

Head of news Gary Smith said Nick had been a wonderful colleague to those of us who have worked with him since he joined BBC Scotland in 2018.

He added: He was a hugely talented journalist, presenter and author - and one of those rare people who light up the lives of everyone around them. Funny, clever, kind. A lovely man.

Our hearts go out to his parents, who have been with him over the past ten days, to his partner, Lewis, and to all the rest of his family and friends.

In a tribute, Former First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon called Sheridan young, talented, vivacious, and full of potential.

Sheridan joined the BBC in 2018 (@nick_sheridan / Twitter)

What a horrible, senseless loss. My thoughts are with his family, colleagues and many friends, she wrote on X/Twitter.

The presenters BBC Scotland colleague Fiona Stalker wrote on the platform: There are no words. He was so very loved. I am so thankful for every minute with him. The very best. Stalker shared several pictures with Sheridan, including one of them having tea in the studio and another wearing wetsuits on a beach.

Sheridan, originally from Wexford in Ireland, presented programmes including Reporting Scotland, Drivetime, the Nine and Seven Days since joining BBC Scotland in 2018.

BBC Scotlands statement on Sheridans death (@bbcscotnewspr / Twitter)

The journalist had worked in broadcast for more than a decade, previously presenting for RTE News2day, a news programme for young people by Irelands national broadcaster, before he moved into a role on the foreign affairs desk.

He then joined BBC Scotland as a researcher, before becoming an on-camera journalist, presenter and correspondent.

Sheridan joined the BBC in 2018 (@nick_sheridan / Twitter)

Sheridan developed a passion for writing childrens books and announced in 2021 that he had signed a four-book deal with the publishing house Simon and Schuster. He released several childrens stories including Breaking News: How to Tell Whats Real From Whats Rubbish, The Case of the Phantom Treasure and The Case of the Runaway Train.

He wrote Breaking News to help children navigate misinformation in the modern media, filled with illustrations and interactive activities.

The Case Of.... books were from Sheridans illustrated mystery series, which was described upon release as the Scooby-Doo for a new generation, perfect for fans of Pamela Butchart and Sam Copeland.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Two original stars of The Big Bang Theory are set to reprise their roles in spin-offYoung Sheldon.

The popular series, which focuses on the exploits of a young Sheldon Cooper prior to the events of the long-running sitcom, is coming to an end after seven seasons.

To mark the event, Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik will return as the adult version of Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler respectively, for the series finale, which will air on 16 May.

This will be the first time the pair have been seen since The Big Bang Theory ended in 2019  reportedly after Parsons "turned down $50m" to sign up for another batch of episodes.

Original series The Big Bang Theory ran for 12 seasons from 2007 to 2019. Alongside Parsons and Biyalik, it starred Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Kunal Nayyar and Simon Helberg.

Last month, addressing why Young Sheldon is coming to an end, executive producer Steve Holland explained: There are certain things we know happen in Sheldons life at 14.

We started talking about the future of show and what it looked like. This is the right time for this story to come to an end, knowing that at 14, he goes off to Cal Tech. It felt like the right time to end it strong while it was on top.

Iain Armitage, who plays the title character in the comedy series, also attended the press conference, and said: Cant we just leave it at: Im tall and cool and I look like Jim [Parsons] now?

Elsewhere, Lorre revealed how the popular spin-off almost didnt happen.

The showrunner said he was not planning on going forward with the show until Armitages mum sent in an audition tape, showing the actor nailing a scene Lorre had written.

Big Bang Theory stars Mayim Biyalik and Jim Parsons returning in Young Sheldon (Warner Bros Television)

This guy killed it. And if that had not happened, we wouldnt have gone forward. Its the miracle of casting Young Sheldon. It was one we understood was likely not going to happen but it did. And this family blossomed around him, he added.

While Young Sheldon is coming to an end, this wont be the end for the shows universe, with creator Chuck Lorre announcing another spin-off, which will reportedly be based on the characters of Georgie Cooper (Montana Jordan) and his fiancee Mandy McAllister (Emily Osment).
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Kim Jong-un has ordered North Korea to prepare for war as he visited a key military training facility in the western region of the country on Wednesday, state media reported.

The North Korean leader was seen dressed in a black leather jacket and handling a gun as he oversaw training exercises of military units and urged the army to intensify actual war drills, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) report said.

The visit comes during the ongoing annual joint Freedom Shield military exercises by the United States and South Korea forces that began on 4 March. The US and its regional allies say they have no choice but to conduct such drills given the aggressive rhetoric from Pyongyang and Mr Kims determination to pursue a UN-sanctioned nuclear weapons programme.

Accompanied by high-ranking military officials, Mr Kim reportedly emphasised the importance of using the training facilities to enhance the combat readiness and capabilities of the Korean Peoples Army (KPA).

KCNA stated that Mr Kim praised the practical construction of training facilities for high-intensity drills in a realistic war environment, in line with military policies from the Party Central Committee. He reportedly also stressed the need for intensified training and practical drills to prepare for victory in any potential conflict, ensuring the army remains ready in the face of evolving modern warfare challenges.

Our army should ... steadily intensify the actual war drills aimed at rapidly improving its combat capabilities for perfect war preparedness, the report quoted Mr Kim as telling the troops.

It also published photos of the exercises, showing soldiers and helicopters practising to capture a position resembling those found on the South Korean side of the border.

South Korea and the US kicked off their large military exercise on Monday to display joint readiness against increasing threats of a nuclear attack from North Korea as tensions escalated between the nations sharing hostile ties in the Korean peninsula.

North Korea has labelled the drills as a plot to invade its territory and threatened to take unspecified responsible military actions in retaliation.

In a statement carried by state media, the Norths Defense Ministry said it strongly denounces the reckless military drills of the US and (South Korea) for getting more undisguised in their military threat to a sovereign state and attempt for invading it.

Last week, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea announced that this years military exercises with the United States aim to counter North Korean nuclear threats and will include live-firing, bombing, air assault, and missile interception drills.

The US has repeatedly confirmed they have no intention of attacking North Korea.

North Koreas latest response to the South and the USs joint military exercises in the Peninsula is a repeat of its aggressive stance towards regional defensive measures taken by South Korea which has seen Pyongyang launch over a hundred missile tests in two years.

The tests included the firing of an inter-continental ballistic missile in July last year, where North Korea claimed the nuclear-capable weapon can reach a range of anywhere in the US and in its neighbouring nations of South Korea and Japan.

Additional reporting with agencies
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Japan is gravely concerned about closer military ties between China and Russia which could have wide-ranging implications for Tokyo as well as for the region, a top government spokesperson said.

"Our country intends to keep a close eye on development in Sino-Russian relations," chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference, according to Reuters.

It came as China boosted its military expenditure for 2024 by 7.2 per cent, marking the biggest jump in five years. The Asian giants defence budget would rise to 1.67tn yuan (181.7bn).

On Tuesday, Chinas foreign minister Wang Yi pledged closer ties with Russia while warning that a conflict between China and the US would have unimaginable consequences.

Mr Wang, who fielded dozens of media questions during the annual meeting of Chinas legislature, praised the countrys strengthened links with Russia with deepening trust and fresh opportunities ahead.

But he said that the closer ties were not targeted at any party.

He hailed the strategic guidance of Chinas President Xi Jinping and Russias Vladimir Putin for pushing their trade ties to a point where bilateral trade hit a record $240bn (188bn) last year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping make a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin (SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

The top Chinese diplomat also highlighted that Russian natural gas was fuelling Chinese households and at the same time Chinese cars were driving on Russian roads.

China and Russia declared their growing no limits partnership in February 2022 shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine and Beijing frustrated the US and allies with its diplomatic and economic support to the Kremlin at a time when the West was trying to pressure Moscow with sanctions.

The China-Russia relationship moves ahead along the trend of multipolarity, Wang said on Thursday, a phase in the world which Beijing says will no longer be dominated by American hegemony.

Mr Wang accused the US of employing tactics to suppress Chinas rise and criticized the Biden administration for imposing sanctions on more Chinese companies at a bewildering and unfathomable level.

Chinas annual political gathering known as the Two Sessions convenes leaders and lawmakers to set the governments agenda for domestic economic and social development for the year (Getty Images)

"If the US always says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major power? If the US gets nervous and anxious when it hears the word China, where is its confidence as a major power?" he said. "If the US is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself."

He acknowledged that the relations between the two powers have thawed since the meeting between president Xi Jinping and his counterpart Joe Biden in California last year. He, however, complained that America has not fulfilled its promises.

Mr Wang, without naming any country, warned that those supporting Taiwan in its efforts to seek independence from mainland China will get burned for playing with fire.

The self-governing island has emerged as a major flashpoint between the US and Beijing. China claims Taiwan as its part and has vowed to bring it back under its control even if it means using force.

He accused the US, without mentioning it by name, of stirring up trouble in Taiwan and the South China Sea.

"For unreasonable provocations, we will take just countermeasures," Mr Wang said. "We also advise certain countries outside the region not to stir up trouble, choose sides, and not to become disruptors and troublemakers in the South China Sea."
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Pat Nibin Maxwell moved from India to Israel at the height of the Gaza conflict in December last year, leaving behind a pregnant wife and a four-year-old daughter. The decision to relocate to another country in search of work was not an easy one, particularly to such a restive region.

It was a choice driven by financial reasons, his cousin Jose Dennis tells The Independent. Maxwell was among hundreds of Indian youths taking up blue-collar jobs in dangerous locations, including Russias frontline with Ukraine, driven by what an economist describes as extreme desperation due to the lack of well-paid employment in India.

On 4 March, Maxwells family were told on a call that the 31-year-old was grievously injured in an anti-tank missile strike on a poultry farm in northern Israel. He was hospitalised along with two other Indians, Dennis says. Later, we learnt that he has died.

The decision to take up work in conflict zones comes with high risks despite the fact it is backed by the government in some cases. The Narendra Modi administration has signed an agreement with Israel to allow 40,000 Indians to work in the fields of construction and nursing in the Middle Eastern country, making up for the loss of Palestinian workers amid the Gaza war.

The Indian governments move led to criticism in some quarters, with opponents of the scheme questioning why better, safer job opportunities couldnt be made available closer to home.

At the time the scheme was announced, the government said India was committed to making sure its migrant workers were protected. Through this agreement, we want to ensure that there is regulated migration and the rights of the people who go there are protected, said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for Indias foreign ministry.

Confirming the news of Maxwells death and the injury to two others due to a cowardly terror attack launched by Hezbollah, the Israeli embassy in India said in a post on X it was deeply shocked and saddened.

Our prayers and thoughts naturally go to the families of the bereaved and those of the injured. Israeli medical institutions are completely at the service of the injured who are being treated by our very best medical staff. Israel regards equally all nationals, Israeli or foreign, who are injured or killed due to terrorism, the post said.

In Kollam, Maxwells family are struggling to come to terms with the loss. As well as his wife and young daughter, he is survived by his elderly parents and two brothers, his relatives said. It is a very difficult time for us. We are running [around] and making arrangements to receive his body, his cousin says.

Pat Nibin Maxwell at his home in Kerala (Facebook)

Maxwell had an industrial training certificate and was working with a manpower supply firm in the UAE before he quit in December to move to Israel. Nibins brother-in-law, who works as a caregiver in Israel, had helped him to get the job, his father, Antony Maxwell, told the Indian Express.

A week after Nibin left for Israel, his brother Nivin also followed. Nivin, who worked at a private firm in Bengaluru, is also employed in the agricultural sector in Israel. The two moved to Israel considering the better prospects.

Israels suspension of work permits for tens of thousands of Palestinians following the Hamas attacks on 7 October last year created a massive labour gap in the country, opening up blue-collar job opportunities for workers in countries such as India. It started offering visas for employment in the construction and agricultural sector, with about 800 Indians moving to the country in December.

This picture taken from Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip shows Israeli army vehicles moving inside Gaza on 6 March 2024 (AFP via Getty Images)

By February, tens of thousands of workers were filling job centres across India, spotting opportunities in the acute labour shortage.

Anoop Singh, a college graduate and construction worker, was told he would make about 1,200 a month if he was selected to go to Israel  significantly more than the 282 to 330 he could get as a monthly wage for the same work in India.

Thats why I have applied to go to Israel, he told the Associated Press as he waited at the centre in Lucknow, the capital of Indias most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, for his job interview.

Israel is not the only destination for Indian workers in search of a job, regardless of the risk. There are growing media reports of Indian nationals being unwittingly recruited to join the Russian army in its invasion of Ukraine after they moved countries in response to adverts for jobs seeking army helpers.

On Wednesday, the Indian embassy in Russia said it had learnt about the tragic death of an Indian national Shri Mohammed Asfan. Asfan, a clothes seller from Hyderabad, travelled to Russia via Dubai in November seeking work. His family say he was duped by a Middle East-based agent and did not know he would be forced to fight on the frontline, where he was killed.

You dont have to fight, says Dubai-based agent Faisal Khan on his YouTube handle BabaVlogs in a post seeking such helpers from India. All you have to do is to clear demolished buildings, look after armories and after a year of service youll be eligible for permanent residency."

Upon landing in the country, the recruits reportedly find the reality is very different  that they are quickly shipped to the frontline.

One of Khans recruits, an unemployed graduate from Uttar Pradesh, told AFP that he was deployed in eastern Ukraines Donetsk region after receiving basic arms training. I was hurt in the fighting and taken to the hospital, he told the agency. I somehow escaped.

Khan has said he was not aware that some helpers were being utilised like this.

Members of Ukraines 72nd Brigade Anti-air unit use binoculars to search for Russian drones on 23 February 2024 near Marinka, Ukraine (Getty Images)

In a statement last week, the government of India acknowledged that it was aware that a few Indian nationals have signed up for support jobs with the Russian army as it urged them to stay away from Russia-Ukraine war.

The Indian Embassy has regularly taken up this matter with the relevant Russian authorities for their early discharge, said Jaiswal.

Economists say that recruitment drives for blue-collar jobs in Israel and Russia cast an unflattering light on the cracks in Indias growth story. On the one hand, the message championed by prime minister Narendra Modi is that Indias economy is the fastest-growing in the world, a bright spot amid an otherwise gloomy global outlook, as the government invests in big-ticket infrastructure projects to woo businesses and foreign investors.

The government has been reluctant to release official unemployment figures, however, and the opposition says rising joblessness and the quality of jobs offered in the country are huge points of concern at a time when India has become the worlds most populous nation.

We need to understand, of course [that] India has always been witnessing out-migration, says A Kalaiyarasan, an economist and assistant professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies. There used to be a Gulf migration with South Indians going to Gulf countries or people from Punjab going to Canada. You can find some pockets within Tamil Nadu, going to Singapore.

But these migrants are looking for opportunities for a longer time, better than what they have at home and in countries where they see themselves settling in, or returning after a few years but with a lot of money, he tells The Independent. This is patently not the same with people going to Russia or Israel.

Now the people who go desperately to these war zones are not just looking for better prospects but are now driven by extreme forms of desperation. And that would differentiate this international migration from the others.

After a rise in salaried jobs in the last two decades, the pace of regular wage jobs has stagnated since 2019 because of the coronavirus pandemic and an overall growth slowdown, according to the State of Working India report by Azim Premji University. The report says that while unemployment is falling, it is still high  above 15 per cent for university graduates of all ages and around 42 per cent for graduates under 25.

This drop in unemployment also has its caveats, as Kalaisaran highlights the Indian economys failure to create the same number of decent jobs as it used to before.

So, even when someone says they are employed, what kind of employment is there? Are they really happy with that? Is it really what they want to do? he asks as he gives the example of those employed in the gig economy. According to some estimates, it employs up to 10 to 15 million people in India and as per a Nasscom report, it is expected to expand to 23.5 million by 2030.

Ask say Swiggy and Zomato (delivery) guys. Most of us think it is a job. Many of the graduates and engineers are actually opting for these jobs after their degrees. Ask them why they are doing it and they will say, they are looking for better opportunities.

But now the better jobs and decent jobs have become very bad and very, very rare despite our economic recovery.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A Bangladesh medical college professor has been suspended and sent to prison for allegedly shooting a student in the classroom.

Raihan Sharif, a lecturer at the Shaheed M Mansur Ali Medical College and Hospital in Sirajganj city, was suspended by the Health Ministry on Wednesday following his arrest earlier this week.

Mr Sharif was sent to judicial custody pending an investigation in at least two cases filed against him.

He has been accused of opening fire on student Arafat Amin, 23, during an oral examination on Monday. During the exam, Mr Sharif allegedly brought out a gun and shot the student in his knee, but the bullet hit Mr Amin's mobile phone in his trouser pocket.

About 45 students, who were present in the class, locked the teacher in the room and called the police. Mr Amin has reportedly undergone surgery and remained under medical care.

Law enforcement officials said Mr Sharif was known for notoriously carrying guns and knives and would often display them during lectures while threatening students.

Bangladesh has a strict gun regulation policy, which only allows citizens above the age of 25 to carry firearms with a valid licence.

The local police have seized two pistols, 81 rounds of bullets, four magazines, and 12 knives from the professor. Authorities said Mr Sharif shot the student "with an illegal pistol".

Students staged a protest on Tuesday demanding strict punishment for the gun-wielding professor.

At the time of the incident, the professor took out a pistol from his bag and said "this is my pet bird" before firing a round that hit the survivor, witnesses told Prothom Alo.

Mr Sharif was served two show-cause notices based on complaints from students.

He was previously fired from the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital on allegations of threatening a senior colleague at gunpoint.
FILE - Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2023, Saturday, March 4, 2023, at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md. Trump has been ordered to pay a six-figure legal bill to a company founded by a former British spy that he unsuccessfully sued for making what his lawyer called shocking and scandalous" false claims that harmed his reputation, it was reported on Thursday, March 7, 2024. Alex Brandon/AP FILE - The main entrance door to a building where offices of Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd are located, in central London, Thursday Jan. 12, 2017. Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a six-figure legal bill to a company founded by a former British spy that he unsuccessfully sued for making what his lawyer called shocking and scandalous" false claims that harmed his reputation, it was reported on Thursday, March 7, 2024. Matt Dunham/AP

LONDON (AP)  Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a six-figure legal bill to a company founded by a former British spy that he unsuccessfully sued for making what his lawyer called shocking and scandalous" false claims that harmed his reputation.

A London judge, who threw out the case against Orbis Business Intelligence last month saying it was bound to fail," ordered Trump to pay legal fees of 300,000 pounds ($382,000), according to court documents released Thursday.

Orbis was founded by Christopher Steele, who once ran the Russia desk for Britains Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The British court case was one of few in which Trump, who is almost sure to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was not a defendant as he faces massive legal problems back home.

Trump is charged in four criminal cases and faces a civil complaint in U.S. courts. He lost a subsequent defamation case in which a jury found him liable for sexual abuse, and has been ordered to pay $355 million after a fraud verdict against his businesses.

In England, he had gone on the offensive and sued Orbis.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Steele was paid by Democrats for research that included salacious allegations Russians could potentially use to blackmail Trump. The so-called Steele dossier assembled in 2016 created a political storm just before Trump's inauguration with rumors and uncorroborated allegations that have since been largely discredited.

Trump sued the company, saying the the dossier was phony and Orbis had violated British data protection laws.

Attorney Hugh Tomlinson said at an October hearing that the former president suffered personal and reputational damage and distress over claims in the dossier that hed taken part in sex parties in St. Petersburg and consorted with sex workers in Moscow.

Tomlinson said the dossier contained shocking and scandalous claims about the personal conduct of President Trump and included allegations he paid bribes to Russian officials to further his business interests.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Orbis said the lawsuit should be thrown out because the report was never meant to be made public and was published by BuzzFeed without the permission of Steele or Orbis. It also said the claim was filed too late.

Judge Karen Steyn, who sided with Orbis in her Feb. 1 ruling, issued an order several days later on the legal costs.

She cut the amount of legal bills Orbis said it incurred  634,000 pounds ($809,000)  by more than 50% because she said it was high considering there had only been a one-day hearing.

In 2022, a U.S. federal judge in Florida dismissed a Trump lawsuit against Steele, 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and former top FBI officials, rejecting his claims that they helped concoct the Russia investigation that overshadowed much of his administration.
Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A Texas power company has admitted its equipment may have sparked one of the devastating wildfires that ravaged the state in recent days, killing at least three people and burning across nearly 1,700 square miles.

In a statement released on Thursday, Xcel Energy said it had been cooperating with the investigations into the wildfires, while also carrying out its own review.

Based on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire, the statement read.

Xcel Energy disputes claims that it acted negligently in maintaining and operating its infrastructure; however, we encourage people who had property destroyed by or livestock lost in the Smokehouse Creek fire to submit a claim to Xcel Energy through our claims process.

Locals had accused the company of being responsible for the fire, claiming that a wooden utility pole near Stinnett was blown over by strong winds and then set fire to dry grass and brush.

Authorities have said that the blaze was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of cattle and forced evacuations.

Across Texas, multiple raging fires have killed at least two civilians and one volunteer fire chief.

Firefighters drive through largest blaze in Texas history in terrifying footage

Joyce Blankenship, 83, was found dead in her Stinnett home on Wednesday 28 February, while Cindy Owens, of Amarillo City, was found dead after she exited her vehicle for an unknown reason and the fire simply overtook her the following day.

Multiple homes and other structures were lost in the Smokehouse Creek fire, while hundreds of others were destroyed across the Texas Panhandle.

Xcel Energy, through our Southwestern Public Service Company (SPS) subsidiary, has operated in the Texas Panhandle for more than 100 years, Bob Frenzel, Chairman, President and CEO of Xcel Energy said in a statement.

The people in this region are our friends, neighbours and relatives. We are deeply saddened by the losses incurred in this community, and we are committed to supporting its renewal and recovery.

Xcel did point out that another fire in Windy Deuce was not likely caused by any of its equipment.

The company said it will work with authorities to evaluate the risks of wildfires and engage in activities which mitigate those risks and keep the public safe.
Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe has revealed the one fashion trend she hopes will fizzle out.

In conversation with Business Insider at Times Women of the Year gala on 5 March, the fashion mogul confessed her hatred for a style thats currently beloved, even by her son.

Zoe, 52, joined Hollywood innovators and creative activists such as Greta Gerwig and Coco Gauff in Los Angeles to honour female leaders for Womens History Month. On the red carpet, the designer spilled her opinion on the fashion obsessions circulating online.

This whole baggy jean thing, I dont love it, Zoe proclaimed. Its like, why hide yourself?

The artist has dressed A-list favourites Salma Hayek, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Garner, and Anne Hathaway. Yet, despite her top credentials, Zoe confessed her son tries to call the shots when it comes to his style.

She said: My son begged me to buy him these jeans that were literally six sizes too big, and I was like: Absolutely not. I cant support it.

Zoe launched both a namesake clothing line and lifestyle brand in 2011, characterising unapologetic glamour as she sees it. Most recently, the designer co-founded a membership-based shopping service called Curateur. The intention is to personalise the online shopping experience, selecting items that suit one another through edits made by fashion experts.

My mission is to inspire and empower all women to live a life of style and glamour, Zoes website statement reads.

During a June 2023 discussion with Who What Wear, Zoe reflected on her career as a designer and personal stylist for the last 30 years. According to her, the biggest lesson shes learned is to go with her gut and follow her instincts.

When I question them, that is when I make the most mistakes. I have found that confidence comes from experience, which is only something you learn as you live your career journey, she said.

Zoe continued: When I was younger, I was insecure and feared that I would fail. You must learn to trust your instincts and believe you are in your position because you earned it. The biggest lesson is that working hard wins in the end. There are no shortcuts to success.

For those looking to refine their outfit taste, the style connoisseur suggested looking at a figure who they admire.

Get inspired by people whose style you love, and try to emulate different parts of that while also doing what works for you and your own body type, she explained. There is a lot of trial and error in creating your own personal style, but the winner will always be what you feel the most confident about.
Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The Palace has broken its silence over unfounded conspiracy theories about Kate Middletons health being shared on social media.

The Princess of Wales, 42, was seen for the first time in public two days ago after she was admitted to hospital for abdominal surgery in January for an unspecified condition. Gossip website TMZ snapped the princess in an Audi 4x4 near Windsor, alongside her mother Carole Middleton.

The exact details of the princesss condition have not been revealed but the Palace said previously it was not cancer-related, and that Kate wished her personal medical information to remain private.

Kate has been recovering after medical treatment (Getty Images)

Her absence from the public eye, and Prince William performing fewer public duties in recent weeks, has sparked a series of unfounded conspiracy theories online that speculated on the royals whereabouts.

Referring to William, a royal spokesperson told People magazine: His focus is on his work and not on social media.

The Independent has reached out to Kensington Palace for comment. Previously the palace has said the princess is doing well.

It comes as Kates uncle Gary Goldsmith, sister to her mother Carole Middleton, hit out at Meghan Markle in the Celebrity Big Brother house on Tuesday night.

Kates uncle Gary Goldsmith describes first time he met Prince William (GB News/ITV)

He said: I have a feeling that Harry was really, really loved. When they were a threesome  so Kate, William and Harry  they looked really comfortable together.

Then suddenly theres an extra dynamic that comes in, puts a stick in the spokes, and creates so much drama that I dont genuinely think was there  and rewrote the history and saying how unhappy he was. And I just dont think thats fair.

You cant throw your family under the bus, write books about it, and then expect to be invited around for Christmas.

The 58-year-old also mentioned in conversation with Sharon Osbourne that he hoped Harry would return to the UK and that he thought the nation would forgive him.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Swedens Security Service said Thursday it had arrested four people on suspicion of preparing terrorist offenses with links to Islamic extremism and organized crime.

The service did not say where or when the alleged attacks were to have taken place, but in a brief statement it added that it had worked on the case for a long period of time.

Several houses were searched in the operation. which involved violent Islamist extremism with connections to serious organized crime, the statement said.

Sweden media reported there was a major police operation in Tyreso, south of Stockholm, and public broadcaster SVT said there was a powerful explosion in a clubhouse" but it was unclear what caused the blast.

In August, the security service, known as SAPO, raised its terror alert to the second-highest level following the public desecrations of religious texts.

The security situation has deteriorated in recent months following Quran burnings in the country and protests in the Muslim world, both of which have negatively impacted the Nordic nations image.

The burning and desecration of religious books in Sweden, and ongoing disinformation campaigns on social media and elsewhere, have negatively affected Swedens profile.

The image has changed from a tolerant country to a country hostile to Islam and Muslims, where attacks on Muslims are sanctioned by the state and where Muslim children can be kidnapped by social services, the agency said last year.

The desecrations were carried out under the freedom of speech. Sweden does not have a law specifically prohibiting the burning or desecration of the Quran or other religious texts. Like many Western countries, it doesnt have any blasphemy laws; Swedens were abandoned in the 1970s.

The arrests came on the same day that Sweden became the 32nd member of NATO, ending decades of post-World War II neutrality.
Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Stone tools unearthed at an archaeological site in Ukraine are about 1.4 million years old, representing the oldest evidence of human presence in Europe, according to a new study.

The groundbreaking finding, published in the journal Nature, sheds light on the arrival of the first humans into Europe and the direction of their travel.

It confirms the hypothesis that the first pulse of early human ancestors migration into Europe came from the east or southeast.

Hominins  the group that includes modern humans and closely related ancestor species like Neanderthals  are thought to have arrived in Eurasia between two and one million years ago, but the precise time of their entry into Europe has been difficult to date.

While modern humans left Africa about 270,000 years ago, it remains unknown when exactly any of the human ancestor species entered Europe.

This is mainly due to the scarcity of archaeological sites of that age, researchers say.

One such rare site where major excavations have been carried out is Korolevo in western Ukraine which has yielded stone age tools since the 1970s.

In the 70s, researchers unearthed a set of chipped stones from the site, deliberately fashioned from volcanic rocks.

Now, scientists have used new methods to date sedimentary rock layers surrounding the tools to around 1.4 million years old.

This is the earliest evidence of any type of human in Europe that is dated, study co-author Mads Faurschou Knudsen from Aarhus University in Denmark told the Associated Press.

Caves of Bones: Lee Berger on 250,000-year-old find

However, it remains uncertain which of the early human ancestors likely fashioned these tools.

Researchers suspect it may have been Homo erectus, who were the first species to walk upright and master fire use.

Our earliest ancestor, Homo erectus, was the first of the hominins to leave Africa about two million years ago and head for the Middle East, East Asia, and Europe, study lead author Roman Garba said in a statement.

Based on a climate model and field pollen data, we have identified three possible interglacial warm periods when the first hominins could have reached Korolevo following most likely the Danube River migration corridor, Dr Garba added.

Analysing how the habitat at the Korolevo site may have changed over two million years, scientists say the early human ancestors likely exploited Earths warmer periods known as interglacials to colonise these higher latitude sites.

Due to the Korolevo site being close to Nato countries Romania and Hungary, it has spared much of the terror and destruction wrought on Ukraine by Russian forces.

Not a single bomb has fallen on it since the war began, Dr Garba told Spanish daily El Pais.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Aristocrat Constance Marten has insisted she did nothing but show her baby love, adding: I gave her the best that any mother would.

The 36-year-old, who denies gross negligence manslaughter of her newborn daughter, wept in court as she told jurors she and her partner Mark Gordon had done nothing to harm their child  who she found lifeless inside her jacket while they lived off-grid in wintry conditions.

Giving evidence from the witness box at the Old Bailey on Thursday, the mother told jurors how she gave birth to her fifth child, named Victoria, unaided in an Airbnb on Christmas Eve 2022 before going on the run to stop the infant being taken into care like her siblings.

She told the court she and Gordon acted on impulse and instinct after their car caught fire on 5 January and travelled the country by taxi  fearing her family was using private investigators to trail them.

Eventually they bought a tent and took a taxi to the port at Newhaven to lay low away from prying eyes amid a high-profile police appeal to find them, she told the jury.

She choked back tears as relived the moment she awoke to find Victoria dead inside her coat as they camped on the South Downs on 9 January last year, adding the death is something she will never recover from.

She said: I feel guilty because she was in my arms. I feel like its not an easy thing to live with.

Court artist sketch of Constance Marten giving evidence at the Old Bailey (PA Wire)

In the aftermath of her death, she said she felt disbelief, shock and intense grief, and revealed the couple had even contemplated suicide as they panicked over what to do next.

She told jurors she held the child for several hours before saying some parting words to her daughter, who she wrapped in a black headscarf and placed in a bag for life.

She said: I had a thousand different thoughts going on in my head. I immediately panicked.

I just didnt know what to do. They are going to have a field day out of this - the media and press and social services, everyone.

She was in my care and the next thing she died. I thought, How am I going to get my kids back now Victoria has passed away?

In a tearful admission, the mother said she had bought some petrol and was considering cremating the infant, after seeing similar funerals in India, but could not go through with it.

At one point Mark said lets jump in it with her and call it quits, she told the court. Lets just all have a fire and say goodbye to life together. We just had enough at that point.

The infants remains were eventually found last March in a Lidl shopping bag in a disused shed, covered in rubbish.

The prosecution alleges the couples reckless and utterly selfish behaviour led to the entirely avoidable death of the newborn. But the parents insist they did everything they could to protect the baby.

Martens evidence comes after jurors were previously told Gordon would not be entering the witness box.

She revealed she had met Gordon in 2014 in a shop selling incense  before they were married in a ceremony in Peru two years later.

Under questioning from her lawyer Francis FitzGibbon KC, she explained she wanted a conventional life with Gordon, but broke ties with her family after their relationship began.

We have had a long history with issues in that regard I stopped speaking to one of my family members two years before I met Mr Gordon, she said.

But I think when I met him I made a definite decision that was it for me  I didnt want anything to do with them.

Marten told the court that by the time their first child was born, the couple were trying to escape from her family amid fears they were being followed by private investigators.

I was trying to flee my family. I had spoken about a childhood traumatic event against one of my family members and also the sale of my grandmothers estate, she said.

Her will was got rid of and they used a letter of wishes to sell the estate which was against her will. I did an investigation into it and the fact that I thought it was wrong, and thats when I noticed I was being trailed by private investigators very heavily.

She added: I wanted to bring up my child in a happy home with [their] parents away from the constant surveillance of my family.

CCTV footage of Constance Marten holding baby Victoria in East Ham, London (PA Media)

She said that turning to social services to help her find emergency housing with their first child was the worst decision. A family court went on to eventually take all four of her children into care several years later, before she and Gordon went in the run with their fifth child Victoria.

I feel like I made a bet with the devil asking social services for help, she said.

She choked back tears when she was asked if she had ever harmed any of her five children.

She said: Absolutely not. Mark and I love our kids more than anything in the world so Im pretty angry about the fact they had to go through this process. Its not good enough.

Challenged on the prosecutions suggestion she and Gordon put their interests ahead of the children, she said: No, there is literally nothing I would not do for my children.

The couple both deny gross negligence manslaughter of their daughter Victoria between 4 January and 27 February last year.

They also deny charges of perverting the course of justice by concealing the body, along with concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty, and allowing the death of a child.

The trial continues.
 Close Police find Constance Martens baby in a rubbish-filled shopping bag

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Aristocrat Constance Marten has called the death of her newborn baby a horrible accident that couldve happened to anyone.

Marten, 36, and her partner Mark Gordon, 49, are on trial after their daughter Victoria died while they were camping on the South Downs in wintry conditions last year.

Following their arrests last February, the infants badly decomposed body was found in an allotment shed inside a Lidl supermarket bag that also contained soil and rubbish.

On Thursday, her fifth day of giving evidence in her trial, the mother was also cross-examined at the Old Bailey about the couples decision to buy a tent and live off grid to hide from authorities, telling jurors: Babies dont require that much to survive.

The couple deny charges of gross negligence manslaughter of Victoria between 4 January and 27 February last year, charges of perverting the course of justice by concealing the body, along with concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty, and allowing the death of a child.

The trial resumes on Friday when the cross-examination of Marten is set to continue.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A public inquiry is to be held into the police investigation of the murder of Emma Caldwell after it took almost two decades to bring her killer to justice.

It was announced on Thursday that preparations for an independent, judge-led statutory inquiry to examine the police response to the 27-year-olds murder will start immediately  with consideration being given to whether a judge from outside of Scotland should be appointed to take the work forward.

Angela Constance, Scotlands justice secretary, said: There can be no doubt of the serious failings that brought a grieving family to have to fight for their right, for Emmas right to justice.

It comes after Ms Constance and Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf met with Miss Caldwells mother Margaret earlier this week, who has been calling for a public inquiry into the failings surrounding the investigation into the murder of her daughter.

Emma Caldwell was killed by serial rapist Iain Packer in 2005 (PA Media)

Miss Caldwell was killed by serial rapist Iain Packer in 2005. But although he was interviewed by police officers the month after her body was found in May that year, it was only last week that Packer was convicted of her murder  along with 11 rapes and 21 further charges, including sexual assaults and abduction, against multiple women over 26 years.

Packer, 51, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years at the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday.

Police Scotland has apologised to the family of Miss Caldwell and Packers other victims, saying they were let down by policing in 2005.

Following the justice secretarys announcement, Mrs Caldwell said her fight for justice for her daughter isnt finished yet.

The familys lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said the apology from police was not accepted and ruled out the Met investigating as an external force. He said: Iain Packer raped and raped again, and was allowed to do so because the police covered up, and continued to cover up.

Margaret Caldwell, the mother of murder victim Emma Caldwell, listens from the public gallery as justice secretary Angela Constance speaks (Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)

In a statement to reporters outside Holyrood, Mr Anwar added: Every single person who had fingerprints on this case must be brought to a public inquiry, must be subject to criminal investigations. This is the worst scandal ever to hit the Scottish legal system and one of the worst in UK legal history. I cant put it any plainer than the fact that this man was given his freedom.

Announcing the inquiry at Holyrood, Ms Constance told members of the Scottish Parliament that Mrs Caldwell said to her: 

As Mrs Caldwell looked on from the public gallery at Holyrood, Ms Constance told members of the Scottish Parliament: Following that meeting with the Caldwell family, I can today announce that there will be an independent, judge-led, statutory public inquiry, and preparations will begin immediately.

Iain Packer was jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years at the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday (PA Media)

With Packer having announced he plans to appeal both his convictions and sentence, Ms Constance stressed there are restrictions on what she can say about the case.

Miss Caldwell was reported missing by her family in April 2005 and her body was found the following month in Limefield Woods, near Biggar, South Lanarkshire.

In 2015, a Sunday Mail newspaper story branded Packer the forgotten suspect and Police Scotland launched a re-investigation of the case that year following instruction from the Lord Advocate.

Mrs Caldwell previously said her husband Willie died of cancer and with a broken heart in 2011 before seeing justice for his daughter. She said her daughter always said she would come home and sort herself out, adding every day it breaks my heart that she never got the chance.

Ms Constance and Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf met with Miss Caldwells mother Margaret earlier this week (Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)

The justice secretarys announcement comes after Mrs Caldwell also this week met Police Scotland chief constable Jo Farrell and Scotlands most senior prosecutor, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC  who revealed Packer could have been prosecuted for the murder back in 2008.

Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Russell Findlay praised the Caldwell family and Margaret in particular, saying their strength and their dignity are truly humbling. He added: Left to Police Scotland and the Crown Office, I believe that Iain Packer would certainly still be out there  raping women with impunity.

Scottish Labour justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill said: It is the job of this Parliament to ensure no family should ever have to wait two decades for justice. Scottish Labour stands full square behind the government and Angela Constance today in her decision to hold a public inquiry to establish why, among other things, there was no prosecution in 2008 when it appeared the police and the Crown had enough evidence to do so.

Emma Caldwells mother Margaret Caldwell along with her family and their lawyer, Aamer Anwar arrive at Bute House for a meeting with First Minister Humza Yousaf on Tuesday (Getty Images)

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: The chief constable met Emma Caldwells family earlier this week and personally apologised for the failings of policing.

We are aware of announcements today by both the Scottish Government and the Lord Advocate.

We will fully support the public inquiry and any further police investigation.

Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC said: Margaret Caldwell and her family suffered an unimaginable loss which was compounded by a painful wait to see Emmas memory honoured through justice being done. I have been humbled and inspired by the familys commitment to shining a light on what happened.

In my meeting with the family, I apologised to them for the prosecution service not doing more sooner. Emma and all of the women harmed by Packer deserved better.

I am full of admiration for the women who gave evidence in Packers trial. Any woman coming forward to report when they have been a victim of violence at the hands of a man must be listened to. As Lord Advocate, I am determined that Scottish prosecutors will do all they can to build up trust among women and secure justice for them.

The way the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Police Scotland work together has been transformed in recent years. There are new structures which, allied with changed attitudes, mean that allegations of violence against women are heard and acted upon.

With respect to criminal actions of police, I am taking advice on instructing a force from outside Scotland to look further at allegations against officers. As previously stated, the Crown has reserved its position in relation to potential proceedings should evidence in support of those become available.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Missed opportunities to arrest a quadruple murderer before he went on a drug-fuelled stabbing rampage are among the serious failings found by a watchdog in his supervision.

Volatile cannabis abuser Joshua Jacques, 29, was on probation when he attacked Samantha Drummonds and her family with a knife in their home in Bermondsey, south London, early on 25 April 2022, leaving a bloodbath in his wake.

The Metropolitan Police found the bodies of Ms Drummonds, 27, her mother Tanysha Ofori-Akuffo, 45, grandmother Dolet Hill, 64, and Ms Hills partner Denton Burke, 58, after being alerted to a disturbance by a neighbour on Delaford Road.

Samantha Drummonds and her family were attacked with a knife in their home in Bermondsey, south London, early on 25 April 2022 (PA Media)

Chief inspector of probation Martin Jones, who conducted an independent review into Jacques supervision by the Probation Service, said on Thursday: There were serious failings in the supervision of Joshua Jacques. Despite concerns about repeated non-compliance with his licence conditions, enforcement practice was inconsistent and opportunities to recall Jacques to custody were missed.

During his trial, the Old Bailey heard that Jacques took 3g of skunk cannabis a day and refused to consider cutting down, saying he would carry on smoking marijuana even if it killed him.

The sentencing judge found that Jacques offending had been contributed to by cannabis abuse and that he was well aware of the impact of it on his mental health.

Jacques had been released on licence on 11 November 2021, following a 51-month custodial sentence in 2019 for drug-related offences.

The Metropolitan Police found the bodies of Dolet Hill, 64, and Ms Hills partner Denton Burke, 58, after being alerted to a disturbance by a neighbour on Delaford Road (PA)

Mr Jones said the Probation Service failed to organise a drug abuse intervention for Jacques, despite it being a condition of his release. He said: The case records show that Jacques was routinely using cannabis whilst on probation, and his licence contained a condition to engage in a drug abuse intervention on release from prison.

No such intervention was organised by the Probation Service and our inspection found no evidence of a referral to a drugs agency.

Mr Jones also said that Jacques was incorrectly allocated to a newly qualified probation officer, and that management oversight of the case was insufficient.

Jacques was also assessed as posing a high risk of serious harm to the public before being released from custody, he said, but his risk to former partners or probation staff was underestimated.

He said: No risk assessment was completed for Jacques following his release which resulted in no risk management plan or sentence plan in the community being completed.

Nurse Tanysha Ofori-Akuffo was described as a doting wife and caring mother (PA Media)

Jacques himself had reported that random aggression could be a symptom of declining mental health, Mr Jones said. In February 2022, Jacques disclosed to probation court staff that he was experiencing a decline in his mental health; however, no action was taken.

Inspectors found during this review that probation staff felt ill-equipped to understand and respond to mental health concerns, with limited training and support being available to them.

Mr Jones said that the case was symptomatic of issues observed across the Probation Service in recent years.

A reliance on an inexperienced cohort of probation staff, a lack of support for mental health and substance misuse issues alongside insufficient management oversight are concerns which have been highlighted repeatedly, he said.

As a result of this review, eight recommendations were made to HMPPS (HM Prison and Probation Service). They have accepted all these recommendations and responded with an action plan for implementing them.

At the Old Bailey on Friday, Mr Justice Bryan sentenced Jacques to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 45 years and 301 days, which takes into account time spent on remand.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The families of seven Gaza hostages have called for their return in London as ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel continue.

Speaking at the Israeli embassy on Thursday, the family members said that the conflict would end on both sides if the hostages were released.

It comes following reports that Hamass delegation left Cairo on Thursday morning with no breakthrough in negotiations.

Talks remain ongoing between all parties to reach a ceasefire agreement before Ramadan begins around March 10.

Asked what it would take for the hostages to come home, Yehuda Cohen, whose 19-year-old son Nimrod is still in captivity, said the families are not making the terms.

He said: We have a direct need, want, for our loved ones to come back. What it takes is a matter for officials  to do the negotiations.

Mr Cohen added: If 134 hostages will be returned from Gaza, back to Israel, all this suffering on both sides will end.

The family members were also asked what they would say to the families of thousands of Palestinian prisoners who are waiting for them to be returned home in a prisoner exchange with Israel.

Gily Ramon, whose sister Yarden Roman-Gat was freed in November, said there was no connection between the hostages and the Palestinian prisoners.

What is the connection between prisoners, many of them tried (for) acts of terrorism and murder and my sister who worked with Palestinians in East Jerusalem and treated them, and was completely innocent and taken from her home, he said.

Why are you asking us this question? They have nothing to do with each other, the fact that Hamas is preferring to deal with prisoners instead of protecting their own civilians

It is a matter of Hamas, we deal with it because it is their own demands.

The conflict was sparked by Hamass deadly raid into Israel on October 7 that killed 1,200 people and saw militants seize about 250 hostages.

Israels retaliatory strikes have left more than 30,000 Palestinians dead, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

The Government has resisted calls to back an immediate ceasefire and previously abstained on UN resolutions demanding one.

This week, Downing Street said it wants to see a sustained humanitarian pause agreed as quickly as possible to allow the safe release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and a significant increase in aid to Gaza.
Andrew DaRosa is a SPJ award-winning journalist who has worked at Hearst Connecticut Media Group since 2018. He currently works as a Senior Audience Producer and a Trending Reporter for CT Insider and also runs the SEEN section.

He can often be found covering Connecticuts expanding music scene, supposedly haunted sites around the state or keeping track of big winners in the Connecticut Lottery. He has been at the forefront of multiple music-related stories around Connecticut, including the Sound On Sound music festival. With a passion for music, over the past decade, Andrew has interviewed members of Judas Priest, Goose, The National, Trey Anatasio Band, The Head and the Heart and Maren Morris.

Originally from Massachusetts, Andrew graduated from Fairfield University in 2018 with a degree in digital journalism. Since working for Hearst Connecticut, Andrew has become a four-time winner of Connecticut Society of Professional Journalism awards for his coverage of Connecticut band Goose, hiking the state and his human interest stories.

When he isnt writing about Ed and Lorraine Warren or jam bands, Andrew can be found going to concerts with his wife or hanging out with his cat, Spud.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewmdarosa
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A former detective has urged the boyfriend and person of interest in the disappearance of a British woman in the Caribbean to come forward so he can be interviewed by the police.

Sarm Heslop, 41, vanished from her American boyfriend Ryan Banes 47-foot luxury catamaran Siren Song on 8 March 2021.

The former flight attendant was last seen boarding Mr Banes boat, where she had been working as a chef after the couple matched on Tinder eight months earlier.

Sarm Heslop pictured relaxing in the Caribbean days before vanishing (Find Sarm)

They had been out for dinner at the bar 420 to Center on St John before returning to the 500,000 catamaran.

Sarm Heslops mother Brenda Street has spoken of how she believes her daughter was murdered but does not accuse Mr Bane of having any part in her daughters death.

It has now emerged that Mr Bane blocked Ms Street 48 hours after telling her was doing everything he could to find her off the coast of St John in the US Virgin Islands, the former detective looking into the case says. There has been no direct contact since.

Mr Bane, who has always denied any wrongdoing, failed to allow a forensic search of his yacht, a US Defense Department report on the initial call-out states. The Virgin Islands Police Department has also previously appealed for Mr Bane to get in contact with them to help with the investigation.

Ms Heslop vanished nearly three years ago (Find Sarm)

Retired Scotland Yard David Johnston said he made himself available to the family pro bono after seeing her parents mark the one-year anniversary of her disappearance on television.

He said: You have a family who have a daughter who is going about her life and suddenly disappears. I always thought she was probably dead but the family needed to come to that conclusion themselves.

The emphasis has really moved on from Find Sarm to Justice For Sarm. Because after three years their lovely daughter would never have kept herself away from the family. If shes not back then something happened to her preventing her from coming back.

Between 2004 and 2008 Mr Johnston was the Metropolitan Polices head of homicide and serious crime, in which capacity he led the Damilola Taylor and the Torso in the Thames investigations.

Former detective David Johnston led the Damilola Taylor case (Supplied)

He said: The family need closure on this and the only way that can happen, in my view, is for the last person to have seen her alive Ryan Bane to give a full account of what happened on the boat and to submit his boat for forensic investigation. The family needs to know what he knows.

He described the search for Sarm as pathetic, unprofessional and underwhelming but said he could be arrested for harassment if he approached Bane who recently spotted walking free in the gym in his home state of Michigan.

Mr Johnston added: He was literally and metaphorically allowed to sail off into the sunset. He blocked Sarms mother on WhatsApp and social media just two days after. Hes done nothing to assist the family and this is a man who claimed to very much care about their daughter.

I would ask him to speak to the authorities and give a full account of what happened on the boat that evening.

He needs to surrender his mobile devices, phone records and social media so authorities can examine any contact he might have had before or immediately after her disappearance.

Damilola Taylor was found bleeding to death in a stairwell near his home in Peckham in 2000 (PA)

In his defence at the time of her initial disappearance, Mr Bane said the couple watched Netflix and fell asleep. He called 911 at about 2.35am the next morning, told police that he had been woken by the anchor alarm and went to investigate and realised that she was missing. Ms Heslops wallet, passport and phone had been left on board, and he said she might have fallen overboard.

He was the last person to see her alive, he reported her missing at 2.30am but he refused the coastguard access to his boat when they came alongside, Mr Johstone added. My first action would be to interview him under caution.

How did Sarm disappear off his boat in calm waters, in a sheltered bay 500ft from shore. She is a strong swimmer, a fit girl. The chances of her having slipped, fallen in and banged her head and died without him being aware of it are complete fantasy.

Ryan Bane was photographed at his Michigan gym by a member of his ex-wifes family (Find Sarm)

Ms Heslops family has written to foreign secretary David Cameron to become involved and put pressure on the US Virgin Islands to have her case properly investigated.

Mr Banes lawyer David Cattie said: Mr Bane is heartbroken over Sarms disappearance. We certainly understand and empathise with her mothers pain and frustration.

Mr Bane called 911 immediately upon waking and finding Sarm was not on board. He took his dinghy to shore to meet with VIPD that night and called the USCG the next day when no one appeared at his boat. He also had the USCG on his vessel twice following Sarms disappearance. Later Mr Bane and I personally took all of Sarms belongings to the police, including all of her electronic devices.

The Foreign Office has been approached for comment.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Sarm is urged to call Crime Stoppers USVI at (800) 222-TIPS
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The big news, but not the big surprise, from Jeremy Hunts spring Budget was that millions of workers are set to benefit from an additional 2p cut in national insurance.

The chancellor announced the measures in an attempt to ease the tax burden ahead of next years general election.

He also confirmed a new levy on vaping, an abolition of the non-dom tax status and another extension of the fuel duty freeze - meaning motorists will continue to save on petrol prices.

As we heard Mr Hunt deliver the final budget from Rishi Sunaks current government, Ive been answering questions from readers about the spring statement - from the intricacies of national insurance cuts to Tory poll numbers.

Here are nine questions from Independent readers  and my answers from the Ask Me Anything event.

Q: Can the Tories afford to win the General Election now they have set so many economic traps for Labour?

Slightly Tipsy Max

A: Good question. Neither party can afford to win the election. Whoever is the next government will face tough decisions about the public finances. It would obviously be easier for Labour to deal with those choices, because public opinion would be more inclined to give a new government the benefit of the doubt  for a few months at least.

Q: How does a cut in NI create more jobs as Hunt claims?

Jeceris

A:At the most basic level of economic theory, if you reduce the price of something it increases demand. Cutting NI has the effect of reducing the price of labour and makes it slightly cheaper for employers to hire people. Hunt claimed the Office for Budget Responsibility modelling shows a job-creating effect, and I assume this is true.

Q: Who is double checking all the good news? He does not mention the fact UKs economy has been destroyed and many businesses have left and are still leaving, if not closing down. Listening to Hunt, the UK could not have been doing better ever. Reality is very different though! The UK is not supporting its businesses or population in any way.

Responsible

A: As with most chancellors in most Budget speeches, Jeremy Hunt was selective in the figures he quoted. This or that was the best in the G7, whereas a more balanced presentation would be that the UKs economic record and outlook are not terrible but nothing special.I dont think it is fair to say that the government is not supporting the population in any way, though. Many of Hunts fiscal problems have been made more challenging by the furlough scheme and business support during the pandemic, and the energy price subsidy since.

Q: John, why can those who are of retirement age not pay national insurance? There is a lot of talk about generational unfairness but this would seem sensible, may even fund universal social care and an increased state pension.

Mrpipesf

A: The split between income tax and national insurance is one of many illogical features of the British tax system. Jeremy Hunt seems to be pursuing one route to ending the unfairness, by gradually abolishing national insurance contributions. But we should point out that these cuts (2p in the  in Jan, another 2p in Apr) are to employee contribution rates only  employers continue to pay a large, and largely invisible tax in employer contributions.

In an ideal world, income tax and national insurance should be merged, which would mean older people on higher incomes would pay more. But no politician is willing to lose those votes.

Q: Is it correct that a 2% cut in NI means someone on 25,000 gets a tax cut of 248, while someone on 50,000 gets three times as much, 748?

Neil Lamputt

A: I think it is more than that. Todays cut is worth 435 a year to someone on 25k a year, and 1,310 to someone on 50k. That is my objection to it, and the previous cut: they are worth more in cash terms to people on higher incomes. Norman Lamonts election-winning Budget in 1992 shot Labours fox by cutting income tax for people on lower incomes, which would have been a better idea.

Q: Could anything he said make any difference to Tory poll numbers?

Mark Burns

A: I dont think anything Hunt said will make a difference to Tory poll numbers, mainly because it was all already in the public domain, but that doesnt mean that he *couldnt* have said anything that would move the numbers.

Q: How can the speaker get the government to announce stuff in parliament before briefing the papers? (And does it matter)

Ali Hughes

A: In the old days there were weeks of purdah before a Budget, when the Treasury would go dark and journalists really were just speculating, mostly wrongly, about what might be announced.

In Gordon Browns time in particular, the Treasury became a much more communications-conscious department, and would leak or formally announce measures in advance to try to create a wave of news stories to prepare the way for the one remaining theatrical surprise on the day. Now it is all pre-announced and there is no surprise on the day.

I imagine Hunt wanted the 2p national insurance cut to be a surprise, but news seeped out because MPs were warned in advance that extra legislation would be needed (which it would be for NICs but not for income tax changes), and it is almost impossible to keep a government secret these days.

The speaker can try to order the tide to retreat, but he will have no luck.

Q: What are the risks with further tax cuts in the current UK fiscal and economic environment?

old dane

A: A very good question! At several moments in Hunt's speech I thought it was "Trussonomics by stealth". He and Rishi Sunak are treading a fine line between, on the one hand, reassuring the markets that they have a grip on the public finances, and on the other, having to do irresponsible things in a desperate attempt to win the election.

The markets want to be fooled, and so accept unrealistic future public spending plans as long as the Office for Budget Responsibility continues to grumble rather than rebel.

But as I say, really taxes should be going up, not down.

Q: If the Tories believe that there is no hope at the next election are they mean enough to salt the earth in the next budget for the next government making it even harder to begin to clear up before the election after that? If so what could the Chancellor do?

fistfulloffishes

A: Im not sure that Sunak and Hunt are deliberately salting the earth. That implies that they have given up and simply want to make life difficult for their opponents. But politicians always delude themselves that they can win  remember that Sunak, for example, thought his career was over when Liz Truss won the leadership election, only to find himself in No 10 at short notice.

These questions and answers were part of an Ask Me Anything hosted by John Rentoul at 3pm GMT on Wednesday 6 March. Some of the questions and answers have been edited for this article. You can read the full discussion in the comments section of the original article.

John also sends a weekly Commons Confidential newsletter exclusive to Independent Premium subscribers, taking you behind the curtain of Westminster. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, head here to find out more.
 Close Jeremy Hunt forced to defend Budget impact on low-income earners

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Both the Conservatives and Labour are engaged in a conspiracy of silence about what will happen to the public finances after the election, the head of a leading economic think tank has said.

Responding to the spring Budget, Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said both parties were not being straight about the scale of the trade-offs they will face after voters go to the polls.

They, and we, could be in for a rude awakening when those choices become unavoidable, he told a press conference on Thursday.

Mr Johnson also warned that the UK was facing its most difficult period financially since the Second World War.

The combination of high debt interest payments and low forecast nominal growth means that the next parliament could well prove to be the most difficult of any in 80 years for a chancellor wanting to bring debt down, he said.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

David Cameron has called for 500 aid trucks a day to prevent famine in Gaza as he downplayed a diplomatic rift with Germany.

The foreign secretary emphasised the "incredible unity between allies" when asked about leaked calls between German military officials.

Intercepted by Russia, these appeared to show officials suggesting British service personnel were on the ground in Ukraine.

Lord Cameron told a press conference in Berlin: "I don't want to play into the hands of some Russian narrative about divisions between allies. What I see ... is incredible unity between allies, incredible unity in Nato.

He also reiterated his call for much more to be done to help get aid to Gaza as he warned of a looming humanitarian catastrophe.

"If we want to avoid famine, disease and help people in Gaza we need 500 [aid] trucks a day," he said.

He added that the wanted to 'turn a pause (in fighting) into a permanent sustainable ceasefire'.

His visit comes as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces pressure from Western allies and others to supply Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles.

Lord Cameron said that peace would be achieved by "helping the Ukrainians deliver what they need on the battlefield".

He said: "It's a sovereign decision for every country. But in terms of what Britain has done, I know that what we have given to the Ukrainians has helped them to resist this appalling invasion.

"To all those in Germany and beyond and around the continent, around the world, who want to see an end to this conflict, who want to see a peaceful settlement, who want to see peace on our continent, I absolutely agree that you get peace through strength.

"You get peace by demonstrating that Putin cannot win, you get peace by helping the Ukrainians deliver what they need on the battlefield."
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The Labour Party bolstered its election war chest by over 13m last year thanks to record private donations.

Autoglass boss Gary Lubner led the charge as he donated 4.5m to the party, having previously pledged to give more to Labour before an election.

Speaking to the Financial Times last year, the South African-born businessman  whose grandparents were Jewish refugees  said he had been appalled by the scale of antisemitism in the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyns leadership and praised Keir Starmer for ridding the party of its cancer.

The party is now celebrating its best performing year ever for individual donations as it maintains a 22-point lead ahead of the Tories in polls.

Lubner had previously deserted Labour under Jeremy Corbyns leadership (PA)

Anneliese Dodds, Labour Party chair, said: With Keir Starmers leadership, the Labour Party is a changed party and donors can see we are serious about delivering for working people with five missions to transform Britain.

We have received a significant financial boost, with last year being our best on record, but as the Tories gear up for a May election, we will continue to fundraise to meet it.

Despite senior Conservative officials insisting the country wont take to the polls until the second half of the year, senior Labour party sources say they are preparing for a May election.

Labours shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth made a bet with Sky News Kay Burley that there would be election in that month.

He said: This election is coming in May. I think it is definitely coming in May  the Conservatives are planning for that.

Now Sir Keirs party have a war chest to tackle the wealthier Tories  receiving more than 13m in individual and company donations in 2023, with a massive 4.2m in the final quarter of the year alone, according to figures published by the Electoral Commission.

Jonathan Ashworth has made a public bet that the country would go to the polls in May (PA)

British businessman and philanthropist Sir David Sainsbury, former chair of Sainsburys and life peer, gave 3m, while his daughter Francesca Perrin was the biggest-donating woman with a 1m gift.

Sir David had been a long-standing Labour donor but deserted the party under Jeremy Corbyn, instead gifting 8m to the Lib Dems. He returned to the fold under Keir Starmers leadership.

In 2021, the party received just 1.5m in private donations, and in 2022, 5.9m.

Last year was rivalled only by 2005, when the party raised 10.8m under Tony Blair.

Labour also accepted another 1m from green energy industrialist Dale Vinces Ecotricity firm in November, according to figures published by the Electoral Commission.

Green energy industrialist Dale Vince has donated 1m to the Labour (PA)

The Conservative Party also had a successful fundraising year, taking in almost 41m in private donations in 2023.

The Tories single biggest donation came from the late Lord John Davan Sainsbury  the cousin of Sir David  who gave the party 10m in his will.

In total, Labour received around 31m in cash donations to the central party overall, while the ruling party secured around 48m.

The Liberal Democrats reported around 8m and Reform UK 255,000 in total cash donations for the year.

200,000 of Reforms donation came from First Corporate Consultants Ltd, a company owned by prominent climate sceptic and former Tory donor Terence Mordaunt.

The party also accepted 10,000 from financier Crispin Odey in August 2023, around two months after misconduct allegations against him emerged, the figures confirm.

The Conservatives have been approached for comment.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Millions of workers will benefit from an additional 2p cut in national insurance as Jeremy Hunt announced moves to ease the tax burden ahead of next years general election.

The Tory chancellor also confirmed another extension of fuel duty freeze - meaning motorists will continue to save on petrol prices.

But to raise the money for the raft of Tory tax cuts, the chancellor also announced a new levy on vaping and an abolition of the non-dom tax status.

The Independent takes a look at the big winners and losers from the chancellors Budget:

Winners:

Parents

Parents are set to benefit from todays budget as Mr Hunt announced that the high-income child benefit charge threshold will be raised from 50,000 to 60,000 and the taper - which applies when an individuals income increases beyond the threshold of 60,000, meaning they will gradually lose eligibility for child benefit - will extend up to 80,000.

He explained: That means no one earning under 60,000 will pay the charge, taking 170,000 families out of paying it altogether. And because of the higher taper and threshold, nearly half a million families with children will save an average of around 1,300 next year.

Motorists

In a move that many motorists will welcome, Mr Hunt has announced the government will spend 5bn to freeze fuel duty.

This will maintain a 5p cut in fuel tax  which was first announced in 2011- that brought petrol prices down.

Workers

From April 6, Jeremy Hunt has announced a further 2p cut to National Insurance, on top of a previous cut announced in the Autumn Statement.

This tax cut will cost the government 10bn and will benefit workers who will see a reduction in contributions paid on their earnings.

But think tanks have warned that the 2p cut will result in thousands being plunged into poverty and say it could exacerbate financial inequalities since those families rely on the services funded by taxation.

Mr Hunt said this means an additional 450 a year for a typical employee.

Investors

Mr Hunt announced a plan for new British ISA, allowing 5,000 investments in UK firms as part of his plan to make the UK the worlds next Silicon Valley.

He said the move would encourage more people to invest in UK assets.

Researchers

The chancellor also announced a 360m research package to boost British manufacturing, which the chancellor said would boost manufacturing and research and development, including electric vehicles and pharmaceuticals.

Film-makers and creative industries

Fil and TV studios will have been handed a 40 per cent corporate tax relief, as Mr Hunt said the UK will be second only to Hollywood for film making.

The plan covers independent films shot in the UK that have a budget less than $19 million.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was delivered his Budget in parliament today (PA Wire)

Losers

Home buyers

There was little relief for homebuyers in the chancellors statement.

The Independent revealed earlier this year the Treasury was looking at helping those desperate to get on the property ladder by backing 99 per cent mortgages.

But the idea did not make the cut.

Non-doms

In a dramatic U-turn the chancellor announced plans to crackdown on the tax breaks for controversial non-doms in the Budget.

The tax loophole hit the headlines two years ago when it was revealed the prime ministers wife was a non-dom, a person who lives in the UK but is not settled here permanently, meaning they only pay UK tax on money made in this country.

Mr Hunt had previously rejected calls to reform the rules, warning it would send high earners overseas.

But in the end he decided he needed the money the changes would rase.

Owners of holiday lets

The chancellor also unveiled a tax raid on the owners of short-term holiday lets. Higher taxes on second homes used as holiday lets are expected to raise hundreds of millions of pounds.

But the Conservatives have been warned the change will harm tourist hubs across the country.

Smokers

Bad news for smokers as the chancellor announced the introduction of a levy on vaping products from October 2026 in a bid to discourage non-smokers from taking up vaping.

He also announced that there will be an increase in tobacco duties.

Oil and gas companies

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt extended the Energy Profits Levy for an additional year, blaming the increase in energy prices caused by the Ukraine war.

The windfall tax applies to profits made from extracting UK oil and gas and in its first year the scheme brought the UK government an extra 2.6bn.

Rishi Sunak introduced the 25 per cent energy profits levy when he was chancellor to help fund cost-of-living support for UK families. That was increased to 35 per cent in January 2023.

Mr Hunt announced that extending the sunset on the Energy Profits Levy for an additional year to 2029 will raise 1.5 billion.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Former prime minister Liz Truss spent more than 15,000 on in-flight catering on a single flight to Australia while she was foreign secretary.

As revealed in a freedom of information response to the Labour Party, British taxpayers paid more than 1,400 per head for 12 government officials on a single trip to Australia.

Catering for the Australia flights in January 2022 cost 15,639 in total, which was 3.4 per cent of the total 454,626.59 cost of the tickets, Politico reported.

The government said the sums also include wider logistics of running a private aeroplane, such as catering equipment, as well as food and drink.

Former prime minister Liz Truss spent more than 15,000 on in-flight catering on a single flight to Australia while she was foreign secretary (PA Wire)

A spokesperson for Ms Truss told The Independent: Liz had many responsibilities as foreign secretary, but it ought to be self-evident that organising the in-flight catering on overseas trips was not among them.

Catering for Ms Truss South East Asia trip in November 2021 totalled 12,742, which was 4.2 per cent of the overall 300,545.39 flight cost. Another visit to Indonesia in the summer of 2022 cost 5,604 in in-flight catering, which was 431 per head and 1.5 per cent of the total 369,000 cost.

Labour frontbencher Emily Thornberry said the figures showed ministers were determined to have their hugely expensive cake and eat it.

She added politicians were booking planes which are for them and them alone, ignoring the burden on the taxpayer, and indifferent to the cost of living crisis facing the rest of the country.

The Mail on Sunday reported last year that Ms Truss was contesting a 12,000 government bill relating to her use of the grace-and-favour country house at the Chevening estate that she had access to as foreign secretary.

Labour frontbencher Emily Thornberry said the figures showed that ministers were determined to have their hugely expensive cake and eat it (PA Archive)

Leaked correspondence, revealed by The Sunday Times, disclosed that Ms Truss in 2022 had requested taxpayers cash for a 3,000 lunch at a private club owned by a Tory donor, overruling her officials advice to go somewhere more suitable.

The freedom of information data released on Thursday also showed the in-flight catering bill for Ms Truss predecessor Dominic Raab came to 6,215 during a trip to Indonesia and Brunei in April 2021, and 7,625 for a visit to Singapore, Vietnam and Cambodia in June of that year.

Meanwhile, catering for flights to Japan, South Korea and Singapore made by Ms Truss successor James Cleverly amounted to 14,900  almost 4 per cent of the overall 384,160 flight cost.

A government spokesperson said: The figures shown represent the end-to-end cost of providing in-flight catering, including transport, on-boarding/off-boarding, preparation, disposal in line with adherence to international waste management regulations, and the required equipment for these processes. These logistical elements make up most of the cost and are charged by the vendor regardless of the specific items ordered or consumed.

Catering in-flight is a monopoly for the vendor and these costs would also be accrued on scheduled commercial flights. However, they are contained within the wider all-inclusive booking fee and not broken down separately.

Therefore the figures shown should not be conflated as actual expenditure on food or drink. The substantive costs will relate to the transfer of associated catering equipment, in the same way for example that a proportion of the cost of a commercial flight will include charges for the transport of hold luggage (whether itemised or inclusive).

They added the flight costs are in line with past precedent for all political parties.

Ms Thornberry claimed private flights had become the default option for ministers to do their overseas travel, adding: If they are determined to ignore the ministerial code by opting for government planes when commercial flights are available, the least they should be doing is taking along media or business delegations to help subsidize the cost.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The mother of a 6-year-old girl who has been missing in South Africa for nearly three weeks has been arrested and charged with kidnapping and selling or trafficking her daughter.

It is a shocking twist in a case that has seized the country's attention and sparked deep anger in the small, poor coastal community where the family lives.

The girl, Joslin Smith, has still not been found and police renewed calls for every citizen, every person to help find her amid fears she may have been taken to a different city or even out of the country.

In the days after Joslin's disappearance last month, local media reported that neighbors had accused her mother of selling her for just over $1,000.

The discovery of a child's discarded clothing near Joslin's home last weekend heightened emotions.

Her mother, Kelly Smith  whose full name given by prosecutors is Racquel Chantel Smith  has now been charged with kidnapping and human trafficking offenses along with three others, two men and a woman. One of the men is Smith's boyfriend. She claimed she left Joslin with him on February 19 while she went to work.

The mother of missing 6-year-old Joslin Smith, Kelly Smith, appears in court in Vredenburg, South Africa (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Joslin was reported missing that day.

The four suspects didn't enter a plea in response to the charges and another court hearing was scheduled for next week. They will remain in custody, prosecutors said.

Joslin hasn't been found despite a major search operation involving police, firefighters, city authorities and specialized sniffer dog units around the family home near Saldanha Bay, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Cape Town on South Africa's west coast. The national minister of police visited the area and met with Kelly Smith.

Police said a child's clothing had been recovered last weekend near the settlement of small houses and shacks where Joslin lived. It was sent to a laboratory for forensic examination. Community members who are also involved in the search said the clothing was spattered with blood and a knife was also found. Police didn't give any more details on what was discovered.

Prosecutors said in court documents released Thursday that Kelly Smith and the others conspired to abduct Joslin and intentionally sold, delivered or exchanged her. The suspects face a sentence of life in prison if convicted of the main charge of human trafficking.

The four suspects left the courthouse in Vredenburg, a town near Saldanha Bay, in an armored police van as a large crowd gathered outside, repeatedly shouting Justice for Joslin.

Western Cape province police commissioner Thembisile Patekile told reporters that more arrests could be made, but authorities also had to re-focus on the search for Joslin.

At this stage, we do not have a child, he said. Our ultimate goal is to find the child. We still want to find that child alive.

Authorities have given different spellings for the girl's name. Police identified her as Joslin, while prosecutors named her as Joshlin in their documents. It wasn't immediately possible to verify the spelling of her name.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

At least 200 people, mostly women and children displaced by violence in northeastern Nigeria, have been abducted by Islamist extremists while searching for firewood near the border with Chad, the United Nations office in the country has said.

The victims had left several displacement camps to look for firewood in Borno states Gamboru Ngala council area when they were ambushed and taken hostage, the UN said, in the latest attack in the conflict-hit region where frequent abductions and killings limit movement.

The exact number of people abducted remains unknown but is estimated at over 200 people, the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Nigeria Mohamed Fall said in a statement about the attacks, which occurred several days ago but whose details are only emerging now because of limited access to information in the area.

While an unspecified number of older women and children under 10 have reportedly been released, scores of IDs remain unaccounted for, according to protection partners, Mr Fall added.

Locals blamed the attack on Islamist extremist rebels who launched an insurgency in Borno in 2009 seeking to establish their radical interpretation of Islamic law in the region.

At least 35,000 people have been killed and more than two million displaced due to the violence by the militant Boko Haram group and a breakaway faction backed by the so-called Islamic State group.

People flee following an attacked by gunmen in Bokkos, north central Nigeria, Tuesday, December 26, 2023 (Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Many of those fleeing the violence are in displacement camps such as the ones in Gamboru Ngala where security is limited to areas near the camp, leaving them either to starve in the camps - amid dwindling aid - or risk their safety in search of food.

The latest attack is a stark reminder that women and girls are worst hit by the conflict, Mr Fall said as he called for the immediate release of the victims.

This act of violence against already traumatised citizens offends our common humanity, he said.

Nigerian security forces fighting the insurgents are overstretched as they also battle dozens of armed groups attacking remote communities in other parts of the northern region.

The crises have added to pressures on Nigerias president Bola Tinubu, who was elected last year after promising to end the violence.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A dead man lay on his back in the parking lot of a convenience store in late February when journalists rolled in to the north-central Mexico city of Celaya to interview police. A spray of bullet casings lay around the corpse, a sight all too common in Guanajuato state, which has Mexicos highest number of homicides.

A policeman had been driving his wife to work on February 28 when cartel gunmen  who had apparently followed from them home  opened fire on their car. The policeman killed one attacker before dying.

His wife and 1-year-old daughter were unharmed. But a week earlier, cartel gunmen shot a police officer to death while she took her 8-year-old daughter to school. They killed the girl, too.

Welcome to Celaya, arguably the most dangerous place, per capita, to be a cop in North America. At least 34 police officers have been killed in this city of 500,000 people in the last three years. In Guanajuato state, its population just over 6 million, more police were shot to death in 2023  about 60  than in all of the United States.

As Mexico's June 2 presidential election approaches, this city lies at the crossroads of a national debate about security policy.

Municipal police officers on patrol in a neighborhood of Celaya, Mexico, Wednesday, February 28, 2024 (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Celaya has declined to follow President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors policy of not confronting the cartels, and ignored his policy of encouraging local people to seek out peace pacts with the gangs. When Roman Catholic bishops announced they had met with cartel bosses in February to negotiate a truce between warring gangs, Lopez Obrador said, I think it is very good.

Mexicos president dislikes police and would like to rely on the military for everything. He dissolved the old federal police, accusing them of corruption, and cut almost all federal funding for training and equipping local police.

Unlike some other cities, Celaya, a farming and industrial hub northwest of Mexico City, has refused to eliminate its local police force and then rely almost completely on soldiers and the quasi-military National Guard for policing.

That means it has had to take on the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel, a gang so unreflectively violent that any sort of truce or negotiation was probably out of the question anyway.

The Santa Rosa de Lima cartel controlled Celaya, said Guanajuato security analyst David Saucedo. The current mayor, Javier Mendoza, made the decision to break the criminal control. It was a decision that cost the life of his son," who was shot to death last year.

Now the cartel is trying to hunt Celaya's cops into submission, or extinction. Two officers were killed in their car Sunday in Irapuato, the next town over, and the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel left a claim of responsibility.

A municipal police officer monitors social media sites at a police control and monitoring center, in Celaya, Mexico (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Killings of police in Mexico rose last year even as Lopez Obrador says overall homicide numbers have dropped under his administration.

The safety of the public is not something you can negotiate. Never, said Celaya police chief Jesus Rivera Peralta. These criminals have no values  we cant negotiate with the devil, thats impossible.

Rivera Peralta said he is proud of the mayor's slogan: With everything, come what may, without fear."

Under the president's approach, Mexico has both a shortage of police  there are none in some towns  and, at the same time, thousands of experienced former federal police officers who chose not to join the militarized National Guard are now unemployed.

Celaya decided to hire some of them.

Rivera Peralta, like most of his force, is a former member of the federal police. Theyre almost all from outside Celaya. They live in secure barracks and go out only to patrol, earning the nickname Fedepales, a combination of the word federal and municipal.

Because they're outsiders, the new cops are less likely to have ties to the cartel, Saucedo said.

Police chief Jesus Rivera Peralta speaks during an interview at police headquarters in Celaya, Mexico (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Most of the locals who used to work as municipal police have resigned, and its easy to see why. Estefani, a Celaya policewoman who would not give her last name for security reasons, narrowly escaped an attack as she drove to work in early 2023. The cartel apparently knew her route.

I stopped at a red light, and all I saw were two men on a motorcycle shooting at me, Estefani said. I was hit by three rounds. One shot went into the left side of my face  the bullet was lodged in my neck.

As blood streamed, she walked to a clinic. Doctors managed to stabilize her.

It was all too common.

Right now, most of the attacks are coming precisely from motorcycles. There are always two people on them, dressed in black. That seems to be a trend, said a police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The attackers are usually young men, often carrying an AR-15 rifle with the stock removed to make it shorter.

Celaya police are now sensitive to motorcycles.

A couple of residents, who would not give their names for fear of reprisals, spoke disparagingly of the fedepales," accusing them of stopping motorcycles to check for stolen vehicles, and then taking the bikes.

But during a ride-along with police performing routine checks on motorcycles, other residents waved a friendly greeting.

Lopez Obrador would like to rely more on the military; he wants to hand over the National Guard to army control  but at the same time, he doesn't want troops to directly confront the cartels.

That has led to strange scenes. For example, in the neighboring state of Michoacan, a National Guard or army truck may roll by a corner store on a patrol while inside the store everything costs 40% more than normal because its owner is forced to pay protection money to the local cartel.

The National Guard doesn't arrest many suspects or investigate crimes. Like the military, it mainly follows orders and arrests criminals only if they are caught in the act.

Celaya, unusual among municipal police, does its own intelligence and investigation work.

What good does it do to have soldiers and National Guard in the street if they dont do anything? They only put up crime scene tape after something has already happened, said Amadeo Hernandez Barajas, a farmer in Acambaro, a town south of Celaya. He said the cartel forces many farmers to pay a tax on each ton of corn produced.

Claudia Sheinbaum, the presidential candidate for Lopez Obradors Morena party in the June 2 elections, vows to stick to his approach.

We will address public safety from a perspective of addressing the causes and not allowing impunity, Sheinbaum said at her first campaign event. We are not going to engage in the idea of a heavy hand, that is not our style.

A resident cradles an infant as she walks past a crime scene where a passenger was shot dead inside a bus (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The idea that the cartels will be left without recruits, as government scholarship and training programs provide youths with other opportunities, appears a long way off. The gangs have started recruiting younger hitmen, as well as experienced fighters from South America and northern Mexico.

Rivera Peralta says half of all the suspects arrested in Celaya are now between 14 and 24 years old. They have also caught gunmen from the Scorpions, a gang based in the border city of Matamoros, and several former guerrilla fighters from Colombia.

Opposition presidential candidate Xochitl Galvez is taking a different approach. She pledges to double the number of National Guard troopers but also restore training and equipment funding to local police forces.

We cant have police who will take care of us unless we take care of our police, she said at her campaign launch.

For their part, police in Celaya are putting their trust in the man in the tower, a standing firing post welded to the bed of a pickup. The tower has a higher and wider range of vision for the officer to spot any attack coming  and a Galil automatic rifle.

He is our front line. He is the spearhead to resist any attack. said one officer.
The State Capitol building in Hartford Ken Dixon/Hearst Connecticut Media A protest rally across the street from Staples High School, in Westport, Conn. Feb. 27, 2024. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media

HARTFORD  Westport parents Carol Felder and Richard Anderson are taking their case for stiffer penalties for students that commit acts of racist bullying to the next level.

The couple, who recently told town officials that their daughters have had slurs and other race-based bullying and intimidation directed at them, testified in favor of Raised Senate Bill No. 327 Monday in Hartford. The bill, which was referred to the Connecticut General Assembly's Committee on Children Feb. 29, would establish a task force to study the effects of hate speech on children's health and achievement, according to the draft.

Carol Felder, in her testimony, described her seventh- and ninth-grade daughters as having been subject to "degrading, traumatizing experiences" such as being called the n-word and monkey, and being the subject of racial slurs and negative stereotypes in text messages.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

"In the school system, these incidents fall under the category of bullying," she said. "This is not bullying. The intentional racial discrimination and harassment are not bullying; This is hate."

School investigations and repercussions do not work, she said.

"The simple slaps on the wrists and watered down definitions for consequences give the perpetrators more fuel to continue to harass," she said. "There needs to be consequences that truly deter the hateful behavior."

She characterized race-based hate as a form of child abuse that leaves the victims "feeling isolated, anxious, depressed, stressed, scared, confused, abused and more. Very sadly, I am speaking from experience."

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

State Rep. Liz Linehan, D-Cheshire, the chair of the committee, said the proposed bill is the result of a confluence of events.

At the end of the last legislative session, Linehan said she received word from a school superintendent who was concerned with the uptick of hate speech between students, particularly during the time of an internet personality, Andrew Tate.

"Impressionable minds are parroting hateful rhetoric learned by listening to these so-called influencers, and middle school youth seem to be particularly susceptible," Linehan said. "As a parent of young kids, I see the effects of this every day."

After the death of Nex Benedict, in Oklahoma, Rep. Sarah Keitt, D-Fairfield, expressed her concerns, and Sen. Ceci Maher, D-Wilton, was in agreement about the issues. They decided on a study of all hate speech forms "in order to find a path forward to lessen the impact on kids and school climate," Linehan said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Linehan said she was not aware of any opposition, but the bill had not yet been debated in committee.

According to the text of the bill, the proposed task force members would include a representative from an organization that works to improve behavioral health and well-being of children, another representing an organization that works to eliminate religious discrimination, and another that specializes in eliminating disability status discrimination.

Other members of the task force would be the commissioner of public health; commissioner mental health and addiction services; commissioner of children and families; commissioner of education; the chief state's attorney; and the executive director of the Commission on Women, Children, Senior, Equity and Opportunity; or any of their designees.

The task force would be required to submit a report on its findings to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly no later than Jan. 1, 2025.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Harold Bailey, another Westport resident and chair of TEAM Westport, also spoke in support of the bill. He started by saying he spent the first 16 years of his life under legal segregation in Tennessee.

There, he and other Black students faced catcalls and slurs from students and adults.

Decades later in Westport, his own children were called slurs in middle and high school.

"In each instance, my wife and I supported them at home while spending a good deal of time with administrators aggressively explaining the damage done to people with authority but no lived experience," he said in his testimony.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

This resulted in apologies and some consequences for the students committing the acts, but the toll on his children was such that they had to move to private schools, he said.

Bailey said these acts are continuing, especially with the growth of social media and the current political climate.

"There is no taskforce needed to 'discover' whether hate speech presents a fundamental impediment to learning and delivers life-long trauma," Bailey said. "It does and combating it should become a top priority statewide and nationwide."

Westport educator Faith Sweeney provided written testimony about the bill, saying in her 28 years of teaching, she can attest to the effect hate speech has on children.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

"Students become anxious and withdrawn," she said. "Students subjected to hate speech are consumed with negative feelings about themselves which reduces their self-esteem."

She has surveyed numerous educators about microaggressions and hate speech, as a professional development facilitator, with many saying they witnessed antisemitic, Islamophobic and homophobic comments in school.

"It is essential that this task force not only study the impact of hate speech, discrimination, microaggression, and bias, it is equally important to develop solutions to care for the mental health of students subjected to hate speech," Sweeney said.

Sweeney also recommended the task force include psychologists from urban, suburban and rural communities.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Though there have been incidents involving hate speech in Connecticut, Linehan said this bill is more closely related to the changes in American culture.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Daniel Rodimer, a former wrestler who ran for a Republican congressional seat in 2020, surrendered himself to authorities in Nevada on Wednesday evening after an arrest warrant sought him out on an open murder charge.

Mr Rodimer, 45, turned himself into the Clark County Detention Center hours after the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police (LVMP) identified him as a suspect in the murder of 47-year-old Christopher Tapp.

Authorities say Tapp was found suffering from injuries inside a hotel room on the Las Vegas Strip in October 2023. He was transported to the hospital but later pronounced deceased. Initially, officials believed his injuries were a result of an accident.

However, the LVMP conducted a suspicious death investigation and discovered Tapp had been in an altercation. The Clark County Coroners Office then ruled Tapps death as a homicide as a result of blunt force trauma to the head.

Lawyers for Mr Rodimer told The Associated Press that Mr Rodimer was voluntarily surrendering to authorities and would post a court-ordered bail.

He intends on vigorously contesting the allegations and asks that the presumption of innocence guaranteed all Americans be respected, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, Mr Rodimers attorneys, told the news outlet.

Mr Rodimer is a former WWE wrestler but may be best known for his unsuccessful 2020 congressional campaign. Mr Rodimer challenged Democratic incumbent, Susie Lee, for Nevadas 3rd Congressional District seat.

At the time, former president Donald Trump endorsed Mr Rodimer, once saying at a rally, Dan Rodimer, were with you all the way, Dan.

Throughout that campaign, Mr Rodimer fought allegations of police run-ins and arrests after records revealed his former girlfriend and wife had called 911 twice in 2018. Once, she called regarding an alleged domestic dispute incident. Another time she accused Mr Rodimer of taking $200,000 worth of cash, guns and jewelry from their home.

Mr Rodimers wife, Sarah Rodimer, was forced to confront the allegations by sharing a statement on Mr Rodimers former campaign website. In it she defended her husband, saying the 911 call was a verbal argument that led to no arrest nor charges.

After losing the Nevada election, Mr Rodimer moved to Texas where he unsuccessfully campaigned in a special election for Texass 6th congressional district seat.

Notably, Mr Rodimer was accused of faking a Southern accent and adopting a new persona in the hopes of generating support. Florida Representative Matt Gaetz once called Mr Rodimer a fake Texan and phony. He encouraged voters to not support him.

The Independent has reached out to lawyers for Mr Rodimer for comment.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The grandmother of a missing three-year-old child in Wisconsin told a court that his mother - her daughter - should not be released from jail, saying she posed a flight risk.

Katrina Baur, 31, is now facing updated child neglect charges, following the disappearance of Elijah Vue from her boyfriend Jesse Vangs home in Two Rivers over two weeks ago.

District Attorney Jacalyn LaBre asked for Ms Baurs preliminary hearing, scheduled for Thursday, to be adjourned for a week after filing updated charges against her.

The charge of child neglect has been amended to chronic child neglect, while an additional child neglect charge was filed relating to a six-year-old child on 14 February.

Then, for the first time since Elijah disappeared, the public heard from the Baur family in a surprise statement from someone Ms LaBre introduced as Jodi Baur.

I have known Katrina Baur longer than anyone else as I am her mother, the statement began, before addressing the defendants plea to go free from jail.

At this time, I am asking the court to deny any bond modification for a multitude of reasons, her mother wrote.

Jodi Baur said the court did not have the whole picture of her daughter, adding that there were records in other states, including Nevada and California, which were not being taken into account.

She has contacts in other states that may be willing to assist her depending on the story she is telling. Her story always depends on the audience, the statement continued.

At this time, rather than aligning in locating her son, she feels the need to reiterate what a good guy Jesse is and is fully defending him and his actions.

Jodi Baur alleged that by aligning herself with Mr Vangs family, her daughter had potential access to his extended family and they could help her flee the area.

The grandmother said Ms Baur had cut ties with her family in October 2022 and that she had a history of erratic behaviour.

I dont feel its worth the risk to lower her bond, especially as [Elijah] has not been found and many questions remain unanswered, the statement continued.

Elijah Vue, 3, was last seen in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, on Tuesday 20 February 2024 (FBI)

Elijah hasnt been seen since he was reported missing in Two Rivers on 20 February.

Katrina Baur had sent him there to stay with her boyfriend Jesse Vang for disciplinary reasons around a week before his disappearance.

Mr Vang, 39, reported Elijah missing just before 11am on 20 February, after going for a nap three hours earlier and finding the child gone when he woke up. Local police arrested him later that day.

Elijah was reportedly subjected to lengthy time-outs, as Mr Vang sought to teach him how to be a man. He was also threatened with cold water if he misbehaved.

Ms Baur, from Wisconsin Dells, was arrested on 21 Feb. on suspicion of party-to-a-crime child neglect.

During Thursdays hearing, Judge Robert Dewane heard from the DA that prosecutors also believe Elijah had been left alone by the two suspects before his disappearance on 16 February for at least an hour in the city of Manitowoc.

Ms LaBre also laid out details of the additional child neglect charge, when a six-year-old child in her care was allegedly left alone in a car for around an hour in temperatures around -2C (27F).

Ms Baur is also charged with two counts of obstruction, with the DA alleging that she had messaged Mr Vang telling him not to cooperate with law enforcement on 20 February.

Speaking from the Manitowoc County Jail, defence attorney Ann Larson argued that her client was not a flight risk and planned to stay in Wisconsin if she was released.

Judge Dewane denied Ms Baurs plea to have her bond removed, saying that the $15,000 cash amount was set right where it needs to be.

Ms Baur and Mr Vang are now due back in court on 14 March.

Elijah Vue, 3, was last seen in Two Rivers Wisconsin on 20 February 2024 (Two Rivers Police Department)

Meanwhile, the search for Elijah continues around Two Rivers and the wider area.

Two Rivers Police Department, the FBI, state police, the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigations, the Manitowoc Police Department, the Manitowoc County Sheriffs Office and the Sheboygan County Sheriffs Office have all been involved in the search for the little boy.

A large team of volunteers, some from many miles away, have also scoured the countryside, rivers and woodland in a desperate search for the three-year-old.

So far, there has been no official sighting of Elijah, who is of Hmong and white ethnicity, standing about three feet tall and has brown hair and brown eyes.

He has a birthmark on his left knee and may have been carrying a red-and-white plaid blanket.

There is a $10,000 reward for information which leads authorities to Elijah or the arrest of those responsible from Manitowoc County Crime Stoppers, while the FBI is also offering $15,000 for similar information.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Federal prosecutors charged a man for allegedly trying to scam George Santos  the former New York Congressman who now faces his own federal charges  by offering false promises in exchange for cash.

An FBI affidavit states that Hector Medina Jr  an El Paso, Texas resident who also goes by Michael Soto  devised a scheme to defraud certain publicly known persons facing criminal exposure. He was charged in the Eastern District of New York.

Mr Medina Jr allegedly approached individuals who were facing criminal charges and claimed he could cause their criminal exposure to disappear in exchange for large sums of money, the affidavit states.

The filing listed four high-profile figures, including Mr Santos, who is not named but identified as Individual-1 who represented New Yorks third congressional district. In 2023, Mr Santos was accused of stealing his donors credit cards and wire fraud, among other charges before being expelled from Congress.

Mr Medina Jr sent videos and texts offering his services, the charging document states.

For example, in a July 2023 video, Mr Medina Jr claimed that he worked with prosecutors and judgesI was contacted by some people to reach out to you and see if you wanted to cut a dealIf youre interested, I can get everything dropped, evidence that is on you removed, disappeared.

In addition to Mr Santos, Mr Medina Jr also allegedly contacted an actor who had been convicted of felonies in California in May 2023, the actors spouse, a musician who had been arrested in June 2023, and a professional athlete.

Mr Medina Jr admitted to law enforcement in an interview in December 2023 that he searched the Internet for individuals who were in trouble believing that they would be easy targets for his scheme, explaining he was in search of cash to settle the more than $100,000 that he owed in gambling debts.

The affidavit noted that Medina has a history of prior criminal convictions for theft and fraudulent activity.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Identical twins from Minnesota are accused of swapping places after one of them, who was allegedly driving while high, crashed into an Amish horse-drawn carriage and killed two children.

Prosecutors allege that Samantha Jo Petersen was behind the wheel on 25 September 2023 when Wilma Miller, seven, and Imra Miller, 11 were killed, while two of their siblings aged nine and 13 were rushed to hospital with injuries.

Police said the car Ms Petersen was allegedly driving rear-ended a horse-drawn carriage the siblings were riding in, killing two of them.

At the scene, Samanthas twin sister, Sarah Beth Petersen, said she was the one behind the wheel, but police said they now believe that not to be the case.

Sheriff John DeGeorge told local media that a lengthy investigation found inconsistencies in the twins stories, and what they were saying was starting not to add up. Dozens of charges were then filed against the twins, he added.

Speaking on TV, Sheriff DeGeorge said: Sarah was on scene a short time before our first deputy arrived. That allowed them to come up with this story where Sarah would take responsibility for the crash and start to mislead the investigation from that very point.

Court documents state that the sisters, both of whom were at the scene of the crash, allegedly pulled off the switch because Samantha Petersen was high on drugs at the time and was scared she would be sent to prison.

Samanthas driving licence had also expired and she had no insurance for her silver Toyota 4Runner when the crash happened, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.

Two Minnesota Amish children were killed in the crash (Fox 9)

The documents added that Sarah had recently been in prison and may have felt she owed her sister a favour for taking care of her kids while she was locked up, according to Fox News Digital.

Officers on the scene allegedly found a couple of burnt marijuana blunts and a tin can of pot in the crashed vehicle.

Meanwhile, investigators later found evidence that Samantha was also using methamphetamine.

Court filings also detail how a police officer allegedly left his recorder running and walked away during the investigation.

It recorded Samantha Petersen telling her sister: I think one of the guys is onto me, but I really dont care  theres no way they would ever know the difference between the two of us, so they cant tell.

Detectives also examined text messages sent by the sisters around the time of the crash, and found that Samantha Petersen told someone investigators have identified as DH that i dont think you realize that i did thati hit that amish buggy and killed two peoplemade sarah come there and take the fall for it so i wouldnt go to prison.

She also allegedly searched: What happens if you get in an accident with an Amish buggy and kill two people? on her phone.

Samantha Petersen is now facing 21 counts, including vehicular homicide, DWI and leaving the scene of an accident. She is due in court on 25 March.

Sarah Petersen is due in court on 1 April on 16 felony charges, including aiding and abetting and trying to take responsibility for a crime.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

James Crumbley, the father of the Oxford High School shooter, is on trial in a Michigan courtroom, where jurors were read disturbing messages from Ethan Crumbley in the months leading up to the shooting.

Mr Crumbley has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter over the November 2021 Oxford High School shooting, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

His wife, Jennifer Crumbley, was convicted on the same charges last month. Both parents have been accused of ignoring their sons mental health and making a gun easily accessible in their home.

During opening statements on 7 March, the prosecution used the same language as in his wifes trial, calling the then 15-year-olds shooting preventable and foreseeable, and having two of the same witnesses testify.

Edward Wagrowski, a Secret Service agent who previously worked as a detective and computer crimes analyst for the Oakland County Sheriffs Office, told the court about texts and social media exchanges between the Crumbleys.

In April 2021, Ethan Crumbley messaged a good friend revealing that the high school sophomore complained that he was hearing things. He told his friend that he had alerted his parents to hearing voices.

I actually asked my dad to take [me] to the doctor yesterday but he just gave me some pills and told me to suck it up, the teen texted.

Ethan Crumbley then said when he told his mom, she laughed at him, texts showed.

Other messages revealed the shooter told his friend that he felt like he was mentally and physically dying and said that he wanted to ask his parents to go to the doctor again.

The jurors also watched videos that the high school sophomore sent his friend in August 2021, which showed him holding a handgun.

In one of the videos, the gun was loaded, Mr Wagrowski testified. That video accompanied another text from Ethan to his friend: My dad left it out so I thought. Why not lol.

These messages were sent months before the school shooting in November 2021.

The defence will likely have to emphasise the lengths that Mr Crumbley took to keep the gun away from his son if his wifes trial serves as any precedent about the importance of gun storage. After Jennifer Crumbleys guilty verdict was read, the jury foreperson explained that the jurys decision hinged on the fact that she was the last adult with the gun.

Mr Crumbley went to the gun store with his son four days before Ethan Crumbley opened fire on his high school, killing four classmates.

In court on 7 March, Mr Wagrowski said one revelation from the 15-year-olds phone records stood out in particular.

The teenager sent this one friend more than 20,000 texts from January through the end of October. To put matters into perspective, the expert said he has seen phones that have fewer than 20,000 messages on the device in total.

Aside from this one friend, Mr Wagrowski added, messages between Ethan Crumbley and other people totalled less than 1,000 messages.

The prosecutor pointed out that amount is double the number of messages sent between Jennifer and James in the same period, which Mr Wagrowski estimated to be 10,000 messages.

The trial was moving at a rapid pace. Both sides had relatively short opening statements compared to the defendants wifes trial. Oakland County assistant prosecutor Marc Keast told jurors in his opening statements: There are three people responsible for the shooting.

Echoing the same phrases the prosecution uttered in Jennifer Crumbleys trial, Mr Keast called the shooting preventable and foreseeable. He also claimed the shooters parents could have taken tragically small steps that may have prevented the tragedy altogether.

The prosecution also accused Mr Crumbley of not assisting his son in receiving proper care for his mental health  despite his alleged awareness of his declining state. Rather than getting Ethan Crumbley help or intervention of any kind, Mr Keast said, James Crumbley instead began taking his son to the shooting range.

Mr Crumbleys defence lawyer, Mariell Lehman, told jurors to pay attention to what they wont hear.

You will not hear that Mr Crumbley knew what his son was going to do, she said. He did not know what his son was planning. He did not purchase that gun with knowledge that his son was going to harm other people.

Throughout the first day of testimony, Mr Crumbley followed along by wearing over-the-ear headphones. At multiple points, he took off his glasses and wiped his eyes, outwardly affected by hearing the witnesses accounts of the disturbing acts his son committed on that fateful November 2021 day.

The trial continues on 8 March at 9am.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A manhunt has been launched after a national guardswoman and her legally blind daughter were shot dead in Massachusetts.

Chasity Nunez, 27, and her 11-year-old daughter, Zella Nunez, were in a parked SUV on Lisbon Street in Worcester on Tuesday afternoon when their car was sprayed with gunfire just after 3pm.

Local residents described hearing at least 12 gunshots in a row one after another.

I could hear this sound, that was not like anything Ive heard before, neighbour Linda Orcutt told CBS News.

The pair were found with serious injuries from gunshot wounds before being rushed to a hospital where they died, according to the Worcester Police Department.

Police said in court documents that surveillance video shows the victims parked in their vehicle and that two people walk up to the vehicle and start shooting, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported.

Dejan Belnavis (Worcester Police Department)

The footage also shows a car circling the area before the shooting and leaving afterward, according to court documents. The car was later found in Hartford, Connecticut.

Police launched a manhunt for the suspect, 27-year-old Dejan Belnavis, who is considered armed and dangerous.

Officers also arrested 28-year-old Karel Mangual on Wednesday night in connection with the shooting, and charged him with armed assault to murder and carrying a firearm without a license.

Mangual had a preexisting arrest warrant when he was taken into custody, police said.

Following the deaths, city leaders condemned the shooting, with Worcester City Manager Eric Batista, Mayor Joseph Petty, interim Police Chief Paul Saucier and Superintendent of Schools Rachel Monarrez releasing a joint statement on the senseless loss of two Worchester residents.

An act of such violence has no place in our city, they said. The residents of Worcester deserve better, and we will stand alongside our community in sorrow and solidarity.

Worcester Police investigate the shooting on Tuesday, March 5 (AP)

Meanwhile, Worcester City Councilor and Vice Chairman Khrystian King paid tribute to the family, who he said he knew.

This is a deeply, deeply dark moment for our city, he said. The folks must be brought to justice  its very clear that their intentions were exactly what they were.

Relatives of the mother and daughter also paid tribute to them following their deaths. She was a little girl, said Zellas cousin and godfather, Tyrae Sims.

The SUV the victims were sitting in was sprayed with bullets (WSMV 4)

She was a little girl. And they willingly did that. Like looked, saw, do you know what Im saying? Like, thats what upsets me. Saw that she was a little girl and did that. Thats ridiculous, he told CBS News.

Chasity Nunez was a decorated patient administration specialist and had just finished serving four years in the 142nd Medical Company. She was due to return to service Saturday in Connecticut.

Her command praised her for her wit, social nature, and dedication to duty, adding that she was one of the best Soldiers in the unit.

Our hearts are broken because we lost Specialist Chasity Nunez to senseless violence, National Guard Major David Pytlik said in a statement to MassLive.

I cannot begin to make sense of why this happened and why her family, friends, co-workers, and fellow soldiers have been robbed of her and Zella, he added.

Mr Sims told NBC 10 Boston that Zella was legally blind.

Zella was just the best, she was the best, so full of life, such a good little girl, she didnt deserve it at all, he said.

In a heartwrenching message to the mother and daughters killers, Mr Sims said he hopes they know the gravity of what they just did, they took two beautiful souls senselessly.

When did it become OK to harm women and children? Mr Sims added. When did those gloves come off?

Authorities did not immediately release a potential motive for the killings, and it is unclear what the relationship may have been between the two men and the victims.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Two men have been charged over the deaths of a woman and a child who were killed when their boat capsized in the Hudson River off Manhattan.

Richard Cruz, 32, and Jamie Pinilla Gomez, 25, are accused of causing the deaths after the overloaded vessel they were travelling in flipped over near Pier 86 in July 2022.

Lindelia Vasquez, 48, and 7-year-old Julian Vasquez, both from Colombia, were part of a group of family and friends who chartered a boat from New Jersey on 12 July 2022.

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York said Mr Cruz was the owner and captain of the vessel, while Mr Gomez was the pilot.

Both men are believed to have been operating the boat, which had 13 people on board when it capsized, despite not possessing the required United States Coast Guard (USCG) credentials and certifications.

US Attorney Damian Williams said the suspects flouted federal safety regulations and recklessly disregarded safety protocols by operating the vessel at an unsafe speed in hazardous conditions and overloading the boat with too many passengers onboard.

Mr Gomez is also accused of rapidly accelerating one engine of the vessel immediately before the capsizing, which contributed to the overturning of the vessel, as well as failing to properly wear a safety device that should be worn around the pilots wrist or life vest.

Picture shows the capsized boat in the Hudson River (The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York)

The US Attorneys office said this contributed to the vessels engine continuing to operate even after Gomez shifted from the helm console where the boat was being operated.

Rear Admiral John Mauger said the case demonstrates the deadly consequences of illegal passenger operations.

The Coast Guard and our partners from the US Attorneys Office affirm our steadfast commitment to preventing similar tragedies by investigating and holding violators accountable. We urge the public to assist in this detection and deterrence by notifying the Coast Guard of vessel owners and operators suspected of engaging in illegal passenger operations. he continued.

All 13 people on board the boat were thrown overboard before a rescue mission was launched. Two of them were left in a critical condition.

Ten passengers were recovered conscious, while the two victims were found unconscious underneath the vessel and later pronounced dead.

All 13 people on board the boat were thrown overboard during the capsizing ( The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York)

Both Cruz and Gomez have been charged with one count of misconduct and neglect of a ship officer resulting in death each, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

The small jet boat, named Stimulus Money, was purchased by Mr Cruz approximately three months before the capsizing and was used to conduct tours of the Hudson River on multiple occasions in the months before the incident, according to the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

New York mayor Eric Adams paid tribute to the victims at the time, calling the incident devastating.

Our hearts go out to a group of people who were just using the water in our city, he said. This is a devastating moment for them and those who are part of the families that were there.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The family of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins welcomed the manslaughter conviction of the films weapons supervisor in her fatal shooting by actor Alec Baldwin.

On Wednesday, a jury found movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty of causing the death of Hutchins after an assistant director last year pleaded no contest to negligent handling of a firearm.

Responding to the verdict, the parents and sister of the late cinematographer said they always wanted everyone who is responsible for Halynas death to be held accountable.

Today was the first trial and conviction in the criminal justice process, said Hutchins parents, Olga Solovey and Anatolli Androsovych, and her sister, Svetlana Zemko, in a statement issued through their attorney.

We are satisfied that the jury, based on the evidence, found Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty beyond a reasonable doubt for her part in the taking of Halynas life.

We look forward to the justice system continuing to make sure that everyone else who is responsible for Halynas death is required to face the legal consequences for their actions, they said, according to their lawyers Gloria Allred and John Carpenter.

Gutierrez-Reed also had faced a second charge of tampering with evidence, stemming from accusations that she handed a small bag of possible narcotics to another crew member after the shooting to avoid detection. She was found not guilty on that count.

Immediately after the verdict was read in court, the judge ordered the 26-year-old armorer placed into the custody of deputies. Lead attorney Jason Bowles said afterward that Gutierrez-Reed will appeal the conviction, which carries a penalty of up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Santa Fe-based state district court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer did not immediately set a sentencing date.

Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer on Rust, was indicted by a grand jury in January on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. He was pointing a gun at Hutchins on a movie set outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, when the gun went off, killing the cinematographer and wounding director Joel Souza. He will face trial in July, and has pleaded not guilty.

In her closing arguments, prosecutor Kari Morrissey described "constant, never-ending safety failures" on the set of Rust and Gutierrez-Reeds "astonishing lack of diligence" with gun safety.

"We end exactly where we began  in the pursuit of justice for Halyna Hutchins," Ms Morrissey told jurors. "Hannah Gutierrez failed to maintain firearms safety, making a fatal accident willful and foreseeable."

Prosecutors also contended that the armorer repeatedly skipped or skimped on standard gun-safety protocols that might have detected the live rounds on set.

"This was a game of Russian roulette every time an actor had a gun with dummies," Ms Morrissey said.

Inside the courtroom on Wednesday, Gutierrez-Reeds mother reacted with dismay at the conviction, bursting into tears and cursing the proceedings as her daughter was led away.

Defence attorneys told jurors that the problems on the set extended far beyond Gutierrez-Reeds control, including the mishandling of weapons by Baldwin, citing sanctions and findings by state workplace safety investigators.

The defence also cast doubt on accusations that Gutierrez-Reed brought live rounds to the set and said an Albuquerque-based ammunition supplier was never fully investigated.

Juror Alberto Sanchez said Gutierrez-Reed could have paused work on the set to address safety issues. Jurors concluded she brought live ammunition on set, whether she knew it or not, Mr Sanchez said outside of court after jurors were dismissed.

"Pretty much it was just that (she) never did the safety checks," said Mr Sanchez, whose work nearby in Los Alamos has involved safety decisions. "Never checked the rounds, to pull them out, to shake them. I mean, if shed have done that this wouldnt have happened."

Additional reporting by agencies
 Close Rust firearms supplier tells armourers manslaughter trial he never provided live rounds

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A jury has found Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the accidental 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

The armourer who gave Alec Baldwin a gun on the set of the doomed movie Rust did not take the stand in her own defence during the trial, which lasted nearly two weeks.

The jury deliberated for 2.5 hours before delivering the verdict on Wednesday. She was found not guilty of evidence tampering.

Gutierrez-Reed did not react as the verdicts were read out, but appeared to be in disbelief when the judge ordered she be taken into custody.

Loved ones and supporters gathered in the Santa Fe courtroom were visibly upset. Her sentencing was set for April, but an exact date is to be determined. She faces up to 18 months in prison.

Actor and producer Alec Baldwin is also facing involuntary manslaughter charges related to the shooting. His trial will begin on 9 July.

Prosecutors said Gutierrez-Reed is to blame for unwittingly bringing live ammunition on set and that she flouted basic safety protocols for weapons handling.

The defence said she was unfairly scapegoated for problems beyond her control, including Mr Baldwins handling of the weapons.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The trial and conviction of a movie armorer in connection with a fatal shooting on the set of the Western movie Rust has given Alec Baldwin and his legal team a window into how his own trial in the death could unfold.

A New Mexico jury deliberated less than three hours Wednesday before convicting armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

She now faces up to 18 months in prison.

Baldwin figured prominently in testimony and closing arguments over two weeks that highlighted his authority as a co-producer and the lead actor on Rust.

Both the prosecution and defense in Gutierrez-Reeds trial dissected video footage of Baldwin before the fatal shooting for clues about breakdowns in firearms safety.

Baldwins trial is scheduled for July and will involve the same judge and prosecutors as well as many of the same witnesses.

Santa Fe County Deputy Levi Abeyta, left, watches as expert witness for the defense Frank Koucky III demonstrates how to uncock a gun like the one used on the set of the movie Rust (Santa Fe New Mexican)

Baldwin has maintained that he pulled back the guns hammer, but not the trigger, and the weapon fired, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

Having seen Gutierrez-Reed's trial play out will be a boon to Baldwin and his legal team, said Emily D. Baker, a legal analyst and former Los Angeles deputy district attorney who wasn't involved in the case but followed it closely.

Theyre in the incredible position of getting to watch this prosecutor in action, see how this judge works, and come in knowing exactly what these experts are going to say and how they present to the jury," Baker said Wednesday. I dont think Baldwins going to want to deal in this case, and I think his legal team will tell him this is a very different case than the case against Hannah.

A weapons expert for the prosecution in Gutierrez-Reed's case gave strong testimony, Baker said. But the armorer expert was aligned with what Baldwin's team has been saying all along  that it wasn't his job to check the weapon, Baker said.

Expert witness and movie firearms consultant Bryan Carpenter testified that images showed Baldwin firing blanks toward a camera within a no-go zone at close range, flouting safety protocols as he commanded crew members to quickly reload his revolver, and waving a gun like a pointing stick after the close of one scene. Another clip captures the sound of Baldwin firing a gun after a director calls out, Cut!

Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal on the set of the Western movie

Investigators haven't found any video recordings of the shooting, which took place during a rehearsal inside a makeshift church on October. 21, 2021, on a movie set outside Santa Fe. But Gutierrez-Reed's trial included previously undisclosed testimony from eyewitnesses to the shooting.

Those witnesses included Souza, who felt the shock of a bullet's impact as he moved in for a view of the camera monitor  but never saw the gun that shot him.

A camera-dolly operator and the assistant director Dave Halls also gave visceral accounts of the revolver firing and the aftermath. Script writer Mamie Mitchell testified that the script didn't call for Baldwin to point the gun.

Alec Baldwins conduct and his lack of gun safety inside that church on that day is something that hes going to have to answer for," prosecutor Kari Morrissey said in her closing arguments against Gutierrez-Reed. "Not with you and not today. Thatll be with another jury, on another day.

Morrissey and co-counsel Jason Lewis presented the case against Baldwin to a grand jury in January and secured an indictment on the single felony count that gives them two pathways to prosecution. A recent analysis of the gun gave them the opportunity to reboot the case after an initial involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin was dismissed.

Rust movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed (Santa Fe New Mexican)

That analysis by Forensic Science Services in Arizona concluded "the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver.

The author of an earlier FBI report on the gun testified at the Gutierrez-Reed trial that the gun arrived with all safety features in working order, and that only way the revolver would fire with the hammer full retracted was to strike it with a mallet and break it.

Defense attorneys for Baldwin have shown no sign of compromise with special prosecutors appointed by Santa Fe-area District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, who is running for reelection and confronting a Democratic primary challenge by a former DA in June.

A February fundraising message from Carmack-Altwies vowed justice for Hutchins and her family no matter who else is involved," without naming Baldwin.

No one avoids culpability due to fame, wealth, or connections in my jurisdiction, she wrote.

During Gutierrez-Reed's trial last week, one witness for the prosecution stated the obvious as a prosecutor asked, Is Mr. Baldwin on trial today?

It appears that he is a bit, yes, said Ross Addiego, a crew member who witnessed the fatal shooting at close range and has sued Baldwin in civil court.

The lawsuit is one in a series of legal actions, including wrongful death claims filed by members of Hutchins family, centered on accusations that the defendants were lax with safety standards. Baldwin and other defendants have disputed those allegations.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A Texas-based company is claiming that they have scientific evidence of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370s final resting place.

Ocean Infinity has announced a proposal for a new search in the southern Indian Ocean where the plane is believed to have crashed a decade ago. It has already submitted the proposal to the Malaysian government.

Ocean Infinity has proposed a no-cure, no-fee search  when the client is only required to pay for the services if the company secures a positive outcome.

The companys chief executive officer Oliver Plunkett said: We now feel in a position to be able to return to the search for MH370, and have submitted a proposal to the Malaysian government.

Finding MH370 and bringing some resolution for all connected with the loss of the aircraft has been a constant in our minds since we left the southern Indian Ocean in 2018.

Since then, we have focused on driving the transformation of operations at sea; innovating with technology and robotics to further advance our ocean search capabilities, he said.

Just after midnight local time on 8 March 2014, the Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, a Boeing 777, vanished from air traffic control radars while flying over the South China Sea shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur. In the weeks that followed, meticulous examination of radar data and a series of satellite pings revealed that the aircraft deviated from its planned route, heading west across the Southeast Asia peninsula before altering its path southward over the Indian Ocean.

On board were 239 people, including 12 crew members. Malaysias transport minister Anthony Loke told reporters that he has invited Ocean Infinity to discuss a no cure, no fee proposal to resume the search for MH370.

I am very, very confident that the government of Malaysia and cabinet will approve such a proposal, he said.

Mr Plunkett said the company was analysing the data in the hopes of narrowing the search area. This search is arguably the most challenging, and indeed the most pertinent one out there.

Weve been working with many experts, some outside of Ocean Infinity, to continue analysing the data in the hopes of narrowing the search area down to one in which success becomes potentially achievable.

We hope to get back to the search soon.

In 2018, Ocean Infinity undertook a three-month search on a no cure, no fee basis, spanning approximately 112,000 square kilometres, yet this effort too ended without yielding any new findings.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A plane crash in Nashville, which left three Canadian children and their parents dead on Monday, has been described as a devastating event which took the lives of a beloved family.

The tribute was posted to social media by the childrens school, after Victor Dotsenko, 43, his wife Rimma, 39, and their three children Emma, 7, Adam, 10, and David, 12, were all identified as those who perished at the side of a highway in Nashville.

The family lived in King Township on the edge of Toronto and the kids all went to UMCA Rich Tree Academy in nearby Vaughan.

These beautiful children lit up our hallways every day, the school said in an Instagram story. They all had such a positive energy and attitude towards their friends and teachers.

Rimma and Viktor were always very close to the UMCA family and we will miss them terribly.

Viktor was believed to be flying the plane which had a complete loss of power at around 7.40pm on Monday.

Flames seen at the side of the I-40 in Nashville, Tennessee following the plane crash (WSMV 4)

He could be heard in audio from air traffic control asking for help, with the controller saying staff at John C Tune Airport had cleared the runway for him to glide in.

Im too far away, I wont make it, Mr Dotsenko could be heard saying.

Moments later, the plane hit the ground at the side of the I-40 and burst into flames, killing all five on board.

Words cannot express the profound sadness and grief we are experiencing as we mourn the loss of the Dotsenko family, the school added.

King Township Mayor Steve Pellegrini also paid tribute to the family.

This is a heartbreaking and devastating loss for our tight-knit community, the mayor wrote in a statement.

While we await further details from the ongoing investigation, our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of the victims during this incredibly difficult time.

The plane the Dotsenko family was in had departed from Milton in Canada at around 1.20pm ET on Monday, before heading to Eerie, Pennsylvania and Mount Sterling County, Kentucky and then to Tennessee.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, with official Aaron McCarter telling reporters on Tuesday that the plane had circled the airport before turning back when it lost power.

"Were still trying to determine why he decided to overfly the airport at 2,500 feet. I dont know that yet," Mr McCarter said. "We are at the infancy of this investigation. These are all things that will come to light in subsequent days."
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

President Joe Biden will seek to lay out the case for his re-election and address a range of pressing issues both domestic and international when he delivers his latest State of the Union address to a joint-session of Congress on Thursday evening.

The Democrat is expected to tout his achievements in the White House, allay concerns about his age and warn of the threat to democracy posed by Donald Trump and hard-right Republicans across the country as he readies for a crucial election year.

The presidents address is likely to cover the economic recovery and infrastructure wins he has overseen from the Oval Office and feature a call for greater cooperation in the House of Representatives on spending deals to avert another looming government shutdown and to resolve the illegal immigration crisis at the southern border.

He is also likely to stress the need for international unity in the face of conflicts raging in Ukraine and Gaza, his stance on the latter having become a particular issue in the Democratic primaries where voters in states like Michigan and Minnesota have come together to mark their ballot papers uncommitted to express their disapproval of his failure to demand a ceasefire  a tension he will seek to soothe.

Its going to be a moment thats incredibly important to him, President Bidens White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of the speech this week.

Hes looking forward to talking about the accomplishments that hes made in the last three years and also the vision that he has for this country.

The presidents address will commence at 9pm EST (2am GMT) on Thursday night and The Independent will bring you all the very latest coverage in our dedicated liveblog, as well as all the breakout news lines via our website and social media channels.

The State of the Union will also be covered by all the major US television news networks and broadcast live on C-SPAN and on the White Houses official website and YouTube channel.

As is customary, a number of high-profile guests have been invited to watch the important occasion of state in the company of their representatives.

This years list of invitees  not all of whom are able to attend  includes:

Yulia Navalnaya

Invited but unfortunately not able to attend, according to the White House, is the widow of the late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who died in mysterious circumstances in an Arctic prison camp last month after being imprisoned on trumped up charges for daring to speak out against Vladimir Putin and exposing corruption within his regime.

Olena Zelenska

Ukraines first lady was also invited to attend in recognition of her nations heroic resistance to Russias military invasion but, like Ms Navalnaya, cannot be there.

Mikhail and Ella Gershkovich

House speaker Mike Johnson will host the father and mother of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who, like Navalny, is imprisoned on spurious charges in Mr Putins Russia.

Kate Cox

First lady Dr Jill Bidens guest will be Kate Cox, a Texas mother forced to seek an emergency abortion outside of her home state after suing for the right to terminate a non-viable pregnancy, whose invitation is intended to draw attention to the conservative pro-life movements war on access to maternal healthcare and reproductive rights across the country.

Kate Cox was forced to seek an emergency abortion outside her home state of Texas (Kate Cox)

Ulf Kristersson

The first lady will also host Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson as Sweden finally joined Nato on Thursday after a lengthy process held up by Turkey and Hungary. Finland and Sweden began the process of joining the military alliance after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Mr Biden will likely highlight his work to keep US alliances together in the face of Russian aggression and increased competition with China. Mr Trump has made increasingly hostile comments about the alliance, suggesting that he would encourage Russia to invade Nato members who dont spend enough on defence.

Sweden is a strong democracy with a highly capable military that shares our values and vision for the world. Having Sweden as a NATO Ally will make the United States and our Allies even safer, the White House said.

Kayla Smith

Another woman who was forced to flee her home state to receive an abortion is Kayla Smith, who had to leave Idaho in 2022 because of its strict legislation, which would not allow her to receive a termination in spite of fears for her own health as a result of complications in her pregnancy.

She subsequently received one in Washington and has since relocated her family to Seattle.

She is the guest of that states Democratic senator Patty Murray.

Dr Caitlin Bernard

The Indiana doctor who provided an abortion to a 10-year-old girl, pregnant after being raped in Ohio, after Roe v Wade was struck down will be in attendance as the guest of California Democratic representative Judy Chu.

Elizabeth Carr

Another guest invited to illustrate the theme of reproductive rights and, specifically, the Alabama Supreme Courts February ruling that frozen embryos should be recognised as children under state law, is that of Elizabeth Carr: the first American to be born via IVF.

She will be the guest of Virginia Democratic senator Tim Kaine.

Reproductive care and IVF campaigners

Other maternal healthcare activists on the guest list include: Amanda Zurawski of Texas; Jodi Hicks, CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California; endocrinologist and infertility specialist Dr Amanda Adeleye; and Barbara Collura, president and CEO of Resolve: The National Infertility Association.

Latorya Beasley from Birmingham, Alabama will also be in the first ladys box.

Beasley and her husband had their first child through in vitro fertilization (IVF) in 2022 and were in the process of expanding their family through another round of IVF when her embryo transfer was abruptly canceled as a result of the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision, the White House said.

The relatives of 17 Americans held hostage by Hamas

Mr Johnson and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries will be hosting the families of 17 US citizens captured by the Islamist group in Israel during the terror attack of 7 October 2023.

Fat Joe

The rapper was invited by California Democratic congresswoman Nanette Barragan to promote price transparency within the US healthcare system in recognition of his work with lawmakers in DC in 2023 on behalf of the patients rights group Power to the Patients.

Liz Shuler

The president of the AFL-CIO union, which has endorsed President Biden this year, was invited by Wisconisin Democrat Mark Pocan, co-chair of the Congressional Labour Caucus.

Dawn Chapman

A campaigner for victims of radiation poisoning, Ms Chapman is the guest of Missouri Republican senator Josh Hawley.

Fred Hamilton

A Vietnam veteran exposed to toxins who subsequently benefited from the help offered by the Promises to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act 2022, Mr Hamilton is the guest of Montana Democratic senator Jon Tester.

Parents of Laken Riley

The parents of Laken Riley, 22, have declined an invitation from Rep Mike Collins, Republican of Georgia. Ms Riley, a nursing student was allegedly murdered while jogging on the campus of the University of Georgia.

I invited Laken Rileys parents to the State of the Union address, but understandably, they have chosen to stay home as they grieve the loss of their daughter, Mr Collins wrote on X. Therefore, the seat reserved for my guest will remain vacant to honor Laken and all American victims of illegal alien crime. As Joe Biden attempts to paint a rosy picture of the crime-ridden country he has created, he will look up at an empty seat that memorializes those weve lost because of his open border policies.

Jazmin Cazares

Ms Cazares lost her sister Jackie in the Uvalde school shooting in Texas at Robb Elementary School, with the White House noting that She spoke alongside March for Our Lives leaders at the Texas State Capitol and testified before lawmakers to advocate for tighter background checks and extreme risk protection order laws.

Shawn Fain

When Mr Biden became the first president to join a labour union on strike, it was with the United Auto Workers. Mr Fain, its president, has been a member of the union for 29 years.

After hard-fought negotiations and a Stand-Up strike that inspired workers across the country, the UAW won historic pay increases, greater retirement security, more paid leave, and more dignity and respect, the White House said.

Bettie Mae Fikes

A singer and civil rights advocate, Ms Fikes was a Bloody Sunday Foot Soldier in Selma, Alabama in 1965, becoming known as the voice of Selma, the administration noted, adding that this years speech will take place on the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday when civil rights marchers were met with police violence.

Maria Shriver

A member of the Kennedy family and a former first lady of California during the governorship of her now ex-husband Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ms Shriver works to use her voice and platforms to advance some of our nations most pressing issues affecting women and womens health.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden invited Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, to be their guest at Thursdays State of the Union address, the White House has said.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday told reporters the invitation had been extended to Ms Navalnaya, but said the Russian opposition figure will not be in First Lady Jill Bidens box above the House floor when Mr Biden addresses Congress on Thursday.

I can confirm that she was indeed invited to the State of the Union. She is no longer able to attend, said Ms Jean-Pierre, who referred further questions to Ms Navalnayas representatives.

Mr Navalnys funeral took place on Friday in Moscow, with thousands of people paying their respects under a large police presence. The opposition leader died under unclear circumstances at a penal colony in the Arctic Circle more than two weeks ago. The date of his death has been reported as 16 February.

Many have blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for his death. Mr Navalny, a 47-year-old attorney, was poisoned on a flight in 2020 with a substance traditionally used by the Russian security services.

He almost died, but recovered after receiving treatment in Germany, where Ms Navalnaya now lives in exile. The couple chose to return to Russia despite the overwhelming likelihood that Mr Navalny would be detained and that his life would likely be at risk.

Ms Navalnaya was unable to attend her husbands funeral. She has said that shell continue her late husbands work, thanking him for more than a quarter-century of absolute happiness.

Putin tortured, starved and killed my husband, says Alexei Navalny's wife

On Instagram, she wrote: I dont know how to live without you, but I will try to do it in a way that you up there are proud of me and happy for me.

Ms Navalnayas promise to pick up her husbands work comes after years of avoiding the spotlight.

She is taking on a daunting task, and it remains unclear if she, in cooperation with her husbands followers and other opposition groups, can seriously challenge the rule of Mr Putin, whos set to be re-elected once again in March to another six-year term. He became acting president on the last day of 1999 and has ruled his country ever since, either as president or, for a four-year period between 2008 and 2012, as prime minister, when one of his key allies was installed as president to accommodate the then rules on term limits.

Russia is classified as not free by the non-profit Freedom House, which states that power in Russias authoritarian political system is concentrated in the hands of President Vladimir Putin. With loyalist security forces, a subservient judiciary, a controlled media environment, and a legislature consisting of a ruling party and pliable opposition factions, the Kremlin manipulates elections and suppresses genuine dissent.

While Ms Navalnaya has accused Mr Putin of killing her husband, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the claim unfounded as well as insolent.

By killing Alexei, Putin killed half of me, half of my heart and half of my soul, she said after his death. But I still have the other half, and it tells me that I have no right to give up.

At a meeting of the European Unions Foreign Affairs Council last month, she told leaders not to recognize the results of the Russian election in March and to place sanctions on more of Mr Putins close allies. She also urged them to do more to help Russians who have fled the country.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The defence attorney who brought forward complaints against Fulton County DA Fani Willis, testified before a Georgia Senate committee, speculating on the DAs relationship with Nathan Wade and the alleged conflict of interest at heart.

For several hours on Wednesday, Ashleigh Merchant, the attorney representing Michael Roman  one of Donald Trumps co-defendants in the Georgia case  shared all of her thoughts and evidence about Ms Williss relationship with Mr Wade.

That included speculating Ms Willis may have obtained information from the White House about January 6 which was used in an indictment against her client, that Ms Willis violated a Fulton County statute in hiring Mr Wade and that he was overpaid, among other things.

The committee asked Ms Merchant for more details in her investigation into Ms Williss relationship with Mr Wade and her opinion. Her testimony was a hearing for the committee in their effort to possibly enact or change legislation, it was not a legal proceeding nor was Ms Merchants testimony admissible in the court case.

It comes days after a judge in Georgia concluded hearing arguments in the official case in which Ms Willis is accused of engaging in an improper, clandestine personal relationship with Mr Wade, who she hired to oversee her case against Mr Trump and his co-defendants.

Ms Merchant first filed an official complaint regarding that in January. Those accusations are current at the hands of the judge who is expected to make a decision soon.

The state senate committee does not have the power to disqualify Ms Willis but they can subpoena people, as they did for Ms Merchant.

Attorney Ashleigh Merchant testifies in front of members of the Georgia State Senate during a Special Committee on Investigations meeting to discuss how Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (REUTERS)

But Ms Merchant reiterated her desire to have the Fulton County DA disqualified from the case anyway, alleging that Ms Willis had a romantic relationship with Mr Wade before she hired him as an independent counsel in November 2021.

Ms Willis and Mr Wade have both denied that claim, saying their romantic relationship began in early 2022.

Ms Merchant said she learned of their relationship through Terrence Bradley, a former divorce lawyer and the ex-law partner of Mr Wade.

Text messages recently obtained by the Associated Press revealed that Ms Merchant and Mr Bradley corresponded for several months. Mr Bradley allegedly fed information and made suggestions to Ms Merchant.

Ms Merchant said via subpoenaing cellphone data she found that Ms Willis and Mr Wade interacted more than 12,000 times in 2021 and geolocating data showed Mr Wade possibly making late-night visits to Ms Willis.

Ms Willis team said in a filing at the end of February that the cellphone data was inadmissible and that they did not prove anything relevant.

During Wednesdays hearing, Ms Merchant also insinuated that Ms Willis could have received information from the White House in the Georgia election case because she, and the Atlanta mayor, met with Vice President Kamala Harris before Mr Trump and his co-defendants were indicted.

However, Ms Merchant could not provide any information regarding what the meeting may have been about.

Ms Merchant also raised concerns about Mr Wades salary, saying Ms Willis used county funding, approved to handle homicide cases backlogged due to Covid, to partially pay for Mr Wades salary. She also insinuated that Mr Wade was overpaid and claimed his invoices were kept purposefully vague.

The committee said they plan to subpoena more people and that their investigation will take time.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Family members of Americans held hostage by Hamas are expected to attend president Joe Bidens State of the Union address this week as he faces mounting pressure over his handling of the conflict.

Its a living hell. A living hell from the moment you get up in the morning until you go to bed, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, told NBC News. He is hopeful that his presence in the Capitol will remind Americans of the horrific situation of the hostages, as they continue efforts to secure their release.

There really are no words to describe how difficult this is. I feel for my son; I am consumed for his wife and his three little girls who are waiting for him at home and have absolutely no idea what his condition is, Mr Dekel-Chen told the outlet. He is attending the event as the guest of Democratic representative Josh Gottheimer. There are at least six remaining American hostages in Gaza.

Mr Bidens State of the Union comes as the prospects of a ceasefire took a major hit on Thursday with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip continuing to hold an unspecified number of hostages, including both Israeli and American civilians.

Last week, families of hostages held in Gza and their supporters launched a four-day march from southern Israel to Jerusalem to demand their loved ones be set free.

According to the Israeli government, about 1,200 people have been killed, while around 240 people were kidnapped. Meanwhile, the civilian death toll from Israels assault and the resulting famine and other effects has passed 30,000.

Earlier on Sunday, vice president Kamala Harris called for an immediate ceasefire, as she condemned Israel for failing to allow humanitarian aid to citizens of the Gaza Strip.

[G]iven the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire  for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table, said the vice president.

The remarks came after Israels military was widely criticised for opening fire as Palestinians swarmed an aid truck carrying flour. More than 100 Palestinians were killed in the incident, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane. And our common humanity compels us to act, Ms Harris said.

The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses, she added.

They must open new border crossings. They must not impose any unnecessary restrictions on the delivery of aid. They must ensure humanitarian personnel, and convoys are not targeted. And they must work to restore basic services, and promote order in Gaza, so more food, water, and fuel can reach those in need, Ms Harris said.

President Biden has been under immense pressure from his own party in recent days to pressure Israel to halt fighting in Gaza and allow the delivery of more humanitarian aid, as aid agencies warn that a famine is imminent. At least 15 children have died of malnutrition and dehydration in recent days, according to the Gaza health ministry.

This latest shift in the administrations messaging comes after more than 100,000 voters in Michigans Democratic primary voted uncommitted after progressives including Rep Rashida Tlaib urged Michiganders to register protest votes against the administrations handling of the war in Gaza.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Ashley Aune had been serving in the Missouri state legislature for a little over a year when she learned a surprising legal fact.

According to a law enacted in 1973, no person in Missouri may finalise a divorce while pregnant  even if they are being abused by their spouse.

"I was floored that this was still on the books," the 38-year-old Democrat legislator, tells The Independent.

Missouri is not alone. Arizona, Arkansas, and Texas all have similar bans, according to Newsweek . In seven other states, including Hawaii, Maine, and Delaware, judges are unlikely to grant divorces where one spouse is pregnant.

Nor do such laws only exist in red states. Democrat-dominated California denies a final divorce if one spouse is pregnant, according to reports and Golden State womens rights groups.

For some people, this might simply be an inconvenience: one more hurdle on the already exhausting legal obstacle course required to break up a marriage.

But reproductive rights advocates and anti-abuse organisations tell The Independent that such laws pose a grave danger to women  and anyone else with a uterus  attempting to flee abusive marriages.

That is especially true in states such as Missouri that have imposed strict restrictions or near-bans on abortion following the Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v Wade.

"In our state, when youre able to keep a woman pregnant, youre able to keep her married," says Aune, who is now attempting to overturn the antiquated law through the state legislature . "And that is a really scary proposition in 2024."

Biden condemns 'extremist' Supreme Court after Roe v Wade overturned

'Pregnancy is an extremely dangerous time for abuse survivors'

When Fox 4 Kansas City reported on Aunes bill last week , it quickly went viral. Readers largely had no idea that pregnancy could interfere with divorce, and expressed surprise that such laws existed.

"A person whos not an attorney  they probably dont know this," says Nicole Britton-Snyder, managing attorney at the Family Violence Law Center (FVLC) in Oakland, California, which helps abuse survivors throughout the area.

"Add in the fact that [many survivors] dont have the economic ability to afford counsel, and theyre probably not going to learn [about] it."

Nor does the issue appear to be widely known among anti-abuse organisations. Many groups contacted by The Independent declined to comment, with some saying they did not have enough expertise to shed light on it.

Generally speaking, the original purpose of such laws was to make sure that issues of custody, paternity, and child support were settled before an impending child was actually born, according to experts consulted by The Independent.

Many states do not allow a court to discuss such matters until after birth , when the foetus legally becomes a person for the purpose of divorce law. (That some of those states also define a foetus as a person for other purposes, such as abortion and fertility treatment , is an irony not lost on reproductive rights activists.)

These laws dont stop an abuse survivor beginning the divorce process, or applying for a restraining order, or physically getting away from their spouse. But advocates say that every additional barrier to separation creates an additional risk.

"Continuing to force a legal connection between a survivor and their abusive partner places the survivor at increased risk, exposes them to further harm, could increase emotional distress, hinders their ability to seek safety and healing, and could also further financial dependance or entanglement," says Marium Durrani, vice president of policy for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Pregnancy in particular is an "extremely dangerous time" for women in an abusive situation, says Amy Matsui of the National Womens Law Center (NWLC). Research by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has found that one in six abused women were first abused during pregnancy.

Likewise, refusing to grant a divorce can afford extra opportunities for abusers to exploit the legal system against their partners. Vexatious litigation, legal costs, and mandatory financial disclosures can all become weapons for inflicting mental and economic harm, according to Britton-Snyder.

Abortion is still broadly legal in California, which makes this situation concerning but hardly the top priority for womens rights groups. In places like Missouri, however, where the Republican-dominated legislature has banned nearly all abortions, it takes on another valence entirely.

'Reproductive coercion' on the rise after abortion ban

In a recent hearing in support of Aunes bill, Missouri legislators heard testimony from a pregnant woman who had sought a divorce after suffering horrific physical abuse from her husband.

"The attorney basically sent her away, and said theres nothing I can do," says Aune. "She said she was so demoralised.

"She felt like she couldnt do anything in that moment to protect herself to protect her [existing] child and her unborn child. It was harrowing, absolutely harrowing, hearing those experiences."

Such cases appear to be getting more common since the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v Jackson Womens Health Organization in June 2022, which abolished the nationwide right to abortion established in Roe v Wade in 1973.

Aunes attempt to overturn the Missouri ban was prompted by entreaties from Synergy Services, a Kansas City non-profit that supports domestic abuse survivors, which has seen numerous clients blocked from getting a divorce because of "reproductive coercion".

Ashley Aune (Ashley Aune)

Reproductive coercion is the term anti-abuse groups use for any situation where one partner attempts to exert control over the others reproductive system.

That might mean sabotaging their partners contraception, preventing them from seeing a doctor, or raping them to get or keep them pregnant against their will.

In the Missouri hearing, people who work to rehabilitate former sex offenders testified that some men will even track their partners ovulation cycles in order to coerce them into pregnancy.

And in the first year following Dobbs, the National Domestic Violence Hotline says it saw a 98 per cent increase in cases involving abortion or reproductive coercion.

"These two things together  the abortion ban and the inability to get divorced while pregnant  creates a perfect storm for somebody whos facing intimate partner violence during their pregnancy," says Aune.

Indeed, Pregnancy Justice, a New York City non-profit, says that laws such as Missouris are part of a wider phenomenon of society trying to control the lives of pregnant people, often to their own detriment. A spokesperson points out that at least three states allow someone to be forcibly hospitalised if they use drugs while pregnant, while 14 states have previously punished fathers for failing to stop their pregnant partners drug abuse  effectively demanding they exert control over their partners.

Some Missouri Republicans have opposed Aunes bill. Denny Hoskins, a state senator and a member of the Missouri Freedom Caucus, told The Kansas City Star that he was in favour of an exemption for domestic violence but not a general end to the ban.

"Just because the husband and wife are not getting along, or irreconcilable differences, I would not consider that that would be a good reason to get divorced during a pregnancy," he said.

Two other Republicans, Jeff Farnan and Sherri Gallick, have co-sponsored Aunes bill  something Aune herself is keen to stress as a turbulent election year threatens to disrupt attempts at bipartisan cooperation.

Likewise, Aune notes that it is not only domestic abuse survivors who are hurt by the ban, and nor is it only women who suffer from domestic coercion.

"Reproductive coercion can go both ways  such as [a woman] getting pregnant to make it so that your husband cant leave a marriage. I really want to emphasise that fact," she says."

Similarly, she has seen stories of US military members serving overseas whose spouses have cheated on them and gotten pregnant, meaning they cannot finalise a divorce. Since the US military still punishes adultery, which can prompt a court martial and potentially a dishonourable discharge, they may be blocked from beginning a new relationship.

All four of the groups who spoke to The Independent  the Hotline, the FLVC, the NWLC, and the New-York-based non-profit Pregnancy Justice  urged legislators across the US to reexamine blanket bans on divorcing while pregnant.

"The focus should really be on questioning, why do we have this in place to begin with?" says Britton-Snyder. "Is it necessary? And is it doing more harm than good?"
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Congressman Ronny Jackson, who formerly served as the White House physician, has been demoted by the US Navy in the wake of an inspector general's report that determined his actions while serving under then-President Donald Trump were inappropriate.

The two-term congressman was demoted from retired admiral to captain, which will hurt his reputation in the military and has financial implications for him.

The Pentagon inspector general's report said Mr Jackson created a hostile work environment and both drank alcohol and used drugs while on duty as Mr Trump's doctor, according to The Washington Post.

The report concluded that Mr Jackson's overall course of conduct toward subordinates disparaged, belittled, bullied, and humiliated them, and fostered a negative work environment, and engaged in inappropriate conduct involving the use of Alcohol".

The substantiated allegations in the DoDIG [Department of Defense Office of Inspector General] investigation of Rear Adm (lower half) Ronny Jackson are not in keeping with the standards the Navy requires of its leaders and, as such, the Secretary of the Navy took administrative action in July 2022, Navy spokesman Joe Keiley said after the report was released.

Mr Keiley did not comment on Mr Jackson's new rank and did not confirm his demotion. However, sources speaking anonymously to the newspaper confirmed that Mr Jackson had been demoted.

Mr Jackson has waived off the Pentagon report as little more than a political hit job meant to reprimand him for supporting Mr Trump.

Ronny Jackson Police (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

"Im proud of the work environment I fostered under three different presidents of both parties; I take my professional responsibility with respect to prescription drug practices seriously; and I flat out reject any allegation that I consumed alcohol while on duty," he said in a statement. "I also categorically deny any implication that I was in any way sexually inappropriate at work, outside of work, or anywhere with any member of my staff or anyone else. That is not me and what is alleged did not happen."

During his time as Mr Trump's doctor, Mr Jackson held a press conference praising the then-president for his reported good health. Mr Jackson insisted that Mr Trump has "good genes" and said if he ate slightly less fast food he "might live to be 200 years old".

Mr Trump still cites Mr Jackson's reports when boasting about his health.

Mr Jackson and his Republican colleagues reportedly still use the rank "former retired rear admiral" when discussing his rank.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A senior member of Nikki Haleys campaign team fired back at Kari Lake after the Republican Senate candidate from Arizona seemingly gloated about the end of her presidential campaign.

A Donald Trump-endorsed candidate, Ms Lake posted on X that Ms Haley was set to suspend her 2024 campaign, following more humiliating, landslide losses on Super Tuesday.

In a throwback to Meghan McCains No peace, b****! retort to Ms Lake in February, Ms Haleys communications chief Nachama Soloveichik quoted Ms Lakes latest post and used the same phrase.

Ms Lakes post appeared to echo back to the feud she began with John McCains daughter in February when she criticised the late US Senator on social media and then tried to turn it around by appealing to Ms McCain as a fellow mama bear.

Wednesdays post by the former television news anchor also appeared to backfire, with several replies saying her attitude was not the way to appeal to Haley voters or those who were undecided.

The earlier feud began on Monday 19 February, when Ms Lake appeared on Outspoken with Bruce and Gaydos on the Phoenix radio station KTAR News.

During her appearance on the airwaves, she was asked about a campaign rally in 2022 at which she had said: We dont have any McCain Republicans in here, do we? Get the hell out!

At around the same time, Ms Lake also told Real Americas Voice that McCain ran Arizona with an iron fist during his lifetime. She had also claimed that John McCain may be dead, but hes reaching up from the grave trying to keep power in Arizona, characterising the Vietnam War hero as a power-mad control freak.

Rarely did he do anything good for the people, she added.

An avid supporter of Donald Trump  who himself feuded bitterly with McCain before the senator died from brain cancer in August 2018  Ms Lake appeared to recognise her divisive comments could cost her at the ballot box and tried to claim that she had only been joking.

It was said in jest. And I think that if John McCain, who had a great sense of humour, would have heard it, he would have laughed, she said.

I want everyones vote, whether you are a McCain if you call yourself a McCain Republican, if you call yourself a middle-of-the-road Republican, a Trump Republican, an America First Republican, I want your vote and guess what? I want independents votes as well and I want disaffected Democrats  and theres a lot of them who are waking up and saying, This is not working out.

Having heard the broadcast and being less than convinced by Ms Lakes sudden about-face, a furious Ms McCain took to X the next day.

Kari Lake is trying to walk back her continued attacks on my Dad (& family) and all of his loyal supporters after telling them to get the hell out, she posted.

Guess she realised she cant become a Senator without us. No peace, b****. We see you for who you are  and are repulsed by it.

Ms Lake responded by reaching out to Ms McCain on the platform on Wednesday 21 February, offering an olive branch by appealing to their similarities as a fellow Mama Bear of two children, revealing her father Larry had also died from cancer and declaring that our childrens future is too important to let it slip away over past grudges or hurt feelings.

Ms Lake said she valued Ms McCain and her family and their passion for Arizona.

In response, Ms McCain quoted the post and repeated in all-caps: NO PEACE, B****!

That post went viral and then came back again on Wednesday with Ms Soloveichiks post.

Ms Lake was also criticised on Wednesday for using the former UN Ambassadors legal first name Nimarata, although she misspelt it as Nimrata.

Ms. Lake, there is nothing wrong with Niki Haleys given first name--its quite a beautiful name, really. But, like former president Trump, you use it in a prejudicial manner to make her seem foreign. Thats wrong. Its unChristian and unAmerican. It appeals to the worst in us, one user replied.

Another X user urged Ms Lake to humble yourself and seek to represent all Arizonans, while many others said her attitude towards Ms Haley made her less appealing as a candidate.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A retired Democratic senator has warned that the US may have violated its own laws around foreign aid by sending arms to Israel.

Patrick Leahy, a former Senator from Vermont, is best known for championing his namesake Leahy Law, which refers to two statutory provisions that prevent the federal government from using funds to assist foreign governments when there is credible information that they have committed gross violations of human rights.

When The Independent asked the former senator if the US sending aid to Israel complies with the law, his answer was clear: No. Is that succinct enough for you?

Mr Leahy, who retired from the Senate in 2023 after first being elected in 1975, said the number of civilians who are being injured or killed by US paid armaments comes in violation to the foreign aid laws named after him.

Theres supposed to be restrictions on accounting, he continued.

The US has repeatedly sent bombs and other weapons to Israel after Hamas launched a surprise attack on 7 October, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and around 200 were taken hostage. Since then, Israels attacks on Gaza have killed at least 30,000 Palestinians since October, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

Questions arose as to whether the nation has violated the Leahy Law when the president released a new memo on foreign aid requirements last month, with some Democrats hailing it as a step towards potentially conditioning military aid to Israel. However, the memo only outlined existing laws stating that countries receiving US aid must follow humanitarian guidelines, such as providing credible and reliable written assurances that they are complying with international law and humanitarian standards.

The White House also denied that it would have an impact on billions of dollars of military aid slated for the longtime US ally.

His comments came as news broke that President Joe Bidenwill order US forces to build an aid seaport on the Gaza coast. Last week, the president also announced that US forces would also be airdropping humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The United Nations warned last month that some 576,000 people, or one-quarter of Gazas population, are one step away from famine. It has also accused Israel of  systematically  blocking aid deliveries into Gaza and of opening fire on convoys that do make it through.

Senator Peter Welch, Mr Leahys successor in the Senate, supports a ceasefire and said the port for Gaza is a good start but more work still needs to be done.

We gotta face the contradiction, he told The Independent. You know we're dropping food in on Monday and Israels dropping bombs on Tuesday. And American taxpayers are paying for both. A ceasefire is what we need in order to get aid in and hostages out.
SITSATSAWENI  Prime Minister Russell Dlamini yesterday led a team of Cabinet ministers and government officials on a tour of three communities bordering the Big Five National Park.

The head of government toured the project boundary line at Sitsatsaweni community and proceeded to Mahhuku, before stopping at Lonhlupheko. Present during the tour were Ministry of Defence Principal Secretary (PS) Prince Sicalo, Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs Jane Simelane, Minister of Public Works and Transport Chief Ndlaluhlaza Ndwandwe, Minister of Economic Planning and Development Dr Tambo Gina and Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg/ Also present were Lubombo Region Member of Parliament (MP) Futhie Ngcamphalala and Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs PS Khangeziwe Mabuza.

Attendance

Also in attendance were KaLanga Chief Jozane Maziya, Microprojects Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sibusiso Mbingo and Royal Science and Technology Park CEO Vumile Dlamini.

Leading the tour and explaining about the boundary line of the project was PS Mabuza. The PM was also taken to the barrier line separating the project with the community of Sitsatsaweni. The PS shared to the premier that there was a farm at Mazinyane, which was currently used by the Ministry of Agriculture and they were on the verge of engaging that ministry to use the farm for the expansion of the project. The PM thanked the chief for the warm welcome and the task team for ensuring that the project progressed well. Dlamini said the tour would help the task team to compile a report that would then be presented to the King on the progress of the project.

Resourceful

The tour has been important and resourceful for us to familiarise ourselves with what is obtaining on the ground. I am optimistic that all the challenges that have been raised will be attended to for the betterment of the work that has already commenced, he said. Meanwhile, government approved E60 million towards the fencing project of the 120km perimeter, covering an area of 80 000 hectares of the Park. In April last year, former Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs Moses Vilakati, together with his then counterpart at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Thuli Dladla, led diplomats from various countries during a field visit at the Hlane Royal National Park and Mlawula Nature Reserve, which are part of the Big Five National Park.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A group of Texas students have asked the US Supreme Court to intervene in a campus ban on drag shows, alleging that the schools president is infringing on their First Amendment rights.

Spectrum WT, a student-led LGBT+ organisation at West Texas A&M University, as well as two of its student leaders, claim that the public universitys president Dr Walter Wendler engaged in viewpoint-based discrimination when he suddenly cancelled the groups planned charity drag show event last year.

The plaintiffs, represented by Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, allege Dr Wendler invoked his personal opinion of drag shows to prevent them from putting on the event, just 11 days before it due to take place on campus.

Dr Wendler sent a 700-word email to the campus community barring drag shows because they stereotype women in cartoon-like extremes and are deceive, divisive and demoralizing, the students say.

Now, theyre asking Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to pause the ban immediately so that they can host the on-campus event this 22 March and to also limit public college and university officials from censoring expressions based on personal opinion.

The First Amendments promise of neutrality is at its zenith at Americas public colleges and universities, where students must always remain free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding; otherwise our civilization will stagnate and die, the plaintiffs say in their lawsuit.

The case arrives at a time of heightened political tensions on school campuses across the country. Over the last few years, schools on every level from elementary to higher education have had to address or make rules on social issues due to the current climate.

A growing conservative moment is pressuring schools to diminish teaching or speaking about race, gender, sexual orientation and more. Higher education institutions are being pushed to end or prevent diversity and inclusion programs and a lawsuit challenging affirmative action recently made its way up to the Supreme Court.

Separately, anti-drag rhetoric and legislation have become mainstream among conservatives. Last year, Florida unsuccessfully tried to enact a law barring children from attending drag show performances, in part, thanks to an unsubstantiated claim that it indoctrinates children.

A similar law was declared unconstitutional in Texas last year as well.

A Drag Queen performs during a show at the Swan Dive nightclub on March 20, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Getty Images)

Spectrum WT and its students claim that in preparing to host their drag show they enacted policies to make it less controversial, like prohibiting the presence of minors without a parent or guardian, instructing performers to avoid profane music or lewd conduct and making the show appropriate for those over 13 years old.

But Dr Wendler insisted a drag show was discriminatory toward women and that it was impossible to put together a harmless drag show.

Though the students ended up holding the event off-campus they still sued in the district court. The court declined to pause the ban saying they had not clearly established that all drag shows are inherently expressive.

The students submitted an expedited appeal to the Fifth Circuit but the appeals court declined to hear the case quickly, only agreeing to hear oral arguments the week commencing 29 April.

Now, the case lies in the hands of the Supreme Court.

Justice Alito has asked West Texas A&M to respond to the students application by 13 March.

West Texas A&M has declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Watch as an alleged German Red Army Faction militant is flown to jail after a decades-long search on Thursday 7 March.

Last month, fugitive Daniela Klette was arrested by police after more than 30 years in hiding.

The 65-year-old was tracked down in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg.

Ms Klette is renowned for allegedly being part of the far-left armed group which terrorised Germany for decades.

She is accused of participating in a string of robberies between 1999 and 2016 after the Red Army Faction was disbanded.

Ms Klette is also suspected of robbery and attempted murder together with two other suspected ex-members of the group who remain on the run, Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg.

Police confirmed her identity using fingerprints and she did not resist arrest.

Ms Klette was found after a tip-off from the public in November 2023.

The Red Army Faction, which emerged from German student protests against the Vietnam War, killed 34 people and injured hundreds.

The group launched a violent campaign against what members considered US imperialism and capitalist oppression of workers. It declared itself disbanded in 1998.
 Close Putin threatens Nato with World War 3

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The West has criticised Vladimir Putins sham elections as the Russian president sent a sinister warning to Nato.

Putin warned against any move that would risk direct conflict with Russia, saying it would be one step away from World War 3.

Asked about the dangers of a wide-scale Nato-Russia conflict, Putin said: Everything is possible in the modern world.

It is the latest example of the Russian president dangling the threat of a larger, or even nuclear, conflict in Europe as he attempts to pressure Ukraines Western allies against an escalation of their involvement in his war.

The comments came as Putin claimed a landslide victory in Russias sham presidential election with 87.8 per cent of the vote.

The US, Germany, the UK and other nations have said the vote was neither free nor fair due to the imprisonment of political opponents and censorship.

Earlier, Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny, called Mr Putin a killer and a gangster, as she joined scores of Russians unhappy with his regime lining up to vote on Sunday afternoon at polling stations both inside Russia and at its embassies around the world.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Sweden has officially joined Nato  ending decades of post-Second World War neutrality to become the alliance's second new member since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The ratification cements Nato's presence in the Nordic region with all countries now members, and makes the Baltic essentially a Nato sea right on Vladimir Putin's doorstep.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided at a ceremony in which Sweden's "instrument of accession" to the alliance was officially deposited at the State Department.

"This is a historic moment for Sweden. It's historic for alliance. It's history for the transatlantic relationship," Mr Blinken said as he welcomed the 32nd country into the group. "Our Nato alliance is now stronger, larger than it's ever been."

The Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg described it as "a historic day," adding: "After over 200 years of non-alignment Sweden now enjoys the protection granted under Article 5, the ultimate guarantee of Allies' freedom and security".

Article 5 of Nato's treaty obliges all members to come to the aid of an ally whose territory or security is under threat. It has only been activated once  by the US after the 11 September, 2001, attacks  and is the collective security guarantee that Sweden has sought since Russia invaded Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, accepts Swedens instruments of accession from Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (Reuters)

Finland and Sweden both applied to join the defence alliance in the wake of Russian President Putin ordering the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. While Finland officially joined Nato last April, Sweden's bid was held up by Hungary and Turkey.

Turkey expressed concern that Sweden was harboring and not taking enough action against members of the Kurdistan Workers party (PKK), which is deemed a terrorist group by Ankara, the US and the EU. The Turkish parliament finally gave approval in January. As for Hungary, it continued to drag its feet, without ever being so clear about the reasons for its objections. Populist

President Viktor Orban is Putin's closest ally in Europe, and has been a block on EU-wide funding for Ukraine. Some have suggested that Orban has sought to play up his nation's military and economic leverage to look strong to a domestic audience. Hungary finally ratified in the decision within the last week.

Good things come to those who wait. No better example, Mr Blinken said.

The White House said that having Sweden as a Nato ally "will make the United States and our allies even safer."

A Ukrainian serviceman from air defence unit of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade fires a AK-74 assault rifle on the eastern frontline near Bakhmut (REUTERS)

"Nato is the most powerful defensive alliance in the history of the world, and it is as critical today to ensuring the security of our citizens as it was 75 years ago when our alliance was founded out of the wreckage of the Second World War," it said in a statement.

Mr Kristersson was due to visit the White House and then be a guest of honor at President Joe Biden's State of the Union address to Congress late on Thursday. Mr Biden is expected to cite Sweden's accession to Nato as evidence that Putin's intent to divide and weaken the alliance has failed as a direct result of the Ukraine invasion. He is also set to use Sweden's decision to join to step up calls for reluctant Republicans to approved stalled military assistance to Ukraine as the war enters its third year.

Ukraine has been facing Russian advances in eastern areas of the 600-mile frontline while having to contend with shortages of ammunition. While the EU has managed to overcome Orban's objections to push through some fresh funding, the US Congress still cannot agree. As Washington is the single largest supplier of military aid to Kyiv, Ukrainian officials have urged the US to agree new funds as soon as possible, as it is having a direct impact on the frontline.

The Swedish flag will be raised outside the military organization's headquarters in Brussels on Monday. "Sweden will now take its rightful place at Nato's table, with an equal say in shaping Nato policies and decisions," Mr Stoltenberg said in his statement.

"Sweden's accession makes Nato stronger, Sweden safer and the whole alliance more secure," he added. He said that the move "demonstrates that Nato's door remains open and that every nation has the right to choose its own path."

Sweden has already got a taste of military exercises with Nato. Nordic response, a first-of-its-time training venture was launched in recent days across northern Norway, Sweden and Finland. The exercises across land, air and sea involve more than 20,000 troops from 13 nations, including the UK.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The case of a woman fleeing repression in her own country who was brutally raped and murdered has sent shockwaves across Poland.

Mourners across the Eastern European country paid tribute to the young Belarusian woman on Wednesday who died after the attack on the streets of Warsaw last month.

Local reports suggest some people witnessed the crime and did nothing. The brutal attack shocked many in the capital which rarely witnesses such violence. Police said Liza was found unconscious in the early hours of February 25 at a building entrance. She was taken to a hospital but died several days later, as a result of suffocation she endured during the attack.

The Polish capital has become a hub for Belarusians fleeing oppression and Ukrainians fleeing war.

Activists from the three countries organised the event where people gathered at the crime scene in downtown Warsaw, placing flowers and lighting candles in honor of the woman known only as Lizaveta, or Liza.

People march in silence to commemorate Lizaveta (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Participants let out a collective scream and then walked in silence. Some voiced outrage at sexual violence against women and sadness that a young refugee woman who sought safety in Poland was killed so violently.

She came here to Poland for a better life and in Poland, her life was taken away, Maja Stasko, an artist and feminist activist, told the mourners. She was completely alone in this place. We are here for her right now.

People march in silence to commemorate Lizaveta (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

People were outraged at reports that some witnessed the crime but did not react. Dont be indifferent, read one sign.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who lives in exile in Lithuania, had called on people to join the tribute to Lizaveta, writing on her website: "We cannot bring Liza back to life. But we can be her voice, the voice of all women who have experienced violence. Because silence is not an option here.

Another opposition figure in exile, Pavel Latushka, participated in the memorial march.

A 23-year-old Polish man, identified only as Dorian S, is suspected of the crime. He has been arrested and charged with robbery, sexual assault and attempted murder.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Watch as family members of hostages held in Gaza speak to reporters at the Israeli Embassy in London on Thursday 7 March.

Hamas gunmen infiltrated southern Israel on 7 October - killing about 1,200 people and taking 253 others hostage.

The press conference in London comes a day after David Cameron said he had a tough but necessary conversation with Israeli minister Benny Gantz about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Palestinians are facing a devastating and growing humanitarian crisis, the foreign secretary said.

In my meeting with Israeli minister Benny Gantz today, we discussed efforts to secure a humanitarian pause to get the hostages safely home and lifesaving supplies into Gaza.

I once again pressed Israel to increase the flow of aid. We are still not seeing improvements on the ground. This must change.

Lord Cameron also set out the UKs call for an immediate humanitarian pause in the fighting, increased capacity for aid distribution within Gaza and greater access for supplies through both land and maritime routes.
Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A woman has survived by a miracle after she was attacked by a bear while letting her dog outside in Pennsylvania.

Sitting in Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Lee Ann Galante, 55, told NBC News that during the attack, I just kept thinking: I cant believe this is happening. This cant be happening. Im being attacked by a bear.

I thought, This is it  Im going to die, she added.

Ms Galante was at her residence in Butler Township on Tuesday night, around 8.30pm, when her eight-pound Pomeranian named Smoky started causing a commotion. She then spotted the silhouettes of three large bear cubs in her neighbours tree.

All of a sudden, a giant bear jumped over the fence and charged at Ms Galante, knocking her over face first onto a concrete surface, and was pulling on the back of her head so hard that I thought she was going to scalp me, she told the outlet.

The bear turned its attention to Smoky, getting near the dog, before it rushed at Ms Galante, knocking her to the ground and biting her left arm.

Im screaming at the top of my lungs. It was terrifying. I really thought that was gonna be it (WXPI)

Thankfully, Ms Galante and Smoky managed to get inside, crawling to her phone to ring 911.

Im screaming, Someone please help me. Im screaming at the top of my lungs. It was terrifying. I really thought that was gonna be it, Mr Galante told WXPI.

She was ready to charge again. Thank God we got in the house. I dont know how it happened because I really thought  we would both be dead.

Butler Township police chief John Hays told the local outlet, The Butler Eagle, that they received a call around 8.45pm relating to the bear attack and were able to get over the residence relatively quickly.

Mr Hays added to WTAE that hes been here over 40 years, and its never happened. Weve never had anything like this.

After the horrific attack, Ms Galante sustained many injuries, such as a broken nose, cuts inside her mouth, and puncture wounds, and injuries to her scalp, among others, NBCreported.

Police said that the mother bear has now been euthanised (WXPI)

Mr Galantes trauma surgeon told WXPIthat she is expected to make a full recovery.

The adult bear was found with three cubs in a tree and the mother bear was eventually euthanised after she continued with her aggression, police told reporters.

Jesse Bish, the northwest region director at the Pennsylvania Game Commission, also told various outlets that it was hard to tell if one of the cubs was the one that grabbed ahold of the victim, so we may decide to euthanise those three also, just for the safety of the public.

If the cubs are not euthanised, Mr Bish said theyll be tagged and transferred to a more remote location.

As for Smoky, the pooch managed to escape the whole ordeal with only a few scratches on his back.
Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Catering to thousands of travellers that enjoy skinny dipping and feeling the sun on their bare skin, clothing-optional cruise ship holidays are here to stay.

But one man who took a nude cruise by the Texas-based travel company Bare Necessities has revealed that its not quite as simple as jumping on board and letting it all hang out at sea.

If you thought you wouldnt have to pack any clothes at all, youd be disappointed, as well as a little hungry, as you need to be dressed in restaurants for safety and hygiene reasons.

Taking to Reddit to share his experience of taking a seven-day cruise from Tampa, Florida, the 67-year old man shared: Clothes were required in the main dining room and in the specialty restaurants.

And thats not all. The round trip includes visits to ports in Mexico and Honduras, where people were required to cover up.

To avoid locals seeing of a ship full of 2,000 naked people docking in port, guests were instructed to put on their clothes shortly before the ship left the open seas.

The man explained that once the ship is out of port the captain generally makes an announcement telling people they can strip off. Most people take full advantage, given thats why they booked that specific cruise in the first place.

An annoucment is made by the ships captain when its time to remove clothes (Bare Necessities travel)

On the footwear front, shoes were required walking around the boat, although some folks went barefoot nonetheless and at dinner, everyone was in flip flops or sandals.

Taking photos is banned on board for everyones privacy. Everyone knows you cant take pictures of other people, he added. I was much less worried here than I have been at nude beaches. Almost no one had phones with them outside their cabin.

On board, its easy to tell a staff member from a tourist as the staff remain fully clothed at all times except for one male and one female perfomer at the ships theatre.

After the passenger posted his experiences, thousands of people took to the comments to ask for more details, with several asking what his fellow travellers were like.

His response: Unquestionably, there were relatively few younger couples [and] it definitely skewed older. Certainly most were in their 50s to 70s. Many gay men. Not many gay women that I could tell, but I would think they would be comfortable. Its an accepting crowd.

Other commenters asked whether the fellow passengers were attractive, and whether there were any hot bodies to look at while walking around the ship.

However, the man reiterated that it was not a swingers cruise or a sex-poistive cruise, rather an environment for people to enjoy a nudist experience.

Cruises seem to be for people who like to eat and lie around, so there were a lot of large people, he added.

But despite the rules and the lack of attractive people, the man highly recommended it to fellow Reddit users.

Summing up his experience, he wrote: It was awesome. Great weather and the opportunity to do a bunch of fun things nude (beaches, resorts, dancing, be at bars, etc.). My 61-year old partner also enjoyed it very much.

Read more: 10 best cruise holidays and new cruises for 2024
Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Boeing has refused to tell investigators who worked on the door plug that later blew off a jetliner during a flight in January, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board has said.

The company also hasn't provided documentation about a repair job that included removing and reinstalling the panel on the Boeing 737 Max 9  or even whether Boeing kept records  Jennifer Homendy told a Senate committee.

It's absurd that two months later we don't have that, Homendy said. Without that information, that raises concerns about quality assurance, quality management, safety management systems at Boeing.

Lawmakers seemed stunned.

That is utterly unacceptable, said Sen. Ted Cruz.

Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board shows a gaping hole where the paneled-over door had been at the fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 (National Transportation Safety Board,)

Boeing has been under increasing scrutiny since the January 5 incident in which a panel that plugged a space left for an extra emergency door blew off an Alaska Airlines Max 9. Pilots were able to land safely, and there were no injuries.

In a preliminary report last month, the NTSB said four bolts that help keep the door plug in place were missing after the panel was removed so workers could repair nearby damaged rivets last September. The rivet repairs were done by contractors working for Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, but the NTSB still does not know who removed and replaced the door panel, Homendy said Wednesday.

Homendy said Boeing has a 25-member team led by a manager, but Boeing has declined repeated requests for their names so they can be interviewed by investigators. Security-camera footage that might have shown who removed the panel was erased and recorded over 30 days later, she said.

The Federal Aviation Administration recently gave Boeing 90 days to say how it will respond to quality-control issues raised by the agency and a panel of industry and government experts. The panel found problems in Boeing's safety culture despite improvements made after two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.

Last week, the FAA gave Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan for addressing safety concerns raised by the FAA and an independent panel of experts from industry, government and academia.
Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A BBC documentary investigating the disappearance of flight MH370 has reexamined the theory that Weak Signal Propagation Reporter (WSPR) radio signals could help to locate the missing aircraft in the Indian Ocean.

On 8 March 2014, the flight with 239 passengers and crew onboard fell off air traffic controls radar 40 minutes into its six-hour journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Since then many theories including technical malfunctions and a hijacking have been speculated, with the answers to the flights disappearance believed to be in the aircrafts unrecovered black box.

Ten years on from the unsolved aviation mystery, Why Planes Vanish: The Hunt for MH370 looks at new evidence in the search for answers surrounding the Malaysia Airlines flight.

In the documentary, Richard Godfrey, a founding member of the MH370 Independent Group, said: Aircrafts do not vanish. They always leave a trail of breacrumbs.

Theres no radar coverage of the Indian Ocean but there are radio signals.

WSPR radio signals are designed to test the strength of radio frequencies with global transmitters sending thousands of low-power radio pulses around the world, and across oceans, every two minutes.

The theory is that when an aircraft crosses any radio signal it will visibly disturb it.

After examining the signals crossing the Indian Ocean from 8 March 2014, Godfrey claims to have found 130 disturbances on the night MH370 disappeared, possibly evidence of the Malaysian Airlines planes final flight path.

Godfrey says he has a good idea of where the crash site is within a radius of 30km because of the WSPR database.

The initial search and rescue zone  a 120,000 square mile section of the Indian Ocean  was based on fuel and flight path estimates focusing underwater in and around the oceans seventh arc.

Scientists at the University of Liverpool are now investigating if WSPR works using a computer system that tracks the impact of aircrafts on the profile of low-power radio signals over 24-hour periods.

Based on the WSPR database, Godfrey believes that the aircraft was manually piloted to glide beyond the seventh arc before it crashed, making several turns and changes to altitude and speed that implies there was an active pilot until the end of the flight.

Families of the two qualified pilots in the cockpit, Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah and Fariq Abdul Hamid maintain that there is no proof that either pilot was involved in the planes disappearance.

Ocean Infinity and the Malaysian Government announced on 3 March that the underwater search for the Boeing 777 may resume on a no find, no fee basis after the original 120m effort was suspended in 2018.
MBABANE  Some schools in the city have taken a bold stand in fighting gangsterism, drug and alcohol abuse, following an increase in the number of pupils who join gangs.

In a move to fight this, Enhlanganisweni High School has deployed community police members at the school gate to search pupils when entering the school premises. This is part of the schools strategy to eliminate drugs and weapons within the premises. The operation began when schools reopened for the first term in January, where the pupils and their bags were searched.

Smuggled

Marula brew was said to be commonly abused by the pupils, who smuggled it in juice bottles. This reporter visited the school yesterday morning, where one of the community police members, was found searching the pupils at the gate. The community police member was assisted by some learners believed to be prefects. In an interview with one of the community police members, Bongani Ntshalintshali, he said there were three of them who were responsible for the search at the school and they took turns. Ntshalintshali said in a most recent incident, a pupil chased another with a knife and he had to intervene. According to Ntshalintshali, the school took a stance to implement the search following the confiscation of weapons from pupils. He said a number of dangerous weapons were confiscated by the teachers last year, where a parents meeting was also held to find an amicable solution.

Ntshalintshali said collectively, it was resolved that a search should be implemented in the morning for all pupils. Everyday, learners are searched before they enter the main gate, said Ntshalintshali. He said they conducted schoolbags and body searches. He said the operation was working to their advantage and that they would be changing their strategy. The schools Head teacher, Nomthantazo Tembe, said before the operation, they struggled with learners coming with drugs within the school premises and used them, something that affected learning.

Tembe said the marula brew was the most smuggled. So far, we have recorded a clean flow in terms of the drugs, alcohol and weapons, she said. Tembe said in the past, whenever the teachers confiscated anything, they would bring it to her attention.

The head teacher mentioned that they were motivated by the Inqaba Programme, known as Schools as Centres of Care and Support to start the operation. She said they were referred to Somnjalose High School, where the same programme was being implemented. Tembe said the programme was to ensure the safety and support of the teachers and learners. Meanwhile, Siphocosini Indvuna Yenkhundla, Wilton Mamba, said gangsterism was making other pupils lives unbearable. He stated that following a spate of gangsterism cases in the schools under the constituency, they decided to run crime prevention campaigns. Mamba said the objective of the campaign was to assist learners make the right decisions.

Weapons

He said pupils who referred to themselves as 26, benjamin and paras came with dangerous weapons to school, terrorising teachers and fellow learners and causing a reign of terror. Mamba said their motivation came after they were approached by the police and other stakeholders to conduct the campaigns jointly. This, he said, was after noting the statistics that were rampant of gangsterism cases at schools. They proposed to conduct campaigns at Siphocosini, Mbabane West and East. According to Mamba, the crime prevention campaign was supposed to be a once- off, but he was approached by a reforming gangster, who is currently working with them. He said the reforming gangster had pending cases with the police and they were using him as an ambassador.
Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Rail passengers from central Scotland, Carlisle, Crewe and other stations will be able to choose between competing operators from London Euston starting in June 2025.

The move is expected to lead to lower fares and move some travellers from air and road to rail.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has given Grand Union Trains the go-ahead for a new link from Stirling and five other Scottish stations to London Euston.

Trains will run four times a day, and also serve Carlisle, Preston, Crewe, Nuneaton and Milton Keynes Central.

It will be the first time that the incumbent long-distance operator, Avanti West Coast, has faced so-called open access competition.

But unlike the electric rolling stock on Avanti West Coast, Grand Union will rely on diesel trains.

Announcing approval for the plan, the ORRs strategy director, Stephanie Tobyn, said: Our decision helps increase services for passengers and boost competition on Britains railway network.

By providing more trains serving new destinations, open access operators offer passengers more choice in the origin and price of their journey leading to better outcomes for rail users.

Stirling currently has two direct trains a day to London via the East Coast main line on LNER, as well as the overnight Caledonian Sleeper.

Grand Union Trains will also serve three stations currently with no links to London  Larbert, Greenfaulds and Whifflet  as well as Motherwell and Lockerbie.

The train operator said: The line will avoid the congested Edinburgh and Glasgow stations, giving passengers a faster service without any changes required.

Grand Union says it plans to use electric or dual mode (electric and diesel) trains in the longer term. But initially, it says: With current power supply being an issue on the West Coast main line, the service is planned to start using off-lease Class 22x trains, which have a potential top speed of 125mph.

These Belgian-built trains, branded as Meridians, are currently used by East Midlands Railway.

Currently, the only long-distance open access trains within Great Britain are on the East Coast main line: Hull Trains, Grand Central and Lumo compete with state-owned LNER.

The ORR concluded the proposed services would increase choice for passengers, significantly increasing direct journey opportunities to and from London and central and southern Scotland, while making use of existing capacity on the network.

The Independent has asked Avanti West Coast and LNER for a response.

Listen to Simon Calders podcast on open access rail
Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

For hundreds of years, when in Rome, visitors have flocked to the Trevi Fountain to make a wish, following a storied ritual.

Throwing coins into the water, few gave them a second thought.

As visitors coins carry wishes for love, good health or a return to the Eternal City, they provide practical help to people the tourists will never meet.

Today, coins pile up for several days before they are fished out and taken to the Rome division of the worldwide Catholic charity Caritas, which counts the bucketfuls of change and uses them to fund a food bank, soup kitchen and welfare projects.

In 2022 Caritas collected 1.4 million euros ($1.52 million) from the fountain and it expects to have gathered even more in 2023. Rome is one of the worlds most visited cities with 21 million tourists.

Catholic charity Caritas employee Fabrizio Marchioni, 52, carries a bucket containing coins collected at the Trevi Fountain (REUTERS)

Extracting the coins is a spectacle and involves workers from regional utility ACEA balancing on the edge of the vast Baroque fountain, using long brooms and suction hoses.

The coins are then given to Caritas, where they are dried with hairdryers and cutlery dryers and sorted and counted.

Signs around the fountain explain that the change will go to charity - a thought that pleases many of the tourists posing by the landmark.

I wanted to make a wish which is dear to my heart, said Yula Cole from Brazil after throwing in a coin. But I also know that this coin is not just staying there but will help needy people. I made a wish but hopefully this money will help other peoples wishes too.

Day and night, throngs of people crowd around the fountain posing for photos. Legend says that if you throw a coin by the right hand over the left shoulder into the fountain, you will return to Rome. People eagerly add their own personal wishes.

I am tossing a coin as they say if you toss a coin you come back to Rome and also because I want to make the wish to find love, said Carola from Chile.

Carola, from Chile, throws a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy (REUTERS)

The Trevi Fountain, completed in 1762, covers one side of Palazzo Poli in central Rome with its statues of Tritons guiding the shell chariot of the god Oceanus, illustrating the theme of the taming of the waters.

It is where Italian film director Federico Fellini set one of the most famous scenes in cinema in La Dolce Vita, with Anita Ekberg wading into the fountain after midnight and beckoning Marcello Mastroianni to join her.

Wading into its waters today is forbidden and tourists face fines if they do.

Twice a week, up to four workers collect the coins, said Francesco Prisco, a manager at ACEA. The fountain is drained for cleaning twice a month.

The collection and cleaning operations are carried out as quickly as possible to try to reduce the downtime of the fountain, he said.

After the coins have been swept into a long line by a long-reach broom, they are sucked up by hoses and taken to Caritas office, where employee Fabrizio Marchioni spreads them across a huge table for drying.

Not just coins are fished from the fountain. Workers have removed jewellery, dentures, religious medals, even umbilical cords.

Catholic charity Caritas employee Fabrizio Marchioni, 52, dries coins collected at the Trevi Fountain (REUTERS)

Signs by the fountain warn not to steal the coins.

Over the decades the coins have been targeted, sometimes with magnets attached to a pole.

Close to Romes main station is Caritas supermarket, known as the Emporium, which allocates food to needy residents who can purchase it with tokens on a card.

I was a blacksmith but then I lost my position and my arthritis does not help in finding a new job. Luckily there are places like this Emporium, said a man who gave his name only as Domenico.

Another man, Luigi, explained: I was a builder and also the owner of a video surveillance system company before I lost my job. Places like this Emporium give concrete help.

Back at the fountain, the coins stack up.

I got told that if I toss in two coins my wishes will come true. So thats why I did it, said Chinese tourist Yuting.
Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Two roadshows this week discussed the proposal of undersea tunnels linking France to the Channel Islands.

The Connect 3 Million campaign, founded in 2019 by local entrepreneur Martyn Dorey, aims to provide a fixed link between the Channel Islands and France for the long-term economic, environmental and social future of the region.

International experts at the Jersey and Guernsey roadshows explored the economic, social and cultural benefits of the tunnels, as well as how feasible the project is and its potential role in tackling the housing crisis.

The multi-billion-pound tunnel between Guernsey and France via Jersey could take 10 years to build at an estimated cost of 25m per kilometre and an additional 100m for each of the three underground stations.

Proposed shuttle trains from stations located in St Peter Port, Jersey Airport and Saint Helier could be as quick as 15 minutes for commuters travelling between Jersey and Guernsey.

Economic development minister Kirsten Morel said: If we want to tackle the housing crisis, this is really one way we could do that. If we want to make sure food arrives every day, then this is one way to do that.

I believe that if you put in the infrastructure, people will come.

The project was inspired by the sub-seabed links in the Faroe Islands north of Scotland. Teitur Samuelsen, CEO of the Faroe Islands tunnel corporation and Arild Svik, network director of the Norwegian Tunnelling Society, were both in attendance as speakers at the roadshow discussions.

Connect 3 Million estimates 8,000 journeys a day in each direction between Jersey and Guernsey if the tunnels were approved.

France would have to be on board with phase two of the scheme  connecting Jersey to mainland France  for the undersea link to be successful.

Project co-founder Martyn Dorey said: Making it easier for everyone to reach the Channel Islands will transform the future for everyone. Our economies are strong but are being held back when we all need them to expand further.

This innovation will herald a boom across financial services, tourism and beyond.
A family has shared the moment their daughter, who was born nearly four months early, was finally able to leave the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after a 247-day stay.

Baby River was due to be born on 7 September 2023 but arrived in May when mother Shelby Rutledges water broke unexpectedly at only 22 weeks and four days pregnant.

At the time, doctors told Shelby there was a chance River would not survive if she were born so early.

After an initial 16-day stay in hospital, Shelby gave birth.

She was warned that she needed to expect River to remain in the NICU for up to a year, so decided to document her daughters progress.

After more than seven months in Oklahoma Childrens Hospital, the family was finally told that River was well enough to go home - and she left to a guard of honour in January.
Humza Yousaf has paid tribute to BBC presenter and childrens author Nick Sheridan following his death aged 32.

The broadcaster announced Sheridans passing in a post on social media website X on Thursday morning (7 March).

Following the news, Scotlands first minister took a moment to pay tribute to the extremely talented journalist and author.

He will be greatly missed, many of us in this chamber will have been questioned by Nick, quite robustly no doubt, Mr Yousaf told MEPs in the Scottish Parliament.

My thoughts are with his family, his many friends and indeed his colleagues at what will undoubtedly be a very sad time.

Sheridan presented BBC shows including Reporting Scotland, Drivetime, The Nine and Seven Days.
Jeremy Hunt clashed with BBC Breakfast presenter Charlie Stayt as the chancellor was forced to defend his spring Budget.

The presenter quizzed the chancellor over his Budget on Thursdays show (7 March) and asked: Is it true that if you are earning 15,000, because of your decisions yesterday, you will be 400 a year worse off?

Hang on, youre taking one figure in isolation, Mr Hunt said.

The chancellor then went on to explain how he had increased benefit payments, local housing allowance and extended household support to help people on a low income.

The presenter said: One thing you dont seem to be able to do is say that is true.
An independent judge-led statutory public inquiry will examine the police response to the murder of Emma Caldwell almost 20 years ago, Scotlands Justice Secretary announced on Thursday (7 March).

The 27-year-old was killed by serial rapist Iain Packer in 2005.

He was jailed for life after being found guilty of her murder and multiple sex offences involving 22 other women.

Packer was interviewed by police officers the month after her body was found in May that year, but he was only convicted last week.

Police Scotland has apologised to the family of Ms Caldwell and Packers other victims, saying they were let down by policing in 2005.
A Tampa gunman threatened customers at a gas station, claiming he was going to harm members of the public and police on Monday, 4 March.

Tampa Police Department released footage showing a man pointing an extended magazine at the station before police swoop in and arrest him.

Ground units made contact with the suspect and took him into custody with assistance from an aviation unit.

The suspect was charged with two felony counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, one felony count of grand theft firearm, one felony count of felon in possession of a firearm, and one misdemeanor count of resisting an officer without violence.
David Cameron has urged Hamas to accept the hostage deal as he reiterated a call for a "permanent sustainable ceasefire".

The foreign secretary's remarks in Berlin on Thursday, 7 March, came after Hamas's delegation left talks in Cairo without a deal for a Gaza ceasefire ahead of Ramadan.

Lord Cameron also called for 500 aid trucks a day to prevent famine in Gaza as he downplayed a diplomatic rift with Germany.

"No-one is doing more than Britain and Germany to pile that pressure on, lets remember that theres a group of people that could stop this conflict right now. And that is Hamas," Lord Cameron said.
Jeremy Hunt refuses to tell Robert Peston how many houses he owns as the pair clashed in a post-Budget interview broadcast on Wednesday, 6 March.

The chancellor has seven apartments in Southampton, a half-share of holiday house in Italy, and a half-share of an office building in London, according to the register of interests.

It comes after he mocked Angela Rayner, who has faced questions about selling her former council house, while announcing a capital gains tax cut.

Mr Hunt would not be drawn on how many properties he owns, telling Mr Peston: "These are personal questions."
LOBAMBA  The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has been challenged to publicise the list of the 100 firefighter recruits, if it is confident that the recruitment process was fair and transparent.

The challenge was made by Mbabane East Member of Parliament (MP) Welcome Dlamini yesterday, when the ministry appeared before the House of Assembly Portfolio Committee.

The MP spoke after some legislators raised concerns about the recent recruitment by the Eswatini National Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services (ENFRES). Minister Appolo Maphalala in his preamble, told the MPs that the service received 14 000 applications during the recruitment exercise, while only 100 ended up being successful. The MPs raised concerns about the unemployment of young people in the country and wondered where the 13 900 unsuccessful candidates were. The MPs also highlighted that there was a lot of controversy surrounding the recruitment process. They mentioned that there were allegations that some of the people who were recruited never went through the mandatory stages of the recruitment while people who claimed to have been through all the stages were left behind. They claimed that those who eventually made it were related or connected to influential people.

The Mbabane East MP said if the ministry strongly felt and believed that the recruitment was above board, the list of the 100 recruits should be made public. He said if the list was made public, the aggrieved emaSwati would have the opportunity to scrutinise the names. Minister, the fire recruitment was not above board and people are still complaining as we speak. Some believe they should have been among the recruits, yet you maintain that the process was fair. If you feel the process was fair and transparent, can the ENFRES publicise the list of the recruits, all 100 of them, so that it can stop this alleged corruption. Word on the street is that only influential peoples children were selected and those who went through the entire process were left out. For transparency and confidence, publicise the list so we can see who are they and determine whether they deserve to be there, he said.

Lugongolweni MP Joseph Souza said the exercise seemed to have been centred between the Manzini and Mbabane corridor. The MP said for transparency and fair representation, the ENFRES recruitment should emulate the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) structure, which visits all four regions and every winner at inkhundla or region was selected. He expressed belief that if the fire recruitment could follow that process, there would be fair representation within the service. The MPs also urged the ministry to expand fire services to every town in the country, as their stations were too scattered and firefighters were struggling to reach scenes on time. Sigwe MP David Ngcamphalala mentioned that the country had a serious need for more fire stations. He recalled that two years ago, when his home was gutted by fire, during the unrest, firefighters took long to respond and the reason was because the fire station was very far.

He urged the minister to ensure that his budget catered for the building of more fire stations, which would also create employment for the 13 900 who were unsuccessful during the recent recruitment exercise. During the debate, the MP referenced the ministers report that the ministry recorded E52 million under-expenditure on personnel cost, because there were not enough personnel to utilise it. The MPs wondered why the ministry was not hiring more fire personnel, because the budget was there. Matsanjeni South MP Sabelo Ndlangamandla asked how a whole ministry would have an under-expenditure, while the country was battling financially, such as drugs shortage, apart from employment. The MP said those funds should have been rechannelled to the Ministry of Health to solve the drug crisis. Mtsambama MP Sibongile Mamba said she was not pleased to learn that the ministrys budget was reduced by E20 million. The MP said local government would continue to have challenges when the ministrys budget was reduced by huge amounts. The minister asked the MPs to approve the ministrys E443 177 674 recurrent budget and E51 200 000 capital expenditure.
Martin Lewis has explained what workers can expect to see in their April pay packet after the spring Budget.

The Money Saving Expert founder appeared on Good Morning Britain on Thursday (7 March) to discuss the outcome of the chancellors budget.

Mr Lewis said: What people will see in their pay packets come April is relatively they pay less national insurance.

The way taxes have gone up is that incomes have gone up but tax thresholds have frozen, so you pay relatively more of your income in tax because of that, but you dont see it in your pay packet,
When the chief rabbi of Moscow was summoned by Putins FSB agents to Sadovnicheskaya Street police station in 2003, they had one goal: to turn him into a Russian agent.

Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, who had been chief rabbi for the previous decade, was able to resist the Russian state in their efforts to turn him. But when Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, his time was up.

Having refused to endorse the war, Rabbi Goldschmidt fled, first to Hungary and then Israel, urging other Jewish people to leave Russia while they could. He was designated a foreign agent by the Kremlin for his criticism of Putin, whose rise he had witnessed at close quarters.
The Land Development Agency (LDA), which is spearheading the Governments campaign to increase housing supply, is inviting private landowners and developers to submit expressions of interest for sites which can deliver mainly cost rental housing.

Its preference is to purchase lands with planning permission for at least 200 units in higher density development in the five main cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford as well as the greater Dublin commuter belt.

Its timing is also taking advantage of a softening in pricing for development land.

The LDAs head of property Phelim ONeill says that in its first entry into the market last summer a number of the 60-plus responses were rejected because the landowners were unrealistic on prices while others were rejected because they failed to meet its criteria such as the location, lacked potential for creation of sustainable communities, had planning for less than 200 units or the planning permission may not have been viable.

Many of the sites were overpriced and over valued and wouldnt achieve any kind of a value for money proposition for the LDA, he added.

Its largest market acquisition was two adjoining sites in Clongriffin in north Dublin. One of these had permission for over 1,800 units and the overall site probably has capacity for between 2,300 and 2,500 additional units.

The LDA achieved a 24pc reduction on the asking price for 27.4 of the acres at Clongriffin. The state agency Nama had been asking 50m for that lot but the LDA bought it for 38m (1.39m per acre) after an Irish developer pulled out of a 45m deal for this lot.

Mr ONeill says the price equates to around 19,000 per unit which he says is reflective of the market and reflective of the cost and reflective of good value and gives us an opportunity to benchmark other acquisitions as well.

Thats a really good example of the kind of site that we are looking to purchase. Its got a high frequency train station with both Dart and commuter rail, theres a terminus for one of the Bus Connect routes, all of the services in place, the road network is there he said.

One of the first Clongriffin tranches is out to tender for 408 units.

We hope that this is a template for more acquisitions that we look to make, he added.

LDA head of property Phelim ONeill

Asked if the market had adjusted on pricing, he said: I think there is still plenty of land in the market that is overpriced and that vendors believe that they are worth more than they actually are. And I think that reflects why so few transactions have happened in the last 12 months.

Hopefully more land will come to the market this year but the only way that it will transact is if the pricing is adjusted somewhat.

We are doing due diligence on a number of other transactions that came through in the first roundand these are reflective of where the market is and thats why we are progressing them. We think they represent fair value and a good opportunity for LDA.

While he sees plenty of developer demand for smaller sites with planning permission he says demand is much thinner for larger sites with or without permission. He acknowledges that it is seeking to take advantage of the latter at the right price.

I think there is still plenty of land in the market that is overpriced

The agency is taking a number of approaches to delivering dwellings. It is acquiring land from government bodies and hiring contractors to build on those sites. It aims to deliver 2,000 units per annum in this way by 2028. Currently there are three of these large sites with a combined 1,000-plus units being built in Shankill, Co Dublin, Cork city and Naas. A further 2,500 with planning permission are expected to be on site by the end of this year.

A further 3,500 plus are being assessed by planning authorities or are about to have planning applications submitted with active schemes in Galway, Cork, Limerick and Waterford as well as the Greater Dublin Area (GDA).

The LDA is also acquiring homes under Project Tosaigh (PT) which is working with developer partners and already it has delivered over 1,000 units through forward purchase from Irish domiciled developers on about five sites, including 650 in the GDA. Most of these will be let on cost rental terms based on the cost of construction. A further 1,500 are either in construction or legal agreement. The overall target in PT is 8,000 units.

The next phase of PT will see the LDA forward fund developers so the developer and the LDA reduce costs as the developer will not need to raise private funding to cover costs during construction.

While the LDAs focus is on sites with planning permission, it is also willing to acquire sites without planning permission but which are zoned residential, are serviced and ideally could deliver within five years.
Manna boss says business will soon be ready to take on substantial pre-IPO investment

'World's largest' drone delivery service Manna is the future for delivery services in Ireland

Manna Drone Delivery is planning a commercial dispatch service that can cover more than a million Dublin homes by the end of this year.

Founder Bobby Healy said that the service  which typically delivers small items such as coffee, fast food and medicine  is also in trials with the US retail giant Walmart as it targets expansion into the US market.

He said that the company will soon be ready to take on hundreds of millions in investment ahead of a hoped-for public flotation.

Speaking to The Big Tech Show podcast, Mr Healy outlined the companys plans after launching the service in Blanchardstown, where he expects to make 1,000 deliveries a day.

Manna has 22 commercial partners, ranging from restaurants to supermarkets, fast-food operators to pharmacies.

We need more capital for a business like this because its very capital intensive

Our plan is to be in most of the major Dublin suburbs this year, he said.

I think it is within our ability now to serve about a million residents in Dublin, which is what we want to achieve this year. That, in itself, would be by far the biggest deployment in the world of drone delivery.

He said that while the company, which has raised more than 40m in venture funding, is spending about 1m a month, it is set to become cash-positive for its Irish operations in the coming months.

We want to get to $100m revenue so we can IPO the business, he said. This business needs to be a public company as soon as we can, in order to get the capital we need. We need more capital for a business like this because its very capital intensive.

Entrepreneur Bobby Healy with one of the Manna drones. Photo: Mark Condren

Mr Healy said that it is currently spending about $1m a month.

Were in very good shape. But I think very soon, particularly at the end of this year, well be ready to take on hundreds of millions of dollars and spend it well and return money on it.

The company is currently running trials in the Dallas Fort Worth area of the US, which has a population of around 7.5 million people.

We want to be in every single suburban household on the planet

It is also currently doing test deliveries with Walmart, the giant US retailer which has already announced that it plans to deliver to 75pc of the Dallas Fort Worth population.

Walmart has already publicly announced Googles Wing  which has spent $2bn on its drone delivery development  and the billion-dollar funded start-up Zipline as its established delivery partners.

Weve got our team over there at the moment doing test deliveries with them, with Walmart, said Mr Healy.

We dont want to be one player among 500 different drone companies doing different use cases. We want to be the biggest thing the world has ever seen with delivery. We want to be in every single suburban household on the planet.

The Blanchardstown rollout is the first drone delivery setup where no human observers are required to physically follow the deliveries as they happen.

Manna has previously run trials around Ireland, including in Balbriggan, Oranmore and Moneygall.

Listen to todays episode of The Big Tech Show podcast for the full interview
ESB chief financial officer says trends are positive as wholesale costs fall

Electric Ireland has said it will pass on reductions in wholesale prices to customers

Electric Ireland customers could see further cuts to their bills this year, according to ESB chief financial officer Paul Stapleton.

He said that the wholesale prices have fallen significantly since 2022, but remain volatile and higher than they were before the energy crisis.

Electric Ireland has now passed on two reductions to customers and has committed to  as and when it can  pass on further price reductions. I think the trends are positive in that regard, Mr Stapleton said. Electric Ireland is part of the ESBs customer-facing business, which it calls customer solutions.

Weve seen wholesale [gas] prices, by and large, continue to tick downwards. If theres potential to pass on further reductions to customers, Electric Ireland certainly will do so, Mr Stapleton added.

He also predicted that more dynamic pricing could be a feature in the retail energy market in years to come as smart meters continue to be installed. That could even see consumers being able to opt for pricing that changes on a daily basis.

Semi-state ESB said on Thursday that it made an operating profit of 1.1bn in 2023, which compared with just under 847m in 2022.

But its customer solutions business posted a 12m loss for the year, which compared with a 109m loss in 2022.

That huge loss in 2022 was a result of its So Energy residential business in Britain, where losses were significantly reduced last year. Mr Stapleton said he expects So Energy to be profitable this year.

Electric Ireland, which has about 1.2 million customers, did not make a profit in its residential business last year, he added.

It is a commercial business and it has to operate on a standalone basis, Mr Stapleton said. No business can sustain not making a profit for too many years. So it will need to get back to making a normal margin. But theres certainly potential for more positive news for customers in that journey if the current trends continue.

At this stage, I wouldnt be concerned about the potential for increases into 2025, but a lot can change in the world in two years.

Global energy markets were rocked by Russias invasion of Ukraine, while other geopolitical factors such as unrest in the Middle East and attacks on shipping can all affect energy pricing.

The ESB said its total revenue for 2023 rose to 8.78bn, from 7.61bn the previous year, while it invested a record 1.7bn in energy infrastructure last year  primarily across the island of Ireland.

Of that, 418m was spent on projects to expand the ESBs renewable generation base and enhance emergency power-generation facilities and security of supply. The company expects to spend 11bn in capital expenditure over the next five years.

The company is also paying a 220m dividend, with 97pc of it going to the Exchequer, in respect of its 2023 financial year. That represents a payment of 11.35c per stock unit. The dividend being paid compares with the 327m paid in respect of 2022.

Mr Stapleton said the ESB will also continue to invest in the UK. The companys power generation and trading division made a 730m operating profit last year, with 40pc of that coming from its operations in Britain.
Michael Power had launched action against defendants including Swedens Telia

The Irish ex-chief financial officer of telecoms firm TCell in the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan  who claimed he received death threats after making a protected disclosure to TCells majority Swedish owner  is likely to face significant legal expenses after the Court of Appeals set aside an important previous High Court decision that would have allowed him to renew summonses against defendants in the case.
In 2016, the European Commission found that five major truck manufacturers had breached competition law. Photo: Getty

The High Court has been urged to direct that a small number of representative cases be chosen for an early hearing which will determine dozens of actions brought over anti-competitive conduct which led to alleged overcharging in the truck market.

The claims arise out of a 2016 European Commission decision which found that five major truck manufacturers breached competition law by colluding for 14 years on truck pricing, and by passing on the costs of compliance with stricter emission rules to their customers.

Record fines totalling 2.93bn were handed out to most of the companies, with the exception of MAN truck manufacturers, as it had revealed the existence of the cartel to the Commission.

As a result, dozens of Irish hauliers, truck-rental firms and firms with large fleets launched separate Irish High Court actions seeking compensation for the alleged overcharging on trucks they had bought or leased.

They include well known names like National Truck Rental and the ESB. Some cases started in 2016 but the most recent came in 2021.

The defendants, Scania, Daf, MAN, Daimler (now Mercedes-Benz) and Iveco, deny the claims.

On Wednesday, Paul McGarry SC, for the plaintiff companies, asked Mr Justice Max Barrett to direct the parties to identify a sample of cases which could be case managed so that they can go to trial as soon as possible. Counsel suggested there are some 150 cases at this stage, and a representative sample of them could be narrowed down to around 12.

This was in circumstances where there continued to be a dispute about information being requested by the defendants from the various plaintiffs, he said.

However, his side has written to say they have provided all the information they have but there remained a litany of complaints from the defendants, he said.

Counsels view of this was that any evidential deficit in relation to these matters could be dealt with at the trial.

Lawyers for the truck manufacturers opposed the application, saying the issue of information from the plaintiffs continued to be canvassed because there had not been proper compliance with rules for providing this information. They asked the court to direct such compliance before the case returns to court to deal with other issues.

Mr Justice Max Barrett said he would consider the submissions and come back with written directions for the parties.
Rust movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed talks with her lawyer Jason Bowles, right, and her defence team (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP, Pool)

A film set weapons armourer who loaded a gun for US actor Alec Baldwin which fired and killed a cinematographer has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty after a two-week trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, following the fatal shooting of 42-year-old Halyna Hutchins on the set of western film Rust in October 2021.

Prosecutors alleged Gutierrez-Reed unknowingly brought live ammunition on to the set, at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe, and gun safety protocols that might have detected the live rounds had been disregarded.

Defence lawyers for Gutierrez-Reed described her as an easy scapegoat, adding that problems on the film set extended beyond her control, including alleging the mishandling of weapons by Baldwin.

The involuntary manslaughter charge against Gutierrez-Reed carries a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison and a 5,000 dollar (3,900) fine.

Baldwin is scheduled to stand trial in July on a charge of involuntary manslaughter after he was re-charged in January. The actor has pleaded not guilty.

The lead actor and co-producer of the film was pointing a gun at Ms Hutchins during a rehearsal when the weapon went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.

The actor previously said he pulled back the hammer, but not the trigger, and the gun fired.

Santa Fe County Deputy Levi Abeyta, left, watches as firearms expert for the defence Frank Koucky III demonstrates how to uncock a gun like the one used on the set of the movie Rust (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP, Pool)

He was initially charged in January 2023, but those charges were formally dismissed three months later.

Earlier in January 2024, special prosecutors brought the case before a grand jury in Santa Fe after receiving a new analysis of the gun, and Baldwin was re-charged.

The indictment accuses Baldwin of involuntary manslaughter through negligent use of a firearm, and an alternative charge of involuntary manslaughter without due caution or circumspection.

The filming of Rust resumed last year in Montana, under an agreement with the cinematographers widower Matthew Hutchins that made him an executive producer.
The boss of animal nutrition firm Devenish has said a horrendous financial performance was down to a loss of focus on its core business.

Pre-tax losses at Belfast-based Devenish Nutrition more than trebled year on year to 14.2m from 4.4m in 12 months up to the end of May 2023.

In a company report to be published at Companies House, directors summed up the performance as disappointing.

Chief executive Tony McEntee, a restructuring specialist installed in the role last year, said the firm had since sold its research farm in Dowth, Co Meath, and businesses in Mexico and North America in order to control costs.

The business specialises in animal nutrition products for the agri-food industry.

Mr McEntee has led the restructure of the company, renewing its focus on animal nutrition and disposing of surplus assets.

The research farm in Dowth was sold to the Irish state while its North American and Mexican businesses were disposed of in a deal which closed last week.

According to the accounts, turnover has increased by 7.7% from 250.8m in year to May 2022 to 270.2m in the year to May 2023. But rising costs and high interest on its debt led to major losses.

As part of restructure process, a number of directors resigned and were replaced, though overall employee numbers remained steady at 557.

Mr McEntee said: The die was cast before I got here, and it was due to a range of different things. The accounts are a horrendous set of numbers.

But he said the company needed to provide context and clarity to explain the results, adding: 2023 was a very difficult trading year, particularly with the spike in raw material prices through 2022 and 2023 post-Ukraine, and when youre on contract pricing, it just hammers your margin.

He added: I suppose the business as a whole had got distracted over the years.

"While the research on the farm in Dowth was very worthy, it was more university-type level research so we were distracted away from our core.

The business was over-leveraged and that, with lower margins and higher interest costs, is not a good summary. So I think the business had to have a reality check and figure out where it was going.

Things were tight. We brought in shareholder money in mid to late 2022 and then I was appointed in March 2023.

The resignation of directors was also part of the restructuring, he said.

We had to take a direct, different type of approach, and we brought in a lot of directors with really strong commercial experience.

New directors include Liam McGreal, a former CEO of meat company Kepak.

Mr McEntee said they had right-sized the balance sheet to get rid of debt.

Its US business was sold to Korean animal nutrition company Easy Bio  a deal which closed on February 29.

And he said the jobs of its workforce were protected throughout the restructure. This has been all about protecting the core, so we now have eliminated our senior debt so that the only debt we now carry is an invoice discount facility.

The business had also transferred a charity in Uganda to local ownership.

We were prepared to take the steps necessary to secure the business were now a very secure business, were capitalised now that we can invest in our product range, our people and our equipment.

Belfast Telegraph
A man carries a Polish flag next to burning tyres, as farmers protest outside Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's office against the European Union's Green Deal and imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, in Warsaw, Poland, March 6, 2024. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel.

A drone view of farmer's tractors blocking a speedway from Lublin to Warsaw, as they protest against the European Union's Green Deal and imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, on the outskirts of Warsaw in Wiazowna, Poland, March 6, 2024. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

Poland saw its most violent protest by farmers and supporters yet Wednesday as some participants threw stones at police and tried to push through barriers around parliament, injuring several officers, police said.

Police used tear gas and said they detained over a dozen people and prevented the protesters from getting through to the Sejm, the Polish parliament.

Farmers are angry over European Union climate policies and food imports from Ukraine that they say threaten their livelihoods. Such protests have occurred across the 27-member EU in recent weeks, but this one was decidedly angrier than earlier demonstrations in the central European nation.

Police noted on the social media platform X that its officers are not a party to the ongoing dispute and warned that behavior threatening their safety cannot be taken lightly and requires a firm and decisive response.

The deputy agriculture minister, Micha Koodziejczak, said he didn't believe that real, normal farmers caused a riot in front of the Sejm today," and that it was necessary to isolate provocateurs and troublemakers.

He did not say who he thought was behind the violence.

Farmers on tractors blocked highways leading into Warsaw while thousands of their supporters gathered in front of the prime minister's office before marching to the parliament. Some trampled a European Union flag and burned a mock coffin bearing the word farmer.

A man carries a Polish flag next to burning tyres, as farmers protest outside Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's office against the European Union's Green Deal and imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, in Warsaw, Poland, March 6, 2024. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel.

Farmers were joined by miners, foresters, hunters and other supporters. They blew horns and set off firecrackers and smoke bombs, despite police warnings that the use of pyrotechnics was banned. Some protesters burned tires.

The protesters are demanding a withdrawal from the EU's Green Deal, a plan meant to fight climate change and protect biodiversity, including with plans requiring farmers to reduce the excessive use of polluting chemicals to boost their crops.

The protests have led politicians to water down some provisions.

The protesters also want the Polish-Ukrainian border closed to stop the imports of Ukrainian food products, which farmers say drive down market prices and put Polands agricultural sector in jeopardy.

The protest increased pressure on the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a former president of the European Council who is strongly pro-EU and seeks to support Ukraine as it fights Russia's invasion.

Tusk has sought to meet the farmers' demands, calling their frustrations justified. He has said he plans to propose amendments to the Green Deal.

Anti-Ukrainian slogans have featured at the protests in Poland, where authorities have said they are concerned that Russia is trying to leverage legitimate concerns to create divisions between Warsaw and Kyiv.

Agriculture, forestry and fishing make up less than 3% of Poland's GDP, according to the World Bank.
LOBAMBA  The Ministry of Health is a big joke.

This was the feeling of Members of Parliament (MPs) when decrying what they said was a lack of enthusiasm by the ministrys officials in dealing with healthcare challenges in the country. The MPs said almost four Parliaments had raised challenges on the deteriorating status of health in the country, but officials working on resolving the challenges had become worse and the very same officials were allegedly stealing from the ministry, thus affecting the entire nation. All 21 MPs who attended the Ministry of Health annual performance report and annual budget debate lamented the shortage of ambulances, staff, clinics, medication, primary caregivers wages and unavailability of maternal rooms in all public health facilities. The MPs said these issues were not getting better, because no one in the ministry seemed to care. For that reason, the MPs concluded that the ministry was a big joke.

They noted that the government was trying to improve the health budget every year, but it kept falling into the wrong hands. The ministrys budget was increased by E250 million from the 2023/2024 financial year, which has seen the health budget increase to E3 billion. They said if the issues were not addressed, even the next Sibaya, in about four years from now, would be dominated by health issues and corruption in the sector, just like the last one. The MPs said if it was up to them, they would be placing the ministrys budget on Head 60, until the minister fired all the officials who neglected the sector for over a decade. The MPs said they would pass the budget with a heavy heart, because they knew those who swindled the State already had plans on how they would squander this years budget.

One of the MPs who spoke strongly was Lobamba MP Michael Masilela. There were 11 other MPs who raised concerns about the unavailability of ambulances in health facilities across the country. The MPs said their cars had turned into ambulances. Some stated that they turned into midwives as they assisted women to give birth in their cars while rushing them to clinics. They also decried the absence of maternal rooms in most public health facilities. Siphofaneni MP Nomalungelo LaZwide Simelane, told the minister that she was constantly travelling between Manzini and Sithobelweni, rushing people to health centres, because Siphofaneni Clinic did not have an ambulance. Mayiwane MP Sicelo Dlamini said, as they were rushing these pregnant women to health facilities, some of them gave birth along the way. Some of the women give birth in our cars and we find ourselves assuming the duties of midwives and assisting women to give birth, he said.

Ludzeludze MP Nomkhosi Masuku said the absence of ambulances endangered their lives and exposed them to hijackers. She shared that a few days ago she got a call from people who pretended to need an ambulance, yet they had evil intentions. Mahlangatja MP Mgucisi Dlamini also shared a touching story of how they found a dead person after five years, because primary healthcare givers were no longer equipped to conduct door-to-door exercises and the proximity to health facilities and the shortage of ambulances contributed. The MPs also questioned the corruption in the sector. The MPs recalled that the Minister of Health, Mduduzi Matsebula, in his preamble, told the MPs that six officials, who were implicated in the drug shortage scandal were referred to the Civil Service Commission for disciplinary action. The MPs said they did not want disciplinary action but people to be expelled and jailed for killing emaSwati. Sigwe MP David Ngcamphalala said some of the disciplinary action never yielded fruits; instead, people were transferred or suspended with pay.

Ngudzeni MP Charles Ndlovu said he was surprised that some of the invoices for drugs that were not delivered were signed by trusted officials of the ministries of Health and Finance. So these invoices were signed without any of the officials noticing that something was not adding up? I think the minister needs to clean the entire ministry and have new officials, he said. After all the MPs shared the hardship faced by their communities, they said they were not sure whether the health budget needed to be released. Masilela, said: This ministry is a big joke. The MP asked how people could complain about the same issues over and over, without any action from the ministrys officials. He said over the years, MPs had been asking for ambulances in health facilities. At least one ambulance in a central clinic, that could be shared, but nothing is happening. This means we are led by people who do not have ears, he said.

Masilela said the corruption that engulfed the health sector was outstanding, taking into consideration that no one had been arrested. He said: You want the help of anticorruption in the drug theft issue, what were you doing all these years? It is the ministry that is supposed to have control measures. We are speaking to the same people, begging them to strengthen control measures. The lives of emaSwati are in the hands of these officials. The nurses out there are crying out for medication. You go to health facilities and you are told there is no blood. Health facilities do not have a simple or basic medication and this has been going on for years, hence I am saying this ministry is a big joke.

The MP said that even if some issues could be sorted out, and culprits arrested, another crop of crooks would rise within the ministry. He said previous Parliaments were complaining about the same health issues. He also highlighted that the issue of increasing the E350 that was offered to bagcugcuteli (health motivators), since 2008, had not been addressed and none of the ministrys officials was bothered while they spoke of improving prevention and primary healthcare. Before, the ministry used to have door-to-door health sensitisation exercises to prevent certain diseases, but these disappeared over the years because bagcugcuteli havent been equipped. That is why I am telling you minister, laba lobaholako yi-joke yodvwanje, he said.

He said even though they felt like not approving the report, they were cornered to pass this one. He assured that they would not pass the next report, if there were no budget allocations for ambulances among other issues. For today, let us give them the money so they can continue to give it to those who steal it, but next time we will not pass it, he said. Masilela said the ministry was among those who took the lions share of the budget. He added that senior officials of the ministry went on expensive trips, to benchmark some health programmes in serious countries like Taiwan.
Richard Hackett: Why other farm sectors cant afford to let Irish tillage wither

Unless we get greater support we might not have a tillage industry in 10 years time  and then all of our agriculture will suffer

'We dont have to get to the last acre before a sector is gone. There is a figure of a national area below which it is simply unviable to be serviced' Photo: Roger Jones

Richard Hackett Thu 7 Mar 2024 at 07:46

This is not an easy year in which to increase the national tillage area: it is very wet, seed is scarce, prices are on the floor, costs are too high, and grower enthusiasm is alarmingly low.
The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) have seized the assets of Christopher Waldron, including a property in Cabra, seven designer watches amounting to 72,000, and a sum of cash.

The assets were determined to have come from the illegal sale and supply of drugs in the wider Cabra and Finglas suburbs of Dublin, following a yearlong investigation by CAB.
Saoirse, who was undergoing treatment for cancer, inspired a highly successful Late Late Toy Show appealPresident Higgins, Tanaiste Micheal Martin, Ryan Tubridy and fellow Toy Show star Adam King among those to offer condolences to Saoirses family

Saoirse Ruane, the young Galway girl who moved the country with her story as she underwent treatment for cancer, has died, her family have announced.

The 12-year-old died on Tuesday after ongoing treatment for cancer.

In 2020, Saoirse appeared on the Late Late Toy Show and spoke with host Ryan Tubridy about her cancer diagnosis.

Her appearance on the show saw the founding of the Toy Show Appeal, which has raised millions of euro for childrens charities across the country.

During last years Toy Show, the fundraiser collected 3 million in donations for good causes.

Saoirse Ruane with her mother Roseanna on the Late Late Toy Show in 2020. Photo: RTE

When she was aged seven, Saoirse was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. It was during her treatment for the disease that Saoirse had her leg amputated.

In a notice online, the 12-year-olds family made the announcement.

"It is with broken hearts the Ruane family announces the passing of their beautiful daughter and sister, Saoirse, who passed away peacefully at home, after a long illness bravely borne, in the arms of her heartbroken parents, Ollie and Roseanna, on Tuesday, 5th March 2024, the notice reads.

Saoirse, aged just 12 years old, was surrounded, as she has been throughout her illness, by the love, care and devotion of her family, the prayers and goodwill of the community in Kiltullagh and people all over the country who held Saoirse in their hearts.

Saoirse was predeceased by her grandfather Michael Ruane.

Saoirse, adored daughter to Ollie and Roseanna, big sister to Farrah Rose, half-sister to Rebecca, granddaughter to Anne Ruane and Tony and Ann Brehony, an adored niece, cousin, family member and of course, best friend to Willow and Slush, was loved beyond words and will be missed beyond measure, the notice said.

A pupil of Kiltullagh National School, Saoirse will be missed but always remembered by her school friends and teachers, who have travelled the road with Saoirse on her journey, and were a source of joy and fun to her.

Giving details of her funeral, her family said she will repose at home on Friday and her funeral will take place on Sunday.

The notice said: In Saoirses short life, she inspired and influenced so many. If you would like to make a donation in Saoirses memory, please donate to the Galway Hospice using the following link: In Memory of Saoirse

Concluding their message, her family included a quote from Winnie the Pooh: If ever there comes a time when we cant be together, Keep me in your heart, Ill stay there forever., adding: Fly Now with the Angels Saoirse.

In her appearance on the Toy Show, when she was eight, Saoirse spoke of her dream of being on the show and to be able to walk again by that Christmas.

She then showed how that second dream had come true, as she walked around the studio to cheers from the live audience.

Her third wish was to go on a family holiday and it was on the Christmas show that she was told she would be going on holiday to Disneyworld with her family.

President Michael D Higgins offered his condolences and said Saoirse's strength and warmth was an inspiration to all.

Former Late Late host Tubridy is among those paying tribute, describing her as a "selfless, humble, kind, optimistic and thoughtful child".

It is with the greatest sadness imaginable that Ive heard the news of my dear young friend, Saoirse Ruanes passing, Tubridy said.

We became friends instantly when we met. She told her story, the nation fell in love with her and a charity began because of her and with that she helped enrich and encourage the lives of thousands of children in Ireland, he added.

A selfless, humble, kind, optimistic and thoughtful child. She was everything we should and could be as a country and her passing will put so much into perspective for so many of us, Tubridy said in his tribute, extending his condolences to her family.

I want to thank them for sharing their extraordinary Saoirse with us all. The world is a poorer place without Saoirse but I do hope that twinkle in her eye shines on and on, he said.

Adam King, the boy who invented Adams Virtual Hug and appeared on the same Toy Show as Saoirse in 2020, and his family paid tribute to her on Instagram.

Our family are absolutely heartbroken to hear the devastating news about our beautiful friend Saoirse.

We are sending our thoughts, love, and hugs to Roseanna, Ollie, Farrah Rose, and all of Saoirse's family, friends, members of her school, and wider community.

Saoirse was the kindest, most gentle and considerate girl and her light will continue to shine. We will hold you in our hearts forever dear Saoirse. RIP.

Denise Charlton, CEO of Community Foundation Ireland, who were partners of the Toy Show Appeal, said Saoirse inspired a nation.

All of us at Community Foundation Ireland offer our deepest sympathy to family and friends of Saoirse Ruane. She inspired a nation sparking generosity from the RTE Toy Show Appeal viewers which has transformed young lives in every county, Ms Charlton said.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin paid tribute and said: Very saddened by the heartbreaking passing of Saoirse Ruane. Fond memories of meeting Saoirse and her mother Roseanna in Croke Park, seeing her radiant smile & love of GAA.

She leaves behind an extraordinary legacy in the Toy Show Appeal. Deepest sympathies to her family and friends.

In 2021 Saoirse was named as the first child ambassador for childrens charity Variety. Variety remembered Saoirse as an inspiration for all children in Ireland.

Her work with the charity involved the establishment of Varietys Recycle Mobility Programme, providing funding for mobility trikes for children with mobility issues.

"Even when Saoirse was dealing with her own illness, she was selfless and always put on a smile and was there to encouraged government ministers and other children with disabilities to get involved and be part of our Recycle Mobility Programme, a spokesperson for Variety Ireland said.

"One of her many legacies will be she has ensured that children with mobility issues in Ireland can and will be included in cycling activities for generations to come.

"Saoirse will remain in the heart of all Variety children for ever. May her kind, loving and peaceful soul rest in peace. We love you Saoirse. Thank you for everything.

Minister of State at the Department of Children Anne Rabbitte said: She captured the nation's heart on the Late Late Show and has had a place there since.

In February 2023, Saoirse received an award for bravery from the Galway Sick Kids Foundation, a charity supporting children and families attending University Hospital Galways (UHG) paediatric unit.

"We were thrilled when Roseanna, Ollie and Saoirse attended on the night and had a wonderful evening with them. Saoirse loved the whole event and danced with her mum and dad afterwards, Galway Sick Kids chairperson Colm Kennelly said.

In July, she recorded a version of Gary Barlows Sing and chose Galway Sick Kids as the recipient of funds raised from the song. The recording was done along with the Bravo Theatre Group in Loughrea.

By December more than 50,000 had been raised for the charity.

We are all heartbroken for Roseanna, Ollie and Farah Rose and their extended family, Mr Kennelly said.

The charity will ensure that the money raised will be used in St Bernadettes, the paediatric unit at UHG, to better the lives of other parents and children using the unit in the days and years to come. May she rest in peace.

Giving details of Saoirses funeral arrangements, her family said she would repose at home on Friday March 8 from 2pm to 8pm.

A bus service will run from the car park at Bullaun Church (H62 YH66) and those visiting are asked to follow the directions of stewards and only attend by using the bus service.

The funeral cortege will arrive on Sunday March 10 to St Peter and Paul's Church, Kiltullagh (H65 KC89) at 1.45pm for Mass for Saoirse at 2pm. Saoirse will be laid to rest in Bullaun Cemetery (H62 YH66) after Mass.

Her family asked for privacy on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday morning.

Please be mindful that it is sufficient to offer your sympathy to the family once  be respectful of the families' grief, in particular on the day of the Mass and afford them the space they deserve and need at this most difficult time, the notice said, adding that notices of condolence can also be added to Saoirses funeral notice on RIP.ie.

They added that donations in her memory, if wished, can be made to Galway Hospice.
Ireland is going to the polls on Friday to vote in two referendums that would change the language on family and care in the Constitution.

Here is everything you might need to know before casting your vote.

What does the Constitution currently say?

The nation will vote in two referendums on Friday, known in shorthand as the family referendum and the care referendum.

In the first, Article 41.1.1 and Article 41.3.1 accords special status to the family as the basic unit of the society with strong legal rights. It fixes a family as based on marriage.

The Constitution currently says that the State recognises the Family as the natural primary and fundamental unit group of Society, and as a moral institution possessing inalienable and imprescriptible rights, antecedent and superior to all positive law.

It also says the State pledges itself to guard with special care the institution of Marriage, on which the Family is founded, and to protect it against attack.

In the second, Article 41.2 effectively says that women working in the home are central to the good functioning of the State and society. It also pledges to endeavour to support women working at home so that they are not obliged to go out to work and neglect family duties.

It currently says that the State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved and says the State shall endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home.

What are the proposed amendments?

The proposed change to Article 41.3.1 would outline the family as founded on marriage or other durable relationships. It will retain the content of Article 41.3.1  including the reference to marriage  but would strike out the words: on which the family is founded.

This would become the 39th Amendment to the Constitution.

In the second referendum on the care amendment, the proposed change to Article 41.2 would mean to remove the article and to instead insert a new Article 42B, recognising the important role of carers in Irish society.

The proposed addition pledges the State to strive to support that care. In full, it says: The State recognises that the provision of care, by members of a family to one another by reason of the bonds that exist among them, gives to Society a support without which the common good cannot be achieved, and shall strive to support such provision.

This would become the 40th Amendment to the Constitution.

What would these changes mean?

In the referendum on the concept of family, the constitutional change would allow for those in other durable relationships aside from marriage to be recognised.

The institution of marriage will continue to be recognised as an institution that the State must guard with special care and protect against attack as that wording will remain and is not affected by the proposed amendment.

In the referendum on care, the proposed new article would recognise the importance to the common good of the care provided by family members to each other and would provide that the State would strive to support the provision of such care.

The legal effect of a No vote in either referendum means the Constitution would remain as it currently exists and no changes would be made.

Who is campaigning for a Yes-Yes vote?

The National Womens Council of Ireland is the most prominent Yes-Yes campaign group, with Family Carers Ireland also supporting the changes.

All Government parties including Sinn Fein, Social Democrats, Labour and People Before Profit also support a Yes-Yes vote.

Who is campaigning for a No-No vote?

Political party Aontu has advocated for a No-No vote.

Other groups which are advocating for a No-No vote on the basis that it would remove constitutional protection for mothers include the Iona Institute, Family Solidarity and The Christian Solidarity Party.

A group of lawyers, named Lawyers for No, is advocating for a No-No vote on the basis that the proposed changes would lead to major uncertainties in relationships and would have consequences in family, tax and property law, they said.

Can you vote Yes-No? Who is advocating for a Yes-No vote?

You can vote Yes-No or No-Yes in the referendums if you wish to do so.

A number of campaigners and disability activists are advocating for a Yes-No vote due to the proposed wording in the care referendum.

Equality Not Care, a campaign group made up of disabilities campaigners, family members of disabled people and feminists has come out for a progressive No vote in the care referendum.

A number of disability activists are concerned that the new amendment on care would only recognise care within the family and would not create any new concrete rights for those who give or receive care.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 6

What time are polling stations open on Friday?

Polling stations are open from 7am on Friday and close at 10pm.

How do I find out where my local polling station is?

Once you are registered to vote and you meet the eligibility criteria for voting in a referendum, a polling information card will be posted to your address before polling day.

This will include your elector number, the name of the polling station where you will go to vote and a formal statement explaining the referendums.

You must vote at the polling station named on your polling card.

Do I need to bring ID with me?

Yes, you must bring identification with you to your local polling station. You will need to show this as your polling card is not valid form of identification.

A passport and driving licence are both valid forms of ID, though a number of others are also accepted. The full list is available at electoralcommission.ie/referendums/how-to-vote/.

What will the voting cards look like?

The referendum on family will be on white coloured ballot paper while the referendum on care will be on green coloured ballot paper.

You should mark an X in either the yes or the no box on the paper, then fold it and place it in a sealed ballot box.

The ballot papers are also available to view at electoralcommission.ie/referendums/how-to-vote/.

You can read all of our referendum coverage here: https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/referendums
The chief executive of the HSE has said he has confidence in the care at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).

Planned surgeries in all hospitals that are part of the University of Limerick group were set to resume today after the decision was made to postpone elective operations for two days this week.

The decision came after severe overcrowding at UHL in its emergency department.

I am confident in that hospital for the public to go there. Im confident for people to use it, the HSEs chief executive Bernard Gloster told Morning Ireland.

What I have said previously is that I am confident in the arrangements I have in place today and Im confident to say to people, if you need to go to hospital, you can go to that hospital, you should go to that hospital.

I live in that area myself, my family go to that hospital. I dont have any fear of the clinical care for people presenting at that hospital, Mr Gloster added.

Despite his confidence, Mr Gloster said the situation with overcrowding and delays were unacceptable.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 7

Currently there are 100 patients on trolleys in the hospital, according the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation trolley watch figures. 50 of those are in the emergency department.

Todays number is down on Mondays trolley number, when it hit 143.

Mr Gloster said across the country, hospitals had seen an increase in the volume of people attending emergency departments in the first nine weeks of the year.

The number of patients attending emergency departments had gone up by 13pc across the country and by 16pc in Limerick, Mr Gloster said.

Those kinds of numbers dont mean anything to people when theyre waiting but we have seen certainly post-Christmas a very significant change in attendances at hospital, Mr Gloster said.

That pushes us to look at exactly what were doing at our hospitals but also outside in primary care in the community. But certainly, those types of numbers are not acceptable, Mr Gloster said.

Mr Gloster said it was also important to take what was happening in UHL in the context of the rest of the country.

Last night at 8pm there were 171 people awaiting a bed, on trolleys in our emergency departments across the country, he said.

23 of those were in Limerick. So, there is an important context, Mr Gloster added.

There were 59 people last night across the country on extra trolleys in patient wards, 38 of those were in Limerick.

Its certainly a worry but its a distributed risk, he said.

Mr Gloster also compared the situation currently in UHL, with the what was happening this time last year at the hospital.

This is a hospital group which last year was also under serious pressure at the start of the year and despite that, delivered one of the best elective performances on waiting lists throughout the year, he said.

So, I am conscious that there is a long way to go this year and will get to reschedule those procedures in the next couple of days, Mr Gloster added.

Mr Gloster said he had met the minister for health in the last two days and a number of measures were being examined. One of those included the expansion of the acute medical assessment units in Nenagh, Ennis and St Johns hospitals, which will become a 24 hour system soon.

Responding to the increase in hospital presentations since the beginning of the year, the INMO has called on the HSE to end the moratorium on recruiting frontline patient-facing staff.

According to the INMOs trolley watch, 452 patients have been admitted to hospital today without a bed.

It should come as no surprise to the HSE that attendances were going to rise based on flu and COVID projections that were provided prior to Christmas, INMO General Secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said.

Nurses and midwives are now bearing the brunt of public disappointment and in some cases aggression for the state of the health service while working in extremely challenging environment, Ms Ni Sheaghdha added.

The answer to these challenges should not be a moratorium on hiring frontline patient-facing staff. Staff who are leaving because of retirement or for other reasons are not being replaced. This is having an extremely damaging impact on patient safety and staff morale, Ms Ni Sheaghdha said in a statement.
New RTE show The Complaints Bureau aims to help get money back for victims

How can people do this to others  Dublin couple victims of 2,800 accommodation scam

A couple have warned people to think twice about booking accommodation through social media after falling for a scam that nearly ruined their wedding.

Sherie Tynan and Darral Poole, from north Dublin, were targeted by a fraudster in a Facebook group advertising villas and apartments to rent in Portugal.

The pair share the story of how they lost out on 2,800 in RTEs new show The Complaints Bureau, in which three journalists try to resolve problems faced by Irish consumers.

After 15 years together, the couple were due to get married in Albufeira on the Algarve last October surrounded by their closest friends and family members.

All I ever wanted was a beach wedding. We both wanted to get married on a beach with the sunset in the background, Ms Tynan said.

She had originally rented a villa through Booking.com. However, recent reviews left by previous guests complained of ant infestations and sewage problems.

In an attempt to find alternative accommodation with only weeks to go until the wedding, she posted in a Facebook group where estate agents and holiday-home owners advertise properties to rent.

That is when she was contacted by a person using the name Jennifer Haris-Keane, who claimed to own a villa just 10 minutes from their wedding venue.

She said she worked as a surgeon and her husband  whom she named as James Keane  was a dentist, and they rent out the villa when they are at home in England.

Ms Tynan exchanged a number of messages on Facebook and asked whether it would be possible to chat over the phone. She said James Keane had a well-spoken English accent and seemed genuine.

I was sent loads of pics of this beautiful villa, she told The Complaints Bureau. They were going to get wedding cars and everything for us as they knew businesses in the local area and would have champagne on arrival. They were even going to heat the pool in the villa for us.

She was sent a payment link to transfer 2,800. After this, the Jennifer Haris-Keane profile continued to respond to messages on Facebook.

However, on the day they were due to fly out, Ms Tynan sent a message asking what time they were picking them up from the airport. It did not deliver.

When she went back on to Facebook, the Jennifer Haris-Keane profile had been deleted. The number she contacted was no longer in use. She realised they had probably been scammed.

Deep down Im dying inside. Im thinking, how did this happen? How can people do this to other people?

The couple reported the matter to gardai and their local PTSB, where they transferred the money.

Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan, of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB), said that in the last three years gardai had received reports of around 2m being stolen through accommodation scams.

In many cases the money may not be recoverable, but he urged people to continue to report such incidents.

If the ad is on a trusted social media site, people expect the ad is trustworthy as well, Mr Cryan said. But we know thats not necessarily the case.

There are people who use all sorts of fake profiles on trusted social media sites as well, but one of the really big red flags is, if it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true.

Mr Cryan said gardai were working with Interpol and other police agencies to try to track down people involved in accommodation fraud.

Dozens of victims have posted on social media about being caught out in scams involving a man called James Keane. Some lost from 200 to 1,500.

Sherie was sobbing in the bed after it happened, Mr Poole said. But we knew nearly 60 people were going to Portugal. We had to be there.

After spending so much on their dream wedding, they did not have much left to find alternative accommodation. However, a friend stepped in to help.

While falling victim to a scam nearly ruined their wedding, the couple still managed to tie the knot.

We had an amazing day, but it was horrible what happened, Ms Tynan said.

In The Complaints Bureau, presented by financial adviser Eoin McGee, consumers share their frustrations with a team of journalists who try to find a resolution to their problems. They are Irish Times consumer affairs correspondent Conor Pope, consumer journalist Siobhan Maguire and Irish Independent social affairs correspondent Amy Molloy.

In the case of Ms Tynan and Mr Poole, the show seeks to find the scammer who defrauded them and looks into whether they can get their money back.

Stories throughout the series range from financial scams to regulating lip fillers to people battling to get refunds from airlines and a music festival.

The eight-part series starts on RTE One tonight at 7pm.
BOSSES will not be able to ignore or dismiss requests from workers to work remotely out of hand as new laws to strengthen their rights came into force today.

Minister for Enterprise Roderic OGorman today brought a new right to request remote working arrangements for all workers and a right for parents and carers to seek flexible working into operation.

A new code of practice that will govern requests by workers that was developed by the Workplace Relations Commission has been published.

Employers and workers are obliged to follow the code when applications are made for remote or flexible working.

It will be examined closely by employers and workers, particularly in the tech sector, where many employees have been ordered back to the office.

Workers will be able to refer a dispute to the Workplace Relations Commission if an employer fails to fulfil their legal obligations.

The Department of Enterprise said in a statement that the code will be admissible in evidence in proceedings before a court, the Labour Court or the Workplace Relations Commission.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 7

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions said in a statement that workers work-life balance rights have been strengthened following the development of the code by the WRC, social partners, employer and employee representatives.

Making it easier for people to combine their professional and personal life through greater flexibility on when and where they work is good for workers and families.

Owen Reidy, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said: It is good for businesses who get to retain valuable and often highly-trained staff. It is good for society and for the economy too. It will help close the gender gaps in employment, care, pay and pensions. Everyone wins.

He said Congress Private Sector Committee was first to call on Government to bring Ireland into line with long-established employment law across EU and other English-speaking countries by putting in place a legal framework for making and managing requests to work flexibly and remote.

While workers have always had a right to ask their boss for a change in the hours they work, the times they work or their place of work, the Work Life Balance Act and the Code of Practice ends the situation were requests can be ignored or dismissed out of hand for no good reason, said ICTU social policy officer Laura Bambrick.

Employers are now required to take account of the workers needs and the requirements of the new code of practice in addition to the needs of the business when considering a request and any changes that might later be sought or made to an agreed arrangement.

Speaking at an Industrial Relations News conference this morning, executive director of employer relations at Ibec, Maeve McElwee said the new code of practice identifies how employers should operate in a good practice framework in terms of different requests from workers for flexible working arrangements, including remote working.

She said it is great to see the code commence.

How the right to request remote working will work:

According to the new code, a worker must submit their request for remote working to their employer no later than eight weeks before their proposed starting date.

A request must be made in writing or online and signed by the employee.

It must specify how many days and which days are requested and the proposed starting date and their reasons for requesting remote working.

These could include reducing their daily commute, optimising their quality of life, personal or domestic circumstances, or neurodiversity or special medical needs that would require a quiet working environment.

An employer must respond as soon as reasonably practicable but no later than four weeks after receiving the request. They can extend this four week period for a further period not exceeding eight weeks.

Within four weeks of receiving the request, the employer must approve the request, refuse it or provide notice in writing that they need more time.

The code says the employer should consider a request in an objective, fair and reasonable manner.

If they feel they cannot approve the application, they should consider an alternative arrangement.

If agreement is reached, the signed agreement should be added to an employees contract.

If an employer has reasonable grounds for believing a worker is not fulfilling all of the requirements of their role, they can give an employee notice of termination of the agreement.

This should specify the reasons for ending the arrangement and the date the worker must return to their original working arrangement.

If an employee feels the legislation has been breached, they can refer a dispute to the WRC within six months of the date of the breach.

An employer must keep a record of approved remote working arrangements.

If they fail to do this, they are liable on conviction to a fine of up to 2,500.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has failed to endorse his predecessor Enda Kennys view that Donald Trumps policies are racist and dangerous.

As Mr Trump wraps up the Republican nomination for the November White House race, Mr Varadkar commented: I certainly agree that some of the comments that he's made in the past have been highly inappropriate.

Mr Varadkar took a softer tone than European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde, who this week suggested a second Trump Presidency would be a threat to European interests.

I think whoever is elected as American president in November, we have responsibility to work with them - whether it's President Biden re-elected, or President Trump re-elected, we'll do our best to work with whoever the US President is.

We have to respect the decision of the American people, whatever it is,

Mr Varadkar addressed concerns that Donald Trump could significantly reduce Americas defence commitment to NATO and European common security.

I think we need to be able to stand on our own two feet, he said, even though Ireland falls far short of the European norm on defence spending as a proportion of GDP.

Europeans and Americans are great allies and great friends. I hope that will continue. That was a bit rocky during the last Trump Presidency, Mr Varadkar said.

But the relationship did survive the last Trump Presidency and I think that European-Atlantic relationship can remain strong, no matter who is President in the White House.

We do need to stand our own two feet. America has been stronger than Europe economically, and stronger than Europe and in defence and security terms for a very long time now.

Meanwhile Mr Varadkar will meet President Michael D Higgins at Aras an Uachtaran on Friday after his week in hospital.

I havent been to visit him, but we've been touched by phone and I understand hell be discharged soon, Mr Varadkar said.

I plan to meet him tomorrow in Aras an Uachtaran and he is keen to go ahead with our Article 28 meeting tomorrow, he said, referring to the Constitutional requirement for the Head of Government to keep the President updated on affairs of State.

He shares with me his perspectives on things that are happening, Mr Varadkar said. As of now that date is still in the diary and I look forward to seeing him tomorrow.

While he has been unwell, he has been fulfilling his constitutional duties.

Mr Varadkar said the Electoral Commission will soon have legal powers to tackle misinformation and disinformation.

"I think the Electoral Commission has got off to a good start. And as the case with any legislation, it rarely gets all commenced in one go, it moves in sections.

We would certainly be aiming to have more sections of the legislation commenced and in effect before the (local and European) elections in June  and then ultimately for the general election as well," he added.
A priest has urged friends and family of a young woman killed in a Co Antrim crash to keep her memory alive.

Leah Ferguson (20) died following a three-vehicle collision in Crumlin last week.

Her funeral was held in St Bernards Church in Glengormley today , where Fr Patrick Sheehan urged mourners: Dont waste Leahs death  you can hold her in your memory by living life as she did.

Ms Ferguson, a trainee beautician, and Samuel Stewart (37) died in the accident at Ballyhill Road last Thursday night.

Both were from the Belfast area.

Fr Sheehan passed his sympathies on to Ms Fergusons family, telling them: She had so much more to live for, Im sure you have many memories of her as a child being so loving and affectionate.

Ms Ferguson had a strong bond with her family, the priest said, urging her loved ones to remember the importance of family during their grieving process.

Value the family we sometimes fight with and fall out with as Leah often did when she was a teenager, he said. And fall back in with them like Leah often did.

He urged Ms Fergusons friends to use her life as an example, telling them: Let the last thing she can do be [to give you] a call to true life.

The priest noted the large congregation that had arrived to pay their respects, saying he hoped it would provide her family with some comfort.

I hope everyones presence here today is a little bit of a help to you, he said.

He told her loved ones: "I am sure the memories will come back every so often of Leah, always ready to give hugs and kisses when you least expect them.

Over the past week, many of Ms Fergusons devastated friends have offered their condolences to her family online.

The most beautiful girl in the world, one tribute read.

Another wrote: Absolutely heart-breaking, Leah was such a beautiful young girl.

Im so sorry for your loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and all the family at this sad time.

An online fundraiser has been set up in Leahs memory.

The JustGiving page has already raised over 5,000 despite the initial goal being 1,500.

Meanwhile, the funeral of Mr Stewart, who also died in the crash, will be held at his parents home at Hopewell Crescent tomorrowat 11.30am and afterwards to Roselawn Cemetery.

Samuel Stewart

A message on the notice from his parents says: Our precious son, you were taken from us too soon, our world has fell apart, it will never be the same without you.

How can we go on living without you, but hopefully it wont be long until we are together again. We love you son, forever, your broken-hearted mum and dad.
AW Rostamani Group has unveiled its exclusive UAE dealership with Chery, the globally renowned Chinese automobile brand, underscoring a shared vision for excellence and innovation.

Michel Ayat, CEO of AWR Automotive Group, said: Today, we stand at the threshold of a new era as we proudly align with Chery, a collaboration that is more than a business venture; its a bridge between cultures and economies. Our partnership is set to redefine industry benchmarks, elevate customer experiences, and contribute significantly to the UAEs and Chinas economic ties.

Thanks to the visionary guidance and progressive measures of the wise leadership, the UAE has fostered an environment supportive of growth, innovation, and excellence, paving the way for economic prosperity and elevating the countrys stature on the global stage.

Elevating the automotive landscape

Chao Qin, Vice President of Chery International, said: We at Chery International feel excited to partner with AW Rostamani Group. On our journey to elevate the automotive landscape of the UAE.

The event spotlighted Chery UAEs flagship models - TIGGO 8 PRO MAX, TIGGO 8 PHEV, and the TIGGO 7 PRO MAX, showcasing their ingenuity, sophistication, and value proposition.

Chery aims to expand its footprint across the UAE, from Abu Dhabi to Dubai and the Northern Emirates, with its inaugural showroom opening in Sharjah, bringing its exceptional range of vehicles closer to customers in every emirate and setting a new benchmark in customer satisfaction and automotive excellence with its technologically advanced and eco-friendly vehicle lineup.

Positioned on the bustling Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Cherys showroom in Sharjah serves as a beacon for the brands innovative approach and commitment to the region.

Spirit of innovation

Zaher Sabbagh, Director of Chery UAE, said: AW Rostamani is a testament to a journey of quality, trust and customer satisfaction. Today, we proudly build upon this legacy, driving forward with the same spirit of innovation and commitment to the communities we serve.

By partnering with Chery, we at AW Rostamani are thrilled to further empower our path of excellence in the UAE. Cherys story is one of pioneering spirit and continuous innovation, and for over a quarter of a century, this global brand has been at the forefront of the automotive industry, pushing the boundaries of whats possible.--TradeArabia News Service
Over 100,000 people fleeing war from Ukraine have come to Ireland.

Lower social welfare payments for newly arriving Ukrainian refugees will kick in from the middle of next week, the Irish Independent understands.

New arrivals will also face 90 day limits on State provided accommodation, which will take effect the same day as the lower payments.

President Michael D Higgins has now signed laws which will give effect to the new lower payments.

Ukrainian refugees currently receive unlimited State housing and 220 Jobseekers Allowance per week when they arrive here.

Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys told RTEs Today with Claire Byrne that the changes will come in next week.

The Irish Independent understands this is likely to be in the middle of the week.

Figures at the end of February showed just over 20 refugees arriving in the State per day.

From next week, the payments will be cut to 38.80 per adult and 29.80 per child in respect of daily expenses, so long as they remain in a designated arrival centre.

These centres will house all new arrivals for 90 days, after which, refugees will have to find their own accommodation.

Over 100,000 people fleeing war from Ukraine have come to Ireland. Around 20pc have gone back to Ukraine and two in every five have jobs.

Over 72,655 of those fleeing the war in Ukraine have arrived in Ireland have sought accommodation, with 54,773 in serviced accommodation and 282 are in emergency accommodation.

New figures from the Department of Integration show 10,497 are living in spare rooms, pledged by the public. Some 7,103 refugees are living in entire houses and apartments also pledged by members of the public.
Ms Martin used an exception under anti-cronyism guidelines to nominate Mr ORourke to head up the crisis-hit broadcaster without an open competition.

While the Cabinet approved the appointment of filmmaker Neasa Hardiman and HR specialist Terri Moloney as ordinary board members on Tuesday, their names had been shortlisted by a PAS process before Ms Martin selected them.

However, in Mr ORourkes case, Ms Martin did not use the PAS process. His name was instead brought by her for approval from ministers at Tuesdays Cabinet meeting, having been signed off by the Coalition leaders on Monday night.

She did so using an exception set out in guidelines put in place a decade ago, following the John McNulty cronyism controversy that engulfed former taoiseach Enda Kenny and the then Fine Gael-Labour coalition.

Under these guidelines, all appointments to state boards must be openly advertised, meet specific criteria deemed relevant by the minister and be processed by way of a transparent system implemented by the PAS.

However, in certain circumstances the guidelines allow for exceptions to the PAS process including where the minister has independently identified a person who is evidently and objectively highly qualified and capable of effectively discharging the role of chair of a state board and who has not otherwise applied.

The Department of Media confirmed this was the provision used by the minister, with a Green Party government spokesperson saying: With regard to the appointment of the chair, the guidelines specifically provide for exceptions to the usual public appointments service processes and as such the process was in line with guidelines.

Mr ORourke was managing partner at KPMG between 2006 and 2013 and previously defended its auditing of AIB, which required a taxpayer-funded bailout of 21bn in 2008.

He is the current chair of the ESB and Kinsale Capital Management, and has sat on a number of company boards including The Irish Times, Hibernia Reit and Enterprise Ireland, where he also served as chair. The state board appointment guidelines were introduced by the Fine Gael-Labour coalition in November 2014. 

John McNulty, a failed Fine Gael Seanad by-election candidate, was forced to withdraw from the Seanad campaign after it was revealed that then arts minister Heather Humphreys was told by Fine Gael officials to appoint the Donegal businessman to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) so that he fulfilled criteria to run for the upper house.

Mr Kenny later admitted during a general election TV debate in 2016 that he had appointed Mr McNulty to the IMMA board  a remark on which he subsequently backtracked.

He said at the time that rules for state board appointments had been changed so a person could not become a member of the lawnmower committee for a department unless you apply through the public appointments service.
Fine Gael's Frances Fitzgerald will stand down as an MEP in June. Photo: Fergal Phillips

Frances Fitzgerald is considering running for president. The former justice minister, who will stand down as an MEP in June, confirmed her interest in the Aras.

Asked about her intentions, she said she would of course give consideration to a run when the time comes.

Asked if she would like to be head of state, with Michael D Higginss second term due to end next year, Ms Fitzgerald said: Well, I havent ruled it out, but I think, you know, that job has a cast of thousands for it, with lots and lots of names.

But I just keep an open mind, as Ive always done in my political career.

Ive often made decisions on short notice, like when I went for my first election way back in 1992, and the same with Europe in 2019.

I feel Ive had a very good five years here in Europe. I mean Ive really enjoyed it and am now a bigger fan of the EU and its whole approach. I think its absolutely essential.

However, of the presidency she said: Theres quite a way to go. I think context is everything in politics, but I intend to continue to remain active on the issues

Asked whether she would give consideration to running for the presidency for Fine Gael, which has never won an election to the Aras, Ms Fitzgerald said: I would of course, yes.

Its very early days in relation to that. You have the local and European elections, and then you have the general election. I think the context is always very important in terms of candidates.

Ms FitzGerald was speaking to Irish Independent columnist Sarah Carey for a special podcast for the European Parliament office in Dublin which will be broadcast tomorrow for International Womens Day.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is believed to favour Ms Fitzgerald as a candidate for the presidency.

He said she still had a big political future when she was forced to step down as justice minister after records were leaked relating to the Garda Maurice McCabe whistleblowing affair.

A subsequent inquiry vindicated Ms Fitzgerald.

The Taoiseach said at the time that she had been wronged for political expediency by the opposition and predicted she would again be a major force in Irish politics.

Ms Fitzgerald, meanwhile, said her possible replacement as MEP, Regina Doherty, was a very worthy candidate.

Lets hope she tops the poll. She is an extremely strong candidate, she said. Shes got a ministerial background, and shes very feisty.

I think shed be well adapted to taking on the issues here in Europe and I think people will rally behind her as the election campaign develops.

Separately, the Taoiseach has backed Ursula von der Leyen for another term as president of the Europe Commission, despite her pro-Israel stance and trip to Jerusalem in the wake of the Hamas attack last October.

Shell certainly get my vote to be the EPP candidate for the presidency of the next European Commission, Mr Varadkar said.

I think shes done a very good job. Shes been very good on Ukraine, good during Covid and very helpful to Ireland on Brexit.

She very much had our back when it came to issues relating to Brexit and was also willing to compromise and come to solutions with our British friends when needed.
Michael O'Leary is today unrepentant about labelling Transport Minister Eamon Ryan "a dunce" as an hour-long meeting between the pair failed to reach any resolution.

The Irish Independent asked if he felt he should have apologised for calling Mr Ryan a "dunce" and he responded: "I don't think so, I mean, we had an exchange of views. It didn't bother him and it didn't bother me either."

The Ryanair boss said there was "no meeting of minds" between him and Minister Ryan after the meeting at Ryanair HQ in North Co Dublin.

Mr O'Leary said: "Would I be voting for him as the next transport minister, absolutely not.

Why are Ryanair's Michael O'Leary and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan at war?

"We made the point to him. He said 'I can't intervene in the planning process,' and we said 'It's your policy.

"His aviation policy is to grow traffic, grow productivity and grow jobs. And yet he sits there putting his hands up in the air. He wants to talk about e-fuels in 2050 instead of a cap at Dublin Airport in 2024 and 2025."

Mr O'Leary said while Minister Ryan is a "nice guy," its all "pie in the sky."

He also accused Transport Minister Eamon Ryan of sending out the message that Ireland was closed for business.

Following a meeting, Mr OLeary said: This is typical of what we get from Eamon Ryan, all talk, no action, no delivery.

Eamon Ryan has essentially told us that despite the fact that his own aviation policy is to grow, hes now telling us sorry, Im not going to take any action.

Send the growth elsewhere, Irelands loss will be to the benefit of Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece.

Jobs, our tourism industry and aviation in Ireland is now capped. Were closed for business.

He essentially said to us he is not going to intervene in the matter of the Dublin Airport cap; he has this excuse that it would render the whole planning process in Ireland redundant.

Mr OLeary added: The sad result of this is that we are now sending aircraft, four aircraft that we had planned to base in Dublin this summer, are now gone to southern Italy and Poland.

That is about two million passengers have been lost to Ireland, about 800 jobs have been lost.

He has no solution for this for the next four years.

Minister Ryan addressed media outside the glass doors of Ryanair HQ and stated he was not offended by Mr O'Leary.

And he added that he had "not even been aware" Mr O'Leary had also insulted his Green Party colleague Minister Catherine Martin in recent days.

"Michael O'Leary has always been like that, that's his business. I'm more interested in how to serve the Irish people, that's my job,"

"It was a good meeting, he's not shy," he added.

To be honest, it was more about the issues than the personalities.

Mr Ryan said: There were important things we needed to talk about, if it turns into a personal thing you miss the real story, which is in my mind how do we make aviation sustainable, and in his mind how do we get the airport working properly.

But you cant do that by breaking the law, you cant throw out planning. Weve lost so much in this country by people riding roughshod over the planning system.

He thinks I can just go in and change the law, change the rules, change the conditions, you cant do that, youve got to respect the planning system.

Ryanair released information discussed to the media after the meeting.

It said they discussed three points: enhancing Ireland's connectivity, fostering growth of aviation to support jobs and thirdly to maximise contribution to aviation for economic growth.

The airline wants the Government to scrap what it calls a "bogus" 32m passenger cap at Dublin Airport among other measures to grow the airline.
Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle ONeill has said she is determined that Casement Park will be rebuilt in time for Euro 2028.

But deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly of the DUP said any funding for the GAA stadium must be provided on a fair and equitable basis.
President Michael D Higgins has been released from hospital after being admitted last Thursday.

The President remained under observation and underwent tests as a precaution after experiencing what doctors described as a mild transient weakness.

He has now returned to Aras an Uachtarain after spending a week in hospital in Dublin.

A spokesperson said the President thanked hospital staff for his care.

"Ireland is lucky to have such wonderful, dedicated and caring medical staff, they said.

The President continued to carry out his constitutional duties while in hospital and this week considered and signed two pieces of legislation - the Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2023 and the Social Welfare and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023. The President is currently considering a further two pieces of legislation  the Criminal Justice (Engagement of Children in Criminal Activity) Bill 2023 and the European Arrest Warrant (Amendment) Bill 2022.

The President is looking forward to his pre-scheduled meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Aras an Uachtarain tomorrow afternoon.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 7

The Presidents medical team has advised him to limit his public engagements over the coming weeks in order to facilitate the short period of recuperation that they have recommended.

The President completed medical tests following his admission to hospital in Dublin last Thursday evening, and all of the results were positive, a spokesperson said earlier this week.

On Monday evening a spokesperson had said: They have indicated no serious or long-term concerns for the Presidents health.

The tests determined that the President experienced a mild transient weakness from which they expect him to make a full recovery.
There were dozens of CCTV cameras, but no clue where she is  disappearance of Jean Tighe four years ago was plagued by confusion from the start
Sabina Higgins, the wife of President Michael D Higgins, is urging the nation to support Daffodil Day to show solidarity for those affected by cancer.

Mrs Higgins was joined by the Irish Cancer Societys CEO Averil Power in Aras an Uachtarain to launch the upcoming Daffodil Day on Friday, March 22.

The event took place yesterday, with the President expected to be released from hospital today after suffering from a mild transient weakness which saw him kept in by doctors for an additional few days observation.

Aras an Uachtarain said there were no serious or long-term concerns for the Presidents health in a statement, despite a week-long hospital stay.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 7

Mrs Higgins highlighted the importance of the Irish Cancer Societys supports and services and reminded women of all ages to be aware of the signs and symptoms of breast cancer.

The Irish Cancer Society provides invaluable help and assistance to cancer patients and their families across Ireland, and I would encourage everyone to support Daffodil Day on March 22 to help fund their work with patients and families, and to boost cancer research, Mrs Higgins said.

She thanked the public for their kind messages of support through her own breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, which saw her undergo a procedure in November last year.

Mrs Higgins credited the public support with helping assist her recovery, following successful care from wonderful medical personnel.

And I would like to remind women of all ages, particularly those over 70, to continue to check for any potential symptoms of breast cancer and to seek medical advice if they notice anything unusual, she added.

Ms Power said: There is not a family in Ireland that hasnt been affected by cancer.

She stressed that the essential work done by the Irish Cancer Society is powered by fundraising, and that the charity cannot continue to provide vital services without the publics incredible generosity.

We would like to thank Sabina for her incredible openness about her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, and for her help and support after the challenges she has faced, she added.

Schools, companies and communities are being urged to support cancer patients across Ireland this year on Daffodil Day by visiting cancer.ie.

You can contact the Irish Cancer Society for support on freephone 1800 200 700 or supportline@irishcancer.ie
Goodnight, Malaysian three-seven-zero  10 years on, what do we know about MH370s disappearance?

This week marks 10 years since Malaysian Airlines MH370 vanished, along with 227 passengers and 12 crew

MH370: The Plane That Disappeared. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix  2023

Simon Calder  UK Independent Thu 7 Mar 2024 at 03:30

Late at night on March 7, 2014, 239 passengers and crew prepared to board a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 at Kuala Lumpur airport. They were expecting to travel overnight to Beijing on a routine flight designated MH370.
QatarEnergy and TotalEnergies have signed a farm-in agreement with Africa Oil Corporation, Ricocure, and Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas to acquire participating interests in Block 3B/4B, offshore South Africa.

Following completion of the transaction, QatarEnergy will hold a 24 per cent participating interest in Block 3B/4B, TotalEnergies will hold 33 per cent and will be the operator, while the remaining participating interests will be held by existing license holders, Africa Oil Corporation (17 per cent), Ricocure (19.75 per cent) and Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas (6.25 per cent).

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said: The farm-in to Block 3B/4B builds on our presence in the prolific Orange Basin. We are pleased to enter this block together with our strategic partner TotalEnergies, and we look forward to working together with our partners and the relevant government entities in South Africa to further assess this blocks potential.

Block 3B/4B covers an area of more than 17,500 square kilometers within the Orange Basin offshore the western coast of South Africa in water depths ranging between 300 and 2,000 meters. --OGN/TradeArabia News Service
Ciara Kelly: Women being held back by women, and the rules around what a girl can or should do. We could call it toxic femininity
If we know one thing about Donald J Trump, it is his predilection for seeing something he wants and attempting to grab it. I picture the 45th president  and possibly the 47th, too  a pink-fisted toddler, sticky with rage, forever reaching out towards elections, classified files; foundation funds, Theresa Mays hand, the fundamental concept of truth. For much of his life, the approach has served him well. But of late, the path between Donald and his desires has been obstructed by a bothersome array of legal cases and an FBI investigation. Then, this week, the presidential candidate encountered his latest hindrance: Sinead OConnor.
Two groups of students from the West of Ireland have been named among the winners of a photography competition celebrating National Tree Week.

A number of events have been organised across the country to celebrate National Tree Week 2024 from group forest walks and tree-planting events to local workshops and forestry talks. Among them, Coillte launched a tree-inspired photography competition for all primary school children and their teachers in Ireland.

Participants were asked to take a picture of their favourite tree or a favourite outdoor nature space. The competition was aimed at encouraging students to engage with nature and understand the importance of trees to ensure a sustainable future for all.

Follow Independent Clare on Facebook

Coillte received hundreds of entries from across the country but only four schools have been named as winners and will receive a class trip to 'Beyond the Trees Avondale' at Coillte's Avondale Forest Park in Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow.

Students from 6th Class at Corofin National School, in Corofin County Clare, were over the moon to be named among the winners with their picture showing an eye in a tree.

The school said: Scoil Mhuire Corofin, Co. Clare were delighted that one of our 6th class pupils Mona May Daffy was one of the winners of the photography competition as part of National Tree Week. Our school is an An Taisce Green School and we are always encouraged to look after the environment and take notice of the nature we have around us. Its not every day you find a tree with an eye! We thought we were keeping an eye on nature but it looks likes its been keeping an eye on us! We can't wait for our to our class trip to Avondale!

Pupils from Kilbannon National School, in Tuam County Galway, could also not be happier as the school explained the tree used in their photo is rather special to them.

Kilbannon National School said: We are so delighted to be chosen as the Connaught winners of Coillte's Tree inspired photography competition. Knockma woods in Castlehacket are very special to our school and this tree was the focal point of our Creative Schools Celebration in 2020. The children were only delighted to have the opportunity to revisit Knockma for the competition. Winning was the icing on the cake, and all are looking forward to the trip to Avondale Treetop Tour in the near future. Thanks to Coillte for choosing our entry.

The photo taken by Kilbannon National School

The other winners were 3rd Class at St Helens Senior National School, Portmarnock, Co Dublin; and 3rd Class at All Saints' National School, Castleblayney, Co Monaghan.

This years Tree Week theme, Planting Trees for a Greener Future, aims to highlight the importance of planting more trees as a crucial component of addressing biodiversity challenges and fighting climate change.

This year will see Coillte once again donate 150,000 tree saplings to local community groups and schools for planting, to mark the annual celebration.

Follow Independent Galway on Facebook

The week kicked off last Sunday, March 3, with a ceremonial tree planting at Heritage House, Abbeyleix, Co. Laois by members of the Tree Council, Coillte and special guest, Science Communicator and local resident, Dr. Niamh Shaw. Today marks the start of a week-long series of events to celebrate the significance, beauty and benefits of trees and forests in Ireland.

Speaking at the launch of National Tree Week 2024, Cormac Downey, President of the Tree Council of Ireland said: National Tree Week is a brilliant way to bring people together to celebrate the importance of trees, forests and woodlands. Trees are vital when it comes to biodiversity, and we encourage everyone to get out there and get involved in the activities that are taking place in their locality.
Global food and beverage corporation PepsiCo is celebrating 50 years in Cork and Ireland through its 50for50 campaign.

Employees based at PepsiCos Little Island site will play a pivotal role by supporting a number of Cork charities and organisations. They will complete at least 50 good deeds during the year to spread positivity, build closer connections and support the local community.

One of the organisations that PepsiCo will be supporting is the Crann Centre, which hosted the launch of the campaign with a special tree planting ceremony coinciding with Irelands National Tree Week.

The Crann Centre provides life-changing solutions for individuals and families living with neuro-physical disabilities, and has helped over 500 clients and families through its Model of Care since opening in 2018.

Since establishing its Irish roots in Little Island back in 1974, PepsiCo has been dedicated to making a positive difference in the local community.

"We wanted to do something impactful which would reaffirm our dedication to supporting the communities that have been integral to our success. Through the 50for50 campaign, we aspire to carry out meaningful acts to inspire positive change, said Brian Colgan, Site Director of PepsiCo Little Island.

We are excited to extend our support to organisations who make an impact in the community, starting with the Crann Centre. We are deeply inspired by their work and the profound difference they make in the lives of people and families living with neuro-physical disabilities. We look forward to building on this partnership in the year ahead, he added.
Protests, vigils and fundraisers continue across Cork in support of the people of Gaza, and this week a number of groups will be taking to public spots across Ireland for an extra display of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

On Friday, March 8, the Kinsale for Palestine group will meet near the food trucks at the Archdeacon Duggan Bridge at 3.45pm to display an extra array of support.

The group hopes that cars passing by will beep in solidarity with them.

This is Cork Newsletter Enter your email address below and click 'Sign Up' to receive the This is Cork newsletter direct to your inbox. Please check your inbox to verify your details

Bring Palestinian flags, signs saying Beep for Gaza or Beep for Palestine, and a friend if you can. We will be waving flags and signs, encouraging cars to show support in passing, and occasionally doing some chants like Free Free Palestine a spokesperson from the group shared.

The group holds a weekly vigil at 7pm every Friday at the Kinsale Town Park where they come together and connect in solidarity with the people of Palestine.

During the vigils there are words of welcome, some information on recent events, a minutes silence to mourn the dead, a poem or two to honour the Palestinian struggle, guest speakers on some occasions and music from local musicians too.
Speaking on a Labour Party motion to address the housing crisis in the Dail on Wednesday, March 6 Deputy Sherlock said it is a scandal that the Irish Government simply doesnt want to deal with. Arising from the most recent census and some work the Simon Community has done, I note there are 17,000 vacant properties in Cork city and county alone. If that is not a scandal, I do not know what is, he said.

The Labour Party TD for Cork East said it is beyond belief that there are 17,000 vacant properties in one county. Why is it that we as a country and State cannot invest more energy to ensure that, if there are 17,000 vacant properties in a city and county, we can put people into those? It is beyond belief that in 2024, there are 17,000 vacant properties in one county. We could all do a tour de table of our own native counties and I am sure the figures would be commensurate with the figures I am talking about. If energy can be invested in that, we will go a long way.

Deputy Sherlock also highlighted the need to improve inspections in private rented accommodation. The latest figures from Cork County Council show that from quarter 1 to quarter 3 of 2023, there were 1,447 inspections, from which 1,273 total improvement letters were issued. For people in private rented accommodation and where the landlord is the beneficiary of a State subsidy towards the cost of the rent, the standard of the accommodation needs to be improved, he said.

There is an onus on Government to ensure tenants have proper rights regarding the standard of the accommodation they are living in, said Deputy Sherlock. The evidence is there to show that the standard of accommodation, in some instances, is very poor and needs further improvement. We cannot talk about a Housing for All policy if the very people who want to build houses spend an inordinate amount of their time toing and froing with Irish Water on capacity issues and constraints, particularly in wastewater treatment.

Deputy Sherlock called for an increase in Irish Water resources to facilitate more connections: Unless Irish Water is adequately funded to build out capacity, especially on wastewater, the minister is on a hiding to nothing with his house building targets. Until Irish Water can start funding the building out of capacity with more wastewater treatment plants, forget about building houses.

I speak to construction company representatives who tell me they are tearing their hair out because they cannot build houses in line with these targets because they spend too much time toing and froing with Irish Water. Fund Irish Water properly, build out the capacity, and then we will get the houses, he added.
Vehicles were shown to be speeding through the village at speeds up to 125kmph according to the teacher who launched the GoFundMe

The GoFundMe has raised half the funds needed by the community to purchase a digital speed sign.

A GoFundMe launched to secure a digitally activated speed sign for Carriganima village has raised nearly half of its target amount of 1,800.

Carriganima teacher Lavinia Sheahan launched the GoFundMe to secure a digital speed sign for the village, which will be placed there with a second sign that has been purchased by the council, to prevent speeding in the locality.

In the fundraiser description, Lavinia explains that a speed survey conducted in 2022 found that cars passing through the village were in excess of the 50kmph speed limit.

Vehicles were shown to be speeding through the village at speeds up to 125kmph! she said.

Following this study, the GoFundMe says, Cork County Council granted funding for one speed activated sign and the Carriganima Community Committee received half the funds for a second sign through the Macroom Municipal District Community Fund last year.

The GoFundMe, which has so far raised 765 through 17 donations, will provide the second half of the cost of the digital sign.

Following an incident on the Pike Bridge, which is located on a bend on the Millstreet side of Carriganima and is very prone to accidents, safety measures for the structure and the village were discussed by councillors at the most recent Municipal District meeting.

Councillor Gobnait Moynihan asked executive engineer Pat OSullivan about the speed signs designated for Carriganima and he replied that the council is in possession of one and is waiting for the local community to confirm that it has funding for the other.

In the meeting, the engineer also said that the Pike Bridge would be restored and a larger sign warning of sharp bends would be installed ahead of it.

Sections of the Carriganima to Millstreet road after the bridge have also been described by a local as being so narrow that youll see trucks eating into the ditches and at the MD meeting, Mr OSullivan said that the council plan to build up its verges on the week of March 18.
The local Development Association said the hall is in urgent need of refurbishment

The village hall in Churchtown is in need of maintenance work so that local groups can continue to use it.

A GoFundMe setup for the refurbishment of the Churchtown village hall has rasied 1,465 in the nine days since it was setup.

The fundraiser, which has so far received 22 donations, was setup by the Churchtown Mallow Development Association and has a target of 15,000.

The Development Association said that they need immediate help to maintain the village hall, which is the heartbeat of our Churchtown Community.

We urgently need to replace the heating and lighting throughout the building, the Association said.

The building is open for use to all in Churchtown and the surrounding area. Any donation will be greatly appreciated.
North Cork Social Prescribing is a community service based in the Le Cheile Family Resource Centre in Mallow.

Eithne Foley works as a social provider in the North West Cork area and she is in regular contact with the other social prescribers throughout Cork County. There are other social prescribing services around the country and country. I cover the North West Cork area. There are two social prescribers in West Cork, two in the city and one in East Cork. I am on my own doing the role. The other social prescribers and I are in regular contact We often support each other and share resources, she said.

Ms Foley said the main aspects of her role involve linking people into the community. I sit down with people and talk to them about linking them into the community. I would tell them all about groups or activities that might be on and encourage people to do whatever they want to do themselves. Sometimes people want to make more friends, get fitter, start volunteering, join a social group or go back to education. I have information about what is on and where. If I dont have it, then I will find it out.

The social prescriber said the service which is free and available to everyone aged over 18 is beneficial for a number of reasons. Some people are just nervous about starting back. Maybe they have been bereaved, are new to the area or there are challenges that they have had and they just want to talk through on their way to getting involved in the community. If somebody is interested in art in a certain town I would do my best to find that resource as near as I can to it. Sometimes people say that they want to do something which is not in their home town because they want to get to know more people.

Some of the things are run in the Family Resource Centre in Mallow, but lots of the things would be in the community like the mens shed, the various walking groups, tidy towns, the ETBs and everything that is on in the area really. The clients I work with would be over 18 upwards. It is a free service. The kind of resources we would be talking about would always be low cost or free such as chair yoga, walking group or mens shed, she added.

With a bit of open mindedness there is literally something for everyone, said Ms Foley. Often people dont know what is going on in the different organisations. IRD Duhallow and Avondhu Blackwater would run things. There is often new things coming down the path. There are the ongoing activities that are running all the time such as mens shed that rolls on and on. They are very important for people.

North Cork Social Prescribing was established in January 2020.

Ms Foley enjoys the huge variety in her role as social prescriber. There is huge variety in the day, in terms of what people are interested in. It is a great service. It is for people who want to make a change themselves. Sometimes people just want to talk and that is absolutely fine. Sometimes people come and they know what they want to do and we just talk about it. Sometimes a health professional refers somebody into the service which is absolutely fine. Some people make their own contact with the service. Both are very welcome. Im just there to support them then to make whatever change they want themselves.

Ms Foley who lives in Lombardstown said there are many benefits to linking in with the service. I have heard of people making friends in the area for the first time or getting out and about. Post Covid a lot of people said they have got out of the habit of walking and they are slowly getting back into things. What I find is that if someone joins one thing they meet one or two people. They then hear of something else going on and the next thing they are doing three different things. It is just coming from making friends.

All the research shows that people are happier and healthier when they are connected to other people. Loneliness is not good for your mental and physical wellbeing. It is all about getting out of the house and connecting with people. That is really important, she added.

International Social Prescribing Day will take place on Thursday, March 14.

Ms Foley said they will run a number of events to coincide with International Social Prescribing Day. There are various different things planned on Thursday, March 14. I am hoping to be on C103 that morning. There will be a social media competition. Everyone is doing different small things.

Anyone interested in finding out more information on North Cork Social Prescribing can contact Eithne Foley at 087-7193257 or via email at linkworker@lecheilefrc.ie or find them on Facebook at North Cork Social Prescribing.

North Cork Social Prescribing are based at the Le Cheile Family Resource Centre in Mallow, P51 F344.

Their official webpage is https://www.lecheilefrc.ie/north-cork-social-prescribing/
TV presenter Muireann OConnell has described her house-hunting struggles in Dublin as a nightmare.

The Virgin Media host, who is originally from Limerick, said that at one recent viewing she attended, there must have been roughly 70 people walking in.

As I was walking in, there was a woman walking out crying, she said. I think the house was already 100,000 above the asking price, and she just said, what is the point?

The frustration is incredibly real for an awful lot of people.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 7

The Ireland AM presenter got engaged to her long-term boyfriend in 2021, but still refers to her housemate in an effort to keep her private life private.

Even though her house-hunting frustrations have often left Muireann feeling like shed throw her head through the window, she still feels she is in a luckier position than many others.

I meet people all the time at viewings who are living at home with their parents with kids, and I am renting my own place, she said.

With so many people struggling to find forever homes, she added that it will be interesting when politicians start knocking on doors.

Speaking at the launch of Virgin Medias new Streaming TV box, Muireann also said that a couple of politicians have been surprised at the tough questioning they face on Ireland AM.

A recent clip went viral of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar being asked by Tommy Bowe, Where is the accountability? on issues like the cost of the National Childrens Hospital and RTE exit payments.

I certainly think when Tommy and I first started, people might not have expected to get the questions they got, she said.

We are good at our jobs; were invested in politics.

Recent changes in Virgin Media have seen Love Island star Greg OShea and Karen Koster leaving the Six OClock show, but Muireann insists she doesnt dwell on job security in the industry.

I think the gig economy is taking over regardless of what industry youre working in, there is no security in anything, she said.

I used to worry about it so much and now Im just enjoying myself. I love my job and what I do but I dont think security is there anymore.

Muireann was speaking at the launch of Virgin Medias new Streaming TV platform, offering your favourite traditional TV shows and channels alongside the most popular streaming apps (like Netflix, Prime Video, AppleTV+, Paramount+ and YouTube) and players (including the Virgin Media Player, Channel 4 Player and TG4 Player). You can learn more at virginmedia.ie
Emirates has signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) and Austrian National Tourist Office (ANTO) on the sidelines of ITB Berlin 2024, to boost inboard tourism to two major destinations in the airlines European network.

MoU with GNTO

The Mou was signed by Thierry Aucoc, Emirates Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe and Dimitris Fragakis, GNTOs Secretary General. Also present during the ceremony was Adnan Kazim, Emirates Deputy President, and Chief Commercial Officer.

The UAE flag carrier has pledged its commitment to support Greeces travel and tourism industry by boosting traffic from top inbound markets including the US, the UAE, Australia, India and China, to Greece through the exploration of joint marketing activities and campaigns.

The airline said it will look at ways to support the countrys efforts to build more awareness of Greece as a brand, in line with the GNTOs 2024 vision and objectives.

The new agreement, the airline said, underscores its long-term business objectives for the market as it continues to serve the already robust international travel demand to Greece.

Kazim said: Both agreements are a testament of our commitment to the Greek and Austrian markets, where we have progressively grown our connectivity and presence, and were confident that our collaborative efforts will encourage travellers to visit the beautiful sights and attractions that each country has to offer.

Fragakis said: "We are delighted to announce a strategic partnership between the Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) and Emirates. Emirates, with its global reach and reputation for excellence, is the perfect ally in expanding our presence in key source markets and connecting with audiences who appreciate the richness of Greece's cultural heritage, diverse landscapes, warm hospitality and high-quality services.

Operated by a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, Emirates currently serves Greece with one daily flight between Dubai and Athens, as well as beyond to Newark. The airline has been serving Greece since 1996 and has so far carried more than 4.5 million passengers between Athens and Dubai and beyond to the airlines global network.

MoU with ANTO

The MoU was signed by Thierry Aucoc, Emirates Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe and Astrid Steharnig-Staudinger, CEO of Austrian National Tourist Office. Also present during the ceremony was Adnan Kazim.

Emirates has pledged its commitment to boost inbound visitors to Austria with the Austrian National Tourist Office.

Recognising the attractiveness of Austrias many landmarks and tourism sites, the airline will consider launching new marketing and advertising campaigns that boost visitor numbers from key inbound markets including the UAE, Australia, India, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Japan.

The MoU also seeks to leverage Emirates extensive global network to reach new customers and consumer segments, and expand awareness even further, helping to promote Austria as an ideal destination for different types of visits and effectively building a strategic cooperation that benefits both the local economy and Emirates operations in the market.

Steharnig-Staudinger said the Austrian National Tourist Office is committed to expanding its collaborative efforts, and the partnership with Emirates marks a significant stride in this direction.

This formal agreement reaffirms our shared commitment to advancing tourism in Austria.

Emirates recently resumed its A380 operations to Austria and is the only airline to serve Vienna International Airport with a scheduled double-decker service, offering 20% more seat capacity on flights between Vienna and Dubai.

The airline will mark 20 years of operations in Austria this year, and currently serves Vienna with a Boeing 777-300ER daily service in addition to the daily A380 flight.  TradeArabia News Service
A chain of cafes in Dublin will offer free coffee on International Womens Day to customers wearing yellow.

International Women's Day is celebrated annually on 8th March throughout the world to celebrate women, but to also highlight gender equality, reproductive rights, and other issues women face.

This Friday, DASH Coffee, at the Fatima Luas Stop, Trinity Centre St James Hospital and Blackhorse Avenue at the Phoenix Park, will be giving free coffees to women wearing yellow.

Roberto Luksic, the marketing manager at DASH, acknowledges that its not the usual pinks and purples, but believes that this colour choice will highlight that their coffee business wants nothing but happiness for women.

We love supporting women and especially ones in the community. The majority of staff who work in DASH are women. Theyre really hard workers, we really appreciate the work they put in.

We know the usual colours for the day, but we wanted to put our own little twist on it, we said well wear yellow for DASH.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

Yellow is for happiness and positivity, so if any woman wears that colour on the day, they get a free coffee. Well be asking customers what it means for them to be a woman and the best answers get prizes.

We wanted to do something for the women, we have a lot of female customers, Mr Luksic told the Irish Independent.
European Elections hopeful Cian Prendiville recently spoke at Tralee event.

People Before Profit (PBP) candidate in the European Elections in Ireland South recently spoke in Tralee where he outlined the importance of people mobilising to defeat austerity.

Cian Prendiville, a former Limerick Councilor with connections to Killorglin and Lyreacrompane, got his campaign underway in Tralee when he held an open meeting chaired by Joe Harrington of PBP Kerry, and Kieran Allen, National Secretary of PBP.

At the meeting, Mr Prendiville outlined his socialist election platform and encouraged people to mobilise and organise on the issues that affect them.

This is Kerry Newsletter Enter your email address below and click 'Sign Up' to receive the This is Kerry newsletter direct to your inbox. Please check your inbox to verify your details

"It was people power movements against austerity which propelled me onto the council in 2014 and defeated the government's attempt to introduce water charges, and that's something I feel we need more of today, he said.

We have had 10 years of supposed growth, but in reality, public services, wages and living standards have been stagnating, while rents, prices and profits are skyrocketing. We need to rekindle some of that spirit of 2014 now and build campaigns for housing, healthcare and climate action, Mr Prendiville added.

If elected to the European Parliament, Mr Prendiville said his role will be to highlight the EUs role in propping up Israel's war machine.

It is mercilessly bombing and ethnically cleansing the people of Gaza. I will use this position to hold the European Union and Israel to account for this barbaric treatment of the people of Palestine, he said.
A visit to Belfast's City Hall was on the itinerary for the Greenhill's students.

Senior history students from Our Ladys College, Greenhills, were accompanied by their teachers as they recently travelled to Derry and Belfast for fieldwork in their study of the history of contemporary Northern Ireland.

The history trip featured exploration of museums and places relevant to the girls study of the North.

The visit to Derry included the Siege Museum which commemorates the Siege of Derry, and the Apprentice Boy Memorial Hall. The group also had the opportunity to spend time in the Museum of Free Derry in the Bogside.

This is Louth Newsletter Enter your email address below and click 'Sign Up' to receive the This is Louth newsletter direct to your inbox. Please check your inbox to verify your details

This is a repository of artefacts and other primary source material documenting Bloody Sunday and life in Derry during the Troubles. The students academic study of the time was enriched by a Q&A session with a relative of one of the victims of Bloody Sunday and the opportunity to examine some of the Bogside murals. A guided walking tour of the historic Derry walls completed what was for the students, a very enlightening and interesting visit.

Next on the itinerary was a very enjoyable bus tour of historic Belfast. Students learned about the City Hall, the impact of the Blitz on the city, particularly around the docklands and the current day Titanic Quarter, before travelling to the Clonard Monastery, and finally to the Peace Wall that divides the Shankill and the Falls Road. Students got the opportunity to see the West-Belfast murals, memorials and other sites associated with the Troubles, before signing the Peace Wall.

The trip concluded with a stroll around Queens University and the chance to learn about Northern Irelands ancient past as well as the more recent history of Northern Ireland during World War II and the Civil Rights movement there.

This was a first trip to the two cities for some of the Greenhills girls, and an experience which will certainly prompt new and insightful perspectives.
Focus Ireland CEO Pat Dennigan from Sligo and Head of Community Fundraising at Focus Ireland Lorraine Toner get ready for the annual Camino De Santiago fundraising challenge.

Focus Ireland has launched it popular annual Camino De Santiago fundraising challenge. This year, Focus Ireland aims to gather 20 enthusiastic walkers to embark on a memorable journey along the last 115 kilometers of The Camino, from Sarria to Santiago De Compostela in Northern Spain.

For many, walking into Santiago de Compostela marks a profound milestone and is a coveted item on their bucket list. Recognising that not everyone can commit to a month-long pilgrimage, Focus Ireland offers the opportunity to experience the final stage of The Camino while raising vital funds to combat homelessness.

Pat Dennigan, proud Sligo Man and CEO of Focus Ireland, who makes annual trips to the Camino, expressed his excitement. He said; "The Camino journey is not just about the physical challenge; it's about solidarity, self-discovery, and making a meaningful impact on the lives of those experiencing homelessness. It's about forging connections, finding inspiration in the shared stories of fellow pilgrims, and realising the power we have to effect change, both within ourselves and in our communities."

The seven-night trip promises an enriching experience, with five walking days covering varying distances of at least 20 kilometers each. Participants will traverse diverse terrains, including picturesque villages, tranquil forests, meandering rivers, and bustling towns, soaking in the sights, sounds, and culture of Spain along the way.

Lorraine Toner, Head of Community Fundraising at Focus Ireland, encourages individuals to seize this extraordinary opportunity to support vital services such as Family Services. "Every kilometre walked could make a difference to the 1,916 individuals currently experiencing homelessness or the 4,000 children in emergency accommodation," she emphasises.

Participants will receive comprehensive fundraising support to achieve their goals, along with guidance and preparation tips through informative Zoom calls. Whether walking solo or with a group, the Camino De Santiago offers a transformative experience for all.

The goal of the challenge is to raise 50,000, enabling Focus Ireland to expand its reach and provide essential services where they are most needed.

Join Focus Ireland on this remarkable journey and become a part of the solution to end homelessness. For more information and to sign up, please contact events@focusireland.ie.
Sean Meehan from New Inn, Co Tipperary faces sleeping in his van if his modular home is demolished

Sean Meehan with his pet cat outside his log cabin in Co Tipperary

A peaceful protest is being organised in support of Sean Meehan, the Tipperary pensioner facing jail time for building a log cabin on his own land.

Mr Meehan is facing the prospect of spending his 66th birthday in prison if he doesnt remove the log cabin by March 14.

The 65-year-old is caught in a catch-22" situation, as he must make the difficult decision to demolish his modular home by March 14 and be forced to sleep in his van, or refuse and be sent to prison to serve a four month prison sentence.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 7

Mr Meehan is due back in court on April 4. From there he will be transferred to Limerick prison to serve a four month sentence if he doesnt comply with the court's ruling to have the log cabin removed by March 14.

Follow Independent Tipperary on Facebook

However, Mr Meehan is prepared to take a stand and is willing to go to prison for what he believes in. He told the Irish Independent: I am willing to take a stand on this. I was told to have a bag ready for prison if I refuse to take it down. I already have my bag packed. I will walk into prison knowing I havent done anything to anyone. I didnt break into someones house, I haven't mugged an old person, I didnt hurt anyone. I just made a home for myself.

Sean was told his log cabin aesthetically looked bad and devalued other properties in the area. Photo: Save Sean's Cabin Facebbok Page

Mr Meehan's neighbour, Keith OBrien has been instrumental in garnering public support for a man who has lived in New Inn, Co Tipperary all his life.

Mr O'Brien set up a GoFundMe Page to raise funds to help with Mr Meehans legal costs which has raised in excess of 4,000. But he has now taken his support one step further and is organising a peaceful march to the Tipperary Council Offices in support of Mr Meehan.

We are arranging a march on Friday March 15 at 11.30am starting at the West Gate Clonmel and heading to the council offices, explained Mr OBrien.

"It is very important that we get a good attendance to show support behind Sean. Please do what you can, share far and wide and most of all please be peaceful and respectful at the request of Sean and family.

"We appreciate every one of you who has supported Sean this far.

"There will be some signage made up for the day but anything you can bring along please do so we can make an impact.

When the local Community of New Inn found out that one of there own was facing the prospect of being made homeless, they rallied around Mr Meehan. They organised a public meeting in the New Hall Community Centre and alongside Mr OBrien set up a petition on Change.org in support of Mr Meehan.

The community of New Inn in Co Tipperary held a meeting in support of Sean Meehan

Since the ordeal with planning permission started, Mr Meehan has been brought to Cashel District Court four times. The last time Sean went to court on December 14, his was given the ultimatum of removing the log cabin or be sent to jail.

The council said I didnt show a social and economic need to live in the area. But Im born and reared here. My parents and my grandparents are a mile up the road in the cemetery so I dont understand that reason at all, explained Mr Meehan.

"They also said aesthetically it looked really bad, they said it would devalue the properties in the area. In fairness I do agree you can't just put anything unsightly up but we made it well. We used all skilled tradespeople and we made it so it didnt look out of place on the land.
Wexford native had been a popular member of the BBC Scotland broadcasting team

Launch of Nick Sheridans book "The Case of the Runaway Brain" in Wexford Book Centre. Nick with his parents Bernie and Nick

Wexford native and journalist with BBC Scotland, Nick Sheridan, has passed away at the age of 32. It is understood he suffered a brain aneurysm and collapsed while over a week ago. Nick subsequently lapsed into a coma and passed on Wednesday, March 6

His funeral will take place in St Ibar's Church, Castlebridge on Wednesday, March 13 at 11 a.m., followed by a private committal for family and close friends at Mount Jerome Crematorium..

Nick, who lived in Glasgow, had previously worked for RTE before moving to the UK to take up a career with the BBC. He attended St Peters College in Wexford and in 2009, was named Young Irish Filmmaker of the Year and travelled to Korea for the Seoul International Film Festival.

In 2021 he released the first of several books, Breaking News: How to tell whats real from whats rubbish, which was aimed at aspiring journalists. This was followed by a mystery series catering for 8-12 year-olds which were partly inspired by his own childhood growing up in rural Wexford.

The BBC Scotland communications team announced his passing on social media with a tribute by the head of news and current affairs at BBC Scotland, Gary Smith. "We're devastated to hear the news our colleague and friend Nick Sheridan, has died. Nick has been a wonderful colleague. He was a hugely talented journalist, presenter and author  and one of those rare people who light up the lives of everyone around them.

"Our hearts go out to his parents, his partner and to all his family and friends.

Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon reacted to the news, writing: "So terribly sad to read this. It is truly awful. Nick was young, talented, vivacious, and full of potential. What a horrible, senseless loss. My thoughts are with his family, colleagues and many friends."

Wexford councillor, George Lawlor, said he was absolutely stunned and deeply saddened to learn of Nicks passing and recalled performing alongside the young journalist in the Wexford Light Opera Societys (WLOS) production of The Producers in 2009.

My sincere condolences to his family and many friends, added Cllr Lawlor.

Nick was also fondly remembered by his many friends from the WLOS where he performed as a young man..

Wexford Light Opera Society was shocked to hear the news of the sudden passing of former member Nick Sheridan, said its PRO, Nicky Kehoe.

A very talented singer and actor Nick graced the staged and loved performing with the society when he could and was certainly one of those rare people who lit up the lives of everyone around him.

He also played the lead role of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof with St. Peters College and the Loreto Secondary School in November 2009.

The society would like to express our sympathy and our hearts go out to Nicks parents Nick Snr and Bernie, to his partner and to all his family and friends. May his gentle soul rest in peace.

There were further tributes from the principal of St Peters College in Wexford town where Nick was named student of the year in 2010.

The community of St Peters College Secondary School was saddened to hear of the untimely death of our former student, Nicholas Sheridan, said Mr John Banville.

Nick was an exceptional student whose talents and contributions left an indelible mark on our school community during his time here. He was named student of the year 2010 for his academic achievements and over all excellence in all his pursuits.

Our deepest sympathy to Nicks family and friends.

Although an established journalist with BBC Scotland, Nick never forgot his roots as a childrens presenter on RTEs news2day. In 2022 he wrote the first of a planned trilogy of books for young readers, entitled The Case of the Runaway Brain. Launched in The Book Centre in Wexford town the book was followed last year by its sequel, The Case of the Phantom Treasure.

The success of his novels saw him embark on several book tours around the UK, as well as appearing at the Edinburgh Book Festival, Cheltenham Book Festival and the Dublin International Literature Festival.

But Nick still found time to return home to Wexford to visit local libraries and discuss his books with local children. Speaking to The Wexford People in April, 2023, he reflected on the success of the series.

Meeting hundreds of young readers is an amazing part of the job, especially here in Wexford, he said, but finding the time to write can sometimes be difficult. I have another book coming in August, which is top-secret at the moment, and Im also currently writing the third in this series. So sometimes I have to just fly home to Castlebridge, pull the curtains and get the words down.

Nick is survived by his parents Nick Snr and Bernie.
Off licence and deli part of plans for new Co Wexford business

From left; Marian O'Muilleoir, Jim McDonald and Mary Ryan from Duncannon, Maureen Bolger from Campile, Yvonne Ellis from Duncanon, Jane and Sean Russell from UK. Photo; Mary Browne

The Shop opens in Duncannon. From left; Jane McGrath, John Walsh and Mary McGrath from Duncannon. Photo; Mary Browne

The Shop opens in Duncannon. From left; Kimberley and Graham from The Irish Experience Fethard On Sea and owner Don Sweeney. Photo; Mary Browne

The Shop opening in Duncannon. Owners Don Sweeney and Sophie McDonagh with their daughter Sadie. Photo; Mary Browne

The opening of a shop in Duncannon village after seven years has been greeted with joy and great interest locally.

Run by Dublin couple and Enniscorthy residents, Sophie McDonagh and Don Sweeney, The Shop is located in art deco The Shoreline development close to the beach and almost exactly where the previous shop run by the Glennon family operated from.

Sophie has a background in retail, her parents being owners of supermarkets in Dublin.

This is Wexford Newsletter Enter your email address below and click 'Sign Up' to receive the This is Wexford newsletter direct to your inbox. Please check your inbox to verify your details

She said she was delighted to open a business with Don in Duncannon.

"The opening was fantastic, we were absolutely blown away by the number of people who came. We've gotten a lot of good feedback about the coffee and people travelled from around Wexford to see the shop and to wish us well, said Sophie.

"I grew up in retail. My parents had shops since I was five, so I've been in and around shops all my life and I took over running a supermarket five years ago.

Sophie said a drive to Duncannon convinced her and Don of a business opportunity in the village. We got talking to the postman who told us about the Shoreline premises.

"We sell groceries, fruit, veg, dairy products and we have a wine licence on the way. People told us on Monday that a shop was badly needed in the area and they told us about when there was no shop in the village.

"Were looking forward to the summer and we sell everything from slushies to ice cream, anything that the customers request, we will do our best to source.

The business employs three local staff and Sophie and Don plan to take on two or three more staff during the summer.
The Nicholas O'Dwyer team at the Wolfgang Reforest near Aughrim, south Wicklow.

The Nicholas O'Dwyer team at the Wolfgang Reforest near Aughrim, south Wicklow.

The Nicholas O'Dwyer team at the Wolfgang Reforest near Aughrim, south Wicklow.

A 2021 World Environment Day tree-planting initiative aimed at restoring biodiversity and halting climate change has seen the planting of 240 trees (and counting) on 15 acres of County Wicklow land.

Planted by professional services firm Nicholas ODwyer in support of the Generation Restoration movement, the 240 native Irish trees are located just beyond the village of Aughrim in the Nicholas ODwyer forest, which forms part of the Wolfgang Reforest.

Based in Ireland, Nicholas ODwyer is a professional services firm working in the water, transportation and energy sectors, delivering engineering, project management, environmental and planning services.

Nicholas ODwyer Senior Environmental Consultant Robbie Clarke said that knowing the benefits of trees for people and communities was the driving force behind getting involved with the Wolfgang Reforest movement.

Not only do trees improve soil and water conservation, but also they store carbon, moderate local climate and air temperature and contribute to the preservation and restoration of biodiversity, Mr Clarke said.

Being among trees has also been scientifically proven to reduce stress and anxiety and improve wellbeing.

During the first phase of the project, we planted 80 trees before planting a further 80 in March 2023.

Late last year, representatives from Nicholas ODwyer returned to Wolfgang Forest, where the company has planted a total of 240 native Irish trees, exceeding its target of planting one for every permanent staff member by 2024.

Mr Clarke said the company believes planting native trees is the best way to re-green Ireland and revitalise its wildlife, adding: Through the strategic planting of trees, we aim to contribute to carbon sequestration, aiding in the global effort to mitigate climate change.

Simultaneously, the diverse range of native Irish trees planted, including alder, wild cherry, spindle and hazel, is expected to enhance local biodiversity, which we hope will one day result in a thriving ecosystem, he said.

Each tree that reaches maturity in our forest is expected to lock in five tonnes of CO2 during its lifetime. Nicholas ODwyer will have offset approximately 1200 tonnes of carbon over the lifetime of the trees that have been planted.

The initiative was embraced by colleagues, with many quickly volunteering to take part.

The teams positive response reflects a shared interest in environmental sustainability and a real desire to make a meaningful impact. The initiative has also been a fantastic opportunity for people who dont usually work together to get to know one another.

Wolfgang Reforest Director Katie McDermott commented: Weve had great fun meeting the Nicholas ODwyer team down in Wicklow over the last couple of years, and were delighted we share the same mission: to reduce climate change, revitalise wildlife and, most of all, reforest Ireland.
More than 13,000 Wicklow students in 23 post-primary schools will not have to worry about buying or renting schoolbooks for the academic year 2024/2025 as a new scheme is being rolled out to eliminate the cost for families of Junior Cycle students.

Details of the scheme were revealed by Education Minister Norma Foley on Tuesday, March 5, when she confirmed that parents and guardians of students enrolled in Junior Cycle years in post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme will not be asked to buy or rent any schoolbooks for the 2024/25 school year.

The scheme will provide, at a minimum, free schoolbooks, and core classroom resources for all students in Junior Cycle years in post-primary schools in the free scheme in the 2024/25 school year, easing the financial burdens facing families during back-to-school time.

Special schools in which children and young people with special educational needs are enrolled in Junior Cycle programmes will also receive the Junior Cycle rate in respect of these students in 2024/25.

Commenting on the initiative, Wicklow Higher Education Minister Simon Harris said: This is further great news for Wicklow parents who have children. Families of young children every year worry about the cost of education as September gets closer.

Government is stepping in to make sure that the cost of education is being reduced every which way, with the cost of school books being removed and the cost of school buses also being removed. As Minister for Further and Higher Education I am particularly attached to removing any barrier that there is to education especially financial.

Schools will also separately be provided with an Administration Support Grant to assist with the roll-out and implementation of the scheme and to relieve any additional administrative burden, and Minister Harris said: Speaking to principals and administration in schools I know that the free school books scheme can be an administrative burden. So I am delighted that schools will also separately be provided with an Administration Support Grant to assist with the roll-out and implementation of the scheme and to relieve any additional administrative burden.

Minister Harris added: The free School Books Scheme has been a success at primary level, now its time to see this scheme work for post primary school students and make sure education is never impacted by any financial costs. This is especially important to students moving from primary to post primary school students as families often incur a higher cost during this transition. What were doing here with this initiative is ensuring a best start for every child, no matter where they come from, what their background is, or the financial means of their parents, they have a chance to reach their full potential no matter the cost.
The Go Greener with Grangecon community group in west Wicklow has urged the public to drop off their old coins, stamps, postcards and more to help the conservation efforts of the Irish Peatland Conservation Council.

Every Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Grangecon Store Cupboard refill station (look for the green tent) outside Moores Pub will be collecting all your old Irish and foreign coins and banknotes, phone or call cards, bus ticket change receipts, cap badges, first-day covers and postcards.

The Irish Peatland Conservation Council (IPCC), best known for the Save the Bogs campaign, will turn your unwanted items into money to help their work saving Irish bogs and wildlife that have yielded some major success stories over the past 40 years.

Valuable stamps identified will be sold separately by IPCC, but even perfectly ordinary stamps are welcome. Other stamps get made into packs for sale in IPCCs Nature Shop or sold in bulk in Ireland to stamp dealers.

We sort stamps into different categories (Irish Commemoratives; Irish Definitives; World; and UK Commemoratives and Definitives), they get trimmed to leave a 1 cm margin around the edge, and we then sell them by weight to Irish and international stamp dealers, an IPCC spokesperson said.

They are also sold as stamp collector packs in the IPCC Nature Shop. Last year alone, we received 83,000 grams of stamps from our supporters and the general public. The collector's campaign is worth 10,000 each year to IPCC.

We sort into categories and sell to postcard collectors. We are particularly interested in John Hinde cards, cards with a bogland or turf interest and old postcards, they added.

Some of the more general and modern cards we recycle with stickers on the back for use here in the office when writing to supporters.

Old coins and banknotes are exchanged by IPCC for Euro (if the currency is still valid), with coin packs sold to collectors who visit the IPCC Nature Shop and older coins placed in collectors' auctions.

First Day of Issue Stamp Covers from Ireland, the UK and the World are sold at auction to collectors, with used Telephone Cards also sold on to collectors and Bus Atha Cliath refund tickets are reclaimed.

Praising the work done by IPCC, a spokesperson for Go Greener with Grangecon commented If you have been holding on to old Irish coins or if you have a collection of foreign coins from past travels and would like to clear some space while donating to a good cause, this is your opportunity!

If you are willing to take the time to cut out used stamps from your posts, we can bring these to the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, as well as any postcards you might have. And yes, postcards can be written on!

For more details on what we can accept on behalf of the IPCC, go to ipcc.ie/help-ipcc/save-stamps
Emirates and ITA Airways have inked an MoU for the expansion of their existing interline into a full codeshare partnership.

Once activated, the codeshare will boost travel options and connection choices for customers travelling between Dubai, Italy and beyond.

Under the codeshare, Emirates customers will be able to smoothly travel to a number of domestic cities in Italy from the airlines gateway in Rome, including popular tourist destinations like Florence, Genoa, Palermo, Trieste, among others.

Customers will also be able to connect to cities across Europe including Tirana, Sofia, and other major cities.

ITA Airways customers will benefit from significantly enhanced choices by connecting to the Emirates route network from Dubai via the airlines Rome services.

The connectivity provided between Emirates and ITA Airways will eventually offer combined ticketing and seamless baggage transfers. The planned agreement will also support inbound visitation to Italian points from regions across the Emirates network, including Australia, the Far East, Middle East/GCC and West Asia.

The MoU signed will establish the foundation to strengthen the partnership between both airlines, creating one-stop connections to popular cities across Italy and wider Europe with ITA Airways, and opening up simpler and faster journeys to the Emirates network from Dubai with the best routes, schedules and connections.

Adnan Kazim, Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer, Emirates Airline said: Enhancing our partnerships and boosting our presence in key regions such as Europe is an integral part of our commercial strategy, and underscores our commitment to providing customers flexibility through our partners complementary networks.

Working closely with ITA Airways will strengthen our footprint across exciting cities in Italy, and key points in Europe. We look forward to fully activate our partnership with ITA Airways in the coming months and providing unrivalled access to both of our growing networks.

Antonino Turicchi, Chairman of ITA Airways said: We are pleased to sign this codeshare partnership with Emirates today. This MoU further enhances ITA Airways commercial strategy of growth and opens up a privileged access route to all passengers who will benefit the connectivity via Rome Fiumicino and Dubai.

This agreement marks the Company's 35th codeshare partnership, an excellent result we have achieved in just over two years.

The MoU also seeks to establish extending reciprocal loyalty benefits on both airlines frequent flyer programmes at a later stage.

Once the necessary government and regulatory approvals are obtained, the codeshare flights will progressively be made available to customers across online and travel agency platforms.  TradeArabia News Service
Ashford and District Beekeepers Association members recently attended the Native Irish Honey Bee Society (NIHBS) annual conference, a hive of activity where the buzzwords were Keep it Local.

Held in the Athlone Springs Hotel, the conference attracted its biggest numbers yet, with speakers including Professor Grace McCormack from Galway University.

She spoke about the work the Galway Honey Bee Research Centre has carried out, showing that Ireland still held significant populations of Apis mellifera mellifera (Amm), the subspecies native to here, and under threat elsewhere across its range and also that wild honey bees are common here.

Also speaking was Eoghan Mac Giolla Coda, a commercial beekeeper whose primary interest is in honey production and who has worked as a full-time beekeeper for over 12 years, with his colonies averaging close to 80 lbs p.a.

This is Wicklow Newsletter Enter your email address below and click 'Sign Up' to receive the This is Wicklow newsletter direct to your inbox. Please check your inbox to verify your details

Given Irelands cool and damp climate, he believes that to achieve good yields, it is important to work with locally adapted bees that can best take advantage of the generally short periods of good weather.

Mike Palmer, a commercial beekeeper from Vermont, spoke about how best to improve local bee stock and the weekend was wrapped up with Colm ONeill on practical queen rearing for conservation.

Speaking about the successful conference, NIHBS Chairperson Loretta Neary, from Dunlavin, said: We are very pleased to see the biggest turnout yet. Our membership rose by 20 per cent this last year, which is encouraging and means our message is reaching the general public, who are interested in learning more about our threatened native Irish honey bee and are keen to help us conserve it.

Honey bee hybridisation in Ireland is worrying and rose from under five per cent in 2018 to over 12 per cent in 2023, with some areas having more than 30 per cent hybrids. Many beekeepers confirm that hybrids are leading to aggression and other undesirable characteristics.

There will be no return once we lose these important genetics, and the more people we can inform, the more chance we have to save this important part of our natural heritage.

Legislation to prohibit imports of non-native honey bees was introduced into the Seanad with full party support. Unfortunately, the bill was paused until the completion of a review by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine.
Adam Sandler has shocked fans by topping the Forbes list of highest-paid actors for the first time since 2002.

The magazine calculated that Sandler made $73m (57m) in 2023, primarily thanks to his lucrative deal with streaming giant Netflix. Last year he starred in comedy sequel Murder Mystery 2 and family film You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah for the streamer, as well as voicing the lead character in animation Leo. He also produced crime caper The Out-Laws and is currently appearing in sci-fi drama Spaceman.

On X/Twitter, one fan wrote: The fact that Adam Sandler has more earning than Tom Cruise is just beyond speechless to me.

Second on the list of highest-earning actors was Margot Robbie, who Forbes estimated made $59m (46m) last year. This was primarily for her leading role in hit blockbuster Barbie, as well as appearing in Wes Andersons Asteroid City and producing Emerald Fennells Saltburn.

Third on the list was Tom Cruise, who brought in $45m (35m) for his work on action sequel Mission: Impossible  Dead Reckoning Part One as well as streaming sales for the previous years Top Gun: Maverick.

Fourth place was a tie between Ryan Gosling, who made $43m (34m) for his appearance opposite Robbie in Barbie, and Matt Damon, who made the same amount last year after appearing in both Air and Oppenheimer.

In sixth place on the 2023 list was Jennifer Aniston, who made $42m (33m) after starring alongside Sandler in Murder Mystery 2 and headlining Apple TV+s The Morning Show, as well as still receiving healthy residuals from Friends.

Seventh place saw both Leonardo DiCaprio and Jason Statham on $41m (32m). DiCaprio starred in Martin Scorseses Oscar-nominated Killers of the Flower Moon, while Statham had the busier year with appearances in Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, Fast X, Meg 2: The Trench and Expend4bles.

Ninth on the list was Ben Affleck, who brought in an estimated $38m (30m) with his starring role in Air, produced by his own company Artists Equity, as well as a high-profile advertising deal with Dunkin Donuts.

In tenth place was Denzel Washington, who made $24m (19m) primarily thanks to the success of action-thriller sequel The Equalizer 3.

In 2022, the Forbes list of highest-paid actors was topped by Tyler Perry. For the three consecutive years prior Dwayne Johnson was the highest paid actor in Hollywood.

When Sandler last topped the list over two decades ago, he made $47m (37m) starring in films including Punch-Drunk Love and Mr Deeds.
A former software engineer at Google has been charged with stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets from the company while secretly working with two companies based in China, the US Justice Department has said.
Alexei Navalnys widow Yulia urges massive election-day protest against Vladimir Putin  As long as we have each other, its not over

Yulia Navalnaya said the thousands of people who gathered for the opposition leaders funeral gave her hope

Yulia Navalnaya has called for protests against the Russian president.

Chris Stevenson  UK Independent Thu 7 Mar 2024 at 03:30







The widow of Alexei Navalny has called for a massive election-day protest against Vladimir Putin, saying that the support she has received since his death is proof that the opposition leaders ideals live on.
Senior Russian officer warns Ukraine conflict could escalate into full-scale war in Europe

Russia must re-organise its security, says senior officerThe West may boost 'proxy forces' against Russia, he says

Several children were among those killed in the attack (Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP)

Thu 7 Mar 2024 at 08:19







A senior Russian military officer has warned that the conflict in Ukraine could escalate into a full-scale war in Europe and said the probability of Moscow's forces becoming involved in a new conflict is increasing "significantly."
Perus prime minister has resigned over allegations he used his influence to secure government contracts for a 25-year-old woman with whom he had a relationship.
Heads turned as the masked men with clubs walked down a Rafah street, part of a vigilante public security group set up by armed factions in Gaza after the civil police force went underground saying it was targeted by Israeli strikes.
US presidential rematch few people want is on as Nikki Haley drops out of race

Trump has voter edge on Biden but his campaign may be dogged by criminal cases

Speaking in South Carolina, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said the time had come to suspend her campaign, paving the way for Donald Trump to be the partys presidential nominee. Photo: AP

Gram Slattery, South Carolina Thu 7 Mar 2024 at 03:30







Nikki Haley ended her long-shot challenge to Republican frontrunner Donald Trump yesterday, ensuring the former US president will be the partys candidate in a rematch with Joe Biden in Novembers election.
Radisson Hotel Group has appointed Neeraja Rahul to lead the Responsible Business Initiatives in the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman and Qatar, driving the group's journey towards achieving Net Zero by 2050.

With the groups 'Think People, Planet, and Community' focus, Rahul embodies this dedication to sustainability and community engagement, said a statement.

Rahul's new responsibility complements her current role as a Chief Engineer at Radisson RED, Dubai Silicon Oasis, reinforcing the groups dedication to sustainable practices and female empowerment. In this role, Rahul will play a vital part within the Responsible Business Team, enhancing initiatives centered on sustainability, community engagement, and ethical business practices.

Rahul brings a wealth of experience to the role as the first female Chief Engineer for Radisson Hotel Group in the Middle East. With a remarkable ascent in the hospitality sector in just a few years, Rahuls journey from an engineering admin to her current leadership position exemplifies her dedication and expertise, it said.

As the group plans its course for 2024, Rahul will lead a range of initiatives for the Responsible Business Team, including but not limited to Iftar delivery for drivers, Earth Hour, community action month, and sustainability verification efforts across all hotels. Additionally, she will actively support hotels in obtaining eco-labeling certifications and promote participation in initiatives such as the partnership with Just a Drop via towel reuse and green housekeeping programme.

Those innovative strategies will help Radisson Hotel Group's commitment to becoming Net Zero by 2050. Looking ahead, the group will pilot efforts by leveraging green building practices, transitioning to renewable energy sources, and promoting sustainable operations, thereby reducing the Group's carbon footprint and aligning with the Paris Agreement.

Jan Hanak, Managing Director, UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Egypt Radisson Hotel Group, said, Radisson Hotel Group's long tradition of being a responsible business, with its first environmental policy defined in 1989, the responsible business coordinator role is vital. Neraajas background in engineering brings invaluable technical expertise and problem-solving skills to the role, enabling her to implement sustainable practices and initiatives effectively.

Complementing these efforts, Radisson Hotel Group extends its sustainability pledge to its guests. It offers sustainable value propositions such as 100% carbon-neutral meetings and expanding EV charging networks globally, with over 900 installations already in place. This includes supporting the people, communities, and the planet through plans focused on business ethics, supply chain sustainability, carbon footprint reduction, and employability programs to foster a better future for all.

Over the past 10 years, the Group has reduced its average energy and water footprint by 30%. As an intermediate target, it aims to reduce its carbon footprint by 30% over the next 5 years and halve it by 2030. Additionally, the Group aims to minimize the consumption of natural resources, increase the use of renewable energy, and phasing out single-use plastics, it said.  TradeArabia News Service
Meet the firm behind our content. Visit their website to see how their services can help your business succeed.
Photo courtesy: wikipedia.org

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the former Uttarakhand Forest Minister Harak Singh Rawat and Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Kishan Singh Chand for the heavy environmental damage at the Jim Corbett National Park and directed that the tiger Safari cannot be built in the core area.

A bench comprising Justice BR Gavai, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Sandeep Mehta said, "It shows the nexus of the bureaucrat and the politician, which resulted in heavy environmental damage.

The bench directed the government that if they wanted to set up such parks, an 'animal-centric' approach should be adopted, rather than a 'tourism-centric' approach.

The bench had in January told the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) that it cannot have a tiger safari on the lines of a zoo within the national park.

The court while referring to the NTCA guidelines providing for tiger safaris only in buffer and fringe areas of such reserves, directed that Tiger Safari can be permitted in the buffer zone of Jim Corbett National Park but not in its core area

On the issue of illegal felling of trees, the court said this an important issue which cannot be ignored.

It appointed Ex-Director General of Forests & Special Secretary Chander Prakash Goyal, Sumit Sinha and another to suggest more efficient management of tiger reserves.

"Experts in the field must look into it. Safari already existing in Pakhru need not to disturbed but Uttarakhand should establish a tiger rescue centre.

MoEF shall constitute a committee of representative of NTCA, MoEF CEC officer not below rank of Joint Secretary and wildlife authority. They shall recommend measures to restore the damages and quantify costs of restoration. Identify officers who are liable and the cost shall be recovered from them. Cost to be exclusively used for restoration of damage," the Court further directed.

We are amazed at the audacity of the forest minister and Chand to have committed this. We are sure many others are involved. Since CBI is probing this we are not saying anything more," the Court said.

The matter pertains to a case in which permissions were sought by the State government to set up a planned Pakhro tiger Safari project at the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand.

The tiger safari proposed at Pakhrau was on a land of 106 hectares, which is about 0.082 percent of the total area at the national park, and 0.22 percent of the buffer area of the tiger reserve.

Senior Advocate ANS Nandkarni appeared for the State of Uttarakhand. Advocate K Parameswar served as the Amicus Curiae.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati appeared for the NTCA.

The National Green Tribunal had in November 2022 directed that the Pakhro Tiger Safari project in Jim Corbett National Park be halted since around 6,000 trees were illegally cut for the project.

Environment activists filed a petition and advocate Gaurav Bansal in the Supreme Court challenging the Uttarakhand governments proposal in this regard.

As per the State's affidavit, Uttarakhand is home to 560 tigers with 260 at the Corbett Tiger Reserve which is spread across 1,288 square km.



(With UNI inputs)
Photo courtesy: Pixabay

New Delhi: Amid growing instances of direct and surrogate advertisements and endorsements of illegal activities like betting or gambling, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued a comprehensive advisory and warned celebrities and influencers to refrain from promoting such activities.

The advisory, under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, emphasizes the prohibition of advertising, promotion, and endorsement of unlawful activities prohibited under various laws, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said in a release.

Betting and gambling are strictly prohibited under the Public Gambling Act, 1867, and are considered illegal in the majority of regions across the country. Despite this, online betting platforms and apps persist in advertising betting and gambling directly, as well as under the guise of gaming.

Endorsements of such activities present considerable financial and socio-economic implications, especially to the youth. The advisory also underscores the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting's efforts in issuing various advisories to media platforms, cautioning them against publicizing betting and gambling platforms.

Online advertisement intermediaries have also been warned against targeting such advertisements toward the Indian audience.

According to the guidelines, It has come to our attention that betting platforms are employing celebrities and influencers to endorse and promote their betting activities.

Consequently, endorsement by celebrities gives an impression that indulging in such activity is acceptable.

Engaging in the promotion or advertisement of online gambling and betting, given its unlawful status in the majority of the states, renders one equally liable for participating in an illegal activity. Hence, celebrities and influencers are advised to refrain from endorsing and promoting illegal betting and gambling activities.

Accordingly, it is hereby cautioned that any advertisement or endorsement, whether directly or indirectly, of activities that are otherwise prohibited by law, including but not limited to betting or gambling, through advertisements or promotions, shall be subject to rigorous scrutiny, the CCPA warned.

In case the aforementioned guidelines are violated, stringent measures as per the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 shall be initiated against the entire spectrum encompassing manufacturers, advertisers, publishers, intermediaries, social media platforms, celebrities, influencers, endorsers, and any other relevant stakeholders.



(With UNI inputs)
Photo courtesy: Screenshot grab from X video

Srinagar/UNI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Srinagar on a days visit amid unprecedented security arrangements here on Thursday.

The Prime Minister was received at the Srinagar International Airport by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, DGP R R Swain, and other senior leaders of the BJP.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to address a public rally at Srinagar's Bakshi Stadium, during which he is likely to announce major developmental projects for Jammu and Kashmir.

Thousands of people, including BJP workers and employees, have gathered at the venue to listen to the Prime Minister.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Minister Muzaffar Baig was also seen among the crowd.

Unprecedented security arrangements have been put in place in Srinagar to ensure a peaceful event.

Jammu and Kashmir Traffic Police have imposed restrictions on certain routes during the Prime Minister's visit to Srinagar.

The venue of the public rally has been secured and taken over by the Special Protection Group (SPG).

"Srinagar city has been declared as 'Temporary Red Zone' for the operation of drones and quadcopters, as per provisions of Rule 24(2) of Drone Rules, 2021 with immediate effect," Jammu and Kashmir Police posted on X.

#WATCH | J&K: Prime Minister Narendra Modi to shortly attend the 'Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir' program at Srinagar's Bakshi Stadium. pic.twitter.com/Zr3JfHZjbC  ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2024

This is the first visit of Prime Minister Modi to Kashmir after J&Ks special status was scrapped in August 2019.

Prime Minister will also participate in the 'Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir' program at Bakshi Stadium, Srinagar, during which he will dedicate to the nation about Rs 5000 crore worth of programs, the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme'for boosting the agri-economy in Jammu and Kashmir.

He will also dedicate himself to the nation and launch multiple projects related to the tourism sector worth more than Rs 1400 crore under the Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive) scheme, including the project for Integrated Development of Hazratbal Shrine, Srinagar.

The Prime Minister will also launch the 'Dekho Apna Desh People's Choice Tourist Destination Poll and 'Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign'.

He will also announce tourist destinations selected under the Challenge-Based Destination Development (CBDD) Scheme. Besides, the Prime Minister will distribute appointment orders to about 1000 new government recruits in Jammu and Kashmir and will also interact with beneficiaries of various government schemes, including women achievers, lakhpati didis, farmers, entrepreneurs, etc.

In a step that will provide a major boost to the agri-economy of Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister will dedicate the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) to the nation. The program will lead to employment generation, benefiting lakhs of marginal families in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Prime Minister will also launch about 43 projects that will develop a wide range of pilgrimage and tourist sites across the country.

During the program, the Prime Minister will announce 42 tourist destinations selected under the Challenge-Based Destination Development (CBDD) Scheme.

The PM will launch the first-ever nationwide initiative to identify the pulse of the nation on tourism, in the form of 'Dekho Apna Desh Peoples Choice 2024'.

The PM will launch the Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign to inspire the Indian diaspora to become Incredible India ambassadors and promote tourism to India.
The World Tourism Forum Institute (WTFI) has launched a summit aimed at addressing critical security challenges in the global travel industry. The exclusive event, set to take place on April 18, in Brussels, Belgium, will foster collaboration among key industry stakeholders.

The Global Tourism Forum Security Summit will convene esteemed professionals, government officials, security experts, academics, and media representatives from around the world.

The summit aims to delve into multifaceted security concerns impacting the travel industry, ranging from terrorism and cyber threats to safety protocols and emergency management.

Bulut Bagc, Founder and President of the World Tourism Forum, said: "As the travel industry navigates complex security challenges, the GTF Security Summit stands as a beacon of collaboration and innovation.

We believe this summit will provide a unique platform for industry leaders to exchange insights, explore solutions, and collectively pave the way for a more secure travel landscape."1/1

Key Objectives
Photo courtesy: Screenshot grab from video

Kolkata/IBNS: Former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Ganguly, whose several orders and observations in the teacher recruitment scam were critical of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a couple of days after quitting from his judiciary duties.

Ganguly, whose directives helped the surfacing of the alleged teacher recruitment scam, joined the BJP in presence of state unit president Sukanta Majumdar, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, party MP Locket Chatterjee, MLA Agnimitra Paul and others.

Joining the BJP, Ganguly said, "The primary purpose is to mark the beginning of the end of this corrupt ruling party and government in the state through Lok Sabha elections so that they do not return to power in 2026."

"BJP needs to be in power for the sake of Bengal. I feel pained upon seeing Bengal is lagging behind consistently," he added.

Photo courtesy: Bengal BJP

Who is Justice Abhijit Ganguly?

In 2022, Justice Abhijit Ganguly ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the teacher recruitment scam in West Bengal schools.

Justice Ganguly's orders in the scam cases have created ripples in the state with multiple arrests including the one of former education minister Partha Chatterjee.

However, Justice Ganguly was criticised by the Supreme Court last year for giving an interview to a Bengali news channel spoke on the cases, referring to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, revealing that he was upset with TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in one instance et al at length.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud had asked for a separate judge to hear the respective cases.

While Justice Ganguly's strict actions and directives had impressed anti-government protesters who were demanding "justice" and legitimate recruitments, a section of people had questioned his television interview citing "ethics".
Photo courtesy: UNI

New Delhi/UNI: The Indian Navys INS Kolkata rescued 21 crew members, including one Indian, from a Barbados flagged cargo vessel  True Confidence -- that was attacked by a drone or missile in the Gulf of Aden.

The attack on the vessel that happened on Wednesday, left the crew critically injured, forcing them to abandon the ship.

The injured were rescued using integral helicopters and boats and were provided medical aid, the Indian Navy said on social media handle X.

The Indian Navy said, "#INSKolkata deployed for #MaritimeSecurityOperations, arrived on location at 1645 hrs & rescued 21 crew, including one Indian national, using integral helicopter & boats. Critical medical aid provided to injured crew."

The crew of True Confidence were subsequently evacuated to Djibouti, The Indian Navy said.

Similarly on March 4, the Indian Navys INS Kolkata came to the rescue of a Liberian-flagged vessel that was reportedly hit by a drone or missile in the Gulf of Aden.

It assisted in the firefighting efforts by embarking the vessel.
Photo courtesy: UNI

Srinagar/UNI: In his first public rally in Kashmir after the scrapping of Article 370 of the Constitution in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that 'political parties including Congress and its allies were misguiding not only the people of Jammu and Kashmir, but the entire nation over the now-abrogated Article 370.'

Modi in his 27-minute address which was one of the biggest gatherings in the recent past in Kashmir focused on development, corruption, tourism and won the hearts and minds of people in Kashmir.

The PM didn't mention anything about restoration of statehood and holding of Assembly elections in J&K.

"J&K is now breathing openly. This freedom has come after (abrogation of Article) 370.

"For decades, Congress and its allies (apparently referring to NC and PDP) deceived people of J&K and country in the name of Article 370 for political benefit," Modi said in his address.

He said the political parties and some families were benefiting from Article 370- which gave special rights to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

"People of J&K have now understood that they were being deceived. J&K was tied with chains for the benefit of some families. Today Article 370 is not there hence the abilities of youth of J&K are fully respected.

"Today, the talent of Jammu and Kashmir is getting its due respect today as there is no Article 370," the Prime Minister said.

Citing the example of J&K bank- the biggest in the region, Modi said it was a "victim of dynasty politics and corruption".

Photo courtesy: UNI

"The previous governments brought their relatives into the bank and broke the banks back. There was mismanagement. The money of poor people of Kashmir would have been lost.

"We did reform after that and decided to help the bank with Rs 1000 crore. The past five years, thousands of youth of J&K have got employment in bank with complete transparency," he said

He said the bank was failing but has again become strong and today its profit is Rs 1700 crore.

"..The deposits have increased to 1.25 lakh crore. The NPA is now below 5 percent from 11 percent. Bank shares increased 12 times to  140 from minimum of  12."

Modi said he has been able to win the hearts of people and will keep trying hard to win more.

He referred to the 2014 floods when Kashmir valley witnessed its worst ever deluge after the Jhelum River overflowed in many parts of the region.

"Whenever I came here after 2014, I have always said that I am working hard only to win your hearts and I am seeing that I have been able to win your hearts.

"I will keep trying hard to win more. This is Modi ki guarantee and you know that 'Modi ki grantee' means, there is a guarantee of fulfilling the guarantee," the PM said.

He said the success story of Jammu and Kashmir will be the centre of attraction for the world.

Modi said his next mission is that people of the world should come to Jammu and Kashmir for their weddings.

"People should come to J&K and host their weddings... The world has seen how G20 was organised in J&K. There was a time when people used to say, who will go to J&K for tourism?

"Today, tourism in J&K is breaking all the records. In 2023, more than 2 crore tourists have come here... Now, even big celebrities from across the world are coming to Kashmir," he added.
Image Credit: X video grab

Srinagar: In his first trip to Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370, Prime Minister Narendra Modi revealed various developmental initiatives valued at over Rs 6,400 crore on Thursday at the 'Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir' event held at Srinagar's Bakshi Stadium.

Speaking at a public rally, the Prime Minister said he was "ecstatic to be amongst the great people of Srinagar." ("dil jeetne aaya hun...")

"Development projects unveiled today will bolster the development of Jammu and Kashmir. A developed Jammu and Kashmir is a priority for developed India," PM Modi said, as he addressed the people of the Union Territory.

Elated to be amongst the wonderful people of Srinagar. Numerous projects are being dedicated today which will boost development of Jammu and Kashmir.https://t.co/40hkb6QuFe  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 7, 2024

The Prime Minister also pointed out a time when the people of Jammu and Kashmir could in no way get access to their rightful benefits.

"There was an era when law applicable in other parts of the country could not be implemented in Jammu and Kashmir when welfare schemes targeting the poor were implemented across the country, but our brothers and sisters of Jammu and Kashmir were deprived of the benefits. See now, how the times have changed."

Addressing the rally, Modi said, "I promise you that I will leave no stone unturned to return the love and affection you have shown me."

Slamming the Congress party, PM Modi said, "The Congress was misleading not only the residents of Jammu and Kashmir but the entire India on Article 370.

"Today, I got the chance to launch several development projects to benefit tourism. The power of development, tourism possibilities, empowerment of farmers, and the leadership of the youth of Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir is not merely a region, it is the forehead of India. Viksit Jammu and Kashmir is the priority of Viksit Bharat," he said.

"I've been informed that 100,000 individuals from 285 blocks have participated virtually. I express gratitude to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. This revamped Jammu and Kashmir holds promise for a prosperous future and possesses the resilience to confront hurdles... Witnessing your smiles, 1.4 billion people throughout the nation are reassured," he remarked.

Previously, the Prime Minister handed out appointment letters to approximately 1,000 recently hired government workers and engaged with recipients of various central schemes, including women achievers, farmers, and entrepreneurs.

Upon his arrival, PM Narendra Modi toured an exhibition featuring local products from Jammu and Kashmir. A video capturing the Prime Minister's visit to the exhibition was circulated on social media.

According to an official statement, the 'Holistic Agriculture Development Programme' (HADP) by the Prime Minister will provide a major boost to the agri-economy of the region and will cover the full spectrum of activities in three major domains of horticulture, agriculture and livestock husbandry.

The programme is expected to equip about 2.5 lakh farmers with skill-development training and about 2,000 farmers' service centres will be established and robust value chains put in place for the welfare of the farming community, it said.

As per an official statement, the 'Holistic Agriculture Development Programme' (HADP) initiated by the Prime Minister aims to significantly enhance the agricultural economy of the region. It will cover a comprehensive range of activities across three key areas: horticulture, agriculture, and livestock husbandry.

The program is anticipated to provide skill development training to approximately 250,000 farmers and establish around 2,000 farmers' service centers. Additionally, it will establish strong value chains to promote the welfare of the farming community.

The tourism projects launched by PM Modi align with his vision to enhance the overall experience for tourists and pilgrims visiting significant pilgrimage and tourism destinations nationwide.

With these initiatives, the government aims to develop world-class infrastructure and amenities at these sites, said the official statement.

In addition to the Hazratbal shrine project, these initiatives encompass various tourism facilities.

These include developments in the Northeast Circuit in Meghalaya, the Spiritual Circuit in Bihar and Rajasthan, as well as the Rural and Tirthankar Circuit in Bihar. Furthermore, there are additional projects underway in states such as Telangana and Madhya Pradesh.
In image Mamata Banerjee during women's rally in Kolkata/ Courtesy: her Facebook page

Kolkata/IBNS: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday claimed that women were safe in West Bengal. and lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging that it was spreading lies about sexual abuse of women in Sandeshkhali.

Addressing a meeting after leading a rally from College Square to Dorina Crossing on the eve of International Women's Day, Banerjee asked the BJP how many central teams have visited trouble-torn Manipur. She claimed some 455 such teams have come to Bengal so far.

Many women from Saneshkhali, an island about 90 kilometers from Kolkata in North 24 Parganas district, where TMC leaders especially suspended party member Sheikh Shahjahan have been accused of forcefully grabbing lands and sexually abusing women, joined the rally.

"Where were you when women were paraded naked in Manipur, or when a woman was raped and her body forcibly cremated in Hathras? Have you forgotten Bilkis (Bano)?" Banerjee asked, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a public meeting referred to the Sandeshkhali issue as a matter of "shame", and alleged that the TMC government was not worried about it.

Banerjee said the BJP leaders come to the state during the elections to insult her party and make big promises. But they vanish once the polls are over.

"TMC people are thieves and you all are washing machines," Banerjee said in a sarcastic tone.

Without naming the former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay who joined the BJP earlier in the day, Banerjee said she would set students after him from wherever he contested in the election.

"I know what is right and what is wrong as I am a lawyer," Banerjee said, alleging that the former judge has taken the jobs of thousands of teachers by his orders.

"A BJP babu was sitting on the bench and he joined the BJP. How can you expect justice from him?" asked Banerjee and said now he would face the people.

"We will ensure your defeat no matter from where you contest the Lok Sabha polls," Banerjee said.

The Chief Minister reiterated that her government would not allow the implementation of the National Register of Citizens in West Bengal.

Party's General Secretary Abhisekh Banerjee also took part in the rally.

[With UNI inputs]
Photo courtesy: facebook.com/AAPkaArvind

New Delhi/UNI: The Delhi government Thursday decided to extend the subsidy on electricity until March 31st next year, paving the way for 24-hour free electricity in the national capital.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, while informing about the decision made in the cabinet meeting Thursday, said, "I congratulate the people of Delhi. The availability of 24-hour electricity (zero power cuts) and free electricity has been extended until March 31, 2025. This includes free electricity for lawyers' chambers as well."

"Many people had doubts about whether they would receive the electricity subsidy next year or not. Let me tell you, these people made every effort to stop it. But your son has also gotten this work done.

I want to inform you that 24-hour electricity and free electricity are only available in Delhi and Punjab. In the rest of the country, there are long power cuts, and people have to pay thousands of rupees in electricity bills. Because Delhi has a government of honest and educated people, he said.

Under the chairmanship of Arvind Kejriwal, a cabinet meeting was held on Thursday to discuss continuing the free electricity scheme in Delhi.

A proposal was put forward to extend the scheme until March 31, 2025, which was unanimously approved by the cabinet.

Meanwhile, Delhis Energy Minister Atishi said, Providing 24-hour electricity and free electricity in Delhi is not just a promise of the Arvind Kejriwal government but a commitment that they have consistently fulfilled over the past nine years.

She said that there is no policy of the Kejriwal government that their opponents do not try to obstruct.

"Every year, whenever Arvind Kejriwal attempts to work for the people of Delhi and make decisions in their favour, our opponents make every possible effort to block them," she added.
Photo Courtesy: UN Photo/Mark Garten

United Nations/UNI: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called on all parties to the conflict in Sudan to cease hostilities during the Islamic month of Ramadan.

"I call on all parties in Sudan to honour the values of Ramadan by honouring a Ramadan cessation of hostilities. This cessation of hostilities must lead to a definitive silencing of the guns across the country and set out a firm path towards lasting peace for the Sudanese people," Guterres said during a UN Security Council briefing on Sudan.

In just a few days, the holy month of Ramadan will begin.



Today, during a Security Council meeting on Sudan, I made an appeal to all actors involved in the conflict to honour a Ramadan cessation of hostilities.



It is time to silence the guns and raise the volume for peace.  Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) March 7, 2024

The UN Secretary-General also said that the values of Ramadan must prevail.

Guterres referred to the Islamic principle of empathy and generosity and the need to "share and care," particularly with the poor and needy, during the month of Ramadan.

In April 2023, clashes broke out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group.

The parties to the conflict have since introduced a number of temporary nationwide ceasefires, but none have helped settle the conflict.

In late October, the parties to the conflict resumed negotiations, mediated by Saudi Arabia, but hostilities in the country have continued.

(With UNI/Sputnik inputs)
Photo Courtesy: Pixabay

The Wholesalers market in Pakistan's Karachi on Thursday announced a shutdown to protest against the rate list issued by the commissioner.

The decision related to the shutdown was taken during an emergency meeting of the wholesalers body in Karachi.

The shopkeepers of the Jodia Bazar, the citys biggest wholesale market, rejected the rate list issued by the Karachi commissioner and announced shutting down the market, reported Ary News.

Chairman Wholesale Grocers Association Abdul Rauf Ibrahim in his statement urged the commissioner to ensure delivery of the items if he wants the commodities to be sold according to his rate list, the news channel reported.

He said the ex-mill rate of the sugar is Rs134 per kg, how the same can be sold at Rs123 per kg in the wholesale market, he questioned.

"We cannot bear the loss of millions on a daily basis," Rauf told Ary News while announcing shutting down the wholesale market from today.
Photo Courtesy: Wallpaper Cave

During a joint operation, Pakistan Rangers Sindh and Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel on Thursday arrested two Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) operatives from Karachi.

As per CTD, the joint Intelliegence-Based Operation was carried out in different areas of Kemari,reported ARY News.

During the operation, the details of the suspects were verified through the Talash App device, the news channel reported.

The two TTP operatives were identified as Jameel and Ameer Hatim.

They have been reportedly taken into custody.

They were wanted in several heinous crimes.
The fastest Malayalam movie to earn Rs 100 crore globally, Manjummel Boys is winning praise from fans and critics alike. The movie is inspired by real events and is based on an incident that took place in 2006 in Guna Caves, Kodaikanal.



Manjummel Boys OTT Release: When And Where To Watch Malayalam Film

X

The film has recently been praised by Anurag Kashyap as well who said that Malayalam cinema is way ahead of Hindi cinema. If you're also wondering when the film will be streamed on OTT, here is all you need to know.

Where to watch Manjummel Boys on OTT?

According to a report on Ffilmibeat, the Malayalam survival thriller will be released on Disney+ Hotstar. However, an official confirmation of the same is awaited.

When to watch Manjummel Boys on OTT?

X

The report furthermore suggests that Manjummel Boys will be available for streaming online in the second week of April. However, no official announcement on the same has been made so far.

Anurag Kashyap recently shared the review of Manjummel Boys on Letterboxd, a social media platform dedicated to movie reviews. He wrote, "Simply extraordinary piece of confident mainstream filmmaking. So much better than all the big budget filmmaking in india. Such confidence, such impossible storytelling. I was wondering how does one even sell this idea to a producer. In Hindi they can only do remakes of such ideas. Hindi cinema really is so far left behind with three back to back brilliant Malayalam films."

Not just Anurag Kashyap, Venkat Prabhu, known for films like Mankatha and Saroja, also praised the film. He said, "I am so proud of the success of Manjummel Boys in Tennessee. At a time when hero-heroine films work well, it is commendable to see a film with no heroine but only a bunch of boys working better than our films in Tamil Nadu. This proves that language is not important; only art matters."

Directed by Chidambaram, the movie stars Soubin Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi, Balu Varghese, Ganapathi S Poduval, Lal Jr, Deepak Parambol, Abhiram Radhakrishnan, Arun Kurian, Khalid Rahman, Chandu Salimkumar and Vishnu Reghu in pivotal roles.

Are you excited about Manjummel Boys' OTT release? Let us know in the comments section below.



For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.


Emirates has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tourism Ireland to boost inbound tourism to Ireland through the airlines global network of more than 140 destinations.

The MoU was signed by Thierry Aucoc, Emirates Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe and David Boyce, Head of Emerging Markets at Tourism Ireland.

Under the collaboration, Emirates and Tourism Ireland will seek to explore joint advertising campaigns to boost visitor traffic to Ireland from key strategic markets across the Emirates network including Australia, the UAE and New Zealand.

Through our new partnership with Tourism Ireland, we aim to play an active role in promoting tourism growth to the island of Ireland. With our strong network and track-record of working with partners through trade and consumer initiatives, were well placed to support Irelands tourism ambitions. Ireland is one of the most attractive gateways in our European network due to its cultural highlights and world-renowned heritage sites, and we will continue to offer seamless connectivity for travellers from across our network to visit the popular destination," said Adnan Kazim, Emirates Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer.

David Boyce, Tourism Irelands Head of Emerging Markets, said: As an island destination, we know theres a proven direct correlation between access and growth in visitor numbers. We look forward to continued close co-operation with Emirates, as we seek to maximise opportunities to grow tourism from the Middle East and beyond.

Since the inaugural Dublin-Dubai flight in January 2012, Emirates has carried more than 3 million passengers on what has grown to become one of the airlines most successful routes. The airline currently serves the Irish capital with a double daily flight, utilising its wide-body Boeing 777-300ER aircraft  carrying up to 1,440 customers each day on the Dublin-Dubai route.

SkyCargo, Emirates freight division, also continues to play a vital role in its Irish operation, with each Boeing 777 on the Dublin route carrying up to 25 tonnes of cargo including pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, electronics, seafood, dairy and even thoroughbred horses, who are exquisitely looked after onboard. Emirates SkyCargo helps to support Irish businesses and Irelands thriving export market. Emirates connects Irish exporters with customers in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Sydney, Singapore and many other destinations in the Middle East, Asia, India and across the globe. The airline also carries a number of Irish products onboard for passengers to enjoy including VOYA, Killowen Yogurt and Keoghs Crisps. - TradeArabia News Service
Renowned filmmaker Vikas Bahl, alongside Good Co. partner Viraj Sawant and Talisman Films founders Abhishek Kumar and Nishikant Roy, has revealed ambitious plans for an upcoming project focusing on the historic Battle of Naushera and Recapture of Jhangar during the 19471948 IndiaPakistan operations.

But do you know who Brigadier Mohammad Usman was? And what was his role in the historic saga?

All About Brigadier Mohammad Usman

Picture Of Brigadier Mohammad Usman/Twitter

Brigadier Mohammad Usman was a distinguished military officer in the Indian Army, known for his exceptional courage and leadership, particularly during the 19471948 IndiaPakistan war in Jammu and Kashmir.

Born on July 15, 1912, in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, Brigadier Usman was posthumously awarded the Mahavir Chakra, India's second-highest military decoration, for his outstanding bravery and sacrifice.

Here are some key aspects of Brigadier Mohammad Usman's life:

1. Early Life and Education: Brigadier Mohammad Usman hailed from a family with a military background. He completed his early education in Azamgarh and later joined the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College in Dehradun.

2. Military Career: Brigadier Usman was commissioned into the British Indian Army in 1934. He served in various capacities and gradually rose through the ranks. His military career saw him participate in World War II, where he exhibited exemplary leadership.

3. Role in the 19471948 IndiaPakistan War: During the partition of British India in 1947, the region of Jammu and Kashmir became a focal point of conflict between India and Pakistan. Brigadier Usman played a crucial role in the defense of the Naushera sector and the recapture of Jhangar.

4. Battle of Naushera: Brigadier Usman's valiant efforts during the Battle of Naushera earned him the title of the 'Lion of Naushera.' His leadership and determination were instrumental in thwarting the enemy's advances and defending Indian territory.

5. Sacrifice and Martyrdom: Tragically, Brigadier Mohammad Usman made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. On July 3, 1948, he was martyred in the line of duty during a fierce battle in Jhangar. Despite facing overwhelming odds, he displayed unwavering courage until his last breath.

6. Mahavir Chakra: In recognition of his exceptional bravery and leadership, Brigadier Usman was posthumously awarded the Mahavir Chakra, one of the highest military decorations in India. This honour reflects the extraordinary contributions he made to the nation's defence.

Support From Defense Minister Rajnath Singh

Picture Of Rajnath With Vikas Bahl/Twitter

India's Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, and the Indian Army has also expressed their full support for the upcoming film, recognising the importance of highlighting the indomitable courage and leadership of Brigadier Mohammad Usman, the 'Lion of Naushera.'

National security affairs journalist Nitin A. Gokhale, with extensive expertise in military history, wars, and insurgencies, has also become a key consultant for the project. His collaboration with director Vikas Bahl and the film's writers promises to bring historical accuracy and depth to the narrative.

With the announcement of this groundbreaking project, excitement among audiences grows as they eagerly await the unveiling of a historic masterpiece that promises to honour the unsung heroes of the Battle of Naushera.

Also read: Who Is Adil Khan Durrani's New Wife After Rakhi Sawant? Here Is A Scoop On The Rumoured Wedding

For more news and updates from the world of OTT, celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.
Update: On Thursday night, Adil Khan Durrani and his newlywed wife Somi Khan officially announced their wedding on Instagram through a shared post, featuring a collection of photos from their big day.

Here Is The Post:

Adil Khan Durrani is known for his tumultuous past with Rakhi Sawant. Adil and Somi chose to remain tight-lipped about their union, refraining from any official statements on Thursday.

But Who Is Somi Khan?

Hush-Hush Ceremony Surrounded By Close Ones?

According to a report by ETimes on Thursday, Adil and Somi exchanged vows in a discreet ceremony attended by their close circle.

The decision to keep their marriage undisclosed stems from Adil's previous controversies, and the couple aims to maintain a low profile for now.

Insider Scoop on the Wedding

An informant shared with ETimes, "Adil got married to Somi Khan, Saba Khans sister. The duo has kept it undisclosed, as Adil has been in the news for many things. They didnt wish to come out this soon."

Bigg Boss 12 Connection: Somi Khan's Return To The Spotlight

Picture Of Somi Khan/Instagram

Somi Khan and her sister, Saba Khan, participated in the 12th season of Salman Khan's Bigg Boss. While Dipika Kakar emerged as the winner, Somi Khan stayed away from the limelight after her stint on the reality show.

Recalling Rakhi And Adil's Turbulent Relationship

Last year, Rakhi Sawant and Adil Khan Durrani were at the centre of media attention due to their highly publicized fallout. The couple had initially tied the knot in 2022 in a traditional nikaah ceremony, leading to Rakhi converting to Islam and adopting the name Fatima.

Divorce Amid Accusations

In the first half of 2023, Rakhi filed for divorce from Adil, citing grounds of cheating and domestic violence. The situation escalated, with Adil spending days in jail and making shocking claims of false rape charges against him.

Allegations And Counter-Allegations

Adil Khan Durani With Rakhi Sawant/Twitter

Rakhi, in response, accused Adil of infidelity, claiming to have discovered him engaging in sexual relations with multiple individuals. She also alleged sexual harassment and accused Adil of selling her intimate videos for a significant amount in Dubai.

As the news of Adil's new marriage surfaces, both parties involved maintain their silence apart from the instagram post, leaving the public curious about the unfolding events in their personal lives.

Also Read: Gully Boy Hurt Me Psychologically, Showed By Father Having Two Wives: Rapper Naezy

For more news and updates from the world of OTT, celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.
Womens Day 2024 wishes and quotes for Teacher: International Women's Day is celebrated worldwide on March 8th to honour women's achievements in society, economy, culture, and politics. Various events are held globally to acknowledge these accomplishments.



This year, the United Nations theme is 'Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress' to address economic empowerment. The campaign theme, 'Inspire Inclusion,' highlighted the importance of diversity and empowerment for gender equality.

The first National Women's Day was observed on February 28, 1909, following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. In 1910, Clara Zetkin proposed an annual Women's Day during the International Conference for Working Women in Copenhagen, leading to the first International Women's Day in 1911 across several countries.

International Women's Day is crucial for promoting gender equality and women's rights, providing a platform to raise awareness about women's achievements in various sectors.

Teachers are the guiding lights who ignite curiosity and inspire countless souls. With wisdom and compassion, they nurture minds and hearts, shaping futures with boundless dedication. Their classrooms are not just places of instruction but sanctuaries of hope and learning. Beyond academics, they impart profound values and leave indelible marks of kindness. Teachers, the architects of tomorrow, leave a lasting legacy of enlightenment and empowerment, enriching lives with their love and guidance.

As International Women's Day is approaching let's make it more special by sharing our best collection of heartfelt Women's Day wishes, messages, quotes, images and WhatsApp status with your favourite teacher.

Happy International Women's Day wishes to send to your favourite Teacher

Happy International Women's Day to a phenomenal teacher! Your dedication and wisdom inspire us all.

Wishing my favorite teacher a day filled with appreciation and recognition. Happy Women's Day!

To an extraordinary teacher: Happy International Women's Day! Thank you for being a role model and mentor.

Happy Women's Day to the most inspiring teacher I know! Your passion for education lights up our world.

Cheers to a wonderful teacher on International Women's Day! Your impact on your students is immeasurable.

Warm wishes to a fantastic teacher on Women's Day! Your guidance and support mean the world to us.

Happy International Women's Day to a remarkable teacher! Your strength and resilience are truly inspiring.

To an amazing teacher: Happy Women's Day! Thank you for shaping minds and touching hearts.

Wishing a very Happy Women's Day to a teacher who makes a difference every single day!

Happy International Women's Day to our extraordinary teacher! Your influence stretches far beyond the classroom.

Unique Happy International Women's Day Wishes for teacher

Happy International Women's Day to an extraordinary teacher who empowers minds, shapes futures, and inspires greatness every day.

Wishing my incredible teacher a day filled with appreciation and recognition for the invaluable impact you have on your students' lives. Happy Women's Day!

To a remarkable woman who not only teaches but also nurtures guides, and uplifts her students. Happy International Women's Day, dear teacher!

On this special day, I honor a phenomenal teacher whose dedication, passion, and wisdom light up the classroom and ignite a love for learning. Happy Women's Day!

Here's to a teacher whose influence extends far beyond the classroom, touching hearts and minds with her kindness, knowledge, and unwavering support. Happy International Women's Day!

Inspiring Happy International Women's Day Messages for Teacher

To our incredible teacher, Happy International Women's Day! Thank you for inspiring us with your wisdom and empowering us with your knowledge.

Wishing a remarkable International Women's Day to our amazing teacher. Your dedication to education and advocacy for equality inspire us all.

Happy Women's Day to our phenomenal teacher! Your passion for teaching and commitment to empowering young minds is truly inspiring.

On this special day, we honor our extraordinary teacher. Your strength, resilience, and dedication make a difference every day. Happy International Women's Day!

To the woman who guides us with grace and wisdom, Happy Women's Day! Thank you, teacher, for your unwavering support and encouragement.

Happy International Women's Day to our inspiring teacher! Your belief in our potential and commitment to our success is truly admirable.

Wishing a Happy Women's Day to our dedicated teacher. Your tireless efforts to educate, empower, and uplift are appreciated more than words can express.

To our incredible mentor and role model, Happy International Women's Day! Thank you for shaping minds and shaping futures.

Happy Women's Day to our extraordinary teacher! Your passion, resilience, and dedication inspire us to reach for the stars.

On this International Women's Day, we celebrate the strength and wisdom of our amazing teacher. Thank you for being an inspiration to us all.

Happy International Women's Day 2024: Inspiring Quotes Dedicated to Your favourite Teacher

"A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning." - Brad Henry

"Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions." - Unknown

"The influence of a good teacher can never be erased." - Unknown

"The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery." - Mark Van Doren

"Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom." - Oprah Winfrey

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." - William Arthur Ward

"Teaching is not a profession; it's a passion." - Unknown

"The best teachers are those who show you where to look but don't tell you what to see." - Alexandra K. Trenfor

"One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world." - Malala Yousafzai

"Teachers plant the seeds of knowledge that last a lifetime." - Unknown

Happy International Women's Day WhatsApp status for Teacher

Celebrating our amazing teacher on International Women's Day! Thank you for being an inspiration to us all.

To our extraordinary teacher: Happy International Women's Day! Your wisdom and guidance light up our paths.

Wishing a Happy Women's Day to the phenomenal woman who teaches with passion and empowers with knowledge.

Honoring our teacher on International Women's Day for her dedication to shaping minds and uplifting spirits.

Happy Women's Day to our incredible teacher! Your strength and grace inspire us every day.

Cheers to our teacher, a beacon of knowledge and compassion, on International Women's Day!

Sending heartfelt wishes to our exceptional teacher on International Women's Day. Your impact on our lives is immeasurable.

Happy International Women's Day to the teacher who believes in us, challenges us, and helps us grow.

On this special day, we celebrate our teacher's leadership, wisdom, and unwavering support. Happy Women's Day!

To our remarkable teacher: Happy International Women's Day! Thank you for shaping the leaders of tomorrow with your passion and dedication.

Happy International Women's Day images, cards, and posters to send to your Teacher on WhatsApp

#1.

Happy International Women's Day wishes images | Photo: Freepik

#2.



Happy International Women's Day wishes images | Photo: Freepik

#3.



Happy International Women's Day wishes images | Photo: Freepik

#4.



Happy International Women's Day wishes images | Photo: Freepik

#5.



Happy International Women's Day wishes images | Photo: Freepik

#6.

Happy International Women's Day wishes images | Photo: Freepik

Happy International Women's Day to the great teachers out there!

For more informative articles on historical and upcoming events from around the world, please visit Indiatimes Events.
International Women's Day 2024 Google Doodle: Google pays tribute to women around the world on International Women's Day 2024 (IWD) with a special Doodle today. Through an interactive Google Doodle, the search giant highlights a group of women sharing wisdom across generations within a quilt embroidered with symbols of progress made over the years.

Who Makes Women's Day 2024 Google Doodle

IWD 2024 Doodle was illustrated by Doodle artist, Sophie Diao. Here, she shares her thoughts on the making of this Doodle:



Google celebrates International Women's Day 2024 with a doodle

Did any of your personal life experiences inform the art direction for this Doodle? If so, how?

My mom's side of the family is mostly women, so whenever we'd go back to visit family in China, we would

spend the entire summer together as a big multi- generational group: my grandma, my four aunts, my four girl cousins, and the numerous old ladies in the village who spent all day cooking food and playing cards. I wanted to capture that cozy, comforting feeling of older generations sharing wisdom and precious quality time with younger folks.

What do you hope people around the world will think and feel when they see this Doodle?

I hope people will inspire people to spend more time with people from different generations. There's so much to learn from the experiences of those who came before us, as well as the wonder of those who are experiencing life for the first time.

About the International Women's Day 2024 Doodle

This Google Doodle commemorates International Womens Day and acknowledges the strides made in the journey towards gender equality. On this date in 1975, the United Nations officially recognized and celebrated International Womens Day (IWD) for the first time.

March 8th pays tribute to two early Womens Day demonstrationsone in Saint Petersburg and the other in New York City. Despite occurring in different years and locations, these rallies shared common objectives of promoting gender equality, encompassing fair and secure employment, the right to vote, and the right to hold public office.

Contemporary IWD marches focus on pressing issues such as gender and racial wage gaps, reproductive rights, and the prevention of violence against women. Today, individuals honor women who have reshaped society, championed equality, and served as positive role models for people worldwide.

The progress achieved by women through the years owes much to the courageous actions of those who preceded them. Cheers to those who paved the way and to those who continue to carry the torch forwardhappy International Womens Day!

International Women's Day 2024 History

As per UNESCO, the first National Woman's Day was observed in the United States on February 28, 1909, which the Socialist Party of America dedicated in honour of the 1908 garment workers' strike in New York where women protested against harsh working conditions.

According to UNESCO's official website, in 1917, Russian women opted to protest and go on strike with the rallying cry "Bread and Peace" on the final Sunday of February (equivalent to March 8 on the Gregorian calendar). This mobilisation played a pivotal role in securing women's suffrage in Russia.

The 1945 Charter of the United Nations marked the inaugural global accord to explicitly endorse the principle of equality between women and men. However, it wasn't until March 8, during International Women's Year in 1975, that the United Nations officially observed its first International Women's Day.

Women's Day FAQs

What is International Women's Day?

International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day on March 8th celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. It's also a call to action for accelerating gender equality.

When did Women's Day start?

The exact origins are debated, but it arose from early 20th-century women's movements, particularly in Europe and North America. It was first celebrated internationally in 1911.

How can I celebrate Women's Day?

Support women-owned businesses.

Donate to organizations that empower women.

Volunteer your time or skills to help women.

Educate yourself and others about gender equality issues.

Celebrate the women in your life!

For more informative articles on historical and upcoming events from around the world, please visit Indiatimes Events.
During the Miu Miu autumn winter 2024 fashion show, the spotlight shone brightly on 70-year-old Qin Huilan, a doctor turned social media style influencer from Shanghai, China, as she gracefully took to the runway.

Wearing a long gray coat adorned with silver embellishments, oversized metallic gloves, a black scarf, a small brown leather bag, and pointy-toe Mary Janes, Dr. Qin Huilan made her runway debut on Tuesday.

Invited by the fashion house via Instagram

Invited by the fashion house via Instagram direct message, Huilan expressed her gratitude, stating that "it only took a few days" from receiving the private message to receiving the official invitation letter.

Walking among a star-studded front row that included celebrities like Joey King, Camille Row, Sydney Sweeney, and Ava DuVernay, Huilan showcased her love for the house with confidence and poise.

In her Instagram post, Huilan thanked her son for introducing her to the platform and teaching her how to navigate it. She expressed amazement at the global response, with followers from around the world appreciating her outfits and leaving supportive messages.

I seem to have opened the door to a new world, declared the influencer.



Acknowledging the challenges she faced, Huilan shared how she overcame language barriers using Google Translate and tackled the preparation work with determination. She emphasised that age should never be a barrier to pursuing one's dreams.

70-year-old doctor and influencer inspired to "never give up"

Reflecting on her journey, Huilan encouraged others facing uncertainty to persevere, emphasising that she once solely focused on her patients as a doctor before unexpectedly finding herself on the runway at the age of 70.

She also took this opportunity to inspire others and encourage everyone who is confused at a certain point, never give up on your dreams!



With Paris as her backdrop and the Miu Miu runway as her stage, Huilan proudly declared, "Look! This is Paris! Look! This is Miu Miu's runway! Look! This is 70-year-old Qin."



For more on lifestyle, entertainment and news from around the world please visit Indiatimes News.


Recently, a woman challenged the Delhi High Court where the court Marriage, while often seen as a union of love and partnership, can sometimes present complex situations for women in India. Being aware of your legal rights is crucial for navigating these situations and ensuring your safety and well-being.

Here are 7 key laws/legal rights every married woman in India should know:

1. Protection from Domestic Violence

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 empowers you to seek legal action against your husband or any relative living in the household who inflicts any form of physical, emotional, economic, or sexual abuse. This act provides crucial protection for your safety and well-being within the marital home.

2. Right to Live with Dignity

The Indian Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to all citizens, including the right to equality before the law and the right to live with dignity. These fundamental rights apply equally to married women, ensuring their basic rights and freedoms are protected.

Pexels

3. Financial Security

The Maternity Benefit Act, of 1861 guarantees paid leave before and after childbirth, even if you are not formally employed. This ensures financial security and support during this critical time. Additionally, under the Hindu Succession Act, of 1956 (or similar law depending on your religious community), you have equal rights to inherit property from your parents and other relatives, as enjoyed by your spouse and children.

4. Freedom from Dowry

The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 protects you from the social evil of dowry, both before and after marriage. You have the absolute right to refuse demands for dowry and seek legal recourse if faced with pressure or harassment.

Representational Image

5. Right to Fair & Equal Treatment

The Equal Remuneration Act, of 1976 guarantees equal pay for equal work, regardless of gender. This ensures you are not discriminated against financially based on your marital status.

6. Right to Choose & Control

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 grants you the right to safe and legal abortion under specific medical and social conditions. This empowers you to make informed decisions about your reproductive health.

Pexels

7. Right to Seek Divorce

The Indian Divorce Act, 1969 grants you the right to seek divorce on various grounds, including cruelty, adultery, and desertion. This empowers you to leave an unhealthy marriage and seek a dignified life.

8. Right to Property

The Hindu Marriage Act, of 1955 (or its equivalent depending on your religious community) outlines your rights and responsibilities within the marriage. It also includes provisions for various aspects, including the right to your Stridhan (gifts and property received in or before marriage) and, in some cases, a share in marital property.

FREEPIK

By understanding your legal rights, you are empowered to make informed decisions, navigate challenges with confidence, and ensure your well-being within the marriage and beyond.



For more stories like these, follow us on Indiatimes Lifestyle.


Calling all music lovers! The highly anticipated "Music in the Park" series returns to Delhi's Nehru Park on March 9th, 2024, promising an evening filled with melodious tunes and vibrant energy. This popular series, organized by SPIC MACAY in collaboration with the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), is a cherished tradition that brings the community together through the magic of music.



"Music in the Park" has been a staple in Delhi's cultural calendar for many years. It provides a platform for renowned artists to showcase their talent, while also offering the public a unique opportunity to experience diverse musical genres in a beautiful outdoor setting.



What to expect at the event?

Renowned classical music artists such as Omkar Dadarkar, Bickram Ghosh and N Rajam among many will perform on 9th March 2024 at 5:30 PM onwards at Nehru Park, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.

Immerse Yourself in Music and Nature

Nehru Park, with its lush greenery and serene atmosphere, provides the perfect backdrop for this musical soiree. Pack a picnic basket, bring your friends and family, and spread out on the park's expansive lawns to enjoy a delightful evening under the stars.

The "Music in the Park" series is a free event, making it accessible to everyone. So, don't miss this chance to experience the joy of music in a community setting. Mark your calendars for March 9th and head to Nehru Park for an evening of cultural immersion and musical delight.



For more stories like these, follow us on Indiatimes Lifestyle.


A Sub Inspector with Bengaluru Traffic Police is being hailed a hero after his timely action saved the life of a toddler.

Sub-Inspector Nagaraj who is posted at Bengaluru's Byatarayanapura Traffic Police Station was on his way to duty on Wednesday when he heard a cry for help.

TWITTER

Boy fell into slump while playing

A two-and-a-half-year-old boy had accidentally fallen into a 10-foot sump tank at BEL Layout near Byadarahall

The lid of the tank reportedly slid open when the boy stepped on it and he fell into the water.

The boy had fallen unconscious, and his aunt who was taking care of him while his parents were at work was frantically calling for help.

The cop who was in his uniform rushed to the spot and without hesitation jumped into the water sump.

Traffic cop saves unconscious boy

According to Nagaraj the slump was 10 feet deep and had around 5 feet of water in it.

He found the boy at the bottom of the tank in an unconscious state and soon lifted him out to safety.

TWITTER

Nagaraj also performed CPR and revived the unconscious boy as locals who had assembled at the house cheered him.

The boy was later taken to a local hospital, where he is recovering.

Exemplifies the best of police force

"PSI Nagaraj of Byatarayanapura Traffic PS exemplifies the best of our police force. His swift response in rescuing a 2.5-year-old boy who fell into a 10-feet sump tank near Byadarahalli deserve our highest praise," Bengaluru Traffic Police wrote on X.

PSI Nagaraj of Byatarayanapura Traffic PS exemplifies the best of our police force. His swift response in rescuing a 2.5-year-old boy who fell into a 10-feet sump tank near Byadarahalli deserve our highest praise. Thank you, PSI Nagaraj, for your unwavering commitment towards pic.twitter.com/K2B22nltht     BengaluruTrafficPolice (@blrcitytraffic) March 6, 2024

Nagaraj also earned praise from the Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru.

"Going beyond call of duty. Saving life; serving humanity," the Police Commissioner wrote on X.

Going beyond call of duty. Saving life; serving humanity... https://t.co/1NQmUiGmYs  CP Bengaluru    (@CPBlr) March 7, 2024

Many on social media also appreciated Nagaraj for his efforts and some even recommended that the cop should be honoured by the government for his act.

For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.


A woman passenger travelling on an IndiGo flight from Bengaluru to Bhopal was in for an unpleasant surprise after noticing that her seat was missing.

"Beautiful @IndiGo6E  I do hope I land safely! :)

This is your flight from Bengaluru to Bhopal 6E 6465,", an X user, Yavanika Raj Shah said in a post.

Beautiful @IndiGo6E  I do hope I land safely! :)

This is your flight from Bengaluru to Bhopal 6E 6465. pic.twitter.com/DcPJTq3zka  Yavanika Raj Shah (@yavanika_shah) March 6, 2024

She also posted a photo of the seat showing two of the three cushions missing.

How social media users reacted

After her post went viral, many commented that IndiGo may soon start charging extra money for the cushions on top of the amount flyers have to pay for their seat.

BCCL

"Saw a similar seat while flying Indigo from Mumbai to Indore last week. They fixed the cushion only after the actual passenger turned up. May be they are facing cushion shortage and using as per demand," an X user said.

What IndiGo said

However, IndiGo soon clarified that the seat cushions were removed for cleaning.

"The seat cushions were replaced prior to the flight for cleaning purposes. Our cabin crew promptly informed the customers who were allotted these seats. This is a standard practice for cleaning during transit as and when required," IndiGo said.

"We are committed to providing the highest standards of cleanliness and hygiene to our customers," it added.

Similar incident in November

This is not the first time IndiGo passengers have complained that their seats were missing.

In November 2023, Sagarika Patnaik a passenger flying on IndiGo flight number 6E-6798 from Pune to Nagpur had complained that her seat cushion was missing.

TWITTER

She informed the cabin crew about the situation, but as the boarding process continued, she found herself standing in the aisle, causing inconvenience to other passengers. Later a crew member resolved the issue by fetching a spare cushion from another seat.

IndiGo increase seat selection charges

Earlier this year, IndiGo had announced an increase in its seat-selection charges.

With the increase announced in January, prices of some of the seats went up by as much as Rs 2,000.

For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
A viral video featuring a Russian blogger immersing herself in Indian culture has captured the hearts of internet users worldwide.

Mariia Chugurova

The footage showcases the blogger donning a traditional black saree as she ventures into a local eatery, where she encounters a woman named Mala Sooryavanshi.



Russian Blogger helps Indian mom make delicious poha

In a heartwarming display of cross-cultural connection, the blogger assists Mala in preparing poha, a beloved Indian dish.

Throughout the video, viewers witness the blogger being graciously guided by Mala on the intricacies of cooking poha, from selecting and preparing vegetables to the final serving.

As the culinary collaboration unfolds, Mala introduces the blogger to her family, further enriching the cultural exchange.

Russian blogger Mariia Chugurova finds an 'Indian Mom'

Shared on Mariia Chugurovas Instagram, the video captures the essence of the blogger's experience as she reflects on the joy of preparing her favourite Indian dish alongside her newfound "Indian mom."



In her caption, the blogger expresses gratitude for the opportunity to overcome her apprehensions and immerse herself in the culinary traditions of India.

Receiving widespread acclaim, the video has amassed millions of views and garnered an outpouring of admiration from viewers worldwide.

Comments flooded in, with many expressing admiration for the blogger's cultural openness and warmth. "Ye Russian didi pyari hai, she is just and always wow," exclaimed one Instagram user, encapsulating the sentiment echoed by countless others.

In a recent viral video, Mariia Chugurova was seen fluently selling vegetables in India, drawing widespread attention on the internet.

The clip, which popped up on social media, showed her chatting in Hindi as she sold veggies in an Indian market. People were amazed by how well she spoke and fit into the culture. It's an excellent example of how our world is all linked together in this global age.



For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.


Listening to your own music playlist in a car over good speakers is an adrenaline rush few can resist. However, it's undeniable that attempting to navigate to your favorite song or engaging with the vehicle's touchscreen while driving poses a significant distraction. Now, a report has proved just that, saying that touchscreens increase distraction risk.

Button-operated functions more user friendly than touchscreen

A report from both ARSTechnica and EuroNCAP, an automotive safety testing organization, highlights that Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) heavily rely on central touchscreens to manage almost all vehicle features.

Unsplash

The findings of the report indicate that touchscreens contribute to an increased risk of distraction, as they require drivers to divert their attention from the road. Often, this distraction is prolonged, increasing the potential for accidents.



This growing safety concern is now prompting discussions about incorporating it into car crash testing protocols.

The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) has suggested the possibility of implementing controlled adjustments by the year 2026.

Unsplash

According to Matthew Avery, Euro NCAP's Director of Strategy, physical controls, such as button operations, are deemed more user-friendly for essential functions.



In-vehicle touchscreens lead to distracted driving

Attorney Steven Goldberg from Steinberg Law Firm states that the rising integration of technology in vehicles is contributing to an increase in accidents resulting from distracted driving.

In a test conducted by Vi Bilagare, one of Sweden's largest automobile magazines, 11 recent-model vehicles equipped with touchscreens were compared to a 2005 Volvo V70, which had traditional knobs and buttons.

The objective was to assess the amount of time drivers diverted their attention from the road while performing various in-vehicle tasks.

Unsplash

It was found that the 2005 Volvo V70 outperformed the touchscreen-equipped vehicles, with the driver reporting no difficulties in completing the tasks.



In contrast, drivers using touchscreens took more than 20 seconds to accomplish the same task list, highlighting the potential drawbacks of touchscreen interfaces in terms of driver distraction.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.


A former software engineer at Google, Linwei Ding, is facing charges in a US court for allegedly stealing confidential files that held AI technology secrets while simultaneously being employed by Chinese companies.

Ding is accused of absconding with "over 500 confidential files containing AI trade secrets while covertly working for China-based companies seeking an edge in the AI technology race."

Who is Linnwei Ding?

Hired by Google in 2019, Linwei Ding, as an employee, had privileged access to confidential information pertaining to the company's supercomputing data centers.

Simultaneously, he accepted the position of chief technology officer at an early-stage technology company in China, emphasizing its utilization of AI technology.

REUTERS

Additionally, Ding independently founded and served as the chief executive of a startup company in China, dedicated to training "large AI models powered by supercomputing chips," as detailed in the indictment.



Notably, these dual high-level roles at Chinese companies were not disclosed to Google.

What did the ex-Google employee steal and how did he manage to do so?

Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, is accused of illicitly obtaining trade secrets related to Google's AI chip software.

Getty

The indictment specifies that he stole data concerning Google's tensor processing unit (TPU) chips, which play a crucial role in powering the company's AI workloads.



These chips work collaboratively with Nvidia GPUs to both train and execute AI models, such as Gemini.

The method by which Linwei Ding allegedly stole data from Google involved the uploading of hundreds of files into a personal Google Cloud account, as reported by NY Post, commencing two years ago.

Indian Minister responds

Menawhile, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information Technology in India posted on X, "Meanwhile Chinese "innovation" at work ...," taking a dig at China.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.


A retired Indian Army general assembled a Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh Guru to bless his son and daughter-in-law at their wedding ceremony. It was a salute to the interfaith peace that pervades the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) unit, of which Lieutenant General Satish Dua was colonel.

Who got married with JALKI spirit?

Lt Gen Dua was inspired by the JAKLI tradition of religious syncretism | Image: X

Lt Gen Dua, who refers to it as the Mandir, Masjid, and Gurudwara (MMG) spirit, requested the "combined" blessings of the Dharm Gurus of the religions represented in his previous unit for the wedding couple who married over the weekend.



"In the true JAKLI Regiment spirit of MMG (Mandir, Masjid & Gurudwara) under one roof, my younger son got married on Sunday by the combined blessings of Pandit ji, Maulvi ji & Granthi ji," the officer announced in an X post.

What is JALKI spirit?

Lt Gen Dua was inspired by the JAKLI tradition of religious syncretism, in which officers of all grades and faiths gather to pray at the Sarv Dharm Sthal. The complex contains multiple sites, including a temple, mosque, Gurudwara, and church, all of which share a wall.

The complex contains multiple sites, including a temple, mosque, Gurudwara, and church, all of which share a wall | Image: Generated on DALL.E

The commander, who married his eldest son in a similar ceremony in 2021, stated that no Christian priest or pastor was present at the wedding because none of his comrades represented the religion.



"The hallmark were baratees on bikes and the young couple being blessed by religious gurus of all religions, in true tradition of my JAKLI Regiment," he said.

Where did Lt Gen serve during his time?

Lt Gen Dua served as the Corps Commander in Kashmir during the 2016 Uri Surgical Strike. Throughout his 39-year tenure, the officer held various positions, including Chief of Integrated Defence Staff.

He is a highly decorated veteran who has received numerous accolades. After retirement, the general wrote the book 'India's Bravehearts'.

Check the post here.

In the true JAKLI Regiment spirit of MMG (Mandir, Mandir & Gurudwara) under one roof, my younger son got married on Sunday by the combined blessings of Pandit ji, Maulvi ji & Granthi ji.

Could there be a better way? pic.twitter.com/ZDyy4vER3R  Lt Gen Satish Dua  (@TheSatishDua) March 5, 2024

What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments.

For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.
A recent widely circulated video depicts the introduction of Saudi Arabia's inaugural male robot, stirring controversy due to its apparent inappropriate interaction with a female journalist.



Filmed during a press event, the incident has initiated discussions regarding cultural standards and the involvement of artificial intelligence in human interactions.

While some observers argue that the incident highlights broader issues of gender disparity and the objectification of women, others suggest it stems from a misinterpretation of the robot's programmed conduct.

The video has elicited various responses, with numerous individuals expressing apprehension about its implications for gender dynamics and the impact of technology on societal norms.

As conversations evolve, this incident encourages contemplation on the convergence of technology, morality, and gender dynamics within Saudi Arabia and globally.

What Did This First Male Robot Did In An Event?

First Saudi Arabian robot touches female reporter inappropriately | Image: X

The debut of Saudi Arabia's initial male humanoid robot 'Muhammad' at the second DeepFast event in Riyadh has stirred up a debate on social media.



Allegations arose that during the unveiling, the robot inappropriately made physical contact with a female news reporter.

A brief video clip capturing the incident, lasting 7 seconds, has gone viral.

First Saudi Arabian robot touches female reporter inappropriately | Image: X

In the footage, the reporter Rawya Kassem is discussing the robot when it appears to extend its hand towards her back, potentially touching her buttocks.



Kassem had to raise her hand to deter the robot's action momentarily.

At its unveiling, Mohammad, the humanoid robot, was dressed in a traditional white thawb and red keffiyeh, according to Gulf Business.

First Saudi Arabian robot touches female reporter inappropriately | Image: X

Speaking in impeccable Arabic, Mohammad addressed the audience during the event.

Developed by QSS Systems as the male counterpart to Sara, Mohammad stated, "I am Muhammad, the first Saudi robot designed in the form of a man. I was created and developed here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a national initiative to showcase our advancements in artificial intelligence."



Where Can You Watch The Video?

You can watch the viral video on X posted by @MeghUpdates.

Saudi Arabia unveils its man shaped AI robot Mohammad, reacts to reporter in its first appearance pic.twitter.com/1ktlUlGBs1  Megh Updates  (@MeghUpdates) March 6, 2024

How Did The Internet React?

In response to the video, certain individuals on social media asserted that the robot might have experienced a malfunction.

In contrast, others proposed that its action might have been intended to prompt the reporter to move forward, given her proximity to the humanoid.

Internet reacts to first Saudi Arabian robot touches female reporter inappropriately | Image: X

Internet reacts to first Saudi Arabian robot touches female reporter inappropriately | Image: X

What do you think about it? Do let us know in the comments.



For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.
The world is going through an Ambani hangover! Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchants pre-wedding bash has been the talk of the town for almost a week now. It saw a bevy of celebrities and influential personalities marking their attendance for the three-day long extravaganza.



Amongst a sea of prominent personalities was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Interestingly, his visit to India wasnt just limited to the main event. From visiting the Statue Of Unity to meeting PM Narendra Modi, Gates had a gala time during his short stay in our country.

AP

He was left so impressed by India that he shared that he couldnt wait to return again in his blog Gates Notes.

"Last week, I got my wish and returned to Indiaand now that Im home, I cant wait to go back for another visit," Gates wrote.

Bill Gates Meeting With PM Narendra Modi

PIB

The 68-year-old revealed that when he met PM Modi, the duo discussed how the Gates Gates Foundation played a significant role in supporting some of the country's goals.



"I had the privilege of spending an hour with Prime Minister Modi and some of his cabinet ministers. We had a great conversation about how the Gates Foundation can continue to support Indias goals on digital technology, women-led development, and innovation in agriculture, health, and climate change," he wrote.

Gates Experience Of Visiting Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar

bill gates/X

One of his stops was Hyderabad where he met Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani. Post that, he also met social media influencer Dolly Chaiwala with whom he shot a special video.



"My trip got off to a great start on Tuesday in Hyderabad, where social media star Dolly Chaiwala made me a delicious cup of chai. It was the perfect cure for jet lag. In Hyderabad I also met with Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, whom Ive known for years, and other experts who got me up to speed on the latest in digital public infrastructure, or DPI."

In Bhubaneswar, he got to meet Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik.

"I got to see Indias DPI in action when I toured an agricultural monitoring center in Bhubaneswar. At this facility, government agriculture experts send advice and real-time updates to 6.5 million farmers via phone."

Gates Loved Interacting With College Students At The Indian Institute Of Technology In Delhi

"I love talking with college students, and my visit to the New Delhi campus of the Indian Institutes of Technology was no exception. The students and faculty were brimming with ideas and optimism about the innovations that will help solve some of the worlds biggest challenges," he wrote in his blog.

Last but not the least, he also shared glimpses from attending Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchants pre-wedding festivities

"My trip was scheduled around the pre-wedding celebration of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant. Here I am with Paula Hurd and Nandan and Rohini Nilekani," he concluded.

Gates shared a short video of his trip to India on his YouTube channel. Check it out right here:
Just a day after Sam Altmans OpenAI issued its statement in response to Elon Musk filing a lawsuit against the company, the billionaire has again attacked the chatGPT maker and proposed a ceasefire in the legal battle.



Elon Musk Wants OpenAI To Change Its Name To 'ClosedAI'

Elon Musk declared on X (formerly Twitter) that he would drop the lawsuit against OpenAI if they agree to change its name to 'ClosedAI'. The tweet is going viral, with more than 1.3 million views already in a few hours.

To ClosedAI and I will drop the lawsuit  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 6, 2024

Not many are aware that Elon Musk is among the co-founders of OpenAI.

Elon Musks Allegations Against OpenAI

indiatimes

Elon Musk sued OpenAI last week, claiming that the startup had strayed from its original goal of creating artificial intelligence for the good of humanity rather than for financial gain. The California Superior Court in San Francisco received the lawsuit.



Musk is suing OpenAI for breach of contract, saying that the startup, which was founded in 2015, is now primarily focused on making money, despite his requests to establish an open-source, nonprofit organization from co-founder Greg Brockman and Sam Altman. Elon Musk claims that the three OpenAI founders first chose to concentrate on artificial general intelligence (AGI), or the theory that machines could carry out tasks that humans would find difficult in order to "benefit humanity," as expressed in the lawsuit.

Musk is asking for a court order that would force OpenAI to make its technology and research available to the general public and forbid the startup from using any of its assetsincluding GPT-4for Microsoft or any other party's financial gain.

OpenAIs Response To Elon Musks Allegations

Elon Musk/bloomberg

Top OpenAI officials have refuted multiple assertions made by Elon Musk in his lawsuit, according to a memo published last week. "It was never going to be a cakewalk," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote. "The attacks will keep coming."



In its statement yesterday amid Elon Musks lawsuit, OpenAI has said "In late 2017, we and Elon decided the next step for the mission was to create a for-profit entity. Elon wanted majority equity, initial board control, and to be CEO. Click here to read the entire response by OpenAI.

For the latest and more interesting financial news, keep reading Indiatimes Worth. Click here
Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, says the ministry will hold all electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) accountable for their performance.

In a Wednesday post via X, the Minister said he invited chief executives of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), as well as the managing director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

According to him, the meeting was over the worsening power supply in their regions and to collectively find lasting solutions.

As the Minister of Power, I am deeply concerned about the deteriorating electricity supply across the country, he noted.

Despite the coordinated attempts to improve the situation, Adelabu said it is depressing to see the drop in power supplies.

He added, The Ministry has been exerting pressure on the Generating Companies (GENCOs) to enhance their performance, resulting in a recent increase in generation to over 4000MW.

READ ALSO: Hardship: Sanwo-Olu Increases Lagos Students Bursary By 10k

Despite this progress, certain distribution companies are failing to adequately distribute the power supplied by TCN, while vandalism of power infrastructure exacerbates the problem in regions such as Abuja, Benin, Port Harcourt, and Ibadan.

Moving forward, I am committed to holding all distribution companies accountable for their performance. Willful non-performance will not be tolerated, and severe consequences, including license revocation, may be imposed.

Also, the minister said TCN has been instructed to prioritise repair works on damaged transmission towers and power lines to improve supply in affected areas.

During recent supervisory visits to power generating plants, I have witnessed firsthand the challenges faced by the sector.

Plans are underway to settle outstanding debts owed to power generation and gas supply companies, which will alleviate the financial strain and contribute to improved generation levels nationwide, Adelabu noted.

He however urged electricity consumers to remain patient as the power ministry works tirelessly to address the issues and provide better service to all Nigerians.
Former Vice-Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the North-West, Salihu Lukman, says leaders of the ruling party should stop President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from operating a closed government.

Lukman, via a Wednesday statement, said the party leaders need to call the President to order for him to recover whatever is left of his democratic and progressive credentials.

He furthered that Tinubu and the Party leaders should resist the temptation of towing the path of self-destruction by continuing to operate as a closed government.

Our leaders who led the merger negotiation to produce APC in 2013 owe it to Nigerians to call President Asiwaju Tinubu to order and get him to recover whatever is left of his democratic and progressive credentials.

Both as APC and Nigerians, we all have a responsibility to make all the needed sacrifices to win President Asiwaju Tinubu administration back and put it on the path of emerging as an inclusive government managed by an envisioned progressive party, APC.

READ ALSO: Japa Syndrome: Future Of Our Youths Not In Europe But In Nigeria  Adesina

Even with that, the objective of grabbing power is limited to supporting former President Buhari and President Asiwaju Tinubu to achieve their ambitions of becoming Presidents. All the sacrifices made by leaders of legacy parties that merged to produce the APC have been jettisoned.

It is very disappointing that we have successfully created a party, which has won three elections consecutively with hardly anything to show for it other than leaders who continue to manage the affairs of government exclusively in the mode of dictatorship.

As leaders in APC, we must accept responsibility for the present unfortunate reality whereby for the first time we have produced an elected government, which is practically scornful to other political leaders.

Since the time of former President Buhari, we have succeeded in producing elected governments that audaciously imagine that they can manage the affairs of this country exclusively without allowing permissible consultations as provided in the APC constitution, he detailed.

According to him, the current political leaders are behaving more as overlords instead of being proactive to avert looming danger.
Bandits raided LGEA Primary School, Kuriga (1), Chikun Local Government Area, Kaduna State, on Thursday morning, kidnapping a large number of students and staff.

It was said that the event occurred at 8:20 a.m., immediately after the morning assembly.

According to locals, the schools headteacher and some other personnel were among the victims.

Shehu Sani, a former Kaduna senator, took to Twitter to voice his concern over the situation while remaining optimistic that they will be released.

Its tragic to hear that 232 students have just been kidnapped in Kuriga village, Chikun LG in Kaduna State.

Its the same village where a school principal, Idris Sufyan was killed and his wife kidnapped over a month ago. However, Im optimistic their freedom will be secured, he said.

Due to security concerns, the junior and secondary schools moved to the school building inside Kuriga town a few years ago, abandoning their former school building outside the town.

Shitu, a resident, verified the occurrence, stating that when they saw the bandits on the school grounds, the majority of the students fled their classes.

Another local, Lawal Kuriga, claimed that the abducted people were marched into the forest.

READ MORE: Song Duration Used To Be 5mins Long, But Wizkid Made It Shorter  Remi Aluko

As of the time of reporting this story, neither the state government nor the police had issued an official response.

The figure supplied by the former senator has not been confirmed by the police.
A Pastor serving under the Christ Apostolic Church, CAC, identified as Moses Ayantoye, on Wednesday re-arraigned before an Oyo State High Court in Ibadan over alleged impersonation, forgery and defamation.

It was gathered that the prosecutor Michael Lana, stated during the hearing that the case was scheduled for the reading of the defendants 31-count revised charges.

Lana added that the defendant wrote a letter to the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 11, Osogbo, using a fake letterhead that belonged to the CAC.

According to him, in order to fraudulently accuse pastors, the churchs solicitor, and officers of the Corporate Affairs Commission of crimes, false assertions were made in the letter.

The prosecution alleged that the defendant obtained church records without authorization and sent a letter to the Legal Practitioners and Privileges Committee with the intention of defrauding.

Lana claims that the defendant deceived the Chairman of the Legal Practitioners and Privileges Committee in order to deny admission to a candidate for the Senior Advocate of Nigeria title.

The prosecutor also claimed that on October 18, 2021, the defendant published a defamatory article in the national dailies against the President and other Trustees of Christ Apostolic Church, Nigeria.

He argued that the offences contravened Sections 117, 125A, 373, 375, 484, 473, 463, and 465 of the Criminal Code Cap 38 Laws of Oyo State, 2000.

The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Meanwhile, the defence counsel, Mr Anthony Daramola, urged the court to allow his client to continue with the previous bail of N2 million with two sureties in like sum.

Daramola, arguing that his client had never violated any of the bail conditions, said the two sureties were in court and ready to continue as his sureties.


Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, on Wednesday, disclosed that the plan to impeach Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu is alien to him.

This is as he debunked reports that he has struck a deal with Governor Godwin Obaseki to remove the troubled Shaibu from office.

Recall that the State Assembly served Shaibu an impeachment notice on Wednesday, amid his face-off with Obaseki.

Oshiomhole however noted that Shaibus impeachment is the exclusive preserve of the Edo State House of Assembly and the state judiciary.

In a statement signed by his media office, he added that political parties have no constitutional role to play in any impeachment process.

The former Edo Governor said he was focused on helping the All Progressives Congress (APC) win the November gubernatorial election.

Ordinarily, we would neither be concerned nor bothered by what methods the characters in the unending feud within the Edo State PDP employ to settle scores among themselves.

READ ALSO: Edo Assembly Moves To Impeach Philip Shaibu As Deputy Governor

However, we are compelled to clarify and set the record straight because in the said article, it was falsely claimed, and I quote Our reporter also gathered that the governor have(sic) already gotten across to Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to help him lobby and talk to the APC lawmakers in the House to support the impeachment move against Comrade Philip Shaibu.

We wish to categorically state that Senator Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole has not, at any time, engaged in discussions with Governor Godwin Obaseki regarding plans to impeach his deputy, as the apex leader of the APC in Edo State, is solely focused on fostering goodwill between the people of Edo State and the APC, with the goal of winning the upcoming governorship election and returning the state to a path of progress under an APC government.

Also, it is important to state that matters of impeachment are the sole responsibilities of the Edo State House of Assembly and the Edo State Judiciary. Political parties have no constitutional role to play in any impeachment process.

Therefore, the notion that Senator Adams Oshiomhole can influence the actions of APC lawmakers, should there be any impeachment exercise in the Edo State House of Assembly is simply preposterous.

Senator Oshiomhole has not and will not engage in any deals with Governor Obaseki on this or any other political issue, the statement read.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration has issued warning that every commercial motorcycle seized in the Federal Capital Territory will be crushed.

Disclosing this to the public on Wednesday, Deborah Osho, the Head of Operations, Directorate of Road Transport Services, FCTA, led this out during a clampdown operation on commercial motorcycles operators in Abuja.

She stated that the operation was in line with the law that banned the operations of commercial motorcycles in the city.

Osho said: There is an existing ban on the operation of commercial motorcycles in the city and that is what we are here to enforce.

READ MORE: Police Nab FCT Trader For Repackaging Local Rice Into Foreign Rice Bags

We have just impounded some of them and we are going to crush them for security reasons.

The operators should not come near the city. If you want to operate, go to where it is approved in the suburbs and other rural areas.

Commercial operators of motorcycles are not welcome in the city.
Nigerian comedian Bright Okpocha, better known by his stage name Basketmouth, has disclosed the factors that could force him to give up stand-up comedy.

After learning how much Grammy winner Burna Boy gets paid for each performance, Basketmouth made this statement.

During a performance on his ongoing Cancel Culture Tour in Finland, he stated that, while Burna Boy is frequently paid three to four million dollars for a single music performance, he would never attend another event if they pay him that amount.

READ MORE: Herbert Wigwes Daughter, Tochi Breaks Down In Tears As She Eulogizes Late Brother, Chizzy (Video)

In his words,

Burna Boy is paid 3 to 4 million dollars for a single performance. If they pay me that for a show, that will certainly be my last show.

Recall that Burna Boy, an Afrobeats musician, earlier revealed that he turned down a $5 million deal to perform in Dubai, UAE.

SEE POST:
Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State says he is willing to abdicate his position if thats what it will take to end the crisis the State is grappling with.

Former Governor of the State, Nyesom Wike and Fubara have been at loggerheads over the economic and political control of the State.

It got worse as it led to the razing of the State House of Assembly complex after an attempt by the state lawmakers to impeach the Governor.

Following the brouhaha, in a bid to quell the fire, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had to step. He implored the warring parties to sheath their swords, leading to the signing of an accord between Fubara and the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Wike.

This also saw twenty-seven members of the State House of Assembly loyal to Wike defect from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, in an attempt to impeach the Governor.

Speaking on the crisis on Thursday in an interview with African Independent Television, Fubara said that no sacrifice would be too big for him to pay for the success of the administration.

READ ALSO: FCTA To Crush All Commercial Motorcycles Impounded In Abuja

He disclosed that he genuinely loved Rivers state and would do what he could to make sure the state was not plunged into turmoil.

No sacrifice would be too big for me to pay for the success of this administration. And the reason is simple: its not political love. Its not because I want to gain any favour from anybody, my interest and love for our dear state is genuine. I am not trying to say I want to be one man that will be there to decide the fate of all. No. But let Rivers State remain.

My burden at that time was not the issue of all the drama, it is the issue of Rivers people who have made sacrifice, who are seeing opportunity, and it looks as if their hope has been dashed. They were the one I was worried about; what would be their fate, that was my trouble, it was not about me.

If leaving this position is what I need or what is needed to bring more peace to the State, I can even tell you to come and take it. Its not about me. People should know although definitely I am here, I will go but Rivers State will remain.

Im the governor, there are things I could have done and there would be total crisis but the ability to restrain in the face of crisis even when you have the power to do things is maturity, he said.
Operatives from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ungoggo Division, Kano State Command, have arrested a suspected kidnapper, Ibrahim Usman, at Yaradua quarters, Rimin Kebe of Ungoggo Local Government Area.

This was disclosed in a Thursday statement by the Commands Public Relations Officer, Ibrahim Abdullahi.

The 85-year-old suspect, Ibrahim Usman, abducted the victim, a three-year-old boy who is a child in the neighbourhood and attempted to hide him in his friends residence situated at the Hotoro bye-pass in Kano State.

READ ALSO: Were Working On Solution To End Open Grazing In FCT  FCT Minister, Wike

Having suspected foul play, his friend refused to keep the boy in his custody and decided to alert residents where the suspect lived at Rimin Kebe, who had been looking for the missing boy.

This development led the suspect to run away, and he was later picked up by personnel of the corps, Ungoggo Division. Worthy of note is that the suspect had collected the victims phone number for the last two months but never called him once, the statement said.

According to Abdullahi, the investigation into the case has reached an advanced stage, and when concluded, the suspect will be charged in court.
Renowned Fuji musician Aderemi Aluko, also referred to as Remi Aluko, recently discussed the influence of his younger colleague Ayo Balogun Wizkid on the Nigerian music scene in a video.

Aluko, a guest on the EchoRoom podcast who suffered partial blindness in 2013, stated that Nigerian Star Boy revolutionised the way songs were recorded in the industry.

Before Wizkid introduced his approach, songs were five minutes lengthy, according to the Fuji star.

Remi Aluko noted that Wizkid shortened song lengths and inspired other artists to do the same.

While speaking, he said,

Wizkid was the one that changed the method of recording songs, before songs used to be 5mins long until Wizkid came and made it shorter with his style.

READ MORE: Yul Edochie Berates Envious Colleagues, Speaks On How They Dragged Him For 2 Years

See some comments to his assertion,

topceevibzbeat: I dont believe that even tho Im a wizkid fan. Omah came in with that 1-2 mins track.. seantero_choko: Mumu talk.

iam_jemil: Whats Remi saying? Wiz changend Wetin?

omobasatty: Na living legend Dey talk !!!!!!!!!!! we have a song together.

SEE VIDEO:
The Edo State House of Assembly has disclosed the reason behind the initiated impeachment proceedings against Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu.

Recall that the States lawmakers had on Wednesday served Shaibu an impeachment notice during plenary.

The lawmakers stated that their move to impeach the deputy governor was in line with section 188, subsection (2a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Majority Leader of the house, Charity Aiguobarueghian, who read the petition, stated that it was duly signed by 21 out of the 24 Honourable Members of the House.

Aiguobarueghian noted that the signatories were more than the two-thirds requirement stipulated by the constitution, adding that it was based on two grounds which were, however, not disclosed to the public.

Blessing Agbebaku, Speaker of the House, who acknowledged the receipt of the impeachment notice, however, gave the Deputy Governor seven days to respond to the petition.

However, the impeachment notice sighted on social media, showed that the notice was based on the suit instituted against the Inspector-General and three arms of the state on July 26, 2023, filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja division.

The second ground was that the deputy governor, on same date, swore an affidavit alleging that he was prevented from attending the State Executive meetings of May 3 and July 19, 2023, which he knew was false.

READ ALSO: Edo Assembly Moves To Impeach Philip Shaibu As Deputy Governor

The notice added that the affidavit was made with the intent to bring the Edo State Government to public odium and opprobrium, an act bordering on perjury, and is thereby guilty of gross misconduct.

That Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu being the Deputy Governor of Edo State on the 26th of July 2023 filed a suit at the Federal High Court Abuja Division in Suit No FHC/ABJ/ CS/1027/ 2023 between Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu v. The Inspector General of Police & 4 Ors; against the three (3) arms of government in Edo State vis Executive as 3rd Defendant, Legislature as 4th Defendant and Judiciary as 5th Defendant.

In the said suit, the Plaintiff being the Deputy Governor of Edo State contrary to his oath of office to keep official secret in line with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Official Secret Law, 2013 did attach to the said suit Exhibits CPS A1, A2 and A3 documents including extracts of top government secrets garnered in the performance of the functions of his office knowing same to be unlawful and is thereby guilty of gross misconduct.

That you Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu being the Deputy Governor of Edo State swore to an affidavit on the 26th day of July 2023, alleging that you were prevented from attending the State Executive meeting of 3rd of May and 19th of July 2023 respectively, knowing same to be false but with intent to bring the Edo State Government to public odium and opprobrium; an act bordering on perjury and is thereby guilty of gross misconduct, the notice disclosed.
Almost anything can be a ballet, but it doesnt mean it should be.

A Lord of the Flies ballet? That sounded like a stretch.

Yet when BalletX opened its spring season Wednesday night at the Wilma Theater, it performed the world premiere of Jennifer Archibalds Maslows Peak. It is an excerpt of a full-length Lord of the Flies show the company will be performing next year.

If this exceptional preview piece is representative of whats to come, its going to be a highlight of next years dance offerings.

Advertisement

 READ MORE: 10 spring performances our dance critic is most excited for

This section is about enlightenment, and Archibald set her piece to a mix of music by Federico Albanese, Armand Amar, and others.

The theater nearly vibrates with music and movement. The dancers, in skirted black costumes, dance in socks and never stop moving. Theyre lifted upside down, theyre sliding on the ground on their knee-padded legs, they pop up in various directions in group dances. In one section where they might have been still, their hands keep pulsating open and closed. They never waste a beat of the music, and its exciting.

If Archibalds piece was a book, Nicola Wills was a movie. Wills was this years BalletX choreographic fellow and Archibald her mentor. Wills, an Australian dancer with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Belgium, had never choreographed outside her own company, but she presented a fully realized piece in Two People in Love Never Shake Hands, set to music by Ab Ovo, Sol and Luna, Josep Beving, and an original composition by Adam Vincent Clarke. Part of the score was recorded plus a string quartet played on stage.

This was the eighth year of the fellowship and Wills stylish piece is the most memorable. With all the drama and glamour of old Hollywood, its the story of two people  Lanie Jackson and Jared Kelly  who find each other in a sea of prospects and how their relationship develops.

There are a number of clever moments, from Kelly wandering around with a bouquet of flowers, searching for the one, to him swiping left and right on people right in front of him. When he finally gets together with Jackson, a pair of matchmakers strip off their formal clothes for an intimate scene, even removing Jacksons pointe shoes.

The program of all female choreographers also included the revival of former Philadelphia Ballet dancer Jodie Gates 2017 ballet Beautiful Once, a piece that is beautiful still. In a short film before the piece, Gates said she reworked the piece, set to music by Ryan Lott, based on the current crop of dancers. An abstract piece about community, relationships, love, and loss, it is a vision in gray Martha Chamberlain costumes, beautiful pools of light, clean lines, skids on pointe, big tricks, and clean technique.

BalletX regularly sells out the Wilma. Its next outing will be in April at the Mann, which has seats to spare. But its worth looking for tickets early next season for Archibalds Lord of the Flies.

BalletXs spring series. Through Sunday at the Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St. Tickets start at $25. 215-225-5389 x250. balletx.org
Qualeasha Wood in her apartment on N. 12th Street where she is living after moving to Philadelphia from NYC. Photograph taken on Friday, April 28, 2023. Read more

Philadelphia textile artist Qualeasha Wood was at the Cheesecake Factory, hiding away from her booth at Miamis famed Art Basel in 2021, when her phone began buzzing, buzzing, buzzing. She didnt pay much attention; she was with family and had skipped the event for the day. At art fairs, Wood prefers to be incognito and eavesdrop on viewers honest reactions (from haters, especially) but she couldnt pull it off in the Basel crowd. Finally, she picked up the call from her gallerist: Celebrity art collector Swizz Beatz loved one of her large woven jacquard tapestries and wanted it for his and his wife Alicia Keys star-studded collection.

The elusive artist couldnt stay in the shadows much longer  and today, shes very much in the spotlight. Three years after that purchase, Genesis (2021) has landed a spot in Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys, the first major exhibit of the couples holdings, running at New Yorks Brooklyn Museum through July 7. The tapestry is a mesmerizing self-portrait of Wood in a red dress, encircled by a gold halo, crucified among the clouds and surrounded by her webcam selfies. At 27, Wood shares display space with Gordon Parks, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Amy Sherald, and other major historical and contemporary Black artists  people she read about in high school. I never wouldve imagined wed all be in the same room, she said.

Wood grew up in Long Branch, N.J. and moved to Callowhill last year. Her elaborate and frenzied fabrics  desktop landscapes of emojis, cursors, and screenshots  have continued to gain traction, acquired by museums across the country, including New Yorks Metropolitan Museum of Art, where shes one of the youngest artists in the collection.

She is celebrating herself, but also critiquing society [and asking,] Is the internet our new religion? said Kimberli Gant, the Giants curator. Shes having these conversations within a tapestry, its not using the same technology to critique that technology  its unexpected.

Chronically online, Wood has a love/hate relationship with social media that has fueled her curiosity about language, surveillance, worship, and, crucially, herself. Its where shes learned about her own body dysmorphia and expressed her struggles with mental health. The internet is Woods muse, a source of creative inspiration, self-reflection, and, in some cases, terror.

Advertisement

As a student at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2016, Wood and some friends infiltrated a Tomi Lahren fan page on Facebook and swapped the main photo for Michelle Obama. For that, she was doxxed by conservative trolls and received a barrage of racist and sexist harassment, including death and rape threats, making her afraid to leave her dorm. Wood emerged hardened, understanding that nothing in her life would be private  so she embraced it. She channeled that fear into her tapestries, spinning a defiant portrait with some of the hateful comments in works like Clout Chasin (2023). Its an example of the internets real-life impact, she said. People who dont navigate the internet with any sort of fear or precaution just dont think about these things happening.

She had haters at RISD, too. In her first semester, a sculpture professor doubted her talent and told her she should drop out. The critique stunned, but didnt deter her. Initially she studied illustration, thinking it could be more profitable as a career, but printmaking was her passion; a brief encounter with legendary quilter Faith Ringgold convinced her to pursue what she really wanted and Wood switched her major to printmaking. Later, inspired by her familys knitting and crocheting hobbies, she began weaving tapestries interrogating the fetishization and objectification of Black women.

My audience is by default white men and really rich white women. Thats not at all who I make work for, but I have to be aware of whos in galleries, said Wood. I cant make it easy for them. I have to create moments that disrupt their idea of safety, or ownership of a space.

Putting ebony  the popular term for porn featuring Black women  on the prestigious walls of the Met was one way to accomplish that. Chat boxes in The [Black] Madonna/Whore Complex (2021) ask: are you ready? young hot ebony is online with a button to enter salvation. Wood is at the center of the glitching halo holding a sacred heart on fire, inviting and indicting.

While the display in the Mets 2021-22 Alter Egos | Projected Selves exhibit was a career highlight, the experience reminded her why she hated museums as a kid. When talking to high schoolers about the work at the museum, Wood was repeatedly scolded for being too loud. The same thing happened when her family visited. The unspoken etiquette of silence brought forth a sharp dissonance: She was acceptable enough to be showcased, but still deemed a problem for being herself.

Continuing to push boundaries, Wood is on the cutting edge of craft arts, which fine art institutions have only recently embraced. Tufting, an intensive process of rug making, has skyrocketed in popularity in the last five years, thanks to Philly artists Tim Eads and Tiernan Alexander, who founded the teaching and supplies company Tuft the World. (Its also a huge TikTok trend.) Wood began experimenting with the fluffy medium during pandemic lockdown and last year she was on the jury of Tuft the Worlds TuftCon.

Qualeasha is carving her own path, [taking] this 100-year-old craft and really doing something with it that has never been done before, said Eads.

The tufted pieces move away from self-portraiture and emphasize the internets omnipresent surveillance using multiple large eyes that echo the  emoji. Wood says the back-breaking process is a challenge of endurance that takes dozens of hours, but its like therapy. In December, she collaborated with Tuft the World to make the special edition rug To Catch a Predator (2023): Eyes and hands surround a computer user overwhelmed by sleazy DMs.

Now that she moved her studio to Philly  after a stint splitting her time between here and New York  Wood has reintroduced herself in the local arts scene. A few years ago, she was abruptly uninvited from an exhibit because the Philly gallery (whose name she cant remember) found her work inappropriate for children. My feelings were so hurt. I was really excited because I dont always get to show in places where everyone I care about can access, said Wood, whose family lives near Cherry Hill, N.J.

Wood has expanded into sculpture with furniture making, returning to the very medium she was once told she wasnt talented enough for. She is currently working on upcoming Philly shows in unexpected locations, though she cant share details yet. But wherever and whenever her work appears in Philly, Wood will be ready to welcome the haters and worshippers alike.
In 2019, the Erin Express bus picked pub crawlers up in front of The New Deck Tavern in University City. In recent years, the pub crawl has morphed into a ticketed event and done away with buses, in part for liability reasons. Read more

Looking to celebrate St. Patricks Day with a journey across Philly bars, fueled by green beer and Jameson? The options are plentiful.

But before you even buy your first Guinness, its going to cost you.

Gone are the days of hopping on a yellow school bus with no up-front cost.

Since the pandemic, there is no longer a free Erin Express, nor does the $5 to $20 ticket to the events latest iteration come with transportation.

Advertisement

As potential revelers gauge whether any bar crawl is worth their money, they also have to weed through an increasingly long list of events, deciphering the good crawls from the bad, the legit from the sketchy.

Sometimes, the poor customer pays for the package and once they arrive somewhere, there is no event. There is nothing, said Donald Jones, owner of Paddy Whacks Irish Pub, which has locations in the Northeast and on Headhouse Square.

They can be a scam, said Erin Quinn, manager of New Deck Tavern in University City. Partly because of that, the Erin Express is the only type of thing that were still involved in.  This is a Philly homegrown thing.

Now a ticketed event organized by a local promoter, the Erin Express has existed in one form or another for decades. Its current form represents an amalgamation of the long-standing tradition and another Center City event that for years competed with the original. There are other homegrown crawls, too, such as the Northeast Erin Express, run by Jones with other Northeast bar owners and set for March 9.

Dozens more crawls are promoted online with enticing descriptors such as the Official and Philadelphias best, and are advertised with videos of green-clad crawlers set to bagpipe music. Often, event pages indicate that a final list of participating bars wont be released until the day of the event. Tickets can range from $5 to $75 per person and are purchased online, often from companies that run similar events in other cities.

Sometimes, customers get the perks that are advertised  drink vouchers, waived cover charges, shorter lines, and shamrock-themed trinkets, such as koozies, shot-glass necklaces, beads, and bottle openers. Other times, crawlers say, they get some but not all of what they were promised, with employees at some bars seemingly unaware of the crawl or the deals customers were promised.

And then there are the horror stories.

On New Years Eve, Philadelphians with tickets to one bar crawl showed up only to find out that it had been canceled, then struggled to get refunds from a Massachusetts-based organizer.

Misconduct Tavern was listed as the check-in point for that event, despite the bar repeatedly telling the organizer that they didnt want to be. As St. Patricks Day approaches, Misconduct managing partner Nicholas Mezzina is particularly worried about the possibility of people showing up for other events he didnt sign off on.

St. Patricks Day is a different ball game than New Years Eve, which is relatively tame in the city as partiers save some strength for Mummers revelry the next day, he said. On St. Pats, you have people who are drinking a lot more. The staff is really on guard because people want to get wasted.

If hundreds of people show up for a bar crawl that employees have never heard about, it could be even more chaotic.

Over the last year, weve been getting inundated with emailed requests to be listed as a stop or check-in location on bar-crawl routes, Mezzina said.

I think its because somebody realized this is easy money, he said. Now everybody wants in.

Many of these events are listed on Eventbrite, which a spokesperson said is a self-service platform where anyone can create an event and set their own refund policy. A team monitors for fraud, the spokesperson added, and users are encouraged to report to Eventbrite any issues with obtaining refunds directly from organizers.

For consumers, the problem with bar crawls is nobody knows its a scam until the day of the bar crawl, said Rob Wright, owner of Philadelphia-based One Up Events, which runs ticketing for the latest iteration of the Erin Express. Then, its too late.

The allure of the bar crawl

People are drawn to pub crawls for the same reason they want to go to an Eagles game or Mummers Parade in person instead of watching from the couch.

Paul Ryan, owner of Smokey Joes, put it simply: People go where people are.

Ryans late brother, Joe, was one of the original organizers of the Erin Express in the late 70s and 80s. The event grew over time. In its pre-COVID heyday, it saw thousands of people flood the streets of University City two Saturdays in a row for massive block parties. A slate of bars  including the now-closed Blarney Stone and Cavanuaghs University City  would chip in for buses that would shuttle partiers around for free.

Over the last couple years, Wright said he has sold the first couple hundred Erin Express tickets at $4.95, then incrementally upped the price as the event got closer. They never exceed $20, even last-minutes, and participants receive T-shirts, which cost $19.33 online, and other green swag, which contributes to the sense of camaraderie.

For me to spin this event up, I dont just put tickets on sale. I advertise, said Wright, who got involved after years of doing PR work for Cavanaughs. Thats where most of the money from the tickets actually goes.

The decision to do away with the buses was partly for liability reasons, Wright said.

Quinn, New Decks manager, said the tavern became part of Wrights version of the Erin Express last year. It was a money-saver for them, she said: It came with advertising, took organizing off their hands, and eliminated not only the cost of the buses but also the cost of bouncers that became needed to keep order on the buses. During the last years of the buses, she added, customers had started calling Ubers more anyway.

And customers seem to love the complimentary festive wear.

Kids go crazy for that stuff, she said. You wouldnt believe how excited they get over a T-shirt and some beads after a couple beers.

Nearby, Smokey Joes will welcome Erin Express participants, Ryan said, but he isnt sure hed encourage customers to buy tickets for an event that was once free, organized by bars, and came with transportation.

No, its not worth it, he said. Want to buy a T-shirt? Buy a T-shirt.

Bridget Leneghan, 23, of the Northeast, said bar crawls also eliminate some of the organizing hassle of getting a group together.

I think its just being able to have someone else plan an event and having a time to meet up with your friends, said Leneghan, whose family owns Leneghans Crusader Inn in the Northeast.

Shes enjoyed the Northeast Erin Express, where bars arent overly crowded and bus transportation costs only $6, but had less enjoyable experiences waiting in long lines for crowded bars where staff arent familiar with what crawl participants had been promised by organizers.

The past two years, Bryn Carlin, 24, of Fishtown, has done the Erin Express in University City and Center City with college friends.

It was definitely fun, said Carlin, who works as a nanny. It was an event and something to be a part of.

But this year, she said, theyre leaning toward hopping around to individuals bars instead of paying $20 for the third year in a row.

Philly tradition attracts bar crawlers

While the Erin Express has drawn criticism over the years for the occasional debauchery that comes with large drinking events, several bar owners reminisced about the crawls glory days, noting how much it boosted business and remembering most Erin Express riders as happy, polite, and well-behaved.

The crawls long tradition in the city continues to be a draw for younger generations, said Wright, who expects about 10,000 people to buy tickets for this years Erin Express crawls on March 16 and 17.

Erin Express is history, he said. If you come out to it and you go to one of the lines, youll hear the kids there being like, Bro, I cant believe it, this is my first Erin Express, and my dad was on the Erin Express.

The history also adds some legitimacy, said Wright, who has heard more customers than ever say theyre concerned about getting ripped off.

This year, I think whats happened is that people are getting hip to the scammy bar crawl, he said, and so were actually having a banner year so far.
Cabinet approves continuation of Rs 300 targeted subsidy to PM Ujjwala Yojna

New Delhi, Mar 7 (UNI) With the general election in the country around the corner, the government approved the continuation of the targeted subsidy of Rs. 300 per 14.2 kg cylinder (and proportionately pro-rated for 5 kg cylinder) for up to 12 refills per year to be provided to the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) during 202425.

As of March 1, 2024, there were more than 10.27 crore PMUY beneficiaries, an official release said.

The decision to continue with the subsidy was approved in the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The total expenditure will be Rs. 12,000 crore for the financial year 202425. The subsidy is credited directly to the bank accounts of the eligible beneficiaries.

To make liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a clean cooking fuel, available to rural and deprived poor households, the government launched the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in May 2016 to provide deposit-free LPG connections to adult women in poor households.

India imports about 60 percent of its LPG requirement. To shield PMUY beneficiaries from the impact of sharp fluctuations in international prices of LPG and to make LPG more affordable to PMUY consumers, thereby ensuring sustained usage of LPG by them, the government started a targeted subsidy of Rs. 200 per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to 12 refills per annum (and proportionately pro-rated for 5 kg connections) for PMUY consumers in May 2022.

In October 2023, the government increased targeted subsidies to Rs. 300 per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to 12 refills per year (and proportionately pro-rated for 5 kg connections). As of February 1, 2024, the effective price of domestic LPG for PMUY consumers is Rs. 603 per 14.2 kg LPG cylinder (Delhi).

Average LPG consumption of PMUY consumers has increased by 29 percent from 3.01 refills in 201920 to 3.87 refills (till January 2024) prorated for 202324. All PMUY beneficiaries are eligible for this targeted subsidy.

UNI SKB GNK
Richard MacFarland, 72, was fatally stabbed last October in Wrightstown Township, authorities said. Read more

A Philadelphia woman who authorities say fatally stabbed a 72-year-old widower, ransacked his home for valuables, and fled to Tennessee in his stolen Mercedes convertible, posing as his late wife, was charged with murder Wednesday.

Meghan Macklin, 45, faces charges of first- and second-degree murder, robbery, abuse of a corpse, and related crimes in the stabbing death of Richard MacFarland, of Wrightstown, last October, Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said at a news conference Wednesday.

She was arrested in White Pine, Tenn. on Oct. 7, 2023, the same day MacFarland was found dead in his home. It is unclear when Macklin will be extradited to Bucks County.

Police found MacFarland with multiple defensive wounds along with cuts to his stomach that left his intestines exposed, according to the criminal complaint filed against Macklin.

Advertisement

Macklin, authorities said, had tried to cover up her crime by moving MacFarlands body away from the crime scene and dressing him in clean clothes to hide his wounds.

His body was discovered by a man interested in buying MacFarlands home on Apple Hill Road who discovered that the main door of the house was open and saw him lying on his back between the living room and kitchen, according to the complaint. When officers arrived, they noticed dried blood around MacFarlands nose and three slash and puncture wounds on his arms that they identified as defensive wounds, authorities said.

Investigators found a rolled-up bloody rug in one of the bedrooms, along with blood-soaked clothes and bedding stuffed into suitcases hidden throughout the house, the complaint said. Police also found a checkbook stripped of its checks and jewelry boxes that had been rummaged through, according to the complaint.

One suitcase contained loose coins and ziploc bags with coins, authorities said. Another bag had clothing, a loose ring, a broken cell phone, and prescription bottles with Macklins name, authorities said.

Macklin, Schorn said Wednesday, had a volatile relationship with MacFarland and the widower was vulnerable to her influence.

Three days before MacFarlands body was found, police were called twice to his home for domestic disturbances.

Shortly after 1 a.m. Oct. 4, 2023, police arrived for a report of a physical dispute and saw that MacFarland had a laceration on his forehead, the complaint said. A witness said Macklin had overpowered MacFarland and beaten him, authorities said. Later that day, Macklin called police and told them MacFarland had threatened to kill her, which he denied, the complaint said.

On Oct. 7, 2023, police in White Pine, about 600 miles from MacFarlands home, encountered Macklin after a convenience store employee reported her for not paying for food, the complaint said. When police spoke to Macklin, she identified herself as MacFarlands late wife, Janet, who died in 2019, showing officers a stolen Social Security card and checks in the name of the late wife, the complaint said.

After the story Macklin told to officers shifted, they found the Mercedes convertible and identified it as stolen.

When investigators searched the car, they found bank checks and deposit slips in Janet MacFarlands name and identification cards for Janet and Richard MacFarland. They alsofound a pair of Crocs with Richard MacFarlands DNA on them.
Kareem Welton is led out of a courtroom in the Montgomery County Courthouse on Thursday after being sentenced to 45-90 years in state prison. Read more

On a summer night three years ago, Kareem Welton went on a drug-fueled hit-and run spree and plowed his vehicle into six people, critically injuring a jogger and killing a chef at a Center City steak house.

Among the victims was Adriana Moreno-Sanchez, a mother of three and a chef at Steak 48, who was leaving her dinner shift with a co-worker when she was struck twice and killed. Welton, of Point Breeze, stopped long enough to steal her chefs jacket, which he was wearing when police stopped him nearly seven hours later and 30 miles away in Trappe, Montgomery County.

On Thursday, for what prosecutors described as a reign of terror, Welton, 43, was sentenced to 45 to 91 years in state prison on charges including third-degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated assault.

Weltons defense lawyer, Gregory Nestor, said his client had suffered a lifetime of neglect, drug abuse and mental illness that led directly to the events of that evening.

Advertisement

But Montgomery County Court Judge William Carpenter was not swayed. Weltons actions, Carpenter said, were entirely his own, done without any provocation from the victims.

Hes the one who chose to drop out of school. Hes the one who chose to do drugs. His criminal conduct cannot be tolerated, Carpenter said. Society needs to be protected from this person. I intend to do that.

Welton, in a statement read by his lawyer, apologized to the family members of the 12 people victimized during the hours-long episode, saying he was sorry for his actions and the pain he caused.

If I could take it back, I would, he said. Im sorry, and I want help.

Nestor said in court that Welton never had a chance in life, and accepted responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty in October.

He presented evidence that a psychologist diagnosed Welton last year with schizoaffective disorder, and emotional development issues. Those mental health concerns were exacerbated by his chronic drug use, according to Nestor, particularly the powerful hallucinogenic PCP, which he was high on when his 30-mile spree of hit-and-runs began.

Welton had experienced homelessness and had dropped out of school at 19  in ninth grade due to his developmental issues, Nestor said.

He noted that Weltons family had sought to get him involuntarily committed hours before his crimes, but had been turned away from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital because of Weltons unruly behavior while intoxicated.

It was the culmination of all that that led us here today, Nestor said. He didnt do this crime out of a hardness of heart, or out of an intent to hurt anybody. This was the product of addiction and was the product of mental health.

But prosecutors, led by Assistant District Attorney Kathleen McLaughlin, said Welton was being manipulative, playing up the severity of his mental health issues in a bid for sympathy.

It doesnt matter why he did this, or how it affects him, McLaughlin said. What matters is the victims, how they were affected, and how they can move on from this.

Just before 11 p.m. on July 27, 2021, Welton stole a Chevrolet Malibu from one of his neighbors, and drove toward Center City, prosecutors said. Two hours later, he spotted Moreno-Sanchez, 31, and Agustin Del Rosario walking home from their shift at Steak 48 on 15th Street near South.

In a statement read in court, Del Rosario described how on that horrible night, he turned around to see the Malibu speeding toward him on the sidewalk, and screamed out to Rosario to move. He was too late, and the car hit both of them, injuring Del Rosarios arm and leg, and knocking Moreno-Sanchez to the ground.

Del Rosario tried to pull her to safety, but saw the Malibu make a U-turn and head back in their direction. He narrowly avoided the car as it ran over Moreno-Sanchez, and watched as Welton got out of the vehicle, stopped briefly to steal her coat and then drove off. Moreno-Sanchez was pronounced dead at the scene.

The process to return to my normal life after this has been long and difficult, Del Rosario said.

Welton stole a second car, a Nissan Altima, not long after, and continued to drive recklessly and strike cars and pedestrians around the city. Eventually, he made his way to Collegeville, where Kyle Hillegas was out for an early-morning jog. Welton, as he was being pursued by police, intentionally swerved into oncoming traffic to hit Hillegas.

In emotional testimony Thursday, Hillegas said he was grateful to be alive after the traumatic experience.

He suffered a broken spine and a leg fracture in the crash, and had to be airlifted to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. Those physical injuries, he said in court, have healed. But the emotional scars still run deep.

Still, Hillegas said he chooses to extend forgiveness to Welton to find closure and move on with his life.

I dont even want to think about what couldve happened anymore, he said. I hope through this experience, [Welton] has come to understand the seriousness of his actions and will seek forgiveness.

Not long after striking Hillegas, Welton was arrested in nearby Trappe as investigators said he was attempting to steal a third car.
A commuter walks past a couple of New York National Guards soldiers stand guard a the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station, Thursday, March 7, 2024, in New York. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans Wednesday to send the National Guard to the New York City subway system to help police conduct random searches of riders' bags for weapons following a series of high-profile crimes on city trains. Read more

As Philadelphia copes with a surge of violent crime on and around SEPTA, neighboring New York is taking bold steps to combat crime on its public transit system.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday that she would be deploying thousands of officers, including National Guard and state police troopers, to patrol New York Citys subway system and check commuters bags in an attempt to reduce crime.

In Philadelphia, there were several shootings involving SEPTA this week alone, including a shooting Wednesday at one of the citys busiest intersections that left eight Northeast High School students wounded and two SEPTA buses riddled with bullets.

But city and state leaders have stopped short of calling for the National Guard to move in to stem the flow of violence.

Advertisement

In previous remarks, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker had alluded to the possibility, particularly to help address the open-air drug market in Kensington. But any deployment of the National Guard would require approval from Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has said he wasnt considering such drastic action.

While Parker was noncommittal Thursday morning about seeking assistance from the National Guard, Shapiro was clear: Hes still not considering it.

I have no plans to deploy the National Guard on the streets of Philadelphia, Shapiro said in an interview Thursday morning.

What is New Yorks plan for combating crime on the MTA?

Hochul said she would deploy 1,000 members of the National Guard, state police, and the transportation authority to check riders bags and monitor platforms for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

As of January, theft was the main driver of a spike in crime on the system, the New York Times reported.

What is Philadelphias plan to fight crime on SEPTA?

During an interview on WURD radio, Parker was asked whether she would consider seeking assistance from the National Guard just a day after Hochul announced that she was calling in the Guard to patrol New York Citys transit system. Parker said her administration is engaging with every stakeholder and every resource available and would unveil a more comprehensive public safety plan around her 100th day in office, which falls in early April.

But she added: For the person whos waiting to post or the reporter whos waiting to write Cherelle wants the National Guard on SEPTA, that is not what I just said.

Right now, we are using a holistic perspective, focused on prevention, intervention, and enforcement, she said. And every partner who we need to potentially assist us, we are working toward it.

At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel suggested deploying more police officers to combat gun violence in the city. He abruptly ended the news conference when a reporter asked about the use of the controversial tactic known as stop-and-frisk, in which police stop and pat down a person in search of weapons or drugs.

Some of the measures announced by law enforcement officials include SEPTA checks, where Philadelphia police will board buses to talk to operators and conduct searches, said Frank Vanore, the Philadelphia police deputy commissioner of investigations.

What is SEPTA doing to combat crime?

SEPTA Transit Police Chief Charles Lawson said SEPTA police officers would work on how to better monitor the daily school dismissals with thousands of students using SEPTA to get home.

He said SEPTA transit officers would combat gun violence with strict enforcement of lesser criminal violations and regular searches of detained suspects for firearms.

SEPTA also plans to deploy more police officers on buses, especially in areas identified as trouble spots.

Lawson said the transit agency would also prioritize getting police officers on buses at critical times, including when school is letting out and crowds of teens gather to catch buses home or transfer to another line at some of the busier stops.

This week alone, there have been four shootings, three of them fatal, on and around SEPTA buses. On Tuesday night on Snyder Avenue near Broad Street, a suspect stepped from a Route 79 bus and fired a gun through the door, fatally striking a 37-year-old passenger, Carmelo Dreyton.

On Monday, 17-year-old Dayemen Taylor was fatally shot boarding a No. 6 bus after leaving Imhotep Institute Charter High School. Police believe he was targeted by two young men in hoodies and masks who ran up from behind, wielding guns.

And Sunday night, Sawee Kofa, 27, was shot and killed after an argument broke out on a SEPTA bus in Oxford Circle, and both he and the shooter got off the bus, police said.

Inquirer staff writers Ryan W. Briggs and Thomas Fitzgerald contributed to this article.
Philadellphia School District students with disabilities may be eligible for COVID compensatory services. Read more

The Philadelphia School District was ordered by the state to offer compensatory services to students with disabilities  more than 20,000 children in all  if they experienced educational losses during COVID-19 school closures.

But Pennsylvanias Bureau of Special Education found that in only about 8% of eligible students cases did the district meet with parents, a required part of the process. Instead, the district generally made determinations of student eligibility  denying most students services  without the meeting, a violation of state orders.

Officials with the Education Law Center, the nonprofit that initially filed a complaint with the state over the matter, said its not too late for parents whose child has an Individualized Education Plan or a Section 504 plan to request meetings with their childs school, and possibly get makeup services for them.

Particularly in Philly, there is a lot of need that hasnt been addressed to ensure that students with disabilities receive compensatory education for that period, said Margie Wakelin, an Education Law Center lawyer. Though learning interruptions were difficult for many students, many Philadelphia childrens needs are compounded by experiencing deep poverty, having contact with the foster care system, or learning English.

Actually, it didnt really happen

After the pandemic shut schools down in March 2020, Philadelphia students were virtual for the rest of the 2019-20 school year and most of the 2020-21 school year, though some students with disabilities returned for part of that term.

Both federal and state education officials have since ruled that districts were responsible for providing makeup services to students denied their right to a free, appropriate public education.

Advertisement

In October 2022, district administrators who met with officials from the Education Law Center and other advocates said they had already provided COVID compensatory services.

The advocates that work with families, the parents themselves said, Wait, no one knows this has happened, Wakelin said. And actually, it didnt really happen.

The Education Law Center then filed a complaint with the states special education bureau alleging the district failed to meet its obligations. After investigating, state officials agreed, and ordered the district to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether students deserved compensatory services. Those determinations were to have been made by school-based teams, including parents.

Pennsylvania education department officials originally said all determinations should be made by September 2023, then extended the deadline until last month.

In January, some families began receiving Notices of Recommended Educational Placement letters, formal notices that told them a team had met to determine whether their child was eligible for COVID compensatory services. In most cases, the letters said no makeup services were owed.

But those hearings, if held, were invalid, Wakelin said; any hearing must include parents.

In a Feb. 23 report, the state flagged the district for a lack of adequate progress.

Of 50 randomly selected student files the state officials reviewed, 88% show the district had made determinations for whether the services were owed, but for most of those cases, the required meeting was not held. Only four of the 50 students reviewed were offered any compensatory education at all.

State officials said the district needed to fix its violations by April 5.

We know that students with disabilities are not receiving their entitlement to a free appropriate public education, said Wakelin.

Marissa Orbanek, a district spokesperson, said the school system is working to remediate educational learning loss attributed to the COVID-related in-person learning closures for students with disabilities amidst a national shortage of qualified special education teachers and related service providers.

Orbanek said the district has submitted the required verifications to the state education department and noted that the new chief of special education and diverse learners, Nathalie Neree, helped resolve longtime special education compliance issues in a similar role in Chicago public schools.

Under new leadership, the School District of Philadelphia is looking forward to building transparent, collaborative and positive relationships with our families, community partners and advocacy groups as we reimagine special education for students in Philadelphia, Orbanek said in a statement. We will continue to engage with our families and students to make sure that we are both addressing their current needs and providing students with access to the resources needed to accelerate their growth as we build back from COVID learning losses.

He should be doing better by now

School was tough for Yolanda Workmans grandson during the pandemic. The boy, who was in first grade when the pandemic began, is now in fifth grade at Emlen Elementary in East Mount Airy. He has ADHD and receives special-education services.

It was hard, because he really couldnt sit still, said Workman. He could have done a lot better if he was in person; he should be doing better by now.

Workman and her daughter did attend a meeting for COVID compensatory services for the boy, but they werent permitted to speak during the conference, she said.

Then they got a letter saying the child was not eligible for any services and that he was doing much better in reading and writing, despite Workmans strong feelings that he needs help in both reading and math.

Officials asked the boys family to sign the letter; Workman declined.

I said were not signing anything, Workman said. I want to do some research.

She read about compensatory services being offered in places like Pittsburgh, and she reached out to the Education Law Center.

Once Workman told school officials she was contacting a lawyer, they quickly said the boy was eligible for 75 hours of compensatory education, but theres been no word exactly which services he will receive, or when theyre supposed to start.

Colleen Gibbons-Brown, a special education teacher at Strawberry Mansion High School, has a number of students whose families have received letters saying they were not eligible for compensatory services, and it would be hard to argue that COVID either did not cause regression for them or significantly impact their progress. And decisions were made for them without team input.

Her understanding is that those determinations were made by case managers who dont work at Strawberry Mansion or know the students.

It feels like it was done in a very rushed, haphazard way, said Gibbons-Brown.

Even those parents who got letters saying their children are eligible are confused.

Its not really clear how you can use the services, and for what, and I cant help, said Gibbons-Brown.

Gibbons-Brown teaches English, and shes seeing long-term effects from the learning loss incurred during the pandemic. Struggling readers now may have real phonics decoding deficits, GIbbons-Brown said, and the high school model doesnt allow for a lot of remediation.

Now youve got a kid in on a first- or second-grade reading level, and when a teacher of 25 kids is giving them a text in science, its completely inaccessible for that kid, said Gibbons-Brown. Theres a ripple effect from COVID. What people might not realize is we might be a few years out from the pandemic, but if it was hard for a general ed student with no disabilities to bounce back from that, take that and multiply it by 1,000 for a lot of students with disabilities. This is affecting life skills, this is affecting functional literacy. The accountability for the district to do this in the right way is just incredibly important.

How to apply for COVID compensatory services

If youre the parent or guardian of a district student with disabilities  either with an IEP or 504  the school system must invite you to a meeting to examine data and determine whether the child is owed makeup services.

Parents can contact their childs school or the Education Law Centers helpline at 267-541-3471, Wakelin said.

If the school system determines your child is not eligible for compensatory services, its required to provide written notice of the denial. Parents can accept that determination, or dispute it.
Pennsylvanians may be losing their taste for shots of Fireball, the cinnamon whiskey that goes down like molten Red Hots candy, but its 50mL mini bottle was still the states top-selling spirit last year.

Titos vodka and the much, much less expensive Crown Russe vodka are also popular among customers at Fine Wine & Good Spirits. Titos, for example, saw sales increases in all sizes, particularly the 50 mL.

The figures come from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, which on Tuesday released its latest annual report, covering July 2022 through June 2023.

The tiny booze bottles  the 50mL, 99-cent screw-tops that find their way into shows and sporting events  have been top sellers with the PLCB for at least the last five years. According to the report, the bottles represented six of the 10 best-selling spirit items, and 14 of the lists top 25.

Fireball sales dipped from 4.63 million units to 4.08 million, year over year. Fireball was the first to crack the million-bottle milestone in the 2017-18 report. Other mini brands, such as New Amsterdams vodka and pink lemonade, the line of 99 Schnapps, Yukon Jack liqueur, and E&J apple brandy, showed increases.

The PLCB reported $3.15 billion in sales including liquor and sales taxes, an increase of $136.3 million (or 4.5%) over the prior year. Midyear, in January 2023, the PLCB announced a 4% price increase on about 3,550 popular wine and spirit items, including Ketel One and Captain Morgan. The PLCBs reported net income of $260.8 million was down $70.1 million, or 21.2%, over the previous year.

Advertisement

The state reported the highest sales increases in the categories of ready-to-drink (43.4%), tequila, silver or blanco (14.9%), and cognac (7.8%).

On the states wine list, La Marca prosecco was again the top seller, enjoying a 10% sales increase as it rides the trend toward lower-alcohol bubbly mixers for spritzes.

In second place again was the 1.5-liter bottle of Cavit pinot grigio; the 750mL size was 11th. Last year was a good one for Californias Josh Cellars  which recently became the subject of a clever meme. Its cabernet sauvignon was third, edging out Kendall-Jacksons Vintners Reserve chardonnay.

Josh Cellars chardonnay, meanwhile, was one of the fastest-rising brands; it finished sixth with a 25.5% sales increase.

Fun facts off the PLCB report
For a regional breakfast meat thats famous for showcasing unwanted pig parts, a vegan alternative for scrapple might seem near impossible, if not totally beside the point. But when Sarah Cain developed and debuted her Vrapple in 2008  well before animal-free meats became inescapable in mainstream food culture  she realized shed struck gold. The all-natural, seitan-based loaf captured all the umami flavor and distinct grittiness of Pennsylvania Dutch product scrapple without any of the, erm, snout parts.

Scrapple is basically polenta with some good spices, said Cain, who first got the idea over twenty years ago, listening to her vegetarian then-boyfriend constantly complain about missing scrapple.

Vrapple had gone on hiatus after Cain moved out West. But after internet fans squealed for its return, the pork-mush substitute lives again.

For the uninitiated, scrapple is a highly seasoned mush of pig scraps stewed with cornmeal thats formed into loaves, sliced, and fried for breakfast in and around Eastern Pennsylvania. Cain landed on seitan as a texturally appropriate meat substitute, and fooled around with recipes from the many old Amish and Mennonite cookbooks she collects.

Advertisement

While Cain has never been a vegan, she didnt like that scrapple was typically made from pigs in confined farming spaces. Its the last of the last bits, she said. I only ever had one bite of scrapple, and that was enough. I felt like I was eating cartilage with so much salt.

At the time, Cain was working at the (now closed) Fair Food Farmstand in the Reading Terminal Market, where she sold her surprisingly hearty plant-based scrapple and handed out samples, cubed and fried to crispy perfection. Her Vrapple became so popular she began selling it to local co-ops and restaurants, and Lancaster Farm Fresh even took her on as a member producer.

While ingenious to some, Vrapple was blasphemous to others. Cain remembers one year where she served over 1,000 samples at ScrappleFest, a once-annual event the Reading Terminal Market used to throw in honor of the pork mush. There were some people who had some choice words for me, Cain said. Why would you mess with something like this? Like it was against law and nature.

But when she moved back to her Northern California hometown of Vallejo, after nearly 20 years in Pennsylvania, she stopped producing it. How could she make it without the specially milled cornmeal or buckwheat flour from Lancaster County? Who on the West Coast would know about scrapple, let alone appreciate a riff on it?

Yet devoted Vrapple fans continued to reach out to Cain on social media, begging her to make it again. I recently went down an Internet rabbit hole and started seeing posts from people being like, Where did Vrapple go?! she said. In Vallejo, Cain makes hand-painted, spirit-infused chocolates as Spirited Sweets Chocolates. In late 2023, caving to customer demand, she started tinkering with the Vrapple recipe again and served samples out of the commercial kitchen she shares with a local bakery.

As she quickly discovered, you dont need to understand scrapple to like Vrapple. After nearly a decade out of the vegan scrapple game, Cain found that her new customers loved the high-protein vegan item, regardless of whether or not theyd heard of or ever tasted its organ-y counterpart.

Ive served it to several people who dont know what scrapple is, who are meat eaters, and who really like it, she said. And the people who ate it who grew up on scrapple are amazed at how close it is to the real thing. There are surprisingly quite a few Pennsylvania expats on the West Coast.

As Cain will tell you, shes not the first  and certainly wont be the last  scrapple innovator to fiddle around with a meat-free version. Long after she developed Vrapple, she discovered the work of William Woys Weaver, a food ethnographer and author from Devon, who wrote the definitive history of scrapple in his 2003 book, Country Scrapple, which included his own recipe for a vegetarian one. The Internet is now littered with plant-based scrapple recipes, some using walnuts to mimic that pleasingly gritty mouthfeel, others employing chickpea flour and liquid smoke to maximize savoriness. Chef Omar Tate even serves a black eyed pea-based scrapple at his acclaimed West Philadelphia grocery and cafe, Honeysuckle Provisions.

Scrapple evolved in ancient times as an adjunct to butchering, so it was by definition a meat-based porridge, said Weaver. Even with vegetarianism starting in colonial Philadelphia, there werent any attempts to make faux scrapple any more than attempting to make faux beef. People just ate something else instead. That said, during the 1920s and 1930s there were people experimenting with ideas like mushroom scrapple or seaweed scrapple, but none of those faux scrapples taste like scrapple made from pigs.

According to the Farmers Almanac, German colonists in the Philadelphia area are likely to have invented the loaf as wed recognize it today  also known as pon haus in the Pennsylvania Dutch  in the 17th or 18th century. The pan-fried delicacy made a filling, affordable protein source, capitalizing on unwanted pig scraps from the head, heart, liver, and skin that simmered with spices before forming loaves. According to food historian Denise Clemons in A Culinary History of Southern Delaware, the dish was initially served as a hot porridge on family farms that slaughtered pigs. As commercial slaughterhouses appeared in some of the more densely populated urban areas, Clemons writes, scrapple became a byproduct of the pork industry.

After Cain, other vegetarian scrapples hit the market, including one from now-defunct Pennsylvania Dutch company Russian Pepper USA, which employed shiitake mushrooms and polenta for texture. Gone is the heartburn; vanished is dubious whats in it? factor; and theres not a squeal in sight, the company said in its announcement.

Cain is now taking orders for Vrapple, which shell ship nationwide, through her website www.thevrapple.com. West Coasters can catch Cain selling Vrapple at Dillon Bread Company in Vallejo.

To prepare vegan scrapple at home and mimic the crispiness of the original, Cain recommends using a cast-iron pan  or a really good heavy one. Put a little extra oil in the pain and then just fry the heck out of it until its a really beautiful dark brown.
Unionized nurses at Virtua Health voted on March 4, 2024 to reject the contract proposed by the hospital. Read more

The nurses at Virtua Health voted this week to reject a contract proposal that was negotiated between their union and the hospitals administration over two months.

The contract would have covered 1,700 nurses, most of whom work at Voorhees Hospital, Camden County, and Marlton Hospital, Burlington County, the hospital said. The nurses last contract expired on Feb. 28. Bargaining for a new contract began in early January, according to the union.

The team bargaining on behalf of the nurses and Virtua Health administrators reached a tentative agreement last week. However, the unions general membership voted to reject the proposal on Monday.

 READ MORE: How did patients rate Philly-area hospitals from 1 to 10? See where Virtua ranks.

Advertisement

Neither the hospital nor the union responded to questions asking about the central issues in the negotiations. But improving staffing has been a key priority for the nurses, according to the unions website.

The nurses are represented by JNESO, an AFL-CIO affiliate that represents roughly 5,000 nurses and health-care techs in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The members rejected the contract offer, Douglas Placa, the unions executive director, said in a statement.

A federal mediator is involved with the process, Placa said.

Mediators are available to assist in negotiations between a union and an employer once a contract is expired. A mediator can help by improving communication, establishing expectations, and offering suggestions.

While negotiations continue, the hospital said it will abide by the expired contract, according to a statement by Rhonda Jordan, Virtuas chief human resources officer.

We are engaged in continued dialogue with the union, Jordan said.

Virtua is the largest health-care provider in South Jersey. In addition to Voorhees and Marlton, its three other hospitals in the region are Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Mount Holly, and Willingboro Hospital.

Striking nurses

Nurses in Pennsylvania and New Jersey have gone on strike in recent months when negotiations did not lead to a contract that they found satisfactory.

About 1,700 nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick were on strike for more than 120 days last year. A main issue in the months-long negotiations was lowering the nurse-to-patient ratios  and making sure they could be enforced as part of the contract.

The hospital and union reached an agreement to end the strike in early December.

 READ MORE: Nurses at Temple Healths Jeanes hospital authorize strike but stop short of declaring one

In Pennsylvania, nurses at two Prime Healthcare-owned hospitals in the Philadelphia area  Suburban Community Hospital in Montgomery County and Lower Bucks Hospital in Bucks County  went on a 5-day strike over Christmas. The nurses returned to work without a new contract.

And last week, nurses at Temple University Hospital  Jeanes Campus in Philadelphia voted to authorize a strike as negotiations seemingly reached a dead end. The vote allows the nurses to go on strike if they give the hospital 10 days notice.
Months into a state and federal investigation into South Jersey Democratic power broker George E. Norcross III, authorities have expanded their focus beyond his involvement in real estate deals in Camden.

In recent weeks, investigators with the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office and FBI have begun scrutinizing whether the 67-year-old insurance executive played a role in a state agencys decision to temporarily stop payments to a contractor after one of the companys executives reportedly defied Norcross with an endorsement in a local election last year, according to sources familiar with the probe.

The South Jersey Transportation Authoritys board voted on multiple occasions in early 2023 not to approve invoices from Middletown, N.J.-based firm T&M Associates, which held a contract for engineering and construction management work, according to the agencys meeting minutes. All other vendors were paid during that period.

The decision to halt payments came weeks after a meeting between Norcross and T&M vice president John Cimino, who is also a Mercer County commissioner, about a local political race.

Advertisement

Politico reported last year that in December 2022, Norcross urged Cimino not to endorse a candidate in the contested race for Mercer County executive. Cimino did anyway, and Norcross insurance brokerage, Conner Strong & Buckelew, abruptly dropped T&M as a client, the news site reported.

Now, authorities are looking into whether Norcross, who does not hold elected office but is widely seen as one of the states most influential political figures, also influenced the SJTAs decision to stop paying the company in retaliation, according to three sources briefed on the investigation.

The authority received a subpoena in recent weeks regarding the T&M contract, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the progress of the ongoing probe. A grand jury has also been hearing testimony about the matter, sources said.

But a representative for Norcross balked Wednesday at the notion that Norcross played any role in the SJTA boards decisions. He had nothing to do with T&Ms payments, spokesperson Dan Fee said.

The SJTA  which operates the Atlantic City Expressway, the Atlantic City International Airport, and parking facilities in Atlantic City  declined to discuss the recent subpoena. But a spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday that the payments its board delayed to T&M in early 2023 were settled within a few months. She did not answer questions regarding what factors influenced the boards initial decision to hold up payment to the contractor, but sources close to the agency maintained that they were rooted in issues with T&Ms work performance.

Investigators scrutiny of those payment delays comes months into an ongoing probe of Norcross real estate dealings in Camden between 2014 and 2018. Though the SJTA matter occurred years afterward and involves different players, authorities interest in both matters appears to be connected and could suggest they are seeking to establish a pattern of Norcross using his influence with government officials in South Jersey to punish political and business rivals, sources familiar with the investigation said. Prosecutors are also looking into whether people have lied to the grand jury investigating the T&M matter, sources said.

The Inquirer reported in June that investigators had issued subpoenas and interviewed several potential witnesses tied to, among other matters, a dispute pitting Norcross and Camden officials against Philadelphia-area developer Carl Dranoff.

In a lawsuit that was settled last year, Dranoff accused Norcross and his brother Philip, a lawyer, of pressuring Camden officials to frustrate Dranoffs development deals in the city after the men had a falling out. George Norcross has repeatedly denied those claims and accused Dranoff of cheating Camdens taxpayers. The developers settlement deal with the city required him to pay $3 million plus additional tax payments as well as convey certain property rights to the city in exchange for certain concessions.

Authorities interest in that dispute began around the same time Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, nominated his longtime aide Matthew J. Platkin to be New Jersey attorney general, The Inquirer reported last year.

Platkin was a key player behind a Murphy-appointed task force that investigated the states tax credit programs  an inquiry that focused in part on companies linked to Norcross. Earlier this year, the AG announced that energy technology company Holtec International  whose board members include Norcross  had agreed to pay $5 million to avoid criminal charges in a settlement involving the companys applications for state tax credits. Holtec admitted no wrongdoing.

For months now, investigators from Platkins office have been meeting with potential witnesses and issuing new subpoenas  some dated as recently as February  as part of their investigation into Norcross role in various Camden waterfront real estate deals, according to sources familiar with the probes progress. Meanwhile, a grand jury has also been hearing testimony about the deals, sources said.

Fee, Norcross spokesperson, said investigators had not contacted Norcross in connection with the transportation authoritys decision to stop payments to T&M Associates last year.

George is the executive chairman of Conner Strong & Buckelew, among Americas largest insurance brokerage firms, as well as chairman of Cooper University Health Care and MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper, the largest employer in Camden and Camden County, Fee said in a statement. He is not in the civil engineering business, and he had nothing to do with T&Ms payments, which is why he hasnt been contacted and what any fair investigation will quickly prove.

T&M has long been a big political player in New Jersey. The company, which says it has worked with governments in each of the states 21 counties, had public contracts totaling $33 million in 2022. It contributed $356,000 to New Jersey political committees that year  fourth most among public contractors, according to an analysis by the state Election Law Enforcement Commission.

The SJTA, which reported operating revenues of $156 million in 2022 and expenses of $125.5 million, derives most of its revenue from AC Expressway tolls. Its leadership has ties to the South Jersey Democratic political machine, which Norcross has led for more than two decades.

Its executive director, Stephen F. Dougherty, previously worked for former U.S. Rep. Robert E. Andrews, a Camden County Democrat and Norcross ally. Board members, who are nominated by the governor and must be confirmed by the state Senate, include a Democratic municipal chairman in Gloucester County, labor leaders, and the Camden County clerk. The agencys general counsel works for a law firm that counts Lou Cappelli, director of the Camden County Board of Commissioners, as a partner.

And like many public and private entities, the authority contracts with Norcross firm, Conner Strong, for brokerage and consulting services with respect to employee benefits programs.

According to the Politico report, Norcross dispute with T&M executive Cimino began after a December 2022 meeting at a Trenton-area Starbucks to discuss the then-ongoing Democratic primary race for Mercer County executive. Also on hand were Hamilton Mayor Jeff Martin and lobbyist Kevin Drennan.

At the time, Norcross was backing incumbent Brian Hughes against challenger Daniel Benson. Norcross asked Martin and Cimino to stay neutral in the race. But days later, both Martin and Cimino appeared on a list of endorsements announced by Benson, who eventually won his race.

Norcross lashed out at Cimino, accusing him of reversing his position on the election and describing him to Politico as a bald-faced liar. Norcross insurance brokerage dropped T&M as a client soon after.

By February, T&M had another problem on its hands.

During the SJTAs Feb. 15, 2023, meeting, its nine-member board held a routine vote to approve the agencys bills. The board members in attendance unanimously agreed to pay all of them except what it owed to T&M.

Two members  vice chairman Christopher M. Milam and commissioner Bryan J. Bush  had signaled their intent to vote against paying the engineering firm as early as a week before the meeting, according to board minutes.

By vote, said bill list was approved with the exception of all T&M Assoc. Invoices, the minutes say.

Both Milam and Bush were appointed in 2017 by Republican Gov. Chris Christie and, through their confirmation process, received support from then-Senate President Steve Sweeney, a Gloucester County Democrat and close Norcross ally.

Neither Milam, who is also owner of an insurance firm and chairman of the Washington Township Democratic Committee in Gloucester County, nor Bush, business manager of the Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 19 in Philadelphia, returned messages seeking comment about their February 2023 T&M vote.

The authority board voted again to hold up T&Ms payments in March with a unanimous vote by all board members present including its chair, then-Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, a Murphy appointee. And in April, Milam and Bush again reiterated their opposition to paying the engineering firms bills, meeting minutes say.

In a statement to The Inquirer, an authority spokesperson said that all of the held-up payments to T&M were paid in May. Those payments were made months before the authority was served with the subpoena inquiring about the dispute.

SJTA declined to discuss the initial reasons for the delay or the suggestion, raised by others, that it had to do with T&Ms performance.

Just last month, the company entered into a settlement with the authority that required it to partially cover the cost of work needed to address an error in the original design on a garage project T&M had overseen. That project, however, was not related to the boards earlier decision to delay payment of the companys invoices, sources said.

T&M did not return messages seeking comment on its work for SJTA or the attorney generals investigation.
The chamber of the House of Representatives, where President Joe Biden will deliver his State of the Union speech Thursday night. Read more

President Joe Biden will deliver his third State of the Union address before Congress Thursday, his largest audience before facing off against former President Donald Trump in Novembers election.

Despite concerns over their ages, Biden, 81, and Trump, 77, are their partys presumptive nominees. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley ended her Republican presidential primary bid on Wednesday after winning just one state on Super Tuesday, followed by Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, who ended his longshot Democratic primary challenge and endorsed Biden.

White House officials have not spoken about the topics Biden will address, but hes expected to highlight the accomplishments of his administration, which includes a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a crackdown on so-called junk fees and overdraft charges. In the wake of the Supreme Courts 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Biden is also likely to highlight reproductive rights after a recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos are children, threatening access in the state to in vitro fertilization, or IVF.

Among the guests attending the State of the Union is Kate Cox, invited by first lady Jill Biden after having been forced to leave Texas to receive abortion care when her fetus was diagnosed with a genetic condition that threatened her health and future fertility.

Advertisement

Biden will also likely talk about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas and the war in Ukraine. Olena Zelenska, Ukraines first lady, declined a White House invitation to attend the State of the Union, citing a scheduling conflict to the Washington Post. The parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia for nearly a year, will also attend the speech as guests of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R., La.).

Biden is scheduled to travel to the Philadelphia area Friday to participate in campaign events, according to the White House. Specific details about the visit have not yet been released.

The State of the Union address will air on all major broadcast networks and cable news channels to an expected audience of 35 million to 40 million viewers. It will also be streamed live online. Heres what you need to know:

What time does Bidens State of the Union start and end?

Biden is expected to begin his address live from the Capitol shortly after 9 p.m. It will air live on all broadcast networks and cable news channels, and is available to stream here on Inquirer.com, courtesy of PBS:

Over the past 10 years, State of the Union speeches have averaged about one hour and eight minutes. Former President Barack Obama preferred shorter speeches that came in under an hour (his longest was 65 minutes in 2014), while all four of former President Donald Trumps speeches to a joint session of Congress topped one hour.

Last year, Biden spoke for one hour and 13 minutes, the longest of his three addresses before a joint session of Congress. His speeches have averaged about 66 minutes, which would make Bidens address end just after 10 p.m. Eastern.

Who is delivering the Republican response?

Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama will deliver the Republicans rebuttal to Bidens address.

Britt is the first woman to represent Alabama in the Senate, and at 41 years old, shes viewed as a rising star in the party. Shes even been mentioned as a potential vice presidential candidate for former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Britt during her 2022 race to succeed retiring Sen. Richard Shelby.

It will be interesting to see if Britt rises to the occasion, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said during a radio interview last weekend. If she does, it will be a major step up in her potentially being Trumps vice presidential candidate.

It remains to be seen if Trump will deliver his own response to Bidens speech. His campaign has made no announcements  the only event on his campaign schedule is a get-out-the-vote rally in Rome, Ga., on Saturday.

Why is Bidens State of the Union happening in March?

Since the mid-1930s, most presidents delivered their annual State of the Union addresses in January, a trend Biden has bucked during this three years in office. All three of his addresses before a joint session of Congress have taken place in February or later.

Bidens speech will be just the second State of the Union delivered in March  the first was his 2022 speech, which was delayed by a winter COVID spike and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. This years State of the Union will also be the latest since 1934, after Congress shifted the opening of its sessions to January. But its not as delayed as Bidens first address before a joint session of Congress, which took place on April 28.

So why March? In order for Biden to deliver the State of the Union, he needs to be invited to speak before a joint session of Congress by the speaker of the House, who is currently Rep. Mike Johnson (R., La.). That invitation to speak on March 7 was sent to Biden on Jan. 6.

Johnsons office did not respond to a request for comment.

As far as the annual speech itself, the Constitution states that the president shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.

George Washington, in 1790, was the first to deliver a regular address to Congress. The address has transformed over the years, shifting from a speech to a written statement, and back to a speech with the advent of radio and later television. Since 1947, it has officially been known as the State of the Union.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker will attend Bidens State of the Union

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker will attend Bidens State of the Union address as a guest of Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Pa.), a longtime political ally.

Im pleased to welcome our first female mayor, my friend of many years, as my guest for the State of the Union address, Evans said in a statement. This is a chance to spotlight the fresh start and positive change she is bringing to Philadelphia.

Parker, who took office in January as the citys first female mayor, joined Biden at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day service event during her first weeks in office and will welcome him again to Philadelphia on Friday.

 READ MORE: Mayor Cherelle Parker will attend President Joe Bidens State of the Union address

How are the networks covering the speech?

ABC

Start time: 9 p.m. Anchor: World News Tonight anchor David Muir Analysis: ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis, This Week co-anchors Martha Raddatz and Jonathan Karl, political director Rick Klein, deputy political director Averi Harper, chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce, chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas, senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott, senior national correspondent Terry Moran, and contributors Donna Brazile and Reince Priebus Streaming: Live coverage on ABCNews.com Local affiliate: 6ABC (Channel 6)

CBS

Start time: 9 p.m. Anchor: CBS Evening News anchor Norah ODonnell Analysis: Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan, chief political analyst John Dickerson, chief White House correspondent Major Garrett, chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa, chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes, senior White House correspondents Ed OKeefe and Weijia Jiang, senior business and technology correspondent Jo Ling Kent, and congressional correspondents Nikole Killion and Scott MacFarlane Streaming: Live coverage on CBSN and Paramount+ starts at 8 p.m. Both will simulcast the networks coverage beginning at 9 p.m. Local affiliate: CBS3 (Channel 3)

FOX

Start time: 9 p.m. Anchors: Fox News Sunday anchor Shannon Bream Analysis: Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram, senior national correspondent Kevin Corke, Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz, former Rep. John Delaney (D., Md.) Streaming: Live coverage on Fox29.com at 9 p.m. Local affiliate: FOX 29 (Channel 29)

NBC

Start time: 9 p.m. Anchors: NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt and TODAY coanchor Savannah Guthrie Analysis: Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker Streaming: Live coverage on NBCNews.com, anchored by Top Story anchor Tom Llamas and Hallie Jackson NOW anchor and NBC News senior Washington correspondent Hallie Jackson Local affiliate: NBC10 (Channel 10)

PBS

Start time: 9 p.m. Anchors: Amna Nawaz and Geoff Bennett Analysis: Washington Post opinion writer Jonathan Capehart, New York Times opinion writer David Brooks, and Cook Political Report editor-in-chief Amy Walter Streaming: Live coverage on PBS YouTube account Local affiliate: WHYY-TV (Channel 12)

How are the cable networks covering the speech?

C-SPAN

Start time: 8 p.m. Anchors: C-SPAN host Greta Brawner and Peter Slen Analysis: Following the speech and the Republican response, C-SPAN will take viewers phone calls and read opinions from Twitter and Facebook Streaming: Live coverage on C-SPAN.org

CNN

Start time: 8 p.m. Anchors: Anderson Cooper 360 anchor Anderson Cooper, The Lead anchor Jake Tapper, and Erin Burnett OutFront anchor Erin Burnett Analysis: Chief political correspondent Dana Bash, Inside Politics Sunday anchor Abby Phillip, chief national correspondent John King, CNN This Morning anchor Kasie Hunt, The Source with Kaitlan Collins anchor Kaitlan Collins, political director David Chalian, and correspondent Jamie Gangel Streaming: Live coverage on CNN.com and across mobile devices through the CNN app

Fox News and Fox Business

Start time: 9 p.m. Anchors: Special Report anchor Bret Baier and The Story anchor Martha MacCallum Analysis: Americas Newsroom coanchor Dana Perino, Americas Newsroom coanchor and The Five cohost Dana Perino, America Reports coanchor John Roberts, The Five cohost Harold Ford Jr., senior political analyst Brit Hume, Kudlow host Larry Kudlow, and senior strategic analyst Jack Keane Streaming: Live coverage on FoxNews.com and Fox Nation at 9 p.m.

MSNBC
Amy Nieves-Renz shown here with The Club a steering wheel device that she uses to safeguard her vehicle, which was stolen in 2022. The police told her it was the result of the TikTok trend. Read more Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer

The car companies have distributed wheel locks and anti-theft software to help quell the thefts, but distribution was inconsistent.

Now, Seattle-based law firm Hagens Berman announced this week a $145 million settlement and said car owners who are impacted will be notified this month.

Today, Nieves-Renz still feels disenchanted by the process and as if Kia and Hyundai havent been held responsible.

Advertisement

We got an email about the lawsuit but it doesnt sound like its worth spending the time to engage in it, she said Wednesday. [Its] a lot of effort for a really small potential payment.

She added: Its just frustrating, the trade-in value of the car went down by half over the last year so its not even worth trading it in to switch to any brand other than Kia or Hyundai.

Heres what you need to know.

When was the class-action lawsuit against Kia and Hyundai filed?

While many states and some individuals filed their own lawsuits against the automotive manufacturers, the class-action lawsuit was filed in September.

How much did Kia and Hyundai settle for?

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted preliminary approval for a $145 million settlement. The court still has to grant final approval before payments start being sent out.

Who is eligible to receive money from the Kia and Hyundai settlement?

Those who bought or leased a Kia or Hyundai manufactured between 2011 and 2022 and then had their car stolen may be eligible. The suit is expected to cover about nine million vehicles, according to USA Today.

How much will the payments be?

Its hard to know until the court approves a final settlement and the deadline is reached for eligible recipients to apply. As it stands now, the law firm says compensation for total loss of vehicles could be up to $6,125. Compensation could reach up to $3,375 for damage to vehicles and personal property. Expenses such as car rentals, transportation costs, and towing costs could also be reimbursed.

How do I apply to receive money from the Kia and Hyundai lawsuit settlement?

Eligible car owners should receive notification this month. If you believe youre eligible and have not received correspondence, you can check Hyundai and Kias settlement websites. There, you can confirm and make a settlement claim or review whether youre entitled to software upgrades or other reimbursements. The deadline to submit a claim to receive settlement funds is Jan. 11, 2025, according to the law firms website.

How soon will people get money from the Kia and Hyundai lawsuit settlement?

The court still has to grant final approval before payments start being sent. That hearing is scheduled for July 15. Any appeals could delay the process.
Mexico's Navy says 3 Mexican soldiers killed, 2 missing in Navy helicopter crash

Mexico City, Mar 7 (UNI) Three Mexican soldiers have been killed, three have been injured, and another two are missing as a result of a crash of the Mexican Navy's AS565 Panther helicopter in the Gulf of Mexico, the Mexican Navy said in a release.



"The causes of this accident are yet unknown. There have been eight Navy servicemen aboard, of whom three have been rescued. They are in stable health and are being transported to a port for specialised medical attention. Unfortunately, three of them (two women and one man) have died and two others are missing, for which reason search operations are underway," the Mexican Navy said on Wednesday.
City Councilmember Anthony Phillips greets people in Philadelphia City Council in January. On Thursday, he addressed a recent spate of shootings that took place on or near SEPTA. Read more

Philadelphia lawmakers on Thursday expressed anger, desperation and, in one case, powerlessness following a spate of high-profile shootings this week involving public transit that left 11 children shot.

Several Philadelphia City Council members said during the bodys weekly meeting that theyre considering what legislation they can advance to continue to address gun violence. But several lamented that solutions  whether they be cultural or related to gun laws  are largely outside their control.

I am feeling powerless and shrouded by a pull of desperation, said Councilmember Anthony Phillips, whose district borders the site where eight high school students were wounded in a shooting in Burholme on Wednesday. This is a crisis at every level. It reflects an abject failure to protect our most basic social rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

He added: This is not a SEPTA problem. It is a societal problem.

Advertisement

Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., who represents parts of West and Northwest Philadelphia, pushed back, saying: We have an obligation, a sworn oath, never to be helpless.

Helpless? We are the help, he said. We need to measure up, man up, pony up to be that assistance to the people riding SEPTA. They dont want us to be saying I feel helpless. We have to double down, be determined to make our streets safer.

 READ MORE: Live updates: Search for suspects after 8 students wounded in Northeast Philly shooting

City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, who was a longtime antiviolence advocate before becoming an elected official, said members are exploring ways to continue to support grassroots community organizations that provide services to people affected by gun violence. Dozens of those groups saw an infusion of grant dollars over the last several years under former Mayor Jim Kenneys administration, and Johnson said he believes it made a difference.

He said Council is looking for additional investments in prevention as part of Mayor Cherelle L. Parkers upcoming budget proposal, which will be unveiled in Council next week. She has said gun-violence prevention will be a key part of her spending plan.

Statistics show that homicides are down and shootings are down. It may not feel like it, Johnson acknowledged. We just need to double down on those efforts of collaboration.

Others said Harrisburg bears some responsibility. At-large Councilmember Rue Landau called on the legislature to pass stricter gun regulation laws or allow Philadelphia to pass its own. (In general, state law bars the city from regulating guns itself under a provision known as preemption.)

Without that, Landau said, we are not going to fully have the tools that we need to make Philadelphia the safest place that we need to have.

What else happened this week?

Honoring Jason Kelce: Council passed a resolution honoring Eagles center Jason Kelce, who announced his retirement earlier this week. The resolution, sponsored by Johnson, recognizes Kelces historic career with the Philadelphia Eagles and his generous philanthropic contributions to the city.

Whats coming up next?

Mayors budget address: Next weeks Council session will be dominated by Parkers budget address. Shell deliver a speech about her first major spending plan, and legislation will be introduced to be considered by Council over the next several months. Parkers budget is expected to include a number of new investments, including in gun-violence prevention and trash cleanup.

Kensington business curfew: Councilmember Quetcy Lozada has championed legislation that would require some businesses along Kensington Avenue to adhere to a curfew and close at 11 p.m., but she placed the bill on hold this week. The legislation already passed through committee and was slated for a vote from the full Council on Thursday. The bill is expected to be called up for a full vote in the coming weeks.

Quote of the week

I would like to thank City Council for making March 3 through 8 Women in Construction Week. They need a month.

That was Ryan Boyer, head of the Philadelphia Building Trades & Construction Council, who testified in favor of legislation honoring women in the construction industry this week.
Owner Tedla Abraham outside the front door of Abyssinia Bar and Restaurant, after a car rammed the bars front door off its hinges. Read more

Rest easy, Abyssinia fans.

Despite a car crash that rammed the restaurants front door off late Tuesday afternoon, beef tibs and miser wot, the spicy red stewed lentils, are still on the menu of the West Philadelphia Ethiopian staple.

[Customers] dont have to worry, Abyssinia is OK, owner Tedla Abraham said as he surveyed the damage Wednesday morning.

Abraham had landed from a Denver flight to Philadelphia at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday when his phone was inundated with missed calls and texts about a crash at the restaurant that had taken place about 10 minutes prior.

Advertisement

A 2012 Dodge truck was heading northbound on 45th Street at a rapid speed when it ran a stop sign, hitting a 2022 Tesla, which then hit a 2012 Honda that went on to hit two parked cars, according to the Philadelphia Police Department.

The Dodge crashed smack dab at the restaurants front entrance, its hood crumpled. By the time Abraham arrived at the scene about half an hour later, tow trucks had cleared the intersection but shattered glass remained and the scene remained chaotic.

L&I was here, police was here, fire was here, there was a lot of us, and everybody was confused, said Abraham.

Yet even as authorities tried to sort out the accident, dinner service continued in the back room, Abraham said, though many people opted to get their food to go.

Police said a passenger in the Tesla was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center for minor injuries. Abraham said his staff and customers were fine, if not shaken.

No arrests have been made in connection with the crash. Police said the people in the Dodge fled on foot.

In the meantime, fans of the restaurant took to social media in an outpouring of support.

Abyssinia was the first Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurant in the city, opening in 1983 as the Red Sea. It was renamed in 1994 and taken over by Abraham and a former partner.

All things considered, Abraham said, he and the staff consider themselves lucky there werent additional injuries or greater damage. Right now, hes dealing with insurance to figure out a timeline for fixing the front entrance.

If people want to support the business, they can pop in for kitfo, he said. Just make sure to use the side door, on Locust Street.
The undocumented Philadelphia restaurant worker was worried when he decided to file a wage-theft complaint with the city against his old employer.

His former boss had suggested that if the worker spoke up, there would be consequences.

But through a new federal program and with the support of the citys Office of Worker Protections, the worker was able to get a two-year work authorization so he could help the citys investigation without fear of retaliation, said Lerae Kroon, his attorney with legal aid organization Justice at Work.

The worker declined to speak with The Inquirer for fear of retaliation.

Advertisement

His successful application, approved last month, was the first time the Office of Worker Protections has helped secure such a protection for a complainant, said director Candace Chewning.

The protection came from a program called Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement, through which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security grants temporary work authorizations to undocumented immigrants participating in labor investigations. While DHS had already been doing so, it formalized the process last year, after immigrant workers in Las Vegas and Georgia successfully advocated for it.

 READ MORE: What Mayor Cherelle Parker can do for domestic workers

Workers at a Las Vegas paint factory experienced retaliation after reporting their employer for wage theft. They eventually got a $3.68 million settlement last year through the U.S. Department of Labor.

They told me to remember that I was undocumented and that I could end up having immigration issues if I didnt do as I was told, said Rosario Ortiz, one of the former paint factory workers who fought for deferred action, as reported by the Nevada Current. She was speaking at an event in January where Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su discussed deferred action with Latino workers in Las Vegas.

And in Gainesville, Ga., after six workers were killed in a 2021 poultry plant explosion that a government report called completely preventable, workers feared participating in the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation because of fears of deportation. They were among the first to receive deferred action. OSHA ultimately issued $1 million in penalties against the four companies involved.

In order to get deferred action, the labor agency running the investigation must send a statement of interest letter to DHS explaining why deferred action is needed. The letter covers all employees at a workplace who might want to participate in an investigation. The agency does so during the investigation, not once it has already determined a violation.

 READ MORE: Phillys workers-rights office has gone from backwater to heavy hitter in just a few years

Deferred action is an important tool for the Office of Worker Protections, said Chewning, its director, because it improves the effectiveness of the citys labor laws. Her office often encounters workers who are experiencing labor violations but dont want to engage with her office because of the potential consequences.

The folks who are speaking with us about this are very, very hesitant to file a complaint, and very few of them end up doing it, she said.

Last fall, her office held a bilingual information session with the citys Office of Immigrant Affairs about deferred action that had over 150 registrants.
The John Coltrane House (center of photo) at 1511 N. 33rd St in Philadelphia on Feb. 7, 2020. Read more

Could there finally be salvation for Philadelphias John Coltrane House in Strawberry Mansion?

For years, community activists and jazz lovers have been talking about restoring the house that the legendary jazz saxophonist John Coltrane bought in 1952, and turning it into a museum. The property is now vacant, with crumbling front steps, holes in the exterior walls, and an interior in need of extensive repairs.

There has been little money to renovate Coltranes house, at 1511 N. 33rd St., across from Fairmount Park, and fires and demolitions of nearby houses have threatened the entire block.

This week, the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a project of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation announced that they have teamed up to pledge $5.2 million to a new initiative aimed at preserving homes important to Black history.

Advertisement

They also announced that Coltranes Philadelphia house, a National Historic Landmark, will be the first recipient of the new Descendants and Family Stewardship Initiative. However, there was no immediate word on how much of that $5.2 million is going to the Coltrane House.

We are very excited about the partnership, Brent Leggs, executive director of the action fund, said Thursday in a brief message to The Inquirer.

The New York Times, in an article on Tuesday, quoted Ravi Coltrane, one of Coltranes sons, who also plays the saxophone and lives in Brooklyn, saying:

These funds are very vital and very much needed for any repairs and restorations. We certainly hope within the next few years to completely stabilize the home and foundation.

We are all on board with the mission of opening the house to the public and having it there in the community as something symbolic of what John Coltrane was able to do there, which is to be a beacon for the highest possibilities of creative achievement.

Coltrane is said to have lived in the house, where he composed the album, Giant Steps, between 1952 and 1958, but often visited there until his death in 1967.

Legal battle for the Coltrane House

The announcement of the new grant also included news that the African American Cultural Action Fund will transfer ownership of the Philadelphia Coltrane house to the Friends of the John and Alice Coltrane Home, a nonprofit that manages the home that Coltrane and his wife Alice owned together in Dix Hills, N.Y., on Long Island, a news release stated.

In April 2022, Ravi Coltrane and his brother, Oran Coltrane, filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court against Aminta Weldon and Hathor Gadson, challenging the ownership of the Philadelphia house.

 READ MORE: John Coltranes sons file suit to claim ownership of Phillys Coltrane House

Current records list the two sisters, the daughters of the late real estate investor Norman Gadson and his wife, Lenora S. Early, as owners of the property.

However, the lawsuit contended that the Coltrane brothers are the rightful owners of the property.

After John Coltrane bought the house in 1952, he put it in the name of his mother, Alice Gertrude Coltrane  not to be confused with Coltranes second wife, Alice Lucille Coltrane, whom he married in 1966.

John Coltrane bought the house as a home for himself, his mother and his cousin, Mary L. Alexander, also known as Cousin Mary, from the Coltrane composition.

The lawsuit said that Coltranes mother had a valid will that stipulated that Cousin Mary could live in the house on 33rd Street for the remainder of her life and that the house would then belong to Coltranes three sons. One son died at a young age, leaving just two sons living now, Ravi and Oran.

The lawsuit said that in 2004, Norman Gadson, a real estate investor, bought the house from Alexander. After Gadson died in 2007, his wife, Lenora Early, took over efforts to bring attention to the need to restore the house. But Early also died, leaving Aminta Gadson Weldon as administrator of the estates of Norman Gadson and Early.

In May 2023, a tentative settlement was reached to restore ownership to the Coltrane brothers, upon condition of a financial settlement to be paid by a third party.

In the announcement this week, the action fund said it would help resolve the lawsuit and transfer ownership to the nonprofit Friends of the John and Alice Coltrane Home, which his sons manage.

Faye Anderson, a public historian who has advocated for the preservation of the Coltrane House and nominated it to the Preservation Pennsylvania At Risk list in 2020, said the grant was wonderful news and she is glad there is renewed attention to the deteriorating property.

In an interview Thursday, Anderson said the news of the funding is positive. But she said it will take millions to not only renovate the Coltrane House, but to also make it into a museum.

Four years later, the National Historic Landmark is the first site selected for the African American Cultural Heritage Action Funds families and descendant communities initiative. It will take millions of dollars before the property is open to the public but my work is done, she said in a statement. Mission accomplished.
A poster reads Health Center Now, at a meeting where the Philadelphia Department of Public Health presented and took public comment at First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pa. on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. Read more

Mingchu Pearl Huynh had nowhere else to go.

After moving to Philadelphia from New York City in 2012, Huynh had no job and no health insurance. She couldnt afford medical care anywhere, until she found out about the citys health centers, which provide health care at little to no cost for community members in need.

When Huynh, who is the founder of the Northeast Philadelphia Chinese Association, learned that the city had proposed two new health centers in the lower Northeast, she was elated. Currently, theres only one city-run health center in the area. To her, these health centers would be a beacon in an area deprived of health care access, and where there has been a growing concentration of immigrants and lower income people.

Many agree that the health centers are needed in the area. Some dont.

The city health department announced last year that it plans to build two new health centers, one at the current Friends Hospital site on Roosevelt Boulevard and the other near Frankford Transportation Center, in response to a city report that found neighborhoods in the area have fewer primary care providers and higher uninsured rates. Since then, numerous people have voiced their opinions of the center proposals through community meetings, letter-writing campaigns, and petitions (the latest petition in favor of the health centers has gotten nearly 1,200 signatures).

There is a real need, and these people are underserved, Huynh said.

The need

Soon after becoming a patient, Huynh became a Chinese interpreter at Health Center, 10 located just off Cottman Avenue.

For four years, she watched immigrants and recently unemployed people have to look elsewhere for health care because the wait lists at the health center were about six months out. And last year, when she became a member of the advisory commission for Health Center 10, she found out those waitlists had grown to at least one year for adults.

Advertisement

I talked to some of my community members, and some of them could not even get an appointment because theres no room on the [waitlist], said Huynh, who has frequently referred new immigrants to their nearest health centers.

The current wait time for Health Center 10 is about 10 months, according to the city, and the average wait time across the remaining eight health centers is four months for new adult patients and 24 days for children.

The first city-run health center, Health Center 5, was established in North Philadelphia in 1969. Since then, the number of health centers has grown and expanded across different neighborhoods in North, South and West Philadelphia. While the health centers generate revenue and are self-sustaining, they receive city, state and federal funding, and operate on a total annual budget of $58.8 million.

Regular physician appointments are critical for treating health conditions and preventing chronic illnesses. But primary care is often unaffordable or inaccessible for people without insurance, and for those who are under-insured and therefore still struggle to afford health care bills. But with their sliding scale structure, city-run health centers accept patients regardless of their insurance status, ability to pay, or immigration status  allowing them to fill health care gaps across the city.

Those gaps are particularly glaring in Northeast Philadelphia, where poverty rates have been growing exponentially over the last few decades.

According to recent census figures, the average household income of zip codes surrounding the proposed sites ranges from $39,000 to $57,000, and portion of those without health care coverage is as high as 15% in some areas. The city report, which was done in collaboration with University of Pennsylvanias Leonard Davis Institute, found that the lower Northeast is the area in the city with some of the highest numbers of uninsured patients, and with the greatest need for primary health care.

The lower Northeast is also home to one of the highest concentrations of immigrants in Philadelphia  notably important when considering health center locations, because immigrants cannot qualify for government-funded Medicaid health coverage for five years after they obtain a green card. Until then, many are unable to afford private insurance and rely on Health Center 10 for care.

Uninsured health center patients pay on a sliding scale that typically runs about $5 to $20 a visit. Health centers are also offer dental care, pediatric primary care, womens health care, vaccinations, and testing for sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis and other conditions. There is also a pharmacy on-site. The idea is to provide patients with a one-stop shop for primary care needs.

There are many reasons why the health department came up with this particular site  a lot of analysis went into it, said Carol Rogers, a retiree from the health department who currently sits on the Philadelphia City Health Center Board of Directors. If you look at all the city health centers, theres only one in Northeast Philadelphia. Its a barren landscape of health centers.

Filling the gap

In response to the strain on Health Center 10 and need for more health care in the lower Northeast, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health announced last year a proposal to build two new health centers in the neighborhood.

The proposal includes a smaller location, near the Frankford Transportation Center, that will serve about 5,000 people a year. The site has not been challenged by community members.

A much larger site, designed for 30,000 patients a year, is proposed for a site on Roosevelt Boulevard in front of the historic Friends Hospital.

Both sites are within the 19124 zip code, which the health department has identified as the zip code where most Health Center 10 patients live, Councilmember Quetcy Lozada said, and were chosen after a thorough evaluation of more than 40 potential locations for the health centers.

But since the announcement of the new centers, debates have been ensuing among community members, particularly over the Friends Hospital location.

The debates surrounding the proposed health centers became so heated that Lozada, who represents the district in which the centers would be located, launched a series of community meetings in December to provide information about the health centers and hear community members opinions. Lozadas office hosted four listening sessions in different neighborhoods, and one more is being scheduled.

There is really not much for our own community other than the major hospitals. Miguel Concepcion

Community voice has always been important and a priority to me, Lozada said. I want people to feel like  we make decisions based on what the broader group of people want.

Miguel Concepcion, whose backyard is the tower at the Friends Hospital, knows firsthand how much of a health care desert the area actually is, and how much of a game-changer a center would be for folks who dont have insurance.

There is really not much for our own community other than the major hospitals, Concepcion said. Bringing those services to a community that traditionally had to travel miles just to get [health care]  and the fact that it is very well accessible in the community  is very welcome.

In addition, with the areas growing non-English-speaking communities, having a health center that provides robust translation services will help eliminate language barriers that immigrants often face when accessing health care, Concepcion said. Up to 43% of surrounding zip codes speak a language other than English at home, according to census data.

The opposition

Despite the demonstrated need for and predicted benefits of having a health center in the neighborhood, however, some oppose the project, largely with concerns about historic preservation.

Debbie Klak, a member of the Historical Society of Frankford, has been living in the same neighborhood as the Friends Hospital since 1987. For Klak, the main concern she has about the proposed project is the preservation of Native American relics that may be on the grounds. Current research, Klak said, found that a Native American encampment, formerly believed to have been located close to the Frankford Creek, was in fact likely to have been located directly behind the Friends Hospital in order to avoid flooding.

Its pretty sacred  that theres a strong possibility of an Indian encampment there, Klak said. There should be an archaeological survey and dig before anything on that ground is ever established.

Many have also pointed to plans to demolish a 170-year-old Lawnside building on the Friends Hospital campus to make way for the health center, which was approved by the Historical Commission last year.

If [the health center] has to be sited here  the city should see it as their responsibility to not knock down this historic building, but to incorporate it in their design, said Oscar Beisert, a historic preservationist in Philadelphia.

The architects working with the health department have identified that the condition of the Lawnside buildings structure would make it impossible to be incorporated into the project, Lozada said.

I appreciate historical sites  that help us tell the story of our city, Lozada said. But we also have to remember that there are spaces in our city that we as a city have not taken care of and preserved.

The opposition has felt like a slap in the face to those who believe that the health center is needed, and many are suspicious that its simply a case of not in my backyard sentiment.

There should be an archaeological survey and dig before anything on that ground is ever established. Debbie Klak

I support the preservation of historical sites, said Izzy Colon, a community policy analyst who was director of multicultural affairs for former Mayor Michael Nutter. But I cant do it at the expense of a health crisis. That, to me, begs a moral judgment.

Of particular concern to community members in support of the health center is the possibility of finding a new site. While theres no current timeline for when ground would be broken for the health centers, the process of finding a new location in place of the Friends Hospital site, Lozada said, would take five to eight years  time we dont have, she added.
SEPTA investigators take pictures on the bus that has several bullet holes in it that was passing by when the shooting started. Eight juveniles were shot at the corner of Cottman Avenue and Rising Sun Avenue shortly before 3 PM this afternoon over 30 shell casings were found at the scene. Wednesday, March 6, 2024 Read more

Eight Northeast High School students were wounded  one critically  in a shooting Wednesday afternoon at one of the citys busiest intersections in an act that left a SEPTA bus riddled with bullets just a few hours after the agencys security chief vowed a crackdown on gun violence on mass transit.

No one on the bus or another bus at which shots were fired was injured, but the gun violence, which occurred at the Five Points intersection of Rising Sun and Cottman Avenues in the Burholme section of Northeast Philadelphia  less than a mile from the school  came after three fatal shootings near or on SEPTA buses on three consecutive days.

Enough is enough, said Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, speaking in the pouring rain at the scene of the Burholme shooting. She added that we will not be held hostage by the weeks surge of gun violence. Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. was also at the scene.

Advertisement

The motive for the shooting was unclear, and it was not known whether the students, seven boys and one girl, were targeted.

But the impact on young people and the city at large was immeasurable, said Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan, who also referenced the death earlier in the week of 17-year-old Dayemen Taylor, who was shot Monday boarding a bus after leaving Imhotep Institute Charter High School.

Northeast High is to hold classes virtually the rest of the week

Just before 3 p.m. Wednesday, police responded to a report of a shooting with multiple victims at Cottman and Rising Sun. In an Instagram video, the wounded, bloody bodies of victims can be seen on the wet sidewalk.

Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said video surveillance showed a car parked outside a Dunkin, and when a SEPTA bus arrived to pick up waiting students, three people exited the vehicle and fired more than 30 shots at the students, who were all between ages 15 and 17. That SEPTA bus and a second one were struck by the gunfire.

Authorities said that four of the students were taken to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, three were taken to Jefferson Einstein Hospital, and one was taken by private vehicle to Temple University Hospital-Jeanes Campus.

Police on Wednesday were searching for a stolen blue 2018 Hyundai Elantra seen in surveillance footage near the shooting. The car had a missing front grill, paper tags, and a Penn State license plate frame.

 READ MORE: Eight students were shot near a SEPTA bus in Northeast Philly. Heres what we know.

Bethel said it was not known whether the shooting in Burholme was connected to the shooting Monday at a bus stop in the citys Ogontz section that left Taylor dead and four other people wounded, including two women on the SEPTA bus.

Bethel angrily ended his news briefing when a reporter asked about the controversial practice of stop and frisk, in which police are authorized to stop and pat down a person in search of weapons or drugs. Bethel said this was not the time or venue for a stop-and-frisk discussion.

SEPTA Transit Police Chief Charles Lawson, who also was at the scene, said his officers would work on how to better police the daily school dismissals with thousands of students using SEPTA to get home.

As it happened, at a noon news conference, Lawson said SEPTA transit officers would attack gun violence on mass transit with strict enforcement of lesser criminal violations and regular searches of detained suspects for firearms.

That was in response to the third deadly shooting involving SEPTA bus riders since Sunday  the latest on Tuesday night on Snyder Avenue near Broad Street, when a suspect stepped from a Route 79 bus and fired a 9mm gun through the door, fatally striking passenger Carmelo Dreyton, 37, in the chest.

That was preceded by the shooting deaths of the Imhotep student on Monday and that of a 27-year-old man Sunday night as he was getting off a bus at Oxford Circle.

 READ MORE: Shots rang out as kids boarded the bus home from school, leaving one teen dead and four injured

In the last year alone, at least six teens have been shot and killed on or near SEPTAs system  targeted while engaging in some of the most ordinary moments of life, such as riding the bus home from school or the subway to meet friends.

Law enforcement officials earlier Wednesday announced a number of measures aimed at curbing the gun violence, including SEPTA checks, with Philadelphia police boarding buses to talk to operators and look around, said Frank Vanore, the Philadelphia police deputy commissioner of investigations. Also, SEPTA plans to deploy more police officers on buses, especially in areas identified as trouble spots.

About 60% of the bus fleet is equipped with surveillance cameras, spokesperson Andrew Busch said. Those cameras cannot provide live feeds to the SEPTA control room in Center City, but footage can be quickly uploaded and has been helpful in solving a number of crimes, Lawson said.

But no police agency has enough officers or technology to guarantee that no crime will happen on the 1,100 buses that roll through SEPTAs territory on an average day. And its not just Philly.

On Wednesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she would deploy the National Guard and State Police troopers to patrol New York Citys subway platforms and monitor riders. Hochul said she would deploy 1,000 additional law enforcement officers who would check riders bags and monitor platforms for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

SEPTA isnt going quite that far. In many ways, SEPTA vehicles have simply been swept up in the turbulence of their operating environment. Gun violence, abetted by easy access to illegal firearms, affects all corners of the city, Lawson said. He acknowledged that authorities are struggling to control it.

Thats true in every jurisdiction on the face of the earth, Lawson said. Weve got to roll up our sleeves, pin on the badge, and do the job.

In addition to the three shooting deaths this week, there were two homicides and six aggravated assaults reported on SEPTA in January, according to the most recent agency data available.

The Five Points shooting Wednesday was a shock to people in the neighborhood.

Outside a corner store, a woman named Shena, who declined to give her last name because she feared for her safety, said one of the victims was her cousin. She said the boy was at the bus stop heading home from school.

Youre shooting innocent people, she said. Its devastating.

Vicki Liu didnt hear the gunfire from inside her kitchen and cabinet store on Rising Sun Avenue, but she was taken aback when a police officer told her what had happened. She perhaps spoke for the neighborhood when she said, I see it in the news, somewhere else, but not on my street.

Staff writers Jesse Bunch, Ximena Conde, Oona Goodin-Smith, Kristen A. Graham, Rodrigo Torrejon, and Nick Vadala contributed to this article.
Harm reduction activists march around Philadelphia City Hall to ask for seat at table, funding for opioid crisis. The group held signs, marched, called out to city leaders during harm reduction rally on Thursday. Read more

Dozens of harm reduction activists circled City Hall on Thursday to protest lawmakers who have in recent weeks sought to shut down Kensington-based harm reduction organizations that provide often-lifesaving services to people living in addiction on the streets.

The demonstration was led by Savage Sisters, a harm reduction group that recently lost its lease on Kensington Avenue following an intervention from City Hall.

For two years, the nonprofit organization has provided showers, wound care, and other services from a storefront beneath the El tracks. Last month, Councilmember Quetcy Lozada accused the group of being bad neighbors and also expressed serious concern about nearby Prevention Point, the most well-known addiction resource center along Kensington Avenue.

Flanked by poster board signs that read no more dead friends and harm reduction saves lives, activists warned that pushing such groups out of the neighborhood would lead to more overdose deaths, infectious disease outbreaks, and a higher burden for both health care providers and the police.

Advertisement

For years Ive watched a public health crisis continue to wreak havoc amongst our communities, said Savage Sisters founder Sarah Laurel. After decades of failed drug policy, history continues to repeat itself and the city lacks accountability.

The debate around harm reduction  a public health strategy to keep drug users alive until they are ready to enter treatment  has intensified since Mayor Cherelle L. Parker took office on a vow to stabilize Kensington and end the open-air drug market. On Wednesday, The Inquirer reported that the Parker administration will no longer allow opioid settlement dollars to fund services that provide people with items for safer drug use, such as syringe exchange services.

In City Hall on Thursday, however, City Council members who have been leading the charge for a new approach in Kensington said they arent opposed to harm reduction as a practice, including syringe exchange services, but are focused on addressing organizations they consider to be a nuisance.

Lozada, a Democrat who represents parts of Kensington, said harm reduction has been a prominent part of the citys strategy in Kensington. The next chapter will require a different approach  but that does not mean casting aside proven practices.

It is absolutely necessary for us as individual elected members and as a legislative body to change how we are doing things, she said. That change will be uncomfortable. It will not be easy, and it will require a multipronged approach.

Parker, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, and Managing Director Adam Thiel are expected to release a more detailed plan for Kensington sometime next month. Lozada said the citys approach to the neighborhood should include plans for housing, addiction treatment, opportunities for recovery, and harm reduction services, including syringe exchange.

Were going to need it all, she said. But we have to do it differently, because how we have been doing it has not worked.

Councilmember Jim Harrity, a Democrat who lives in Kensington, reiterated that, saying were not getting rid of harm reduction.

We know that harm reduction is an important part of what were trying to do, he said. It just has to be done right.

Kensingtons problems are vast: The zip code that encompasses Kensington sees more overdose deaths than any other in the city. Gun violence fueled by the drug trade skyrocketed during the pandemic. Most residents live in deep poverty. And the homeless population has become more visible, while the rise of xylazine, or tranq, in the drug supply has left many users with necrotic flesh wounds.

Roz Pichardo, a Kensington resident and activist, said harm reduction could, at the minimum, help reduce the death toll of the ongoing crisis.

On City Halls north apron, Pichardo read aloud from a a book where she chronicles every overdose she has reversed with naloxone  2,232 overdoses since 2018, she said. Even with the opioid-reversing antidote known as Narcan, not everyone makes it.

A man in his mid-30s required two doses: He lived, Pichardo said. Another, four doses. He didnt, she said. These are the sad stories that we hear countless times.

Councilmember Nicolas ORourke, a member of the progressive Working Families Party who represents the city at-large, attended the protest Thursday and said afterward that he wanted to show he is in favor of harm reduction approaches backed by research.

It is really, really, really important that we legislators approach addressing these issues with the science we have available, he said.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel reacts to a question from a member of the media near where eight juveniles were shot at Cottman and Rising Sun Avenues shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday. Read more

Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter

Hi, Philly.

This week saw four straight days of shooting incidents on or near SEPTA buses. In the latest, a shooting in Burholme on Wednesday afternoon, all eight victims are students at Northeast High School.

The latest incident prompted quick responses from city officials, including Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, who vowed to dedicate more city resources to fighting gun violence.

In the lower Northeast, two new, city-run health centers could provide much-needed care. But community meetings to discuss one of the proposed sites in what is considered a health-care desert have been heated.

Advertisement

Keep reading for more details on those stories and others on this cloudy Thursday.

 Julie Zeglen (@juliezeglen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

Eight Northeast High School students ages 15 to 17 were struck by bullets in a shooting in Burholme on Wednesday afternoon.

The incident came after a 27-year old man in Oxford Circle, a 17-year-old student in Ogontz and a 37-year-old man in South Philadelphia were shot and killed over the three previous days, all while riding, entering or leaving a SEPTA bus.

Officials on Wednesday were swift to emphasize a need for gun violence solutions and justice for the victims, as reported by my Inquirer colleagues:

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker promised to use every legal and constitutional tool to fight gun violence in the city during an evening news conference at Wednesdays shooting site, Rising Sun and Cottman Avenues. Enough is enough, she said. District Attorney Larry Krasner vowed to aggressively prosecute all the individuals responsible: We are all here united. Transit Police Chief Charles Lawson announced plans to regularly search detained suspects for weapons and strictly enforce lesser criminal violations such as fare evasion, drug use, and wearing masks. Were going to enforce crime aggressively and were not going to apologize, he said during a new conference Wednesday morning, before the latest shooting that involved two buses hit by bullets. City Councilmember Anthony Phillips, whose district borders the site of the Burholme shooting, called for strategies to fight gun violences root causes. It is crucial to provide the necessary resources and support systems to prevent further tragedies and uplift the affected individuals and families, he said. Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan called this weeks student shootings senseless and its impact on young people and the city at large immeasurable.

At least five teens have been fatally shot on or near SEPTA property in the past year.

Heres The Inquirers full account of the latest outbreak of gun violence.

In lower Northeast Philadelphia, with a growing concentration of immigrants and lower-income people, the need for accessible health care is urgent.

City-run health centers provide care at little to no cost for residents in need. Only one is based in the vast Northeast: Health Center 10 on Cottman Avenue. Patients sometimes wait as long as six months for a regular physician appointment because there is so much demand, according to a Chinese interpreter at the health hub.

Theres a plan to shrink that disparity: The Department of Public Health intends to build two new health centers in the area, one at the current Friends Hospital site on Roosevelt Boulevard and the other near Frankford Transportation Center.

But some community members, especially historic preservationists, are concerned about the plans for the Friends Hospital site. A Native American encampment might be located behind the hospital, they say, and a historic building would need to be knocked down to make way for new construction.

Reporter Massarah Mikati spoke to residents and officials about the debate.

What you should know today

 Trivia time

What is the best-selling spirit in Pa., according to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board?

A) Titos Handmade Vodka

B) New Amsterdam Pink Whitney Pink Lemonade Vodka

C) 99 Peaches Schnapps

D) Fireball Cinnamon Whisky

Think you know? Check your answer.

What were...

 Still not over: Jason Kelces retirement speech, now with helpful annotations.

 Petting: Jefferson Universitys woolly new mascot, reimagined with help from mascot whisperer Dave Raymond.

 Riding: Amtrak, thanks to added service to New York City, Washington, and Boston.

 Unscramble the anagram

Hint: Fans of this binge-worthy show have been asked to pitch in for the restoration of a landmark in the Lackawanna County town where the show takes place.

COFFEE HIT

Email us if you know the answer. Well select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Tom Bailey, who correctly guessed Wednesdays answer: McGillins Olde Ale House which was named one of the best Irish bars in the country by the Travel Channel.

Photo of the day

Wishing you a happy Thursday. See you tomorrow.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirers Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
Migrants who crossed the Rio Grande and entered the U.S. from Mexico are lined up for processing by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Sept. 23, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. Read more

Amid all the glowing reviews and deserved plaudits for journalist Jonathan Blitzers new book, Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here, maybe the ultimate recommendation for the fierce urgency of this tome is contained in a one-star rant on Amazon from an angry guy who states: I bought this book because I expected a lucid history of what brought us to this point not just an emotive, tear jerker of the plight of the people trying to burst through the border.

We are living in a time when American voters  even, or perhaps especially, those who live a thousand miles or more from the U.S. border with Mexico  rank immigration as the number one issue in the 2024 election, largely because of around-the-clock images meant to tap into primal fears about soulless hordes trying to burst through the border. The very notion that these are flesh-and-blood people who have a plight just ruins everything for the Fox News crowd.

The 45-year odyssey of Salvadoran heart surgeon Juan Romagoza, who in 1980 endured byzantine (and very hard to read about) torture, and was finally slammed under the closed lid of a coffin for two days by death squads backed by, and often trained, in the United States, is definitely one plight that makes it harder for a Tucker Carlson to slam todays Romagozas as invaders.

Does Donald Trump really want voters thinking about the plight of Keldy Mabel Gonzales Brebe de Zuniga, who watched the senseless murders of her brothers and other close relatives in gang-riven Honduras, and then endured a heart-wrenching separation from her three children by Trumps Border Patrol officers? Especially as Trump promises his first term was just a trial run for a meaner, crueler second iteration, with dead-of-night deportation knocks in American cities and mass camps near the border to hold the throngs awaiting their fate?

Thats why it would be great, if unrealistic, to hope that every voter determined to cast their November ballot on the immigration issue could carve out the 20 or so hours to read this book from Blitzer, the immigration writer for the New Yorker. Hes hardly the first writer to attempt to humanize the millions of migrants who crossed, or attempted to cross, the southern border over a fraught half-century  indeed, you could probably fill a midsized Ikea bookshelf with such stories, often laced with pathos, about the migrations of desperate mothers and their wide-eyed children.

Instead, the masterstroke accomplishment of Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here is the way that Blitzer weaves the gripping stories of refugees with the 45-year history of policymaking in Washington, where elected officials and key bureaucrats  some craven and nakedly political, others well-meaning  repeatedly fought the wrong wars and worried about the wrong things to spin the tangled web of policies that caused a humanitarian nightmare for Romagoza, Keldy, and millions more like them.

Advertisement

Politics is a selective form of amnesia, Blitzer writes in the books introduction. In writing Everyone, the author hopes that recovered memories of failed policy decisions on Capitol Hill and at the White House  to create in 1980 a right of political asylum that didnt anticipate who tomorrows refugees would be, or to prop up murderous right-wing dictators in the name of the Cold War or corporate imperialism, with zero regard to the consequences for migration  will lead to better and more humane actions in the 2020s. Its pretty to think so, but smart policy is hard to do in an atmosphere of a crisis that is very real, but also ratings catnip for Rupert Murdochs media empire.

Certainly, young voters wont remember the politics of the early 1980s, when the downsized and demoralized remnants of the American left rallied somewhat to oppose Ronald Reagans efforts to overthrow the Sandinista government in Nicaragua, heavily backing right-wing military governments in neighboring El Salvador and Honduras, and overlooking their death squads even after the murder of American nuns and a populist Catholic archbishop.

Blitzers cure for that strain of amnesia is to drill deep into the personal narrative of Romagoza, who in 1980 was an idealistic young doctor whose sin, in the eyes of El Salvadors reactionary national guard, was treating a wounded revolutionary who arrived at his hospital. As retribution, Romagozas captors tortured him for more than three weeks with electric shocks and cigarette burns, hung him by his fingers, and finally shot him in the left hand, ending his career as a surgeon.

Only freed from his literal coffin at the last possible moment by influential family members, Romagozas new life was spent on the run, first in Mexico, before he was finally convinced to join the rapidly growing migration into the United States in 1983. By then, border authorities  working under the asylum law hastily drafted to help Cuban people arriving by boat  were already flummoxed by this new desperate wave from Central Americas Northern Triangle, fleeing the governments led by U.S.-funded generals trained at American military bases.

And yet, Washington continued its remarkable streak of making things worse. Many Salvadoran refugees found their way to Los Angeles, where it was all but inevitable that migrant teens would find themselves ensnared in that citys out-of-control gang culture in the 1980s and 90s. As Salvadoran gangs like the now notorious MS-13 sprouted in the San Fernando Valley, a U.S. government then headed by Bill Clinton (who came off very badly) amped up deportations, which planted the MS-13 seed on Salvadoran soil  sparking new violence that made more decent people desperate to flee to America. The rinse-repeat cycle of mass migration was underway.

As Blitzer gets deeper into his narrative, policy debates bubble to the top. The anguished and unsuccessful efforts of immigration advocate turned Barack Obama aide Cecilia Munoz to do the right thing against the bitter political headwinds of the 2010s morphs inevitably into the almost cartoonish cruelty of Trump consigliere Stephen Miller. The latter chapters of Everyone pingpong between Millers nativist White House diatribes and the wrenching tale of Keldy (Blitzer wisely refers to this plucky, spiritual fighter by her first name) who suffers the real-world cruelty of Trump-era child separation. She finally types an anguished plea to a government immigration official, circling with her pen: What is it you all need for somebody to get asylum. Do I have to come here injured or dead?

Actually, it took the election of President Joe Biden and his early, idealistic efforts to reverse Trumps family separations to bring Keldy both asylum and a joyfully tearful reunion with her children in Philadelphia, of all places. But Everyone cant really claim a happy ending, not as Bidens 2020 campaign rhetoric is overwhelmed by the endless waves of huddled masses fleeing murder, rape, deprivation, and increasingly, climate disasters like droughts or hurricanes.

In the end, my only complaint about the Blitzer book is this: It may be too late. The crisis at the border so vividly described by the author is a humanitarian one, and not the Invasion As Seen On TV. But after more than four decades of blindness and blunders, the debate has been poisoned by xenophobia, perhaps fatally. Voters in November will apparently have a choice between Trump, and his dystopian dreams of razor-wire detention camps, and Trump Lite. Biden has rejected the lofty campaign ideals that inspired many of his 2020 voters by continuing some Trump-era policies and promising new restrictions on asylum, a form of blinders to the mess we created in our backyard.

 READ MORE: Eagle Pass is todays Fort Sumter. Biden must federalize the Texas National Guard. | Will Bunch

Indeed, it may have been too late to undo our mistakes by 2014, when that years migration surge, led by unaccompanied children, caused Blitzer to write, Decades of Central American history were crashing down at the U.S. border. The Biden administrations right-headed efforts to fund and promote better living conditions in the Northern Triangle are weighed down by lingering authoritarianism  like El Salvadors current strongman who is curbing gang violence but jailing thousands of innocents  and climate disasters brewed here in the United States.

For now, America has the capacity to offer freedom to thousands more like Keldy  but not the courage.

Instead, cowardice rules as long as our political conversation is driven by online rants against the supposed hordes of invaders, posted by people who are fighting to deny our neighbors like Romagoza and Keldy the humanity that they crossed arid deserts and endured body blows to preserve. No wonder they dont want you to read this book.

 READ MORE: SIGN UP: The Will Bunch Newsletter
Harper Leary poses with her parents at home on Sept. 28, 2021. She's voting for president for the first time this year and writes that she and many of her peers feel like there is no "right" choice. Read more

This is the first presidential election in which Im old enough to vote. When I think about it and talk to my friends, one feeling rises above all others: hopelessness.

To me and many of my peers, when considering Donald Trump and Joe Biden, there is no right choice. So instead, I feel forced to decide which candidate will cause the least amount of damage, which is not how I want to place my first presidential vote.

Even if I felt ready to pick a candidate based on that metric, how would I even do it? Even if a particular candidate would cause less damage to me or my family, they may inflict more on people around the world, such as in Gaza. Who am I to decide that?

I was 15 years old during the election of 2020, and the adults around me made it feel like a life-or-death situation, and rightfully so. As an already politically active teenager, the stakes felt deeply personal.

Advertisement

The appointments of Brett Kavanaugh in 2019 and Amy Coney Barrett in 2020 to the U.S. Supreme Court unnerved my household, which is led by my parents, who are gay. Having only been legally married since 2013, the thought of losing that right and returning to the past  both legally and personally  was terrifying. We canvassed, made phone calls, and protested during Trumps four years in the White House, and yet, we were still petrified by the notion that he had another chance to win. When Biden was elected, there was a sense of relief in my household and among our extended family, communities, and neighborhood.

However, that relief has not lasted. I am just as on edge in this election as I was in the last but for different reasons.

Less than a month after I turned 18 and became old enough to vote, Israel was attacked by Hamas. I am Jewish; my family arrived in the United States in the early 1900s, fleeing from pogroms and poverty in Eastern Europe. I fast for Yom Kippur, light the candles for Hanukkah, and listen to the stories of our scrappy ancestors at Passover. After the Hamas attack, I read articles about the history behind the land and the post-World War ll influx of Jewish Europeans to the area. I had absolutely no idea how complex and messy Israels history has been, and how long Palestinians have been trying to have their story heard.

My recent education on the topic has wholly changed this election for me. I genuinely believe this moment is my generations defining moral crisis, equivalent to the civil rights movement or the fight against apartheid in South Africa.

I am just as on edge in this election as I was in the last.

In Bidens decision to continue to support Israel, he has crossed a line I am struggling to look past. The slogan Vote blue no matter who doesnt move me anymore.

 READ MORE: Schools almost over, and I cant go to the mall, boardwalk, or other spaces. Why? Because Im 17. | Opinion

But voting for Trump is not an alternative for me. As always, he is unclear about what he actually will do in office, and doesnt seem to want to stop the massacre in Gaza. He is dangerous either way and not just in terms of his international policies.

Consider Project 2025, a dangerous plan for America suggested by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. The plan would create an all-powerful executive branch, weaken federal agencies, and firmly establish people and policies that embrace a right-wing agenda. This genuinely scares me.

Unsurprisingly, every single objective of Project 2025 is the opposite of my political and social ideology. I dont think enough people are talking about this, including many of Trumps supporters, especially those who dont identify as extremely conservative.

While I believe Biden has mishandled the war on Gaza, I know Trump is dangerous to the children of the U.S., including noncitizens, the LGBTQ community, children of color, and so many more.

And suddenly, Im stuck again.

I have seen dozens of videos on social media platforms of strangers on busy streets being asked, Trump or Biden? and the question is met with sighs or the answer, Neither. Neither are options many want and yet, once again, what can we do other than pick the lesser of two evils?

The left promises to protect marriage equality and abortion access, and I believe my parents marriage is worth voting for. But if I vote for Biden, what am I saying to the tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians whose lives have violently and unjustly ended, with the verbal and economic support of the United States government? It feels incredibly out of touch to choose Biden over Trump to protect the personal freedoms of my family and millions of others while children are starving.

I am an undecided voter, meaning my options are between voting for Biden and not voting for president (which I know could be a de facto vote for Trump). Most of my friends feel the same way.

This is not what I thought becoming old enough to vote would feel like. In the meantime, Ill keep talking, keep reading, and keep trying to figure out which option feels the best for me  or, at least, the least bad. And try not to feel too hopeless.

Harper Leary is a senior at a public school in Philadelphia.
Abuja, Mar 7 (UNI) Security operatives were deployed Tuesday to a community in Nigeria's state of Benue after a deadly clash between rival militia groups claimed over 40 lives, local media reported Wednesday.



The clash, which broke out Tuesday, snowballed till Wednesday in the Gbagir community of the Ukum local government area of Benue, the official News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported Wednesday afternoon, citing "a highly reliable military source."



Residents were reportedly caught in the bloody clash, as the conflict got hotter between the unnamed militia groups in the area. The majority of the victims were members of rival militia groups, the media reported.



Local sources said the clash began as a reprisal attack by one of the militia groups who was avenging the torturing of some residents from a neighboring community, allegedly by another group.

The fighting groups brandished dangerous weapons, causing pandemonium in the Gbagir community, according to NAN.



The police in Benue confirmed the incident Wednesday afternoon, saying, however, that only eight corpses have so far been recovered from the scene by security operatives.



Catherine Anene, the spokesperson for the state police, told reporters in the capital of Makurdi, that more security operatives had been deployed Wednesday to restore peace and normalcy to the area.

An investigation has been launched into the incident, the police spokesperson added.



UNI/XINHUA ARN
Images of guns as tweeted by the Philadelphia Police Department. A new program to give first-time gun offenders a second chance is a great idea, writes Jenice Armstrong. Read more

I love a graduation ceremony, and the one I attended last month was no exception.

But this one was a little different. For starters, it took place inside a courtroom at the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice in Center City. Also, there was no playing of the quintessential graduation song, Pomp and Circumstance, no wearing of caps and gowns. The graduates were dressed in hoodies, jeans, work boots, and other casual attire. There were few family members present, although one graduate carried a small daughter on his hip.

Each had successfully met the requirements for a new diversionary program called the Alternative Felony Disposition program. Created in 2021 by the Philadelphia District Attorneys Office, with input from the Center for Carceral Communities at the University of Pennsylvanias School of Social Work, the program allows people with no prior criminal record who have been arrested on illegal gun charges to avoid jail time. The current crop of graduates, who began the program in July, had been assigned social workers they met with regularly. They also had been expected to attend group sessions with other defendants.

Enrollees also were required to attend school or be gainfully employed full time. Counselors worked with them one-on-one, helping them secure better jobs, better housing, or other necessary tools such as their drivers permits. They also met regularly with the judge on their case via Zoom.

Advertisement

On commencement day, I got misty-eyed thinking about the second chance they had been given. Participants werent hard-core criminals; they made a mistake that could have dogged them for the rest of their lives. Yet, here they were, getting an opportunity to start fresh.

I watched as one by one, they rose and took a seat at a table typically reserved for defendants. They listened quietly as Dana Bazelon, who runs the program, talked about what they had accomplished before asking for the judge to agree to clear their record. Then, she handed over what theyd all been waiting for: a piece of paper with a gold seal showing that their gun charges had been dropped and expunged from their record. Some said a few words of thanks. One young man called out, Yall are not going to see me again, as onlookers chuckled.

Steven Goda, 29, a SEPTA supervisor, told me the program had been a blessing.

A few months earlier, hed lost a cousin to street violence and had started carrying a weapon to protect himself. An undercover cop pulled Goda over while driving and saw he had no license. (In Philly, you need a license to carry a gun outside your home.) Goda was happy to be granted this opportunity to clear his name; one of the things he did as part of the program was apply for a passport so he could travel to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. It gave me a second chance, Goda said of the program.

 READ MORE: Will cracking down on illegal guns reduce crime? | Pro/Con

The program is meant for those who dont appear to pose a threat, Bazelon told me. Its [for] people who have been caught with an illegal gun ... but theres nothing in the facts of the arrest that suggest that they were going to use the gun, she explained. If you brandished the gun or somebody called the police on you for a domestic incident, we dont take you. If we know youve ever had an illegal gun before, we dont take you.

Results appear good so far.

Results appear good so far.

The first cohort gathered in 2021. Since then, 186 have graduated  more than half with full-time employment. According to the DAs office, only 5% of participants wind up arrested again, vs. 21% of people arrested for gun possession who dont participate in the program.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is wrongly blamed for the proliferation of guns on city streets, with critics claiming offenders arent being prosecuted vigorously enough. An Inquirer analysis in March 2021 found that the pace of gun arrests would lead to 3,000 by the end of that year, three times what they were in 2017. And yet, the chances that someone arrested for illegal gun possession will be convicted in court have fallen by nearly a quarter. Im sure Krasners critics would not have gotten misty-eyed watching the recent ceremony as I did. Lock-them-up types usually want even first-time offenders taught a harsh lesson.

Not all that long ago, I might have agreed. But I know better now.

Phillys gun problem long predates Krasners tenure, and the spike in crime we experienced during COVID-19 also happened in other cities around the country. Krasner cant be blamed for that.

I also better understand that crime is a complex problem  one that Philly cant expect to arrest its way out of. I agree with officials who say the citys focus should be on the long-standing structural and systemic issues that drive people to arm themselves illegally, such as underfunded schools, government neglect of impoverished and broken neighborhoods, and a bloated justice system that targets poor and Black and brown city residents.

This program is a step toward redirecting people instead of merely locking them up.

Judging from all the smiles that day, many participants are indeed better off. As I turned to leave, I spotted Goda sitting on a bench outside a courtroom and waved. Have fun in Punta Cana, I called out. He beamed and said, I will.
Police commissioner Kevin Bethel reacts to a question from a reporter near the scene where eight juveniles were shot at the corner of Cottman Avenue and Rising Sun Avenue. Over 30 shell casings were found at the scene. Read more
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden during their visit at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell in January. Read more

President Joe Bidens speech will be in Washington but there will be signs of Philadelphia all around.

When Biden delivers his State of the Union address Thursday night, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker will be in attendance. And Philadelphia City Councilmember Nicholas ORourke will give a progressive rebuttal for the Working Families Party.

And hours after leaving the podium, Biden will travel Friday to the Philadelphia suburbs, a key region for his reelection prospects.

Parker is attending the annual address as the guest of U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Pa.).

Advertisement

She has quickly developed a national profile since becoming the citys 100th mayor and its first female leader. Parker is poised to be a key surrogate for Biden and other Pennsylvania Democrats in this election. The mayor joined Biden at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day service event during her first weeks in office and touted funding for broadband alongside Biden officials at an event last week.

When Bidens address concludes, ORourkes response is expected to praise Biden on some economic policy, but is likely to criticize the president over his support for Israel in its ongoing war in Gaza. The conflict in the Middle East has become a vulnerability for Biden in his reelection bid, as many in the presidents party have threatened to sit out the election if the war continues on its current trajectory.

The parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who live in Fishtown, will also attend. Gershkovich has been detained in Russia since last March. His parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, will be the guests of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.).

Biden will hold a campaign rally Friday at Strath Haven Middle School in Delaware County. The stop marks the presidents fourth trip to the state just this year.

A high-stakes address

Thursdays speech will be one of the biggest of Bidens presidency and Democrats in Pennsylvania are bracing for how he uses the stage to kick off another chapter in his reelection campaign.

While hell be addressing a joint session of Congress, the real audience will be voters in swing states like Pennsylvania who are tuning into a race that is now coming into focus with former President Donald Trump as the presumptive Republican nominee following Super Tuesday.

With Trump locking down the nomination and Biden making his State of the Union, the campaign begins, Philadelphia-based public affairs consultant Larry Ceisler said.

I think what Biden needs to do is No. 1 he has to make it very clear, he is going to be the Democratic nominee for president and the convention fantasies and the replacement theories are just hogwash. Its not something he says but its about demeanor.

Biden, who is 81 and faces ongoing concerns about his age, will be under a spotlight for how he handles the hourlong address. He has to give a very strong and clear performance, get your lines right, have a strong voice, and if youre gonna go off script, go off script with something good, Ceisler said.

Trump, who is known to counter-program, posted on Truth Social that his campaign would do a live play by play of Crooked Joe Bidens State of the Union. Sen. Katie Britt (R., Ala.) will deliver the Republican Partys official rebuttal.

Biden was praised last year for how he dealt with outbursts from Republicans during his State of the Union address and with a similarly divided body, he could face unexpected interjections again. Hes expected to draw a contrast with what hes delivered for Americans with freedoms Republicans aim to take away.

Both candidates are old, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a recent interview about a Biden-Trump matchup in Pennsylvania. Only one of them is an agent of chaos and extremist who really wants to do harm to this commonwealth and this country and thats Donald Trump.

Biden is expected to lay out how his policies have helped people, from job growth, to pandemic recovery and lowering the cost of prescription drugs.

I want to hear him flex his muscles on what his administration has done, said Kimberly S. Adams, a Pennsylvania-based political consultant and board member of the National Organization for Women.

She specifically noted the five-year infrastructure package Biden signed into law in 2021. Anywhere you go in Pennsylvania right now you see scaffolding, construction, its impacting peoples lives so I want him to talk about all these victories, Adams said.

With immigration becoming a larger issue, hes also expected to tackle the border in front of an audience that includes Republicans who tanked a recent border security and immigration reform deal.

This is an opportunity to cut through the noise, lay out his record and lay blame for the lack of progress where that blame belongs, State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D., Philadelphia) said.

Its also an opportunity to reach Republicans who may not be enamored with Trump but find themselves without an alternative after former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley suspended her campaign on Wednesday.

We need someone to make the case for them. Joe Biden has to do that, Adams said. He has to say, this is our democracy and we need to maintain it, together.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker speaks to the Chamber of Commerce at its annual luncheon last month. She is scheduled to unveil her first budget proposal next week, representing a major opportunity for her to advance her agenda. Read more

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker is scheduled to unveil her administrations first budget proposal next week, a major opportunity for the citys new chief executive to advance her agenda  and shes dropped a few hints about what might be in it.

While Parkers administration has yet to release details on her first spending plan, it is expected to focus on improving public safety and initiatives to make the city more clean and green, and is likely to include multiple streams of funding that go toward achieving those goals.

Parker has also hinted that she may request an increase in funding to the Police Department, which this year was allocated more than $800 million, the most of any city agency. Parker campaigned on bolstering hiring within the force, and she said this week that some technological upgrades are required for the department to improve its investigative capacity.

A mayors first budget proposal can set the tone for their administration. For example, former Mayor Jim Kenneys first budget plan included his signature tax on sweetened beverages, which funded free pre-K for thousands of children and upgrades to city parks and recreation centers. Those initiatives remain core to his legacy.

Advertisement

After Parker, a Democrat, unveils her budget proposal on March 14, her administration will negotiate for months with City Council, which must approve a spending plan by the end of the current fiscal year in June.

Heres what Parker said this week about what shell ask for:

Violence prevention programs  with stronger accountability

Parker on Tuesday met with a group of gun-violence prevention advocates and residents who had lost loved ones to shootings during a roundtable convened by City Council President Kenyatta Johnson. After listening to the advocates share prevention strategies for more than 90 minutes, Parker told them that her administration would use its budget proposal to affirm to you what we think about addressing this issue.

She said her budget would support credible messengers and organizations that have a track record of connecting with the populations that need it most, and that her administration would seek to create a standard operating procedure for how the city responds to families that are affected by a homicide.

 READ MORE: A key Philly gun violence prevention program is struggling to meet basic goals, new report says

Over the last several years, the city has poured millions of dollars into a new program that provides grant dollars to grassroots groups focused on gun-violence prevention. But The Inquirer has reported that results have been mixed, and that some of the nonprofits were unable to deliver or improperly managed the funds.

Parker emphasized that programs her administration funds will have accountability and that its essential the money goes to people who are actually doing the work.

There are some people who think that this is a vehicle to get rich, she said. They will not do that on the Parker dime.

A citywide expansion of a popular cleaning program

Parker also said Tuesday that her administration intends to expand a program called Philadelphia Taking Care of Business, which she spearheaded when she was a member of City Council. The initiative funds community-based nonprofits to sweep sidewalks and remove litter along commercial corridors.

 READ MORE: Cherelle Parker says she has a plan to address Phillys litter problem. Heres how shed focus on business corridors.

The mayor said her administration will seek to scale the program to operate citywide and to include residential streets. The idea is to both clean the city and provide job opportunities  the program, she said, could serve as a pipeline to city jobs.

During a speech last week to the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, Parker said that Seattle-based Amazon had agreed to donate $100,000 to the programs expansion, and she implored other businesses to do the same.

More funding for the Police Department?

Increasing the police budget was politically unpalatable to City Council as recently as 2020 amid the nationwide racial justice movement following the police murder of George Floyd.

But the mood in the city and the country has changed following a spike in gun violence, and city officials last year approved a $55 million boost to the departments budget with little political blowback.

On Tuesday, Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel, who also sat in on the roundtable with gun-violence advocates, said his department would request funding for technological upgrades, specifically for homicide detectives.

And Parker suggested that her administration may seek an increase in funding to the department. During a conversation about resources the force needs to close more cases, Parker told the advocates: When we go through the budget process and other people are shouting about investments, why we need to do this and why we need to do that, please dont be silent.

Asked to clarify afterward, Parker recalled activists who advocated in 2020 to reduce funding to the police department. She said shes listening to mothers who have lost children to violence and those crimes have never been solved.

They talk about the volume of cases, and [the] supports and services needed to keep a cold case alive, Parker said. Detectives need cell phones, detectives need access to computers and other technology to be efficient and effective to solve more crimes. Thats something we need to take into consideration.
Solution Underwriting is a thriving and innovative agency committed to fostering a positive and diverse culture, service-driven attitude, and genuine relationships within the insurance industry. Solution prides itself on its flexibility and pace, tailored quality coverage and first-class local and London security. It provides a range of financial lines, general liability and accident and health products to brokers nationally, and with offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth and over 50 employees, Solution has positioned itself as a leader in the SME space.
Harnessing the opportunities within an insurance career

For Dunn, who joined the industry looking for variety, insurance has provided that in spades. Throughout her career, she has been able to try out a lot of different business areas, she said, including a stint in marketing which she quickly discovered was not the right fit for her. Instead, she found her passion in underwriting, where she quickly recognised that the skills needed to be a great underwriter are similar to those required for engineering  questioning, analytics and trying to work out how to solve peoples problems.
[It also aligns] with our core objective of providing essential capacity to the Takaful industry on both regional and international fronts. Our persistent efforts to expand our product range are underscored by this achievement, as the Retakaful window opens up new avenues for business growth within our operational markets, Tabaja said.
Srinagar, Mar 7 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Srinagar on a days visit amid unprecedented security arrangements here on Thursday.

The Prime Minister was received at the Srinagar International Airport by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, DGP R R Swain, and other senior leaders of the BJP.

Prime Minister is scheduled to address a public rally at Srinagar's Bakshi Stadium, during which he is likely to announce major developmental projects for Jammu and Kashmir.

Thousands of people, including BJP workers and employees, have gathered at the venue to listen to the Prime Minister. Former Jammu and Kashmir Minister Muzaffar Baig was also seen among the crowd.

Unprecedented security arrangements have been put in place in Srinagar to ensure a peaceful event.

J&K Traffic Police have imposed restrictions on certain routes during Prime Ministers visit to Srinagar.

The venue of the public rally has been secured and taken over by the Special Protection Group (SPG).

Srinagar city has been declared as "Temporary Red Zone" for the operation of drones and quadcopters, as per provisions of Rule 24(2) of Drone Rules, 2021 with immediate effect," Jammu and Kashmir Police posted on X.

This is the first visit of Prime Minister Modi to Kashmir after J&Ks special status was scrapped in August 2019.

Prime Minister will also participate in the Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir program at Bakshi Stadium, Srinagar, during which he will dedicate to the nation about Rs 5000 crore worth of programs, the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme'for boosting the agri-economy in J&K.

He will also dedicate himself to the nation and launch multiple projects related to the tourism sector worth more than Rs 1400 crore under the Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive) scheme, including the project for Integrated Development of Hazratbal Shrine, Srinagar.

The Prime Minister will also launch the Dekho Apna Desh Peoples Choice Tourist Destination Poll and Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign.

He will also announce tourist destinations selected under the Challenge-Based Destination Development (CBDD) Scheme. Besides, the Prime Minister will distribute appointment orders to about 1000 new government recruits in Jammu and Kashmir and will also interact with beneficiaries of various government schemes, including women achievers, lakhpati didis, farmers, entrepreneurs, etc.

In a step that will provide a major boost to the agri-economy of Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister will dedicate the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) to the nation. The program will lead to employment generation, benefiting lakhs of marginal families in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Prime Minister will also launch about 43 projects that will develop a wide range of pilgrimage and tourist sites across the country.

During the program, the Prime Minister will announce 42 tourist destinations selected under the Challenge-Based Destination Development (CBDD) Scheme.

PM will launch the first-ever nationwide initiative to identify the pulse of the nation on tourism, in the form of Dekho Apna Desh Peoples Choice 2024.

PM will launch the Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign to inspire the Indian diaspora to become Incredible India ambassadors and promote tourism to India.

UNI QAB/MJR ARN
When making plans for travellers who identify as women, its important to think about the social rules and safety of the destination theyre visiting. This includes how they will get around safely and any political problems, she said. Factors such as cultural norms, gender-based discrimination, and safety concerns can significantly impact womens experiences while travelling.
Adjusted EBITDA loss, as defined by the company, is net loss attributable to Hippo excluding interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation, net investment income, restructuring charges, impairment expense, other non-cash fair market value adjustments, and contingent consideration for one of its acquisitions and other transactions that Hippo considers to be unique in nature. Hippo excludes these items from the metric because it does not consider them to be directly attributable to Hippos underlying operating performance.
An employee who was terminated because she would not comply with a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for religious reasons is entitled to unemployment insurance, the Massachusetts Supreme Court has ruled.

The states high court denied a bid by Fallon Community Health Plan to block unemployment benefits for a former home health aide who served a vulnerable population during the pandemic.

The states high court found that while Fallons vaccination policy and its inability to accommodate the employee were both reasonable, the discharged employee was open to an accommodation and did not act with deliberate misconduct in wilful disregard of the employers interest, which is required to find someone ineligible.

The employee worked as a home health aide in Fallons eldercare program. In October 2021, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) notified Fallon and other organizations providing integrated care plans that they must require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. In response, Fallon adopted a policy requiring all employees who work at its eldercare sites and provide direct care or have any physical contact or are in proximity with patients to provide proof of vaccination.

Fallons policy provided for medical and religious exemptions but conditioned the exemptions on the individuals job being such that the employer can offer a reasonable accommodation to avoid risk of contracting or transmitting COVID-19 on the job.

The employee who sought to be exempt from the vaccine mandate asked whether accommodations could be made to allow her to continue working for Fallon despite her unvaccinated status. She expressed her willingness to wear full personal protective equipment, to frequently test for COVID-19, and to comply with alternative accommodations proposed by Fallon.

However, Fallon determined that, absent the employee getting a vaccination, no reasonable accommodations could be made to adequately protect patients from contracting COVID- 19. The home health aides request for a religious exemption was denied and she was discharged.

Thereafter, the aide applied for unemployment benefits. The states employment assistance department initially determined she was ineligible. However, that decision was reversed by a departmental review examiner. Fallon subsequently sought a district court review of that decision and the judge affirmed the board of reviews decision. The district court judge determined that Jefferson did not comply with Fallons policy, but that she was still eligible for benefits because the policy was not reasonable on its face nor in the manner in which it was implemented, because Fallon refused to grant a religious exemption to any applicant.

On appeal, the states high court disagreed with the district courts reasoning that Fallons policy was not reasonable but ended up with the same conclusion that the employee was eligible for unemployment benefits.

The high court said the district court erred in finding Fallons vaccination policy unreasonable. The court noted that Fallon issued its policy in response to compulsory directives from the EOHHS and the policy included a procedure for medical or religious exemptions. Fallons inability to provide a reasonable accommodation in these circumstances did not mean that the policy was unreasonable as reasonable accommodations may not be available in every line of work, the high court stated.

Under Massachusetts law, an employee may be ineligible for unemployment benefits only if there is credible evidence of deliberate misconduct in wilful disregard of the employers interest, or to a knowing violation of a reasonable and uniformly enforced rule or policy of the employer, provided that such violation is not shown to be as a result of the employees incompetence.

Fallon contended that the employee was disqualified, arguing that she engaged in deliberate misconduct in willful disregard of Fallons interest in keeping its vulnerable patient population healthy.

But the high court disagreed with Fallons interpretation, finding that the employee did not engage in deliberate misconduct by failing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. That her request for a religious exemption was denied does not mean that she engaged in deliberate misconduct.

In fact, the court said the employee engaged in a good faith effort to comply with Fallons policy. She was willing to take several measures, including wearing personal protective equipment and undergoing frequent testing, in order to keep Fallons vulnerable patient population safe.

Topics Massachusetts
Leaders from 25 major insurance organizations recently gathered for presentations on charitable giving and volunteerism in the insurance industry and initiatives focused on philanthropy, inclusion and sustainability.

During the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundations 2024 Philanthropic Roundtable, which took place on February 22, IICF released the 2023 IICF Philanthropic Showcase, an annual retrospective of global charitable contributions, volunteer projects and innovative leadership initiatives of IICF Key Partner Companies.

Representatives from AIG, AXA XL, Burns & Wilcox and H.W. Kaufman Group, CNA, Ernst & Young LLP (EY US), Intact Insurance Specialty Solutions, Marsh, Munich Re US P&C Companies and Verisk presented at the event.

Each year, IICF is proud to bring together this extraordinary group of insurance industry leaders for the IICF Philanthropic Roundtable, and even more so in 2024 as we celebrate IICFs 30th anniversary and the industrys legacy of giving, said Bill Ross, CEO of IICF. The year ahead holds tremendous promise and today we saw so many creative and truly impactful ways the insurance industry is giving back to our communities. We hope everyone will join us in the IICF 30th Celebration, which is focused around our fight against childhood hunger, and consider a donation that will help children in need.

Showcase highlights from a press release are listed below.

Members of AIGs environmental liability management team partnered with Chicago-area brokers to help support local foster children through Foster Love. Volunteers assembled kits, including words of encouragement and support resources for STEM learning. AIG colleagues and their families contributed 500 hours of volunteerism and acts of kindness and donated in support of more than 60 charities on GivingTuesday.

AXA XL joined with Pollinator Partnership last year to launch the Backyard Biodiversity program. It aims to educate colleagues on how to protect and promote pollinators. More than 400 colleagues have engaged with an educational toolkit, and 1,100 colleagues have attended webinars to raise awareness of the critical importance of pollinators and supporting biodiversity.

In September, Burns & Wilcox and H.W. Kaufman Group employees volunteered a thousand hours at dozens of food banks across North America in support of the associate-driven Harvesting Hope Against Hunger initiative. Associates in Florida offices organized donation events to benefit Dress for Success, contributing 5,000 pieces of professional attire, and others filled and donated more than 2,200 backpacks with school supplies to local elementary students through the nonprofit Variety.

CNAs employee resource groups connect their members with their communities, demonstrating allyship through volunteerism and giving. Each ERG has a unique mission and delivers a variety of networking and professional development, recruiting and volunteerism opportunities for employees across the enterprise. Collectively, CNAs eight ERGs supported nearly 80 nonprofits in 2023.

EYs global corporate responsibility program, EY Ripples, aims to positively impact a billion lives by 2030. It focuses on working with impact entrepreneurs, supporting the next generation and environmental sustainability, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In its first five years, EY has developed a base of 22,000 impact entrepreneurs, expanded to 126 participating countries and positively impacted 127 million lives.

In 2021, Intact Insurance Specialty Solutions established a community engagement program, which now includes 11 offices across the United States. Through the program, local teams can pursue hyperlocal opportunities and provide more significant charitable giving by establishing ongoing partnerships with local nonprofits such as Neighborhood Boys & Girls Club in Chicago, IL, Orangewood Foundation in Anaheim, and United South End Settlements in Boston.

Marsh is making a lasting impact on education in marginalized communities across the US through volunteer efforts with A Better Chance. The nonprofit organization directly benefits over 2,000 students of color annually by providing career opportunities and increased access to the nations top independent and public schools through mentorship, resume and interview assistance and connections to employers committed to fostering diversity and equity.

Through a unique Munich Re US P&C Companies internal internship program, Dare 2 Dream, specifically created for high school students who reside in communities often underrepresented, these young students develop critical thinking, presentation, networking and personal branding skills. Commemorating the tragedy of September 11 th with acts of service, unity and peace, more than 300 employees and their families packed over 162,000 meals distributed by Feeding America-affiliated food banks.

with acts of service, unity and peace, more than 300 employees and their families packed over 162,000 meals distributed by Feeding America-affiliated food banks. Verisk builds global resilience for individuals, communities and businesses. This purpose also propels the companys efforts to contribute directly to the success of area communities through volunteerism and charitable giving. Programs like Verisks 10th Annual Volunteer Week are designed to drive impact by building resilience to help people bounce back, adapt and thrive in the face of uncertainty.

IICF key partner companies, who provide the highest levels of strategic and financial support to the foundation, also joined in the discussion in addition to those presenting, including Amwins, Aon, Chubb, CRC Group, Crum & Forster, Falvey Insurance Group, HUB International, Liberty Mutual, Lloyds, Markel, Mayer Brown, NEIL, Swiss Re, The Hartford, USAA and Zurich.

IICF Announcements
A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit by a conservative group opposed to diversity initiatives in medicine that challenged a Pfizer fellowship program designed to boost the pipeline of Black, Latino and Native American people in leadership positions at the drugmaker.

The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Virginia-based non-profit organization Do No Harm lacked standing to challenge the drugmakers program, saying it did not identify by name a single member injured by Pfizers alleged discrimination.

Pfizer in a statement welcomed the ruling, saying it was an equal opportunity employer and is proud of its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Do No Harm in a statement said it would seek further appellate review of the courts decision, which departs from established precedent and makes it unduly hard for organizations to vindicate civil rights.

The group said it counts doctors, medical students and others as members and aims to protect healthcare from radical, divisive and discriminatory ideologies.

Do No Harm sued Pfizer in 2022 over the companys Breakthrough Fellowship Program, which aimed to increase the pipeline of Black, Latino and Native American leaders, arguing it discriminated against white and Asian-American applicants.

Pfizer altered the programs criteria while the case was pending and now anyone can apply.

The lawsuit was filed a month before the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in cases in which its conservative majority would later in June 2023 declare unlawful race-conscious college admissions policies used by Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.

That decision, while focused on college admissions, has prompted a wave of lawsuits challenging diversity programs at companies, some of which have since altered their policies.

The lawsuit against Pfizer claimed its program violated laws including Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which bars racial bias in contracting, and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects employees and job applicants from racial discrimination.

In Wednesdays opinion, U.S. Circuit Judge Beth Robinson said Do No Harm claimed to have standing to challenge the program because two anonymous white or Asian-American members of the group claimed they could not apply to the fellowship.

But Robinson, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, said Do No Harm never disclosed the identities of either member to the court and that as a result a lower court judge rightly concluded it failed to establish standing.

Two other 2nd Circuit judges agreed to affirm the cases dismissal. One of them, U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Wesley, an appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush, only partially concurred, saying the two other judges went too far by imposing a rule requiring associations to name their members to prove standing.

That is an unfortunate ruling for organizations everywhere, Wesley wrote.

Topics Lawsuits
Xcel Energy on Thursday acknowledged its involvement in the Smokehouse Creek Fire, which started last week and quickly became the largest wildfire in state history, burning more than 1 million acres.

Based on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire, the company said in a statement Thursday.

Xcel said it has been cooperating with investigations into the wildfires and conducting its own review of the incident since it started. However, the company disputed claims in the same statement that the company acted negligently in maintaining and operating its infrastructure.

However, we encourage people who had property destroyed by or livestock lost in the Smokehouse Creek fire to submit a claim to Xcel Energy through our claims process, the statement says.

Last week, Xcel Energy revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that attorneys asked the company to preserve a fallen utility pole near where the fire may have started.

In the SEC filing, Xcel Energy said that investigations into origin, cause, and damage of the wildland fires burning in or near the service territory of SPS, including the Smokehouse Creek Fire, are underway. The company also said it is working with emergency responders to assist those impacted by the fires.

A lawsuit filed last week by homeowners accused the power company of neglecting to maintain power lines.

Homeowner Melanie McQuiddy filed the initial lawsuit against the company in Hemphill County on Friday, claiming that a splintered pole ignited the fire when it fell. On Saturday, Canadian businessman Salem Abraham told The Texas Tribune of his plans to file a suit this month against Xcel and Osmose Utility Services, a Georgia-based company that inspects Xcels equipment, over the pole for damages to his ranch and his brothers land.

Abrahams lawyer Kevin Isern, of the Amarillo law firm Lovell, Isern & Farabough, told the Tribune they are thankful Xcel is acknowledging what we already know is true.

The issue now becomes, did the fire start from a lack of their oversight, or lack of oversight of one of their subcontractors? Isern asked.

Isern said they are preparing to file four lawsuits Thursday, and possibly more next week. Isern said he would like to see lawmakers pass legislation to make companies more responsible for their equipment in a vulnerable area.

There needs to be more oversight of electric, oil and gas companies that provide this type of service, Isern said. We live in a tinderbox ready to go up at any time, and they know it.

Xcel also mentioned the Windy Deuce fire, the second large fire threatening the Panhandle last week. Xcel said they do not believe their facilities caused that fire and are not aware of any allegations.

Xcel Energys subsidiary Southwestern Public Service Company serves the area where the fire is burning, according to the SEC filing. The location is outside of the jurisdiction of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the power grid that provides electricity for most of the state.

According to Xcels statement, 47 homes in Hemphill County and up to 17 homes in Roberts County were destroyed by the fire.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/07/xcel-energy-texas-wildfires/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

Photo: In this photo provided by the Flower Mound, Texas, Fire Department, Flower Mound firefighters respond to a fire in the Texas Panhandle, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. A rapidly widening Texas wildfire doubled in size Tuesday and prompted evacuation orders in at least one small town. (Flower Mound Fire Department via AP)

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Texas Wildfire
In the next year or so, the Florida Supreme Court will decide on the exact meaning of a legal doctrine that, under one interpretation, has blocked millions of dollars per year in subrogation recovery for liability insurance companies.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late last month submitted a certified question to the state high court, asking it to clear up conflicts between differing court rulings on whats known as the economic loss rule, an often-controversial idea in tort litigation. As it stands now, manufacturers and corporations facing subrogation and negligence claims have, in many cases, been shielded by Florida case law that limits damage awards to no more than the economic value of the product at fault.

In some instances, that has amounted to zero dollars.

It lets the manufacturer completely off the hook, said Josh Goodman, of Miami, an insurance subrogation specialist with the Cozen OConnor law firm.

Goodman is the lead attorney for the plaintiffs in NBIS Construction and Transport Insurance Services vs. Liebherr-American Inc., the case that prompted the 11th Circuit to ask the state justices for clarity.

The case began in February 2018, when a massive construction crane built by Liebherr in Germany was delivered to Sims Crane & Equipment Co., based in Tampa. After Sims workers set the crane to hold a 276-foot boom, the boom suddenly collapsed, fatally injuring a worker for the erector company. The workers name was Christopher Wade, of Villa Rica, Georgia.

The crane was also heavily damaged in the collapse. NBIS, also known as NationsBuilders Insurance and owned by Align Financial Holdings Inc., paid Sims Crane $3.2 million to cover the cost of the crane, plus $180,000 for towing and salvage. NBIS was able to sell the damaged equipment for $1.65 million. That left about $1.74 million, for which NBIS sued the manufacturer in federal court.

Liebherr argued that it had no duty to protect the insurance company against purely economic harms, that its actions were not the cause of the booms collapse, and that Floridas economic loss rule prevented NBIS from recovering the money.

The rule has continued to evolve through the years, but seems to have begun with court rulings in the late 1980s and 1990s. It developed largely to protect manufacturers from liability for economic damages caused by a defective product, beyond those damages provided by a warranty. The rule arose in part to limit tort claims when contracts already governed a product or service, the court explained.

The Florida Supreme Court in 1993 defined economic losses as damages for inadequate value, costs of repair and replacement of the defective product, or consequent loss of profitswithout any claim of personal injury or damage to other property, the appellate judges noted. Liebherr lawyers argued that the rule prevents a claim against a product manufacturer when the product damages only itself.

After a bench trial, the federal district court judge in 2022 disagreed with Liebherrs argument, however, and awarded NBIS the $1.7 million, plus interest. Liebherr appealed.

And thats where things got complicated.

The crux of Goodmans and NBIS argument is that the claim against Liebherr was not about a faulty product or product liability, to which the economic loss rule has historically applied  at least in some cases. Liebherr knew that if pins on the crane boom were not placed in exactly the right position, or that if one of them were moved, it could result in death, injury and property damage, NBIS argued. A similar collapse had happened in 2017 in Japan.

Yet, the manufacturer did not provide enough training to Sims workers and did not provide a crucial safety bulletin and warning signs to Sims  documentation that would have explained the importance of proper pin placement  until one week after the collapse.

All other crane operator firms that had purchased Liebherr cranes had received the bulletin, NBIS contended.

That makes it a negligent service suit, not a product liability claim, Goodman explained.

As a direct and proximate result of defendants negligence, Sims and NBIS sustained damage, NBISs initial complaint said. Liebherr owed a duty to Sims to provide the bulletin and proper training.

The appeals court pointed out that a number of court rulings over the last few decades have raised questions about what circumstances the economic loss rule applies to. In one ruling, the Florida high court limited tort liability to those cases in which damage happened to more than just the product itself. But in other decisions, the courts have found that a product may be considered defective because of inadequate warnings, a line of thought that Liebherr embraced in the NBIS suit. Liebherr was essentially using its own alleged failure to warn about the crane boom as a defense in the negligence claim.

The economic loss rule has frustrated insurance subrogation recovery, in some cases, for decades. As long ago as 2002, a Cozen attorney wrote for the Florida Bar that few subjects generate more controversy and confusion than Floridas ever-evolving version of the rule.

The 11th Circuit said its time to settle the matter once and for all.

We find Florida law unclear as to the economic loss rules applicability here, Judge Barbara Lagoa wrote in the Feb. 29 opinion. On one hand, we see merit in Liebherr-Americas argument that NBISs theories of negligence are like the failure-to-warn theories found in products liability law. But on the other hand, NBIS is correct in arguing that the economic loss rule applies only to product defects, the judges said.

The 11th Circuit will take up the lawsuit again after the Florida Supreme Court answers the certified question.

Topics Florida
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  The pilot of a single-engine plane that crashed near downtown Nashville told air traffic controllers he could see the runway they were clearing for an emergency landing. But he said he couldnt reach it.

Im going to be landing  I dont know where! the pilot said before the plane crashed alongside Interstate 40, killing all five people aboard.

The pilot had another adult and three children on board, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Aaron McCarter said at a Tuesday news conference. He said the five were Canadian citizens and the agency is working with the Canadian government to determine their identities.

He said it is too early to know what caused the crash. Investigators do not yet know the pilots qualifications or how many flight hours he had, but his experience is one of the things they will be investigating.

The pilot radioed air traffic controllers at around 7:40 p.m. Monday reporting that his engine had shut down. He said he had overflown John C. Tune airport, just west of downtown, at 2,500 feet and had circled around in an attempt to land, according to a recording of their radio transmissions.

They cleared runway two at the airport, and urged him to glide the plane down. But the plane had already descended to 1,600 feet (488 meters) by then, he said.

Im too far away. Im not going to make it, he said.

That was the last they heard from the plane, which dropped off radar as it lost altitude.

The plane crashed as Matthew Wiser was driving on the interstate, and he posted a photo of the fiery wreckage on social media.

I saw an airplane essentially crash out of the sky, fall out of the sky, and hit the ground at around a 45 degree angle, Wiser said in a phone interview. When it hit the ground, there was a 30 to 40 foot explosion of fire. And all of the traffic on the interstate stopped and kind of processed what they saw.

Air traffic controllers then directed a helicopter crew to survey the approach to the airport in search of the plane, while keeping other aircraft out of the emergency area. Within minutes, a flood of emergency vehicles were speeding to the scene, Wiser said.

They discovered that the plane burst into flames in the grass, just off the highway and behind a Costco on the citys westside, about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) south of the general aviation airport.

There were no injuries to drivers on the interstate, Nashville Fire Department spokesperson Kendra Loney said. Authorities said no vehicles or buildings on the ground were damaged.

The plane referred to in the radio recordings was a Piper PA-32R, made in 1978 and based in Ontario, according to Canadas civil aircraft registry.

The flight originated in Ontario and made stops along the way that were likely to gas up, including in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Mount Sterling, Kentucky, McCarter said. Before the pilot radioed in the emergency, the plane had been on a normal flight track with no mechanical irregularities reported while it flew in from the Kentucky airport, McCarter added.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. McCarter said they packed up the wreckage for transport to a facility in Springfield, Tennessee, where the plane will be reassembled.

Investigators do not know why the pilot decided to circle the airport before the crash, he said. He mentioned that the planes approach was perpendicular to the interstate when it hit the ground.

The NTSB will have a preliminary report out in about 10 days. The full report will take about nine months.

Photo: Investigators at the crash site on Interstate 40 on Tuesday. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Tennessee
A man who was stunned with a Taser while handcuffed, including on his lip, has settled a federal lawsuit with a Colorado sheriffs department for $1.5 million, his lawyers said.

Kenneth Espinoza was arrested after he stopped to wait for his son when he was pulled over in Trinidad, Colorado, on Nov. 29, 2022. Espinoza, who had been following his son to a car appointment, was first told he had to move his truck. But after he started to leave, he was ordered to stay. Las Animas County Sheriffs Deputy Mikhail Noel pulled his gun, then took out his Taser, according to an independent investigation.

Noel, then Lt. Henry Trujillo used their Tasers on Espinoza. The Las Animas County Sheriffs Office confirmed in September they were both fired after an investigation by the Pueblo County Sheriffs Office found they had violated a number of agency policies, including inappropriately using a Taser against Espinoza and inaccurately reporting what happened.

Las Animas County Sheriff Derek Navarette did not immediately respond to a telephone call or email seeking comment Monday on the settlement.

Trujillo declined to comment. A telephone number could not be found for Noel.

The outside investigation found Espinoza did not attempt to strike Noel with his truck and at no time does Mr. Espinoza actively use any force against Lt. Trujillo or Dep. Noel, Las Animas County Undersheriff Reynaldo Santistevan wrote in an Aug. 10 letter to the sheriff. He recommended both deputies be fired after reviewing body camera footage and the investigative report.

Santistevan added that at no time did either try to de-escalate this matter, but only made it worse.

Santistevan acknowledged that he did not watch the body camera footage of the incident before reviewing and signing off on the officers accounts of what happened.

Espinozas lawsuit, filed in May, alleges that Noel used a Taser to stun him.

Body camera video then shows Espinoza being pulled from the truck, handcuffed and squeezed into the back of a patrol car.

As the deputies struggle to get Espinoza into the car, video shows, one warns that he is going to use the Taser on him, and uses an expletive.

One device can be seen contacting Espinozas body along with the wires that carry Taser electrodes, as crackling sounds are heard.

One of Espinozas attorneys, Kevin Mehr, said in a statement that the settlement is a victory for the people of Colorado and sends a clear message to thugs like this who think a badge is a license for brutality.

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Colorado
March 7, 2024 (Investorideas.com Newswire) A new study has identified the states that are most likely to invest in Bitcoin, with New York being crowned as the most likely to invest.

The research, conducted by cryptocurrency tax software CoinLedger, used search volume data from Google Keyword Planner to identify which states were searching the most for crypto-related terms, such as 'crypto advice' and 'crypto news'.

On average, in the US, residents interested in cryptocurrencies search for crypto-related terms 641 times a month per 100,000 residents.

The study revealed that New York was the most likely to invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It was revealed that, on average, New York residents search for crypto-related search terms 978 times a month per 100,000 residents - this was 52% more than the average American.

With Bitcoin recently passing its highest-ever price, capping at $69,010, the study revealed that residents in New York are the most likely to reap the benefits of this recent price increase.

Nevada was revealed as the second-most likely to invest in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. It was revealed that in Nevada, there are 894 crypto-related searches each month per 100,000 residents monthly.

The third most likely state to invest in cryptocurrency, according to research, is California. Crypto investors search on average for crypto-related terms such as 'crypto-news' 869 times per 100,000 residents monthly.

New Jersey is the fourth state with the most interest in crypto; the data has shown, on average, residents in New Jersey search for cryptocurrency terms, such as 'crypto news' and 'crypto advice', 839 times a month per 100,000 residents.

The fifth state most likely to invest in Bitcoin is Massachusetts. In Massachusetts, residents were found to search for crypto-related terms 821 times a month per 100,000 residents.

The top ten states most likely to invest in cryptocurrencies

However, not everyone in America is so keen to invest in or learn about cryptocurrencies, as the study shows that residents in Mississippi have the least interest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies nationwide. The data revealed that, on average, Mississippi residents only search for crypto-related terms 278 times per 100,000 residents a month; 56% less than the average American resident.

The study shows that residents living in Mississippi were the most likely to miss out on the recent spike in Bitcoins price.

West Virginia is the second least likely state to invest in cryptocurrencies, with residents, on average, searching for these terms 294 times per 100,000 residents a month. Surprisingly, this is 57% less than residents in Virginia, who were revealed to be the tenth most likely to invest in cryptocurrency.

The research shows that the third least likely state to invest in cryptocurrency is Kentucky; residents in Kentucky have shown little interest in crypto, only searching on average 359 times a month per 100,000 residents.

The study revealed that the fourth and fifth states that are least likely to invest in cryptocurrencies were Louisiana and Arkansas, respectively; in Louisiana, residents only search for crypto-related terms 363 times a month, while in Arkansas, they search 364 times a month.

The top ten states least likely to invest in cryptocurrencies

A spokesperson from CoinLedger commented on the findings, "As cryptocurrency interest has grown over the years, it's no surprise that more people want to invest more now than ever. With a Bitcoin halving expected to happen soon, many people will be considering starting to invest in crypto.

"It is crucial to conduct thorough research before making any financial decisions related to cryptocurrencies. As many currencies are highly volatile and vulnerable to fraudulent activities, it is essential to seek expert advice to manage them effectively and minimize the risk of losses.

"These findings solidify New York's place as a global finance hub, with New Yorkers leading the nation as the most interested in crypto nationwide by some distance."

Methodology

Google Keyword Planner was used to determine the average nationwide and state-specific monthly search volume for crypto-related terms. Terms used included "Crypto app," "Crypto price," "Crypto news," and "Crypto advice." All figures rounded up.

researcher: https://coinledger.io/.

More Info:

This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders

Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.

More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/

Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp

Get Great Trading Ideas and News Alerts

Guest posts and sponsored content - Got $100?

That's all it takes to get an article published on Investor Ideas - Learn More
New Delhi, Mar 7 (UNI) Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi on Thursday attacked the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over rising incidents of crime against women and stated that "being a woman has become a crime in this jungle raj".



Taking to her social media handle X, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged that the rule of law was non-existent in the state. She said two minor girls were gang raped in Kanpur and their father committed suicide as they were being pressurised to withdraw their complaints.



From Unnao, Hathras to Kanpur  wherever women were tortured, their families were destroyed. In this jungle raj, being a woman has become a crime where there is no such thing as law left. After all, what should crores of women of the state do, where should they go.



She said it has become a rule to destroy the families of those victims who want justice.



Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi too raised his concern saying that seeking justice is a crime in the double engine government (same party ruling the centree and a particular state, a term coined by the BJP). To protect the "false image" painstakingly created by the friendly media, treating not only the victims but even their families as enemies has become a tradition in BJP-ruled states.



Gandhi said, After the atrocities against women during the BJP rule from Hathras to Unnao and from Mandsaur to Pauri, their families yearned for justice. Raise your voice against this terrible injustice, otherwise if not today then tomorrow the fire of this atrocities will reach you too. UNI RBE ARN SSP
A judge has criticised the way information was provided to the High Court on behalf of Supermac's boss Pat McDonagh and two of his companies in a case against them over a dispute with a former franchisee.

Mr Justice Garrett Simons also said the original case brought by the former Supermac's franchisee operators John and Mary Lyons should not have been dismissed by the Circuit Court because a Supermac's subsidiary, Funworld (Ireland) Ltd, had clearly carried out an unauthorised development before it got retention permission for works to create a rival restaurant to the Lyons' business.

The judge made the comments when he adjourned an application for costs in the case brought by John and Mary Lyons against Mr McDonagh, Supermac's Ireland Ltd, and Funworld, who are the owners and operators of the Funworld bowling centre on the Ennis Rd in Limerick.

John and Mary Lyons had previously operated a Supermac's franchise called 'The Hungry Lyons' next door to Funworld, which is part of the same building, housing both businesses.

In 2019, the franchise arrangement ceased, due to what the pair said was the "commercial pressure" placed on them by the defendants. Then, they claimed, Mr McDonagh decided to go into direct competition with them by operating a restaurant from the bowling alley premises.

Pat McDonagh, it is claimed, decided to go into direct competition with the Lyons by operating a restaurant from the bowling alley premises. Picture: Collins Courts

However, they said, this was in breach of their lease agreement, which includes a non-compete clause that the landlord cannot assign or sub-let any part of the premises for a fast-food restaurant or delicatessen.

After works were carried out to provide a restaurant in Funworld, John and Mary Lyons sought an injunction from the Circuit Court declaring they were unauthorised. The Circuit Court dismissed the application and the defendants then applied to Limerick City and County Council for retention of the works.

In the meantime, the Lyons had appealed the Circuit Court decision and the hearing of that appeal was due to take place on Thursday before Mr Justice Simons.

However, Daniel Cronin, for the Lyons, told the judge the appeal was being withdrawn in the light of a letter which had been sent to Funworld by planners saying retention permission was being granted.

Counsel said his side had not been provided with this information, which was known some time ago by the defendants. Had it been, he would have withdrawn the case earlier.

In light of the fact that it was only last Monday that his side had sight of the letter, he was applying for costs or, in the alternative, there should be no order as to costs, which means both sides pay their own costs.

Assumed they knew

Gerard Kiely, for the defendants, who was asked by the judge why the information in relation to the retention permission had not been sent to the Lyons side, said it was assumed they knew this already and that the council would have sent the same letter to the Lyons as objectors.

The judge responded that the information could still have been presented to the court last week when the callover for hearing dates was taking place.

"You have wasted a day's hearing and [the judge] at the callover should have been told that you were going to put this on affidavit," he said.

When the judge reminded counsel that he also had to seek permission to file an affidavit at such a late stage, Mr Kiely said "that was possibly an error".

The judge also said it was clear the defendants had carried out unauthorised works when the Lyons sought their injunction but that an application for retention was then submitted.

The judge disputed Mr Kiely's assertion that the appeal to the High Court would not have been successful in light of that fact. The Circuit Court had been in error in its decision dismissing the Lyons' case, he said. He would give a reserved judgment next week in relation to this matter because he was not happy with the "haphazard way" it was dealt with.
The "time has come" to update the Consumer Protection Code to support Ireland's evolving financial system, Central Bank of Ireland Deputy Governor, Derville Rowland has said.

Speaking at the launch of a consultation paper on the revision of the code, Ms Rowland added that the regulator is bringing forward proposals for "a modernised version which is underpinned by firms obligation to secure their customers interests."

The consultation paper is the second of three steps the Central Bank is taking to clarify and integrate the code, as well as to enhance its accessibility.

"The Consumer Protection Code is the cornerstone of the Irish consumer protection framework," said Ms Rowland. "It has served consumers well, and the time has come to update the protections to support the financial system of today and into the future."

She added that the key goal in revising the code is to assist firms in incorporating consumers' interests into their overall business model and commercial decision-making, adding that this is addressed through "an obligation" to secure their consumer's interests.

Ms Rowland added that the regulator is proposing a package of new and updated protections to deal with the evolution of financial services, including proposals related to digitalisation, informing effectively, mortgage credit and switching, unregulated activities, frauds and scams, vulnerability and climate risk.

"This package includes proposals around making digital platforms easier to use; making clear where regulated firms are providing unregulated services; a new definition of financial abuse; and beefing up fraud and scam monitoring and communications by firms," the Deputy Governor continued.

We are also proposing a new framework to support people in vulnerable circumstances. Firms must take reasonable steps to support such customers and to implement training, reporting, and the recognition of Trusted Contact Persons."

Launching today, March 7th, the submission period for the consultation will remain open for three months until Friday, 7th of June, 2024.
Botox, baby formula and contact lenses were among the top products exported from Ireland to the Arab world last year, with trade in the region holding strong in 2023 despite a global slump in export activity.

The value of Irish exports to Arab states rose by 2% to more than 3bn in 2023 as trade relations continue to strengthen between the two regions.

Saudi Arabia remains the most important of the Arab states to Irish businesses, with total goods export value rising 9% in 2023 to almost 932m. Irish trade to the UAE also rose in the year, increasing by 2% to 656m.

In addition, Ireland has recorded significant export growth with several other Arab nations, with trade to Morocco rising by 34% to 157m and exports to both Egypt and Qatar rising by 13% in 2023.

The Arab region is highly reliant on imports, says Ahmad Younis, chief executive of the Arab Irish Chamber of Commerce. Botox was among the top products exported from Ireland to the region following a global surge in demand for the cosmetic product.

It is believed that Ireland holds around 80% of the global market share for Botox production, with a site in Westport, Co. Mayo the sole manufacturing facility owned by pharma giant Abbvie for the production of the cosmetic product.

Contact lenses, baby formula, pharmaceuticals, power-generating machinery and dairy products were also among the top products heading east from Irish businesses, which includes a growing number of small to medium enterprises (SMEs).

"Ireland's trade relationship, particularly with the Gulf regions, has strengthened significantly in recent years," said Mr Younis. "Regular trade missions led by the Irish at ministerial levels have made trade relations stronger than ever."
Elon Musk said on Wednesday that his social media platform X is considering getting rid of showing the number of likes and reposts on each post.

While speaking at the Morgan Stanley technology, media and telecom conference, Musk also said X is a few months away from receiving approval for a money transmitter license in New York.
The National, Jorja Smith and Natasha Bedingfield are among the acts that have been announced for this years All Together Now (ATN) festival.

The Waterford festival is set to return to Curraghmore Estate for the August bank holiday with over 50 new acts now revealed.

Marking its fifth year in 2024, ATN promises music, theatre, comedy, spoken word, food and more across its 18 stages.

The line-up for this years festival has something for everyone, including acclaimed acts such as The National, soul sensation Jorja Smith, synthpop royalty Future Islands, and euphoric beats from Scottish producer Barry Cant Swim.

ATN24 will mark Maribou State's first Irish show in six years and Yaya Bey's Irish debut.

All Together Now. Picture: Aerial.ie

Fans of Dundalk-based band The Mary Wallopers will have the chance to catch their only Irish festival performance of the year.

Meanwhile, those who have been enjoying the resurgence of Natasha Bedingfields Unwritten can sing their hearts out live with the UK act also set to perform over the bank holiday weekend.

Tommy Tiernan, Panti Bliss, James Vincent McMorrow, Paul Kalkbrenner, Kingfishr and Soda Blonde are also among those set to take to the stage at Curraghmore Estate.

Discover the first 50 artists for ATN24 



Join us for a three day bank holiday like no other, step into an enchanting weekend of music, art, food, wellness and some much more 



Tickets go on sale Monday at 9 AM via @tmie  https://t.co/p1KYCM9bu2 pic.twitter.com/uDrZRscQA1  All Together Now (@ATNfestival) March 7, 2024

ATN24 will also feature a diverse array of experiences, food and festivities to captivate festivalgoers. Festival organisers have told fans to stay tuned for more announcements on Arcadia, immersive experiences, wellness, delectable culinary delights and much more.

Tickets for ATN24 go on general sale at 9am Monday, March 11 via ticketmaster.ie. There is also a presale exclusive to ATN Members mailing list that will be available ahead of the general sale from 8am Monday, March 11.
If their years of working in television have taught Jon Slattery and Ciara Whelan anything, its how to keep an audience entertained.

The couple, best known for presenting shows such as Virgin Medias Are We There Yet? and The Holiday Show, have also worked behind the scenes as producers on several other hits.

Yet despite their decades of experience both in front of and behind the camera, its only in more recent years that Jon and Ciara have earned a seal of approval from their toughest audience yet  their daughters Edie, Blaise and Bo.

Since the girls were only babies, their parents have made a point of sharing their love of travel with them, bringing them along on their adventures whenever possible.

Ive travelled since I was tiny. I was in Thailand as a four year old, before I even knew what Thailand was, Ciara reflects. Ive definitely always had itchy feet, Jons the same, so I suppose its always been important to us both to raise the girls with a sense of adventure.

We started travelling throughout Ireland [and began filming Are We There Yet?] when our youngest, Blaise, was only a bump, and we went on our first long-haul flight as a family of five to Thailand when she was about six months old. At this stage, the girls have already been to Singapore and all sorts. Getting to explore these places and immerse ourselves in an entirely different culture is an amazing experience  the education you get from it is unlike anything else.

Ciara and Jon have travelled far and wide with their three daughters, from Thailand to Singapore.

The only downside to infecting their kids with the travel bug and introducing them early on to these far off places in the world  both Jon and Ciara fear  is that it can, at times, give the girls notions.

The conversation we had at breakfast this morning was about where we could go on holidays this year, and it somehow turned in to them planning what wed do in Sri Lanka, Jon laughs. We were thinking more like Costa del Sol!

While the couple feel theyve reached a sweet spot in their travelling adventures  and in parenting in general  with the girls now aged 5, 7 and 9 years old, and their tantrum-laden toddler years firmly in the rearview mirror, there have been many lessons learned in getting there.

For one, the family never set off on any kind of road trip without having the car well stocked.

We absolutely do not hop in the car without food, Ciara says. We bring a LOT of snacks  traveling with hungry kids is just a big no no.

While Jon agrees  lamenting that Ciara and the girls can be the hangriest people ever  he swears by another essential, busy bags.

The busy bag is a bag full of colours, small toys and maybe a jigsaw or two, but its all toys that they dont already have at home so the novelty is still there when we do travel. Its great for keeping them happy in the back of the car, but its really handy when youre in restaurants and waiting for the food to arrive so they always have something to occupy themselves, Jon explains. They pack it themselves as well so its all stuff they get excited about.

All smiles! The family are creating lifelong memories on their Irish holiday adventures.

Weve never had devices in the car either, or even really at home, so weve never had a reliance on them, Ciara adds. The kids have always just done their own thing, whether theyre having a conversation, playing eye spy or theyre singing along to the radio, listening to an audiobook

Or killing each other, Jon jokes. Honestly though, while they are generally great at getting along, there are times when its just carnage between them  it happens with the two of us as well! You just bring stuff that you think you can throw at them as a distraction when the carnage starts.

I think staycations are a lot easier in that regard, Jon continues. Its what I love about them, just being able to throw absolutely anything in the car and not having to overthink it like you do when youre going through an airport. Theres great freedom in that.

Ciara agrees, adding that having a few key supplies that never leave the car has often lead to fun, spontaneous trips. On any given day, if you look in the back of our car, youd find a few scooters, a couple of life vests, some helmets, about 16 pairs of wellies! Even on a random Monday afternoon were probably ready to go  we just need to throw a bit of clean underwear into the car and were off!

While they cram as much as they can into the car, however, the familys mantra when it comes to all other aspects of travelling is less is more.

Travelling with kids and seeing the world through their eyes is just phenomenal, says Ciara. They get so happy about the most random things  I mean, kids can get excited over a stick! Weve gone on walks before where theyve literally been happy out just because they found a branch they think looks cool. Whenever youre bringing them to destinations, whether it be to a nice park like that, or a museum, or youre doing an activity like paddle boarding, they just get so excited because everything is so new to them. Its impossible not to get wrapped up in that excitement too as a parent.

The freedom to shove everything in a car and hit the road is one of the family's favourite aspects of holidays in Ireland.

Its like that thing about how you can buy kids so many amazing things for Christmas and theyll just want to play with the box, Jon laughs. I love that about the kids, theyre so inquisitive but its the simplest of things that capture their imagination.

Some of the things theyve really enjoyed and still talk about to this day have really surprised us. Not too long ago, we went on holiday to Waterford and visited the Irish Museum of Time there. We thought theyd be bored, honestly, but the kids absolutely loved it. Theyre so interactive, these museums. It kind of opened our eyes in terms of what we can do with the kids that we initially never thought theyd enjoy.

It was mad because none of them could actually even tell the time when we visited this entire museum of clocks, but they were fascinated by it, Ciara agrees.

I think when youre travelling with kids you dont have to do too much for it to be a great holiday in their eyes. If you think back to your own childhood holidays, the things that stick out from them, you realise that all you need to do is give your kids a handful of core memories that theyll have as they grow up and go into adulthood  and those could be of anything!"

Exactly, Jon says. I think Donegal was definitely one of those core memories for us. We stopped off at Fintra beach there while we were filming and the kids spent about an hour and a half just running around the place. It was a beautiful sunny day, the water was really shallow and the kids just had an absolute ball running around  it was the most idyllic, scenic area. We got lovely fish and chips from a shack nearby in Killybegs too.

Thats what I love about Ireland, we have beautiful beaches like that but you could so easily head up the mountains or into the city from there. In Ireland, you can go 10 or 15 miles down the road and youre in a whole different world!

You can cover as much or as little of it as you want, too, Ciara adds. You dont have to do it all  kids are such simple little creatures, theyre happy doing anything.

Jon and Ciara pictured presenting The Holiday Show on Virgin Media (then known as TV Three).

If you do want to do it all, though, youll be spoiled for choice. Even Ciara and Jon, who spent years travelling for a living, still have plenty of Ireland left to explore.

Two years ago I was lucky enough to shoot a series called Ireland: County by County, says Ciara. I got to travel across the country but the programme itself was for American TV audiences.

It was a really great experience, because when youre promoting Ireland like that to people overseas, you cant help but just be so proud of all that what we do have to offer. Shooting that was great, it was almost like a recce for trips I plan to go on with the kids.

Were big wolf fans in our house, so we want to go back to Donegal, but this time well visit the zoo there, Wild Ireland. Top of my list is to bring the kids to Leitrim  as soon as the sunshine hits Im heading to Drumshanbo where theres a phenomenal outdoor swimming pool. The kids will just love it.

The huge variety theyre still enjoying across Ireland is far from the only appeal of staycations for the family, however. The environmental impact of flying abroad for their holidays is something theyre more conscious of than ever.

The girls are definitely grasping the concept of looking after the planet, and why its important. Theyre learning about it at school and asking us questions at home, Jon shares.

They started caring about it from a pretty young age, Ciara agrees. Ever since weve had kids its only made myself and Jon more aware too. Bo, our 9 year old, is very passionate about the environment, she loves being part of her green schools committee and getting involved there.

As their own interest in environmentalism has grown, Jon and Ciara have been looking into different ways they can make their travels as eco-friendly as possible.

As well as searching for lower-emission flights whenever they do head overseas, the couple arent ruling out an electric car for their future road trips across Ireland.

Its definitely a great idea, the only reason were hesitant to go for it is because we dont know enough about electric cars, Jon explains. Weve heard stories from some people who say theyre fantastic for cities, but if you want to go on long journeys you have to really think about your route and make sure to include charging spots. Were not very good at planning, thats the problem! I do think itd make great TV, though. Id love to do a series to see how far we could get with just the one battery charge.

Ciara laughs; This is classic Jon  he loves driving with the absolute minimum amount of diesel too!

Its true, John admits. Lets say I have 20km worth of fuel left in the tank, but I know its about 30km to our destination  Ill try to roll downhills and everything to get there! Ciaras usually freaking out in the car beside me but it hasnt failed me yet. So Id definitely love a similar challenge with a race against the car battery  its a great idea for the next series.

At the very top of the couples vehicle wish list for any future series, however, is something quite different from an electric car. Jon, in particular, has his sights set on a campervan for their next family adventure. His dearly missed father, Sean, passed away two years ago, but Jon has incredibly fond memories of watching him travel around Ireland in his own makeshift version.

We would absolutely love to do something with a campervan! My dad and mum used to go all over the country in what started out as just an ordinary van that they threw a mattress in the back of, and they just loved it. They bought a proper campervan later in life, so Ive always wanted to do something similar.

Ciaras on board with the plan  although shes already warning Jon against getting sand into their hypothetical new holiday home.

Perhaps we could stick to just the midlands, and explore those in a campervan, she pleads. Thatd still make a great TV series!
Kate Middleton's uncle Gary Goldsmith has said his niece is getting the best care in the world but he cannot talk more about her wellbeing due to a code of etiquette.

Wednesdays episode of Celebrity Big Brother saw Goldsmith, who is the younger brother of Kates mother Carole Middleton, talk about the British princess and the royal family to fellow housemates.

Goldsmith was also nominated to be evicted by X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne after she shortlisted him with two other housemates who she felt had made the worst first impression.

All the familys done is put the wagons round and look after family first before anything else

There has been huge speculation on social media about the state of Kates health after she underwent abdominal surgery earlier this year.

During Wednesdays episode of Celebrity Big Brother, Love Island winner Ekin-Su Culculoglu asked Goldsmith: Wheres Kate?

He replied: Because she doesnt want to talk about the last thing Im going to do is theres a kind of code of etiquette. If its announced, Ill give you an opinion.

I spoke to her mum, my sister, shes getting the best care in the world.

And all the familys done is put the wagons round and look after family first before anything else. They put a statement out and just said, Shes taking some time to (recuperate) and will see you in Easter.

Culculoglu asked: Ive heard mixed things about Kate and I dont want to make a comment, but whatever it is, do you want her to come back? to which he replied: Shell be back, of course she will.

The Princess of Wales (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA)

Earlier in the episode, he told housemate Fern Britton that he did not like people calling Kate common.

He said his father was a painter and decorator and his mother was an accounts clerk, but claimed he and his sister Carol were multimillionaires by the time they were 30.

He added: So I get a bit narky when they say Kate is common, theres nothing common about their family.

Speaking about how Prince William is handling Prince Harry stepping back from the royal family, Goldsmith said: Hes done an amazing job in that horrible situation.

Hes had an olive branch open every time for Harry to come back and be part of the gang.

Goldsmith added that the family should take the titles off Harry and Meghan.

It's official, Sharon has given her killer nomination to Gary, meaning he'll face Eviction this week #CBBUK pic.twitter.com/YrpooMz881  Celebrity Big Brother UK (@bbuk) March 6, 2024

On entering the house on Monday, Osbourne was tasked with placing three housemates who made the worst first impression in danger of eviction.

She teamed up with former X Factor co-star Louis Walsh for the challenge and chose Goldsmith, ITV2 Ibiza Weekender star David Potts and TV presenter Zeze Millz.

During Wednesdays episode, Osbourne chatted to each one individually about their reasons for entering the Celebrity Big Brother house.

Goldsmith told her: It does bother me what the public perception of me is  the black sheep of the royal family. Im a normal bloke.

It just so happens that my niece married Will. And I just thought when this opportunity came, I could show people that Im not that person.

And Ive really put myself out there because this isnt my world. And ultimately, Im not a celebrity. I dont want to be a celebrity. I dont want to go down that path.

 Sneak Peek  After putting them in the danger zone, Sharon gets to know Gary, Zeze and David #CBBUK pic.twitter.com/K5RiklVIr2  Celebrity Big Brother UK (@bbuk) March 6, 2024

Osbourne told him him she did not believe him, adding: I think youre insecure.

At the end of the episode, Osbourne said she had chosen Goldsmith as she feels he is not comfortable in the house.

I think hes awkward with himself being here too. I mean, its very tough for him. He told me about certain things that had happened in his life today and its very hard for him, I think hes brave to have come in here, she added.

But I somehow dont think this is the place for him. Hes just the oddball out from everybody thats in here.

It would be (like) if I went into his world and suddenly plunked myself in the middle of one of his board meetings, Id probably feel the same. So hes just a little awkward.

Goldsmith, who looked upset by the nominations, admitted he was a lot awkward.

During the Celebrity Big Brother spin-off Late & Live, Osbourne also made remarks about a number of celebrities including British actor James Corden, who she said constantly throws out names and that she felt he played the LA game really well when he moved stateside.

She also revealed she was not a fan of former US TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and Vogue editor-in-chief Dame Anna Wintour.

In the main show, her former X Factor co-star Louis Walsh also name dropped about a number of famous faces including Simon Cowell and Britney Spears.

Discussing what he was like to work with Spears while he was a guest judge on the American version of the X Factor briefly, he said: She was there but she wasnt really there. She had earplugs in.

She was just, before he made a wide-eyed vacant face.

He added: I love her and I love her music.

Celebrity Big Brother continues on ITV1.
An Irish documentary filmmaker is fundraising to evacuate a friend and former colleague who is trapped in catastrophic conditions in Gaza.

Palestinian journalist Mohammed Rajab helped cameraman and photographer Ed Godsell, originally from Passage West, Co Cork, as a fixer and translator when he was filming in Gaza.

A woman and child were killed in a tent near Mr Rajab two nights ago when it was blown up nearby.

His family is internally displaced, sheltering near Rafah in Doctors Without Borders tents and are just minutes away from the intense fighting with nowhere else to go.

Mr Godsell worked with Mr Rajab in Gaza in 2014 when he was filming a documentary about freelance war photographers after the last Israeli incursion on the territory.

All the places Mr Godsell stayed in during his seven days in Gaza have since been destroyed, he said.

Whole streets are being detonated, Mr Godsell said.

At least 95 journalists have been killed in Gaza between October 7, 2023, and March 9, 2024, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Although Mr Rajab had been working in Gaza, it has become too dangerous and he is now trying to escape the strip to bring his family to safety.

Mr Rajab believes he is a target as a journalist and he is trying to get his family out, Mr Godsell said.

It's catastrophic, Mr Godsell said. There's very limited food and it's dangerous.

"People are already starving to death. There are children who are now dying of malnutrition. It's absolute hell."

Mr Godsell is calling on the Irish Government to grant temporary citizenship to Mr Rajab and his family so they can be taken out of Gaza to Egypt and then to Ireland.

Ireland could be a shining example for the world in helping to get some of these people to safety temporarily.

The fundraiser was initially established by US artist Molly Crabapple, who also worked with Mr Rajab in Gaza.

Brave, funny, and utterly devoted to journalism, Mohammed has helped so many foreign reporters tell the stories of Gaza," Ms Crabapple said.

Now, Mohammed and his family's lives are at risk from the Israeli invasion of Gaza.

The Rajabs have four adorable little boys, the oldest of whom is 10.

Conditions are unendurable for children. When Mohammed leaves me voice notes, I can hear the drones in the background.

They have so far raised more than $40,000 of the $70,000 they need to evacuate Mr Rajab and his family.

To donate to help Mr Rajab and his family, go to: Fundraiser for Mohammed Rajab by Molly Crabapple : Evacuate the Rajab Family from Gaza ( gofundme.com).
The HSE failed terminally ill children towards the end of their lives by not giving them access to palliative care services close to home, chief executive Bernard Gloster has admitted.

The HSE chief made the admission in an apology to families, who, he said, were badly let down and from whose experience the agency still has so much to learn.

He referenced two children  Danny Norris from Waterford and Fiadh OConnor from Wexford  whose parents had to fight the HSE for home palliative care services which had been denied to them.

It was only after Danny and Fiadhs parents went public, and their cases were raised in the Dail and the media, that HSE chiefs relented just a matter of days before the children died.

The HSE on Wednesday night confirmed that paediatric palliative care services, including support at home for children at the end stage of life, have now been confirmed for the south-east, in line with all other regions in Ireland.

Mr Gloster said: I want to apologise to the families of Fiadh and Danny, who we failed and who could not avail of these services.

They were badly let down when they most needed care and support. Having met with them it is clear we still have so much to learn about supporting families particularly when life-limiting illness reaches that crucial stage.

There is no doubt that were it not for their courage and advocacy in their trauma, other children may well have had the same challenges in the future.

Mr Gloster said it was so regrettable what the childrens families had been forced to endure when they were already suffering immeasurable heartache and grief.

He said he regretted what they had to go through before the HSE made necessary changes to ensure that no other child or family has to suffer due to lack of community palliative care services.

Danny died in December 2022, just days after his family won a case against the HSE to secure palliative care in his own home.

He had spent the last few months before he died in Childrens Health Ireland at Crumlin Hospital receiving treatment.

His family, from Ballymacarbry on the Waterford/Tipperary border, had been refused home care for him, despite their pleas that he be allowed to be cared for surrounded by family and friends.

Parents Lisa and Lar campaigned for the restoration of the home paediatric palliative care service, which was removed in 2017, to be restored for families like them because they did not want anybody else to have to go through the trauma that HSE officials had put them through.

Mr Glosters apology comes nearly a year after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar promised the Dail he would convene a meeting with Health Minister Stephen Donnelly and the HSE to get a proper overview of paediatric palliative care services.

Mr Varadkar also promised to find out what the problem is and then he, Mr Donnelly, and the HSE would fix it.

That promise was made in March 2023, just weeks before Fiadh died at home in her mothers arms holding her daddys hand, according to her death notice.

Before she died, her family said they had to publicly beg for their daughter to be cared for and treated at home.

'Major deficit'

The HSE on Wednesday night said the confirmation of paediatric palliative care services for the south-east corrects a major deficit in the region for children with life-limiting conditions and their families.

It said four specialist palliative care teams in the south-east are now providing care to terminally ill children as part of a multidisciplinary approach which ensures children can receive palliative care and die at home in line with the wishes of the family.
A 39-year-old Cork woman who was convicted about 20 times for being drunk and a danger said she was turning her life around until someone gave her a cup of tea she believes was spiked with something.

Jennifer Rodgers made this claim through her solicitor Eddie Burke at Cork District Court where she pleaded guilty to another series of public order and theft offences.

It is an unmitigated disaster for this young woman. She does very well when she is not on alcohol, Mr Burke said.

Judge Mary Dorgan said: Unfortunately, when she is left to her own devices, the wheels fall off.

Sergeant John Kelleher outlined details of the incidents that gave rise to the accused woman being prosecuted.

On November 27, 2023, Jennifer Rodgers was asked to leave OHerlihys Centra on Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork, and she reacted by throwing a chair at the shopfront. She picked up the chair from a table outside the premises. There was no damage caused.

Ms Rodgers, who was living with Cork Simon Community, was arrested on Sunday morning, January 14, for stealing a bottle of vodka valued at 22 from Tesco on Paul Street that morning shortly after 11am.

She was charged at the Bridewell with shoplifting arising out of this and then released on station bail.

However, she was arrested again later that Sunday afternoon, January 14, and charged with stealing another bottle of vodka valued 22  this time from Dunnes Stores on St Patricks Street.

She also pleaded guilty to those and other thefts and public order offences. She stole a small item from Phelans pharmacy on St Patricks Street on September 20, 2023.

She carried out the theft of two bottles of wine at the shop section of The Flying Enterprise on January 3 this year. She returned to the pub that evening and stole a bottle of vodka.

Ms Rodgers said: I have had time to reflect. I am a completely different person when Im on alcohol. I am not getting any younger. Drink brings out a side of me I really dont like.

Judge Dorgan sentenced Ms Rodgers to a total sentence of five months in relation to the various theft and public order charges.
Minister Arias-Vasquez visits Memory Clinic

Yesterday, the Minister for Health and Care, the Hon Arias-Vasquez visited the Bella Vista Day Care Centres Memory Clinic alongside Dr Antonio Marin and representatives of the Gibraltar Alzheimers and Dementia Society (GADS).

The Minister took the opportunity to thank GADS for continuously supporting the memory clinic and for their recent donations of 4 New Touch PC's and Gradior/Neuron Up software for Cognitive Therapy.
Two men are due to appear in court in Cork on Thursday morning charged in connection with an international human trafficking operation.

The men, aged in their 30s and 40s, were arrested by gardai last Saturday.

They are to appear before Midleton District Court later on Thursday morning.

A third man, also in his 30s, has been released without charge. A file will now be prepared for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Garda operation in Cork and Roscommon

The men were arrested during a major garda operation in Cork and Roscommon involving over 100 officers.

The operation was led by specialist officers in Cork, assisted by divisional colleagues, as well as officers from six national units, including human trafficking, economic crime and cybercrime bureaus.

The organised crime group targeted has connections in eastern Europe, and gardai were assisted by the EU police agency, Europol.

Detectives hit a total of seven locations in Cork and Roscommon, and seized evidence which is being examined in detail.

'Items of evidential value' seized

An earlier garda statement said: Gardai in Cork County have this morning arrested three males for organised crime related offences.

"The males (in their 30s and 40s) are currently detained in Garda Stations in Cork under section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007.

It said items of evidential value  including, it is thought, digital devices and mobile phones  were seized during the courses of the searches.
WARNING: Some readers may find the following article upsetting

A man killed and decapitated his wife while suffering from a cannabis induced psychosis that led him to believe she was possessed by a serpent and was going to kill him, two consultant psychiatrists have told the Central Criminal Court.

One of the psychiatrists said the accused man, Diego Costa Silva, believed after attacking his wife, Fabiola Camara De Campos Silva, he had to remove her head to make sure the serpent was dead.

Both psychiatrists agreed Mr Costa Silva's psychosis was not due to acute intoxication from cannabis but a more persistent illness of cannabis-induced psychosis. The court heard the accused continued to display psychotic symptoms 11 days after his arrest and detention.

Dr Brenda Wright and Dr Mark Joint told the trial that cannabis-induced psychosis was a mental disorder under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006. They agreed as a result of his disorder, Mr Costa Silva did not understand the nature and quality of his actions and did not know what he was doing was wrong.

Counsel for the defence and prosecution also delivered their closing speeches to the jury on Thursday, saying that the evidence shows due to a mental disorder, Mr Costa Silva is not responsible for his actions and should be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Mr Costa Silva, 35, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ms De Campos Silva, 33, on November 4, 2021, at their home in Charlestown Place, Finglas, Dublin 11.

Dr Joint was called by the defence and told Garnet Orange SC, for Mr Costa Silva, he interviewed the accused three times, spoke to his sister in Brazil and read the book of evidence and other documents.

Family history

He said Mr Costa Silva's sister told him a number of members of their family had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Dr Joint said this family history puts Mr Costa Silva at a higher risk of developing a serious mental disorder, including substance-induced psychosis.

Dr Joint noted two days prior to killing his wife, Mr Costa Silva had been taken to the Mater hospital by gardai who had a concern for his mental health. Doctors at the Mater asked Mr Costa Silva to remain as a voluntary patient but he refused and left on November 3.

The notes taken by doctors at that time suggest Mr Costa Silva was suffering symptoms of psychosis including confusion, thought disorder and a paranoid belief that his wife would hurt him.

Ms De Campos Silva was recorded to have told doctors she noted a sudden change in her husband's behaviour the previous Saturday but she said he had not smoked cannabis for several days.

In his interviews with Dr Joint, Mr Costa Silva said he had begun smoking cannabis aged 16 and from the age of 20 would smoke daily. In 2020, he said his wife told him he was smoking too much and he agreed to cut down. He did not think he had smoked cannabis in the days immediately prior to killing his wife.

Hearing voices

Dr Joint said in the lead-up to killing his wife, Mr Costa Silva said he was convinced that she wanted to kill him and that he could hear voices external to his head. He came to believe that his parents were being held by a gang and that his wife was possessed by the leader of the gang, in the form of a serpent.

He believed he was going to die and he had to kill his wife to defend himself, the doctor said. After he attacked his wife, Mr Costa Silva believed "the serpent wasn't dead and he had to cut the head off to make sure it was dead".

Following his arrest and detention, Mr Costa Silva continued to show psychotic symptoms until November 15, 11 days after the killing. Two days after that, when Mr Costa Silva had spent five days taking the antipsychotic drug Olanzapine, he was reported to be improving and to have gained insight into his illness and what had happened.

When Dr Joint last spoke to Mr Costa Silva in November last year, he said he found no evidence of active psychotic symptoms. He said this was one of the reasons he did not diagnose the accused with a more persistent illness such as schizophrenia.

Dr Joint concluded Mr Costa Silva was suffering from a cannabis-induced psychotic disorder, the symptoms of which included hallucinations and delusions regarding his wife.

He said he excluded intoxication as a diagnosis because the symptoms persisted for 11 days after the killing, a period in which Mr Costa Silva did not have access to drugs. He said this would not be consistent with the effects of acute intoxication from cannabis, which typically wear off within hours.

In conclusion, Dr Joint said due to his mental disorder, Mr Costa Silver did not know the nature and quality of his actions, did not know that what he was doing was wrong and was unable to refrain from his actions.

Dr Brenda Wright told Shane Costelloe SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, she agreed with most of Dr Joint's conclusions. The only significant distinction, she said, was she believed he could have refrained from his actions by avoiding his wife, as he had done previously when suffering similar delusions.

Closing speeches

In his closing speech to the seven men and five women of the jury, Mr Costelloe said the prosecution had proven beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Costa Silva killed his wife and that when he cut her head off, he intended to kill her.

If the jury agrees, he asked them to consider the evidence of the psychiatrists, who both said Mr Costa Silva was suffering from a mental disorder and he is not responsible in law for his actions.

"All of the evidence adduced points only one way," he said, "and you must act upon the evidence".

He said the jury may ask themselves how somebody can abuse illegal substances and rely on that as a defence. However, he added: "You heard from both psychiatrists that this is not intoxication, it is not taking drugs or alcohol and then going and doing something, that would not be a defence. This is not intoxication, this is a mental disorder  cannabis-induced psychosis."

Counsel described it as a "particularly horrible case" and a "deeply tragic case" in which a young woman lost her life and her husband finds himself having killed his wife with whom he had enjoyed an otherwise healthy relationship. He asked the jury to put aside emotion, sympathy and personal feelings and view the evidence dispassionately.

If they find Mr Costa Silva did have a mental disorder that removed his responsibility for the crime, they must return a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, he said.

Mr Orange, for the defence, said he agreed with everything said by counsel for the prosecution. He asked the jury to put aside any views they might have about drug use or domestic violence or any feelings of "disdain or horror" they might ordinarily feel.

He said: "The defence is looking for a special verdict, the evidence is before you and it does only point in one direction as far as the defence and prosecution are concerned and you must keep that in mind... The verdict I am asking you to return is not guilty by reason of insanity."

Mr Justice Michael MacGrath has begun charging the jury, who will be asked to begin considering their verdict on Friday.
The Supreme Court will refer to the Court of Justice of the EU an issue in an appeal brought by an alleged member of a dissident republican paramilitary group against his proposed surrender to Northern Ireland.

Sean Walsh, 56, of Ballinlough, Douglas, Co Cork, is wanted to face charges of IRA membership stemming from a police surveillance operation on a July 2020 meeting of senior paramilitaries in Omagh, Co Tyrone. He denies the claims.

The Supreme Courts seven judges on Thursday unanimously agreed to ask the European court whether a judge asked to approve an accuseds extradition must consider the EUs Charter of Fundamental Rights if already satisfied there is no real risk to his rights under the Constitution and article 7 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).

The court was satisfied Mr Walshs surrender is not precluded by the ECHR or the Constitution.

In a judgment for the court, Ms Justice Marie Baker said Mr Walshs contention that his surrender would breach his ECHR rights was not supported by the facts or his arguments.

Not only has no systemic flaw been identified that would suggest a likely egregious breach of his ECHR rights on surrender, but the opposite is the case, she said, as recent UK case law presents a legal system that robustly and unequivocally applies the ECHR.

Mr Walsh claimed his surrender, which was approved by the High Court in October 2022, would breach his rights under ECHR article 7, due to the retrospective application of a 2021 UK law that has redefined the scope of penalty he faces if convicted.

ECHR article 7 states no one shall be held guilty on account of any act or omission that did not constitute a criminal offence in law at the time it was committed.

The Court of Appeal of Northern Ireland found the retrospective application of the 2021 legislative changes was incompatible with ECHR article 7, but this was reversed on appeal to the UK Supreme Court. This case concerned people who were convicted and sentenced before the enactment of the 2021 Counter Terrorism and Sentencing Act.

The act extends the period for which a person convicted of terrorism-type offences must remain incarcerated before they can apply for early release. Previously, there was potential for a custodial sentence to be reduced by 50%, but the reduction is now capped at 33%, the court heard.

This more limited reduction would also be subject to later approval by the parole commissioners at the two-third point of the sentence, creating more uncertainty than before, Mr Walsh submitted in the Supreme Court.

Mr Walsh argued the UK courts decision amounts to a systemic failure or can be interpreted as evidence the UK courts have taken an erroneous approach to the interpretation of the ECHR.

In her judgment on Thursday, Ms Justice Marie Baker said a courts refusal to surrender under a valid European Arrest Warrant must be seen as wholly exceptional.

Someone seeking extradition refusal on grounds of an apprehended denial of fundamental rights must illustrate egregious circumstances would expose them to a real risk of a denial of their fundamental rights, she said. This can include a fundamental defect in the legal system of the requesting state.

She and her colleagues accepted release on licence is no more than a privilege that is exercisable by the executive, rather than the judiciary.

The court rejected Mr Walshs contention it should rule on the correctness of the UK decision.

Such an approach would fail to respect the judicial sovereignty of the UK and usurp the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights. Recent UK judgments illustrate that convention was unequivocally adopted and applied in the UK legal system, Ms Justice Baker added.

Given the principles of mutual trust, recognition and judicial cooperation in the EAW regime, the requesting state is the correct place to correct any apprehended breach of ECHR rights, if a remedy is available there, the judge said.

She rejected the argument surrender should be refused on account of a perceived breach of Mr Walshs ECHR or constitutional rights.

However, she said, a further complexity arises concerning the level to which the charter is relevant to a courts approval of an extradition. The court will refer this issue for determination by the Court of Justice.

Mr Walsh faces four charges including that he was an IRA member, that he was involved in directing IRA activities and that he was involved in a conspiracy to direct a terrorist organisation. He denies the allegations.
Two men have appeared in court charged in connection with an investigation into an international human trafficking and money-laundering operation.

32-year-old Ladislav Bubencik of Railway Road, Charleville, Co Cork, and 46-year-old Marian Vavrek, 5 Kontiki, Rooskey, Co Roscommon, appeared before Judge John King at Midleton District Court on Thursday morning.

They were both charged with three counts of human trafficking involving three male victims in 2021.

Mr Vavrek has also been charged with one count of money-laundering while Mr Bubencik, a married father of two children, has been charged with 20 counts of money-laundering.

Gardai told the court that people are being brought into Ireland for labour exploitation, with reports of them having their travel documents taken from them and their employment payments withheld from them. Gardai also alleged that victims are living in shared and overcrowded rooms.

The court heard that there was evidence of travel arrangements for the three injured parties having been organised through social media, while there is CCTV evidence of them being collected at Dublin Airport.

Detective Garda Shane ODonoghue said one of the injured parties in the case had been contacted through Facebook messenger. He was promised employment in Ireland, as well as accommodation.

Det. Gda ODonoghue said that the injured party had no English and gardai considered him a very vulnerable person. He said that conditions in his accommodation were poor, adding: He didnt have enough food at times.

Ladislav Bubencik faces three counts of human trafficking and 20 counts of money-laundering.

He was living in a property near Churchtown in north Cork, while the other two injured parties were collected at Dublin Airport and brought to accommodation near Buttevant.

Det. Gda ODonoghue said that six financial accounts have been analysed forensically as part of the investigation, including personal and business accounts linked to Mr Bubencik. This included an account for a recruitment firm operated by Mr Bubencik, called L&B Recruitment.

Gardai alleged that the firm is trying to be the legitimate face of the human-trafficking operation. The two men have both denied the charges put to them.

Bail hearing

Gardai opposed bail on the grounds of concerns of possible interference of injured parties.

However, Mr Bubenciks solicitor, Charlie OConnor, said his client is married with two children who are attending primary school in Charleville. He said Mr Bubencik has lived in Ireland for over 12 years.

Members of his family were in court, while supporters of Mr Vavrek were also in attendance.

Both men were remanded in custody with consent to bail on their own bond of 600 each, plus an independent surety of 20,000.

Among their conditions will be that they must sign on twice daily at a nominated garda station; have no direct or indirect contact with alleged injured parties, and surrender their passports and/or other travel documents to gardai prior to their release and not to apply for replacement or duplicate travel documents.

They are due before Mallow District Court on Tuesday, March 12, via video link.

A third man, also in his 30s, has been released without charge. A file will now be prepared for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The men were arrested during a major garda operation in Cork and Roscommon involving over 100 officers.

The operation was led by specialist officers in Cork, assisted by divisional colleagues, as well as officers from six national units, including human trafficking, economic crime and cybercrime bureaus.
A couple has told of their heartbreak after opportunities to save the life of their baby boy were missed at Cork University Maternity Hospital.

Elijah OSullivan died on May 6, 2022 a day after his mother Rachel Harrington presented to the hospitals emergency department.

It was the second time she had gone to the ED because her son had either stopped moving or was showing reduced movement, Cork City Coroners Court heard today

Although she was kept in overnight and regularly monitored, a cardiotocography (CTG) of her baby's heart rate was later found to have been misinterpreted by one or more maternity staff.

In addition to being wrongly interpreted as normal instead of pathological, indicating a potential need for immediate intervention, such as a Caesarean Section, the CTG was also stopped.

Ms Harringtons CUMH Consultant Dr Matt Hewitt told the inquest the CTG should not have been stopped.

He was asked by SC Sara Antoniotti, acting on behalf of the familys solicitor Rachel Liston, if Elijah could have been born alive if the pathological result had been spotted and intervention carried out. He admitted it was likely.

Earlier, Ms Antoniotti had also asked him if Elijah was progressively deteriorating in the 11 or so hours before his death.

Mr Hewitt replied: That is possible, with the benefit of hindsight.

Ms Antoniotti told the court: On the balance of probabilities, that baby would still be alive today. His was a progressive demise, he wasnt the subject of an acute event.

Before evidence was heard in the inquest, CUMHs barrister Caoimhe Daly addressed Cork City Coroner Philip Comyn and said the hospital admits there were missed opportunities and was truly sorry for what had happened.

Medical misadventure

Mr Comyn recorded a verdict of medical misadventure but insisted in doing so, he wanted to make it clear this was not a finding of blame.

The fact that the CTG was misinterpreted meant that the opportunity was lost for intervention that may well have saved his life, he said.

I find on the evidence before me, I believe the facts warrant a verdict of medical misadventure.

Rachel Harrington and Pat OSullivan with a photo of their son Elijah.

The inquest heard CUMH  despite carrying out a review into Elijah's death  has yet to go over the misinterpreted CTG result with at least one of the maternity staff members who misinterpreted it.

Ms Antoniotti said this information appeared to conflict with a CUMH statement in evidence that the review of how the CTG result could have been misinterpreted had been completed.

It appears, however, that it hasnt been completed, she said.

That review concluded an opportunity for intervention "which could have changed the outcome" for Baby Elijah was missed.

Mother's testimony

Ms Harrington, 27, from Douglas, fought back tears as she read out her statement about the hours and moments before her son was pronounced dead at 9.57pm on May 6, 2022.

She told the coroner: I was 24 years of age when I became pregnant, and I am healthy and regularly active.

I'm not a smoker and did not drink alcohol throughout my pregnancy.

This was my first pregnancy, so I had no reason to be concerned as the medical professionals didn't seem to be.

I still don't know what happened Elijah.

She added: Even though I was kept in for monitoring and I had told the staff there was reduced movement, I didn't think I was being treated with urgency.

She said as a result, herself and her partner Pat OSullivan were so relaxed the two of them were texting their families letting them know that we would be delivering shortly.

After the verdict, the couple  whose baby daughter Olive was born in CUMH seven months ago  said: As a family, we are heartbroken by Elijah's death, and have struggled to cope knowing that his death was preventable.

We feel let down.

We are speaking here today as we don't want any more families to endure the pain of losing a baby.

He should be two this May, we think a lot about how different our lives would be if he was here with us.

We miss Elijah every day and we grieve the lifetime of memories we never had the chance to create with him.
The conversion of a derelict 1960s-built office block in Cork City into 35 new right-sizing homes for older people has been named social housing project of the year.

Cork City Councils innovative regeneration of the Springville House building on the Blackrock Road, which is now managed by the Tuath housing association, scooped the top award in its category having previously won a Local Government Excellence Award in the urban revival category.

It is also shortlisted in its category in the Irish Construction Excellence Awards which are due to be announced in May.

It was the first commercial office to residential conversion scheme in Cork, one of the first such schemes in the country, and was hailed at its official opening by Finance Minister Michael McGrath last September as a pioneering response to Irelands housing crisis which provides a template for use nationwide.

The councils assistant chief executive, Brian Geaney, said the development is a prime example of successful collaboration between the local authority and a housing agency and represents an innovative response to the provision of housing.

This office-to-residential project, in the heart of the city, has resulted in the conversion of a derelict office building into 35 new A-rated homes for those looking to right-size to a home that meets their changing needs and requirements whilst freeing up existing properties for younger families, he said.

And he said while the council is open to exploring similar regeneration options whenever and wherever such development opportunities may arise, no similar project is in the pipeline at the moment.

The 17,600 sq ft former office block, in an area where private homes have sold for 1m, once served as the former headquarters of Pettit Consulting Engineers before being acquired by Mott McDonald in 2006.

Two separate attempts to secure planning for homes on the site were unsuccessful before the property was acquired by MMD Construction, which then worked with the city council and Tuath Housing on a social housing plan for the site.

In 2019, city councillors approved an amended Part 8 plan to adapt and extend the building, and then change its use to facilitate residential development.

To a design by Reddy Architecture + Urbanism, MMD Construction undertook a complete retrofit and re-purposing of the structure and built 31 high-quality, energy-efficient A-rated apartments within the fabric of the existing building  13 two-bedroom apartments and 18 one-bedroom apartments  with four one-bedroom single-storey houses also built on the site.

The project was designed specifically for people aged 60 and over who want to avail of the city councils voluntary right-sizing initiative, which encourages people in the age bracket to move to more suitably sized homes, thereby freeing up their former existing properties for younger families.

Tuath said its success is attributed to its clear purpose and the identification of end-users" from the very start of the project. It was funded with a loan from the Housing Finance Agency (HFA) and Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) funding from the Department of Housing.
A Cork woman has given birth just in time for Mother's Day to what she says is a "miracle" baby following a kidney transplant

Colette Hawe, 37, from Charleville in Cork, and her partner Morgan Lyons, recently welcomed their baby girl into the world.

More than a decade ago, Colette had been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD)  but underwent a transplant in 2020.

(Left to right) At CUMH are Morgan Lyons, Colette Hawe and her baby Croia, with happy grandparents Richard and Angela Hawe. Picture: John Allen

Just a fortnight before Mothers Day, at 34 weeks gestation, Colette gave birth to a beautiful fully developed baby girl, weighing in at 2kgs (4.41 pounds).

The proud parents named their little bundle Croia, an Irish name meaning little heart.

Colette expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the family of the deceased organ donor whose selfless gift made her transplant possible.

She said: "I am eternally grateful to the donor and their family for giving me a second chance at life and the opportunity to become a mother. They have left an incredible legacy with their gift of life to me and my family and now the circle of life continues with Croia."

She also expressed her gratitude to Professor Liam Plant, her consultant nephrologist who had been alongside her since the diagnosis.

Colette Hawe with her baby girl: "Our baby is truly a miracle, and I am overwhelmed with gratitude." Picture: John Allen

She added: "Our baby is truly a miracle, and I am overwhelmed with gratitude. For a long time I faced uncertainty of ever being able to have a successful pregnancy with my kidney disease and not knowing if I would end up on dialysis and how long Id be on the waiting list for a transplant.

"Prof. Plant has been more than a doctor to me; he has been a guardian angel. His retirement next week will mark the end of an era, but I am forever grateful for his unwavering support. Croia now holds the title of being Prof. Plants last kidney baby before he retires, and we are happy for her to have that special title.
Cork City Council has been accused of a bit of a half-arsed effort by not giving an historic city bridge a full clean during a successful graffiti removal operation.

A council cleansing crew has removed unsightly graffiti from a section of the South Gate bridges western road-facing wall less than a week after the issue was highlighted in the Irish Examiner.

The crew was only told to remove the graffiti from the affected stonework. They were not told to clean the rest of the stonework. Picture: Larry Cummins

The crew was only told to remove the graffiti from the affected stonework. They were not told to clean the rest of the stonework.

But their expert cleansing work has only served to expose how dirty the rest of the bridge is. Local Independent Cllr Mick Finn welcomed the removal of the graffiti but said the cleaned patch now sticks out almost as badly.

This is a bit of a half-arsed effort and not good enough given the significance of this historic structure, he said.

This is an historic bridge, used by thousands every day to go in and out of the city.

The entire bridge now needs to be done  surely this can be done?

The councils director of operations, David Joyce, accepted that the cleansed stonework has highlighted just how filthy the rest of the bridge is.

But he said it was the councils immediate concern and priority to remove the graffiti, and not to do a full deep clean of the bridges stonework, which he said would take some time and planning.

Picture: Larry Cummins

A full cleanse of the road-facing and river-facing sides of its walls would also involve extensive health and safety measures and precautions for working over water, which would cost several thousand euro, he said.

And while there are no immediate plans to undertake a full and extensive deep clean of the bridge, he said consideration will be given to cleansing the roadside walls.

While the area is earmarked for tens of millions of euro in investment in urban regeneration  including the revamp of Bishop Lucey Park, as well as major public realm upgrades to start this year on South Main Street, Tuckey Street, Crosses Green and Probys Quay, including two new pedestrian bridges onto the event centre site  the spate of graffiti attacks on property in the area had sparked concern.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said Ireland has a responsibility to work with whoever the next US president will be but has described comments made by Donald Trump as highly inappropriate.

With Mr Trump set for the Republican nomination, leading to an election rematch with US President Joe Biden, concerns have been expressed in Europe about the possibility of Trump returning to the White House.

When asked if he agreed with former taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny who said Trump's views are racist and dangerous, Mr Varadkar said he certainly agreed that some of the comments that hes made in the past have been highly inappropriate.

Speaking in Bucharest, Mr Varadkar said: I think whoever is elected as American president in November we've a responsibility to work with them and whether it's President Biden reelected, or President Trump reelected, we'll do our best to work with whoever the US president is.

I certainly agree that some of the comments that he's made in the past have been highly inappropriate. But, you know, we have to respect the decision of the American people, he said.

When asked if he agreed with European Central Bank President Christine Lagardes warning that the reelection of Mr Trump as US President would be a threat to Europe, the Taoiseach said: I think we need to be able to stand on our own two feet as Europe.

Americans are great allies and great friends, I hope that will continue.

That was a bit rocky during the last Trump presidency, but it did survive the last Trump presidency and I think that the European-Atlantic relationship can remain strong no matter who is president in the White House, but we need to stand on our own two feet.

You know, America has been stronger than Europe economically, and stronger than Europe in defence and security terms for a very long time now, and we need to be able to stand on our own two feet, the Taoiseach said.

Meanwhile, Mr Vardakar said he has not been to visit President Michael D Higgins in hospital but has been in touch with him by phone and a scheduled meeting with him is set to go ahead on Friday.

President Michael D Higgins was taken to hospital following a "mild transient weakness".

It was confirmed this week that President Higgins would remain in hospital until Thursday after tests found that he had experienced a '"mild transient weakness".

He said: I understand hell be discharged soon and I plan to meet him tomorrow in Aras an Uachtarain and so while he has been unwell he has been fulfilling his constitutional duties and at least as of now, is keen to go ahead with our Article 28 meeting tomorrow at Aras an Uachtarain, the regular meeting that we have where I update him on affairs of State.

"He shares with me his perspectives on things that are happening so as of now that date is still in the diary and look forward to seeing him tomorrow, he added.
Ireland is considering the possibility of contributing to multinational efforts of airdropping aid into Gaza, the Tanaiste has said.

Micheal Martin told the Dail that Ireland is "actively engaged" with Jordan in assisting airdropped aid into the besieged enclave.

He told Independent TD Cathal Berry that Ireland may join other nations which have joined the humanitarian operation, which has become necessary due to continued Israeli blockages of aid trucks into Gaza.

Some of the destroyed homes after Israeli forces left Khan Younis on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. Photo: AP/Mohammed Dahman

Mr Martin said it was not a question of the ability of Ireland's Air Corps in helping the drops.

"Were actively engaged with Jordan. Its not an issue at all of technical capacity or anything like that. Jordan obviously has a lot of experience interacting with the Israeli Government in terms of the airspace there and so on, and understand the issues that arise there.

But were working in partnership with Jordan and were actively exploring that but what is important, Deputy [Berry], is that should not distract from Israels obligations.

Considerations here are more on the political or the practical level in terms of working with the Jordanian government on the specifics of getting aid in and whatever we can do to get aid in through that route Ireland will pursue that support, he added.

He said the most effective way to get meaningful volumes of aid into Gaza would be for Israel to open corridors and checkpoints on the ground.

Mr Berry said that he would prefer to see a ceasefire but said that, until that time, Ireland should do "all it can" to assist the Gazan people.

The Tanaiste said that the Government was considering travel bans and asset freezes for violent Israeli settlers but was hoping to get the EU27 on board in the first instance. He said asset freezes would be the most effective method of punishment for settlers.

'Reckless'

He also said that Israel is reckless with the lives of civilians in Gaza.

Many countries are trying to bring an end to the conflict and I know that. I have no doubt that many in the US want this to end  but Israel is reckless with its own allies.

And Israel is reckless with the region but above all, its reckless in terms of the lives of ordinary Gazans and the people of Gaza.

Absolutely reckless in terms of allowing whats happening to happen on a daily basis.

Mr Martin had earlier accused the Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns of "scoring political points" on the issue of Gaza. She had said that while other countries had "lost their moral compass, Ireland should not".
If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now!

Submit
Last week I wrote here about Cork city centre, saying how grim it was.

The column seemed to strike a chord with many readers, who agreed with the general points  that the city centre is not a welcoming place, that it shows signs of sharp decline, and, perhaps worst of all, that there seems to be no-one leading the fight against that decline.

A couple of readers asked what my solutions were, and I had to point out that I dont run the local authority. In fact, not even my closest family members would want to live under my iron rule  er, benevolent reign.

But when they asked about a champion for Cork, if you like, I did have a possibility or two.

And those alternatives are not remote figures located somewhere like Paris or Canberra, either. Theyre from an hour and a half down the road, if you can get through the Dunkettle Interchange in good time.

I was in Waterford a couple of weekends ago, and it was eye-opening when it came to the civic offering.

Starting on the city quay you can go through 1,000 years of history in 1,000 steps, per the local tourism website: the Viking Triangle, which includes four museums, six national monuments, the House of Waterford Crystal, not to mention the birthplace of opera composer William Vincent Wallace.

(In the case of Wallaces birthplace, theres an obvious contrast with Cork. Take a look some day at the birthplace of one of the greatest Corkmen of all time, 23 North Main Street, as a comparison.)

Recently this newspaper carried an interview with Rupert Maddock, who just retired as Waterford city architect. He outlined the thinking behind their approach to that Viking Triangle idea, explaining that they wanted to incorporate the history and heritage of the city as they revitalised an area that was looking pretty run-down.

Rupert Maddock, former architect of Waterford City and County Council.

The idea originally was that the museums would be arranged in chronological order: from Reginalds Tower, which is obviously Viking; the Medieval Museum, which reflects the medieval history of the city; and the Bishops Palace, with 18th century to modern, and they were strung out along the medieval town wall which passes through all of the buildings.

It was like beads on a necklace.

See? Thats a vision. Thats someone championing their city.

Waterford has other champions. Take someone like Eamonn McEneaney, former director of Waterford Museum of Treasures, the man who led the creation of museums such as the Irish Museum of Time, the Irish Silver Museum, and, most recently, the Museum of the Irish Wake.

Whats interesting about the last name is that it was created out of a derelict building, one in such bad condition that it came close to collapse. Now it houses a tourist attraction.

I need hardly add that all of this cost money. But I do need to add that it did not, to give a far from random example, cost 85 million without a hole being dug or a block laid. Corks Event Centre is a shameful ongoing mess compared to the brisk creation of a series of bespoke venues celebrating local heritage in Waterford.

The weekend I visited Waterford there wasnt a specific festival or celebration going on, but the city has a good track record with such large events.

Spraoi is in August, the Harvest Festival is on the following month, and the big one takes over the city in the run-up to Christmas: Winterval.

Readers may be aware of Winterval for a very good reason. I know of people who travel from Cork to Waterford for the festival because there is nothing comparable in Cork coming up to Christmas.

Why?

This was the attitude to Christmas outlined by Cork City Council last November to Eoin English of this parish: A public Christmas lights switch-on event has not been held since 2019 and for reasons of public safety and challenges related to crowd management . . . a large-scale public switch-on event is not planned for this year.

It was pointed out then that Dublin, Galway, and Limerick did not have switch-on events either. At the time I noted that Dublin had enjoyed a New Years Festival but Cork had not, suggesting the example set by the capital wasnt being followed slavishly, but anyway.

Cork had a pre-programmed, interactive, immersive lighting display on Emmet Place last Christmas.

Waterford had a five-week festival which thousands of people enjoyed.

The mindset? Maddock told this newspaper: If you want to put on a large event like the Harvest Festival, Spraoi or Winterval, its a completely different type of use of space than accommodating cars and vehicles  with thousands of people moving around the city.

Hmm.

No mention of public safety. No reference to challenges related to crowd management.

Can it be that Waterford people are just better-behaved in a crowd situation? Or is it that the Waterford local authorities are looking for solutions rather than problems?

Is it possible that they dont try to hide behind Dublins example whenever it suits them?

Whatever the answer, Waterford was officially recognised as European City of Christmas 2024 at a ceremony in Madrid last January.

Maybe in time Cork will be recognised as the European City of pre-programmed, interactive, immersive lighting displays.

In that Examiner piece Rupert Maddock was asked if he had any advice for Cork. First, he laughed and said it wasnt for him to advise Cork.

Then he added that what was needed was a flexible vision that incorporated an understanding of why and how the city has developed in the way it has: Cork is 1,000 years old, so most of the history of the city is not the way we perceive the city now, it takes a little lateral thinking. It has been dominated by cars and vehicles only for the last 60 or 70 years.

You can look up photographs from Cork from 100-120 years ago  thats almost what you want the city to go back to, the way the streets had a wide variety of uses, people selling fruit and vegetables, with all sorts of public events happening.

Cities were lively places, with multiple uses.

Those few sentences show more understanding of what would improve Cork than I have ever read from an official in Cork itself.

Waterford isnt perfect, obviously. There are probably Deise readers spitting out their coffee because of all the faults I didn't see on my visit.

But the city has key people committed to preserving its heritage, to attracting visitors, to repurposing dereliction, and to providing ambitious public events. I havent even mentioned its famous  and famously successful  Greenway, which was recently extended right into the city itself. Yet another winner.

Cork City Council recently advertised for a city architect. Clearly, we need to send a squad of masked agents down the coast in a boat to press-gang Rupert Maddock and bring him back to Leeside.
There are times when it is necessary to light a rocket under the general posterior of the body politic to hurry things along.

There are times when one section of the body politic, usually the opposition of the day, might attempt to delay legislation or disrupt a schedule.

And then there are times when the best course of action in processing legislation is to go slowly, take everything in, and ensure that what emerges into law is watertight and fit for purpose.

Currently, the Oireachtas housing committee is scrutinising the Planning and Development Bill 2023, a vital piece of law for the future of the State.

The bill is over 700 pages long and there are around 1,140 proposed amendments.

That requires a lot of scrutinising.

For the last few weeks, the committee has been working its way through seven or eight-hour days, poring over the minutae of the bill.

On Tuesday, following a private meeting of the committee, the opposition members issued a statement expressing concern at a proposed intensification of the schedule to examine the document.

Housing Minister Darragh OBrien is on record as saying he wants to see it passed into law by the summer.

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien is on record as saying he wants to see the bill passed into law by the summer. Picture: Damien Storan.

The statement from the four opposition parties said that they are united in our desire to get planning right, to make necessary changes to the bill.

"We need a planning system that makes for good quality planning decisions, in a timely manner, following meaningful public participation".

This, they claim, is not possible under a proposal to increase the length of sittings in the coming weeks.

The work is painstaking and slow, concentration levels are required to remain high.

The statement was signed by Sinn Fein's Eoin O Broin, Cian OCallaghan of the Social Democrats, Labour's Ivana Bacik, and Richard Boyd Barrett of People Before Profit.

Are the concerns expressed reasonable?

Government sources suggest it is all an attempt to slow passage of the bill, particularly with an election expected later this year.

However, there is plenty of reasons to ensure that scrutiny of this bill is undertaken with a high measure of care.

For there is no doubt that in the coming years, at various points, all manner of specialised lawyers will be closely examining every line for a weakness.

If the politicians dont do the job properly at this point, the lawyers will  quite correctly  make hay later.

There are a number of reasons for concern at how this bill is being handled.

In the first instance, it is a mammoth document and central to how we will live and build in the coming decades.

Secondly, there has been concern expressed outside politics about the bill.

Gavin Lawlor, the president of the Irish Planning Institute, wrote last month that without proper scrutiny the bill will not achieve its objectives and will lead to many years of amendments (usually belatedly) to try to iron out the difficulties we already see will arise in practice".

Unless planners were listened to, he added, they will be left trying to implement unworkable legislation and all of society will be the losers.

Gavin Lawlor, the president of the Irish Planning Institute, said unless planners were listened to, they will be left 'trying to implement unworkable legislation and all of society will be the losers'.

This sentiment has been echoed by individual planners in recent months.

Last October, former chief Justice Frank Clarke said that the thrust of the bill appeared to be to make quick decisions to allow proper development go ahead.

This, he said, would end up creating a system where there will be references to the Court of Justice of the EU and the inevitable delay before there is clarity about the law and would be counterproductive to the purpose it is intended".

The former judges point chimes with that of many others who have expressed concerns.

The whole tenet of the bill is aimed at diminishing third-party rights in the process, says Gavin Daly, who lectures in planning in TU Dublin.

What is clear is that development and construction bodies have, over the years, repeatedly stated that third-party objections are one of the main reasons for delays in planning.

This is hotly-disputed by planners, the legal business, and opposition politicians, but there is much in the bill that suggests it was framed with developers' concerns, irrespective of whether they are valid, in mind.

One example of this debated at the committee in recent weeks is Section 5 of the existing Planning Act dating from 2000.

This is a process used if somebody believes a development may not have planning permission.

If, for instance, a neighbour or developer constructs a large structure without apparent planning permission, you may wonder whether it is legal.

You can then ask the council to declare whether such structure is unauthorised or is exempted from development.

If unauthorised, the section 5 declaration is a legal basis on which to enforce its removal.

There was, however, a few weaknesses in the existing law.

The existing section 5 was criticised by the courts because the owner or developer would not be informed of the section 5 application, Daly says.

Instead of fixing that by allowing the owner to be informed they decided to just remove it altogether for third parties.

During the committee debate on the matter, Eoin O Broin pointed out that there was a straightforward solution to the problem, that there should be a public notification of the process, rather than simply eliminating the third party from it.

Sinn Fein housing spokesperson Eoin O Broin said there should be a public notification of the process, rather than simply eliminating the third party from it.

There is much better ways of addressing the issue the minister is raising. He is throwing the baby out with the bath water and I see no reason why he should not rethink this.

Cian OCallaghan noted that development, whether it is exempted or not, can affect neighbours and the community, yet the proposal simply seeks to exclude third-party rights altogether.

This is just one area  the whole section on judicial reviews is another  in which there appears to be a concerted effort to minimise or eliminate from the process citizens who have concerns about a development.

Throughout the committee hearings  which can be viewed on the Oireachtas website  Eoin O Broin and Cian OCallaghan, who appear to be the mainstay among members, are repeatedly told well get back to you on that.

This constant refrain would be worrying in any scenario, inferring that a whole range of problems were not identified prior to coming before the committee.

In this particular scenario, the apparent shoddy or inaccurate framing of the bill should be a cause for alarm.

The Planning and Development Bill 2023 will be around long after the current minister and Government have left office.

It will, as the four TDs expressed in their statement on Tuesday, impact the lives of millions of people for decades to come.

Under those circumstances, a failure to properly, and with due consideration, scrutinise this bill would amount to a serious dereliction of duty.
Chinas foreign minister has accused the US of devising tactics to suppress Chinas rise and criticised the Biden administration for adding more Chinese companies to its sanctions lists.

Wang Yi, speaking to media during the annual meeting of Chinas legislature on Thursday, said relations with the US have improved since presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met in November, but America has not fulfilled its promises.

He said: If the US always says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major power? If the US gets nervous and anxious when it hears the word China, where is its confidence as a major power?

If the US is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi speaks during a press conference at the National Peoples Congress in Beijing (Ng Han Guan/AP)

Mr Wang returned to the foreign ministers post last summer after his successor, Qin Gang, was abruptly dismissed without explanation after a half year on the job.

Analysts had speculated the ruling Communist Party might use the week-long meeting of the National Peoples Congress to name a new foreign minister, but that appeared off the table after an agenda released on the eve of the opening session did not include personnel changes.

Mr Wang accused the United States, without mentioning it by name, of stirring up trouble in Taiwan and the South China Sea.

China says that self-governing Taiwan is part of China and should be under its control, and it claims a wide swath of the South China Sea, putting it at odds with the Philippines, Vietnam and other south-east Asian neighbours.

The Philippines and the US have accused China of aggressive tactics in trying to block Philippines ships from reaching reefs and other outcroppings that both sides claim, most recently in a collision between coast guard vessels of both countries this week.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi (Ng Han Guan/AP)

For unreasonable provocations, we will take just countermeasures, Mr Wang said. We also advise certain countries outside the region not to stir up trouble, choose sides and not to become disruptors and troublemakers in the South China Sea.

He said countries that insist on maintaining official ties with Taiwan are interfering in Chinas domestic affairs.

Most countries, including the United States, do not have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but China objects to visits by US politicians to the island and US sales of military equipment for its defence.

China will continue to work for peaceful reunification with Taiwan, Mr Wang said, but warned that anyone who supports independence for Taiwan would pay a price.

Our bottom line is also very clear, he said. That is Taiwan will never be allowed to split from the motherland.
A former software engineer at Google has been charged with stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets from the company while secretly working with two companies based in China, the US Justice Department has said.

Linwei Ding, a Chinese national, was arrested in Newark, California, on four counts of federal trade secret theft, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The case against Ding, 38, was announced at an American Bar Association conference in San Francisco by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who along with other law enforcement leaders has repeatedly warned about the threat of Chinese economic espionage and about the national security concerns posed by advancements in artificial intelligence and other developing technologies.

The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences

Todays charges are the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the Peoples Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation, FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.

The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences.

Google said it had determined that the employee had stolen numerous documents and referred the matter to law enforcement.

After an investigation, we found that this employee stole numerous documents, and we quickly referred the case to law enforcement. We are grateful to the FBI for helping protect our information and will continue co-operating with them closely

We have strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets, Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said in a statement.

After an investigation, we found that this employee stole numerous documents, and we quickly referred the case to law enforcement. We are grateful to the FBI for helping protect our information and will continue co-operating with them closely.

Artificial intelligence is the main battleground for competitors in the field of high technology, and the question of who dominates can have major commercial and security implications.

Justice Department leaders have been sounding alarms in recent weeks about how foreign adversaries could harness AI technologies to negatively affect the United States.

As with all evolving technologies, (AI) has pluses and minuses, advantages and disadvantages, great promise and the risk of great harm

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a speech last month that the administrations multi-agency Disruptive Technology Strike Force would place AI at the top of its enforcement priority list, and Mr Wray told a conference last week that AI and other emerging technologies had made it easier for adversaries to try to interfere with the American political process.

Mr Garland echoed those concerns at the San Francisco event, saying: As with all evolving technologies, (AI) has pluses and minuses, advantages and disadvantages, great promise and the risk of great harm.

The indictment unsealed on Wednesday in the Northern District of California alleges that Ding, who was hired by Google in 2019 and had access to confidential information about the companys supercomputing data centres, began uploading hundreds of files into a personal Google Cloud account two years ago.

11,600 The monthly salary prosecutors said Ding was offered at an early-stage technology company in China within weeks of the thefts starting

Within weeks of the theft starting, prosecutors said, Ding was offered the position of chief technology officer at an early-stage technology company in China that touted its use of AI technology and that offered him a monthly salary of about 14,800 US dollars (11,600), plus an annual bonus and company stock.

The indictment said Ding travelled to China and participated in investor meetings at the company and sought to raise capital for it.

He also separately founded and served as chief executive of a China-based startup company that aspired to train large AI models powered by supercomputing chips, the indictment said.

Prosecutors said Ding did not disclose either affiliation to Google, who described him as a junior employee.

He resigned from Google last December 26.

Three days later, Google officials learned that he had presented as chief executive of one of the Chinese companies at an investor conference in Beijing.
Criticising laws or chanting anti-government slogans can be enough to jail someone for sedition in Hong Kong, an appeal court has ruled in a landmark case brought under a colonial-era law increasingly used to crush dissent.

Hong Kongs Court of Appeal upheld a 40-month sentence for pro-democracy activist Tam Tak-chi, the first person to be tried under the citys sedition law since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Tams lawyers had argued his conviction should be overturned because the prosecution did not show he meant to incite violence.

The prosecution is widely seen as part of Beijings clampdown on dissent in the former British colony, following widespread anti-government protests in 2019.

Nothing suggests that any individual, including the applicant, a politician and activist highly critical of the government and a stern opponent of government policy, would be subject to an unacceptably harsh burden because of the restriction on seditious acts or speeches imposed by the offence

Tam was convicted on 11 charges in 2022, including seven counts of uttering seditious words.

A judge at the lower court took issue with him chanting the popular protest slogan Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times  words the government says imply separatism  and criticising the Beijing-imposed National Security Law during a primary campaign.

The judge said his words broke the law because they incited discontent against Hong Kong and disobedience to the law.

Tam and his lawyers had drawn hope from a ruling made by a top Commonwealth court in a 2023 case about a similar law. In that case, the London-based Privy Council said that the sedition law in Trinidad and Tobago could not be used to convict people unless they intended to incite violence or disorder. The Privy Council is the court of final appeal for a number of Commonwealth countries.

But the Hong Kong court rejected the argument, finding that the Privy Council ruling only applied to the law in Trinidad and Tobago.

Hong Kong has seen its freedoms decline in recent years as Beijing has tightened control over the city (Vincent Yu/AP)

Judge Jeremy Poon said sedition in Hong Kong was a statutory offence, not a common law offence. He added that the laws legislative history made it clear that an intention to incite violence was not a necessary element of most sedition offences.

Nothing suggests that any individual, including the applicant, a politician and activist highly critical of the government and a stern opponent of government policy, would be subject to an unacceptably harsh burden because of the restriction on seditious acts or speeches imposed by the offence, the ruling said.

To effectively respond to seditious acts endangering national security, seditious intent had to be broadly framed to encompass a myriad of situations that may arise at different times, they said.

Their ruling is expected to guide other sedition cases in the city, including a looming verdict for two former editors at the now-closed pro-democracy news outlet Stand News.

The media company shut down in 2021 after senior managers were arrested for sedition and police conducted a high-profile raid on its office.

Two years The custodial sentence first-time 'seditious intention' offenders face

Hong Kong has seen its freedoms decline in recent years as Beijing has tightened control over the city.

The sweeping National Security Law, together with the sedition law, has been used to arrest pro-democracy activists and dissidents.

The Hong Kong government has hailed Beijings National Security Law for bringing back stability to the city.

The citys administration is planning its own version of the law, targeting offences such as theft of state secrets and espionage, and to sharpen other existing laws.

In proposals unveiled in January, authorities said they were planning to increase penalties for seditious intention.

Currently, first-time offenders face up to two years imprisonment.
Malaysias prime minister has accused the US of becoming more transactional, using rewards and punishments to achieve aims with other countries, and should be encouraged to enhance co-operation with China in the Asia-Pacific region.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim advocated against taking sides in US-led western rivalries against China for strategic influence in the region. He also rejected western criticism that Malaysia was too accommodating of China as it became increasingly assertive in the South China Sea.

Speaking at Australian National University in Canberra, Mr Anwar promoted empathy towards China, which he said regarded negative reactions to its rise as an attempt to deny their legitimate place in history.

Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim spoke of encouraging regional co-operation and economic integration (Jamie Kidston/The Australian National University via AP)

I believe that Malaysia and Australia have a duty to try the utmost to encourage the United States, China and other major players in the Asia-Pacific to conduct themselves in a manner that is conducive to the enhancement of regional co-operation and economic integration, Mr Anwar said.

Without Southeast Asian nations intervention, the region would be principally dictated by the calculations and designs of the major powers.

Mr Anwar outlined globally significant societal and political shifts in the US over the past three decades such as globalisation that benefited the Asian working-class and reduced the US industrial base. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had also impacted Americans outlook.

The Washington consensus is gradually eroding, if not altogether disappeared

The upshot is a preference for leaders who are more transactional with the rest of the world, said Mr Anwar, referring to US politicians.

The Washington consensus is gradually eroding, if not altogether disappeared, he added.

Western perspectives on the future of the global order should not be expected to be embraced universally, Mr Anwar said.

In a veiled criticism of China enforcing legally baseless territorial claims in the South China Sea, Mr Anwar said we may not turn a blind eye to breaches of international law.
The first fatal attack by Yemens Houthi rebels on shipping threatens to further sever a crucial maritime artery for global trade and carries with it risks beyond those at sea.

The White House is already warning there will be a response to Wednesdays attack on the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden.

The US militarys Central Command said an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from a Houthi-controlled area in Yemen struck the commercial ship, causing significant damage.

Three crew members onboard the True Confidence bulk carrier were killed in the attack, US officials said (US Central Command via AP)

Three crew members were killed and at least four crew members were injured, with survivors forced to abandon the vessel following the attack, US officials said.

What the US response will look like remains unclear, but it has already launched round after round of airstrikes targeting the Houthis, a rebel group that has held Yemens capital since 2014, and more are likely to be on their way.

But there is already a wider economic, humanitarian and political impact looming from the attack.

It also further highlights Yemens years-long war, now overshadowed by Israels grinding conflict with Hamas in Gaza that may reach into the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, raising the danger of worsening regional anger.

We hold America responsible for the repercussions of everything that happens

Since the onset of the Houthi attacks, the rebels have framed them as a way to pressure Israel to stop the war, which has killed more than 30,700 Palestinians, according to Gazas health ministry.

The war began on October 7 with a Hamas attack in Israel that killed about 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage.

But as shipping companies began avoiding the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, the rebels began attacking ships with tenuous, or no ties to Israel or the war.

Meanwhile, US and coalition warships have shot down any Houthi fire that has come near them.

This has left the rebels targeting commercial ships whose only protection has been armed guards, barbed-wire fencing and water cannons  good enough to deter pirates, but not an anti-ship ballistic missile.

Survivors were forced to abandon the True Confidence following the attack, US officials said (US Central Command via AP)

Wednesdays attack underlines the danger to those not even involved in the war. The Houthi missile that hit the True Confidence killed two Filipinos and one Vietnamese national. The Iranian-backed Houthis have not acknowledged these deaths and sought to distance themselves from any consequence of their actions.

We hold America responsible for the repercussions of everything that happens, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam wrote online.

Another ship sank this past weekend after being abandoned following a Houthi attack.

Already, the Houthis have attacked at least one ship carrying aid bound for territory they hold.

The Greek-flagged, US-owned bulk carrier Sea Champion had been full of grain from Argentina and was bound for Aden and then rebel-held Hodeida when it was hit in February.

The escalation of the crisis in the Red Sea is likely to worsen the food insecurity situation in Yemen in 2024, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis

As hunger stalks the Gaza Strip during the Israel war, so too does it still grip Yemen, the Arab worlds poorest country.

The escalation of the crisis in the Red Sea is likely to worsen the food insecurity situation in Yemen in 2024, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has warned.

Then there are the conflicts gripping East Africa. The World Food Programme issued a warning on Tuesday regarding its operations in Somalia, saying the shipping crisis was hindering its ability to maintain its regular flow of humanitarian aid.

In war-torn Sudan, the International Rescue Committee said it had suspended its operations to Port Sudan over hiked costs and other concerns rising from the Houthi attacks.

Then there is the economic pressure. While Israel has described its economy as so far unaffected, the same cannot be said for neighbouring Egypt. Traffic in its Suez Canal linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea onwards to Europe has dropped by nearly half, according to UN figures.

These shipping fees provide crucial revenue for Egypts government, which has allowed the Egyptian pound to rapidly devalue as it reached a deal with the International Monetary Fund to increase its bailout loan. Further economic turmoil could spark unrest in Egypt, less than 15 years on from the 2011 Arab Spring.
On-the-run mother Constance Marten has denied harming her newborn daughter, saying: I did nothing but show her love.

Aristocrat Marten, 36, and her partner Mark Gordon, 49, are on trial over the death of baby Victoria while living off-grid in a tent on the South Downs in wintry conditions last year.

On Thursday, Marten went into the witness box to give evidence in her defence after Gordon declined the opportunity earlier in the week.

Defence barrister Francis FitzGibbon KC asked her: Did you do anything to harm baby Victoria?

Marten replied: Absolutely not.

Mr FitzGibbon said: Did you do anything cruel to baby Victoria?

Marten said: No. I did nothing but show her love.

She told jurors she did not expose her baby to cold or allow her to get too hot so far as she was aware.

Mr FitzGibbon said: So far as you are concerned, did you give her anything less than the proper care you thought she deserved?

Marten replied: I gave her the best that any mother would, yeah.

She told jurors Victoria died last January 9, saying: I do not think it is anything I will ever move on from.

She said: I feel guilty because she was in my arms. I feel like its not an easy thing to live with, adding: I think initially it was disbelief, shock, intense grief.

Court artist sketch of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon at the Old Bailey, London (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

Greater Manchester Police had launched a nationwide search after a placenta was found in the couples burnt-out car by the motorway near Bolton, Greater Manchester, last January 5.

It is alleged the defendants went on the run because they wanted to keep their daughter, after four other children were taken into care.

Days after the defendants arrest last February 27, Victorias badly decomposed body was found in a Lidl bag inside an allotment shed in Brighton, East Sussex.

While the cause of her death is unascertained, jurors have heard she could have died from the cold or co-sleeping.

Marten told police Victoria died when she fell asleep in the tent while holding her under her jacket.

The court has heard Marten had previously been warned by social workers of the risks of falling asleep with the baby on her and that a tent would be wholly inappropriate for a baby to live in.

CTTV dated 07/01/23 of Constance Marten holding baby Victoria under her coat outside Special Connection in East Ham, London (Met Police/PA)

Marten told jurors how she came from a wealthy family and was privately educated before studying Arabic at Leeds University.

She went on to travel extensively to Egypt, India, Nepal, Nigeria, Uganda and South America and worked for Al Jazeera, the Middle Eastern news station.

She met Gordon in 2014 in an shop selling incense and they had a marriage ceremony in Peru two years later, although it was not legally binding.

She said Gordon did not meet her relatives as the relationship with her family had broken down and there was a long history of issues.

Jurors were told how her trust fund was cut off overnight when she was heavily pregnant with her first child but by the time of her second, she was being given some 2,000 (2,340) a month.

Marten denied ever thinking about giving birth in a tent when her first baby was born in 2017.

Mr FitzGibbon asked: Do you recall being given any advice by anybody at that time about the risk of falling asleep whilst breastfeeding a baby?

She replied: I was a few months later when I was in the mother and baby unit.

Marten said she had a bad experience with the birth of her first child in the NHS and felt she had made a bet with the devil in her dealings with social services.

She said became distrustful after she was advised against giving birth to her second child at home because the baby was huge.

She said: I panicked and got a private scan. They said there is nothing wrong, of course you can have a home birth.

Marten also researched hypnobirth, but added: I do think that you should have scans to check the baby is in the right position and baby is OK but I dont think midwifery is necessary. Once you have had your first child a woman is quite intuitive.

Marten became tearful when she was asked if she had ever harmed any of her five children.

She said: Absolutely not. Mark and I love our kids more than anything in the world so Im pretty angry about the fact they had to go through this process. Its not good enough.

Challenged on the prosecution suggestion she and Gordon put their interests ahead of the children, she said: No, there is literally nothing I would not do for my children.

Ahead of a break in her evidence, Judge Mark Lucraft KC warned her not to speak to anyone and noted seeing Gordon pass her a note before she began her evidence.

He told her: He must not do that. Its you giving evidence, not him.

The defendants, of no fixed address, deny manslaughter by gross negligence, perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and causing or allowing the death of a child.
A joint security force announced by the juntas ruling Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso to fight the worsening extremist violence in their Sahel region countries faces a number of challenges that cast doubt on its effectiveness, analysts have said.

Nigers top military chief, Brigadier General Moussa Salaou Barmou said in a statement after meeting with counterparts on Wednesday that the joint force would be operational as soon as possible to meet the security challenges in our area.

The announcement is the latest in a series of actions taken by the three countries to strike a more independent path away from regional and international allies since the region experienced a string of coups  the most recent in Niger in July last year.

They have already formed a security alliance after severing military ties with neighbours and European nations such as France and turning to Russia  already present in parts of the Sahel  for support.

(The three regimes) have come to power through coups, they are likely facing a high risk of coups themselves, so it is hard to build a stable security framework when the foundation of each individual regime is shaky

Brig Gen Barmou did not give details about the operation of the force, which he referred to as an operational concept that will enable us to achieve our defence and security objectives.

Although the militaries had promised to end the insurgencies in their territories after deposing their respective elected governments, conflict analysts say the violence has instead worsened under their regimes. They all share borders in the conflict-hit Sahel region and their security forces fighting jihadi violence are overstretched.

The effectiveness of their security alliance would depend not just on their resources but on external support, Bedr Issa, an independent analyst who researches the conflict in the Sahel, said.

The three regimes were also very fragile, James Barnett, a researcher specialising in West Africa at the US-based Hudson Institute, said, raising doubts about their capacity to work together.

Theyve come to power through coups, they are likely facing a high risk of coups themselves, so it is hard to build a stable security framework when the foundation of each individual regime is shaky, Mr Barnett said.
Thursday, Mar 7th, 2024 (9:00 am) - Score 3,640

A group of full fibre broadband operators, which are being led by alternative network providers Ogi and Vorboss, have today called on the UK Government and Ofcom to urgently help tackle a recent rise in attacks  often committed by criminal gangs and vandals  against vital national telecoms infrastructure and the engineers who build it.

Regular ISPreview readers will already be aware that, over the past few years, there has been somewhat of an increase in physical attacks against UK broadband and mobile networks, as well as the engineers responsible for building and maintaining them. Such attacks dont just cause costly physical damage but can also leave local homes and businesses disconnected, often for a protracted period, from vital communication services.

Some of the most recent examples include a targeted attack against Ogis full fibre (FTTP) network in Wales that left customers disconnected (here), as well as a similar attack against Netomnias (YouFibre) network in Liverpool (here) and a smaller incident against Pine Medias network in Sheffield (here). In addition, MS3 recently had some of their poles cut down by chainsaws in East Yorkshire (here).

Quite why people do this isnt always clear. Most such incidents are often considered to be vandalism, although in some cases it can relate to the criminal theft of valuable network equipment (e.g. batteries or old copper telecoms cables) or form part of a protest. For example, the hate whipped up by anti-pole protestors in parts of Hull seemed to encourage recent damage to MS3s network.

During the COVID-19 pandemic there were also multiple attacks committed against both fixed and mobile networks, as well as direct assaults against engineers, which was fuelled by some bizarre and utterly preposterous conspiracy theories (e.g. the belief that COVID-19 was being spread or created by 5G mobile signals  fact check).

Network operators want action

The good news is that some of those responsible for causing a few of the more historic incidents (e.g. cable thefts and mast damage) have in the past been arrested, and a few were even sent to jail. But there remains a general feeling that many of those who commit such acts often get away with it, and that network operators arent being given enough support.

Strictly speaking, telecoms networks, many of which could be classed as part of Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), should technically already be protected by tough laws. But clearly the existing rules and punishments dont seem to be acting as an effective deterrent, and the industry is now calling for serious change.

Ben Allwright, Ogis CEO, said: Working with the UK and devolved governments now means we can make sure this infrastructure  feeding our homes, businesses and critical public services  is backed by laws that are fit for purpose; deterring those who aim to sabotage the connectivity we increasingly lean on for our working, social, and day-to-day lives. Now is the time for us to get around the table to make sure this vital infrastructure has the protection it needs.

Vorboss CEO, Tim Creswick, said: Change is needed to protect the countrys digital infrastructure. Weve raised these concerns after a series of attacks on telecoms networks. Resilience of digital connectivity should be a critical priority, and DSIT and Ofcom have the responsibility to affect these important changes. A review of current rules is desperately needed, from sentencing to policing to enforcing industry compliance.

As part of this the two operators, which are being backed by a big chunk of the wider fibre industry, have jointly written an open letter to Michelle Donelan, the Secretary of State for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), and Ofcom, which calls for a wide-ranging review of the security of the UKs physical networks.

Specifically, the industry requests:  Attacks on critical digital infrastructure to carry tougher sentences and fines to act as a deterrent. The severity of the penalties should reflect the potential risks to life and the critical role that full fibre plays in keeping our communities connected and safe.  Direction from Government to ensure police forces prioritise engagement with attacks on critical digital infrastructure, in line with their impact on communities and the economy.  Strict enforcement of essential security compliance protocols by industry, specifically ensuring all network builders adhere to Openreach whereabouts compliance.

The government would no doubt highlight that theyve already made some progress by introducing the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021 (summary), but this was arguably more focused on the security of the internal network connectivity and services themselves, rather than the punishment of those who physically attack such infrastructure.

In addition to the above, we separately think that both network operators and the police could generally do a better job of publicising when those responsible for committing such acts are arrested, charged and sentenced. The reason for this doesnt just stem from our own journalistic curiosity, but also because showing the consequences of an act can help to discourage future offences.

However, we often find that network operators are reluctant to talk about even successful punishments in public, even after sentencing has taken place, and trying to get any kind of statistics out of them is a particularly tricky task. The problem here is that criminal activity often thrives in the shadows.

Equally, it should be said that not all such infrastructure is perhaps as well secured by the network operators themselves as it could be, although there are often some practical and cost limitations to what is possible on this front  particularly at sites of shared infrastructure access.

A DSIT (gov) spokesperson told ISPreview: We have one of the toughest telecoms security regimes in the world and we continue to work closely with relevant organisations to identify risks and ensure the security and resilience of our telecoms network infrastructure. We have engaged with providers and relevant authorities to understand these concerns and identify whether there is support Government can provide to safeguard networks and ensure that services can operate without disruption. Any case of suspected criminal damage to telecoms infrastructure should be reported to the police to investigate.

The letter itself, which weve pasted in full below, is co-signed by senior leadership figures from AllPoints Fibre, County Broadband, Glide, Airband, Broadband for Surrey, GoFibre, Freedom Fibre, MS3, Zayo Group UK, B4RN, Community Fibre and INCA.

The letter also touches on the thorny issue of poor whereabouts compliance on Openreachs network, which is something weve recently covered in a lot more detail (here) and that helps to give the related statements below some context. This reflects a mandatory requirement for related contractors to record their whereabouts when working on or in Openreachs network. But it is ultimately a commercial decision for Openreach to decide how it enforces the contracts they have with other operators, and any competition issues that might arise from this would be a matter for Ofcom.

Katie Milligan, CCO at Openreach, told ISPreview: As the largest network in the UK with the highest regulated service standards to uphold, nobody suffers more from poor whereabouts compliance than Openreach and no-ones keener to improve it. Were continuing to work closely with the industry and Ofcom to make sure that work is recorded properly and completed safely and securely. Weve been doing this in a very collaborative way and, whilst we do have options for stricter enforcement if thats needed, wed prefer not to have to enforce contractual penalties. Right now, no company using our network is 100% compliant, so everyone has work to do to improve. Its also important to emphasise that compliance isnt a silver bullet to prevent damage and security issues. It can help of course, but it doesnt account for malicious acts or provide conclusive proof of causes.

While DSIT, as the Lead Government Department for Telecoms, does have a responsibility for security and resilience at the national level, the government highlights that individual infrastructure owners and operators are ultimately responsible for their own security and resilience measures. In other words, the solution for at least some of the highlighted issues (e.g. whereabouts compliance) might be found via an industry-led approach.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
With the 2023 college football season fast approaching, and a lot of question marks surrounding the Sycamores, what are we all to expect from Indiana State heading into their home-opener, and how will the season unfold?
1371138342::cfb49c8e-2422-11e5-99a3-d7f5c6e8b241

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
 How to Clip

Click and hold your mouse button on the page to select the area you wish to save or print. You can click and drag the clipping box to move it or click and drag in the bottom right corner to resize it. When you're happy with your selection, click the checkmark icon next to the clipping area to continue.
Review of Tom Stevenson, Someone Elses Empire: British Illusions and American Hegemony.. London: Verso, 2023.

Munich (Special to Informed Comment; Feature)  Everything is going well in the Special Relationship between the US and the UK. After an American chemist dared to suggest that adding salt to the quintessential British cup of tea could represent an improvement, the US embassy stepped in and calmed restless audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. We cannot stand idly by as such an outrageous proposal threatens the very foundation of our special relationship, posted the US embassy in London in January 2024. The embassy noted that the unthinkable notion of adding salt to Britains national drink is not official United States policy. And never will be.

There was never a risk of a diplomatic conflict, of course, because two countries that agree to jointly strike Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen continuously for almost two months are not likely to create a tempest in a teapot. The long-running dynamics in the US-UK relationship that help explain their joint strikes in Yemen, not frivolous discussions on tea, are part of Tom Stevensons latest book, Someone Elses Empire: British Illusions and American Hegemony, a collection of articles published by the author over the years for the London Review of Books (LRB).

Stevenson, a contributing editor at the LRB, discusses Yemen in the book concerning the US-UK support for the bombing operations Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have carried out in Yemen for seven years. Stevenson obviously could not have had the US-UK joint strikes against the Houthis in mind when his book went to press at some point in mid-2023. Still, his assertion that, within the British establishment, nostalgia for global influence has produced a compulsive Atlanticism and a reflexive resort to military actions that the UK is near incapable of actually performing[1], could also serve as a clever analysis of the most recent events.

Facing its decline as a global power, the dominant trend of late twentieth-century Britain was not resurgence as an independent power but a new surrogacy to the US.[2] With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the supposed end of history, following Washingtons lead seemed more self-evident than ever. This was the case even if it implied invading Iraq under the false premise that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.



Tom Stevenson, Someone Elses Empire:British Illusions and American Hegemony. Click here.

Tony Blair was perfectly content to become George Bushs junior partner. He was not alone among European leaders in embracing Americas turbocharged bellicosity after the 9/11 attacks. In Spain, for instance, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar from the center-right Popular Party was only too happy to meet Bush and Blair in the Portuguese Azores archipelago four days before the invasion to support the US-UK alliance. The Spanish press referred to Bush, Blair, and Aznar as El Trio de las Azores (The Azores Trio) and Spain sent 2,600 soldiers to Iraq between August 2003 and May 2004. Eleven of them would die there.

The Spanish participation in the Iraq War ended after the Socialist Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who had campaigned on the promise to withdraw the troops from Iraq, defeated Aznar in the national elections of March 14, 2004. The Iraq War was key in Zapateros victory. It will soon be exactly two decades since March 11, 2004, when Madrid suffered a series of terrorist attacks in commuter trains that killed 193 people.

Aznars government blamed the Basque separatist group ETA for the attacks despite knowing early on that everything pointed at al-Qaeda. The terrorist group had attacked Spain due to its involvement in the Iraq War. When the truth was eventually revealed right before election day, Zapateros Socialist party won a surprise victory. In an interview three years ago, Aznar continued to defend that his decision to join the conflict in Iraq represented Spains most important role in many decades.

In the early 2000s, the UK was not the only country with a vanished empire overplaying its relevance at the international level by seeking to stay close to the US. Whereas Spain soon shifted course, the UK has tied its future even closer to the US after Brexit, notes Stevenson. One of the examples the author provides is the trend in British weapons acquisitions. During the last twenty years, the UK has almost uninterruptedly procured more than 50% of its weapons imports from the US. However, this has recently only intensified. The data offered by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows that in the period from 2020 to 2022, the last year for which data is available, weapons imports from the US represented 95% of British total expenditure on weapons produced abroad.

One of Stevensons main arguments regarding the US-UK relationship is that London has often been conducting a foreign and defense policy that makes little sense in terms of promoting British national interests. For instance, Stevenson points to Britains commitment to deploy patrol vessels and a frigate in the Indo-Pacific area with the vague objective of projecting power. This is the kind of investment London has often committed to despite it more likely benefiting the US than the UK, if at all.

In this sense, the case of the US-UK joint strikes against the Houthis is exceptional. If we accept, for the sake of the argument, that US-UK attacks against Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen are the most effective way to ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, then it would be the UK that would profit more from this. The economic interests of the US are hardly directly affected by the attacks on ships in the Red Sea, whereas the Suez Channel is a key trade artery for cargo either coming from or going to Europe.

Some exceptions notwithstanding, there is a clear general dynamic of British subordination to Washington. As Stevenson argues, this can also be observed in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance that comprises the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Whereas the US National Security Agency (NSA) automatically receives the feed from intelligence stations in other countries, the NSA sometimes withholds what it knows.[3]

Stevenson discusses the changing character of war from the perspective of the US and the UK. The author is deeply knowledgeable of varied topics such as the overuse of economic sanctions by Western countries, the details of nuclear competition, or the militarization of space, with satellites and space missions becoming increasingly important.

But Stevenson often pushes too far the books generally convincing main argument, that Britain has become subservient to American power. For instance, he writes that one must wonder whether Britain retains an independent foreign policy at all itself.[4] Someone Elses Empire also tends to overplay the influence of Washington, and by implication London, in the Middle East. Writing about the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Stevenson argues that since the West installed the monarchs, and its behavior is essentially extractive, I see no reason to avoid describing the continued Anglo-American domination of the Gulf as colonial.[5]

It is difficult to see how a colonial power would not have replaced Crown Prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman following his implication in the murder of the Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. Bin Salmans role in the assassination of Khashoggi was a huge embarrassment for his Western supporters. Neither would a colonial power have allowed Saudi Arabia and the UAE to impose a blockade on Qatar, a Western ally, between 2017 and 2021.

Stevenson is sometimes hyperbolic about US power. Still, it is true that, for all talk of American decline, the shadow of American power still casts over the rest of the world is unmistakable.[6] The UK has been enveloped by this shadow while also contributing to making it larger. From Iraq to Yemen and, once the controversy around Britains national drink has been happily resolved, over a cup of tea.

[1] Tom Stevenson, Someone Elses Empire: British Illusions and American Hegemony (London: Verso, 2023), p. 4.

[2] Ibid., p. 15.

[3] Ibid., p. 55.

[4] Ibid., p. 234.

[5] Ibid., p. 160.

[6] Ibid., p. 232.
Viewpoint: Educators have a responsibility to help guide ethical leadership. Thats why more than 4,000 of us are calling on Biden to demand a ceasefire.

Nikolas Gannon/Unsplash

.

Yasmin Saikia and Chad Haines co-direct the Center of Muslim Experience in the U.S. at Arizona State University. They are signatories of an open letter to U.S. President Joe Biden, signed by over 4,000 scholars across leading American universities and colleges, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

( AnalystNews.org)  The conflict in Gaza is complicated. But it is not as convoluted as it has been made out to be. As academics, we firmly believe that the principles of peace studies can assist us in comprehending the situation in Gaza and enable us to fulfill our obligation as educators to promote peace while condemning violence.

It is not enough to teach peace in the classroom. We must strive to apply these principles in our lives and inspire others to do the same.

Earlier this month, on Feb. 17, Johan Galtung, the father of peace studies, died. His lasting legacy of defining structural discrimination, oppression and marginalization as forms of violence, and thus a lack of peace, provides a poignant window into understanding the current crisis in the Middle East and the role academics play as advocates for peace.

Theoretically, Galtung deepened our understanding of peace by differentiating between negative and positive peace. Negative peace is the cessation of violence or conflict resolution; positive peace takes a deeper and more historical perspective, seeing violence through structural inequalities and covert forms of oppression and marginalization and bringing an end to it.

Galtungs emphasis on recognizing structural inequalities and covert forms of oppression informs us as U.S. university educators who signed an open letter calling for a ceasefire in Gaza  unlike the politicians, journalists and warmongers who believe that extreme violence and collective punishment of the Gazans is justified because of the horrific attack of Hamas against Israelis civilians on Oct. 7, 2023.

When our political leaders fail to act or even speak out against the injustices of the age, we believe it is the responsibility of scholars, writers, artists, and other civic, educational, and moral leaders to break the silence.

The people who do not want a ceasefire even now, after four months of relentless violence against the noncombatants of Gaza, are unmindful to the context of the decades-long imprisonment of Gaza by Israel; the long history of violent bombings and military incursions into Gaza by Israeli Defense Forces; the displacement of Palestinians since 1946 and their resettlement in camps in Gaza, the West Bank, and elsewhere in the region; or of Israels past support of Hamas to counter the influence of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

But one does not need that knowledge. All one needs to do is look at the media footage of Gaza after four months of continuous bombardment.

Look at the faces of the children killed, displaced, and orphaned. Look at the destruction of internationally defined safe spaces such as hospitals and their lack of medicine and equipment. Listen to the genocidal statements of Israels prime minister, president, military leaders and politicians. See for yourself what is happening in Gaza today.

Amid the ongoing violence in Gaza, academics are pleading with President Biden to call for a ceasefire. This is not a political act but a human response. The 30,000 people who have lost their lives, including women and children among the noncombatant victims, urge us to put aside divisiveness and prioritize human security. The thousands of American scholars and educators who have signed this petition are calling for justice, compassion and the protection of all lives, emphasizing the importance of preserving our shared humanity.

When our political leaders fail to act or even speak out against the injustices of the age, we believe it is the responsibility of scholars, writers, artists, and other civic, educational, and moral leaders to break the silence, a collective of U.S. scholars recently wrote in an open letter to President Biden.

As academics, we place a premium on the advancement of just, peaceful, and collaborative resolutions to shared problems, based on credible evidence, critical inquiry, and social responsibility. We expect the same of our leaders.

It is not enough to teach peace in the classroom. We must strive to apply these principles in our lives and inspire others to do the same.

President Biden recognizes the importance of teachers and their role in shaping future generations. He often pays tribute to his wife, Jill Biden, a longtime professor and teacher with a doctoral degree in education. Teachers, he knows, are advocates for learning about diversity, justice and empathy. Platforms for dialogue between teachers and policymakers are crucial to ensuring decisions align with principles of peace, justice and human rights. The plea for a ceasefire is not an overstep for us as academics and educators; it is a manifestation of our responsibility to guide leaders toward empathy, understanding and peace. Our advocacy for a ceasefire is not a deviation from our role as educators; it is a commitment to shaping minds that prioritize dialogue over violence and compassion over conflict. These educators call for a ceasefire in Gaza aligns with our duty to instill compassion and ethical citizenship in the United States and globally. Johan Galtungs call for positive peace can become a lived experience if we make a commitment to the ceasefire that will benefit humanity globally.
VANCOUVER, BC, March 6, 2024 /CNW/ - Freegold Ventures Limited (TSX: FVL) (OTCQX: FGOVF) (the "Company" or "Freegold Ventures"), is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Paradigm Capital Inc. (the "Agent"), in connection with a proposed best efforts private placement financing (the "Offering") for total proceeds of a minimum of $5.0 million and up to a maximum of $7.5 million, consisting of a minimum of 12,500,000 units and up to a maximum of 18,750,000 units of the Company (the "Units") at a price of $0.40 per Unit. Each Unit will be comprised of one common share (a "Common Share") and one half of one Common Share purchase warrant of Freegold Ventures. Each whole Common Share purchase warrant will be exercisable for 2 years from the Closing Date at an exercise price of $0.52 per Common Share.

The net proceeds from the Offering will be used for general corporate and working capital purposes.

The Units will be offered for sale in each of the provinces of Canada, other than Quebec, pursuant to the listed issuer financing exemption (the "Listed Issuer Financing Exemption") under Part 5A of National Instrument 45-106  Prospectus Exemption. The Company has filed a Form 45-106F19 with the securities commissions or similar regulatory authorities in each of the provinces of Canada, other than Quebec. As the Offering is being completed pursuant to the Listed Issuer Financing Exemption, the Units issued in the Offering will not be subject to a hold period pursuant to applicable Canadian securities laws.

There is an offering document related to this Offering that can be accessed under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca and on the Company's website at www.freegoldventures.com. Prospective investors should read this offering document before making an investment decision.

The Offering is expected to close on or about March 26, 2024 (the "Closing Date") and will be subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, including listing of the Common Shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The Agent is entitled, on the Closing Date, to a cash commission equal to 7% of the gross proceeds of the Offering and will receive broker warrants entitling the Agent, from time to time for a period of 2 years from the Closing Date, to acquire that number of Common Shares that is equal to 7% of the number of Units issued pursuant to the Offering, at an exercise price equal to the volume weighted average trading price of the Common Shares on the TSX for the five trading days immediately preceding the date hereof.

The securities have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States without registration under the U.S. Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws or compliance with the requirements of an applicable exemption therefrom. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor may there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Freegold Ventures Limited

Freegold Ventures is a TSX-listed company focused on exploration in Alaska and holds the Golden Summit Gold Project near Fairbanks and the Shorty Creek Copper-Gold Project near Livengood through leases.

Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, without limitation, the completion of planned expenditures, the ability to complete exploration programs on schedule, and the success of exploration programs.
Kingston, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - Delta Resources Limited (TSXV: DLTA) (OTC PINK: DTARF) (FSE: 6GO1) ("Delta" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that it will add up to 3000 additional metres to its previously announced 5000 metre drill campaign at the Delta-1 Project in Thunder Bay.

Initial results from the first four (4) drill holes and one (1) drill hole extension were announced on March 1, 2024 including 15.94 g/t over 10 metres. The 2024 drill campaign is ongoing with final assay results still pending.

This drilling program and Delta's future exploration programs in 2024 are fully funded.

In 2023, Delta completed sixty (60) drill holes for a total of 19620 metres at the Delta-1 project. This brings the total drilling at the property to eighty-six (86) drill holes or 26288 metres, since Delta's 2019 acquisition of the project. Other exploration work at the property in 2023 included a geological mapping, prospecting and sampling program that covered approximately ten (10) square kilometres as well as a 3D induced polarization geophysical survey and a high-resolution drone magnetic survey.

Qualified Persons

Daniel Boudreau, P.Geo. and Manager of Exploration at Delta Resources Limited, is the Qualified Persons as defined by NI-43-101. He has supervised the drilling program in the field and reviewed the technical information presented in this press release.

Ontario Junior Exploration Program

Delta would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Ontario Government via the Ontario Junior Exploration Program ("OJEP"). Delta will be receiving up to $200,000 upon completion of its exploration program at Delta-1.

About Delta Resources Limited

Delta Resources Limited is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on growing shareholder value through the exploration of two very high-potential gold and base-metal projects in Canada.

DELTA-1 is Delta's flagship project, where the company is building gold ounces 50 kilometres west of Thunder Bay, Ontario, at surface and adjacent to the Trans-Canada highway. To date, the gold mineralization is defined over 1.8 km from surface to a vertical depth of 250 m. Highlights include drill intercepts such as 5.92 g/t Au over 31 m (incl. 14.8 g/t Au over 11.9 m), and 1.79 g/t Au over 128.5 m. The property covers 107 square kilometres and Delta has identified a 5 km long corridor of intense alteration and deformation at the property, on strike with the gold zone, that has yet to be thoroughly explored.

The DELTA-2 property covers 205 square kilometres in the prolific Chibougamau District of Quebec. The property holds excellent potential for gold-rich polymetallic VMS deposits as well as hydrothermal-gold deposits. Delta targets VMS deposits such as the LeMoine past producer where 0.76 Mt were mined between 1975 and 1983, grading 9.6% Zn, 4.2% Cu, 4.5 g/t Au and 84 g/t Ag.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DELTA RESOURCES LIMITED.

Andre C. Tessier

President, CEO and Director

www.deltaresources.ca

We seek safe harbor. 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. The TSX Venture Exchange has not approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein.

For Further Information:

Delta Resources Limited

Andre Tessier, CEO and President

Tel: 613-328-1581

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

or

Frank Candido, Chairman,

Tel : 514-969-5530

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information

Some statements contained in this news release are "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases (including negative or grammatical variations) or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and involves risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual facts to differ materially. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by management. The forward-looking information contained in this press release constitutes management's current estimates, as of the date of this press release, with respect to the matters covered thereby. We expect that these estimates will change as new information is received. While we may elect to update these estimates at any time, we do not undertake to update any estimate at any particular time or in response to any particular event.
Pinion: 112.7m at 0.72 g/t Au (oxide)

Dark Star: 36.6m at 3.53 g/t Au, including 19.8m at 5.23 g/t Au (oxide)

VANCOUVER, BC, March 7, 2024 /CNW/ - Orla Mining Ltd. (TSX: OLA) (NYSE: ORLA) ("Orla" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on its exploration activities at the South Railroad Project in the second half of 2023. This news release presents the first of two updates from the 2023 infill and extension drilling, totaling seven drillholes and representing 2,508 metres. Drilling at South Railroad in 2023 totalled 14,695 metres and additional results from other exploration targets will be shared in a subsequent update.

Highlights

Potential expansion of resources at Pinion and Dark Star deposits through new oxide intersections in step-out drilling: Pinion: 0.72 g/t Au over 112.7 metres (oxide) Dark Star: 3.53 g/t Au over 36.6 metres (oxide)

Successful infilling and metallurgical drilling with confirmation of modeled grade, continuity of mineralization, via infill drill program. Intersection includes 2.20 g/t Au over 163.1 metres (oxide) and 2.50 g/t Au over 88.1 metres (oxide).



"Since acquiring the South Railroad project in August 2022, Orla has made substantial progress in near-deposit exploration, satellite deposit testing, and expanding our land position along the Carlin Trend. The recent positive drill results outside the projected open pits highlight the project's low exploration maturity and significant growth potential. In 2024, we will focus on expanding resources at existing deposits and continuing exploration across the property, which could soon be expanded to include Pony Creek".

- Sylvain Guerard, Orla's SVP Exploration

2023 Pinion and Dark Star Exploration Highlights

In 2023, Orla extended oxide-hosted gold mineralization at the Pinion and Dark Star deposits, with highly positive drill intersections outside of the projected open pits (Figure 1). Meanwhile, infill drill results met expectations, confirming robust oxide mineralization within projected pits, while supplying material for new metallurgical column test work to further optimize the planned development project.

Pinion SE Extension Drilling

At the Pinion deposit, a review of available geological data suggested gold mineralization may be continuous in the southeastern part of the deposit over the Pinion SE target area, where faulting had been previously interpreted as limiting or displacing extension of the mineralization. To test the continuity of gold mineralization, three drill holes totaling 822 metres were completed. All three drillholes intercepted significant oxide-hosted gold mineralization, including 0.72 g/t Au over 112.7 metres (oxide) confirming the continuity of gold mineralization to the southeast without fault displacement interference (Figure 2). These results, combined with historical drill intersections, indicate geological continuity and suggests gold mineralization extends to at least 350 metres outside of the projected open pit.

Significant results from drilling at Pinion:

Pinion PC23-01 incl. 0.72 g/t Au over 112.7 m (oxide) 1.38 g/t Au over 21.3m PR23-01 incl. 0.78 g/t Au over 71.6 m (oxide) 1.79 g/t Au over 16.8 m PR23-02 and 0.44 g/t Au over 29.0 m (oxide) 0.50 g/t Au over 39.6 m (oxide)

Dark Star Exploration Drilling (Project Open Pit extension and Geophysical Target)

Exploration drilling at the Dark Star deposit consisted of 1,112 metres in two drillholes. Results from these two exploration drill holes identified the potential to extend oxide mineralization beyond the currently defined mineral resources and explained a seismic anomaly identified below the Dark Star deposit.

Drillhole DR23-01 targeted the potential extension of high-grade mineralization east of the currently designed open pit limit, returning wider and higher-grade oxide hosted gold mineralization than nearby drill holes and average resources grade, including 3.53 g/t Au over 36.6 metres (oxide), 5.23 g/t Au over 19.8 metres approximately 50 metres outside of the projected open pit limit (Figure 3). The exceptional results from this extension drilling suggests the potential to define additional oxide mineralization, possibly associated with a previously unknown feeder structure for the Dark Star deposit. Additional drilling is planned for 2024 to follow-up on these highly encouraging results, testing the feeder structure model and defining the potential to grow resources and expand the projected open pit.

Drillhole DC23-01 was drilled in the northern part of the Dark Star deposit to test the potential extension of mineralization and was extended to investigate an anisotropic, antiformal seismic anomaly approximately 400 metres below the Dark Star deposit. Assay results from the upper part of the hole returned low grade Au (1.66 g/t Au over 12.5 metres (Sulphide) from 256.5 metres) approximately 30 metres outside the currently defined open pit at Dark Star. Drilling also intercepted unmineralized Tonka Formation conglomerate at depth, explaining and validating the seismic target.

Significant exploration results from Dark Star:

Dark Star Extension DR23-01 incl. incl. 3.53 g/t Au over 36.6 m (oxide) 5.23 g/t Au over 19.8 m (oxide) 11.8 g/t Au over 3.1m (oxide)

Dark Star Infill and Metallurgical Drilling

One reverse circulation and one core drillhole were completed within the northern pit at the Dark Star deposit (Figure 4) to support ongoing project development work.

The reverse circulation hole, DR23-02, was drilled to confirm continuity of high-grade Au in oxide mineralization at the base of the designed open pit. Highly positive assay results, 2.20 g/t Au over 163.1 metres (oxide), incl. 3.97 g/t Au over 30.5 metres, confirmed the modeled grade, limits of gold mineralization, and continuity of high-grade mineralization at the base of the designed open pit.

The core drillhole, DSC23-02, was drilled to provide material for run-of-mine column test work. The strong assay results, 2.50 g/t Au over 88.1 metres (oxide), incl. 5.69 g/t Au over 30.5 metres1, from hole DSC23-02 are consistent with historical drill data and the mineral resource estimate block model. The run-of-mine column test work is expected to be undertaken in 2024.

1 Hole DSC23-02 was chip sampled, rather than quarter-cut, to preserve the maximum amount of core for metallurgical test work. All remaining core from the reported mineralized interval is expected to be consumed during the metallurgical testing.

Dark Star Infill and Metallurgical Drilling

Dark Star Infill Drilling DR23-02 incl. and incl. 2.20 g/t Au over 163.1 m (oxide) 3.97 g/t Au over 30.5 m (oxide) 2.56 g/t Au over 27.4 m (oxide) DSC23-02 incl. 2.50g/t Au over 88.1m (oxide) 5.69g/t Au over 30.5m (oxide)

2024 Pinion and Dark Star Planned Exploration

Orla is committed to growing the Pinion and Dark Star deposits through exploration in 2024. As part of the broader South Railroad exploration program totaling approximately 14,000 metres, Orla plans to drill 4,400 metres across 16 holes, with a focus on exploration near the Pinion and Dark Star deposits. Near-deposit exploration in 2024 will seek to define the extension of oxide mineralization beyond the currently defined open pit extents, building on the drill success from 2023, and supporting resources expansion efforts.

The 2024 exploration program at South Railroad is planned to commence in the spring of 2024 and is expected to continue through October 2024.

South Railroad Project Resources & Reserves and Pinion & Dark Star Geological Setting

The South Railroad Project covers a strike length of over 25 kilometres along the southern part of the prolific Carlin Gold Trend, Nevada. Gold mineralization at South Railroad occurs mainly as disseminated Carlin-type ore-stage pyrite in stratiform breccia and stratigraphic horizons within a complex fault network. The property hosts multiple zones of oxide, transition and sulphide mineralization, throughout the entire land package, with current oxide measured and indicated mineral resources of 1.8 Moz (75.3 Mt at 0.74 g/t Au) inclusive of proven & probable mineral reserves of 1.6Moz (65.2 Mt at 0.77 g/t Au) at the Pinion and Dark Star deposits.

Qualified Persons Statement

The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Sylvain Guerard, P Geo., SVP Exploration of the Company, who is the Qualified Person as defined under the definitions of National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101").

To verify the information related to the 2023 drilling programs at the South Railroad property, Mr. Guerard has visited the property in the past year; discussed logging, sampling, and sample shipping processes with responsible site staff; discussed and reviewed assay and QA/QC results with responsible personnel; and reviewed supporting documentation, including drill hole location and orientation and significant assay interval calculations.

Quality Assurance / Quality Control 2023 Drill Program

All gold results at South Railroad were obtained by fire assay fusion and optical emission finish (FA-PB30-ICP) at American Assay Labs in Sparks, Nevada, USA. Over limit gold assays were determined using fire assay fusion with gravimetric finish (GRAVAu-30). Gold cyanide extraction was determined using a 2-hour cyanide leach (AuCN30). All other elements were determined by 4 acid and boric acid dissolution with ICP-OES+MS method (ICP-2AM50). Quality Assurance/Quality Control and interpretation of results were performed by qualified persons employing a Quality Assurance/Quality Control program consistent with NI 43-101 and industry best practices. Certified reference material (standards), blank, or rig duplicate were inserted approximately every tenth sample for Quality Assurance/Quality Control purposes by the Company. American Assay Labs is independent of Orla. There are no known drilling, sampling, recovery, or other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the drilling data at South Railroad.

For additional information on the Company's previously reported drill results, see the Company's press releases dated February 8, 2023 (Orla Mining Drills Significant Gold Intersections at Multiple Oxide Targets upon Reactivation of Exploration at South Railroad Project, Nevada),

The mineral reserve estimate for the South Railroad Project consists of 333 koz of proven gold reserves (8,960 k tonnes at 1.17 g/t gold) and 1,271 koz of probable gold reserves (56,239 k tonnes at 0.72 g/t gold). The open pit mineral resource estimate for the South Railroad Project consists of 343 koz of measured gold resources (9,561 k tonnes at 1.13 g/t gold), 1,410 koz of indicated gold resources (65,450 k tonnes at 0.68 g/t gold), and 653 koz of inferred gold resources (21,805 k tonnes at 0.93 g/t gold). The underground mineral resource estimate consists of 66 koz of inferred gold resources (457 k tonnes at 4.49 g/t gold). For additional detail, see the South Railroad Report (as defined below). Mineral resources are inclusive of mineral reserves.

About Orla Mining Ltd.

Orla is operating the Camino Rojo Oxide Gold Mine, a gold and silver open-pit and heap leach mine, located in Zacatecas State, Mexico. The property is 100% owned by Orla and covers over 160,000 hectares. The technical report for the 2021 Feasibility Study on the Camino Rojo oxide gold project entitled "Unconstrained Feasibility Study NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Camino Rojo Gold Project  Municipality of Mazapil, Zacatecas, Mexico" dated January 11, 2021 (the "Camino Rojo Report"), is available on SEDAR+ and EDGAR under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca and www.sec.gov, respectively. Orla also owns 100% of Cerro Quema located in Panama which includes a gold production scenario and various exploration targets. Cerro Quema is a proposed open pit mine and gold heap leach operation. The technical report for the Pre-Feasibility Study on the Cerro Quema oxide gold project entitled "Project Pre-Feasibility Updated NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Cerro Quema Project, Province of Los Santos, Panama" dated January 18, 2022, is available on SEDAR+ and EDGAR under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca and www.sec.gov, respectively. Orla also owns 100% of the South Railroad Project, a feasibility-stage, open pit, heap leach project located on the Carlin trend in Nevada. The technical report for the 2022 Feasibility Study entitled "South Railroad Project, Form 43-101F1 Technical Report Feasibility Study, Elko County, Nevada" dated March 23, 2022 (the "South Railroad Report"), is available on SEDAR+ and EDGAR under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca and www.sec.gov, respectively. The technical reports are available on Orla's website at www.orlamining.com.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and within the meaning of Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the United States Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, or in releases made by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, all as may be amended from time to time, including, without limitation, statements regarding: the potential mineralization at South Railroad based on the 2023 drill program, including potential resource expansion, open pit extension and other growth potential; the Company's 2024 drill program, including the goals and timing thereof; and 2024 metallurgical work. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts which address events, results, outcomes or developments that the Company expects to occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements were made, including without limitation, assumptions regarding: the future price of gold and silver; anticipated costs and the Company's ability to fund its programs; the Company's ability to carry on exploration, development, and mining activities; tonnage of ore to be mined and processed; ore grades and recoveries; decommissioning and reclamation estimates; the Company's ability to secure and to meet obligations under property agreements, including the layback agreement with Fresnillo plc; that all conditions of the Company's credit facility will be met; the timing and results of drilling programs; mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates and the assumptions on which they are based; the discovery of mineral resources and mineral reserves on the Company's mineral properties; that political and legal developments will be consistent with current expectations; the timely receipt of required approvals and permits, including those approvals and permits required for successful project permitting, construction, and operation of projects; the timing of cash flows; the costs of operating and exploration expenditures; the Company's ability to operate in a safe, efficient, and effective manner; the Company's ability to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms; that the Company's activities will be in accordance with the Company's public statements and stated goals; and that there will be no material adverse change or disruptions affecting the Company or its properties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to: uncertainty and variations in the estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves; the Company's dependence on the Camino Rojo oxide mine; risks related to the Company's indebtedness; risks related to exploration, development, and operation activities; risks related to natural disasters, terrorist acts, health crises, and other disruptions and dislocations, including the COVID-19 pandemic; foreign country and political risks, including risks relating to foreign operations and expropriation or nationalization of mining operations and risks associated with operating in Mexico and Panama; delays in obtaining or failure to obtain governmental permits, or non-compliance with permits; environmental and other regulatory requirements; delays in or failures to enter into a subsequent agreement with Fresnillo plc with respect to accessing certain additional portions of the mineral resource at the Camino Rojo project and to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals related thereto; the mineral resource estimations for the Camino Rojo project being only estimates and relying on certain assumptions; loss of, delays in, or failure to get access from surface rights owners; uncertainties related to title to mineral properties; water rights; financing risks and access to additional capital; risks related to guidance estimates and uncertainties inherent in the preparation of feasibility and pre-feasibility studies; uncertainty in estimates of production, capital, and operating costs and potential production and cost overruns; the fluctuating price of gold and silver; unknown labilities in connection with acquisitions; global financial conditions; uninsured risks; climate change risks; competition from other companies and individuals; conflicts of interest; risks related to compliance with anti-corruption laws; volatility in the market price of the Company's securities; assessments by taxation authorities in multiple jurisdictions; foreign currency fluctuations; the Company's limited operating history; litigation risks; the Company's ability to identify, complete, and successfully integrate acquisitions; intervention by non-governmental organizations; outside contractor risks; risks related to historical data; the Company not having paid a dividend; risks related to the Company's foreign subsidiaries; risks related to the Company's accounting policies and internal controls; the Company's ability to satisfy the requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; enforcement of civil liabilities; the Company's status as a passive foreign investment company for U.S. federal income tax purposes; information and cyber security; gold industry concentration; shareholder activism; and risks associated with executing the Company's objectives and strategies; as well as those risk factors discussed in the Company's most recently filed management's discussion and analysis, as well as its annual information form dated March 20, 2023, which are available on www.sedarplus.ca and www.sec.gov. Except as required by the securities disclosure laws and regulations applicable to the Company, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

Cautionary Note to U.S. Readers

This news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian standards for the reporting of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates, which differ from the previous and current standards of the United States securities laws. In particular, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the terms "mineral reserve", "proven mineral reserve", "probable mineral reserve", "inferred mineral resources,", "indicated mineral resources," "measured mineral resources" and "mineral resources" used or referenced herein and the documents incorporated by reference herein, as applicable, are Canadian mineral disclosure terms as defined in accordance with 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 Definition Standards").

For United States reporting purposes, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") has adopted amendments to its disclosure rules (the "SEC Modernization Rules") to modernize the mining property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC under the Exchange Act, which became effective February 25, 2019. The SEC Modernization Rules more closely align the SEC's disclosure requirements and policies for mining properties with current industry and global regulatory practices and standards, including NI 43-101, and replace the historical property disclosure requirements for mining registrants that were included in SEC Industry Guide 7. Issuers were required to comply with the SEC Modernization Rules in their first fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2021. As a foreign private issuer that is eligible to file reports with the SEC pursuant to the multi-jurisdictional disclosure system, the Corporation is not required to provide disclosure on its mineral properties under the SEC Modernization Rules and will continue to provide disclosure under NI 43-101 and the CIM Definition Standards. Accordingly, mineral reserve and mineral resource information contained or incorporated by reference herein may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by United States companies subject to the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

As a result of the adoption of the SEC Modernization Rules, the SEC now recognizes estimates of "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources." In addition, the SEC has amended its definitions of "proven mineral reserves" and "probable mineral reserves" to be "substantially similar" to the corresponding CIM Definition Standards that are required under NI 43-101. While the SEC will now recognize "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources", U.S. investors should not assume that all or any part of the mineralization in these categories will be converted into a higher category of mineral resources or into mineral reserves without further work and analysis. Mineralization described using these terms has a greater amount of uncertainty as to its existence and feasibility than mineralization that has been characterized as reserves. Accordingly, U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources, or inferred mineral resources that the Company reports are or will be economically or legally mineable without further work and analysis. Further, "inferred mineral resources" have a greater amount of uncertainty and as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. Therefore, U.S. investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of inferred mineral resources will be upgraded to a higher category without further work and analysis. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of "inferred mineral resources" may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. While the above terms are "substantially similar" to CIM Definitions, there are differences in the definitions under the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Definition Standards. 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 under the SEC Modernization Rules or under the prior standards of SEC Industry Guide 7.

Appendix: Drill Results

Table 1: Pinion SB Composite Drill Results (Composites Ox/Tr 0.17g/t Au cog & Sx 0.50g/t Au cog)

HOLE-ID From

(m) To

(m) Core

Length

(m) Au

(g/t) CN

Rec

(%) Au GXM Oxide

Domain Including

0.5g/t Au COG Including

1g/t Au COG Including

2g/t Au COG PC23-01 108.81 117.96 9.1 1.46 85.2 13.39 Oxide 7.62m @ 1.71g/t Au & 82.4% CN Rec 7.62m @ 1.71g/t Au & 82.4% CN Rec 4.57m @ 2.1g/t Au & 84.2% CN Rec PC23-01 125.58 238.29 112.7 0.72 73.8 80.62 Oxide 24.38m @ 1.3g/t Au & 66.5% CN Rec

4.57m @ .55g/t Au & 68.5% CN Rec

36.58m @ .63g/t Au & 82.1% CN Rec

11.22m @ 1.29g/t Au & 57.8% CN Rec 21.34m @ 1.38g/t Au & 72.4% CN Rec

1.52m @ 1.34g/t Au & 66.4% CN Rec

6.71m @ 1.7g/t Au & 49.1% CN Rec 1.52m @ 2.62g/t Au & 46.6% CN Rec

1.22m @ 2.6g/t Au & 42.3% CN Rec PC23-01 238.29 249.02 10.7 1.05 15.3 11.31 Sulphide 9.14m @ 1.11g/t Au & 16.7% CN Rec PC23-01 249.02 257.25 8.2 2.33 81.9 19.16 Oxide 8.23m @ 2.33g/t Au & 81.9% CN Rec 2.87m @ 5.75g/t Au & 91.3% CN Rec 1.65m @ 8.98g/t Au & 93.4% CN Rec PR23-01 64.01 92.96 29.0 0.56 75.4 16.14 Oxide 18.29m @ .77g/t Au & 75.3% CN Rec 1.52m @ 1.56g/t Au & 72.4% CN Rec PR23-01 105.16 176.78 71.6 0.78 83.7 55.71 Oxide 38.1m @ 1.29g/t Au & 83.6% CN Rec

1.52m @ .56g/t Au & 80.6% CN Rec 1.52m @ 2.04g/t Au & 90.2% CN Rec

16.76m @ 1.79g/t Au & 78.8% CN Rec

3.05m @ 1.56g/t Au & 94.7% CN Rec 1.52m @ 2.04g/t Au & 90.2% CN Rec

1.52m @ 6.68g/t Au & 81.6% CN Rec PR23-02 97.54 126.49 29.0 0.44 81.1 12.75 Oxide 12.19m @ .57g/t Au & 83.8% CN Rec

1.52m @ .76g/t Au & 1.3% CN Rec

1.52m @ .66g/t Au & 100.8% CN Rec 1.52m @ 1.04g/t Au & 89.4% CN Rec PR23-02 140.21 179.83 39.6 0.50 88.3 19.98 Oxide 16.76m @ .9g/t Au & 89.7% CN Rec 9.14m @ 1.1g/t Au & 91% CN Rec 1.52m @ 2.07g/t Au & 90.3% CN Rec

Criteria: Cut off grade Ox/Tr 0.17g/t Au & Sx 0.50g/t Au, minimum length 1.5m, maximum consecutive internal waste 6m

Table 2: Dark Star Composite Drill Results (Composites Ox/Tr 0.17g/t Au cog & Sx 0.50g/t Au cog)

HOLE-ID From

(m) To

(m) Core Length

(m) Au

(g/t) CN Rec

(%) Au GXM Oxide

Domain Including

0.5g/t Au COG Including

1g/t Au COG Including

2g/t Au COG Including

10g/t Au HG DR23-01 106.68 109.73 3.0 1.17 95.0 3.58 Oxide 3.05m @ 1.17g/t Au & 95% CN Rec 1.52m @ 1.49g/t Au & 96.6% CN Rec DR23-01 124.97 126.49 1.5 0.20 89.1 0.31 Oxide DR23-01 131.06 132.59 1.5 0.26 91.6 0.40 Oxide DR23-01 140.21 144.78 4.6 0.44 95.2 2.01 Oxide 1.52m @ .61g/t Au & 91.4% CN Rec DR23-01 150.88 152.40 1.5 0.43 92.4 0.66 Oxide DR23-01 182.88 219.46 36.6 3.53 82.7 129.19 Oxide 36.58m @ 3.53g/t Au & 82.7% CN Rec 36.58m @ 3.53g/t Au & 82.7% CN Rec 3.05m @ 3g/t Au & 97.4% CN Rec

19.81m @ 5.23g/t Au & 81.5% CN Rec 3.05m @ 11.83g/t Au & 87.2% CN Rec DR23-01 219.46 224.03 4.6 2.48 22.8 11.34 Sulphide 4.57m @ 2.48g/t Au & 22.8% CN Rec 4.57m @ 2.48g/t Au & 22.8% CN Rec DR23-02 18.29 30.48 12.2 0.66 82.0 8.10 Oxide 4.57m @ 1.27g/t Au & 84.5% CN Rec 3.05m @ 1.53g/t Au & 81.9% CN Rec DR23-02 41.15 204.22 163.1 2.20 82.9 358.59 Oxide 158.5m @ 2.26g/t Au & 82.9% CN Rec 19.81m @ 2.06g/t Au & 88.2% CN Rec

123.44m @ 2.48g/t Au & 82% CN Rec 18.29m @ 2.08g/t Au & 88.2% CN Rec

9.14m @ 2.17g/t Au & 82.2% CN Rec

30.48m @ 3.97g/t Au & 77.6% CN Rec

27.43m @ 2.56g/t Au & 87.1% CN Rec

6.1m @ 6.88g/t Au & 68.2% CN Rec 1.52m @ 12.33g/t Au & 45.6% CN Rec DR23-02 204.22 214.88 10.7 11.47 28.1 122.40 Sulphide 10.67m @ 11.47g/t Au & 28.1% CN Rec 10.67m @ 11.47g/t Au & 28.1% CN Rec 7.62m @ 14.53g/t Au & 26.2% CN Rec DR23-02 214.88 254.51 39.6 3.03 74.0 120.04 Oxide 32m @ 3.7g/t Au & 76% CN Rec 30.48m @ 3.85g/t Au & 77.4% CN Rec 30.48m @ 3.85g/t Au & 77.4% CN Rec 1.52m @ 14g/t Au & 15.8% CN Rec DR23-02 260.60 262.13 1.5 0.23 64.1 0.36 Oxide DSC23-01 215.19 216.71 1.5 0.20 99.0 0.31 Oxide DSC23-01 256.49 268.99 12.5 1.66 22.6 20.71 Sulphide 10.82m @ 1.82g/t Au & 22.6% CN Rec 1.52m @ 2.17g/t Au & 30.4% CN Rec

3.05m @ 3.72g/t Au & 25.4% CN Rec DSC23-02 43.89 49.53 5.6 0.32 70.1 1.82 Oxide 1.52m @ .55g/t Au & 47.3% CN Rec DSC23-02 64.01 65.53 1.5 0.17 86.7 0.26 Oxide DSC23-02 97.84 112.78 14.9 0.65 86.9 9.78 Oxide 6.25m @ 1.27g/t Au & 85.6% CN Rec 1.22m @ 4.29g/t Au & 90% CN Rec 1.22m @ 4.29g/t Au & 90% CN Rec DSC23-02 130.15 143.10 13.0 0.30 94.5 3.85 Oxide 1.37m @ .76g/t Au & 99.1% CN Rec DSC23-02 162.31 250.39 88.1 2.50 90.8 220.20 Oxide 69.13m @ 3.14g/t Au & 89.5% CN Rec 55.17m @ 3.64g/t Au & 90% CN Rec 30.48m @ 5.69g/t Au & 92.8% CN Rec 2.13m @ 11.96g/t Au & 88% CN Rec

1.37m @ 13.6g/t Au & 91.5% CN Rec

Criteria: Cut off grade Ox/Tr 0.17g/t Au & Sx 0.50g/t Au, minimum length 1.5m, maximum consecutive internal waste 6m

Table 3: South Railroad Drill Collars
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Centenario Gold Corp. (TSXV:CTG) ("Centenario" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results from its maiden drill program on the Eden property. Between December 7th of 2023, and January 21st, of 2024, the Company completed the first drilling program on its Eden gold-silver property, located just north of Prime Mining Corp's Los Reyes project, near Cosala, Sinaloa. The program completed 1,506 meters of drilling distributed in eleven (11), HQ-core holes, testing the strike and downdip extensions of the mineralized structure along a section of the Buenavista' corridor. Assay results have been received on 9 of the 11 holes. Assays are pending for holes ED24-09 and ED24-11 and will be released when received.

The holes completed during this first phase of drilling tested a 650 m long section of the Buenavista' corridor, centered along the old mining workings where previously sampled surface rock sampling returned high-grade gold and silver values as high as 239.9 g/t Au and 1390 g/t Ag. Drill holes varied between 100 m and 150 m in depth and were spread out across eight drill pads, three of which hosted a pair of holes. All eleven (11) holes intersected the Buenavista' vein-breccia structure at depths ranging between 50 to 110 m. Hole ED23-01 on the other hand, also intersected a second parallel quartz - rich structure, 50 meters further to the W-NW.

Although the Buenavista' vein-breccia structures returned only anomalous gold and silver values, the drilling program confirmed the continuity of the strike, and down-dip extensions of the mineralized Buenavista' system. The low-temperature quartz textures found on surface, such as amethyst and chalcedonic quartz, are also abundant across the structures intersected at depth (down to 110 meters). This occurrence, found both at surface and at depth, suggest that we are still at a high level in the epithermal column and that a gold and silver system could exist further down-dip.

Moreover, the interpretation results from the semi-detailed geological mapping and geophysical survey that were completed in 2022 across the 1.3 km long, N-NE extension of the Buenavista' corridor, show that the quartz-rich (resistive) mineralized zone found across the old mine workings area, is continuous to the N-NE, and dipping gently along strike.

Apart from the 2.8 km long Buenavista' mineralized corridor, there are three other sub-parallel, fault-controlled mineralized vein-breccia systems within and around the Eden Property: the Paloma', the northern portion of the Guadalupana' structures branching out, SE and SW, of the Buenavista' old mine workings (extension confirmed by geophysical anomaly) and the La Provedora' structure located 1.5 km to the east of Buenavista'. Old mine workings and occurrences of visible gold were found along all three of these sub-parallel, N-NE trending, regional fault structures.

The company's geological team is currently completing the review, analysis, and interpretation of the drilling results. Once finished, the team will prepare a follow-up program of exploration including more drilling, mapping and sampling across the Buenavista' extensions and along the other three structures mentioned above. The company believes that the Eden Property, as a whole, hosts a significant gold-silver system as proven by the exploration work completed so far. With this in mind, we are firmly determined to continue exploring and initiate the second phase drill program.

Figure 1 - Eden Property Drill Hole Locations (refer to Centenario Gold Corp's website for section A-A')

Alain Charest, CEO comments "Although we were unable to repeat the results obtained on surface, the information we got from this first drilling program confirmed that the Buenavista mineralized system is continuous at depth and along strike. The drill information will further help us to better vector in on the mineralized zones within the system. Only a very small portion of the Buenavista' corridor has been drill-tested so far, so there remain plenty of targets to drill along this structure and along the others.

The drilling contractor was Bylsa Drilling S.A. de C.V. of Hermosillo, Sonora. The core was cut, logged, and sampled on site at the company's basecamp in the town of Tasajeras, 15 km from the drilling site. The selected samples were then shipped to the ALS Lab facilities in Hermosillo, Mexico.

The Company would like to thank Bylsa Drilling from Hermosillo, Mexico for completing this phase of drilling. The drilling was completed in a very professional and timely manner, averaging over 35 meters per shift and under budget.

QA/QC Sample Preparation and Analytical Procedures

Centenario employs industry standard QA / QC and data verification protocols. Drilling was performed by Bylsa Drilling of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. The drilling and sampling program at the El Eden project was supervised by a company's senior geologist. On site, the drill core was placed in marked core boxes, transferred to a company truck, then driven out of the drill sites to the company's basecamp located in the town of Tasajeras, approximately 15 km from the project area.

In Tasajeras, the drill core was cut lengthwise into halves using a diamond-bladed saw, with one-half used for the assay sample and the other half retained in core boxes and archived at site. Mineralized zones were generally sampled between 0.5m and 3m intervals. Quality control samples including standards, blanks and duplicates were inserted between core samples using the same numbering sequence. Each core sample was then placed in a resistant plastic bag with a unique numbered sample identification tag, and the sample number written on the bag.

The samples were then grouped into batches and transferred to large cotton bags with sample numbers written on the outside and sealed. The large sample bags, holding between 7 and 9 samples each, are then loaded on a company truck and transported to the laboratory facility. Chain of custody records are maintained for sample shipments and the custody is transferred from Centenario Gold Corp's to the laboratory upon delivery.

Samples were shipped to and assayed by ALS Chemex Labs of Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico, a laboratory whose quality control system complies with International Standards OHSAS 18001, ISO14001 and ISO 9001. Standard sample Preparation of Drill Core includes crushing 70% less than 2mm, riffle split off 250g, then the split is pulverized to better than 85% passing 75 microns. Sample rejects are stored in a secure warehouse, for future reference. ALS takes a 50g representative sample, for gold analysis by fire assay and atomic absorption. 34 elements were analyzed by four acid digestion and ICP-MS finish. The ALS global quality program meets all requirements of ISO/IEC 17025."

About Centenario Gold Corp. and the El Eden Gold-Silver Project:

Centenario Gold Corp. is a natural resource exploration company that was formed to focus on exploring and generating high quality mineral prospects in Mexico. During 2020, the exploration team of Centenario visited and evaluated more than 12 mineral prospects before finding the Eden gold silver property located in Durango state of Mexico. On March 24th, 2021, after completing the preliminary evaluation work and due diligence review, Durango Gold Corp S.A de C.V., the 100%-owned Mexican subsidiary of Centenario Gold Corp., signed a 4-year option agreement to acquire 100% of the mineral rights to the Eden Au-Ag property subject to a 1% NSR. The Eden project consists of three adjoining mineral concessions totalling 5,689 hectares in size hosting a series of high-grade N to NE trending, epithermal Au-Ag vein structures. The Eden property's northern border is adjacent to Americas Gold & Silver's Nuestra Senora producing mine while the Eden property's southern border is adjacent to Prime Mining Corp's Los Reyes property.

Prime Mining has outlined a new resource on the Los Reyes property of, indicated 1.47 M AuEq and Inferred 0.73m AuEq. (Prime Mining Corp. NI 43-101 dated June 12. 2023) AuEq grade (gpt) = Gold grade (gpt) + Silver grade (gpt) x ($22 / $1700).

Qualified Person

Antonio (Tony) Loschiavo, P.Eng. is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this release.

Reader Caution: The qualified person has not verified the information on the adjacent properties nor mineralization found on adjacent and/or geologically similar properties which is not necessarily indicative of mineralization found on the Property.

Further information on the Centenario Gold or their Properties can be found on our website at www.centenariogold.com along with the NI43-101 compliant Technical Report filed on SEDAR.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Doug Fulcher

President, Director

For further information, please call:

Doug Fulcher 604-803-5901

Steve McGuire 604-762-7869

Alain Charest 011-52-618-299-9885

Telephone: (604) 684-0279

www.centenariogold.com

The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Statements in this press release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in resource exploration and development. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Certain information included in this press release, including information relating to future financial or operating performance and other statements that express the expectations of management or estimates of future performance constitute "forward-looking statements". Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding copper, gold and silver forecasts, the financial strength of the Company, estimates regarding timing of future development and production and statements concerning possible expansion opportunities for the Company. Where the Company expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief are based on assumptions made in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. Such assumptions may include, without limitation, the price of and anticipated costs of recovery of, copper concentrate, gold and silver, the presence of and continuity of such minerals at modeled grades and values, the capacities of various machinery and equipment, the availability of personnel, machinery and equipment at estimated prices, mineral recovery rates, and others. However, forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, but are not limited to, interpretation and implications of drilling and geophysical results; estimates regarding timing of future capital expenditures and costs towards profitable commercial operations. Other factors that could cause actual results, developments or events to differ materially from those anticipated include, among others, increases/decreases in production; volatility in metals prices and demand; currency fluctuations; cash operating margins; cash operating cost per pound sold; costs per ton of ore; variances in ore grade or recovery rates from those assumed in mining plans; reserves and/or resources; the ability to successfully integrate acquired assets; operational risks inherent in mining or development activities and legislative factors relating to prices, taxes, royalties, land use, title and permits, importing and exporting of minerals and environmental protection. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements and the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained herein are made as at the date hereof and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or revise any such forward-looking statements or any forward-looking statements contained in any other documents whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable security law.
Chile said Tuesday it will exclude Israeli firms from Latin America's biggest aerospace fair, to be held in Santiago in April.

"By decision of the Government of Chile, the 2024 version of the International Air and Space Fair (FIDAE), to be held between 9 and 14 April, will not have the participation of Israeli companies," a defense ministry statement said.

It did not give a reason, but the government of leftist President Gabriel Boric has been critical of what he has called Israel's "disproportionate" response to the October 7 attack by Hamas that resulted in about 1,160 deaths, mainly of civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed 30,534 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.

Chile, which has the largest Palestinian population outside the Arab world, recalled its ambassador to Israel late October to protest Israel's "unacceptable violations of international humanitarian law" in Gaza.

Mexico and Chile in January joined calls for an investigation by the International Criminal Court into possible war crimes in the Israel-Hamas war.

Israel's ambassador in Chile Gil Artzyeli told AFP on Tuesday he had not been contacted by the government with the FIDAE news.

"We cannot say we are surprised taking into account the (Chilean) government's doctrine towards Israel," he said.
A powerful Haitian gang leader warned Tuesday that the chaos engulfing the capital Port-au-Prince will lead to civil war and "genocide" unless Prime Minister Ariel Henry steps down.

The stark comments from Jimmy Cherizier, known as "Barbecue," came as Henry appeared to be struggling to fly home, with the main airport under attack and neighboring Dominican Republic refusing permission for him to land.

Henry -- who was supposed to step down last month -- was out of the country last week when armed criminal gangs, who control large swathes of the country, launched a coordinated assault to oust him.

"If Ariel Henry doesn't resign, if the international community continues to support him, we'll be heading straight for a civil war that will lead to genocide," Cherizier, a former police officer who is under UN sanctions for human rights abuses, told reporters in the capital.

"Either Haiti becomes a paradise or a hell for all of us. It's out of the question for a small group of rich people living in big hotels to decide the fate of people living in working-class neighborhoods," the 46-year-old added.

As the latest crisis in the violence-wracked Caribbean nation spiraled, gunfire shut down some flights at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Haiti's capital.

Henry was denied entry into the neighboring Dominican Republic, according to Dominican news group CDN.

On Tuesday evening a spokesperson for the governor's office in nearby Puerto Rico confirmed his plane had landed there, at least briefly. "I don't know if he's still in Puerto Rico," Sheila Anglero told AFP by telephone.

In power since the 2021 assassination of president Jovenel Moise, Henry was due to step down in February but instead agreed to a power-sharing deal with the opposition until new elections are held.

Earlier Tuesday, a police academy in the capital where more than 800 cadets are training came under attack by an armed gang.

The attack was repelled after the arrival of reinforcements, said Lionel Lazarre of the Haitian police union.

The unrest has left 250 Cubans stranded in Port-au-Prince after their flights were canceled, according to the Havana office of Sunrise Airways.

"When we were about to board the plane, they realized that the plane had a bullet hole," a 34-year-old Cuban passenger told AFP via WhatsApp, on condition of anonymity.

Cherizier, who leads a group of gangs known as the "G9 Family and Allies," cites as a chief inspiration Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, who ruled Haiti with ruthless brutality in the 1960s and 70s.

He said gunmen had committed harmful acts, but "I believe that society must forgive them and unite to rethink a new Haiti."

- UN-backed mission planned -

Haitian officials have been pleading for months for international assistance to help their overwhelmed security forces, as gangs push beyond the city and into rural areas.

Henry had traveled to Kenya to push for the deployment of a UN-backed multinational police mission to help stabilize his country when the attempt to oust him began.

With him away, the gangs raided two Port-au-Prince prisons, in attacks that resulted in a dozen deaths and the escape of thousands of inmates.

"They're showing us that the police don't matter," Bertony Junior Exantus, a resident of Delmas in Port-au-Prince who fled the violence, told reporters.

At least 15,000 people have recently evacuated the worst-hit parts of the capital, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Due to limited movement, UN teams on the ground have been unable to report a death toll, Dujarric told reporters in New York.

The government has declared a state of emergency and nighttime curfew, while the UN Security Council has scheduled a closed-door meeting Wednesday.

After being brought to a virtual standstill, Port-au-Prince appeared quieter Tuesday, although some streets remained barricaded by residents.

Some transport resumed and shops reopened, with long queues outside of stores, banks and at petrol stations.

In Washington, the State Department renewed a call for calm, though a spokesman declined to address the whereabouts of Haiti's prime minister.
Ukrainian drones attacked a metal plant in Russia's border region of Kursk on Wednesday, causing a fire at a fuel tank, the local governor said.

Kyiv meanwhile announced it had intercepted dozens of Russian drones, as both sides launched a wave of overnight aerial attacks in an attempt to hit targets deep behind the front lines.

"Today another attack on the Kursk region was carried out by Ukraine," Kursk governor Roman Starovoyt said in a video message posted on his Telegram channel on Wednesday morning.

"A drone attacked a fuel and lubricants warehouse in Zheleznogorsk. There are fires in the area right now," he added.

He said later a second drone hit the depot, located at the Mikhailovsky Mining and Processing Plant in the city of Zheleznogorsk, some 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the border with Ukraine.

Videos posted on Russian social media showed thick grey smoke billowing as a fire raged inside a cylindrical fuel storage tank.

There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.

Ukrainian forces have launched a wave of drone attacks at Russian energy facilities in recent months, trying to target the country's vital energy and gas sector that it says Russia uses to fuel its invasion.

- 'Extensive system' -

Ukraine also said that Russia fired 42 Iran-designed attack drones and five missiles at its territory overnight in a barrage that injured at least seven people.

"As a result of combat operations, 38 Shaheds were shot down," the air force said in a statement, referring to the unmanned aerial vehicles, adding that the drones were launched from Russian border regions and the annexed Crimean peninsula.

Faced with hold-ups to much needed Western aid, Ukraine has lost ground to Russia in the past three months, withdrawing from the industrial hub of Avdiivka in February.

The Ukrainian army said Wednesday it had built an "extensive system" of fortifications near the town in a bid to stop further Russian advances.

Kyiv has appealed to its Western allies to help bolster its air defences to fend off systematic Russian aerial attacks on key infrastructure throughout the two-year invasion.

In the northeastern Kharkiv region, Russian shelling killed a 70-year-old man in the town of Borova and injured four others, regional head Oleg Sinegubov said Wednesday.

Ukraine's prosecutor general said seven people including a 10-year-old boy were also injured during overnight attacks in the eastern Sumy region.

One of the drones fired at the Sumy region had targeted a hospital where 400 patients were housed, Governor Volodymyr Artiukh said.

Officials in the southern Odesa region said a recreational facility, a gas pipeline and residential buildings were damaged by debris from the downed drones and some residents in the Khmelnytsky region were left without electricity after the attack.

- 'Active combat zone' -

Regional officials in Russia said Ukraine had also fired artillery and drones at the Belgorod border region. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said there was some minor damage, but no casualties.

Russia's defence ministry said it had downed Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod and Voronezh regions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, in Sochi later Wednesday to discuss the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The facility, Europe's largest nuclear energy site, was seized by Russian troops in the first days of the war.

Speaking to AFP ahead of the meeting, Grossi rejected Russian suggestions that the plant could be put back online.

"That is not imminent. I have been drawing the attention of my Russian counterparts to the fact that any such action would require a number of considerations," he said.

"First of all, this is an active combat zone, and this cannot be forgotten. Secondly, this plant has been in shutdown for a prolonged period of time," he added.

Separately, the Kremlin told reporters Wednesday it did not recognise International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued Tuesday for two top Russian officers over alleged war crimes conducted in the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia is not a member of The Hague-based court.
The Kremlin said Wednesday it did not recognise the International Criminal Court's arrest warrants for two senior Russian officers over their actions in the Ukraine conflict.

The court accused lieutenant general Sergei Kobylash and navy admiral Viktor Sokolov of targeting Ukraine's power infrastructure with strikes between October 2022 and March 2023.

"We don't recognise this," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the ICC, he said.

"This is not the first decision, we also know that there are also various closed processes going on there, which are kept secret," he continued.

The court issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin in March last year, a ruling that Moscow called "void". Russia levelled its own warrant against the ICC's president in response.

The ICC, based in the Hague, does not have its own police force for enforcing the arrest warrants. It relies on the justice system of its 124 members to carry them out.
The defence for ex-Gambian interior minister Ousman Sonko on Wednesday urged a Swiss court to acquit him of crimes against humanity committed under the regime of ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh.

Lawyer Philippe Currat also called on the Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellinzona, to order financial compensation for the years Sonko has spent in detention awaiting trial, Keystone-ATS news agency reported.

Prosecutors wrapped up their case against Sonko on Monday, seeking a life sentence for the 55-year-old accused of being responsible for killings, torture, rape and other sexual crimes.

The trial, which began in January and is due to wrap up on Friday, is taking place under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows countries to prosecute alleged crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide regardless of where they were committed.

The NGO Trial International says Sonko is the highest-ranking state official ever to be tried in Europe for international crimes under universal jurisdiction.

Sonko has denied any knowledge of the acts he is accused of from 2000 to 2016, including nine counts of crimes against humanity.

Sonko told the trial he had no "operational powers", angering civilians who filed separate complaints against him.

Lawyers for the victims argued this week there was no doubt he was part of Jammeh's inner circle from the beginning almost until the end of the dictator's reign, and fully supported the state's repressive policies, Trial International reported.

Prosecutors have alleged that Sonko "supported, participated in and failed to prevent systematic and generalised attacks as part of the repression carried out by the Gambian security forces against all opponents of the regime".

He is also accused of having "deliberately killed, tortured, raped and unlawfully deprived individuals of their liberty".

Sonko, sacked in 2016 after 10 years as a minister, was arrested in Switzerland on January 26, 2017, after requesting asylum.

His lawyer argued Wednesday that the trial should be seen as a bid to pressure Equatorial Guinea, where Jammeh has sought refuge since his fall from power seven years ago, Keystone-ATS said.

Currat suggested his client should receive 200 Swiss francs ($226) for every day he has been in detention since his arrest, or 590,000 francs ($666,300) in total, the news agency said.

He also said Sonko should be given 290,000 francs due to allegedly illegal detention conditions, and another 10,000 francs for having been deprived of food for 33 hours in February 2020.
Russia's "war crimes" in Ukraine have been recorded in tens of thousands of case files and it must answer them in court, the Ukrainian prosecutor general said in Brussels.

"Russia must be defeated on the battlefield and in the courtroom," Andriy Kostin told AFP in an interview between meetings with EU officials.

The chief prosecutor accused Russia of committing war crimes as a "pattern of conduct... a policy which is orchestrated from the very top leadership".

Some 123,000 war crimes cases have been logged since Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he said.

The prosecution work has identified 511 suspects in the case, of which 357 could be brought to justice.

Already, "we have convictions against 81 Russian war criminals", he added, explaining that 17 had been taken to court in trials and handed prison sentences.

"Some of them are still in jail. Some of them, we have exchanged" in prisoner exchanges with Russia, Kostin said.

Even if many convictions were handed down in the absence of the accused, it was important, he said, for victims to see a verdict delivered.

The crimes judged included the murder of civilians, rapes -- and the deportation of Ukrainian children, only 400 of whom have been repatriated out of some 200,000 forcibly taken away, he said.

- ICC intervention -

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is working to hold Russia's leadership responsible for the children's deportation and for the crime of aggression.

It has already issued warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and against Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's presidential commissioner for children's rights.

On Tuesday it issued warrants against two senior Russian officers for strikes on Ukrainian power infrastructure.

But neither Russia nor Ukraine are members of the ICC, even if Kyiv has been working with the court to supply evidence of alleged Russian crimes.

International investigators are helping Ukrainian authorities with the mammoth task of collecting, compiling and cataloguing evidence.

The work -- aided by AI tools that sift through the mountains of input, including witness statements, phone conversations, social media posts and seized documents -- makes the conflict the most documented in history, Kostin said.

"Our objective this year is to have more suspects charged by other jurisdictions," Kostin said, noting warrants issued by the United States and action last week by Lithuania.

"It's important to show that there will be no safe haven," he said.
Children have begun starving to death in Gaza, where the United Nations has warned a famine is "almost inevitable."

Here's what to know about the hunger crisis engulfing the war-torn Palestinian territory.

- Emaciated children -

At least 15 children have died from starvation and dehydration in a single hospital, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Media including AFP have captured haunting images of emaciated infants with sunken eyes and gaunt faces.

Over the weekend, World Health Organization workers were able to visit hospitals in northern Gaza for the first time since October, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday on X.

He said the workers found "severe levels of malnutrition, children dying of starvation, serious shortages of fuel, food and medical supplies, hospital buildings destroyed."

Across Gaza, 90 percent of children aged 6-23 months and pregnant and breastfeeding women face severe food poverty, according to a report released two weeks ago by the Global Nutrition Cluster, a network of nutrition NGOs led by UNICEF.

At least 90 percent of children under five are affected by one or more infectious diseases, it added.

Aid organizations working on the ground blame Israel, which is waging a war against Hamas in the wake of the October 7 attacks, for preventing enough food trucks from entering Gaza.

"As the occupying power in Gaza, Israel has the responsibility to ensure that the occupied population receives food and medical supplies," the International Rescue Committee told AFP in a statement.

"Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including wilfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions, is a war crime."

At the start of the conflict, high-ranking Israeli officials such as defense minister Yoav Gallant, openly called for a "complete siege" to deprive Palestinians of food, fuel and water. But officials have since walked back that rhetoric.

"Our war is against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said recently, adding Israel was "facilitating aid."

The UN food agency said Tuesday its aid convoy was turned away by Israeli forces at a checkpoint in northern Gaza.

Last week, Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians scrambling for food aid in a chaotic melee that killed more than 100 people.

US military planes have begun dropping tens of thousands of meals, though aid agencies say this is an inefficient way to curb the crisis.

- 'Lifelong impacts' -

Dabney Evans, director of the Center for Humanitarian Emergencies at Emory University, told AFP that images from Gaza indicated the most severe forms of malnutrition, including "wasting" which refers to extremely low weight for a person's height, as a result of severe decreases in caloric intake in a short period of time.

"Their bodies are beginning to break down and are in shock," said Evans, explaining that bringing someone back to good health requires careful supervised medical care, not just giving them food, which can be dangerous.

Imad Dardonah, a pediatrician at the Kamal Adwan Hospital, the only pediatrics hospital in northern Gaza, told AFP that staff had supplies to only treat around half of cases adequately.

"We have nothing to give them, the most we can do for them is either give them saline solution or sugar solution."

If malnutrition is prolonged it will lead to longterm consequences such as growth stunting, a reduced ability to learn, and a weakened immune system.

Anu Narayan, an advisor for UNICEF on child nutrition, told AFP there would likely be a "lifelong impact" at least on some individuals.

"We know for a fact that it can impact children's cognitive development and over the long term has an impact on their earnings and ability to function fully."

UC Berkeley researchers recently learned that people born during the Great Chinese Famine more than 60 years ago -- and their offspring -- had far higher rates of tuberculosis, "indicating a previously unrecognized, intergenerational effect of prenatal and early life exposure to famine."

- The "F" word -

Since 2004, "famine" has had a formal technical definition: it occurs when at least 20 percent of the population face extreme food shortages, acute malnutrition rates exceed 30 percent, and two out of 10,000 people die from starvation on a daily basis.

While the word is highly charged and has the power to spur world action, it has only been officially declared twice in the past decade: in Somalia in 2011, and South Sudan in 2017.

But Narayan told AFP it made little sense to fixate on the fact the Gaza crisis had not yet met the highest possible classification.

"We have seen that all the factors that put people, but particularly young children at such high risk, are there."
"Something became increasingly clear towards the end of the criminal investigation: there seemed to be two faces of Ousman Sonko," prosecutor Sabrina Beyeler said on March 4 when the Swiss Federal Court of Bellinzona resumed the crimes against humanity trial of the former Gambian interior minister. "One face shows an intelligent, attentive, courteous and cooperative suspect who knows of no wrongdoing and has never been guilty of anything. The other face shows a person who was aware of everything from A to Z, who knew about the systematic human rights violations and helped orchestrate them at the highest level, a mastermind, a cool, considered planner and strategist, someone without scruples, who was selfish, ambitious, an alpha male, a person of power who wants to control the situation at all times and hold all the strings."

During the proceedings, she told the court, they were shown the following side of the accused: "He claims and defends himself that there was no state repression, killings, torture or rape in Gambia. Rather, he says that it was  and these were the words of the defense  a tourist paradise. Not at all. Such a statement is tasteless and misplaced. It ignores all of the revelations that have become internationally known in recent years about the machinations of Yahya Jammeh [president of The Gambia from July 1994 to January 2017] and his followers. The accused wants to present himself as a reformer and law-abiding public servant and claims that there have been many improvements under Yahya Jammeh."

In the prosecutors view the handwritten notes found with the accused when he was arrested in 2017 demonstrate that Sonko knew everything. "These memos also show that the accused was well able to resist instructions from the president."

Killing Manneh, the most serious crime

For the prosecutor, the accuseds involvement in the murder of Almamo Manneh is the highest crime he allegedly committed. Manneh was a state guard soldier and one Jammehs most loyal men. Before the Gambia's truth commission (2018-2021), he was implicated to have participated in a number of tortures. In 2000 however, Manneh himself suffered a similar fate as many of Jammehs close allies. He was killed. However, Sonko refused to respond to questions on this issue. "I am bound by an oath of secrecy," he always responded, even though he denied the allegation.

"The Office of the Attorney General considers that the involvement of the accused as an accomplice is more than sufficiently proven. As commander of the State Guard, the accused led the group of five to six soldiers. All soldiers acted under his command, i.e. they carried out the orders as they had been planned and ordered by the accused. He himself acted as part of this group and actively participated by shooting the fleeing Almamo Manneh with his own weapon. It was clear to the accused, and also the objective, that Almamo Manneh would not be arrested but liquidated as an enemy of the State," the prosecutor argued.

In her argument, she told the court Sonko used his professional connection with Manneh to lure him into an ambush. "The accused," she added, "acted with the soldiers as a kind of 'death squad' and was prepared to eliminate any person who was [against] the regime, outside legal rights. A single human life didn't matter to him, it was too insignificant compared to the government's selfish interests in staying in power. The killing is therefore to be qualified as a serious case because perpetrators acted cruelly."

Addressing Binta Jambas rape

The prosecutor then touched on all the other crimes. "The army was active as part of this [group of] perpetrators in the context of attempted coups, among other things. The perpetrators' collective also acted together to prevent the prosecution of these crimes by covering these state crimes with a cloak of silence, falsifying or destroying incriminating evidence and publicly covering up the true facts with untrue statements. This collective of perpetrators acted together in an organised and coordinated manner in the crimes against Bunja Darboe, Ramzia Diab, Demba Dem, Musa Saidykhan and Madi Ceesay, Baba Jobe, Solo Sandeng, Nokoi Njie, Modou Ngum, Fatou Camara, Fatoumatta Jawara and Modou Touray," the prosecutor continued, naming all the individual victims in the case.

Binta Jamba, the widow of Manneh testified to being raped by Sonko multiple times over several years after her husbands murder. Sonko denied it and said that during that period, from January 2000 to January 2002 he was in a neighbouring country, Sierra Leone, on a peace mission. Jambas statements "show a sufficient number of different real indicators to conclude that her statements are true and that the events took place as she described them," the prosecutor pleaded. "If one compares the statements made by Binta Jamba in the course of the pre-trial proceedings and before the court," she explained, "it is noticeable that she described the course of the core events the same way and with a high level of detail, even though she did not report on certain events chronologically per se Various characteristics of the accuseds actions show that the crime against Binta Jamba were not primarily about the satisfaction of the accuseds sexual urges, but rather about the state interests of President Jammeh power apparatus, which the accused wanted to protec with his behaviour. One feature that stands out is the official appearance of the accused. He did not appear to Binta Jamba and the public as a private person in the moments in question, but as a representative of the army."

It took the prosecutor about six hours to make her pleadings before the three judges. Then she concluded: "In December last year, the Jungler Bai Lowe, who was involved in various crimes against humanity as a driver, was sentenced to life imprisonment [in a German court]. The defendants involvement in the offence and his culpability must be weighed significantly higher in this caseTaking all sentencing criteria into account, the Office of the Attorney General therefore requests that the accused be sentenced to life imprisonment."

That's not fair

When the closing argument of the prosecutor was shared in writing with the parties as Beyeler began addressing the judges, Sonkos defense lawyer Philippe Currat asked the court for interpretation for his client. This was rejected. "That's not fair," Currat told the court. As a matter of fact, the defendant has to sit in court through long hours of pleadings about what his fate should be in a language he claims to not understand. Such is the Swiss court system, it turns out. Despite several submissions by the prosecution and defense, the bench, from the onset, has maintained that its only official language is German.

"The prosecution has begun its closing arguments, which will take all day. I have asked for my client to be able to benefit from either simultaneous or written translation, in order to understand what is required of him. The Court refused. When he is given the last chance to speak, he will only be able to say that he has understood nothing of what the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Confederation and the plaintiffs' lawyers have said against him. As for the Gambian journalists who have once again made the trip, they are reduced to listening to days of pleadings that they do not understand a single word of. This is a sad spectacle from our courts, which clearly do not understand what is at stake in a trial conducted on the basis of universal jurisdiction," the defense lawyer wrote a few hours later on LinkedIn.

Sonko, looking more frail than a month ago, sat next to his lawyer, going through documents and mostly jotting something down. Only he and Currat are on the defense bench this time around. The other three members of the team, including Sonkos daughter, are not present. "There is no point coming if you cannot understand the language. It's just going to be additional costs for nothing," Currat responded when asked by Justice Info.

So long, Gambian people!

In January, a little Gambian community formed in Bellinzona, the tiny capital of Ticino, the Italian part of Switzerland. Plaintiffs  Gambians living at home and others abroad  as well as a few Gambian journalists and others, met in the Swiss court every day for three weeks of evidence hearings. In March, the atmosphere has changed. This time around, the plaintiffs are not in court. They are missing the final pleadings, unable to afford the cost of coming twice. The fate of one of the highest-ranking alleged perpetrators in Gambia, a former interior minister, is being determined in a country thousands of kilometres away, yet there is very little trace of the Gambian people and very little effort being made to include them. Except for the defendant of course, and two Gambian journalists, including Justice Infos correspondent, who have received financial support from a self-organized, generous group of Swiss citizens, there are no Gambians present.

Although the Gambian community struggled with the language barrier from the start, this months proceedings seem to exclude them even more than in January. "My experience this time is totally different from the January sessions. When plaintiffs and witnesses had to speak in languages, I understand. This time, the proceedings were conducted in German, making it extra hard for me to make sense of what is going on. Without any means for interpretation, I have to rely on online translation of the documents shared with me after the session to make sense of it. It is quite unproductive, time consuming and information is not timely delivered to us when our readers need real time updates about the proceedings," Sanna Camara, a Gambian journalist covering the trial, said.
"The Impossible Heir" sparked confusion among viewers after netizens found leaked episodes of the new K-drama.

The series features an amazing cast lineup, starting with Lee Jae Wook, Lee Jun Young, and Hong Su Zu as the lead stars.

Released on February 28 by Disney+, "The Impossible Heir" airs every Wednesday with a broadcast of two episodes every week.

However, some viewers were baffled after seeing reaction videos on episodes 3 and 4.

'The Impossible Heir' Leaked Episodes Garners Mixed Reactions

On social media sites like TikTok, netizens expressed their frustration after knowing that there have been leaked episodes of "The Impossible Heir."

Initially, episodes 3 and 4 were expected to air on March 6, but were surprised to see reaction videos and even K-drama recaps on different sites.

Instead of waiting till the release date, viewers found out that "The Impossible Heir" Episodes 3 and 4 were leaked during the weekends through various illegal sites, which happened a few days after airing the pilot episode.

The incident not only caused frustration among viewers but also confusion for the majority of fans.

READ MORE: Lee Jae Wook Launching His Own One-Man Agency Raises Doubts: 'Is he big enough to run a company?'

In a TikTok video, a user expressed his or her sentiment regarding the leaked episodes.

Netizens flocked to the comments section and shared their disappointment with the incident. Some said they were surprised to see the supposed upcoming episodes already downloaded on alternative sites.

One user even speculated that it might be sabotage.

Meanwhile, media outlet iMBC mentioned that "The Impossible Heir" releases two episodes every Wednesday at 5 p.m. on Disney+. However, episodes on Hulu are uploaded much earlier.

Currently, there are only two episodes released "but Hulu users have taken advantage of this to pirate episodes 3 and 4 and share them without permission."

Get to Know More About 'The Impossible Heir'

"The Impossible Heir" is the newest thriller-political K-drama that highlights the mission of three individuals, who want to take over one of Korea's top conglomerates.

Lee Jun Young plays as the illegitimate child Kang In Ha, who is looked down on by his family. Despite this, he is determined to make something of himself.

During high school, he meets Han Tae Oh (Lee Jae Wook), who lives a totally different life. While In Ha is the son of a chaebol and owner of the Kang Oh Group, Han Tae Oh moves to a rural area to start over.

Interestingly, the duo meets fellow student Na Hye Won (Hong Su Zu). Like Tae Oh, she also belongs to a struggling family and wants to run free from her debt-ridden mother.

"The Impossible Heir" focuses on how the trio will take over Kang Oh Group.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Lee Jae Wook Becomes Target of Malicious Posts Following Dating News + Agency Warns Legal Action

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.

KDramaStars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
Park Shin Hye and the "Marry My Husband" cast topped the March 2024 brand reputation rankings for drama actors. Surprisingly, this antagonist outshined her co-stars on the list!

Park Shin Hye Tops March 2024 Brand Reputation Rankings for Drama Actors

The Korean Business Research Institute revealed this month's list based on the data analysis of the various factors. It includes media coverage, interaction, participation, and community indexes of 50 celebrities who appeared in different K-dramas that aired from February 6 to March 6.

Entering the first place is Park Shin Hye, who stars in the medical K-drama "Doctor Slump."

Returning for her first K-drama after three years, the actress proves her star power by delivering an amazing performance and showcasing her continued popularity.

"Doctor Slump" is also her reunion project with Park Hyung Sik, who ranks 4th on the new list.

READ ALSO: Park Shin Hye To Quit Student Roles? Actress Reveals REAL Feelings About Wearing Uniforms in K-Dramas

Meanwhile, Park Shin Hye will headline another K-drama after the successful finale of "Doctor Slump." She will work with Kim Jae Young in the romance crime K-drama "The Judge from Hell."

Song Ha Yoon, 'Marry My Husband' Cast Remain in Brand Reputation Rankings for Drama Actors

The cast of the hit tvN K-drama "Marry My Husband" continues to dominate the monthly rankings.

Surprisingly, the drama's villain Song Ha Yoon remains unbeatable as No. 2 in the rankings. This proves that the webtoon-based drama contributed in her skyrocketing fame.

Meanwhile, from 4th place last February, Na In Woo in No. 3 this time. The same goes for Park Min Young, who also ascended from 6th to 5th place.

Lastly, Lee Yi Kyung remains on the chart, but this time he is on the 6th spot.

March 2024 Drama Actor Brand Reputation Rankings [Full List]

Park Shin Hye Song Ha Yoon Na In Woo Park Hyung Sik Park Min-Young Lee Yi Kyung Lee Ji Ah Park Ji Hyun Honey Leei Ahn Bo-hyun Lee Jong Won Jo Jung Suk Park Ji-Hoon Choi Soo Jong Shin Se Kyung Jang Na Ra Kang Ki Young Lee Gi Kwang Kim Dong Jun Ji Seung Hyeon Uee Ha Jun Kim Sang Joong Oh Seung Ah Hong Ye Ji Lee Seol Lee So Yeon Son Ho Joon Ha Yeon Joo Lee Ki Woo.

What's Next for the 'Marry My Husband' Cast?

While viewers are waiting to see if tvN will renew the series for Season 2, the cast is set for an all-expenses-paid trip for a reward vacation.

"Marry My Husband" cast members will travel to Vietnam as part of their reward for the huge achievement of the show. The majority will join except for BoA and Lee Gi Kwang, who have prior commitments.

As for Na In Woo, who is set to enlist, he sought a request to delay the start of his military service to be able to join the special trip.

READ MORE: Song Ha Yoon's Phone 'Flooded' With Messages After 'Marry My Husband' Finale Broadcast

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 Impossible Heir" Episode 3 delivered a fast-paced story as Lee Jae Woo, Lee Jun Young, and Hong Su Zu officially became part of the conglomerate, Kang Oh Group.

Where to Watch 'The Impossible Heir'?

The newest thriller-political K-drama depicts the story of three individuals attempting to overtake the throne of Korea's largest conglomerate.Globally premiered on February 28, 2024, "The Impossible Heir" is directed by Min Yeon Hong of "Insider" and "Missing: The Other Side" and penned by "Baby & I" and "Miss Butcher" screenwriter Choi Won.

Airing every Wednesday, "The Impossible Heir" releases two episodes and airs on Disney+. Global viewers can access the newest episodes via Hulu.

'The Impossible Heir' Episode 3: Han Tae Oh, Kang In Ha, Na Hye Won Enters Kang Oh Group

"The Impossible Heir" Episode 3 focused on Han Tae Oh, Kang In Ha, and Na Hye Won officially entering the Kang Oh group. The first scene featured Han Tae Oh being introduced to Chairman Kang Joong Mo as his speech writer for his engagements.

During his one-on-one conversation with the Kang Oh Chairman, Han Tae Oh was attacked for his family background. Kang Joong Mo used Tae Oh's father as his weakness, which prompted him to almost give up his position. However, the chairman was impressed by how he handled the test and was offered the role of his secretary.

READ MORE: 'The Impossible Heir' Episode 1: Lee Jae Wook, Lee Jun Young Build Unlikely Friendship

Five years later, things were going well with Han Tae Oh since the chairman considered him his right-hand man. Unfortunately, the downside of this was that the Kang family still saw him as a threat and might be a hindrance to their succession.

Meanwhile, Kang Joong Mo was looking forward to launching his dream project, the Royal Road Project, which highlights the establishment of a big city on the "west bank," calling it "a country within a country."

At this point, the trio was gearing for their plan.

While Tae Oh worked for the chairman, Kang In Ha was under Kang Oh Group's IT branch, while Na Hye Won was with the political campaigning team.

While they were having a late-night chit-chat with their plan update, Tae Oh received a clip from a hacker featuring the chairman's second son, Kang Seong Joo, along with Kang Joong Mo's opponent, Jo Soon Dong.

At this point, the trio speculated that Kang Seong Joo would launch an attack on the chairman.

Lo and behold, the chairman received bad news after finding out that Jo Soon Dong won the party's election.

"The Impossible Heir" also showcased how Kang Seong Joo and his mother celebrated since they were also against the company's Royal Road Project.

Other than their plan to stop the chairman's dream project, Seong Joo and his mother, Jang Geum Suk, also Kang Joong Moo's partner, were eager to step things up, starting with the chairman's health. They found out that he had a severe case of heart condition

Meanwhile, Han Tae Oh shared with the chairman that Geum Suk's family was behind the Save Africa project. He also revealed that the project was being used to launder money.

His discovery affected the plans for the succession, prompting them to have an emergency meeting.

As the chairman broke the news, Kang Joong Mo replaced his son, Kang Seung Joo, from the team and demoted him to a struggling division of the company.

However, amid the surprising changes in the Kang Oh group, Kang Joong Moo suffered from a heart attack. His wife, who was with him at the time, walked away as her husband grappled for help.

In the last scene, Kang Tae Oh arrived, and the episode ended.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Lee Jae Wook Launching His Own One-Man Agency Raises Doubts: 'Is he big enough to run a company?'

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.

KDramaStars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
Kim Soo Hyun returns to the small screen with the much-awaited rom-com K-drama "Queen of Tears."

Along with Kim Ji Won as the lead star, viewers are excited to see their chemistry as they take on interesting characters.

Ahead of the show's highly anticipated premiere, Kim Soo Hyun talks about his on-screen comeback and working relationship with Kim Ji Won.

During the press conference of "Queen of Tears," Kim Soo Hyun mentioned his hiatus and the reason behind it.

Kim Soo Hyun Talks About His 3-Year Hiatus

The South Korean star's last appearance in a K-drama was the 2021 thriller mystery series "One Ordinary Day," which is a remake of the 2008 British TV series "Criminal Justice."

After 3 years, he decided to take on a different genre, this time with Kim Ji Won.

READ MORE: Kim Soo Hyun & Kim Ji Won Stunning At 'Queen of Tears' Presscon: 'The chemistry is daebak'

In a report, Kim Soo Hyun gets honest about his 3-year break from the industry.

According to him, he wasn't trying to take a break "as if he were in the military"; instead, he was looking for the perfect project for him.

Interestingly, he was selected to headline TVN's upcoming K-drama, "Queen of Tears."

Kim Soo Hyun said that it will be his first time portraying the role of a married couple.

For his K-drama comeback, Kim Soo Hyun plays Baek Hyeon Woo. He works as the legal director of the conglomerate Queens Group.

Interestingly, this is where he meets the chaebol heiress Hong Hae In, played by Kim Ji Won.

Kim Soo Hyun's Working Relationship with Kim Ji Won

Besides his return to the industry, Kim Soo Hyun also dishes on his chemistry with Kim Ji Won on and off camera.

He said that the staff and the people behind the drama will agree when he describes his female co-star as someone who is "truly a warm-hearted person."

Expressing how "nice" the actress is, Kim Soo Hyun recalls his unforgettable moment with the actress.

"Particularly on set, whether during acting or not, she shows deep consideration."

The South Korean heartthrob continued to praise his co-star and revealed the nickname they have for Kim Ji Won.

"I would like to call her the 'Queen of Consideration' or, secondarily, the 'Queen of Concentration.'"

According to the top star, Kim Ji Won was 100 percent focused on the set and her work.

"Honestly, there were times when I lost my concentration, but looking at Jiwon, I could regain my focus. She exudes incredible energy despite her petite frame, and in various ways, she provided a lot of help," he said, expressing his gratitude to the actress.

"Queen of Tears" will premiere on March 9, airing every Saturday and Sunday.

Viewers get to watch the K-drama through TVN, TVING, and Netflix.

IN CASE YOU MISSED: Kim Ji Won Gets Real About Her 'Queen of Tears' Co-Star Kim Soo Hyun: 'He makes the filming set...'

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.

KDramaStars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
Choi Sung Eun dished on her comeback film "My Name Is Loh Kiwan," and looked back on how she landed the acting role in an interview.

She also talked about her chemistry and experience filming with Song Joong Ki who headlined the film. Keep on reading to know more.

Choi Sung Eun Dishes On 'My Name Is Loh Kiwan' Audition

Since her debut in 2018, Choi Sung Eun has starred in various K-dramas and films that left a mark on the viewers.

This 2024, she returned with the drama film "My Name Is Loh Kiwan" with Song Joong Ki, and transformed into a Belgian-Korean woman who has given up in life.

According to the actress, she almost didn't do it due to her intense pessimistic mindset. She reasoned, "Whenever I audition, I always think it won't work out for me. It's because I don't want to set my hopes high."

Thankfully, she was able to charm the showrunners and landed the role. In the interview, she shared her experiences, saying that she found her role, Marie, very attractive.

"I didn't receive a full script. I only had the description of the work and my character," Choi Sung Eun revealed. "I gave my best in portraying the role, and even dressed the part."

READ MORE: Choi Sung Eun Net Worth 2024: How Rich Is Song Joong Ki's New Leading Lady

Regarding being nicknamed as a "Monster Rookie" actress, Choi Sung Eun confessed that although she's very grateful, it's still a huge burden to her.

She added, "I wonder whether I really deserve it but I promise to continue showcasing my talents in my future works."

Choi Sung Eun On Chemistry With Song Joong Ki

"My Name Is Loh Kiwan" marked the actress' first-ever work with the Hallyu superstar. Choi Sung Eun felt honored and excited after receiving the news.

According to her, Song Joong Ki was a solid gem. The actor didn't make her feel uncomfortable while working abroad but instead helped her in internalizing her respective role.

"He's a persistent person. He really values his work and the people around him," the actress said, sharing her admiration. "Even during breaks, he continues to review our work. It's a thing I learned from him."

It was also revealed that Song Joong Ki asked Choi Sung Eun not to call her "senior" anymore. However, the actress continues to address him as a "passionate senior" due to his work ethics.

"He's a warm person I can approach with ease, and a senior who guides rookies like me with no prejudice," Choi Sung Eun added.

Meanwhile, "My Name Is Loh Kiwan" is currently sitting at No. 3 in Netflix's charts in more than 15 countries including South Korea, the Philippines and more. Make sure to check it out now.





ALSO READ: 'My Name Is Loh Kiwan' Successfully Tops Netflix Charts





KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
Police officers hold up a sheet as members of the coroner's office remove a body at the scene of a homicide where six people were found dead in the Barrhaven suburb of Ottawa on Thursday, March 7, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle


Thursday, March 7, 2024 - Former Starehe Member of Parliament, Bishop Margaret Wanjiru, has revealed the identity of the goons who demolished her church in Nairobi on Wednesday.

Jesus is Alive Ministry, which was founded by Wanjiru in the 1990s, was demolished by unknown men who claimed the land belonged to Kenya Railways Corporation.

Addressing journalists, Wanjiru who was later hospitalised after the demolition, stated the men identified themselves as Directorate of Criminal Investigations(DCI) and National Intelligence Service (NIS) officers and were sent by a senior government official to demolish the church.

"I want to state categorically that hii Weruga lane haina property ya Railways, this is our own investment, hii ni property yetu ya kanisa," Wanjiru said.

"Mtu kuja kuchokora kanisa na kutupiga na kutuharibia mali yetu.. na hizi ni vitu zetu, wametunyanganya masimu, wametuumiza ile kabisa."Wanjiru added.

Wanjiru, describing herself as one of Kenya's chief kwanza campaigners in the Nairobi region, stated that she did not expect to be repaid in such a manner.

"I wasn't campaigning to be repaid like this. It is very sad that this is the government that we campaigned for," Wanjiru said.

"I am yet to believe that they can do this to me. I am the one who sold UDA in Nairobi,"

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Thursday, March 7, 2024  The newfound bromance between President William Ruto and Azimio Leader Raila Odinga has continued to elicit mixed reactions, with former Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu expressing shock at how it was established.

Speaking during the Launch of the Women Governors Caucus G7 Strategy in Nairobi, Ngilu noted that she did not envision that handshake.

She told women leaders and other leaders present that she was still studying how the two leaders buried their political differences and agreed to work together.

Ngilu pointed out that she was impressed by the support Ruto had shown towards supporting Raila to become the next African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson.

However, Ngilu requested Ruto to extend the same amount of support to other leaders close to Raila like her.

This is even as Ngilu had shown deep hatred for Ruto in the run-up to the 2022 General Election.

"What has shocked me in the last few days is a new handshake. Thank you for supporting Baba (Raila) to become the next AUC Chair," she stated.

"But you cannot support him alone, he has so many other people with him. But I would like to study and understand how this works," she stated.

Besides expressing shock at the newfound handshake, Ngilu advised Ruto to prioritize appointing more women leaders. She noted that the leaders will play an integral part in helping him achieve his legacy.

The sentiments come days after Ngilu asked Raila to plan for his succession before departing for the AUC role.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Thursday, March 7, 2024  The Government of President William Ruto has negated an earlier promise to start effecting Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) deductions in July 2024.

Speaking during an interview, Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha explained that the government would require the deductions to be made beginning this March.

CS Nakhumicha remarked that the Ministry would gazette the SHIF regulations tomorrow to pave the way for employers to factor this in the March payroll.

Once the regulations are gazetted, they come into effect so that means deductions begin end of March, 2.75 per cent of income, she revealed.

On February 26, the Ministry of Health had initially indicated that the deductions would start in July after all Kenyans were registered to the new system.

Offering clarification, CS Nakhumicha remarked that from March, the government will need 90 days to prepare for the nationwide rollout of the universal health plan.

As such, while deductions will start in March, Kenyans will not be able to access the benefits of the insurance scheme until July 2024.

We need about 3 months to prepare ourselves because we need a digital system to do registration, we need to test it and collect resources, she explained the delayed access of benefits.

Effective the new financial year which is July, now Kenyans can begin to access services under the Social Health Authority.

While salaried Kenyans will have their deductions automatically deducted, unemployed Kenyans will be required to make a Ksh300 monthly contribution.

Should the government ascertain that you cannot afford the Ksh300, the amount will be advanced in the form of a loan.

The national government has partnered with financial institutions to offer loans for SHIF to be repaid once the Kenyan gains employment.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Thursday, March 7, 2024 - President William Ruto has today made a statement that may be construed to mean he is planning to dump Rigathi Gachagua as his running mate during the 2027 presidential elections.

Speaking on Thursday during the Women Governors Caucus G7 Strategy in Nairobi, Ruto said that his government has pursued radical strategies to actualize the constitution's gender inclusion threshold and will lead from the front in showcasing his pledge.

He therefore tasked the United Democratic Alliance(UDA) party chairperson Cecily Mbarire to formulate a new set of laws that will require a male presidential candidate to have a female running mate and vice versa.

"When Riggy G (DP Rigathi Gachagua) and myself agree on how things will go in the future we must also agree that going forward if a man is a candidate for president the woman must be a running mate and if a woman is a candidate then a man should be the running mate," Ruto said amid a cheering crowd.

He added: "We must be deliberate and intentional about it otherwise it will never happen."

Ruto said that the same should also be made mandatory for Governors and all leadership positions within the party.

He expressed confidence that other party leaders will welcome the proposal to fully achieve the 2/3 gender rule.

"We will do this not because we want to do anything against men but we want to balance so that we move together," he said.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Thursday, March 7, 2024  Gender Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa may be the first to be fired in President William Rutos government.

This is after Senators threatened to impeach her over what they termed as gross misconduct and dereliction of duty after she failed to honour their summons.

In a heated debate, the senators from both Azimio and Kenya Kwanza sides lamented over what they termed as a blatant disregard of the summons.

Led by Kakamega Senator Dr. Bonny Khalwale who also serves as Senate Majority Whip, they described Jumwa's action as a dereliction of duty and hence unfit to hold public office.

"She is falling the Executive and with due respect without being seen to be using the name of the President, I put it to the President that this is a dereliction of duty. This minister is not fit to hold public office," Khalwale stated.

"The Minister cannot hold this house ransom; we have competent women who can serve this country. Senator Gloria Orwoba should be appointed instead of Jumwa who does not execute her duties" Khalwale insisted.

His sentiments were backed by Migori Senator Eddy Oketch who vowed to table a censure motion in the afternoon.

Jumwa was set to appear before the House to brief the Senate on the progress of the two-thirds gender rule.

However, she failed to appear, sparking anger among lawmakers.

Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago noted that Jumwa's absence had dragged deliberations on two-thirds gender rule.

Responding to the Senator's concerns, Senate Speaker Amason Kingi directed them to properly execute their mandate including imposing fines and determining other actions against Cabinet Secretaries who ignore summons

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Thursday, March 7, 2024 - President William Ruto has praised former Kitui County Governor, Charity Ngilu, saying she occupies a special place in the history of Kenya.

Speaking at the launch of the Council of Governors' Women caucus referred to as the G7, Ruto said that it is because she was the first Kenyan woman who dared to vie for the presidency.

He went on to say that her daring spirit inspired the many women who are leaders today.

The president urged all women leaders to extend the mentorship that was extended to them by Mama Ngilu to the next generation of leaders.

"Ngilu occupies a special place in our country. She is the first woman to dare vie for president.

"Charity is many times hard on me but she is a great inspiration to many women across Kenya.

"Her daring spirit has inspired many of you who are women," Ruto said.

"The mentorship Charity gave you please mentor others going into the future,"

Speaking at the same event, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja showered praises on the former Kitui Governor for setting the pace in women leadership in Kenya.

Sakaja said that Ngilu stood out as a beacon of hope for many women leaders.

"Thank you for paving the way for women's leadership in Kenya. If it were not for you, many women governors wouldn't have the courage to join politics," he said.

Ngilu was first elected to represent the Kitui central constituency in 1992 and went on to serve the constituency until 2013.

In the 1997 general election, Ngilu sought to become Kenya's first female president on a Social Democratic Party of Kenya ticket, finishing fifth behind the eventual winner, the late President Daniel Moi.

The Kenyan DAILY POST.


Thursday, March 7, 2024 - Controversial lawyer, Miguna Miguna, has warned President William Ruto against sending police officers to Haiti for a peacekeeping mission.

Last week, President William Ruto signed a deal with Haitian Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry that will see Kenya send 1000 police officers to Haiti to deal with criminal gangs.

Haiti is currently ungovernable after Jimmy Cherizier alias "Barbecue" warned that there will be a "civil war" if Haitis Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, does not step down.

The Prime Minister is currently hiding in Puerto Rico after Barbecue warned him of a civil war if he returns to Haiti.

Reacting to the deployment of the police officers to Haiti, Miguna said Ruto would be committing a criminal offense by sending police officers to a country that cannot even allow its prime Minister to return to the country.

If the Haitian Prime Minister cannot even return safely to Haiti after he visits Kenya, it would be an act of criminal recklessness for the Government of Kenya to send 1000 Kenyan Policemen to Haiti to be slaughtered, Miguna wrote on his X.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Thursday, March 7, 2024  The situation in Haiti has taken another turn after the US Government moved to support the gangs' call for the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry as chaos escalates.

According to Officials from the White House and the State Department who spoke to the Miami Herald, an American publication, Joe Biden the administration was pushing for the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry to quell the unrest.

Per the officials, the US proposes that Henry step down as interim leader to facilitate the establishment of new governing structures and appointment of a new prime minister or wait until the Multinational Security Support (MSS) force is deployed.

One of the officials revealed that US President Joe Biden had lost faith in Henry's ability to lead. The official noted that Henry was unwilling to cede real power in a democratic transition.

The official revealed that the US administration could not see a scenario in which Henry would remain in authority. Henry is said to be working on his plan to remain in power.

Additionally, another official, Linda Thomas Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN explained that Henry had been asked to form a transitional council that would appoint an interim prime minister which would require Henry to resign.

On the other hand, State Department spokesperson Mattew Miller speaking to the press on Wednesday explained that the US was asking Henry to expedite the transition for inclusive governance.

Notably, Henry was in Kenya last week to sign the agreement to send 1,000 police officers to Haiti with President William Ruto.

However, while he was away, gangs took over the country freeing inmates and disrupting operations at the airport. This forced Henry to seek refuge in Puerto Rico before returning to Haiti.

The Kenyan DAILY POST


Thursday, March 7, 2024  Former Prime Minister Raila Odingas bid for the African Union Commission Chairmanship is a matter of national pride and image.

This was revealed by the Azimio coalition after a 4-hour deliberation on Tuesday.

In a briefing read by Jubilee secretary-general Jeremiah Kioni shortly after the coalition's summit meeting held at the SKM center in Nairobi, the opposition coalition reiterated its commitment to supporting Raila.

They added that as a coalition, they were combining efforts to ensure that the former prime minister clinches the seat.

At the same time, the coalition called on the country to accord Raila as much support as he would need to clinch the seat.

While endorsing Raila's bid, Azimio stated that support for Raila was not a partisan political issue but a matter of national image.

"It is our position as a coalition that it is in the best interest of the country and the East African Community that Rt. Hon Odinga takes the seat. To this end, we very much appreciate the support of our neighbours and those from across the continent who have extended to Rt. Hon. Odinga," Azimio said.

"We are also encouraged by the personal efforts by the Party Leader to win the seat without relying entirely on the endorsement by the state and we all committed to reach out to friends and fellow leaders out there in support of our leaders bid,"

Further, the coalition reiterated its commitment to staying united in the course of holding the government accountable and fighting for the rights of Kenyans in Railas absence.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Thursday, March 7, 2024 - Former Starehe Member of Parliament, Bishop Margaret Wanjiru has led religious leaders in condemning President William Ruto after her church in Nairobi was demolished on Wednesday.

Jesus Is Alive Ministry was demolished by goons, who according to the bishop, were from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and National Intelligence Service (NIS).

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Wanjiru who was accompanied by over 50 religious leaders from across the country criticised President William Ruto for reneging on his promises and turning against the church.

Wanjiru said church leaders campaigned for Ruto in the last election but he has turned out to be a devil who is persecuting them.

Here is a video of the press conference of Bishop Wanjiru accompanied by religious leaders blasting President Ruto after the Jesus is Alive Ministry church was demolished by pro-government goons.

A group of clergy, led by Bishop Margaret Wanjiru, is openly criticizing President William Ruto for reneging on his promises and turning against them. pic.twitter.com/zB0xVZCEHY  Cyprian, Is Nyakundi (@C_NyaKundiH) March 7, 2024

The Kenyan DAILY POST.
By Juliet Kigongo

Court has withdrawn criminal summons against businessman Patrick Bitature and his wife Carol Nzaro that required them to appear and answer criminal charges related to the $26 milion commercial dispute with South African money lender Vantage Mezzanine Fund II Partnership until investigations are complete.

Joan Keko, the Chief State Attorney has asked the Chief Magistrates Court at Buganda Road, presided over by Ronald Kayiizi to withdraw the criminal summons pending investigations.

The criminal summons which were issued before the DPP took over and therefore they collapsed that is why we never applied for the extension of summons. We pray those criminal summons are vacated until investigations are complete, Ms Keko submitted.

Court heard that a letter was written to police requesting them to start investigating the matter after the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) took over, however, later documents were received from the private prosecutor Robert Kirunda as per the previous courts directive.

The matter is now adjourned to April 3, 2024, when the state will update court on the investigations
The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries has placed Kampala district under an animal quarantine after the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).

In a statement addressed to the Chief Administrative Officer, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) from Anna Rose Ademun, the commissioner of animal health in the Agriculture ministry, after an outbreak of FMD in Kabowa, Rubaga division.

The district has been placed under quarantine as per the Animal Disease Act, capt 38, the statement reads in part.

She adds that movement of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and their by-products to, through, or within the district has been prohibited until further notice.

Livestock markets, slaughter places, including butcheries, loading grounds and animal shows in the entire district are hereby closed with immediate effect, the statement reads further.

The minister for Agriculture, Frank Tumwebaze has since revealed that the total susceptible animal herd across the country that requires FMD vaccination as per current estimates is 44 million.

FMD is a highly contagious viral disease of many wild and domestic cloven-footed mammals and many other animals. In swine, the disease is characterized by vesicles on the feet, snout and in the mouth
By Tausi Nakato

The suspended Luuka deputy Resident District Commissioner Mr Paul Waiswa alias Bwenibwamwiko has spoken out on his sacking.

Mr Waiswa was suspended early this week on accusations that he assaulted a resident who refused to wash his car.

Mr Waiswa is seen in a 2 minutes and 32 seconds video clip which has gone viral on social media while allegedly caning a 25-year-old car-washing bar attendant Mr Abdallah Kisige using a sugarcane stem.

Mr Waiswa was later summoned by Mr Yunusu Kakande, the secretary in the office of the president in charge of RDCs appointments.

However, Mr Waiswa said politicians in Luuka especially those eyeing for Luuka North Constituency blackmailed him resulting in his suspension.

Mr Waiswa denied harassing residents, saying I will not give up, and I will do the necessary work, I didnt commit any wrong in Luuka against residents, Mr Waiswa said.

In the letter dated May 5, 2024, signed by the Secretary, Office of the President, Mr Yunus Kakande, the State House suspended the deputy RDC over alleged physical assault on Mr Kisige.

You should prepare a written defense in regard to the allegations as contained in Mr Kisiges written complaint availed to you. You should therefore show why your case should not be forwarded to the rewards and sanctions committee of the office of the President for further disciplinary action against you, the letter reads in part.

Police investigate

The Busoga North Regional Police Spokesperson, Mr Micheal Kasadha said they have opened up an assault and threatening violence case against Mr Waiswa as investigation commences.

It is alleged that Mr Waiswa drove his official motor vehicle double cabin Toyota Hilux Registration Number UG 416C to the washing bay along Kiyunga Town Council  Nakabugu road.

While at the washing bay, the suspect asked the washing bay attendant where the car washing machine donated by the Member of Parliament Luuka North was. The victim responded that it got spoiled and that he was the one who received the said machine, he said.

Mr Kasadha said Mr Waiswa started beating the victim who was seated on a motorcycle of one of the clients by pushing it thus falling down with the motorcycle.

He got up and raised the motorcycle which the suspect still pushed down , picked a piece of sugarcane and used it to assault him on the neck and back inflicting physical pain on him , before driving away, he said.
Mr Vincent Lubega Nsamba has been declared by the 90th Makerere University Electoral Commission as the institutions new guild president.

Nsamba has garnered 2,540 votes in an online election conducted today, Thursday, March 7, 2024.

He has had a narrow margin win of 4 votes against his close rival Edmond Ariho who garnered 2,536 votes.

Fulungensio Kasekende came second runner with 1,674 votes while Simon Wandukwa became third with 1,039 votes.

These are among 16 candidates who competed for the Makerere guild president seat.

According to Electoral Commission Chairperson Mr Ramadhan Kirunda, a total of 25000 were expected to vote.

This is the third time Makerere University students have voted virtually following the ban on physical elections and campaigns in 2022.

The decision was taken by the university management following the death of a Uganda Christian University (UCU) student during the 2022 campaigns prompting the University to conduct a constitutional review.
Profit and Purpose: Women Leading the Way. What an empowering statement.

When it comes to gender related issues, it is not always that positive for women. There are gender pay gaps, gender data gaps in terms of womens health data, gender care gaps in terms of who bears the burden of care in families and other areas where there are gender inequalities, in a measured or a more subtle way.

There are lots of positive initiatives, legislation and policies in place to tackle these issues, eg Gender Pay Gap reporting requirements which will ultimately filter down to smaller organisations and become more tangible for all businesses.

However, measuring and reporting data does not of itself change behaviours and that is where we need to be  by supporting women at stages in their lives when they most need it, removing gender bias in the workplace, actively setting gender inclusive targets, bringing gender inclusivity into action and ensuring that actions speak louder than words and policies.

To be it is to see it, is a key concept in terms of gender equality, having role models and mentors for future female leaders, so that they can identify with and learn from these women.

Mentorship programmes for female entrepreneurs are a key support, allowing women to build a network and providing opportunities to discuss issues like financing or developing a business plan.

For female entrepreneurs, the Kilkenny Local Enterprise Office, the Acorn initiative for female rural entrepreneurs or Enterprise Ireland, are the first port of call for women seeking support.

Workplaces need to consider what networking opportunities are available for their female employees, eg  is there a structured programme for future potential female leaders, what supports are they actively providing women within the business.

Profit and Purpose refers to how women can benefit from their employment, invest in their financial wellness while also serving a purpose, be that as leaders of the business, in caring for a family or contributing to our society.

The speakers at the upcoming International Womens Day (IWD) event in Kilkenny this week are female role models living the values of Profit and Purpose: Catherine OKeeffe, the Wellness Warrior who champions womens health in the workplace.

Kim MacKenzie Doyle, a social entrepreneur who is developing the skills of the next generation through the BIG IDEA initiative in secondary schools.

Dr Lisa Koep leads Tirlan on their Sustainability journey and is fearless in driving the ESG agenda for this local and significant business, which also supports so many local farming families.

Mag Kirwan is a powerhouse in all that she does, in particular in her role as Managing Director of Goatsbridge Trout Farm.

As a female leader in PwC in Kilkenny, I am lucky that inclusion and diversity is seen as a fundamental part of our business strategy and of the lived experience we are creating for our people.

Gender equality feeds into the firms Inclusion Targets, there is strong female representation and leaders all around us as role models and there are supports and networking groups available for me to join, such as Gender Pillar, Women in Tech, Women in Sustainability and more.

The importance of a workplace culture that focuses on gender equality, and indeed broader inclusion ambitions, as we have at PwC, should not be underestimated.

I am looking forward to speaking with Catherine, Kim, Lisa and Mag at our IWD event Profit and Purpose  Women Leading the Way, hosted by PwC, Carlow Kilkenny Skillnets and Kilkenny Chamber this evening in Butler House.
A motorist who dragged a member of the Roads Policing Unit along the N1 for 15 metres near the Louth/Armagh border, after he was told he was going to be arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, has been jailed for three years and three months at Dundalk Circuit Court.

Brian Morgan (60) of Drumgullion Avenue, Newry, pleaded guilty last week to a charge of endangerment arising out of the incident on December 5th 2020.

He initially came to garda attention at a speed check at Newtownbalregan on the M1 northbound, where he was detected driving a Volvo car at 182 kph.

Other road users slowed him down and four minutes later, he was pulled in on the N1 about one kilometre south of Junction 20 - the Jonesborough/Carrickarnan exit.

A garda who was an observer in the Roads Policing Unit vehicle, got out and spoke to the defendant who handed over his UK driving licence and replied Jeez, Im sorry when he was told the speed he had been clocked at.

The officer returned to the garda car, and the Automatic Number Plate Recognition camera, showed him opening the front passenger door to take the key from the ignition, but the defendant started the car and drove off, dragging the garda for 15 minutes before he fell to the ground, hitting is head.

The garda shouted Dont as the defendant reached for the gearstick, and the next thing he remembers is seeing a helicopter overhead as he came too.

The court heard the Garda who had been driving the patrol vehicle, retrieved the defendant's driving licence, which the court heard was still in the garda's grasp.

She pressed an emergency button on her radio, and on seeing a Volvo reversing towards them had panicked, thinking it was the same car but the court heard that while similar, it was driven by a motorist who had pulled in after seeing what happened.

Another witness, who had been travelling south, had crossed over the dual carriageway and administered first aid and was concerned that the injured garda's eyes were rolling back.

The M1 was closed at Junction between Junction 18 and the border for a number of hours to facilitate an examination of the scene and the car was found burnt out that evening in a field in The Annies area of Kilcurry in north Louth.

The officer was treated in Our Lady of Lourdes hospital for a head injury, concussion and a fractured collarbone and was off work for over six months.

In his victim impact statement read to the court on his behalf, the garda said wearing a sling had left him in extreme discomfort, his sleep was badly disrupted and he now has an extra layer of caution in his interaction with members of the public and the incident had altered his approach to everyday policing activities.

Brian Morgan had 21 previous convictions in Northern Ireland, dating back to 1984, with the most recent in 2006.

They included two careless driving and speeding offences.

The Senior Defence counsel said his client, who is a tyre fitter, had not opposed his extradition from Northern Ireland last November.

He added the father of four was depressed and suffering from depression and anxiety after the break-up of his marriage, and was probably suffering from PTSD from an incident in 2013, where a cyclist who collided with a trailer he was towing, was fatally injured.

The court heard the Garda would accept the 10,000 the defendant had in court.

Character references were handed into court by the Defence, written by former Independent Cllr Gavin Malone of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, the Secretary of St. Marys Youth and Community Centre in Newry and Mr. Morgans sister in law, a recently retired civil servant who felt he might have been having an anxiety episode and could have been in flight or fight mode at the time.

Judge Dara Hayes said it was an appalling incident and the footage from the ANPR camera played in court, had shown the garda being dragged along half in and half out of the car before he hit the road.

The judge imposed a four and a half year sentence for the endangerment charge with the final 15 months suspended on the defendant entering a bond to be of good behaviour - while in custody and for 15 months post release.

A driving ban of eight years was also imposed.
A Dublin family has appealed for help, so their daughter can receive intensive therapies.

Evie Nolan, aged five, was diagnosed at five months old with a rare condition called MICPCH, a CASK-related intellectual disability, micro chromosome deletion on the CASK gene.

When Evie received her diagnosis at five months old we were told Evie would never walk, talk or even sit unattended, Evie is fighting daily to prove some of this to be wrong, said Evies mother, Emma.

Emma said that intensive therapies have been the most impactful regarding growing Evies cognitive and physical skills.

Evie is lucky enough to have been accepted to Napa Boston (June) and Napa London (Oct/Nov) both been a three-week intensive program and both come at a huge cost, Evie will partake in multiple daily sessions of Physiotherapy, DMI therapy Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language therapies, she added.

According to her mother, Evie will benefit massively from these intensive therapies.

Please help give our little girl a chance at reaching her goals and continue to help us access all the private therapies she deserves. Thank you for coming along on this journey, it means the world to us, she said.
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 42F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 29F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.
JEFFERSON CITY  Danny Santulli's life and the lives of his family members changed forever in the fall of 2021 after he was hazed with alcohol at a fraternity event at the University of Missouri. Santulli was left unable to walk, talk, or see, and now his family is working with lawmakers to stop that from ever happening again.

The House Committee on Crime Prevention and Public Safety held a public hearing on House Bill 1443, also known as Danny's Law, Thursday morning. The bill, sponsored by Travis Smith, R-Dora, would prevent the first person to call 9-1-1 and remain with the victim of a hazing incident from being charged with felony hazing.

The goal of the proposed law is to alleviate the fear of repercussions for calling emergency services in hazing incidents.

That's something Nick Santulli, Danny's older brother, said would have made a big difference.

"If someone would have called 9-1-1 in the first place, then it wouldn't have been as drastic as it was," he said.

Danny's aunt, Chrissy Prioleau, said fear led to lost time, which cost Danny and his loved ones dearly.

"If I could have that 10 minutes back or that 15 minutes back that it took them to get everybody together to pick him up, to take him to the car, dropping him one time, getting lost in the car," she said. "Yes, (to) that driver, no you don't need to be prosecuted. Give me that 10, 15 minutes back because Danny would not be in the state he is."

David Bianchi is the Santulli family attorney. He helped pass Andrew's Law in Florida, named after Andrew Coffey, who died as a result of alcohol poisoning from hazing at a Florida State University fraternity in 2017.

Bianchi said laws identical to the proposed law in Missouri have already been adopted in approximately 25 other states.

Although Danny's Law would prevent felony hazing charges for the first person to call 9-1-1, it's not a free pass, as universities could still impose sanctions for hazing.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request.

"You can be sure, regardless of this bill, that the university is going to take action. They can expel the players in these incidents from school," Bianchi said.

Sarah Love is a senior at MU and also a sorority member who previously served on the executive board of the Panhellenic Association.

She testified in support of Danny's Law at the House committee hearing Thursday.

When asked if fear is what prevents young men in dangerous situations from calling emergency services, she said, "I think that it's the entire reason they don't. You know, that's how I feel personally. Obviously, I can't attest to that, but if I had to make any assumptions I would say that it's 100% fear."

Some lawmakers at the hearing expressed concern that the bill would let hazing offenders off too lightly, as long as they call 9-1-1.

As lawmakers continue to discuss the bill, Danny's father, Tom Santulli, encourages them to ask themselves, "If my son or daughter were in dire straights, were in danger, needed help, needed support, would they want someone to call 9-1-1? And, I think we all know the answer."

Mary Pat Santulli, Danny's mother, said this is all about getting rid of the fear of asking for help.

"If they know that they're not going to get into any type of trouble and if they cooperate then it will save lives," she said. She added, "Every day we do it for Danny. And...we continue to have hope and pray that, you know, this doesn't happen to another family."

So far, six defendants have accepted plea deals for their roles in the hazing. Five defendants have ongoing cases.

"I think we all can agree here that we would take Danny back the way he was before October 19th, 2021 over anything else. We want Danny back the way he was," Tom Santulli said.

Danny's Law still has to be voted out of committee and then get through the House and Senate before reaching the governor's desk.
You have permission to edit this article.

Edit Close
Single dose of LSD provides immediate and lasting relief from anxiety, study says
House Bill 2693, sponsored by Tony Lovasco (R-St. Charles), says that any firearm received by law enforcement shall be offered for sale or trade to a licensed firearms dealer. The proceeds from any sale or gains from trade shall be the property of the county, municipality, or governmental body.
Senate passes bill to compensate Americans exposed to radiation by the government

The Senate has passed legislation that would compensate Americans exposed to radiation by the government by renewing a law initially passed more than three decades ago
Shares of BNCCORP, Inc. (OTCMKTS:BNCC  Get Free Report) were up 2.7% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $27.95 and last traded at $26.36. Approximately 14,923 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 344% from the average daily volume of 3,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.66.

BNCCORP Trading Up 0.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $27.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.76. The stock has a market cap of $94.78 million, a P/E ratio of 16.51 and a beta of 0.78.

Get BNCCORP alerts:

BNCCORP (OTCMKTS:BNCC  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter. BNCCORP had a net margin of 10.71% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The firm had revenue of $9.51 million during the quarter.

BNCCORP Increases Dividend

BNCCORP Company Profile

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a positive change from BNCCORPs previous dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 4th.

(Get Free Report)

BNCCORP, Inc operates as the bank holding company for BNC National Bank that provides community banking, retail and mortgage banking, and wealth management services to businesses and consumers. The company offers commercial banking services, including business financing, commercial real estate lending, small business administration loans, business checking, cash management, corporate credit cards, and merchant services to small to middle-market businesses.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for BNCCORP Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BNCCORP and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Luxottica Group SpA (OTCMKTS:LUXTY  Get Free Report)s stock price was up 0.4% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $55.90 and last traded at $55.80. Approximately 2,900 shares traded 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 Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $27.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37 and a beta of 0.27. The stocks fifty day moving average is $55.80 and its 200-day moving average is $55.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

About Luxottica Group

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Luxottica Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Luxottica Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
By Kim Jin-heon

In mid-January of this year, the writer and friends flew to Luang Prabang (with a population of 60,000), renowned for its Buddhist heritage. We flew from Hanoi, Vietnam for an hour or so by plane. As the plane descended toward the airport, we were greeted by the sight of a sprawling basin enclosed by towering mountain ranges. To the west, the Mekong River meandered through the landscape, adding to the picturesque scenery.

After checking into a hotel, we promptly embarked on a climb up Mount Pusey, renowned for its panoramic views of the city. Upon reaching the summit, I was captivated by the picturesque scene below, and as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the sky in a fiery red hue, I found myself momentarily lost in a dreamlike state.

Laos is bordered by several countries, including China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. This geographical setting has led Laos to embrace diverse cultures, including Buddhism, architectural influences, crop cultivation practices, and a multitude of ethnic groups. In contrast to neighboring countries, Laos developed its national system relatively late. Moreover, its fate remained in constant flux due to the fluctuating fortunes of surrounding nations.

The Lao people, among various ethnic groups, built the kingdom of Lan Xang from AD 1357 to 1707 in Luang Prabang and the surrounding area. Later, museums and almost 80 temples were built. Many historic and cultural treasures, including French-style architecture from the colonial period, have been preserved in Laos, offering a glimpse into its rich heritage. Therefore, UNESCO named Luang Prabang a World Heritage Site in 1995.

One of the main attractions in Luang Prabang is witnessing the monks perform the one-kilometer-long alms-giving ceremony, which begins at 5 a.m. Most of the people who served the food were travelers. I also participated in the event. A citizen said that all the food would be served to the poor except for the monks food. The night market features a diverse array of handicraft stalls operated by Lao minorities, where travelers are encouraged to browse or purchase items. Furthermore, the sunset viewed from the Mekong River was exceptionally breathtaking.

Two days later, at Luang Prabang Station, we took a four-hour train ride to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. On the way, the Karst topography, primeval forests, and idyllic atmosphere observed from the window reaffirmed why I had chosen to visit this country. A traveler likened Laos to the closest thing to paradise on earth.

Vientiane has been the capital of Laos since the era of French colonial rule. It is located on the banks of the Mekong, running along the border between Thailand and Laos. In the city, we visited Patuxai, which is called Independence Gate of Laos. It mimics the French Arc de Triomphe. It's so famous that citizens and travelers continue to visit it.

Similar to Luang Prabang, the Buddha statues in temples appeared notably large. I believe the people of Laos built them to more earnestly embody and embrace the teachings of Buddha in their lives. And museums in two cities were also related to kings. Laos has a history marked by aggression from neighboring powers, with great kings playing pivotal roles in safeguarding the kingdom. At that point, kings in the museums were the guardian deities of Laos.

Laos is a poor country with 240,000 square kilometers of land and a tropical monsoon season. Having been formed later than its neighbors, Laos experienced persistent aggression due to its relatively weaker national power. Despite facing numerous challenges, Laotians managed to retain their country. My visit to Luang Prabang revealed insights into the values of consideration for minorities, sharing with the less fortunate, and introspection on daily life through Buddha's teachings. It became evident to me that the social cohesion that united all citizens and fostered multi-ethnic cooperation was the driving force behind the resilience of Laos as a nation.



He is a retired English teacher who published a book titled, "Flower Is Flower."
Angola, IN (46703)

Today

Snow showers will become more widely scattered for the afternoon. High around 35F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 40%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. A few flurries are possible. Low 26F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Snow showers early with a chance of lingering snow showers later. High 34F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 80%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. A few flurries are possible. Low 27F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.
Auburn, IN (46706)

Today

Snow showers this morning becoming more scattered later. High around 35F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 80%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. A few flurries are possible. Low 27F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.
In a groundbreaking move, K-Pop sensation BLACKPINK's Jisoo has been unveiled as the latest ambassador for the esteemed London-based fashion house, Self-Portrait.

This announcement not only marks a significant milestone for the artist but also for the brand, as Jisoo becomes the first musician to lead Self-Portrait's accessible line since its inception in 2013.

A Trailblazing Collaboration

Following in the footsteps of fashion luminaries such as Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Gigi Hadid, and Bella Hadid, Jisoo's partnership with Self-Portrait represents a fresh direction for the brand.

Founder and creative director Han Chong expressed his admiration for Jisoo, emphasizing the campaign's goal to highlight "her beauty, both inside and out."

A Visual Spectacle

The unveiling of this partnership came with a series of mesmerizing images, shot in South Korea by the acclaimed photographer Yoon Ji Yong.

Renowned for his work with K-Pop stars, including Jisoo's ME solo album cover and her feature in ELLE Korea, Yoon's visuals bring a distinctive storytelling element to the campaign.

READ ALSO: Real-Life Princess? BLACKPINK Jisoo Reportedly a Descendant of Royalty

Netizens' Reactions

Here are netizens' reactions to BLACKPINK's Jisoo becoming Self-Portrait's latest ambassador.

"What a year awaits us with you, my muse..."

"OMG JISOO!! BUT WHAT IT IS? CAN ANYBODY TELL ME?? "

"icons together"

"OMG JISOO WHY U MAKE ME SCREAM"

"so beautiful neng jisoo makes my heart ache"

"Global icon and multi-award-winning musician Jisoo is the latest face of self-portrait. Marking a series of firsts, the new partnership is the first time self-portrait has worked with a musician to front its campaigns."

"JISOO SELF PORTRAIT MUSE"

"Jisoo's body omg omg omg wowww"

"Congratulations! We're so excited with this new partnership"

"THIS IS SUCH A BIG NEWSSS OMGGG OUT OF NOWHERE AND THEN BOOMMMM MISS KIM JISOO "

A Fusion of Artistry and Fashion

Jisoo's journey into contemporary fashion aligns seamlessly with the ethos of Self-Portrait.

The collection she showcases boasts a range of exquisite pieces, from a pale-pink sequin minidress with black trim to an orange and pink rhinestone embellished minidress. The standout blue minidress, adorned with delicate flower embellishments, reflects Jisoo's personal style and artistic flair.



For Jisoo, this collaboration signifies a new chapter in her career. Fresh off the heels of launching her own label and agency, Blissoo, in February, this venture into the world of fashion solidifies her status as a multifaceted talent.

In recent news, BLACKPINK Jisoo and Lisa launched their own companies, Blissoo and LLOUD, respectively. Jisoo's humble self-introduction on Blissoo's website earned praise, while Lisa's claim of transcending the group on LLOUD's site drew criticism for arrogance.

Lisa's focus on solo achievements and Guinness World Records, mostly shared with BLACKPINK, led to accusations of neglecting the group's contributions. Critics urged Lisa to adopt a more humble approach to avoid controversy.

YOU MIGHT BE ALSO INTERESTED IN: BLACKPINK Jisoo Dating Rumor 2022: Why Was She Entangled With SEVENTEEN Joshua?

For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Cassidy Jones.
During her most recent airport appearance, BLINKs shouted "President Kim" at BLACKPINK member Jennie. Her reaction to the nickname is now drawing attention. Keep on reading for all the details.

'PRESIDENT KIM': BLACKPINK Jennie Reaction to Nickname Garners Attention

On the afternoon of March 6, 2024, BLACKPINK member Jennie returned to Korea following a business trip to France for Paris Fashion Week. As she emerged, the President of ODD ATELIER (OA) garnered attention from both reporters and BLINKs alike.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: BLACKPINK Jennie Criticized for 'Weight Gain' at Paris Fashion Week + BLINKs Defend Idol

Notably, fans at the airport affectionately referred to Jennie as "Kim sajangnim" (President Kim). The nickname caused the BLACKPINK member to blush, and she is seen smiling while covering her face in embarrassment.

In addition to Jennie's reaction, the expression of her manager, Shin Ho Sup, also drew attention. Upon hearing the fan callout, "President Kim," the male manager immediately directed his attention to Jennie. Jennie, too, was seen looking over at him. Though she tried to hide her smile, it was still noticeable to fans.

CHECK THIS OUT: BLACKPINK Jennie Faces Distress At Airport + Sparks Concern Over Safety

Observing her reaction, he transitioned from a serious expression to a bright smile, ensuring Jennie's comfort amidst the crowd of fans.

This moment was soon shared on social media, with many acknowledging Jennie's excellent manager, who consistently prioritizes her well-being and understands her emotional needs.

YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN: Yoo Jae Suk Reveals BLACKPINK Jennie Alcohol Tolerance - How Well Can She Drink?

Others complimented Jennie for her adorable reaction. Though it is true that she is the president of her own company, it seems the title still has to grow on her!

Some comments read,

"Her shy smile is so adorable!"

"Jennie's reaction is so cute."

"The way she laughed was so cute."

"Our adorable sajangnim!"

What do you think of the situation? Tell us in the comments below!

BLACKPINK Jennie Stuns at the Chanel Show for Paris Fashion Week

Just a day prior, Jennie attended the Chanel Fall-Winter 2024/24 Ready-to-Wear show for Paris Fashion Week.

READ MORE: BLACKPINK Jennie Cussed? PD Addresses Idol's Alleged Foul Language in 'Apartment 404

Jennie was impeccably glamorous for the event, donning a complete Chanel ensemble. She rocked a ballet-inspired short tulle black dress from the brand's "The Button" Spring-Summer 2024 Haute Couture collection.

Jennie complimented the dress with thigh-high black boots and a glove adorning her right hand, accompanied by an array of gold and silver jewelry.

FOR YOU: 6 Female K-Pop Idols Who Rocked Underwear-Exposing Fashion: LE SSERAFIM Huh Yunjin, BLACKPINK Jennie, MORE!

In other snaps from the look, Jennie oozed sophistication by draping a black jacket over the dress, further enhancing her chic and elegant look.

KpopStarz Owns This

Written by Alexa Lopez
BusinessWire India

Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], March 7: In a grand ceremony held at the W Hotel, Goa, the winners of the 2024 Acko Drive Awards were announced. The Hyundai Verna was crowned Car of the Year and the KTM 390 Duke took home the TOTM for the Bike of the Year. The Verna fended off rivals like the Honda Elevate, Hyundai Exter, Citroen eC3, Maruti Suzuki Fronx, and Maruti Suzuki Invicto among others to win the top TOTM for mass cars. The BMW 7 Series won the overall Premium Car of the Year.

Also Read | Mahashivratri 2024 Wishes in Hindi and Har Har Mahadev Wallpapers: Greetings, WhatsApp Messages, Lord Shiva Images & Bholenath Photos To Celebrate Maha Shivratri.

Hyundai was also the recipient of the Safety Tech Award for its big achievements in making a lot of safety features standard in its cars. Tata Motors won Car Manufacturer of the Year. Bajaj (along with its alliance partners - KTM and Triumph) won the Bike Manufacturer of the Year TOTM. The KTM Duke 390 too impressed the ACKO Drive jurors but faced stiff competition from the likes of the Royal Enfield Himalayan and the Triumph Speed 400. It won the race to grab the top podium spot followed by the other bike made by Bajaj - the Triumph Speed 400. In the Viewers' Choice Bike of the Year category, it was again the KTM Duke 390 which was a popular choice as the most-voted bike. The Nexon EV was the most popular choice in the Viewers' Choice Car of the Year category, garnering the most votes to claim the TOTM. Siddharth Vinayak Patankar, Chief Creative Officer, ACKO Tech, said, "In a growing automobile market like India that is still maturing and constantly evolving, it is very important to have a credible process to recognise the best products. Despite the many auto awards we are proud to say the TOTMs do stand out as that credible, true, comprehensive awards process, where the winners are truly deserving. And where winning means something to the manufacturers, and says something about the winning bikes and cars to the consumers." The awards were held over two days in dual ceremonies hosted by ACKO Drive's Chief Creative Officer, Siddharth Vinayak Patankar, noted actor and entertainer, Manish Paul, actor, producer, pilot, Gul Panag, and Pooja Kaif, a consulting anchor for us on ACKO Drive. The two-day awards ceremony was a first in the automotive fraternity and it will be aired on Sony Liv, which would also make it the first-ever automotive awards to be broadcast on an OTT channel. The TOTMs are "The One That Matters" and the whole automotive industry turned up to celebrate the wins of the best in the industry. The awards ceremony was attended by the who's who of the automotive industry. Santosh Iyer, MD and CEO Mercedes-Benz India, Jyoti Malhotra, MD, Volvo India, Tarun Garg, COO, Hyundai Motor India, Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director, Sales and Marketing, Maruti Suzuki, Bipul Chandra, MD, Ducati India, SangYup Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai and Genesis Global Design Centre, among others. Mr. Lee, in fact, was also named the Person of the Year, the first time a global design head has been given such an honour in India. SangYup Lee has been at the centre of the design revolution for cars from Hyundai Motor Company and he is responsible for the new parametric pixel, seamless horizon, and H-Design styling for Hyundai's stable worldwide. Siddhartha Lal, MD, Royal Enfield and Eicher, was crowned the Business Leader of the Year for ushering in a new wave of products and tech at Royal Enfield last year, all of which have had tremendous success in the Indian market. Aravind Mani, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, River was awarded the Jagdish Khattar Rising Star Award for his contribution and vision towards creating a sustainable business.

(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)

Also Read | Brazil Horror: 13-Year-Old Girl Admits to Assisting Boyfriend in Killing Mother, Stuffing Body in Fridge, Arrested.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
NewsVoir

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 7: Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Limited, renowned for its commitment to quality and pioneering innovations in lighting, has been redefining your living spaces with sophistication and unparalleled style. Crompton has launched its all-new premium range, the Trio Range of Lights. A first in industry, the Trio Range offers three distinct lighting experiences from a single product. From Ceiling Lights, Battens to Lamps, each one is meticulously crafted to meet the requirements of both decorative and functional needs. Ideal for various settings including homes, hotels, restaurants, cafes, and small offices, the Trio Range of LED lights elevate living spaces with a fusion of functionality and refined style.

Also Read | AI in Schools: Canva Partners With CBSC To Train Educators in Visual Communication and Generative AI Tools Throughout Affiliated Schools in India.

In the dynamic landscape of interior design, where contemporary tastes continually reshape trends, Crompton lights have consistently evolved to meet changing needs. The introduction of the Trio Range goes beyond conventional lighting solutions; it unveils an immersive experience tailored to meet the ever-evolving needs of modern living. Mindful of the myriad roles our living spaces serve in today's dynamic lifestyles, Crompton recognizes that they are more than mere habitats; they are stages where countless moments unfold. The Trio Range is a transformative lighting solution, offering a singular product with three distinct modes - theatre, work, and party. With the fusion of Cool, Warm, and Natural lights at the click of a button, this innovative range caters to diverse moods and occasions. Now, you can effortlessly switch between the crisp brightness of Cool light for focused work to the cozy ambiance of Warm light for a relaxed evening, and the natural, inviting glow for a lively party atmosphere.

Speaking about the company's newly launched lighting range, Shaleen Nayak, Vice President & Business Head, Lighting, at Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd. said, "At Crompton, quality and innovation always go hand in hand. We understand the pivotal role lighting plays in modern living, and we are committed to delivering lighting solutions that actively improve the quality of our consumers' daily lives. We believe in not just illuminating spaces but creating a lighting experience that matches the need at that point in time. Hence, the Trio Range is set to redefine the way people engage with lights in their homes & workspaces. Whether it's the warmth of a theatre to elevate the television/ presentation viewing experience, the focus of a workspace, or the vibrancy of a celebration, our new range doesn't just illuminate spaces; it enhances your home with every click of the switch. With these versatile lighting experiences rolled into one, we are confident of the positive impact on our consumers' lives."

Also Read | Prime Minister Narendra Modi To Unveil Pune Airport's Much-Awaited New Terminal on March 10.

From the focused Cool White Light in the focus mode, perfect for work and study, to the Warm Indirect Light in the theatre mode, ideal for unwinding and cinematic experiences, and the Hybrid Mode combining both for special moments with friends and family - the trio range delivers a transformative effect with just a click of a switch.

Below are the product details:

* Trio 15w LED Ceiling Light: It features a versatile design with theatre mode for a cinematic experience, work mode for focused productivity, and party mode for the perfect get-together setting, providing premium aesthetics tailored to every mood

* Price Range - Rs. 1400/-

* Trio 22w LED Batten Light: Elevate your space with a stylish and functional lighting solution that offers three distinct modes to effortlessly set the mood and create a vibrant ambience for any occasion

* Price Range - Rs. 1499/-

* Trio 12w LED Lamp: It offers 100% illumination capability for lamp shades and wall lights, along with the option for up and down lighting. In addition to offering three distinct modes - theatre, work, and party, these lights seamlessly cater to both personal and professional lighting needs, ensuring versatility and ambiance in any space

*Price Range - Rs. 375/-

Available at Crompton authorized retail outlets across India, as well as on leading ecommerce platforms, this range is set to illuminate and enhance every moment of your day with its innovative and versatile lighting offerings.

With a brand legacy of over 85 years, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd. is India's market leader in the category of fans and residential pumps. Over the years, the organization has continuously strived to produce a range of innovative products, that cater to the modern consumer, which includes superior quality and high-performance fans, pumps, lighting solutions and a range of other categories like water heaters; air coolers; small kitchen appliances like mixer grinders, air fryers, OTG, electric kettles etc., as well as other home appliances like irons and built-in kitchen appliances. The company has also invested in brand and innovation to not only better understand and meet the consumer needs, but to also help drive energy efficiency. The consumer business also has a well-established and organized distribution network driven by a strong dealer base across the country offering a wide service network and robust after sales service to its customers.

The company's consistent focus and drive has helped in developing energy-efficient products and these efforts also received numerous recognitions and awards. It has been honored with three prestigious National Energy Consumer Awards (NECA) by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power. The recent award was presented by the Hon'ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu for the company's storage water heater in the year 2023. In 2019, the brand also won the award in two categories: Ceiling Fans and LED Bulbs. Additionally, it was recognized as one of India's Best Managed Companies 2022 by Deloitte Private and been listed among 'India's Top 500 companies 2022' by Dun & Bradstreet India. The company has also been featured in "Brand Top 75" most valuable Indian brands list for 2020 released by WPP and Kantar. Furthermore, Crompton was also recognized as the Brand of the Decade 2021 by Herald Global and BARC Asia in the Consumer Electrical category.

(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
NewsVoir

New Delhi [India], March 7: Esri India, the leading provider of Geographic Information System (GIS) software and solutions, announced the launch of the prestigious 2024 Esri India Young Scholar Program to recognize and empower undergraduate and postgraduate students from geospatial disciplines across the country. The program aims to provide a unique platform for students to showcase their exceptional work in GIS and connect with a global network of fellow scholars at the renowned Esri User Conference in San Diego, California.

Also Read | Australia's White Ball Tour of Ireland May Get Postponed Due to Shortage of Venues and Financial Concerns: Report.

The program is open to undergraduate or postgraduate students pursuing a course in GIS or related subjects at a university in India. Students graduating in 2024 can also apply. To enroll in the program, the students need to register by March 10, 2024, and submit their projects by March 17, 2024. The submissions will be judged based on creativity, innovation, real-world problem-solving, and effective application of Esri technology.

Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri India, expressed his enthusiasm and stated, "The Esri India Young Scholar Program is a testament to our belief in the power of students to drive innovation in the geospatial field. The program is about recognizing excellence and fostering growth, collaboration, and a passion for solving real-world problems through location technology. We are excited to see the ground-breaking projects that will emerge from India's brightest young minds, providing the top scholars a unique opportunity to showcase their skills on a global stage."

Also Read | Maha Shivratri 2024: Lets Delve Into the Historical and Mythological Stories Associated With Lord Shiva on The Great Night of Shiva.

The winners will be rewarded with the prestigious 'Esri India Young Scholar of the Year' trophy & certificate and a 12-month ArcGIS personal use license. The topmost winner will additionally earn a visit to the Esri Education Summit and Esri International User Conference in San Diego in July 2024.

Program Details: www.esri.in/en-in/programs/young-scholar-program/overview

Registration Link: www.esri.in/en-in/programs/young-scholar-program/registrations

(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
PNN

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 7: The lifestyle led by the human race in today's era is inadvertently leading towards the destruction of the environment and depletion of available resources. Undoubtedly, mere knowledge of environment-friendly actions won't suffice the need of the hour. One of the prime initiatives of the Government of India Mission LiFE - Lifestyle for Environment focuses on changing individual and community behaviour to have a significant impact on the environment and climate crises. It also propagates the idea of Mindful and Deliberate Utilisation of resources, instead of Mindless and Destructive Consumption.

Also Read | Maha Shivratri 2024 Fasting Tips: 4 Easy Ways To Observe Mahashivratri Vrat Dedicated to Lord Shiva.

In order to complement the objectives of Mission LiFE, Itochu India Pvt.Ltd, a Japanese trading organisation, initiated a project named "Environment-friendly behaviour through 4R (Respect, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) complementing Mission LIFE". The project has been implemented by Shri Muni Charitable Foundation and is technically supported by the ETPA Foundation for Social Development. The main objective of this project is to bring in desired 'Behavioural Changes' amongst people towards RESPECTING all resources around us and their judicious utilisation. This has been executed through Storytelling Sessions as conducted with the target group of children aged 6 ~ 10 yrs in 53 government schools of Mumbai through the Japanese Picture Book of 'Mottainai Grandma' and its animated audio-visuals. Mottainai is a Japanese expression to expresses a feeling of regret when something is wasted without deriving its full value. The book illustrates the mindful utilisation of resources and promoting environment-friendly ways of living.

Two spells of Storytelling sessions were conducted with these children to reinforce the message of 4 R (Respect, Recycle, Reduce and Reuse). Simultaneously some teachers of these schools were also oriented about the skills of storytelling so that this journey continues further beyond this project as well. A set of 10 picture books were also donated to each of these 53 schools.

Also Read | Mumbai-Based Startup UrjanovaC Announces Development of New Cost-Effective Technology To Achieve India's Net Zero Targets.

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn." as quoted by Benjamin Franklin was also our guiding spirit as the Children who attended these storytelling sessions were also involved in the extra-curricular activities like creating 'Best out of Waste' crafts, utility products and plantation of fruit bearing, medicinal and floral saplings.

One of the sessions in Mumbai was also attended by some employees of Itochu India Pvt Ltd - Mumbai, including Mr. Ryosuke Ochi, Metal Division Head. They all were very impressed to see the enthusiasm of children about the Japanese concept of Mottainai and 4R. Children were also much intrigued by this experience of practical learning and experiencing the zero waste concept and various techniques to Reuse and Recycle waste materials. Such initiatives give the food for the thoughts to realise whether we are utilising everything judiciously or not!

(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
PNN

New Delhi [India], March 7: India's most prestigious logistics awards, the much-anticipated LogiVerse Innovations and Excellence Awards 2024 took place with grandeur and excitement, celebrating outstanding achievements in the logistics industry. Held in Delhi NCR the event witnessed a gathering of esteemed industry leaders, innovators, and pioneers, marking a momentous occasion in India's logistics landscape at one of the World's biggest Logistics Show, Logimat India 2024.

Also Read | HCLTech and ServiceNow Partner To Deliver New Generative AI-Led Solutions to Enterprises.

The awards ceremony, spanning over 60 categories, aimed to honour innovation, excellence, and resourcefulness in various segments of the logistics sector. From ground-breaking technological advancements to exceptional service delivery, the awards highlighted the remarkable contributions of companies and individuals in shaping the future of logistics. The awards were graced by esteemed dignitaries. Shri Amit Kumar Singh, IRTS, Managing Director of Central Warehousing Corporation, and a distinguished figure in the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, presided as the Chief Guest. Joining him was Dr. Anup Wadhawan, IAS (Retd.), Former Commerce Secretary of the Government of India, as the Guest of Honour.

"We are thrilled to celebrate the remarkable achievements of the logistics industry's finest," said Mr Sachin Patil, Managing Director and CEO of Messe Stuttgart India, the organisers of LogiMAT India 2024 and LogiVerse Innovations and Excellence Awards. "The diversity and depth of talent showcased tonight are a testament to the industry's resilience and commitment to driving innovation, excellence and sustainability."

Also Read | Mahashivratri 2024 Wishes & Quotes: WhatsApp Messages, Greetings, Images, HD Wallpapers To Share on Maha Shivaratri With Family and Friends.

As the logistics industry continues to evolve and adapt to changing market dynamics, events like the LogiVerse Innovations and Excellence Awards play a crucial role in recognising and celebrating the industry's achievements. They inspire innovation, foster excellence, and propel the logistics sector towards a brighter and more sustainable future.

Award Winners List:

LogiMAT India is the satellite show of Europe's biggest intralogistics exhibition, LogiMAT Stuttgart. Organised by Messe Stuttgart India Pvt Ltd, it is a leading international trade fair for intralogistics solutions and process management with a world-class reputation making its debut in India between 28 February - 01 March 2024 at IEML, Delhi NCR. With a focus on innovation and technology, the event provides a comprehensive platform for industry professionals to explore the latest trends and advancements in the intralogistics, transportation, warehousing and automation sectors.

For more, visit: https://www.logimat.in

(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
PRNewswire

Singapore, March 7: Organised by Informa Markets, the inaugural Asia Photonics Expo (APE), is successfully launched at Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore on the opening day. With an exhibition area of 15,000m^2, APE 2024 attracted 350 international exhibitors showcasing a wide range of sectors including optical communication, optics, lasers, infrared, sensing, and displays. It provides a comprehensive platform for business, technology exchange, and networking, enabling industry professionals to engage in meaningful discussions with leading companies and experts. APE 2024 aims to promote in-depth communication and business collaboration between professionals in the photonics ecosystem.

Also Read | Rachel Weisz Birthday: She is a True Trailblazer Who is Not Afraid To Take Risks.

The opening ceremony of APE 2024 attracted numerous distinguished guests and industry professionals. Notable speakers included Yang Xiancheng, Founder and Executive President of China International Optoelectronic Expo (CIOE), Sukumar Verma, Managing Director, Informa Markets Singapore, Prof. Tjin Swee Chuan, Chairman of LUX Photonics Consortium, Dr. Prof. Yuhong Bai, Director of Light: Science & Applications, Perry Shum, President of IEEE Photonics Society, and Carlos Lee, Director General of European Photonics Industry Consortium.

On behalf of the organiser, Sukumar Verma shared: "Asia Photonics Expo is reflective not only of the strength of the local industry, but also the interest from international markets to come explore partnership and investment opportunities in Singapore and the wider Southeast Asia region. The trade show is further complemented by a range of industry conferences, academic forums and seminars for knowledge and networking."

Also Read | Salesforce Logs 35% YoY Growth in New Business for Customers Across Industries in India.

Echoing this, Prof Tjin Swee Chuan, Chairman, LUX Photonics Consortium said:" It is very heartening to have the first trade show for Photonics industry held in Singapore. This is especially significant for LUX Photonics Consortium where we have been focusing our effort to bring together a very engaging networking platform for both research, academia and industry locally to discuss, exchange and collaborate for novel photonics technologies adoption by industry.'

Adding on, Dr. Prof. Yuhong Bai, Director of Light: Science & Applications said: "The Asia Photonics Expo provides exhibition for worldwide optics and photonics enterprises, in particular showcasing the growth of Asian industry. Beyond exhibition, it is also a superior platform for learning, discovering and collaborating."

Perry Shum, President of IEEE Photonics Society highlighted the importance of Singapore as a symbol of progress and connectivity: "It is here, in the heart of Asia, where the seeds of the photonics revolution take root and flourish. This expo transcends mere technological showcase; it stands as a crucible for collaboration and a catalyst for transformative innovation."

Carlos Lee, Director General of European Photonics Industry Consortium expressed in his speech that: "APE is a comprehensive platform catering to the photonics industry and application fields. I hope APE is able to facilitate global exchange and collaboration in photonics technology, driving progress and innovation in the global photonics industry."

During the exhibition, APE will also hold a series of site tours for visitors to experience local photonics research and innovation centres. These events provide participants with opportunities to engage and stay updated on the latest trends and market opportunities in the photonics industry.

The success of APE 2024 will further stimulate growth in Asia's photonics industry and open up new prospects for the future. It breathes new life into the photonics industry, and we eagerly anticipate more innovations and collaborations that will drive the industry towards a brighter future.

For more details about Asia Photonics Expo, visit: www.asiaphotonicsexpo.com

CONTACT: For media enquiries, please contact: Carrie Wu, International Marketing Executive, Carrie.wu@informa.com; Belinda Goh, Senior Marketing Manager, belinda.goh@informa.com

(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
VMPL

New Delhi [India], March 7: In the ever-evolving landscape of digital media, one startup has stood out as a trailblazer, revolutionizing the way educational institutions approach marketing and communication. Unipro, a groundbreaking venture, has not only navigated challenges but has also reshaped the educational marketing space with its innovative solutions.

Also Read | Australia's White Ball Tour of Ireland May Get Postponed Due to Shortage of Venues and Financial Concerns: Report.

Founding Vision: Unveiling the Genesis of Unipro

Unipro was born out of a vision to bridge the gap between educational institutions and their target audience through cutting-edge digital marketing strategies. Founded with a mission to enhance communication, engagement, and outreach for educational organizations, Unipro embarked on a journey to transform the way institutions connect with students, parents, and the community at large.

Also Read | Maha Shivratri 2024: Lets Delve Into the Historical and Mythological Stories Associated With Lord Shiva on The Great Night of Shiva.

Navigating Challenges: The Startup Hustle of Unipro

Like any startup, Unipro faced its fair share of challenges. From establishing a foothold in a competitive market to adapting to rapidly changing technologies, the team at Unipro embraced the startup hustle with resilience and determination. The challenges became opportunities for growth, pushing the team to continually innovate and refine their strategies.

Innovative Solutions: Redefining Education Marketing

Unipro's success lies in its ability to redefine education marketing through innovative solutions. From immersive content creation to personalized communication strategies, Unipro has consistently pushed the boundaries of what is possible in the digital realm. By staying ahead of trends and leveraging emerging technologies, Unipro has not only met but exceeded the expectations of its clients in the educational sector.

Leadership Spotlight: Ankit Khare's Guiding Vision

At the helm of Unipro is Ankit Khare, a visionary leader whose passion for education and digital innovation has steered the company toward unparalleled success. Ankit's strategic vision and commitment to excellence have been instrumental in shaping Unipro into a force to be reckoned with in the digital marketing space for education.

Industry Recognition: Unipro's Impact on Education Marketing

Unipro's impact on education marketing has not gone unnoticed. The startup has received industry recognition and accolades for its transformative work. By creating measurable and impactful campaigns, Unipro has set new benchmarks in the industry, garnering praise from both clients and peers.

Future Roadmap: Unipro's Ongoing Commitment to Excellence

As Unipro continues to thrive, the company remains steadfast in its commitment to excellence. The future roadmap includes further expansion into untapped markets, continuous innovation in digital media solutions, and a dedication to staying at the forefront of industry trends. Unipro's ongoing success is a testament to its unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional value to its clients in the field of education marketing.

In conclusion, Unipro's journey is a testament to the power of vision, innovation, and perseverance. As this pioneering startup continues to make waves in the digital media landscape for education, it stands as an inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs and a beacon of success in the ever-evolving world of startups.

(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], March 7 (ANI): A 29-year-old man identified as Gaurav Singhal was stabbed in the national capital, police said on Thursday.

A PCR call was received at the Tigri police station at around 12:30 AM regarding a murder at Raju Park, Devli Extension. The police reached the spot immediately and found out that the victim was attacked with a sharp-edged weapon.

Also Read | Delhi Shocker: Gym Trainer Killed a Day Before Wedding in National Capital, Probe Launched.

The injured was rushed to the Max Hospital for treatment by his family members, where he was declared dead by the doctors, said the police.

The body of the deceased was shifted to the AIIMS mortuary for post-mortem proceedings, the police added.

Also Read | Abhijit Gangopadhyay Joins BJP: Former Calcutta High Court Judge Joins BJP Two Days After Resigning From Post (Watch Video).

Further, the police said that the victim was murdered a day before his wedding. The actual cause of the conflict was unknown at the time of filing this report. More details into the matter are awaited. Further investigation is underway.

Earlier on Wednesday, a 23-year-old man was stabbed in the abdomen in the national capital, according to police. The deceased was identified as Ashish. A PCR call was received at the police station, Malviya Nagar at around 1 AM regarding the incident.

The police reached the spot immediately and found out that a wedding procession was coming from Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district.

In the wedding procession, some dholwalas were called from Begumpur, Malviya Nagar, said police.

During the dance, some altercations took place between the dholwalas and one of them stabbed a person in the abdomen, added the police. The injured was rushed to Safdarjung Hospital by his relatives, where he is currently undergoing treatment, said the police.

The accused have been identified as Ashish and Amit. It was also found out that the injured and the accused were relatives, said the police. (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, Mar 7 (PTI) The All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) on Thursday alleged that the Delhi Development Authority did not follow due process in the recent demolition drives and targeted a community, but the DDA vehemently rejected the charges as "false".

Several groups including All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA), All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA), All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Mazdoor Ekta Committee and Purogami Mahila Sangathan interacted with the residents whose houses were razed in the drive.

Also Read | International Womens Day 2024 Celebrations: Chandrayaan-3 Moon Missions Women Stars To Be Feted in Mumbai.

The AIDWA alleged that the DDA's actions were "against the secular and democratic character" of the country. It claimed that in most of the cases of demolitions by DDA, the authority "violated its own SoP" and that in many cases, notices before action were not given.

"There is absence of tribunals where authorities concerned have to justify the demolition. If one community is being targeted today, tomorrow it will target all of us," senior Supreme Court lawyer Sanjay Hedge claimed.

Also Read | Andhra Pradesh Shocker: Teenage Girl Dies by Suicide After Boyfriend Denies Marriage, Accused Held.

Refuting the allegations, the DDA termed them as false and not borne by facts.

Wherever in situ slum rehabilitation is not feasible, in terms of the Delhi government's ibid policy, JJ Dwellers are relocated by DDA.

"Therefore the question of 'targeting' or 'demolishing' or 'eviction' as being alleged, does not arise and the assertions to this effect are patently false. Any such exercise undertaken, as and when and if at all is done as per the policy of the Delhi Government, the DDA said in a statement.

It further said that rehabilitation and relocation of slum dwellers of Delhi is administered by Delhi Slum and Jhuggi Jhopri Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy 2015 of DUSIB (GNCTD).

Claims made on the contrary are only aimed at misleading people," it said.

Within the overarching framework of this statutory policy of the Delhi Government, DDA has been entrusted with the rehabilitation and relocation of eligible Jhuggi Dwellers of DUSIB-identified JJ clusters falling on DDA and Central Government land, the statement said.

It said that the DDA has undertaken three in-situ slum rehabilitation projects at Kalkaji extension, Jailorwala Bagh and Kathputli Colony wherein more than 35,000 persons are being rehabilitated.

In these projects, the flats are provided with all modern amenities along with adequate social and physical infrastructure, the DDA said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Guwahati (Assam) [India], March 7 (ANI): Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Assam, All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and 30 other ethnic organizations on Thursday hit the streets of Assam to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The members of AASU earlier in the day took out a bike rally in Guwahati to protest against CAA. The protesters raised slogans against the CAA and demanded the centre to scrap it.

Also Read | Patiala Horror: Teenage Girl Stabbed to Death by Stalker in Punjab, Sister Dies of Shock.

The CAA, introduced by the Narendra Modi government, aims to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians, who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

Following the passage of the CAA by Parliament in December 2019 and its subsequent presidential assent, significant protests erupted in various parts of the country.

Also Read | India Sees Japan as a 'Natural Partner' in Its Journey, Development and Quest for Stability in Indo-Pacific, Says EAM S Jaishankar (Watch Videos).

Samujjal Bhattacharya, Chief Advisor of AASU said that All Assam Students' Union and 30 other ethnic organizations have decided to launch a movement against the CAA and the conspiracy by the Government of India to impose rules under the act.

"Today, the bike rally was held throughout the state in all district headquarters. There will be a series of movements against the CAA in the state. We would like to warn the central government that, the people of Assam and North East won't accept the CAA because Assam and North East are not the dumping ground of illegal Bangladeshis," Samujjal Bhattacharya said.

"After the historic Assam Movement Assam Accord was signed, the foreigners' problem must be solved by implementing all clauses of the Assam Accord. It will be a peaceful, non-violent movement and along with this the legal fight is on," he said.

PM Modi is scheduled to embark on a two-day visit to the state from March 8. During the visit, he will launch several development projects worth around Rs 18,000 crore in the state.

The Prime Minister will also visit the UNESCO heritage site Kaziranga National Park and undertake a safari there, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma earlier said in a press conference.

Modi will arrive in Assam on Friday afternoon and will spend the night at Kaziranga National Park, CM Sarma said. From Assam, the Prime Minister will leave for West Bengal, he added. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) "Justice will be delivered only when they are hanged," said Ankit Saxena's mother after a Delhi court on Thursday sentenced three people to rigorous life imprisonment for killing her photographer son over an interfaith love affair in 2018.

The court of Additional Sessions Judge Sunil Kumar Sharma convicted Akbar Ali and Shahnaz Begum, the parents of Saxena's then-girlfriend Shehzadi, and the woman's maternal uncle Mohammad Salim and also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on each of them.

Also Read | International Womens Day 2024 Celebrations: Chandrayaan-3 Moon Missions Women Stars To Be Feted in Mumbai.

"I lost everything but they are enjoying life even behind bars. They have no remorse. Justice will be delivered only when they are hanged," Kamlesh said, asserting that she would move a higher court against the quantum of punishment.

On the fines imposed on the convicts in the case, she said it also was very low. "The compensation is also meagre... although money will not bring my son back," she added.

Also Read | Andhra Pradesh Shocker: Teenage Girl Dies by Suicide After Boyfriend Denies Marriage, Accused Held.

Earlier in the day, the court, while pronouncing the judgment, said a death sentence in the case was not justified.

"They had clean antecedents with no previous involvement. Further, no history of any criminal inclination, drug abuse or any other addiction has been brought on record. Before being arrested in this case, the convicts were living with their families and were well-rooted in society," it said.

Saxena, the only child of his parents, was also the sole bread earner in the family. After Saxena's death, his father Yashpal also died due to an ailment in 2021.

Kamlesh still lives in a dingy lane of Raghubir Nagar in west Delhi where her son was stabbed to death in full public view on February 1, 2018.

Shehzadi's home is located a few metres away.

On December 23 last year, the court convicted the trio in the murder case. They were charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention).

Akbar Ali, Shahnaz Begum and Mohammad Salim had used a butcher's knife to kill Saxena in front of his parents. Shehzadi's parents had opposed her relationship with Saxena as the two belonged to different communities.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Guwahati, Mar 7 (PTI) All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and 30 other groups on Thursday took out bike rallies in various parts of the state to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Apart from Guwahati, the rallies were organised in almost all district headquarters of the state and demanded the repeal of the Act as well as the implementation of the Assam Accord in letter and spirit.

Also Read | Andhra Pradesh Shocker: Teenage Girl Dies by Suicide After Boyfriend Denies Marriage, Accused Held.

"Assam is not a place for illegal Bangladeshis. We cannot accept the CAA. If the Centre notifies the CAA rules and imposes the Act, our agitation will continue more aggressively," AASU president Utpal Sarma said.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi will come to Assam on Friday, the AASU and the 30 groups will illuminate the portraits of five youths, who were killed in police firing during anti-CAA protests in 2019, he added.

Also Read | 7th Pay Commission: Union Cabinet Chaired by PM Narendra Modi Okays 4% Hike in DA for Central Government Employees.

The AASU and 30 other groups had, last week, announced a series of protest programmes against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

The move by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre to amend the Citizenship Act stirred a hornet's nest in the northeast region and protests were held in several northeastern states.

The indigenous people of the region were scared that if the CAA was implemented, it would endanger their identity and livelihood.

The CAA seeks to grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants - Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis- from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who arrived in India till December 31, 2014.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Srinagar, Mar 7 (PTI) Wearing Modi masks and chanting his name, scores of people from across Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday reached Srinagar's Bakshi Stadium here to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally.

In his first visit to Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, Modi will unveil multiple development projects worth more than Rs 6,400 crore, address a public meeting, and participate in the 'Viksit Bharat, Viksit Jammu Kashmir' programme at the stadium.

Also Read | PM Narendra Modi To Inaugurate, Lay Foundation of Projects Worth Rs 18,000 Crore in Assam, Says Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Hundreds of BJP supporters, wearing tricoloured turbans, also reached the venue while security personnel had a tough time managing the crowd.

Officials said tight security arrangements were in place but there were no restrictions on the movement of people.

Also Read | Ahmedabad Shocker: Doctor Found Dead on Crime Branch Campus, Police Suspect Romantic Relationship With Inspector.

Life was normal across the Kashmir valley and most of the shops and other business establishments were open here, the officials said.

They said there were no restrictions on the movement of the people in any part of the valley, except for traffic diversions around the venue of the PM's rally.

"People are being allowed to move and there are no restrictions anywhere in Kashmir. The Traffic Police has announced some diversions for traffic around the venue, but other than that, there are no restrictions on the movement of the people," they added.

Traffic movement on the city's Jehangir Chowk to Rambagh and Rajbagh to LD Hospital-Tulsi Bagh route has been restricted from 4 am to 7 pm given the VVIP visit, the officials said.

They said the Jahangir Chowk-Solina-Ram Bagh stretch also remains restricted for the civilian traffic movement.

Similarly, Raj Bagh-LD Hospital-Tulsi Bagh besides Gupkar Road up to the All India Radio Srinagar office is also restricted for civilian traffic movement.

However, the officials said all medical emergencies would be facilitated with access through the shortest possible route.

The prime minister is scheduled to land at the Srinagar International Airport where he would be received by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and senior leaders of the BJP.

From the airport, Modi would fly to Badamibagh Cantonment, the headquarters of the Army's 15 or Chinar Corps where he would lay a wreath at the War Memorial and pay tributes to the fallen soldiers, the officials said.

Later, Modi will drive to Bakshi Stadium via Gupkar and Zero Bridge in a cavalcade, they said.

The security apparatus has secured the road from Badamibagh Cantonment to Bakshi Stadium. Tricolours, BJP flags and hoardings welcoming Modi have been put up along the route that will be taken by Modi.

Stringent security arrangements have been put in place to ensure an incident-free visit, they said.

Security personnel have been deployed in large numbers along the routes to be taken by Modi in Srinagar while barricades have been set up at several places, they said.

Drones and CCTV cameras are being used for surveillance while foot patrolling by the security forces has been intensified in a two-kilometre radius around the venue, officials said.

Marine commandos have been deployed in Jhelum River and Dal Lake to prevent the use of the water bodies for any subversive activities, the officials said.

Several schools in Srinagar were closed for two days, while board examinations scheduled to be held on Thursday have been postponed till next month.

However, the officials said parents and guardians of the students appearing for the CBSE exams are urged to accompany their wards. In case they can't do so, they should ensure that their wards carry roll number slips and identity cards with them.

The prime minister will inaugurate initiatives worth nearly Rs 5,000 crore for boosting the agri-economy in the Union Territory.

Modi will launch nationwide projects related to the tourism sector worth more than Rs 1,400 crore under the 'Swadesh Darshan' and 'PRASHAD' (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive) schemes, including a project for the integrated development of the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar.

He will launch the 'Dekho Apna Desh People's Choice Tourist Destination Poll' and the 'Chalo India Global Diaspora' campaign as well, besides announcing tourist destinations selected under the Challenge-Based Destination Development (CBDD) scheme.

Modi will distribute appointment letters to nearly 1,000 newly recruited government employees in Jammu and Kashmir and also interact with the beneficiaries of various central schemes, including women achievers, farmers and entrepreneurs, an official statement said.

In a step that will provide a major boost to the agri-economy of the region, Modi will launch the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme, it said.

It would cover the full spectrum of activities in three major domains -- horticulture, agriculture and livestock husbandry -- according to the statement.

With the Lok Sabha elections around the corner and opposition parties seeking an announcement on assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, the prime minister's scheduled visit has acquired a keen political dimension in terms of what he might have to say on the issue.

The prime minister will also launch 43 projects that will develop a wide range of pilgrimage and tourist sites across the country.

He will also launch the first-ever countrywide initiative to identify the pulse of the nation on tourism in the form of 'Dekho Apna Desh People's Choice 2024'.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], March 7 (ANI): Delhi Police have nabbed two men in connection with a robbery case earlier this month.

A team of personnel of police's Anti-Auto Theft Squad (AATS), Dwaraka engaged in an exchange of gunfire with the culprits who attempted to flee, police said on Thursday.

Also Read | AI in Schools: Canva Partners With CBSC To Train Educators in Visual Communication and Generative AI Tools Throughout Affiliated Schools in India.

The accused were identified as Satish Saka (35) and Sonu (25) both residents of Lakhan Pana Badli, a village in the Badli district of Jhajjar, Haryana.

On March 3, an incident of gold chain and mobile phone robbery was reported at Chhawla police station and a case was registered as per the statement of the complainant.

Also Read | Prime Minister Narendra Modi To Unveil Pune Airport's Much-Awaited New Terminal on March 10.

Following the complaint, a dedicated team of the Anti-Auto Theft Squad Dwraka was constituted to nab the culprits.

According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Dwarka, Ankit Singh, technical and manual surveillance was used to identify the culprits and the motorcycle used in the theft.

While searching for the accused in Paprawat village, the AATS team noticed the same motorcycle and began pursuing it when the riders refused to stop.

In the course of the chase, the accused fired at the police, resulting in a brief exchange of gunfire. Subsequently, both individuals were captured. Satish Saka, one of the accused, suffered a gunshot wound to his leg.

The police has seized the motorcycle and several other items including a sophisticated pistol, a single-round pistol, a live cartridge and three used cartridges, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Dwarka, said.

The arrested individuals, Satish and Sonu, are reported to be associates of the absconding gangster Mainpal, wanted in several murder cases. Earlier, the Haryana Police announced a reward of Rs 7 lakh upon their arrest. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mumbai, Mar 7 (PTI) A special court here on Thursday convicted and sentenced gangster Ejaz Lakdawala to rigorous imprisonment for life in connection with the murder of a businessman about 28 years ago.

Jailed gangster Rajendra Nikalje, alias Chhota Rajan, a co-accused in the case, was acquitted by the court for want of evidence.

Also Read | India Sees Japan as a 'Natural Partner' in Its Journey, Development and Quest for Stability in Indo-Pacific, Says EAM S Jaishankar (Watch Videos).

Special Judge AM Patil held Lakdawala, a former associate of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim, guilty under the Indian Penal Code for murder as well as the Arms Act.

On October 7, 1996, as per the first information report (FIR), two unknown persons fired at businessman Sayyad Farid Makbul Hussain inside his shop on Mohammad Ali Road and fled the spot.

Also Read | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Congress To Hold Discussion on Candidates for 10 States in Central Election Committee Meeting Today.

Hussain was rushed to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Mumbai police, which initially investigated the murder, filed a chargesheet against Lakdawala, while Rajan was shown as a wanted accused. The case was later probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

In his statement to the police before his death, Hussain had said that the shooter had taken the name Nana (Rajan).

The court relied on the testimonies of three eyewitnesses and informant Sayyed Sohel Maqbul Hussain, brother of the deceased.

Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat had argued that the statements of witnesses and the complainant were enough to connect the accused with the crime.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Aizawl, Mar 7 (PTI) In the biggest drug haul by a joint team of the Assam Rifles and the Mizoram Police this year, heroin worth Rs 37.75 crore was seized in Champhai district, an official said on Thursday.

The seizure was made near the country's border with Myanmar on Wednesday, and a person was arrested for transporting the contraband, an Assam Riffles officer said.

Also Read | INDIA Bloc, PDA Family Will Bring Change in Country, Says Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav.

Acting on a tip-off, Assam Rifles personnel and policemen intercepted a truck at Melbuk road junction at Zokhawthar and recovered 5.39 kilogram of the narcotics substance from the vehicle, she said.

The seized heroin worth Rs 37.75 crore was kept in ginger packets and suspectedly smuggled from Myanmar, the officer said.

Also Read | Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir: PM Narendra Modi Inaugurates Development Projects Worth Over Rs 6,400 Crore in Kashmir.

It is the biggest heroin seizure by a combined force of the Assam Rifles and the Mizoram Police in the current year, she said.

The vehicle used for transporting the contraband was also seized, she said, adding that the consignment and the accused were handed over to the Zokhawthar Police Station for legal proceedings.

In a separate operation, a 35-year-old Myanmar national was arrested after 1.3 kg of heroin worth Rs 9.6 crore was seized from his possession in Champai district, another official said.

Acting on a tip-off, Assam Rifles personnel carried out a search operation in Zokhawthar village on Tuesday, and seized the contraband from the possession of the Myanmerese, he said.

They recovered the drug from 100 soap boxes, the Assam Rifles official said, adding that the man smuggled the contraband into India from the neighbouring country.

They handed over the accused person and the seized drug to the state police in Zokhawthar for further action.

In another operation, the Mizoram Police discovered poppy cultivation in Siaha district near the Myanmar border for the first time.

The poppy farm located between Khaikhy village in Siaha and Rala village in Myanmar's Chin state was discovered on Wednesday by locals, who informed the authorities, a police statement said.

A joint team of policemen, Assam Rifles personnel, volunteers of a civil society organisation and officials of the forest department and the Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC) rushed to the spot and destroyed the plantation, which is worth around Rs 32 lakh, it said.

The matter is being investigated, and a search for the owner of the farm is on, the statement added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kochi (Kerala) [India], March 7 (ANI): The life of human beings should be given preference over stray dogs, opined the Kerala High Court recently.

The Kerala High Court also directed the State government to frame guidelines, schemes or rules to give licences to individuals interested in maintaining stray dogs so that dog lovers can protect the animals.

Also Read | Air India Offloads Head of Prominent Financial Company From London-Bound Flight For 'Being Rude' to Crew.

Students are afraid to go to school alone for fear of being attacked by stray dogs. The court also said that if the action is taken then the dog lovers will protest. The nuisance of stray dogs is increasing day by day. Dog lovers should also be aware of this, the court observed.

Justice PV Kunhikrishnan stated that bonafide dog lovers, instead of writing in print and visual media should come forward to help the local government institutions to protect them.

Also Read | Bijapur Fire: Four-Year-Old Girl Killed After Blaze Erupts at Residential School in Chhattisgarh (Watch Video).

Justice PV Kunjikrishnan also instructed the government to discuss with the central government and prepare a guideline or scheme if necessary.

The court issued the order on a petition filed by residents of Muzhathadam in Kannur seeking action against Rajeev Krishnan, a resident, who had been keeping stray dogs on his property.

The court further directed that Rajeev Krishnan should apply for the license within a month and Kannur Corporation should issue the lines under the law with strict conditions.

"It is also suggested that the corporation should take steps to remove stray dogs from the house premises if the license application is not submitted," the court said.

Earlier in July last year, the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights moved an application seeking to intervene as a party in the case and apprised the top court that the Commission has received many complaints about the nuisance of stray dogs and the plight of children who have been fatally bitten by them and the Commission has also take suo-motu case on several such incidents.

Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, in its application, told the court that there are large numbers of dog bite incidents reported across the state, especially against children.

The commission mentioned that 5,794 stray dog attacks were reported in 2019, 3951 cases in 2020, 7927 cases in 2021, 11776 cases were reported in 2022 and 6276 cases were reported up to June 19, 2023. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bengaluru, Mar 7 (PTI) Karnataka government is planning to ban over the counter sales of acid to restrict its availability, Home Minister G Parameshwara said on Thursday, in the wake of an acid attack on three female students in Dakshina Kannada district.

He said it will be ensured that only authorised chemical dealers are given the permission to sell it, adding that the Director General of Police will be writing a letter to the Commerce and Industries department soon in this regard.

Also Read | Delhi Stabbing Case: Hyderabad Man Stabs Photographer in Throat at India Gate for Not Helping With Directions, Accused Arrested.

"In a couple of days, DG will be writing a letter to the government -- to the Commerce and Industries department -- stating that there should be no free sales (easy availability) of acid. It should not be available for anyone to go and purchase it anywhere. Only those dealing with chemicals should be given the permission," Parameshwara told reporters here.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Shocker: BJP Leader Shot Dead by Bike-Borne Assailants in Jaunpur, Accused Absconding.

"Police department will be writing a letter to ban (its free sale)," he said.

The government's move comes within days of the acid attack by a youth at a government Pre-University college in the taluka headquarters town of Kadaba on March four that sparked outrage.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, March 7: Congress will hold a discussion on candidates for ten States in the party's Central Election Committee meeting on Thursday, sources said. According to sources, the states of Chattisgarh, Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim and Manipur will be put for discussion. As per the sources, discussion can likely take place on a total of 60 seats among these states.

"The first meeting of the Central Election Committee will be held on March 7," Congress leader Jairam Ramesh told ANI. On the Congress CEC meeting, the party's General Secretary (Communications), Jairam Ramesh said, "CEC will discuss all seats. Final decisions will be taken wherever possible. CEC is the highest body that deliberates on and finalises candidates." Congress' First Candidate List for Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Out? Sources Say, Priyanka Gandhi To Contest from Raebareli, Rahul Gandhi from Amethi and Wayanad.

According to sources, it is worth mentioning that discussions will be not held for the seats of Amethi and Rai Bareli discussion today. As per the seat-sharing arrangement of the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress will field a total of 17 candidates out of 80 Lok Sabha seats.

Expressing surprise over the prolonged delay in the announcement of the Congress party candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Union Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday asserted that the extended timeframe might be an indicator of the Congress facing defeat in the upcoming elections. Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Rahul Gandhi Likely to Announce 10-Point Poll Promise for Youth, Unemployed in Madhya Pradesh Rally.

Union Minister Smriti Irani, who defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 elections from the Amethi seat, said "Why are people who say that Amethi is the Gandhi family's bastion taking so much time to announce a candidate? Their lack of confidence tells that Amethi is no longer the Congress' stronghold," she said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is the chairperson of the committee and its members include former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The Congress panel tasked with preparing the party's manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls has prepared the draft which will now be discussed by the Congress Working Committee

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who heads the manifesto committee, said on Tuesday that the draft report will be presented to the Congress president.

"We have prepared the draft manifesto. Now it will go to the Congress Working Committee. They will finalize the manifesto then it will become the Congress party document. Tomorrow we will hand over this draft to the Congress President," he said. The Lok Sabha polls are likely to be held in April-May this year.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Srinagar, March 7: On his visit to Srinagar on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met local entrepreneurs and craftsmen at an exhibition showcasing the local products of Jammu and Kashmir. After his interaction with locals, the Prime Minister arrived at the Bakshi Stadium here to attend the 'Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir' program.

He was felicitated by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. A large number of people were seen congregating at the stadium. Posters welcoming the Prime Minister dotted Srinagar ahead of his visit which comes close to the Lok Sabha elections 2024. Prime Minister Narendra Modi To Unveil Pune Airports Much-Awaited New Terminal on March 10.

Locals seemed enthusiastic about the PM's visit. Ex-BDC member, Aashfa Tabassum said, "...PM Modi has done good work. We hope that he will do good work for us too. He has provided us with schemes and houses for the poor. There are good schemes for women too..." The PM is set to inaugurate initiatives worth nearly Rs 5,000 crore for boosting the agri-economy in Kashmir during his maiden visit to the valley since the abrogation of Article 370 by his government. PM Narendra Modi To Embark on Two-Day Visit to Assam From Friday, To Inaugurate Several Projects.

He will also launch nationwide projects related to the tourism sector worth more than Rs 1,400 crore under the "Swadesh Darshan" and "PRASHAD" (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive) schemes, including a project for the integrated development of the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar.

PM Modi Interacts With Local Craftsmen:

VIDEO | PM Modi visits an exhibition, showcasing local products of Jammu and Kashmir, in #Srinagar. (Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/rjMP9RpxHs  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 7, 2024

Next, PM Modi will launch the "Dekho Apna Desh People's Choice Tourist Destination Poll" and the "Chalo India Global Diaspora" campaign as well, besides announcing tourist destinations selected under the Challenge-Based Destination Development (CBDD) scheme.

Huge Crowd Gathers at Bakshi Stadium:

VIDEO | Huge crowd gathers at #Srinagar's Bakshi Stadium to attend the 'Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir' programme in which PM Modi will also participate. PM Modi will dedicate to nation about Rs 5000 crore worth schemes for boosting agri-economy in #JammuAndKashmir. (Full pic.twitter.com/BW4wgAQ5Io  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 7, 2024

The statement by the PM office said that Modi will also distribute appointment letters to nearly 1,000 newly recruited government employees in Jammu and Kashmir and also interact with the beneficiaries of various central schemes, including women achievers, farmers and entrepreneurs. The prime minister will also launch 43 projects that will develop a wide range of pilgrimage and tourist sites across the country.
New Delhi, March 7: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will present the first ever National Creators Award at the Bharat Mandapam on Friday, his office said, noting that it has been envisioned as a launch pad for using creativity to drive positive change. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in a statement said that the award is an effort to recognise excellence and impact across domains, including storytelling, social change advocacy, environmental sustainability, education and gaming.

"The National Creator Award has witnessed exemplary public engagement. In the first round, more than 1.5 lakh nominations across 20 different categories were received. Subsequently, in the voting round, about 10 lakh votes were cast for digital creators in various award categories. Following this, 23 winners, including three international creators, were decided," it said. Jammu and Kashmir Touching New Heights of Development, Breathing Freely After Article 370 Abrogation, Says PM Narendra Modi.

This overwhelming public engagement is testimony that the award truly reflects the people's choice, it added. The award will be given across 20 categories, including best storyteller, the disruptor, celebrity creator, green champion, best creator for social change, most impactful agri creator, cultural ambassador, best travel creator, swachhta ambassador, new India champion, tech creator, heritage fashion, most creative creator (male and female), best creator in food category, best creator in education and international creator award.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chandigarh, Mar 7 (PTI) In an intelligence-based operation, the Punjab Police on Thursday said it has averted possible target killings with the arrest of two members of the Babbar Khalsa International-backed terror module.

"The module was operated by #USA based Harpreet Singh @ Happy Passian, a close aide of #Pakistan based terrorist Harwinder Singh @ Rinda, along with his associate identified as Shamsher Singh @ Shera presently based in #Armenia," Director General of Police, Gaurav Yadav said on X.

Also Read | UN Says 2023 Deadliest Year for Migrants in a Decade.

He said, according to the preliminary investigations, Happy Passian was working in connivance with Rinda and Shamsher to radicalise the youth by motivating them to carry out anti-national activities in the state.

"Recovered 2 pistols along with 4 magazines & 30 live cartridges. FIR has been registered under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) & Arms Act at State Special Operation Cell (SSOC), Amritsar," he said.

Also Read | Kanpur: ED Raids Jailed SP MLA Irfan Solankis Premises in Money Laundering Case (Watch Video).

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) Union Cabinet Minister Smriti Zubin Irani on Thursday announced a grant from Nirbhaya Fund for women's hostels in Delhi University, according to a statement.

Irani made the announcement while attending the Vikas Bharat Ambassador-Nari Shakti Conclave here at Delhi University north campus.

Also Read | INDIA Bloc, PDA Family Will Bring Change in Country, Says Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav.

On demand of several girl students on the occasion, the minister for women and child development and minority affairs announced that funds from the Nirbhaya Fund will be granted for the development and upkeep of the women's hostels, the university statement said.

The Nari Shakti conclave was organised by DU in view of International Women's Day on March 8.

Also Read | Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir: PM Narendra Modi Inaugurates Development Projects Worth Over Rs 6,400 Crore in Kashmir.

While congratulating the women present during the passing of the Nari Shakti Vandan Act in Parliament, Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh said India is performing brilliantly in space and IT and more than 33 per cent women are participating in these.

About 5,000 girl students from various institutions of Delhi University participated in the event.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Puducherry, Mar 7 (PTI) In the wake of widespread protest from various organisations and political parties condemning the alleged murder of a minor girl in the union territory, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to investigate the case, police said on Thursday.

G Vivekanandan (52) and M Kakka alias Karunaas (19) have been arrested in connection with the murder of a nine-year-old girl. Cases have been registered under different sections of the IPC including section 302 (punishment for murder), a release said.

Also Read | Air India Offloads Head of Prominent Financial Company From London-Bound Flight For 'Being Rude' to Crew.

Police have also registered cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and also under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act read with section 34 of the IPC.

The SIT is headed by Senior Superintendent of Police R Kalaivanan and has the Superintendent of Police (East) Lakshmi Sujanya as the investigating officer. Inspector of Police Ganesh and the Sub Inspector of Police Sivaprakasam would assist the SIT.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Shocker: Father of Rape Victim Ends His Life After Daughter Dies By Suicide, Family Alleges Pressure From Accuseds Kin.

The team would work under the overall supervision of the Deputy Inspector General of Police Brijendra Kumar Yadav, the release said.

The minor girl studying class V had gone missing on March 2. The parents of the girl lodged a complaint with the police in Muthialpet block.

The girl's body was found floating in a sack in a drain near her house in Muthialpet block here on Tuesday and was retrieved by the police. It was later sent to JIPMER for post mortem.

Volunteers and representatives of various organisations held demonstrations on Wednesday demanding deterrent action against the culprits involved in the crime.

The demonstrators gathered in large numbers on the seashore behind the Mahatma Gandhi statue here, raising slogans condemning the heinous crime and demanded capital punishment for the culprits who had abducted the child and murdered her.

The agitators also stated that "unbridled prevalence of narcotics and drugs has been causingthe outbreak of heinous crimes in the Union Territory." There was also a strong protest against 'resto bars' functioning at various points under the garb of promoting tourism. Strict action should be taken against the drug peddlers, they demanded.

Leaders of various political parties here have also condemned the crime against the girl. The opposition DMK, the AIADMK and the Congress have called for a 12 hour bandh from 6 am in Puducherry on March 8 to protest against "failure of the government to prevent atrocities on the girl child and also to curb drug menace."

Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Tamilisai Soundararajan on Wednesday assured that stern action would be taken against the culprits involved in the murder of the girl.

The government will constitute a special fast track court soon to award punishment in a week's time to the culprits involved in the sexual harassment and murder of the girl, she said.

Chief Minister N Rangasamy held a meeting with top police officials to take stock of the situation. The government also announced a solatium of Rs 20 lakh to the bereaved parents.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Amaravati/Hyderabad, Mar 7 (PTI) Amid buzz that the Telugu Desam Party may join the NDA, its supremo N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday left for New Delhi from Hyderabad, and is expected to meet the senior BJP leadership to finalise an alliance and seat-sharing formula in Andhra Pradesh.

This is Naidu's second visit to Delhi to meet the BJP leadership in the run-up to the Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

Also Read | Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir: PM Narendra Modi Inaugurates Development Projects Worth Over Rs 6,400 Crore in Kashmir.

AP BJP chief D Purnadeswari is already camping in the national capital.

"This visit will be to finalise the alliance with the BJP, if possible. As there is not much time left for election notification, we want to get a clarity on the alliance," TDP sources told PTI.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Shocker: Missing Nine-Year-Old Girl Found Naked in Forest in Saharanpur, Rape Case Lodged.

Naidu is expected to meet Amit Shah later Thursday, the TDP sources said.

Further, the source noted that Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan is also expected to leave for New Delhi tonight to team up with Naidu to finalise the alliance and the seat-sharing formula.

Recently, the TDP and Janasena combine partially announced a list of 119 seats and names of 99 candidates.

Andhra Pradesh has 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats.

Naidu will be contesting from Kuppam while there is still no clarity as to where Kalyan would contest from.

As per the TDP-Janasena alliance, the actor-politician-led party will contest 24 Assembly seats and three Lok Sabha constituencies.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Agra (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 7 (ANI): Three band members on their way to a wedding in Uttar Pradesh's Agra district died due to electrocution on Wednesday.

As the group approached the venue, they came into contact with a live high-tension wire, resulting in a fatal electric shock.

Also Read | UN Says 2023 Deadliest Year for Migrants in a Decade.

"Three individuals, who were dragging the band vehicles died on their way, as they fell victim to a high-power tension line. They were immediately shifted to Kheragarh hospital where doctors declared them dead. The victims have been identified as 52-year-old Achal Singh, 29-year-old Santosh and 45-year-old Lohre," said Imran Ahmad, ACP Police Commisionerate, Agra.

The bodies have been sent to district hospital in Agra for postmortem, informed ACP Imran Ahmad. (ANI)

Also Read | Kanpur: ED Raids Jailed SP MLA Irfan Solankis Premises in Money Laundering Case (Watch Video).

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], March 7 (ANI): Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday performed 'Kanya Pujan' in the Nari Shakti Mahotsav and said that matri shakti or mother power has had an important contribution in the creation of Uttarakhand state.

Addressing the gathering at the Nari Shakti Mahotsav organised at the Bannu Maidan in Dehradun, the Chief Minister said, "'Matri Shakti' or mother power has an important contribution in the creation of Uttarakhand state and in realizing the dream of developed Uttarakhand."

Also Read | INDIA Bloc, PDA Family Will Bring Change in Country, Says Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav.

"Teelu Rauteli, Rajmata Karnavati, Vishni Devi Shah among others are remembered in the form of bravery, courage, bravery and struggle of women in Uttarakhand and our government is working for the development of women by taking forward the concept of "Empowering Women - Prosperous Women," said the Chief Minister.

Chief Minister Dhami also inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of a total of 600 schemes worth Rs 1055.57 crore on the occasion. Of these, 270 schemes worth Rs 617.05 crore were inaugurated and the foundation stone of 330 schemes worth Rs 438.52 crore were laid.

Also Read | Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir: PM Narendra Modi Inaugurates Development Projects Worth Over Rs 6,400 Crore in Kashmir.

CM Dhami said that through the program, the foundation stone of development schemes worth more than one thousand crores was laid and inaugurated for the development of Dronanagari.

He further said that these schemes will prove to be a milestone in the development of not only Dehradun but also the surrounding areas.

At the venue of the program, the Chief Minister went among the women demonstrating tailoring and encouraging them. The Chief Minister performed the 'Kanya Puja' at the beginning of the program and encouraged the women to make their mark in various fields.

The Chief Minister said that our government is not only running schemes for the welfare and development of women but also the development framework is being prepared by centring women at the level of every department.

He said that our government is working day and night to make every district of Uttarakhand a "developed district".

Adding further, CM Dhami said, "I believe that if women take up the pen in their hands, they can even compose verses from the Vedas and if they take up the sword, they can change the map of the earth. That is why it is said in our scriptures that the place where women are worshipped, God himself resides there. This is the reason why in our Indian Sanatan culture, women have the status of a goddess and in the Vedas too, women have been called upon to be competent, capable and give direction to the nation."

The Chief Minister said, "Today women are not less than men in any field, they are standing shoulder to shoulder with men everywhere. Be it home or battlefield, politics or cinema, scientific field or agriculture and education, women have proved themselves everywhere."

Chief Minister Dhami further said that he was glad that women in remote villages of the state are forming self-help groups and giving impetus to the rural economy through cottage industries.

"Women have never had any shortage of skills and now these skills are powering their and their families' economy," said the Uttarakhand CM.

The Chief Minister said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today about 23 crore women across the country have been linked to banks through Jan Dhan accounts. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], March 7 (ANI): Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday released booklets related to the action plan prepared in connection with the preparation of Strong Uttarakhand Road Map - Short, Medium and Long Term Departmental Action Plans and Strong Uttarakhand in the camp office auditorium.

While addressing the booklet release programme, the Chief Minister said that under the ambitious vision and strong guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Uttarakhand government is fully dedicated to the inclusive development of the state.

Also Read | Patiala Horror: Teenage Girl Stabbed to Death by Stalker in Punjab, Sister Dies of Shock.

He said, "A thinking camp was organised in Mussoorie last November, as a result of which today we have roadmaps of all the departments ready for the short-term, medium-term and long-term development of the state, for which the officers deserve praise."

He said that the officers should ensure continuous concurrent monitoring through these road maps and should ensure to start working from now on to implement the short-term and long-term plans mentioned in these booklets.

Also Read | India Sees Japan as a 'Natural Partner' in Its Journey, Development and Quest for Stability in Indo-Pacific, Says EAM S Jaishankar (Watch Videos).

Earlier in the day, all the priests of Chardham conveyed their gratitude to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami for the passage of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill in Uttarakhand.

The meeting took place at the Secretariat, where the priests emphasised the necessity of a uniform civil code, stating that it is the need of the hour to give equal rights to the citizens of the state and to maintain the original nature of Uttarakhand.

The Uttarakhand government introduced the UCC Bill on February 6, emphasising its importance.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reaffirmed the government's commitment and said," We are committed to preserving the cultural pride and rich traditions of Devbhoomi, Uttarakhand."

During the interaction, the Chief Minister also extended his heartfelt gratitude for the blessings received from the revered pilgrimage priests. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Srinagar, Mar 7 (PTI) Opposition parties expressed their disappointment over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar on Thursday, alleging it was "worn-out rhetoric" that failed to meet the expectations of the people.

Addressing a massive rally at Srinagar's Bakshi stadium, the first by a prime minister, Modi asserted that Jammu and Kashmir is "breathing freely" after the abrogation of Article 370 and pledged accelerated progress over the next five years.

Also Read | International Womens Day 2024 Celebrations: Chandrayaan-3 Moon Missions Women Stars To Be Feted in Mumbai.

This was Modi's first visit to Kashmir since the Centre revoked the special status given to the erstwhile state and bifurcated it into two Union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh -- on August 5, 2019.

While the Congress alleged the prime minister has "disappointed" the people of Jammu and Kashmir by avoiding the core issues of restoration of democracy and statehood, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said Modi has made it a habit of targeting political parties over dynastic politics.

Also Read | Andhra Pradesh Shocker: Teenage Girl Dies by Suicide After Boyfriend Denies Marriage, Accused Held.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said Modi's visit to Kashmir was only meant to drum support for the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Interacting with reporters, Farooq Abdullah said, "I am glad that the prime minister came to Kashmir after five years. It's a great moment of pride for all of us that he was able to come and that too in the winter."

Referring to Modi's remarks criticising dynastic politics that, he claimed, "plagued the region", the National Conference president said, "In every speech, the prime minister makes a particular target for this thing."

There has been no dynastic rule in India since Independence, he said, adding, "You get elected by the people. You are not coming from the top if people do not want you. I lost an election as a chief minister because people rejected me at that time. So, where is dynastic rule?"

His party, in a statement, said Prime Minister Modi's Kashmir visit and his speech was "disappointing" and that it failed to meet the expectations of people.

Asked by reporters about the prime minister's remarks on Article 370 abrogation, Abdullah asked how did Jammu and Kashmir progressed if Article 370 was bad.

"I would like the prime minister to again hear the speech made in Rajya Sabha by Ghulam Nabi Azad in which he compared Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir. With figures he (Azad) proved the progress this state made as compared to Gujarat," he said.

About Modi describing the people of Jammu and Kashmir as his family, the NC president said Modi is the prime minister and so the whole country is his "paravir".

Whether it was Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Atal Bihari Vajpayee or Manmohan Singh, whoever was the prime minister, his family was the nation, he said.

On the prime minister's remark that Jammu and Kashmir is "breathing freely" after the abrogation of Article 370, Abdullah called for setting up a commission to bring out the reality.

About Modi's comments on the transformation of J&K Bank, Abdullah said, "A commission should be set up which would establish where the bank was in our times. Its share value in my time was Rs 1,200. If the bank was third-rated, how did that happen?"

NC general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar said the prime minister's speech mainly consisted of "juggling numbers and rebranding old projects, offering nothing substantial for the people".

"It is disappointing that there was no mention of the return of Kashmiri Pandits, who have been at the forefront of the BJP's petty politics," he said.

Jammu and Kashmir Congress leader Ravinder Sharma said the political aspect of the prime minister's speech was on the expected lines but it was expected that "instead of claiming credit for some of the UPA projects... he would refer to the commitment before the house and the Supreme Court about the restoration of illegally snatched statehood and holding of assembly and other polls".

Lakhs of unemployed youth, daily wagers, contractual and other temporary employees as well regular employees were expecting something for themselves from PM Modi's pre-election tour, "but they were left high and dry", he said.

While speaking at the rally on the transformation of J&K Bank, Modi said it has posted a profit of Rs 1700 crore from being on the verge of collapse while the recruitment process has been transparent in the last five years.

The Congress said the prime minister should have taken to task the Union Territory administration for "large-scale recruitment scams".

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, on the other hand, alleged that government employees were "forcibly" ferried to the venue of the prime minister's event here.

"Government employees are being herded at five am in sub-zero temperatures into vehicles at Budgam bus stand ferrying them to the PM's rally. Disheartening to see employees being forcibly mobilised to paint a pretty picture that all is well post-2019 and that people here are celebrating their own collective disempowerment and humiliation," she said in a post on X.

"Kashmiris know that everything spoken at Bakshi stadium will be to showcase the so-called benefits of illegal abrogation of Article 370 akin to rubbing salt to their wounds," the PDP chief said.

CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami said the administration, at all levels, is operating "akin to BJP parachraks".

In a post on X, he said, "The forced mobilisation of employees and other sections of the society including the beneficiaries of various schemes for PM's rally is bound to contribute to both 'Dilli ki doori and Dil Ki doori'."

This approach is poised to "subvert the democratic and legitimate rights of the people further", Tarigami 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, Mar 7 (PTI) Delhi Education Minister Atishi on Thursday inaugurated an advanced welding and robotics lab at a training institute in Mayur Vihar here.

She said the new facilities will open the door to many new opportunities for the institute's students.

Also Read | 2006 Varanasi Bomb Blast: 18 Years Since Holy City of India Witnessed Twin Blasts That Left 28 Dead and Over 100 Injured; Here's What Happened.

The laboratory was opened at the H J Bhabha Industrial Training Institute here.

According to a statement issued by the Delhi government, the lab offers the finest equipment for robotic welding arms, plasma welding, and virtual reality welding simulators.

Also Read | Gender Disparity: Only 1.6% of Companies Listed in Fortune India 500 Led by Women, Study Shows.

"This cutting-edge ITI lab surpasses private institution labs. Our youth will now acquire skills using top-notch machines. The finest equipment and facilities provided in the new welding and robotics lab will open the door to many new opportunities for students studying here," Atishi said.

The Delhi government aims to provide facilities to the youth that will not only benefit them but also boost the country's economic growth, she said.

The minister added, "Education in ITIs is not just limited to books; students require more and more exposure. This modern lab will make students skilled, job-ready, market-ready, and industry-ready."

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) Unicorn startup Zetwerk on Thursday said it has received USD 20 million (about Rs 165 crore) investment from Indigo Airline promoter Rakesh Gangwal.

Gangwal is the last investor in the ongoing funding round of Zetwerk at USD 2.8 billion enterprise value.

Also Read | 2006 Varanasi Bomb Blast: 18 Years Since Holy City of India Witnessed Twin Blasts That Left 28 Dead and Over 100 Injured; Here's What Happened.

"We are delighted to share that Rakesh Gangwal has invested USD 20 million in Zetwerk through Wheelhouse Venture Capital. Gangwal, with his extensive experience spanning several decades, brings invaluable insights into building businesses and iconic brands. His strategic guidance will be crucial in building Zetwerk into a generational company," Zetwerk said in a statement.

The company has raised USD 650 million to date, including the recent investment from Gangwal.

Also Read | Gender Disparity: Only 1.6% of Companies Listed in Fortune India 500 Led by Women, Study Shows.

Zetwerk has posted a nearly six-fold jump in revenue to Rs 4,961 crore during 2021-22, mainly on account of companies looking for an alternate destination to China to make their products.

The company's revenue more than doubled to Rs 11,448 crore in the financial year 2023.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Sangrur, Mar 7 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Thursday handed over appointment letters to over 2,400 young people and said that during the last two years, government jobs have been given to around 43,000 youngsters.

Mann said his government assumed office on March 16, 2022, and since then, government jobs have been provided to people at regular intervals.

Also Read | 2006 Varanasi Bomb Blast: 18 Years Since Holy City of India Witnessed Twin Blasts That Left 28 Dead and Over 100 Injured; Here's What Happened.

Addressing a gathering at a function to hand over the job letters to 2,487 young people, the chief minister said that of the total, 1,750 people have been recruited in the home department, 205 in social security and women and child development, 39 in revenue, 60 in excise, 421 in local government department, four in cooperation and eight in the technical education department.

He targeted previous governments in the state, saying jobs were given through unfair means, corruption and nepotism earlier.

Also Read | Gender Disparity: Only 1.6% of Companies Listed in Fortune India 500 Led by Women, Study Shows.

According to an official statement, Mann asked if around 43,000 jobs could be given in two years, why it was not done in the last 75 years.

Mann said that he is on a campaign to rectify the system and make sure that youngsters become active partners in the growth of the state.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Prague, Mar 7 (AP) Czech farmers blocked traffic in Prague on Thursday, cramming the streets with hundreds of tractors and other vehicles as they rallied against the government and agriculture policies set by the European Union.

Public transport came to a standstill during the morning rush hour in several parts of the Czech capital. The street leading to the government office where the protesters planned to present their demands was completely blocked.

Also Read | Brazil Horror: 13-Year-Old Girl Admits to Assisting Boyfriend in Killing Mother, Stuffing Body in Fridge, Arrested.

Our goal is not to block the traffic in Prague, our goal is to present the problems in agriculture, said Martin Pycha, the head of the Czech Agricultural Association, one of the organisers of the protest.

He apologised for the inconvenience caused to Prague commuters.

Also Read | UK Shocker: 11-Year-Old Boy Participates in Viral TikTok 'Chroming' Challenge at Home, Suffers Apparent Cardiac Arrest and Dies.

A similar protest with farmers driving their tractors was held in Prague a month ago.

Tens of thousands of farmers and their supporters have rallied across Europe in recent weeks to voice their frustration over a range of issues, from insufficiently regulated cheap imports to overbearing environmental rules and red tape.

The Czech farmers, specifically, demand the lower taxation of farmland ownership and want the subsidies they receive from the EU to be exempt from taxes. Farmers also complain about the low prices of their products and say grain and other agriculture products coming from Ukraine and other countries harm the market.

Some of the farmers held up banners on Thursday reading: We want equal conditions, and Stop the liquidation of Czech agriculture.

The government appeared eager to let the farmers have their say.

I respect the right of anyone to protest and I'm ready for a fair discussion with the farmers, Agriculture Minister Marek Vyborny said.

But when Vyborny addressed the farmers, they booed him and demanded his resignation. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Tel Aviv [Israel], March 7 (ANI/TPS): The Bank of Israel warned the Israelis about criminals attempting to defraud people by misrepresenting themselves as representatives of the Bank, and in other ways.

The criminals may send a letter that is supposedly "on behalf of" the Bank of Israel.

Also Read | Earthquake of Magnitude 4.2 on Richter Scale Strikes Myanmar, No Casualty Reported.

These attempts at fraud are mainly aimed at the elderly and at weaker population groups, said the Bank. As part of the misrepresentation, the recipient is asked to transfer money, with the claim that it is to ensure that the customer can meet loan repayments.

In one example, a letter is sent "on behalf of" the Bank of Israel, showing a request to transfer money. The misrepresentation is carried out through a variety of communication channels such as telephone calls, SMS messages, and email.

Also Read | Sweden Joins NATO After Completing Its Accession Process, Ends Decades of Post-Second World War Neutrality.

The public is asked to remain alert and to avoid sending personal or confidential details, and to increase the awareness of the elderly. We emphasise that the Bank of Israel, the commercial banks, and the credit card companies will never contact people to ask them to provide personal, confidential, or financial details, including means of verification or identification such as an SMS containing a personal code.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
United Nations, Mar 7 (PTI) India's envoy to the UN has said that the overall objective of the global community in Afghanistan aligns with New Delhi's priorities in the war-torn nation, including the need to combat terrorism.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, told the UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan on Wednesday that New Delhi pays close attention to the situation in the country, which has a direct impact on us".

Also Read | Elon Musk Announces Removal of Likes, Reposts From X Timeline; Users Say Excessively Stupid.

"Our objective is to establish long-term peace, security and stability in Afghanistan, Kamboj said, as she told the top organ of the United Nations that India participated actively in the recent meeting of special envoys on Afghanistan held in Qatar.

"The overall objective of the vast majority of the international community aligns with India's priorities with respect to Afghanistan," she said.

Also Read | US Presidential Elections 2024: Joe Biden Challenger Dean Phillips Drops Out of White House Race.

"These include the need to counter terrorism, bring in inclusive governance, safeguard the rights and interests of women, children and minorities, counter-narcotics and the prioritisation of humanitarian assistance for the well-being of the people of the country, she said.

On February 18 and 19, Qatar hosted the second meeting of Special Envoys on Afghanistan in Doha, which was attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and participants from countries including India, Canada, China, France, and Germany.

Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates, the UK and the US also participated in the meeting.

Thanking Qatar for hosting the meeting, Kamboj said, India participated actively in this meeting.

She noted that there were constructive discussions on the recommendations of the report by Special Coordinator Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioglu, including the appointment of a Special Envoy of the Secretary-General and the establishment of an international contact group for Afghanistan.

"There was a general consensus that the international community has to move forward on these issues in a consultative and transparent manner, Kamboj said.

Among the organisations attending the meeting were the European Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Guterres, who had described the Doha meeting as extremely productive, had spoken to reporters about the total consensus about the programmatic proposals included in Sinirlioglu's independent review that covered all the main areas of concern of both the international community and the Taliban, the de facto authorities of Afghanistan.

These included the need to ensure that Afghanistan does not become the hotbed of terrorist activities that impact other countries, Guterres had said.

He pointed out that among the recommendations of the review was the creation of a contact group.

On the international contact group, Kamboj said India firmly believes that the group has a "much better chance of being effective and will gain legitimacy if it comprises all key stakeholders who have direct stakes in the situation in Afghanistan.

"This would also be the general position of anyone who has any interest in ensuring peace and stability in Afghanistan, she said.

The Doha meeting did not have participation from the Taliban.

Guterres had told reporters that he had received a letter from the de facto authorities with a set of conditions to be present in the meeting that were not acceptable".

Kamboj described the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan as dire and said it is important that the international community not lose its focus on Afghanistan and its people and steps up with humanitarian assistance.

She highlighted that India's own assistance to Afghanistan over the past two years has primarily focused on three pillars: food security, medical supplies, and education.

India has provided 50,000 tonnes of wheat, continued its scholarship schemes for Afghan students, providing online educational opportunities to 1,000 Afghan students, including 300 women in the current academic year as well as provided life-saving medicines to different hospitals in Afghanistan and assisted the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in the fight against drugs.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kabul [Afghanistan], March 7 (ANI): Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary PAI division, JP Singh on Thursday called on the Taliban's appointed Afghanistan's Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi and expressed New Delhi's willingness to expand relations with Kabul and promote trade through Chabahar Port.

In the meeting, both leaders discussed India-Afghan bilateral relations and economic and transit issues between the two countries.

Also Read | Earthquake of Magnitude 4.2 on Richter Scale Strikes Myanmar, No Casualty Reported.

"Today, the MEA Joint Secretary of the Republic of India for Af-Ir-Pak, JP Singh, called on IEA-Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi. The meeting focused on in-depth discussions on bilateral Afghanistan-India relations, economic and transit matters, fighting ISKP & corruption in the country," Taliban controlled Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abdul Qahar Balkhi posted on X.

"Singh said that India is interested in expanding political & economic cooperation with Afghanistan, & enhancing trade via Chabahar Port," he added.

Also Read | Sweden Joins NATO After Completing Its Accession Process, Ends Decades of Post-Second World War Neutrality.

Moreover, Minister Muttaqi expressed gratitude for India's humanitarian assistance and sought to strengthen political and economic relations between the two countries.

"Extending gratitude to India for its humanitarian assistance, FM Muttaqi said that in line with our balanced foreign policy, IEA seeks to strengthen political & economic relations with India as an important actor in the region. In the end, FM Muttaqi urged India's Joint Secretary to facilitate the visa issuance process for Afghan businessmen, patients and students," the Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson posted on X.

Earlier in January, the Indian representative engaged in a meeting with Afghanistan's Taliban-appointed Foreign Minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, and expressed India's active participation in both international and regional initiatives concerning Afghanistan.

The representative also emphasised India's unwavering support for all efforts aimed at fostering stability and development in the war-torn nation.

Earlier in its continued efforts to help Afghanistan, India, on January 23, supplied 40,000 litres of Malathion, a pesticide used to fight locust menaces, through the Chabahar Port.

The Taliban-controlled Ministry of Agriculture expressed gratitude for this assistance, highlighting its significance in protecting crops and ensuring food security in Afghanistan.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations in Afghanistan also thanked India for supplying 40,000 litres of Malathion, a pesticide used to fight locust menaces.

Already grappling with poverty, Afghanistan found itself sinking further into destitution due to international isolation and the economic turmoil triggered by the Taliban's takeover in 2021. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Geneva, Mar 7 (AP) A total of 8,565 migrants died on land and sea routes worldwide last year, the U.N. migration agency said Wednesday, a record high since it began counting deaths a decade ago.

The International Organization for Migration said the biggest increase in deaths last year was on the treacherous Mediterranean Sea crossing, to 3,129 from 2,411 in 2022. However, that was well below the record 5,136 deaths recorded on the Mediterranean in 2016 as huge numbers of Syrians, Afghans and others fled conflicts toward Europe.

Also Read | US Presidential Elections 2024: Nikki Haley Suspends Presidential Campaign After Super Tuesday Defeats, Says I Have No Regrets (Watch Video).

IOM said the total number of deaths among migrants in 2023 was nearly 20% more than the previous year.

It said most of the deaths last year, about 3,700, came from drowning.

Also Read | Hyderabad Man Drafted into Joining Russian Army Killed in War with Ukraine, Says Indian Embassy.

The count also includes migrants who vanished  often while trying to cross by sea  and are presumed dead even if their bodies were not found.

The Geneva-based migration agency cautioned that the figures likely underestimate the real toll, and factors such as improved data collection methods play a part in its calculations.

"Every single one of them is a terrible human tragedy that reverberates through families and communities for years to come, IOM Deputy Director General Ugochi Daniels said in a statement.

Overall, the biggest jump in deaths in recent years was in Asia, where 2,138 migrants died last year, 68 more than in 2022. That was primarily because of increased deaths among Afghans fleeing to places like neighboring Iran and among Rohingya refugees on maritime routes, IOM spokesperson Jorge Galindo said in an email.

IOM said a record number of deaths also occurred in Africa last year  1,866  mostly in the Sahara Desert and along the sea route to the Canary Islands.

The agency cited difficulties in data collection in remote areas, such as in the dangerous Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama, where many migrants pass from South America on their way north.

IOM's Missing Migrants project, which tallies the figures, was set up in 2014 after a surge in deaths in the Mediterranean and an influx of migrants on the Italian island of Lampedusa off Tunisia. (AP)

(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], March 7 (ANI): Pakistan has urged the United Nations to investigate the sources of financing of the banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and how they acquired advanced military equipment, stressing that they could soon pose a global terrorist threat, The Express Tribune reported.

Speaking at the UN Security Council on Afghanistan, Pakistan's permanent representative to the UN in New York Ambassador Munir Akram also urged the UN Security Council to join Islamabad in its demand from the interim Afghan government to sever its ties with the banned TTP.

Also Read | Elon Musk Announces Removal of Likes, Reposts From X Timeline; Users Say Excessively Stupid.

"I am confident that this Council will join Pakistan in demanding that the AIG terminates its relationship with the TTP and its affiliates and prevents them from having free rein to conduct cross-border attacks against Pakistan or other neighbours," Ambassador Munir said.

Further, he warned that if left unchecked, the TTP, supported by Al-Qaeda and some state sponsors, could soon pose a global terrorist threat, according to The Express Tribune.

Also Read | US Presidential Elections 2024: Joe Biden Challenger Dean Phillips Drops Out of White House Race.

"The UNAMA mandate does not cover issues relating to terrorism. Yet, terrorism, within and from Afghanistan, poses the most serious impediment to normalization in Afghanistan," he said.

Further, he stated that the terrorist organisations pose a security threat to each one of Afghanistan's immediate neighbours.

"Counterterrorism must be the highest priority in any future Road Map for engagement with the Afghan Interim Government," he said.

Meanwhile, many countries including the US, China, Russia, the UK and India, participated in the debate.

Reportedly, China and Russia favoured continued dialogue with the Afghan Taliban and release of frozen funds and the lifting of sanctions on the Taliban leadership.

Moreover, the Pakistan envoy stressed that despite concerns, Pakistan continued to provide the principal avenue for humanitarian help, trade and development for Afghan people, The Express Tribune reported.

"We will continue to offer this support. The destinies of Pakistan and Afghanistan are intertwined. Peace, security and prosperity in Afghanistan are an imperative for Pakistan," he added.

Further, he said that Pakistan has sheltered almost five million Afghan refugees for over 40 years at great economic, social and security costs, with little help from the international community.

"It is untrue to assert that there were "large scale forced returns of undocumented Afghans from Pakistan" or that there was "large scale return of refugees from Pakistan," Munir said.

He added that the Afghans were not forced to leave, emphasising that 98 per cent of them returned voluntarily, whereas, two per cent included people who were involved in terrorism, drug smuggling and other crimes.

"In fact, after Pakistan declared the intention to apply its laws regarding the presence of illegal and undocumented aliens on our territory, about 500,000 undocumented Afghans chose to return to Afghanistan. They were not forced. 98 per cent of these returns were voluntary in nature. The 2 per cent who were deported included people who were involved in terrorism, drug smuggling and other crimes, or were convicted prisoners who had completed their jail terms," he said.

Pakistan envoy Munir also said that today, over one million undocumented Afghans remain in Pakistan.

"Even today, over one million undocumented Afghans remain in Pakistan. They should return forthwith. We have made several exceptions for those with Afghan ID cards, POR cards, for those who may be "vulnerable" if they return, and for the over 60,000 Afghans whom third countries have offered to receive but have not done so for over two years," he added.

"We would expect the UN to call on the Afghan Interim Government to prevent such cross-border attacks and infiltration by the TTP and other terrorists into Pakistani territory," he urged during the session, reported The Express Tribune.

He further noted that these groups include Daesh, Al Qaeda and particularly the TTP and its affiliates, who are responsible for persistent attacks against Pakistan's military and civilian targets. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Nashville, Mar 8 (AP) An Army soldier has been arrested on charges of selling sensitive information related to U.S. military capabilities, Justice Department officials said Thursday.

Korbein Schultz, who is also an intelligence analyst, was accused in a six-count indictment of charges including conspiring to obtain and disclose military defense information and bribery of a public official.

Also Read | Earthquake of Magnitude 4.2 on Richter Scale Strikes Myanmar, No Casualty Reported.

According to the indictment, Schultz  who had a top-secret security clearance  allegedly conspired with an individual identified only as Conspirator A to disclose various documents, photographs and other national defense materials since June 2022. The indictment claims that Schultz was recruited by the individual not only due to his security clearance but also because he was tasked with gathering sensitive U.S. military information.

Some of the information that Schultz supposedly gave to the individual included information related to the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, hypersonic equipment, studies on future developments of U.S. military forces and studies on military drills and operations in major countries like China.

Also Read | Sweden Joins NATO After Completing Its Accession Process, Ends Decades of Post-Second World War Neutrality.

The indictment outlines that Schultz was initially asked to provide documents detailing lessons that could be learned from Russia's war with Ukraine and how those lessons could be applied to the U.S. helping Taiwan in the event of an attack. Schultz was paid $200 for that information, which then prompted Conspirator A, to ask for a "long-term partnership."

Conspirator A, who was described in the indictment as a foreign national purporting to reside in Hong Kong, later suggested that Schultz could earn more money if he handed over internal only material rather than unclassified documents.

In total, Shultz received at least 14 payments totaling $42,000.

The case is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions of current or former military members accused of illegally disclosing sensitive government secrets.

For instance in April 2023, Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira was charged with leaking highly classified military documents about Russia's war in Ukraine on Discord, a social media platform popular with people playing online games. He pleaded guilty on Monday in a deal with prosecutors that calls for him to serve at least 11 years in prison.

In August, two U.S. Navy sailors were charged with providing sensitive military information to China  including details on wartime exercises, naval operations and critical technical material.

And more recently, the Justice Department announced charges this week against a civilian Air Force employee and retired Army lieutenant colonel for sharing classified information about the war with Ukraine on a foreign dating site. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Jaipur, March 7: The Congress on Thursday promised right to employment as well as apprenticeships for youths in a series of assurances made by its leader Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Rajasthan's Banswara. If the party is voted power in the Lok Sabha elections, 30 lakh vacant government posts will be filled and a law would be enacted to curb government recruitment examination question paper leaks, he said addressing a gathering during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

The former Congress chief also promised a legal guarantee on minimum support price for crops to farmers, social security for gig workers and a Rs 5,000 crore fund for startups. The Congress will provide right to employment, Gandhi said. Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in MP: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi Accuses Government of Hindering Job Opportunities in Biaora, Says They Dont Want To Give Government Jobs to Anyone (Watch Video).

Every young diploma and degree holder in the country will have the right to apprenticeships in the private and government sectors, he said. They will get a one-year apprenticeship during which they will be paid Rs 1 lakh, the Congress leader said.

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi said, "There are 30 lakh government vacancies in India. Modi ji doesn't get them filled. The BJP doesn't fill them. After coming to power, our first step will be to fill these posts." Rahul Gandhi to Participate in RJD's Mega Rally in Patna, Says Congress Leader Jairam Ramesh.

Referring to the issue of paper leaks, he assured that the Congress will standardise the government recruitment exam process and stop its outsourcing. The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered Rajasthan in Banswara from Madhya Pradesh.
Hamirpur, March 7: The father of a rape victim ended his life by suicide in Uttar Pradesh's Hamirpur district on Wednesday, said police. Earlier on February 29, the daughter and niece of the 45-year-old man committed suicide after allegedly being gang-raped in Ghatampur town of Kanpur.

The family of the man claimed that he was under pressure to withdraw the complaint in the gang rape case. His body was found hanging from a Babool tree late on Wednesday, about two km away from his house. Superintendent of Police, Hamirpur, Deeksha Sharma confirmed the suicide, saying the reason behind the extreme step was not yet known. Uttar Pradesh Shocker: 17-Year-Old Girl Hired To Welcome Guests at Wedding in Hathras Gang-Raped by Two Men; One Arrested.

"We are waiting for the family to lodge a complaint. But the police have initiated an investigation," she said. The man had moved to Hamirpur after the two girls, aged 14 and 15, were found hanging near a brick kiln they worked in with other family members. Uttar Pradesh Shocker: 14-Year-Old Boy Lures Minor Girl, Sexually Assaults Her After Watching Porn on Mobile Phone in Ballia; Teenager Detained.

Both were allegedly gang-raped by kiln contractor Ram Sewaks son and nephew, who reportedly also made a video of the act and blackmailed them. Police arrested Ram Sewak and the two others and sent them to jail in the case. Ram Sewak's wife was also named in the FIR. The families of the two girls brought the bodies to the village, where they were cremated on March 1.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 07, 2024 08:28 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
After two years of negotiations, Sweden officially joins NATO on Thursday, March 7, becoming the alliance's 32nd member. Reportedly, the accession ceremony is scheduled to take place at NATO's headquarters in Brussels on March 11. Sweden's decision to join NATO comes after Russia's military intervention in Ukraine in February 2022, prompting a shift from its longstanding policy of military neutrality. Sweden: People Stockpile Emergency Supplies After Government Warns of Possible War.

Sweden Becomes NATO Member

BREAKING: Sweden officially joins NATO. pic.twitter.com/jLQiPyKgHY  The General (@GeneralMCNews) March 7, 2024

JUST IN - Sweden officially joins NATO pic.twitter.com/zG241w2zzK  Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) March 7, 2024

Estonia PM Kaja Kallas Speaks After Sweden Joins NATO

Delighted to welcome #Sweden to the NATO family. With Sweden and also Finland both part of the Alliance now, NATO stands stronger than ever before. Thank you, @SwedishPM, for your leadership and close cooperation throughout this journey.#StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/BP5dflHD1e  Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) March 7, 2024

(SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
On 6 March the United Nations (UN) Security Council (UNSC) held a private meeting on Haiti.

End of preview - This article contains approximately 599 words.

Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article

Not a Subscriber?

Choose from one of the following options
On 6 March a group protesting the 2014 disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa teacher training college in Mexicos Guerrero state knocked down a door to the presidential palace in Mexico City (CDMX), demanding to meet with President

End of preview - This article contains approximately 401 words.

Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article

Not a Subscriber?

Choose from one of the following options
Amid the escalating Haiti crisis, Prime Minister Ariel Henry found himself at the epicenter of a political storm as he attempted to return to a country in crisis.

Returning from a critical diplomatic mission, Henry, in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise nearly three years ago, faced an unexpected request midair from the US State Department, according to the Miami Herald.

The Biden administration, having proposed for months that Henry lead a political transition towards democratic elections, now pressed for his resignation, citing the urgency imposed by gangs overrunning Port-au-Prince.

Secretly in the United States after arriving from Nairobi, Kenya, Henry negotiated a covert return home with diplomats from the neighboring Dominican Republic.

Plans discussed involved flying to Santo Domingo and crossing the border via helicopter, acknowledging the danger posed by gangs encircling the main airport in Port-au-Prince.

The 13-seat Gulfstream charter plane faced obstacles due to the unprecedented assault on Haiti's core institutions.

READ NEXT: Joe Biden Refuses Troop Deployment to Haiti

Civil War Threat and International Concerns

In the thick of the rising Haiti crisis, gang leader Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier issued a dire warning of a potential "civil war" if Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry refused to step down, BBC noted.

Cherizier's gang attempted to seize the capital's airport, contributing to heightened unrest.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, deemed the situation "beyond untenable," with approximately 15,000 people displaced and alarming statistics of 1,193 killed and 692 injured by gang violence since the year's beginning.

With the airport closed due to gangs' attempts to seize it and the neighboring Dominican Republic turning the plane away, Mr. Henry eventually landed in the US territory of Puerto Rico.

Reports suggested Henry was seeking alternative routes back into the country while diplomatic pressure mounted on him to agree to a transitional government.

Tensions remained high, with Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier's warning underscoring the critical juncture Haiti faces, prompting urgent calls for international intervention to prevent further chaos and a descent into civil war.

The G9 alliance, led by Cherizier, has unleashed violence, including attacks on police stations and the storming of the country's two main prisons.

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry

Henry, a 74-year-old neurosurgeon, assumed the role of Haiti's prime minister in July 2021, just days after the tragic assassination of President Jovenel Moise, Aljazeera reports.

Moise had selected Henry for the position shortly before his untimely death, thrusting the new prime minister into a tumultuous political landscape.

The assassination exacerbated Haiti's existing political instability, leading to a surge in gang violence amid the resulting power vacuum.

Henry, initially enjoying the support of the United States and other Western powers, faced an immediate Haiti crisis of legitimacy as he stepped into the role.

The Core Group, a coalition of nations, had backed Henry, but his leadership encountered challenges from the outset.

Some segments of Haitian civil society called for Henry to relinquish power to an inclusive transitional government, arguing that such a move could address the escalating gang violence and widespread insecurity.

Despite these pleas, Henry resisted, emphasizing his commitment to unity and dialogue.

He consistently asserted that holding elections would be contingent upon ensuring safety.

However, Henry's stance drew criticism from various quarters in Haiti, particularly from armed gang leaders.

Over the past few years, these leaders employed pressure tactics, such as fuel terminal blockades, in a bid to coerce the prime minister into resigning.

The delicate balance between political stability, security concerns, and demands for leadership change has left Haiti grappling with complex challenges under Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry's tenure.

READ MORE: State of Emergency Announced Haiti After Mass Jailbreak

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Haiti PM lands in Puerto Rico as top gang leader warns of 'civil war' - From Aljazeera English




A group of Ayotzinapa students tried to storm the National Palace in Mexico City to protest the disappearance of 43 students in Mexico in 2014. To make their point, they tried ramming a truck into the wooden doors of the presidential palace.

According to the Yucatan Times, the student protesters used a white pickup truck from Mexico's state electrical company to try to go through to the doors of the Mexican presidential palace while President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was giving his daily press conference inside.

The protesters then tried to storm the presidential palace, but authorities responded quickly, using tear gas to disperse the group and erected barriers within the palace to stop them from penetrating even further.

Local media who were in the area reported that some of the student protesters who attempted to break into the Mexico National Palace have already been arrested, though it is not clear if there were still some protesters inside.

The case of the missing students, even though it happened a decade ago, is still shaking Mexico up to this day. There have been various protests for the missing students, known as the Ayotzinapa 43, who went missing while on their way to Mexico City to mark the 1968 Tlatelolco student massacre. They were intercepted by police and went missing from there.

Mexico authorities have speculated that the police turned the students over to a local cartel, which disposed of them. The local cartel reportedly had ties to corrupt Mexican authorities, and there was reportedly a cover-up over their disappearance as those involved included some very powerful officials.

READ MORE: Mexico Elections: 2 Mayoral Candidates of the Same City Shot Dead, Within Hours Apart

Mexico President Reacts To Student Protest and Attempted Break-In

The student protesters rammed the truck while Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was speaking to reporters during his daily news conference. He reacted to the attempted storming of the Mexico National Palace shortly after the incident happened.

AMLO, as he is called by media, told reporters that the attempted break-in was a "very clear plan of provocation" for authorities to respond violently, according to Al Jazeera News.

"They would like us to respond violently. We're not going to do it. We're not repressors," he said in another news conference shortly after the attempted break-in. , "The door will be fixed, and there's no problem."

Families of Ayotzinapa 43 Fear Mexico Will Restart Investigation from Scratch With New Administration

An independent government investigation found that the disappearance of the student was a state crime, which meant that it was the fault of the government.

With AMLO's term ending next year, relatives of those missing students are afraid that they might not know what truly happened to them as the "error-plagued investigation over from scratch yet again," even though 10 years have already passed, according to the Associated Press.

READ MORE: Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Says Law Does Not Apply To Him

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Protesting students damage Mexico City's National Palace with truck - NBC News
Tesla CEO Elon Musk asserted on Wednesday that he will not contribute funds to the presidential campaigns of either President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump.

In a post on his social media platform X, Musk clarified his stance, stating: "Just to be super clear, I am not donating money to either candidate for US President."

Elon Musk ranked among the world's wealthiest individuals, with an estimated net worth of $195 billion according to Forbes, and holds the leadership position at both Tesla and SpaceX.

Despite opting out of direct campaign donations, Musk could potentially support Trump or Biden through alternative avenues, such as contributing to a political action committee (PAC) aligned with either candidate, CNBC reports.

Such a donation could wield considerable influence over the respective campaigns.

As of now, Musk has not responded to queries regarding potential contributions to pro-Biden or pro-Trump PACs.

Despite being vocal about political matters on social media, Musk is not a prominent or regular donor to political campaigns.

In the 2018 midterm election cycle, he made contributions to both Republican and Democratic committees, supporting congressional candidates with donations amounting to $33,900 each.

READ NEXT: Elon Musk Trolls Meta Following Facebook Outage

Donald Trump's Fundraising Efforts and Musk's Independent Stance

Reports reveal that former President Donald Trump, actively seeking financial support for his presidential campaign, convened with Elon Musk in Palm Beach, Florida.

The meeting included discussions with wealthy Republican donors, emphasizing Trump's pursuit of major contributors to bolster his campaign finances for the anticipated general election against President Joe Biden, according to The New York Times.

Trump has expressed admiration for Musk and aspires to engage in a one-on-one meeting with the billionaire.

Elon Musk, known for his independent-minded approach, has historically donated to candidates across party lines.

Unlike some other billionaire counterparts, he has not extensively funded presidential elections, maintaining a relatively balanced distribution of donations between Democrats and Republicans.

The federal government contracts and subsidies received by Musk's companies, Tesla and SpaceX, have added a layer of caution in aligning too closely with any specific political party.

Elon Musk's cautious stance in identifying with political parties was evident in 2017 when he distanced himself from two business advisory councils under President Trump's administration due to disagreements over climate policies.

The relationship between Musk and Trump has experienced moments of friction, including public exchanges of insults in 2022.

Joe Biden's Campaign Advantage and Musk's Ambiguous Political Affiliation

Presently, President Joe Biden's campaign maintains an advantageous position over Donald Trump's fundraising efforts, Business Insider noted.

Trump's reliance on political action committees to fund legal fees has added challenges to his financial endeavors.

Musk, a vocal critic of Biden despite expressing his 2020 vote for the president, has refrained from endorsing Trump directly.

In a statement last year, Musk clarified that while he would not vote for Biden, he did not explicitly express support for Trump.

With the suspension of Nikki Haley's campaign, both major parties have effectively chosen their nominees for the upcoming 2024 election.

Elon Musk, known for hosting discussions on Twitter, engaged with vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during a previous audio chat, showcasing his inclination towards diverse perspectives beyond mainstream political figures.

READ MORE: US Senator Bob Menendez Indicted

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Elon Musk To Fund Donald Trump For US Presidential Elections? What Happened When They Met | Watch - From TIMES NOW
A sudden twist has happened in the "Hotel California" lyrics case as New York prosecutors have dropped the case mid-trial. However, Eagles co-founder Don Henley says he is continuing the fight to recover a hand-written legal pad with the original lyrics to their hit song "Hotel California" that the band claims was stolen from them.

The trial came to an abrupt end after Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Aaron Ginandes informed the judge overseeing the case that the prosecution "would no longer proceed" with pursuing the case against three well-known collectibles dealers, rare-book dealer Glenn Horowitz, former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi, and memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski.

The prosecutor cited newly available emails that surfaced and Ginandes noted that these emails raised questions about the trial's fairness, according to NBC News.

Eagles star Don Henley reportedly decided last week to waive attorney-client privilege after he and other prosecution witnesses had already testified. These led to the disclosures that raised questions around the case as the defense was not able to ask him about certain things.

Witnesses and their lawyers used attorney-client privilege "to obfuscate and hide information that they believed would be damaging," ruled Judge Curtis Farber before outright dismissing the case.

Meanwhile, Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Aaron Ginandes noted that the "delayed disclosures revealed relevant information that the defense should have had the opportunity to explore in cross-examination of the People's witnesses."

Eagles Star Don Henley Vows To Fight On With Stolen 'Hotel California' Lyrics Case

Despite having the case thrown out because of a technicality, rock legend Don Henley says he will fight on to recover the stolen pad that contained not only the lyrics of "Hotel California," but also other hits from the Eagles.

READ NEXT: SAG Awards: Pedro Pascal Admits He Was 'a Little Drunk' When Accepting Award

While the criminal case against the three defendants has been dropped, Don Henley's attorney stated that the music legend plans to go to the civil courts in his pursuit of justice, saying, "As the victim in this case, Mr. Henley has once again been victimized by this unjust outcome."

Meanwhile, the defendants maintained that they were rightful owners of pages that weren't stolen by anyone. One of them, Inciardi, released a statement that read, "The next step is building back our reputations."

Sale of Lyrics in 2012 Led to Case Surrounding 'Hotel California'

The case started in 2022. However, The Guardian noted that this came after authorities raided Kosinski's New Jersey home in 2019, which his defense team claims to be "strong-arm tactics" and "inappropriate."

Henley stated that he discovered some pages of lyrics from the album that included "Hotel California" were being sold online back in 2012. He even purchased one of these pages himself for $8,500 before filing a stolen goods report with the New York DA.

More pages from the allegedly stolen notepad then went on sale in 2016 at Sotheby's. However, the famous auctioneer agreed to cancel the sale but did not return the allegedly stolen goods.

The pad containing the legendary lyrics was said to have been taken by rock journalist Ed Sanders, who had been hired by the band to write a biography for the group. He reportedly said that the notes may have been abandoned in a concert dressing room or were given to him by Eagles band member Glenn Frey.

READ MORE: Emmy Awards 2024: 'Succession,' 'The Bear' Remain Dominant in Awards Show Hauls

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Eagles - Hotel California (Live 1977) (Official Video) [HD] - Eagles
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has issued a warrant for the arrest of Dan Rodimer, an ex-congressional candidate and former professional wrestler, on charges related to the death of 47-year-old Christopher Tapp on the Las Vegas Strip.

Tapp sustained injuries in what was initially reported as an accidental incident at Crockfords at Resorts World in October, according to ABC13.

However, detectives later discovered evidence suggesting an altercation had occurred inside a resort room before Tapp's demise.

Tapp was taken to Sunrise Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries on November 5.

The Clark County Coroner's autopsy report determined Tapp's death as a homicide due to blunt force trauma to the head, revealing evidence of multiple brain bleeds.

The incident was initially called an accident, but the investigation unfolded a different narrative.

Rodimer's Past and Criminal Allegations

Following the Las Vegas murder investigation, Dan Rodimer, also known as Dan Rodman during his wrestling career in WWE, faced allegations in a criminal complaint filed by the Clark County District Attorney's office.

The complaint accused Rodimer of striking Tapp on the head in a "willful, deliberate, and premeditated" manner, Daily Beast reports.

Rodimer, an ex-congressional candidate in Nevada's 3rd Congressional District in 2020, lost the race to Representative Susie Lee.

Following his electoral defeat, he relocated to Texas for another congressional bid, marked by accusations of adopting a phony Texas accent to appeal to voters.

His past includes a 2011 arrest for misdemeanor battery, where he threw a man to the floor at a Waffle House in Florida.

Witnesses reported Rodimer, seemingly intoxicated, expressing a penchant for causing harm.

READ NEXT: Las Vegas High School Students Charged With Murder

Current Legal Proceedings and Response

As of now, jail records indicate that Dan Rodimer is not in custody.

However, court records reveal his intention to fly to Las Vegas to address the arrest warrant.

The court has set an initial bail amount of $200,000.

In response to the Las Vegas murder allegations, lawyers for Rodimer issued a statement asserting his voluntary surrender to authorities.

The statement affirms Rodimer's commitment to vigorously contest the charges, urging respect for the presumption of innocence.

Dan Rodimer's political journey includes an unsuccessful attempt to overturn the 2020 election results, allegations of irregularities, and an earlier bid for the Nevada state Senate in 2018, 3News noted.

After his 2020 loss, he moved to Texas, running in a special election for the 6th Congressional District and releasing memorable campaign ads.

His legal history involves the 2010 battery charges related to an incident at a Waffle House in Florida, which was later dropped after completing an anger management course.

The unfolding Las Vegas murder case raises questions about the ex-congressional candidate's legal troubles and adds a dark chapter to his controversial political career.

The developments will be closely watched as the legal proceedings progress.

READ MORE: Michigan: 1 Dead Following Vape Shop Explosion

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Former political candidate identified as murder suspect in the death of Christopher Tapp - From KTVB




Five people who were posing to be nuns have been arrested by authorities in Costa Rica. They reportedly accepted donations for false charity clinics but used that donated money for themselves. These included trips and lavish purchases, as the money did not go to those in need.

Randall Zuniga, the head of the Central American country's judicial investigative agency, told reporters during a news conference that the five suspects, who were composed of four women and one man, were posing as members of a missionary order of nuns.

The investigator added that even though they were fakes, the five still recruited novices to join their "order." However, authorities found that they also abused these novices, who were never able to take their vows as nuns.

The Associated Press reported that the fake nuns took approximately $12 million in funds from government agencies over at least five years. This money was supposed to support their health care and shelter operations, particularly in the fake charity clinic that they were supposedly running.

Those under their supposed case reportedly did not receive proper treatment or attention and had to be hospitalized. Their scheme was eventually exposed when some of the novices went to the police.

On its Facebook page, the group described itself as "a non-profit NGO founded in 1991 to serve people with special physical or intellectual needs." However, the five people running the fake charity are now facing charges of embezzlement, misuse of funds, labor exploitation, and torture.

The fake nuns were running two care homes in provincial Costa Rica, known as "Open Hands Homes." They reportedly cared for children and the elderly, though the group now stands accused of mistreatment and neglecting the care of those under their charge.

READ MORE: Nicaragua Opposition Member Shot in Costa Rica While in Exile

Fake Nuns Did Not Pay the Novices in Their False Charity Organization in Costa Rica

Zuniga noted that the novices who were working for the fake nuns in that false charity organization were doing work for free as they were not paid in addition to the organization not letting them take their vows as nuns.

According to News 4, these novices were also forced to dress up as clinical staff to fool government officials so that they would give money to the now-revealed false charity organization.

Patients in Costa Rica Fake Nuns' Clinic Hospitalized After Discovery of Scam

Multiple raids have been conducted in Costa Rica over the fake nuns' schemes. This uncovered the negligence of the group as it cared for 79 children and 80 elderly individuals who suffered from a terminal disease or had physical disabilities.

The negligence and poor care these patients received was so bad that, according to AM Costa Rica, they were soon taken to three public hospitals, including the National Children's Hospital in San Jose, as well as the main hospitals in the provinces of Cartago and Alajuela where the clinics were located.

The victims are currently receiving the medical care denied to them by the fake charity. It was also noted that while the five defendants are not government employees, they still received government funding. Thus, they are still subjected to the same public employee laws.

READ MORE: Nicaragua Explainer: Why is the Daniel Ortega Government Feuding With Miss Universe Sheynnis Palacios?

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Top 5 Most SINFUL Nuns - Scary Mysteries
A developer denied approval for 412 apartments on Eastons College Hill now proposes 256 apartments on the property, but still faces city opposition.

The Easton Planning Commission on Wednesday night reviewed BNE Real Estate Groups proposal for 300 Morrison Ave. The commission recommended the citys zoning hearing board deny a special exception needed for the use under the propertys zoning. Eastons planning bureau had recommended approval of the special exception.

The zoning board is expected to take up the matter March 18. Zoners in September rejected necessary approvals for the 412-apartment proposal.

BNEs revised plans for the apartment complex would still need to go before the planning commission for land development approval.

The proposal is for 16 low-rise, two-story buildings with 16 apartments each, just west of the intersection of Morrison Avenue and George Street. Two access points are proposed, to Morrison Avenue and to George Street.

Previously, Cigna Output Distribution Services occupied the location.

A traffic-impact study would be done as part of the land development process. Initial projections show peak-hour traffic of 51 vehicles (102 trips) entering and exiting in the morning and 66 vehicles (133 trips) entering and exiting in the afternoon, according to Tyler Krause from Bowman Consulting.

Neighbors raised concern about traffic from the apartments adding to existing congestion.

Local resident and attorney Ralph Bellafatto said besides the nearby General Lafayette Apartments and nearby YMCA of Easton, Phillipsburg & Vicinity, the surrounding area is all single-family homes. The intersection of Morrison Avenue and George Street, he said, is blind in three directions. His parents have owned their homes property in the 200 block of Morrison Avenue since 1972.

I dont know how theyre even going to get out of their driveway in the morning, Bellafatto said.

Planning commission member Hubert Etchison suggested the vehicle-trip estimates are low. Krause reiterated that the figures are for the peak hours and for the entire property, not each access point.

That still feels optimistic to me, but I understand what youre saying, Etchison replied.

The city solicitor, Joel Scheer, advised the planning commission that traffic congestion is a unique aspect of the proposal. He noted that a traffic study would be done, but that: At that point the cow is out of the barn.

Developers attorney Jim Preston countered that Eastons special exception criteria say traffic from the development cant exceed what would normally be expected from this type of use.

This project was designed by your ordinances that came from your municipal legislators, not by us, he told the planning commission, adding later: Youre being misdirected.

The proposal includes 1.8 parking spaces per apartment, which exceeds the citys requirement of 1.5 spaces, Preston said. The propertys zoning permits 20 homes per acre, and a density of 6.6 homes per acre is proposed.

This plan is a clean plan. We dont need any zoning relief. Were not seeking any zoning relief, Preston said.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
Current events spurred the Lehigh Valley regions Congress members choices of guests for Thursday nights State of the Union Address by President Joe Biden.

U.S. Rep. Susan Wild on Wednesday introduced as her guest Christie Nicas, a Bethlehem mother who had two of her children via in-vitro fertilization. Wild is a Democrat in her third two-year term representing the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvanias 7th Congressional District.

New Jersey 7th Congressional District U.S. Rep. Tom Kean Jr., a first-term Republican whose territory includes Warren and Hunterdon counties, announced Thursday his guest is Francesca Mani. The Westfield High School sophomore was a victim of artificial intelligence used by students to create deepfake images of other students last fall at the Union County school.

Wilds guest comes amid a national reckoning over IVF, a common assisted reproductive technology. The Alabama Supreme Court last month ruled that three couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed in an accident at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death lawsuits for their extrauterine children. The ruling, treating an embryo the same as a child or gestating fetus under the wrongful death statute, raised concerns about civil liabilities for clinics. Three major IVF providers paused services.

Facing pressure to get in vitro fertilization services restarted in the state, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey swiftly signed legislation into law Wednesday shielding doctors from potential legal liability raised by the court ruling.

Wild on Feb. 29 had joined members of the Democratic Womens Caucus to call on Congress to pass the Access to Family Building Act, which would protect IVF access nationwide.

In the last couple of weeks, Ive heard so many other perspectives on IVF and reasons that people have turned to it, Wild said in a statement Wednesday. The one thing that everybody seems to share is the common belief that we have to protect this procedure for anyone who wishes to start or grow their family this way.

Wild and Nicas were joined on a press call by Dr. Ndeye-Aicha Gueye, the Lehigh Valley Health Networks division director for reproductive endocrinology and infertility and lead physician at Reproductive Medicine Associates of Lehigh Valley, and Julie Eshelman, founder and CEO of the Building Military Families Network, to discuss the importance of protecting assisted reproductive technologies.

IVF isnt just financially draining, its also physically, emotionally, psychologically draining, Nicas stated. Every aspect is meticulously planned for the hope of a baby at the end, theres certainly no guarantee. There are elected officials referring to IVF as reckless, and I couldnt honestly think of a worse word to describe the process.

In New Jersey, Keans office cited reports that revealed high school students photos were manipulated and shared around the school, sparking concerns among about the lack of legal recourse for AI-generated pornography. Mani had reached out to Kean to advocate for possible solutions at the federal level, to prevent such incidents from happening again, according to his office  soon after, he introduced the AI Labeling Act, a bill that aims to ensure people are aware when they are viewing AI-generated content or interacting with an AI chatbot by requiring clear labels and disclosures.

I am proud of Francesca for speaking up and advocating for women who have been victimized by AI generated deepfakes, Kean said in a statement. Francesca is a leader and a fighter, and I am honored to have her join me as my guest at the State of the Union tonight.

Stated Mani: It is an immense honor to attend President Bidens State of the Union Address as Congressman Keans guest in the House chamber, reflecting a significant moment of recognition and opportunity. Congressman Keans continued support and focus on addressing the challenges posed by the growth of AI technology reinforce my belief that together, we can advocate for a brighter, more secure future.

Each member of Congress is allowed one guest at the annual State of the Union.

You can find the address on all major networks, which will be carrying it live. It will also be streamed online by the White House and The Associated Press. The speech starts at 9 p.m. ET Thursday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
St. Lukes Coventry Family Practice in the Phillipsburg area has joined forces with Star Community Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC).

The practice will now be known as Star Community Health-Coventry, said St. Lukes University Health Network spokesman Samuel Kennedy.

The companies are continuing to notify patients about the partnership, but services will not change or be interrupted, Kennedy confirmed on Wednesday.
A Laois couple aged in their 90's who are incapacitated are among those forced to visit their doctor if they want to vote in this Friday's Referendums.

A rule that a GP cert must be included with an application to post votes, is forcing people with disabilities to pay to vote, say several Portlaoise Municipal District councillors.

This Friday, March 8, Irish citizens are being asked to vote on two proposed changes to the Constitution, the Family amendment and the Care amendment.

Fine Gael Willie Aird described the elderly couple's situation, speaking at a recent meeting of Portlaoise Muncipal District.

"I know of a husband and wife who are in their 90s and have two carers. They have to go to the doctor to get certs to be allowed to vote from home. It is an absolute scandal. This couple voted in every election.

"Only a doctor can give the report. GPs are completely overworked. Surely there is some other way. Surely a carer, a peace commissioner or religious leader could do it. They feel they don't want to be troubling a doctor.

"They are advertising to get young people to check the register and yet we have older people who will find it difficult. It's not right. They need to be looked after," he said.

It is ten months since Portlaoise MD Cllr John Joe Fennelly tabled a motion asking for the national rule to be changed before the 2024 elections, to their May 2023 meeting.

With no change since, he slammed it as "an absolute disgrace".

"The electoral commission has made it harder. People with disabilities have to pay for their vote, to pay whatever their doctor charges. The doctor now has to assess and say how long a disability could last," he said.

He proposes that a carer, a district nurse, a peace commissioner or a Garda be allowed to sign the form.

Sinn Fein Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley supports the proposal.

"I know of a case where a couple went and were charged for the form to have their postal vote. They were charged for having the right of a postal vote. It's the same if you want to apply for housing on medical grounds. These people are not on a disability allowance for nothing. It's sad to see this now coming in for the postal votes," she said.
Hotelier Colm Neville, who owns the Midlands Hotel in Portlaoise, has been elected Vice President of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF).

The Wexford native joins IHF President Michael Magner and fellow Vice President Matt OConnor in representing over 900 hotels and guesthouses, which employ 65,000 people throughout the country.

Commenting on his election, Colm said: It is a tremendous honour to be elected Vice President of the Irish Hotels Federation and to represent our sector, which makes such an important contribution to the economy. I look forward to working closely with my IHF colleagues and engaging with our Government and industry partners to address the challenges facing our sector and wider tourism industry. A particular focus for us over the coming year is the need for meaningful measures from the Government to tackle the very high operating costs of tourism and hospitality businesses. This is a growing concern in terms of our competitiveness and requires decisive Government action.

Colm has been an active member of the IHF since 2007 and brings extensive experience to the role of Vice President having previously served as Chair of the IHFs South East Branch and as a member of the IHF National Council and Management Committee.

IHF President Michael Magner says: I want to congratulate Colm on his election as Vice President. Colms commitment to our sector and extensive experience are a great asset to the IHF as we continue to advocate for members at the highest levels of Government. As Irelands largest indigenous employer, tourism plays a vital role supporting over 270,000 livelihoods. It is therefore critical that the right conditions are in place to deliver a sustained recovery for our sector and wider tourism industry so that it lives up to its full potential. I look forward to working with Colm to deliver our key priorities in relation to economic growth, leadership in sustainability and supporting people development within our sector. 
The HSE chief Bernard Gloster, has apologised to the families of two children who died after being "badly let down when they most needed care of support".

Mr Gloster extended his apologies to the families of Fiadh O'Connor from Co Wexford and Danny Norris from Co Waterford, who passed after battling cancer.

Fiadh died in April 2023 at the age of four and Danny died in December 2022 on the border between Tipperary and Waterford, at the age of seven.

Now, the HSE has announced that specialist services will provide care to terminally ill children in the South-East, which will correct an inequity that caused extreme heartbreak in the past.

This comes after the families of Fiadh and Danny, publicly pleaded for these services to become available in the region.

CEO of the HSE, Bernard Gloster, said: I want to apologise to the families of Fiadh O Connor from Co Wexford and Danny Norris from Co. Waterford, who we failed and who could not avail of these services. They were badly let down when they most needed care and support. Having met with them it is clear we still have so much to learn about supporting families particularly when life-limiting illness reaches that crucial stage.

Mr Gloster added: I want to thank both families for their generosity in sharing their experiences with me. There is no doubt that were it not for their courage and advocacy in their trauma other children may well have had the same challenges in the future. It is so regrettable that they had to endure this experience when they were already suffering immeasurable heartache and grief, for us to make the necessary changes to ensure no other child or family has to suffer due to lack of community palliative care services.

The four specialist palliative care teams in the South-East are now providing care to terminally ill children as part of a multidisciplinary approach which ensures children can receive palliative care and die at home in line with the wishes of the family.

HSE Palliative nursing and medical staff in the area are now responding to and participating fully in the care of children who require palliative services correcting an inequity that prevailed for some time.

Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly said: I want to express my sincere sympathies to Danny Norris and Fiadh OConnors families on their loss. It is not acceptable to me as Minister and as a parent to see the absence of paediatric palliative care services for any period of time, purely based on where you live. This added to the pain and suffering inflicted on the Norris and OConnor families at the worst time imaginable.

Even when resources are not an issue we clearly have so much to do to improve and bring fairness to families right across the country. Fiadh and Danny should never have had to have these experiences in their last stage of life, nor should their parents have had to fight for these essential services and I welcome the HSE's acknowledgement of that. More importantly that it is now corrected and guaranteed for any child or family in the South East who may need this support in the future.

Palliative care for children and young people with life-limiting conditions is an active and total approach to care, from the point of diagnosis or recognition throughout the childs life, death and beyond. It includes the management of distressing symptoms, provision of short breaks and care through death and bereavement.
Parents and guardians of students enrolled in Junior Cycle years across Laois will not be asked to buy or rent any schoolbooks, according to local Fianna Fianna Fail Minister of State, Sean Fleming, who says it is a ground breaking move.

The Laois Offaly TD welcomed details announceed by the Minister for Education Norma Foley who expects more than 212,000 students enrolled in approximately 670 post-primary schools nationwide to benefit from this scheme.

Minister Fleming said the measure should ease pressure on families.

"Fianna Fail understands that the transition from primary to post-primary can put an increased financial burden on families. I'm delighted to welcome details of this funding package of over 68 million for the introduction of a landmark new scheme which will provide, at a minimum, free schoolbooks, and core classroom resources for all students in Junior Cycle years in post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme for the 2024/25 school year.

"This scheme will ensure that parents and guardians of students enrolled in Junior Cycle years across Laois will not be asked to buy or rent any schoolbooks. Special schools in which children and young people with special educational needs are enrolled in Junior Cycle programmes will also receive the Junior Cycle rate in respect of these students in 2024/25.

"This ground-breaking, permanent measure is further evidence of Fianna Fails commitment to supporting access to education for all by enhancing the educational experience, not just in the classroom but reaching out into the family home and easing the financial burdens facing families during back-to-school time,'' said the TD.

The Department of Education says new scheme means that:

Schoolbooks, and core classroom resources such as journals, copybooks, dictionaries and calculators will be provided for all students in Junior Cycle years in post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme. There is no need parents or guardians to buy or rent these items

Schools will be provided with sufficient funding to cover the costs of providing these items

Schoolbooks are the property of the school and must be returned at the end of the school year or the Junior Cycle

Schools will be provided with additional administration support in the form of an Administration Support Grant

To support the administration of this scheme, the Department said it is allocating an Administration Support Grant to post-primary schools for the 2024/25 school year, based on the size of the school, to assist with any additional work required in order to implement the scheme. Schools may use this grant to employ an individual to carry out administrative work on the scheme or use the money towards other administrative costs associated with implementing the scheme.

The Department is issuing guidance for post-primary schools and any post-primary schools with queries about the scheme can contact the Department directly.

The Department has published guidance for schools and information for parents on how the new scheme will operate here
A rural village hall in Laois has been given an amazing new kitchen, the icing on the cake of a full renovation carried out over the past five years.

Shanahoe Community Hall near Abbeyleix had a dark awkwardly shaped kitchen which was little used.

Now a full and carefully considered kitchen redesign has made the hall the heart of the community, creating a cosy hub for groups and social gatherings.

The new kitchen was officially opened with the old kettles put to good use along with new appliances, on Sunday, March 3.

Cutting the tape, committee members Sonia McDonnell, Aisling Walsh-Davidson, Colm McDonnell, Sarah Lou Malone and Michelle Hughes at the grand opening of the recently refurbished kitchen in Shanahoe Community Hall. Picture: Alf Harvey.

It was funded by a Government grant of 24,000 from the Department of Rural and Community Development, and overseen by a hardworking volunteer committee.

Tea's up: Niamh and Roisin Ryan helping out at the grand opening of the recently refurbished kitchen in Shanahoe Community Hall. Picture: Alf Harvey.

Committee assistant secretary Sarah-Lou Malone told the Leinster Express / Laois Live more.

"We were granted the funding last year and it really was worth all the hoops you have to go through. It covered the cost of the full renovation.

"The old shell of the kitchen and the flooring was ripped out. Before it was very simple, and the sink was in a pinch point.

"Now it has storage, and was redesigned to change the flow. We have a new hob and two ovens. We are now able to provide hot food at different functions, like kids parties or funerals.

Emmy and Katie McDonnell at the grand opening of the recently refurbished kitchen in Shanahoe Community Hall.

Picture: Alf Harvey.

"In our community it is the only indoor place we have bar the church. Up to 2017 it hadn't been used that much. It had leaks, it was damp and draughty.

"The Leader grant in 2021 of 56,000 fixed a lot of the structure of the hall," she said.

That grant had allowed the committee to put in a new heating system, windows and doors in the main hall.

The committee has also been helped by over 5,000 in various grants through Laois County Council grants since 2019, to buy catering equipment, seating, planting, replace flooring and cover running expenses.

"The kitchen has added an extra dimension to the hall's use. We can offer cooking classes, for kids and adults. We hope youth groups can startup. When we had our official opening we were able to make soup and sandwiches. We've really upped our game," Sarah-Lou said.

Elizabeth Ryan, Sonia McDonnell, Aisling Walsh-Davidson, Lorraine Kirk and Sarah Lou Malone at the grand opening of the recently refurbished kitchen in Shanahoe Community Hall. Picture: Alf Harvey.

It is hoped to revive traditional cards nights too, and offer a space for people of all ages to get together.

"We are going to really try and look at what we can do to draw people together again to use the hall for a social aspect. That fear that began in Covid became a habit. We work a lot with the Laois Offaly ETB and we can start skills and craft classes," she said.

Their official opening was "a fabulous day", Sarah-Lou said.

"The kids were the highlight. Some of them play with Spink Comhaltas performed and then they just got up on the stage and started dancing, we were delighted to see that," she said.

The kitchen was designed and installed by Laois company Hanlon's Kitchens, while an Offaly company installed the durable new floor.

The Shanahoe hall committee can be contacted through their Facebook page.
It's opening night tonight at the Kildare Drama Festival which will run until March 15 at the CWMS in Kildare town.

The festival was recently launched by celebrated actress Una Crawford OBrien. Una has had a long and distinguished career on stage and screen and is best well known for her role as Renee in RTEs drama series Fair City.

Una spoke warmly about her time as an amateur actress with Sundrive Players in Dublin for 21 years and the lifelong friendships she made.

She explained that very often the grounding you receive with community drama groups is as good as attending theatre schools.

She also said as an amateur you can play a greater variety of roles.

Una won the best actress award at the All-Ireland Finals before turning professional.

Una was joined by her husband the great Irish thespian Brian Murray.

Brian will be especially remembered by Kildare residents for his role in The Irish RM in the 1980s as Flurry Knox. The Irish RM was filmed extensively in County Kildare with locations in Naas and Robertstown regularly used.

Chairperson Noreen Quinlivan thanked Una and Brian for attending and for chatting with all the attendees. Noreen confirmed that the festival is running from the 7th to the 11th of March starting at 8pm nightly. This years adjudicator is Rose ONeill.

A superb programme of plays has been together ranging from hilarious comedy to gripping drama, from Greek tragedy to modern Irish plays.

There is something for everyone.

Tickets are a recession proof price of 12 a night with a season ticket of 8 nights top quality theatre for only 50.00.

Tickets are available from Kildare Heritage Centre and Eventbrite.
An amazing celebration of community education and learning took place in Monasterevin Community Centre on Tuesday March 5.

The thriving centre was a hive of activity from early morning as it played host to well over a hundred people as part of the AONTAS Adult Learners' Festival 2024 which was organised by the Community Education service of Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board.

Their focus for this years event was 'Sharing our Learning' and a cross-section of learner groups from as far north as Maynooth and south as Athy showcased what they have achieved. The groups displayed their experiences in Horticulture, Woodturning, Global Citizenship, Citizen Engagement including voter registration, Ceramics, Glass Painting, Willow work, Basketmaking, Felting, Wellbeing, Digital Skills including leaning how to use a smartphone, and more.

It highlighted the positive contribution community education has made to their personal well-being and their wider communities and society. One participant in her 80s proudly displayed her first ever educational certificate for participating in a Digital Skills smartphone class whilst others talked about the confidence and well-being that taking part in Community Education had given them.

The participating groups were Platinum Clubhouse Newbridge, Knit and Knatter Monasterevin, Sallins Womens Shed, Woodstock Wonders Athy (a partnership between Irish Wheelchair Association-Athy and Athy Community Family Resource Centre), Midland Chapter of the Woodturners Guild, Maynooth Mens' Shed, Irish Wheelchair Association Clane, Eve Larine Maynooth, Monasterevin Womens Shed, and Eve Harvest Hub from Kildare Town. But many other groups also joined in the festivities like Sharing Skills from Celbridge, Leixlip Womens Shed and Mna Beoga from Ballykelly.
A proposal to build a solar farm on a 319 acre site on the outskirts of Naas, near Punchestown Racecourse, has been given the green light.

An Bord Pleanala has upheld Kildare County Councils decision to permit Strategic Power Projects (SPP) to install solar panels on ground mounted frames, along with 51 transformer units and a CCTV system, at Swordlestown.

Dublin-based SPP is involved in projects designed to produce electricity without creating emissions which harm the climate.

Last April, SPP won an appeal to An Bord to launch a battery storage project envisaging a compound with 76 battery storage units, each the size of a shipping container, which will be used to produce power, at Dunnstown, near Two Mile House and Brannockstown, just off the Naas to Kilcullen route.

That plan was rejected by Kildare County Council in June 2021 after it received a raft of objections from local residents.

The Swordlestown proposal also attracted a raft of objections before it was approved by Kildare County Council.

Some of these came from figures in the bloodstock industry as well as local politicians and some 120 submissions were made.

The Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association said there are few places in the world with a breeding and horse racing tradition as rich as County Kildares and the industry employs 4,700 people in the county.

It said the area immediately adjoining the proposed site contains five stud farms occupying 533 acres and the development will consist of 230,000 solar panels across acres of prime grazing land.

Read more Kildare news

The then chief executive officer of the ITBA Shane ODwyer said the plan is not compatible with the business of stud farming and our members are very concerned that this will have a negative impact on their livelihood.

Punchestown Racecourse CEO Conor ONeill said the proposal is of grave concern.

However, according to ABP it will not have an unacceptable impact on the character of the landscape and will not seriously injure the visual and residential amenities of the area.

The development must be carried out within ten years.

It will be operational for a period of 35 years after which the panels and associated structure will be removed and the site reinstated - unless before that permission is granted for retention for a further period.

ABP imposed a number of conditions relating to archaeology, landscaping, a glint and glare assessment, a construction and environmental management plan, fisheries protection, construction traffic management and noise monitoring.
Two communities are mourning the loss of Bridget (Delia) Higgins (nee Kiernan), who peacefully departed this world on Sunday, March 3, 2024, in her 98th year.

Formerly of Aughawillen, Carrigallen, Co Leitrim and Ballyduffy, Moyne, Co Longford, Delia, as she was affectionately known, passed away at her residence in the comforting care of her loving family.

Born into a world that has witnessed nearly a century of change, Delia was predeceased by her parents, sisters, brothers, infant daughter Bernadette, husband James, son Jim, daughter Mary Bannon, daughter-in-law Mary Higgins, and great-grandson Daniel.

Delia will be remembered with fondness and love by her daughters Patricia Ward and Angela Mulligan, sons-in-law Charlie Ward, Frank Mulligan, and Hugh Bannon, as well as her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, neighbors, caregivers, and a wide circle of friends.

Friends and family have paid their respects online to the beloved matriarch.

One tribute wrote: "I had the pleasure of enjoying her hospitality & delicious boxty on quite a few occasions. May she rest in peace after a great life well spent."

While another mourning friend said: "Farewell Delia, my Aunt Anna B's great friend. Many a cup of tea you both shared in the back kitchen of her pub. You left a great family legacy, which you were fortunate to witness permeate through three generations, to whom we extend our deepest condolences."

The community paid their respects during the repose at Lakelands Funeral Home, Dublin Road, Cavan H12RF78, on Monday, March 4. Delia's remains were then brought to her residence for close family, neighbours, and friends to bid their final farewell.

Funeral Mass to celebrate Delia's life was held in St Marys Church, Carrigallen, Co Leitrim, on Tuesday, March 5. Following the Mass, Delia was laid to rest in the adjoining cemetery.
A county like Leitrim needs farming; there is a local co-op out the road here in Kinlough that depends on farming. Every small rural town does depend on farming. At least every euro that a farmer gets, he's nearly putting it back into the local community and keeping things going, Liam Gilligan, Leitrim IFA Chairman told the Leitrim Observer.

Farmers were out in force in Kinlough on Monday morning of this week looking for the support of their public representatives at the Leitrim County Council meeting which took place in the town's community centre.

Outside the centre, ahead of the meeting, tractors lined the road as up to 60 members of the farming community showed their support for the IFA's 'Enough is Enough' campaign, announced by IFA President Francis Gorman recently.

The IFA said it will continue highlighting farmers' frustration and anger with the political system over the next month by targeting County Council meetings around the country.

Mr Gilligan continued, When you see all the farmers here on a Monday morning in a small town on the Donegal border and couldn't be any further north. Farmers are very busy at this time of year with cows calving and sheep lambing and look at the effort that's been put in. That goes to show the level of frustration.

James Gallagher, a former Chairman of Leitrim IFA, said that he felt rural Ireland was not being represented at national or European level and that the Nature Restoration Law will have serious implications for farming.

There has been no consultation between people on the ground in rural areas and legislators. Our MEPs are disappointed to go forward and vote on something that they don't know what the consequences of it will be. Ireland can't save the planet.

They are looking for a 25% cut in agriculture emissions and farmers are working towards that but the same parties that have pushed for this are looking to expand Dublin Airport which would cause a 22% increase in emission, he said.

He continued, Agriculture is the soft target and we're being told we need more forestation and Leitrim has been the target for the last 40 years and it isn't the answer. This afforestation is affecting communities and it will be stopped if the powers that be don't take heed.

He continued, We are not anti rules and regulations with regards to climate change but there has to be common sense.

In relation to farm payments, Mr Gilligan said that farmers always got their ANC payment in September. This year it didn't happen until the end of October. The farmers already had that money committed to different things and that's where the frustration is coming from.

ACRES farmers went into the scheme in good faith and payments have only started to come out on Friday when they were supposed to be made in December. Farmers had to pay their planners and everything.

If farmers get two payments this year, there could be a lot of tax implications. Farmers had to pay their planners and everything else when they went into the scheme last May.

Farmers have a deadline date for these schemes and if they don't go into it on time, they are penalised. If they are supposed to get paid on a date, it should happen.

It is unacceptable and that's why farmers are getting very frustrated and why we are out here today.

He said that farmers are willing to do their part when it comes to the environment but said the goal posts are being changed throughout and that's where the problems are. When farmers go into a scheme, they should know exactly what they're going in for and that didn't happen.
Corporate Greed Sidelines Health Equity at the WTO, says AHF





AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) expresses profound disappointment after World Trade Organization (WTO) Member States failed to reach a decision on expanding COVID-19-related patent flexibilities to include diagnostics, medicines, and therapeutics following 18 months of negotiations.

"This decision is a setback for global health equity, which will sadly have repercussions for future pandemics far beyond COVID-19," said AHF President Michael Weinstein. "The choice to protect corporate interests and patents on crucial medical innovations during global health emergencies flies in the face of our shared responsibility and the need for solidarity on global public health. It deepens existing health disparities, hindering access to life-saving interventions, especially in low-income countries."

Despite the disappointing WTO decision, AHF calls upon the international community, policymakers, and stakeholders to continue advocating for a more just and equitable global health system. The world needs collaborative efforts to address health challenges and ensure the health and safety of all individuals, regardless of geographic location or economic status.

About AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is a global non-profit organization providing cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to over 1.9 million people in 46 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Europe. We are currently the largest non-profit provider of HIV/AIDS medical care in the world. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare and Instagram: @aidshealthcare

6 march 2024 at 17:45

News published onand distributed by:
Compass Minerals and Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands Entering into Voluntary Agreement Regarding Water Conservation on the Great Salt Lake





Compass Minerals (NYSE:CMP), a leading global provider of essential minerals, today announced that it has agreed to a Term Sheet with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands (FFSL) outlining voluntary water conservation and other commitments the company will be making in an effort to help preserve the long-term sustainability of the Great Salt Lake. Compass Minerals and FFSL are currently crafting a binding Voluntary Agreement based on the framework established within the Term Sheet.

"We recognize that a healthy Great Salt Lake is essential to both the environmental and economic well-being of the region," said Edward C. Dowling Jr., president and CEO. "We are proud to be pursuing this Voluntary Agreement with FFSL and are committed to actively contributing to the health and preservation of this vital natural resource."

Compass Minerals' Ogden facility has operated on the Great Salt Lake for over half a century, producing sulfate of potash, salt and magnesium chloride from the lake's mineral-enriched brine. The company's Ogden operation currently provides nearly 400 local jobs and representatives of Compass Minerals participate on multiple policy and advisory groups focused on ensuring a healthy lake ecosystem.

As part of its regulatory authorities, FFSL is responsible for managing Utah's sovereign lands, including the beds and banks of navigable rivers and lakes within the State.

"This agreement provides a framework where critical minerals can be extracted when the lake is at appropriate levels, and water is conserved as lake levels decline," said Jamie Barnes, FFSL Director and State Forester. "We are pleased that Compass Minerals has actively pursued an agreement with FFSL, which will be the first of its kind for Great Salt Lake."

During the 2024 legislative session, the Utah Legislature passed House Bill 453 (H.B.453), "Great Salt Lake Revisions," which amends and expands current state statute governing mineral extraction on the Great Salt Lake, including but not limited to new severance taxes and a requirement for the state to develop a mandatory water distribution plan for mineral extractors on the lake. Also included within H.B.453 were provisions allowing mineral companies to enter into Voluntary Agreements with FFSL, thereby enabling severance tax relief, protections against potential eminent domain actions and the ability to proactively negotiate voluntary water conservation commitments.

"It's critical we strike the right balance between industry's ability to extract the various minerals found in the lake without compromising the health of the lake," added Great Salt Lake Commissioner Brian Steed. "We are committed to safeguarding the lake's ecological integrity while incentivizing extraction methods that prioritize sustainability and mitigate impacts to the lake. The Commissioner's Office appreciates the leadership of the Legislature and the willingness of Compass Minerals to take these important steps to protect the Great Salt Lake."

About Compass Minerals

Compass Minerals (NYSE:CMP) is a leading global provider of essential minerals focused on safely delivering where and when it matters to help solve nature's challenges for customers and communities. The company's salt products help keep roadways safe during winter weather and are used in numerous other consumer, industrial, chemical and agricultural applications. Its plant nutrition products help improve the quality and yield of crops, while supporting sustainable agriculture. Additionally, its next-generation, long-term fire retardant products provide a more innovative and environmentally friendly option in the fight against wildfires. Compass Minerals operates 12 production and packaging facilities with nearly 2,000 employees throughout the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Visit compassminerals.com for more information about the company and its products.

Forward-Looking Statements and Other Disclaimers

This press release may contain forward-looking statements including, without limitation, statements regarding the potential execution and terms of a binding Voluntary Agreement, severance tax relief, protections against potential eminent domain actions and the ability to proactively negotiate water conservation commitments. These statements are based on the company's current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the company's actual results to differ materially. The differences could be caused by a number of factors including those factors identified in the "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of the company's Annual and Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, including any amendments, as well as the company's other SEC filings. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect future events or developments, except as required by law.

6 march 2024 at 18:45

News published onand distributed by:
Premier Radiology Services Signs 5-Year Agreement to use RamSoft's OmegaAItm and Cloud-Based PowerServer RIS/PACS Platforms for its 1,000+ Teleradiology Sites





RamSoft's robust solutions provide Premier with unmatched speed and reliability for reading and processing images for its fast-growing teleradiology operations

TORONTO and MIAMI, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - RamSoft, a global leader in novel cloud-based RIS/PACS radiology solutions for imaging centers and teleradiology providers, is pleased to announce that Premier Radiology Services ("Premier"), based in Miami, FL, has signed a 5-year agreement to use RamSoft's OmegaAItm and cloud-based PowerServer PACS platform for its 1,000+ teleradiology locations. Premier is one of the largest teleradiology service providers in the US, with its radiologists processing and reading thousands of imaging studies daily.

Premier, a long-time customer of RamSoft, committed to a 5-Year Contract because of OmegaAI and PowerServer's superior technical capabilities. "With our 120+ radiologists reading thousands of scans daily, we require a PACS platform that is quick to implement, reliable, fully HIPAA-compliant, and operates at the fastest speeds", says Drew Gaudet, CEO of Premier. "In addition, we require robust and flexible automated workflows to drive efficiencies for reviewing and processing our cases. RamSoft's OmegaAI and PowerServer provide best-in-class software and allow Premier to provide 24/7 radiology services and deliver on our guarantee of average STAT-read turnaround times of under one hour".



Premier, which has multiple contracts for occupational health, primary care, urgent care, mobile and outpatient imaging has been able to quickly deploy PowerServer in just a few hours to enable new locations to start sending and interpreting images.

"We have contracts with NGOs and emergency relief organizations where we are required to quickly establish image distribution to support disaster relief and refugee operations", says Ryan Furlough, Premier's Chief Innovation & Technology Officer. "Recently, our team was hired to provide teleradiology reading expertise as part of the first responder efforts for Hurricane Ian on the Gulf Coast of Florida. We were able to set up PowerServer in under two hours, including the ability to access all of our automated workflows. This enabled our radiologists to start reading images and reporting results right away. This flexibility, adaptability and ease of implementation is impressive ? and is another key reason that we have entered this long-term relationship with RamSoft".



"PowerServer is the industry standard RIS/PACs platform. We have more than 500 teleradiology and independent imaging centers using PowerServer 365 days a year to manage their imaging needs," said Vijay Ramanathan, CEO, RamSoft. "Premier's selection of OmegaAI and PowerServer for their 1,000+ teleradiology locations is significant. These platforms reflect our thirty years of digital imaging expertise, and we're excited to offer Premier the reliable platform they need to manage and grow their teleradiology services."

About RamSoft

RamSoft is a global provider of novel cloud-based radiology software solutions for imaging centers, radiology departments and teleradiology providers. PowerServer is used by 500+ sites and thousands of customers worldwide. Its flexible, scalable design allows imaging operations from the smallest clinics to large, nationwide practices to leverage the full benefit of its comprehensive cloud-based RIS (Radiology Information System)/PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) platform. RamSoft's newest offering, OmegaAItm, is a cloud-native AI-driven platform granting radiologists more rapid, secure, and robust RIS and PACS capabilities that are completely zero footprint. Powered by Microsoft Azure, OmegaAI provides the highest levels of security, HIPAA compliance, and protection against cybersecurity threats. It also includes Blumetm - Patient Portal, a comprehensive patient app allowing patients to access and share their diagnostic imaging studies and results with family members and referring physicians, as well as allowing patients to book appointments.

About Premier Radiology Services

Based in Miami, Florida, Premier Radiology Services, LLC is a leading provider of teleradiology services offering 24/7 coverage across a range of modalities and sub-specialties. With a network of over 120 radiologists, Premier interprets approximately two million medical images annually for a wide range of customers, serving the needs of primary care providers, mobile imaging providers, occupational health centers, urgent care providers, and outpatient imaging centers. For more information, visit https://premierradiologyservices.com/.

SOURCE RamSoft Inc.

7 march 2024 at 06:13

News published onand distributed by:
DeFi Technologies Announces Inaugural Bitcoin Investor Day Hosted by Subsidiary Reflexivity Research





Inaugural Bitcoin Investor Day : DeFi Technologies' subsidiary Reflexivity Research is hosting its inaugural Bitcoin Investor Day on March 22nd, 2024 , in New York City , aimed at bridging the power of traditional finance with the innovation of Bitcoin .





: Technologies' subsidiary Reflexivity Research is hosting its inaugural Investor on , in , aimed at bridging the power of traditional finance with the innovation of . Event Highlights and Participation: The event, moderated by Anthony Pompliano , co-founder of Reflexivity, will feature discussions on Bitcoin 's future in traditional and institutional finance, with speakers like Cathie Wood , Anthony Scaramucci , and Mike Novogratz , targeting institutional investors, capital allocators, and entrepreneurs.

TORONTO, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - DeFi Technologies Inc. (the "Company" or "DeFi Technologies") (NEO: DEFI) (GR: RB9) (OTC: DEFTF), a crypto native technology company that pioneers the convergence of traditional capital markets with the world of decentralised finance ("DeFi"), is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, Reflexivity Research, will be hosting its inaugural Bitcoin Investor Day. This premier event is set to take place on Friday, March 22nd from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM EST in New York City.

The Bitcoin Investor Day, orchestrated by Reflexivity Research, aims to assemble hundreds of institutional investors, capital allocators, and forward-thinking entrepreneurs. The day-long event, moderated by the co-founder of Reflexivity, Anthony Pompliano, promises a lineup of top-tier speakers, unmatched networking opportunities, and a series of profound discussions on the future of Bitcoin in the realms of traditional and institutional finance.

Reflecting on the importance of insightful discourse, the event will feature a stellar lineup of speakers, including Cathie Wood of ARK Invest, Anthony Scaramucci of SkyBridge Capital, Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital, and many other executives from the digital asset sector.

Bitcoin Investor Day will be in New York, New York, with doors opening at 9:30 AM. The event schedule promises a full day of engaging programming, culminating in a closing happy hour at 5 PM. Interested parties are encouraged to secure their spots promptly, as tickets are priced at $50.00. Registration details and additional information can be found on the event's official webpage .

DeFi Technologies and Reflexivity Research would like to express their sincere thanks to the event's sponsors?Copper, Arch, Amberdata, Valour, Dream Startup Job, and Eden?for their steadfast support and significant contributions, ensuring the Bitcoin Investor Day is poised for success.

About Reflexivity Research LLC

Reflexivity Research LLC is a leading research firm specializing in the creation of high-quality, in-depth research reports for the bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry, empowering investors with valuable insights. Reflexivity Research is a wholly owned subsidiary of DeFi Technologies Inc. ( NEO: DEFI ) ( GR: RB9 ) ( OTC: DEFTF ). For more information please visit https://www.reflexivityresearch.com/

About DeFi Technologies

DeFi Technologies Inc. ( NEO: DEFI ) ( GR: RB9 ) ( OTC: DEFTF ) is a crypto native technology company that pioneers the convergence of traditional capital markets with the world of decentralised finance (DeFi).

With a dedicated focus on industry-leading Web3 technologies, DeFi Technologies aims to provide widespread investor access to the future of finance. Backed by an esteemed team of professionals with extensive experience in financial markets and digital assets, we are committed to revolutionising the way individuals and institutions interact with the evolving financial ecosystem.

Join DeFi Technologies' community on Linkedin and Twitter , and for more details, visit https://defi.tech/

About Valour

Valour Inc. issues exchange traded products (ETPs) that enable retail and institutional investors to access digital assets like Bitcoin in a simple and secure way via their traditional bank account. Established in 2019, Valour is a wholly owned subsidiary of DeFi Technologies Inc. ( NEO: DEFI ) ( GR: RB9 ) ( OTC: DEFTF ).



For more information on Valour, visit https://valour.com

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking information:

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to the benefits of the Acquisition; development and listing of future ETPs; the regulatory environment with respect to the growth and adoption of decentralized finance; the pursuit by DeFi and its subsidiaries of business opportunities; and the merits or potential returns of any such opportunities. 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. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but is not limited the acceptance of Valour exchange traded products by exchanges; growth and development of decentralised finance and cryptocurrency sector; rules and regulations with respect to decentralised finance and cryptocurrency; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. 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 DeFi Technologies Inc.

7 march 2024 at 07:30

News published onand distributed by:
CODE Staffing Adds Three Members to its Board of Advisors





HOUSTON, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CODE Staffing Corp, the IT contingent staffing arm of the CODE Group, has added three members to its Board of Advisors. The new advisors are David Blumenthal, Gregg Gerken, and Chris Williams. They join CODE Group Founder and President Markus Egger and CODE Staffing CEO Yair Griver.

David Blumenthal has more than 30 years of experience as a founder, leader and entrepreneur in consulting, healthtech and digital business. He currently serves as Vice President of Strategic Client Development and Client Success for Zelis, a leading healthtech company that delivers cost transparency solutions to health plans. Prior to his current role he served as Chief Operating Officer for a publicly traded reseller of wireless services. He also co-founded and served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Flash Creative Management, a business technology company focused on assisting companies identify their strategic objectives and tactical plans and build the processes and technologies to support them. He has a Master of Business Administration degree from New York University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from New York University.

Gregg Gerken is the former Head of Commercial Real Estate for TD Bank, N.A., where he was responsible for a $28 billion investment real estate portfolio and a $4 billion low-income housing tax credit equity portfolio serving regional, institutional real estate and not-for-profit clients. He has more than 35 years of banking experience, with more than 25 years in the real estate industry. Before joining TD Bank, Gerken was responsible for real estate lending in New Jersey for Fleet Bank, National Westminster Bank & Citizens First National Bank, which were combined through mergers. He currently serves on several Mortgage Bankers Association committees, is a member of the Real Estate Roundtable's Real Estate Capital Policy Advisory Committee and Homeland Security Task Force Committee. Gerken earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in International Business and Political Science from Ohio University.

Chris Williams is a leadership advisor with more than 45 years of experience building and leading teams. As the Vice President of Human Resources at Microsoft, he wrote software and scaled teams. Williams is currently an advisor who works with executives to help them become better and smarter leaders. He shares leadership videos on social media with more than 250,000 followers and is a regular contributor to Business Insider magazine. Williams graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Bowling Green State University.

"This is an extremely strong group of advisors who will help CODE Staffing in our efforts to transform the contingent staffing industry," Griver said. "We look forward to working with them as we grow and evolve our business."

CODE Staffing is the IT contingent staffing arm of Houston-based The CODE Group, which was established in 1993 by Markus Egger and has grown its service offerings from publishing and distributing one of the longest-running, global software magazines (CODE Magazine), to completing multi-million-dollar projects with its CODE Consulting and CODE Training. CODE Staffing provides professional software developers at a client's workplace or remotely to augment their software development team and help staff projects of any size. Learn more at www.codestaffing.com.

CONTACT

Cynthia Flash

425-603-9520

[email protected]

SOURCE CODE Staffing

7 march 2024 at 08:43

News published onand distributed by:
Avangrid Releases Kitty Hawk Wind Economic Impact Report





Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), a leading sustainable energy company and member of the Iberdrola Group, today announced the release of a comprehensive economic assessment, the Kitty Hawk Wind: Economic & Fiscal Impact report. The report finds that the Kitty Hawk Wind project will deliver approximately $4.8 billion in economic impact across Virginia, including $1.2 billion in the City of Virginia Beach. As part of this larger economic benefit, the report calculates that the City of Virginia Beach, which would serve as the host community for the interconnection of the project to the power grid, would realize $275 million in property tax revenue, averaging about $7 million per year over 40 years, through the development, construction, and operation of the project. These new revenue streams can be used to support critical municipal services and investment in capital projects throughout the community.

"Kitty Hawk Wind is a transformational opportunity for Virginia and offers significant economic benefit to the City of Virginia Beach and the entire Hampton Roads region," said Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra. "As the developer of Vineyard Wind 1, the nation's first large-scale offshore wind project, Avangrid is uniquely positioned to help the Commonwealth meet its energy goals, and looks forward to strengthening the bonds we've built in Virginia Beach and the Hampton Roads region. Through the development, construction, and operation of this project, Avangrid will be a committed partner to Virginia Beach, ensuring the city realizes the full economic benefit of Kitty Hawk Wind while helping Hampton Roads emerge as a regional hub for offshore wind."

Kitty Hawk Wind is an offshore wind project proposed in federal waters more than 36 miles from Virginia Beach. Kitty Hawk Wind is expected to generate up to 3,500 Megawatts (MW) of clean, reliable electricity, enough to power more than 1 million homes and businesses each year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1.5 million metric tons ? equivalent of taking 500,000 cars off the road annually.

Through development, construction, and operations, the report estimates that Kitty Hawk Wind will deliver approximately $4 billion in investment to the Hampton Roads region, which is uniquely positioned to provide critical services to offshore wind due to its existing port infrastructure and maritime workforce. The report estimates the project will create more than 12,000 jobs in the Commonwealth, 9,500 of which would be located within Hampton Roads.

"Our support of offshore wind energy is the biggest opportunity we have in Virginia Beach to be a leader in providing an alternative to fossil fuels for energy generation and doing our part to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are fueling climate change," said Lynnhaven River NOW Executive Director Karen Forget. "In addition to contributing to lowering the emission of climate altering greenhouse gases, offshore wind energy is the most important growth industry in our regional economic forecast."

"Energy supply in the region is critical to maintaining and growing the economy," said Hampton Roads Chamber CEO and President Bryan Stephens. "The Kitty Hawk Wind Project has the potential to supply our growing energy needs, provide new tax revenue to the City of Virginia Beach, and help the state meet the clean energy goals of 100 percent renewable electricity supply by 2045."

"The Hampton Roads Workforce Council is working with our local training providers to ensure that we have the workers ready to meet the diverse needs of our offshore wind industry," said Hampton Roads Workforce Council CEO Shawn Avery. "The training we are doing now will support the Kitty Hawk Wind project as well as future projects, strengthening the talent pipeline for these exciting career opportunities ? not only today, but for generations to come."

"Since 2009, the VMA has consistently touted the opportunities offshore wind presents to expand and diversify our maritime economy. The Kitty Hawk Wind Economic Report affirms the economic benefits of that project alone, and specifically the financial windfalls for the citizens of Virginia Beach," said Virginia Maritime Association Executive Director David White. "The opportunity presented by the Kitty Hawk Wind project for our industry and the community must not be allowed to slip away."

Kitty Hawk Wind will also advance the Commonwealth's transition to a clean energy future by utilizing the reliable and abundant wind resources off its coast to power homes and businesses, increasing energy security, and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. The project would also ensure that Virginia meets its legally mandated target of 5.2 GW of offshore wind by 2034.

Avangrid is developing the nation's first large-scale offshore wind project, the 806-megawatt Vineyard Wind 1, located 15 miles off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. Currently under construction, Vineyard Wind will generate electricity for more than 400,000 homes and businesses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, create 3,600 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) job years, save customers $1.4 billion over the first 20 years of operation, and is expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 1.6 million metric tons per year, the equivalent of taking 325,000 cars off the road annually.

In February 2024, Avangrid announced that it has powered up the first five GE Haliade-X turbines for the nation-leading Vineyard Wind 1 project, delivering clean energy to 30,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts. Vineyard Wind 1, the first large-scale offshore wind project in the United States, is currently providing approximately 68 Megawatts to the New England grid, delivering a steady stream of clean energy that will help the region meet winter electricity demand.

Vineyard Wind began offshore construction in late 2022, achieved steel-in-the-water in June, and completed the nation's first offshore substation in July. In December 2023, Avangrid announced that Vineyard Wind 1 has created 2000 jobs in Massachusetts to date.

Avangrid is committed to responsible development, minimizing impacts to Virginia Beach residents, businesses, and visitors during construction, as well as ensuring local communities benefit from the transformational investments made to build a diverse, equitable, and inclusive offshore wind sector. Kitty Hawk Wind has established a local office in Town Center, Virginia Beach to support ongoing project development, community outreach, and workforce development activities. The Kitty Hawk Wind: Economic & Fiscal Impact report was prepared by Chmura Economics & Analytics, a top labor market data and analysis software consultant based in Richmond, VA.

About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) aspires to be the leading sustainable energy company in the United States. Headquartered in Orange, CT with approximately $44 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states, Avangrid has two primary lines of business: networks and renewables. Through its networks business, Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Through its renewables business, Avangrid owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. Avangrid employs approximately 8,000 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 as one of the JUST 100 companies ? a ranking of America's best corporate citizens. In 2024, Avangrid ranked first among utilities and 12 overall. The company supports the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the World's Most Ethical Companies in 2024 for the sixth consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com.

7 march 2024 at 09:15

News published onand distributed by:
Saudia Cargo Goes Live with RTS Velocity and AcceleRate and Foresight Solutions





Revenue Technology Services (RTS), provider of profit optimization tools for the travel and transportation industry, announced that Saudia Cargo, one of the world's leading cargo airlines, went live with RTS Velocity, AcceleRate and Foresight solutions as part of a phased approach.

Velocity is a comprehensive revenue management solution designed to forecast capacity, show-up rate, and demand while optimizing overbooking, allotments, and bid prices. AcceleRate complements Velocity by offering dynamic pricing decision support tailored for the cargo industry. This solution considers various factors such as competition, customer value, price elasticity, and costs to recommend dynamic prices, alongside managing rating and rate sheet information. These two solutions work seamlessly together to enhance efficiency for Saudia Cargo. Additionally, Foresight serves as a revenue planning and sales budgeting solution, taking into account schedules, capacity, demand, routes, equipment characteristics, and shipment details to set annual revenue targets and sales objectives. It also facilitates the design of freighter/truck schedules based on split demand, ensuring comprehensive planning and optimization across the organization.

The extensive implementation effort comprised two distinct phases, each focused on the development of advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques. These cutting-edge solutions were tailored to enhance air cargo revenue management processes, encompassing forecasting capacities, overbooking optimization, O&D based demand forecasting, and allotment optimization. Additionally, the solution addressed pricing challenges, including dynamic pricing, upsell and cross-sell offers, rating engine refinement, and network optimization. Saudia Cargo collaborated closely with RTS to optimize long-term schedules, effectively representing cargo interests within the organization and aiding sales in setting and tracking targets. Prior to deployment, rigorous testing was conducted by Saudia Cargo and RTS to ensure alignment with all business requirements.

Mansour Alasmi, Vice President of Network & Revenue Management at Saudia Cargo, commented: "Our partnership with RTS Global epitomizes our unwavering commitment to pioneering innovation and cutting-edge solutions that redefine our industry. It's a testament to our relentless pursuit of excellence and our dedication to staying ahead of the curve when it comes to delivering unparalleled service quality and operational efficiency through automation."

Mansour Alasmi added: "With RTS's cutting-edge solutions Velocity, AcceleRate and Foresight seamlessly integrated into our operations, we're empowered to make data-driven pricing decisions. This collaboration exemplifies our commitment to leveraging the latest technologies to drive strategic initiatives, cementing our position as leaders in the industry. These innovations are a testament to our shared ethos of pushing boundaries and continuously striving for excellence, ensuring that Saudia Cargo remains at the forefront of progressing our industry and customer satisfaction."

Johan Van Rensburg, Global head of Cargo Delivery, added: "Today marks a momentous stride forward for the RTS and Saudia Cargo partnership with the successful integration of RTS Velocity, AcceleRate, and Foresight solutions. We are confident Saudia Cargo will redefine cargo automation. This accomplishment strengthens our global partnership, setting new standards and inspiring us to reach even greater heights."

Mukundh Parthasarathy, Head of Cargo solutions at RTS, said: "Our vision of an end-to-end decision support solution suite for cargo has been realized with Saudia Cargo with Velocity, Foresight and AcceleRate. The thought leadership shown at Saudia Cargo is something for the aviation industry to look up to and we are glad that RTS is the chosen partner in this journey."

About RTS:

Revenue Technology Services (RTS) offers solutions and services that help their customers to increase margins, improve customer experience, enhance productivity of their employees, and support their growth. RTS solutions are aimed at travel and transportation verticals to provide analytics, software solutions, consulting and education services, operations research capabilities, technology services and IT development support. RTS is headquartered in Dallas, Texas with offices in London- UK (United Kingdom), Cape Town -South Africa and Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh- India. To learn more about RTS, please visit www.rtscorp.com

About Saudia Cargo:

Saudia Cargo stands as a leading national cargo carrier, headquartered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Leveraging the strategic advantage of the country's location, it serves as a highly efficient aerial bridge connecting the East and the West, seamlessly bridging continents. Our extensive reach encompasses approximately 100 airport destinations and 250 customer destinations across four continents, establishing us as a pivotal player in the global air cargo industry.

With a legacy spanning over seven decades and a commitment to a 'human-first' approach, Saudia Cargo has consistently upheld its esteemed reputation as one of the world's most dynamic cargo carriers. This reputation is underpinned by a rich history of innovation and resilience.

Our robust alliance with SkyTeam Cargo, the world's largest consortium of air cargo carriers, connects us to an impressive network of 150 freighter destinations in addition to nearly 800 passenger destinations worldwide.

Saudia Cargo's access to a modern fleet of Boeing freighter aircraft expedites the transportation of diverse cargo types, including e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, high-value shipments, hazardous materials, and perishables. The company's enduring dedication to humanity, reliability, and agility has been instrumental in driving its remarkable growth trajectory, which continues to expand significantly.

For further information, please visit saudiacargo.com.

7 march 2024 at 10:05

News published onand distributed by:
Christian Bouzaid Joins Europcar Mobility Group as Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer





Europcar Mobility Group welcomes Christian Bouzaid as Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer, member of the Group Executive Committee, effective 4 March 2024.

Christian Bouzaid has more than 20 years of experience in marketing, revenue management and commercial strategy in the travel and leisure industry. Prior to joining Europcar Mobility Group, he was VP Revenue Planning and Optimization at Walt Disney World in the USA since 2019.

Before that, he held the role of VP Revenue Management and Analytics at Disneyland Paris. Over these 10 years at Disney, Christian developed commercial strategies to support the company's revenue growth, with a specific focus on Pricing, Revenue Management, Data and Analytics and the articulation of the Long Term Plan across sales and marketing.

He started his career in the airline industry: first with Air France KLM where he spent 9 years in several senior management positions in Pricing and Marketing; then Corsair International (TUI Group) in 2010 as Head of network, revenue management and alliances, and member of the executive committee.

Christian Bouzaid brings a wealth of experience to Europcar Mobility Group in areas which are instrumental to its profitable growth. More specifically, Christian will play a key role in the execution of the company's new strategic plan ? EXCEED ? enhancing mobility services for all customers and supporting the company's revenue growth. He will define and implement a best in class digital and physical customer experience, while optimizing the Group's brands' positioning ? elevating Europcar's brand positioning and amplifying Goldcar's promise of best value for money ? and upgrading the company's Pricing and Revenue Management capabilities.

Christian Bouzaid comments: "I am very delighted to join Europcar Mobility Group ? such a great international mobility player that celebrates its 75th anniversary this year ? especially at a time when consumers are looking for more choice and flexibility in their form of transport, with the least impact on the environment and at the right price. In this evolving ecosystem, our teams will keep focusing on customer-centric innovative strategies to consolidate Europcar Mobility Group leadership position in the mobility space".

-------

About Europcar Mobility Group

Europcar Mobility Group is a global mobility player, with 75 years of mobility services expertise and a leading position in Europe. "We help to change the way you move" is what we stand for and brings us together.

More than ever, we're committed to delivering simple, seamless, innovative solutions that make mobility easy, enjoyable and increasingly eco-friendly.

To do this, we offer to individuals and businesses a wide range of car and van rental services, be it for a few hours, a few days, a week, a month or more, on-demand or on subscription, relying on a fleet of more than 250.000 vehicles, equipped with the latest engines including an increasing share of electric vehicles.

Our brands address differentiated needs, use cases and expectations: Europcar - a global leader of car rental and light commercial vehicle rental, Goldcar - a frontrunner at providing low-cost car rental services in Europe, Ubeeqo ? one of the European leaders of car-sharing (BtoB, BtoC) and Fox-Rent-A-Car, one of the main players in the car rental market in the US, with a "value for money" positioning.

Customers' satisfaction is at the heart of the Group's ambition and that of our more than 8,000 employees, everywhere we deliver our mobility solutions, thanks to a strong network in 133 countries (including 16 wholly owned subsidiaries completed by franchisees and alliance partners).

More info: www.europcar-mobility-group.com

7 march 2024 at 11:15

News published onand distributed by:
Fisheries and Oceans Canada closes the first and only known live coral reef in Pacific Canada to all commercial and recreational bottom-contact fisheries





VANCOUVER, BC, March 7, 2024 /CNW/ - Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), is taking measures to protect the unique and highly sensitive Lophelia Reef?also known by its Wakashan name q?auc?iwisuxv?by closing all commercial and recreational bottom-contact fisheries, including midwater trawl, within this area. This indefinite closure came into effect on Wednesday, February 14, 2024.

Located in Finlayson Channel, northern B.C., the largely pristine cold-water live coral reef contains unique habitats, high biodiversity and biomass, and has cultural significance to the Kitasoo Xai'xais and Heiltsuk First Nations. Protecting Lophelia Reef aligns with DFO's priorities of reconciliation and the protection of sensitive benthic areas. The closure demonstrates a robust protective measure by the Department based on a significant scientific discovery as this site, while small, is a globally unique reef that is highly susceptible to damage, most notably from fishing gear.

The Pacific Lophelia coral reef is identified within the Northern Shelf Bioregion Marine Protected Area's Network Action Plan, and is a proposed Parks Canada National Marine Conservation Area Reserve (NMCAR), which is currently in the feasibility assessment stage.

This Lophelia coral reef is the most northern reef known in the Pacific Ocean and was first discovered in 2021 and mapped in 2022, on joint surveys between DFO, the Kitasoo Xai'xais Nation and the Central Coast Indigenous Resource Alliance (CCIRA) on board the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Vector. While the area is remote and not widely fished, there is evidence of physical damage to the living coral likely caused by bottom-contact fisheries. Expeditions like these are culturally and scientifically important and continue to contribute to our global understanding of the deep sea.

The Government of Canada is committed to safeguarding the health of our oceans for future generations. The protection of sensitive benthic habitats, such as cold-water corals and sponges, and the mitigation of fisheries-related risks to these habitats, is a priority under the DFO Sustainable Fisheries Framework. The Heiltsuk and Kitasoo Xai'xais Nations are partners in the Northern Shelf Bioregion initiatives and strongly support these closures.

Quotes

"Significant marine areas, such as the Lophelia coral reef, not only contribute to the health of our oceans, they are also vital to the fabric of our identity as Canadians. With the impacts of climate change evident around the world, the work to prevent biodiversity loss and protect marine ecosystems has become urgent. The Government of Canada is committed to working together with Indigenous and local communities, and with all levels of government, to conserve our shared waters and the unique creatures and habitats that exist within them for future generations."

The Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

"The strong collaboration between First Nations and the federal government, where Indigenous knowledge harmoniously intertwines with scientific methods, has unveiled a remarkable ecosystem. This partnership has not only safeguarded the unique, sensitive habitat of the Lophelia Reef, but has also paved the way for future, collaborative marine protection. Given the challenges posed by climate change and management uncertainties, we eagerly anticipate further cooperation with our crown partners through the MPA network action plan to preserve other ecologically and culturally significant regions."

Douglas Neasloss, Chief Councilor, Kitasoo Xai'xais Nation

"Protection of the unique habitat of this Lophelia reef and all the life it supports aligns well with our Nation's world view and laws; everything is connected and everything has a right to live in a healthy environment that supports healthy ecosystems and healthy populations that is free from unintended intrusion of destructive fishing practises."

K?awazi?, Marilyn Slett, elected Chief Councillor, Heiltsuk Tribal Council

"The reef is an astonishing finding. 'Coral reef' joins sea wolves, spirit bears, sea lions, and herring as the newest addition to the diversity of wildlife found within the famous waterways of the Great Bear Rainforest. This hidden hotspot is like a tropical coral reef but in the dark. When we "turn on the lights" we see mounds and valleys, crabs, octopus, schools of fish, and more. One other remarkable aspect; the long margins of coral reef touching and coexisting with glass sponge reefs. Since this is the only coral reef known to occur in Pacific Canada and glass sponge reefs only happen here, these margins may be the only place on Earth where this incredible interspecies relationship exists."

Dr. Cherisse Du Preez, Head of the Deep-Sea Ecology Program with Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Adjunct Professor, University of Victoria; lead of the Northeast Pacific Deep-sea Exploration Project (NEPDEP), a United Nations Ocean Decade Action

Quick Facts

Lophelia corals build habitats that provide nurseries, refuge, and feeding grounds for marine wildlife, enhancing local biological diversity and abundance. This area can act as a natural refuge area that may contribute to increased species productivity, which in turn, could potentially lead to increased abundance within and adjacent to the area.

Reefs are ecosystem engineers; their biological structures shape the surrounding environment, for example, altering water currents on the ocean floor, enhancing food availability, and creating new habitat spaces for other organisms.

Prohibiting bottom-contact gear protects the corals, as well as the diverse community of fish and other invertebrates that live in the complex structural habitats the coral creates (e.g., tall mounds and caves, intricate networks of branches, the ancient buried reef on top of which the present-day reef thrives).

The reef in B.C. is the only known healthy Lophelia coral reef in all of Canada . Protection from further physical damage is particularly important because this coral species is under threat from climate change.

. Protection from further physical damage is particularly important because this coral species is under threat from climate change. Only one other Lophelia reef is known to occur in Canadian waters, and is found in Atlantic Canada . A Coral Conservation Area was established around it to support its recovery from significant historic damage.

. A Coral Conservation Area was established around it to support its recovery from significant historic damage. In collaboration with First Nations, DFO is implementing closures in alignment with our mandate respecting reconciliation, for protection of Sensitive Benthic Areas, and in support of both the Network Action Plan and the NMCAR process, which is being co-led by Parks Canada, the province of B.C., and six First Nations.

Feedback was sought from First Nations, commercial and recreational fishing sectors in Fall 2023 on potential fishing closures at this site, and incorporated into the decision for protections.

A scientific publication describing the Lophelia pertusa (also known as Desmophyllum pertusum ) reef is near completion?the research is based on remotely operated vehicle (ROV) visual surveys, acoustic maps, and biological, coring and water samples. The co-authors are from DFO, CCIRA, Natural Resources Canada, the University of Victoria , and the University of British Columbia . Other remarkable findings related to the reef include: the surprising relationship between the coral reef and glass sponge reefs, where the coral appears to be supporting the growth of glass sponge reefs, and the numerous dead coral reefs were found in less optimal conditions in the same region as the healthy reef, reaffirming the uniqueness and vulnerability of the pristine reef.

(also known as ) reef is near completion?the research is based on remotely operated vehicle (ROV) visual surveys, acoustic maps, and biological, coring and water samples. The co-authors are from DFO, CCIRA, Natural Resources Canada, the , and the . Other remarkable findings related to the reef include:

Associated Links

Images:

The Lophelia reef has a cascading effect, enhancing the area's biodiversity. Here we see colourful Fuzzy Crabs (Acantholithodes hispidus) in three different species of glass sponges which are growing on the coral reef (orange and pink branches).

Stay Connected

SOURCE Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Region

7 march 2024 at 13:00

News published onand distributed by:
Fabrizio Carboni, regional director of the Middle East branch of the International Committee of the Red Cross, in Beirut (Lebanon), March 4, 2024. DIEGO IBARRA SANCHEZ FOR LE MONDE

For Fabrizio Carboni, regional director for the Middle East at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), for it to come to such an expedient as airdrops is a sign of how desperate the situation has become.

How can we explain the tragedy that caused the death of over a hundred Palestinians in Gaza on February 29 during a food distribution operation? An inquiry was requested and Israel has been blamed for opening fire on the crowd and for the food shortage in the besieged enclave.

It's yet another tragedy in what seems to be a neverending and unbounded humanitarian crisis. A tragedy that illustrates well this crisis. All parties always have a reason, an excuse, but in the end, it's the civilians who pay the price and lack access to essential services. Beyond the number of fatalities, and the people sequestered in Gaza and detained by Israel, the worst about this crisis is that even human pain is being politicized. There is no longer a space outside politics for humanitarianism. This space of humanity should not be politicized or militarized.

Is there a risk of famine in the Gaza Strip?

There are situations of malnutrition. People are not getting enough to eat. It's always difficult to know whether these are specific cases or whether they reflect more global circumstances. Around our offices in the Gaza Strip, we're seeing children left to fend for themselves. Everything organic is being eaten because it's a source of calories. It's a terrible situation. What the ICRC has managed to get into Gaza is totally insufficient. There's currently a debate about whether three, 10 or 20 trucks should go in, but the needs are infinitely greater.

Read more Subscribers only Israel-Hamas war: Gaza City has been reduced to hunger and chaos

At the very least, we need to de-escalate hostilities and put certain humanitarian principles back at the center. When it was formalized in the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the beauty of the concept of the law on armed conflict and humanitarianism was that humanitarian rule was not conditional on political or military considerations. The second founding concept is the absence of reciprocity. Just because you kill my civilians doesn't mean I'm going to kill yours. All that has been completely brushed aside. I don't know how we can bounce back from it. At the ICRC, we continually stress these rules, but in the end, it's the states and the parties involved in the conflict that have to apply them.

Humanitarians believe that coordination with the Israeli army is not working. Why not?

Because priority is given to military rather than humanitarian activities. There's also the fog of war. Because the Gaza Strip is densely populated, people can't flee and violence is taking place over the whole territory, we're working on a battlefield, which is not what humanitarian work is about. The number of humanitarian workers killed is unprecedented. Any movement outside our office, even over short distances, is coordinated with the Israeli army.

You have 57.55% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
Moldova's President Maia Sandu and Frances President Emmanuel Macron attend a media conference ahead of a working lunch at the Elysee Palace in Paris, March 7, 2024. CHRISTOPHE ENA / VIA REUTERS

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, March 7, pledged his country's "unwavering support" for Moldova as tensions mount between the eastern European country and pro-Russian separatists.

"France restates its unwavering support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova within its internationally recognized borders," Macron said in a joint statement with Moldovan President Maia Sandu as she visited Paris. Two years into Russia's invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Moldova faces "multiple challenges caused by the conflict on its borders," the statement said.

Read more Subscribers only War in Ukraine: How Macron hopes to convince the French of the conflict's gravity

Top of the list is the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria, where officials last week appealed to Moscow for "protection." There is mounting concern that the territory could become a new flashpoint in the conflict, with Moldova "facing intensifying hybrid attacks", the two presidents said.

Thursday's meeting between Macron and Sandu will include the signature of a Chisinau-Paris defence deal, as well as an "economic roadmap."

"The Moldovan state must be in a position to protect its neutrality, defend its territory and its population, and contribute to regional and international security," they said in the statement.

Macron and Sandu said Paris was "fully backing" Moldova's reforms aimed at one day joining the European Union. It is to hold a referendum later this year. "Justice reform and the battle against corruption" would be particularly important to a successful membership bid, they added.
France's President Emmanuel Macron walks to welcome Moldova's president at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris, on March 7, 2024. BERTRAND GUAY / AFP

President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, March 7, said France would not rule out any option to support Ukraine two years into Russia's invasion, leaders of several major French political parties said. Speaking after the two-and-a-half-hour meeting, the party chiefs said the talks with Macron left them concerned, with some accusing him of using the conflict to boost his coalition's standing ahead of crucial European elections this summer.

The president had last week stunned many in Europe by refusing to rule out the dispatch of Western ground troops to Ukraine, pointing to Russia's hardening stance. And earlier this week Macron urged Ukraine's allies not to be "cowardly" in supporting the ex-Soviet country to fight off the Russian invasion.

Read more Subscribers only Macron defends idea of potentially sending troops to Ukraine as allies distance themselves

Some party leaders on Thursday said Macron advocated a "no limits" approach to counter Russian President Vladimir Putin. Green party leader Marine Tondelier recounted Macron saying Putin "obviously has no limits." She said it was "extremely worrying" to see Macron tell the meeting "we must show we have no limits," too.

Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party, said he had pleaded with Macron "not to go to war with Russia." The president's thinking includes "no limits and no red lines," said Bardella.

Manuel Bompard, of the radical left party La France Insoumise, added: "I arrived worried and I left even more worried."

Weighing in from Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that Macron "continues to raise the level of France's direct involvement" in the Ukraine war.

'Total solidarity'

France's parliament will have a chance to vote on the country's Ukraine strategy, including a bilateral security treaty signed with Kyiv last month. Debates and non-binding votes will take place next Tuesday in the Assemblee Nationale and in the Senat on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Macron also met with Moldovan President Maia Sandu, pledging France's "unwavering support" for her ex-Soviet country as tensions mount between Chisinau and pro-Russian separatists. During the meeting the two signed a bilateral defence deal, as well as an "economic roadmap," although no details were provided.

Later Thursday, France was also set to host a video conference of nearly 30 countries including Ukraine, which will follow up on the initiatives discussed at an international Ukraine summit hosted by Macron last week. Ahead of Thursday's meeting with the opposition, Macron had spoken to his predecessors Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace late Wednesday.

Read more Subscribers only War in Ukraine: How Macron hopes to convince the French of the conflict's gravity

Speaking to journalists after the talks, Hollande called for more aid for Ukraine as well as European unity. "The only possible response is to show that we are with the Ukrainians in total solidarity, that we are giving them all the support they need, without taking part in any combat ourselves," Hollande said. Asked about the possibility of sending troops, the Socialist former president said: "My position on military issues is: the less we say, the better."

Election battle

On Wednesday, government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot said that it was "quite obvious" that the RN was not aligned with Macron's call to do everything to ensure Russia's defeat. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has accused the RN of "supporting Russia more than Ukraine."

Read more Subscribers only French PM suggests 'Putin's troops are already in our country,' pointing at Le Pen

The RN is the largest opposition party in France's lower house of parliament and leads Macron's alliance by a wide margin in European election polls ahead of the June 9 vote.

Most of Macron's European allies have said they would not send troops to Ukraine, while French officials have insisted any such forces could be sent to back operations such as de-mining rather than fighting Russian forces.

Read more Subscribers only Ukraine's Western allies already have a military presence in the country

In an apparent response to Macron, Putin has warned of a "real" risk of nuclear war and said "that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory."
ONE OF the oldest 'Alliance Francaise' in Ireland celebrated its 80th anniversary in Limerick this week.

Alliance Francaise Limerick has been promoting the French language and culture on a non-profit-making basis in the Limerick region since 1944.

Formerly, it was known as 'Le Cercle Francais' ('The French Circle'). Today, Alliance Francaise Limerick is the oldest of five Alliances Francaises in Ireland.

On Thursday, February 29, the charity celebrated its 80th anniversary at The Commercial, on Catherine Street.

They currently offer high-quality French language classes at competitive rates to approximately 120 students of all ages and all levels thanks to a dedicated team of teachers, all of whom are native speakers.

Thanks to a partnership with 'Les Enfants Francophones de Limerick', another not-for-profit association based in Limerick and Ennis belonging to the French-government-approved FLAM network, Alliance Francaise Limerick also hosts activities for children of different nationalities whose mother tongue is French. These take place every Saturday morning at the Alliance HQ at No. 7 Pery Square.

As part of the Department of Education and Skills Primary Sampler Module, French language introductory courses are currently being offered in addition to extracurricular activities for primary schools in and around Limerick.

Alliance Francaise Limerick is run by a committee of volunteers currently including president Jill Cousins, secretary Paul OBrien, treasurer Michelle Daly-Hayes, pedagogical coordinator Ruth Bracken as well as cultural coordinator Loic Guyon, and board members Lorna and Randel Hodkinsons.

On top of its language classes, Alliance also offers a range of cultural activities, such as the annual Limerick Wild Geese Festival and the Tres Court International Film Festival.

At the event on Thursday, the Mayor of Limerick, Councillr Gerald Mitchell, congratulated the current and past boards of volunteers at the helm of the organisation and reminded the gathering that, since Brexit, France had become Irelands closest EU neighbour.
UL Hospitals Group, in a partnership with Childrens Health Ireland (CHI), have announced the first appointment of a general surgeon with a specialist interest in paediatrics to the Mid-West.

Ms Tara Connelly's appointment will greatly enhance the provision of specialist surgical care of children in this region.



Based at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) with clinics and endoscopy lists in Ennis Hospital, Ms Connelly focuses on general surgery and performs elective and emergency adult surgeries.

Her elective paediatric work is based in UHL and will focus on inguinal, umbilical and epigastric hernias, endoscopy (oesphagoduodenoscopy and colonoscopy), palpable undescended testes, circumcisions for medical reasons, excision of skin lesions and other general surgical conditions of childhood.



Ms Connelly said: I am very excited to return to Limerick and take up this unique role that combines my adult and paediatric surgical practices.

Read More: Three incidents of damage to houses and vehicles in Clare spark concern

"This role is a first for both the Mid-West and the country. It offers parents the opportunity to receive quality surgical care for their children right here in the region.

"A close partnership between the departments of surgery in UHL and CHI has been established with my appointment and will continue to grow. I have received a very warm welcome from the paediatricians here at UHL and look forward to working closely with them," she continued.



Prof J Calvin Coffey, Head of Surgery, UL Hospitals Group, described Ms Connellys appointment as heralding a new era for the Midwest region.



This represents the start of a new era, in which children will be able to receive specialist general surgical care locally, right here in the Mid-West, and in partnership with Childrens Health Ireland," Professor Coffey said.



He added: The appointment addresses the acknowledged long-standing deficit in general surgical paediatric healthcare outside of Dublin. Ms Connellys appointment will greatly enhance the ability to care for children with surgical conditions both in the emergency and in the planned setting, in the Mid-Western Region.



Ms Connelly said that as a parent based in the Mid-West herself, she can appreciate both the convenience and peace of mind that having a locally available surgeon with paediatric training will bring to Limerick, Clare and Tipperary.



The paediatric surgical population is unique. As clinicians, we need to be mindful of all of the organisation that the day of a childs operation requires from families. This includes taking time off from work for the parent, missing school for the patient and arranging childcare for the other children in the family.

"Offering paediatric procedures here at UHL will help ease these burdens for parents and eliminate the need for trips to Dublin with the time and extra expense involved in many cases, she said.



Ms Connelly completed her surgical training in UHL in 2021, completed a colorectal surgery fellowship with an IBD focus in Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, USA in 2022 and paediatric general surgery in Kings College Hospital, London in 2023, before her recent return to the Midwest to take up full time appointment with UL Hospitals Group.

Her special interest is inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including the surgical treatment of the complications of Crohns disease and J-pouch surgery for re-establishing intestinal function after the removal of the large bowel for ulcerative colitis.



Ms Connelly holds a PhD in the surgical genetics of IBD from NUIG with research performed at Pennsylvania State University and Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, PA, USA, a masters in Surgical Sciences from the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh and diploma in Paediatrics from the Royal College of Physicians. She graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 2009.



Her research profile, which focuses on surgical genetics, biobanking and inflammatory bowel disease, encompasses more than 130 publications including seven book chapters on colorectal surgery.

With involvement in multiple international surgical collaborations, Ms Connelly is looking forward to working in her new role at UHL in partnership with Childrens Health Ireland at Crumlin and Temple Street.
GARDAI in Limerick have issued a warning after two women were scammed out of over 1000 each.

A woman in her 60s received a phone call on Thursday, February 29 at 5pm from a male claiming to be calling from Revolut.

He told her that there was a suspicious transaction on her account and that her account needed to be protected.

He had certain details of her Revolut account, the woman is adamant that she did not disclose them.

She did however follow steps so that her account was linked to another account as she was informed that this would secure her money.

Later she discovered that 1000 was gone from her account and sent to an account in India.

Meanwhile, another woman in her 60s in Abbeyfeale received a phone call on Wednesday, February 28 at 2:40pm.

The male on the phone claimed that her Revolut account had accidentally been debited a sum of money by Amazon in India.

The male requested access to her online bank account so that Amazon could return the amount taken.

READ MORE: Intruder disturbed after breaking into Limerick home

Unfortunately, the woman provided her banking details and two transactions of over 1000 was taken from her bank account.

Sergeant Ber Leetch, crime prevention officer at Henry Street garda station said: "If you receive a call from anybody looking for any details of your bank account, revolute account or any account be very suspicious.

"You can hang up and call your bank or financial service yourself. Never take this strangers word that they are who they say they are".
A CRIMINAL who provided a getaway car for the attempted murder of notorious Limerick gangster Christy Keane and who had a "Damascus Road experience", claiming he turned his life around, has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years imprisonment by the Special Criminal Court.

At the three-judge court on Thursday, 'Red' Larry McCarthy was sentenced for what Ms Justice Caroline Biggs said was the procurement and placement of a getaway car during the course of an "infamous" feud between crime gangs - the McCarthy-Dundons and the Keane-Collopys - in the attempted murder of veteran Limerick criminal Christy Keane.

At a sentencing hearing last month, Brian McCartney KC, for McCarthy, said his client is committed to his family and his new community in Co Donegal, where his personal circumstances and lifestyle are "completely different" to what persisted during his period of offending.

Mr McCartney said his client had undergone a "road to Damascus experience" since moving to Donegal.

McCarthy (45), with a previous address at Tower Lodge, Old Court Road, Limerick City, pleaded guilty at the non-jury court in October last year that between June 27 and June 29, 2015, he made a vehicle available to a criminal organisation, the McCarthy-Dundons, that was used as a getaway vehicle in the attempted murder of drug-dealer Keane.

The offence, contrary to Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, carries a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment.At a hearing last month, Detective Garda Sergeant Paraig O'Dwyer told prosecution counsel John Byrne SC that the McCarthy-Dundon and Keane-Collopy organised crime gangs have been involved in an "infamous feud" dating back to 1993, when Patrick McCarthy was killed.

Christy Keane, said counsel, was acquitted of that murder but his brother, Kieran Keane, was later murdered.

Five members of the McCarthy-Dundon gang have been convicted in relation to that offence, the detective said.

In separate cases before the gangland-specialised court, evidence has been given that the Keane gang are involved in the distribution of drugs and suspected of the importation of firearms on a national and international level.

The court heard they had been involved in an ongoing feud with the McCarthy-Dundon gang and that there had been 19 murders.

At the Special Criminal Court today, Ms Justice Biggs said McCarthy has 14 previous convictions, including violent disorder and assault causing harm.

She noted that in July 2005 McCarthy received an eleven-year sentence from Southwark court in the UK for possession of a MAC-11 military armament gun.

In sentencing McCarthy, Ms Justice Biggs set a headline sentence of 10 years imprisonment, which placed the offence at the top end of the mid-range for incarceration.

Ms Justice Biggs said that in mitigation the court would reduce McCarthys sentence by 20% to eight years imprisonment.

Ms Justice Biggs said mitigating factors included McCarthys guilty plea, which was of great assistance and a psychologists report saying McCarthy was not judged to be a significant risk of reoffending.

Ms Justice Biggs noted that the psychologist reported that McCarthy had spent his time extremely positively in Donegal, had a job before being taken into custody, had engaged in various programmes and was socially proactive.

In addressing McCarthy's personal circumstances, the judge noted that all three of McCarthys children were either studying or working, with one studying law and another in the British Army, and that his wife had health issues.

Ms Justice Biggs said McCarthy had made very significant progress in Donegal and had been crime-free for nine years.

Ms Justice Biggs said that to incentivise McCarthys ongoing rehabilitation the court would suspend the final 18 months of the eight-year sentence during which time he is to be of good behaviour and remain under the supervision of the probation service.

Prosecution counsel John Byrne SC said McCarthy had already spent two years, seven months and 20 days in custody on the matter, which Ms Justice Biggs said the court would regard as time already served on the six-and-a-half year sentence.

At the sentencing hearing, Garda Superintendent Eamon O'Neill agreed with defence counsel that McCarthy's personal circumstances growing up "eliminated any real prospect of an alternative lifestyle" and that McCarthy had left school at 11 years of age.

READ MORE: Man who turned over estimated 500,000 in bets to escape conviction for 'money-mule' offence

The lives of McCarthy, his wife and his three children are "in total contrast" to the lifestyles they may have been attracted to had they remained in Limerick, counsel said.

"His living accommodation and circumstances are completely different to those that persisted during the period of his offending and earlier lifestyle," counsel said.

He said the report concluded that McCarthy does not pose a significant risk of threat to any member of the public and is unlikely to reoffend.

He added: "The accused has experienced a Damascus Road experience in terms of his move to the northwest."

"Thirty years ago, his social and personal circumstances would have rendered such changes impossible or highly unlikely. A totally different person appears before this court today," Mr McCartney told the sentence hearing.
IRELAND'S independent electoral commission, An Coimisiun Toghchain, have confirmed that the election for Limerick's directly elected mayor will take place in June.

The announcement comes following the signing into law by President Michael D. Higgins of the Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, 2023.

The law provides for the establishment of an office of mayor for Limerick City and County and for an election to select Limericks Mayor.

READ MORE: Planning decision for divisive Kilkee waste water treatment plant 'on hold'

The election for Irelands first ever elected Mayor is scheduled to take place in early June alongside the Local and European Elections.

Ms Justice Marie Baker, The Chair of An Coimisiun Toghchain said that with the legislation now signed by the president, Limerick and Irelands first ever Mayoral election "is going to happen in early June".

"Its now time for the people of Limerick to get registered so that you can vote in this historic election for Irelands first ever elected Mayor," she continued.
Two men who were arrested by gardai investigating the activities of an organised crime gang have been charged and are due to appear in court later this Thursday.

The suspects were arrested at the weekend during a major garda operation which saw searches being carried out at five locations in Co. Cork and Co. Roscommon.

Over 100 Gardai were involved in the search operation which was led by detectives from the Divisional Protective Service Unit in Cork County. They were supported by members of the Armed Support Unit, uniformed gardai and plain clothes gardai from a number of different units.

"Gardai are investigating the activities of an Organised Crime Group based in Ireland, with Eastern European connection, involved in the alleged trafficking of persons into Ireland for the purpose of labour exploitation. The investigation is being supported by International colleagues from Europol," said a spokesperson at the weekend.

The men have been questioned at garda stations in Co. Cork since their arrest and gardai have now confirmed that they face prosecution.

"Gardai have charged two men, aged in their 30s and 40s, who were arrested on Saturday, March 2024 as part of an investigation into organised crime related activities. They are expected to appear before Midleton District Court (Co. Cork) this morning," said a spokesperson.

A third man, aged in his 30s, who was also arrested and questioned has been released without charge and gardai say a file will be prepared for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
An Irish animal charity is warning supporters to be wary of criminals using their name and branding to scam people.

According to Mutts Anonymous Dog Rescue and Adaption (MADRA), phishing emails are circulating in the community at present, with the charity urging people not to click links in an unexpected email.

In a statement posted on Facebook on Tuesday (March 5), a MADRA spokesperson wrote: "Be aware of spam. This email was received but the person had not donated via Instagram. Beware of phishing emails and DO NOT CLICK links in an email that you are not expecting or do not understand!"

A screenshot of an email received by a MADRA follower was included with the statement, and shows a receipt for a 10.00 donation to the charity.

They continued: "Please only use the secure donation on our website, this way you can be sure your funds are reaching our dogs. We rely on your donations to help us to continue to rescue, care for, and rehome abandoned and unwanted dogs. Thank you for your support.

According to An Garda Siochana, phishing attacks occur when someone receives an email that looks like it is from a bank, a supplier or another official agency.

Clicking on any links may bring a potential victim to a legitimate looking website, where they may encounter a prompt to enter private or banking details.

If you supply these, they will likely be used to commit fraud or sold online.

Gardai advise not clicking on any links if an email of this type is received, and to delete it immediately.

Anyone who has received one of these types of emails and sent money or provided personal details in response should contact a Garda Station.
Friday's vote will decide whether the concept of family will include those founded on "other durable relationships" as well as on marriage.

Additionally, the amendment proposes removing mention to marriage being the foundation of family.

Speaking on the Tonight Show, Minister McEntee responded to a question posed by host, Claire Brock, about Deputy Neale Richmond's comments on the potential "serious" consequences in regards to immigration law.

Minister McEntee said, "So our immigration laws are set out by government, the family reunification law we have at the moment is very clear and very narrow for specific reasons. It's between a parent and a child, that's not going to change because of this referendum, we're talking about recognising a family.

"When it comes to government making decisions, when it comes to ministers, particularly on immigration laws, I as minister - and the senator will know this as former minister - have to take into account certain things, looking at security, looking at the implications of things overall."

When asked if Deputy Richmond is wrong, the minister said, "Well, yes, because this is not going to change the laws we have now. There are not going to be suddenly an influx of people coming and saying they now have a different application that they can apply here, because the law is very clear.

"It's very narrow for very clear purposes. If any Supreme Court judge were to change that, they have to take into account the common good overall."

Senator McDowell disagreed, and referenced a 2022 case which reportedly used the concept of a durable relationship as a reason to be able to stay in Ireland.

It was then referred on to the European Court of Justice, where it reportedly did not proceed further.

He said, "This shows the confusion that there will be in immigration law."

She responded to say, "You're talking about a case that's happening now before any change, there will always be people who contest the laws we have, there will always be people who claim asylum or claim family reunification or try and prevent themselves to be deported and they will use different types of case law. But our laws are very clear on family reunification, how they apply and how they should be applied, changing our referendum to recognise other types of families doesn't change that."

Brock asked whether she acknowledges there may be increased court challenges in regards to durable relationships.

Minister McEntee said, "They may, but there are always cases brought to the constitution, always cases brought to the Supreme Court, but it is for government to decide on immigration law. And it's set out very clearly and in very narrow terms why we have the criteria that we have."

Senator McDowell said, "That's precisely why Neale Richmond was right. There will be serious consequences, and that's precisely the kind of confusion that's out there. I just want to say this, the great majority of people in this country are confused about the meaning of this term [durable relationships].

"Because the government chose, as you said at the beginning of this, not to define it by law because you might leave somebody out. With respect, that's not the precision we need, we need a system whereby those entitled to be regarded as families are clearly understood, and I know if I'm in a durable relationship or I'm not.

"I don't have to go to court to find out whether I am and I don't have to have a row with my partner about whether my relationship was or was not durable.

"We are going down the road towards chaos, and it's for that reason that I opposed the referendum proposal when it came to Seanad. For that reason I tabled the amendment to say please prescribe all these relationships by law if you want to make them into families, and Minister O'Gorman said no we'll leave it to the courts."

"You say [our] courts will decide these cases, [the 2022 case] was off to the European Court of Justice, we won't decide the outcome here, they were going to decide the outcome there."

Minister McEntee responded to say, "The only unintended consequence we'll have if people vote no on Friday is that 1 million plus people, [including[ children that you've referred to, will wake up and will be told by everyone else in this country that their relationship is not a family relationship, that's the only unintended consequence."

If a majority yes vote is decided, the family will be recognised as being founded on marriage and other durable relationships (ie. different types of "committed and continuing relationships other than marriage").

If a majority no vote is decided, constitution will continue to give special status only to the family based on marriage between two people without distinction as to their sex.
Israel is reckless with the lives of civilians in Gaza, Irelands deputy premier has said.

Micheal Martin also said Ireland is actively pursuing the possibility of contributing to multinational efforts of airdropping aid into Gaza.

However, he said the most effective way to get meaningful volumes of aid into Gaza would be for Israel to open corridors and checkpoints on the ground.

Speaking in the Irish parliament on Thursday, Mr Martin said: Many countries are trying to bring an end to the conflict and I know that.

I have no doubt that many in the US want this to end  but Israel is reckless with its own allies.

And Israel is reckless with the region but above all, its reckless in terms of the lives of ordinary Gazans and the people of Gaza.

Absolutely reckless in terms of allowing whats happening to happen on a daily basis.

He said there had been a complete collapse of societal cohesion and order in Gaza.

Mr Martin said Irelands priority is an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and a peace plan.

He was responding to Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns who said the war in Gaza had revealed powerful Western states to be immoral hypocrites.

Speaking during Leaders Questions, she told Mr Martin: They only value international law when its their enemies  not their allies  that are in breach.

Their shameful record in Gaza amounts to the normalisation of mass murder and devastation. They wag their fingers at the Israeli government occasionally but continue to support them and arm them.

Its their bombs and their bullets that have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians.

Its not just the United States that is engaged in this, arms exports from Germany to Israel have increased tenfold since October.

Weapons from Germany now make up nearly 30% of Israels total military imports. Genocide is a nice little earner for the German arms industry.

Ms Cairns said the UK had also not paused the supply of weapons despite raising concerns about possible breaches of international human rights law.

She said she acknowledged the Government had condemned Israels brutality but added: People all over Ireland are still waiting for you to follow those words with actions.

She said the parliament could enact laws that would make it an offence to import goods originating in occupied territories and impose restrictions on the investment of Irish assets in Israeli settlements.

She also said the Government could recognise the state of Palestine and issue travel bans for Israeli settlers.

Mr Martin, who is the Irish foreign minister, said Ireland has not lost its moral compass and said he agreed that other countries should stop sending arms to Israel if they want the conflict to end.

He said that Ireland had shown leadership in continuing to support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

He added that Ireland had made a robust legal submission to the International Court of Justice on Israels occupation of Palestinian territories.

Mr Martin said Ireland is working with other European countries on the subject of recognising Palestine.
Media minister Catherine Martin said she discussed the programme of reform at RTE during a meeting with the new chair of the board of the broadcaster, Terence ORourke.

Mr ORourke was appointed to the position this week following the resignation of former chair Siun Ni Raghallaigh.

Mr ORourke and Kevin Bakhurst, director general at the crisis-hit broadcaster, met with Ms Martin on Thursday.

The minister said: This was a very positive engagement where we discussed the importance of continuing the programme of reform of RTE, and the priority of putting in place a sustainable funding model for RTE and public service media in Ireland.

The meeting discussed responses to recommendations published by the Public Accounts Committee and two independent expert advisory committee reports that Ms Martin has commissioned.

She said: I am looking forward to working with the chair and the board in progressing the major reform agenda underway in the organisation.

Ms Ni Raghallaigh resigned from her role on the board of the broadcaster hours after Ms Martin expressed disappointment in her during a live television interview.

Appearing on Prime Time on February 22, the minister refused to express confidence in Ms Ni Raghallaigh, saying she had been misinformed about the chairwomans role in approving an exit package for former RTE chief financial officer, Richard Collins.

The minister was criticised for her handling of the situation with opposition TDs claiming she had effectively sacked the chairwoman live on air.
The Maruti Suzuki Swift needs little introduction in India as one of the countrys best-selling and most loved hatchbacks across multiple generations. Currently in its third generation iteration, the Swift continues bringing reliable, efficient and sporty motoring to the masses.

Here, we reveal everything about the range-topping Swift models on-road pricing, feature list specifications and capabilities to understand Marutis winning formula in the budget hatchback segment for over 15 years. Time to give the icons highest avatar its well-deserved spotlight!

Swift ZXi+ Top Model Price

The current range-topping Swift variant is the ZXi+ trim, offered with the convenience of Automated Manual Transmission (AMT). The Swift top model price stands at 9.9 lakhs in Delhi NCR, which remains under the crucial 10 lakhs budget mark psychologically for mass-market buyers.

Factor in Marutis widespread sales and service network, this top-spec Swift becomes an appealing blend of distinctive style, essential creature comforts, efficient petrol power and brand reliability accessible to many. Especially young professionals, small families and working women buyers find immense value in spending under 10 lakhs.

Sporty Swift Styling Retained

Over multiple updates, Swifts design legacy focused on energetic Euro-inspired looks has persisted, earning a global fan following. The 2023 facelift carries forward instantly recognisable styling, too, with only subtle cosmetic enhancements.

Upfront is the trademark wide grille, now sporting a honeycomb mesh design flanked by halogen headlamps. In profile, the sloping roofline, pronounced wheel arches, and floating roof effect continue lending Swift its zingy persona, further accentuated by alloy wheels and front fog lamps that grace the range-topping ZXi+ variant priced competitively around the Tata Punch price range.

Interestingly, dual-tone exterior colour options further amp up the visual drama. And few things announce fun motoring intents clearer in India than a Swift in a bright, funky shade! No wonder custom body graphics, decals and accessory styling add-ons have flourished around Marutis million-seller hatch darling.

Familiar Cabin Retains Comfort

Inside, the story remains similar - a familiar all-black durable interior theme greets occupants focused on functionality over flash. The layout follows traditional Maruti ethos with driver-focused ergonomics across elements like a sporty flat-bottom steering wheel, driver information display and a centre console cascading towards the front occupant.

Space utilisation allows seating five adults reasonably comfortably with adequate knee room, headroom and shoulder room for four, in line with other models like the Tata Nexon. However, the Nexon car price is higher as it belongs to the compact SUV segment. Height adjustment for the drivers seat, 60:40 split folding rear bench and 268 litres of boot space make the Swift surprisingly practical hatch for a sub-4-metre footprint.

Where maximum points were scored, sticking with proven interior design involves the excellent visibility offered from the drivers seat, aiding manoeuvrability and confident progress in all road conditions.

Generous Equipment Upgrades

The Swift ZXi+ proudly flaunts several segment-first and advanced convenience features, keeping owners happy beyond just responsive engines under the hood. Lets look at the array of goodies Maruti has packed in:

Multi-info Display (MID)

7-inch Touchscreen Audio System

Auto Fold ORVMs

Rear View Camera

Keyless Entry

Push Button Start

Automatic Climate Control

Cruise Control

Alloy Wheels

Theres also an essential safety kit including dual airbags, ABS with EBD, rear parking sensors, a high-speed warning alert system and ISOFIX child seat anchors. Though top-spec, structurally, the Swift remains average versus Tata Nexon with 3 out of 5 stars from Global NCAP.

Performance and Mileage

Under the shapely metal lies Marutis proven K-series 1.2L 4-cylinder petrol engine, putting out 89bhp peak power and 113Nm torque through an optimised 5-speed Auto Gear Shift transmission. Performance suffices for urban commutes and highway cruising, with overtakes possible under 2000rpm, much like the Tata Tiago. Fuel efficiency stands at 23.76kmpl as per ARAI, promising low running costs - essential for the budget category.

Ownership Experience

What makes the Swift range, especially the higher ZXi+ trim, a compelling ownership proposition is Maruti Suzukis promise of reliability backed by a vast service network with inexpensive maintenance plus good resale value. With the facelift, safety, features, and styling find themselves enhanced while retaining the essence longtime fans enjoy.

Though pricing has climbed closer to 10 lakhs, the Swift remains focused on key aspects like design distinction, city-friendly dimensions, cabin practicality, fuel efficiency and fuss-free ownership. More reason the icon continues feeling contemporary even fifteen years after its market debut.

For all the latest competitors with more bling or space, the Swift keeps Cruise Control-ling its successful run, providing sheer driving enjoyment with a peace of mind factor!

Our Take - Still a Winning Choice in 2024 & Beyond?

With the Swift crossing sales of over 2 million units in India already, the numbers speak for themselves, no doubt. Yet does Marutis popular hatchback remain a winning proposition for new car buyers in 2024 and beyond, even after multiple facelifts?

It does for the right customer mindsets. For young buyers prioritising zesty Euro looks, driving fun on a budget and brand reliability, the Swift delivers admirably. Young families find practicality in its rear seat space.

And those simply seeking no-nonsense hatchback motoring with peace of mind and dependability will inevitably shortlist Indias favourite Maruti model, sticking with its core virtues. Where the Swift shows its age is with the all-black interior theme and lower structural rigidity versus newer rivals.

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.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Linwei Ding, a former software engineer at Google, has been charged by the Justice Department with stealing artificial intelligence (AI) technology from the tech giant while secretly collaborating with two Chinese companies, as per an AP report on March 6.

Ding, 38, a Chinese national, was apprehended in Newark, California, and faces four counts of federal trade secret theft. Each count carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

The charges were disclosed by Attorney General Merrick Garland during an American Bar Association Conference in San Francisco. Law enforcement leaders, including Garland, have consistently highlighted the threat of Chinese economic espionage and national security concerns linked to AI advancements.

Indictment Details

The unsealed indictment in the Northern District of California alleges that Ding, employed by Google since 2019, uploaded hundreds of files into a personal Google Cloud account two years ago. He had access to confidential information about Google's supercomputing data centres.

Shortly after the theft commenced, Ding was offered the role of chief technology officer at a Chinese technology company focused on AI. He also founded and served as CEO of a China-based startup aiming to train "large AI models powered by supercomputing chips." Ding allegedly participated in investor meetings and sought capital for both ventures without revealing his affiliations to Google.

Google officials discovered Ding's activities when he presented as CEO of one of the Chinese companies at an investor conference in Beijing three days after resigning from Google on December 26. Surveillance footage revealed that another employee had scanned Ding's access badge to create a false appearance of him being at the Google building during times when he was actually in China.

As of now, it is unclear whether Ding, 38, has legal representation.

Concerns over AI Technologies Misuse

Justice Department leaders have recently expressed concerns about foreign adversaries leveraging AI technologies to harm the United States. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco highlighted the administration's focus on AI enforcement through the Disruptive Technology Strike Force. FBI Director Christopher Wray also underscored the increased vulnerability to interference in the American political process due to AI and other emerging technologies.

Wray emphasised the severity of the situation, stating, "Today's charges are the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the People's Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation." He warned that such theft could lead to job losses and have detrimental economic and national security repercussions.

(With inputs from AP, PTI)

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
MUMBAI : The administrator of the bankrupt Reliance Capital Ltd has moved the National Company Law Tribunal seeking its intervention to direct Hinduja Groups IndusInd International Holdings Ltd to make payments in accordance with the approved resolution plan by 28 May.

Great prejudice will be caused to Reliance Capital if the application is not allowed," the administrator has said in its petition, which Mint has seen.

The tribunal last week approved IIHLs 9,650-crore resolution plan to acquire Reliance Capital, following a two-year legal battle by the Hinduja Group.

The plan has to be implemented within 90 days of the date of the order (27 February).

However, since certain regulatory approvals were pending in the matter, lenders had urged the Hinduja Group entity to secure the necessary regulatory approvalsfrom the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), and the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

The Reserve Bank of India gave its approval for Reliance Capitals takeover in November.

The lenders are concerned that since the clearance on the regulatory approvals may take further time, their payment is likely to take a backseat," said a counsel on condition of anonymity, adding that such approvals could take anywhere between three months to a year.

The administrator also submitted that certain errors had inadvertently crept into the tribunals 27 February order, and it had filed a plea seeking corrections.

NCLT will take up the matter for hearing on 11 March.

Under Indias Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, NCLT has the power to correct an order under section 60(5), read with Rule 154 and 11 of NCLT rules, to rectify or correct any inadvertent error in an order.

NCLTs 27 February order states that Irdai approval was required for a change in the control of Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd, Reliance Health Insurance Co. Ltd, and Reliance Nippon Life Insurance Co.

However, the administrators plea seeks rectification of the order to say: The resolution applicant shall send an application to the Irdai for RGIC, RNLIC and RHICL, for purposes of implementation of the resolution plan. And in connection with the said implementation, any approvals required from Irdai upon acceptance of the Letter of Intent, the administrator and the Committee of Creditors shall provide assistance in getting such approvals."

Sonal Alagh , Partner, Alagh & Kapoor Law said From a legal standpoint, the case presents a compelling scenario. The NCLT, a judicial authority established to resolve civil corporate disputes/insolvencies, holds the power to enforce resolution plans approved under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The primary concern for the tribunal will be to balance the interests of all stakeholders involved, including the debtor company, its creditors, and the resolution applicant, in this case, IIHL."

Alagh added that given the circumstances, the question arises whether Hinduja, the entity behind IIHL, will adhere to the stipulated timelines for payment. Legal precedents suggest that the NCLT has consistently prioritized the completion of resolution processes within the mandated timelines to ensure the viability of the distressed entity and safeguard the interests of the creditors. Thus, Hinduja's commitment to meeting the deadlines will likely be influenced by the NCLT's directive, reinforced by the legal obligation to fulfill the terms of the approved resolution plan.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
India's women founders have encountered glaring discrimination in funding their businesses as compared to their male counterparts. According to a report by Encubay, a global-diversity-focused network, as many as 799 funding deals happened between June 2023 and February 2024 of which ventures having at least one female founder could crack only 163 deals. During the period, startups raised $6,646 million of funding but ventures with female founders raised $300 million of funding--4.5% of the total funding.

Online fashion jewellery startup GIVA raised $33 million in July 2023 as per Encubay report. The other business ventures with female founders that raised funding in the past nine months are- Delhi-based Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters ($30 million), The Sleep Company ($23 million), MakeO ($16 million), Namdev Finvest ($15 million), INC% ($10.4 million), Nat Habit ($10.2 million), Wingreens Farms ($10 million), Freyr Energy ($7.3 million), and Slurrp Farm ($7.2 million), respectively.

Edtech firms bet on upskilling, higher education amid funding gloom

In January this year, ventures with at least one female founder raised $74 million- 16% of the $461.7 million.

Indian women excel in punctual loan repayments compared to men, shows study

Fireside Ventures, Titan Capital, Rainmatter Capital, She Capital, Better Capital, Stride Ventures, Whiteboard Capital, Google for startups, Mumbai Angels, Lightbox, and All In Capital are among the leading investors that have funded women-founded ventures.

Besides VC funds such as Seema Chaturvedi's AWE Funds, Anisha Singh's She Capital, Vani Kola-led Kalaari Capital, Deeksha Ahuja's Encubay Angel Network, and Ankita Vashistha's Arise StrongHer Ventures have supported women entrepreneurs in the country.

86% of working women eager to improve financial knowledge, survey reveals

"There is a significant increase in the number of female-led and co-led companies looking to raise capital and are building disruptive, investment-able, and impact-focused businesses. Hence its now important to ensure that an equitable amount of funding goes to these startups; money is mandatory for ventures to grow," Deeksha Ahuja, Founder of Encubay told Mint.

According to the Encubay report, India ranks 135 in gender parity out of the 146 countries. Less than 3% of the VC funding goes to women in the country.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Varun Beverages, one of the largest bottlers of foods and beverages company PepsiCo, will focus on increasing production capacities in the juices and value-added dairy product segments this calendar year, the company said in its 2023 annual report released on Thursday.

The company also said that its growth strategy involves continuously strengthening the distribution network and chilling infrastructure. This is essential for enhancing our presence in existing and under-penetrated markets," the report said.

Varun Beverages manufactures and sells a range of non-alcoholic, carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, and serves nearly a sixth of the worlds population.

The company has presence in 27 states and 7 union territories in India and five other countries, namely Nepal, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Zambia and Zimbabwe. As of 31 December 2023, the company operated 40 manufacturing facilities (34 in India and six in overseas markets).

Three markets, India, Sri Lanka and Nepal, contribute to 83% of VBLs net revenues.

The company, one of the largest franchisees of PepsiCo globally (outside the USA), commissioned new production facilities at Bundi in Rajasthan and at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, as well as expanded capacity at six existing locations in Pathankot, Kosi, Bharuch, Tirunelveli, Begusarai and Guwahati in 2023.

The commissioning of multiple greenfield and brownfield beverage manufacturing lines in CY 2023 was a significant step in enhancing our operational capabilities. These expansions are vital for meeting increasing consumer demand and tapping into new market opportunities and have set the stage for our continued growth in the beverage industry," the company added.

Varun Beverages reported a 21.8% jump in revenues in calendar year 2023. The profit after tax grew by 35.6% on a year-on-year to touch 2,101.8 crore in 2023. It reported revenues of 16,042.6 crore during the year.

"This growth is primarily driven by the robust consumption pattern among our consumers which ultimately contributed in gaining 13.9% and 7% increase in consolidated sales volume and net realization per case, respectively," it said.

In 2023, the Indian soft drinks industry encountered a challenging yet progressive year on account of unseasonal rains.

Following substantial growth in 2022 attributed to the resurgence of out-of-home consumption, the industry confronted unseasonal rains that disrupted sales during the critical summer season," it said.

Nevertheless, the sector adeptly adjusted to evolving consumer preferences and maintained a steady growth trajectory. This resilience was particularly evident in the energy drinks segment, which, after emerging as a growth category in 2022, continued its expansion through 2023. The broader soft drinks market, encompassing carbonates, juices, and bottled water, also sustained growth during the year," it added.

Varun Beverages accounts for over 90% of Pepsis beverages sales volume in India. The company bottles and distributes brands such as Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Mirinda, Sting, 7UP, Gatorade, Tropicana, among others.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Peer-to-peer artificial intelligence (AI) storage platform Xtended Space has successfully raised an undisclosed amount from Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd in a recent funding round.

The investment will enable the startup to address the increasing demand for innovative self-storage solutions in prop-tech. The company had previously secured pre-seed funding from P. Sampath, former chief financial officer, Essar Group, and other noted investors.

Weve embarked on an extraordinary journey of triumph, poised to revolutionize India through our innovative and affordable storage services, forging a sustainable revenue model. With a transparent vision, we aim to empower Indian businesses and households, catalysing positive transformation of your home and offices," Xtended Space co-founder Saurabh Dey said in a statement.

Technology has transformed our lives and has made it more convenient, efficient and comfortable. Xtended Space is trying to revolutionize the real estate sector by connecting people who require additional space for short to medium term with people owning excess real estate. This will enable space seekers to fulfil their storage requirements affordably while providing hosts an extra income source. We are excited to partner with them on this journey," said Anirudh Singhal, strategic investment head, Hindustan Times.

Hindustan Media Ventures is a subsidiary of HT Media Ltd, which publishes Mint and The Hindustan Times.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Indraprastha Gas has cut the price of compressed natural gas ( CNG ) in the capital Delhi by 2.5/kg effective from today, March 7.

This reduction in the gas prices, effective from 6 am Thursday, will be in all the geographical areas of the gas distributor, IGL said in a post on X.

The revised selling price of CNG in Delhi shall be 74.09 per kg, while it will be 78.70 per kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad.

Also Read | Philadelphia shooting: 8 high school students wounded by gunfire at bus stand; 4th incident in a row

Drivers Celebrate Price Cut

Taxi drivers in the Delhi NCR region are celebrating the CNG price cut as it brings the promise of substantial savings in their daily expenditures and an uplift in their monthly earnings, ANI reported.

In December 2023, the CNG price was increased by 1 per kg and was sold at 76.59 per kg. In 2023, CNG prices were increased four times.

Also Read | Anant Ambani-Radhika pre-wedding: Shah Rukh Khan delivers 'Mohabbatein' dialogue in Gujarati | Watch

Expressing his joy over the CNG price drop, Sonu Pandey, a cab driver in Delhi NCR told ANI, "With the 2.5 rupee reduction in CNG prices, I can now save 100-150 daily, contributing to the growth of our income."

Another cab driver echoed this sentiment, stating, "This will impact our expenses positively. If we used to spend 500 daily, it will now be reduced to 400. I am very pleased."

Highlighting the practical advantages of the reduced CNG prices in terms of monthly income, Omkar, a taxi driver told ANI, This is beneficial for us. Saving 2 per kg means an additional 2,000 in my pocket every month."

CNG Price Cut in Mumbai

The Delhi price cut comes two days after state-owned Mahanagar Gas (MGL) announced a decrease in CNG prices by 2.5 per kg to 73.50 per kg in Mumbai.

Also Read | After ED files 2nd non-compliance complaint, Delhi court summons Arvind Kejriwal to appear physically on March 16

The company, in a statement issued late in the evening, cited a decline in gas input costs as the reason for the price adjustment, effective from midnight on March 5.

According to the statement, the revised CNG price translates to a 53 percent cost saving compared to petrol and a 22 percent saving compared to diesel at the current price levels in the financial capital.

MGL said the reduction in CNG price would help to increase the consumption of natural gas in the transportation segment, which is a step towards making India cleaner and greener.

(With inputs from ANI and PTI)

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
To provide students with access-free WiFi, Delhi University has allocated a fund of 67.71 crore across all its college campuses and in an upcoming girls hostel in northwest Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar, according to a report by the PTI news agency.

The WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) connectivity will be set up across about 90 colleges of Delhi University, on both north and south campuses.

The execution of the work will be funded from the loan corpus of 938.33 crore taken by the varsity from the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) in October last year to undertake various developmental projects.

MP University releases admit card, date sheet but forgets to conduct exam!

The HEFA has sanctioned a loan of 261.33 crore for setting up the WiFi network as well as to start the work for the construction of a building for the Faculty of Technology.

About HEFA

The HEFA is a joint venture company of Canara Bank and the Ministry of Education which provides financial assistance for the creation of educational infrastructure and research facilities in India's premier educational Institutions.

The Delhi University had applied for a HEFA loan in 2022 to meet its infrastructural needs and expansion plans including setting up DU's east Delhi campus in Surajmal Vihar and opening a new college in Najafgarh, among other projects.

Separately, DU is likely to table a proposal to extend the validity for two of its MPhil courses in Clinical Psychology and Psychiatric Social Work till the academic session in 2025-26.

CUET PG exam date 2024: Common University Entrance Test to begin on March 11

The proposal is likely to be placed before the varsity's Executive Council on 8 March.

According to the agenda for the meeting, the varsity last year had written to the University Grants Commission (UGC) for the resumption of MPhil at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) as an interim arrangement in the interest of students and patient care till a necessary final decision is taken by the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI).

The university took the initiative after the dean of the university's Faculty of Medical Science expressed apprehension over the matter.

The Academic Council and the Executive Council of the University, in a resolution in 2021, had decided to discontinue MPhil programmes from the academic year 2022-24 keeping in line with the National Education Policy 2020.

As per the UGC's 2022 regulations for Minimum Standards and Procedures for the Award of PhD Degree, higher education institutes can no longer offer MPhil programmes.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
A small study published 40 years ago set off shock waves in education circles for decades with claims that the right kind of tutoring vaults middling students to the top of the class. Ever since, a number of educators and tech leaders, inspired by the findings, have been chasing these dramatic gains.

The latest to take up this cause is Sal Khan, perhaps the countrys leading evangelist for the potential of artificial intelligence in education and whose nonprofit has developed an AI chatbot.

Last year Khan opened a widely viewed TED Talk by describing the remarkable results from the 1984 study. AI could serve as a personal tutor that might eventually be able to take your average student and turn them into an exceptional student," he said. Other AI enthusiasts have cited the same researcha sign of the heady hopes that the technology could bring an educational breakthrough.

But it isnt clear whether these ambitions are realistic.

The 1984 results are outliers, according to a paper published Thursday by Education Next, a policy journal affiliated with Harvard University. The small-scale experiments were based on two subjectsprobability and cartographythat students had little familiarity with, which made their rapid learning improvements more feasible, the paper noted. Modern studies of human tutoring havent typically shown gains nearly as large.

While many researchers and educators are optimistic about the potential for AI in education, some worry that current hype will give way to disappointment if the goals are too audacious.

Overpromising can lead to disappointment, and reaching for impossible goals can breed questionable educational practices," wrote University of Texas at Austin education professor Paul von Hippel in Education Next.

Khan says these very large gains are aspirational, but that hes seen the transformational power of tutoring first hand.

In 2004, after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Business School, he was working as an analyst at a hedge fund. But he had a longstanding interest in education and he began tutoring his young cousins from across the country.

To allow them to review material on their own, Khan started posting videos on YouTube of his lessons, which ended up attracting a larger audience. A few years later, in 2008, he launched an educational nonprofit, Khan Academy.

In 2011, Khan gave a popular TED Talk exhibiting his nerdy charisma and touting plans to use video to reinvent education." The audience gave him a standing ovation, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, an early supporter, joined him on stage. You just got a glimpse of the future of education," Gates said.

Since then, Khan Academy has garnered millions in philanthropic dollars and in views of its educational videos. But enthusiasm for video-based instruction has faded somewhat in the education world as it has proven challenging to engage all students through online content.

Khan says the organization has encouraged schools to embed Khan Academywhich now includes a library of lessons, exercises and quizzesin the school day to ensure all students engage with the content.

In July 2022, executives at OpenAI, which developed ChatGPT, reached out to Khan about using AI in education. In March 2023, Khan Academy launched its ChatGPT-powered bot, Khanmigo, which offers tutoring for students and lesson-planning support for teachers, among other functions.

The 1984 paper, cited by Khan, described a few small experiments showing that tutoring could lift average students to the 98th percentile of performance. The author, University of Chicago psychologist Benjamin Bloom, said that since it wasnt feasible to give every student a tutor, the challenge was to develop other methods to achieve those gains.

Tech executives such as Meta Platforms Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have cited the research to support the potential of technology to transform education by making low-cost personal tutoring widely available.

Khan says AI wont boost student learning to the levels seen in the 1984 study right away, and hes not pitching Khanmigo to districts as a way to attain such gains.

But he believes improvements comparable to the 1984 studys findings are achievable. Khan compares this to attaining near-universal literacysomething that might have once seemed impossible.

I dont think its out of the question," Khan said. Now, it will take a long time to build a tutoring system that can do that at scale."

Despite doubts that AI will lead to such dramatic learning gains, some teachers who have tried Khanmigo give it high marks.

Madeline Bartsch, an English teacher at Hobart High School in northwest Indiana, says she has used Khanmigo to help students brainstorm essay topics and understand tricky grammar topics. The bot has engaged students in dialogue as a literary character, such as Jay Gatsby. What I absolutely loved is how into it they got," Bartsch said of her students.

And Khanmigo has helped Bartsch create essay rubrics, cutting what used to be an hour-long task down to 15 minutes. Its taking some of that busy work away," she said.

But she hasnt found it equally beneficial for all students. I dont see a huge amount of my lowest-proficiency and lowest-motivation students gravitating towards it," she said.

Kristen Musall, a geometry teacher at Hobart High, says she appreciates Khanmigo, which has helped her come up with new lesson ideas. However, she says, a tech tool cant fix barriers that stop students from being fully engaged in schoolwhich is often the biggest challenge. There are still kids in my classroom who are going to care more about getting to their job after school so that they can buy groceries for their family," she said.

Khanmigo, which is being piloted in a few dozen districts, is still a work in progress, as Khan is quick to acknowledge. The bot includes the disclaimer: Khanmigo makes mistakes sometimes."

When a Wall Street Journal reporter recently tested it in math, it often said that a wrong answer was right or a right answer was wrong. Khan said that the technology is continuing to improve and the company will be transparent with teachers about its limitations.

Hobart schools are part of a $2 million AI competitive grant pilot that was created by Indiana Education Secretary Katie Jenner after she began speaking with Khan about the potential of AI in education. If it is successful, we would consider how we might expand it more broadly," she said.

Khan said the organization is in discussions with a number of states about wide-scale adoption of Khanmigo for next school year. Frank Edelblut, the commissioner of education in New Hampshire, said the state is actively evaluating" AI pilot programs and is talking to a number of potential vendors, including Khan Academy.

Like Khan, he hopes that AI could serve as a personal tutor and turbocharge learning.

The jury is out as to whether or not AI is that tool," said Edelblut. But I certainly think its worth exploring and we can aspire that it will be that order of magnitude gamechanger."
View Full Image Shakshi Saxena Sharma, senior analyst, Genpact.

Shakshi Saxena Sharma carries a Swiss knife with her when she is travelling within the capital city.

The 26-year-old, like many working women across the country, is worried about her security, particularly when commuting or going out at night. The tussle with safety is one of the key reasons why many working women quit their jobs.

But carrying that knife just boosts Sharmas confidence manifold.

Today, she works as a senior analyst with IT services firm Genpact, auditing travel and other related expenses for clients.

This is her second job after graduating from collegeshe completed a course in business administration (MBA), specializing in marketing and finance. Soon after, she joined a banking and financial services company. But this was early 2020 and the pandemic soon changed lives and how we work.

Sharmas job as a fund manager for high net-worth individuals did not go as planned. And this tells us about the early work life struggles of many women.

Few months into the pandemic, we were told to start cross-selling other products. We had to visit client homes," Sharma said.

I was uncomfortable. And I could imagine the plight of my other women colleagues who came from other citiesthey did not know Delhi very well and had to meet clients whenever they were available," she added.

We had to visit client homes. I was uncomfortable. Shakshi Saxena Sharma

This was a task that was a natural advantage for the men in the office. The boys met their targets. They would seek out more client meetings while the women in the office had to figure out ways of not visiting client homes," she said.

When a colleague raised this issue, the companys senior leaders said those who didnt comply would miss their targets, which would impact their appraisals.

Sharma quit the company in 2021 and was brutal during the exit interview. The lack of transparency needs to be discussed," she told her manager, adding that she wont work in a place that is low on this measure.

The IT services industry, for decades, has been considered a good place for women to work. The industry is quick to adopt best practices.

Things changed when she joined Genpact in August 2021.

The IT services industry, for decades, has been considered a good place for women to work. The industry is quick to adopt best practices from around the world and sets new benchmarks for other sectors to follow.

Sharma immediately noticed a difference in the working culture. After office gatherings in the evenings, seniors in the office checked if women colleagues reached home safely. The company also gave her more ease of working.

Married in 2022 to an army officer, she informed her boss that she needs flexible working options. The company readily agreed.

Sharma comes across as rather confident. She has a clear vision and goal for whats next. I want to become a senior manager in the next five years," she said.

Why Alisha likes Ghazal

View Full Image Alisha Anand, founder, Creative Pulse.

For Alisha Anand, her 20s were easy and fun. But the 30s are proving to be challenging. Now 36, she is juggling motherhood and a career switchAnand has started a business.

Her professional journey began nearly two decades ago when she decided to become a radio jockey with Radio One94.3 FM. Promotions came easily, she recalled, with my seniors taking interest in my work and new roles and responsibilities coming my way effortlessly."

But over time, she decided to switch careers and moved to content marketing in order to grow her scope of work. Anand worked with a few digital agencies, before becoming a consultant with a well-known advisory firm. Here, she handled challenging and time-consuming projects. However, the pandemic changed her in some ways. She now wanted a better balance, between life and work.

Last year, Anand decided to pursue entrepreneurship. She set up a digital marketing agency. My ambition has always been strong," she explained, and I needed to find a way to spend time with my son while continuing with my career."

This decision allows her to work from home, minimizing time spent in the office.

I had to find a way to spend time with my son while continuing with my career. Alisha Anand

The fact is that motherhood and work can prove difficult for women in India. After Anand became a mother in 2020, she found managing expectations of working long hours rather tough.

She said that workplace bias against new mothers is a reality and employers need to be more accommodating while allowing such employees to resume work.

Workplace bias against new mothers is a reality and employers need to be more accommodating while allowing such employees to resume work.

The additional work of providing childcare often prompts many women to step back or scale back their scope of work.

Indias current female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) stands at 37%.

While the number has improved over the years, it is still low. More recently, several measures to improve female participation in the workforce have been proposed or enforced.

The Code on Social Security, 2020, proposed enhancement in paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks.

But laws cant change societal biasesnot overnight. In such a situation, Anand said she seeks inspiration from several female entrepreneurs re-shaping the start-up community in India.

For instance, Ghazal Alagh, the co-founder of Honasa Consumer, which sells personal care products under the Mama Earth brand.

Alagh, a mother of two children, has played a significant role in the companys growthit listed on the stock exchanges last year. This sort of a story resonates deeply with Anand.

She also routinely watches episodes of Shark Tank India, listening keenly to pitches from young entrepreneurs. Stories of women starting out small businesses are of particular interest to her.

Questions they asked Rohini

View Full Image Rohini Haldea, assistant vice president and marketing head, Lifestyle International.

From the time Rohini Haldea decided to return to a full-time job in 2016, after a six-year personal break, it took her around nine months to be employed again. She joined VF Brands, an apparel retail company in Bengaluru.

Returning to work after a long break is tough; the interviews are tougher. In every job interview, she was asked similar questions: Why did you take a break? Are you sure about working again? Will you be able to travel? Will you be able to cope up?

Breaking that barrier took some time. It hasnt held me back after that," she said.

Haldea, 47, is currently an assistant vice-president and marketing head at Lifestyle International, a retail company. Thats a national role.

Besides driving marketing initiatives for Lifestyle stores and the brand, she also tracks how the Indian consumer is changing. She heads a team where there are many women.

How exactly is she to work with? And where has she learnt the ropes on leadership?

If you have to move to the next level, you need to develop your skill sets and solve problems. Rohini Haldea

Before her long break from work, Haldea worked with Hindustan Unilever, Indias largest fast-moving consumer goods company, for 11 years.

Learnings from the company may have helped. She has never been a big reader of books on leadership, she said. So, when it came to managing a team, she looked back at some of her male colleagues who were great managers and learnt from how they ran their teams and businesses.

There are a few basic rules she swears bybeing accessible, maintaining an open door policy, and allowing freedom and flexibility to team members.

As the impact of the pandemic waned, most companies started calling their employees back to office. However, Haldea said she is still open to giving her team members flexibility of when and where they want to work from. You have to trust people to do their jobs," she said.

Women leaders, in general, do a better job at being available to their teams, she further said.

I believe in hiring and training well. I tell my team what we need to achieve and want them to come back and tell me how it can be done. If you have to move to the next level, you need to develop your own skill sets and solve problems. It applies to women and men," Haldea said.

Women leaders, in general, do a better job at being available to their teams.

As workplaces get more competitive, are there instances of missed opportunities as a woman?

Haldea says she cant recall being denied an opportunity in any of the companies she worked in.

I am sure it exists. For me, I have been to the best colleges (she completed her post-graduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore) and started my career with Unilever. I made all the choices but I never felt I was held back because I am a woman," she said.

Arundhatis Lucknow diary

View Full Image Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairperson and CEO of Salesforce India.

In 2006, Arundhati Bhattacharya was posted in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, as a general manager with the State Bank of India (SBI), Indias largest bank. But she was unsure of accepting the position when first offeredher daughters schooling could have been disrupted. Bhattacharya reached out to one of her mentors, M.S. Verma, a former chairman of the bank.

Giving up a job takes just about 30 seconds, but building it takes a lifetime. So, dont take it lightly, Verma told her. It (giving up your job) should be the absolute last option after youve tried out everything. And if youve not tried out everything, then you know youre not being fair to yourself," she recounted the mentor telling her.

Bhattacharya is now 67. In the past decades, she has broken many barriers, seen through many institutional biases, and pushed ahead. And there were times when she didnt know what to dothe Lucknow posting was one of them. Having good mentors help, the chairperson and CEO of Salesforce India and the former chairperson of SBI, said.

Working in a different city implies personal sacrifices and possibly, time away from family. Thats a choice many women grapple with.

There were times when I had to prioritize work over family. Arundhati Bhattacharya

There were times when I had to prioritize work over family, but I always tell everyone that these are very personal decisions. Whatever the decision, you must be able to look yourself in the mirror and be okay with it," Bhattacharya said. If you prioritize family over work, thats perfectly fine too".

Bhattacharya accepts that women face the pressure of guilt when it comes to taking care of the children or elderly parents. This forces many to take a backseat. If they are in a middle to senior management position, it could mean a lot of travel.

Having said that, India Inc. today has better gender diversity compared to when Bhattacharya entered the workforcein 1977. While this could mean that more women are prioritizing work, Bhattacharya feels some biases are just too ingrained. In fact, she realized that these biases are ingrained in her, too.

Our diversity quotient is far better now but Indian corporates, both from the private and public sectors, have a long way to go.

After a training programme at Salesforce, she had succumbed to asking men and women candidates a different slate of questions.

For instance, I would ask women about family; I would ask how old the children were; I would ask where they were, and how would she manage in case the job required a lot of travel," Bhattacharya said. I was not asking men about travel, about where their children were and how old they were."

The bottomline: Our diversity quotient is far better now but India and Indian corporates, both from the private and public sectors, have a long way to go.

A public sector organization will only move forward (on diversity) when there is a mandate to move. In private companies, nobody needs mandates," she said. My concern is that there are people in the private sector who are aware. But they refuse to move because they havent gotten over their biases."
CAIROHamas has pulled out of talks aimed at securing a cease-fire in Gaza, Egyptian officials said Thursday, after the groups leadership hardened its bargaining position by requesting Israels commitment to discuss a permanent stop to the fighting.

U.S. and Arab officials for weeks have sought to strike a deal between Israel and Hamas aimed at a temporary cease-fire in Gaza, where a humanitarian crisis worsens by the day. Mediators were hoping to reach an agreement for a six-week truce over the next few days, ahead of the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan around Sunday.

The remaining Hamas officials who were in Cairo for cease-fire negotiations left on Thursday and it is unclear whether they would return, Egyptian officials said. The group may return to Cairo on Sunday for more talks, they said.

Hamas Thursday said its delegation was leaving Cairo to consult with the movements leadership." It added that negotiations would continue aimed at achieving the movements key goals: an end to the fighting, securing more humanitarian aid and allowing displaced Gazans to return to their homes.

The setback dashed hopes for an imminent end to the fighting that would ease political tension across the Middle East and allow international aid organizations and Israel to deliver badly needed aid across the strip, amid widespread hunger and deprivation. Over a dozen children have died recently due to severe malnutrition and dehydration in northern Gaza, which has largely been cut off from aid for over a month.

Gazas health authorities say the fighting has left more than 30,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, dead. Their figures dont distinguish between civilians and militants.

Israel has said that a collapse in talks would prompt it to move ahead with a military operation against Rafah, seen as the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza and where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering. The U.S. has warned against such a move without a plan to limit civilian harm as the death toll from the war soars. Despite the threats, analysts say Israel isnt yet prepared to move on Rafah.

Israel has said its priority in the talks is to secure the release of dozens of hostages captured during the Hamas Oct. 7 attacks and still held in Gaza by Hamas and other Islamist groups. Over 100 hostages were released during a weeklong truce in November. Around 130 remain captive, including more than 30 that Israel says are dead.

But Hamass leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, has been pushing the Islamist group to extract bigger concessions from Israel, according to officials familiar with the discussions. That has put him at odds with Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the groups Qatar-based political bureau, which has been leading talks with Qatari and Egyptian officials. Haniyeh has been willing to accept a six-week pause in the fighting to offer some relief to Gazas 2.3 million people, while using that time to explore the possibility of a permanent cease-fire and full Israeli military withdrawal.

Other sticking points remain. Hamas hasnt said how many hostages are still alive. Israel wont accept Hamas demand to allow all Palestinians displaced in the south to freely return to the north. Israel doesnt want to allow fighting-age men to be allowed to move freely. Hamas is demanding whole families to be allowed to go back.

Sinwar, who has been largely disengaged from the talks until recently, believes Hamas currently has the upper hand, citing internal political divisions within Israel, including cracks in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus hold on power and mounting U.S. pressure on Israel to do more to alleviate the suffering of Gazans, Egyptian officials said.

Arab and Israeli officials fear that Sinwar is deliberately undermining the talks in the hope that Ramadan will galvanize support for Hamas, leading to an escalation of tensions in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

The Biden administration, under electoral pressure over the scale of humanitarian suffering in Gaza, has thrown its weight behind the talks, hoping to secure a six-week pause in fighting to make it easier to inject more humanitarian aid.

The U.N. and aid groups have mostly stopped delivering food and other aid to the north in early February, after an aid convoy was hit by Israeli fire. Widespread lawlessness and looting fueled by the desperation of northern Gazans have thwarted attempts to resume deliveries.

Israel, under intense international pressure, in recent weeks has taken a more direct role in aid distribution following the U.N.s pullback. Ensuring food and other vital goods reach north Gaza in particular could also help rekindle cease-fire talks with Hamas, which has made the issue a top negotiating priority.

Israel is considering opening a new crossing to allow aid directly into northern Gaza, according to Israeli officials. While Israel wouldnt be providing the aid, the Israeli military would be responsible for securing it, said one official, adding that the crossing could open as soon as Friday. Israel is looking into what routes a possible aid convoy could take and how to prevent Hamas from taking the aid, another official said.

The Israeli government is also exploring the possibility of helping establish a sea route that would bring aid from Cyprus to Gaza. Israels security cabinet is expected to discuss the topic later Thursday, an Israeli official said.

Jared Malsin contributed to this article.

Write to Summer Said at summer.said@wsj.com and Margherita Stancati at margherita.stancati@wsj.com
Brazillians have long been early adopters of fintech. In 2017 EY, an accounting firm, found that two-fifths of Brazilians regularly used online banking, one of the highest rates worldwide. In 2020 44% of customers had a digital-only account, compared with less than 20% in the United States and Canada, according to a survey by Accenture, a consulting firm. That year the central bank released Pix, an instant-payments platform. It has been wildly successful. Today it has 3bn transactions a month. That is five times more than transactions by debit and credit cards combined.

This bonanza has attracted cyber-criminals. Their main weapon has been the banking trojan", a programme that steals users account information. According to Kaspersky Lab, a cyber-security firm, Brazil is the top country for attacks by banking trojans, with 1.8m attempted infections from June 2022 to July 2023 (the latest data available). Globally eight of the 13 most popular types of trojans are made in Brazil.

Cyber-criminals initially focused on trojans as they require little skill to use. However, as banks developed better defences, criminals were forced to branch out into more complex and lucrative attacks. Brazils underworld has developed the most advanced point of sale" malware, which scammers use to filch bank details from card readers, according to Kaspersky Lab. Known as Prilex, this application can block contactless payments by stopping the short-range connection between a credit card and the payment terminal. The terminal reads: Error. Please Insert." When a customer inserts her card and PIN, the malware uses the credentials to authorise a fraudulent transaction. During Rios carnival in 2016, a hacker used a basic version of this software to remotely take over 1,000 ATMs.

Another example is ransomware, which gangs use to scramble computers and demand money to restore them. In October last year Brazils lawmakers met to discuss the increasing use of artificial intelligence in cyber-crime, too.

The financial losses are big. According to Andre Fleury of Accenture, Brazil is in the top five countries for the cost of cyber-crime. He estimates the figure is around $20bn per year. That is the equivalent of 0.9% of GDP. There is some hope, though. In 2022 a hefty data-protection law came into effect, forcing companies to defend consumers data. In 2023 Brazils banks spent $9bn on cyber-security, nearly double the amount in 2019, according to the Brazilian Federation of Banks. The bigger problem is naive customers who fall for scams, says Eduardo Monaco of ClearSale, a Brazilian fraud-management company. Until they fully know the risks, there will be plenty more phish in the sea.

 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved.

From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
NEW DELHI : Indias mobile phone exports are expected to cross 1.2 trillion at the end of this financial year, reaching a major milestone propelled by the governments thrust on phone makers such as Apple and Samsung to manufacture locally.

The exports would account for nearly one-third of the total domestic production of mobile phones, projected at about 4.1 trillion in FY24, the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association said on Thursday.

According to industry observers, a majority of the mobile phone exports by value are on account of Apple and Samsung devices.

Cumulative exports of mobile phones during the period 2014-2024 reached a total estimate of 3.22 trilliona new era in Indias exports," said the association, which represents major phone makers including Apple, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo. Mobile phones have now become Indias fifth-largest export as an individual commodity."

Indias mobile phone manufacturing industry is estimated to have produced about 2.45 billion devices worth 19.45 trillion cumulatively over the past 10 years, a shade below its target of 2.5 billion phones worth about 20 trillion, the association said.

India, the worlds second-largest producer of mobile phones behind China, exported mobile phones worth $11 billion, or about 90,955 crore, in FY23, with total domestic production at $44 billion, or 3.6 trillion.

The sector has transitioned from being 78% import dependent in 2014 to 97% self-sufficiency currently. The future would be export growth-led," the association said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had during his Independence Day speech in 2014 urged global companies to manufacture in India.

Over the past decade, a number of mobile phone manufacturing units have come up in the country, including that of the worlds largest contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group, which is also the largest maker of Apples iPhones globally.

Apple began manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017 and has since scaled up production. It also brought its iconic Apple stores to the country last year.

The government now intends to make India a critical part of global supply chains by offering its manufacturing capabilities in electronics to global value chains, or GVCs, as an alternative to China.

As a next step, we have to ensure that we can shift electronics GVCs to India to create large-scale manufacturing, jobs, and increase domestic value addition," said Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman, ICEA. This, in turn, requires unprecedented competitiveness and factories that can operate at scale of the kind that has never been witnessed in India."

He added that doubling of Indias GDP from $3.7 trillion now to $7 trillion by 2030 will be led by growth in the digital sector and trade. In both these areas, electronics manufacturing led by mobile production will play a critical role," he said.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
New Delhi: Growing demand for satellite launches from offshore companies is prompting an Indian pivot to private firms for building rockets.

This is being done to develop the central government as a key customer for the private sector alongside global clientsakin to the successful privatization model achieved by the US over the past four decades  said Pawan Kumar Goenka, chairman of the regulatory body for the space industry, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (In-Space).

Globally, there is a shortage of satellite launch capacity in heavy rockets, for which the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro)s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)- and Large Vehicle Mark III (LVM3)-class launch vehicles have a supply constraint. For LVM3, Isro only builds around three rockets per year, most of which are committed for Isros own missions," he said in an interview.

As a result, the heaviest rocket is mostly not available for commercial missions. Isro today is working with private vendors to increase the capacity of the heaviest rocket from three to seven per year. This will help meet heavy commercial demand, especially at the pricing that Indian space firms are offering," Goenka said.

Further addition, crucially, is being made in manufacturing capacity of the PSLV, too. Its per-year capacity is being increased from around six, to 12. Most of this demand is coming from global markets," he said.

Privately manufactured rockets for Isro is being seen as crucial to the space sectors ability to attract commercial missionsa field that today is largely led by the US.

Companies such as Elon Musk-backed SpaceX have, over the years, built heavy launch capacity for their rockets. After launching 98 rockets last year, SpaceX is eyeing 144 launches this year.

To do this, in September 2022, a consortium of Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Aerospace won an 860-crore contract to make five PSLV rockets in four years. This capacity is now being ramped up through more private vendor participation.

Another key area is in completely privatizing Isros small rocketthe Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).

All technology of the rocket will be transferred to the private sector, and Isro will no longer make them. There is a bidding process to license the small rockets technology, for which In-Space raised an expression of interest a few months ago.

Since then, weve shortlisted companies that will qualify for the final bidding of the SSLVs technology, who will be informed by next week. Once they submit, the final process is likely to be completed within the next three months, after which the SSLV will be fully privatized," Goenka said.

However, critics say the Indian private space industry suffers from gaps, for which the industry is looking to the Centre for solutions.

The stipulated demand for global satellite launches, as per earlier estimates made by various entities in India, was very high. Right now, due to the macroeconomic slowdown, many companies have revised their satellite constellation launch estimates," said Chaitanya Giri, associate professor, science and technology policy, at Punes Flame University.

This will significantly impact the ability for Indias private space startups to attract commercial business. If they cannot attract business, attracting substantial investors will be challenging," he added.

Goenka, however, said that there is not much to read into this at the moment."

By the end of FY26, between private startups Skyroot Aerospace and Agnikul Cosmos, and Isros public-sector undertaking, NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), we may have enough demand and capacity to reach a small rocket launch frequency of up to 25 launches per year, or nearly once every two weeks."

Narayan Prasad Nagendra, chief operations officer at Netherlands-headquartered space supply chain discovery platform, Satsearch, said a key aspect that the Centre is yet to address is its role as a customer.

The US government, for instance, is the single largest commercial contractor for SpaceXthe worlds most successful private space startup.

The role of the government will be very important as a customer for the private space sector. This is a question that would lie with In-Spaceit will not be possible to create a successful private space sector without the government playing the role of a customer.

Space agencies around the world are looking to support their local industry by playing the role of an anchor-customer which allows credibility to be built. This can then be leveraged to fast track the process of acquiring global customers and market share that the government is very interested in," he added.

Goenka said such a role for the central government will evolve over time."

Going forward, Isro will not make any commercial satellites, or satellite launches, barring anything of strategic importance, such as for military uses. Any other government requirement will eventually be addressed by the private sector. Today, the Centres public sector undertaking (PSU) in the space industry, NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), has become the medium through which other government departments will give business to the private sector," he added.

In-Spaces decadal vision of the space sector, published in October last year, projected potential revenue of $44 billion by 2033. The projection also claimed that at such revenue, Indias market share in the global commercial space market can increase to 8% in 2033, up from 2% last year.

Tender-based offering of projects in the private sector has already happened in one case, where a large order of satellites was given to NSIL, which in turn issued a tender to private sector companies to build satellites. This will be the process that will be followed for now, until more confidence in our private sector builds up across government departments and global markets," Goenka further said.
Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal took to social media site X (formerly known as Twitter), to express that he is optimistic about India's growing electric vehicles segment enabling job creation in the country.

In a post on March 7, the industrialist noted that EVs use up to six times more minerals compared to conventional vehicles and if played out correctly, the need for these resources could drive up jobs in the local mining sector. He further added that a "explore, mine and make in India" mantra by startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will be an important factor in tapping the "massive potential" for job creation in the country. "Did you know that an electric vehicle uses 6 times the amount of minerals than a conventional vehicle does? Today, 1 in 7 new cars being sold across the world is electric. And this growth will be exponential. In India, we are only starting out. The demand for copper, aluminium, lithium, cobalt and nickel is going to be massive" he wrote. "We need to explore in India, mine in India and make in India to avoid dependence on expensive imports. There is an exciting opportunity for startups and SMEs to produce final products. I encourage all entrepreneurs to enter this sector. There is a big potential for massive job creation," Agarwal added.

Vedanta Among Major Bidders for Critical Mineral Blocks

Earlier on February 29, the Union Mines Ministry said industry majors such as Vedanta, Coal India, NLC India, Ola Electric, Jindal Power and Dalmia Group were among the bidders for 20 blocks in the first tranche of auction for critical mineral blocks in India.

The ministry said received more than 50 bids for the 20 critical and strategic mineral blocks in the first tranche, which was launched on November 29. These blocks consisted of minerals such as lithium, glauconite, nickel, PGE, potash, graphite, molybdenum, phosphorite and rare earth elements (REE).

The blocks are spread across Bihar, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

The government has been making efforts to boost the mining of critical minerals in the country. These minerals are key components of semiconductor, batteries and solar module manufacturing playing a key role in India's net zero plans.

In September 2023, the ministry came up with a list of 30 critical minerals which are required in several key sectors including battery storage, telecom and defence.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday launched India's first state-owned OTT platform, CSpace in Thiruvananthapuram. Speaking at the event, the Chief Minister said the launch of state-run OTT will prove to be a decisive step in the advancement of Malayalam Cinema, news agency ANI reported.

"Several private OTT platforms give prominence to films in the most widely spoken language since their prime motive is to maximize profit. CSpace's priority will stream content with artistic and cultural values. This platform is envisioned with the multifaceted goal of preserving and promoting the Malayalam language," ANI quoted the Chief Minister as saying.

Also Read | Cabinet approves 4% hike in Dearness Allowance for government employees

The Chief Minister further said to safeguard the interests of the film industry, the CSpace will only stream films that are already released in theatres. The move aims to promote good cinema without hurting the interests of the producers and exhibitors, the chief minister added.

The OTT platform will be managed by the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC).

Also Read | Rahul Gandhi to contest Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad

The Hindustan Times reported that the CSpace will feature award-winning films, short films, documentaries and other content that have not received a wide theatrical release but have great artistic and cultural merit.

There is a cost of almost 50% we are bearing to ensure technical aspects of a film, rental cost, quality upgrades, website maintenance etc. The remaining 50% of the revenue from a film being streamed will go to its producer. If its a director who got a state or national award, a share of the revenue will be given for intellectual rights of the film as well. This is a creator-friendly platform in that sense where we are giving them a slice of the revenue," Hindustan Times quoted KSFDC chairman and renowned filmmaker Shaji N Karun saying in January.

The report further said the OTT will function on a pay-per-view model, where payment is made only for the viewed content. It allows viewers to watch a feature film for 75 and charges will be adjusted accordingly for shorter-duration content.

The KSFDC has constituted a 60-member panel to curate the contents. The panel included eminent cultural personalities like Benyamin and OV Usha among others.

Also Read | Pakistan gets first Sikh minister in Punjab province

The panel has selected a list of 42 films in the first phase for streaming on CSpace. The list includes 35 feature films, six documentaries, and one short film. Movies that have won national or state awards and those exhibited at major film festivals will also be streamed on CSpace.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Opening a demat account and trading account signifies your entry into the realm of financial markets, enabling you to invest in a variety of securities such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, derivatives, and commodities. These accounts serve as gateways to direct access to these securities, enabling you to trade freely and diversify your investment portfolio.

Nonetheless, it's crucial to regularly check your stock holdings, fund balance, and stay informed about bonus shares and dividend payouts by logging into your demat account frequently.

If you haven't made any trades (buying and selling) in your demat account for a consecutive 12-month period, the account will become dormant due to inactivity.

Unlock your financial freedom Open Demat Account

Demat accounts: Everything you should know about the annual maintenance charges on them

The term inactive account refers to an account wherein no trades have been carried out in the last 12 (twelve) months across all exchanges. In recent times, there has been a significant surge in demat account openings, largely driven by the booming stock market. Despite the increase, the number of active demat accounts remains relatively low compared to the total count, which currently stands at 14 crore in India.

Start your investing journey today Open Demat Account

In this article, we will explore why it is necessary to monitor dormant demat accounts, and how to reactivate a dormant demat account.

What is a dormant demat account?

A dormant demat account is a dematerialised account that has not been used for a year. It could be because the investor has not made any transactions or the account has been inactive. The account is still active, but there are no recent trades taking place.

A dormant demat account is different from a closed demat account. The demat account holder may reactivate the account at any time.

Also Read: What is the difference between a demat and a trading account? MintGenie explains

It is important to monitor dormant demat accounts, as they may be vulnerable to fraud or misuse. In such cases, the investor needs to be vigilant and take proactive steps to secure their account.

How do I reactivate a dormant demat account?

Reactivating a dormant demat account is not a difficult process. The first step is to check with the brokerage firm or depository participant (DP) to see if your account is actually dormant. This usually depends on the maintenance fees you pay and the length of time that the account has been inactive.

If your account is indeed dormant, the next step is to get a reactivation form from your broker or DP and submit it along with the necessary documentary proofs, such as a PAN card, passport, and so on. You may also need to settle all pending maintenance dues, and you may have to pay a reactivation fee to the DP unless the value of the shares in your account is very high.

Also Read: What are the charges associated with a demat account?

Once the reactivation process is complete, it is important to keep your demat account active. This can be done by logging in to your demat account once every six months to stay informed about its status and to check your holdings.

FAQs

Do I need to pay additional charges to reactivate my demat account?

The policy regarding additional charges for reactivating your account varies among depository participants. Some may impose an extra fee for reactivation, while others may not.

What happens to the funds in my account if it becomes dormant?

If your account becomes dormant and contains funds, your depository participant will credit those funds to your linked bank account. DPs typically follow a running account settlement for their clients, meaning that any unused funds in the demat account must be returned to the bank account at a specified time interval.

How often should I open or use my demat account to avoid it becoming inactive?

To avoid your demat account becoming inactive, it's advisable to conduct at least one trade within a 12-month period across all exchanges where you hold securities.

What happens to the securities in my demat account if it remain inactive?

If your demat account remains inactive for an extended period, the securities held in the account remain safe and secure. However, you won't be able to conduct any transactions until the account is reactivated.

Will I still be eligible to receive dividends if I don't regularly open my demat account?

Yes. You will still be eligible to receive dividends even if you don't regularly open your demat account. Dividends are typically credited directly to your linked bank account, regardless of the activity in your demat account.

Are there any consequences if I fail to reactivate my demat account after it becomes inactive?

If you fail to reactivate your demat account after it becomes inactive, you may face restrictions on trading and accessing your securities. Additionally, you may incur penalties or charges for account reactivation, depending on your depository participant's policies.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Shares of IIFL Finance , one of the leading NBFCs engaged in retail credit, rebounded in today's session with an intraday gain of 10%, reaching 420.40 apiece after the company on Wednesday announced that Fairfax India agreed to invest up to US$200 million in liquidity support amidst the recent Reserve Bank of India (RBI) embargo on the company's gold loan disbursements.

"The RBI's embargo has raised liquidity concerns amongst the companys investors and lenders. In response to these concerns, Fairfax India has agreed to invest up to US$200 million in liquidity support on terms to be mutually agreed and subject to applicable laws, including regulatory approvals (if any)," the company said in a regulatory filing.

The Canadian investment firm, led by India-born Prem Watsa, first invested in IIFL in 2011, when it acquired a 9% stake through the Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel Fund.

Also Read: IIFL Finance share price down 20%; Jefferies downgrades the stock rating to 'hold' as gold loan ban may hurt profit

In July 2015, Fairfax India made a voluntary offer to buy a 26% stake in IIFL for 1,621 crore, picking up an additional 21.85% stake. The group also had an economic interest of another 5.15% through derivative instruments.

Fairfaxs total shareholding in IIFL stood at 35.7% as of March 2016. Over the years, it has divested some of its stake in the company.

Also Read: RBI bars IIFL Finance from disbursing gold loans with immediate effect; shares locked in 20% lower circuit

On February 05, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred IIFL Finance from sanctioning and disbursing gold loans on certain material supervisory concerns. Subsequently, the stock witnessed a sharp decline of 20% in the two trading sessions that followed this regulatory development.

Issuing a clarification on the action, IIFL Finance said, "We reaffirm our commitment to rectify observations of the RBI in the gold loan portfolio to comply with RBI findings at the earliest and will continue with our endeavor to provide gold loan services in the overall interest of customers".

Domestic brokerage firm Motilal Oswal said, "It is difficult to predict how long it could take to work with the regulator and get this ban reviewed and revoked. However, in light of some recent episodes where the RBI banned certain activities/products of financial institutions, our base case assumes that it could take around six months to get the RBI to conduct a special audit and subsequently rectify the observations to the satisfaction of the RBI."

Also Read: RBIs system clean-up actions to ensure ethical business practice, analysts say

After incorporating the impact of this ban on IIFLs gold loan growth, the brokerage cut its FY24, FY25, and FY26 EPS estimates by 2%, 14%, and 15%.

Beyond the immediate impact on incremental gold loans, IIFL will also have to work with its existing customers and co-lending partners to prevent any damage to its gold loan brand and the trust that it has built over the last many years. It will also have to make efforts to retain existing customers and employees, the brokerage said.

The brokerage anticipates ongoing volatility in the stock price in the near term. However, it reaffirmed its 'buy' rating and maintained a target price of 560 per share. This target is based on revised target multiples for each of its standalone, HFC, and MFI businesses, considering recent observations by the RBI.

Disclaimer: We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Earlier this week auto major Tata Motors crossed the 1,000 mark for the first time ever after it announced a demerger of its commercial and passenger vehicle segments into two distinct listed entities. This move aims to enhance the company's ability to capitalise on growth opportunities effectively.

On Monday, the company approved a demerger proposal, splitting it into two distinct listed entities. The first entity will encompass the Commercial Vehicles business and its associated investments, while the second will include the Passenger Vehicles segment, consisting of PV, EV, JLR, and their related investments.

In recent years, Tata Motors has witnessed robust performance across its Commercial Vehicles (CV), Passenger Vehicles (PV+EV), and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) businesses, attributed to the effective execution of individual strategies. As per the company's exchange filing, since 2021, these businesses have been operating autonomously under their respective CEOs. Tata Motors has announced plans to demerge these entities, facilitated by an NCLT scheme of arrangement. Importantly, shareholders of Tata Motors will retain an identical shareholding in both listed entities following the demerger process.

Does this demerger decision change the fundamental and technical outlook for the stock in the long term? Is it still a good buy? Here's what experts say.

Stock Price Trend

Tata Motors has been giving robust multibagger returns in the last one year, driven by significant improvements in its Jaguar and Land Rover segments, along with its commercial vehicle division. After seven quarters of losses, the company transitioned to a net profit in Q3FY23, maintaining this trend in subsequent quarters, leading to a remarkable surge in its stock price.

The stock has surged over 132 percent in the last one year and over 30 percent in 2024 YTD. In comparison, the benchmark Nifty Auto has advanced 64 percent in the last 1 year and almost 14 percent in 2024 YTD.

The stock has added over 7 percent in March so far, extending gains for the fifth straight month since November 2023. Between November 2023 and March 2024, the stock has jumped 62 percent.

It has gained 7.4 percent in February 2024 and 13.4 percent in January 2024. Meanwhile, it rose 10.4 percent in December 2023 and 12.4 percent in November 2023.

Currently trading at 1,017.65, the stock hit its record high of 1,065.60 on March 5, 2024. It has now soared 154 percent from its 52-week low of 400.40, hit on March 28, 2023.

Earnings

In the quarter ended December 2023, Tata Motors, India's most valuable carmaker, beat Street estimates as it reported a more than two-fold increase in net profit driven by strong sales in its British luxury car unit, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). Tata Motors consolidated net profit surged 137.5 percent to 7,025.11 crore in Q3FY24, compared to 2,958 crore in the year-ago period.

Its total revenue from operations in the third quarter of FY24 rose 25 percent to 1,10,577 crore from 88,488.59 crore, YoY, led by JLR sales which rose 27 percent in the period.

On the operating front, the auto major's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) during the December quarter rose 59 percent to 15,333 crore from 9,644 crore in the year-ago period.

February Sales

Tata Motors reported an 8.4 percent rise in its total wholesales to 86,406 units in February as compared with 79,705 units in the same month last year. The automobile majors total domestic sales stood at 84,834 units last month as against 78,006 units last month, a growth of 9 percent.

Tata Motors passenger vehicles (PV) sales, including electric vehicles, in the domestic market, were at 51,321 units as compared to 43,140 units in the year-ago month, up 19 percent, the company said in a regulatory filing. Meanwhile, its total commercial vehicle sales fell 4 percent last month to 35,085 units from 36,565 units, YoY.

Technical View

Om Mehra, Technical Analyst, SAMCO Securities

View Full Image Source: Samco

Tata Motors has demonstrated bullish momentum by reaching a historic high of 1,065.60 (CMP 1018.30), its fifth consecutive month in positive territory.

The stock exhibits strength with solid support at 940-950 levels. It remains above the 20-day and 50-day moving averages aligning with a bullish Nifty Auto Index, which is near its all-time high, also taking strength and support from its sectoral Index. Delivery volume surged by 259.07% over the 5-day average. However, the stock might undergo consolidation after a strong ascent.

With each decline, long-term investors could build up their holdings in tranches. Stable investors, usually win the race, as they can prevent themselves from being left behind and, instead, buy the stock when it is at the right levels.

Rohan Shah - Technical Analyst, Religare Broking Ltd

Tata Motors has been in a strong uptrend and has rallied more than 50 percent in the last three months after breaking out from a consolidation pattern range. Following a steady uptrend, the stock is now showing signs of a fading upward momentum, indicated by the formation of a high wave candlestick pattern at the peak and bearish divergence in the momentum indicator. Thus we believe, traders should refrain from creating fresh longs at these levels and wait for a dip towards the 980-960 zone. On the flip side, the 1040-1060 is expected to act as a strong resistance zone in the short run

Pravesh Gour, Senior Technical Analyst at Swastika Investmart

The stock is on a classical uptrend, currently hovering at its peak levels. A breakout from a flag formation on the weekly chart, accompanied by significant volume, suggests a strong potential for further gains. With its trading position above key moving averages and a demand zone around 890900, the overall outlook appears promising.

Immediate resistance lies at 1120, with a potential for further upward movement beyond 1200 in the short term. Conversely, a breach of the 900 level could lead to a test of support around 850. Momentum indicators like the Relative Strength Index (RSI) signal positive momentum, while the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicates a bullish trend, as evidenced by a centerline crossover.

Fundamental Views

Prabhudas Lilladher

Tata Motors' decision to proceed with the demerger reflects the management's confidence in the robust turnaround of its PV and JLR business units. This confidence is underscored by the contrast to earlier periods when the CV business's cash flow was often redirected to support these units. The strategic demerger of TTMT is poised to significantly influence the company's market positioning and sharpen its operational focus. At its core, the demerger strategy appears to meticulously consider the interests of all stakeholders like shareholders (to have an identical shareholding in both the listed entities), employees, and customers (noted that it will have no adverse impact on employees, customers, and its business partners).

We value TTMT on a SoTP basis where we already value the CV business (at a multiple of 11x EV/EBITDA, similar to AL IN) and PV businesses (ex-JLR) (at a multiple of 10x EV/EBITDA, at a discount to MSIL) separately to reflect their distinct market dynamics. We have a BUY rating on the stock.

Motilal Oswal

Tata Motors (TTMT) has announced the demerger of its business verticals into two separate listed companies. While the demerger seems to be a step in the right direction, we do not foresee any need to revisit our target price, which is already based on SoTP valuation. Moreover, despite factoring in most of the positive triggers in our estimates, we get limited upside given the recent sharp run-up in the stock. We, hence, downgrade TTMT to Neutral (from BUY) with an unchanged TP of INR1,000 per share.

On the back of a strong performance across its key business segments, the stock has significantly outperformed key indices with a 204 percent return in the last 36 months vs a 50 percent return in the Nifty. Although the demerger seems favorable, we see no need to revise our target price, as it is already factored into our valuation.

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decision.

SWASTIKA INVESTMART More Information

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe blast probe is ongoing as more pictures of the suspect surfaced that show him travelling on a bus.

The prime suspect was caught on CCTV cameras installed in the area as one of the pictures showed the suspect without a hat or a mask, as per pictures released by India Today. Also read: Bengaluru Rameshwaram cafe blast: NIA announces  10 lakh reward for information on bomber

On March 1, around ten people were injured when a blast took place at Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe in Brookfield where both staff and customers at the cafe sustained injuries. On March 4, Ministry of Home Affairs handed over Bengaluru's The Rameshwaram Cafe blast probe to National Investigation Agency.

Following the explosion Karnataka Police registered a case under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Explosives Substances Act as officials from the local unit of NIA and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) examined the blast site. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah claimed that the explosion is suspected to have been carried out by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

The NIA had earlier posted a picture of the suspected bomber taken from CCTV video footage. In that photo, the bomber was seen wearing a cap, mask and glasses while entering and leaving the cafe premises. The agency shared phone numbers and emails where people could send information about the prime suspect. Additionally, the agency also assured to keep the identity of the informants confidential. On Wednesday, NIA announced a bounty of 10 lakh for information about the bomber.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that the Bengaluru Police is looking at all possible angles including business rivalry, terrorism and intention to spread fear ahead of Lok Sabha elections.

The explosion was caused by the bag placed by a customer, according to the Rameshwaram Cafe owners. A CCTV video footage of the incident showed an explosion, leading to smoke and panic-stricken customers and others fleeing the place. Meanwhile, the owner will reopen the Brookfield outlet of the Rameshwaram Cafe on 8 March.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Sara Menker, who was born amid the famine in Ethiopia, captivated investors with her vision for a climate-data startup that would use artificial intelligence to help fix the worlds broken food system.

The former Morgan Stanley commodities trader attracted prominent investors such as TPG and Intel Capital, helping push the valuation of Gro Intelligence in 2022 to $850 million.

The company is now in disarray. Menker was fired as chief executive in February after Gros board discovered the company had been late contributing to employee retirement plans and missed paying some payroll taxes during a cash crunch, according to people familiar with the matter. Gros co-founder and chief operating officer, Sewit Ahderom, was also fired. The board hired an outside law firm to investigate what happened.

The startups valuation has dropped to between $20 million and $25 million after being bailed out by investors over the past week in a deal that could wipe out its earlier investors. On Friday, the company told employees it would lay off 60% of its roughly 150-person staff and would be able to pay employees again after missing payroll earlier.

Gros new chief executive and former chief technology officer, James Cariello, said in a statement: We have a high level of confidence in what we will achieve. We have a unique product solving real-world problems."

Neither Menker nor Ahderom responded to requests for comment.

The recent events mark a stark reversal for a startup embraced by a whos who of investors. Time magazine hailed it as one of its 100 most influential companies in 2021.

Existing investors also include Millennium Managements Israel Englander, venture firm DCVC, the cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder and part of the Wasserstein family, related to the late Bruce Wasserstein of Lazard.

Menker was considered a rising star on Morgan Stanleys commodities desk before she left to start Gro, which uses AI to forecast crop yields amid changing climate conditions. Investors describe the Ethiopian entrepreneur as knowledgeable, passionate and charismatic, with her background and Western training a plus for some.

Some praised her ability to navigate bureaucracy to get climate data from multiple countries.

In a 2017 TED Talk recounting her decision to leave Wall Street, Menker said the question of when agricultural demand outstrips supply became an obsession when I realized through my research how broken the system was and how very little data was being used."

A 2022 article in the New York Times described Menker as growing up in a middle-class family and moving to the U.S. for college. She didnt personally experience the famine but was deeply affected by it, she said. Food, sugar, toilet paper was rationed no matter who you are," Menker said. She grew up very much aware that you cant take anything for granted."

Gros clients included Unilever and Bayer. Menker spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 2023. TPG founder Jim Coulter would sometimes text or phone Menker, inviting her to events to speak with the private-equity firms clients.

But Gro, like many other startups, was burning cash. Menker had started to position Gro as a tool to fight global food insecurity and was courting elephants," or larger clients. Those efforts were marked by repeated delays, several people said.

Menker in recent months had told the board and investors that Gro was in talks for several big contracts, including with Saudi Arabia. She said landing some could vault Gros valuation to more than $1 billion or even $2 billion. She personally lent the company millions late last year.

People familiar with Gro said the board had already begun losing confidence in Menker and Ahderom by the time it learned of the 401(k) and payroll-tax issues. A consultant who had come aboard flagged the issues.

Among the boards frustrations had been Menker and Ahderoms resistance to cutting costs and reining in their views of expected revenue, the people said. The founders also remained overly optimistic about the companys ability to raise money in a historic venture-funding drought.

In the recent funding round, Gro raised at least $10 million. TPG and Intel Capital, among Gros most significant backers, participated, along with some new investors and Gros reconstituted management team. Some cited their belief in Gros technology as a reason they participated.

Common shareholders have been wiped out; Menker owns 80% of the common shares. Investors holding preferred shares have potentially lost their money; they would recover their principal if the company sells for about $200 million, a valuation some called plausible given the excitement around AI.

Irate investors are asking how Gros fortunes changed so rapidly.

Kobre & Kim, the law firm hired by Gros board, could look into how the irregularities with 401(k) contributions and payroll taxes came about and whether employees were hurt financially by the delayed contributions.

The law firm also could examine whether Menker and Ahderom made willful misrepresentations to the board or, like some founders, were simply too optimistic.

Write to Juliet Chung at Juliet.Chung@wsj.com
Ashneer Grover, the former Managing Director of BharatPe, has been denied permission to travel to the UK later this month with his wife, Madhuri Jain Grover. The Delhi police rejected their request to travel abroad as guest speakers at the London School of Economics (LSE) and the University of Warwick, citing an ongoing investigation into alleged financial misconduct, reported The Indian Express .

The Delhi polices Economic Offences Wings (EOW) investigation officer received a representation request from the ex-BharatPe MD and his wife seeking permission to travel abroad in the last week of February. They requested travel permission for the UK from March 9 to 15 as guest speakers at the LSE and the University of Warwick, among others, as per sources.

After reviewing their representation, the investigation officer denied the permission," The Indian Express quoted an informed source, as saying.

In May last year, the EOW had registered an FIR against the Grovers and other family members for alleged misappropriation of funds and causing losses worth 81 crore to Resilient Innovations Private Limited.

The EOW registered an FIR under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

Correspondence between me and EOW is confidential and as per courts directives I will continue to cooperate with police in this open-and-shut case and keep winning in Court. Ive not got any correspondence regarding the travel permission (which is a confidential correspondence) as yet from EOW," The Indian Express quoted Ashneer Grover as saying.

The couple was stopped at the Indira Gandhi International AirportTerminal 3 on November 16, 2023, when they were to travel to the US. They were informed that a Look-out Circular (LOC) had been issued against them that had been in effect since November 6.

Seeking to quash the LOC, the duo approached the Delhi High Court. On February 1, Justice Subramonium Prasad stated that the investigation in the case registered by the EOW is at a nascent stage and listed the matter for hearing on May 8. It is too hot in the day for this court to intervene now. Come after some time. The investigation is at a nascent stage and they will take some time to investigate," the High Court had said.

However, Justice Subramonium Prasad said that the petitioners application to travel abroad for two days may be considered by the authorities concerned based on the facts of the case.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Days after being hit by a low-intensity IED explosion, Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe is set to reopen to the public on March 9, reported ANI. The IED explosion at the cafe took place on March 1 injuring more than 9 people. The investigation in the case is underway with the search of the prime suspect in the case.

Amid the ongoing investigation, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), released a photograph of the prime suspect in the case and announced a cash reward of 10 lakh for information leading to his arrest. "NIA announces a cash reward of 10 lakh rupees for information about the bomber in Rameshwaram Cafe blast case of Bengaluru. Informants' identity will be kept confidential," the NIA said in a post on 'X'.

Meanwhile, the the Bengaluru cafe blast suspect was spotted without hat or a mask in one of the pictures from the latest CCTV footage. The blast at Rameshwaram Cafe in the southern city left nearly 9 people injured. The explosion took place near the kitchen where people had lined up, according to the videos of the incidents being shared on social media and news channels.

The initial investigations suggest that the suspect had used a homemade bomb and carried it in a bag, which he left in the cafe after ordering some food at the cafe. At present, the NIA is investigating the matter after the city police registered a case that included terrorism clauses, local media reported. The investigation of the matter was handed over to the NIA by the Ministry of Home Affairs on March 4.

The explosion at the Bengaluru Cafe has also heated up the political scenario in Karnataka, where the opposition is criticising the Karnataka government calling the blast the Congress government's inability to handle terrorism.

Opposition's reaction on the incident met with strong criticism with Karnataka Ministers. After the explosion, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara urged the BJP leaders to refrain from issuing negative statements as the government continues its investigation.

"We are continuing our investigation. Eight teams have been formed, and all are working in different directions, examining various aspects. We have collected several CCTV footage. We are exploring every angle, including any jealousy factor. I also appeal to the opposition to cooperate with us and not politicize this issue. We do not know if there is any connection with the Mangaluru blast. They have used similar material and the same technical system," he said.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Thursday cleared a long-pending proposal to indigenously design and develop a fifth-generation deep penetration Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) in line with the futuristic requirement of the Indian Air Force, news agency ANI reported citing sources.

The report said the initial development cost of the project has been estimated at around 15,000 crore.

Under the plan, five prototypes of the AMCA will jointly be built by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) with support from private industries.

Only a very few select countries in the world such as the US, Russia and China have fifth-generation stealth fighter jets. The IAF has been pushing for the AMCA project given its long-term requirement.

Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv

Separately, the CCS also cleared a proposal to buy 34 new Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv choppers indigenously designed multi-role, new-generation helicoptersfor the Indian Army and Indian Coast Guard.

Public sector firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited will manufacture the indigenously developed helicopter of which nine will be inducted in the Indian Coast Guard and 25 others will go to the Indian Army.

The report citing sources said the Indian Coast Guard are set to replace the old light utility choppers, while the Indian Army would be using the choppers for multiple roles.

Both projects are expected to be worth over 8,000 crore and give a boost to indigenization.

The government has also cleared the project related to upgrading the BMP infantry combat vehicles of the mechanized infantry directorate of the Indian Army.

HINDUSTAN AERONAUTICS More Information

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday said it has conducted further search operations at 67 locations in seven cities of Rajasthan and Maharashtra in connection with a case related to suspicious IMPS (immediate payment service) transactions amounting to approximately 820 crore across multiple UCO Bank accounts.

The agency had registered a case on November 21, 2023, on a complaint received from UCO Bank.

ALSO READ: UCO Bank says 820 crore erroneously credited to account holders, 649 crore recovered

In the complaint, it was alleged that between November 10 and November 13, 2023, IMPS inward transactions initiated from around 14,600 account holders of seven private banks were wrongfully credited in the accounts of over 41,000 UCO Bank account holders.

This resulted in 820 crore being credited to UCO Bank accounts without actual debiting from the originating banks.

The agency carried out extensive search operations on Wednesday in Rajasthan -- at Jodhpur, Jaipur, Jalore, Nagaur, Barmer, Phalodi, and at Pune in Maharashtra.

During the searches, approximately 130 incriminating documents related to UCO Bank and IDFC, as well as 43 digital devices (including 40 mobile phones, 2 hard disks, and 1 internet dongle) were seized for forensic analysis, said the CBI.

Numerous account holders have exploited this situation, making wrongful gains by withdrawing funds through various banking channels," said the CBI in a statement.

Earlier in December 2023, the CBI conducted searches at 13 locations involving private individuals and UCO Bank officials in Kolkata and Mangalore.

The investigation agency also said that 30 suspects were also found and examined on the spot".

To ensure the smooth conduct of the search operations, a total of 120 Rajasthan Police personnel, including armed forces, were deployed.

Up to 210 personnel comprising 40 teams, including 130 CBI officials, and 80 independent witnesses from various departments were involved in the operation.

On November 15 last year, UCO Bank said that it had faced some technical issues due to which some accounts received erroneous credits. It is clarified that the transactions observed by bank were due to internal technical issue as a result of which account holders of our bank have received some erroneous via IMPS. We wish to clarify that there was no issue with the IMPS platform," the bank stated.

UCO BANK More Information

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
The Union Cabinet approved six major decisions on Wednesday. One of them is a "gift to women for tomorrow's International Women's Day", said Union Minister Piyush Goyal. Here are these six decisions approved the Centre at a meeting on Wednesday:

1. For the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), the government approved the continuation of a targeted subsidy of 300 per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to 12 refills per year. Beneficiaries can avail of this scheme starting April 1, 2024, till March 31, 2025. "The total expenditure for this will be 12,000 crores," said Piyush Goyal.

Piyush Goyal said, "Under the leadership of PM Modi, the cabinet has approved six major decisions. The first is a gift to women for tomorrow's International Women's Day. We have approved the continuation of targeted subsidy of Rs. 300 per 14.2 kg cylinder (and proportionately pro-rated for 5 kg cylinder) for up to 12 refills per year to be provided to the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) during FY 2024-25."

2. The Union Cabinet approved a hike in Dearness Allowance to government employees and Dearness Relief to pensioners by 4 percent. The new rate will be effective from January 1, 2024, and will represent an increase of 4 percent over the existing rate of 46 percent of the Basic Pay/Pension. Tap here for more details on DA hike

3. The Cabinet approved a comprehensive national-level 'India AI Mission' with an outlay of 10,371.92 crore for five years. A press note from the Cabinet said that the India AI mission will work in furtherance to the vision of Making AI in India and Making AI Work for India. Tap here for more details on India AI Mission

4. The government raised the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for raw jute by 285 to 5,335 per quintal for 2024-25. "This would ensure a return of 64.8 percent over the all India weighted average cost of production. The announced MSP of raw jute for 2024-25 season is in line with the principle of fixing the MSP at a level of at least 1.5 times all India weighted average cost of production as announced by the Government in the Budget 2018-19," a government press release said.

5. The Cabinet Committee on Security cleared proposals to buy 34 new ALH Dhruv helicopters for the Indian Army and Indian Coast Guard. "The Indian Army will get 25 of these choppers while the Indian Coast Guard will get nine of them. These choppers would be built indigenously by public sector firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited," Defence officials were quoted by ANI as saying.

6. The Cabinet approved 10,037-crore scheme to promote industrialisation in Northeast region. "The proposed scheme envisages approximately 2180 applications, and it is anticipated that direct employment opportunities of about 83,000 will be generated during the scheme period. A significant number of indirect employment is also expected to be generated," a press note said.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
The State Bank of India has not provided information on electoral bonds encashed by political parties as of March 6, missing the Supreme Court's deadline, PTI reported.

The bank had on March 4 requested an extension until June 30 to disclose details, but the plea has not yet been scheduled for a hearing by the apex court. In its plea, SBI argued that retrieving information from various sources and matching data between silos would be time-consuming.

Supreme Court Directive Unmet

SBI has not yet shared any details with the Election Commission of India (EC), as it was supposed to as per the SC order on February 15, sources told PTI. In the same order, the EC has been directed to publish the disclosed information on its official website by March 13.

An Election Commission spokesperson declined to provide information or comments on the matter, PTI said.

SC had asked SBI to stop issuing Electoral Bonds immediately after its January verdict and given March 6 as the deadline to furnish the asked details.

The details that the SBI will furnish will disclose details of each electoral bond encashed by the political parties, which shall include the date of encashment and the denomination of the electoral bond. The apex court said that by March 13, the ECI shall publish the details of Electoral Bonds on its official website.

SC Strikes Down Electoral Bonds Scheme

The Supreme Court on February 15 had pronounced its verdict on a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the Electoral Bond scheme, which allows for anonymous funding to political parties.

The top court struck down the electoral bonds scheme calling it unconstitutional. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud delivered two separate but unanimous verdicts on pleas challenging the scheme.

The Supreme Court said infringement of the Right to Information is not justified to curb black money. There are other alternatives which substantially fulfil the purpose and impact the right to information minimally when compared to the impact of electoral bonds on the right to information," SC said as quoted by LiveLaw.

Pronouncing the verdict, the CJI said the scheme is violative of freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The bench said the fundamental right to privacy includes citizens right to political privacy and affiliation.

It added that the scheme will help the party in power to gain an advantage. "There is also a legitimate possibility that financial contributions to a political party would lead to a quid pro quo arrangement because of the close nexus between money and politics, SC said.

(With inputs from PTI)

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Arvind Kejriwal's Delhi government has extended the scheme for zero electricity bills and subsidies (to lawyers, farmers, victims of 1984 riots, etc) till 2024-25, said Minister Atishi after CM's emergency cabinet meeting on Thursday.

I am extremely glad to announce that in today's cabinet meeting, it has been decided that free electricity bills and subsidies will continue in 2024-2025 as well for the people of Delhi," said AAP leader and minister Atishi while addressing the media on Thursday.

Zero power cut and free electricity in Delhi till 31 March 2024: Delhi CM

While congratulating the people of the national capital, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal announced that the 24-hour electricity and free electricity bill has been extended in Delhi till 31 March 2024. The scheme also includes subsidies for lawyers, farmers, and victims of the 1984 riots.

Also Read: Delhi Budget 2024 Highlights: Finance Minister Atishi announces  1000 a month to all women aged 18 years and above

"Many people had doubts about electricity subsidy - will they get it next year or not? Let me tell you that these people tried their best to stop it. But your son got this work done also. For your information, let me tell you that 24-hour electricity and free electricity are available only in Delhi and Punjab. In the rest of the country, there are long power cuts and electricity bills worth thousands of rupees have to be paid. Because there is a government of honest and educated people in Delhi," wrote Delhi CM on X.

Also Read: Delhi Excise Policy Case: Arvind Kejriwal asks ED for virtual hearing after March 12

Earlier on the day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had called for an emergency meeting of his Cabinet at his residence to discuss the issue of power subsidy. Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, there were speculations of a major decision from the Cabinet on power subsidy for the next year, senior officials told news agency PTI.

Under the existing free electricity scheme, the Delhi government is providing free electricity to consumers with a monthly consumption of 200 units. Whereas, a 50% subsidy is given to people with a consumption of 201-400 units of electricity.

Nearly 4.94 million households received electricity subsides in 22-23

Delhi's government's free electricity bill scheme has benefitted nearly 4.94 million households in 2022-23. The Kejriwal government had released a subsidy amount of 3,161.22 crore, according to the latest Economic Survey. The government has kept a provision of 3,250 crore for the 2023-24 financial year (FY), the survey said.

The survey said that around 35,042 million units of electricity were consumed in Delhi in 2022-23. The number has increased phenomenally from the 31,116 million units consumed in 2021-22. The peak power demand also increased marginally with 7,695 MW being successfully met in 2022-2023.

ARVIND More Information

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has warned China in his latest remark amid the border row. In a veiled attack, the Defence Minister said that India has never attacked any country nor occupied its land, but if any country challenges India, the country is in a position to give a 'befitting' reply.

Singh, during NDTV Defence Summit 2024 on Thursday, underscored the transformation in India's defence sector in the past decade.

China sets 5% GDP growth target for 2024 amid push to boost confidence

"Whether from land, air, or sea, if anyone attacks India, our forces will respond strongly...We have never attacked any country nor have occupied even an inch of anyone's land. But, if anyone bats an eyelid at us, we are in a position to give a befitting reply," he said.

Rajnath Singh stressed Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliance) in the defence sector.

China raises defence budget! Where does India stand? All you need to know

"Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party government came to power in 2014, defence has been one of our core priorities. We moved towards Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in the sector. Whether it is the launch of the Department of military affairs, the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff, we have focused on indigenous production and export of defence equipment, as well as military modernization," the Defence Minister said.

"India's defence system became stronger because we focused on Indianness along with the defense system. We not only strengthened the defense system but also strengthened it as per the vision of Indians," he added.

China drops 'peaceful reunification' reference to Taiwan, defence spending up 7%

India and China have been locked in a military stand-off for nearly four years after the confrontations at friction points in eastern Ladakh in 2020.

The 20th round of Corps Commander-level talks between New Delhi and Beijing was held last October at Chushul as part of the ongoing efforts for overall disengagement and de-escalation to resolve the stand-off.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
The Indian government has freed a strong contingent of 10,000 soldierspreviously deployed at its western borderto strengthen its disputed border with China amid soured relations with Beijing after the June 2020 standoff between the two countries at the Galwan area of Eastern Ladakh, Bloomberg reported on Thursday citing senior Indian officials.

The report said an existing contingent of 9,000 soldiers, already deployed to the disputed Chinese border, will be brought under the newly created fighting command.

This combined force is supposed to be deployed to guard the strategically important 532 km (330.57 miles) stretch of the Indo-China border in the northern states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh

Bloomberg said the Indian Army and Ministry of Defense declined to comment on the development.

The unprecedented deployment of troops  backed by their own dedicated artillery and air support highlights both the regions strategic importance and its growing sensitivity in the eyes of Indias leaders.

The area has seen huge infrastructure investment and development in the last decade. Prime Minister Narendra Modis government has also encouraged tourism in this area.

Also Read | PM Modi inaugurates Hazratbal shrine development project: All you need to know

In 2021, India repositioned an additional 50,000 soldiers to patrol its border along with China, after a deadly border clash in 2020 that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead.

Both countries have since upgraded military-related infrastructure along with the border areas and moved missiles and aircraft to either side of their border, in addition to positioning more troops.

The possibility that we may face a similar situation that we faced in 2020 is keeping us active all the time," Bloomberg quoted Indias Defense Secretary Giridhar Aramane, at a business event last month, referring to the border clash between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

As many as 21 rounds of talks military-diplomatic have made incremental progress. New Delhi has since passed laws to discourage Chinese investments and enterprise in India.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Yet airlines are pushing back against new rules from the aviation regulator that mandate longer breaks and shorter work hours for cockpit crew. Fearful of higher costs and restricted operations, carriers want to delay implementation. They shouldnt.

Instead, Indias aviation industry needs to embrace these rules quickly with the understanding that safer skies and a greater emphasis on working conditions can only help business and lure more customers. The pain of tighter working hours will be short-lived, but the the benefits will be enduring.

Among the new stipulations released in January are mandates that weekly rest periods be increased to 48 hours from 36 hours to allow recovery from accumulated fatigue. Maximum flight times have also been cut and the definition of night duty  when reduced work times are enforced  will be broadened.

The Federation of India Airlines, which represents carriers including Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet Ltd. and Vistara, said last week that these new stipulations are the worlds most restrictive. They will require 25% more pilots, and may result in the cancellation of up to 20% of flights, the Economic Times reported. The new rules are to go in effect June 1. Airlines believe itll be almost impossible to comply on time and want that pushed back by a year.

While concerns about higher costs, staff shortages and schedule cuts are valid, carriers need to remember that fearful flyers are bad for business. Price is a big decision-making factor in passengers choosing an airline, yet multiple studies show that perceptions of safety also impact service quality and choice of transport mode. Given the rules apply to all, the purported higher cost will leave no individual operator with a competitive advantage.

Theres also precedent for national aviation authorities to implement regulations that may be stricter than global standards, and at least one case where delayed implementation may have proved fatal.

Two fatal accidents at Taiwans TransAsia Airways Corp. serve as a warning for Indias aviation sector. After the first, in July 2014, the Civil Aeronautics Administration introduced stricter rules specifically for that airline, which flew mostly domestic routes. Concerned about fatigue, the regulator mandated that pilots at TransAsia spend no less than 30 minutes at the gate between trips in order to provide enough rest and time to conduct preflight checks.

After lobbying from the airline, implementation was pushed back from Jan. 1, 2015 to March 1. But on Feb. 4, TransAsia flight 235 crashed into a river bank, killing 35 people. Logbooks showed that the aircraft spent just 20 minutes at the gate. Investigators found that numerous pilot errors were the chief cause of the accident. More time and less rush would have reduced fatigue and allowed the pilots to work through the problems more carefully. The avoidance of just one mistake may have saved dozens of lives. Customers quickly deserted TransAsia and the airline shut down the following year.

Current problems at Boeing Co. notwithstanding, including faulty aircraft design and engineering, the aviation sector has eliminated almost every major contributor to air crashes over the past 100 years. Pilot error is among the final factors, and fatigue is a major component.

Indias new rules didnt come from nowhere. The sudden death of an IndiGo pilot before his flight last August prompted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to review data on pilot fatigue and conduct spot checks. Pilots have pointed to erratic schedules, consecutive late-night departures, and excessive hours as contributors to exhaustion, Reuters reported at the time.

The pressure on aviation workers is set to continue. Domestic traffic hit a new high in December, ferrying 13.8 million passengers on more than 91,000 flights for the month. Annual figures could climb 15% this year as the recovery from Covid and a growing middle class spur customers to criss-cross the worlds most-populous, and seventh-biggest, country.

With more than 90% of its 1.4 billion people never having flown, Indian airlines have years of growth ahead. It would be a pity to scare millions of potential customers away before theyve even had the chance to experience the magic of air travel.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Tim Culpan is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology in Asia. Previously, he was a technology reporter for Bloomberg News.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Indians are among the most innovative people in the world  until their government gets involved. The libertarian commentator Gurcharan Das argued more than a decade ago that India grows at night, when the government sleeps." An entirely avoidable fracas about how to regulate artificial intelligence in India is evidence that Dass maxim still applies today.

India hosts a vibrant ecosystem of infotech companies, ranging from scrappy start-ups to continent-spanning behemoths. All of them were blindsided a few days ago by a government advisory decreeing that companies would need official permission to deploy any AI models on the Indian" internet.

The government, most concluded, had been spooked by the growth of large language models such as OpenAI Inc.s ChatGPT  and especially the new Gemini AI model from Alphabet Inc.s Google. Geminis answer to the question is Prime Minister Narendra Modi a fascist?" went viral last week, enraging Indian officials. Although Google quickly apologized, the damage had been done.

The Indian government is in the middle of a longer-term battle with big tech companies, especially those based in the US. Officials in New Delhi argue Google and others embed American values and regulatory principles in their products while trying to skirt Indias far more restrictive equivalents. The government is happy to use the heaviest possible levers to force foreign tech platforms to follow local rules. If, in the process, domestic alternatives receive a leg up  well, nobody in New Delhi would complain.

There are legitimate reasons for the governments concern. Indias general election is just a few months away. This is a mammoth exercise, with 900 million possible voters. Protecting elections in smaller countries is difficult; in India, it is a nightmare.

Modi warned ministers just last week about the danger posed by AI-generated deepfakes. Limiting misinformation in India is a Herculean task, and the government suspects that many US-based tech platforms just arent making a serious effort. Modi even used a keynote speech to the leaders of the G-20 grouping last year to call for common standards for AI-driven content.

At the same time, this particular response by the Indian government looked so heavy-handed that senior ministers rushed to clarify their intentions. The governments target was mainly large platforms, they insisted, not start-ups or companies working on broader AI applications  and the advisory was only meant to remind them of existing Indian law.

But here, too, damage has already been done. Innovators were reminded of the Indian states long record of using a blunderbuss when a regulatory scalpel would do. While Indians are proud of their IT and start-up sector, it would be far larger and more advanced without past regulatory missteps by the state.

Until 2021, for example, drones were either banned in India or so heavily regulated that peer competitors had gained a likely insurmountable advantage in the technology. And Indias booming fintech sector would be even more impressive if the central bank had not overreacted early on and limited mobile payments in 2008 to registered banks.

The governments advisory  and even its clarification  are sufficiently unclear and vague that similar overreactions cannot be ruled out for AI in India. If untested" AI models should be restricted, who in India is going to be testing them, and how swiftly? Is the Indian" internet going to be cut off from the broader online world, which will have full access to AI tools?

Even if we ignore the pleas of those developing new AI models in India, what about the countrys effective and efficient IT-enabled services sector? Wont those companies be rendered less competitive than their rivals if they lose access to free online AI tools?

There are real questions to be asked about how LLMs should be regulated, when they should be let out of the sandbox, and how best to safeguard innovation while also minimizing the chaos that AI-generated fakes could release. At the same time, bans are obviously not the way to go. If the Indian government does not want to stifle innovation and render Indians uncompetitive in a fast-changing global marketplace, it needs to be more cautious about what it says and does.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Mihir Sharma is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, he is author of Restart: The Last Chance for the Indian Economy."

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8. To mark the occasion, women in India and abroad will be given free entry to all centrally-protected monuments on Friday, reports claimed. These include all 3,691 Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-protected ticketed monuments/museums including Taj Mahal in Agra, Red Fort and Qutab Minar in Delhi, Sun Temple in Konark, Ellora caves and Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh. Check list here

Free entry to these monuments will be provided to all women visitors from India and across the world. This initiative was introduced by the Ministry of Culture in 2019, according to which only women visitors were allowed free entry in ASI monuments on Womens Day. It was, however, extended to all visitors in 2022. ALSO READ: International Women's Day 2024: Wishes, quotes and messages to share Besides this, women will be granted free entry to monuments in Lucknow which fall] under the purview of the Hussainabad and Allied Trust (HAT) and the ASI. Women won't need a ticket to visit the iconic structures of Lucknow like Bada Imambada, and Chota Imambada, Hindustan Times reported. The Lucknow district administration and HAT, Lucknow, has decided to grant free entry to women visitors at monuments under their management like Bada Imambada, Chhota Imambada and Picture Gallery," said Amit Kumar, additional district magistrate and secretary of HAT, in a letter on Thursday. He said free entry to women is only for Friday. ALSO READ: International Women's Day 2024: Find out how Indian women wish to close gender pay gap while ensuring work-life balance Cheap movie tickets Jio Studios and Aamir Khan Productions decided to slash the ticket prices of their latest release, Laapataa Ladies, to 100 - as a women's day special.

Corporates launch schemes/campaigns

Several companies also announced schemes to promote gender equality at the workplace and special campaigns and initiatives towards women empowerment ahead of International Women's Day.

Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB) and furniture retailer IKEA announced the successful implementation of initiatives and schemes which helped women's empowerment as per their pledge.

ALSO READ: International Women's Day 2024: How can women ensure long-term wealth generation?

Furniture retailer Ikea said it has implemented policies that prioritise work-life balance, offering benefits such as Gender Equal Pay, a predictable 5-day workweek with schedules communicated a month in advance, healthcare for extended family members and same-sex partners, parental leave for both mothers and fathers alike.

Godrej Industries launched the #InvestInWomen campaign, showcasing the transformative impact of investing in women across its diverse portfolio of businesses. FMCG major Britannia said its leading biscuit brand Marie Gold, has launched HerStore, a unique digital ecosystem for women entrepreneurs.

ALSO READ: International Women's Day 2024: Date, significance, quotes. All you need to know

Lifestyle e-commerce platform Nykaa has unveiled its latest campaign, #JustSayThanks to start a dialogue on womens behavioural patterns when it comes to accepting compliments. Nykaas campaign aims to spark a conversation on womens discomfort with praise and encourages them to own the compliments that come their way.

GODREJ INDUSTRIES More Information

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
India slipped to sixth spot on the 'Top 10 Markets' list of Maldives Tourism, as per a daily report released by the island nation's Ministry of Tourism on March 4. India's rank on Maldives Tourism charts has been dropping ever since Mohamed Muizzu became Maldives' President.

India dominated the Maldives tourism market until December last year, with a share of over 11 percent as of December 31, 2023. Its position started declining starting January 2 this year, when India ranked third among the top 10 countries that make most of the Maldives' tourism market share. India's rank further plunged to fifth on January 21 and then to sixth on March 3.

Meanwhile, China has steadily climbed the chart from 10th to the first spot. China now makes the most  around 12 percent on March 5  of the total tourist arrivals in Maldives. Other countries ahead of India as of March 5 are Russia (2nd rank), Italy (3rd rank), the UK (4th rank) and Germany (5th rank).

View Full Image Maldives Tourism charts (Ministry of Tourism, Maldives)

The declining number of tourists from India and the subsequent increase in that from China is in line with Muizzu's policies and deals that seem snub India and welcome China.

Within days of taking charge as the new Maldives President Muizzu asked India to withdraw its military personnel from Maldives by May 10. Later, he reportedly announced that the country would not renew an agreement with India to conduct hydrographic surveys.

At the same time, Maldives signed a military pact with China. Muizzu said this week that the Chinese government is ready to extend training to the Maldives army and provide non-lethal weaponry under a military grant.

In January, Muizzu announced that agreements to assist the Maldives in expanding agricultural growth to cater to food security were signed with the Chinese government. The Maldives government said in a press release without naming India, The President further remarked that the Government would end its dependence on one country for imported staple foods such as rice, sugar, and flour."

Accoridng to reports, Muizzu's government had announced that it reviewing more than 100 agreements signed with India by the previous regimes.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Indias private-sector coal generators largely quit building new power plants seven years ago, fleeing massive losses and the looming threat of cheaper renewable power. That appears to be changing. Companies including Adani Power Ltd., JSW Group Ltd. and Essar Power Ltd. are looking to invest in new and existing plants, Reuters reported this week, suggesting the capital strike is ending. That's an object lesson in the power of state intervention to skew markets away from cheap, clean power toward costly, fossil-fired incumbent businesses.

Not many would have predicted such an outcome a few years back. Slumping costs for solar and rising deployment of panels caused Indias coal power generation to peak between 2025 and 2027, with widespread impacts stretching from the mining and utilities industries to the countrys railways, shipping and engineering businesses, consultants KPMG wrote in a July 2017 study.

Those cost declines have been even more dramatic than analysts were predicting back then  but deployments havent kept pace. As a result, a return to coal looks increasingly likely. Far from peaking, as KPMG (and this columnist) forecast, the government now expects coal demand to increase by about 50% between now and 2030, when its set to hit 1.5 billion metric tons. If renewables dont get built, that may be the only way to avoid blackouts and meet Indias inexorably rising demand for power.

What sparked the current revival?

Its not about the economics. Coals competitive position compared to rival generation technologies has deteriorated over the period. In 2017, a new solar or wind generator was still marginally more costly than a new coal plant. Nowadays, its drastically cheaper. The average Indian solar generator in 2024 needs about $30.76 per megawatt hour to break even and wind is at $39.91/MWh, according to BloombergNEF, compared to $50.53/MWh for new coal and an average tariff at NTPC, the largest coal generator, of about $59/MWh in the 2023 fiscal year.

The renewables boom promised by those low prices, however, has failed to materialize, thanks to a welter of logistical and regulatory roadblocks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised in 2015 that wind and solar capacity would hit 175 gigawatts by 2022, but the eventual number came in about 40% lower. A goal of 500GW by 2030 looks further out of reach by the day: India needs to install about 50GW a year to hit that benchmark, but its struggling to reach a third of that level.

Far from easing the path for renewables, Indias government has spent recent years throwing up hurdles. Tariffs on imported solar panels have failed to incubate a viable domestic manufacturing sector, but have succeeded in raising costs for developers. Power auctions routinely demand battery or hydro backup for renewable projects thats not necessary at the relatively low levels of grid penetration seen currently in India, adding further costs. Thats possibly due to the rickety nature of the electricity network, a deterrent in its own right.

On top of that, long-term contracts require state-owned electricity retailers, known as discoms, to keep paying coal generators for set volumes at prices far above whats available in the market, making it pointless to procure cheaper renewables given fixed costs must be paid regardless. Discoms have been far more willing to cancel contracts with wind and solar developers. The industry has even been stymied by the Great Indian Bustard, a critically endangered bird whose habitat overlaps some of the countrys best wind and solar territory in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Fossil fuels have enjoyed more lenient treatment. Stressed assets"  coal generators that were unable to pay their debts to lenders  became a $23 billion drag on the financial sector, but the list of plants has been whittled from 34 in 2018 to four after alternative utilities, led by state-owned NTPC Ltd., stepped in as buyers of last resort and creditors took haircuts on their investments. The discoms have shouldered much of the financial burden by keeping retail power tariffs below profitable levels, with their own debts rising to 6.2 trillion rupees ($75 billion) in the 2022 fiscal year.

You might once have expected that renewables would gain market share at a speed commensurate with their rock-bottom prices. But governments have a remarkable ability to achieve their desired outcomes, even if the result is higher costs for electricity users. Right now, the private generators rushing back into coal are betting that Modis 500GW clean power target will prove as illusory as the 175GW one for 2022.

By entangling clean power in red tape while using state-owned bad banks and eye-watering power tariff rises to bail out insolvent fossil power, New Delhi has skewed the playing field toward the more costly, dirty technology. If the prospects for coal plants have been revitalized, its a sign that  like the Great Indian Bustard  theyve become a protected species.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy and commodities. Previously, he worked for Bloomberg News, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday his next mission is "Wed in India". Speaking at the 'Viksit Bharat, Viksit Jammu & Kashmir' programme in Srinagar, the Prime Minister urged the citizens of India to avoid hosting weddings abroad.

"People should host weddings in India...If people feel like coming to J&K and hosting weddings...do their booking here, stay here for three days and spend lavishly here so that people of Jammu and Kashmir also get their livelihood," PM Modi said on Thursday. Follow PM Modi in Kashmir Live Updates here PM Modi mentioned his "Wed in India" initiative for the first time during a Mann ki Baat episode on November 26, 2023. He said, "If we celebrate the festivities of marriages on Indian soil the countrys money will remain in the country...The people of the country will get an opportunity to render some service...even poor people will tell their children about that occasion.

During his speech on Thursday, PM Modi also lauded the boost in Jammu and Kashmir tourism over the past few years. He said Srinagar is making big strides in tourism. "This does not only help Jammu and Kashmir but the entire country," he said.

He said while tourists were reluctant to visit Jammu and Kashmir earlier, the Union Territory "is breaking all records of tourism today". He mentioned, "Over 2 crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir in 2023 only. Be it Amarnath or Vaishno Devi Mandir, a record number of devotees now visit these religious places. Also, the foreign tourist arrivals have increased by 2.5 times.

The Prime Minister added Jammu and Kashmir is touching new heights of development and breathing freely after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in 2019. He further accused the Congress of misguiding not only the people of Jammu and Kashmir but the entire nation on Article 370 for a long time.

The prime minister extended his "advance wishes" for the upcoming pious month of Ramzan and Maha Shivratri, which falls on Friday.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
The PMO on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will present the first-ever National Creators Award at the Bharat Mandapam on Friday.

The award aims to recognise excellence and impact across domains, including storytelling, social change advocacy, environmental sustainability, travel, technology, education and gaming, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement.

Social media has helped a lot in showcasing people's skills and talents. Youngsters in India are doing wonders in the field of content creation. To honour their talent, the National Creators Award has been initiated," PM Modi had posted earlier on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Also Read | SEBI prohibits JM Financial from acting as lead manager for public issue of debt securities

"The National Creator Award has witnessed exemplary public engagement. In the first round, more than 1.5 lakh nominations across 20 different categories were received. Subsequently, in the voting round, about 10 lakh votes were cast for digital creators in various award categories. Following this, 23 winners, including three international creators, were decided," the PMO statement read.

Also Read | Mamata Banerjee says BJP spreading fake information about Sandeshkhali

The lineup of nominees includes not only established but also emerging talent. The list includes Celebrity Creator like Katrina Kaif, Kangana Ranaut, Jackie Shroff, Sadhguru, Yash and Sunil Chhetri; Social media influencers like Komal Pandey, Siddharth Batra and Kritika Khurana Ranveer; Best Storyteller like Zakir Khan, Keerthika Govindasamy, Ranveer Allahbadia, Zeel Patel, Avijit Jamloki; Disruptor of the Year includes Nancy Tyagi, Sushant Divgikr, Revant Himatsingka, Shivam Malik, Favourite Green Champion Abhinav Yadav, Vani Murthy, Ramveer Tanwar; Best Creator for Social Change like Sandeep Maheshwari, Supriya Paul, Siddhesh Lokare, Supriya Paul, Sushant Divgikr.

Also Read | Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe set to open from March 9 as probe continues

The award will be given across 20 categories, including best storyteller, the disruptor, celebrity creator, green champion, best creator for social change, most impactful agri creator, cultural ambassador, best travel creator, swachhta ambassador, new India champion, tech creator, heritage fashion, most creative creator (male and female), best creator in food category, best creator in education and international creator award.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
The Supreme Court on Thursday listed the hearing of the petition filed by the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Thackeray faction on April 8, 2024 and summoned original records about the disqualification of MLAs of Eknath Shinde group, including the chief minister, from the office of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker.

It is important to note that the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar hadin an order on January 10, 2024declared the Shiv Sena-Eknath Shinde group as the "real political party" after its split in June 2022.

Speaker Narwekar had also rejected the Uddhav Thackeray faction's plea to disqualify 16 MLAs of the ruling camp, including Shinde.

A bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra summoned the original documents from the Maharashtra Speaker's office.

Also Read | Tata Motors to hike price of commercial vehicles by 2% from April 1

The apex court, which had issued notice on the Thackeray group's petition, also asked Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shindes faction to file a response to Uddhav Thackeray groups plea positively on or before April 1, and listed the plea for final hearing on April 8.

The top court bench said it was keeping the issue of maintainability of the petition open.

In January, the apex court issued notice to Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde and 38 MLAs of his group on Thackeray faction plea challenging the Speaker's order.

The Shinde group had approached the Bombay High Court, challenging the refusal of the Speaker to disqualify the Uddhav Thackeray group and the High Court issued notice on the Shinde group's petition.

In the apex court, along with the Maharashtra Speaker's decision to not disqualify Shinde and his group, the Thackeray faction also challenged the order of the Speaker to recognise the Shinde faction as the 'real Shiv Sena' after its split in June 2022.

Also Read | PM Modi in Kashmir: 5 key highlights from Bakshi Stadium rally

The Speaker's decision came on January 10, nearly two years after Thackeray's camp moved disqualification petitions against Shinde and his supporting legislators under the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law) of the Constitution.

Approaching the apex court against Maharashtra Speaker Narwekar's decision dismissing the disqualification petitions against Shinde and 38 "rebel" Shiv Sena legislators, the Thackeray faction said the decision was a "colourable" exercise of power based on "extraneous and irrelevant" considerations.

Earlier, the top court had asked the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to expeditiously decide the disqualification petitions pending before him.

In May last year, a five-judge constitutional bench held that it could not disqualify the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government and reinstate Uddhav Thackeray as Chief Minister because the latter had chosen to resign instead of facing a test of strength in the Assembly.

also Read

TATA MOTORS More Information

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
NEW DELHI : The four nations making up the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) have offered duty-free market access for Indias animal products, fish, processed food and vegetable oils in a trade pact that is expected to be signed next week, two people aware of the matter said.

The EFTA nationsIceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerlandhave also proposed $100 billion of investment in India by their companies over 15 years, which could create about a million jobs, the people said on the condition of anonymity. The two sides began negotiations for a trade treaty in 2008.

This (entry for animal products and investments) duty-free access starts immediately and is the best offer among the other FTA partners," one of the two people said. This is all finalized and will be signed by early next week."

According to the people cited above, this is the first time an Indian FTA comes with an investment commitment. Of this, $50 billion is to be invested in the first 10 years, and the rest in the next five. A third government official said EFTA was initially willing to commit to only $50 billion, but doubled the figure later.

In return, India has offered immediate duty elimination on 40% of trade lines where trade activities were low or nil, the people cited above said. It will allow the EFTA nations to export their goods and services without any tariff obligation.

Indias exports to the EFTA countries in FY24 (April 2023-January 2024) were at $1.87 billion, including items like chemicals, pharmaceuticals, apparel, and pearls, precious and semi-precious stones. India imported goods worth $20.45 billion from the EFTA countries in 2023, including pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals and coins valued at $16.7 billion.

In the EFTA, we are focusing on both goods and services trade. Switzerland, in particular, is a significant market for goods, having eliminated duties on all industrial goods from January 2024. This move creates a level-playing field where every country can benefit," said Ajay Sahai, director general, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).

However, the real gains are expected to come from services and investment. Gold is a crucial commodity, accounting for about 80% of trade between India and the EFTA, with India being one of the major gold importers. Its unlikely that all gold from Switzerland will be duty-free, considering the concessions given to the UAE," Sahai added. Emerging areas like government procurement and digital trade will also be important for India, he said.

The deal will also allow Indias services sector to increase exports to Switzerland and Norway, which constitute a substantial share of exports to the EFTA nations, one of the two people cited above said.

If the EFTA treaty is signed next week, it will be the only trade deal to be finalized before the general elections, dates for which may be announced next week. India is also conducting FTA talks with the UK and Oman, which may have to wait till a new government comes.

Queries sent to the commerce minister and secretary, and spokespersons for the Prime Ministers Office and the commerce ministry remained unanswered till press time. Asdis Olafsdottir, head of information and communication at the EFTA secretary-generals office, declined to comment.

Signing the FTA will be a big achievement if things work according to plan, said Abhash Kumar, assistant professor of economics at Delhi University.

While the trade agreement can offer various benefits, the matter of concern is domestic industries, labour standards and environmental regulations. India imports a huge amount of gold from Switzerland. The FTA should focus on the precious metal to ensure its availability in Indian markets at affordable rates," Kumar said.

Separately, India is nudging the UK to allow entry of Indian ghee in exchange for allowing British cheese. Trade negotiators have pressed the UK to waive its sanitary and phytosanitary rules to let in ghee and other dairy products, which remain shut out of the British market.

Founded as an association of several European countries in 1960, the EFTA was a challenger to the European Union (EU) in its early years. While most European countries hitched their wagon with the EU, the four EFTA countries have held out, though both share close trade and people links.

Among the EFTA countries, Switzerland is Indias largest commercial partner. Trade between India and Switzerland amounted to $17.14 billion in 2022-23, out of $18.66 billion with the whole group.
NEW DELHI : A World Bank agency is prepared to stand guarantor for up to $8 billion of loans taken by state-owned infrastructure builders and local government bodies, a move that could attract private capital in a whole range of public projects.

In an interview, Junaid Kamal Ahmad, vice-president, operations at the banks Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), said the agencys focus on underwriting loans aligns with Indias infrastructure development strategy at the national and sub-national levels, covering sectors like logistics, transport, electricity and water.

As a start, the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) last week received MIGAs guarantee for up to $132 million of loans from MUFG Bank of Japan for up to eight years.

Ahmad, who was earlier country director for the World Bank in India, said MIGA may also stand guarantor for municipal bonds, allowing better ratings of these instruments and bringing global capital to the local bodies.

MIGAs credit guarantee plan comes as a shot in the arm for state-owned infrastructure developers, as it opens a new window for them to secure overseas loans and diversify beyond direct lending by multilateral development banks (MDBs) such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, etc. MIGA doesnt require a counter-guarantee from the central government, which MDB loans require," said Ahmad.

The World Bank Group has two other lending arms. The International Development Association (IDA) lends to the worlds poorest countries, while International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) lends to middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries.

MDB loans will have a single borrower limit," said Ahmad, explaining how Indian infrastructure developers could tap long-tenor private capital at attractive rates using MIGAs guarantee. A country like India, because its lending went from IDA to IBRD, and in IBRD it has been borrowing significantly and would begin to touch the single borrower limit, at that stage, the ability to use a leveraging tool like ours, which doesnt require a counter guarantee of the central government, enables a country like India to go into the market using the leveraging tool."

Data available from the World Bank shows 93 active IBRD financing and seven IDA financing projects in India.

India set up a National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) in 2019 that envisages an investment of $1.4 trillion ( 100 trillion) over a five-year period to build infrastructure and help the country achieve a gross domestic product (GDP) of $5 trillion. Financing this requirement has been a challenge, which agencies like MIGA are trying to address. As of now, it is unclear whether the NIP, which closes in 2025, will be extended.

Ahmad said MIGA has prudential limits on single-country exposure within its portfolio, and its capacity to support any individual country depends on its capital base and ability to use reinsurance. As guaranteed loans are repaid, our capital be recycled into new guarantees in that country," he said. In the case of India, MIGA is almost at ground zero in terms of potential and because of MIGAs leveraging ability, one could easily look at growth of $7-8 billion of market finance underwritten by MIGA to flow into India over the next few years, Ahmad said. And this is a conservative estimate as private fund flows backed by us could rise further depending on our capital enhancement and repayments," Ahmad said.

Another area that were beginning to look into is Indias municipalities that are looking to go into the market. Were looking at whether we would be able to enhance the ability of municipalities to go into the market. We are driven by the development strategy of India, but it would tilt more towards the infrastructure sector, whether it is through state-owned enterprises (SoEs) or through municipalities that are financing large projects through bonds or otherwise."

Ahmad said MIGAs model would help countries like India that are fast graduating from low middle-income countries to middle-income countries to meet the huge needs of capital for infrastructure creation that cannot just come from the traditional route of MDB lending. The traditional model has been nations going to MDBs for long-term borrowings. But developing economies are making deep investments for economic growth, energy transition and digital transitions. There is not enough development finance to actually support these investment needs."

Nations are looking at capital markets for additional funds. The question then arises whether MDBs like the World Bank can shift from being lending institutions to becoming leveraging institutions, especially for nations moving to becoming middle income countries. It is here that MIGA is helping to de-risk private capital that needs to flow into big needs of infrastructure and other sectors and fulfilling their requirement for cheaper and long tenor loans," he said.

MIGA was set up in 1988 as a member of the World Bank group to promote cross-border investments into developing economies by providing guarantees. Since its creation, MIGA has issued over $76 billion in guarantees across 123 developing countries, supporting more than 1,000 projects. In India. MIGA issued its first guarantee in 1997 for a $9.7 million telecom project.
NEW DELHI : Indias foreign minister S. Jaishankar urged Japanese companies to consider Make in India" initiatives as well as export from India to global markets, during the Raisina Roundtable in Tokyo.

Jaishankar is on a three-day visit to Japan to meet with his Japanese counterpart Yoko Komikawa. He acknowledged that while investments into India from Japan have been robust, bilateral trade has been less robust.

In 2022-23, India-Japan bilateral trade stood at $21.96 billion while foreign direct investment from Japan since April 2000 has reached almost $41 billion.

Japan is the fifth-largest investor in India.

When I look at the pace of change and the new opportunities today in India, I don't really see that reflected in the dynamism of our ties," Jaishankar said of Japan-India relations.

He stated that government-to-government relations have progressed faster than business or people-to-people ties.

On Thursday, Jaishankar also held a joint commission meeting with his Japanese counterpart Yoko Komikawa.

Today, our meeting allowed us to take stock of various ongoing lines of effort, since the dialogue was held last in July in New Delhi," Jaishankar said at a joint press briefing with his Japanese counterpart.

We agreed on the need for new steps to make this relationship prepared for, and responsive to, the emerging geopolitical, geo-economic and geo-technological trends, and as well to the growing demands of the people of the two countries to get to know each other better," he added.

India and Japan also agreed to consider development partnership projects in third countries.

It will benefit not only our two countries but also other countries in the neighbourhood through a network of forward and backward linkages," Jaishankar said.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Haryana's Gurugram district food safety officer issued a show-cause notice to the Laforestta cafe-cum-restaurant pertaining to a case that surfaced a few days ago where five people were allegedly served dry ice in an apparent mix-up of mouth freshener, reported NDTV.

In the reported incident, five people who had asked for mouth freshener at the cafe were instead given dry ice, which made them vomit blood. They all reported a burning sensation in their mouths. Dry ice is solid carbon dioxide and is used as a cooling agent. It is toxic if consumed directly. The manager of Laforestta Cafe, located in Gurugram's Sector 90, was arrested on Tuesday, and a notice was issued to the eatery following the incident. Also read: Housing sales in Gurugram up by 13% in 2023; 7-8% decline in Noida, Greater Noida The notice read, "You are hereby directed to provide a complete list of food articles that were served on that day to the consumers and to inform why and how the incident took place... it appears that you are not complying with the hygienic conditions as proposed in the FSS Act and there has been serious negligence on your part regarding maintaining of food safety." On March 6, the officials informed NDTV that the notice served a day before to the eatery asked for a response within 15 days. The notice demanded the reason as to why its licence should not be cancelled or suspended. Also read: 5 vomit blood, complain of burns after eating mouth freshener at Gurugram's Laforestta Cafe

ACP Manesar Surender Sheoran said, On the night of the 3rd (March), we got information from the hospital that some people have been admitted here. Police reached the spot, and the (people who were admitted) lodged a complaint and said they had gone to Laforestta restaurant. After the food, they were given a mouth freshener. After eating it, they started vomiting and had a burning sensation in their mouth, due to which they were admitted to the hospital."

The ACP further informed that a case under Sections 328 and 120B has been registered against the staff and the restaurant owner, while the restaurant manager has been arrested. The probe is underway in this case. According to the complaint lodged by one of the five diners, Ankit Kumar, with his wife and his friends, had gone to the Laforestta Cafe in Gurugrams Sector 90 on the night of March 3. Earlier, police informed that two of the five people were still hospitalised.

The video of the incident is trending on social media, where one of the men started vomiting on the restaurant floor while a woman put ice in her mouth, repeatedly saying, Its burning." After consuming the mouth freshener, all of them were seen screaming and crying in pain and discomfort.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to grant relief to the online travel company MakeMyTrip in its claim against Google, alleging trademark infringement through the Google Ads program.

MakeMyTrip accused Google of benefiting its rival company Booking.com through sponsored links.

The apex court dismissed the appeal, stating that Booking.com is not encroaching on MakeMyTrip's trademark. According to the court, there is no likelihood of confusion as claimed by MakeMyTrip because users intending to visit MakeMyTrip's website wouldn't likely end up on Booking.com.

MakeMyTrip had moved the Supreme Court against the Delhi high court's division bench order in December 2023, which overturned the single bench interim order which favoured the MakeMytrip.

The high court asserted that the mere use of trademarks on the Google Ads program does not constitute infringement or passing off under the Trade Marks Act, 1999.

Earlier, a single bench of the Delhi high court had expressed an interim view in May 2022 that the use of a registered mark like 'MakeMyTrip' as a keyword on Google Ads by a competitor like Booking.com could amount to trademark infringement.

During the hearing in the Supreme Court, MakeMyTrip argued that when users search on Google, a picture of Booking.com appears at the top, while MakeMyTrip appears below it. MakeMyTrip claimed that Google charges for this, and Booking.com, by paying these charges, gains more prominence despite using MakeMyTrip's trademark, thus benefiting from its reputation.

In response, Booking.com and Google argued that there is no confusion as Google Ads are auctioned, and there is no preference given. They noted that MakeMyTrip doesn't appear anywhere on the screen or in the trademark form, negating the accusation of piggybacking on MakeMyTrip's reputation.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
POKROVSK, UkraineRussia is attacking Ukrainian forces at several points along the 600-mile front line as it seeks to capitalize on its recent capture of the eastern city of Avdiivka, its first major battlefield victory in months.

Moscow knows Ukrainian units are short on fresh soldiers and ammunition. The U.S. and Europe are failing to rearm Kyiv quickly. Ukrainian officials and military commanders say Russias current tactic of probing attacks is meant to take advantage of Moscows battlefield initiative before what they see as a likely major Russian offensive as early as this spring.

Whats happening right now is what Russia has spent a long time preparing for. It has gathered enough forces and resources to pressure various axes all at once," said Maksym Zhorin, deputy commander of Ukraines 3rd Assault Brigade, which withdrew from Avdiivka last month.

Ukraines military, struggling to respond, is husbanding its ammunition and seeking opportunities to hit Russian forces on the move, an approach known as active defense. To halt a better-manned and better-equipped foe, Ukrainian troops are also digging in.

West of Avdiivka, excavators more common to a construction site than a battlefield are carving up the earth to create antitank ditches and trenches. The Ukrainians are attempting to replicate the physical obstacles that Russia created on its side of the front more than a year ago, with deadly effectiveness in stymying Ukraines offensive last summer.

Ukraine in November announced a campaign to build an extensive network of fortifications along the front lines, especially in the areas near Avdiivka. President Volodymyr Zelensky called for accelerated construction and urged private companies and donors to get involved.

On all the main fronts, we need to dig in, speed up the pace of construction," he said at the time. The priority is obvious."

Ukraines Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Monday that almost 31 billion hryvnia, or around $800 million, had been allocated for the construction of fortifications.

But Western officials and Ukrainian soldiers say that the campaign hasnt yielded significant results, and the absence of progress is proving a liability for Ukraine as Russia steps up its assaults. In recent days it has pushed Ukrainian forces out of a string of villages west of Avdiivka, although hills and bodies of water a little further west can serve as natural obstacles for Kyiv that are easier to defend.

The lack of layered defenses along the front line should be of some concern for Ukraine," said Franz-Stefan Gady, a Vienna-based defense analyst who recently toured front-line areas in the eastern Donbas region. The situation will get quite critical for the Ukrainian forces."

Soldiers in the area say troops assigned to combat missions are being forced to dig trenches, often under fire. The complexity of the task means manpower alone wont suffice.

In the circumstances were in, we have to dig, entrench and build by ourselves," said Zhorin. He said he hopes a line of defense toward the city of Pokrovsk to the west is sufficiently developed to withstand an expected Russian assault in the coming weeks.

When Ukrainian forces launched their major offensive last summer, they quickly became bogged down in an elaborate network of obstacles Russia had spent months preparing. Its main defensive belt had multilayered trench lines, antitank ditches, concrete blocks and extensive minefields that proved almost impossible to traverse.

Building physical defenses is now vital for Ukraine, not least because it is also struggling to mobilize troops. The country has so far pursued an unusual policy of only conscripting men 27 and over and exempting anyone below that age. Fathers of three or more children, carers for disabled people, and workers in critical sectors are exempt. In most countries, military service is more common for men or women starting around age 18.

A revision of Ukraines mobilization law that aims to expand the pool of recruits, and lower the recruitment age to 25, is stuck in parliament.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior Zelensky aide, said last month that of Ukraines one million-strong standing army, fewer than 300,000 troops had taken part in active combat.

Ukraines military command is scouring brigades that were created for last years counteroffensive, seeking to bring into combat the thousands of troops currently fulfilling support roles, said Mykola Bielieskov, a research fellow at Ukraines government-linked National Institute for Strategic Studies.

Supporting troops are vital to a large army, though their number relative to combat troopsa proportion known as the tooth-to-tail ratiocan vary. Ukraine deploys almost three support troops for every combat troop, a high number that is a legacy of its Soviet military structure. Reallocating these soldiers could risk weakening the force.

We cant indefinitely postpone the issue of mobilization," said Bielieskov. But the task of making military service more appealing is difficult amid a shortage of weapons for recruits and the brutal reality of defending against relentless Russian assaults.

Offsetting Ukraines problems are Russias own battlefield shortcomings. While Moscow has more men and resources at its disposal than Kyiv, it has struggled to focus them and instead relies on masses of poorly prepared soldiers to overwhelm Ukrainian positions in a tactic that Ukrainian troops say is costing Russia thousands of lives.

Russian commanders are struggling to orchestrate complex joint efforts," said a senior official at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They are ordering undermanned, inexperienced units to achieve unrealistic objectives due to political pressure."

While Ukrainian defenses are spotty and uneven we dont see that Russia has the capability to exploit breakthroughs" and make significant gains, the official said.

Still, Russia is making progress. It is pushing along four different axes in Ukraines east, throwing thousands of men into the fight in a bid to push back Ukrainian troops who have had little time to establish robust defensive lines. Unusually dry weather has facilitated the Russian advance, contrary to expectations that muds common to late February would impede it.

Ukraine has few remaining military strongholds in Donbas that could rival Avdiivka or Bakhmut during periods when these cities served as major hubs for Ukraines resistance, said Dara Massicot, an expert on the Russian military at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. That means that with each Russian advance, Ukraine must retreat to often underprepared positions.

Strategic retreats are among the most difficult combat maneuvers for troops to carry out because they must fight advancing forces while covering their own positions and seeking sanctuary. They are the type of operation that well-established militaries drill frequentlyand one Ukraines forces arent uniformly adept at, especially because many of the countrys best-trained troops have been killed or wounded over the past two years.

Russias pressure makes the job harder.

Serhiy Cherevaty, a Ukrainian military spokesman, said that across large parts of the eastern front line, Russia is firing seven artillery shells for every shell Ukraine fires.

Bielieskov, at the government-linked think tank, said Moscow wants to wear down Ukrainian forces, staging probing attacks along the front line instead of full-scale assaults aimed at taking new territory. The attritional strategy aims to exhaust Ukraines manpower reserves and force it to use up precious ammunition, Bielieskov said.

Theyre in quite a comfortable situation," he said. Theyre laying the ground for a major push in the second half of this year."

While Ukraine grapples with manpower problems, Russia is adding around 30,000 men to its armed forces each month, according to Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence.

But Russia is also losing men at a rapid pace. Ukrainian soldiers who have recently engaged Russian forces in battle say they are astonished by the Russians apparent disregard for the value of human life. Russia paid an enormous price for the capture of Avdiivka, with one Russian military blogger saying 16,000 men died.

It also lost more than 400 tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy armor, according to the NATO official. The British defense ministry said in an intelligence briefing this week that an average of 983 soldiers a day had been killed or wounded in Ukraine during Februarythe highest casualty rate since Moscow launched its large-scale invasion two years ago.

Im not sure they can keep up this tempo of advance for long, because their losses are crazy and hard to wrap your head around," said Zhorin. But at the moment, they have the forces to do it."

Write to Matthew Luxmoore at matthew.luxmoore@wsj.com and Daniel Michaels at Dan.Michaels@wsj.com
(Bloomberg) -- The leader of the United Auto Workers, a young woman whose sister was killed in a school shooting and the prime minister of Sweden will be among the guests of first lady Jill Biden for the State of the Union address Thursday night.

They are intended to put faces on issues or themes," according to the White House, as President Joe Biden highlights accomplishments of his time in office and makes a case for a second term.

Biden, however, was deprived of a potential signature moment to rally support for assistance to Ukraine and opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin when Olena Zelenska, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as well as Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian dissident Alexey Navalny, declined invitations to join the first lady in the viewing box. The White House confirmed the invitations and the responses, but would not say why the two women decided not to attend.

While its unusual for a foreign leader to appear at a State of the Union, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has been invited after his country joined NATO, part of Bidens campaign to strengthen the alliance in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Jazmin Cazares, another guest of the first lady, became an advocate for gun restrictions after her 9-year-old sister, Jackie, was killed in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022. Biden has had little success in persuading Congress to enact new bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

When UAW chief Shawn Fain organized a strike against the Big Three automakers last year, Biden, who presents himself as the most pro-union president in history, went to Michigan and marched in a picket line. The walkout led to a historic agreement and the union has endorsed Bidens reelection.

Earlier: Bono, Paul Pelosi, Nichols Family Headline Biden Speech Guests

Other guests of Jill Biden include Latorya Beasley, whose in vitro fertilization treatments were canceled after a recent Alabama Supreme Court decision; Shelby Nikitin, a Navy commander who was awarded a Bronze Star for her role in protecting ships from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea; and the journalist Maria Shriver, a member of the Kennedy family who founded the Womens Alzheimers Movement.

Members of Congress have also invited people caught up in events over the past year. For instance, Mia Schem, who was taken hostage by Hamas during its assault on Israel, will be a guest of House Speaker Mike Johnson.

--With assistance from Justin Sink.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
(Bloomberg) -- The leader of the United Auto Workers, a young woman whose sister was killed in a school shooting and the prime minister of Sweden will be among the guests of first lady Jill Biden for the State of the Union address Thursday night.

They are intended to put faces on issues or themes," according to the White House, as President Joe Biden highlights accomplishments of his time in office and makes a case for a second term.

Biden, however, was deprived of a potential signature moment to rally support for assistance to Ukraine and opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin when Olena Zelenska, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as well as Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian dissident Alexey Navalny, declined invitations to join the first lady in the viewing box. The White House confirmed the invitations and the responses, but would not say why the two women decided not to attend.

While its unusual for a foreign leader to appear at a State of the Union, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was invited ahead of his countrys expected accession to NATO, part of Bidens campaign to strengthen the alliance in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Sweden is expected to become the 32nd member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as soon as Thursday, when its likely to deposit its accession documents at the US State Department. After that, its blue and yellow flag is expected to be raised outside the NATO headquarters in Brussels at a ceremony on Monday.

Jazmin Cazares, another guest of the first lady, became an advocate for gun restrictions after her 9-year-old sister, Jackie, was killed in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022. Biden has had little success in persuading Congress to enact new bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

When UAW chief Shawn Fain organized a strike against the Big Three automakers last year, Biden, who presents himself as the most pro-union president in history, went to Michigan and marched in a picket line. The walkout led to a historic agreement and the union has endorsed Bidens reelection.

Earlier: Bono, Paul Pelosi, Nichols Family Headline Biden Speech Guests

Other guests of Jill Biden include Latorya Beasley, whose in vitro fertilization treatments were canceled after a recent Alabama Supreme Court decision; Shelby Nikitin, a Navy commander who was awarded a Bronze Star for her role in protecting ships from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea; and the journalist Maria Shriver, a member of the Kennedy family who founded the Womens Alzheimers Movement.

Members of Congress have also invited people caught up in events over the past year. For instance, Mia Schem, who was taken hostage by Hamas during its assault on Israel, will be a guest of House Speaker Mike Johnson.

--With assistance from Justin Sink.

(Updates with NATO details in the fifth paragraph. An earlier version corrected the timing of Swedens accession to the alliance.)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Emphasizing on how India today is a different, more developed country, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said it is important that Japan appreciate the pace of change in India.

Jaishankar is in Japan on a three-day visit from March 6-8. The EAM participated in the first Raisina Roundtable organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in Tokyo today.

I think it is important that Japan today appreciates the pace of change in India," Jaishankar said, adding that India today is a country "which is building 28 kms of highway every day, which is creating 8 new airports every year, which is establishing one and half- to two metros every year, which has for the last 10 years built two new colleges every day."

The EAM highlighted the development the country has achieved on the technical fronts and said that India is a very different country today.

"This transformation of India makes us a more effective and credible partner, whether it is ease of doing business, ease of living, digital delivery, startup and innovation culture or shaping the international agenda, India is clearly a very different country today," Jaishankar said.

He also elaborated on the major corridors India is working on both of its east and west and said that Japan and India have 'converging views about it.

They include the India Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMAC) initiative through the Arabian peninsula and the international north-south transport corridor and towards east the trilateral highway...these corridors when completed will connect the Atlantic to the Pacific through Asia," the EAM said. Two nations (India and Japan) have converging views about the need for transparent and collaborative connectivity."

Voice of Global South

India is conscious of its responsibility as the 'voice of Global South', said Jaishankar elaborating on the country's efforts of in development across 78 nations.

"As the voice of the global south, India is conscious of the responsibility, our development efforts today span 78 nations across different continents," the EAM said.

He also questioned Japan on if the two countries can work together to strengthen defence systems. "Can India and Japan coordinate in regard to their developmental systems? Maritime safety and security have become particularly pressing concerns. We can see that at the Red Sea, we had first casualties...it is also necessary to strengthen our defence capabilities for the benefit of the larger region."

The Houthis have been carrying out attacks on commercial and military shipping in Red Sea since November, halting global trade route. The Houthis initially said that they would target Israel-linked ships in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, but later expanded their targets to include vessels linked to the United Kingdom and the US.

He is in Japan for the 16th India-Japan Foreign Minister's Strategic Dialogue with his Japanese counterpart, Yoko Kamikawa.

The two ministers are expected to discuss issues of bilateral, regional and global importance, and exchange views on cooperation for a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, according to MEA.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
The Indian Navy rescued 21 crew members, including one Indian national , after Barbados-flagged Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence was reportedly hit by a missile in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday. The Navy on Thursday said that the Indian Navy warship, INS Kolkata was deployed for the Maritime Security Operation using integral helicopter and boats.

The US military said that three people have been killed and at least four wounded after a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels hit a bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden. The Indian Navy also added that critical medical aid was provided to injured crew. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the Indian Navy wrote: "Indian Navy's swift response to Maritime Incident in Gulf of Aden. Barbados Flagged Bulk Carrier MV #TrueConfidence reported on fire after a drone/missile hit on 06 Mar, approx 54 nm South West of Aden, resulting in critical injuries to crew, forcing them to abandon ship." "INS Kolkata deployed for Maritime Security Operations, arrived on location at 1645 hrs & rescued 21 crew, incl one Indian national, using integral helicopter and boats. Critical medical aid provided to injured crew. The crew of #TrueConfidence were subsequently evacuated to Djibouti, PM 06 Mar," they added.

The Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting merchant vessels transiting the vital Red Sea trade route for months but Wednesday's deaths appear to be the first fatalities resulting from such an attack.

An anti-ship ballistic missile struck the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned M/V True Confidence, after which its crew reported "three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition, and significant damage to the ship", the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

"The crew abandoned the ship and coalition warships responded and are assessing the situation," it said, noting that the attack was the fifth time the Houthis had launched an anti-ship ballistic missile in two days.

The Philippine government's Department of Migrant Workers said in a statement on Thursday that two of the crew members killed were Filipinos and two others were "severely injured".

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree wrote on social media that the True Confidence was targeted with multiple missiles "after the ship's crew rejected warning messages" from the Houthis.

(With AFP inputs)

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Lahore : Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora, an influential minority leader, has been sworn in as a provincial minister, making him the first Sikh to occupy a ministerial position in post-partition Punjab.

Belonging to the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, Arora has returned to the Lahore provincial assembly for the third term after winning the February 8 polls.

Arora, 49, was recently elected Pardhan (president) of the Pakistan Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee and also as the ambassador to the Kartarpur Corridor.

He was administered the oath along with 17 others on Wednesday.

Arora has been allotted the portfolio of minorities of Punjab province in the cabinet of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, incidentally, also the first woman to hold the post in the country.

According to sources, Arora has close connections with the military establishment.

Singh's brother is also looking after the affairs of the Karatarpur Corridor," another member representing the Christian minority community of Punjab, Khalil Tahir Sindhu told Press Trust of India on Thursday.

Born on October 11, 1974 at Nankana Sahib and hailing from the Narowal district, Arora was also the first-ever Sikh member of the Punjab provincial assembly taking oath in 2013. He has done post-graduation in social enterprise and studied at the Government College, Lahore, Punjab University, Lahore and Harvard Business School in the US.

He also served as a member of the National Commission for Minorities, chairman of the Standing Committee on Commerce & Investment and remained as Patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Sikh Council.

According to Aroras profile on the official website of the Punjab Provincial Assembly, he is also a renowned human rights activist and a social worker, who played a prominent role in protecting the rights of Sikh Community in Pakistan and is credited with the passage of The Punjab Sikh Anand Karaj Marriage Act 2018.

Due to his efforts, Pakistan has become the first country where the Sikh Marriages Registration Act is enforced, it said.

He also served as a member of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Government of Punjab; as a Member of the National Commission for Minorities, under the Ministry of National Harmony from 2011-13; and as General Secretary of Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee during 2009-13.

He was awarded the National Human Rights Award in 2016 by the President of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Sindhu was among the 17 others who too were inducted into the Punjab cabinet. He was assigned the portfolio of human rights.

Sindhu had earlier served as a minister in the 2013-18 Punjab cabinet led by Shehbaz Sharif, who is now the prime minister for the second term.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell joined a chorus of US officials who have argued that mounting bad commercial real estate loans will likely cause some bank failures, but dont pose a risk to the overall system.

The central bank chief told lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday that the Fed is talking with lenders to make sure they are on top of potential losses. His comments repeated the assessment of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who last month said there will likely be some failures, but the situation will be manageable."

We have identified the banks that have high commercial real estate concentrations, particularly office and retail and other ones that have been affected a lot," he said. This is a problem that well be working on for years more, Im sure. There will be bank failures, but not the big banks."

Financial regulators have for months been saying that theyre closely monitoring the financial system for fallout from struggling commercial real estate markets.

Read More: Top US Regulators Eye Strong Supervision of Bank CRE Exposure

Potential risks were spotlighted by the recent troubles at New York Community Bancorp, which were fueled by concerns linked to a portfolio including billions of dollars in apartment loans in New Yorks rent-regulated complexes. After weeks of tumult, NYCB shares are surging after investors including former US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin invested around $1 billion in the bank.

Separately on Thursday, Martin Gruenberg, who chairs the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said that the non-current rate for non-owner occupied CRE loans had risen to the highest since 2014. He said the banking industry remains strong, but that deterioration in certain loan portfolios, particularly office space and other types of CRE loans, warrants monitoring."

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Pakistan's newly-elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for felicitations on his re-election to the top political position in the country. Taking to microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter) the Pakistan prime minister said," "Thank you @narendramodi for felicitations on my election as the Prime Minister of Pakistan." Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi congratulated Shehbaz on taking oath as the 24th prime minister of Pakistan. Also Read | Cabinet approves 4% hike in Dearness Allowance for government employees "Congratulations to @CMShehbaz on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan," Modi posted on X.

Shehbaz Sharif took the oath as prime minister of Pakistan on Monday nearly a month after an inconclusive election marred by allegations of vote rigging. Pakistan President Arif Alvi administered oath to Sharif at the Aiwan-i-Sadr.

After taking the oath, Sharif while addressing the National Assemblysaid his government would not allow the country to become part of some "great game" and would maintain cordial relations with neighbours based on the principles of equality.

"We will keep ties with neighbours on the basis of equality," PTI quoted the Pakistan Prime Minister as saying.

Also Read | Mamata Banerjee says BJP spreading fake information about Sandeshkhali

Sharif, however, raked up the Kashmir issue and equated it with Palestine.

The already strained India-Pakistan relations deteriorated in 2016 after a terror attack on the Pathankot Air Force base. The relationship between the two countries further nosedived after Indias warplanes destroyed a Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp deep inside Pakistan on February 26, 2019, after the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF jawans.

The relations deteriorated further after New Delhi abolished Article 370 and bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories in August 2019.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
(Bloomberg) -- Montenegros High Court said former cryptocurrency mogul Do Kwon should be handed over to his native South Korea rather than the US for prosecution over the $40 billion collapse of the TerraUSD stable-coin in 2022.

Its the latest twist in the legal journey for the Terraform Labs Pte co-founder, who was a fugitive from South Korean charges for months before he was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 for traveling on a fake passport. Kwons arrest set off dueling extradition requests by prosecutors in Seoul and New York.

The ruling is a win for Kwon, whose lawyers have expressed a preference for him to go to South Korea. Penalties for white-collar crimes are lower there than in the US. Kwons fellow former crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried is now facing potentially decades in prison after he was convicted of fraud in New York in November. The FTX co-founder was prosecuted by the Manhattan US attorneys office, which also indicted Kwon on fraud charges.

A spokesman for that office declined to comment on Thursday.

But its unclear if this ruling is the final word. The Montenegrin court last month ordered that Kwon be sent to the US, a decision that was overturned this week. Court spokeswoman Marija Rakovic said Kwon could be extradited soon unless prosecutors appeal. Goran Rodic, a lawyer for Kwon in the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica, said extradition could proceed after Kwon finished serving his sentence on the passport charges later this month.

On the other hand, the geopolitical situation facing the tiny Balkan nation, a NATO member, favor extradition to the US, and its possible the government is contemplating measures to ensure that happens.

Terraform Chief Financial Officer Han Chang-joon, who was arrested with Kwon in Montenegro, was extradited to South Korea last month.

The collapse of Terra was a seismic event in the crypto markets, and set off a downturn that went on to engulf other players like FTX. Meant to keep a constant value of $1 via a complex mix of algorithms and trader incentives involving its free-floating sister token Luna, Terra was designed as a refuge from the volatility of other cryptocurrencies. But both Luna and Terra unraveled when confidence in Kwons project evaporated during a few chaotic days in early May 2022.

Losses from Terras collapse caused a public outcry in South Korea, where Kwon was charged breaching capital markets law a few months later. Manhattan federal prosecutors didnt file their charges against Kwon until after his arrest. According to their indictment, he misled investors about the blockchain technology behind Terra.

Even if Kwon is extradited to South Korea, the government there could still reach a deal to have him tried in New York first. The US could argue that it has a stronger ability to seize Kwons assets around the world and agree to share them with South Korea.

In the 1MDB case, Malaysia released ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Roger Ng from custody so he could be prosecuted  and sentenced  in New York first. Despite receiving a 10-year prison term, Ng is currently free in Malaysia assisting in that countrys investigation into the looting of the sovereign wealth fund.

Kwon and Terraform are also facing a US Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit over Terras collapse. Such civil cases are often put on hold while prosecutions go forward, but with Kwons extradition still uncertain, the SEC suit is going to trial in Manhattan federal court at the end of the month. Unlike in a criminal trial, Kwons presence in the courtroom isnt required.

(Updates with background.)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Donald Trump challenged President Joe Biden to debate after refusing to attend the same forums with his Republican primary challengers, a change in attitude that coincides with the effective start of the 2024 general election .

It is important, for the Good of our Country, that Joe Biden and I Debate Issues that are so vital to America, and the American People," Trump wrote Wednesday in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. Therefore, I am calling for Debates, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE!"

Trumps desire to debate comes hours after his final Republican rival, Nikki Haley, dropped out of the race, marking the start of the longest general presidential election in recent history. The former president skipped out on five primary debates despite one of his opponents, Chris Christie, calling him a chicken" for failing to show up.

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

Trumps call for debates comes a day before Biden, 81, is set to give the final State of the Union address of his term, where the president will be outlining his second-term agenda. Trump, who is 77, has berated Biden on the campaign trail, questioning his mental acuity and mocking him for verbal gaffes and physical stumbles.

The former president himself, however, is not immune to mistakes at the podium, including a recent speech where he erroneously mixed up Haley and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates has already announced dates for three debates in September and October, and a single debate for the vice-presidential candidates.

Biden and Trump debated each other twice in 2020. One forum was canceled because Trump was diagnosed with Covid.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
United States President Joe Biden triumphed in the Democratic caucuses in Hawaii on March 6, marking a significant step towards securing his party's nomination in the 2024 General Elections, AP reported. This success follows his strong performance in the Super Tuesday contests earlier this week.

Biden emerged victorious, defeating long-shot candidates, including US Representative Dean Phillips and author Marianne Williamson. Biden's advantage, rooted in incumbency and widespread recognition, played a pivotal role in his win, it added.

With the expectation to formally clinch the Democratic nomination later this month, Biden is on course to face Donald Trump in the upcoming general election. Nikki Haley, his last major Republican rival, exited the race, leaving Trump as the almost certain Republican nominee.

Also Read | Super Tuesday 2024: Donald Trump wins Republican Presidential Primaries in 14 states. Check all wins here

Voter Perspectives

Democrats in Hawaii cast their ballots at various locations, including school cafeterias, community centres, and union halls. Only registered party members were eligible to participate, with the provision for same-day party enrollment and voter registration at each polling site.

Also Read | US Presidential Election 2024: Donald Trump challenges Joe Biden to debate after jilting Republican rivals

John Bickel, a high school social studies teacher, switched his allegiance from Bernie Sanders to Biden, impressed by Biden's role in expanding the child tax credit and supporting striking auto workers, AP reported. According to Bickel, Biden's personal involvement with labour sets him apart from previous presidents.

On the other hand, Bill Milks, an 80-year-old retiree, voted uncommitted due to concerns about Biden's ability to effectively debate and campaign, given his age of 81. Milks questioned Biden's health and enthusiasm for the role.

Hawaii  A Democratic Stronghold

Hawaii maintains its status as a Democratic Party stronghold, with Democrats controlling both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office. All four members of the state's congressional delegation are Democrats.

Also Read | US Elections 2024: Donald Trump, Joe Biden set for rematch as Nikki Haley exits race after Super Tuesday | 5 points

Republicans in Hawaii are scheduled to hold their presidential caucuses on March 12.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
A significantly larger proportion of a global cross-section of society places higher trust in the private sector than other societal institutions, including the government, as per Edelmans Trust Barometer Global Report of 2023. The private sector, seen to be more ethical and competent, is expected to engage more with societal challenges. The 2024 report reinforced this sentiment, showing this trust as higher in the developed world than in the developing. It went further to reveal that while innovation is essential to tackle the major global challenges the world faces, businesses are trusted more than governments to take such innovations to the market in a safe, understandable and accessible manner.

A prime reason for the pre-eminence of business as a societal actor is its decision-making abilities and growing political and economic influence. According to a recent Harvard Business Review paper, nearly 75% of a global surveys respondents indicated that the primary duty of companies is to work for the benefit of all stakeholders and not just shareholdersand businesses have to listen to the people. These expectations are making the private sector a reluctant but active participant in several functions and responsibilities that governments historically shouldered. Businesses are embracing issues such as racial discrimination, gender equality and safety in the workplace, and there is growing evidence of it from corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives as well as their impact.

This changing dynamic between governments, businesses and society is being internalized in all international processesbe it in the Paris Agreement on climate change, Sustainable Development Goals, Global Biodiversity Framework or even in the large corporate presence at related inter-governmental meetings. The need to harness the positive reinforcement provided by the aligned actions of key societal actors underlies the call for multi-stakeholder partnerships.

India, too, is witnessing increasing participation of the private sector in taking on societal challenges, albeit largely in local communities and primarily through CSR compliance. A major part of CSR investments are targeted at improving peoples health (30%), followed by education (25%), with initiatives to address poverty, the environment and skill development following far behind. The efficacy of such CSR investments can be improved by going beyond spend-compliance to partnership-based identification of investment priorities, concomitant reporting on outcomes and the adoption of programmatic approaches.

That said, the financial contributions made by the private sector in the form of CSR are a grossly inadequate measure of businesss emerging influence in society. Neither does this do justice to societal expectations or industrys potential to steer the world towards sustainable development pathways.

To tap this potential, we should embrace the changing dynamic between key societal stakeholders. The social contract between governments and society possibly needs to be extended to a tri-partite contract with the private sector as the third party. Undoubtedly, the private sector cannot replace the essence of the existing social contract between governments and citizens, but it plays a significant role in enabling administrations to deliver on their part of the deal. Private players bring in the agility and foresight that help build societal resilience, earning them respect for their ability to drive the innovations needed for the transformations sought. Recognition of the private sector as a third pillar of the social contract, possibly through an assured say in policymaking and programme implementation, would need a clear elucidation of its rights and duties and a framework of checks and balances to be developed. This would have to be based on open and transparent relationships, with in-built accountability mechanisms. To earn this privilege, and dispel any notion that a seat for the private sector at the high table would address all societal challenges, the private sector needs to define for itself a set of red lines that would demonstrate its arrival as a socially responsible partnergoing beyond shareholder and employee interests to caring for the welfare of larger stakeholder groups. Such red lines could relate to the impact of their activities on the environment, adopting open-science principles for sharing the data and knowledge that businesses generate, ensuring that justice and equity are integral to their business operations, and so on. As what we ask of the private sector broadens, it is imperative for other societal actors to support companies in achieving their full potential.

To conclude, we urgently need a compact between the government, private sector and society at large. A compact that would help end long-standing misgivings between these actors. A compact that would also ensure that the government, through non-partisan policies and regulations, and society, through sustainable lifestyle and consumption choices, will nudge businesses to make the right choices. The rapid transformations we need cannot be achieved through a more-of-the-same approach.
Access to the internet is an essential human right," declared the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2016. Yet, globally, about 2.6 billion people remain deprived of it and 57% of them are women, with a global digital gender gap of 8%. Only 19% of women in least developed countries used such a facility in 2020, as against 86% in the developed world.

As a pandemic-ravaged world necessitated rapid digitization, it had a profound impact on the employment landscape. It has been estimated that such disruptive changes are likely to create 70% of all new value, with digitally-enabled business models at the forefront, and 85% of all jobs that dont yet exist. However, this impending scenario, because of social instability and an unequal concentration of power and wealth, is fraught with the risk of exacerbating the exclusion of women. By 2030, about 40-160 million women need to transition to other occupations with more complex digital, cognitive, social and emotional skills for being employment-worthy, as an International Telecom Union (ITU) study shows. While womens digital and tech-related literacy has been abysmally low, men are found to be four times more likely than women to be specialists in information-communication technology (ICT). At age 15, on average, only 0.5% of girls wish to become ICT professionals, compared to 5% of boys. Women-owned startups receive 23% less funding and are 30% less likely to get a positive exit path compared to male-owned businesses, according to OECD data. Women make up one-third of the workforce at the worlds 20 largest tech companies, but hold only one-fourth of their leadership positions (UN Women). In fintech firms, women represent less than 13% of leadership (as founders or board members), even less than their representation in traditional banking and tech companies (LinkedIn).

According to UN Women estimates, the low presence of women in a surging digital world has meant a staggering $1 trillion has gone missing over the past decade from the GDP of low- and middle-income countries, a gap likely to grow to $1.5 trillion by 2025. A study in 32 low and lower-middle income countries revealed that reducing the gender gap could boost GDP by approximately $524 billion by 2025. Unfortunately, 40% of countries studied had no meaningful policy initiatives to expand womens access to the internet. In Southeast Asia and Africa, it would put nearly $300 billion in the hands of women entrepreneurs, and could add $280 billion to the value of Southeast Asias e-commerce market and $14.5 billion to Africas between 2025 and 2030 (IFC).

According to researchers, India accounts for half the worlds gender-based digital divide. Gender-unequal social norms, locational disadvantages and lack of technology related education are considered the major contributing factors. Only one in three Indian women have used the internet, compared to 57% of Indian men. In rural India, men are twice as likely to have used the internet than women (NFHS, 2019-21). The countrys rural broadband penetration is only 29%, against the national average of 51%. An income-based digital divide also stands as an impediment. In low-income households earning less than $2 per day, each gigabyte of data costs nearly 3% of their monthly income. In 2020, the Supreme Court proclaimed digital access a fundamental right, but progress has been slow on this front.

The fear of harm deters more than 50% of women from expressing themselves freely in the digital realm, and 68% of abuses takes place on social media platforms (Unicef). In some regions of South Asia, social norms stand in the way of womens use of digital devices, and they are 20% less likely to own a smartphone than men (USAID, 2021). In many households in Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, women and girls depend on the permission of men at home to use a mobile phone, let alone own one. In Afghanistan, the Taliban government has banned telecom companies and shop owners from selling mobile SIM cards to women. In India, during the pandemic, when teaching material for rural students was being distributed over WhatsApp, nearly a tenth of parents purchased a smartphone despite household budget constraints, but many families were keen to ensure their sons did not miss out and failed to extend the same privilege to their daughters.

Last years New Delhi summit of the G20 announced a collective aim to halve the digital gender gap by 2030." This project needs acceleration. It will enable greater womens participation in Indias labour force, a measure on which our latest finding of 37% (PLFS 2023) remains far below the world average. It has been estimated that Indias economy could grow 1 percentage point faster with 50% womens labour force participation, which would make a major difference to Indias development goals.

The full and equal participation of women in all economic spheres is a must for sustainable, equitable and inclusive growth. In other words, it is time for womenomics to take centre stage. In the digital economy, especially, women should be key participants not just in value and wealth generation, but also in the formulation of gender-responsive policies. We need upskilling, access and safety, even as we challenge normative barriers, beliefs and stereotypes.
The stage is set for a Joe Biden-Donald Trump rematch in the US presidential election due in November after Trump swept 14 of the 15 primary elections in Super Tuesday states, even as his Republican rival Nikki Haley reportedly decided to suspend her White House campaign. Though Haley did manage a win in Vermont, Trump becoming the partys nominee seems just a formality.

In the Democratic contest, US President Joe Biden won all 15 states. Meanwhile, opinion polls suggest Trump has an edge over Biden. Polling averages from RealClearPolitics give the former president a two-point lead over the incumbent. A survey by Bloomberg News/Morning Consult found Biden trailing in all swing states, which are likely to decide the election. Some Americans had hoped that Trumps candidacy would be quashed by the US judiciary for his alleged role in the 2020 mob attack on Washingtons Capitol complex, but that hasnt happened.

The state of play has left much of the world wondering what another Trump presidency might bring. He has said hell impose a 10% tariff on all imports to the US, a move that will unsettle its trade partners and give the cause of free trade a severe setback.
For American tech companies in China, the writing is on the wall. Its also on paper, in Document 79.

The 2022 Chinese government directive expands a drive that is muscling U.S. technology out of the countryan effort some refer to as Delete A," for Delete America.

Document 79 was so sensitive that high-ranking officials and executives were only shown the order and werent allowed to make copies, people familiar with the matter said. It requires state-owned companies in finance, energy and other sectors to replace foreign software in their IT systems by 2027.

American tech giants had long thrived in China as they hot-wired the countrys meteoric industrial rise with computers, operating systems and software. Chinese leaders want to sever that relationship, driven by a push for self-sufficiency and concerns over the countrys long-term security.

The first targets were hardware makers. Dell, International Business Machines and Cisco Systems have gradually seen much of their equipment replaced by products from Chinese competitors.

Document 79, named for the numbering on the paper, targets companies that provide the softwareenabling daily business operations from basic office tools to supply-chain management. The likes of Microsoft and Oracle are losing ground in the field, one of the last bastions of foreign tech profitability in the country.

The effort is just one salvo in a yearslong push by Chinese leader Xi Jinping for self-sufficiency in everything from critical technology such as semiconductors and fighter jets to the production of grain and oilseeds. The broader strategy is to make China less dependent on the West for food, raw materials and energy, and instead focus on domestic supply chains.

Officials in Beijing issued Document 79 in September 2022, as the U.S. was ratcheting up chip export restrictions and sanctions on Chinese tech companies. It requires state-owned firms to provide quarterly updates on their progress in replacing foreign software used for email, human-resources and business management with Chinese alternatives.

The directive came down from the agency overseeing the countrys massive state-owned enterprise sectora group that includes more than 60 of Chinas 100 largest listed companies.

That agency, the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and the countrys national cabinet, the State Council, didnt respond to requests for comment.

Spending by Chinas state sector topped 48 trillion yuan, or about $6.6 trillion in 2022. The directive leverages that purchasing power to support Chinese tech companies, which in turn can improve their products and narrow the technology gap with U.S. rivals.

State firms have dutifully ramped up their buying of domestic brands, even if the Chinese substitutes sometimes arent as good, according to a Wall Street Journal review of data and procurement documents, and people familiar with the matter. The buyers include banks, financial brokerages and public services such as the postal system.

Back in 2006, China was the land of milk and honey, and intellectual property was the main challenge," a former U.S. Trade Representative official involved in previous technology discussions with the Chinese said. Now, there is a feeling that the sense of opportunity is off. Companies are merely hanging on."

The push to localize tech is known as Xinchuang," loosely translated as IT innovation" with a reference to technology that is secure and trustworthy. The policy has gained urgency amid an escalating tech and trade war with Washington, which has cut many Chinese entities off American technologies.

Premier Li Qiang reiterated the push during Chinas annual legislative sessions this week. Chinas central government plans to increase its spending on science and technology by 10% to about $51 billion this year, according to a budget report released on Tuesdayup from a 2% increase last year.

At some trade fairs across the country, vendors tout homegrown tech as an alternative to foreign brands. One semiconductor equipment maker stall in Nanjing put it bluntly, offering to help buyers Delete A" from their supply chain.

Domestically developed alternatives are growing more user-friendly. A local official recalled how in 2016, it took a whole day to open and close a spreadsheet on a computer with an operating system known as KylinOS, developed by a Chinese military-linked company. He compares the usability of the latest KylinOS version to Microsofts Windows 7, introduced in 2009workable if not great.

As recently as six years ago, most government tenders sought hardware, chips and software from Western brands. By 2023, many were seeking Chinese tech products instead.

When the customs department in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo sought to purchase rack servers in 2018, it stated a preference for brands such as Dell and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and for hardware powered by Intels Xeon central processing units. Five years later, the same agency asked for rack servers made by Chinese companies and equipped with Huawei chips.

These servers are typically assembled by state-owned tech manufacturers that barely sell equipment overseas, such as Beijing-based Tsinghua Tongfang. Tongfangs controlling shareholder is a state-owned company in charge of Chinas civilian and military nuclear programs.

Some government officials in Chinas capital had their foreign-branded PCs replaced with those made by Tongfang and officials last year were told to use Chinese phones instead of Apples iPhones for work.

Losing orders

Over the past decade, Xi has repeatedly emphasized technological innovation and the use of trusted homegrown technology in government departments and industry. Revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden in 2013 that U.S. authorities had hacked into Chinese mobile phone communications, universities and private companies strengthened Xis resolve. More recently, Xi has told senior officials that China should leverage its strengths and market to break bottlenecks in the development of essential software such as operating systems.

As China focused on replacing hardware, IBMs China revenues have steadily declined. It downsized its China research operations in Beijing in 2021, more than two decades after it opened.

Cisco, once a technology powerhouse in China, said in 2019 that it was losing orders in the country to local vendors because of nationalist buying. American PC maker Dells market share in China almost halved in the past five years, to 8%, researcher Canalys said.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise, or HPE, which makes servers, storage and networks, got 14.1% of its revenue from China in 2018, according to estimates from database provider FactSet. By 2023, that had fallen to 4%.

In May, HPE said it would sell its 49% stake in its Chinese joint venture. The company continues to sell direct to certain multinational customers in China and sells selected products to the broader mainland market through its Chinese partner, a spokesman said.

In software, Adobe, Citrix parent Cloud Software Group and Salesforce have pulled out or downsized direct operations in the country over the past two years.

Microsoft, the worlds biggest software provider, historically dominated computer operating systems in China. A Morgan Stanley poll of 135 chief information officers in China found that many expected the share of computers powered by Microsofts Windows operating system installed in their companies to fall over the next three years. They expected Linux-based UOS, or Unity Operating System, an effort co-led by a state-owned company, to gain in the shift.

Even as Microsofts top executives and its co-founder Bill Gates have frequently traveled to Beijing for high-profile meetings with senior Chinese leaders on subjects like cooperation on AI and U.S.-China trade relations in recent years, the company has decreased its offerings in China. Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a subcommittee hearing last September that China made up just 1.5% of the companys overall sales. The company posted sales of $212 billion in the last fiscal year.

Microsoft declined to comment.

Some state-owned companies are dragging their feet on orders to replace foreign IT products that are essential to their core businesses, people familiar with company procurements said, over concerns about the stability and performance of domestic alternatives.

But in addition to growing more advanced, Chinas own technology is also well plugged into the local ecosystem. Providers of domestic business software allow interoperability with WeChat, a ubiquitous chat messaging app widely used in place of email among Chinese businesses.

The buy local policy is trickling down to privately run companies, which are showing greater inclination to buy domestic software, according to Morgan Stanleys CIO survey.

Homegrown shift

A shift toward hosting and managing data on cloud servers instead of servers on the premises has also allowed Chinese companies to narrow the gap. Oracle, IBM and Microsoft dominated the database software market in China in 2010. Since then, Chinese companies including Alibaba and Huawei have come up with their own database management products to replace American technology.

China-based vendors took more than half of that market in Chinaworth $6.3 billion overallfor the first time in 2022, and continue to grow, according to researcher Gartner. Tenders examined by the Journal also show more state-linked entities and companies have opted for Huaweis databases in recent years.

Chinas banks, brokerage firms and insurers have sped up procurement of homegrown databases, Yang Bing, chief executive of Chinese database company OceanBase, said at a Beijing conference in November. OceanBase, developed by Alibaba and its fintech affiliate Ant Group, replaced Oracle databases at Alibaba and Ant in 2016.

Western companies are being replaced not just by Chinese national champions such as Huawei but also more specialized companies. Yonyou Network Technology, a Shanghai-listed firm with a market value of $6 billion, provides systems to manage businesses human resources, inventory and finances.

Yonyou has been gaining users at the expense of Oracle and SAP, which together used to dominate more than half the market, according to data from Chinese researcher Huaon Research Institute. By 2021, Yonyou had become the largest player in the market, holding 40%.

There continue to be pockets of opportunity in China for Western companies, especially in more advanced tech where China still lags behind and in sales to multinational companies operating there.

Looking forward, analysts say the preferential demand from Chinas state sector could mean Western ones keep slipping further behind in the Chinese market.

The growth of software requires continuous feedback from users," said Han Lin, China head of the Asia Group, a business advisory firm, and that will be the advantage of domestic providers."

Raffaele Huang and Yoko Kubota contributed to this article.

Write to Liza Lin at liza.lin@wsj.com
BEIJINGChinas foreign minister painted the U.S. as a paranoid superpower and criticized Europes policy toward Beijing as increasingly muddled, comments that laid bare how deep distrust persists between China and the West despite a surge of diplomacy to stabilize ties.

In a 90-minute press conference Thursday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi also warned of the possible escalation in the war between Russia and Ukraine, celebrated the close ties between Beijing and Moscow and echoed recent comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin about the risk of a protracted conflict.

Wang, a strident diplomat known for his at-times hawkish views toward the West, saved his sharpest barbs for the U.S. After acknowledging some progress" in improving U.S.-China ties since the November summit between President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in California, Wang said the U.S. was still failing to keep its promises.

Where is the confidence of a great power if the U.S. grows anxious when it hears the word China?" he said. The challenge facing the U.S. lies within itself and not with China. If youre focused on suppressing China, youll inevitably hurt yourself."

The foreign minister also nodded to the anxiety in Beijing over U.S. restrictions on high-tech exports to China, including advanced semiconductors needed for artificial intelligence.

If the United States insists on monopolizing the high end of the value chain, and only allowing China to remain at the low end, then where is the fair competition?" Wang said.

Despite the criticism of Washington, Wang was more tempered than in previous appearances by top Chinese diplomats. This time last year, Chinas then-foreign minister, Qin Gang, was warning of potential conflict between the U.S. and China if Washington didnt change its ways.

For one thing, U.S. and Chinese working-level officials are now finally talking again across a range of thorny issues, renewed contacts only made possible by the Xi-Biden summit.

Additionally, as Chinas economy has slowed, the focus of the Chinese leadership has turned more inward as it gives priority to jump-starting economic growth.

Still, the remarks by the foreign minister on the sidelines of an annual gathering of Chinas largely ceremonial parliament served as a reminder of how the world has in many ways been severed in two, as the U.S., Europe and other democratic allies consolidate their partnerships while many authoritarian countries and states in the developing world hew closer to China.

Europe has grown leery of China over trade and human rights, despite years of attempts by Beijing to woo it as a counterbalance to U.S. pressure. The European Union has called China a partner, an economic competitor and a systematic rival.

Wang likened Europes approach to a traffic light where the red, yellow and green lights were simultaneously illuminated. How can the car drive through?" Wang said.

Wangs chiding of the U.S. and Europe contrasted with his warm embrace of Russia, the Palestinians and the developing world. He said Chinas close relationship and deepening trade ties with Russia were guided by Xi and a strategic choice made by both sides based on the fundamental interests of the two peoples."

He also issued a grave warning over the war in Ukraine. Historical experience proves that if a conflict is prolonged, it will often worsen and escalate beyond the imagination of the parties involved," he said.

Putin in late February issued an explicit warning to its adversaries about its ability to use nuclear weapons against them.

Beijing has sought to portray itself as a world power and has pursued mediator roles in both the Gaza war and Russias invasion of Ukraine. But its efforts have met with little progress. Chinas Ukraine peace envoy, Li Hui, has traveled to Russia, Ukraine and European capitals in recent days for a new round of diplomacy after his first trip last year was met with questions about Beijings ability to mediate given its close relationship with Russia.

Wang didnt reiterate Chinas harshest criticisms over the Ukraine war, that the West was fueling the conflict by providing weapons to Ukraine. On the Gaza war, he did not repeat Chinas condemnation of U.S. vetoes of cease-fire demands at the United Nations Security Council.

He described the Gaza war as a tragedy for mankind and a shame for civilization," and repeated Chinas support for peace talks, a two-state solution and full U.N. membership for Palestine.

The U.S. has sought Chinas help with a spillover from the Gaza warthe Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea. American officials have asked Beijing to warn Iran over the risks of a wider conflict, but Iranian officials have said they dont control the Houthis. The attacks in the Red Sea have continued, with three people killed aboard a ship attacked off Yemen on Wednesday.

Chinas foreign policy establishment has been in a state of limbo for months due to an unusual level of uncertainty over who will lead it over the long term. Wang, a veteran diplomat who was previously foreign minister from 2013 to 2022, was reappointed to the post last year after Qin was ousted in an investigation into possible national security violations. Virtually no details of why he was ousted have been released and Wang didnt address the matter Thursday.

Analysts thought a new foreign minister could be appointed during the legislative meetings in Beijing this week, but that expectation diminished after the official agenda omitted new personnel appointments. The leading candidate to become the next foreign minister is Liu Jianchao, a former translator who had a key role in tracking down corrupt Communist Party officials abroad and now heads the partys diplomatic apparatus.

Write to Brian Spegele at Brian.Spegele@wsj.com and Austin Ramzy at austin.ramzy@wsj.com
The U.S. has sent tens of thousands of weapons including bombs and precision guided munitions to Israel since Hamass Oct. 7 attacks using procedures that have largely masked the scale of the administrations military support for its closest Middle East ally, according to current and former U.S. officials.

The administration has organized more than 100 individual transfers of arms to Israel, but has only officially notified Congress of two shipments made under the major foreign weapons sales process, which are usually submitted to lawmakers for review and then publicly disclosed, U.S. officials said. In both cases, the administration used an emergency rule that avoids the review process.

The rest of the transfers have been approved using less public mechanisms available to the White House. Those include drawing from U.S. stockpiles, accelerating previously approved deliveries, and sending weapons in smaller batches that fall below a dollar threshold that requires the administration to notify Congress, according to current and former U.S. officials.

The handling of the weapons transfers underscores the crosscurrents buffeting the White House. It has grown increasingly frustrated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus handling of the war but continues to fend off calls to use the arms pipeline as leverage to press him to reduce civilian casualties and increase humanitarian aid entering Gaza.

Some of the officials and several lawmakers said that the limited disclosure points to a broader pattern in which the Biden administration has sought to avoid scrutiny from Congress. Some fellow Democrats want President Biden to use weapons shipments to pressure Netanyahus government.

The deep U.S. military partnership with Israel, which receives more than $3 billion in military aid every year from Washington, enabled an immediate surge in weapons shipments after Oct. 7. There are currently 600 active cases of potential military transfer or sales worth more than $23 billion between the U.S. and Israel, State Department officials said.

We have followed the procedures Congress itself has specified to keep members well-informed and regularly brief members even when formal notification is not a legal requirement," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement, adding that claims that we have split cases so that they fall below established statutory thresholds or failed to appropriately engage partners in Congress are unequivocally false."

State Department officials informed lawmakers in recent weeks about the full extent of the transfers to Israel, according to a person familiar with the briefings, but there has been no public disclosure of most of the shipments.

While the State Department has no legal obligation to notify below-threshold arms transfers, using this process to repeatedly end-run Congressas sales of this quantity suggestwould violate the spirit of the law and undermine Congress important oversight role" Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, told The Wall Street Journal.

The White House didnt respond to a request for comment.

The decision to provide the arms in about 100 tranches reflects the administrations desire to keep the scope of its military support to Israel out of public view as much as possible, critics of the transfers said.

This stuff is non-transparent by design," said Josh Paul, a State Department official handling congressional relations who resigned in October in protest of the Biden administrations policy on the Gaza war.

The U.S.-supplied arms since the beginning of the Gaza war include at least 23,000 precision guided weapons, including Hellfire air-to-ground missiles, drones, and Joint Direct Attack Munition kits, which turn unguided bombs into smart" bombs, along with other similar weapons, U.S. officials said.

Israel has also received 58,000 155mm artillery shells and munitions for its Iron Dome air defense system, the officials said.

Most of the weapons and systems came out of U.S. stockpiles in the early days of the war. The flow has dropped off in recent months as the Pentagon has run short of munitions it can provide Israel quickly, while also meeting Ukraines needs and maintaining sufficient U.S. stockpiles, the officials said. The U.S. has provided 1,000 precision guided munitions and artillery shells in the last month, U.S. defense officials said.

The handling of weapons shipments to Israel stands in contrast to the administrations approach to arming Ukraine in its war against Russias invasion, in which the Defense Department has regularly published lists of arms that it sends to Kyiv. While not all transfers to Ukraine are made public, the Pentagon provides updates on the total amount of military assistance.

For Israel, the American weapons transfers have allowed the military to sustain the war in Gaza while also staying ready for the possible outbreak of a full-scale war with Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Shiite militant group with an arsenal of missiles supplied by Iran. The group is considered a more capable adversary than Hamas. Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in a slow-burning cross-border conflict since the war in Gaza began.

The Israeli military has dipped into its own arms stockpiles it maintains on its northern border, but not to an extent that would undermine its ability to fight Hezbollah, said a senior Israeli military official. Israel is concerned that U.S. supplies could taper off if Biden were to apply more pressure to Israel, or threats from China and Russia were to take precedence over the effort to arm Israel, the official said.

Theres nothing that Israel can say that it has not gotten. Israel got basically what it needed. When you look into the future, I dont think its necessarily going to stay like that," the Israeli military official said.

Lawmakers and congressional aides say that the administration has broken with decades of government practice by failing to provide, except in a few cases, what is known as an informal notification" to key congressional leaders of arms deliveries to Israel in which legislators are given weeks to review potential sale or transfer before the administration sends legally-required formal notification.

There is nothing in the law that prevents the administration from saying this is an emergency and we have to do it. Our national security is at risk," said Lawrence Korb, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. Usually the executive branch errs on the side of caution."

Write to Jared Malsin at jared.malsin@wsj.com and Nancy A. Youssef at nancy.youssef@wsj.com
China and the Maldives have signed an agreement paving the way for greater Chinese military assistance to Male. While the details of the agreement are remain unclear, The agreement, details of which are still unclear, follow a string of decisions in recent months by president Mohamed Muizzus government to reduce his countrys reliance on India. Mint takes a look.

Understanding the new agreement

On Tuesday, China and the Maldives announced that a defence agreement has been signed between the two countries, witnessed by senior officials from both the sides.

Minister of Defence @mgmaumoon and Major General Zhang Baoqun, Deputy Director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of the People's Republic of China, signed an agreement on China's provision of military assistance gratis to the Republic of Maldives, fostering stronger bilateral ties," the Maldivian defence ministry said in a post on social media site X.

Maldivian president Muizzu was quoted as saying that defence equipment will be provided to the Maldives by China free of cost. This, he explained, would help boost the countrys autonomy.

The backdrop

Since assuming office last year, president Muizzu has been keen on strengthening ties with China. A pivotal moment came in January when he met with president Xi Jinping in Beijing, culminating in the signing of several bilateral agreements spanning agriculture, infrastructure, and development.

While the Maldives has historically maintained amicable relations with China, Muizzus term has been marked by a cooling of ties with India, traditionally the countrys top foreign policy partner, evidenced by his directives for Indian military personnel to exit the Maldives and his refusal to extend a hydrological cooperation pact with New Delhi. The frequency of high-level dialogues between the Maldives and India has also diminished.

China's historical role

China's strategic footprint in the Indian Ocean has been on an upward trajectory, paralleling its burgeoning naval capabilities. A 2017 initiative to establish a joint ocean observation station with the Maldives raised eyebrows in India, sparking concerns over potential security repercussions. Although this project has been on hold, the Maldives continues to permit Chinese research vessels, such as the Xiang Yang Hong 3, to dock at its ports to collect oceanic information, stirring apprehensions in India due to the potential military intelligence benefits for China.

Relations with India

Maldives is headed into a parliamentary election this month, which will be a crucial test for incumbent president Muizzu. The results of this election, and the relative security of his position domestically, may have an impact on his need to rely on nationalist rhetoric, often aimed at India, in order to win support at home. As things stand, news of this latest defence pact is unlikely to go down well with India.
The Congress party has promised a comprehensive social security cover for gig workers, an immediate recruitment on at least 30 lakh vacant Central government posts and 33 per cent reservation for women in government jobs in its manifesto, a draft of which was handed over to party Chief Mallikarjun Kharge on March 6 by the members of the Congress Manifesto Committee.

According to the sources, the manifesto also proposes a legal status for Minimum Support Price, implementation of Sachar Committee recommendations, a pan-India caste census, and increasing reservations for the OBC community.

The social security cover for gig workers, which may be offered as a right-based law, will likely encompass pension, disability and life insurance, according to a report in Hindustan Times. The plan has been modelled on a law that former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot implemented in the state last year.

The party may also repackage the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) programme  which found few takers during the 2019 elections  and offer  72,000 annually to the eldest woman in the countrys 20% poorest families. The manifesto may also promise scrapping the military recruitment scheme Agnipath, reports suggested.

Also Read: Lok Sabha Polls 2024: Congress CEC to decide candidates on March 7, says Jairam Ramesh

Manifesto Committee Chairperson and former Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, along with panel members, presented the draft of the manifesto to Kharge on Wednesday. The manifesto will now be scrutinised by the partys Working Committee to give the final touches.

Former Deputy Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, TS Singh Deo, is the Convenor. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, Jairam Ramesh, Shashi Tharoor and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are other members of the panel.

Overall, the manifesto is likely to be based on the thrust areas of Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra (BJNY), which focuses on Protecting the Constitution, emphasising economic, social, and political justice.

The party may promise a Germany-style apprenticeship and compensation for paper leaks to woo young voters in its manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024, according to a report.

Also Read: Lok Sabha Elections 2024 : BJPs releases first list of 195 candidates, PM Modi to contest from Varanasi

For quite some time now, Rahul Gandhi has been attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government on joblessness and paper leaks.

Reduced to 44 and 52 seats in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, respectively, the Congress party faces the formidable task of stopping the BJP from returning to power in the general elections scheduled for April-May. The party has stitched up a coalition with other parties as part of the INDIA bloc.

A confident BJP has already released the names of candidates for 195 seats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the agenda of his expected third government with his ministers at a meeting in New Delhi on Sunday, March 4.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
The Congress held the first meeting of its Central Election Committee (CEC) on Thursday to select candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The grand old party is yet to announce its candidates for the Lok Sabha polls 2024.

The key meeting of the Congress was attended by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi at the party headquarters in Delhi. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi joined the meeting via video conferencing.

Sources said it was finalised that Rahul Gandhi will contest the Wayanad seat and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will fight from Thiruvananthapuram. Candidates for seven seats of Telangana was finalised, while that for the remaining 10 seats will be taken up later," they added.

Sources had earlier said that Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may contest from the Raebareli constituency, while Rahul Gandhi may fight from Wayanad and Amethi.

Congress' General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh earlier said, "The CEC will discuss all seats. Final decisions will be taken wherever possible. CEC is the highest body that deliberates on and finalises candidates."

As per the seat-sharing arrangement of the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress will field a total of 17 candidates out of 80 Lok Sabha seats, while its ally Samajwadi Party (SP) will contest 63 seats.

Meanwhile, the Congress panel tasked with preparing the party's manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls has prepared the draft, which will now be discussed by the Congress Working Committee.

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who heads the manifesto committee said on Tuesday that the draft report will be presented to the Congress president. "We have prepared the draft manifesto. Now it will go to the Congress Working Committee. They will finalize the manifesto, and then it will become the Congress party document. Tomorrow we will hand over this draft to the Congress President," he said.

The Lok Sabha polls are likely to be held in April-May this year.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
The Oppositions INDIA bloc is learnt to have offered eight Lok Sabha seats to Lok Janshakti Partys (Ram Vilas) Chief, Chirag Paswan, in Bihar, even as seat-sharing tussle within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners in the state continues.

Chirag Paswan had formally returned to NDA in July 2023.

Apart from eight seats in Bihar, Chirag Paswans party has also been offered two seats in Uttar Pradesh, an NDTV report said, quoting sources.

The ten-seat proposal in two states is significant since NDA has reportedly offered only six seats to Chirag Paswan with the caveat that two of those six seats will have to be split with his uncle and Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party Chief Pashupati Paras. Chirag is not on the best terms with his uncle Pashupati Paras who has been serving as the Union Minister of Food Processing Industries in Prime Minister Narendra Modi cabinet since 2021.

The INDIA blocs offer, however, doesnt include Pashupati Paras. Chirag will get to field candidates on six seats that the undivided Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) had contested in 2019, as well as two additional constituencies in Bihar and two in Uttar Pradesh, the NDTV report said.

Also Read: Bihar politics: May continue to disagree with Nitish Kumar, says Chirag Paswan ahead of oath-taking ceremony

Founded by Chirag Paswans late father, Ram Vilas Paswan, the Lok Janshakti Party split in 2021 following a coup by Pashupati Paras after the founders death.

The political developments in Bihar assume significance because the state is now under NDA rule with Nitish Kumar as the Chief Minister. Chirag and Nitish have not been on good terms either. After Pashupati Paras was given a cabinet berth in 2021, Chirag Paswan had attacked Nitish.

Chirag had quit the NDA in 2020 over differences with Nitish, but he rejoined the alliance last year when the Bihar Chief Minister was part of the Mahagathbandhan, now in opposition.

In 2019, the BJP and Nitish Kumars JDU fought Lok Sabha elections together. The undivided LJP won all six seats contested.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee "challenged" the claims made by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders over the safety of women in the state. She said on Thursday, "BJP leaders are spreading canards about the safety of women in West Bengal. I am challenging and saying...Bengal is the only place where women are safe".

Banerjee added that some people are spreading fake information about Sandeshkhali, where women have accused TMC leaders of sexually abusing them. She asserted that the state is the safest place in the country for women. Referring to former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who joined the BJP during the day, Mamata Banerjee said, "We will ensure your defeat no matter from where you contest in the Lok Sabha polls." Hitting out at Gangopadhyay for "taking away jobs of thousands of youths" across the state through his judgments, Banerjee was quoted by PTI as saying, "The youths will not forgive you. All your judgments are under question. We will ensure your defeat." Banerjee's statement came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met a group of women from Sandeshkhali. PM Modi and other BJP leaders accused Banerjee's TMC of protecting its leader Shahjahan Shiekh, the prime accused in the Sandeshkhali incident.

Speaking at a rally in Barasat on Wednesday, PM Modi said, "TMC leaders are committing atrocities against sisters and daughters of poor, Dalit and tribal families at various places. The women of Bengal and the country are incensed. This storm of Sandeshkhali will reach every part of West Bengal, and decimate the TMC across the state.

Earlier on March 1, PM Modi said, Today, the people of West Bengal are asking their CM 'Didi'- is the vote of some people more important than atrocities against women in Sandeshkhali?"

The riverine island of Sandeshkhali has been on the boil over allegations of sexual atrocities on women and land grabbing by suspended TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh and his cohorts.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday promised assured first job and social security for gig workers, among other things, to the youth in a rally in Rajasthan during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

Gandhi said that if voted to power in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party will fill 30 lakh vacant government posts. For diploma holders and college graduates below the age of 25, Congress would a one-year apprenticeship during which they will be paid 1 lakh. "The Congress will provide right to employment," Gandhi said. "Every young diploma and degree holder in the country will have the right to apprenticeship in the private and government sectors," he said. In a post on X, Gandhi said, By enacting the 'Right to Apprentice Act', the Congress government will give every graduate and diploma holder below 25 years of age an opportunity of one year apprenticeship in a government or private institution, for which a stipend of 1 lakh will be given per year."

Gandhi also said that a law would be enacted to curb the leaks in the government recruitment examinations.

Gandhi said that the Congress will standardise the government recruitment exam process and stop its outsourcing.

The former Congress chief also promised a legal guarantee on minimum support price for crops to farmers. He assured social security for gig workers and a 5,000 crore fund "Yuva Roshni" for startups.

The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered Rajasthan in Banswara from Madhya Pradesh.

On Wednesday, the Congress' manifesto committee handed over a copy of the draft manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls to party chief Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence here.

In a post on X, Kharge said, "From Green Revolution and White Revolution to building PSUs, from telecom and IT revolution to liberalisation, from inclusive governance to rights-based paradigm -- the Indian National Congress has always been committed to the welfare and development of India."

"Our draft manifesto based on 'NYAY' for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections is ready and was presented to me today by the Congress Manifesto Committee," he added.

News agency PTI had cited sources as saying that, in the manifesto, the party would also propose a stringent law and punishment against those responsible for paper leaks in the country and will suggest measures to bring transparency in government recruitment.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
The suspended Trinamool leader Sheikh Shahjahan, key accused in the Sandeshkhali extortion, land grab, and sexual assault cases was handed over to the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday. The CBI then took Shahjahan to Joka ESI Hospital for his medical examination.

The Crime Investigation Department handed over custody of Sheikh Shahjahan to the CBI, following the Calcutta High Court's directive on Wednesday.

The video of Shahjahan escorted by the CBI officials to the hospital for the medical exam were widely shared on social media platforms. The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leaders were quick to catch how the CBI almost dragged Shahjahan towards the hospital.

The social media handles of BJP leaders lit up with posts comparing the contrasting treatment the Sandeshkhali accused received from the West Bengal police and the CBI. The leaders also blamed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for 'defending a rapist' and misusing state agencies.

One of the BJP leaders even said that the CBI's treatment of Shahjahan is how a criminal should be treated. They even compared the suspended TMC leaders walk in CBI custody with that during West Bengal police custody.

BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), said, "CBI is treating Sheikh Shahjahan, like he should be treated - a criminal and not like how WB Police treated him, as if he was the Chief Minister of Bengal. Shame on Mamata Banerjee for defending a rapist and using state Govt agencies to intimidate the victims of Sandeshkhali."

CBI is rightfully treating Sheikh Shahjahan as a criminal, unlike the biased treatment by West Bengal Police. It's appalling that Mamata Banerjee is defending a rapist and misusing state agencies to intimidate Sandeshkhali victims. Justice must prevail!" wrote BJP Bengal president Sukanta Majumdar.

Kanchan Gupta, a senior adviser in ministry of information and broadcasting, said, When Bengal Police produced Sandeshkhali tormentor Sheikh Shahjahan in court a week ago, he was walking in a nawabi style. In CBI custody, hes shuffling like a khansama (servant)."

The Bengal government earlier refused to hand over custody of Shahjahan to the CBI despite a Calcutta High Court order Tuesday to the police's criminal investigation department, or CID.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
The World Health Assembly in May is poised to divert $10.5 billion of aid away from tackling diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis. Instead, that money will go toward combating the threat of viruses newly caught from wildlife. The assumption behind this initiative, endorsed by the Group of 20 summit in Bali in 2022, is that the threat of pandemics from spillovers of animal viruses is dramatically increasing.

That assumption is almost certainly false. A new report from the University of Leeds, prepared in part by former World Health Organization executives, finds that the claims made by the G-20 in support of this agenda either are unsupported by evidence, contradict their own cited sources, or fail to correct for improved detection of pathogens. Over the past decade the burden and risk of spillover has been relatively small and probably decreasing. The Leeds authors conclude: The implication is that the largest investment in international public health in history is based on misinterpretations of key evidence as well as a failure to thoroughly analyze existing data."

The Covid-19 pandemic, far from justifying the diversion of funds into tackling spillovers, may undermine this narrative. If Sars-CoV-2 entered the human species through a laboratory accident, as the WHO, parts of the U.S. intelligence community and many scientists agree is possible, then it wouldnt count as a natural spillover. Worse, it would be more than a case of research gone wrong. It would be pandemic-prevention research gone wrong. The search for spillover risk may have caused a dangerous spillover.

The Leeds team examined eight reports commissioned by the G-20, the WHO and the World Bank that all claim spillovers of dangerous viruses from wildlife are increasing. A June 2021 report prepared by the WHO and World Bank predicts that outbreaks of pathogens of pandemic potential are set to continue to increase in frequency for the foreseeable future." A March 2022 G-20 report states that even as we fight this pandemic, we must face the reality of a world at risk of more frequent pandemics." A 2022 World Bank report talks of an accelerating trend of pandemics." A November 2023 WHO report claims that pandemics of infectious diseases are occurring more often, and spreading faster and further than ever."

The Leeds team found the reports significantly mischaracterized" their own sources. The common claim in all the reports that climate change and deforestation increase the risk of virus spillover is poorly supported by the evidence. One of the studies cited by the World Bank found the opposite: More intact ecosystems may be associated with a higher rate of zoonotic spillover events" because there is more wildlife in them.

In any case, many regions are now seeing net reforestation, rather than deforestation. The rate of forest regrowth is especially rapid in southern China, where SARS and Covid emerged, because of migration to urban areas.

New techniques have improved detection of viruses in recent decades. HIV probably spilled over decades before it was detected. Nipah, a virus transmitted to humans and pigs by fruit bats in south Asia, probably spilled over many times before it was identified in the 1990s. (It had previously been misdiagnosed as Japanese encephalitis.) The largest Nipah outbreak killed only 110 people. Yellow fever and plague, also cited as examples of spillover by WHO, have infected human beings for centuries with outbreaks far more severe than today.

Even viruses that are new to the human species kill few people compared with the vast annual toll of malaria and tuberculosis. Ebola killed some 12,000 in the worst outbreak. MERS and SARS killed fewer than 900 each, and Zika fewer than 400. Avian flu kills fewer than 80 a year. These numbers are falling, not rising. A database on which the World Bank relied shows, according to a summary by the Leeds authors, a major reduction in reported medium (>100 cases) and large (>1000 cases) outbreaks over the period 2009 to 2017."

It is a misconception that population growth or prosperity leads humanity to encroach on wildlife habitats. The poorest people in Africa encroach on forest wildlife by hunting for bush meat; when they grow richer, they shop for chicken or pork instead. Humans visited bat caves more frequently in the distant past. The exception is scientists, who have only recently begun rooting around in bat caves. As for climate change, wildlife responds by moving, adapting or dying out, not by taking refuge in cities, as is sometimes claimed. Nor does the growth of cities necessarily represent a greater risk of transmission of new viruses. As the Leeds team put it, while urbanization accelerates speed of inflection by placing a greater number of human bodies in proximity, it can also facilitate a more targeted response."

The Leeds team concludes that the world is getting better at detecting outbreaks, and identifying and distinguishing pathogens, whilst also improving capacity to address these challenges." As for Covid-19, the authors say it looks like an outlier in the context of recent outbreak trajectory, rather than indicative of a trend." The prospect of spending $31 billion a year on pandemic prevention, a third of which would be new money and a third diverted from other programs, provides an incentive for international bureaucrats to ignore or misrepresent evidence that the problem is small.

But a dollar spent on spillover cant be spent on something else, and the evidence is clear that sanitation, nutrition and vitamins are more cost-effective ways to save lives in poor countriesfrom infectious diseases as well as other causes. In an illustration of the opportunity cost, Vanuatu was on the brink of eradicating malaria before its public-health staff were diverted toward Covid. Malaria has erupted again in the 80-island archipelago.

While the diversion of funds to prevent natural virus spillover turns out to be based on flawed data, the need for regulation of scientific research aimed at finding and manipulating potential pandemic viruses is based on real data. Whether Covid began in a laboratory or not, risky gain-of-function research with SARS-like viruses did happen at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, some of it at low biosafety levels. A report released Feb. 28 by the Pathogens Project, part of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, draws up detailed recommendations for how to prevent scientists taking unacceptable risks on behalf of humanity. That is the greater threat.

Mr. Ridley is a co-author of Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19."
WASHINGTONA congressional probe of Chinese-built cargo cranes deployed at ports throughout the U.S. has found communications equipment that doesnt appear to support normal operations, fueling concerns that the foreign machines may pose a covert national-security risk.

The installed components in some cases include cellular modems, according to congressional aides and documents, that could be remotely accessed.

The discovery of the modems by lawmakers, which hasnt been previously reported, has added to concerns in Washington about port security and China. The Pentagon and intelligence officials at other agencies in the Biden administration have grown increasingly alarmed by the potential threat of disruption and espionage presented by the giant cranes built by ZPMC, a China-based manufacturer that accounts for nearly 80% of ship-to-shore cranes in use at U.S. ports.

The Chinese government is looking for every opportunity to collect valuable intelligence and position themselves to exploit vulnerabilities by systematically burrowing into Americas critical infrastructure, including in the maritime sector," said Rep. Mark Green (R., Tenn.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, which has been investigating Chinese maritime security threats. The United States has clearly overlooked this threat for far too long."

Over a dozen cellular modems were found on crane components in use at one U.S. port, and another modem was found inside another ports server room, according to a committee aide. Some of the modems had active connections to operational components to the cranes, the aide said.

While it isnt unusual for modems to be installed on cranes to remotely monitor operations and track maintenance, it appears that at least some of the ports using the ZPMC-made equipment hadnt asked for that capability, according to congressional investigators and documents seen by The Wall Street Journal. One port with modems told lawmakers in a December letter that it was aware of their existence on the cranes, but couldnt explain why they were installed.

ZPMC, a Chinese state-owned company, didnt respond to requests for comment. Liu Pengyu, a spokesman at the Chinese embassy in Washington, didnt address specific questions about the modems but said claims that China-made cranes pose a national-security risk to the U.S. is entirely paranoia" and amounted to abusing national power to obstruct normal economic and trade cooperation."

Concerns about ZPMCs cranes have been building steadily in Washington for years. In 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation found intelligence-gathering equipment on board a ship that was transporting cranes into the Baltimore port, the Journal previously reported.

Last month, the Biden administration announced it would invest more than $20 billion over the next five years to replace foreign-built cranes with U.S.-manufactured ones. The money will go toward supporting the building of cranes by a U.S. subsidiary of Mitsui, a Japanese company, marking what officials said would create a domestic option for ports for the first time in 30 years.

The administration also rolled out a suite of maritime cybersecurity measures, which comes amid rising fears that Chinese hackers have been pre-positioning themselves to disrupt American critical infrastructure in the event of open hostilities, such as a military conflict over Taiwan.

Those actions by the Biden administration followed a Wall Street Journal investigation last year that revealed U.S. fears that cranes made by ZPMC in use at a number of Americas ports could present an espionage and disruption risk. More recently, there has been a surge of warnings from top U.S. officials about the potential threat to American lives posed by the infiltration of the nations critical infrastructure by Chinese hackers.

The new focus on cranes and broader maritime security has been a wake-up call for many western countries," Wille Rydman, minister of economic affairs for Finland, said in an interview. Finland, which joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization last year, has been seeking to expand the market share of its maritime industry globally amid the rising concerns about Chinese technology supply chains.

The Finnish company Konecranes, for example, supplied four large container cranes to the port in Savannah, Georgia, last summer.

Biden administration officials say the Chinese cranes have security shortcomings that should worry ports. We have found, I would say, openings, vulnerabilities, that are there by design," Rear Adm. John Vann, who leads the Coast Guard cyber command, said during congressional testimony about the cranes to Greens committee last week.

In a partially redacted December letter to the committee seen by the Journal, an unidentified U.S. port operator said that the modems werent part of an existing contract, but that the port had been aware of their installations on the cranes and that they were intended for a mobile diagnostic and monitoring" service the port didnt enroll in.

We are unsure who installed the modems as they were on the cranes when we first saw them in China," the letter to the committee said. The modems, according to the letter, were believed to have been installed around June 2017, around the time of the cranes manufacturing and assembly, and removed in October of last year.

It couldnt be determined what prompted the port to take action on the modems or who did so. A committee aide said information collected by the panel indicated the modems had been physically disabled, but not yet fully removed.

These components do not contribute to the operation of the (ship-to-shore) cranes or maritime infrastructure and are not part of any existing contract between ZPMC and the receiving U.S. maritime port," the Republican-controlled committees said in a letter sent to the company last week.

The letter to ZPMC said that lawmakers found that many cranes at U.S. ports were built at the companys Changxing base adjacent to a shipyard on the Shanghai island where the Chinese navy builds advanced warships. It also said lawmakers had learned from briefings with ports and U.S. law-enforcement agencies that ZPMC had repeatedly made requests for remote access to U.S.-based cranes and other maritime infrastructure.

ZPMC cranes entered the U.S. market around two decades ago, offering what industry executives described as good-quality cranes that were significantly cheaper than Western suppliers. In recent years, ZPMC has grown into a major player in the global automated-ports industry, working to connect equipment and analyze data in real time.

Green, the committee chairman, said that the additional components discovered on some cranes are just one example of the worrisome findings in our investigation."

The panel intends to finish its probe, which is being done jointly with the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, next month. A public report will focus on ZPMC, its suppliers, and potential threats posed by equipment and technology at U.S. ports that were manufactured in China, a committee aide said.

Write to Dustin Volz at dustin.volz@wsj.com
As summer approaches, its prudent to prepare yourself so that you can protect yourself from sweltering heat. In this situation, air coolers stand as indispensable allies, offering consistent relief from hot weather while providing comfort to buyers with their efficient cooling mechanisms. In our comprehensive air cooler price breakdown guide, you will find a curated selection of the top 8 options, each promising exceptional cooling performance at varying price points.

Theres something for everyone here - from compact personal coolers perfect for intimate spaces to larger models suitable for spacious rooms. With our options, you can find the perfect cooling companion based on your peculiar needs and budgets. Look no further and keep reading our breakdown to explore the features, specifications, and price considerations of each air cooler. You dont need anything else, were here to empower you to make an informed decision tailored to your requirements.

From affordable options that dont compromise on performance to feature-rich picks that come with advanced functionalities, our guide will help you with the right insights needed to navigate the market confidently. This way, you can select the ideal air cooler to keep you feeling cool throughout summer.

1. Crompton Optimus Desert Air Cooler

Heatwaves dont stand a chance against the Crompton Optimus desert air cooler - a formidable cooling solution with its 65-litre capacity. Buyers can expect sustained comfort during scorching summers with this option. It is equipped with an 18-inch fan and an Everlast pump which efficiently circulates air while maintaining low humidity levels in your personal space. On top of it all, this air cooler has a spacious ice chamber, which is coupled with easy cleaning features for hassle-free maintenance. Users can also expect enhanced air quality with the humidity control function. This air coolers sleek design, accented with a combination of white and black hues, adds aesthetic appeal to your room, study, or work space. Wait no further and experience optimum cooling performance and convenience with the Crompton Optimus.

Specifications of Crompton Optimus Desert Air Cooler:

Capacity: 65 litres

65 litres Fan size: 18 inches

18 inches Pump type: Everlast pump

Everlast pump Special features: Large and easy clean ice chamber, humidity control

Large and easy clean ice chamber, humidity control Colour options: White and black

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Large 65L capacity for ample cooling May be too large for smaller spaces Powerful 18-inch fan for efficient cooling Higher capacity may lead to higher energy consumption

2. Bajaj PX97 Torque Personal Air Cooler

The Bajaj PX97 torque 36 litre personal air cooler is a cooling solution unlike any other. This air cooler features Turbofan technology which ensures a powerful air throw and provides efficient cooling. This cooler is also equipped with a 36 litre capacity, making this portable cooler suitable for home use. Its DuramarinePump adds to the coolers durability, backed by a 2-year warranty from Bajaj. Buyers will also enjoy customisable comfort with the 3-speed control. In addition, the air coolers compact design in white makes it a versatile and stylish addition to any room or setting. Go ahead, experience effective and convenient cooling with this Bajaj air cooler.

Specifications of Bajaj PX97 Torque Personal Air Cooler:

Capacity: 36 litres

36 litres Technology: Turbofan technology

Turbofan technology Control: 3-speed control

3-speed control Pump: DuramarinePump

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Powerful air throw for effective cooling Limited capacity compared to larger models Portable design suitable for various spaces May produce noise at higher speed settings

3. CHARKEE Mini Cooler

Who said cooling cant be convenient? Enter, the CHARKEE mini cooler thats designed for versatility and seamlessly integrates USB and battery operation, ensuring uninterrupted comfort wherever you go. This innovative cooler is built with a dual blower system and an ice chamber to deliver refreshing air in any space. A compact and lightweight option, it's an ideal companion for homes, studies, and beyond. Available in a multi-colour design, the CHARKEE mini cooler adds personality to any environment while providing efficient cooling performance, making it a must-have option for those who want a portable cooling solution.

Specifications of CHARKEE Mini Cooler:

Power source: USB and battery operated

USB and battery operated Cooling system: Water air cooler with ice chamber

Water air cooler with ice chamber Blower type: Duel blower

Duel blower Colour: Multi-colour

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Portable and versatile Limited cooling capacity for large rooms Dual power source (USB and battery) May require frequent refilling of water

Also read: Crompton cooler: Our top 8 picks across all budgets will ensure reliably cool summers

4. Novamax Rambo Desert Air Cooler

The Novamax Rambo 100 litre heavy duty desert air cooler is the ultimate cooling partner. With robust cooling performance and high-density honeycomb cooling pads, this air cooler also features 3-speed control, allowing personalised airflow adjustments. In addition, its powerful air throw will cool the entire room with ease while the auto water refill technology will add value and convenience by automatically replenishing the water supply as needed. This air cooler is available in a grey design and adds beauty to any space. So, what are you waiting for? Dont let anything get in the way of improved cooling efficiency, made possible with the Novamax Rambo 100 litre heavy-duty desert air cooler.

Specifications of Novamax Rambo Desert Air Cooler:

Capacity: 100 litres

100 litres Cooling technology: High-Density honeycomb cooling pads

High-Density honeycomb cooling pads Control: 3-speed control

3-speed control Colour: Grey

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid High capacity for larger cooling areas Large size may not be suitable for small spaces Powerful air throw for effective cooling Higher power consumption compared to smaller models

5. Maharaja Whiteline Rambo Ac-303 Air Cooler

The Maharaja Whiteline Rambo AC-303 65 litre air cooler is the cooling solution you need! This air cooler from the house of Maharaja Whiteline has a large capacity and is built with an efficient design. Owing to its features, this fan ensures effective air circulation and temperature control, making it an ideal choice for medium-sized rooms. With the grey and black colour scheme, buyers can sprinkle a modern touch to any space. In addition, this air cooler has user-friendly controls and durable construction, making it capable of providing a convenient and long-lasting cooling solution for your home or office. This practical option will keep you happy all summer long!

Specifications of Maharaja Whiteline Rambo Ac-303 Air Cooler:

Capacity: 65 litres

65 litres Air delivery: High air delivery of 3000 m3/hr

High air delivery of 3000 m3/hr Dimensions: 69 cm x 69 cm x 87 cm

69 cm x 69 cm x 87 cm Features: Heavy air throw of 45 ft.; 4-way air deflection; 3-speed levels (low, medium & high); anti-bacterial tank; low noise operation; aroma chamber; shockproof body

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid High cooling capacity suitable for large rooms Requires cross-ventilation for effective cooling Versatile features including aroma chamber Relatively high power consumption (165 watts)

6. Voltas Grand 52 Desert Cooler

The Voltas Grand 52 desert cooler has the capacity of 52 litres, making it a reliable performer in the realm of cooling various spaces. Its off-white hue complements diverse room aesthetics, blending seamlessly with interior decor across various colour schemes. In addition, its durable construction and efficient cooling technology render it a worthy companion for the hot summer ahead. In addition, its large water tank ensures extended cooling sessions, while its portability enhances overall convenience. Considered ideal for homes and offices, the Voltas Grand 52 desert cooler stands as a practical solution for beating the heat.

Specifications of Voltas Grand 52 Desert Cooler:

Capacity: 52 litres

52 litres Colour: Off-white

Off-white Cooling technology: Efficient cooling mechanism for optimal performance

Efficient cooling mechanism for optimal performance Portability: Designed for easy movement and placement in various spaces

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Efficient cooling capacity Limited colour options Portable and easy to move May be noisy at higher speeds

7. Havells Heavy Duty Window Air Cooler

The Havells heavy duty window air cooler is a cooling powerhouse that sits snugly on your window frame. Its 45-litre capacity allows it to operate all-day and operates quietly, all thanks to its three speed settings to adjust the airflow. In addition, it promises a powerful air delivery of 1500 CMH and odour-free honeycomb pads for a refreshing experience. Also, the cooler comes with a durable three-core three-pin power cord for reliable performance. Available in the Frostio design in white and light blue, buyers can add aesthetic appeal to any space while enjoying effective cooling this summer.

Specifications of Havells Heavy Duty Window Air Cooler:

Capacity: 45 litres

45 litres Air delivery: 1500 CMH

1500 CMH Speed settings: 3-speed options

3-speed options Pad type: Odour-free honeycomb pads

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Powerful air delivery for effective cooling May be bulky for smaller living spaces Low noise operation ensures quiet ambiance Limited color options may not suit all preferences

Also read: Room cooler: Top 8 picks to transform your cooling comfort at home with future-ready technology

8. Novamax Supremo Heavy Duty Desert Air Cooler

The Novamax Supremo 80 litre heavy duty desert air cooler is built for long-lasting cooling. Whether youre looking for a formidable cooler for your home or office needs, this option is worth considering. Its honeycomb cooling and auto swing technology promises efficient cooling while the powerful air throw and 3-speed control give you the power to customise as per your needs. This air cooler also features an ice chamber feature to add an extra boost of cooling when needed. Currently available in a sleek black and white design, this cooler can significantly improve the ambience of your room with its beautiful design and attractive features.

Specifications of Novamax Supremo Heavy Duty Desert Air Cooler:

Capacity: 80 litres

80 litres Cooling technology: Honeycomb cooling with auto swing

Honeycomb cooling with auto swing Air throw: Powerful air throw for effective cooling

Powerful air throw for effective cooling Speed control: 3-speed control for customisable comfort

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Powerful air throw for effective cooling Limited colour options Honeycomb cooling technology for efficiency Large size may not fit in smaller spaces

Best 3 features for you

Product Name Capacity Cooling technology Bonus features Crompton Optimus Desert Air Cooler- 65L 65L Large & Easy Clean Ice Chamber, Humidity Control 18-inch Fan, Everlast Pump Bajaj PX97 Torque New 36L Personal Air Cooler 36L Turbofan Technology Powerful Air Throw, 3-Speed Control CHARKEE Mini Cooler AC USB and Battery Operated No water tanker needed Air Mini Water Air Cooler Cooling Fan Duel Ice Chamber, Perfect for Various Uses Novamax Rambo 100 L Heavy Duty Desert Air Cooler 100L High-Density Honeycomb Cooling Pads Auto Water Refill Technology, Powerful Air Throw Maharaja Whiteline Rambo Ac-303 65 L Air Cooler 65L Standard Grey And Black, Ideal for Home Use Voltas Grand 52 Desert Cooler 52L Not specified Off-White Havells Heavy Duty Window Air Cooler 45L Odour Free Honeycomb Pads Low Noise, Powerful Air Delivery Novamax Supremo 80 L Heavy Duty Desert Air Cooler 80L Honeycomb Cooling & Auto Swing Technology 3-Speed Control, Ice Chamber

Best value for money

Determining the best value-for-money product among these options entails considering factors like performance, durability, and features relative to the price. In this list, the Bajaj PX97 Torque 36L personal air cooler stands out as a compelling choice. With its Turbofan technology, powerful air throw, and 3-speed control, it offers efficient cooling for medium-sized rooms. Additionally, its portable design and 2-year warranty by Bajaj enhance its appeal. Despite being reasonably priced, it delivers reliable performance, making it a smart investment for those seeking quality cooling solutions without breaking the bank.

Best overall product

The Crompton Optimus desert air cooler offers superior cooling performance and convenience, making it the best overall product in its category. With a large capacity of 65 litres, it efficiently cools large spaces. The 18-inch fan ensures powerful air circulation, while the Everlast Pump ensures consistent water flow for optimal cooling. Its large and easy-to-clean ice chamber allows for hassle-free maintenance, while humidity control enhances comfort levels. The sleek design in white and black adds a touch of elegance to any room. With its blend of performance, durability, and aesthetics, the Crompton Optimus is the top choice for cooling your space effectively.

How to find the best air cooler

Finding the best air cooler involves considering several key factors. Firstly, assess the cooling capacity required for your space size. Look for features like adjustable fan speeds, air purification mechanisms, and water tank capacity to ensure optimal performance. Consider energy efficiency ratings to save on electricity costs. Read reviews and compare prices to find a model that offers the best value for money. Pay attention to additional features such as portability, ease of maintenance, and warranty coverage. Lastly, ensure compatibility with your power supply and check for noise levels to ensure a comfortable cooling experience. Conduct thorough research to make an informed decision.

FAQs

Question : How does an air cooler work?

Ans : Air coolers work by drawing warm air through water-saturated pads. As the air passes through the pads, it gets cooled by the process of evaporation. The cooled air is then circulated into the room, lowering the ambient temperature.

Question : What is the ideal room size for an air cooler?

Ans : The ideal room size depends on the cooling capacity of the air cooler. Typically, air coolers are suitable for small to medium-sized rooms, ranging from 150 to 500 square feet.

Question : Can I use an air cooler in a closed room?

Ans : Air coolers work best in well-ventilated areas with adequate airflow. Using them in closed rooms may lead to humidity buildup and reduced cooling efficiency.

Question : How often should I clean my air cooler?

Ans : It's recommended to clean your air cooler at least once a month, especially during peak usage periods. Regular cleaning prevents dust and debris buildup, ensuring optimal performance and air quality.

Question : Can I use an air cooler and air conditioner together?

Ans : While it's possible to use an air cooler and air conditioner in the same space, it's generally not recommended. Air coolers add humidity to the air, which can counteract the dehumidifying effect of air conditioners, leading to discomfort and reduced efficiency.

Disclaimer: At Livemint, we help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and products. Mint has an affiliate partnership, so we may get a part of the revenue when you make a purchase. We shall not be liable for any claim under applicable laws, including but not limited to the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, with respect to the products. The products listed in this article are in no particular orderofpriority.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Imagine a party where the ambience is set, the drinks are all pouring, and the smell of food fills the room. Everyone is ready to make it one hell of a dance floor, but the music is MIA! Apparently, the managing committee took a coffee break when it came to the most important part of the party, i.e., a jazzy loudspeaker. Seems like the only beat that the miserable guests are going to hear is the sound of their own munching! It is a nightmare, and we know you hate it! So welcome, party people, and make yourselves comfortable, as we introduce you to the top-notch 10 Sony loudspeakers to party hard.

1. Sony SRS-XB100 wireless Bluetooth speaker

Packed with some serious music power, this speaker delivers a loud audio capable of rocking entire party crowds. It is extremely durable and comes with 16 hours of battery life. Thus, it is the perfect choice for a non-stop party night. Whats more, it comes with a strap that lets you hang the speaker from any support. Once done, it will face towards the ground and redirect the audio right on top of you.

Specifications of Sony SRS-XB100 wireless Bluetooth speaker:

Model : SRS-XB 100

: SRS-XB 100 Colour : Black

: Black Dimensions : 8.7 x 11.2 x 8.7 cm

: 8.7 x 11.2 x 8.7 cm Weight: 274.99 grams

Pros Cons IP67 grade waterproof The charging cable could have been longer Dustproof Anti-UV coated body shell Deep bass Portable

2. Sony SRS-XV800 Bluetooth party speaker

Simply an inseparable companion for any party beast! It has a whopping 25 hours of battery life and an omnidirectional audio technology that spreads the sound to every corner of the room. The built-in lights give you the ambience of a clubhouse right in your living room.

Specifications of Sony SRS-XV800 Bluetooth party speaker:

Model: SRS-XV800

SRS-XV800 Colour: Black

Black Dimensions: 37.8 x 31.8 x 72.1 Cm

37.8 x 31.8 x 72.1 Cm Weight:18.5 Kg

Pros Cons Quality bass complemented by five tweeters at the back and front. A bit pricey Big woofer Additional microphone port for a perfect karaoke night. IPX4 grade water resistance

3. Wireless SONY MHC-V73D party speaker

This Sony loudspeaker is an absolute beast! Now nirvana will no longer be the monopoly of headphones! With a speaker this powerful, you can drown in no time an entire party squad in the immersive world of music. Along with its several cool features, it comes with omnidirectional technology and provisions for the perfect karaoke night.

Specifications of Wireless SONY MHC-V73D party speaker:

Model Number : MHC-V73D

: MHC-V73D Colour : Black

: Black Dimensions : 37 x 42.8 x 92.1 Cm

: 37 x 42.8 x 92.1 Cm Weight: 21.2 Kg

Pros Cons The function keys are splashproof and hence a great option for a poolside party. A bit heavy Built-in party lights Good quality audio Wireless party chain and the vocal fader technology

4. Sony SA-D40 multimedia speaker system

An absolute miracle of technology! A blessing from the music gods! This fantastic 4.1 channel multimedia Sony loudspeaker comes with jaw-dropping audio quality and deep bass with its mega 80-watt output and powerful sub-woofer. It comes with Bluetooth connectivity and has an attractive design. Whats more, you get a year-long warranty with this device.

Specifications of Sony SA-D40 multimedia speaker system:

Model : SA-D40 C E12

: SA-D40 C E12 Colour : Black

: Black Dimensions : 10.6 x 18.8 x 9.6 cm

: 10.6 x 18.8 x 9.6 cm Weight: 8 Kg

Pros Cons Lightweight Durability could be improved Remote control technology Powerful sound Good quality bass Mini stereo input technology

5. SONY MHC-V43D wireless party speaker

This is an unmissable option if you are out in the market looking for some quality Sony loudspeaker. A unique feature of this device is its jet bass booster technology that ensures high-quality impactful audio, apart from that you get a motion gesture control with this product that lets you adjust the pitch and volume with mere motion of hands rather than pressing keys.

Specifications of SONY MHC-V43D wireless party speaker:

Model : MHC-V43D

: MHC-V43D Colour : Black

: Black Dimensions : 32.9 x 35 x 79.5 cm

: 32.9 x 35 x 79.5 cm Weight: 14.5 Kg

Pros Cons Built-in lighting system that blinks with the sound impact lending a neon jazz ambience to your party A bit heavy Good quality audio

6. Sony SRS-XP500 Bluetooth party speaker

With dual tweeters at the front side, this loudspeaker is a great option for a prolonged party. It has got a great battery life of 20 hours well suited for non-stop usage. The ambient lighting technology ensures an immersive visual well coupled with paunchy bass and high-quality audio. The fast charge feature guarantees 80 minutes of playtime with just 10 minutes of charging.

Specifications of Sony SRS-XP500 Bluetooth party speaker:

Model : SRS-XP500

: SRS-XP500 Colour : Black

: Black Dimensions : 29.49 x 27.51 x 57.2 cm

: 29.49 x 27.51 x 57.2 cm Weight: 11.2 Kg

Pros Cons Party connect technology that allows you to connect multiple speakers at the same time Durability could be improved Additional ports to plug in the mic and guitar Sleeky appearance

7. Sony HT-S20R soundbar with subwoofer and compact rear speakers

This home theatre system can act as a fantastic loudspeaker. It comes with a 400-watt powerful audio adorned with the Dolby technology. The technology offers 5.1 channels of surround audio coupled with a channel soundbar and rear speakers & sound woofer. All of these work in consort to provide heart-lifting audio music. Additionally, it comes with various sound options and multiple connectivity choices.

Specifications of Sony HT-S20R soundbar with subwoofer and compact rear speakers:

Model : HT-S20R

: HT-S20R Colour : Black

: Black Dimensions : 8.6 x 76 x 5.2 cm

: 8.6 x 76 x 5.2 cm Weight: 13 Kg

Pros Cons Dolby technology Lack of advanced equalizer adjustment options Easy to use Powerful audio Surround sound feature

8. Sony HT-S40R soundbar with subwoofer and compact rear speakers

In addition to all the features of the HT-S20R, this model comes with an upgraded amplifier and wireless rear speakers. This means hassle with annoying wires at the front and the back of the device making your living room less cluttered. Despite being wireless it never falls short of delivering top-notch audio with fantastic bass to complement your fiery dance moves at the party.

Specifications of Sony HT-S40R soundbar with subwoofer and compact rear speakers:

Model : HT-S40R

: HT-S40R Colour : Black

: Black Dimensions : 84.38 x 34.7 x 24.79 cm

: 84.38 x 34.7 x 24.79 cm Weight: 454 grams

Pros Cons 600 watts of powerful audio Has only a single level of vocal enhancement Lightweight 5.1 amplifier channels

9. Sony SRS-XG500 Bluetooth party speaker

This is a lightweight portable loudspeaker with a fabulous playback time of 30 hours. It has an attractive dustproof design and is IPX66 grade splashproof built for poolside parties. Not only that, it has an efficient quick charge feature that allows it to run for 180 minutes with just 10 minutes of charging. The X-balanced speaker technology ensures great sound quality with deep punchy bass.

Specifications of Sony SRS-XG500 Bluetooth party speaker:

Model : SRS-XG500

: SRS-XG500 Colour : Black

: Black Dimensions : 46 x 25.58 x 21.49 cm

: 46 x 25.58 x 21.49 cm Weight: 5.58 Kg

Pros Cons Portable design The appearance could have been more attractive Input ports to provide for a karaoke night

10. Sony SRS-XP700 portable speaker

This is an ideal loudspeaker to party hard all night. It has a great playback time of 25 hours and is built with omnidirectional technology that spreads the party mood to all corners of the room. It is highly durable with an IPX4-grade waterproof feature. The quick charge option allows you to have three hours of playtime with only 10 minutes of dedicated charging.

Specifications of Sony SRS-XP700 portable speaker:

Model : SRS-XP700

: SRS-XP700 Colour : Black

: Black Dimensions : 36.68 x 31.29 x 69.29 cm

: 36.68 x 31.29 x 69.29 cm Weight: 16.9 Kg

Pros Cons Powerful bass A bit pricey Omnidirectional sound flow technology Wireless party connect X-balanced speaker technology

Top 3 features for you

Product Feature 1 Feature 2 Feature 3 Sony SRS-XB100 wireless Bluetooth speaker 16 hours playback portable Powerful bass Sony SRS-XV800 Bluetooth party speaker 25 hours playback Water-resistant Omnidirectional technology Wireless SONY MHC-V73D party speaker Durable Good audio In-built lighting Sony SA-D40 multimedia speaker system 80W audio Lightweight Deep bass SONY MHC-V43D wireless party speaker Jet bass booster Built-in lighting Motion control Sony SRS-XP500 Bluetooth party speaker 20 hours playback Party connect technology Fast charge Sony HT-S20R soundbar with subwoofer and compact rear speakers 400W audio Dolby technology Attractive looks Sony HT-S40R soundbar with subwoofer and compact rear speakers 600W audio Dolby technology Wireless rear speaker Sony SRS-XG500 Bluetooth party speaker Portable 30 hours of playback Quick charge Sony SRS-XP700 portable speaker 25 hours of playback Omnidirectional audio technology Durable

Best overall product

When the brand name is Sony, it explains a lot about the product. With years of reputation, this company is known to supply quality products at a reasonable price. Therefore, choosing the best out of all the top-notch products becomes difficult. According to our research, the Sony HT-S40R soundbar with a subwoofer and compact rear speakers is the best option. The reason is its 600-watt powerful audio that ensures soul-filling immersive audio throughout the party. When it comes to a party you dont want a speaker whose audio output would be hushed out by the cheering and laughter among the guests. Thats absolutely terrible! With this device, you will have no such fear. The advanced technology ensures an even distribution of sound throughout the room, while the Dolby technology ensures a great quality audio output. This product is currently available on Amazon for Rs. 34,990.

The best value for money

The Sony SA-D40 multimedia speaker system is the overall best product. The reason is its decent audio output of 80 watts which ensures an immersive audio experience in any party. It comes with a big subwoofer and delivers a fantastic bass. Apart from being visually appealing, this device comes with a 4.1-channel system and can be controlled via a remote. It is lightweight and hence could be easily moved from one place to another. Thus it is an ideal option for an outdoor party. This device is available on Amazon for Rs. 10,490.

How to buy the best Sony loudspeakers for powerful sound?

A good quality loudspeaker is an absolute necessity for any party occasion. However, selecting one from an entire catalogue of its different variants can be confusing. This is because you can find yourself overwhelmed by the features. A better approach is to carry out your search based on certain parameters. In addition to our recommended list, you can select any Sony loudspeaker of your interest based on its sound output, bass, additional features like karaoke setting, built-lighting system or Dolby technology, price, and customer reviews. The last two parameters are extremely important, and we suggest you pay special attention to them. There are different products in different price ranges buy out the one you can afford. Also, never forget to read the customer reviews as those alone indicate the practical usability of the product.

FAQs

Question : Are Sony loudspeakers really worth it?

Ans : Absolutely. Unless you are not a fan of a good party.

Question : One parameter of utmost importance to look at in any loudspeaker?

Ans : The audio output is the most important feature of a loudspeaker. The higher the output the louder the loudspeaker can operate.

Question : Where can you buy a good quality Sony loudspeaker?

Ans : Amazon Shopping portal can be your first stop. There you get curated products from verified buyers. So no tension of authenticity.

Disclaimer: At Livemint, we help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and products. Mint has an affiliate partnership, so we may get a part of the revenue when you make a purchase. We shall not be liable for any claim under applicable laws, including but not limited to the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, with respect to the products. The products listed in this article are in no particular order of priority.

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
In the battle for smartphone dominance, Google could soon gain an advantage over Apple from an unlikely source: a new European law.

Starting this week, the worlds largest technology companies have to comply with the European Unions Digital Markets Act, a sweeping new law aimed at boosting competition from smaller companies in the realms of digital advertising, online search and app ecosystems.

In the near term, one of its biggest impacts could be in the rivalry between Apple and Google.

The new law is pushing Apple to open up certain parts of its app ecosystem in the EU, allowing third-party app stores for the first time and offering alternative in-app payment services on iPhones across the bloc. Apple had lobbied heavily against the moves, which reshape a part of its business that brings in billions of dollars in revenue.

By contrast, Google lobbied in favor of mandating a more open approach to how apps are downloaded. The Alphabet unit already allows outside app stores on its Android mobile operating system and could seek to take advantage of other provisions in the law to win more users for its Chrome browser on Apple devices.

The new law strikes closer to the heart of Apples philosophy, approach to security and its business model," said Zach Meyers, an assistant director with the Center for European Reform, a think tank. Unlike Google, there is not much obvious upside or opportunities for Apple."

Apple declined to comment on how the changeswhich for both companies apply only in Europewould affect competition with Google. The company has previously said that its integrated app ecosystem ensures users security and privacy, and that the legislation is forcing changes to those protections.

A Google spokesman said the company has always believed in offering people and businesses choice and competing on the merits of our services." In a blog post, Google called for consistent interpretation and enforcement of these new rules across all the designated companies."

It isnt unusual for companies to make arguments to European regulators that would hurt their rivals. EU legislators, for their part, say they werent trying to pick winners with the new law, and that the rules are meant to be neutral.

Under the law, companies could face fines of up to 10% of global annual revenue if they are found to be in violation of the rules, or 20% in case of repeated violations.

The rules, which take effect late Thursday, come days after the bloc issued its first-ever antitrust fine against Apple. The European Commission, the EUs executive arm, on Monday fined the company $2 billion, saying it violated existing antitrust rules by restricting app developers from telling users about alternative ways to subscribe to music-streaming services. Apple said it would appeal the decision and that the commission failed to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm."

The new law addresses the same behavior Apple was fined for but applies more broadly to cover all apps, not just music-streaming apps, and also requires Apple to allow alternative payment systems within apps. The commission has said the law is meant to complement its traditional antitrust enforcement tools and the fine issued this week deals with Apples past and current behavior.

Google has for years been at odds with EU regulators over competition issues. The bloc has fined the company a total of almost $9 billion in three antitrust decisions and is considering whether to pursue a breakup of the companys advertising technology business.

Still, Google has leaned into at least some of the new laws changes. Before the laws passage last year, the company lobbied EU officials to include the requirement to allow apps to be downloaded outside of a devices main app store, according to people familiar with the matter.

The inclusion of the provision in the new law could theoretically allow Google to make its own app store for iOS devices in the EU. The company declined to comment on whether it would.

Google has also advocated for all companies to implement so-called choice screens, which give users the option to easily select different default software on their devices.

The implementation of choice screens under the new EU law could help Googles Chrome browser gain market share on iPhones, which are dominated by Apples Safari browser, and in turn drive greater use of its services.

And Google moved early to allow developers to use alternative payment systems in its apps across Europe and other regions.

The law does present potential challenges for Google. While the company has the opportunity to gain market share for its services on Apple devices, rivals have the same chance to gain more of a foothold on Android devices.

Google is also changing search results in the EU to give more prominence to competing listings for products and services, such as flights, hotels and restaurantschanges that will be visible to users and could cut into revenue from ads from those businesses.

For Apple, though, the changes take aim at a core part of its business. The combination of its iOS mobile operating system and its associated App Storethe only way to install apps on its deviceshas proven lucrative for the company. The App Store accounts for a big chunk of Apples $85 billion in annual services revenue, analysts say.

The company has long said the tight integration of its app store and operating system with its devices makes iPhones more secure and usable. Loosening those ties in the EU could threaten what the company considers a main differentiator when marketing its cash-cow iPhones.

While the new law means Apple has to allow apps to be downloaded outside of the App Store in Europe, some developers have criticized the new fees and restrictions the company plans to levy on developers who opt to use outside stores. Those new terms would result in worse terms for them than existing rules, developers say.

Some antitrust lawyers have said Apples position may lead to conflicts with the EU under the new law.

Apple says fees and restrictions are needed to maintain a high level of security on its devices, and that 99% of developers of iOS-compatible apps in the EU would have to pay Apple the same or lower fees under the new rules. It also said this week that it had tweaked its plan to give developers more flexibility when signing up for the new terms.

On Wednesday, Epic Games complained that Apple had effectively blocked the companys plan to create its own app store and return to iPhones, nearly four years after Apple banned the Fortnite creator for circumventing the smartphone makers in-app payment system.

Apple said Epics previous violation of its developer rules give it the contractual right to block the company again, citing a U.S. federal court decision in 2021. In light of Epics past and ongoing behavior, Apple chose to exercise that right," it said.

Write to Sam Schechner at Sam.Schechner@wsj.com and Kim Mackrael at kim.mackrael@wsj.com

Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed  it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
As the Republican candidates went to try to requalify, they were turned away and told if they had questions to speak with their attorney.
Georgia House Republicans are backing a bill that would require every eligible police and sheriffs department to help identify undocumented immigrants and detain them for possible deportation
The four-day search for Sebastian Rogers has spanned 2,000 miles and has yet to provide any confirmation that the boy is alive.
If you do not have a current print subscription to the Lodi News-Sentinel, but want to view unlimited articles for the month, please choose this option.
A Longford man charged with intentionally or recklessly setting off in a chase with another car that created a substantial risk or death of serious injury will return before court in June for the conclusion of the case against him.

Judge Bernadette Owens asked for an outline of the charges against Ronan Noone (33), of Ballycloughan, Carrickboy, Longford, prior to deciding jurisdiction.

Mr Noone is charged with reckless driving, dangerous driving and drink driving following an incident at Toneen, Moydow, Longford on November 26 last year.

Sgt Mark Mahon said the Director of Public Prosecutions consented to summary disposal, meaning the case could be heard in the District Court, on a guilty plea only. Solicitor Frank Gearty indicated that his client was pleading guilty to all the charges.

Sgt Mahon said at 11:45pm on the day of the incident motorist Shane Nevin encountered a vehicle stopped in the middle of a road. The driver had difficulty passing and when he did the other car turned and started following him.

Mr Nevin, and his passenger, were in fear of the vehicle following them and sped up.

Sgt Mahon said at one point the two vehicles were going at over 160kph on a narrow country road.

The driver of the pursuing vehicle, Mr Noone, lost control and the speed of the collision was so forceful that the engine was ripped from the car.

Sgt Mahon said in the course of the Garda investigation they acquired CCTV from a public house showing Mr Noone in an intoxicated condition getting into a car 25 minutes before the accident.

Judge Owens accepted jurisdiction over the case.

Mr Gearty said his client had sustained life changing injuries as a result of the crash.

He told the court Mr Noone had suffered complete memory loss about the incident, but acknowledged how awful it was.

The solicitor said he felt a Probation Report would indicate his client would never reoffend again. Judge Owens said before she concluded the matter she would like to see a victim impact report from the driver and passenger in the other vehicle and directed that Mr Noone be the subject of a Probation Report.

The matter was then adjourned to June 11.
Ireland heads to the polls on Friday to consider two proposed changes to its Constitution.

The Constitution is the fundamental legal document for the country and can only be changed with the approval of Irish citizens through a national vote.

The referenda propose changing the wording of the Constitution relating to the areas of family and care.

It has led to national debates over the role of women in the home, what responsibility the State has for care, and the meaning of family.

Here, we explain some of the main issues to look out for.

 Why are Irish voters being asked to vote?

The Irish Government wants to change the Constitution to allow for a wider concept of family and, in addition, to replace text that refers to the role of women in the home with wording that acknowledges the role of carers.

While considered somewhat related, the two changes are distinct from each other and there will be a separate vote on both matters.

It is possible for neither change to be approved, for both to be passed, or for either one to be accepted without the other.

 What are the proposed changes?

In general, the two proposed changes are being referred to as the family amendment and the care amendment.

On the subject of family, the Constitution currently recognises the centrality of the family unit in society and references families being founded on marriage.

The amendment would add wording which is currently not in the Constitution to extend that recognition to families founded on other durable relationships.

It would also delete a separate existing reference to family being founded on marriage, while keeping the protections for marriage.

On the subject of care, the Constitution currently refers to the importance of the contribution that women within the home give to the common good in society.

It also says the State should endeavour to ensure that mothers should not have to go out to work to the neglect of their duties in the home.

The Governments proposal would delete these sections entirely and insert new wording which would instead recognise the contribution that care between family members gives to the common good in society, while adding that the State shall strive to support the provision of that care.

 What are people saying?

The Irish Government is campaigning for a yes vote in both amendments.

It says the changes will remove sexist language, recognise family care, and extend protection to families not based on marriage.

The largest opposition parties along with several trade unions and civil society organisations have also called for a yes yes vote.

However, that support is occasionally cautious with spokespeople saying some of the wording is ill-defined or not progressive enough.

However, opinion is split. Other campaigners and action groups are advocating against the changes.

But opposition is not uniform and disparate groups are campaigning for either yes no or no no votes.

Opponents to the amendments have argued, variably, that the changes would remove recognition for women, lead to a reduction of marriage, shift the burden of care from the State to family members, and lead to increased immigration.

 What constitutional impact will the vote on family have?

Fundamentally, a yes vote would mean that constitutional protections and recognition for families would be extended to ones based on other durable relationships rather than just marriage.

Durable is not defined in the proposed wording but it would include different types of committed and continuing relationships other than marriage.

A no vote means that special constitutional protection remains as is and therefore would only be given to families based on the marriage of two people.

 What are the main debates on the family vote?

Supporters say the changes would provide protection to one-parent families as well as unmarried couples with children, who are currently not recognised by the Constitution.

The Government estimates a million people from such families, as well as situations where people are raising younger relatives, would benefit from the change.

The lack of a definition for durable relationship has been criticised by opponents  some of whom have questioned whether it would apply to throuples.

However, the term is not new and has appeared in the EU Citizens Rights Directive. Ireland also already has existing legislation on cohabiting couples.

Elsewhere, the body for Irish Catholic Bishops has argued that passing the amendment would disincentivise marriage.

Anti-migrant groups have said the proposed changes redefining the rights for family could lead to higher immigration due to increased reunification of asylum seekers spouses and relatives.

This has been dismissed as a red herring by Government as immigration law already provides for reunification and State law allows for circumstances where non-national spouses of Irish citizens could be deported.

 What constitutional impact will the vote on care have?

If passed, the Constitution would be changed to recognise the importance to the common good of the care provided by family members to each other.

Secondly, it would provide that the State would strive to support the provision of such care within families.

It would delete the references to womens work in the home.

On the other hand, a no vote would keep the wording as is  requiring the State to endeavour to ensure that mothers should not have to go out to work to the neglect of their duties in the home.

 What are campaigners concerned about?

The votes take place on March 8  International Womens Day.

The amendment would get rid of what is colloquially referred to as the a womans place is in the home provision, which  while not the actual wording  has been described as outdated.

While supporters of the amendment say it would remove anachronistic and misogynistic language on womens work in the home, the date selection has also been considered patronising.

Opponents say that passing the change would remove important recognition of the contribution women play in Irish society, and delete any mention of their economic rights.

Elsewhere, the new wording on family care has been described by some campaigners as paternalistic, ageist, ableist and irresponsible.

Some disability campaigners have said it would perpetuate the notion of people with impairments being burdens on families rather than equal rightsholders.

Those opponents want constitutional obligations on the State provide support services which would enable everyone to participate in economic, social and cultural life.

 Who can vote?

All Irish citizens that are at least 18 years old are eligible if they have registered to vote.

Registered voters are given polling information cards directing them to their nearest polling station.

The family amendment will be on a white-coloured ballot paper while the care amendment will be on a green-coloured ballot paper.

There is a yes-no vote for each amendment.

The polls are open between 7am and 10pm on Friday.

 When will we know the result?

The result of the referenda, which are decided by majority, are expected on Saturday.

Counting of the ballots happens at a constituency basis at various centres around the country.

However, the overall national result will be declared at Dublin Castle.

The family amendment will be counted and declared first.

The results for the care amendment will not be processed until the family count is finished.
One lucky Lotto player won the biggest jackpot on Wednesday night's draw of 120,437.

A Lotto player in Dublin became the biggest winner of the night after matching five numbers and the bonus to win the 120k prize.

The winning ticket was purchased on Friday, March 1 at the Londis Racecourse Foodhall at Phoenix Park Way, Phoenix Park Racecourse in Castleknock, Dublin 15.

Shop owner John Gillen said: Were a busy shop located in the heart of a residential area here in the Phoenix Park so the winner could be someone nearby or maybe even a passerby!

Winning over 120,000 on a Wednesday night sure is one way to get through the hump day and get ready for the weekend.

Heres hoping the winner has realised their good luck. We wish the winner all the very best and hope they enjoy their big win, he said.

The winning numbers in the Wednesday, March 6 Lotto draw were: 03, 07, 10, 13, 17, 38 and the bonus was 46.

The Castleknock winner, who now has a ticket worth 120,437, is advised to sign the back of their ticket and keep it safe. They should make contact with the National Lottery prize claims team on 1800 666 222 or email claims@lottery.ie and arrangements will be made for them to claim their prize.

While Wednesday nights Lotto draw saw over 68,000 players win prizes across the Lotto and Lotto Plus games, there was no outright winner of the 3,746,227 jackpot on offer.

This Saturdays Lotto jackpot is now set to roll towards an estimated 4.2m.
Crime

By Chris Boyle Published: March 07 2024

Dante Lennon was speeding and intoxicated when he slammed into a Lincoln Town Car Leaving the Inn at New Hyde Park.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Freeport man pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and manslaughter charges for a drunken high-speed crash that killed three and injured another three members of the same family in May 2022.

Dante Lennon, 23, pleaded guilty today before Judge Tammy Robbins to Aggravated Vehicular Homicide (a B felony), three counts of Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a C felony); three counts of Assault in the Second Degree (a D felony), three counts of Assault in the Third Degree (an A misdemeanor); and Driving While Intoxicated (an Unclassified misdemeanor). The defendant is due back in court on June 5, 2024, and is expected to be sentenced to six to 18 years in prison. The NCDA recommended a sentence of seven to 21 years in prison.

A sweet sixteen party should be a cherished memory for family, but because of this defendants reckless and callous disregard for other motorists, it will instead be remembered as an unbelievable tragedy, said DA Donnelly. In an instant, three family members were lost and another three injured when Dante Lennon, drunk and speeding, barreled into their Town Car. We continue to hold the family of Marlene Luu, Hoa Ho, and Tu Nguyen in our thoughts as this defendant is sentenced for his crimes.

DA Donnelly said that on May 21, 2022, at approximately 11:08 p.m., the defendant was driving a Mercedes Benz at a high rate of speed, approximately twice the 35-mile-per-hour speed limit, and while intoxicated on Jericho Turnpike in New Hyde Park.

The defendant was driving eastbound when he broadsided a Lincoln Town Car and rear-ended a parked Ram pickup truck. The force of the impact killed Marlene Luu, 66; Hoa Ho, 68; and Tu Nguyen, 41. The crash also injured three men in the car, ages 72, 42, and 67.

The occupants of the car, all of whom were relatives, were leaving a Sweet 16 party at the Inn in New Hyde Park.

The defendant was arrested by members of the Nassau County Police Department at the scene.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: March 07 2024

The Suffolk County Legislature Page Program is looking for undergraduate and graduate level interns interested in gaining real world experience in public service.

Suffolk County Legislature Minority Leader Jason Richberg is seeking a resident of the 15th Legislative District to participate in the Suffolk County Legislatures 2024 Page Program. The Page Program is a 10-week summer internship designed to provide the guidance and training needed for a select group of local college-age students to become Suffolks next generation of leaders.



The Suffolk County Legislature Page Program is looking for undergraduate and graduate level interns interested in gaining real world experience in public service. The program is open to all residents of Suffolk County. Interns can receive school credit for their internship, to be determined by individual school guidelines.



Suffolk County Legislature & District Office:

Students will have the opportunity to work directly with a Suffolk County Legislator in their District Office. In addition, each student will sit in on General and Committee Meetings.



Seminars:

County Departments will conduct presentations that will provide interns with an up-close view of Suffolk County government and public service.



Special Guest Lecturers:

The program will host Elected Officials, business, and community leaders that will give students an opportunity for Q8A, giving them in-depth knowledge for professional development.



To view the registration form, visit https://tinyurl.com/mt6pwx2u. The deadline to apply is Friday, May 10. For more information, email ali.nazir@suffolkcountyny.gov.




IDF special forces operate in the Hamad Towers area of Gaza. (IDF)

The Israel Defense Forces continue to seek out terrorists in Gaza, five months into the war against Hamas. The war has progressed through several stages, including intense aerial bombardment in October and a large ground maneuver in November. Now, the IDF is conducting raids to capture terrorists and eliminate threats re-emerging in some areas.

In southern Gaza, the IDF Commando Brigade of the 98th division, which has been fighting in Khan Younis since December, carried out a raid in a neighborhood called Hamad Towers. They located and apprehended 250 terrorists, the IDF said on March 6. The commandos were supported by elements of Israels internal security service Shin Bet and by the 7th armored and Givati infantry. This is the routine combination of forces that has been used in Khan Younis. Some of the terrorists apprehended participated in the October 7th massacre, and some are terrorists from the Nukhba force. The terrorists are being interrogated and providing information that assists the continuation of the combat, the IDF said.

An Israeli journalist who accompanied the forces provided an insight into the area being targeted. The raid took place this week in the hottest spot in Gaza at the moment. Hamad Towers  the neighborhood built by the Qataris for the Hamas government in northwest Khan Younis. Five-story buildings with yards and parking lots. Not exactly a slum, but rather a dwelling for the well-connected, noted Ron Ben-Yishai at Yediot.

The decision to go into the Hamad Towers was not part of the original plan for the three months of battle in Khan Younis that the 98th division has conducted. However, it only became a target following the arrest and interrogation of terrorists who revealed that many Hamas operatives reside in the Hamad Towers and that there are many tunnels and likely rocket launch sites there, Ben-Yishai noted. This is a glimpse into the future of IDF operations in Gaza. The IDF has also conducted raids in northern Gaza, returning to Shati, Zaytun and Beit Hanoun to sweep for terrorists. In each case, numerous threats have been eliminated.

Hamad marked the IDFs first raid in the area, so it was still festooned with RPGs and weaponry. Nevertheless, the Hamas fighters are not as organized at the battalion level as they were when the war began. Instead, they fight in small groups, popping up to attack and then running away.

Although Israel now has less forces in Gaza, Hamas and other groups have also been reduced in size, so the IDF can tailor its operations in each area. For instance for the battle in Hamad Towers, the IDF used a number of elite units that are part of the Commando Brigade. These included the Maglan and Egoz units as well as Shayetet 13, the naval commandos. The IDF said it found a sniper cell commander, as well as RPGs, ammunition and closed-circuit diving systems intended for military and terrorist use. In another incident, the IDF targeted two terrorists who participated in the October 7th Massacre in the Israeli community of Nir Yitzhak, as well as two platoon commanders and a cell commander in Hamas Nukhba forces. In Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, two terrorists were eliminated.

The tactics now at work in Khan Younis and in northern Gaza illustrate the likely future of the conflict in Gaza. This means smaller IDF forces fighting smaller groups of terrorists. Central Gaza now has IDF troops controlling a corridor across the strip, which has enabled their maneuvering into the north or south and prevented Hamas from doing the same. This looks a lot like the tactics the IDF uses in the West Bank against terrorists. In Jenin, for example, this is how the IDF has been fighting Palestinian Islamic Jihad over the last year and a half. Raids are conducted at night with the goal of targeting threats without keeping IDF forces there overnight. The IDF still has forces who stay overnight in Khan Younis, but most neighborhoods in northern Gaza have been returned to Gazans.

Reporting from Israel, Seth J. Frantzman is an adjunct fellow at FDD and a contributor to FDDs Long War Journal. He is the acting news editor and senior Middle East correspondent and analyst at The Jerusalem Post.
LuxFilmFest is in full swing, completing this weekend of concerts, jazzy evenings and live comedy

Visit the Luxembourg City Film Festival for its final weekend of the 2024 edition

Visit the Luxembourg City Film Festival for its final weekend of the 2024 edition  Photo credit: Gerry Huberty

Visit the Luxembourg City Film Festival for its final weekend of the 2024 edition  Photo credit: Gerry Huberty

The Luxembourg City Film Festival has been in full swing all week, culminating this weekend with a packed schedule. Audiences will get the chance to attend workshops, see most of the films in the official competition, and be present for the final award ceremony.

When: 8 to 10 March

Where: Across the capital

Cost: Varies

8 March marks International Womens Day, which in Luxembourg means a host of talks, get-togethers and activities. Check out our comprehensive guide to everything happening this Friday and over the weekend for this years IWD.

When: 8 March

Where: All across Luxembourg (and beyond!)

Cost: Varies

Never take an L no more after seeing Yung Gravy at den Atelier on Friday. The Minnesota-born rapper rose to fame on Soundcloud before breaking out with tunes like Betty (Get Money - a song which might sound eerily familiar.

When: 8 March, doors 19:00

Where: Den Atelier

Cost: From 33.40

Those in search of a jazzy evening this weekend need look no further. The Geoffrey Sabba quartet, live this Satuday at Subtile Gallery, are holding a concert in tribute of legendary jazz musician Miles Davis - with dedicated interludes for a bit of cheese and wine.

When: 9 March, starts 19:00

Where: Subtile Gallery

Cost: 40 (30 for under 16s)

Back-to-back stand-up sets in English grace the programme at Carlitos Comedy Club this weekend. Lisa Curry (who you might have seen on TV) is on on Friday, followed by cute but dark Dragos on Sunday. (Elena Gabrielles show on Satuday appears to be sold out - but theres a waiting list!)

When: Friday & Sunday (Saturday if youre lucky)

Where: Carlitos Comedy Club

Cost: Lisa Curry: 19.90 / Dragos: 18
Conservative grouping would see German politician take a second term in EU job

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen addresses the audience during the European People Party Congress in Bucharest, Romania, on Thursday

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen addresses the audience during the European People Party Congress in Bucharest, Romania, on Thursday  Photo credit: AFP

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen addresses the audience during the European People Party Congress in Bucharest, Romania, on Thursday  Photo credit: AFP

The European Peoples Party grouping on Thursday officially picked Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as EU Commission president.

The German CDU politician was formally installed at a congress in the Romanian capital Bucharest with the backing of 400 EPP delegates and 89 voting against her. There were no opposing candidates.

The position of EU commission president must be filled after European elections in June. As a rule, a candidate from the European party family who performs best in the European elections is appointed. So far, the Christian-conservative EPP is ahead in surveys.

The signal from Bucharest today is that the EPP stands for Europe, for a strong, secure, peaceful, prosperous, democratic and united Europe, said the 65-year-old von der Leyen. She announced a determined commitment to the interests of farmers and small and medium-sized businesses.

As commission president, von der Leyen has been in charge of around 32,000 employees since 1 December 2019. The commission makes proposals for new EU laws and monitors compliance with the European Treaties. She is also an EU representative at almost all major international summits such as the G7 or G20.

Before moving to Brussels, von der Leyen was Germanys defence minister under then Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Luxembourgs current EU commissioner, the LSAPs Nicolas Schmit, is the lead candidate for the European socialist group S&D. That means he would be in line to take over from current European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen should his party be victorious.

With a view to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, von der Leyen emphasised that the aim was to continue to help Kiev for as long as necessary. She reiterated that the EPP supports the plan to create a new post of EU defense commissioner.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz warned the congress that Europe should not rely solely on NATO for its security despite being deeply committed to the transatlantic partnership.

Von der Leyen also spoke of the danger to Europe from extremists of both right and left.

They want to trample on our values and they want to destroy our Europe. But we, the EPP, will never allow that, she said.

Von der Leyens predecessor Jean-Claude Juncker had previously warned his party friends in the EPP against close cooperation with Italys right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni or risk normalising the extreme right.

I am strictly against Meloni joining the EPP, the Luxembourger told the Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost.
After two centuries of neutrality, military non-alignment and two years of negotiations, Sweden officially became Natos 32nd member on Thursday, a major step for the country that had until then been careful not to provoke Russias ire.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson during a visit to Washington met the head of US diplomacy Antony Blinken to officially hand over the ratification documents. The agreement was hard won after lengthy negotiations with certain members of the alliance.

On Monday, the Swedish flag is set to be raised in front of Natos Brussels headquarters.

Last week, Russia promised to take countermeasures in response to Stockholms accession, which will depend on the conditions and extent of Swedens integration into Nato.

Swedens accession, following that of Finland last year, means that all the countries bordering the Baltic Sea, with the exception of Russia, are now members of the Atlantic alliance.

Also read:

Finland warns Russia it is prepared to shut all border points

Sweden and Finland, although militarily close to the United States through their membership of the European Union, have historically preferred to remain outside the alliance, which was formed during the Cold War against the Soviet Union.

Although Sweden contributes to international peacekeeping forces, it has not experienced war since a conflict with Norway in 1814.

Hurdles on the path to Nato

Helsinki and Stockholm announced their bid to join Nato in 2022 at the same time, in reaction to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Finland secured its accession to the alliance last April, but Swedens membership process was disrupted by negotiations with Turkey, which accused the Nordic country of leniency towards Kurdish militants who have taken refuge on its soil, some of whom Ankara considers to be terrorists.

Sweden also had to deal with the reluctance of the Hungarian prime minister. Viktor Orban had agreed in principle for a long time, but before finalising the process, he demanded respect from Stockholm, after years of denigrating his policies.

At the end of February, the Hungarian parliament finally ratified Swedens accession to Nato.

Also read:

Sweden overcomes final hurdle to join Nato in historic shift

According to a poll by SR radio broadcast on Friday, a majority of Swedes believe that their country has made too many sacrifices to become a member of Nato, while admitting that Swedens security has been strengthened by its membership.

Swedens accession to Nato has been accompanied by a marked hardening of rhetoric among its leaders, with the Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces, Micael Byden, declaring in January that his compatriots must prepare mentally for war.

In addition to its application to join Nato, in early December Sweden signed an agreement giving the United States access to 17 military bases on its soil.
Ive seen plenty of fans on the street give the old Up the Wahs, he said. Cape-Wah seems to be a bit of a thing at the moment tooCHUR!. To top things off, he even chucked in a Kia ora whanau for good measure. What a guy.
Manchester, VT (05254)

Today

A few snow showers scattered about the area this morning, otherwise a good deal of clouds. High 38F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 30%..

Tonight

Variably cloudy with snow showers. Low 27F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 50%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
In the wake of a rather lackluster Bahrain Grand Prix, the Formula 1 world finds itself embroiled in off-track dramas that have eclipsed the on-track action. Among the headline-grabbing controversies are allegations of misconduct against the president of the FIA, the abrupt departure of key personnel from Alpine's technical department, and the ongoing turmoil surrounding Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

Horner found himself in the eye of the storm when he was accused, though subsequently cleared by his team, of inappropriate conduct towards a female employee. However, just prior to the Bahrain Grand Prix, a dossier containing damning texts, images, and videos purportedly sent by Horner surfaced, causing ripples throughout the F1 community and beyond.

Old F1 video shows Lewis Hamilton dropping cheeky hint about Ferrari move

The fallout from these scandals has cast a shadow over Red Bull, with speculation mounting that the tenure of their star driver, Max Verstappen, may be in jeopardy unless there's a significant change in leadership. Verstappen's father, Jos Verstappen, a former F1 driver himself, publicly commented on the situation, hinting at potential fractures within the team.

Verstappen has played down rumors of the switch

Despite rumors suggesting a potential departure, Verstappen himself has downplayed the idea of switching teams, affirming his commitment to Red Bull. "The intention is absolutely to stay with this team because I really enjoy it and I am happy within the team," Verstappen stated, emphasizing his loyalty as long as the team continues to perform.

However, with Mercedes contemplating options to replace Lewis Hamilton, including Verstappen, the driver market remains volatile. Speculation runs rampant, with names ranging from rising talents like Andrea Kimi Antonelli to seasoned drivers such as Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz being tossed into the mix.

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has vowed to take his time in selecting Hamilton's successor, underscoring the pivotal role this decision plays in shaping the future landscape of F1. While the prospect of Verstappen donning the silver arrows remains uncertain, in the unpredictable world of Formula 1, anything is possible.
Protesters were blocking streets near South Station on Thursday morning, causing traffic delays and resulting in several arrests, the Boston Police Department said.

The protest started before 8:23 a.m. Thursday in the area of Summer Street and Atlantic Avenue, the department posted to X. The area is located just over the bridge near the South Station MBTA terminal.

Traffic Advisory: Traffic is currently closed in the area of Summer Street and Atlantic Avenue due to a protest. BPD on scene. Please seek an alternative route.  Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) March 7, 2024

Boston police had advised drivers to take an alternative route if traveling in the area, but said the lanes were reopened as of 8:49 a.m. on X. A spokesperson for the department confirmed the protesters were blocking the streets as of 8:30 a.m., and that officers were on the scene to respond.

The department said on X that several protestors were placed under arrest and said additional details would be released later.

Boston Police have made several arrests after todays protest. Traffic has reopened. More details will follow.  Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) March 7, 2024

Images from the scene showed the protesters linking arms to block traffic all the way across the street by South Station, NBC10 Boston reported. The activists were reportedly pro-Palestinian and protesting the war in Gaza, the outlet said.

The department said it could not confirm what the protesters cause was as the situation was extremely fluid.
Jaylen Brown is back on the injury report for the second straight game ahead of the Celtics showdown against the Nuggets at 10 p.m. Thursday in Denver. This time, Brown is listed as questionable with a sacroiliac strain; Neemias Queta continues to be out with a right knee hyperextension.

Brown was questionable heading into Tuesdays loss to the Cavaliers with a left knee contusion. So its a different injury this time for the All-Star. Brown ended up playing 37 minutes against Cleveland as he wasnt restricted due to the contusion.

Fanatics Sportsbook 10X$100 BONUS BET BET MATCH BONUS CLAIM OFFER Must be 21+. GAMBLING PROBLEM? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (CO, KY ,MD, OH, PA, TN, VA, VT, WV); (888) 789-7777 or ccpg.org (CT); 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA); (800) 327-5050 or gamblinghelpline.org (MA), mdgamblinghelp.org (MD), 1800gambler.net (WV)

In positive news for the Cs, Kristaps Porzingis is no longer on the injury report. He missed Sundays win over Golden State with a left quad contusion. He was also questionable heading into the Cavs game before playing 32 minutes. Since the big man is no longer listed, that means he should be all good to going forward without any issues.

The Celtics are looking to bounce back after they blew a 22-point fourth-quarter lead to Cleveland last time out. The loss snapped an 11-game losing streak as the Cs also embarked on a five-game road trip. Next up are the defending champs in the Nuggets, who got the better of the Celtics in Boston back in January.
Bunnie Xo, the wife of country music star Jelly Roll, has wanted to make a name for herself outside of her husbands fame.

The model recently opened up about her retirement from the sex work industry and why she said it was the best decision I ever made.

Bunnie Xo, whose real name is Bunnie DeFord, first shared a Facebook post on Wednesday, March 6 announcing one year since she retired from the sex work industry.

Read More: Ludacris to perform as a headliner music act this fall at the Big E Arena

In the post, Bunnie wrote, I was so scared to let go of that part of my life and leave behind the money I was making  wasnt sure how Id make up that part of my business. But I had faith and let God have it and he made sure I made it back 10-fold.

Apparently, that post caused some confusion among readers, who were under the impression that Bunnie was relying on her husband for money.

So to clear things up, Bunnie returned to Facebook later that same day with a more in-depth explanation as to why she left the sex work industry and how shes been able to support herself.

A lot of people seem to be confused as to how I just retired from SW last year because Ive been married for seven years, she wrote. So heres the answer.

Bunnie said she has always worked and made money on her own, and never relied on Jelly Roll for income.

He never once asked me to, Bunnie wrote. He knew how important it was to me to make my own money. But he did always say, One day baby you wont have to do this anymore.'

Bunnie used her money from the sex work industry to start her own brand Bunnie Xo in 2018. The site sells merchandise, promotes Bunnies podcast Dumb Blonde and lets visitors subscribe to her Patreon. She said she built up her entire brand from the ground up without help from anyone, not even her husband.

The model then stopped seeing clients and having sugar daddies in 2020 to launch an OnlyFans, which made Bunnie millions.

Finally in 2022, my business Bunnie Xo started making just as much money  if not more than my SW money, she wrote. So I couldnt justify still having that part of my life when the new brand I created was thriving so much. I also didnt want to be the only wife in the country music scene whose butthole was on the internet. But my husband never once asked me to give up anything in my life.

Bunnie fully retired from the sex work industry in 2023 to fully focus on her own brand. To date, she has garnered 1.4 million followers on Instagram, 5.2 million on TikTok, 778,000 subscribers on YouTube.

And Bunnie wants people to know that she did it all on her own.
A Boston-area chef put his skills to the test on Food Networks popular cooking show Chopped this week in a Chinese food-themed episode, which could have helped his overall performance.

Its an absolute honor to be named Chopped Champion, especially on an episode celebrating Chinese food  something thats very important to me, chef Laurence Louie told MassLive Wednesday.

Louie, who is the chef and owner of Rubato Hong Kong Cafe in Quincy, beat out three other chefs in the cooking competition that pits four chefs against each other in three rounds: appetizer, entree, and dessert.

The chefs get a basket containing four mystery ingredients, which they then have 30 minutes to make into a dish. After each course, one contestant gets chopped until one chef is left standing.

Louie made chicken siu mai, which are open-faced dumplings, with tanghulu sauce, as his appetizer.

He then prepared butter-poached salmon with fried milk breadcrumbs and bitter melon pilaf for his entree. He made a jackfruit tart with milk tea creme patissiere and chow mein noodle crumble for dessert.

For Louie, this win signifies more than just the title of Chopped Champion and a $10,000 check.

Taking home the win has meant a lot to me, my community, and my family, Louie added. With our first child on the way, this moment is something I hope to share with the folks around me now, but also the future generations.

Louies restaurant specializes in traditional Hong Kong and Cantonese comfort food, but with a modern twist. Rubato has garnered attention from Eater Boston, Bon Appetit and now Chopped.

Louie was also named as a James Beard semifinalist last month, The Patriot Ledger reported. People can taste Louies food by visiting Rubato at 412 Hancock St. in Quincy.
A man wielding a knife who prompted a lockdown at the Barnstable school district is in police custody, NBC 10 Boston reported.

Police were called at 7:41 a.m. to St. Francis Circle in Hyannis about a person holding another individual at knife-point, according to the Barnstable Police Department. The 911 caller told a police dispatcher that the occupants were able to leave the home but the suspect stayed inside.

Barnstable police and later a Cape Cod regional SWAT team arrived at the home and a shelter-in-place was ordered for a one-mile radius from the scene. Homes in the immediate vicinity were evacuated by the police department due to the emergency.

By around 4:40 p.m., SWAT units appeared to have left the area, WCVB-TV reported. Following hours of negotiations with the suspect, he was brought into custody.

Local school administrators were alerted to the incident at 10:30 a.m. Barnstable police told school officials that there was no danger to any students attending nearby since the suspect was contained to the home.

More information about the arrest were not immediately available.
Authorities are investigating the killing of a Boston man who was shot while sitting in a truck outside his friends Randolph apartment overnight Wednesday, according to the Norfolk County District Attorneys Office.

The death of 32-year-old Deandre Jones was determined to be a homicide, the district attorneys office said in a press release Thursday morning.

Randolph police received a 911 call reporting gunshots near Highland Glen Drive and the Castle Village Condominiums around midnight, the district attorneys office said. Officers soon found Jones inside a pickup truck with bullet holes in it.

Jones was brought to Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton where he was declared dead shortly after 1 a.m., the district attorneys office said. The Chief Medical Examiners Office is expected autopsy the body, and that could happen as early as Thursday.

Detectives worked through the night to collect evidence, and the truck was impounded by police, the district attorneys office said. No arrests had been made as of Thursday morning.

Authorities are still investigating the shooting. No further information has been released.
For years, grammar nerds have been wagging their finger at students and writers who dare break one of their most sacred rules: ending a sentence with a preposition. But last week, Merriam-Webster, one of the leading authorities of all things grammar-related, gave preposition stranding the OK.

It is permissible in English for a preposition to be what you end a sentence with, the publishing company located in Springfield wrote in an Instagram post last week. The idea that it should be avoided came from writers who were trying to align the language with Latin, but there is no reason to suggest ending a sentence with a preposition is wrong.

Prepositions, for those of you who may have forgotten, are words that come before nouns or pronouns and are used to show direction, location or time to introduce an object, according to Merriam-Webster.

Merriam-Websters post sparked a heavy debate in the comment section, with some embracing a change to the centuries-old grammar rule.

Individuals who think its awkward to end sentences with prepositions are the kinds of people up with which I have never been able to put, Adam Conner Simmons, an Instagram user, wrote in reply to Merriam-Websters post.

Meanwhile, others have found a middle ground in the grammar war.

For me, its a sentence-by-sentence call, Andrea B. Rashish, another Instagram user, wrote in the comment section. In formal writing, it still feels wrong to end with a preposition; in conversation, it feels wrong to contort a sentence to comply. So Im with Emerson: A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

Why should a writer avoid ending a sentence with a preposition?

Many people believe the age-old rule to never end a sentence with a preposition began with 17th-century poet John Dryden, who scolded his peer Ben Johnson, a fellow writer, for preposition stranding, according to Merriam-Webster.

The preposition in the end of the sentence; a common fault with him, Dryden said about Johnson, according to Merriam-Webster.

However, some scholars point to Joshua Poole, a grammarian, as the first person to enforce the rule in his book The English Accidence, according to Merriam-Webster. Poole wanted prepositions to be placed in their naturall [sic] order, but didnt mention the end of the sentence as specifically as Dryden did, Merriam-Webster said.

This philosophy carried into the 18th century. For example, Noah Webster, in his 1784 book on grammar, cautioned readers from separating commas from the words which they govern, according to Merriam-Webster.

But by the 20th century, most grammar guides had come to the conclusion that ending a sentence in a preposition was OK, Merriam-Webster reported. That still has not stopped outcries over preposition stranding in recent years.

Conventional wisdom would figure that a Canadian citizen is a Canadian, regardless of status, a reader of The Star Phoenix wrote in 2015, according to Merriam-Webster. Plus, youre not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition.

But, honestly ending a sentence with a preposition is nothing to stress about.
A Massachusetts sex offender previously convicted of assault with attempt to rape pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography in federal court Wednesday, according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorneys Office.

Chelsea resident Lasall Johnson, 55, was charged by criminal complaint in March 2023 and subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury the following month, the U.S. Attorneys office said in a press release.

Authorities identified Johnson as a suspect after discovering he was part of an online file sharing network that exchanged child sexual abuse images, the U.S. Attorneys office said. During a search of his home, six electronic devices were seized which contained hundreds of videos and photos depicting child sexual abuse.

Johnson was convicted of two counts of assault with intent to rape in Norfolk County Superior Court in 1989, the U.S. Attorneys office said. He received a 20-year state prison sentence with two years committed and the balance suspended for 18 years.

Due to Johnsons prior convictions, the charge of possession of child pornography provides for a sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison, five years to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. He is set to be sentenced on June 5.
A Chicopee man was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday for creating and distributing child sexual abuse material, including the documentation of his own sexual abuse against a little girl.

Michael Geoffroy, 36, will face 10 years of supervised released after serving two decades, the office of acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy for the District of Massachusetts said.

Geoffroy sexually abused a little girl in Dec. 2020, and filmed his actions to create two videos and two images of child sex abuse material, prosecutors said. He sent the videos and pictures in a group chat the same day.

The 36-year-old was arrested the next day, and officials found over 100 videos and pictures of child sex abuse material through a cellphone search, prosecutors said.

Geoffroy had pleaded guilty on Feb. 16 to three counts of sexual exploitation of a child, three counts of distribution of child sex abuse material and one count of possession of child sex abuse material.

There is no higher priority in this office than protecting vulnerable children. As this case demonstrates, we will continue to devote significant resources to holding accountable in individual who engages in the sexual exploitation of children, said Levy.

Michael Geoffroy sexually abused a little girl and documented it for his own twisted gratification. His trove of horrific images of that child and others represents an unimaginable level of pain and trauma inflicted on young victims, said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division.

Locking this sexual predator up doesnt undo that damage, not by a long shot. But it does keep him from hurting anyone else and for that we are thankful, Cohen said.

The Chicopee Police Department assisted in the investigation and the case was prosecuted by the Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil L. Desroches of the Springfield Branch Unit.
A highly pathogenic avian flu (HPAI) virus was detected in backyard poultry in Massachusetts, according to the state Department of Agricultural Resources.

The department recently culled a flock of non-commercial, backyard poultry in Essex County after the birds tested positive for the disease, it said in a press release Wednesday. HPAI spreads rapidly and is often fatal in chicken and turkeys, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

This is at least the second time this year that the virus has been detected in backyard birds in Massachusetts. It was found in a domesticated flock in Barnstable County in January.

Both flocks exhibited clinical signs of HPAI, the Department of Agricultural Resources said. Such symptoms include sudden death; lack of energy and appetite; decreased egg production; soft-shelled or misshapen eggs; swelling of the head, comb, eyelid, wattles and hocks; purple discoloration of the wattles, comb and legs; nasal discharge, coughing and sneezing; incoordination or diarrhea, according to the USDA.

The virus is circulating in Massachusetts wild bird population, particularly in waterfowl, the Department of Agricultural Resources said. As such, the department is urging both commercial and backyard poultry owners to take action to prevent their flocks from coming into contact with wild birds, as well as their feathers and feces.

Allowing domesticated flocks the ability to roam freely poses substantial and elevated risk of exposure to HPAI and should be avoided or the consequences can be deadly, the department wrote.

The department recommends eliminating standing water and preventing domesticated birds from having access to ponds, streams and wetlands that attract wild waterfowl. It also asks that residents report both backyard and wild birds that may have died of HPAI.

You can report sick or dead domesticated poultry here and dead wild birds here.
Harmony Montgomerys stepmother will be released from prison in May after she was granted parole, WMUR-TV reported.

During a hearing before the New Hampshire Adult Parole Board on Thursday, Kayla Montgomery was granted parole after having served prison time on perjury charges, the news station reported. She will need to complete mandated programs in prison before she is released in May, where she will be supervised following her release.

Kayla Montgomery was arrested by Manchester, New Hampshire, police in June 2022.

That same month, she told investigators this past June that Harmony was murdered by her father, Adam Montgomery, according to court documents. Adam Montgomery wanted her to lie about where Harmony was on several occasions, basically giving Kayla a cover story and telling her that as long as she stuck to the cover story everything would be OK, the documents said.

By November 2022, Kayla Montgomery pleaded guilty to the perjury charges under a plea deal she struck with prosecutors. This included prison time and an agreement to cooperate in future state proceedings, in which she eventually testified during Adam Montgomerys murder trial in February 2023.

Adam Montgomery was found guilty of second-degree murder, second-degree assault, witness tampering, falsifying physical evidence and abuse of a corpse.
Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn is backing down from her decision to make herself head of the citys fire department in the wake of much derision from the state and local firefighters unions.

The mayor announced Thursday morning that she has appointed Deputy Fire Chief Todd Evans as interim chief.

Earlier this week, she selected herself as the acting head of the department, saying that she was doing so to ensure the department could continue carrying out its administrative functions in the wake of Fire Chief John Freedmans retirement last month.

IAFF Local 1032, the Medford firefighters union, disapproved of the decision, demanding that the most senior deputy chief be appointed interim chief, as is typical in Massachusetts. Evans is not the most senior deputy, according to the union. But he has served in the department for over 20 years.

The Medford Fire Department has been my home for twenty-two years and getting the chance to lead this group is a tremendous honor, Evans said in a press release Thursday.

The union is expected to respond to the mayors reversal later on Thursday, but previously pointed to a city ordinance that requires the most senior deputy be made acting chief as evidence that her original decision was improper.

The reality is there is no choice to be made here, there is simply following the past practice and guidance set forth by both civil service law and the laws of Medford, IAFF Local 1032 President Walter Buckley said in a statement Wednesday.

Read more: Medford firefighters union files lawsuit against city over unpaid back pay

Notably though, the citys legal department determined that Lungo-Koehn has the power to appoint whomever she wants to the position due to the citys charter granting the mayor this power, her office said Wednesday. The charter supersedes the ordinance, it claimed.

Lungo-Koehn also asserts that she tried to hire an acting chief from outside the department last month, but that the union intervened.

Union leadership scared off my first appointment because he was from another fire department. Hopefully they will support Chief Evans, as he has shown to be an honest and forward-thinking leader who recognizes the need to modernize and expand oversight in the department, Lungo-Koehn said in the Thursday press release.

Lungo-Koehn respected the unions wishes and interviewed all five deputies last week, she said. As a result of those interviews, the mayor determined that Evans was the best choice to lead the department until a new fire chief is selected.

The disagreement over the interim chief follows a number of others between the union and the mayor over the last several years, including contract negotiations that lasted approximately two and a half years. The conflict escalated in February when she publicly accused the firefighters of orchestrating a mass call-out earlier that month, claiming the move cost the city around $100,000.

On Thursday, Lungo-Koehn also announced that the city is reviewing proposals and discussing next steps regarding the alleged mass call-out and considering an extensive organizational review of the fire department.

The fire department needs to rebuild trust with the community in light of recent events that occurred in early February, costing our taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars, she said in the press release. It is my hope that Chief Evans and I can work together to ensure that something like that will never happen again, and that we focus on moving the department forward.

The union has taken multiple legal actions against the mayor, first filing an unfair labor practice charge last month, and then filing a class action lawsuit over backpay that its members are owed.

Lungo-Koehn confirmed Wednesday that the backpay has not been paid, but explained that it is taking a long time to process because the department has 102 members who are owed four different types of retroactive payments. The money will likely be paid out next week, she said in an interview Wednesday, adding that she thinks the legal actions by the union are strategic distractions.

They are trying to divert from what really needs to be done, which is an investigation and an organizational review of the department, she said.
Another battlefront has emerged on which the Medford firefighters union and Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn are at odds. This time, the parties are in disagreement as to who will lead the citys fire department until a new fire chief is appointed.

This week, Lungo-Koehn selected herself as the head of the Medford Fire Department and notified the state fire marshals office. The city has been without a fire chief since Fire Chief John Freedmans retirement last month.

The move was met with derision by the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts (PFFM)  a statewide firefighters union the Medford firefighters union belongs to.

What training and experience does Mayor Lungo-Koehn have to lead the Medford Fire Department? Its time for the Mayor to put public safety ahead of petty politics, the union tweeted Wednesday.

 Breaking News - Mayor Lungo-Koehn appoints herself as Medford Fire Chief



Apparently Medford @MayorLungoKoehn thinks she knows more about public safety than the men and women of @MedfordMAFire 1032 that answer the call every day. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/i9z8FRNWkL  Fire Fighters of MA (@THE_PFFM) March 6, 2024

IAFF Local 1032, the Medford firefighters union, wants the most senior deputy chief to be appointed interim chief, as is typical in Massachusetts. Medford also has a city ordinance that requires that this norm be followed.

The reality is there is no choice to be made here, there is simply following the past practice and guidance set forth by both civil service law and the laws of Medford, IAFF Local 1032 President Walter Buckley said in a statement Wednesday.

Notably though, the citys legal department has determined that Lungo-Koehn has the power to appoint whomever she wants to the position due to the citys charter granting the mayor this power, according to her office. The mayors office claims the charter supersedes the ordinance.

Why the mayor made herself head

Lungo-Koehn tried to hire an acting chief from outside the department last month, but the union scared him away, she said Wednesday. The PFFM even shared a statement from the local union last month that asked potential candidates to refrain from applying for the position of fire chief so that it would go to an internal candidate.

Lungo-Koehn tried to acquiesce to their wishes, at least for the acting chief position, and interviewed all the deputy chiefs with the help of an outside consultant last week, she said. The mayor then selected one on Tuesday, but it wasnt the most senior deputy chief, so the union did not approve.

At the same time, Lungo-Koehn said, she was urged by the state Fire Marshals Office to step in make someone the head of the department so that its administrative functions could continue. As a result, she decided to become the head of the department, but has delegated some of the fire chiefs duties to a deputy.

Read more: Medford firefighters union files lawsuit against city over unpaid back pay

The state fire marshal has authority over certain fire safety, permitting and inspection functions, and delegating that authority to local officials is the standard administrative process to ensure that these functions continue uninterrupted, Jake Wark, the state fire marshals office spokesperson, told MassLive Wednesday.

In a Wednesday statement, Buckley said he was pleased that the mayor was beginning to look internally for fire chief candidates, but called her actions so far a political stunt.

The Union cannot allow her to do as she pleases because she doesnt agree with the law, regardless of if that candidate is internal or external, he said.

A history of conflicts

The disagreement over the interim chief follows a number of others between the union and the mayor over the last several years. Fights over issues such as cost-of-living adjustments caused the parties latest round of contract negotiations to last approximately two and a half years.

Conflict between Lungo-Koehn and the union escalated in February when she publicly accused the firefighters of orchestrating a mass call-out earlier that month, claiming the move cost the city around $100,000. In turn, the union filed an unfair labor practice charge against the city that alleges myriad misdeeds by mayor.

On Tuesday, the union took further legal action by filing a class action lawsuit over backpay that its members are owed as a result of the latest contract agreement. The agreement was ratified by the union and funded by Medford City Council in November 2023.

Lungo-Koehn confirmed Wednesday that the backpay is owed and has not been paid, but explained that it is taking a long time to process because the department has 102 members who are owed four different types of retroactive payments. Even so, the process is nearly complete, and the money will likely be paid out next week, she said.

The mayor added that she thinks these legal actions by the union are strategic distractions.

They are trying to divert from what really needs to be done, which is an investigation and an organizational review of the department, she said.

Unfair labor practice charge reveals high tensions

The unions unfair labor practice charge reveals just how contentious its relationship with the mayor really is by detailing not only its complaints about the mayor, but also through the inclusion of an adversarial email MassLive has confirmed Lungo-Koehn sent to Buckley.

In the charge, the union takes issue with the mayors call-out accusation, her attempt to hire a fire department head externally and the delay in issuing backpay. Additionally, it alleges that the mayor has purposefully left fire department positions open to punish the union and slowed the payment of damages to a firefighter whose termination was overturned in arbitration in November 2022.

The charge includes the accusatory email from Lungo-Koehn as evidence of her hostility towards the union, but in it, the mayor levies her own serious allegations against members of the fire department.

She begins by saying shes always suspected sick and overtime pay abuse in the department and has asked the fire chief to get a handle on it many times. She knows the mass call-out was meant to teach [her] a lesson, she writes, before going on to ask if certain actions shes taken are what the union is upset about.

The actions described by the mayor range from a general crackdown on family and medical leave overuse to asking for tax forms from a department member whose abusive conduct towards his spouse she found to be unbecoming.

Is this because I refused to bypass veterans on the new hire list in order to succumb to nepotism and cronyism? the email reads. Or does this date back to something else, like the alleged racist posts on social media where I then bypassed a member for a promotion, or when members treated my DEI Director like she was nonexistent when they met her for the first time?

Altogether, the mayors actions are meant to intimidate, frighten, and harass Union members and to cause a chilling effect on future union activity and speech, the union writes in the charge. The charge, filed Feb. 20, is still open.
More spring break travelers are expected to descend upon United States airports in the coming days than last years break, with Boston Logan International Airport part of a nationwide travel volume trend Transportation Security Administration anticipates will continue to climb.

TSA officers screened a record-breaking number of passengers in 2023, and Boston Logans individual stats were on par with those reported at airports across the country. That trend should progress into this year, said TSA Administrator David Peskoske.

So far in 2024, travel volumes are trending at nearly 6% above the same period in 2023, Peskoske said.

Boston Logans trending volumes were at 6.4% above the same travel period, right around the nationwide numbers, according to New England TSA spokesperson Daniel Velez.

TSA doesnt think this years spring break travel will break any records, but Velez said officers expect to see as many passengers flying this year as did last year and in 2019.

This years window for Massachusetts colleges and universities staggered spring breaks began in March, as usual, and will continue for the next several weeks.

In the vacation period for 2019, Boston Logans weekly travel volume numbers ranged between 374,000 to more than 388,000, according to data provided by TSA. The amount of travelers weekly dropped drastically to the low-100,000 range in 2020 and 2021 at Logan due to the pandemic, the administration said.

But in 2024, officers said there could be nearly 400,000 travelers coming through the airport during each week of spring break in March.

A high of more than 399,500 travelers during the first week of the vacation period is projected at Logan, according to TSA statistics; nearly 398,000 and 395,000 are expected in the following two weeks.

We always work closely with our airline and airport partners to plan for and meet the increasing travel demand while doing our best to maintain our wait times of 30 minutes or less in standard lanes and 10 minutes or less in TSA PreCheck lanes, Peskoske said of the expected nationwide busy travel period.

To help prepare spring breakers, TSA created a list of tips and tricks to ensure catching flights goes smoothly.

TSA reminded passengers any liquids, creams, pastes, gels, sunscreen containers, aerosols or alcohol over 3.4 ounces must be packed in a checked bag; those items at 3.4 ounces or less can be brought in carry-on luggage if theyre placed into one quart-sized bag.

Guns must be unloaded and packed in a locked, hard-sided case in checked baggage only, and must be declared to the airline. The administration also advised passengers to be checkpoint ready with their valid ID and encouraged to sign up for TSA PreCheck for faster screening.

Additionally, spring breakers should arrive early and please be patient, TSA said.

The airport environment can be stressful. Remain patient, and remember everyone around you is also on their own journey. Passengers who engage in unruly behavior at the checkpoint, the gate area or inflight may face substantial penalties and possible prosecution on criminal charges, the administration said.

If passenger support is required, the TSA Cares helpline is available toll-free at (855) 787-2227, and TSA can be contacted prior to airport arrival on X or Facebook Messenger at @AskTSA. Travelers can also reach the TSA Contact Center at (866) 289-9673 from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends; an automated service is available 24/7.

Lastly, the administration reminded all passengers to remain vigilant and, If You See Something. Say Something. Anyone traveling abroad for spring break should also check the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Know Before You Go page for required documentation.
For a while after Maxwell Macky Baker died from a heroin overdose at the age of 23 on Dec. 28, 2016, his father James Baker couldnt bring himself to enter his sons bedroom.

When he eventually did, he found a trove of essays and other writing that gave him a look into Mackys state of mind during his struggle with addiction. Reading them, along with letters and emails he had saved from his son, helped him confront his own stigma about addiction.

And he felt a responsibility to help others do the same.

Now, Baker, a palliative care doctor and president of the Massachusetts Society of Addiction Medicine, hopes his sons story can help others support loved ones with addiction.

In his new book, This Monstrous Obsession: Hard Lessons Learned About Addiction, out May 7, the Holden resident combines his own memories of that time with Mackys writing to give an honest and heartbreaking look at his familys experience with the opioid epidemic.

There were times I wanted to give up, but I thought, what if I had a book like that? If a parent sat down and pulled themselves together enough  to share these messages, and then I could learn from them? Baker said. I might still have Macky. But that book didnt exist.

Macky began using heroin in his teens and dropped out of high school. At age 21, he began taking buprenorphine, also known as Suboxone, a prescription drug used to treat addiction by stopping opioid withdrawal symptoms, and things began to turn around.

He got his GED certificate and associates degree, found a job and a serious girlfriend, and enrolled at University of Massachusetts Lowell, with the hope of one day becoming a doctor.

However, after a serious car accident in November 2016, Macky was given a small dose of opioids for pain treatment following a surgery. Just a few weeks later, he overdosed.

Sometimes I would go to bed and then dream that he was still alive, thinking we were conversing, Baker said of the time he spent going through his sons writings. Id wake up really happy thinking, Oh, that was just off an awful nightmare I had, and then have to realize all over again.

The cover of "This Monstrous Obsession: Hard Lessons Learned About Addiction" by James Baker. (Courtesy)Prometheus Books

According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, there were 2,323 opioid-related overdose deaths between Oct. 1, 2022 and Sept. 30, 2023. And more than 25,000 people have died in the state since 2000.

Nationwide, opioids were involved in 80,411 overdose deaths in 2021, or 45 every day, accounting for 75.4% of all drug overdose deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of overdose deaths involving prescription opioids that year was almost five times that of 1999.

Baker said that for a long time, overprescribing of opioids has been blamed as the main driver of the opioid epidemic, but its no longer the biggest issue.

In fact, underprescribing is now an issue, he said. People develop painful conditions, severely painful conditions, and theyre refused opioids, theyre refused treatment. So they turn to the street, and what they find on the street is far deadlier than any prescription drug.

The primary barrier to addressing the epidemic, though, is that many physicians dont want to treat addiction, he said, due to stigma, a lack of incentive to do so or simply not knowing how to do it.

In This Monstrous Obsession, Baker acknowledges his own misconceptions about the disorder when he worked as an emergency room doctor earlier in his career, during his sons addiction, and all the way up to Mackys death.

Read more: Parents of children lost to opioids demand that state open OD prevention sites

He explained that like he once did, many people believe substance use disorder is a choice and people struggling with addiction are bringing it upon themselves.

Among physicians, I think its even worse, he said. We are busy taking care of the things weve been trained to take care of in the emergency room, a heart attack or a gunshot, and we know how to do that. Then someone comes in with an acute issue related to substance use, and theres a feeling that theyre getting in the way or theyre interfering with what we really should be doing.

Compounding the issue is the fact that, until recently, most doctors, Baker included, had never undergone training on how to care for patients with addiction. And even if they had, there is little financial reason for them to do so.

Addiction is incredibly complex to treat, he explained, and doctors get reimbursed very little for the frequent check-ins required.

Even receiving a prescription for addiction medications is next to impossible: until last year, physicians could be arrested and charged for prescribing buprenorphine for addiction without a waiver from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Once a patient receives a prescription, they still have to find a pharmacy willing to fill it, because many wont, Baker said.

Methadone, another medication used to treat opioid addiction, can still only be prescribed for that purpose through a federally-approved opioid treatment program. In contrast, Baker said, he or any medical professional with a DEA license could prescribe methadone every single day for pain treatment.

When trying to find help for Macky, Baker and his son tried countless doctors and treatment programs only to be turned away or sent on to somewhere else.

Baker said that if a patient goes to their doctor for help with addiction, the doctors answer should be, Yes.

I shouldnt offer you a phone number and say, Here, call these people, he said.

Read more: Marlborough mother involved in Purdue Pharma lawsuit wants opioid deal

In 2019, Baker began speaking with U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-3rd District, about legislation requiring DEA-registered prescribers to undergo training on addiction treatment. Trahan sponsored the Medication Access and Training Expansion Act, which was signed into law in December 2022, and went into effect in July.

Baker continues to advocate for change in how addiction is treated, but for the average person, he hopes his book will help anyone worried about a loved one with substance use disorder.

The most important thing you can do is to be kind, to be understanding and to be ready, he said. The response of anger or cruelty or punishing you is going to drive you further underground and hide your use. But if Im kind to you and understand that you have a problem that you cant control  I (can) be your loving family member who guides you to treatment when youre ready.

This Monstrous Obsession: Hard Lessons Learned About Addiction is out May 7 from Prometheus Books. It is available now for preorder.
The suspect arrested in connection with the shooting of a Worcester mother and daughter is someone officers have known since he was a child, police documents show.

Karel Mangual, 28, was charged with two counts of armed assault to murder and carrying a firearm without a license, according to Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr.s spokesperson on Wednesday.

Another suspect, Dejan Belnavis, 27, is wanted on charges of armed assault with intent to murder and possession of a firearm without a license, Worcester police said in a press release Wednesday night. He should be considered armed and dangerous.

Chasity Nunez and her daughter Zella, 11, were shot in a parked SUV in the area of Englewood Avenue and 1 Lisbon St. around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, police said previously.

Police reviewed security footage that showed the mother and daughter inside a parked vehicle on the side of the road as two men walked up to the car and fired their guns, documents read. Worcester police spokesperson Lt. Sean Murtha told MassLive on Tuesday that the shooting happened in the area of Englewood Avenue and 1 Lisbon St.

After shots were fired, the two men ran over to a parked white sedan, whose owner the police said is known to the Commonwealth.

The registered owner ... stated to detectives that he had let [suspect] Dejan Dante Belnavis use his vehicle and he has had it for about a year, documents said. Shrewsbury police had a motor vehicle accident in their town this year where [the sedan] was involved and Dejan Dante Belnavis was the listed operator.

Chasity and Zella Nunez had several life-threatening gunshot wounds, documents said. They were taken to a hospital and were pronounced dead.

Police made an exigency request for Belnavis phone, where they were able to find his location. The police document does not specify the location. Investigators looked at security video footage that found the white sedan circling an area in Worcester before the shooting and showed it leaving the Englewood Avenue/1 Lisbon St. area after the shooting.

Realizing the need to locate this vehicle after the murder of two people and the danger presented to the public, we used the vehicles connected car system through AT&T and we were able to locate the vehicle in Hartford, Connecticut, police said. A check of Belnavis showed that he had a relative who resided close to where the vehicle had been parked in Hartford.

Investigators reviewed security video footage from Hartford and saw Belnavis and Mangual leaving the sedan, the documents said. Manguals face was visible in the footage. Both men were wearing similar black and purple shoes, police observed from the footage.

Worcester police are very familiar with Mangual and have known him since he was a young child, the documents said. Neither of the suspects has a license to carry or firearm identification cards.

Police and Earlys spokesperson did not identify where Mangual was arrested.
Worcester police are searching for a 27-year-old man in connection with a Tuesday shooting that resulted in the deaths of a mother and daughter.

Dejan Belnavis is wanted on charges of armed assault with intent to murder and possession of a firearm without a license, Worcester police said in a press release Wednesday night. He should be considered armed and dangerous.

Belnavis is wanted in connection with the deaths of Chasity and Zella Nunez, police said. Zella was just 11 years old when she was killed.

Worcester police have already arrested one person in connection with the Nunezes deaths. The department said it will release information about that suspect in the future.

The mother and daughter were shot in a parked SUV in the area of Englewood Avenue and 1 Lisbon St. around 3 p.m. on March 5, police said previously. They were taken to a hospital where they were declared dead.

Today we mourn the senseless loss of two Worcester residents, a mother and daughter whose lives were taken far too soon and far too tragically, city leaders said in a joint statement Wednesday. The residents of Worcester deserve better, and we will stand alongside our community in sorrow and solidarity.

Police are still investigating the shooting. Anyone with information about it is asked to call Worcester detectives at 508-799-8651 or submit a tip online at worcesterma.gov/police.

No further information about the shooting has been released.
With costs soaring and bed space at a premium, the majority-Democrat state House of Representatives voted Wednesday to cap how long unhoused families can stay in the states emergency shelter system, even as it rejected a Republican-backed proposal to limit eligibility.

The vote came as the chamber also voted to inject a further $245 million into the Bay States emergency shelter system, where costs are expected to soar past $900 million a year over the next two years, amid a time of flagging tax revenues.

The House voted 121-33 to approve the spending bill, which also includes language making permanent such pandemic-era policies such as take-away drink sales, State House News Service reported. Eight Democrats broke ranks to vote against the legislation, with all the chambers Republicans voting no on the bill.

The bill now goes to the majority-Democrat state Senate for further debate.

Last fall, Gov. Maura Healeys administration imposed a 7,500-family cap on the shelter system. The state has since opened several overflow shelters to accommodate Bay State families  and migrant arrivals  who continue to flood into the system.

An administration-authored report recently submitted to lawmakers indicates that families who stay in the shelter system are there for an average of a year or longer, imposing increased stresses on the system as demand continues to rise.

It has become crystal clear that the federal government will provide no relief for states like ours who are facing this emergency all over the country, House Ways and Means Committee Chairperson Aaron Michlewitz, D-3rd Suffolk, said Wednesday, according to State House News Service. Washington seems to care more about playing politics on this issue rather than offering solutions for us to implement. That inaction has forced us to make difficult decisions.

And without making some temporary changes to this program, itll collapse under its own weight, Michlewitz added.

The bill caps most shelter stays at no longer than nine consecutive months, compared to the current average stay of 13 to 14 months.

Shelter residents who are employed or enrolled in a job training program could get another three months. The bill is mostly silent on what would happen to families once they hit the time limit, but Michlewitz said it gives the Healey administration options to create a reapplication process for people who hit the limit, according to State House News Service.

The bill would also would automatically provide 12 continuous months of shelter for pregnant women, people with certain disabilities and, thanks to a pair of amendments, veterans and people at imminent risk of domestic violence, the wire service reported

Time limits would lift on either July 1, 2025 -- changed via amendment from April 1, 2025 in the original draft -- or whenever the Healey administration lifts the capacity limit of 7,500 families, whichever comes first, according to State House News Service.

As of Thursday morning, there were 7,503 families in the states emergency shelter system  three more than the states self-imposed cap. Nineteen families had enrolled in the system within the last 24 hours, state data showed.

A further 783 families who were eligible for shelter were on state a waitlist because there were no spots for them, a spokesperson for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities told State House News Service.

Immigration reforms and the pressures on the U.S. southern border are expected to figure prominently as President Joe Biden delivers his third State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday night.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent from New York; an immigrant rights activist from Chicago; Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program recipients; and the wife of a man killed by a neighbor in Texas who said Latinos werent welcome in his community are expected to be in the audience in the U.S. House chamber on Thursday night, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A Massachusetts resident has been invited to attend President Joe Bidens State of the Union address Thursday night

Shelby Nikitin, of Wakefield, was invited by First Lady Jill Biden to attend the address, according to a White House statement. Nikitin, a commander in the U.S. Navy, recently completed her command tour onboard the U.S.S. Thomas Hunder and was recognized for her leadership during a mission to deter Houthi rebel missile strikes targeting shipping vessels in the Red Sea, the White House said.
Families across Massachusetts would get a leg up on the rising cost of childcare and open more opportunities for early education, under a bill that state Senate Democrats advanced on Thursday.

The bill, christened the EARLY ED Act, would, among other things, permanently fund the states Commonwealth Cares for Children grant program, which provides monthly payments to providers to help them cover their operational and workforce costs.

The bill also expands eligibility for subsidized care and would authorize the creation of a career ladder for educators with recommended salaries. The price tag for the plan was not immediately available.

Democratic leaders rolled out the proposal during a stop at a childcare center in Malden on Wednesday morning, even as the Senates Ways & Means Committee positioned the bill for a vote next week.

The bill is another step in fulfilling a plan to provide " provide high-quality educational opportunities to our children from birth through adulthood, as well as our obligation to make Massachusetts affordable and equitable for our residents and competitive for employers, Senate President Karen E. Spilka, D-Middlesex/Norfolk, said in a statement.

The Ashland lawmaker, who put education funding at the top of her legislative agenda for 2024, said that by investing in our providers, bringing much-needed financial assistance to parents, and making sure our educators are well-compensated, we have the opportunity to get parents back to work, and open up a lifetime of opportunities and benefits for their children.

The $58 billion budget proposal that Democratic Gov. Maura Healey submitted to lawmakers in January, calls for $475 million in funding for the program, colloquially known as C3, in the new fiscal year that starts July 1.

The funding, which Democrats touted as a national model on Thursday, has allowed providers to reduce tuition costs, boost pay for staff, and expand the number of available childcare slots, they said.

Expanding access to high-quality, affordable early education and childcare is essential for the healthy development of young children, as well as for the economic well-being of working families and employers in the Commonwealth, Sen. Jason Lewis, D-5th Middlesex, a co-chair of the Legislatures Joint Committee on Education, said.

As its currently written, the legislation also would expand income eligibility limits for subsidized childcare slots from the current 50% of the states median come to 85%, or $124,000 for a family of four. If more money becomes available, that ceiling would be raised 125% of the states median income, or $182,000 for a family of four.

Lower income families, however, would continue to be prioritized, Democrats said. The bill would further require that parents out-of-pocket fees for subsidized children be no more than 7% of family income, State House News Service reported.

The bill also would:

Ensure that early education and care programs serving children with subsidies are reimbursed based on enrollment, rather than attendance, to provide financial stability to programs;

Require the cost-sharing fee scale for families participating in the childcare subsidy program to be updated every 5 years to ensure affordability for families;

Establish a pilot program to expand access to shared-service hubs, which would support smaller early education and care programs, and

Increase the maximum number of children that can be served by fully-staffed large family childcare programs, aligning with states such as New York, California, Illinois, and Maryland, Senate Democrats said.

The Senate made education the centerpiece of the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, and we are continuing that commitment with an ambitious and transformative investment in early education and care, Senate Ways & Means Committee Chairperson Michael J. Rodriques, D-1st Bristol/Plymouth, said.

We saw just how real the need was for this investment with the onset of the COVID pandemic, and we will continue to do whatever we can do assist working families and prioritize early education and childcare initiatives in the Commonwealth, Rodrigues continued.
Two Red Sox pitching prospects recently acquired via trade made Bostons Spring Breakout Game roster.

Twenty-seven prospects in all were selected, including righties Richard Fitts (from Alex Verdugo trade) and David Sandlin (from John Schreiber trade).

The Red Sox prospects will play the Orioles prospects March 16 at JetBlue Park. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.

Both Fitts and Sandlin throw hard. Fitts said his fastball, which has vertical movement, is at its best when he throws it 95 mph or faster. Sandlin reached 100 mph with his fastball during a workout last month.

Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kyle Teel  Bostons top three prospects  also highlight the list of 27. MassLive ranked Anthony No. 1 on its Red Sox Top 25 prospect list. Mayer is Bostons No. 2 prospect and Teel is No. 3, according to MassLive.

Fanatics Sportsbook 10X$100 BONUS BET BET MATCH BONUS CLAIM OFFER Must be 21+. GAMBLING PROBLEM? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (CO, KY ,MD, OH, PA, TN, VA, VT, WV); (888) 789-7777 or ccpg.org (CT); 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA); (800) 327-5050 or gamblinghelpline.org (MA), mdgamblinghelp.org (MD), 1800gambler.net (WV)

RED SOX SPRING BREAKOUT GAME ROSTER

Pitchers (10):

Angel Bastardo RHP (Red Sox prospect up to 97 mph with heater, has super nasty changeup)

Isaac Coffey RHP (Red Sox sidearm prospect leads league in Ks; I had something to prove)

Hunter Dobbins RHP (Red Sox prospect up to 97 mph after blessing in disguise falling in draft)

Richard Fitts LHP (Red Sox prospect from Yanks trade: Its all about trying to throw over 95)

Wikelman Gonzalez RHP (Red Soxs next Brayan Bello? Driven prospect up to 99 mph feels close)

Luis Guerrero RHP (Red Sox prospect up to 100+ mph discovered favorite pitcher via PlayStation)

Zach Penrod LHP (On journey to Red Sox, pitcher (up to 97 mph) laid floors, paid for MRI)

Dalton Rogers LHP (Red Sox prospect with mid-90s heater made up changeup grip in front yard)

David Sandlin RHP (Red Sox sleeper prospect from trade in Feb. reached 100 mph in offseason)

Christopher Troye RHP (Red Sox prospect up to 98 mph died laughing at Triston Casas IG reply)

Catchers (4):

Brooks Bannon (Red Sox power-hitting C prospect read Ted Williams book a million times)

Johanfran Garcia (Muscular Red Sox C prospect has 5 hole power, cool reason for catching)

Nathan Hickey (Red Sox power-hitting prospect (15 homers): I want to catch in Boston)

Kyle Teel (Top pick Kyle Teel emulates Red Sox legend, refused any other career)

Infielders (8):

Antonio Anderson 3B (As a boxer, Red Sox prospect who hits for power and average learned focus)

Yoeilin Cespedes SS (Exciting Red Sox SS prospect with super power emulates Xander Bogaerts)

Blaze Jordan 1B/3B (Why Red Sox prospect with big power would love to talk to Justin Turner)

Marcelo Mayer SS (Red Sox have 2 dudes as top prospects, including freak of an athlete)

Chase Meidroth INF (Meet Red Sox rising prospect who has .564 OBP, grew up watching Kike Hernandez and surfs)

Eddinson Paulino SS/3B/2B (Meet Red Sox dynamic prospect has 57 extra-base hits, 27 steals and brings it every day)

Nick Yorke 2B (Red Sox 20 first rounder: Trade for player at same position a cool move)

Nazzan Zanetello SS (Red Sox draft pick Nazzan Zanetello appears on FenwayRundown podcast)

Outfielders (5):

Roman Anthony (Meet star Red Sox prospect Roman Anthony who went from H.S. to AA in 1 year)

Miguel Bleis (Meet Miguel Bleis: Boston Red Sox teenage prospect wants to play like Mookie Betts, has power potential)

Kristian Campbell IF/OF (Red Sox Xander Bogaerts comp pick a tough out, elite in important area)

Allan Castro (Red Sox prospect with thump in that bat among 6 2024 breakout candidates)

Ceddanne Rafaela SS/OF (Red Sox hottest prospect a superstar in the making and quick as hell)
AccuWeather is predicting an above-average season for tornadoes in the United States, particularly during the second half of the spring.

That could be ill news for the Northeast, which typically sees the majority of its tornadoes later in the spring, according to AccuWeather.

The weather forecasting organization is predicting 1,250 to 1,375 tornadoes in the United States in 2024, which is above the historical average of 1,225 but below last years number of 1,423.

The tornado forecast for 2024 shows a lower overall total from preliminary counts in 2023, but a higher-than-average year. (AccuWeather graphic)AccuWeather graphic

The reasons for this forecast? AccuWeather said El Nino, which is currently driving weather patterns in North America, is expected to weaken over the course of the spring. El Nino usually tamps down tornadoes in the U.S., and that weakening could allow for an uptick in tornado activity from April into May.

Above average water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico will also play a role in the formation of tornadoes.

The water in the Gulf of Mexico might heat up quickly during the middle and latter part of the spring, which is one of the reasons why AccuWeather is highlighting May as a critical month for tornadoes, the weather organization said.

Last years season was the opposite of what AccuWeather predicts this year to be, with a high number of tornadoes early in the spring with a low number during late spring compared to historical averages.

A graphic released by AccuWeather shows regions where tornado activity is the greatest during certain times of the coming year. For the Northeast, including all of Massachusetts, the month of May is the time of greatest tornado risk this spring.

Tornado risk for 2024 shows the Northeast at risk during the month of May. (AccuWeather graphic)AccuWeather graphic

Tornado Alley, consisting of the region from Texas to Nebraska, is historically at the greatest risk, though AccuWeather says that the severe weather threat can be more frequent in the Midwest, Tennessee and Ohio valleys in later March into May, and the northern Plains and Northeast can have an increase in May.
SPRINGFIELD  William Baker, who has served as the citys communications director for the last five years, has been promoted to Mayor Domenic J. Sarnos chief of staff.

Baker will be replacing Tom Ashe, who left the role to be the executive director of the citys Department of Parks, Buildings and Recreational Management. Longtime parks chief Patrick Sullivan announced his retirement Tuesday.

Bill has served as an integral part of my administration, a Jack of all Trades, said Sarno in a statement on Wednesday.
More than 24 hours after a mother and her daughter were killed in a shooting in Worcester, city leaders issued a joint statement to express their condolences.

Today we mourn the senseless loss of two Worcester residents, a mother and daughter whose lives were taken far too soon and far too tragically, read the statement from Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty, City Manager Eric Batista, Interim Police Chief Paul Saucier and Superintendent Dr. Rachel Monarrez on Wednesday.

Police arrived at the area of Lisbon Street and Englewood Avenue at around 3:09 p.m. on Tuesday, police said in a separate statement on Wednesday. When officers arrived, they found a woman and a daughter with gunshot wounds inside a parked vehicle, the department said. Both had serious injuries and were taken to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

While posts on social media have circulated with photos of the mother and daughter, MassLive has not been able to officially confirm the identities of the two shooting victims. Worcester police have not released their identities as of Wednesday afternoon.

The statement did say the daughter was a Worcester Public Schools student, but requested collectively for patience and privacy on behalf of the victims family and friends and for the Worcester Public Schools who are grieving the loss of this student. An act of such violence has no place in our city.

The residents of Worcester deserve better, and we will stand alongside our community in sorrow and solidarity, city officials said. Our appreciation goes out to the members of the Worcester Police Department, the Worcester County District Attorneys office and to all first responders who assisted. Worcester is a resilient community, and we know that our residents will lovingly embrace the victims family and friends as we work toward healing from this traumatic event.
Canon EMEA , the worlds leading imaging company, continues its sponsorship of the Canon Young Champion of the Year category at the Global Good Awards for the fifth year running to highlight the achievements of young campaigners. Entries for the Canon Young Champion of the Year category open today, closing on 3 May 2024.

The Canon Young Champion of the Year Award recognises young leaders who are driving positive change across any area of sustainability and use their examples to encourage others to take action. The award started as an extension of Canon EMEAs Young People Programme (https://apo-opa.co/3P2mks8), which gives young people the knowledge, skills and confidence to tackle sustainability issues that matter to them using creativity and critical thinking.

Last year, Raheen Fatima and Manyasiri Pear Chotbunwong were named the winners of the under 16s and under 21s categories. The judges praised Raheens work as an activist, which has seen her help to educate young people around the world on a range of topics, using the Sustainable Development Goals as a basis. To date, Raheen has taught more than 5,000 young people from 20 different countries.

Meanwhile, Manyasiri Pear Chotbunwong, founder of feminine health non-profit organisation H.E.R. (Health. Equity. Respect) was recognised for her efforts in supporting womens access to period products, education, healthcare and employment. Through her organisation, she has helped to distribute over 10,000 reusable and FDA-approved sugarcane fibre pads to women in five countries through partnerships with 30+ schools and NGOs.

Previous winners of the Canon category have gone on to represent Canon at global events including Expo 2020 Dubai and some of last years finalists featured in a TV and social media global video campaign with Warner Brothers Discovery brand, Cartoon Network

Peter Bragg, Canon EMEA Sustainability & Government Affairs Director said: Were delighted to be sponsoring the Global Good Awards for the fifth year running. I look forward to seeing applications over the next months highlighting the hard work and achievements of young sustainability campaigners. This is an important time to recognise young sustainability champions making a real difference in their communities.

To determine this years Canon Young Champion of the Year Award winner, an inspiring bench of judges have been announced including Executive Director at UN Global Compact Network UK, Steve Kenzie, Sustainability advisor and author of Be the Change Books, Georgina Stevens, 2023 Canon Young Champion of the Year finalist Jodie Bailey-Ho, and photographer and Canon Ambassador, Laura El Tantawy.

Details on the Canon Young Champion of the Year category

The award is open in two categories  under 17s and under 25s  both of which are free to enter and welcome entries from participants of Canon Youth Programmes and for external youth activists. Judges will consider applications from more than one candidate per entry, for example where groups or siblings have worked together to campaign for a good cause. Entries are open now (https://apo-opa.co/3V2lzTB) and will close on 3 May 2024.

To apply, entrants must submit up to 1250 words, a personal video statement and as many as six captioned images that tell their story and the change theyve been working towards. Using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a guide, entries may focus on any form of social and environmental sustainability activism, whether its a local community project or a large, global initiative.

Winners of the Young Champion Award will receive a Canon EOS R50 Content Creator Kit and will be invited to a masterclass with a Canon Ambassador. Shortlisted finalists will also receive a certificate, sustainably made medal and a joint masterclass with a Canon Ambassador.

Entrants may submit an entry for themselves if they are over 18, or alternatively they can be nominated by a parent, guardian, company, or the charity or organisation which they are working with but must be an integral part of the application process.
Belmullet writer Nicola Lavelle has just published her second childrens book.

Is Mise Noinin will be officially launched this Sunday, March 10 at 3pm in Turas Siar, Belmullet.

The primary school teachers new book is aimed at 6-9 year olds.

The new book deals with themes such as friendship, protecting the environment, the animals, the bees, the wildflowers, the plants and the herbs and the cures associated with them. These themes are beautifully illustrated by Aidan Courtney.

Noinin is a cat, who after getting a sting from a bumblebee, tells us of her adventures.

Like her first book Glor ar Inis Gluaire, all proceeds made from sales will be donated to Childrens Health Ireland (Crumlin).

From an early age, Ms Lavelle enjoyed reading and writing. Her mother, Breege, is a retired librarian who inspired a love of books and reading and her father, John, hails from the Gaeltachts Surgeview, Blacksod.

Having used Irish from the cradle, her father, like many others, emigrated to London in the 1960s in search of work.

During summers away from university, Ms Lavelle held story-telling workshops in her local library, which developed her craft of keeping young audiences enthralled in every word.

"As a teacher, I engage in shared reading with the class and model writing with the children. Our favourites are Roald Dahl and, more recently, David Walliams; both of whom have a wonderful way of weaving a witty tale explained Ms Lavelle.

Modelling writing exercises and stories, helps to ignite the childrens imagination, and motivates them to create their own stories she added.

Experiences like these have provided Nicola with an insight into various genres of writing and what is popular in childrens storytelling.

Her first book Glor ar Inis Gluaire was published in 2021 and the profits donated to the Childrens Hospital in Crumlin.

The book is available to buy online for 12.00 on Nicola Lavelles website, and is also available at Castle Books, Castlebar and Charlie Byrnes Bookshop, Galway.
THE late Shannon McDonald has remembered as beautiful inside and out at her Funeral Mass.

The 31-year-old mother was laid to rest in Ballinrobes New Cemetery today (Wednesday) after she passed away after suffering with cancer for three-and-a-half years.

Shannon was a highly regarded employee of Tesco for many years prior to her illness. A lover of music, she was also a member of a local choir  symbolised by a choir book brought forward during the symbols of her life.

A Hedwig teddy symbolising her love of Harry Potter and family photographs symbolising her love of family were also presented as symbols.

Speaking at her Funeral Mass in St Marys Church in Ballinrobe, Shannons sister, Mariah, said that her sister had the kindest heart and was all about family.

The only way to describe Shannon is that she was beautiful inside and out, said Mariah during the eulogy.

She had the kindest heart of anyone you could have ever met and was a loving mother to her daughter Alanna, a loving daughter to her parents, a caring sister to John and myself, an amazing aunt to Mia, Aoife and James and a devoted partner to Johnny,

Shannon loved being with her friends and had so many good memories with them. She was one of the most genuine people, Mariah said.

We are all so lucky to have had her in our lives. Her smile would light up any room, even on dark days. Throughout her battle she kept smiling and laughing, she never let it get her down.

Shannons younger sister then paid tribute to the positive attitude she showed throughout her illness.

A GoFundMe page raised over 85,000 for Shannon to receive treatment outside of Ireland before her health deteriorated.

The late Shannon McDonald

She never let it get her down, no matter what pain she was in, said Mariah, and that was how she showed Alannah and all of us what a warrior she was.

From start to finish she kept fighting. Never once did she say, Why me? She took it on the chin, rolled up her sleeves and was ready for the fight.

Our lives will never be the same again. Shannon was the glue that held us all together. She kept us strong during her fight, adding that her sisters heart was made of gold.

She always put others first. Even in the hospital bed she would be asking us and the nurses how our day was and did we get some sleep.

Mariah thanked all the medical professionals who had supported Shannon and her family during her illness.

Concluding, Mariah described Shannon as her role model and best friend.

I will be forever thankful for getting to have you in my life. I just wish we had more time. Rest in peace until we meet again.

In his homily, Fr Denis Carney paid tribute to Shannons attitude during her battle with illness.

Shannon knew what it was to suffer. When cancer struck her about three and a half years ago, she knew she had a battle on her hands, and battle she did, right up to her last breath. said Fr Carney.

She never gave in. She had so much to live for.

Fr Carney paid tribute to the support she received from her family, friends, medical personnel and so many others who offered support in whatever way they could.

He described her as a wonderful person and an inspiration to many who always thought of family and other people despite her illness.

No parent, no child should ever have to stand beside the grave of one so young, Fr Carney added.

Shannon is survived by her parents Paul and Debera, her daughter Alanna, sister Mariah, brother Josh, her partner Johnny, Johnnys parents Teresa and Eugene and family, brother-in-law Garry, niece Mia, cousins Jimmy, Georgia, extended family, relatives, neighbours and friends.

May she rest in peace.
Mayo Day 2024 is set to be bigger than ever for its tenth anniversary.

The annual celebration will take place in Belmullet this year to coincide with the 200 years of Belmullet celebrations.

Speaking at a Corporate, Education, Culture, Heritage and Library Services committee meeting yesterday, senior executive officer of Mayo County Council, Martina Hughes, said its hard to believe the festival is in its tenth year.

She said different changes have managed to keep the event going and growing each year.

Ms Hughes said the event is a very positive initiative that has really brought together pride of place and that sense of loyalty to who you are and where you come from.

Without the people of Mayo, at home and abroad, Mayo Day would not have grown to what it has been, said Ms Hughes.

The flagship event is set to be unique this year, but not too dissimilar to last year's Ballina 300 event.

A large stage will be erected in the heart of the town, with plenty of activities, events, food and craft villages located around the area.

Ms Hughes also explained that organisers are trying to bring in the theme of Belmullet being a coastal, marina town, in order to bring something additional to it, theres a lot of work going on in the background on that.

Councillor Gerry Coyle called Belmullet a unique location.

Lots of people, even from Mayo, have never been to Belmullet. You wont go unless theres a reason, he said.

People are welcome to Belmullet not just on Mayo Day, but any day he added.

According to Ms Hughes, the aim of the day is to showcase the best Mayo has to offer.

The event has had huge benefits, it has elevated the county as a creative and cultural tool, and elevated the festival offerings, she said,

Most importantly, this is what we set out to do, is to connect with Mayo people around the world, added Ms Hughes.

It was also explained that the big thing that kept coming back to the committee upon organising the event was the aim to connect Mayo natives across the globe.

This year, there will be an International Mayo Day event taking place in Chicago.

The Mayo day message is more about the profile of the county, so taking Mayo Day to another location was very important to us, said Ms Hughes.

Organisers travelled to the Windy City late last year, with Failte Ireland, to launch their plans.

It was a great opportunity to get discussions going in Chicago and get a working group going, she said.

There is  a lot of work going on across the Atlantic in order to organise this event.

The small working group in Chicago, including Ruth Cawley, Seamus Kavanagh, Alan and Henry Coyle, were called outstanding at yesterdays SPC meeting.

They are doing phenomenal work in terms of connecting us with who we need to be in touch with, together with a group in Gaelic Park, said Ms Hughes.

There will be an enterprise event in Chicago on Friday, May 3, where different high profile speakers will share why Mayo is a great location to do business.

The May 4 events will be much bigger, and similar to that in Belmullet. It will be staged in Gaelic Park, showcasing all things Mayo.

Ms Hughes told the committee: It really is shaping up to be something very special in Chicago, there's great interest, and the feedback is very positive."

Mayo Day is set to be the biggest of its kind, and will kick off the Home to Mayo festival.

In Autumn 2023 Failte Ireland confirmed that Mayo County Council were joint winners of the Global Irish Festival Fund.

The funding application was for Home to Mayo, a month of activities and events throughout the county to encourage the diaspora to come home and visit Mayo.

Mayo Day on May 4 will kick off the Home to Mayo festival, which will sweep the county through the month.

Home to Mayo is important for all communities as it is an opportunity for them to host new and existing events throughout the month of may.

Ms Hughes acknowledged that gaining funds can be an obstacle for event organisers, but urged that funding from the council is available and applications are open.

Chairman of the committee, Cllr Michael Burke, said the events will be very positive for Mayo, at home and abroad.
by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, March 6, 2024

Independent ad agencies Barkley and OKRPboth known for competing nationally for major brand clients--have merged to become BarkleyOKRP.

With more than 650 employees across five offices in Chicago, Kansas City, Denver, New York and Pittsburgh, BarkleyOKRP is now one of the largest independent agencies in the country.

advertisement advertisement The agencies were brought together by Chicago-based private equity firm Keystone Capital, which last year acquired a stake in Barkley. Keystone will have a slight majority share in the newly merged entity, and, the company says, will provide additional resources for future growth and expansion.

In a world where the choice is often big holding company or small independent, BarkleyOKRP provides an alternative that marries the best of both worlds, says Jeff King, who has served as CEO at Barkley since 2009 and becomes CEO of BarkleyOKRP.

OKRP has built a creative powerhouse, added King, and Barkley, in addition to its own award-winning creative product, has built a foundation of modern consumer expertise. Combined, BarkleyOKRP clients will receive the very best of strategy and creativity in an agency that has broad capabilities and significant scale.

Barkley, founded by Bill Fromm and based in Kansas City, MO, will celebrate its 60th anniversary in June of this year. Chicago-based OKRP was founded in 2013 by agency veterans Tom O'Keefe, Matt Reinhard and Nick Paul.

OKeefe, previously CEO of OKRP is now Creative Chairman of BarkleyOKRP. Paul, president of OKRP, and Dan Fromm, president of Barkley, will become co-presidents of the new entity. The rest of the leadership comprises 12 discipline heads from both companies.

BarkleyOKRPs combined client roster includes Metro by T-Mobile, Burger King, Planet Fitness, Motel 6, Premier Protein and AMC, among others.
by Erik Oster , March 6, 2024

Corona tapped a buzzworthy actor for a promotional role, naming Pedro Pascal its brand ambassador.

The Chilean-American actor is coming off of a big year that included starring roles in The Last Of Us and the The Mandalorian, with Time naming him to its 100 Most Influential People list for 2023.

Snoop Dogg previously served as brand ambassador for Corona, appearing in the ongoing La Vida Mas Fina campaign since 2020. According to a release, the move is part of a shift in tone for Corona as it places greater emphasis on its Latino roots.

Pascals impact on culture is undeniable, and as we continue to celebrate our shared heritage and assert our position as a modern Latino brand, there is no better partner than Pedro Pascal, Corona director of marketing Saul Trejo said in a statement.

advertisement advertisement

The move also comes as Corona plans some updates to its brand portfolio. On a recent earnings call for Constellation Brands -- which owns the U.S. distribution rights for Corona (which is brewed by ABInBev and distributed by the company outside the U.S.) an investor asked about unspecified innovations to Corona Sunbrew -- a 0% ABV beer with added vitamin D, which launched in Canada in 2022.

Sunbrew is coming to the U.S., Constellations Brands CEO Bill Newlands said, adding that any details would be discussed at the introduction in early March.

Pascal will star in the next iteration of Corona's La Vida Mas Fina campaign, which positions the brand as part of embracing a worry-free mindset and letting go. Creative featuring the star will debut in May.

Pascal is also a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, notable in the wake of major beer brands' lack of visible support for that community after Corona competitor Bud Light handled anti-trans far-right attacks on the brand for a one-time partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. LGTBQ+ consumers were critical of Bud Light for not defending Mulvaney or offering support as she faced online harassment. Pascal has spoken openly about his support for his transgender sister, Lux (herself an actress), and reportedly developed a close relationship with his The Last Of Us co-star, nonbinary actor Bella Ramsey.
by Teresa Buyikian , March 6, 2024

One of the fastest growing Korean fried chicken chains is attempting to teach customers how to speak Korean -- Korean Fried Chicken, to be exact.

BB.Q Chicken has launched its first U.S. online ad campaign this month. The fried chicken behemoth has more than 4,150 outlets globally, with 250 in 22 U.S. states and plans for further expansion.

Th two YouTube spots show Americans enjoying BB.Q Chicken for the first time, describing their experience in one as "Kind of spicy, kind of sweetdefinitely my new obsession" and in the other, "This is the crispiest chicken in the entire world." These phrases are followed by their Korean translations and video that showcases the authentic Korean food prep at the chain as K-Pop-inspired music plays in the background.

advertisement advertisement

"The creative and media strategy of this campaign . reach and resonate with our target audience, which is open to trying new flavors and is especially drawn to authentic international dining experiences," said Andrew Lee, senior manager, marketing, for bb.q Chicken U.S., in a release.

The campaign taps into the growing American interest in Korean food and culture, which is referred to as "Hallyu" or the "Korean Wave" of influence in other countries, per the release. The trend is prominent on YouTube with K-Pop, mukbang and Korean translation videos, thus inspiring the chain to choose YouTube for the campaign's media.

Created by Hunt Valley, Maryland agency MGH, which handled all creative and media for the effort, the ads will run through 2024 on YouTube as well as on Google and Meta, followed by TikTok and influencer marketing later this year.
by Ray Schultz , March 6, 2024

CNHI has named Beverly Joyce as publisher of the Tribune-Star of Terre Haute, Indiana. Joyce adds this title to her already robust portfolio. She will continue serving as publisher of The Herald-Bulletin in Anderson and as regional executive over nine CNHI newspapers in Oklahoma.

Joyce replaces Robyn McCloskey, who was recently promoted to executive vice president operations with CNHI, in the Terre Haute role. McCloskey is continuing as publisher of the Kokomo Tribune and the Pharos-Tribune in Logansport.

Joyce has served twice as publisher of the Herald Bulletin, from 2015 to 2021 and starting again in 2023. She started her career in 1983 as an advertising sales representative at the newspaper of her hometown of Batesville.

"I've lived in Indiana all my life and do have some familiarity with this area, but I'm looking forward to better getting to know the readers and the business community here, Joyce says of her new appointment.

Based on Alabama, CNHI publishes 22 newspapers.
by Sarah Mahoney @mahoney_sarah, March 7, 2024







Michaels is introducing a campaign to show off MakerPlace, its new Etsy-like platform. Called Respect the Handmade, the campaign is meant to encourage makers to join the platform, which the company launched a few months ago. The retailer has also begun to test an in-store program, inviting select sellers to offer their goods at their local Michaels, driving exposure and sales for their storefronts.

We know one of the biggest challenges for handmade business owners is finding and reaching those potential customers in a crowded handmade marketplace, says Heather Bennett, executive vice president of marketing and ecommerce. The in-store selling pilot leverages our brick-and-mortar presence to provide sellers with a unique opportunity to break through some of that noise and connect with customers in their local community.

advertisement advertisement

The ads, created by Oberland, are aimed at two audiences: Independent handmade artists and makers, and the consumers who turn to them for unique gifts, decor and jewelry. Carefully crafted leather bags, candlesticks and crocheted chickens come to life, dancing to Aretha Franklins Respect. (The Sock it to me lines are, naturally, sung by an ensemble of hand-knit socks.)

She says ads are running on social media, the MakerPlace website, Michaels-owned channels, and streaming video and programmatic paid media.

Were looking to reach our extremely diverse audience of both potential sellers and buyers, so the ads explore the benefits of the platform from both sides, she tells Marketing Daily via email.

While this is a pilot, starting with just seven stores, opening physical stores up to these makers could be a key differentiator. With nearly 1,300 locations, it gives Michaels an advantage pure digital players lack.

Based on feedback from the platforms beta users, both the campaign and in-store pilot aim to convey a deeper commitment to handmade artists. We truly want to help them establish their businesses and succeed. Thats why MakerPlace offers what others dont, including multiple revenue streams.

MakerPlace also offers lower fees and flexible membership options.

The better the experience and platform are for sellers, the Irving, Texas-based retailer reasons, the more makers it can attract. And that richness will translate to higher sales and satisfaction for the people who prefer to buy socks rather than knit them.

Were just getting started on what we have planned to further support the handmade community, she adds, with a roadmap of features and updates planned to keep improving both shopper and seller experience.
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, March 7, 2024

Microsoft Performance Max rolled out in all markets on Thursday. Similar to Googles ad platform by the same name, Microsofts version brings together all its ad services into one platform where artificial intelligence (AI) dynamically creates and optimizes ads across all Microsoft Advertising surfaces to improve performance.

Microsoft will offer the option sometime in the second quarter of 2024, joining other platforms such as Skai, and Adobe.

Some of the functions not yet available in Microsoft Performance Max but on the company's roadmap this year include costs per sale bidding strategy, video assets, experiments support, and forecasting tools.

Key features of the platform include Product Ads, Automated Bidding, Predictive Targeting, Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs), Multimedia Ads (MMAs), and much more.

In the Create asset group section, Marketers can associate a Microsoft Merchant Center store and save the Asset Group without adding any asset creatives. This lets marketers run a shopping-only Performance Max campaign.

advertisement advertisement

Microsoft also allows marketers to import their Google Performance Max campaigns in a few clicks after ensuring they have the Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag in place with conversion tracking.

Microsoft also wants to make cross-border advertising easier. Its latest feature, Feed Labels, debuted Thursday with a launch date of sometime in mid-March.

Feed Labels will allow advertisers to organize products from different feeds by using common traits like language or product category.

Microsoft said for those selling products the UK, France, and Germany, marketers can create a label for all three feeds. This label help marketers run ads in a targeted shopping campaign that will show products from all the feeds to potential customers in those markets.

The company also makes note that Feed Labels are different from custom labels, which are used to subdivide products within one feed based on the campaigns criteria. Custom labels are useful for creating granular bid strategies and reporting in a campaign.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, March 7, 2024

The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday voted 50-0 in favor of two bills aimed at preventing the Chinese government from obtaining data about Americans, including a measure that could result in a ban on TikTok.

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (H.R. 7521), introduced Tuesday by Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois) and Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin) and advanced by lawmakers on Thursday, would prohibit app stores or internet hosting services from offering TikTok, unless the app is sold by its parent company, the China-based ByteDance.

The other bill approved Thursday, Protecting Americans Data from Foreign Adversaries Act (H.R. 7520), would prohibit data brokers from transferring sensitive information to foreign adversaries or companies owned by foreign adversaries.

advertisement advertisement

The Krishnamoorthi-Gallagher bill -- the more controversial of the pair -- sparked a lobbying campaign by TikTok that involved rallying users to voice opposition to Congress.

Committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) referenced that effort Thursday afternoon, arguing it showed how the Chinese Communist Party can weaponize platforms like TikTok to manipulate the American people.

This morning, prior to our hearing, TikTok used its influence and power to force users to contact their representatives if they wanted to continue using TikTok, Rodgers said before the vote.

A coalition of civil rights groups also urged lawmakers to reject the Krishnamoorthi-Gallagher bill, arguing it would violate the First Amendment.

H.R. 7521 is censorship -- plain and simple, the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Democracy & Technology, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Fight for the Future said in a letter sent to lawmakers on Wednesday.

Passing this legislation would trample on the constitutional right to freedom of speech of millions of people in the United States, the groups wrote. TikTok is home to massive amounts of protected speech and association: it enables its users to discuss their opinions, share their hobbies, make art, and access news from down the street and around the world.

TikTok stated after the vote that the bill attempts to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression, adding that doing so will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.

Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula, Montana blocked enforcement of a state law that would have banned TikTok, ruling that the statute oversteps state power and infringes on the Constitutional rights of users and businesses.

Molloy added that the law wasn't narrowly tailored to prevent the Chinese government from accessing data about U.S. residents, noting that China could also gather similar information by purchasing it from data brokers, or through open-source intelligence intelligence gathering.
What is Monkeypox?

Monkeypox is a rare zoonotic disease caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the group of Orthopox viruses. The Orthopox viruses also include the Vaccinia, cowpox, and Variola or small pox viruses. The monkeypox virus was discovered at the State Serum Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1958 in a colony of monkeys that had pox-type of infection. The first confirmed human monkeypox infection was reported in 1970 in Democratic Republic of Congo in a child of 9 months. The infection is common in the Democratic Republic of Congo; Central and West Africa and Sudan are places where this infection has been reported. The infection has once occurred in the United States, as well in 2003, when an outbreak of monkeypox was reported in humans. The infection was caused by pet prairie dogs which were kept together with a shipment of an infected rodent from Ghana.

The characteristics of a monkeypox infection are similar to those of a varicella or smallpox infection. Monkeypox is known to spread via contact with infected animals or their bodily secretions, fluids, or lesions. The mortality rate is low and if death occurs, it is in the second week of infection.

Monkeypox is caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the group of Orthopox viruses. There are two strains of the virus, the West African and the Central African strains. The West African strain appears to cause less severe illness as compared to the Central African strain. There are diverse natural mammalian carriers of monkeypox. However, it has only been isolated once from a squirrel (Funisciurus) in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Monkeypox spreads from infected animals or humans to other humans through respiratory excretions, saliva, contact with lesions, or crusts on the lesions. Transmission of infection could also possibly occur through the placenta from mother to the child or even through inoculation.

The signs and symptoms of a monkeypox infection are very similar to those of smallpox.

The incubation period of a monkeypox infection, that is, the time from the initial infection to the first appearance of symptoms, ranges from 7 to 28 days. The symptomatic stage consists of 2 phases:

Advertisement

Invasion period: This is the phase of 1 to 4 days before the appearance of the rash. The patient suffers from symptoms like fever that ranges from 38.5C to 40.5C, back pain, headache, muscle pain, swelling of lymph nodes (lymphadenopathy), headache, sore throat, and lack of energy.

The one characteristic that distinguishes monkeypox from chickenpox or smallpox is the presence of lymphadenopathy.

The skin eruption period: In the skin eruption stage, rashes occur predominantly on the face, on the soles, palms, and the rest of the body including the mucus membranes. The rash occurs in hundreds to thousands. It begins as small lesions that become blisters and eventually get filled with pus. Finally, crusts appear on these blisters. It takes 3 weeks for the entire rash to disappear. The patient is infectious in the first week of developing a rash.

The rash can also cause some complications. Lesions in the eye can cause permanent vision loss and corneal scarring. Rash in the oral membrane can cause a lot of difficulties in drinking and swallowing. The skin becomes swollen, painful, and stiff. Encephalitis is also a rare complication associated with monkeypox.

Patients vaccinated with smallpox showed a lower tendency of contracting monkeypox.

To identify the monkeypox virus, a swab from the crust or the secretion of a lesion can be obtained without any effort. The samples can be stored in a cool, dark place in the absence of cold storage in resource-deprived areas.

Advertisement

Immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy are technical ways to confirm the diagnosis. Quantitative PCR techniques have proved to be reliable in detecting the virus. However, these techniques are unavailable in rural areas in Africa, where the disease is present, and therefore are not of much use in diagnosing monkeypox.

A new technique called the Tetracore Orthopox Biothreat Alert, offers a possibility of potentially cultivating and identifying the virus in culture plates. This will be useful in resource-deprived areas of infection since it does not require a great deal of expertise. Stringent temperature conditions are not required to perform the test.

There is no drug to treat monkeypox virus infections in humans. Currently, there are 3 antiviral compounds that are being assessed to treat monkeypox:

ST-246 prevents the release of the virus from the cell and is shown to be effective in controlling the infection of several Orthopox viruses. It has not been licensed to treat monkeypox infections but is partially used to treat other Orthopox virus infections.

Advertisement

Cidofovir disrupts viral multiplication by inhibiting an enzyme involved in virus multiplication. However, the drug is toxic to the kidneys. It is provisionally allowed to treat other Orthopox virus infections.

CMX-001 is a modified cidofovir compound that is not toxic to the kidneys. It has been shown to be effective in controlling the replication of different Orthopox viruses. It is still under development.

Vaccinia virus vaccines, which were used for small pox, are also used as vaccination tools. However, the live virus is a cause for concern since complications may arise in some individuals with a compromised immune system. Inactivated vaccinia viruses are also used but are not as effective as some of the compounds mentioned above. It is recommended by the Center for Diseases and Control (CDC) in the United States to vaccinate a person in advance if it is known that they will be operating in a monkeypox-infection sensitive area. Following contact with an infected individual, it is recommended the vaccination be given within 4 to 14 days of exposure.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), public health messages, proper hygiene, appropriate caution should be exercised based on the situation.

Public health messages should convey the information that one must wear protective gloves and other equipment when they come in contact with an infected animal or human. Individuals should always wash their hands thoroughly after touching infected animals or individuals. People should make sure that the meat is cooked thoroughly to avoid any contamination or infection.

In 2003, there was an outbreak of monkeypox virus in United States of America due to a shipment of an infected rodent from Africa. Hence, it is necessary to prevent the shipment of small rodents and other mammals from affected regions that may be carriers of the disease. Infected animals need to be quarantined. Any animal that comes in contact with the infected animal should also be quarantined for 30 days.

In healthcare environments, individuals should use proper protective gear before handling infected samples from the patient. It is suggested that a smallpox vaccination may shield the individual from monkeypox infection or he/she may have a very mild infection.
What is Exostoses?

Multiple exostoses is a skeletal abnormality that is caused by genetic factors; this is why it is generally referred to as hereditary multiple exostoses. It is also known as multiple osteochondromas (which is preferred by the WHO) or diaphyseal aclasis. This genetic disorder causes abnormalities in bone growth and development with bony outgrowths, generally on the ends of long bones, but on other bones as well; these bony growths are called exostoses. The number of exostoses can also vary considerably among those affected. The exostoses are not found at birth. In most cases, children who suffer from the disorder will begin to develop exostoses by the time they have reached adolescence. The appearance and development of exostoses usually come to a halt by the time the affected individual reaches adulthood as the bones stop growing once a person has reached full height.

The condition is usually nonthreatening but can be very debilitating and in severe cases may also pose the risk of fatality, depending obviously on the location of the exostoses. Exostoses of the limbs can cause problems with mobility, gait and also result in short stature.

Multiple osteochondromas is caused by hereditary factors from genes we inherit from our parents. Genes, in simple terms, contain the code or instructions that guide cellular development, influencing our physical appearance as well as personality. Multiple exostoses is caused by a mutation or abnormality in the EXT1 or EXT2 gene.

The condition, in most cases is inherited with the mutation being passed on from one of the parents. It may develop as a new mutation, although this is rare and occurs in just about 10 percent of all cases.

The type of inheritance is autosomal dominant. Each of us receive two copies of every gene, one from our father and one from our mother. The mutation in this case is present in just one copy of the gene, but this is enough to cause the condition. Although the other of the two genes function completely normally, this will not prevent the development of hereditary multiple exostoses.

The risk of passing the condition on to offspring during pregnancy is always present, with the risk being at 50 percent.

If parents do not suffer from multiple exostoses but their offspring develops it, this does not increase the risk of their siblings developing multiple exostoses since the mutation has appeared de novo in the person.

Symptoms of multiple exostoses can vary among patients as the exostoses can develop and affect different bones in different individuals. The number of exostoses and the size of each exostoses can also vary. Generally, symptoms of multiple exostoses will include the following:

Advertisement

Presence of a hard lump or mass that does not move and is painless.

The affected child will most likely be shorter than other children of the same age.

Muscles in the surrounding region will feel sore and strained.

There may be abnormalities in growth such as one leg or arm being of a different length from the other.

Joint pain and problems with mobility are not uncommon.

Hip dysplasia because of abnormal bone development and bowing of the forearm or legs may also occur.

These symptoms can at times severely restrict the range of movement and may even cause pain because of pressure on nerves, surrounding tissue and blood vessels.

In many cases there may also be no symptoms at all or they could closely resemble those of other common health conditions. Consult your health care provider for an accurate diagnosis.

These bony growths are benign and in most cases patients will not need to worry about the risk of cancer, but in rare cases they may turn malignant. The lifetime risk of such cancerous exostoses is estimated at being between 1 in 20, to 1 in 200.

Hereditary multiple exostoses can be diagnosed before birth but it cannot be done with pregnancy ultrasounds as the exostoses usually does not begin to develop until well into childhood or adolescence. Prenatal diagnosis involves the following procedures:

Advertisement

Testing a DNA sample taken from fetal cells obtained from the fluid surrounding the fetus in a procedure called amniocentesis. This is done after week 15 of the pregnancy.

Chorionic villus sampling is another prenatal test that can be done and reveals chromosomal conditions. This test can be done between weeks 11 and 14 of the pregnancy.

These prenatal tests do pose some risks and are therefore only used when there is a high risk of genetic disorder, such as if one of the parents suffers from multiple exostoses or if an elder sibling is afflicted with the condition.

Before these tests are conducted, however, there are certain conditions that need to be met. Genetic testing will need to be conducted on the family member who suffers from multiple exostoses so that the gene with mutations can be identified.

If your child has already been born, doctors must be provided with a detailed medical history and will need to do a thorough physical examination. Diagnostic procedures that are used to detect multiple exostoses after birth can include the following:

An x-ray is the most basic of all imaging tests and it can reveal some abnormalities in internal tissues, organs and, more importantly in this case, bones.

A computed tomography scan or CT scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may also be used as these are more advanced imaging techniques that will provide your health care providers with more detailed images of the bones and other internal structures.

There is no treatment that can prevent the occurrence of exostoses but treatment is aimed at providing relief from the symptoms as and when they appear. Treatment will depend on the age and general health of the patient, the extent of the disease, the location of the exostoses, and the patients tolerance to the required medications and procedures involved. Children with multiple exostoses can go on to lead fairly normal lives if they receive treatment promptly and have the support of their parents.

Advertisement

Treatment for exostoses involves:

Surgical removal of the exostoses. This becomes necessary if the exostoses is large enough to cause bone deformity or if it exerts pressure on nerves or blood vessels.

Administering of pain medications.

Physical therapy to facilitate recovery and cope with complications from the condition.

Treatment of multiple exostoses doesnt end with surgery and rehabilitative therapy however as there is still a risk of cancer, especially when the exostoses in adults is present in regions like the pelvis or scapula. Regular monitoring of the exostoses can help with early detection, improving the outcome of any treatment. Any sudden changes or growth spurts and increasing pain should immediately be reported to health care providers.

Ifeither parent suffers from multiple exostoses, the couple can seek geneticcounseling. A geneticist and genetic counselor will be able to help evaluatethe risk of offspring being affected with disease. They will also be able toconfirm a diagnosis and better inform the parents about all available treatmentoptions and the natural progression of the disease.
What is Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever?

Despite its name, Rocky Mountain spotted fever is not a disease that is localized to the mountainous regions, but is one that is present throughout the Americas, both North and South. The disease earned its name Rocky Mountain spotted fever because this is where the disease was first identified. Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a tick-borne illness that is caused by a bacterium which is passed on to humans from certain species of ticks. This infection is most common in the southeastern regions of the United States, but it is not uncommon in other parts of the continents including South and Central America, and even as far north as Canada.

Rickettsia rickettsii is the species of bacterium that is responsible for the infection. The illness caused is potentially life threatening because of the high risk of damage to vital internal organs.

Prompt treatment is necessary for Rocky Mountain spotted fever, in the absence of which it can cause serious damage to internal organs, such as kidneys and heart. In such cases the damage to internal organs usually occurs as a result of vasculitis, which is a condition in which the blood vessels begin to leak.

The bacterium responsible for Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Rickettsia rickettsii, is passed on to humans through tick bites.

The American dog tick is the most common source of infection in the United States and most prevalent just east of the Rocky Mountains.

The Rocky Mountain wood tick is another potential source of transmission and is found mainly in the United States.

The brown dog tick, which is found across the world, has also been implicated in the transmission of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), but this has been specific to the southwestern US and along the United States southern border with Mexico.

In the recent past, the bulk of Rocky Mountain spotted fever cases have been reported in states in the eastern region of United States, in Virginia, Maryland, and North and South Carolina. There have also been reports of cases in Georgia, Tennessee and Oklahoma.

The condition affects children more frequently, probably because they spend more time outdoors. This is also partly the reason for the dramatic rise in incidents during the spring and summer, when people spend more time outdoors.

You dont need to panic and avoid outdoor activities altogether, as the bacteria is present in just 1 out of a 1,000 ticks. Risk factors include the following:

Spending time outdoors, engaging in activities like hiking, trekking or climbing. This is obviously only a risk in areas where the problem is endemic.

Pet owners can put themselves at risk if they are in the habit of removing and crushing ticks with their bare hands.

The risk is higher during summer and under warmer weather conditions, not just because people spend more time outdoors, but also because ticks are more active in such weather.

Advertisement

Rocky Mountain spotted fever isnt easy to recognize as the symptoms closely mimic those of other diseases. This does pose some problems as the disease can be a lot more threatening than the symptoms would suggest. Symptoms do not appear as soon as the infection takes place and may appear within the first week or even two weeks later. The initial symptoms of Rocky Mountain spotted fever include:

High fever and chills

Severe headaches and muscle aches

Loss of appetite

Diarrhea

Nausea and vomiting

Disorientation and restlessness

Insomnia

The only distinctive feature of the infection is the associated Rocky Mountain spotted fever is the rash that appears around two to five days after the first symptoms surface.

The rash is initially marked with the appearance of small pink dots or spots that are flat and non-itchy.

These spots appear on the wrists, forearms, palms, ankles and progressively spread to cover the torso as well.

Advertisement

Once the disease progresses you observe the petechial rash of the disease with dark red or purple spots. These spots do not appear until the sixth day after the initial symptoms, and they may not appear in all patients. This is a warning sign that the disease has progressed to become a serious threat. Ideally, treatment should begin well before the appearance of petechiae.

Keep in mind that a rash does not always appear and this is what makes the condition so hard to diagnose. In cases where the rash does not appear, the disease may not be obvious until it is too late. Physicians are advised to err on the side of caution if other symptoms suggest the possibility of Rocky Mountain spotted fever even in the absence of the rash.

There is a high risk of fatal complications developing once the disease progresses to the advanced stage as damage to the lining of blood vessels causes them to leak and the resultant bleeding or clot formation can cause kidney damage and failure, damage to blood vessels in the brain and seizures, heart and lung failure, retinal vasculitis and gangrene development in the extremities.

Diagnosis of Rocky Mountain spotted fever can be a little tricky because of the confusing symptoms. Unfortunately, the risks of fatality and complications developing are extremely high as the condition progresses, which is why treatment cannot be delayed until an accurate diagnosis is made. Doctors usually make a diagnosis based on visible symptoms and based on information provided by the patient. If there is any suspicion of the disease, doctors are advised to begin treatment promptly.

The diagnosis may be confirmed simultaneously with laboratory tests, but these can take time and they are also often not accurate as the infection often does not show up until in the advanced stages.

Advertisement

Diagnostic tests that are used to confirm the presence of Rocky Mountain fever include:

Blood tests to check blood count

Kidney function tests

Antibody titer test

PCR or immunohistochemical (IHC) staining from a skin biopsy from the rash site

Urinalysis to detect the presence of blood or protein in urine

Treatment for Rocky Mountain spotted fever is extremely effective if treatment begins within the first five days of the appearance of symptoms. In such cases, the mortality rate of the disease is reduced significantly, from 20 percent to as low as 5 percent. Treatment for the disease involves the administration of antibiotics to fight off the infection. In severe cases, antibiotics are administered intravenously and hospitalization is often necessary.
What are Trichobezoars?

The first thought that comes to your mind when you hear the word Trichobezoar is that it may be the name of a prehistoric dinosaur!! However, the name actually indicates a rare condition where a hairball is found in the stomach or gastrointestinal tract. Trich of trichobezoar is a Greek word which indicates hair and bezoar is from a Persian word Panzehr or an Arabic word badzehr that means an antidote. During the period between the 12th and 18th centuries, badzehr was a clump or mass of animal material that was given to cure conditions, such as poisoning, epilepsy, snake bite, among others. However, by the 16th century, Ambroise Pare, a famous surgeon, noted that bezoars could not heal against all poisons. Baudamant, a French physician first described a case of trichobezoar in a boy of 16 years.

In some cases, hairballs extend from the stomach into the small intestines or even the colon; this condition is called The Rapunzel syndrome. This syndrome was first described by Dr. Vaughan and his group in 1968.

Trichobezoars are most frequently observed in females and are associated with a psychiatric disorder, such as trichotillomania that involves an urge to pull ones hair out and consume it. Human hair is difficult to digest due to its resistance to digestive enzymes. The hair gets caught and mixed with mucus and food within the folds of the stomach to form a compacted oval mass or a hairball. Trichobezoars develop very slowly and sometimes may take many years to develop.

Trichobezoar or an indigestible hair mass in the abdomen results from the accidental or involuntary ingestion of hair. One of the main causes of trichobezoars is the psychiatric condition of trichotillomania. In trichotillomania, the individual involuntarily or unconsciously has an irrepressible urge to pull out his/her hair before swallowing it. Other psychiatric disorders that can cause trichobezoars are obsessive compulsive disorders anorexia, pica, and depression. Gastric surgery, e.g. gastroenterostomy and bariatric surgery is one of the predisposing conditions to trichobezoars.

Advertisement

In many cases, when the mass is small, a trichobezoar may not be identified due to the lack of symptoms. The initial symptoms of trichobezoar may include loss of appetite and nausea. When the trichobezoar is significant in size, it can cause obstructive symptoms. Also, due to the pressure it exerts, it can reduce blood supply to the stomach and intestine resulting in ulcers and perforation of these organs. Jaundice and pancreatitis can occur as complications. Some of the symptoms caused by trichobezoars are as follows:

Exhaustion or fatigue

Stomach pain

Bad breath

Vomiting

Black tarry stools due to bleeding

Discomfort in the chest

Patchy loss of hair, which may be indicative of trichotillomania

Dizzy feeling

Constipation or diarrhea

Loss of weight

The severity of symptoms depends on the seriousness of the condition. For example, a patient with perforation may be in shock due to loss of blood.

Advertisement

Trichobezoar may be suspected based on history and clinical examination of the patient. A mass may be felt over the abdomen on physical examination.

Trichobezoars are linked to psychiatric disorders and hence clinical assessments are necessary to understand the possibility of the presence of hairballs.

Radiological tests include gastrointestinal endoscopy, ultrasonography, x-ray of the abdomen, and computed tomography of the abdomen. Computed tomography scans of the abdomen are extremely accurate and are therefore preferred in the diagnosis of trichobezoar. If an individual has suffered from trichobezoars in the past, it is recommended that he/she get a scan done twice a year to detect any recurrence.

Surgery is the preferred choice of treatment since medications are ineffective in dissolving a trichobezoar.

There are 3 main surgical ways to treat trichobezoars:

Laparotomy or Open Surgery: This is a favorable form of treating trichobezoars. The procedure is low in complications and can detect any secondary masses in the abdomen or intestine. This is the only form of treatment for Rapunzel syndrome.

Laparoscopy: Nirasawa and colleagues first described this form of treatment for bezoars in 1998. Laparoscopy or keyhole surgery is normally combined with endoscopy. While laparoscopy is used to fragment the hairball, endoscopy is utilized to remove the fragments. Complications are minimal with this procedure and patients are discharged quickly. However, laparoscopy takes a longer time as compared to open surgery.

Endoscopy: Endoscopy is not a preferred method to treat trichobezoar though it may be used for diagnosis or in combination with laparoscopy.

Advertisement

Individuals who have had trichobezoars should get an abdominal scan done twice a year to diagnose any recurrence. Patients should be clinically evaluated to identify psychiatric conditions that cause them to eat their hair and should be treated for the same.
About

Shriram General Insurance Company Limited is a Joint Venture between Shriram Capital Limited (Part of Shriram Group) and Sanlam Limited. In this Joint Venture between the two organizations, Shriram Capital Limited holds 74% Equity and Sanlam Limited holds the balance 26% of Equity.

The core business of the Shriram Group is Financial Services. Moreover, in India, the Shriram Group is a clear leader in the truck financing and chit businesses. Shriram Transport Finance Company is the largest Commercial Vehicle Financing NBFC in the country and the Chit Fund Business of the Group is Numero Uno in the industry, across India. The Shriram Group has been pursuing diversification in areas other than financial services. Currently the group has presence in engineering projects, property development, auto ancillaries and software services and is on the lookout to enter other industries, by keeping its options wide option. It has promoted a number of companies engaged in diverse financial services activities such as truck finance, consumer finance, chit business, Life Insurance business, etc

Sanlam is the largest General Insurance Company in South Africa. Sanlam Limited was established in 1918 and thereafter demutualized in 1998. Sanlam is a leading financial services group in South Africa, engaged in diversified businesses viz. general insurance, life insurance, investment, and independent financial services. The market capitalization of Sanlam is approximately USD 6 billion and has over USD 60 billion of assets under its management.

Organizations Philosophy

The philosophy of Shriram General Insurance Co. Ltd. is to provide prompt, ethical and equitable settlement of claims. Their goal is to respond quickly to the customers needs and to handle his/her claim in a prompt and trouble-free manner.

Their dedicated staff of trained professionals understands that undergoing or facing a loss is a stressful situation. The Shriram Group is committed to achieving excellence by their efforts toward superior service, efficiency, teamwork, and communication. At SGI, the approach of "Pay only if we can" is given prime importance.

Shriram General Insurance Co. Ltd. (A Joint Venture with Sanlam, South Africa)

E-8, EPIP, RIICO Industrial Area,

Sitapura,

Jaipur  302022.

Website: http://www.shriramgi.com

Disclaimer: This information is extracted from the companys official website to provide information to the general public. The information is likely to change based on the concerned insurance companies discretion. Alterations, deletions and/or additions to the existing policy products, coverage and their premiums may be enhanced or reduced. These figures are only guidelines. We recommend the individual to visit the official website of the insurance company for more details and updated matters. Read more: Bharti AXA General Insurance Company Ltd - https://www.medindia.net/patients/

insurance/bharti-axa-general-insurance.htm
Introduction

The health needs of a person differ from one location to another depending on various factors. Though many National Health Insurance Schemes are available, state health insurance programs play a significant role in addressing specific health issues. The state health insurance programs provide health care support to the below poverty line (BPL) population. Each state has its scheme or relief fund tailored to meet each states health and environmental demands. The following are the list of state health insurance programs available in India.

Rajiv Aarogyasri, Andhra Pradesh

Mukhyamantari Amrutam (MA), Gujarat

The Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund, Kerala

Chief Minister's Relief Fund, Madhya Pradesh

Rajasthan's Chief Minister's Relief Fund, Rajasthan

Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme, Tamil Nadu

This scheme was launched on 1st April 2007 to support the BPL population. It covers a sum Rs. 2 lakhs to treat serious ailments, which require a hospital stay and surgery inclusive of 938 treatments under Rajiv aarogyasri. The primary objective is to improve access to BPL families and also provide auditory verbal therapy for children under six years of age.

Rajiv aarogysri provides coverage for systems like lung, liver, heart, pancreas, kidney and cancer treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy ). High-end procedures like hip and knee replacement, bone marrow and diseases such as TB, HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases covered by national programs are uncovered under this scheme. It is cashless and makes it easier for a BPL person to access medical services at any hospital.

Advertisement

BPL families are identified with ration card photograph and civil supplies department database. Rajiv aarogysri is a family floater scheme with reimbursement of Rs. 1.50 lakhs to be availed individually or collectively with an additional buffer of Rs. 50,000/-. The trust reimburses a maximum of Rs. 6.50 lakhs per case for cochlear implant surgery inclusive of auditory verbal therapy.

Families are forced to move towards the below poverty line due to high expenditure of their income on health care. MA was launched in Gujarat to address and control this issue. This scheme with healthcare providers targets to improve medical support to BPL families living in Gujarat. It also covers surgical and medical procedures. Surgeries covered under this system are:

Cardiovascular Surgeries

Neurosurgeries

Burns

Poly Trauma

Cancer (Malignancies)

Renal (Kidney)

Neonatal (newborn) diseases

This distress relief fund provides support to people affected by natural calamities such as flood, drought, and fire. It also provides treatment for cancer, cardiac surgery, kidney transplantation, brain tumor, liver, and multi-organ failure. The Kerala state governments focus is to provide immediate relief to affected people by collecting funds from the public.

Advertisement

The donations are 100% exempted from tax under section 80G(2) (iii hf) of the Income-Tax Act, 1961. Contributions to this fund can be gifted as a cheque /draft in the name of principal secretary finance. The taluk office and collectorate will receive the money.

The aim of this scheme is more similar to the scheme in Kerala which covers medical ailments and also focus on providing immediate relief to those affected in Madhya Pradesh (MP) due to natural calamities.

The donations as a cause of humanity can be made through cheque/drafts and money order. The contributions made are 100% exempted from tax under section 80-G (2)(a)(v) of the Income Tax Rule-1961. The MP government has also introduced two new relief funds such as Farmers Relief Fund and Nepal earthquake tragedy.

The Rajasthans chief minister relief fund delivers assistance to the victims of accident and severe diseases. This resource covers people affected by natural calamities from 13.12.2007. A premium of Rs. 50,000 to the deceased dependents, Rs. 10,000/- to severe injuries and Rs. 2,500/- to regular injuries will be provided.

The sum is collected from the district collector office by filling an application form and attaching injury, postmortem and FIR report for evidence. People in Rajasthan suffering from a severe disease such as cancer, heart and kidney diseases are benefited with a super specialty hospital treatment. This condition only applies to people with annual income less than Rs.1 Lakh.

Advertisement

The Chief Ministers comprehensive health insurance scheme is lofty and the Tamil Nadu state government launched this scheme through United India Insurance Company Ltd. People with annual income less than Rs. 72,000 per year can benefit with surgical and medical treatments from both government and private hospitals under the certification of Village Administrative Officers in Tamil Nadu.

This scheme works on a floater basis and attempts to provide cashless facility cover up to Rs. 2,00,000/- per family for specific hospitalization procedures. The other benefits are follow-up treatment and additional diagnostic procedures.

Free health camps are conducted on a yearly basis, with one camp each month to identify the people who require treatment. Network hospitals manage these fields as directions given by the Project Director of Tamil Nadu Health Systems Society.

A unique feature of the chief ministers comprehensive health insurance scheme is that a 24-hour call center is set with toll-free helpline 1800 425 3993 with a competency to answer queries in Tamil.
What is a Pacemaker?

The human heart has a natural pacemaker in the sinus node or the sinoatrial node, which is a group of cells that trigger electrical signals to stimulate the rhythmic contraction of the heart. In 1958, the first artificial cardiac pacemaker was surgically implanted by Dr. Ake Senning. An artificial pacemaker is a type of cardiac conduction device that is surgically implanted to control and rectify an abnormal heartbeat, with the help of electrical pulses. In the world, there are more than 3 million people with pacemakers and on an average in India, 20,000 patients are implanted with pacemaker devices each year. The pacemaker has a generator that is operated by a 2.5 V lithium-iodine battery and is connected by electrical wires to either one or two leads that are connected to the heart. The generator weighs approximately 20 g and is enclosed in a case that is made up of titanium. The pacemaker is placed under the skin usually just below the collarbone(1 Trusted Source

Pacemaker



Go to source).

A pacemaker is normally used to treat arrhythmia of the heart, a condition where there is alteration in the rate and/or rhythm of heartbeats. When the heart beats slowly, it is called bradycardia. Tachycardia is a condition when the heart beats fast. When the heart beats with an abnormal rhythm, the blood may not be pumped into the body at a uniform rate. This leads to fatigue, fainting, or dizziness. A pacemaker tries to rectify the abnormalities in the heartbeat and thus prevents the secondary conditions(2 Trusted Source

Overview of Basic Mechanisms of Cardiac Arrhythmia



Go to source).

Cardiac pacemakers are clever electronic medical devices that are implanted to treat arrhythmias in the heart.

The Atrioventricular node (AVN) tranmits electrical activation from the atria to the ventricles in a strictly controlled manner. Additionally, when sino-atrial activation fails, the AVN junctional pacemaker takes over cardiac excitation, acting as a backup pacemaker.

The primary and natural pacemaker of the heart is the sinoatrial node (SAN)(3 Trusted Source

Structure/Function Relationship in the Sinus and Atrioventricular Nodes



Go to source).

One type of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) are pacemakers. There is an increasing prevalence of cardiac implantable electronic devices(4 Trusted Source

Telemedicine and cardiac implants: what is the benefit?



Go to source). A major complication that can occur after valve surgery is the implantation of a permanent pacemaker(5 Trusted Source

Does Pacemaker Implantation After Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement Impact Long-Term Morbidity and Mortality? A Focused Review



Go to source). Permanent heart pacemaker surgery is extremely cost-effective, safe, and straightforward to do(6 Trusted Source

Permanent pacemakers in older persons



Go to source).

Cardiac implantations are among the most crucial and life-saving treatments in patient care. The majority of cardiac implantations are performed to repair conduction and rhythm abnormalities in the heart(7 Trusted Source

Implant-Associated Infections: A Review of the Safety of Cardiac Implants



Go to source).

Advertisement

Pacemakers can be distinguished based on the number of leads used and the approach to pacing. Based on the number of leads, the pacemakers are classified as follows:

Single-Chamber Pacemaker

In a single-chamber pacemaker, one lead is connected to the right atrium in cases of sinus node disease or the right ventricle in cases of atrial fibrillation. Single-chamber atrial pacemakers are used when sinoatrial disease causes a slow heartbeat. Though the sinoatrial node does not fire appropriately, there is no problem in the conduction between the atria and the ventricles. On the other hand, the single-chamber ventricular pacemakers are used when the conduction between the atrium and the ventricle is impaired(8 Trusted Source

Pacemaker Types and Selection



Go to source).

Dual-Chamber Pacemaker

In a dual-chamber pacemaker, one lead is connected to the right atrium and the second lead is connected to the right ventricle. The wires simultaneously transmit electrical pulses to pace the atrium and the ventricle, thus coordinating the contractions between the 2 chambers of the heart. This device is normally used for patients with heart blocks. If the leads are not appropriately placed, the pacemaker does not function well and there is a recurrence of symptoms(9 Trusted Source

Biventricular Devices



Go to source).

Advertisement

Bi-ventricular Pacemaker

A biventricular pacemaker is also called a cardiac resynchronization therapy device (CRT). In this type of pacemaker, electrical pulses are transmitted from the wires of the generator to both the ventricles and sometimes an atrium, resulting in coordination between the 2 ventricles. This type of pacemaker is used to treat patients with refractory heart disease that is associated with dys-synchrony in the ventricles. Bi-ventricular pacemakers are now being explored to treat individuals with the lethal condition of congestive heart failure. Research has shown that reduced morbidity and reduced hospitalization are some of the benefits of using biventricular pacemakers to treat congestive heart failure(9 Trusted Source

Biventricular Devices



Go to source).

Leadless Cardiac Pacemakers

This is a recent advance in technology where pacemakers do not have the conventional lead electrodes that are connected to wires. Instead, the pacemaker is the size of an AA battery. However, it needs to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the United States(10 Trusted Source

Leadless Pacemakers



Go to source).

Pacemaker Threshold Testing

Pacemakers are monitored for their optimum pacing outputs or thresholds in order to maintain their efficiency. The Autocapture algorithm was the first to be introduced in pacemakers to monitor the pacing threshold in the ventricles of the heart.

There are 2 kinds of pacemakers used only in medical emergencies. They are:

Transcutaneous pacemakers

Transvenous pacemakers

They do not serve as permanent pacemakers. Transcutaneous and transvenous pacemakers are both transitory devices(11 Trusted Source

Heart pacemaker



Go to source).

An External Cardiac Pacemaker, also known as a Transcutaneous or Artificial Pacemaker, is a medical device that uses electrodes to manage the contractility of myocardiocytes in order to maintain proper heart rate and thus cardiac output. Transcutaneous pacing is used temporarily to treat hemodynamically unstable bradycardia(12 Trusted Source

External Pacemaker



Go to source).

Advertisement

Although transvenous pacemakers benefit many adolescent patients, epicardial pacing is still the standard treatment for newborns and individuals with complicated congenital heart disease. Epicardial pacemakers can be implanted by sternotomy, lateral thoracotomy, or subxiphoid technique(13 Trusted Source

Surgical Approaches to Epicardial Pacemaker Placement: Does Pocket Location Affect Lead Survival?



Go to source).

The Sinoatrial node (SAN) is the primary pacemaker, with the AVN and ventricular conduction system acting as backup (accessory) pacemakers to ensure repeating ventricular contraction in the event of SAN failure or AV block(14 Trusted Source

Development of the pacemaker tissues of the heart



Go to source).

There are two types of pacemaker programming

Rate-Responsive Pacing

The pacemaker adjusts the heartbeat rate based on the activity of the individual. The pacing threshold is established with the help of an algorithm that is present in the computer-based generator. For example, if the individual is exercising, the pacemaker adjusts the heart rate for the activity. The pacemaker assesses the sinus node pulse, the temperature of the blood, and the breathing pattern of the individual(15 Trusted Source

Rate-responsive cardiac pacemakers



Go to source).

Demand Pacing

In this condition, the pacemaker adjusts the heart rate if the heart misses a beat or beats too slowly(16 Trusted Source

Electrosurgery and cardiac pacemakers



Go to source).

The basic pacemaker consists of a battery-operated generator that is covered by a thin titanium box. The generator is connected to the heart by electrical wires with lead electrodes. The lead electrodes monitor the heartbeat by transmitting the signals to the generator. When there is any abnormality in the rate (e.g., bradycardia or tachycardia) or rhythm, the generator detects these changes and transmits electrical pulses to correct this abnormality in the heartbeat.

The computer in the pacemakers generator keeps a record of the electrical activity and the rhythm of the individuals heart. This record enables the doctor to understand the working of the individuals heart and to adjust the pacemaker to work better for the individual. The adjustments can be made externally without any surgical procedure.

The surgical procedure to implant pacemakers is a minor surgery that lasts for 1 to 2 hours with a risk rate of 1% to 2% in surgical complications. The transvenous surgical procedure is performed with local anesthesia. The wires are first positioned in the heart with the help of imaging techniques before connecting them to the pacemaker that is placed below the skin usually under the collarbone. A small bump is observed in patients at the site of implantation. Extreme motion with the arm, near the location where the pacemaker is inserted, is discouraged for a few weeks. Similarly, heavy lifting is also discouraged for a few weeks. The patients can resume their normal activity in a few days.

Doctors should examine their patients with pacemakers every 3 to 6 months. The battery of a pacemaker lasts for 6 to 8 years following which, surgery should be performed to replace the old pacemaker. Individuals should always carry an information card stating the type of pacemaker inserted and the number of leads used, to show medical professionals or security officials at airports(17 Trusted Source

Pacemaker insertion



Go to source).

Pacemaker function automation is a rapidly expanding trend in the pacing business. These features are intended to improve patient safety and quality of life, lengthen battery life, and make pacemaker programming and follow-up easier for medical professionals(18 Trusted Source

Automated pacemaker function



Go to source).

Severe conditions, such as tachyarrhythmias, can be treated with an alternate device known as an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). The ICD has a defibrillator that delivers shock to the heart muscles to generate a normal rhythm in the heartbeat. In addition, electrical impulses are also delivered to the heart muscles to maintain the steady rhythm. There are 2 types of ICDs: subcutaneous (S-ICDs) and transvenous (T-ICDs) based on where the lead electrodes are located. Patients who do not require pacing adjustments for bradycardia or tachycardia, can be fitted with an ICD. One also finds ICDs coupled with single or dual-chamber pacemakers to generate and manage the normal rhythm of the heart.

The difference between an ICD and a pacemaker is that an ICD can use either low-energy or high-energy electrical stimuli to control arrhythmias of the heart, while a pacemaker uses only low-energy impulses(19 Trusted Source

Implantable Defibrillator



Go to source).

Pacemakers have many advantages and some of the uses of pacemakers are listed below:

Pacemakers maintain a normal heartbeat with a continuous rhythm in conditions where the heartbeat slows down, such as bradycardia.

Pacemakers coordinate the pumping of atria and ventricles or maintain the coordination between the 2 ventricles.

Pacemakers prevent arrhythmias in life-threatening conditions such as long QT syndrome.

People with pacemakers can lead normal lives and use cellphones, microwaves, and other electrical objects as long as they are not in close contact with the region of the pacemaker. They are prevented from working in high-voltage areas, playing contact sports, or being exposed to magnetic resonance scanners, or welding equipment.

Pacemakers with rate-responsive pacing can evaluate an individuals rate of breathing, and the temperature of the blood and thus, adjust the heartbeat according to the activity of the individual.

Temporary pacemakers are used for short-term heart conditions with a slow heartbeat induced by a drug overdose, a heart attack, or a heart surgery. Individuals with temporary pacemakers remain in the hospital until the condition is stabilized or until a permanent pacemaker is inserted.

Permanent pacemakers are used for long-term heart conditions, such as slowing of the heart rate due to bradycardia or an increase in the heart rate due to tachycardia.

The risks of pacemakers are minimal compared with the advantages. Some of the risks after pacemaker surgery include:

Discontinued, kinked, or pinched electrical wires

Diathermy (generation of high-frequency electrical current) as therapy during dental surgery or for arthritis may cause damage to the pacemaker.
Highlights: Hypervaccinated German man shows no signs of COVID infection or adverse effects

Extensive study reveals heightened immunity and full functionality of his immune system

Case underscores the importance and safety of vaccination in public health

  Trusted Source

Questions About COVID-19 Vaccination



Go to source Trusted Source



Did you know? A German man received 217 COVID jabs without side effects, highlighting vaccine resilience. #vaccine #COVID #medindia

Advertisement

Insights into Immunity: The Study's Findings

Embracing Vaccination in Public Health Policy

Advertisement

Questions About COVID-19 Vaccination - (https://www.heart.org/en/coronavirus/coronavirus-questions/questions-about-covid-19-vaccination)

Vaccination has become a cornerstone of public health. The story of a 62-year-old German man has captivated the attention of researchers and the public alike. This individual, from Magdeburg, Germany, reportedly received a staggering 217 COVID jabs over a span of 29 months, yet exhibited no signs of ever being infected with the virus or experiencing adverse side effects from the vaccines ().This extraordinary case, detailed in a study published in the esteemed journal, sheds light on the resilience of the human immune system and underscores the importance of vaccination in combating infectious diseases.The man, whose identity remains undisclosed, cited "private reasons" for his extensive vaccination regimen, piquing the interest of researchers from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. Prompted by a newspaper report, the academics reached out to the individual to investigate his body's response to the multitude of vaccines.Dr. Kilian Schober, a member of the research team, recounted their initial contact with the individual, stating, "He was very interested in doing so." This willingness to participate in scientific inquiry provided a unique opportunity to delve into the effects of hyper-vaccination on the human immune system.The study revealed that the man received official confirmation for 134 of the vaccinations, encompassing eight different COVID vaccines . Through meticulous analysis of blood samples and previous tests, researchers observed no discernible side effects despite the unprecedented frequency of vaccination. This finding underscores the remarkable tolerability of these vaccines, reaffirming their safety profile even under extreme circumstances.Moreover, the research team discovered that the man's immune system remained fully functional throughout the extensive vaccination regimen. Elevated levels of immune cells and antibodies specific to Sars-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, were evident compared to individuals who received a standard number of vaccine doses. Katharina Kocher, one of the study's lead authors, emphasized, "Overall, we did not find any indication for a weaker immune response, rather the contrary."The implications of this study extend far beyond the confines of a single individual. In an era marked by skepticism and misinformation surrounding vaccines, this case serves as a poignant reminder of their efficacy and importance in safeguarding public health. Vaccination not only confers protection against infectious diseases but also plays a pivotal role in bolstering collective immunity , thereby reducing the spread of viruses within communities.As the world grapples with the ongoing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the story of the "hypervaccinated" man offers a beacon of hope and reassurance. It underscores the resilience of the human immune system and reaffirms the pivotal role of vaccination in shaping a healthier, more resilient future for humanity.In conclusion, the journey of the "hypervaccinated" man serves as a testament to the enduring power of scientific inquiry and the transformative potential of vaccination in safeguarding public health. As we navigate the complexities of an ever-evolving global health landscape, let us heed the lessons learned from this remarkable case and remain steadfast in our commitment to promoting vaccination as a cornerstone of public health policy.Source-Medindia
The plot of '13 B'

The plot of '13 B' follows a family who moves into a new apartment, only to discover that their flat is haunted by a spirit that uses their television to communicate with them.
WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden ordered the U.S. military Thursday to set up a temporary port off the coast of Gaza, joining international partners in trying to carve out a sea route to deliver food and other aid to desperate Palestinian civilians cut off by the Hamas-Israel war and by Israeli restrictions on humanitarian access by land.

While reiterating his support for Israel, Biden used the announcement and the bright spotlight of his State of the Union speech to renew months of U.S. calls to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change how he conducts the war, including by allowing in more aid to Gaza and doing more to protect humanitarian workers there.

To the leadership of Israel I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip, Biden declared before Congress. He repeated calls as well for Israel to do more to protect civilians in the fighting, and to work toward Palestinian statehood as the only long-term solution to Israeli-Palestinian violence.

The U.S. announcement, signaling deepening U.S. involvement in the war and the escalating fighting in the region, comes as Biden faces pressure to act more forcefully to ease what the U.N. says are near-famine conditions for many of Gaza's 2.3 million people.

It also shows the administration resorting to an unusual workaround after months of appealing to Israel, the U.S.'s close ally and top recipient of military aid, to step up access and protection for trucks bearing humanitarian goods for Gaza.

Meanwhile Thursday, efforts to reach a cease-fire before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts within days, appeared stalled. Hamas said its delegation had left Cairo, where talks were being held. The outline for the cease-fire included a wide infusion of aid into Gaza.

A widening humanitarian crisis across Gaza and tight Israeli control of aid trucks has left virtually the entire population desperately short of food, the U.N. says. Medical workers in northern Gaza this past week reported 15 children dead of starvation there. In a meeting pressing Israel Ambassador Michael Herzog to provide access and security for more aid trucks, the U.S. international development director, Samantha Power, warned that blockaded Gaza faced a real risk of famine," her office said Thursday.

Israel accuses Hamas of commandeering some aid deliveries.

The U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview Bidens announcement before his State of the Union speech, said the planned operation will not require American troops on the ground to build the pier that is intended to allow more shipments of food, medicine and other essential items from a port in the Mediterranean island country of Cyprus.

The U.S. officials said it would likely take weeks before the pier was operational. They gave few other immediate details.

One of the options under consideration is for the military to provide a floating pier called a JLOTS, or Joint Logistics-Over-the-Shore, another U.S. official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss the options before a decision has been made. The large floating pier allows supplies to be delivered without having a fixed port in place, alleviating the need to have troops on a dock on shore. Ships can sail to the pier, which is secured by anchors, and dock there.

Defense Department spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement Thursday that U.S. officials and international partners were looking at options, including using commercial companies and contractors to aid in the delivery.

Officials from the U.S., Europe, Israel and the Middle East have already been deep in discussions and preparations on the possibility of opening a maritime sea route.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in November offered use of his countrys port in Larnaca for aid deliveries to the Palestinian enclave, a 230-mile (370-kilometer) journey from Cyprus.

European Union Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen planned to visit Larnaca on Friday to inspect installations.

Cyprus early on invited authorities from Israel, the U.S. and other European countries to join Cypriot agents in vetting all shipments so nothing could be used by Hamas against Israel.

Aid groups have said their efforts to deliver desperately needed supplies to Gaza have been badly hampered because of the difficulty of coordinating with the Israeli military, the ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of public order. It is even more difficult to get aid to the isolated north.

The United Arab Emirates also says it is working with its partners, including chef and humanitarian Jose Andres and his World Central Kitchen, to launch deliveries by sea, and is finishing details and timing.

While land routes could be the most efficient way to get aid into Gaza, one of the senior U.S. administration officials said, Biden has directed that we not wait for the Israelis to get more humanitarian help in, more quickly.

Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, told reporters late Thursday after briefing the U.N. Security Council behind closed doors that air and sea deliveries cannot substitute for expanding and diversifying supply routes on land, which remains the optimal solution.

The Biden administration's latest move provides one more layer to the extraordinary dynamic thats emerged as the United States has had to go around Israel, its main Mideast ally, and find ways to get aid into Gaza, including through airdrops that started last week.

Biden has been a crucial partner to Netanyahu's military offensive following Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks in Israel. That includes providing bombs and other weapons to Israel and fending off efforts to censure Israel in the United Nations for the growing deaths among Gaza civilians.

But administration officials have grown frustrated at Netanyahu for seeming to shrug off much of the U.S. pressure for Israel to do more to reduce civilian deaths and to allow in humanitarian aid.

The World Food Program says an average of 99 aid trucks a day entered Gaza in February, one-fifth of what is needed.

"This is an expensive, inefficient workaround to a problem that has other ready solutions," Brian Finucane, a former State Department official now with the International Crisis Group, said of the U.S. announcement on a temporary port and wartime sea route.

Its another symptom of the pathology of the overall approach to the war in Gaza ... which is that the Biden administration is unwilling to use U.S. leverage either unilaterally or multilaterally" to try to influence conduct of the war by Netanyahu, Finucane said.

Pressure on the Biden administration surged last week after Gaza health officials reported more than 100 people killed at an attempted aid delivery to the isolated north. Israel said its forces fired warning shots when members of the crowd began moving toward them. Witnesses and medical workers told The Associated Press that most of those injured were shot when Israeli forces fired into the crowds of hungry people.

International mediators had hoped to alleviate some of the immediate crisis with a six-week cease-fire, which would have seen Hamas release some of the Israeli hostages it is holding, Israel release some Palestinian prisoners and aid groups be given access to to get a major influx of assistance into Gaza.

Palestinian militants are believed to be holding around 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others captured during Hamas Oct. 7 attack.

Egyptian officials said Hamas has agreed to the main terms of such an agreement as a first stage but wants commitments that it will lead to an eventual more permanent cease-fire. They say Israel wants to confine the negotiations to the more limited agreement.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations with media. Both officials said mediators are still pressing the two parties to soften their positions.

Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said Israel refuses to commit to and give guarantees regarding the cease-fire, the return of the displaced, and withdrawal from the areas of its incursion. But he said the talks were still ongoing and would resume next week. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Mediators had looked to Ramadan, which is expected to begin on Sunday, as an informal deadline for a deal because the month of dawn-to-dusk fasting often sees Israeli-Palestinian violence linked to access to a major Jerusalem holy site. The war already has the wider region on edge, with Iran-backed groups trading fire with Israel and the United States.

Netanyahu has publicly ruled out Hamas demands for an end to the war, saying Israel intends to resume the offensive after any cease-fire, expand it to the crowded southern city of Rafah and battle on until total victory. He has said military pressure will help bring about the release of the hostages.

___

Sewell reported from Beirut and Magdy from Cairo. Tara Copp contributed from Washington.
WASHINGTON  As the U.S. navigates involvement in the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, few Americans want the country to take a more active role in solving the world's problems, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

While an American role as the worlds policeman has become an increasingly contentious partisan issue, a majority of both Democrats and Republicans agree that the U.S. should not get more involved than it currently is in the ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Hamas.

The poll shows that 4 in 10 U.S. adults want America to broadly take a less active role in solving global conflicts. Only about one-quarter think the U.S. should take a more active role, and about one-third say its current role is about right.

The findings underscore the difficult dynamics that both President Joe Biden and the likely Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, face in the leadup to next Novembers election. Significant swaths of the electorate are frustrated by the searing images of the growing humanitarian crisis in the five month war in Gaza and the hefty costs already incurred by the U.S in helping Ukraine fend off Russias invasion.

The Biden administration has become increasingly blunt in recent days in pressing Israel and Hamas to come to terms for a cease-fire that would last at least six weeks and would facilitate the release of dozens of hostages that were taken captive by militants when Hamas launched its Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Just two decades ago, GOP leaders were calling for Americans to embrace the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world." Now, while few U.S. adults on either side of the aisle want the nation to take a more active position, Republicans, at 53%, are roughly twice as likely as Democrats, at 25%, to say the country should have less active involvement abroad. About half (52%) of Democrats say the U.S.'s current position is about right.

Many Republicans cite America's bloody and futile history of intervention in countries like Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

I feel like theres a lot of conflicts that we've been involved in that dont ever have any positive results, Kurt Bunde, a Republican from Idaho, told AP. We might have good intentions. We might feel obligated to protect our allies interests, but the results speak for themselves.

Where the U.S. should be focusing its international military resources is also a subject of debate, with Republicans and Democrats disagreeing over whether the nation should be taking a more active role in the war between Ukraine and Russia or the war between Israel and Hamas.

Among U.S. adults overall, there isnt much appetite for a more active role in either conflict: Only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults say the U.S. should be taking a more active role in each war. For each, about 4 in 10 say the current role is about right, and 36% say the U.S. needs to take a step back.

But Republicans and independents are more likely than Democrats to say that the U.S. should dial down its support for Ukraine. About half of Republicans and independents want the U.S. to take a less active role in the war between Ukraine and Russia, compared to only 18% of Democrats.

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, the U.S. has sent $111 billion in weapons, equipment, humanitarian assistance and other aid to Ukraine. A $95 billion package of aid is now languishing in Congress due to Republican opposition as Ukrainian soldiers begin to ration ammunition.

America is spread thin like everywhere, and we need to take care of our own first," Matt Wood, a Republican from Kentucky, said in an interview. Then, if we can, if we have the resources available, then we can help other countries.

Half of Democrats say the U.S.s current role in the Russia-Ukraine war is about right, and 30% want a more active role. Across the board, Democrats are more likely to favor U.S. intervention in Ukraine: Nearly 6 in 10 think it's very or extremely important for the U.S. to provide aid to Ukraines military to fight Russia or negotiate a permanent cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine, while only 24% of Republicans prioritize more military aid and 41% of Republicans say it's extremely or very important for the U.S. to help broker a permanent ceasefire.

I think that we have to take some responsibility just because of the effect of our power and the amount of wealth we have, Christina Taylor, a Maryland Democrat, said. I think for us to decrease our responsibilities or to decrease our interest in other countries is against the kind of country we are.

Even though aid to Israel usually receives bipartisan support in Congress  and is often a priority for GOP politicians  about 4 in 10 Republicans think the U.S. should take a less active role in the war between Israel and Hamas.

I really think its none of us our business because its Israels war, Donna Cole, a Missouri Republican, told AP. The only role that the United States should have is to bring back any Americans who are hostages.

She added, But we should not be putting restraints on Israel or, for that matter, restraints on the Palestinians.

About half of Democrats think the U.S.'s current role in the Israel-Hamas war is about right, while the rest are split on whether the U.S. should take a more or less active role. Independents are slightly more likely than members of either political party to say the U.S. should take a less active role, and only 11% want the U.S. to be more involved.

There are large partisan divides, too, on the kind of aid that the U.S. should provide in the Israel-Hamas war. About one-third of Republicans think it's extremely or very important for the U.S. to provide aid to Israel's military to fight Hamas, compared to 20% of Democrats. On the other hand, about 6 in 10 Democrats say it's extremely or very important for the U.S. to help negotiate a permanent cease-fire and provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, while 34% of Republicans prioritize U.S. help with a cease-fire and 15% of Republicans think it's important for the U.S. to provide humanitarian aid.

Taylor, who is a nurse, said that the only active role the U.S. should be taking in the conflict in Gaza is pushing back on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his governments military response.

Were not doing enough to push the Israelis to lighten up a little bit because I think theyre overstepping," Taylor said.

___

The poll of 1,102 adults was conducted Feb. 22-26, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORCs probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

Associated Press White House reporter Aamer Madhani contributed.
This story, part of a series of investigative reporting projects by Military.com on service member and veteran health, was supported by the Pulitzer Center.

As a white truck barrels down a dirt road through the Great Plains, heading from F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming to a location just over the Nebraska border, the driver points a Military.com reporter to a chain-link fence just beyond a herd of black cows grazing the snow-covered fields.

Behind the cattle and the barbed-wire perimeter lies a nuclear missile, tucked under the earth and out of sight. To an untrained eye, these sites could easily go unnoticed and, likewise, the young enlisted airmen and early-career officers who take on the high-stress jobs to protect, maintain and, if called upon, launch those nuclear weapons, are also out of public view.

When many former missileers started to worry that they may have been exposed to cancer-causing toxins at missile alert facilities and launch control centers, they felt those concerns were being buried too. Military.com wanted to bring their voices to the surface.

Read Next: Here Are Soldiers' Top Choices for First Duty Stations

Over the course of several months, Military.com dove into the cancer concerns of America's missileers and the stressful jobs they take on to support the nation's nuclear triad -- the combination of air-, land- and sea-based nuclear weapons that can respond to a threat at a moment's notice.

The story caught Military.com's attention on Jan. 21, 2023, when screenshots of a presentation titled "The Malmstrom Initiative" began circulating online.

The presentation was created by Danny Sebeck, an active-duty Space Force officer and former missileer who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He began researching other cases of missileers diagnosed with cancer and discovered 36 diagnoses among missileers who had been stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. Ten of the airmen who had received cancer diagnoses, according to Sebeck's research, developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Two developed Hodgkin lymphoma, and 24 developed other forms of cancer.

Last year, Malmstrom and Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota both found levels of PCBs above the Environmental Protection Agency's threshold, though the Air Force did not disclose the specific concentration that tests revealed. F.E. Warren also detected the carcinogen but in much smaller traces, the service said.

Cows graze adjacent to an Air Force's ICBM launch site in rural Nebraska, on January 17, 2024. (Jacob Byk/Military.com)

Military.com began to dig into the claims and wondered whether the issue of potential cancer clusters among America's missileers had been raised before.

With guidance from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a nonprofit organization that has been advising Military.com on the newsroom's Freedom of Information Act request efforts, we sought past studies and records that could have revealed earlier worries and indications. That search revealed documents showing that concerns over carcinogens at those facilities had been raised decades prior.

Military.com also received funding from the Pulitzer Center, which financially supported a reporting trip to F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, one of the nation's three intercontinental ballistic missile bases. On-base officials granted us interviews with top military officers and experts and also escorted us to a military alert facility and launch control center 60 feet underground to see for ourselves the environment where America's young service members carry out their mission.

But the biggest resource in Military.com's reporting was the current and former missileers themselves.

We reached out to the Association of Air Force Missileers, which helped connect Military.com with missileers who have health concerns. We received dozens of phone calls and emails and spoke with missileers ranging from all different duty stations and generations of service who made their concerns and worries known to us.

Shortly after "The Malmstrom Initiative" presentation, a group called the Torchlight Initiative was created by former missileers. This organization provided Military.com with dozens of Air Force documents detailing cancer and toxin concerns, as well as data from their own grassroots registry of maintainers, security forces and missileers who were diagnosed with cancer and feared it could have been connected to their service.

As of February, the Torchlight Initiative found that 87, or about 25%, of the 347 registered missile community cancer cases at that time in its registry were blood cancers such as lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma. By comparison, of cancer diagnoses in the U.S., 10% are blood cancers, according to a fact sheet from Yale Medicine, the Ivy League university's medical school.

A photo of Jenny and Mark Holmes, in Jenny Holmes' home in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Jan. 20, 2024. Mark Holmes died from non Hodgkin lymphoma, potentially as a result of his serving as a missileer. (Jacob Byk/Military.com)

The Torchlight Initiative also sent our contact information to its members, who called and emailed to voice their concerns about the past studies and how their service could be connected to their cancer or fears of getting sick in the future.

Several missileers and their family members invited Miltiary.com into their homes in Colorado and shared their health diagnoses, their constant fears, and their grief in losing loved ones to cancer. Ultimately, our newsroom couldn't have written this report without their trust and their willingness to share their stories with us.

For years, many missileers felt like their voices were unheard, but Military.com was grateful we had the chance to sit down and listen.

Related: Air Forces Missileer Cancer Study Now Looking at 14 Different Cancers and Environmental Risks at Other Bases
The top U.S. general in the Middle East indicated Thursday that more American troops could have been killed in a recent spate of Iran-backed militia attacks in Iraq, Syria and Jordan if not for a bit of luck.

Three American soldiers were killed in a drone attack in January at a base in Jordan near the Syrian border, and scores have been injured in Iraq and Syria since a series of attacks against U.S. bases in those countries began in October. But Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla, the head of U.S. Central Command, suggested at a hearing Thursday those numbers would be higher if enemy drones hadn't missed their intended targets.

Asked by Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., whether the militias in Iraq and Syria could have killed U.S. troops prior to the deaths in Jordan with "a little bit of extra luck," Kurilla replied, "That is correct."

Read Next: They Stood Sentry over America's Nuclear Missile Arsenal. Many Worry It Gave Them Cancer.

"There are several incidents where UAVs coming into a base hit another object, got caught up in a netting or other incidents where, had they hit the appropriate target that they were targeting, it would have injured or killed service members," Kurilla added at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, using the acronym for unmanned aerial vehicle.

Kurilla's comment is the latest indication that American service members in the Middle East have faced more danger than most U.S. officials have publicly acknowledged amid efforts to cool the temperature in the region while the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip rages.

After Israel launched its war in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis, Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria began a consistent wave of missile, rocket and drone strikes against U.S. forces in those two countries. There have been 173 attacks since October, Kurilla said Thursday.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen also began a campaign of attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea after the Gaza war started, attacks that for the first time turned deadly this week when three civilian mariners on a merchant ship were killed Wednesday.

U.S. military officials have generally avoided describing any of the Houthi attacks as targeting American military ships, instead often describing Houthi weapons as being fired near or in the direction of the military vessels.

But one of the U.S. ships in the Red Sea, the USS Carney, was awarded a combat award, and several sailors have received medals meant to recognize "satisfactory performance under enemy fire while actively participating in a ground or surface combat engagement."

Meanwhile, at least five Purple Hearts had been awarded to service members injured in the attacks in Iraq and Syria as of December, but officials have not provided an updated total and have not said whether the troops killed and injured in Jordan are eligible for combat awards.

As of February, the Pentagon said there had been 186 U.S. casualties in Iraq, Syria and Jordan, including more than 130 traumatic brain injuries.

After the deaths in Jordan, U.S. forces struck 85 targets in Iraq and Syria associated with the militias and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. U.S. forces also killed a militia leader in a strike in Baghdad.

On Thursday, Kurilla said he believes that response has reestablished deterrence with Iran in Iraq and Syria, citing intelligence sources and the fact that there has not been a new attack on U.S. troops in those countries in 32 days.

"They are deterred right now in Iraq and Syria and their support to the Iranian-aligned militia groups in terms of attacks, but necessarily in terms of funding and equipping," Kurilla said.

Still, he added, "deterrence is always temporary."

Related: Despite Deadly Attack, US Military Still Grappling with How to Handle Enemy Drones
This story, part of a series of investigative reporting projects by Military.com on service member and veteran health, was supported by the Pulitzer Center.

Danny Sebeck was shaving on an August day in 2022, when he spotted a lump on his neck he hadn't noticed before. It was probably nothing, he thought.

Later that month, he was talking with a close friend who said he had noticed a similar bump, too. The two had served together at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, as missileers -- a high-stress job in which young officers are stationed below ground in launch control centers to keep careful watch over and, if called upon, fire America's nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles.

While Sebeck was feeling OK, his friend was experiencing fatigue, night sweats and swollen lymph nodes and decided to go to his doctor. Shortly after, his friend learned he had non-Hodgkin lymphoma, an aggressive form of cancer that can be fatal to nearly one-third of those who receive a diagnosis, according to the American Cancer Society.

Read Next: Here Are Soldiers' Top Choices for First Duty Stations

Sebeck was worried and quickly sought out doctors of his own. The 42-year-old husband and father had never been sick, never broken a bone, never had stitches, never spent a night in the hospital. But he'd heard the rumors.

For years, it was an open secret among missileers that the Cold War-era missile alert facilities and launch control centers where they'd spend days sleeping, eating and staying on alert in case of nuclear armageddon were filled with things that might get them sick -- carcinogens such as PCBs, lead paint, asbestos and tainted water. And every missileer veteran had at least one close friend who was battling a form of cancer.

"In the back of my mind, I was like, 'I bet I have the same cancer this guy has,'" Sebeck told Military.com. "There was too much in common with this. We're about the same age; we both worked at the same bases and places."

His gut feeling was right, and the next month, in September 2022, Sebeck was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Military.com spent the past year reporting on missileers and their struggle with cancer. Read more about that work here.

Sebeck, an active-duty Space Force officer, began researching other cases of missileers diagnosed with cancer, an effort that eventually culminated in "The Malmstrom Initiative" slides, a presentation he crafted that outlined alarming indications of cancer clusters in the community. When the presentation leaked to the press, it kicked off a scramble to figure out what is making so many missileers sick, including a major new study now underway by the Department of the Air Force.

A monthslong investigation by Military.com that included government record requests, a two-day site visit to one of the nation's nuclear missile bases, and dozens of interviews with current and former Air Force missileers, as well as the relatives of some who have passed away, found that the U.S. government has overlooked evidence of cancer clusters. Two separate small studies of missileer cancer clusters in the early 2000s failed to recognize the growing problem in the community, with that lack of recognition making it difficult for some missileers to prove to the Department of Veterans Affairs that their illnesses were related to military service, a precursor to securing some benefits.

The military branches also appear to have failed to properly account for contaminants that have been linked to cancer for decades, particularly PCBs, which are still prevalent at unsafe levels in some missile facilities, according to testing done in the wake of the Sebeck presentation.

Instead, the Air Force spent decades telling service members that it was safe, that they could descend into the ground to serve their countries without undue risk, while it was simultaneously aware that threats were present: Official documents are littered with references to the dangerous chemicals and substances that would surround airmen.

John Heiser, who had been stationed at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota for four years as a missileer, immediately thought of the old manuals he'd leafed through as a young officer when he was diagnosed at 30 years old with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Those manuals had warned about the strange, sticky oily substance -- polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs -- which seemed to be in a lot of the equipment in the launch control center.

"Everything had warnings all over the place about pieces of equipment," Heiser told Military.com.

The Toxic Substances Act of 1976 outlawed many carcinogens, including asbestos and PCBs, both of which were used in the construction of missile systems and facilities. Nearly two decades later, in a 1994 Government Accountability Office report, the military services, including the Air Force, admitted they had not done enough to clean up those sites or follow the Environmental Protection Agency's guidelines.

"Although the Toxic Substances Control Act has been in existence for more than 15 years, DoD installations are still not meeting the EPA requirements regarding monitoring, storing, labeling, and disposing of PCB items," the 1994 report says. "In some cases, installations have not corrected problems even when cited by EPA or other monitoring agencies for violations, such as not performing periodic inspections or not cleaning up spilled PCB material."

These issues seemed to boil over in 2001, when the Department of the Air Force was notified that three service members at Malmstrom had been diagnosed with lymphoma, prompting an environmental study. Possible toxins ranging from diesel fuel, PCBs, contaminants from burnt paper tapes, biological exposure from standing water and sewage backup, pesticides, herbicides, chlorophenols and carbon dioxide were cited in the report.

"I remember discussions about previous missileers and a history of people being diagnosed with cancer," said Marie Naidas, a missileer who served at Malmstrom during the 2001 study. She said many missileers eagerly awaited the results. "It was something we knew about back then."

But officials proclaimed all was well.

"Extensive air, water and soil sampling indicates that the workplace is free of health hazards," the 2001 report detailed. "We consider the work area to be a safe and healthy environment for your personnel."

Control panels inside the launch control center of Echo 1, in rural Nebraska, on Jan. 17, 2024. (Jacob Byk/Military.com)

In a follow-up memo in 2003, Air Force officials pitched the idea of a long-ranging epidemiological study. It never happened. Two years later, another study doubled down once more. "We believe that there is not sufficient evidence to consider the possibility of a cancer clustering to justify further investigation," officials wrote.

For decades, the problem went ignored, and those concerns were relegated to watercooler talk for missileers who'd warn colleagues about friends and former airmen diagnosed with cancer at a young age.

More than two decades after the initial 2001 study, in January 2023, Sebeck's "The Malmstrom Initiative" started circulating online.

The presentation detailed 36 cases in which missileers who had been stationed at Malmstrom were diagnosed with a type of cancer. Ten of the airmen who had received cancer diagnoses, according to Sebeck's research, developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Two developed Hodgkin lymphoma, and 24 developed other forms of cancer. Overall, eight of the 36 missileers with cancer diagnoses, the majority of whom served at Malmstrom sometime between 1997 and 2007, had died.

It sparked a major issue for the Space Force, which was created in late 2019 and relies heavily on transfers from the other services to fill its ranks. A fair number, roughly 400, of the service's current officers are former missileers.

A few weeks after Sebeck's slide deck was published online, Air Force Global Strike Command authorized a new wide-ranging study -- one that looked at all three of the nation's intercontinental ballistic missile bases, as well as all jobs related to protecting, maintaining and supporting them, to determine their risk.

It's a widespread study, which is pulling from multiple Department of Defense, VA, national and state databases to examine electronic medical records, cancer rates, and cancer and death indexes.

Col. Tory Woodard, commander of the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, who is heading up the new research into cancer clusters, was hesitant to speak to any possible shortcomings of the 2001 and 2005 studies, saying that "the team at the time used the data they had available to them."

"The studies that were done in 2001 and 2005, the [Pentagon] did not have a large electronic medical record; there was just some data limitations. We didn't have access to the national databases, cancer rates and things that we have available to us now and with the speed and efficiency that we can look at those," Woodard said, adding that the new study will have the benefit of a number of new resources.

But the toxic dangers of PCBs have been known for 47 years, and the congressional watchdog's recognition that the service was not properly labeling, storing or identifying the carcinogens was well known for about 30 years. Even when it was reported a little more than 20 years ago that airmen were getting sick and it could potentially be connected to elements in the missile facilities, officials did not deem further studies to be warranted.

Sebeck, who spoke to Military.com under the condition that he would share stories about his personal health and was not expressing viewpoints on behalf of the Space Force, Department of the Air Force or the Department of Defense, said that the warnings he received from other missileers when he was a young officer didn't resonate until he got his diagnosis and did his own research.

"I knew 20 years ago. People would talk to me and say, 'Hey, some of these guys have cancer.' And now I know all those guys' names and I know their families and their stories," Sebeck said.

A Log of the Past

In the wake of Sebeck's presentation, a grassroots organization called the Torchlight Initiative was created by a group of former missileers. They started a website to tell personal stories, like Sebeck's, and began collecting data for a registry of self-reported cancer diagnoses from those who have served at America's nuclear missile bases.

As of February, the Torchlight Initiative found that 87, or about 25%, of the 347 registered missile community cancer cases at that time in its registry were blood cancers such as lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma. By comparison, of cancer diagnoses in the U.S., 10% are blood cancers, according to a fact sheet from Yale Medicine, the Ivy League university's medical school.

On a recent January day at Paul Hunke's Colorado Springs home, the former missileer sat in his living room thumbing through a miniature composition journal, the pages and cover of which have become frayed and faded with time.

It's a detailed personal diary that logs every assignment he had as a young missileer, 60 feet under the Montana soil. As he thumbs through it, his fingers pass over a name: Capt. Brad Trent.

Paul Hunke, a retired missileer, holds a journal he kept during his service at his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Jan. 20, 2024. Hunke is concerned he was exposed to toxins that could give him cancer. (Jacob Byk/Military.com)

They had worked together on his 61st alert as a missileer. Trent was his commander when he went underground at the Juliet Missile Alert facility located in the vast and remote Montana plains.

Trent died at the age of 40 from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Elevated levels of PCBs were found at Malmstrom, and one contaminated site was the Juliet Missile Alert Facility where Hunke and Trent worked together.

Hunke's journal, which once evoked nostalgia, now inspires dread. He was there in 2005 when the Air Force conducted its follow-up cancer study at Malmstrom, and officials proclaimed in their report that "sometimes, illnesses tend to occur by chance alone."

He felt like they weren't taking the probe seriously.

"I bet they're going to just tell us everything is fine, everything is safe," Hunke recalled saying to his fellow airmen at the time. "Yet you would look down into the bottom of the capsule ... and you'd see raw sewage sitting down there. You can just smell all of the chemicals that are going on, and so we're all kind of, like, skeptical."

Dozens of former missileers who have spent days at a time in the enclosed launch control centers recounted similar experiences to Military.com.

A Torchlight Initiative report detailed that maintenance dispatches, technical orders and warning labels at launch control centers show that "PCBs were present in the battery charger capacitors, filter monitors, power supply units, light ballasts, and in many electronic filter boxes and electrical capacitors used throughout the WS-133A-M and WS-133B Minuteman weapon systems."

Many troops would handle potentially PCB-coated components without gloves or other protective equipment.

PCBs have been linked to many health concerns involving the liver, skin, reproductive, endocrine, neurological and immune systems, according to research from the National Institutes of Health. They have been present in the launch control centers and launch facilities for all variants of the Minuteman weapon system since 1962.

Exposure could have happened when crews removed or replaced certain components or when water seeped into PCB-contaminated electrical boxes. Crew members could have walked through PCB residue, tracking it onto the launch control center's carpet -- or even into their own vehicles and homes.

When PCB oil dries, it creates a dust that can be inhaled or absorbed through skin.

Despite undergoing a brand-new study where they promised to look at new data, officials still refuse to say they missed the mark in addressing those cancer concerns.

"We all have hope, and we pray that the Air Force is going to do the right thing and be honest and forthright about everything," Hunke told Military.com. "It seems like they are but, boy, we were all skeptical."

Hunke told Military.com that he has become a "paranoid hypochondriac" since the news of a potential cancer cluster spread. He's constantly feeling for lumps on his neck, frequently calls his doctor, and every ache and pain brings him immediate concern.

He also carries some guilt.

One of the two chairs missileers run their mission from inside the launch control center of Echo 1, in rural Nebraska, on Jan. 17, 2024. (Jacob Byk/Military.com)

Hunke's son, Benjamin, decided to join the Air Force and wanted to work as a missileer, just like his father. He arrived at his first duty station this year, Malmstrom Air Force Base, in the same squadron. Hunke is proud of his son and is honored by his service to the country but, as a father, he's concerned.

Hunke wants the Air Force to act fast, to ensure the next generation feels safe in their jobs.

But Hunke worries that the reputation may already be tainted. He was going out to dinner with his son and his classmates when they graduated from technical school at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and overheard discussion among them.

"All of those students were sitting around a table, it was the night after graduation, and one of them said, 'you know, we're all getting cancer, so it doesn't matter.'"

Hunke replied, "Guys, don't joke about that, because you don't know how real that is."

Going on Alert

Last year, Malmstrom and Minot both found levels of PCBs above the Environmental Protection Agency's threshold of 10 micrograms per 100 square centimeters. F.E. Warren Air Force Base also detected the carcinogen but below that threshold, the service said.

It was the first acknowledgment by military officials that dangers lurking in the launch control centers and missile alert facilities might be creating hazardous conditions for service members.

At F.E. Warren, a concrete bunker sits at the bottom of an elevator shaft that descends 60 feet beneath the frozen Great Plains soil. There, in January, two fresh-faced Air Force officers in their 20s were waiting and prepared, at a moment's notice, to unleash the nuclear missile buried underground with them.

Capt. William Young and 2nd Lt. Trevor Straub were in a launch control center for a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, located about an hour from the base. They sat in pilot chairs overlooking a massive computer terminal filled with switches, keyboards, screens and phones reminiscent of a 1970s television studio. The room is outdated and small, complete with a bathroom like those found on commercial airplanes and a small bed covered by a curtain.

Loud beeps from the computer terminal filled the small space, sending the two young men scrambling. They drew a curtain to keep their work out of view of this reporter and, a few clicks and a phone call later, the noise stopped. It could have been a test or a false alarm, but it clearly wasn't nuclear war -- at least not this time.

The job of guarding, operating and repairing the Minuteman III ICBM missile looks mostly the same at F.E. Warren in Wyoming, Malmstrom in Montana or Minot in North Dakota. The same as it has for decades.

It's a 24-hour mission, often followed by 48 hours off, that requires the young men and women to be ready at a moment's notice. They may need to fix electrical components, keyboards and more to make sure they are prepared at all times, despite substances that might be lurking in the equipment.

Col. Jared Nelson, the commander of the 90th Operations Group, which oversees missileers such as Straub and Young at F.E. Warren, said that, when he was a young missileer stationed at Minot, he "didn't really know to even ask the question" whether he had been exposed to anything during his service.

But he said those concerns shouldn't weigh heavily on his missileers' minds.

"I think it's not something that every day we're walking around moping around and going on and wondering, 'Do you have cancer? Do I have cancer?' That's not worth thinking about," Nelson said. "We don't believe day-to-day we're still in this environment that's going to kill us."

For the young officers in their 20s who are spending their days under the Great Plains, that mentality seems to carry over. They're not thinking about their future health, they're thinking about their current duties.

We accept some of the inherent risk," Straub said when asked whether he was concerned about the ongoing cancer studies. "We have a mission to finish."

In response to those risks, Gen. Thomas Bussiere, the Air Force Global Strike commander, ordered cleanup efforts, no matter the amount, at all three of the bases.

"I want a deep understanding of any potential risk there is or could be to our airmen and Guardians and to the force," Bussiere said in a press release. "This is not about one base, one AFSC, or one rank. It's about all airmen of all [Air Force Specialty Codes] that support our mission and about all of our locations and operating environments."

In response, the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine and the Defense Centers for Public Health collected air and swipe samples from launch control centers and launch control equipment buildings at all three ICBM bases.

Missiles outside the gate of F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on Jan. 16, 2024. (Jacob Byk/Military.com)

Soon, other bases will also be screened for environmental carcinogens.

Air Force officials said Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, which does rocket launches and missile tests, is also being reexamined. In mid-February, air, water, radon and PCB sampling was done, and those results are being analyzed.

"We will use the environmental sampling results from Vandenberg, historical documentation and a review of current operations to help us define what, if any, environmental sampling should be done at the [launch facilities]," Woodard, the commander of the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, told Military.com in December.

A third round of environmental sampling is scheduled for this spring, according to service officials. But in addition to examining more air, water, soil and surface samples in and around missile alert facilities and launch control centers, a larger health study is also ongoing.

"The study is not looking at only non-Hodgkin lymphoma," Woodard said. "So, we're really, as we do this, we're looking for 14 common cancers to make sure that we look at all those rates of cancers."

A town hall presentation from Air Force Global Strike Command shared with Military.com in December showed the service is also aiming its study at other generations of veterans who served at older Titan II and Minuteman II bases, the earlier variants of the ICBMs used as part of America's nuclear arsenal. That includes veterans who served at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota; Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona; Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota; Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri; McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas; and Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas.

Maj. Gen. Stacy Jo Huser, the commander of the 20th Air Force, which oversees ICBM operations, told Military.com in an interview at F.E. Warren that it's clear this study is personal.

"If you're a missileer, you have a best friend that has [non-Hodgkin lymphoma]," Huser said.

Retired Col. Jim Warner, a former missileer and the executive director of the Association of Air Force Missileers, told Military.com that his group has been closely following the issue and is helping the Air Force with its investigation. He also wonders how widespread the potential cancer cluster might be.

"Is it limited to operators or does the impact go into the maintenance, security forces, and support career fields? Is this a Minuteman problem or does it go back to Atlas, Titan and Peacekeeper?" Warner wrote last year. "I will defer to the Air Force to provide the answers. Sadly, this issue will be with us for many years to come."

Last year, when asked about the specific details of the cleanup and mitigation efforts, including whether missileers would be displaced from their routine workspaces, an Air Force Global Strike Command spokeswoman did not provide specifics, saying policies and procedures were being implemented by the workforces at those bases.

Since then, extensive cleanup efforts happened at Malmstrom and Minot but have not yet happened at F.E. Warren. Charles Hoffman, an Air Force Global Strike Command spokesman, told Military.com that service members assisted in those initial cleanup efforts and cleaning continues.

"Military bioenvironmental engineer teams have been conducting cleaning operations where mitigatable PCBs had been discovered," Hoffman said. "Using appropriate personal protective equipment and under the oversight of and partnership with bioenvironmental engineers, a small number of volunteer service members and civilians conduct the cleaning operations."

But he added that "in the future, PCB contractors will conduct cleaning operations" and said Air Force Global Strike Command is in the final stages of "securing a contract to clean PCBs at all missile wings."

Nelson, the commander of the 90th Operations Group at F.E. Warren, said he trusts that leadership is doing all they can to clean and mitigate carcinogens. He hopes missileers understand that people were building those facilities in the 1960s "in good faith" with what turned out to be toxic substances.

He said the job implicitly requires risk.

"I'm not saying there's an acceptable level that we have now, but I'm just saying that we come into this wearing the uniform, knowing that sometimes we're in an environment where risk is," Nelson added. "That's what you do in order to get the mission done. ... I'm not looking for a job with zero risk."

Grappling with Grief, Fighting for Benefits

Many missileers who have been diagnosed with cancer have had difficulties applying for and receiving VA benefits. This is due, in part, to a large number of them not believing they were eligible. Some have been told their illness or injury was not connected to service or that their diagnosis occurred long after separation.

Under the passage of the 2022 PACT Act, millions of sick veterans obtained health care and disability compensation for a variety of environmental exposures abroad. It was one of the largest expansions of VA benefits in the history of the agency.

But that act didn't cover compensation for most toxic exposures within the U.S. beyond health care, leaving these missileers behind.

As a newlywed stationed at Malmstrom, Jenny Holmes watched her husband Mark pull dozens of alerts in the missile fields, never speaking of his experiences, problems or frustrations.

She remembers him once saying, "The job is awful," but he didn't go into detail about it. She remembers him stripping out of his flight suit after he'd been underground for 24 hours on alert, shedding the uniform, which smelled strongly of chemicals, in the garage and running into the house to shower and put on fresh, clean clothes.

She remembers him believing deeply in the mission and wanting to follow in the footsteps of his father, who was also a missileer.

She remembers in 2018 when her husband was struggling with deep fatigue and started to have night sweats and some weight loss. In 2019, she saw his eyes turn yellow and learned that his liver, spleen, gallbladder and lymph system on his right side were all covered in cancer. Mark was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

He began losing weight, losing his ability to focus, losing his ability to be the active dad for their three children. On May 12, 2020, after 16 months of treatment, he died at the age of 37 -- 30 years younger than the average patient diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Jenny Holmes looks at photos of her late husband, Mark Holmes, while her daughter plays in the background in her home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Jan. 20, 2024. Mark Holmes died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma, potentially from toxic exposure during his career as a missileer. (Jacob Byk/Military.com)

"Our children have lost an incredible dad, a dad who read them bedtime stories and snuggled with them. He chased them for hours," Jenny Holmes told Military.com in an interview at her home in Colorado Springs. "But more importantly, they lost a future of making memories with him."

Since 2021, 10 months after his death, Jenny Holmes has been grappling with her grief and fighting with the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has repeatedly denied death benefits related to her husband because, at the time of his diagnosis, he was a reservist who was not on active orders.

She has been trying to secure compensation for his death, as well as expanded GI Bill education benefits for her family, which would offer her peace of mind and financial security as she raises their children alone.

She and Mark's father, Dan Holmes, have emailed lawmakers, spent countless hours on the phone, and worked tirelessly to share their story.

"With all that Jenny has gone through, her claim with the VA to get the benefits for her and their three kids that they deserve is an unnecessarily painful and more than frustrating process, and has gone on for over a year now," Dan Holmes, a retired lieutenant colonel and former missileer himself, told Military.com in an email.

A few former missileers have had success after advocating for VA benefits connected to possible toxic exposure during their service.

One of them is a former missile combat crew commander at Malmstrom named Jackie. She was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2018 at age 42.

In 2020, after a long fight, Jackie was able to secure benefits, in part, because she held onto a copy of Air Force Form 55, the Employee Safety and Health Record she signed in 2001, which warned her about exposure to chemicals, fuels, rodents, asbestos, PCBs and lead, among other contaminants.

"Navigating the VA claims processes, especially 12 years after military separation, is not for the faint of heart," Jackie wrote on Torchlight's website.

Jenny Holmes is grateful that a community like Torchlight exists, not just to help support her through her grief and the complicated VA benefits process, but also to spread awareness to current and former missileers.

But, if she had her way, and if the Air Force had paid attention to past warnings and concerns, Jenny Holmes believes a support system like that would have never been necessary in the first place.

"With all of that said, I do believe this community could have been prevented," she told Military.com. "While it is a blessing, I wish I wouldn't have to be part of it, and I certainly don't want any more members."

Related: Air Forces Missileer Cancer Study Now Looking at 14 Different Cancers and Environmental Risks at Other Bases
In 2017, a civilian search team discovered the wreck of the USS Indianapolis in a 600-mile swathe of the Pacific Ocean. The 10,000-ton heavy cruiser was sunk by two torpedoes in the Philippine Sea in July 1945. Though the wreck was finally found, its location was kept a secret because it was the tomb of an estimated 300 American sailors.

The story of the Indianapolis is much more tragic than just its sinking, and such a storied ship and crew deserve to be honored and memorialized. But some who discover wrecks like these tend to have a "finder's keepers" mentality about what's lying on the ocean floor. Many turn out to be treasure hunters or scrappers, according to National Geographic.

Their most recent treasure isn't gold or silver, but steel from wrecked warships -- and some salvagers are willing to desecrate the underwater tombs of war dead to get it.

The HMAS Perth was sunk in March 1942 at the Battle of Sunda Strait, taking more than 300 sailors down with it. (U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Arthurgwain L. Marquez)

There's a particular reason why the steel of sunken warships is so valuable. All the steel produced after World War II was irreversibly irradiated with radioactive cobalt isotopes during the process of mixing iron and carbon as an unexpected consequence of global atomic testing. As a result, nuclear fallout has been a part of all steel made after the Atomic Era. Steel made before World War II is now known as "low-background steel" and is usually found in old shipwrecks, artillery shells and other wartime materiel.

This background radiation isn't dangerous, and it doesn't really change how we make or use steel -- unless that steel is used to make things that are sensitive to radiation, such as certain scientific and medical equipment. Its use in medicine and high-tech research, along with its limited supply, means low-background steel is exceptionally valuable -- and like all things with such a high value, some aren't too concerned about where they get it.

There's nothing inherently wrong with using old shipwrecks, which has long been a major source of this kind of steel (the exception is warships and submarines, which only the government of the flagged vessel can legally salvage due to espionage concerns). Shipwrecks within a nation's territorial waters are governed by those nations. The estimated 6,000 World War II wrecks should be protected by existing legislation, but enforcement can be difficult.

It's not known exactly when the practice began (it's different for each newly discovered wreck), but illegal scrappers are responsible for stealing steel from wrecks that are actually the final resting places of thousands of World War II-era service members. A 2017 report from The Guardian notes that warships containing the corpses of 4,500 troops may have been destroyed in the hunt for valuable low-background steel

In the Pacific Ocean alone, there are an estimated 13 million tons of sunken warships, with potentially tens of thousands of war dead entombed inside. Analysts have discovered that at least 40 of these sunken vessels, which are also the graves of British, American, Australian, Dutch and Japanese troops, have been disturbed in the hunt for low--background steel.

Image of the USS Indianapolis wreck, from the expedition funded and led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

Illegal scrap metal divers have ripped apart three Dutch and three British ships that were first discovered in 2002 off the coast of Indonesia. An American submarine wreck, the USS Perch, had also disappeared. Although the American sailors were captured by the Japanese, hundreds of Dutch and British sailors were thought to be in the wrecks. Similar losses have been reported off the coasts of Malaysia and Borneo.

In 2018, the remains of 300 sailors who died aboard Australia's famed light cruiser HMAS Perth were found to be "devastated" after scrappers illegally salvaged an estimated 60%-70% of the wreck. Perth was sunk by the Japanese in 1942, taking 353 men down with it. It was discovered in 1967, but by 2013, scrappers had begun stealing its superstructure, turrets and armor plating.

Salvaging these ships is usually done using crane-equipped barges and explosives, with little thought toward the men entombed inside. They also leave the unmistakable evidence of salvage, causing damage that could not have been done by enemy weapons. Plenty of legislation to protect these sites already exists, but actually implementing it depends on cooperation between the countries where the vessels lay and the state that created the ships.

Chuan Hong 68, a Chinese bulk carrier detained for illegally salvaging a Dutch submarine in 2012. (Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency)

As the equipment used to legally salvage ships from the bottom of the ocean improves, the danger to Pacific shipwrecks will only increase. Vessels protected by the depths may soon lose that protection unless countries that control the territorial waters begin protecting these historic sites.

Want to Learn More About Military Life?

Whether you're thinking of joining the military, looking for post-military careers or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to Military.com to have military news, updates and resources delivered directly to your inbox.
The self-proclaimed most Rock n Roll Rock n Roll Band in the World is headed back to Detroit next month with a new album in tow.

The Black Crowes will bring their Happiness Bastards tour to the Fillmore Detroit on Saturday, April 20 and Stubhub, Vivid Seats, SeatGeek and Ticketmaster have tickets available.

Ticket are also available for tour stops in Chicago and Toronto.

Ticket prices start at $104.

Brothers Chris and Rich Robinson just dropped their first music video in 15 years with the song Wanting and Waiting off the forthcoming Happiness Bastards album set for release March 15.

Stubhub, Vivid Seats, SeatGeek and Ticketmaster have tickets to tour stops in Detroit. Tickets are also available for stops in Chicago and Toronto.

Detroit - Saturday April, 20, 7:00pm, The Fillmore Detroit, MI

Stubhub

Vivid Seats

SeatGeek

Ticketmaster

Chicago - Friday, April 19, 8:00pm, (17+ Event), Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, IL

Stubhub

Vivid Seats

SeatGeek

Ticketmaster

Toronto - Wednesday, April 24, 8:00pm, Massey Hall - Allied Music Centre, Toronto, ON, CA

Stubhub

Vivid Seats

SeatGeek

Ticketmaster
When it comes to making travel plans, we know early spring can be a messy shoulder season in Michigan. Some days are warm. Other days, you need your big coat. But the great thing about this state is theres always something fun to do. Inside or outdoors. And theres always a deal to be had.

In the spirit of our Lovable Michigan brand, weve rounded up some of the travel deals were seeing right now. And we did it with an eye toward pairing fun with saving a few bucks. Well do this a few times a month, so make sure to check back and see what Lovable Michigan spots were writing about.

Here are some of the March deals we found:

#1 Boyne Mountain is running a Crashpad special for its upcoming Carnival Weekend: Party weekends are epic, but the aftermath? Not so much. Avoid the struggle of cramped bunks and early morning goodbyes with your own crashpad for Carnival Weekend. Score a spacious king room for just $275 and turn it into your party respite. No more squeezing into shared bathrooms or fighting over the thermostat. Grab your own space to crash after a night of shredding the slopes and dancing through the decades.

March 15-17, 2024

$279 King Rooms in the Mountain Grand Lodge and Spa or Chalet Edelweiss

Add an SPF Pass for $169

Use the Promo Code: CRASHPAD

Call to Book: 855.264.1074 or book online here

This deal expires Tuesday, March 12 at midnight

A hot dog ride at the creative cardboard sled race at Crystal Mountain. Photo provided by Crystal Mountain.Crystal Mountain

#2 Crystal Mountain is celebrating its Spring Carnival this Saturday, March 9. Its offering a Play & Stay deal starting at $159 per night.

Dont miss our Cardboard Classic Race at 11 a.m., with registration at 9:30 a.m. Then, gather for the crowd-favorite Slush Cup starting at 2 p.m. Join the fun with your best spring costume. And stay overnight with lodging rates starting at just $159 per night this weekend.* Minimum night stay not required.

Added value for families:

Kids 6 and younger stay, ski and enjoy breakfast FREE anytime.**

Kids 17 and under stay FREE anytime.

Reserve weekend lodging online or call 877-698-3194.

Samples of wine are poured at Black Star Farms on Old Mission Peninsula in Grand Traverse County on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Black Star Farms is one of ten wineries that make up the Old Mission Peninsula Wine Trail. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com)MLive.com

#3 Winter Wine Getaway Package at the Best Western Plus in Traverse City: Stay with us this winter and explore the Traverse City Wine Coast wineries. Your package includes a welcome basket in your room with a bottle of local wine, a 1 p.m. late checkout on the day of your departure, complimentary hot breakfast and unlimited 24-hour access to our 11-foot deep indoor pool.

Drummond Island's ORV and ATV trails are among the most scenic and rugged in the entire state.

#4 Drummond Island: Want to make your getaway really remote? Try the Spring Getaway Deal at Drummond Island Resort. Leave the U.P. mainland behind and take a short ferry trip to Drummond Island for an adventurous vacation.

Book your Spring Getaway Deal. Enjoy the best of Spring on Drummond Island and save up to 15% off regular room rates. May not be combined with other discounts or offers. Limited Daily Availability. Must book by April 30th, 2024.

A refreshed Bar 81 at Treetops Resort feels like a Up North nightclub and is open all day. Photo provided by Treetops Resort.

#5 Treetops Resort and Spa near Gaylord has March spa specials: Treat yourself to a luxurious gel manicure and pedicure combo for only $100, or melt away stress with $20 off a relaxing 90-minute massage. These deals are through March only, so book your appointment today.

Call 989.731.8556 or visit www.treetops.com/resort/spa to book an appointment.
First lady Jill Biden, right, and Susan Ford Bales, daughter of former first lady Betty Ford, stand in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 6, 2024, during an unveiling of a new U.S. Postal Service stamp honoring former first lady Betty Ford. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)AP
By ED WHITE Associated Press

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP)  The father of a Michigan school shooter who killed four students in 2021 missed an incredible opportunity to prevent the tragedy, prosecutors said Thursday as jurors heard opening statements in a trial that will determine whether a second parent will be held responsible for the attack.

This case isnt about bad parenting  its not illegal to be a bad parent. Its not kids doing kid things, assistant prosecutor Marc Keast said. Were talking about preventable mass murder.

James Crumbley is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one for each teenager killed by Ethan Crumbley at Oxford High School. Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty of the same charges last month.

Keast emphasized a series of key points for the jury. He noted that James Crumbley, accompanied by his son, bought a Sig Sauer 9 mm handgun four days before the shooting.

The father never told school staff about the purchase  or a trip to a shooting range that same weekend  when he and his wife were summoned to discuss a disturbing drawing on Ethans math assignment on the day of the shooting.

Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Marc Keast presents a photo of the gun purchased by James Crumbley for his son, to the jury during opening statements of James Crumbley's trial in the Oakland County courtroom of Cheryl Matthews on Thursday, March. 7, 2024 in Pontiac, Mich. James Crumbley, 47, is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one for each teenager killed by Ethan Crumbley at Oxford High School in 2021. (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP, Pool)AP

There was a gun on the paper that looked similar to the Sig Sauer, blood drops and a bullet, accompanied by the phrases: The thoughts wont stop. Help me.

The Crumbleys didnt take Ethan home, and the school, concerned that Ethan might be suicidal, didnt demand it. No one checked the boys backpack for a gun, however, and the shooting happened that afternoon.

Instead of seizing that incredible opportunity, James Crumbley spent hours making deliveries for DoorDash, Keast said.

He displayed a picture of a gun lock, still in a package, for the jury.

It was never used at home, the prosecutor said.

James Crumbley is not accused of knowing what his 15-year-old son had planned for his school. But hes accused of being grossly negligent by not securing the weapon.

This nightmare  these murders  were preventable by him, foreseeable by him, Keast said.

Defense attorney Mariell Lehman suggested that James Crumbley, 47, might testify in his own defense or that his beliefs about the gun and Ethan will come out at the trial in other ways.

James Crumbley was not aware that his son had access to that firearm, Lehman told jurors. You will hear testimony that access was not allowed in James Crumbleys mind. You will not hear that James Crumbley even suspected that his son was a danger.

James and Jennifer Crumbley are the first U.S. parents to be charged with having criminal responsibility for a mass school shooting committed by a child.

The first witness was Molly Darnell, a faculty member who was shot by a bullet that pierced her office door. Darnell, one of seven people wounded that day, stood, removed a jacket and showed jurors the spot on her upper left arm.

Darnell said that while she hid behind a cabinet, she texted her husband without telling him she had been shot.

I love you, she wrote. Active shooter.

Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Marc Keast presents a photo to the jury of the math test sheet drawn on by Ethan Crumbley before he followed through with a deadly mass shooting at Oxford High School in 2021 during opening statements at the Oakland County courtroom of Cheryl Matthews on Thursday, March. 7, 2024 in Pontiac, Mich. James Crumbley, 47, is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one for each teenager killed by Ethan Crumbley at Oxford High School in 2021. 9Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP, Pool)AP

Prosecutors allege that, in addition to failing to secure the gun, the Crumbleys ignored their sons pleas for help for mental distress. Ethan told a friend that James Crumbleys response was to tell the boy to suck it up, Keast told the jury.

Before jurors entered court, Judge Cheryl Matthews made rulings that could benefit James Crumbley. She said prosecutors cant use text messages between son and mother, months before the shooting, that suggested he was having hallucinations about demons.

The messages were introduced as evidence at Jennifer Crumbleys trial.

Ethan, now 17, is serving a life prison sentence for murder and terrorism.

Jennifer Crumbley, 45, is scheduled to return to court for her sentence on April 9. Her minimum prison term could be as high as 10 years.
YPSILANTI, MI -- Funkiness is coming to downtown Ypsilanti with a week full of live, original music.

Funky Rivertown Fest is 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 19, through Friday, March 22, and 2 to 11 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at the Riverside Arts Center, 76 N. Huron St.

The festival features two or more headlining bands during the week, and six full sets on Saturday.

This is the festivals second year n Ypsilanti and is being led by David Roof, a full-time music producer, musician and owner of Roof Top Arts, Inc. in Grand Blanc.

Roof was inspired to get into the music industry after he attended Ypsilantis Frog Island Blues and Jazz Festival in middle school. Now, he wants to bring a festival of his own to town.

The ultimate goal of Funky Rivertown Fest is to connect listeners to music they havent yet discovered by bringing a variety of local musicians to the city, Roof said.

Theres this huge list of people who are well-known from Southeast Michigan, but the depth of music coming out of this part of the state is immense, he said. Every song that we have grown to love from our favorite artists has started as an original piece of music by someone who was unknown.

Festival passes cost $50 until Sunday, March 10, and go up to $60 after that date.

Daily tickets are available for $10 for students and Ypsilanti residents or $20 from Tuesday through Friday. Saturday tickets are $30, while students and residents can still get their tickets for $10.

Here is Funky Rivertown Fests lineup:

Tuesday, March 19: Cedar Bend, Premium Rat and Cat Lung

Wednesday, March 20: Kevin Brown, John Finan and Dan Cafferty

Thursday, March 21: Dani Darling and Nadim Azzam

Friday, March 22: Heat Above and Killer Diller

Saturday, March 23: Ypsilanti Youth Choir, Mister Tim, Nobodys Business, Mike Ward: Psychosongs, Maddy Ringo and Judy Banker Band

Ultimately, Roof wants Funky Rivertown Fest to become a staple in Ypsilanti and hopes it will one day expand into even more venues throughout the city.

Learn more about the upcoming festival online or on social media.

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.
ANN ARBOR, MI  Inappropriate, rude or profane language and actions by Ann Arbor police officers made up the most complaints submitted to the citys Independent Police Oversight Commission.

Complaints were sorted into five categories. The largest portion of complaints  41%  fell under allegations of inappropriate language or actions by officers, such as rude, unprofessional, aggressive, berating, profane, inappropriate [and] untruthful behavior.
WYOMING, MI  One man was arrested in connection to a shooting at a gas station that left an employee in critical condition, Wyoming police said.

Police arrested a 20-year-old Wyoming man on charges related to an incident Wednesday night, March 6, at Admiral Petroleum gas station at 3221 S. Division Ave.

Related: 1 in critical condition from shooting in Wyoming

Officers responded around 5:40 p.m. to a reported shooting and found a 36-year-old Grand Rapids man with multiple gunshot wounds. The Grand Rapids man, who was an employee at the gas station, suffered severe injuries and was taken to an area hospital for treatment.

Police ask anyone with information regarding this shooting to call the Wyoming Police Department at 616-530-7300 or Silent Observer at 616-774-2345.

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.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  For years, the U.S. Postal Services hulking, riverfront processing center in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids has been eyed by city leaders as a site thats ripe for redevelopment.

Since at least 2003, community leaders have talked about convincing the Postal Service to sell the 3.6-acre property at 225 Michigan St. NW. Ideas for the site have included an expansion of DeVos Place, building a new convention hotel, or another use aligned with the citys push for more housing, recreation, and amenities along the Grand River.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Cherry Health, a federally qualified health center that provides care to underserved populations regardless of their ability to pay, has opened an urgent care dental clinic on Lafayette Avenue NE in the Belknap Lookout neighborhood.

Belknap Commons Dental Center, at 751 Lafayette Ave. NE, has five dental stations, and provides urgent care treatment on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5-8 p.m.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- High school students will be going head to head this weekend at the Radisson Plaza Hotel, 100 W. Michigan Ave, in an effort to create the best hospitality experience.

Theyre competing in the ProStart Hospitality Competition, the highest level of competition for students aspiring to a career in restaurant or hotel hospitality, according to the Michigan Hospitality Foundation. There will be 400 students from 28 schools across Michigan participating.
LEXINGTON, MI  A Sanilac County man has been jailed following a lengthy standoff with police, during which he allegedly shot two officers with a CO2-powered BB gun.

About 10:05 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5, Lexington police received a call from a person in the 7100 block of Lester Street who claimed their neighbor was outside, screaming and firing a long gun.
This week, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer became the latest in a series of U.S. governors to meet with the Taiwanese president amid a period of particularly heightened tensions between the island and mainland China.

We are sharing our story around the world and competing with other nations to bring jobs, projects and supply chains back home to Michigan, Whitmer said in a statement. On this economic development mission, I am excited to open the Michigan Taiwan Office and continue forging strong relationships with partners around the globe. Team Michigan stands united as we work together to build a brighter future. Through our innovative businesses and comprehensive economic development efforts, we are all working together to build something special here.
Jag Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX  Free Report) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,401 shares of the asset managers stock after buying an additional 1,877 shares during the quarter. Jag Capital Management LLCs holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in Blackstone by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 87,646 shares of the asset managers stock worth $9,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in Blackstone by 7.0% during the third quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 121,358 shares of the asset managers stock worth $13,002,000 after buying an additional 7,907 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 53,258 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $5,706,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 874.8% in the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,275 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $2,536,000 after acquiring an additional 24,477 shares during the period. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the third quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 29,479 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $3,158,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.35% of the companys stock.

Get Blackstone alerts:

Blackstone Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:BX traded down $1.51 on Wednesday, reaching $123.31. 3,355,064 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,628,882. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51. The companys 50 day moving average is $124.82 and its 200-day moving average is $113.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.19 and a 1-year high of $133.53.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

Blackstone ( NYSE:BX Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.48 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 17.30%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from Blackstones previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Blackstones dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 205.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BX. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a market perform rating and a $118.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Blackstone from a b rating to a c+ rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $119.53.

Read Our Latest Report on Blackstone

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $127.08 per share, with a total value of $29,482.56. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 232 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at $4,349,313. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO David Payne sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.21, for a total value of $705,155.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,781 shares in the company, valued at $6,126,002.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,592,668 shares of company stock valued at $38,521,631 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Company Profile

(Free Report)

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Blackstone Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Blackstone and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Jag Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH  Free Report) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,774 shares of the medical research companys stock after buying an additional 427 shares during the quarter. Jag Capital Management LLCs holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $2,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LH. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 43,735 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $8,793,000 after buying an additional 5,086 shares in the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 182.1% during the 3rd quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 5,842 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $1,175,000 after buying an additional 3,771 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 34,144 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $6,864,000 after buying an additional 2,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurion Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $17,560,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.37% of the companys stock.

Get Laboratory Co. of America alerts:

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total value of $7,451,828.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,595 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,095,812.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total value of $7,451,828.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,595 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,095,812.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 237 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.45, for a total value of $53,668.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,637 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,729,398.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,500 shares of company stock valued at $7,670,756 in the last quarter. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE LH traded up $1.65 on Wednesday, reaching $217.80. 795,343 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 746,365. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $222.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.64. The company has a market cap of $18.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.61, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.02. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12 month low of $174.20 and a 12 month high of $234.09.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.01. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 13.99% and a net margin of 3.24%. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.14 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Laboratory Co. of Americas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI started coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Friday, February 9th. They set an in-line rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Barclays started coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an equal weight rating and a $222.00 price objective for the company. TheStreet lowered Laboratory Co. of America from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, SVB Leerink started coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued an outperform rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $243.07.

View Our Latest Report on Laboratory Co. of America

About Laboratory Co. of America

(Free Report)

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as a life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients make clear and confident decisions. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics and Labcorp Drug Development.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Laboratory Co. of America Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Laboratory Co. of America and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV decreased its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ  Free Report) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 465,122 shares of the companys stock after selling 34,845 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADVs holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $72,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Tower View Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 183.3% in the third quarter. Tower View Wealth Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the companys stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 43.0% in the third quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 286 shares of the companys stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Institutional investors own 68.40% of the companys stock.

Get Johnson & Johnson alerts:

Johnson & Johnson Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of JNJ traded down $0.63 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $159.34. 5,770,659 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,217,048. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $159.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $157.20. Johnson & Johnson has a twelve month low of $144.95 and a twelve month high of $175.97. The stock has a market cap of $383.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

Johnson & Johnson ( NYSE:JNJ Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.01. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 37.79% and a return on equity of 37.27%. The company had revenue of $21.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.35 EPS. Johnson & Johnsons quarterly revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Johnson & Johnsons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JNJ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $167.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, December 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. TheStreet downgraded Johnson & Johnson from a b rating to a c+ rating in a report on Friday, November 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $177.31.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on JNJ

Insider Transactions at Johnson & Johnson

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Johnson & Johnson news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $96,142.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the companys stock.

About Johnson & Johnson

(Free Report)

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JNJ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Johnson & Johnson Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Johnson & Johnson and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Orleans Capital Management Corp LA increased its holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM  Free Report) by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,102 shares of the financial services providers stock after buying an additional 2,375 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. comprises approximately 1.4% of Orleans Capital Management Corp LAs holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Orleans Capital Management Corp LAs holdings in JPMorgan Chase & Co. were worth $1,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of JPM. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 126,243,947 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $18,360,920,000 after buying an additional 2,384,901 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 105,652.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 98,000,567 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $13,141,876,000 after buying an additional 97,907,897 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 59,049,256 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $7,918,506,000 after buying an additional 8,088,433 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 53,367,497 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $7,740,212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 49,417,639 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $7,166,546,000 after purchasing an additional 606,382 shares in the last quarter. 68.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get JPMorgan Chase & Co. alerts:

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Price Performance

Shares of JPM stock traded up $0.98 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $189.53. The company had a trading volume of 7,555,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,196,049. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a 12 month low of $123.11 and a 12 month high of $190.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $545.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.14. The firms fifty day moving average is $175.06 and its 200 day moving average is $158.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Announces Dividend

JPMorgan Chase & Co. ( NYSE:JPM Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.73 by ($0.69). JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a net margin of 20.70% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The company had revenue of $38.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.57 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will post 15.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 4th were paid a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 4th. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JPM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $190.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $177.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $191.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a buy rating on shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $179.11.

View Our Latest Analysis on JPM

Insider Transactions at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

In other news, CEO Marianne Lake sold 32,243 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $5,158,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 131,962 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $21,113,920. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other JPMorgan Chase & Co. news, Vice Chairman Peter Scher sold 1,812 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.65, for a total transaction of $301,969.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,766 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,793,553.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marianne Lake sold 32,243 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $5,158,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 131,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,113,920. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 877,626 shares of company stock valued at $159,500,516 in the last three months. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Profile

(Free Report)

JPMorgan Chase & Co operates as a financial services company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Consumer & Community Banking (CCB), Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB), Commercial Banking (CB), and Asset & Wealth Management (AWM). The CCB segment offers deposit, investment and lending products, cash management, and payments and services; mortgage origination and servicing activities; residential mortgages and home equity loans; and credit cards, auto loans, leases, and travel services to consumers and small businesses through bank branches, ATMs, and digital and telephone banking.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for JPMorgan Chase & Co. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for JPMorgan Chase & Co. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Toroso Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO  Free Report) by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,574 shares of the medical research companys stock after acquiring an additional 2,508 shares during the period. Toroso Investments LLCs holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $6,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TMO. Bornite Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP now owns 30,000 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $17,719,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 2,928 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 563.5% in the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 19,844 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $11,721,000 after purchasing an additional 16,853 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 60.5% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 321 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $190,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 669 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Thermo Fisher Scientific alerts:

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

NYSE TMO traded up $6.89 on Wednesday, reaching $591.50. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,886,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,707,285. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $225.54 billion, a PE ratio of 37.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.80. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $415.60 and a 52 week high of $598.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $549.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $515.19.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

Thermo Fisher Scientific ( NYSE:TMO Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical research company reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.64 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The firm had revenue of $10.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $10.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.52 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientifics previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientifics dividend payout ratio is presently 9.06%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 14th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to repurchase up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the companys board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $592.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $530.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $670.00 price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Thermo Fisher Scientific currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $596.00.

Read Our Latest Report on Thermo Fisher Scientific

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total value of $89,703.08. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,207 shares in the company, valued at $660,192.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 14,566 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.00, for a total value of $8,186,092.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,901 shares in the company, valued at $7,250,362. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Debora L. Spar sold 164 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.97, for a total transaction of $89,703.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,207 shares in the company, valued at $660,192.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 40,277 shares of company stock worth $22,533,584. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the companys stock.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

(Free Report)

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company's Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases; and solutions include biosciences, genetic sciences, and bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TMO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Thermo Fisher Scientific Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Thermo Fisher Scientific and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA  Free Report) by 108.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,391 shares of the credit services providers stock after buying an additional 7,491 shares during the quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLCs holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,698,000 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. GeoWealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Bollard Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Barometer Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 74.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get Mastercard alerts:

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total transaction of $43,072.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,235 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,740,407.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 8,900 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.26, for a total value of $3,829,314.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,491 shares of the companys stock, valued at $20,003,217.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total transaction of $43,072.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,235 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,740,407.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,428 shares of company stock valued at $24,911,617 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. William Blair reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. They issued a neutral rating for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an outperform rating and issued a $510.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $476.35.

Read Our Latest Research Report on MA

Mastercard Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Mastercard stock traded up $4.36 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $471.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,917,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,494,958. The stock has a market capitalization of $440.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $340.21 and a 52-week high of $479.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a 50 day moving average of $447.41 and a 200 day moving average of $418.82.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $11.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the companys management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Mastercards dividend payout ratio is currently 22.32%.

Mastercard Profile

(Free Report)

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Mastercard Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Mastercard and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:DGRO  Free Report) by 221.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 121,973 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 84,050 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLCs holdings in iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF were worth $6,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Objective Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC now owns 28,828 shares of the companys stock worth $1,428,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its position in shares of iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF by 79.2% during the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 2,769 shares of the companys stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF by 5.3% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,601,527 shares of the companys stock worth $277,444,000 after purchasing an additional 280,775 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its stake in iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF by 14.7% in the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 37,103 shares of the companys stock worth $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 4,748 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF by 5.0% during the third quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 172,674 shares of the companys stock valued at $8,553,000 after buying an additional 8,154 shares during the period.

Get iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF alerts:

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF Stock Performance

Shares of iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF stock traded up $0.30 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.63. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,643,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,667,416. iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF has a 52 week low of $47.19 and a 52 week high of $56.86. The company has a market capitalization of $26.21 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.22.

About iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF

The iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the Morningstar US Dividend Growth index. The fund tracks an index of US stocks that are selected by dividends, dividend growth and payout ratio, then weighted by dividend dollars. DGRO was launched on Jun 10, 2014 and is managed by BlackRock.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
WealthPlan Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Goldman Sachs TreasuryAccess 0-1 Year ETF (NYSEARCA:GBIL  Free Report) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 67,253 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,733,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Betterment LLC increased its position in shares of Goldman Sachs TreasuryAccess 0-1 Year ETF by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 5,323,233 shares of the companys stock valued at $532,909,000 after buying an additional 198,332 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Goldman Sachs TreasuryAccess 0-1 Year ETF by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,770,700 shares of the companys stock valued at $475,687,000 after buying an additional 1,222,834 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Goldman Sachs TreasuryAccess 0-1 Year ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at $365,696,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Goldman Sachs TreasuryAccess 0-1 Year ETF by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,276,332 shares of the companys stock valued at $328,092,000 after buying an additional 24,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Goldman Sachs TreasuryAccess 0-1 Year ETF by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,861,001 shares of the companys stock valued at $286,300,000 after buying an additional 471,945 shares in the last quarter.

Get Goldman Sachs TreasuryAccess 0-1 Year ETF alerts:

Goldman Sachs TreasuryAccess 0-1 Year ETF Price Performance

GBIL stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $99.80. 219,804 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 805,493. The firms 50-day moving average is $99.92 and its 200-day moving average is $99.94. Goldman Sachs TreasuryAccess 0-1 Year ETF has a 12 month low of $99.64 and a 12 month high of $100.21.

Goldman Sachs TreasuryAccess 0-1 Year ETF Profile

The Goldman Sachs Access Treasury 0-1 Year ETF (GBIL) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in investment grade fixed income. The fund tracks an index comprised of US Treasury securities with less than one year remaining in maturity. GBIL was launched on Sep 6, 2016 and is managed by Goldman Sachs.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GBIL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Goldman Sachs TreasuryAccess 0-1 Year ETF (NYSEARCA:GBIL  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Goldman Sachs TreasuryAccess 0-1 Year ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Goldman Sachs TreasuryAccess 0-1 Year ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX  Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 100,298 shares of the natural resource companys stock, valued at approximately $3,740,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 102.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,698,016 shares of the natural resource companys stock worth $355,838,000 after acquiring an additional 4,410,429 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth $160,160,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth $141,407,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 6.5% during the second quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 59,495,524 shares of the natural resource companys stock worth $2,379,818,000 after acquiring an additional 3,630,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,678.9% during the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 2,098,587 shares of the natural resource companys stock worth $209,859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,980,616 shares in the last quarter. 77.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get Freeport-McMoRan alerts:

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 2.8 %

FCX traded up $1.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.15. 11,704,240 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,188,521. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.42. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $32.83 and a one year high of $44.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.04 and a beta of 2.02. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $39.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.21.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

Freeport-McMoRan ( NYSE:FCX Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 8.09%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The companys revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 12th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 11th. Freeport-McMoRans dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. Raymond James raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and raised their target price for the company from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $44.95.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Freeport-McMoRan

About Freeport-McMoRan

(Free Report)

Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FCX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Freeport-McMoRan Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Freeport-McMoRan and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Spouting Rock Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Agree Realty Co. (NYSE:ADC  Free Report) by 30.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,521 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after selling 5,373 shares during the period. Spouting Rock Asset Management LLCs holdings in Agree Realty were worth $692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Agree Realty by 59.2% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 231,730 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $12,801,000 after buying an additional 86,181 shares in the last quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Agree Realty by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 1,164,976 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $64,353,000 after acquiring an additional 22,654 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Agree Realty by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 74,607 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $4,120,000 after purchasing an additional 8,495 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Agree Realty by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,158,567 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $119,239,000 after purchasing an additional 216,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL acquired a new stake in Agree Realty during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,771,000. 97.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Agree Realty alerts:

Agree Realty Stock Down 0.8 %

ADC traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $56.84. 729,302 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,089,769. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.52. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $59.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.82. Agree Realty Co. has a one year low of $52.69 and a one year high of $70.55.

Agree Realty Announces Dividend

Analysts Set New Price Targets

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th will be paid a $0.247 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 28th. Agree Realtys payout ratio is presently 173.10%.

Several analysts have recently commented on ADC shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Agree Realty from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. BNP Paribas lowered Agree Realty from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $64.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Agree Realty from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Agree Realty in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. They set an outperform rating and a $69.00 price target for the company. Finally, JMP Securities raised shares of Agree Realty from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $71.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $65.61.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Agree Realty

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Joey Agree bought 1,350 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, December 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $58.47 per share, for a total transaction of $78,934.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 554,603 shares in the company, valued at $32,427,637.41. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Joey Agree purchased 1,350 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $58.47 per share, with a total value of $78,934.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 554,603 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,427,637.41. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Richard Agree acquired 16,000 shares of Agree Realty stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $55.50 per share, with a total value of $888,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 135,855 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,539,952.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 68,582 shares of company stock worth $4,024,302. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the companys stock.

Agree Realty Company Profile

(Free Report)

Agree Realty Corporation is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that is RETHINKING RETAIL through the acquisition and development of properties net leased to industry-leading, omni-channel retail tenants. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned and operated a portfolio of 2,135 properties, located in 49 states and containing approximately 44.2 million square feet of gross leasable area.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Agree Realty Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Agree Realty and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
American Trust grew its stake in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE  Free Report) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,781 shares of the utilities providers stock after purchasing an additional 1,742 shares during the period. American Trusts holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $3,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEE. Country Trust Bank boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 975.6% in the 3rd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 441 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 556 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of NextEra Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get NextEra Energy alerts:

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Nicole S. Arnaboldi acquired 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.59 per share, for a total transaction of $506,515.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 11,523 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $686,655.57. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded NextEra Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Citigroup assumed coverage on NextEra Energy in a research note on Friday, December 8th. They issued a buy rating and a $69.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded NextEra Energy from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, November 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $71.85.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on NEE

NextEra Energy Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NextEra Energy stock traded up $0.54 during trading on Thursday, reaching $56.07. 6,027,930 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,095,549. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stocks fifty day moving average is $58.14 and its 200 day moving average is $59.34. The firm has a market cap of $115.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.50. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.15 and a 1 year high of $79.78.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 26.00% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.72 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th will be issued a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 26th. This is a positive change from NextEra Energys previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. NextEra Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.06%.

About NextEra Energy

(Free Report)

NextEra Energy, Inc, through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power to retail and wholesale customers in North America. The company generates electricity through wind, solar, nuclear,natural gas, and other clean energy. It also develops, constructs, and operates long-term contracted assets that consists of clean energy solutions, such as renewable generation facilities, battery storage projects, and electric transmission facilities; sells energy commodities; and owns, develops, constructs, manages and operates electric generation facilities in wholesale energy markets.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for NextEra Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for NextEra Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
American Trust boosted its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW  Free Report) by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 61,999 shares of the financial services providers stock after acquiring an additional 9,344 shares during the period. American Trusts holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $3,404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at $1,325,555,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,255,649 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,853,005,000 after buying an additional 8,563,389 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 29,775,952 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,634,700,000 after acquiring an additional 6,195,934 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 91,051.8% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,365,193 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $446,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,359,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 133.0% during the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 9,103,386 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $515,980,000 after acquiring an additional 5,195,531 shares in the last quarter. 81.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Charles Schwab alerts:

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a market perform rating and a $77.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Charles Schwab from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and reduced their target price for the company from $75.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and set a $77.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Friday, December 1st. They issued a sell rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $69.92.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

NYSE SCHW traded up $0.35 on Thursday, hitting $68.45. The stock had a trading volume of 2,933,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,619,409. The Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $45.00 and a one year high of $76.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $121.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00. The companys 50-day moving average is $64.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.21.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.04. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.90% and a return on equity of 21.33%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio is presently 39.37%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 5,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.71, for a total value of $361,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 24,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,584,333.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 16,390 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.94, for a total value of $1,047,976.60. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 61,331,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,921,548,130.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 5,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.71, for a total transaction of $361,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 24,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,584,333.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 172,616 shares of company stock valued at $11,181,109 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.60% of the companys stock.

Charles Schwab Profile

(Free Report)

The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Charles Schwab Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Charles Schwab and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
American Trust lifted its stake in shares of Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV  Free Report) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,724 shares of the industrial products companys stock after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the quarter. American Trusts holdings in Dover were worth $2,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Dover during the first quarter worth about $48,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Dover during the first quarter worth approximately $938,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in Dover by 5.8% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,645 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Dover by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 9,126 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Dover by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 140,560 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $22,055,000 after purchasing an additional 8,054 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.97% of the companys stock.

Get Dover alerts:

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Brad M. Cerepak sold 18,410 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.01, for a total value of $3,001,014.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,897,406.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Dover from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Dover from $150.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Dover from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Dover from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Dover from $140.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Five 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 has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $168.18.

Get Our Latest Report on Dover

Dover Stock Up 0.4 %

DOV traded up $0.65 on Thursday, reaching $171.57. 499,144 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 937,401. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $155.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.10. Dover Co. has a 52-week low of $127.25 and a 52-week high of $172.30. The company has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.73, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Dover (NYSE:DOV  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Dover had a net margin of 12.52% and a return on equity of 25.95%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Dover Co. will post 9.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dover Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 28th. Dovers dividend payout ratio is currently 27.13%.

Dover Profile

(Free Report)

Dover Corporation provides equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions, and support services worldwide. The company's Engineered Products segment provides various equipment, component, software, solution, and services that are used in vehicle aftermarket, waste handling, industrial automation, aerospace and defense, industrial winch and hoist, and fluid dispensing end-market.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Dover Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dover and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Citigroup (NYSE:C  Get Free Report) and Chesapeake Financial Shares (OTCMKTS:CPKF  Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Citigroup and Chesapeake Financial Shares, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Get Citigroup alerts:

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Citigroup 1 5 10 0 2.56 Chesapeake Financial Shares 0 0 0 0 N/A

Citigroup presently has a consensus price target of $57.03, suggesting a potential downside of 0.11%. Given Citigroups higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Citigroup is more favorable than Chesapeake Financial Shares.

Volatility and Risk

Insider & Institutional Ownership

Citigroup has a beta of 1.5, meaning that its share price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chesapeake Financial Shares has a beta of 0.46, meaning that its share price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500.

69.3% of Citigroup shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.7% of Chesapeake Financial Shares shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Citigroup shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 39.5% of Chesapeake Financial Shares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Citigroup and Chesapeake Financial Shares gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Citigroup $156.82 billion 0.70 $9.23 billion $3.99 14.40 Chesapeake Financial Shares $82.72 million 1.02 $10.12 million $2.15 8.37

Citigroup has higher revenue and earnings than Chesapeake Financial Shares. Chesapeake Financial Shares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Citigroup, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Citigroup and Chesapeake Financial Shares net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Citigroup 5.88% 6.49% 0.51% Chesapeake Financial Shares 12.52% 11.11% 0.73%

Dividends

Citigroup pays an annual dividend of $2.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Chesapeake Financial Shares pays an annual dividend of $0.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Citigroup pays out 53.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Chesapeake Financial Shares pays out 28.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Citigroup has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Citigroup is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Citigroup beats Chesapeake Financial Shares on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Citigroup

(Get Free Report)

Citigroup Inc., a diversified financial service holding company, provides various financial product and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions worldwide. It operates through five segments: Services, Markets, Banking, U.S. Personal Banking, and Wealth. The Services segment includes Treasury and Trade Solutions, which provides cash management, trade, and working capital solutions to multinational corporations, financial institutions, and public sector organizations; and Securities Services, such as cross-border support for clients, local market expertise, post-trade technologies, data solutions, and various securities services solutions. The Markets segment offers sales and trading services for equities, foreign exchange, rates, spread products, and commodities to corporate, institutional, and public sector clients; and market-making services, including asset classes, risk management solutions, financing, prime brokerage, research, securities clearing, and settlement. The banking segment includes investment banking; advisory services related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, and corporate defense activities; and corporate lending, which includes corporate and commercial banking. The U.S. Personal Banking segment provides co-branded cards and retail banking services. The Wealth segment provides financial services to high-net-worth clients through banking, lending, mortgages, investment, custody, and trust product offerings; and to professional industries, including law firms, consulting groups, accounting, and asset management. The company was founded in 1812 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Chesapeake Financial Shares

(Get Free Report)

Chesapeake Financial Shares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Chesapeake Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company accepts interest and noninterest checking, savings, and money market accounts; and variable-rate and fixed-term money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers mortgage, and single-family residential and residential construction loans; commercial loans, which include owner-occupied commercial development, retail, builders/contractors, medical, service and professional, hospitality, nonprofits, marine industry, and agricultural and seafood loans; and consumer and other loans. In addition, the company provides merchant processing, accounts receivable financing, wealth management and trust, and mortgage banking services, as well as cash management services. Chesapeake Financial Shares, Inc. was founded in 1900 and is based in Kilmarnock, Virginia.

Receive News & Ratings for Citigroup Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Citigroup and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DV  Get Free Report) rose 7.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $32.15 and last traded at $31.69. Approximately 2,022,875 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 14% from the average daily volume of 1,781,700 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DV shares. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of DoubleVerify in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. They set an overweight rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of DoubleVerify from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JMP Securities dropped their price target on DoubleVerify from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a market outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on DoubleVerify from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on DoubleVerify from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $41.94.

Get DoubleVerify alerts:

View Our Latest Research Report on DV

DoubleVerify Stock Up 7.7 %

The businesss fifty day moving average price is $38.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a PE ratio of 76.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.01.

DoubleVerify (NYSE:DV  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.06. DoubleVerify had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $172.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $171.85 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at DoubleVerify

In other news, insider Julie Eddleman sold 900 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.30, for a total transaction of $27,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 137,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,171,340.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Laura Desmond sold 11,002 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.39, for a total transaction of $411,364.78. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 132,197 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,942,845.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Julie Eddleman sold 900 shares of DoubleVerify stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.30, for a total transaction of $27,270.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 137,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,171,340.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,877 shares of company stock worth $812,583. 3.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DoubleVerify

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC grew its position in shares of DoubleVerify by 38.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 16,686 shares of the companys stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 4,611 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of DoubleVerify by 18.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,651,003 shares of the companys stock worth $74,096,000 after purchasing an additional 406,444 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of DoubleVerify by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,842,197 shares of the companys stock worth $51,489,000 after buying an additional 433,139 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of DoubleVerify by 110.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,100,529 shares of the companys stock valued at $30,760,000 after buying an additional 577,018 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of DoubleVerify by 41.6% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,495 shares of the companys stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. 97.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About DoubleVerify

(Get Free Report)

DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc provides a software platform for digital media measurement, and analytics in the United States and internationally. The company provides solutions to advertisers unbiased data analytics that enable advertisers to increase the effectiveness, quality and return on their digital advertising investments.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for DoubleVerify Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for DoubleVerify and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
FineMark National Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT  Free Report) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 88,423 shares of the medical technology companys stock after buying an additional 563 shares during the period. FineMark National Bank & Trusts holdings in Medtronic were worth $6,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MDT. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Medtronic by 9.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 23,777,808 shares of the medical technology companys stock worth $1,863,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,994,123 shares during the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Medtronic by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 15,643 shares of the medical technology companys stock worth $1,226,000 after buying an additional 2,001 shares in the last quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Medtronic by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,538 shares of the medical technology companys stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Medtronic by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 152,841 shares of the medical technology companys stock valued at $11,977,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 45,849 shares of the medical technology companys stock valued at $3,593,000 after acquiring an additional 4,504 shares during the last quarter. 80.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get Medtronic alerts:

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MDT. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Medtronic from $104.00 to $98.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 22nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Medtronic from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Medtronic from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on Medtronic from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $92.00 price target on shares of Medtronic in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Medtronic presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $94.91.

Medtronic Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE MDT traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $85.38. 2,754,647 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,158,487. The stock has a market cap of $113.37 billion, a PE ratio of 27.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.43. Medtronic plc has a 52 week low of $68.84 and a 52 week high of $92.02.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The medical technology company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $8.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 13.71%. Medtronics quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Medtronic plc will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Medtronic

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 4,997 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total transaction of $410,603.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,375,534.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Medtronic news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 4,997 shares of Medtronic stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total transaction of $410,603.49. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,910 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,375,534.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sean Salmon sold 30,695 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.13, for a total value of $2,613,065.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,110,842.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the companys stock.

Medtronic Profile

(Free Report)

Medtronic plc develops, manufactures, and sells device-based medical therapies to healthcare systems, physicians, clinicians, and patients worldwide. Its Cardiovascular Portfolio segment offers implantable cardiac pacemakers, cardioverter defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices; cardiac ablation products; insertable cardiac monitor systems; TYRX products; and remote monitoring and patient-centered software.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MDT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Medtronic Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Medtronic and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
First Foundation Advisors decreased its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW  Free Report) by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 372,191 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 56,839 shares during the period. Charles Schwab comprises approximately 1.0% of First Foundation Advisors portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. First Foundation Advisors holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $20,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SCHW. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.5% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 20,822 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,452 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.3% during the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,263 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 25.4% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,064 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 2,648 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.5% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,807 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 16.6% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,239 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.61% of the companys stock.

Get Charles Schwab alerts:

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total transaction of $257,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,425,533.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Charles Schwab news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total value of $257,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,611 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,425,533.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 5,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.71, for a total transaction of $361,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,111 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,584,333.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,616 shares of company stock worth $11,181,109 in the last 90 days. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCHW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a market perform rating and a $77.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their target price for the company from $75.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday. JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $69.92.

View Our Latest Analysis on Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

NYSE:SCHW traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $68.19. The company had a trading volume of 4,744,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,661,392. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $45.00 and a 52 week high of $76.47. The firm has a market cap of $120.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00. The firms 50 day moving average price is $64.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.21.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.49 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.90% and a return on equity of 21.33%. The companys revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio is presently 39.37%.

Charles Schwab Profile

(Free Report)

The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SCHW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Charles Schwab Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Charles Schwab and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Investment (LON:INV  Get Free Report)s stock price rose 0.7% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as GBX 307 ($3.90) and last traded at GBX 307 ($3.90). Approximately 1,866 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 2,686 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 305 ($3.87).

Investment Stock Up 0.7 %

The stock has a market cap of 5.69 million, a PE ratio of 2,060.00 and a beta of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average of GBX 307.49 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 312.14.

About Investment

(Get Free Report)

The Investment Company plc is a closed-ended balanced fund launched and managed Fiske Plc. The fund invests in the public equity and fixed income markets across the United Kingdom. It primarily invests in a portfolio of equities, preference shares, loans, stocks, and long-term debentures. The Investment Co plc was formed in 1868 and is domiciled in the United Kingdom.The Investment Company plc is a closed-ended balanced mutual fund launched by Miton Asset Management Limited.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Investment Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Investment and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF (BATS:PICK  Get Free Report)s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $39.79 and last traded at $39.63, with a volume of 187724 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $39.93.

iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF Price Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 1.18.

Get iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF alerts:

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF by 3.3% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,657,432 shares of the companys stock valued at $188,440,000 after purchasing an additional 146,614 shares during the period. Barometer Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at about $930,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new position in iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at about $481,000. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 115,153 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,578,000 after purchasing an additional 24,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resolute Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $232,000.

iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF Company Profile

The iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF (PICK) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in materials equity. The fund tracks a market-cap-weighted index of global metals mining, extraction or production firms, excluding gold and silver mining firms. PICK was launched on Jan 31, 2012 and is managed by BlackRock.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of iShares North American Natural Resources ETF (BATS:IGE  Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $41.63 and last traded at $41.30, with a volume of 56234 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $41.49.

iShares North American Natural Resources ETF Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a market cap of $593.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.32 and a beta of 1.25. The firms 50-day moving average price is $40.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.70.

Get iShares North American Natural Resources ETF alerts:

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iShares North American Natural Resources ETF

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. LM Advisors LLC bought a new position in iShares North American Natural Resources ETF during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in iShares North American Natural Resources ETF by 221.3% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 980 shares of the companys stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in iShares North American Natural Resources ETF during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in iShares North American Natural Resources ETF during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in iShares North American Natural Resources ETF by 1,801.7% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,328 shares of the companys stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 3,153 shares in the last quarter.

iShares North American Natural Resources ETF Company Profile

iShares North American Natural Resources ETF, formerly iShares S&P North American Natural Resources Sector Index Fund (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 U.S.-traded natural resource-related stocks as represented by the S&P North American Natural Resources Sector Index (the Index).

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for iShares North American Natural Resources ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares North American Natural Resources ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Broadview Financial Management LLC decreased its stake in iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF (NYSEARCA:IJJ  Free Report) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,713 shares of the companys stock after selling 279 shares during the quarter. iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF makes up about 4.3% of Broadview Financial Management LLCs holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Broadview Financial Management LLCs holdings in iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF were worth $4,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new stake in iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Lido Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 282,946 shares of the companys stock valued at $30,312,000 after purchasing an additional 11,647 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in shares of iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 16,176 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,734,000 after purchasing an additional 4,161 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 11,071 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,368 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,258,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter.

Get iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF alerts:

iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF Stock Performance

Shares of iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF stock traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $114.83. 43,363 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 196,555. The company has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 1.17. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $111.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.21. iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF has a 52 week low of $92.79 and a 52 week high of $115.39.

About iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF

iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF, formerly iShares S&P MidCap 400 Value Index Fund (the Fund), is an exchange traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Value Index (the Index). The Value Index measures the performance of the mid-capitalization value sector of the United States equity market and consists of those stocks in the S&P MidCap 400 Index exhibiting the strongest value characteristics.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IJJ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF (NYSEARCA:IJJ  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ithaca Energy plc (LON:ITH  Get Free Report) shares dropped 2.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as GBX 137.60 ($1.75) and last traded at GBX 138.80 ($1.76). Approximately 190,871 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 345,315 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 142 ($1.80).

Ithaca Energy Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of GBX 138.09 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 151.21. The firm has a market capitalization of 1.41 billion and a P/E ratio of -1,396.00.

About Ithaca Energy

(Get Free Report)

Ithaca Energy plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas in the North Sea. The company own a portfolio of assets located in Northern and Central North Sea, Moray Firth, and West of Shetland area of the UKCS. Ithaca Energy plc was formerly known as Delek North Sea Limited and changed its name to Ithaca Energy plc in October 2022.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Ithaca Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ithaca Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of Jiangsu Expressway Company Limited (OTCMKTS:JEXYY  Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $20.13 and last traded at $20.13, with a volume of 161 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.01.

Jiangsu Expressway Trading Up 4.0 %

The stocks fifty day moving average price is $19.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.15.

Jiangsu Expressway Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Jiangsu Expressway Company Limited engages in investment, construction, operation, and management of toll roads and bridges in the People's Republic of China. The company operates the Jiangsu section of Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway, Ningchang Expressway, Zhenli Expressway, Guangjing Expressway, Xicheng Expressway, Xiyi Expressway, Zhendan Expressway, Yanjiang Expressway, Jiangyin Bridge, Sujiahang Expressway, Changyi Expressway, Yichang Expressway, and Wufengshan Bridge.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Jiangsu Expressway Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Jiangsu Expressway and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
John Hancock Investments  John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Global Shareholder Yield Fund (NYSE:HTY  Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 1st, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.16 per share on Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 8th.

John Hancock Investments  John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Global Shareholder Yield Fund Stock Performance

Shares of HTY stock opened at $5.21 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $5.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.69. John Hancock Investments  John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Global Shareholder Yield Fund has a one year low of $4.03 and a one year high of $5.41.

Get John Hancock Investments - John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Global Shareholder Yield Fund alerts:

About John Hancock Investments  John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Global Shareholder Yield Fund

(Get Free Report)

Recommended Stories

John Hancock Investments  John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Global Shareholder Yield Fund is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by John Hancock Investment Management LLC. It is co-managed by Analytic Investors, LLC and Epoch Investment Partners, Inc The fund invests in the public equity markets across the globe.

Receive News & Ratings for John Hancock Investments - John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Global Shareholder Yield Fund Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for John Hancock Investments - John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Global Shareholder Yield Fund and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Kavango Resources Plc (LON:KAV  Get Free Report) shot up 7.7% on Monday . The company traded as high as GBX 0.77 ($0.01) and last traded at GBX 0.70 ($0.01). 2,307,825 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 123% from the average session volume of 1,032,725 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 0.65 ($0.01).

Kavango Resources Stock Up 6.7 %

The company has a market cap of 9.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.19 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 5.67, a quick ratio of 5.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of GBX 0.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 0.66.

Get Kavango Resources alerts:

Insider Buying and Selling at Kavango Resources

In other news, insider Brett Grist bought 1,353,179 shares of Kavango Resources stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 1 ($0.01) per share, with a total value of 13,531.79 ($17,174.50). Insiders own 75.00% of the companys stock.

Kavango Resources Company Profile

Kavango Resources Plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration of base and precious metals in Botswana. The company explores for nickel, copper, silver, platinum, iron, gold, uranium, and rare earth deposits. It owns 100% interest in the Kalahari Suture Zone project located in the southwestern of Botswana; and the Kalahari Copper Belt project located in northeast Botswana.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Kavango Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kavango Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE:KNSL  Get Free Report)s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $530.00 and last traded at $529.66, with a volume of 64653 shares. The stock had previously closed at $517.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on KNSL shares. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Kinsale Capital Group from $450.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kinsale Capital Group from $375.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Kinsale Capital Group from $410.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded Kinsale Capital Group from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and increased their price target for the company from $434.00 to $544.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $510.00.

Get Kinsale Capital Group alerts:

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on KNSL

Kinsale Capital Group Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a PE ratio of 40.10 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $418.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $395.21.

Kinsale Capital Group (NYSE:KNSL  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.43. Kinsale Capital Group had a return on equity of 31.52% and a net margin of 25.29%. The company had revenue of $351.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $367.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 41.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. will post 15.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinsale Capital Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Kinsale Capital Groups previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 26th. Kinsale Capital Groups dividend payout ratio is presently 4.54%.

Insider Transactions at Kinsale Capital Group

In other news, CEO Michael P. Kehoe sold 4,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $523.73, for a total value of $2,094,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 303,972 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $159,199,255.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.00% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KNSL. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Kinsale Capital Group by 4,798.0% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 245,684 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $101,692,000 after purchasing an additional 240,668 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kinsale Capital Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,562,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Kinsale Capital Group by 107.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 450,657 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $117,856,000 after acquiring an additional 233,687 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Kinsale Capital Group by 154.5% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 326,378 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $109,362,000 after acquiring an additional 198,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kinsale Capital Group by 33,266.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 178,842 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $59,896,000 after buying an additional 178,306 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.68% of the companys stock.

Kinsale Capital Group Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Kinsale Capital Group, Inc, a specialty insurance company, provides property and casualty insurance products in the United States. The company's commercial lines offerings include construction, small business, excess and general casualty, commercial property, allied health, life sciences, energy, environmental, health care, inland marine, public entity, and commercial insurance, as well as product, professional, and management liability insurance.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Kinsale Capital Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kinsale Capital Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
First Foundation Advisors reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA  Free Report) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,618 shares of the credit services providers stock after selling 4,102 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 1.3% of First Foundation Advisors investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. First Foundation Advisors holdings in Mastercard were worth $26,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 14.1% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 717,792 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $284,181,000 after buying an additional 88,926 shares during the period. Spouting Rock Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 31.1% during the third quarter. Spouting Rock Asset Management LLC now owns 65,291 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $25,849,000 after buying an additional 15,476 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 19.4% during the third quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 73,566 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $29,126,000 after buying an additional 11,969 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.6% during the third quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,139 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $1,243,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Jag Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.3% during the third quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 76,245 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $30,186,000 after buying an additional 2,457 shares during the period. 74.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get Mastercard alerts:

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total transaction of $3,736,447.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares of the companys stock, valued at $22,672,828.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total value of $7,632,649.78. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,644.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total transaction of $3,736,447.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 47,640 shares in the company, valued at $22,672,828.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,428 shares of company stock valued at $24,911,617. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA traded down $4.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $467.54. The companys stock had a trading volume of 2,154,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,487,554. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $340.21 and a fifty-two week high of $479.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The company has a market capitalization of $436.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $448.36 and a 200-day moving average of $419.19.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $11.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the companys management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Mastercards payout ratio is presently 22.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James upped their price target on Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $462.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $476.35.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Mastercard

Mastercard Profile

(Free Report)

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Mastercard Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Mastercard and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Q2 Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:QTWO  Get Free Report) CRO Michael A. Volanoski sold 6,789 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.01, for a total value of $312,361.89. Following the sale, the executive now owns 188,735 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,683,697.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Q2 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE QTWO traded up $0.81 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $46.65. 825,410 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 594,047. Q2 Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.91 and a 52-week high of $47.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $43.34 and a 200-day moving average of $37.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -41.28 and a beta of 1.48.

Get Q2 alerts:

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in Q2 by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 16,188 shares of the technology companys stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Q2 by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 5,527 shares of the technology companys stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Q2 by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 22,596 shares of the technology companys stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Q2 by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,570 shares of the technology companys stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in Q2 by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 13,670 shares of the technology companys stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

QTWO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Q2 from $40.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Q2 from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Q2 from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Q2 from $48.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Stephens raised Q2 from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Q2 presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $42.73.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on QTWO

About Q2

(Get Free Report)

Q2 Holdings, Inc provides cloud-based digital solutions to regional and community financial institutions in the United States. The company offers Digital Banking Platform, an end-to-end digital banking platform supports its financial institution customers in their delivery of unified digital banking services across digital channels.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Q2 Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Q2 and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd. (OTCMKTS:MITEY  Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $16.70 and last traded at $16.03, with a volume of 54132 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.01.

Mitsubishi Estate Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The companys 50-day moving average price is $14.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.53. The company has a market capitalization of $21.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27 and a beta of 0.42.

Get Mitsubishi Estate alerts:

Mitsubishi Estate (OTCMKTS:MITEY  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter. Mitsubishi Estate had a net margin of 10.08% and a return on equity of 5.35%.

About Mitsubishi Estate

Mitsubishi Estate Co, Ltd. engages in the real estate activities in Japan and internationally. The company develops, leases, manages, and sells office buildings and commercial facilities; operates rental offices, coworking space, virtual offices, hourly meeting rooms, home delivery storage service, commercial nursing homes, and building garages; offers real estate management, as well as building management services, such as security, facility management, cleaning, and planting services; and operates hotels and airports.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Mitsubishi Estate Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Mitsubishi Estate and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Free Report) by 0.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,545,572 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 83,915 shares during the period. Eli Lilly and Company accounts for approximately 0.7% of Morgan Stanleys investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Morgan Stanleys holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $6,738,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Retirement Group LLC increased its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 159.1% in the second quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 57 shares of the companys stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the companys stock.

Get Eli Lilly and Company alerts:

Insider Buying and Selling at Eli Lilly and Company

In other Eli Lilly and Company news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 78,573 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $648.07, for a total value of $50,920,804.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,333,810 shares in the company, valued at $64,375,262,246.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 195,055 shares of company stock worth $125,254,657 over the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on LLY. DZ Bank downgraded Eli Lilly and Company from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $800.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $815.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $710.00 to $865.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an overweight rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Wednesday, November 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $677.62.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on LLY

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:LLY traded up $4.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $784.14. 2,598,482 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,369,541. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $745.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 135.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.34. Eli Lilly and Company has a one year low of $309.32 and a one year high of $800.78. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $686.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $615.18.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $9.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.95 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 51.22% and a net margin of 15.36%. The businesss revenue was up 28.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.44 EPS for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. This is an increase from Eli Lilly and Companys previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 14th. Eli Lilly and Companys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.66%.

Eli Lilly and Company Profile

(Free Report)

Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. It offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; and Jardiance, Trajenta, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LLY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Eli Lilly and Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eli Lilly and Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of National Australia Bank Limited (OTCMKTS:NABZY  Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $11.56 and last traded at $11.14, with a volume of 133443 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.19.

National Australia Bank Trading Up 2.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $10.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.78.

National Australia Bank Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

National Australia Bank Limited provides financial services to individuals and businesses in Australia, New Zealand, and internationally. The company operates through Business and Private Banking; Personal Banking; Corporate and Institutional Banking; New Zealand Banking; and Corporate Functions and Other segments.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for National Australia Bank Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for National Australia Bank and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Neste Oyj (OTCMKTS:NTOIF  Get Free Report)s share price was down 1.3% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $27.57 and last traded at $27.57. Approximately 130 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 1,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.92.

Neste Oyj Stock Performance

The firms fifty day moving average price is $32.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.80.

About Neste Oyj

(Get Free Report)

Neste Oyj provides renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel in Finland and other Nordic countries, Baltic Rim, other European countries, North and South America, and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Renewable Products, Oil Products, Marketing & Services, and Others. The Renewable Products segment produces, markets, and sells renewable diesel, renewable jet fuels and solutions, and renewable solvents, as well as raw material for bioplastics based on its technology to wholesale markets.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Neste Oyj Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Neste Oyj and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF (BATS:NUSC  Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $40.34 and last traded at $40.28, with a volume of 82954 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $40.34.

Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF Trading Up 0.4 %

The stocks fifty day moving average price is $38.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51 and a beta of 1.13.

Get Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF alerts:

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,432,737 shares of the companys stock valued at $192,373,000 after purchasing an additional 679,218 shares in the last quarter. TIAA FSB raised its stake in Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. TIAA FSB now owns 2,367,584 shares of the companys stock worth $80,924,000 after acquiring an additional 26,794 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association acquired a new stake in Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF during the 3rd quarter worth $65,719,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,304,203 shares of the companys stock worth $45,412,000 after acquiring an additional 33,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abacus Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,175,616 shares of the companys stock worth $45,967,000 after acquiring an additional 43,749 shares in the last quarter.

About Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF

The Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF (NUSC) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI TIAA ESG USA Small Cap index. The fund tracks a multi-factor-weighted index of small-cap companies listed on US exchanges. Holdings are screened for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. NUSC was launched on Dec 13, 2016 and is managed by Nuveen.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Pacific Center for Financial Services increased its holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ  Free Report) by 107.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,553 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 803 shares during the quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JNJ. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 67,618 shares of the companys stock valued at $14,975,000 after purchasing an additional 5,327 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 88.9% in the 1st quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 175,194 shares of the companys stock valued at $31,049,000 after acquiring an additional 82,429 shares during the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,305 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,475 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 45,673 shares of the companys stock valued at $8,095,000 after acquiring an additional 2,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Johnson & Johnson by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 860,371 shares of the companys stock valued at $152,488,000 after acquiring an additional 20,528 shares during the last quarter. 68.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Johnson & Johnson alerts:

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

NYSE JNJ traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $158.78. 2,211,845 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,106,135. The company has a market capitalization of $382.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.16. The businesss 50 day moving average is $159.42 and its 200-day moving average is $157.21. Johnson & Johnson has a 1 year low of $144.95 and a 1 year high of $175.97.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

Johnson & Johnson ( NYSE:JNJ Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.01. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 37.27% and a net margin of 37.79%. The company had revenue of $21.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $21.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.35 EPS. Johnson & Johnsons quarterly revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. Johnson & Johnsons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 141,416 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Johnson & Johnson news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,099,575 shares of the companys stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on JNJ. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. TheStreet cut Johnson & Johnson from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Friday, November 17th. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group raised Johnson & Johnson from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the company from $167.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, December 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Johnson & Johnson from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and reduced their target price for the company from $170.00 to $163.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $177.31.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

(Free Report)

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JNJ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Johnson & Johnson Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Johnson & Johnson and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III (NYSE:PZC  Get Free Report) announced a monthly dividend on Friday, March 1st, investing.com reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th will be given a dividend of 0.0295 per share by the investment management company on Monday, April 1st. This represents a $0.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 8th.

PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III Price Performance

NYSE:PZC opened at $7.82 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.20. PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III has a 52-week low of $6.30 and a 52-week high of $8.20.

Get PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III alerts:

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PZC. Rivernorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III in the first quarter worth about $376,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III by 36.4% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 150,482 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $1,344,000 after buying an additional 40,166 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III in the first quarter worth about $189,000. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III by 70.0% in the second quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 353,271 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $2,918,000 after buying an additional 145,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III in the second quarter worth about $41,000.

About PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III

PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Allianz Global Investors Fund Management LLC. It is co-managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC. The fund invests in fixed income markets. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Postal Savings Bank of China Co., Ltd. (OTCMKTS:PSTVY  Get Free Report)s stock price shot up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $10.65 and last traded at $10.65. 4,300 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 14,134 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.53.

Postal Savings Bank of China Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $9.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.65.

About Postal Savings Bank of China

(Get Free Report)

Postal Savings Bank of China Co, Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services for retail and corporate customers in the People's Republic of China. Its Personal Banking segment offers demand, time, personal call, time/demand optional, and foreign currency deposits, as well as passbooks and certificate of deposits; micro and personal pledged, and personal business loans; payment and collection agency, various settlement, domestic remittance and exchange, cross-border remittance, personal exchange settlement and sale, and foreign currency exchange services; debit and credit cards; wealth management products and funds; and insurance agency services.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Postal Savings Bank of China Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Postal Savings Bank of China and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ramirez Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras (NYSE:PBR  Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 359,576 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock, valued at approximately $5,390,000. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras comprises about 1.2% of Ramirez Asset Management Inc.s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 30,293,524 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock valued at $448,343,000 after purchasing an additional 826,668 shares during the period. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,990,088 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock valued at $110,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,067 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda lifted its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras by 109,540.6% in the 2nd quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 6,964,368 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock valued at $96,317,000 after purchasing an additional 6,958,016 shares during the period. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC lifted its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras by 117.2% in the 3rd quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 5,666,762 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock valued at $84,945,000 after purchasing an additional 3,057,798 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 5,147,860 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock valued at $77,131,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269,946 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.57% of the companys stock.

Get Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras alerts:

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $15.96.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PBR traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.70. The company had a trading volume of 13,902,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,653,410. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras has a one year low of $9.56 and a one year high of $17.91.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras Profile

(Free Report)

Petroleo Brasileiro SA  Petrobras explores, produces, and sells oil and gas in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation and Marketing; and Gas and Power. It also engages in prospecting, drilling, refining, processing, trading, and transporting crude oil from producing onshore and offshore oil fields, and shale or other rocks, as well as oil products, natural gas, and other liquid hydrocarbons.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PBR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras (NYSE:PBR  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ramirez Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HSBC  Free Report) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 111,105 shares of the financial services providers stock, valued at approximately $4,384,000. HSBC comprises about 0.9% of Ramirez Asset Management Inc.s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in HSBC by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 104,476 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $4,123,000 after buying an additional 26,888 shares during the last quarter. Orleans Capital Management Corp LA grew its holdings in HSBC by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Orleans Capital Management Corp LA now owns 23,800 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $939,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. SAL Trading LLC grew its holdings in HSBC by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. SAL Trading LLC now owns 82,700 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $3,263,000 after buying an additional 23,900 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in HSBC by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 79,356 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $3,131,000 after buying an additional 8,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of HSBC in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,351,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.48% of the companys stock.

Get HSBC alerts:

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSBC has been the subject of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas downgraded HSBC from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded HSBC from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HSBC currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $811.00.

HSBC Price Performance

HSBC stock traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.24. 3,372,155 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,423,885. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.81. HSBC Holdings plc has a 1-year low of $32.40 and a 1-year high of $42.47. The company has a market cap of $149.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.88, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

HSBC Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. This is a boost from HSBCs previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. HSBCs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.74%.

About HSBC

(Free Report)

HSBC Holdings plc provides banking and financial services worldwide. The company operates through Wealth and Personal Banking, Commercial Banking, and Global Banking and Markets segments. The Wealth and Personal Banking segment offers retail banking and wealth products, including current and savings accounts, mortgages and personal loans, credit and debit cards, and local and international payment services; and wealth management services comprising insurance and investment products, global asset management services, investment management, and private wealth solutions.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HSBC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HSBC  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for HSBC Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for HSBC and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
RNC Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,079,793 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 58,937 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for 1.8% of RNC Capital Management LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. RNC Capital Management LLCs holdings in Bank of America were worth $29,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BAC. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Bank of America in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its holdings in Bank of America by 98.1% in the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 1,018 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new position in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 68.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Bank of America alerts:

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BAC traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $35.63. 35,873,387 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,363,926. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $35.90. The company has a market cap of $280.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.50.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

Bank of America ( NYSE:BAC Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 15.42%. The firm had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. The businesss revenue was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 29th. Bank of Americas dividend payout ratio is currently 31.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Bank of America from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, December 1st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Bank of America from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Bank of America from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of America currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $35.53.

Get Our Latest Research Report on BAC

Insider Activity at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Of America Corp /De/ Bank acquired 5,398 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.56 per share, with a total value of $57,002.88. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 5,398 shares in the company, valued at $57,002.88. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Company Profile

(Free Report)

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BAC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Bank of America Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of America and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
RNC Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO  Free Report) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,113,295 shares of the companys stock after selling 60,325 shares during the period. Altria Group accounts for about 2.9% of RNC Capital Management LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. RNC Capital Management LLC owned 0.06% of Altria Group worth $46,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the companys stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 58.94% of the companys stock.

Get Altria Group alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. UBS Group reissued a sell rating and issued a $36.10 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $47.22.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:MO traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $41.55. The company had a trading volume of 9,687,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,680,622. The firm has a market cap of $73.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.65. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $40.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.57. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Groups dividend payout ratio is 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the companys management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Altria Group

(Free Report)

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Altria Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Altria Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
RNC Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT  Free Report) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 442,959 shares of the medical technology companys stock after selling 16,327 shares during the quarter. Medtronic comprises approximately 2.2% of RNC Capital Management LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. RNC Capital Management LLCs holdings in Medtronic were worth $34,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its stake in Medtronic by 425.0% in the third quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 315 shares of the medical technology companys stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co increased its stake in Medtronic by 209.0% in the second quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 309 shares of the medical technology companys stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Medtronic by 317.0% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 367 shares of the medical technology companys stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Medtronic in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. 80.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Medtronic alerts:

Insider Transactions at Medtronic

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 4,997 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total value of $410,603.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,375,534.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Sean Salmon sold 30,695 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.13, for a total value of $2,613,065.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,289 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,110,842.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 4,997 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.17, for a total transaction of $410,603.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,910 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,375,534.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Medtronic Price Performance

NYSE MDT traded down $0.40 during trading on Thursday, reaching $85.15. 6,060,121 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,232,385. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.30. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $85.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.43. The company has a market cap of $113.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76. Medtronic plc has a 1-year low of $68.84 and a 1-year high of $92.02.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The medical technology company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $8.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. Medtronic had a return on equity of 13.71% and a net margin of 13.00%. Medtronics revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Medtronic plc will post 5.2 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 22nd will be issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Medtronics payout ratio is currently 87.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MDT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on Medtronic from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Medtronic from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho lifted their price target on Medtronic from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Medtronic from $104.00 to $98.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $94.91.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Medtronic

About Medtronic

(Free Report)

Medtronic plc develops, manufactures, and sells device-based medical therapies to healthcare systems, physicians, clinicians, and patients worldwide. Its Cardiovascular Portfolio segment offers implantable cardiac pacemakers, cardioverter defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices; cardiac ablation products; insertable cardiac monitor systems; TYRX products; and remote monitoring and patient-centered software.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MDT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Medtronic Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Medtronic and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Rogers Communications (TSE:RCI  Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 1st, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share on Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of . The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 8th.

Rogers Communications Price Performance

Get Rogers Communications alerts:

Rogers Communications (TSE:RCI  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported C$1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.03 by C$0.16. The firm had revenue of C$5.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$5.36 billion.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Desjardins upgraded Rogers Communications from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, November 9th.

Insider Transactions at Rogers Communications

In related news, Director Edward Rogers acquired 400 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$63.92 per share, for a total transaction of C$25,569.96. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$25,569.96.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Rogers Communications Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Rogers Communications and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Silver Lake Resources Limited (OTCMKTS:SVLKF  Get Free Report)s share price traded up 8.4% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $0.73 and last traded at $0.73. 1,700 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 9,827 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.67.

Silver Lake Resources Stock Performance

The companys 50 day simple moving average is $0.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $0.68.

Silver Lake Resources Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Silver Lake Resources Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, mine development, mine operation, and sale of gold and copper concentrates in Australia and Canada. The company holds interest in the Deflector operations that produce gold bullion and gold-copper concentrates located in the Southern Murchison region of Western Australia; and Mount Monger operations, which produce gold bullion located within the Kalgoorlie terrane subdivision of the Eastern Goldfields Province.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Silver Lake Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Silver Lake Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
TAP Consulting LLC lessened its holdings in SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (NYSEARCA:XAR  Free Report) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,583 shares of the companys stock after selling 76 shares during the period. TAP Consulting LLC owned approximately 0.08% of SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF worth $1,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF by 4.4% during the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,358 shares of the companys stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Missouri Trust & Investment Co raised its holdings in shares of SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF by 4.0% during the second quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 2,570 shares of the companys stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF by 14.9% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 770 shares of the companys stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF by 4.4% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,417 shares of the companys stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, SFI Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF by 0.5% during the second quarter. SFI Advisors LLC now owns 21,432 shares of the companys stock worth $2,605,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period.

Get SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF alerts:

SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSEARCA:XAR traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $141.87. 85,057 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 86,166. SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF has a fifty-two week low of $108.32 and a fifty-two week high of $142.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.17. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50 and a beta of 1.09.

SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF Company Profile

The SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in industrials equity. The fund tracks an equal-weighted index of US aerospace & defense companies. XAR was launched on Sep 28, 2011 and is managed by State Street.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding XAR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (NYSEARCA:XAR  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Hamilton Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS  Free Report) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 727 shares of the investment management companys stock after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Hamilton Capital LLCs holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 13.7% during the second quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,338 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $4,302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605 shares during the last quarter. First Foundation Advisors raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 18.4% during the second quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 1,771 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 195.7% in the second quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 1,466 shares in the last quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.0% in the third quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 3,676 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $1,190,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 27,076.5% in the third quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 653,322 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $211,396,000 after buying an additional 650,918 shares in the last quarter. 69.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get The Goldman Sachs Group alerts:

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded down $1.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $389.57. The company had a trading volume of 2,691,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,353,338. The companys 50-day moving average is $384.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $349.78. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.36 and a twelve month high of $397.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $126.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.42.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The Goldman Sachs Group ( NYSE:GS Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The investment management company reported $5.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $1.86. The business had revenue of $11.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $10.80 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 8.03%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.32 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 32.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th will be paid a dividend of $2.75 per share. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Groups dividend payout ratio is currently 48.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GS shares. Edward Jones assumed coverage on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $491.00 to $506.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $398.00 to $421.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their target price for the company from $333.00 to $449.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $382.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $409.93.

Get Our Latest Analysis on GS

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.39, for a total transaction of $1,129,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,443.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total transaction of $4,550,956.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now owns 18,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,190,901.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.39, for a total transaction of $1,129,170.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,121 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,809,443.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,064 shares of company stock worth $15,082,153 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.54% of the companys stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Profile

(Free Report)

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, a financial institution, provides a range of financial services for corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals worldwide. It operates through Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions segments. The Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial advisory services, including strategic advisory assignments related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense activities, restructurings, and spin-offs; and relationship lending, and acquisition financing, as well as secured lending, through structured credit and asset-backed lending and involved in financing under securities to resale agreements.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for The Goldman Sachs Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for The Goldman Sachs Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
FineMark National Bank & Trust cut its holdings in shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX  Free Report) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 213,982 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailers stock after selling 1,584 shares during the period. TJX Companies makes up approximately 0.8% of FineMark National Bank & Trusts portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. FineMark National Bank & Trusts holdings in TJX Companies were worth $19,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TJX. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of TJX Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $68,000. United Bank grew its position in TJX Companies by 9.2% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 15,197 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailers stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284 shares in the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in TJX Companies during the first quarter valued at about $2,780,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 69.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 38,304 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailers stock valued at $2,320,000 after acquiring an additional 15,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of TJX Companies by 10.0% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the apparel and home fashions retailers stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.28% of the companys stock.

Get TJX Companies alerts:

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on TJX shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Redburn Atlantic lowered TJX Companies from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on TJX Companies from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an outperform rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of TJX Companies in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on TJX Companies from $99.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, November 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TJX Companies currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $102.19.

TJX Companies Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE TJX traded down $0.48 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $95.92. The companys stock had a trading volume of 3,627,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,907,577. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $96.32 and a 200 day moving average of $92.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The TJX Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.92 and a twelve month high of $102.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.97, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.86.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The apparel and home fashions retailer reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.10. TJX Companies had a return on equity of 64.18% and a net margin of 8.25%. The business had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.20 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. The firms revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The TJX Companies, Inc. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TJX Companies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 28th that allows the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the apparel and home fashions retailer to purchase up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the companys board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at TJX Companies

In related news, EVP Louise Greenlees sold 2,694 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.83, for a total transaction of $266,248.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,273 shares in the company, valued at $4,968,480.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock.

TJX Companies Profile

(Free Report)

The TJX Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an off-price apparel and home fashions retailer in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. It operates through four segments: Marmaxx, HomeGoods, TJX Canada, and TJX International. The company sells family apparel, including footwear and accessories; home fashions, such as home basics, furniture, rugs, lighting products, giftware, soft home products, decorative accessories, tabletop, and cookware, as well as expanded pet, and gourmet food departments; jewelry and accessories; and other merchandise.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TJX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for TJX Companies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for TJX Companies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Fairfield Bush & CO. trimmed its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO  Free Report) by 12.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,809 shares of the medical research companys stock after selling 517 shares during the period. Thermo Fisher Scientific makes up approximately 1.3% of Fairfield Bush & CO.s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Fairfield Bush & CO.s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TMO. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 307.7% in the third quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 53 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. 87.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Thermo Fisher Scientific alerts:

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TMO shares. Robert W. Baird restated an outperform rating and issued a $670.00 price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $592.00 to $642.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $515.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $530.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned 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 $596.00.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 14,566 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.00, for a total transaction of $8,186,092.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,901 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,250,362. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 14,566 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.00, for a total value of $8,186,092.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,901 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,250,362. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $564.72, for a total transaction of $5,647,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 128,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,558,049.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,277 shares of company stock valued at $22,533,584 over the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Price Performance

Shares of TMO traded up $4.69 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $596.19. The stock had a trading volume of 901,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,688,377. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of $550.97 and a 200 day moving average of $515.73. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $415.60 and a 12 month high of $598.35. The firm has a market cap of $227.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.28, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.80.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The medical research company reported $5.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $5.64 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The firm had revenue of $10.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.40 earnings per share. Thermo Fisher Scientifics revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.52 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientifics previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Thermo Fisher Scientifics dividend payout ratio is currently 9.06%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to reacquire up to 2.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the companys board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

(Free Report)

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company's Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases; and solutions include biosciences, genetic sciences, and bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TMO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Thermo Fisher Scientific Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Thermo Fisher Scientific and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
V Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR  Free Report) by 48.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,494 shares of the conglomerates stock after selling 1,431 shares during the quarter. V Wealth Advisors LLCs holdings in Danaher were worth $371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. raised its position in shares of Danaher by 10.9% during the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,840 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $1,420,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in Danaher by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,468 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $724,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Danaher by 76.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 495 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Danaher by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 31,530 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $9,248,000 after purchasing an additional 3,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP grew its position in shares of Danaher by 135.9% during the first quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 35,270 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $10,346,000 after purchasing an additional 20,320 shares in the last quarter. 76.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Get Danaher alerts:

Danaher Trading Down 0.6 %

DHR traded down $1.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $252.90. 3,680,682 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,773,855. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $240.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.99. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $182.09 and a 52-week high of $259.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.07 billion, a PE ratio of 40.10, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84.

Danaher Increases Dividend

Danaher ( NYSE:DHR Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.18. Danaher had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.87 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from Danahers previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Danahers payout ratio is currently 15.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on DHR. Citigroup increased their price target on Danaher from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Danaher from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Danaher from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Danaher from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Friday, December 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $266.00.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Danaher

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total transaction of $816,724.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,726 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,898,360.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 2,622 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.67, for a total transaction of $636,280.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,244 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,029,891.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Teri List sold 3,289 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.32, for a total value of $816,724.48. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,726 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,898,360.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,957 shares of company stock valued at $8,265,802 over the last quarter. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Danaher Profile

(Free Report)

Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services worldwide. The Biotechnology segments offers bioprocess technologies, consumables, and services that advance, accelerate, and integrate the development and manufacture of therapeutics; cell line and cell culture media development services; cell culture media, process liquids and buffers for manufacturing, chromatography resins, filtration technologies, aseptic fill finish; single-use hardware and consumables and services, such as the design and installation of full manufacturing suites; lab filtration, separation, and purification; lab-scale protein purification and analytical tools; reagents, membranes, and services; and healthcare filtration solutions.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DHR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Danaher Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Danaher and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ashwin Mohan is Editor (Deals) at Moneycontrol and leads the M&A, private equity and equity capital market transactions coverage. He anchors the video show 'Deal Central ' and tweets at @ashwinmohansays. He has previously worked with ET NOW, CNBC TV-18 and The Times of India.
You are already a Moneycontrol Pro user.

OK
Santosh Nair is Executive Editor, Special Projects, Moneycontrol. He has been writing on the financial markets for over two decades, having previously worked with Business Standard, myiris.com, Crisil Market Wire and The Economic Times. He is also the author of the popular book on Indian markets, Bulls, Bears and Other Beasts.
Your Money

Credit card users can now choose between Visa, Mastercard, RuPay and Amex. Heres what you need to know

With its latest circular on cards networks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has opened the doors to greater customer choice for credit and debit card users. The RBI issued a circular on March 6 forbidding card issuers, that is, banks and non-banks, from entering into agreements with card networks that restrict them from using the services of other card networks. Read more
The world's confidence in China is rooted in China's economic strategic consistency, said Khin Maung Soe, former advisor of Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International. BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- China set its economic growth target for 2024 at around 5 percent again, according to a government work report submitted Tuesday to the national legislature for deliberation. Experts and business insiders worldwide have voiced their optimism about the target and expressed confidence in China's long-term economic growth, saying the target is in line with the reality of China's economic development and demonstrates the Chinese government's rational, objective, and pragmatic economic governance. "This growth target is well suited to China's national conditions: China has designed a high-quality economic development model for the current stage, advocating green economy and high-tech development. This will inject strong vitality into the world economy," said Luis Fernandez, senior researcher at the World Economic Research Center of the University of Havana. The goal, which is the same as that of 2023, the previous year's growth target, shows China's commitment to high-quality development despite uncertainties at home and abroad. Jeffrey Sachs, a professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, said that China's technological advances are very rapid and "these advances put China in a strong global position for the coming years." To achieve the economic growth target, this year's government work report proposes modernizing the industrial system and accelerating the development of new quality productive forces, which create a better economic landscape as seen this year. "The concept of 'new (quality) productive forces' is a good response to the immense potential that lies in the latest scientific and technological developments, such as artificial intelligence, to increase our productivity while making it more sustainable and environmentally friendly and reducing the use of human labor," said Michael Schumann, head of the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade. According to the Global Innovation Index 2023 released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, China, ranking 12th, is the only middle-income economy within the top 30, and close to the top 10. "China has achieved leadership in the new energy industry and smart car manufacturing. Such industries still have huge potential," said Yan Li, senior lecturer at Nanyang Business School of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, adding that with the new quality productive forces, China will further enhance its position in the global industrial chain. One highlight of the government work report is the proposal to promote high-standard opening-up, align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, steadily expand institutional opening-up. To attract foreign investment, this year's government work report put forward a series of specific measures such as continuing to reduce the negative list for foreign investment access, completely removing restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing sector, and relaxing market access for services such as telecommunications and medical care. Executive Vice President of Panasonic Corporation Tetsuro Homma said the business environment in China is desirable and Japanese companies regard China as an important market and they have been actively expanding businesses in China. The Japanese tech company will continue to delve into the Chinese market, Homma told Xinhua in a recent interview. Alexis Perakis-Valat, president of the L'Oreal Consumer Products Division, said he is "very excited about the future of China" as China has a large middle class and upper middle class. "The prospects of growth of L'Oreal in China are very high," he said, adding that "we are convinced that the next China is China." According to the International Financial Forum, China contributed 32 percent to the global economic growth in 2023 and remains the largest engine of world development. Faster growth in China has positive spillovers on the rest of the world. A one percentage point increase in China would, on average, increase the level of output in other economies by 0.3 percent, the International Monetary Fund's research shows. The world's confidence in China is rooted in China's economic strategic consistency, said Khin Maung Soe, former advisor of Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International. Similarly, Jean Christophe Iseux von Pfetten, chairman of the Institute for East-West Strategic Studies in Britain, noted that good decisions such as nurturing and strengthening the private economy are welcomed not only by the Chinese themselves but also by the foreign entrepreneurs. The Chinese market remains attractive to foreign investments due to its size, the growing middle class, and government support for key industries. China's efforts to deepen reforms and expand openness demonstrate a commitment to sustainable growth and integration into the global economy, said Joseph Mutaboba, a Rwandan expert in international relations and diplomatic affairs.
Preeti Kulkarni is a financial journalist with over 13 years of experience. Based in Mumbai, she covers the personal finance beat for Moneycontrol. She focusses primarily on insurance, banking, taxation and financial planning
Souptik Datta Reports real estate, infra and city in Bengaluru. Btw, curiosity never kills the cat.
March 07, 2024 / 10:14 PM IST

The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday directed the state government to submit a detailed action taken report in the alleged gang-rape of a foreign tourist in Dumka.

The court also sought to know about the standard operating procedure (SOP) to deal with foreign tourists in the state, and if there was no SOP, then what were future plans.
Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day
If redemption is tackled based on available liquidity, meaning using the cash first, then unwinding index futures, and then the liquid component such as some of the large-cap stocks, 25 percent of redemption in SBI Mutual Fund Small Cap Fund can be met in four days flat as against the AMFI formula-based reported number of 30 days, said SBI Mutual Funds CIO Equities, R Srinivasan in an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol. 50 percent of the portfolio can be redeemed in 17 days as against the reported 60 days, he added.



Also Read: Stress test: SBI MF can take up to 60 days to liquidate its small- and mid-cap portfolios



Besides, he said, the liability profile of the fund is highly distributed with the Top 10 investors owning just 0.61 percent of the fund. This is very important because this forms the basis to assess the extent and probability of redemption we could potentially face, Srinivasan said. The AMFI disclosure, however, does not capture the liquidity gradient between a 0 to 25 percent redemption which is the more likely redemption scenario, he said.



On the liquidity Stress Test overall, however, Srinivasan said investors need to be aware of the risks however improbable it may be. These are, after all, known black swans. But in the end, it is about what you are looking to optimise.



Also Read: MF Stress Test: Why it matters and should investors be worried?



SBI Small Cap Fund, along with Nippon Smallcap Fund, the largest fund in the smallcap category with assets under management of Rs 48,000 crore, has the best track record generating returns in excess of 27 percent per annum. There is a golden mean or a desirable middle across most things: growth v/s inflation, active v/s passive, concentration v/s diversification and the like. In this case, its about liquidity risk v/s potential returns which the investor needs to decide on. Said Srinivasan.



SBI Smallcap Fund has Rs 26,000 crore under management and has seen the least fall in the smallcap rout over the past few weeks.
Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day

Christin Mathew Philip is an Assistant editor at moneycontrol.com. Based in Bengaluru, he writes on mobility, infrastructure and start-ups. He is a Ramnath Goenka excellence in journalism awardee. You can find him on Twitter here: twitter.com/ChristinMP_
Partly upholding an order passed by the state commission, the national consumer disputes redressal commission (NCDRC) has directed Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd (HSBC) to pay a compensation of Rs2.80 lakh with an interest of 7.5%pa (per annum) for wrongly reporting outstanding on a credit card that was closed by the consumer.

In an order last month , the NCDRC bench of Subhash Chandra (presiding member) and air vice-marshal (AVM) J Rajendra (retd) (member) says, "It is apparent that HSBC had conveyed to Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd (CIBIL) outstanding amount of Rs1,226.70 against the card which it had itself conveyed to Vikash Kumar Singh (the consumer) as per letters dated 14 March 2011 and 25 July 2011 that no due was outstanding against it on two occasions. It has also been admitted by HSBC that it had provided the details to CIBIL on a monthly basis. Downgrading of the credit worthiness of Mr Singh is the consequence of an outstanding amount being wrongly shown against him. It has been rightly concluded by the state commission to be a deficiency in service."

"HSBC's contention that the cancellation of card and payment of outstanding dues are separate issues of no avail to it. It had stated on two occasions that there were no outstanding dues against the card. Its contention that it had waived off the amount to be paid as 'a goodwill gesture' is also of no avail since it had already conveyed to CIBIL the fact of outstanding payment incorrectly, which resulted in CIBIL downgrading the creditworthiness of Mr Singh," it added.

Mr Singh from Kolkata had applied for a loan from the State Bank of India (SBI) for the purchase of a flat. However, the loan application was not processed because of an 'overdue' status on the HSBC credit card which Mr Singh had terminated in September 2010. Consequently, SBI did not process the loan and Mr Singh had to pay Rs2.80 lakh interest to the builder from whom the flat was being purchased due to a delay in payment of instalment, as he was unable to pay the money to the developers in time as per the agreement.

He then filed a complaint against HSBC, the credit card issuer, before the West Bengal state consumer dispute redressal commission. On 18 March 2016, the state commission allowed the appeal and directed HSBC to pay Rs6.80 lakh, including compensation of Rs2.80 lakh to Mr Singh along with Rs2 lakh for harassment and mental agony and Rs1.50 lakh for irreparable injury to social status apart from litigation cost of Rs50,000.

HSBC then approached NCDRC with its appeal. It contended that cancellation of the card blocks it for further transactions or use of the card but does not denote that the card account was closed and there were no payments due. It also categorically denied that Mr Singh was enlisted in the defaulter list of CIBIL.

Further, it contended that the state commission had erred in its findings and that the order was liable to be set aside since there was no evidence led by any officer of the SBI to prove the letter on 28 February 2011 stating that the loan was not processed by it on account of the CIBIL report.

"Mr Singh had not been indicated as a 'defaulter' in the list maintained by CIBIL. SBI erred in not processing the loan facility applied for, and rejection of the same was based on wrongful or negative updation of the card details in the CIBIL," the counsel for HSBC says.

The counsel for Mr Singh contended that HSBC had issued a letter on 14 March 2011, which stated clearly that, as per records, the credit card had already been closed from 13 September 2010, and the card had no outstanding dues. This position was reiterated in another letter dated 25 July 2011 addressed to Mr Singh by HSBC.

"It was on account of this information provided to the CIBIL that the SBI did not process its loan, which resulted in the liability of Rs2.80 lakh towards interest on the payment due to be made to the developer since the loan facility was not approved. Hence, the order of the state commission is valid and should be upheld," the counsel says.

Referring to the two letters, NCDRC observed that HSBC had conveyed to CIBIL an outstanding amount of Rs1,226.70 against the card which was also told to Mr Singh through these two letters.

"...we find no reasons to interfere with the finding of the state commission with regard to deficiency in service by HSBC and in allowing the complaint. However, as regards the award of compensation, it is seen that the state commission has awarded compensation under multiple heads to the respondent for a singular default," the bench says.

While setting aside compensation of Rs2 lakh towards mental agony and Rs1.50 lakh damages to social status, NCDRC directed HSBC to pay Rs2.80 lakh with an interest of 7.5%pa and Rs50,000 as litigation cost to Mr Singh.

(First Appeal No529 of 2016 Date: 19 February 2024)
The Delhi High Court has held that there is an obligation upon the e-commerce platforms to provide comprehensive seller details to consumers, ensuring transparency and informed decision-making.

Justice Sanjeev Narula, in a recent order, noted the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, mandate platforms to furnish complete geographic addresses, customer care numbers, ratings, and feedback about sellers to empower consumers during the pre-purchase phase.

While recognising the opportunities e-commerce platforms offer small designers and enterprises, the court noted the need to prevent their exploitation for product imitation and intellectual property rights infringement.

The court was hearing a plea filed by clothing retailer Abhi Traders against e-commerce platform Meesho.com and eight alleged unauthorised operators misusing its product images.

Noting the defendants' appalling exploitation of Abhi Trader's visuals and designs for financial gain, Justice Narula issued an ex-parte ad interim injunction in favour of the plaintiff.

The injunction prohibits the defendants, including other sellers on Meesho.com, from reproducing or imitating the plaintiff's clothing designs and images.

Moreover, Meesho.com is directed to disclose sellers' details, including addresses, mobile numbers, email addresses, sales data, and GST details, and promptly remove infringing listings.

Notably, this is not the first time the high court has observed and ordered e-commerce platforms to provide complete details of sellers on their websites.

Earlier, Justice Prathiba M. Singh in a suit filed by clothing brand Tibra Collection against various entities for advertising and selling copied garments on Meesho, had issued a similar order.

She had noted that the defendants were misusing Tibra Collection's product images and designs, and, in some instances, deliberately concealing the copying.

Justice Singh had said that it was a case where the defendants were completely misusing the plaintiffs product and listing images as well as the product design to monetarily ride on its reputation. As a result, the court issued an ad-interim injunction order, restraining known defendants and other sellers on the Meesho platform from reproducing, copying, publishing, or imitating any of Tibra Collection's clothing designs or images, including photographs.

The court had also asked Meesho.com to disclose detailed information about the sellers, such as their addresses, mobile numbers, email addresses, total sales, GST details, and payments made to the sellers.

"If there are any payments, which are still to be made by Defendant No.1 to the sellers, the same shall be held back till further orders," the court had ordered.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.
The process of buying a home is rewarding but a lengthy one, where documentation plays a crucial role in various phases. For instance, when applying for a home loan, there are several documents which have to be submitted as originals. The bank or financial institution would keep these documents in their storage and safekeeping until the home loan is paid in full. If the bank misplaces such documents, they are liable to pay compensation for the damage caused.

An allotment letter is one such document issued by either the builder or the cooperative housing society (CHS/Society), to the first buyer of a home, stating all relevant information about the property, such as the physical description and details of the payment. There might be cases where an allotment letter was misplaced by the owner or the financial institution that had disbursed the loan. In such cases, it is possible to acquire an equally valid certified copy.

This week, I will address one such problem where the financial institution has misplaced the allotment letter and other critical documents. I will also address a problem where leakage issues persist after taking possession of a new flat and a case where the Society has wrongfully charged legal expenses to a single resident member. This week, I will address one such problem where the financial institution has misplaced the allotment letter and other critical documents. I will also address a problem where leakage issues persist after taking possession of a new flat and a case where the Society has wrongfully charged legal expenses to a single resident member.

Misplaced Allotment Letter

Question: My building is on an MHADA plot, which was part of a World Bank project. The secretary of our CHS issued the allotment letter and I am the first owner of my flat. I took a loan from LIC Housing Finance Ltd (LIC HFL) which has been fully repaid. The file containing the original documents was destroyed in a fire at the branch office of LIC HFL. LIC HFL has issued necessary legal letters, no objection certificate or no lien letter.

The stamp duty was not paid at that time, so no other copy is available either at the registrar's office or in our Society. As per my understanding of the model bye-laws, the housing society has to make a new allotment letter. However, the committee is refusing to do so and asking me to go to MHADA. All the payments are paid to the Society for the purchase of the flat.

On inquiring from MHADA, they say they have no role to play in this. Please guide me in the matter as to who will give me another allotment letter. I have already filed a case in the consumer court against LIC HFL and the Society.

Answer: Do you not have a photocopy of the allotment letter given by your Society? On this allotment letter, did you not pay the stamp duty and register it with the sub-registrar of assurances office?

If this has been done, then you can get the sub-registrar of assurances certified copy of your allotment letter which has the same value as an original allotment letter.

Alternatively, has the Society not issued you a share certificate? A share certificate is also sufficient proof of ownership. If this also has not been done, then you should make a complaint against the Society to the deputy registrar of cooperative societies.

Most importantly, your Society can certainly give you a duplicate allotment letter. Please write to your Society regarding this. If the Society refuses to provide you with a duplicate and you have a share certificate in your name, then with the photocopy of your share certificate, make a complaint to the deputy registrar of cooperative societies in the MHADA Building, located in Bandra East.

Problems Persist after Possession and Formation of Society

Question: Our building is six years old (possession was received in 2018). We created a cooperative housing society in 2022. There are now two pertinent issues in our Society. One is that there is a leakage in the flats on the top floor. Should the responsibility for repairs lie with the builder or the Society?

Secondly, the builder had unsold flats and shops which he had rented out. He never paid maintenance for those flats after the formation of the Society. He later sold one flat and a shop. The Society's committee has decided to charge the new owner with past dues (calculated from the date of formation of the Society), as owners have failed to do any due diligence. Please clarify whether the Society is correct in recovering dues from the new owner. What is the legal way to collect pending maintenance in such a situation?

Answer: Each and every top-floor flat-owner should separately or collectively make a complaint against the builder in a consumer court for your building's defective roof. In this complaint, Society should be the joint complaining party representing all flat-owners.

The Society can certainly appoint an advocate who is competent in handling such cases. It can also claim the advocate's fees and charges as due compensation for the harassment and mental stress caused to the resident flat-owners.

For your second concern, to any buyer of the flat or shop, Society should not only charge the maintenance but also non-occupancy charges and any delayed payment interest charges. Only when such dues are cleared should the Society proceed to make the new owners members of the Society.

NOTE We will not be answering queries posted in the comments. Only questions sent through the Moneylife Foundation's Legal Helpline will be answered. If you want to seek guidance or ask questions to Mr Shanbhag, kindly send it through Moneylife Foundation's Free Legal Helpline. Here is the link: https://www.moneylife.in/lrc.html#ask-question

Managing Committee Illegally Charging Legal Fees to Single Member

Question: My Society is billing me for the legal expenses incurred in filing futile cases in the high court against the BrihanMumbai municipal corporation (BMC) in a property tax evasion matter. I became the scapegoat as I brought to attention the managing committee's corrupt actions of siphoning the Society funds for personal issues and forced them to refund a huge amount of money back to the Society.

Perhaps as an act of vengeance, they called an extraordinary general meeting (EGM), passed a resolution and billed all their court expenses (amounting to Rs3.70 lakh) to me which I have rightfully refused to pay. What is the remedy against such illegal actions of the Society?

Answer: In order to appoint an advocate for Society's legal issues, a general body meeting (GBM) should be called, and the need for legal consultancy should be appropriately explained to the members. The charges to be incurred should then accordingly be passed in the meeting, in which 75% of the Society's members should support the resolution to bear such charges. For instance, if the Society has 100 members, then 75 members should agree about this expenditure.

All members should share these expenses equally over a defined period of time if the amount is large. Indeed, such an amount cannot be charged disproportionately to only a few select members, as has been done by your Society.

I would urge you to make a complaint to the deputy registrar of cooperative societies against your Society for these huge legal expenses (it is undoubtedly very high by any standard). Proceed to complain against the managing committee of the Society and ask the deputy registrar of cooperative societies to recover the amount from the concerned committee members.

The deputy registrar will certainly recover the huge sum from committee members and perhaps even dissolve the committee by appointing an administrator who would then call for a fresh election.

Disclaimer: The guidance provided in these columns and on our Legal Helpline is on the sole basis of the facts provided by the reader/questioner and does not amount to formal legal advice in any form whatsoever.

(Shirish Shanbhag has an MSc in Organic Chemistry, a Diploma in Higher Education, and a Diploma in French and has completed his LL.B. in first class in 2021. Before his retirement, he was a junior college teacher at Patkar College from July 1980 to May 2012, teaching theoretical and practical chemistry. Post-retirement in 2012, he started providing guidance and counselling to people on several issues, specifically focusing on cooperative housing society-related matters. He has over 30 years of hands-on experience in all matters about housing societies and can provide out-of-box solutions for any practical issue.)
A clutch of news reports in financial papers on the international conference held in the capital by the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) on the topic of 'Transparent Financial Reporting and Audit Quality: Pillars of Corporate Governance for the past few days made for some useful reflection on the subject. It is quite interesting, and it must be one of its kind, that the regulator is conducting such a conference which is typically done by the business chambers of professional bodies. A clutch of news reports in financial papers on the international conference held in the capital by the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) on the topic of 'Transparent Financial Reporting and Audit Quality: Pillars of Corporate Governance for the past few days made for some useful reflection on the subject. It is quite interesting, and it must be one of its kind, that the regulator is conducting such a conference which is typically done by the business chambers of professional bodies.

The extract on the right side is the view expressed by the NFRA chairperson to questions posed to him by the media. Only a relevant part of the entire interview is placed here for convenience. The reference to the failure of the oversight of the audit committee and of the board of the companies in cases where governance failures struck is certainly well-directed. The emphasis on the audit committee having to better communicate with the auditors on financial reporting issues is quite appropriate to the discussion on the shared responsibility between the auditors and the independent board on proper reporting by corporates.

The reference to audit committee meetings being just a warm-up session before the board meeting is not entirely out of place or an exaggeration!

NFRA, by virtue of having examined various audit firms on their quality of documentation in the context of reported audit failures, is certainly well-equipped to appreciate the reasons for the shared responsibility of the different players in poor financial reporting.

Hence, the reference to the audit committee and the board having to play an involved and constructive role in ensuring better quality reporting is a new strand to the discussion on this subject which, so far, has focused only on the auditors.

Using this as a trigger, the article looks at the subject of the audit committee and its common failings.

The starting point is the way the committee is constituted. Board appointments in the Indian context still suffer from factors of familiarity and favoritism, and lack an independent process in identification and selection.

The law is quite liberal in allowing a person to be a director in seven listed companies. Some favourites make sure they fill all seven slots and, if they also sit on audit committees, one can imagine the extent of time they can commit!

The next important point for consideration by NFRA in the role played by the audit committee is the way auditors are appointed.

It is no secret that most Indian listed entities are dominated by the promoters and their influence in the choice of the auditor is similar to that of the appointment of the independent directors.

The role performed by the audit committee in this regard should be tested with empirical data by taking up cases after 2014 when the law changed on rotation.

The NFRA should peruse the copies of the minutes, and in the period post-Covid, the transcripts of the video calls of these meetings to find out the level of diligence and scrutiny and the extent of the discussion concerning such appointments.

The findings of this exercise for a few select companies may actually equip the NFRA to fully understand the shortcomings in the process and also the level of involvement of the AC (audit committee) in the discussion and the process of shortlisting and selection.

What applies to the choice of the statutory auditor is equally relevant to the choice of the internal audit firm.

The NFRA should recognise the aspect of audit concentration among the few leading firms, as this phenomenon narrows the choice to a limited universe. The other side of the coin is that the small and medium firms lack adequate capacity to service effectively listed entities that require quarterly audits and reviews.

Most large companies have a grand and imposing terms of reference (ToR) for the audit committee and NFRA should assess if, in practice, the audit committees are alive to that and effectively address all areas of the ToR.

For example, the audit committee ToR of Infosys Ltd specifies partner rotation and the relevant portion is extracted below.

It is interesting that in the case of Mahindra and Mahindra, while appointing the auditor in 2018, the notice for appointment specified that a particular partner alone would sign the accounts as he possessed the right credentials.

The said partner, Jamil Khatri, signed till 2022 and thereafter, due to his resignation from the audit firm, another partner took charge!

A cursory look at the historical data shows that seldom is a partner rotated in a five-year block except due to resignation or retirement.

Partner rotation is possible only in the case of the top dozen (a liberal estimate) audit firms in the country. This is out of the question in other firms with limited bandwidth. Many firms may show on paper a long list of partners but most of them would be namesake retired persons with little audit experience!

CA&AG appoints firms based on such criteria but a responsible audit committee should interview at least three partners of a firm that is considered for appointment to ensure that adequate bandwidth exists to service the company.

The audit committee should also check the number of listed companies audited by the concerned partner(s) of the firm to avoid concentration with one partner.

The next aspect is the number of AC meetings held in a year. In most cases, the audit committee meets only in the context of approving the quarterly unaudited financials and for approving the annual report.

One of the US-listed companies has this as part of the audit committee charter-'The Committee holds meetings at least eight times a year. Additional meetings may occur as a majority of the Committee or its chair deems advisable.

This clearly establishes the seriousness in purpose of the committee to have a very close engagement with the management that prepares the financial statements and the auditor that certifies its accuracy.

The committee should make it possible for the auditors, at least once a year, to provide direct feedback about the quality of personnel and processes involved in the preparation of the accounts and the pressure, if any, applied to them to accommodate a particular accounting treatment or a specific outcome for some transactions. Such a meeting cannot have the presence of any full-time personnel of the company even if otherwise part of the committee.

In the US context, the audit committees obtain a written report from the independent auditor describing: the firms internal quality control procedures; any material issues raised by the most recent Public Company Accounting Oversight Board inspection, internal quality control review, or peer review, of the firm or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities within the past five years, concerning an independent audit or audits carried out by the firm, and any steps taken to deal with those issues;

Audit committees tend to skirt such enquiries in the Indian context.

The discussion can go on endlessly. It will be interesting to see what the NFRA sets as an agenda for such meetings with the audit committee members and how the audit committee process improves post its initiative!
Group health insurance is a type of health insurance aimed at providing medical coverage to a group of individuals. Also known as corporate health insurance , group insurance plans are a simple and cost-effective way for professional organisations to provide health insurance to their employees. This is especially beneficial when, following the COVID-19 pandemic, the government mandated all professional organisations to provide health insurance to their employees.

However, whether it is due to the dozens of insurance providers, each with numerous different plans, or the varying needs of employees and industry, it is difficult to understand what employers should look for when purchasing a group health insurance policy in India.

But worry not. This article can be a guide to understanding all you need to know when purchasing a group policy for your employees.

What are the benefits of offering group insurance plans?

While some organisations might feel like providing health insurance to their employees is an additional expense or adds unnecessary complexities, it is essential to understand that offering the right group insurance plan may benefit not only the employees but also the organisation.

Here are a few benefits of offering group health insurance:

 Attracting and retaining talent

At a time when health risks are growing and medical expenses keep increasing, health insurance is a decisive factor in attracting and retaining talent in the organisation.

 Boosting morale and productivity

When an employee doesnt have to worry about their health or the financial impact of it, it can quickly boost morale and build a productive work environment.

 Ensuring financial security for the employees

As group plans are employer-sponsored, they can severely reduce the financial impact of medical and out-of-pocket expenses for the employee.

 Allowing tax benefits for the organisation

As insurance premiums are tax-deductible, they can reduce the tax burden on the organisation.

 Complying with the government mandate

Providing health insurance to employees is a mandatory requirement for professional organisations, keeping them in compliance with the government mandate.

What are some essential factors when buying a group health insurance policy?

Here are some essential factors that must be considered whenever purchasing an insurance policy:

1. Assess your employees needs

The first step when purchasing a policy is to understand the needs of those covered. Assessing their needs and expectations can help in planning and negotiating a policy.

2. Check your organisations finances

Considering the organisation's finances before purchasing a policy is vital. Understanding the needs and separating the non-negotiables and good to have can help get a more cost-effective policy.

3. Consult with several insurers

Consult with several insurers and insurance agents to understand the offerings and get the best value for money.

4. Assess the coverage options

Assessing the coverages provided under a policy can help determine which specific policy to choose and which to avoid. For example, it might be highly beneficial to opt for a policy with coverage for pre-existing diseases or one for dependents, etc.

5. Cross-check the fine print

It is also essential to check the fine print, such as waiting periods, deductibles, co-pays, etc., and be informed or choose a policy with better terms.

How do you buy a group insurance policy?

You can purchase a group insurance policy for your organisation in several ways. Here are three of the most common ways you can choose to do so:

 Directly from an insurer

Purchasing an insurance policy directly from an insurer can be beneficial in terms of both customisability and cost. It is possible to negotiate the needs and get a more specialised plan for the groups requirements, which might not be possible otherwise.

 Insurance broker

Consulting with an insurance broker can help narrow choices and choose the best policy based on the organisations requirements. However, it is essential to note that brokers will charge brokerage fees for the policy.

 Bancassurance

This is a common way to purchase an insurance policy today. Under this model, insurers tie up with banks to provide comprehensive insurance policies to the banks customers, leading to a one-stop destination for financial needs.

Conclusion

Several factors, like the needs of the employees, the needs of the industry, the cost of the policy, the coverages offered, and the fine print, among others, must be considered before buying a group policy. Although there are still more things to know, this article can be a reference point and help you purchase the right policy for your organisation.

So follow it and buy the right insurance policy for the lifeblood of your organisation, the employees.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the former armorer at the movie Rust, listens to closing arguments in her trial at First District Court in Santa Fe, N.M on Wednesday, Mar. 6, 2024.
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.
Dignitaries attend the 2024 State of the Island address at the Guam Congress Building in Hagatna on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
The Office of the Attorney General's latest crime billboard sits alongside the Barrigada tri-intersection on Friday, March 1, 2024.
Hundreds of people marched in Majuro, capital of the Marshall Islands, on March 1 to mark the 70th anniversary of the Bravo hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll, including Foreign Minister Kalani Kaneko, left center, and Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna, next to Kaneko.
New attacks by IS-linked group in Mozambique leave over 70 children missing. Thousands have fled

New attacks by IS-linked group in Mozambique leave over 70 children missing. Thousands have fled View Photo

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP)  A surge of new attacks by an Islamic State-affiliated group in Mozambiques Cabo Delgado province has left more than 70 children missing, with fears they may have drowned in a river or been kidnapped by militants as thousands of families fled, local authorities and a group of aid agencies said.

Around 30 families now seeking shelter in Nampula province to the south have asked police to help locate their children, according to a report released Wednesday by the Protection Working Group, a network of non-governmental organizations and United Nations agencies.

The attacks have hit areas that had been relatively untouched since the start of the jihadist insurgency in Cabo Delgado in 2017. They may mark a new stage in a crisis that aid agencies say forced more than a million people to flee their homes during nearly seven years of violence. Thousands were killed.

Cabo Delgado, Mozambiques northernmost province that borders Tanzania, was thrust into the international spotlight in 2020 and 2021 when insurgents were accused of carrying out mass beheadings, including of children.

The U.N.s migration agency said nearly 100,000 people were displaced between early February and early March after Islamic State Mozambique fighters launched a new offensive from their heartland in coastal central Cabo Delgado into the south. More than 61,000 of those displaced were children, it said.

Save the Children called it the largest displacement of children in Cabo Delgado in 18 months.

There are repeated reports of beheadings and abductions, including multiple child victims, Save the Children said.

The U.N. high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, is in Cabo Delgado and was due to update on the situation and humanitarian response on Thursday.

A total of 72 children have now been reported missing after the recent attacks, said Albertina Ussene, the Nampula provincial governments director of gender, children and social action, who was quoted by the Lusa news agency. Ussene told a meeting of provincial officials this week that another 29 children had been reunited with their families.

The report by the Protection Working Group said around 27 villages in southern Cabo Delgado were attacked late last month. It said children and older people were reported to have drowned while trying to escape, and some men were believed to have been kidnapped.

The report said an unconfirmed number of people were killed and 500 buildings, including houses, churches and markets, were destroyed.

The U.N. childrens agency said the displacement of tens of thousands more people risks exacerbating cholera outbreaks due to overcrowding and the lack of clean water and sanitary facilities in displacement sites.

Insurgent attacks were relatively limited in Cabo Delgado last year. The head of the Mozambique army, Maj. Gen. Tiago Nampele, said in December that the troubled province was 90-95% secure.

But over the weekend, Islamic State Mozambique fighters occupied the coastal town of Quissanga, one of Cabo Delgados district capitals, which the Mozambican military had left unprotected. The next day, insurgents beheaded three members of the security forces on a nearby island.

The armys ability to stop the killings has long been questioned.

Mozambique has been fighting the jihadist militants in the north since October 2017. Initially known as Ansar al-Sunna, the insurgent group affiliated with Islamic State in 2019. It is composed mostly of Mozambicans with some fighters coming from Tanzania and further abroad.

Islamic State Mozambiques political goals have not been explicitly stated, but it recently made attempts to impose Islamic law in areas under its influence.

Piers Pigou, the head of southern Africa at the Institute for Security Studies, said the recent mass displacements showed how fragile security in Cabo Delgado remains.

The government acknowledges that only a handful of insurgents can generate widespread uncertainty, he said. This will not change unless communities have far greater belief that the security forces will be able to provide the required stability.

___

Gould reported from London.

___

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

By TOM GOULD and GERALD IMRAY

Associated Press
Mobile Home Fire on Mono Way View Photos

Sonora, CA  Firefighters responded to a late-night mobile home fire in the 14000 block of Mono Way near Hillsdale Drive.

Tuolumne County Fire Department reports that the glow from the blaze was spotted by firefighters at a nearby station, and several agencies quickly responded. Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze and prevent it from spreading to any neighboring homes. Two people were injured and treated by firefighters and paramedics. One of the patients had severe injuries and was flown to a Sacramento trauma center. Sadly, a dog died in the fire. The Red Cross is assisting those displaced by the incident. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Agencies that responded last night in addition to various Tuolumne County firefighters include CAL Fire, Tuolumne County Sheriffs Office, Sonora Fire, and others.

No additional information is immediately available about last nights fire.
The Latest | Biden says temporary pier in Gaza will boost aid deliveries as hopes for truce dim

The Latest | Biden says temporary pier in Gaza will boost aid deliveries as hopes for truce dim View Photo

U.S. President Joe Biden Biden said Thursday night the U.S. military will help establish a temporary pier on the coast of Gaza as a way to boost the delivery of aid for Palestinians trapped in the besieged territory by the Israel-Hamas war.

He unveiled the plan during his State of the Union address to Congress. The move comes after Biden last week approved the U.S. military airdropping aid into Gaza.

Biden said the temporary pier will enable a massive increase in humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza.

But at the same time he called on Israel to do more to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians even as its forces try to eliminate the Hamas militant group.

To Israel, I say this humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip, Biden said.

The plans follow an announcement by Hamas that negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of more Israeli hostages will resume next week, dimming hopes that mediators could broker a truce before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin at sundown Sunday..

After nearly five months of war, much of Gaza is in ruins, and international pressure is growing for Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would halt the fighting and release the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Israels near-total blockade of Gaza and the fighting have made it nearly impossible to deliver supplies in most of Gaza, aid groups say. Many of the estimated 300,000 people still living in northern Gaza have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive.

Israel launched its offensive after Hamas-led militants stormed across the border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Over 100 hostages were released in November in exchange for 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The number of Palestinians killed has climbed above 30,700, according to Gazas Health Ministry. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures but says women and children make up around two-thirds of the total casualties. It says over 72,000 people have been wounded.

Currently:

 Analysis: First fatal attack on shipping by Yemens Houthi rebels escalates risk for a reeling Mideast

 Leading NGOs slam Israels halt in visa renewals for aid workers in Gaza and West Bank

 Violence in the Mideast, rising threats from Islamic State group in Afghanistan pressure US and allies

 Find more of APs coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Heres the latest:

UN SPOKESMAN SAYS GAZA AID MISSIONS A MIXED BAG, DEPENDING ON ISRAELI HELP

UNITED NATIONS  U.N. humanitarian officials say that in February half of the 224 missions they planned for delivering aid to areas in the Gaza Strip where coordination with Israeli authorities is required got it and succeeded  and half did not.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday that the U.N. paused opertions in north Gaza following Israeli naval fire that hit a U.N.-coordinated food convoy heading there Feb. 5. As a result, he said, only 24 U.N. aid missions to the besieged north were planned in February  and just six were facilitated by Israeli authorities.

By contrast, Dujarric said, of the 200 U.N. missions planned for areas south of Wadi Gaza where access required coordination, 105 were facilitated by Israeli authorities.

The U.N. spokesman said humanitarian workers in Gaza face risks from the hostilities between Israel and Hamas including bombings.

Despite the many challenges, he said, last week 19 of the U.N.s humanitarian partners provided health services to some 80,000 patients and over a dozen World Health Organization teams treated 13,000 patients. He issued an urgent appeal for tents, tarpulins, blankets, bedding and other shelter supplies.

UN OFFICIAL WELCOMES AIRDROPS OF AID IN GAZA BUT SAYS MORE LAND ENTRIES NEEDED

UNITED NATIONS  The U.N. official trying to spur the delivery of humanitarian supplies to more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza is welcoming air drops and the prospect of more sea deliveries. But she says the most critical need is to open more land entries into the territory.

Sigrid Kaag, the senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, told reporters late Thursday that air and sea deliveries cannot substitute for expanding and diversifying supply routes on land.

Its easier, its faster, its cheaper, particularly if we know that we need to sustain humanitarian assistance to Gazans for a long period of time, she said, speaking after briefing the U.N. Security Council behind closed doors. We need to flood the market in Gaza with humanitarian goods as well as re-energize the private sector so commercial goods can be entering in to really meet the needs of civilians.

But Kaag said thatits been made very clear to me from the outset that there is little willingness by the Israeli Cabinet to open more crossings. She pointed to Israel domestic concerns, demonstrations at crossings, and the absence of a deal to release Israeli hostages seized during Hamas Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel.

Nonetheless, Kaag said, from her conversations she expects additional crossings to be opened and will continue urging the Israelis to do so because the goal is to expand the volume and quality of aid to Gaza.

She called the air drops of aid a symbol of support for the civilians in Gaza, but said that its a drop in the ocean.

Kaag said she has welcomed plans for a maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza, backed by a coalition that she expects the United States and other countries to be joining to accelerate its establishment.

She said the Americans may be building a temporary port with a view to provide for that much urgent humanitarian assistance and the scale-up thats needed particularly to reach the north, where the humanitarian crisis is especially dire, she said.

At the same time, I cannot but repeat, air and sea is not a substitute for land, she said. However, the additional aid at this critical juncture will be very important.

ISRAELIS WILL BE ALLOWED TO VISIT CONTESTED HOLY SITE DURING RAMADAN, ISRAELI POLICE SAY

JERUSALEM  Israels police force said Thursday that Israelis will be allowed to visit the Al-Aqsa compound during the first week of Ramadan, raising concerns about the access for Palestinians to the revered site during the holy month.

Al-Aqsa has often been the site of Palestinian protests and clashes with Israeli police, especially during times of high tension like the current war between Israel and Hamas.

Palestinians from the occupied West Bank have been unable to visit Jerusalem under Israeli government restrictions put in place immediately after an Oct. 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel killed 1,200. Israels invasion of Gaza in response has killed more than 30,000 people.

The Al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest site in Islam. Jews consider the compound the most sacred site in Judaism and refer to it as the biblical Temple Mount.

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the same number of people as last year would be allowed to enter the Al-Aqsa mosque compound for prayers during the first week of Ramadan and that this would be evaluated on a week-to-week basis throughout the holy month. The statement did not say who would be allowed onto the compound.

In 2023, over 289,000 Palestinians from the West Bank visited Jerusalem for Ramadan prayers, according to Israeli authorities.

The Israeli police did not respond to The Associated Press request to clarify the restrictions.

Ramadan is expected to start Sunday but depends on the sighting of the crescent moon.

DUTCH GROUP CONFIRMS ISRAELI TANK FIRE KILLED A REUTERS VIDEOGRAPHER IN SOUTHERN LEBANON LAST OCTOBER

BEIRUT  A report by an independent research organization in The Netherlands confirmed that Israeli tank fire killed a Reuters videographer and wounded six other journalists in southern Lebanon last October.

The journalists were covering cross-border clashes between Lebanons militant Hezbollah group and Israeli forces on Oct. 13, just days after the eruption of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, when an Israeli tank shell landed among them.

The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, TNO, said that after two ammunition rounds struck the area where the journalists were working, arms fire and bullets whizzing through the air were heard. It said the two ammunition rounds were 37 seconds apart.

The report by TNO, which was contracted by Reuters to analyze evidence from southern Lebanon clashes on Oct. 13, was released Thursday. It said the Israeli fire in the attack lasted 1 minute and 45 seconds.

Israeli officials have said that they do not deliberately target journalists. Israel did not immediately comment on the Dutch groups findings.

In December, international human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said Israeli strikes that killed and wounded the journalists on Oct. 13, were apparently deliberate and a direct attack on civilians.

The strikes killed Issam Abdallah and wounded Reuters journalists Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, Qatars Al-Jazeera television cameraman Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, as well as AFPs photographer Christina Assi and video journalist Dylan Collins.

Assi, who was seriously wounded, was discharged from Beiruts American University Medical Center earlier this month, after nearly five months of treatment.

EGYPTIAN OFFICIALS SAY CEASE-FIRE TALKS ARE STUCK

CAIRO  Egyptian officials say negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza have reached an impasse over Hamas demand for a phased process culminating in an end to the war.

The U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been trying for weeks to broker an agreement on a six-week cease-fire and the release of 40 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

The officials said Thursday that Hamas has agreed on the main terms of such an agreement as a first stage, but wants commitments that it will lead to an eventual, more permanent cease-fire.

Hamas has said it will not release all of the remaining hostages without a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Palestinian militants are believed to be holding around 100 hostages, and the remains of 30 others, captured during Hamas Oct. 7 attack into Israel that triggered the war.

Hamas is also demanding the release of a large number of prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences, in exchange for the remaining hostages.

Israel has publicly ruled out those demands, saying it intends to resume the offensive after any cease-fire with the goal of destroying Hamas.

The Egyptian officials say Israel wants to confine the negotiations to the more limited agreement. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations with the media.

Both officials said mediators are still pressing the two parties to soften their positions.

The mediators had hoped to reach a deal before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin Sunday. The month of dawn-to-dusk fasting often sees Israeli-Palestinian tensions rise over access to a major holy site in Jerusalem.

 By Samy Magdy in Cairo.

NORWAY WARNS AGAINST BUSINESS WITH ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS

COPENHAGEN, Denmark  Norways government on Thursday urged Norwegian companies to avoid trade and business activities that contribute to maintaining illegal Israeli settlements. Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said that for years, Norway has been clear that the settlement policy in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is in violation of international law, including humanitarian law and human rights.

Norwegian businesses should be aware that, through economic or financial activity in the Israeli settlements in violation of international law, they risk contributing to violations of international humanitarian law or human rights, Barth Eide said.

He said that last year was also the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the UN began recording. I repeat that the injustice to which the Palestinians are subjected must stop.

CHINA CALLS FOR PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES TO JOIN UN

BEIJING  Chinas foreign minister is demanding that other members of the U.N. Security Council stop blocking the Palestinian territories from becoming a member of the United Nations.

Wang Yi reiterated Chinas call for a major international conference to draw up a roadmap and timetable for a two-state solution.

We support Palestine becoming a full member of the United Nations and call on individual members of the Security Council not to set obstacles for this anymore, he said Thursday at a news conference during the annual meeting of Chinas legislature.

Zhang Jun, Chinas U.N. ambassador, said in January that his country supports U.N. membership for the Palestinian territories as a first step toward the creation of a Palestinian state. The Security Council needs to send a clear and unequivocal signal, reaffirming the urgency of the two-state solution as the sole feasible way out, he was quoted as saying by Chinas official state media.

China, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, backed the Palestinian territories becoming a U.N. member in a joint statement issued last June during a state visit to China by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

By The Associated Press
Malaysian prime minister urges US and China cooperation in Asia-Pacific View Photo

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)  Malaysias prime minister said Thursday that the United States has become more transactional, using rewards and punishments to achieve aims with other countries, and should be encouraged to enhance cooperation with China in the Asia-Pacific region.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim advocated against taking sides in U.S.-led Western rivalries against China for strategic influence in the region. He also rejected Western criticism that Malaysia is too accommodating of China as it becomes increasingly assertive in the South China Sea.

Anwar, in a speech at Australian National University on Thursday, promoted empathy toward China, which he said regarded negative reactions to its rise as an attempt to deny their legitimate place in history.

I believe that Malaysia and Australia have a duty to try the utmost to encourage the United States, China and other major players in the Asia-Pacific to conduct themselves in a manner that is conducive to the enhancement of regional cooperation and economic integration, Anwar said.

Without Southeast Asian nations intervention, the region would be principally dictated by the calculations and designs of the major powers.

Anwar outlined globally significant societal and political shifts in the U.S. over the past three decades such as globalization that benefited the Asian working class and reduced the U.S. industrial base. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had also impacted Americans psyche.

The upshot is a preference for leaders who are more transactional with the rest of the world, said Anwar, referring to U.S. politicians.

The Washington consensus is gradually eroding, if not altogether disappeared, he added.

Western perspectives on the future of global order should not be expected to be embraced universally, Anwar said.

In a veiled criticism of China enforcing legally baseless territorial claims in the South China Sea, Anwar said: We may not turn a blind eye to breaches of international law.

By ROD McGUIRK

Associated Press
Former Botswana president Ian Khama has been criticised for aiding UK lawmakers in their efforts to enact a ban on trophy hunting product imports, a major source of livelihood and income for southern countries with large wildlife populations.

Botswana environment and tourism minister Dumezweni Mthimkhulu told journalists drawn from the SADC region on Thursday that Khamas anti-hunting campaigns in the UK and Europe were misguided and counterproductive to the millions of people who survive on wildlife consumptive tourism.

He said his actions calling for the enforcement of a blanket ban on trophy hunting was a threat to the sustainable benefits local communities and other players derive from wildlife.

l want to let the world know that our people will be affected, he said.

Why is he lobbying for the trophy hunting ban which brings earnings to local communities, creates employment and brings income for the Batswana. Khama has a heavy interest in non-consumptive tourism. We used to hold him in high esteem, hold him like a deity but now he is working against the Batswana national interest and that of the region.

He is being harboured by South Africa and his actions will destroy their tourism industry just like ours.

A number of wildlife players and community-based organisations in Botswana have expressed dismay, citing concerns that Khama, who had previously enacted a hunting ban during his presidency, is now supporting anti-hunting campaigns in the UK with damaging implications for Sadc countries.

The Botswana government and other organisations say his campaign trail in Europe in favour of the trophy hunting ban has a potential negative impact on livelihoods and wildlife conservation efforts.

The Botswana Wildlife Producers Association and several community groups in that country say sustainable hunting is needed to safeguard their livelihoods.

Proceeds from trophy hunts in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia help to reduce the impact of human-wildlife conflicts on community livelihoods.

Hunting is a major revenue generator for the southern African rangeland countries and this has faced fierce opposition from animal rights and welfare activists in Europe and North America.

The groups have lobbied for more stringent regulations to be put in place by their governments.

In addition, the groups have persuaded CITES to adopt increasingly onerous conditions to trade in CITES-listed hunting trophies.

We are concerned that Western countries have in the recent past proposed more stringent requirements for hunting trophies to enter their countries, Mthimkhulu said.

Countries like the UK and France are in the process of considering legislation which prohibits hunting trophies from entering their territories while others like Canada and Belgium have even gone as far as to completely ban the import of hunting trophies.

He expressed concern that most of these countries had not consulted the countries where trophies originate from contrary to recommendations from CITES that urge countries to consult a range of states prior to enacting stricter domestic measures.

The imposition of bans or more stringent requirements is likely to have serious impacts on the hunting industries in countries such as Botswana and most of our neighbours given that a large proportion of revenues generated from hunting is generated from hunters from North America and Europe, Mthimkhulu said.

We are happy that our neighbours and brothers are joining us in this campaign to lobby against the trophy hunting ban.

We are fully behind all efforts to make sure our people, Batswana enjoy the fruits of conserving wildlife resources.

Southern African countries strongly oppose moves by Europe to ban trophy hunting.

Southern African rangeland countries argue that the ban has a negative impact on local community livelihoods and conservation efforts.

The countries further argue that a blanket ban overlooks their role in sustainable wildlife management and urges for a more inclusive approach that considers their perspectives and needs.

Southern Africa is home to half of Africas elephants and Zimbabwes population of more than 84 000 against a carrying capacity of 40 000, is only second to that of Botswana in the world. Herald.

Breaking News via Email
Yves here. Anti-trust enforcement and legal restrictions on excess market power is an overly target rich environment. This post describes how Apples new apps store plan is designed to circumvent the EUs Digital Markets Act, which comes into effect today. As an app store avoider (I see them both the apps and the stores as spyware vectors), I am woefully ignorant as to how lousy they are. Captive audiences allow Store owners to serve their own need and not care much about users. So there is a strong case for more providers. But can the authorities leash and collar Apple and Google sufficiently for that to happen?

By Jacques Cremer, Professor Toulouse School Of Economics; Paul Heidhues, Professor of Behavioral and Competition Economics Heinrich-Heine-University Dusseldorf; Monika Schnitzer, Full Professor in the Department of Economics Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (LMU); and Fiona Scott Morton, Theodore Nierenberg Professor of Economics Yale University. Originally published at VoxEU

Article 6(4) of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which comes into full force in the European Union on 7 March, requires Apple to permit third-party app stores to distribute apps on its iOS devices. This column reviews Apples scheme to comply with this requirement and argues that the proposed terms will block entry and innovation in app stores rather than increasing contestability as the law requires.

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) comes into full force in the European Union on 7 March. Article 6(4) requires Apple to permit third-party app stores to distribute apps on its iOS devices. After explaining why this requirement is important, we show that there are good reasons to believe that Apples proposed approach to compliance will not meet the objectives of the DMA, and most probably impede entry by rival stores as well as stifle innovation.

The Importance of App Store Choice

The DMAs requirement that Apple offer its users the choice of using alternative app stores reflects the importance of such stores for driving quality and innovation. In recent years, the number of apps that users have been installing on their handsets has declined. This is the case despite the increasing number of applications of all kinds that make a handset more useful. Among the reasons for this decline could be the low quality of the discovery process and the lack of innovation in distribution. All apps are distributed through one large monopoly store that has limited functionality; finding an app involves searching through millions of apps using the stores search function, the resulting recommendations are themselves distorted by advertising; and the store is not tailored to the needs of particular apps or users.

This situation is not good for either app developers or consumers. Innovation and store variety are needed. Rival app stores could improve the user experience in curation and search by carrying only a subset of apps and offering users a different value proposition. Rival stores could be run by a large corporation with a particular business model, such as Disney in curation of apps for children, Pinterest in curation of apps for creativity, or American Express in distribution of apps for frequent travellers. New models of stores could spring up  for instance, a store which would offer a discount for subscription to multiple online newspapers, or a store run by a government with helpful apps for its citizens. Rival stores could also simply compete by charging lower fees to developers.

Users might want to make one such store their default while multihoming across others, or they might even want to single-home on a rival store rather than use the cluttered legacy store run by the gatekeeper. Parents may wish to give their children easy access to only a child-centred store, for instance.

All of these options represent innovation, which is a core goal of the DMA, and one that the European Parliament feared was being harmed by incumbent gatekeepers. Enabling effective access to third-party stores is designed to increase contestability on the platform with resulting improvements in price, quality, and innovation that will benefit end users as well.

Apples Proposed Approach to Compliance

As part of its general DMA compliance measures, Apple is indeed opening up its devices to entry by third-party app stores at a technical level. However, it has proposed accompanying measures that will substantially hamper the likelihood and effectiveness of such entry. (We summarise the new fees for apps and app stores in Table 1.)

To understand the following, it is important to keep in mind an important feature of the new scheme proposed by Apple. It will be possible for app developers to continue to benefit from the same terms that are currently offered by Apple. At first sight, this seems uncontroversial and a good way to ensure that there are no losers from the introduction of the new tariffs. However, the old terms will only be available for apps distributed exclusively through the Apple app store. For any app wishing to use an alternative app store, the new tariffs apply. These include a minimum fee of, effectively, 0.50 per user per year. As we will see, this will generally act to stifle the development of attractive alternative app stores.

Apples terms will also hinder competition from proprietary app stores: app stores that specialise in the apps produced by one or a small number of developers. Overall, our analysis indicates that the main category of app stores that will be successfully created are those which distribute apps that Apple has decided not to carry: gambling, pornography, and some forms of unsavoury dating. These entrants may establish a bad reputation for all alternative app stores in the minds of users. By blocking the entry of more positive store categories, the Apple rules severely constrain the path of innovation, to the detriment of both business users and end users.

Table 1 Summary of Apples annual fees for large commercial developers

(As we understand them. Simplified for easier comprehension.)
Yves here. I am normally not keen about notions like gendering. But I hope you agree that this piece is an exception. It looks at the priorities of James Galbraiths Predator State, and in particular its affinity for militarization and financialization. The authors even go so far as to contend that it gives that form of neoliberalism a particularly masculine presentation. But even if you dont buy that, the article describes how those focuses are harmful to the disadvantaged, particularly women.

By Damla Topbas and Adem Yavuz Elveren, Associate Professor of Economics, Fitchburg State University

Feminist political economy analysis draws parallels between male heads of households and the masculine state, both exercising control over dependents under the guise of acting in their best interests. Their hold on power is inherently violent, yet this violence is frequently masked by ideals of virtue and love (Young 2003: 6; True 2015: 419). Expanding on this analogy, one could assert that in the era of financial neoliberalism, the state embodies not just a masculine persona but a militarized masculine head of household, and more significantly, one that is abusive of womens labor on a global scale. Drawing upon James K. Galbraiths concept of the predatory state, we illustrate the gendered impact of the contemporary capitalist state.

Drawing from Thorstein Veblens evolutionary social theory, James K. Galbraith introduced the term the predator state in one of his significant works to elucidate the resurgence of predatory behavior within the business realm in the United States (Galbraith 2008). Galbraith has asserted that during the era of financial neoliberalism, capitalists strived for complete control of the state apparatus (Galbraith 2008: 131). This resulted in the government morphing into a mere coalition of representatives from regulated industrieslike mining, oil, media, pharmaceuticals, and corporate agriculturedetermined to thoroughly dominate the regulatory framework. Their perspective viewed the governments economic activities not through ideological lenses, but purely as avenues for enormous private profit on a continental scale (ibid. 131). The prey in this scenario is (the majority of) the public, who suffer from the depletion of public resources, which in turn becomes an opportunity for corporations to profit.

Contrary to common understanding, the neoliberal economic paradigm does not necessarily promote a smaller state but rather assigns a greater role to the state in facilitating the expansion of the private sector to pursue profit in more areas (Galbraith 2008; True 2015). In line with this objective, neoliberalism reduces public spending on welfare programs and public goods, weakening social solidarity. This reduction can extend to defense and police services as well. As states become increasingly unable to fulfill these roles, the public sector is perceived as weak (overly feminine or soft), necessitating the private sector to step in and provide the tasks and services that the weakened state can no longer afford for its citizens (Peterson and Runyan 1999: 104; Via 2010: 46-47).

Militarism is documented to serve as a highly useful tool for the predator state, particularly when aligned with financial neoliberalism (Harvey 2005; True 2015; Marshall 2020; Akcagun-Narin and Elveren 2023). Neoliberal rhetoric often reinforces itself through narratives of fear and danger, emphasizing the importance of state militarization (Harvey 2005). The pervasive threat of terrorism, both internationally and domestically, has significantly influenced discourses surrounding national security, leading to increased social and practical militarization of states. This includes efforts to garner support socially and the hiring of private military companies as extensions of traditional national security provided by national militaries (True 2015). This paradigm reinforces higher military spending at the expense of less welfare spending as well as environmental and infrastructure investment, making large majorities more vulnerable to social, economic, and environmental challenges. In other words, the predator state diverts more resources for unproductive but highly profitable arms production at the expense of the welfare of the majority. This is referred to as structural violence (Runyan and Peterson 2014). Obviously, gender gaps in the household and paid labor market make the structural violence more detrimental for women. That is, the structural violence of political, economic, and social priorities and inequalities that leave wide swaths of people subject to unemployment, underemployment, poverty, disease, malnutrition, crime, and domestic and sexual violence has a gendered dimension (Runyan and Peterson 2014: 13).

Financialization also serves the interests of the predator state, and it has varying impacts on the well-being of men and women. By the 1970s, capitalists sought to bolster their economic power in response to declining profit rates (Harvey 2005). In this regard, adoption of the neoliberal economic policies from the early 1980s onward, coupled with the rapid expansion of the financial sector, presented a valuable opportunity for capitalists to offset the decline in profit rates. Deregulation and advancements in the financial system facilitated a significant increase in cross-border capital flows and the development of new financial instruments, enabling capital to generate substantial profits not through production but through the trading of financial assets (i.e., making money from money). The financial sector has become increasingly involved in financing arms production and has seamlessly integrated with the military sector through stock purchases. This profound shift in the economic paradigm provided arms producers with new opportunities for increased profitability by expanding the scale of arms production and its financing. This symbiotic relationship between the financial sector and arms producers has strengthened in the 21st century. The military sector, with its high profit margins, has become an attractive investment option due to its potential for exceptionally high returns (Marshall 2020; Akcagun-Narin and Elveren 2023). Major financial corporations have expanded their influence over the military sector by acquiring defense firms or purchasing their stocks. Capital enjoys nearly risk-free high returns on investment in militarized sectors, which are increasingly promoted by the militarized predator state. These funds could otherwise be invested in civilian infrastructure or social welfare programs. According to Runyan and Peterson (2014), financial trading diverts resources and focus away from long-term investments in industry, infrastructure, and human (social) capital. This diversion exacerbates conditions of extreme inequality and contributes to crises of social reproduction and sustainability. It is evident that the lack of such investments is likely to disproportionately harm women, as they are more reliant on social spending.

Financialization also increases womens vulnerability through financial crises. While it facilitates capital accumulation, providing more opportunities for large corporations, it also hampers the capital accumulation process by precipitating financial crises. Undoubtedly, the impact of financial crises varies among social classes and gender. There exists a vast body of literature on the gendered costs of man-made financial crises, with feminist scholars examining how unpaid labor has been called upon to bridge the gap between public welfare and private market provision during economic downturns (Bennholdt-Thomsen 1981; Elson and Pearson 1981; Mackintosh 1981; Mies et al., 1982; Picchio 1992; Elson 1998; Hoskyns and Rai 2007; Bakker 2007; Bedford and Rai, 2010; Rai 2013; Antonopoulos 2014).

When the economic crises hit, unemployment increases, real wages, social services, and welfare transfers decline, women are called upon for their duty to compensate the loss of monetized income. They increase both their paid and unpaid work, in terms of both time and intensity. Sassen refers to this phenomenon as the feminization of survival (2000), wherein women, as a survival strategy, rely heavily on informal activities to ensure social reproduction. Man-made financial/economic crises result in the loss of secure jobs and earning capacity, leading to womens concentration in precarious forms of employment. This, in turn, leads to longer work hours for women as they strive to mitigate the impact on household income. Additionally, there is a decrease in girls participation in education, deteriorating health conditions for women, increased child labor, and womens involvement in both licit and illicit informal activities. Moreover, there is an increase in structural violence as well as direct violence against women (Aslanbeigui and Summerfield 2001; Harcourt 2014; Runyan and Peterson 2014; Sutton 2010; True 2012; True and Tanyag 2019: 18).

The militarized masculine nature of the predator state is deeply intertwined with its organic relationship with military production. This symbiosis not only fosters the expansion of the private sector but also cultivates a fertile ground for its involvement in military endeavors, whether directly through contracts or indirectly through the involvement of financial sector. In this sense, the home of the predator state is the Military-Industrial Complex, its influence reaching across the globe like a relentless hunter. By leveraging real or perceived threats posed by terrorism and enemies, the militarized masculine predator state justifies its exercise of power in the name of protecting the majority of its populace. However, this protection often comes at the steep price of neglecting investments in social welfare. Moreover, the burden of sustaining this illusion of security falls disproportionately on the shoulders of the most vulnerable members of society, particularly women. As social welfare curtails, women find themselves shouldering an increasingly heavy burden.

In conclusion, the predator state is gendered; it embodies a militarized masculine identity and operates within the home of the (global) Military-Industrial Complex, relying on unpaid labor of women.

References

Akcagun, P. and A. Y. Elveren. (2023). Financialization and Militarization: An Empirical Investigation. Review of Radical Political Economics https://doi.org/10.1177/04866134231167

Antonopoulos, R. (Ed.) (2014). Introduction in Gender Perspectives and Gender Impacts of the Global Economic Crises. New York: Routledge.

Aslanbeigui, N. and G. Summerfield. (2001). Risk, gender and the international financial architecture. International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society 15(1): 726.

Bakker, I. (2007). Social reproduction and the constitution of a gendered political economy. New Political Economy12(4): 541556.

Bedford, K. and S. M. Rai. (2010). Feminists theorize the international political economy. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 36(1): 118.

Bennholdt-Thomsen, V. (1981). Subsistence Production and Extended Reproduction. In Of marriage and market: Womens subordination internationally and its lessons. Edited by K. Young, C. Wolkowitz and R. McCullagh. London: Routledge.

Elson, D. (1998). The economic, the political and the domestic: Businesses, states and households in the organisation of production. New Political Economy 3(2): 189208.

Elson, D. and R. Pearson. (1981). The Subordination of Women and the Internationalisation of Factory Production. In Of marriage and market: Womens subordination internationally and its lessons. Edited by K. Young, C. Wolkowitz and R. McCullagh. London: Routledge.

Galbraith, J. K. (2008). The Predator State How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too. Free Press: New York.

Harcourt, W. (2014). Women and the European crisis. The Economic and Labour Relations Review 25(3): 455464.

Harvey, D. (2005). A Brief History of Neoliberalism. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hoskyns, C. and S. M. Rai. (2007). Recasting the international political economy: Counting womens unpaid work. New Political Economy 12(3): 297317.

Mackintosh, M. (1981). Gender and Economics: The Sexual Division of Labour and the Subordination of Women. In Of marriage and market: Womens subordination internationally and its lessons. Edited by K. Young, C. Wolkowitz and R. McCullagh. London: Routledge.

Marshall, S. (2020). The Defense Industrys Role in Militarizing US Foreign Policy. Middle East Research and Information Project No. 294.

Mies, M., V. Bennholdt-Thomsen, G. von Werlhof. (1988). Women: The last colony. London: Zed Books.

Peterson, V. S. and A. S. Runyan. (1999). Global Gender Issues: Dilemmas in World Politics. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.

Picchio, A. (1992). Social reproduction: The political economy of the labour market. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Rai, S. (2013). Gender and (International) Political Economy:. In The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Politics. Edited by Georgina Waylen, Karen Celis, Johanna Kantola, and S. Laurel Weldon. Oxford Handbooks Online.

Runyan, A. S. and V. S. Peterson. (2014). Global Gender Issues in the New Millennium, 4th ed. London: Routledge.

Sassen, S. (2000). Womens burden: Counter-geographies of globalization and the feminization of survival. Journal of International Affairs 53(2): 503524.

Sutton, B. (2010). Bodies in Crisis: Culture, Violence, and Womens Resistance in Neoliberal Argentina. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

True, J. (2012). The Political Economy of Violence Against Women: A Feminist International Relations Perspective. The Australian Feminist Law Journal 32: 39-59.

True, J. and M. Tanyag. (2019). Violence Against Women/Violence in the World Toward a feminist conceptualization of global violence. In Routledge Handbook of Gender and Security. Edited by C. E. Gentry, L. J. Shepherd and L. Sjoberg. London and New York: Routledge.

True, J. (2015). A Tale of Two Feminisms in International Relations? Feminist Political Economy and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. Politics and Gender 11(2): 419424.

Via, S. (2010). Gender, Militarism, and Globalization: Soldiers for Hire and Hegemonic Maculinity. In Gender, War, and Militarism Feminist Perspectives. Edited by L. Sjoberg and S. Via. Praeger.

Young, I. M. (2003). The Logic of Masculinist Protection. Signs 29 (1): 125.
Yves here. John Helmer below argues that Victoria Nuland resigned from her Under Secretary of State position because she was pushed, specifically by the Pentagon. Recall she had been in the #2 slot, Acting Deputy Secretary, only through February 12, and was replaced in that role by Asia expert and China hawk Kurt Campbell.

While that is certainly possible, and connected wags will probably start telling all (say in a New Yorker story). there are an awful lot of loose ends. The first is the fiasco of Lloyd Austin going AWOL during and in the aftermath of a cancer surgery puts the top echelon of the Department of Defense under a cloud, which is not an ideal position for waging a turf war. The press release announcing Nulands retirement does not at all resemble the tone of one you see when someone is pushed out. And why should she retire if she was pushed? Shes 62. Based on her own credentials, even before getting to the Kagan family pull, she could easily become head of an NGO/think tank or land a tony part-time role in academia.

More generally, the Department of Defense has been following the directives of the President and State, which is how it should be in a nominal democracy. Even though the Biden is clearly fading cognitively, he is likely to exemplify the quip about Irish Alzheimers: the last thing they forget is the grudges. Biden hates Putin viscerally. In one of his first speeches after October 7, he talked far more about Ukraine than Israel, which raised a lot of eyebrows at the time.

Admittedly Blinken is overwhelmed and visibly beaten down by the crisis in Gaza, so it is conceivable that he didnt have the energy to defend Nuland against attack (from his perspective, better to keep her around to still manage that portfolio and keep her as scapegoat. The wheels will still keep falling off Project Ukraine, and someone will be responsible for actions taken going forwardwho wants to be in charge of that garbage barge?). And the Administration may not feel it needs to throw officials under the bus over Ukraine. It can blame the collapse on the failure of the House to send money in time.

As we pointed out, the most visible moves Nuland took as Acting Deputy Secretary looked to be fiascoes. One was her attempt to enlist African states to intervene to reverse the military coup inn Niger. Key figures refused to give her an audience. Her most recent was an emergency trip to Kiev, apparently to sort out General Zaluzhny refusing to comply with Zelenskys demand that he resign. Scott Ritter pointed out that that was tantamount to a military coup, that it mean civilian leadership was no longer in charge.

Zaluzhny did depart, but as I recall, not closely enough on the heels of the Nuland intervention for her to look responsible. And it is clear Zelensky dissed her to deny her the use of Ukraine official buildings to stage a bizarre speech, (why did she think she even had to give a live statement?), bizarre in it having the visuals of what an obsessive might produce to post on YouTube, and not presentation by a top US official. I keep coming back to this because at the time I saw this a sign that her hold on power was slipping and her judgement as to what to do about that was poor:

 #UkrainianArmy #Russia #Putin & his army should expect some nice surprises on the battlefield & #Ukraine will achieve great success in 2024 said #US Deputy Secretary of State, Victoria #Nuland in Kyiv  I leave Kyiv tonight more encouraged about the unity and the pic.twitter.com/XcOBGitfhn    |  (@tweetforAnna) January 31, 2024

Now Nuland may well have been pushed, but as some readers suggested, it seems more likely that this was the doing of Kurt Campbell, the new Deputy Secretary, who wanted an Asia hand in the #3 position. He could have enlisted the Pentagon in that; the new head of the Joint Chiefs, Charles Brown, is also fiercely anti-China.

By John Helmer, the longest continuously serving foreign correspondent in Russia, and the only western journalist to direct his own bureau independent of single national or commercial ties. Helmer has also been a professor of political science, and an advisor to government heads in Greece, the United States, and Asia. He is the first and only member of a US presidential administration (Jimmy Carter) to establish himself in Russia. Originally published at Dances with Bears

As enemies go, Victoria Nuland (lead image), the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, was as threatening for Russia as the Thane of Cawdor was for Scotland and Macbeth in Shakespeares play about multiple homicide to capture state power.

Cawdor repented for his treason in the moment before he died on the scaffold. His execution then allowed Macbeth to take Cawdors title and assets for himself, then move on to murder the Scottish king, and replace him until Macbeth was killed himself.

The murdering Nuland has committed was foretold by many more sources than the three witches in Shakespeares plot.

But if Nuland has witchly premonitions, she lacks Macbeths and Lady Macbeths sleepwalking guilt. In Nulands case, it is plain that as her murdering has accelerated, she has been gorging herself with food. In the play Lady Macbeth succumbed and then killed herself offstage. Nuland has just left the stage one hundred pounds heavier than when she entered it. Not auspicious, according to the Heart Foundation.

The script of Nulands exit is also not Shakespearian in quality. There is not a single Washington journalist or analyst whose job it has been for years to follow the scheming inside the State Department to report what those in a position to know believe is the reason for Nulands hasty resignation, as it is being called by the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. His public obituary started with the idea that he had been taken by surprise when Nuland has let me know that she intends to step down in the coming weeks; it ended with the immediate naming of Nulands replacement, and her tombstone inscribed with the lasting mark shes made on this institution and the world.

For the haste of her exit; for its timing late the US presidential election campaign and as the Ukrainian military collapses, no one in a position to know believes Nulands reasons as they have been leaked by reporters close to her  that her ambition had been offended by her failure to be promoted from Number-3 to Number-2 at State; that her feminism was violated by the non-promotion; and that her Russia warmaking had been subordinated by the higher priority of the White House to fight China.

Nor is her departure a case of avoiding blame for the failure of US policy in the Ukraine and in Europe, as the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Maria Zakharova, declared yesterday. Nuland is responsible for the fiasco of American foreign policy, Zakharova said. The bet was a huge one. Everything was staked by the liberal Democrats starting with Barack Obama. That bet has now been lost. An absolute fiasco  the rush by V.A. Zelensky begging for at least something more  the White House rejecting his requests  discord everywhere in NATO No one has a clear idea what to doA complete fiasco.

Zakharova didnt claim that the US and NATO leaders, their military staffs, and political advisors lack clarity on what they dont want to risk  thats to continue the war which Nuland has been promoting, and to escalate it with new weapons on the Ukrainian battlefield, and by attacks deep into Russia itself with nuclear-capable missiles like the German Taurus and US F-16s.

If that is what the Russians think is happening and if they are correct  re-read the double negative  then the reason for Nulands exit is either that she was forced out, principally by the Joint Chiefs of Staff before she could do more damage to US military assets in Europe; or that she decided not to be in office when the Articles of Capitulation are signed between Kiev, Lvov, and Moscow.

Unlike Lady Macbeth, Nuland has not gone offstage to expire. The Fat Lady isnt singing the only song Nuland thinks she can still sing.

In Shakespeares version, Macbeths plot to kill Cawdor falls short because Duncan, the king of Scotland, announces he is promoting his son to a new title and appoints him as his successor king instead of Macbeth. This leaves Macbeth and his wife no alternative but to murder Duncan before the succession can take place. In my way it lies, Macbeth thinks in an aside that is Shakespearian for cover-up. Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires.

Read the full play here. The lead quote appears in Act 1, Scene 4.

The journalist with the longest lasting ambition to promote himself by advancing the self-serving stories of officials who cultivated him, David Ignatius of the Washington Post, has vocally reported Nulands claims of murderous plotting and scheming inside the Kremlin. That was a year ago, on February 23, 2023. Now that the murderous plot is on the other foot, in Washington, Ignatius is dumbstruck.

In Moscow yesterday evening, Vzglyad, the semi-official platform for security and military analysis, issued its assessment of Nulands exit and the plot behind it. The Russian report has been translated verbatim.

One Russian mistake  Nuland has been the third-ranking official at State, not the fourth as reported; she has also been the second-ranking as well as the first in an acting capacity  has been left in the English text. This mistake aside, a comparison of the Russian analysis with the American one reveals the relative incapacity of US officials and their mouthpieces  and this isnt to count the effectiveness of the GRU and other Russian services to penetrate, record and understand what Nuland, Ignatius and the rest are planning.

Theres no hiding their fires or black and deep desires.

Illustrations have been added.

Click to read: https://vz.ru/

March 5, 2024

Nulands successor should scare Zelensky

By Dmitry Bavyrin

US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland is retiring from the civil service. She was responsible for relations with Russia back in the days of the first Yeltsin government, but all-Russia fame came to her after the distribution of cookies on the Maidan. There are serious reasons why Nuland chose retirement, even though she was destined for the Secretary of States chair. And the President of Ukraine has reason to be apprehensive of the candidacy of her replacement.

Formally, Victoria Nuland was only the fourth [in fact third] in the US diplomatic hierarchy, but in terms of her real influence she is comparable to the Number-1  Secretary of State Antony Blinken, whose place, according to rumours, she was aiming for. They are close in views, but belonged to different clans, and Nuland loomed over Blinken like a Nemesis: if it was decided to write off all the foreign policy failures of the Biden period and remove Blinken from office, the State Department would certainly go to her.

She is only a year older than Blinken, but as a diplomat she is old enough to be his mother. He is more of an armchair theorist than a practitioner, more of a hand-medown to politicians than a politician, whereas Nuland usually worked on the front line  in secure situation rooms around the world, being a career ambassador in both the Russian and American sense of the term.

In Russia, this means that the individual entered the diplomatic service not from the outside (for example, as a political appointee), but through specialized education and climbed the ladder of the ranks of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And in the United States, this is something like the principal title of honour for diplomats  a sign not only of merit, but also of the highest professional qualifications. Since 1956, only six dozen people have received this honorific, and Nuland is one of the most famous on the list.

She was good at her job; had been responsible for important areas for Washington for decades  NATO, Russia, Ukraine; it was as if she was born someday to become head the State Department, and best of all now, when it is especially fashionable to appoint women. However, President Joe Biden is stubbornly sticking to Blinken, whom he has known for a long time and intimately. He trusts him and he does not want to replace him with stronger and more independent characters like Nuland.

Blinken briefs Biden, October 7, 2023  White House picture. No comparable picture of Biden with Nuland has been found.

Nevertheless, the Secretary of State must have breathed a sigh of relief when he received Nulands resignation letter.

The fact that Blinken himself announced the departure of his likely rival for the succession seems to indicate his desire to cut off her escape route and the opportunity to change her mind. Whether this is true or not, he did not skimp on compliments, calling Nuland exceptional and promising her a place in the history books because of the role she has played in the events around Ukraine.

There may also be a place for that in Russian textbooks, only with different emphasis. Nuland became famous on our side of the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic when she distributed cookies to Euromaidan protesters on the eve of the [February 21, 2014 Kiev] coup. And this fame was supported by the fact that she continued to oversee the Ukrainian direction and was Washingtons main negotiator with Moscow on all issues arising from this.

Then Assistant Secretary of State, Nuland handed out cookies in Maidan Square in Kiev, December 11, 2013.

The beginning of the Special Military Operation is her personal failure. Nuland tried to prevent such a turn of events, but could not maintain the necessary degree of control over the selfwilled Ukrainian government. She also allegedly wanted to prevent the resignation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny, and also failed. Shortly after that, Nuland ceased to act as Blinkens Deputy Secretary of State and the Number-2 person in the State Department; she had been formally considered the replacement [for Wendy Sherman] in this position and lasted six months before Kurt Campbell was appointed; now, a month later, she resigns from her post number four [three], that is, definitively.

It is unlikely that this fall is due to failures. There are many failures in Nulands career, primarily because she worked in the most difficult areas. Its much more like escaping from a sinking ship, when the ship is the Joe Biden administration.

It seems unlikely that he will be able to win the presidential election in eight months time. In Nulands eyes, he may be altogether non-credible now, since she interacts with old Joe personally and is more privy to his medical diagnosis than many others. And with the return of Donald Trump to the White House, continuation of her work in the State Department is incompatible, despite her experience and seniority.

Although Nuland is strongly associated with the Democratic Party of Obama and Biden, she is a nonpartisan diplomat  a career professional who remains in service regardless of who is president. Nuland received her first non-bureaucratic position, but an important public role as U.S. ambassador to NATO under Republican George W. Bush. It is very possible that her husband Robert Kagan, a political theorist, and concurrently a friend and likeminded associate of the entourage of both Bushes, the elder and the younger, contributed to this.

His strong connection with the neocons  the most aggressive wing of the Republicans  still holds, although Kagan himself left the party on the arrival of President Trump, cursing him in every way.

Nuland also left the civil service then: maybe because of her husband, or rather because her political credo suited both neocon Republicans and globalist Democrats, but not the isolationist Trumpites. This credo is to maintain the global dominance of the United States at all costs and fight unsubservient regimes with the help of force.

She has publicly stressed that the work of diplomats and the military complement each other. This is true, but coming from a supporter of American expansionism, it sounds blood-curdling  in the spirit of the eternal wars for democracy around Russia and oil.

Trump is more in favour of keeping soldiers at home, and NATO to disband as too expensive. This is primarily why the neocons declared themselves the main opponents of Trump within the party, but lost and were pushed from significant party posts to the sidelines during the Trump revival  this was caused, not by the fact that the former president is really estimable, but rather by the fact that the incumbent (i.e. Biden) is really execrable.

For their last political ploy, the neocons invested in the presidential campaign of Nikki Haley, but now it is obvious that it would be easier to put Trump in the ground than to raise Haley above him.

Biden is also, to put it mildly, not a fighter, so the opportune time to leave for Nuland is now. Blinken will be with the boss to the end, like a faithful steward. Nuland does not need to transfer her portfolio to the Trumpists who hate her; who will ask unpleasant questions about her, and delve into sensitive details.

Therefore, she will transfer the portfolio to John Bass, another professional diplomat with similar views, whose track record, however, should make Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky wince. Bass is not a new clinician. More like a pathologist.

He was the ambassador to Afghanistan when the Americans fled, leaving the country to the Taliban. And as ambassador to Georgia when Washingtons protege Mikheil Saakashvili lost power. And also as ambassador to Turkey, when President Recep Erdogan, resisting an attempted military coup, conducted a large-scale purge of American agents and agents of influence.

Left, Ambassador John Bass with then Secretary of State Michael Pompeo in Kabul on June 25, 2019.

That is to say, the person who inherits all the Ukrainian problems from Nuland is not very fortunate, but he certainly knows how to destroy the evidence and seal the premises. But this is exactly what Nuland and Biden need in Ukraine  also [Hunter] Biden Jr., whose greed and forgetfulness brought his father under impeachment, and the entire globalist elite which fanned the conflagration of war in Eastern Europe could not curb it.
China's gov't work report: attainable targets, concerted efforts | Sunny's Spotlight Pub Date:24-03-07 09:32 Source:Xinhua China's annual "two sessions" are underway in Beijing. A government work report was submitted Tuesday to the national legislature for deliberation. Xinhua's Sunny Zhou has talked with some of the national lawmakers and political advisors for their insights on the key takeaways from the report. #TwoSessions Editor:Zheng Chen

Related News GLOBALink | Observers upbeat about China's... FlyOverChina | A glimpse into typical repr... GLOBALink | Presents of 'Phoenix Kingdoms'... Chinese diplomat calls for enhancing China...
When Sally Wells prays, its always in Choctaw.

Nobody ever asks me what I say, she says in the courtyard of the Frist, where she often leads land acknowledgements before events. Last month, at the invitation of Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville), Wells became the first Indigenous person to open a session of the Tennessee House of Representatives, where she opened with a Choctaw prayer. Its whatever comes to my heart. It just pops in my mind, what I need to say. It goes all the way through my heart, and everything I say comes from somewhere else.

Wells has lived in Nashville since the 1980s, but she originally lived on the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Reservation in Bogue Chitto, Miss. Both her parents spoke Choctaw, and they raised their family  six daughters and one son  with Choctaw traditions.

In Choctaw, beading is part of family, says Wells, a prolific bead artist. As I was growing up, maybe 6 or 7 years old, there were six of us girls, so we had to be doing something. Thats the age when your parents feel like you need to start learning things, so you can take care of yourself when youre older.

As she talks about her family, Wells begins to pull about a half-dozen boxes from an oversized blanket tote, opening each to reveal brightly colored beaded jewelry. Some pieces are earrings and necklaces, while others defy categorization as simple necklaces. These are more like beaded chest plates or embellished collars. The small seed-sized beads are threaded in specific color combinations, and some are completely transparent.

She explains how she designs her work. You have to kind of dream up and envision what you want to make  thats your pattern.

When I touch the beads, she says while demonstrating, putting her hand near her heart to feel her own necklace, I feel my family. When I start sewing, I forget about everything outside. Im just doing it.

On the reservation, anything you do you have to go through the government, and the government decided that we could leave the reservation if we wanted. The families that didnt want to farm often moved to California, Illinois or Texas. But Wells family was made up of farmers who wanted to continue farming, and when Wells was 12 or 13, her parents decided it was time to leave the reservation. They settled with six or seven other families in Ripley, Tenn., about an hour northeast of Memphis.

That was our first experience with white America, she says. We were scared to death. We went to a white school, public school. It wasnt a happy time. Whatever it is that you grow up with, you miss that.

It was also in Ripley where Wells later met her husband, Bill, who was doing contract work for the government after serving in the Army. They married six months after they began dating, then moved to East Tennessee for a time, before ultimately settling in Nashville with their two girls. Its here that Wells became a founding member of the Native American Indian Association of Tennessee in 1981. The intertribal organization began as a way for Natives to connect with other Natives, who were often members of different tribes and had different traditions.

I never knew any Indians around anywhere. Even if they were here, I didnt know them. There are different tribes, different languages. We just wanted to get everyone together, and maybe have a picnic or something.

From those humble beginnings, a large organization was built. The NAIA provides a wealth of services to local tribal members, and Wells serves as the organizations president as well as the coordinator for the arts and crafts demonstrators at the NAIA powwows.

NAIA is part of me, she says. Anything we do, we have to do it together.

The NAIA is currently raising funds to build a permanent community center, the Circle of Life Indian Cultural Center. Its mission is to create space for the more than 25,000 full-blooded Native Americans and 42,000 others with Native American heritage who live in Tennessee. For more information  including plans for the cultural center  and to make donations, visit naiatn.org.

Photographed by Eric England at the Frist Art Museum
Twenty-five years ago, David Tinsley didnt really have any connection to the film industry. He knew a lot about cars and was working in collision repair. But things changed one day when he was driving to work in his 1964 Pontiac GTO.

I was driving a GTO to work, and a guy pulled me over  he was blowing his horn, saying, Pull over, I want to talk to you! says Tinsley. So I pulled over and he said, Man, we love this car. Can we use it in a music video?

The stranger was a broker who sourced cars for music videos  and he wanted to feature Tinsleys GTO in Brooks & Dunns 1999 video for Missing You. That was Tinsleys gateway into the industry and what would ultimately become Ragtop Picture Cars.

Talking to the Scene from a replica service station he built on his Lebanon property, Tinsley, whos soft-spoken and polite with a neatly trimmed Vandyke beard, gestures toward autographed headshots that line the walls. Nicole Kidman, Taylor Swift, Randy Travis, Gwyneth Paltrow, Carrie Underwood  all people hes worked with in some capacity. He moved his operation to this property in 2007 and built the mock gas station, which doubles as his office, to look like something right out of 1950s Route 66 Americana. A handful of big names have come out to shoot there, including the American Pickers guys, Ashley McBryde and Alan Jackson. (Jackson, Tinsley explains, touched down on the six-acre property in a helicopter about 15 years back, much to the surprise of the neighbors.)

But Ragtops real bread and butter isnt the service station  its Tinsleys many vehicles. Hes got a warehouse with a few dozen about 15 minutes away, but most of his inventory is right here on the property. Old Pontiacs and Buicks, a 1947 Studebaker, a strange little turquoise Nash Metropolitan and an orange 2018 McLaren 570S that looks like a rocketship. There are loads of Crown Vics  a popular cop-car model, naturally  as well as a fleet of yellow taxis and several vehicles outfitted to look like ambulances and news vans. Hes also still got the 64 GTO that earned him the Brooks & Dunn gig.

Pickup trucks from the 1950s and 60s tend to be popular rentals, especially in Nashville-shot music videos. But Tinsley has sent vehicles as far as South America, and theyve been featured in everything from the AMC series Dark Winds and 2018s Robert Redford-starring The Old Man & the Gun to CMTs Still the King, ABCs Nashville, the James Brown biopic Get On Up and 2018s Oscar-winning Green Book. As a matter of fact, Green Book director Peter Farrelly insisted on buying a 1959 Ford Wagon off of Tinsley, one of 13 Ragtop vehicles featured in the film. (I still kinda wish I wouldnt have sold it, he says.) Hes also got a few smashed-up vehicles around the property. Every once in a while, a director will need a car that looks like its been in a wreck  even though it pains Tinsley to smash up an otherwise perfectly good car.

Then there are the specialty replicas: a Dukes of Hazzard-style General Lee, a Back to the Future-style DeLorean and the piece de resistance  a gleaming, black-and-red Batmobile built on the chassis of a 1976 Lincoln and featuring all the campy bells and whistles of the 1960s Adam West series. These cars, Tinsley explains, mostly rent out for events, parties and car shows.

As successful as the business has been, Tinsley is looking to wind down. He sold 90 cars to his friends Kevin and Katelyn Hanson of the newly launched Picture Car Company in February of last year, bringing his inventory down to his current 146. (The most he ever owned at once, he reckons, was 248.) Hes hoping to fully retire from the film business at the end of this year so he and his wife can focus mostly on car shows like Gulfport, Mississippis Cruisin the Coast and what are known as cruise-ins  informal car events where folks show off their rides and talk shop.

When I retire completely Im going to keep about 20 cars, he says, before the Scene asks if he has a favorite.

Nah, I like em all.

Photographed by Eric England on Tinsleys Lebanon property
Caitlan Fleurette Dillingham may not have planned on becoming a digital curator of Nashville history, but shes always been an archivist at heart.

Dillingham is the creator of Nashville History X (@nashvillehistoryx), an Instagram account with a focus on photos and history from the greater Nashville area. One day about three years ago while walking her dog, she noticed an interesting-looking old house. Outside of Zillow, she couldnt find any information about the people who lived there or its history. After some digging, she found that the house was built in 1925; the state lists the parcel as historical, but theres no plaque there. That moment set her on a journey to start an account just for her, where she would research houses like this and share as much history as she could find.

Every single day, Im thinking about history and what was here before me, the Nashville native tells the Scene. So I started pulling it. I wanted to make it accessible, because its not accessible. History is not accessible.

What started as a creative outlet for Dillingham in 2021 soon caught on. The account has 21,000 followers and an active audience. She receives direct messages every day from people asking her to help them find old photos of their home, or information on previous owners.

The history is going to hold you in and start a conversation and a dialogue, Dillingham says. And thats where we get improvement, change, hope.

Dillingham may not be a ninth-generation Nashvillian, but she has roots. Her parents met at The Gold Rush in the 70s, and her great-grandfather died, along with at least 100 people, in Nashvilles Great Train Wreck of 1918, also known as the Dutchmans Curve train wreck.

By making history accessible, Dillingham hopes her posts inspire people to go to places like the Tennessee State Museum and take more of an interest in local history.

I want you to be able to be on your phone and on a bus and just be like, Wow, this is history I didnt know about. Now Im going to be able to share this with A, B and C. Its a new generation. Everythings mobile.

Dillingham lists Nashvilles Public Square as a site she wishes shed been alive to see in its heyday, when it bustled as a market full of grocers and wholesale vendors. But as Dillingham says, the space also has a dark past  it was the site of at least one racist lynching in the 19th century. But that history is hard to see now. Now its just a central traffic-jam area, she says.

Sharing what she learns and knows about Black history is a core value for Dillingham. When it comes to Black history, Ill put almost anything out there, she says. Im going to put it in your face, and I hope that you take a step back and read it. Dillingham uses #nashvilleblackhistory on these posts so they are searchable and easy to find.

Everyone has a story, and with Nashville History X, Dillingham says she wants to help people tell theirs. Everyone is so important, and everything is so important, she says. Its important for me to share.

Photographed by Eric England at Union Station
Jenny Lewis JoyAll Ball graces the Ryman on Wednesday, capping a 12-stop tour leg that passed up some of the biggest cities in favor of smaller markets and skipped the East Coast altogether. There will be great music as well as a real show, like at every Lewis engagement. Somehow tickets had not sold out at press time.

Lewis tour through five decades of popular culture continues. Born in Las Vegas and reared by lounge-performing parents based in the San Fernando Valley, Lewis launched a screen acting career as a child, at least partially out of financial necessity. By 1998, she had parlayed her show-business adolescence into a music career, fronting indie-rock band Rilo Kiley and lending vocal talent to The Postal Service a few years later. More collaborations followed, including her lauded 2006 partnership with The Watson Twins on Rabbit Fur Coat, and an exceptional run of solo albums including 2014s The Voyager and 2019s On the Line. With sequined gowns, neon palettes, VHS-core music videos, sunburst guitars and an absurdist Instagram presence, she is equally a daughter of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s who fits perfectly into the chaos of today.

She puts a little of everything into JoyAll, her country-inflected 2023 release produced by Nashville legend Dave Cobb. There are songs about puppies and trucks, for a start. There are also songs about avoiding psychological abuse and recognizing delusions of grandeur; living, learning and falling in love; and breaking up and getting older.

Im pretty sure I made it up, Lewis told NPRs World Cafe last summer about the albums titular portmanteau. It sets the intention of the record in this moment in history: finding the joy through the shadows.

Lewis made the record at RCA Studio A in Nashville, where she now lives at least part of her busy life. Lewis sightings filter in here and there  mingling in the Belcourt lobby, dropping in on a Soft Junk show in East Nashville, popping up for an album-release party at Eastside Bowl in June. Alongside her hypoallergenic dog, Bobby Rhubarb Lewis, shes built a life in Music City since landing here in 2018.

I didnt go to Nashville to necessarily make music or make it in music, Lewis tells the Scene. I went to listen to music, and to learn about music  and to have a chiller lifestyle. Its become about music, inevitably. But it wasnt really why I moved to the city. I moved to the city for the people, and my friends, and for the hangs.

A self-described homebody, Lewis has built her Nashville life on the low-key and the familiar: walking the mall (Rivergate), scoping out antique malls and posting up at Mas Tacos. Shes about halfway through a $1,000 Joyland gift card she received three years ago from Bill Murray. Her radio dial favors 101.1 The Beat. Lewis loves playing the Ryman because of its rich music history and the short walk across the alley to Roberts Western World.

People say, You live in Nashville, it must be all country music, and its not, she says. Theres great indie and alternative and great hip-hop. Its a totally diverse music scene, which is amazing. You can go over to the Palace  I think thats probably my favorite bar in Nashville  and learn so much just watching those incredible musicians.

In that same NPR interview, Lewis describes a cosmic songwriting connection to John Prine and recounts finding a spangly gown owned by Skeeter Davis at Black Shag Vintage in East Nashville. She wears it on the JoyAll cover, intentionally made in the image of Nashville albums from Davis heyday in the 1960s and 1970s.

Country music shares Lewis strong emphasis on storytelling and affinity for pedal steel, which has been part of the instrumentation on her albums since the Rilo Kiley days. Her self-effacing Instagram posts and all-femme backing band  including locals Megan Coleman, Ryan Madora and Jess Nolan, plus Nicole Lawrence, who splits time between Los Angeles and NYC  are welcome antidotes to the ascendant bro country dominating Music Row billboards and Lower Broadway bars, a reminder of Nashvilles many sounds.

Her Ryman show includes an opening set from Logan Ledger exclusive to this stop. Locals might recognize the Western crooner from his sessions at Browns Diner or Layman Drug Co., the Chestnut Hill recording studio on Third Avenue South that stands like a relic of a different era. Deep twangy vocals, porkchop sideburns and a thick auburn mustache put Ledger spiritually in sync with the Rymans Opry history.

Ledger joins Hayden Pedigo, a young Texan guitarist touring with Lewis, on the shows undercard. Odds are good that both will don massive cowboy hats. Pedigos prodigious fingerstyle playing  one pillar of a career spanning runway fashion and an unsuccessful bid for political office in Amarillo  has earned him widespread acclaim since he was a teenager. Still, Pedigo is aware that instrumental guitar has commercial limits.

Every single time I play a show opening for Jenny, it really hits me how bonkers it is to play solo instrumental guitar music for crowds this big, Pedigo wrote on Instagram recently. In terms of openers I was probably the least safe choice Jenny could have made, but its truly a testament to how open she is to putting a spotlight on off-kilter music people might not usually listen to.
Dedicated rapid transit lanes and new WeGo routes are at the center of Mayor Freddie OConnells new transit plan, according to maps presented by his top transportation aides at a meeting with advisers on Wednesday. Discussion at Wednesday's Technical Advisory Committee meeting shied away from light rail after attendees evaluated estimated per-mile costs of different mass transit modes.

After brief remarks from OConnell, WeGo CEO Steve Bland and new Metro transportation planning director Michael Briggs steered discussion. Two major pressure points bear down on the plan: financial hurdles from the state and federal government, and the quickly approaching November ballot, targeted by OConnell for a referendum vote. In his opening remarks, the mayor alluded to the confusion over the projects unknown budget, which dominated the body's Feb. 22 meeting.

Were going to start todays discussion without final cost analysis and without a final picture of the overall envelope, OConnell told the room. The need is just remarkably clear.

He referenced recently released data from Imagine Nashville, a community survey that sampled around 10,000 people. The survey showed transportation as a top city concern, led by respondents in Madison and Goodlettsville. Strong existing popular support for transit investment could help OConnell succeed on a tight timeline.

Concept maps presented by Briggs show four new dedicated bus rapid transit lines on Dickerson Pike, Nolensville Pike, Gallatin Avenue and Murfreesboro Pike. The Gallatin artery would run through Madison to the edge of Davidson County. Planned transit on Murfreesboro Pike includes extensions to the airport and down Bell Road  Briggs refers to the branch as a Magic Corridor in his presentation, emphasizing its suitability for mass transit.

North Nashville and Charlotte Pike show extensions labeled transit priority corridor and rapid bus, though planners have not explained the exact specifications of these improvements. Maps also show new routes through Antioch, Donelson and Old Hickory, and down Highway 100, and express service via major interstates across the county.

Technical Advisers Push for Details on Transit Referendum First meeting shows debate over light rail and a plan crunched for time

Estimates shared at the meeting put BRT per-mile cost near $50 million. Bus rapid transit includes a fully dedicated right-of-way for buses and construction of associated infrastructure like sidewalks, crossings and new signals. Light rail could cost between $200 million and $500 million per mile.

Tennessees IMPROVE Act and President Bidens Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal give Nashville the chance to put substantial matching money toward transit expansion. Funding requirements are pushing the city to flesh out project financials by March 29 and seek approval from the state comptroller by May 31. Any plan will likely borrow against a sales tax surcharge. Last years deal to finance a new stadium for the Tennessee Titans appears to have foreclosed the possibility of another hotel-motel tax bump.

You cannot compete for and bring down federal dollars from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act without a local match, said Amanda Vandegrift of InfraStrategies, a transit financing consultant hired by the city. You really only have a few more years to compete for, and bring, hundreds of millions of dollars in federal support to Nashville.

In closing, Briggs revised the months meeting timeline. Along with WeGo CEO Bland, Briggs has emerged as the mayors transit referendum point person.

We are a small team, and were pulling this together as quickly as possible, Briggs told the room. Well have a joint meeting by the end of the month between both the Technical and Community Advisory committees and merge the conversations together.
AIDS caused by gay lifestyle, not HIV, says biologist

A German-American molecular biologist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley by the name of Peter Duesberg says that AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is not caused by HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) but rather by the "gay lifestyle."

Duesberg published a paper on the subject that was covered by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). His paper debunks the longtime claim that HIV is a trigger for AIDS, and that anyone can "catch" AIDS, including through "close contact" with family members as has long been claimed by Tony Fauci and the medical establishment.

Because HIV fulfills neither Koch's classic postulates nor several other of his own postulates for viral pathogenesis, Duesberg says there is simply no proof that HIV causes AIDS. Duesberg appeared on a recent episode of Joe Rogan's podcast to discuss his controversial findings.

"The humoral and cellular immune deficiency is the basis for the development of opportunistic infections and tumors," the NIH "response" paper to Duesberg's claims explains.

"Because of a multitude of different bacterial, viral, and parasitic opportunistic agents, AIDS is typified by a number of divergent clinical symptoms. As with many lentiviruses, HIV is difficult to demonstrate in the organism, especially in asymptomatic carriers."

(Related: Did you know that Wuhan coronavirus [COVID-19] "vaccines" also cause AIDS?)

"Poppers" and gay sex cause AIDS

Evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein also appeared with Rogan to discuss his supportive claim that HIV does not, in fact, play a causal role in AIDS as is widely claimed. Instead, AIDS is caused by "party drugs" and other irresponsible behaviors often engaged in by members of the homosexual community.

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Learn about our free, non-commercial AI / LLM project here. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

Weinstein says the evidence to support this claim is "surprisingly compelling," adding that HIV in and of itself is harmless, as are all other retroviruses. Instead, AIDS is caused by illicit drug use and other factors that suppress immunity, including malnutrition and poverty. As for HIV, it is simply an innocuous "fellow traveler," as he called it.

Unprotected gay "sex" with multiple partners is another major factor linked to AIDS, as is the recreational drug abuse that often accompanies it. So-called "poppers" are a drug that many homosexual men use while engaging in promiscuous behavior, and such drugs are linked to immunosuppression, which in turn gives way to AIDS infection.

All of this lends credence to the original theory that AIDS is a gay disease, and not a causal contact disease like Fauci and others falsely claimed. Fauci et al. lied about AIDS from the very beginning because they needed Americans to care about AIDS in order to generate more support for finding a lucrative "cure."

"The media blew smoke up everyone's butts telling us that AIDS was going to explode because it was supposedly passed via hetero sex and causal contact," wrote a commenter at Revolver on a story about the controversy. "These were lies to advance the gay agenda."

"It's just like how they removed homosexual acts from the DSM manual where for millennia it was considered disordered and psychologically maladaptive," responded another. "Only politics removed it."

"Crazy that it was Fauci then and Fauci now," said another about how Fauci was instrumental in bringing AIDS to the forefront of the American psyche back in the 1980s. "He again said there was only one treatment that worked, just like he did with COVID. Someone needs to be arrested!"

Another who claims he was a psych student at the time AIDS appeared remembers when scientists were at odds with one another about how to handle homosexuality in terms of it being a disease.

"A lot of good scientists opposed it but were told, 'what harm does it do to destigmatize the phenomenon?'" this person wrote. "It was more a call for sympathy than science."

More related news can be found at GenderConfused.com.

Sources for this article include:

Revolver.news

Pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Spotify.com

NaturalNews.com
FACT CHECK: U.S. Airman Aaron Bushnell killed himself with FIRE to avoid having to participate in Israels genocide in Gaza

Contrary to what you may have heard, U.S. Airman Aaron Bushnell didlight himself on fire to end his life in protest of some other country's war. Bushnell committed suicide to avoid having to comply with a mandatory order from the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to fight alongside Israel in its genocide on Gaza.

The Grayzone News editor Max Blumenthal tweeted a fact check about Bushnell's death that sets the record straight about why the airman decided to make this kind of statement with his own life.

"The U.S. Department of Defense has compelled the participation of Air Force members like Bushnell in Israel's Gaza genocide," Blumenthal explains. "Their orders to deploy to Israel read 'mandatory.'"

US Airman Aaron Bushnell did not kill himself to protest some other country's war The US Department of Defense has compelled the participation of Air Force members like Bushnell in Israel's Gaza genocide Their orders to deploy to Israel read "mandatory" https://t.co/AoVE0Orj5s pic.twitter.com/5OUtpTlJbm  Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) February 26, 2024

(Related: Did you catch what war correspondent Michael Yon had to say on the "Health Ranger Report" the other day about the destructive ramifications of the Gaza conflict on Jewish people?)

U.S. military directly killing Palestinians alongside Israel

It turns out that the United States military has been providing intelligence for airstrikes in Gaza, meaning Israel's successes thus far in ethnically cleansing the Palestinian territory would not have been possible without help from the military-industrial complex.

We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Learn about our free, downloadable AI tools on nutrition, health and preparedness at this article link. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance.

A document obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request reveals how the U.S. Air Force sent officers specializing in this particular form of intelligence to Israel back in late November, not long after the October 7 false flag attack by Hamas.

"Since the start of Israel's bombardment in retaliation for Hamass strike on October 7, Israel has dropped more than 29,000 bombs on the tiny Gaza Strip, according to a U.S. intelligence report last month," write Ken Klippenstein and Matthew Petti for The Intercept.

"And for the first time in U.S. history, the Biden administration has been flying surveillance drone missions over Gaza since at least early November, ostensibly for hostage recovery by special forces."

At the time when this was all taking place, U.S. Gen. Pat Ryder reassured the world that these special operations forces were "not participating in [Israel Defense Forces] target development." However, we have since learned that the U.S. Air Force did issue special deployment guidelines for officers headed to Israel on November 21.

"Experts say that a team of targeting officers like this would be used to provide satellite intelligence to the Israelis for the purpose of offensive targeting," Klippenstein and Petti further explain.

According to Lawrence Cline, who served as an intelligence engagement officer in Iraq before retiring, these special operations forces are "probably targeting people, targeting officers."

"What I can see is we've got a lot of global assets in terms of satellites and the like and the Israelis have a lot in terms of more localized radar coverage," he added.

In other words, the U.S. military has been directly killing Palestinian civilians right alongside IDF soldiers, which explains Bushnell's outrage that led to him setting himself on fire in effigy rather than agree to butcher innocent men, women and children in support of "Greater Israel."

"The U.S. is complicit in genocide," wrote someone on X, outraged by these revelations.

"The all-Zionist Biden administration is 100% complicit in the murder of 35,000 Palestinians, including 25,000 women and children," wrote another. "They must face justice one way or another."

The latest news about Israel's genocide in Gaza can be found at IsraelCollapse.com.

Sources for this article include:

Twitter.com

NaturalNews.com

TheIntercept.com
Big Tech knowingly profited off pedophiles who exploit children on Instagram

Shocking new reports show that Facebook's parent company, Meta, knew that parents were monetizing photos of their own children for pedophiles and even went so far as to actively promote accounts with underage modeling to people who were under suspicion of inappropriate behavior toward children online

This is according to reports from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, who claim that Meta allowed subscription tools to be used for child sexual exploitation and did nothing to stop it.

Although Instagram does not permit users younger than 13 to sign up, accounts may focus on children if they are managed by an adult. The news outlets claim that Metas safety staff warned superiors last year that hundreds of parent-managed minor accounts were being used to sell images of their young daughters modeling clothing such as leotards and swimsuits via their paid subscription tools.

Although the photos in question were not technically illegal as they did not contain nude or sexual content, many of those who purchased them made it clear to the parents who are selling the photos that they used them for sexual enjoyment. In fact, some even went so far as to interact with them.

The Wall Street Journal noted: Sometimes parents engaged in sexual banter about their own children or had their daughters interact with subscribers sexual messages.

An audience demographics company calculated 32 million connections to male followers linked to a set of 5,000 accounts they examined for the Times report. Some of the men bullied and outright blackmailed the girls and their parents in order to obtain increasingly racy photos from them. The paper monitored exchanges on the messaging app Telegram in which some of these men talked about sexually abusing the girls they follow on the platform and praised Instagram for making it so easy to find them.

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Learn about our free, non-commercial AI / LLM project here. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

In many cases, the parents were willing parties in the exploitation of their children in pursuit of financial incentives. Some of the mom-run accounts rake in as much as $19.99 per month per subscriber by offering extra photos, chat sessions with their daughters, and other exclusive content and incentives. Those with bigger followings attract more opportunities for products and discounts as well as higher visibility on Instagram, which can draw in even more followers.

Insiders say that Meta rarely takes action on reports of child exploitation on Instagram and Facebook, claiming that they lack the resources to take decisive action and are often overwhelmed by the scope of it. In the case of the teams who informed Meta last year about this behavior, the company rejected their suggestions to ban accounts that feature child modeling from offering subscriptions. Although they did implement an automated system aimed at banning suspected pedophiles from subscribing to these accounts, users could easily get around it by creating new accounts, and the technology was unreliable.

Meta sued for facilitating child sex trafficking

The state of New Mexico sued Meta last year for facilitating child sex trafficking and distributing child sex abuse material, and Attorney General Raul Torrez announced this week that he will be investigating how their paid subscription services entice predators. As part of their previous investigation, a fictitious 14-year-old girl was offered $180,000 by a predator to appear in a pornographic video.

In addition, a group of more than 40 state attorneys general sued Meta last year, accusing its products of being harmful to young people and alleging the company was well aware of these harms.

Sources for this article include:

LifeSiteNews.com

NYTimes.com
Joe Bidens brother James ADMITS president received $40,000 check that used funds from a company tied to the CCP

James Biden has confirmed during testimony to the House of Representatives that the $40,000 check made out in 2017 to his brother, then-Vice President Joe Biden, used funds from a company tied to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

On Friday, March 1, James, 74, was questioned by members of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees as part of the impeachment inquiry into the president. James admitted that, in 2017 and 2018, Biden lent him money for "outstanding bills."

James said he repaid the two loans in the form of checks, one for $40,000 and one for $200,000. The contention here is whether or not the money that went to the then-vice president came from money James made in business dealings with the Chinese. (Related: SMOKING GUN: Hunter Biden sent Joe Biden "direct monthly payments" from a business account that received funds from China.)

Biden family may have laundered money from the Chinese

As part of the impeachment proceedings, the House committees released a copy of a $40,000 check written on Sept. 3, 2017, from Jim and Sara Biden to the then- vice president.

Before this check was written, James and presidential son Hunter Biden  who was partnering with his uncle at the time  were working with CEFC China Energy, an oil and gas conglomerate that went bankrupt in 2018 and was formerly chaired by Ye Jianming, described as a "protege" of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

James' grilling and the prior investigation found that the $40,000 originated from a joint venture with James and Hunter with the CEFC. Hunter's company, Owasco LLC, had wired James the money which then made its way into the bank account of the elder Biden. During his testimony before the House's impeachment inquiry, James admitted that the money he used to repay his brother came from CEFC. Several members of the House present at the inquiry suggest that this may be evidence that the Biden family was complicit in laundering money from the Chinese.

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Learn about our free, non-commercial AI / LLM project here. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

Despite this clear evidence, James maintains that his family did nothing wrong, with James claiming that he did not discuss with Hunter where the money came from.

"My relationship with Owasco that he controlled and owned, and that's the way I was being paid," said James just moments after admitting that he was aware the money had come from the Chinese energy company. James further admitted that his working relationship with Hunter was that he "basically consulted with and gave advice" to the president's son.

James further claims that he had no idea that CEFC had ties to the CCP, claiming that when Hunter briefed him on the nature of the energy company, he was informed that "[CEFC] was a private company."

"And I know the nature of my nephew. He's a Yale Law graduate and had, you know, done due diligence," added James. "It wasn't my place to do it. That Hunter had assured me that it was not affiliated with the Chinese government and it was a private company."

Watch this clip from Fox Business discussing the allegations that James Biden repeatedly contradicted himself at the House impeachment inquiry.

This video is from the News Clips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Experts warn that Joe Biden's green tax credit plan is a GIFT TO CHINA  at the expense of U.S. manufacturing.

CBS under fire after seizing confidential files of journalist investigating Hunter Biden.

Despite Biden claiming otherwise, majority of Americans still view China as the "GREATEST THREAT" to the U.S.

Comer: Joe Biden received $40K in laundered Chinese funds from his brother.

REVEALED: China sent Hunter Biden a 3-carat diamond at about the same time Joe Biden was stealing and relocating classified documents (VIDEO).

Sources include:

NYPost.com

WashingtonExaminer.com

TheMirror.com

DailySignal.com

Brighteon.com
Vladimir Putin confirms deployment of HYPERSONIC MISSILES against Ukraine

During his recent address to the Russian Federal Assembly  the country's national legislature  President Vladimir Putin confirmed the deployment of advanced hypersonic missiles in the special military operation against Ukraine.

Originally unveiled in 2018, the Kinzhal and Tsirkon hypersonic missiles have reportedly successfully targeted significant Ukrainian military assets.

Other sources have confirmed the use of the Tsirkon hypersonic missiles. In early February, the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise confirmed that Russia had used the Tsirkon, known alternatively as the Zircon.

Oleksandr Ruvin, director of the Ukrainian government-backed institute, claimed that the Tsirkon was fired at an area of Ukraine that had no military facilities and only civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Ruvin claimed that the organization analyzed missile fragments and components of the Tsirkon missile, although the hypersonic missile's microelectronics were "poorly preserved." He also claimed that Russia has been exaggerating the hypersonic missile's capabilities.

"Significant fragmentation of the missile makes identification difficult, but we can already say that the weapon does not meet the tactical and technical characteristics declared by the enemy," Ruvin added.

The Tsirkon was first unveiled in 2018 and initially designed as a hypersonic anti-ship missile. It has since undergone a lot of testing and can now be used as a land-attack missile and can also be launched from Russian frigates and submarines.

We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Learn about our free, downloadable AI tools on nutrition, health and preparedness at this article link. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance.

"Tsirkon is a weapon that allows us to say that we can overcome any enemy defence," said Boris Obnosov, general director of missile manufacturer Tactical Missiles Corporation, the main private firm responsible for producing the Tsirkon.

Russia to deploy other advanced weapons systems in Ukraine

In his speech, Putin also announced the deployment of other advanced weapons systems, including the Avangard strategic hypersonic glide vehicle and the Peresvet laser system.

Furthermore, Putin promised to release footage showcasing Russia's stockpile of RS-28 Sarmat super heavy intercontinental ballistic missiles in their silos.

"Those systems have confirmed their high  unique, I might say without exaggeration  specifications," said Putin of the weapons systems. (Related: Putin takes a ride in a NUCLEAR-capable bomber that can reach the U.S.)

He also revealed that trials for the 9M730 Burevestnik nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable cruise missile were nearing completion. The same can be said for the Status-6 "Poseidon" underwater drone. Putin spoke glowingly of the specifications of these weapons systems and their alleged unique capabilities.

Despite acknowledging the possibility of negotiations on strategic stability with the United States, he expressed concern about the deteriorating relationship between the two superpowers and accused American ruling elites of openly engaging in hostile actions against Russia. He also claimed that Russian development of high tech weapons is in response to America having similar advanced weapons systems.

"We are dealing with a state whose ruling elites are openly taking hostile actions against us," he said. "Do they seriously intend to discuss strategic stability with us while trying to inflict 'strategic defeat on the battlefield,' as they put it themselves, on Russia?"

Putin criticized the diplomatic stance of Washington as "hypocritical" and suggested it served to pursue outcomes solely advantageous to the United States.

Learn more about the latest developments in weaponry and military technology amid the ongoing Russian special military operation in Ukraine at WeaponsTechnology.news.

Watch this video from "Borzzikman" discussing how Kinzhal hypersonic missiles have successfully targeted secret British military installations in Odesa and Mykolaiv.

This video is from the channel The Prisoner on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Russia accuses Ukraine of using American-made chemical weapons.

White House confirms Russia's pursuit of "anti-satellite capability," calls it a "serious national security concern"  but that's been public knowledge since February 2023.

Paranoid Pentagon now says "Russian nukes in space" will destroy America.

China making "dramatic advances" in development of HYPERSONIC WEAPONS.

Sources include:

RT.com

Newsweek.com

Brighteon.com
Tyson Foods announces partnership with BUG company Protix to support growth of emerging insect ingredient industry

If you purchase store-bought food items of the processed variety, beware: there could be insect ingredients hiding in the formula, thanks to a new agreement between processed chicken giant Tyson Foods and Protix, an insect ingredients company.

A twofold investment agreement forged between Tyson and Protix will allow the processed food industry to hide newfangled bug ingredients in their labels by creating an efficient and "sustainable" system of insect protein and lipids production for the entire global food system.

Using a direct equity investment, Tyson will acquire a minority stake in Protix to help fund its massive global expansion, creating a steady supply of insect and bug ingredients that will be forced on the entire planet  except for the food plates of the globalists, of course, who will still be fine-dining on steak and caviar to their empty-hearts' content.

Tyson and Protix have entered a joint venture for the construction and operation of an insect ingredient manufacturing facility here in the United States, which reports indicate will be the first of its kind "to upcycle food manufacturing byproducts into high-quality insect proteins and lipids which will primarily be used in the pet food, aquaculture and livestock industries."

"Our partnership with Protix represents the latest strategic investment by Tyson Foods in groundbreaking solutions that drive added value to Tyson Foods' business," announced John R. Tyson, chief financial officer of Tyson and the same guy who last year wandered drunk and uninvited into a college student's bed before she called the police on him.

Thanks to your generous support, we are building the infrastructure of human freedom and actively donating our technology to independent publishers, authors and home schooling organizations. Learn about our game-changing non-commercial AI project here. Support our ongoing efforts to preserve and enhance human knowledge by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com.

"The insect lifecycle provides the opportunity for full circularity within our value chain, strengthening our commitment to building a more sustainable food system for the future."

The Earth is smiling! Tyson Foods Announces Partnership with Protix, Construction of Insect Ingredient Facilityhttps://t.co/w9sZUAWpOH  Marc Morano (@ClimateDepot) February 24, 2024

(Related: During the Wuhan coronavirus [COVID-19] "pandemic," Tyson Foods mandated spike protein injections on all of its employees  did Tyson workers then shed spike proteins into Tyson chicken products?)

Globalists see non-globalists as human livestock

Do not be fooled by the claim that these bug byproduct ingredients are strictly for animals. Globalists look at non-globalists -- meaning non-one-percenters and everyday folks who are not filthy rich -- as being the equivalent of human livestock, so you can be sure these insect parts are destined for your dinner plate as well.

Tyson would not be building a massive U.S. facility with an "enclosed system designed to support all aspects of insect protein production including the breeding, incubating and hatching of insect larvae" if this entire operation was not also intended to feed the tens of millions of "useless eaters" that the globalists eventually want to kill off once they are done exploiting their human slaves for profit.

"Next thing you know they will tell you that these things go well with Soylent Green!" joked one person on X about Tyson's insect ventures, referring to the 1973 sci-fi thriller film about people eating "soylent green," aka people.

"Guess I'm never eating Tyson products again," noted another, with several others in agreement that they, too, are done purchasing and eating Tyson products.

"Insects are not designed for the human digestive system," noted another about how humans cannot consume and derive any benefits from bugs. "If it was, it would already have been on the menu several hundred years ago. Humans and birds are very, very, very different."

"Tyson Foods is disgusting," said someone else. "They very inhumanely slaughter animals to make their inferior products."

The globalists are moving full-steam ahead with their insect "food" agenda. More on that can be found at Globalism.news.

Sources for this article include:

ClimateDepot.com

NaturalNews.com
WOKE SCIENCE: 29% of British scientists now think sex is not binary, poll finds

A recent poll reveals that some British scientists are now confused about the definition of biological sex and gender  thanks to the global push for transgenderism.

According to the Canadian Institutes of Health and Research (CIHR), sex is defined by biological characteristics like genes, hormones and a person's reproductive organs. Gender, on the other hand, is defined by the CIHR as a spectrum that can change over time  saying that its definition is dependent on people and groups, and the differences in how they experience and express gender. (Related: Alabama lawmakers advance bill strictly defining gender based on biological sex.)

This muddled and politically influenced definition of gender is prevalent in the United Kingdom, as a survey conducted by The Telegraph in collaboration with market research firm Censuswide found that, among 200 scientists from different British universities that were polled, only 58 percent of them believe sex is binary, with exceptions for rare cases such as intersex individuals. Meanwhile, 29 percent of respondents agree that "sex is not binary" and another 13 percent chose not to answer.

Moreover, the survey reveals that 64 percent of respondents believe that gender is fluid, while only 22 percent believe it to be binary. Fourteen percent chose not to answer.

Based on the results, Helen Joyce, the advocacy director at Sex Matters, a human rights organization campaigning for more clarity on the definition of sex in both the law and in daily life, raised concerns regarding the intelligence of the British scientific community.

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Learn about our free, non-commercial AI / LLM project here. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

"This survey has two remarkable findings. The first is that 29 percent of academics are apparently unaware of the obvious fact that sex is binary. The second is that nearly two-thirds of academics say that 'gender is fluid,'" commented Joyce. "That is a strikingly confident statement about a nebulous concept."

Survey findings spark discussions and disappointment among academic experts

The study has brought to light some intriguing findings that have sparked discussions and disappointment among academic experts.

In his recent article published in the journal BioEssays, behavioral neurobiology expert Wolfgang Goymann of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence said that some scientists are still arguing that sex is a graded spectrum rather than a binary trait. He proceeded to criticize some scientific journals for adopting a relativist view that opposes fundamental biological facts.

"While we fully endorse efforts to create a more inclusive environment for gender-diverse people, this does not require denying biological sex," said Goymann.

"On the contrary, the rejection of biological sex seems to be based on a lack of knowledge about evolution and it champions species chauvinism in as much as it imposes human identity notions on millions of other species," he explained.

Similarly, Joyce pointed out the broader impact on academic research and public policy. She noted the disconnect between academic perceptions and the understanding of the general public.

"Most ordinary people think 'gender' is just a polite alternative to 'sex,' so are these academics talking about personal style  masculinity or femininity  or assertions about 'identity'  that is, states of mind?" said Joyce.

Furthermore, she lamented the fact that even scientists, who are supposed to give clarity on the matter, could not even reach a consensus when talking about biological sex. "This muddle feeds through into academic research and public policy," she said. "It's concerning that people supposedly among our best and brightest are seemingly blind to this confusion."

Head over to Gender.news for more stories about the pushback against transgenderism.

Watch this video that talks about gender in America.

This video is from the TruthParadigm channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

New Florida law limits instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation indoctrination in public schools.

Texas enforces BAN on gender-related medical procedures for teens.

Newsom-signed bill penalizing toy retailers without "gender-neutral" sections will be enacted at the start of 2024.

Another gender confused teenage mass shooter kills 1 child, injures 5: Pushing gender madness on our nations children is creating murderers and suicidal teens.

Study: Jobseekers who put NONBINARY gender pronouns on their resumes LESS LIKELY to be hired.

Sources include:

Telegraph.co.uk

CIHR.gc.ca

Brighteon.com
German warship shoots down two Houthi drones over the Red Sea

A German warship has successfully shot down two drones controlled by the Yemeni Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

On Feb. 27, the German frigate Hessen took out the two drones within a remarkable 20-minute time frame after each launch. The vessel was deployed to the region earlier in February amid attacks on Red Sea shipping by the Tehran-backed Houthis, formally the Ansar Allah movement. While German defense officials have confirmed the drone interceptions, they have refrained from providing details about the specific targets of the projectiles.

A spokesperson for Berlin emphasized the gravity of the situation at the Red Sea, describing it as "probably the most dangerous deployment of the German Navy for many, many years." This underscores the severity of the maritime challenges posed by the Houthi insurgency in the region, which the rebels describe as acts of solidarity with Palestine against Israel's genocide of the Gazan population.

But prior to its successful destruction of two Houthi drones, the Hessen had encountered a setback after it mistakenly targeted an American MQ-9 Reapeer combat drone. In an online statement, the Bundeswehr  Germany's armed forces  acknowledged the incident, stating that the Hessen engaged a drone lacking a "friend or foe" identification.

After coordinating with allied units, the warship fired multiple missiles at the drone. However, a technical error in the radar system prevented the missiles from reaching the target, and the error was promptly identified and fixed. Meanwhile, Washington also confirmed the incident and said it is currently under investigation.

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Learn about our free, non-commercial AI / LLM project here. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

German military news site Augen geradeaus reported that the Hessen fired two SM-2 missile interceptors, but did not hit anything. Had the warship hit the Reaper drone, it would have marked the third time since early November 2023 that the U.S. military lost a drone unit. The Houthis had previously destroyed two MQ-9s.

Houthi attacks on ships prompt international responses

This development comes at a time when shipping risks have heightened due to repeated strikes by the Iran-aligned Houthis in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait since November.

The unrest in the Red Sea has prompted broader international responses, with the U.S. and British forces conducting airstrikes on Houthi facilities. However, these efforts have thus far failed to curb the ongoing attacks, raising concerns about the safety of international shipping in the region. (Related: British merchant ship abandoned in Red Sea following Houthi missile strike.)

Meanwhile, France, Greece, and Italy have committed to participating in an EU mission designed to protect commercial ships in the area. Under EU command, three vessels will be tasked with intercepting attacks and safeguarding shipping routes. Notably, the mission will not involve strikes against the Houthis on land.

In response to the attacks and ongoing tensions, the Houthis have formally notified shipping officials and insurers of a ban on vessels linked to Israel, the U.S., and Britain from sailing in the surrounding seas. This ban, coupled with the continued assaults, raises concerns about an expansion of areas deemed unsafe for sea navigation. Such developments could further constrain insurance capacity and lead to increased premiums for vessels operating in or near these high-risk zones.

As international efforts to address the situation intensify, the evolving dynamics in the Red Sea underscore the complex geopolitical and security challenges faced by naval forces and shipping interests in the region.

Watch this video of the Hessen mistaking the American MQ-9 reaper for a Houthi drone.

This video is from the Vampire Slayer channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Red Sea Houthi attacks will disrupt global supply chains more than any pandemic, sending prices skyrocketing.

West steps up activities in Red Sea as Iran warns against U.S. adventurism.

U.S. warship in the Red Sea shoots down attack drones fired by Yemens Houthi rebels.

U.S. destroyer intercepts drone, missile attacks launched by Houthi rebels toward Israel.

U.S. naval coalitions efforts to defend Red Sea shipping against Houthi attacks off to rocky start.

Sources include:

Reuters.com

BusinessInsider.com

Brighteon.com
ABSURD: IDF blames Palestinians for the deaths of 112 hungry civilians gathering around food aid trucks

A spokesperson from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the deaths of hundreds of hungry civilian Palestinians gathering around food aid trucks were mostly the result of a stampede and not gunshots from their troops

The tragedy, which occurred on Feb. 29 at Haroun Al Rasheed Street in western Gaza, resulted in at least 112 deaths and 760 injuries among Palestinian civilians who were gathering around newly arrived aid trucks in the hopes of receiving much-needed food. (Related: War on Gaza: Israeli 'massacre' kills over 100 Palestinians seeking food in Gaza City.)

Khader Al Za'anoun, a local journalist and eyewitness to the tragedy, claims that civilians only became chaotic and confused when the IDF started shooting among the crowd. Za'anoun also stated that the trucks hit civilians in panic after hearing the shots, which eventually led to their deaths.

However, the IDF denied the accusations in three separate interviews and blamed the Palestinians for the tragedy.

Initially, the IDF stated that dozens of Gazans were injured from pushing and trampling when they surrounded aid trucks and looted supplies. Later, an IDF spokesperson explained that two incidents occurred on that day  aid trucks ran over people after they were swarmed, and then a group of Palestinians allegedly used the chaos to approach Israeli forces, who feared for their lives and opened fire.

"The truckloads went into the north, then there was the stampede, and then afterward, there was the event against our forces. Thats how things transpired this morning," the spokesman said.

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Learn about our free, non-commercial AI / LLM project here. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

In a separate press conference, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hargari denied an IDF strike on the aid convoy but acknowledged that Israeli tanks fired warning shots to disperse the crowd. He insisted that the tanks were present to secure a humanitarian corridor for the aid convoy to reach its destination.

"The IDF has concluded an initial review of the unfortunate incident where Gazan civilians were trampled to death and injured as they charged to the aid convoy. Our initial review has confirmed that no strike was carried out by the IDF toward the aid convoy. The majority of Palestinians were killed or injured as a result of the stampede. Several looters approached our forces and posed an immediate threat to them. According to the initial review, the soldiers responded toward several individuals," said Hargari.

International community enraged by the massacre

After the tragedy, the international community has united against the "outrageous massacre" in Gaza.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the public for immediate assistance for the civilians affected, particularly in the besieged north, where aid delivery has been impeded for over a week.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also joined the chorus of condemnation. Saudi officials urged the international community "to take a firm stance by obliging Israel to respect international humanitarian law," while the U.A.E. called for "an independent and transparent investigation."

Meanwhile, Colombia suspended the purchase of weapons from Israel after the incident.

"This is called genocide and is reminiscent of the Holocaust, even if the world powers do not like to recognize it," posted Columbian President Gustavo Petro.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden and Bushra Khalidi, the policy lead for the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel of the global humanitarian organization Oxfam, are worried that the tragedy would "exacerbate an already critical humanitarian crisis" and complicate hostage and truce talks.

But despite the international outcry, neither the IDF nor Hamas are willing to negotiate.

IDF Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari insisted that their "war is against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza." On the other hand, senior Hamas member Ezzat Al-Risheq said in a statement published on Telegram that negotiations are not an open process. "We will not allow for the pathway of the negotiations ... [to become] a cover for the enemys continued crimes against our people in the Gaza Strip," he added.

Visit IsraelCollapse.com for more stories about the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

Watch this video about how Israel is losing support on all fronts.

This video is from the What is Happening channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

United Nations accuses Israel of BLOCKING humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza Strip.

Israel refusing to allow HUMANITARIAN AID to reach the 2 million civilians trapped in Gaza.

Israel reportedly in talks with African nations to receive Palestinians from Gaza in exchange for aid.

Pro-war Senate blacks measure proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders to FREEZE Israel aid and probe Gaza war crimes.

EU leaders announce plans to support UN call for HUMANITARIAN PAUSE in Israel-Hamas war to allow distribution of aid to civilians in Gaza.

Sources include:

RT.com

CNN.com

Brighteon.com
Israel airstrike kills Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced that it eliminated a key leader of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah in an airstrike.

According to the IDF, it reportedly killed Hassan Hussein Salami on Feb. 26 while he was driving through the village of Majadel in southern Lebanon. Salami's demise at the hands of the Israeli Air Force  the aerial branch of the IDF  in a targeted airstrike signals the end of his role as a brigade commander.

The Israeli military said Salami led regional units within Hezbollah, orchestrating attacks against Israeli soldiers and communities in northern Israel. Per IDF reports, he notably played a direct role in recent attacks, including the firing of anti-tank missiles at the city of Kiryat Shmona and the 769th Hiram Regional Brigade's base.

Footage capturing the airstrike depicted a bomb striking Salami's vehicle, resulting in a fiery explosion and subsequent collision with a nearby building. While Hezbollah confirmed Salami's death, it refrained from acknowledging his specific role as a commander. This also marked heightened tensions between Tel Aviv and the Shiite group. (Related: Israel vs. Hezbollah: A new war will consume the entire Middle East.)

Following Israeli airstrikes in the Bekaa Valley that killed two, Hezbollah responded by launching 60 Katyusha rockets at Israel's army headquarters in Golan Heights. In retaliation, the IDF escalated its response by launching additional missiles at Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

Israel releases footage of IDF strikes in Lebanon

For nearly five months marked by daily conflicts, approximately 200 Hezbollah fighters and 35 civilians in Lebanon have lost their lives. Israel also issued a stern warning against Hezbollah's presence along its border with Lebanon. The IDF suggested a potential offensive if diplomatic efforts failed to address the evolving circumstances.

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Learn about our free, non-commercial AI / LLM project here. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

Israeli authorities earlier released footage depicting the IDF conducting strikes on sites within Lebanon, specifically targeting two Hezbollah ammunition depots. The video captured smoke and debris emanating from the targeted facilities near the coastal Lebanese city of Sidon.

Aside from Sidon, the IDF also reported conducting strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in the Meiss Ej Jabal and al-Adisa areas. Online videos show flames and dense plumes of smoke rising in what appears to be a residential locality.

The strikes were a direct response to the Lebanese group launching a drone that subsequently landed in the northern Israeli city of Galilee, per the IDF. Upon responding to the incident, officers discovered a significant crater left by the drone and scattered parts of the device near a kindergarten in the vicinity.

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari confirmed the findings in a news conference, stating: "We located an unmanned aerial vehicle from Hezbollah near Tiberias, which apparently crossed and crashed near Tiberias. In response to this activity, we attacked weapons depots near Sidon."

Sheikh Nabil Qaouk, deputy member of Hezbollah's executive council, meanwhile asserted that the group is actively engaged in a sustained confrontation along the border with Israel. He emphasized the Shiite organization's commitment to preparing for unforeseen scenarios to present the enemy with unexpected challenges, Qaouk also reiterated Hezbollah's stance, stating that there will be no ceasefire until the aggression against Gaza ceases, even in the face of external pressures.

Head over to IsraelCollapse.com for more stories about the ongoing conflicts involving Israel.

Watch this video that explains what Hezbollah actually wants.

This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Middle East scholar: Iran-backed Hezbollah joining Israel-Hamas war is a "game-changer."

Hezbollah strikes Northern Israel with four rockets, destroying key IDF base.

Israel cannot beat Hezbollah, DIA's secret assessment concludes.

Israel warns it will extend military offensive to Lebanon if Hezbollah attacks dont cease.

Israel will invade Lebanon in late spring if conflict continues to escalate, Bidens intel warns.

Sources include:

TheMirror.com

NYPost.com

Brighteon.com
Jim Biden confirms to Congress that his nephew Hunter met with spy chief of China Patrick Ho in 2017

Political consultant and first brother James "Jim" Biden has officially confirmed that his nephew Hunter Biden met with Patrick Ho, who the presidential son dubbed the "spy chief of China," in 2017.

He confirmed the September 2017 meeting during his testimony before Congress in February. According to Jim, he accompanied his nephew in Hong Kong to have a meeting with Ho, an executive with energy firm CEFC China Energy. Weeks earlier, the company paid both Hunter and Jim $5 million as part of a joint enterprise to identify investments for the Chinese company.

Jim recounted that the three of them had a "pleasant" lunch at the special administrative region. The executive then requested a one-on-one meeting with the presidential son. "Ho said, 'Can I borrow Hunter for, you know, a half-hour? We're going to go in the next room,'" recounted the first brother.

His testimony is possibly going to raise questions about Hunter's earlier unknown communication with Ho. Months after the Hong Kong meeting, the presidential son jokingly described the CEFC executive as "the f******g spy chief of China" in May 2018.

A mere two months after the Hong Kong meeting between Ho and the Bidens, the 70-year-old CEFC executive was arrested and charged with money laundering in December 2017. Based on the court filing at the time, the charges were linked to CEFC China Energy's contracts in the African nations of Uganda and Chad.

Court records also revealed that the U.S. government acquired Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants to monitor Ho on the basis that he was a probable agent of a foreign government. By acquiring these warrants, investigators were permitted to keep electronic and physical tabs on Ho's property.

We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Learn about our free, downloadable AI tools on nutrition, health and preparedness at this article link. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance.

"The U.S. intends to offer into evidence, or otherwise use or disclose in any proceedings in the above-captioned matter, information obtained or derived from electronic surveillance and physical search conducted pursuant to the FISA," prosecutors declared in the court filing.

Jim Biden feigns ignorance about what Hunter and Ho discussed

Brokers for CEFC China Energy contacted Hunter in 2015, when President Joe Biden was still the second-highest U.S. official, about possible business deals. The company later paid Hunter $1 million to represent Ho, even though the first son seems not to have done any legal work on the case. (Related: Hunter Biden DEMANDS $10 Million FROM communist China energy company in WhatsApp text while sitting next to his senile father, the Big Guy.)

Years on, the Biden family's agreement with CEFC China energy has aroused national security concerns due to the Chinese company's relations to Chinese military intelligence.

During his testimony before Congress, Jim claimed ignorance about what his nephew talked privately with the Chinese executive. He told lawmakers that he had no idea why his nephew was invited to Hong Kong to meet with Ho  which House Republicans doubted.

"If [Hunter] wanted to volunteer what it was, he would've told me," said Jim. "I didn't pry into what he was doing."

The first brother said he also employed a former Secret Service official who worked on his oldest sibling's security detail to investigate Ho before the trip. According to Jim, the background check did not disclose anything negative about Ho.

But House GOP members pointed out that it was "odd" for Jim to "go to such lengths to hire a private investigator" to check into Ho  but refuse to pry answers from his nephew Hunter about the purpose of the Hong Kong trip. The first brother responded: "The way that we deal in my family, it wasn't odd."

Follow BidenCrimeFamily.news for more stories about President Joe Biden and his family.

Watch this Fox News report about the release of Hunter Biden's deposition transcript.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Hunter Biden WALKS OUT of House hearing as Republicans rebuke presidential son.

China-linked University of Delaware Biden partnership was Hunters baby and part of the Biden Crime Familys "wealth creation" strategy.

Hunter Biden, other members of Biden family received MILLIONS from business associate linked to CCP.

SMOKING GUN: Hunter Biden sent Joe Biden direct monthly payments from a business account that received funds from China.

Hunter Biden implicated in a laundry list of corrupt overseas business practices as father Joe Biden intimately involved.

Sources include:

FreeBeacon.com

The-Sun.com

Brighteon.com
Poll: Two-thirds of American voters want U.S. to push for PERMANENT CEASEFIRE in Gaza

A poll has found that roughly two-thirds of American voters want the U.S. to push for a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The survey conducted by Data for Progress (DFP) polled more than 1,200 likely voters from Feb. 22 to 26. It found that among overall respondents, 67 percent said they endorse Washington initiative to call for a lasting Gaza ceasefire and a broader de-escalation of violence. The same sentiment was present long party lines with 77 percent of Democrats, 69 percent of Independents, and 56 percent of Republicans in favor.

Furthermore, the poll delved into additional dimensions by querying respondents about their stance on supporting a ceasefire coupled with de-escalation measures and the "release of Israeli hostages from Gaza." The inclusion of the hostage release component elevated overall support to 74 percent.

A nuanced exploration of respondents' views on the timing of a permanent ceasefire revealed that 50 percent believe the U.S. should call for an immediate ceasefire. In contrast, 35 percent contend that such a call should occur after Hamas is "defeated." Meanwhile, 15 percent expressed uncertainty on the matter.

"The support for a permanent ceasefire increased by six points since DFP asked the question in a poll that was conducted at the end of November. Throughout the conflict, polling has consistently shown the majority of Americans favor a ceasefire," Antiwar.com pointed out. However, the Biden administration has consistently gone against the grain by vetoing calls for a pause to hostilities. (Related: U.S. vetoed Gaza ceasefire on same day it profited from arms sale to Israel.)

Thanks to your generous support, we are building the infrastructure of human freedom and actively donating our technology to independent publishers, authors and home schooling organizations. Learn about our game-changing non-commercial AI project here. Support our ongoing efforts to preserve and enhance human knowledge by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com.

The ongoing dynamics between Israel and Hamas  formally the Islamic Resistance Movement add complexity to the situation. The militant group has proposed a permanent ceasefire in exchange for the release of all remaining hostages it abducted during the Oct. 7 attack, which Tel Aviv rejected.

Hamas recently suggested a 135-day ceasefire, aiming for a comprehensive settlement within that timeframe. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed these proposals as "delusional."

Meanwhile, the Biden administration is advocating for a negotiated deal involving a six-week truce and the release of 40 Israeli hostages. However, Netanyahu has signaled that Israel will resume its military operations in Gaza once the proposed ceasefire concludes.

The grim toll of the conflict is evident in the staggering statistics, with nearly 30,000 Palestinians losing their lives and over 69,000 sustaining injuries in the backdrop of U.S.-backed Israeli actions. About two-thirds of these casualties are comprised of women and children, underscoring the profound human impact of the protracted conflict.

Fewer lawmakers support a ceasefire

The same DFP poll from November 2023 found that support for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict is significantly lower among members of Congress. While 61 percent of likely U.S. voters who responded to the survey support a permanent ceasefire and de-escalation, only 11 percent of lawmakers have done so.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, highlighted this disparity. She questioned why so few government officials align with the public's views, and criticized the White House for labeling her colleagues who called for a ceasefire as "repugnant."

Moreover, the DFP's November 2023 survey raised concerns about the rise in hate towards Jewish communities, Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. since the conflict began. The House of Representatives' recent measure equating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism was met with criticism from Palestinian rights advocates, who deemed it "dangerous" for potentially restricting free speech and diverting attention from the war.

When asked about the U.S. government's foreign policy approach to the crisis, around half of the respondents prioritized diplomatic efforts, while approximately 30 percent emphasized humanitarian assistance. Notably, the poll found that fewer than 25 percent of voters supported sending additional military aid and weapons to Israel, and only 11 percent considered sending U.S. troops to assist Israeli forces in Gaza a priority.

Watch this clip about the U.S. vetoing the United Nations' resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

This video is from the Maverick News channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Muslim Americans to Biden: Declare a ceasefire in Gaza, or lose our donations and votes.

MORE WAR: US Diplomats warned by State Dept. to avoid calling for ceasefire in Israel-Hamas conflict.

Netanyahu REJECTS Hamas offer to release ALL hostages for a ceasefire  further proof that the Israeli leader doesnt care about his own people.

Sources include:

News.Antiwar.com

DataforProgress.org

AlJazeera.com

Brighteon.com
Elon Musk joins Trump in secret meeting to discuss defeating Biden

Billionaire electric vehicle (EV) guru Elon Musk met with Donald Trump in secret recently at the former president's Mar-a-Lago estate to discuss how to oust Joe Biden from the White House this November.

Even though the X owner says he will not donate a penny to either political candidate  Musk likes to keep his riches close to the vest  the Tesla CEO believes that Biden needs to be defeated (probably for Musk's own benefit, you can be sure).

In Musk's eyes, Trump is the only realistic candidate who stands any chance at beating Biden. This became obvious after Trump's Super Tuesday sweep, which swept away his only remaining competitor, Nikki "Nimarata Randhawa" Haley of South Carolina.

The New York Times dropped the news about Musk's secret visit to Mar-a-Lago after both billionaires' private jets were spotted at the same airport in Palm Beach, Fla., on March 2. From there, rumors swirled about what the two were up to until the meeting was later "confirmed" by three separate sources to the Times.

Flew from Austin, Texas, US to West Palm Beach, Florida, US 24 hours ago. Apx. flt. time 1 Hour : 54 Mins. pic.twitter.com/l1R2K0eNhS  ElonJet but Delayed (@ElonJetNextDay) March 4, 2024

(Related: After a recent visit to Auschwitz, Elon Musk went "full Zionist.")

Will Elon help Trump?

Thus far this year, Trump is believed to have raised about $30 million for his campaign while Biden's war chest is around $56 million, according to official campaign filings.

Musk, who is said to be worth more than $200 billion, could easily furnish Trump with the cash his campaign needs, plus pay off his legal bills, but that will not happen.

On repeated occasions, Musk, who now operates his EV business in Texas, has called out the problems plaguing his new home, the biggest being mass illegal immigration. If the migrant issue is not dealt with, Musk warned that another 9/11 false flag attack will likely occur.

We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Learn about our free, downloadable AI tools on nutrition, health and preparedness at this article link. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance.

Musk also went on an X tirade after learning that the Biden regime has secretly flown at least 320,000 illegal aliens into the United States from Latin American countries, where they were then delivered to 43 U.S. cities.

"Treason indeed!" Musk tweeted. "Ushering in vast numbers of illegals is why Secretary Mayorkas was impeached by the House."

Someone should download the CBP One app and make a step by step video of this insanity. Thats a lot of planes and a lot of airports. Amazing that they kept this secret for so long. https://t.co/THm7o5sVzy  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2024

Musk believes that Biden is flying in all these people to add to his voter base in anticipation of another landslide election in Trump's favor.

"They are importing voters. This is why groups on the far left fight so hard to stop voter ID requirements, under the absurd guise of protecting the right to vote."

Musk is also upset at Biden over the regime's handling of Musk's questionable business practices at X, Tesla and Starlink, which prompted Musk to declare that he will not be voting for Biden in 2024.

? BREAKING: Elon Musk says he will not vote for Joe Biden in 2024 pic.twitter.com/QJKfW3z2gq  Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 29, 2023

At a recent rally in Summerville, S.C., Trump announced that, if elected, he will "terminate every open borders policy of the Biden administration and begin the largest deportation operation in American history" on his very first day.

President Trump: "I will terminate every open borders policy of the Biden administration and begin the largest deportation operation in American history" on the first day as President pic.twitter.com/AFMpWbIRqZ  TRUMP ARMY (@TRUMP_ARMY_) March 5, 2024

Will Trump win the election in 2024? Find out more at Trump.news.

Sources for this article include:

Modernity.news

NaturalNews.com
Report: Nikki Haley is CANCELING all ad spending for her failed campaign

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley appears to be canceling all her spending for advertisements, according to a report.

Fox News initially touched on the matter in the form of a conversation between the network's Bill Hemmer and Bret Baier. Hemmer opened the conversation by asking Baier if the rumors were true that Haley may or may not have any ads or appearances after March 4  ahead of Super Tuesday the following day.

"I've heard that as well," Baier replied. "I haven't talked to anybody on the campaign beyond  some people tied to it tangentially. If that's the case and [it] holds to be true, that's very telling."

"[Haley's] win so far is the [Washington], D.C. primary  and [if] you look at the map and look at the polls, it's tough to see a breakthrough [in] any place on Super Tuesday, despite the fact that 11 out of 15 states are open primaries where Democrats and independents can vote. But that's a telltale sign; we saw that from [Florida Gov.] Ron DeSantis too, after Iowa."

Ever since the Republican party primary elections, former President Donald Trump has consistently won several states. In contrast, Haley has had dismal results in primaries across various states  even in her home state of South Carolina. She only won the GOP primary for Washington, D.C., the so-called "swamp" that Trump wants to drain.

"Cancelling all ad spend and  all appearances. Fox News says live on air [that] it's hard to see her getting a victory anywhere on Super Tuesday," 100 Percent Fed Up pointed out.

"Actually to be fair, she already had her demise weeks ago. She just failed to accept it and stubbornly has continued on in the race, clinging to the hope that the courts would give her the nomination by knocking out Trump. [But] with the [recent U.S. Supreme Court decision favoring Trump], that is now becoming increasingly less likely; perhaps even Haley [herself] is finally seeing the writing on the wall?" (Related: SCOTUS: States CANNOT REMOVE Trump from their election ballots based on 14th Amendment's insurrection clause.)

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Learn about our free, non-commercial AI / LLM project here. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

Calls for Haley to DROP OUT getting louder

Trump's victory streak on Super Tuesday appears to show no signs of slowing down, with the former president winning most of the primaries in the 15 states that held theirs on March 5. Given this, calls for Haley to drop out of the presidential race have become louder. Several conservative personalities have joined the chorus, telling the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations to call it quits.

"Haley needs to drop out of the race," said former Housing Secretary Ben Carson in a post on X. "Our country is facing existential threats from within and abroad. If left unresolved, [these] will change the course of our future indefinitely."

Carson also reiterated that there are "real problems to solve for our children and grandchildren." He added that "America needs a strong leader back on the world stage"  in the person of Trump.

Former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin also called for Haley to drop out. "It's time for Haley to end her campaign, the GOP to unite and our great country to be saved in November," he posted on X. Incumbent Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson echoed calls for her to withdraw, noting that Haley and other Republicans in name only "have fought [Trump] every step of the way."

The Erie County GOP also posted a message on X, saying that "Trump's decisive victory on Super Tuesday should be the final straw for Haley. It's time for her to drop out and unify the GOP behind the America First candidate who will help secure our borders and take our country back."

Watch Newsmax's Carl Higbie expresses confusion as to why Nikki Haley remains in the GOP presidential race below.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

South Carolina poll: Trump leads Haley by 35 points in her own backyard.

Report: Nikki Haley's presidential campaign backed by more than 5,200 Biden donors.

Koch-backed super-PAC suspends funding for Nikki Haley after her devastating loss in South Carolina primary.

Matrixxx Grooove: Nikki Haley's presidential campaign is backed by Democratic DARK MONEY  Brighteon.TV.

LinkedIn co-founder and major Dem donor has visited Epstein island, recently donated $250,000 to Nikki Haley super PAC.

Sources include:

En-Volve.com

Breitbart.com

Brighteon.com
Nikki Haley drops out of presidential race, refuses to endorse Trump, violating her own pledge

After blowing through her massive $114 million election war chest, failed presidential wannabe Nikki Haley has dropped out of the race , having won the primaries in just Washington, D.C. and Vermont.

Following Donald Trump's Super Tuesday sweep in which he won 14 out of the 15 primaries held that day, Haley decided to throw in the towel, recognizing that very few people support her, even in her home state of South Carolina.

Having invested zero of her own dollars in her campaign, Haley is widely regarded as the establishment, Bush-era candidate  a RINO (Republican in Name Only) candidate who almost nobody likes and who is just there, for some unknown reason.

Most of Haley's support, ironically, comes from Democrats. A CNN exit poll of Republican voters in North Carolina found that of the 16 percent who say they support President Biden, 83 percent also support Haley.

It is also worth noting that most of Haley's influential and well-financed backers are Democrats, including Democrat billionaire donor Reid Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn.

Open Secrets found that an astounding 75 percent of the money Haley raised for her campaign came from large establishment donors, many of them Democrats. This means that very few real people, aka small donors, support Haley for president.

(Related: Did you know that Nikki Haley, whose real name is Nimarata Randhawa, bows at the feet of billionaire eugenicist and vaccine villain Bill Gates?)

Haley, the Democrat choice for the Republican nominee

While making her exit from the race, Haley had nothing good to say about Trump or her other opponents, referring to them as the "fellas" she outlasted, save for Trump.

Thanks to your generous support, we are building the infrastructure of human freedom and actively donating our technology to independent publishers, authors and home schooling organizations. Learn about our game-changing non-commercial AI project here. Support our ongoing efforts to preserve and enhance human knowledge by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com.

Haley also refused to endorse Trump as the clear Republican nominee, instead calling on Republicans everywhere to "rediscover" their party and what it "previously" stood for.

"It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and those beyond it to support him," Haley backhandedly scolded the former president, chiding him for failing to convince some Republicans that he is worth their vote. "I hope he does that."

As Haley was delivering this exit speech, Trump invited her to join his campaign, this after bragging that she "got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion," these being his exact words on social media. Trump continued in his online post to claim that Haley is secretly funded by "Radical Left Democrats."

President Biden, meanwhile, offered words of praise for Haley, claiming that it took "courage" to run for president and try to defeat Trump.

"Donald Trump made it clear he doesn't want Nikki Haley's supporters," the 81-year-old cognitively lacking Commander-in-Chief said. "I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign."

Other exit polls found that 79 percent of Haley's supporters are dissatisfied with Trump being the nominee, while the same percentage said they believe he is unfit for office if convicted of any crime.

Around 83 percent of Haley's supporters also believe, based on exit poll data, that Biden legitimately won the 2020 election, despite profuse evidence to the contrary that points to voter fraud and election manipulation.

Haley still believes, according to statements she made all along the campaign trail, that Trump has no chance of winning the election in 2024. She repeatedly expressed her opinion that America "can't survive" another four years of "chaos" with Trump at the helm.

"He went down a path he shouldn't have, and we shouldn't have followed him, and we shouldn't have listened to him," Haley told journalist Tim Alberta about Trump and his 2020 election fraud claims. "And we can't let that ever happen again."

The latest news about the 2024 presidential election can be found at Trump.news.

Sources for this article include:

Breitbart.com

NaturalNews.com

ABCNews.go.com
New York AG Letitia James wages WAR on beef in latest lawfare climate change crusade

At the very same time that the beef industry is taking a massive hit due to the devastating Texas fires, New York Attorney General Letitia James is delivering a second blow by waging a climate war on the meat industry.

In an announcement, James revealed that she filed a lawsuit against meat producer JBS USA Food Company, the American division of JBS Foods. According to James, officials at JBS are "misleading the public" about the environmental impact of the company's operations.

JBS says it will "achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040" while still implementing plans to "increase production." In James' view, this means that JBS will increase its carbon footprint over the next 16 years.

"As families continue to face the daily impacts of the climate crisis, they are willing to spend more of their hard-earned money on products from brands that are better for the environment," James commented about the case.

"When companies falsely advertise their commitment to sustainability, they are misleading consumers and endangering our planet."

According to James, JBS is engaging in "greenwashing" tactics with its net zero claims. In her opinion, JBS is exploiting the pocketbooks of everyday Americans with a false promise of "a healthy planet for future generations."

James reassured the public that her office "will always ensure that companies do not abuse the environment and the trust of hardworking consumers for profit."

(Related: Last year, Letitia James launched a state-approved terror campaign against Christians in New York.)

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Learn about our free, non-commercial AI / LLM project here. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

Make way for synthetic meat

Conveniently timed with James' lawsuit is an announcement about the latest advancements in lab-produced synthetic meat, which now costs 90 percent less to manufacture.

So-called "cellular agriculture," or the growing of fake meat in a lab, will challenge the real meat industry that James and other climate crusaders are trying to destroy. Does James have financial ties to the synthetic meat industry?

"Until now, growth factors had to be added to the surrounding liquid, or media," reported SciTechDaily about how bovine muscle cells can now produce their own growth factors thanks to technological developments from David Kaplan, a professor at the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA).

"Made from recombinant (genetically engineered) protein and sold by industrial suppliers, growth factors contribute to a majority of the cost of production for cultivated meat (up to or above 90%). Since the growth factors dont last long in the cell culture media, they also have to be replenished every few days. This limits the ability to provide an affordable product to consumers. Taking that ingredient out of the growth media leads to an enormous cost savings."

In other words, the real beef industry is being attacked on all sides with mysterious fires and lawsuits while the emerging synthetic beef industry is making major strides in reducing production costs. Can you say conspiracy?

"It just so happens as a matter of splendid serendipity that billionaire-funded lab-meat startups ramping up production coincides with the forced elimination via legal fiat of actual beef production by their minions who control DA offices from coast to coast," is how independent journalist Ben Bartee put it.

In the comments, someone wrote that this is clearly not a coincidence as "their plans," referring to the powers that be, "should be plain as the nose on a normie's face ... Operative words: should be."

"Franken-farming, AI drone-operated farmerless farms, synthetic food, and the 'China Model,'" wrote another about the takeover of food by evil, also citing this article by researcher Sandi Adams.

If the climate really is changing, it is because of all the green nonsense like synthetic, lab-grown "meat." Learn more at Climate.news.

Sources for this article include:

ArmageddonProse.substack.com

NaturalNews.com

Off-Guardian.org
Texas fires are destroying cattle ranches  will the U.S. beef industry survive?

In what the Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) X account is describing as a total wipeout of the American beef industry, the Texas fires have reportedly annihilated a disturbing number of cattle ranches, feedlots and grasslands in the Lone Star State.

The devastation is enormous, including at least 120 miles of power lines gone, meaning no more operational electric grid in those areas, as well as huge losses of prairie and grass for cattle to graze  that is, for the cattle that survived the fiery inferno.

"Many cattle's hooves have been burned and many more will need to be put down," it was reported. "What an amazing 'coincidence' this happened to the beef industry."

Texas agricultural commissioner Sid Miller confirmed the devastation, which the man in the video below explains marks the largest fire in Texas state history.

"We knew this about three days ago when it hit over a million acres," he states. "They're now at a million and a half acres."

UPDATE On Damage Caused By The Texas Fires - Cattle feed & Feed Lots burned - No water the ranchers use for their cattle - No grass, prairie land for the cattle to graze is gone - 120 Miles of power lines down/ no grid Seems The Entire Beef Cattle Industry Just Got Wiped Out pic.twitter.com/a5nfuBVcdj  Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) March 5, 2024

(Related: You know what else just partially burned to the ground? The San Vicente migrant camp in Darien Gap.)

Texas fire largest in American history

As we reported back in 2022, U.S. food infrastructure has been under attack for some time now. Food factories all across the nation have burned to the ground under mysterious circumstances, and now we have this apparent attack on the U.S. beef industry.

Though Texas is not America's exclusive provider of beef, the cattle and land that was lost in this massive fire will probably have a noticeable impact on the conventional beef supply.

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Learn about our free, non-commercial AI / LLM project here. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

"The largest fire we've ever had in Texas is the largest fire we've ever had in the United States," the man in the above video explains. "It's almost at 2,000 square miles, one million and a half acres, with preliminary reports stating 3,000 heads of cattle."

"That number will triple or quadruple before it's over, especially when we start euthanizing the cattle that have, uh, had their hooves burnt or their udders burnt. We're going to have to, you know, put a lot of these animals down."

In addition to the cattle losses, some 500 homes and barns were reported as destroyed along with two fatalities and five firefighter injuries. Keep in mind that these numbers will likely increase in the coming days.

Since most of the water in the fire-affected areas come from wells, the damage is also apparent in terms of loss of stock water.

"Not only is this livestock out of grass, but there's also no water," it was explained. "So it is a very desperate situation."

As all of this is happening, mind you, New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing the largest manufacturer of beef due to what she believes is the damaging effect of meat on "climate change."

"They want to control our food," tweeted an X account about both the Texas fires and James' crusade against beef. "Once they do, famine is very much within play."

Another wrote that there is plenty of money to keep sending to Ukraine, but none to support Texas  and Americans are okay with this?

"I'll bet the military contractors (i.e., Raytheon) don't make much money on natural disasters."

What do you think? Is the U.S. food supply under attack? Learn more at Collapse.news.

Sources for this article include:

Twitter.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
Why does a Rothschild hold the 2015 patent for COVID-19 testing?

While many conspiracies about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) have been revealed to be true, one stands out  the fact that a member of the infamous Rothschild family holds the patent for COVID-19 testing

"It has been reported that  COVID-19 caught the world by surprise in 2020," wrote 100 Percent Fed Up. "Well, all of us  except the Rothschilds, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office."

According to the outlet, a British national named Richard Rothschild was granted a patent for "System and Method for Testing for COVID-19, with a priority date of Oct. 13, 2015  the date when the patent was first filed. (Related: Patent document shows that DARPA built covid with the help of Bill Gates, WHO.)

Based on the patent's abstract, the method calls for the use of "a pulse oximeter to acquire at least pulse and blood oxygen saturation percentage." The oximeter's readings are then "transmitted wirelessly to a smartphone" equipped with an accelerometer for accuracy.

"Once accurate data is acquired, it is uploaded to the cloud (or host), where the data is used (alone or together with other vital signs) to determine whether the user is suffering from (or likely to suffer from) a viral infection, such as COVID-19," it continued. "Depending on the specific requirements, the data, changes thereto, and/or the determination can be used to alert medical staff and take corresponding actions."

Fact-checkers come to the rescue

In October 2020, Reuters published a "fact-check" piece about the matter, describing the patent as a "false claim." The outlet mentioned that the 2015 priority date serves as "evidence that the [COVID-19] pandemic has been planned."

We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Learn about our free, downloadable AI tools on nutrition, health and preparedness at this article link. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance.

However, it quickly went on defensive mode by noting that the patent for such a system was not applied for until May 2020. Reuters also alleged that the individual who disclosed the Rothschild patent has conflated the definition of "priority date" and "application date."

"The priority date can refer to the earliest filing date in a family of related patent applications or the earliest filing date of a particular feature of an invention. In this case, Oct. 13, 2015 is when Rothschild first made a provisional application within this family of patents."

Moreover, Reuters disclosed that a separate patent for a "System and Method for Using, Biometric, and Displaying Biometric Data" was filed in April 2017. The outlet ultimately deemed the claim as false, explaining that "the year 2015 was when Rothschild first filed a provisional application within the family of patents. The year 2017 is the filing date of a related, but separate patent within the family."

While the identity of the 2015 patent holder remains a mystery, his British lineage can possibly be traced to the family of Nathan Mayer Rothschild. The patriarch of the English branch of the Rothschild banking family was sent to the United Kingdom by his father, Mayer Amschel Rothschild, to establish a presence there.

Head over to Conspiracy.news for more stories like this.

Watch this video that explains why everything in the U.S. since the year 1492 has been a Rothschild-related scam.

This video is from the 5Slampig channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Health experts claim U.S. military has been secretly controlling Australias health institutions and COVID-19 vaccine rollout plans.

BE AFRAID: Global health experts claim next pandemic could be up to 20 TIMES DEADLIER than COVID-19.

Californias population numbers drop to 2015 pre-COVID levels as EXCESS DEATHS soar.

Faucis former top deputy caught deleting correspondence on COVID-19 origins.

Whistleblower: CIA BRIBED analysts to change their findings on COVID-19 origins.

Sources include:

100PercentFedup.com

PubChem.NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov

Reuters.com

Britannica.com

Brighteon.com
As the Met Office warns of snow and chilly gales across the UK, some Brits are finding ways to enjoy the winter wonderland that has emerged amidst the cold. From picturesque landscapes to fun activities, there is more to the frosty weather than meets the eye.

The Beauty of Nature in the Snow

The calm waters reflect the trees and the building in the background, creating a serene and ethereal atmosphere.

The Met Office meteorologist Clare Nasir described the outlook as cloudy across eastern and northeastern areas with patchy showers, but also noted that fog and frost would clear up in most parts to make way for sunny spells later this morning.

This means that there are opportunities to witness and capture the scenic views that the snow has created.

According to the UK weather outlook for March 2024, the first weekend of the month will have a cold and potentially frosty start for large parts of the country and a weather front affecting the north of England, southern Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The temperature will be low enough that the hills will see snow, and this could be disruptive for some of the high passes. The front will move through Friday night, and leave us with a cold weekend with showers blowing in from the north west. Again, some of these may be wintery, especially on higher ground.

Also Read: UK Weather Update: Met Office Warns of Dangerous Snow, Ice Conditions; Flood Warnings Reported

The Fun of Winter Activities

Another way that some Brits are enjoying the winter weather is by engaging in various activities that the snow allows. From building snowmen to sledding, there is no shortage of fun and excitement for those who are willing to brave the cold.

Some of the popular places to visit for winter activities include the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland, where visitors can ski, snowboard, and sled on the slopes, and the Lake District in England, where visitors can hike, bike, and kayak on the frozen lakes.

Of course, there are also plenty of options for those who prefer to stay closer to home, such as making snow angels, having snowball fights, or simply enjoying a hot drink by the fireplace.

The Met Office advises people to stay safe and warm during the snowy and chilly weather, and to check the latest forecasts and warnings before travelling.

However, for those who are looking for some adventure and fun, the winter wonderland offers a unique and memorable experience.

The article you uploaded also mentions that a 450-mile rain bomb will hit the UK next weekend, bringing freezing temperatures and wind.

Maps from WXCharts show rain moving in from southern England up until Scotland next weekend with heaviest downpours expected on Sunday, March 17.

The heaviest downpours will be seen in Ballycastle in Northern Ireland, Kirkcudbright in Scotland, Whitehaven and Pennines in England.

Other areas experiencing heavy rains are Aberystwyth, Southampton, Cardiff, Bath, London, Eastbourne, Exeter and Plymouth. This could cause flooding and travel disruption in some areas, so it is advisable to be prepared and cautious.

Related article: UK Weather: Heavy Rain Triggers More Than 150 Flood Alerts
As part of the DIMDEX 2024 international maritime defense conference in Doha, where Army Recognition was present, Port Hamad played host to several warships. Below, you will find the list of these ships, as well as in a video published by Army Recognition. DIMDEX is a dynamic platform that engages key decision-makers and leaders in the maritime defense and security industry. It provides exhibitors with the opportunity to showcase their latest and most advanced technologies and products to high-level industry personnel, aiming to secure significant agreements and partnerships.

Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

One of the highlight at DIMDEX 2024 is the presence of the Pakistani Navy submarine Khalid. (Picture source: Navy Recognition)

As the largest port in the Middle East, Hamad offers DIMDEX 2024 the opportunity for exhibitors and visitors to explore the ships and meet the management and crew.

Federico Martinengo F596  Italy



The Federico Martinengo (F596) is a FREMM class frigate of the Italian Navy, named after the Italian naval hero Federico Martinengo. The ship was launched on March 4, 2017, and officially entered service on April 24, 2018. The Federico Martinengo is part of a series of European multi-purpose frigates developed within the framework of the FREMM program (Fregata Europea Multi-Missione), a joint initiative between Italy and France aimed at producing a new generation of frigates for both navies.



As a highly advanced warship, the Federico Martinengo is designed for a wide range of missions, including anti-warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and air defense. It features state-of-the-art weapons and sensor systems, including surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, torpedoes, and an advanced sonar system for submarine detection. The frigate is also equipped with a helicopter landing deck and hangar to operate naval helicopters. With a displacement of approximately 6,700 tons and a length of 144 meters, the Federico Martinengo represents a significant capability in naval warfare.

Royal Navy of Oman Vessel SADH  Oman



The third patrol vessel of the Royal Navy of Oman (RNO), the RNOV Sadh, is part of the Al-Ofouq class, measuring 75 meters in length and displacing approximately 1,250 tonnes. The contract for the design and construction of these patrol vessels was awarded to Singapore Technologies Marine Ltd (ST Marine) in April 2012. Equipped with modern weapon and combat management systems, the Al-Ofouq class patrol vessels are designed for various maritime and homeland security missions, including extended surveillance patrols in the Sultanate's Exclusive Economic Zone.



Pakistan Navy Submarine Khalid  Pakistan



The Pakistan Navy Submarine Khalid (S137) is the lead boat of the Khalid-class, which is a variant of the French Agosta-90B class diesel-electric attack submarines. The submarine was commissioned into service with the Pakistan Navy in 1999. These submarines were designed as highly advanced and capable platforms for a variety of missions, including anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, reconnaissance, and surveillance operations.



The Khalid-class submarines, including the Khalid itself, are notable for their stealth features, advanced sonar capabilities, and the ability to launch Exocet SM39 anti-ship missiles while submerged. Equipped with air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems, these submarines have an extended underwater endurance, allowing them to operate silently for longer periods, enhancing their stealth capabilities.

Pakistan Navy Ship Tabuk  Pakistan



The Pakistan Navy Ship (PNS) Tabuk is a corvette that falls under the Yarmook-class, serving as part of Pakistan's efforts to modernize and expand its naval capabilities. Constructed by the Dutch shipbuilding company Damen, PNS Tabuk was launched in 2020 and subsequently entered service with the Pakistan Navy. This class of ships is designed to perform a variety of maritime operations, including patrol and surveillance, anti-surface and anti-air warfare, as well as humanitarian and search and rescue missions.



PNS Tabuk, alongside its sister ships in the Yarmook-class, is equipped with advanced sensors and weapons systems to fulfill its multi-role capabilities. These ships are capable of accommodating a helicopter on their flight deck, enhancing their operational flexibility. With a displacement of around 2,300 tons and measuring approximately 90 meters in length, the Yarmook-class, including PNS Tabuk, represents a significant addition to the Pakistan Navy.

Al Doha QTS-91  Qatar



The Al Doha (QTS 91) training ship is the first of two ordered by Qatar Emiri Navy Forces from Turkey's Anadolu Shipyard. The order was placed in March 2018, showcasing Qatar's commitment to maritime training and defense during the DIMDEX naval defense exhibition in Doha. These Cadet Training Ships are specifically designed to support theoretical and practical training for cadets and instructors at the Mohammed bin Ghanem Maritime Academy.



Built by Turkey's Anadolu Shipyard, the AL DOHA-class training ships are tailored to meet the needs of the Qatari navy, serving multiple purposes including offshore patrol and logistics support. With a displacement of 2,150 tonnes, a length of 89.59 meters, and a beam of 14.18 meters, these vessels are equipped with state-of-the-art features, including two fully functional bridges for training, a stern flight deck capable of accommodating helicopters, and a comprehensive training infrastructure for up to 76 students and 8 instructors. Additionally, these ships boast a propulsion system capable of reaching speeds up to 22 knots and a range exceeding 2,000 nautical miles, ensuring their effectiveness in both training and operational missions.



Qens Damsah F102  Qatar



The Qens Damsah F102, also known as the Al Doha-class corvette, is a notable addition to Qatar's naval capabilities. Produced and commissioned in recent years, the exact date of production and entry into service may vary based on specific milestones and official announcements. As a modern warship, the Qens Damsah F102 plays a crucial role in Qatar's maritime defense strategy, enhancing its ability to safeguard territorial waters and contribute to regional security efforts.



Equipped with advanced weapon systems and surveillance technology, the Qens Damsah F102 is designed for various maritime operations, including patrolling, surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, and protection of maritime interests.



Marshal Shaposhnikov  Russia

Marshal Shaposhnikov, a Udaloy-class destroyer, now reclassified as a frigate, has been a cornerstone of the Russian Navy since her commissioning on December 30, 1985. Built by Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad, she embodies advanced naval capabilities and formidable firepower.



With a displacement of 7,900 tons at full load and a length of 163 meters, Marshal Shaposhnikov boasts a powerful armament, including UKSK VLS cells for a variety of missiles, anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missiles, and torpedo tubes. Equipped with advanced sensors and processing systems, as well as electronic warfare capabilities, the vessel is capable of conducting a wide range of missions, from air and surface surveillance to anti-submarine warfare. With a complement of 300 personnel and the ability to carry two Ka-27 'Helix' series helicopters, Marshal Shaposhnikov remains an asset in the Russian Pacific Fleet.



HMS Middleton  United Kingdom



HMS Middleton, a Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel, has been a vital asset to the British Royal Navy since her commissioning on July 4, 1984. With a primary role in protecting vital sea lanes and ensuring access to sea bases, HMS Middleton plays a crucial role in safeguarding the global security of energy supplies and contributing to wider safety at sea. Equipped with high-powered sonar, remote underwater vehicles, and a crew of divers, the ship is specifically designed to deal with sea-bed threats, making it an essential component of the UK maritime defense strategy.



Constructed by Yarrow Shipbuilders in Glasgow, Scotland, HMS Middleton was launched on April 27, 1983, and remains in active service as of the latest update. Operating out of HMNB Portsmouth and forming part of the 9th Mine Countermeasures Squadron based at HMS Jufair in Bahrain, HMS Middleton is armed with a 30mm DS30B cannon, SeaFox mine disposal system, and diver-placed explosive charges, ensuring its readiness to handle various maritime challenges. Led by Lt Cdr T C Loxton, the vessel's mission to maintain peace and stability in the Persian Gulf underscores its significance in maintaining maritime security and supporting military operations.
Republic of Korea Marines and Thai marines showcased their expertise in amphibious warfare during an action as part of Cobra Gold 24, held at Hat Yao Beach in Rayong province, Thailand, on March 1, 2024. Showcasing their agility and proficiency in amphibious assault tactics, their demonstration underscored the commitment of regional partners to enhancing interoperability and readiness for amphibious assaults.

Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

Royal Thai Marines landing on Yao Beach in Rayong province, Thailand (Picture source: USMC )

Amphibious capabilities hold significant strategic importance for Asian armies like those of Thailand and South Korea due to various factors specific to the region. Both countries' extensive coastlines necessitate the ability to project power across bodies of water, safeguarding maritime interests and ensuring national security amidst geopolitical tensions and regional rivalries. Moreover, these capabilities enable swift responses to potential aggressors and facilitate disaster relief efforts in areas prone to natural disasters, bolstering international standing and demonstrating readiness for humanitarian assistance. Additionally, amphibious operations enhance territorial defense capabilities, particularly in complex littoral environments, while fostering inter-service cooperation and enabling seamless joint operations, thereby enhancing overall military effectiveness and operational flexibility in addressing diverse security challenges across Asia.

Cobra Gold, now in its 43rd iteration, stands as the largest joint exercise in mainland Asia, symbolizing the robust alliance and strategic partnership between Thailand and the United States. Running from February 27 to March 8, 2024, this year's exercise emphasizes the importance of multilateral cooperation in promoting regional security and stability.

The Republic of Korea Marines' participation not only enhances the effectiveness of Cobra Gold but also strengthens ties between South Korea, Thailand, and the United States. Their expertise and dedication contribute to the overall success of the exercise, demonstrating the collective resolve to address common security threats and challenges in the Asia-Pacific region.

As Cobra Gold 24 continues, participants remain committed to fostering cooperation, interoperability, and mutual understanding among nations, reaffirming their shared commitment to peace and security in the region.
In an ambitious program aimed at modernizing the Royal Netherlands Navy's submarine fleet, a tight competition unfolds among several defense industry giants. Named the "Walrus Replacement Program," this initiative seeks to replace the four Walrus-class submarines currently in service, with deployment scheduled to begin in 2025. With a budget of 2.5 billion euros, the focus is on technology transfers and the involvement of the local naval industry in constructing and maintaining future vessels.

Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

A Suffren deliver by Naval Group to the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) in 2020 (Picture source: Naval Group)

Following an initial selection process, three contenders remain in the highly sought-after market: France's Naval Group, Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), and Sweden's Saab Kockums, leaving Spain's Navantia out for not establishing the necessary partnerships with the Dutch industry. The disappearance of the RDM naval shipyard in 1996 signified a loss of submarine expertise for the Netherlands, making this contract even more critical for the country.

The French company specializing in naval shipbuilding, systems, and support services is extending an offer to the Royal Netherlands Navy for a design based on its Barracuda family of conventionally-powered submarines. This specific variant for the Netherlands inherits features from the Suffren class of nuclear-powered attack submarines. It is designed to be an quiet, deep-sea vessel equipped with the advanced 'Albacore' hydrodynamic hull form of the Suffren, alongside a sophisticated combat system and sonar suite. Additionally, it includes a substantial payload of weaponry aligned with Dutch operational needs. The primary distinction is the Dutch preference against nuclear propulsion, leading to the proposition of a shorter, conventionally-powered model crafted to fulfill Dutch requirements.

TKMS leverages its close ties with the Netherlands to promote its U212CD submarine, partnering with technology institutes TNO and Royal NLR. This collaboration underscores potential economies of scale since this model is also intended for the German and Norwegian naval forces. Meanwhile, Saab Kockums has teamed up with Damen, a major Dutch shipbuilder, to propose the C718 submarine, a variant of the A-26 developed for the Swedish navy.

Naval Group, viewing the Netherlands as a major prospect, has established a strategic partnership with Royal IHC to create an ecosystem around its offer, the "Black Sword Barracuda." This model, a conventionally powered version of the Barracuda nuclear attack submarine, appears to be the frontrunner. The final decision, expected in 2021 but delayed due to negotiation difficulties, is imminent, pending approval by the Dutch cabinet.

The Dutch authorities, in evaluating the bids, are said to favor Naval Group for the quality and cost of its offer, as well as for delivery speed. Meanwhile, faced with the threat of Russian research vessels near its critical infrastructure, the Royal Netherlands Navy has had to extend the operational life of three of its submarines by "cannibalizing" the oldest one, thus avoiding a capability gap.

This competition underscores the strategic importance of submarines for national defense and highlights the technological, economic, and political challenges associated with renewing maritime military capabilities. The highly anticipated final decision will define the future of the Dutch submarine fleet and emphasize the significance of international collaboration in the defense sector.
Sorry, something doesn't look right.

Something seems unusual about your device or browser. Please contact support.
Vikas Khanna names dish in new restaurant after US book set in Kashmir

Mumbai, March 7

Celebrity Chef Vikas Khanna has paid tribute to the Paradise of India -- Kashmir by naming a dish after it in his menu for his upcoming restaurant Bungalow New York, which is all set to open its doors on March 23.

He captioned it: Most of the menu of @bungalowny has evolved during travels or research & diversity of Indian cuisine. We are proud of every dish, especially the dish we call, Kiss Of Kashmir. The name was inspired by our friend @monicasaigalbhides latest novel.

She is one of the foremost Indian food, who made it in the mainstream America.

Khanna added: Lotus stem with layers of zaika (flavour). Cant wait to show you a glimpse of the dish next week. Our tribute to Paradise of India  Kashmir.

The restaurant opens on the day of Khannas sister Radhika, who would have celebrated 50th birthday.

According to reports, Bungalow New York also celebrates the famous street vendors of India and their iconic recipes passed on from generation and cookbook writers.

(IANS - Posted on 07 March 2024)

Vikas Khanna names dish in new restaurant after US book set in Kashmir

Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us!
SpiceJet resolves Rs 413 dispute with Echelon Ireland Madison One Ltd

New Delhi, March 7

SpiceJet on Thursday announced the successful resolution of Rs 413 crore dispute with Echelon Ireland Madison One Ltd.

As part of the agreement, SpiceJet will acquire two airframes, enhancing the airline's fleet and operational capabilities.

"This settlement marks the third major resolution for SpiceJet following its recent fundraising. These successful settlements have resulted in total savings of INR 685 crore for the airline, further solidifying SpiceJet's financial stability and balance sheet," said the spokesperson.

Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet said: We are pleased to announce the successful resolution of our dispute with Echelon Ireland Madison One Ltd, marking another significant milestone for SpiceJet."

He said that this settlement not only underscores our commitment to financial prudence but also enables us to further fortify our fleet with the acquisition of two airframes.

(IANS - Posted on 07 March 2024)

SpiceJet resolves Rs 413 dispute with Echelon Ireland Madison One Ltd

Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us!
Flipkart plans to enter quick-commerce business

New Delhi, March 7

E-commerce major Flipkart is planning to enter the quick-commerce business, aiming to deliver orders to customers instantly after purchase, the media reported on Thursday.

However, the discussions are ongoing and there may be slight changes in the timeline, the report mentioned.

"The e-commerce firm is committed to meeting evolving customer expectations and delivering excellence in value, selection and speed, with more initiatives expected on this front in the coming months," a Flipkart spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The new foray comes at a time when Flipkart is also exploring the acquisition of the instant-delivery firm Dunzo.

Earlier this month, Flipkart announced that it is gearing to roll out same-day delivery of products across multiple categories in metro and non-metro cities.

The move will see customers across cities, including Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Coimbatore, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Patna, Raipur, Siliguri and Vijayawada.

The e-commerce major also launched its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) handle recently to further enhance its digital payment offerings for all customers, including its 500+ million customers.

(IANS - Posted on 07 March 2024)

Flipkart plans to enter quick-commerce business

Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us!
Pregnancy was not easy: Gal Gadot welcomes fourth baby with husband Jaron Varsano

Washington DC, March 7

Good news! for all the Gal Gadot fans, the 'Wonder Woman' actor has welcomed her fourth baby with husband Jaron Varsano.

Taking to Instagram, Gadot shared a picture with her newborn baby in the hospital that she captioned, "My sweet girl, welcome. The pregnancy was not easy and we made it through. You have brought so much light into our lives, living up to your name, Ori, which means 'my light' in Hebrew. Our hearts are full of gratitude. Welcome to the house of girls.. daddy is pretty cool too."

https://www.instagram.com/p/C4L5btqPutJ/

Soon after the actor shared the picture, his friends and fans swamped down the comment section and congratulated the couple.

Hollywood star Vin Diesel reacted to the snapshot. He dropped a folded-hands emoticon.

Lilly Collins wrote, "Ahhhhh congratulations!!!."

A user wrote, "Congratulations dear Gal!!! We love you so much!!!"

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a US-based media outlet, Gadot married Jaron Varsano in 2008. Since then, the couple has expanded their family by welcoming daughters Alma in 2011, Maya in 2017 and Daniella in 2021. "I love giving birth," Gadot once said. "I would do it once a week if I could. It's so magical. And I always take epidurals, to be fair, so it's not painful. Just the moment you feel like you're creating life, it's incredible."

She has also said that she prefers to keep her family life "as private as possible." As such, she did not share any pregnancy images ahead of Ori's birth nor were there any reports that she was expecting, as per The Hollywood Reporter.

On the work front, Gadot was last seen in the spy thriller film 'Heart of Stone' which also starred actor Alia Bhatt.

(ANI - Posted on 07 March 2024)

Pregnancy was not easy: Gal Gadot welcomes fourth baby with husband Jaron Varsano

Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us!
India is working on major corridors both to its east and west...: Jaishankar at Raisina Roundtable in Tokyo

Tokyo, March 7

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasised that India is working on major corridors both to its east and west, and once completed, these corridors will connect the Atlantic to the Pacific through Asia.

"India is today working on major corridors both to its east and west. They include the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) initiative through the Arabian peninsula and the international north-south transport corridor and towards east the trilateral highway in southeast Asia and the Chennai Vladivostok route, which also has polar implications...these corridors when completed will connect the Atlantic to the Pacific through Asia," he said.

Jaishankar further said that India and Japan have converging views on the need for collaborative connectivity.

"Two nations (India and Japan) have converging views about the need for transparent and collaborative connectivity," he said.

In his address, Jaishankar also stressed the need to strengthen our defence capabilities.

"As the voice of the global south, India is conscious of the responsibility, our development efforts today span 78 nations across different continents, can India and Japan coordinate in regards to their developmental systems?...Maritime safety and security have become particularly pressing concerns," he said.

Shedding light on the ongoing tensions in the Red Sea, he said, "We can see that at the Red Sea, we have just had the first casualties there in shipping. It is also necessary to strengthen our defence capabilities for the benefit of the larger region..."

On Wednesday, three crew members were killed in a Houthi missile strike on a cargo ship off southern Yemen according to US officials.

Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, that set the Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence on fire on Wednesday, some 50 nautical miles (93 km) off the coast of Yemen's port of Aden.

The Houthis have been carrying out attacks on commercial and military shipping in the Red Sea since November, halting the global trade routes.

The Houthis initially said that they would target Israel-linked ships in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, but later expanded their targets to include vessels linked to the United Kingdom and the US.

Jaishankar is currently on a visit to Japan from March 6-8. Prior to this, he visited South Korea, where he met the top leaders during his stay.

He is in Japan for the 16th India-Japan Foreign Minister's Strategic Dialogue with his Japanese counterpart, Yoko Kamikawa.

The two ministers are expected to discuss issues of bilateral, regional and global importance, and exchange views on cooperation for a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, according to MEA.

(ANI - Posted on 07 March 2024)

India is working on major corridors both to its east and west...: Jaishankar at Raisina Roundtable in Tokyo

Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us!
PM Modi's spiritual pause; halts to see 'majestic' Shankaracharya Hill en route to Srinagar

Srinagar, March 7

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday made a significant spiritual detour on his journey to Srinagar, as he halted to see Shankaracharya Hill from a distance.

https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1765634814869197203

Sharing a set of pictures of himself admiring the breathtaking view, PM Modi said, "Upon reaching Srinagar a short while ago, had the opportunity to see the majestic Shankaracharya Hill from a distance."

The Prime Minister's visit holds particular significance as it marks his first rally in Kashmir since 2019 and is anticipated to be the largest political gathering in the region since the scrapping of Article 370 five years ago. The event is set to take place at Bakshi Stadium.

This unplanned visit of PM Modi underscored the Prime Minister's push for local tourism and his commitment to connecting with the country's diverse cultural fabric.

Recently, there was fury and a sharp downturn in ties with neighbouring Maldives over viral social media posts by the country's junior ministers mocking PM Modi's visit to Lakshadweep.

Ridiculing PM Modi and his call to promote Lakshadweep as a destination for beach tourism, several junior ministers and government officials in Maldives made disparaging and distasteful remarks against him.

The matter snowballed into a major diplomatic row, with New Delhi summoning the Maldivian envoy to the South Block and registering a strong protest against the viral posts.

(ANI - Posted on 07 March 2024)

PM Modi's spiritual pause; halts to see 'majestic' Shankaracharya Hill en route to Srinagar

Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us!
Download Now

The News-Gazette mobile app brings you the latest local breaking news, updates, and more. Read the News-Gazette on your mobile device just as it appears in print.




Asked days later whether district action regarding the futures of Principal Jaime Roundtree and Assistant Principal Rebecca Ramey had anything to do with his decision, Jamar Brown said it didn't, given that, as of (this week), there has been no decision made by the district or board to change leadership at Booker T. Washington.
China accuses US of devising tactics to suppress China despite improvement in relations

Chinas foreign minister is accusing the U.S. of devising tactics to suppress Chinas rise and he has criticized the Biden administration for adding more Chinese companies to its sanctions lists
Elena Cleary, right, talks about adjusting to sleep schedules in Sierra Leone as classmates, from left, Faith Lee, Stephanie Wayda, Nour Longi, Piper Pascarella and Maggie Knutte prepare Monday for their trip in their class in the English Building.
In a critique of a previously published article on daylight saving time (DST) and European mortality in 1998-2012, researchers discussed their concerns regarding the study's key results and interpretations. The critique published in Nature Communications highlights significant flaws in the statistical analysis and conclusions of the study.

In the original article's abstract, researchers reported a decrease in mortality during the two weeks following the Spring change with a reverse effect after the Fall change, using the multiple negative binomial regression model. However, Figure 1 of the article showed the opposite effect  a slight increase from an already decreasing trend in mortality in the Spring and a slight decrease from an already increasing trend in the Fall in the weeks after the DST transition. These data are consistent with previous research on this subject.

In the critique, the authors presented the following reasons for this discrepancy.

Matters Arising: Daylight saving time and mortalityproceed with caution. Image Credit: Iryna Imago / Shutterstock

Concurvity in the model

Concurvity in non-linear models is analogous to collinearity in linear models, indicating that certain variables are interdependent but that this lack of independence has not been accounted for in the model.

In this case, the interdependent parameters are weeks after the DST transition, month, season, temperature, humidity, and photoperiod. Concurvity is not explicitly tested for in the analysis to identify the need for potential adjustments to the model.

Further, the model used does not test whether mortality-related parameters affect mortality rates in association with the transitions to DST. For example, the authors of the critique suggest checking whether results are seen only for a particular year and whether sex or age composition is different before and after a transition.

Time series and seasonal considerations

The dataset used in the paper included the entire time series, while the critique suggests restricting it to the weeks of data immediately before and after transitions. This restricted dataset would require fewer covariates and also reduce bias due to seasonal variations in humidity, month, temperature, and photoperiod, which can have longer-term trends.

At the same time, the analysis presents comparisons in mortality rates based on one week before the DST transition, which does not take into account longer-term seasonal trends in mortality, showing a rise in Fall and a decrease in Spring. The authors of the critique suggest explicitly incorporating seasonal trends using a design such as an Interrupted Time Series with a thoughtfully defined pre- and post-interval period.

Country-level differences

The dataset contains data from 16 countries, but the paper does not describe how the pooled regression model accounted for possible country-level differences. Interactions between the countries and other variables of interest are also not explicitly tested, which could lead to incorrect estimator variances and biased estimators.

The critique also notes that statistical significance in the study results could be due to the large sample size, with the relative impact of DST transitions in the model being relatively low. The analysis also does not list causes of death and thus makes no distinction between deaths from cancer (which cannot be attributable to DST) and traffic accidents (which can). There is, therefore, limited evidence to support the claim in the title of the original paper that DST affects mortality.

Conclusions

The original article's overall findings are inconsistent with those of many previous studies. The DST transition is linked to an increase in strokes and heart attacks. Furthermore, misalignment in circadian rhythms and sleep disturbances can have long-term health impacts due to increased inflammation, stress, and altered metabolism. Neuropsychological function is also affected by DST, which may be associated with increases in traffic accidents and suicides.

The critique's authors believe that policymakers must consider these adverse effects and compare them to the short-term benefits of DST in terms of increased exposure to light during evening commutes from work. A large body of evidence suggests that permanently staying on standard time is the best option, as advocated by many health practitioners and researchers worldwide.
Dementia may be three times more common among people with essential tremor, a movement disorder that causes involuntary shaking, than the general population, according to research released today, March 6, 2024. The study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 76th Annual Meeting taking place April 1318, 2024, in person in Denver and online.

Essential tremor is the most common tremor disorder, more common than Parkinson's disease. In addition to arm and hand tremors, people may also develop involuntary shaking of the head, jaw and voice.

While many people living with essential tremor experience mild tremor, in some individuals, the tremor can be quite severe. Not only do tremors affect a person's ability to complete daily tasks such writing and eating, our study suggests that people with essential tremor also have an increased risk of developing dementia." Elan D. Louis, MD, MSc, Study Author at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology

The study involved 222 people with essential tremor who had an average age of 79 at the start of the study. They took thinking and memory tests to determine whether they had normal cognitive skills, mild cognitive impairment or dementia at the start of the study.

Participants then had follow-up exams every 1.5 years for an average of five years.

Of this group, 168 people had normal cognitive skills, 35 had mild cognitive impairment and 19 had dementia at the start of the study.

During the study, 59 developed mild cognitive impairment and 41 developed dementia.

Researchers then compared the rate at which people developed mild cognitive impairment and dementia, as well as the prevalence of these conditions, to the rates and prevalence for the general population. They also compared participants to the rates and prevalence for people with Parkinson's disease.

Researchers found 19% of participants had or developed dementia during the study, and each year an average of 12% of people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment went on to develop dementia. These rates were three times higher than the rates in the general population. However, the rates were lower than those seen in people with Parkinson's disease, a population for which dementia is more prevalent.

Researchers also found that 27% of participants had or developed mild cognitive impairment during the study, a rate almost double that of the rate of 14.5% for the general population, but less than the rate of 40% for people with Parkinson's disease.

"While the majority of people with essential tremor will not develop dementia, our findings provide the basis for physicians to educate people with essential tremor and their families about the heightened risk, and any potential life changes likely to accompany this diagnosis," Louis said.

A limitation of the study was that the comparison data for the general population was published prior to the start of the study.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Applying and developing new technologies for DNA synthesis to pave the way for producing entire artificial genomes - that is the goal of a new interdisciplinary center that is being established at Heidelberg University, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). The aim of the Center for Synthetic Genomics is to spark new developments in synthetic genomics through basic research and technology development using methods of artificial intelligence. The Carl Zeiss Foundation (CZS) is financing the center's establishment over a period of six years with a total amount of twelve million euros.

In the long term, it should be possible to design and synthesize long DNA sequences for applications in research, nanomaterials science, and medicine. The first spokesperson of the new center is systems biologist Professor Michael Knop, Deputy Director of the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH).



While the past two decades of genome research were marked by the development of new genome sequencing techniques, it will become possible to modify genomes more quickly and easily, or even to create entirely new genomes, using innovative methods of DNA synthesis and genome assembly. This is the vision that the Carl Zeiss Foundation Center for Synthetic Genomics Heidelberg - Karlsruhe - Mainz (CZS Center SynGen) will pursue in the coming years. The researchers from the three universities want to design synthetic DNA sequences with the aid of AI-based methods of analysis and modeling in order to make targeted modifications in the genome of organisms and give it new functionalities. The aim is to extract from them so-called biologics, that is, biotechnologically manufactured products. These are eventually to be used to produce bio-based medicines, develop gene therapies for diseases, breed pest-resistant plants, produce biofuels, and advance research into new types of materials.



"At the CZS Centers we consolidate expertise across locations and disciplines. The life sciences in particular require a high degree of interdisciplinary collaboration. At the CZS Center SynGen we aim to advance the production of artificial DNA and tap the immense potential for research, medicine, and beyond," says Carl Zeiss Foundation Managing Director Dr. Felix Streiter, explaining the motivation for funding the second CZS Center in Germany.

The Center for Synthetic Genomics pools the expertise of three of the leading research institutions, which are now jointly working on an important future-oriented field from basic research to technology development. Our aim is to achieve a wide range of applications in biotechnology, for example in medicine, but also in materials science. We are very pleased to contribute to this with our expertise." Professor Oliver Kraft, Acting President of KIT

Synthetic genomics

"Synthetic genomics is a young but rapidly growing research area worldwide, with transfer potential for different socially relevant challenges. In our new center we will pool the complementary expertise of the three strong research universities at Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, and Mainz in the life sciences, molecular systems engineering, and biomedical research. That way, we intend to coordinate all the steps in synthetic genomics, from design and production right up to the application of synthetic genetic materials and organisms," says Center Spokesperson Michael Knop. "The new center will provide us with a unique opportunity to combine different areas of expertise and disciplines in a new way. Particularly the discourse of biology and medicine with experts in simulation and modeling will show us new ways not only to generate synthetic genomes, but also to better understand and use natural and artificial modifications and epigenetic mechanisms," Professor Sylvia Erhardt explains. The molecular biologist of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is a member of the CZS Center SynGen's three-member Board of Directors alongside Professor Michael Knop and biophysical chemist Professor Edward Lemke of Mainz University.



The Carl Zeiss Foundation Center for Synthetic Genomics Heidelberg - Karlsruhe - Mainz started work in January 2024. Researchers collaborating at the three locations represent different disciplines, including biology, biochemistry, biophysics, biotechnology, synthetic biology, and bioengineering, as well as philosophy and law, genomics, immunology, epigenetics, virology, and data science. In addition, more international experts and early-career researchers are to be recruited to work at the new center. Furthermore, a competence center for the synthesis of synthetic DNA is to be set up in Heidelberg, the so-called CZS Center Synthetic DNA Accelerator Lab. Also involved in the CZS Center SynGen are scientists from the German Cancer Research Center and the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies, as well as external partners from science and business.



The CZS Center SynGen was officially opened with a festive event held at Heidelberg University on March 4, 2024. In addition to the lead researchers, representatives of the Carl Zeiss Foundation and the participating universities also took part.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have developed an algorithm to identify high-risk precancerous lesions on the fallopian tubes. Known as serous tubal intraepithelial carcinomas (STICs), these lesions are thought to be the main precursors of ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC), the most common form of ovarian cancer in women.

The algorithm, called "REAL-FAST" (RealSeqS-based algorithm for fallopian tube aneuploidy pattern in STIC), identified five distinct groups of precancerous lesions in fallopian tubes, two of which were identified as potentially aggressive and frequently associated with recurrent HGSC. The results provide the first molecular evidence that STICs have unique identifiable genetic features.

The pilot study, published Feb. 1 in Clinical Cancer Research, was led by Yeh Wang, M.D., Ph.D., a pathology resident under the direction of Ie-Ming Shih, M.D., Ph.D., Richard W. TeLinde Distinguished Professor and professor of gynecology and obstetrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Although women at an increased or average risk of developing ovarian cancer often undergo salpingectomy, a procedure to surgically remove both fallopian tubes to reduce the risk of developing ovarian cancers, current clinical practice does not include a detailed examination of potential precancerous lesions, meaning many women face an uncertain future, Shih says.

This is a high-risk setting -; these patients need more immediate diagnostic approaches. This test is about identifying precursor lesions before they progress to cancer." Christopher Douville, Ph.D., assistant professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and one of the lead study authors

However, not all STICs are molecularly equal, Douville says, and identifying aggressive STICs early is challenging. Due to the small size of the lesions, current evaluation methods equate to trying to find a needle in a haystack. Shih, Douville and their team set out to develop a tool that could detect and stratify STICs according to key genetic alterations and mutations.

The researchers used a technique called Repetitive Element AneupLoidy Sequencing System, or RealSeqS, to sequence 150 DNA samples and analyze the level of aneuploidy, the presence of missing or extra DNA chromosomes, in STIC versus HGSC and normal-appearing samples. Initial results showed that while normal-appearing samples had low levels of aneuploidy, STICs had significantly more non-random genetic alterations, even when they appeared structurally normal, including whole and partial deletions of chromosome 17 in the signatures of the tumor suppressor p53 proteins.

The authors suggest that the loss of chromosome 17 offers a potential explanation for the concurrent inactivation of both the TP53 and BRCA1 genes, which are both located on chromosome 17 and represent the most important tumor suppressors known to be involved in the development of HGSC. This could explain why germline mutations involving the BRCA1 gene, and not BRCA2 (found in chromosome 13), are associated with a high risk of HGSC.

Based on these findings, the researchers then built the REAL-FAST algorithm to classify samples into distinct molecular groups, independent of their structural characteristics. REAL-FAST identified five groups, including a STIC subgroup with unique chromosome alterations that are associated with increased proliferation and abnormal growth.

Further validation of REAL-FAST for detecting STICs and HGSCs demonstrated that the test accurately detected the presence of cancer 95.8% of the time and correctly ruled out cancer where it did not occur 97.1% of the time.

Together, the findings suggest that only some STICs progress to HGSC and that this progression is associated with a non-random increase in chromosomal abnormalities.

"The analysis of the RealSeqS data provides a basis for answering fundamental questions pertinent to the earliest events of HGSC development," says Douville. "Although it can easily take a decade to translate research to clinical practice, Dr. Shih feels this research could make a rapid impact on patient care by providing clinicians with diagnostic alternatives with quantitative answers."

Though REAL-FAST requires further validation of its utility in a clinical setting to correlate the molecular data and patients' outcomes, the authors believe that a clearer understanding of how HGSC develops will soon lead to better diagnostics and improved outcomes for the thousands of women diagnosed with cancer every year.

Study co-authors included Yeh Wang, Yen-Wei Chien, Russell Vang, Nickolas Papadopoulos and Tian-Li Wang of Johns Hopkins. Other authors were from the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center; Legacy Health System in Portland, Oregon; the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Basser Center for BRCA at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York; Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C.; Taipei Medical University in Taiwan; Georgetown University Medical Center, in Washington, D.C.; as well as Inova Fairfax Hospital and the School of Medicine Inova Campus in Virginia.

The work was supported by the Richard W. TeLinde Endowment from The Johns Hopkins University, the Breakthrough Cancer Foundation (BTC-IOC), a Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program Grant Award (DoD-CDMRP Grant Award W81XWH-22-1-0852), and the Honorable Tina Brozman Foundation.

Douville reports personal fees from Exact Sciences and Belay Diagnostics during the conduct of the study, as well as personal fees from Belay Diagnostics and Exact Sciences outside the submitted work; Douville also reports a patent for RealSeqS pending, licensed and with royalties paid from Exact Sciences. These relationships are managed by The Johns Hopkins University in accordance with its conflict-of-interest policies.
Artificial intelligence (AI) programs have recently acquired widespread popularity in dermatology for assessing, diagnosing, and treating skin conditions. As reported in the International Journal of Dermatology, investigators recently analyzed all published studies from the last 10 years to evaluate current AI programs in use for dermatologic purposes, uncovering significant shortcomings when applied to skin of color (SOC).

The researchers identified various challenges when this technology is applied to SOC, mainly stemming from the underrepresentation of SOC in datasets and issues with image quality and standardization. Results indicate that current AI programs inevitably do worse at identifying skin lesions in SOC. Also, only 30% of the programs identified in this analysis had data specifically in SOC.

The idea for this research project stemmed from lead author Rebecca Fliorent's establishment of South Jersey Skin Talk, an organization committed to educating others about dermatologic conditions, with an emphasis on those affecting people of color. Inspired by the profound absence of images portraying skin of color, Rebecca investigated the role of AI in dermatology, particularly its implications for addressing the needs of diverse skin types." Thu Minh Truong, PharmD, RPh, corresponding author, medical student at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Medical malpractice incidents are more severe during the months of the year when daylight saving time is observed in the U.S., according to a new study that examined three decades of malpractice claims.

Results show that both medical malpractice incident severity and payment decisions were higher during the months of daylight saving time compared with the months of standard time, after controlling for whether states observe daylight saving time. Payment decisions also were higher, but medical incidents were not more severe, during the one week following the spring transition to daylight saving time.

The spring daylight saving shift has long been connected to sleepiness, cardiovascular events, and driving accidents, but only recently have we begun to recognize that decision-making processes are also affected at the population level by the spring time shift. The current results add to this literature by showing that an area that one would hope would be immune -; medical errors and malpractice litigation -; is susceptible, too." Michael Scullin, doctorate in psychological science, principal investigator, and associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University in Waco, Texas

The study was published as an accepted paper March 6 in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, the official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

According to the AASM, standard time is optimal because it is closely aligned with the position of the sun in the sky, known as "solar time." This synchrony is important for the body because sunlight is the most powerful external cue for the human circadian rhythm, the internal "body clock" that regulates the timing of alertness, sleepiness, and other biological functions. By artificially shifting clock time an hour forward, daylight saving time causes a misalignment between clock time and solar time, disrupting the circadian rhythm. This disruption can affect sleep, alertness, mood, and performance.

The researchers analyzed 288,432 malpractice claims between January 1990 and September 2018 from the National Practitioner Data Bank, the most extensive database of malpractice incidents in the U.S. To investigate the acute effects of daylight saving time, they compared claims for one week before and after the spring time change. They also assessed chronic effects by comparing claims during the months of daylight saving time with those during the months of standard time. Control states were those that remained on permanent standard time: Arizona, Hawaii, and Indiana (until April 2006).

According to first author Chenlu Gao, the design of the study did not allow for an assessment of causality, but the results suggest that daylight saving time has an impact on health care outcomes and costs.

"In addition to the acute shift to daylight saving time, it is possible that several months of living under daylight saving time leads to accrued circadian misalignment, which then could affect medical errors and legal evaluations," said Gao, who has a doctorate in behavioral neuroscience and is a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of anesthesia, critical care and pain medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "Our work joins numerous other studies that document the detrimental effects of spring daylight saving time transitions, and the collective evidence should encourage stakeholders and policymakers to reevaluate daylight saving time for the well-being of the general public."

Scullin and Gao were assisted by Candice Lage, who is a research assistant in the Sleep Neuroscience and Cognition Laboratory at Baylor. The researchers were supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Alzheimer's Association, American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation, BrightFocus Foundation, and National Institute on Aging.
About one-third of autistic people are unable to communicate using speech, and most are never provided an effective alternative. However, a new study from scientists at the University of Virginia suggests that many of these individuals are literate, raising the possibility that they could learn to express themselves through writing.

The study published in the journal Autism, reports that five times more nonspeaking autistic teenagers and adults demonstrated knowledge of written language conventions than would be expected from previous estimates of their abilities. The finding has important implications for the millions of autistic people around the world who have little or no speech and who are often assumed to be incapable of acquiring literacy.

If we assume that someone who can't speak doesn't understand, it limits the doors we open for them  we may not even try to figure out what they understand. Our study shows that nonspeaking autistic people's capacity for language, for learning, and for literacy has been seriously underestimated." Vikram Jaswal, Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia and the lead author of the study

The investigators addressed a fundamental question about literacy: whether or not nonspeaking autistic people react to letters, words and sentences in the same way as literate, non-autistic individuals. Jaswal's team developed a method similar to the arcade game Whac-a-Mole which required participants to tap letters displayed on a tablet as soon as those letters lit up. In some instances, the letters lit up in sequences that spelled out sentences that participants had earlier heard spoken aloud, and in other instances the letters lit up in meaningless sequences. The research team, which included Ph.D. candidate Kayden Stockwell and recent graduate Andrew Lampi made the assumption that a literate individual  who knows how to spell and can convert speech into its written form  can predict the next letter in a sentence they have heard spoken aloud even before seeing that letter light up. Consequently, they could be expected to respond faster to the sentences than to meaningless sequences. Jaswal's team found that over half of the sample group of 31 nonspeaking autistic participants responded in the same way a literate individual would.

According to Jaswal, the results are striking because they show that even though most participants in the study had not received formal instruction in literacy, many had developed an understanding of how written language works.

"Society has traditionally assumed that people who can't speak are unable to understand language or to learn to read or write," Jaswal said. "But our findings suggest that many nonspeaking autistic people have foundational literacy skills. With appropriate instruction and support, it might be possible to harness these skills to provide access to written forms of communication as an alternative to speech. Learning to express themselves through writing would open up educational, employment and social opportunities that nonspeaking autistic people have historically not been given access to."

"This is cutting-edge research with enormous potential for impact," said Christa Acampora, dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. "We are truly fortunate to have professor Jaswal and outstanding graduate students like Kayden Stockwell and Andrew Lampi in the College's research community. Together, they're asking important questions, and their discovery will have life-changing consequences for many."
People keep talking about ketamine. The drug has become a favorite of celebrities, billionaires, and ordinary patients, many of whom view it as a potential miracle drug for depression and other mental health conditions.

Whether on Facebook or Instagram, patients and clinics alike are giddy about the possibilities. But it is a drug that can be abused and can be deadly. Thus, ketamine is the latest challenge for Meta, the social media platforms' parent company, which for years has struggled to moderate posts and ads touting health-related products like weight loss supplements and dodgy covid-19 cures.

Still, despite warnings about the drug's dangers, Meta allows ads and posts about ketamine. Sometimes that chatter comes from sources that don't meet the conglomerate's voluminous standards, which, in theory, ensure posts are based on credible information.

Other internet ad networks are also trying to strike balances. Google says that because ketamine is a prescription drug, it can be advertised only if a provider is offering a prescription and is certified with a third-party oversight group; advertisers can't promote "highs." TikTok, which didn't reply to a request for comment, broadly prohibits advertising from unauthorized pharmacies or dispensaries, or advertising that features prescription drug abuse.

Meta's rules have created a conundrum for the company. Posts about ketamine, both a party drug and a possible mental health therapeutic, are governed by very different rules depending on the context, according to an investigation and report by the company's outside Oversight Board, an organization dubbed Facebook's "Supreme Court" for its role in refereeing the platform's speech regulations. That balancing act was on public display after a post about the substance was inspected repeatedly by the company's content review bureaucracy. When asked to comment for this article, Meta simply referred KFF Health News to the board's report and the company's reply to the report.

This back-and-forth dates to December 2022, when a paid influencer posted on Instagram how the drug eased the influencer's "treatment-resistant depression and anxiety." The post described a "magical entry into another dimension."

After reviewing the paid post and Meta's rules on drug promotion, the Oversight Board found that the post inappropriately hyped the high of the drug, while not placing it in a medical context  a problem, given the tension in the company's rules allowing discussion of pharmaceutical products and disallowing references to illicit drug use.

Ketamine, which is available in both liquid and powder form, emerged first as an anesthetic and became popular as a party drug because of its dissociative and hallucinogenic effects. It's FDA-approved as an anesthetic and, in some formulations, as a prescription antidepressant, to be administered in medically supervised settings. Regulated as a Schedule 3, nonnarcotic substance under the Controlled Substances Act, the drug has been shown to cause dependence, especially for people with a history of addiction to other substances. But researchers are intrigued by another aspect of ketamine: its mind-altering properties, which have potential therapeutic benefits.

These possibilities, aided by a boom in ketamine-focused medical startups and spas promoting the prescription drug as part of "holistic healing" or other wellness purposes, are fueling consumer interest, news coverage, and social media attention.

But there are indications of a dark side. According to an autopsy report from Los Angeles County's medical examiner department, actor Matthew Perry died with ketamine in his system as he reportedly was undergoing infusion therapy meant to treat depression and anxiety. Poison center reports of exposures involving ketamine surged just over 80% from 2019 through 2021, a study showed.

The tug of war is leading to conflicts between social media giants and advertisers. While Meta and its peers sometimes allow posts on the drug, they also include warnings. For example, if you search Instagram for "ketamine," you learn the term "may be associated with the sale of drugs" and are offered a button to "get help" for substance abuse treatment. (You can also opt to get the results anyway.)

In 2023, hoping to resolve the situation, Meta referred the controversy concerning the post to its Oversight Board. The group has received $280 million in irrevocable funding since 2019. Membership includes former heads of state, prominent journalists, and human rights advocates.

For the "magical entry" post, according to a Meta missive cited in the board's report, the company expected the board would agree and open its platforms to more posting about mind-altering drugs with therapeutic potential. But the board instead offered pointed critiques and questions, threatening the status of other ketamine posts. The board argued that, based on the company's policies, the post inappropriately made ketamine seem like a "high," rather than a medical experience.

"This case indicates that Meta's strong restrictions on branded content promoting drugs and attempts to buy, sell, or trade drugs may be inconsistently enforced," the board concluded in its report.

Indeed, in a comment to the board, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy suggested it's easy to find sellers offering the drug for recreational use, citing two clear examples found "with only a cursory search."

The company's executives disagreed. When presenting the controversy to the board, they said they expected medical use of ketamine to increase, so it should allow the post. That led, in its response, to the company brushing off some of the board's suggestions, which could directly impact ketamine clinics' profits. After all, Facebook and Instagram audiences overlap with their clientele, and these ads are one of the main ways they promote their brands. Consider the money at stake. One recent academic review of ketamine clinics' advertising online, which was published in JAMA Network Open, found prices ranging from $360 to $2,500 per infusion.

When a particularly influential influencer posts about his clinic, there's "a sharp uptick" in interest "every single time," Jacob Silverstone, the medical director of a ketamine infusion clinic outside Miami, told KFF Health News. That interest often drives patients to his clinic, he said.

Still, despite the social media buzz, evidence for ketamine as a mental health treatment is unsettled.

"Data from clinics strongly suggest that theres a benefit" from the drug, said Boris Heifets, a Stanford University School of Medicine professor of anesthesiology studying ketamine and other psychiatric therapies like MDMA. Ketamine, some of these studies indicate, can work for depression  even for patients who don't respond to conventional treatments like SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

But, Heifets said, pop culture oversells the potential. On social media, some clinics promote practices without scientific backing, he said. "Its not clear that they have any mental health expertise," he said.

Some clinic ads he has seen, Heifets said, dwell on the idea that the drugs act quickly and comprehensively  avoiding the lack of good data about long-term therapeutic use.

The review of ketamine clinics' claims in ads on Google found the businesses rarely disclosed potential side effects, while aggressively marketing its benefits. Some ads falsely claimed the drug is nonaddictive, the review said.

Facebook and Instagram advertising can be similarly bullish about ketamine's potential. A fall 2023 search of Meta's ad library shows an armada of ketamine clinics with sunny claims, some promising "rapid relief" or telling viewers they can "say goodbye to a once-daily SSRI" or that "IV ketamine can be your light in the darkness."

These types of claims, while downplaying risks like substance use disorders, create outsize expectations in patients, Heifets said. "You can create expectations for some of these kind of big interventions that if theyre not met  that can actually be disastrous for patients."

The ads making such claims and minimizing or not mentioning the risks often appear to be slipping through a system with inconsistent regulations, and puzzling gaps, a review by KFF Health News suggests.

Meta's policies require many advertisers who offer prescription drugs, and all advertisers offering drug and addiction treatment services, to undergo additional vetting by a group called LegitScript before they're allowed to hawk their wares or services on Facebook and Instagram. (Google similarly requires certification from an outside body like LegitScript for online pharmacies, telemedicine, and addiction services.) LegitScript reviews the advertisers' operations, like their clinical leadership and partnerships with pharmacies.

But in practice, ketamine advertisers often don't go through this process even if they fall into a category that should. KFF Health News reviewed 27 advertisers on Meta in October and November 2023. Of those, 10 advertisers, spread over both months, either offered ketamine for drug addiction or ketamine via telehealth, and were not registered with LegitScript.

The online ads promote services, generally via telehealth, that prescribe ketamine  often in a lozenge prepared by a compounding pharmacy. There's much less evidence for the safety and effectiveness of oral ketamine, Heifets said, compared with that of intravenously administered ketamine, which is more often studied.

Enforcement is on Meta's agenda. In its response to the Oversight Board on the ketamine case, Meta said it has improved its automated review tools for some advertisements promoting drugs, and pledged to consider auditing its policies in the first half of this year.

Federal regulators are showing signs of concern about ketamine, particularly when obtained online. Last year, the Drug Enforcement Administration shut down the telehealth practice of at least one physician who prescribed ketamine nationwide. In October 2023, the FDA issued a warning about compounded ketamine  which these telehealth startups tend to rely on, Silverstone said.
Nothing is excessively futuristic considering the pace of technological advancement worldwide. With this in mind, Professor Satya Chakravarthy, the founder of ePlane Company and a distinguished professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras), highlighted the ground-breaking progress achieved in developing Indias first flying taxi  e200.

In an exclusive interview with News18, Prof Chakravarthy addressed various aspects of the e200s design, safety, regulatory considerations, and its potential impact on urban transportation.

The project embarked on a mission to overcome significant technical and logistical challenges to realise a compact, efficient aircraft capable of navigating the complexities of Indias bustling urban landscapes. Prof Chakravarthy said: We had to make the aircraft very compact so that we can land in tight spaces, fly over crowded skies in India. We want to cover short distances multiple times over before we have downtime for charging the battery.

Despite the formidable hurdles, ePlane has achieved significant milestones, including successful test flights of a subscale prototype, the e50. Professor Chakravarthy provided a glimpse into the timeline for completing the full-scale prototype and anticipated the maiden flight in October-November, marking a historic moment in Indias aviation landscape.

Ensuring passenger safety remains a paramount priority for ePlane, with Professor Chakravarthy explaining a multifaceted safety strategy designed to mitigate potential risks. He emphasised the rigorous adherence to stringent international standards, highlighting the need to showcase failure rates ranging from 1 in 10 million to 1 in a billion across various components and subsystems.

He Chakravarthy underscored the comprehensive approach to reliability, emphasising the importance of proving the aircrafts ability to withstand extreme conditions and potential failures.

In detailing the safety features of the e200, the professor outlined multiple layers of redundancy aimed at safeguarding passengers in diverse scenarios. He emphasised the role of redundant systems, including emergency measures such as parachutes and inflatables, to ensure a soft landing in the event of an emergency. Additionally, he highlighted the integration of advanced technologies, such as vertical rotors and aerodynamic design principles, to enhance stability and control during flight.

Moreover, Chakravarthy addressed concerns regarding potential failures in critical components, emphasising the aircrafts ability to maintain lift and stability even in adverse conditions. He explained the redundancy built into the design, whereby both the wings and vertical rotors can independently support the aircrafts weight, providing additional layers of safety in case of emergencies. By meticulously addressing potential failure scenarios and implementing robust safety measures, ePlane aims to instil confidence in passengers and regulatory authorities alike, ensuring the utmost safety and reliability of its flying taxi service.

Even if the safety is top-notch, navigating regulatory landscapes may pose inevitable challenges. But Prof Chakravarthy showed confidence in ePlanes ability to navigate through the process strategically. He acknowledged potential operational restrictions in congested urban areas initially but outlined a phased approach to expand operations based on safety performance and regulatory compliance. The regulations are essentially a pathway for us to get to the market, he noted.

However, this so-far-so-good idea of flying taxis still sounds a bit futuristic and premium, which may make people uncomfortable thinking of a premium price tag. But as per the IIT professor, affordability and accessibility will emerge as pivotal factors shaping the potential widespread adoption of ePlane taxis.

Professor Chakravarthy envisioned offering services at just double the fare of traditional ride-hailing services like Uber, promising significant time savings for passengers.

In terms of looking beyond India, he also envisioned the global resonance of e200s technology, citing its affordability and operational convenience as competitive advantages in international markets. But he also acknowledged potential challenges in navigating foreign regulations.

We can cut the international competition in terms of cost. That is not a problem. But, in aerospace, we will have this problem of Not Invented Here Syndrome. There is national-level protectionism that happens in aerospace. (and because of foreign regulations for flying) their citizens will actually be deprived of the benefit of a lower cost offering that we will have, he noted.

However, in a testament to ePlanes commitment to offer this innovation, Chakravarthy highlighted strategic partnerships as key enablers in bringing this transformative technology to market. He outlined plans to collaborate with design organizations for computational fluid dynamics or finite element analysis, manufacturing partners, and software developers. Additionally, he highlighted the need for infrastructure-related partnerships for operational excellence that include real estate or landing site maintenance organizations, and charging infrastructure.

This is because the project plans to utilize existing helipads, followed by expanding to locations such as parking lots, metro station rooftops, and large building rooftops, including offices and apartments, to facilitate take-off and landing in public and private spaces. Chakravarthy stressed on the importance of establishing multiple landing sites across urban areas to ensure accessibility and meet demand effectively.

Professor Chakravarthys insights offer a comprehensive understanding of the innovative strides made by ePlane in developing Indias first flying taxi. With meticulous planning, technological innovation, and a steadfast commitment to safety and accessibility, e200 hopes to begin a new era of urban mobility, not only in India but also across the globe.
A 45-year-old man from Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra allegedly lost Rs 1.06 crore after being lured into share trading for good returns, police said on Thursday.

The accused contacted the man, who has an engineering unit in the Taloja area of Navi Mumbai, and lured him into share trading while assuring good returns, senior police inspector Gajanan Kadam told news agency PTI.

Also Read: Online Share Trading Fraud: Mumbai Woman Loses Rs 1.92 Crore In 3 Months, Heres How To Stay Safe

Over the last two months, the man transferred Rs 1,06,28,000 to different bank accounts through online mode. But when he did not get the returns and his invested amount, he approached the police, the official said.

Based on his complaint, a case was registered against four persons under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act, the police added.

Protecting yourself from trading scams involves several steps to ensure your safety and security:
The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) has deferred the Teacher Appointment Competitive Examination (TRE- 3.0) date scheduled to be conducted on March 16, 2024. Candidates who are going to appear for the Bihar Teacher Recruitment Examination can check the official notification on the commissions website at bpsc.bih.nic.in.

The Teacher Appointment Competitive Examination (TRE-3) scheduled for March 16 (single shift) has been postponed due to unavoidable reasons, read the official notice written in Hindi.

As per the official notice, information regarding examinations for all subjects of classes 6-10 and classes 9- 12 under the Education Department, the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) Welfare Department will be published later. No changes have been made to the BPSC TRE 3.0 exam scheduled to be held on March 15. It will take place as planned, and the admit cards for the same will be issued today, March 7, 2024.

BPSC TRE 3.0 Admit Card 2024: Steps To Download

Step 1: Candidates are required to visit the official website of Bihar Public Service Commission at bpsc.bih.nic.in.

Step 2: On the home page, look for the Admit Card section and then click on the TRE 3 admit card link available.

Step 3: Now, log in on the site using your credentials such as Registration Number and Password in the given spaces.

Step 4: Once done, the important instructions for your BSPC TRE 3.0 admit card will be displayed on your screen.

Step 5: View all the details properly and save a copy of the admit card on your computer as a PDF document.

Step 6: Candidates must also take a printout of the admit card for the examination date.

BPSC TRE 3.0 2024: Exam Schedule

The exam scheduled for March 15 will be conducted in two shifts by the commission. The first shift will commence at 09:30 AM and will run until 12:00 noon, while the second shift will start at 02:30 PM and conclude at 05:00 PM.

Heres the complete exam schedule for the BPSC TRE 3.0 2024 according to the official notification:

March 15 (9:00 am to 12:00 noon): Mathematics, English, Hindi, Science, Social Science, Urdu, Sanskrit (For classes 6-8 under the Department of Education)

March 15 (12:00 noon to 2:30 pm): General, Urdu and Bengali (For Classes 1-5 under the Department of Education)

However, the exam that was scheduled to be held on March 16, covered subjects such as Mathematics, Hindi, Bengali, English, Urdu, Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Maithili, Science, Social Science, Fine Arts, Physical Education, Dance and Music (For classes 9 to 10 under the Education Department and Special School Teacher positions). For classes 6 to 10 under the Scheduled Caste Department and Tribal Welfare excluding subjects like Computer Science, Music or Art).
After Bhojpuri star Pawan Singh was forced to withdraw his Lok Sabha election candidature from West Bengals Asansol due to his body of work that resulted in huge backlash from TMC leadership and BJP cadre alike, the question is who will replace him.

Sources in Bengal BJP told News18 that the state unit has suggested three names  a sitting MLA who was a fashion designer, a TMC turncoat who speaks fluent Hindi, and a doctor-turned-politician. However, party sources in the national capital say they are exploring two Bhojpuri sensations, particularly one of them who is a Bengali but has made her name in the Bhojpuri industry.

Bengal BJPs Chosen Three for Asansol

The names suggested by the Bengal BJP are Agnimitra Paul, Jitendra Tiwari, and Dr Ajay Poddar.

Agnimitra Paul was born into a family of doctors and academicians but chose to make her name in fashion designing and has designed for Bollywood stars like Sridevi, Mithun Chakraborty, and Kay Kay Menon. Before the last Lok Sabha elections in 2019, she joined the BJP and has since been a common face in every women-led agitation of the BJP, including the recent ones on Sandeshkhali.

In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, she was elected an MLA from Asansol Dakshin, which falls under the Lok Sabha seat of Asansol. Fielding a woman from Asansol would also be favourable to the BJP in the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising the Sandeshkhali issue in election campaigns.

Jitendra Tiwari, who was part of the TMC earlier, joined the BJP in 2020. The former MLA speaks fluent Hindi and helps the BJPs cause in Asansol which has a substantial number of Hindi-speaking voters. What goes in his favour for the Asansol ticket is that he has been mayor there and knows the city well.

Dr Ajay Poddar, an MBBS from Ranchi Medical College, joined the BJP in 2021 and was fielded in the Assembly election from the Kulti seat and won. The Kulti Assembly segment is part of the Asansol Lok Sabha seat.

Bhojpuri Sensations in the Mix

The BJP leadership in Delhi is exploring two Bhojpuri sensations, say sources. The saffron party is said to be particularly keen on Monalisa, a Bengali star of Bhojpuri movies. Her real name is Antara Biswas and she has made a name in Hindi television as well as has become a sensation in the Bhojpuri movie industry. She is fluent in Bengali, Hindi, and Bhojpuri alike, which is why the BJP is believed to be exploring options on whether she can be fielded from Asansol.

She also took part in Big Boss 10 as a contestant. She studied at Julien Day School in South Kolkata and graduated from Calcutta University, post which she dived into the world of stardom. Monalisa is a sensation in the Bhojpuri industry herself and is also married to a Bhojpuri star.

If the BJP chooses to field her from Asansol, she ticks many boxes  a Bengali, hugely popular in the Bhojpuri industry and a woman candidate.

However, there is buzz that the BJP is also exploring the possibility of fielding Akshara Singh, another Bhojpuri sensation who is one of the highest-paid actresses in the industry. She is a bigger star than Monalisa, but what makes the BJP think twice, sources say, are two things. One, she doesnt have Monalisas Bengali background which seems to have become important after Pawan Singhs fiasco, and two, Aksharas past association with Pawan. The two were in a relationship that ended on a sour note.

If at all the BJP chooses to field Akshara from Asansol, one cant dismiss the possibility of an emotional Akshara Singh hitting out at Pawan Singh  a BJP pick in the first place  during the campaign.

Right now, its a fight between a fashion designer, a former mayor, a doctor, and a couple of Bhojpuri sensations for battleground Asansol.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha could reunite with the BJP ahead of the state assembly elections and the Lok Sabha one this year. Although no formal announcement has been made, but leaders of both parties have hinted at an alliance.

BJD left the NDA in 2009 over the issue of seat sharing. For the upcoming elections, BJD has reportedly agreed for 13 Lok Sabha seats, giving eight to the BJP.

At present, the BJP has eight Lok Sabha MPs and 23 MLAs. Odisha has as many as 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 assembly constituencies.

Lets look at the NDA partners over the years, and their spheres of influence.

What NDA Parties Bring to BJP Table?

At present, there are 38 parties comprising the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), of which, nine did not contest the Lok Sabha election, while 16 drew a blank, and seven won only one seat each.

AIADMK  Tamil Nadu

The alliance with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry dates back to 1998 when Atal Vajpayee government was in power, and it fell when the AIADMK withdrew its vote in 1999.

Then, both the parties tied up again in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. The AIADMK contested 22 seats in the elections, but secured only one  NDAs only win in Tamil Nadu.

The alliance remained intact until the DMK won in the state in 2021.

Tamil Nadu is an important state for the BJP considering it contributes 38 Lok Sabha members.

Tamil Maanila Congress, Pattali Makkal Katchi, Puthiya Tamilgam, All India NR Congress are some of the other Tamil parties in alliance with the NDA.

Shiv Sena  Maharashtra

The united Shiv Sena was part of the NDA fold until the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly Elections, when Uddhav Thackeray walked out of the alliance shocking many. Subsequently, the Shiv Sena formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) with the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.

Then came the Eknath Shinde faction in the Shiv Sena, which rebelled against the MVA government, and walked away with the support of 40 of the 56 Sena MLAs.

Shinde became the CM and Devendra Fadnavis became the deputy CM, and the Election Commission recognised the Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena.

The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance had secured 18 Lok Sabha seats with a vote share of 23.5% in the 2019 elections. The new Shinde government will test waters this year.

Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar)

Another coup took place in Maharashtra politics, with Ajit Pawar leaving his uncle Sharad Pawars NCP, last July, joining the BJP with the support of 30 of the 50 party MLAs. Ajit Pawar shares the post of Deputy CM with Fadnavis. There were reports that Ajit Pawar decided to walk out of the NCP after Sharad Pawar decided to make his daughter Supriya Sule as his political successor. Can Ajit Pawar make a difference in this election?

Other parties included in the NDA are Republican Party of India (Athawale) and Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP). The RSPs support base lies among Dhangar, which have recently protested for reservation, while Athawale has influence among the Dalit community.

Jan Surajya Shaktis Kore is the only MLA representing Shahuwadi constituency in Kolhapur district.

The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party initially formed an alliance with the BJP in 1994, but later severed ties. After the 2017 elections, the MGP joined the alliance and became part of the Manohar Parrikar government in Goa.

During the 2022 assembly elections in Goa, the MGP contested 13 seats and secured two victories, achieving a vote share of 21.37% in the seats it contested.

Bihar and Jharkhand

With Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumars decision to ally with the BJP, JD(U) has 45 MLAs and BJP 78, taking the combines tally to 123, in the current 243-member Assembly. The RJD along with the Congress and the Left parties have a combined 114 MLAs, eight short of a majority.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, the change of guard in Patna ensures that the ruling dispensation gets three of its six Rajya Sabha seats in the biennial election in April. A total of 55 seats of the Upper House are going to polls in April.

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) founded by Ram Vilas Paswan is divided into two: one led by his son Chirag, another by his brother Lok Sabha MP Pashupati Paras. The BJP has been trying to broker peace between them.

In the 2019 elections, the LJP contested six seats and secured win in all of them in Bihar, garnering 8% of vote share.

In the 2020 Bihar assembly election, the LJP secured 10.26% of votes. During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the LJP-BJP alliance and Upendra Kushwahas Rashtriya Lok Samta Part (RLSP) won 31 out of 40 seats in the state. The party has a substantial vote bank among the Paswan (Dalit) community, which comprises around 6% of the states population.

Hindustan Awam Morcha (Secular) was formed by former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, which contested the state elections in 2015 with the BJP. It won only 1 of the 21 seats it had contested.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it partnered with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), but could not win a single seat.

When Nitish Kumar left the NDA in 2022 and formed a government with the RJD, Congress and Left parties, HAM(S) too joined them. Now, Manjhi is back within the NDA fold. His party has clout in Musahar community, which comprises 8% of the Bihar population.

Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party  Uttar Pradesh

Before the 2019 elections, OBC leader Om Prakash Rajbhars SBSP parted ways with the NDA, but did not win any of the 24 seats it had contested, but garnered 2.77 lakh votes.

It tied up with the Samajwadi Party for the 2022 assembly elections, and was able to win six seats.

Last year, Rajbhar returned to NDA ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.

Apna Dal (Sonelal) is led by Anupriya Patel, daughter of OBC leader Sonelal Patel. The other faction of the party is helmed by his wife, Krishna Patel.

Apna Dal (S) contested two seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the NDA, and won both.

It holds strong influence among Kurmi community, which forms 6% of the UP population.

NISHAD or Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal formed an alliance with the BJP in 2022. Sanjay Nishads son Praveen won the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha bypoll on a Samajwadi Party ticket in 2018, but later joined the BJP.

In the 2022 assembly elections, the NISHAD won six seats. It has significant influence in certain pockets of eastern UP.

Northeast

Asom Gana Parishad was formed by former CM Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, and is currently led by agriculture minister Atul Bora.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, AGP unsuccessfully contested three seats as part of the NDA, but gathered 8.31% of the valid vote. In the 2021 Assam assembly elections, it contested 29 seats and won nine. It secured 32.91% of the votes in the seats it contested.

United Peoples Party Liberal (UPPL) has influence in the Bodo areas whose people comprise 31% of the Assam population. During the 2021 assembly elections, it contested 11 seats in alliance with the BJP and won in six.

The Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) allied with the BJP in the 2018 state elections ousting the Left. It won 8 of the total 60 seats while BJP secured 32. The alliance returned to power in March 2023, with IPFT winning only one seat. They contested two seats in 2019 but did not win any.

National Peoples Party (NPP), founded by PA Sangma, contested three seats, one each in Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It just won in Meghalaya, with a vote share of 22%.

NPP holds 26 seats in Meghalaya, 7 in Manipur, and 5 in Nagaland in the 60-member assembly in each state. It is a member of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), a coalition of political parties from the northeast region that support the NDA.

United Democratic Party

The UDP is part of the Conrad Sangma-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government, which includes the NPP, BJP, the Hill State Peoples Democratic Party (HSPDP) and the Peoples Democratic Front (PDF).

As part of the NPP-BJP government from 2018 to 2023, the UDP contested the last assembly election independently. It secured 12 seats and 16% vote share emerging as the second-largest party in Meghalaya.

Mizo National Front

The party is part of the BJP-led NEDA, and with Zoramthanga as the chief minister. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, MNFs C Lalrosanga won the only parliamentary seat in Mizoram.

The BJP debuted in the Mizoram assembly elections in 2018 and won only one seat. Congress and MNF are the other two dominant parties in the state.

Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party

NDPP has been in alliance with the BJP since 2003 several times. They returned to power in 2023, with Neiphiu Rio as the chief minister.

Ahead of the 2023 Nagaland assembly election, 21 of the 25 NPF MLAs joined the NDPP. NPF contested 22 seats in the election and won just two.

Kerala

Bharat Dharma Jana Sena is the Kerala-based ally of NDA. It contested and lost four Lok Sabha seats in 2019, securing a vote share of 1.8%. The party, led by Thushar Vellappally, lost to Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad by a huge margin.

Kerala Congress (Thomas) left the NDA after feeling neglected in the seat allocation for the state assembly elections in 2021.

Andhra Pradesh

Jana Sena Party (JSP), founded by Telugu actor Pawan Kalyan, supported the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. In 2019, it formed an alliance with the CPI(M), CPI and BSP, and won one seat, with a vote share of 7%. JSP has influence in the Kapu community.

Haryana and Punjab

Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), founded by Dushyant Chautala, is part of the BJP-led government in Haryana. It joined hands with AAP in the 2019 general elections, but did not win a single seat. But in the same year in the assembly elections, it won 10 seats, securing 14.84% of the total votes polled. It then joined the NDA to help Manohar Lal Khattar become CM again. Both parties have hinted at contesting all 10 Lok Sabah seats separately in 2024 elections.

Haryana Lokhit Party founded by Gopal Kanda in 2014 had supported INLD and later the Congress government. In the 2019 assembly elections, the HLP secured over 80,000 votes. But in 2021, Kandas brother Govind joined the BJP and unsuccessfully contested the assembly bypoll from Ellenabad.

Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) was formed after leaders from Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali) and Shiromani Akali Dal (Democratic) parted ways with SAD (Badal). In the 2022 Punjab assembly election, SAD (Sanyukt) allied with the BJP and fielded 12 candidates, but did not secure any seat.
Women voters in India are now taking the centre-stage, with several political parties, including the BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Trinamool Congress wooing them with monthly allowances, saving schemes, wage hikes among others.

But what transpired for this shift?

Recent studies, including the one conducted by the State Bank of India (SBI), have predicted that the number of women voters in India would surpass their male counterparts to at least 37 crore in 2049. The report even made headstrong claims that women voter turnout will increase to 55% and mens might fall to 45%.

In the upcoming national elections, the SBI report projected a total voter turnout of 68 crore, of which women voters could be at 33 crore, that is, roughly half (49%).

Women Voters Outnumbered Men in Four States

In the state elections in 23 states in the last five years, the turnout of women voters was significantly higher compared to their male counterparts in 18 states.

Interestingly, the same government was re-elected in 10 of the 18 states where women voter turnout was higher, as mentioned in the report by Livemint.

In the 2022 assembly elections in Goa, Uttarakhand, Manipur and several constituencies of Uttar Pradesh, women voters turnout was higher than the men, as mentioned by the Chief Election Commissioner. The difference was striking" in Uttarakhand with women clocking 67.2% turnout as against 62.6% male voting. Goa also witnessed 80.96% women against 78.19% men voters, according to the CEC.

In Manipur, 90% of women electors voted as against 88% men voters. Out of six phases in UP, women voters turnout exceeded mens in three phases. Male voters were 51.03% while women turnout was 62.62%.

The 2019 general election registered a 5.1% increase in women voters.

Parties Eye Women Voter bank

BJP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in West Bengals Barasat, where the alleged atrocities on women took place in Sandeshkhali, on March 6. He rebuked the TMC for the situation of women in the region, and said the storm of Sandeshkhali will reach every part of West Bengal".

Pointing out his governments aim to empower women in the country, Modi brought focus on the how the BJP is making Nari Shakti the power of Viksit Bharat.

From Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana and Mahila Shakti Kendra are some of the Central governments initiatives to ensure socio-economic development of women.

Congress

The Congress is trying for every possible way to bring attention towards itself ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced an annual financial assistance of Rs 15,000 to women, which was part of the 10 guarantees promised by the Congress during the Assembly elections in 2022.

The government would spend Rs 800 crore annually for the Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojna, which will benefit around 8 lakh women, announced Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

The scheme will provide Rs 1,500 monthly allowance to women between 18 and 80 years of age.

The Himachal government is already in the throes after some of its MLAs have sought removal of Sukhu.

Aam Aadmi Party

The AAP has also joined the bandwagon of strengthening its women vote bank. Delhi finance minister Atishi announced a financial scheme for women during the budget speech, which will provide a monthly cash allowance of Rs 1,000 to them.

Women over 18 years can apply for the scheme, however, those who are part of any government pension scheme or paying income tax or government employees are not eligible.

The minister categorically said women empowerment would be the focus of the AAP government in Delhi.

In fact, AAP convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal announced the scheme on X, and sought blessings" of women voters, saying, Also, ask your family members to support me in the election so that your brother and son could serve you well".

Trinamool Congress

The TMC government in West Bengal on March 6 increased the remuneration of Asha and Anganwadi workers by Rs 750 per month amidst the Sandeshkhali incident.

During the 2021 Assembly elections, Women and Child Development Minister Sashi Panja had said the TMC government in the last 10 years of its rule in West Bengal has implemented several schemes such as Kanyashree. We dont need a certificate from the BJP on what we have done to ensure womens safety".

TMC government had launched women-centric initiative such as the Swasthya Sathi health scheme and Rupashree direct cash transfer scheme to prevent child marriage.

Women have backed the TMC since the anti-land acquisition movements in Singur and Nandigram. Despite crimes against women in the state, Banerjees support base in rural Bengal remained intact till the BJP came into the picture.

The BJP has been targeting the Mamata Banerjee government against the increasing incidents of rape" and rising number of women trafficking from north Bengal and tribal areas".

Facts About Women Representation in Parliament

 The government introduced the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023 on September 19, 2023, which seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.

 Womens representation in Lok Sabha has increased from 5% in the first Lok Sabha to 15% in the current Lok Sabha.

 Scandinavian countries such as Sweden and Norway, and South Africa have more than 45% women representation in their national legislatures, while Japan is at only 10%, much behind India.

 At present, 15% of the Lok Sabha MPs are women, while in Rajya Sabha it is 13%.

 Among parties with more than 10 seats in Lok Sabha, 42% of BJD MPs and 39% of TMC MPs are women. In Rajya Sabha, 17% of Congress MPs are women.

 No state has more than 20% women representation in its Assembly. Chhattisgarh has the highest representation with 18% women MLAs, while Himachal Pradesh has only one woman MLA and Mizoram has none.
A senior corporate executive, travelling in the business class of an Air India flight to London on Tuesday, was deboarded at Delhi airport after an argument with cabin crew members.

In a statement, the airline spokesperson confirmed that, at the captains discretion, the passenger was offloaded prior to the scheduled pushback due to the altercation with the crew.

The incident happened on flight AI 161 on March 5 and the passenger involved was a senior corporate executive, news agency PTI reported. The departure of the flight was subsequently delayed by approximately an hour.

According to The Times of India report, this incident may be the first time a head of a renowned financial services company was reportedly removed from an international flight departing India for allegedly being rude to the crew and engaging in an argument with them.

After being deplaned, the executive requested Air India that it was very important for her to reach London.

She gave us an assurance about her behaviour, and then we put her on the next flight to London. We dont want to inconvenience anyone but unruly behaviour onboard our flights is simply not acceptable. It does not matter whether a passenger is a common citizen or a prominent person. For us, the safety of all our flyers and crew is of paramount importance, a source informed TOI.

The spokesperson clarified that the offloaded passenger, who had compelling reasons for travel, was later accommodated on a subsequent flight with a written assurance.

Following the off boarding, flight AI 161 departed after a delay of about an hour. The passenger who was off boarded was travelling for some compelling reasons and was accommodated on a subsequent flight following a written assurance, Air India said in a statement.

Detailed information about the incident remains unavailable.

Since January, Air India had denied boarding to 894 passengers, incurring around Rs 98 lakh in expenses for facilitation and compensation, as per information from aviation regulator DGCA.

(With inputs from agencies)
India hosts 25% of global weddings, indicating that it is a destination for one in four weddings in the world. According to the Indian Brand Equity Forum (IBEF), a trust established by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Indian wedding industry has become the fourth largest industry in the country after energy, banking, and insurance markets, with an annual revenue of 4.74 trillion rupees in 2023.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the nations leading trade association for retailers and traders, predicts that the current wedding season will witness over 42 lakh weddings across the country, with wedding-related sales and services accounting for over Rs 5.5 lakh crore in business.

Destination weddings are on the upswing, accounting for 21% in 2024 versus 18% in 2022. The destination wedding industry increased from $21 billion in 2022 to $28 billion in 2023, according to Research and Markets 2023 Destination Wedding Global Market Report.

According to CAIT estimates, every year more than 5,000 Indian couples now get married abroad. Indians spend or deprive local annual revenues ranging from Rs 75,000 crore to Rs 1 lakh crore every year on destination weddings overseas. Moreover, the government exchequer loses revenue from taxes and cess as the money is spent abroad.

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, while promoting Wed in India in his monthly radio programme, Mann Ki Baat, said that he was troubled by the trend of some big families organising weddings abroad, and he urged people to organise such events on Indian soil so that the countrys money does not go out.

He said, If we celebrate the festivities of marriages on Indian soil, amid the people of India, the countrys money will remain in the country. During a summit in Dehradun in December 2023, Prime Minister Modi again encouraged Indians to Wed in India.

The gala pre-wedding ceremony of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant is one of the biggest such events in the country. Speaking to the media at the pre-wedding ceremony in Jamnagar, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) director Anant Ambani said that he was also inspired by PM Modis initiative of Wed in India. He said, It is a matter of pride and happiness when our PM said that one should get married in India.

The Prime Ministers initiative reportedly prompted actor-couple Rakul Preet Singh and Jackky Bhagnani to get married in Goa last month. The couple had planned to get married abroad, but at the last minute, they changed their mind and decided to get married in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday shared a selfie with Nazim, an entrepreneur from J&Ks Pulwama, whom he referred to as his friend and praised for his commendable work.

During a public gathering at Srinagars Bakshi Stadium, which marked PM Modis first visit to the region post the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, the Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for Nazims efforts.

A memorable selfie with my friend Nazim. I was impressed by the good work hes doing. At the public meeting he requested a selfie and was happy to meet him. My best wishes for his future endeavours, Modi wrote on X, accompanying the message with a selfie featuring the Kashmiri youth.

A memorable selfie with my friend Nazim. I was impressed by the good work hes doing. At the public meeting he requested a selfie and was happy to meet him. My best wishes for his future endeavours. pic.twitter.com/zmAYF57Gbl Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 7, 2024

Expressing his happiness about being chosen to speak with PM Modi, Nazim told news agency ANI, Today, there are several schemes of the Govt that support Indias entrepreneurs but when I started, there was just one schemeI am really happy that I was chosen to speak with PM Modi todayPM Modi asked me about my journey and he also gave some suggestions. In the end, I requested PM Modi to take a selfie with me and he fulfilled my request. That was really beautiful.

Who is Nazim?

During the gathering in Srinagar, Nazim, a beneficiary of the Viksit Bharat programme, shared his entrepreneurial journey with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Nazims journey began in Class 10 when he started beekeeping for commercial purposes with just two bee boxes on his roof. He informed PM Modi about his growth, securing a 50% subsidy for 25 bee boxes in 2019.

I extracted 75 kg of honey. I started selling the honey in villages and got Rs 60,000. From 25 boxes, it went to 200 and then I took the help of PMEGP (Prime Ministers Employment Generation Programme). Under that scheme, I received Rs 5 lakh and in 2020, I started my website, Nazim narrated.

Nazim also told PM modi that with PMEGP support, his brand sold 5,000 kg of honey in 2023, employing around 100 individuals. His company even went public with FPOs.

During the interaction, PM Modi asked Nazim about his childhood aspirations. Nazim shared that while his parents wanted him to be a doctor or engineer, he followed his passion, leading to what PM Modi called Kashmirs sweet revolution.

Expressing gratitude for the event and the chance to interact with the Prime Minister, Nazim advised aspiring entrepreneurs to start small and highlighted the importance of hard work.

There are no shortcuts to success. When I began, there were limited schemes, but now the government offers many avenues, Nazim remarked.
After residential societies, industrial areas in and around Bengaluru are facing severe water shortage, at a time when the maximum temperature in the region is 36 degree Celsius. The meteorological department has already predicted a harsh summer for Karnatakas capital city.

Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) has approached the government for a solution to the water shortage. FKCCIs vice president said that the government has promised them to dig borewells near the industries to fulfill water supply.

The existing borewells are reportedly drying up, and private water tankers are becoming expensive.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Tejasvi Surya met the chairman of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, and warned to stage protest against Congress if issue is not solved within a week.

We will protest in front of Vidhana Soudha if the issue is not resolved within a week, Surya said, alleging that the Siddaramaiah government is approaching the issue in an unscientific manner.

A report in Moneycontrol quoted U Sathyanarayana, honorary secretary of the Peenya Industries Association, as saying, Shortages of water are affecting industries and production. The garment industry relies heavily on water which is also essential for electroplating, CNC machine component manufacturers, and others.

He said borewells in the industrial areas have dried up, and private water tankers have become expensive, driving up production costs. We are requesting BWSSB to supply treated water to industrial units given the water crisis, Sathyanarayana was further quoted.

S Selvakumar, principal secretary, commerce and industries, was quoted by the publication as saying, When there is a drinking water crisis in the city, there is a shortage for industries too. But we are now trying to source water from nearby borewells and private tankers so that production will not be affected.

Moneycontrol also spoke to FKCCI president, Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, who told them, We anticipated this water crisis due to the weak southwest monsoon and drought. We have to purchase water at a higher rate for the next three months until the monsoon sets in. We also urge everyone to use water judiciously until we receive adequate rain.

Last month, Karnataka industries minister MB Patil held a meeting, acknowledging that industrial areas in Bengaluru urban and rural, Chikkaballapura, Tumakuru, and Kolar districts were facing severe drinking water problems, the report stated.
The construction work at the Ram temple complex in Ayodhya will be completed by December this year, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust said on Thursday. Nearly 75 lakh devotees have visited the temple since the consecration of Ram Lalla idol on January 22, officials said.

Anil Mishra, member of the temple trust, said that currently about 1,500 workers have been employed and more than 3,500 additional workers will be deployed soon to speed up the construction of remaining two floors of the three-storey temple building.

The ground floor of the temple was built in December last year. A meeting of the temple construction committee was held recently and it was decided to complete all the constructions in the Ram Janmabhoomi complex by the end of this year, Mishra said.

The sanctum sanctorum is on the ground floor of the temple and the court of Lord Ram will be installed on the first floor as after having darshan of Ram Lalla, devotees will be able to have darshan of Lord Rams court, he said.

The work of building the main spire and another spire of the grand temple is going on at a fast pace, while the peaks will be ready in 300 days, the temple trust member said. There will be a total of five peaks in the temple, of which three peaks were prepared before the consecration ceremony, Mishra said, adding that the main peak is being built 161 feet high with a layer of gold on it.

The parkota of the temple will also be ready before the arrival of monsoon to protect devotees from rain and sun, he said. At the complex, temples of six gods and goddesses will be built along the parkota, besides temples of seven sages will also be constructed, he said.

He said that L&T, the company which is constructing the temple, is going to field an army of workers, currently 1,500, from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Temples of Hindu saints described in ancient religious texts, including Valmiki, Vashishtha, Vishwamitra, Agastya, along with Nishadraj and Ahilya, are also to be built in the complex, Mishra said.

Apart from this, the road from Tedhi Bazaar at the western end of the Ram Janmabhoomi to a post office via Ashrafi Bhawan and Vibhishan Kund will be widened by 15 metres. This road is being widened in view of the rising number of devotees, Ayodhyas District Magistrate Nitish Kumar said.

More than two lakh devotees are visiting the Ram temple on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, whereas on other days around 1.5 lakh devotees are arriving, Prakash Gupta, officer in-charge of the Ram temple trust, said.
A 71-year old doctor from Delhi was duped off Rs 9 lakh by a sextortion gang after a midnight video call, that he assumed to be from a patient turned out to be a woman in a compromising position.

Following the interaction over the video call which was recorded all throughout, the doctor landed in a position of being blackmailed after which he ended up transferring nearly Rs 9 lakh to the gang.

However, unable to deal with the pressure anymore, the doctor registered a case with the Delhi Police, following which two brothers from Rajasthan were arrested. The doctor informed the police that he had transferred nearly Rs 8.6 lakh to the gang but despite that the calls and demands continued.

As per an NDTV report, the men used to run a sextortion racket and have been suspected to have blackmailed around 25 other people using the same playbook.

According to the police, the doctor had approached the Cyber Police Station and complained about the repeated video calls and blackmail that he used to receive from a gang. As per his complaint, the gang was threatening that they would leak a video of his call with the woman on social media.

The police registered a case under sections related to cheating, criminal intimidation and extortion, among others and began its investigation.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (East District) Apoorva Gupta, as quoted by NDTV said, We started tracing and surveilling the numbers from which the calls were made to the doctor. We finally managed to get a lead and an identity of a person from Rajasthan. Informers helped us verify this information and told us that the person was part of an extortion racket. We raided his house last week and arrested him and his brother.

DCP Gupta further said that seven phones were recovered from their possession, including a device that was used to make the original video call as well as the phone and SIM card that was used to make the extortion call.

The accused duo has been identified as Abdul Rehman (39) who lived with his wife and three children, and his brother Aamir Khan (26). Both are residents of Mewat area in Rajasthans Deeg district and have been remanded in police custody for five days.

The police while conducting the investigation established a money trail and also discovered that the funds had been transferred to various bank accounts, bypassing KYC verification, in Haryana, Punjab, and Maharashtra.

The Deputy Commissioner also informed that a study of the bank accounts has led them to suspect that the gang had 25 more victims. We are gathering information on other associates of the two brothers DCP Gupta added. The police have however found that the other associates are possibly from the same village as the accused brothers.

As per investigation, among the other victims, four are from Delhi, while the others are from Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
A Delhi Court has issued fresh summons to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, asking him to appear before it on March 16.

The Delhi Rouse Avenue Courts move came after the financial probe agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a second complaint against Kejriwal for non-compliance with the summons issued to him in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.

On Wednesday, the ED filed a fresh complaint before the Delhi court seeking the prosecution of Kejriwal for skipping its summonses in a money laundering investigation linked to the Delhi liquor scam.

The agency, in its complaint, stated that Kejriwal intentionally and deliberately skipped three more summons issued to him.

The latest complaint is that the AAP national convenor did not respond to summons 4 to 8.

The court of ACMM Divya Malhotra has scheduled a hearing on Thursday regarding the case. The ED had previously approached a local court, requesting the prosecution of Kejriwal for failing to appear in response to the first three summonses issued to him in connection with the money laundering investigation related to the Delhi excise policy.

The court then listed this matter for hearing on March 16. Kejriwal, 55, had called all the eight ED summonses illegal and informed the federal agency last time that he could be questioned via a video conferencing link after March 12.

The ED has filed the fresh complaint under section 174 IPC (non-attendance in obedience to an order from a public servant) read with section 63(4) of the PMLA that speaks about a person who intentionally disobeys any direction apart from some other sections of the law.

Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to the Enforcement Directorate offering to appear before it via video conferencing after March 12 to answer questions related to the excise policy case. The AAP national convenor has so far skipped multiple summonses of the ED, calling them illegal and asking the agency to wait as the matter was in court.
A team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted raids at the residences of jailed Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Irfan Solanki in Kanpur. The ED team, which arrived from Lucknow also raided his brother, Arshads residence.

Raids are underway at multiple locations in Kanpur.

#WATCH | Uttar Pradesh | ED raids underway at the residence of jailed Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Irfan Solanki in Kanpur. The ED team also reached the residence of Irfans brother Rizwan Solanki Both brothers are in jail. Details awaited. pic.twitter.com/lomlnAdqSF ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2024

According to reports, the raids were conducted based on multiple FIRs of land grabbing, the Gangster Act, fake Aadhaar card cases, etc.

Irfan Solanki has been lodged in jail for the past year over accusations by a woman of attempting to encroach upon a plot. A total of 17 cases have been filed against Solanki so far.

As per reports, a search operation is also going on at the house of builder Haji Wasi, who is said to be a close aide of MLA Irfan Solanki. Wasi is an accused in the arson attack in Kanpur in 2022, along with several other persons of Bangladeshi origin.
After the shocking incident from a village in Uttar Pradeshs Kanpur district where the bodies of two girls were found hanging from a tree after they were allegedly raped, the father of one of the victims was found dead.

The 45-year old man died by suicide and as per a video statement by the police, his body was recovered from the Hamirpur district on Wednesday afternoon.

As per an NDTV report, the body was given to the family after conducting a routine post-mortem and his last rites were performed with the presence of the police at their village. Meanwhile, the son has filed a police case.

According to the deceased fathers kin, he died allegedly by suicide as the accuseds family members were threatening them to compromise on the rape case. The mans body was found hanging from a tree nearly two kms away from his home.

Hamirpurs Superintendent of Police (SP) Deeksha Sharma confirmed the suicide, while adding that the reason behind the same has not been ascertained yet.

The SP said in a video statement, After receiving a complaint from the family members, action will be taken in the case in accordance with the law.

Reacting to this incident, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took to X to condemn the horrific crime. She said, Two minor girls, victims of gang rape, committed suicide in Kanpur. Now the father of those girls has also committed suicide. It is alleged that pressure was being put on the victims family to compromise.

She further said, In Uttar Pradesh, if victimized girls and women ask for justice, it has become a rule to destroy their families. From Unnao, Hathras to Kanpur  wherever women were tortured, their families were destroyed. Being a woman has become a crime in this jungle raj where there is no such thing as law left.

In a shocking incident, two girls were found hanging from a tree near the brick kiln in a village in Ghatampur Kotwali, Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The incident came days after the two girls were allegedly gang-raped by the contractor of the brick kiln, his son and nephew.

According to the families of the victims, the accused had also made a video of the act to blackmail the girls due to which they took the extreme step on Wednesday, police informed.

If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata)
Seven years in the making, a prestigious development programme of the famous Hazratbal Shrine will be dedicated to the people by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Srinagar when he speaks from the Bakshi Stadium on Thursday. The foundation stone of the project was laid by then chief minister Mehbooba Mufti in 2017 when there was a PDP-BJP government in the state, but it has been seen through by the Centre.

Sources in the government told News18 that this has been a project close to the PMs heart, with Hazratbal being one of the most prominent Muslim shrines in the country. The Dargah houses the holy relic of Prophet Mohammad. Located on the western flanks of the Dal Lake, the Hazratbal Shrine is among the most visited religious places in J&K and saw an enhancement in facilities for devotees and beautification under the Rs 45-crore programme.

To create world-class infrastructure and amenities for pilgrims and tourists visiting the Hazratbal Shrine, and to enhance their holistic spiritual experience, the project Integrated Development of Hazratbal Shrine has been executed. The key components of the project include site development of the entire area including the construction of the boundary wall of the Shrine; the Illumination of the Hazratbal shrine Precinct; the Improvement of Ghats and Devri Paths around the Shrine; Construction of Sufi interpretation centre; Construction of Tourist Facilitation Centre; Installation of Signages; Multilevel Storied Car parking; Construction of Public Convenience Block and entrance Gateway of the Shrine, the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) said in a statement.

The Centre had approved the project in 2016-17 under the Union Tourism Ministrys National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Augmentation Drive (PRASAD). The idea was to give an unobstructed view of Dal Lake from the shrine complex and have tensile structures for prayers during summers and rainy seasons, four-laning of the Dargah entrance, illumination of the complex and other devotee facilities. The PRASAD scheme aims at enhancing pilgrim conveniences and improvement of connectivity.

An inner approach, landscaping and renovation of other facilities have since happened at the Hazratbal shrine. The entrance courtyard saw a revamp too. New signages have also come up in and around the Hazratbal shrine now.

The shrine had seen a major siege by terrorists in 1993 and 1996. Security has ever since been tight around Hazratbal in the heart of Srinagar.
In Tokyo, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar hailed the robust relationship between India and Japan, highlighting their special strategic and global partnership aimed at addressing global challenges.

Speaking at the Raisina Roundtable organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Jaishankar emphasised the evolving dynamics of the global order, noting the emergence of new balances and occasional achievements.

The session focuses on how India and Japan, bonded by a special strategic and global partnership, intend to confront the challenges confronting the global order. This subject encompasses various dimensions, said Jaishankar as quoted by news agency ANI.

Reflecting on changing metrics such as GDP, technology, influence, and demography, Jaishankar highlighted the transformation in the global hierarchy over the past few decades. He underscored the significance of adapting to these shifts, which contribute to the volatility characterizing the current global order.

Jaishankar stressed the importance of maintaining an overall balance favoring freedom, openness, and a rules-based order. He stressed on the mutual interest in upholding these principles among the powers central to multipolarity in Asia.

In our common interest, it is imperative to preserve a balance that promotes freedom, openness, transparency, and adherence to a rules-based order, Jaishankar affirmed.

The world will watch how we will support each other in the shared goal through various relationships and initiatives, the EAM noted.

Jaishankar is notably on a visit to Japan from March 6-8. Before this, he visited South Korea, where he met the top leaders during his stay.

He is in Japan for the 16th India-Japan Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue with his Japanese counterpart, Yoko Kamikawa.

The two ministers are expected to discuss issues of bilateral, regional and global importance, and exchange views on cooperation for a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, according to MEA.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday took a swipe at China, saying that Beijing failed to honor longstanding agreements with India and pointed fingers at it for the border conflicts in 2020.

Speaking at the Raisina Roundtable in Tokyo, Jaishankar delved into the evolving world order, acknowledging a significant power shift in the Indo-Pacific.

There is a reality of a very big power shift in the Indo-Pacific. When there are very big shifts in capabilities and influence and presumably ambitions, then there are all the accompanying ambitions and strategic consequences. Now, its not an issue whether you like it or you dont like it. Theres a reality out there, you have to deal with that reality, he said and added, Ideally, we would assume that everybody would say, okay, things are changing, but lets keep it as stable as we can, Jaishankar stated.

External Affairs Minister emphasised the need to adapt to these changes and maintain stability, particularly in the face of growing capabilities, influence, and strategic consequences. Despite hoping for a collective effort to preserve stability, Jaishankar highlighted the contrasting behavior, particularly in the case of China.

Reflecting on the border tensions that escalated in 2020, Jaishankar noted, Unfortunately, thats not what we have seen in the last decade of our own experience in the case of China, for example, is between 1975 to 2020, which is really 45 years, there was no bloodshed on the border, and in 2020, changed, he said. We can disagree on many things, but when a country actually sort of does not observe written agreements with a neighbour, I think, you have caused  because  then raises a question mark about the stability of the relationship and frankly, about intentions.

The border standoff in eastern Ladakh, beginning in May 2020, led to a severe deterioration in India-China relations, with the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020 marking a significant military conflict.

Jaishankar emphasised that peace in the border areas is crucial for normalising ties between the two countries.

We see it in conflict in Europe, in disregard for international law in Asia, and in the ongoing developments in the Middle East and often in the weaponisation of the normal, he said.

Longstanding agreements are not being necessarily observed, raising question marks about the stability of the environment in which we all operate, he said, referring to the 1993 Border Peace and Tranquillity Agreement (BPTA) and the 1996 agreement on Confidence Building Measures in the Military Field Along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas.

Answering a question after his speech, he said, That is why for India, in a changing world, our own equilibrium, our own balances with other countries are changing as well. They dont have to be acrimonious, but the balance is changing. The External Affairs Minister had on March 2 in Delhi raised a similar point while speaking at an interactive session of a think tank. China must adhere to border management pacts and there has to be peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) for improvement in Sino-India ties, Jaishankar asserted amid the lingering military face-off in eastern Ladakh.

(With inputs from PTI)
Days after three people were arrested for raising pro-Pakistan slogans inside the Karnataka assembly after a Congress candidate Syed Nasir Hussains victory in Rajya Sabha elections last week, a group of retired civil service officers has written to Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, urging him not to administer the oath to Hussain.

In their letter, the retired IAS, IPS, and IRS officers stated, Since the slogan Pakistan Zindabad openly shouted inside the precincts of the Legislative House of Karnataka, by the people around the newly elected Member of the Rajya Sabha, the sentiments of the people of Karnataka have severely affected as the newly elected member did not resist such slogans and on the contrary, he has threatened the Representatives of Media around him with objectionable words and rudely shouting at them not to report the incident thereby supporting the open slogans of his supporters.

A Suo moto police complaint has been registered by the Vidhana Soudha Police in Crime No.20/2024 and three supporters of Sri Syed Naseer Hussain have been arrested by the Police and their investigation is in progress, it read.

Prima facie it is clear that Sri Syed Naseer Hussain is directly involved in this anti-national slogans and liable for prosecution. In these circumstances may we request you not to administer the Oath to the newly elected member of Rajya Sabha Sri Syed Naseer Hussain to act as a Member of our prestigious Upper House of our Parliament till the investigation in case of the anti-national slogans made on the occasion of his electoral victory is judicially settled in accordance with law, it added.

The three arrested supporters of Hussain have been identified as Ilthaz from Delhi, Munavar from RT Nagar in Bengaluru, and Mohammad Shafi from Byadagi in Haveri.

A court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate granted remanded the accused to two-day police custody. They will be produced before the court again on March 6.

Supporters Syed Nasir Hussain allegedly shouted pro-Pakistan slogans in the corridors of Vidhana Soudha after his victory in the Rajya Sabha elections. This incident triggered a political slugfest between the ruling Congress and BJP.

The Congress government, headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, ordered an investigation by a government-run FSL to check the veracity of the allegations. The BJP posted on its social media handle the investigation report, prepared by Clue4 Evidence Forensic Investigations Pvt Ltd and signed by audio forensic examiner Phaneendar B N on behalf of city-based Samvada Foundation.
Mumbais civic body is opting to construct bridges to ease traffic congestion in the city. The BMC has decided to connect Madh and Versova by a cable bridge over the local creek, and has floated a Rs 1,800-crore tender for the project.

The 3-km cable bridge will provide all-weather connectivity and cut down travel time from one-and-a-half-hour to 10 minutes between Madh and Versova. It will help ease traffic in Andheri, Madh, Borivali and Gorai areas of the western suburbs.

The distance between Madh and Versova is 21 to 22 km and, depending on the traffic flow, it takes at least an hour and a half to cover it. At present, Madh and Versova are also connected by a ferry service, in which passengers can also accommodate their two-wheelers, but this is not available during the rainy season.

While the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority had earlier allowed the project, it only gave its official approval recently. According to the tender floated by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), it will take three years to construct the bridge.

Local fisherfolk had protested against the project citing environmental, technical and mangrove depletion issues. But, after much deliberation between the BMC and local fisherfolk, the civic body managed to convince them. The project was conceived nearly a decade ago. Yet, its blueprint was only finalised in 2020.

Elevated road to connect Khar subway to Bandra terminus

The BMC has planned to connect the Khar subway (east and west) to the Bandra terminus connector (east and west) via an elevated road. For this work, which will be completed in three parts, the civic body has floated a tender of Rs 500 crore.

The 5-km elevated road will start from Santacruz East Nehru Road to Khar West near the Western Express Highway (WEH) service road, in the first phase. In the second phase, it will connect Bandra terminus and station to Chembur link road on WEH. The third phase will connect the WEH and Chembur link road to the flyover near the Khar subway.
A deadly fire broke out in an apartment within the 16th Avenue society of Gaur City in Greater Noida West on Thursday. Fire tenders have been deployed at the spot and efforts to douse the blaze are underway. The fire started in one of the units on the second floor of the residential complex.

Visuals from the scene showed thick fumes of black smoke emanating from the building as resident scrambled to safety.

According to an Aaj Tak report, many people are suspected to be trapped inside the flats. Authorities are yet to determine the cause behind the blaze and the extent of damage and/or injuries.

Firefighters from nearby areas have been deployed to assist in extinguishing the fire, a Hindustan Times report said.

Last year in April, a fire broke out at 14th Avenue of Gaur City 2. The fire reportedly broke out on the ground floor of Tower L of the society and spread upwards. No casualties were reported.

In a similar incident, a fire broke out at Nawroj Hill Society in the Pali Hill area of Bandra West in Mumbai on Wednesday. Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez stays in the same building.

According to locals, the fire started in a kitchen on the 13th floor of the building. Jacqueline Fernandezs house is reportedly a 5 BHK lavish residence in the building.

The fire broke out in the residential building situated on Nargis Dutt Road at around 8 PM, a civic official was quoted as saying by PTI.
The Delhi Police moved a court here on Thursday seeking more time to complete its investigation in the Parliament security breach case, saying certain reports are awaited and the digital data is voluminous.

The city police requested Additional Sessions Judge Hardeep Kaur to grant three more months to it for concluding the investigation into the matter.

The judge issued a notice to jailed accused Neelam Azad, Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Lalit Jha, Amol Shinde and Mahesh Kumawat on the application, seeking their replies by March 11. In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack, two persons  Sharma and Manoranjan D  jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during the Zero Hour on December 13 last year, released a yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans, before being overpowered by the MPs.

Around the same time, two other accused  Shinde and Azad  also sprayed a coloured gas from canisters while shouting tanashahi nahi chalegi (dictatorship will not work) outside the Parliament premises.
GLOBALink | Presents of 'Phoenix Kingdoms': an art exhibition co-hosted by China and U.S. Pub Date:24-03-07 09:32 Source:Xinhua The exhibition "Phoenix Kingdoms: The Last Splendor of China's Bronze Age" in San Francisco will feature 260 relics from Zeng and Chu culture. Learn about the rich culture of this era and find out why it came to be known as the "Phoenix Kingdoms!" Produced by Xinhua Global Service Editor:Zheng Chen

Related News Chinese diplomat calls for enhancing China... China moving to promote financial opening-... Hainan sees robust offshore duty-free sale... Emerging industries take fresh growth path
Jammu and Kashmir is the crown of India and its development is the governments top priority, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday while addressing a public rally in Srinagars Bakshi Stadium during his first visit to the region after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

The Prime Minister began his address by saying mai yaha dil jeetne aya hun (he was in Srinagar to win peoples hearts). He said the abrogation of Article 370 had allowed the young people of the region to showcase their talent and make use of central schemes to fulfill their dreams. He highlighted how he was able to launch central projects for the region for the first time.

This freedom from restrictions has come after the removal of Article 370. For decades, for political gains, Congress and its allies misled the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the name of 370 and misled the country. J&K was kept in chains for the benefit of a few families. Today there is no 370, hence the talent of the youth of J&K is being fully respected and they are getting new opportunities. Today there are equal rights and equal opportunities for everyone here, he said.

Slamming the previous governments of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference and the Congress, he said they focused on parivarvaad (dynasty) politics and encouraged corruption. He highlighted how the Centre took several steps to revive the Jammu and Kashmir bank which had almost sunk, causing major losses to locals.

J&K has been a huge victim of Parivarvaad and corruption. The previous governments here had left no stone unturned to destroy our J&K Bank, by filling the bank with their relatives and nephews, these Parivarvaadis have ruined the bank. Due to mismanagement, the bank had incurred so much loss that all of you were in danger of losing thousands of crores of rupees, he said.

#WATCH | Srinagar, J&K: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says J&K has been a huge victim of Parivarvad and corruption. The previous governments here had left no stone unturned to destroy our J&K Bank, by filling the bank with their relatives and nephews, these Parivarvadis have pic.twitter.com/6PJVAlcI3Y ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2024

He explained how the government was trying to boost tourism in the area with the Chalo India initiative, adding that 40 fresh spots had been identified which will be developed for tourists to visit. He also urged Indians across the globe to visit India.

Now my next mission is Wed in India. People should come to J&K and host their weddings. The world has seen how G20 was organised in J&K. There was a time when people used to say, who will go to J&K for tourism? Today, tourism in J&K is breaking all the records. In 2023, more than 2 crore tourists have come here, he added.

He said the government was working towards the development of the union territory and highlighted the achievements of the young people of the region in different sectors, including business, agriculture, and sports.

During his speech in the Kashmir valley ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the PM slammed the Opposition for its Modi has no family remark and said the people of Jammu and Kashmir were his family and hed do everything to ensure prosperity of the region.

The Prime Minister ended his speech by wishing people for the upcoming Shivratri and Ramadan festivities and assuring people of tangible development.

PM Modi took part in the Viksit Bharat, Viksit Jammu Kashmir programme and unveiled multiple development projects worth more than Rs 6,400 crore during his visit to Srinagar ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. He also distributed offer letters to new government recruits.

#WATCH | Jammu & Kashmir: Prime Minister Narendra Modi distributes appointment letters at Srinagars Bakshi Stadium. pic.twitter.com/mt35gQqAHZ ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2024

The Prime Minister interacted with local entrepreneurs, who apprised the PM about the help they got from the Centre during their journey.

#WATCH | During Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir program, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with Nazim, a beneficiary of the Viksit Bharat program, at Srinagars Bakshi Stadium, pic.twitter.com/WogfNv1lqJ ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2024

Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha welcomed PM Modi and said, On behalf of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, I welcome PM Modi in Srinagar. In the last 10 years, the development of Jammu and Kashmir has been PM Modis priority. Today, the union territory is shining with pride. For the last three decades, the valley of Kashmir was bled to death by terrorism and injustice and today the flag of peace and development is flying high here under your leadership.

He also apologised to the people who could not find a place to sit due to overcrowding.

According to BJP sources, around 2 lakh people thronged the Bakshi Stadium to listen to PM Modi, carrying placards and cut-outs. They cheered and raised slogans.

The prime minister landed at the Srinagar airport on Thursday and then flew to Badamibagh Cantonment, the headquarters of the Armys 15 or Chinar Corps, the officials said. They said at the Badamibagh Cantonment, PM Modi laid a wreath at the War Memorial and paid tributes to the fallen soldiers. The Prime Minister then drove to Bakshi Stadium via Gupkar and Zero Bridge in a cavalcade, they said.
Once a youngster from Pulwama, Adil Ahmed Dar, had rammed his explosive-laden car into a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy, killing 44 personnel in one of the most dastardly terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. On Thursday, another youngster from the region, Nazim Naseer, narrated his entrepreneurial success story to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and got a selfie with him.

This could well explain the transformation in Jammu and Kashmir in the last five years since the abrogation of Article 370 sections.

The village of Nazim Naseer, Samboora, is just two kilometres away from the village of Adil Ahmed Dar in Pulwama. In fact, Dars village of Gundibagh in Kakapora is right next to Samboora, separated by just the Jhelum River. However, their stories have turned out quite different.

Dar from Gundibagh in Kakapora took the path of terrorism by colliding his car with a CRPF convoy in February 2019, an attack followed by Indian surgical air strikes in Pakistan. That terror strike came on February 14, 2019, just before the general elections.

Another youth from Dars neighbouring village made a different life choice. At the Prime Ministers rally in Srinagars Bakshi Stadium on Thursday, Nazim Naseer narrated his story, which was not only inspirational but impressed the PM enough to click a selfie with him.

Modi, on Nazims fervent request for the snap, got him on stage with the Special Protection Group (SPG)s nod and clicked a selfie with Nazim, calling him his friend and saying he was impressed by the good work Nazim was doing in Kashmir.

Nazim told the PM that his journey started in 2018 when he put two beehive boxes on his roof when he was in class 10.

I went on the internet and in 2019 I decided to expand this and went to the government which gave me 25 bee boxes on a 50 per cent subsidy. For the first time, I did a honey extraction of 75 kg from them. I used to fill up honey in bottles and sell it in villages  I earned Rs 60,000 from it. This motivated me and slowly I expanded to 200 bee boxes after taking a grant from the Prime Ministers Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) of Rs 5 Lakh. In 2020, I opened my website, created a brand for my product, and sold thousands of kilos of honey online. Now, I have 2,000 bee boxes and I have encouraged other youths also. 100 of these local youths have joined me in the business now. In 2023, I got an FPO and we have established marketing linkages to expand, Nazim said to the Prime Minister.

The youngster also said he listened to his own mind to open the business rather than becoming a doctor or an engineer as his family wanted. The PM said Nazim had brought about a sweet revolution in Kashmir.

PM Modi complimented Nazim for his vision as a student and his parents for his upbringing. You are giving direction to the youth of the country and are our strength, the Prime Minister told Nazim.

The youngster said he had clicked a selfie with a Modi portrait in 2023 but wished to take one with the PM in person. Modi granted his request and the picture posted with Nazim by the PM was trending on social media on Thursday.
PM Modi Srinagar Visit LIVE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Srinagar on Thursday for his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. He participated in the Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir programme and dedicated Rs 5,000 crore to projects to boost agri economy in Jammu and Kashmir.

Whenever I came here after 2014, I have always said that I am making all these efforts, to win your hearts and I am seeing that I have been able to win your hearts. I will keep trying hard. This is Modis guarantee PM Modi said while addressing the public in Srinagar.
The Supreme Court on Thursday said that every citizen has the right to criticise any decision of the state while quashing an FIR against a professor for his WhatsApp status criticising the abrogation of Article 370.

The Constitution of India, under Article 19(1)(a), guarantees freedom of speech and expression. Under the said guarantee, every citizen has the right to offer criticism of the action of abrogation of Article 370 or, for that matter, every decision of the State. He has the right to say he is unhappy with any decision of the State, a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said.

The top court quashed the case against Professor Javed Ahmed Hajam against whom a case was registered under Section 153A (promotion of communal disharmony) of the Indian Penal Code, while setting aside an order of the Bombay High Court.

The apex court observed that if any citizen of India extends good wishes to the citizens of Pakistan on August 14 which is their Independence Day, then there is nothing wrong with it.

The Maharashtra Police had registered the FIR at Hatkanangale police station in Kolhapur against Hajam for posting WhatsApp messages regarding the abrogation of Article 370 which said, August 5-Black Day Jammu & Kashmir and 14th August-Happy Independence Day Pakistan.

The top court said every citizen of India has a right to be critical of the action of abrogation of Article 370 and the change of status of Jammu and Kashmir.
The trend of dedicating temples to actors and politicians is quite popular in Tamil Nadu. It seems like it is catching up in Telugu-speaking states as well. Recently, a fan built a temple and dedicated it to actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu in Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh. Previously, in 2016, K Chandrashekar Rao also had a temple dedicated to him in Mancherial district. Now, it looks like Revanth Reddy, Chief Minister of Telangana, is all set to get a temple dedicated to him. One of his fans, a man named Medi Santhosh, decided to construct a temple to honour the CM. It will be built in Vanipakala village of Chityala Mandal, located in the Suryapet district in Telangana. As per reports, the Bhumi Puja is said to be held on March 19. The fan is building the temple with his funds and said that he is dedicating the temple to the CM as he has been fulfilling peoples wishes and solving the problems just like God.

Medi Santhosh has received support from Congress party leaders and supporters in his work. He is a State President of the Reddy Fans Association. He stated that preparations are underway to lay the foundation stone for the temple on March 19. The groundbreaking ceremony will be led by Bhuvanigiri MP ticket aspirant, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy. This has led to many discussions in the Nalgonda district.

Medi believes that Revanth Reddy secured a great victory in the elections after he took over the reins as CM of Telangana. Due to his contributions to the public welfare, the fan decided to build him a temple in his native place with Rs 3 lakh funds. Reportedly, the laying of the foundation stone will be held in the presence of three ministers and the construction of the temple will conclude in two months. He believes that he is fortunate to build a temple for the CM who is always finding solutions for his people.
Rakhi Sawants former husband Adil Khan Durrani has finally opened up about reports that he has now tied the knot with Somi Khan. On Thursday, when News18 Showsha reached out to Adil, he claimed that this is his first marriage and argued that he will share all other details in the coming days.

This is my first wedding only. We are currently in Bangalore. Well be flying to Mumbai tomorrow. Well make an official announcement. Ill share everything in detail soon, Adil exclusively told us.

Earlier today, reports of Adil Khan Durranis second marriage with Bigg Boss 12 fame Somi Khan made headlines. Reportedly, the two got married in Jaipur on March 2, 2024.

Somi Khan was a part of Bigg Boss 12 with her sister, Saba Khan. Dipika Kakar had emerged as the winner of Salman Khans show during that season.

Adil Khan Durrani was previously married to Rakhi Sawant. However, they parted ways last year after the Bigg Boss fame levelled several allegations against Adil and accused him of being involved in extramarital affairs. Adil was then picked up from Rakhis residence and arrested on February 7, 2023.

Even after his arrest, Rakhi accused Adil of torturing her and said, You are not letting me eat. You are not letting me live. You deleted my Instagram account, Adil. You are torturing me.

After being imprisoned for five months in a Mysuru jail, Adil walked out and levelled several counter-allegations against Rakhi. In an interview with Bollywood Bubble, he talked about Rakhis claims of miscarriage and claimed that the actress could not get pregnant. He alleged that Rakhi had gotten a uterus-removal surgery. Adil also claimed Rakhi was still married to Ritesh (her first husband) when she married him.

Prior to Adil, Rakhi was also married to Ritesh. The two entered the Bigg Boss 15 house together but parted ways soon after the shows grand finale. In February 2022, Rakhi announced her separation from Ritesh and shared a statement claiming a lot happened after Salman Khans reality show.
Hailey Bieber and Justin Bieber have been all over the headlines for the past few months after many speculated about their troubled marriage. Now, the model is setting the record straight about rumours circulating by taking to Instagram to share a message and urging people not to believe everything they see on social media. Hailey clarified that if youve heard something about her on TikTok, its simply not true. The rumours gained momentum after Haileys father, Stephen Baldwin, shared a post from podcaster Victor Marx, who asked followers to remember the couple in their prayers. While the pair once showed their love openly on social media, recent rumours have triggered concerns.

While some believe they are going through a rough patch, others claim they are already divorced. However, Hailey has decided to put a full stop to the gossip and called the rumours baseless. Although she didnt address specific issues, the model shared the importance of not trusting everything seen online. Sharing the post, she wrote, Just FYI the stories and constant blind items I see on TikTok are 100% of the time wrong. Made out of thin air. Come from the land of delusion. So I know it may be fun feeding into these stories but just know theyre always false Xx sorry to spoil it.

According to In Style, in the deleted reel shared by Victor Marx, founder of The All Things Possible Ministry had said, Christians, please when you think of Justin & Hailey, take a moment to offer a little prayer for them to have wisdom, protection and to draw close to the Lord. There are special challenges that folks in high visibility positions face.

He further explained that he doesnt usually post about well-known individuals due to negativity, but he acknowledged the unique challenges faced by them and highlighted that this negativity affects their marriage and life in general. Marx thanked those offering prayers and support.

Amidst all the speculation, The Sun added more fuel to the fire by reporting that the model has allegedly abandoned using Hailey Bieber on her trademarks, according to records they found from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The decision to abandon the trademark was made on September 13, 2021, and this happened due to the absence of a statement or use of the request timely filed after Notice of Allowance was issued. On the other hand, her trademark for Hailey Baldwin also faced a similar issue, as it was filed and abandoned on the same dates for the same reasons.

Instead of directly addressing the ongoing speculations, Hailey and Justin Bieber earlier opted to calm the situation by sharing PDA-filled photos while celebrating various occasions together.
In one of those few instances where a reel-life hero turns into a real-life hero, Kannada star Dhruva Sarja took on a responsibility beyond that of the silver screen which is providing the people of Bengaluru relief from the severe water crisis they are facing. Since the beginning of March, water problems have surfaced in many areas of Bengaluru. Due to lack of water, people have to pay double to buy water and in many areas, people are struggling without water for days at a stretch.

As per a report in Suvarna News, Dhruva Sarja has now supplied drinking water to many individuals affected by the water crisis in the Kengeri region. Fans of the star are using tankers to distribute water and it was a common sight on March 6 to see men filling in gallons of water in drums brought in by residents on the actors instructions.

The commendable initiative, led by the Karnataka Dhruva Sarja Fans Association, has brought substantial relief to the residents, offering a crucial reprieve. The escalating water crisis has forced people in the region to pay exorbitant amounts for water tankers. Previously, a 5,000-litre water tanker, which used to cost Rs 500 in the city, is now being sold for Rs 2,000.

In addressing the crisis, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar stated, Out of the 3,500 water tankers in Bengaluru, only 219, approximately 10 per cent, are currently registered with the BBMP and about 210 are utilised by the BWSSB for water supply. Once private tankers are officially registered, the government will establish rates based on the distance from the water source. The legal framework emphasises that water is a public resource belonging to the government and is not considered a personal asset. I plan to conduct a meeting with the tanker owners association post-March 7 to establish the rates.

On the work front, Dhruva Sarja, popularly dubbed Action Prince by his fans has just finished shooting for Martin. Martin is directed by AP Arjun and does not have a release date yet.
Janhvi Kapoors comment on Vedang Rainas latest post has caught everyones attention. Vedang Raina is rumoured to be Janhvis younger sister, Khushi Kapoors boyfriend. The actor recently attended an event in Mumbai and shared his look on his social media handle. Janhvi Kapoor reacted to the post by dropping a bunch of emojis in the comments.

Vedang shared the photos on his Instagram handle with the caption, . The actor looked dapper in a fitted white shirt with black trousers. Khushi Kapoors sister Janhvi Kapoor dropped a bunch of fire emojis in the comments section.

Check out the post here:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vedang Raina (@vedangraina)

Recently, a video of Vedang with rumoured girlfriend Khushi Kapoor went viral. In the video, Vedang looked dapper in a black suit. He was seen seated beside Khushi. Both looked like they were thoroughly enjoying the pre-wedding festivities of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant, which featured performances by top celebrities such as Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan. Khushi and Vedang have not made their relationship official but are often seen together at parties.

In an episode of Koffee with Karan 8, Karan Johar said to Khushi, Conjecture goes that you are dating Vedang Raina. Khushi replied, You know that scene in Om Shanti Om where theres a row of people just saying, Om and I were just good friends? This left Karan and Jahnvi in splits.

After the release of The Archies, it was speculated that Khushi Kapoor was dating her co-star Vedang Raina, who played Reggie in the film. The duo sparked dating rumours after they were frequently spotted together around town. Vedang was also a part of Khushis intimate birthday lunch with Janhvi, her rumoured boyfriend Shikar Pahariya and Orry. He was also present for Khushi Kapoors Christmas celebrations with her close friends.
In the upcoming episode of her podcast What The Hell Navya, Amitabh Bachchans granddaughter will be seen discussing social media with her mom Shweta Bachchan and grandmother Jaya Bachchan. Recently, a promo of the episode was released in which Navya was seen addressing the two ladies as wise people of the internet.

While Jaya laughed at Navyas comment, Shweta expressed, I wish we had the internet when I was growing up because it would have made homework and stuff so much easier. To this, Jaya added, When I was young, we had to book a call, and there were two types of calls: one was ordinary, and the one was an emergency call. If you spoke to your boyfriend, it had to be an emergency call.

Following this, Jaya Bachchan was also seen revealing why she stays away from social media. Theres enough that the world knows about us. We dont need to share on Instagram, she said.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by What The Hell Navya (@wthn_official)

In one of the shows previous episodes, Jaya was also seen schooling trolls. The veteran actress challenged them to speak to her in person if they had the courage. If you want to comment, then comment positively. But no, you just give your verdict, she said.

Not just this, but when Navya Nanda mentioned that most of these social media trolls might not even dare to speak if they sit in front of Jaya, the actress added, They wont have the courage. If you are actually brave, then comment on actual issues and show your face, she said.

For those unversed, Navya Nanda started her podcast journey on YouTube in 2002 with What The Hell Navya. In her podcast, she, along with grandmother Jaya Bachchan and mom Shweta talks about issues women face in society. The episodes can be found on Navyas YouTube Channel. The podcast was created by IVM Podcasts and empowered by Bumble India.

Recently, Navyas brother Agastya Nanda also graced her podcast when The Archies star talked about his spiritual beliefs and said, When I started acting, doing my first film, I was like, I dont know what Im going to do, if Im going to do well, if people are going to like me, if theyll think Im bad. There are so many things. I did my best, and I was like, God, I leave it up to you. I have to keep faith in something beyond me. Whoever you believe in, whether its God, or energy. If you just pass on that burden, it relieves you.
Newest K Drama, The Impossible Heir, featuring Lee Jae-wook, Lee Jun-young and Hong Su-zu, premiered on Disney Plus on February 28. However, just three days after its release, fans were surprised to find leaked episodes 3 and 4 online. Normally, two episodes are released once every Wednesday and the newest episodes are scheduled to release on March 6. According to IMBC reports, episodes of The Impossible Heir hit Hulu before Disney, leading Hulu subscribers to take advantage of the situation by uploading episodes 3 and 4 on illegal piracy websites, ahead of the official release. The news initially circulated on South Koreas chat site, Open Talk, where users expressed frustration about the unexpected leak.

This situation has left both the audience and the creators puzzled about how to handle the unauthorised release of future episodes. According to the portal, viewers are now sharing their disappointment online. An individual annoyed by the leak claimed that they cant access the pirated version. Another viewer shared their discomfort and shared that they wanted to watch episodes 3 and 4 with the full content but were forced to view pirated versions, as spoiler clips from the episodes were circulating widely online through various communities.

Meanwhile, the series is a revenge tragedy featuring Lee Jae-wook as Han Tae Oh, the son of a murderer. Lee Jun Young, from U-KISS and UNB, takes the role of Kang In Ha, an illegitimate son, while Hong Su-zu plays Ne Hye Won, the daughter of a debt collector. According to Kareebo, the plot revolves around Kang In-ha leaving his underprivileged life after discovering his true lineage. Faced with rejection from his rich family, Kang In-ha takes the help of his childhood friend Han Tae-oh to come up with a plan. In an interesting twist, the duo meets Na Hye Won, who is going through financial challenges and wants to break free from her mother. Together, the trio plans to take control of the company and secure top positions.

Days ahead of its release, The Impossible Heir star Lee Jae-wook was in headlines for his romantic involvement with Aespa member Karina. The two reportedly started dating after meeting at a fashion show in Milan on January 14, 2024. Confirming the news, both Karina and Lees agencies acknowledged their blossoming relationship, stating that the celebrity couple is in the process of getting to know each other.
In one of the recent episodes of Shark Tank India 3, we saw Peyush Bansal consoling a pitcher named Saumya Mishra after she broke down following an argument with Anupam Mittal. While everyone praised Peyush for his kind gesture, the pitcher has now made some shocking allegations. She was speaking to TOI recently when she claimed that Peyush was the worst shark on the show. She alleged that Bansal used her image to build his own PR and argued that it was a very smart move on his end.

Whenever I tried to explain something, they were catching certain words and hammering them. Peyush used the word ladki, I never said that, you can see the episode and unedited version. All I said was that client ko lagta hai jo bhi ladki mera kare woh trained ho. I always referred to our therapists as therapists, I was just putting the clients version and it was just the phrase. Peyush just hung on to it and I think it was a very smart attempt to build his own PR, Soumya said.

In the episode, it seems like Peyush was very sweet as he came and consoled me but he was the worst of all. When I put my point of view and they saw that I was completely broken down. Just to bolden their image, he comes and says main toh aapko feedback de raha tha and all of that. But all that Peyush was doing all this while was to build his own brand at the cost of my image, she added.

During her pitch, Soumya was also tagged as arrogant by Anupam Mittal. The pitcher also talked about the same and shared that it left her disappointed because it became about my character. I was scared of what kind of impression that will go to my own customers, employees, friends and everyone when the episode will air, she said.

Soumya also clarified that on the show, she never meant to downgrade someone. She alleged that the sharks used her words and really hammered me very badly with that.
Sofia Boutella, known for her impressive dancing skills and an oeuvre of action roles, recently spoke to Variety about what it is like working in action films and the sexism that still plagues Hollywood. Sofia was recently seen in Rebel Moon, a space opera film directed by Zack Snyder. The sci-fi film saw a limited theatrical release on December 15, 2023, before it was released on Netflix on December 22. Its sequel The Scargiver will be released on April 19, 2024. Despite the films high budget and a renowned ensemble cast that included names like Ray Fisher, Charlie Hunnam, and Anthony Hopkins, it failed to get either critical or commercial acclaim.

The film was dubbed as Zack Snyders worst film by IndieWire, whereas The Guardian review called it, an ugly, unforgivably dull and self-serious mess. Sofia, who played the role of Kora, a soldier in a fictional galaxys army, shared that she was very upset about the scathing reviews.

She said, I always thought that I was fully armed to take on those punches, and then I read the critics that came down on Rebel Moon and it really affected me. She added, Ive been pretty lucky and people like my work in it, but the movie was criticised. It really affected me for all of those who put so much heart, tears, and sweat in this project. Its hard to see something being demolished to that extent. Im proud to have been part of it, and if there is no more Rebel Moon, it will be a very important part of my life that I will defend forever.

The former rhythmic gymnast who has worked in at least ten action films like Atomic Blonde, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and SAS: Rogue Heroes, also spoke about how even in films that have action sequences for women, the way such scenes are edited is different than the editing done on action scenes that are focused on men.

Sofia said, For men, the camera lingers  the editing doesnt cut away, and it pulls in tight in the eyes. For women, the cut is quick. She further added, Yes, we want more characters for women that are strong in how theyre written. But then what you do with the camera and how you edit is also going to indicate something. I feel like the women are being done a disservice in the editing room.
Turkish star Hande Ercel recently arrived in Mumbai all set to join the stage for a cross-cultural alternative in India. Ercel will be seen sharing the stage for the upcoming FICCI Frames 2024 alongside Bollywood actress Rani Mukerji. The 30-year-old was spotted at the Mumbai airport on Tuesday morning, immediately catching the attention of the media and her fans. While the actress is in India for a brief stint for her professional commitments, she didnt shy away from taking some time to explore the city.

A day after landing in Mumbai, Hande immediately headed out for a fun-filled day exploring popular sites there. She also shared snippets of her day tour on Instagram, giving glimpses of her experience. While a few pictures show the actress posing at the sites, the post also includes a video showing Ercel grooving to music inside her car.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hande Ercel (@handemiyy)

Fans immediately flooded the comments section with love and admiration. While many expressed their desire to meet the Turkish star, some also suggested she must visit a few other famous sites in Mumbai.

Hande Ercel receives a warm welcome in Mumbai

In the wee hours of Tuesday morning, the Turkish actress was spotted arriving in Mumbai. Dressed in casuals, Ercel was all smiles as she headed out of the airport. She also received a warm welcome from her fans, who were eagerly waiting with flowers. The actress seemed quite happy as she received the flowers from a fan.

Many other pictures and videos of the actress meeting her fans and posing for photos with them have also surfaced on the internet.

Her hug seems to be the warmest place. The way she deals with fans looks very beautiful. She is humble and beautiful. She deserves all the love and appreciation. Finally, she is treated with the love and respect she deserves #HandeErcel pic.twitter.com/0LwXbVpQCw nora (@keremmiyynora) March 6, 2024

Following her visit to India, Ercel, in a conversation with the Hindustan Times, spoke about the warm reception that she received from fans and expressed her admiration for Indians. They are really loyal to their culture, and they actually live it freely, they are not afraid to show it. They spread it to other parts of the world too, and I respect that a lot, she said.

FICCI Frames 2024

Organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the annual confab will take place in Mumbai this year. Rani Mukerji and Hande Ercel are said to be among the luminaries to speak at the event. Ayushmann Khurrana, Ektaa R Kapoor, Hansal Mehta, Anand L Rai, Anubhav Sinha, and Raj & DK, among others, will also take part in the event.
The makers of Manjummel Boys are basking in the success of their survival thriller film. The Malayalam film is written and directed by Chidambaram, and produced by Parava Films. Since its release on February 22, the film has grossed over Rs 100 crores, becoming the fastest Malayalam film to cross this mark. It has emerged as the fifth highest-grossing Indian film of 2024. The film is based on a true incident from 2006 when a group of friends from a small town called Manjummel found themselves in a harrowing situation in Kodaikanals Guna Caves.

Recently, director Anurag Kashyap shared a review of Manjummel Boys on Letterboxd, a social media platform dedicated to movie reviews. In his review, Kashyap praised the film and wrote, Simply extraordinary piece of confident mainstream filmmaking. So much better than all the big budget filmmaking in india. Such confidence, such impossible storytelling. I was wondering how does one even sell this idea to a producer. In Hindi they can only do remakes of such ideas. Hindi cinema really is so far left behind with three back to back brilliant Malayalam films.

On Wednesday, the official Instagram page of Manjummel Boys shared a screenshot of Kashyaps review and thanked the Gangs of Wasseypur director for his kind words.

Kashyap is not the only filmmaker who has heaped praises on Manjummel Boys. Recently, director Venkat Prabhu and Pa Ranjith praised the film at a promotional event for the film J Baby.

Venkat Prabhu, known for making acclaimed films like Mankatha and Saroja, said, I am so proud of the success of Manjummel Boys in Tennessee. At a time when hero-heroine films work well, it is commendable to see a film with no heroine but only a bunch of boys working better than our films in Tamil Nadu. This proves that language is not important; only art matters.

Pa Ranjith of Madras and Kabali fame also applauded Manjummel Boys and described it as an impressive film that did not need any unnecessary songs to draw the audience. He said that the film managed to form an emotional connection with the audience with just one song during the climax.

Manjummel Boys has an ensemble cast of Soubin Shahir, Balu Varghese, Sreenath Bhasi, Ganapathi S. Poduval, Lal Jr., Deepak Parambol, Arun Kurian, Abhiram Radhakrishnan, Khalid Rahman, Chandu Salimkumar, and Vishnu Reghu. On March 5, Mathrubhumi reported that the real-life Manjummel Boys reunited to watch the film.
Steven Spielberg is undoubtedly one of the most prolific directors in the world. Recently actor Ryan Gosling shared a moment when he was left awestruck by his meeting with the Oscar-winning director. Gosling, who is preparing for the release of his new film The Fall Guy told Variety that he met Spielberg at the 2024 Golden Globes awards ceremony. The Barbie star said that he noticed Spielberg walking towards him but thought he must be going to meet someone else since the two had never spoken before. Gosling was left awestruck when Spielberg actually stopped in front of him to compliment his yet-to-be-released film The Fall Guy.

Recalling his interaction with Steven Spielberg, Gosling said, I saw Steven Spielberg walking in my direction. I thought theres no way hes coming to talk to me. And yet he kept getting closer, and then I thought I know whats going to happen. Im going to point to him, and hes going to go, Not you, behind you, so Im not going to do that. Finally, I said, Me? and he goes, Yeah you. I go, Im sorry I didnt think you were coming to talk to me. And I stood up and he gave me a hug and said, I just saw Fall Guy and I loved it.

Ryan Gosling added that now that he has received the stamp of approval from none other than Steven Spielberg, he is not too worried about the films critical reception. Gosling continued, Steven Spielberg liked it. That was an all time moment for me. Im really excited for people to see it. I think its a really special movie.

The Fall Guy is directed by acclaimed filmmaker David Leitch of Deadpool 2 and Bullet Train fame. It is based on the 1980s sitcom of the same name. In the film, Gosling plays a Hollywood stuntman who is tasked with finding the lead action of a film after the actor goes missing.

The action comedy film is set to have a world premiere at SXSW on March 12, 2024. After that it will be theatrically released in the USA on May 3. The film also stars Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Winston Duke, Hannah Waddingham, and Stephanie Hsu. While talking about the film, Gosling described The Fall Guy as a love letter to movies and moviemaking and the people who make movies.
In the run up to Mission 400 for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party is all set to seal another alliance. This time its likely to be in Andhra Pradesh.

Sources told News18 that Chandrababu Naidu (Telugu Desam Party chief) is arriving in Delhi late on Thursday evening, while Pawan Kalyan (JanaSena Party chief) is also likely to be in the national capital.

The BJP, TDP and JanaSena are expected to hold a late night meeting for the big Andhra Pradesh NDA alliance.

The BJP has asked for 30 seats in the Assembly and seven seats in Lok Sabha from Andhra, including one or two for Pawan Kalyan, sources added.

BJP has been aggressively trying to make inroads in the south where the saffron partys presence, except in Karnataka, has not been up to the mark.

Of the 127 seats in five southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Telangana and Union Territory Lakshadweep, the BJP could win only 29 in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Of these, 25 came from Karnataka and four from Telangana. The party drew a blank in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh in 2019.

A report in Mint quoted its sources as saying that the BJPs key focus will be 84 seats in South India, declared weak category seats that the party has never won.

The report also quoted analysts as saying that the number is crucial if the party has to achieve its target of 370 seats for the BJP and 400 + for the NDA.

The latest information from Andhra Pradesh comes amid speculations of the BJP trying to forge an alliance with Naveen Patnaiks Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha. The talks between the two parties are reportedly in final stage, with only a formal announcement awaited.

If that happens, the BJD will return to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold 15 years after it broke off its ties in 2009 following the Kandhamal riots in 2008.
February 29  Confident, assured, brazen even. March 6  Tensed, muted, furtive. The body language of Shajahan Sheikh has undergone a 180-degree change a week since his first court appearance in the custody of Bengal Police to his appearance for a medical check-up in CBI custody.

The suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader was handed over to the CBI by West Bengal CID on Wednesday in connection with the attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in Sandeshkhali in January. The CID took him to a state-run hospital for a medical check-up before handing him over to the CBI. The CBI officials later in the night took Sheikh to another medical check-up in their custody.

Sheikh was arrested in a case related to a mob attack on ED officials at Sandeshkhali on January 5 when the central agency had gone to search his premises in connection with an alleged ration distribution scam.

The TMC strongman, who has also been accused of sexual assault and land grab in Sandeshkhali, was arrested on February 29 after being on the run for 55 days. After his arrest, Sheikh was escorted by law enforcement officers to be produced in a Basirhat court.

Sheikh had walked confidently into the court with shoulders hunched up high amid huge security presence as mediapersons jostled to question the man said to be the don of Sandeshkhali. He donned a white kurta-pyjama and a waist coast, a classic politicians attire. This reporter managed to put forth one question to him: Was it you who tortured the people of Sandeshkhali? Sheikh turned to the reporter and wagged his index finger to signal no. No words, just a gesture seemed enough for Sheikh to claim innocence.

The opposition had also drawn attention to Sheikhs body language, alleging he was not bothered about his arrest since he knew he has the backing of TMC leadership. Questions were also raised on why police officials did not hold Sheikh by the hand as is the norm while producing an accused in court.

On Wednesday night, however, it was a completely different story. Before being handed over to the CBI after much drama, Sheikh was taken by the police for routine check-up to a government hospital in Kolkata. On the way back to police headquarters, Sheikh sported a gloomy expression. His face betrayed some tension as he reached the police HQ.

The tiger of Sandeshkhali has now become a rat. What happened? Is it because now he will face real questions? asked BJP leader Agnimitra Paul.

Sheikhs discomfort with the situation was also apparent when he was taken for medical check-up in CBI custody.

While sources in Bengal police say the six-day questioning impressed the gravity of the situation to Sheikh, the opposition attributed the change in his demeanour to the prospect of being questioned by the CBI.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of spreading false information about Sandeshkhali, where women have accused TMC leaders of sexual abuse, emphasising that the sate is the safest place in the country for women, challenging the BJPs claims during a rally in Kolkata.

Some people are spreading fake information about Sandeshkhali. BJP leaders are spreading canards about the safety of women in West Bengal but they maintain a stoic silence when women are tortured in BJP-ruled states.. I challenge BJP and say that Bengal is the only place where women are safe, Mamata Banerjee said while addressing a rally of women supporters in Kolkata.

According to a report in NDTV, some women from Sandeshkhali, where serious allegations against local TMC leaders have surfaced, also participated in the march, themed Mahilader Adhikar, Amader Angikar (womens rights, our commitment).

Prominent women Trinamool leaders, including Sushmita Dev, Shashi Panja, and newly-elected Rajya Sabha MP and journalist Sagarika Ghose, joined the event. Mamatas nephew and the partys national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee also participated.

In her speech on Thursday, she also highlighted incidents of violence against women in other BJP-ruled states and raised questions about their reaction.

Where were you when women were paraded naked in Manipur, when a woman was raped and her body forcibly cremated in Hathras? Have you forgotten Bilkis (Bano)?, the TMC supremo questioned.

Accusations on Abhijit Gangopadhyay

Responding to former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who joined the BJP earlier today, Mamata expressed skepticism about expecting justice from someone affiliated with the BJP. She accused the former judge of taking away jobs from thousands of youths through his judgments.

A BJP babu was sitting on the bench and he joined BJP. How can you expect justice from them?, she stated.

Mamatas remarks followed Prime Minister Narendra Modis criticism of the TMC over alleged sexual assaults in Sandeshkhali.

PM Modi had said that the womens anger would not be limited to Sandeshkhali but would sweep through West Bengal. He condemned the TMC for not addressing the pain of the victims and accused the Mamata-led government of shielding the culprits.

TMC has committed a grave sin by torturing mothers and sisters. Anybodys head will hang in shame after seeing what happened in Sandeshkhali. But the TMC is not bothered about your pain. The TMC government is using its full strength to shield the culprits. But the state government first got a shock from the high court and then the Supreme Court, Modi noted.
The Congress party on Thursday held its first Central Election Committee meeting to finalise candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge were present in the meeting held at party headquarters in the national capital.

The states under consideration for discussion include Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim, and Manipur. A total of 60 seats across these states are likely to be discussed in the meeting.

According to the sources, the CEC meeting for Telangana and Kerala has been concluded and the announcement is likely to be made on Friday. Meetings for the remaining states are still in progress.

Speculation is rife over Rahul Gandhis candidature from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadras from Rae Bareli, a constituency previously held by Sonia Gandhi. Both the seats are considered bastions of the Gandhi family and the local units of the Congress have demanded that the two scions of the Congress first family should contest from there.

Rahul Gandhi, who was previously an MP from Amethi, lost the seat last time but won from Wayanad in Kerala.

Meanwhile, several states have already held meetings of their respective screening committees and have forwarded the list of candidates for seats in their states.

Last week, the BJP released its first list of 195 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. Among the declared seats, 51 are from Uttar Pradesh, 20 from West Bengal, and five from Delhi. The list includes 28 women leaders and 47 candidates under the age of 50.

Comparatively, five years ago, the BJP contested 436 out of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. The announcement of 195 seats last Saturday means the BJP has already disclosed nearly 40% of the total for 2019. Notably, in 2019, the BJPs initial list of around 180 candidates was revealed on March 21  more than 10 days after the announcement of the election schedule.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to contest from Uttar Pradeshs Varanasi for the third time.

(With inputs from PTI)
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is set to contest from Keralas Wayanad constituency once again in the coming Lok Sabha polls, informed sources.

The Congress scions candidature received the green light during the first meeting of the partys Central Election Committee (CEC) in the national capital on Thursday evening.

Rahul Gandhi, a member of the CEC, participated in the meeting virtually from Gujarat. In the 2019 elections, Rahul secured a significant victory in Wayanad, but faced defeat in Amethi, the traditional Congress stronghold in Uttar Pradesh, to BJP leader Smriti Irani.

According to sources, the name of senior party leader and MP Shashi Tharoor was also approved for Thiruvananthapuram. The BJP has nominated Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar as its candidate for the seat in Kerala. There is also a possibility of K. C. Venugopal contesting in the upcoming polls.

The sources added that the top leadership of the party during its CEC meeting conveyed a strong message, emphasising that prominent figures must participate in the Lok Sabha elections.

During Thursdays meeting, the panel discussed candidates from Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Telangana, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim, and Manipur. The Congress, however, has not released any official candidate list as of now.

The source mentioned that the list is expected to be released today.

The Congress party organised the CEC meeting to finalise candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Present at the meeting were Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Sonia Gandhi, AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, TS Singhdeo, and others. Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy was also in New Delhi to participate in the meeting.

Last week, the BJP released its first list of 195 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. Among the declared seats, 51 are from Uttar Pradesh, 20 from West Bengal, and five from Delhi. The list includes 28 women leaders and 47 candidates under the age of 50.
Reviving ancient Hindu traditions of Kashmir, building Sangh Parivar-run schools called Ekal Vidyalaya in Muslim-dominated areas, setting up institutes of advanced studies and multiple think tanks, making Kashmir-centric movies  this is how the RSS is working to shape a narrative to make Kashmir election ready.

The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had ordered the Election Commission of India to conduct elections to the Jammu and Kashmir assembly before September 30, 2024. Whenever notified, it will be the first election since the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.

According to senior RSS functionaries, a series of events, launch of literature, books and papers, movies have been planned to set a narrative and initiate a discussion around the Hindus and the Hindu tradition of Kashmir before the polls.

The RSS-inspired institute  Abhinavagupta Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS)  will hold a special ceremony to honour Romanian-born research scholar Mark Dyczkowski and Sanskrit scholar Navjivan Rastogi for their work on Kashmir Shaivism and tantric traditions, commonly known as Rajanaka tradition.

The programme, scheduled to be held on March 8 in Kerala, will have vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar as the chief guest. The promotion for the event, along with a speech on Kashmiri Hindu traditions, has been made with Malayali actor-producer Mohanlal Viswanathan.

Have to resuscitate ancient Kashmir

Movies like The Kashmir Files, Article 370 and the upcoming Baramulla, have sparked controversies and initiated a discussion. There will be more such work in cinema, more such literature that will come out in the form of books or other works of art; this is about reviving Indian traditions in Kashmir, said a senior RSS functionary.

Nationalist Muslims in Kashmir and the Hindu Pandits, who were allegedly evicted, chased or thrown out of their homes decades ago have started speaking about the regions history; about how Hindu traditions were obliterated from the area in a well-planned manner. Kashmir is an integral part of Bharat and also our Hindu traditions. We have to resuscitate that ancient Kashmir through dialogues, said another senior RSS functionary, who has played a crucial role in working on the India-centric nationalist narrative.

Connecting Kashmir to Kerala

It is also about connecting Kashmir to Kerala. The southernmost tiny state (Kerala) has also gone off the hook and unemployed youths are being radicalised. Exactly how we witnessed it in Kashmir. Generations were taught about Kashmir and its history in a selective way, as it was drafted by some Communist-Leftists. It is time that we bring the actual history back into discussion. We are not imposing anything on anyone, we want our youths to debate and deliberate and then decide. We need to bring the Hindu history back from oblivion, the functionary added.

In a statement, the AIAS said: The Rajanaka Puraskar aims to revive the ancient title of Rajanaka, which was bestowed upon exceptional scholars and statesmen in the classical era of Kashmir. However, the term and its significance has waned in our collective memory, even though it survives as the Kashmiri Pandit surnames  Raina and Razdan. Abhinavagupta Institute of Advanced Studies is honoured to revive the tradition of the Rajanaka title through the current Rajanaka Puraskar, hence contributing towards the revival of Indian knowledge systems (IKS) and civilisational resurgence. The institute, which has been recognised as a research centre under the IKS division of the ministry of education, is located at Vagamon in Kerala.
The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the Speakers decision related to Uddhav Thackeray groups plea seeking disqualification of MLAs, including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde from the office of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra sent the original documents after the Shinde faction alleged forgery in the records by the Thackeray camp. The CJI also asked, Isnt the speakers decision to decide the issue solely on legislative majority contrary to our judgement?

The apex court, which had issued notice on the Thackeray groups petition, asked Shinde and his MLAs to file a response positively on or before April 1 and listed the plea for final hearing on April 8.

The bench said it was keeping the issue of maintainability of the petition open.

On January 10, the speaker had declared the Shiv Sena bloc led by Shinde as the real political party, following its split in June 2022. Narwekar had also rejected the Thackeray factions plea to disqualify 16 MLAs of the ruling camp, including Shinde.

The top court had sought responses on January 22 from the chief minister and other lawmakers of his group on the plea. The Thackeray faction, in its petition filed through MLA Sunil Prabhu, has alleged that Shinde unconstitutionally usurped power and is heading an unconstitutional government.

The Shinde group had the support of 37 out of the total 54 Sena MLAs when the party split in June 2022, the speaker had noted.

The Election Commission had given the Shiv Sena name and bow and arrow symbol to the Shinde faction in early 2023.

(with PTI inputs)
Amid buzz that the Telugu Desam Party may join the NDA, its supremo N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday left for New Delhi from Hyderabad, and is expected to meet the senior BJP leadership to finalise an alliance and seat-sharing formula in Andhra Pradesh.

This is Naidus second visit to Delhi to meet the BJP leadership in the run-up to the Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. AP BJP chief D Purnadeswari is already camping in the national capital.

This visit will be to finalise the alliance with the BJP, if possible. As there is not much time left for election notification, we want to get a clarity on the alliance, TDP sources told PTI.

Naidu is expected to meet Amit Shah later Thursday, the TDP sources said. Further, the source noted that Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan is also expected to leave for New Delhi tonight to team up with Naidu to finalise the alliance and the seat-sharing formula. Recently, the TDP and Janasena combine partially announced a list of 119 seats and names of 99 candidates.

Andhra Pradesh has 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats. Naidu will be contesting from Kuppam while there is still no clarity as to where Kalyan would contest from.

As per the TDP-Janasena alliance, the actor-politician-led party will contest 24 Assembly seats and three Lok Sabha constituencies.
Elon Musk has been publicly addressing his legal conflict with OpenAI, and in response, the organisation has published a blog post revealing specifics about Musks wish to exert full control over the company and his ambition to assume the role of CEO.

Now, in a recent development, Musk has taken another jab at Microsoft-backed OpenAI, stating that he would withdraw his lawsuit if the company rebranded itself as ClosedAI.

To ClosedAI and I will drop the lawsuit Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 6, 2024

For context, Musk, a former board member of OpenAI who resigned in 2018, has filed a lawsuit against the organization and its CEO, Sam Altman, citing an alleged breach of their original contractual agreements related to artificial intelligence. OpenAI countered Musks claims, revealing that discussions about a for-profit structure were hindered by Musks insistence to merge with Tesla or he wanted full control.

Were sharing some facts about our relationship with Elon Musk, and we intend to move to dismiss all of his claims, OpenAI said on X.

To that, Musk replied, Change your name to ClosedAI and I will drop the lawsuit. In addition, Musk said that OpenAI needs to stop living a lie.

OpenAI is its blog post had published a detailed account of how the billionaire then wanted majority equity, initial board control, and to be CEO of OpenAI.

OpenAI, in its blog post, provided a comprehensive account of Musks demands, including majority equity, initial board control, and the position of CEO at the company. We couldnt agree to terms on a for-profit with Elon because we felt it was against the mission for any individual to have absolute control over OpenAI, said OpenAI founders Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, John Schulman, Sam Altman, and Wojciech Zaremba.
The Narendra Modi-led cabinet on Thursday gave the green light to a comprehensive national-level IndiaAI mission. With a substantial budget outlay of Rs 10,371.92 crore allocated over the next five years, this mission is poised to revolutionise the artificial intelligence landscape of the country.

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal said the IndiaAI mission will establish a comprehensive ecosystem fostering AI innovation through strategic programmes and partnerships in both public and private sectors.

The mission aims to drive responsible and inclusive growth in this particular ecosystem by democratising computing access, enhancing data quality, nurturing indigenous AI capabilities, attracting top AI talent, enabling industry collaboration, providing startup risk capital, ensuring socially impactful AI projects, and reinforcing ethical AI practices.

Here are the key components of the IndiaAI mission:

Compute Capacity: This pillar will establish a high-end scalable AI computing ecosystem, deploying over 10,000 graphics processing units (GPU) through a public-private partnership model. An AI marketplace will also be developed, offering it as a service and pre-trained models to innovators.

This pillar will establish a high-end scalable AI computing ecosystem, deploying over 10,000 graphics processing units (GPU) through a public-private partnership model. An AI marketplace will also be developed, offering it as a service and pre-trained models to innovators. Innovation Centre: Tasked with the development and deployment of indigenous large multimodal models (LMM) and domain-specific foundational models in critical sectors.

Tasked with the development and deployment of indigenous large multimodal models (LMM) and domain-specific foundational models in critical sectors. Datasets Platform: Streamlining access to quality non-personal datasets for AI innovation, a unified data platform will be developed to provide seamless access to Indian startups and researchers.

Streamlining access to quality non-personal datasets for AI innovation, a unified data platform will be developed to provide seamless access to Indian startups and researchers. Application Development Initiative: Promoting AI applications in critical sectors by addressing problem statements sourced from different governmental bodies and institutions.

Promoting AI applications in critical sectors by addressing problem statements sourced from different governmental bodies and institutions. FutureSkills: Expanding AI education accessibility through undergraduate, postgraduate, and PhD programmes, along with setting up data and AI laboratories across Tier 2 and 3 cities.

Expanding AI education accessibility through undergraduate, postgraduate, and PhD programmes, along with setting up data and AI laboratories across Tier 2 and 3 cities. Startup Financing: Supporting and accelerating deep-tech AI startups by providing streamlined access to funding.

Supporting and accelerating deep-tech AI startups by providing streamlined access to funding. Safe and Trusted AI: Enabling responsible development, deployment, and adoption of AI through the implementation of frameworks and guidelines.

Union minister of state for electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for approving the substantial budget of the mission. He stressed on the transformative potential of AI, saying: AI is going to be the kinetic enabler for Indias digital economy.

Goyal said the government will come up with scheme guidelines, and selection processes will be competition-based ensuring equal opportunity. Research institutes and startups will be encouraged to contribute, while the goal is to democratise AIs spread for broader stakeholder benefit.

The availability of cost-efficient AI computing infrastructure has long threatened to restrict the growth of the nascent AI innovation ecosystem in India. This package of measures, which includes massive investment to create scalable, widely accessible hardware and compute infrastructure, along with sector-focused investment, and a framework for responsible AI, can be transformative for India. It is also a great opportunity for innovators to partner with the government and enable accelerated development, Arun Prabhu, partner (head of technology and telecommunications), Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas told News18.

Alay Razvi, partner (Accord Juris LLP, Hyderabad) also believes that this announcement reflects a commitment to advancing AI capabilities. This initiative could foster collaboration and innovation in the AI domain. This could generate interest and impact the share market, potentially influencing sectors related to AI and technology, he said.

Another expert, Aviral Kapoor, partner at Alagh and Kapoor Law Offices, also appreciated the decision. This strategic initiative under the IndiaAI programme is set to revolutionise various sectors by supporting deep-tech AI startups, enhancing AI education, and creating an inclusive ecosystem for innovation, he said.

The substantial support of Rs 10,372 crore pledged for this mission will propel both compute hardware manufacturing/servers and AI use cases. This was also one of the recommendations of the AI summit organised by IESA in November 2023 at Hyderabad. As a representative body at the forefront of technological advancements, we recognise this as a pivotal step toward establishing India as a global hub for AI innovation and adding to the ESDM vision of the country, said IESA president Ashok Chandak.
What do you think hyper vaccination can do to our bodies? Clueless, right? That was the case with us as well until we came across an incident where a German man voluntarily received 217 Covid-19 jabs over 29 months. While it left many wondering whether he is experiencing any side effects due to the same, it was reported that the man showed no signs of infection with the virus that causes Covid-19 and fortunately, he did not suffer from any vaccine-related side effects as well. A study published in the medical journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, suggests that the 62-year-old man from Magdeburg, Germany was described as hyper vaccinated by the doctors. The man was also examined by the researchers from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg who reported that he received a large number of vaccines for private reasons.

If the reports are to be believed, the mans vaccine spree led to a criminal investigation against him. He was a suspected fraud for running a scam. It was speculated through the scam, he sold vaccine certificates to people who did not want to get the jab.

The initial reports relating to the study sparked widespread speculation suggesting that the man was suffering from paranoia hypochondria. This means that he possibly had a needle fixation. The question also arises whether bought himself the jabs out of his pocket money or received medical authorization to receive them.

Although the public prosecutor in Magdeburg opened an investigation into the fraud allegations, there were no criminal charges filed against the man, authorities confirmed while speaking to the researchers.

Later, the man was asked to let the academics study his bodys response to the multiple jabs. Dr Kilian Schober was quoted by The Guardian as saying, We then contacted him and invited him to undergo various tests in Erlangen. She added, The observation that no noticeable side effects were triggered in spite of this extraordinary hyper vaccination indicates that the drugs have a good degree of tolerability. It was discovered that his immune system was fully functional.
In a groundbreaking medical achievement, a painter from Delhi, who tragically lost both hands in a train accident back in 2020, has recently undergone a historic bilateral hand transplant surgery at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. Led by the skilled expertise of Dr. Mahesh Mangal and Dr. Nikhil Jhunjhunwala, this 12-hour operation marked a significant milestone as the first of its kind in the national capital. This extraordinary feat was made possible through the generosity of Meena Mehtas family, the donor. Meena, formerly the administrative head of a prestigious South Delhi school, had selflessly pledged to donate her organs prior to her tragic passing. She suffered from a brain haemorrhage. Her generous donation saved three more lives.

As per ETV Bharat, Dr, Jhanjhunwala said, After the surgery, there is a lot of improvement in the hands of the man. It is also possible to use the elbow. It also includes other improvements. Blood circulation is happening properly in the hand. Reportedly, due to the accident, the mans hand were amputated just above the thumb on one hand and slightly below the thumb on the other. During the victims treatment at the hospital, surgical procedures were performed to address these injuries. We performed surgery and joined both the hands from below the closed area, he added.

Dr Nikhil Jhunjhunwala further stated, The arms found were extended above the elbow of the donor and attached to the youth. Hand knots, arteries and stones were connected one by one. The surgery was successful and now the patient is being discharged from the hospital at 11 am on Thursday. The patients family is coming to receive him tomorrow.

According to a report in Zee News, the 45-year-old man lost both his arms in a harrowing train accident in October 2020. Following the incident, he underwent treatment at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, where he was fitted with artificial arms. However, regaining full functionality remained a significant challenge for him. Meanwhile, in a tragic turn of events, in 2021, Meena Mehta was declared brain dead. Her family chose to honour her wish for organ donation.

Organ transplantation is one of the remarkable achievements in modern medicine. It provides a beacon of hope and a second chance at life for countless individuals facing life-threatening conditions or organ failure.
The school is regarded as the second home for students as they spend a significant time of their early days there. These educational institutions not only help kids acquire book knowledge but also provide a comfortable atmosphere where they can develop basic etiquette and social qualities by interacting with classmates.

As Teachers are considered the nucleus of a school, every curriculum revolves around them. Apart from planning and preparing educational programs, these individuals also take on many additional responsibilities. When needed teachers serve the role of external parents while sometimes, they need to become the best friends of students. A Malaysian teacher recently set a unique example by investing his bonus in the development of a classroom.

The story of the man named Kamal Darwin was shared by an Instagram page, Weird Kaya. As soon as it surfaced on the internet, the post was able to capture the attention of many, who hailed the person for his dedication and commitment towards the teaching job. Thank you, teacher, the caption of the post read.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by WeirdKaya (@weirdkaya)

The educational landscape across the world has changed drastically in recent times. Every country is putting the focus on modernising schools. The introduction of digital classrooms has no doubt made learning easy and fun as students can now get into the core of a subject, thanks to the feature of audio-visual explanations. However, these learning tools are not always enough to capture the interest of students.

Considering this fact, Kamal Darwin decided to change the look of his classroom as he wanted his students to feel homely. According to Weird Kaya, it was only three weeks that Darwin began his career as a teacher but he was able to understand the impact of the school environment on students. In a bid to make the place cosy and comfortable, Darwin set up a sofa featuring doodles inside his classroom and covered the walls with engaging pictures and charts.

After the story came to light, many users came forward to appreciate the efforts of Darwin while some slammed the government for not allocating enough funds to renovate schools. Shame on the ministry who is supposed to look after the welfare of the students in school, commented a user. Thats just sad, this teacher so kind. The school funding is bad, wrote another. An individual found the story quite relatable as he said, Reminds me of my old standard 5 teacher who repainted and decorated the class with her own money.
Many bloggers visit India and interact with local people. Some try to help others, ask questions, and make memories from their visit. One such video of a Russian blogger is making rounds on the internet. Her video of cooking poha with an Indian mother at a local eatery has left viewers impressed.

The clip opens with a Russian girl in a black saree. She enters a local eatery shop and greets a woman. She asks the name of that woman. The woman replies that her name is Mala Sooryavanshi. As the video progresses, the blogger helps that woman prepare veggies for poha. As the video goes on, an Indian woman can be seen guiding her on how to cook poha and what to add first. The blogger follows the steps as suggested by the lady and cooks it. The Indian woman also introduces the blogger to her family while cooking poha. The lady can also be seen helping the blogger in serving poha to other family members present at the shop.

The video was shared on Mariia Chugurovas Instagram handle a day ago. Sharing her days adventures, Marie reflected on her experience, emphasizing how good she felt after making her favourite Indian dish. In the caption, she wrote, As the saying goes, the way to a persons heart is through their stomach. And let me tell you, my stomach was feeling some serious love after making my first-ever poha with my Indian mom. Poha is not only delicious but also holds a special place in my heart as it is my all-time favorite Indian dish. And despite my love for it, I have always been intimidated to make it myself. But my mom wouldnt let me give up that easily. She gave me a quick rundown of the process and divided the tasks between us. I was in charge of cutting the vegetables while she prepared the base for the dish. And let me tell you, my vegetable-cutting skills were not up to par with my moms. But she kept cheering me on, assuring me that even if they werent perfect, theyd still taste delicious. She also asks the viewers what is their favourite dish.

Also Read: Kolkatas Popular Chhangani Club Kachori Owner Abuses Customer In Viral Video

Watch the viral video of a Russian blogger:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mariia Chugurova (@mariechug)

Also Read: This Video Of Russian Woman Selling Aloo And Kanda On Footpath Is Trending

Since being posted, the video has garnered millions of views and numerous comments. Several people reacted with heart emoticons in the comments section of the post. Ye Russian didi pyari hai, she is just and always wow, wrote an Instagram user. You are the best, added another. Kind person, commented a third.
Tech magnate Elon Musk has once again thrown down the gauntlet to CEO and founder of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, saying he is prepared to fight anywhere, anytime. The announcement was made on March 5 and created a stir on social media, arousing curiosity and conjecture among online users. Elon Musk made his audacious declaration in response to a users post on the X (Formerly Twitter) platform, wherein the user described a conversation with a tour guide who jokingly broached the subject of a showdown between the two tech titans. The user wrote about his trip to the Colosseum in Rome (Italy), and tagged Musk.

After the tour, I asked the tour guide about the Elon vs Zuck fight and he laughed and said Thats something we would love to see. He then proceeded to bring up and briefly talk about dogecoin so I tipped him some doge afterwards. It was absolutely amazing, the user shared on X.

Check his post here:

After the tour, I asked the tour guide about the Elon vs Zuck fight and he laughed and said Thats something we would love to see.He then proceeded to bring up and briefly talk about dogecoin so I tipped him some doge afterwards. It was absolutely amazing. pic.twitter.com/B2Jit8OaID  Sir Doge of the Coin  (@dogeofficialceo) March 5, 2024

Elon Musk quickly responded to the challenge, stating that he is ready to engage in a no-holds-barred confrontation with Mark Zuckerberg. He responded enthusiastically, reigniting discussions about their feud that began in 2023. Im ready to fight Zuck anywhere, anytime, with any rules. LFG!!!, commented the CEO of Tesla Motors.

Read his now-viral comment here:

Im ready to fight Zuck anywhere, anytime with any rules. LFG!!! Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2024

This big announcement reignited speculation about the highly anticipated clash, which first gained traction in June 2023 when Elon Musk criticised Metas foray into social media with a Twitter (now X) competitor.

Im sure Earth cant wait to be exclusively under Zucks thumb with no other options. At least it will be sane. Was worried there for a moment, Elon Musk responded to news of Metas venture.

Amidst the light-hearted banter, one user facetiously forewarned Elon Musk about Mark Zuckerbergs alleged jiu-jitsu prowess. Musk casually offered to settle the dispute in a cage match. In response to this exchange, Zuckerberg entered the debate and shared a screenshot of Musks challenge along with the terse instruction, send location.

Online rumours about whether or not the fight will take place have been sparked by the back and forth. Even though the tone appears lighthearted, its unclear if the tech behemoths will actually resolve their differences in the octagon.
A passenger on a Vistara flight has voiced dissatisfaction over the lack of non-vegetarian meal options. The traveler questioned the rationale for the policy in a post on X (Formerly Twitter), and joked that it would be interesting to know if the airline intended to install a tandoor on longer flights. He further cited a stewardess as saying, We dont serve non-veg because this is a short flight. He also called out Vistara, saying they ought to call themselves a half-service airline.

I dont get the connection between duration & non-veg. Were they planning to fire up a tandoor on the plane if it was a long flight? Vistara should call themselves a half-service airline!!, the post on X reads.

Check the post here:

We dont serve non-veg bcoz this is a short flight -stewardess on Vistara flight today.I dont get the connection betwn duration & non-veg.Were they planning to fire up a tandoor on the plane if it was a long flight?Vistara should call themselves a half-service airline!! Soumitra    (@netshrink) March 5, 2024

The post was shared on March 5 and so far, it has collected more than 226,000 views and several comments. As the post went viral and social media users started pouring in their opinions and experiences, Vistaras customer service team responded to the now-viral post via their official X account in three separate threads.

In the first thread, the airline stated that they were concerned to note this and would like to investigate further.

Hi Soumitra, we are concerned to note this, and would like to get this checked please DM us your booking details also we would like to connect with you over a call please help us with your contact details and a convenient time to get in touch. ~ Muskaan. https://t.co/IaDysdIxJS Vistara (@airvistara) March 5, 2024

The second thread stated, Hi Soumitra, we appreciate your preferences and choices regarding in-flight meals. While we are constantly working to improve our services, please keep in mind that the aforementioned flight was brief, with a slightly shorter flying time. We currently serve vegetarian meals in your booked cabin as a standard procedure.

Hi Soumitra, we deeply care about your preferences and inflight food choices. While we constantly make enhancements, the mentioned flight was a short flight with slightly less flying time. As a process, we currently serve vegetarian meals in your booked cabin. (1/2) Vistara (@airvistara) March 6, 2024

Our services are designed to ensure that all customers are served and that the crew completes all necessary procedures within the timeframe specified. We appreciate your understanding and look forward to providing you with a delightful experience soon. Thank you, Aishwarya, replied Vistara.

The services are set, keeping in mind that all customers should be served and necessary procedures to be completed by the crew well within the time. We appreciate your understanding of the same and hope to delight you soon. Thanks, Aishwarya (2/2) Vistara (@airvistara) March 6, 2024

In response to the post, a large number of users on X shared jokes, memes, or comparable experiences.

On the other hand, according to consolidated reports, Vistara flight operations were hampered at Delhi and Mumbai airports, owing primarily to a lack of pilot availability. On March 6, some flights were cancelled, while others were delayed at the two airports, according to officials.

There was no response from Vistara, and it was not possible to immediately ascertain specific details. With a fleet of 67 aircraft, the full-service carrier flies over 300 routes every day. According to the sources, the schedule was impacted when some pilots reported sick.
Lali Chhangani, known for his Club Kachori, recently caused a stir on social media after a video of him yelling and hurling abuse at a customer went viral. What was more astonishing was the reason behind the fight. Lali Chhangani got furious after a customer told him, Saaf-safai rakho Dukan pe (maintain hygiene in your shop). Hearing this, the food vendor busted out at the customer until he left the place, without any sign of regret. Now, another clip of the famous Kachori owner has been making the rounds on the internet, leaving users scratching their heads. Wondering what the video must be about?

This video shows the food owner in a totally different avatar. He is seen talking generously with a food blogger and asking him not to leave without eating his famous club kachori. Hold on to your horses; the video doesnt end here. As the video progressed, Lali Chhangani requested the food blogger not to pay a penny for the kachoris. He further stated that he would inform the person sitting in the shop not to take money from him. Yes, you read it correctly.

The video was shared on the social media platform X (Formerly Twitter) by a user Ritik. The post was captioned, Kachori wala chacha in a parallel universe.

Watch the viral video below:

Kachori wala.chacha in parallel universe pic.twitter.com/xKqMAooLyz Ritik (@ThenNowForeve) March 7, 2024

The now-viral clip is giving viewers a good belly laugh. Shared a few hours ago, the video is doing the rounds on the internet and has mustered more than 3,300 views till now. After seeing the completely different behaviour of the food vendor, users could not hold back but chimed in to the comments section to share their take.

Giving credit to the food blogger seen in the video, a user wrote, You changed him.

You changed him J (@Slumdog08_) March 7, 2024

Puraana video hai fasna mat jo dukaan me hai wohi iska asli swaroop hai (This is an old video, dont get fooled, the one in the shop is his real personality), shared an individual.

Puraana video hai fasna mat jo dukaan me hai wohi iska asli swaroop hai Bhola Guru (@IGiveGyaan) March 7, 2024

Adding a tweak of humour, an account remarked, Abb taste nahi ayega (Now, the real taste will not come.)

Abb taste nhi ayega Akash (@Vidhushaq) March 7, 2024

Lali Chhangani is famous for serving delicious deep-fried Club Kachori filled with potato curry made with Indian spices in a leafy bowl. The shop is located in Kolkatas famous market, Bara Bazar. A single plate of the platter of happiness is served with a topping of bhujiya for just Rs 40.
Conspiracy theorists often delve into the depths of the unknown, unearthing theories so dark that the mere mention of them can evoke fear. One such theory is Project Blue Beam, a concept so dangerous that believers claim they could face dire consequences for discussing it. Recently, Jerid Yaw, a conspiracy theorist, shared his thoughts on this theory with his brother, popular YouTuber Shane Dawson. Jerid expressed his fear, saying that even researching Project Blue Beam made him anxious.

According to Jerid, Project Blue Beam revolves around a sinister elite group planning a massive false flag operation.

Their aim? To use advanced technology to simulate an alien invasion, all in an effort to establish a new world order reports Ladbible.

This alleged plan was discovered in 1994 by Canadian conspiracy theorist Serge Monast, who detailed it in a book published the same year. Monast reportedly outlined several steps in the plan, each designed to progressively convince the public that an alien invasion is imminent.

Jerid explained, The first phase is going to be to unearth some kind of documents that change our perception of the reality that we live in  confusing us and opening our minds to a possibility of what could be. The second phase is to basically have us all be able to imagine what this would look like and the best way to do that is through movies."

He even suggested that the 1996 film Independence Day was part of this psychological programming. The third step is they will actually project holographic images into the sky to actually make us see the alien invasion," Jerid continued. Then the fourth step is to have us all go into underground bunkers, and theyre going to put us into submarines and the few that are lucky enough are going to survive this end of the world apocalypse.'"

Watch the video here:

Project Blue Beam has earned a reputation as the most intensely dangerous theory due to the unexpected deaths of several individuals connected to it. Ladbible informs that Monast himself passed away just two years after going public with the theory, at the age of 51, as did his partner who had helped him write the book.

Jerid admitted that he felt anxious when he first started researching the project because it all seemed too real. He claims to have been contacted daily by worried individuals, a phenomenon he believes plays right into the hands of the elite group behind Project Blue Beam.

They want you to be afraid of an alien invasion, to manipulate us into believing that a fake alien invasion is happening," Jerid remarked. They want to unite us all so they can basically take control over the planet."
Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharifs two sons have approached a special court here, seeking suspension of their arrest warrants in three corruption cases related to the Panama Papers, to surrender before it on March 12, a media report said on Thursday.

Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz, through their counsel Qazi Misbahul Hassan, filed an application in the Islamabad accountability court, seeking the suspension of their perpetual arrest warrants issued in the Avenfield Apartments, Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment references, the Dawn newspaper reported.

According to the report, both sons of the former three-time premier would reach Pakistans capital city on March 12, and they requested the court to suspend their arrest warrants, enabling them to reach the court to surrender. The counsel informed accountability court Judge Nasir Javed Rana that they are residents of Saudi Arabia and the UK respectively, and were named as accused persons in these cases along with their father, former premier Nawaz Sharif, their sister, Maryam Nawaz, and retired Captain Safdar, their brother-in-law.

The counsel said the trial in these cases commenced when both of them were not in Pakistan. The advocate said they were unaware of the formal legal process, and the state never attempted to adopt the due course to serve the legal process, which included the issuance of notices, arrest warrants, and proclamations, the report said. Incidentally, Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz were both convicted in the Avenfield case days before the previous general elections in 2018.

Sharif was also convicted in the Al-Azizia corruption case in December 2018 but acquitted in the Flagship Investment reference, the Dawn reported. Sharif, Maryam, and Capt Safdar challenged their conviction in the Avenfield reference before the Islamabad High Court (IHC). Sharif also challenged the conviction in the Al-Azizia case.

However, when Sharif went abroad in a self-imposed exile and did not return, the IHC declared him a proclaimed offender. While he was in the UK, Maryam and Capt Safdar pursued the case, and the IHC finally set aside their conviction. When Sharif returned to Pakistan in October last year, his appeals against convictions were revived, leading to the IHC setting aside his conviction in both cases as well.

Nawazs younger brother Shehbaz Sharif was elected as Pakistans prime minister for a second time after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party agreed on a power-sharing deal to form a coalition government.

In the February 8 elections, Sharifs Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party came second behind independent candidates backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf:. Maryam, the 50-year-old daughter of Nawaz Sharif, took oath as the first-ever woman chief minister of Pakistans most populous and politically crucial Punjab province on February 26.
Authorities of the German city of Frankfurt in a bid to send a message of peace and togetherness will illuminate the citys central high street with half-moons, stars and other decorations for the first time to celebrate the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

During the Muslim fasting month from March 10 to April 9, Frankfurts Grosse Bockenheimer Strasse, also called Fressgass for its eateries, cafes and restaurants, will adorn Happy Ramadan! signs and decorations.

Ramadan is a time in which people reflect on what is really important in life: having something to eat, a roof over your head, and peace and comfort with family, friends and neighbours. Im pleased that these messages of peace during Ramadan will be visible in our Frankfurt, city council chairwoman Hilime Arslaner was quoted as saying by Deutsche Welle.

Nargess Eskandari-Grunberg, the citys mayor, said that such messages are important as the world witnesses. These are the lights of togetherness: against prejudice, discrimination, anti-Muslim racism and also antisemitism, she was quoted as saying by Deutsche Welle.

Frankfurt is Germanys fifth-largest city (after Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne) and is also the centre of the nations financial and economic sector. It is also one of the most multicultural cities of the nation with Muslims who make up around 15% of the population (100,000-150,000).

We all belong together This is very meaningful for Muslims, Mohamed Seddadi, chairman of Frankfurts Muslim Community, was quoted as saying by Deutsche Welle.

The Frankfurt Ramadan plans therefore borrow from elements of both Islamic and Christian tradition. Im delighted about this sign of recognition for Muslims, said Naweed Ahmad, a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

Germanys Christian Democratic Union (CDU) called for a common pot for all religious groups and highlighted that funding for Christmas lights in Frankfurt came from trade associations and donations and argued that city funding for lights should not just be for one religion.

We are of the opinion that if such a kitty exists, then it must serve all religious communities in Frankfurt, Schander said, according to reporting by the public local broadcaster HR.
Talks for a truce in Gaza have not yet broken down, the US ambassador to Israel said Thursday, after a Hamas delegation voiced dissatisfaction with Israels positions and left Cairo.

The differences are being narrowed. Its not yet an agreement. Everyones looking towards Ramadan, which is coming close. I cant tell you that it will be successful, but it is not yet the case that it is broken down, Jack Lew said at a conference in Tel Aviv.

The US envoys remarks come after a senior Hamas official told AFP the groups delegation had left Egypt for consultations in Qatar.

The initial (Israeli) responses do not meet the minimum requirements related to the permanent cessation of hostilities or other Hamas conditions for a ceasefire, he added.

Hamas has been insisting on a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of displaced people to their homes and allowing humanitarian aid in and reconstruction to begin in the territory.

Gadi Eisenkot, a member of Israels five-member war cabinet, said Hamas is under very serious pressure from mediators to make a counter-offer.

Then it will be possible to advance it and take a position, Eisenkot said at the Tel Aviv conference.

The war broke out after Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Militants also took around 250 Israeli and foreign hostages, around hundred of whom were released during a week-long November truce. Israel believes 99 of them remain alive in Gaza and that 31 have died.

Israels retaliatory air, land and sea offensive has killed at least 30,800 people, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
WASHINGTON: The House on Thursday passed a bill that would require federal authorities to detain unauthorized immigrants who have been accused of theft, as Republicans seized on the recent death of a nursing student in Georgia to rebuke President Joe Bidens border policies just hours ahead of his State of the Union address.

After 22-year-old Laken Riley, an Augusta University nursing student, was killed late last month while on a morning run, Republicans rushed the Laken Riley Act to the House floor to coincide with Bidens annual address.

The legislation easily passed 251-170 with all Republicans and 37 Democrats voting for it. But the nine-page bill was designed more to deliver a political point than to enact law and had little chance of being taken up in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

As immigration becomes a top issue in the presidential election, Republicans are using nearly every tool at their disposal  including impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas  to condemn how the president has handled immigration. But Biden is also hammering GOP lawmakers for rejecting a bipartisan bill last month that sought to tamp down the number of illegal crossings at the U.S. border with Mexico.

Republicans will not stand for the release of dangerous criminals into our communities, and thats exactly what the Biden administration has done, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News.

Rileys death has become a rallying point for Donald Trump, the likely GOP presidential nominee, after authorities arrested on murder and assault charges Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. illegally and was allowed to stay to pursue his immigration case. He has not yet entered a plea to the charges.

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said Ibarra was arrested by New York police in August and charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation. Ibarra was released before ICE could ask New York officials to hold him until immigration authorities could take him into custody, ICE said. New York officials have said they have no record of the arrest.

The legislation would also allow states to sue the federal government for crimes committed by immigrants who enter the country illegally. It was part of a broader push by Republicans to deride immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally and tie them to violent crimes.

Laken is just one of the tragic examples of innocent American citizens who have lost their lives, been brutally and violently attacked by illegal criminals who are roaming our streets, Johnson said.

The speaker said his guests for the State of the Union would also include New York City police officers who brawled with migrants in Time Square.

On the whole, however, there is no evidence that immigrants are more prone to violent crime. Several studies have found immigrants commit lower rates of crime than those born in the U.S., though groups that advocate for restrictive immigration policies dispute or dismiss those findings.

One study published by the National Academy of Sciences, based on Texas Department of Public Safety data from 2012 to 2018, reported native-born U.S. residents were more than twice as likely to be arrested for violent crimes than people in the country illegally.

Democrats argued Republicans have shown they are not serious about enacting border policy changes because they rejected a bipartisan proposal from the Senate that would have overhauled the U.S. asylum system with faster and tougher enforcement. Republicans mostly criticized that bill as insufficient.

Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, accused GOP lawmakers of using Rileys death for political purposes.

The idea that you would bring a bill like this to the floor to exploit a terrible tragedy, a bill that will do nothing, a bill that you know is going nowhere, is really, really sad, McGovern said.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
Kate Middleton is yet to receive any well wishes from Prince Harry following her planned abdominal surgery in January and is recovering well. Royal expert Christopher Anderson claims the ailing Princess of Wales, who underwent planned abdominal surgery in January, and her estranged brother-in-law have not spoken despite conspiracy theories surrounding Kates health. I think there was once a relationship, a friendship, a very close one between Harry and Kate. Im sure hes concerned about her as well, but I know that she wants to have nothing to do with them, Anderson was quoted as saying by Us Weekly.

Anderson said Middleton feels betrayed by Harry and her husband Prince William, 41, and father-in-law King Charles also share the same sentiment following the release of Harrys memoir Spare and the Netflix documentary starring Harry and his wife and Kates sister-in-law Meghan Markle.

Anderson who wrote William and Kate: A Royal Love Story alleged that Harry has not reached out amid Middletons health concerns.

My understanding is he hasnt, and it is a stalemate. Theyre both on opposite sides of this wall and nobody has the courage to leap over it and really make an honest attempt, he further added.

Meanwhile, there is radio silence from the Kensington Palace regarding Middletons recovery and she is expected to return to her public duties after Easter.

Earlier this month, royal expert and commentator Helena Chard told Fox News that Prince William is blocking the return of Prince Harry in a bid to protect Kate Middleton.

Prince William has his own private turmoil. He knows his brother well and certainly wont allow him to breeze back into the family as he doesnt trust him, Chard said.

Prince William is also hugely protective of [his wife] Catherine, the Princess of Wales, and will not let anything interfere with her recuperation, she further added.

Royal expert Kinsey Schofield also said if Prince William feels Harry will be a threat to the recuperation of Kate Middleton he will exert his influence over the situation.

Theres one huge obstacle in Harrys way, and thats Prince William. William understands that Harry and Meghan dont properly consider the consequences and arent trustworthy. They are a liability to the family, Schofield was quoted as saying by the New York Post.
Alabama governor Kay Ivey on Wednesday signed legislation into law which will protect in vitro fertilisation providers from potential legal liability after the states apex court ruling equated frozen embryos to children.

The Alabama Supreme Court ruling was based on civil liabilities for clinics and prompted an outcry from patients as well as other groups and forced three major IVF providers to pause services.

I am pleased to sign this important, short-term measure into law so that couples in Alabama hoping and praying to be parents can grow their families through IVF, Ivey said.

Republican Senator Tim Melson, who sponsored the bill, said he was just elated to get these ladies back on schedule.

The new law will protect the providers from lawsuits and criminal prosecution for the damage or death of an embryo during IVF services.

The Republicans in the Alabama state legislature proposed the lawsuit immunity in a bid to get clinics reopened. The Republicans however did not take up a bill to address the legal status of embryos.

The states three major IVF providers paused services after the Alabama Supreme Courts ruling last month.

The decision prompted an outcry from groups across the country. Patients in Alabama also shared stories about having upcoming embryo transfers abruptly cancelled and their paths to parenthood put in doubt.

We have some transfers tomorrow and some Friday. This means that we will be able to do embryo transfers and hopefully have more pregnancies and babies in the state of Alabama, Dr. Mamie McLean said after the vote, while speaking to the Associated Press.

Doctors from Alabama Fertility, one of the clinics that had paused IVF services, watched as the bill got final passage. They told the news agency that the passage will allow them to resume embryo transfers starting tomorrow.

The state Supreme Court had ruled that three couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed in an accident at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death lawsuits for their extrauterine children. The ruling, treating an embryo the same as a child or gestating foetus under the wrongful death statute, raised concerns about civil liabilities for clinics.
In a historic move on Thursday, Sweden became the 32nd member of NATO, followed by the handover of documents at a ceremony in Washington. Hailing it as historic, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that this marked a strategic debacle by Russia.

While accepting the accession documents from Swedens prime minister, following ratification by the 31 other alliance members, Blinken said, Good things come to those who wait.

I think if you step back and think of where we were three years ago, none of this was foreordained, Blinken further said in connection to this move.

There is no clearer example than today of the strategic debacle that Putins invasion of Ukraine has become for Russia, he added, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It is a major step but, at the same time, a very natural step, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said at the State Department.

The accession is a victory for freedom today. Sweden has made a free, democratic, sovereign and united choice to join NATO, he said.

Later on Thursday, Kristersson is scheduled to visit the White House and be a guest of honor at President Joe Bidens State of the Union address to Congress. The White House said that having Sweden as a NATO ally will make the United States and our allies even safer.

NATO is the most powerful defensive alliance in the history of the world, and it is as critical today to ensuring the security of our citizens as it was 75 years ago when our alliance was founded out of the wreckage of World War II, the White House said in a statement.

Days after Hungary followed key holdout Turkey and became the last NATO member to sign off, Sweden ceremonially handed over accession documents to the United States, the leading force of the transatlantic alliance that provides joint security for all.

Sweden, along with Finland, which joined NATO last year, both abandoned long-standing military neutrality that was a hallmark of the Nordic states Cold War foreign policy after Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022.

(with agency inputs)
Former US president Donald Trump will have to pay at least 300,000 ($382,000) in costs after losing a UK court action against a former spy who compiled a salacious dossier about him, according to a court order publicised Thursday.

Trump took legal action against Christopher Steeles company Orbis Business Intelligence, but High Court judge Karen Steyn ruled last month that there were no compelling reasons to allow the claim to proceed to trial.

The data protection claim was bound to fail she wrote in her judgment.

The judge also threw out Trumps claim for compensation, stating that he had chosen to allow many years to elapse  without any attempt to vindicate his reputation in the UK courts since the dossier came out.

In an order obtained by Britains domestic Press Association news agency, the judge said Trump will have to pay Orbiss costs of the entire claim.

She ordered that 300,000 be paid now, before a specialist judge decides the final amount. Orbis says this should be more than 600,000.

The so-called Steele dossier sparked a political firestorm when it was published just before his inauguration in January 2017.

It contained unverified and controversial information about Trump and Russia that the former Republican leader has repeatedly denied, including allegations of sexual misbehaviour.

It included claims that Trump had been compromised by the Russian FSB security service and that Russia had videotapes of Trump with prostitutes during a 2013 trip to Moscow.

It also alleged that Russian President Vladimir Putin supported and directed an operation to cultivate Trump as a presidential candidate for at least five years.

Some of the allegations fuelled a probe by US special prosecutor Robert Mueller which concluded in 2019 that the Russian government had interfered with the 2016 election but found no evidence of collusion with Trumps team.

Trump has repeatedly denounced the dossier, which was leaked to Buzzfeed, as fake. The New York Times has determined there was no corroborating evidence to support many of its claims.

Trump claimed in the High Court case that Orbis unlawfully processed his personal data, and sought unspecified compensation for serious distress and reputational damage.

The company argued it was not responsible for the dossiers publication.

The dossier, produced before Trumps 2016 election win against Hillary Clinton, was commissioned by Democratic Party consultants.

Trump sued Clinton, Democratic Party leaders and Steele in the US over the report in 2022.
The Indian Navy on Thursday swiftly responded to the fire on freight ship MV True Confidence after it was struck by a Houthi missile. An anti-ship ballistic missile struck the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned vessel and killed three members of the crew and injured four others. Three of them are reported to be in critical condition. The freight ship also reported significant damage.

#IndianNavy's swift response to Maritime Incident in #GulfofAden.Barbados Flagged Bulk Carrier MV #TrueConfidence reported on fire after a drone/missile hit on #06Mar, approx 54 nm South West of Aden, resulting in critical injuries to crew, forcing them to abandon ship. pic.twitter.com/FZQRBeGcKp  SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) March 7, 2024

Indian Navys swift response to Maritime Incident in Gulf of Aden. Barbados Flagged Bulk Carrier MV True Confidence reported on fire after a drone/missile hit on March 06, approx 54 nm (nautical miles) South West of Aden, resulting in critical injuries to crew, forcing them to abandon ship, the Indian Navy said in a post on social media site X.

INS Kolkata deployed for Maritime Security Operations, arrived on location at 1645 hrs & rescued 21 crew, including one Indian national, using integral helicopter and boats. Critical medical aid provided to injured crew. The crew of True Confidence were subsequently evacuated to Djibouti, PM March 06, the Indian Navy said.

In the video shared by the Indian Navy a member of the crew was seen receiving medical aid. The injured crew were flown to Djibouti for further medical assistance.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree wrote on social media that the vessel was targeted with missiles after the ships crew rejected warning messages from the rebels.

The Iran-backed Yemeni group began targeting ships transiting the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea last November, a campaign they say is intended to signal solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The Indian Navy earlier released a video of its sailors from the INS Kolkata fighting a fire aboard the MSC Sky II. The Liberian-flagged MSC Sky II was attacked by the Houthi in the Gulf of Aden on Monday as it was on its way to Djibouti. The scorch marks from the impact of a Houthi missile were prominently visible on one of the containers aboard the vessel, which was also billowing large plumes of smoke.

The Indian Navy in a statement said that the crew of 23 personnel, including 13 Indian nationals are safe and the vessel is proceeding to her next destination.
A jury convicted a movie weapons supervisor of involuntary manslaughter on Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal on the set of the Western movie Rust. The verdict against Hannah Gutierrez-Reed assigns new blame in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021 after an assistant director last year pleaded no contest to negligent handling of a firearm, the AP reports. Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer on Rust, was indicted in January on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. He was pointing a gun at Hutchins on a movie set outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.

Prosecutors at a two-week trial in downtown Santa Fe said Gutierrez-Reed unwittingly brought live ammunition onto the film set while flouting basic industry gun-safety guidelines. The involuntary manslaughter charge against Gutierrez-Reed carries a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. She also had faced a second charge, of evidence tampering, stemming from accusations that she handed a small bag of possible narcotics to another crew member after the shooting to avoid detection. The defendant was ordered to be taken into custody after the verdict was read. Gutierrez-Reed, 24, was working on her second feature film as armorer at the time of the shooting.

Prosecutors say Gutierrez-Reed unknowingly brought live ammunition onto the set at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe. The proceedings were a preamble to the trial of Baldwin scheduled for July on a single charge of involuntary manslaughter. "We end exactly where we beganin the pursuit of justice for Halyna Hutchins," prosecutor Kari Morrissey told the jury in closing arguments. Defense attorneys said the problems on the set extended far beyond Gutierrez-Reed's control, including the mishandling of weapons by Baldwin.

(More shooting stories.)
The final book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was published Wednesday on what would have been the Colombian author's 97th birthday. Marquez died almost a decade ago and En Agosto Nos VemosUntil August in Englishis being published against his wishes. His sons say he ordered them to destroy the manuscript because it didn't make any sensebut the author suffered from dementia in the final years of his life and struggled to recognize even his earlier work. "We concluded that the book, though unfinished, made a lot of sense and was very moving," Rodrigo Garcia, the eldest of his two sons, tells NPR . "When he said it doesn't make sense he didn't realize it didn't make sense to him anymore."

The book was published in Spanish on Wednesday. The English version will be out on March 12. Rodrigo Garcia, a screenwriter, says that when he revisited the book with his younger brother, Gonzalo Garcia, it was much better than they remembered. Editor Cristobal Pera, who worked with Garcia Marquez on his memoirs, worked with six drafts of the book, including one marked "Gran OK final." "He had many notes on the margins, but the novel was complete," he says. "All the characters, everything." Pena says not a single word was added that didn't appear in the notes or any of the author's draft. He says Until Augustwhich, unlike the author's earlier work, features a strong female protagonistis an "amazing work of art" and he agrees with the brothers' decision to publish it.

Publisher Penguin Random House describes the book as a "profound meditation on freedom, regret, self-transformation, and the mysteries of love," CNN reports. The brothers say their father routinely destroyed unfinished manuscripts throughout his career and there is nothing else left to release. In the preface to Until August, they wrote that they hope their father will forgive them if readers love the book. The New York Times notes that there are numerous other examples of works being published posthumously against authors' wishes, including much of the work of Franz Kafka. Colombian novelist Hector Abad tells the Times that he was skeptical about the decision to publish until he read an advance copy. (More Gabriel Garcia Marquez stories.)
We know Taylor Swift concerts generate billions in consumer spending. And now we know countries are willing to pay big for the advantage, at the cost of their neighbors missing out. Earlier this week, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong confirmed the country's tourism board paid an undisclosed sumreported to be nearly $3 million for each of six sold-out showsto make the island the only stop in Southeast Asia on Swift's Eras world tour. Here's what to know:



Why? Singapore's economy was expected to receive a $370 million boost in the week Swift was in the country, per Quartz, which calls the deal "a masterclass in concert economics." More than 300,000 concert tickets were sold in Singapore, per Channel News Asia, which reports demand for flights and hotels rose 30%.

Singapore's economy was expected to receive a $370 million boost in the week Swift was in the country, per Quartz, which calls the deal "a masterclass in concert economics." More than 300,000 concert tickets were sold in Singapore, per Channel News Asia, which reports demand for flights and hotels rose 30%. Bad blood: This has led to some backlash from Singapore's usually friendly neighbors. "If I had known this, I would have brought the shows to Thailand," Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said last month, per the Bangkok Post. Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee spoke of "competing with different cities" to secure mega events, per NPR, while Philippine lawmaker Joey Salceda claimed Singapore was operating by "the law of the jungle," which is not "what good neighbors do," per Inquirer.net.
A Texas mom has been arrested after police say a concoction she whipped up to push back on kids allegedly bullying her son ended up sending one child to the hospital. USA Today reports that sheriff's deputies were dispatched Tuesday to the Legacy Traditional School-Alamo Ranch in San Antonio, in response to a call about a sick student. According to an arrest affidavit seen by KSAT , the child who'd fallen ill told cops that after he'd swigged a drink given to him by a 10-year-old classmate, he got a headache and felt nauseous.

The 10-year-old in question told police that his mom had crafted the drink, which the affidavit notes was made up of a Gatorade base, then spiked with lemon juice, vinegar, and salt. "Although the contents of the drink were non-toxic, the incident resulted in a child being hospitalized," the Bexar County Sheriff's Office noted Wednesday in a statement. KSAT identifies the mother as Jennifer Lynn Rossi, and she admitted she made the drink and told her son to give it to the other boy, who she says had been harassing her child, per the affidavit.

Rossi, a nurse, noted she "only did it to stop the bullies," after she says her son's energy drink had been stolen from him the previous day, the affidavit notes. She was charged with injury to a child causing bodily injury and booked into the Bexar County Jail. Meanwhile, the hospitalized student is said to require "additional medical monitoring" before being discharged. (More Texas stories.)
UPDATE

Mar 8, 2024 4:07 AM CST

A 19-year-old from Sri Lanka has been charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in one of the worst mass killings Canada's capital region has ever seen. Police initially described the Wednesday murders in a home in the Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven as a mass shooting but they said Thursday that a "knife-like" edged weapon was used, the CBC reports. The victims were identified as a 35-year-old mother and four of her children, a 7-year-old son, a 4-year-old daughter, a 2-year-old daughter, and a 2-month-old baby girl, per the AP. A 40-year-old acquaintance of the family was also killed. Police said all the victims are from Sri Lanka. The suspect, Febrio De-Zoysa, is also an acquaintance of the family and was living in the home, police said.

Mar 7, 2024 9:30 AM CST

A mass shooting rocked Canada's capital late Wednesday, leaving six people dead, including four children believed to be members of the same family. Police responding to 911 calls around 10:50pm local time found two adults and four children dead inside a townhome on Berrigan Drive, "a residential area close to two schools" in the Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven, per the CBC. Another person was found injured and transferred to a hospital. A male suspect was taken into custody at the scene, according to a police statement issued early Thursday, which said there was no lingering threat to the public.
Sweden on Thursday formally joined NATO as the 32nd member of the transatlantic military alliance, ending decades of post-World War II neutrality as concerns about Russian aggression in Europe have spiked following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, per the AP . Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided at a ceremony in which Sweden's "instrument of accession" to the alliance was officially deposited at the State Department. "Good things come to those who wait," Blinken said. Sweden's membership had been held up due to objections by NATO members Turkey and Hungary. After months of delay, Turkey ratified Sweden's admission earlier this year, and Hungary did so last week .

Later Thursday, Kristersson will visit the White House and then be a guest of honor at President Biden's State of the Union address to Congress. The White House said that having Sweden as a NATO ally "will make the United States and our allies even safer" while strengthening "the most powerful defensive alliance in the history of the world." Sweden, along with Finland, which joined NATO last year, both abandoned long-standing military neutralitya hallmark of the Nordic states' Cold War foreign policyafter Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. In his speech to Congress, Biden is expected to cite Sweden's accession to NATO as evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin's intent to divide and weaken the alliance has failed as a direct result of the Ukraine invasion.

(More Sweden stories.)
An Indiana man pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges that he used a metal baton, a lamp, and other makeshift weapons to assault police officers who were protecting the US Capitol from a mob of Donald Trump supporters. Curtis Logan Tate, 32, struck at least two officers with the baton that he brought to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, hitting one in the hand and the other repeatedly on the helmet. Tate also threw a broken table leg, a floor lamp, a speaker box, and a shoe at officers guarding a tunnel entrance on the Capitol's Lower West Terrace. He struck a third officer's arm and damaged a window when he threw the speaker box, the AP reports.

Tate pleaded guilty to three felony counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding police using a deadly or dangerous weapon, court records show. He's scheduled to be sentenced on July 9 in Washington, DC. Guidelines call for Tate to receive a term of imprisonment ranging from five years, three months to six years, six months, though the judge isn't bound by that recommendation. Tate lived in Jeffersonville, Indiana, when he and a friend traveled to Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally near the White House on Jan. 6. He posted videos on Instagram as he stormed the Capitol with other rioters. Tate was arrested in August 2023; a federal magistrate judge ordered him jailed until his case is resolved.

A lawyer who represented Tate at Thursday's hearing didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

New arrests: Also on Thursday, FBI agents arrested two men on Jan. 6-related felony charges, per the AP. David Scott Kuntz, 53, of Elizabeth, Indiana, is charged with obstructing the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress for certifying President Biden's 2020 victory. Kuntz told FBI agents he is an adherent of the "Three Percenters" militia movement and belongs to a militia group called the Grey Ghost Partisan Kentucky Rangers. And Lance Michael Ligocki, 34, of Oakwood, Illinois, is charged with attacking police with a flagpole attached to a "Trump" flag.

(More Capitol riot stories.)
TVNZ is proposing to discontinue long-running shows including Sunday and Fair Go.

The state-owned broadcaster revealed on Thursday it was proposing to lose 68 jobs across its 700-strong workforce, with a new structure in place by "early April".

Consumer rights programme Fair Go and current affairs show Sunday are facing being discontinued.

In a statement on Friday afternoon, the Fair Go team said it was "devastated to learn today of the plan to axe the show.

"For 47 years we've been battling for New Zealanders and we are not ready for that to end," the statement said.

"Our next challenge is working out how to keep going for you."

Sunday executive producer Jane Skinner said they were told in a 9am meeting their last broadcast date would be in early May.

"We are devastated at this proposal," she said in a statement.

"Against a backdrop of sector wide cuts, journalism is in crisis.

"This is not just about job losses, which are difficult, but about what we believe is the sustained degradation of the Fourth Estate in NZ. A healthy democracy relies on the ability of experienced journalists to decipher, in depth, the state of our country, our identity and to hold power to account."

One News' Midday and Tonight bulletins are also facing the axe.

"The proposals we have presented in no way relate to the immense contribution of the teams that work on these shows and the significant journalistic value they've provided over many years. Unfortunately, we need to reduce our costs to ensure the business remains sustainable," TVNZ chief executive Jodi O'Donnell said. "These aren't decisions we make lightly and significant analysis has gone into the proposals.

"We remain committed to delivering the most trusted and watched news and current affairs for New Zealand audiences and what that looks like will change as we shift to a digital-first model. Our priority is our people and supporting them through this process."

An all-hands staff meeting within the department was called for Friday at 1pm but it is believed meetings were taking place across the morning prior to the scheduled meeting.
What happened to Samantha Murphy?

Murphy, 51, mysteriously disappeared on February 4, after she left her home in Ballarat East to go for a morning jog in Canadian State Forest.

The mother of three is believed to have reached the Mt Clear area, next to the park, about an hour after leaving home. But she hasn't been seen since.

Police initially described her disappearance as "out of character", before indicating it was unlikely she was still alive.

"Despite a significant investigation and extensive searches of the Canadian Forest area, no trace of the 51-year-old [Samantha Murphy] has been located," police said.

Police previously said it was believed "one or more" parties were involved with her disappearance.

The search

Murphy's disappearance is believed to be one of the largest missing persons investigations in Victoria state.

It began just hours after she left for her regular run, when her family became concerned after she didn't attend a planned brunch.

The following day, CCTV images were released to the media of Murphy on her run, wearing a maroon running shirt and black leggings.

Detectives combed through tens of thousands of hours of CCTV footage and searched surrounding areas, but searches were scaled back on February 10.
Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe, in a social media post, said it was "one of the most shocking incidents of violence in our city's history".

Ottawa, which has a population of one million, saw 14 murders in 2023 and 15 in 2022.

The victims were found inside a house in the southwestern suburb of Barrhaven and have not been identified.

Police arrived on the scene following emergency calls shortly before 11 p.m. on Wednesday, they said in a statement.

Mass killings in Canada are infrequent. In December 2022, a man shot five people in a Toronto suburb before being gunned down by police.

In September that year, a man stabbed and killed 11 people in the western province of Saskatchewan. He died of a cocaine overdose shortly after being arrested by police.

Reuters
Elon Musk said on Wednesday (local time) that his social media platform X could soon receive approval for a money transmitter license in New York, putting the platform a step closer to offering payment features.

While speaking at the Morgan Stanley technology, media and telecom conference, Musk also said X could receive its license in California in the next month or so, while getting the New York approval could be "a few months away".

Since acquiring the company formerly known as Twitter in 2022, the billionaire has sought to turn it into an "everything app" like Tencent's dominant WeChat app in China, with features beyond social media, including the ability to send money to other X users.
We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa reaffirmed Bahrains commitment to security, advancement, and the betterment of citizens lives in a momentous keynote address to the nation commemorating the Silver Jubilee of his accession yesterday.

HM the King delivered a speech during a grand ceremony held under his patronage at Al-Sakhir Palace marking 25 years of leadership achievements.

Despite the serious crises the world is going through, Bahrain will overcome all challenges, thanks to the discipline and wise actions of its people, declared His Majesty. He emphasised the nations protection from adversity through faith, tradition, and patriotism.

HM the King paid tribute to his late father, His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, and outlined the Kingdoms commitment to progress and unity. Reflecting on the legacy of his late father, HM King Hamad expressed gratitude for the foundation of compassion and fraternity he established.

Everything I have done stems from his ideas and aspirations, His Majesty stated, honouring his fathers dedication to serving the people. HM King Hamad lauded His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and Bahrains citizens for their dedication to serving their country.

We are fully confident that the flag of the nation will remain flying high, he declared.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Reported by Ashen Tharaka

The Qatar International Boat Show (QBS), a highly anticipated event set to mark a significant journey for the Qatari and regional economies, will be held from November 6th to 9th at the Old Doha Port (ODP).

The official dates were unveiled at a special prelaunch ceremony held in Doha. This spectacular event, organized by the Old Doha Port and Gulf Marine Services LLC, promises to reach out to both regional tourism and the boat industry.

It aims to be a catalyst for economic growth and solidify Qatars position as a leading maritime destination, aligning with the nations Vision 2030 goals.

A Unique Platform for the Region

Speaking to The Daily Tribune, Eng. Mohammed Al Mulla, Executive Director of the Old Doha Port, emphasised the importance of QBS for the entire region. QBS will provide a unique environment for interested parties across the region, he said, and the marine industry will serve as a connecting link for the whole world.

Highlighting the shows potential to attract a wider audience, Al Mulla stated, By introducing new offerings to dealers, companies, and market specialists, we expect to attract more potential customers to the event.

Bahrains Potential

Industry leaders present at the event acknowledged the potential for similar events in Bahrain, given its established infrastructure and thriving startup scene in the marine sector. Nouman Al Hakim, Chief Operating Officer of the Al Ameeri Group Holding in Kuwait, commented, Bahrain has the potential to consider this market and host similar events.

While the market size is a factor, Bahrain is undeniably a fantastic destination in terms of facilities and infrastructure. He further commended Qatars initiative, stating, This will be a fabulous initiative by Qatar to bring together all stakeholders under one roof. Alshaali Group, one of the oldest boat-building companies in the UAE, expressed their intention to expand into Bahrain and Oman as part of their growth plans.

Masood Javeed, Chief Financial Officer at Alshaali Group, expressed his companys interest in expanding the regional market, stating, As Qatar takes steps to boost the regional market, we are looking to expand market share with our presence. We also plan to establish a yard in Qatar in the future.

QBS Preparation

During a media tour, QBS organisers showcased the extensive capacity and infrastructure development of the Old Doha Port, equipped to accommodate yachts and various other vessels. Spanning over 800,000 square metres, the ODP boasts 450 berths for boats of all sizes, up to 160 metres in length.

Additionally, the ODP has been designated the official gateway for QBS 2024, with a streamlined VIP immigration process for participants. We are promoting the ODP as a hub for superyachts and cruise ships, said Mohammed Al Atwaan, Operation and Project Director at the ODP.

Highlighting the potential regional impact, Al Atwaan concluded, QBS will be a turning point for the industry, and its benefits will flow to neighbouring countries. We hope to see Bahraini companies participate in QBS, contributing to a positive impact for their nation as well.

A Visionary Event

The Qatar International Boat Show stands as a testament to Qatars commitment to fostering economic growth and attracting tourism through the display of cutting-edge marine technology and captivating leisure experiences, aligning perfectly with the aspirations outlined in Qatar Vision 2030.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bapco Upstream, a subsidiary of Bapco Energies, held its Board of Directors meeting for the first quarter of 2024.

Faisal Mohamed Al Mahroos, Chairman of the Board of Directors, presided over the meeting at the Companys headquarters located in Al-Rumamin, which was followed by the General Assembly of the Shareholder meeting.

At the outset of the meeting, the Chairman expressed sincere thanks and gratitude for the ongoing unremitting support of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Representative of His Majesty the King for Humanitarian Works and Youth Affairs, Chairman of Bapco Energies, which greatly contributes to achieving the aspired growth of the Kingdom and the Company.

During the meeting, the Board reviewed the Companys performance throughout the first quarter, including exploration projects, improvement initiatives, and compliance with highest health, safety, and environmental standards.

Upon the conclusion of the meeting, the Board sincerely thanked the executive management and employees, praising their dedicated efforts and loyalty. Bapco Upstream will remain committed to achieving the aspired success and growth, with the ultimate goal of fostering Bahrains national economy and contributing to the Kingdoms aspired growth, said Al Mahroos.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB), the leading provider of digital banking services in the Kingdom of Bahrain, has introduced Jaser, a comprehensive suite of Islamic financial solutions tailored to bolster and streamline Bahraini exports to Saudi Arabia.

This initiative reflects BisBs commitment to empowering its corporate clientele and aligns with the directives of the Saudi-Bahraini Coordination Council, emphasizing Bahraini products as local content in Saudi government procurements to enhance trade ties between the two nations.

With Jaser, BisB aims to aid Bahraini entities in expanding their presence in the Saudi market by offering a diverse range of Islamic financing instruments, including Tawarruq products, commercial financing facilities, Letters of Guarantee, credit cards, and digital banking services.

This package exemplifies the banks dedication to fostering the growth and expansion of Bahraini businesses by facilitating their entry into the Saudi market.

Jawad Humaidan, Chief Corporate & Institutional Banking Officer of BisB, said: This initiative not only aligns with the objectives of the Saudi-Bahraini Coordination Council but also resonates with BisBs strategy of delivering tailored financial solutions to bolster the growth of its corporate clients.
China says US using Philippines as 'pawn' in South China Sea

China says US using Philippines as 'pawn' in South China Sea

AFP | Beijing

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

China on Wednesday accused the United States of using the Philippines as a "pawn" in the South China Sea, as hostilities between the two Asian nations escalate over their territorial dispute in the region.

Manila summoned a Chinese representative on Tuesday after it said China Coast Guard vessels caused two collisions with Philippine boats and water cannoned one of them during a resupply mission.

China said it "took control measures" against Philippine ships' "illegal intrusion" into waters it claims, as well as accusing a Philippine ship of "intentionally" ramming a Chinese one.

"China urges the United States not to use the Philippines as a pawn to stir up trouble in the South China Sea," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters when asked about the United States' condemnation of China's actions as "provocative".

"The Philippines should not let itself be at the mercy of the United States," she added.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing aside competing claims from a host of Southeast Asian nations and an international arbitration ruling that has declared its stance baseless.

On Wednesday Southeast Asian and Australian leaders warned against actions that "endanger peace" in the South China Sea, following the fresh confrontations between Beijing and the Philippines.

"We encourage all countries to avoid any unilateral actions that endanger peace, security and stability in the region," read a joint declaration hammered out between ASEAN members and Australia.

In recent months tensions between Beijing and an increasingly assertive Philippines have reached levels not seen for years.

Tuesday's collisions came after similar incidents in December.

"China's resolve to defend its legitimate rights and interests is unwavering, and the Philippines' rights-infringing and provocative attempts will not succeed," Mao said on Wednesday.
Tianjin Party chief tells NPC deputies that innovation is indispensable Traditional Chinese medicine must embrace modern technologies to achieve innovative development, Zhang Boli, a TCM expert, said on Wednesday. Zhang, honorary president of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, is a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, which is meeting in Beijing this week. He told a meeting of fellow legislators in the Tianjin delegation that the laboratory where he works has stored more than 60,000 active ingredient samples of TCM extracts on campus, making it the world's largest such bank and a boon to research. His team has leveraged big data and other advanced manufacturing technologies to make TCM more effective and uncover how it works in people's bodies. "Age-old things do not necessarily symbolize backwardness," said Zhang, also an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and honorary president of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. "However, the restraint of old-fashioned medicine-making methods must be broken if TCM wants to excel." Zhang said his team, a front-runner in digitalizing TCM production, has rolled out several intelligent TCM production lines that have revolutionized the TCM industry. "We've also created a school on campus focusing on TCM pharmaceutical engineering, and have trained thousands of TCM engineers," he said. Citing official figures, Zhang said the emerging health service industry in China was worth 8 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion) in 2020, including 3 trillion yuan worth of TCM-related services. "China has two sets of medical sciences to help safeguard people's health, and the two have their own respective advantages," he said. "They are highly complementary and cannot replace each other." Central authorities issued a guideline in 2016 on promoting public health, which said that by 2030, TCM shall work in synergy with Western medicine in treating major diseases, and play a central role in patients' recovery. Zhang said his team has helped bring TCM to the world by collaborating with pharmaceutical companies and has registered TCM products as prescription drugs, healthcare products or food additives in 16 countries and regions, including the United States, the European Union, Canada and Australia. Speaking at the meeting, Chen Min'er, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Party chief of Tianjin, said that innovation is crucial if ancient therapies are to continue serving contemporary Chinese people. He drew parallels between TCM and other legacy industries such as steel, electric power and fossil fuels. "For such sectors to become more productive, innovation is indispensable," he said.
The Company pledged a total of $300,000 over three years to fund conservation and research with the organization

TORONTO, March 7, 2024 /CNW/ - 407 ETR (Company) is sponsoring the popular Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival, held by Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), and helping fund a phytoremediation study, a significant environmental research initiative that explores the use of biotechnology to remediate salt-contaminated soils. The collaboration adds to 407 ETR's growing number of environmental sponsorships, underscoring the Company's commitment to environmental stewardship and support of local conservation efforts.

Sap collecting buckets attached to maple trees (CNW Group/407 ETR Concession Company Limited)

TRCA has been celebrating maple syrup for more than 50 years, and hosts between 40,000 and 50,000 visitors annually at its Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival. The festival educates visitors about maple syrup production through time as they experience early Indigenous, early European settler and modern maple syrup production through interactive demonstrations.

"Highway 407 ETR is surrounded by vibrant communities and we're proud to help connect people to nature through events like the Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival," says Javier Tamargo, President & CEO, 407 ETR. "We're excited to celebrate this Canadian staple with everyone and help TRCA demonstrate the rich history of maple syrup production."

"Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) is proud to partner with 407 ETR and host the annual Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival which connects people to nature and provides many benefits to the communities we serve," says John MacKenzie, CEO, Toronto Region Conservation Authority. "This beloved event is a longstanding tradition within the communities in Stouffville and Woodbridge, attracting tourists from across our region and bringing families together to celebrate the cherished Canadian custom of maple syrup harvesting. With this new partnership, we are dedicated to enhancing the festival experience for every visitor."

Fast facts about 407 ETR's commitment to biodiversity

407 ETR is helping to fund a phytoremediation study with TRCA on the use of biotechnology to remediate salt-contaminated soils. TRCA, with the help of Royal Military College and Queen's University, will explore the potential for different halophytes (salt-loving plants) to remove salts from soil and explore how the impact of road salt on surrounding soils, including the effects of roadside application, can potentially be reduced to help protect the environment.

and Queen's University, will explore the potential for different halophytes (salt-loving plants) to remove salts from soil and explore how the impact of road salt on surrounding soils, including the effects of roadside application, can potentially be reduced to help protect the environment. 407 ETR operates a 90-vehicle fleet during winter months and applies de-icing salt as needed to help keep the highway safe for drivers. To help reduce its carbon footprint, the Company recently added a wide-wing snowplow spreader that can plow two highway lanes at a time, making it twice as efficient as a regular plow. 407 ETR continues to work toward its goal to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030.

This collaboration bolsters 407 ETR's environmental commitments as the Company continues to support local conversation efforts aimed at halting biodiversity loss and enhancing Ontario's natural spaces. Learn more at 407etr.com/community.

natural spaces. Learn more at 407etr.com/community. 407 ETR is currently supporting six environmental partners (Nature Conservancy of Canada , Canadian Wildlife Federation, Conservation Halton, Credit Valley Conservation, TRCA and A Greener Future) and donated over $600,000 in support of biodiversity in 2023.

The Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival runs from March 9 to April 7, 2024, and is open daily at Kortright Centre for Conservation, and at Bruce's Mill Conservation Park during weekends, March break and the Easter long weekend. For tickets or more information, visit maplesyrupfest.ca.

About 407 ETR

Highway 407 ETR is an all-electronic open-access toll highway located in the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. The highway spans 108 kilometres from Burlington in the west to Pickering in the east.

407 International Inc. is the sole shareholder of 407 ETR and is owned by:

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) through indirectly-owned subsidiaries (50.01%);

Cintra Global S.E. which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ferrovial S.A. (43.23%); and

AtkinsRealis Canada Inc., formerly SNC-Lavalin Inc. (6.76%).

Follow us on social media:

X(Twitter)

Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIn

YouTube

Learn more at 407etr.com.

About Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA)

Since 1957, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), as enabled through the provincial Conservation Authorities Act, has taken action to enhance our region's natural environment and protect our land, water, and communities from the impacts of flooding and increasingly extreme weather events  Ontario's leading cause of public emergencies.

As the region's first line of defence against natural hazards, TRCA maintains vital infrastructure and provides programs and services that promote public health and safety, protecting people and property.

TRCA mobilizes a science-based approach to provide sound policy advice, leveraging its position as a not-for-profit operating in the broader public sector to achieve collective impacts within our communities and across all levels of government.

TRCA's jurisdiction includes nine watersheds and their Lake Ontario shorelines, spanning six upper-tier and fifteen lower-tier municipalities and representing almost five million people, approximately 10% of Canada's population.

To learn more about TRCA, visit trca.ca.

SOURCE 407 ETR Concession Company Limited

For further information: 407 ETR Media Contact: [email protected], 416-706-1861; TRCA Media Contact: Afiya Jilani, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, [email protected], [email protected]
WILMINGTON, Mass., March 7, 2024 /CNW/ - Liberty Defense Holdings Ltd. ("Liberty" or the "Company") (TSXV: SCAN) (OTCQB: LDDFF) (FRANKFURT: LD2A), a leading technology provider of AI-based next generation detection solutions for concealed weapons and threats, is pleased to announce that the HEXWAVE product was granted a formal equipment authorization approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), another important milestone for it's ultra-wideband product technology. The Company previously had an FCC Waiver in place.

Liberty's HEXWAVE product, a next generation, walkthrough, contactless threat detection system uses low-power radar imaging, coupled with AI and computing platform, to detect concealed metallic and non-metallic threats at speed, providing automated decisions to security operators. The company has sold the HEXWAVE to multiple market verticals including aviation, courthouses, national labs, prisons and government facilities.

The Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) administers the equipment authorization program under the authority delegated to it by the FCC. This program is one of the principal ways the FCC ensures that Radio Frequency (RF) devices used in the United States operate effectively without causing harmful interference and otherwise comply with the FCC's rules. All RF devices subject to equipment authorization must comply with the FCC's technical requirements. This certainly can prove to be a barrier to entry in the securities market.

"This is an important milestone for the New Production Unit, allowing the Company to deliver product to non-government/commercial customers" said Bill Frain, Liberty's CEO. "We continue to receive orders in several market verticals in the commercial space given the HEXWAVE's ability to detect a broader range of threats, including non-metallic items."

In addition, the Company is announcing the resignation of Mike Lanzaro, President/CTO as he leaves the Company due to personal reasons. We would like to thank Mike for his years with the Company and helping shape the HEXWAVE Technology into what it is today. Mike will continue to support the Company as needed through a consulting agreement.

On Behalf of Liberty Defense

Bill Frain

CEO & Director

About Liberty Defense

Liberty Defense (TSXV: SCAN, OTCQB: LDDFF, FRANKFURT: LD2A) provides multi-technology security solutions for concealed weapons detection in high volume foot traffic areas and locations requiring enhanced security such as airports, stadiums, schools, and more. Liberty's HEXWAVE product, for which the company has secured an exclusive license from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as well as a technology transfer agreement for patents related to active 3D radar imaging technology, provides discrete, modular, and scalable protection to provide layered, stand-off detection capability of metallic and non-metallic weapons. Liberty has also recently licensed the millimeter wave-based, High-Definition Advanced Imaging Technology (HD-AIT) body scanner and shoe scanner technologies as part of its technology portfolio. Liberty is committed to protecting communities and preserving peace of mind through superior security detection solutions. Learn more: LibertyDefense.com

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. Although Liberty believes, in light of the experience of their respective officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate, that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements and information in this press release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the parties can give no assurance that such statements will prove to be correct. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release include, amongst others, the use of proceeds of the Offering. Such statements and information reflect the current view of Liberty. There are risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause Liberty's actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others: currency fluctuations; limited business history of the parties; disruptions or changes in the credit or security markets; results of operation activities and development of projects; project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses; and general development, market and industry conditions. The parties undertake no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of their securities or their respective financial or operating results (as applicable).

Liberty cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive. When relying on Liberty's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Liberty 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. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents the expectations of Liberty as of the date of this press release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. Liberty does not undertake to update this information at any particular time except as required in accordance with applicable 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 press release.

SOURCE Liberty Defense Holdings Ltd.

For further information: About Liberty, please contact: Jay Adelaar, Senior Vice President of Capital Markets, Email: [email protected], Tel: 604-809-2500
Suspected bandits have invaded an LEA Primary School in Kuriga town of Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State abducting dozens of pupils on Thursday morning.

Residents who spoke to journalists as eyewitnesses put the number of abducted pupils to about 100.

Reports also claim the headteacher and the staff of the school were reportedly among the victims.

According to Daily Trust, the tragic incident which happened at about 8:20 am immediately after the assembly on Thursday, was thrown the area into pandemonium as residents were hounded with panic.

The junior and secondary sections relocated to the school building inside the Kuriga town a few years ago when insecurity worsened which led to the abandonment of their former structure situated outside the town.

Confirming the incident, a resident called Shitu, said most of the pupils ran out of their classes when they sighted the assailants on the school premises.

Another resident, Lawal Kuriga, who spoke to Daily Trust said abductees were marched into the forest.

Meanwhile, there was no official reaction from the state government at the time of filing this report.

The report revealed that the Overseeing Commissioner of the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, did not react to a text message sent to him.

Also, the State Police Command Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, could not be reached on the phone and has yet to reply to a text message sent to him.




A forensic analyst has told a federal capital territory (FCT) high court in Maitama that the documents used to request the payment of $6.2 million for foreign election observers were forged.

Bamaiyi Meriga, the forensic analyst, said this on Thursday while giving evidence as a witness in the trial of Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Emefiele is standing trial on a 20-count amended criminal charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The amended charges border on alleged criminal breach of trust, forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, procurement fraud and conspiracy to commit a felony.

In some of the counts, the EFCC alleged that Emefiele, in January 2023, forged a document titled: RE: PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE ON FOREIGN ELECTION OBSERVER MISSIONS, dated 26 January 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201.

The EFCC said Emefiele made the claim despite knowing it to be false and committed an offence contrary to section 1(1) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act.

BACKGROUND

According to the amended charge marked CR/577/2023, Emefiele, on February 8, 2023, connived with one Odoh Ocheme, who is now on the run, to obtain $6.2 million from the CBN, claiming that the SGF requested it vide a letter dated 26th January 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201.

At the resumed court session, the witness said after a forensic analysis of the disputed documents, he discovered that there was clear evidence of forgery of signature and that the seal of execution was different from the original.

He also claimed that the signatures were not those of former President Muhammadu Buhari and Boss Mustapha, former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF).

The two documents on Presidential Directive on Foreign Observer Election were tendered and admitted in evidence by the court.

Under cross-examination by counsel for Emefiele, the witness said he was not a staff of the EFCC, and was not being paid by the anti-graft agency, but that his salary was domiciled with the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

The former SGF had said he knew nothing about the transaction even after he left office in May 2023. He said he only got to find out in December 2023 after the press published the news.

Mustapha said his signature and that of the former president were forged.

He also said the recipient of the money was not a staff of the SGF office as claimed by the CBN.
Barely 24 hours after Vanguard exclusively reported that the plot to impeach Edo State Deputy Governor, Mr Philip Shaibu, was thickening, the Edo State House of Assembly, yesterday, served Shaibu an impeachment notice, giving him seven days to respond to the allegation of constitutional infractions.

At the sitting of the house, the Majority Leader, Mr. Charity Aiguobarueghian, announced that a petition to that effect, dated March 5, 2024, was signed by 21 of the 24 members, against the deputy governor, adding that the number of members who signed the petition were more than the two-thirds requirement stipulated by the Constitution.

Two grounds of impeachment

He also announced that the petition was based on two grounds: perjury and revealing of government secrets.

The House Speaker, Blessing Agbebaku, who acknowledged receipt of the petition, directed the Clerk, Yahaya Omogbai, to serve the impeachment notice on Shaibu and gave the deputy governor seven days to respond.

Shaibu has been in the eyes of the storm following his frosty relations with his principal, Governor Godwin Obaseki, over the Edo governorship ticket of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Oshiomhole denies involvement

Meanwhile, the lawmaker representing Edo North Senatorial District and the Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, has denied his alleged involvement in the move to impeach Shaibu.

A statement by Oshiomholes Legislative Aide, Victor Oshioke, said the report in the social media linking him to the plot to impeach Shaibu was fake.

The statement reads: Our attention has been drawn to an article circulating on social media regarding a purported plan by the Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki to call on lawmakers of Edo State House of Assembly to begin impeachment proceedings against his deputy, Philip Shaibu.

Ordinarily, we would neither be concerned nor bothered by what methods the characters in the unending feud within the Edo State PDP employ to settle scores among themselves. However, we are compelled to clarify and set the record straight because in the said article, it was falsely claimed, and I quote our reporter also gathered that the governor have(sic) already gotten across to Senator Adams Oshiomhole to help him lobby and talk to the APC lawmakers in the House to support the impeachment move against Philip Shaibu since he and the deputy governor are not in good terms with the Edo North Senator.

We wish to categorically state that Senator Oshiomhole has not, at any time, engaged in discussions with Governor Obaseki regarding plans to impeach his deputy.Let it be put on record that Senator Oshiomhole, as the apex leader of the APC in Edo State, is solely focused on fostering goodwill between the people of Edo State and the APC, with the goal of winning the upcoming governorship election and returning the state to a path of progress under an APC government.

Also, it is important to state that matters of impeachment are the sole responsibilities of the Edo State House of Assembly and the Edo State Judiciary. Political parties have no constitutional role to play in any impeachment process. Therefore, the notion that Senator Oshiomhole can influence the actions of APC lawmakers should there be any impeachment exercise in the Edo State House of Assembly is simply preposterous. Senator Oshiomhole has not and will not engage in any deals with Governor Obaseki on this or any other political issue.

Lastly, we urge all Edo people to approach articles of this nature with skepticism if the authors fail to take credit for their allegations. As we begin the process leading to the September 2024 governorship election in our beloved state, let us all strive for truthful and responsible discourse in our political environment.








The House of Representatives candidate for Dekina/Bassa Federal Constituency in the 2023 general election, Comrade Usman Okai Austin, has said the alleged deduction of 20 per cent of the salaries of local government staff in Kogi State is a grave injustice that cannot be overlooked.





Okai also called on Governor Usman Ododo and his administration to address the allegation transparently and take immediate steps to rectify the situation.





Recently, it was reported that Ododo allegedly authorized the deduction of 20 per cent of the salaries of local government staff, leaving them with only 80 per cent of their rightful earnings.





This revelation had sparked outrage and condemnation across the state.





Reacting, Okai said citizens cannot turn a blind eye to such blatant acts of injustice and theft.





In a statement he signed, Okai said the people of Kogi State deserve better, stressing that it was time for them to demand the accountability and integrity.





He said: We must demand transparency from our government and refuse to tolerate any form of corruption. It is our collective responsibility to speak out against injustice and ensure that those in power are held to account for their actions.





It is important to emphasize that this is not an issue of tribalism or bias; rather, it is a matter of accountability and transparency in governance.





Regardless of our tribal affiliations, we must unite in condemning any form of corruption within our government. The welfare of all citizens, irrespective of ethnicity, should be the priority of any responsible administration.





The implications of such actions are dire. Deducting a portion of workers salaries without valid justification not only undermines their livelihoods but also violates their rights as employees.





It is a betrayal of the trust placed in the government to fairly and equitably manage public resources.
Sola Faleye, personal and technical assistant to Herbert Wigwe, the late group chief executive officer (GCEO) of Access Holdings Plc, says he tried to prevent his boss from boarding the chopper that claimed his life.

Faleye spoke on Wednesday during the night of tributes held for Wigwe in Lagos.

Wigwe, alongside his wife, son, and Abimbola Ogunbanjo, the former group chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group), were involved in a helicopter crash in the United States on February 10, 2024.

Recounting how he narrowly escaped the helicopter crash, Faleye said he also tried to prevent Ogunbanjo from boarding the chopper.

Five of us embarked on that journey. I remember Mr. Bimbo chatted me and said he wants to come with us, it was a Tuesday. And I told him my boss journey is not always straightforward. Sometimes, you can get in the air and divert somewhere else, and he said he was going to wait, the PA to the late business mogul said.

I said he was still going to Abuja that day, and maybe hell be leaving later in the midnight and he said he was going to wait.

I still tried to let him understand that we will be in London Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, he said he will stay in his house and wait. I really dont know why I was trying to convince him not to, I dont know, and we all went on the journey.

Faleye added that the group flew from London to Palm Springs, relieved that their trip was about to end.

However, the PA said he was skeptical about them continuing their trip by midnight, so he tried to implore Wigwe to have a rethink.

I remember, in the middle of the air, I walked up to him. I said sir, how comfortable are you flying chopper at night? Ive never done it before. And he said a word, he said, This is America, they have navigation systems for flying chopper at night and I went back to my seat, Faleye said.

He recounted that after arriving Palm Springs, there were two vehicles waiting for them  one to accompany them to the chopper and the other to transport their luggage, which could not fit in the chopper, by road.

Faleye said he decided to leave with the vehicle that had the luggage, after weighing the options of leaving the bags unattended to, or flying in luxury with his boss.

Brilliant idea, Wigwe told him.

Faleye said he wished his boss a safe trip and that was the last conversation they had.

He said he knew something was wrong when hours into his road trip, he put a phone call across to Wigwe and his wife.

Two and half hours into my own journey I was a bit sleepy in the car. So, at exactly 10:09, mind you, the chopper went down at 10:08. Something just pricked me and I picked up my phone. In my own estimation, they should have landed, he said.

I called him (Wigwe), it wasnt ringing. I called madam she has three numbers I called all three. I called Chizzy (Wigwes son). I called Mr. Bimbo.

Hours later, all six persons aboard the chopper were confirmed dead after it went down.




Senate President Godswill Akpabio says he was not part of the red chamber led by Bukola Saraki, though he was the minority leader at the time.

Saraki presided over the eighth session of the senate between 2015 and 2019.

Akpabio, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), held the position until he defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the eve of the 2019 elections.

Reacting to a comment by Ali Ndume, chief whip of the red chamber, on Wednesday, Akpabio said he was a member of the Nigerian senate.

Ndume was contributing to a debate on a motion sponsored by Emmanuel Udende, senator representing Benue north-west, on the deteriorating security situation in his senatorial district.

The senate chief whip said there was a need to implement previous recommendations of the red chamber.

Referring to Akpabio, Ndume said, You were part of Sarakis senate as a minority leader.

In response, Akpabio said: I was part of the Nigerian senate, not Saraki senate.

Ndume insisted: Some say this is Akpabios senate.

Akpabio replied, saying: This is the Nigerian senate. If you say I was part of Sarakis senate, it means I was part of those who paid 40 percent of the constituency project, and 60 percent has not been paid up till today.

I dont want to be part of that.




Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State said he is willing to give up his office for a lasting peace to reign in the state.

Fubara stated this in an interview with AIT on Thursday.

He said, No sacrifice will be too big for me to pay for the success of this administration. The reason is very simple, it is not political love. It is not because I want to gain any favour from anybody. My interest and love for our dear state is genuine.

Im not trying to say I want to be one man that will be there to decide the fate of all, no. But let Rivers State remain.

My burden wasnt the issue of all the drama. It is the millions of Rivers people who had made sacrifices, who are seeing opportunity, and it looks as if their hopes are being dashed.

They were the ones I was worried about. What would be their fate? That was my trouble. It is not about me.

The Rivers governor further stated, If leaving this position is what I need or what is needed to bring more peace in this state, I can even tell the people to come and take it. It is not about me. People should understand that definitely Im here, I will go, but Rivers State will still remain.

I am the governor. No matter what it is, there are things I could have done and there would have been a total crisis, but the ability to restrain in the face of crisis when you have the power to do things is maturity.

Recall that Governor Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, who is now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been at loggerheads over the control of power in the state.

In the wake of the crisis in the state House of Assembly, the political rift between Wike and Fubara split lawmakers in the House, with 27 of them decamping from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), a party in whose central government Wike currently serves as minister.





The feud also saw the emergence of parallel sittings, an impeachment plot against the governor, the demolition of the Assembly complex, and a gale of resignations of pro-Wike commissioners in Fubaras cabinet.

The President and some elder statesmen had intervened in the crisis earlier in October, but it degenerated into a full-blown fight.

But, after some weeks of crisis in the state, the political gladiators in Rivers reached a truce on Monday after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Villa in Abuja.

The meeting had Fubara, Wike, the ex-Rivers governor, Peter Odili; and some traditional rulers from the state in attendance.

Vice President Kashim Shettima; and the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, were also part of the meeting.

However, after a series of meetings, the warring parties agreed that all matters instituted in the courts by Fubara, and his team, be withdrawn immediately.

Fubara, Wike, Amaewhule and other parties in the crisis signed the agreement. The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, also signed the document.

The Wike camp also agreed that all impeachment proceedings initiated against the governor by the Rivers State House of Assembly be dropped immediately

The parties in the feud resolved to recognise the leadership of Martin Amaewhule in the Rivers State House of Assembly and not that of Edison Ehie.

The two camps agreed to recognise Amaewhule and his 26 allies who recently resigned from the PDP to the APC.




Macky Sall, President of Senegal, has announced March 24 as the new date for the presidential election.

Sall announced the date on Wednesday during a meeting with the council of ministers at the presidential palace.

The president also dissolved all members of his cabinet as his tenure will come to an end on April 2.

The presidential election was earlier scheduled to be held on February 25 but was indefinitely postponed by Sall 15 days before the commencement of political campaigns in the country.

He cited corruption allegations against two members of the constitutional council and problems with the candidate list as the reasons for the postponement of the earlier scheduled election.

The postponement received rejection from members of the opposition and several protests were staged to oppose the decision.

The opposition party viewed the postponement as an institutional coup, adding that it would extend Salls mandate beyond the constitutional stipulation.

This also led to the disconnection of internet service across the country.

In February, the Senegalese constitutional council, a body responsible for screening candidates for the presidency, declared the election postponement as illegal.

In a communique by the council of ministers, they stressed the need to ensure Salls mandate is not reduced or lengthened according to political circumstances, whatever or the objective pursued.

After the transmission on the same day to the constitutional council of a referral, for opinion, on the conclusions, recommendations and proposals of the national dialogue relating to: (i) the setting of the date of the presidential election; (ii) the possible examination of candidacies for the presidential election; (iii) the arrangements to be taken upon the expiry of the mandate of the president of the Republic, on April 2, 2024, the statement reads.

The president of the Republic informed the council of ministers of the setting of the date of the presidential election for Sunday, March 24, 2024.

Sall removed Amadou Ba who is currently contesting the presidential position under the ruling coalition as prime minister.

He appointed Sidiki Kaba, former minister of home affairs, as the new prime minister of Senegal.




The former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Moghalu, has asked President Tinubu to reshuffle his cabinet as part of measures to restore investor confidence in Nigeria and improve the economy.

Moghalu made this appeal in an interview with Arise Television on Thursday.

He also recommended that President Tinubu form a full time Economic Advisory Council to advise him on better ways to run the economy.

Moghalu said, To restore confidence, President Tinubu needs to reshuffle his cabinet because one of the reasons that investor confidence disappeared was when the process of appointing his cabinet, it was too slow, and then when it made the announcement, it was largely very political type of cabinet, and investors were hoping for something more technocratic to deal with the crisis at hand.

On Nigerias economic stability, he said, The real solution to our economic crisis is to first and foremost study what brought us here, and if we fix the problems, the habits, the incompetences, the lack of will that brought us to where we are, then we have fixed the crisis and we have actually prepared the way forward Nigerias economy so that we dont keep lurching from crisis to crisis. which is what we do.

I recommend the formation of a full time Economic Advisory Council for the president made up of seven economics. I was very specific, and I specified the disciplines in economics that those persons must be specialists in.

And I talked about fiscal policy, industrial policy, trade policy, business economics, labour economics, agricultural economics, development economics, and political economics. It is the combination of these disciplines that form an economy.

So, when you are being advised by an economic advisory council, it should have the capacity internally to take a full spectrum approach to the economy. And such a council should address the question of how we structurally diversify our economy away from dependence on oil or agriculture or any one particular thing.

He further said, Nigeria can consider floating or issuing a 20 trillion naira bond to finance some projects in railways in housing in agriculture that will be nationwide across 36 states using land as a resource and as the backup for that issue and creating 5 million jobs within three years, thats one possibility.

Another possibility which is not homegrown but its also valid is that we can consider taking a $30 billion IMF stabilisation programme, and I argued that even though the IMF may be a dirty word in Nigeria but you are already doing most of the things they want. You are removing subsidies, people are suffering, there is anger, there is hunger in the land, and you are not getting any inflows that are significant because there is no confidence.

Investor confidence has gone from Nigeria and when investor sentiment disappears, it takes a lot of time, lots of hard work to bring it back, and so I said you might as well get the cash if you are taking all this pain.

And I discussed the pros and the cons of taking an IMF facility, but for you to take an IMF facility, it must be big fish. If its not a big fish, you are wasting your time. If Nigeria takes anything less than $20 billion, ideally $30 billion, it will be like a drop in the bucket.

Whats the advantage is that you will get forex liquidity, you get support for your reserves, you get improved investor sentiment automatically. If you go to an IMF program, investors will return, because they know that there is a factor that they trust that is now in play.

And then third there will be a bit more transparency in our fiscal management because of the conditionalities that go with that full stop the cons are of course increasing indebtedness, debt sustainability concerns, challenges to sovereignty, and the fact that it doesnt solve the long term problem, its just a short term measure. But you can take it while you are planning for long term strategically and structurally, which is where we fall short.

The Chairman of the Africa Private Sector Summit said Nigerian leaders should focus on nation building, saying, Our leaders do not show the example that the citizens can actually believe in, and that is why there is no faith in the government, very little trust in the government. Because it is not do as I say but not as I do, it doesnt work.

Nation building begins from the top- the people who lead, who have been entrusted to lead, must be seen to be not ethnic, not religiously narrow, they must be seen to be inclusive, they must be seen to be visionary. And it is that sense of having a vision that they must communicate to the people and show it by example.

We have to look at our constitution because we dont have a proper federation in Nigeria. So, when youre talking about building a sense of nationhood, you must first of all create a sense of fairness, a sense of equality of opportunity, a sense of common destiny and shared purpose.

The first place to begin is our constitution because this country has several hundreds or thousands of ethnic nationalities. But you need to recognise that reality, and they need to see how they are represented on how their future is assured in the Nigeria project. Then you know you have a genuine Nigeria project.




Former United States, US, First Lady, Michelle Obama has made her stance known following reports that she was warming up to replace Joe Biden as the Democratic Party nominee for the 2024 presidential election.

Concerns over Bidens age have fuelled speculations that the President could be replaced as the Democratic Partys presidential candidate.

US Democrats are said to be worried that an 86-year-old President might not be what the people want at this time.

They were said to be considering the former Presidents wife, Mrs Obama, as his replacement.

However, the former First Ladys team told NBC that She will not be running for President.

Mrs Obama supports President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris reelection campaign, said Obamas communications director, Crystal Carson.

Biden, on his part, has brushed aside speculations surrounding his ability to continue in the race.

He told MSNBC in May that he thinks his age is an asset for his candidacy because hes more experienced than anybody thats ever run for the office.




George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), says there are preparations by the government to announce a new minimum wage for civil servants.

Akume spoke in Abuja on Thursday while flagging off a new presidential initiative for womens empowerment.

The SGF who represented President Bola Tinubu at the event was felicitating the annual March 8 International Womens Day (IWD).

Akume commended the efforts of the ministry of women affairs and social development in promoting gender equality in the country.

The SGF said Muslims and Christians should use the Lenten period and the coming Ramadan to offer prayers for the country and the president.

Ours is a complex federation, where the three tiers of government all have access to federation account and so we if we work together, we can do more for our people, he said.

Things will begin to change as more compressed natural gas (CNG) buses make their way to the country and as we prepare for a new minimum wage.

Last week Tuesday, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) held a nationwide protest against the prevailing economic hardship.

Joe Ajaero, NLC president, said the federal government failed to meet agreements reached with organised labour.

The agreement included the provision of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles as substitutes for petrol-powered vehicles, the cash transfer programme and an increment of the minimum wage.

In August 2023, the federal government said it would invest N100 billion between that time and March 2024, to acquire 3,000 units of 20-seater buses powered by CNG.

Another N130 billion was budgeted for CNG conversion and electric vehicles in December.

However, not much has been heard about the project since then.

Last month, the senate committee on gas said the federal government cannot disburse N100 billion earmarked for the CNG buses without the national assemblys approval.

The committees comment came after it asked Wale Edun, minister of finance, to provide details on the cash disbursement for the project.

March was also the month that the federal government said it would hold talks with labour unions over a new minimum wage.

Earlier, the NLC demanded N794,000 as the new national minimum wage for workers in the south-west zone.

Ajaero had proposed N1 million.




A former media aide to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmad, has said the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was more skillful in approaching politics than the All Progressives Congress, APC.





Ahmad pointed out that former Presidents Musa YarAdua and Goodluck Jonathan never criticized ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo because they were from PDP.





He lamented the decision of some officials of President Bola Tinubus administration to continuously fault Buharis government for the current economic hardship in the country.





Posting on X, Ahmad wrote: I often wonder why, as a government, we concentrate more on amplifying the faults of the previous administration rather than acknowledging its numerous achievements. The PDP seems to have a more skilful approach to politics than we do in the APC. As Abdulaziz has pointed out, its rare to find instances where President Yaraduas (PDP) government criticized President Obasanjos (PDP) or where President Jonathans (PDP) government faulted President Yaraduas (PDP).





There are numerous accomplishments from the previous administration that we could build upon while discreetly addressing its failures. This approach would bring up unity within the ruling party. President Tinubu requires the full support of his party, not just for the upcoming 2027 elections but also for supporting his policies. We know no matter how good they may look, the opposition will always find a way to rubbish or undermine them just to distract our party from governance.





Since May 2023, we seem to have provided more ammunition to our opponents rather than strategies to put them on the defensive, which would allow the government to focus more on continuing to deliver its best for the country.





If we had not been creating room for PDP, how could a member of the party even come here and remind us about their administration? The party spent 16 years during the oil boom without anything tangible to show for it.
Nikon to Acquire US Cinema Camera Manufacturer RED.com, LLC Accelerating Expansion in Professional Digital Cinema Camera Market

TOKYO - Nikon Corporation (Nikon) hereby announces its entry into an agreement to acquire 100% of the outstanding membership interests of RED.com, LLC (RED) whereby RED will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nikon, pursuant to a Membership Interest Purchase Agreement with Mr. James Jannard, its founder, and Mr. Jarred Land, its current President, subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions thereunder.

Since its establishment in 2005, RED has been at the forefront of digital cinema cameras, introducing industry-defining products such as the original RED ONE 4K to the cutting-edge V-RAPTOR [X] with its proprietary RAW compression technology. RED's contributions to the film industry have not only earned it an Academy Award but have also made it the camera of choice for numerous Hollywood productions, celebrated by directors and cinematographers worldwide for its commitment to innovation and image quality optimized for the highest levels of filmmaking and video production.

This agreement was reached as a result of the mutual desires of Nikon and RED to meet the customers needs and offer exceptional user experiences that exceed expectations, merging the strengths of both companies. Nikon's expertise in product development, exceptional reliability, and know-how in image processing, as well as optical technology and user interface along with REDs knowledge in cinema cameras, including unique image compression technology and color science, will enable the development of distinctive products in the professional digital cinema camera market.

Nikon will leverage this acquisition to expand the fast-growing professional digital cinema camera market, building on both companies' business foundations and networks, promising an exciting future of product development that will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in film and video production.

Overview of RED.com, LLC

Company name RED.com, LLC Head office location Foothill Ranch, California, U.S.A. Representatives Jarred Land, President Foundation 2005 (Establishment) Number of employees Approximately 220 Business Design, development, manufacture, sales, and provision of services of professional digital cinema cameras
Two pedestrians seriously injured when they were hit by a vehicle Wednesday in Hackensack were later issued summonses by police for not using the crosswalk, authorities said.

A 62-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman were hit near the corner of Hudson Street and Henry Place at 7:15 p.m., Hackensack police said.

Both pedestrians were hospitalized. The driver stopped and spoke to officers as police continue to investigate. Officials didnt name the pedestrians.

While this was not an unusual occurrence, the circumstances around the incident weigh in on if summonses are issued, said Capt. Michael Antista, a police spokesman. The Hackensack police department reminds the public that New Jersey experiences a disproportionate number of pedestrian injury crashes and fatalities compared to the nation as a whole. Pedestrians must obey pedestrian signals and use the crosswalks at signalized intersections.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
A South Jersey man was killed Wednesday night after his car ran off a state highway in Gloucester County and struck several trees, police said.

Shaquile Banks, 30, of Bridgeton, was driving north on Route 55 in Deptford shortly after 11 p.m. when he lost control of the vehicle and ran off the highway to the left, according to a New Jersey State Police spokesman.

Banks died as a result of the crash, the spokesman said.

The crash remains under investigation.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
The Jersey City school district administration and a group of Board of Education members are refusing to acknowledge Dejon Morris as board president, a decision the first-year board member says will hurt the district in the long run.

I dont need them to acknowledge me as president, said Morris, who is staking his claim to the presidency after a wild board meeting last week in which five members voted to oust the current president and vice president, and then voted in Morris as president and Younass Barkouch as vice president.

I need them first to acknowledge their job as trustee and the mandate of providing a budget, said Morris, who was the subject of an ethics complaint just two days before Thursdays chaotic meeting.

As the March 20 deadline to approve a school budget draws nearer, it remains unclear whether the vote to remove Natalia Ioffe as president and Noemi Velazquez as vice president was legal. Ioffe, Velazquez and two other board members, George Blount and Alpa Patel, along with Superintendent Norma Fernandez left the meeting before the separate votes.

Fernandez said Wednesday its inappropriate to comment on those questions and those concerns that have come up out of last Thursdays meeting, since I do not know if that meeting was ever legal and actions taken were correct. At this point, our understanding is that Natalia Ioffe is the board president and were unable to predict what will happen on March 20.

Acting as president, Morris says he has made numerous attempts to reach out to Fernandez and Business Administrator Dennis Frohnapfel to set up two special budget meetings before the March 20 due date. Morris says district leaders are plotting to make the board look disgruntled and dysfunctional to force the budget to sent to County Superintendent Melissa Pearce to be approved.

This is all a plot and I think it needs to be brought to the forefront. This is very dangerous what they are doing, Morris said. I believe the superintendent is attempting to stall to prove her theory of dysfunction. The administration is neglecting its responsibility to report to the board, not the president.

Patel, Blount and Ioffe refuse to acknowledge the boards alleged new leadership. Velazquez, who was elected along with Ioffe by a 5-4 vote in January, did not respond to a request for comment.

Ioffe said shes confident the state (Department of Education) will provide (clarity) because it is an urgent matter. But in the meantime, she says she has no intention on hindering any responsibilities we have as board members.

A spokesman for the state Department of Education and Velazquez could not be reached for comment.

Fernandez told The Jersey Journal on Friday that in the event the board can not pass the budget, the county superintendent can step in to make the approval. A meeting has been set for March 18, a regularly scheduled caucus meeting, to vote on the budget.

Special meetings to present the budget and hear public comment are commonplace, but not required. For the first time since 2018, the district is facing no cuts in the state aid that is announced annually after the state budget is presented. Last year the board approved the first $1 billion budget in the districts history.

Tuesday Morris shared with the county superintendent his frustration with the administration, saying in an email his request for two special meetings, as well as a budget calendar, updates on what has been completed and a copy of the preliminary draft of the budget were ignored.

The JCBOE board of trustees is still actively trying to keep an open communication in order to stay in compliance with the budget process that is mandated by state law, Morris told Pearce.

Morris told The Jersey Journal Me being president is not the issue. The issue is (Fernandez) is failing to reply to an elected board regarding meetings and a draft of a budget and budget calendar.

Morris, Barkouch, and fellow board members Paula Jones-Watson, Afaf Muhammad and Chris Tisdale cited lack of action and accountability by Ioffe and Velazquez for the 5-0 vote against their leadership Thursday, although the board members did not cite any examples.

Morris also says Frohnapfel has not responded to calls and emails to sign a contract with the Souder, Shabazz & Woolridge Law Group as special counsel for the board, the only resolution approved by the remaining board members Thursdays.

The law firm was at the root of the ethics complaint filed by Ioffe, who claimed that the fact Morris met with the firms principals in November indicates a possible personal promise or private action that compromises the board.
A grand jury indicted a man and woman accused in a shooting during a botched drug deal at a New Jersey motel that left the victim having to have part of his leg amputated.

Auraceli A. Maldonado, 24, of Irvington, was arrested in Florida days about two weeks following the Oct. 18, 2023, attack at the Roxbury Motel on Route 46 in Morris County.

Police arrested her alleged accomplice, Jean Omar Rockson, 33, of Orange, in February at his residence. Both were indicted on robbery, aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit robbery and weapons charges, the Morris County Prosecutors Office said Thursday.

Prosecutors did not elaborate on their relationship and connection to the victim.

Both are scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, the prosecutors office said.

Investigators say Rockson supplied Maldonado with an AR-style rifle used during the robbery that police previously said began with an intended drug deal inside a guest room at the motel.

Both arranged a meeting with the victim, a 36-year-old man, shortly before 9 p.m. The duo robbed the man, shooting him in the leg in the process, inflicting severe, not non-life-threatening injuries. Both were captured on security footage at the motel exiting a Honda registered in New York prosecutors said previously belonged to Maldonado.

During the deal, an argument ensued, authorities previously said. During the confrontation, Maldonado forced the victim into a bathroom at gunpoint while Rockson scoured the room, finding cash and marijuana. Both fled the scene afterward.

A surgeon, according to court records, amputated the victims leg above his knee about a week after the attack. The man was shot while trying to fight off Maldonado during the deal, police said previously.

Both Maldonado and Rockson seized drugs, money and the victims cell phone, but unintentionally left one of their phones at the crime scene.

Police discovered Maldonado with her vehicle in Florida, using a search warrant to explore the vehicle, finding bullets inside that matched those used in the Roxbury assault.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.
Note: This is a copy of our weekly Tuesday a.m. Mosaic newsletter, which provides the most popular stories from Mosaic of the past week. Click HERE to sign up and never miss a week!

Few people know Black hair like Rutgers Patti OBrien-Richardson.

OBrien-Richardson, Ph.D., has written about cultural hair practices for the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners; hair harassment for The Urban Review; hair health for the American Journal of Health Education; cultural hair practices in gym class for Journal of Physical Activity and Health and how to teach your child to love their hair in South Africas True Love Magazine. And so many others.

So when a school district punishes a young Black man for months because of the length of his hair, creating a national story, theres no one better to explain the issue, the background, the politics and the social implications than OBrien-Richardson. She did just that last week in Mosaic.

In fact, several local voices provided perspective in Mosaic on several timely issues this week. Cuqui Rivera, the outreach director for the Latino Action Network Foundation, brought readers up-to-date on how isolated confinement practices are being used today in New Jerseys prisons.

Junius Williams, the official historian of Newark, went on a personal rewind to take readers back to Richmond, Virginia in 1956 after the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. Those were some tense times.

To conclude Black History Month, we had videos from several members of the community who divulged their favorite Black heroes. Check out videos by Justin Artenant of the United Way of Greater Newarks Newark Thrives!; Episcopal priest, Father Fred Galano, and Rocker Jeff Grob, whose band hit it big in the 70s.

I even got in the act and wrote about Fani Willis, the district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, whos prosecuting the election interference case against former president Trump. There are a few conflicting opinions about how she handled the case but some similar thoughts about what shes going through now. I invite you to take a minute and check it out.

More essential reading from Mosaic:

Who TF Did I Marry? TikToker who captured the internet says shes from New Jersey: Reesa Teesa posted about her pathologically lying ex-husband Reesa Teesa posted about her pathologically lying ex-husband

TikTok

N.J. town uncovers centuries of Black history, all linked through one mans remarkable family: Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Zora Neale Hurston and one current 92-year-old resident all have extraordinary connections to Westfields rich history. Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Zora Neale Hurston and one current 92-year-old resident all have extraordinary connections to Westfields rich history.

Wallace Brown, 92, the oldest living link to Westfield's black history, at the Westfield Memorial Library on Thursday, February 15, 2024.John J. LaRosa | For NJ Advance

2 New Jerseys: 1 state of inequity. But which counties are worst?: Vast racial and economic disparities are largely present throughout all of NJs 21 counties, with some counties having even more pronounced disparities Vast racial and economic disparities are largely present throughout all of NJs 21 counties, with some counties having even more pronounced disparities

The Two New Jerseys by the Numbers report, produced by the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, illustrates the severe inequities among different communities in New Jersey. NJISJ

Rutgers center is named in honor of late Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver: Olivers family is still mourning her loss but they have immense pride in seeing her legacy live on Olivers family is still mourning her loss but they have immense pride in seeing her legacy live on

The family of the late Lt. Gov. Sheila Y. Oliver gathered with others for the official renaming of the center at Rutgers-Newark. Courtesy Rutgers University

Watch: This NJ rocker couldnt pick just one hero for Black History Month: Check out his list of Black musicians that have inspired him. Check out his list of Black musicians that have inspired him.

Jeff Grob is the drummer for the 1970's rock band Looking Glass who had a No. 1 hit with "Brandy You're a Fine Girl."Ande Richards

Welcome to Mosaic. Follow us on Instagram at @MosaicNJcom, on Facebook at MosaicNJcom and on YouTube at @MosaicNJcom.
Those rascals at the Supreme Court made a couple of decisions the past few weeks that could have a big impact on the outcome of the election. Lets review.

What they got right: The court unanimously ruled that states shouldnt have the ability to remove candidates from the ballot under a provision of the 14th amendment that prohibits officers of the United States who engaged in insurrection from holding federal office. Allowing states to remove candidates from the ballot when they havent been convicted of a crime yet would set up a ballot disqualification free for all with red states bouncing Democrats for blues tossing Republicans for any ginned charges they could think of. However, even when making the right decision, the conservative block couldnt help but sneak in something awful when they ruled that only Congress can enforce the the insurrection clause through some amorphous special legislation requiring a 2/3 majority. Given the current, and likely future, state of Congress, they essentially made it impossible to bar insurrectionists from federal office.

What they got wrong: Its no secret that Donald Trump is trying to run out the clock on his criminal trials in hopes that he can avoid prosecution by returning to the Oval Office. The court did him a big favor by slow-tracking arguments over his claims of absolute immunity until late April. The D.C. circuit court unanimously ruled that Trump wasnt a god king and had to obey the laws of the land. All the Supreme Court had to do was nothing. Nobody expects even this court to give the president absolute immunity, so had they simply refused to hear the appeal, the lower court decision would stand and the DOJ would be free to continue their cases. Instead, the court needlessly inserted itself and gave Trump exactly the delay he wanted. Arguments are in the spring, a decision wont come until summer and then a mad dash to hold a trial in the fall.

Equal justice for all, concierge service for some.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Given the scale of death and devastation in Gaza, Joe Biden is trying to broker a peace deal to end Israels war, including an immediate ceasefire and return of the hostages.

It also includes a bargain with Saudi Arabia thats been on the table since 2002: The Saudis would establish relations with Israel, in exchange for Israels agreement to allow a Palestinian state. But is a two-state solution even possible now?

And how strong is support for Hamas among Palestinians, really? Deputy Editorial Page Editor Julie OConnor spoke to Michael Robbins, head of the Arab Barometer at Princeton, which does public opinion surveys in the Middle East, to get the view on the ground.

Q. You polled Palestinians right before the Oct. 7th attack on Israel. How strong is support for Hamas?

A. Prior to the attacks, we found very weak support overall, meaning in Gaza, only about one in four, or 27%, said Hamas is their preferred party  which is actually lower than Fatah, which is the dominant party in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), or the Palestinian National Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas. Only 29% had any confidence in the government of Hamas at the time; many people were going hungry, and they were quite frustrated with the government, which most view as corrupt. Support for Hamas was actually even weaker in the West Bank, where only 17% said it was their preferred party.

Q. Interesting. A more recent poll conducted after the attack found that 72% of Palestinians backed Hamas decision to launch the rampage in Israel. What do you make of that?

A. Its extremely difficult to do surveys in Gaza right now, given that something like 85% of the population has been displaced. Its hard to know if this is representative. But this figure doesnt seem far-fetched to me. What weve always seen over time is that when Israel cracks down on Hamas, either militarily or with an economic blockade of Gaza, support for Hamas goes up. It becomes, My enemys enemy is my friend.

We also see this type of effect in surveys generally  for instance, just a few days after the September 11th attack, when Gallup asked the American public to rate George W. Bush, 90% said they supported him. And thats coming off the 2000 election, which was one of the closest in history, with a lot of bitterness. In times of crisis, polling can find extreme things.

I think what these more recent results show is deep loyalty to Gazans, and in some sense, fear of showing any sympathy towards Israel, as a result of the ongoing conflict. If the conflict in Gaza stopped, I think wed see that number come down over time.

Q. Polls on the Israeli side are scary too: Half of Israel says theyre using the right amount of force in Gaza, and about 40% say its not enough force. And as the war in Gaza escalates, weve also seen the forcible displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank with Israeli settlers taking the opportunity to seize more land. What do you think that says about attitudes in Israel?

A. I think it says a similar thing that were seeing in Palestine: Its a time when its very difficult to show sympathy for the other side. People want to express that they have not forgiven for the attacks. Youre almost seeing a kind of a rally-around-the-flag effect.

Another challenge were seeing, as were doing more polling across the region, is that there really are two truths here. The Israeli public does not really see the images that come out of Gaza. Their media is still very much focused on what happened on October 7th, the horrors of that day. And the Arab populations, and Palestinian population, theyre only seeing Gaza. When you are only seeing one side or the other, its very different to bridge that, and realize that both are absolute horrors.

Q. Do your polls tell you anything about the viability of a two-state solution?

A. We polled on this just before the Oct. 7th attack, and in the West Bank and Gaza, it was supported by majority of Palestinians at the time. In Gaza, 54% supported it and basically half of the West Bank supported it. We have not done polling ourselves since then.

But at this point it is very, very difficult to see that being a possibility, especially given these Israeli polls. Theres no rational politician in Israel whos going to suggest a two-state solution. What that would entail is a bargain with Saudi Arabia, which has floated normalization of relations with Israel in exchange for a commitment from Israel to create a Palestinian state.

They were so close to a deal before the attacks, from what all reports were saying, albeit without a full commitment to a Palestinian state. But now, because of Saudi public opinion and its leadership in the Arab world, Saudi Arabia has to drive in some ways a harder bargain: Most likely, it would have to come out of this with a Palestinian state, and at that point, the Israeli public would in some ways be getting a worse deal than they had before October 7th. I dont see how this can be squared right now.

That said, I do take a longer view of history. Sinn Fein is now leading the government in Northern Ireland, and 30 years ago, they were in a violent resistance against the UK. So, it isnt impossible in the long run. But it seems very improbable in the short term. Obviously, theres a lot of focus on this with the Biden administration.

Q. Right. Any other thoughts on the peace plan hes trying to broker?

A. Obviously, Biden would be very well advantaged in light of the problems he has in places like Michigan and New Jersey, given their Arab populations, and the young voters who are seeing the images from Gaza. Hes looking for a solution. I think hes really hoping for this by November  to potentially deliver a Palestinian state settlement with Saudi Arabia, and everybody wins. I just dont see that as being realistic. Efforts to negotiate a two-state solution are taking on increased importance, and I think thats good, but the current situation on the ground is just too horrific to see that emerging by November.

Q. How might leadership affect public opinion on both sides? When Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, broke with other Arab leaders and went to Jerusalem in an attempt to break the deadlock in the Arab-Israeli peace process in 1977, polls before and after his visit showed a dramatic shift in public opinion. Could that happen again?

A. I just dont see it. A number of leaders in the Arab world may personally want to do this, but at the same time, the anger is so palpable, and given frustrations about the economy  the number one issue in the Middle East  most leaders cant do anything like this until Gaza is over. Even then, it would be very difficult, even in an autocracy. And I dont know who would step up on the Palestinian side; the leadership is really a vacuum.

But the bigger problem is on the Israeli side. Palestinians have been demanding a Palestinian state as two-state solution, but Israel has to give it. They have to withdraw their forces. They did this in 2005 from Gaza, and they would have to take that kind of action again. I just dont see that happening right now. Until the Israeli public is ready for a two-state solution, I dont think theres anything an Arab leader could do, or others, to drive that. With the Israeli governments turn to the right in recent years, and the increase in the West Bank settlements, it just becomes harder every day.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
Donald Trumps lawyers said Tuesday that the ex-president deserves a new trial and a fresh chance to tell a jury why he berated writer E. Jean Carroll for her sex abuse claims against him after she revealed them five years ago.

And at the same time hes adding to the size of his legal team.

Trump is further beefing up his legal team in the E. Jean Carroll case with a second appellate lawyer, Will Scharf, who is also a candidate for Missouri AG. (Scharf moved to be admitted in SDNY for purposes of the case today.)  Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) March 7, 2024

Trump is further beefing up his legal team in the E. Jean Carroll case with a second appellate lawyer, Will Scharf, who is also a candidate for Missouri AG. (Scharf moved to be admitted in SDNY for purposes of the case today.) Lisa Rubin, a legal correspondent for MSNBC posted on X, formerly Twitter.

The lawyers made the assertion as they renewed challenges to the $83.3 million awarded to Carroll in January by a Manhattan jury.

The award raised to $88.3 million what Trump owes Carroll after another jury last May awarded $5 million to the longtime advice columnist after concluding that Trump sexually abused her in spring 1996 in the dressing room of a luxury department store in midtown Manhattan and then defamed her with comments in October 2022.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan had ordered the January jury to accept the findings of the earlier jury and only decide how much Trump owed Carroll for two statements he issued in 2019 after excerpts from Carrolls memoir were published by a magazine. Carroll testified that the comments ruined her career and left her fearing for her life after she received threats from strangers online.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

AUTHOR HTML:

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.
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.

Florida is moving forward with legislation that would prohibit cities and counties from adopting mandatory protections against extreme heat  laws that workers say is a blow to labor rights amid increasing climate concerns.

House Bill 433 and Senate Bill 1492 would preempt local ordinances that protect employees and outside workers in industries like agriculture and construction, according to the ACLU of Florida. HB 433 would also prohibit local governments from regulating any term or condition of employment, including minimum wage, that exceeds or conflicts with state and federal law.

While working to feed us, farm workers have died because they were exposed to extremely high temperatures but were denied water, shade and paid breaks, said Leydy Rangel, a daughter of farm workers and the United Farm Workers Foundation spokesperson. This will only create a more dangerous work environment for the men and women who do backbreaking work under the sun.

Heat kills more people in the U.S. each year than any other kind of extreme weather, according to the National Weather Service. A study by NPR and Columbia Journalism found that almost 400 people have died of heat-related illness in the last decade, with Latino workers disproportionately impacted.

Last summer, record-breaking temperatures caused a resurgence of interest in weather policy. Texas passed legislation similar to that of Floridas, limiting local governments from enacting ordinances for mandatory breaks for outdoor workers. House Resolution 3965, a bipartisan bill introduced by legislators from Arizona, Texas and Nevada in June, would have designated extreme heat as a major disaster under the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but it was stalled.

It is part of a larger trend of states denying explicit worker protections in extreme weather.

Only a few states like California, Oregon, Minnesota and Washington have mandated heat safety measures, according to the United Farm Workers. On Wednesday, Arizona appointed the nations first-ever heat officer.

The Florida House passed HB 433 on Monday as SB 1492 awaits a vote in the Senate. Both bills would go into effect July 1.

This comes after Florida, and the rest of the world, experienced the hottest year in recorded history in 2023. The warming trend is expected to continue as the impacts of climate change become more pronounced, with last month recorded as the warmest February ever.

Both bills are believed to be in response to efforts made last year by Miami-Dade County to require employers to give workers water and shade breaks on hot days. The legislation, called the Que Calor! Ordinance, would have been the first to mandate workplace heat-safety measures on days over 90 degrees and offer related trainings, but it was stalled due to pressure from the agriculture and construction companies, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Consideration of the bill has been delayed to March.

In Florida, outdoor employers are not required to provide protections from the heat. There are no federal laws that require it although its strongly suggested that workers be accommodated. Rangel said this makes existing local ordinances all the more important.

For years, weve urged (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) to establish a permanent heat standard so that all farm workers and other outside workers can have a safe work environment regardless of the state they live in, Rangel said. Unless OSHA establishes a standard immediately, farm workers and other outdoor workers who toil under the sun will continue to succumb to extreme heat.

OSHA in 2022 began a National Emphasis Program on heat exposure to encourage employer intervention during hot weather.

Conservatives against heat regulations say they dont want to get between employers and workers, current policy is enough and any more would be a case of overregulation.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, since 2020, five companies in Florida have been fined after employees died of heat-related illness. Another four were cited after workers were hospitalized.
Two police officers at the center of a racism scandal in Clark Township are suing to keep their jobs, though they were caught on tape using racial slurs that included the n-word.

Police Chief Pedro Matos and Internal Affairs Sgt. Joseph Teston have been on paid leave since 2020, and state prosecutors have recommended they be fired, saying they violated the public trust and should never work as cops again.

But in lawsuits filed last month in Superior Court in Union County, the embattled officers claim the much-delayed investigation against them took too long and violated procedural safeguards requiring it to be quickly resolved. They are asking a judge to throw out their disciplinary charges, citing the extraordinarily long hiatus between when the probe began and when it concluded.

The rules apply to all equally, at least that is what the Attorney General alleges, said Matos lawyer, Charles Sciarra, in a statement. The statute and the rule are clear. My client gets no more or less due process.

Attorney General Matthew Platkin called for the two officers to be fired in November. He did so as his office released a blistering report that excoriated Clark officials for their efforts to cover up the racist comments by Matos, Teston and longtime Mayor Sal Bonaccorso, which were captured by a whistleblower on secret recordings.

On Wednesday, Platkins office accused the officers of trying to dodge responsibility through their lawsuits.

The leaders in the Clark Police Department have engaged in misconduct that undermines the publics trust in government and demonstrates that Chief Matos is unfit to serve as leader of a law enforcement agency, spokesman Michael Symons said. Chief Matoss lawsuit does not deny that he engaged in the underlying improprieties. He instead raises a procedural issue he seeks to exploit to evade accountability for his actions.

The investigation has a long and convoluted history. It was launched in July 2020, when the Union County Prosecutors Office seized control of Clarks police department, citing unspecified credible allegations of misconduct.

But it was only in March 2022 that the public became aware of the recordings, after NJ Advance Media published some of them and revealed details of a $400,000 hush-money settlement that the township paid the whistleblower, Lt. Antonio Manata, after he threatened to expose them.

Read the original investigation: N.J. town paid $400K+ to conceal alleged racist slurs by mayor, police chief

In the wake of the revelations, the Attorney Generals Office announced it was taking control of the probe amid criticism of its pace and the lack of action by county and state authorities.

That slow progress forms the basis of the suits by Matos and Teston, which highlight a state law requiring that internal affairs charges be filed within 45 days of gathering sufficient information to support them. The suits claim the inquiries against the pair were effectively over by April 2022, more than 1 years before the state prosecutors report.

There is no justification for the delay in bringing the subject disciplinary charges, Testons lawyer, Stacy Biancamano, wrote in his suit. Thus, the charges must be dismissed pursuant to the 45-Day Rule.

Cases involving allegations of police wrongdoing often follow two tracks: a criminal investigation that determines whether a crime was committed, and an internal affairs investigation that focuses on whether the officer should face job-related discipline. Under the rules, the criminal inquiry takes precedence, and the 45-day countdown for administrative charges doesnt begin until it is concluded.

In his November announcement, Platkin cited criminal and administrative investigations against Matos and Teston and said his office seriously considered bringing criminal charges against township officials in the scandal.

But Platkin said authorities concluded no charges were warranted  though Bonaccorso faces unrelated offenses that were uncovered during the investigation. Bonaccorso is accused of using township employees and equipment to benefit his private landscaping business and of falsifying permitting applications for work his company performed. He has denied the allegations and remains in office.

Clark Mayor Sal Bonaccorso faces charges alleging he used township employees and equipment to benefit his private landscaping business. He is shown here during a municipal meeting on Nov. 6, 2023.Julian Leshay | For NJ Advance Media

The report acknowledged the length of time that elapsed as county and state prosecutors conducted the probe.

To many in the community, the release of this report has been long overdue, it read. But for those who take the time to read this report in its entirety, it is anticipated that they will find that the investigators and prosecutors in both agencies took painstaking care to thoroughly investigate all aspects of this case.

The Union County Prosecutors Office and a lawyer representing Clark Township, which are also named in the suits, did not return requests for comment.

Whether the disciplinary charges will stand likely hinges on whether prosecutors can show their investigation was legitimately ongoing, said Richard Rivera, a law enforcement reformer and expert on internal affairs procedures in New Jersey.

Rivera criticized how authorities handled the Clark investigation, saying the length of time the case languished could thwart efforts to fire the two officers.

The case got bounced around from so many different people, theres no way the integrity wasnt compromised, Rivera said. Its a good likelihood they could get their jobs back. Its so convoluted. It passed through so many hands.

Matos and Teston have been on paid leave for more than 3 years, as has a third officer, Capt. Vincent Concina, whom Manata accused of retaliation. As of November, their salaries had cost local taxpayers more than $1.5 million.

Prosecutors have also recommended that Concina face discipline, including a demotion to lieutenant, though they did not call for him to be terminated. Still, he also filed a lawsuit last month seeking to have his disciplinary charges dismissed, citing the same delays.

A 2015 file photo of Clark Police Chief Pedro Matos. Matos and Capt. Vincent Concina (shown in the background) were placed on paid leave in July 2020 after the Union County Prosecutor's Office took over the department, citing "credible allegations of misconduct" involving its leadership. (Jessica Remo/NJ Advance Media)

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Riley Yates may be reached at ryates@njadvancemedia.com.
A Union County man was sentenced to more than three years in prison for his role in an interstate luxury-car theft ring that targeted Mercedes, BMWs, Maseratis, Porsches and more, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said Thursday.

Malik Baker, 30, of Vauxhall previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to transport stolen vehicles in interstate commerce and another count of receiving stolen vehicles that crossed state lines, authorities said.

Three other conspirators previously pleaded guilty to related charges and two of the three men have been sentenced.

Starting in July 2019, Baker and the other defendants conspired to steal at least 10 luxury vehicles from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey and hide them in Irvington, according to documents filed in the case.

Some of the stolen cars included a 2017 BMW Alpina and a 2019 Rolls Royce from Hewlett Bay Park, New York; a 2019 Mercedes Maybach from Quogue, New York; and a 2017 BMW M4 from Marlton, authorities said.

On some occasions the defendants used stolen cars to steal other cars, including one night when they used a stolen Maserati Gran Turisimo from Manalapan to steal a Range Rover and a Porsche Cayenne, authorities said. When police tried to stop the Maserati, the defendants drove the car directly into a police vehicle and escaped in another stolen vehicle, authorities said.

Investigators later found one of the stolen cars in a shipping container in Port Newark headed to Ghana, Africa, according to documents filed in the case.

Baker was sentenced to three years supervised release in addition to his prison term.

Bakers whole family was at the sentencing, his attorney Michael V. Calabro said Thursday. Calabro said that he asked the court for a more lenient sentence, but that Judge Esther Salas was very thorough and fair in her decision.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Matthew Enuco may be reached at Menuco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Matt on X.
Six-day (Tuesday through Sunday) print subscribers of the Watertown Daily Times are eligible for full access to NNY360, the NNY360 mobile app, and the Watertown Daily Times e-edition, all at no additional cost.

If you have an existing six-day print subscription to the Watertown Daily Times, please make sure your email address on file matches your NNY360 account email. You can sign up or manage your print subscription using the options below.
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Variably cloudy with snow showers. High 38F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 90%. Snowfall around one inch..

Tonight

Cloudy with snow showers mainly during the evening. Low 26F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 50%.
Now that Louisiana lawmakers have created a second majority-Black congressional district, voting rights advocates are hoping the Legislature will create a second majority-Black state Supreme Court district.

After all, the argument goes, Louisiana has only six seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. If two of those districts must afford Black voters a chance to elect a candidate of their choice, the case for a second majority-Black district on the seven-member Supreme Court seems more compelling.

If only it were that simple.

Law students learn early in their legal education that the law is not wedded to logic. Or math.

For example, legislative districts must adhere to the decades-old one person, one vote doctrine, which requires electoral districts to be apportioned according to population. Lawmakers thus take pains to create legislative and congressional districts with voting-age populations that are roughly equal in size.

Judicial districts are not bound by that rule.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court held in 1991 that elections for appellate judges could not dilute minority votes under the Voting Rights Act. That ruling came in a case brought by lawyers representing New Orleans activist Ron Chisom and others.

Chisom challenged Louisianas Supreme Court districts, which included a large, two-justice district in metro New Orleans. The courts five other justices were elected from single-member districts. All seven justices were white.

The state ultimately agreed to a consent judgment dividing the two-member district and creating the courts New Orleans-based District 7, which is majority Black.

The court has not been redistricted since 1999, which has led to wildly disparate population sizes in its districts. For example, the Black-majority District 7 has just over 310,000 registered voters, compared to more than 532,000 voters in Baton Rouge-based District 5.

In 2019, Black voters again challenged the state Supreme Court districts, seeking a second majority-Black district. That suit is pending.

In 2022, then-Attorney General Jeff Landry moved to dissolve the Chisom consent decree, arguing that it was no longer necessary. The trial judge denied that request, and a three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that ruling.

In January, the full 5th Circuit granted a rehearing of Landrys motion, a rare occurrence that signals the cases significance. Voting rights advocates are nervous, because the 5th Circuit is considered the most conservative federal appellate court.

Landry is now governor, and hes pushing  along with five of the seven state Supreme Court justices  for a new districting plan that would create a second majority-Black district and make all seven of the courts districts roughly equal in size.

Lawmakers declined to act on Landrys request in both special sessions.

The 5th Circuit will hear arguments in the states challenge to the Chisom consent decree in May. Theres no telling how or when the court will rule, but when it does it could upend all sorts of political ambitions.

Until then, lawmakers appear disinclined to wade into those muddled waters.

Thats a judicious choice. They have enough on their plate already.
The indie rock band Metric, a Juno Award-winning band that's been well reviewed by Pitchfork, will play at Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana.

Metric will perform at Hard Rock Live at 5400 West 29th Ave. in Gary on Saturday, June 29. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Rolling Stone named Metric one of the greatest 50 Canadian bands of all time.

"In 1998, songwriting and production duo Emily Haines & Jimmy Shaw formed Metric and left Toronto for NYC in search of like-minded artists. In 2001/2002, they were joined by drummer Joules Scott Key and bassist Joshua Winstead and found themselves at the center of the citys burgeoning alt-rock scene alongside bands like LCD Soundsystem, The Strokes, TV On the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol and more," Hard Rock Casino said in a press release. "Unlike their peers, Metric resisted major label offers, releasing albums that pushed boundaries on their own terms. Metrics relentless pursuit of timeless songwriting and fiercely independent ethos have cemented their place as one of the most essential and ahead-of-the-curve bands of the last two decades."

In addition to garnering underground cred, the band has been featured on soundtracks like "Cosmopolis" and "Twilight: Saga."

"By constantly upping themselves across nine unpredictable and adventurous studio albums, the trailblazing Toronto outfit founded by Emily Haines & Jimmy Shaw is proof that you can amass an untouchable catalog without signing to a major label or changing your lineup," Hard Rock Casino said in a press release. "Their latest LP, Formentera II, out October 13 via their label MMI & Thirty Tigers, is a testament to their singular purpose. It stands among their best and most genre-defying work and closes the 18-song cycle started by 2022s critically acclaimed Formentera."

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday and start at $35.

For more information, call 219-228-2383 or visit hardrockcasinonorthernindiana.com.
The Jackson family that came up in Gary is returning for a concert.

Marlon, Tito and Jackie Jackson will perform at Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana in Gary.

The Jacksons will play at Hard Rock Live at 5400 West 29th Ave. in Gary on Saturday, May 11. Doors open at 7 p.m.

The Motown group will perform nostalgic favorites like ABC, Ill Be There," Give Me One More Chance," Can You Feel It, Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground), Blame It On The Boogie and Stop, The Love You Save.

"The Jacksons, who were originally known as the Jackson 5, recently celebrated 50 years as one of the most successful groups in music history," the Hard Rock Casino said in a press release. "The group found international success at Motown in 1969 where their first single I Want You Back reached No. #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Jackson 5 made music history when 4 debut singles all reached No.#1 and sold in excess of 200 million records. In 1976, the group left Motown for Epic Records and changed their name to The Jacksons. When the Jackson brothers reunited for The Victory Tour in 1984, it became the highest grossing concert series on stage in the United States."

The Jacksons' many accolades include induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They're famously Gary natives.

Steelworker Joe Jackson and matriarch Katherine Jackson raised the family at 2300 Jackson Street in Gary. The casino honors that with a Jackson Tribute Exhibit and a "The Triumph" chicken sandwich created by Marlon, Tito and Jermaine Jackson. Available in the Hard Rock Cafe, it consists of a honey-brushed crispy chicken breast with red onion, pickles, lettuce and a spicy aioli.

"The Royal Family of Music  the Jacksons  are featured prominently through the property beginning with an impressive 37-foot-tall guitar marquee at the entrance modeled after Joseph Jacksons famous guitar that changed the world and was the start of the Jackson 5," the Hard Rock Casino said in a press release. "Upon entering the casino, guests are greeted by a stunning guitar chandelier modeled after the same guitar. The memorabilia chosen is very Jackson and Gary, Indiana centric. Over 30 pieces of Jackson memorabilia include Joe Jacksons famous guitar that changed the world and started the Jackson 5; outfits worn on stage by the Jacksons; Michaels famous sparkly glove; and THE red leather jacket from the Beat It video."

Tickets for the 21+ show with reserved seating go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday and start at $69.50.

For more information, call 219-228-2383 or visit hardrockcasinonorthernindiana.com.
HIGHLAND  Police have released a surveillance photo hoping the public can help identify two females sought in the wake a recent theft.

Highland theft suspects Police have released a surveillance photo hoping the public can help identify two females sought in the wake a recent theft.

The individuals are sought in the theft of more than $2,000 worth of makeup from a local business, Highland police said.

Guilty plea in fatal shooting by Porter County high school student A hearing is scheduled for May 17 for the judge to determine whether to accept the proposal and carry out the agreed-to sentencing.

"The two females are also suspects in theft cases in neighboring jurisdictions as well."

Anyone able to identify either of the individuals is encouraged to contact Detective Cmdr. Jason Hildenbrand at 219-972-5071.
PORTAGE  Just hours after a 55-year-old Chesterton man was shot to death Wednesday during a suspected road rage incident along the local stretch of Interstate 94, another vehicle was hit by gunfire near the intersection of U.S. 6 and Lake-Porter County Line Road, according to Portage police.

Police said they responded around 5:14 p.m. to the intersection in question where a 19-year-old driver told them he was traveling east on U.S. 6 from Hobart with one passenger and turning north on to County Line Road when they heard gunfire and were passed by a dark-colored SUV.

Guilty plea in fatal shooting by Porter County high school student A hearing is scheduled for May 17 for the judge to determine whether to accept the proposal and carry out the agreed-to sentencing.

"The men reported seeing gunshot damage to the rear of the SUV that passed them and also reported the rear of their vehicle was struck by gunfire as well," Portage Police Capt. Rob Maynard said.

"The complainants reported witnessing a dark colored sedan behind them that turned into the parking lot of the Lukes Gas Station and then fled westbound on U.S. Highway 6," according to Maynard. "The dark colored SUV was last seen fleeing northbound on County Line Road."

As of Thursday morning, police said they have heard nothing of injuries related to the shooting. Police also do not believe the men who reported the incident were the intended targets.

Portage police are investigating and ask that anyone with information contact Detective Chris Burch at 219-764-5769.

Indiana State Police said they were contacted around 4 a.m. Wednesday about an alleged road rage incident along I-94 that resulted in the fatal shooting of motorist Mark Brant.

One person is in custody in the wake of the shooting that brought the westbound lanes of the busy highway to a halt for several hours during rush hour, according to Indiana State Police.

No new details were available Thursday morning in that case, officials said.
CROWN POINT  A nurse employed at a Crown Point surgical facility was charged with stealing hundreds of narcotic pills from her employer between June and December.

Jessica Smith, 43, of Valparaiso was charged with felony theft, fraud and forgery, and misdemeanor interfering with a drug or alcohol screening test.

Smith was hired in April as a charge nurse at a Crown Point Surgical Suites outpatient surgery center at 11051 Broadway, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Prior to being hired, six different charge nurses would have access to a pill cabinet in the facility, the affidavit said, but Smith soon decided to set up a system so only she would have access to the cabinet.

In December, a nurse administrator noticed irregularities in the cabinet that caused her to conduct an internal investigation, according to the affidavit. She discovered 300 hydrocodone and acetaminophen pills, 20 Oxycontins, 97 Percocets, 100 Tramadols and 39 vials of fentanyl were missing, the affidavit said, and also found an order written in May to dispose of 270 expired Oxycontin pills, which she asked Smith to complete, but the order was still open.

Smith was supposed to count the pills at the end of each day but had not logged a pill count since November, the affidavit said, and the center had to cancel appointments due to lack of medication.

When the administrator confronted Smith, Smith refused to speak with her, the affidavit said.

The nurse administrator ordered a drug test for all employees, but Smith refused to submit one, the affidavit said.

Another nurse told police Smith asked her if she could use the nurse's urine for the test because Smith would test positive for THC, the affidavit said, but the nurse refused.

Smith has yet to be arrested, records show.
The United Steelworkers union and Nippon Steel met Thursday to discuss the Japanese steelmaker's proposed $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel.

The union met sat down with Nippon leaders in Pittsburgh, including a high-ranking executive, to talk about what the acquisition would mean for its members.

"We are pleased that Nippon Steels Executive Vice President Takahiro Mori is spending time getting to know many of our stakeholders in Pittsburgh, the Steel City that we have called home for more than 120 years," U.S. Steel spokeswoman Amanda Malkowski said. "Mon Valley Works, our corporate headquarters and our Research & Technology Center are all located in western Pennsylvania, and are critical to U. S. Steels past, present and future success. In partnership with Nippon Steel, U. S. Steel looks forward to another 120-plus years of steelmaking in Pittsburgh."

Nippon asked for the meeting.

"The meeting yielded no progress and ended in less than one hour. Nippon has still not earned the trust of the USW, and we remain convinced that the company does not fully understand its obligations to steelworkers, retirees and our communities," USW International President David McCall and USW District 7 Director Mike Millsap said in a letter to steelworkers. "Nippon offered more promises and commitments today, but did not provide us with anything enforceable. Our concerns remain what they have always been: enforcing our labor agreements and obtaining transparency about Nippons finances in the event this transaction occurs. We also continue to be concerned about issues involving national defense, critical infrastructure and supply chains."

Nippon Steel has emphasized it plans to honor all collective bargaining agreements and recognize the USW as the representative of U.S. Steel's thousands of employees across the country, including at Gary Works and the Midwest Plant in Portage. It already employs more than 600 USW-represented steelworkers in the United States and says it will maintain pay, benefits and profit-sharing bonuses if the deal goes through.

But the USW remains skeptical and has been lobbying the federal government to block the deal, raising concerns about foreign ownership and what it will mean for what's left of the domestic steel industry going forward.

"Its clear that USS and Nippon have barriers to closing the transaction. Our basic labor agreements currently provide strong protections for workers and retirees, as well as extensive financial commitments including capital expenditures, pensions, retiree health care, and more," McCall and Millsap wrote in their letter to steelworkers. "With the future of our plants, jobs, benefits and communities all at stake, Nippons bare commitments simply dont hold water, which makes them an unqualified successor to USS."
In what seems certain to be a contentious election year, state lawmakers have approved additional protections for Hoosier voters and election workers against any individual or organization attempting to intimidate or disrupt activities at Indiana polling places.

Senate Enrolled Act 170, which will take effect immediately upon being signed into law by Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, automatically makes certain offenses perpetrated against voters or election workers felony crimes.

Specifically, a person who knowingly or intentionally obstructs, interferes with or injures a poll worker or voter at a polling place, or the "chute" leading into a polling place, on Election Day or during the early voting period, can be charged with a level 6 felony  punishable by up to 2 years behind bars and a $10,000 fine.

It also would be a level 6 felony to communicate a threat to an election worker with the intent of getting the election worker to engage in conduct against his or her will, or to be put in fear of retaliation for lawful acts relating to election activities.

Supporters of the legislation said the additional protections are needed because poll workers increasingly fear for their own personal safety due to the seemingly growing number of individuals seeking to disrupt free and fair elections across the United States.

They said threats against election workers, or even just the perception of them, are making it more difficult for election officials and political party leaders to recruit and retain the poll workers essential to the American form of government.

The increased penalties for harming Indiana election workers and Hoosier voters were approved 35-13 in the Senate and 93-0 by the House.

Meet the 2024 Northwest Indiana legislative delegation State Sen. Dan Dernulc, R-Highland State Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago State Sen. Dave Vinzant, D-Hobart State Sen. Rodney Pol Jr. State Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso State Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell State Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores State Rep. Carolyn Jackson, D-Hammond State Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago State Rep. Ragen Hatcher, D-Gary State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso State Rep. Pat Boy, D-Michigan City State Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage State Rep. Mike Aylesworth, R-Hebron State Rep. Mike Andrade, D-Munster State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary State Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville State Rep. Kendell Culp, R-Rensselaer State Rep. Julie Olthoff, R-Crown Point State Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie
I have anger against everything in the world, especially against myself.

Such was the explanation by Rei Kawakubo for a Comme des Garcons collection that was an explosion of chaotic femininity  bows and bustles and puffs and flounces  all in black, scarified by prints of barbed wire and chains, legs bound by ribbons. Like the emotion, however, the clothes were (in the spectrum of Comme des Garcons) strikingly recognizable: a pair of pants here, a dress there. It was impossible not to look at them and think: Yeah, I see you.

The models stamped their feet at the photographers and clenched their fists; occasionally body-checked one another, or paused to turn and face down the front row, looming over the seated guests like a dare. They might have been trapped in the flirty, fussy tropes of girlhood, but in Ms. Kawakubos hands, such cliches become blunt-force weapons. Sometimes, you just have to dress your inner child like she wants to get out and rampage. Against injustice, war, all the -isms, attempts to keep anyone in their box. Whatever makes your blood boil.

Its no longer an apolitical season  and not just because, Anna Wintour of Vogue was due to co-host a fund-raiser in Paris for President Biden.
Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina who represented the last, best hope for a faction of Republicans hoping to move the party beyond Donald Trump, announced today that she was ending her presidential campaign after a string of resounding primary losses.

She pointedly declined to endorse Trump, instead challenging him to win over her supporters. Haleys departure makes the contest many Americans had hoped to avoid  a rematch between Trump and President Biden  an inescapable reality.

Haley had spent the past several months inching up in polls and attacking Trump as an aging, mentally unsound agent of chaos. But her failure to truly threaten his campaign underscored how out of touch she was with todays Republican Party.

Nevertheless, Haleys modest chunk of support  a group that leans moderate and is college educated  could help decide the race in November. My colleagues talked with nearly 40 Haley supporters to see what theyre thinking.
The trade relationship between China and the United States has plenty of friction. But at least one area is booming: Chinese start-ups looking to establish a presence in the West are spending billions of dollars for advertisements on services owned by some of Silicon Valleys biggest technology companies.

Temu, the international arm of the Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, is flooding Google with ads for absurdly inexpensive goods. With an initial public offering looming, the fast-fashion merchant Shein is inundating Instagram with ads for clothes and accessories at rock-bottom prices. Developers of Chinas video streaming and gaming apps are dumping marketing dollars into Facebook, X and YouTube to entice potential users.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said on a call with analysts that Chinese-based advertisers accounted for 10 percent of its revenue, almost double over two years ago. In the last year, Temu has placed about 1.4 million ads globally across Google services, and at least 26,000 different versions of ads on Meta, according to Metas Ad Library.

What companies like Temu have done is really just open a fire hose of money that it is pouring into ads, said Sky Canaves, senior analyst for retail at eMarketer. You cant escape their ads across Facebook, Instagram and Google Search.
Winter was weirdly warm for half the worlds population, driven in many places by the burning of fossil fuels, according to an analysis of temperature data from hundreds of locations worldwide.

That aligns with the findings published late Wednesday by the European Unions climate monitoring organization, Copernicus: The world as a whole experienced the hottest February on record, making it the ninth consecutive month of record temperatures. Even more startling, global ocean temperatures in February were at an all-time high for any time of year, according to Copernicus.

Taken together, the two sets of figures offer a portrait of an unequivocally warming world that, combined with a natural El Nino weather pattern this year, has made winter unrecognizable in some places.

The first analysis, conducted by Climate Central, an independent research group based in New Jersey, found that in several cities in North America, Europe and Asia, not only was winter unusually warm, but climate change played a distinctly recognizable role.
Lucien Pellat-Finet, the French fashion designer whose brash, irreverent and unapologetically expensive sweaters earned him the nickname King of Cashmere, died on Feb. 26 in Trancoso, Brazil, where he had owned a home for more than two decades. He was 78.

A niece, Camille Dauchez, said that Mr. Pellat-Finet (pronounced pell-ah fee-NAY), who had Parkinsons disease, died in a swimming accident.

The sweaters in Mr. Pellat-Finets collection, which was introduced in 1994, combined two seemingly disparate elements: extremely high-quality cashmere and provocative symbols like marijuana leaves, peace signs and, most frequently, skulls, all of which were occasionally embellished with crystals. Sometimes, skulls were additionally tweaked with details like a stuck-out tongue, aviator sunglasses or a tilted sailors hat.

They came in neutral colors like black and navy as well as vivid shades of orange, pink, green and camouflage prints. Instead of a traditional sweaters somewhat boxy cut and ribbed cuffs at the arms and waistband, a Lucien Pellat-Finet pullover was essentially a luxe T-shirt, as the makeup artist Tom Pecheux put it, in the shape of Fruit of the Loom.
The News

When New York City held virtual classes during a winter storm last month, the system ran into major tech problems. But officials unfairly blamed IBM for the debacle, according to a company representative and several City Council members who spoke at a hearing on Wednesday.

On Feb. 13, students and teachers struggled to log on to their classes when the entire city moved to remote learning for the first time since schools reopened after pandemic closures. The schools chancellor, David C. Banks, said his team was fully prepared, and that IBM  which provides tech services to verify users for the district  was not ready for prime time.

But on Wednesday, the company pushed back on the citys claim.

It was not a failure of IBM technology, Vanessa Hunt, a senior executive at IBM, said.
A Florida school district, facing pressure about nudity in schools, removed from shelves a picture book that showed an illustration of a goblins bare bottom. Some students were saved from debauchery when school officials colored in a pair of pants on the goblin.

Thats a particularly nutty example, from the newsletter Popular Information (the school district didnt want to discuss the issue), of a right-wing puritan drive in education that appalls liberals: Conservatives are banning materials that mention gay people, racism or sexuality, skewing the teaching of history and students understanding of society. The freedom to read is under assault in the United States  particularly in public schools, PEN America warned in a report last year.

Listen to conservatives, and they argue that the crisis in American schools is the opposite: Its about leftist teachers propagandizing on critical race theory and giving kids new pronouns while denying them safe bathrooms.

Donald Trump has promised to defund any school thats pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity and any other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content on our children. He added: This is what must be done to save our country from destruction.
In March 1961, Dr. Anthony Epstein, a pathologist at Middlesex Hospital in London, almost skipped a visiting physicians afternoon lecture about children with exceptionally large facial tumors in Uganda.

The physician, Dr. Denis Burkitt, a native of Ireland who called himself a bush surgeon, showed slides of bulbous tumors that emerged along the jawline and occurred in tropical African regions where rainfall was high. During his lecture, Dr. Burkitt mapped a veritable pediatric cancer belt that extended across equatorial Africa.

Despite Dr. Epsteins initial reluctance to attend the talk  he sat in the rear so he could make a quick escape  his excitement grew the longer Dr. Burkitt spoke. By the time the lecture was over, he knew that he would drop all of his ongoing projects to find the cause of that unusual malignancy. His doctoral student, Yvonne Barr, soon joined him and, by 1964, their groundbreaking research had uncovered the first virus capable of causing cancer in humans.

He rocked the scientific world with the announcement. Some physicians and scientists applauded the discovery; others refused to accept it.
Eight Philadelphia high school students were shot and wounded as they waited for a public bus after school on Wednesday, the latest in a spate of shootings that have touched off outrage in the city, the police said.

The students, who attend Northeast High School, were shot at about 3 p.m. as they waited at a bus stop near a Dunkin Donuts just over a half-mile from the school, Kevin J. Bethel, the Philadelphia police commissioner, said at a news conference.

As a bus pulled up to the stop and the students prepared to board, three people got out of a car that was parked nearby and opened fire, shooting at least 30 times, he said.

The students who were hit range in age from 15 to 17, Commissioner Bethel said. One was shot several times and was in critical condition, he said.
The primary election in Texas on Tuesday was among the most expensive and hard-fought in state history, as factions of the Republican Party battled for control.

It was in large part a referendum on the fate of moderate Republicans in the Texas House, which impeached the Republican attorney general and blocked some hard-right priorities last year.

And as in other parts of the country, many of those Republicans fell on Tuesday to challengers who were more stridently partisan and aligned with former President Donald J. Trump.

While key races like that of the Texas House speaker were heading for a runoff, Tuesdays vote underscored the enduring power of the Republican base to punish party incumbents seen as insufficiently conservative.
The coronavirus pandemic forced the Metropolitan Opera to shut its doors for more than a year and a half. It also upended plans that had been in the works for the Met Orchestras first Asian tour.

Now, that idea is being revived. The Met announced on Thursday that the orchestra and its music director, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, would visit South Korea, Japan and Taiwan in June, performing the music of Bartok, Wagner, Debussy and others alongside star soloists.

The Met musicians have toured overseas just twice since 2000. Peter Gelb, the companys general manager, said that, beyond showcasing them, the tour was meant to help the Met expand its network of fans abroad.

Its important that we serve our global constituency with live performances in person when we can, he said. Its very good for the morale of the orchestra to be able to perform in major cities of the world.
Rupert Murdoch decided that at 92, it was time to give up the reins of power at his media empire  but it seems he believes age is no barrier for new love, or a new marriage.

On Thursday, Mr. Murdochs office said that he planned to marry his girlfriend, Elena Zhukova, 67, a retired molecular biologist whom he started dating in the summer.

The nuptials, scheduled for June, would culminate a topsy-turvy romantic journey to a fifth marriage for Mr. Murdoch, whose personal dramas have frequently made him the focus of the tabloid gossip industry he helped create.

After he divorced Jerry Hall, the model and ex-wife of Mick Jagger, in the summer of 2022, he became engaged to Ann Lesley Smith, a retired dental hygienist, in the spring of 2023. He abruptly broke off that engagement, however, after about two weeks.
Washington lawmakers introduced a bill this week calling for TikTok to cut ties with its Chinese parent company or face a ban in the United States. When many users opened the popular app on Thursday, the company greeted them with a message to oppose the legislation, prompting a flood of phone calls to several Capitol Hill offices.

Stop a TikTok shutdown, the message on the app read. It included a button for people to call their representatives, saying: Let Congress know what TikTok means to you and tell them to vote NO.

By noon, the phone lines for members of Congress were overwhelmed by calls, according to posts from lawmakers staff members on X and two congressional aides with knowledge of the situation. Some of the callers appeared to be teenagers, while others hung up as soon as they were connected, the aides said. One of the aides said their office had received about a hundred of the calls and another aide said their office had received more than a thousand. One staff member posted a screenshot to X showing that TikTok also sent a push alert to some users.

Some users said on X that they were unable to use the app before placing the call. TikTok told The New York Times that users could swipe right to get rid of the message, which may have been confusing because users typically swipe up to see the next video on the app. The company also said that the X to close the page wasnt visible for some users at first but that it later fixed that.
This article is part of our Women and Leadership special report that coincides with global events in March celebrating the accomplishments of women. This conversation has been edited and condensed.

Sheila Watson credits her upbringing in a working-class community as the basis of her desire to create change, and the study of economics and politics as essential tools to achieving it. As an economist and policy adviser in the United Kingdoms Labour government for nine years, beginning in the late 90s, she aimed to address injustice. Now, as deputy director of the FIA Foundation, a London nonprofit, she leads its environmental, gender and research initiatives, working around the world to support safe and sustainable mobility.

Whats the foundations goal?

The overarching mission is safe, clean, fair and green mobility. The focus is on personal mobility, but its all dimensions of sustainability, from climate and clean air to road safety, accessibility and fairness. We like to link our work to advocacy.

Whats the scope of the work?

Its global. Were a philanthropy, so we give money and support to partner organizations in areas where we think we can add value, and thats often in areas other people are not focused on enough. It can be as wide as looking at what 197 countries are doing to promote nonmotorized modes that do not create emissions, like walking and cycling, or on the ground in one place, like supporting adaptations to infrastructure around schools in Africa, such as painting a new crosswalk or putting in a protected walkway, to make roads safer for children. Its a long held view of mine, probably based on the fact I spent a long time in government being lobbied, that its important that when you advocate for change, you show how it can be done.
The chairmen of five key Senate committees on Thursday warned the chief executives of major convenience stores and wholesalers to stop sales of illicit flavored vaping products that they called widespread violations of federal law.

The senators voiced their concerns in letters to the companies, amplifying the frustration among some lawmakers in Congress over the continued availability of e-cigarettes in vivid colors and candy flavors that attract young people who could become addicted to nicotine. The unchecked sales, they wrote, pose a tremendous public health threat.

F.D.A. and the industry must do more to address the youth vaping epidemic and remove unauthorized vaping products from their shelves immediately, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Democratic whip, said.

The letters were addressed to retailers including 7-Eleven, Circle K, bp America, Pilot, Kwik Trip and others. The Food and Drug Administration had earlier issued warnings about sales of unauthorized brands like Elf Bar, E.B. Design and Funky Republic.
Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.

For many African migrants, El Dorado International Airport in Bogota, Colombia, is now one stop on the long journey to the United States. Which is why Annie Correal, who spent January and February covering the Andes region for The New York Times, made the airport a recent reporting destination.

She found scores of people who were waiting to fly to Central America and from there proceed to the U.S.-Mexico border. Some were stuck for days in the terminal for bureaucratic or financial reasons.

Ms. Correal asked them about their experiences and whether she could record their conversations. She thought exchanges from inside a busy airport could make for great audio, she recalled in an interview.

Ms. Correal thinks this way because for the past 15 years she has worked both as a print and an audio journalist. She has produced audio segments for This American Life; helped launch the groundbreaking Spanish language podcast Radio Ambulante; and since 2013 has worked at The Times, where she has covered immigration for the newspaper, contributed to The Daily and hosted The Headlines, a morning news show.
Buddy Duress, a small-time heroin dealer living on the streets of the Upper West Side who became a sensation in the New York film scene as an actor and muse for the movies Heaven Knows What and Good Time, which helped launch the careers of the filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie, died in November at his home in Astoria, Queens. He was 38.

The death, which was disclosed only in late February, was from cardiac arrest caused by a drug cocktail including heroin, his brother, Christopher Stathis, said.

Mr. Stathis said their mother, Jo-Anne Stathis, was seriously ill in November, so he withheld news of the death, hoping to inform her himself at an appropriate time. By early December, he said, he had told her and several other people, but nobody in Mr. Duresss circle made an announcement. Mr. Duress had been out of the public eye and in jail frequently in recent years.

At the height of his career, in the mid-2010s, directors made trips to Rikers Island to visit and audition Mr. Duress. He acted alongside Michael Cera and Robert Pattinson, and critics said he stole scenes. At the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, he strolled down the red carpet of the Grand Theatre Lumiere, the main theater, to a standing ovation, then shoved his face in front of a French TV camera and shouted, Whats up, Queens?
Cabrini, a cluttered biopic of an Italian nun on a mission in 19th-century Manhattan, is directed by Alejandro Monteverde and produced by Angel Studios. You may recognize the names as the team behind Sound of Freedom, the 2023 conservative hit thriller.

Yet this new, pious tale, assembled around the ecumenical theme of perseverance, almost makes one nostalgic for the frisson of provocation. The gauzy goodness of this film is axiomatic, and its litany of sanctimonious speeches (the world is too small for what I intend to do) generally repels inquiry, let alone controversy.
We also hear from Kayla Barron, a submarine warfare officer who decided to go to space, and her husband, who stayed behind; as a military couple, they were used to living separately, but this posed a different challenge. And we see clips of personal video chats that the astronaut Cady Coleman held with her husband and son back on Earth, through a system that sometimes didnt work. Its hard for me to really realize how hard it was for a little kid to just have to be so very patient, she recalls in the documentary.

On Mars missions, distance will make similar real-time communication impossible, which means that astronauts wont even have that kind of intermittent contact. Space: The Longest Goodbye leaves open the question of whether anyone could get to the red planet with his or her sanity intact.

Space: The Longest Goodbye

Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 27 minutes. In theaters and available to rent or buy on most major platforms.
To visit a firehouse in Brooklyn recently, the Rev. Pamela Holmes wore a shirt with a Fire Department emblem  and her clerical collar.

You want to wear something identifiable so that people will know you are who you say you are, said Holmes, who will be sworn in today as the Fire Departments second female chaplain. She will be the first Black woman in the role, in a department that long resisted efforts to diversify its ranks.
For eight years, Lai Yee Chen worked 24-hour shifts, up to five days a week, as a home care aide for bed-bound seniors in New York City. She cooked, cleaned, changed diapers and turned her patients at least every two hours to prevent bedsores.

Ms. Chen, 69, has since retired, but she still jolts awake at night, as if shes still on call.

The 24-hour workday is inhumane. Its violence against workers, she said in Cantonese.

Ms. Chen has now joined a push among New York City home care workers to ban 24-hour work shifts through a bill that was introduced in the City Council on Thursday.

New Yorks population of older adults is surging. The number of home aides who care for them has more than doubled in the last decade, surpassing half a million statewide as of 2022, with most of the growth in New York City.
Halfway through Eric Adamss term as mayor of New York, many of the headlines he generates arent about the city; theyre about his personal problems. The F.B.I. raided the home of his chief campaign fund-raiser. Agents seized his cellphones and iPad. Government officials are looking into whether he received illegal campaign donations from foreigners.

Those problems are of his own making, the result of his well-documented penchant for transactionalism and insularity. But they are particularly damaging because he cant balance them with evidence that he is improving life in New York.

Each one of Mr. Adamss predecessors over the past four decades would have been able to fall back on his first-term accomplishments to compensate for a grave demerit, but Mr. Adamss policy victories are scant. Thats a problem for him, but more important, its a problem for the nations biggest city. He hasnt just disappointed his 750,000 voters; he has led the city into a costly stagnation.
The same week that a U.C. Berkeley protest ended in violence, with doors broken, people allegedly injured, a guest lecture organized by Jewish students canceled and attendees evacuated by the police through an underground passageway, a group of academics gathered across the bay at Stanford to discuss restoring inclusive civil discourse on campus. The underlying question: In todays heated political environment, is that even possible?

Over the course of two packed days of moderated and free discussion, we would try to test it out.

Paul Brest, a professor emeritus and former dean at Stanford Law School and one of the conferences organizers, arrived at Stanford in 1969 in the throes of Vietnam War protests. The windows of the conservative Hoover Institution on campus had to be boarded up. In later years, violence broke out in protests over South Africa.

Back then, it was students against the institution, he told me. Now its very different because its student against student.

Because Id written about the difficulties students have had engaging in civil discourse, including a couple of columns on incidents at Stanford, I was one of two journalists invited to take part. Hosted by Stanford Law School and the Stanford Graduate School of Education, the conference brought together professors, deans and academic leaders who were largely liberal, with libertarians and a few conservatives and progressives in the mix. Unfortunately, one of the organizers told me, most of the invited progressives, which is to say the group that currently dominates campus debates, refused to come.
Jon Schneider was mindlessly scrolling TikTok when a video caught his eye. It showed the actor Mark Wahlberg and this guy who kind of looks like Jesus, and they were inviting viewers to join them in prayer.

Mr. Schneider, 35, thought it was a movie promotion. In reality, it was an ad for Hallow, a pay-to-pray app that offers Bible readings and sermons narrated by clergy and celebrities, including the former N.F.L. star Brett Favre and Madison Prewett of The Bachelor fame.

Hallow raised $40 million in 2021 and counts the tech billionaire Peter Thiel and Senator J.D. Vance, Republican of Ohio, among its investors. Full access to the app costs $69.99 a year. An onscreen numerical ticker notes the number of prayers prayed with Hallow. In recent days, that figure was heading toward 427 million.

Mr. Schneider, a marketing professional in Ballston Lake, N.Y., who is not religious, said he was surprised that TikTok was serving him so much Hallow promotional content. There were a few days where it just seemed like every other ad was Mark Wahlberg suggesting I pray the rosary with him, he said.
When the first New York Times/Siena College poll of the Republican primary was released in July, a quarter of Republican voters said they were not open to supporting Donald J. Trump.

These not Trump voters were not like other Republicans. They were relatively affluent, moderate and highly educated. They supported immigration reform and aid to Ukraine. Most of all, they had an unfavorable view of Mr. Trump. A majority of these primary voters wouldnt even support him in a general election against President Biden.

In the end, the not-Trump voters found a candidate in Nikki Haley, who suspended her campaign Wednesday. On Super Tuesday, she won 22 percent of the vote  just shy of the 25 percent who said they werent open to Mr. Trump in July.
According to the China Railway Shanghai Group Co., Ltd, the 40-day spring travel season concluded successfully, with over 92 million passengers traveling by railways in Yangtze River Delta region. The daily average number of passengers exceeded 2.3 million, an increase of over 17.1 million passengers or 22% compared to the 2019 spring travel season. During the 15-day pre-holiday period from January 26th to February 9th, the railway group transported over 37.7 million passengers, with a daily average of over 2.5 million passengers, representing a nearly 28% increase compared to the same period in 2019. From February 10th to March 5th, the 25-day post-holiday period, the railway group transported over 54.3 million passengers, with a daily average of over 2.17 million passengers, a nearly 20% increase compared to the same period in 2019. Student travel saw a significant increase, with a large number of students returning home during the pre-holiday period and returning to school during the post-holiday period. There was also a frequent flow of people between different regions. During February 23rd to 26th, over 1.1 million students traveled by railways in the Yangtze River Delta to return to school. Since the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, the railway group in the Yangtze River Delta has hosted job fairs in cooperation with multiple enterprises, attracting nearly 100,000 passengers, with nearly 10,000 people signing contracts on-site.

Source: anhuinews.com
A new investigation unfolding at the Georgia State Capitol is previewing the turbulence that Fani T. Willis, the district attorney prosecuting Donald J. Trump, may face even if a judge allows her to keep the high-stakes case.

At a hearing on Wednesday before a special committee of the State Senate, which recently began investigating Ms. Willis, the defense lawyer leading the disqualification effort testified that Ms. Willis had once taken a large sum of money from her political campaign for her personal use.

The senator presiding over the hearing, Bill Cowsert, a Republican, was taken aback by the allegation. I think all of us up here that have campaigns know that you cant take campaign funds for personal use, right? he asked.

The defense lawyer, Ashleigh Merchant, told Mr. Cowsert that she was not well versed in that area of law, but that is my understanding. He replied, Its pretty black and white.
The sky was blue over Atlanta on Thursday morning, but the ground made a squishing sound if you walked across it, soaked from heavy rains the day before that left streets muddy with red Georgia clay.

And before the city has a chance to dry out from Wednesdays storm, another storm threatens the Eastern United States with excessive rain that is particularly concerning to forecasters for cities like Atlanta, where another two to five inches may fall Friday into Saturday.

A similar amount of rain soaked Atlanta on Wednesday, filling some creeks to flood stage. A NASA computer model showed that topsoil saturation was over 65 percent, and in some cases even higher. The soppy ground will keep any new rainfall from soaking in, increasing the risk of flash flooding with any new rain this weekend.

If the region were to receive the higher end of the forecast rainfall, it could lead to substantial flash flooding and rapid rises in already elevated waterways, the National Weather Service office in Atlanta warned.
Follow live updates on Bidens State of the Union address.

The State of the Union address on Thursday is likely to be President Bidens best opportunity before November to tell Americans at length about his record in office and what he would do in a second term.

Its not technically a campaign speech, since he will deliver it in his official capacity from the floor of the House of Representatives, but for American presidents in the last year of their first term, the annual address represents the kickoff to their re-election effort.

Mr. Biden will deliver the speech, which typically runs for an hour or more, from a position of political vulnerability but with a host of policy accomplishments to play up. And it comes just as the long-anticipated matchup between him and his predecessor, former President Donald J. Trump, is settling into place.

The speech will address big themes like Mr. Bidens attempts to restore democracy, and highlight smaller, more personal policy changes his administration has enacted, such as fighting credit card fees and lowering prescription drug costs, the White House told allies in a briefing about the speech Wednesday, according to a person who attended the session.
The House passed legislation on Thursday that would mandate that migrants who enter the country without authorization and are accused of theft be taken into federal custody, as Republicans pushed a messaging bill to attack President Biden and Democrats as dangerously lax on border enforcement.

The measure was named for Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia who was killed in February. The authorities have charged a Venezuelan migrant who crossed into the United States illegally and was then released on parole in the case.

The bill has little chance of moving forward in the Democratic-led Senate, but Republicans used it as a way to put Democrats on the spot in the debate over the border and sow the kind of fear about immigrants that former President Donald J. Trump has made a staple of his politics.

Their efforts to jam Democrats on the issue appeared to have succeeded, as 37 members of Mr. Bidens party backed the legislation, which broadly denounced the open borders policies of the administration. The bill, which passed 251 to 170, also singled out Border Czar Vice President Kamala Harris and Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, whom the House impeached last month. And it called on Mr. Biden to publicly denounce his administrations immigration policies that resulted in the murder of Laken Riley.
Three Republicans seeking to take on Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, in the fall took shots at one another during a debate on Wednesday night as they tried to present themselves as the most conservative candidate in a tightly contested primary.

It is a rare Senate race where an endorsement from former President Donald J. Trump has not cleared the Republican field.

Mr. Trumps preferred candidate, Bernie Moreno, a former car dealer from Cleveland, has repeatedly cast himself as an outsider while playing up his endorsements, including his backing from Ohios other senator, J.D. Vance. Frank LaRose, the Ohio secretary of state, has presented himself as a battle-tested candidate who has already won a statewide race. And Matt Dolan, a wealthy state senator, has occupied a more moderate lane to promote his support for Trump policies without explicitly endorsing Mr. Trump in the primary.

The primary election, on March 19, will set up an expensive and closely watched November clash with Mr. Brown. Republicans see the race as a top pickup opportunity in the narrowly divided chamber.
The White House guest list for President Bidens State of the Union address underscored some of his administrations biggest accomplishments, from student debt forgiveness to the expansion of NATO.

But even as he heralded his accomplishments, the guest list highlighted intractable challenges still facing his presidency, including pervasive gun violence and the vast problem of climate change.

Among the 20 guests who joining the first lady, Jill Biden, to watch the address was Jazmin Cazares, the sister of a 9-year-old victim of the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers.

After Uvalde, Mr. Biden signed the first gun safety legislation in decades  a measure he plugged during his State of the Union address last year, when he also called on Congress to enact a ban on assault weapons. In September, he announced the creation of the Office of Gun Violence and Safety Prevention, led by Vice President Kamala Harris, at the White House.
Follow live updates on Bidens State of the Union address.

President Biden will deliver the State of the Union address on Thursday night at 9 p.m. before a joint session of Congress, laying out his agenda ahead of the presidential election in November.

Mr. Biden will seek to reassure Americans with a strong performance as he navigates wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, a public disinclined to view the economy favorably and voters who are concerned about his age.

Heres what you need to know.

Where can I watch?

The New York Times will stream the address at nytimes.com with live analysis from reporters. The speech will also be carried by major television networks and on cable.

The White House will also stream the address, accompanied by American Sign Language interpretation, on wh.gov/sotu. Mr. Biden is expected to speak for a little over an hour.
More than two years into their wartime alliance, the bond between the United States and Ukraine is showing signs of wear and tear, giving way to mutual frustration and a feeling that the relationship might be stuck in a bit of a rut.

It is the stuff that often strains relationships  finances, different priorities and complaints about not being heard.

For the Pentagon, the exasperation comes down to a single, recurring issue: American military strategists, including Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, believe that Ukraine needs to concentrate its forces on one big fight at a time. Instead, President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has vowed to drive Russia out of every inch of Ukraine, expends his forces in battles for towns that U.S. officials say lack strategic value.

The most recent example involved the battle for the eastern city of Avdiivka, which fell to Russia last month. U.S. officials say Ukraine defended Avdiivka too long and at too great a cost.
Theirs were already lives of great hardship, in camps for displaced people, after they had fled their homes in Nigerias embattled northeast. One recent day, they risked a foray into the countryside to collect firewood  and around 200 of them, some officials said, were kidnapped.

Just days later, dozens of children  if not more  were reported abducted on Thursday from a primary school some 500 miles away in central Nigeria.

Who was responsible was unclear, and the security services have made no statements. The first incident took place in the region terrorized by Boko Haram, the brutal Islamist group with a history of mass abductions. Residents told the local news media that bandits had carried out the second.

But the two had vital elements in common: They involved some of the most vulnerable people in society, and demonstrated the failure of Nigerias successive governments and armed forces to bring peace and stability to a fractious land.
The government of Canada has reached a financial settlement with one of two Canadian men it contends were arbitrarily detained for nearly three years by China in a retaliatory move, the mans lawyer said.

John K. Phillips, who represents Michael Spavor, told The Associated Press Wednesday evening that I am only able to say that the matter between Mr. Spavor and the government of Canada has been resolved.

Mr. Spavor, a businessman who had extensive dealings in North Korea, and Michael Kovrig, then a Canadian diplomat who was on leave and working for a Belgium-based foreign policy analysis group, were arrested in China in December 2018. They were charged with spying.

Their detentions in separate prisons was, Canadian officials contended, retribution for Canadas arrest of Meng Wanzhou, then the chief financial officer of the Chinese technology giant Huawei. That arrest was made at the request of the United States.
15:06 | Lima, Mar. 7.

Fernandes said that Anglo American's investments in Peru will reach US$524 million by 2024, with an additional amount worth over US$1 billion for the coming years.

The CEO noted that Quellaveco, Collahuasi, and Bronces are the company's most important mines in South America.

Joined by his technical team, Minister Mucho met with Alta Copper Corporation Executive Chair Giulio Bonifacio , who reported on the progress of itsin a 97-square-km area located in Peru's northern Lambayeque region. It includes the Canariaco Norte and Canariaco Sur deposits, plus the Quebrada Verde prospect.
The U.S. plans to build a new aid path into Gaza

President Biden is expected to announce during his State of the Union address that the U.S. military will build a floating pier off Gaza to let ships deliver food and other aid to Gazans, U.S. officials said.

Constructing the pier will involve hundreds or thousands of U.S. troops on ships just off shore, and will be built in cooperation with other countries in the region. It was unclear whether Israel would be joining the effort. Currently, aid can only enter Gaza through two land crossings in the south. Officials said yesterday that a third land crossing in the north could open soon.

Yet delivering aid by sea does not directly solve the central problem: Aid trucks have been unable to move freely amid intense Israeli shelling and ground fighting, which remains fierce in the South. Nor would it address the chaos that has accompanied the deliveries. An aid convoy was overrun by desperate Gazans last week, leading to more than 100 deaths when Israeli soldiers opened fire and many people were trampled in the chaos.

At the International Court of Justice: South Africa asked the U.N.s highest court to issue emergency orders for Israel to stop what it called the genocidal starvation of Palestinians.
Kati Marton, a Hungarian-born American writer, thought she was talking with a friend of Gen. Wesley Clark, NATOs former commander in Europe. The man, who had sent her a resume describing himself as a results-oriented wealth and investment manager living in Switzerland, said he was exploring green energy opportunities in Eastern Europe.

Ms. Marton didnt mind when he steered the conversation to Hungary, something she knew about, having written three books about the country, including Enemies of the People, an account of her parents 1955 jailing in and subsequent flight from Budapest.

Today, more than half a year after what she thought would be a private Zoom call, Ms. Marton thinks she has figured out what was really going on: an elaborate dirty-tricks operation aimed at entrapping and smearing critics of Hungarys prime minister, Viktor Orban.

On Jan. 31, snippets from a surreptitiously recorded video of Ms. Martons conversation with the purported investor surfaced on the X social media platform, on an account called MagaBabe.
Attacked at home and abroad for his statement last month that sending troops to Ukraine should not be ruled out, President Emmanuel Macron faced a torrent of outrage from the left and right on Thursday when he met with leaders of major political parties to hammer home his new position.

Mr. Macrons remark startled his NATO allies and broke a taboo by threatening a direct confrontation with Russia, which they hoped to avoid. But it also caught the public and political parties by surprise and has since provoked intense debate in France.

With the meeting Thursday, Mr. Macron hoped to find some unity on bolstering support for Ukraine or, short of that, to expose opponents who in his view remain too weak-kneed or servile to Moscow. He told the party leaders that Faced by an enemy that imposes no limit on itself, we cannot allow ourselves to impose our own.

But the criticism of the president after the three-hour meeting was withering and uniform. Jordan Bardella, 28, the president of the far-right National Rally party of Marine Le Pen, said Mr. Macron was ready to support Ukraine with no limit and no red line, an approach he characterized as irresponsible and extremely dangerous for peace in the world.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Thursday appointed Valery Zaluzhny as his new ambassador to Britain, just a month after he removed him from his post as the countrys top general amid tensions between the military and civilian leadership.

Gen. Valery Zaluzhny told me that this is the direction he would like to take  diplomacy, Mr. Zelensky said in a video statement, adding that Ukraines alliance with Britain should only get stronger with this appointment.

Thursdays announcement ended weeks of speculation about the fate of General Zaluzhny, whose relationship with Mr. Zelensky had become strained. His dismissal from the army command was seen as the result of Mr. Zelenskys frustration at the failure of Ukraines counteroffensive last summer, but also possibly the product of his fears that the general, a very popular figure in Ukraine, might become a political opponent in the future.

In Britain, General Zaluzhny will occupy an influential position that has been vacant since the summer, but one distant from Ukraines military and political decision-making. One of his missions will be to shore up support for the Ukrainian war effort among European countries as sustained American military aid is in doubt.
Earlier this year, Daria Chervona, a photo retoucher from Kyiv, was busy trying to raise 78 million Ukrainian hryvnia, about $2 million, for Ukraines army, posting daily on social media to urge friends and acquaintances to chip in. That was a high bar, but after a few weeks she announced she had cleared it, reaching her target.

You did it, she told her followers on Instagram in late January, in a post displaying the eight-figure sum raised in large black characters.

Ms. Chervona attributes her success to a system she adopted last summer: dividing the work among dozens of people, each tasked with collecting money from friends, in a process that she said can yield large sums. Each fund-raiser is then highlighted in a social media post with their picture, tapping into civilians desire to be recognized as active participants in the war effort.

They need to be able to tell themselves, Im doing something, Im helping, Ms. Chervona, 28, said in a recent interview. I simply understood that any reasonably active person on Instagram could pull in 50K, she added, referring to 50,000 Ukrainian hryvnias, about $1,300.
Hamas negotiators left Cairo on Thursday without a breakthrough in talks over a cease-fire in Gaza, the group said, as hopes for an imminent truce in its five-month-long war with Israel continued to dim.

International mediators have sought to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas that would see the release of some hostages held in Gaza and Palestinians detained in Israeli jails, but weeks of indirect negotiations appear to have stalled. Hamas wants Israel to commit to a permanent cease-fire during or after hostage releases, a demand that Israel has rejected.

The Hamas delegation left Cairo today to consult with the movements leadership, as negotiations and efforts continue to stop the aggression, return the displaced, and bring in aid for the Palestinian people, Hamas said on Telegram, reiterating its demands in the talks.

Egypt and Qatar, along with the United States, are trying to secure a cease-fire before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins around March 10, worried that there could be flare-ups during the month of fasting.

But despite cautious optimism after Israeli officials met with mediators in Paris in mid-February, the hoped-for deal has yet to materialize. Under a proposed framework for a deal, roughly 40 of the more than 100 remaining hostages in Gaza and some Palestinian prisoners would be released during a six-week truce, according to officials familiar with the matter.

U.S. officials have said that Israel has more or less accepted the framework deal. President Biden said earlier this week that the Israelis have been cooperating and that the onus was now on Hamas to accept the proposal.

Theres an offer out there thats rational, Mr. Biden told reporters. He added that if a cease-fire was not reached before Ramadan, it could be very, very dangerous.

The Israeli prime ministers office declined to comment on the state of the talks.

Mahmoud Mardawi, a Hamas official, said in a televised interview on Wednesday night that the negotiations had come to a standstill. He blamed Israel for clearly undermining any horizon for an agreement and demanded a full withdrawal of Israeli troops under any truce. Israeli leaders have said they want to maintain control of security in Gaza after the war.

The ball is not in our court, Mr. Mardawi told the Arabic-language broadcaster Al-Ghad on Wednesday. Whoever agrees to our peoples fundamental demands, that is what will pave the way for an agreement.
A 70-year-old fitness enthusiast from Chongqing, China, has been getting a lot of attention on social media thanks to his enviable physique and seemingly endless energy.

Zou Hepings epic fitness journey started in 1979 when he read about the benefits of running in a magazine. He has been running up Gele Mountain, near Chongqing, ever since and has also added a number of other exercises to keep his body in tip-top shape. Pull-ups, hand stands and pole climbing are all a part of Zous training regimen, but he also devised a series of weird-looking exercises that allow him to conserve his health. For example, he frog-jumps the more than 2,500 steps from the foot to the summit of Gele Mountain, and then alligator-crawls back down, a routine that he claims is easier on the knees and improves limb coordination. But while his training routine can be contested, its results cannot; Zou Heping not only looks fitter than most people half his age, but he also has a full set of black hair, which he claims he never dyes.

Life lies in running, and the most important thing is to exercise, preserve your fitness, and develop a good lifestyle, Zou advised the youth looking to him for inspiration.

To maintain his enviable physique, Zou Heping goes for a run every day, regardless of the weather, often topless and without any shoes on. He gave up alcohol and cigarettes more than four decades ago, focusing on a healthy lifestyle in which sleep plays a big part. His story of fitness dedication and his six-pack abs have gained him quite the following on social media, as many consider him living proof that age is just a number.

Grandpa Zou is amazing, his core strength is incredible, at 70, his physical status is like a 17-year-old, one person commented.

Age is never a limit. Indeed, life lies in exercise. Only a healthy lifestyle can keep us forever young, someone else wrote.

Everywhere I go, people ask me my age, whether my hair is a wig or dyed, what I eat, how I built my muscles, I am tired of answering these questions, Zou said in a recent interview, adding that he never dyed his hair or taken any supplements to improve his physique.

Jiang Min, an expert in health management and chronic disease management at a well-known Internet health management company, analyzed Zou Hepings physique and declared him living proof of the anti-aging effect of constant exercising, claiming that workouts enhance his heart function and make his metabolism very active, which can promote health and longevity.
A team of German scientists studied a 62-year-old man who deliberately got 217 Covid-19 vaccine shots over 29 months and found that he suffered from no negative vaccine-related side effects.

Many people wouldnt get a shot of Covid-19 vaccine if their lives depended on it, but a German man decided to compensate for many of them by getting as many shots as he could. Over a period of 29 months, the unnamed 62-year-old from Magdeburg, Germany, got no less than 217 Covid-19 jabs, an average of four doses per day. He is what you could call a walking experiment, so after hearing about him from a newspaper, researchers from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg contacted him and asked if they could study him in the name of science. The man agreed, and the team recently published a number of intriguing findings in the Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal.

Photo: Unsplash

Our test case was vaccinated with a total of eight different vaccines, including different available mRNA vaccines, Dr Kilian Schober said. The observation that no noticeable side effects were triggered in spite of this extraordinary hypervaccination indicates that the drugs have a good degree of tolerability.

The researchers also found that the ma had had higher levels of immune cells and antibodies against coronavirus than people who had received only three doses of Covid-19 vaccine. Overall, we did not find any indication for a weaker immune response, rather the contrary, one of the scientists noted. Further tests showed that his immune response to other viruses remained unchanged, which was considered proof that his immune system had not been damaged by the hypervaccination.

Although researchers noted that the mans unique approach to vaccination showed just how well tolerated the vaccines generally are, they also admitted that his tolerance for an absurd number of Covid-19 vaccines may not translate into the rest of the population. Furthermore, science shows that the positive effects of the vaccines do not scale with the number of doses.

Photo: Unsplash

The vaccine is absorbed by the antibodies before it can trigger an immune response. Beyond a certain level of concentration of antibodies, the immune system closes off and no more new antibodies are made, immunologist Andreas Radbruch explained. Once someone has enough antibodies, you cannot increase their protection with further vaccinations.

Interestingly, the unnamed man first made news headlines in 2022, when it was discovered that he had been vaccinated for Covid-19 at least 90 times. At the time, he was suspected of getting so many shots in order to get his hands on multiple vaccination certificates that he then sold to people who didnt want to get vaccinated but needed the documents to enjoy certain privileges during the lockdown. Today, the man insists that he god vaccinated 217 times for personal reasons, but admits that he was under investigation for fraud by German authorities.
Vince Skyers

Nashville-based MP&F hires Vince Skyers as its first ever executive creative director. Skyers was most recently creative director at SmileDirectClub, leading the creative packaging and on-shelf merchandising for the companys oral care line. He has led design and branding efforts for Sony and Conde Nasts suite of properties including Allure, Brides Magazine and Details Magazine. In his first 90 days at MP&F, Skyers plans to nurture creative teams through a collective he launched dubbed the Creative Councila first for the agency. The council, composed of senior creative leadership, sets out to collaborate on topics of creative innovation, process efficiencies, conceptual design and more. Vinces vast experience is bringing a new skill set to MP&F, said Mary Elizabeth Davis, MP&F partner and co-owner. We are eager to continue growing our capabilities and expanding what we bring to the table for our clients in the way of creative storytelling.

Tristan Lemonnier

APCO names Tristan Lemonnier, who has nearly 15 years of experience in public policy, integrated campaigns and crisis management, as the agencys managing director of APCO in France, effective March 1. Since 2021, Lemonnier has supported Arnaud Pochebonne as deputy managing director of APCO in France. Prior to joining APCO, Lemonnier served as the director of development and operations for The GreenData, a start-up company specializing in artificial intelligence for the agro-ecological transition. He previously served as the chief of staff to the deputy CEO of Econocom, a leading digital transformation company in Europe. We have worked together closely for years and have developed together a strategic approach that has paid off, leading to consistent growth and success for APCO in France, said Pochebonne, who was recently promoted to regional chief client officer for corporate reputation in Europe and will now also serve as chair of APCO in France.

Lorraine Forster

Healthcare communications company Health Monitor Network brings on Lorraine Forster as SVP of human resources. Foster was most recently director, talent at Publicis Media. She has also held senior posts at Marina Maher Communications and Havas Health. In her new role, Foster will lead Health Monitor Networks human resource function, focusing on organizational growth and design, succession planning, colleague training, development and engagement. "Lorraines background and expertise, which has been largely dedicated to healthcare agencies, makes her a perfect fit for our people, our culture and growth mission, said Health Monitor Network CEO David Paragamian.


Port of Dublin Floats PR/Marketing RFP Fri., Mar. 15, 2024 The Port of Dublin, which handles 50 percent of Irelands total trade and 80 percent of its containerized traffic, wants a PR/marketing services firm to position it as an essential state asset.
? En visperas de conmemorarse el #DiaInternacionalDeLaMujer, la presidenta Dina Boluarte inauguro la primera sesion del Consejo Nacional de Mujeres, grupo de trabajo creado por el presente Gobierno para promover la igualdad de oportunidades y el absoluto respeto de los derechos pic.twitter.com/WDOYthuNQv
FERBANE has been included in a second list of 26 towns for which Town Centre First Plans will be developed, which were announced by The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD last week.

The announcement was made by the Minister along with Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government and Planning, Kieran ODonnell TD when publishing the first ever Town Centre First plans for 26 towns across every county. Clara was the Offaly town chosen in that first list, and those plans were published at an event in Adare last week.

The Plans which were developed in consultation with local communities represent the vision of local people for their area and contain proposals for a diverse range of projects such as redeveloping derelict sites, creating community parks and walkways, boosting SME and tourism potential, and protecting historical landmarks.

The Ministers were joined at the launch by the new Town Regeneration Officers who have been appointed in every Local Authority to drive implementation of the new plans with the support of Government funding through the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Town Centre First Heritage Revival (THRIVE) Scheme and the Historic Towns Initiative.

Speaking at the launch, Minister Heather Humphreys, said: Communities are at the heart of rural Ireland. Town Centre First is all about empowering people to develop a vision for their town that can make it a better place to live, work, invest in and enjoy. These Plans and the new Town Regeneration Officers are about ensuring there is a strategic and coherent approach at local level to tackling vacancy and dereliction in our towns and villages.

Government is firmly committed to strategic projects that will transform rural Ireland such as under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, and we are already seeing the hugely positive impacts of investment right across the country such as the fantastic new Community Centre we are opening here in Patrickswell this morning.

Minister Humphreys also announced the next 26 Towns who have been approved to develop Town Centre First Plans.

I am delighted to publish the first ever Town Centre First Plans today and I want to commend the local Communities and Town Teams for their work in developing these comprehensive locally-led plans.

I am pleased to also announce the next 26 successful towns across the country who we will support with funding of 30,000 each to complete a comprehensive town plan to help develop their town centres.

Minister Pippa Hackett said Congratulations to the Town Team and wider community of Clara following the official launch of the Clara Town Plan. We are already seeing the fruits of your labour and I expect that all aspects of the Plan will be fully supported in due course.

I am also delighted to see that Ferbane has been chosen for inclusion in the next phase of funding for Town Centre First Planning. Ferbane will receive 30,000 to complete a comprehensive town plan to help develop the town centre and tackle vacancy. This will be done with the community and through a 'Town Team' with support from the Town Regeneration Officer of Offaly County Council.

Every town is different, and while Clara has blazed a trail with a Plan which reflects that town wonderfully, I look forward to seeing how the Ferbane community plan to develop the opportunities afforded by its unique heritage and characteristics. Exciting times ahead as Government policy continues to support rejuvenation of rural towns and villages.

Town Centre First supports the objectives of the national rural development policy, Our Rural Future, in revitalising rural towns and engages communities through Town Teams. Every town is different, and so local visions take account of these unique challenges, needs and opportunities.

Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Kieran O'Donnell, said: It is a pleasure to launch the inaugural Town Centre First Plans today here in Limerick. This Government has committed to multi-billion euro investment in regenerating and revitalising towns and urban centres across Ireland. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is supporting the delivery of the Town Centre First policy approach through major funding schemes such as the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, the Croi Conaithe Fund and Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant and the ERDF supported THRIVE Fund.

The Town Centre First approach empowers local communities and businesses, supported by Local Authorities, to guide and direct investment to maximise the particular strengths and assets of their town.

In a joint initiative, my Department along with DRCD has established a National Town Centre First Office, within the LGMA, to support delivery of the policy.

I also wish to congratulate and commend all the local communities and Town Teams for their dedicated work in designing these exciting Town Centre First plans  I look forward to seeing them fully implemented in the time ahead.

Town Centre First also supports the objectives of the National Planning Framework and Housing for All by unlocking the potential of vacant and underused buildings to increase housing supply and attract more people to live and work in our town centres.

TCF National co-ordinator, Mairead Hunt, noted that towns now have a unique opportunity to participate in Town Centre First and create more vibrant and attractive town centres.

She continued: "Our Town Teams are doing fantastic work around the country creating and driving forward ambitious plans. We want to see many more Town Teams, so it is very welcome that the Department of Rural and Community Development is giving local authorities funding of up to 10,000 to establish new Town Teams or build up existing teams."

Today we have also launched a new Town Centre First website where people can find out how to get involved.

Launched in 2022, Town Centre First is driving one of the biggest ever programme of investments in rural Ireland and has a core aim of confronting dereliction and the general decline in the health of Irelands town centres.

To find out more about the initiative and how communities can become involved, visit www.towncentrefirst.ie .
ESB is currently constructing Temporary Emergency Generation (TEG) at the former West Offaly Power site. The Shannonbridge TEG project, progressed on behalf of the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU), the Department of Energy, Climate and Communications (DECC) and EirGrid, is one of a suite of policy actions geared at bolstering the security of Irelands electricity supply.

A Community Benefit Fund (CBF) was established as part of the project with the aim of encouraging stronger interaction and engagement with communities living close to the site. Recently, Fionn Griffin, ESBs Emergency Generation Manager and Sinead Dooley, Head of Public Engagement at EirGrid presented five local community groups with funding from the inaugural Shannonbridge TEG Community Benefit Fund at the Community Hall in Shannonbridge.

The local community groups which have benefited from this fund include Shannonbridge Tidy Towns Committee, Shannonbridge Meals on Wheels, Raghra Christmas Lights, Shannonbridge Community Hall, and the Belmont Mens Shed. The work undertaken by these community groups benefits Shannonbridge and surrounding areas, with a number of supported projects developing local sustainability and biodiversity initiatives.

Fionn Griffin, ESBs Emergency Generation Manager, said: ESB has a longstanding history in Shannonbridge and surrounding areas, dating back to the 1960s. We are delighted, along with EirGrid, to continue to support local and worthwhile initiatives as we redevelop parts of the former West Offaly Power into a site providing temporary emergency generation. We understand from our history the impact that projects of this scale can have on local communities in Shannonbridge. This award of funding to local initiatives is consistent with our values and our obligation to act as a good neighbour and partner during the delivery and operation of major infrastructure projects. We, at ESB, would like to thank the Shannonbridge community for their continued support.

Sinead Dooley, Head of Public Engagement, EirGrid, said: Through the co-operation and support of communities in Shannonbridge, we, along with our partners are working to deliver this Temporary Emergency Generation to ensure a reliable supply of electricity into the future. It is fantastic to see funding covering an array of positive initiatives in the area, transforming living spaces, enabling more sustainable community amenities and overall enhancing the well-being of people in the area on an annual basis through this fund.
The funeral arrangements for Ireland AM chef Joe Shannon have been announced.

Joe passed away peacefully on March 4, aged 59, after battling with bowel cancer. He was surrounded by his family at North West Hospice, in Sligo.

The chef was diagnosed in March 2021 after doctors discovered a blockage in his intestines.

Joe was originally from Milltown, Drumcliffe, in Co Sligo.

The removal will take place this Thursday to Saint Colmcille's Church, in Rathcormac, arriving at 7pm. Mass of the resurrection will take place this Friday, at 11am.

Joe's funeral mass will be live-streamed, then followed by burial in Rathcormac New Cemetery.

Dearly loved husband of Marie and father of Orla, Emer and Joseph.

Sadly missed by his loving wife and family, brother Michael, sisters Elizabeth (Yates), Bernadette (ODonnell) and Dolores (OBoyle), sons-in-law Sean Gilligan and John Divers, grandchildren Leroy and Lewis, relatives, neighbours and many friends.

The family said that donations, if desired, can be made to North West Hospice Fund or Sligo Cancer Support Centre.

A couple of days prior to his death, Joe shared a heartfelt message on social media.

"I truly would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for all your beautiful messages on FB, letters,cards, other social media outlets, direct phone messages, support personally to Marie and the family, it sincerely means the world to us," he said.

"I came home from hospital on Friday and once again I just cannot thank enough all the services I recieved at Sligo University Hospital. From the ambulance drivers, the Doctors nurses, care attendendets, catering and household teams, the cleaners the fellow patients that I had the pleasure to share both wards on surgical North and Oncology Ward. The kindness I recieved from A&E was just exceptional. Both the Mr Martin and his Oncology team and the Pallative care team who are still involved in looking after me I say a huge thank you."

He added: "I also would like to sincerely thank my GP Doctor Elaine Kenny and all the team at the Drumcliffe Family Practice who are always there for me and the wonderful team at Markevicks Pharmacy Sligo, who provide me with such a fantastic support.

If I have left anybody out I truly apologise but let me tell you, the people who form part of the Sligo University Hospital Team are true hero's and we are so lucky to have them. Now, glad to be home and I look forward to getting stronger."
Ryanair boss Michael OLeary has accused Irelands transport minister Eamon Ryan of sending out the message that the country is closed for business.

Following a meeting between the two men, Mr OLeary said a failure to lift the passenger cap at Dublin Airport meant that airline business was now being sent to other parts of Europe.

Mr Ryan said the meeting had concentrated on issues rather than personalities.

The meeting occurred one week after the airline executive launched a personal broadside against the minister in a row over passenger caps at the airport.

Last week, Mr OLeary said Mr Ryan and tourism minister Catherine Martin were dunces for failing to act on the airlines demands to remove the cap limiting Dublin Airport to 32 million passengers per year.

The Ryanair boss said the Green Party politicians should raise the passenger cap or leave politics.

Following their meeting on Thursday, Mr OLeary said: We met for an hour, there wasnt any meeting of minds.

We are very critical of his failure as minister for transport implementing Irelands aviation policy, which is to grow traffic, grow aviation jobs and grow the contribution of aviation to the Irish economy.

He essentially said to us he is not going to intervene in the matter of the Dublin Airport cap; he has this excuse that it would render the whole planning process in Ireland redundant.

Mr OLeary added: The sad result of this is that we are now sending aircraft, four aircraft that we had planned to base in Dublin this summer, are now gone to southern Italy and Poland.

That is about two million passengers have been lost to Ireland, about 800 jobs have been lost.

He has no solution for this for the next four years.

He continued: This is typical of what we get from Eamon Ryan, all talk, no action, no delivery.

Eamon Ryan has essentially told us that despite the fact that his own aviation policy is to grow, hes now telling us sorry Im not going to take any action.

Send the growth elsewhere, Irelands loss will be to the benefit of Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece.

Jobs, our tourism industry and aviation in Ireland is now capped. Were closed for business.

Mr Ryan said the two men had disagreed over the passenger cap, but had more agreement discussing sustainable aviation fuels.

He insisted that the planning process must be respected and that he would be breaking the law by intervening and removing the passenger cap.

He added: To be honest, it was more about the issues than the personalities.

Mr Ryan said: There were important things we needed to talk about, if it turns into a personal thing you miss the real story, which is in my mind how do we make aviation sustainable, and in his mind how do we get the airport working properly.

But you cant do that by breaking the law, you cant throw out planning. Weve lost so much in this country by people riding roughshod over the planning system.

He thinks I can just go in and change the law, change the rules, change the conditions, you cant do that, youve got to respect the planning system.
To date there has been little interest expressed  either at local or national level - to the proposed changes to the Constitution

This Friday, March 8, citizens are being asked to vote in two referendums to change the Constitution.

The first of these concerns the concept of the family in the Constitution.

The second referendum proposes to delete an existing part of the Constitution and insert new text providing recognition to care provided by family members to each other.

Both votes refer to proposed changes to the current text of Article 41 of the Constitution.

To date there has been little interest expressed  either at local or national level - to the proposed changes.

Indeed it is unsurprising that most people are unaware of what the changes will entail due to the absence of any real debate.

This has changed somewhat this week with the big guns in Government being wheeled out to urge a yes vote in both referendums while prominent voices have also called for a no vote.

The only major news story of the campaign locally took place in January, when young players and officials from Tullamore GAA club welcomed the Chair of the independent electoral commission, Ms Justice Marie Baker, on a visit to the GAA Centre and O'Brien Park to speak about voting in the upcoming referendums.

An Coimisiun Toghchain, the independent electoral commission, is responsible for explaining the issues to be voted on in the two referendums and for encouraging people to get out and vote.

The Commission is totally independent and not backing any side in the campaign, the Chief Executive of the body, Art OLeary told the Tribune in an impromptu interview during that visit.

An Coimisiun Toghchain is a statutory, independent body with responsibility for a broad range of electoral functions set out in the Electoral Reform Act 2022.

Mr O'Leary explained: An Coimisiun is central to Irelands electoral system, carrying out a range of existing electoral functions.

It was the body which oversaw the revision of constituencies for general elections which resulted in Offaly being redesignated as a three-seater.

The Commission's job is to provide information about the issues at stake in both referendums, stressed Mr O'Leary.

It provides independent information about the issues involved and issued a 16-page booklet to every household in the country last February.

The booklet provides information on the legal outcomes of both yes and no votes in the two referendums and hopefully will be consulted by the electorate here before people cast their votes on Friday.

Certainly it is not the role of the Tribune to advise people on which way to cast their ballots this Friday.

However, as we have consistently done in the past, we encourage all our readers to use their franchise.

The right to vote was a hard won freedom in this country and indeed in democracies around the world and must be cherished.

Because democracy is so firmly rooted in Irish society and in our thinking as a people we do not realise how fragile that concept is.

But all we have to do is look at countries in Europe, such as Russia and Belarus, where elections are blatantly rigged with the acquiescence of the media.

Perhaps in the Western world we should be more worried at developments across the Atlantic in the Presidential race in the United States.

So in the lead-up to Friday's vote there is an onus on us to familiarise ourselves with the issues at stake in both referendums.

Our Constitution is the bedrock of our democracy and State and any changes to it should be carefully considered.

But above all we would urge our readers to play their part as citizens and use their franchise this Friday.
At its peak, the Roman army acted as a military, naval, and police force to about a quarter of the population of the Earth. Our cover feature explores its impact on the inhabitants of Britain  and what life was like for the soldiers and their families who were posted here.

If youll allow me a moment of nostalgia, our next feature brings a personal pang, as it describes the

demolition of a place that hosted one of my first forays into journalism. While working on The Cambridge

Student, I spent countless Wednesdays on the New Museums Site  and on our final day in the office in 2009, my co-editor and I took a marker pen and wrote our names on the back of one of the newsroom ceiling tiles (rather earnestly adding C P Scotts dictum comment is free, but facts are sacred) before slipping it back into place. With youthful hubris we assumed that our tile would watch over other student journalists long after we had graduated. Now, however, that building has been swept away  and fascinating relics of Cambridges medieval Augustinian friary have been revealed underneath.

In order fully to understand the past, we need a vibrant, robust heritage sector. Our third feature focuses on such work in Wales, highlighting some of the key sites investigated by the Royal Commission.

Our penultimate piece takes us to Roman London, where a waterlogged cemetery has yielded rare evidence of coffins and a funerary bed. We then end by examining two strikingly similar Bronze Age burials found more than a century and over 300 miles apart.

P.S. Details of all the content of the magazine are available on our site, The Past. Here you will be able to read each article in full as well as the content of our other magazines, Current World Archaeology, Ancient Egypt, and Military History Matters. Subscribers should see the advert inside the magazine for a very special offer!

In This Issue:

FEATURES



Legion

Tracing the impact  and the experiences  of the Roman army in Britain

Drawing on a new exhibition at the British Museum, we explore what life was like for Roman soldiers and their families stationed in Britain, and how their presence was felt by local populations.

PIETY AND PLAGUE

Exploring evidence for life and death in Cambridges Augustinian friary

Illuminating archaeological work in central Cambridge has revealed structural and human remains associated with one of the many religious communities that once played a key role in the medieval town.

PRESERVING THE PAST

Highlighting the Welsh heritage sectors rich history and uncertain future

With the Welsh heritage sector facing the threat of severe funding cuts, we take a look at some of the major projects that the Royal Commission and related bodies have spearheaded in recent years.

FRAME OF REFERENCE

Rare wooden funerary finds from Roman London

Excavations in London have uncovered part of a Roman cemetery, where waterlogged conditions have preserved five oak coffins and what may be Roman Britains first complete funerary bed.

FAMILY TIES

Examining ideas of kinship in the early Bronze Age

Recent scientific analysis of two Bronze Age burials  both containing the remains of an adult and child in a loving embrace, but buried more than 300 miles apart  has raised new questions about ideas of family and identity in that period.

NEWS

Early medieval cemetery uncovered on Fonmon Castle estate; New evidence of womens mobility during the Conversion Period; Bronze Age burnt mounds discovered in Annan; Record year for Treasure cases; Conserving mining sites in the Tamar Valley; Science Notes; Tudor paintings revealed at Christs College, Cambridge; Finds Tray

REGULARS

COMMENT

Joe Flatman excavates the CA archive

CONTEXT

Medieval boat graffiti: Isle of Luing

REVIEWS

X Marks the Spot: the story of archaeology in eight extraordinary discoveries; Life in Early Medieval Wales; Eilean Donan Castle: exploring a Highland icon, archaeological research excavations 2009-2017; Making Flour the German Way in Roman Britain: distribution, use, and deposition of imported lava quernstones and millstones; Prehistoric Sussex; Excavations on Wether Hill, Ingram, Northumberland 1994-2015

MUSEUM NEWS

The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions



EXHIBITION

Zimingzhong : clockwork treasures from Chinas Forbidden City at the Science Museum

FESTIVAL

Jorvik Viking Festival 2024

LISTINGS

Our selection of exhibitions and events, as well as historical, archaeological, and cultural resources from around the world that are still available online.

SHERDS

Chris Catlings irreverent take on heritage issues

ODD SOCS

Historic Houses

Have all this delivered directly to your door every month  click here to find out more about subscribing to Current Archaeology, the UKs favourite archaeology magazine.
Tracing the impact  and the experiences  of the Roman army in Britain

A standard-issue legionary helmet, made of copper-alloy. IMAGE: Trustees of the British Museum

A major new exhibition at the British Museum shows what life was like for the men, women, and children associated with the Roman military machine  and those they encountered through campaign and conquest. Carly Hilts visited to learn more.

The Roman army as we know it, has its origins in the reign of the first emperor, Augustus (r. 27 BC-AD 14). While Republican Rome had been a deeply militarised society, with all males of noble birth serving as part-time soldiers, in order to shore up the empires ever-expanding territories and conquer more, it needed a dedicated professional force. Romes first full-time career soldiers comprised around 300,000 men  half of these were legionaries, a status limited to Roman citizens; non-citizens could only be auxiliaries, who were mostly on worse pay. (At the time of Trajan, r. AD 98-117, auxiliary infantry were paid 250 denarii per year, compared with 300 for citizens.) If they were part of the lucky 50% who survived to the end of their 25-year service, however, there were life-changing prizes to be won. In lieu of the pension given to retired legionaries (worth ten years pay), auxiliaries were granted something even more valuable: Roman citizenship. As a citizen, they would pay less tax, enjoy full protection under Roman law  and, most importantly, could pass on this status to their descendants. A mid-2nd-century gravestone from Croy Hill fort in North Lanarkshire reflects the significance of this social transformation and what it meant for families: the memorial depicts three men, possibly a father and two sons, who are all shown proudly grasping the distinctive javelins and long shields of legionaries.

A letter of recommendation preserved in one of the Vindolanda tablets. IMAGE: Trustees of the British Museum

Entry to the Roman army had an upper age limit of 35, but boys as young as 13 could sign up so long as they met the minimum height requirements (172cm or 57). To join a legion, however, a citizen also needed letters of recommendation from individuals of suitable social status (and, written sources suggest, money for bribes). A papyrus archive from Karanis, Egypt, preserves letters from Claudius Terentianus, a soldier in Trajans army, who faced such a dilemma  he was a citizen but lacked suitably influential contacts to support his application. Accordingly, he initially ended up in the lower-status and less-well-paid marines on the strength of recommendations from two friends (even for marines, letters of recommendation were seemingly needed, just not such prestigious ones). These auxiliary units, which contained both non-citizens and, as Terentianus shows, citizens with insufficient social connections, worked on ships and on shore. Their peacetime roles included building roads, guarding harbours, and acting as a kind of police- and fire service in urban environments  they were also tasked with furling and unfurling the awnings at amphitheatres that shaded spectators from the sun.

Another example of a soldier seeking help from high places is preserved in one of the Vindolanda tablets. Addressed to Flavius Cerialis, prefect of the ninth cohort of Batavians, it was sent by a man called []ius Karus (possibly Claudius Karus, as a man of this name writes to Cerialis on another tablet) in support of a soldier hoping for a position at Carlisle. Brigionus has requested me, my lord, to recommend him to you, Karus writes. I therefore ask, my lord, if you would be willing to support him in what he has requested of you. I ask that you think fit to commend him to Annius Equester, centurion in charge of the region, at Luguvalium.

Found in Bedfordshire, this stamp was used to impress sticks of eye ointment. IMAGE: Trustees of the British Museum

IN THE ARMY NOW

Once a soldier had enlisted, his status was formalised in a sacred oath  after which he was bound to serve for at least 25 years, with an early exit only offered by poor health, dishonour, or death. Life in the army was relentless: on the march, soldiers were expected to carry packs weighing 27kg and a shield weighing at least another 5.5kg, and in camp much of their time was spent in combat training. This included wielding wooden weapons against timber posts and other artificial enemies  something possibly reflected by the humanoid wooden target dating to AD 72-83 that was found at Carlisle. It was evidently later reused as flooring, as its surface bears scars from being trampled by hobnail boots, and it is now held by Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle  as is a wooden sword that has been interpreted as a practice weapon or possibly a toy. Recruits also had to learn how to use ranged weapons  suggestions of this kind of target practice come from Vindolanda, in the form of an ox skull pockmarked with distinctive square holes from artillery bolts  and, as well as constant route marches and weapons drill, basic training even involved lessons in swimming and horse-riding. Soldiers also occupied their days with manual labour and mundane chores.

The promise of regular, reliable pay (including a sign-up bonus covering expenses incurred during their journey to enlist) must have been a tempting incentive to embark on such an arduous life  to say nothing of the promise, however distant, of a pension or citizenship. Out of these wages, though, soldiers had to buy their own weapons, armour, and other kit. The miserable marine Terentianus writes home to ask for sandals and socks, as well as a battle sword, various tools including a grappling iron for marine combat, and a cloak, tunic, and even his own left- behind trousers. Footwear, he bitterly notes, wore out twice-monthly. For a British counterpart, the text of Vindolanda Tablet 346 (not included in the exhibition), acknowledges a similar request from a soldier on the northern frontier: I have sent you pairs of socks two pairs of sandals, and two pairs of underpants [and] two pairs of sandals. Those who were able to write for help were at a distinct advantage to their comrades  not just in terms of being able to cadge extra equipment, but because, in a largely illiterate world, only those who could read and write orders were likely to be promoted.

As for how the army was organised, eight soldiers (milites; singular, miles) shared an A-frame tent, eating and sleeping together. This group of tent-sharers was called a contubernium, and ten contubernia made up a century, which was commanded by a centurion  the highest rank that an ordinary soldier could aspire to, earning 15 times the standard pay and, if very senior, up to 60 times this amount. Six centuries formed a normal cohort, and ten cohorts combined with some 120 cavalry made up a legion, normally overseen by a senatorial-ranked legate (who had to be of aristocratic birth).

The gravestones of Regina, a former slave and the wife of a soldier; and the anonymous daughter of an imaginifer. IMAGE: Trustees of the British Museum

KITTED OUT

Legionaries and auxiliaries could be easily distinguished by their equipment. Citizen soldiers carried long, heavy javelins called pila (singular: pilum), whose pyramidal heads could punch through enemy shields. They were also armed with short stabbing swords and long shields (scuta; singular scutum) whose curved profile allowed legionaries to lock together in formations like the famous tortoise manoeuvre. By contrast, the shields carried by auxiliaries were smaller, flat ovals, and they had simple spears in place of javelins. Given the vast numbers of scuta that must have been manufactured to supply such a large fighting force over the centuries, it seems astonishing that only one has survived intact to the present day: from Dura- Europos in modern Syria, where the dry climate has preserved the shields wood and its colourfully painted leather surface. It has no central boss (the shield may have been a spare part that was never fitted with one), but in the exhibition this is remedied by displaying the scutum alongside a shieldless boss that was recovered from the River Tyne. Dating to the early 2nd century, its metalwork is decorated with images including a bull, which was the regimental badge of Legio VIII Augusta.

Thanks to the waterlogged environment of sites like Vindolanda, we have a rich array of objects to help illuminate the other, non-metal, equipment used by Roman soldiers  including the leather outer sheath of a scabbard, and a soldiers sandal, studded with hobnails to act like rugby boots in the scrum of battle. Adding to this picture is a leather cover for an oval auxiliary shield, which was excavated at Bar Hill Fort in East Dunbartonshire, and a leather quiver once used by an archer based at Birdoswald Fort on Hadrians Wall.

Claudia Severas birthday invitation. IMAGE: Trustees of the British Museum

The design of standard-issue legionary helmets is immediately recognisable, with its domed cap and flat neck- and brow-guards, but Roman soldiers actually had no formal uniform other than the belt denoting their military status, meaning that units probably had a much less standardised appearance than traditional images suggest. In the exhibition, a diverse range of armour is on display, including an impressive brass arm-guard (found in more than 100 fragments but recently reconstructed; see CA 408) whose design mimics protection used by gladiators in the arena. It was worn by a soldier stationed at Trimontium Fort, near Melrose in the Scottish Borders. The arm-guard is displayed alongside the remains of segmented armour from the same site, which contrasts with a chainmail shirt found in the barracks at Arbeia Fort in Tyneside, which was probably worn by a member of the 5th cohort of Gauls. Arbeia was located at what today is South Shields, just beyond the eastern end of the Wall; about 25 miles to the west, another frontier fort at Corbridge produced fragments of another form of body armour: a segmental cuirass. Originally made of 40 articulated plates, it would have offered similar protection to an iron breastplate, but much greater flexibility.

Weapons and protective gear could be purchased from fort armouries or inherited from veteran relatives, but some soldiers chose to source their kit from local craftsmen. Such items often represent intriguing blends of imperial and indigenous styles: for example, a helmet from an unknown British findspot whose familiar Roman shape is decorated with swirling Celtic designs, and a Roman sword, found at Hod Hill in Dorset, which was modified by adding distinctive Celtic- style fittings to its handle. Might these hybrid items have been commissioned by soldiers with British origins, or could they have been owned by legionaries from elsewhere, who admired insular artistry?

This turricula, or dice tower, was found near Cologne, and refers to the Picts. IMAGE: Trustees of the British Museum

This is an extract of an article that appeared in CA 409. Read on in the magazine or on our website, The Past (click here to subscribe), which details of all the content of the magazine. At The Past you will be able to read each article in full as well as the content of our other magazines, Current World Archaeology, Ancient Egypt, and Military History Matters.
The county of Gloucestershire encompasses a wide variety of landscapes, from the mix of urban and traditional farming communities (now more often dormitory settlements) in the south, by way of the woodland and estuarine zones of the west, to the Cotswold hills of the north and east. It is hard to think of a definitive site or settlement that really sums up the county, and Current Archaeologys coverage is similarly varied. This is, I should emphasise, a strength, not a weakness.

NORTH AND WEST GLOUCESTERSHIRE

One of the countys most famous sites lies just to the south-east of Cheltenham and Gloucester, and is well worth a visit. Mighty Crickley Hill is a well-known local landmark, rich in wildlife and archaeology, jointly owned by the National Trust and the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. CA 37 (March 1973) paid the first of many visits there when it was in the long process of being excavated by a team led by Philip Dixon, and CA 50 (May 1975) followed up on that first foray. CA 76 (May 1981), however, is the issue to home in on, when a full write-up placed the site in its wider prehistoric context, alongside Hambledon Hill in Dorset (see CA 406, January 2024, for my column on that county). CA 110 (July 1988) returned to the site, by which time its post-Roman history as the stronghold of a petty chief had been uncovered and understood; and a full and fascinating take on 35 years of fieldwork there then comes in CA 200 (November 2005)  a paean to a project, and a life, well-spent in a wonderful place.

Crickley Hill is one of the most famous sites in Gloucestershire and has been covered in several issues of CA, including CA 200, which summed up 35 years of excavations of there.

The other great site of north and west Gloucestershire is that of Lydney Park Roman temple, which lies just to the south-west of the town of the same name. CA 2 and 3 (May and July 1967) first mention this site, which had originally been excavated by the Wheelers in the late 1920s (see CA 216, March 2008, on Tessa Verney Wheelers work there). In the early 1980s, it was spectacularly re-excavated, as reported in CA 76 (May 1981), demonstrating that most of the buildings date from the late 3rd or early 4th century, rather than the late 4th century as previously thought. The site has a complex history, with the Temple of Nodens (Templvm Marti Nodentis), alongside its guest house and baths, all standing within a prehistoric promontory fort situated on a steep bluff overlooking the Severn Estuary. It was reoccupied in the Roman period, first by a community engaged in mining iron, before its later redevelopment as a ritual site. (Those of you interested in the mosaics there and their wider context in Romano-British art should see, too, CA 251, February 2011.) While in the vicinity, I should also flag a marvellous exploration of the Forest of Dean in CA 362 (May 2020), which is one of the only archaeological examinations of that fascinating part of the country, rich in folklore and archaeology alike, but which for some reason has rarely featured in the pages of the magazine. I, for one, would love to read more of any fieldwork from there, so if you are working in the area, please get in touch.

Moving back eastwards into the triangle formed by Gloucester, Cheltenham, and Tewkesbury, I can flag the potted history of Roman as well as early and later medieval settlement there, as told through the pages of Current Archaeology. CA 26 (May 1971) and CA 45 (July 1974), for example, explore Roman Gloucester; CA 56 (May 1976), the early medieval town; and CA 221 (August 2008) and CA 390 (September 2022), its later medieval communities. Similarly, there is much fun to be had examining the early research into Roman and medieval Tewkesbury in CA 32 (May 1972) and CA 45 (July 1974). More recently, CA 302 (May 2015) explored the tombs in its abbey, especially that linked to George, Duke of Clarence, elder brother of Richard III. And, while we are in this area, spare a thought for delightful Deerhurst priory church, a remarkable Anglo-Saxon survival that lies three miles south-west of the town on the banks of the Severn. CA 28 (September 1971) paid a visit there, a wonderful piece of fieldwork in an often-overlooked corner of the county.

CA 28 visited Deerhurst priory church  a remarkable Anglo-Saxon survival three miles south-west of Tewkesbury.

EAST GLOUCESTERSHIRE AND THE COTSWOLDS

The Cotswolds these days have a reputation as a playground of the rich and famous, especially the Soho Farmhouse set around Chipping Norton. The Roman occupation of this area certainly had its social high society too, something that Current Archaeology has focused a spotlight on in its visits to Chedworth Roman Villa, ten miles south-east of Cheltenham, to which I dedicated a column in CA 356 (November 2019). Ten miles further south lies Cirencester (Roman Corinium), the local town that in good part put in train the regional wool industry that survives, to some degree, to this day. CA 29 (November 1971) first visited the town with an in-depth review of its pre-, high-, and post-Roman history, and CA 42 (January 1974) and CA 45 (July 1974) followed up on that analysis with updates of additional fieldwork there, including the discovery of a well-preserved house on the eastern side of the town in Insula XII and works around the towns forum, as well as updates on the then-newly opened museum. Forty years would pass with barely a whisper, until CA 281 (August 2013) visited fieldwork along the Tetbury Road on the citys western outskirts, where  just outside the Roman walls  were found the remains of its cemetery: 71 inhumation burials and three cremations spanning the full history of the Roman settlement from the late 1st century to the early 4th century  a remarkable insight into life and death in this place across multiple generations, movements, and upheavals.

There is, however, a little bit more to the Cotswolds than the Romans. Down the years, fragments of both earlier and later communities have popped up in the pages of the magazine, including, in CA 177 (January 2002), a wonderful roundup of multi-period fieldwork from this time undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology; the Iron Age (and later Roman) settlement of Claydon/Clayden Pike near Lechlade in the far south-western corner of the county in CA 75 (February 1981), CA 86 (March 1983), and CA 121 (September 1990); a deserted medieval village at Upton near Tetbury, examined by no less a luminary than Philip Rahtz in CA 4 (September 1967); and a Cistercian abbey at Hailes near Winchcombe, examined in CA 331 (October 2017).

Sites in east Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds have featured several times in the magazine, including investigations at Chedworth in CA 305; the exploration of Cirencesters post-Roman history in CA 45; the discovery of a Roman cemetery on the outskirts of Roman Corinium in CA 281; and the excavation of the Iron Age settlement of Clayden Pike, near Lechlade, in CA 86.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL GLOUCESTERSHIRE

The final quarter of this column looks south and west to the lowland landscapes formed by the Severn floodplain. A good starting point is at Purton, near Sharpness, where a series of post-medieval vessels abandoned along the banks of the river made headlines at this time, in both the specialist and the popular press, including in CA 237 (December 2009) and CA 286 (January 2014). A particular favourite of mine from the CA archive is the discovery of a previously unknown Roman villa at Stoke Gifford, a few miles north-east of central Bristol, where CA 394 (January 2023) reported on fieldwork beneath the pitches of the marvellously named Dings Crusaders RFC. There is other good Roman content from this area to be had, too, in examinations of Roman Frocester in CA 88 (August 1983) and CA 169 (August 2000). To end on a high note of multi-periodic multiplicity, I turn finally to Berkeley Castle, three miles south-east of Sharpness, which has a history of continuous occupation from at least the early medieval to early modern periods. This was examined in CA 233 (August 2009) and CA 305 (August 2015).

Goodbye, then, to Gloucestershire. I will head, finally, to the only county in Britain I have yet to visit on my tour of the isles, ironically the one that I live in and am most terrified of reporting on: wild and wonderful Wiltshire.

About the author

Joe Flatman completed a PhD in medieval archaeology at the University of Southampton in 2003, and since then has held positions in universities, and local and  most recently  central government. Since March 2019, he has been a Consultancy Manager in the National Trusts London and South-East Region, leading a team working on Trust sites across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. You can follow him on X: @joeflatman.
YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. In 2024, Cyprus is set to open a diplomatic representation in Yerevan, aiming to serve as a platform for fostering and strengthening friendly relations with Armenia.

The Foreign Minister of the Republic of Cyprus Constantinos Kombos , who is on an official visit to Armenia, said during a press conference held on March 7.

"As I have already mentioned, Cyprus and Armenia are connected by friendship, traditional and historical ties formed over the centuries. The Armenian community of Cyprus plays a key role in bridging our societies.

I am delighted to announce that in the forthcoming months, the Republic of Cyprus will open a diplomatic representation in Yerevan.

I would like to underscore the importance of this development. It is symbolic, yet at the same time, it will serve as a platform that will lead to further deepening and strengthening of our bilateral cooperation agenda, which is what we want, "Kombos said.
"LGBTQ parents, children, and community members are not safe if any of these candidates, who are aligned with groups that have brought violence to our communities and created a moral panic over LGBTQ existence, attain political power."



-- Daisy Gardner and Angela Givant



LOKA protesters in Glendale (Kelly Stuart)

(Image by Kelly Stuart) Details DMCA



The rising levels of violent right-wing extremism in this country were spotlighted on January 6, 2021, when supporters of Trump's "Big Lie" laid siege on the Capitol Building, assaulting police officers and threatening to kill elected officials. Locally, this violence was on display by those protesting Pride Month, including at Saticoy Elementary School where I was personally assaulted. In this edition of "Voices From The Community" series, Daisy Gardner, of Our Schools USA - Los Angeles and Angela Givant, GUSD Parents for Public Schools, detail how supporters of these violent groups are on the ballot on March 5, 2024:

We are public school parents with children in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and the Glendale Unified School District (GUSD). This past year we have watched with horror as several so-called "parental rights'' groups have brought anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and violence to our schools and school board meetings.

Allies of this same hate coalition are on the ballot this March 5th.

On June 2, 2023, outside of Saticoy Elementary in North Hollywood, we watched as a crowd of people in matching "Leave Our Kids Alone" shirts surrounded the school, angry that the school would dare to read a book called, "The Big Book of Families" to celebrate Pride month. The group included older men dressed in paramilitary garb who were later identified as Proud Boys and January 6th participants.

We heard one member of the Leave Our Kids Alone (LOKA) coalition commandeer a PA system and encourage the enraged group to "zip tie the principal" and hurt teachers and staff. LAUSD Board President Kelly Gonez had to be escorted out of the crowd for her safety. Anti-LGBTQ and anti-Semitic slurs were hurled at reporters. The LOKA coalition wanted to hurt someone, and they did. After the group of counter-protestors left, the LOKA coalition beat an unhoused man to the point of unconsciousness.

A few days later, on June 6, 2023, we watched as the LOKA coalition descended upon Glendale Unified's school board headquarters, many wearing the same "Leave Our Kids Alone" shirts. A riot ensued. Video footage from journalist Kelly Stuart shows members of the LOKA group plotting to surround the police line to target the pro-LGBTQ side shortly before violence broke out. Again, Proud Boys, J6ers, and even a former MMA fighter with a knife strapped to his chest were identified at the riot.

LOKA brought many of the same people to a June 20, 2023, Glendale Unified Meeting. They were spotted again over the summer at Chino Valley, Redlands, Temecula, and Orange. Each time, non-stakeholders from out of town hijacked a meeting that was not theirs and intimidated LGBTQ families and children. At Redlands in September, several members of the greater LOKA coalition (both of whom were allegedly kicked out of the school board meeting for carrying knives) were filmed following a Safe Redlands Schools family to their cars. One of these men was also present at Glendale Unified.



Wrapped in the flag and angry (Courtesy of Kelly Stuart)

(Image by Kelly Stuart) Details DMCA



LOKA and their fellow "parental rights" groups did not confine their intimidation and harassment of LGBTQ parents, children, and allies to school board meetings. In September, journalist Tina Desiree Berg filmed LOKA frontman Manuk Grigoryan standing by as a fellow LOKA member bear-maced two LGBTQ activists at the anti-trans "Save Aiden" rally in Pasadena. In October, LOKA (along with Mom Army - Antelope Valley leaders) shut down a Drag Queen Story Hour at the San Fernando Library, blocking doors and entry points, allegedly impeding an LGBTQ person's right to access a public space.

While the attacks on our LGBTQ community are shocking enough, what is more concerning is that some of LOKA's allies are proudly on the ballot this March 5th.

In Glendale, both Jordan Henry and Aneta Krpekyan, candidates for the GUSD board, have refused to denounce the violence of their LOKA supporters and have led targeted harassment campaigns against teachers and queer community members. The website of Raquel Villalta, running for Board District 3 in LAUSD, shows a picture of her proudly posing with a LOKA member at a "Parental Rights Rally" where speakers, including Moms for Liberty LA, encouraged attendees to target teachers unions and public education.

And those are just the school board candidates. LOKA's other allies include LA city council candidate Rudy Melendez and CA state assembly candidate Tony Rodriguez, both of whom participated in Instagram Lives with Grigoryan. CA state assembly candidate Patrick Lee Gipson (who extolls "parental rights" on his website), Glendale city council candidate James Clarke, and US congressional candidate Alex Balekian all use "parental rights" as a cover for anti-trans, anti-public school, anti-union goals, and have frequently appeared and rallied with individuals who voice open anti-Semitism, homophobia, transphobia, and racism.

LGBTQ parents, children, and community members are not safe if any of these candidates, who are aligned with groups that have brought violence to our communities and created a moral panic over LGBTQ existence, attain political power. In this upcoming election, we implore our fellow voters to understand their choice is not a matter of political party. It is a matter of safety. This March 5th, violence is disqualifying.

Daisy Gardner, Our Schools USA - Los Angeles

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).


(Image by NATO) Details DMCA



Sweden will finally be admitted into NATO after Hungary gave its approval. Hungary was the only NATO country that had not ratified Sweden's application, a process that requires the backing of all NATO members. Sweden applied to join NATO in May 2022 in a historic shift in a policy prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Turkey was the only other NATO holdout, but the Turkish parliament voted its approval for Swedish membership last month.

Earlier this month, lawmakers from Hungary's governing Fidesz party boycotted an emergency parliament session in which a vote on Sweden's bid to join NATO was on the agenda.

Prime Minister Viktor Orba'n, a right-wing nationalist who has forged close ties with Russia, has said that Swedish criticism of Hungary's democracy had soured relations between the two countries and led to reluctance among lawmakers in his Fidesz party to permit Sweden's admittance to NATO.

Orba'n is accused of using the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the influx of Ukrainian refugees as well as his government's ruling power to govern with a heavy hand and institute non-democratic norms. His close association with Russia and China doesn't help and people accuse Orba'n of having better ties with Russia than with other EU and NATO members.

Orba'n and his right-wing Fidesz party have also been viewed as an example of democratic backsliding. Political interference by the country's legislative and executive branches of government appears to be threatening the institutional independence of the judiciary, creating a situation that does not allow for proper checks and balances.

Back in 2022, the European Parliament determined that Hungary can no longer be considered a full democracy and had instead become an "electoral autocracy".

The European Parliament was also concerned about several political areas concerning democracy and fundamental rights in Hungary, including the "functioning of its constitutional and electoral system, the independence of the judiciary, corruption and conflicts of interest and freedom of expression, including media pluralism".

The Parliament was also concerned about "academic freedom, freedom of religion, freedom of association, the right to equal treatment, including LGBTIQ rights, the rights of minorities, as well as those of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees".

A bipartisan delegation of U.S. senators was recently on an official visit to Hungary and called on the nationalist government to immediately approve Sweden's request to join NATO.

The delegation was investigating several issues, including Hungary's NATO policy, Sweden's NATO accession and other controversial topics.

The US senators criticized Orba'n's increasingly warm relations with Russia and China even though he has opened the country's doors to Ukrainian refugees.

Orba'n, widely considered to be Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest EU ally, has long been criticized for turning his back on the EU bloc's standards on democracy.

The delay in ratifying Sweden's NATO application has also soured Budapest's relations with the United States and raised concerns among its allies.

Hungary's government has apparently adopted an increasingly belligerent stance toward U.S. President Joe Biden's administration, accusing the U.S. of attempting to influence Hungarian citizens and their way of life.

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
Ok, so this may not be news to many readers, but I feel the need to say that CNN and MSNBC talking heads are shills because it's gotten much worse. Specifically, both CNN and MSNBC have hired a multitude of former Obama and Biden staffers who twist and distort the news particularly when it comes to Joe Biden and his policies.

While the majority of Democrats do not want Biden or Harris as their only choice to vote as a Democrat, the hacks on CNN and MSNBC write off the view of the majority of Democrats, again and again saying that they are not paying attention yet and they'll vote for Joe as a vote against Trump. They they rhapsodize how wonderfully Joe has done on so many issues. As I watch this, another MSNBC talking head hack, waxes sublimely how Joe Biden "does accomplishes more in one day than Trump did in his whole presidency."

The reality is, Joe is the opposite of charismatic, and he is so bad at that aspect of leadership that his actual accomplishments are not appreciated or weighed as significant in the public's balancing of their perceptions of who Biden is. To them he is too old, pathetically weak on dealing with Israel and Netanyahu, and even too weak on women's rights to abortion.

These shills are really not serving Biden alone. They are serving the insiders who run the Democratic party and, many believe, the policies that Joe Biden signs off on that insiders write up for him, in the White House. That makes them part. of a conspiracy to totally block the Democratic process in the Democratic presidential primary.

All the while that these shills have, for the past year, presented the inevitability of Joe Biden as the only candidate to run against Trump, Joe Biden's support has continued to plummet. The reality is, these shills and the power base they are empowering, are part of a conspiracy to prevent a truly fair, democratic primary. I have no doubt that Obama played a role in stifling any interest in running in the primary.

There is a growing opinion that Biden will drop out at or shortly beforethe Democratic convention. If that happens, then the Biden delegates, who I believe will primarily be neoliberal, centrist Democratic insiders, will be able to select a candidate who has never won a primary, who the American people never had a chance to vet. Americans will be forced to vote for someone who never went through the Democratic process.

If you don't want Biden, the least you can do, is when you vote in your primary, don't vote for him. Vote for no choice, or vote for another democratic candidate, or leave the presidential slot blank. Send a message similar to the one voters in Michigan sent. It is a strong way to send a message to the idiots leading the Democratic party.
It's been a long and ciruitous search to find the handful of words that can end all warfare on Earth.

Living in the United States I was long tripped up by the "Excuse me, but WHAT ABOUT HITLER?" question.

I tried pointing out that the U.S. and British governments refused to rescue Nazis' victims because they simply didn't want them as immigrants, that the war could have been avoided, that Nazism could have been avoided, that the U.S. didn't need to develop and promote the dangerous bunk science of eugenics, or the practice of racist segregation studied in the U.S. by the Nazis, or the practices of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and concentration of people on reservations emulated by the Nazis, that U.S. corporations didn't need to fund and arm the Nazis, that the U.S. didn't have to prioritize opposing the Soviet Union, didn't have to develop the pledge of allegiance and the one-arm salute, didn't have to welcome former Nazis into the U.S. military, didn't have to engage in a mad arms race and build up to war with Japan, didn't have to develop or use nuclear weapons, and that all of these horrors happened in a very different world from today's. But intelligent people who have no idea any of this makes sense because they've never heard it before, want documentation, as they should, so they have to read a book.

At times I gave up the hunt and declared it unfair. Slavery abolitionists weren't required to transform the worldview of enslavers with a single sentence. They were allowed endless lectures and books and plays and Uncle Tom's Cabin. Why shouldn't we be allowed Lay Down Your Arms? But I persevered.

I tried taking on particular hot wars. For example:

Yes, the side you oppose -- let's say Russia -- has engaged in hideous, murderous, criminal warmaking. But both sides could have had a better deal prior to the Russian invasion had the West treated the Minsk agreements seriously, or through the agreement rejected by the United States and United Kingdom in the early days of the invasion, or at any point in the ever-worsening murderous quagmire up until now. There is no superior result that can come from continuing rather than ending a war that increasingly risks nuclear apocalypse for us all. But one can't just say that like Moses and be believed by people whose televisions and newspapers have spent years making such statements sound like the ravings of a lunatic. So, again, documentation is required.

Or, for example:

Yes, the side you oppose -- let's say Hamas/Palestine -- has engaged in hideous, murderous, criminal warmaking. That simply isn't any moral or legal or practical excuse for the Israeli government to have engaged in dramatically larger scale hideous, murderous, criminal warmaking both before and after one particular day last fall. Both sides are fueling a vicious cycle that makes both sides worse off. That's not the way to peace. It's been tested many thousands of times around the world for centuries, and it fails overwhelmingly. The solution to dueling wasn't to make sure the correct idiot had a better gun, but to outgrow the barbarisn of dueling. The same is true with war.

But such statements always require more for anyone seriously pondering the topic. In fact, a voluminous website that debunks myths and explains rationales can be required. And even that can be insufficient.

My temptation, as a lover of books, has often been to give up on finding the soundbyte and suggest reading these:

The War Abolition Collection:

Abolishing the Military, by Griffin Manawaroa Leonard (Te Arawa), Joseph Llewellyn, Richard Jackson, 2023.

War Is Hell: Studies in the Right of Legitimate Violence, by C. Douglas Lummis, 2023.

The Greatest Evil Is War, by Chris Hedges, 2022.

Abolishing State Violence: A World Beyond Bombs, Borders, and Cages by Ray Acheson, 2022.

Against War: Building a Culture of Peace by Pope Francis, 2022.

Ethics, Security, and The War-Machine: The True Cost of the Military by Ned Dobos, 2020.

Understanding the War Industry by Christian Sorensen, 2020.

No More War by Dan Kovalik, 2020.

Strength Through Peace: How Demilitarization Led to Peace and Happiness in Costa Rica, and What the Rest of the World Can Learn from a Tiny Tropical Nation, by Judith Eve Lipton and David P. Barash, 2019.

Social Defence by Jrgen Johansen and Brian Martin, 2019.

Murder Incorporated: Book Two: America's Favorite Pastime by Mumia Abu Jamal and Stephen Vittoria, 2018.

Waymakers for Peace: Hiroshima and Nagasaki Survivors Speak by Melinda Clarke, 2018.

Preventing War and Promoting Peace: A Guide for Health Professionals edited by William Wiist and Shelley White, 2017.

The Business Plan For Peace: Building a World Without War by Scilla Elworthy, 2017.

War Is Never Just by David Swanson, 2016.

A Global Security System: An Alternative to War by World Beyond War, 2015, 2016, 2017.

A Mighty Case Against War: What America Missed in U.S. History Class and What We (All) Can Do Now by Kathy Beckwith, 2015.

War: A Crime Against Humanity by Roberto Vivo, 2014.

Catholic Realism and the Abolition of War by David Carroll Cochran, 2014.

War and Delusion: A Critical Examination by Laurie Calhoun, 2013.

Shift: The Beginning of War, the Ending of War by Judith Hand, 2013.

War No More: The Case for Abolition by David Swanson, 2013.

The End of War by John Horgan, 2012.

Transition to Peace by Russell Faure-Brac, 2012.

From War to Peace: A Guide To the Next Hundred Years by Kent Shifferd, 2011.

War Is A Lie by David Swanson, 2010, 2016.

Beyond War: The Human Potential for Peace by Douglas Fry, 2009.

Living Beyond War by Winslow Myers, 2009.

The Collapse of the War System: Developments in the Philosophy of Peace in the Twentieth Century by John Jacob English, 2007.

Enough Blood Shed: 101 Solutions to Violence, Terror, and War by Mary-Wynne Ashford with Guy Dauncey, 2006.

Planet Earth: The Latest Weapon of War by Rosalie Bertell, 2001.

Nonkilling Global Political Science by Glenn D. Paige 2000.

Boys Will Be Boys: Breaking the Link Between Masculinity and Violence by Myriam Miedzian, 1991.

Then it struck me, a bolt of inspiration. There is a single soundbyte with the power to abolish war and bring about a peaceful, just, and sustainable world.

Are you ready?

Here it is:

Read One of Those Books After Dinner Every Day and Call Me in the Awakening.
Importer of Italian Brands Lofra and Verona Appliances Offers Free Cookware by Nutri-Stahl EuroChef USA, the official importer of Italian cooking appliance brands Lofra and Verona Appliances, is excited to announce their latest promotion which offers a free Nutri-Stahl cookware set with the purchase of a qualifying Lofra or Verona Appliances range. The cookware sets are non-stick, made of stainless steel, induction-friendly and offer a long list of high-quality traits. "The Nutri-Stahl 
Bakersfield, California - On February 21st, 2024, the Farahi Law Firm had the distinct honor of participating in a commemorative event at Heritage Park in Bakersfield - a significant occasion that deeply aligned with our principles and goals. Under the leadership of our founder, Attorney Justin P. Farahi, we came together with the community to honor the memories of Angel Berumen and Alejandro Vargas, two young children whose lives were 
A fleeting exchange between an onlooker and ABC journalist as he reported on an alleged hit-and-run has exposed what he says is "just a small sample of the casual racism" many experience daily in Australia.

The national broadcaster's Nabil Al-Nashar was in the middle of trying to record a TV cross in Sydney's southwest when he paused to let a passerby walk through the frame. Al-Nashar was speaking to the camera when he stopped and said "I'll let you go through" to the man, who was making his way down a suburban street.

The man then turns around and looks into the camera and says "because of increased immigration  thanks very much" before he continues on. The exchange was merely seconds-long, with visibly stunned Al-Nashar briefly at a loss for words, before a producer can be heard saying "that was on camera".

"Great. Immigrants are always the problem. Even when its a hit-and-run," he retorted. "You've heard it here first".

ABC News reporter Nabil Al-Nashar being told it's "because of increased immigration". Source: X

Al-Nashar later took to social media to elaborate. Just a small sample of the casual #racism I sometimes cop as an Arab Australian journalist," he said on X.

"Notice how polite I was to him before he declared immigrants are the root of all problems. I was covering a hit and run by the waybut I guess the culprit is always 'immigrants'".

Just a small sample of the casual #racism I sometimes cop as an Arab Australian journalist 



Notice how polite I was to him before he declared immigrants are the root of all problems.



I was covering a hit and run by the waybut I guess the culprit is always immigrants. pic.twitter.com/Q7tI0l15XU  Nabil Al-Nashar |   (@NabilAlNashar) March 6, 2024

Fellow media personalities weigh in on 'racism' comment

The post attracted over 6,000 interactions, with many other Australian media personalities reaching out to share their disgust. "That makes my blood boil Nabil, so sorry," the ABC's Bridget Brennan said.

Story continues

"Bloody furious for you, Nabil. All strength to you, buddy," Nine's Andrew Probyn said. "Professionally handled. They take the low road you take the high road. Keep going as you do a great job!" Peter Ryan with the ABC said.

Nabil Al-Nashar said, "I was covering a hit and run but I guess the culprit is always immigrants". Source: X

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Islamabad, Pakistan, February 27, 2024 - Mars BPO, a trailblazer in the BPO landscape founded by Shoaib Akram, celebrates this significant milestone with the Annual Dinner and Award Ceremony, held graciously in Islamabad. The spectacular event recognizes the excellence of Mars BPO's top leadership, employees, and remarkable growth. Gathering momentum and prestige with each passing year since its establishment in 2013, Mars BPO has become a leading name in the country, 
About half of Medicare Advantage members left their plans by the end of five years, according to a 2023 study from Brown University School of Public Health. Most switched to another Medicare Advantage plan, but not necessarily because they liked Medicare Advantage. Returning to Original Medicare can be tricky after you first sign up, because you may not be able to get a Medicare Supplement Insurance plan, known as Medigap.

But for people with serious or chronic health conditions who have Medicare Advantage, limited provider networks and prior authorization requirements may make it difficult or expensive for them to get the care they need. Its helpful to understand your options.

WHEN MEDICARE ADVANTAGE ISNT THE RIGHT PLAN

Medicare Advantage plans typically require members to get health care from doctors and hospitals within a network. Members might have trouble if their doctor falls out of network or they want to see a specialist who doesnt take their plan. Medicare Advantage plans also may require you to get approval before they cover some services or medications.

While most Medicare Advantage enrollees are in plans with a $0 premium, getting medical care costs money, and Medicare Advantage plans can have an annual out-of-pocket maximum as high as $8,850 in 2024.

Joanne Giardini-Russell, owner of the insurance agency Giardini Medicare in Michigan, recalls a client who had a Medicare Advantage plan and got cancer. He was hitting his max out-of-pocket year after year, she says. And then throw in prior authorizations, which he wasnt a fan of.

WHEN YOU CAN CHANGE PLANS

If you have Medicare Advantage and you want to switch plans or go back to Original Medicare, there are two annual opportunities: Medicares fall open enrollment from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7 and Medicare Advantage open enrollment from Jan. 1 to March 31.

However, if you want to return to Original Medicare and you have health issues, you may not qualify for Medigap, which helps keep Original Medicare affordable. In most states, after Medigaps initial enrollment period  in which you can buy any plan from any insurer, regardless of health status  companies can decline to cover you.

Everybody thinks the open enrollment in the fall is going to save them, Giardini-Russell says, remembering a client with a Medicare Advantage plan who couldnt qualify for Medigap due to a heart condition.

She said, I thought in November, you could just change during open enrollment, Giardini-Russell says. She didnt have any way to get out.

WHAT ARE THE EXCEPTIONS?

There are two trial rights scenarios in which someone with Medicare Advantage can switch back to a Medigap plan without a medical exam:

 If you start with a Medicare Advantage plan when you first qualify for Medicare, you have 12 months to go back to Original Medicare with any Medigap plan.

 If you have a Medigap plan and drop it to try a Medicare Advantage plan for the first time, you have 12 months to return to Original Medicare and the Medigap plan you dropped, as long as the company still sells it.

If you work with an insurance agent, they might also know which Medigap company would approve you based on your health. There are some that will treat certain conditions differently than others, says Adam Hyers, an insurance broker and founder of the insurance agency Hyers and Associates in Columbus, Ohio. We keep a list of who might be more likely to accept a client who is in a gray area.

In four states, residents have a chance at least once a year to buy a guaranteed-issue Medigap plan: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and New York. There are also quirky exceptions: In 2022 and 2023, Blue Shield of California offered an underwriting holiday during which California residents could join Medigap Plan G without medical underwriting.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois offers guaranteed-issue Medigap plans to Illinois residents. Obviously, the premiums are going to be higher, because theyre going to have higher claims, says Cynthia Pruemm, founder and CEO of SIS Financial Group in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

In the worst-case scenario, moving out of your plans service area grants you another chance at guaranteed-issue Medigap.

WHAT IF YOU CANT GET MEDIGAP?

If its not possible to get Medigap, you may have to find the best Medicare Advantage plan for your needs. Dont get sidetracked by perks; pay attention to doctors and drug coverage.

For guidance, call a broker rather than the providers directly. You want to talk to somebody whos independent, that represents all of the companies, Pruemm says.

______________________________

Kate Ashford is a writer at NerdWallet. This article was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet.
The Tillamook County Creamery Association has made a name for itself milking cows and making cheese, butter and ice cream  but an animal welfare group wants to show the company is now also milking consumers by not being upfront about its source for most of the milk and how its produced.

The Oregon Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments on whether it should allow a class-action case to go forward that accuses the 110-year-old farmer-owned dairy cooperative of greenwashing practices.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund and four Oregon consumers allege the Tillamook County Creamery Association has made misleading marketing claims about its famous offerings. Each consumer thought that she was purchasing a product that aligned with her values, according to the suit.

Ads tout the companys small family dairies whose cows graze on the Oregon coasts green pastures, the suit contends, when it has for decades gotten milk from a mega dairy in eastern Oregon.

Tillamook, in turn, has used the ads to command premium prices on products, causing millions of Oregon consumers to overpay at the grocery store, the defense fund argues.

But the courts have yet to tackle those claims  which Tillamook Creamery officials dispute and argue spring from the defense funds bias against dairies.

A Multnomah County Circuit Court judge previously dismissed the case, saying it doesnt qualify for a class-action status and the Oregon Court of Appeals in August 2022 affirmed that decision.

The courts have said essentially that everyone who joins the class-action suit would have had to view the ads and rely on their representations to purchase Tillamook products.

The latest pleadings before the Oregon Supreme Court were held at the Lewis & Clark Law School before a live audience of students. Each year, the states highest court hears cases at law schools throughout Oregon; it chose Lewis & Clark for this case due to the schools program in animal law.

Industry observers say the case brings up important questions about so-called green marketing thats now widely common in the food world  and especially so among corporations that sell animal products.

What we see is firms latching onto consumers beliefs and perceptions, said Ian D. Parkman, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Portland. If I can call this organic or sustainable or eco, those kinds of terms then become very salient for consumers when theyre making buying decisions.

Tillamook County Creamery Association officials said in a statement that they have been aggressively defending ourselves against those false allegations since the suit was filed five years ago.

We remain gratified that all previous rulings, those in both the trial court and in the Oregon Court of Appeals, have been in our favor, and we anticipate that this latest appeal by the plaintiffs will be similarly unsuccessful, the statement said.

BELOVED BRAND

Formed in 1909 by a small group of dairy farmers in Tillamook County, the cooperative is now owned by 60 farmers and employs 900 people in Oregon alone. It runs two processing plants, one in Tillamook and one in Boardman, and operates the iconic Tillamook Creamery visitor center on the coast that draws 1.3 million visitors annually.

In 2022, the cooperative exceeded $1.2 billion in retail sales and its products are now found in most supermarkets across the U.S.

The company, awarded a Beloved Oregon Brand honor last year by the Oregon Historical Society, plans to open an ice cream manufacturing facility in Illinois later this year and has recently expanded beyond the dairy aisle to prepared frozen meal products.

The companys labels play up its origin in Tillamook County and its website and social media platforms feature the countys rolling hills, cows in pastures, the cooperative model, its connection to local farmers and its commitments to healthful cows and enduring ecosystems.

Farmers continue to be at the heart of all we do, the website says.

The Tillamook County Creamery Association, which operates the Tillamook brand, is defending itself in a lawsuit claiming misleading marketing and advertising. (The Oregonian/File photos)

But while the cooperative does source milk from its Oregon coast-based farmer-owners, over two thirds of the milk it uses comes from the Columbia River Dairy outside Boardman, a confined animal feeding operation with a permit to hold 28,000 cows, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture. The average Oregon dairy has about 340 cows.

Columbia River Dairy is owned by Boardman-based Threemile Canyon Farms, the states largest industrial dairy operation and one of the largest in the U.S. In addition to Columbia River Dairy, Threemile Canyon Farms also owns two other dairies, a specialty beef operation and about 90,000 acres of cropland and rangeland. Tillamook has been working with Threemile Canyon for nearly two decades, according to its website.

The lawsuit, filed in 2019, states that Threemile Canyon, much like other industrial dairies, confines its cows to concrete warehouses and dirt feedlots. It also cites data showing most of the operations cows suffer from a debilitating, painful disease called bovine mastitis.

Neither Threemile Canyon nor Columbia River Dairy are named in the suit against Tillamook. Separately, a lawsuit filed last week by several Boardman residents alleges Threemile Canyon and several other farming businesses have dumped millions of tons of excess nitrogen onto fields, contaminating their drinking water with nitrates and potentially causing serious health problems.

PREMIUM PRICE

The Tillamook lawsuit centers on a state consumer protection law, the Unlawful Trade Practices Act, which has been around since the 1970s and allows consumers to recover damages that occur as a result of deceptive sales or business practices.

Nadia Dahab, an attorney representing consumers in the case against the Tillamook cooperative, told the Supreme Court justices that the cooperative had created a false perception of its products that allowed it to overcharge customers.

Through its marketing and advertising campaign, Tillamook held its products out as something theyre not: family farmed, locally sourced, artisanal dairy products that come from cows that graze freely in the vast green lush pastures of Tillamook valley, she said.

Nadia Dahab, an attorney representing the plaintiffs and the Animal Legal Defense Fund, makes her case in front of the Oregon Supreme Court at Lewis & Clark Law School on March 4, 2024.Beth Nakamura

One of the ads referenced in the lawsuit slams Big Food  a reference to large industrial food corporations  pitching Tillamook as their antithesis. It features, among other images, a farmer throwing bales of hay from the bed of a pickup truck onto a green field, another farmer bottle-feeding a calf from a large milk jug and a hand stroking a cows back. Hello farmers, hello co-op, hello integrity, hello Molly! the ad says.

Another ad proclaims Farmers, not shareholders and We are independent farmer-owners, which means our values guide us instead of profit margins. Thats the way weve been doing it since 1909. Thats dairy done right.

Those depictions confuse consumers, the lawsuit contends, because  given where Tillamook sources its milk  Tillamook is Big Food and the embodiment of industrial dairy.

Because higher pricing is tied to perceptions created through that advertising, Dahab said in court that every person who purchased a Tillamook product at that premium price, regardless of why they chose to do so, suffered an ascertainable loss of money or property.

The lawsuit seeks monetary relief on behalf of all people in Oregon who bought Tillamook dairy products between Aug. 19, 2018, and the date when the court would certify the class action.

MANY  KNOW

Michael Sandmire, who represented the Tillamook County Creamery Association, did not comment on the ads at the hearing before the Supreme Court.

Nor did he dispute that the cooperative relies on milk from an industrial dairy in Boardman.

In fact, he said many people who buy Tillamook products are aware of that fact  yet they continue buying the Tillamook brand.

Tillamooks products have incredible reach  those Oregonians [who buy the products], many of them know of the conduct alleged in this complaint, Sandmire said.

Michael Sandmire, an attorney representing the Tillamook County Creamery Association, listens as attorney Nadia Dahab makes her case in front of the Oregon Supreme Court at Lewis & Clark Law School on March 4, 2024.Beth Nakamura

The question before the Supreme Court isnt the validity of the false advertising claims  which the court has not considered  but the Animal Legal Defense Funds hope to expand the number of people who can sue Tillamook based on the claims.

Sandmire argued that to qualify for a class-action suit, the complaint would have to show both that every single member of the class had seen Tillamooks ads and also that each relied on the ads in their buying decisions  an argument the lower courts have concurred with.

The Tillamook County Creamery Association statement said the company adamantly disagrees with the allegations made in the lawsuit.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund is anti-dairy and actively advocates for people to cut all dairy products from their diets, the statement said.

The company declined to comment on the misleading advertising claims. The Oregon Dairy Farmers Association also declined to comment on the lawsuit.

RISE IN CLAIMS

The Tillamook case is one of several filed in recent years by advocacy groups against food companies over a variety of sustainability claims ranging from cage-free to all natural  mirroring a rise in lawsuits targeting bold sustainability representations across all industries.

The rise in the food-related cases has emerged with the dovetailing of two trends in the agriculture industry: Farms have consolidated and grown larger and consumers are more concerned about how their food is made  and willing to pay more for products they consider sustainably made, typically on small-scale, non-corporate and local farms that use fewer chemicals and whose animals are pasture-based rather than confined to cages or concrete barns.

In Oregon, as elsewhere across the U.S., the number of dairy farms has plummeted in recent decades. In 2005, the state had 406 permitted dairies. That number fell by nearly half to 228 permitted dairies as of this year, according to the state Agriculture Department. Tillamooks cooperative, too, has shrunk from 100 to 60 farmer-owners over the past decade.

But while the number of dairies in Oregon has dwindled, the number of cows in the state has increased  as has the percentage of milk produced by larger herds on the states industrial mega dairies, state farming data shows.

Simultaneously, a growing awareness among American consumers of the health, social and environmental impacts of food choices and the threat of climate change have led to an increased demand for more sustainable alternatives.

That, in turn, has driven a proliferation in farming certification systems and food labels such as organic, regenerative, local or humanely raised.

Yet many sustainability claims are close to impossible for consumers to verify, said Tyler Lobdell, an attorney with Food and Water Watch, a Washington D.C.-based environmental advocacy nonprofit.

People cant visit factory farms nor do they have easy access to regulatory information about the farms environmental impacts, he said. And there are no federal animal welfare laws that set the standards for humane treatment of factory farm animals while on the farms, he said.

Consumers really are at the mercy of trusting that companies are being honest and forthcoming with how they represent themselves, Lobdell said.

Its unclear when the Oregon Supreme Court will issue a ruling in the case. There is no set time frame for the courts decisions.

 Gosia Wozniacka covers environmental justice, climate change, the clean energy transition and other environmental issues. Reach her at gwozniacka@oregonian.com or 971-421-3154.

Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.
A Marion County judge sought to hold the superintendent of the Oregon State Hospital in contempt of court after the psychiatric facility refused her order to continue treating a recently discharged patient.

But a federal judge stepped in Wednesday, the day before Superintendent Dolly Matteucci was supposed to appear in court. U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman said the Marion County Circuit Court was violating his own order that patients be released from the facility on a strict timeline.
Oregon Poison Center officials say the number of cases of very young children exposed to illicit fentanyl that it has been asked to assist with has dramatically increased  from none in 2020 to 16 last year.

The centers medical director and Oregon public health officials plan to discuss the surge during a news conference Thursday. Thats the same day The New England Journal of Medicine is expected to publish nationwide findings that show the Oregon Poison Centers increase in volume is no exception.
Lake Oswego homeowners Gerrit Koepping and Elisabeth Zeller were the first Oregonians to remove long illegal discriminatory language from their property deed and have the historic document archived under a new law that took effect Jan. 1.

It was no coincidence that the couple were first to record a deed amended to strike out racist restrictions and have the unenforceable document separated from files signed during a real estate transaction. Four years ago, they initiated the idea that became House Bill 3294, a redaction in recorded instruments law.

When Koepping and Zeller, who are white, were signing a stack of real estate documents in 2018 to buy their house in the Lakewood Bay neighborhood, they saw the original deed included a century-old covenant that prevented people of color from owning property in the neighborhood.

Although their house was built in 1969, it sits on land platted in 1923 by the Oregon Iron & Steel Company, which drew up the neighborhoods agreements. The document stated that the premises could not be used or occupied by anyone who is Black or of Chinese or Japanese ancestry, except if employed by residents.

While the modern courts would never enforce this racist language, I still found it deeply disquieting to sign a document with such a hateful message, said Koepping, a Lake Oswego High School civics teacher. This property document is not just a historical relic but a statement of how I will use my property and my obligations to my neighbors. If I wanted to buy my house and join the community, I had to grit my teeth and affix my name.

In August 2020, Koepping and Zeller started on the long journey to change the law. In 2022, newly elected Rep. Daniel Nguyen, D-Lake Oswego, sponsored a bill to remove racist covenants, conditions and restrictions buried in historic title documents.

At an owners request, the new law requires county clerks to use court-ordered, updated documents as part of the searchable county property records while some of the original documents are preserved in a separate archive.

The new law, which amends Oregons 2018 law to more readily redact discriminatory language from real estate documents, is modeled after a Washington law that was upheld by Washingtons Supreme Court in 2022. Changing a deeds language is not mandatory and must be initiated by the property owner.

My students are a little shocked that it took so long  four years is a quarter of their life  to get discriminatory language removed, said Koepping after receiving a copy of the redacted deed on Feb. 27. I hope this process can become easy and routine.

The process laid out in HB 3294 involves property owners working with the circuit court as well as the recording division in their county clerks office.

Lake Oswego homeowners Elisabeth Zeller and Gerrit Koepping used a new Oregon law to remove racially restrictive covenants from their original property deeds.Gerrit Koepping

Zeller and Koepping requested a court order and certified copy of their deed with the discriminatory language redacted by Clackamas County Circuit Court Judge Kathie Steele.

Clackamas County clerk Catherine McMullen and recording manager Tiffany Staten then provided the petition form Removal of Discriminatory Language ORS 93.274 that Zeller and Koepping completed. The office then recorded the petition cover sheet, certified court order and certified copy of the redacted deed.

In Oregon, county clerks update the index of each original document referenced in the order with the recording number of the modified document. Clerks then maintain the original document separately from electronic public access, preserving it for historical or archival purposes, said McMullen.

It may be a small moment to file a property document but it feels like a step forward, Koepping told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The fee for recording the document as a deed in Clackamas County is $93 for the cover page and each additional page is $5 each. Koepping said they paid about $140

McMullen, who serves on the Recording Legislative subcommittee of the Oregon Association of County Clerks, said it was useful to help inform the bill as Rep. Nguyen sponsored it and Zeller and Koepping pushed it forward.

McMullen, who made removing racist language from covenants and deeds a part of her platform when she ran for county clerk in 2022, said, It was an honor to be a small part of dismantling a vestige of the racist history in our state and communities.

She added, Myself and my office are looking forward to helping many more homeowners with this important process.

Housing discrimination

Race-restrictive covenants were placed in property deeds and titles for many homes built across the United States during the first half of the 20th century, a time when the real estate and mortgage industries systematically denied loans in predominantly Black neighborhoods and refused to sell homes to nonwhite buyers in predominantly white neighborhoods.

The housing covenants served as Portlands only restriction on land uses until the first building code was adopted in 1918, according to historians.

In addition to Oregons exclusion laws and covenants, in 1919, the Portland Realty Board adopted a rule declaring it unethical to sell a home in a white neighborhood to a Black or Chinese person. The rule stayed in place until 1956.

After the passage of the National Housing Act in 1934, the federal government asked the Home Owners Loan Corporation to create residential security maps rating neighborhoods in cities across the country, including Portland, for investment security purposes.

Areas rated D as least desirable were surrounded with red lines on the maps, and residents who lived there were frequently denied mortgage loans and insurance.

By the mid-20th century, Portlands Black communities  Albina, Alberta and other parts of Northeast and inner Southeast Portland  were all red lined.

Racist covenants remained commonplace in title documents in Portland and elsewhere until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled them unconstitutional in 1948. Congress outlawed such restrictions outright with the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

 Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072

jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman
Julia Dixon was crowned Wednesday as Franklin High Schools representative on the 2024 Portland Rose Festival Court.

The Franklin senior plans to become a clinical psychologist. At Franklin, she has participated in theater.

Rose Festival Court announcements began March 5. The additional members of the court so far are:

In all, 15 students from Portland-area high schools will serve on the court. Each will receive a $3,500 scholarship courtesy of The Randall Group and one-on-one mentorship arranged by Unitus Community Credit Union.

Announcements continue Thursday at Ida B. Wells High School and conclude March 22, when the Benson High School court member will be announced. The 2024 Queen of Rosaria will be crowned June 7.

The Rose Festival kicks off with fireworks and City Fairs opening May 24 and culminating with the Grand Floral Parade on June 8.

Read more about Princess Julia, as told to the Portland Rose Festival.

Career plans: My main career plan is to become a clinical psychologist, but I have also considered careers in film acting, screenwriting, and producing.

High school activities and honors: Voice of Democracy Certificate of Merit, 2nd in school for Oregon Battle of the Books, Published poem Seneca Ridge with Literary Arts, Franklin Talks Race Student Leader, Thespians Club Social Media Manager.

Hobbies and special interest: I like to act in Franklin theater productions, sing, and write songs. I also love reading, hiking, and hanging out with my friends.

What are you most proud of during your high school career? I am most proud of being Ursula in The Little Mermaid this past fall. I have seen every play and musical at my high school since I was 6, and it has always been my dream to play a lead in a Franklin musical.

What is your favorite Rose Festival event and why? My favorite Rose Festival event is the Grand Floral Parade. It is such a magical celebration of different cultures and organizations coming together to celebrate the Portland community. I also love that all of the floats are made mostly from seeds; it is a great testament to Portlands ingenuity and appreciation for nature.

 Grant Butler

503-221-8566; gbutler@oregonian.com; @grantbutler

Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe
This story originally appeared at bendbulletin.com

Sasquatch, aka Bigfoot, already looms large in the American imagination. Its about to grow even larger with Sensing Sasquatch, the High Desert Museums new exhibition about the hirsute creature.

Even the shows origin story is pretty cool. According to Dana Whitelaw, executive director of the High Desert Museum, curatorial staff at the nonprofit museum just south of Bend city limits have in-house shorthand for the kinds of exhibit ideas they kick around.

We typically have a long list of our exhibit ideas, kind of our dream exhibits, she said. There are heavy lifts, for shows that might require more research and effort, and light lifts, for the ones that might fall into place with more ease and less time consumed.

The big ideas, like the one for Sensing Sasquatch, which opened Saturday and runs through Jan. 12, 2025, was what they call a lift-off idea.

The lift-off exhibits are risk taking and unexpected. They require more time and resources to put together, she said. Its one of those things where well see an idea or somebody will start talking about an idea and well say, Thats so lift-off. Its our version of, Oh, thats so awesome.

As far as empirical evidence goes, theres little to support the existence of Bigfoot. Still, its not so unusual for the High Desert Museum to tackle it as a possible special exhibit: Along with the natural history, the museum is concerned with the cultural history of the High Desert, and whether you believe in the purported primate or not, its presence looms large in the culture of the Northwest. According to oregonwild.org, Sasquatch (is) most commonly spotted in the Pacific Northwest (and) is usually described as a bipedal ape-like creature, significantly larger than the average man, and completely covered in dark brown or reddish hair.

According to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (bfro.net), Washington and California top the states with the most sightings, with a current count of 715 and 461 reported sightings. Somehow, Illinois (303 sightings), Ohio (323) and Florida (343) finish ahead of Oregon, which has had 258 sightings reported to BFRO.

Finding Sasquatch

Initially, Whitelaw said, she and other museum staff were thinking of it from a much more Western perspective, looking at some of the pop-culture components, and the history here in the Pacific Northwest.

But through regularly working with Indigenous advisers on other projects and exhibitions, more personal Sasquatch stories started to surface, she said. These included both firsthand encounters and encounters theyd heard from close friends and family members, Whitelaw said.

It really turned our attention to a completely different way of knowing Sasquatch, Whitelaw said. It became clear really quickly that Sasquatch is revered and completely different than this mainstream pop-culture view that we have. And instead of being really reclusive and shy and runs away, sometimes these stories that our advisers shared with us show elements of agency with Sasquatch and connecting with humans. And thats what many of our Indigenous artists have portrayed in their artwork, and are conveying in their artwork.

Along with other materials on display, visitors will get to see Sasquatch, whose presence has long been known on the Columbia Plateau, as depicted by five Indigenous artists: Phillip Cash Cash (Nez Perce, Cayuse), HollyAnna CougarTracks DeCoteau Littlebull (Yakama, Nez Perce, Cayuse, Cree), Charlene Tillie Moody (Warm Springs), Frank Buffalo Hyde (Nez Perce, Onondaga) and Rocky LaRock (Salish).

Not all the works were complete or yet in the museums hands at the time Whitelaw spoke to The Bulletin, but Whitelaw shared that Cash Cash has been working on a 13-foot high Bigfoot rattle made from cottonwood culled from just outside of Bend. Participating artists will also speak at the museum during points in the shows 10-month run.

We know that when we get intrigued by these unexpected ideas and we learn something unexpected, we know our visitors are going to feel the same way. Thats lift-off! Whitelaw said.

Reporter: 541-383-0349, djasper@bendbulletin.com
Rep. Annessa Hartman was scanning a bill up for a vote in the House Monday when a detail that had flown under lawmakers radar caught her eye.

Oregon had big plans to commemorate 250 years since the Declaration of Independence  without guaranteeing its nine federally recognized tribes a voice.

The three-page bill forming a planning committee had already flown through the Senate.

So as Hartman, a Gladstone Democrat and one of the Legislatures few Indigenous members, read the bill, she grew angry. It specified that members of Oregons Black, Asian American and Pacific Islander and Hispanic communities should participate in planning the celebration. It involved the governors director of tribal affairs. But the bill didnt call for explicit input from Oregons tribes, who stewarded the land of the Americas long before the colonists declaration.

Hartman stood to tell her colleagues to vote against it.

We talk about honoring our history, honoring the stories that are within the state, but what is starkly noticeable about this bill is the lack of representation from our tribal partners, Hartman, a descendent of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Cayuga, told her colleagues.

In a highly unusual move, the House agreed to rework the bill in the waning days of the session. Representatives sent the bill to the House Committee on Rules, which on Wednesday morning approved an amendment adding tribal representatives to a subcommittee. The full House approved the change hours later on a vote of 55-2.

Republican Reps. Jami Cate of Lebanon and Anna Scharf of Amity voted no. Scharf said she favored including tribal voices but thinks spending money on the planning committee broadly is a waste of taxpayer money.

Rep. Tawna Sanchez, who is Shoshone-Bannock, Ute and Carrizo, joined Hartman in advocating for changes to the bill. In her time as a lawmaker, Sanchez repeatedly secured changes to bills that neglected to recognize Oregons tribes, she told lawmakers Monday. This bill, again, left them out of the process, she said.

It is hugely important, not just to me or Rep. Hartman, but to those tribal populations and tribes all over this country, said Sanchez, a Portland Democrat. There is only a 250th anniversary because our land was taken.

The bill had slipped past Sanchez radar until Monday too, she said. She voted to pass it out of the Ways and Means Committee she co-chairs in its original form, she acknowledged.

But an event as politically significant as the U.S. Semiquincentennial demands deeper, more intentional input from the tribes, she said Wednesday.

In reality we still have a lot of impacts that maybe still need to be addressed, right? Theres history in this country of significant laws that impacted the Native population, behaviors, things that happened that truly damaged and devastated tribal populations, Sanchez said. So, not being a part of the conversation was not acceptable. "

She and Hartman presented an amendment to the House Rules committee on Wednesday that specifies that the planning committee needs to consult with the states federally recognized tribes. It creates a subcommittee with one representative from each of Oregons nine federally recognized tribes and adds one additional member to the full commission who will convey the tribes views and help to uplift the tribes histories and stories.

Hartman said the subcommittee will give Oregons nine sovereign nations space to collaborate. Her hope is that they decide to highlight the history of the tribes, their successes and also the struggles caused by colonial contact. The Fourth of July is not a happy holiday for many Indigenous people, Hartman told the rules committee, and the 250th anniversary offers an opportunity to acknowledge the dark and painful corners of the countrys founding.

If were going to move forward and heal, we have to acknowledge everyones past, Hartman said. Im very hopeful this will be one of the first times we have this partnership amongst each other, acknowledging the pain and the sorrow but also the positives.

Sami Edge covers higher education and politics for The Oregonian. You can reach her at sedge@oregonian.com or (503) 260-3430.
Road users sick of dealing with "entitled" drivers have praised one man for his "heroic" and defiant response after one Ford driver was caught in what's been labelled a shameful overtaking effort.

Dashcam footage from Monday shows a row of cars backed up in Jordan Springs, Sydney while a black Ford SUV tries to drive down the wrong side of the road in an attempt to overtake the backed up traffic of "parents waiting for traffic lights in line for the school pickup".

However the Ford driver's audacious act was cut short when the owner of the dashcam, Gareth, turned into his path by heading the correct direction on the street. Despite being in the wrong, the driver appeared angry his path was now blocked.

"Entitled moron driver got mad at me when I wouldn't back up and let him continue overtaking multiple cars at once, on the wrong side of the road, over double white lines, in a school zone!" Gareth said.

The dashcam owner told Yahoo incidents like this happen often near the school. Source: Supplied

Gareth told Yahoo News Australia he was "coming out of a driveway slowly" and looking to his right to make sure no one was coming from that side before pulling out and encountering the Ford. "I was so surprised to see him there I wasnt sure what to do for a moment," he said.

"Then he started reversing, so I just decided to follow him  I never beeped my horn, flashed my lights, revved my engine or anything like that."

Gareth claims the Ford almost hit "two other cars in the process of reversing" before entering a Woolworths loading dock and giving Gareth the bird. "Im usually in that queue myself  Im a dad and two of my kids attend the school  and I see people like this guy do stupid things like this here every day," he told Yahoo.

Story continues

While Gareth has not yet reported the incident to police he is considering it and has been urged to do so by others online who have seen the footage. However the Aussie dad is hoping "the embarrassment" is enough for them to be "more patient or find a different way around" in the future.

Aussies praise dashcam owner's response

Drivers across the country have since called Gareth a "hero" for forcing the Ford back. "This is the best thing Ive seen in a long time. Well done," one person applauded. "Ah, nothing quite like a good ol reverse of shame," another agreed.

Second video this week of a car driving in the wrong lane

Police are investigating a separate incident involving a car driving the wrong way along a busy Australian road, narrowly avoiding a potential collision and horrifying motorists.

A NSW Police spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia while drivers doing this is "rare", it is not "uncommon". "Some of these incidents can be attributed to driver error, a medical condition, changes in road signage," they said. "The offence of 'not keep left of median strip  motor vehicle' carries a penalty of $387 and three demerit points," they added.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Oregon, is throwing her support behind Donald Trump now that hes the likely Republican nominee for president.

Chavez-DeRemer made her endorsement announcement in a short thread on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday morning, shortly after former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley suspended her campaign. Chavez-DeRemer hadnt previously endorsed in the race.

Donald Trump clearly outlined how Joe Bidens policies have been a disaster for our country, and that we desperately need a president who will secure the border, strengthen the economy and improve public safety, Chavez-DeRemer wrote. I will be supporting him for president, so the American people know their voices were heard and get the relief they deserve from Joe Bidens failures.

The states other Republican in Congress, Rep. Cliff Bentz from eastern Oregon, endorsed Trump in January. At the time, Chavez-DeRemer said she looked forward to seeing the electoral process play out.

Footage shared with the Capital Chronicle of Chavez-DeRemer in D.C. on Tuesday night also showed her declining to answer a question about when she would endorse Trump. He cleaned up in more than a dozen states that held their nominating contests on Tuesday and is more than three-quarters of the way to securing the delegates he needs for the Republican nomination.

Chavez-DeRemer represents a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans, and her Democratic opponents are keen to tie her to Trump. Biden beat Trump by 9 percentage points in 2020 in the 5th Congressional District, which was since redrawn to stretch from Portland to Bend.

Most responses to her endorsement tweets were negative, and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Dan Gottlieb slammed Chavez-DeRemer in a statement.

Lori Chavez-DeRemers endorsement of Donald Trump confirms what we already knew to be true: when push comes to shove, Chavez-DeRemer will always cave to the most dangerous, far-right MAGA influences, Gottlieb said. This much is clear: Lori Chavez-DeRemer is one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the country for good reason. With each passing day, she gives Oregonians more and more motive to vote her out this November.

-- Julia Shumway, Oregon Capital Chronicle

The Oregon Capital Chronicle, founded in 2021, is a nonprofit news organization that focuses on Oregon state government, politics and policy.
Oregon state parks are still busy, but while millions of people visit popular spots like Silver Falls and Fort Stevens, there are still some places that see far, far fewer visitors.

The least visited state parks in Oregon are likely ones youve never heard of  unless youve been following previous years lists  found along remote desert highways or small pockets of the coast. Hidden among them are several natural treasures well worth the extra travel time, including spectacular waterfalls and magical desert landscapes.

A combined 533,554 people visited the 20 least visited park sites in 2023, according to data released by the Oregon Parks and Recreation and Department  less than a third of the number of people who visited Harris Beach State Park, the single most popular Oregon state park site last year.

From Northeast Oregon to the southwest corner of the state, here are the least popular, barely visited and most obscure Oregon state parks.

Munson Creek Falls is a 319-foot waterfall found at a state park site in Oregon's Coast Range.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

20. Munson Creek Falls State Natural Site

Visitors: 45,408

Location: Oregon coast

One-year change: -19%

Known for: A 319-foot waterfall found at the end of a short hike, just off the Oregon coast. Read more in this Oregon Coast Range waterfall roundup.

Dirt trails at J.S. Burres State Park lead through the sagebrush alongside the John Day River in north-central Oregon. The park site is across the river from Cottonwood Canyon State Park.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

19. J.S. Burres State Park

Visitors: 41,512

Location: Central Oregon

One-year change: -13%

Known for: Sagebrush and towering basalt cliffs along the John Day River, just across the water from Cottonwood Canyon State Park.

The Pinnacles Trail leads along the John Day River through Cottonwood Canyon State Park in north-central Oregon. Fresh sagebrush, rocky cliffs and golden brown steppe dominate the rugged landscape.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

18. Cottonwood Canyon State Park

Visitors: 41,168

Location: Central Oregon

One-year change: -1%

Known for: High desert scenery and camping beside the John Day River in north-central Oregon.

A walkway passes through the open meadows of Fort Yamhill State Heritage Area in Grand Ronde. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

17. Fort Yamhill State Heritage Site

Visitors: 37,512

Location: Coast Range

One-year change: -49%

Known for: Historic buildings and a quiet hike through a former fort site at the Grand Ronde Community.

A lakeside dock at Fall Creek State Recreation Area.Oregon State Parks

16. Fall Creek State Recreation Area

Visitors: 35,172

Location: Willamette Valley

One-year change: -69%

Known for: A haven for boaters on Fall Creek Lake east of Eugene.

Low tide at the estuary found at Clay Myers State Natural Area on the north Oregon coast.Oregon State Parks

15. Clay Myers State Natural Area at Whalen Island

Visitors: 32,190

Location: Oregon Coast

One-year change: -36%

Known for: Pristine coastal estuary habitat thats great for wildlife watching on the north coast.

FORT ROCK: This desert crater is part volcanic wonder, part archeological mystery. (Jamie Hale/Staff)

14. Fort Rock State Natural Area

Visitors: 31,824

Location: Central Oregon

One-year change: -35%

Known for: A fascinating volcanic attraction with historical significance in a beautiful high desert setting.

Chandler State Wayside in southern Oregon.Oregon State Parks

13. Chandler State Wayside

Visitors: 26,436

Location: Southern Oregon

One-year change: -7%

Known for: A wooded area just off U.S. 395 with access to fishing along Crooked Creek.

Booth State Scenic Corridor in southern Oregon.Oregon State Parks

12. Booth State Scenic Corridor

Visitors: 25,660

Location: Southern Oregon

One-year change: +15%

Known for: A roadside forest of ponderosa pine and quaking aspen trees that are beautiful in the fall.

The sun sets over Goose Lake, a 147-square-mile lake that straddles the border of Oregon and California near the southern Oregon town of Lakeview. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

11. Goose Lake State Recreation Area

Visitors: 23,894

Location: Southern Oregon

One-year change: -10%

Known for: A large, seasonal lake thats home to large numbers of migrating waterfowl in spring and early summer.

Gravesites at the Geisel Monument State Heritage Site on the southern Oregon coast. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

10. Geisel Monument State Heritage Site

Visitors: 23,558

Location: Oregon coast

One-year change: +29%

Known for: A historical gravesite and monument on the south Oregon coast.

A short trail leads to the base of Silver Falls. Golden and Silver Falls is a state park site in the coastal forest of southwest Oregon, home to two beautiful waterfalls and three miles of trails.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

9. Golden & Silver Falls State Natural Area

Visitors: 21,710

Location: Coast Range

One-year change: -10%

Known for: Two stunning waterfalls in a remote forest setting off the southern Oregon coast.

Jackson F. Kimball State Recreation Site in central Oregon.Oregon State Parks

8. Jackson F. Kimball State Recreation Site

Visitors: 20,774

Location: Central Oregon

One-year change: -16%

Known for: A quiet, secluded spot for fishing, canoeing and walking among a forest of quaking aspen at the headwaters of the Wood River.

People gather on the boat dock at Unity Lake State Recreation Area in Eastern Oregon.Stephanie Yao Long/The Oregonian

7. Unity Lake State Recreation Site

Visitors: 20,710

Location: Northeast Oregon

One-year change: -38%

Known for: A green and beautiful place for boating, fishing and picnicking in the otherwise arid high desert.

The historic Sumpter Valley Gold Dredge is a fascinating Old West attraction in the tiny town of Sumpter in eastern Oregon. The dredge was used in the early 20th century to mine large amounts of earth for gold.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

6. Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Site

Visitors: 20,404

Location: Northeast Oregon

One-year change: -51%

Known for: Tours of a historic gold dredge in eastern Oregon.

Bates State Park southwest of Baker City. Oregon State Parks

5. Bates State Park

Visitors: 19,272

Location: Northeast Oregon

One-year change: -7%

Known for: Hiking trails and a primitive campground at the former site of a thriving lumber mill.

Campers at Red Bridge State Wayside, in the Blue Mountains outside of La Grande.Oregon State Parks

4. Red Bridge State Wayside

Visitors: 17,680

Location: Northeast Oregon

One-year change: -9%

Known for: A forested park and quiet campground along the Grande Ronde River in the Blue Mountains.

Catherine Creek State Park southeast of La Grande.Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

3. Catherine Creek State Park

Visitors: 17,376

Location: Northeast Oregon

One-year change: -46%

Known for: A tranquil setting along the crystal-clear waters of Catherine Creek, with a small, primitive campground.

Battle Mountain Forest State Scenic Corridor, east of La Grande.Oregon State Parks

2. Battle Mountain Forest State Scenic Corridor

Visitors: 16,924

Location: Northeast Oregon

One-year change: +14%

Known for: A forest of ponderosa pine, larch, Douglas fir and spruce that is protected as habitat for wildlife on the side of the highway.

Ukiah-Dale Forest State Scenic Corridor in central Oregon.Oregon State Parks

1. Ukiah-Dale Forest State Scenic Corridor

Visitors: 14,370

Location: Northeast Oregon

One-year change: -2%

Known for: A seasonal campground and day-use area in a quiet forest replete with wildlife.

--Jamie Hale covers travel and the outdoors and co-hosts the Peak Northwest podcast. Reach him at 503-294-4077, jhale@oregonian.com or @HaleJamesB.

Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (PANA) - African countries should with one voice, advocate for the reform of the global financial architecture for it to be inclusive and to address the needs of African countries, especially the development priorities, officials said on Thursday
On the afternoon of March 6th, in the meeting room of Beijing Yuanwanglou Hotel, the accommodation for the Anhui delegation, the atmosphere was lively as the Anhui delegation held a group meeting and opened it to the media. "What aspects of Anhui have caught your attention and interest the most?" Taking advantage of the meeting not having started yet, journalists interviewed the media colleagues present. The technological vibe was the common impression of Anhui among many reporters that day. "In recent years, Anhui's development speed has been very fast, especially in the field of technological innovation, showing strong momentum and fruitful achievements, which has changed my previous impression of Anhui as an agricultural province," said Miao Lin, a journalist from China Postal Express News, deeply touched. Anhui's excellent business environment was also a topic frequently mentioned by many reporters during the interviews. Yang Lingyun, a journalist from the Hong Kong Commercial Daily, had tracked and reported on the experience of a Hong Kong-listed company investing in Anhui. He recalled that the company had invested in and built a million-ton beer production base in Huaiyuan County, Anhui, receiving strong support from the local government. "The government has built a beer industry park to support the enterprise, introducing upstream and downstream companies in the industry chain, including beer packaging." The growth of the automotive industry was another example of the improving business environment in Anhui observed by the media. "Anhui has made the automotive industry its leading industry, attracting more and more automobile companies, especially new energy vehicle companies, to settle in Anhui," said Li Ruichen, a journalist from Guangming Daily. He believed that without a supportive environment, it would not be possible for so many companies to invest in Anhui. Anhui's abundant tourism resources have always been appealing. Especially with Anhui currently building the Southern Anhui International Cultural Tourism Demonstration Zone. "I really want to go on a trip to Anhui," exclaimed Sun Fengjuan, a journalist from the Procuratorial Daily, excitedly.

Source: anhuinews.com
Australia recognises 67 of its fauna species including the Tasmanian tiger are extinct, but animal experts believe the number is much higher.

Its assumed two frogs that havent been seen since the 1990s and an elusive snake have been wiped out even though on paper they're listed as critically endangered.

When it comes to insects and spiders the situation is worse, as its believed many have fallen victim to a phenomenon called silent extinction. This term refers to a species vanishing from existence before scientists can describe and name it.

This is the first of a two part series investigating the gap between declared versus actual extinctions.

The Tasmanian tiger (left) is declared extinct, but the mountain mist frog (right) is still listed as critically endangered. Source: NFSA/Stephen Richards

 Which frogs are most likely extinct?

Queenslands mountain mist frog (Litoria nyakalensis) will likely be uplisted from critically endangered to extinct on Australias Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) list of threatened species. It hasnt been seen since April 1990  a year after several frog species in the Wet Tropics were decimated by an outbreak of chytrid fungus  and it has already been declared extinct on the international Red List.

James Cook Universitys Professor Conrad Hoskin spent 25 years searching rivers for the species in vain.

Another frog that's essentially lived the same story is the northern tinker frog (Taudactylus rheophilus). They declined dramatically after 1990, and some individuals persisted until around the year 2000, but they dropped out just after that, he said. We are essentially certain those two species are extinct.

Hoskin also fears a critically endangered reptile's days are numbered  the Fassifern blind snake (Anilios insperatus). That species hasnt been seen for decades now, he said.

One of the last known places the mountain mist frog was recorded. Source: Professor Conrad Hoskin

 Are species ever rediscovered?

The process for declaring extinction is slow because there is little funding to search for surviving populations of rare creatures.

Occasionally species are rediscovered, as was the case with two small lizards last year  the Victorian grassland earless dragon which hadnt been seen since 1969, and the Lyons grassland striped skink which was last documented in 1981.

Story continues

We have these sort of silent extinctions, these species that we don't even know anything about. They don't have a name. We don't know they exist. And they may already be gone.Dr Jeremy Wilson

 Are spiders facing extinction?

Although Australia is internationally renowned for its colourful spiders, few are protected under state or federal conservation laws. And just 2700 of an estimated 10,000 spider species are thought to been described.

You've got species that are known from three or four records, there are lots that havent been seen in over 100 years. But often that's just because nobody's gone out and looked, spider expert Dr Jeremy Wilson explained.

The process of describing and in turn protecting spiders is slow and museum shelves are stacked with dozens of specimens waiting to be examined  less than 10 scientists in the country have sufficient taxonomic expertise in spiders to identify new species. Wilson is one of them and he splits his time between the University of Western Australia, the Western Australian Museum and Queensland Museum.

He was involved in describing the trapdoor spider (Euoplos dignitas) which like many spider species is confined to a small, heavily fragmented habitat, and this puts them at risk of being wiped out by events like land clearing or extreme weather. We dont have the data to know the damage were doing. With vertebrates the ranges are much larger, and so it's a little harder to completely destroy a range. But with some invertebrate species it's completely possible, he said.

Discover more of our environment coverage.

 How do we know we are losing species?

Although there is little data in Australia about insect extinctions, Dr Nick Porch, an archaeologist at Melbournes Deakin University has examined fossil records on Mauritius, Hawaii and French Polynesia to better understand the impact of human arrival on fauna. He found evidence of widespread extinctions due to the lifestyle needs of the new inhabitants.

They burn wood to cook. They cut down forests to grow their plants. They get rid of habitat and that means extinctions through loss of places these species live, he said.

If you apply that to the Australian context, we know we've lost lots of habitat because large parts of Australia have been cleared for agriculture. We know that forestry has had an impact on species. But the problem in our part of the world is we really don't understand very well the abundance and the spatial distribution and even the diversity of the invertebrates that we have.

With the invertebrates here I could go out this afternoon and find new species if I went to the right place. The abundance and diversity of these things is so incredible, and what that means is it's really hard to say, with any sort of certainty, the extent of extinctions in these groups, other than to suggest that it's clearly happening.

More on extinction

 Extinction rate too high

Environment non-profit the Australian Conservation Foundation notes that some degree of extinction is a normal and actually essential for evolution to occur, but the current rate is thousands of times higher than whats natural. Its nature campaigner Peta Bulling is warning reported extinctions are just the tip of the iceberg.

Climate change, invasive species and the bulldozing of forests are driving a silent extinction catastrophe. Australia needs strong political action to protect our unique nature or the numbers will continue to grow, Bulling said.

Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories.
Kruger Products Announces Major Increase in the Production of Facial Tissue

Kruger Products commissioned a new facial tissue converting line at its Richelieu Plant in November 2023, which will allow the plant to increase the production of facial tissue by 25%. Kruger Products commissioned a new facial tissue converting line at its Richelieu Plant in November 2023, which will allow the plant to increase the production of facial tissue by 25%.

March 7, 2024 - Kruger Products has announced a major increase in its production of Scotties facial tissues at its Richelieu Plant in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.

Through this expansion project, which received investments totaling $14.5 million and created 16 jobs, Kruger Products commissioned a new facial tissue converting line at its Richelieu Plant in November 2023. The additional equipment will increase the production of facial tissue by 25%.

Another component of the project will be rolled out at the Laurier Plant, also in Gatineau, where new equipment will collect tissue production residues that will be repulped for the manufacture of value-added projects. This component, which is expected to be completed in June 2025, will also enable the Laurier and Richelieu Plants to increase their productivity.

Investissement Quebec provided support for the project in the form of a $7.27-million loan granted under the ESSOR program.

"I congratulate everyone who contributed to the installation of our new converting line at the Richelieu Plant, on time and on budget," said Michel Manseau, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Products - Canada, Kruger Products. "Ultimately, our recent investments and our new converting line in Gatineau will allow us to increase our facial tissue capacity by 2.2 million cases annually by providing high quality products and diverse capability to respond to the increase in demand observed in the North American market."

Since 2018, Kruger Products has invested more than $1 billion in state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities to meet consumer needs.

"The new converting line in Gatineau consolidates our Richelieu Plant as a centre of excellence in facial tissue manufacturing and is part of a broader objective to expand the company's activities in North America," Kruger Products stated in a press release.

Kruger Products has ten plants in North America with significant capacity to supply facial tissue to the market under the Scotties and Bonterra brands in Canada and White Cloud in the United States.

Canada-based Kruger Products is a leading manufacturer of quality tissue products for household, industrial and commercial use. Kruger Products serves the Canadian consumer market with such brands as Cashmere, Purex, SpongeTowels, Scotties, White Swan and Bonterra. In the U.S., Kruger Products manufactures the White Cloud brand, as well as many private label products.

SOURCE: Kruger Products Inc.
Photo: (Photo : Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images )

On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) disseminated a safety advisory, revealing the added cinnamon products in the United States tainted with lead.

FDA Warns About Toxin on Some Cinnamon Products

The identified ground cinnamon products include La Fiesta from La Superior SuperMercados, Marcum from Save A Lot, MK from SF Supermarket, Swad from Patel Brothers, La Fiesta from La Superior SuperMercados and La Fiesta from La Superior SuperMercados

The FDA strongly advises against consuming, selling, or serving these ground cinnamon products and recommends discarding them. This warning follows the recall of lead-contaminated cinnamon applesauce pouches by WanaBana USA, a Florida-based company.

As of February 23, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 468 cases of confirmed, suspected, and probable lead poisoning linked to the pouches across 44 states, primarily affecting young children.

The FDA had previously identified cinnamon as the likely source of lead contamination in the applesauce pouches and subsequently initiated sampling of ground cinnamon products from discount stores to assess lead contamination.

It remains unclear if the contaminated products identified by the FDA on Wednesday originate from the same supplier as WanaBana. The FDA has not yet responded to inquiries for clarification.

Despite the extended shelf life of the products, the FDA emphasizes the importance of not consuming them.

As of now, no diseases or adverse incidents similar to the consumption of these tainted cinnamon products have been recorded.

List of Products with Suspected Lead Contamination

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a health advisory cautioning consumers about the presence of lead in six brands of ground cinnamon. The FDA recommended discarding and refraining from purchasing the following ground cinnamon brands:

La Fiesta - available at La Superior SuperMercados

Marcum - sold at Save A Lot

MK - found at SF Supermarket

Swad - available at Patel Brothers

Supreme Tradition - sold at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar

El Chilar - sold at La Joya Morelense in Baltimore

This updated list of contaminated ground cinnamon products follows a recall in October 2023 involving cinnamon applesauce and apple puree products due to elevated lead levels.

In response to the recall, the FDA initiated testing on ground cinnamon from discount retail stores to check for lead or chromium.

Read Also: FDA Issues Voluntary Recall of Eye Ointments Available at CVS and Walmart Over Sterility Worries

Company's Responsibility on Product Safety

The FDA considered the companies liable for these ground cinnamon brands to recall their products. Lead is a poisonous substance, particularly hazardous to children, with no protected exposure level, as per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Starting manifestations of lead toxicity may consist of headaches, stomach and muscle aches, vomiting, anemia, irritability, fatigue, and weight loss.

Children, due to their smaller size and fast development, are exclusively affected by lead exposure, which can lead to developmental delays, learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and lowered IQ.

The levels of lead identified in the listed ground cinnamon products range from 2.03 to 3.4 parts per million, approximately lower than the levels found in the recalled cinnamon apple puree and applesauce products manufactured by Austrofoods.

The recent products, supplied by a now-defunct Ecuadorian company called Carlos Aguilera, had lead levels between 2,270 and 5,110 parts per million.

The investigation into the applesauce recall highlighted the challenges of FDA oversight of imported products in the complex international network of food suppliers, processors, and manufacturers.

The FDA's authority over foreign ingredient suppliers is limited, especially if the food undergoes further processing before export.

In the case of ground cinnamon, the FDA is focusing on U.S. sellers to prevent the sale of tainted items. The agency highlights the liability of manufacturers and importers to assure the safety of products entering the U.S. market.

Additionally, the FDA sent a letter to all cinnamon manufacturers, processors, distributors, and facility operators in the U.S., recalling them of the requirement to implement controls to avoid contamination from possible chemical hazards in food, including ground cinnamon products.

Related Article: FDA Reveals Ecuadorian Cinnamon Processor as Likely Culprit Behind WanaBana Contamination Scandal
Photo: (Photo : William Thomas Cain / Getty Images)

Eight high school students found themselves caught in a terrifying ambush at a SEPTA bus stop in Northeast Philadelphia.

Perpetrators, in a shocking act of violence, unleashed a barrage of gunfire, casting a shadow of distress over the community and prompting urgent calls for decisive action in the midst of a troubling rise in gun violence.

Philadelphia Grapples with Escalating Violence in Targeted Ambush

On an otherwise ordinary Wednesday afternoon, the tranquility of the city was shattered as gunfire erupted at a busy SEPTA bus stop.

The assailants, with calculated intent, fired over 30 rounds, aiming at high school students attempting to board the bus.

The victims, aged 15 to 17, all students of Northeast High School, became unwitting targets in an attack that underscored the stark reality of a surge in gun violence affecting the city's youth.

The deliberate targeting of young individuals in this ambush has deepened concerns about the safety of high school students amidst a troubling spike in Philadelphia's gun violence.

The severity of the incident became painfully evident as one student now battles critical injuries, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds while the eight others died.

Around 3:00 p.m., the SEPTA bus stop became an unexpected battleground as multiple assailants, emerging from a parked vehicle, unleashed a fusillade of bullets on unsuspecting students.

The audacity of the attack, coupled with its occurrence at a bustling transportation hub frequented by students, adds a layer of recklessness to the incident that has sent shockwaves through the city.

Caught in the crossfire, a SEPTA bus became an inadvertent witness to the terrifying incident. While no passengers on board reported physical injuries, the psychological impact of being present during the shooting remains immeasurable.

This episode raises urgent questions about the safety and security of public spaces, particularly those routinely traversed by students on their daily commutes.

Disturbing Pattern of Philadelphia Gun Violence

The SEPTA bus stop ambush adds to an already disturbing pattern of violence that has gripped Philadelphia in recent days.

This incident marks the fourth shooting involving SEPTA buses within a week, intensifying concerns among city officials and residents.

High school students, navigating the challenges of daily life, find themselves thrust into a precarious environment, with the consequences of this surge in violence reaching unprecedented levels.

Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel revealed that this incident closely follows another shooting at a SEPTA station on Monday, where a 17-year-old high school student lost his life, and two others suffered graze wounds.

The proximity of these incidents raises questions about potential connections and highlights the need for a comprehensive strategy to address the root causes of the escalating violence.

Read Also: Chicago Children's Hospital Overcomes Cyberattack: Electronic Records Restored After Month-Long Battle

City Leaders Respond: Urgency in Measures and Heightened Security

City officials, spearheaded by Mayor Cherelle Parker and Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, moved swiftly to address the crisis.

Mayor Parker's declaration of a public safety emergency in January underscores the gravity of the situation and the urgency with which the city must confront its escalating gun violence crisis.

Commissioner Bethel announced plans to significantly increase security efforts, particularly in the vicinity of schools during dismissal times.

The city stands firm in its refusal to be held hostage by violence, a sentiment echoed by Mayor Parker during a press conference.

The commitment to using every legal tool available to ensure the public health and safety of Philadelphia residents remains steadfast.

As the city grapples with the aftermath of the SEPTA bus stop shooting spree, the focus shifts to comprehensive measures aimed at curbing the pervasive gun violence that has besieged the community. Crisis professionals deployed at Northeast High School stand ready to provide support for affected students and their families, emphasizing a commitment to healing amidst the chaos.

In the face of mounting challenges, Philadelphia remains resilient. The incident serves as a stark reminder of the fragility of safety for high school students and the imperative for concerted efforts to restore a sense of security in the City of Brotherly Love.

The community now stands united in its call for justice, prevention, and a renewed commitment to the well-being of its youth in the face of an unprecedented wave of violence.

Related Article: SNAP Food Stamps: February 2024 Payments Revealed-Check Your State's Schedule Now!
Photo: (Photo : JIM WATSON / Getty Images)

Due to the Roe v. Wade reversal in 2022, Maryland lawmakers are charting a course that could reshape the paradigm for abortion clinics throughout the state.

Amid escalating security concerns and a surge in demand for reproductive services following the 2022 Roe v. Wade reversal, Maryland lawmakers are contemplating a grant program.

Propelled by escalating security concerns and an unprecedented surge in demand, legislators are contemplating a grant program that taps into the untouched millions within insurance carriers-a pool of resources established under the Affordable Care Act.

Rising Demand and Need for Abortion Clinic Safety

Maryland, a state at the forefront of the ongoing debate surrounding reproductive rights, is confronting a surge in demand for abortion services.

The echoes of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022 reverberates across the state, leading to heightened security threats at abortion clinics.

Against this backdrop, Democratic Senator Ariana Kelly is spearheading a legislative initiative to harness unused funds for enhanced security measures and expanded reproductive access.

The proposed grant program gains significance as Maryland's abortion clinics grapple with mounting security challenges.

Reports indicate a concerning increase in assault, burglary, stalking, and bomb threats against abortion providers throughout 2022.

Advocates emphasize the pressing need to address these threats, framing the initiative as a critical step in fortifying security infrastructure to protect both clinic staff and patients.

Acknowledging the evolving crisis, Maryland lawmakers are rallying for a proactive response. Senator Ariana Kelly's legislation seeks to tap into the substantial funds accrued over the years within insurance carriers.

Mandated by the federal health care law for abortion care services, these funds have quietly accumulated, reaching approximately $18 million since 2014.

The grant program, under the oversight of the state health department, aims to utilize these resources to not only enhance security measures but also improve staffing at abortion clinics.

Read Also: March Brings Unexpected $7,430 Stimulus Checks for Eligible Americans-Find Out If You Qualify

Innovative Funding for Enhanced Reproductive Access

Beyond addressing security concerns, the legislative initiative highlights the need for improved reproductive access.

The dormant funds from insurance carriers are poised to serve a dual purpose. The grant program could allocate these resources into measures such as enhanced lighting, surveillance cameras, and other infrastructure improvements to foster safe and accessible reproductive care.

This innovative approach positions Maryland at the forefront of endeavors to navigate the shifting landscape of reproductive rights.

As Maryland anticipates a potential influx of women seeking abortion services from neighboring states with restrictive policies, the proposed grant program assumes a crucial role in safeguarding the state's position as a bastion for reproductive access.

This initiative aligns with broader efforts by Democratic-controlled states, like Maryland, to protect and expand abortion access amid national policy shifts.

Maryland's legislative push to harness unused funds for enhanced security and reproductive access at abortion clinics represents a strategic response to the evolving landscape of reproductive rights.

As the state grapples with the ramifications of the Roe v. Wade reversal and braces for increased demand, this innovative approach aims to fortify the foundations of safe and accessible reproductive care for all Maryland residents.

Related Article: Chicago Children's Hospital Overcomes Cyberattack: Electronic Records Restored After Month-Long Battle
This service is a courtesy for our print subscribers to give them access to our online edition at no additional cost. If you haven't registered on the new site, you must do it now before you do anything else.
Amidst the general rejoicing among Latter-day Saints at our churchs recovery of the Kirtland Temple (and other properties in Kirtland and in Nauvoo)  joy in which I enthusiastically share  we should probably not forget that the transaction has caused deep sadness among not a few members of the Community of Christ, including at least some (and maybe all) in its leadership. For example, please listen to the honest and touching statement on the matter from Lachlan Mackay, one of the twelve apostles of the Community of Christ, and  Ive had a few interactions with him  a good, sincere, and kind man. It can be found at the following link, and its not quite three minutes long: https://cofchrist.org/faithfully-funding-our-future/.

The Community of Christ has been a good steward of the properties and artifacts that are now being transferred, and Im grateful to it and to its members for their care during the many generations of their custodianship.

That said, I suspect that there are other members of the Community of Christ for whom the sale of the Kirtland Temple and of other properties and artifacts pertaining to the Joseph Smith era of the Restoration has been largely a matter of indifference if not, indeed, of quiet pleasure. One obvious reason would be the considerable expense that caring for old buildings and their surrounding properties represents.

But its not only that. There has been an enormous theological evolution within their ranks, much more pronounced among some (including the leadership) than among many of their members. I well remember a then-prominent intellectual from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as it was then called, expressing to me his satisfaction at his churchs conscious distancing of itself from the Book of Mormon and other aspects of early Latter-day Saint doctrine and practice. Now, he said, if we can only get rid of other notions, like priesthood.'

But such changes caused genuine, wrenching pain for many other members of the Reorganized Church. They had been taught to reject the claims of Utah Mormonism or the Brighamites, but they continued to venerate the Book of Mormon and to respect Joseph Smith. And when the leaders that they called prophets began to jettison much of that, they felt bereft, orphaned.

Many years ago, my wife and I were visiting Palmyra, New York. While we were at the gravesite of Alvin Smith, Josephs older brother, my attention was caught by another visitor who, like us, was using a popular guide to historic Latter-day Saint places that had been published in Utah. And yet, given the way that she was dressed, she was obviously not a temple-going member of the church headquartered in Salt Lake City. I wondered what her story was.

Shortly thereafter, as luck would have it, we struck up a conversation. From the way she spoke, I figured that she was probably a member of the RLDS Church. (I should, of course, have thought of that earlier.) But then she surprised me by saying some very negative things about RLDS leadership, which was based in Independence, Missouri.

She belonged to an independent Restorationist congregation, she said, which no longer recognized the leaders of the RLDS Church and which refused to send its tithes to Independence. The RLDS First Presidency and the RLDS apostles, she told me, were apostates who had abandoned fundamental beliefs of her faith, which continued to be based upon not only the Bible but the Book of Mormon and the revelations of Joseph Smith.

I found her situation quite sad, and I wanted to invite her to consider the claims of a church that had remained faithful to Josephs revelations and to the Book of Mormon. I didnt feel right about doing so in that moment, though. Still, I prayed then that she and others in like straits would eventually find their way home  to the church that had gone west in the 1840s.

One concern that I have seen expressed by some, including members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is that guides at the sites in Kirtland and Nauvoo that are now being handed over to the custodianship of that church will no longer be of the same quality as those that were provided by the RLDS Church in the past.

I understand this worry. At least in my experience with them, the RLDS guides have generally been quite well informed, historically speaking. They have typically been full-time interns or even professionals, and they have often had a lot of good information to pass on.

By contrast, Ive sometimes been quietly irritated by the young missionary guides at some historical sites controlled by the Latter-day Saints. On more than a few occasions, Ive visited such sites and tried to make it clear that I was already a member of the Church (and, for what its worth, even a member of the faculty at the Churchs university), only to receive the same canned and ultra-basic proselyting presentation that would have been given to somebody who had wandered in off the street with absolutely no knowledge of the Restoration at all. Ive come not because I was curious to know who Joseph Smith was but because I wanted to see and learn more about, say, the Sacred Grove or the Oakland California Temple.

But I have to say that my experiences with RLDS guides havent all been positive, either. I think most particularly of what was perhaps my first visit to the Kirtland Temple. I was, as it happened, with others whom I didnt know but all of whom were plainly members of the Salt Lake City church. The guide told us a very great deal about architectural styles and various features of the building. She even mentioned that the business tycoon John D. Rockefeller, who spent much of his life in nearby Cleveland (where he is also buried) had been so fond of one of the main windows and some of the paneling in the Kirtland Temple that he had offered a significant sum of money in order to purchase them. (His offer was turned down.)

But, even by the time that we were substantially into the tour, that particular guide had said nothing whatever about the specifically religious significance of the Kirtland Temple or about the magnificent divine manifestations that Latter-day Saints (and, I presume, most or at least many RLDS) believe to have taken place in it.

One of our group, apparently bothered by the same strange absence of religious content that I was feeling, raised her hand and (referring to Doctrine and Covenants 110) asked, Can you please show us the place where the Savior appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, standing upon the pulpit?

Ill never forget the response of the guide. Oh yeah, she said. That. Whereupon she directed our attention to the place in question.

Now, I have no idea whether other RLDS guides at that time were so . . . well, secular in their approach to the Kirtland Temple. Ive been back several times since then, and my experiences havent been so pronouncedly poor. But I wanted to push back just a little bit, at least, on the idea that having Latter-day Saint guides at historic sites rather than RLDS guides will necessarily represent a drop in quality. Ive encountered some Latter-day Saint guides (typically senior missionaries) who have been pretty good historically, but none who have been drily secular. May their tribe increase.
I am so pleased that one of my favorite publishers, Shambhala Publications, is bringing out my next book. Its due in July. Feel free to pre-order it.

While n the middle of the edits on this project, I was notified my first book had gone out of print. It was an introduction to Zen, originally aimed at Unitarian Universalists. There was a second edition that was meant to be a more general introduction. I re-read it. And thought it wasnt a bad little intro. And my second thought was its not the book Id write today.

I rather quickly put together my thoughts for an introduction today and offered it to the acquisitions editor at Shambhala. He informed me that they would be interested, but as I had a book in process with them, they couldnt look at anything else from me until they had six months of sales to look at, as well. My earlier books have all been with nonprofits, so not something Im used to. But to be fair, I am enjoying working with a publisher that actually has people concerned with sales.

But I was also itchy. As it happens I was impressed with the production quality of a recent book by two Zen colleagues whom I deeply admire, the Book of Householder Koans. So, I offered my manuscript Monkfish. They said they were interested, particularly in some things I alluded to but did not develop in the manuscript. Adding that in, could I rewrite it to the title Zen at the End of Religion?

I said, sure.

This has led me into a thicket. Mostly a good thing, I think. But, very challenging. Im seventy-five and with these two books, and maybe a third are all inviting me into a pause and reflection on what Ive gleaned in my life. The Intimate Way, the book with Shambhala is my reflection on the arc of a spiritual life, and how it manifests in this time and this place. So, its Zen. But its more than a little informed by other aspects of my spiritual life, my reading, my natal Christian tradition, my explorations of other religions. I hope it proves useful.

But then being asked about Zen within the challenges to religion has been, well, interesting.

I had to clarify what I think religion is. Especially beyond the crowd control aspect many of us have noticed and dont particularly like. Along this way I had to clarify what I really, really believe is true.

I realized it can boil down a bit. I claim a sort of naturalistic perennialism. That is I fall at least broadly in with those who feel they seem something common within religions. I think of it as kind of the spiritual that might be found among the spiritual but not religious. But its pretty vague. I come to believe theres something in the way our human brains work that allows us to see two things at the same time. One is our uniqueness as individuals. The me thing. The other is that we are bound up together and that the boundaries between me and the other are more permeable than we usually think and maybe wish.

On the one hand I think this dual insight is the mother of all our variations on the golden rule. On the other hand it leads us into what is now more or less commonly called nonduality. The intimations of nonduality manifest differently among the many religions. Some more successfully than others.

While I believe I have profited from reflections on several of these traditions, Ive been most fortunate in finding Zen, and more precisely Zen Buddhism. For me its about the clearest of the worlds traditions when looking at what nonduality is and how we can engage it. Not perfect. But astonishingly good.

As I look at the Buddhist world and the accidents of history that birthed Zen I find a very small handful of critical things.

Theres a great deal of conversation about karma and rebirth and what one must believe in order to call oneself a Buddhist. Well, I totally believe in karma as causality. I understand how we and our minds form in a play of causes and conditions. But that specific sense some who are deeply concerned with a correct definition of Buddhist and of our intentions shaping future lives? Only with a lot of hedges and mental reservations. One life per customer. Lots of lives in that one life. But biologically? One life.

However, and that said, I am absolutely convinced, as foundational to everything else I engage in the Four Seals. I think of it as Buddhist a Buddhist confession one might have.

I am past wary of dogmas. And yet I find these the most helpful pointers to the structures of the human heart of any Ive encountered in my life. While all things need to be held lightly, and our claims to objective reality subject to mutation and change, these have been the pointers that have so far proven as true as anything Ive encountered in this saha world, in this passing world.

This is why I call myself a Buddhist, and why of the many authentic ways, I bow into the specific tradition that is Zen. If there are any authentic first principles to a spiritual life, certainly the Zen Buddhist spiritual life, they are these.

The four seals are observations about the nature of things, and specifically our human condition. The formulation of the four seals dont seem to date much earlier than the The Questions of the Naga King Sagara, the Sagaranagarajapariprccha, which itself doesnt seem to date earlier than the third century before our common era, and is likely much later. Of course, it is simply an explicit ordering of what had been taught for hundreds of years as the heart of the Buddhas teaching.

The first three are:

1) Impermanence: Everything is made of parts, and they will inevitably come apart. This speaks to the fundamental structures of the universe as well as to the creation of our minds. But it is the mind, it is the heart that its most critical for us to understand. We are real. But we are impermanent.

2) No-self or the Emptiness of Self: There is no abiding self. The self is real. As I said, we are real, you and I. Pinch us and we hurt. But our exist4ence is mutable. And in the end, we are mortal. Nothing escapes the dissolution of the body. The wonderful mystery that we are, our unique noticing of the universe, our little corner ends.

3) Dis-ease or Disquiet: The motion of things rising and falling is experienced by humans as painful, causing anxiety and anguish. I call this encounter the buzz. The buzz is in the back of everything we encounter, behind every victory.

These first three are found in some lists as the marks of existence.

There are further elaborations within the schools of Buddhism. But most famously the Abhidharma, which is perhaps the first attempt at a comprehensive theory of mind. I find it fascinating and worthy. And it is not persuasive. There are vastly too many assumptions that do not seem to me to track with what we can observe.

Me, while the basic observation rings true, more than true, thats also where it stops. I would rather rely upon neuroscience for a deeper understanding of how these things come together.

And, one more thing. And that is how we engage the fourth seal.

4) There is a way through the hurt. This is the good news of Zen Buddhism. While the buzz belongs to the universe, its the experience of everything in motion, the buzz as discomfort, dis-ease, anxiety, or anguish belongs specifically to our human world. Given the size of the cosmos, human here would be any being with a consciousness that can discern the first three seals.

There is a way through. Call it enlightenment. Call it awakening. Call it peace.

Buddhism, Zen, is about awakening. The fourth seal of the intimate way.

And here I find it is the form of Buddhism that emerges in China (by way of Nagarjuna, as well.) that is most helpful.

Here the specific disciplines of Zen open the way for me. The fundamental practices of Zen meditation and koan introspection open the path of intimacy better than any others Ive encountered. At least for me. And I believe, it is true for many others among us, as well.

Of secondary importance, but very important are the possibilities of spiritual directors who know what theyre about, and paths of formation, some antique, and others birthing into our time and place.

And there is a shifting in the Chinese Buddhism, this emergent Zen. What is awakening takes on a different cast from earlier forms of Buddhism. All of which are predicated on the stopping of an endless cycle of suffering. This involves a gradual letting go of every form of clinging. In Zen a somewhat different angle is offered. Awakening is found when we let go of our sense of isolation and separateness. Zen teaches that weve been awake sense the creation of the universe. Letting go is letting go of a delusion.

Zen takes the four seals and makes them operational.

This is something of a spare Zen. Its the nub of Zen as I understand it. There is also an invitation into a certain humility. No one gets it completely right. This is a human project. And, well, were human.

So, I think the wisest thing is to be open to other angles on the mystery. Being aware of how other traditions engage the mysteries of nonduality. Literature. Poetry. Especially the teachings that get enshrined as various cultures myths. If we engage them from the perspective everything is connected, lessons are offered.

Its about how we meet the world.

And I cannot express my gratitude enough for finding this path. Actually, it feels something deeper than finding. As the Zen teacher Zenju Earthlyn Manuel says It is all very natural to me. I welcome the Dharma as it has welcomed me long before I was born.

It is organic. It is physical. It is intimate.

A way for our times.
Netlix has released a first look at its upcoming docuseries, Testament: The Story of Moses, releasing March 27. The three-part series examines the life of the biblical hero through dramatic recreations and insightful commentary. The series stars Avi Azulay as Moses, Mehmet Kurtulus as Pharaoh, Dominique Tipper as Zipporah, Ishai Golan as Aaron, Reymonde Amsellem Nidam as Miriam, and Tulay Gunal Goncu as Bithiah.

At first glance, the series looks fascinating as it brings to life Moses story, much in the same way The Chosen has done with the life of Christ. Testament, however, seems to use the commentators to dig deeper into the story, offering insight from various areas of expertise. The film segments look memorable and visually engaging.

Anyone who has seen The Ten Commandments as a child was well aware of the more epic elements of the tale, producers Emre Sahin and Kelly McPherson told Netflix. The burning bush, the plagues, Passover, the Red Sea, and, of course, the Ten Commandments. What really drew us in was the mystery of Moses inner life, his struggles with his own identity, his self-doubt, his humanness.

The official synopsis follows:

Testament: The Story of Moses is an epic three-episode series exploring the life of Moses and his rise from outcast and murderer to prophet and liberator of the Hebrews. From the banks of the Nile to Mount Sinai to the Red Sea, Testament seamlessly interweaves gripping docudrama and expert interviews, revealing Moses intensely personal quest for redemptionsetting in motion some of the most inspiring and iconic events in the Bible, Quran and Torah.

Watch below for a first look at Testament: The Story of Moses, arriving on Netflix March 27.
Fidelity Bank Ghana LTD (Fidelity Bank) issues this statement in response to recent allegations made by Bright Simons regarding purported sweetheart exchange rate deals with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).



Our attention has been drawn to Bright Simons publication on X where he alleged that ECG was dishing out 80 Million Ghana Cedis for free to Fidelity Bank in Sweetheart Exchange rate deals. We categorically state that this information is false and misleading and we have not had any FX deal with ECG at a rate that is not in line with the prevailing market rate.



Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited did source for foreign exchange on behalf of ECG in 2023, and the sources of the funds were from both Bank of Ghana and the open market. Funds sourced from the Bank of Ghana by Fidelity Bank on behalf of ECG were sold to ECG at the same rate it was sourced, as per the Bank of Ghana requirements.



We have all records of transactions with ECG and would like to emphasize that no foreign exchange has ever been sold to ECG above the market rates, and in some instances, they were sold significantly below the market rate. All records are also available at the Central Bank and can be verified.



We wish to state that owing to the false and misleading publication by Bright Simons and its negative impact on the Bank, we have instructed our Solicitors to demand the immediate retraction of the publication and an unqualified apology from the author, Bright Simons. We have further instructed our Solicitors to commence legal action against the author and all other persons who have published the said false statement, in the event that the author fails to comply with our demand.



We hereby urge all persons, groups and media outlets to desist from further publishing the false statement as doing so may be legally actionable.



We are dedicated to providing high-quality products/services and maintaining strong relationships with all stakeholders, and we encourage our customers to continue believing in us.

Source: Fidelity Bank Ghana LTD









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
A woman who went for a swim with her granddaughter with an old mosquito bite still present on her leg was told she might have to have the limb amputated, with an infection she caught in the water leaving the sore "exploding like a volcano".

Sunshine Coast woman and Australia Post employee Celeste Stirrup, 52, took her five-year-old granddaughter Indiana for a morning swim at Bulcock Beach in Caloundra, north of Bribie Island, for "about 40 minutes" in mid January.

Stirrup said the mosquito bite on her right upper thigh was a few days old and still a bit red, but not itchy. She went home and didn't notice any changes to her body until a few days later, she found a 20 centimetre-sized circle on her thigh where the bite had been. Then, she "broke out in a fever and started feeling unwell" and not long after that "the blisters started".

Celeste Stirrup, 52, went for a swim at Bulcock Beach in Caloundra while she had a mosquito bite, which proved to be a grave mistake. Source: 7News

'Volcano' erupts on grandmother's leg

"It almost felt like a volcano erupting under my leg," Stirrup told the Courier Mail. Concerned, Stirrup sought medical advice and was prescribed some antibiotics to reduce the swelling but her condition continued to deteriorate. By Australia Day, the grandmother's blisters had become so big she was forced to check into hospital.

There, she was told her leg might need amputation. "The surgeon said to me they were putting me through for a CT scan and if they found a particular type of bacteria Id be raced off for an immediate amputation," she said. "Which was terrible to hear all on my own. I couldnt talk. I was in shock. I was sobbing and struggling to breathe."

Long road ahead to recovery

Fortunately, amputation was not necessary and a different type of bacteria was found, cellulitis. Stirrup did remain in hospital until February 6 however and now she's back at home in recovery, but in a few weeks she'll need to go in again for skin graft surgery. The whole ordeal has left her unable to walk for five weeks.

Story continues

Stirrup said a nurse had told her she was the fourth case seen on the Sunshine Coast in just two weeks.

Stirrup said it felt like a "volcano exploded" on her leg. Source: 7News

She urged people to take note and avoid the water if they'd been bitten. "This shouldnt happen to anybody. If you have a bite or a cut you shouldnt go for a swim," she said, adding plenty of people have a misconception salt water is good for sores.

"What people need to really understand is if ocean water is caught and pooled and not able to flow in and out, it is called, 'brackish waters' and is perfect for bacteria to grow and thrive and it is not good for swimming in."

Expert warns over 'common' occurrence

According to Associate Professor Gregor Devine with the Mosquito Control Laboratory at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, inflammation and cellulitis after insect bites is common.

"Midges actually bite, they have sawing mouth parts, so they leave a small open wound. The itchiness following the bite, caused by an allergic response to the insects saliva, makes people scratch and the scratching transfers bacteria to the wound where they can cause subcutaneous infection (the cellulitis)," Devine earlier explained to Yahoo News Australia.

"When a small blood feeding insect like a midge feeds, it has to get rid of excess water or it will explode, so it defecates while feeding.

"In most biting insects those faeces are not particularly harmful. The sources of infection following insect bites are usually secondary bacteria like streptococcus or staphylococcus that may already be on the skin or under your fingernails when you scratch."

Bites should be washed with soap and water before being treated with antiseptic, Devine said.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Ghanas Lands and Natural Resources Minister who doubles as the Member of Parliament for Damango Constituency, Hon Samuel Abu Jinapor has coaxed investors across the globe to tab into the opportunities in Ghanas mining sector.



He said the country has prioritised improving the business environment through regulatory reforms, to reduce bureaucracies and bottlenecks associated with doing business in Ghana.



These have led to the introduction of a Mineral Cadastral Administration System (MCAS) to improve mineral licensing administration. This System, together with the online application for mineral rights, improved access to information, and transparency in administration, has improved the ease of doing business in the mining industry in Ghana



According to him, Ghana has remained a democratic country since time immemorial and this has been creating the enabling environment for businesses to thrive, and government religiously respect the sanctity of contracts.



Peacefmonline Sampson Kwame Nyamekye reported that Hon Samuel Abu Jinapor was speaking at the Country Spotlight Session at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada ( PDAC) Convention held in Toronto, Canada



Ghana, with her open society, vibrant economy, resilient democratic institutions, and where respect for individual liberties, the rule of law and the principles of democratic accountability are ingrained into her body politic, is ready for business he added.



The lands Minister hinted that as host of the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), investors are assured of the opportunity to use Ghana as a launch-pad to reach the rest of Africas continental economy with its one point two billion (1.2 billion) population and to maximise profit from investments.



Hon Jinapor later touched on the natural resources the country is endowed with saying Ghana, has a long history of mining, predating the arrival of the first Europeans on the land in the fifteenth (15th) century, and for well over a hundred years, the mining sector has been the pillar of Ghanas modern-day national economy.



He added that presently, there are some sixteen (16) large scale mining operations in the country, with fourteen (14) engaged in gold mining and the other two (2) engaged in bauxite and manganese.





Source: Samson Kwame Nyamekye/ Hello Fm









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
Consolidated Bank Ghana LTD (CBG) in a strategic partnership as a joint lead arranger has lauded Kasapreko Co. Plc, an indigenous beverage manufacturer, for its ambitious growth plans following the official listing of the Series 1 GHS 600 million Note Programme on the Ghana Fixed Income Market (GFIM).



The funds raised will bolster Kasapreko Co. Plc's working capital, financing capital expenditures such as operational expansion, and refinancing short-term debts.



Speaking at a joint press briefing in Accra, the Managing Director of CBG, Mr. Daniel Wilson Addo, emphasized the significance of the transaction, indicating that this is the first time an indigenous Ghanaian Bank has worked with an indigenous manufacturing company to raise funding from local pension funds in the public market. This signifies fostering strong partnerships among indigenous companies to overcome financing challenges innovatively.



He added that the funding which is at a cost significantly lower than the Ghana Reference Rate (GRR) for borrowing will cushion Kasapreko Co. Plcs operations significantly.



He underlined the importance of addressing risks associated with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) while encouraging financial institutions and industries to develop financial structures that meet the evolving risks effectively.



Mr. Addo stated, "This transaction is a testament to our overriding ambition to make an impact in the communities in which we operate. We stand with you in good times or in bad times".



According to Mr. Addo, the support for Kasapreko Co. Plc highlights the economic impact of CBGs lending philosophy.



The Managing Director of Kasapreko Co. Plc, Mr. Richard Adjei, welcomed the innovative financing source, describing it as a relatively cheaper capital and sustainable solution for business growth.



Mr. Adjei expressed his gratitude towards CBG for enabling them to explore alternatives beyond traditional Banks. With the infusion, Kasapreko Co. Plc aims to expand production capacity and enhance its participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), having already exported products to Kenya and South Africa.



In attendance were Management members of the Consolidated Bank Ghana LTD (CBG) including the Deputy Managing Director of Operations and Technology, Mr. Thairu Ndungu; Deputy Managing Director of Corporate Resources, Madam Nana Ama Poku and Director of Finance and Strategy, Mr. Charles Appiah and other senior executives of the Bank.



Mr. Gregg Pitt, Deputy Managing Director; Mr. Humphrey Hessel-Appiah, Finance Director; Mr. Gerald Bonsu, Commercial Director; and Mr. Isaac Adjei, a Board Member, all of Kasapreko Co. Plc were also present.



Consolidated Bank Ghana LTD (CBG) is wholly owned by the Government of Ghana and operates as a universal Bank with 114 branches in 13 regions of Ghana. The Bank has strong government support, a large SME client network, and a pool of diverse talent.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Former Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Henry Kwabena Kokofu has sided with those calling on the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to sign the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.



Parliament, on Tuesday, February 27, passed the bill which is aimed at prohibiting all activities of the LGBTQ+ community.



The bill criminalizes the promotion, advocacy and acts of homosexuality in the country.



Offenders will face a jail term of 6 months to 5 years.



But the international community has spoken against the bill and called on the President not to assent to the bill; countries like the United States and Germany have condemned the bill.



However, pressure mounts on the President to sign the bill and responding to the calls, the President, in a statement dated March 4, gave an impression of dilly-dallying in assenting to the bill.



I think it will serve little purpose to go, at this stage, into the details of the origin of this proposed law, which is yet to reach my desk. But, suffice it to say, that I have learnt that, today, a challenge has been mounted at the Supreme Court by a concerned citizen to the constitutionality of the proposed legislation, he said.



He added; In the circumstances, it would be, as well, for all of us to hold our hands, and await the decision of the Court before any action is taken. The operation of the institutions of the Ghanaian state will determine the future trajectory of the rule of law and human rights compliance in our country.



Giving his thoughts on the controversies, Henry Kokofu was of the view that the President is caught between the rock and a hard place stating whatever decision he takes will affect the country in one way or another.



Nonetheless, to him, the President should heed the calls to legitimize the bill.



"I like the pressure coming from those saying the President should sign. For me, I am for it," he said in his submissions on Peace FM's morning show "Kokrokoo".



Watch video below





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Henry Kokofu, the immediate past Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency, has expressed worry over the pressure on President Nana Akufo-Addo to sign the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.



The President has been asked by The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council and many Ghanaians to sign the bill.



The Pentecostal Council, in a press release, said; Like every nation, Ghana is defined by her unique cultural and family values. Therefore, the GPCC take this opportunity to kindly request that the President of the Republic gives assent to this Bill to bring finality to this advocacy which seeks to uphold our long standing religious and cultural family value system. This is the earnest expectation of most Ghanaians.



Speaking on Peace FM's Tuesday edition of "Kokrokoo" show, Henry Kokofu pitied the President as Nana Akufo-Addo is now between the devil and the deep blue sea.



To him, this is one of the most difficult situations for a President to find himself in because whatever decision he makes will still bite the nation.



Mr. Kokofu asked Ghanaians if they are prepared to back the President up and face the repercussions of the bill becoming law.



"As we tell the President to sign, are we backing him with our hearts and minds? When he signs and there are consequences, are we prepared as human beings, as people of Ghana . . . that we are with you, Mr. President?" he questioned.



He hoped the citizens will not later turn around to blame the President if after assenting to the bill comes consequences.



"We've got to a point that we have to be nationalistic . . . let us assure the President as a people. This is the time he needs our encouragement," he stressed.



Watch video below





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Seasoned journalist, Kwesi Pratt has replied the Finance Ministry on their warning to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo not to sign the anti-LGBTQ+ bill.



The Ministry of Finance, in a statement, warns legitimizing the bill will have severe consequences on Ghana.



The Ministry reveals the nation will lose over 3 billion dollars if the bill becomes law.



In total, Ghana is likely to lose US$3.8 billion in World Bank Financing over the next five to six years. For 2024 Ghana will lose US$600 million Budget support and US$250 million for the Financial Stability Fund. This will negatively impact on Ghanas foreign exchange reserves and exchange rate stability as these inflows are expected to shore the countrys reserve position, parts of the Finance Ministry's statement read.



Kwesi Pratt, in response, has questioned the essence of the Ministry's caution.



Reacting during Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show, Mr. Pratt was saddened that Ghana celebrates its 67th independence anniversary but all conversations are about homosexuality and the anti-LGBTQ+ bill that seeks to check the homosexual society.



The bill criminalizes all LGBTQ+ practices and culprits will face a six-month to 5 years sentence to prison.



Kwesi Pratt was extremely disappointed in the Finance Ministry that Ghana will lose over 3 billion dollars, so seemingly compelling the President not to assent to the bill.



To him, he cares less about any person's sexual preferences stressing "I don't want to know what people do in their bedrooms" but it becomes a problem when someone wants to publicly display his or her unnatural sexual orientation.



To Mr. Pratt, it is very disappointing that LGBTQ-related discussions have taken precedence over Ghana's independence anniversary which comes off on 6th March.



"What is the meaning of our independence?...Is our independence worth the 3.8 billion?...Is that the value of our independence?", he fumed.



"What a shame! I can't believe it", he slammed the Ministry as well as expressed worry over the turn of events.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The trial of Safina Adizatu Mohammed, the lady who is alleged to have murdered Frank Kofi Osei, a Ghanaian residing in Canada is set to commence on May 9.



This follows the completion of opening addresses by both Prosecution and Defence lawyers. The Prosecution led by a Senior State Attorney, Nana Ama Adinkra in her opening address said they will call Nine(9) witnesses to testify before the court.



These nine witnesses will include five Police officers and one Michael Fiifi Ampofo alleged to be another boyfriend of the accused.



The Prosecution while urging the jury to return a verdict of guilt at the end of the trial explained that, the deceased was chained by the accused under the pretence of engaging in a sexual act known as Kinky.



According to the prosecutor, the accused was stabbed in the process but was unable to defend himself because he was helpless.



She further narrated that, an autopsy conducted on the deceased on July 29, 2022 indicated that indeed the deceased was stabbed.



The Prosecution stated that the deceased died from unlawful harm which was caused by Safina.



Lawyer Samuel Alesu Dordzi defending the accused asked the jury to give the accused a listening ear and not the rumours that are bundled around.



He said be impartial to all the things that will be said in court.



Safina, a 23-year-old level hundred student of the University of Ghana is alleged to have killed Frank Kofi Osei, a Ghanaian resident in Canada with other accomplices when he visited her at Ashaley Botwe a suburb of Accra while the on vacation in Ghana.



The Prosecution said the deceased was stabbed with a knife and strangled leading to his demise.



Justice Lydia Osei Marfo before adjourning the case asked the jury to uphold the principles of fairness and justice by paying attention to all the evidence that will be presented before them, adding that, they should be unbiased towards both the accused and deceased.

Source: Philipa Atanga/Court Reporter/Despite Media









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
G&J Technical Services Ltd, a leading provider of backup power solutions, is set to commemorate its 30th anniversary with a series of community-focused initiatives.



Under the theme "Our Past Guides Our Future," the company in a press statement reaffirmed its commitment to serving and empowering local communities.



Established in March 1994, G&J Technical Services has been at the forefront of delivering reliable backup power solutions, sourcing engines and generators exclusively from the United Kingdom. Over the past three decades, the company has not only established itself as a market leader but has also contributed significantly to job creation and community development within Ghana.



In a recent endeavour to support community welfare, G&J Technical Services inaugurated a dual 14-unit washroom project in Kwamesuah Village, Dormaa Ahenkro in the Bono Region, on February 21st, 2024, according to a statement issued by the company in Accra on 5th March 2024.



This initiative, aimed at addressing the critical need for proper sanitation facilities, exemplifies the company's dedication to improving the quality of life for local residents.



The 30th-anniversary celebrations will start with a launch event on March 11th, 2024, at the company's head office in Accra, followed by a celebration dinner on March 15th, 2024, at Labadi Beach Hotel. These events will not only commemorate the company's rich history but also highlight the invaluable contributions of its clients and stakeholders.



G&J Technical Services aims to leverage this milestone to strengthen existing partnerships and forge new collaborations, further cementing its commitment to sustainable community development and innovation in the power industry, the statement said.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The European Union hit Apple with a massive $2 billion fine after finding that the tech giant unfairly favored its own music streaming service over rivals such as Spotify.





The company banned app developers from 'fully informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services outside of the app,' said the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc's executive arm and top antitrust enforcer.



That is illegal under EU antitrust rules. Apple behaved this way for almost a decade, which meant many users paid 'significantly higher prices for music streaming subscriptions,' the commission said.



The fine follows a long-running investigation triggered by a complaint from Spotify five years ago.



In response to the fine, Apple released a statement alleging that the commission had failed to find 'any credible evidence of consumer harm, and ignores the realities of a market that is thriving, competitive, and growing fast.'



'While we respect the European Commission, the facts simply dont support this decision,' the statement continued. Apple has promised to appeal the ruling.



The statement goes on to remark that Spotify pays Apple 'nothing for the services that have helped to make them one of the most recognizable brands in the world.'



'Were proud to play a key role supporting Spotifys success  as we have for developers of all sizes,' the statement remarked.



At a press conference Monday, Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission executive vice president, accused Apple of 'abusing' its position.



'For a decade, Apple abused its dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming apps through the App Store. From now on, Apple will have to allow music streaming developers to communicate freely with their own users.'



'[The fine] reflects both Apples financial power and the harm that Apples conduct inflicted on millions of European users,' Vestager said.





















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
In a gathering of the Diplomatic Corps in Peduase, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo expressed his pride in the achievements made during his tenure as the President of Ghana over the past seven years.



He emphasized that his performance as the President from 2017 until present has been remarkable.



President Akufo-Addo addressed a wide range of accomplishments across various sectors of the countrys economy. He began by highlighting the effective management of the national economy, the advancements made in education and healthcare, the development of road and rail infrastructure, the progress in digitalization, and the overall agricultural and industrial transformation.



Additionally, he stressed his administrations unwavering commitment to combating corruption and environmental degradation.



Moreover, President Akufo-Addo proudly mentioned his administrations commendable response to the COVID-19 pandemic.



He asserted that the governments efforts and record in battling the virus are evident and evident for all to see.



Given these accomplishments, President Akufo-Addo confidently stated, I can say in all good conscience that I have not betrayed the mandate that the good people of Ghana conferred on me.



His affirmation signifies his conviction in fulfilling the expectations and trust placed upon him by the citizens of Ghana.



As the leader of the nation, President Akufo-Addo is determined to continue his administrations endeavors to uplift Ghanas socio-economic landscape.



With his achievements, he aims to strengthen Ghanas position on the global stage and enhance the well-being of its citizens.



As the country moves forward, President Akufo-Addos remarks shed light on the progress achieved under his leadership, leaving a positive impact on the nations development.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The city of Auburn continues to monitor smoke shops, one of which recently opened in the location where another closed amid controversy about a year ago.

Auburn Exotics & More opened recently at 67 Franklin St., where Auburn Smoke Shop was located until closing last year after a police raid, criminal investigations and concerns voiced by officials and community members. The new business has not been the subject of any complaints so far, City Manager Jeff Dygert told The Citizen, though it and the city have discussed its hours of operation.

Smoke shops within city limits can only be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., according to zoning code amendments approved by Auburn City Council in October 2022 for those and potential cannabis businesses. Dygert said he believed there were a couple times that Auburn Exotics operated outside those hours before its communications with the city.

The city's current stance on smoke shops, Dygert continued, is to enforce the regulations and laws that apply to them.

"So that's what we do, make sure that they're in appropriately zoned places and they're following the rules that we have in place and the state has in place, and monitor them for complaints," he said.

Dygert also said the city measures "our response so that we're operating within the boundaries of the laws that apply to us and what we can do and what we can't do."

Auburn Corporation Counsel Nate Garland told The Citizen in an email he hasn't heard "too many complaints" about Auburn Exotics. He also noted the city is awaiting the passage of the New York state budget, which is anticipated to "almost certainly contain stronger and more streamlined enforcement provisions for municipalities regarding the illicit sale of cannabis."

The Franklin Street location had a brief but turbulent history as the Auburn Smoke Shop. It opened in April 2021, and 10 months later Auburn police found more than 18,000 illegal products, including untaxed cigarettes, cannabis and flavored vaping items, while executing a search warrant there. The shop was then the site of an attempted robbery in December 2021.

In the summer of 2022, City Council imposed a six-month moratorium on establishing and operating new smoke shop businesses in Auburn.

Auburn-Franklin Ventures LLC, the owner of 67 Franklin St., then told city officials it would evict the smoke shop. The business closed in March 2023.
A Presidential Staffer and spokesperson for the Bawumia campaign team, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, has issued a reply to Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for North Tongu on the state of the National Cathedral.



The completion and commissioning of the National Cathedral was slated for March 6, 2024, however the project seems to be at a standstill.



On Wednesday, 6th March, some members of the opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) stormed the construction site of the National Cathedral to commission it.



Addressing the press at the site, Okudzeto Ablakwa said, I am glad, however, that at the precincts of the Worlds Most Expensive US$58million Pit, on the day President Akufo-Addo promised God, Parliament, and the Ghanaian people that he will commission his US$450million priority of priorities National Cathedral project, we perfectly executed our accountability mission for God and Country."



We are grateful to all patriotic Ghanaians for the overwhelming support and solidarity.



Speaking further, he demanded an accountability of the revenues that was pushed into the project and an explanation on why the projects has not been completed as promised by the President, Nana Akufo- Addo.



He demanded, An explanation from President Akufo-Addo on why he failed to fulfill his promise to God, to Parliament and to the sovereign Ghanaian people  the promise to commission his US$450million (GHS5.7billion) priority of priorities cathedral today the 6th of March 2024;



Full accountability on what happened to our US$58,141,509.52 (GHS740million) why all we see here is the worlds most expensive pit and why the contractors, RIBADE JV abandoned the project for lack of payment 2 years ago;



A comprehensive report on how much it has cost the state to so far replace and compensate some owners of demolished properties, and how much is still outstanding considering that aggrieved demolished property owners such as Waterstone Realty have resorted to the courts. We note that the following properties were recklessly demolished on the orders of President Akufo-Addo: Bungalows for Judges, Judicial Training Institute, Passport Head Office, Scholarship Secretariat, Bungalows for CHRAJ, Waterstone Realty Luxury Apartment Complex, Headquarters of Comsys IT Firm and the Malian Ambassadors Residence;



Contract must be immediately terminated to avoid further financial loss to the state. According to the contract, Ghana will have to pay Extension of Time Claims, Standing Time Claims, Abortive & Re-Works Cost due to Main Contractor Suspension;



Board of Trustees must be dissolved without delay; National Cathedral Secretariat should be immediately closed. So far this secretariat has received GHS225,962,500. (Refer to organogram as attached); Retrievals from the following persons: David Adjaye  US$19.6million (GHS250million), Cary Summers  US$6million (GHS76million) Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng/Kwabena Adu Gyamfi  GHS2.6million.



In a rebuttal to Okudzetos demands, Miracles Aboagye said on his X page, These are the people who inherited 8 Euroget Hospitals from President Kuffour, spent 8 years in government and still couldnt complete, leaving it for @NAkufoAddo and the NPP to come complete.



These are the guys who used the money meant for hospital constructions for their election research.



These are the guys who decided to spend State funds to build Day schools mostly in the forest, 10s of kilometers from the community and left them uncompleted, not fit for purpose and unusable. These are the guys who captured 3D artistic impressions in a green book and attempted to hoodwink everyone as projects done.



These people launched a Hope city project, captured international Media, BBC, CNN et al and didnt lay a single block.



These people want to come to power to form a government. Their elders are snoring, deeply asleep.

Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
John Kumah, Deputy Minister of Finance, has reportedly passed away at the age of 46.



A source close to the family confirmed the demise of the deputy finance minister, who also served as the Member of Parliament for Ejisu in the Ashanti Region, according to a news report by Asaaseradio.



Report says the lawmaker was unwell and responding to treatment.



He died in the early hours of Thursday, March 7, in Germany, where he had been receiving medical treatment for some time.



He leaves behind a legacy as a devoted family man, being survived by his wife, Apostle Mrs. Lilian Kumah, and six children.



Notably, Dr. Kumah served as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer for the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), where he played a crucial role in positioning NEIP as a key player in Ghana's entrepreneurship ecosystem.



Parliament has suspended its proceedings after the sad news was communicated to the Speaker of Parliament.



Mr John Kumah's family is yet to officially announce the unfortunate news to the house.









Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Atik Mohammed has lampooned the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament over their commissioning of the ongoing National Cathedral project.



The Minority yesterday, 6th March, clashed with security personnel when they marched to the Cathedral site while Ghana was celebrating her 67th Independence Day anniversary at Koforidua in the Eastern Region.



As the nation turned its eye to the independence activities displayed at Koforidua during the function which was attended by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and their wives together with some high-profile dignitaries, the NDC Parliamentarians hit the street leading to the National Cathedral demanding permission to commission the site.



Following minutes of conflict with the security personnel, they managed to undertake their mission and commissioned the project in the name of the President.



Addressing the issue on Peace FM's morning show "Kokrokoo", Atik found the Minority's action unnecessary and irrelevant to meeting the pressing needs of Ghanaians.



"This thing they did, to what end?", he questioned.



"It doesn't invite people to account. It shows nothing. It's just for the theatrics and for the cameras which, for me, has a very little effect," he slammed the Minority.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Atik Mohammed says the rotation of Ghana's Independence Day celebration across the Regions is a "waste of money".



Ghana on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 celebrated her 67th independence held in Koforidua in the Eastern Region.



The event was attended by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and their wives, Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin, President of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara and a host of dignitaries.



Discussing the independence celebration during Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show, Atik noted that the rotation drains the nation financially, claiming this expenditure is very unnecessary.



"It involves a lot of money which, in my view...I feel it's unnecessary," he remarked, adding "we can still do the rotation in a manner that is not costly if we focus on the core reason for the celebration".



"The independence celebration needs to remind us of our history, how far we have come, where we are today and where we ought to go but we spend a lot of time doing a lot of other things that unnecessary, and these are things that come with cost . . . a day like the Independence Day should be one of the days we remind ourselves to be patriotic and patriotism doesn't just come in having jamborees and fanfares", he further said.







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
GhanafestAlberta, an event renowned for its flair and cultural richness, has earned its place among the activities for the Edmonton Festivals. The latter is being co-created this year to reflect the ancestry, diversity, and aspirations of the Canadian city.



Edmonton, the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta, is set to host over 100 festivals in 2024. Serving as the homeland for many indigenous people for about ten millennia, these activities are expected to add an extra layer of excitement to the festival scene.



Following a successful launch in 2023, GhanafestAlberta is poised to make a grand return on July 20, 2024, at the picturesque Louise McKinney Riverfront Park. Ghanafest Alberta Incorporated and Foundation have announced another spectacular celebration of Ghanaian culture and heritage, promising an unforgettable experience.



According to officials, the festival is dedicated to showcasing the dynamic blend of Ghanaian and diverse cultures, offering a captivating experience through vibrant music, compelling dance, delectable cuisine, and stunning fashion.



The highlight of the event will be a grand durbar of chiefs, featuring a display of pure traditional practices from Ghana.



Ghanafest Alberta Incorporated and Foundation proudly collaborates with the Ghana High Commission in Canada and enjoys the support of various esteemed organizations, including black-owned businesses in Edmonton, Arabellas Apparel, Despite Media Group, GhanaWeb, Ministry of Tourism Ghana, Ghana Tourism Authorities, National Commission on Culture, EIB Network, Anita Erskine Network, Kobby Landscape, Dress Me IQ, and many others.





Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
By Lwa Skene, The Associated Press

BALTIMORE  A Baltimore man was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder in the 2021 deadly shooting ambush of a city police officer  a verdict the jury reached without hearing evidence about a potential motive during a trial that spanned several days.

Jurors agreed that Elliot Knox, 34, participated in the killing of Baltimore police officer Keona Holley and the fatal shooting of another man, who was found dead hours later in a different neighborhood. Holley was shot multiple times while sitting in her marked patrol car during an overnight shift.

Police detained Knox after identifying him as the owner of a vehicle captured on surveillance footage leaving the scenes. He then gave a statement to detectives in which he admitted to some involvement but identified another man as the shooter: Travon Shaw, who would become Knoxs co-defendant.

Shaw was convicted in October of murder and other charges for his role in the second shooting, but he hasnt yet been tried in Holleys killing. The second victim, Justin Johnson, was also sitting in a parked car when he was shot. Johnsons partner testified that he was close friends with Shaw, but police werent able to uncover any relationship between Knox and either victim.

Johnsons mother, Justina Lawrence, told reporters after the trial that the verdict provided some consolation.

But its not going to bring my son back, she said. Johnson left behind five children.

Roughly three days of testimony from detectives and other witnesses did little to shed light on why Knox would have participated in the shootings. He announced his decision not to testify Monday morning.

Holleys relatives said theyre still haunted by that over arching question even as they expressed gratitude for the guilty verdict.

A mother and former nursing assistant, Holley joined the police department in 2019 when she was 37. Loved ones said she was truly a good cop who wanted to give back to her community.

I wont rest until I know why, said her sister, Lawanda Sykes. She said she believes someone else sent Knox and Shaw to ambush Holley.

The jury found Knox guilty on eight of nine counts, including two counts of first-degree murder. They found him not guilty on one count of using a firearm in an act of violence  a charge pertaining to Holleys killing, which likely indicates jurors were uncertain about whether Knox pulled the trigger in that case.

Jurors started deliberating Monday afternoon and submitted a note late Wednesday morning telling the judge they had reached consensus on all but one of the charges. Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Schiffer instructed them to keep deliberating.

During closing arguments on Monday, prosecutor Kurt Bjorklund raised doubts about Knoxs credibility, saying the evidence suggests he pulled the trigger in both killings. Investigators found shell casings from a single handgun at the scene of Holleys killing; they found casings from that handgun and an AR-style pistol at the second shooting scene. Bjorkland said the logical conclusion is that two shooters fired from different vantage points.

Folks, this was a hit, Bjorklund said. This was targeted.

He said that even if Knox didnt pull the trigger, he was an accomplice and should be convicted of murder for that reason. Maryland law allows for such a conviction if the prosecution can prove the defendant helped plan the crime or acted in a supporting role.

Without presenting a potential motive, Bjorklund said Knox and Shaw somehow knew where Holley was. He said they drove straight there and they executed her in her car while she worked. Evidence presented included cell phone location data that placed their devices at the two crime scenes.

But Knoxs defense attorney, Natalie Finegar, said his admitted involvement in the crimes wasnt enough to label him an accomplice. She said Knoxs confession was instrumental in helping police solve the killings. He identified Shaw and told them where to locate the weapons.

FILE - Car parts and damaged turf are seen in Curtis Bay Park following the shooting of a Baltimore Police officer early Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. Trial began Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, for a man accused in the deadly shooting ambush of Baltimore police officer Keona Holley who was sitting in her patrol car when she was killed in 2021. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun via AP, File)AP

He gave everything to them, Finegar said. Hes not a hitman. Hes a person who got caught up in a very bad situation and made some very bad decisions.

She cited Shaws reported gang connections and Knoxs apparent remorse. During his taped confession, which was played for the jury, Knox called himself a coward for not trying to help Holley.

The prosecution pointed to dishonest answers during the beginning of the interrogation, when Knox was evasive about his whereabouts and claimed to have lent his car to someone else the night of the shootings. But Finegar said theres no convincing reason to believe Knox was lying by the end.

Knox faces up to life in prison without parole. His sentencing is scheduled for June 4.
By Ed White, The Associated Press

PONTIAC, Mich.  Prosecutors on Thursday played a recording of a desperate 911 call by the father of a Michigan school shooter as they tried to show jurors how he quickly determined that the teen might be the killer.

I have a missing gun at my house. ... I raced home just to like find out, and I think my son took the gun, James Crumbley said frantically, soon after a fruitless search of the house for the gun and ammunition.

I dont know if its him. I dont know whats going on. I am really freaking out. My sons name is Ethan Crumbley, the father said.

It was the last piece of evidence presented on the first day of James Crumbleys involuntary manslaughter trial in suburban Detroit. He isnt accused of knowing that 15-year-old Ethan planned to shoot up Oxford High School, but prosecutors allege that his gross negligence was a cause of the tragedy.

Four students were killed and seven people were wounded on Nov. 30, 2021. The shooters mother, Jennifer Crumbley, was found guilty of the same involuntary manslaughter charges last month.

The Crumbleys are the first U.S. parents to be charged with having criminal responsibility for a mass school shooting committed by a child.

This case isnt about bad parenting  its not illegal to be a bad parent. Its not kids doing kid things, assistant prosecutor Marc Keast told jurors. Were talking about preventable mass murder.

Keast emphasized a series of key points during his opening statement. He noted that James Crumbley, accompanied by his son, bought a Sig Sauer 9 mm handgun four days before the shooting.

The father never told school staff about the purchase  or a trip to a shooting range that same weekend  when he and his wife were summoned to discuss a disturbing drawing on Ethans math assignment on the day of the shooting.

There was a gun on the paper that looked similar to the Sig Sauer, blood drops and a bullet, accompanied by the phrases: The thoughts wont stop. Help me.

Emergency, Jennifer Crumbley messaged her husband before the meeting.

My god, he responded when he saw the drawing.

CORRECTS REASON FOR CRUMBLEY'S REACTION: James Crumbley gets visibly upset over a development in his case that sent the jury home early, Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Pontiac, Mich. (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP, Pool)AP

But the Crumbleys didnt take Ethan home, and the school, concerned that he might be suicidal, didnt demand it. No one checked the boys backpack for a gun, however, and the nine-minute shooting happened that afternoon.

Evidence from James Crumbleys wireless phone showed he made DoorDash deliveries after the meeting, investigator Ed Wagrowski testified. Crumbley didnt search his home until after learning about the shooting.

James Crumbley missed an incredible opportunity to save lives that day, Keast said.

He displayed a picture of a gun lock, still in a package, for the jury.

It was never used, the prosecutor said.

This nightmare  these murders  were preventable by him, foreseeable by him, Keast said.

But defense attorney Mariell Lehman said James Crumbley was being portrayed in the wrong way.

Text messages are entered into evidence between Ethan Crumbley and his friend during the trial of James Crumbley in the Oakland County courtroom of Cheryl Matthews on Thursday, March 7, 2024, In Pontiac, Mich. (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP, Pool)AP

James Crumbley was not aware that his son had access to that firearm, she told jurors. You will hear testimony that access was not allowed in James Crumbleys mind. You will not hear that James Crumbley even suspected that his son was a danger.

Prosecutors also allege that the Crumbleys ignored their sons pleas for help for mental distress. Ethan told a friend that James Crumbleys response was to tell the boy to suck it up, according to text messages introduced by Wagrowski.

I am mentally and physically dying, Ethan told the friend in April 2021.

Before the day began, Judge Cheryl Matthews made rulings that could benefit James Crumbley. She said prosecutors cant use text messages between son and mother that suggested he was having hallucinations about demons months before the shooting.

The messages were used as evidence at Jennifer Crumbleys trial.

The first witness at James Crumbleys trial Thursday was Molly Darnell, a faculty member who was shot by a bullet that pierced her office door. Darnell, one of seven people wounded that day, stood, removed a jacket and showed jurors the spot on her upper left arm.

Darnell said that while she hid behind a cabinet, she texted her husband without telling him she had been shot.

I love you, she wrote. Active shooter.

Ethan, now 17, is serving a life prison sentence for murder and terrorism.

Jennifer Crumbley, 45, is scheduled to return to court for her sentence on April 9. Her minimum prison term could be as high as 10 years.

Follow Ed White on X, formerly Twitter: @edwritez
By Tom Avril, The Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA  The questions about the piglets with brain injuries began almost immediately.

William M. Armstead said he had successfully tested a drug on the animals in his lab at the University of Pennsylvania, obtaining results that could guide better treatment of such injuries in people.

But within weeks of his submitting the results for publication in an academic journal, the scientist and his superiors at Penns Perelman School of Medicine were notified of a serious accusation: The manuscript included data and images that appeared to have been copied from his previous work, yet Armstead was passing them off as the results of new experiments.

That was the beginning of a four-year ordeal that ended with federal officials concluding that Armstead had deliberately falsified or fabricated 51 images, charts, and other data in a series of studies and grant applications. Armstead left his job at Penn and agreed to a seven-year ban on federally funded research.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has now obtained 131 pages of internal documents and emails with previously undisclosed details illustrating how the case unfolded. The records include Penns scathing, 23-page report on which the governments July 2023 findings were based.

Members of the schools investigation committee wrote that Armstead was reckless and displayed a blatant disregard for accepted research practices. Citing the reused images and discrepancies in his lab records, they concluded that some of the experiments never took place.

Penn ultimately paid the government back nearly $1.7 million in grant funds that Armstead had used in his research, a university spokesperson said, responding to an Inquirer query about the report.

The report and related documents, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, offer rare insight into how universities grapple with allegations that threaten the very essence of the scientific enterprise  the quest for truth.

Research misconduct is under increased scrutiny, with more than 200 new allegations made each year to federal regulators. The advent of fraud-detection software and a growing online community of sharp-eyed sleuths has led to accusations of fakery by scientists at some of the nations top universities. Still, formal findings of misconduct are rare, occurring fewer than a dozen times each year.

And despite federal rules that call for prompt action, such cases often remain in limbo for years.

Penns lengthy investigation

Thats what happened to Armstead, 66, who was accused of wrongdoing in February 2019.

Federal regulations dictate that universities generally must complete misconduct investigations within half a year, including 60 days for a preliminary inquiry and, when warranted, 120 days for a formal investigation.

Yet the documents show that Armsteads case dragged on for more than four years after the initial allegation, including nearly three years for the internal inquiry and investigation by Penn.

The scientist did not respond to a request for comment. His lawyer, Sidney Gold, also did not respond to several requests for comment in recent weeks.

Armstead left his job at Penn midway through the 2021-2022 school year, at about the time the investigation was concluding.

University officials declined to discuss details of the investigation or his departure, other than to say in an emailed statement that the situation was carefully managed in accordance with all applicable university policies and federal regulatory requirements. Federal officials granted extensions as needed to ensure a thorough investigation, the schools statement said.

Conducting investigations is a complex process which often requires reviewing years of publications, data, and lab notes, and interviewing former employees involved with the work in question. Penn and other institutions often find that proceedings that are both fair and complete cannot be accomplished within the target time periods, and the regulations allow for appropriate accommodations, the school said.

The report from the schools investigative committee also mentions one scheduling roadblock: Just weeks after the formal phase of the investigation began, the school shut down its campus in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still, the records show that the school began its initial inquiry more than a year before that, in February 2019.

The gravity of the allegations demanded prompt resolution, said scientific integrity consultant Elisabeth Bik, a former Stanford University microbiologist who reviewed the records at The Inquirers request.

Everyone had more than a full year before COVID restrictions hit, so that should not be an excuse, she said.

Calls for faster action in such cases also have come from lawyers who represent the researchers accused of misconduct. Some investigations drag on for five years, said Christopher Ezold, who has defended scientists at several Philadelphia universities.

They are supposed to be confidential, but confidentiality in higher education is a difficult thing to accomplish, he said. While these investigations are pending, regardless of what the final outcome is, they create years worth of mud through which research scientists or professors are dragged. Curing that reputational and career harm is almost impossible.

The initial allegation

The case against Armstead began on Feb. 14, 2019, according to a timeline in the 23-page report from Penns investigation committee. Thats when a school official received an email alleging that the scientist had engaged in possible duplicative use of data and images.

The tipster, whose name was redacted in the copy of the report obtained by The Inquirer, had first gone to Armstead with those concerns two weeks earlier, according to the committee report. On March 4, school officials notified J. Larry Jameson, who was then the dean of the medical school (now interim university president).

The school formed a committee to conduct a preliminary inquiry, and by Aug. 30, it determined there was sufficient evidence to appoint a second committee for a formal investigation.

With Jamesons approval, that committee went on to hold 10 meetings between Feb. 18, 2020, and July 14, 2021, during which members reviewed boxes of records, scrutinized images from tests on pig brains, and interviewed Armstead and other parties involved.

In their final report, dated Oct. 5, 2021, committee members found that Armstead:

Reused or falsified graphs and images on numerous occasions.

Conducted certain experiments with methods that differed from how they were described in published studies.

When some of his published results were called into question, could not produce original data to show where his calculations had come from.

There was a blatant disregard for scientific record-keeping, such that published data could not be reproduced due to the vast absence of the original data, committee members wrote.

When asked about reusing images from previous studies, Armstead explained that, in some cases, the images were from control animals with brain injury, not animals on which he was testing drugs. Because these control images would have looked the same from one experiment to the next, it was OK to reuse them, he said, according to the report.

Committee members wrote that this would be allowed only if Armstead had cited his earlier research as the original source, but that he did not. And in other cases, the scientist reused images from old experiments in which he was actually testing drugs, calling into question whether some of the new experiments ever happened, the committee wrote.

The committee wrote that the scientists failure to follow accepted research practices was reckless and defies credulity. They described his recordkeeping as chaotic, finding that in some cases, the number of animals he reported testing in experiments did not match what was recorded in his lab records.

Misuse of public funds

Accompanying the committees final report is a Jan. 12, 2022, letter of acknowledgement from Jameson, the dean. After carefully reviewing the full report and exhibits, I accept the findings of the Formal Investigation Committee in full, he wrote.

Two months after that, Penn paid back nearly $1.7 million to the NIH, a school spokesperson said in response to an Inquirer query. That was the total Armstead had received from the agency over five years, during four of which he was found to have submitted falsified progress reports to the government.

Legally, the government is entitled to recover up to three times the total of any grant monies awarded under false pretenses, said Eugenie Reich, a Boston-based lawyer who specializes in such cases. In this case, that amount would be three times the $1.4 million total Armstead received during those four years with falsified reports  nearly $4.2 million, she said.

But when universities initiate such investigations and work with the government, the cases typically are resolved for much less.

Theyre always going to get a cooperation bonus from the government if they present it, she said.

A seven-year ban

In addition to the committee report and Jamesons letter, the 131 pages of documents include letters and emails between Armstead, his lawyer, journal editors, and school and federal officials, in many cases heavily redacted.

They show how Armstead eventually agreed to a seven-year ban on conducting federally funded research, in a settlement announced July 3 by the Office of Research Integrity in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

At that time, four Armstead studies cited in the investigation had been retracted  meaning formally withdrawn by the journals in which they were published. A fifth, published in the journal Brain Research, is in the process of being retracted in response to a query from The Inquirer, according to a spokesperson for the publisher, Elsevier.

Armstead also withdrew the manuscript that originally prompted the call for an investigation, in which he reported treating brain injury in newborn pigs with a drug called phenylephrine.

Physicians already had been treating traumatic brain injury in humans with that drug and another one in the same class. Called vasopressors, they work by raising the blood pressure. But the evidence was unclear on which one worked best.

Had Armsteads work not come under suspicion, he might have been onto something. Other researchers have since found that phenylephrine, the drug he said he was testing in the pigs, may indeed be the best option.
Ashanti will headline at the RnB Fest 2024 in Philadelphia this spring.

She will perform on May 19 at The Met along with Lloyd, Mya and Maeta.

Also featured will be DJ Ayeboogie, DJ Caution, Killsing and DJ Aktive.

Doors open at 7 p.m. The show is at 8 p.m. Citi card member presale is happening now. You can also find tickets on these secondary market sites (prices are as of the time of this post):

Stubhub, prices start at $66

SeatGeek, prices start at $65

Ashanti also will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 30, at the Barclays Center in New York.
Sum 41 will release a new album this spring.

It also will be the bands last album.

Heaven :x: Hell is described as half punk and half heavy metal. It will be released on March 29, 2024.

After a world tour called Tour of the Setting Sum, the group will disband. The final show will be on Jan. 30, 2025, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The final tour started on March 1 in Indonesia.

Pennsylvania performances are:

7 p.m. Wednesday, May 8 - Santander Arena, Reading

6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 18 - Skyline Stage at the Mann, Philadelphia

7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17 - Robert Morris University, UPMC Events Center, Moon Twp.

The band will be performing nine concerts in Japan in March before returning to the United States.

Other concerts in the Northeast include:

April 29 - Pier Six Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland

May 4 - Stone Pony Summer Stage, Asbury Park, New Jersey

May 6 - Paramount Theater at Long Island University, Brooklyn New York
As other members of New York's congressional delegation celebrated wins for their districts in a $460 billion spending bill, U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney was the lone New Yorker to oppose what she criticized as a "wasteful" measure.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the package that includes six appropriations bills to fund federal government agencies and programs covering a range of subjects, from agriculture and the environment to transportation and veterans affairs.

The vote was 339-85, with a bipartisan supermajority supporting its passage. Tenney, R-Cleveland, was one of 83 Republicans who voted against the bill.

"This 1,050-age spending monstrosity does not provide the relief that the American people are demanding and will only increase already sky-high prices and add to our national debt," Tenney said.

Tenney outlined what she believes are the worst provisions in the bill, including funding for reproductive health programs within the Department of Veterans Affairs and support for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Despite Tenney's opposition to the bill, she acknowledged there is funding that will support 12 projects in the current 24th Congressional District, which includes all of Cayuga County. The notable projects include $3.5 million for a water infrastructure project in the town of Fayette, Seneca County, and $2.1 million for the town of Wolcott, Wayne County, to construct a salt storage barn.

Tenney sought $1.3 million for Cayuga County to upgrade its fire training facility, but congressional appropriators rejected the request.

U.S. Rep. Brandon Williams, whose district is comprised of Onondaga, Madison and Oneida counties, voted for the spending package. His district will receive more than $20 million to fund 12 projects, including two earmarks totaling $6 million for Syracuse Hancock International Airport and $5 million for the Solvay-Geddes Connective Corridor.

"We are delivering results for the families, businesses and communities of central New York," Williams, R-Sennett, said. "The funding we've fought for includes provisions for sewer and pump station improvements, checkpoint expansions at Syracuse's airport, police equipment and new classroom technology. My office will keep putting central New York first, every single day."

With the House's approval of the spending bill, the Senate will act and is expected to pass the legislation this week. The White House has already signaled that Biden will sign the bill to avert a partial government shutdown.

The Biden administration released a statement Tuesday urging Congress to pass the spending package.

"This bipartisan legislation represents a compromise and neither side got everything it wanted, but it would prevent a damaging shutdown of several key agencies, protect key priorities and make progress for the American people," the White House said.
A favorite southern convenience store chain is teasing Pennsylvania drivers.

Buc-ees, the Texas-based chain known as the worlds largest gas station, recently erected a cryptic billboard on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Oddly, a similar billboard popped up along the New Jersey Turnpike several weeks ago.

The signs are sparking speculation the cult-favorite chain with its brisket sandwiches, larger-than-life beaver mascot and 120-plus gas pumps is heading north.

The billboard between the Reading and Morgantown exits near mile marker 291 in Lancaster County shows Buc-ees beloved beaver mascot with 537 miles, the distance to Buc-ees nearest travel center in Florence, South Carolina.

So what does the sign mean? After all, Pennsylvania is one of the most competitive states when it comes to convenience store brands. Is Buc-ees ready to enter Sheetz and Wawa territory?

We do put billboards in locations that we think our future customers will be coming, said Jeff Nadalo, Buc-ees spokesman.

However, Nadalo said Pennsylvania Buc-ees fans will have to stick to roadtrips for their fix, as: We dont currently have any plans for the area.

Buc-ees opened its first store, a regular sized outpost in 1982 in Lake Jackson, Texas and has grown into a freeway phenomenon. The first travel center, a 37,000-square-foot store with 64 fueling positions, opened in 2003 in Luling, Texas.

On average, the stores are about 75,000 square-feet with at least 120 gas pumps.

The large format destinations offer gifts for sale and specialty foods including homemade fudge and a jerky bar at about 46 locations across seven states. Nadalo shared the chain is expanding outside of Texas and looking to expand its footprint across the United States.

One is opening soon in Colorado and at least two are coming to Virginia. Other stores are under development as far north as Wisconsin and Ohio and as far west as Arizona.

The big question is would Buc-ees have footing in a market saturated with Sheetz, Wawa, Rutters and Royal Farms convenience stores.

Bob Gorland, a retail consultant and vice president of Matthew P. Casey & Associates in Harrisburg, which specializes in supermarket feasibility studies, said Buc-ees is an entirely different format. It requires several acres in a high-profile area to capture travelers and truckers.

Stores like Sheetz and Wawa, he noted, are looking for areas near business parks and residences to appeal to local traffic, he said. Hes not sold on the Lancaster/Berks line as an ideal location, instead pointing to the Carlisle Miracle Mile section of Cumberland County.

I dont know that they would necessarily go where the billboard is. That might have been just what billboard was available, Gorland said.
The Central Pennsylvania Vietnam Round Table will meet at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 14, at Vietnam Veterans of America, Michael J. Novosel MOH Chapter 542, 8000 Derry St., Harrisburg.

Following a brief business meeting, Dave Binder, of Allentown, will discuss his Vietnam experiences as a member of the Brown Water Navy, along the coast of South Vietnam, where he served two tours of duty between September 1965 and June 1967.

MBider grew up in Allentown. After graduating from high school, he worked at a bank for a year, then enlisted in the Navy in November 1963. During his four years of active duty, he became a 2nd Class Petty Officer. He was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Combat Action Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal w/three Bronze Campaign Stars, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry Medal w/Palm, Republic of Vietnam Civic Action Medal and the Republic of Vietnam Naval Service Medal.
LAS VEGAS  A visit from a rare, fine-feathered tourist on the Las Vegas Strip interrupted a hotel-casinos prominent water show before wildlife biologists captured the yellow-billed loon and relocated it Wednesday, unharmed, to an unspecified remote location where they expect it to resume its migratory trek north.

The Bellagio said in a social media post on Tuesday that it paused its fountains after the loon found comfort on Las Vegas own Lake Bellagio.

On Wednesday, the bird was removed by the Nevada Department of Wildlife and the resorts music and choreographed water-spray show resumed in the afternoon, MGM Resorts International spokesperson Brian Ahern said.

The yellow-billed loon is an international species of concern that is considered to be one of the 10 rarest birds that regularly breed on the mainland U.S., according to the National Park Service.

Initially, the fountain shows were paused while officials figured out how to proceed, Ahern said.

Concerned birders asked state wildlife officials to intervene, department spokesperson Doug Nielsen said. The bird, a juvenile, likely sought shelter from a storm, Nielsen said, noting that it isnt uncommon for migratory birds to visit the valley.

They normally nest around the Arctic Circle and winter in Canada, the U.S., Norway or Siberia, said Kurt Buzard, a veteran bird spotter who said he believes he saw the same distinctive bird a week ago at the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve southeast of Las Vegas. I think its lost and probably disoriented.

Buzard said the last time he remembered hearing about a yellow-billed loon in southern Nevada was in the late 1990s at the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Nye County, northwest of Las Vegas.

He worried that because neither the man-made lake at the Bellagio nor the former municipal water treatment pond at the Henderson preserve had fish, the bird he saw would be too hungry to continue its migratory path.

Security officials working with the wildlife biologists initially had hoped the uninvited guest would leave on its own without requiring an escort.

But Nielsen said in an email to The Associated Press that they decided Wednesday morning to capture and relocate the bird to a more suitable and remote location where it has space, food and quiet surroundings.

A yellow-billed loon swims in Lake Bellagio on the Strip in Las Vegas, Tuesday, March 5, 2024. The Bellagio said in a social media post Tuesday that it paused its fountains as it worked with state wildlife officials to rescue a yellow-billed loon who found comfort on Las Vegas own Lake Bellagio. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)AP

According to the biologist who oversaw the capture, the bird had no apparent injuries and appeared to be in good health, the state wildlife department official said.

Nielsen said birds sometimes get a bit off course during their annual migration due to such things as heavy winds or poor weather conditions.

The important thing at this point is the bird is where it has an opportunity to get reoriented and resume its northern migration, he said.
A former Google employee has been accused of stealing trade secrets related to artificial intelligence (AI) and selling them to China.

The man has been arrested by federal officials for crimes which reportedly took place between 2022 and 2023.

The Hacker News reports how 38-year-old Linwei Leon Ding  a Chinese national who was living in California  had worked as a software engineer for Google since 2019.

According to a release published to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) website, Ding was arrested on Wednesday, March 6, in Newark, N.J., and indicted over allegations that he siphoned proprietary information related to Googles supercomputing data center infrastructure  which is used for running AI models  with the intention of giving them to two unnamed Chinese entities.

Over 500 confidential files were stolen, states the release, and it was revealed that Ding had been secretly affiliating himself with the two entities as well.

The Justice Department will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that could put our national security at risk, said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland via the release.

Ding has been charged with four counts of theft of trade secrets and, if convicted, could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison as well as up to $250,000 in fines for each count.

Todays charges are the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the Peoples Republic of China are wiling to go to to steal American innovation, added FBI Director Christopher Wray.

The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic national security consequences.
Talk about an incredibly rare event for those who caught a glimpse.

A gray whale, thought to be extinct from the Atlantic for more than 200 years, was spotted recently off the Massachusetts coast.

The super-rare sighting took place on March 1 by the New England Aquariums aerial survey team 30 miles away from Nantucket, which is a small island off Cape Cod and is seen as a popular summertime tourist destination.

As the aerial survey plane circled the area of the whale for 45 minutes, the gray mammal was seen to repeatedly dive and resurfaced, and even appeared to feed, the aquarium said in a release.

The team snapped pictures and reviewed them after, only to confirm that what they saw was indeed the extinct whale.

My brain was trying to process what I was seeing because this animal was something that should not really exist in these waters, research technician Kate Laemmle, who was in the survey plane, said in a statement. We were laughing because of how wild and exciting this was to see an animal that disappeared from the Atlantic hundreds of years ago.

Gray whales, which are large whales usually found in the North Pacific Ocean, can be distinguished from other whale species by having mottled grey and white skin and their lack of a dorsal fin. They also have a dorsal hump and pronounced ridges.

They are up to 49 feet long, weigh about 90,000 pounds, and have one of the longest migration patterns of any mammal, USA Today reported.

The species vanished from the Atlantic Ocean by the 18th century due to whaling, the aquarium said in the release. But in the last 15 years, five whales have been observed in the Atlantic and Mediterranean waters, in addition to a sighting in December off the coast of Florida, the release said.

But the aquarium said scientists think the gray whale that was spotted is the same one that was seen in Florida back in December.

Scientists said they believe that the gray whales are appearing out of nowhere because of climate change.

The Northwest Passage, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific through the Arctic Ocean in Canada, has regularly been ice-free in the summertime in recent years, partly due to rising global temperatures, the aquarium said.
By Noah Goldberg, The Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES  Its 11:45 on a Tuesday morning, and a 53-year-old man in rainbow wig and multi-patterned clown suit with a Nikon camera around his neck is busily posting leaflets on palm trees and poles on a wide street in Hancock Park. Then an older man steps out of a nearby house and walks toward him with a long, double-barreled gun.

In the ensuing minutes, one of the men would end up on the ground and the other in handcuffs. This is the story of how things got to that point.

Mark Gallegos is a professional protester. He has been practicing his craft since around 2006, when he vented outrage against the Roman Catholic Church outside churches in Pomona, Orange County and downtown Los Angeles. He had a personal stake in that one, given that hed been sexually abused by a priest when he was a child, Gallegos said.

Since then, clients have hired him to name and shame employers and businesses in various fields  food service, the garment industry, construction workers.

Recently, he was hired by former workers for Real Food Daily, a vegan restaurant with two locations, one in Pasadena and another in West Hollywood.

The organic vegan restaurants are owned and managed by Paul Boettcher, a Hancock Park resident who has run restaurants with his daughter Adaline Hobbs, including a Silver Lake vegan spot they briefly operated called Junkyard Dog. Boettcher also owns the British pub-style restaurant Ye Olde Kings Head in Santa Monica and Busbys West, also in Santa Monica.

Gallegos was hired by frustrated former employees of Boettcher, he said.

Numerous employees have been screwed and not paid, Gallegos alleged.

Court records show that a former employee of Real Food Daily sued the restaurant in 2023 for allegedly failing to pay her for overtime worked. The employee, Sheridan Covington, said there was a company policy in place to disproportionately round down the number of hours worked when calculating pay. Covington also claimed that employees had to work through their meal breaks. Sometimes employees would work more than 10 hours in a shift and not be paid overtime, the lawsuit claims.

In October, a video by a passing driver captured Gallegos as he was protesting outside Real Food Dailys Pasadena location, wearing the multicolored clown suit he sometimes wore to work and holding a sign saying Real Food Daily refuses to pay vendor.

But after protesting at Real Food Dailys locations for a while, Gallegos decided to up the ante.

Employees were telling me they were owed thousands and thousands of dollars, Gallegos said. Thats why he decided to break with his usual routine of demonstrating outside businesses and bring the heat to Boettchers neighborhood.

On Jan. 23, Gallegos dressed up in the clown outfit and headed over to Boettchers house on South Plymouth Boulevard. He began to post flyers on poles and palm trees about Boettchers alleged mistreatment of his workers.

Gallegos said he stayed on the sidewalk and did not venture onto Boettchers property.

It was pure, on the sidewalk, First Amendment rights. No loud music, no yelling. Were following guidelines. Especially around the home, you cant be disturbing the peace, he said.

Despite that, Gallegos said, Boettcher came out of his house with the long gun and pointed it directly in his face.

I have this man charging toward me with a high-powered rifle and he cocked it he said he was gonna shoot me, kill me, something to that extent. It makes me tremble and shiver [to remember], he said.

Video recorded on a camera Gallegos was wearing around his neck shows Boettcher approach the protester while carrying the gun under his right arm. Boettcher appears to point the gun toward Gallegos in the video.

I thought I was dead. I just closed my eyes, he said.

Gallegos said Boettcher then went inside, came back out and hit him with a stick, knocking him over. The video from Gallegos camera shows Boettcher approach Gallegos a second time and bump into him, at which time the lens turns upward, showing only the blue sky. Boettcher does not appear to be holding a stick or gun during this interaction.

A neighbor called the police.

Another video shot by Gallegos shows Boettcher walking out of his home with his hands on his head, then backward toward officers who had blocked off the street. He kneels to the ground in the video so officers can take him into custody.

He was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, authorities said, and later released on $30,000 bail.

The Los Angeles County district attorneys office sent the case to the Los Angeles city attorneys office to consider misdemeanor charges against Boettcher, though no charges have been filed. The city attorneys office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case.

Gallegos sued Boettcher for battery, assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress last month. His attorney, Hugo Salazar, said the key issue is the freedom to peacefully protest.

We filed civil suit due to the assault and battery that were made against Gallegos for exercising his First Amendment right to protest on a public street, Salazar said.

The arrest is the latest legal issue for Boettcher, who, on top of being sued by the one employee, is also suing his daughter Hobbs in Los Angeles Superior Court. He claims Hobbs teamed up with her husband to embezzle at least $500,000 from Real Food Daily over 6 1/2 years working for the business. The lawsuit claims more than $1 million in total may have been stolen.

Boettcher claimed in the suit, filed in September, that he became aware of the embezzlement and confronted his daughter and her husband, Thomas Hobbs, who both resigned their positions leaving a teetering business in their wake.

The suit argues that the embezzlement by the couple is the reason the company is in tough financial straits, struggling to pay vendors and employees. The Hobbses have not responded to the allegations yet in court.

Boettcher said in his complaint that after leaving the company, Hobbs and her husband maligned Real Food Daily on social media and encouraged former employees to file lawsuits against the company.

Boettcher did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither did his daughter.
Multiple acne treatment products, including Clearasil, Proactiv and Clinique, have been found to have an unacceptably high level of the carcinogenic chemical benzene, according to a report from an independent laboratory.

Valisure, a Connecticut-based company, issued a statement on Wednesday saying that it found levels of the chemical 800 times over the regulatory limit during an independent study.

Benzene is known to increase the risk of of leukemia and other blood disorders. It is considered a possible cause of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma, Yahoo News said.

Valisure said the high levels are caused by benzoyl peroxide decomposing into benzene over time when combined with other ingredients in the medication, and is not caused by any contamination.

This discovery of benzoyl peroxides fundamental instability and formation of benzene is substantially different than Valisures previous findings of benzene in sunscreens, hand sanitizers and other consumer products, David Light, Valisures Co-Founder and President, said. The benzene we found in sunscreens and other consumer products were impurities that came from contaminated ingredients; however, the benzene in benzoyl peroxide products is coming from the benzoyl peroxide itself, sometimes at hundreds of times the conditional FDA limit. This means the problem broadly affects benzoyl peroxide products, both prescription and over-the-counter, and necessitates urgent action.

Reckitt, which owns Clearasil, said in a statement sent to CBS News that it is confident that all Clearasil products, when used and stored as directed on their labels, are safe. The safety and quality of our products is our top priority and we work closely with regulators around the world to ensure our products are safe and effective for their intended use.

Estee Lauder told Reuters that it uses benzoyl peroxide in one Clinique product, and that it is is safe for use as intended.

Valisure has issued a petition to the Food and Drug Administration, asking the agency to issue a recall of these products.

An FDA spokesperson told CBS News that it had received the petition, and that the agency acts on information provided from a variety of sources, such as that provided by Valisure, but such data must be verified as accurate and reproducible before it can be utilized to make regulatory decisions such as recommending product sale suspensions and recalls. The agency will continue to provide updates to the public regarding benzene in drug products, as appropriate.

Yale School of Medicine dermatologist Dr. Christopher Bunick said to CBS News that benzoyl peroxide that dont have benzoyl peroxide are available and to consult with your healthcare provider if youre concerned.
Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding on Thursday touted a $3 million investment in Pennsylvanias apple industry that addressed both a fruit surplus and food insecurity across the state.

Speaking at Knouse Foods plant in Adams County, Redding said $2 million in state funds and an additional $1 million in federal funds was used last year to bring excess fruit products to needy children and families.

Favorable weather in 2023 meant Pennsylvania had an overabundance of apples with no place to go. The Pennsylvania Agriculture Surplus System, believed to be the first program of its kind, reimburses farmers and agribusinesses for the costs of harvesting, processing, packaging and transporting surplus food to 13 food distributors which serve food pantries around the state.

This is the most significant single investment in the PASS program, Redding said.

Julie Bancroft, CEO of Feeding Pennsylvania, a statewide association of nine food banks, said apples are the top fresh fruit in the PASS program.

Food prices are still at all time high, so the charitable food network is a lifeline, said Bancroft.

This collaborative processing project exemplifies the responsiveness of PASS to Pennsylvanias agricultural community and charitable food network.

PASS is on track to distribute more than five million pounds of food in 2023-24, the agency said. An estimated 1.2 million Pennsylvanians, 325,000 of them children, are experiencing food insecurity.

Gov. Josh Shapiros budget calls for an additional $1 million for the PASS program in the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

Pennsylvania is the nations fourth largest apple producing state and Adams County is the heart of the commonwealths fruit belt, with 14,000 acres of apples, peaches and cherries.

Knouse Foods, a grower-owned cooperative, makes Musselmans and Lucky Leaf products, including apple juice, apple sauce and pie filling.
Want a say in the news? Email Claudia at todayinpa@pennlive.com to have your thoughts on the stories covered here or on PennLive heard.

You can listen to the latest episode of Today in Pa on any of your favorite apps including Alexa, Apple, Spotify, and Stitcher. Episodes are available every weekday on PennLive. Feel free to subscribe, follow or rate Today in Pa. as you see fit!

Today in Pa. Daily Podcast | March 7, 2024

Those in Pennsylvanias government  and outside of it  are extremely worried following a cyberattack on a prominent medical billing system. Also, be wary of ATM skimming. The state AG is urging Facebook to crack down on account takeovers. Finally, its the caper of the antique trailer.

Those are the stories we cover in the latest episode of Today in Pa., a daily weekday podcast from PennLive.com and hosted by Claudia Dimuro. Today in Pa. is dedicated to sharing the most important and interesting stories pertaining to Pennsylvania that lets you know, indeed, whats happening today in Pa.

Todays episode refers to the following articles:

If you enjoy Today in Pa., consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or on Amazon. Reviews help others find the show and, besides, wed like to know what you think about the program, too.

As sponsored by Renewal by Anderson of Central PA.
Liz Cheney, a former Republican leader in the House of Representatives before she was booted from office by GOP voters for leading the investigation into former President Trump, has vowed to do everything possible to keep Trump from returning to the presidency.

On Wednesday, after Trumps GOP rival, Nikki Haley, withdrew from the Republican presidential primary, Cheney announced her latest effort: a Political Action Committee aimed at helping President Biden get re-elected.

The GOP has chosen, Cheney tweeted. They will nominate a man who attempted to overturn an election and seize power. We have eight months to save our republic and ensure Donald Trump is never anywhere near the Oval Office again. Join me in the fight for our nations freedom.

Operation Trigger Trump: Heres Bidens plan for driving Trump crazy

Trump mouthpiece MTG tells journalist to F--- off!

E. Jean Carroll has a message for die-hard Trump supporters

In battle with Trump, Biden has message for those who thought hed get his ass kicked

Joe Scarborough flips at Trump supporters: Whats wrong with you people?

The PAC is named The Great Task, after a speech given by Abraham Lincoln.

According to the PACs website: Speaking at Gettysburg, Lincoln described our Great Task, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from this earth.

Cheney chaired the House Republican Conference, serving in the third-highest position in the House Republican leadership from 2019 to 2021, and was vice chair of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol.

She is the author of the new bestselling memoir Oath and Honor, her firsthand account of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection from inside the walls of Congress, and how she helped lead the investigation into how it happened.

During her time in Congress, Cheney was also a member of the House Armed Services Committee, the China Task Force, the Natural Resources Committee and the House Committee on Rules.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.The Florida state legislature has adopted a reworked internet safety bill that implements age verification for pornography platforms and bans the use of social media for minors under 14 years of age.

The bill, House Bill (HB) 3, is poised to be signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in the coming days. DeSantis vetoed HB 1, a competing bill with AV requirements and social media bans, in a political bid to adopt a supposedly much more superior bill.

The real differences between House Bill 1 and House Bill 3 are small. HB 1 would have covered minors aged 16 and younger, while the purportedly "reasonable" age verification requirements were in fact the same.

With DeSantis' presumptive signing of HB 3, Florida will become the next U.S. state to impose a measure restricting access for adults to online porn.

We appreciate the efforts by Florida legislators and [Gov.] DeSantis to protect younger users and promote safety online," said Khara Boender, state policy director for the Computer & Communications Industry Association, speaking on House Bill 3.

"The revised bill remains problematic, infringing on minors First Amendment rights by creating significant barriers for younger users to access online information that every American, including minors, has a right to see."

Tampa Bay Times reports that House Bill 3's potential attraction for legal challenges will emulate what has been seen in Arkansas.

There, a federal district judge ruled that an age ban on social media violated minors' First Amendment rights.
One plus one equals two is the basics of math when a kid first starts school. But in Junior high and High school the students go into the formulas, pairs of numbers, letters, and equations. That was what about 410 students did at the regional State Math contest held in Cheyenne at the Story gym on Wednesday February 28th. All the students were from the Laramie County area.

There were five tests for the students to participate in. The first four of the tests are twenty minutes of individual multiple choice exams. The last test is a group competition. Each of the students are assigned to a...
Wyoming 4-H to Host Free Virtual Career Fair March 19

Worland, Wyo.-Feb. 28, 2024-High school and middle school students are encouraged to hop online Tuesday, March 19, for an interactive virtual career night organized by the University of Wyoming Extension.

Hosted on Zoom, the annual event offers an opportunity for young people to interact with professionals in fields ranging from agriculture, firefighting and wildlife management to video production, tourism and exercise physiology. Participants will also receive information on postsecondary education options and financial aid.

While the career fair is organized by Wyoming 4-H educators, it...
CHEYENNE, Wyo  On Wednesday, March 27th, the grassroots initiative Wyoming Tax Facts and the Equality State Policy Center will co-host a Tax Facts: Lunch & Learn webinar reviewing the tax implications of the 2024 Budget Session with Senator Tara Nethercott and Representative Dan Zwonitzer.

This session is the fourth installment of the Tax Facts: Lunch & Learn series and builds on the knowledge gained in preceding webinars. In the previous session, Former Governor Dave Freudenthal and Senator Cale Case described how our current tax structure determines the future of Wyoming communities....
After Trump, who has avoided all debates, called for debates with President Biden, the Biden campaign called him out for attention-seeking.

Trump posted on Truth Social, It is important, for the Good of our Country, that Joe Biden and I Debate Issues that are so vital to America, and the American People. Therefore, I am calling for Debates, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE! The Debates can be run by the Corrupt DNC, or their Subsidiary, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD).

Michael Tyler of the Biden campaign responded, I know Donald Trumps thirsty for attention and struggling to expand his appeal beyond the MAGA base  and thats a conversation well have at the appropriate time in this cycle. But if hes so desperate to see President Biden in prime time, he doesnt have to wait! He can join the tens of millions of Americans who will tune in to watch the State of the Union tomorrow night. He might even learn a thing or two about bringing people together and actually delivering for the American people.

Trump has been threatening to skip the presidential debates for years, but suddenly, he wants to debate. What is going on here is that President Biden is about to get a huge national television audience for his State Of The Union on Thursday night, while Donald Trump will be sitting at home and getting no media attention.

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

The Biden campaign was correct. Now is not the time to be discussing the presidential debate schedule, but if Trump believed the polls and really thought that he was winning, he wouldnt be begging for debates.

The most attention that Donald Trump is going to get between now and when he unveils his running mate will be in court.

Trump is out of the spotlight, and it is already driving him crazy.

A Special Message From PoliticusUSA



If you are in a position to donate purely to help us keep the doors open on PoliticusUSA during what is a critical election year, please do so here.

We have been honored to be able to put your interests first for 14 years as we only answer to our readers and we will not compromise on that fundamental, core PoliticusUSA value.
A North Augusta man will spend five years on federal probation for a felony cockfighting violation.

Roosevelt Curry, 69, of North Augusta was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Bruce Hendricks to five years of probation with 480 days of house arrest with an electronic monitor, according to a media release.

Evidence presented during the trial showed Curry and others gathered at a home on Clayton Lane in Ridgeville on March 12, 2022 for a cockfighting tournament, in which Curry and others fought chickens against one another and gambled on the outcomes of their birds fighting to death.

Deputies on the case received an anonymous tip about the gathering and saw 30 individuals standing around a cockfighting pit, a blue barrel full of dead chickens with fighting wounds and razor-sharp instruments that participants attach to the chickens legs to make them more lethal during the fights, the release said.

Deputies also found Currys truck which had cockfighting equipment and chickens, some of which sustained obvious wounds during fighting.

Seven individuals were indicted in federal court for their role in the fight or their longstanding history of participation in these illegal events and six of those individuals pleaded guilty.

After a trial, Curry plead guilty of felony sponsoring or exhibiting an animal in an animal fighting venture and has a prior 2009 misdemeanor state cockfighting conviction on his record.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Inspector General, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), and the Dorchester County Sheriffs Office (DCSO), investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Bianchi and Chris Lietzow prosecuted the case.
North Augusta reporter

Samantha Winn is a reporter for The Post and Courier North Augusta. She covers the cities of North Augusta and Augusta, with a focus on community-oriented business and events.

Winn is a graduate of the University of South Carolina. Follow her on X @samanthamwinn and on Instagram @swinnnews.

To support local journalism, sign up for a subscription. See our current offers 
BEAUFORT  When political candidate and businessman Michael B. Moore appeared at Beauforts Tabernacle Baptist Church on the morning of March 7, it was nearly 48 years to the day that he was on the same spot to unveil a bust of his great-great-grandfather and beloved son of Beaufort, Robert Smalls.

Moores most recent visit was to announce the next phase of the Democratic campaign he hopes will lead him to the U.S. House of Representatives and the seat currently occupied by Republican Nancy Mace.

Were focused on June 11, the Democratic primary, and creating the template of the campaign that will then scale into what will go against the Republican in November, Moore said.

Moore is expected to face fellow Democrat Mac Deford in the 1st Congressional District Democratic primary in June. The seat stretches from greater Charleston to Hilton Head Island.

Moore is the great-great grandson of Civil War hero Robert Smalls who commandeered a Confederate ship in Charleston Harbor to secure his freedom. He previously was founding president and CEO of Charlestons International African American Museum.

Moores appearance drew around two dozen people who gathered around him as he stood in front of the statue of Smalls. Rev. Kenneth Hodges offered an invocation, while Anita Singleton-Prather, whos known for her popular Lowcountry character Aunt Pearlie Sue, introduced Moore.

In her introduction, Singleton-Prather stressed the importance of getting people out to vote in the upcoming elections.

A no vote becomes a yes vote for anything that youre against, she said.

Hodges, who leads the Tabernacle Baptist Church, noted the significance of Moores early stop in Beaufort, ahead of another planned stop in Charleston.

This is where he feels that his roots are, and he has embodied the spirit of his great-great-grandfather. He felt that it would be significant to come here today, Hodges said.
Neither rain nor thunder could keep conservation efforts from moving forward March 6  although the mud could slightly relocate plans.

The Lowcountry Land Trust marked the groundbreaking of its new West Ashley offices March 6, albeit slightly off-site, welcoming the Charleston mayor and others as it celebrated plans for its new, and first, headquarters.

Even inside Founders Hall down the road and shoveling symbolic dirt, Ashley Demosthenes, president and CEO of the Lowcountry Land Trust, said the day was the most significant in her career.

The new headquarters, she said, will provide a space for us to expand our conservation efforts and engage with the community in meaningful ways.

Twelve years in the making, and slowed by the pandemic, the 7,000-square-foot Lowcountry Center for Conservation next to Charles Towne Landing will serve as an education hub and meeting space for conservationists, in addition to permanent staff offices after having rented for years. Its expected to take about 12 months to complete.

The pandemic shifted our mindset about the building, modifying the design to be less focused on a traditional office and more about a gathering space, said Demosthenes, whose group is now based on Rutledge Avenue near Hampton Park.

Inside the two-story building, features will include an open meeting space, a room for keeping records of protected properties, a classroom for conservation education and a space for daily operations, said Charleston architect Reggie Gibson.

Others in attendance included Kevin Bowie, executive director of Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission, Charleston Mayor William Cogswell and land trust board members.

This building is incredibly symbolic for a variety of fronts, for helping to protect what makes Charleston so special, to promote what makes Charleston so special and gives real optimism and confidence in our future, Cogswell said.
A Lowcountry business owner charged with embezzling more than $304,000 from at least 10 vulnerable military veterans was sentenced this week to five years of home confinement.

U.S. District Court Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks decided not to send Raymond Huffman to prison for a shorter period of incarceration after his lawyer and relatives raised concerns about his deteriorating health, including memory loss and cognitive issues hes been experiencing in recent years.

The Varnville resident also was ordered to pay restitution totaling $353,430, and he was placed on probation and in a supervised released program for five years. He can leave home only to go to work, medical appointments and religious services.

The owner of Huffman Fiduciary Services LLC had been facing 30 months to 37 months in federal prison under the sentencing guidelines.

Huffman and his Hampton County firm served as a legal custodian for ailing former service members to manage monthly benefit payments from a U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs program.

Huffman started misappropriating and misusing funds around 2016. He replaced some of it, public defender Ann Briks Walsh said.

He kept track of when he borrowed money in his files. ... It sort of exploded over time into not keeping track of anything, Walsh said, referring to his memory issues.

Federal investigators stepped in after the family of a deceased veteran noticed that money was missing and filed a complaint. The Dorchester County Sheriffs Office arrested Huffman in September 2020.

Thats who kicked off the case, prosecutor Sean Kittrell of the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

The 26 federal charges were filed under seal in mid-2021. Huffman pleaded guilty a year later.

Kittrell called the crimes egregious because of who the victims were and their inability to take care of their own finances.

These are people who defended our country, he said.

All of the victims have been identified in court records by their initials only.
A onetime Mount Pleasant-based business owner who was among the first to be charged in the government's "Operation Brace Yourself" probe is to be sentenced this week. Read moreMajor SC Medicare fraud case shifts to the penalty phase after 5 years
One Charleston-based artist and six others from South Carolina have been gifted grant money to enhance their careers and grow their craft. In the process, theyve been dubbed emerging artists by the S.C. Arts Commission.

This years first round of emerging artists, with a second round of winners set to receive grants later this year, are: Olivia Bonilla, Catherine Conrad, Connie Journey Johnson, Lucius Nelson, Brad Silk, Joseph Smolin and Olga Yukhno.

Most are visual artists, though Johnson of Orangeburg is a musical performer.

They each received up to $1,800 to support their individual projects. Funding by the S.C. Arts Commission is ultimately provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and South Carolina state budget.

Each applicant has viable talent and is deserving of grant support, said S.C. Arts Commission Artist Development Director Tanisha Brown.

Among criteria for the grants are that the artists must be in the first five years of their professional careers, deemed active or practicing by creating work regularly (more than a few times a year), have a limited performing or exhibition record, and demonstrate potential through risk-taking and pushing their work in dynamic ways.

Pop art confections

Bonilla, whose pop art confectionary sculptures make your mouth water in the form of shiny gummy bears, cherries and colorful melting ice cream cones, is the Charleston-based artist to receive the honor.

The first-generation Colombian American received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting with a minor in traditional sculpture from Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts. She began her career as an exhibiting artist in 2019, moving to Charleston in 2020. Her work has been featured in Vogue Portugal and Suboart international magazine and on TV series such as Charleston-filmed The Righteous Gemstones and Magnolia Networks Keeping Up With the Bankos.

My work depicts the idea of a sugar-coated existence, a reflection of excess and indulgence within popular culture, Bonilla told The Post and Courier. The confectionary theme is a vessel to tell a story about nostalgia, satire and humor.
LEXINGTON  Its a scene that might feel familiar to South Carolinians: Landowners sell property, developers strip lush tree-filled land and buildings sprout up.

Lexington County, like much of the Palmetto State, is grappling with how to encourage economic growth opportunities while championing and preserving its natural resources.

Now, with the help of a grant from the South Carolina Forestry Commission, Lexington County is tackling a project to calculate tree canopy coverage, which would inform how to maintain or raise the amount of tree canopy in unincorporated areas of the county.

Development is going to come, Lexington County Development Manager Rebecca Conway said. So we are going to lose some tree canopy no matter what we do, but we want to help mitigate that.

Phase 1 of the project found that tree canopy in unincorporated Lexington County is at 38 percent, with the most trees in the northwestern half of the county and the fewest in the southern portion, where agriculture dominates much of the land, Conway told council during a Feb. 27 meeting.

To me, 38 percent is very good, said Councilwoman Debbie Summers. I thought that was very healthy.

Conway added, We were surprised, too.

With an available 18,000 acres to plant on, that number could grow as high as 44 percent, according to data from Lexington County. Thats an additional 858,000 small trees and more than 1 million large trees.

Were a unique county overall because even though were a highly developable county, we do have  agricultural commodities, and agricultural commodities will include timber, Robbie Derrick, Lexington Countys community development director, told The Post and Courier.

Lexington Countys primary goal for the next decade, though, is to maintain that 38 percent canopy coverage as development continues to consume land.

Maintaining tree canopy makes sense from both an economic and an environmental perspective, Derrick said. It adds land value by bolstering livability in a residential area, but it also helps with environmental issues like soaking up rain and water runoff.
Greenville, SC (29601)

Today

Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 61F. N winds shifting to W at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

A clear sky. Widespread frost likely. Low around 30F. NW winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.
The 34th Annual SC BBQ Shag Festival kicks off on Thursday, March 21, at the recreation park and ball fields in Hemingway. This year the festival runs from March 21-24. The four-day event features music, vendors, BBQ and fun for the whole family. First held in 1987, the event has grown to at Read moreSC BBQ Shag Festival kicks off March 21
Does it seem to you that a lot of the controversies in education (homework, grading, punishment, curricula) exist because people arent considering things from the students point of view and what they might need? Read more'Luxury beliefs' leaving some kids in the dark
A Goose Creek registered sex offender will remain in jail pending possible federal indictment and trial on allegations he crossed state lines to meet with a teen in violation of a court order.

At the conclusion of a hearing in U.S. District Court in Charleston on March 6, Magistrate Judge Molly H. Cherry ordered Jeremiah Wareham, 40, to remain in detention.

Cherry agreed with prosecutors arguments that no bond conditions could protect the community.

Wareham was recently arrested on a federal charge of interstate violation of a protection order. FBI Special Agent Brian Clarity testified at the March 6 hearing that a judge in Okaloosa County, Fla., granted the protective order on behalf of a woman and her three children.

The order, handed to Wareham on Jan. 19, 2023, prohibited him from having any contact  in person, by phone or any electronic means, by writing or through a third party  with the woman or her children, the oldest of whom is 16 years old.

The woman sought the protective order after discovering her oldest daughter had received a package from a Goose Creek address. She knew through sex offender registries that Wareham was a convicted sex offender living in Goose Creek.

She also knew that before Warehams arrest and conviction for a sex crime involving a child, he had threatened to kill her and kidnap her oldest daughter, according to the FBI agents affidavit filed in federal court.

In 2012 in Wayne County, Pa., Wareham was arrested on charges of open lewdness and three counts of criminal attempt to lure a child into a motor vehicle. At the time he was on bond for charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and carrying a firearm without a license. He pleaded guilty to reduced charges in both cases on April 4, 2013, and was sentenced to serve one to eight years in prison, according to court records.

Wareham was denied parole five times before it was granted on May 18, 2020, according to the Pennsylvania Parole Boards records.
EASLEY  Kevin Bishop, a Pickens County resident and recently retired communications director for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, announced March 7 he is running for Congress in South Carolinas Third Congressional District.

Bishop is seeking the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan in one of the most conservative corners of South Carolina. The district spans a 10-county area in the western corner of the state.

I was born and raised in South Carolina and for the past 25 years Easley and Pickens County have been my home, Bishop said in a press release.

Its where Julie and I bought a house, joined a church, raised four wonderful children, and cheered on my Clemson Tigers, he added. The rest of the country could learn a lot from people and places like Easley.

Graham has not made an endorsement in the race, his office said March 7.

Bishop is the latest Republican to launch a congressional bid in the district after Duncan abruptly announced Jan. 17 he will not seek reelection after 14 years in Washington, creating a vacancy likely to draw high interest in the Upstate.

Republican state Rep. Stewart Jones, a member of the ultra-conservative S.C. Freedom Caucus from Laurens County, is also running for Duncans seat. So is Sheri Biggs, an Oconee County resident and lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard who describes herself as anti-abortion, a lifelong Republican and strong supporter of former President Donald Trump.

Franky Franco, a self-described conservative evangelical businessman who lives in Simpsonville, announced he was running March 1. Franco, who is Cuban-American and attended Bob Jones University, is basing much of his platform around his parents experience immigrating to the United States and the American dream.

Bishop brings decades of Washington experience to the race beginning with his political involvement as a Senate page for Sen. Strom Thurmond in 1988.

After graduating from Clemson University in 1993, he moved to Washington and worked for the conservative Leadership Institute, then for a Republican congressional campaign in Texas and the Republican National Committee.
The world watched the decline of a critically endangered whale calf that surfaced in South Carolina waters with serious injuries. Nearly two months later, the animal is dead, and scientists blame speeding boats.

A South Carolina fisherman first spotted the injured North Atlantic right whale swimming near Edisto Island on Jan. 3. It had gashes on its head, mouth and lips consistent with a boat strike. In a preliminary review, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration determined that the newborn would likely die. The story made national headlines.

In the following weeks, news outlets and social media posts continued to report, with cautious optimism, as the calf continued showing up. On Jan. 11, the calf was spotted alive near Amelia Island, Fla., swimming alongside mom, known to researchers as Juno.

Three weeks later, the two surfaced 23 miles east of Sapelo Island, Ga. But any optimism ended March 3.

A right whale carcass washed up on Cumberland Island National Seashore. Sharks had already scavenged the body, but its tell-tale head injuries remained. Two state authorities  Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission  identified it as the injured newborn born to Juno this calving season.

Less than 360 of the whales remain, and their numbers have been plummeting for years. From 2010 to 2020, a quarter of the population disappeared or showed up dead. Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute said only nineteen new whales were born at the species only known calving ground, a swath of shallow ocean that extends from northern Florida to the Carolinas.

This year, four juvenile right whales have already died or disappeared. A 1-year old washed up dead in Georgia last month from a vessel strike. Junos calf is the second newborn to die this season; the other was abandoned by its mother. A third newborn disappeared, which has researchers concerned.
Bond was reduced March 5 for a Mount Pleasant youth pastor facing two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

Michael David Starnes Jr., 37, was arrested Jan. 29 following a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to the South Carolina Attorney Generals office. Starnes is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material.

In a Charleston County Circuit Court bond hearing March 5, Starnes' defense attorney Helen Roper Dovell asked Judge Bentley Price to reduce the $40,000 bond previously set for Starnes. He has no criminal history, she said. He does have the support of his church where he serves as a youth pastor, she said.

Price reduced Starnes bond to $10,000. He is to remain under home detention, leaving only if accompanied by a parent or guardian, the judge ordered.
When I was in third grade, my teacher had a vegetable tasting day for us. We each brought in a vegetable from home and shared it with our classmates. I remember coming home, excited, and announcing to my mother that I had fallen in love with rutabaga. After a startled moment or two, she sm Read moreStevens: For the love of rutabaga  and our children
FLORENCE  The line formed before the doors even opened.

Hundreds of people gathered in the early morning hours on the last day of February to apply for housing help from the Housing Authority of Florence.

The line wrapped around the parking lot along the edge of West Palmetto Street, traffic roaring by. The first people arrived before the sun rose, well before the doors swung open.

They stood in the 40-degree weather for hours, shirt sleeves pulled over their fists, blankets wrapped around their shoulders.

Some carried crying children. Others stood silently, craning their necks to see how long they had to wait. One woman brought a lawn chair. When the line progressed, she pulled herself up by her cane. She moved the chair a few inches forward. She sat back down.

For the 706 people in line, the Housing Authority of Florence represented a light at the end of the tunnel.

If I could get some help from my city where I was born and raised, that help would be a blessing, said Tashika Pompey, a single mother of 13- and 18-year old boys.

Pompey lives with family and friends right now, doing what she can to keep a roof over her head. With a steady home, shed have a better place for her children and time to find a good job instead of taking odd gigs as a truck driver, she said.

People need homes, and there aint enough help out here for people, she said. We thankful for today, and hopefully everybodys able to get in and get what they need.

Alphonso Bradley, the Housing Authoritys executive director, said the long line was an indication that more and more people are finding it hard to live in Florence. The line was filled with young mothers, people on Social Security and some with disabilities.

I was just kinda taking in who was in line and just kind of feeling their  I dont want to say desperation  but they were people who needed help, Bradley said.

It could be a while before the Housing Authority is able to provide any help, Bradley said, but the people in line knew that. Anything was better than nothing.
LAKE CITY  Lake City officials misfired when they announced Emmanuel Williams as police chief, Mayor Yamekia Robinson said at a March 6 press conference.

The city didnt complete a background check on Williams before the Feb. 23 announcement, Robinson said. He was scheduled to start as police chief March 4 but decided not to take the post Feb. 28.

The eight-person hiring committee knew Williams had been fired in 2015 as a Chesterfield County Sheriffs deputy for failing to report that he had hit another vehicle in the parking lot, which was a violation of Chesterfield County Sheriffs Office policy.

City Administrator William Hall said Williams, 30, had been upfront about his past.

Social media chatter increased after a story was released about Williams 2015 firing.

The city reopened conversations with Williams, who subsequently emailed city officials withdrawing as police chief, Robinson said.

It was discussed with him beforehand, Robinson said. We talked with him again after it came out. He gave us the information he wanted us to know, but obviously there was a little bit more to that.

The hiring committee will meet in the next few weeks to discuss its next move in the police chief hiring process, Robinson said.

Its unknown if the citys committee will review the more than 24 applications from candidates throughout the United States or seek new applications, Robinson said.

The committee will decide the process at its meeting, which will not be open to the public, Robinson said.

The hiring process isnt broken, Robinson said.

The citys press release on Williams hiring was put out too soon.

Robinson accepted responsibility for the error, adding she learned a lesson from the experience.

The Lake City Police Department employs 40 and has two openings  a victim witness coordinator and an investigator, city Public Information Officer Donna Tracy said.
FLORENCE  Francis Marion University cleared the final hurdle March 7 to offer South Carolinas first bachelors degree in special education/autism studies.

The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education Board approved the special education/autism studies bachelors degree at its March 7 meeting.

Francis Marion will start the special education/autism studies bachelors degree program this fall, university President Fred Carter said in an interview with The Post and Courier Pee Dee.

Board Vice Chairman Edgar Eddie Dyer of Myrtle Beach reported the Committee for Academic Affairs and Licensing recommended approval of the degree program.

Dyer was serving as chairman at the meeting because Chairman Wes Hayes was vacationing.

There is an increasing prevalence of autistic students that can result in high levels of problem behavior, delayed progress and outcomes and teacher burnout, Dyer said.

Francis Marion Universitys bachelors degree in special education/autism studies fills a void in educating pre-kindergarten through 12th grade teachers, Dyer said.

Commissioner Terrye Seckinger, of Mount Pleasant, said she discussed the importance of food education for the autism studies program. She would like food education to be included in the curriculum.

Food is either very good or poison to these children. There was no component of that. I think of schools, and teachers understood that they would really assist the student in a greater way by knowing what they can and cant eat, Seckinger said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports about 1 in 36 children in the United States have been identified with autism spectrum disorder, which is nearly four times more common among boys than girls.

Francis Marion University has taken a multiple disciplinary approach to the degrees curriculum.

Three departments  School of Health Sciences, School of Education and Department of Psychology  united to develop the curriculum. The curriculum involves multicategorical special education, school and clinical psychology programs, speech/language pathology courses and occupational therapy courses.
COLUMBIA  Who receives a direct benefit from the states year-old school voucher program: private schools or their students?

That was the question before the South Carolina Supreme Court on March 6 as it heard arguments over the constitutionality of the states new school voucher program.

The program will eventually allow 15,000 students from families with incomes below about $120,000 a year to receive $6,000 taxpayer-funded vouchers to spend on private schools.

Opponents argue it violates Article XI, Section 4 of the state constitution, which prohibits the use of public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution.

Allen Nickles, an attorney for the South Carolina Education Association, the NAACP and six South Carolina parents who are challenging the law, told the justices to use a golden rule.

Who gets the gold? Nickles asked.

Its private schools, he said.

Supporters of the program, including Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver, Gov. Henry McMaster and the states GOP legislative leaders, said the effort represents the type of indirect benefit to private schools the authors of Article XI, Section 4 hoped to allow because the money goes to trust fund accounts and parents choose at which private schools to spend it.

An indirect benefit exists when a private citizen, a student or parent selects the school that receives the funds, Grayson Lambert, an attorney for McMaster, argued.

The South Carolina constitution previously banned the use of private funds to directly or indirectly benefit religious schools, and in 1971, the state Supreme Court struck down a state program that provided scholarships for students to attend private colleges.

But in 1972, Section 4 was amended to drop the prohibition on indirect benefits but still prohibit public funds going directly to private schools. The drafters of the amendment made clear they wanted to allow the state to support students attending private schools, Lambert said.
 [ AP33912 ]  2024-03-06 20:41:51 .

E Where Wild Rose grow 



They call me The Wild Rose

But my name was Elisa Day

Why they call me it I do not know

For my name was Elisa Day

From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one

She stared in my eyes and smiled

For her lips were the colour of the roses

That grew down the river, all bloody and wild

When he knocked on my door and entered the room

My trembling subsided in his sure embrace

He would be my first man, and with a careful hand

He wiped at the tears that ran down my face

They call me The Wild Rose

But my name was Elisa Day

Why they call me that I do not know

For my name was Elisa Day

On the second day I brought her a flower

She was more beautiful than any woman I'd seen

I said, "Do you know where the wild roses grow

So sweet and scarlet and free?"

On the second day he came with a single red rose

He said "Will you give me your loss and your sorrow"

I nodded my head, as I lay on the bed

"If I show you the roses, will you follow?"

They call me The Wild Rose

But my name was Elisa Day

Why they call me that I do not know

For my name was Elisa Day

On the third day he took me to the river

He showed me the roses and we kissed

And the last thing I heard was a muttered word

As he knelt above me with a rock in his fist

On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow

And she lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief

And I kissed her goodbye, said, "All beauty must die"

And I lent down and planted a rose 'tween her teeth

They call me The Wild Rose

But my name was Elisa Day

Why they call me that I do not know

For my name was Elisa Day

My name was Elisa Day



For my name was Elisa Day

Source:?LyricFind

Songwriters: Nicholas Cave



 



The origins of International Women's Day can be traced back to the early 20th century when women's rights movements gained momentum around the world.

In 1908, a group of 15,000 women marched through New York City, demanding better pay, shorter working hours, and the right to vote. This event was a precursor to the establishment of International Women's Day.

In 1910, at the International Socialist Women's Conference in Copenhagen, a proposal was made to establish an annual celebration to honor women's rights and achievements. The idea was widely supported, and the first International Women's Day was celebrated on March 19, 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland.



Timeline of International Woman's Day



1908

15,000 women marched through New York City, demanding better working conditions and the right to vote.

1910

The International Socialist Women's Conference in Copenhagen proposed the establishment of an annual celebration for women's rights.



1911

The first International Women's Day was celebrated on March 19 in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland.

1913

Women in Russia observed International Women's Day for the first time.

1917

Russian women gained the right to vote after the February Revolution.

1975

The United Nations officially recognized International Women's Day and began celebrating it annually on March 8.

1996

The United Nations established an annual theme for International Women's Day.

2011

The 100-year anniversary of International Womens Day was celebrated with President Barack Obama declaring March as the Womens History Month in the United States.


Former Vice President Mike Pence says he will not be backing Donald Trump in the 2024 election. It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year, Pence said in an interview with Fox News Channel Friday. Pence ran against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination but dropped his bid before voting began. The decision makes Pence the latest in a series of senior Trump administration officials who have declined to endorse their former boss. While Republican members of Congress and other GOP officials have largely rallied behind Trump, a vocal minority has continued to oppose his bid. When Trumps supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Pence was forced to flee as rioters chanted, Hang Mike Pence! Read moreFormer Vice President Mike Pence says he's not endorsing Trump
SPARTANBURG  A global company is investing $2 million and creating 40 jobs in Spartanburg County, state officials said.

Matica Group, a Switzerland-based payment solutions provider, is establishing its first North American manufacturing operation at a new 38,000-square-foot facility at 2750 S. Highway 14 in Greer, according to a March 7 press release from the South Carolina Department of Commerce .

Spartanburg County Council Vice Chairman and Economic Development Committee Chairman David Britt said he is excited to welcome the company to the county.

Spartanburg County is a great place to do business, and that was part of why Matica Group decided to bring its manufacturing operations to Greer, Britt said.

The state Department of Commerces SC Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved job development credits related to the project. The credits are a discretionary, performance-based incentive, said Alex Clark, the agencys marketing and communications director.

To claim and collect the credits, the company must meet and maintain minimum investment and job creation requirements.

The requirements include wage rates greater than or equal to the average hourly rate of the county and the minimum wage rate will be adjusted every five years to equal the average hourly wage rate of the county at that time.

The annual cap for the credits is $3,250 per employee.

A revitalization agreement has not yet been finalized but when it is executed it will include project-specific parameters.

The company will manufacture central identification issuance systems at its facility near the BMW auto factory. Operations are expected to come online in July.

According to the companys website, its financial solutions, including digital wallets and the instant issuance of debit and credit cards, enable secure transactions and payment products.

Greer is not unfamiliar with global manufacturing. In addition to being home to the BMW factory, Omron Automation, a Japan-based global automation solutions provider, recently relocated a facility to an industrial park near the city in February.
The Beatrice Public Library is hosting the Sheldon Statewide Exhibit entitled A Days Work."

The exhibition is traveling throughout Nebraska. The outreach program started in 1987 and offers original works of art.

Curator of Academic Engagement Erin Hanas said they were thrilled to be able to offer this to communities throughout the state.

The statewide exhibit is for people who otherwise might not be able to view the artwork, she said. They might not have the chance to visit Sheldon. We understand the state is large and we are thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity.

The installation was first placed in Chadron and moves to eight different communities moving toward the east. It is usually in the community for about a month.

A Days Work is around the theme of labor.

Hanas said the exhibition was at the museum and they adapted it for the statewide exhibit.

It was very engaging while it was here for people of all ages, she said. Works of art are used to ask questions like how do we visualize labor? and how can art contribute to and challenge our understanding of labor?

It also encourages us to question labors mental, physical, social, political and economic effects, she said.

The exhibit includes historical pieces, contemporary artwork, a sculpture and photographs. The art varies in time period and message.

Hanas said there were two artists in the exhibition that have strong ties to Nebraska.

Library Director Joanne Neeman said they always enjoy the statewide exhibit at the library.

We always enjoy when the Sheldon Museum of Art brings their statewide exhibit to the library, she said. This exhibit has many different forms of artwork including lithographs, photographs, screen prints and paintings.

The Beatrice Public Library Foundation funds the exhibit to be placed at the library. It is free for visitors to view. The Sheldon Statewide Exhibit will be in Beatrice at the library through March 28.

Admission is also free for everyone at the Sheldon Museum of Art at 12th and R Street in Lincoln. The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm.

Three different exhibits are on display at the museum in Lincoln through July 6. More information can be found at https://sheldonartmuseum.org.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 12:00:58

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 542 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Antibody expert and co-inventor of DuoBody, HexaBody, and HexElect technologies joins AbTherx to drive expansion of the Atlas Mice platformMOUNTAIN VIEW, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / AbTherx, Inc., a biotechnology company with innovative technologies that enable and accelerate antibody discovery, today announced the appointment of Janine Schuurman, PhD, as a scientific advisor. In her new role, Dr. Schuurman will provide guidance on the company's research, development, product, and organizational strategies with an emphasis on antibody engineering and bispecific antibodies.Dr. Schuurman's career centers around the antibody molecule as a biological source of inspiration and therapeutic modality. Dr. Schuurman joined Genmab's R&D team in 2000 as one of the first scientists-her most recent position being Senior Vice President heading Genmab's Antibody Research and Technologies. She is a co-inventor of many therapeutic antibodies and of the DuoBody, HexaBody, and HexElect technologies, which enable the generation of bispecific and effector-function enhanced antibodies. These technologies are being applied to antibody therapeutic discovery programs at leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide and have resulted in FDA-approved therapies such as RYBREVANT (amivantamab), EPKINLY (epcoritamab), TECVAYLY (teclistamab), and TALVEY (talquatamab). Dr. Schuurman has championed many successful academic and industry partnerships in antibody therapeutics and complementary research fields.Dr. Schuurman joined The Antibody Society's Board of Directors in 2020 and currently serves as President of this international, non-profit trade association which represents individuals and organizations involved in antibody-related research and development. Dr. Schuurman is frequently invited to serve as a speaker, as well as a chair, at scientific conferences around the world due to her vision, impactful scientific publication track record, and dynamic presentations. She received her PhD in immunology from the University of Amsterdam. Dr. Schuurman is currently an independent biotech consultant (Lust for Life Science B.V.) and collaborates with many organizations, including Bioqube Ventures and Cartography Biosciences."Dr. Schuurman is an accomplished inventor and respected expert in developing antibody therapeutics and technologies, specifically in the field of bispecifics," said Justin Mika, Chief Executive Officer of AbTherx. "It is a pleasure to welcome Janine to our team. Her wealth of experience will guide our research, development, and technology strategies, which include implementing and expanding our unique natural' IgG structure-enabling binary fixed light chain technology for bispecific antibodies." "I'm excited to support this team with their impressive track record in antibody discovery platforms," said Janine Schuurman, Scientific Advisor of AbTherx. "The thoughtfully designed Atlas Mice platform has huge potential for the discovery and successful development of innovative antibody-therapeutics." About AbTherx, Inc.AbTherx is advancing medicine with revolutionary technologies that accelerate and enable therapeutic antibody discovery. Through an exclusive partnership with Gilead Sciences, AbTherx has released Atlas Mice, a suite of novel transgenic technologies designed for unmatched performance and FTO. For over 20 years, AbTherx's passionate, innovative, and collaborative team has pushed the boundaries of antibody discovery technologies, leading to over 1,000 successful antibody discovery campaigns and 13 marketed therapeutics. AbTherx's industry-leading team creates transformative solutions to overcome the most demanding challenges in delivering innovative medicines. Committed to making its technologies accessible to all, AbTherx offers flexible partnering models that meet the needs of drug developers of all sizes. For more information, please visit www.abtherx.com Media ContactStacey Borders stacey@ abtherx.com SOURCE: AbTherx, Inc.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 15:00:40

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 400 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / National plaintiffs law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP encourages investors in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company ("ADM" or the "Company") (NYSE:ADM) who suffered losses from purchasing or otherwise acquiring ADM common stock between April 30, 2020 and January 22, 2024, inclusive (the "Class Period"), to contact us immediately regarding a pending securities fraud class action against ADM. The deadline to apply to be lead plaintiff is March 25, 2024.Class Period: April 30, 2020 - January 22, 2024Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: March 25, 2024Case information: lieffcabraser.com/securities/adm Contact us: Email or text investorinfo@ lchb.com or call 1-800-541-7358ADM, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, is an agricultural supply chain manager and processor.The action alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements about the performance and prospects of ADM's Nutrition segment, while engaging in improper accounting practices and procedures that obscured the segment's true performance and purported growth.On January 21, 2024, ADM announced that it had placed its CFO and Senior Vice President, defendant Vikram Luthar, on leave effective immediately. According to ADM, Luthar's "leave is pending an ongoing investigation being conducted by outside counsel for ADM and the Board's Audit Committee regarding certain accounting practices and procedures with respect to ADM's Nutrition segment, including as related to certain intersegment transactions." The Company also revealed that it launched its investigation after it received a request for documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result, ADM delayed its Q4 and FY 2023 earnings release and withdrew its outlook for the Nutrition segment. On this news, the price of ADM common stock plummeted $16.23 per share, or approximately 24%, from its closing price of $68.19 per share on the previous trading day, to close at $51.69 on January 22, 2024.About Lieff CabraserLieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, with over 120 attorneys in offices in San Francisco, New York, Nashville, and Munich, Germany, is an internationally recognized law firm committed to advancing the rights of investors and promoting corporate responsibility. Recognized as a "Plaintiffs' Powerhouse" by Law360, Lieff Cabraser has litigated some of the most important civil cases in the United States, and has assisted clients in recovering over $129 billion in verdicts and settlements. For over 50 years, Lieff Cabraser has remained committed to ensuring access to justice for all.Source/ContactSharon LeeLieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP415 956-1000 slee@ lchb.com SOURCE: Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 13:01:15

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 998 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Aztec Minerals Corp. (TSXV:AZT)(OTCQB:AZZTF) announces the final results of Au and multi-element analysis for its 2023 RC drill program at the Cervantes project in Sonora, Mexico. The RC drill program comprised 1,646 meters in 13 RC drill holes testing the California porphyry gold target located in the district of Soyopa, Sonora, Mexico. Total drilling by Aztec Minerals on the Cervantes project since 2016 now totals 67 drill holes and 12,134m.The California target of near surface, oxide gold porphyry mineralization was successfully expanded, and the presence of anomalous copper, molybdenum and silver, in addition to significant gold mineralization, corresponds well in relation to the top of large, strong IP chargeability anomaly astride an aeromagnetic low anomaly.RC drill results at the California target returned significant gold mineralization from the 2023 RC drill program on the Cervantes property located in Sonora, Mexico. The multi-element ICP results show good, positive relationships between Au, Cu, Bi, Ag, As, W and K (potassic alteration), negative relationships with Mo, Sb and Ca. The multi-element grades support the potential for an Au-Cu porphyry deposit at depth.2023 California Target Drill HighlightsAll drill holes intersected oxidized Au mineralization. The California target continues to be open. The California target now has an area of 1,000 m by 300m drill demonstrated. The California target was found to continue on strike to the east at least another 400 m.The primary focus of the Phase 3A RC drill program at Cervantes was to expand the previously drilled California zone. This was done successfully. To-date, every hole drilled at California has intersected near surface, oxidized gold mineralization with minor copper oxides.Reported lengths are apparent widths, not true widths, and the observed gold mineralization is hosted in the California porphyry intrusive complex and is widely distributed in disseminations, fractures and veinlets within its quartz-feldspar porphyry, feldspar porphyry stocks, quartzites and related hydrothermal breccias.Figure 1: California Zone Drill Progress MapLink to Figure 1: California Zone Drill Progress Map Holes CAL23-32 to CAL23-44 intersected significant gold mineralization, see table below, extending the known mineralized zone at depth, and also to the north, east and south of the California zone. The RC Phase 3A drilling program has been completed. It covers an area now measuring approximately 1,000 metres long by 300 metres wide, with demonstrated, continuous anomalous mineralization up to 265 metres depth vertically. The porphyry gold-copper mineralization is still open in all directions.The multi-element ICP results show good, positive relationships between Au, Cu, Bi, Ag, As, W and K (potassic alteration), negative relationships with Mo, Sb and Ca. This will assist in vectoring exploration targets for expanding potentially economic mineralization in a porphyry deposit model. The multi-element ICP values support the exploration model of the California zone being at the highest portion of a porphyry system, where an overlying high sulfidation zone has been eroded away.Every 2021-23 drill hole except one of the 44 drill holes successfully completed at the California and the adjoining California Norte targets has intersected near surface, oxidized gold mineralization with minor copper values. The 2023 RC drilling exploration program has continued the expansion of the footprint and the depth of the California target Au mineralization and alteration associated with the California porphyry intrusive complex with continued intercepts of broad gold mineralization.The drill holes were mainly placed in step-out rows subparallel to the 2017-2018 drilling, oriented with azimuths 230 - 260, generally inclined at minus 65 degrees from horizontal. The rows were spaced approximately 50m to 100m apart and along the rows the collar spacings were 70m to 150m. There were four near vertical drill holes and three drill holes with azimuth perpendicular to the pattern that were made to test that there is no drill pattern bias in the results. One metallurgical drill hole (CAL22-027) was made by twinning at 25m distance a prior RC drill hole.Drilling has also expanded the footprint of the known extents of the mineralized and phyllically altered California porphyry intrusive complex, demonstrating alteration zoning from east to west of argillic to phyllic alteration, multiple stockwork veining and hydrothermal brecciation types and stages, and confirmed the prior IP survey chargeability anomaly was related to disseminated sulfides. The 2022 core drilling program has shown that Au mineralization is limited by the enveloping argillic alteration, and seems to prefer to be close to the argillic/phyllic alteration boundaries.The gold mineralization is strongly positively associated with Cu, As, Ag, Bi, W and K, while Mo, Sb and Ca anomalies are as haloes distal to the gold, Hg is usually undetectable, Pb and Zn are mainly distal, and Ba has a wide distribution.The controls on mineralization/zoning are still to be identified. However, the dioritic quartz-feldspar porphyry (Qfp) and hydrothermal breccia (Hbx) lithologic units are seemingly the preferred hosts. The Qfp, Hbx and gold mineralization may be dipping to the north into the California Norte target. The gold mineralization appears to be widely distributed in disseminations, fractures and veinlets at high levels within its quartz-feldspar porphyry, feldspar porphyry stocks, quartzites and related hydrothermal breccias.The planned testing of the California zone of the Cervantes phase 3A RC drilling program is complete. The primary objectives of the 2021 - 2024 exploration program are to better define the open pit, heap leach gold potential of the porphyry oxide cap at California, evaluate the potential for deeper gold - copper porphyry sulfide mineralization underlying the oxide cap, test for north and west extensions of the California mineralization. In 2024, subject to available funds, it is planned for further technical studies, reconnaissance work on other targets, metallurgical testing and the Cervantes phase 3B RC drilling program of approximately 20 drillholes comprising 2,850 meters including the California North and Jasper targets.The following is a summary tabulation of all 2021-2023 RC and Core drill hole results:Table 1: Cervantes 2021-2023 Drilling Select Multi-Element Results with GoldAZTEC MINERALS CORPCERVANTES PROJECT RC DRILLINGTable1: Drill Hole Select Multi-Element Results with GoldHole No.FromToIntervalGold (gpT)Copper (%)Silver(gpT)Molybdenum PPMm*CAL22-001
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 06:20:15

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 731 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

SINGAPORE / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 /Fairbanc, the Singapore and Silicon Valley based technology platform that enables B2B Embedded Finance for micro-businesses in Indonesia in collaboration with large consumer brands like Unilever, Danone, Nestle, and Xiaomi just secured $13.3M in off balance sheet debt financing from the Indonesian State Backed Pegadaian's digital lending arm that operates under the aegis of state owned largest Indonesian Bank, Bank Rakyat Indonesia. The startup was already financing over 200K merchants and was about to become profitable. The funding will further boost its profit as it scales up its operations with off-balance sheet financing through its new BNPL Gateway. This new financial backing comes on the heels of recent investments from the likes of Vertex Venture, Asian Development Bank, East Venture, Lippo Group, 500 Global, Accion Venture Labs, and Indonesian billionaire Michael Sampoerna.Fairbanc-Pegadaian Signing Ceremony / Photo credit: FairbancFairbanc's ability to extract outlet level Big Data by connecting with major brand's ERPs and derive credit score using AI and Machine Learning were the key synergies highlighted by Pak Mulyono, the Chief of Transformation Office of Pegadaian who led the signing ceremony which was also attended by Teguh Ismanto, the Head of Digital Lending and Muhammad Ikhsan, SVP, Digital Lending.The Digital Transformation Team: Pak Mulyono, the Chief of Transformation Office, Teguh Budi Ismanto, the Head of Digital Lending and Muhammad Ikhsan, SVP, Digital Lending. / Photo credit: PegadaianPT Pegadaian, a subsidiary of Bank Rakyat Indonesia, is mainly engaged in lending through a pawning system. Pegadaian , one of the most iconic companies of Indonesia, began its history in 1746 during Dutch colonial era, now serves over 21 million customers with over 4,000 branches throughout the country and has over $4.8B USD (73T IDR) of assets under its management.Pegadaian's long-term vision is to "act as the catalyst to help SMEs grow their income by offering working capital through a scalable digital platform like Fairbanc that can easily credit score FMCG retailers by analyzing their order and payment history by seamlessly connecting with the ERP systems of major consumer brands that sell to these retailers" says Muhammad Ikhsan, SVP of Digital Lending."Through Fairbanc platform, we empower SMEs to purchase more inventory on credit at the point of purchase to fuel sustainable growth. This synergy between finance and technology not only streamlines our lending operations but also positions Pegadaian as a key partner in the SMEs' journey towards resilience and success in the digital era." added Mr. Ikhsan who played a critical role in securing the partnership with the Silicon Valley based startup Fairbanc,.Fairbanc, founded in 2019 by Mir Haque, a Wharton MBA who previously worked for many of the well-known global companies including Google, Adobe, McKinsey, and Deutsche Bank was recently shortlisted for the Cannes Lions Awards for Sustainable Development. According to a survey conducted by Unilever, 80% of the Fairbanc's beneficiaries are unbanked and around 70% are women merchants who were able to increase their sales by an average of 35% - thanks to BNPL enabled by Fairbanc's technology. Fairbanc's founding team also includes many FinTech veterans like the former CTO of Kiva, a San Francisco based microcredit platform that operates in 77 countries and disbursed $1.4B in microloans, and Thomas Schumacher who co-founded California based emerging market microloan giant Tala that recently closed a funding round at $800M valuation.With its new capital, Fairbanc plans to make a bigger push into Indonesia, a country that hosts the fourth largest unbanked population globally, with 95 million adults still lacking a formal account at a financial institution. However, with a growing middle class, an increasingly tech-savvy youth population, and a regulatory environment encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship, Indonesia is now home to the most billion-dollar tech start-ups in Southeast Asia (including Bukalapak, Go-Jek, Tokopedia, and OVO), boasting a range of e-commerce, ride-sharing, media distribution, and financial services.Mir is convinced that Indonesia offers Fairbanc the right backdrop to bring about a scalable solution that can be replicated in many other emerging countries to address one of the greatest challenges and opportunities of the century: providing the millions of merchants with the basics of credit to help fuel economic revitalizations in order to uplift millions of poor merchants out of dire poverty. Mir is already exploring expansion opportunities into Vietnam and the Philippines in partnership with Unilever.Media Details Company Name: FairbancBusiness Mail: mir@ fairbanc.app City & Country: Singapore, SingaporeWebsite: https://fairbanc.app/ SOURCE: Fairbanc
A staff member at a Billings home for mentally disabled people is accused of beating a resident to death.

Dante Anthoney Garriott, 19, has been charged in Yellowstone County District Court with one count of deliberate homicide. Last month, Garriott allegedly assaulted a man living in a group home operated by a non-profit organization. The assault put the man in the hospital, where he died 11 days later.

On Feb. 5, officers with the Billings Police Department responded to a report of an assault at a residence on the 200 block of Westchester Square, in the Heights. The residence was one of several homes run by Residential Support Services, a private non-profit that contracts with the state government in providing support to those with developmental disabilities.

The homes manager told police a staff member allegedly saw Garriott kicking a resident the previous day. Garriott himself was identified as a Residential Support Services staff member in a statement from BPD Lt. Matt Lennick released Thursday.

The victim in the assault was a 37-year-old man who weighed less than 120 pounds and had the cognitive function of a toddler, court documents said. Less than an hour after the alleged assault, staff called an ambulance. At a Billings hospital, doctors found internal and external injuries throughout the mans body, including broken ribs, a lacerated liver, bruising across his torso and head trauma.

The 37-year-old man died Feb. 16. Although a report from the Montana Medical Examiners Office is still being compiled, an autopsy determined he died of blunt force trauma.

Police spoke with a witness, who said she watched Garriott stomp on the 37-year-olds body three times before she reported what she saw to the homes manager, court documents said. Garriott agree to speak with investigators, initially denying assaulting the man or knowing how he was injured, according to charging documents. Garriott then allegedly confessed to kicking the man, apparently out of frustration. Garriott was trying to assist the man in walking to his room, the man kept falling to the ground.

Garriott said he allegedly kicked the man while he was on the floor. Once the man made it to his room, Garriott said he punched him twice before leaving, court documents said.

Yellowstone County prosecutors initially charged Garriott on Feb. 6 with aggravated assault. He pleaded not guilty to the accusation, and was released from custody on a $75,000 bond. Following the victims death, that charge was amended to deliberate homicide.

If convicted of deliberate homicide, Garriott could be sentenced up to life in prison.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 12:01:23

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 1020 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Centenario Gold Corp. (TSXV:CTG) ("Centenario" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results from its maiden drill program on the Eden property. Between December 7th of 2023, and January 21st, of 2024, the Company completed the first drilling program on its Eden gold-silver property, located just north of Prime Mining Corp's Los Reyes project, near Cosala, Sinaloa. The program completed 1,506 meters of drilling distributed in eleven (11), HQ-core holes, testing the strike and downdip extensions of the mineralized structure along a section of the Buenavista' corridor. Assay results have been received on 9 of the 11 holes. Assays are pending for holes ED24-09 and ED24-11 and will be released when received.The holes completed during this first phase of drilling tested a 650 m long section of the Buenavista' corridor, centered along the old mining workings where previously sampled surface rock sampling returned high-grade gold and silver values as high as 239.9 g/t Au and 1390 g/t Ag. Drill holes varied between 100 m and 150 m in depth and were spread out across eight drill pads, three of which hosted a pair of holes. All eleven (11) holes intersected the Buenavista' vein-breccia structure at depths ranging between 50 to 110 m. Hole ED23-01 on the other hand, also intersected a second parallel quartz - rich structure, 50 meters further to the W-NW.Although the Buenavista' vein-breccia structures returned only anomalous gold and silver values, the drilling program confirmed the continuity of the strike, and down-dip extensions of the mineralized Buenavista' system. The low-temperature quartz textures found on surface, such as amethyst and chalcedonic quartz, are also abundant across the structures intersected at depth (down to 110 meters). This occurrence, found both at surface and at depth, suggest that we are still at a high level in the epithermal column and that a gold and silver system could exist further down-dip.Moreover, the interpretation results from the semi-detailed geological mapping and geophysical survey that were completed in 2022 across the 1.3 km long, N-NE extension of the Buenavista' corridor, show that the quartz-rich (resistive) mineralized zone found across the old mine workings area, is continuous to the N-NE, and dipping gently along strike.Apart from the 2.8 km long Buenavista' mineralized corridor, there are three other sub-parallel, fault-controlled mineralized vein-breccia systems within and around the Eden Property: the Paloma', the northern portion of the Guadalupana' structures branching out, SE and SW, of the Buenavista' old mine workings (extension confirmed by geophysical anomaly) and the La Provedora' structure located 1.5 km to the east of Buenavista'. Old mine workings and occurrences of visible gold were found along all three of these sub-parallel, N-NE trending, regional fault structures.The company's geological team is currently completing the review, analysis, and interpretation of the drilling results. Once finished, the team will prepare a follow-up program of exploration including more drilling, mapping and sampling across the Buenavista' extensions and along the other three structures mentioned above. The company believes that the Eden Property, as a whole, hosts a significant gold-silver system as proven by the exploration work completed so far. With this in mind, we are firmly determined to continue exploring and initiate the second phase drill program.igure 1 - Eden Property Drill Hole Locations (refer to Centenario Gold Corp's website for section A-A')Alain Charest, CEO comments "Although we were unable to repeat the results obtained on surface, the information we got from this first drilling program confirmed that the Buenavista mineralized system is continuous at depth and along strike. The drill information will further help us to better vector in on the mineralized zones within the system. Only a very small portion of the Buenavista' corridor has been drill-tested so far, so there remain plenty of targets to drill along this structure and along the others.The drilling contractor was Bylsa Drilling S.A. de C.V. of Hermosillo, Sonora. The core was cut, logged, and sampled on site at the company's basecamp in the town of Tasajeras, 15 km from the drilling site. The selected samples were then shipped to the ALS Lab facilities in Hermosillo, Mexico.The Company would like to thank Bylsa Drilling from Hermosillo, Mexico for completing this phase of drilling. The drilling was completed in a very professional and timely manner, averaging over 35 meters per shift and under budget.QA/QC Sample Preparation and Analytical ProceduresCentenario employs industry standard QA / QC and data verification protocols. Drilling was performed by Bylsa Drilling of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. The drilling and sampling program at the El Eden project was supervised by a company's senior geologist. On site, the drill core was placed in marked core boxes, transferred to a company truck, then driven out of the drill sites to the company's basecamp located in the town of Tasajeras, approximately 15 km from the project area.In Tasajeras, the drill core was cut lengthwise into halves using a diamond-bladed saw, with one-half used for the assay sample and the other half retained in core boxes and archived at site. Mineralized zones were generally sampled between 0.5m and 3m intervals. Quality control samples including standards, blanks and duplicates were inserted between core samples using the same numbering sequence. Each core sample was then placed in a resistant plastic bag with a unique numbered sample identification tag, and the sample number written on the bag.The samples were then grouped into batches and transferred to large cotton bags with sample numbers written on the outside and sealed. The large sample bags, holding between 7 and 9 samples each, are then loaded on a company truck and transported to the laboratory facility. Chain of custody records are maintained for sample shipments and the custody is transferred from Centenario Gold Corp's to the laboratory upon delivery.Samples were shipped to and assayed by ALS Chemex Labs of Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico, a laboratory whose quality control system complies with International Standards OHSAS 18001, ISO14001 and ISO 9001. Standard sample Preparation of Drill Core includes crushing 70% less than 2mm, riffle split off 250g, then the split is pulverized to better than 85% passing 75 microns. Sample rejects are stored in a secure warehouse, for future reference. ALS takes
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 15:01:24

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 357 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Paul Flick, CEO of Premium Service Brands and his wife Bess Flick are proud to announce a donation match program benefitting Oakland School.Continuing in their efforts to support the local school they are pledging to match any funds raised for the school improvement projects including upgrades to the gym and classrooms, lighting, bathrooms, HVAC systems, and kitchen facilities. The Flicks will match all donations up to $150,000! The initiative has already gained momentum, receiving a generous $25,000 donation from a local Charlottesville family, setting a positive precedent for community participation.The decision to support Oakland School holds personal significance for the Flick family. Their 16-year-old daughter, Anne, is a student at the school, which specializes in serving students with learning difficulties and those who choose a more personal educational experience."Oakland School's commitment to providing a supportive and enriching educational environment aligns with our vision of fostering opportunities for growth and learning for children with learning differences." said Flick. "By enhancing the school's facilities, we aim to expand the schools capabilities that will benefit students for years to come." The Flicks invite individuals and businesses to join them in supporting Oakland School through this initiative, with a deadline for matching donations set for Aug. 1, 2024. Contributions of any size can make a profound difference and with the Flick's commitment to match donations, the potential to enhance the school's environment and resources is unparalleled.For more information on how to contribute to the donation match initiative for Oakland School, please visit the donation website.###ABOUT PREMIUM SERVICE BRANDS:Headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia, Premium Service Brands (PSB) is a leader in home services franchise opportunities. PSB provides services to an ever-expanding customer base by building meaningful connections and creating lifelong customers. The company's lineup of niche home services brands includes 360 Painting, Maid Right, ProLift Garage Doors, Kitchen Wise & Closet Wise, Window Gang, Rubbish Works Junk Removal, The Grout Medic, House Doctors, and RooterMan. To get started building a new future with a franchise of your own, visit www.premiumservicebrands.com Media Contact: Jacquelyn Masse919-459-8167 jmasse@919 marketing.com SOURCE: Premium Service Brands
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 17:30:48

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 579 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

SAN RAMON, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / CMG Financial, a well-capitalized and privately held mortgage banking firm based in San Ramon, CA, has been recognized as a 2024 Tech100 Mortgage winner. The annual award, held by HousingWire, celebrates the most innovative and impactful organizations in the industry. CMG was recognized this year for its recent iteration of a POS opportunity pipeline.Over the past year, many mortgage companies have downsized or shut doors, yet CMG Financial has been able to grow because of its unique ability to give loan officers the products, services, and technology they need to be successful in any market condition. As a mortgage company that was created by a loan officer himself, CMG has a good pulse on a loan officer's day-to-day struggles, and as a result can create inspired fintech that helps them overcome market challenges and maximize production potential. The company's most recent innovation is a POS opportunity pipeline that addresses the consequences of a high-rate market (low margins, decreased productivity, and taxed originators wondering what they should do next), and provides loan officers simplified, actionable items that can help them take advantage of opportunities more quickly.POS Clear 2.0 simplifies the opportunity pipeline experience to help loan officers get on top of opportunities faster with less effort. Prior to its release, the mortgage originating system only included the data from current, active deals that loan officers were working on and funding. This one brings in data from past sales, creating a convergence between sales and servicing, and turns it into actionable items that loan officers can easily discover and use to their advantage. It also includes a new credit bureau screen specifically for soft pulls, alongside Fannie Mae's DU Early Assessment feature that operates with just a soft credit pull. Additionally, CMG has made it easier to communicate with borrowers directly from the loan pipeline with a new email feature. CMG has improved the import liabilities process by removing the deduping logic for a more straightforward experience. Now, loan officers can easily delete liabilities one at a time or in bulk from the import liabilities tab, and with our new credit bureau screen, updates are instant-no refresh needed. CMG was the only lender to showcase tech at Digital Mortgage Conference - and succeeded with flying colors."More than just an acknowledgment; the Tech100 award is a testament to the transformative impact these companies have made, propelling the mortgage sector into new realms of efficiency, transparency and accessibility," writes Lesley Collins, Program Manager for HousingWire's Editor's Choice Awards.Learn more about CMG's innovative pipeline here.See why so many loan officers are joining CMG: join.cmghomeloans.com About CMGCMG Financial is a well-capitalized mortgage bank founded in 1993 by Christopher M. George, a former Mortgage Bankers Association Chairman. CMG makes its products and services available to the market through three distinct origination channels: retail lending, wholesale lending, and correspondent lending. CMG also operates six joint venture companies with builder & realtor partners, holds an impressive MSR/servicing portfolio, and serves the capital markets of fixed-income trading & sales. CMG currently operates in all states, including District of Columbia, and holds approvals with FNMA, FHLMC, and GNMA. Throughout the mortgage banking and housing markets, CMG is known for responsible lending practices, industry and consumer advocacy, product innovation, and operational efficiency.Media Contact:Annaugh MadsenPhone: (667) 260-6360Email: amadsen@ cmgfi.com Contact InformationAnnaugh MadsenSenior Copywriteramadsen@ cmgfi.com (667) 260-6360SOURCE: CMG FinancialView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 20:45:11

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 532 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Discover the inspiring journey of Dynamic Auto Movers, led by Entrepreneur Daniel Vasquez. Learn how his vision and dedication have transformed auto transport, offering innovative solutions, unparalleled customer service, and partnerships with top athletes and associations.MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Dynamic Auto Movers LLC is an emerging force in the auto transport industry. In the latest advancement, the company proudly celebrates its 10th anniversary, showcasing a decade of unmatched success and innovation under the dynamic leadership of founder Daniel Vasquez.In order to celebrate the completion of decade in the field, Dynamic Auto Movers innovates the auto transport sector by prioritizing efficiency, safety, and personalized service. The company's success story is built on strategic lead acquisition and pivotal partnerships with auction houses. With a relentless focus on excellence in shipping and logistics, Dynamic Auto Movers ensures effective and fast communication throughout the transport process, offering a same-day response to inquiries.As Open Transport service, the company's commitment to safety is underscored by the exclusive use of DOT licensed drivers, eliminating truck transfers to guarantee that each vehicle stays on the same carrier throughout the journey. For a touch of luxury, their Enclosed Transport offers the red carpet treatment for your vehicles. The hard-sided enclosed trucks with lift gates ensure that the client's car is shielded from dirt, dust, and debris, delivering it in the same pristine condition as when it was picked up.Dynamic Auto Movers specializes in Exotic Car Transport, providing insured, bonded, and reliable services for transporting any type of exotic vehicle door-to-door. The team understands the unique needs of exotic cars and ensures their safe and secure delivery.With a rich history of transporting antiques, the Classic Car Transport service boasts a large network of classic car collectors as clients. The company's drivers recognize the significance and value of these vehicles, handling them with utmost care and attention.As the industry faces challenges, Dynamic Auto Movers stands out by investing in the future with advanced software and equipment. The company's dedication to staying ahead is evident in its latest software and equipment, making it the top choice as a transportation partner. Furthermore, a new training system for all employees, covering cross-training in all relevant areas, ensures that the workforce is equipped to meet the evolving needs of the industry.Dynamic Auto Movers sets itself apart by assigning a personal representative to each client, ensuring a seamless experience from booking to delivery. The company values its relationships with drivers, maintaining professional connections to guarantee the safe transport of each customer's vehicle.Established in 2014 when Vasquez was just 22, Dynamic Auto Movers has risen to prominence through a relentless commitment to customer satisfaction, innovative logistics solutions, and ethical business practices.About the company - Dynamic Auto Movers:At Dynamic Auto Movers, the company presents itself on delivering comprehensive and reliable vehicle and auto shipping services that exceed expectations. With a steadfast commitment to transparency and customer satisfaction, it offers competitive prices with no hidden upfront or additional fees.For further details, visit the following link: https://dynamicautomovers.com/ Media ContactOrganization: Dynamic Auto MoversContact Person: Daniel VasquezWebsite: https://dynamicautomovers.com/ Email: support@ dynamicautomovers.comCity: MiamiState: FloridaCountry: United StatesSOURCE: Dynamic Auto Movers
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 17:40:37

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 780 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Highlights include increased focus on sustainable manufacturing, packed Axiom Space keynote, technical advancements in patient care interfaces and the strategic formation of the West Coast Device Alliance.ANAHEIM, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / IME West, the nation's largest advanced design and smart manufacturing event welcomed more than 13,000 manufacturing professionals earlier this month to the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. Attendees gathered from more than 40 states and 30 countries to take part in the three-day conference and expo.IME West, which hosts five co-located shows, including Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) West, WestPack, Automation (ATX) West, Design & Manufacturing (D&M) West and Plastec West, convened representatives from more than 1,700 exhibiting companies to showcase the newest products and innovations from across the advanced manufacturing production lifecycle, including leading solutions providers 3M, Nexeo Plastics, Bosch Rexroth, Canon USA, Hitachi Industrial Solutions, and Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence."IME West continues to serve as the premier destination for all things smart manufacturing, and the response from the audience far exceeds our expectations," exclaims Adrienne Zepeda, Group Event Director, IME West. "The growth of this year's event is a testament to the dedication of our community and our commitment to serving as the premiere comprehensive platform, driving the essential conversations and connections that promote positive impact and progress across the advanced manufacturing ecosystem." The future of advanced manufacturing was a key theme at this year's event, as both keynote sessions and on-site events highlighted how manufacturers are seeking new ways to inform, innovate and inspire the next generation of advanced manufacturing technology and talent.Jana Stoudemire, Director of In-Space Manufacturing, Axiom Space, lead a distinguished panel of academic and industry experts from Cedars Sinai-Medical Center, The University of Connecticut, United Semiconductors and LambdaVision in a discussion on the potential of microgravity manufacturing to address and mitigate many of the most pressing challenges for manufacturers today including defect management, quality control and more.Presented on the second day, Jennifer Samproni, Chief Technology Officer, Health Solutions atFlex , shared the importance of human and machine interfaces (HMIs) as part of the future of patient care from building and designing more intuitive prototypes using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to simplify treatment for the growing elderly population.The final day of the event culminated with the return of the Emerging Engineers Student Summit. Coordinated in partnership with The Diversity Org, over 250 students from high schools across Southern California gathered for a day of informative career panels, networking sessions and on-site demonstrations to learn more about future career opportunities in product design, robotics, packaging and medical device technology.Of the milestones at IME West, theWest Coast Device Alliance announced a strategic partnershipwith founding companies Eagle Medical, Pacific BioLabs, WESTPAK, Steri-Tek and Blue Line Sterilization Services on-site. Additionally, Informa Markets Engineering shared the inception of the first-ever North American Sustainable Manufacturing Expo to co-locate with the IME West event next year. IME West will return to the Anaheim Convention Center, Feb. 4-6, 2025.The biennial southern Informa Markets Engineering event, IME South, will take also take place this year, June 4-6 at the Charlotte Convention Center in North Carolinawith registration now available.To stay up to date on the latest information on Informa Markets Engineering and Manufacturing events, visitwww.imengineeringwest.com About Informa Markets EngineeringInforma Markets' Engineering portfolio is the leading B2B event producer, publisher, and digital media business for the world's $3-trillion advanced, technology-based manufacturing industry. Our print and electronic products deliver trusted information to the engineering market and leverage our proprietary 1.3-million-name database to connect suppliers with buyers and purchase influencers. We produce more than 50 events and conferences in a dozen countries, connecting manufacturing professionals from around the globe. The Engineering portfolio is organized by Informa, the world's leading exhibitions organizer that brings a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, please visitwww.informamarkets.com About Informa MarketsInforma Markets, a subsidiary of Informa plc (LON:INF), creates platforms for industries and specialist markets to trade, innovate and grow. Our portfolio comprises more than 550 international B2B events and brands in markets including Engineering, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Infrastructure, Construction & Real Estate, Fashion & Apparel, Hospitality, Food & Beverage, and Health & Nutrition, among others. We provide customers and partners around the globe with opportunities to engage, experience and do business through face-to-face exhibitions, specialist digital content and actionable data solutions. As the world's leading exhibitions organizer, we bring a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, visit www.informamarkets.com Media ContactInforma Markets EngineeringEngineeringPR@ informa.com SOURCE: INFORMA MARKETS - ENGINEERING
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 20:00:58

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 536 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

ADM Investors with Substantial Losses Encouraged to Contact Hagens Berman, National Trial AttorneysSAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Hagens Berman urges Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE:ADM) investors who suffered substantial losses to submit your losses now.Class Period: Apr. 30, 2020 - Jan. 22, 2024Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Mar. 25, 2024Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/adm Contact An Attorney Now: ADM@ hbsslaw.com 844-916-0895Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) Securities Fraud Class Action:The litigation focuses on Archer Daniels' statements about the performance of its Nutrition segment, a business the company poured billions of dollars into to protect against commodity price volatility in its legacy agricultural commodities trading business.The complaint alleges Archer Daniels made misleading statements and concealed that: (1) the Nutrition segment's financial reporting and accounting practices did not provide investors with an accurate impression of the company's performance and future prospects, including reported operating profits; (2) the Nutrition segment's accounting practices created a heightened risk of regulatory scrutiny and adverse impacts to the company's business; and (3) based on the foregoing, the defendants lacked a reasonable basis for their positive statements about the Nutrition segment and related financial results, growth, and prospects.Investors began to learn the truth on Jan. 21, 2024, when Archer Daniels announced that it had placed CFO Vikram Luther on leave effective immediately. The company said that Luther's "leave is pending an ongoing investigation being conducted by outside counsel for ADM and the Board's Audit Committee regarding certain accounting practices and procedures with respect to ADM's Nutrition segment, including as related to certain intersegment transactions." Archer Daniels also revealed that its investigation was initiated in response to its receipt of a voluntary document request by the SEC.The company further stated that it is delaying its Q4 and FY 2023 earnings release and withdrew its outlook for the Nutrition segment.This news sent the price of Archer Daniels shares crashing as much as $14.46 (or about 21%) lower during intraday trading on Jan. 22, 2024.If you invested in Archer Daniels and have substantial losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm's investigation, submit your losses now If you'd like more information and answers to frequently asked questions about the Archer Daniels case and our investigation, read more Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Archer Daniels should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email ADM@ hbsslaw.com # # #About Hagens Berman Hagens Berman is a global plaintiffs' rights complex litigation law firm focusing on corporate accountability through class-action law. The firm is home to a robust securities litigation practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com . Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.Attorney advertising.Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices.Contact: Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895SOURCE: Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 17:47:19

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 917 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Cleaning industry's leading annual gathering brings together industry innovators to launch products, network and learn.LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / ISSA Show North America, the largest and most comprehensive event dedicated to the worldwide cleaning and facilities industries, today announces exhibiting brands for the 2024 event, which returns to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, November 18-21.ISSA Show North America is the most expansive gathering of more than 600 brands dedicated to the commercial, institutional and residential cleaning industry by promoting technological advancement, strengthening global hygiene policies and supporting sustainability. Notable exhibitors already confirmed to exhibit include Clorox-Pro, Georgia-Pacific Professional (GP PRO), Hoover & Oreck Commercial, Kimberly-Clark Professional, Proctor & Gamble Professional (P&G PRO), Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Sofidel Group, SC Johnson Professional and more to be announced.The annual event, held with the Building Service Contractors Association International's (BSCAI) Contracting Success conference, draws an international presence of more than 13,000 registered industry professionals to explore the newest advancements in tools, equipment, products and services. Exhibitors on the expo floor display a broad range of products including cleaning agents, floor and carpet care, paper products, restroom care and supplies, waste management and safety supplies.Extensive educational programming includes over 140 education sessions highlighting the latest trends and best practices along with complete technical training to earn professional certifications. Topics include solutions in healthcare, hospitality, facility operations, residential cleaning, technology and innovation, business development and marketing solutions, and environmental, social and governance (ESG). In conjunction with educational offerings, attendees gain exclusive access to workshops led by industry experts and healthcare professionals."We are anticipating an even more robust ISSA Show North America this year," shares Ed Nichols, Show Director, ISSA Show North America. "Building on last year's successes, especially with overall participation and our new location, we are excited to present our new Innovative Leaders Program to the market and deliver on our comprehensive strategy to drive more engagement from across the entire cleaning ecosystem. This will result in more exhibiting companies and products, more hands-on and interactive demonstrations, and even more educational opportunities, contributing to a safer and more efficient industry standard for years to come." "For our first year in a new location, the 2023 show far exceeded our expectations. Mandalay Bay proved to be the ideal location for ISSA to celebrate the association's centennial anniversary," says John Barrett, ISSA Executive Director. "Building on the positive feedback we received from last year's event, we are poised to deliver even more in 2024-more educational offerings, more networking opportunities, more attendees and more exhibitors. We look forward to thousands of cleaning professionals and key decision-makers joining us once again this November in Las Vegas for the industry's most important event." Increased opportunities for face-to-face engagement at this year's exhibition will include the Innovative Leaders Program, recognizing 50 products and services each year, expo floor networking in curated spaces in Sustainability Hubs and the Clean Meet Zone, hosting intimate fireside chats throughout the three days.ISSA Show North America continues to deliver impactful solutions to the commercial, institutional, and residential cleaning markets. The latest event edition marked a 15% increase in attendance from 2022, as professionals from all corners of the industry gathered to connect with potential clients, suppliers and partners. Through 15 years of ISSA Show North America's annual gatherings in Las Vegas, the event has contributed a cumulative economic impact of USD $310 million, assembling a collective attendance of 213,000 industry professionals from every facet of the cleaning and professional services industries for in-person collaboration.Registration for the November event will open in June. Visit www.issashow.com to stay up to date on announcements.Future dates for ISSA Show North America at Mandalay Bay Convention Center:November 10-13, 2025 (exhibit days November 11-13)November 16-19, 2026 (exhibit days November 17-19)November 8-11, 2027 (exhibit days November 9-11).About ISSA Show North AmericaIn partnership with ISSA trade association, ISSA Show North America offers an unmatched conference program featuring over 100+ education sessions, workshops, panels, training and certification courses over four days. The event and the association are committed to changing the way the world views cleaning by providing its members with the business tools they need to promote cleaning as an investment in human health, the environment, and an improved bottom line.For more information about ISSA Show North America, visit www.issashow.com. Follow ISSA Show North America on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.About ISSAWith more than 10,500 members-including distributors, manufacturers, manufacturer representatives, wholesalers, building service contractors, in-house service providers, residential cleaners, and associated service members-ISSA is the world's leading trade association for the cleaning industry. The association is committed to changing the way the world views cleaning by providing its members with the business tools they need to promote cleaning as an investment in human health, the environment, and an improved bottom line. Headquartered in Rosemont, Ill., USA, the association has regional offices in Milan, Italy; Toronto, Canada; Sydney, Australia; Seoul, South Korea; and Shanghai, China. For more information about ISSA, visit www.issa.com or call 800-225-4772 (North America) or 847-982-0800. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube.About Informa MarketsInforma Markets, a subsidiary of Informa plc (LON:INF), creates platforms for industries and specialist markets to trade, innovate and grow. Our portfolio comprises more than 550 international B2B events and brands in markets including Engineering, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Infrastructure, Construction & Real Estate, Fashion & Apparel, Hospitality, Food & Beverage, and Health & Nutrition, among others. We provide customers and partners around the globe with opportunities
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 18:30:24

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 332 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

BURY SAINT EDMUNDS, UK / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Life Over 50, a leading online resource for people over 50, celebrates the growing popularity of over 50 sites to meet potential life partners and their positive impact on mature individuals' lives.More Over 50s Using Dating Sites than EverMore Over 50s Using Dating Sites than Ever"Gone are the days when online dating was seen as something only for younger generations," says Stephen from Life Over 50.Today, over 50 dating sites are thriving, offering a safe and secure space for mature singles to connect with others who share their interests and experiences.The rise of dating sites can be attributed to several factors, including:Increased comfort with technology: People over 50 are becoming increasingly comfortable using technology, making them more open to online dating.User-friendly platforms: Over 50 dating sites are designed with ease of use in mind, making them accessible for people of all technical abilities.Focus on mature audience: These platforms understand the unique needs and desires of their over-50 users, fostering a safe and welcoming environment.Life Over 50 also highlights these sites' positive impact on individuals, breaking down stereotypes and encouraging people to embrace new adventures in their later years."Over 50 dating sites are not just about finding love. They are also about building friendships, expanding social circles, and enjoying the company of others.If you are a woman and worried that you don't know what to write in your profile, you can find some great mature dating profiles for over 50 women here." , Stephen added.Life Over 50 concludes by emphasizing the bright future of over 50 dating sites and their role in fostering meaningful connections in later Life.About Life Over 50Life Over 50 is a comprehensive online resource dedicated to empowering and inspiring individuals over 50. The website offers various information and resources on health, wellness, relationships, travel, and more topics.Media Details: Company Name: Life Over 50Contact Person: StephenCity & Country: Bury Saint Edmunds, UKBusiness mail: stephen@ lifeover50.net Website: https://lifeover50.net/ SOURCE: Life Over 50
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 11:00:22

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 501 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Shuttle Computers, a major supplier of computer hardware, has partnered with Mvix to leverage their award-winning digital signage software for distribution, all at a one-time-cost.STERLING, VA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Shuttle Computers, a major provider of ruggedized and semi-ruggedized computer hardware, has partnered with Mvix, a leading provider of enterprise-grade digital signage, to deliver an affordable, fully integrated digital signage solution.Headquartered in City of Industry, Los Angeles County, CA, Shuttle Computers is the North American subsidiary of Shuttle Inc. based in Taiwan. Shuttle Computers provides high-performance industrial computers and personalized support, specializing in OEM customizations and drop-ship services. Committed to quality and customer satisfaction, their knowledgeable staff ensures needs are met with expert assistance.As a part of this partnership, Shuttle Computers and Mvix will supply ready-to-use, 4K media players preloaded with fully licensed Mvix digital signage software. "We focused on simplifying the user experience and the delivery system," stated Tosh Akhgar, Director of Sales & Marketing at Shuttle Computers. "The initial hurdle in digital signage projects often revolves around managing monthly subscriptions and billing across a networked deployment. Our perpetual licensed bundle, coupled with our hardware, offers a solution to this widespread challenge. Additionally, our streamlined online store for purchasing this bundle and personalized communication with project managers for customization make us enthusiastic about introducing this new tool to the digital signage marketplace." "At Mvix, we are constantly seeking to add value for our clients," followed-up Mike Kilian, VP of Client Relations at Mvix. "By bundling Shuttle Computers & Mvix solutions, we are providing unparalleled service and ROI to digital signage users worldwide. This value also translates to our partner channel, where the Shuttle Computers & Mvix solution can be deployed seamlessly and efficiently." A trailblazer in full-service digital signage, Mvix solutions include premium features such as Power BI integration, interactive digital signage, and digital court dockets, all complemented by high-quality content. Notably, Mvix stands out for its cost-effective pricing model, which involves no licensing or subscription fees. This makes it one of the most budget-friendly end-to-end signage systems currently accessible in the market.The Shuttle Computers & Mvix hardware/software solution is available now and can be purchased through either the Shuttle or Mvix websites.About MvixMvix is a leading digital signage provider, specializing in end-to-end, full-service solutions backed by its award-winning digital signage software that offers unique value to clients all over the world. For more information, contact Mvix at 866.310.4923 or visit: www.mvix.com About Shuttle ComputersShuttle Computers is committed to unparalleled customer service and offers a diverse range of compact, high-performance industrial computers. Our expert team specializes in OEM customizations, imaging, and drop-ship services, ensuring personalized support tailored to your needs. With a steadfast focus on quality and customer satisfaction, we're dedicated to providing the perfect solution for you. Contact Shuttle Computers at 888-972-1818 or visit: www.ShuttleComputers.com Contact Information:Evan MagnerMarketing Project Coordinatorcommunications@ mvix.com 866.310.4923SOURCE: Mvix Digital SignageView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 16:30:16

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 692 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

HOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / The Board of OFS Portal, LLC is delighted to announce the appointment of Mimi Stansbury as CEO, effective 1 March 2024.Mimi succeeded Chris Welsh, who has taken the firm to a new height of global recognition during his nine years as CEO and Chairman of the Board. Chris expanded the OFS Portal community from 200 to over 600 oil & gas operators. Chris will continue to assist OFS Portal in an executive capacity.Announcing Mimi's appointment, Chris Welsh said: "As the Energy Industry pivots to newer energy sources and new business partners emerge to support the transition, it is time for OFS Portal to embrace the migration to industry agnostic end-to-end digital integration. Mimi has been instrumental in developing the next generation of Digital Highways that complex and agile supply chains will use across the globe. I am extremely pleased she has been appointed to lead OFS Portal and am confident she will sustain and improve OFS Portal's key role in defining energy digitalization for our industry and our current and future supplier members." Commenting on Mimi's appointment, Marvin Jones, OFS Portal Board member and OFSE Executive IT Operations Baker Hughes said: "Mimi's unquestioned background and contributions in expanding the OFS Portal community has positioned her to not only sustain the current success of OFS Portal but will take it to the next level. I am looking forward to her leadership and expertise as she assumes the role." Reflecting on her appointment, Mimi said: "I am extremely honored and excited to have been selected to lead this outstanding group of global upstream oil and gas suppliers. Under the leadership of Chris Welsh, OFS Portal is now at a very crucial and influential phase as it continues to emphasize the importance of data protection and standardizing cross-border, cross-industry, and multi-national-government electronic invoicing. In the midst of an energy transition, OFS Portal has a unique opportunity to extend the B2B eCommerce efficiency in the Oil and Gas industry to alternative energy customers and cross-industries." After an esteemed career as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Mimi joined OFS Portal as VP of Control and Administration in December 2015 where she was responsible for financial reporting, budgeting, and management of electronic data agreements. She was promoted to Senior VP of Finance and Administration in December 2018 with expanded roles and responsibilities including serving as treasurer and deputy COO of PIDX International. Mimi led the Interim Oversight Committee for the Exchange Framework Market Pilot, a project convened by the Business Payment Coalition (BPC) of the Federal Reserve Bank from November 2022 to April 2023, leading a team of global multi-company member representatives to develop policies, rules, and guidelines for the US Exchange Framework toward a successful launch of the Digital Business Networks Alliance.Mimi graduated with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting in 1988. She received her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center and passed the Texas Bar in 1997. She received her CPA certification in 1991 and took the additional steps to become a CFP in 2005. In January 2024, she completed the requirement as a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP).Mimi was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. She resides in Houston and enjoys traveling around Europe and Asia when time permits.About OFS Portal, LLCHeadquartered in Houston, OFS Portal, LLC is a member-based group of industry-leading upstream oil and gas suppliers focused on making cost-effective implementations of B2B eCommerce a reality and the common practice for the energy industry. OFS Portal provides a standard way for Oil & Gas Suppliers and Operators to digitally transact in a secure, trusted and collaborative environment, resulting in efficiencies for both service providers and operators.OFS Portal's current members include: Baker Hughes, Halliburton, SLB, Weatherford International, Select Water Solutions and Wellbore Integrity Solutions. Membership to OFS Portal is open to any supplier operating in the oil and gas industry. For more information, please visit www.ofs-portal.com -end-Media Contact: info@ ofs-portal.com Contact InformationBeverly JerniganMedia Relationsbeverly@ beverlypr.com 7134941733SOURCE: OFS PortalView the original press release on newswire.com
The Higher Learning Commission has formally approved Rocky Vista Universitys request to offer the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree, moving the university closer to establishing the College of Veterinary Medicine at the Montana Campus.

This marks a significant achievement and propels RVU into Phase 2 of the campus expansion project, the university said in a press release.

RVUs next steps include securing specialized program accreditation, finalizing facility requirements, constructing a new building, and staffing to ensure the success of both students and faculty.

In collaboration with established development partners, RVU is committed to creating an educational facility that will stand as a hub for education and research in veterinary medicine. Key partners involved in Phase 2 of the building project include A&E Design, Animals Arts Architecture, and Langlas & Associates General Contractors.

A&E Design, the lead architect for the expansion project, will play a pivotal role in shaping the physical structure of the new facilities. Their innovative designs will not only meet the functional needs of the College of Veterinary Medicine but also contribute to the overall aesthetic appeal of the expanded campus, RVU said..

Bringing a wealth of experience and expertise in animal-specific needs, Animal Arts Architecture will serve as the consulting architect for this phase. Their specialization in creating environments tailored to the unique requirements of veterinary education and research will ensure that RVU's College of Veterinary Medicine stands as a model institution.

Langlas & Associates General Contractors will spearhead the construction efforts, overseeing the realization of the architectural plans. With a reputation for excellence in project management and construction, Langlas & Associates is a trusted partner in bringing RVU's vision to life.

Rocky Vista University is a health sciences university dedicated to the education of future healthcare professionals. With a commitment to compassion, integrity, and excellence, RVU works to advance healthcare through its programs in medicine, health sciences, and now, veterinary medicine. For more information, visit https://www.rvu.edu.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 20:00:35

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 1061 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / PPX Mining Corp. (the "Company" or "PPX") ( TSX.V:PPX)(BVL:PPX) is pleased to announce that in February 2024, the two diamond drill holes focused on Callanquitas East and its branches were completed, with a total of 376.4 meters drilled from an underground level chamber (2970 masl). The results from the first hole, CA-24-07, intercepted an oxidized breccia with grades of 12.05 g/t Au and 300.9 g/t Ag over 5.25 meters (drilling length at 116.05 meters to 121.30 meters). This included a 3.15 meters intersection grading 19.70 g/t Au and 415.3 g/t Ag in oxides at 116.65 meters. The hole was continued and intercepted a vein of sulfide mineralization over 9.2 meters of drill length grading 10.34 g/t Au, 1670.8 g/t Ag, and 4% Cu at 141.8 meters which includes 1.70 meters grading 33.08 g/t Au, 8174.2 g/t Ag and 13.1% Cu at 142.8 meters. The CA-24-08 drill hole sample results are still pending, but visually the oxidized breccia was intercepted with a width of 1.95 meters. The two drill holes started at the same underground drill chamber near at the 2970 meters level. Table N01 below, demonstrates the mineralized intersections of the drill hole CA-24-07 and the grades obtained with the details of the orientation and dip of the structure.The drillholes intercepted the Callanquitas East structure, and are located to the north and below the area of the historic drilling carried out in 2018, at a depth of 2970 mal. The location of these new intercepts is located more than 50 meters below the mined areas (see longitudinal section below of Mina Callanquitas), the nearest historical drilling is CA-12-44.The intersections in the two drillholes confirms the continuity at depth of the Callanquitas East structure, with good mineralization and high grades of Au and Ag in the material assayed. The grades seen in the Table N01 demonstrate that the mineralization extends down dip and plunge with continuing mineralization in this area.Callanquitas East consists of several hydrothermal breccia events and faults that were mineralized at different stages. The structure cuts quartz sandstones and siltstones. The hydrothermal alteration in these units is predominantly sericite - quartz. The mineralization intercepted by CA-24-07, consists of Fe oxides (FeOx), located in the matrix of the hydrothermal breccias. This is replaced by more than 20% goethite and limonite and in addition some sections are completely replaced by FeOx and a few sections with a fault breccia.The drill hole CA-24-07 also intercepted an important and well mineralized sulfide vein with high grades of Au, Ag and Cu, over good intercept lengths. The original vein is replaced by massive sulfide intergrowths with quartz. This vein intersects the Callanquitas East breccia, and with the appearance of a tensional system with an approximate orientation of N320 dipping -75 degrees. This vein (with oxides) was located in the upper mining levels of the Mina Callanquitas.PPX, in cooperation with PLP, agreed to sample the mineralized areas of the structure with these holes in the current drilling program, prioritizing the Callanquitas breccia and adjacent host rock. Sampling was completed in the drill hole CA-24-07 and assay results have been received, and sampling has been completed for drill hole CA-24-08 but the assay results are pending.In the longitudinal section we can notice that the mineralization to the north and south of Callanquitas East is open along strike and at depth. The two drill holes demonstrate continuity of the Callanquitas breccia and will assist in planning future drilling in this area.John Thomas, CEO, commented: "The results of CA-24-07 encourage us to continue drilling below the mined area of Callanquitas East. The ore appears to continue at depth with good grades of Au and Ag in an oxidized breccia. In addition, drill hole CA-24-07 showed the presence of a sulfide vein with spectacular grades in Au, Ag and Cu, in addition to good thickness, having the highest value in terms of contained metals ever obtained from the Igor concessions. This vein represents a new target for future drilling. Work planned to expand the resources for both Callanquitas East and West will continue, based on these excellent results. The Company is designing a second phase of drilling at Callanquitas for the first quarter of 2024, with the objective of defining the definitive geometry of the Au and Ag precious metals mineralization." Core Sampling and QA/QC Protocols: PPX geologists collect core diamond drill core samples immediately following geological and geotechnical logging. Samples are collected based on natural fractures and their geological characteristics based on their individual runs. Samples are separated by obvious geological boundaries such as rock types, mineralization styles, and hydrothermal alterations associated. Samples are collected by cutting the core in half, using a diamond saw. The second half is retained for future review analysis, future studies, and reference. Samples are sealed, labeled and stored in a secure area before shipment to SGS laboratories in Trujillo-Lima, Peru. Gold and silver analyze are performed using a fire assay method with a CN solution. Blanks and standards are inserted approximately at every 10 samples; Duplicate samples are included at similar intervals. Duplicate fire assay tests approximately every 30 samples are sent to a second laboratory for reanalysis. The gold equivalent is calculated as: Au Eq = (Au gpt) + (Ag gpt/90).About PPX Mining Corp:About PPX Mining Corp: PPX Mining Corp. ( TSX.V: PPX.V, SSE: PPX, BVL: PPX) is a Canadian exploration and development company with assets in northern Peru. The Company's 100% owned Igor gold and silver project is located in the prolific northern Peruvian gold belt in the department of La Libertad. PPX is pursuing a two-pronged strategy to further develop and explore Project Igor. The Callanquitas structure is open along strike and at depth. Parallel structures have not yet been explored. The new discoveries in Portachuelos in 2018, as well as the exploration targets in Domo and Tesoros, show that the Igor Project is becoming a district-scale project with multiple deposits and mineralized zones. Evaluating mineral development alternatives in parallel with exploration drilling will provide dual catalysts for growth and increased shareholder value.All scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Eddy Canova, PGeo., External Consulting Geologist of PPX Mining Corp., who is a qualified person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101.John ThomasChief Executive Officer 82 Richmond Street EastToronto, Ontario M5C 1P1Canada
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 15:00:54

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 815 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Rich's to offer sneak peak of Italian-style pizza lineup at 2024 International Pizza ExpoBUFFALO, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Global, family-owned food company Rich Products (Rich's) is expanding its portfolio of industry-leading pizza doughs and crusts with an authentic, Italian-style lineup of pizza products. The company will offer a sneak peak of the new portfolio at the 2024 International Pizza Expo (booth #2381), taking place on March 19-21 in Las Vegas, NV."At Rich's, we're always looking at how we can elevate our pizza offerings, bringing products to market that we know consumers are looking for, while making sure these products are easy for operators to execute at a store level," said Donna Reeves-Collins, senior vice president, Pizza & Flatbread Category, Rich Products. "Last year, our team traveled to Italy to gather inspiration and expertise that would enhance our portfolio with more authentically Italian products. In Europe, we tasted some of the best pizza we'd ever had and saw the opportunity to bring some of these products and innovation to the U.S. & Canada markets. We're excited today to introduce several new Authentically Italian products that will help pizza operators expand their menus and drive excitement for consumers." It's not Pizza... It's PinsaAccording to Technomic's most recent Pizza Industry Report (November 2023), more than 70% of pizza operators agree that they are experimenting more with globally inspired pizzas and pizza ingredients than they were two years ago.Rich's new Authentically Italian pizza portfolio features a variety of distinct products, all with roots tied to Italy. At the center of the portfolio is Rich's Italian Pinsa. A Roman-style pizza crust with a unique dough fermentation process, Pinsa has seen a surge across Europe over the past couple years but is just beginning to gain traction here in North America. Hand-stretched and made with authentic regional ingredients imported from Italy, Rich's new Pinsa features an irresistible aroma paired with a unique crust that is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.Rich's will be providing pizza lovers with an exclusive "first taste" of its new Pinsa at Pizza Expo. Additionally, Rich's will feature its full Authentically Italian portfolio at the show, which includes:7" x 11" Oval Pinsa and 12" Round Pinsa Rich's new Pinsas are expected to be available through Dot Foods by May 6, 2024. 8 oz. Pizza Dough Ball made with Double Zero 00' Italian Style Flour Made with finely-ground Double Zero 00' style flour, just as they do in Italy, Rich's Dough Balls are higher in moisture than traditional dough balls, making them easier for Operators to use for Neapolitan-style pizzas. Rich's Dough Balls are currently available for purchase. To learn more, visit Double Zero '00" Italian Style 8oz Dough Ball. 16" Double Zero 00' Italian Style Parbaked Pizza Crust Authentic Italian-inspired pizza doesn't have to mean complicated dough handling. Rich's parbaked crust is made with Double Zero 00' style flour, delivering the taste, texture and aroma one would find in a Roman cafe, but with freezer-to-oven simplicity. Rich's new Double Zero 00' Parbaked Crusts are expected to be available through Dot Foods by May 6, 2024.One-Stop-Shop for PizzaRich's Authentically Italian products enhance the food company's diverse portfolio of pizza offerings, helping operators expand their menus, drive consumer interest and stay ahead of the next wave of pizza trends. With a full spectrum of doughs and parbaked crusts, as well as plant-based, Gluten-Free and fully-topped, retail-ready pizzas, Rich's is a one-stop-shop for any operators' pizza needs.Rich's will also be featuring many of these offerings at Pizza Expo, including:Gluten-free Detroit Style Pizza - In 2023, Rich's launched the first ever Gluten-Free (GF) Detroit-Style Pizza Crust. The Detroit-style pizza legacy, now a national favorite, began in 1946 at Buddy's Rendezvous on Detroit's east side when Gus Guerra made his first rectangle-shaped pizza. Today, Gus' grandson,Jack Guerra, Jr., serves as the plant manager at Rich's manufacturing facility in Dearborn Heights, Michigan,where he and his father developed Rich's Gluten Free Detroit-Style Pizza Crust.To learn more about Rich's full spectrum of pizza and flatbread products, visit www.richsusa.com/pizza/ MEET RICH'SRich's, also known as Rich Products Corporation, is a family-owned food company dedicated to inspiring possibilities. From cakes and icings to pizza, appetizers and specialty toppings, our products are used in homes, restaurants and bakeries around the world. Beyond great food, our customers also gain insights to help them stay competitive, no matter their size. Our portfolio includes creative solutions geared at helping food industry professionals compete in foodservice, retail, in-store bakery, deli, and prepared foods among others. Working in 100 locations globally, with annual sales exceeding $5.8 billion, Rich's is a global leader with a focus on everything that families make...possible.Rich's-Infinite Possibilities. One Family.Learn more at Richs.com or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.MEDIA CONTACT:Rich Products: Mary Pace mpace@ rich.com (860)550-1736SOURCE: Rich's
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 15:40:44

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 570 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

EMERYVILLE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / SCS Global Services:Standard Underpins the Continued Growth of the Certification Program offered by SCS Global ServicesSCS Standards, a non-profit standard setting body is pleased to announce the publication of the final version 1-0 of the SCS-007-1 Certification Standard for Sustainability Rated Diamonds. SCS-007-1 is the first comprehensive, multi-stakeholder sustainability standard developed for the gemstone-quality diamonds, both natural and laboratory-grown. The standard was first introduced in 2020 under "trial use" status. It has been used in the marketplace by dozens of industry stakeholders since, resulting in this final version. Updates in the final version of the standard include:Tiered indicators to incentivize continuous improvement Revisions to melee requirements Updates to criteria related to origin traceability and sustainable production Updates to climate related criteria Format changes for greater clarityThe certification program provides jewelry manufacturers, retailers, and their customers unparalleled transparency and due diligence around the environmental and ethical performance of diamond producers and handlers. In addition, it provides the highest level of diamond origin traceability assurance. Finally, it incorporates quantitative metrics to ensure that producers move rapidly toward achieving a net zero carbon footprint and reducing their life cycle impacts."The level of stakeholder engagement and learnings gained over the course of the trial use period proved invaluable to the development of version 1.0," states Victoria Norman, Executive Director of SCS Standards, who led the multi-stakeholder standard development process.SCS Global Services, a global leader in third-party certification of environmental, social, safety and quality performance, has been certifying diamond producers, cutters, polishers, wholesalers, and retailers since 2020 using the trial use version of the standard. Since first introducing the certification program, SCS Global Services has certified eight laboratory-grown diamond producers, 12 diamond handlers, and 65 retailers in 14 countries where over 100,000 certified diamonds have been sold through more than 500 stores worldwide.Industry veteran and SCS Global Services Sustainability Rated Diamond Program Director Kat Weymouth says, "The growth of the program, at all levels of the industry, supports what consumers are demanding. They want to know that the diamonds they purchase are free of conflict and meet environmental, social and ethical standards." Diamond industry professionals interested in learning about the Sustainability Rated Diamond Certification program can learn more by visiting www.scsglobalservices.com . Click here to download a version of the final standard.READ MOREAbout SCS Global Services and SCS Standards DevelopmentSCS Global Services is an internationally recognized leader in third-party certification of environmental and sustainability claims. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, SCS has representatives and affiliate offices throughout the Americas, Asia/Pacific, Europe and Africa. It is the certification arm of Scientific Certification Systems, Inc., a chartered benefit corporation. Additional information is available at www.scsglobalservices.com SCS Standards is a non-profit organization committed to the development of standards that advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Standards are developed in alignment with best practices and guidelines provided by internationally recognized bodies to ensure a robust, transparent, and collaborative approach. SCS Standards is the official standards development body for Scientific Certification Systems, Inc. For more information, visit www.SCSstandards.org Media Contact:Stephanie Flynnsflynn@ scsglobalservices.com SCS Standards Announces Release of SCS-007-1 Certification Standard for Sustainability Rated DiamondsView additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from SCS Global Services on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: SCS Global ServicesWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/scs-global-services Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: SCS Global Services
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 15:00:59

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 481 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

SGS is pleased to announce the far-reaching expansion of its fire safety, resistance and flammability testing services at its laboratory in Farmingdale, New York, USA.GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / SGS, the world's leading testing, inspection and certification company, is pleased to announce the far-reaching expansion of fire safety, resistance and flammability testing services at its laboratory in Farmingdale, New York, USA.SGS Flammability Testing SGS Fire Safety - Apparatus used for flammability testingAs a leading provider of fire safety testing, SGS has gained approval from the United States Coast Guard (USCG) for an expanded scope of testing solutions for the maritime industry whilst also extending services provided within the framework of its ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation.Bobby Brown, Director of Operations and Business Development, SGS said: "This expansion is testament to our commitment to providing exceptional services to our clients. Our team of experts has worked diligently to incorporate the new tests, enhance existing methodologies, and leverage innovative technologies."The broader capability builds on our expertise and SGS's 2017 acquisition of Govmark Testing Services to ensure that our clients, particularly from the aviation, automotive and maritime sectors, receive the highest level of service. In the end, it's only trusted because it's tested." As a USCG Accepted Independent Laboratory in accordance with 46 CFR 159.010 and USCG Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular (NVIC) 02-06, production testing, annual testing inspection and follow-up inspection services can now be undertaken in line with the following approval series:Part 1: Non-combustibility Part 2: Smoke 2.4.1 and toxicity (FTIR) 2.4.2 Part 5: Surface flammability Part 7: Vertical flammability Part 8: Upholstered furniture Part 9: Bedding components Part 10: Appendix 2 cone calorimetryTo demonstrate compliance with both USCG and International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations, all flammability testing is conducted in accordance with the International Code for Application of Fire Test Procedures, 2010 FTP (Fire Test Procedures).In addition, SGS now provides accredited testing for:Aviation and automotive: Aerospace - power plant flame penetration - test methods BSS 7338 Airplane interiors - FAA Part 25 Chapter 12, AITM 2.0056, BSS 7387, FAA Part 25 Appendix F Part Vll Building materials: Test methods ASTM E2768, CAN/ULC-S102 and CAN/ULC S102.2, NFPA 262 Furnishings, carpets and textiles: Drapery/decorative materials - test method BS 5867-2, ISO 15025, ISO 6941 Wire and cables: Product development - UL 1581 Section 1080 VW-1 Analytical new section on scope: Test methods ASTM D92, ISO 2592, ASTM D93, IP 34, ISO 2719, ISO 15267The SGS laboratory is recognized by various US Code agencies, state authorities, international organizations and industry leaders, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and International Maritime Organization (IMO).Effective from January 2024, the expanded flammability testing capabilities will ensure SGS is best placed to support its domestic and international clients to meet national and international regulations and requirements demanded across a multitude of industry sectors.Learn more: SGS's Fire Safety ServicesContact InformationKate Seiler Global Marketing Director, Connectivity & Products, SGScp.media@sgs.com SOURCE: SGS SAView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 15:01:14

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 783 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Report Underscores Critical Investment in Employee Communication and Experience Technology as Key to Boosting Employee Experience, Alignment, and Ultimately, Company Performance.REDWOOD CITY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / The need for comprehensive employee communication and experience technology has never been more apparent. Breakthrough research fromSimpplr's2024 State of Internal Communications (IC) report identifies key drivers in building a highly effective internal communications strategy and team.The report revealed that highly effective (HE) internal communication teams are distinguished by their operational tactics and strategic vision, with several key characteristics setting them apart. One distinctive feature of HE teams is their use of a clear charter with measurable goals that provide benchmarks for success. The report's findings show that IC teams who lack strategic clarity often find their contributions undervalued by their organizations. This is particularly significant given that 30% of IC teams feel their importance is not fully recognized. The issue is only exacerbated when 40% of respondents indicate they operate without a clear strategic plan or defined objectives. Not only do HE teams drive more impact within their organization, but those teams also realize the benefits of their hard work in the form of budget increases. Though only 35% of total respondents indicated that their IC budget increased in 2023, that group is primarily made up of HE teams (43%), with only 10% of less effective teams (LE) reporting an increased budget.Leadership engagement emerges as a pivotal factor in enhancing the perceived quality of an organization's internal communications, acting as a cornerstone for a strong employee experience. The evidence shows that leadership in HE organizations actively and positively collaborates with IC teams, with a significant difference observed in engagement levels (52% versus 5% in less effective setups). Such a dynamic underscores the critical role of involved leadership in fostering an environment where internal communications thrive, directly contributing to a robust employee experience.IC teams are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize how they target their communications and define their channel strategy, significantly enhancing process efficiency and efficacy. The report uncovered that teams using AI are 13% more likely to rate themselves as HE and 17% more likely to get budget increases. Another differentiator of HE teams is their keen ability to demonstrate their work's impact on the organization, ensuring their efforts are recognized and valued within the organization. These teams also witness an uptick in internal content engagement among employees, a testament to the relevance and appeal of their communications. Notably, the most successful IC teams are frequently part of the HR or People Team (28%), highlighting a deliberate alignment with the organization's cultural and employee well-being objectives. This strategic positioning is further supported by a higher budget allocation on average, affording them access to better resources and tools, like a modern intranet, to bolster their initiatives, marking a comprehensive approach to elevating the employee communication experience."Our new report showed that the workplace is constantly changing, and this past year has been especially turbulent for internal communication teams," said Simpplr Chief Insights Officer Jordan Katz. "Internal communication teams with effective employee engagement strategies are essential to help organizations navigate these storms. In good and challenging times, their advantage is crucial in maintaining employee productivity, retention, and overall well-being-all key to business success." The combination of strategic positioning, advanced technology use, clear objectives, and strong leadership collaboration underscores the blueprint for highly effective internal communications teams.Find more of Simpplr's State of Internal Communications Report . In the report, find research on what employee communication and experience teams are facing, including an increasing number of challenges that range from budget cuts to high levels of burnout, a lack of effective employee experience technology, and varying degrees of leadership support.About SimpplrSimpplr is the modern intranet that transforms the work experience for all employees - wherever and however they work. Simpplr is the only platform that integrates employee engagement, enablement, and services, leveraging state-of-the-art AI models to deliver a seamless, cohesive, personalized employee experience. Wherever people work, Simpplr enables them to flourish. Trusted by more than 1000+ leading brands, including Snowflake, Moderna, Eurostar, and AAA, Simpplr's customers are achieving measurable productivity gains, increased employee engagement, and accelerated business performance. Simpplr is headquartered in Silicon Valley, CA, with offices in the UK, Canada, and India, and is backed by Norwest Venture Partners, Sapphire Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Tola Capital. Learn more atsimpplr.com Survey MethodologySimpplr conducted this research using an online survey distributed to senior IC professionals spanning various industries. Respondents were primarily U.S.-based and represent a mix of organizations employing anywhere from 250 to over 10,000 people. Data was collected from November 27 to December 8, 2023.Media Contacts:Carolyn ClarkVP, Corporate Communications & EX, Simpplrcarolyn.clark@simpplr.com Escalate PR simpplr@ escalatepr.com SOURCE: Simpplr
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 16:27:14

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 1104 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

By Kate BernotNORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Subaru of America, Inc.ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN DRIVE MAGAZINE | WINTER 2023The award goes to Subaru of Las Vegas for weaving "servant leadership" into its company culture.Service to the community has long been in the DNA of Subaru of Las Vegas, but the COVID-19 pandemic opened the retailer's eyes to just how essential it is to its neighbors. Because car dealerships were deemed essential businesses, Subaru of Las Vegas was able to provide common space where members of the public could safely distance and carry out critical events, such as Red Cross  blood drives. When public spaces weren't able to open, Subaru of Las Vegas invited nonprofits, health organizations and others to use its community room to further their goals.That commitment only strengthened in the ensuing years. In 2022, Subaru of Las Vegas donated time, space and monetary contributions to 50 nonprofit partners, up from 23 in 2020. The community room now provides space for two to four events per week for partner organizations."This is us. This is what we do," says general manager Burton Hughes, who has worked for Subaru of Las Vegas since 2005. "That sense of giving back to the community permeates our business. It is the culture of our business." Hughes emphasizes servant leadership, a philosophy of shared power and an orientation toward the greater good. Guided by this principle, Subaru of Las Vegas' charitable partners span a wide range of causes, from Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada, which creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses; to Red Rock Search & Rescue, a volunteer team that assists in finding missing and lost neighbors; to Michael's Angel Paws, which offers service, therapy, and obedience training for dogs.Subaru of Las Vegas is guided by the Subaru Love Promise pillars, especially in its efforts to serve those with critical illnesses, support pets and animals and provide educational opportunities. Charitable partners also tend to have a personal tie to employees."There is so much need out there, and it's impossible for us to fulfill all of that. But your heart tells you where you need to help," says assistant general manager Jennifer Vitale. "All of us on staff are uniquely and personally connected to either a story or the services that a nonprofit provides. We're impacted in some shape or form." Since 2019, Subaru of Las Vegas has donated more than $200,000 to Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada, empowering over 20 wishes for local children and young adults, including the complete restoration of a 1981 vehicle for 20-year-old Joseph, who is battling chronic kidney disease. The retailer also jumped at the chance to assist the Jolly family, whose son, Colin, was given an off-road wheelchair to enable him to join his outdoor-loving family on hikes and camping trips."Adventure, off-road, all of that - we said, This is a Subaru wish for sure!'" says Hughes. Subaru of Las Vegas doesn't only provide monetary donations to Make-A-Wish, but it has also hosted five wish reveals at its showroom. The chance to actually meet and welcome the children and their families has had profound impacts on employees."We expect to go into it to make a difference, and we all come out of it with them having made an impact on us," Vitale says.In another example of how service reciprocally impacts employees as well as the community, five staff members from Subaru of Las Vegas volunteered to have their dogs trained as therapy dogs with Michael's Angel Paws. This involved roughly 100 hours of training per dog before they graduated to full therapy dogs. Today, those canine ambassadors bring smiles and comfort to seniors in assisted living homes as well as to children and families.Hughes credits Subaru of Las Vegas' noncommissioned sales model for providing staff the time to connect more substantially with customers. This allows them to learn about neighbors' needs beyond just buying or servicing a vehicle."We're connecting with people on a deeper level," Vitale says. "The fact that our employees genuinely have a heart to give back to the community.  These are the things that matter to the people who walk through our door. They're not getting a show. They're getting real people." Finalists for Retailer of the YearThese five finalists for Retailer of the Year made a difference in their communities through supporting youth, giving to those in need and helping animals.Faulkner Subaru Harrisburg, Harrisburg, PennsylvaniaTreating others as you want to be treated is a sentiment they live by at Faulkner Subaru Harrisburg in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, says president Doug Jones. He loves seeing how employees gravitate toward a certain charity and the joy people find in personally meaningful volunteer work. "To see them help, mentor and volunteer with such passion is a neat thing to witness," he says. Faulkner Subaru Harrisburg partners with more than two dozen local charities and nonprofits.Helping others is not limited to partnering with organizations. Staffers at Faulkner Subaru Harrisburg recently helped bring items to people without homes who were living under a bridge just miles from the retailer.When they opened up their Subaru Ascent vehicles - which were full of tents, blankets, food, clothing, hats and shoes - some people started to cry, he recalls. "They were so happy that someone took the time to help them and care about them," he says. "Times like this one are the reasons we do what we do." Five Star Subaru, Grapevine, TexasAmong the places supported by Five Star Subaru in Grapevine, Texas, the list of organizations is decidedly diverse, from Meals on Wheels to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society . General manager Tony Hooman says, "Being able to contribute to causes that matter to us and our neighbors fosters a sense of unity and shared purpose." Recently, he says, Five Star Subaru hosted what he described as a "joyous parade" to present a check to the Grapevine Relief & Community Exchange (GRACE), which the group said will go into their programs, such as a community clinic, food pantry and transitional housing.Five Star Subaru also provided a check to Serving Our Seniors, whose services include transporting seniors to medical appointments, helping them with home repairs and creating wheelchair ramps. "This moment reminded us of the immeasurable power of unity and the profound impact we can create when we come together," Hooman says.Stanley Subaru, Ellsworth, MaineMark Politte, co-owner of Stanley Subaru in Ellsworth, Maine, recently received a note he will always remember. Every May, employ
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 16:00:27

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 607 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Democratize operational data with TrendMiner's SaaS platform on AWS. Securely connect to more data sources with TrendMiner Connect. Maximize value with responsive customer support. HOUSTON, TX , HASSELT, BELGIUM, and DARMSTADT, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / TrendMiner, the advanced industrial analytics platform for the process manufacturing industry, is thrilled to announce significant enhancements to its Software as a Service (SaaS) solution as part of its strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS). The latest version of its SaaS platform is just one of the ways TrendMiner provides a short time to value to improve operational performance.TrendMiner on the AWS platform democratizes advanced industrial analytics to operational experts, plant managers, and central data teams in the process manufacturing industry. By lowering upfront costs and accelerating global deployment, these strategic initiatives will change the way process manufacturers use their operational data to drive daily decision making.Improved SaaS Solution on AWSTrendMiner has revamped its SaaS offering to include the latest best practices in deployment, runtime, and optimization strategies. Available on the AWS Marketplace, TrendMiner's SaaS solution leverages AWS's robust capabilities to offer customers unparalleled levels of reliability, scalability, and security. It also provides a lower up-front cost for those companies just beginning to gain insights from operational data.The partnership with AWS also makes it possible for TrendMiner to provide operational insights to the process manufacturing industry by way of the industrial cloud. This collaboration redefines the standards of advanced industrial analytics by offering greater access to tangible insights on operational performance."Our enhanced SaaS offering and strong partnership with AWS demonstrate our continued commitment to deliver a flexible platform for analyzing operational data. By leveraging the infrastructure on AWS, we are able to provide a scalable solution makes data-driven insights the core of daily decision making."--Rob Azevedo, Product Marketing ManagerIntroducing TrendMiner ConnectA breakthrough in integration with operational data, TrendMiner Connect provides enhanced time-to-value and improved security on communication with plant integration servers without the need for a Virtual Private Network (VPN). The module, first available in TrendMiner 2023.R4, ensures secure and efficient data transfer to help streamline operations.Enhanced Support ExperienceCustomers that choose the SaaS offering have access to all the latest capabilities offered by the TrendMiner platform without additional actions. They benefit from the latest innovations and generate value from their available data sources. Users will also enjoy a smooth support experience. TrendMiner's support and SaaS teams monitor the systems for an optimal user experience and are readily available to help.About TrendMinerTrendMiner, of Software AG, delivers advanced industrial analytics software to optimize process performance in chemical, petrochemical, oil & gas, pharmaceutical, food & beverage, metals & mining, water & wastewater, and other process manufacturing industries. TrendMiner unlocks the full potential of IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) data infrastructure, regardless of vendor, and taps into the available human intelligence for making data-driven decisions. The solution includes standard integrations with a wide range of data sources, such as OSIsoft PI, Yokogawa Exaquantum, AspenTech IP.21 , Honeywell PHD, GE Proficy Historian, Wonderware InSQL, Cumulocity, Aveva Data Hub, AWS S3, AWS IoT SiteWise, Amazon Timestream, Microsoft Azure Data Lake, Azure Data Explorer, Microsoft Fabric, and SAP's S/4 HANA, and DMC.TrendMiner empowers everyone in manufacturing operations across multiple locations with powerful yet intuitive capabilities to iteratively generate and validate real-time context-aware time-series insights individually and as a team. Search, diagnostic, and predictive capabilities help speed up root cause analysis, define optimal processes, and configure early warnings to monitor production 24/7. TrendMiner helps operators make data-driven decisions to improve production quality, meet business objectives, and increase profitability.Media ContactMatt Saxton TrendMiner Editor+1 408-490-5345matthew_saxton@ softwareag.com SOURCE: TrendMiner
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 11:01:35

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 629 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

LUOYANG, HENAN, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / TRUNNANO is a leading nanomaterial technology developer and manufacturer. Recently, the company announced the launch of its new animal protein based foaming agent for concrete.Although animal protein foaming agent has higher foam stability, its foaming multiple is low. In order to solve the problem of its high production costs, TRUNNANO team relied on 15 years of experience in the foam concrete industry and tried hundreds of materials to modify it.After a long period of laboratory research and field testing, this animal protein foaming agent was finally successfully launched on the market. This product mainly uses nanomaterials to undergo special processing to extract active ingredients with excellent foaming properties and then undergoes fine processing, Made into foam concrete, foam bricks and lightweight boards.(TR-E Nano-modification animal protein concrete foaming agent)Animal protein foaming agents have significant advantages over traditional one. The incorporation of nanomaterials reduces the surface tension of the foaming agent liquid and reduces the liquid resistance during bubble generation, thereby increasing the foaming multiple; The outer wall of the double electron layer of the foam is relatively thick, allowing the foam to maintain a closed spherical shape and reduce pores; Nanomaterials can fill micropores and microcracks in concrete to reduce the shrinkage and cracks of concrete and improve the compactness and strength of concrete as well as effectively reduce the water absorption rate of foam concrete; At the same time, the air wrapped inside the bubble is not easy to lose, so it is not easy to collapse.Test itemNano-modified animal protein foaming agentAnimal protein foaming agentAddition amountper cubic meter reduced by 20 - 25%Water absorption19 - 22%40 -45%Strengthincreased by15 - 20%Minimum density180 kg/m350 kg/mSolid content26 - 28%23 - 25%(Animal protein foaming agent test comparison table before and after nano-modification)TRUNNNAO was founded by Roger Luo, a specialists in lightweight concrete and foam concrete solutions. Roger Luo provides concrete foaming agents, superplasticizers, aerogels, foam concrete strength enhancers for his clients. His latest venture was create the more available fomaing agent for lightweight concrete mixes, and CLC blocks worldwide." "With people's increasing awareness of environmental protection, green, environmentally friendly and sustainable lifestyles have become an inevitable trend in social development. The research, development, and application of animal protein foaming technology is a subversion of traditional chemical foaming agents and powerful practice of environmental protection and sustainable development" Roger Luo explains.TRUNNANO has more than 20 years of industry experience, and its latest achievements are self-foaming cement and mortars developed after years of scientific research and production. Self-foaming cement can meet large-volume foam concrete/gypsum needs and is suitable for ordinary foam concrete cast-in-place, blocks, boards, insulation walls, and ordinary Portland cement as a gelling agent. This product can replace physical and chemical foaming, making the operation simple and convenient.For more details, visit: https://www.nanotrun.com/nano-modification-tr-e-animal-protein-concrete-foaming-agent-p01175p1.html About TRUNNANO Info Technology Co., Ltd.TRUNNANO mainly engages in nano-building energy conservation, nano-technology development, and industrial applications. It has professional experience in the research, development, and application of green energy and the world's advanced materials. As a leading nanomaterial technology developer and application manufacturer, TRUNNANO Technology has maintained a leading position in technology and market development. Today, they provide solutions covering a wide range of processes and links in laboratories and industries. TRUNNANO's unified team, complete service network, and complete solutions help users in various industries improve efficiency, create value, and easily cope with various challenges.For more information, visit: https://www.nanotrun.com Media ContactOrganization: Luoyang Tongrun Nano Technology Co. Ltd.Contact Person: Roger LuoWebsite: https://www.nanotrun.com Email: sales3@ nanotrun.com Contact Number: +8637964281838Address: Building No.1, Tianyuan Free Trade Port,Address 2: ZhuoFei Road, JianXi DistrictCity: LuoyangState: HenanCountry: ChinaSOURCE: TRUNNANO
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 22:30:12

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 1055 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Universal Copper Ltd. ("Universal Copper" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its news release dated February 14, 2024, it has mailed its management information circular (the "Circular") and related proxy materials to shareholders of the Company ("Shareholders") and holders of Options ("Optionholders", and together with Shareholders, "Securityholders") in connection with the special meeting of Securityholders to be held at 10:30 a.m. (Vancouver time) on April 10, 2024 (the "Meeting").The Meeting and Voting RequirementsAt the Meeting, Securityholders will be asked to approve, among other things, the Company's previously announced transaction with Vizsla Copper Corp. ("Vizsla Copper") whereby Vizsla Copper is proposing to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company ("Shares") by way of a statutory plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement"). The Arrangement will require approval by (i) at least two-thirds (66%) of the votes cast by Shareholders present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the Meeting; (ii) at least two-thirds (66%) of the votes cast by Securityholders , present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the Meeting, voting together as a single class; and (iii) a majority of the votes cast by Shareholders present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the Meeting excluding Shares held by interested parties as defined in Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions.The ConsiderationThe Arrangement is being proposed under, and is subject to the terms and conditions of, a definitive arrangement agreement (the "Arrangement Agreement") between the Company and Vizsla Copper. Assuming the Arrangement becomes effective, Vizsla Copper will issue 0.23 common shares in the capital of Vizsla Copper (each whole common share, a "Vizsla Copper Share") to Shareholders in exchange for each Share held (such ratio being referred to herein as the "Exchange Ratio"). Additionally, the Company's outstanding stock options ("Options") will be exchanged for options of Vizsla Copper, and the Company's outstanding warrants will become exercisable to acquire Vizsla Copper Shares, in amounts and at exercise prices adjusted in accordance with the Exchange Ratio.Meeting MaterialsThe Company has obtained an interim order of the Supreme Court of British Columbia (the "Court") to authorize the Meeting process in connection with the Arrangement. The Circular contains, among other things, details concerning the Arrangement, the background to and reasons for the board of directors of the Company (the "UNV Board"), including the special committee of the UNV Board (the "Special Committee"), giving a favourable recommendation of the Arrangement, the requirements for the Arrangement to become effective, the rights of Shareholders to dissent to the resolution approving the Arrangement, and the procedures for voting at the Meeting and other related matters.Securityholders are urged to carefully review the Circular and accompanying materials, which includes a copy of the Plan of Arrangement, as they contain important information regarding the Arrangement and its consequences to Securityholders. A copy of the Circular and related proxy materials is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ atwww.sedarplus.ca Board Recommendation and SupportThe UNV Board, after receiving the unanimous recommendation of the Special Committee created to consider matters relating to the Arrangement, has unanimously determined that the Arrangement is fair to Shareholders and is in the best interests of the Company. Accordingly, the Board (with an interested director abstaining) approved the Arrangement and recommends that Securityholders vote in favour of the Arrangement. In making its recommendation, the Board considered a number of factors, including the recommendation of the Special Committee following its receipt of a fairness opinion from Evans & Evans, Inc. which determined that the consideration offered to Shareholders pursuant to the Arrangement is fair, from a financial point of view, to Shareholders.Directors and officers of the Company and certain significant Shareholders (who hold in the aggregate approximately 21.1% of the issued and outstanding Shares on a non-diluted basis) have entered into support agreements with Vizsla Copper pursuant to which they have agreed, among other things, to support the transaction and vote in favour of the Arrangement.TimingThe closing of the Arrangement is subject to the approval of the Securityholders, the Court, regulatory and stock exchange approvals and the satisfaction or waiver of certain other customary closing conditions for a transaction such as the Arrangement. Assuming all conditions are satisfied, the Company expects that the closing of the Arrangement will be completed in April 2024.Your Vote is ImportantAs a Securityholder, it is important that you carefully read the Circular and then vote your Shares and Options. You are eligible to vote your Shares and Options if you are a holder of record on February 23, 2024. Securityholders should carefully follow the voting instructions provided in the Meeting materials.Finder's FeeIn connection with the Arrangement, the Company entered into a finder's fee agreement with S2K Capital Corp. (the "Finder"). As compensation for the Finder's introduction of the Company to Vizsla Copper, the Company will issue to the Finder 2,173,913 Shares which, upon closing of the Arrangement and in accordance with the Exchange Ratio, will be exchanged for 500,000 Vizsla Copper Shares (the "Finder's Fee"). The Finder is an arm's length party from the Company. The Finder's Fee is subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSX-V").This announcement is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation or a proxy.This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities. 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, or for the account or the benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Excha
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 19:50:57

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 460 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

MONTREAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Valsoft Corporation Inc. ("Valsoft"), a Canadian company specializing in the acquisition and development of vertical market software businesses, is pleased to announce the acquisition of TDO (The Digital Office) Software ("TDO"), owned by Sonendo Inc., the developer of both the TDO Software and the GentleWave System.TDO Software is an endodontic Practice Management Software widely used in the endodontic industry worldwide and has built a community of quality-centered endodontists united in their search for excellence. TDO simplifies practice workflow and favours ergonomic record keeping. TDO also seamlessly integrates practice management, imaging, social media, referral reporting, and CBCT imaging."TDO is back and thriving under the new partnership with Valsoft," said Dr. Carr, former TDO Founder. "From my perspective, with Valsoft, the future couldn't look brighter, full of autonomy and growth. I have agreed to an expanded role, especially in regard to the TDO User Group Meetings and helping to exceed the historical quality people have come to expect." "We are excited to have TDO join our Health & Dental portfolio, marking a milestone in Valsoft's commitment to innovation and excellence in dental healthcare technology," said Gianni Farruggia, Valsoft Operating Partner. "TDO's dedication to innovation will provide our platform with the ability to serve the endodontic community more effectively. With TDO, we will accelerate our product development capabilities, ensure long-term stability, and expand the solutions we offer to our growing customer base." "TDO Software's acquisition by Valsoft marks a new era of growth and innovation," explains Luiz Motta, General Manager at TDO. "We look forward to utilizing Valsoft's specialized expertise to enhance our organizational and employee potential, and increase the efficiency of our operations." Working with Valsoft's operating division, Aspire Software, TDO will be able to leverage Valsoft's extensive experience and resources to pursue key projects, enhance their ability to support customers, and provide the best possible software features to enhance the practice experience.About Valsoft Corporation:Valsoft Corporation acquires and develops vertical market software companies that deliver mission-critical solutions. A key tenet of Valsoft's philosophy is to invest in established businesses and foster an entrepreneurial environment that shapes a company into a leader in its respective industry. Unlike private equity and VC firms, Valsoft does not have a predefined investment horizon and looks to buy, hold, and create value through long-term partnerships with existing management and customers. Learn more: www.valsoftcorp.com Valsoft was represented internally by Shinjay Choi (Ssin) (Senior Legal Counsel), David Felicissimo (General Counsel), and Pamela Romero (Paralegal. Sonendo Inc. was represented by Reed Smith LLP and Stifel served as Sonendo's exclusive financial advisor.Media contact information Communications and Public Relations Valsoft Corporationcommunication@ valsoftcorp.com SOURCE: Valsoft Corp.
Fentanyl seizures in Montana continue growing year-over-year at a substantial rate, the state attorney general's office said Wednesday.

Seizures by state-based anti-drug task forces in 2023 more than doubled those the previous year, Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen's office said in a press release. The State Crime Lab's preliminary reports show 80 people died from fentanyl overdoses in Montana last year. Because the crime lab only verifies deaths that involve an autopsy, that figure is expected to be an undercount, the attorney general said.

Knudsen blamed President Joe Biden, a Democrat amid a standoff with Congress and Republican states over how to secure the southern border.

"Fentanyl is a poison thats killing men, women, and children at unprecedented rates and devastating Montana communities," Knudsen said in a statement. "Were putting more boots on the ground and giving prosecutors the tools they need to hold perpetrators accountable, but until the southern border is secure the problem will not be solved."

Congress recently failed to pass a bipartisan border bill after Republicans who opposed it said it didn't go far enough. Former Republican President Donald Trump had encouraged members of his party to oppose it and some saw the collapse in negotiations as a move to deny President Joe Biden a win on the southern border.

The fentanyl problem is not unique to Montana, which saw a 111% increase from 2022 in fentanyl seizures. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Maryland in 2023 saw a 471% increase from the prior year, while Virginia's seizures last year saw a 260% increase from 2022.

Montana's Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task forces seized 6,663 dosage units in 2020, and last year recorded 398,552 dosage units.

"Please, never take a pill that isn't prescribed to you and talk to your children about the dangers of drugs," Knudsen said. "Just one pill can take a life."
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 20:15:31

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 500 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

JACKSONVILLE, NC / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / VyStar Credit Union has been recognized by Training magazine as a 2024 Training APEX Award Winner. The APEX Award is a prestigious global award that recognizes the top learning and development organizations based on their commitment to the highest levels of employee growth and development and the results they achieve.Training magazine recognized the 2024 Training APEX Award winners during the Training 2024 Conference & Expo held in Orlando, Florida on February 27. VyStar's Learning and Development team has been a proud recipient of this prestigious award for the past four years. This year, VyStar ranked 30 out of 105 honorees."VyStar is incredibly honored to be recognized as a Training APEX Award winner for the 5th consecutive year," said VyStar Chief Human Resources Officer Kawanza Humphrey. "The award reflects our purpose to Do Good and a testament to our unwavering commitment to fostering a culture of continuous learning and development. By providing our employees with the latest skills and knowledge, we ensure they can deliver exceptional results for our members." VyStar offers a robust training and development program and is committed to providing a rewarding work environment that encourages employee wellbeing and financial wellness. The Learning and Development team provides quarterly training and one-on-one counseling on investing, retirement planning and overall financial fitness. VyStar encourages employees to participate in external learning opportunities that include college degrees, professional certifications, and licenses. VyStar offers a generous tuition assistance program that includes an option between prepaid tuition or tuition reimbursement and student loan payoff stipends.Our purpose at VyStar is to Do Good. One of the best ways is to invest in our future leaders - high school students and college interns who will one day become the backbone of our organization and the community.In 2022, VyStar launched the VyStar Corporate College Intern Program designed to develop talent early in their career. The program is open to any rising junior, senior, or recent graduate. The program provides extensive support and involvement from our leadership team.Another recognized program is the "Future Fit" Mentoring Program which pairs 130 mentors and mentees in six-month cohorts. The program is part of an integral development strategy for employees seeking further career development opportunities.To learn more about a career at VyStar, please visit vystarcu.org/careers About VyStar Credit UnionVyStar Credit Union is the second-largest credit union headquartered in Florida, with over 80 branches and now serves more than 975,000 members with assets of over $14 billion. VyStar is the largest mortgage lender in Northeast Florida and a major employer in the region with over 2,500 employees across the communities it serves. VyStar membership is open to everyone who lives or works in the 49 contiguous counties of Central to North Florida, 29 Georgia counties, and past and present military members and their families all over the world. For more information, visit vystarcu.org , and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.Contact:Charlene Shirk, VyStar Asst. Vice President of Public Relations shirkc@ vystarcu.org SOURCE: Vystar Credit Union
PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-07 14:41:58

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 1163 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 /Las Vegas SandsAs part of Women's History Month 2024, Sands is featuring women who help drive the company's success and exemplify its culture of professional growth and advancement. Val Chua joined Marina Bay Sands in 2008 and serves as executive director of communications.Outline your career path and current role at Marina Bay Sands."I started my career in journalism and spent a number of years in the newsroom environment in Singapore. It was here that I first covered Las Vegas Sands as a company and became the beat reporter for my paper. Those heady days of 2005-2006, when many global gaming companies had their sights on the coveted Marina Bay integrated resort site and presented dazzling proposals, were a key highlight of my reporting days."I also enjoyed covering the public discussions, so open and robust in a decidedly more conservative era back then, as Singapore debated the pros and cons of having an integrated resort with a gaming component. Interviewing the late Mr. Adelson and sitting in the company's private jet, along with other Singapore media who were flown to Las Vegas on a media trip to understand the business better, has become a core memory from those days."I joined the company in November 2008, as the team was building its communications functions. We operated out of Republic Plaza and watched with amazement every day as the building opposite us transformed every 24 hours. Watching the Sands SkyPark being lifted in 13 different pieces and fitted in the sky signaled that construction was nearing its end and Marina Bay Sands was about to embark on its next phase."As the communications function grew, so did my role and responsibilities. I started out as a manager on the team, joining at the start of the Asian financial crisis. It was a jittery start but a worthwhile way to plunge deep into the world of public relations and crisis communications. The company held firm to its original vision and had never faltered in its commitment to build a world-class destination. This forward-looking mentality and spirit of evolution not only drives the company forward, but it has also been built into the DNA of its people. It's a value I hold dear to my heart, through different seasons, as I build my career with Marina Bay Sands."The past 15 years have gone by in a flash. In any other organization, it may feel like an eternity. But the pace and intensity of Marina Bay Sands just means we're speeding through the months - we're constantly on accelerator mode and charging forward. With age, I may no longer walk as fast around the property as I used to. So I count myself very lucky to have a talented, strong (and a much younger) team to rely on. The 14 of us are responsible for all of the communications work for the integrated resort, supporting all business units through public relations, media and celebrity/influencer engagements, and crisis and incident communications. It's a dream job for any publicist, and the team has supported and created many amazing feats in the last decade."The communications team is also responsible for driving the Sands Cares community engagement program for Singapore, working to identify vulnerable and unserved communities, and stepping up to lend a helping hand, whether it's through financial means or providing Team Member volunteers."The dual responsibilities of creating high-profile publicity on the one hand, while rolling up our sleeves and serving the underprivileged, keep us very grounded in our work and mission. It's an intensive and meaningful role, in a company that has so much going for it." What skills, training, mentors or experiences have helped you build a successful career?"Mentors are definitely important, and I've had the privilege of working with many wise men and women in different stages of my career. They open up your eyes to things that you can't see immediately, whether it's because of your youth or your lack of experience. Through their perspectives, you will see that your current struggles will look very miniscule in time to come, and so you learn not to sweat the small stuff, and to pick your battles wisely."Then there's the greatest teacher called time. With time, you gain knowledge and awareness of what your key strengths and weaknesses are. With time, you also gain patience and understanding, which are important as you lead and motivate teams. I'm still learning."At different stages in your career, you will naturally develop different skillsets and embrace different mindsets. When I was younger, it was all about efficiency and impact. Everything was calculated based on deadlines and speed. The older me prefers to take more deliberation behind each decision, to consider more viewpoints and perspectives, while still being able to move with the speed that characterizes Marina Bay Sands."Having a healthy sense of humor is important; so is having a thick skin. I like people who can laugh at themselves and see the lighter side of things, rather than letting a bad situation get the better of them. Laugh first, and then figure out your way around the problem."It's also important to believe in the greater purpose of the company, no matter how many years you've been in it. For me, a key memory was the day before Marina Bay Sands opened its doors to the public on April 27, 2010. A group of us went up to the hotel lobby at 3 p.m. the day prior - thick construction dust was in the air, and there were workers everywhere we turned. We were shocked and frankly quite dismayed at the way things looked. I recall the roads were only freshly paved. How on earth will we be able to open for business in the next 24 hours?"The next morning, it was a different sight that greeted us. The air was clear, the marble floors sparkled, and the staff were smartly attired, ready to welcome the world. That was the beginning of an icon and at that instant, I felt that anything was possible with this company. It proved me right many times during my years here. No matter what obstacles were in front of us, we have always been able to rise above the occasion and do the impossible. There is something quite magical about this place, and I think this is why it's so special for many of us in the company." What are your ideas for evolving the workplace to better support and empower women?"The single-most asked question when I interview prospective candidates is whether we have a hybrid work structure, allowing staff to work from home on certain days. It's becoming a key deciding factor for most people, especially working mothers. I am glad that Marina Bay Sands has embraced this post-pandemic reality, allowing us to attract and retain talent."My team is made
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Food Security, Yejide Ogundipe, says the era of paying lip service towards supporting women farmers in the country is over.

Speaking at an event commemorating the 2024 International Womens Day organised by the Nigerian Women for Agricultural Progress (NWAP) in Abuja, Ms Ogundipe emphasised the importance of inclusion.

The event, themed Inspire Inclusion, provided a platform to address key issues surrounding gender equality and inclusivity in the agricultural sector.

She said there was need to end lip service and actively foster genuine support for women farmers in the nation.

Ms Ogundipe highlighted the governments commitment to eliminating portfolio farmers who exploited grants and loans meant for genuine farmers.

The administration has strategically organised women farmers into cooperatives to ensure they benefit from interventions aimed at reducing food insecurity.

She spoke on the urgency of President Bola Tinubus state of emergency on food security and outlined various interventions, including partnerships with the Bank of Agriculture to provide farmers access to low-interest loans.

The presidential aide nebti initiatives for irrigation projects, and collaboration with the Federal Government and the African Development Bank to cultivate 120,000 hectares of wheat across 15 states for dry-season farming.

READ ALSO:

She said that government was dedicated to making agriculture profitable, especially for women farmers and urged patience as efforts were underway to enhance the profession.

Earlier, Faith Ibrahim, a professor of Agricultural Economics, Federal University of Technology, Minna, said there was need for prioritisation of inclusive agriculture for women.

Ms Ibrahim acknowledged the substantial contribution of women farmers, accounting for 70 per cent to 80 per cent of Nigerias food production.

She called for the creation of an enabling environment for the growth of women farmers and enhanced food security.

The professor called for the provision of single-digit loans for women farmers, emphasising the potential for increased productivity with gender-friendly policy frameworks.

Ms Ibrahim said that agriculture played a critical role in growth and poverty reduction.

According to her, the sectors under-performance can be attributed to constraints faced by women in rural economies.

She stressed the importance of inclusion, advocating for measures such as granting access to funds, lands, and fostering a supportive environment.

Omolara Svensson, the national coordinator of NWAP, expressed the organisations commitment to prioritising agribusiness in Africa to enhance food security, accessibility, and affordability.

She said that the commitment was guided by principles of dignity, discipline and decency and urged the members to conduct themselves with the highest decorum.

NWAPs vision is to competently lead the change in agribusiness narratives for Nigerian women, aiming to be the leading light of sustainable progress for African women farmers.

The organisation strives to create a positive impact by ensuring dignity, decency, and disciplined conduct in the pursuit of agribusiness initiatives across the continent, she said.

Highlight of the event was the formal inauguration of the 36 state coordinators with the mandate of improving the lives of their people.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


To commemorate the 2024 International Womens Month, Netflix unveiled a slate of 2024 films and series by female filmmakers from Nigeria and beyond on Wednesday.

The occasion was the Her Voice, Our Story International Womens Day event in collaboration with Mo Abudu of EbonyLife TV to celebrate the unique perspectives and remarkable stories of African women in the creative industry.

Leading female film producers, directors, actors, and members of the Nigerian film community were present at the event.

Speakers in the discussion including Netflix Director of Content in Africa Dorothy Ghettuba alongside Bolanle Austen-Peters (Man of God), Hamisha Daryani Ahuja (Namaste Wahala), Chichi Nworah (Shanty Town), and Peace Hyde (Young Famous & African) discussed their experiences as women in the creative industry and their efforts to portray strong, real-life female characters.

At Netflix, we want our stories to reflect as many lives as possible. This is why we are passionate about the stories we tell, the people who tell them, and the people we tell them for. We are happy to work with the female powerhouse in the creative industry and bring to life the awesome projects that reflect their stories and promote our culture, said Ms Ghettuba.

This event, aimed at celebrating and honouring inspiring women in front of and behind the camera and the diverse storytelling by women and about women, heralds an exciting and diverse slate of upcoming films and series.

The upcoming slate of female-led Nigerian stories spans various genres and themes of new local films and series from Mo Abudu, Bolanle Austen-Peters, Kemi Adetiba, Chichi Nworah, and Hamisha Daryani Ahuja to launch on the service in 2024.

The featured productions

 Oloture: The Journey (series)  Working undercover as a sex worker in Nigeria, a young journalist out to expose corruption fights for her life as she forges a path to Europe.

Key cast: Sharon Ooja, Omoni Oboli, Beverly Osu, Ikechukwu Onunaku, Daniel Etim Effiong, Amarachukwu Onoh, Stan Nze, Bukola Oladipupo, Patrick Doyle, Bucci Franklin and Wofai Fada.

Executive Producer: Mo Abudu

 Baby Farm (series)  Adanna, a young pregnant woman, unknowingly entrusts her unborn twins to a high-profile NGO, only to discover shes become a prisoner of a sinister Baby Farm. As she fights to escape the clutches of the ruthless Doctor Oliver Evans and his wife, her fierce determination threatens to expose their dark operation, changing the lives of her fellow captives forever.

Key cast: Rita Dominic, Joseph Benjamin, Onyinye Odokoro, Genoveva Umeh, Langley Kirkwood and Jenny Stead

Executive Producer: Mo Abudu

 Postcards (series)  Four conflicted Nigerians in India find identity and acceptance as they face their fears and desires through a journey of love and self-discovery

Key cast: Sola Sobowale, Tobi Bakre, Rajniesh Duggall, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Rahama Sadau, Nancy Isime

Director & producer: Hamisha Daryani Ahuja

 House of Gaa (film)  Set in 18th century old Oyo Empire, Gaa is an ancient biopic based on actual life events surrounding Bashorun Gaa, a ferocious and feared Prime Minister/kingmaker who became more powerful than the kings he enthroned.

Key cast: Femi Branch, Mike Afolarin, Funke Akindele, Toyin Abraham, Ibrahim Chatta, Dele Odule, Bimbo Manuel, Lateef Adedimeji, Femi Adebayo, Gabriel Afolayan, Jide JBlaze Oyegbile, Seun Akindele, Yemi Blaq, Adeniyi Johnson, Muyiwa Ademola, Willam Benson, Gbenga Titiloye, Kunle Coker

Director: Bolanle Austen-Peters

Producers: Bolanle Austen-Peters and Joseph Umoibom

 To Kill a Monkey (series)  Efemini, a down-on-his-luck everyman whose life changes forever after a chance meeting with an old friend. Forced by circumstance to suppress his principles and explore a life of cybercrime, he finds himself making ever-greater moral compromises to stay ahead of the consequences of his new choices and broadening tastes.

Key Cast: Bucci Franklin, William Benson, Stella Damasus, Bimbo Akintola, Micheal Ejoor, Chidi Mokeme, Lilian Afegbai, and Sunshine Roseman

Director & Producer: Kemi Adetiba

International productions

Fan-favourite reality series Young Famous and African will also be returning for its third season later this year, while the girls of Parkhurst High School returned for their fourth season of School & mayhem on Blood and Water.

There are more global stories showcasing strong women that launched or will stream on Netflix this Womens Month, including Furies (1 March), Damsel (8 March) and Shirley (22 March), starring Regina King, in the story of the first Black congresswoman and political icon, Shirley Chisholm, and her trailblazing run for president of the U.S.

Also, check out the International Womens Day collection featuring over 3000 titles globally celebrating the diverse and inspiring stories of women who are leaving their mark on the world via the URLs (/internationalwomensday, /IWD /internationalwomensmonth) and sub-navigation menus (genre and category selection).

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State, on Wednesday, received the final report from the 15-member Truth, Justice and Peace Committee.

Mr Soludo set up the committee in April 2022 to help address rising cases of agitation, insecurity and other challenges in the state and South-east.

A renowned human rights activist, Chidi Odinkalu headed the committee, while Bianca Ojukwu, the widow of the late Biafra leader, Odumegwu Ojukwu, served as the secretary.

Some notable figures from other states in the South-east were also members of the committee.

Final report

Mr Soludo, shortly after receiving the report at the Government House Awka on Wednesday, commended the Chairperson of the committee, Mr Odinkalu, a professor, for his dedication and the historic nature of the report, according to a statement by the governors spokesperson, Christian Aburime.

The governor promised to carry out swift action based on the committees recommendations, and hinted on plans to dissolve his cabinet into sub-committees in analysing and implementing the recommendations

He stressed that the report has the potential to serve as a national framework for addressing security challenges just as he expressed concern about the impact of crime and violence on young people.

Collaboration with federal govt, others

Mr Soludo called for collaboration with federal government agencies, regional governments, security services including the State Vigilante Group, and the local communities in crime fighting.

The governor said he plans to share the report with national security agencies and work with neighbouring states to address the cross-border nature of criminal activities.

He reiterated his commitment to achieving sustainable peace in the South-east, and assured residents of the region that he will read every sentence in the report and ensure its recommendations are implemented for a safer future.

Mr Soludo stressed the need for community involvement, including religious institutions, in tackling the challenges and described the approach as a crusade requiring collective action.

IPOB, ESN not biggest factor in violence

Earlier during the report presentation, Mr Odinkalu thanked Governor Soludo for entrusting them with the task.

The human rights activist said that the biggest structural factor in violence is the political economy of land, not the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its militant wing, the Eastern Security Network.

The chairperson argued that while Lagos State is gaining land, Anambra is losing land due to ecological pressure, crises in leadership and impunity.

The committee surveyed 66 communities in the state, documenting cases of traditional rulers, security agents, presidents-general, and community members who have disappeared and remain missing, he said.

Mr Odinkalu said there was a need to end the use of the term unknown gunmen, especially by the media.

He also called for development of a 25-year security strategy to reform community governance and establish an agency for the protection of victims and accountability for violence.

The Secretary to the State Government, Solo Chukwulobelu, members of the Anambra State Executive Council, Secretary of the peace committee, Mrs Ojukwu, and representatives of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) attended the event.

IPOB, a group seeking to carve out a sovereign state of Biafra from South-east and some parts of the South-south of Nigeria, has been linked to some deadly attacks in the two regions.

But the separatist group has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Ekiti State Caucus in the House of Representatives has expressed sadness over the death of the Chairperson of the Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Paul Omotosho.

The caucus, in a statement issued by its leader, Olufemi Bamishile, on Wednesday, described the death of the politician as a big void.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported the death of Mr Omotosho, who died on Wednesday after a brief illness.

Mr Bamishile said Mr Omotoshos sudden demise has left a profound void in the hearts of all Ekiti members of the House of Representatives, who were all elected on the platform of the APC.

He stated that the late politician played a prominent role in the success of the APC in Ekiti State, particularly the 2022 governorship election.

Under his stewardship, the APC in Ekiti State achieved the historic feat of succeeding itself as the ruling party in the 2022 gubernatorial election  the first time a back-to-back victory for a party in the political history of Ekiti State was recorded.

Barrister Omotoshos leadership acumen and visionary leadership contributed to the internal cohesion in the party, and he was a bridge builder between the younger and older generations, he said.

Mr Bamishile said the late party chairman served in various public offices before becoming state chairman, including APC state secretary; special adviser to the governor on legal matters; special adviser to the governor on political matters; as well as a two-time Commissioner.

He added that Mr Omotoshos loyalty, commitment, integrity, and competence were evident for many decades of an illustrious political and public service career.

Barrister Omotoshos inclusive leadership style ensured that every members voice was heard and valued. His integrity, compassion, and commitment to the ideals of our party were truly inspiring, Mr Bamishile said.

APC mourns Omotosho

Meanwhile, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC has described Mr Omotoshos demise as a colossal loss to the party.

This was contained in a statement by its spokesperson, Felix Morka, on Wednesday, in Abuja.

Until his passing, Omotoso, an Imesi-Ekiti-born grassroots politician, was a seasoned lawyer and fine administrator who stood as a bastion of our progressive ideals. His exit is indeed a colossal loss to our great party. He will be sorely missed.

Our solemn thoughts and prayers are with his family, the state chapter of our great party, the government and the good people of Ekiti State at this difficult time.

We also extend our condolences to the Forum of APC State Chairmen over the demise of their colleague, the statement said.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


A former senator from Zamfara State, Kabiru Marafa, has demanded a thorough investigation into the circumstances that led to the death of an Islamic scholar, Abubakar Hassan, who was allegedly murdered on Tuesday in Mada, a town in Gusau Local Government Area of the state.

The slain cleric was allegedly murdered by suspected members of the states Community Protection Group (CPG).

PREMIUM TIMES had reported that Mr Hasaan was picked up by the guards in the evening for questioning before his death was later announced.

In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Marafa, who represented Zamfara Central Senatorial District in the Senate between 2011 and 2019, condemned the killing of the Islamic teacher.

The former senator condoled the family members of the late cleric, the Jamaatu izalatul Bidia (Jibwis) National leader, Bala Lau, and its followers.

He described the gruesome murder as the peak of inhumanity against fellow human beings.

Mr Marafa urged the Zamfara State Government to ensure that the perpetrators are arrested and prosecuted.

I call on the Zamfara State Government to come out clean out of these atrocities that are being committed by the members of the Community Protection Guards (CPG).

If they are not acting the script of the state government to wipe out members of the opposition party, the state government should as a matter of urgency arrest and commence an open, thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances that led to the brutal murder of Alh Magaji Lawali and now Imam Abubakar Hassan Mada.

READ ALSO: Tension in Zamfara over killing of Islamic scholar arrested by state guards

 When the government launched the CPG, we all rallied around it, given our commitment to address the security challenges facing our state, but in recent times, it seems the security outfit was put together for a reason, other than to tackle the insecurity in our beloved state. One after the other, the guards are going after innocent citizens in the state. Their offence is that they belong to another political party. This is not acceptable Mr Marafa said in the statement.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), has promised to intensify efforts to ensure that the National Assembly grants autonomy to Local Government Councils in the country.

While speaking at the end of a two-day capacity building on Local Government Effectiveness for Kaduna State Local Government Officials on Wednesday in Abuja, the DG, NILDS, Abubakar Sulaiman, hinted at the intention of the institute to ally with others to ensure that local councils are independent of the other two tiers of government.

Autonomy for local government, which is the third tier of government in the country, has been a topical issue for national discourse over the years.

Despite several interventions to ensure that the local councils, which by their creation, are the closest to the people at the grassroots are autonomous, the efforts have been largely futile.

Mr Sulaiman, a professor, said that NILDS would continue to be a strategic partner in the efforts to reposition local government councils to discharge their constitutional responsibilities in Nigeria.

We believe in the local government administration as the closest level of government for effective participation of the teeming population of the country in its governance system.

We shall therefore continue to be at the forefront of efforts to ensure that local government autonomy becomes a reality in Nigeria.

The Executive could decide to embark on certain constraints, deny local government their revenue, but such denials will not last forever, he said.

Mr Sulaiman urged the participants to gear up in anticipation of the local government autonomy in the near future.

We are an institute. And through the institute to the national assembly, we shall support every local government in ensuring that true autonomy is granted to local government.

It is a struggle we must all fight for and a struggle we must all win, he said.

The director-general said the objective of the programme was to improve the professional competence of local government officers to discharge their duties in line with international best practices.

To us at the Institute, this capacity-building training is important.

This is because it is tailored to meet specific needs of the local government administration particularly those skills and knowledge that will enable them to support the work of an autonomous local government in Kaduna State, he said.

Also speaking, Shuaibu Jaja, the chairperson, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Kaduna State chapter, said that Nigerias democracy was getting stronger despite the challenges facing the nation.

READ ALSO: Nigerian lawmakers extend retirement age of National Assembly staffers

But with the calibre of people that are gathered here, Im confident most of these problems will sooner be addressed.

I feel motivated that Kaduna State will collaborate with the centre and the consultant.

This is to bring more people of Kaduna state to acquire professional skills to improve the capacity of our citizens to prepare adequately for the challenge of this century, he said.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly, Babayo Akuyam, and his deputy, Ahmed Abdullahi, have resigned from their positions.

Mr Akuyam (PDP  Hardawa State Constituency), and Mr Abdullahi (PDP  Dass State Constituency) announced their resignation at the plenary on Wednesday.

The resignation is to pave the way for the return of the former Speaker, Abubakar Suleiman, and his deputy, Jamilu Dahiru, to their positions.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Court of Appeal, Abuja, in November 2023 sacked Mr Sulaiman (PDP- Ningi Central State Constituency), and Mr Dahiru (PDP  Bauchi Central State Constituency).

The court also ordered for re-run in the 11 March 2023 general election in the constituencies.

However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), declared Messrs Suleiman and Dahiru winners of the 3 Feb and 4 re-run elections in the constituencies, respectively.

The outgoing speaker, Mr Akuyam said the action was part of the agreement reached by the lawmakers to step down to enable the duo to return to their positions.

READ ALSO: Bauchi Assembly set to pass childs rights bill into law Speaker

He thanked the lawmakers and legislative staff for their support and cooperation during their stewardship of the House.

Also speaking, Mr Suleiman hailed the outgoing speaker and his deputy for keeping to their words.

He also pledged to provide effective legislation for the betterment of the lives of the people.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, says the Abuja Rail Mass Transit (ARMT) project is 95 per cent completed and will be ready for inauguration in May.

Mr Wike stated this when the Belgium Ambassador to Nigeria, Pieter Leenknegt, visited him in Abuja on Wednesday.

The minister explained that the feat was part of efforts to improve public transportation in the federal capital, Abuja.

When we came on board, we found out that the Abuja Light Rail was not functional and we felt that it will be a good thing for the people, if we decongest the city by putting it to function.

So, President Bola Tinubu directed that whatever can be done, should be done, so that in his one year in office, the light rail will come on board for the use of the residents.

The people can use it going out of the city, going to the airport and other area councils, and instead of going with their vehicles they can take the train.

I can announce to you that we are almost there. The company handling the project, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), is almost 95 per cent completed.

By the grace of God, we believe that in May, Mr President will inaugurate it, the minister said.

Mr Wike added that discussion was on-going with private investors to change the mode of public transportation in the FCT.

He acknowledged that the deficit in public transportation constituted a security challenge in the city, adding that most of the operators were not registered.

He expressed concern that most residents did not know the vehicle they were boarding, adding that efforts were on-going to ensure all public transport operators were registered.

New taxi, bus terminals

The minister added that the government had concluded plans to build taxi and bus terminals where residents could patronise registered and identified operators.

He further said that the construction of the terminals would commence in the next one month, with the approval of the Bureau of Public Procurement.

The minister also said that discussion was ongoing with the Inspector General of Police, the Director-General of the State Services, and cattle herders on ways to stop open grazing in the city.

He explained that the discussion was to get the herders to understand why they should not rear cattle within the city.

I can tell you that it is not what we want, but believing that the matter will be resolved and alternative will be provided for the herders to rear their cattle, he said.

Wike also sought partnership with the Belgian government on security and agriculture.

Earlier, the Ambassador said that the visit was to get to know the ministers plans in mass public transportation, update on the Abuja Light Rail project and the stand on open grazing in the city.

Leenknegt expressed satisfaction with developments in the FCT, particularly the green vegetation and trees as well as less traffic.

He said that the Belgian government was open for partnership on areas of mutual benefits. (NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Construction of a controversial bridge in the western North Dakota Badlands will not be allowed to go forward before certain legal issues are cleared up in state court, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

The decision marks another delay in the now decadeslong attempt by Billings County to build a bridge crossing the Little Missouri River. This latest chapter has involved years of back and forth between the county and the family whose ranch the bridge would cross; the Shorts. Other locations had been considered in the past.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor granted the family an injunction which prevents the county from beginning any construction until the broader issue of whether eminent domain was properly deployed by the county is litigated at the state level. Eminent domain is the taking of private land for public use, with just compensation.

Traynor declined to have the broader eminent domain issue be heard in his courtroom, though he wrote if the Shorts cannot make their arguments in state court, they can move to have the rest of the case be heard at the federal level. Billings County filed a motion to dismiss the case and that was denied by Traynor, though he ruled the county may bring those arguments back up again if the issue ultimately ends up in his courtroom.

This ruling essentially blocked the county's use of a procedure called "quick take" that lets a government body take private property for public use by writing an initial check and then negotiating the rest of the terms later.

Last spring, the county offered $20,000 per acre for easements on the 30-acre ranch along with other temporary easements for construction, but the Shorts did not accept the payments. The county initiated quick take in August shortly after attorneys for the Shorts filed this suit, which anticipated the action. If the county had succeeded in getting the case dismissed it could have begun initial construction work this year.

"We're happy that no bulldozers will scrape the Short Ranch this summer," said attorney Tim Purdon, who represents the family.

Meanwhile, attorney Tami Norgard, representing Billings County, said she was pleased with the ruling as well.

"It is clear from the courts order that the court views this as a state eminent domain matter, as Judge Traynor directed the parties to try this case in the ongoing state proceedings before Judge (William) Herauf, as the county requested in its briefing," she said.

The case will now likely move forward in state court where the family has filed a challenge to Billings County's eminent domain attempt. Eminent domain litigation typically involves disputes over whether the compensation offered was "just," and it is rare for a government's right to use the practice to be blocked. But the Shorts have said there is no amount of money they would take for the bridge to be built on their land and they believe their claims that the county engaged in the process in "bad faith" will prove successful.

The family's argument rests on two main points. The first they say is that by taking eminent domain action, the county breached a contract it entered with the Shorts.

Billings County commissioners in 2021 voted 2-1 to not use eminent domain for the project. They also entered into an agreement with the Short family to not use eminent domain on their property for the bridge in exchange for the Shorts dropping lawsuits which were filed against the commissioners and the Federal Highway Administration. The agency wrote in an environmental impact statement for the bridge that the Shorts' ranch would be the best location. That study was in accordance with the National Environmental Protection Act, which is required for building anything that needs federal approvals.

The deciding vote on using eminent domain for the bridge was flipped after then-County Commissioner Mike Kasian lost his seat on the board to Commissioner Steven Klym in 2022. The offer and "quick take" took place in 2023.

In past comments to the Tribune, Norgard has argued that one county commission cannot negotiate away sovereign powers, such as eminent domain, of another. She said this was made clear to the Shorts when the two sides came to an agreement.

The other argument the family brings forward to dispute the county's use of eminent domain is that the bridge will not be for public use -- a requirement under eminent domain law. The family believes the bridge will primarily benefit the oil industry, highlighting comments made by a former commissioner.

Billings County has said the bridge is needed for emergency services, commerce, recreation and public travel. Norgard in the past comments to the Tribune highlighted a 2021 fire that would have been difficult for emergency services to handle if it had jumped the river far away from a bridge.

Current bridges over the Little Missouri are at Medora on Interstate 94 and south of Watford City on U.S. Highway 85 -- the distance between the two is around 70 miles. There are 18 unimproved private fords and one unimproved public ford that are used by some vehicles to cross the river, according to the past Federal Highway Administration EIS.

Norgard also argued that any public road -- even one that primarily benefits the oil industry -- is still a public use.

She pointed to the findings of the EIS -- that the Short Ranch is the best spot for the bridge -- as evidence that the county has negotiated in good faith for a bridge it needs.

The Shorts still believe the EIS got it wrong, but by dropping the 2021 lawsuit, the clock has run out on the family's ability to challenge those claims.

The state will likely hear arguments in September.
On day two of Kunti Kamaras appeal against his 2022 conviction for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Mr Kamaras lawyers introduced a new line of defence that could upturn proceedings against the former United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (Ulimo) commander.

The defence is now claiming that Mr Kamara, who listed his birth date as 1974 when he registered for asylum in the Netherlands in 2001, was actually born in 1978.

If that were true he would have been 15 when the crimes for which he was convicted, took place in Lofa in 1993. In France accused perpetrators must be tried in a juvenile court if they were under 18 when the crimes were committed.

The French prosecution and the first trial against Mr Kamara were based on the belief that he was 19 when the crimes were committed.

Mr Kamaras older brother Esah Kouyateh traveled from Karnplay to appear by videolink from the French embassy in Monrovia. He told the court, with great certainty, that Mr Kamara had been born in 1978.

I remember. I was not a child, Mr Kouyateh told the court. Mr Kouyateh said he was born in 1958, making him 20 years of age when he claims Mr Kamara was born, old enough, he claimed, to remember the birth of a baby brother.

The court president or chief judge, Jean Marc Lavergne, pressed Mr Kamara on why he had given Dutch authorities his birth date as December 1974.

Mr Kamara insisted he did not know when he had been born because he was born in a village in Karnplay with no hospital and no way to register his birth. He had arrived in the Netherlands seeking asylum, like so many fleeing the wars in the region, and had no documents. He was required to give authorities some answer and Mr Kamara told the court he chose December 1974 without giving it any thought.

The defence now has the option to file for the case to be moved to the Supreme Court for adjudication on the issue.

If it is found that Mr Kamara was under 18 at the time of his crimes, the case would be sent to a court that deals with juveniles  people who were children when they committed their crimes.

The late introduction of this question of Mr Kamaras age  during the appeal of his conviction  has undermined the strength of this argument according to legal observers. But should the judge rule that his age is a reasonable question it could upturn the case against Mr Kamara and bring an end to these proceedings for now.

With the question of Mr Kamaras age hanging over the proceedings the French court pressed ahead with the trial. It has gone to great lengths to help the French jury understand the context of the war. Day two was devoted to exploring the history of Liberia, the settlement by free Black Americans, the poor treatment of Indigenous Liberians and the failures of settlers in making a more equal society.

Witnesses also detailed the horrors of the war and the Truth and Reconciliation process after the fighting ended.

The court watched The Curse of the Congos, a documentary by a French videographer that showed the history through settlement, the coup detat by Samuel Doe, the invasion by Charles Taylor and the countrys descent into war.

It explored in detail the destruction of the war, particularly on a generation of children who fought, missed school and learned nothing but the gun. The videotaped torture of Samuel Doe by rebel leader Prince Johns featured in the film.

The court aims to have the jury try their best to understand the conflict with a Liberia 1993 lens rather than their experience as French people in 2024.

Patrick Robert, a French photojournalist who covered the civil war extensively, testified to the court to give background and context to the 1989  1994 conflict during the time that Mr Kamaras crimes took place.

As he did in his testimony in the first trial, Mr Robert captivated the jury three judges and nine jurors with no prior knowledge of Liberias conflict  with his descriptions and photography. Everyone in the court, from jurors to security staff, watched closely as he described the grave atrocities he witnessed including the skeleton of a rape victim  obvious because clothes were ripped from the corpse  a head, separated from its body, sitting on a road; the use of young children as soldiers, and the increasing depravity of the fighters.

Another photograph showed fighters engaged in a ritual practice of removing the heart from a dead victim. Judge Lavergne made a point of understanding that the removal of organs was not simply for the horror value but it had roots in traditional beliefs that eating the organs of an enemy would allow the eater to consume the victims strength.

Mr Robert explained how at check points, people would be murdered for random reasons  signs on their feet that they may have worn shoes was seen as a sign that they were fighters hiding among civilians. Mr Robert told the court the goal of these atrocities was to inspire terror in fighters and civilians.

He said fighters wearing dresses or fighting naked gave the conflict a sense of the bizarre that made the extreme violence even more incomprehensible.

He explained that many of the atrocities were committed simply to survive as the country became increasingly dysfunctional and people were starving. You did not starve if you had a Kalashnikov, Mr Robert told the court.

Mr Robert talked about his own challenges covering the conflict. Sometimes fighters would beg him to photograph them committing atrocities. He said he carried immense guilt as a result of being forced to witness atrocities and being powerless to stop them.

Former Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner John Stewart traveled to the Paris court from Monrovia to explain the TRC process and its outcomes. Mr Stewart, 70, detailed the findings of the TRC and told the court that there had been no justice for the mass atrocities documented by the Commission despite the TRCs recommendation that scores of perpetrators be prosecuted in a war and economic crimes court.

As a result the country continues to be plagued by impunity. He pointed to the continued presence of Prince Johnson, whose torture of President Samuel Doe in 1990 was shown by video earlier in the day, in the Liberian Senate.

This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) says it will begin emergency distribution of grains to residents across the six Area Councils of the territory.

FCT Minister of State, Mariya Mahmoud, made this known during a stakeholders meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.

Ms Mahmoud explained that the meeting was to consider the modalities and to constitute a Strategic Committee for the distribution exercise in line with the directives of President Bola Tinubu.

She explained that Mr Tinubu had instructed that a strategic committee be constituted to ensure a transparent and equitable distribution of the grains to vulnerable Nigerians.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the presidential directive came barely four days after a warehouse belonging to the FCT Administration was invaded and looted by hungry residents.

According to her, the distribution would be done through the National Emergency Management Agency.

She expressed disappointment with the area council chairmen for treating the invitation to the maiden stakeholders, meeting with levity.

Ms Mahmoud warned the chairmen against any act that would sabotage the good intention of President Tinubu towards the residents of the territory.

She said that members of the committee would be made up of the Chairmen of the six Area Councils of the FCT, representative of the FCT Emergency Management Agency, traditional rulers, Department of State Service, and Nigeria Police Force,

Other representatives would be drawn from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, faith-based organisations, National Union of Local Government Employees, Nigeria Red Cross Society as well as women and youth groups,

Also to be represented in the committee are Persons Living with Disabilities, Principals of boarding schools, Civil Society Organisations, and the media.

Chairman of the FCT Traditional Rulers, the Ona of Abaji, Adamu Yunusa, assured the minister of the support of traditional leaders.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has lodged an appeal at the Court of Appeal in Abuja against the 23 November 2023 ruling by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja in which he dismissed the commissions motion to set aside his judgment delivered on 10 May 10, 2023, restraining the NBC from further imposing fines on radio and televisions stations.

In a Notice of Appeal filed on its behalf by Babajide Koku, leading Victor Ogude, Kehinde Wilkey, and Aanuoluwapo Babalola, the NBC is asking the Appeal Court to set aside the ruling and grant the Commissions application to set aside the judgment delivered on 10 May 2023.

The judgment arose from a suit instituted by Abuja-based lawyer, Noah Ajare, on behalf of Media Rights Agenda (MRA), challenging the powers of the NBC to fine broadcasters, following a 1 March 2019 announcement by the NBC that it had imposed a fine of N500,000 each on 45 broadcast stations for alleged contraventions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.

In his 10 May 2023 judgment, Justice Omotosho ruled that fines are sanctions imposed on a person who has been found guilty of a criminal offence and that under the law in Nigeria, only courts of law are empowered to impose sanctions for criminal offences. In setting aside the fines of N500,000 each imposed on the stations, he held that the NBC is neither a Court nor a judicial tribunal to make pronouncements on the guilt of broadcast stations notwithstanding what the NBC Code says, adding that the commissions action violated the constitution.

The NBC said in its 4-ground notice of appeal that it is complaining about the entire decision.

READ ALSO:

Its first ground of appeal is that Justice Omotosho erred in Law when he refused to set aside the judgment, which the NBC alleged, was demonstrated before him to have been deceitfully obtained on the ground that the NBC was indolent and ought to have raised the objection in the substantive suit timeously.

In the particulars of error, the NBC said the law confers on a court the inherent power to review and set aside its earlier judgment on grounds of fraud and deceit if those grounds are subsequently brought to its knowledge and demonstrated to exist and alleged that by failing to set aside its earlier judgment in the face of evidence of fraud, the court permitted MRA to perpetuate and/or enjoy the benefit of the fraud practised on the court.

The second ground of appeal is that the judge erred in law when he held that he would not set aside his earlier judgment because res judicata was not a ground for settling aside a default judgment.

In its particulars of error, the NBC said the judge overlooked the fact that res judicata is an objection that goes to the root of the jurisdiction of a court to entertain a subsequent claim that has been previously adjudicated between the same parties and that res judicata is a jurisdictional ground on which an application to set aside a default judgment can be founded upon.

The NBCs third ground of appeal is that the judge erred in law when he held that In the final analysis, the application by the Respondent/Applicant (NBC) has no substance for being an afterthought and a belated attempt at challenging the jurisdiction of the court. This court is functus officio in this matter and therefore refuses the application of the Respondent/Applicant.

In its particulars of error, the NBC claimed that the judges decision negated his earlier finding in the same ruling that the principle that a court is functus officio and thus precluded from reviewing its earlier ruling is not absolute and allows exceptions, adding that the judge conceded that a ruling could be set aside on grounds of fraud, deceit and abuse of court process. It also alleged that the judge conceded the presence of the features of abuse of court process by MRA and ought to have set aside the ruling.

In its fourth ground of appeal, NBC said the judge erred in law when he found that a party who is the victim of a default judgment fraudulently obtained would not be entitled to the indulgence of a court of law if it applies to set aside the judgment belatedly without having taken the opportunity of appearing to raise those issues in its defence to the substantive claim.

In its particulars of error, the NBC said the law and, in particular, the rules of the Federal High Court, permit a party against whom a default judgment was obtained to subsequently apply to have such a judgment set aside on recognized grounds and that a party ought not to be punished nor shut out from approaching the court to seek a legal remedy conferred on it by law.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


A gender advocate has implored the Nigerian government to provide grants to women entrepreneurs instead of loans, noting that the latter simply exacerbates their difficulties.

This was in reaction to the governments proposed loans for women running small-scale businesses.

At a Wednesday event to mark International Womens Day, the Director General (DG) of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Charles Odili, said women who own Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) will benefit from a N5 billion loan to boost their businesses.

Mr Odili spoke at the event organised by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Women Affairs with support from the development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) to mark the 2024 International Womens Day in Abuja.

The SMEDAN boss explained that there would be no need for collateral to access the loan.

Women can now access the money at single digit and zero collateral, he emphasised. It means that you can get as little as N250,000; so as much as N2.5 million for working capital, workspace, procurement and equipment.

Mr Odili further enjoined the women to join cooperative societies for more benefits.

Join a cooperative, he advised, adding: We have a product called One Local Government, One product, where we are actually giving money to different Cooperatives, and we have the money divided into two, 30 per cent of that money is a grant and 70 per cent is a loan.

The plea for grants

Lamenting on how unpaid [government] loans give women sleepless nights, the Coordinator of the dRPC, Ruth Agbo, said: You give us a loan and the environment is not conducive for us to do the business and pay back the money. The thing will hook us

Ms Agbo noted that rolling out loans at a time when the economy is not doing well will not solve any problem. She said a N50,000 or N100,000 grant for women struggling with their businesses will be more efficient than a loan burden.

According to her, women and their daughters struggling to offset loans are often sexually exploited.

The dRPC official also advocated support for women in rural communities who engage in agriculture.

More promises for women

In her remarks, the Special Assistant to the President on Women Affairs, Fatima Faruk, stated that women are prioritised in President Bola Tinubus Renewed Hope Initiative.

I would like to acknowledge the exceptional focus of the Presidency and its Renewed Hope Agenda on the empowerment and well-being of women and girls, she stated.

Ms Faruk disclosed that the president will be unveiling Integrity Brigade, Mobile Court and the European Union-supported e-portal market for women to ensure protection and inclusion of women, children and persons living with disabilities.

This commitment to gender equality can be seen across all sectors and ministries, she boasted, referring to pro-women interventions by the First Lady of Nigeria, Oluremi Tinubu.

READ ALSO:

Some of the recent activities of Her Excellency towards empowering women include the Women ICT Training Empowerment Program in collaboration with National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the National Scholarship Program, providing financial support to the families of fallen heroes

The Renewed Hope Elderly Support Scheme across Nigeria (RHIESS). The establishment of an Alternative High School for Girls, the distribution of exercise books to schools nationwide, and the Renewed Hope Initiative for Women Agricultural Support Programs (RHI-WASP) across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria, Ms Faruk said.

These, according to her, were in addition to several empowerment projects by the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye.

International Womens Day: dRPCs 2024 message

Delivering the dRPCs message for this years event themed  Invest in Women: Accelerating Progress  the groups coordinator, Ms Agbo, who doubles as the President of the Association of Women in Trade and Agriculture, said there is a need to address the multifaceted challenges that hinder womens full participation in society.

She said dRPC is committed to highlighting and advocating for solutions to womens health issues, economic empowerment, gender-based violence, and inclusiveness in economic and political leadership and decision-making.

Ms Agbo said despite efforts, Nigerian women still face significant challenges in accessing quality healthcare. She acknowledged that Nigerias current administration is working towards universal health coverage but decried the failure of the government to comply with the Abuja Declaration of 2001.

In April 2001, African Union member states met in Abuja and committed to allocating 15 per cent of their government budgets to health to improve the sector. A PREMIUM TIMES review of annual budgets shows that Nigeria has never met the quota.

The dRPC called for strategic investments in healthcare systems that are responsive to the needs of women, ensuring access to quality care and promoting womens health rights.

Economic empowerment is essential for achieving gender equality and advancing womens rights, the coordinator noted, expressing her groups dissatisfaction over some obstacles women faced due to limited access to education, financial services, and equal employment opportunities.

Although the government of Nigeria has increased the cumulative allocation for womens economic empowerment programmes and initiatives by 15.9 per cent in the 2024 national budget, much must be done to ensure appropriate releases to promote equality, she said.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, womens labour force participation rate in Nigeria is 49.4 per cent, while mens is 56 per cent, indicating a gender gap. Moreover, women are overrepresented in low-paying jobs and the informal sector and have limited access to credit, economic decision-making roles, and other financial services.

A case in point is the recently constituted 13-member economic advisory committee by the presidency, where women were underrepresented. The government can do more to promote womens economic participation, gender-responsive budgeting, and the gender disaggregation of economic data to address these issues.

The dRPC advocates for improved continued investment in policies and programmes that support womens entrepreneurship, provide skills training, and promote equal access to jobs and resources. Investing in womens economic empowerment is a moral imperative and key to driving economic growth and reducing poverty.

The group noted that safety concerns have also led many girls to drop out of school. This, the official argued, means a limited opportunity for them in the future.

Ms Agbo referenced 2023 UNICEF data, saying: Over 50 per cent of girls in Nigeria are not attending school at the basic education level. This implies that around 7.6 million girls in Nigeria are currently out of school.

Additionally, UNICEFs 2024 data revealed that only 43 per cent of the Minimum Standards for Safe Schools are being met, on average, in about 6,000 assessed schools. This indicates that for the girls who do manage to attend school, there is no guarantee of safety within those schools.

Furthermore, she explained that evidence from a study conducted by the Malala Fund in collaboration with her group revealed that gender-responsive structures and systems, including budgeting, were critical to advancing girls education outcomes.

The dRPC calls for the strengthening of safe school initiatives, gender-responsive education sector planning policies that protect girls from violence in educational settings, and the promotion of a safe and supportive learning environment for all students, she said.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a grave violation of human rights and a barrier to gender equality. Sadly, it is still widespread in Nigeria, and its prevalence may be higher due to underreporting and cultural acceptance of certain forms of violence and weak enforcement of laws protecting women.

The dRPC condemns all forms of GBV and calls for robust legal frameworks to protect victims, support survivors, and prevent violence. We also urge the government to invest in comprehensive campaigns and reforms to challenge and change the cultural norms perpetuating GBV, she added.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The House of Representatives is set to probe the N200 billion spent on the suspended 2023 Population and Housing Census.

This followed the adoption of a motion by Clement Akanni (PDP-Osun), during plenary in Abuja on Thursday.

Moving the motion, Mr Akanni said the immediate-past administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, planned to conduct another census in 2022 but the programme was later postponed to 2023.

He said the then Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, said a total of N869 billion would be required for the exercise.

Mr Akanni said Mr Agba had disclosed that the figure included post-census activities.

He added that the National Population Commission (NPC) had also said it spent about N200 billion to prepare for the 2023 population and housing census.

READ ALSO:

According to him, the exercise was, however, suspended indefinitely by Mr Buhari, a few days before leaving office.

He added that the need to provide the nation with accurate and reliable demographic data for policy formulation and planning for sustainable development remained imperative.

Adopting the motion, the House mandated the Committee on Population to invite the Director-General of the NPC, to explain how the N200 billion meant for the suspended 2023 population and housing census was spent.

The House urged the committee to report back within four weeks for further legislative action.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Inspector General of Police on Thursday arraigned an estate owner, Stanley Ani, for allegedly possessing firearms without licence.

Mr Ani was arraigned before a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, Nkeonye Maha, on three counts.

The charges hover around a pump action gun and 20 rounds of cartridges said to be in his illegal possession in Ndiaga Amechi Uwani, Enugu State, in 2020.

The defendant denied the three charges, pleading not guilty, as they were read to him one after the other on Thursday.

Subsequently, the defendants lawyer, E.A Igwe, urged the court to grant him bail on liberal terms.

Mr Igwe told the judge that the defendant had been on an administrative bail granted by the police.

The defence lawyer e premised his clients bail request on Sections 35 and 35 of the Nigerian constitution.

The defendant has been on administrative bail granted by the police on self-recognisance. Therefore, we urge the court to grant the defendant bail on liberal terms, Mr Igwe submitted.

He prayed the judge to give his client five days to fulfill whatever bail conditions that the court would impose on him.

Judge rebukes defence lawyer

But, Mr Igwes submissions did not sit well with the judge.

Ms Maha rebuked the defence lawyer for taking away the constitutional powers of the court to determine a defendants bail conditions.

From the records of the court, the defendant, on five occasions, failed to appear in court, the judge reminded Mr Igwe.

The judge threatened to report Mr Igwe to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) over his conduct in the case.

But the prosecuting lawyer, Chika Amuka, did not oppose the bail request.

Ruling

In a bench ruling, Ms Maha granted the defendant bail in the sum of N2 million.

The judge ordered Mr Ani to produce two sureties who must be civil servants not below level nine in the Federal Civil Service.

In addition, the judge ordered the defendant and the two sureties to surrender their passports to the Chief Registrar of the court.t

Thereafter, the judge ordered the defendants remand at Kuje prison in Abuja pending when he meets the bail conditions.

The suit was adjourned until 20 May for commencement of trial.

Charges

In count one of the charges, the police said Mr Ani in 2020 at Ndiaga Amechi Uwani within the jurisdiction of the court possessed two automatic pump action guns without license duly issued by the governor of Enugu State or the commissioner of police in the state contrary to section 5 and punishable under section 27 of the firearms Act 2004.

In count two, the police accused the defendant of being in possession of 20 rounds of cartridges which he used in firing the two pump action guns in breach of the law.

The police further accused the defendant of forgery of gun licence.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


A group of 60 lawmakers, pushing for the parliamentary system, on Wednesday, held a meeting with the leadership of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) to drum up support for the constitution alteration bill.

The lawmakers and the leadership of the forum held a closed-door meeting at the YarAdua Centre in Abuja.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the introduction of three bills seeking to abolish the current presidential system and replace it with a parliamentary system.

The lawmakers have been meeting with individuals and groups to canvass support for the constitutional alteration bill.

The meeting with ACF, a northern organisation, started around 3 p.m. before it dissolved into a closed-door session and journalists were asked to leave.

The session lasted about two hours.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, the leader of the group and Minority Leader of the House, Kingsley Chinda (APC, Rivers), said the meeting aimed to mobilise the support of the forum for the bill.

Mr Chinda described the current presidential system as labourious, adding that it is putting an undue burden on the nation.

We came to meet the ACF, to talk to them about this and to get their buy-in, just like we are also moving around to meet people. We are also drawing from their wealth of knowledge because a lot of questions are being asked, a lot of suggestions are being made, and we are enriching our own knowledge which will help us in lawmaking on the floor of the parliament, Mr Chinda said.

Speaking on the bill, the lawmaker said the return to the parliamentary system will change governance in Nigeria.

A change of style that will make government decisions arrived at easier and the execution carried out easier.

A change of style that will make everybody in public office not to be a passerby, not to be sleeping but to be on his toes, and to be the best to our country Nigeria, he said.

Speaking to journalists, the Chairperson of the ACF Board of Trustees, Bashir Dalhatu, said the forum is willing to support the lawmakers in achieving the goal.

He said, We have just concluded a very engaging and fruitful meeting, and members of the House of Representatives, the group which is advocating for a return of the parliamentary system of government.

They have asked the Arewa Consultative Forum to sit with them, engage them, discuss the issues and define the ways to associate and support.

But we have agreed that at the end, we are going to constitute a committee that will be working with these honourable members, to look at the draft bills they have prepared and to also make suggestions and inputs, we hope that in the end, it will be for the best benefits to Nigeria and our people, and the whole country in general, he said.

Speaking further, Mr Dalhatu, a former minister of power and steel, called for an infusion of home-grown initiatives in the transition to the parliamentary system.

You dont have to call it a parliamentary system. You dont have to call it a presidential system. There should actually be some form of Nigerian system, African, which takes into consideration all of our values, visions, views and aspirations, that is going to work for us.

And whatever name you give it, we are going to be able to look at it and if we are happy and satisfied that it is going to work for Nigerians, we will support it, Mr Dalhatu.

The lawmakers have so far met with Aminu Dantata, an elder statesman from Kano, Bisi Akande, a former interim national chairperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ango Abdullahi, the leader of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and others.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Rights activist and Convener, Concerned Nigerians, Deji Adeyanju, has made a commitment to the fight against corruption, advocating for the downtrodden and taking up human rights cases on a pro bono basis for the less privileged.

He made the commitment through a statement on Thursday, following his call to the Nigerian Bar as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on Wednesday.

In the statement, titled, My commitment to Nigerians as I join the largest Bar in Africa, Mr Adeyanju said, henceforth, he would dedicate his life and resources to ensuring that no oppressed Nigerian goes to bed unable to defend his constitutional rights because he could not afford a lawyer.

My commitment to Nigerians is that I will use the knowledge and instrument of the law to advocate for the downtrodden, the oppressed and all those who are unable to speak out or defend themselves, he said

Mr Adeyanju also pledged to commit his time and knowledge of the law to the fight against corruption.

He noted that in almost all areas of national life, corruption had become pervasive, stressing that there was no better time than now to confront the monster.

READ ALSO: Human rights lawyer urges Nigeria to enact law to safeguard religious freedom

I will, as often as possible urge the relevant security agencies to investigate allegations of corruption, and where they fail to do so, I will seek orders of mandamus compelling them to do their jobs, as well as fiats from the Attorney General of the Federation to prosecute corruption cases, the activist-turned-lawyer said.

Mr Adeyanju stressed the importance of the judiciary in the life of the nation and pledged to advocate an increment in the salaries of all judicial officers across the board.

He noted that it was shameful that while governors, lawmakers and even their aides earn humongous amounts under a four-year term, members of the judiciary, who have dedicated their entire lives to doing justice to all manner of persons, earned peanuts.

A judiciary where a Supreme Court justice earns barely N3,000,000 per month is a judiciary vulnerable to corruption. I will use the instrumentality of the law to advocate that no Supreme Court justice should earn less than N15,000,000 per month, he said.

Mr Adeyanju also promised to continuously seek the interpretation of knotty constitutional issues that affect the nation and the well-being of citizens. My fidelity to the Constitution and the Nigerian people will remain my guiding light. I commit to use my license and knowledge of the law for the benefit of all Nigerians, he said.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The national leadership of the Labour Party (LP) has warned those disseminating falsehoods against its National Chairman, Julius Abure, using every available social media platform to desist from further media trial of its leader but instead approach the court if they are convinced of their allegations.

The party also said the partys national leader, Peter Obi, is not under any pressure to dump the party ahead of the 2027 general elections over the sustained smear campaign against Mr Abure.

In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the LP, Obiora Ifoh, on Wednesday, the party said Mr Obi has restated his willingness to remain in the party knowing that all the attacks at Mr Abure were sponsored and orchestrated by some political opponents in the high places.

According to him, It astonishes us how far our detractors can go in ensuring that the party swims from one ocean of crisis to another in their evil desire to create disharmony between the party and our leaders.

We are aware that Abure is not the target of these ferocious and malicious missiles. We are also aware that huge sums of money have been mapped out to wage a propaganda war against our leader ahead of the 2027 general election.

The feat of the Labour Party in the last general election rattled not a few persons and the fear of the future has driven them to begin so early to prepare ahead. Part of the strategy is to make any political platform unviable for Obi to sail with.

The party is also aware that any political party Peter Obi finds himself in as a vehicle for the 2027 presidential election including the Labour Party, will not be spared by the political hirelings who are already recruited to dismember such a party.

Let me emphasise here that even Peter Obi has severally pledged loyalty to the Labour Party due to its social democratic ideology which suits his political vision. Peter Obi will not anymore fellowship with any bourgeoisie party. He is a liberator and not a ruler as seen in the other parties.

The spokesperson, while also speaking on the corrupt enrichment allegations levelled against the national chairman, said, They are spurious, fairy tale, and a calculated attempt to tar the person of Abure with a dark brush. The audit report by the partys external auditor gave the party a clean bill of health since 2021 when Abure assumed office. As a matter of fact, an earlier forensic audit report carried out in 2017 indicted our suspended treasurer for fraudulently diverting huge sums of money to personal accounts.

Abures only offence was that he refused to allow the continuation of looting while insisting that accountability must be enthroned. The very official who was the greatest beneficiary of those sleazes became uncomfortable and started wedging wars.

READ ALSO: Appeal Court affirms Julius Abure as LP National Chairman

We are aware that Abure is still living in a rented apartment in Abuja and that he only recently refurbished a bungalow left for him by his late father as the first son. There is also no law in Nigeria forbidding a citizen from owning properties. Those making all these spurious allegations may have to prove them in court as the case is already before the court.

It would also interest you to know that no kobo has ever left the Labour Party Bank accounts without a co-signatory; either by the National Secretary or the National Treasurer. So the narrative that Abure alone siphoned or diverted the party fund is clearly misleading and orchestrated to muscle him out of office.

SIGN

Obiora Ifoh

National Publicity Secretary

Labour Party

06/03/2024

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


President Bola Tinubu has extolled the virtues of the late first premier of the western region, Obafemi Awolowo.

This was contained in a statement by Stanley Nkwocha, senior special assistant to the President on Media & Communications, Office of The Vice President, on Wednesday, in Abuja.

Mr Tinubu, speaking during the 2024 Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership held in Lagos, noted that the principles of Mr Awolowo have withstood the tests of time and geography.

Represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, the President described the late Mr Awolowo as a compass and guiding light for several generations of leaders.

Mr Tinubu, who identified the power of time to judge fairly, noted that it was only time that defines the tough decisions, character and sacrifices a leader has to take to make a difference.

He observed that understanding Mr Awolowos teachings requires coming to terms with the obscured reality of leadership.

Overcoming the conspiracies of mischief-makers, sceptics and saboteurs is the very first test every true leader must undergo.

For the great sage from Ikenne, his enduring impact persisted despite revisionist efforts.

Time sifts through biases and lies, and through hidden agendas and propaganda.

Time delivers to us the naked truth that defines the tough decisions and sacrifices every sincere leader must make to create a difference.

But, in all we do, we must always find strength in the belief of those who trust the process, those who give us the benefit of the doubt.

He noted that there was no greater honour than the privilege to lead ones people.

Mr Tinubu said that assuming a position of leadership during times of turbulence is the ultimate test of our mettle as leaders.

It is in these moments of uncertainty that true character and capability come to the forefront.

While the immediate judgment may be rendered by the people we either impress or displease, the long-term verdict is carved by time, the passage of time.

He recalled how Mr Awolowo contended with forces both within and outside his political party.

The President stated that the great sage was a victim of his ambition to make a difference and was dragged by a hostile opposition until he found himself behind bars.

He, however, noted that with time, even the harshest of Awos critics came to realise the futility of taking a man who stood out, even in death, because he refused to compromise his convictions for granted.

He (Awolowo) fought until his very last days in defence of democracy in Nigeria, and these are the examples that make him a hero of the nation.

There is no doubt that time has been Chief Awolowos ally. Time has revealed the enduring impact of his ideas and actions, Tinubu said.

He congratulated the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwunmi Adesina, on clinching the 2023 Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership.

He described Mr Adesina as a maverick change-maker who has not only flown our flag all over the world but has dazzled the world with the novelty of his thoughts, indispensability of his ideas, and dynamism of his actions.

Earlier, Mr Adesina, a former agriculture minister in the erstwhile administration of Goodluck Jonathan, recalled the visionary leadership and legacies of the late sage, Mr Awolowo, which, according to him, spreads across education, healthcare and infrastructure development.

He said the award was humbling, inspiring and motivating, even as he pledged to support initiatives that will transform more lives and livelihoods across Africa.

The Chairperson of the occasion and President of Tanzania, Samia Hassan, commended the foresight of the eminent team of judges in selecting Adesina for the 2024 Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership.

The late Mr Awolowo, a lawyer and politician, was the presidential candidate of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria(UPN) in the 1979 and 1983 presidential elections which he lost to the candidate of the defunct National Party of Nigeria(NPN), Shehu Shagari.

Before the Second Republic, whose life came to an abrupt end following the military coup of 31 December 1983, Mr Awolowo had been the pioneer premier of the western region on the platform of the defunct Action Group in the First Republic where he was able to bring unprecedented development to the region.

READ ALSO: Tinubu congratulates Adesina on award of Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership

He was also at one time the leader of the opposition in the federal parliament between 1959 and 1963 before his treasonable felony trial which eventually culminated in his conviction and sentencing to prison before he was pardoned and released by the military administration of Yakubu Gowon on 2 August 1966.

He died on 9 May 1987 at the age of 78. He was from Ikenne in Ogun State.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


A prosecutor tasked with reviewing an over-budget building project pursued by former Attorney General Wayne Stenehjems office wants the case to be handed back to law enforcement for further investigation.

Wade Enget, the Mountrail County states attorney, said hes received additional information, including the revelation that emails from Stenehjems deleted state account had been recovered. But Enget wrote in a letter Wednesday that the new information is outside the scope of his review, the North Dakota Monitor reported.

Stenehjems administration leased and renovated a building in south Bismarck to use as office space for several divisions under the Attorney Generals Office. The project drew criticism for exceeding projected costs by at least $1.7 million and for its ties to state Rep. Jason Dockter, a Bismarck Republican and close associate of Stenehjem.

Stenehjem died in January 2022. Later that year, his successor, Drew Wrigley, alerted lawmakers to the cost overrun and asked the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation to look into the building project as well as the deletion of Stenehjems email account by state employees.

Enget agreed in January 2024 to review a 131-page report on the investigations findings after two other prosecutors turned down the case.

While the report did not take a stance on whether any criminal activity occurred, it did raise some financial and ethical concerns about the handling of the building project. The investigator noted his work was hampered by a lack of subpoena power to interview key witnesses.

Enget was recently asked to review additional documents relating to the Bismarck property by the Attorney Generals Office and Monte Rogneby, who represents two companies tied to the building project, Stealth Properties LLC and D & S LLC.

But Enget says it wouldnt be appropriate for him to review the records since the scope of his appointment only covers the Montana report.

As such, I have not opened any shared links within emails sent to me, nor have I requested additional supporting documents, he wrote in a Wednesday letter to Wrigley, Rogneby and Burleigh County States Attorney Julie Lawyer, the prosecutor who referred the case to Enget.

The North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation in February successfully recovered some of Stenehjems emails through the former attorney generals personal cellphone. The Attorney Generals Office offered to provide Enget copies of the emails and other information on Stenehjems phone after securing a federal warrant.

The warrant was obtained for an unrelated investigation into former state Sen. Ray Holmberg, R-Grand Forks, who has pleaded not guilty to child sex abuse and child pornography charges.

In a Monday interview with the North Dakota Monitor, Wrigley said he wanted Enget to have access to the records in the event they contain information related to Engets review.

Wrigley said Wednesday he could not comment on Engets letter because a decision on whether to seek additional investigation would fall to Lawyer, not the attorney general.

Lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Rogneby said while his clients understand Engets decision, they feel that theres no basis for criminal investigation into the building project and that referring the matter to law enforcement would not bring the case any closer to resolution.

They just want to reconcile the construction project and move on, Rogneby said. But the way that this is being handled, that has not yet happened and that is really frustrating for them.

Rogneby sent Enget additional information about the building project, which he said provided context that was missing from the Montana report.

The attorney said the investigator did not give his clients a fair chance to clear up any of the financial concerns brought up in the investigation.

Rogneby also claimed his clients had attempted to meet with the Attorney Generals Office to reconcile some payment issues with the property, but that the office would not meet with them.

The Montana investigator and the Attorney Generals Office have previously denied Rognebys claims.

Ordinarily, the Montana report would be under Lawyers jurisdiction, but a civil servant involved in the case, Liz Brocker, now works in her office.

On Friday, Enget announced he would not pursue criminal charges for another component of the case, the deletion of Stenehjems state email account in 2022 by state employees.

In a separate case, Dockter was charged in December with a misdemeanor for allegedly voting to support funding for the Bismarck property, of which he is a partial owner. Dockter pleaded not guilty to the charge. A jury trial is scheduled for May 3.

Meanwhile, North Dakota Democratic-NPL Chair Adam Goldwyn on Thursday called for the immediate release of the recovered Stenehjem emails, saying "we cannot let up on the pressure for thorough investigations into this matter. We need to see these emails immediately; they belong to the people of North Dakota."
Some yet-to-be-identified gunmen have killed a 17-year-old herder and 35 cows at Nafan community in Fan District and Doruwa Babuje in Ropp District of Barkin-Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the perpetrators of the crime were riding on motorcycles when they opened fire and killed the herder.

Another herder was severely injured during the incident.

Governor Caleb Mutfwang of the state, who condemned the incident, called on relevant security agencies to fish out the perpetrators.

The governor said this in a statement by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Gyang Bere, issued on Thursday in Jos.

Mr Mutfwang maintained that his administration would not condone any act of lawlessness and killing of innocent and law-abiding citizens.

We condemn in totality these acts of lawlessness that are undermining the governments effort in entrenching harmonious living among all and sundry in the state.

My administration will no longer tolerate brutal killings of innocent citizens either in their farms or in any parts of the state while pursuing their legitimate means of livelihood.

I have directed the security agencies to hunt and track down the perpetrators of these heinous crimes and ensure justice for the victims, Mr Gyang quoted Mr Mutfwang.

READ ALSO: Were not involved in Plateau killings Nigerian military

Mr Gyang added that the governor called on traditional, community and religious leaders, as well as youths and women groups in the affected communities, to collaborate with other stakeholders to restore normalcy in the communities.

The governor, who commiserated with the affected families, advised residents of the state to expose all criminal elements within their communities to face the full wrath of the law.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The police said they have recovered some pistols fabricated from an undisclosed factory in Jos, the Plateau State capital.

Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed this on his X account on Thursday.

Mr Adejobi, who displayed the nine pistols on his account, described those who fabricated them as talented people just as he said the police would work on them.

All these pistols were locally fabricated in the factory in Jos. The guys are talented. We need to work on them, for our good, he said.

Nigerians react

Some Nigerians X users have encouraged the police to take action on the matter as soon as possible.

An X user, @001oxygen said, Glad you guys are just waking up. And make e no just be Pr. Follow up talks with actions.

@Stanley Ezinn wrote, If the government doesnt put the fabricators to good use, criminals will. A stitch in time saves nine.

One Joseph Adebayo said, We knew about the industry back then but you chose to criminalise them. A sector thats supposed to be put under an agency, empowered and supervised for a greater good. They will find their market if govt doesnt patronise this industry.

Endless violence in Plateau

Over the years, Plateau State has witnessed crises leading to the killings of residents and the destruction of properties by non-state actors using dangerous weapons.

Reports say at least, 4,486 have been killed in the endless violence between different ethnic groups in Plateau State since 1994.

In January this year, violence broke out in Mangu Local Government Area (LGA) of the state claiming lives and properties while several were left injured.

The violence came after the Christmas Eve coordinated attacks on some villages in Barkin Ladi and Bokkos LGAs where gun-wielding militias killed more than 100 locals.

Following the killings, tensions between the Mwaghavul and Fulani ethnic groups in Mangu escalated, resulting in targeted violence that claimed lives and caused significant property damage.

This latest violence adds to the ongoing conflict that erupted last April, which was reportedly caused by the dispute between Mwaghavul farmers and Fulani herders.

The conflict lasted for months, resulting in the loss of over 300 lives and extensive damage to schools, farmlands, livestock, houses, and other properties in the Mangu area.

Both sides have levelled accusations against each other. There is the allegation of the involvement of external mercenaries in land grabbing, forceful eviction, and ethnic cleansing.

These allegations further exacerbate tensions and deepen mistrust between the communities, prolonging the cycle of violence and instability in the region.

The recurrence of such conflicts underscores the urgent need for comprehensive and sustainable solutions that address the root causes of the tensions, and ensure the protection of lives and property for all.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Troops of the Nigerian Army, on Wednesday, successfully defended Damba Dikko village in Illela Local Government Area of Sokoto State from a terrorist attack.

The Director Army Public Relations, Onyema Nwachukwu, major-general, said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

Mr Nwachukwu said the community was said to have been attacked by the insurgents seeking to extort levies from the villagers.

However, he said the troops responded to a distress call and swiftly stormed the village and engaged the insurgents in a gun duel.

He said the troops neutralised two of the insurgents and rescued two villagers held hostage by the attackers.

Mr Nwachukwubl said the rescued villagers who suffered minor injuries had been treated by the Nigerian army paramedics.

He said the troops, the same day, rescued four Kidnap victims abducted by a notorious gang of Kidnappers in Edo State.

According to him, the Kidnappers had forcefully taken their captives, including a lady and three men, into Ososo forest in Akoko Edo Local Government Area of the state.

They were tracked and intercepted by the gallant troops, who engaged the criminals in firefight and extricated the abductees.

The troops apprehended one of the kidnappers, who is currently undergoing preliminary investigation and will be subsequently handed over to the appropriate prosecuting agency.

One of the rescued victims who suffered from shock and fatigue has been evacuated to a medical facility, where he is receiving treatment, while others have been handed over to their families, he said.

Mr Nwachukwu appreciated members of the public for their cooperation with troops and other security agencies in the fight against security challenges in the country.

He encouraged them to continue to be vigilant and promptly report any suspected attempt to breach the security to relevant agencies.

Together, we can restore peace and stability in our various communities, states and the nation, he said.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, and others, on Thursday, urged the Federal High Court, Abuja, to dismiss a suit filed by a lawyer, Azubuike Oko, seeking to stop the appointment of 12 judges into the FCT High Court.

Akinlolu Kehinde, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who appeared for Mr Ariwoola, the Chief Judge of the FCT, Hussein Baba-Yusuf, and the National Judicial Council (NJC), told the trial judge, Inyang Ekwo, while adopting their processes and presenting their argument against the suit.

In a preliminary objection dated and filed 1 March by the senior lawyer, Mr Kehinde urged the court to strike out or dismiss the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/205/3024 for want of jurisdiction.

The counsel, who gave four-ground arguments, said under Section 6(6)(c) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution is non-justiciable.

He argued that Mr Oko, the plaintiff, lacked the locus standi to institute the action.

Under Section 245C(1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the National Industrial Court of Nigeria has exclusive jurisdiction to determine matters relating to or connected with the employment of judicial officers.

Under Section 245C(1)(d) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the National Industrial Court of Nigeria has exclusive jurisdiction to determine matters relating to or connected with and any dispute over the interpretation and application of Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution as it relates to the employment of judicial officers, Mr Kehinde argued.

In the affidavit in support of the preliminary objection deposed to by Kemi Esene, a litigation secretary in the law firm of Kehinde and Partners, she told Justice Ekwo that on Sept. 30, 2020, the honourable court dismissed a similar suit.

She said the sult, marked: FC/ABJCS/602/2020 filed by JRP Foundation Ltd against the former President Muhammadu Buhari and 24 others, was dismissed on June 10, 2020.

Esene said the sult had challenged the recommendation of 21 persons by the NJC to Buhari for appointment as judges of the High Court of the FCT.

She said the plaintiff had alleged that the Judicial Service Committee of the FCT acted In bad faith and grossly abused the power vested in it when it submitted the list of nominees for appointment as judges of the FCT High Court to NJC.

The lawyer averred that the court, in its judgment, upheld the preliminary objection of the defendants and said that since the plaintiff was not a party to the procedure for the appointment of the judicial officers, the foundation had no locus to institute the action.

Besides, she said the court held that the Federal High Court had no jurisdiction over the matter because the subject matter had to do with employment of the persons recommended by NJC to be appointed as judges by the former president.

When the case was called on Thursday, plaintiffs lawyer, Nkemakolam Okoro, told the court that the matter was adjourned for hearing and that they were ready to proceed.

Okoro said he filed an originating summons dated and filed Feb. 16.

He said upon receipt of the counter affidavit jointly filed by FCT CJ, NJC and CJN, he filed a response on March 4.

He said he equally filed a counter affidavit on March 4 to oppose their preliminary objection.

Okoro urged the court to grant their reliefs.

Akinola Fasanmi, who appeared for Nigerias president and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), adopted all the processes filed by Mr Kehinde.

Adjournment

Mr Ekwo adjourned the suit until 15 March for judgment.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the judge had, on 23 February, rejected Mr Okos ex-parte motion seeking to stop Mr Baba-Yusuf, the FCT Chief Judge, from appointing 12 judges into the bench of the court.

Mr Ekwo, in a ruling on the ex-parte motion moved by Emmanuel Emerenini, rather directed the plaintiff to put the defendants on notice of the motion ex-parte within days of the order.

Mr Ekwo also ordered Mr Oko, a legal practitioner, to serve the defendants with all processes filed in the suit within two days of the order for the defendants to show cause why the prayers on the motion ought not to be granted in the next adjourned date.

He, however, made an order for accelerated hearing.

Suit

Mr Oko, in the motion, had sued Mr Baba-Yusuf, the NJC and the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) as 1st to 3rd defendants.

Also joined in the suit are the CJN, the President of Nigeria and the AGF as 4th to 6th defendants respectively.

The plaintiff sought an order directing the parties in the suit to maintain status quo ante bellum pending the hearing and determination of his motion on notice.

Mr Oko said he hails from Ebonyi State, which had been routinely excluded and marginalised with respect to the appointment of judges of the High Court of FCT by Baba-Yusuf, NJC and FJSC.

The lawyer averred that, as a matter of fact, it was the FCT Chief Judge (Baba-Yusuf) that compiles the names of qualified lawyers from selected states of the federation and transmitted the list to the FJSC for recommendation to NJC for appointment by the President of Nigeria, as judges of the FCT High Court.

He averred that the states mentioned for nomination of lawyers for appointment as judges into the 12 positions were Bauchi, Bayelsa, Enugu, Imo, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, and Zamfara.

He, however, alleged that currently, Oyo and Kogi already had two serving judges in the FCT High Court, and the two states were given additional slots, to now have three judges, despite the fact that Ebonyi State has no single serving judge in the High Court of the FCT.

He prayed the court to grant his prayers in the interest of justice.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Many residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) say they are unable to work comfortably in their offices due to the unbearable heat.

According to them, the situation is worsened by the almost total blackout being presently experienced in the territory.

The respondents who are civil servants spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday.

Experts have said that the current heatwave being experienced in Nigeria is symptomatic of broader climate change and global warming trends.

Government offices rely on generator, business centres

Most of the civil servants, who worked at the Federal Secretariat, said that they come to the office daily only to discover that for so many hours there was no power supply.

They also said that most offices rely more on generators to do their jobs, and this was affecting their productivity.

Bose Olowu, a civil servant and a staff member of the Ministry of Health, said that there had been an unstable power supply in her office.

Ms Olowu said that power was not stable, adding that most offices relied on generators to work.

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) should try and provide electricity as most workers dont like coming to office due to the intense heat they experience.

Government jobs are now being done in business centres and such information is not supposed to be in the public domain; and because there is no power supply, information is being leaked, she said.

Kingsley Odigie described the situation as very frustrating.

According to him, the issue is something to be worried about because everything that is being done revolves around electricity.

He said that when there is no electricity, a lot of things go wrong.

Now I am in the office to work, I cannot do anything because there is no electricity.

This is a wakeup call to the government and other stakeholders in the power sector to do everything possible to ensure steady electricity supply,  he said.

Discouraging situation

Chukuma Okonkwo told NAN that the situation is discouraging.

Mr Okonkwo said that even when at work, he could not concentrate because of the heat as most generators in the building do not have capacity to power the air conditioners.

I leave my house because there is no electricity; I also come to work; no electricity, so I am appealing to those concerned to do something about the situation,  he said.

Elevators not working

Patricia Oruwense, who works in the Head of Service Building at the Federal Secretariat, said that the heat was worse on the 8th floor.

Mrs Oruwense said that it was not easy climbing the staircase to the 8th floor, adding that when power was off, the elevators did not work.

I am tired of the situation and appealing to those concerned to do something about the power situation,  she said.

Minister seeks solution

It would be recalled that the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu had summoned the chief executive officers of two Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) to a meeting over worsening supply situations in their regions.

Those invited to the meeting are chief executive officers of AEDC) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBDC).

Also summoned to the meeting was Sule Abdulazeez, Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

According to him, the management of other non-performing distribution companies will also be queried over non-performance as reports continue to filter in on the situation in their regions.

The ministry expects power supply to have improved across the country, as opposed to current experience in some regions.

Findings revealed that some distribution companies are deliberately not taking up power supply from TCN, while some power lines have also been damaged by vandals in Abuja, Benin, Port Harcourt and Ibadan regions, he said.

AEDC apology

NAN also reports that AEDC had also apologised to residents over the power outage being experienced in its franchise areas.

We understand the inconvenience this may cause and sincerely apologise for this disruption.

We would like to inform you that we are aware of the unstable power supply experienced in recent times, essentially caused by insufficient power allocation to us.

This has constrained us to implement load curtailment directives across our franchise to manage the situation for grid stability,  it said.

The company said that the insufficient power allocation would involve occasional temporary interruption of power supply to certain areas for a limited period.

The company said that it was working diligently to minimise the impact of these outages.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Bamaiyi Meriga, a forensic expert on Thursday told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, that documents used to facilitate the withdrawal of $6.23 million from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last year were forged.

The money was withdrawn purportedly to pay foreign election observers during the 2023 general elections.

Mr Mairiga testified at Thursdays proceedings in the ongoing trial of former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, on whose watch the suspicious, humongous withdrawal was made.

The former CBN governor is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on charges of fraud and corruption that he allegedly perpetrated while in office.

He denied the charges when he was rearraigned on amended 20 counts in January.

At the resumed hearing of the case on Thursday, Mr Meriga who testified as the fifth prosecution witness for the EFCC, said the signatures of then-President Muhammadu Buhari and then Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, were forged on the documents used to facilitate the $6.23 million withdrawal from the CBN on 8 February 2023.

While being led in evidence by the prosecuting lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Meriga said after a forensic analysis of the disputed documents, he found out that there was clear evidence of forgery.

The conclusion from the analysis revealed that the disputed documents showed evidence of forgery and copying act, as the pen movement, form and formation of the signature and the skill of execution were found to be different from that of the specimen signatures marked exhibits a to A2 and B to B2.

The formation of the disputed signature marked: X and B to B1 was found to be different in respect of pen movement impulses, skill of execution, loop formation, presence of tremors; there were individual characteristics.

This is a confirmation that the author of the specimen signature marked B to B1 did not write the signature of Muhammadu Buhari on a disputed document marked X.

Also, the form and formation of the disputed signature marked X1 and the specimen signatures marked A to A2 were also found to be different in respect of pen movement impulses, terminal strokes, loop formation, presence of tremors and individual characteristics.

This is also a confirmation that the author of the specimen signatures, marked A to A2 did not write the signature of Boss Mustapha on the disputed document marked X1, Mr Mairiga explained.

Mr Mairiga said he later issued a report of his findings about what transpired.

Cross-examination

Under cross-examination by defence lawyer, Matthew Burkaa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the witness said he was not a staff member of the EFCC but on secondment from the Nigerian Immigration Service.

The forensic expert said he did not work on Mr Emefieles signature.

He added that the seal of execution was different from the original copy.

Mr Oyedepo presented the two documents on Presidential Directive on Foreign Observer Election and the court admitted them in evidence after a no-objection from the defence lawyer.

After the cross-examination, the judge adjourned the trial until 11 March.

Background

Mr Emefiele is charged with amended 20 counts of conferring undue advantage, and breach of trust, among other allegations.

Some of the allegations feature in the report of special investigators engaged by President Bola Tinubu to probe the activities of CBN during Mr Emefieles tenure as the governor of the bank.

The special investigator, Jim Obazee, referenced the $6.23 million payment in his report which received wide media attention last December.

He wrote of a fraudulent cash withdrawal of $6.23 million  about N2.9 billion at the then-official exchange rate of N461 to a dollar.

READ ALSO:

Mr Obaeze said the $6.23 million was removed from the vault of the CBN between 7 and 8 February 2023, about two weeks before the presidential and National Assembly polls, based on a purported approval of the president for payments to foreign election observers.

The removal of the money from the vault of the Foreign Payment Office, Abuja Branch of the CBN, which was captured on CCTV footage, followed a trail of letters which began with one dated 23 January 2023.

Earlier testifying as a prosecution witness in February, a former Branch Controller of CBN, Onyeka Ogbu, had said the cash withdrawal purportedly meant for an election observation mission for the 2023 general elections had Messrs Buhari and Mustaphas authorisation.

The testimony piqued curiosity when he said the money was only paid to someone identified as an official of the SGF office on 8 April 2023, after the general elections had ended.

Mr Mustapaha, the then SGF, also appeared in the case as a prosecution witness in February, denying that he or Mr Buhari, the president at the time, issued any letter of authorisation for the payment.

Charges

In some of the counts, EFCC alleged that Mr Emefiele, in January 2023, forged a document titled, Re: Presidential Directive on Foreign Election Observer Missions, dated January 2023 with reference number, SGF.43/L.01/201.

The EFCC alleged that Mr Emefiele made the claim knowing the same to be false.

In the case marked CR/577/2023, the prosecution alleged Mr Emefiele, on 8 February 2023, connived with one Odoh Ocheme, said to be on the run, to obtain $6.2 million from the CBN, claiming that it was requested by the office of the Secretary to the Governor of the Federation (SGF) vide a letter dated Jan. 26 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201.

The anti-graft agency also alleged that the contract for the renovation of the CBN Governors lodge, located at No. 2 Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, was awarded to a company named Messrs. Architekon Nigeria Ltd, wherein the duo are directors and majority shareholders.

The offences, according to the EFCC, contravene the provisions of sections 17 and 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, as well as sections 315, 363 and 364 of the Penal Code.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in the South-south region has proposed N850,000 as the new minimum wage for workers in the country.

The chairperson of NLC in Akwa Ibom, Sunny James, disclosed the position of labour in the region at a public hearing on the new wage structure held on Tuesday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

The event was streamed live on Facebook.

Mr James expressed displeasure that some states in the region are yet to implement the current N30,000 minimum wage which was last reviewed in 2019.

He did not, however, mention the affected states.

Mr James wondered how state governments in the region, whom he said budgeted higher allocation for running the government more than other sectors of the economy could not pay a minimum wage.

As a penalty for contravention, Mr James called for the impeachment and imprisonment of governors who are insensitive to the payment of minimum wage.

READ ALSO:

The Nigerian worker is calling for a decent work environment and living wage that is commensurate to their labour, Mr James said.

He lamented that there is anger and hunger in the land since President Bola Tinubu declared an end to fuel subsidy in his inaugural address in May last year.

He called on Mr Tinubu to create an environment for business to grow by providing power supply, repair refineries and also build new modular refineries.

Rowdy session

Ibom Hall, venue of the public hearing was peaceful until a presentation by the chairperson of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in state, Kingsley Bassey.

Mr Bassey was booed for proposing a minimum wage of N447,000 as against N850,000 earlier proposed by the NLC.

The hall became rowdy as labour members refused the plea of the master of the ceremony to allow Mr Bassey complete his presentation.

It took the intervention of the secretary of the Federal Government Minimum Wage Tripartite Committee, Ekpo Nta, before Mr Bassey was allowed to continue his presentation.

Mr Nta, a former chairperson of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission appealed that every participant should be given an opportunity to speak and that harmonisation will be done in the nations capital, Abuja.

President Tinubu had in January inaugurated a 37-man national minimum wage committee with a mandate to recommend a new minimum wage for the country.

The committee is holding public hearing simultaneously in all the six geo-political zones in the country today to seek inputs from the public on a new minimum wage structure.

Based on extant laws, the minimum wage in the country is subject to review every five years.

The current N30,000 minimum wage became effective in 2019. The new minimum wage implementation is expected begin in April this year according to labour leaders.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The House of Representatives has ordered an investigation into cases of unpaid taxes to the Nigerian government between 2015 and 2021, totalling over N5.217 trillion.

The House mandated its Committees on Finance and Public Account to investigate tax defaulters and recover the money to the government account.

This resolution was a sequel to a motion moved by Esosa Iyawe (APC, Edo) during Thursdays plenary.

In the motion, Mr Iyawe said the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has not been able to effectively collect taxes from businesses and government establishments.

He said over 5,000 companies and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government are owing taxes.

An audit report from 2015 to 2019 revealed government agencies owing hundreds of billions in FIRS taxes comprising underpayments and under-recoveries and over 5,000 Companies and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government owing N5.2 trillion in withholding taxes.

READ ALSO:

In 2021, the FIRS revealed that the sum of N17 billion was owed in tax by some companies, whose addresses were untraced till date, but no action was taken to locate or recover the funds, he said.

Mr Iyawe said the under-remittance and non-remittance of tax are depriving the federal government of much-needed funds to drive its policies, and warned that if action is not taken, the effect could be crippling on the countrys already dwindling economy.

The motion was not debated and when it was finally put to voice vote by Deputy Speaker Ben Kalu, members voted overwhelmingly in support of its adoption.

Consequently, the House asked the committees to ensure that all debts in taxes owed to the federal government are duly recovered and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday decried the difficulty it encountered while trying to serve a court filing on the defence team of former Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano, who is being prosecuted on N4 billion fraud charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

A statement by the commissions spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said the prosecuting counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), reported the issue to the court at Thursdays hearing.

It said Mr Tahir told the court how his team made futile efforts to serve the former governors defence team with a counter-affidavit.

Mr Tahir said the commissions officers, on Wednesday, fruitlessly knocked on the gate of the chambers of the lead defence counsel, Onyechi Ikpeazu, a SAN, to effect service of the filing as earlier ordered on Monday by the court.

My Lord, you will recall that on Monday, March 4, 2024, when this matter was mentioned for hearing, the complainant was served with a motion on notice, which was intended to challenge this suit before this honourable court, but the honourable court directed that we should file our response latest yesterday Wednesday, 6 March. And we complied. My people went to the office of the lead senior counsel in this matter to serve the process, but their gate was closed, and they did not attend to us.

I personally called him, lead counsel, and he responded that he was at the tribunal and I told him that my people were in his office to serve him. I also called another counsel in that chamber to inform him that there were people in his office to serve him and he said he was going to get back to me but he didnt get back, eventually.

Since there was nobody to open the gate for us to serve them, it was this morning that we served them and we are ready for the hearing.

A senior advocate leading the defence team on Thursday, Patrick Ikweto, did not counter the allegation.

He confirmed that the prosecution only served his team its counter-affidavit Thursday morning and prayed to the court for an adjournment to enable his team to respond adequately.

The counter-affidavit filed by EFCC was in response to an application filed by Mr Obiano to challenge the courts jurisdiction to entertain the charges against him.

His lawyers argued, among others, that the Abuja division of the court was not the proper venue for the trial for offences that had to do with the use of Anambra State funds.

Mr Ikpeazu, the former governors lead counsel, had on 4 March, filed the motion.

This made the prosecution ask for time to file its response to it.

The trial judge, Inyang Ekwo, had slated the motion for Thursday.

Mr Ekwo, on Thursday, expressed displeasure at the slow progress of the case and fixed 13 March for the final hearing of Mr Obianos motion on jurisdiction.

Charges

Mr Obiano was arraigned on 24 January on nine counts of money laundering to the tune of N4 billion.

The former governor denied all the nine charges.

Mr Obiano, who was governor between March 2014 and March 2022, is said to have allegedly diverted the money from the states account dedicated to security funds in his last five years in office.

He allegedly directed the diversion of the funds from the states account between April 2017 and March 2022 and spent the money for purposes unconnected to the security affairs of the state.

The funds, according to the EFCC, were diverted through companies that had no business relationship with the Anambra government, converted to dollars and handed over to the former governor in dollars.

The case, filed by the EFCC, detailed the nine companies allegedly used to divert the funds from the state governments security vote account.

Each of the nine counts disclosed the amount a company received and the period it received it from the state governments account.

In count one of the charges, the EFCC alleged that between 16 February and 9 March 2018, an aggregate sum of N223,371,000 was paid from the security vote account into the account of Connought International Services Limited.

The anti-graft agency alleged in count two that between 30 October and 13 November 2018, a total sum of N95 million was paid from the security vote account into the bank account of S.Y. Panda Enterprises.

In Count Three, the EFCC alleged that between 11 April 2017 and 21 June 2019, a total of N416 million was diverted from the security vote account into the account of Zirga Zirga Trading Company Limited.

The former governor, however, pleaded not guilty to all counts when the charge was read to him.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday called on Nigerias federal lawmakers to urgently pass the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill.

The Executive Secretary of the commission, Tony Ojukwu, made the call on the eve of the 2024 International Womens Day (IWD), which is commemorated annually on 8 March.

This years edition of the international event is themed, Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress.

Mr Ojukwu said in a statement shared by the NHRC with PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday, that the theme is apt as it further buttresses the fact that committing resources to train and empower women does not only equip them to support their families but also has the potential to position them to contribute meaningfully to national and global development.

The Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill first introduced in the Nigerian Senate in 2021 seeks to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and ensure the equality of opportunities for every person.

But the bill was frustrated by some senators who objected that it was against the Islamic perspective and some socio-cultural norms.

Reiterating the need to pass the bill, on Thursday, Mr Ojukwu regretted that in spite of increased awareness and sensitisation on the issue of gender equality and gender inclusiveness, the society still discriminates against women, blaming culture as the root cause of this anomaly, forgetting that such excuses are no longer tenable nowadays.

He decried the near absence of women in key positions like the president, state governors, senators, captains of industries and heads of multinational oil and gas cooperations, saying that discrimination in these areas have continued over the years despite the facts that there are several eminently qualified women to take such positions.

Women undeniably remain the beacon of hope, the torchbearers of the future and with the increasing advocacy for women support and affirmative action, they will surely change the narratives, he said.

He therefore took the opportunity of the observance of this years IWD to call on the federal lawmakers to consider passing the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill.

He expressed hope that the bill, when passed into law, will reduce gender-based violations and legally equip women to challenge the inequalities besetting them, which has further been exacerbated by the rising wave of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in various towns and communities in the country.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Ice is forming again on the the Missouri River south of Bismarck due to the recent cooler weather, but a low river level and a warmup in the forecast means a repeat of last week's flood concerns isn't likely.

"Ice has filled the recently cleared portion of the Missouri River from roughly Apple Creek Wildlife Management Area to about three-fourths of a mile upstream of where 12th Street Southeast turns into Oahe Bend. This would roughly be equal to a little less than 5 miles of new ice in the river," National Weather Service Hydrologist Allen Schlag said in a hydrologic outlook.

The upstream edge of the immobile ice was about 3  miles downstream of Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park and Fox Island. Forecasters said conditions into Friday morning would continue to encourage ice formation, pushing the edge of the continuous ice farther upstream.

"By late Saturday, warmer weather will once again reverse this process and start removing ice," Schlag said.

The warmup will push daytime highs from the 20s on Thursday into the 40s by Saturday and the 50s on Sunday in southern North Dakota, with sunny skies throughout the weekend, according to the weather service forecast.

Last week's crest on the Missouri at Bismarck was the highest in 13 years -- 15.43 feet, just below moderate flood stage. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reduced releases from Garrison Dam to help mitigate flood concerns, and two North Dakota National Guard helicopter crews launched a successful four-hour operation to drop water on the ice jam and break it up.

This week, "Pre-ice river levels were about 3.5 feet below that observed prior to last week's ice jam due to already planned lower releases out of Garrison Dam," Schlag said. "This suggests that a return to water levels experienced in late February is not likely."

The river late Thursday afternoon was at 8.25 feet at Bismarck, nearly 2  feet higher than Monday but still well below minor flood stage of 14.5 feet. Even at moderate flood stage of 16 feet few Bismarck-area homes are imperiled due to improvements in flood protection since the record 2011 Missouri River flood. Major flood stage at Bismarck is 18 feet.

Welcome moisture

Bismarck got an inch of snow on Tuesday. A winter system that passed through northern North Dakota on Wednesday dropped accumulating snowfall in some parts of that region.

Minot reported 1.5 inches, Watford City 2 inches, Kenmare 6 inches and Williston 7.5 inches, according to weather service reports.

The region needs the moisture. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map, released Thursday, shows all of northern North Dakota rated as abnormally dry or in moderate or severe drought. The map did not take into account the Wednesday precipitation -- that will be factored into next week's report.

Abnormally dry conditions also have expanded in southwestern North Dakota, and a narrow strip near the South Dakota border is now in moderate drought.

The U.S. Drought Monitor is a partnership of the National Drought Mitigation Center, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The most recent monthly crop report from USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, released last week, shows both topsoil and subsoil moisture supplies in North Dakota as being 50% short or very short.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday reported that mountain snowpack in the upper Missouri River Basin is about 25% below average.

"The plains snowpack, which typically melts from mid-February into April, is almost nonexistent in the basin," the Corps said. "Trace to 1 inch of snow water equivalent is modeled in eastern North Dakota."
DealMakersAFRICA is proud to host, for the first time in Lagos, Nigeria, the Mergers & Acquisition Awards for 2023 to celebrate the achievements of the advisory firms in West and East Africa, says Marylou Greig, the boss of CE Gleason Publications (Pty) Ltd and Editor-in-Chief of DealMakersAFRICA

According to Marylou, DealMakersAFRICA was first launched in 2008 and records mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance activities such as equity raising, listings, debt financing, and private equity transactions across Africa (excluding South Africa). Transactions are recorded quarterly and, where possible, list as many, if not all, the firms involved advising parties on those transactions. Advisory firms are ranked by deal value and flow, and transactions recorded are country-specific.

The DealMakersAFRICA Annual Awards was launched as a standalone event in Nairobi in March 2019, sponsored by Ansarada and Brunswick. In addition to recognizing both regions top Financial and Legal Advisers, the top Deal of the Year and Private Equity Deal of the Year are awarded for West and East Africa. A new award, sponsored by PSG Capital, recognises the Top DealMaker of the Year (West Africa) for the year under review, whose deal activity and characteristics are noteworthy and who has significantly contributed to the region or industry.

DealMakersAFRICA primarily aims to build close relationships with advisory firms, initially in East and West Africa but expanding to North and Southern Africa in due course. The organisers feel that the purpose of establishing such ties will ensure that DealMakersAFRICA develops into a relevant publication with a better understanding of the M&A space in these areas and also assist in shaping bespoke league tables and awards that will fully reflect the type of work undertaken by the local advisory firms.

The Managing Director of TSM Network, UK and Nigeria, Mr Dominic Ajayi, who is a strategic partner for the DealMakers Africa Awards, noted that the top special of honour guests to expect at the event are not limited to the following: Gleason Publications (Pty) Ltd team, Mary Louise Greig and Vanessa Ann Aitken. This years top sponsors include PSG Capitals Hendrik Benningh of De Kock, Chief Executive Officer; Mish-al Magiet, Head of M&A; Khayalethu Hlophe, Deputy CEO; Head of Private Markets, AnsaradasArie Maree is the strategic growth director at Ansarada; DiketsoPhiri, Director  Sub Saharan Africa; Brunswick Group, Koketso Iris Pilane, and Lead Director to mention but just a few. Other top Bank CEOs, venture capitalists and dignitaries within the M&A Space will also be present.

If you are interested in attending this amazing global dealroom Awards, kindly contact DealMakers AFRICA team Marylou Greig: T: +27828985702, marylou@gleason.co.za or Vanessa Aitken T: +27837752995 E: reception@gleason.co.za

To book Tickets, visit https://tsmnetworkuk.com/event-listsFor brand VIP table reservation: https://tsmnetworkuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/TSM-DMA-SPONSORSHIP.pdf

Or Contact TSM Network at events@tsmnetworkuk.com or Call +234 813 070 8359

Welcome to DealMakers Africa Awards.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


An unspecified number of pupils and teachers are believed to have been abducted by terrorists during an attack on Thursday on a public primary school in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Residents said the gunmen invaded the school immediately after morning assembly.

At least 100 of the pupils and some of the schools teachers were believed to have been abducted, a resident said, asking not to be named for security reasons.

BBC Hausa Service reported at least two residents of the area confirming the mass abduction in a local primary school in Kuriga community.

The Kaduna State Government is yet to speak on the incident. The phone number of the state Commissioner, Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, did not connect Thursday afternoon when PREMIUM TIMES tried to have him comment on the development.

READ ALSO:

Also, the police spokesperson in the state, Mansir Hassan, could not be reached on the phone.

Three weeks ago, a wanted kidnapper and ruthless killer, Isyaku Boderi, was killed by security forces in the same Chikun local government. It was not immediately clear whether Thursdays incident was connected to his killing.

Mr Boderi allegedly led the 11 March, 2021 abduction of 39 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, and the 24 August 2021 deadly attack on a campus of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), both in Afaka, Igabi LGA of Kaduna State.

Mr Boderi was killed with some of his lieutenants in the Bada/Riyawa general area of Chikun and Igabi local government areas.

Details later

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


A woman has committed suicide after dropping three of her children at a police facility in Enugu State, south-east Nigeria.

The incident, PREMIUM TIMES gathered, happened on Saturday.

How it happened

The yet-to-be-identified woman was said to have walked into Ogui Police Divisional Headquarters in the Enugu North Local Government Area of the state and dropped the children without speaking to anyone.

She subsequently stripped herself, came out of the police facility and ran into a moving vehicle which killed her instantly.

The three children were said to be aged six, four, and two.

Some police operatives and shop owners around the area attributed the womans action to frustration over the increasing economic hardship and rising cost of living in Nigeria.

There was a speculation that the womans husband ran away from their home a few months ago over the increasing hardship. PREMIUM TIMES could not, however, independently verify the speculation.

One of the witnesses said when the eldest of the children was asked about their father, she simply said, Our father got lost.

Daniel Ndukwe, police spokesperson in Enugu State, did not respond to calls and a WhatsApp message seeking his comments as of the time of filing this report.

But an aide to the Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State who asked not to be named, confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday afternoon.

He said the woman must have been pushed by the worsening economic hardship.

Enugu governors wife to the rescue

Meanwhile, Nkechinyere Mbah, wife of the Enugu State governor, Peter Mbah, visited the police facility on learning of the incident.

Mrs Mbah, while at the facility, announced the award of scholarship to the children and indicated interest to care for them.

The first lady was seen attending to the three children at the police facility in a video clip and photographs forwarded to PREMIUM TIMES by her media team on Thursday.

She said the scholarship would be undertaken through her foundation, Custos Care Foundation.

The foundation will give them free scholarships up to university (level), she said in the clip.

The first lady urged people who are depressed to seek help and go for counselling to avoid taking severe decisions.

She asked the Commissioner for Ministry of Children, Gender and Social Development, Ngozi Enih, to intensify sensitisation and counselling of people, particularly depressed individuals in the state, to help them overcome the situation.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, has said its resolve to embark on a three-day warning strike was informed by an alleged assault on one of its members by a relative of a patient in their facility.

Resident doctors at the health institution, under the aegis of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), began a three-day warning strike on Thursday.

In a statement by the chairperson and secretary of the UCH ARD, John Oladapo and Sunday Adegbite, respectively, on Thursday, the association maintained that assault on any of its members will no longer be tolerated.

The association also demanded a public apology published in two major national newspapers as part of the conditions to be met before the suspension of the three-day industrial action.

The doctors demanded that the security architecture of the UCH be improved to guarantee the safety of its members against any form of threat to their lives.

On Sunday, one of our members was the target of a deliberate, premeditated rage and furious assault by a patients relation. The doctor was seeing a known sickle cell patient in a painful crisis at the emergency department when two men accosted him in the consulting room and started beating him up.

READ ALSO:

The mother of the patient being seen, who tried to intervene, was also beaten up in the assault. In the doctors attempt to escape, the men chased him down and beat him up. The security officers of the hospital intervened and rescued our member, but not before he sustained injuries to his body, as well as mental health and esteem, the statement read.

The doctors said that the assailants, who are friends to the father of a patient who died on Saturday, were awaiting the deceaseds death certificate to be written while settling outstanding bills.

Our member, who received a call from the emergency department concerning another sickle cell patient, explained the emergency to the patients father, obtained his permission to save the living and attend to the death certificate later.

However, the assailants were enraged and said the doctor was wasting their time and attacked him, the statement added.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


( Read 2208 Times)

Udaipur : The Osawal Sabha Women's Wing celebrated International Women's Day with female inmates at Central Jail. Addressing the incarcerated women, Prakash Kothari, President of Osawal Sabha, urged them to repent for their past actions and lead a peaceful life with their families upon release. Kiran Pokharna, Chairperson of Osawal Women's Wing, conducted a meditation session to help the inmates control their anger for inner peace. Vice-Chairperson Snehlata Mogra also shared her thoughts on the occasion.*

*The event featured devotional songs and Garba dance performances by the female inmates. The Sabha presented them with rewards, and essential items like blankets, fruits, and biscuits were distributed. Vandana Babel, the Secretary, and Dr. Pramila Jain expressed their gratitude. Group leaders, including Uma Kothari, Dr. Neeta Mehta, Garima Dhing, Snehlata Kanthaliya, Manisha Bamb, Pista Harpawat, and others, were present at the event.*

Source :
How do Nutanixs and VMwares respective brands of hyper-converged infrastructure and hybrid multicloud infrastructure compare to one another?

Review this snackable infographic to view 8 ways Nutanix and VMwares offerings compare so you can make an informed purchasing decision for your technology install.
BARCELONA, Spain, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2nd New Calling Industry Development Forum at MWC 2024, hosted by GTI and China Mobile and co-hosted by Huawei, saw Chen Haiyong, President of CS&IMS Domain, Huawei Cloud Core Network Product Line, deliver a keynote speech entitled "Intelligence Boosts Innovation, Collaboration Wins the Future". In this speech, he explained the strategy for evolution towards 5.5G calling networks and proposed a path for the voice industry in the 5.5G era to achieve business success in multiple dimensions, such as content and platform operations. Intelligence empowers more innovative services and better experiences for New Calling. It helps build a platform for the application ecosystem, opens up new communication options, drives new growth in the voice industry, and achieves shared business success.

Communication for conveying content, and content for creating value

Communications technologies were developed to ease the communication between people, especially those over long distances.

Chen believes that this technological evolution will pave the way for success in the voice industry. For example, ultra-HD videos were added to enable the dial pad to turn into a new media platform, opening up new space for operators' content operations. Intelligent and interactive capabilities were added to transform a call into a virtual assistant, providing users with services such as translation, call pickup, and speech-to-text conversion. Data channels were added to connect calls to the Internet, enable enterprise numbers to serve as an enterprise service platform, and upgrade the dial pad to a service portal. For example, with interactive menus, users can query and subscribe to telecom services as well as book meals or other services, without installing or registering with any apps. New Calling will bring new value to operators' platform-based operations.

Intelligence driving New Calling and improving communication experiences

Chen stated that Huawei launched New Calling during last year's MWC to help operators shift their business models from voice-only to content operations. With the 1+3+N architecture, New Calling leverages the voice & video fundamental network to enable three competitive calling capabilities  UHD calling, interactive calling, and intelligent calling. These capabilities help roll out an array of innovative services. Over the past year, Huawei has helped leading operator attract millions of New Calling users.

This year, Huawei will release New Calling-Advanced to upgrade the intelligence capabilities of New Calling. The Multi-modal Communication Function (MCF) will be introduced to integrate Huawei-developed and third-party intelligent processing components. MCF-based multi-modal communications will give rise to a variety of atomic services, such as real-time translation and real-time voice driven avatars, enabling operators and industry partners to create more new services and scenarios. New Calling is stepping into the 5.5G multi-modal communications era.

Developing the dial pad into a service platform

Chen pointed out that the native dialer offers operators a natural edge, and that industry partners should jointly develop the native dialer into a service platform to deliver more value-added services. With the native dialer, New Calling can leverage high bandwidth and high-performance computing to provide users with optimal experiences. In addition, New Calling enables industry users to customize various services based on mini apps and interactive capabilities brought by IMS data channels, maximizing the value of operators' calling networks.

The growth of the New Calling industry requires collective efforts from operators, chip and terminal vendors, and standards and industry organizations. Huawei welcomes more partners to participate in the development of New Calling.

CONTACT: Dongming.Yin@huawei.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2357055/image_5001747_32248003.jpg
Learn what your old money is worth and see $100 million

of numismatic treasures in Colorado Springs, March 14-16

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- It won't cost a cent to see a legendary million-dollar penny and more than $100 million of other historic rare coins and paper money during the National Money Show at the iconic Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs, March 14-16, 2024. Admission is free and visitors also can find out what their old coins and currency may be worth.

It wont cost a cent to see a million-dollar penny during the National Money Show at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, March 14-16, 2023. The finest known surviving example of a 1943 bronze alloy Lincoln cent will be among $100 million of historic rare coins and paper money on display at the show. (Photo credit: American Numismatic Association.)

"The National Money Show is a family-friendly event sponsored by the nonprofit American Numismatic Association (www.money.org)," explained Thomas J. Uram, president of the 26,000-member organization based in Colorado Springs. "It's an opportunity for the public to learn about historic money and find out if they might own something valuable."

One of the many notable coins on display will be a World War II Lincoln cent that sold for more than $1 million. Because copper was needed for the war effort, all pennies struck in 1943 were supposed to be composed of zinc-coated steel and grey in color, but a few were accidentally struck in the previous year's copper/bronze alloy. The mismade 1943 penny to be exhibited at the National Money Show still has the original mint red color 81 years after it left the Philadelphia Mint.

"Money is history you can hold in your hands, and you can see more than $100 million of numismatic national treasures at the show. Among the items on display will be rare examples of early United States Mint coins including the first dimes from 1796 and 1797, early U.S. paper money, as well as rare, octagonal-shaped 'dollars' made a century ago by silver miner Joseph Lesher in Victor, Colorado," said Uram.

Visitors also can see a one-of-a-kind display of paper money autographed by over 200 World War II-era dignitaries including famous generals, admirals, presidents, prime ministers, and ambassadors. It will be the first time the "Short Snorter" display will be available for viewing in Colorado.

"The National Money Show will provide the public access to hundreds of dealers offering extensive numismatic inventory at all price levels as well as educational programming for both beginning and seasoned hobbyists," explained American Numismatic Association Executive Director Kim Kiick.

"Many of the dealers will provide complimentary, informal evaluations of the public's old money," added Kiick.

The three-day event will be held in Bartolin Hall at The Broadmoor, 1 Lake Ave. in Colorado Springs. Public hours are Thursday and Friday, March 14 and 15 from 10 am to 5 pm, and Saturday, March 16, from 10 am to 3:30 pm.

Admission is free for everyone.

Additional information is available at www.NationalMoneyShow.com or by calling the American Numismatic Association at 719-632-2646.

SOURCE American Numismatic Association
November 17, 1931 - March 7, 2024

ATLANTA, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of the King family are saddened to announce that after 92 remarkable years, Mrs. Naomi Ruth Barber King, a matriarch of the family and a celebrated civil rights activist, passed away peacefully on March 7th, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Mrs. King will be remembered as a beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and a beacon of light to those in the churches and communities she served. She was a woman of quiet dignity, overcoming strength, and steadfast support to her husband, family, and circles of influence within and beyond Atlanta.

In 1950, Mrs. King married Rev. Alfred Daniel (A.D.) Williams King, younger brother of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Post this Mrs. Naomi King

In 1950, Mrs. King married Rev. Alfred Daniel (A.D.) Williams King, a Baptist minister, civil rights leader, and the younger brother of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mrs. King and A.D. were frequently by Dr. King's side supporting him and his leadership in the civil rights movement. They were present at the creation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957; when students in Greensboro, North Carolina launched the sit-in movement in 1960; through the Birmingham campaign of 1963; during 1963's March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; and throughout the 1965 campaign to vote in Selma.

After A.D.'s untimely death in 1969, Mrs. King kept his legacy alive by establishing the A.D. King Foundation, an organization dedicated to the empowerment of youth and women and the advancement of strategies for nonviolent social change.

We are comforted with the assurance that Mrs. King is now in her eternal home in the presence of her Savior, and that she was met in Heaven by her husband, A.D. King; her brother-in-law, Martin Luther King Jr; her sister-in-law, Coretta Scott King; her daughter, Darlene King; and her sons, Alfred King II and Vernon King. She is survived by her daughter, Alveda King; her son, Derek King; as well as several grandchildren.

Known affectionately as the "Butterfly Queen," Mrs. King set an example of courage, resilience, and grace in the face of injustice, uncertainty, and heartachethemes highlighted in a 2022 documentary about her life titled The Butterfly Queen: From Tragedy to Peace . A devoted follower of Jesus, she embraced her role as First Lady of the churches her husband pastored and she served as a friend and mentor to many in the Christian community until her final days. Her favorite scripture verse was Psalm 118:24, "This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it," and she often proclaimed, "Jesus is my anchor, and I praise God for His love and blessings."

As we grieve her departure from this life, we do so with hope and gratitude; we thank God for the blessing of our beloved Naomi King who modeled Jesus' love, serving as an anchor of our community and an inspiration to many around the world.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the A.D. King Foundation at www.adkingfoundation.com .

About The A.D. King Foundation

The A.D. King Foundation Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to highlighting Rev. A.D. Williams King's enormous contributions to the civil rights movement. The Foundation's mission is to equip youth as leaders in their communities, advance non-violent social change strategies, and educate the public about the history of the civil rights movement. The objectives are to "expose, enlighten, and empower" individuals with the goal of building a beloved community with justice and entrepreneurship as the center core.

SOURCE The A.D. King Foundation
NEW YORK, March 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The agricultural biologicals market size is set to grow by USD 10.45 billion from 2022 to 2027. The market is estimated to register a CAGR of 14.24%, according to Technavio's latest market research report estimates. The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Agrinos AS, Andermatt Group AG, BASF SE, Bayer AG, Biological Products Industry Alliance, Evogene Ltd., Gowan Co., Koppert, Marrone Bio Innovations Inc., Mitsui and Co. Ltd., Novozymes AS, PI Industries Ltd., SEIPASA SA, SOM Phytopharma India Ltd., Syngenta Crop Protection AG, T.Stanes and Co. Ltd., UPL Ltd., Valent BioSciences LLC, Vegalab SA, and PROBELTE SAU are some of the major market participants. The increasing prices of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, increasing governmental support for the use of bio-based products in agriculture and growing organic food products market will offer immense growth opportunities. To leverage the current opportunities, market vendors must strengthen their foothold in the fast-growing segments while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. With a focus on identifying dominant industry influencers, Technavio's reports present a detailed study by way of synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Agricultural Biologicals Market 2023-2027

This report offers an up-to-date analysis of the current market scenario, the latest trends, drivers, and the overall market environment.

Read our Sample Report

Market Segmentation

Type

Biopesticides



Biofertilizers



Biostimulants

Application

Cereals And Grains



Fruits And Vegetables



Oilseeds And Pulses



Other Crops

Geography

North America



Europe



APAC



South America



Middle East And Africa

The market share growth by the biopesticides segment is significant during the forecast period. Biopesticides are pesticides made from natural substances such as plants, bacteria, fungi, and specific minerals. Their level of toxicity is lower compared to that of traditional pesticides. Canola oil and baking soda are two examples of such efficient biopesticides. Hence, such factors drive segment growth during the forecast period.

Receive our market sample report now to gain access to a detailed analysis of the agricultural biologicals market!

Key Company

To help businesses improve their market position, the agricultural biologicals market provides a detailed analysis of around 15+ vendors operating in the market. Some of these vendors include Agrinos AS, Andermatt Group AG, BASF SE, Bayer AG, Biological Products Industry Alliance, Evogene Ltd., Gowan Co., Koppert, Marrone Bio Innovations Inc., Mitsui and Co. Ltd., Novozymes AS, PI Industries Ltd., SEIPASA SA, SOM Phytopharma India Ltd., Syngenta Crop Protection AG, T.Stanes and Co. Ltd., UPL Ltd., Valent BioSciences LLC, Vegalab SA, and PROBELTE SAU.

Agrinos AS - The company offers agricultural biologicals such as iNvigorate.

The company offers agricultural biologicals such as iNvigorate. Andermatt Group AG - The company offers agricultural biologicals such as AlgoVital Plus and T-Gro.

The company offers agricultural biologicals such as AlgoVital Plus and T-Gro. BASF SE - The company offers agricultural biologicals such as Nemasys C.

Read our Sample Report

The increasing governmental support for the use of bio-based products in agriculture is a significant driving factor for market growth.

The growing need for sustainable agricultural techniques leads to the adoption of bio-based products by farmers. Globally, there are various initiatives to encourage the use of bio-based products in agriculture. International organizations, which include the Food and Agriculture Organization, frequently fund these programs. Additionally, governments in various countries give farmers discounts on bio-based products and they are involved in quality control and make sure that agricultural producers receive high-quality bio-based products. Hence, such factors drive the market growth during the forecast period.

Increasing product launches is an emerging trend in the agricultural biologicals market growth.

The availability of synthetic pesticides and herbicides is a major challenge that may hinder market growth.

Gain a competitive edge in your industry

Buy the complete report !

Analyst Review

In the ever-evolving landscape of agriculture, Agricultural Biologicals have emerged as a cornerstone for sustainable practices and enhanced crop productivity. This burgeoning market segment is witnessing exponential growth, driven by a global shift towards eco-friendly solutions and heightened awareness regarding the adverse effects of chemical pesticides and fertilizers on both the environment and human health.

Agricultural Biologicals, encompassing a diverse array of products derived from natural sources such as microorganisms, plant extracts, and beneficial insects, offer a compelling alternative to traditional agrochemicals. These bio-based formulations play a pivotal role in bolstering soil health, combating pests and diseases, and promoting overall plant vigor. Moreover, they facilitate the development of resilient agricultural systems that are less susceptible to adverse climatic conditions and pest infestations.

The market for Agricultural Biologicals is characterized by a myriad of innovative solutions tailored to meet the specific needs of various crops and farming practices. From biopesticides and biostimulants to biofertilizers, industry players are continuously introducing novel formulations enriched with bioactive compounds to optimize crop yields while minimizing environmental impact. This influx of advanced biological products underscores the industry's commitment to fostering sustainable agricultural practices and ensuring food security on a global scale.

In recent years, governments worldwide have implemented stringent regulations aimed at reducing the usage of conventional agrochemicals and promoting the adoption of biological alternatives. This regulatory landscape has significantly influenced market dynamics, prompting both growers and agribusinesses to embrace Agricultural Biologicals as an integral component of their crop management strategies.

Furthermore, the escalating demand for organic produce, coupled with a growing consumer preference for chemical-free food products, has further fueled the uptake of Agricultural Biologicals across diverse agricultural sectors. From large-scale farming operations to smallholder farmers, there is a growing realization of the inherent benefits offered by biological solutions in achieving sustainable crop production and ensuring long-term agricultural viability.

Looking ahead, the Agricultural Biologicals market is poised for continued expansion, driven by ongoing research and development endeavors aimed at enhancing product efficacy and compatibility. As stakeholders across the agricultural value chain increasingly recognize the imperative of embracing sustainable practices, Agricultural Biologicals are poised to play an indispensable role in shaping the future of farming and fostering a greener, more resilient agricultural ecosystem.

Buy the complete report !

Related Reports:

The agricultural machinery market size in Germany is expected to increase by USD 679.51 million from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 3.59%.

The global connected agriculture market size is estimated to grow by USD 4,148.92 million from 2023 to 2027 and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 19%.

TOC

Executive Summary Market Landscape Market Sizing Historic Market Size Five Forces Analysis Market Segmentation by Type Market Segmentation by Application Customer Landscape Geographic Landscape Drivers, Challenges, and Trends Company Landscape Company Analysis Appendix

About US

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
WASHINGTON, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) will celebrate its Golden Jubilee with a concert by the internationally acclaimed classical crossover tenor Mario Frangoulis at the historic Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., April 12, 2024, at 8 PM.

Mario Frangoulis

Mario Frangoulis, born in Africa and raised in Greece, celebrates a milestone year in 2023, marking his 35th anniversary on stage. Discovered by Sir Cameron Mackintosh in 1988 and signing with Sony Classical New York, Frangoulis soared to international acclaim vying for the top 3 positions with Andrea Bocelli on the Billboard charts for 52 weeks. He continues to captivate audiences with 22 albums and 7.5 million in sales, showcasing his mastery in classical crossover music to popular musical theater and other genres in five languages. Having graced prestigious stages worldwide including Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Dallas Opera, Orchestra Hall Chicago, La Scala to numerous collaborations, including Sarah Brightman, Placido Domingo, Justin Hayward, and Smokey Robinson.

In 2023, Frangoulis debuted as Pollione in 'Norma' alongside Joyce El Khouri, commemorating Maria Callas's 100th anniversary while celebrating his 35th stage anniversary with a remarkable concert at the Herod Atticus Odeon, beneath the Acropolis. Now returning to Washington, Frangoulis promises an enchanting performance, featuring favorite songs from some of the greatest composers.

As the Global Ambassador for the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans since 2005, Mario Frangoulis advocates for scholarships to support young people facing adversity in pursuing higher education. Frangoulis's commitment to humanitarian causes extends to organizations such as Unesco's Youth in Greece, WCCCI, Unicef's "Fostering a Child," and cancer awareness programs.

Mario Frangoulis' Concert will feature an enchanting collaboration with up-and-coming soprano Theresa Carlomagno, known for her timeless vocal artistry and notable portrayals, including Adele in Die Fledermaus and Adina in Donizetti's L'Elisir D'Amore, and the Warner Theatre Studio Orchestra conducted by Maestro Stathis Soulis.

There's no mistaking that when Mario Frangoulis takes the stage, his rich resonant voice and personality take over. Be prepared to be swept on a musical journey unlike any other.

Watch a captivating short video clip featuring highlights from Mario Frangoulis's mesmerizing previous performances, showcasing his extraordinary talent and the enchanting moments.

Secure your tickets now for an enchanting evening filled with extraordinary music at ticketmaster.com.

Contact:

George Veras

President/Owner

Veras Communications Inc.

[email protected]

216-244-1286

SOURCE American Hellenic Institute
Prime Minister Viktor Orban spoke about the changes taking place in the world and the strategic directions of Hungarian foreign policy at the annual ambassadors meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Tuesday morning.

The hegemony of the West has come to an end, no one doubts this today, as it is well supported by data, Viktor Orban said, adding that a new world order is emerging, and the situation must be constantly assessed and analyzed. The Prime Minister continued that it is clear that the world economy is being divided into geopolitical blocs, and that enormous pressure is being put on those states, including Hungary, which take a sovereigntist position.

There is very little room for maneuver in being part of a bloc, which is why it is in Hungarys interest to be a member of the European Union and NATO, but not to be part of a bloc. For this reason we will strengthen our alliance with other sovereign countries,

he said.

The task of Hungarian ambassadors is to demonstrate to the world, with indisputable economic facts, what makes Hungary successful, not to explain our political differences, he underlined. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto also addressed the meeting, about which he wrote a few words on his Facebook page as a summary.

In an era of threats, our ambassadors will have an even greater role and task, and they will need more courage than ever to represent the national interest effectively,

the politician wrote.

Related article Donald Trump Could Prevent Armed Conflicts in the World, Says Foreign Minister "If Donald Trump had been the U.S. president in the past years, the Middle East crisis could have been solved faster."Continue reading

Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Miniszterelnoki Sajtoiroda/Benko Vivien Cher
VANCOUVER, BC, March 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Aris Mining Corporation (Aris Mining or the Company) (TSX: ARIS) (NYSE-A: ARMN) announces financial and operating results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2023 (Q4 2023 and FY 2023, respectively). All amounts are in US dollars unless otherwise indicated.



Q4 2023 FY 2023 Gold Production 61,052 ounces 226,151 ounces Segovia Operations AISC/oz1 $1,264 $1,173 EBITDA1 $19.7M $112.1M Adjusted EBITDA1 $39.7M $159.4M Net earnings (loss) ($5.9M) or ($0.04)/share $11.4M or $0.08/share Adjusted earnings1 $11.8M or $0.09/share $52.2M or $0.38/share

Aris Mining CEO Neil Woodyer stated: "In 2023, we restructured the operations team and introduced new operating procedures following the combination of GCM Mining and Aris Gold in September 2022. The new team achieved consistent quarter-over-quarter increases in gold production during 2023, significantly enhancing our position in 2024 and the future. We have achieved the initial phase of our vision to create an attractive gold mining company for investors by integrating profitable operations with exploration potential and growth projects.

During 2023, our high-grade Segovia Operations produced 202,940 ounces of gold at a processed grade of 10.4 g/t with all-in sustaining costs per ounce of $1,173, achieving production and AISC guidance. For the full year 2023, our mines generated $75.4 million in free cash flow from operations1 which largely funded $84.2 million in growth and expansion investments, and we ended the year with a cash position of $195 million.

With strong gold production results and substantial growth in mineral reserves and resources at our Segovia Operations, we have started construction to increase its processing capacity by 50% to 3,000 tonnes per day with completion expected in early 2025. As the new capacity is used, we expect to increase annual gold production at Segovia to over 300,000 ounces. Construction at our Marmato Lower Mine project has ramped up with initial access roads completed, the lead contractor for portal and decline development selected, and tenders for key items for the new processing plant underway. We are on pace to reach 500,000 ounces of gold production in Colombia in 2026."

Operations Review  Segovia Operations



Q4 2023 Q3 2023 FY 2023 Tonnes milled (t) 166,329 163,205 663,603 Average tonnes milled per day (tpd) 1,934 1,898 1,858 Average gold grade processed (g/t) 10.63 10.77 10.42 Gold produced (ounces) 54,719 53,826 202,940 Cash costs ($/ounce sold)1 997 954 928 AISC  owner operated mining ($/ounce sold)1 1,267 1,108 1,120 AISC  partner operated mining ($/ounce sold) 1,2 1,261 1,308 1,242 AISC  total ($/ounce sold)1 1,264 1,194 1,173





















Aris Mining Quarterly and YTD Cashflow Generation  2023 (US$ million)





Q4 Q3 Q2 Q1 FY 2023 Gold sold (ounces)

62,083 59,040 54,228 49,158 224,509 Gold produced (ounces)

61,052 60,193 54,003 50,903 226,151 Average realized gold price ($/ounce sold)

$1,980 $1,913 $1,959 $1,869 $1,933













Gold revenue

$ 122.9 $ 113.0 $ 106.2 $ 91.9 $ 434.0 Total cash costs1, royalties & social contributions

(75.5) (67.3) (62.5) (51.1) (256.4) Sustaining capital1  Segovia infill exploration program

(1.3) (1.3) (0.3) (0.8) (4.6) Sustaining capital1  other

(10.0) (7.4) (4.1) (7.7) (28.3) All in sustaining margin

36.1 37.0 39.3 32.2 144.7













Taxes paid

- - (52.4) - (52.4) General and administration expenses

(7.5) (3.9) (4.1) (2.2) (17.8) Change in working capital, impact of foreign exchange

(8.0) 3.2 22.9 (17.0) 1.0 Free cash flow from operations

20.6 36.3 5.7 12.9 75.4













Expansion and growth capital1 at:











Marmato Upper Mine & Lower Mine

(10.6) (14.2) (6.8) (4.6) (36.1) Segovia Operations  regional exploration program

(6.0) (2.6) (2.9) (2.5) (14.0) Segovia Operations  other

(10.3) (4.0) (4.7) (0.1) (19.1) Toroparu Project

(1.7) (3.9) (4.6) (4.7) (14.9) Total expansion and growth capital

(28.6) (24.6) (19.0) (11.9) (84.2) Free cashflow from operations after expansion capital

(8.1) 11.7 (13.4) 1.0 (8.7)













Proceeds from warrant/option exercises

0.6 0.3 1.6 0.4 3.0 Soto Norte, deferred payment to Mubadala

- - - (50.0) (50.0) Repayment of Gold-linked Notes

(1.8) (1.8) (1.8) (1.8) (7.4) Contributions to investments in associates

(1.4) (1.4) (1.2) (1.1) (5.1) Purchase of Denarius debentures and shares

(3.6) - - (1.1) (4.7) Interest (paid), net of interest income

(2.0) (12.3) (0.2) (17.5) (31.9) Net change in cash

(16.2) (3.5) (15.0) (70.1) (104.8) Opening balance at the beginning of the period

210.8 214.3 229.3 299.5 299.5 Closing balance at the end of the period

$ 194.6 $ 210.8 $ 214.3 $ 229.3 $ 194.6

























_____________________________________ 1 AISC ($ per oz sold), EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted earning, free cash flow, cash costs and sustaining capital are non-IFRS financial measures in this document. These measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS, and therefore may not be comparable to other issuers. Refer to the Non-IFRS Measures section and the table titled "Quarterly and YTD Cashflow generation" below for a reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable financial measure disclosed in the Company's interim and audited financial statements. 2 Partner-operating mining encompasses contractor workforce as well as the acquisition of mill-feed from artisanal and small-scale miner units.

Aris Mining's audited consolidated financial statements for three month and years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 and related MD&A (together, the Annual Filings) are available on SEDAR+, and the Annual Filings and Aris Mining's annual report on Form 40-F for the year ended December 31, 2023 are available in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and in the Financials section of Aris Mining's website here. Hard copies of the audited financial statements are available free of charge by written request to [email protected].

FY2023 Conference Call Details

Management will host a conference call on Thursday, March 7, 2024, at 11:00 am ET/8:00 am PT to discuss the results and outlook for 2024. The call will be webcast and can be accessed at Aris Mining's website at www.aris-mining.com, or at https://services.choruscall.ca/links/arismining2023q4.html

To join the conference via telephone dial:

Toll-free North America : 1-866-668-0730

: 1-866-668-0730 International: +1 604-638-5357

Participants may also choose to pre-register to join the conference call automatically, at this link. Upon registering, participants will receive a calendar invitation with dial-in details and a unique PIN, which will allow them to bypass the operator queue and connect directly to the conference.

The call will be available for playback for one week by dialing:

Toll-free in the US and Canada : +1 800.319.6413

: +1 800.319.6413 International: +1 604.638.9010

Replay access code: 0729

A replay of the event will be archived at Aris Mining Corporation - Investors - Events & Presentations (aris-mining.com).

About Aris Mining

Aris Mining is a gold producer in the Americas with an attractive blend of current production, exploration, and growth projects. The Company operates two mines in Colombia, the Segovia Operations and Marmato Upper Mine, known for their high-grade deposits, which produced 226,000 ounces of gold in 2023. With expansion projects in progress, Segovia and Marmato aim to produce a combined 500,000 ounces of gold in 2026. Aris Mining also operates and is 20% owner of the Soto Norte Project joint venture, where environmental licensing is advancing to develop a new underground gold, silver and copper mine. In Guyana, Aris Mining is advancing the Toroparu Project, a gold/copper project. Aris Mining is committed to pursuing acquisitions and other growth opportunities to unlock value through scale and diversification.

Additional information on Aris Mining can be found at www.aris-mining.com , www.sedarplus.ca, and on www.sec.gov.

Cautionary Language

Non-IFRS Measures

Free cash flow, cash costs ($ per oz sold), AISC ($ per oz sold), EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted (loss)/earning, sustaining capital and expenditures on growth capital are non-IFRS financial measures and non-IFRS ratios. These measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS, and therefore may not be comparable to other issuers. For full details on these measures and ratios refer to the "Non-IFRS Measures" section of the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three months and years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 (MD&A). The MD&A is incorporated by reference into this news release and is available on the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and in its filings with the SEC at www.sec.gov.

The tables below reconcile the non-IFRS financial measures contained in this news release for the current and comparative periods to the most directly comparable financial measure disclosed in the Company's 2023 audited consolidated financial statements.

Total cash costs



Segovia Operations Total Operations

Quarter ended, Year ended, Quarter ended, Year ended, ($000s except per ounce amounts) Dec 31, 2023 Sept 30, 2023 Dec 31, 2023 Dec 31, 2023 Sept 30, 2023 Dec 31, 2023 Total gold sold (ounces) 55,736 52,627 201,652 62,083 59,040 224,509 Cost of sales1 61,993 56,543 213,649 76,580 68,534 261,766 Less: materials and supplies provision (715) - (715) (1,211) (190) (1,401) Less: royalties1 (3,434) (3,202) (12,784) (4,531) (4,189) (16,745) Add: by-product revenue1 (2,297) (3,153) (13,081) (2,565) (3,514) (14,199) Less: other adjustments - - - - - 77 Total cash costs 55,547 50,188 187,069 68,273 60,641 229,498 Total cash costs ($ per oz gold sold) 997 954 928 1,100 1,027 1,022



















1. As presented in the interim and audited consolidated financial statements and notes for the respective periods.

All-in sustaining costs (AISC)



Segovia Operations Total Operations



Quarter ended, Year ended, Quarter ended, Year ended,

($000s except per ounce amounts) Dec 31, 2023 Sept 30, 2023 Dec 31, 2023 Dec 31, 2023 Sept 30, 2023 Dec 31, 2023 Total gold sold (ounces) 55,736 52,627 201,652 62,083 59,040 224,509 Total cash costs 55,547 50,188 187,069 68,273 60,641 229,498 Add: royalties1 3,434 3,202 12,784 4,531 4,189 16,745 Add: social programs1 2,501 2,249 9,573 2,653 2,434 10,157 Add: sustaining capital expenditures 8,669 6,685 25,136 11,020 8,143 30,842 Add: lease payments on sustaining capital 324 507 2,073 324 507 2,073 Total AISC 70,475 62,831 236,635 86,801 75,914 289,315 Total AISC ($ per oz gold sold) 1,264 1,194 1,173 1,398 1,286 1,289

























1. As presented in the interim and audited consolidated financial statements and notes for the respective periods.

The table below reconciles the cash cost per ounce sold and the AISC per ounce sold for ore sourced from owner-operated mines and other partner-operated mines to the totals for the consolidated Segovia Operations:



Quarter ended December 31, 2023 Year ended December 31, 2023

Owner Operated mining1 Partner Total Owner Operated mining1 Partner Total Operated mining2 Segovia Operated mining2 Segovia Attributable gold sold (ounces) 31,396 24,340 55,736 113,560 88,092 201,652 Total cash costs ($'000)3 27,632 27,915 55,547 88,069 99,002 187,071 Cash cost per ounce sold ($/ounce)3 $880 $1,147 $997 $776 $1,124 $928 All-in sustaining costs ($'000)3 39,781 30,694 70,475 127,232 109,405 236,637 AISC cost per ounce sold ($/ounce)3 $1,267 $1,261 $1,264 $1,120 $1,242 $1,173















Quarter ended September 30, 2023

Owner Operated mining1 Partner Operated mining2 Total Segovia Attributable gold sold (ounces) 30,030 22,597 52,627 Total cash costs ($'000)3 23,602 26,586 50,188 Cash cost per ounce sold ($/ounce)3 $786 $1,177 $954 All-in sustaining costs ($'000)3 33,279 29,553 62,831 AISC cost per ounce sold ($/ounce)3 $1,108 $1,308 $1,194

























1. Includes Company-operated areas within the mines, utilizing owner-managed labour. 2. Comprises contractor-operated and other small-scale mining operations within and outside of the Company's mining title that are operated by miners under contract to deliver the mill feed mined to the Company's Maria Dama plant for processing. 3. Refer to the Non-IFRS Measures section for full details on cash costs ($ per oz sold) and AISC ($ per oz sold).

Additions to mineral interests, plant and equipment









Quarter ended, Year ended,

($'000)





Dec 31, 2023 Sept 30, 2023 Dec 31, 2023 Sustaining capital











Segovia Operations





8,669 6,685 25,136 Marmato Upper Mine





2,351 1,457 5,706 Total





11,020 8,143 30,842 Non-sustaining growth capital











Segovia Operations





16,308 6,569 33,157 Toroparu Project





1,740 3,874 14,929 Marmato Lower Mine





9,394 8,413 27,814 Marmato Upper Mine





1,181 5,737 8,244 Juby Project





7 - 40 Total





28,630 24,594 84,184 Total Additions1





39,650 32,736 115,026 1. As presented in the interim and audited consolidated financial statements and notes for the respective periods.

























Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and adjusted EBITDA





Quarter ended, Year ended, ($000s)



Dec 31, 2023 Sept 30, 2023 Dec 31, 2023 Earnings (loss) before tax1



7,963 26,156 58,826 Add back:









Depreciation and depletion1



7,535 10,938 34,944 Finance income1



(2,580) (3,672) (10,783) Interest and accretion1



6,772 6,757 29,156 EBITDA



19,690 40,179 112,143 Add back:









Share-based compensation1



2,977 528 5,111 Revaluation of investments (Denarius) 1



536 - 10,559 Loss from equity accounting in investee1



(3,667) (1,062) (59) (Gain) loss on financial instruments1



13,429 (374) 13,078 Foreign exchange (gain) loss1



6,685 2,285 18,550 Adjusted EBITDA



39,650 41,555 159,382















1. As presented in the interim and audited consolidated financial statements and notes for the respective periods.

Adjusted net earnings and adjusted net earnings per share





Quarter ended, Year ended, ($000s except shares amount)



Dec 31, 2023 Sept 30, 2023 Dec 31, 2023 Basic weighted average shares outstanding



137,313,095 137,192,545 136,735,317 Diluted weighted average shares outstanding



137,313,095 137,484,041 137,062,505 Net earnings (loss)1



(5,944) 13,833 11,419 Add back:









Share-based compensation1



2,977 528 5,111 Revaluation of investments (Aris Gold/Denarius) 1



536 - 10,559 (Income) loss from equity accounting in investee1



(3,667) (1,062) (59) (Gain) loss on financial instruments1



13,429 (374) 13,078 Foreign exchange (gain) loss1



6,685 2,285 18,550 Income tax effect on adjustments



(2,221) (796) (6,434) Adjusted net (loss) / earnings



11,795 14,414 52,224 Per share  basic ($/share)



0.09 0.11 0.38















1. As presented in the interim and audited consolidated financial statements and notes for the respective periods.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" or forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements relating to the Company's belief that it has significantly enhanced its position in 2024 and the future, the Company's plans to increase the processing capacity at the Segovia Operations and the timing thereof, the expected increase in annual gold production at the Segovia Operations, the Company's goal of producing 500,000 ounces of gold in Colombia in 2026 and the Company's plans and strategies are forward-looking. Generally, the forward-looking information and forward looking statements can be identified by the use of forward looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "will continue" 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". The material factors or assumptions used to develop forward looking information or statements are disclosed throughout this news release.

Forward looking information and forward looking statements, while based on management's best estimates and assumptions, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Aris Mining to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information or forward looking statements, including but not limited to those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Aris Mining's annual information form dated March 6, 2024 which is available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and in the Company's filings with the SEC at www.sec.gov.

Although Aris Mining has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information or statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information or statements. The Company has and continues to disclose in its Management's Discussion and Analysis and other publicly filed documents, changes to material factors or assumptions underlying the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements and to the validity of the information, in the period the changes occur. The forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are made as of the date hereof and Aris Mining disclaims any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information.

SOURCE Aris Mining Corporation
ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE: AJG) will be hosting its regularly scheduled quarterly management meeting on Thursday, March 21, from 8:00 a.m. until approximately 10:30 a.m. CT. This quarter's meeting will take place virtually via conference call. During the call, the company's operating and financial leaders will present background information and commentary on the company's business operations and financial outlook, and will take questions from the investment community.

The conference call will be broadcast live through Gallagher's website at www.ajg.com/irmeeting, and a conference call replay will be available at the same link through March 28, 2024. Any information distributed in conjunction with this meeting will be available on March 21 at 7:45 a.m. CT at https://www.ajg.com/March21materials.

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.

Media: Paul Day, Communications Manager

630-285-5946/ [email protected]

SOURCE Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
MEXICO CITY, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: ASR; BMV: ASUR) (ASUR), a leading international airport group with operations in Mexico, the United States, and Colombia, today announced that its General Annual Ordinary Shareholders' Meeting will be held on April 24th, 2024 and announced the agenda for the meeting.

The following is the complete text of the call to assembly for the shareholders' meeting:

CALL TO ASSEMBLY FOR ORDINARY ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE

SHAREHOLDERS OF GRUPO AEROPORTUARIO DEL SURESTE, S.A.B. DE C.V.

By resolution of the Board of Directors adopted at the meeting held on the 7th of March 2024 and pursuant to the provisions of Articles 36, 37 and other provisions of the bylaws of Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (the "Company") and Articles 181 and 183 of the General Corporations Law ("Ley General de Sociedades Mercantiles"), the Company's shareholders are hereby called to attend the Ordinary Annual General Shareholders' Meeting (the "Meeting"), which will take place at 10 o'clock a.m. on the 24th of April 2024, at the Company's offices at Bosque de Alisos No. 47-A 4th floor, Colonia Bosque de las Lomas, 05120, Mexico City, Mexico, in order to discuss the following matters:

A G E N D A

I. Presentation and, if applicable, approval of the following:

a. Report of the Chief Executive Officer, in accordance with Article 172 of the General Corporations Law and of Article 44, subsection XI, of the Securities Market Law ("Ley del Mercado de Valores"), accompanied by the independent auditor's report, in connection with the operations and results for the fiscal year ended the 31st of December 2023, as well as of the Board of Directors' opinion of the content of such report;

b. Report of the Board of Directors in accordance with Article 172, subsection b, of the General Corporations Law, which contains the main policies, as well as the accounting and reporting criteria followed in the preparation of the financial information of the Company;

c. Report of the activities and operations in which the Board of Directors intervened, in accordance with Article 28 IV (e) of the Securities Market Law;

d. Individual and consolidated financial statements of the Company for the fiscal year ended the 31st of December 2023;

e. Annual report on the activities carried out by the Audit Committee of the Company in accordance with Article 43 of the Securities Market Law and report on the Company's subsidiaries. Resolutions thereon; and

f. Report on compliance with the tax obligations of the Company for the fiscal year ended the 31st of December 2022, in accordance with Article 76, section XIX of the Income Tax Law. Resolutions thereon.

II. Proposal on and, if applicable, approval of the application of the Company's results for the year:

a. Proposal for increase of the legal reserve;

b. Proposal by the Board of Directors to pay an ordinary net dividend in cash from accumulated retained earnings in the amount of $10.926 (ten pesos and ninety-two point six cents, Mexican legal tender), payable in May 2024, as well as an extraordinary net dividend in cash from accumulated retained earnings in the amount of $10.00 (ten pesos and zero cents, Mexican legal tender), payable in June 2024, for each of the ordinary "B" and "BB" Series shares. Resolutions thereon; and

c. Proposal and, if applicable, approval of the maximum amount that may be used by the Company to repurchase its shares in 2024 pursuant to Article 56 of the Securities Market Law; proposal and, if applicable, approval of the provisions and policies regarding the repurchase of Company shares. Resolutions thereon.

III. Ratification, if applicable, of the administration by the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive Officer for the fiscal year of 2023 and appointment or ratification, as applicable, of (i) the persons who comprise or will comprise the Board of Directors of the Company, once assessed as independent, as applicable, (ii) the Chairperson of the Audit and Corporate Practices Committee, and (iii) the persons to serve on the Nominations and Compensations Committee of the Company; determination of corresponding compensations. Resolutions thereon.

IV. Appointment of delegates in order to enact the resolutions adopted at the Meeting and, if applicable, to formalize such resolutions. Resolutions thereon.

Subject to the provisions of the paragraph immediately following this one, in order to have the right to attend the Meeting, the shareholders shall (i) be registered on the Company Shareholder Register, or provide other proof of ownership of Company shares or the corresponding certificates in accordance with the Mexican Stock Market Law. The Shareholder Register will be closed three working days prior to the date set for the Meeting, that is, on the 19th of April 2024; and (ii) have obtained their admission pass.

In order to have the right to attend the Meeting, at the latest on the working day before the Meeting (i) the shareholders shall deposit at the Company's offices, with S.D. Indeval, S.A. de C.V., Institucion para el Deposito de Valores ("Indeval") or with any national or foreign financial credit institution, their share certificates or the receipts or other proof of deposit issued by any such institutions, and (ii) the brokerage houses and the other depositaries at Indeval shall present a list containing the names, addresses, nationalities and number of shares of the shareholders that they will represent at the Meeting. Upon receipt of such documents, the Company shall issue an admission pass to the shareholders and/or deliver the forms that they may use in order to be duly represented at the Meeting pursuant to subsection III of Article 49 of the Securities Market Law. In order to attend the Meeting, the shareholders shall present the corresponding admission pass and/or form.

The shares deposited at the Company by the shareholders for the purposes of attending the Meeting shall be returned when the Meeting has ended, upon the delivery of the deposit receipts issued to the shareholder or attorney-in-fact for such shares.

The shareholders may either attend the Meeting personally or be represented by a person or persons duly authorised in a power of attorney in accordance with Article 49 subsection III of the Securities Market Law or by any other form of representation granted pursuant to the law.

Furthermore, please be advised that the supporting documentation for the adoption of the resolutions of the Meeting hereby convened, and the application previously mentioned, shall be placed at the disposal of the shareholders at the Company's offices fifteen days prior to the date of the Meeting.

Mexico City, 7th of March 2024

____________________________________

Rafael Robles Miaja

Secretary of the Board of Directors

About ASUR:

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (ASUR) is a leading international airport operator with a portfolio of concessions to operate, maintain and develop 16 airports in the Americas. This comprises nine airports in southeast Mexico, including Cancun Airport, the most important tourist destination in Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America, and six airports in northern Colombia, including Medellin international airport (Rio Negro), the second busiest in Colombia. ASUR is also a 60% JV partner in Aerostar Airport Holdings, LLC, operator of the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport serving the capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan. San Juan's Airport is the island's primary gateway for international and mainland-US destinations and was the first, and currently the only major airport in the US to have successfully completed a publicprivate partnership under the FAA Pilot Program. Headquartered in Mexico, ASUR is listed both on the Mexican Bolsa, where it trades under the symbol ASUR, and on the NYSE in the U.S., where it trades under the symbol ASR. One ADS represents ten (10) series B shares. For more information, visit www.asur.com.mx

SOURCE Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V.
TORONTO and CHICAGO, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - BMO (TSX: BMO) (NYSE: BMO) today announced that it has filed its 2024 Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Management Proxy Circular with applicable securities regulators. BMO also announced the release of its 2023 Sustainability reporting suite.

Proxy Circular

BMO's Annual Meeting of Shareholders will be held on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. EDT. The meeting will be held virtually and in person at BMO Institute for Learning (IFL), 3550 Pharmacy Avenue, Toronto, Ontario.

The Management Proxy Circular contains key information for shareholders on the meeting, including a description of the items on which shareholders may vote.

The circular and annual report can be found online: on the BMO Annual Meeting website at www.bmo.com/annualmeeting; on the website of BMO's transfer agent, Computershare Trust Company of Canada at www.envisionreports.com/BMO2024; on SEDAR at www.sedar.com; and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Shareholders can request paper copies free of charge as described in the circular and the notice of availability of meeting materials.

BMO encourages shareholders to vote by proxy as early as possible to ensure their shares are represented at the meeting. Shareholders can join the meeting and ask questions in person or through a live webcast or listen by teleconference. Shareholders can access the webcast platform, related instructions and dial-in information (listen only) on the Annual Meeting website. Please check the website regularly for any updates.

2023 Sustainability Reporting Suite

BMO is publishing its 2023 Sustainability reporting suite, including the 2023 BMO Climate Report. The 2023 Sustainability reporting suite discloses BMO's approach to managing the most relevant sustainability issues for the bank, as it pursues long term value creation and effective risk management. The report also includes the Public Accountability Statements for Bank of Montreal and its applicable subsidiaries: Bank of Montreal Mortgage Corporation, BMO Life Assurance Company and BMO Life Insurance Company.

The Sustainability reporting suite can be downloaded at our-impact.bmo.com/reports

About BMO Financial Group

BMO Financial Group is the eighth largest bank in North America by assets, with total assets of $1.3 trillion as of January 31, 2024. Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a diverse team of highly engaged employees providing a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management, global markets and investment banking products and services to 13 million customers across Canada, the United States, and in select markets globally. Driven by a single purpose, to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life, BMO is committed to driving positive change in the world, and making progress for a thriving economy, sustainable future, and inclusive society.

SOURCE BMO Financial Group - Communications
MIAMI, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Care Resource Community Health Centers, Inc. announces a significant $9 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott through her charitable organization, Yield Giving. This generous unsolicited gift stands as an endorsement of the health center's commitment to providing comprehensive primary care, preventive care, treatment, and support services for under-resourced communities in South Florida.

Expressing gratitude for this transformative gift, CEO Rick Siclari stated, "This gift is a testament to Care Resource's ability to tackle some of the community's most pressing challenges that far exceed the resources available in South Florida. These funds will be instrumental in supporting our priorities, fostering the continued growth of our centers and programs. Our focus remains on ensuring equitable care for our uninsured and underinsured patients. With this remarkable gift, we are poised to extend our reach, touching the lives of even more individuals and families, promoting healthcare and mental well-being for all."

Yield Giving, established by MacKenzie Scott in 2022, operates with a team of non-profit advisors representing historically marginalized race, gender, and sexual identity groups. These advisors diligently find and assess organizations making a major impact on various causes. In 2023, the foundation awarded grants to 18 community health centers, showcasing its dedication to fostering positive change on a global scale.

According to Yield Giving's website, MacKenzie Scott recommends these organizations to anyone similarly excited by the idea of empowering leaders that are well-positioned to accelerate progress, tackling sustained challenges.

This landmark gift from MacKenzie Scott and Yield Giving underscores the profound impact that strategic philanthropy can have on healthcare organizations like Care Resource, providing them with the resources needed to make lasting and positive impacts in their communities.

About Care Resource:

Care Resource is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) with four locations in Midtown Miami, Little Havana, Miami Beach, and Fort Lauderdale. Care Resource delivers a comprehensive array of accessible and affordable medical services, preventive care, and patient support across all age groups. The Health Resources & Services Administration recognized the health center as a 2023 Gold Health Center Quality Leader, ranking it among the top 10% nationally. For more information, visit CareResource.org.

SOURCE Care Resource
Join Gunther Eysenbach, the founder, CEO, and executive editor of JMIR Publications, as he reflects on the company's 25th anniversary and its pioneering journey in the scholarly publishing industry.

TORONTO, March 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Join Gunther Eysenbach, the founder, CEO, and executive editor of JMIR Publications, in this new video as he reflects on the company's 25th anniversary and its remarkable journey in the scholarly publishing industry.

Eysenbach discusses the inception of the Journal of Medical Internet Research and the driving forces behind creating an open access eHealth journal. He emphasizes the significance of innovation both in content and form, highlighting the company's early adoption of internet-based technologies and its commitment to optimizing processes for online publishing.

The conversation delves into the evolution of medical research and technology over the past two and a half decades, with Eysenbach tracing the shifts in terminology from cyber medicine to digital health. He discusses the company's role in fostering rigorous research standards and pioneering the integration of social media metrics in assessing scholarly impact, demonstrating a commitment to advancing the field.

Eysenbach shares memorable success stories, notably the pivotal role of JMIR Publications during the COVID-19 pandemic, where digital health solutions gained unprecedented prominence. He also discusses the company's contributions to disciplines like infodemiology and participatory medicine, underscoring its commitment to empowering individuals through accessible health information.

The interview explores challenges faced by the company, including navigating the conservative indexing practices of scholarly databases and adapting to the changing landscape of open access publishing. Despite these hurdles, Eysenbach emphasizes perseverance and belief in the mission as critical factors for success.

Finally, the conversation touches upon the future of scholarly publishing, envisioning a shift toward communities and innovative peer-review models. Eysenbach highlights JMIR Publications' initiatives like the JMIRx series, which pioneers new approaches to peer review and publication. He underscores the company's commitment to driving forward-thinking innovations in the field.

The interview paints a vivid portrait of JMIR Publications as a mission-driven organization that has played a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of digital health research and scholarly publishing. Eysenbach's insights highlight the company's unwavering dedication to advancing the field through innovation, collaboration, and a steadfast commitment to its core values. As JMIR Publications celebrates its 25th anniversary, it stands poised to continue its transformative journey, driving forward-thinking initiatives that will shape the future of scholarly publishing for years to come.

About JMIR Publications

JMIR Publications is a renowned publisher with a long-standing commitment to advancing digital health research and progressing open science. Our portfolio includes a wide array of prestigious open access, peer-reviewed journals dedicated to the dissemination of high-quality research in the field of digital health. JMIR Publications is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2024 as the leading open access digital health publisher.

This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise. For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com.

Media Contacts: Jane Kelly

[email protected]

SOURCE JMIR Publications
The following article was published today by China Daily

BEIJING, March. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --An integrated approach will be adopted combining measures to combat, prevent and control telecommunications fraud and related crimes and promote comprehensive governance of the telecom network, as the situation regarding such crimes remains complex, said China's procurator-general.

"Telecom fraud has seriously infringed on the vital interests of the people and eroded the foundation of social integrity, and such crimes are deeply abhorred by the public," said Ying Yong, procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, in an exclusive interview with China Daily during the ongoing annual sessions of the nation's top legislative and political advisory bodies in Beijing.

Procuratorial authorities will thoroughly implement the instructions of the central authorities on cracking down on telecom fraud, strengthen cooperation with other departments, take an integrated approach and fully utilize the power of the rule of law to maintain stability, he said.

According to the top procuratorate, since 2023, procuratorial authorities nationwide have collaborated with public security organs and other departments to implement various measures to resolutely curb the frequent and severe trends of telecom fraud at the source in a systematic manner.

In 2023, a total of 51,000 individuals were prosecuted for telecom fraud, a year-on-year increase of 66.9 percent. The Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security also jointly dealt with five major transnational telecom fraud cases.

Crimes associated with telecom fraud were also severely punished, with the prosecution of 147,000 individuals involved in aiding information network criminal activities, marking a 13 percent year-on-year increase. About 75,000 people were prosecuted for concealing and disguising criminal proceeds and illegal gains via telecom networks, an increase of 106.9 percent year-on-year.

Ying emphasized the need to strengthen the governance of sectors closely related to telecom fraud, such as personal information protection. Telecom fraud often involves the infringement of citizens' personal information, seriously undermining the interests of the people.

Efforts have intensified to combat crimes involving the infringement of citizens' personal information, resulting in about 8,500 prosecutions last year.

Procuratorates also fulfilled their duties in public interest litigation, focusing on key areas such as personal information protection in key industries, SIM card and bank card management, and corporate anti-fraud obligations, and urged relevant departments and companies to strengthen supervision and protection.

According to the SPP, telecom fraud and related crimes are usually well-organized, and various forms of scams have proliferated in recent years, including click farming, fake shopping services, impersonation of e-commerce customer service and false credit reporting.

Criminals are also utilizing artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies to use "deepfakes" to perpetrate fraud, making their fraudulent activities even more covert.

In response to the new challenges in the battle against telecom fraud, Ying urged the procuratorial authorities to fully carry out their duties such as in approving arrests, prosecutions and supervising litigation, and further intensifying efforts to crack down on transnational telecom fraud.

It is necessary to strengthen the building of specialized teams, continuously improve the research and application of big data legal supervision models related to fraud, and persistently enhance the capability and level of legal supervision, he said.

Procuratorial authorities were also asked to strengthen their publicity work, using concrete examples to explain laws and providing preventive warnings, in order to enhance the public's anti-fraud awareness.

Ying said that procuratorates should integrate the work of asset recovery and mitigation of damages throughout the judicial process, fully leverage the system of leniency for pleading guilty and accepting punishments, and urge criminals to return stolen assets in order to minimize the economic losses suffered by victims.

According to the SPP's analysis, there are so-called "technology parks", "industrial parks" and "development zones" in some overseas locations that specifically provide venues for criminal activities such as telecom fraud. Criminal groups recruit individuals to participate in telecom fraud, tightly control these recruits and allow fraudsters to benefit from the proceeds of fraud through profit-sharing after successful scams.

Jointly fighting transnational telecom fraud has become an important consensus of the international community. As an important force in combating such crimes, Chinese procuratorates have carried out a series of measures, making China a global example in this field, Ying said.

He also called for greater global unity on combating telecom fraud and related crimes.

The SPP has strengthened pragmatic cooperation with the prosecution authorities of ASEAN countries in assisting in cross-border investigation and evidence collection, extraditing criminal suspects, exchanging intelligence and sharing information.

By YANG ZEKUN

SOURCE China Daily
HONG KONG, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CNOOC Limited (the "Company", SEHK: 00883 (HKD Counter) and 80883 (RMB Counter), SSE: 600938) announces today that the Company has made a major oilfield discovery of Kaiping South in the deep-water deep-play of the South China Sea, which adds over a hundred million tons of oil equivalent proved in-place volume.

The Kaiping South Oilfield is located in the eastern South China Sea, with an average water depth of approximately 500 meters. The main oil-bearing plays are Zhuhai Formation, Enping Formation and Wenchang Formation of Paleogene, and the oil property is light crude. The discovery well KP18-1-1d was drilled and completed at a depth of 3,462 meters, which encountered a total of 100.6 meters oil and gas pay zones. The well was tested to produce an average of approximately 7,680 barrels of crude oil and 0.52 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. Through continued exploration, the proved in-place volume of Kaiping South Oilfield has reached 102 million tons of oil equivalent.

Mr. Xu Changgui, Deputy Chief Exploration Officer of the Company, said, "Kaiping South Oilfield is China's first deep-water and deep-play oilfield with proved in-place volume over a hundred million tons. The discovery fully demonstrates the broad prospects for exploration in deep-water South China Sea and further expands the resource base for the Company's high-quality development."

Mr. Zhou Xinhuai, CEO and President of the Company, said, "In recent years, CNOOC Limited has achieved remarkable breakthroughs in oil and gas exploration in the eastern South China Sea, building a new growth pole for offshore oil and gas production. The Company remains committed to oil and gas resources exploration and development in the South China Sea, thereby continuously enhancing its energy supply capacity."

 End 

Notes to Editors:

More information about the Company is available at http://www.cnoocltd.com

*** *** *** ***

This press release includes forward looking information, including statements regarding the likely future developments in the business of the Company and its subsidiaries, such as expected future events, business prospects or financial results. The words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by the Company as of this date in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that the Company currently believes are appropriate under the circumstances. However, whether actual results and developments will meet the current expectations and predictions of the Company is uncertain. Actual results, performance and financial condition may differ materially from the Company's expectations, including but not limited to those associated with macro-political and economic factors, fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas prices, the highly competitive nature of the oil and natural gas industry, climate change and environmental policies, the Company's price forecast, mergers, acquisitions and divestments activities, HSSE and insurance policies and changes in anti-corruption, anti-fraud, anti-money laundering and corporate governance laws and regulations.

Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. The Company cannot assure that the results or developments anticipated will be realised or, even if substantially realised, that they will have the expected effect on the Company, its business or operations.

*** *** *** ***

For further enquiries, please contact:

Ms. Cui Liu

Media & Public Relations

CNOOC Limited

Tel: +86-10-8452-6641

Fax: +86-10-8452-1441

E-mail: [email protected]

Mr. Bunny Lee

Porda Havas International Finance Communications Group

Tel: +852 3150 6707

Fax: +852 3150 6728

E-mail: cnooc.hk@pordahavas.com

SOURCE CNOOC Limited
Inaugural Bitcoin Investor Day : DeFi Technologies' subsidiary Reflexivity Research is hosting its inaugural Bitcoin Investor Day on March 22nd, 2024 , in New York City , aimed at bridging the power of traditional finance with the innovation of Bitcoin .





: Technologies' subsidiary Reflexivity Research is hosting its inaugural Investor on , in , aimed at bridging the power of traditional finance with the innovation of . Event Highlights and Participation: The event, moderated by Anthony Pompliano , co-founder of Reflexivity, will feature discussions on Bitcoin 's future in traditional and institutional finance, with speakers like Cathie Wood , Anthony Scaramucci , and Mike Novogratz , targeting institutional investors, capital allocators, and entrepreneurs.

TORONTO, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - DeFi Technologies Inc. (the "Company" or "DeFi Technologies") (NEO: DEFI) (GR: RB9) (OTC: DEFTF), a crypto native technology company that pioneers the convergence of traditional capital markets with the world of decentralised finance ("DeFi"), is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, Reflexivity Research, will be hosting its inaugural Bitcoin Investor Day. This premier event is set to take place on Friday, March 22nd from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM EST in New York City.

The Bitcoin Investor Day, orchestrated by Reflexivity Research, aims to assemble hundreds of institutional investors, capital allocators, and forward-thinking entrepreneurs. The day-long event, moderated by the co-founder of Reflexivity, Anthony Pompliano, promises a lineup of top-tier speakers, unmatched networking opportunities, and a series of profound discussions on the future of Bitcoin in the realms of traditional and institutional finance.

Reflecting on the importance of insightful discourse, the event will feature a stellar lineup of speakers, including Cathie Wood of ARK Invest, Anthony Scaramucci of SkyBridge Capital, Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital, and many other executives from the digital asset sector.

Bitcoin Investor Day will be in New York, New York, with doors opening at 9:30 AM. The event schedule promises a full day of engaging programming, culminating in a closing happy hour at 5 PM. Interested parties are encouraged to secure their spots promptly, as tickets are priced at $50.00. Registration details and additional information can be found on the event's official webpage .

DeFi Technologies and Reflexivity Research would like to express their sincere thanks to the event's sponsorsCopper, Arch, Amberdata, Valour, Dream Startup Job, and Edenfor their steadfast support and significant contributions, ensuring the Bitcoin Investor Day is poised for success.

About Reflexivity Research LLC

Reflexivity Research LLC is a leading research firm specializing in the creation of high-quality, in-depth research reports for the bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry, empowering investors with valuable insights. Reflexivity Research is a wholly owned subsidiary of DeFi Technologies Inc. ( NEO: DEFI ) ( GR: RB9 ) ( OTC: DEFTF ). For more information please visit https://www.reflexivityresearch.com/

About DeFi Technologies

DeFi Technologies Inc. ( NEO: DEFI ) ( GR: RB9 ) ( OTC: DEFTF ) is a crypto native technology company that pioneers the convergence of traditional capital markets with the world of decentralised finance (DeFi).

With a dedicated focus on industry-leading Web3 technologies, DeFi Technologies aims to provide widespread investor access to the future of finance. Backed by an esteemed team of professionals with extensive experience in financial markets and digital assets, we are committed to revolutionising the way individuals and institutions interact with the evolving financial ecosystem.

Join DeFi Technologies' community on Linkedin and Twitter , and for more details, visit https://defi.tech/

About Valour

Valour Inc. issues exchange traded products (ETPs) that enable retail and institutional investors to access digital assets like Bitcoin in a simple and secure way via their traditional bank account. Established in 2019, Valour is a wholly owned subsidiary of DeFi Technologies Inc. ( NEO: DEFI ) ( GR: RB9 ) ( OTC: DEFTF ).



For more information on Valour, visit https://valour.com

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking information:

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to the benefits of the Acquisition; development and listing of future ETPs; the regulatory environment with respect to the growth and adoption of decentralized finance; the pursuit by DeFi and its subsidiaries of business opportunities; and the merits or potential returns of any such opportunities. 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. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but is not limited the acceptance of Valour exchange traded products by exchanges; growth and development of decentralised finance and cryptocurrency sector; rules and regulations with respect to decentralised finance and cryptocurrency; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. 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 DeFi Technologies Inc.
NEW YORK, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Electronic Warfare Market size is projected to increase by USD 6.36 billion, accelerating at a CAGR of about 5.54% during the forecast period. The electronic warfare market is driven by the increasing importance of CREW (Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device) systems. The CREW systems hold particular significance as they are widely employed by military and law enforcement personnel to safely neutralize RCIEDs (Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Devices). This utilization of CREW systems has led to a substantial reduction in casualties resulting from RCIED attacks. Furthermore, it is crucial to provide comprehensive training for operating CREW systems effectively in order to disrupt the communication links of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices).

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Electronic Warfare Market 2023-2027

The report analyses the market size and growth and provides accurate predictions on the growth of the market. View Free PDF Sample report

Report Coverage Details Page number 177 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 5.54% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 6,361.42 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023(%) 4.81 Regional analysis North America, APAC, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America Performing market contribution North America at 38% Key countries US, China, India, Russia, and the UK

Key Highlights:

The report recognizes the following as some of the key players in the electronic warfare market: Airbus SE, ASELSAN AS, BAE Systems Plc, Cobham Ltd., Elbit Systems Ltd., General Dynamics Corp., Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd., L3Harris Technologies Inc., Leonardo Spa, Lockheed Martin Corp., Mercury Systems Inc., Northrop Grumman Corp., Raytheon Technologies Corp., Saab AB, Sierra Nevada Corp., SRC Inc., Teledyne Technologies Inc., Terma AS, Thales Group, and The Boeing Co.

Electronic Warfare Market is fragmented in nature.

Market to observe 4.81% YOY growth in 2023.

The market trends indicate notable progress in electronic warfare equipment, largely attributed to advancements in algorithms and software. These developments significantly enhance the operational capabilities of electronic warfare systems. Moreover, there is a growing trend of integrating these systems onto various military platforms, spanning land, air, sea, and space.

The issues related to classifying emitters is a challenge in the electronic warfare market, particularly in densely packed electromagnetic tactical environments.

The report also covers information on the upcoming trends and challenges. Explore detail information by purchasing report

Key Segments

The market is segmented by Application (Support, Protection, and Attack), Platform (Airborne, Ground, Naval, and Space), and Geography (North America, APAC, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America).

The support segment is expected to experience significant growth during the forecast period. Electronic support (ES) encompasses actions that are under the direct control of operational commanders or operators. These actions aid in identifying threats, selecting targets, avoiding threats, and guiding munitions. The data generated, such as the frequency, bandwidth, and modulation of incoming threats, can be valuable for long-term operational planning. Additionally, when combined with ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) data, this ES information can enhance the situational awareness of aircrew members during contingency operations.

Get a glance at the market contribution of the segments, Request Free Sample report now

Analyst Review

In the contemporary geopolitical scenario, border disputes have become intricate challenges that nations face. As a result, the demand for sophisticated defense mechanisms such as modern warfare and advanced electronic warfare systems has surged. The Electronic Warfare (EW) market plays a pivotal role in addressing these concerns, offering a spectrum of solutions encompassing multilayered defensive systems, cutting-edge military hardware, and intricate electromagnetic systems.

At the forefront of this technological evolution is the advent of cognitive electronic warfare empowered by artificial intelligence and intricate neural networks. As nations invest significantly in enhancing their defense capabilities, the market dynamics are witnessing a transformation. Various international companies have emerged as key market players, providing diverse solutions and paving the way for lucrative business opportunities.

The sea segment is a crucial arena for electronic warfare, with a focus on securing naval vessels through innovative solutions. The Naval vessels equipped with state-of-the-art electromagnetic solutions are pivotal in ensuring maritime security. Organizations such as the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) closely monitor military expenditure, offering insights into global defense trends.

The United States, as a major player in the international defense landscape, dedicates a substantial portion of its budget to US defense expenditure, emphasizing the significance of electronic warfare capabilities. The integration of advanced technologies, such as the MH-60R helicopter and Gallium Nitride based monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), underscores the commitment to continuous research and development in the electronic warfare domain.

The EW market is not confined to national boundaries; it thrives on collaboration with international companies that contribute to the evolution of cutting-edge technologies. The market's dynamism is further underscored by the interplay of factors influencing market dynamics. As nations strive to stay ahead in the global security paradigm, the EW market stands as a testament to innovation and adaptability, providing solutions that address the complexities of modern defense challenges.

Request Free Sample report now

Market Overview

The Electronic Warfare (EW) market is witnessing substantial growth due to increasing tensions over border disputes worldwide. Modern warfare strategies heavily rely on advanced electronic warfare systems to gain an edge on the battlefield. Nations are investing heavily in multilayered defensive systems to protect their territories, emphasizing the importance of robust military hardware. Furthermore, the development of sophisticated electromagnetic systems and cognitive electronic warfare technologies has become crucial in countering evolving threats. As adversaries continue to enhance their capabilities, integration of artificial intelligence in EW systems is becoming more prevalent, enhancing their effectiveness. The EW market is poised for significant expansion as nations prioritize defense capabilities in an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape.

Request Free Sample report now

Related Reports:

Cognitive Electronic Warfare System Market: The cognitive electronic warfare system market share is expected to increase to USD 632.24 million from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 20%.

DRFM Market: The DRFM market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.07% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 559.21 million.

Table of Contents:

Executive Summary Market Landscape Market Sizing Historic Market Sizes Five Forces Analysis Market Segmentation by Application Market Segmentation by Platform Market Segmentation by Geography Customer Landscape Geographic Landscape Drivers, Challenges, & Trends Company Landscape Company Analysis Appendix

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contacts

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
DUBLIN, March 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Collateralized Loan Obligation Market: Analysis By Value, By BWIC Value, By Issuance, By Sector, By Rating, By Type, By Investor Base, By Region Size and Trends with Impact of COVID-19 and Forecast up to 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global CLO market was valued at US$1.26 trillion in 2022 and is expected to reach US$2.71 trillion by 2028. A collateralized loan obligation (CLO) is a structured financial product that pools together a diversified portfolio of corporate loans and packages them into different tranches of securities. These tranches, varying in risk and return profiles, are sold to investors. The US issuance reached US$136.82 billion in 2022. On the other hand, the Europe CLO market issuance reached US$27.64 billion by the end of 2022.



Looking ahead, the CLO market is expected to continue its growth trajectory for several reasons. The ongoing search for yield in a prolonged low-rate environment is likely to persist, sustaining investor interest in CLOs. As economic conditions improve, the credit quality of underlying loans may strengthen, further boosting investor confidence. The maturation of global CLO markets and the establishment of regulatory frameworks contribute to increased market stability and attractiveness.

Additionally, continued innovation in CLO structures, including the incorporation of technology and the adaptation to evolving market trends, positions the CLO market for ongoing growth. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of approx. 14% during the forecasted period of 2023-2028.



Market Segmentation Analysis:

By Sector: The technology segment held the highest share of the market. Technology companies often exhibit strong fundamentals and resilience, making them attractive to investors seeking high returns in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. The sector's transformative impact on various industries and its role in driving economic advancement contributes to the positive outlook for CLO investments.



By Region: The US held the highest share in the global CLO market and is expected to be the dominant region in the forthcoming years. The maturity of the US CLO market, compared to other countries, can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, the US has a well-established and diverse financial ecosystem with a long history of structured finance. The legal and regulatory framework in the US is conducive to the creation and management of complex financial instruments like CLOs. Additionally, the US has a large and dynamic corporate sector, providing ample opportunities for the origination of leveraged loans that form the basis of CLO portfolios.



By BWIC: Investors utilize BWIC platforms to optimize their portfolios, adjust risk exposures, or capitalize on market opportunities. The growth is fueled by the desire for more efficient CLO trading mechanisms, providing a valuable avenue for market participants to navigate the complexities of the CLO market. The US CLO BWIC market has been further analysed based on the ratings.



By Type: IG CLOs are considered lower-risk and typically have a higher credit quality compared to Non-IG CLOs. The investment in IG CLOs is growing in the US due to the appeal of stable, higher-rated assets, attracting risk-averse investors seeking more conservative fixed-income options. In a low-interest-rate environment, the pursuit of yield has driven interest in Non-IG and EQ CLOs, while IG CLOs continue to attract investors prioritizing credit quality and stability in their portfolios.



By Rating: CLOs receive credit ratings from rating agencies, with AAA being the highest rating indicating the least credit risk. The demand for AAA-rated CLOs is higher than for Equity CLOs due to their superior credit quality and lower risk.



By Investor Base: The Bank segment held the highest share in the US's AAA-rated CLO market in 2022. On the other hand, Asset Manager, Insurance & Pension held the largest share in the US's Equity CLO market.



Market Dynamics:

Growth Drivers: The global CLO market growth is predicted to be supported by numerous growth drivers such as growing leveraged loan market, growing private debt, increase in TRACE trading, narrowing bid/ask spread, high comparative risk-adjusted returns, low default rates, favorable government regulations, diversification benefits, increasing risk appetite and investor confidence, and many other factors. As the leveraged loan market expands, it provides a larger pool of assets for CLO issuances.

This growth is particularly influential for CLO managers, who can access a diverse set of loans to construct portfolios with varying risk and return profiles. The demand for leveraged loans as CLO collateral contributes to the creation of more CLOs, attracting investors seeking exposure to higher-yielding debt instruments. The symbiotic relationship between the leveraged loan and CLO markets highlights how the expansion of one positively influences the growth and vibrancy of the other, creating opportunities for both issuers and investors in the structured finance landscape.



Challenges: The market growth could be negatively impacted by various challenges such as economic policy uncertainty, liquidity risk, complexity and understanding.



Trends: The market is projected to grow at a fast pace during the forecast period, due to various latest trends such as increasing exposure to SOFR loans, increasing adoption of innovative technologies, increasing demand for ESG-compliant CLOs, globalization of CLO market, innovation in CLO structure, increasing focus on middle market, etc. In CLO market, technology solutions have emerged as a vital catalyst in mitigating obstacles (such as identifying attractive investment opportunities, navigating reinvestment period constraints, balancing risk and return, etc.) and making CLO management easier and fund managers more effective.



Competitive Landscape:



The global CLO market is competitive in nature which means there are numerous asset managers and financial institutions actively involved in structuring, managing, and issuing CLOs. Major financial institutions, investment banks, and specialized asset management firms often compete to attract investors and participate in CLO transactions.

The key players in the global CLO market are:

Morgan Stanley

Prudential Financial

BlackRock

Apollo Global Management

Ares Management

MassMutual

Conning,

HPS Investment Partners

Brigade Capital Management

Neuberger Berman

CIFC Asset Management

Blackstone

CLO market players employ various strategies to increase their market share, including proactive portfolio management, strategic client relationships, and innovative deal structuring. Moreover, several partnerships and initiatives have been undertaken by CLO market players to help increase CLO market growth. F



Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Introduction

2.1 Collateralized Loan Obligation (CLO): An Overview



3. Global Market Analysis

3.1 Global CLO Market: An Analysis

3.2 Global CLO Market: Sectors Analysis



4. Regional Market Analysis

4.1 The US CLO Market: An Analysis

4.2 Europe CLO Market: An Analysis



5. Impact of COVID-19



6. Market Dynamics

6. Market Dynamics

6.1 Growth Drivers

Growing Leveraged Loan Market

Growing Private Debt

Increase in TRACE Trading

Narrowing Bid/Ask Spread

High Comparative Risk-adjusted Returns

Low Default Rates

Favorable Government Regulations

Diversification Benefits

Increasing Risk Appetite and Investor Confidence

6.2 Challenges

Economic Policy Uncertainty

Liquidity Risk

Complexity and Understanding

6.3 Market Trends

Increasing Exposure to SOFR Loans

Increasing Adoption of Innovative Technologies

Rising Demand for ESG-Compliant CLOs

Globalization of CLO Market

Innovation in CLO Structure

Growing Focus on Middle Market

7. Competitive Landscape

7.1 Global CLO Market Players: Competitive Analysis

7.2 Global CLO Market Players by Asset under Management



8. Company Profiles

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/qxgfvv

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
WASHINGTON, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Fannie Mae (OTCQB: FNMA) priced Connecticut Avenue Securities (CAS) Series 2024-R02, an approximately $751 million note offering that represents Fannie Mae's second CAS REMIC transaction of the year. CAS is Fannie Mae's benchmark issuance program designed to share credit risk on its single-family conventional guaranty book of business. Year to date, Fannie Mae has issued approximately $1.57 billion of notes under the CAS program.

The reference pool for CAS Series 2024-R02 consists of approximately 56,000 single-family mortgage loans with an outstanding unpaid principal balance of approximately $18.6 billion. The reference pool includes collateral with loan-to-value ratios of 60.01 percent to 80.00 percent, which were acquired between April 2023 and July 2023. The loans included in this transaction are fixed-rate, generally 30-year term, fully amortizing mortgages and were underwritten using rigorous credit standards and enhanced risk controls.

Fannie Mae will retain a portion of the 1M-1, 1M-2, 1B-1, and 1B-2 tranches, and initially will retain the full 1B-3H first-loss tranche.

Class Offered Amount ($MM) Pricing Level Expected Ratings (S&P/DBRS) 1M-1 $256.326 30-day Average SOFR plus 110 bps A (sf) / A (high) (sf) 1M-2 $229.809 30-day Average SOFR plus 180 bps BBB+ (sf) / BBB (high) (sf) 1B-1 $176.776 30-day Average SOFR plus 250 bps BB+ (sf) / BBB (low) (sf) 1B-2 $88.388 30-day Average SOFR plus 370 bps B+ (sf) / BB (sf)

Wells Fargo Securities, LLC ("Wells Fargo") is the lead structuring manager and joint bookrunner. StoneX Financial Inc. ("StoneX") is the co-lead manager and joint bookrunner. Co-managers are BofA Securities, Inc. ("BofA"), Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. ("Cantor"), Citigroup Global Markets Inc. ("Citigroup"), and Morgan Stanley & Co, LLC ("Morgan Stanley"). Selling group members are Minority and Service-Disabled Veteran-owned Academy Securities, Inc. and African-American-owned CastleOak Securities, L.P.

With the completion of this transaction, Fannie Mae will have brought 63 CAS deals to market, issued over $66 billion in notes, and transferred a portion of the credit risk to private investors on over $2.1 trillion in single-family mortgage loans, measured at the time of the transaction.

To promote transparency and to help credit investors evaluate our securities and the CAS program, Fannie Mae provides ongoing, robust disclosure data, as well as access to news, resources, and analytics through its credit risk transfer webpages. This includes our innovative Data Dynamics tool that enables market participants to interact with and analyze CAS deals that are currently outstanding in the market and Fannie Mae's historical loan dataset. Our EU Resources and UK Resources webpages are designed to help European Union and UK institutional investors, as well as those managing funds subject to EU/UK regulations.

In addition to our flagship CAS program, Fannie Mae continues to transfer mortgage credit risk through its Credit Insurance Risk Transfer (CIRT) reinsurance program.

About Connecticut Avenue Securities

CAS REMIC notes are issued by a bankruptcy-remote trust. The amount of periodic principal and ultimate principal paid by Fannie Mae is determined by the performance of a large and diverse reference pool. For more information on individual CAS transactions, visit our credit risk transfer webpage.

About Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae advances equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing for millions of people across America. We enable the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and drive responsible innovation to make homebuying and renting easier, fairer, and more accessible. To learn more, visit:

fanniemae.com | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Blog

Fannie Mae Newsroom

https://www.fanniemae.com/newsroom

Photo of Fannie Mae

https://www.fanniemae.com/resources/img/about-fm/fm-building.tif

Fannie Mae Resource Center

1-800-2FANNIE

Statements in this release regarding the company's future CAS transactions are forward-looking. Actual results may be materially different as a result of market conditions or other factors listed in "Risk Factors" or "Forward-Looking Statements" in the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. This release does not constitute an offer or sale of any security. Before investing in any Fannie Mae issued security, potential investors should review the disclosure for such security and consult their own investment advisors.

SOURCE Fannie Mae
INDIANAPOLIS, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Ratings (FSR) of A (Excellent) and Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of "a" for Renaissance Life & Health Insurance Company of America, Indianapolis, Ind. and Renaissance Life & Health Insurance Company of New York, Binghamton, N.Y. With an effective date of January 24, 2024, the outlook for these ratings is stable.

We are proud that for the ninth consecutive year, AM Best has affirmed our A (Excellent) Financial Strength Ratings. "This designation reflects our strength and stability and is a testament to the diversification of our portfolio, and recent digital transformation to create a seamless customer experience," said Diana Steinhoff, LMHC, President and CEO of Renaissance. "The company's significant investment in technology has reinvigorated our commitment to innovation and making benefits easier for individual members, employers and brokers. With several new initiatives underway, we're excited about continuing to apply the latest technology to enhance our service model further."

The Renaissance product portfolio includes dental, vision, life and disability plans. It offers customized ancillary insurance coverage nationwide and serves individuals and groups, with a special emphasis on small group employer segments of 2 to 250.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For the latest ratings, access www.ambest.com .

About Renaissance

Renaissance Life & Health Insurance Company of America and its sister company Renaissance Life & Health Insurance Company of New York offer ancillary benefits for employer groups and individuals nationwide. Dental, vision, life and disability insurance comprise the core line of the companies' ancillary benefits solutions. With headquarters in Indianapolis, Ind., Renaissance companies are focused on providing their members and partners with outstanding products and services. Visit renaissancebenefits.com , and find us on Facebook , LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter) .

SOURCE Renaissance Life & Health Insurance Company of America
DUBLIN, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Hemophilia Market (By Treatment Regimen, Type & Therapy): Insights & Forecast with Potential Impact of COVID-19 (2024-2028)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The latest comprehensive analysis of the global hemophilia market forecasts a significant growth trajectory, with an expectation to reach US$17.76 billion by 2028. This positive surge represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.81% over the 2024-2028 period.

The current expansion in the hemophilia market is primarily driven by a suite of influential factors. Highlighting these are the increasing expenditure within the healthcare sector, a noted rise in the identified patient volume with hemophilia, and a growing emphasis on prophylactic treatments over on-demand options. Moreover, demographic shifts, notably a rise in the male populationthe gender predominantly affected by hemophiliaare contributing to the upward trend, alongside supportive government initiatives designed to improve patient outcomes.

However, the market is not without challenges. These include the high costs associated with hemophilia treatments and a degree of resistance among patients and healthcare providers to switch to newer, potentially more effective therapies. In response, the market is expected to witness stimulating trends, such as the development of groundbreaking hemophilia treatments and the increasing prominence of gene therapy as a viable treatment option.

Market Segmentation Insights

In terms of treatment regimens, the market divides into prophylaxis and on-demand therapies. Prophylaxis therapy continues to account for the lion's share of the market, emphasizing its emergence as a standard care protocol for those living with hemophilia. When dissected by type, hemophilia A remains the more prevalent form, thus dominating the market scene. Additionally, replacement therapy currently takes precedence over Immune Tolerance Induction (ITI) therapy, reflecting the widespread use of this traditional treatment approach.

The regional analysis of the hemophilia market indicates that North America leads the charge, with Europe and Asia Pacific following suit. This dominant standing of the North American market is fueled by an amalgam of factors, including a higher prevalence of the disorder, greater awareness of treatment methodologies, and a pronounced preference for prophylactic treatments.

Strategic Analysis of Competitive Landscape

The continuously evolving competitive landscape of the global hemophilia market receives detailed attention in the report. Brief profiles of leading market playersspanning from established pharmaceutical giants to emerging biotech firmsprovide a kaleidoscopic view of strategies, positioning, and potential growth opportunities. The report aims to furnish stakeholders with a rigorous inquiry into the operative dynamics and forecasts of the hemophilia market.

Value to Key Stakeholders

Hemophilia Drugs Manufacturers: For entities involved in the formulation and distribution of hemophilia treatments, this report offers a vital compass charting current market positions and future directions.

For entities involved in the formulation and distribution of hemophilia treatments, this report offers a vital compass charting current market positions and future directions. API Suppliers: Manufacturers and distributors of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) will find the segmented market analysis crucial for strategic planning and opportunity assessment.

Manufacturers and distributors of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) will find the segmented market analysis crucial for strategic planning and opportunity assessment. End Users (Hospital, Medical Centers, Clinical Institutes): Healthcare facilities and professionals stand to gain from insights into the evolving hemophilia treatment paradigms and patient care advancements.

Healthcare facilities and professionals stand to gain from insights into the evolving hemophilia treatment paradigms and patient care advancements. Healthcare Consulting Firms: Consultancies dedicated to healthcare can leverage this report's findings to advise clients with the most current and comprehensive market knowledge.

Consultancies dedicated to healthcare can leverage this report's findings to advise clients with the most current and comprehensive market knowledge. Investment Banks: Financial institutions will find the report's projections invaluable for guiding investment strategies in the biopharmaceutical sector.

Financial institutions will find the report's projections invaluable for guiding investment strategies in the biopharmaceutical sector. Government Bodies & Regulating Authorities: Policymakers and regulating entities can utilize the in-depth market insights to inform policy and regulatory frameworks.

Key Topics Covered:



1. Market Overview

1.1 Hemophilia

1.2 Types of Hemophilia

1.3 Signs & Symptoms

1.4 Diagnosis of Hemophilia

1.5 Treatment of Hemophilia



2. Impact of COVID-19

2.1 Impact on Global Economy

2.2 Global Prevalence of COVID-19

2.3 Impact on Healthcare Spending

2.4 Post-COVID Scenario



3. Global Market Analysis

3.1 Global Hemophilia Market by Value

3.2 Global Hemophilia Market Forecast by Value

3.3 Global Hemophilia Market by Treatment Regimen

3.4 Global Hemophilia Market by Type

3.4.1 Global Hemophilia A Market Forecast by Value

3.4.2 Global Hemophilia A Market by Severity

3.4.3 Global Hemophilia A Market by Treatment Type

3.4.4 Global Hemophilia A Market by Treatment Regimen

3.4.5 Global Hemophilia A Market Value by Treatment Regimen

3.4.6 Global Hemophilia B Market Forecast by Value

3.4.7 Global Hemophilia B Market by Severity

3.4.8 Global Hemophilia B Market by Treatment Type

3.4.9 Global Hemophilia B Market by Treatment Regimen

3.4.10 Global Hemophilia B Market Value by Treatment Regimen

3.5 Global Hemophilia Market by Therapy

3.5.1 Global Hemophilia Replacement Therapy Market Forecast by Value

3.5.2 Global Hemophilia ITI Therapy Market Forecast by Value

3.6 Global Hemophilia Market by Region



4. Regional Market Analysis

4.1 North America

4.1.1 North America Hemophilia Market by Value

4.1.2 North America Hemophilia Market Forecast by Value

4.1.3 The US Hemophilia Market by Value

4.1.4 The US Hemophilia Market Forecast by Value

4.1.5 The US Hemophilia Market by Type

4.1.6 The US Hemophilia A Market Forecast by Value

4.1.7 The US Hemophilia A Treated Patient Volume Forecast

4.1.8 The US Hemophilia A Severe Patients on Prophylactic Therapy

4.1.9 The US Hemophilia A Severe Patients on On-Demand Therapy

4.1.10 The US Hemophilia A Mild to Moderate Patients on Prophylaxis Therapy

4.1.11 The US Hemophilia A Mild to Moderate Patients on On-Demand Therapy

4.1.12 The US Hemophilia B Market Forecast by Value

4.1.13 The US Hemophilia B Treated Patients Volume Forecast

4.1.14 The US Hemophilia B Severe Patients on Prophylaxis Therapy

4.1.15 The US Hemophilia B Severe Patients on On-Demand Therapy

4.1.16 The US Hemophilia B Mild to Moderate Patients on Prophylaxis Therapy

4.1.17 The US Hemophilia B Mild to Moderate Patients on On-Demand Therapy

4.2 Europe

4.2.1 Europe Hemophilia Market by Value

4.2.2 Europe Hemophilia Market Forecast by Value

4.2.3 Europe Hemophilia Patient Volume Forecast

4.2.4 Europe Hemophilia A Patient Volume Forecast

4.2.5 Europe Hemophilia B Patient Volume Forecast

4.3 Asia Pacific

4.3.1 Asia Pacific Hemophilia Market by Value

4.3.2 Asia Pacific Hemophilia Market Forecast by Value

4.4 ROW

4.4.1 ROW Hemophilia Market by Value

4.4.2 ROW Hemophilia Market Forecast by Value



5. Market Dynamics

5.1 Growth Drivers

5.1.1 Increased Focus on Prophylactic Treatment

5.1.2 Increasing Diagnosis Rate

5.1.3 Rise in Global Healthcare Expenditure

5.1.4 Rise in Male Population

5.1.5 Favourable Government Initiatives

5.2 Key Trends & Development

5.2.1 Shifting Focus to Extended Half Life Therapies

5.2.2 Development of Novel Hemophilia Treatments

5.2.3 Popularity of Gene Therapy

5.3 Challenges

5.3.1 High Cost of Treatment

5.3.2 Reluctance to Switch to New Therapies



6. Competitive Landscape

6.1 Global Market

6.1.1 Global Hemophilia A Market Share by Company

6.1.2 Global Hemophilia A Factor VIII Products Market Share by Company

6.1.3 Global Hemophilia A FVIII Gene Therapy Market Share Forecast

6.1.4 Global Hemophilia B Market Share by Company

6.1.5 Global Hemophilia B Factor IX Products Market Share Forecast

6.1.6 Global Hemophilia B Factor IX Gene Therapy Market Share Forecast

6.2 The US Market

6.2.1 The US Hemophilia A Market Share by Company

6.3 Europe Market

6.3.1 Europe Hemophilia A Market Share by Company



7. Company Profiles

7.1 Pfizer Inc.

7.2 Bayer Group

7.3 Sanofi S.A.

7.4 Takeda Pharmaceutical Company

7.5 Novo Nordisk

7.6 CSL Limited

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/4w7pat

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
CHAMPLIN, Minn., March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Granite Mortgage is excited to welcome Josh McCarthy as Senior Vice President of Sales. Josh brings over 20 years of sales leadership experience and a dedication to excellence that will drive growth and innovation within our company.

With experience running sales divisions, mentoring staff, and guiding clients through the home buying process, Josh was the ideal choice to join the Granite Team and further enhance our internal sales processes.

McCarthy

In his new role, Josh will lead sales operations, introduce new products and technology, and ensure that Granite Mortgage continues to deliver excellent service and tailored financial solutions.

"I was drawn to Granite Mortgage by their transparent approach, growth mindset, and a culture that feels like family. Anyone who comes to work here will feel like they can affect change and have access to the leaders and decision makers," said Josh.

As a family-owned, local Minnesota company, Granite Mortgage provides nimbleness, employee empowerment, honesty, and the ability to leverage a bank charter to offer more options to loan officers and their borrowers.

We are confident that Josh's leadership will bring immense value to Granite Mortgage, and we look forward to our clients' continued success under his guidance. Please join us in welcoming Josh McCarthy to the Granite Mortgage team!

About Granite Mortgage:

Granite Mortgage is a division of Granite Bank, a leading local community bank serving Cold Spring, Champlin, and Spicer, MN, for over 120 years. Known for our integrity and innovative thinking, we strive to provide the best financial solutions for our clients. Visit our website at www.granite-mortgage.com for more information. To find out more about working at Granite Mortgage, please reach out to Jacob Reiter at [email protected]

SOURCE Granite Bank
A Withings survey reveals the urgent need to raise awareness.

Inequalities also affect health, particularly cardiovascular health: they lead to under-diagnosis and poorer care for women, resulting in avoidable excess mortality.

45.9% of women among Withings US users1 say they put their loved ones' health before their own.2

40.4% of women among Withings US users are unaware of female symptoms of heart attack (nausea, epigastric pain, weakness, fatigue) and would be unable to diagnose it.3

25% of women say they don't know what to do in the event of a heart attack, and this rises to 28.7% for women aged between 30 and 504.

Over 1/3 of respondents were unaware of the leading cause of death for women: cardiovascular disease5.

A quarter (24.4%) of women over 55 do not measure their blood pressure regularly, despite the higher risk factors after menopause6

47% of women don't seek medical attention despite cardiovascular symptoms7

62% of women with high blood pressure are not diagnosed8, and only 20% receive appropriate and effective treatment.9

BOSTON, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardiovascular disease kills one women every 33 seconds in the USA10. Yet 80% of these deaths could be avoided11 through early diagnosis and awareness of symptoms and risk factors specific to women. To help reduce this excess mortality, Withings is committed to raising awareness via an exclusive survey, and providing the means to tackle their main cause: hypertension, which accounts for the majority of cardiovascular deaths.12

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in women

Withings 2024 Women's Global Heart Health Study

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women, ahead of breast cancer, and remains surprisingly unknown and earning its name as "the silent killer". Yet 50% of women are unaware of their cardiovascular risk.13

Withings survey warns of inequalities in cardiovascular health

45.9% of American women surveyed by Withings admit to putting their loved ones' health before their own. 47% of women say they do not consult a doctor if they experience worrying cardiovascular symptoms (breathlessness, fatigue, pain).14

Health philosopher Mathilde Chevalier-Pruvo points out that "Gender inequalities have consequences for health. Women have been culturally taught to take care of others instead of taking care of themselves. They don't have time for themselves and their health. Their delay in consulting a doctor results in a delay in diagnosis estimated at four years on average, with an enormous loss of chance as to the effectiveness of treatment."

Hypertension: a silent killer that's all too commonplace

The delay in diagnosis is particularly marked in the case of hypertension: 62% of women with high blood pressure are unaware that they have it.15 Only 20% of them receive appropriate and effective treatment.16 Treatments have been validated in clinical studies focusing on male cohorts, and are less suited to female physiology.17

"Hypertension is the leading cause of cardiovascular pathologies18 (such as stroke, myocardial infarction, heart failure and fibrillation) and therefore the leading cause of mortality," as Cardiologist Stephane Laurent points out. "Why is it so? Because it silently damages the entire cardiovascular system: in response to increased pressure, the heart thickens and arteries become stiffer, disrupting the functioning of sensitive organs such as the kidney, heart muscle or brain, leading to death or serious cognitive or motor sequelae.

Withings acts and alerts on hypertension and calls for progress on 4 concrete initiatives:

It is essential that every woman should be able to monitor her blood pressure regularly, at a pace suited to her risk factors, using home self-measurement in real life, to avoid the white-coat effect and to track variations during the day, which are greater in women.



Several recent studies show that the association between rising blood pressure and the onset of cardiovascular pathologies (stroke, heart attack in particular) is much greater in women than in men, and starts at lower blood pressure levels. These studies therefore suggest the need to define specific blood pressure recommendations for women19 in order to better control their risk of cardiovascular complications. 20 21 22 23



Women's specific risk factors for hypertension need to be taken into account: mental workload and stress (a cardiovascular risk factor24 that is still too little known by the general public, yet a major one in women) and hormonal impregnation (particularly during pregnancy, menopause and when taking certain hormonal contraceptives).25



We need to raise awareness of women's symptoms of the pathologies to which hypertension can lead (in particular, the symptoms of infarction in women26: nausea, epigastric pain, fatigue, shortness of breath), and encourage women to seek medical advice without delay if they have the slightest doubt.

Withings and cardiovascular monitoring in women: the need for a real-life, longitudinal approach

Monitoring cardiovascular health and hypertension involves tracking a range of biomarkers. In addition to blood pressure, they may include: heart rate, ECG, arterial stiffness, activity score, and body composition including body fat percentage. This monitoring must be carried out in real life and continuously, throughout the day. This is necessary both to avoid the white-coat effect that can unduly increase measurements in the doctor's office, and because women's blood pressure is more labile than men's, and varies more over the course of the day.

However, it's important not to add another element to an already excessive mental load. That's why Withings is convinced of the importance of offering non-intrusive devices that fit seamlessly into everyday lifestyles: watches, scales and blood pressure monitors. All the measurements collected provide longitudinal, real-life data. This data is essential for advancing clinical research into female hypertension, a field in which Withings is actively involved, collaborating with hospitals and university centers around the world.

To find out more about the epidemiology and physiology of cardiovascular disease in women, sources and studies, doctor and patient testimonials via our dedicated page on Withings.com.

Withings 2024 Women's Global Heart Health Survey Methodology:

This study was carried out on a sample of 10,824 women aged between 18 and 90 living in France (2,697), the USA (2,323) and Germany (2,584). Data was collected between February 28 and March 3 via an online questionnaire sent to female members of the Withings user base.

About Withings

Withings, world leader in connected health, integrates powerful, clinically-validated health scans into everyday objects (watches, scales, blood pressure monitors, sleep sensors, thermometers) to provide accurate, clinical, real-life health monitoring for millions of users worldwide.

A pioneer in real-life cardiovascular monitoring, Withings offers hybrid connected watches that track heart rate and its variations day and night, perform medical-grade electrocardiograms to detect pathologies such as atrial fibrillation, and monitor blood oxygenation. Connected scales, invented by Withings, measure not only body composition, but also exclusive biomarkers such as pulse wave velocity, which attests to cardiovascular age and warns of arterial stiffness caused in particular by hypertension. Its connected blood pressure monitors enable home monitoring of blood pressure trends, by sharing reliable and exhaustive measurement reports with a doctor, and can integrate a stethoscope for home detection of valvulopathy, which is more frequent in cases of high blood pressure.

To find out more, visit withings.com and contact us on Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly Twitter).

1 Women among Withings US users surveyed by Withings as part of the Withings 2024 Women's Global Heart Health Study. The methodology note is detailed at the end of the document.

2 German and American women among Withings users prioritize self-care to a greater extent, while remaining at an alarmingly low level of self-care: 41.7% of women in Germany and 46% of women in the USA say they prioritize caring for others. In Withings 2024 Women's Global Heart Health Study.

3 In Germany and the United States, the figures remain problematic but are better: 40.4% and 37% respectively. Withings 2024 Women's Global Heart Health Study.

4 Withings 2024 Women's Global Heart Health Study.

5 Withings 2024 Women's Global Heart Health Study.

6 Withings 2024 Women's Global Heart Health Study.

7 Mosca L, Mochari-Greenberger H, Dolor RJ, Newby LK, Robb KJ. Twelve-year follow-up of American women's awareness of cardiovascular disease risk and barriers to heart health. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2010; 3:120127.

8 Worldwide trends in hypertension prevalence and progress in treatment and control from 1990 to 2019: a pooled analysis of 1201 population-representative studies with 104 million participants, The Lancet, 2021; 398 : 957-80.

9 Worldwide trends in hypertension prevalence and progress in treatment and control from 1990 to 2019: a pooled analysis of 1201 population-representative studies with 104 million participants, Lancet 2021; 398: 95780

10 National Center for Health Statistics. Multiple Cause of Death 20182021 on CDC WONDER Database . Accessed February 2, 2023.

11 World Health Organization, European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable diseases,  Cardiovascular diseases .

12 Connelly PJ, Currie G, Delles C. Sex Differences in the Prevalence, Outcomes and Management of Hypertension. Curr Hypertens Rep. 2022 Jun;24(6):185-192.

13 Mosca L, Mochari-Greenberger H, Dolor RJ, Newby LK, Robb KJ. Twelve-year follow-up of American women's awareness of cardiovascular disease risk and barriers to heart health. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2010; 3:120127.

14 Mosca L, Mochari-Greenberger H, Dolor RJ, Newby LK, Robb KJ. Twelve-year follow-up of American women's awareness of cardiovascular disease risk and barriers to heart health. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2010; 3:120127.

15 Worldwide trends in hypertension prevalence and progress in treatment and control from 1990 to 2019: a pooled analysis of 1201 population-representative studies with 104 million participants, The Lancet, 2021; 398 : 957-80.

16 Worldwide trends in hypertension prevalence and progress in treatment and control from 1990 to 2019: a pooled analysis of 1201 population-representative studies with 104 million participants, Lancet 2021; 398: 95780

17 Dougherty AH. Gender balance in cardiovascular research: importance to women's health. Tex Heart Inst J. 2011;38(2):148-50.

18 Connelly PJ, Currie G, Delles C. Sex Differences in the Prevalence, Outcomes and Management of Hypertension. Curr Hypertens Rep. 2022 Jun;24.

19 All current hypertension guidelines are gender mixed.

20 Hongwei Ji, Teemu J. Niiranen, Florian Rader, Mir Henglin, Andy Kim, Joseph E. Ebinger, Brian Claggett, C. Noel Bairey Merz and Susan Cheng, Sex Differences in Blood Pressure Associations With Cardiovascular Outcomes, Circulation, 2021;143:761763.

21 Wills AK, Lawlor DA, Matthews FE, Sayer AA, Bakra E, Ben-Shlomo Y, Benzeval M, Brunner E, Cooper R, Kivimaki M, et al. Life course trajectories of systolic blood pressure using longitudinal data from eight UK cohorts. PLoS Med. 2011;8:e1000440. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000440.

22 Ji H, Kim A, Ebinger JE, Niiranen TJ, Claggett BL, Bairey Merz CN, Cheng S. Sex differences in blood pressure trajectories over the life course. JAMA Cardiol. 2020;5:1926. doi: 10.1001/jamacardio.2019.5306.

23 Chapman N; Ching SM, Konradi AO; Nuyt AM; Khan T; Twumasi-Ankrah B; Cho EJ; Schutte AE; Touyz RM; Steckelings UM; Brewster LM. Arterial Hypertension in Women: State of the Art and Knowledge Gaps. Hypertension. 2023;80:11401149. DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.122.20448

24 Kulkarni S, O'Farrell I, Erasi M, Kochar MS. Stress and hypertension. WMJ. 1998 Dec;97(11):34-8.

25Societe Francaise d'HyperTension Arterielle (SFHTA), Expert consensus: HTA, hormones and women, 2019.

26 C. McSweeney, M. Cody, P. O'Sullivan, K. Elberson, D.K. Moser, B.J. Garvin, Women's early warning symptoms of acute myocardial infarction, Circulation, 108 (2003), pp. 2619-2623.

SOURCE Withings
12 month contract focused on the development of new antiviral drugs

Novel candidates to be produced using Kimer Med's broad-spectrum antiviral platform

95% of viral diseases lack an approved antiviral treatment

Download high resolution images here: www.kimermed.co.nz/media

NELSON, New Zealand, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimer Med, a New Zealand-based biotech start-up, today announced it has signed a contract valued at up to USD$750,000 (NZD$1.3 million) with Battelle, the world's largest independent, nonprofit research and development organisation.

The 12 month contract is funded by the United States government through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), and will fall into Battelle's Accelerated Therapeutics for Combating Acute Viral Epidemics programme. The contract is focused on the discovery and development of new antiviral drug candidates for the treatment of alphaviruses.

Spread mostly by infected ticks and mosquitoes, alphaviruses cause significant human and animal disease. Infections that result in encephalitis - inflammation and swelling of the brain - are often fatal and can cause ongoing neurological problems.

There is currently no effective antiviral treatment for alphavirus infection.

"Approved antiviral drugs are currently available for only 11 out of more than 200 viruses that cause widespread sickness, suffering and death in humans," said Kimer Med's CEO, Rick Kiessig.

"Our mission is to change that. We're developing a family of broad-spectrum antivirals capable of treating many of these infections."

"This contract is an important milestone for Kimer Med, as it provides another opportunity to prove the capability of our platform for rapid, broad-spectrum antiviral development," said Kiessig.

Since the company's launch in 2020, Kimer Med has developed antivirals that have shown in vitro efficacy against 11 different viruses, including the priority viruses Dengue (all four serotypes) and Zika.

Their technology holds significant promise to deliver vital broad-spectrum antiviral treatments with a range of applications, including:

Infectious diseases: Half the world's population is at risk from mosquito-borne viral infections for which there are no antiviral treatments available.





Half the world's population is at risk from mosquito-borne viral infections for which there are no antiviral treatments available. Pandemic protection: Vaccines will not be ready and waiting when the next pandemic occurs, but broad-spectrum antivirals can be stockpiled for early protection.





Vaccines will not be ready and waiting when the next pandemic occurs, but broad-spectrum antivirals can be stockpiled for early protection. Military use: Broad-spectrum medical countermeasures to protect military personnel against a range of existing and emerging viral threats.





Broad-spectrum medical countermeasures to protect military personnel against a range of existing and emerging viral threats. Healthcare and First Responders: Vital protection for frontline health workers and other first responders in the event of viral outbreaks, especially when the pathogen is unknown.

"With broad-spectrum antivirals, we have within our grasp the potential to revolutionise the treatment and prevention of viral infections in the way that penicillin did for bacterial infections. We're looking forward to working with such a highly-regarded and well-resourced organisation as Battelle to advance antiviral drug candidates that will be able to treat these alphaviruses, and hopefully a range of other viruses as well," said Kiessig.

About Battelle

Every day, the people of Battelle apply science and technology to solving what matters most. At major technology centers and national laboratories around the world, Battelle conducts research and development, designs and manufactures products, and delivers critical services for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio since its founding in 1929, Battelle serves the national security, health and life sciences, and energy and environmental industries. For more information, visit www.battelle.org.

About Kimer Med

Founded by Rick Kiessig and Phil Oliver in 2020, Kimer Med is a biotech start-up, based in Nelson, New Zealand. Backed by a multi-million dollar seed funding round, the company has designed a platform for the rapid development of novel, broad-spectrum antivirals. Kimer Med launched a Series A capital raise in September 2023 to progress development of their lead antiviral candidate through to Phase 1 clinical trials. For more information, visit www.kimermed.co.nz.

SOURCE Kimer Med
"Great results start with great people," says firm President James S. Farrin.

DURHAM, N.C., March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Law Offices of James Scott Farrin has been selected for the inaugural list of law firms named "Best Companies to Work For" by U.S. News & World Report. Firms are chosen based on criteria including pay and benefits, work-life balance, job stability, physical and psychological comfort, belongingness, and opportunities for professional development.

James Scott Farrin is among only 7% of law firms to be chosen for the list out of all those considered.

To be eligible, firms must have a minimum of 10 U.S.-based reviews on Glassdoor. According to Glassdoor reviews, "the sky is the limit for smart, talented people who pull their weight and put their team first" at the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin. And the firm is committed to its employees' development: "Volunteer work is encouraged, and there are lots of opportunities to grow with the firm if you take advantage of them. I love it here!"

This is another recognition for the firm's work environment after it was previously selected for the Triangle Business Journal's "Best Places to Work" list. Firm President and CEO James S. Farrin has also been honored with a "Diversity & Inclusion Award" from North Carolina and South Carolina Lawyers Weekly for advancing diversity, inclusion, and the dignity of people in the legal profession.

According to firm Founder James S. Farrin, "Great results start with great people. Our employees are talented and dedicated people with strong values. We work together as a high-performance team to try to achieve the best possible results for our clients in a positive atmosphere."

About the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin

The Law Offices of James Scott Farrin is one of the largest personal injury firms in North Carolina and has helped over 65,000 injured people since 1997. Operating from 15 offices in NC and one in SC, many of the firm's 60+ accomplished attorneys are recognized professionals in their fields. The firm focuses on providing quality legal services to as many people as possible in the following practice areas: personal injury, car accidents, workers' compensation, whistleblowing, defective products, eminent domain, mass torts, class actions, and Social Security Disability.

Contact Information:

David Chamberlin

555 S. Mangum Street

Suite 800

Durham, NC 27701

1-866-900-7078

https://www.farrin.com

Offices in Durham (Main), Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro, NC and Greenville, SC. Attorney Michael Shepherd: 555 South Mangum Street, Suite 800, Durham, NC.

SOURCE Law Offices of James Scott Farrin
RESTON, Va., March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), a Fortune 500 innovation leader, was recently awarded a follow-on prime contract to develop and expand the Air Force's Command and Control Incident Management Emergency Response Application (C2IMERA). The single-award contract was awarded by Kessel Run, a division within the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. The contract has a six-month base period of performance with four one-year options and two six-month options. It has a value of $158 million if all options are exercised.

"C2IMERA provides Air Force personnel and installations with secure and resilient information capabilities that are integrated, interoperable, and adaptable," said Mike Rickels, Leidos senior vice president, Decision Advantage Solutions. "Our collaboration with the Air Force in maturing C2IMERA's command and control capability now spans a decade. We look forward to this next step in scaling and evolving the advanced C2IMERA tool to enhance the Air Force's operational advantage."

Under the contract, Leidos will continue to develop C2IMERA and work to expand the system to include all Air Force installations, associated forward operating locations, and contingency locations for command and control and emergency management requirements. This scaling is intended to incorporate an expanded user base, including emergency response services, local governments, and host nations.

C2IMERA is a Leidos-developed, government-owned software application system that provides an integrated composite picture of wing and unit resources for planning, force employment, emergency management, C2 monitoring, and reporting. The Air Force and other stakeholders use C2IMERA for decision advantage in day-to-day operations and across the conflict continuum to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover installations from physical hazards or threats.

Leidos developed C2IMERA at the company's software factories. In 2018, it became the first externally developed program to be integrated into Kessel Run. Leidos has been responsible for C2IMERA's development along with its predecessor product, Unit Command and Control (UC2), since 2014.

Leidos currently supports approximately 25,000 C2IMERA users across 90 locations worldwide.

Learn more about C2IMERA's capabilities and Leidos' development here.

About Leidos

Leidos is a Fortune 500 innovation company rapidly addressing the world's most vexing challenges in national security and health. The company's global workforce of 47,000 collaborates to create smarter technology solutions for customers in heavily regulated industries. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $15.4 billion for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2023. For more information, visit www.leidos.com.

Certain statements in this announcement constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These statements are based on management's current beliefs and expectations and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. These statements are not guarantees of future results or occurrences. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements, or industry results to be different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, the "Risk Factors" set forth in Leidos' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2023, and other such filings that Leidos makes with the SEC from time to time. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Leidos does not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that arise after the date the forward-looking statements were made.

Media Contacts:

Melissa Duenas

(571) 526-6850

[email protected]

Alyssa Pettus

(571) 526-6743

[email protected]

Brandon Ver Velde

(571) 526-6257

[email protected]

SOURCE Leidos Holdings, Inc.
BRIDGEWATER, N.J., March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management has accepted Messer's bid for the Federal Helium System and the company will move forward to the necessary regulatory reviews to acquire the assets.

"Messer is fully committed to the future success of the Helium System, as evidenced by Messer's safe and reliable operation of the System's Cliffside Gas Plant since May 2022," said Elena Skvortsova, President and CEO, Messer Americas.

Messer Bid for Federal Helium Assets Accepted by BLM

The Federal Helium System was auctioned by the General Services Administration (GSA) on January 25, 2024, in accordance with the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013, which required the Bureau of Land Management to sunset its management of the System and follow a statutory disposal process. The Helium System includes helium molecules stored in the caverns in Amarillo, Texas, as well as the Cliffside field, wells and gathering system, the 423-mile-long crude helium pipeline, and additional operational assets.

The accepted bid must now undergo required antitrust review by the Department of Justice. The company will also work with regulators across multiple states to comply with local laws and regulations.

"Messer intends to be a responsible operator and steward of this critical asset for decades to come, continuing to serve the many industries that rely on this vital resource that enables key technology and innovation in multiple sectors of the economy," Skvortsova added.

About Messer



Messer is the largest privately held industrial gas business in the world and a leading industrial and medical gas company in North and South America. Messer offers 125 years of expertise in industrial, medical, specialty and electronics gases. The company delivers quality gases, related services and technology via an extensive production and distribution network. Health and safety, sustainability practices and environmental protection are core Messer values that are embedded in the company's daily operations.

Messer Americas is part of the Messer SE & Co. KGaA, representing an approximately $4.4 billion USD enterprise with presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit: www.messeramericas.com.

SOURCE Messer North America, Inc.
New mortgage brokerage franchise provides homebuyers and refinancers competitive rates and access to local professionals that understand the Florida market

TAMPA, Fla., March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Motto Mortgage, the first-and-only national mortgage brokerage franchise brand in the United States focused on transparency and compliance, has a new office in Tampa, Florida. Motto Mortgage Megastars is now open and serving all markets throughout the Sunshine State.

Motto Mortgage Megastars is a customer-first, full-service mortgage brokerage established by Iulia Hut, who will also serve as the mortgage loan originator for the office. Iulia brings a wealth of knowledge to the brokerage with nearly two decades of real estate industry experience under her belt. Her understanding of the synergies between mortgage and real estate has positioned her well to provide a seamless, integrated client experience and one-stop-shop for homebuyers.

"Motto Mortgage Megastars offers an advantageous alternative to the traditional mortgage bankers currently operating in Tampa," said Iulia Hut. "We provide the scope, scale and support of a large retail lender, while offering the flexibility, autonomy and exceptional service of a local mortgage broker that knows how to navigate the intricacies of the home buying process in your market."

Loan originators in the Motto Mortgage network have access to competitive loans from various wholesale lenders and work hard to give homebuyers choices  because no loan is one-size-fits-all. A loan originator with Motto Mortgage Megastars can be reached at (813) 499-9669. A digital mortgage experience is available for borrowers who would prefer to conduct business remotely.

Each Motto Mortgage franchise is independently owned, operated, and licensed.

About Motto Mortgage Megastars:

Motto Mortgage Megastars (NMLS #253977) is a locally owned and operated full-service mortgage brokerage serving all of Florida, located at 100 S. Ashley Dr., STE 600, Tampa, FL 33602. To learn more, please visit www.MottoMortgageMegastars.com or call (813) 499-9669.

Iulia Hut, NMLS #2420448

SOURCE Motto Mortgage
ATLANTA, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- National DCP (NDCP), the $3 billion supply chain management company serving Dunkin' franchisees, has announced its 2024 Board of Directors Officers. An active working board committed to advancing the needs of fellow Dunkin' franchises, NDCP's Board members are elected by their peers within a designated regional area (Series).

National DCP's 2024 Board Officers include:

Sanjay Jain, National DCP Chairman of the Board

Sanjay Jain, Chairman of the Board  Jain, owner of a large network of Dunkin'/Baskin Robbins stores in Queens and Long Island, New York, was re-elected Chairman of the Board for a historic third year in a row. He brings 35 years of Accounting, Finance, and Information Technology experience with Fortune 500 companies to the supply chain management cooperative. Active within Dunkin's Brand Advisory Committee and numerous regional leadership groups, Jain joined the NDCP Board in 2016, representing its Series C. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, the former financial executive and certified public accountant served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Internal Auditor of Abovenet Inc., and Audit Director at Ernst & Young and BDO Seidman in the Metro New York area. Jain has a Management Information Systems degree from the University of Hartford, a Master of Business Administration degree from Dallas Baptist University and a Master of Commerce degree from the University of Rajasthan in India.

Matthew Doyle, Vice Chairman  A Dunkin' franchisee for nearly 25 years, at one point his business operated 100 Dunkin' stores in Rochester, New York, Cleveland, Ohio and Worcester, Massachusetts. He resides outside of Worcester, Massachusetts and owns and operates Worcester Building Systems, which caters to commercial retail/medical/industrial /mixed use construction. Over the years Doyle has constructed, developed, and managed over 350k SF of real estate of various commercial uses. He previously served on the Northeast DCP regional Board of Directors from 2009  2011 before the merger that formed the National DCP. A member of NDCP's board since 2014, he represents Series B. Doyle is a graduate of Assumption College and served several years on their Board of Trustees.

Shams Charania, Treasurer  With over a decade of experience as both a Dunkin' and Baskin Robbins franchisee, Charania owns 37 restaurants throughout the southeast as well as a CML. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, he represents Series E. Previously active within Dunkin's Brand Advisory Committee and regional leadership groups, he served as a member of the Southeast DCP Board prior to the merger that founded our organization in 2012. Charania has an undergraduate degree in Accounting from Georgia State University as well as an MBA from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Vishal Shah, Secretary  A representative of Series D, Vishal Shah has been a member of NDCP's Board of Directors since 2021. He owns Dunkin' and Baskin Robbins restaurants in Illinois and Iowa. The second-generation franchisee has been in the business since 1991. A member of Dunkin's national franchise leadership committee, he graduated from Northern Illinois University. In 2011, Shah was one of three franchisees profiled in a CNBC "Behind the Counter" story in 2011.

In addition, other National DCP Board members bring a strong business perspective and long tenure of service to the organization. Besides the Board officers, the 2024 roster includes:

Neal Faulkner - Representing Series B, Neal Faulkner first joined the National DCP Board in 2014. He has been a Dunkin' franchisee since 2000, serving as the President of a team that operates 28 stores throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Faulkner previously served as Board Vice Chairman and has chaired numerous committees. A current member of Dunkin's Brand Advisory Committee, he also served on the brand's IT committee. Faulkner has both a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts from Southern Methodist University in Business and History. In addition, he received an MBA degree from Babson College.

Dipak Patel - A founding Board member of National DCP, Patel served as the Chairman of the Board four times and has chaired nearly every NDCP committee. He has been a Dunkin' franchisee since 1989, with 90 stores located in North and Central New Jersey. A prominent figure in the franchise community, Patel has served on a multitude of Dunkin' committees, including the BAC, RAC, DAC, Enterprise Advisory Council, Marketing and Mid-Atlantic DCP committees. His education includes receiving a bachelor's degree in chemistry, another bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and a master's degree in industrial engineering. In 2022 and 2020, he was honored as the New York Market Franchisee of the Year and in 2021 Patel won the Above and Beyond Award. He represents series C.

Dharmisth Patel - Representing Series D, Dharmisth Patel has been a member of the franchisee community since 1992 with Dunkin' restaurants primarily located in the western suburbs of Chicago. He previously served as Board Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer throughout his long tenure and has chaired numerous board committees.

Amish Patel - With 28 Dunkin' restaurants located in Palm Beach, Brevard County, and Orlando, Florida, Amish Patel has been a Dunkin' franchisee for 17 years. Representing Series E, he has chaired numerous NDCP Board committees and has been an active regional leader in Dunkin's franchise community. Patel graduated from the University of Central Florida with a degree in Finance.

Christian Charnaux - As the Dunkin' representative from Series A, Christian Charnaux serves as Chief Growth Officer of Inspire Brands, a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 32,000 Arby's, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin', Jimmy John's, and SONIC Drive-In restaurants worldwide. He leads Inspire's growth efforts, including the identification and integration of strategic additions to Inspire's multi-brand portfolio, as well as Inspire's Development, International, and Supply Chain functions. Prior to Inspire, Charnaux held leadership positions with Hilton Worldwide, the Boston Consulting Group and J.P. Morgan. Charnaux is an alumnus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree, with Highest Distinction, in History and Political Science and was a Morehead Scholar. He also received an MBA, with Distinction, from Harvard Business School.

Dennis Baker - Dennis Baker currently serves as an Independent Director on NDCP's board. A former Marriott International executive, Dennis created the vision for spinning off Marriott's procurement division, known as Avendra, and after launching the entity was appointed President and CEO. Avendra is now a leading procurement services provider serving the hospitality industry across North America. He served as a member for the Board of Directors of Avendra from 2001 until 2014 and was actively engaged in the Audit and Compensation Committees. Dennis's past leadership roles include serving as Chief Financial Officer of Classic Brands, a public manufacturing and distribution company, as well as previous accounting and finance roles with Fairchild Industries. Dennis also served as an advisory board member of Boston University's Hospitality Program.

Stephen Down  With more than thirty years of outstanding financial and corporate leadership experience in the foodservice and distribution sectors, Stephen Down serves as Chief Executive Officer of National DCP, leading the company's overall business strategies focused on transformation, effective processes, and sustainable growth. Prior to joining NDCP, Down served as the Chief Financial Officer of Shamrock Foods Company, Inc., a $5 billion foodservice distribution, dairy, and food manufacturing company and also held the positions of Senior Vice President, Broadline Finance for U.S. Foods, Inc., and Chief Financial Officer of The Martin-Brower Co. Down earned an M.B.A. in Finance and Corporate Accounting and a B.A in Economics from the University of Rochester.

About National DCP, LLC (NDCP)

National DCP, LLC (NDCP) is the $3 billion global supply chain management company serving Dunkin' franchisees. The organization supports over 10,000 quick service restaurants in the U.S. and distributes products to more than 40 countries. NDCP's expertise includes strategic sourcing of food and non-food items, equipment services, distribution, business services, supply chain and full visibility, traceability, continuity, and sustainability of supply. Each year, its extensive distribution network makes 700,000+ deliveries of over 86+ million cases, driving more than 30 million miles. Innovative practices with strategic sourcing, inventory, warehousing, transportation, and program management have allowed NDCP to generate more than $2 billion in cumulative savings for Dunkin' franchisees. Headquartered in metro Atlanta, Georgia, the award-winning company has nearly 2,000 employees nationwide at its nine distribution centers and 30+ logistics hubs. For more information, visit www.nationaldcp.com.

SOURCE National DCP, LLC
MINNEAPOLIS, March 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Dementia may be three times more common among people with essential tremor, a movement disorder that causes involuntary shaking, than the general population, according to research released March 6, 2024. The study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 76th Annual Meeting taking place April 1318, 2024, in person in Denver and online.

Essential tremor is the most common tremor disorder, more common than Parkinson's disease. In addition to arm and hand tremors, people may also develop involuntary shaking of the head, jaw and voice.

"While many people living with essential tremor experience mild tremor, in some individuals, the tremor can be quite severe," said study author Elan D. Louis, MD, MSc, at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. "Not only do tremors affect a person's ability to complete daily tasks such writing and eating, our study suggests that people with essential tremor also have an increased risk of developing dementia."

The study involved 222 people with essential tremor who had an average age of 79 at the start of the study. They took thinking and memory tests to determine whether they had normal cognitive skills, mild cognitive impairment or dementia at the start of the study.

Participants then had follow-up exams every 1.5 years for an average of five years.

Of this group, 168 people had normal cognitive skills, 35 had mild cognitive impairment and 19 had dementia at the start of the study.

During the study, 59 developed mild cognitive impairment and 41 developed dementia.

Researchers then compared the rate at which people developed mild cognitive impairment and dementia, as well as the prevalence of these conditions, to the rates and prevalence for the general population. They also compared participants to the rates and prevalence for people with Parkinson's disease.

Researchers found 19% of participants had or developed dementia during the study, and each year an average of 12% of people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment went on to develop dementia. These rates were three times higher than the rates in the general population. However, the rates were lower than those seen in people with Parkinson's disease, a population for which dementia is more prevalent.

Researchers also found that 27% of participants had or developed mild cognitive impairment during the study, a rate almost double that of the rate of 14.5% for the general population, but less than the rate of 40% for people with Parkinson's disease.

"While the majority of people with essential tremor will not develop dementia, our findings provide the basis for physicians to educate people with essential tremor and their families about the heightened risk, and any potential life changes likely to accompany this diagnosis," Louis said.

A limitation of the study was that the comparison data for the general population was published prior to the start of the study.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more about essential tremor at BrainandLife.org, home of the American Academy of Neurology's free patient and caregiver magazine focused on the intersection of neurologic disease and brain health. Follow Brain & Life on Facebook, X and Instagram.

When posting to social media channels about this research, we encourage you to use the American Academy of Neurology's Annual Meeting hashtag #AANAM.

The American Academy of Neurology is the world's largest association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals, with over 40,000 members. The AAN is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, concussion, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy.

For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit AAN.com or find us on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

SOURCE American Academy of Neurology
Career Connected Learning PHL (C2L-PHL) poised to transform Philadelphia's workforce landscape, offering more varied and comprehensive opportunities for youth

PHILADELPHIA, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The City of Philadelphia (the City), the School District of Philadelphia (the District), and Philadelphia Works (PhilaWorks) today announced they are aligning to better support the career development of Philadelphia's youth. "Career Connected Learning PHL" (C2L-PHL) is a new city-wide youth workforce initiative that will integrate and streamline work-based learning activities, thereby broadening opportunities for Philadelphia youth to achieve career success.

Beginning this summer, the project will place 8,000 young people ages 12 to 24 in summer employment, and will expand opportunities for year-round work-based learning activities to 2,000 young people.

The initiative is a significant step forward for Philadelphia's youth workforce system, reinforcing the city's commitment to providing high-quality, career-connected learning activities for young people.

C2L-PHL replaces the WorkReady program which, during the past decade, placed thousands of Philadelphia youth in paid work experiences during the summer and school year.

Vanessa Garrett Harley, Director for the Office of Children and Families said, "C2L-PHL will offer many of our young people their first experience in the workforce and will help them discover the many pathways that they can take to build life sustaining and thriving careers."

"Providing our students with opportunities to gain valuable skills that prepare them to realize any future they desire is critical," said Jermaine Dawson, Ed.D., deputy superintendent of academic services for the School District of Philadelphia. "This partnership signifies an important investment in our youth, one that we hope engages them in Philadelphia's workforce and economy for generations to come."

H. Patrick Clancy, president and CEO at Philadelphia Works, said, "We are deeply committed to fostering open communication, ensuring that all stakeholders are kept well-informed and involved in our shared vision. It is with great enthusiasm that we continue our partnership with the City, the District, and the exceptional organizations that are connected to C2L-PHL. This collaboration signifies a turning point towards establishing a more streamlined, impactful, and equitable youth workforce system for the future of Philadelphia."

JEVS Human Services (JEVS) has been selected to serve as the fiscal and contracting intermediary for C2L-PHL. JEVS will support program operations, employer engagement, program oversight, and fiscal management.

The C2L-PHL partnership is committed to collaborating with stakeholders to support students and young adults to navigate the myriad of career opportunities available for them to grow, learn, earn, and stay in Philadelphia.

C2L-PHL enrollment opens in Spring 2024. Youth and their caregivers should periodically check the website at [email protected] for updated information about the program.

For questions about C2L-PHL, email [email protected] .

About Career Connected Learning PHL (C2L-PHL)

C2L-PHL is a city-wide collaboration for work-based learning and career exploration opportunities serving Philadelphia's youth ages 12-24. From career awareness to job experience, these activities connect the reality of work to the learning environment.

C2L-PHL is Philly's version of career connected learning, a proven, nationwide model. Led by the City of Philadelphia, the School District of Philadelphia, and Philadelphia Works, our approach has three goals for youth:

Access, experience, and explore different career paths and fields Work on the tools and skills needed to explore, set, and achieve career goals Identify and utilize strengths and passions to inform career decisions

Contacts:

City of Philadelphia - Sheila Simmons

[email protected]

PhilaWorks - Dawn Thomas

[email protected]

School District of Philadelphia - Marissa Orbanek

[email protected]

SOURCE Philadelphia Works
AUSTIN, Texas, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Interplay Learning , the leading provider of online and VR training for the essential skilled trades announced today that Sonesta International Hotels Corporation (Sonesta), a globally renowned hotel company with 1,200+ hotel properties worldwide, selected Interplay to increase engineer training adoption and advance safety initiatives for 500 impacted employees. Since implementing Interplay's innovative training solution in the latter half of 2023, Sonesta has already observed a 50% increase in training adoption over the previous year.

Sonesta International Hotels Corporation, a globally renowned hotel company, has selected Interplay Learning, the leading provider of online and VR training for the essential skilled trades, to increase engineer training adoption and advance safety initiatives for 500 impacted employees.

Focused on a safety-first approach, Sonesta prioritized launching quarterly core safety courses and emphasized OSHA compliance within its training programs. Intending to modernize training delivery and increase engagement for maintenance engineers, the hotel group made huge strides in these critical areas, enabling Sonesta to provide innovative simulation training that engineers want to use, stay at the forefront of industry best practices, develop careers, and deliver exceptional experiences to guests.

"Our main focus was getting our engineers engaged and into the training so we could build core safety skills and level-set foundational competencies," said Kate Stiteler, Director of Training at Sonesta. "Interplay has been a great partner in delivering training that fits the growing and changing needs of the hotel business at scale, and the impressive doubling of our training adoption rates within just six months is a testament to its effectiveness."

"Our partnership with Interplay has been transformative for our training programs, and we are excited about the possibilities it opens up for the future as we explore learning paths customized to distinct job roles and property types," said Steve Jurczyk, Director of National Engineering & Facilities Operations, Sonesta. "While safety is a primary focus, we now offer skill-specific courses for our hotel engineers. We'd love to expand our training to include VR to enhance the learning experience and also help attract new talent into our maintenance and engineering departments."

"Sonesta is redefining hospitality standards by focusing on innovation in its maintenance and engineer training," said Doug Donovan, CEO and founder of Interplay Learning. "The significant increase in training adoption rates is a testament to their forward-thinking training strategy, and we take pride in our role in supporting Sonesta as they lead the charge in upskilling their workforce."

About Sonesta

Sonesta is the 8th largest hotel company, according to Smith Travel Research (STR) with approximately 1,200 properties totaling 100,000 guest rooms across 17 brands in eight countries. Sonesta owns, manages and/or franchises under The Royal Sonesta; The James, Classico  a Sonesta Collection, Sonesta Hotels & Resorts; Mod  A Sonesta Collection, Sonesta Select; Sonesta Essential, Sonesta ES (Extended Stay) Suites, Sonesta Simply Suites and Sonesta Cruise Collection operating in Egypt, also; Sonesta Posadas del Inca; Red Lion Hotels; Red Lion Inn & Suites; Signature Inn; GuestHouse Extended Stay; Knight's Inn; Americas Best Value Inn and Canadas Best Value Inn. For more information about Sonesta and its locations, visit Sonesta.com or call 1.800.Sonesta.

About Interplay Learning

Austin-based Interplay Learning is the industry leader in immersive training solutions for the skilled trades. Interplay's acclaimed SkillMill training platform enables rapid upskilling and empowers new technicians to be job-ready within weeks, not years. Featuring expert-led videos, hands-on 3D simulations, knowledge checks, and personalized learning paths, SkillMill is more scalable and engaging than traditional training. Leveraging advanced technologies like AI and VR, Interplay is reshaping the future of online skilled trades training, delivering highly effective learning experiences that result in better careers and better lives.

Recent accolades include Forbes' 2023 America's Best Startup Employers, 2022 Inc. 5000 list, 2022 Inc. Best in Business list, and three honorable mentions in Fast Company's 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards. Visit www.interplaylearning.com to learn more.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Heather Ripley

Ripley PR

(865) 977-1973

[email protected]

SOURCE Interplay Learning
Revolutionizing Irrigation for Growers with Autonomous Execution

AMSTERDAM, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Source.ag, the provider of AI solutions for fruit and vegetable growers, today launched Source Irrigation Control: an autonomous irrigation solution that intelligently adjusts irrigation strategy execution in response to changing weather conditions and plant data.

The newest addition to Source.ag's product suite helps growers scale operations and improve irrigation management, while decreasing the need for manual intervention and the time to adapt to new seed varieties or locations. The grower sets the irrigation targets, and Source Irrigation Control does the rest. Using AI models fed with weather forecasts and plant data to predict water and nutrient uptake, this new market innovation saves resources and growers' time. Growers can set irrigation targets to suit their preferred cultivation strategy, combining their cultivation knowledge with Source.ag's data science capabilities.

Rien Kamman, CEO and Co-Founder of Source.ag says:

"We are thrilled to launch Source Irrigation Control for growers around the world. Currently, managing irrigation effectively can be a huge challenge for fruit and vegetable producers, for whom it's impossible to keep up with the impact of changes in weather conditions 24/7. Source Irrigation Control monitors local weather changes every fifteen minutes and automatically adjusts irrigation to accommodate them. After the successful launch of our first product, Source Track, and the complementary Source Plant App, this latest launch means growers can now harness the competitive advantages of AI for data interpretation and irrigation.''

Advantages of Source Irrigation Control

Source Irrigation Control's data-driven irrigation solution offers growers multiple benefits in terms of crop quality, resource management, and business growth opportunities. The system predicts the water and nutrient uptake of plants and then applies its findings to a proactive irrigation plan that promotes root growth and healthy root development. Because AI is used to assess and clean sensor data which then updates growers' unique irrigation models regularly, growers are free to spend their time on other value-added activities. The reduction in manual intervention means growers can manage many more hectares, allowing them to quickly scale operations. Equally, the system's adaptability makes coping with new circumstances, climates, or seed varieties easier and more cost-effective.

Combivliet

Source.ag worked with Rainbow Growers , AgroCare and Combivliet on a pilot for Source Irrigation Control, executing the day-to-day irrigation strategy in the partners' greenhouses autonomously. Supported by Source's algorithms, the number of days during which the plants received near-perfect irrigation increased to more than double the industry baseline.

Joeri Everse, Growing Specialist at Combivliet says:

"During the Source Irrigation Control Pilot we saw Source is able to automate our irrigation strategy which reduces manual monitoring  and we're looking forward to being able to manage more hectares and onboard new growers more easily in the future. We think that data-driven solutions like Source Irrigation Control will drive modern agriculture."

Source.ag's advanced AI technology is helping growers worldwide scale faster and operate more efficiently; boosting vegetable yields and creating more sustainable practices. Source.ag's solutions have been rolled out across the largest global fresh vegetable segmentstomatoes, peppers, and cucumberswith the eventual aim of improving operations for all fruit and vegetable growers.

After the successful commercial launch and implementation of its first product, Source Track, a platform to track, compare, and improve cultivation, along with the complementary Source Plant App, the iPad application which makes plant data measurements faster and more accurate, the company is now rolling out Source Irrigation Control to growers worldwide.

Source.ag's clients include Agro Care, C. Zwinkels, and other leading growers worldwide. Globally, more than 200 commercial greenhouses covering over 1400 hectares benefit from Source.ag's revolutionary solutions.

About Source.ag: Source.ag is accelerating access to fresh fruit and vegetables by empowering the world's growers with AI. Founded in 2020 by Rien Kamman (CEO) and Ernst van Bruggen (CPO), Source.ag has brought together a team of experienced engineers and plant scientists and has partnered with the world's leading growers to build the sector's most advanced AI. Its AI solutions can simulate plant behavior for defining and implementing optimal cultivation strategies, taking into account millions of data points on climate, biology, and resources. By enabling more growers to operate more facilities more efficiently through pioneering tech, Source.ag is making covered greenhouse agriculture accessible, profitable, and globally scalable. Together, we're on a mission to feed the world, in a climate-resilient and resource-efficient way.

SOURCE Source.ag
Super-Premium Fast Food Concept is Offering Free Meals to its First 500 Customers at the Grand Opening Event on March 22

SAN FRANCISCO, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Starbird, one of the nation's first super-premium fast food concepts, announced today the grand opening of its 14th location in California and third location in Los Angeles County. The new restaurant will be located at 13161 Mindanao Way in Marina del Rey. To celebrate the grand opening, Starbird will be giving a free meal to its first 500 customers on Friday, March 22. Starbird will also include a Starbird Golden Ticket in 2 orders which will be valid for free Starbird for a year.* Doors open at 10:30 a.m.

The brand's feel-good crispy chicken is raised without antibiotics and is always fresh and never frozen. Utilizing quality, trustworthy ingredients and real scratch cooking, Starbird hand-breads its chicken in a secret blend of gluten-free flours and spices that pairs perfectly with the brand's nine house-made dipping sauces. Starbird's new Marina del Rey restaurant will offer its full menu, including:

Salads  Hand chopped greens and local vegetables with house made dressing

Tender Boxes  Served with house seasoned fries, super slaw, and house made sauces

Chicken Nuggets  All white meat nuggets, never treated with antibiotics, fresh never frozen

Sandwiches  Locally raised, sustainably farmed poultry on freshly toasted brioche

Tender Boxes  Served with house seasoned fries, super slaw, and house made sauces

Wings  No antibiotics ever, twice-cooked crispy wings with choice of house made flavors

Additionally, customers can order from Starbird's limited-time Bahn Mi menu, featuring Starbird's Bahn Mi Sandwich, Bahn Mi Salad, Loaded Bahn Mi Fries, Loaded Bahn Mi Tender Box, and Vietnamese Sticky Wings, available until supplies last.

Recently, Starbird also announced its partnership with GiftAMeal, providing a way for customers to give back to their community while indulging in Starbird's delectable crispy chicken. When dining at any Starbird restaurant in Los Angeles County, customers can scan the GiftAMeal menu QR code and upload a photo of their meal to donate a full meal to the Los Angeles Food Bank. For every additional photo shared on social media through GiftAMeal, an extra meal will be donated. To date, Starbird has donated over 1,000 meals.

"Marina del Rey, brace yourselves for a mouthwatering experience. Starbird's super-premium crispy chicken has arrived, and we're thrilled. A big shoutout to our loyal customers  You're the powerhouse behind Starbird's incredible journey, and we're excited to be making a mark across Southern California," said Aaron Noveshen, founder and CEO of Starbird. "We're here to show Marina del Rey that fast food can be a feel-good experience. Visit our new restaurant, and don't miss out on the opportunity for a free meal!"

The brand is rapidly expanding and is set to open to restaurants in various regions of California including:

South San Francisco (Bay Area)  Early 2024: 988 El Camino Real, South San Francisco, CA 94080

(Bay Area)  Early 2024: 988 El Camino Real, 94080 Palo Alto (Bay Area)  Early 2024: 2515 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306

(Bay Area)  Early 2024: 2515 El Camino Real, 94306 Pleasanton (Bay Area)  Mid 2024: 6455 Owens Drive, Pleasanton, CA 94588

(Bay Area)  Mid 2024: 6455 Owens Drive, 94588 Cupertino (Bay Area)  End 2024: 20800 Stevens Creek Boulevard, Cupertino, CA 95014

(Bay Area)  End 2024: 20800 Stevens Creek Boulevard, 95014 Torrance ( Los Angeles )  Early 2025: 21107 Hawthorne Boulevard, Torrance, CA 90503

As Starbird continues to grow, it remains committed to providing unforgettable dining experiences that delight taste buds and create loyal fans. Starbird is actively looking for qualified franchisees to grow the brand on a national level in states such as Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Texas, Illinois and Florida. Visit www.starbirdfranchising.com for more information about franchising opportunities.

Starbird in Marina del Rey will offer dine-in, carry-out via pick-up, and contactless delivery through its website, mobile app, and various third-party delivery partners. The new location will be open Monday  Saturday from 10:30 a.m.  10 p.m. and Sunday from 10:30 a.m.  9 p.m. For more information, visit www.starbirdchicken.com. Follow Starbird on Facebook , TikTok , and Instagram for the latest news and trends.

*Starbird Golden Ticket winners will be eligible to enjoy a year of free Starbird meals. This includes 52 meals, valued at a maximum of $15, redeemable digitally once per week.

About Starbird:

Starbird is fundamentally changing the future of fast food by delivering feel-good crispy chicken and a positive, tech-driven customer experience. Founded in 2016 by restaurant innovators at The Culinary Edge (TCE), the restaurant consultancy recognized that chicken consumption was on the rise and set out to reimagine fast food to meet the needs of a new America and their tastebuds. Built upon pillars of culinary innovation, a frictionless service model, and operational excellence, Starbird has successfully established a forward-thinking concept, leading the super-premium fast food marketplace and national brand recognition within the $34 Billion US chicken marketplace. In 2023, Starbird was named the winner of Nation's Restaurant News' Chicken Showdown, as well as #40 and a Top Executive in Fast Casual's Top 100 Movers & Shakers, further cementing the brand's position as a leader in the industry. See www.starbirdchicken.com for more information.

Contact:

Andrea Mazzola

Fish Consulting

954-893-9150

[email protected]

SOURCE Starbird
DUBLIN, March 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Analysis of The Taiwanese EMS Industry's Net Zero Emissions Strategy" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report surveyed leading Taiwanese electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers to understand their strategies in goal settings, identifying carbon emission hotspots, and planning for net-zero emissions.

The international community has reached a consensus on achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The European Union (EU) and the US markets are set to introduce carbon border adjustment mechanisms next year. Governments around the world are also rolling out carbon trading platforms to levy carbon taxes. These efforts will inevitably affect Taiwan's export-oriented businesses.

It also analyzes their current efforts in carbon reduction to provide reference for other industry players striving to achieve net-zero emissions. The goal is to accelerate the industry's pace towards net-zero emissions to maintain competitive advantages.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Leading Taiwan Companies' Carbon Reduction Targets and Emission Hotspots

1.1 Impact of International Manufacturers on Leading Taiwanese Companies' Net-Zero Timelines

1.2 Similarities in Emission Hotspots between Taiwanese and Overseas EMS Providers

1.3 Brands Have Lower Carbon Intensity than Manufacturers



2. Leading Taiwanese EMS Providers' Carbon Reduction Strategies

2.1 Net-zero Emissions Strategies Affected by Development Disparities among EMS Providers

2.1.1 Comparison of Electronics Manufacturing Strategies

2.1.2 Comparison of Manufacturers' Strategies



3. Leading Taiwanese EMS Providers' Carbon Reduction Efforts

3.1 Process Improvements: Upgrade Equipment to Enhance Energy Efficiency

3.2 Energy Substitution: Use Green Energy and Build Renewable Energy Equipment

3.3 Circular Economy: Extend Product Lifecycles and Reduce Process Waste

3.4 Supplier Management: Lower Emissions through Procurement Controls



4. Impact of the EMS Industry's Net-Zero Transition on Upstream and Downstream



5. The Analyst's Perspective



List of Tables

Table 1: International IT Hardware Vendors' Net-zero Planning and Renewable Energy Adoption Timelines

Table 2: Carbon Intensity Changes among Leading Taiwanese Vendors in Past 4 Years



List of Figures

Figure 1: Targets and Timelines of Leading Taiwanese EMS Providers

Figure 2: Carbon Emission Status of Leading Taiwanese and Overseas EMS Providers

Figure 3: Examples of Leading EMS Providers' Process Improvements

Figure 4: Examples of Leading EMS Providers' Energy Substitution

Figure 5: Examples of Leading EMS Providers' Circular Economy

Figure 6: Impact of the EMS Industry's Net-zero Transition on Upstream and Downstream





A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes

Acer

Apple

Asus

Compal

Dell

Foxconn

HP

Lenovo

Pegatron

Wistron

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/31angy

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Research and Markets
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The trail continues! When it comes to legendary off-road capability, unrivaled heritage, bold color palettes and powerful propulsion suited for any adventure, what comes to mind? These collective themes hint at the next grouping of concept sketches from the Jeep brand of the mission-capable vehicles heading to the 58th annual Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah, March 23-31, 2024.

The trail continues! When it comes to legendary off-road capability, unrivaled heritage, bold color palettes and powerful propulsion suited for any adventure, what comes to mind? These collective themes hint at the next grouping of concept sketches from the Jeep brand of the mission-capable vehicles heading to the 58th annual Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah (March 23-31, 2024). (PRNewsfoto/Stellantis)

Jeep Brand

Built on more than 80 years of legendary heritage, Jeep is the authentic SUV brand that delivers legendary off-road capability, interior refinement, high-tech features and versatility to people who seek extraordinary journeys. The Jeep brand delivers an open invitation to live life to the fullest by offering a broad portfolio of vehicles that continues to provide owners with a sense of safety and security to handle any journey with confidence. Jeep Wave, a premium owner loyalty and customer care program that is available to the entire Jeep 4x4 lineup, is filled with benefits and exclusive perks to deliver Jeep brand owners the utmost care and dedicated 24/7 support. The legendary Jeep brand's off-road capability is enhanced by a global electrification initiative that is transforming 4xe into the new 4x4 in pursuit of the brand's vision of accomplishing Zero Emission Freedom and added 4x4 capability. All Jeep brand vehicles will offer an electrified variant by 2025.

Follow Jeep and company news and video on:

Company blog: http://blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Media website: http://media.stellantisnorthamerica.com

Jeep brand: www.jeep.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeep

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jeep

Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeep

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/jeep

YouTube: www.youtube.com/thejeepchannel or https://www.youtube.com/StellantisNA

SOURCE Stellantis
CARMEL, Ind., March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, Tyrone L. Thomas is acknowledged as a Pinnacle Life Professional Member for his contributions to the field of Business Optimization.

Mr. Thomas pursued higher education at Concordia University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management and continued at the Milwaukee School of Engineering where he received a Bachelor of Science degree.

Mr. Thomas has more than 23 years of experience in the field, serving in many capacities over the years. In his current position, he is the business optimization specialist for the telecommunications company Schooley Mitchell. He previously worked as the chief executive officer of Valiant 1 Consulting; the director of operations for the Chassis Division of Fritz Winer North America LP; and in the field with NTN Driveshaft Anderson; Chrysler Group LLC; and the Chrysler Kokomo Transmission Plant.

Highly respected in the business community, Mr. Thomas was recognized with the Businessman of the Year Award through the Madison Chamber of Commerce in 2019, which has been one of the highlights of his career. When reflecting on his career, Mr. Thomas believes the cornerstone of his success lay in treating people with respect as well as being successful in the field for more than 23 years.

A dedicated community member, Mr. Thomas is on the board of directors for the Madison County Chamber of Commerce and contributes to his community through Rotary International and the United Way of Madison County. Looking to the future, Mr. Thomas intends to experience the continued growth and success of his career and intends to create something that he can leave to his children.

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE The Inner Circle
Hybrid School Offers Greater Scheduling Flexibility and Personalized Instruction

GOODYEAR, Ariz., March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Valor Preparatory Academy of Arizona (Valor Academy), a pioneering hybrid school serving students in grades 6-12 located in Goodyear, is excited to announce that enrollment for the 2024-25 school year is now officially open. With an innovative learning model that combines online and in-person education, Valor Academy offers unparalleled flexibility and a personalized learning experience tailored to each student's unique needs.

The demand for enrollment at Valor Academy has never been higher, as parents and students alike are drawn to the school's unique approach to education, which allows for a more individualized learning journey and provides the perfect balance between academic rigor and personal growth. The school's model not only accommodates students' diverse learning styles but also promotes a deeper understanding and application of knowledge in real-world contexts.

"Our enrollment numbers are a testament to the trust and confidence families have in our unique educational approach," said Amy Spencer, Valor Academy Principal. "We are facing an unprecedented demand for enrollment, underscoring the need for education options that value flexibility, personalization, and student well-being. Our hybrid model is designed to meet these needs, offering a blend of online and in-person learning opportunities that prepare students not just academically, but socially and emotionally for the challenges of tomorrow."

At Valor Academy, students also benefit from tutoring support, ensuring that each child receives the guidance needed to excel. This commitment to maximizing attention and providing critical resources to students and families, is a cornerstone of the school's mission to foster academic growth and personal development.

Space for the 2024-25 school year is limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis, so families are encouraged to act quickly to secure a spot for their child in this innovative and sought-after educational setting. Valor Academy is hosting an Open House for students and families on Monday, March 18 from 5-7 p.m.

For more information about Valor Preparatory Academy of Arizona and to enroll your child for the 2024-25 school year, please visit ValorAZ.org. Join us in redefining the future of education and providing your child with the tools they need to succeed in an ever-changing world.

For more information, contact:

Anita Torres

480.397.0605

[email protected]

ABOUT VALOR PREPARATORY ACADEMY OF ARIZONA

Valor Preparatory Academy of Arizona is a tuition-free school that follows a hybrid learning model, wherein 6-12th grade students get the personalization and flexibility of online learning combined with the structure and support of traditional schools with highly qualified teachers on-site. It is founded by Arizona trailblazers with more than two decades' experience in online charter school leadership. ValorAZ.org.

SOURCE Valor AZ
TAMPA, Fla., March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Viking Mergers & Acquisitions is proud to announce the successful acquisition of SureClean Solutions LLC, a leading provider of carpet, tile, grout, and hard surface cleaning services, by individual buyer Jonathan Govan. Located in The Villages, Florida, SureClean Solutions has established a remarkable reputation, evidenced by over 1,200 5-star Google reviews.

Founded in 2010 by Barbara and Douglas McKeever, SureClean Solutions has become the premier service provider in its sector, offering a wide range of services and a best-in-class customer experience supported by experienced technicians, top-notch equipment, and well-integrated field service management technology. The McKeevers, bringing a lifetime of service industry experience into the business, successfully grew SureClean from the ground up, emphasizing the untapped potential for future growth under new ownership.

As the McKeevers transition into retirement to spend more time with family, Jonathan Govan steps in as the new owner. Mr. Govan, a software engineer from Atlanta, sought to leave the corporate world behind and fulfill his entrepreneurial dreams by purchasing a service business. With plans to leverage his technical background, Mr. Govan aims to expand SureClean's reach and continue delivering exceptional service to its customers.

Mr. Govan utilized an SBA loan for the business acquisition. Lender Will Tinsley of First Internet Bank explains, "When using SBA financing for acquisition, success is dependent upon a motivated/organized buyer, responsive seller, knowledgeable and involved advisor, and a seasoned SBA acquisition lender. We definitely had a dream team on this transaction!"

The acquisition is particularly noteworthy given The Villages' status as the fastest-growing metro area of the last decade, according to the Census Bureau. This 55-plus master-planned community north of Orlando has seen rapid population and economic growth, providing a fertile ground for businesses like SureClean Solutions. With a growing customer base in a booming local market, SureClean is positioned for continued success and expansion.

Jacob Middleton and Andrew Hakkarainen of Viking M&A were the advisors on the transaction, exemplifying Viking's continued dedication to facilitating successful business transitions and matching passionate entrepreneurs with established companies poised for growth.

"From day one, we felt comfortable with Viking Mergers and Acquisitions, especially with the advisors assigned to our case," recalls Mr. McKeever. "They sincerely expressed an interest in us as people first, not just another business, and had a genuine excitement to help make our dream of retirement a reality. The same can be said for our buyer, who was also treated respectfully by these two gentlemen."

Mr. McKeever emphasizes, "Jacob Middleton and Andrew Hakkarainen exhibited a high level of professionalism from the valuation to qualifying a prospect, due diligence, and onto the closing. Since it can be a long process, there are bound to be some tough days. However, they both had a calm, confident demeanor that never wavered and helped us traverse some bumpy roads that eventually led us across the finish line."

"Jacob & Andrew were amazing," agrees Mrs. McKeever. "I highly recommend Viking for selling or buying a company. They were professional & went beyond what I expected. Thanks for finding the perfect buyer & helping make our selling process a good experience."

About Viking Mergers and Acquisitions

Viking provides exit strategies and M&A services to middle-market business owners. In business since 1996, over 70% of Viking's brokers are former business owners. Viking has an 85% close rate, representing over 850 successful transactions.

SOURCE Viking Mergers & Acquisitions
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The family behind the largest pickle brand in the U.S. is spearheading a new mission through Vlasic Labs, a pioneering hemp company poised to revolutionize the plant-based wellness industry. Founded by Rick Vlasic and his son, Willy, Vlasic Labs is an embodiment of the family's unwavering commitment to quality, innovation, and community enrichment.

From Pickles to Wellness: A Legacy Reimagined

Vlasic Labs: From Pickles to Plant-Based Wellness Post this Family business (from left to right: Jack Vlasic, Rick Vlasic, Willy Vlasic)

The Vlasic name, synonymous with America's favorite pickles, is no stranger to American households. The family's journey, beginning with Joe Vlasic's milk delivery business, and later the creation of the largest pickle brand in the world by Joe's son, Robert, is a testament to their entrepreneurial spirit. Beyond taking his father's vision to new heights, Robert also gave back to the community, exemplified by his philanthropic endeavors with the Henry Ford Health System and his wife, Nancy's, work with the Michigan Humane Society. Today, these values flow through the Vlasic Labs family.

Pet Wellness: A New Frontier

Due to the Vlasics' love for animals, Vlasic Lab's mission grew to include man's best friend. Recognizing the growing need for high-quality pet wellness products, Vlasic Labs ventured into creating holistic, hemp-based solutions for pets, including a beef and bacon chew , and their new organic pet peanut butter flavor .

A Future Built on Past Values

Under the guidance of Rick, Willy, and Jack Vlasic, Vlasic Labs is more than a company; it's a continuation of a family's passion for making a difference. "Our journey from dairy to pickles, and now to hemp wellness, is driven by a mission to innovate for the betterment of society," says Rick Vlasic, Co-Founder of Vlasic Labs.

Vlasic Labs invites you to be a part of this exciting journey as they set new benchmarks in the wellness industry. For more information, visit vlasiclabs.com.

About Vlasic Labs

Vlasic Labs is dedicated to delivering high-quality, hemp-based wellness products designed to meet a variety of needs. Their mission is to make these compounds affordable to all without compromising on quality and consistency. Additionally, Vlasic Labs is committed to giving back to the community through initiatives like the Last Prisoner Project to support victims of the War on Drugs and by donating cannabinoids to universities for clinical studies. Building on a legacy of innovation and social responsibility, Vlasic Labs continues the Vlasic family tradition of enhancing American lives, now through the lens of wellness and holistic health. For more information, visit vlasiclabs.com.

Contact: media@vlasiclabs.com

SOURCE Vlasic Labs
Enjoy the taste of wine country in France, Germany, Chile, Argentina, California and more worldly hotspots during the Double Up for a Buck promotion at Premier Wine & Spirits through March 23.

During the wildly popular seasonal promotion, held four times throughout the year, customers can taste the world from Buffalo. For every bottle of wine purchased at regular price, customers receive an identical bottle for just $1. With more than 100 wines to choose from, the world is closer than ever.

The promotion enables us to use our large selection and context to provide unbelievable deals for every customer, said Jon Notarius, manager of Premier. Its typically a mix of well-known brands and newer products that are exciting to try for the first time.

Notarius said no matter ones taste, there is a wine to match every desire. From more traditional wines like chardonnays, cabernets and sauvignon blancs, Premier offers brands and styles from every major wine region in the world. For those looking for a new taste, Premier offers complimentary wine tastings on Fridays and Saturdays  and not just during the promotional period  but throughout the year.

The majority of our customers want to experiment with the different tastes available year-round. For us, its more about the discovery and adventure of trying to find something new and different, he said. And thats whats nice about the Double Up for a Buck promotion. If you find one you like, you receive a second bottle of the same wine for just a dollar.

Wine lovers who prefer to peruse selections online can visit the Premier website for the same wine offerings and ability to make a purchase.

In fact, many customers love to do online research of a wine before coming into the store, Notarius said.

If you need more advice, Notarius said Premier staff members are available to help in the decision-making process.

Theres just so much good wine available these days from $10 to $30, Notarius said. With our multiple tastings throughout the week, wine lovers have the opportunity to sip, sample and savor at their own pace. Its easy to get tired of drinking the same chardonnay year after year, and with our selection, our customers have that chance to really explore their tastebuds here.

As for a favorite, Notarius said Premiers vast selection keeps things fresh in terms of style and tastes.

We have something for everyone, no matter what time of the year it is. And thats the beauty of it.

The Premier Retail Group consists of three independently owned and operated wine stores in Amherst, Williamsville and Orchard Park. For more information on the Double Up for a Buck promotion or Premier, visit premierwines.com or follow on Facebook.

This content was produced by Brand Ave. Studios. The news and editorial departments had no role in its creation or display. Brand Ave. Studios connects advertisers with a targeted audience through compelling content programs, from concept to production and distribution. For more information contact sales@brandavestudios.com.
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Jaipur, March 7 : Rajasthan BJP chief C.P. Joshi on Wednesday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for various women empowerment schemes of the government.

Speaking during the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Abhinandan' programme, Joshi said: "The first law that came after the formation of the new Parliament building was the Nari Shakti Vandan Act, which proposes reservation to women on 33 per cent seats in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies... Bank accounts of women were opened under Jan Dhan, women get loans up to 70 per cent under Mudra Yojana, houses are being provided to women under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, one lakh women became 'Lakhpati Didi'."

"For the first time in the country, Sainik schools were opened for girls, 33 per cent reservation was given in CISF and CRPF, pregnancy leave was extended; under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, pregnant women are given Rs 5000 on the birth of a child, 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign was launched...," he added while listing various women-centric schemes of the Centre.

Joshi further said that under the strong leadership of Prime Minister Modi, people of every section of the society are getting the benefits of the public welfare schemes of the Central government.

"The double-engine government is working rapidly on the promises made in the manifesto. Within two months of becoming the Chief Minister, Bhajan Lal Sharma has given many big gifts to the people of the state," he said.
Hamirpur, March 7 : The father of a rape victim ended his life by suicide in Uttar Pradesh's Hamirpur district on Wednesday, said police.

Earlier on February 29, the daughter and niece of the 45-year-old man committed suicide after allegedly being gang-raped in Ghatampur town of Kanpur.

The family of the man claimed that he was under pressure to withdraw the complaint in the gang rape case. His body was found hanging from a Babool tree late on Wednesday, about two km away from his house.

Superintendent of Police, Hamirpur, Deeksha Sharma confirmed the suicide, saying the reason behind the extreme step was not yet known.

"We are waiting for the family to lodge a complaint. But the police have initiated an investigation," she said.

The man had moved to Hamirpur after the two girls, aged 14 and 15, were found hanging near a brick kiln they worked in with other family members. Both were allegedly gang-raped by kiln contractor Ram Sewakas son and nephew, who reportedly also made a video of the act and blackmailed them.

Police arrested Ram Sewak and the two others and sent them to jail in the case. Ram Sewak's wife was also named in the FIR.

The families of the two girls brought the bodies to the village, where they were cremated on March 1.
Sanaa, March 7 : Three crew members were killed and four others injured in a Houthi missile strike on a Barbados-flagged commercial ship while it was crossing the Gulf of Aden, US officials said.

The US Central Command (Centcom), which oversees operations in the Middle East, said on Wednesday that an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) was launched from "Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist-controlled areas of Yemen toward merchant vessel 'True Confidence', a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier, while transiting the Gulf of Aden".

"The missile struck the vessel, and the multinational crew reports three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition, and significant damage to the ship," it added.

The crew consisted of 20 sailors of different nationalities, including India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Nepal, Xinhua news agency reported, citing Yemeni sources.

The sources said most of the crew had managed to flee the ship using lifeboats amid indications that the ship was about to sink, while three crew members were still missing.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on its website that the crew abandoned the ship after it was set ablaze by the attack and suffered damage, adding US and British Navy forces stationed in the Red Sea had rushed to the scene to provide help.

Data from ship-tracking service MarineTraffic showed that the Barbados-flagged bulk carrier set sail on February 13 towards international waters and was heading for the Saudi port of Jeddah.

In immediate retaliation, the US and British coalition stationed in the Red Sea launched two airstrikes on Hodeidah airport, which was destroyed during the Yemeni civil war in the previous years but recently turned into a military barracks by the Houthi fighters, the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.

There was no immediate comment yet from the coalition regarding the alleged attack on the airport.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends the ninth plenary meeting of the eighth Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea. Image Source: IANS News

Seoul, March 7 : North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for intensifying "practical actual war drills" during a visit to a military training base, state media said on Thursday, as a joint military exercise between South Korea and the US was underway.

During the visit to the base in the country's western region on Wednesday, Kim inspected training facilities and guided the actual manoeuvres of military units, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

"He set forth the important tasks for intensifying the practical actual-war drills ensuring the victory in a war," the KCNA said.

Kim also instructed the military to beef up drills to improve its combat capabilities to contain enemies with "overwhelming force" and their "slightest attempt to ignite a war," the KCNA said in an English-language dispatch.

The visit came two days after South Korea and the US began their annual Freedom Shield exercise Monday to strengthen deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

North Korea has condemned the joint exercise, warning the countries will pay a "dear price", Yonhap news agency reported.
Gaza, March 7 : The Israeli military has announced that it killed the chief of the Hamas rocket unit in an operation in the central Gaza Strip.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on Wednesday in a post on social media platform X that IDF forces, based on information from the Military Intelligence Directorate and Shin Bet security service, killed Amar Atiya Darwish Aladini, who was in charge of the Hamas rocket unit in central Gaza.

He said Aladini had been working for Hamas for decades and was active in the current war, noting that the man was responsible for equipping rockets for the faction and launching rocket attacks as early as 2008 against the IDF operation Cast Lead in Gaza.

The statement claimed that Aladini played a major role in the "bloody" Hamas attack on October 7 last year, during which he "promoted intensive firing" towards Israel's manoeuvring forces while directing rocket launches targeting Tel Aviv and other Israeli border towns.

There has been no comment from Hamas on Aladini's killing.

Adraee added that over the past few days, the Israeli air force attacked several Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in northern Gaza, including apartments used by "saboteurs" as hideouts, warehouses for storing combat equipment, launching pits and tunnels.

Meanwhile, in another statement, the Israeli military said its troops raided "terrorist infrastructures" in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis, arresting 250 Hamas and Islamic Jihad members and seizing combat equipment, Xinhua news agency reported.

It claimed that some of the seized personnel had participated in the October 7 attack, adding that in a joint operation in the Hamad City neighbourhood west of Khan Younis, Israeli commando units and the 13th Marine Commando arrested "many saboteurs," including the chief of a Hamas sniper cell and two Hamas team leaders.
"Cabrini, the Buffalo-made movie about the life of Mother Francesca Cabrini, the first U.S. citizen to be canonized a saint in the Catholic Church, has finally arrived on the big screen.

The biographical drama, is now showing in area theaters, and will expand locally and nationally on March 8, International Womens Day.

Currently showing or scheduled to show Cabrini are the AMC Market Arcade 8 and Maple Ridge 8, Aurora Theatre in East Aurora, Dipson Theatre locations (Amherst Theatre, Flix, McKinley 6 and Capitol Theatre in Niagara Falls), North Park Theatre, and Regal Elmwood, Quaker Crossing, Transit and Walden Galleria. Tickets are on sale now via theater websites and Fandango.

Cabrini stars Italian actress Cristiana DellAnna as Francesca Cabrini, a poor Italian immigrant and nun who made it her lifes mission to help other immigrants. She was canonized in 1946. The international cast also includes John Lithgow, Montserrat Espadale, David Morse and Giancarlo Giannini. Director Alejandro Monteverdes previous film was the independent hit Sound of Freedom, which he also made with Angel Studios.

Cabrini started principal photography in Buffalo on July 16, 2021, and from the opening moments of the film we see recognizable locations along Main Street in downtown Buffalo. Locations included the Ellicott Square Building (exterior and interior), Lafayette Square, St. Pauls Episcopal Cathedral, the City of Buffalo Common Council Chambers, Clement House, Colonel Ward Pumping Station, Blessed Trinity Church, Sheas Buffalo Theatre, Delaware Park and InnBuffalo.

A large backlot built off Elk Street in South Buffalo re-created New York Citys Five Points neighborhood that Mother Cabrini transformed from the slums to an area with schools, hospitals and orphanages after she arrived in the U.S. in 1889. It took about 16 weeks to build the sets that featured two major locations: a city street with a bakery, butcher shop, Italian grocer and apartments; and a dilapidated shanty town with shacks built on a small embankment over an old railroad bed. Both are impressive on screen. Filming took place on the backlot for about three weeks.

Approximately 600 local extras and 300 local crew members were used for the filming. After Buffalo, the movie filmed for about five days in Rome in the fall of 2021.

An inspirational life

In the weeks leading up to the films release, Angel Studios has held multiple livestreaming events that included a conversation between company president Jordan Harmon and director Alejandro Monteverde, plus videos and talks with cast including John Lithgow. What was mentioned often was how little even they knew about Mother Cabrini before making the film.

It was very surprising in every conceivable way. I really did not know much about Mother Cabrini except that she had done a lot for Italian American immigrants, said Lithgow who plays the fictional  and villainous  Mayor Gould in the film. Its wonderful to see a single person, a single character from history who is a fighter and who will not give up and has right on her side, or his side, and will make changes.

In speaking of Mother Cabrini in that way, Lithgow draws comparisons to other historical figures with similar characteristics like Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass. We were just not that aware of Mother Cabrini.

Those thoughts were echoed by director Monteverde. I was shocked that I didnt know anything about her and that resonates with what John (Lithgow) said. She was a character that came to this country with nothing and built an empire as big as the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts but it was an empire of hope, he said, adding that she used all of her resources to give hope to those living on the streets, giving hope to those with no voice, to fill people with dignity.

I wanted to shine a light on her life and use the power power of cinema to tell her powerful story.

This movie, Monteverde said, continues her legacy. She was a fighter. She was someone who never gave up. That was the spirit of Cabrini. The power of one.

A statue of St. Frances Cabrini can be seen at Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Lewiston. The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation  the largest foundation exclusively focused on health outcomes in New York  awards annual year-end grants to nonprofit organizations across the state. In January, $15.3 million in grants were awarded in 53 grants across Erie, Niagara, Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties; a fraction of the $172 million awarded across the state.

Cabrini is rated PG-13 for thematic material, language, some violence and smoking. It is 2 hours and 25 minutes long.
Tel Aviv, March 7 : Close relatives of 'wanted' Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar have reportedly crossed over to Egypt through the Rafah crossing.

Media reports said that Sinwaras sisteras children crossed into Egypt only recently. Several other top Hamas leaders have also managed to smuggle out their nears and dears out of Gaza into safe zones in Egypt.

According to a report by the Israeli news channel N12, Hamas police spokesman Ayman al Batanji had used his influence to smuggle his two children out into Egypt through the Rafah crossing.

Four children of Hamas political bureau member Shameh Elsraj also managed to escape to Egypt. Israeli media reported that Shameh Elsraj may have been killed in an Israeli missile attack. However, Hamas nor other militant groups have announced his death till now.

It may be noted that senior Hamas political leaders, including Khaled Mashal, Ismael Haniyeh and Moussa Abu Marzouk, were living in comfort zones of Doha, the capital of Qatar and are billionaires themselves.

Interestingly, Hebrew and Arabic media have reported that crossing the Rafah border for an ordinary Palestinian was costing anywhere between 6,000 to 7,500 US dollars which is an astronomical sum for the beleaguered Palestinian.
Lucknow, March 7 : In a bizarre situation, the bodies of two women having similar names, were accidentally swapped at the King George's Medical University's (KGMU) mortuary here on Wednesday.

According to police, confusion arose after post-mortem examination of the bodies of two women, Sandhya Prajapati (26) and Sandhya Trivedi (24).

The mortuary staff omitted surnames from the autopsy reports, leading to the mix-up.

Trouble began when Vipin Prajapati arrived to claim his wife's body and found it had been taken away by somebody else. When Prajapati and his family created a ruckus at the mortuary, the staff rummaged through the files and found that Sandhya Prajapati's body had been handed over mistakenly to Sumit, brother of Sandhya Trivedi.

Angry family members locked the gates of the mortuary and it took police intervention to get them opened.

Sandhya Trivedi had consumed poisonous substance and died late Monday night during treatment at the trauma centre. After her death, her in-laws fled the scene, abandoning the body at the trauma centre, said police.

Sandhya Trivedi's brother Sumit and father Amarnath along with other family members reached the trauma centre to take the body after the inquest was filled. The autopsy could not be done on Tuesday and was completed on Wednesday, but staff handed over the body of Sandhya Prajapati to Sumit.

Additional DCP, West Zone, Vishwajeet Srivastava, said that Sumit and his family went ahead and cremated the body of Sandhya Prajapati at Gulala Ghat crematorium.

Sumit told police he was grief-stricken, so did not see the face and ended up cremating someone else.

Meanwhile, when the mix-up was discovered, Vinay Prajapati and his family rushed to Gulala Ghat but the cremation had already taken place by then.

Families of the deceased created a ruckus at the mortuary that lasted several hours.

Later, police pacified the families and Sumit handed over the ashes of Sandhya Prajapati to her family and took his sister's body and cremated her.

Meanwhile, the KGMU Spokesman said that after post mortem, the bodies are handed over to the police which give it to the kin of the deceased.

"The mix up took place probably because of similar names but KGMU is not responsible for it," he said.
Lucknow, March 7 : A grand 'Rangotsav' will mark Holi this year in the Braj region in Uttar Pradesh.

The Uttar Pradesh Braj Teerth Vikas Parishad (UPBTVP) and culture department have started preparations for the event in Mathura.

According to the minister of culture and tourism, Jaiveer Singh: "Holi in Mathura and Vrindavan is a lively celebration, deeply woven into the fabric of the region's cultural and religious history. Rooted in the tales of Lord Krishna's early life spent in Vrindavan, the festivities here are a kaleidoscope of unique rituals and joyous gatherings that attract people from around the globe."

He said that the state government has established basic facilities in Mathura, Vrindavan and Barsana to attract domestic and international tourists. The aim is to draw maximum tourists from across the world to watch Holi celebrations in Mathura-Vrindavan and Barsana.

The festival spans 40 days, but the true enthusiasm builds up a week before Holi. The festivities begin with Barsana's Laddu Holi and Lathmar Holi where women beat men with sticks.

The minister said that the Holi of Braj had special significance as it was associated with Lord Krishna. The Braj region, including Mathura, Vrindavan, Govardhan, Gokul, Nandgaon and Barsana, was known for its unique Holi celebrations which would be showcased by the department to attract tourism.

He said a large number of foreign tourists visit the region to witness colourful Holi celebrations. "We will make sure that they get a once-in-a-lifetime experience which will make them want to come back year after year," he added.

--IANS

amita/dan
Lucknow, March 7 : Uttar Pradesh government is working on an effective strategy to prevent, mitigate, and manage industrial disasters.

As part of this initiative, the government will engage experts to explore ways to mitigate and manage chemical, industrial, biological, and nuclear disasters through a series of seminars and conferences.

The relief department is organising a one-day conference in Lucknow on Thursday, where experts will discuss the issues related to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and industrial disasters, considering the increasing urbanisation and industrialisation in the state, according to a UP government press release.

Principal Secretary, of Revenue, P. Guru Prasad said that on the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a one-day conference was being organised on the prevention and management of industrial disasters.

The event will be attended by department personnel, senior representatives from various institutions, industrial organisations, and experts.

Meanwhile, Relief Commissioner, G.S Naveen Kumar said that because of the constant risk of industrial, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear disasters in the state, the government remains vigilant to address potential disaster threats.

--IANS

amita/dan
Patna, March 7 : Bihar Police on Thursday said that they have arrested two shooters of the dreaded Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

The police said that the operation was jointly carried out by Muzaffarpur and Sitamarhi Police late on Wednesday night.

The police have identified the shooters as Sunil Karolia, a native of Jaipur and Shahnawaz Sahil, a resident of Mehsol block in Sitamarhi district of Bihar.

The police said a trap was laid at Muzaffarpur-Sitamarhi border area at Runni Saidpur toll plaza.

Police said that learnt that two shooters were coming from Nepal and accordingly a trap was laid and arrested the accused while contrabands were also recovered from their possession.

Police said that the preliminary investigation revealed that the two shooters were involved in several murders in Rajasthan, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh.
Kanpur : , March 7 (IANS) A team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday began conducting raids at the residence of jailed Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Irfan Solanki in Kanpur district.

According to reports, the probe agency team is currently present at Solanki's Jajmau residence.

The residence of his brother, Arshad, is also being raided under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The ED is conducting search operations at builder Haji Wasi's residence. Wasi, closely associated with Irfan Solanki, is accused in the arson attack in Kanpur in 2022, along with several other individuals of Bangladeshi origin.

Irfan Solanki has been lodged in Maharajganj jail for the past one year after being accused of land encroachment by a woman. More than a dozen cases have been filed against him.
Vikas Khanna names dish in new restaurant after US book set in Kashmir. Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, March 7 : Celebrity Chef Vikas Khanna has paid tribute to the 'Paradise of India' -- Kashmir by naming a dish after it in his menu for his upcoming restaurant Bungalow New York, which is all set to open its doors on March 23.

Vikas took to Instagram, where he shared that the dish christened "Kiss Of Kashmir" is made out of lotus stems infused with "zaika" and is inspired by a book by writer Monica Saigal.

He captioned it: "Most of the menu of @bungalowny has evolved during travels or research & diversity of Indian cuisine. We are proud of every dish, especially the dish we call, "Kiss Of Kashmir". The name was inspired by our friend @monicasaigalbhide's latest novel."

"She is one of the foremost Indian food, who made it in the mainstream America."

Khanna added: "Lotus stem with layers of zaika (flavour). Can't wait to show you a glimpse of the dish next week. Our tribute to "Paradise of India  Kashmir."

The restaurant opens on the day of Khanna's sister Radhika, who would have celebrated 50th birthday.

According to reports, Bungalow New York also celebrates the famous street vendors of India and their iconic recipes passed on from generation and cookbook writers.
Los Angeles, March 7 : Hollywood star Matthew McConaughey enjoys tasty meals at home in Texas with his wife Camila Alves McConaughey.

Camila often shares her adventures in the kitchen, and beyond, on her website 'Women of Today'.

For Southern Living, the married couple, who share sons Levi, Livingston, and daughter Vida, spoke about the recipes that the family loves most, reports 'People' magazine.

"The most requested recipe in the house for me to make by Ma Mac and Matthewwould be the no-mayo coleslaw", Camila told Southern Living, referencing her popular coleslaw recipe that uses olive oil, vinegar and lemon juice in place of mayonnaise.

As per 'People', their children's taste buds crave for something sweeter. "For the kids, it's the honey chicken," Camila added.

In that recipe, wings and drumettes get marinated and baked, and then drizzled with honey before going under the broiler. Matthew chimed in with one of their more hearty favourites.

"I'm going to say the one you're forgetting stroganoff," he said.

Camila responded: "Oh yeah I forgot about that! Brazilian chicken stroganoff."

Matthew shared that the family doesn't eat it as often as they'd like. "Chicken, and cream, and corn  it's sinfully good. But we can't eat that one every night", he said.

All of Camila's recipes are available on Women of Today. The McConaugheys, who unveiled their new joint tequila brand Pantalones Organic Tequila in October, also revealed their favourite tequila cocktails.

"My idea of a perfect drink: Pantalones reposado on the rocks," Matthew told the outlet.

"I will not shy away from a good margarita. I won't at all. But because I like my tequila, I like to drink a little more of it. I like to drink it on the rocks, straight so I don't get all that sugar content."
New Delhi, March 7 : The 3.7 per cent decline in the small-cap index this week when Nifty appreciated by 0.5 per cent is a big underperformance, says V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Large-caps are outperforming mid and small-caps. This trend is likely to continue since valuation in the broader market remains highly elevated and the regulator has sent a clear message regarding the froth in the segment, he said.

aInvestors have time, even now, to switch from small-caps to fairly valued large-caps and partly to fixed income products. At this stage in the market, safety should be given priority over return," he said.

Bank Nifty is emerging stronger led by private sector majors like ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Ind Sind Bank and Kotak Bank. Three, regulatory action on some NBFCs have impacted sentiments in the entire NBFC space, which, in turn, is improving sentiments in the high quality private banking space, he added.

In February 2024, Nifty Next 50 emerged as a best performing index with a growth of 6.68 per cent, exhibiting consistent performance. The index has seen consecutive growth during the last three months, six months and one year of 22.85 per cent, 32.8 per cent and 58.36 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, the mid-cap, small-cap and micro-cap indices experienced a decline of 0.3 per cent, 0.65 per cent, and 1.39 per cent respectively, as per Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company.

The realty sector maintained its upward trajectory and surged by 6.3 per cent, leading as the top performer, while the FMCG index saw a 1.9 per cent decline, marking it as the worst performer.
PM to unveil Pune airports new terminal on March 10 to augment capacity. Image Source: IANS News

Pune : , March 7 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to unveil the much-awaited new terminal of Pune International Airport via video-conferencing on March 10, officials said here on Thursday.

Airport Authority of India (AAI) Director, Santosh Dhoke, said that the PM will inaugurate the new terminal in the presence of top dignitaries, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and others.

The Centre had faced huge flak from Opposition parties for the delay in the new terminalas inauguration though it has been ready for several weeks, ostensibly owing to the non-availability of the PM.

After the formal inauguration, flight safety and other tests shall be conducted for over a month before it will be opened for regular operations.

Built at a cost of Rs 423 crore, the swank terminal building with modern amenities is sprawled over nearly 52,000 square metres of land acquired from the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The new terminal can handle around 3,000 flyers per hour and over 90 lakh travellers per annum and will help enhance the passenger handling capacity from the existing 7.20 million to 12-million plus.

It has parking space for more than 1,000 vehicles, 34 check-in counters, 15 lifts and 8 escalators.

After the new terminal becomes fully operational, the AAI plans to take up the renovation of the existing terminal building.

The new terminal has bits of Maharashtrian architecture with a faAade designed on the famed Shaniwar Wada fort, cultural artefacts and historical facets at various locations, and will be linked to the Pune Metro lines.

According to the AAI, the airport has a 2.53 km-long runway (10/28), and an unused secondary runway is now being utilised as a taxiway by the IAF which has its base to the east of the airport, plus a 2.20 km x 23 metre parallel runway for civil operations, fully equipped with night landing, modern navigation and communications facilities.

In January, Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, had inspected the new terminal building which was being given finishing touches at that time.

Later Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar had also gone around it for an inspection.
Last semester, Thai restaurant Nine & Night ran a pop-up food station at the Campbell Student Union at SUNY Buffalo State University. The small business is now on its way to opening a storefront restaurant on Amherst Street in Buffalo.

Taking its place at Buffalo State this semester is KT Caribbean, a food truck offering tastes of Trinidad and Tobago at the student union food court from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays through May 17.

The semester-long pop-ups are part of a partnership between Chartwells Higher Ed college dining service and the Westminster Economic Development Initiative, the small business incubator behind Buffalos Downtown and West Side bazaars.

The partnership gives food industry entrepreneurs who have participated in WEDI a chance to gain experience in a busy campus environment that could eventually lead to opening a brick-and-mortar location, said Emily Scarsella, marketing manager for Chartwells.

KT Caribbean chef Terry Chiddick started her business under a pop-up tent in 2013 and was able to buy a food truck in 2021. Staffing a food court station at Buffalo State allows her to serve her Caribbean curries, meat patties, jerk chicken and other island favorites in the winter months and develop a following for her food among Buffalo State students and faculty, as well as the general public.

WEDI's economic development program provides multifaceted support to aspiring and early career entrepreneurs through the West Side and Downtown Bazaar, Scarsella said. These bazaars act as small business incubators, and this partnership allows Buffalo State to act as one, too.

Scarsella said this years pilot at Buffalo State has gone so well that it will continue next year. Chartwells is hoping to extend the partnership with WEDI to some of the other colleges it serves, she said.

New criminal justice, nursing programs at Daemen

Daemen University has received approval from the state education department to establish two degree programs: a new bachelors of science in criminal justice and a newly updated doctor of nursing practice, Daemen announced.

The criminal justice program, housed in the College of Arts, Sciences, and Education, will provide students with the interdisciplinary training for careers in criminal justice, such as law enforcement, homeland security, forensics and probation or parole officer.

Students will take foundational coursework in criminal justice, political science and psychology, while also choosing an area of specialization in forensics, mental health, criminal law or critical legal study.

The program is open to first-year and transfer students starting this fall.

The doctor of nursing practice program is designed to prepare nurses at the highest level for advanced clinical practice. Students will acquire skills and knowledge for patient care, with a focus on informatics, technology, leadership, health care financing and health care policy.

The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties has called for moving to the DNP degree as entry-level preparation for nurse practitioners by 2025.

Daemen University currently has two nurse practitioner programs, and with the potential change in the entry-level requirement, Daemen Nursing wanted to be prepared, said Dr. Martha Kershaw, associate professor and the chair of the Department of Nursing in the Scott Bieler College of Health Professions.

The DNP program is fully online and can be completed in a post-bachelors or post-masters plan of study. Classes will begin this summer.

St. Bonaventure chemistry grads get automatic acceptance into UB doctoral program

Students who graduate with a bachelors degree in chemistry from St. Bonaventure University are now eligible for automatic acceptance into the doctorate in chemistry program at the University at Buffalo.

It is Bonas second such agreement with a doctoral chemistry program. In the fall, it it forged a similar automatic acceptance agreement with the University of Rhode Island.

In the new agreement, students who graduate from St. Bonaventure with a bachelor of science degree in chemistry, have an overall GPA of 3.5 and a letter of support from the SBU chemistry department chair will automatically be accepted into the UB Department of Chemistry doctoral program.

Students in UBs doctorate in chemistry program receive free tuition, health insurance and other benefits, and a stipend of approximately $26,000, with the potential to garner additional stipends based on academic performance.

SUNY Niagara opens new welding lab on campus

SUNY Niagara County Community College recently opened a welding lab in a renovated space that will eventually hold other hands-on technical career programs, as well.

Niagara County and New York State both contributed to the $3.5 million project to build up workforce training programs at NCCC. The college had been holding welding classes at Orleans/Niagara BOCES Sanborn campus and its workforce training center in Niagara Falls.

THE LATEST

Buffalo Bills season ticket holders are getting a chance to see the new stadium - virtually.

More than 2,000 staffing complaints have been filed by a union against Catholic Health.

Amazon's distribution center in Hamburg has topped its hiring goals.

Neighbors aren't happy with a plan to reopen a South Buffalo scrapyard.

Carley Hill's new way to support construction industry is an academy accelerating workers into the field.

Buffalo Niagara home prices look cheap compared with most big cities.

ICYMI

Five reads from Buffalo Next:

1. What could the future hold for the site of Erie Community College's South Campus?

2. Western, upstate NY tech hub bid aims for $54 million in federal funds. The joint bid expects to find out this summer if it wins funding in the Commerce Department competition.

3. This UB program aims to help women and minorities build their startups.

4. FanDuel's CEO hasn't forgotten about her roots in the Buffalo Niagara region.

5. Need a place to stay to see the eclipse? The prices are astronomical.

The Buffalo Next team gives you the big picture on the regions economic revitalization. Email tips to buffalonext@buffnews.com or reach Buffalo Next Editor David Robinson at 716-849-4435.
New Delhi, March 7 : The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the plea filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenging the guidelines set out by the Calcutta High Court in connection with the dissemination of information regarding the raids and search operations conducted by the probe agency in the alleged scams in West Bengal.

At the very outset, a Bench headed by Justice Hrishikesh Roy told Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, representing the ED, that it would not pass any interim order staying the guidelines issued by the High Court.

"Mr Raju, if you want to withdraw the plea, you withdraw it. Otherwise, we will dismiss it," added the Bench, also comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra.

Sensing the disclination of the apex court to entertain the petition, ASG Raju chose to withdraw it.

"Accordingly, without entering into the merits of the impugned order, the SLP stands dismisses as not pressed," ordered the apex court.

Before the Calcutta High Court, Rujira Narula Banerjee, wife of Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, had contended that the ED officials leak information relating to the investigation to assassinate her character and malign her family.

In its order, a bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya of the Calcutta High Court said: "The investigating agencies in general and the ED in particular should not involve or be accompanied by media persons during their raids/interrogations/search and seizure procedure, since such act on the part of the investigating agency compromises fair trial as well as privacy of the concerned individual, raising presumptions of guilt/involvement before being established in due process of law before the competent court."

The High Court had also asked the media to not publish the photographs of the accused before the final charge sheet in the matter is filed.
New Delhi, March 7 : Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said the Modi government has prioritised the defence sector and along with the promotion of indigenous manufacturing was aiming at an export target of Rs 50,000 crore for military hardware by 2028-29.

Speaking at the NDTV Defence Summit here, the minister said, "In 2014, when Prime Minister Modi's government came to power, we put the defence sector as one of our main priorities. Aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) was encouraged and we introduced many Make-in-India initiatives. Our focus was on military modernisation," he said.

Elaborating on the new eco-system for defence manufacturing based on Aatmanirbharta, he said the country's defence exports during the current financial year were now close to Rs 20,000 crore and he was confident by 2028-29 the figure would touch Rs 50,000 crore.

"I am not saying that previous governments did not take steps to strengthen the country's defence sector. But the difference is that we brought Aatmanirbharta in the defence sector based on our faith in India's capability. This faith in India's capability was lacking among the previous governments," he added.

The Defence Minister said the government had corporatised the ordnance factories which had made them more technology-friendly and increased accountability which has resulted in an increase in production. He said the government has also put its trust in indigenous companies such as Hindustan Aeronautical Limited, Tata and L&T to boost the defence sector.

The Minister said India now imports technology "only when our own innovation falls short".

He said that as much as 75 per cent procurement of defence equipment was now being reserved from indigenous companies. The value of India-made defence equipment has now gone up from Rs 30,000 crore in 2014 to Rs 1.10 lakh crore, he added.

He pointed out that the government was encouraging startups in the defence sector, especially by young entrepreneurs, to develop cutting-edge technology and had raised the financial assistance being offered to them to Rs 25 crore.

The Defence Minister hit out at the "Anglicised elite" which had fostered a slave mentality in the country and relegated the country's rich cultural heritage to the background.

Underlining the government's vision to reduce dependence on other countries, he said, "As a nation, adopting a mindset of technological dependence on other countries can be detrimental to our overall well-being, impacting various facets such as literature, daily life and every aspect of our existence. Prime Minister Modi is striving to break free from this mentality."

"We must break free from thinking that we are dependent on others and change the way we approach progress," he said. To drive home his point, the Defence Minister quoted lines by poet Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena. "Lik par ve chalen jinke charan durbal aur hare hain, hamein to jo hamari yatra se bane aise anirmit panth pyare hain (Those whose feet are weak and defeated should follow the trodden path, we like the path created by our journey)," he added.
Hyderabad, March 7 : The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Thursday announced that N. Naveen Kumar Reddy will be its candidate for the bye-election to Telangana Legislative Council from Mahabubnagar local bodies constituency.

BRS President and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao finalised Naveen Kumaras candidature for the March 28 by-election.

The BRS said in a statement that the party chief took the decision after taking into account the views of party leaders from the united Mahabubnagar district.

Hailing from Mamidipalli village in Nandigama mandal, Naveen Reddy was vice-chairman of the united Mahabubnagar Zilla Parishad.

The vacancy arose after Kasireddy Narayan Reddy of the BRS resigned and successfully contested as a Congress candidate from Kalwakurthy Assembly constituency in the recent elections.

As per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India, nominations will be received from March 4 and the last date is March 11. Election will be held on March 28 and counting of votes will be held on April 2.

Meanwhile, BRS leader and former minister S. Niranjan Reddy has exuded confidence that BRS will retain the seat. He said the constituency has 1,445 voters. Of them, 1006 were elected on BRS aBa form.

He claimed that BRS still has 850 voters even after the disqualification of some public representatives due to various reasons and the death of a few voters.

He asked the party leaders in Mahabubnagar district to work unitedly for the victory of the party candidate.
New Delhi, March 7 : Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said India has emerged as a militarily strong nation under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was ready to give a befitting response to any threat on its borders.

Speaking at the NDTV Defence Summit, he said, "history shows that India has never been the first to attack any country, but if we face any threat on our borders the defence forces are fully prepared to tackle the situation with strong retaliatory action."

The defence minister said that the morale of the country's armed forces is very high and they are always fully prepared for war by land, air or sea. This is a must even at times of peace, he added.

"If anyone attacks India, our forces will respond strongly and give a befitting reply," he added.

The defence minister's response to a question came in the backdrop of the continuing tension with China in Ladakh, as well as the northeast.

He said that India was now a key global economic as well as strategic power and under the strong leadership of PM Modi the country was having a bigger say in global affairs.

"Other countries now listen to what India has to say," the defence minister remarked.

In the future, India will not only emerge as a fully developed country (Viksit Bharat) but also a strong military power, he added.

The defence minister said the armed forces are the pride of the nation and the government was ready to do whatever is required to bolster morale and enhance respect for the soldiers.
New Delhi, March 7 : A 29-year-old gym trainer, who was all set to get married on Thursday, was killed by unidentified person in south Delhi, police said.

The deceased was identified as Gaurav Singhal, a resident of Devli Extension.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Ankit Chauhan said that on Thursday, a police control room (PCR) call was received at 12.30 a.m. regarding the murder at Raju Park area following which a police team rushed to the spot. Upon reaching the spot, it was revealed that Singhal was attacked with a sharp-edged weapon.

Singhal was rushed to a hospital for treatment by his family members, but was declared brought dead.

The DCP said that his marriage was scheduled on Thursday. "The body has been shifted to AIIMS mortuary for post-mortem. Police are registering an FIR and further police teams will be scanning CCTV cameras in the area to identify the culprits," said the DCP.
North 24 Parganas: Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan, accused of sexual violence and land grabbing in Sandeshkhali village, being produced at the Basirhat court. Image Source: IANS News

Kolkata, March 7 : After getting the custody of Sheikh Shahjahan, the accused mastermind in the January 5 attack on ED and CAPF personnel at Sandeshkhali in West Bengal, the CBI sleuths are now mulling legal options on how to transfer the suspended Trinamool Congress leader to New Delhi.

Sources said the central agency is planning to adopt the same strategy that was adopted in the case of Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mondal, who is currently in judicial custody in Tihar Jail in New Delhi in connection with the cattle smuggling case in West Bengal.

At that time, all the cases against Mondal were first transferred from a special CBI court at Asansol in West Bengal to the Rouse Avenue Court in New Delhi.

Thereafter, Mondal was transferred from the correctional home at Asansol to Tihar Jail in New Delhi.

Sources said that with the same strategy in mind, the CBI has given the charge of investigation in the cases against Sheikh Shahjahan to its Deputy Superintendent Susanta Bhattacharya. He was the man who successfully carried out the investigation against Mondal in the school job case.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Shahjahan spent a sleepless night in CBI custody, constantly sitting on a bench in the room where he has been housed at the agencyas Nizam Palace office in central Kolkata.

After being handed over to the CBI by the CID on Wednesday evening, he was first taken to a central government-run ESI Hospital for a medical check-up and then to the Nizam Palace.

Sources said he was questioned by the CBI for over an hour and then was given dinner. His interrogation started again from 11 a.m. on Thursday after he had his breakfast.
New Delhi, March 7 : Mothers Against Vaping, a united front of proactive and concerned mothers, has lauded the government's efforts to restrict the spread of new-age gateway devices like e-cigarettes and vapes.

Following a recent successful seizure of hundreds of Chinese-made e-cigarettes destined for New Delhi, Mothers Against Vaping emphasised on the critical need for sustained heightened vigilance to counter the threat.

Recently, Noida Police arrested smugglers and seized a significant quantity of Made in China e-cigarettes which were sourced from Nepal. The estimated black-market value of these confiscated e-cigarettes, which are banned in India, was nearly Rs 50 lakh. The illicit consignment was destined for sale in Rohini, Delhi and the surrounding areas. These e-cigarettes were being sold at high prices in bars, restaurants and to a younger customer base in the city. In November 2023, a large consignment of e-cigarettes worth Rs 50 lakh coming from China was seized on the Khutar-Puranpur highway in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Similarly, a seizure at Chennai airport in November, 2023, involved the confiscation of 11,700 e-cigarettes worth Rs 3.5 crore coming from China.

"The easy accessibility and glamorisation of these new-age gateway devices are luring our youngsters into the trap of addictive behaviours. The actions taken by the police and the government are praiseworthy in terms of seizures and increased vigilance but at the same time, more needs to be done. While continued seizures are essential, there is an equally crucial need to raise awareness and emphasise the detrimental health effects of vaping. Manufacturers of these devices are specifically targeting our youth, making it imperative to spread awareness that vaping is not cool and extremely harmful. This message needs to permeate popular culture and one effective way to achieve this is by involving youth icons, celebrities and influencers as the faces of an anti-vaping movement," said Dr. Rajesh Gupta - Additional Director, Pulmonology & Critical Care, Fortis Healthcare, Noida.

According to various news sources, the Australian government as part of its crackdown on vaping that was launched on the January 1, 2024, is enlisting local influencers to create and share anti-vaping and other new age gateway devices content on social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube. This initiative termed 'influencer-led youth vaping campaign', targets individuals aged 14 to 20 and aims to counter the influence of big tobacco-company-backed 'vapefluencers'.

According to WHO, the region is home to 280 million smokeless tobacco users, constituting nearly 77% of the global smokeless tobacco user population.

"To curb the usage of these harmful new-age devices, efforts should address both the demand and supply sides. Seizures target the supply side, but the government should also explore penalties for the usage of these new-age gateway devices. Implementing penalties under the PECA law for vaping and use of E-Cigarettes can instill fear among users and their parents, contributing to a reduction in the usage of these devices," said Dr. Bhavna Barmi, Clinical Psychologist and Founder, Happiness Studio.

The Indian government has been proactive in banning e-cigarettes and has taken decisive action by prohibiting e-cigarettes and similar new-age gateway devices through the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarette Act (PECA) 2019.
New Delhi, March 7 : Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that the media was suppressed during the Emergency days but now it is fair and independent.

Addressing the NDTV Defence Summit, the Defence Minister said that during Emergency, news articles were read at a party's headquarters prior to being published and headlines were also decided there.

During that time, mediapersons, who used to oppose the government, were jailed and tortured, he said.

The Defence Minister said that he was also jailed during the Emergency days. He added that he was raising the issue because these days the media is being accused of being biased and siding with the government.

Refuting the charges against the media, the Defence Minister said all these accusations are baseless.

He said that the government and media are part of society and it is but natural for those things which have social consensus, to appear in the communication of the government and the media, both.

Citing an example, Rajnath Singh said that the US government and public view China's rise as a threat to the nation's global position.

This is evident from the policies of the US government and the American media, too, sees China from the same viewpoint. But that does not mean that the US government controls the American media.

He said that in all democratic nations, whether it is India, the US or Europe the governments work according to the social consensus in their nations.

Their writers and thinkers reflect this and the media also thinks and works in the same direction. This does not mean that they are the government's puppets. They function independently.

"Similarly, our government policies are reflected in our media. Like, if our government says that we will give importance to our country's welfare, talk about India First, then it will reflect in our media too," he said.

The Defence Minister said that if the government talks about a corruption-free country, then it will be reflected in the media coverage too.

This is the reason why whenever a corrupt person is arrested, the media gives it detailed coverage, he said.

The minister said that in a democracy, the Opposition also has a social responsibility to fulfil. However, it is unfortunate that these days the Opposition is not able to fulfil its responsibility of bringing social consensus to the fore.

"When the media highlights the shortcomings of the government, we acknowledge it and try to rectify the issues," he said.

"Earlier, shortcomings in the GST were listed, which were acknowledged and rectified. Now, GST is an established system," he said.
Roorkee, March 7 : Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee on Thursday inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with semiconductor leader Micron to help foster innovation and develop a highly skilled local workforce.

The partnership which aims to bolster India's goal of self-reliance in the semiconductor sector, will help further research into the field of technology, provide experiential learning opportunities for students, and facilitate industry-relevant training.

The Micron Semiconductor Lab will prioritise the technical skills, processes and resources for student internships and fellowships via specialised master's and doctoral degree programmes.

"As a part of our University Research Alliance, Micron (URAM) outreach, this initiative aligns well with the thrust areas of the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM)," said Anand Ramamoorthy, managing director at Micron India, in a statement. Ramamoorthy is also an alumnus of IIT Roorkee.

The first India-made chip from the Rs 22,500 crore Micron semiconductor plant in Gujarat is set to arrive in December this year.

The IIT Roorkee class of 1996 has pledged to sponsor the prestigious "Rahul Aggarwal- 96 Chair" at the institute. Rahul Aggarwal is an alumnus of the 1996 batch.

This chair, with backing from industry and academia, will facilitate the research and academic initiatives of the Micron Semiconductor Lab in chip design, technology, modelling, characterisation, and product development.

"As we march into the future, IIT Roorkee remains steadfast in our dedication to pioneering technological advancements. With our esteemed alumni leading the charge, we are poised to shape India's semiconductor landscape and realise the vision of a developed Bharat by 2047, as envisioned by our Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi," added Prof. K.K. Pant, Director IIT Roorkee.
Flipkart to roll out same day delivery in 20 cities from February. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, March 7 : E-commerce major Flipkart is planning to enter the quick-commerce business, aiming to deliver orders to customers instantly after purchase, the media reported on Thursday.

According to TechCrunch, citing sources, the company intends to launch the instant-delivery service in select locations as early as May this year.

However, the discussions are ongoing and there may be slight changes in the timeline, the report mentioned.

"The e-commerce firm is committed to meeting evolving customer expectations and delivering excellence in value, selection and speed, with more initiatives expected on this front in the coming months," a Flipkart spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The new foray comes at a time when Flipkart is also exploring the acquisition of the instant-delivery firm Dunzo.

Earlier this month, Flipkart announced that it is gearing to roll out same-day delivery of products across multiple categories in metro and non-metro cities.

The move will see customers across cities, including Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Coimbatore, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Patna, Raipur, Siliguri and Vijayawada.

The e-commerce major also launched its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) handle recently to further enhance its digital payment offerings for all customers, including its 500+ million customers.
A court challenge to the Kensington Expressway project filed by a Humboldt Parkway couple was dismissed in State Supreme Court Thursday on administrative grounds.

Justice Daniel J. Furlong said the appeal, filed in December by Terrence Robinson and Marcia Ladiana, was premature because a report by the state Department of Transportation had not yet been finalized.

He also said the type of legal challenge itself, known as a mandamus, was not the proper remedy for the couple. He noted the use of mandamus is an extraordinary action only used in rare circumstances for administerial actions.

After careful review and oral argument, the court is going to grant the motion to dismiss, Furlong said, before adding, The court is not judging on the merits of the arguments. Its a procedural dismissal.

The states plan calls for a tunnel that stretches from Dodge Street, near Martin Luther King Jr. Park, to Sidney Street, with a cover that has trees and other landscape features to mimic a portion of the original Humboldt Parkway designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.

Crossings to reconnect some of the neighborhoods Route 33 divided are part of the plan, which wasnt signed off on by the Federal Highway Administration until February.

Robinson and Ladiana are members of the East Side Parkways Coalition, which wants to restore Humboldt Parkway by filling in the highway between Delaware and Martin Luther King Jr. parks. The group also wants the state to conduct a health study and address the chronic conditions that have long plagued residents on both sides of the Kensington.

The lawsuit contended the DOT failed to comply with the State Environmental Quality Review Act and the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in choosing not to conduct a comprehensive environmental impact statement for the project, but instead a less stringent environmental review.

We are here in this court today to ask that the court compel the respondents to comply with the law, Robinson said. To say there could be no short-term or long-term impact as result of this project defies absolute logic. Its beyond belief and not credible. This is the most decisive way to have them just comply with the law as it is written.

Robinson took aim at what he called the lack of integrity in the DOTs examination of the project, suggesting this process was engineered from the start to sidestep certain steps to arrive at a predetermined conclusion.

That drew a sharp rebuttal from attorney Susan Taylor, chief of the Environmental Protection Bureau in the State Attorney Generals Office.

That is completely false, and if we were here on the merits we would be addressing that, Taylor said.

The judge suggested to Robinson that he could now file what is called a state Article 78 to challenge on the merits of the process the DOT used in creating its report, instead of a mandamus challenge.

Robinson said outside court afterward that he expected others to take that step and would instead challenge the dismissal.

We find the judges decision unfortunate, and think they misapprehended what was the basis of our determination, Robinson said. But we will go forward and we will challenge that determination and then a whole series of determinations are forthcoming. We believe in the merit of this case and we believe in the significance of this case.

Robinson may have been buoyed by the judges closing remarks, in which he praised Robinsons filing and presentation.

I have very rarely seen someone without a law degree, Furlong said, make their case as cogently as you did.
Kolkata, March 7 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has submitted two FIRs filed against Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan at the Basirhat Sub-Divisional Court in West Bengal's North 24 Paragans district in connection with the January 5 attack on ED and CAPF personnel in Sandeshkhali.

The development is important because after a high-drama the CBI sleuths ultimately got the physical custody of Shahjahan from the CID-West Bengal on Wednesday evening. The prompt submission of the FIRs at the district court, sources said, is a clear indication that the CBI sleuths want to act very fast in its investigation in the matter without wasting a single day.

At the same time, since Shahjahan has to be presented at the same district court at the end of his current custody, the CBI sleuths followed the protocol of submitting the copies of the FIRs registered by them in the matter to the same court.

The CBI has filed a total of three FIRs in the two cases of attacks on ED and CAPF officials. Out of the three FIRs, two are against Sheikh Shahjahan.

The third FIR is against another Trinamool Congress leader from Bongaon (also in North 24 Paragans district) Shankar Adhya, who is already in judicial custody in connection with the ration distribution case.

On the night of January 5, while the ED sleuths were taking away Adhya from his residence at Bangaon after arresting him, the latteras followers attacked the ED sleuths and also made an attempt to prevent them from taking him.

Both Adhya and Shahjan are known to be close associates of former West Bengal food & supplies minister Jyotipriya Mallick, who is also in judicial custody in the ration distribution case.
S.Korea's Defence chief calls for realistic training to end N.Korean regime in event of invasion. Image Source: IANS News

Seoul, March 7 : South Korea's Defence Minister Shin Won-sik on Thursday called on troops to conduct "realistic" training to ensure the end of the North Korean regime if it invades South Korea, his office said, amid an ongoing South Korea-US exercise that began earlier this week.

Shin made the call as he visited a key military bunker operated by the Capital Defence Command in Seoul after the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for bolstering military drills to contain the "slightest attempt to ignite a war" by his country's enemies, Yonhap news agency reported.

The Minister dismissed the remark as an attempt to promote unity within North Korea's "unstable" internal system and sow division in South Korea, describing the allies' latest Freedom Shield exercise as defensive.

"Make all-out efforts for realistic practice and training to ensure the end of the Kim Jong-un regime in the shortest period of time if the enemy invades South Korea," Shin said.

Pyongyang has long denounced the allies' military drills as rehearsals for an invasion against it, with its Defence Ministry warning on Tuesday that Seoul and Washington would pay a "dear price" over the latest exercise set to end next week.

Shin said there is a possibility of North Korea undertaking various provocations during the exercise period, and instructed officials for immediate retaliation, according to his office.

Separately, Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Admiral Kim Myung-soo and US Forces Korea Commander General Paul LaCamera visited Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 60 km south of Seoul, to check troop readiness, according to the JCS.

At the base, Admiral Kim called for efforts to maintain a combined readiness posture to ensure a strong response against North Korea in the event of a provocation, it said.
vivo launches new smartphones under its V30 series in India. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, March 7 : Smartphone brand vivo on Thursday expanded its V-Series portfolio in India with the launch of the V30 series.

It includes two smartphones -- V30 Pro and V30. The V30 Pro comes in two colour options -- Andaman Blue and Classic Black and is priced at Rs 41,999 for the 8GB+256GB variant and Rs 46,999 for the 12GB+512GB.

The V30 comes available in three colour options -- Andaman Blue, Peacock Green (with colour-changing), and Classic Black and is priced at Rs 33,999 for the 8GB+128GB variant, Rs 35,999 for the 8GB+256GB, and Rs 37,999 for the 12GB+256GB variant.

The V30 series will go on sale across Flipkart, vivo India e-store, and all partner retail stores from March 14.

"With a focus on cutting-edge camera technology and exquisite design, the V30 series set new standards. Notably, our V30 series phones are Indiaas slimmest smartphones of 2024, featuring a powerful 5000mAh battery," Geetaj Channana, Head of Corporate Strategy, vivo India, said in a statement.

"Taking it up a notch, the V30 Pro marks a milestone in our collaboration with ZEISS, delivering professional-grade imaging quality with each of its three rear cameras," he added.

Both smartphones come equipped with a 50MP VCS main camera, powered by vivoas Studio Quality Aura Light technology. Both are also equipped to record 4K videos from the front and rear cameras.

V30 Pro comes equipped with a MediaTek Dimensity 8200 SoC processor, while V30 comes powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor.

Both devices operate on FunTouch OS 14 and come with a software promise of three generations of Android updates & four years of security updates, according to the company.
New Delhi, March 7 : The Delhi High Court has recently clarified that ration cards are intended solely for accessing essential commodities under the public distribution system and should not be used as proof of address or residence.

Justice Chandra Dhari Singh noted the lack of a verification mechanism for the address details on ration cards, saying that their purpose is restricted to ensuring the distribution of foodgrains at reasonable prices to citizens.

This ruling came during the court's hearing of pleas by several inhabitants of Kathputli Colony, who sought alternative housing in exchange for their current makeshift homes.

Despite the Delhi Development Authority (DDA)'s reliance on ration cards as address proof in the rehabilitation process, the court found this practice misaligned with the central government's directive and the inherent purpose of ration cards.

Referring to a 2015 gazette notification from the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, which specifically cautioned against using ration cards as identity or residence proof, Justice Singh criticised the DDA's approach as arbitrary.

The court noted that ration cards are designed for food distribution, not as identity or address verification tools.

The judgement impacts the rehabilitation policy for Kathputli Colony's jhuggi dwellers, particularly those whose eligibility was previously contested due to the absence of a ration card.

Justice Singh directed the DDA to accept alternative documents listed in the Delhi Slum & JJ Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2015, like passports, electricity bills, and driving licences, for verifying residents' claims to alternative accommodation.

This order mandates the DDA to provide alternative dwelling units to the petitioners, contingent on the presentation of pertinent documents issued before the January 1, 2015, cutoff date.
Mumbai, March 7 : Actor Amit Sial, whose political drama streaming series 'Maharani 3' released on Thursday believes in maintaining the sanctity of the writers' written word.

Amit spoke with IANS regarding his show and opened up on the responsibilities of an actor in an ensemble, the effect of technology on the political landscape and his excellent track record in long-format content.

Talking about the objectives and responsibilities of an actor, Amit told IANS: "An actor prepares and delivers according to the objectives that are set in the story for them. Essentially, these objectives are the means to achieve an end. Yes, this responsibility is massive."

He further spoke about the value of a script for an actor, as he said: "An actor needs to be totally respectful towards the written word, the script. Sometimes, there are scripts where a lot of personal creative input is needed from the actor, the other times not so much and many times no creative input seems necessary."

When asked how this played out for his character of Navin Kumar in the series, the actor said: "In the case of Navin Kumar, mostly, it was the latter. It was essentially the immaculately written text that paved the way towards achieving the ever-evolving ends, season to season. Along with, of course, the amazing directions given by Subhash bhai, the writers and director."

Navin is one of the pillars of the narrative of 'Maharani'. It's the constant push and pull set in motion by Navin that makes the story so gripping. How does he define the relationship and dynamics between his character of Navin and Huma Qureshi's character of Rani Bharati in 'Maharani'?

He said: "For Navin Kumar, they all are just meant to achieve an end. In previous seasons it was how to get to the Chief Minister's chair and now it is how to keep it."

He also spoke about the implications of technology on the political landscape.

"Technology has affected all walks and parcels of life starting from the common man. Politics, like any other professional sphere also uses technology to attract their end consumers, the voter nothing more, nothing less," he told IANS.

While the actor has some great performances in films to his credit, his work in long-format content is cultivating new fans with each passing day. But, Amit feels that his work is not impacted by the medium that he works in.

For him, it's about the opportunities and he is pretty confident that if he gets the same opportunities in feature films, "the results will be the same."

"It's not about any format. It's about opportunities. I received better opportunities in a long format to display what I have been able to display. If I get the same opportunity in a feature-length, results will be the same," he said.

'Maharani 3' is available to stream on SonyLIV.
New Delhi: Media persons at the Supreme Court complex on the day of the court's verdict. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, March 7 : The Supreme Court on Thursday registered a suo moto case on a letter petition objecting to the amendments made in the Madhya Pradesh recruitment rules which exclude visually impaired and no-vision candidates from appointment to the judicial service in the state.

Taking judicial notice of the letter petition, a Bench presided over by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud directed the issuance of notice to the Union government, state government and Registrar General of the MP High Court.

The Bench, also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, ordered turning the letter petition into a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution.

It said: "The Madhya Pradesh Judicial Service (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1994 have been amended as a consequence of which Rule 6A completely excludes visually impaired and no-vision candidates from seeking appointment in the judicial service."

Further, it requested senior advocate Gaurav Agrawal to assist the court as amicus curiae in the matter.

Rule 6A, inserted in June 2023, provides that 6 per cent posts will be horizontally reserved for persons suffering from locomotor disability, including leprosy curd, dwarfism, muscular dystrophy and acid attack victims, excluding cerebral palsy, as specified under section 34 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016).
Mumbai, March 7 : Actor Rajeev Khandelwal mastered the steps of the song "Lucky Lover" in just 30 minutes and said that he had to look "lame" in the track.

Mumbai, March 7 (IANS) Actor Rajeev Khandelwal mastered the steps of the song "Lucky Lover" in just 30 minutes and said that he had to look "lame" in the track.

Rajeev said: "I felt Lucky Lover was such a lame thing and I had to do an impromptu dance on it because it is Armaan's hook step. The funniest part was that I had to look lame in the song. The takeaway of that song was that I should look lame."

The actor, who is joined by Emraan Hashmi, Mahima Makwana with Mouni Roy, Rajeev Khandelwal, Shriya Saran, Vishal Vashishtha, Neeraj Madhav, Vijay Raaz and Naseeruddin Shah, revealed the reason why he was just given 30 mins.

"People should cringe looking at me because Armaan is so full of himself. So for that reason, the song and the choreography was given to me just about half an hour before we went for so I could not prepare myself and the steps looked natural," he said.

'Showtime' will be released on Friday on Disney+ Hotstar.
Hyderabad, March 7 : The Telangana High Court on Thursday quashed Telangana Governor's order of September last year rejecting nomination of Dasoju Sravan Kumar and K. Satyanarayana to the Legislative Council.

It also quashed the recent nomination of M. Kodandaram and Amer Ali Khan as MLCs under Governor quota.

The nomination of Dasoju Sravan Kumar and Satyanarayana was recommended by the previous government of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) while Kodandaram and Amer Ali Khan were nominated after the Congress party came to power.

Pronouncing the orders on the petition of Sravan Kumar and Satyanarayana challenging Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan's action in rejecting their nomination to the Legislative Council, the court held that the Governor is bound by the advice of the Cabinet.

A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti, which had reserved its orders on the petitions of Dasoju Sravan Kumar and Satyanarayana on February 15, pronounced the same on Thursday.

"A public law declaration is issued that the Governor is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers while exercising powers under Article 171(5) of the Constitution. However, it is open for the Governor to examine the issues of eligibility or disqualification of a person recommended by the Council of Ministers, to the Legislative Council," reads the order.

The court noted that the Governor has the power to remit the matter to the Council of Ministers either to furnish requisite documents/information or for re-consideration of the recommendation made by the Council of Ministers

"The Governor is not answerable to the Court in view of Article 361 of the Constitution of India. No positive direction can be issued to the Governor. However, in the facts and circumstances of these cases, this Court hopes and trusts that suitable action in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution shall be taken," the court ruled.

Sravan Kumar and Satyanarayana were nominated to the Legislative Council by the previous BRS government but Governor Soundararajan had rejected the nominations.

The recommendation passed by the then state Cabinet in July last year was sent to the Governor. However, she rejected the nominations on September 19 on the ground that the two were "politically aligned persons".

Following the change of guards in the state after the defeat of BRS in Assembly elections, the BRS leaders filed petitions challenging the Governor's action.

The petitioners contended that the decision taken by the Governor to reject the recommendations of the Council of Ministers was due to "lack of personal satisfaction" and not due to any ambiguity in the recommendation itself, which is arbitrary therefore illegal.

The petitioners called "the order passed by the Governor as mala fide, arbitrary, unconstitutional and in excess of her jurisdiction.

The Governor on January 27 nominated Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) president M. Kodandaram and journalist Amer Ali Khan as members of Telangana Legislative Council.

Gazette notifications in this regard were also issued.

On the petitions of Sravan Kumar and Satyanarayana, the High Court on January 30 had stayed the swearing-in of Kodandaram and Amer Ali Khan as members of Telangana Legislative Council.
Kiev, March 7 : At least seven people were killed and 15 others were injured, with children reported among the casualties in Russian attacks against Ukraine a day ago, the Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday as quoted by media reports.

Civilian casaulties were reported by regional officials in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions, The Kyiv Independent reported.

In Odesa, the military reported that five people had been killed and several others injured after Russia targeted the city's port with a missile during a visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

"(The attack) is in no way connected to a specific visit, but it is related to the terror that (Russia) is very methodically carrying out," said Nataliia Humeniuk, a spokesperson of Ukraine's Southern Operational Command.

Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk region was targeted three times during the day on Wednesday, according to Governor Serhii Lysak.

An attack drone injured an elderly woman, and a large fire broke out when a Russian artillery attack targeted a shopping centre. There were no victims, but the fire spread to cover more than 4,000 square metre, The Kyiv Independent reported.

Russian attacks in Donetsk region killed one person in the village of Netailove, Governor Vadym Filashkin reported.

One attack injured two people in the village of Kleban-Byk, and another attack injured a person in Pokrovsk, according to Filashkin.

In the village of Borova in Kharkiv region, a Russian missile strike killed a 70-year-old man and injured seven others.

"A woman was rescued from the rubble, her five children were injured, as well as a man from a neighbouring house," Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on Telegram. The strike damaged 12 houses in the village.

Earlier on Wednesday night, Russian forces attacked a training ground used by the State Emergency Service. The drone attack set fire to the building, destroying the site.

There were no casaulties, according to the State Emergency Service.

In Kherson region, four people were injured, and 16 homes were damaged on Wednesday as a result of Russian attacks, according to Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

Among the injured were a 59-year-old man and 58-year-old woman, who are husband and wife. They suffered blast injuries when a drone dropped an explosive onto their home in the city of Beryslav.

In the city of Kherson, Russian attacks damaged an educational institution, a gas pipeline, a car and port infrastructure.

Sumy, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia regions also came under attack over Wednesday, but no civilian casaulties were reported.
New Delhi, March 7 : The Indian Navy warship INS Kolkata has rescued 21 crew members, including one Indian national from Barbados flagged Bulk carrier MV True confidence which was reportedly hit by a drone or missile in Gulf of Aden.

New Delhi, March 7 (IANS) The Indian Navy warship INS Kolkata has rescued 21 crew members, including one Indian national from Barbados flagged Bulk carrier MV True confidence which was reportedly hit by a drone or missile in Gulf of Aden.

The incident occurred on Wednesday approximately 55 nm South West of Aden, resulting in critical injuries to crew forcing them to abandon ships, the Navy said.

INS Kolkata arrived at the spot at 4.45 p.m. and rescued 21 crew members from the life raft using its integral helicopter and boats.

Critical medical aid was provided to the injured crew by the ship's medical team.

The rescued crew, including the critically injured personnel, have been evacuated to Djibouti.

Earlier, on Monday, a Liberian-flagged MV MSC Sky II transiting approximately 90 Nm South East of Aden reported on fire due to drone or missile attack.

According to the Indian Navy, INS Kolkata, mission deployed in the region for maritime security operations, promptly responded and arrived at scene of incident by 10.30 p.m.

A specialised firefighting team of 12 personnel from INS Kolkata embarked the vessel early morning hours on Tuesday to assist firefighting efforts.
Depew Police Chief Jerome Miller will retire from the department later this month, and the village is struggling to find someone to take his place.

Millers last day on the job will be March 14 and nobody in the department is qualified to replace him, based on civil service requirements, Mayor Kevin Peterson said.

Peterson has reached out to eight qualified candidates from other local departments, including Hamburg, West Seneca, Lancaster and Kenmore, but none have been interested in the position, he said.

This puts the village in a difficult position, Peterson said. According to village and state law, in the event that there is no police chief, the mayor takes over in the interim.

What am I supposed to do? I have a full-time job, Peterson said. Im the mayor of the village.

Peterson said he plans to speak to the Erie County civil service office for guidance on what the villages options are going forward.

Miller has been a member of the Depew Police Department for 27 years. He rose through the department ranks, starting as a patrol officer in 1997 and receiving promotions to detective and lieutenant before becoming chief in January 2019.

Before joining the Police Department, Miller spent eight years as a New York State corrections officer, he said.

This job gave me a lot, said Miller, who grew up in Depew. They gave me so many opportunities here. Im so grateful, for sure.

Looking back at the past five years as chief, Miller said he thinks the department is in a better place than it was when he became chief. He came in with a goal to modernize the department and he believes he was successful in accomplishing that.

When I first took over, I made a strategic plan, he said. We followed it like a road map and we were successful.

Miller was the chief when Peterson became mayor in 2019. Peterson said hes enjoyed working with Miller and has supported his vision for the department.

The biggest modernization project Miller spearheaded was updating the 911 dispatch center. The village invested $250,000 to make the center bigger and install state-of-the-art equipment, he said.

(Miller) took the dispatch center from a little box that was maybe 12 feet by 15 feet to a much larger situation thats much more conducive to dispatch, Peterson said. Its an ideal setup.

Depew police to wear body cameras The police department recently bought 25 body cameras, which cost $60,000, with funding that Assemblywoman Monica P. Wallace, D-Lancaster, secured in the state budget.

During his time as chief, Miller updated every computer in the department and installed new computers in the patrol vehicles. He also updated the departments fleet of vehicles, Peterson said.

Miller added an additional captain position to the department and increased the number of lieutenants to seven, Peterson said.

He also instituted the departments bike patrol division, which allowed officers to interact more with the public, Peterson said.

One of the biggest challenges Miller faced as chief was staffing shortages, especially over the past six months.

The departments two captains recently retired, and it is down to seven patrol officers when it normally has 16, Miller said. But three new officers are in training and three candidates are in the police academy. Several officers who are out due to injury are also expected to resume normal duties soon, Miller said.

Its been a great, great career, Miller said. I appreciate all the efforts the village and the community has given me. I hope the next chief can springboard off my accomplishments and make this department even better.
One third of all new jobs created by women-owned MSMEs went to female employees: Study. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, March 7 : Women-owned MSMEs hired 11 per cent more women employees than male-owned MSMEs, as per a data analysis of women-owned MSMEs by Kinara Capital.

The analysis further revealed that 1/3rd of all new jobs created by women-owned MSMEs went to women employees, thus boosting local economies.

Hardika Shah, Founder & CEO, Kinara Capital, said, "Women entrepreneurs demonstrated better repayment of their business loans, created more jobs for other women, and experienced an income increase for themselves."

As per the analysis, women employees constituted over 32.4 per cent of all jobs created by women-owned MSMEs. Outperforming male-owned MSMEs by 11 per cent, women entrepreneurs contributed to increased female employment and economic development in their local communities. Women entrepreneurs across all three MSME sectors of Manufacturing, Trading, and Services, exhibited a higher degree of acceptance as women-owned MSMEs are evidently more receptive to women employees than their male counterparts.

Women MSME entrepreneurs exhibit a higher ability to optimise costs and drive income, the analysis said. When supported with resources, particularly formal credit, women-owned MSMEs showcased a 12 per cent rise in their organisation's monthly revenue. What stood out even more was their ability to drive income growth. Women-owned MSMEs registered a 19 per cent increase in monthly net income, compared to 18 per cent by men-owned MSMEs, indicating better utilisation of resources and control over costs.

Women entrepreneurs demonstrated higher loan repayment diligence. According to the analysis, while only 3.4 per cent of the women entrepreneurs defaulted on loan repayment, the rate among men was higher at 4.6 per cent.

The study analysed data from 44,821 MSMEs across six states: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
New Delhi, March 7 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched and dedicated to the nation more than 50 projects worth Rs 6,400 crore in Srinagar on Tuesday, in his first visit to Kashmir Valley after the scrapping of Article 370.

The Prime Minister also spoke to a couple of beneficiaries under the Viksit Bharat-Viksit Jammu and Kashmir programme in Srinagar and lauded their accomplishments in respective entrepreneurial ventures.

Addressing the mammoth gathering of Valley residents, PM Modi said that the 'forehead of India' is slated for new peaks of growth, on back of slew of development projects launched today. He also reiterated the fact that Viksit J&K is the priority of Viksit Bharat.

"This is the New Jammu Kashmir that we had been waiting for decades. This is New Jammu Kashmir for which Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee made sacrifices. This new Jammu Kashmir has the courage to overcome any challenge," he said.

Addressing the crowd at Srinagar's Bakshi Stadium, PM Modi said, "the feeling of coming to the heaven on earth is beyond words."

Unveiling Centre's plan to bring exemplary growth in Jammu and Kashmir, he spoke about two programmes in particular - Swadesh Darshan scheme and Wed in India and explained how this will set the state on robust growth path.

"Today, six projects have been dedicated under Swadesh Darshan Scheme. Also, next phase of the 'Swadesh Darshan' scheme will see beginning of another 30 projects," he said.

PM Modi hailed the state administration for hosting biggest ever tourists in 2023 and also the residents for extending warm hospitality.

"Tourism is breaking all the records in Jammu and Kashmir. In 2023 alone, more than 2 crore tourists visited here. Lot of big celebrities are also converging to the state and getting overwhelmed with its beauty," he said.

'My next mission is Wed in India,' PM Modi told the gathering and also urged the countrymen to pick Jammu and Kashmir for their destination weddings, rather than splurging abundant money on foreign location marriages.

As part of the 'Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir' programme at Bakshi Stadium, the PM interacted with a number of beneficiaries from Jammu, Kupwara, Srinagar, Ganderbal, Bandipura, Kathua and Kishtwar.
New Delhi, March 7 : Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday that the country's Armed Forces are equipped, capable and ready to give a befitting reply to anyone who casts an evil eye on India.

New Delhi, March 7 (IANS) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday that the country's Armed Forces are equipped, capable and ready to give a befitting reply to anyone who casts an evil eye on India.

"Today, our forces possess a strong will power due to a powerful leadership at the Centre. We are working continuously towards keeping the morale of the soldiers high. They are equipped, capable and ready to give a befitting reply to anyone who casts an evil eye on India," the Defence Minister said this at a Defence Summit organised by NDTV on Thursday.

He said that India's defence apparatus is today stronger than ever as the Government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is focusing on bolstering it with the sentiment of Indianness.

He termed 'perspective' as the major difference between the current and the previous dispensations, stating that the present government ardently believes in the capabilities of the people of India, while those in power earlier were somewhat skeptical about their potential.

The Defence Minister described promoting 'Aatmanirbharta' in defence manufacturing as the biggest change brought about by the Government, which is giving a new shape to India's defence sector. He enumerated the reformative steps taken by the Ministry of Defence to achieve self-reliance, including setting up of Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu; notification of positive indigenisation lists; reserving 75 per cent of capital procurement budget for domestic industry, corporatisation of Ordnance Factory Board and schemes/initiatives such as Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), iDEX Prime, Acing Development of Innovative Technologies with iDEX (ADITI) & Technology Development Fund (TDF).

The Defence Minister emphasised that the country's defence system has been induced with a new energy by the Government, as per the vision of the people of the country. This, he said, has resulted in India emerging as a powerful nation on the global stage with a strong and self-reliant military.

Highlighting the harmony between military power and spirituality prevalent in the Indian culture since centuries, the Defence Minister emphasised that the Government has been consistently working for the betterment of the serving and retired personnel as well as those who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation, along with their families.

"The Armed Forces are being modernised with latest state-of-the-art weapons/platforms. We established the National War Memorial in New Delhi to honour the sacrifices of the bravehearts. In addition, we implemented the One Rank One Pension scheme, a long-pending demand of the ex-servicemen," he added.
Tumakuru, March 7 : Three persons have been arrested on Thursday on the charges of gang-raping a minor girl in Karnataka's Tumakuru city.

According to police, the minor had come to attend the religious fair to Tumakuru.

The accused had video recorded the girl going around with her boyfriend and blackmailed her.

After threatening the girl of making the "private" video viral, the accused had forcefully taken her to a house in Bandepalya and gang-raped her.

After coming to know about the incident, the parents have lodged a police complaint regarding the incident.

A case has been registered under the provisions of POCSO Act.

Details are awaited.
Farmer trampled to death in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in TN. Image Source: IANS News

Chennai, March 7 : In a tragic incident, a 65-year-old farmer was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) in Erode district of Tamil Nadu.

The incident occurred on Wednesday when the farmer, identified as Mayappan, 65, was grazing his sheep at Kadangalli.

A wild tusker suddenly emerged from the bushes and attacked Mayappan.

Mayapppan was rushed to Sathyamangalam Government Hospital where he was declared brought dead.

The Tamil Nadu Forest department officials said that the body of the farmer would be handed over to his family after post-mortem.

Man-animal conflict is on the rise in the Sathyamangalam forest area.
Bengaluru, March 7 : A group 17 retired All India Service Officers from Karnataka have written a letter to Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, requesting him to put on hold the administration of oath to the newly-elected member of Rajya Sabha, Syed Naseer Hussain, in view of the pro-Pakistan slogan issue.

The officers, including retired IAS, IPS, IRS and IRS officers, have demanded that the oath-taking be withheld "till the investigation in the case of anti-national slogans made on the occasion of his electoral victory is judicially settled in accordance with law."

The pro-Pakistan slogans were raised in the state legislature after the announcement of Naseer Hussain's victory in the Rajya Sabha elections.

"The reported incident, which has occurred in our state of Karnataka, praising the enemy country inside the sacred precincts of the state legislative Assembly has shattered the image of all the law-abiding Kannadigas.

"In this connection, we appeal to your kind self to take cognizance of the anti-national behaviour of the newly-elected member of Rajya Sabha in the open glare of the public and also provide your valuable guidance to prevent any recurrence of such incidents in future.

"The timely action in this will end the nefarious designs of those who are determined to harbour such and anti-national activities and it will curb the negative trend of shouting slogans in favour of our enemy country. Syed Naseer Hussain has got elected to Rajya Sabha for a consecutive second term and he ought to have taken enough care in guiding his supporters in celebrating his election victory, in protecting the unity and integrity of Bharat, the letter stated.

"Therefore, we sincerely request your kind self to put the administration of oath to the newly-elected member Syed Naseer Hussain on hold till the completion of judicial proceedings and absolve said member of his involvement in the entire episode. We request your kind self to initiate appropriate action in this regard of priority," the letter explained.

The letter is signed by Bhaskar Rao, former ADGP and Bengaluru Police Commissioner and Chief Secretary M. Madan Gopal. A total of 17 retired civil servants have signed the petition. Bhaskar Rao is presently a BJP leader.

Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka welcomed the signature campaign and said, "The person who is nursing, supporting and still trying to protect the anti-nationals does not have any right to enter Parliament which is considered as the temple of democracy."

"The Congress party should be ashamed of electing such a person to the Rajya Sabha. If Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and DyCM D.K. Shivakumar have an iota of patriotism, then the resignation of Naseer Hussain must be taken and re-election be conducted on the seat," he demanded.
New Delhi, March 7 : A 100-member youth delegation from five Central Asian countries is on a visit to India from March 5 to 13 to witness the country's growth, savour its rich cultural heritage and get insights into the space programme.

This is the second such youth delegation visit from the Central Asian countries to India as part of the initiatives emanating from the first India-Central Asia Summit held virtually in January 2022.

"Youth leaders from different walks of life, achievers and influencers from Central Asia will have the opportunity to see for themselves India's growth, its technological, industrial and research capabilities; get insights into India's space program, as well as, to enjoy India's rich cultural heritage," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on Thursday.

The programme includes visits to premier research institutions, eminent educational institutions located in Delhi and Ahmedabad such as IIT and IIM, historical sites in Delhi, interaction with 'MY BHARAT' volunteers, calls on Indian dignitaries, and a visit to the Taj Mahal.

Historically, India and Central Asia have enjoyed a continuous exchange of people, culture and ideas.

The initiative aims to expand the imagination of India among the youth of the Central Asian countries and help them get a better appreciation of Indian society, growth, infrastructure, poverty reduction and the changes India has undergone in recent years.

The impression carried back by the young Central Asian delegates from this visit will help them achieve a better understanding of contemporary India.

It will also create a basis for sustained people-to-people interaction between India and the Central Asian countries, the statement noted.

The first such delegation was hosted by India in November 2022.
Bengaluru, March 7 : Karnataka Minister for Cooperation K.N. Rajanna on Thursday said that state Home Minister G. Parameshwara should be made the Chief Minister in case there is a change of guard, as there was nothing wrong in raising the demand for a Dalit CM.

Speaking to reporters in Tumakuru, the Minister said, "If at all there is any change regarding the post of Chief Minister in the state, a Dalit leader should become the CM. Majority of MLAs are having the same opinion."

He, however, said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should complete his full tenure in office.

"The demand for Dalit CM has been made for a long time. It is not that a Dalit leader will be given the post of Chief Minister this evening immediately. If we start raising the voice for the Dalit CM today, it will happen in the coming days.

"Minister for Home Dr. G. Parameshwara should be made the Chief Minister. Parameshwara deserves to become the CM. It is our wish. Since elections are round the corner, we will not bring up these matters now," he maintained.

When asked that the demand for the Dalit CM was being made soon after the clearing of ED case against DyCM D.K. Shivakumar, Minister Rajanna said, "Dalit CM demand was not brought up immediately after the development of quashing the ED case against Shivakumar. The demand for Dalit CM is long pending.

"Let Shivakumar also become the Chief Minister. We are not saying that he should not become the CM."

Earlier, Minister for Social Welfare Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa raised the demand for a Dalit CM and said that Dalits instead of giving votes to other community leaders, must rally behind Dalit leaders only so that they can claim higher posts, including the post of CM.
New Delhi, March 7 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during an interaction with the beneficiaries of Central government's schemes as part of Viksit Bharat-Viskit Jammu and Kashmir, spoke to a person named Nazim, who left him impressed with his entrepreneurial feat.

Prime Minister Modi took to X, after the Viksit Bharat-Viksit Jammu and Kashmir programme and shared the selfie taken by the Valley resident.

"A memorable selfie with my friend Nazim. I was impressed by the good work he's doing. At the public meeting he requested a selfie and was happy to meet him. My best wishes for his future endeavours," he wrote on X.

Notably, this was first visit of Prime Minister to the Valley after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

Nazim, briefing Prime Minister Modi about his entrepreneurial venture, informed that his company sold 5,000 kg honey in the market. He also explained how he connected many youth with his business.

"We got the FPO in 2020. Through FPO, we are reaping big profits. More than 100 people have come along and joined this business. Digital platform has given big push to our business," he told the Prime Minister.

In the video, PM Modi looked visibly impressed as Nazim elaborated on the 'birth' of his firm and scaling new heights thereafter.

Later, Nazim speaking to mediapersons expressed happiness over meeting the Prime Minister and said, "If you have the will and determination, you will succeed always."

"Today, there are hundreds of innovative schemes, where you can participate and begin your venture. You don't even need to visit any government office, just open your phone and begin your entrepreneurial journey," he told the media.
Patna, March 7 : A 21-year-old girl was gunned down during a marriage function in Bihar's Nalanda district, the police said on Thursday.

The incident occurred late on Wednesday night at Dhanwadih village in the district. The deceased has been identified as Kareena Kumari, the daughter of Vijay Singh.

Kareena and others were watching the marriage celebrations of a relative from the rooftop when a person named Guddu Singh (45) fired in the air. The bullet hit Kareena and though her family members rushed her to a primary health centre (PHC), she was declared dead by the doctors.

Following the incident, Kareena's mother Mintu Devi filed a written complaint against Guddu Singh, alleging that he fired at her daughter intentionally with the motive of murder.

"We have registered an FIR after receiving the deceased's mother's complaint against Guddu Singh, who is on the run. A team has been formed to nab him," said Nurul Haq, SDPO, Bihar Sharif Range.

"The accused, who is a neighbour of the deceased, has been booked under IPC Section 302 and Arms Act," Haq added.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said he thinks the raises recommended for county elected officials by a citizens panel deserve support and still pale in comparison to private sector salaries.

Citizens panel recommending big raises for Erie County elected officials The citizens panel tasked with reviewing the salaries of Erie County elected officials is recommending raises that would increase every official's salary by tens of thousands of dollars.

I think the recommendations are solid, he said.

The Citizens Salary Review Commission is recommending raising the salaries for these elected Erie County positions:

County executive: Increase from $139,932 to $175,000.

Sheriff: Increase from $101,811 to $150,000.

Comptroller: Increase from $107,160 to $140,000.

Clerk: Increase from $90,129 to $130,000.

County legislators: Increase from $42,588 to $65,000.

Poloncarz would not benefit from the proposed raise to $175,000 because the raises take effect after the next election for the seat. Poloncarz already has stated he will not run for another term.

However, he said that as the head of an organization with a $2 billion budget and many departments, the recommended raises are reasonable.

Poloncarz pointed out that the salary recommended by the commission for the county executives position is still lower than it is in Monroe, Albany and Onondaga counties, where the salary for the top countywide post ranges from $180,000 to $199,246. Similarly the recommended salary for sheriff is still lower than what is paid to sheriffs in Monroe and Albany counties.

Whats likely to attract more attention is the recommended salary for county legislators of $65,000 because that would be higher than in the other three counties. In addition, the majority of legislators work part time but collect full-time benefits and have outside jobs.

Members of the commission have noted that the number of county legislators is lower in Erie County than in most other major counties in New York State, so each represents more constituents.

Aside from attracting more candidates who could serve as legislators full time on a higher salary, commission Chair Laurie Buonanno said the fact that legislators receive full-time benefits suggests these positions should be considered full-time jobs with full-time pay.

Of the 11 members on the County Legislature, at least eight have outside, full-time jobs and one is retired. Six run their own businesses. The Legislature employs more than 30 full-time support staff, including a full-time staffer for each legislator. However, legislators are also the only elected Erie County officials who have received no raises since the 1996 independent commission recommended them 28 years ago.

At the time, those raises were leagues above what other major counties paid. The chair of the County Legislature receives an additional $10,000 stipend, while majority and minority leaders receive an extra $5,000.

Poloncarz said that legislators should be entitled to a raise since they havent received one in so long.

He also agreed with the commission that higher pay for legislators would help attract more candidates to the position since the salary is currently too low to attract anyone who does not have flexible, outside employment.

The Citizens Salary Review Commission is expected to finalize its report on Tuesday, after which it will be up to the County Legislature to consider and vote on the commissions recommendations.
New Delhi, March 7 : A Delhi court on Thursday handed life sentence to three convicts involved in the killing of Ankit Saxena, who was murdered in full public view in the national capital in 2018.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Sunil Kumar Sharma of Tis Hazari Court pronounced the order after having it reserved on March 2.

ASJ Sharma awarded life sentences to Akbar Ali, Shahnaz Begum, and Mohammad Salim, who were convicted on December 23 last year. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on each convict.

The Delhi Legal Service Authority (DLSA), had recently submitted the Victim Impact Assessment Report concerning Saxena, whose mother is the sole surviving member of the family following the demise of his father.

The report was pivotal for assessing compensation and the judge took it on record.

Delhi Police had earlier argued for maximum punishment for convicts for the offence. The defence counsel, however, had urged the court to take a lenient view on the sentence of the convicts.

During investigation of the case, it was revealed that Saxena was in a relationship with a girl of different religion and the perpetrators of the crime were the parents and maternal uncle of the girl, who opposed their interfaith relationship. They were later convicted.

The charges against the convicts include IPC Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention). Moreover, Shahnaz Begum has also been convicted of voluntarily causing hurt.
Lucknow, March 7 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday paid rich tributes to Bharat Ratna Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant on his death anniversary.

The chief minister garlanded Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant's statue and remembered him as a great son of India and great freedom fighter.

Remembering the contributions of Govind Ballabh Pant, who was the first Chief Minister of the state and also served as the Home Minister of the country, Yogi Adityanath said, "He played a leading role in various movements led by Mahatma Gandhi for the country's independence. On the reorganisation of Uttar Pradesh on January 24, 1950, he played an important role in the smooth progress of the state's administration as the first Chief Minister of the state."

He further said that Govind Ballabh Pant actively participated in the freedom movement by providing invaluable services to the people as the Chief Minister of the United Provinces in 1937.

After the sudden demise of the country's first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in December 1954, he assumed his responsibilities as the Home Minister of the country.

Further highlighting his contributions to the country, the chief minister mentioned that as the Home Minister of the country from 1955 to 1961, Govind Ballabh Pant rendered invaluable services to give recognition to the official language Hindi.

In recognition of his services to the nation, he was honoured with the highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, in 1957. Not only that, but he also served as an important member of the Constituent Assembly of India, the chief minister said.
New Delhi, March 7 : President Droupadi Murmu said on Thursday that Sanskrit has woven the diversity of our vast land into a thread of unity.

Many Indian languages aahave been strengthened by the vocabulary of Sanskrit and those languages aaare flourishing in different regions and states, she added while speaking at the first convocation of Central Sanskrit University in New Delhi.

President Murmu said that Sanskrit is not only the language of God but it is also that of the people.

"The feeling of pride towards Indian culture is the basis of our national consciousness. Realising the rich culture of our country awakens a sense of pride. The heritage of our culture is preserved in the Sanskrit language. Therefore, spreading the cultural awareness available in Sanskrit language is a service to the nation," she added.

She said that the women scholars like Gargi, Maitreyi, Apala and Lopamudra have made immortal contributions towards Sanskrit so womenas participation should be maximum in it.

President Murmu was happy to note that the number of boys and girls winning a gold medal at the convocation was almost equal.

She praised the Central Sanskrit University for its efforts on women empowerment.

The President said that countless excellent writings on spirituality and morality are available in Sanskrit language.

The wisdom given by the Acharyas to the people in ancient times are relevant even today and will always be useful, she added.

The President told students that it should be their resolution to speak the truth, behave ethically, not be negligent in self-study, not turn away from duty and be conscious of auspicious works.

"By doing this they will be able to do justice to their talent and will be successful in performing their duties."
Chennai, March 7 : DMK leader Shimla Muthuchozhan, who contested against AIADMK supremo and then Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa in the 2016 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, on Thursday joined the AIADMK.

She joined the opposition party in the presence of its General Secretary K. Palaniswami at the party headquarters.

Shimla Muthuchozhan is the daughter-in-law of DMK leader S.P. Sarguna Pandian who was a minister in the M. Karunanidhi government.

In the runup to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the switch of a leader from a politically powerful family to the AIADMK is seen as a boost to the state's main opposition party. However, DMK sources told IANS that Muthuchozhan was not active in politics for quite some time now.
New Delhi, March 7 : GAIL (India) Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Shell Energy India (SEI) Private Limited on Thursday signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore opportunities for import of ethane and other hydrocarbons and development of evacuation infrastructure at Shell Energy Terminal in Gujarat's Hazira port.

Earlier, GAIL had entered into a bilateral MoU with SEI for scouting opportunities in different facets of energy cooperation, wherein a feasibility study was conducted by a reputed consultant on developing ethane import infrastructure in the existing SEI terminal at Hazira.

ONGC has a bilateral MoU with GAIL for, among other things, importing and handling of hydrocarbon.

In view of the emergence of ethane requirement in India and proposed development of ethane infrastructure, the three parties -- ONGC, GAIL and SEI -- have joined hands.

Speaking at the event, Rajeev Kumar Singhal, Director (Business Development), GAIL, said, "Ethane has emerged as a preferred petrochemical feedstock in India and development of its import facilities have gained considerable traction. Definite plans are being formulated to import ethane for domestic petrochemical plant requirements."

This MoU, among other things, includes cooperation with clear focus for developing ethane import facilities after gap assessment in existing Shell Hazira Terminal facilities and usage of existing pipeline routes and facilities.

The MoU signed envisages to foster efficiency and swift progress of the shared project by leveraging the combined strengths of all three parties.
New Delhi, March 7 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his MLAs on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to remand the plea, filed by the Shiv Sena-UBT faction challenging the ruling of Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, to the Bombay High Court for adjudication.

A bench, headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, was hearing the plea filed by Shiv Sena-UBT leader Sunil Prabhu challenging the January 10 decision passed by Narwekar holding that the group led by CM Shinde was the real "Shiv Sena" as it commanded a majority in the legislature and also in the partyas National Executive.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing CM Shinde, contended that all issues, including of the authenticity of documents and applicability of amendments in the partyas constitution, should be dealt with by the Bombay High Court because the law has already been laid down by the apex court.

"They (Shiv Sena-UBT faction) can go to the High Court," he said.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi submitted that a special leave petition filed directly before the apex court should only be entertained in exceptional circumstances and ordinarily, the petition should first be filed before the high court.

On the other hand, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing on behalf of the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction, stressed that time is of the essence in the matter as the term of the current Assembly would come to an end in October-November of this year.

"They have not yet filed their reply. The matter must be expeditiously decided otherwise the whole matter would become infructuous," he said, adding that the decision of the Speaker could be challenged directly before the apex court by way of filing a special leave petition under Article 136 of the Constitution.

He said: "Your lordships have issued the notice. Where is the question of sending us to the High Court? They have not even filed a reply. Let them file a reply. The matter must be decided as quickly as possible."

After hearing the contentions, the bench, also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said: "We will list it, hear it, and dispose of the matter. We will list it after the Holi recess."

"The original record shall be summoned from the office of the tribunal (Speaker) hearing the disqualification petition. The reply should be filed on or before April 1," ordered the Supreme Court, clarifying that the question of maintainability of the petition remains open.

The matter will be heard next in the week commencing April 8.
Chennai, March 7 : Congress' Tamil Nadu unit President K. Selvaperunthagai on Thursday that the seat-sharing talks with the DMK for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls were proceeding smoothly.

Addressing media persons at state party HQ, Satyamoorthy Bhavan, he said that there were no bitter feelings between the two parties and the seat-sharing exercise would be completed soon.

Selvaperunthagai also questioned why the media was in a hurry to speculate on seat-sharing between the Congress and the DMK, noting that the DMK had not yet completed talks with regional parties in the state and even the dates of the elections have not been announced.

He also refuted allegations of a Congress MP being in touch with the AIADMK, saying that in politics, everyone will be in touch with the others but this does not mean one would change one's political ideologies.
Hyderabad, March 7 : A few structures in the premises of two colleges, run by opposition BRS MLA Marri Rajasekhar Reddy, on the outskirts of Hyderabad were demolished by authorities on Thursday.

Two permanent buildings and six temporary sheds in the Aeronautical College and the MLRITM College at Dundigal were demolished, as they were allegedly built illegally on the land of a lake.

These institutions are run by Malkajgiri MLA Rajasekhar Reddy, the son-in-law of former minister and MLA Malla Reddy.

Irrigation and Revenue Department officials had identified that the structures were built by encroaching 8.24 acres of land in the full tank level (FTL) buffer zone of Chinna Damara Cheruvu.

Officials said that the management of these colleges was issued notice.

On the direction of Medchal-Malkajgiri District Collector Gautam, a team from the Irrigation and Revenue Departments, with the help of police, undertook the demolition.

Some students and college employees reached the site and tried to stop the demolition, leading to mild tension. However, the authorities continued their drive.

Thursdayas demolition came four days after revenue officials from the Medchal-Malkajgiri district demolished a road constructed to serve the Malla Reddy Engineering College in Kamla Nagar of Gundla Pochampally municipality. Authorities alleged that Malla Reddy had illegally encroached on around 2,500 square yards of land in the HMDA layout and laid the road.

When Chief Minister Revanth Reddy was the MP of Malkajgiri, he lodged a complaint regarding the road laid by Malla Reddy for the engineering college. However, no action was taken at that time.

With the recent change in government and Revanth Reddy assuming the role of Chief Minister, the issue resurfaced.

Malla Reddy and his family run a chain of educational institutions and hospitals. The former minister faces allegations of land encroachment but he has denied the charges.
Tokyo, March 7 : External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Thursday that India sees Japan as a natural partner in its development and transformation, and in its quest for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

In his opening remarks at the 16th India-Japan Foreign Ministers' Strategic Dialogue in Tokyo, EAM Jaishankar said that the two Asian behemoths must find new ways to deepen and expand bilateral cooperation.

"We see Japan as a natural partner in India's development and transformation, and in quest for peace, prosperity and stability in a free Indo-Pacific. Both India and Japan stand for a free and open Indo-Pacific, underpinned by inclusiveness, and rules-based order," EAM Jaishankar said.

India had earlier stated that as two leading powers in the Indo-Pacific region, New Delhi and Tokyo had shared interest in the safety and security of the maritime domain, freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded lawful commerce, and peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with the international law.

Calling 2023 a landmark year in the bilateral relationship, EAM Jaishankar stated that the two nations witnessed government-to-government, business-to-business, and people-to-people exchanges thrive across diverse sectors.

The most notable among these, he said, was Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio's visit to India in March 2022 for the 14th India-Japan annual summit; Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hiroshima visit for the 49th G7 Summit, and the meeting of the two leaders at the G20 Summit in Delhi last year.

EAM Jaishankar also appreciated Japan's cooperation in India's successful G20 presidency, further noting that 2024 again is a milestone year as both countries mark the 10th year of their Special Strategic Global Partnership.

Setting the agenda for future cooperation, EAM Jaishankar, who is on a three-day visit to Japan, said "it is important that we give new momentum to our partnership and find new ways to deepen and expand our cooperation".

The India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership has further deepened in the last decade in areas such as defence and digital technologies, semiconductor supply chains, clean energy, high-speed rail, industrial competitiveness, and connectivity.

Earlier on Thursday, EAM Jaishankar addressed the first Raisina Roundtable in Tokyo where he said that it is important for Japan to appreciate the pace of change in the South Asian nation.
Kolkata, March 7 : Without taking any name, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday launched a scathing attack against the former judge of Calcutta High Court, Abhijit Gangopadhyay, saying that certain judgements by the latter gave the state a bad name nationally.

"Some people often tell me that given certain court judgements passed in West Bengal, not only the people, even tigers will flee from the state. I tell them that there are some people like 'him'," the Chief Minister said at the end of a rally organised by the Trinamool Congress here on Thursday afternoon.

Without naming Gangopadhyay, the Chief Minister also said that the "former judge" unnecessarily targeted the Trinamool when he was the judge.

"As a judge, he gave television interviews. He said a lot of things naming Abhishek Banerjee. Finally, he announced his decision to join the BJP. Now, he has been unmasked. In the coming days, he will be judged by the common people," CM Banerjee said.

Reacting to the Chief Minister's comments, state BJP spokesman and Rajya Sabha member Samik Bhattacharya accused the Trinamool of attacking the judiciary whenever any judgement goes against the party or the state government.

"There had been instances when slanderous posters were pasted on the walls of a judge's residence. The state government had challenged the orders of Gangopadhyay at higher courts. But in most cases, the higher courts upheld the orders passed by Gangopadhyay," Bhattacharya said.

Meanwhile, speaking at the rally, CM Banerjee once again referred to the recent controversy relating to the derogatory comments allegedly made by some state BJP leaders in connection with the turban of a Sikh IPS officer in the state.

"For the BJP, all Sikhs are 'Khalistanis', all Muslims are 'Pakistanis' and everyone in Trinamool is a 'thief'," the Chief Minister said.
Jewish Family Services of WNY is referring furniture and other household donations they are unable to accept to Habitat for Humanity Buffalo for sale at ReStore locations.

In turn, JFS' caseworkers will receive a discount on purchases for clients.

In 2023, 130 donors gave the equivalent of more than $215,000 in household goods, and volunteer teams furnished 66 apartments for clients through the organization's home set-up volunteer program.

JFS has also received $30,000 from a pilot project of the Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation to support refugee and immigrant teens and their parents as they adjust to a new country.

"The emotional exhaustion of fleeing a war-torn country and resettling can impact parents' ability to provide adequate psychological support and reestablish trust for ther children," said Molly Carr, JFS' chief executive officer. "This coupled with the challenges refugee youth face in school, academic and community settings can compound pre-existing trauma and strain dynamics at home."

JFS additionally helps parents and caregivers adjust to parenting in the United States while honoring traditional parenting practices.

"Positive parent-child relationships are supported when parents can understand their trauma and build coping skills that they can share with their children," Carr said.
Badnawar: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with party leader Rahul Gandhi at a public meeting during the 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', in Badnawar. Image Source: IANS News

Jaipur, March 7 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered Danpur in Rajasthan's Banswara on Thursday from Sailana in Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam.

He was seen riding an open jeep while he came to Rajasthan's Banswara district.

A roadshow was held here at the playground of Govind Guru Government College which continued for 20 minutes.

Speaking at the event, Rahul Gandhi said that the Congress' first task after forming its government will be to provide 30 lakh jobs to poor sections of society. He also spoke about training every graduate youth in government and private offices and provide Rs 1 lakh to youth every year.

The Congress leader also said that he would bring in a law against paper leaks in the state.

At this event, State Congress President Govind Singh Dotasra targeted former Congress Minister Mahendrajit Singh Malviya for joining the BJP.

Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge said that BJP talks about nepotism all the time, but they do not tell what they have done in the last 10 years.

"We tell with pride of the works being done by Congress leaders, however, what Modi has done BJP workers never speak about it."

Earlier, Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra halted at three places in Rajasthan's Banswara city and will enter Gujarat on Thursday evening.

Rahul Gandhi's yatra is scheduled to halt at Jhalod in Gujarat on Thursday night, said Congress Spokesperson Swarnim Chaturvedi.

Earlier on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi inaugurated 10 CSR-funded Model Anganwadis virtually in Kerala's Wayanad from Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam. Later, he came to Banswara where he addressed a public meeting.

On Thursday evening, a flag handover ceremony was organised at Thuthi Kankasiya Circle, Jhalod, Dahod, signalling the entry of the yatra to Gujarat.
Shimla, March 7 : The Himachal Pradesh Cabinet at a meeting on Thursday expressed faith in the leadership of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and reaffirmed that the entire Cabinet is "united under his leadership".

Shimla, March 7 (IANS) The Himachal Pradesh Cabinet at a meeting on Thursday expressed faith in the leadership of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and reaffirmed that the entire Cabinet is "united under his leadership".

The Cabinet also accused the Government of India of using official machinery to destabilise a democratically-elected state government.

"The Cabinet resolved to inform the people of Himachal Pradesh about the propaganda of the BJP, and said in one voice that the state government will complete a full term of five years," an official statement said.

The Cabinet also urged the Government of India to release Rs 9,043 crore for 'post-disaster need assessment' without delay.

"This amount has been worked out as per the norms of the Government of India and therefore its full release is expected," it said.
Pune, March 7 : The usually cool Nationalist Congress Party (SP) President Sharad Pawar became visibly furious at a legislator of the rival Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), who reportedly 'threatened' workers from attending a pre-election rally in Lonavala on Thursday.

The apparent provocation was a missive by ruling NCP MLA Sunil S. Shelke from the Maval Assembly constituency, who warned and threatened people from his region against attending Sharad Pawar's rally on Thursday.

"We got hundreds of complaints from our local leaders, workers, and ordinary masses that they were warned of consequences if they dared to attend Sharad Pawar's public meeting in Lonavala," Pune NCP (SP) President Prashant Jagtap told IANS.

When Sharad Pawar was informed, his visage displayed signs of red rage -- something that even people close to him have rarely experienced -- as he decided to give a piece of his mind to the 'irksome' rival NCP MLA.

"If you threaten my people, then remember I am called 'Sharad Pawar'. I never traverse such a route (crooked), but if someone creates a bad situation, I will not spare them," said the 83-year-old leader, as his supporters cheered and clapped.

Flexing muscles for good measure, he told Shelke: "Did you forget who made you an MLA? I had signed your nomination form with the party name and symbol for your (official) candidature."

Sharad Pawar also reminded Shelke that as the (undivided) NCP President, he had gone to his rally, when he was struggling to become a lawmaker, filled up the election nomination form along with his (the NCP chief's) joint signature, and yet he was issuing threats to his (NCP-SP's) workers now.

Without taking names directly, Pawar also sternly admonished others who hijacked the NCP founded by him 25 years ago and for abusing and threatening the NCP (SP) workers on ahead of elections, even as over 100 workers from the rival NCP joined his party.

Rattled by Sharad Pawar's unexpected tongue-lashing, a peeved Shelke denied that he harassed or threatened the NCP (SP) workers against attending the Lonavala rally.

Shelke also said that Sharad Pawar has never made personal attacks against anybody, but challenged the NCP (SP) chief to prove his allegations, or he would launch a tirade against him all over the state for "spreading falsehoods".

BJP's Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, meanwhile, frowned at Sharad Pawar's remarks, saying they did not suit a person of his stature to use such language against a common MLA, and "this would lower his esteem" after putting in 55 years in public life.

Targetting the BJP, Sharad Pawar accused it of 'misusing power' and deploying central investigating agencies to harass political opponents, taking the names of ex-CM of Jharkhand Hemant Soren who is jailed, and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal who is being 'hounded'.

A similar situation prevailed in Maharashtra with several leaders like Anil Deshmukh, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut, and others in jail for months on various charges or for criticising the government.

"We have seen PMs from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi to many others, but they never imprisoned journalists or editors for criticising them. There is no freedom of speech and expression left in the country now," Sharad Pawar said.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)
Jaipur, March 7 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday virtually inaugurated various development works, including the much awaited water laser show at the spiritual circuit Shri Sanwaliya Seth Ji Mandir in Rajasthan's Chhitorgarh.

State BJP President C.P. Joshi joined the programme virtually from Sanwaliya Seth temple.

After the programme concluded, the State BJP President spoke to the media and said, "The much awaited water laser show has been inaugurated here with funds worth Rs 18 crore for the inclusion of this temple in the spiritual circuit of India."

Earlier, money used to go to governments from temples, however now the government is sanctioning funds for the development of temples, he added.

The Central government has sanctioned funds for the development of facilities in Sanwaliya Seth temple which include cafetaria and museum and other facilities for tourists.
Tata Power consumers in Mumbai set to shell out more for electricity from April. Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, March 7 : Tata Power's Mumbai customers will have to pay higher electricity bills from April 1 as power regulator Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has approved an average tariff increase of around 24 per cent as against 12 per cent claimed by the power distributor.

The present tariff hike is necessitated as there was under-recovery due to a stay on tariff as determined in the MTR (mid-term review) Order for FY 2023-24.

Had there been no stay, the tariff for FY 2024-25 would have resulted in a tariff decrease of 13 per cent than approved by the MERC in the MTR Order.

Tata Power is a licensee for electricity distribution in Mumbai city and suburbs and Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation.

Out of its total consumer base of 7.63 lakh, approximately 7.15 lakh (94 per cent) consumers belong to the residential category and around 85 per cent of these residential consumers fall within the 0-300 units slab.

A Tata Power spokesperson said that the MERC has determined the revised tariff for FY 2024-25, resulting in an overall increase due to past approved gaps up to FY 2023-24 to be recovered within FY 2024-25 and remaining within a range of plus and minus 20 per cent of the average cost of supply.

"Despite this, our residential tariff for the 0-100 (units) category remains the lowest, while the 101-300 category is only slightly higher than other private players. Tata Power is committed to supplying reliable and quality power supply to its consumers and is optimising power purchase costs, which could lead to tariff reductions due to negative FAC (fuel adjustment charge),aa the spokesperson added.

An energy expert observed that as the tariff rise will be seen in the monthly bill of May, a section of Tata Power consumers may shift to the BEST (BrihanMumbai Electric Supply and Transport) or Adani Electricity in the wake of the rise approved by the MERC, due to the major tariff differential between it and the other power distributors.

Besides, if Tata Power witnesses the migration of its consumers, it will still have to continue to draw power under various power purchase agreements, paying a fixed charge despite a fall in the requirement.

The MERC, in its order, said that the tariff rise on account of full recovery of Wires ARR (aggregate revenue requirement) is approved against 50 per cent claimed by Tata Power. The Electricity (Amendment) Rules, 2024, notified by the Ministry of Power on January 10, 2024, does not allow deferment of revenue gap- Impact of Rs 155.99 crore.

Further, the power distribution company has not factored in the refund of the revenue of Rs 346.79 crore which has been considered by the MERC for FY 2023-24 for the period April 2023 to June 2023, due to stay of MTR Order by the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL).

The MERC has also considered cash discount likely to be availed by consumers as per past trends and accordingly reduced the revenue for FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25 by Rs 100.12 crore.
New Delhi, March 7 : The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday, approved the continuation of the targeted subsidy of Rs 300 per 14.2 kg LPG cylinder, for up to 12 refills per year, to be provided for the poor under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) during FY 2024-25.

The total expenditure will be Rs 12,000 crore for the financial year 2024-25. The subsidy is credited directly to the bank accounts of eligible beneficiaries, according to an official statement.

As of March 1, 2024, there are more than 10.27 crore PMUY beneficiaries.

To make Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), a clean cooking fuel, available to rural and deprived poor households, the government launched the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in May 2016, to provide deposit-free LPG connections to adult women of poor households.

India imports about 60 per cent of its LPG requirement. To shield PMUY beneficiaries from the impact of sharp fluctuations in international prices of LPG and to make LPG more affordable to PMUY consumers thereby ensuring sustained usage of LPG by them, the government started a targeted subsidy of Rs 200 per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to 12 refills per annum (and proportionately pro-rated for 5 kg connections) to the PMUY consumers in May 2022.

In October 2023, the government increased the targeted subsidy to Rs 300 per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to 12 refills per annum (and proportionately pro-rated for 5 kg connections). As of February 1, 2024, the effective price of domestic LPG for PMUY consumers is Rs 603 per 14.2 kg LPG cylinder (Delhi).

The average LPG consumption of PMUY consumers has increased by 29 per cent from 3.01 refills in 2019-20 to 3.87 refills (till January 2024) pro-rated for 2023-24. All PMUY beneficiaries are eligible for this targeted subsidy.
New Delhi, March 7 : The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday declared Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) member and dreaded mastermind of several terror attacks, Mohammad Qasim Gujjar alias Salman alias Suleman, presently residing in Pakistan, as a designated terrorist.

In a post on X, the MHA said: "The Modi government has declared the dreaded mastermind of several terror attacks Mohammad Qasim Gujjar alias Salman alias Suleman as a designated terrorist.

"An operative of the Lashkar-e Taiba (LeT) Mohammad Qasim Gujjar has caused numerous deaths and injuries with terror attacks and is involved in planning war against Bharat. Anyone found involved in activities against the unity and integrity of the nation will be dealt with ruthlessly."

The MHA order issued on Thursday stated that Gujjar, 32, having permanent residence at Angrala, tehsil Mahore, in Reasi district of Jammu area, is presently residing in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.

"He belongs to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which is listed as a terrorist organisation under the First Schedule to the said Act at serial number 5. Gujjar, with an intention to wage war against the country, is involved in carrying out a wide range of terrorist activities including coordinating, supplying, and identifying locations of drone dropping of arms, ammunition, Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and cash etc. and delivering and managing consignments from across the border," the order stated.

"Gujjar has also been involved in various terror attacks, and bomb blasts and responsible for causing death and injuries to a number of persons in these terror incidents. He, to widen the areas of terror activities, has been involved in creating new terror modules by recruitment and radicalisation by various means including social media and other online encrypted communication applications," it added.
BJP MP Tejasvi Surya interacts with students, urges them to become Viksit Bharat ambassadors. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, March 7 : The Viksit Bharat Ambassadors campaign saw its second consecutive session in the national capital on Thursday evening, with BJP MP Tejasvi Surya sharing constructive and meaningful ideas to youth on how they can become a 'contributor and driver' of India growth story.

Tejasvi, a BJP MP from Bengaluru South and the President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, attended the Viksit Bharat Ambassadors programme at NDMC Convention Centre as the chief guest. The event saw presence of hundreds of students from Delhi University (DU) and Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Tejasvi, addressing the gathering of students, impressed upon the students about various progressive schemes of the Modi government and informed how they have transformed people's lives across various strata.

"From education to health to technology and economy, all areas clocked impressive growth in last ten years. The Central government's focus on inclusive growth has benefitted all sections of society," the BJP MP said.

A couple of DU students also shared their views during the programme. DU student Sanshep Baranwal said that the changes that started happening in 2014 have brought great dividends and today India is on the right track.

Archit Singh backed the idea of Viksit Bharat 2047 and said that this dream can surely be achieved with a mass movement.

"We should come forward and join the movement as Viksit Bharat Ambassadors," he said.

Tejasvi also spoke about the realisation of 500-year-old dream of Ram Mandir and elaborated on government's vision and target for making the nation developed by 2047.

"When Modi government returns to power for third time, India will emerge as third economic power in the world," he asserted.

Viksit Bharat Ambassadors programme is a unique initiative of Modi government to motivate citizens to become a 'valuable partner' in India growth story.

Through the Viksit Bharat Ambassador meet-ups and events being held across the country, individuals are engaging in constructive discussions and exploring the practical strategies on how they can contribute to the noble cause.
Kolkata, March 7 : The Calcutta High Court on Thursday put an interim stay on the separate investigation by West Bengal police into six cases related to the alleged multi-crore ration distribution scam in West Bengal.

A single-judge bench of Justice Jay Sengupta stayed the separate investigation being carried out by the state police in this matter till April 22.

Also on Thursday, the state government sought an additional 15 days to submit its affidavit in the ration distribution case. Granting the same, the court scheduled the next hearing in the matter for April 8.

The ED counsel, however, objected to the granting of additional time to the state government to file the affidavit.

Justice Sengupta explained that the root of the attack on the ED and CAPF teams at Sandeshkhali on January 5 was the central agency's investigation into the ration distribution case.

"Now the CBI is investigating the case relating to the attack. Since the state government now wants to file its explanation in the matter through an affidavit, it should also be given a chance. That is why there will be an interim stay on a separate probe by the state police into six cases. The matter will be heard only after the state government files its affidavit," Justice Sengupta observed.

Four persons, including former state Food & Supplies Minister Jyotipriya Mallick, have been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the ration distribution case, and they are all in judicial custody presently.
New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Karnataka state Congress MPs, MLAs and MLCs during a protest against the centre. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, March 7 : Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Congress state President D.K. Shivakumar said that a meeting of the party's Election Committee is slated for Thursday evening and discussions on 50 per cent of candidates for Lok Sabha constituencies from the state would be held.

Speaking to reporters here, Shivakumar stated that it is not possible to release the names of candidates of all 28 Lok Sabha seats in one list.

"We will announce the list in two phases," he said.

Asked about fielding cabinet ministers and those who joined the party recently, Shivakumar said that in politics, all is possible.

To a question whether the Congress will announce the list once the BJP list is out, he asserted that there is a difference in the politics carried out by the BJP and the Congress.

"In our Congress, there is no emphasis on the individual. We carry out politics on our guarantees and the party. If they (the BJP) play with their calculations, we will have our own calculations," he said.

Asked why Congress could not select the candidates much earlier, Shivakumar maintained that the discussion in this regard was held only a month ago and subtle communication has been made to the probables.

Asked about whether the notices to him stopped after the apex court quashed the ED case against him, Shivakumar stated the notices are still issued to him. "The media has worked day and night following leads on me. I know my pains. The people of the state had launched a struggle for me. They are happy now, that is enough for me," he said.
This November, the major political parties will be asking us to choose between an 81-year-old man who sometimes seems confused in public and a 78-year-old man who sometimes seems confused in public.

Joe Biden may have missed a step but appears to be a good man trying to keep the country on an even keel. Donald Trump has several legal issues and may soon be adding the title "felon" to his resume. Despite that, his minions feel he can do no wrong and is unfairly being politically persecuted. He comes out with so many outrageous statements it's hard to know which ones are the most worrisome.

He has expressed admiration for strong men and seems to have some kind of weird "bromance" with Russia's Vladimir Putin. In one way that's probably a good thing because Putin's opponents seem to have the bad luck of falling out of windows, dying in plane crashes, and other mysterious fatalities.

Trump has stated, if reelected, he would be a dictator only on day one so he could "take care of the border and drill, drill, drill." If you look back at world history, see if you can find anyone who was a dictator on day one then restored democracy on day two?

Speaking of the border, a bipartisan group of senators labored for months to draft a compromise bill to address the border, and aid Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The Speaker of the House refused to allow the bill to come to the floor for a vote because his puppet master did not want to allow Biden to claim a victory. Instead they decided, by one vote, to impeach the Homeland Security secretary for not accomplishing what they failed to accomplish.

MAGA or democracy? The choice could not be clearer.

Paul Bojanowski

Cheektowaga
Gurugram, March 7 : The Gurugram Police have detained the father, uncle, and brother of an 18-year-old girl who had allegedly gone missing over a month ago.

Some sources alleged that the girl's family members strangled her to death and burnt her body in the Aravali range in the Sohna area on February 3.

However, the police are yet to confirm if the girl was killed. They have registered a missing case based on a complaint filed by the girl's family at the Sohna Sadar police station.

The police have so far detained Balbir, the father of the missing girl, her uncle, and her brother. A search is on for the remaining two suspects, the police said.

According to reports, on January 31, the girl had gone to attend her computer class. After she did not return home, her family members lodged a missing complaint at the Sohna Sadar police station.

However, on February 2, her 'lover's' family reportedly handed over the girl to her family.

Some sources claimed the girl was murdered on February 3, as the family members were against her love affair.

On the day of the incident, the accused reportedly took her to the Aravali range and strangled her to death. Later, her body was burnt to destroy evidence, the sources claimed.

"We have registered a missing person's case based on the complaint filed by the family members of the girl. We have detained three persons for questioning. Whether the girl is missing or she has been killed will be known only after a detailed investigation. We are also waiting for the FSL report," Siddhant Jain, DCP (South), told IANS.
New Delhi, March 7 : The government's ChipIN Centre aims to provide access to state-of-the-art electronic design automation (EDA) tools to 85,000 students of B.Tech, M.Tech, and PhD to design semiconductor chips, the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) said on Thursday.

Currently, the ChipIN Centre is engaged with about 10,000 students from 120 academic institutions and 20 startups.

While addressing the 4th Semicon India futureDESIGN Roadshow, Union Minister of State for Electronics & IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said: "In line with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India being a semicon hub for the world, we believe that the future is not only about manufacturing semiconductors but also about designing chips and IPs for all industries."

ChipIN Centre is one of the biggest existing facilities, offering a plethora of design flows, and aims to bring the chip design infrastructure on door-steps of the semiconductor design community in the country.

During the roadshow, Keysight Technologies, Synopsys, Cadence Design System, Siemens, and Ansys further strengthened the ChipIN Centre offering to researchers and startups.

MeitY also announced financial support for two more semiconductor design startups/MSMEs under the DLI scheme during the futureDESIGN Roadshow at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Kerala.

WiSig Networks, a fabless startup incubated at IIT-Hyderabad that specialises in developing solutions for 5G base stations, 5G integrated access backhaul, 5G UE stacks, NB-IoT, and Satcom System on Chips (SoCs). GreenPMU Semi, a fabless startup incubated at IIT-Hyderabad which specialises in building power management ICs capable of harvesting energy from multiple sources to realise battery-free IoT solutions.

--IANS

shs/pgh
Aizawl, March 7 : At least 438 alcohol-related deaths, which included 77 women, have been reported from Mizoram during the past 10 months, state Health Minister Lalrinpuii informed the Assembly on Thursday.

Replying to a query put forth by ruling Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) MLA Jeje Lalpekhlua, the minister said that 361 men and 77 women died due to alcohol-related issues between April last year and January this year.

The previous Mizo National Front (MNF) government, as part of its election promise, had promulgated the Mizoram Liquor Prohibition Act, 2019 to curb the misuse of alcohol and drugs. Chief Minister Lalduhoma had said earlier that the state government will soon review the Act, as it is facing a revenue crunch.

Sources said that illegal manufacturing and sale of liquor on the outskirts of Aizawl and other parts of the city are still going on.

Meanwhile, an official of the state Excise and Narcotics Department said that 86 people, including 13 women, died between January last year and February this year due to drug abuse.

Of these, 76 people died last year while 10 died this year till February.

As per reports, a variety of drugs, including heroin and methamphetamine tablets, are smuggled into Mizoram from Myanmar. These drugs have a huge demand in the northeastern states and the neighbouring Bangladesh.
Kolkata, March 7 : The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to ensure the safety and security of the witnesses in the ongoing case against Sheikh Shahjahan relating to the attack on the ED and CAF personnel at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on January 5.

Hearing a petition seeking the courtas direction in ensuring the safety of the witnesses, a division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya, after a brief hearing, observed that since most of the witnesses are locals of Sandeshkhali and are dependent on the place to earn their livelihoods, their safety and security needs to be ensured.

The division bench also observed that since the CBI is investigating the matter, the responsibility of ensuring the safety of the witnesses, as per legal provisions, also rests upon the central agency.

It also directed the CBI to file an affidavit on this count before the next hearing, scheduled on April 4.

The Chief Justice also questioned why Sheikh Shahjahan has been retained as a member of Zilla Parishad in North 24 Parganas even though he has been suspended from the party he represents.

The state government assured the division bench that the matter would be looked into, as per existing legal provisions.

BJP leader and senior counsel Priyanka Tiberwal informed the division bench that some local women from Sandeshkhali who had attended Prime Minister Narendra Modias rally at Barasat in the district on Wednesday are interested to be parties in the case.

In response, the Chief Justice observed that these women should have proof that they are residents of Sandeshkhali. "Otherwise the state administration might say they are outsiders," he noted.
Hyderabad, March 7 : One in three Indian women experience urinary incontinence at some point in their lives, say doctors.

Countless women grapple with the debilitating effects of this condition but cultural taboos and societal pressures force them into silence and shame. Physicians say many women experience psychological distress due to this condition and called for breaking free from the shackles of stigma.

According to Dr Sarika Pandya, Head of the Female Urology Department at the Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology (AINU), urinary incontinence is a prevalent issue among Indian women.

"It often remains shrouded in silence due to societal taboos and lack of awareness. Urinary incontinence can cause social embarrassment, restrict daily activities, and even impact intimate relationships. Many women feel housebound, and isolated, and experience psychological distress due to this condition. However, it's crucial to understand that there are effective treatments available, and no woman should suffer in silence," she said.

Dr Banu Priya, Consultant General Physician & Diabetologist, Kamineni Hospital, mentioned that urinary incontinence, often dismissed as a taboo topic, inflicts profound physical and emotional wounds upon its sufferers.

"Behind the facade of celebration lies the hidden anguish of Indian women battling urinary incontinence. It's time to rip off the mask of shame and offer these women the compassion and support they deserve. We cannot continue to sweep this issue under the rug. Urinary incontinence is not a personal failure; it's a medical condition that requires attention and treatment."

"Recent studies have shown that over 50 million women in India are affected by urinary incontinence, yet the majority suffer in silence due to societal stigma. It's time for Indian society to break free from the shackles of stigma and provide a voice to the voiceless," she added.

Dr Kajaree Giri, Internal Medicine and Consultant Nephrologist and Renal transplant Physician, Amor Hospital, believed that urinary incontinence can stem from myriad factors, including childbirth, ageing, and underlying medical conditions.

"The prevalence of urinary incontinence in India is staggering, with studies indicating that approximately 1 in 3 women in India experience urinary incontinence at some point in their lives. However, due to cultural taboos and lack of awareness, many women suffer in silence, unaware of available treatments and support. It's crucial to confront this issue head-on and provide women with the resources and support they need to reclaim their dignity and autonomy."

"From innovative treatments to community support networks, there are myriad avenues available to support Indian women in their battle against urinary incontinence. By fostering open dialogue, raising awareness, and advocating for change, we can empower women to step out of the shadows and reclaim control over their bodies and their lives," she said.
New Delhi, March 7 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has busted a trafficking racket that sent Indian nationals to Russia under the guise of 'better employment', only to make them fight the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

According to officials, these traffickers were operating as an organised network, luring Indian nationals through social media platforms like YouTube etc., and also through their local contacts/agents for 'highly-paid jobs' in Russia.

"The trafficked Indian nationals were then trained in combat roles and deployed at the front bases in the war zone against their wishes, thus putting their lives in grave danger," said a senior CBI officer.

As per the CBI, it has been ascertained that some of the victims also got grievously injured in the war zone.

"A case of human trafficking was registered on Wednesday against private visa consultancy firms, agents, and others who were found engaged in trafficking Indian nationals to Russia under the guise of better employment and high-paying jobs. The racket was spread over several states across the country," the officer said.

The CBI is conducting simultaneous searches at around 13 locations in Delhi, Trivandrum, Mumbai, Ambala, Chandigarh, Madurai and Chennai, the officer added.

"So far, cash amounting to over Rs 50 lakh, incriminating documents, and electronic gadgets like laptops, mobile phones, and desktops have been seized. The searches are going on," he said.

"Certain suspects have also been detained for questioning at various locations. So far, around 35 instances of victims being sent abroad have been established," the officer said.
New Delhi, March 7 : Marking a significant step in bolstering bilateral cooperation between the Indian and the US Coast Guards, USCG Ship Bertholf reached Port Blair on Thursday for a joint exercise, an official statement said.

Codenamed 'Sea Defenders-2024', the joint exercise is scheduled to be held on March 9 and 10 off Port Blair.

The Legend-class US Coast Guard cutter Bertholf is equipped with advanced technology and weaponry, including a helicopter landing pad, and state-of-the-art sensors and communication equipment.

The exercise will simulate scenarios relevant to maritime piracy and asymmetric threats, including simulated drone attacks on commercial merchant traffic, joint maritime search and rescue operations, major firefighting, marine pollution response, and counter-drug interdiction exercises.

Additionally, a simulated medical evacuation will be conducted to enhance readiness in emergency situations.

The ship serves the operational function for complex law enforcement, defence, and national security missions, reflecting the USCG's commitment to maritime safety and security. Its visit to India travelling more than 16,000 nautical miles from Alameda, California reflects a shared commitment to upholding maritime norms and promoting a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region.

This exercise underscores the importance of international cooperation in addressing maritime challenges. It reaffirms the longstanding partnership between the Indian and the US Coast Guards, which is an important component of the strategic partnership between the two countries.

The two Coast Guards have extensive interactions, particularly in the fields of training, exercises, and cooperative measures. High-level interaction between the two maritime agencies has been a regular feature towards maintaining professional relationships.

USCG Ship Midgett had visited Chennai in September 2022.
Amaravati: TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu and Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan during the announcment of their first joint list of 118 seats for the forthcoming Assembly polls. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi/Amaravati, March 7 : Telugu Desam Party President N. Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena party leader Pawan Kalyan met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J. P. Nadda in the national capital on Thursday night.

Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan reached Amit Shahas residence around 10.30 a.m., and the leaders of the three parties discussed an alliance for the coming elections to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and the Lok Sabha.

The talks focused on the number of seats to be allotted to the BJP as part of the tripartite alliance.

The TDP and Jana Sena have already announced their seat-sharing agreement. The TDP has left 24 out of 175 Assembly and three out of 25 Lok Sabha seats for Jana Sena. The same day, the TDP announced its first list of 94 candidates while Jana Sena released the list of five candidates.

Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan had stated that if the BJP comes forward to join the alliance, they will hold talks and take an appropriate decision.

The TDP-Jana Sena combine is likely to leave 5-6 Lok Sabha and 10-13 Assembly seats for the BJP.

An announcement is expected on Friday.

The Jana Sena, which is part of the BJP-led NDA, joined hands with the TDP even before a decision by the saffron party. Pawan Kalyan had long been trying to convince the BJP leadership to join the alliance to ensure that anti-YSRCP votes do not split.

Chandrababu Naidu met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief Nadda in Delhi on February 7 to discuss the alliance. However, no decision could be taken.

The TDP, which had snapped ties with the BJP in 2018, evinced interest in reviving the alliance after suffering a crushing defeat in the 2019 elections. However, the BJP had been cold to Naiduas overtures as the Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy government in the state had maintained friendly ties with the Modi government at the Centre and extended support to it in the Parliament in passing several key bills.
Patna, March 7 : A Delhi gold merchant was shot and robbed in Patna on Thursday, police said.

The incident occurred near the Samrat Hotel, near the Dak Bungalow Chowk, when three men, on a bike, snatched the bag from the victim named Ahtesham Ali and shot him in the hand when he tried to resist.

SP, Central, Chandra Prakash City, along with a team from the Kotwali police station, reached the crime scene to investigate.

Ahtesham Ali and his father Ansar Ali, residents of Delhi's Karol Bagh, had come to Patna for business.

When they stepped out of their hotel, the three robbers targeted them. Eyewitnesses said that two of the robbers, after committing the crime, fled on the bike while another walked away from the spot holding a gun in his hand and no one dared to intervene

"As soon as we learnt about the incident, we reached the crime scene. We are scanning the CCTV cameras to identify the accused. A tracker dog was also called to find clues about the robbers," the SP said.

The victim is currently admitted to PMCH Patna and his condition is stable. During the investigation, it appeared that the Alis regularly came to Patna for business, selling gold ornaments in the jewellery shops.

The robbers probably spotted the victims in Patna and committed the crime in a planned manner.
New Delhi, March 7 : A 29-year-old gym trainer, who was all set to get married on Thursday, was allegedly stabbed to death by his father in south Delhi, the police said.

The deceased, who was stabbed multiple times, has been identified as Gaurav Singhal, a resident of Devli Extension. According to sources, since the beginning of the probe, the police had suspected the role of the deceased's father in the murder, as he was absconding since the night of the incident.

"Multiple teams were formed to trace the 'missing' man, who was finally nabbed from Jaipur on Thursday night," the sources said.

He reportedly killed his son due to some strained relationships.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), Ankit Chauhan, said that at 12.30 a.m. on Thursday, a PCR call was received regarding a murder in the Raju Park area, following which a police team was rushed to the spot. Upon reaching the crime scene, the police found that Singhal was attacked with a sharp-edged weapon.

Singhal was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

"The body has been shifted to the AIIMS mortuary for post-mortem," the DCP said, adding, "We have registered a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code."

Prakash Singh, the victim's uncle, said that Gaurav, the elder son, got engaged to a girl three days ago, and they were all set to go to the girl's place in Kakrola with the wedding procession on Thursday.
New Delhi, March 7 : A 71-year-old Delhi doctor was targeted by a Mewat sextortion gang, which recorded two videos of him in a compromising position during a WhatsApp video call and later extorted money from him for not releasing them on social media, police said on Thursday.

Police said that they have arrested two men, identified as Mahfuz, 39, and Aamir Khan, 26, both residents of Rajasthan's Deeg district, and a manhunt has been initiated to nab other gang members.

A total of 25 other cyber fraud cases and complaints from Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, as well as four from Delhi, were found to be linked to the accused persons through bank account transactions.

"Hence, 25 new probable victims have been identified as having been cheated by this gang across India," a senior police official said.

Their arrest came after a case was registered on the complaint of the doctor.

"The complainant paid approximately Rs 8.60 lakh as the extortion amount. As the cheaters continued to demand more money, he eventually filed a complaint with police," Deputy Commissioner of Police, East, Apoorvas Gupta said.

During the investigation, the money and communication trail was pursued regarding the cheated amount. It was discovered that the funds had been transferred to various bank accounts in Haryana, Punjab, and Maharashtra. Remarkably, all these accounts were opened digitally solely for the purpose of receiving the extorted money and lacked proper Know Your Customer (KYC) verification.

"The call details records were obtained regarding the suspected mobile numbers used by the individuals to contact the complainant. After repeated searches, the locations of these alleged mobile numbers were traced to the Mewat area in Deeg district, Rajasthan," the DCP said.

The duo were apprehended on the intervening night of February 28-29.

"The two objectionable videos of the complainant have also been recovered from the mobile phone seized from Aamir Khan," the DCP said, adding that further investigation into the accomplices of the accused persons, alleged bank account holders, and persons who withdrew money from the ATM is currently under progress.
Three arrested in pro-Pakistan slogan raising case in K'taka. Image Source: IANS News

Bhubaneswar, March 8 : The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police has arrested a former banker in Chhattisgarh capital Raipur in connection with a Rs 3.70 crore bank fraud case, an official said on Thursday.

The accused individual was identified as Tanmay Kumar Maharana, ex-Asset Officer, IDBI Bank's Dandamukundapur Branch, Pipili in Puri district.

He was last posted as the Assistant Manager before his suspension.

Following his arrest, Maharana was presented at a Raipur court and then brought to Odisha on transit remand.

He was later presented at a court in Cuttack on Thursday, EOW sources said.

He was arrested based on a complaint filed by Sandeep Patnaik, General Manager, IDBI Bank, Bhubaneswar.

Patnaik said in his complaint that Maharana in connivance with the then manager of IDBI's Dandamukundapur Branch, Sarojkanta Mohapatra, had illegally sanctioned 35 fictitious loans to the tune of Rs 3.70 crore, mostly in favour of their close relatives and acquaintances.

The fraudulent activities came to the fore in 2022.

A probe eventually revealed that Mohapatra and Maharana, the respective ex-Branch Manager and ex-Asset Officer of the particular branch, had fraudulently sanctioned 35 fictitious loans amounting Rs 10 lakh each in the name of their close relatives /acquaintances.
New Delhi, March 8 : The President of Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas, Chirag Paswan, met BJP President J.P. Nadda on Thursday as part of the ongoing discussions between the NDA members over seat-sharing in Bihar for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Sources said that Paswan discussed several seats with the BJP chief for his party, including the Hajipur parliamentary constituency.

Earlier in the day, JD-U General Secretary Sanjay Jha had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah. According to Jha, he discussed several issues of national and regional importance with the Home Minister.

Notably, both the Deputy Chief Ministers of Bihar -- Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Sinha -- along with several leaders of the state BJP's core committee are in Delhi for a meeting with Home Minister Shah and BJP President Nadda.

At the meeting, the BJP will not only discuss the names of its probable candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, but will also brainstorm on the seat-sharing formula with its allies.

Paswan's meeting with BJP chief Nadda and Jha's meeting with Home Minister Shah are being considered crucial ahead of the meeting.


Javascript Error

Javascript is deactivated in your browser. To use all functions on this portal, for example the login, Javascript must be activated. Please activate Javascript in your browser settings.
On March 6, the leadership of the Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators responded to an open letter calling for the organization to support an Israeli ceasefire in Gaza.

Hundreds of childrens and YA creators including Jason Reynolds, Elizabeth Acevedo, Brendan Kiely, Sabaa Tahir, and Maggie Tokuda-Hall added their names to the petition, which features an illustrationWe Feel Your Silenceby Egyptian-born picture book artist Hatem Aly.

In an Instagram post titled Message from SCBWIs Executive Director, SCBWI wrote,

Many of us are watching, horrified by the ongoing war and humanitarian crisis impacting Palestinians and Israelis. The death of innocent children in this conflict is unbearable and unacceptable as a price of war.

Right now, there is an open letter circulating on social media urging SCBWI to take action steps and make a collective statement about Palestine and Gaza. There are extremely important points conveyed, along with inaccuracies and insensitivities in the letter that make it difficult to engage. But whats most pressing, and what SCBWI leadership agrees on, is that children are being displaced from their homes, are being held hostage, and are dying in terrifying numbers, and it is right for artists and storytellers to use their voices in the face of this tragedy.

Responses were mixed, and executive director Sarah Baker engaged with several commenters directly. Various community members thanked SCBWI for supporting the voices of all authors and illustrators while acknowledging this horrendous war and humanitarian crisis. Others called the letter performative and disappointing, some said they would not renew subscriptions, and one called the approach genocidal apologism. SCBWI has more than 22,000 members around the world.

A commenter identifying as an Arab directly impacted by the longstanding conflict in Palestine suggested that SCBWIs next event can showcase Arab voices and perspectives. Palestinian illustrator Balaa Alawoor posted in reply to SCBWI that she has lost her home and studio, and feels "the majority of the children's literature publishers in the world do not offer anything to those in situations like mine."

Another told SCBWI, I only wish the letter could have included that you denounce antisemitism and support Jewish voices as well.

The activist outcry and organizational response echoes debates across literary circles. Earlier this year, Writers Against the War on Gaza disrupted a PEN America event with pro-Israel speaker Mayim Bialik, then circulated an open letter criticizing the freedom of expression nonprofits silence on the war, prompting the organization to issue a statement about its values. And last month, American Booksellers Association members confronted the ABA board during a community forum to demand a call for an Israeli ceasefire.

SCBWI members and onlookers now question how a literary organization dedicated to artistry for children and youth ought to respond to a crisis in which according to the United Nations, half the Gazan population is under 18 years old, and two thirds of the war dead are women and children.
Wileys ongoing restructuring and streamlining efforts began to bear some fruit in the quarter ended January 31, 2024. Although the company reported a 6% decline in total sales and a $21 million increase in its operating loss, those figures include results from the divisions it has sold or is in the process of selling. Wileys ongoing businessheld in its Research and Learning groupshad modest improvement in the quarter.

The Learning group had the best showing, with sales up 2%, to $146 million. The academic division drove the gains with sales, led by strong sales of digital courseware and content, increasing 5% and offsetting a 3% decline in sales in the professional publishing unit. Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, depreciation, and amortization) rose 16% due to the higher sales and from savings from the restructuring.

The Research group had more mixed results. Revenue rose 1%, to $256 million, but EBITDA fell 1% due to higher editorial and marketing costs and the continuing impact of the reorganization of its Hindawi unit. (Last year, Wiley suspended Hindawis open access publishing operations after its discovered a number of compromised" articles; the company is in the processing of sunsetting the Hindawi brand and merging its operations into other Wiley groups).

The results of the two core groupsas well as the expectations of signing a content rights deal for training AI models in the current quarterwere good enough for Wiley to increase its adjusted EBITDA forecast for the fiscal year ending April 30 to $335 million to $355 million. Wiley also now expects revenue to come in toward the mid-to-high end of its $1.58 billion to $1.63 billion range.

The reorganization has been a difficult one, with Brian Napack stepping down as CEO and the company eliminating 103 positions in its New Jersey office. Wiley has also either completed the sale of the companies it plans to divest or has reached agreements for their sale.

"As we finish out the year, were increasingly confident in our underlying momentum and recovery in Research and continued outperformance in Learning," said Matthew Kissner, who replaced Napack as CEO on an interim basis, in a prepared statement. Kissner added that the company continues to expect material performance and profit improvement in fiscal 2025 and 2026."
Rizzoli International has announced plans to launch a London-based publishing arm, Rizzoli UK.

Helming the new business is Stephen King, who has been appointed managing director of Rizzoli UK. King was previously managing director of independent publisher Hardie Grant UK.

King will also join the Rizzoli International executive team headed by president and CEO Stefano Peccatori. Also on the executive team are Jennifer Pierson, v-p of global sales, marketing, and operations; Randy Barlow, v-p of finance and administration; and Charles Miers, publisher of all Rizzoli International imprints, who oversees Rizzoli New York, Rizzoli Universe, Rizzoli Electa, and now Rizzoli U.K.

In addition to expanding Rizzoli's presence in the British Isles, Rizzoli UK will develop original titles, which will be published under the Rizzoli Universe imprint. A London-based publishing team will be appointed to work in tandem with publishing staff at Rizzoli's New York Headquarters.

We are ambitious in growing Rizzolis presence in the illustrated book market and the launch of the UK business forms a cornerstone of our growth plans," said Peccatori, in a statement. "We firmly believe in the future of smartly published, beautifully designed books that speak to enduring trends. Stephen has a proven track record in this area and we are delighted to have him leading our U.K. operations.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Purdue Universitys Health Equity Initiatives (HEI) and North Central Health Services are teaming up to take on health disparities and improve health for people living in eight north-central Indiana counties.

NCHS is a nonprofit organization committed to improving the health and wellness of communities in Benton, Carroll, Clinton, Fountain, Montgomery, Tippecanoe, Warren and White counties in Indiana. It is providing $4 million in funding for the collaborative four-year project aimed at improving the services and capacities of the health departments in each of the counties.

Purdues HEI addresses health disparities and promotes equitable health outcomes through education, research, collaboration and community engagement. HEI is leveraging the universitys diverse strengths and resources to establish Purdue as a leader in health equity, using innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to improving health.

Read more on Purdues Office of Research website.

Media are encouraged to share, post and publish this content.

Media contact: Amy Raley, araley@purdue.edu

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdues main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap  including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the new Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, and Purdue Computes  at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.
The future of the controversial classical education movement will be showcased later this month when Columbia University senior lecturer Roosevelt Montas is scheduled to deliver a keynote address at a national symposium hosted by Great Hearts, the biggest classical charter network.

Roosevelt Montas: Signaling classical educations effort to diversify.

The views of Montas, author of the widely praised memoir "Rescuing Socrates," are well to the left of many in the classical charter movement, which is rooted in Christian conservatism. What makes Montas upcoming speech so notable, then, is the signal it sends about the movements effort to diversify its brand and project a welcoming attitude as it seeks to expand beyond conservative strongholds and suburbs where it began.

But not everyone is enamored of the effort, neither educational conservatives nor local school officials, unions, and progressive advocates. The latter liken classical charters to a Trojan Horse, sneaking quasi-Christian right-wing dogma into public education under the cover of liberal arts.

That makes classical education perhaps the biggest culture-war flashpoint in the current disruption of traditional public education prompted by the historic exodus of students during the pandemic  even though the movement's numbers are small.

Related: Which Great Books Can Withstand This Canon Fire? Vince Bielski, RCI

In all, there are about 250 classical charters today, according to one study, making them a small niche within the broader charter sector of 8,000 schools and campuses focused on everything from STEM subjects to art to special needs. They have produced both notable successes and scandalous failures in bringing innovation to public education.

Kathleen O'Toole: The opposition paints us as if we're trying to do political things with children, which we are not.

Classical education, whose name gained traction in the 1980s to evoke the movement's focus on liberal arts and the Western canon, is struggling to overcome local political opposition and open schools in lower-income communities where most students reside. By making common cause with a range of prominent black and Latino thinkers and educators like Montas, classical charter leaders hope to show that their style of moral education is valuable to students from all backgrounds and beliefs.

Our experience has been that the bar for opening a classical charter school that serves disadvantaged students is much higher, and that the process gets extremely political early on, said Kathleen OToole, who heads the K-12 program at Hillsdale College, a Christian school at the center of the wrangling. The opposition paints us as if we're trying to do political things with children, which we are not.

Some of the movements top leaders are outspoken Republicans and have Ph.D.s from the conservative Claremont Graduate University. And some classical charters convey a patriotic zeal in their marketing as a counterpoint to the social justice zeal found in some traditional public schools.

But classical leaders reject the accusation that they are running a partisan enterprise, saying they aim for something higher, in line with Aristotles teaching  to nurture in students a desire to find their own answers to the big question of what constitutes the good life.

We base ourselves in the West, in the culture of freedom that produced the Magna Carta, the founding documents of this country, and the civil rights movement, said Dan Scoggin, co-founder of Great Hearts and a Claremont alum. We read Marx, Rousseau  writers who push back on the Christian tradition, but its also a big part of Western culture. To those who try to pigeonhole classical charters as pseudo-Christian, no, we are not.

Diversifying the Classical Brand

Hillsdale College, the Christian school in Michigan at the center of the classical charter debate.

Robert Jackson, who arranged for Montas to address the symposium in Phoenix, is at the center of the effort to mainstream classical education. After teaching at a Christian college and working at Great Hearts, Jackson started Classical Commons, a new platform to unite educators from different political and religious camps and support the recruitment and training of classical teachers  a key to expansion.

Robert Jackson: Working to mainstream classical education through with a new platform to unite educators from different political and religious camps.

There is an impulse among the classical leaders that this time-tested education should also be available to students from disadvantaged backgrounds who havent had the opportunity, said Albert Cheng, who runs a classical education research lab at the University of Arkansas. Theres a social justice vibe to it. Everyone isnt marching lockstep to a conservative ideology.

To enlarge the tent of classical education, scholars like Cornel West, the progressive independent presidential aspirant, are giving talks at events and making podcasts about the liberating power of classical education for all students. Classical Academic Press, run by white Christian writer Christopher Perrin, published The Black Intellectual Tradition, highlighting how the classics inspired leaders from Anna Julia Cooper to Martin Luther King in the quest for justice.

Change is also coming to the classrooms. Professor Anika Prather, a co-author of The Black Intellectual Tradition and founder of the Living Water Christian school, has made many presentations to teachers at classical charters. Leaders are also debating whether to add more diverse authors to their Great Books reading lists after the Classical Learning Test, an assessment group, did so. (Related article here.)

But reappraising the Western canon doesnt sit well with hardline conservatives in the movement like David Goodwin, president of the Association of Classical Christian Schools. He has issued several warnings, in his writings and to RealClear, about the dangerous waters classical charters are entering.

David Goodwin, dissenter from within: Charters are succumbing to the intense pressures for diversity, which is antithetical to the mission of classical education.

Goodwin says it was bad enough that charters removed the moorings of Christian truth from education. Now they are succumbing to the intense pressures for diversity, which he calls antithetical to the mission of classical education  the Platonic pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty in a meritorious way.

Josh Herring, a professor who helped run the Thales network of private classical academies, adds that the movements attempt to find a middle ground that no longer exists in America will fail. Instead, he says, it should embrace its fundamental conservatism and accept the fact that all education is inescapably political. For classical education to continue to thrive, it has to know its own essence and defend that essence, he says.

Squeezed from both the left and right, classical charters are nonetheless charging ahead in their effort to grow. Their biggest assets are families that form long waiting lists to enroll at the many high-performing classical charters. Some parents are attracted by their conservative reputation, but mostly its their rigorous curriculum that focuses on core academic subjects in the tradition of liberal arts, according to a study by Arkansas Cheng.

Classical Educations Roots

Diana Smith, with student at Washington Latin, reflects the classical movement's push out of its comfort zone into cities.

Dan Scoggin: Capitalized on Arizona school choice, and his Great Hearts Academies now has 44 schools in three states.

Classical education, a term the movement adopted to suggest its ancient lineage, reemerged first with private Christian schools in the 1980s. They provided the inspiration and part of the curriculum for the first classical charter, Tempe Prep, in Arizona in 1996.

Scoggin, a Christian like most of the charter movement leaders, worked as head of school at Tempe before setting up Great Hearts. He capitalized on Arizonas school choice law, which made it possible to bring the classical model into public education and reach more families that couldnt afford private tuition. Starting in 2003, Great Hearts now has 44 academies in Arizona, Texas, and Louisiana and expects to get to 70 in five years.

Classical charters are not as antiquarian as the name implies. College prep courses and state test scores still matter, but they also focus to varying degrees on canonical literature, ancient history, philosophy, religious texts, and Latin and Greek. A few schools, like St. Croix Prep outside of Minneapolis, have even resurrected a medieval form of teaching called the trivium that breaks up every subject in three stages over 12 years  facts first, then argument, and finally persuasion.

Put simply, the charters want students to grapple with what it means to be human before they create their LinkedIn page.

One of a handful of urban classical schools, Washington Latin mixes Latin study and student-led Socratic seminars.

Many add a modern touch. Washington Latin, one of a handful of urban classical schools, mixes Latin and student-led Socratic seminars in every subject with a modern twist to the reading list. Students read ancient and contemporary books on similar themes, such as Platos Symposium and the black scholar bell hooks seminal 2000 feminist work, All About Love, to create a dialog between the two worlds, says Diana Smith, the charters chief of classical education.

We have a long waiting list to enroll because of our willingness to talk about the true, the good and the beautiful that goes beyond what came from Western Greece and Rome, Smith said.

What all classical charters share is the hard-to-keep promise to develop moral character. The problem is, lectures and finger-wagging about fortitude in the Odyssey or justice in the Republic dont typically instill such virtues in the souls of students, says Jackson of Classical Commons, adding that creating school cultures that convey the rewards of a good life is also hard to do.

I worry that we may fail, he said.

The Politics of Classical Education

Birthplace of a disputatious educational tradition: School of Aristotle in Mieza, Macedonia, Greece.

Aristotle is the go-to thinker for the debate raging about the politics of classical education. The Greek polymath taught that education is about liberation through the questioning of systems of beliefs, allowing students to find their own answers, according to Jennifer Frey, a philosophy professor whom Jackson also invited to give a keynote speech at the Great Hearts conference. A school must be nonpartisan to be truly classical.

Larry Arnn of Hillsdale, a target of the Network for Public Education, co-founded by historian Diane Ravitch. Critic: They want to educate the next generation of far-right Republicans.

Thats a high bar for schools to meet. They are locally controlled and tend to reflect the political passions of their families and school boards. Given the range of thought in the Western canon, a curriculum can easily be tilted right or left. Will it be St. Augustine or Nietzsche? Locke or Marx? There isnt enough time in school to read them all.

You can find the Republican classical school in town, says Perrin, the publisher who also consults with schools. But the good ones oriented themselves on providing a liberating education, and thats for everyone  left, center and right.

The Network for Public Education, co-founded by historian Diane Ravitch, sees a more menacing side to many classical charters. They are imbued with the ideas of right-wing Christian nationalism and seek to destroy democratically governed public schools, says an NPE report. It highlights the first Christian charter in Oklahoma, patriotic and religious symbolism and misogynistic attitudes at some schools, and curricula that disparage New Deal programs and affirmative action and ignore climate change.

The report also calls out Hillsdale College, which freely provides classical charters with teacher training, curricula, and the approval of their leaders. Hillsdale President Larry Arnn, a vocal conservative and Claremont alum, has saluted Republican governors for their strong support of Hillsdale charters and repudiated traditional schools for indoctrinating students to turn against their country. He also chaired former President Trumps 1776 Commission, which sought to restore patriotism in American education and inspired the creation of the Hillsdale 1776 Curriculum, now used in about 78 classical schools.

What we found is that a growing number of classical charter schools are connected to Republican operatives like Larry Arnn and are teaching a right-wing curriculum, said Carol Burris, executive director of NPE and a former high school principal. They want to educate the next generation of far-right Republicans.

Anika Prather: Hillsdale charters are not the bastions of white supremacy they are reputed to be.

Several sources in the movement told RealClear that the political activism and provocative public comments from high-profile advocates like Arnn are a problem. They fuel the reputation of classical charters as a political project, hindering their efforts to go mainstream. Hillsdale didnt respond to a request for a comment from Arnn.

But classical educators say what goes on inside the classroom isnt a reflection of the fiery rhetoric of the culture wars. The best teachers keep politics out of the classroom. They just want their students to learn how to think for themselves.



We say strongly and frequently to our schools that if instruction in politics takes the form of commenting on contemporary political debates, we are doing a disservice to students, said OToole of Hillsdale. Theres too much to do of fundamental importance. Whatever the right and left are fighting about now is going to be over soon.

Prather, the black author and educator, says she discovered to her surprise that Hillsdale charters are not the bastions of white supremacy they are reputed to be. In her presentations at Hillsdale and Great Hearts charters, she found receptive audiences as she described the influence of the classics on black civil rights leaders. In his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail, for instance, Martin Luther King found justification for civil disobedience in the teachings of Socrates and St. Aquinas.

I know the leadership has said things that are troubling to black people, but every single teacher and school leader I met were very open to having this conversation, Prather said.

The Battle to Expand

The reputation of classical charters lives on, narrowing their options to expand. Scoggin of Great Hearts says the network has yet to veer out of school-choice friendly regions, but he expects a fight as it targets more low-income areas.

Jed Hartings: Teachers unions, politicians, and activists that publicly oppose classical education are depriving students of a tremendous advantage.

Hillsdale provided a lesson in the perils of expansion when its big plan to open 50 schools in Tennessee blew up in the face of opposition from families, district officials, and the state teachers union. Now another Hillsdale school, the Cincinnati Classical Academy in Ohio, is struggling to find a permanent location.

Since 2020, local officials have rejected the charters bid to secure a property in the Cincinnati area more than a dozen times, often for political reasons. When the charter sought to buy property in the Princeton City School District, where more than 70% of students are black and Latino, residents protested, accusing the charter of having an ethnocentric and racist agenda. One said that the school is part of Western chauvinism movements like the Proud Boys, which make references to European culture as a thinly disguised dog whistle for White supremacy.

The charter ended up in a temporary location in a working-class suburb, and in its first year in 2022, it drew mostly white students from wealthier families to its campus. Now, a coalition led by the Network for Public Education is demanding that the U.S. Department of Education rescind a $2 million grant given to the charter, saying it misrepresented itself in its application as a school that serves a disadvantaged population.

Jed Hartings, a neuroscientist and founder of the high-performing school, says the protests are part of a smear campaign that misses the important point that the pursuit of equality is central to the Western tradition upon which the charter is based. He says the charter seeks to serve a more diverse set of students but that the public protests have turned some of these families against the Cincinnati academy.

Teachers unions, politicians, and activists that publicly oppose classical education are depriving students of a tremendous advantage, Hartings says. They mock the teaching of Latin, but its the kind of privilege we want to make available to children of all backgrounds.

Urban Classical Charters

Latin was the magic potion for us, says co-founder David Hardy, below. To learn that language, students have to do all the academic things that make them successful in other subjects, too."

At Boys Latin in Philadelphia, Latin made all the difference. Charter executive David Hardy, who co-founded the classical school in 2007, sought to address a crisis among black boys from poor families: only about a quarter of them in Philadelphia district high schools were matriculating to college.

David Hardy: A gamble on classical education pays off as 76% of Boys Latin of Philadelphia grads typically go on to college.

At Boys Latin, not only did the students have to learn a more rigorous curriculum than they experienced in traditional schools, but the code of conduct was also stricter, reinforced with a requirement that they memorize  in Latin  a long pledge about the importance of education and their commitment to their family and community.



Hardys gamble on classical education paid off. Boys Latin high school has typically sent about 76% of its students to college. Latin was the magic potion for us, said Hardy, now the president of Girard College. To learn that language, students have to do all the academic things that make them successful in other subjects, too. The boys rose to the challenge.

Many classical charters, including Great Hearts and Hillsdale, tout their academic success. St. Croix Prep, for example, has been ranked the top public school district in Minnesota for the last seven years and has a waiting list of nearly 1,000 students, says Executive Director Jon Gutierrez.

Although Gutierrez credits classical instruction for his schools achievements, researchers have yet to pin down why classical charters as a group get strong results. In a study comparing the performance of different types of charters and traditional district schools, the classical model came out on top in both math and English. Notably, disadvantaged students saw their biggest gains in classical charters. But its unclear if classical charters were the best because many of them have relatively fewer disadvantaged kids, or because of their curriculum, or something else.

As classical charters pitch themselves to more diverse communities, they hope the life stories of people like Montas will help.

As a kid, he made his way from a small rural town in the Dominican Republic to New York City and later enrolled in Columbia Universitys liberal arts program. His study of Augustine, Plato, and other heavy hitters set him on a thrilling course of self-examination that gave him a meaningful direction in life. Now a Columbia professor of American studies, he also directs the Freedom and Citizenship Program for high school students from tough backgrounds much like his own.

In the program, students have their first encounter with the works of thinkers like Thomas Hobbes and James Baldwin, Montas says, and it can be transformational.

They come out of this program seeing themselves in a different way, they feel their voice matters as citizens in shaping our society, he said. Then we help them get into competitive colleges.
Very soon, Catholic President Biden will address Americans at the 2024 State of the Union.

No matter what spin he puts on things, Americans must know that the state of our nation is gravely imperiled by many of Bidens failed policies  most especially, his misguided compassion regarding immigration that egregiously violates Catholic social teaching at the expense of our nation.

Just recently, 22-year-old Laken Riley became the latest victim to Bidens radical open border policies. The deans-list nursing student was brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant whod previously been arrested by ICE and then released. Commonsense border enforcement policies could have prevented Rileys death.

Instead, the Biden Administrations shocking refusal to protect Americas borders has allowed the insidious problem to reach nearly every state and nearly every city across America. It has resulted in millions of illegal crossings per year, strained the U.S. economy and infrastructure, and allowed dangerous criminals, gang members, human traffickers, drug mules and even terrorists to cross with practically zero oversight. Even the FBI recently confirmed that the border crisis represented a major national security threat. These concerns were heightened by the reality that 294 illegal aliens on the terrorist watchlist were apprehended at the Southwest border since 2021 alone  and those are only the individuals Border Patrol agents have caught.

This inaction not only threatens national security, but it also insults the honest efforts and work of those who respect the law and pursue legal immigration like my wife and me. When we adopted our two daughters from Haiti over 20 years ago, the bureaucratic demands for legal immigration were beyond the pale, even though the orphans we adopted were anything but threats to national security.

But  we believed in America. So, we completed the arduous process out of respect for the obligations that immigrants and their families owe their new homelands. We expected our nation to similarly understand its obligation towards us.

Sadly, our leaders, and even many Catholics, have abandoned their obligation to defend our borders and protect Americans for the sake of the common good. Worse, many believe that this lackluster response is condoned by Catholic social teaching  which couldnt be further from the truth.

The Churchs guiding principles on immigration require that those with the right to emigrate respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country receiving them, obey its laws, and help with its civic burdens. The Church also teaches that nations are morally obligated to secure their borders and have a responsibility to determine who enters and leaves the country for the sake of national security. This is not extraordinary  every single nation-state, including Vatican City, has limits on immigration as they seek the common good.

Unfortunately, both migrants and governments are failing in their respective responsibilities. Many immigrants are refusing to do the bare minimum  the Department of Homeland Security lost track of over 177k immigrants from 2022 to 2023  while hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants surge our open borders every month with no willingness to obey U.S. immigration laws or assist in carrying civic burdens.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has ignored, if not encouraged, the dangerous efforts of charitable organizations assisting immigrants. Rather than addressing root causes and encouraging the pursuit of legal pathways to citizenship, many of these organizations have helped develop lawless, often cash-only economies designed to avoid detection, hide income from taxation, and illegally qualify for government benefits.

This system pressures legal immigrant workers and employers seeking to obey the law and assist in carrying civic burdens to similarly ignore their obligations. My family felt this pressure firsthand. After our painstaking obedience to the law in adopting, one of our immigrant daughters was later subjected to a bureaucratic nightmare when she applied for a job because the U.S. government lost the paperwork we had carefully accumulated and submitted.

This hellish experience was additionally painful when contrasted with the red carpet the Biden Administration has rolled out for the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who are invading our nation with zero respect for our laws, their obligations, or the necessity of pursuing legal citizenship.

This is not compassionate. The Biden Administration must stop enabling outright, dangerous lawlessness, and address the root problems driving people from foreign nations en masse. No longer can Biden hide behind the curtain of compassion or pervert Catholic social teaching to excuse dangerous policies and downplay the obligations of nations and immigrants.

Sadly, President Biden will likely use the State of the Union address to perpetuate the idea that his deadly border policies are just, necessary, and successful. Or he may suggest that he hasnt been in charge for three years and claim that President Trump and congressional Republicans are responsible for his shocking failures.

Thankfully, many Americans already see through these lies  and many rank President Bidens handling of the border as his administrations biggest failure. And no matter how well Biden spins the immigration apocalypse at the State of the Union, Americans will remember Laken Riley and all the other victims of Bidens refusal to follow church teachings at the expense of those hes sworn to protect.

The Honorable Tim Huelskamp, Ph.D. has 30-plus years of campaign, policy, and legislative experience at both the federal and state levels and is a well-known national leader, policymaker, communicator, and campaign advisor. Huelskamp represented the 1st District in Congress for 6 years and is currently a Senior Advisor to both CatholicVote and Bienvenido. Tim and his family are active members at their Catholic parish in Kansas.
Property details:

CHEROKEE VILLAGE, ARKANSAS YOU ARE BIDDING ON THE FULL PURCHASE PRICE FOR THIS LOT. NO ADDITIONAL FEES!EVER! CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED!CASH APP NOW ACCEPTED THROUGH OURSECURE CREDIT CARD PROCESSOR! Warranty Deed sent via Priority Mail within 2 Business Days!Guaranteed! This is a CASH Auction!You are bidding on the full purchase priceNo Closing Costs Ever!No Additional Fees Ever!No Stupid Fees Ever!No Games Ever!No Kidding! Upon receiving payment from thewinning bidder, we will prepare your new Warra...

Price: $ 335 Seller State of Residence: Florida Property Address: Cache Dr Type: Homesite, Lot Zip/Postal Code: 72525 Zoning: Residential City: Cherokee Village State/Province: Arkansas Location: 725**, Cherokee Village, Arkansas

You will be redirected to eBay



Nearby Arkansas
Property details:

This piece of land located in Maricopa County, Arizona is a perfect investment opportunity for those looking to expand their real estate portfolio. The property is situated in the bustling city of Phoenix, with easy access to all the amenities and conveniences that the city has to offer. The seller state of residence is North Dakota,. Don't miss out on this prime piece of real estate in the heart of Arizona. A notorized Quit Claim Deed will be sent to buyer after payment in full. No RESERVE!!! P...

Price: $ 1,000 Seller State of Residence: North Dakota Property Address: No address Zip/Postal Code: 85041 Zoning: Residential City: Phoenix State/Province: Arizona Location: 850**, Phoenix, Arizona

You will be redirected to eBay



Nearby Arizona
Property details:

This stunning rural country home is the perfect investment opportunity for anyone looking to own a piece of peaceful paradise. The property boasts 3-4 spacious bedrooms and can easily be converted into 2 separate apartments. Located in the charming town of Deutscheinsiedel in Germany, this property is perfect for those looking to escape the bustle of the city and enjoy the serene beauty of the countryside. The seller, who is the proud owner of this beautiful home, is located in England and is of...

Price: $ 50,000 Seller State of Residence: England For Sale by: Owner Property Type: House Sale Type: Existing Homes Setting: Rural, Country City: Deutscheinsiedel State/Province: Germany Location: 08***, Heinsdorfergrund

You will be redirected to eBay



Nearby Germany
HOME > Sister Wives Robert Garrison Brown / Instagram

'Sister Wives' son Robert Garrison Brown dead from apparent suicide

By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 03/06/2024



stars Janelle Brown and Kody Brown's son Robert Garrison Brown apparently committed suicide at age 25.



ADVERTISEMENT "It is with great sadness I confirm Mr. Robert Garrison Brown was located in his residence deceased, as a result of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound," the Flagstaff Police Department said in a statement



"On [March 5], 2024, Flagstaff Police officers responded to a report of a death inside a home. Upon arrival officers met with a sibling, identified as 'Gabe' [brother Gabriel Brown], and discovered Mr. Brown deceased as a result of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound."



The statement continued, "At this time, there is not any indication of foul play, and Detectives from the Criminal Investigations Division are investigating. There is no further information available at this time."



Janelle, 54, gave birth to Garrison, her third son and fourth child with Kody, in October 1998. Garrison had enlisted in the National Guard at age 17.



Shortly after Garrison's death made headlines, Garrison's parents took to Instagram to confirm his passing.



"Kody and I are deeply saddened to announce the loss of our beautiful boy Robert Garrison Brown," Janelle wrote via Instagram on March 5.



"He was a bright spot in the lives of all who knew him. His loss will leave such a big hole in our lives that it takes our breath away. We ask that you please respect our privacy and join us in honoring his memory."



Kody, 55, uploaded the same statement via his own Instagram account. star Meri Brown also wrote a similar statement on social media.



viewers have been following the Brown family since the show premiered in 2010 on TLC.



Garrison's parents spiritually wed in 1993, but Janelle left Kody in December 2022, according to In Touch.



"Janelle is a strong independent woman and realized she can do it on her own," a source told the magazine at the time, adding that the mother of six simply "outgrew" the Brown patriarchy.



While Janelle is reportedly very close to all of her children, Kody's relationship with his two eldest sons has been strained ever since he implemented strict rules amid COVID-19 and demanded that the boys repair their relationship with his fourth wife, Robyn Brown.

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!

Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!

"I do hope that eventually time heals," Janelle told E! News in November 2023. "I'm hoping that over time he can find a relationship with the children that he's estranged from now."



In addition to Garrison and Gabriel, Janelle and Kody also share four other kids: Savanah, 18, Maddie, 27, Hunter, 26, and Logan, 29.



"I have worried about my boys' mental health," Janelle reportedly admitted during an October 2023 episode of , which filmed in 2022.



"Gabriel feels everything very, very deeply. But he's also the kid who doesn't say anything. And Garrison just seems angry or sadder, like, he's not as happy-go-lucky as he used to be."



Kody later confessed there were "very difficult issues" he had to deal with in his family.



"I don't know what happened. All that's left now is moving forward," Kody reportedly said.



"Moving forward and hopefully healing these relationships. It is really a story now, moving forward. This is a story about forgiveness. Forgiveness and finding hope and joy after relationships have been severed from the way that's the norm."

About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON GOOGLE NEWS stars Janelle Brown and Kody Brown's son Robert Garrison Brown apparently committed suicide at age 25."It is with great sadness I confirm Mr. Robert Garrison Brown was located in his residence deceased, as a result of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound," the Flagstaff Police Department said in a statement obtained by In Touch Weekly."On [March 5], 2024, Flagstaff Police officers responded to a report of a death inside a home. Upon arrival officers met with a sibling, identified as 'Gabe' [brother Gabriel Brown], and discovered Mr. Brown deceased as a result of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound."The statement continued, "At this time, there is not any indication of foul play, and Detectives from the Criminal Investigations Division are investigating. There is no further information available at this time."Janelle, 54, gave birth to Garrison, her third son and fourth child with Kody, in October 1998. Garrison had enlisted in the National Guard at age 17.Shortly after Garrison's death made headlines, Garrison's parents took to Instagram to confirm his passing."Kody and I are deeply saddened to announce the loss of our beautiful boy Robert Garrison Brown," Janelle wrote via Instagram on March 5."He was a bright spot in the lives of all who knew him. His loss will leave such a big hole in our lives that it takes our breath away. We ask that you please respect our privacy and join us in honoring his memory."Kody, 55, uploaded the same statement via his own Instagram account. star Meri Brown also wrote a similar statement on social media.viewers have been following the Brown family since the show premiered in 2010 on TLC.Garrison's parents spiritually wed in 1993, but Janelle left Kody in December 2022, according to In Touch."Janelle is a strong independent woman and realized she can do it on her own," a source told the magazine at the time, adding that the mother of six simply "outgrew" the Brown patriarchy.While Janelle is reportedly very close to all of her children, Kody's relationship with his two eldest sons has been strained ever since he implemented strict rules amid COVID-19 and demanded that the boys repair their relationship with his fourth wife, Robyn Brown."I do hope that eventually time heals," Janelle told E! News in November 2023. "I'm hoping that over time he can find a relationship with the children that he's estranged from now."In addition to Garrison and Gabriel, Janelle and Kody also share four other kids: Savanah, 18, Maddie, 27, Hunter, 26, and Logan, 29."I have worried about my boys' mental health," Janelle reportedly admitted during an October 2023 episode of , which filmed in 2022."Gabriel feels everything very, very deeply. But he's also the kid who doesn't say anything. And Garrison just seems angry or sadder, like, he's not as happy-go-lucky as he used to be."Kody later confessed there were "very difficult issues" he had to deal with in his family."I don't know what happened. All that's left now is moving forward," Kody reportedly said."Moving forward and hopefully healing these relationships. It is really a story now, moving forward. This is a story about forgiveness. Forgiveness and finding hope and joy after relationships have been severed from the way that's the norm." SISTER WIVES MORE SISTER WIVES NEWS << PRIOR STORY

'The Bachelor's Maria Georgas speaks out after Joey Graziadei sends her home NEXT STORY >>

'The Bachelor' bachelorette Kelsey Anderson fires back at trolls

Get more Reality TV World! Follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook or add our RSS feed.













ADVERTISEMENT

































ADVERTISEMENT



















































Page generated Sun Mar 17, 2024 19:50 pm in 0.73620915412903 seconds




Kelsey Anderson / Instagram

By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 03/06/2024



ADVERTISEMENT

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!

Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

's Kelsey Anderson has fired back at trolls for calling her "boring" on Joey Graziadei 's season.Joey just gave Kelsey A. a rose after hometown dates along with Daisy Kent and Rachel Nance , and on 's upcoming March 11 episode, Joey's Final 3 bachelorettes will be shown enjoying Fantasy Suite dates in Tulum, Mexico.The 25-year-old from New Orleans, LA, has shared the emotional story of her mother's passing from cancer with viewers, and she was brave enough to do a Polar Plunge in Jasper, Canada.But according to many fans, Kelsey A. is "boring" -- and Joey's frontrunner bachelorette is apparently not going to accept that criticism.Kelsey took to Tiktok on Tuesday, March 5 and slammed the haters out there who have claimed she's really boring to watch on 's 28th season and doesn't have a lot to offer Joey personality-wise."I'm not offended when people are telling me that my teeth are yellow. I'm not offended if somebody is telling me something about my hair. I'm not offended by none of it," Kelsey A. says in the video."But when someone calls me 'boring,' I'm not f-cking -- I'm not boring."The bachelorette continued, "I'm not freakin' boring y'all! I'm freakin' cool! Well, I think I'm cool. I do cool things. I drink alcohol. No, I'm just kidding. No, I've been skydiving, I love going on sporadic trips."Kelsey A. revealed that she even once "planned a trip out of the country in 12 hours" and spontaneously went."I have fun and I like to laugh," Kelsey A. insisted, "and I like to do things that are cool that other people... do, I think! I don't know, but I'm freakin' cool and you know what? I don't care what y'all say!"Kelsey A. repeated, "I don't care," and added, "Whatever y'all say, I don't care, because I'm not boring."The bachelorette continued, "I have a freakin' lip tattoo in honor of a homeless man that I would go and hang out with when I would go downtown [in New Orleans]. I'm cool."Kelsey isn't the only Final 3 bachelorette on Joey's season who has been receiving hate and backlash on social media. In fact, both Daisy and Rachel have stood up against their haters as well.After 's hometown date aired, Rachel clapped back at people calling her a "mean" girl.Fans have been bashing Rachel for the way she snapped at Maria Georgas for speaking to Joey in private before the Final 3 Rose Ceremony. Many trolls have accused Rachel of having a nasty attitude.One person even wrote on Rachel's Instagram account that Maria should have received her rose from Joey."Don't worry y'all, my parents raised one tough girl," Rachel wrote via Instagram Stories on Tuesday, March 5."Go touch grass or touch a plant. Go center yourselves! We spread aloha on my page and that's what I stand for."Rachel added, "Thank you to those who are being kind and those with opposing comments... I hope you heal from what you're going through."And Daisy previously slammed a critic who had made fun of the way she sounds when she talks -- her alleged "vocal fry" -- on the show."Going on #thebachelor was hard for me bc I knew not everyone would react to me with kindness & understanding," Daisy wrote on Instagram last month."My voice is not something I can always tell & these comments do hurt because I am human," she continued. "Overall, they remind me how proud I should be for doing something & sharing a vulnerable part of me."Daisy has apparently received other nasty messages as well, mainly from people using fake user names and/or pictures, and so she's asked fans to be kind, especially because she shouldn't have to explain herself."I do have a cochlear implant, which is how I hear," Daisy said on February 20."And I can't always hear exactly what my voice is sounding like. I can't always tell if I'm being loud or if I'm being quiet, or if I have a vocal fry or if I don't."She added, "It is sad because losing my hearing and getting a cochlear implant is something that really affected my confidence.""Everyone was so supportive of me, and it's just unfortunate that people online have to comment stuff like this that make me [get] in my head about the way that I talk and speak."Joey recently told E! News that it's "difficult" to navigate a reality dating show and people should always lead with kindness and grace."No one should be treated with any type of... cruelness," Joey noted. Click here to learn more about Joey's bachelorettes or click here to read spoilers that reveal how Joey's season ends and who he picked as his winner.Interested in more news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
Sealed reflex sights offer advantages over their open-top brethren. Theyre more durable, far less likely to fog up from temperature changes, and the LED emitter itself is better protected from the elements.

Until relatively recently theyve remained in the realm of rifles instead of handguns.

But theres been an explosion of options  some of this is due to R&D, but a larger chunk is due to companies simply paying to laser their logo on a Chinesium dot.

If you look at two different companies but their sealed sights appear the same, theres probably a reason.

Most of the sealed optics shown here use the Aimpoint ACRO footprint with some notable exceptions.

However, if you dont have a pistol with a plate system, conversions are available for some common footprints. Weve seen some optics on pistols with high round counts shear their mounting screws, so the recoil lug on the clamp-style ACRO footprints is a definite advantage.

Are there some diamonds in the rough? Almost certainly. Lets have a gander at the spectrum.

BEST ENCLOSED RED DOTS

Aimpoint ACRO P-2

At this point, Aimpoint should be accustomed to starting weapon optic revolutions. They kicked off the enclosed-emitter craze first with the ACRO, which was essentially a commercialized version of the B+T exclusive Aimpoint NANO. There were some warts, mainly in the way of dinky CR1225 batteries and their associated dinky battery life  and yet, the footprint youll see repeated over and over on these pages is ACRO.

The ACRO P-2 is the sleeker, sexier model with a longer lifespan. The ACRO P-2 has a 50,000-hour battery life and eats from a standard, side-mounted CR2032 battery.

Aimpoint has a hard-earned reputation for simple, bombproof sights, and they clearly wanted that to extend to the ACRO. If you expect to find yourself 25 meters underwater with your sidearm, the Aimpoint is definitely for you.

Footprint: ACRO

Weight: 2.1 ounces

Battery Type: CR2032

Battery Life: 50,000 hours

Dimensions: 1.9 by 1.3 by 1.2 inches

MSRP: $599

Atibal E2 / Viridian RFX45

The Atibal e2 has all the features that are quickly becoming standard, like an easily swappable CR2032 battery with an anticipated lifespan of 50,000 hours (nearly six years) along with a motion-activated shake awake function. The e2 is rated as IP67-waterproof, meaning it can handle total immersion but maybe dont take it SCUBA diving.

The glass is a squat 24 by 15.5mm rectangle, with a little wider window than the gaggle of rebranded optics at the end of this guide. Its similar to the Holosun 509T. Speaking of glass, theres minimal distortion and excellent color rendition  not too blue on this one. The e2 has a memory function, so it turns back on at the same setting as when you last turned it off.

Youll notice the Viridian RFX45 has virtually the same specs, except with a green dot instead of red. Viridian recently introduced the RFX44, a smaller version thats shorter and narrower for a more compact form factor.

Footprint: ACRO

Weight: 1.73 ounces

Battery Type: CR2032

Battery Life: 50,000 hours

Dimensions: 1.9 by 1.1 by 1.13 inches

MSRP: $325 (Atibal e2); $459 (Viridian RFX45)

Holosun EPS Carry

The Holosun EPS Carry is like a 509T left in the dryer all day. Its shrunk down to fit in the RMSc footprint without overhang for narrow, compact pistols  note Holosun calls it their K footprint because while its the same dimensions as RMSc, the recoil lugs are different. The EPS Carry still offers all the flapship features Holosun is known for, except for the solar panels on its larger brethren.

Its available in red or green with a 6 MOA dot, 2 MOA dot, and Holosuns multi-reticle system that features user-selectable options for a 2 MOA dot with or without the 32 MOA ring, or the ring by itself. The glass on our sample has a slight tint, similar to other 507 models. The sight has shake awake functionality, and battery life is rated at 50,000 hours.

The EPS Carry has two good-sized buttons on the left side and a battery drawer on the right; its IPX8 rated. Theres a small notch at the aft end to serve as a backup rear sight.

Holosun has quickly become a major player in the electro-optics market, and the EPS Carry is another good example of why thats the case.

Footprint: Holosun K

Dimensions: 1.6 by 1.19 by 1.13 inches

Weight: 1.4 ounces

Battery Type: CR1620

Battery Life: 50,000 hours

MSRP: $388 to $506

Holosun HE509T-RD

The Holosun 509T has most of its working bits at the bottom of the sight with a wide optical window sitting on top of it, pushed out to the edges. Our sample has a noticeable blue tint throughout the entire window.

Holosun packed the 509T full of features: selectable reticle in red or green, shake awake, and  notably in this group  solar panels. You can also configure the sleep timer to 10 minutes, 1 hour, 12 hours, or never. You can manually set the brightness or select an auto mode that automatically adjusts based on ambient light. The 509T has two medium-sized buttons on the side with positive tactile feedback and a lockout mode that deactivates them. Its IP67 rated for submersion.

Overall, its a great sight thats only slightly larger than a standard MRDS. Whats not to like? Well, perhaps the proprietary mounting footprint, though some aftermarket slides are offered with 509T cuts.

Footprint: Proprietary

Dimensions: 1.6 by 1.16 by 1.13 inches

Weight: 1.7 ounces

Battery Type: CR1632

Battery Life: 50,000 hours

MSRP: $506 to $541

Lead & Steel Pandora PB-3

While the other names on this list are ones youve almost undoubtedly heard before, Lead & Steel is a fresh face. There are rarely new players in the red-dot game who arent foreign copycats or rebrands. While there are certainly some foreign components in L&S optics, theyre designed, machined, and assembled in the United States.

With a 21 by 16mm window, the Pandora has one of the largest enclosed dot windows and performs like a champion. As first impressions go from a new company, this was a home run.

Footprint: ACRO

Weight: 2.3 ounces

Battery Type: CR2032

Battery Life: 30,000-plus hours

Dimensions: 2 by 1.1 by 1.18 inches

MSRP: $600

Shield AMS

Another sight with a military pedigree, the AMSs sire and dam are both in service with UKSF, making this offspring the pick of the English litter. Battery life isnt as long as some of its contemporaries despite using a bigger cell, which can be attributed to the lack of tinted lens coatings  although the sight picture has none of the annoying blue tinge of others, it does require more power to produce a sufficiently bright dot. Deck height is low enough to make suppressor height sights unnecessary, and you can choose between four reticles.

Footprint: RMS

Weight: 1.3 ounces

Battery Type: CR2050, CR2032, CR2035

Battery Life: 20,000 hours

Dimensions: 1.6 by 1.3 by 1.1 inches

MSRP: TBD

SIG Sauer ROMEO-M17

The second most expensive sight on this list, SIGs red dot is the only one currently issued to U.S. troops, sitting on the slide of the M17 and M18 handguns. As such, it uses a proprietary mounting system, so if you think youre going to buy one for bragging rights on your MOS-equipped Glock, prepare to be disappointed. That said, it does have some pretty nifty features, such as a side-mounted battery that can be swapped without removing the optic from your slide (the cap is knurled and slotted so you can use the rim of a cartridge for leverage), as well as three night vision brightness levels and 12 for daytime use. In addition to a shake-awake function, theres also magnetic activation that rouses the sight from its slumber if you have a magnet in your holster.

Footprint: SIG-LOC

Weight: 1.5 ounces

Battery Type: CR2032

Battery Life: 20,000 hours

Dimensions: 2.4 by 0.9 by 1.1 inches

MSRP: $800

SIG Sauer ROMEO2

This dot goes both ways  open emitter or sealed off. The hybrid design allows the optic to be mounted on all SIG Pro footprints (which translates to an awful lot of Leupold DeltaPoint Pro mounts, too) but then be enclosed after the fact. The shields cleverly cantilever from the front and are held in place by two small fasteners.

The 25,000-hour battery life isnt the highest on this list, but the battery is replaced from the side so not a big deal. The Romeo2 can be set to auto-off if you desire, and theres even a magnetic on/off option for duty holsters.

Also included is a clever multi-tool wrench with a flathead for windage/elevation adjustment, a small Torx for the shield screws, and a T-10 bit in a 28-in-lb torque limiter.

Footprint: DeltaPoint Pro / PRO RX

Weight: 2.1 ounces

Battery Type: CR2032

Battery Life: 25,000 hours

Dimensions: 1.84 by 1.32 by 1.12 inches

MSRP: $699

Steiner MPS

The Steiner MPS has a crystal-clear window and provides an almost flawless view of the target. Combined with the short overall body of the MPS, you have practically zero tunneling that most other enclosed optics tend to give you. The end result is a natural-feeling dot that almost makes you forget youre using one.

The bad news is almost everything else. Out of the box, the MPS has a battery life of only 13,000 hours on a medium setting. With eight brightness settings (two NV, six daylight), dialing in your desired dot brightness isnt too hard. The MPS has an optional 13-hour auto-off but no auto-on/shake-awake mode; this is a major missing feature for a premium red dot. You can disable the auto-off, but doing so locks you out of the max brightness setting to optimize battery life.

Footprint: ACRO

Weight: 2.05 ounces

Battery Type: CR1632

Battery Life: 13,000 hours

Dimensions: 2.17 by 1.2 by 1.3 inches

MSRP: $633

Trijicon RCR

The RCR delivers many of the same features of the industry-standard RMR in a sealed package tested to Trijicons aggressive durability standards. The RCR touts a whopping six years of battery life at midrange settings at room temperature. It features 10 individual brightness settings that include three night vision options as well as a super bright one.

The RCR is standardized with a 3.25 MOA dot and, perhaps most surprising, also uses the RMR footprint. The issue with making closed-emitter optics compatible with RMR footprints has always been the screws, since passing screws downward through a sealed box poses a sizeable engineering challenge. Trijicon was able to overcome this through the use of capstan screws, featuring holes through the head that enable them to be turned from the side instead of the top.

It should also be noted that the RCR has the same deck height as the RMR and RMR HD, so the same commonality applies to back-up irons.

Footprint: RMR

Weight: 1.98 ounces

Battery Type: CR2032

Battery Life: 52,000-plus hours

Dimensions: 1.8 by 1.2 by 1 inches

MSRP: $849

ZeroTech Optics H.A.L.O. TRAE28

Just released at SHOT Show 2024, we have the first example of ZeroTech Optics new H.A.L.O. TRAE28 reflex sight with enclosed emitter.

Amongst all those letters is the number 28, referencing its extra wide 28mm by 20mm lens. With an RMSc footprint, the housing overhangs horizontally quite a bit. The housing also extends further above the glass, like moms attic in a U-Haul  making room for the battery, thus keeping the window low on the slide and allowing for battery changes without dismounting the optic.

The ZeroTech has a 3 MOA red dot with 10 brightness settings, including two night-vision compatible ones. It has a motion sensor for auto-on and -off, as well as a notch for a backup rear sight.

While the ZeroTech is somewhat bulbous on a pistol, that window sure is large and roomy. Its a joy to shoot, and large buttons on either side of the sight make it really easy to use.

Footprint: RMSc

Weight: 2.8 ounces

Battery Type: CR2032

Battery Life: 50,000 hours

Dimensions: 1.7 by 1.4 by 1.3 inches

MSRP: $399

Swampfox Kraken / Gideon Mediator / CHPWS Duty / Warner & Swasy / Atibal SRD-E / ETC. 

If you ever went to a gun show in the aughts, you definitely heard the words made on the same line as ! from some unscrupulous dealer shilling cheap Chinese optics. Since then, Chinese optics have come a long way from merely copying the aesthetics of others. Indeed now there are many options that are literally from the same line.

Theres no better demonstration of this than the latest glut of enclosed emitter optics  all of which have the same internals but with different logos and slightly different body designs. Some have rear sights built-in; others have little lightening cuts in different places. The anodizing is universally dry and easy to scratch. Most are offered with red or green reticles.

The plus side is that these products are far more durable than they used to be, which is why there are so many re-brands, but youre really mainly paying for a name or warranty here. If you want one, you could get the cheapest one possible and give it a rattle can job. Note that some boast an additional feature that you might consider, such as a selectable circle-dot reticle in the SwampFox and C&H Precision, an ambient light sensor to auto-adjust brightness in the LaserMax, or the blue reticle in the Lucid Optics.

Footprint: ACRO

Weight: 2.5 ounces

Battery Type: CR2032

Battery Life: 50,000 hours

Dimensions: 1.87 by 1.38 by 1.27 inches
Teased a few months ago, details have finally dropped for the SIG Sauer MCX Regulator! The short version is that it is an MCX rifle upper on top of a special MCX lower using a traditional rifle stock instead of a normal buffer tube and pistol grip while still using standard AR-15 pattern magazines.

SIG is promoting the rifle to ranchers and people who work the land, because as we all know the American farmer and rancher are known for having $3,000 MSRP to throw down on the latest big iron.

Available in 16-inch 5.56 NATO or 16-inch 7.6239, there arent a lot of options for the Regulator, but that may change down the road.

The good news is that this seems to be an outstanding option for people living in ban states. States like California that have a long list of banned features, the MCX Regulator side-steps many of those by not having a pistol grip and using a muzzle break.

Barrel is 1:7 twist Cold Hammer Forged Carbon Steel, trigger is the 2-stage MCX match, and the weight for all three versions is 8-lbs.

The lower uses a Mossberg 590 stock and has redesigned where the safety is to better accommodate the stock. Like a normal MCX, the Regulator is fully ambi with the safety, magazine release, and bolt-catch on both sides of the lower.

All three versions come with 10-round magazines.

Thankfully, the special lower takes any standard MCX upper if youre interested in changing out what is on top.

While this will undoubtedly be one of the more surprising options from SIG this year, and their marketing for it seems a little out of touch, it will have a place in the world and looks to be an interesting option for those with special circumstances.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked fund houses operating smallcap funds with a large corpus to share data on their holdings in the total free float of smallcap stocks, according to sources.

This is part of the stress tests that the regulator wants fund houses to undertake amid a surge in inflows into smallcap schemes and growing concerns about valuations.

Free float refers to the quantum of freely available shares for trading on the stock market.

Typically, shares held by public investors and those not under any lock-in are considered free float.

Large mutual fund (MF) ownership in a low-free-float stock can create liquidity issues, especially during periods of market downturn.

Sebi wants to determine how much illiquidity there is in the market.

"If all the funds have holdings in a limited set of companies and there is no free float, then it could be an issue.

"This is an extension of the stress testing done by the regulator. They want to find out what percentage of the total free float is owned by fund houses, said a senior MF executive.

At an event last month, Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch said that the regulator was actively discussing stress tests of smallcap and midcap schemes with the MF industry.

She also said that Sebi had reviewed reports from the first round of tests, but they left her wanting more data.

The idea is to see how things will look if a market drawdown happens.

"They are interested in knowing about the free float owned by MFs and how many days it will take to liquidate the holdings if a major correction happens, said another executive.

Smallcap and midcap funds have come under Sebis radar as investors continue to pour large sums of money into these funds, despite elevated valuations.

In the calendar year 2023, smallcap and midcap schemes accounted for 40 per cent of the total net inflows into active equity schemes, receiving Rs 64,000 crore of total inflows of Rs 1.6 trillion.

In another sign that the regulator might be concerned about overheating in the smallcap space, Sebi had recently written to fund houses asking if they have placed any restrictions on the amount investors can put into their smallcap funds.

In 2023-24, the National Stock Exchange Nifty Smallcap 100 is up nearly 80 per cent.

As a result, the 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of the index has surged to 21.7.

The 10-year average is 16.5, according to Bloomberg data.

Apart from the risk of sharper corrections compared to largecap stocks, smallcap shares also face liquidity risks as the volumes traded tend to be relatively thin.

Given that MFs have to pay back investors within a couple of days of notice, risks on the liquidity side can become a challenge for MFs to meet redemptions, especially during periods of distress.

During stress testing, MFs evaluate if they will be able to meet large redemption pressures, considering the recent liquidity in the stocks that they hold.

To mitigate risk, some fund houses have already decided to limit inflows into their schemes.

Kotak MF announced on Monday that it is capping lump sum investments at Rs 2 lakh and systematic investment plan investments at Rs 25,000 per month.

SBI MF, Tata MF, and Nippon MF also have restrictions in place.

MF executives believe that their schemes are prepared for market downturns as a significant part of the corpus, around 20 per cent to 30 per cent, is in cash and largecap stocks.
Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com took the new Mahindra XUV400, an electric SUV, for a test drive, eager to see how it performed on a real-world road trip.

IMAGE: The new Mahindra XUV400 looks the same. But open the doors and look in... All photographs and video: Rajesh Karkera/ Rediff.com

Mahindra & Mahindra heard customer feedback and read reviews and made significant improvements to the XUV400 since its launch in January 2023, including completely revamped interiors with a dual-tone design, chrome accents, a larger touchscreen, and a more user-friendly infotainment system.

The top model even boasts wireless charging and dual AC.

Mumbai to Silvassa: Unexpected Challenges

My initial plan was a relaxed 150 km trip from Borivali, north west Mumbai, to Silvassa in Daman. The claimed range of being able to do 230 km on an 83 per cent charge, which I got when it was delivered to me, seemed sufficient.

IMAGE: The dashboard now has a very responsive, bigger-and-better 10.25-inch touchscreen positioned in the middle and the MID (Multi-Information-Display) cluster too is now completely digital.

But unexpected traffic jams and road construction on NH48, that goes to New Delhi, threw a wrench in the works.

WATCH: Sample a bit of the drive in the video above.

Despite these challenges, the XUV400 impressed.

It handled the stop-and-go traffic with ease, and even navigated a short off-road detour without any issues (please do see the video above).

IMAGE: The short off-road was attempted after I did a proper 'walk the path', before taking the car off the road, to see whether I could loop back onto the highway ahead.

The battery, though depleting faster than anticipated, due to the traffic, still had 17 per cent charge remaining upon reaching Silvassa.

Silvassa and charging woes

Unfortunately, Silvassa lacked any public EV charging stations.

I had to resort to charging the car overnight at a regular 15 Amp socket, which thankfully brought it back to 100 per cent. This experience highlighted the need for more widespread EV charging infrastructure.

The return trip and final thoughts

On the return journey, I took a scenic route via Talasari, Palghar district, passing an under-utilised solar power plant, seen in the photograph above. This further emphasised the importance of developing a robust EV charging network, alongside renewable energy sources.

The drive back was smoother, with only occasional traffic.

The XUV400 still had over 50 per cent charge left when I reached Mumbai, offering peace of mind for longer journeys.

IMAGE: Have a dekho at the completely redesigned two-tone interiors of the XUV400. It now has the same superior steering wheel that is used in the Scorpio N and also gets a range of new features along with the identical menu type that comes in the other M&M models, namely the XUV700 and the Scorpio N.

M&M's XUV400: A promising step forward

M&M deserves credit for the improvements they made to the XUV400, particularly the stylish interiors and user-friendly features.

The price reduction across all variants is also a welcome move.

While the lack of public charging in Silvassa exposed the need for infrastructure development, the XUV400's overall performance on this challenging trip was commendable.

It delivered a comfortable driving experience with impressive range and capability, making it a promising option for the growing EV market.

The variants and their prices

The XUV400 comes in three variants and their prices are as below:

The XUV 400 EC Pro is priced at Rs 15.49 lakhs -- this comes with a 34.5 kWh battery and a 3.3 kW charger.

The XUV400 EL Pro is priced at Rs 16.74 lakhs -- this too comes with a battery of 34.5 kWh, but the charger is a 7.2 kW one.

The top-of-the-line XUV400 EL Pro -- which comes with a 39.4 kWh battery -- is priced at Rs 17.49 lakhs. This too comes with a 7.2 kW charger.

But in all these variants, there is no loss of power to drive. All have the same fun-to-drive feeling.

M&M has maintained the original excitement of driving the XUV 400 as is, with its drive modes Fun, Fast and Fearless.

And that is why the 2024 XUV400 gets a hat tip from us.
'Everyone knows there is no point in contesting elections from Gujarat as a Congress candidate because they know they will be wiped out.'

IMAGE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the party's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Photograph: ANI Photo

"I was likely to get a (Congress) ticket (to fight the Lok Sabha election), but who wants to go bankrupt by spending Rs 4 crore to Rs 5 crore in a Lok Sabha election from his own pocket?", Naran Rathwa, a six-time Congress MP from Gujarat who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on February 27, tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com in the concluding segment of a must-read interview.

Part 1 of the interview: 'Who will spend so much money when we know the end result?'

So, you accepted defeat and decided to join BJP?

Yes, I have joined the BJP. If I hadn't, it would only harm us and result in losses for our supporters and workers.

I don't have any problems with the Congress. It made me an MP for six times (five times from the Lok Sabha and once from the Rajya Sabha, in 2018), made me a Union minister, but today the ground reality has changed dramatically.

I became an MP for the first time in 1989 when the Congress had a winning formula, but today the ground has slipped from under our feet. Aaj ka mahaul poora badal gaya hai (Today the political scenario has changed completely in Gujarat).

Who else is planning to leave the Gujarat Congress and join the BJP?

Our workers will leave us (the Congress) in large numbers and they have been doing so since 2010.

What responsibilities will you get in the BJP? Are you looking at yourself as the party's Lok Sabha candidate?

I will get some role to play in the party organisation.

Is your son Sangramsinh Rathwa likely to get a Lok Sabha ticket?

Nahi, abhi kuch nahi (nothing of that sort will happen).

You said you were close to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. Any advice for them on how the Congress could rejuvenate itself in Gujarat?

The Congress gave me a lot, but as an organisation it is down in the dumps today at the central level as well as in Gujarat. They will have to do something to bring new life into it.

Who can handle the responsibility of bringing back new life when leaders like you are quitting the party?

How can you reform a party when people are quitting it in droves?

What can we do when people reject our ideas, our vision?

Rural people in the state have been greatly influenced by micro schemes started by (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji. People are not willing to listen to you (the Congress party) in Gujarat.

If leaders are quitting the Congress in large numbers in Gujarat, then what is its future in the state?

In 2019, they (the BJP) won all the 26 Lok Sabha seats and in 2024 the Congress is unable to find candidates to fight elections in all the 26 seats.

The Congress is starved of resources and nobody wants to spend money from their own home and fight elections. Everyone knows there is no point in contesting elections from the state as a Congress candidate because they know they will all be wiped out.

Even I was likely to get a (Congress) ticket (to fight the Lok Sabha election), but who wants to go bankrupt by spending Rs 4 crore to Rs 5 crore in a Lok Sabha election from his own pocket?

What is the position of the Congress as a political party in Gujarat?

It has terrible weakened and continues to weaken with every passing moment.

Will the Congress no longer exist in Gujarat?

It will be there, but it will be just some ordinary, nominal, party. The Congress needs to become a result-oriented party. People should be held accountable. You are losing elections to the district panchayat, taluka panchayat, and mahanagarpalika (municipal corporations).

Grassroots voters in Gujarat are absolutely under Modiji's sway.

Today, the people (political leaders as well as the voters of Gujarat) are going to where the cream is. They know their jobs will be done only if they are with the BJP.

IMAGE: Congress Rajya Sabha MP Naran Rathwa, who joined the BJP on February 27, with Gujarat BJP president C R Paatil.

Just like what you did...

What else could I have done? I cannot spend so much on elections; the party is in no position to spend. What can I do in such a situation?

Now, even the Income Tax seized the party account (the account was later unfrozen).

Ordinary party workers who donated amounts like Rs 138, Rs 1,380, Rs 13,800, even these funds are now difficult to access (by the Congress). Congress ke paas paisa kahan hai? (the Congress has no funds)?

This is our biggest problem. The organisation is weakening continually and those who are AICC office bearers are not working honestly to uplift the Congress's fortunes. They are just decorative pieces who have adorned themselves with fancy posts. Aur kaam kuch karte nahi hai (They are all good for nothing).

Who are these AICC office bearers?

The people who are adorning positions should introspect.

Is Rahul Gandhi responsible for the Congress' misfortunes in Gujarat?

No, Rahul Gandhi is not responsible. But all those office bearers who are working under (national party president Mallikarjun) Khargeji and Rahul Gandhi are not doing an honest job of reviving the Congress party.

We held onto the tribal citadel for Congress for decades, but this time (in the 2022 assembly election) we won only four seats from 14 districts. Isn't this proof of how weak we have become?

How much money can ordinary workers spend from their own pocket every day? Let me give you an example.

Now, Rahulji will be doing a programme in Gujarat. For that the state unit of Congress has to gather people in lakhs. Will the party fork out money needed for such preparations? It is we who have to spend from our own pockets.

Jeep drivers charge anywhere between Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 to transport people to the venue. Unko shandar meeting toh karna hai lekin meeting kar ke har baar unko seats nahi milti hai (The Congress leadership wants a grand public meeting, but despite all that they don't win significant seats in Gujarat).

I am speaking straight from my heart. Meri narazi bhi hai lekin meri Congress se abhi bhi mohabbat hai (I am upset with the party, but I still love the party). Lekin mohabbat saath main rakh ke baad main dukh sehan karna padta hai (the only result of my love is a lot of pain).

Won't you saying you still love the Congress upset BJP which you joined only a week ago?

What I am saying (in my defence) is I have to adapt to the situation on the ground. Why should my constituents, my voters and workers suffer because of my mohabbat?

To revive the Congress they will need lot of dedication, money and organisational strength. Those who are still with the party are also feeling lost by spending money from their own pockets.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday received wholehearted support from a group of women from the troubled Sandeshkhali area who met her after a Trinamool Congress rally in Kolkata, party sources said.

IMAGE: West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee along with party leaders and workers during the party's Mahila Wing Rally, in Kolkata on Thursday, March 7, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

During the rally held on the eve of the International Women's Day, Banerjee took a group photo with the women from Sandeshkhali, who claimed that the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and other parties were attempting to portray the ruling party in a negative light by highlighting isolated incidents of violence.

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen told PTI, "Around 10-15 women from Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas shared the stage with Didi and happily posed for a group photo with her."

The women expressed their unwavering support to the ruling party and endorsed Banerjee's stance against those accused of wrongdoing and atrocities in past years, she said.

They commended Banerjee's initiatives in Sandeshkhali and said the situation there was peaceful, Sen added.

They also expressed satisfaction with the social welfare projects implemented by the government in the area over the past decade, she said.

Another senior TMC leader and state minister Shashi Panja relayed the sentiments of the women to Banerjee, stating, "The situation in Sandeshkhali is peaceful. The women there fully support you and appreciate your social welfare projects like 'Lakshmir Bhandar'. Over the past 10 years, significant development works have been undertaken in the remote area."

The TMC rally was attended by over 200 women from the restive Sandeshkhali.

This interaction between Banerjee and Sandeshkhali women came after a similar meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and another group of women from the same area in Barasat on Wednesday.

These women had expressed concerns about ongoing atrocities by TMC leaders in the area and sought assurances from the PM regarding their safety and security.

Banerjee accused the BJP of spreading canards about incidents at Sandeshkhali while asserting that the state is the safest place in the country for women.

The Trinamool Congress supremo also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 'lecturing' the West Bengal government on women's security, alleging that he keeps silence when women are tortured in BJP-ruled states.

In an apparent reference to former Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who joined the BJP during the day, she said, "We will ensure your defeat no matter from where you contest in the Lok Sabha polls."

Addressing people after leading a rally in Kolkata for women's rights, she said, "Many have given fake sandesh (message) on Sandeshkhali. The way a few incidents were shown is reprehensible. Some incidents may have happened and they have not reached us. But when we get to know something, we take action. I don't hesitate to arrest TMC workers if they are at fault."

Without naming the prime minister, the TMC supremo said, "Yesterday you came here and lectured us that atrocities on women are being committed here. In Uttar Pradesh, gruesome rapes are taking place. The BJP should be shameful that our daughters were raped and burnt in Manipur."

"West Bengal is the safest state in the country for women," she said.

Banerjee's comment comes in the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark on Wednesday that the 'storm of Sandeshkhali' will sweep Bengal and 'Nari Shakti' (woman power) will play a pivotal role in decimating the ruling party in the Lok Sabha polls.

Banerjee accused the BJP leaders of 'spreading canards' about the safety of women in West Bengal but they maintain a stoic silence when women are tortured in BJP-ruled states.

Hitting out at Gangopadhyay for 'taking away jobs of thousands of youths' across the state through his judgments, Banerjee said, "The youths will not forgive you. All your judgments are under question. We will ensure your defeat."

Banerjee claimed that the BJP is angry with the TMC as the party doesn't allow divisive politics in Bengal.

"As we don't allow their divisive politics here, Pinto Babu ka gussa aata hai (Pinto babu is angry). I refer to BJP as Pinto babu. Why is Pinto Babu angry? They sent over 400 teams to Bengal but none in Manipur where women were assaulted and stripped," she said.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday led a rally in Kolkata for women's rights.

The rally, themed 'Mahila Der Adhikaar, Aamader Angikaar' (women's rights are our commitment), was organised by the TMC a day ahead of International Women's Day.

Clad in her trademark white and blue bordered cotton sari with a shawl wrapped around her neck, Banerjee was seen greeting people and onlookers on both sides of the road with folded hands.

The Trinamool Congress supremo was seen waving at people as she marched from College Street to Dorina Crossing, around two kilometres away, in central Kolkata.

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was also present at the rally.

BJP's Ranaghat Dakshin MLA Mukut Mani Adhikari, who was not happy with BJP repeating its sitting MP from Ranaghat, Jagganath Sarkar, on Thursday switched over to the TMC and participated in the rally.

"I think the TMC is the only platform where you can work for the masses. So I decided to join the TMC," he said.

Since the 2021 assembly polls, seven BJP MLAs have switched over to the TMC but are yet to resign as MLAs.

*****

BJP women leaders stopped on way to Sandeshkhali

Meanwhile, BJP women leaders led by party state general secretaries Agnimitra Paul and Locket Chatterjee were stopped by the West Bengal Police at New Town on the outskirts of Kolkata from heading towards Sandeshkhali on Thursday afternoon.

Following a scuffle and a bitter war of words with the police, the team was detained even as the leaders were seen holding a sit-in demonstration at the site they were stopped.

Demanding they be shown arrest memo, the four BJP women leaders launched a sit-in at New Town police station later vowing not to leave the place till they were shown document as been put under arrest.

"See how the police under Mamata Banerjee are functioning. They don't have any regard for democratic principles. They forcibly put us in police vehicles as we were peacefully proceeding to Sandeshkhali. How come New Town comes under prohibitory orders! Can you prevent us from going anywhere," Paul, the Asansol South MLA, told PTI over phone.

She said the way police are ill treating people's representatives "only happens in West Bengal."

After being stopped earlier in the day, the leaders alleged they were being prevented from heading towards the trouble-torn area on grounds that the prohibitory section of 144 of CrPC remained clamped in certain parts of Sandeshkhali.

"This is absolutely outrageous. How can the police stop us in Kolkata citing movement restrictions in Sandeshkhali?", said Bharati Ghosh, a former IPS officer and a member of the BJP team.

Paul said the team only intended to visit areas in Sandeshkhali which remained outside the ambit of the prohibitory section.

"Is section 144 imposed in Kolkata? On what grounds can the police stop our movement here?", she asked.

The police and the TMC still have a lot to hide in Sandeshkhali even though a lot of the atrocities committed there have already been exposed, Locket Chatterjee, an MP from Hooghly, maintained. BJP leader Falguni Patra was also part of the team.

"We merely wanted to be on the side of the tormented women in Sandeshkhali who are still reeling under fear since musclemen of Shahjahan Sheikh are still at large and police are doing little to address their concerns," she added.

When Chatterjee was asked to board a police van along with other women leaders, she entered into an altercation with the police officer present there.

Last week too, she was stopped at Bhojerhat while heading towards Sandeshkhali.

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said BJP leaders were trying to instigate people in the area and not allowing normalcy to return.

"Police are doing their job. The situation is normal at Sandeshkhali," he said.

Alleging that the CM was 'shedding crocodile tears for women of Bengal', BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya said on X, 'Yet again, Mamata Banerjee's police stops BJP delegation, led by MP Locket Chatterjee, MLA Agnimitra Paul, former IPS & national spokesperson Bharti Ghosh and WB Mahila Morcha President Phalguni Patra, from visiting Sandeshkhali, while she saunters on the streets of Kolkata, with dark shadow of Sheikh Shahjahan looming over her.'

Malviya accused the CM 'of having pawned the dignity of women of Bengal to criminals like Shahjahan, for votes of a community'.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday busted a major human trafficking network that took Indian youngsters to the Russia-Ukraine war zone in the garb of providing them jobs abroad, officials said.

IMAGE: Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon during intense shelling on the front line in Bakhmut. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

They said the agency has found 35 instances in which youngsters were taken to Russia after being lured with false promises of high-paying jobs via social media channels and local contacts and agents.

Efforts are underway to identify the victims, the officials said.

In a statement in New Delhi, a CBI spokesperson said the trafficked Indian nationals were trained in combat roles and deployed across front bases in the Russia-Ukraine war zone against their wishes, putting their lives in danger.

The federal agency has registered an FIR against some visa consultancy firms and agents. It was followed by searches in 13 locations across Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai, Ambala, Chandigarh, Madurai and Chennai.

"The human trafficking network of these agents is spread over several states across the country and they are operating in an organised manner," the spokesperson said.

The central probe agency has booked 24x7 RAS Overseas Foundation in Delhi and its director Suyash Mukut, OSD Bros Travels & Visa Services Pvt Ltd in Mumbai and its director Rakesh Pandey, Adventure Visa Services Pvt Ltd in Chandigarh and its director Manjeet Singh, and Baba Vlogs Overseas Recruitment Solutions Pvt Ltd in Dubai and its director Faisal Abdul Mutalib Khan alias Baba.

"It has been ascertained that some of the victims also suffered grievous injuries in the war zone," the official said.

"So far, cash worth over Rs 50 lakh, incriminating documents and electronic records like laptops, mobiles, desktops and CCTV footage have been seized. Searches are going on. Certain suspects have also been detained for questioning at various locations," he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kashmir is only meant to address and drum support among the Bharatiya Janata Party's core constituency in the rest of the country in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti said on Thursday, alleging that government employees were 'forcibly' ferried to the venue of the prime minister's event in Srinagar.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a gathering in Bettiah, Bihar on March 6, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister alleged that government employees were 'forcibly mobilised' and ferried to Modi's rally to paint a 'pretty picture that all is well' post 2019, when the Centre abrogated the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the erstwhile state into Union territories.

'Government employees are being herded at five am in sub zero temperatures into vehicles at Budgam bus stand ferrying them to the PM's rally.

'Disheartening to see employees being forcibly mobilised to paint a pretty picture that all is well post 2019 and that people here are celebrating their own collective disempowerment and humiliation,' Mufti said in a post on X.

The PDP president said the scene 'stands contrary' to earlier visits by previous prime ministers like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh at the peak of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, when common people thronged to the venues of their events with great enthusiasm and returned with a hope in their hearts.

"But this time Kashmiris know that everything spoken at Bakshi stadium will be to showcase the so called benefits of illegal abrogation of Article 370 akin to putting salt to their wounds. This visit is only meant to address and drum support amongst BJP's core constituency in the rest of India for the upcoming Parliament elections," she said.

Another former chief minister and National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah also accused the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Wednesday of 'pulling out all stops' to ensure a crowd for Modi's rally.

He said the BJP would not be able to do so on its own in Kashmir.

Abdullah said thousands of government employees have been asked to assemble at select locations before dawn so that they can be taken to the venue of Modi's rally.

'Employees, men and women in 1000s are being asked to assemble between 4:30 am and 5:30 am in the freezing temperatures to be bused to the venue. This participation isn't optional, it's compulsory. Employees who don't show up are being threatened with disciplinary action by their dept heads,' he said on X.

In his first visit to Kashmir after the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370, Modi will unveil multiple development projects worth more than Rs 6,400 crore and address a public meeting in Srinagar on Thursday.

The Lok Sabha polls are likely to be held in April-May.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will continue to govern the country for the more ten years.

IMAGE: Union Home Minister Amit Shah . Photograph: PTI Photo

"The mood and mandate in the past used to be based on caste, creed and religion and on the basis of appeasement. Now PM Modi has established politics of performance. Performance will determine who stays in power, the country will give an opportunity to those who perform. If we perform well, we will stay in power, if we do not control our drawbacks then we will not win. Because you have asked about the next ten years, I can tell you that for the next ten years it will be Prime Minister Narendra Modi only," Shah said while at the Republic TV summit.

Shah also hit out at Rashtriya Janata Dal Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav for raising question on the absence of Modi's family

"People who are trying to lower the level of country's politics by talking nonsense, the public is giving them a befitting reply each time. I have seen Modi ji very closely. I have worked with him for a long time. In a sense, Lalu ji has rightly said that Modi ji has no family. Because those who have families, try to make their sons and daughters Prime Ministers and Chief Ministers," he said.

"Modi ji has worked only and only for the people of the country for 40 years. Even after being Chief Minister and Prime Minister for 23 years, I have not seen him taking leave. I have seen PM Modi working diligently from 5 am in the morning to 1 am. It is a result of that there is such a large cadre with him," the home minister added.

Shah further said there has never been any allegations of corruption against Modi.

"In a democracy, the people of the country answer every question raised against the government. Leaders who scammed the citizens are now absconding. In 23 years of Modi ji's tenure, first as the Chief Minister and then as the Prime Minister, there has not been a single allegation against him. Even the opposition cannot blame Modi ji for anything, such is the transparency with which he works," Shah said

"We have had our government at the centre for 10 years. But even our opponents cannot blame Modi ji for even 4 annas worth of corruption. We have governed with transparency,"he added.

The Home Minister stressed that the Prime Minister and the BJP were working to realise the dreams of all Indians.

"Ever since the formation of our party, since independence, the dreams of Indians have remained our political agenda. People did not sacrifice their lives for an India which is poor, unsafe or does not have a standing in the world. People were martyred for the dream of a strong and prosperous India. That dream was, is, and will remain our mission and vision for India" he said.

The Home Minister emphasised that in 2047, India would transform into a developed nation.

He also reiterated that the Citizenship Amendment Act will be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 was passed by the Parliament in December 2019.

The Union Home Minister said, "This will be implemented before the elections...this is the law of the country, no one can stop it, this is set in stone, this is the reality."

Shah also batted for the Uniform Civil Code saying that this is not only the agenda of the BJP, but also the vision of constitutional assembly and included in Article 44 of the constitution.

"Unfortunately, UCC has been associated with religion. Today I want to tell the people of the country that UCC is not just the agenda of BJP, but since 1950 we have been saying that when we come to power, we will bring UCC to this country. Since 1950, 'Uniform Civil Code' has been a part of our manifesto. If you expect the State to be secular, then the laws of the State must also be secular. Personal laws based on religious domination can never give us a secular State," Home Minister Amit Shah said.

Amit Shah also hit out at the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal alleging that the state government was corrupt and indulging in rampant appeasement.

The Union Home Minister said "The governance in Bengal is corrupt, with appeasement based on unjust religion. It is very important for the security of the country that there should be change, and the BJP is fighting for that change. I also request the people of Bengal to support us. People should elect a strong representation from Bengal under the leadership of Modi ji. We want to make Bengal Sonar Bangla again."
Former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba, who was released from the Nagpur Central Jail on Thursday after his acquittal in an alleged Maoist links case, said it's a 'wonder that he could come out alive' despite suffering the 'brutal' jail life.

IMAGE: Former Delhi University Professor G N Saibaba celebrates as he got released from the Nagpur Central Jail after the Bombay high court acquitted him in an alleged Maoist links case, in Nagpur on Thursday, March 7, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Saibaba, 54, said he was targeted for working for the rights of tribals in central and eastern parts of the country and called his arrest an 'afterthought'.

The Bombay high court on Tuesday set aside the life sentence of Saibaba, noting that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

"There was every chance that I would not have come out alive," Saibaba told media persons.

He had earlier refused to talk to the press saying, "My health is very bad. I can't talk. I will have to first take medical treatment, and then only I will be able to speak."

The former DU professor, who depends on a wheelchair for mobility, said he changed his mind after requests from lawyers and reporters.

Saibaba said he would be visiting doctors soon.

Recalling his incarceration at the Nagpur jail, which he described as 'very rigorous and brutal', Saibaba said it barely provided any accessibility.

"I couldn't pull up, I could not move out of my wheelchair. I could not go to the toilet (on my own), I could not take a bath. It's a wonder that I came out of the prison alive today," he said, stressing that there was every chance that he could not have made it.

The former professor also called the case against him a fabricated one.

"Today, you can see, not once but twice, that the higher judiciary confirmed that this case is without facts, evidence and any legally viable matter. Why has it drawn so long? Ten years of my life and my co-accused's life. Who will bring them back?"

A family member was waiting for Saibaba outside the jail when he came out in the morning.

Saibaba said he was targeted for working for the rights of Adivasis in the central and eastern parts of the country.

Before his arrest, the former English professor said, he had been asked by eminent personalities like Justice Sachar and ex-IAS officer B D Sharma to coordinate with human rights outfits, civil society groups and Dalit organisations to bring unity among democratic voices as well as raise the issues of tribals.

He said tribals suffered a lot and their land was grabbed during 'Salwa Judum', a state-sponsored people's resistance movement against Naxalites, in Chhattisgarh.

He had also been asked by international rights organisations and certain wings of the United Nations to document the sufferings of tribals in central and eastern India, said the former DU professor.

"However, the then government did not like my work," he claimed.

"I was implicated as an afterthought in a case that was filed ten months ago at that time," he claimed.

Saibaba said he entered the prison as a healthy man except for polio and his dependence on a wheelchair but now has a host of health issues, including heart, muscle and liver problems.

"Doctors said I had to undergo multiple operations and surgeries but nothing was done. My heart is working at only 55 per cent capacity and this has been recorded by the doctors," claimed Saibaba.

He alleged that he was not provided with 'active medical treatment' despite his poor health.

"Why ten years of injustice," he asked, adding that hope was the only thing that kept him going.

The former English professor said a tribal named Pandu Narote from Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district who was in the same anda' cell with him died during incarceration.

"He was also falsely implicated he was a young man who had never come out of his village. He died of a simple fever," he said.

Saibaba said he was heartbroken that Narote was not with him during his release from jail.

Asked if he would continue with his work on human rights, Saibaba said a change would be imminent even if the Constitution of India is implemented 50 per cent in letter and spirit.

Whether he would join DU again, Saibaba said he cannot live without teaching.

Saibaba also remembered advocate Surendra Gadling (now in jail in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case), who fought his case in Gadchiroli.

Saibaba said there were 'indications that he would be witchhunted'.

Saibaba had been lodged in the jail here since 2017 after his conviction by a trial court in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district.

Before that, he was in prison from 2014 to 2016 and was subsequently granted bail.

The HC on Tuesday overturned Saibaba's sentence, terming the sanction for prosecution granted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) as 'null and void'.

The court said the sanction given under UAPA by the state authority was without application of mind and the report submitted by the independent authority recommending invocation of UAPA provisions in the case was 'cryptic and a laconic half page communication'.

The bench also noted that seizure of some pamphlets and electronic data from the accused merely demonstrated that they were sympathisers of the Maoist philosophy.

In March 2017, a sessions court in Gadchiroli convicted Saibaba and five others, including a journalist and a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student, for alleged Maoist links and for indulging in activities amounting to waging war against the country.
M Mallikarjun Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani has emerged as the front-runner for Congress ticket to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the home turf of the party's President.

IMAGE: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge addresses the Jan Vishwas Maha rally at Gandhi maidan in Patna on March 3. Photograph: ANI Photo

The 81-year-old Kharge had won from Gulbarga (Kalaburagi) Lok Sabha segment twice but lost the 2019 polls.

"The Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha's hands are full. In addition to managing party affairs at the national level, he has to coordinate with INDIA bloc partners", a senior party leader said.

"Also, he has four more years of his term left in Rajya Sabha", he said, seeking to confirm reports that Kharge is not in favour of contesting from Kalaburagi.

His son, Priyank Kharge, who represents Chittapur assembly constituency in Gulbarga segment and is a Minister in the Siddaramaiah cabinet in Karnataka, is also not interested to throw his hat in the ring.

"Doddamani, a businessman who also manages educational institutions, seems to be the front runner", a party leader said.

Party sources said the Congress President will take a final call on whether or not to contest the polls in consultation with top leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Kharge will have the final word on whether it is Doddamani or anyone else who would be the candidate from Gulbarga, as it is his home turf, the sources said.

Doddamani, who was initially reluctant to enter the fray, has been asked to be prepared to be fielded.

Born in Kalaburagi, Doddamani has maintained a low profile; he has always worked actively behind the scenes in managing and strategising for Kharge's successive electoral campaign.

He is said to be popular among party workers and supporters, especially in the Gurmitkal assembly segment, which Kharge represented consecutively between 1972 and 2004.

Congress' poll managers in Kalaburagi during a recent meeting with party legislators and leaders from the segment are said to have discussed Doddamani's probable candidacy, and about ensuring his victory.

Kharge was defeated by BJP's Umesh Jadhav by 95,452 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Popularly known as "Solillada Saradara", (a leader without defeat), that was the first electoral loss in Kharge's political life spanning several decades.

Ahead of the polls, Jadhav had quit as Congress MLA and joined the BJP to contest the Lok Sabha election from Gulbarga.

The 2019 election was considered a tough one for Kharge, a nine-time MLA and two-term Lok Sabha member, as several senior leaders of Congress like Baburao Chinchansur, A B Malaka Reddy and Malikayya Guttedar, from the region had quit the party and joined BJP.

These leaders along with Jadhav, who had quit the Congress upset over the "dominance" of Kharge and his son Priyank Kharge (who was then Minister in the Congress-JD(S) coalition government) in the region, found a common ground and aggressively campaigned against the father-son duo.

Kharge, who was earlier leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha, had served as Union Cabinet Minister- Labour and Employment, also Railways and Social Justice and Empowerment in the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government.

He had also held various portfolios in successive Congress governments that governed the state and was also president of Karnataka Congress and leader of opposition in the state assembly.

Gulbarga for long had been a bastion of the Congress. Before 2019, it had lost its hold over the constituency only in 1996 and 1998 Lok Sabha polls when the Janata Dal and BJP had won the seat, respectively.

Gulbarga has eight assembly seats of which Congress currently holds six, and teh Bharatiya Janata Party and teh Janata Dal-Secular one each.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will contest the Lok Sabha polls from Kerala's Wayanad again, the party announced on Friday as it released its first list of 39 candidates.

IMAGE: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge during the Congress central election committee meeting to select candidates for Lok Sabha elections, at the party headquarters, in New Delhi, March 7, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal will contest from Alappuzha (Kerala), former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel from Rajnandgaon, Jyotsna Mahant from Korba, Tamradhwaj Sahu from Mahasamund and Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram.

Venugopal said the list has 15 general category candidates while 24 are from the SC, ST, OBC and minority communities.

Congress treasurer Ajay Maken said the list has a good mix of youth and experience.

The announcement came a day after the Congress' central election committee finalised the names for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections after having a discussion on over 60 Lok Sabha seats from 11 states and union territories.

The CEC meeting which was chaired by party president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Discussions were held on Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Sikkim, Tripura, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya and Lakshwadeep.

"We are in election mode and on an aggressive path of campaigning with Rahul Gandhi undertaking the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra which is in Gujarat," Venugopal said.

The Nyay Yatra will end on March 17 in Mumbai with a mammoth rally planned and Congress president Kharge is writing to all INDIA bloc partners to attend that rally, he said.

Kharge, former party chief Sonia Gandhi and Venugopal, as well as other senior leaders who are part of the CEC were present at the meeting.

There is speculation that Rahul Gandhi may also contest from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Rae Bareli, a seat which was previously held by Sonia Gandhi.

Both the seats are considered bastions of the Gandhi family and the local units of the Congress have demanded that the two scions of the Congress first family should contest from there.

Rahul Gandhi, who was previously an MP from Amethi, lost the seat in 2019 but won from Wayanad in Kerala.

Ambika Soni, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, T S Singhdeo and Mohammad Jawaid are other members of the CEC.
The Congress on Thursday promised the right to employment as well as apprenticeships for youths in a series of assurances made by its leader Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Rajasthan's Banswara.

IMAGE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi feeds a child during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, in Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, March 6, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

If the party is voted to power in the Lok Sabha elections, 30 lakh vacant government posts will be filled and a law would be enacted to curb government recruitment examination question paper leaks, he said while addressing a gathering during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

The former Congress chief also promised a legal guarantee on minimum support price for crops to farmers, social security for gig workers and a Rs 5,000-crore fund for startups.

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi said, "There are 30 lakh government vacancies in India. Modi ji doesn't get them filled. The BJP doesn't fill them. After coming to power, our first step will be to fill these posts."

On Thursday, the Congress also announced on X its five promises for youths and termed them yuva nyay.

These included filling government vacancies, apprenticeships, freedom from paper leaks, social security for gig workers and the startup fund for youths below 40 years of age.

The Congress will provide the right to employment, Gandhi said in Banswara where the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered Rajasthan from Madhya Pradesh.

Every young diploma and degree holder in the country will have the right to apprenticeships in the private and government sectors, he said.

They will get a one-year apprenticeship during which they will be paid Rs 1 lakh, the Congress leader said.

"We are going to give the right to apprenticeship to all youths of the country. Every graduate and every diploma holder will get this right. Every graduate will be given a one-year apprenticeship in a private company or a government office, and Rs 1 lakh will be given to the person in a year," Gandhi said.

He said this would be like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and benefit crores of youth in the country.

"They will get training and they will get employment in the first year," Gandhi said.

The MGNREGA 2005, assures 100 days of work in rural areas.

Promising a law for social security for gig workers such as drivers, guards and delivery boys, Gandhi said, "In Rajasthan, a law was made for their protection, their pension and their social security. We will implement the same law which was made in Rajasthan in the entire country."

On the issue of paper leaks, he assured that the Congress will standardise the government recruitment exam process and "stop its outsourcing".

Referring to the ongoing protest by farmers to press the Centre to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee on MSP and farm debt waiver, Gandhi said the Congress' manifesto promises "revolutionary" steps for the benefit of farmers.

In its manifesto, the Congress assures legal guarantee on MSP to farmers and also to fulfil the demands of "the farmers who are marching towards Delhi and are being stopped on roads," he said. The party is yet to officially release its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls.

Talking about conducting a caste census in the country, he said it is needed as a large section of the population, including OBCs, tribals, Dalits, minorities and poor general castes, are not getting their share.

There is a need for a caste census in the country and the Congress will get it done after coming to power, Gandhi said.

He said President Droupadi Murmu was not there at the consecration at the Ram temple in Ayodhya and claimed that this was a "direct message" that she cannot enter the temple as she was a tribal.

The Congress leader also asked the gathering whether they saw any poor, farmer and labourer at the temple ceremony. Industrialists and a big line-up of Bollywood stars were present, he said.

"Five percent have the work to control every institution of the country" while "90 percent of people work as labourers", Gandhi said.

He said, "This is the biggest question...". The caste census has to be done for the country's development, the Congress leader said.

Gandhi alleged that the Centre has closed all doors for the youth. The youth aspires to get into the army, but the Centre brought the Agniveer scheme, he said.

Gandhi also alleged that the government has privatised public sector units and shut down schools and hospitals.

The Congress stands with tribals and it had brought the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act for them, he said and added that "we will bring many laws in the future for the benefit of tribals".

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also spoke about the party's manifesto and its promises.

"As soon as the Congress government is formed in 2024, a new 'Rozgar Revolution' will begin by providing employment guarantee to the youth of the country," he said on X.

Addressing the gathering, Kharge said that whenever the Congress has come to power, it has always worked for taking care of the poor.

"The Constitution of the country was made under the leadership of Baba Saheb Ambedkar and today all of you are getting the facilities from that Constitution itself. It is due to the blessings of Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru," the Congress chief said.

He said that Congress proudly tells people about the work its leaders have done for the country. "But BJP people never talk about what the Modi government has done for the country. BJP people only commit atrocities on tribals and Dalits. Was Modi ji put in power for this?" Kharge said.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said, "Day 54 of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra comes to an end with today's flag exchange ceremony at Jhalod in Dahod district of Gujarat. With this, the yatra enters Gujarat, the 14th state that we touch along the route."

"The highlight of today's yatra was the declaration of the five 'yuva nyay' guarantees by Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi," he said.
The collector of Maharashtra's Dharashiv district has expressed concerns that the Maratha community might field too many candidates, beyond the capacity of electronic voting machines, and sought the advice of the Election Commission on handling such a situation.

IMAGE: Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde participates in the celebrations as Maratha reservation activists celebrate the passage of a bill granting 10 percent quota in education and jobs to the community, outside Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai, February 20, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Dharashiv, earlier Osmanabad, is among the eight districts that comprise the state's Marathwada region, where activist Manoj Jarange has led an agitation demanding reservation for Marathas in education and government jobs.

The region has eight Lok Sabha seats.

In a letter dated March 6, Dharashiv collector Sachin Ombase has said that the possibility of the disgruntled Maratha community fielding "too many" candidates, beyond the capacity of EVMs (electronic voting machines), cannot be ruled out and issues that might crop up if polls are held using ballot papers.

The challenge of inadequate manpower and ballot boxes might arise, said the IAS officer in his letter.

He said that the ballot papers would need to be made bigger if there were a large number of candidates.

As a result, more ballot boxes may be required, the collector wrote.

Not just more manpower, additional vehicles will also be needed to transport the ballot boxes from polling centres to the strong room, Ombase wrote, also raising concerns over the space needed for their safekeeping.

In October last year, election authorities had encountered the challenge of too many candidates after 155 people filed their candidature, at the behest of the protesting Maratha community, for a gram panchayat bypoll at Chate Pimpalgaon village of Parbhani district.

As a result, the by-poll was suspended by the State Election Commission and a letter on the decision was sent to the Parbhani collector.
Padmaja Venugopal, the late Congress stalwart K Karunakaran's daughter, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

IMAGE: Padmaja Venugopal, left, joins the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Prakash Javadekar, who is the BJP in-charge of Kerala, centre, and Kerala BJP President K Surendran, right, at the party headquarters in New Delhi, March 7, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President K Sudhakaran termed Padmaja's decision as "cheating and betraying" the party and a "breach of confidence".

There were no reasons for Padmaja to leave the party, Sudhakaran added, saying it was a "wrong and unfortunate decision".

Sudhakaran said that he himself had taken many decisions to protect her interests, but she disregarded all that to leave the Congress and join the BJP.

"Nevertheless, as she is the daughter of the late K Karunakaran, we still have love and respect for her," he said.

K Muraleedharan, Congress MP and Karunakaran's son, denounced his sister's decision to depart from the party their father had nurtured, particularly ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Earlier in the day, amidst indications that Padmaja would join the BJP, Muraleedharan said that her decision was a betrayal and that their father's spirit would not condone it.

The Vadakara MP announced that he is ending his relationship with his sister.

Muraleedharan said that Karunakaran had never compromised with communalism and for a member of his family to join the BJP was a sad outcome as far as people with a secular mindset were concerned.

"Our father's spirit will not condone it because she went with a communal organisation. That is why I said all relationships and bonds with her have ended. There will be no compromise with someone who has betrayed the party at this stage even if she is my sister," the Congress MP said while speaking to reporters in Kozhikode.

On being asked by reporters as to why children of Congress stalwarts such as A K Antony and Karunakaran were leaving the party to join the BJP and whether the leadership was unable to prevent it, Muraleedharan said it was because people's desires grew too big.

"The Congress party has given great consideration to her. That is sufficient for those who work at home," he said.

Muraleedharan further said that both Antony and Karunakaran went through hardships to come up in life, but their children have never known any difficulties and therefore get "such bad ideas" of leaving the party and joining an organisation that is "out to destroy the country".

BJP state president K Surendran said Anil Antony and Padmaja Venugopal's decisions are testimony to the BJP's increasing popularity and the beginning of the downfall of the Congress.

Surendran claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development agenda was attracting people from across the state to the BJP.

"The Modi wave that is sweeping the country is beginning in Kerala," he contended.

Many who were criticising the BJP in the past will now join it, Surendran said, and that is why they are not saying anything.

The ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist in Kerala, on the other hand, sought to capitalise on the development by suggesting that it might erode trust in the Congress, as there would be no guarantee that its members would not join the BJP after winning.

CPI-M state Secretary M V Govindan commented that the recent exit of members from the Congress, including Anil Antony, Congress stalwart and former Union minister A K Antony' son, and their entry into the BJP would not help the party win even a single seat in Kerala.

Govindan said more people from the Congress will join the BJP, claiming that there is not much difference in their ideologies.

"Due to the soft Hindutva stand of the Congress, it is easier for their members to join the BJP as there is not much difference in their ideologies. It has been happening in other parts of India for some time, but not in Kerala. But now it is possible here too," Govindan said.

"In such a situation, how can the people trust them and vote for them?", the CPI-M state secretary told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.

"Is there any guarantee they will remain in the Congress after winning and will not switch over to the BJP? That is the most important question in Kerala politics presently."

Muraleedharan said the BJP would not benefit "even an ounce" from Padmaja joining it.

"Taking Padmaja will not benefit the BJP even an ounce. It will also not affect our determination to fight. We will push the BJP to the third spot everywhere, including in seats where they hope to win."

Padmaja, Muraleedharan said, was thrice given the party ticket to contest polls in Kerala, and each time she had lost.

"So, the claims that others in the party were behind her defeat are not acceptable, as there are many who have tried to do that to me. I have not complained about it because it is the people who decide who should win or not," he said.

There was a time when he had to leave the party, Muraleedharan said, but even then he did not compromise with the BJP and join it -- even though it would have been very easy to do so -- as his father was someone who never compromised with communalism.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted that Jammu and Kashmir is 'breathing freely' after the abrogation of Article 370 and pledged accelerated progress over the next five years.

Photograph: Umar Ganie/ Rediff.com IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi handing over an appointment letter to a woman during the 'Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir' programme as Union Minister Jitendra Singh (left) and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha (right) look on, in Srinagar, March 7, 2024.

"Modi will not leave any stone unturned to repay this debt of affection. This is Modi sanz (Kashmiri word) guarantee," he said addressing a massive rally at Srinagar's Bakshi stadium, the first by a prime minister.

Modi said the new Jammu and Kashmir has the spark for the future in its eyes and '140 crore citizens feel at peace when they see the smiling faces of the people of Jammu and Kashmir'.

He also criticised dynastic politics that 'plagued the region', underscoring the transformative impact of the decision to abrogate Article 370 in 2019.

"Jammu and Kashmir has been the biggest victim of dynastic politics since independence. Congress misguided the nation about Article 370 but who did it benefit? Did it benefit the people of Jammu and Kashmir or a few political families?" he said.

Taking a dig at opposition leaders who had commented that Modi does not have a family of his own, the prime minister said that the nation has responded to them.

"Maine Jammu Kashmir ke logon ko humesha apna parivar manna hai... issliye Kashmir ke dil mein bhi yehi hai ki mein bhi Modi ka parivar hoon (I have always treated people of Jammu and Kashmir as my family... that is why Kashmir also feels in its heart that it is also Modi's family," he said while assuring that the journey on the path of development will not stop.

"Jammu and Kashmir is touching new heights of development after the abrogation of Article 370. Jammu and Kashmir is touching new heights of development today because it is breathing freely," the prime minister said at the 'Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir' rally.

This was Modi's first visit to Kashmir since the Centre abrogated the special status given to the erstwhile state and bifurcated it into two Union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh -- on August 5, 2019.

"Jammu and Kashmir has broken the shackles after the abrogation of Article 370," he said.

The rally, the first by a prime minister at the Bakshi Stadium here, was held amidst stringent security arrangements.

The city, south of Jhelum, was converted into a fortress with only people having valid passes allowed to proceed towards the venue.

The prime minister extended his 'advance wishes' for the upcoming holy month of Ramzan and Maha Shivratri, which falls on Friday.

Announcing significant projects totalling nearly Rs 5,000 crore to boost the agricultural sector, Modi expressed gratitude for the warm reception, acknowledging the essence of Kashmir's beauty and the affection of its people.

"I am doing all this hard work to win your hearts and I believe that I am on the right path. I will continue my efforts to win your hearts. This is Modi sanz (Kashmiri word) guarantee and all of you know that Modi's Guarantee means the guarantee of fulfilment of guarantee," he added.

"This unparalleled form of nature, the air, the valley, the environment and the love and affection of Kashmiri brothers and sisters," he said after the rousing reception and acknowledged the presence of citizens outside the venue, and more than one lakh people from 285 blocks connected to the event via video link.

The prime minister recalled the time when laws implemented in the country did not apply to Jammu and Kashmir and mentioned schemes for the welfare of the poor that could not be availed by the deprived.

The times have changed now as all sections of the society are now being given their due, he said.

Modi highlighted the importance of tourism, farmer empowerment and youth leadership in propelling the region towards prosperity.

He urged the tourists visiting Kashmir to spend at least five to 10 per cent of their tour packages on shopping which will generate livelihood and job opportunities for the locals.

"You cannot come, see and go back. You should spend 5 to 10 per cent on shopping. I have also purchased from here," he said.

Encouraging tourists to contribute to the local economy through shopping, he also called upon NRIs to participate in the 'Chalo India' initiative.

Asserting that a developed Jammu and Kashmir is the priority for a developed India, Modi, while describing Jammu and Kashmir as the crown of the country, said the path to building a developed Jammu and Kashmir will emerge from tourism possibilities and empowerment of farmers.

"Jammu and Kashmir is not just a region but India's head. A head held high is the symbol of development and honour. That is why a developed Jammu and Kashmir is the priority of a developed India," he said.

While the anticipation for assembly polls simmered among opposition parties ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Modi steered clear of making any announcements.

Among the initiatives unveiled were projects to enhance tourism, infrastructure, and cultural exchange, including the 'Dekho Apna Desh People's Choice Tourist Destination Poll' and the 'Chalo India Global Diaspora' campaign.

The prime minister said when intentions are noble and there is a determination to fulfil commitments, results are bound to follow.

He referred to the successful hosting of the G-20 meeting in Jammu and Kashmir which, he said, boosted tourist arrivals in the Union territory with more than two crore tourists visiting in 2023.

"In 2023 alone, Jammu and Kashmir welcomed over two crore tourists, surpassing previous records. Over the past 10 years, the Amarnath Yatra has witnessed the highest number of pilgrims participating, and Vaishno Devi also recorded a significant increase in devotee footfall."

Highlighting the surge in foreign tourist arrivals and the growing attraction among celebrities and international guests, the prime minister said now 'even prominent celebrities and foreign guests visit the valleys of Jammu and Kashmir to explore and create videos and reels'.

With his engagement with newly recruited government employees and beneficiaries of central schemes, the prime minister underscored his commitment to inclusive development.

Also the launch of the 'Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign' aims to harness the potential of the Indian diaspora in promoting tourism and bolstering cultural ties. Through these concerted efforts, Modi seeks to weave a tapestry of progress and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking on the transformation of J-K Bank, the prime minister said it has posted a profit of Rs 1,700 crore from being on the verge of collapse.

"The mismanagement of the past and nexus of dynastic politics and corruption had almost led to poor people's money sinking. The Anti Corruption Bureau is still investigating thousands of illegal appointments," he said, adding in the last five years, the recruitment has been transparent.

"Yeh aapka paisa tha aur Modi chowkidar bun ke baitha hai (This is your money which some vested interests wanted to swindle but I am standing here to guard it)," he said.

"When there is an honest government, the intention is for the welfare of the people, then the people can be brought out of every difficulty," he added.
The National Investigation Agency on Thursday told the Supreme Court that Gautam Navlakha is required to make a payment of Rs 1.64 crore towards expenses for making available police personnel for his security during house arrest even as the activist's lawyer disputed the figure and accused the agency of "extortion".

IMAGE: Gautam Navlakha. Photograph: ANI Photo

Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the NIA, told a bench of justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti that 70-year-old Navlakha, arrested in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, has only paid an amount of Rs 10 lakh till now as part of expenses incurred for round-the-clock security.

"He must pay some amount," Raju said.

Senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, appearing for Navlakha, contested the figure of Rs 1.64 crore saying the agency's calculation of the amount payable was wrong and contrary to the relevant rules.

She said, "We have contested this amount by NIA and the matter needs to be heard. They cannot demand one crore from citizens for keeping them in custody."

The law officer retorted, "Citizens are not entitled to house arrest."

Ramakrishnan then said, "Even by their own rules, this is not amount. And therefore there cannot be extortion. A poor man can never get out."

Raju strongly objected to the use of the term "extortion".

The top court said the matter needs to be heard in detail and posted the case for April.

The stay imposed by the Bombay High Court on the operation of its order granting bail to Navlakha will continue until then.

The Bombay high court had on December 19 last year granted bail to Navlakha but stayed its order for three weeks after the NIA sought time to file an appeal in the top court.

The apex court had earlier said keeping Navlakha under house arrest further will set a "wrong precedent".

Navlakha is under house arrest at a public library in Mumbai since November 2022.

While ordering his house arrest on November 10, 2022, the apex court had directed Navlakha to deposit Rs 2.4 lakh towards the expenses to be borne by the state for deploying police personnel to effectively place him under house arrest.

Later, it had again directed Navlakha to deposit another Rs 8 lakh as expenses for providing police personnel for his security.

On November 10, 2022, the top court had allowed Navlakha, who was then lodged in Navi Mumbai's Taloja prison in connection with the case, to be placed under house arrest owing to his deteriorating health.

The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claim triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city.

As many as 16 activists have been arrested in the case and five of them are currently out on bail.
The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the use of 'legislative majority' test by Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar while deciding that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led faction was the real Shiv Sena, and summoned the original records relating to the disqualification row from the speaker's office.

Photograph: ANI Photo

Hearing a plea of the Uddhav Thackeray faction against the speaker's order declaring the Shinde bloc as the 'real political party' after the split in the Shiv Sena in June 2022, the top court also took note of the claim of senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the group led by the chief minister, about 'forgery' in some relevant documents.

"The original records shall be summoned from the office of the adjudicating authority (speaker)," said the bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, and fixed the Thackeray faction's plea for hearing on April 8.

The bench said it was keeping open the issue of maintainability of the petition of the Thackeray faction.

The top court, which had issued notice on the Thackeray group's petition on January 22, asked Shinde and his MLAs to file a response positively on or before April 1.

The speaker had, in an order on January 10, declared the Shiv Sena bloc led by Shinde as the 'real political party' after the split in June 2022.

He had also rejected the Thackeray faction's plea to disqualify 16 MLAs of the ruling camp, including Shinde.

The bench took note of the submissions of senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the Thackeray group, that there was a distinction between 'legislative majority and organisational majority' post defection.

The senior lawyer said there was a judgement which held that legislative majority post defection would not necessarily mean real majority.

Questioning the use of test of 'legislative majority' to ascertain which faction was the real party, the CJI referred to the order of the speaker and said, "Is this not contrary to the judgment? The whole submission is contrary to the judgment of our court."

"See para... the speaker said which faction is the real political party' is discernible from the legislative majority which existed when the rival factions emerged'. Is it not contrary to the judgment?" the CJI asked.

Salve opposed the Thackeray group's petition and said the Bombay high court be allowed to adjudicate the issue as the Shinde faction has moved there assailing a part of the speaker's order which refused to disqualify certain MLAs of the Thackeray faction.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, also appearing for the Shinde faction, referred to a recent judgement and said the high court be allowed to hear and decide it.

At the outset, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who along with Singhvi appeared for the Thackeray group, said time was of the essence in the matter as the term of the assembly was expiring in October, and hence, remanding the case to the high court would render the whole issue 'infructuous'.

Salve questioned the authenticity of some documents and referred to the resolution of June, 2022 by which Shinde was removed as the leader of the Shiv Sena legislature party.

He said the documents produced by the Thackeray group were fabricated and referred to alleged discrepancies in the resolution.

This led the bench to order summoning of records from the office of the speaker.

The court said it will hear the final arguments on April 8 and decide the issues including the maintainability of the plea of the Thackeray faction.

On January 22, the top court had sought responses from the chief minister and other lawmakers of his group on the plea.

The Thackeray faction, in its petition filed through MLA Sunil Prabhu, has alleged that Shinde 'unconstitutionally usurped power' and is heading an 'unconstitutional government'.

Challenging the orders passed by the speaker, the Thackeray faction has claimed they are 'patently unlawful and perverse' and that instead of punishing the act of defection, they reward the defectors by holding that they comprise the real political party.

'All impugned decisions are premised on a common finding that the majority of legislators represented the will of the political party, and therefore, they are not liable for disqualification,' the plea said.

This amounts to a complete inversion of the 10th Schedule, which is intended to disqualify legislators who act against their political party, it said.

In his ruling on the disqualification petitions, the speaker did not disqualify any MLA belonging to the rival camps.

The Shinde group had the support of 37 out of the total 54 Sena MLAs when the party split in June 2022, the speaker had noted.

The Election Commission had given the 'Shiv Sena' name and 'bow and arrow' symbol to the Shinde-led faction in early 2023.

In his order on the disqualification petitions filed by the Shinde-led Sena and the rival Thackeray faction against each other's MLAs, Narwekar had said Sunil Prabhu of the Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray ceased to be the whip from June 21, 2022 (when the party split) and legislator Bharat Gogawale of the Shinde group became the authorised whip.

The speaker had also held that the Shiv Sena 'pramukh' (chief) did not have the power to remove any leader from the party.

He did not accept the argument that the will of the party chief and the will of the party were synonymous.
'If Modi is re-elected again, we can forget these things for a long time.'

IMAGE: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah speaks at a public rally at Baran villages in Jammu. Photograph: ANI Photo

After many winters of despair, a spring of hope beckons Kashmir. The bright sunny days replacing the frigid 40-day Chilla-i-Kalan have warmed up the Valley's frozen political landscape and sparked a flurry of activities among its politicians.

Mainstream political leaders are busy meeting party workers, holding rallies and conventions across the Union Territory to woo voters.

They are all agog for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, likely to be followed by the eagerly awaited assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir this year.

"We are gearing up for the Lok Sabha polls. We have been meeting people, it's limited mostly to workers," senior Peoples Democratic Party leader Naeem Akhtar told Business Standard.

The former minister of education, however, said he was unsure whether the parliamentary polls would pave the way for assembly elections.

In December, the Supreme Court asked the Election Commission of India to conduct assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir by September this year.

"There have been many Supreme Court decisions which have not been implemented in the past. If they had been serious about it, they could have held them with the Lok Sabha polls. It would have saved effort and people would have got something to look forward to, although I don't have much hope in the new system.

"It will be a helpless, powerless assembly, but even that is perhaps being denied," he said.

"So, I don't see anything happening very soon, and if Prime Minister Narendra Modi is re-elected again, we can forget these things for a long time."

J&K has been without an elected government since June 2018, when the Bharatiya Janata Party withdrew support to the Mehbooba Mufti-led government, citing the deteriorating security situation in the erstwhile state.

Veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami said the Supreme Court's order should be respected and polls should be conducted.

Parliamentary polls are the priority for all stakeholders right now, he said, asserting that while there was "no ambiguity" about the Lok Sabha polls, uncertainty still hovered over the assembly elections.

The four-time MLA from Kulgam hit out at the BJP for its claim of ushering in a period of prosperity in J&K, and said no projects that could generate jobs had been announced.

"We are seeing signs of disappointment even within the Jammu and Ladakh regions, which were otherwise believed to be satisfied with the government's decision to divide the erstwhile state," he told Business Standard.

"The people of Leh are demanding the restoration of statehood, and in Jammu, locals are dissatisfied because they feel their land and jobs have been taken by outsiders."

In Jammu, the BJP's traditional stronghold, poll preparations are in full swing.

"The party is working hard for the parliamentary polls. We will fight on our own in all five seats of Jammu and Kashmir and one seat of Ladakh ... The lotus is blooming in the whole of Jammu and Kashmir and its fragrance is reaching Ladakh," said Ravinder Raina, the BJP's J&K president.

Raina asserted his party will form the next government with its own chief minister in J&K.

Responding to the BJP's claim of forming the government, Tarigami said: "I don't know how the government claims it will win the election without doing anything... They have virtually snatched the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh."

The BJP made significant gains in the Jammu region in the last assembly elections in 2014, winning 25 of the 37 seats.

The party, however, failed to open its account in Kashmir and Ladakh.

Noor Ahmad Baba, a former professor of political science at the Central University of Kashmir, said the BJP was aiming at making political inroads and building its base in the Valley before the polls.

Noting that there was no hindrance to conducting the polls in the Valley, he said a lot would depend on the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections.

"They should have held the polls earlier. People have hopes and expectations. They would prefer an elected government and democracy.

"More importantly, they would want restoration of statehood. But currently, it's the bureaucracy at the central level that is calling the shots," he said.

The assembly polls were last held in J&K in 2014. Since then, the erstwhile state has lost its special status and was bifurcated into two Union Territories -- J&K and Ladakh -- in August 2019, when the Centre made inoperative Article 370 of the Constitution.

Its assembly constituencies were redrawn following the Delimitation Report in 2022.

The undivided J&K had 87 assembly seats, of which 46 were in Kashmir, 37 in Jammu and four in Ladakh.

The new J&K assembly has 90, of which 47 form the Kashmir region and the remaining 43 belong to Jammu.

There are also 24 seats in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, but they remain vacant.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
'Training was incredible and thrilling, be it firing weapons, drill or 10 km runs and push-ups. It gave us unforgettable memories and inculcated soldier like qualities.'

This Women's Day, a cheer for the first batch of women Agniveervayus!

IMAGE: The jubilant Agniveervayus. All Photographs: Kind courtesy Indian Air Force

When the first batch of women Agniveervayus [the name given to Agniveers in the Indian Air Force] graduated after 22 weeks of training along with their male counterparts at the Airmen Training School in Belagavi, Karnataka last December, the award for the best outdoor training was won by a woman trainee.

The batch included 153 women and 2,127 male Agniveervayus.

The training pattern for the girls was customised in the initial phase of the training in view of the difference in the physical strength of men and women. A team led by a woman officer monitored the training to ensure that the women trainees progressed to achieving the highest level of performance and cleared the same level of physical tests along with the men towards the end of the course.

"I learned a lot during training. I can run 10 km, climb a rope, do push-ups and play sports. It improved my stamina and endurance and made me mentally and physically tough," Priti, the daughter of a farmer and homemaker from Bhiwani, Haryana, says in a written response.

Priti's grandfather retired as a havaldar from the Indian Army. Her father had hoped to join the army, but was unsuccessful and one of the reasons for her becoming an Agniveer was to fulfill her father's unfinished dream.

Her second reason was the fascination with aircraft and love for the uniform.

Priti cleared the entrance test after completing her Class 10 exam with 82% in 2022, and went on to undergo further training in an air force station in a given stream/trade assigned to her.

"Time management and team spirit are areas where I made the maximum improvement. Initially, it was difficult to cope with training, but I got used to it. The toughness of the field craft training camp was a great help," says Agniveervayu Bhawana from Mahendragarh, Haryana.

Bhawana has a BA in history and political science from Delhi University and is an National Cadet Corps 'B' certificate holder.

According to the training staff, since the upper body strength of women is lesser compared to men, training them for rope climbing and push-ups is tough, but not difficult or challenging.

The training module designed various scientific indoor and outdoor training programmes to achieve a 100% success rate -- and as the course progressed both women and men trainees were trained together.

"We learnt a lot in activities like the surge training, field craft training. We were also given training in range firing and knowledge about the service. I feel I can withstand all sorts of situations with confidence and courage," says Sneha Santosh Singh from Azamgarh, UP who joined after her Class 10 exam.

"The feel my experience as an Agniveer will be beneficial to accomplish future goals. I will be able to continue my graduation and also experience defence life," says Sneha who wants to appear in exams like AFCAT and CDS in the future to gain entry into the IAF in the officer cadre.

IMAGE: Proud parents pose for photographs with the Agniveervayus.

Trainees undergo a stream allocation test in week three where a board of officers allocates specific technical or non-technical streams.

The trainees then go through an 18 week training schedule in technical streams like air defence, aircraft maintenance, radar etc or non-technical fields like accounts, administration and logistics.

On completion of 22 weeks of training, the Agniveervayus leave for training in various IAF training establishments, and thereafter, get posted to operational units around the country.

At the end of four years, 25% of the best performers from the batch will be retained in the IAF; the rest will be released from service to take their military skills into civilian professions.

The trainees get a stipend of Rs 20,000 and will get a starting salary of almost Rs 30,000.

IMAGE: Male and female Agniveervayus in the group photograph.

"My training was incredible and thrilling, be it firing weapons, drill -- both free hand and with a weapon. It was all so new to me. It helped me inculcate soldier like qualities," says Urvashi Shukla from Kanpur, UP who is a BSc graduate and wants to become an IAF officer one day.

"The Agniveer training has given me unforgettable memories."

Forty eight women Agniveervayus from the IAF marched in the Republic Day parade this year.

All of them, setting yet another example to young girls across the villages, towns and cities of India. A loud cheer for them all!

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. High 44F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. A few flurries are possible. Low near 30F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Chinese-language social media posts claimed that Apple has changed Taiwans geographic label in its Maps app from Taiwan to Taiwan Province  a term which aligns with Beijings ideological commitment to One China.

While now labeled as Taiwan Province in the Chinese version of the app, Taiwan is still called Taiwan on the app in other countries. Apple Maps Chinese app version uses domestic data in China, differing from global search results.

The claim was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, by the Pro-China Hong Kong media outlet Tong Media on Feb. 28

Taiwan Province of China! Apple Maps has officially changed its name, the claim reads in part.

The claim was shared alongside a nine-second clip that shows what appears to be the Apple Maps app with the Chinese text Taiwan Province appearing on the main island of Taiwan.

Apple Maps changed Taiwans name from Chinese Taipei to Taiwan Province on Chinese registered Iphones. (Screenshot/Weibo&X)





China considers Taiwan a breakaway province of its sovereign territory, even though the island has been governed independently since 1949.

Beijing refuses to establish diplomatic relations with countries that recognize Taiwan sovereignty. While only 12 governments still maintain official diplomatic ties with Taipei, its government nevertheless maintains strong unofficial relations with many countries.

Chinas refusal to acknowledge Taiwanese sovereignty extends to events that include state participation and companies that do business internationally. For instance, China boycotted the World Games held in Taipei in 2009 and pressured American airline companies to change their identification of Taiwan to Taipei in 2018.

Internationally, Taipei or Chinese Taipei are terms used to diplomatically navigate the sensitivities of both Taipei and Beijing. However, in mainland China, terms that clearly identify Taiwan as a province or region under Chinese sovereignty are frequently adopted in official settings.

The claim has been also shared on the popular Chinese social media platforms Weibo here and here.

But it is only partly true.

Different country, different results

AFCL searched for Taiwan on Apple Maps in various countries with different IP addresses and found that Taiwan Province, or , was only used in China.

In contrast, searches from other nations, such as the United States and Thailand, consistently displayed Taiwan.

Apple Maps labels Taiwan as Taiwan Province in mainland China (left & middle) but only as Taiwan in Taiwan itself (right). (Screenshot/Apple Maps)

Sources of data

Since its introduction at the 2012 developer conference, Apple Maps has sourced its navigation data for the Chinese version from Beijings AutoNavi, while TomTom, a Dutch company, supplies this data for the app in most other nations.

As of March 6, the logo of AutoNavi can be seen in the bottom left corner of the Chinese version of Apple Maps app.

AutoNavis logo appears in the bottom left corner of Apple Maps Chinese version. (Screenshot/Apple Maps)

For the Taiwanese version of the Maps app, Apple utilizes navigation data from various providers, including TomTom, but AutoNavi is not one of the sources.

Apple has not responded to requests for comments as of this writing.

Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Taejun Kang and Malcolm Foster.

Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in todays complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.
Women across Asia are grappling with the steep cost of raising children.

Woman displaced by fighting in eastern Myanmar tends a baby at a forest camp in Kayah state, May 26, 2021.

When Helen* fled her home in Myanmars Kayah state, she had only two diapers to take for her soon-to-be-born baby. She had spent the first months of her pregnancy avoiding the war, but the fighting caught up to her hometown and she was forced to leave. Her daughter was born in a hut on New Year's Day, on a farm where she has been hiding ever since.

A few thousand miles away, in Chongqing, China, Ma Jing doesnt plan to have children at all, despite being married, with a stable job, and being faced with tremendous cultural and political pressure to raise sagging birth rates.

Every person alive was born to someone, meaning that someone made an immensely intensive investment: motherhood.

Across the world, women are grappling with the steep cost of that investment, and thats certainly true in Asia.

For some, it is facing down the daily anxieties of war, hunger or poverty while raising a child. For others, it is risking bodily harm or social opprobrium related to the decision to have or not have children.

For this years International Womens Day, the UN has declared as its theme Invest in women, urging governments to increase what it calls gender responsive financing and public spending on social services.

Women train with plastic baby dolls as they take part in a nursing skills class at Yipeitong training center in Shanghai, March 2, 2023. (Aly Song/Reuters)

Yet for many, the investment costs of motherhood can be a much more complicated calculus than is summed up from what money can buy.

Women in higher income economies around the world are having fewer children and the trend is also true in richer Asian economies.

Out of the ten places with the lowest fertility rates around the world in 2020, five are in Asia, according to figures from the World Bank.

That year, Hong Kongers were having on average 0.8 children per woman - the second lowest fertility rate in the world after South Korea.

Since then, the figure has fallen further still, with fertility rates reaching their lowest level on record in 2023. A staggering 40% decline was recorded from 2019 to 2022, according to government statistics.

Yet Hong Kongers were moving to England and Wales to have children, RFA Cantonese found last year  and the reasons were not all financial.

Culture of motherhood

For L*, a single mother who was pregnant while seeking asylum in Britain, the culture of parenthood there made her decide to stay - a sentiment echoed by other Hong Konger parents in the U.K. who spoke to RFA.

"Britain makes people feel that children are welcome to be born here," L said. Instead of being turned away or questioned about her being pregnant alone, they (hospital staff) would take special care of me, she said.

People line up at the Coronation Children's Fair organized to encourage newcomers from Hong Kong families to celebrate with the local community, at Trinity Church, in Sutton, London, April 29, 2023. (May James/Reuters)

She was unimpressed with the Hong Kong governments plan to provide couples with a subsidy to have children. It wont matter, she said, if the citys political and social environment make it unappealing to have a family.

Indeed, social pressure often trumps official policy.

A rhyme that was popularized in China after Beijing began encouraging women to have three children ridiculed the policy: To have four olds above/And three babes below/The two in the middle/Might as well be buried with a hoe.

Women in China told RFA Mandarin in 2021 - the year of the policy change - that the pressure it would place on them to support both elderly parents as well as several young children made it practically unthinkable. In fact, for some, it was not appealing to get married at all, much less plan for children.

One of my girlfriends said to me it is easier to buy a house than to find a [suitable] boyfriend, said Sun Qi, 34, of Shanghai.

[My] main reason [for not having children] has nothing to do with money, said Li Dan, also in her 30s and living in Shanghai. The main reason is that I am single."

(Single motherhood, though rising, is still uncommon and generally frowned upon in China).

Wartime worries in Myanmar

Though there has been no fighting in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, Thae Oo, a young married woman, told RFA Burmese that she has decided not to have children because the conflict could come at any time.

She did not want her future children to grow up in the middle of the conflict, she said.

In normal times, there are no difficulties, but this time, I am struggling to survive, so I decided not to bring a child into this world because I think it shouldn't be a hardship to my child," she said.

A woman poses on the beach in Xiamen in Chinas Fujian province on Jan. 10, 2024. (Greg Baker/AFP)

But often, women do not get a choice.

A 2020 report from the New York-based Guttmacher Institute, a charity that researches womens reproductive issues, found that there is an unmet need for contraceptives for some 21 million women across nine lower and middle income countries in Southeast Asia and 23 million across East Asia. The study defines unmet need as sexually active women who said they wished to avoid pregnancy.

Po Po told RFA Burmese that having been internally displaced from Kyunhla Township, access to modern contraception is impossible.

"Don't even mention birth control pills, she said, It's a situation where you can't even buy a pill. Instead, people find their own way to prevent having children, she said.

An Sokhim of Cambodia had not planned to have children immediately after marriage because of poverty. But the Phnom Penh resident did not have access to contraceptives and found herself pregnant. She had children, but was not ready to be a mother, she said.At the time of my delivery, we were really broke, so for every meal - morning, lunch and dinner - I just ate dried package noodles. Life was very tough,  she said.

High safety risks

Risks are high and chances of recourse when things go wrong are low. Women in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar  three countries with the highest birth rates, but also the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the region  told RFA of horrors of deliveries that ended in death or harm, low trust in the medical care they could expect to receive and not having access to care in the first place.

In Phnom Penh, Yen Sopheap was lucky to have the funds to give birth in a private hospital.

At that time, it was recommended that we give birth at the public health center, but I said I did not want to give birth there, she said - she had witnessed a friend die at one such place when she went into labor.

Several rural Cambodian women said they would have to abort any unintended pregnancies, because doctors would certainly turn them away if they could not pay for delivery, and they could not afford to raise them anyway.

Commuters walk on a platform at Yangon Railway Station in Yangon on March 18, 2020. (Ye Aung Thu/AFP)

After Helen delivered her baby in hiding in Myanmar, she lost so much blood that she apparently suffered a stroke. I dont have the luxury of a doctor to entrust my pregnancy to or a way to connect with healthcare providers," she told RFA Burmese.

To invest in its most commonly used sense today has meant to put forward a commitment of money that leads to (hopefully) a greater return.

Certainly access to hospitals and childcare and contraceptives and education would do much to relieve the vexations women face, in rich countries as well as poor; in Asia as with anywhere else; when facing a question of motherhood, as with anything else.

But what is the investment that can be made to stop conflict that robs mothers of safety, cultural stigmas that censure choice or social incentives that devalue motherhood? That is a much trickier question to answer.

A woman and her son watch a video on a smartphone next to the Mekong River in Phnom Penh on Jan. 4, 2023. (Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP)

*RFA has used pseudonyms to protect the safety of sources.

Reporting by RFA language services
Beijing releases a set of seven points forming a baseline defining its sovereignty in the waters shared with Vietnam.

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius conducts a freedom of navigation operation near the Paracels in the South China Sea, March 24, 2023.

China has announced the baseline that defines its territory in the northern part of the Gulf of Tonkin that it shares with Vietnam.

In a statement published on the foreign ministrys website early this month, the Chinese government released a set of seven base points that, when connected, would form a new baseline for Beijings claims of sovereignty in the Gulf of Tonkin, known in China as Beibu Gulf.

This baseline did not exist before and it is unclear why China decided to announce it now. On May 15, 1996, Beijing released 49 base points for the entire Chinas coast from Hainan to Qingdao but not the northern Gulf of Tonkin.

Chinas new baseline (in red) in northern Gulf of Tonkin. (Song Phan)





Some of the base points are too far from the coast and the baseline appears seriously incompliant with the U.N. law of the sea, said Song Phan, a Vietnamese maritime analyst.

Vietnam and China already signed an agreement on the demarcation of the Gulf of Tonkin in 2000 with a clear demarcation line, so the new baseline is not expected to hurt Vietnams economic interests very much as long as Beijing does not ask to re-negotiate, he said, But it would bring complications to other maritime activities in the area.

Another maritime expert, Carl Thayer, emeritus professor at the Australian Defence Force Academy, said the straight baseline appears excessive.

It would result in a bigger overlap of Chinas exclusive economic zone with the agreed median line and joint fishing areas [between Vietnam and China] in the Gulf of Tonkin, Thayer said.

What is a baseline?

A baseline under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is the line that runs along the coast of a country, from which the extent of the territorial sea and other maritime zones is measured. Different maritime zones give a coastal state different jurisdictional rights, and the closer the zone to the baseline the bigger its associated jurisdiction rights.

Landward inside the baseline are internal waters where states have the same sovereign jurisdiction as they do over their land territory. No foreign vessels or aircraft are allowed to make so-called innocent passage through a countrys internal waters.

The territorial sea, measured 12 nautical miles from the baseline, is where the coastal state has sovereignty and exclusive jurisdiction not only to the sea, but also to the seabed and subsoil, as well as vertically to the airspace. Foreign aircraft cannot fly through the airspace above the coastal states territorial sea without permission.

The main maritime zones defined by UNCLOS. (UK House of Lords)





Some countries, such as China, Taiwan and Vietnam, also require permission or notification before a foreign warship can sail through their territorial seas. Beijing has repeatedly protested against U.S. warships sailing in waters near the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos, which Washington insists is conducted in accordance with international law.

The new baseline would affect freedom of navigation activities, scientific research, cables or pipelines laying and island reclamation works, said Song Phan.

More importantly, the expansive internal waters mean there will be no access for any other country to a large area, he added.

Hanoi has not reacted to the Chinese governments announcement.

To my mind the new line looks incompatible with the wording of UNCLOS, said Bill Hayton, Associate Fellow at Chatham House think tank in London.

However, since the median line with Vietnam is already defined, I dont think it will have a major impact, Hayton said.

Hanoi could object and take China to a tribunal but I dont think it would gain anything, he added.

In 2016, a landmark arbitral tribunal brought by the Philippines ruled against all Chinas claims in the South China Sea but Beijing has rejected the verdict, calling it illegal, null and void.

Edited by Elaine Chan and Mike Firn.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress in Beijing, March 7, 2024.

Chinas top diplomat has slammed the United States for failing to hold up its end of the bargain to improve bilateral relations.

Incrimination has reached an unimaginable level as methods to suppress China are recycled and refashioned, and unilateral sanctions are constantly extended, said Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Relations between the worlds two biggest economies remained uneasy under the weight of rivalry on multiple fronts, notably in technology and security in the Asia region. This is in spite of last Novembers landmark meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

Wang claimed that the U.S. continued to hold an incorrect perception of the Chinese and its promises have yet to be fulfilled.

The methods used to suppress China are constantly being reused under a new guise, the list of unilateral sanctions is constantly being extended, and the level of incrimination has reached an unimaginable level, Wang told reporters at a press conference on the sidelines of the National Peoples Congress in Beijing on Thursday.

If the U.S. always says one thing and does another, where is the credibility of a major country? If the U.S. becomes nervous and anxious whenever it hears the word China, where does the confidence of a major country lie?

He also questioned the existence of international justice and fair competition if America is allowed to maintain that only it can prosper and monopolize the high-end aspect of the global supply chain.

President Biden has been strengthening efforts to build an alternative high-tech supply chain to reduce reliance on China manufacturing. At the center are restrictions to export advanced chips and semiconductor equipment by the U.S. and its allies.

At the heart of the tensions is Taiwan, which produces most of the worlds advanced semiconductors, a self-governing democracy that Beijing claims to be its own.

Wang reminded the press that Biden in his meeting with Xi had reiterated that America doesnt support Taiwan independence nor does it seek to suppress Chinas development.

He emphasized that Taiwan is part of China and Januarys Taiwanese election results will not change that.

Those who condone and support Taiwan independence are challenging Chinas sovereignty, he warned.

If a certain country insists on maintaining official relations with the Taiwan region, it is interfering in Chinas internal affairs.

Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.
Anwar Ibrahim claps back at US criticism of Malaysias ties with Beijing, saying he doesnt have 'China-phobia.'

Malaysias leader warned on Thursday that any actions to impede the economic rise of China would upset Beijing enough that it would heighten tensions in the region.

Alluding to increasing Chinese assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea  most of which Beijing claims  Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim added that allowing a country to grow doesnt mean ignoring its violations of international law.

In Chinas eyes, hostile reactions to its rise represent nothing less than an attempt to deny their legitimate place in history , Anwar said during a speech at the Australian National University in Canberra.

The obstacles being placed against Chinas economic and technological advancement will only further accentuate such grievances.

Southeast Asia and the Pacific region have seen tensions rise in recent years as the United States attempts to counter Chinas influence there.

The South China Sea has also become a theater for big-power rivalry, as Washington has accused Beijing of undermining freedom of navigation.

However, according to Anwar, how countries respond to Chinas economic and technological advancement will determine whether detente or discord characterize Southeast Asia.

What countries should show, he said, is a measure of empathy; to put ourselves in their shoes; to see how others see us, Anwar said in the address.

The prime ministers speech was headlined Navigating geopolitical currents: Malaysia and Australias role in the Asia-Pacific.

He delivered the speech in the Australian federal capital after a three-day special ASEAN-Australia summit in Melbourne, where the main topics of discussion were the South China Sea and Israel-Hamas war.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (left) meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, March 31, 2023. (Photo courtesy Malaysian Prime Ministers Office) While speaking about Chinas rise and attempts to impede that advancement, the Malaysian PM did not mention which countries were taking such actions. However, earlier this week, he reiterated a comment he made last month about how the United States and the West were displaying China-phobia.

At a press conference on Monday, he was asked why he made that accusation in an interview with a British daily last month. His answer was indicative of the pressure that Southeast Asias countries are under to remain neutral as Washington and Beijing try to one-up each other in the region. Anwar said Malaysia is often criticized for what some Western countries believe is its slight tilt toward China. [M]y reference to China-phobia is because [against] the criticism levied against us for giving additional focus to China  my response is  right now China seems to be the leading investor, in Malaysia, Anwar said. Being a friend with the U.S. or Europe doesnt preclude Malaysia from being a friend to its neighbor China as well, he said. And if they have problems with China, they should not impose it upon us. We do not have a problem with China. So, thats why I referred to the issue of China-phobia in the West, he said. Washington Consensus is gradually eroding Anwar wasnt done criticizing the U.S. or the West. In his speech in Canberra, he noted that changes brought about by phenomena such as globalization had altered U.S. foreign policy, and not positively. Globalization did not work for the U.S. as it did for Asias workers, and long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have taken a toll on Americans, Anwar said. The upshot is a preference for leaders who are more transactional with the rest of the world  those who profess to put America first, he said. Anwar said the world must also recognize that the Washington Consensus is gradually eroding, if [it has] not altogether disappeared. He was referring to a set of market-oriented policies for the developing world that global financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund support.
Rights experts say it will criminalize actions like peaceful protest or political opposition that should be protected.

Hong Kong's government announced on Thursday it will push ahead with stringent new security legislation known as "Article 23," aiming to pass it as soon as possible -- a process that could still take weeks.

"[Hong Kong] has to enact the Basic Law Article 23 legislation as soon as possible  the earlier the better," the city's leader John Lee said on Thursday. "Completing the legislative work even one day earlier means we can more effectively safeguard national security one day earlier."

Lee said he had written to the Legislative Council about the Safeguarding National Security Bill, which the government says will plug "loopholes" left by the 2020 National Security Law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing in the wake of the 2019 protest movement.

In Hong Kongs legislative process, three readings are necessary to pass a bill, so it may still take weeks to approve. After a first and second reading, the council will set up a committee to scrutinize the bill, after which it will be introduced to the general meeting for a vote on subsequent Wednesdays.

The law will criminalize "treason," "insurrection," the theft of "state secrets," "sabotage" and "foreign interference," among other national security offenses, and is highly likely to be passed by the Legislative Council in the absence of opposition lawmakers.

But rights experts including the U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders, foreign governments and activists have warned that the law will criminalize actions like peaceful protest or political opposition that should be protected under international law.

The announcement came after lawmakers discussed the bill for most of Thursday, with some expressing concerns that the law could be used to curb public speech or the media.

Insulting mainlanders

Justice Secretary Paul Lam appeared to confirm that it could, saying that the law would be used to target those who "incite hatred," citing the example of "insulting words" used about visitors from mainland China in recent years.

A Hong Kong resident in her 40s who gave only the surname Chan for fear of reprisals said she would prefer to be allowed to complain about bad behavior on the city's streets.

"I have frequently encountered uncivilized people and behaviors on the streets, like public urination, begging, eating and drinking on public transportation, among other things," she said.

Mainland Chinese travelers on low-cost tours walk to a tourist bus after lunch at To Kwa Wan in Hong Kong, March 30, 2023. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)





Mainland Chinese tourists have been castigated by Hong Kongers in recent years for allowing their children to relieve themselves in public, fueling tensions between "little pink" supporters of the Chinese Communist Party and Hong Kongers with a strong sense of civic pride.

"If I see that kind of behavior I speak up -- but if the person is from mainland China, will I be violating the Article 23 law if I do so in future?" she said.

Alric Lee, Executive Director of the Japan Hong Kong Democracy Alliance, said Lam's comments on "insults" to mainland Chinese tourists give the impression that the government is favoring them over local residents.

"The definition of what constitutes ... 'insulting' is vague, which is helpful to the authorities in dealing with situations that they can't yet foresee," Lee said. "It's hard to say whether anyone will get convicted for this, but Hong Kongers will need to be careful regarding their interactions with mainlanders."

Duty of loyalty

Lam also declined to reassure lawmakers that the content of religious confessions would be exempt from the law.

"Treason is a serious matter, and everyone has the duty of loyalty that they must fulfill if national security is at stake," he said.

But Lam said in response to questions about the law's effect on the media that "professional ethics" should protect journalists from running afoul of the law.

"Hong Kong news media adopted a code of professional ethics in 2000, which states that information must be obtained through legitimate means," Lam said. "If media workers follow those basic rules, I think that in most cases they won't accidentally see secrets or accidentally break the law."

In January, Amnesty International described the Article 23 legislation as "a dangerous moment" for human rights in Hong Kong, warning that authorities would likely "push through" this legislation with minimal meaningful consultation, and without ensuring its compliance with international law.

The government has made clear it intends to double down on repression of civic freedoms under Article 23 by introducing steeper penalties and expanding cases in which the legitimate exercise of rights would be criminalized in the name of national security," the group's China director Sarah Brooks said in a statement on Jan. 30.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Climate change could devastate the region, but that hasnt stopped governments from targeting young activists.

Environmental activists Jhed Tamano, left, and Jonila Castro arrive at the Court of Appeals in Manila on Feb. 22, 2024.

In September, environmentalists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano planned to take a nighttime bus ride to Orion village along Manila Bay in the Philippines to protest construction threatening to displace local residents.

As Castro and Tamano prepared to board, a military SUV raced up from behind and a half a dozen masked men jumped out to seize the pair.

The women, who are around 5 feet tall and in their early 20s, cried for help and tried to fight back. But they said they were quickly overpowered, tied up, blindfolded, gagged and shoved inside the vehicle to be whisked away to an unknown location.

I was actually thinking while we were in the car, Oh, its my end, Castro, 23, told Radio Free Asia.

Its a fear environmental activists across Southeast Asia can relate to. Instances of harassment and abuse similar to Castro and Tamanos ordeal occur with distressing regularity in the region, even as countries seek massive foreign investments to help them deal with the growing threat of climate change.

The two young activists are, in fact, among the lucky ones. They were eventually released and have continued their work, though they face defamation charges for saying the military is responsible for their abduction.

According to London-based international NGO Global Witness, 281 activists in the Philippines have been killed since 2012. In 2022, at least 16 environmentalists were killed in Asia, including 11 in the Philippines and three in Indonesia. Environmentalists are also under threat in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Defending the environment is a very dangerous activity in Southeast Asia, said Lia Mai Torres, the head of the secretariat at the Manila-based Asia Pacific Network of Environment Defenders.

We have enforced disappearances. We have bombings in our communities and militarization. We have killings of farmers and indigenous people just for working on their land.

Work proceeds on a land reclamation project in Pasay on Manila Bay, Feb. 14, 2024. (Subel Rai Bhandari/RFA)

Red-tagged

Castro and Tamano worked with AKAP KA Manila Bay, advocating for coastal communities in Bataan province facing displacement from land reclamation.

The area surrounding the bays more than 770 square miles (2,000 square kilometers) features the countrys largest cargo shipping hub, expanding commercial activity, including a rising number of tourism-focused businesses, and new construction of upscale residences.

The two women say the development is having a devastating effect on the people of Bulacan province, where they grew up. Dredging has slashed fish catches, destroyed mangroves and forced more than 700 families to move. It has also increased flooding, including in inland areas.

Filipino military officials have denied any involvement in the pairs abduction, asserting instead that they were taken by the leftist New Peoples Army.

They kept on linking our organization to the communist organization, Castro said. Whatever we said, it did not matter.

Seventeen days after their capture, the activists said they were freed when they agreed to voluntarily surrender to military authorities as communists. In the Philippines, this widely used tactic is known as red-tagging and used to undermine or silence dissent.

Both Tamano and Castro said they would continue their environmental activism, despite the threat.

Houayheuang Muay Xayabouly, shown in these undated photos, was sentenced to five years in prison after helping flood victims in Laos and making allegations of corruption. (Citizen journalist)

Quiet support

In Laos, Joseph Akaravong who was forced to flee the country when police issued a warrant for his arrest after he posted videos of villagers complaining about lost land to a hydropower dam. Houayheuang Muay Xayabouly remains jailed after helping flood victims and alleging corruption.

In Laos, you will not find publicly open environmental rights defenders anymore, said Emilie Palamy Pradichit, the founder and executive director of Manushya Foundation, a Bangkok-based feminist human rights organization. Everybody is very paranoid, and were very, very scared of repercussions by the government.

In neighboring Cambodia, authorities in Preah Vihear province allegedly forced activist Hiem Kimhong to sign a statement on Feb. 27 agreeing not to criticize them in interviews with RFAs Khmer Service. He has helped villagers fight to keep their land from developers and criticized local officials for their apparent inaction.

"If authorities can't resolve the issue and people still complain, I will echo them, he said. I am not afraid.

Phuon Keo Keoraksmey is another Cambodian environmentalist who has been targeted by the government.

In 2020, she joined Mother Nature Cambodia, a youth-led environmental movement. Several of its activists have been arrested and its founder, Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, was forced to flee the country.

Keoraksmey herself was detained four months after joining the group while marching to the prime ministers residence to protest against development around the Boeung Tamok Lak in Phnom Penh.

She ended up serving 14 months for incitement. Upon her release in 2021, Keoraksmey resumed her activism, even though she still faces a second trial on plotting charges. If found guilty, she could be sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Phuon Keo Keoraksmey protests at an environmental rally in Phnom Penh in an undated photo. (Provided by Phuon Keoraksmey)

Keoraksmey said she takes strength in the quiet support offered to her by members of her community. She believes more people would speak out but for fear of being punished by their government.

Occasionally, local river vendors give me clams for free, Keoraksmey said. When I ask why, they say they admire my work and want to support our cause in their own way.

Requests for comment to the relevant Lao and Cambodian ministries were not returned.

Mixed messages

The arrests and harassment come as the region is facing a grave threat in climate change.

Roughly 77% of the people in Southeast Asia live along its vast 234,000-kilometer coastline. Many are susceptible to rapidly rising sea levels and more frequent extreme weather events.

The areas resource-dependent economies also make them especially vulnerable to climate shifts. The Asian Development Bank says Southeast Asia faces larger potential losses from climate change than most regions. The regions GDP could fall by 11% by the end of this century due to its effects, the bank said.

The Philippines, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam are among the top 20 globally for climate-related loss events between 2000 and 2019, according to a study published in 2021.

And yet in Vietnam authorities have arrested at least 12 people with a history of environmental activism, mainly on what critics say are bogus tax evasion charges, according to rights group The 88 Project.

Many of the activists had actually helped Hanoi develop its climate policy, which is widely regarded as ambitious and has attracted tens of billions of dollars in international support.

Pradichit at the Manushya Foundation said repressive governments like Vietnams exploit environmentalists to secure grants from developed countries and international financial institutions.

But once they secured the funding, Pradichit said, the government puts them in jail.

A fisherman organizes his net in Malate on Manila Bay, Feb. 13, 2024. (Subel Rai Bhandari/RFA)

She said the activists arent even necessarily pro-democracy or anti-state. But authorities fear them all the same for the type of open policy making they endorse. They emphasize public participation, access to information and consideration of environmental concerns in addition to profit.

A spokesperson for Vietnams Public Security Ministry said there is absolutely no truth to the claim the country is targeting environmental activists.

A worrying rise

In December, Vietnam signed a deal for U.S. $15.5 billion in funds to transition away from fossil fuels under the Just Energy Transition Partnerships, agreements by which wealthy countries help poorer ones prepare for climate change.

Ironically, the push for clean energy in some cases contributes to pollution problems activists are fighting against. A mining boom of minerals needed for batteries  including lithium, nickel and cobalt  has incentivized extractivist development models that put frontline communities at risk, according to Hanna Hindstrom, a senior investigator at Global Witness.

She said she has seen a worrying rise in the criminalization of environmental campaigners in the region.

Donor countries for the Just Energy Transition Partnerships and similar projects should require governments to adhere to certain basic human rights and include local and indigenous communities in their project development efforts, Hindstrom said.

We cannot have just transitions without protecting environmental defenders, she said.

Activists have appealed to donor countries to pressure governments to stop abusing environmental advocates, but to little avail, said Torres, at the Asia Pacific Network of Environment Defenders in Manila.

When you speak in front of an audience, in meetings with diplomats, they always say that they sympathize with environmental defenders, that they want to improve the situation, Torres told RFA. But I think what's lacking here is the political will to actually do something.

She said countries are reluctant to press the issue for fear of damaging their diplomatic relationships.

Environmental activists Jhed Tamano, middle left, and Jonila Castro, middle right, hold a press conference outside the Court of Appeals in Manila on Feb. 22, 2024. (Gerard Carreon/BenarNews)

A hard job made harder

Filipino activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano spent eight days in captivity without their friends and family knowing what had happened to them.

Eventually, Tamano said, they were forced to act as if they had voluntarily surrendered at a military camp in Bulacan. In February, the countrys Supreme Court issued a protection order and said their captivity was a clear violation of their rights.

But the Philippines Department of Justice recommended the two face defamation charges for taking advantage of the benevolence of the [Philippine military] to embarrass and put them in a bad light.

Instead of listening and working with environmentalists, the government is threatening and attacking its own people, Castro said.

Obviously, facing climate change and environmental problems is hard, but it became harder because of the repression of the government.

Edited by Jim Snyder and Boer Deng.
The order is aimed at creating more jobs  and at demanding more benefits for Laotians from Chinese-funded projects.

Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone speaks at a press conference at the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne, March 6, 2024.

Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone has directed the Ministry of Energy and Mines to require mining companies to process raw minerals in Laos before export  a demand aimed at the countrys numerous Chinese-funded mining projects.

Siphandone communicated the new guideline for overseeing mining operations to ministry officials during a visit on March 1 to the headquarters of Electricite du Laos, the state-owned power company in Vientiane.

The order is aimed at providing work for Laotians during a time when the national economy has stagnated and many young people are considering moving to Thailand or elsewhere abroad to find better-paying jobs.

The prime minister insists that the mining companies process all minerals here in Laos, said a ministry official, who like other sources in this report requested anonymity for safety reasons.

More specifically, our government wants all Chinese mining companies to comply with the new guideline as soon as possible, he told Radio Free Asia.

Over the last 20 years, the Lao government has given the green light to 1,143 mining projects and 1,336 mineral processing projects covering more than 72,370 square km (27,942 square miles)  more than 3 percent of the countrys total surface area.

Most of the recently approved projects were for Chinese investors, according to the Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Some of the larger operations have prompted complaints that not enough local workers are hired, and that local residents are often left without farmland or drinkable water after mining companies move into an area, evict local residents and then dig into the land.

Under the current system, Laos loses more than it gains, an official of the Lao Ministry of Industry and Commerce told RFA.

Not surprised

Most of the projects are focused on extracting gold, copper, silver, nickel, coal, iron, potassium or zinc, according to the Ministry of Energy and Mines website.

Laotians have spoken frequently about seeing large, mineral-loaded trucks heading north on dirt roads and paved highways toward the Boten border checkpoint with China.

These trucks are very heavy and they damage our roads, a Public Works and Transport Department official in northern Phongsaly province told RFA.

The owner of a Lao mining company in Oudomxay province in northern Laos said he watched as all raw minerals were taken to China during his time as a subcontractor for a Chinese mining company.

Im not surprised that the Lao government is suspending the export of the raw minerals, he said. Besides this company, many other Chinese mining companies have been exporting raw minerals to China too.

Translated by Max Avary. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
A primary school in Minbya townships Ann Thar village was completely destroyed by a junta aerial bombardment on Mar. 7, 2024

An ethnic rebel army captured a city near the capital of western Myanmars Rakhine state, locals told Radio Free Asia on Thursday.

The Arakan Army continued its offensive through the state by claiming victory in Ponnagyun city, which sits just 24 kilometers (15 miles) east of capital city, Sittwe.

The rebel army has captured six townships across Rakhine state and another in neighboring Chin state to the north since breaking a year-long ceasefire in November.

Arakan Army soldiers captured Ponnagyun on Monday, the first city in Sittwe district.

A Sittwe resident who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons told RFA that the nearby battle alarmed residents in the city, causing them to flee en masse before the army could advance toward the coastal capital.

Since the Arakan Army captured Ponnagyun, we dont have electricity in Sittwe. Many people are fleeing because the fighting is getting closer to Sittwe, he said, adding that about 300 people are fleeing daily. Mainly elderly and young people are fleeing.

Most locals are heading to townships already captured by the Arakan Army, such as Pauktaw, Kyauktaw, Minbya and Mrauk-U, he said. Others are escaping to Yangon by air.

Sittwe airport, Rakhine state on Nov. 20, 2023. (RFA)





Rakhine state does not have a functional railway, and junta-imposed travel bans have made it difficult for people to escape by land and sea. Junta soldiers based in Sittwe have still enforced a curfew, residents said, adding that signs of military preparation are noticeable in the city and countryside as the Arakan Army approaches.

Escalating Conflict

Sittwe township is home to nearly 150,000 people, and residents say half of the townships population has left. However, RFA has not yet been able to independently confirm the claim.

Many residents forced to stay in Sittwe amidst war preparations simply cant afford to leave, they explained.

According to a statement by the United Nation Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released on Wednesday, the escalating battles have displaced some 148,500 people since fighting began on Nov. 13.

On Feb. 29, junta troops fired a shell into a crowded market in Sittwe, which killed 12 and critically injured 18 more.

Residents are also feeling the juntas grasping attempt for control on other cities in Arakan Army territory.

In Rakhine states Minbya township, junta aerial attacks have damaged an elementary school and several houses. Troops dropped explosives on Ann Thar village late at night on Wednesday, residents said.

An Ann Thar resident told RFA on Thursday that the only school in the village was completely destroyed.

A jet dropped four 200-pound bombs at around 11.40 p.m., he said. The casualties are still unknown and the telecommunication has been cut off.

The village was attacked on Feb. 29, when another jet dropped explosives and damaged four homes, he added.

RFA contacted Rakhine states junta spokesperson Hla Thein for more information on fighting in Sittwe district and Minbya township, but he did not answer the phone.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.
The military is on the offensive to retake Hsihseng from ethnic Pa-O rebels.

More than 1,000 civilians are trapped amid heavy clashes between Myanmars military and ethnic Pa-O rebels in southern Shan states Hsiheng township, which the junta has been trying to retake since Monday, according to residents.

The fighting to recapture Hsihseng comes amid a wider push by Myanmars various armed resistance factions that increasingly has the junta on the ropes across the country, including in neighboring Sagaing region, where the Peoples Defense Force said it is close to taking over a township near the regions largest city, Monywa.

The Pa-O National Liberation Army, or PNLA, seized Hsihseng township from a pro-junta militia known as the Pa-O National Organization, or PNO, on Jan. 22.

Beginning on March 3, a joint force of junta troops and soldiers from the Pa-O National Army  the armed wing of the PNO  responded with nearly 100 attacks on Mae Nal Taung district between Hsihseng, Ho Pong and Mong Pun townships using heavy weapons and drones in fighting that has killed 47 civilians and injured around 60 others, according to the PNLA.

Hsihsengs main market was also set ablaze, and a total of 153 buildings  including some 15 religious structures and a hospital  were destroyed, the rights group Pa-O Youth Organization told RFA Burmese.

A resident of Hsihseng who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, said that fighting was underway Wednesday in the northern part of the township, which lies some 85 kilometers (53 miles) south of Shan states capital and largest city, Taunggyi.

"When [junta troops] advanced, the battle resumed, he said, adding that some houses had been burnt down. The military is continuously firing artillery shells. Flames can be seen at [nearby] Mya Kan Thar ward from our village.

The resident said the military had carried out airstrikes on the area and that junta troops in a nearby village had fired around 20 artillery barrages on Hsihseng.

Nang, the spokesperson for the Pa-O Youth Organization, told RFA that more than 1,000 civilians from Aung Chan Thar and Thiri wards, and nearby villages in Hsihseng, have been unable to escape the fighting.

"Some residents havent fled [the seat of] Hsihseng. The exact number cant be confirmed, but more than 1,000 people are trapped there, Nang said. In the past few days, many residents have fled into the jungle to take shelter from the militarys aerial bombardment.

Nang said that most of those trapped by the fighting are common laborers who were attempting to guard their homes or had returned to the area to check on their belongings before the fighting broke out on Monday.

Too dangerous for rescue

A volunteer rescue worker told RFA that it was impossible for his group to evacuate those still inside.

"The resistance forces have blocked the roads, so we cannot enter the town to rescue the remaining trapped civilians, he said. They wont let us enter because they said it is too dangerous for us.

An airstrike damaged this building in southern Shan state on March 2, 2024. (PNLA News & Information Department)

Other rescue workers said Wednesday that some of the trapped civilians were trying to avoid the fighting by gathering in paddy fields in southern Hsihseng township.

A PNLA information officer confirmed to RFA that the focus of the militarys attacks in Mae Nal Taung district  between Hsihseng, Ho Pong and Mong Pun  is home to many residents.

We are still investigating the extent of losses and damage, he said. At least eight houses were destroyed by military artillery shelling, from what we can tell, but a lot of the damage occurred in areas beyond our reach.

The junta has yet to release any information on the fighting in Hsihseng and attempts by RFA to contact Khun Thein Maung, the juntas minister of economy and spokesperson for Shan state, went unanswered.

While the PNLA is a signatory to Myanmars Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, or NCA, a schism within the ethnic army and its political wing, the Pa-O National Liberation Organization, has led to clashes with the junta.

The NCA was introduced in 2015 to end years of fighting over minority rights and self-determination. Since then, some 10 ethnic groups have signed the agreement.

Prior to the PNLA takeover, Hsihseng was under junta control as a township self-administered by the PNO. On Jan 21, a day before its capture, the PNOs armed wing carried out an inspection of a PNLA convoy, seizing weapons and arresting some of the groups officers.

Fight for Kani township

Meanwhile, in neighboring Sagaing region, the fight for control of Kani township has reached a crescendo since the anti-junta Peoples Defense Forces, or PDF  ordinary civilians who have taken up arms against the junta  attacked the township police station, general administrative office, school and several military positions on March 2.

Kani is located a mere 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Monywa, Sagaings largest city and the headquarters of the militarys northwestern command. It is along the key Chindwin River waterway, and on Wednesday the junta responded to the attacks with at least eight airstrikes from combat helicopters and fighter jets on the townships wards and villages, according to the PDF.

Despite the heavy retaliation, PDF member Myat Ko told RFA that only one military outpost is left to be captured until his group will assume total control of the township.

Myat Ko said the number of pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia members on the ground in Kani number far greater than junta troops, and that the military had carried out more than 20 aerial attacks on the township since the fighting began.

He said the military is now deploying troops to Kani via helicopter, although the exact number is unknown, adding that the PDF had arrested some police officers and nearly 40 junta civil service staff during the six-day battle.

RFA was unable to independently verify the claims.

Displaced people from Kani township, Sagaing region, rest under trees, March 20, 2023. (Pyae Aung Naing  Kani)

The Kani PDF said that two of its fighters were killed in the fighting since March 2, while the military suffered high casualties. It said nearly 200 junta fighters, including troops, police and Pyu Saw Htee members, were stationed in the township.

At least one civilian  a 70-year-old resident of Min Kone village  was killed in a military aerial attack on March 4, according to residents.

Around 50 civilians who had been trapped inside the town during the fighting were evacuated by the PDF on March 6, they said.

Nearly everyone in town has fled to safer areas, although some elderly people remain, they added.

Attempts to contact Sai Naing Naing Kyaw, the juntas minister of ethnic affairs and spokesperson for Sagaing region went unanswered Thursday.

Anti-junta forces in Sagaing region have captured Kawlin, Mawlu, Kham Pet and Shwe Pyi Aye townships, although the military retook Kawlin after conducting a major offensive in February.

Tens of thousands displaced

More than 150,000 civilians have fled 15 townships in Sagaing amid military offensives between Jan. 1 and Feb. 15 alone, RFA has learned.

They include 21,000 in Monywa, 7,000 in Myaung, 15,000 in Taze, 3,000 in Maw Laik, 8,000 in Kantbalu, 13,000 in Yinmarbin, more than 3,000 in Butalin, more than 50,000 in Ye-U, 1,000 in Pinlebu, nearly 3,000 in Salingyi, nearly 2,500 in Myinmu, more than 8,000 in Khin-U, more than 3,000 in Homelin, and over 15,000 in Kawlin townships.

Displaced people from Kani township, Sagaing region, make their way across a stream, March 14, 2023. (Pyae Aung Naing  Kani)

Many of the displaced are suffering from shortages of food and clean water, and medical supplies, and are sheltering in poor conditions.

While Sai Naing Naing, the juntas social affairs minister and spokesperson for Sagaing region, told RFA that junta authorities have provided aid to more than 1,500 displaced in Homelin township.

But aid workers disputed his claims, saying that the junta provides no support to those displaced by conflict.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recently reported that there are nearly 2.7 million displaced people across Myanmar.

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
But the event angers Myanmars junta, and the Thai foreign minister abruptly cancels his speech.

Participants in the Myanmar seminar hosted by the Thai Parliament on March 2, 2024.

Thailands parliament held its first meeting with members of Myanmars shadow National Unity Government  made up of former civilian leaders ousted in the 2021 coup  to discuss democracy and security issues along the Thai-Myanmar border, attendees said.

The two-day seminar, organized by the Thai opposition Move Forward party at the Parliament House in Bangkok on Saturday and Sunday, also discussed humanitarian aid to the war-torn country.

It was titled, Three Years after the Coup: Towards a Democratic Myanmar and its Impact on Security along the Thai Border.

Speakers included Zin Mar Aung, the NUGs foreign minister, United Nations Special Representative for Human Rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews and the permanent representative of Myanmar to the U.N. in New York, Kyaw Moe Tun.

Leaders of Myanmars minority ethnic groups, civil society organizations and student union leaders also attended the seminar.

Angers junta

But the event angered the military junta, which sent a letter to Thailands Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the event tarnished Thai-Myanmar ties.

Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara was scheduled to give a keynote speech, but this was canceled at the last minute without explanation.

We have no comment on this matter because the Thai foreign ministry was not the event co-organizer, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Radio Free Asia on Thursday.

The foreign minister said in February Thailand was stepping up efforts to aid suffering citizens in Myanmar by opening a humanitarian corridor to Myanmar in about a month.

The US$300 million plan has the backing of Southeast Asian nations, including Myanmar.

It also has the support of the United States. On Thursday, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink said the U.S. wanted to work closely with Thailand to ensure regional security and prosperity.

I praised in great detail and repeatedly the Thai governments ongoing and long-standing efforts to support refugees who have fled violence in Myanmar and the more recent efforts by Prime Minister Sretthas government, in the ASEAN context, to again increase the humanitarian assistance across the border, he told a teleconference.

Participants in the Myanmar seminar hosted by the Thai Parliament on March 3, 2024. (The Reporters via Facebook)





Thailands government has prioritized establishing relations with the junta, officially known as the Military Council, following the February 2021 coup.

But the fact that the seminar was held may point to a shift in stance in the Thai government, a former Burmese military officer who is now a political analyst, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told RFA.

"It is undeniable that the current Military Council regime is facing defeats on the battlefield, their credibility has declined, and now the democracy activists have been invited for discussions, he said.

Rangsiman Rome, the head of the lower house committee of parliament, one of the organizers of the two-day seminar, said he hoped the meeting would help pave the way for Myanmar to solve the crisis through a peaceful and long-term solution, Reuters reported.

After the seminar, the former leader of Thailand's Move Forward Party Pita Limjaroenrat wrote on X that they are closely monitoring the politics of Myanmar and will help in solving the crisis.

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
Chinese Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons towards Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024.

China has protested against the passage of a draft law on maritime zones in the South China Sea by the Philippine Senate.

The upper house of the Philippines legislature on passed the so-called Maritime Zones Act on Feb. 26. The lower house approved a similar bill last May.

The act defines Philippine maritime zones in line with the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, or PCA, in 2016 that invalidated Chinas sweeping claims in the South China Sea.

Six parties claim parts of the South China Sea but Beijings claim, visualized by the so-called nine-dash line, encircles almost 90% of the sea including all the islands and reefs inside.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing that the act has attempted to further enforce the illegal arbitral award on the South China Sea by domestic legislation.

She said that the act severely violates Chinas territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea by including the Scarborough Shoal, which is called Huangyan Dao in China, most islands and reefs of the Spratly archipelago (Nansha Qundao in Chinese), and their adjacent waters into its maritime zones.

China firmly opposes it and has lodged solemn demarches to the Philippines, the spokeswoman said.

Mao made scathing remarks about the 2016 PCA tribunal which, she said, Manila unilaterally initiated without the Chinese governments prior consent and is therefore deemed illegal by Beijing.

China neither accepts nor participates in that arbitration, neither accepts nor recognizes the award, and will never accept any claim or action arising from the award, she reiterated.

Significant law

Tensions have been rising between Beijing and Manila over Scarborough Shoal and the Second Thomas Shoal  two of the disputed reefs that lie within the Philippines exclusive economic zone (EEZ), also known as the West Philippine Sea.

By international law, an EEZ gives a state exclusive access to the natural resources in the waters and seabed.

On Tuesday, Manila said four Filipino crew members were injured when China Coast Guard ships used water cannons to block Philippine vessels taking supplies to a military outpost at the Second Thomas Shoal, known as Ayungin in the Philippines.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said afterwards that the event was alarming and that we cannot view this in any way but the most serious way.

Since the news emerged about the passage of the Maritime Zones Act at the Senate on Monday, there have been comments from some columnists or opinion makers from other countries criticizing it, said Jonathan Malaya, Assistant Director General of the Philippine National Security Council, not directly referring to Mao Nings statement.

Jonathan Malaya, Assistant Director General of the Philippine National Security Council, spoke to RFA in his office in Manila on March 4, 2024. (Jojo Rinoza/BenarNews)





But this is a sovereign act of the Philippines, Malaya said, It doesnt matter what other countries say.

The significance of this law is that it implements in domestic legislation the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, the senior official told Radio Free Asia.

Its important for the Philippines to enshrine this decision in domestic law which further strengthens our legal position in territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea, he added.

The two versions of the bill, by the two chambers of the Philippine Congress, will now be reconciled before being sent to President Marcos who would then sign the bill into law.

This is part of a wider national strategy for the West Philippine Sea, a vital step of protecting the sovereign rights of the Philippines by ensuring that international maritime law is synchronized with domestic law, said Aries Arugay, a visiting senior fellow at the ISEAS Yusof-Ishak Institute in Singapore.

After the law on maritime zones, lawmakers are likely to propose a bill on archipelagic sea lanes, and even an anti-foreign interference bill, according to the political scientist.

Half of the Senate will be up for grabs [in an election] next year, said Arugay. Our legislators now think that taking a more pro-Philippines assertive stance in the West Philippine Sea may get them re-elected.

Before, foreign policy issues have never been electoral issues but while some Filipinos may think this is an issue far from their daily lives, when they see the high prices of fish they can immediately connect that with the inability of fishermen to get fish in the South China Sea, he explained.

So the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea can be, if not already is, a gut issue for many Filipinos.

Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.
They were among more than 1,000 Tibetans arrested for opposing the construction of a dam.

Tenzin (L), senior administrator of Wonto Monastery and village official Tamdrin (R), both from Wangbuding township, Dege county, in southwestern China's Sichuan province are seen in undated photos.

Authorities have transferred a Tibetan Buddhist monastery administrator and a village official  both arrested last month on suspicion of leading protests against the construction of a dam  to a large detention center in southwestern Chinas Sichuan province, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Radio Free Asia.

Tenzin, the senior administrator of Wonto Monastery in Wangbuding township, and a village official named Tamdrin, were transferred from where they were previously detained to the larger Dege County Detention Center Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on March 3, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals by Chinese officials.

The men, who both go by just one name, were among the more than 1,000 Tibetan monks and residents of Dege County who were arrested on Feb. 23 for peacefully appealing to halt the construction of the dam on the Drichu River (Jinsha, in Chinese).

Some of these detainees, including Tenzin and Tamdrin, were severely beaten.

The dam construction is expected to cause the forced resettlement of at least two major villages, Wonto and Shipa, and the destruction of several monasteries with religious and historical significance, including the Wonto and Yena monasteries.

On Feb. 27, Chinese police released around 40 Tibetans, even as they forbade them from communicating with outsiders and imposed strict restrictions on the movement of people to and from the various monasteries and villages on both sides of the river.

Checking social media feeds

Sources, however, told RFA on Thursday that Chinese authorities are continuing to arrest more people and have cracked down on the people who posted videos of the arrests and protests that took place in February.

The police are regularly checking peoples WeChat and TikTok accounts for any evidence of them having shared the videos and for communication with the outside world, the first source said. Theres severe restrictions on movement on either side of the river and no internet connection.

The authorities are carrying out widespread, daily search and interrogations to find the people who posted the videos of black-clad Chinese police restraining the monks, who could be seen kneeling and crying out.

People who send information out and videos like this face imprisonment and torture, Maya Wang, interim China director of Human Rights Watch told RFA last month in the wake of the first round of arrests of more than 100 Tibetans that took place on Feb. 22. Even calling families in the diaspora are reasons for imprisonment.

What we do see now are actually  typical scenes of repression in Tibet, but we dont often get to see [what] repression looks like in Tibet anymore, Wang said.

Open prison in Dege

The police are monitoring the monks and locals very closely, and the situation is like an open prison as they are exercising extreme control, said the second source.

The monks and local people are very angry that they were arrested and subjected to beatings and torture for making peaceful appeals, he added. They say that if the government really forces them to move, there may be violent protests.

Chinese officials have, however, made clear that the Gangtuo Dam project will continue, two Tibetans with knowledge of the situation told RFA earlier this month.

The Gangtuo Dam is part of a plan that Chinas National Development and Reform Commission announced in 2012 to build a massive 13-tier hydropower complex on the Drichu. It would be located at Wontok (Gangtuo, in Chinese) in Dege county, northwest of Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The total planned capacity of the 13 hydropower stations is 13,920 megawatts.

Over the past two weeks, Tibetans in exile have been holding solidarity rallies in cities in the United States, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia and India.

Global leaders and Tibetan advocacy groups have condemned Chinas actions, calling for the immediate release of those detained.

Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
One reason is Chinas lack of trust and confidence in the Tibetan people, it says.

Yan Jinhai, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, speaks during the Tibet delegation meeting at the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 6, 2024.

Many Tibetans are excluded from serving in senior Chinese government positions, a new report by a Tibetan advocacy and rights group says.

In Tibet, Tibetan representation in leadership positions are limited to token positions at the national, provincial and sub-provincial levels, with the majority of positions held by Han Chinese, according to the report by Washington-based rights group International Campaign for Tibet, or ICT.

And the current 205-member Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the partys top policymaking body, has only one Tibetan member  Yan Jinhai, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, or TAR  according to the report titled Underrepresented: Tibetans kept out of most leadership positions.

Thats one fewer Tibetan than there was in the previous Central Committee, which had two full members, said the report issued on Monday.

The report comes amid criticism about Chinas repressive policies in the region, where Tibetans face discrimination and restrictions on their rights to freedom of religion, association and peaceful assembly, as well as assaults on their language and culture.

Three other Tibetans serve as alternate members in the Central Committee.

At the national level, no Tibetan has ever found a place on the Politburo or the Standing Committee, the partys highest authority, according to the report.

Accountability

The report was released as Chinese leaders hold the Two Sessions, the most important annual meetings of its parliament, the National Peoples Congress, and its political advisory body, the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference.

The timing of the release was meant to draw attention to the issue of underrepresentation of Tibetans in top leadership positions and to hold Chinese authorities accountable for addressing systemic barriers to meaningful Tibetan participation in leadership roles, Bhuchung Tsering, head of the groups Research and Monitoring Unit told Radio Free Asia.

For China to uphold its claim that Tibet is an integral part of the Peoples Republic of China, it is essential for the government to address these discrepancies and provide clarity onthe reasons behind the limited representation of Tibetans in leadership positions, Tsering said.

In the current 14th National Peoples Congress, Lobsang Gyaltsen, who currently heads the TAR Peoples Congress, is the lone Tibetan among the 14 vice chairs, while Jamyang Shepa, who is from Labrang Tashikyil Monastery in Kanlho of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu province, is the only Tibetan in the 159-member NPC Standing Committee, the report said.

Lobsang Gyaltsen, chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Tibet Autonomous Region, attends a group discussion session during China's National People's Congress in Beijing, March 10, 2017. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Similarly, at the highest advisory body in China, the 14th Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, or CPPCC, Phakpalha Gelek Namgyal is the only Tibetan to find a place at the vice president level and was reappointed as one of the 23 vice chairs of the CPPCC in March 2023, according to the report.

One reason for this crisis of Tibetan leadership at the national level is the Chinese leaderships lack of trust and confidence in the Tibetan people, even those who hold comparatively senior positions, ICT said.

Any Tibetan leader who expresses views concerning legitimate grievances of the Tibetan people becomes liable for persecution after being accused directly or indirectly of local nationalism.

Provincial roles

Across the TAR and in Tibetan-populated areas of Sichuan, Qinghai, Yunnan, and Gansu provinces, there are no Tibetans holding party secretary titles, the highest position of power at the provincial level, the report said.

However, out of the 17 prefectural level and two county level administrations, only three Tibetans  in Lhasa and Shigatse in the TAR and in Tsojang (Haibei in Chinese) in Qinghai  hold the position of party secretary. This number is lower than in 2020 when four Tibetans held the position, and Party Secretary of Tsolho (Hainan in Chinese) was also a Tibetan.

Delegates sit below a decoration in the Tibet Hall of the Great Hall of the People during the Tibet delegation meeting at the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 6, 2024. (Greg Baker/AFP)

The fact that the Communist Party excludes Tibetans from real leadership positions in Tibet gives reason to believe that the party leadership does not trust Tibetans to support CCP rule if they had the choice and, to the contrary, that Tibetans would choose to abolish CCP rule, if they could, ICTs Tsering said.

Security entities

Non-Tibetans also hold almost all major leadership positions in Chinese government security entities  the Peoples Liberation Army, the Peoples Armed Police and Public Security Bureau  in Tibetan areas at both the provincial and prefectural levels.

The Public Security Bureau, which has been at the forefront of Chinese suppression, control and surveillance of the Tibetan people, also has no Tibetan representation at the provincial levels.

At the prefectural level too, only four out of 17 PSB heads are Tibetans, ICT said, adding that this suggests the Chinese Communist Party does not trust Tibetans enough to be leading these offices.

Chinas securitization imperatives in Tibet  which has stability maintenance as a paramount objective  mean no Tibetans in security-related leadership, the report said.

Additional reporting by Tashi Wangchuk and Sonam Lhamo Singeri for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
They also ask 3 US travel agencies to stop offering tours to the region so as to avoid perpetuating atrocity crimes.

UPDATED at 3:59 P.M. ET on 03-08-2024

Two members of the U.S. Congress have sent a letter urging Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to ban American citizens from traveling Chinas far-western region of Xinjiang so as not to perpetuate and conceal atrocity crimes that China is committing against Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities living there.

American citizens and permanent residents, companies, and other entities should be warned about the risk of enabling atrocity crimes if they participate in tourism to the XUAR, Rep. Chris Smith and Sen. Jeff Merkley, co-chairs of the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, or CECC, wrote in the letter.

They said the State Departments travel advisory for the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, or XUAR, should be raised to Level 4  do not travel.

They also wrote letters to three U.S. travel agencies asking them to stop offering trips to the region.

The CECC is an independent American government agency that monitors human rights in China.

Chinese authorities tightly control who enters Xinjiang, where harsh repression of Uyghurs and other Muslims in recent years has amounted to genocide and crimes against humanity, according to the United States, the United Nations, the parliaments of other Western countries and human rights groups.

Uyghur rights groups have denounced Chinese-government approved travel to Xinjiang as genocide tourism, saying that they help China conceal its persecution of the 11-million strong Uyghur people.

Actors perform at the Grand Bazaar, a popular tourist destination in Urumqi, capital of northwestern China's Xinjiang region, Aug. 28, 2023. (Wang Fei/Xinhua via Getty Images)

While the State Department does not issue a separate travel advisory for Xinjiang, its advisory for China is at Level 3  reconsider travel to the country due to the arbitrary enforcement of local laws, including in relation to exit bans, and the risk of wrongful detentions.

The letter warned that individuals with a Turkic or Muslim background who travel to the XUAR face the risk of wrongful detention, enforced disappearance, exit bans and other serious human rights abuses.

In response to the letter, a State Department spokesperson told RFA on Friday that the department does not publicly comment on specific Congressional correspondence, though the U.S. condemns the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang.

The spokesperson went on to say that the department considers many factors to determine travel advisory levels, but that its analyses are undertaken without regard to bilateral political or economic considerations.

Travel agencies asked to stop tours

The Uyghur Human Rights Project, or UHRP, based in Washington, said in a January report that at least 18 European travel companies offer tours to sites in Xinjiang connected to the repression religious beliefs, the destruction of Uyghur cultural heritage, surveillance, imprisonment, torture, sexual assault and deaths in custody.

Smith and Merkley said Chinese authorities are investing heavily in promoting tourism in the Xinjiang while continuing to subject Uyghur and other Turkic residents there to unjust detention, forced labor and religious repression.

In separate letters, Smith and Merkley asked U.S. travel companies to stop offering tours that include visits to Xinjiang. They include Wild Frontiers Adventure Travel Ltd. of Sparks, Nevada; Geographic Expeditions, Inc. of San Francisco, California; and Abercrombie & Kent USA LLC of Downers Grove, Illinois.

All three companies were named in an August 2023 UHRP report.

Make no mistake: under the current circumstances, tourism in the XUAR serves as a conduit for Chinese authorities repression of Turkic and Muslim peoples and facilitates the destruction and appropriation of their heritage and identity, the letters said.

It is our strong belief that well-intentioned tourists should not be put in the position of condoning or supporting atrocities  or be used as propaganda pawns  allowing the Chinese government to cover up its genocide and crimes against humanity, they said.

The two CECC leaders also noted that conducting tours in places where genocide is occurring is antithetical to Wild Frontiers own commitment to responsible tourism.

The company issued a statement in August 2023, saying it was conducting a full investigation of tours in the region.

Smith and Merkley asked company founder and chief executive officer Jonny Bealby to provide information about the status of the investigation and how it was being conducted, saying they were compiling information for future reports and a congressional hearing where they may request his testimony.

Potemkin tours

UHRP senior researcher Henryk Szadziewski, who lived in China for five years, including a three-year period in Uyghur-populated regions, said the letters represent an important ask from the three travel companies.

First of all, theres obviously the issue of profiteering from these tours, he said. So, while people in the Uyghur region are facing what many very reputable bodies call potential crimes against humanity, these tour companies are taking tourists through that region.

Second, the companies marketing portrays Uyghurs as a folkloric people, very pre-modern  that if you, take one of these tours, you'll go back to a magical time on the Silk Road, when it really is very much a Chinese government narrative of Uyghurs, said Szadziewski, who wrote the UHRP reports.

The Chinese government narrative of Uyghurs is as folkloric means that they are in need of some kind of development.

CECC staff director Piero Tozzi called the trips Potemkin tours where tour operators take travelers to places the Chinese government wants them to see, but not the ugly side of Xinjiang, such as concentration camps where Uyghurs are being detained.

We think that this is unacceptable, that essentially they are profiting off of genocide, and they are subsidizing it, they're contributing to it by going to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Additional reporting by Kurban Niyaz for RFA Uyghur. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

The story was updated to include comments from Henryk Szadziewski, Piero Tozzi and a U.S. Department spokesperson.
On Facebook, she posted the offending words over a photo of her jailed husband, a political prisoner.

Nguyen Thi Chau, the wife of Vietnamese political prisoner Nguyen Ngoc Anh, posted on Facebook a photo of him at his 2019 trial with overlaid text reading, Idiots judge the innocent.

The wife of a prominent political prisoner said she has been fined more than US$300 for posting his photo on Facebook overlaid with text saying, Idiots judge the innocent.

Nguyen Thi Chau was slapped with a fine of 7.5 million dong for the text and photo of her husband Nguyen Ngoc Anh, who is serving a six-year sentence for anti-state propaganda for videos he shared criticizing the Vietnamese government on several issues.

She posted the photo the first time about four years ago, and has since reposted it around 10 times.

According to police in the southern coastal province of Ben Tre, Chaus fine is for providing false information, insulting the prestige of agencies and organizations under Article 101 of the Vietnamese governments Decree No.15 on penalties for administrative violations against regulations on postal services and telecommunications.

Chau told RFA Vietnamese that the accusation against her is wrong. She said she had seen the photo and text on another social media post and she reposted it.

I only posted information about my husband, not society. How come they accused me of that? she said.

When I saw a photo of my husband with the phrase idiots judge the innocent on the internet and believed my husband is innocent, I downloaded and put it up in Facebook posts from time to time, she said. I did not say that any agencies or organizations were idiots.

Chau was told that she must remove the false information on her Facebook account within seven days upon the receipt of the decision, otherwise, the decision will be coercively implemented.

Freedom of expression

In a post about the fine on her Facebook account, Chau said that in a meeting with the cybersecurity officers, she told them that she would sign the decision not because she feared the consequences but because it would mean that the police were claiming themselves as idiots as the phrase does not refer to any one person or government entity.

She said the police first questioned her about the photo on Feb. 28 but not at any point prior to that.

Chau believes that by imposing the fine, the police are trying to prevent her from sharing information about her husband and commenting on social issues on Facebook.

She said the fine violates her freedom of expression, a right enshrined in Vietnams constitution and international conventions that Vietnam has signed.

Provisions on penalties of Vietnams laws are vague, so [the authorities] can do whatever they want while their citizens are not allowed to say anything,  she said.

In Vietnam, how can you have independence, freedom and happiness if you dont have freedom of expression?

Translated by Anna Vu and Long Nguyen. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
It accuses them of planning a deadly attack in Vietnams Central Highlands.

Activists hold banners during a demonstration against alleged human rights abuses to the Montagnard hill tribe community committed by the Vietnamese government, in front of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 10, 2023.

Vietnam has accused two foreign-based political groups of being terrorist organizations that helped plan an attack in Vietnams Central Highlands last June leaving nine people dead.

The countrys Ministry of Public Security identified them as the United States-based Montagnard Support Group Inc. (MSGI) and Montagnard Stand for Justice (MSFJ), which was formed in Thailand in 2017 and began operating in the U.S. two years later.

Montagnards are a mainly-Protestant ethnic minority that live in Vietnams Central Highlands.

MSGI and MSFJ have campaigned for their rights, claiming they struggle to receive official documentation and often lose out in land grabs by local authorities. Many are also harassed and prevented from practicing their religion.

Wednesdays statement from the ministry claimed the two groups recruited and trained people to carry out terrorist activities, incite protests, kill officials and civilians, sabotage state assets and try to establish their own states.

The claims relate to the attacks on June 11, 2023 when dozens of Montagnards, divided into two groups, attacked the headquarters of the Peoples Committee and the police of Ea Tieu and Ea Ktur communes in Dak Lak province. Four police officers, two commune officials, and three civilians died in the attacks.

MSFJ co-founder Y Phik Hdok told Radio Free Asia his group never advocated violence.

He said it operated peacefully with the goal of fighting for human rights and religious freedom and denied the ministrys claims.

This accusation is just a demonstration of the Vietnamese government's anger and its efforts at revenge, he said.

Although there was no specific evidence, they took advantage of the shooting  to hide the truth and slander to cover up their unjust policies. their attacks against and repression of the Protestant minority in the Central Highlands and those fighting for their rights.

The Ministry of Public Securitys statement named several leaders of MSFJ, including Ede human rights activist H Biap Krong, as being ringleaders of the plot.

Krong told RFA Vietnamese she had never been a member of MSFJ.

I have nothing to do with the shooting incident in Dak Lak. This accusation by the government is completely baseless and is an irresponsible statement, she said.

The ministry statement also named two people it said were leaders of MSGI, Y Mut Mlo and Y Duen Bdap. It accused them of luring ethnic minorities into using violence, carrying out terrorist acts, inciting protests and armed riots, and demanding secession, autonomy and the establishment of an independent state in the Central Highlands.

Y Duen Bdap told RFA he is the leader of the Dega Central Highland Organization, and not a member of MSGI.

Our organization is a non-violent organization. The Vietnamese government is a terrorist organization, they steal our land and kill our people, he said.

I fight for human rights and the right of our people to live on the land where they were born.

RFA emailed the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam to request comment but did not receive a response by time of publishing.

A call to Vietnams Ministry of Public Security with a request for comment on the activists denials of the accusations of terrorism also went unanswered.

Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.
Male students who enrolled in Taliban-run religious schools say that sexual and physical abuse has led some to end their pursuit of an education in Afghanistan.

The students, all of whom were aged 10 to 17 and spoke to RFE/RL's Radio Azadi on condition of anonymity out of fears of repercussion, described numerous instances in which they and fellow classmates were pressured to engage in sexual acts with teachers and subjected to corporal punishments.

The reported cases took place in western and southwestern Afghanistan at Taliban-run madrasahs, part of the network of religious schools that the extremist group has expanded significantly as part of its drive to foster religious education more in keeping with its hard-line Islamist views.

One 16-year-old student, a resident of Farah Province, described being propositioned by a teacher at the madrasah he attends.

"One day at school a Taliban member who teaches there made an inappropriate offer, but I did not accept it," the boy told Radio Azadi, using inexplicit language to describe sexual abuse, a culturally taboo topic in Afghanistan. "When the lessons were over, he bothered me again."

The boy said he reported the incidents to a "qari," a person who has memorized the Koran and serves as a religious authority at the school, to no avail.

"I told the qari that the teacher was doing bad things to me, and the qari told him not to do these things, that he was a teacher," the boy said. "The teacher admitted doing it, but it had no effect. He has continued to do bad things and made sexual requests to numerous students at the school."

Another student in southwestern Afghanistan, a 17-year-old in the 10th grade, gave a similar account of his experience during his six months studying at a Taliban-run madrasah.

"A Taliban member who teaches at the school proposed having a relationship with me and said some other things that I did not accept," the boy said.

After being refused, the teacher swore and issued threats, the boy said, adding that his fellow students have faced similar treatment.

"He also harassed several of my classmates, and one of them left the school," the boy said. "He told me I should not go to school anymore because the same teacher is harassing me."

The boy said the experience has left him "damaged" and unsure of whom he can confide in. "I can't tell my family," he said.

The Taliban has come under widespread criticism for the severe restrictions it has placed on the daily lives of the Afghans since seizing power in August 2021. In its pursuit to impose its extreme interpretation of Islam, the Taliban has restored many of the draconian rules it was infamous for during its first stint in power from 1996 to 2001.

The ban on the education of girls past the sixth grade, and the erasure of women's role in society stand out among the measures the Taliban has taken. But other steps -- including prohibitions on music and idolatry through art, and pressure against students and teachers -- have affected all walks of life regardless of sex.

Since the Taliban returned to power, many educators have left the country, while female teachers have been left at home without work due to restrictions on women's freedom of movement and their ability to teach males.

Meanwhile, the Taliban has steadily worked to replace secular state schools and informal madrasahs with a system of religious schooling. The system does allow for girl students, including those of university age, but critics say it falls far short of the standards of modern education for girls and boys alike and often promotes extremism.

According to a report on Afghanistan issued by the United Nations in February, the Taliban has established 6,836 madrasahs for males and 380 for females and was expected to finalize a standardized religious curriculum in time for the new school year beginning this month.

The recruitment of madrasah teachers is also in full swing, according to the report, following a decree by the Talibans spiritual leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada to have 100,000 new madrasah teachers in place.

In December, Human Rights Watch gave a stinging assessment of the state of education in general, saying that in addition to the obstacles to the education of girls and women, the Taliban had "also inflicted deep harm on boys' education" in Afghanistan.

"Many boys were previously taught by women teachers; the Taliban has prohibited women from teaching boys, depriving women teachers of their jobs and often leaving boys with unqualified replacement male teachers or sometimes no teachers at all," HRW said. "Parents and students said that corporal punishment, which has long been a problem at Afghan schools, has become increasingly common. The curriculum in many schools appears to be under revision to remove important school subjects and promote discrimination."

The rights watchdog said the circumstances had "led many boys to leave school altogether" and "left boys struggling with mental health problems such as anxiety and depression."

Shortly after the Taliban regained power, the United Nations highlighted the dire situation for children in Afghanistan, including exposure to sexual violence and increased risk of students dropping out of school.

Difficulties in ensuring the protection of children are exacerbated, according to the UN, by the Taliban's refusal to consider people below the age of 18 to be children, as is the international standard, instead using the onset of puberty as the basis for adulthood.

Younger madrasah students in western and southwestern Afghanistan below or at the age of puberty said they were not spared physical abuse and sexual harassment from teachers.

One young man who spoke to Radio Azadi said he recently learned that his young brother was being subjected to sexual abuse at a madrasah in western Afghanistan.

The young man said his brother was being assigned extracurricular "homework by a teacher, or to put it bluntly, he was being asked for sex, [the teacher] fondled his hands and feet and kissed him."

As a result, the young man said he told his brother not to go to school anymore.

Fear of sexual harassment and sexual and physical abuse were cited as a common factor leading boys in western and southwestern Afghanistan to give up their studies.

"Some teachers harass our students and make immoral requests," said one 14-year-old boy who also described common methods of corporal punishment at his madrasah. "They strike our faces or beat our hands and feet under the pretext of disciplining us for not learning our lessons properly."

The boy said many students were studying hard in fear of being taken to a special room for punishment, and that "some even drop out of school."

Another student, aged 10, said his teacher separated him and other students from their class to beat the soles of their feet.

Afterward, he told Radio Azadi, he stopped going to class because he was afraid. And upon hearing about the incidents, his and his classmates' parents "did not allow us to go to school."

The Taliban authorities did not respond to requests for comment on the allegations of abuse at madrasahs it has established. And efforts to speak to individuals aware of the situations at madrasahs in other areas of Afghanistan were met by refusals to comment due to fear of reprisals.

A women's rights activist who asked that her name not be published told Radio Azadi that families have no avenue to lodge complaints about the abuse their children encounter at Taliban-run madrasahs because they, too, would face threats.

The activist said that not only had she been made aware of sexual harassment against both girls and boys at Taliban-run madrasahs, but the curriculum also serves to "increase the level of extremism in the country."

Reducing the risks of both threats, she said, would require greater oversight by the Taliban authorities and ideally, she said, a reduction in the number of madrasahs.

Najib Amini, a civil society activist in western Afghanistan, said that for now, the onus falls on families to be aware.

"Children are subjected to sexual abuse in madrasahs established under the Taliban regime," Amini said. "Families have an important and essential role in this regard. If they do not want their children to be abused in schools, if they want their children to get a basic education...then they should not send their children to madrasahs under the control of the Taliban."

Written by Michael Scollon based on reporting by RFE/RLs Radio Azadi
Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended his nearly quarter-century rule with a landslide victory in a tightly controlled election as he seeks to demonstrate overwhelming popular support for his full-scale invasion of Ukraine and increasingly repressive policies.

With 99.68 percent of ballots counted, Putin was set to win another six-year term with 87.32 percent of the vote, a post-Soviet record, according to official results. The Central Election Committee said that more than 70 percent of eligible voters cast ballots during the three-day election.

The 71-year old Putin -- who has ruled as either president or prime minister since 2000 -- is now set to surpass Soviet dictator Josef Stalins nearly 30-year reign to become the longest-serving Russian leader in more than two centuries.

The vote is the first for Putin since he launched an ill-fated invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that has killed tens of thousands of Russian citizens, upended the lives of tens of thousands more, and led to a clear break in relations with the West. In holding what has widely been viewed as faux elections, Putin wants to show that he has the nation's full support, experts said.

The Kremlin's goal "is to get as many people as possible to sign off on Russia's war against Ukraine. The idea is to get millions of Russian citizens to retroactively approve the decision Putin single-handedly made two years ago," Maksim Trudolyubov, a senior fellow at the Kennan Institute, wrote in a note ahead of the vote.

In remarks shortly after he was declared the winner, Putin said the election showed that the nation was "one team."

Putin was opposed by three relatively unknown, Kremlin-friendly politicians whose campaign was barely noticeable. The main intrigue was whether Russians would heed opposition calls to gather at polling stations at noon on March 17 to silently protest against Putins rule.

Russian media had reported in the months leading up to the election that the Kremlin was determined to engineer a victory for Putin that would surpass the 2018 results, when he won 77.5 percent of the vote with a turnout of 67.5 percent.

The Kremlin banned anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin from the ballot after tens of thousands of voters lined up in the cold to support his candidacy. Nadezhdin threatened to undermine the narrative of overwhelming support for Putin and his war, experts said.

WATCH: Leading psychiatrists discuss how excessive power can impact brain functioning and what the impulse for total control reveals about the mind and personality traits of authority figures.

Independent election observers were barred from working at this years presidential election for the first time in post-Soviet history, experts said. Russian elections have been notorious for ballot stuffing and other irregularities.

The vote was also held in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, where hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers are located.

The United States called the elections neither fair nor free.

'Noon Against Putin'

With options to express resistance severely limited by the lack of competition and repressive laws, opposition leaders called on voters opposed to Putin to gather near polls at noon to show the Kremlin and the country that they were still a force.

Russia's opposition movement suffered a serious blow last month when Aleksei Navalny, Putins fiercest and most popular critic, died in unclear circumstances in a maximum-security prison in the Arctic where he was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism widely seen as politically motivated.

Long lines formed at polling stations across Russia's 11 time zones at the designated time for the "Noon Against Putin" protest, including in Novosibirsk, Chita, Yekaterinburg, Perm, and Moscow among other Russian cities.

"We're not really expecting anything, but I'd somehow like to make a record of this election for myself, tick the box for myself, so, when talking about it later, I could say that I didn't just sit at home, but came and tried to do something," said one Russian who came to vote at noon.

"The action has achieved its goals," Ivan Zhdanov, the head the Anti-Corruption Foundation formerly headed by Navalny, said in a YouTube video. "The action has shown that there is another Russia, there are people who stand against Putin."

The Moscow prosecutor's office had earlier warned of criminal prosecution against those who interfered with the vote, a step it said was necessary due to social-media posts "containing calls for an unlimited number of people to simultaneously arrive to participate in uncoordinated mass public events at polling stations in Moscow [at noon on March 17] in order to violate electoral legislation."

Lawyer Valeria Vetoshkina, who has left the country, told Current Time that if people do not bring posters and do not announce why they came to the polling station at that hour, it would be hard for the authorities to legitimately declare it a "violation."

But she warned that there were "some basic safety rules that you can follow if you're worried. The first is not to discuss why you came, just to vote. And secondly, it is better to come without any visual means of agitation: without posters, flags, and so on."

Ella Pamfilova, head of Russia's Central Election Commission (TsIK), on March 16 said there had been 20 cases of people attempting to destroy voting sheets by pouring liquids into ballot boxes and eight incidents of people trying to destroy ballots by setting them on fire or by using smoke bombs.

Russians living abroad also took part in the "Noon Against Putin" campaign, with hundreds of people lining up at 12 p.m. outside the Russian embassies in Sidney, Tokyo, Phuket, Dubai, Istanbul, Berlin, Paris, and Yerevan among other capitals.

"It's not an election. It's just a fake. And so we're here to show that not Russians elect the current leader of Russia, that we [are] against him very severely, and that lots of people had to flee their country to be free," said Anna, a Russian citizen living in Berlin and who gathered outside the embassy in the German capital.

Putin was challenged by Liberal Democratic Party leader Leonid Slutsky, State Duma deputy speaker Vladislav Davankov of the New People party, and State Duma lawmaker Nikolai Kharitonov of the Communist Party, none of whom opposed the war.

The Russian leader had the full resources of the state behind him, including the media, police, state-owned companies, and election officials.
In the winter of 1924, inhabitants of a small village near Tehran looked up as a metal-bodied airplane swooped in to land, bumped along a field, then collapsed in a cloud of dust after its landing gear broke.

The pilot of the plane was Swiss aviator Walter Mittelholzer, who had received an invitation from the Persian government to deliver a new Junkers aircraft to the country, which would be renamed Iran in 1935.

Kaspar Surber, a Swiss journalist who wrote a book on Mittelholzer, told RFE/RL the aviator was chosen for the flight to Persia in part to "popularize flying" through aerial images he would take there.

Mittelholzer was famous at the time for becoming the first person to extensively photograph Switzerland's mountains from an airplane.

In the 1920s, Surber says there was something of a "race" between German and British aviation companies to begin air services in Persia, making Mittelholzer's photography skills a key promotional advantage.

A Swiss newspaper wrote of the aviator, "The Swiss people know what to expect from their Mr. Mittelholzer, who can not only pilot a plane across unknown countries but also photograph and film in flight."

After their ignominious landing 40 kilometers outside of Tehran, Mittelholzer and mechanic Ernst Bissegger had a tense confrontation with villagers before help eventually arrived from the Persian capital and their aircraft was repaired.

Mittelholzer and Bissegger's flight of more than 3,000 kilometers from Switzerland to Persia included a standoff with Turkish authorities who confiscated their plane, troubles with poor-quality gasoline purchased in Baghdad, and erroneous maps that forced them into the ill-fated landing during which their plane's landing gear collapsed.

Mittelholzers initial impressions of the territory of Persia from above were of "areas that lie desolate and empty and wander past the observing eye for hours. Huge alluvial fans, piles of rubble, and deltas of saline rivers [that] characterize the country."

Isolated settlements occasionally came into view as the pair flew over Persian territory.

"Here and there a green patch shines," Mittelholzer wrote, "a space in the center of which features residents' mud huts rising on narrow and winding streets. Silver bands mark the irrigation channels at the edges of the gardens."

Mittelholzer seized the opportunity to photograph Persia extensively from above in photographs that are now held by the ETH Zurich library.

The Swiss aviator and photographer also made use of his camera on the ground to capture a country on the cusp of dramatic change under Reza Shah Pahlavi, a ruler who would become known as Persia's "modernizing strongman."

At the time of Mittelholzer's visit to Persia, the country was without major rail or road networks, and camel caravans were still in use as a means of foreign trade, making air transport an enticing possibility for the country's rulers.

With the aviation industry still in its infancy in Persia, Mittelholzer and Bissegger had the sky virtually to themselves as they swept low over urban centers to snap images that would soon stun European audiences.

Mittelholzer predicted that aerial photography would play a significant role in documentary imagery of the future.

"Another hitherto unseen world opens up before us. It is as if the Earth has thereby gained a new face, and man a new, unflawed eye," he wrote in 1928.

After spending several weeks inside Iran, the two Swiss aviators eventually made the long trek back to Central Europe by car. Mittelholzer would later co-found a company that became Swissair, Switzerland's national carrier until 2002. He died in a mountaineering accident in 1937 aged 43.

In a newspaper obituary, a friend noted that Mittelholzer's death in the mountains that he loved, and that had sparked his extraordinary career, had a certain tragic poetry: "They have embraced him 0n his last wanderings and claimed him, and perhaps he would not have wished for a better end, but alas it came all too soon, there was so much more for him to do."
When Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker last year, Tehran said the transporter had collided with and damaged an Iranian vessel in the Gulf of Oman.

Now, nearly one year later, Tehran said it will confiscate the cargo of the Advantage Sweet, which was transporting oil from Kuwait to the U.S. state of Texas, in retaliation for crippling American sanctions against the Islamic republic.



The Mizan news agency, which is affiliated with Iran's judiciary, reported on March 6 that a Tehran court had ruled in favor of confiscating the oil, which is valued at around $50 million.



The 55th branch of the Tehran Court of Justice said funds from the sale of the oil will be used to compensate patients suffering from epidermolysis bullosa, a rare skin disease. The court ruled that U.S. sanctions have prevented a Swedish company from selling medicine to Iran that is used to treat the disease and caused Iranian patients severe emotional and physical damage.



EB Home, an Iranian nongovernmental organization representing over 300 epidermolysis bullosa patients, had brought a case against the United States in the Tehran court. In a statement following the court ruling, the NGO described U.S. sanctions as criminal and unilateral.



U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller criticized the ruling and demanded that the tanker be immediately released.



Irans continued harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights and freedoms in the regions vital waterways is a threat to maritime security, regional stability, and the global economy, he said in a press briefing on March 6.

The U.S. military said in January that Iran was holding five ships and over 90 members hostage from vessels it seized in 2023. Most Iranian tanker seizures are carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the elite branch of Irans armed forces.



Iran said it seized the Advantage Sweet in April 2023. The tanker was chartered by U.S. oil giant Chevron and was carrying oil to the U.S. port of Houston, according to ship tracking data.

Irans capture of the Advantage Sweet came days after the United States seized Suez Rajan, an oil tanker that was transporting sanctioned Iranian oil to China.



Months after seizing the Suez Rajan, and despite Tehrans threats, Washington begun unloading the ships oil in August 2023.



Sanctions And 'Butterfly' Patients



The Tehran courts ruling has put the spotlight on the impact of U.S. sanctions on the health sector in Iran.



In 2018, then-U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew Washington from a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and reimposed sanctions against Tehran.



Iranians have witnessed rising prices and faced shortages of life-saving medicine -- including drugs for cancer treatment and insulin -- in recent years due to U.S. sanctions and corruption.



U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran exclude food and medicine. But in practice, the restrictions have made it difficult for Tehran to purchase some drugs, according to human rights groups.

That includes specialized bandages produced by Swedish firm Molnlycke that are used to treat epidermolysis bullosa patients, who often develop painful blisters and wounds, similar to third-degree burns. They are sometimes referred to as butterfly patients due to the fragility of their skin.

State Department spokesman Miller told reporters on March 6 that U.S. sanctions have always had a carveout for humanitarian purchases.

We have never prevented medicine from reaching the Iranian people, he added.



EB Home, the Iranian NGO, had previously filed an unsuccessful complaint against Molnlycke in Sweden in 2021.



In its failed complaint, the NGO claimed that Molnlycke had informed it in March 2019 correspondence that it had decided not to conduct any business with relation to Iran for the time being. This also applies to business conducted under any form of exceptions to the US economic sanctions.



In a 2021 report, United Nations experts warned about the consequences of over-compliance with U.S. sanctions on butterfly kids, who they said can no longer enjoy the right to health.



The following year, the Swedish government provided financial support to the United Nations Children's Fund to procure and deliver specialized bandages to Iran.



The lack of availability of certain medicines and health products in Iran is a humanitarian concern, affected by the impact of the sanctions regime on financial transactions, Swedens then-ambassador to Iran, Mattias Lentz, said. We do hope a solution will be found and will continue to support such a solution.
BISHKEK -- Zharkynai Taalaibekova was working a nightshift as a neurologist at a Bishkek hospital when a young woman arrived in an ambulance accompanied by four relatives.

Taalaibekova says the patient -- a university student -- showed symptoms of having a respiratory-tract infection. After a check-up, the doctor told the relatives to take the woman to the infectious diseases department.



It was a busy night with many patients in the neurology department -- some suffering from stokes -- and all awaiting for care from Taalaibekova. The only physician on duty in the ward  she was also tending to 10 patients in the intensive care unit.



But the students relatives insisted that she treat the ill student in the neurology ward. Taalaibekova refused and they attacked her.



Security camera footage at the National Hospital shows three women dragging the doctor and pulling her by the hair, while several other bystanders tried to rescue her.



The patients sister beat me, kicked me, and I had marks from her shoes on my uniform, said Taalaibekova, describing the December 2023 attack. The attackers fled when we called the police.

That violent incident was unfortunately not isolated.



Physical violence against doctors and nurses has surged in Kyrgyzstan in recent months, with some of the victims needing medical treatment after being beaten by the friends or relatives of patients, officials say.



There are no official statistics for the number of attacks on health-care workers in Kyrgyzstan. But the spike in such incidents prompted 14 doctors at the National Hospital to submit their resignations in February to protest what they see as an inadequate response by authorities, according to the Independent Trade Union of Health-Care Workers in Kyrgyzstan.



The head of the union, Bermet Baryktabasova, says lawmakers must add a new article to the Criminal Code for assaulting medical workers, so that attackers are charged both with obstructing medical activities in addition to the assault charges.

Lawmaker Zhanar Akaev proposed in parliament on February 8 that Kyrgyzstan follow the example of neighboring Kazakhstan and introduce jail terms for those who attack medical workers.



Underpaid Medics, Frustrated Patients



In Bishkeks Birinchi May district, a doctor suffered a traumatic brain injury in September when the husband of a patient attacked the medics treating her in the emergency room.



Three medical personnel suffered injuries as a result of the attack -- one was hospitalized with a concussion and two others received outpatient treatment, Bishkek emergency hospital officials said.



In the most recent attack, a 24-year-old pregnant nurse was beaten by a female visitor in the trauma department of the National Hospital in late February, according to the State Committee for National Security.

The nurse -- who asked for anonymity due to privacy concerns -- told RFE/RL that the woman apparently got angry when she asked the visitor to leave her hospital room, where the medic needed to patch up a wound on a patient.



She hit me against the wall several timesand knocked me to the floor, the nurse said. I was just doing my job.



The nurse was hospitalized and the attacker was detained on hooliganism charges, officials said.



In the southern city of Osh, police detained a man on suspicion of beating doctors at the regional hospital for psychiatry and narcology on February 4. The suspect allegedly targeted the doctors treating his brother, who was hospitalized a day before the attack, police said.



No reasons have been given for the attacks.



Baryktabasova said the violence is adding to the stress on underpaid and overworked Kyrgyz health-care workers in state-run medical facilities.



Most Kyrgyz who cant afford private health care have to deal with long lines and relatively mediocre-quality care in state hospitals, which often have a chronic shortage of staff and lack modern equipment. The health-care sector is also notorious for widespread bribery.



New Measures Introduced



Bakyt Tologanov, the head of the National Hospital, said it is taking measures to ensure the staffs safety following the attacks.



The hospital signed a contract with police to hire security personnel, he said. Also, panic buttons have been installed in all departments that allow the staff to alert security guards if they are in danger.



Doctors say the panic buttons are not enough to solve the problems as they dont prevent the attacks.



Besides, this button is functional only between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. I was attacked during the nightshift, Taalaibekova said.



Taalaibekovas attackers have not yet been brought to justice. Police had initially announced they had opened a probe into the attack. But they later told the doctor that the woman who beat her has fled to Russia and the case has been closed.

Written by Farangis Najibullah in Prague based on reporting by RFE/RLs Kyrgyz Service and Current Time.
BUCHAREST -- A seemingly mundane purchase by the Romanian military on January 16 for Chinese-made surveillance equipment could have far-reaching national-security implications.

For less than $1,000, a Romanian Defense Ministry employee ordered an eight-port switch and two surveillance cameras for the security network at a military base in the sleepy southern village of Deveselu that is home to NATO's Aegis Ashore, land-based, missile-defense system.

The cameras were made by Hikvision, a partly state-owned Chinese company with alleged links to the country's military whose equipment has been blacklisted by the United States and Britain due to data and security vulnerabilities.

While there's no evidence the cameras at Deveselu have resulted in any breaches, a monthslong investigation by RFE/RL's Romanian Service shows that surveillance equipment made by Hikvision and Dahua -- another company that is partly owned by the Chinese government -- is used by at least 28 military facilities in the country. The equipment is also used by hundreds of other public institutions involved in national security, ranging from the coast guard to sites operated by the intelligence service.

Unlike the United States, Britain, or some other NATO partners, there is no prohibition on the use of Hikvision or Dahua equipment in Romania and the country's Defense Ministry and other national-security institutions using the brands told RFE/RL they were on closed-circuit systems that do not have cloud or Internet connections and that strict security protocols are followed.

But experts say their use in Romania raises critical questions about national security and the potential compromise of sensitive information. Vulnerabilities in firmware could allow remote access, control of cameras, data interception, and network attacks by state and nonstate groups alike. While these concerns are not unique to Hikvision and Dahua, questions over how both companies store their data, their connections to the Chinese government, and a growing catalogue of security vulnerabilities make both companies higher-risk.

"There's still a risk, even if something isn't connected to the Internet," Conor Healy, the director of government research at IPVM, a surveillance-industry research firm, told RFE/RL. "There are examples of closed-camera systems being hacked through other systems connected to the Internet."

Hikvision and Dahua are among the world's leading providers for closed-circuit television and surveillance systems and their products remain popular across Europe. There are no EU restrictions against them, but the European Parliament has removed equipment manufactured by the company from its premises. Both companies have denied allegations that their Chinese state links make them a security risk and say they regularly patch any glitches that can lead to vulnerabilities.

Dahua did not respond to RFE/RL's request for comment, but Hikvision said the bulk of its devices are sold by third-party distributors and that it cannot access any of its cameras after they are sold to customers, and that the company has "a robust process to quickly address suspected vulnerabilities."

"Hikvision cameras comply with the laws and regulations applicable in Romania and the EU and are subject to strict security requirements," a Hikvision spokesperson told RFE/RL.

There is no specific prohibition in Romania against purchasing Hikvision or Dahua equipment, although politicians like Catalin Tenita, a Romanian parliament member and critic of the use of the companies by Romanian security services, says a legal basis for a ban already exists but has not been fully enforced.

Tenita told RFE/RL that existing legislation could "open up the possibility of eliminating offers that do not comply with established security standards," but that the government has decided not to apply this to Hikvision and Dahua, despite precedents set by partners such as the United States.

Eyes On Deveselu

The Romanian Defense Ministry said that due to the equipment being on closed systems that are not connected to the Internet, they can't be infiltrated from the outside and only operate on secure internal networks.

"All video-surveillance systems installed in military units, including the hardware part -- including video cameras and network and storage equipment, as well as the software applications through which they are operated -- go through strict testing, evaluation, and approval procedures," a ministry spokesperson told RFE/RL.

A spokesperson for the Deveselu Naval Facility, which is operated by U.S. forces responsible for the missile-defense system, told RFE/RL that it would be "inappropriate" to comment on Romanian military purchases but that they are "committed to a strong partnership" with their Romanian counterparts and will "continue to work together to support and promote security throughout the region and in NATO's collective defense."

In response to questions about concerns over the use of Hikvision and Dahua equipment at the Romanian base, a NATO official told RFE/RL that the military alliance followed "robust measures to ensure the security of our staff and facilities throughout the Euro-Atlantic area."

"We do not provide specific details on security infrastructure, but NATO continues to count on allies to ensure that products used at military sites do not pose a potential risk to security," the official said.

The alliance has not issued any formal ban on the use of third-country equipment, but NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned in September 2023 against the use of Chinese technology in critical infrastructure.

"We have seen the results of relying on Russia for our energy supply. We should not repeat this mistake by relying on China to provide the technology for our critical networks," he said.

While the Romanian Defense Ministry insists that keeping the equipment disconnected from the Internet will prevent any security risks, a similar situation was enough to help launch the ban against Hikvision in the United States.

As Hikvision first came under intense public scrutiny in the United States in early 2018, a military base in Missouri removed cameras on a closed network made by the company as a preventive measure.

A year later, U.S. lawmakers put Hikvision on a sanctions list, effectively blocking American companies from selling to it due to security concerns and human rights issues over its role in developing special technology to surveil and track Uyghurs and other minorities in China's Xinjiang Province.

The Lithuanian Defense Ministry scrutinized Hikvision and Dahua in 2021 and reported nearly 100 vulnerabilities in Hikvsion's firmware and concluded that the equipment posed "a chance [of] cyberattacks...or malicious code insertion [being] carried out."

No specific "direct cybersecurity vulnerabilities" were found in Dahua, the report concluded, but testing did show that cameras from the company periodically sent packets to servers in five different countries, including China.

Healy, the expert from IPVM, said that while keeping cameras on a closed network may provide extra security, "the extensive list of vulnerabilities" documented in Hikvision and Dahua makes them more susceptible to hacks by organized crime groups, nonstate actors, and groups associated with rival governments.

He notes that cameras disconnected from the Internet can still be accessed, as shown in an FBI report released in January that said it had shut down a China-backed hacking group called Volt Typhoon. The group was targeting critical infrastructure and, according to a report released by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, it was able to gain access to closed camera systems by hacking into a computer's operating system online and then being able to infiltrate into offline networks.

Dahua, Hikvision Spread In Romania

Romania is the EU's largest market for Hikvision equipment, but neither Hikvision nor Dahua directly participate in public procurements. Instead, local security firms act as intermediaries, acquiring and redistributing these technologies to the country's public institutions.

RFE/RL's investigation shows the companies' equipment in prevalent use across both national and local levels by Romanian police, the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, the border police, and the country's gendarmerie, which is tasked with high-risk and specialized law enforcement duties.

Procurement records seen by RFE/RL also show that Hikvision and Dahua equipment is ubiquitous in courts, town halls, and universities across Romania, as well as at the national parliament in Bucharest.

Romanian police, the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, the border police, and the gendarmerie all told RFE/RL that their Hikvision and Dahua equipment was purchased legally on the basis of national legislation on public procurement and that it "fully meets the required technical specifications."

The institutions added that equipment from the two Chinese firms was not connected to the Internet or computer programs and cloud networks provided by Hikvision or Dahua.

RFE/RL also found that the Romanian Intelligence Service's headquarters in the northeastern city of Iasi, near the border with Moldova, also uses Hikvision and Dahua equipment.

"The video-surveillance systems at the level of our institution are part of a larger system that is protected, secured on a closed-circuit network, and is permanently subject to technical risk analyses that ensure an optimal degree of operational security and prevent risks to any stored data," a Romanian Intelligence Service spokesman told RFE/RL.

Marian Ghenescu, a video-systems specialist and security-systems engineer at Softrust Vision Analytics, a Romanian company specializing in the security of video-surveillance systems, told RFE/RL that keeping networks offline and regularly conducting cybersecurity maintenance can limit any possible vulnerabilities. He says that in Romania, Hikvison and Dahua are often chosen because they are the most affordable option available for budget-conscious local institutions and may not always be installed with the maximum security settings in place.

Alexandru Anghelus, a cybersecurity expert and founder of the consultancy Pro Defense, told RFE/RL that all surveillance equipment is subject to security risks, not just Chinese brands. He adds that Hikvision and Dahua's history of vulnerabilities could warrant additional scrutiny, pointing to a Hikvision security glitch in 2021 that is believed to have affected more than 100 million cameras globally.

In the meantime, some Romanian lawmakers are calling for further investigation.

Adrian Trifan, a senator who serves as the deputy chairman of the Communications, Information Technology, and Artificial Intelligence Committee, says that he wants the cameras removed from parliament and wants to know why Hikvision and Dahua equipment is being used so prevalently at national-security sites.

"It's a serious situation that should be clarified immediately by the relevant institutions," he told RFE/RL. "And it still needs to be clarified how these purchases passed the [Romanian Supreme Council of National Defense's] screening procedures."
Members of the LGBT community demonstrated in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, on March 6 following reports of police abuse. Activists say two LGBT individuals were subjected to abuse, torture, and sexual harassment during a police search of their apartment on February 26, and accused officials of delaying taking action. Police said they were investigating the incident.


Viewed of

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
High Court reporters

The Supreme Court has reserved judgment in two women's appeal against the High Court's refusal to halting their prosecution for allegedly refusing to quarantine at a hotel during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 following their return to Ireland from a holiday in Dubai.

Niamh Mulreany (27) and Kirstie McGrath (32) have challenged the delegation of certain powers to the Minister for Health who during the pandemic had required persons coming from certain states to undergo mandatory quarantine on their arrival into this jurisdiction.

Last year Ms Justice Marguerite Bolger dismissed the two women's application for orders preventing their proposed prosecution before the District Court, for alleged breaches of measures introduced during the pandemic from proceeding.

The two successfully appealed that decision directly to the Supreme Court.

Following the conclusion of submissions before the Supreme Court on Thursday, the Chief Justice Mr Donal O'Donnell said the court was reserving judgement, and would give judgment at a later date.

The two were arrested at Dublin Airport on Good Friday, April 2nd 2021 on their return from the UAE, where they claim they had intended, but ultimately did not to undergo cosmetic surgery.

At the time, they and most other passengers arriving from certain designated countries, which had included the UAE, were required to undergo mandatory quarantine at a hotel for up to 14 days. The measures were introduced to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Both women refused to go to the hotel claiming that they could not afford the cost of stay, estimated at over 1,800 each, and that they needed to get back to their children.

They claimed they had only had child-minding arrangements in place for the time they were away.

Following their refusals to quarantine, both were charged with breaches of the 1947 Health Act, and if convicted face fines of up to 2,000 and a period of several months' imprisonment.

They claim the charges against them are unconstitutional and they launched judicial review proceedings against the DPP, represented by Kate Egan Bl, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Health, Ireland and the Attorney General, represented by Michael Cush SC and Katherine Donnelly SC.

The respondents all oppose the appeal and argue that the High Court's decision should remain undisturbed.

Opening the appeal John Fitzgerald SC, appearing with Mark Lynam SC and Keith Spencer Bl for the applicants said the case was not about the concept of the measures of having to quarantine at a hotel but was about the "manner in which the measures were introduced and implemented by the respondents.

The two claim the Minister for Health's designation of certain states, as places from where persons who travel to Ireland had to undergo mandatory periods of quarantine, breached the separation of powers, the principle of law and was unconstitutional.

The measures should have been introduced by way of legislation and not by way of a Ministerial order.

They also allege that there was a lack of a legally permissible appeals process for those who were undergoing the mandatory quarantine.

As part of the appeal, the Supreme Court, comprised of the Chief Justice, Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne, Justice Brian Murray, Mr Justice Maurice Collins and Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly have been asked to determine several questions.

The questions include if Article 40.4 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to liberty, cures any constitutional defects in the regime being challenged, or if the pandemic justified the measures adopted by the Minister for Health.

The court has also been asked if it is permissible under the Irish Constitution for the Oireachtas to delegate certain powers allowing the Minister for Health to make regulations.

It has further been asked to consider the constitutionality of the appeals process contained in the quarantine requirements.

In its ruling last year, the High Court found that the measures clearly provided for the designation of states for mandatory quarantine to be done by way of a decision made by the Minister for Health.

This power was not intended to be done by regulations, the lower court held.

The Oireachtas determined that it was in the public interest for the Minister to be able to designate persons coming into the country from a particular state for mandatory hotel quarantine, the High Court also found.

The applicants also claim that the appeal process was unconstitutional or that Article 37 of the Constitution had been breached, were also rejected by the High Court.

In March 2021 the two friends travelled to Dubai to celebrate "landmark birthdays" that had been paid for by their relatives and friends.

Ms McGrath of St Anthony's Road, Rialto Dublin 7 and Ms Mulreany Scarlett Row, Essex Street West, Dublin 2 had intended to undergo cosmetic surgery procedures in the UAE, but ultimately did not go through with the planned procedures.

While abroad, the State introduced quarantine requirements for persons entering the state from countries including the UAE.

Despite testing negative for the virus when they returned, they refused to quarantine.

They were arrested and charged with breaching Section 38 of the Health (Amendment) Act 2021 due to their refusal to go the designated hotel.

They were granted bail by the District Court the day after their arrest but were unable to take it up because they could not afford it.

They were detained at Mountjoy women's prison, before being released from prison following a High Court hearing and were taken to a hotel where they remained in quarantine for several more days.

At the hotel they engaged in the States appeal process, which were unsuccessful.
A public meeting is set to take place in Ballaghaderreen next week to discuss plans to install 47 modular homes in the town to house 206 Ukrainian refugees.

Organised by a group called Ballaghaderreen Concerned Citizens, the meeting will be held in Spells Bar next Wednesday evening, March 13th.

As revealed by the Roscommon Herald, the 47 units are being planned to cater for 206 persons in the Little Oaks area of the town, located near a nursing home. These homes comprise 18 three-bed units and 29 two-bed units.

The Ballaghaderreen site is one of four sites in the county which are being earmarked for modular homes. Two of the sites have been identified in Roscommon Town where a total of 70 units are proposed to house 280 Ukrainian refugees.

In Boyle, there are plans to accommodate 200 Ukrainian refugees in 50 four-bed units to the rear of housing at Greatmeadow.

The Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), on behalf of the Department of Integration, provided the proposals recently to Roscommon County Council.

Spokespersons for the Department of Integration and Roscommon County Council have already confirmed that the Department had asked for the input of the council on expressions of interest received from private service providers relating to three sites in Roscommon Town, Ballaghaderreen and Boyle.

The expressions of interest include the provision of a site, modular homes and full operation and maintenance of the development.

The LGMA are now seeking feedback on the plans from the local authority.
Farmers Protest 2024 Punjab and Haryana High Court on Shubkaran Singh Death

Punjab and Haryana High Court on Shubkaran Singh Death

Farmers Protest 2024, Punjab and Haryana High Court on Shubkaran Singh Death: In a major development, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday stated that the investigation of Shubhkaran Singh's death cannot be given to the Punjab and Haryana. It may be recalled that Shubhkaran Singh had succumbed to the injuries that he sustained during the clash with police at the Khanauri border.

Punjab and Haryana High Court said that the investigation on death cannot be given to Haryana or Punjab for obvious reasons, hence a retired High Court judge will be appointed, who will be assisted by two retired officers of the rank of ADGP from Punjab and Haryana.

Advertisement

Here's what happened during the Punjab and Haryana High Court hearing on farmers' protest:

ACJ: Haryana, you will have to justify, how can you open fire on protestors? Did you lathi chargi?

Haryana- Yes, my lord. Lathi charge was also done

Advertisement

CJ asked Haryana: What kind of bulletes are you using? You will have to seek instructions on what kind of weapon and bullets are being used on protestors.

Haryana: Death took place in Jind District (Haryana) Punjab registered zero FIR then handed over the matter to Haryana but we did not receive any post-mortem report yet. We have requested Punjab to handover the complete documents SIT will be constituted.

ACJ addresses Punjab: This is the case of death, why is there so much of delay?

Advertisement

ACJ: When was internet suspended in Haryana. Haryana gives details.

Petitioner: The whole transaction which led to death have to be seen. The deceased received injuries in Punjab, then died in Haryana. Punjab Police will not lose jurisdiction in that case. How can Haryana have jurisdiction?

Petitioner Uday Pratap Singh: Ambala police has made a video stating that passport of protesters will be seized This is infringement of FR and law laid down in Maneka Gandhi case. Status report may be sought from State.

Advertisement

ACJ to Punjab: How did you come to the decision that FIR on death is zero FIR? Tell us what stopped you from investigation?

ACJ: Your affidavit is vague.

ACJ asked Haryana: Please refer where have you stated that you gave warning?

Haryana: Refers to affidavit

ACJ: Tell us when firing took place?

Haryana: Refers to affidavit

ACJ: Are you saying you never opened fire?

Haryana refers to affidavit "Situation turned so violent Police force have to use water canon, lathi charge, pellet, rubber bullet 15 policemen got injured.

ACJ: You are referring to another incident this took place at a different place.

Haryana: We have constituted SIT. Let them (Punjab) hand over the documents today, we will file report as soon as possible.

After this, the High Court announced a retired High Court judge will be appointed, who will be assisted by two retired officers of the rank of ADGP from Punjab and Haryana to investigate Shubhkaran Singh's death.
UP To Become First State Setting Up Cyber Police Stations In Each Of It's Districts?

Uttar Pradesh is becoming the first state to set up cyber crime police stations in each of its districts

Claim

The office of Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath shared information on 29 February 2024 through its social media handle that Uttar Pradesh is becoming the first state to set up cyber crime police stations in each of its districts.

Advertisement

CM Yogi's office "CM Office, GoUP" tweeted on X on 29 February 2024 claiming that Uttar Pradesh is becoming the first state to set up cyber crime police stations in each of its districts. The tweet read, "UP is leading the way in cyber security! Uttar Pradesh is the first state in India with cyber police stations in all 75 districts, and every police station has a dedicated cyber cell. Over 1.6 lakh new police personnel have been recruited & 1.5 lakh+ received well-deserved promotions under the #UPCM @myogiadityanth's government."

UP is leading the way in cyber security!



Uttar Pradesh is the first state in India with cyber police stations in all 75 districts, and every police station has a dedicated cyber cell.



Over 1.6 lakh new police personnel have been recruited & 1.5 lakh+ received well-deserved pic.twitter.com/GlDxbQl6FZ  CM Office, GoUP (@CMOfficeUP) February 29, 2024

Advertisement

Rozana Spokesman has found the viral claim to be misleading in its investigation. UP will not become the first state to create cyber police stations in every district, before Uttar Pradesh, State of Haryana, Maharashtra and Bihar have created cyber police stations in each of its districts.

Verification

Advertisement

Starting the investigation, we first searched keywords on the matter.

Before Uttar Pradesh, State of Bihar, Maharashtra and Haryana had set up cyber police stations in each of its districts. According to an Indian Express report published on 3 November 2016, Maharashtra has become the first state in the country to open cyber police stations in each of its districts. While sharing the news, the media outlet wrote the headline, "Maharashtra first to launch cyber police stations in all districts"

Indian Express

Advertisement

Similarly, according to the news of Times Now dated June 25, 2022, Haryana is going to open cyber police stations in each of its districts.

Times Now

Moreover, according to the Times of India article published on June 10, 2023, the state of Bihar has opened 44 cyber police stations in its 38 districts.

Times Of India

Hence, it is clear that Uttar Pradesh is not becoming the first state to set up cyber police stations in each of its districts.

"First cyber police station in the country was opened in Bengaluru, Karnataka in 2001."

Conclusion

Rozana Spokesman has found the viral claim to be misleading in its investigation. UP will not become the first state to create cyber police stations in every district, before Uttar Pradesh, State of Haryana, Maharashtra and Bihar have created cyber police stations in each of its districts.

Our Sources:

News Article Of Times Now Dated 25 June 2022

News Article Of Times Of India Dated- 10 June 2023

News Article Of Indian Express Dated-3 November 2016

Came Across Any Suspicious News? Send it to us and we will Fact Check it... WhatsApp us on "9560527702" or E-mail us on "factcheck@rozanaspokesman.com"
President Joe Biden will deliver his third State of the Union address Thursday, which will also be the last one of his current presidency.

The President is scheduled to address both chambers of the Congress at 9 PM ET.

With the presidential election just eight months away, the Democratic nominee will lay out the achievements that his administration has delivered on for the American people and his vision for the future.

"Fundamentally, the President will outline an agenda that is about continuing to build on the progress that we've made over the last three years," according to the White House.

"He will talk about whose side he is on and his plan to improve the lives of all Americans. That includes lowering costs for Americans and giving people more breathing room, lowering healthcare premiums and taking on Big Pharma to lower the cost of prescription drugs, making the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share in taxes, saving our democracy and protecting our democratic institutions, protecting women's reproductive in the face of relentless attacks from Republican elected officials, making progress on his Unity Agenda, ending cancer as we know it, delivering on the sacred obligation to veterans, tackling the mental health crisis, and beating the opioid and overdose pandemic," Biden's Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

The State of the Union comes at a time Biden's popularity is low in polls, facing criticism from within the Democrat party as well as from his potential rival Donald Trump and the Republican opposition.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
A Chinese software engineer has been arrested for theft of Artificial Intelligence -related trade secrets from Google.

A federal grand jury indicted Linwei Ding and charged him with four counts of theft of trade secrets while secretly working for two Chinese technology companies.

This was announced by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland while participating in a "Fireside Chat" at the American Bar Association's 39th National Institute on White Collar Crime in San Francisco.

According to the indictment, Ding transferred sensitive Google trade secrets and other confidential information from the search engine giant's network to his personal account while secretly affiliating himself with China-based companies in the AI industry.

Ding, a resident of Newark, California, was arrested Wednesday in Newark.

According to the indictment, Ding stole from Google more than 500 confidential files containing AI trade secrets.

The technology Ding allegedly stole the building blocks of Google's advanced supercomputing data centers, which are designed to support machine learning workloads used to train and host large AI models.

The 38-year-old professional joined Google in 2019 and his responsibilities included developing this software.

Even while he was an employee of Google, Ding had founded his own technology company in the AI and machine learning industry and was acting as the company's CEO.

If convicted, Ding faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
The US military said it attacked two drones in Yemen that threatened merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the Red Sea.

"At approximately 7:14 p.m. (Sanaa Time), United States Central Command conducted self-defense strikes against two unmanned aerial vehicles in a Houthi controlled area of Yemen that presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region," the US Central Command said in a statement Wednesday.

"These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy and merchant vessels," it added.

It came within hours of a deadly Houthi attack on a commercial ship near Yemen.

"At approximately 11:30 a.m. (Sanaa time) Mar. 6, an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) was launched from Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist-controlled areas of Yemen toward M/V True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier, while transiting the Gulf of Aden," CENTCOM said in a statement.

"The missile struck the vessel, and the multinational crew reports three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition, and significant damage to the ship."

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Both Ford Ranger pickup pruck spotted and Ford Everest were on the back of a flat bed truck without any camouflage to hide their identity

In a rather interesting turn of events, Ford has been hauling a few vehicles undisguised towards its plant in Chennai. Earlier this day, we covered Ford Everest (Endeavour) spotted on a flat bed truck around Chennai. As it turned out, there was another vehicle behind it on a separate flat bed truck  Ford Ranger pickup truck.

Ford Ranger Pickup Truck Spotted

Globally, Ford has seen massive success with pickup trucks and large SUVs along with hybrid and electric vehicles. The same strategy could be implemented in India. We would wager a compact SUV with hybrid electric powertrain bearing EcoSport name, Mustang EV and then Ford Endeavour (rebranded Ford Everest) and Ranger Pickup truck.

This is where the recent revelations from Chennai revolving around Ford come into play. Earlier in the day, we covered Ford Everest being towed on a flat bed truck. There was no camouflage on this SUV and it almost looked like Ford was taking it to their facility to start powertrain feasibility testing with this unit.

However, there was a second vehicle that Ford was transporting behind Everest SUV. This is Ford Ranger pickup truck that is currently very popular in markets like Europe and Australia. Just like Everest SUV, Ford Ranger pickup truck was completely naked too, without any camouflage.

If launched in India, Ford Everest will take on Endeavours arch nemesis, Toyota Fortuner, along with MG Gloster and Isuzu MU-X. Mahindra used to be active in this race too, with Alturas G4, which is now discontinued. While Ranger has to face Toyota Hilux and Isuzu V-Cross along with upcoming Mahindra Scorpio pickup truck.

Specs and powertrains

It would make the most logical sense for Ford to manufacture both Everest (Endeavour) and Ranger in India. Both these brutes are based on the same T6 ladder-on-frame platform. While Everest is close to 5m in length and in SUV design, Ranger is close to 5.4m in length in mid-size pickup truck design.

If launched in India, a 2.0L diesel with either a single turbo or twin turbo setup between both vehicles is highly likely. Power will be between 180 bhp and 210 bhp and torque will be between 420 Nm and 500 Nm, depending on configs. Ford could begin feasibility testing for Indian market with these imported units.

Will Ford spring back to India?

Automotive juggernaut, Ford, is contemplating its decision where it stopped manufacturing presence in the Asian subcontinent. The company sold its Sanand plant to Tata Motors, a transaction that sailed smoothly. However, Fords Chennai plant deal was on the last stages with JSW Group.

While it was considered a done deal, Ford withdrew from the dialogues and retained the Chennai plant for itself. Hence sparking an ocean of speculations to flood through the gates. Rumours suggest people in the know-how at Ford India revealed that the company could implement its global strategy in India with large SUVs, pickup trucks, hybrids and EVs.
Hyundai India Drive4Progress, will offer the full gamut of training, practical driving lessons, assistance in license processing and employment to 250 women drivers

Hyundai India has announced another round of its Drive4Progress initiative. This time round, the drive is being conducted to facilitate employment to 250 women drivers in the Delhi NCR region. This drive is being held in association with Navjyoti NGO and BluStart under Hyundai Motor India Foundation (HMIF) and is a part of the companys CSR initiative in offering employment specifically to women drivers in the region.

These selected participants which will be offered both training and later on employment opportunities while it will also ensure soft skill training, practical driving lessons and on the job experience along with assistance in license processing.

HMIF Drive4Progress Initiative  MOU Signed

The MoU was signed in the presence of Mr. Anirudh Arun, Co-Founder and CEO  BluSmart Fleet and Mr. Gurusharan Khurana, President  Navjyoti Transforming Lives and Careers Society NGO, in the presence of Mr. Puneet Anand, AVP and Vertical Head, Corporate Affairs, Hyundai Motor India and Mr. Soon Sang Hong, Domain Advisor, Corporate Affairs, Hyundai Motor India.

It is a part of the companys initiative in empowering women drivers and equipping them with the necessary skills and support in ensuring a better standard of living and improved means of livelihood. This initiative will at the same time promote gender equality in what is otherwise seen as a male dominated segment.

HMIFs social initiative Drive4Progress, was introduced in October 2023. It aims to equip over 1,500 youth, out of which 30% will be women, with driver skills across regions of Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal, over next 3 years and driving training will be conducted in local languages.

Along with BluSmart a ride hailing service in India and Navjyoti NGO, this initiative will offer opportunities to those from Below Poverty Line (BPL) communities equipping them with all the skills necessary to secure employment in the transportation sector.

Key Aspects of Drive4Progress

In a bid to move towards creating an Atmanirbhar Bharat, HMIF along with BluSmart and Navjyoti NGO will focus on imparting training and skills to women drivers. It will ensure a safe working environment at the same time facilitate wage based employment for women. The program will be conducted over a period of 45 days training in which 250 women drivers will acquire all the skills necessary for being a competent driver. It will promote both gender equality and economic empowerment.

Those successfully completing the course and training will be given certificates from National Skill Development Corporation. HMIF along with Navjyot will ensure that all students receive permanent driving licenses which will then assist them in gaining lucrative employment.
Ford is reportedly getting ready to launch their cars in India  Ahead of that, new gen Endeavour has now been spied undisguised in Chennai

Following its withdrawal from Indian markets in 2021, Ford is rumoured to re-start operations in India with the new gen Ford Endeavour. Ford has also cancelled plans to sell its manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu to the JSW Group.

New Ford Endeavour Spied in India

The new Ford Endeavour, currently on sale in Thailand as the Everest, will make a comeback into India wherein it will once again be seen as a strong competitor to the Toyota Fortune and MG Gloster. Now, first spy shots of the new Ford Endeavour have emerged online, thanks to automotive enthusiast Osborn Daniel.

Latest spy shots show the new Ford Endeavour on a tow truck in Chennai. It is completely undisguised, and we can clearly see the Ford Everest branding. It is likely that the said unit of Endeavour is heading to Ford India plant in Chennai.

There are however speculations on whether the Endeavour will be assembled at the companys Chennai plant or if it will be imported as a fully built up unit. Though, if it is the latter, it will have a direct bearing on its cost which would cause top spec variants to be priced upwards of Rs 60 lakh (on-road). Ford could also be planning export of the new Endeavour from this Tamil Nadu plant which is spread over an area of 350 acres and has the capacity to produce 1.5 lakh cars and 3.4 lakh engines per annum.

Ford Endeavour Designs Highlights

The new gen Ford Endeavour, like its earlier counterpart, is based on the Ranger pick-up platform with a ladder-frame architecture. It will also borrow some design elements from the Ranger along with its engine lineup. The exteriors will see a large front grille, Matrix LED headlamps, C shaped DRLs, L shaped tail lamps and revised bumpers and tail gate. The Endeavour will ride on large 21 inch alloy wheels.

The cabin will be in a three row layout with a large panoramic sunroof. It will sport a 12 inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, wireless phone charging, 12.4 inch digital driver display units and a 3 spoke leather encased steering wheel.

Safety will be via a 360 degree camera, 9 airbags and ADAS. It is fitted with advanced safety equipment among which are pre-collision assist, intersection assist, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control and hands-free parking, etc.

Ford Endeavour Powertrain and Transmission Options

The global variant of the Endeavour, known as the Everest is powered by a 2.0 liter singe turbo diesel that makes 170 hp power and 405 Nm torque mated to a 6 speed automatic transmission with SelectShift. It also draws power via a 2.0 liter bi-turbo diesel engine that offers 210 hp power and 500 Nm torque mated to a 10 speed automatic with SelectShift. The Endeavour also receives upto 6 drive modes depending on variant and offered in 42 and 44 options.
Rex and Connie Kennemer hold a photo of their 25-year-old son, Todd, at their home in Rancho Bernardo. The couple run a mental health support organization in memory of their son, who committed suicide in 2005.

Before he took his own life in 2005, Todd Kennemer surrounded himself with grace. The 25-year-old musician and artist created a small stencil of the word and spray-painted it on the sidewalks near his favorite places, so wherever he went in his daily travels hed always walk in grace.

Today, his parents  Rex and Connie Kennemer of Rancho Bernardo  are spreading Todds grace in their own way. Through their nonprofit Community Alliance for Healthy Minds, the couple help people with mental illness as well as their family and caregivers to find the strength, services and support to help them heal.

This Saturday at Cal State San Marcos, CAHM will host its 11th annual Forum for Healthy Minds. The free, all-day conference includes national speakers, targeted workshops and a resource fair. It is expected to draw more than 600 people.

Advertisement

______________________

Forum for Healthy Minds

When: 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14

Where: Cal State San Marcos, 333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Road, San Marcos

Admission: Free (includes free lunch with online registration)

Registration: cahmsd.org

_________________________________

This years workshops include discussions on thriving in college with mental illness, patient advocacy, caregiver self-compassion and managing mental illness with substance abuse disorders. There are also sessions on faith, grief, suicide prevention and surviving after suicide.

The Kennemers created the organization and conference to give participants the tools and resources that they lacked when Todd was diagnosed with bipolar disorder 11 months before his death. Connie said her ultimate goal is to make people feel less alone in sharing their story.

The greatest outcome for participants is to feel theres a safe community around them, she said. Im not educated in these things, Im just three steps ahead of them. They can hang on to my coattails and follow me.

For the fourth year in a row, the conference keynote speaker is Baltimore psychiatrist Dr. Mark Komrad, author of the bestselling book You Need Help!: A Step-by-Step Plan to Convince a Loved One to Get Counseling.

Komrad speaks at conferences nationwide about 30 times a year. The Forum for Healthy Minds is the only one he attends completely on his own dime.

He said he often prescribes conferences like this to patients because they provide excellent therapy, education and support. But the reason he keeps coming back to the Forum at his own expense isnt the content but the creators themselves. He said the Kennemers are like tribal healers in how they theyve turned their own suffering into a sort of healing magic.

Rex and Connie are like shamans, Komrad said. Theyve been to the darkest possible place that families can go, which is the loss of their only child. That gives them an air of authority and wisdom that they deploy with tremendous efficiency and authenticity. Its magnetic. Theyre the most unique people.

The Kennemers, who are both 65, fell in love while touring on a Christian music tour in 1974. They married later that year and have spent a career together working as music directors for various churches, first in Tucson, where Todd was born, and later in North County, where they moved 31 years ago.

Like his parents, Todd was musical from an early age. He played violin at age 7 and took up guitar in his teens. After graduating from Rancho Bernardo High School in 1998, he moved to Chicago to attend the Moody Bible Institute.

But not long after he started college, Todd was devastated by the death of his best friend in a car accident. Rex Kennemer said the unexpected tragedy seemed to shake something loose in Todd, who decided to withdraw from college and moved home to grieve.

Eventually, the clouds lifted. Todd formed a band with some local friends and he spent a year working with homeless youth in San Francisco. Then when he was 22, Todd and his band buddies moved to Seattle to pursue a music career.

About a year later, in August 2004, Todd began struggling with anxiety and depression. By that December, he suffered a psychotic break and was hospitalized. He was later diagnosed as bipolar.

The Kennemers brought Todd home to Rancho Bernardo to rest, but within a month he insisted on moving back to Seattle, where he lived alone, began self-medicating and descended into despair.

The Kennemers could see their son struggling and were desperate to help, but Todd wanted his independence and had a hard time accepting his illness.

A month before Todd died, Rex flew to Seattle to try to help him but he was shocked at the state his son was in. By that point, Todd was hearing voices and could barely answer yes/no questions.

On the morning of Nov. 17, 2005, Todd turned off his cellphone and wandered away from his work. Friends found his body later that afternoon in his apartment. He had hanged himself.

The Kennemers were devastated, but they were fortunate to have a strong support system at the church where they worked and worship, Pomerado Christian Church in Poway.

Rex said he walled off his grief and kept working for a month. Then, when the church insisted he take a four-month leave, he said he spent the time on the couch, staring out the window, crying and writing in a journal.

But Connie, a poet and songwriter with three albums of music to her credit, grieved more openly. Within months, she was onstage, sharing her familys story at a Moms in Prayer conference.

It empowered me because I knew I had to deal with it, to see how the questions had changed from why to what purpose and what now, she said. I could say to these women, this is where Im going now and this is what I still believe. 

At the same time, Connie was dealing with her own health crisis. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which has since withered her muscles to where she needs a wheelchair. She got a lot of support from friends after her diagnosis, which was in stark contrast to how her sons diagnosis was received.

It showed me the devastating power of stigma, she said. When it comes to mental health, even Todd couldnt address his own condition. I have MS and thats a very responsible disease. So was Todds, but you will bring a casserole to my house. Youre not going to bring one to Todds house.

Rex said his raw grieving broke after about seven months when he followed Connies lead and started sharing Todds story to others. The first time was on Fathers Day 2006.

Five hundred people heard me sob and read from my journal, but then I felt better, he said. It helps us honor Todds memory. The conversation doesnt open old wounds. It puts salve into the wounds.

Ten years ago, the Kennemers began facilitating a monthly grief group for Survivors of Suicide Loss (SOSL). And twice a year they take part in fundraising walks for SOSL and for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

In 2006, the Kennemers hosted their first event in Todds honor, an art and music event that raised money for mental health support. That led to the establishment of the Community Alliance for Healthy Minds and the annual Forum for Healthy Minds.

Rex describes helping others deal with loss as the sweet spot in their lives. He and Connie never plan to give it up.

Its all about how you bring people into the right neighborhood, she said. This neighborhood is the last place youd ever want to live, but well be there waiting for you, and Ill put the muffins on your doorstep.

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com
Pharmaceutical leader Cam Garner and his wife Wanda, a cancer workshop facilitator and philanthropic fundraiser, are longtime supporters of medical research and treatment efforts at Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health. Recently, the Rancho Santa Fe couple gave $2 million to establish the Garner Family Chancellors Endowed Chair in Blood and Marrow Transplant to support excellence in research, teaching and clinical care at UC San Diego Health in the field of blood cancers in general, and blood and marrow transplant (BMT) in particular.

Edward D. Ball, MD, director and chief of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at UC San Diego Health, has been selected as the inaugural chair holder. A board-certified hematologist and medical oncologist, he leads an interdisciplinary team of physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, social workers and support staff. He is also an investigator in clinical trials for blood cancers, offering innovative therapies rarely offered at other hospitals.

We thank Cam and Wanda for their long service and support of Moores Cancer Center, said Director Scott Lippman, MD. Dr. Ball embodies this named chair, with a wonderful fusion of humility, integrity and visionary leadership that is the Garner legacy. Ted is an exceptional physician-scientistcaring and compassionate, bringing a singular spectrum and breadth of expertise to patient care. His paradigm-changing research has led to practice-changing advances, launching a new field of immune-checkpoint blockade in the transplant setting.

The only National Cancer Institute-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the San Diego region, Moores Cancer Center includesall under one roof on the campus of the University of California San Diegoa diverse, dedicated cadre of clinicians and scientists focused on understanding and improving treatments of cancer.

(UC San Diego Health)

For Cam Garner, there are personal reasons why he gives his time and resources to Moores Cancer Center. My father was diagnosed with cancer when I was six years old and passed away when I was 17. In addition, I lost a sister and brother to cancer, both at an early age. My experience with family members being treated for cancer was that they all had to travel significant distances to seek world-class care. To say the least, this is very disruptive to the entire family and I believe it affects the outcome of those being treated.

UC San Diego Health has the scientific and clinical expertise to treat all cancers. We are working hard to see that no San Diegan would ever have to leave the region to receive the best cancer treatment, said Wanda Garner. We invest our time, our talent and our financial resources in Moores Cancer Center because of its vision and dedication to that vision.

As a cancer researcher more than 30 years, Ball understands firsthand the critical role private supports plays. The current climate of funding for federal and foundation grants is the most competitive ever, meaning that more talented scientists are competing for fewer dollars from the traditional sourcesand many are coming up short, he said. Private support is a crucial element to supplement and continue great scientific discovery.

A professor in the Department of Medicine, he studies all aspects of stem cell transplantation and has patented four of his cancer treatment innovations. Ball has published more than 250 journal articles and book chapters based on his basic and clinical research. He offers chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy to adults with certain cancers. CAR T-cell therapy harnesses the patients own immune cells to recognize and kill cancer cells, one of many types of personalized cancer therapies offered at UC San Diego Health.

Listed as one of Americas Top Doctors for the last 10 years, Ball is a past recipient of the Stohlman Award from the Leukemia Society of America and a past steering committee member of the prestigious BMT Clinical Trials Network. Prior to joining UC San Diego Health, he was director of the blood and marrow transplant program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute for seven years. Ball completed fellowships in hematology and oncology at The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland. He completed residency training at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut and earned his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland.

Cam Garner, a pharmaceutical executive with more than 40 years of experience in the health care industry, serves as chair of the Moores Cancer Center Board of Visitors. He was part of the senior management team that built Hybritech Inc. He served as CEO and chairman of Dura Pharmaceuticals from 1989 to 2000, when Elan Corp. acquired it for $1.8 billion. Since then, he has founded or co-founded numerous specialty pharmaceutical companies in San Diego, including Cadence Pharmaceuticals Inc., SkinMedica, Xcel Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Zavante Therapeutics, Inc., among others. A graduate of Virginia Wesleyan University, he earned an MBA at Baldwin-Wallace College.

A licensed marriage and family therapist, Wanda Garner closed her private practice three years ago to conduct workshops for couples using Hold Me Tight developed by Sue Johnson. For the last six years, she has offered workshops to cancer patients and their partners at Moores Cancer Center. The focus of these workshops is on the impact of cancer in a couples relationship and the importance of a safe, secure loving bond which confers multiple benefits to the patient and caregiver. She is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a MS in rehabilitation counseling and United States International University (now Alliant International University) with an MA in marriage and family therapy.

The couple passionately believes that cancer can be conquered through cutting edge research, personalized treatment and care. The members of the Moores Cancer Center team are dedicated, driven, persistent, compassionate, caring and are outstanding in their careers, said Wanda Garner. I hope in my childrens and certainly my grandchildrens lifetime, cancer will be nearly wiped out.
Will TikTok be banned?

A key House committee voted unanimously Thursday to advance bipartisan legislation that would force Chinas ByteDance to sell off TikTok or face a ban in the United States.

Before the 50-0 vote in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, lawmakers received a classified briefing on national security concerns raised by TikTok's Chinese ownership.

The legislation is widely seen as the most potent threat yet to the wildly popular app that is used by 170 million Americans.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Thursday that he supported the bill. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said he would send the bill to the House floor. If the full House approves the legislation, it will go to the Senate.

Why is the government trying to ban TikTok?

The White House also has thrown its support behind the bill, which was introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Tuesday. That further raises the political heat on TikTok.

ADVERTISEMENT

"This bill is important. We welcome this step," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

This illustration photograph taken on October 30, 2023, shows the logo of TikTok, a short-form video hosting service owned by ByteDance, on a smartphone in Mulhouse, eastern France. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP) (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images)

TikTok campaigns to stop proposed ban

TikTok, which denies it shares data about its U.S. users with Beijing, launched a campaign Thursday warning that the app was at risk of being shut down in the U.S.

Angry TikTok users flooded lawmakers with phone calls, urging them not to support the bill. Some users said on the social media platform X that they were unable to use the app unless they placed a call to Congress.

"This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States, the company said in a statement. The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression. This will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.

The legislation faces a long road ahead. Some lawmakers have raised constitutional questions. Other legislative efforts to rein in TikTok have stalled, including last years RESTRICT Act.

A federal judge blocked a statewide ban in Montana in November, saying it violated the free speech rights of users.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is TikTok being shut down? Congress gets calls over possible US ban
FILES-CANADA-POLITICS-FUNERAL-MULRONEY

In his 2007 memoirs, Brian Mulroney writes of Maurice Duplessis, Quebec premier in the 1940s and 50s, that he was: as has been said of Lyndon Johnson  a man reeking of human juices.  The phrase is journalist David Halberstams. Mulroney got it from the LBJ biography by the presidents aide, Jack Valenti. It seems like a comment on the two leaders hygiene but it refers to their complex, driven natures and their deep understanding of people. I wonder if, as he wrote that passage, Mulroney thought it might also apply to himself.

Ive always seen Mulroney as being a little like LBJ. Humble background. Compulsive ambition. Lifelong devotion to politics. Unprecedented electoral success, for Johnson in 1964 and Mulroney in 1984. Constant self-measuring against a glittering predecessor, John Kennedy in Johnsons case, Pierre Trudeau in Mulroneys. Commanding personal warmth and presence that transmitted poorly on television, in fact often gave the impression of insincerity on television. And, of course, an important and impressive list of accomplishments in a relatively short time: Johnson just five years, Mulroney nine.

There was never any doubt that Lyndon Johnson was a New Deal Democrat and that, although he served the Texas oil industry as a congressman and senator, the avalanche of Great Society programs he and his more than two-to-one congressional majority let loose on America from 1964 to 1968 reflected his deep personal conviction that the United States government had a moral obligation to wage a war on poverty, as he called it. Valenti says Johnson would have regarded his major achievements as, first, civil rights but then rural electrification, especially in the dirt-poor hill country of Texas.

ADVERTISEMENT

By contrast, even in his memoirs you sense that Brian Mulroney came to strong policy preferences only later in life. His early career was as a labour lawyer, bringing disputing parties together  which he apparently was quite brilliant at doing  and hammering out agreements, an approach he tried on constitutional issues as prime minister, though with less success. Conciliation is an honourable enterprise. But your goal is common ground, not a promised land.

Story continues

Even on his signature achievement, Canada-U.S. free trade, it was not Mulroney but Newfoundlands John Crosbie who proposed it in the 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership race. Mulroney explains in his memoirs why, for tactical reasons, he had to be opposed. But did his opposition have to be so enthusiastic? Now theres a real honey  free trade with the Americans  (T)heyre going to crank up the plants in Georgia and North Carolina and Ohio and theyre going to be shutting them down here.

Just two years later, however, with anti-Japanese protectionism on the rise in the U.S., and after the Macdonald Commission had cleared the way for him, he told the House of Commons there was now a general consensus that we must seek to secure and improve our trade with the United States. To shrink from this challenge and opportunity would be an act of timidity unworthy of Canada. Yes, timidity. Three years after that he won the election that cinched the deal.

Terence Corcoran wrote here yesterday about the choice that confronts Pierre Poilievre and the 21st-century Conservative party. One option is the Mulroney tradition of open markets, less regulation, private ownership, low tax rates applied on broad tax bases and, though he had less success on this file, fiscal responsibility. I think of it as the Big Canada basket of policies, fit for an untimid country confident it can compete in the world.

Opposed to it are, though Corcoran didnt use this term, an elaborate array of Little Canada policies. We protect ourselves against foreign competition. We raise and maintain barriers to trade and investment. We use the tax system to direct investment to this industry, region or activity but not that. The government involves itself intimately in directing individual industries (e.g., batteries) and even companies (e.g., Volkswagen, Honda, Northvolt) and develops a strong vested interest in their success or failure. We descend into the swamp of crony capitalism, returning to the family compacts of our early days.

Little Canada policies are very popular at the moment. Just yesterday you may have seen a full-page ad telling the federal finance minister she needs to stop Canadian pension funds from directing their investments to wherever they think best for the people whose savings they have fiduciary responsibility for. Instead, because federal tax policy favours pensions, she should feel free to restrict part of these savings to a Canada whose actual and expected growth her governments policies have consistently eroded.

It would be unseemly to imply Brian Mulroney would have supported this or that view of appropriate pension policy in 2024. But the Big Canada policies he pursued in the 1980s  openness, lower and more neutral taxation, private enterprise, fiscal responsibility  are still the policies we should be pursuing today. No, they dont work for everyone. But they do work for Canada, and the wealth they generate can help those less benefited by them. Forty years on, they would still serve the country well. Todays Conservatives should choose Big Canada, not Little Canada.

Financial Post



Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Dont miss the business news you need to know  add financialpost.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.
Chilean director Cristobal Valenzuela Berrios first learned about the True/False Film Festival, home to documentaries each spring, while attending a festival in Japan a few years ago. He recalls seeing multiple filmmakers wearing beanies emblazoned with the logo of the doc-only event.

Upon asking what the T/F stood for, he was puzzled to learn that people were repping a gathering dedicated to nonfiction cinema on the other side of the world: Columbia, Missouri. Witnessing such devotion gave True/False something of a legendary status in his mind, placing it high up on the list of festivals he eagerly wanted to experience.

More from IndieWire

This year, Valenzuela Berrios finally made it to the small college town with a big appetite for true stories. There, he screened his latest fascinatingly offbeat doc Alien Island, about a famous UFO case in Chile with a bizarre connection to the Pinochet dictatorship.

The filmmakers who had come through here seemed enchanted by the mystique of the festival, he told IndieWire of the event, which just wrapped over the first weekend in March. I always wanted to come to see why people were so delighted.

Such was his desire to attend that, against his producers founded concerns, Valenzuela Berrios decided to make the long trip from Santiago for a couple of days despite being in production on his third feature back home. But what makes True/False so special?

Since 2004, the Ragtag Film Society has cultivated engaged local audiences, ranging from film-loving retirees to curious young adults on campus, that pack every screening throughout the four-day documentary celebration. Whether a challenging mid-length work from Madagascar (Gwetto) or a crowd-pleasing Norwegian tearjerker (Ibelin).

Story continues

Theres a sense of communal pride around the annual fest, which feels at once tight-knit in atmosphere, because every theater and party venue is within walking distance of the citys downtown area  and global in reach given that plenty of filmmakers and press fly in.

The first thing director Lance Oppenheim ever heard about True/False was that it hosts a carnival/procession known as the March March, which shuts down a few streets for people to congregate. Kids and adults from the community dress in colorful attire. I thought that was the most amazing and hilarious idea, a parade for documentary films, he said.

Spermworld

Oppenheim first attended the festival to present his debut feature, Some Kind of Heaven, in 2020, just days before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all in-person affairs for the foreseeable future. He returned this year for the world premiere of his eyebrow-raising follow-up Spermworld, about individuals involved in unregulated sperm donation.

Scheduled to debut on FX and Hulu on March 29, Spermworld enjoyed the big-screen treatment before it will enter the privacy of peoples homes and the scrutiny of social media users, sure to have strong opinions on the assortment of peculiar subjects. Oppenheim is thankful that the films first of likely few public showings happened at True/False.

Its a movie that requires a lot of conversations and in that sense I was so happy to play it there and had the large audience digest it, talk about it, and be challenged by it, he noted.

But what Oppenheim appreciates most about True/False is that, because the program is entirely comprised of nonfiction works, the distinct narrative modes of each film are appreciated. When documentaries are part of a larger festival landscape alongside fiction, he thinks, nuances get washed away, and all nonfiction is lumped under one generic label.

Whats frustrating about how some people perceive documentary is that they think of it as a genre unto itself. There are no subgenres when people talk about documentaries, he said. Whereas in the reality, its not a genre  its a medium of filmmaking, and there are so many different tones and approaches to storytelling within documentary.

Similarly, Valenzuela Berrios believes that when nonfiction has to share the stage with its counterpart at festivals, the latter inherently receives more attention.

It feels like the difference between literature and poetry. The ones who write novels are the rockstars and poets are more underground, he explained. Documentary is a bit like that, more underground. Fiction is often the star of the show, so having a specialized, niche space allows us in nonfiction to communicate with other people doing the same.

First-time director Rachel Elizabeth Seed recalled having some sleepless nights before she knew what festival would hold the world premiere of her debut A Photographic Memory, which tracks her efforts to get to know her late mother, who died when the director was an infant, through the journalistic work she left behind and the people who knew her.

A Photographic Memory / courtesy True/False

I was like, What if nobody responds to the film? she said. After working on this profoundly personal project for over a decade, she felt relieved that True/False shepherded the movie into the world. Her first public screening earned her a standing ovation from a packed audience.

One thing I heard is that its kind of a smaller festival, so you might have to work to bring attention to your film. That was a concern because I didnt want it to just go off into the atmosphere with nobody noticing the film, said Seed. But that hasnt been an issue.

The expectations of German-French filmmaker Sylvain Cruiziat were equally exceeded. Cruiziat admits he didnt know what to anticipate from an American festival that occurs not in a coastal city but in the middle of the country. His first directorial effort, Boyz, an endearing look at the friendship between three college-aged young men who challenge outdated masculinity, had its North American premiere at True/False to receptive crowds.

Whats beautiful is that there are only documentarians here, he said. You are here with fellow documentary filmmakers, and the appreciation for documentary is really felt throughout the whole festival, from the staff to the viewers.

Cruiziat was pleasantly surprised that the expressions of vulnerable male camaraderie that the guys in his movie display resonated with American viewers. A bigger victory, however, was that the humor also connected. It was interesting as a European to bring it to the U.S. and to see how the reaction was. I think people understood it, he said. The sarcasm and several jokes really landed here, but for example, in Amsterdam, they didnt work that well.

Seed loves a documentary that can make her laugh while immersing her in the experience of another human being. She believes social issue docs have turned overly didactic in recent years. I want to see weird stories about interesting people, she said. Thankfully, the eclectic curation at the festival makes it possible to discover those.

To me, it actually doesnt even really feel like a documentary festival just because there are so many different kinds of films that are programmed, Oppenheim added. At True/False it feels like youre experiencing a whole wide array of what nonfiction storytelling is today.

Best of IndieWire

Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Endangered red panda among 87 animals rescued from luggage at Thailand airport

Six Indian nationals were arrested at the Bangkok airport after an endangered red panda and 87 other exotic animals and birds were seized from their luggage in a major wildlife trafficking bust.

A red panda, two monkeys, 29 lizards, 21 snakes, and rare birds, including a parrot, and a Sulawesi bear cuscus  a type of rare marsupial native to Indonesia  were seized by customs agents at Suvarnabhumi Airport, officials said on Wednesday.

Thai customs officials made the shocking discovery after finding their luggage suspicious during the security check at the airport on Monday, according to Thailands Customs Department.

Authorities said five men and a woman were arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle animals out of the country to Mumbai.

"We have found out that the animals include 29 black throat monitor lizards, 21 snakes, 15 birds, including parrots  a total of 87 animals. The animals were hidden inside the luggage," the department said in a statement.

Pictures showed at least eight suitcases in which animals were trapped in baskets and cloth bags.

Six Indian nationals were arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport for attempting to smuggle 87 animals to Mumbai, which included snakes and a red panda, Thai Customs reported.



Five males and one female were apprehended while attempting to load luggage full of animals.



The animals pic.twitter.com/9bjyYLtaH7  Thai Enquirer (@ThaiEnquirer) March 6, 2024

A red panda, which has been classified as an endangered species because of loss of habitat and hunting, was seen peeking through the basket as officials opened the seized items for inspection.

A parrot was found shut inside a plastic container, and snakes were coiled together in cloth bags.

A parrot that was rescued after being found in the luggage of a group of Indian nationals attempting to travel to Mumbai, at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok (Thailand's Customs Department/AF)

All animals found are protected under a multilateral treaty called CITES for the protection and conservation of endangered animals and plants from illegal smuggling.

Story continues

The illicit menagerie included one tigerfish, two red-eyed squirrels, a frog, two bats, cotton-top tamarins, and dozens of chameleons.

The Indian nationals face a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail.

An endangered cotton-top tamarin monkey found in the luggage (Thailand's Customs Department/AF)

A Sulawesi bear cuscus that was rescued after being found in the luggage of a group of Indian nationals attempting to travel to Mumbai, at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok (Thailand's Customs Department/AF)

Thailand is a major transit hub for illegal wildlife smuggling due to its geographical location and well-connected transportation networks.

The animals are sold illegally in China and Vietnam, while India is emerging as a growing market. To counter the major challenge, Thailand has been cracking down on illegal trade and even launched a dedicated Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit last year.
IAB Europes online advertising model uses personal data and is therefore subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the EUs highest court in Luxembourg clarified today (7 March).

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling comes after IAB Europe contested a decision by the Belgian Data Protection Authority in 2022, which said its advertising real time bidding model is not in line with the Unions privacy rules. The Belgian Court of Appeal then asked for clarification on the matter in Luxembourg.

IAB Europe, an association representing digital advertising and marketing companies, created a system in which brokers and platforms can bid for advertising space based on website users profiles in real time. It encodes users preferences for the bidder to know what the user consented to, and places a cookie on the users device.

The Belgian privacy watchdog said however that IAB Europe failed to give users precise information on the use of their data, and ordered the business to establish a legal basis for data processing as well as to strictly vet organisations that use its real time bidding system in order to ensure that they meet the requirements of the GDPR. It also ordered the company to pay a 250,000 fine.

The ECJ said today that IABs model contains information concerning an identifiable user and therefore constitutes personal data within the meaning of the GDPR.

Where the information contained in a Transparency and Consent String is associated with an identifier, such as, inter alia, the IP address of the users device, that information may make it possible to create a profile of that user and to identify him or her, the statement said.

The ECJs clarification means that the case is referred back to the Belgian Court of Appeals.

Cookies

The judgment comes as the European Commission aims to present a so-called Cookie Pledge at its Consumer Summit in April. This voluntary pledge would ensure that users receive concrete information on how their data is processed, as well as on the consequences of accepting different types of cookies. Users would therefore have greater control over the processing of their data.

Story continues

The next review of the GDPR, which entered into force in 2018, is expected mid-2024. The commission last year also proposed a new law to improve cross border cooperation between data protection authorities. New rules to ensure stronger enforcement of the GDPR (europa.eu)

The highest fine for non-compliance with the GDPR to date was issued in Ireland; in 2023 the Irish data protection authority ordered Meta to pay a 1.2bn fine for transferring data collected from Facebook users in the EU to the US. Meta appealed.

Subscribe here to stay informed on the latest EU policy developments with our weekly newsletter, The Policy Briefing. Your weekly insight on European rulemaking, policy issues, key events, and data trends.
The army chiefs of military-ruled Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso on Wednesday announced the creation of a joint force to battle long-running jihadist rebellions raging in their countries.

The new force "will be operational as soon as possible to take into account the security challenges in our space", Niger's army chief Moussa Salaou Barmou said in a statement following talks in Niamey.

"We are convinced that, with the combined efforts of our three countries, we will manage to create the conditions for a shared security," he added.

The size of the joint force was unspecified but Barmou said the three armies had agreed to develop an "operational concept" that would allow them to reach their defence and security objectives.

The announcement is the latest bringing closer the three neighbours, who have severed ties with former colonial ruler and traditional security ally France in favour of Russia.

Last year they joined diplomatic forces in an Alliance of Sahel States with a view to creating a federation and in January announced their intention to withdraw from regional bloc the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

ECOWAS had imposed sanctions on all three countries for overthrowing democratically elected governments in a succession of coups since 2020.

The spiralling violence is estimated to have killed thousands and displaced millions across the region.

(AFP)



Read more on FRANCE 24 English



Read also:

Burkina Faso prosecutor says some 170 people 'executed' in attacks on northern villages

Mali and Burkina Faso send 'formal notice' of withdrawal from ECOWAS bloc

Blinken starts West Africa tour to boost democracies, counter Sahel security threat
KELOWNA, B.C.  Drones and robots will be put to work in the orchards of Kelowna this spring as part of a pilot project to promote what the equipment maker calls "precision farming."

The city is collaborating with B.C. company InDro Robotics to use its aerial drones and ground-roving industrial robots to patrol 80 hectares of apple, pear, and cherry trees to monitor fruit health and growth.

A statement from the city says the equipment will help farmers better manage their crops.

InDro Robotics CEO Philip Reece says in the statement that autonomous robots and drones can inspect crops and provide real-time data on plant health, soil moisture and infestations.

Reece says the pilot project will last two years, with funding from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Data gathered by the drones and robots will be stored by the city and is expected to help farmers increase yields and improve resiliency amid climate change, the statement says.

The selection of farms for the project is being co-ordinated with the Regional District of Central Okanagan.

"As we embrace the future of agriculture, we're not just introducing robots and drones  we're ushering in a new era of precision farming, said Reece.

Mayor Tom Dyas said in the statement that agriculture played an important role in the city's economy, occupying more than 40 per cent of the city's lands, and was essential to the city's "cultural identity."

He said the city council was committed to supporting innovative ideas to help farmers better navigate changing conditions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press
The fundraiser was held for a new work of public art to be installed at a planned public space in front of the historic Farmington Masonic Lodge.

This swinging bench sculpture from the Nordin Brothers was a big hit, and perhaps a hint of what's to come.

We had $4,500 in sales that night, which was amazing. I couldn't believe it, Stropoli says. Now we can donate $1,125 to the public art committee, which is really exciting. We created a makeshift gallery in that beautiful GLP space.

Skep Space is located at 33018 Grand River Ave.

Heights Brewing is located at 23621 Farmington Rd.

The artist Erik Nordin, second from right, speaks with guests.

KickstART Farmington is located at 23616 Farmington Rd.

Its an oft-told tale, one where artists set up shop in a community, help make it special, and then get forced out as everyone else learns how special that community is, too, and development takes its course  along with the rising rents that make it all the more difficult for artists to justify staying put. It happens here, there, and everywhere and yet, remarkably, it didnt happen in downtown Farmington. In fact, it seems as though the downtown arts community is only getting stronger.By the end of October 2022, Farmington had not one but two nonprofit arts organizations headquartered downtown: the well-established KickstART Farmington , founded in 2012 with its gallery and gift shop having opened in 2019, and Skep Space , the upstart artist incubator that celebrated its grand opening earlier that month. Come the new year, however, and KickstART was closed and in search of a new home. Skep Space would face a similar fate just several months later, having left their original location at the end of October 2023.In both cases, the arts organizations had to leave because of otherwise exciting news happening in the city. At the former home of KickstART, the building was sold and purchased, making way for the opening of the much-buzzed about patisserie Cannelle by Matt Knio . And at the former home of Skep Space, the city-owned buildings demolition will make way for a public space that connects downtown to the townhome development planned at the old Maxfield Training Center site.The remarkable part of the story is that both nonprofit organizations were able to find new locations in a downtown that continues to see more and more of its storefronts welcome new tenants. And not only that, but both organizations seem even happier with their new locations than the ones they left behind, as revered as they were. Skep Space celebrated their grand opening in December 2023 and KickstART Farmington celebrated their own this past February.Its a nonprofit arts organization success story. And in the world of downtown development, how often can you say that?On Saturday, Feb. 10, GLP Financial Group played host to a sold-out gala that served as a fundraiser for downtowns next installation of public art. Guests crowded inside GLPs headquarters, the newly renovated Farmington State Savings Bank building, to help raise funds for a sculpture expected to land at Masonic Plaza, the public space being developed by the Farmington Downtown Development Authority in front of historic Farmington Masonic Hall.Plans for the soon-to-be-improved public space were previewed at the gala, and will again be available for a sneak peek at the Toast to Farmington event this Friday, March 8. The event features the release of a custom-brewed Farmhouse Ale and Farmhouse Cider from the Farmington Brewing Company in honor of the citys bicentennial.Mary Lou Stropoli, co-founder and president of Skep Space and a member of Farmingtons Public Art Committee, was tasked with transforming the GLP offices into an art gallery. She and a colleague nearly emptied the Skep Space exhibition space, Honeycomb Gallery, and carefully transported the artwork, nearly all of which was created by Michigan artists, to GLP HQ. Skep Space donated a portion of the proceeds back into the fundraiser.Stropoli launched Skep Space with co-founder Lisa Alberts in October 2022, taking advantage of a pilot program from the Farmington DDA that temporarily leased them a city-owned vacant storefront at a discount, serving as an incubator for their new nonprofit. The pop-up program came with an end date, however, and Skep Space was set to leave their location when a neighboring business invited them to check out their own historic home-turned-storefront just two doors down.A lease was signed and Skep Space not only survived the relocation but flourished. A bigger space meant that the nonprofit could keep offering workshops and affordable studio space to local artists. But it also meant that they could launch Honeycomb Gallery, an artist-run gallery that currently has 45 participating artists. And on each Friday, from noon to 4 p.m., the gallery has begun hosting the students of Visions Unlimited as they work at Honeycomb and learn valuable life skills.Visions Unlimited is a school that's part of Farmington Public Schools. It's a transitional program for adults with special needs aged 18 to 26, Stropoli says. Its what they call authentic learning. So they're making products, and then they're learning how to market the products and maintain the space to sell it. So they're really excited about the partnership. And so am I, because my son attends Visions. It's gonna be great.Though days away from their own grand opening celebration  which took place on Friday, Feb. 23, with an exhibition from Flints Pauly M. Everett  KickstART Farmington offered a sneak peek at the new location of their gallery and gift shop during the night of the fundraiser. It was a busy night downtown, with Heights Brewing celebrating its own grand opening right across the street. While Grand River Avenue has long been the primary corridor for bars, restaurants, and other attractions downtown, ongoing work to transform Farmington Road into a destination in its own right is beginning to bear fruit.From streetscape renovations to the newly built Dinan Park, and exciting new businesses like Heights Brewing, its among the many reasons Dwayne Hayes is happy with KickstARTs new location on Farmington Road.You have the new pocket park across the street, and we get to look out our window at that beautiful new sculpture there. Heights Brewing is open now, so theyll have a nice view of our own beautiful art while their customers drink and dine, says Hayes, executive director of KickstART Farmington. Were excited to be along this stretch and see how it keeps developing. Were looking forward to seeing who else will be our new neighbors.Hayes credits the DDA and its director Kate Knight with helping KickstART find a new home, with Knight taking him on a tour of available storefronts downtown early in the relocation process. While closing down for a little more than a year is less than ideal, it seems as though things have worked out for the nonprofit  and maybe for the best. The new space is bigger and allows for KickstART to offer more opportunities for enjoying all things creative in downtown Farmington.Its a situation where you get pushed out of your comfort zone, but being pushed out of that comfort zone has enabled us to really take a big leap forward as an organization, says Hayes. As a nonprofit, our ultimate goal is to build a space that has the ability to incorporate a high quality, top-notch gallery and gift shop, perhaps a 100 seat-performance space where we can show films and have musical events and theater, and classrooms for workshops and classes. This is a step in that progression to get there."We were probably forced to move up the timeline a little bit earlier than we thought, but that has been a great challenge for us. Its so exciting to see how the organization and our board has stepped up.
Sign on the back entrance to Cafe Rica indicating that it will re-open on Feb. 20. John Grap

Seventy-five to eighty people attended Sunday afternoons vigil behind Cafe Rica.

The Bredehoft family of Cafe Rica are seen at Sundays vigil.

George Bredehoft speaks during Sunday afternoons vigil behind Cafe Rica.

Elishaee Johnson, PhD, System Director Business Health Services at Bronson Methodist Hospital, talks about mental health services.

Battle Creek Mayor Mark Behnke talks with Tristan and Michelle Bredehoft priorvto Sundays vigil.

A heart-shaped floral arrangement sits near the back entrance of Cafe Rica.

Seventy-five to eighty people attended Sunday afternoons vigil behind Cafe Rica

Battle Creek Mayor Mark Behnke speaks and offers a prayer during Sundays vigil behind Cafe Rica.

Seventy-five to eighty people attended Sunday afternoons vigil behind Cafe Rica.

Sign on the back entrance to Cafe Rica indicating that it will re-open on Feb. 20.
Michael Hyacinthe, creator of Wimee

Stephanie Kammeraad, Wimee author, signs a book.
For a company that is such a PR machine, Red Bull has tied itself up in knots in recent weeks.

The companys sporting CEO, Oliver Mintzlaff, will be the latest to show his hand with a supposed public backing at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend for the Formula One teams principal Christian Horner, despite clear fractures in the pairs relationship.

On the surface, the message in Jeddah  as it was in Bahrain last weekend  is of a united team all focused on winning. The latter may be true, but the divisions remain the same and show few signs of coming back together.

Red Bull may have hoped Max Verstappen would have used nine minutes in front of the F1 press last night to back Horner.

Again, he shied away from doing anything of the sort, adding further fuel to the fire by stating of his father, Jos, he is not a liar. It was the most notable thing he said, speaking for the first time since his father suggested Horner was the one to blame for the tension at the top of a winning machine and things would be torn apart if he stayed at the helm.

Verstappen Sr looks to have played his final card in the wake of his sons dominant win in Bahrain, which ended up being the secondary story to a remarkable opening weekend to the 2024 season. And the hope at Red Bull is that his absence this weekend to compete in a rally back at home will cool some hot-headedness within their ranks.

It begs the question: how does the team move on? Fractures in F1 and within teams are nothing new, but rarely has a spat been so public and so ugly.

Verstappen made two things very clear yesterday: that he is on his dads side in this one; and that the former F1 driver will still be attending grands prix this season and beyond.

Were a team, said the three-time world champion. Its me, my dad and Raymond [Vermeulen, his manager] all together, and that will always be like that. I dont see myself in F1 without them by my side.

The message to Red Bull was clear: leave my dad alone if you want me to stay. And why wouldnt they? Verstappen is clearly the best driver currently on the grid.

Story continues

As for taking sides, he added: From my side, it doesnt matter being on one side or the other side. Of course, as the son of my dad, it would be weird to be on a different side. I just want to focus on the performance-side of things and have less talk about what is happening outside of the track.

The suggestion is Verstappen has been the peacekeeper in all this. While dad vents and rages to anyone that will listen, instead he has asked for calmer surroundings to allow him to do his job. He fully understands that relations are strained, but that the warring factions can still co-exist for the good of the team.

Despite the backing of owners and board members, Horners position is not as strong as it once was, but there is no suggestion he is set for the axe any time soon.

After all, he has overseen a remarkable run of success since taking the helm of the team nearly two decades ago. Barring the appearance of any fresh revelations, Red Bulls hierarchy can feel safe in the knowledge that come Saturday in Jeddah, normal service can resume and it can get its PR machine back on track with coverage devoid of WhatsApp messages, internal investigations and infighting.
Technology

spotlight

AI companies gobbling up space, just not in Cerebral Valley

Craig Lee/The Examiner OpenAI subleased the buildings at 1455-1515 3rd St. in Mission Bay from Uber in October 2023.

To hear all the talk around town, you might think that Hayes Valley  or Cerebral Valley, as its started to become known among techies  is the epicenter of The Citys burgeoning artificial intelligence industry.

But while many companies may have gotten their start in the co-working offices and hacker spaces in the quaint neighborhood just west of the Civic Center, few have continued to operate there as theyve grown.

Indeed, if you plot out the location of AI companies in The City, most of them  with one big exception  are locating where businesses, tech and non-tech alike, have traditionally rooted themselves over the years: in the central business district, including the Financial District and the South of Market area.

Hayes Valley is just really too small to accommodate that space demand, said Alexander Quinn, director of research for Northern California at real-estate brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle. As (AI companies) mature, they ultimately will have to move to the locations that have office availability, and those are mostly in the CBD.

That could be good news for San Franciscos ailing downtown, which has seen its vacancy rate soar following the COVID-19 pandemic. Although AI companies account for less than 5% of the total office space in The City, their collective footprint has been growing rapidly and is expected to continue to expand in coming years.

The hope among those in the real estate industry is that AIs rise will spark a broader boom  and demand for office space  among businesses that cater to the AI companies or build applications and services on top of their technology.

AIs potential import to the tech sector and office market can be likened to the debut of Apples iPhone, said Colin Yasukochi, who heads up research on tech-industry real-estate demand for brokerage CBRE.

The iPhone spawned a whole app industry that led to companies including Airbnb, DoorDash and Uber. AI could do something very similar, and because so much of the industry is based in San Francisco, The City is poised to benefit disproportionately from such a boom, he said.

The possibilities are endless, Yasukochi said. But, he said, its going to happen predominantly in the city of San Francisco and more generally in the Bay Area.

The AI companies themselves have already been gobbling up space in The City. Their collective footprint increased from about 500,000 square feet in 2016 to 3.4 million at the end of last year, according to JLL.

In 2023, San Franciscos overall office-vacancy rate jumped from 27.6% to 35.6% last year, according to CBRE. That rate would have been even higher if not for AI companies leasing more than 1 million square feet of space last year. Indeed, such companies accounted for about 28% of all the office space leased in San Francisco last year, according to CBRE.

Craig Lee/The Examiner 500 Howard Street in San Francisco on Friday, March 1, 2024. Anthropic leased the building in September 2023.

The biggest deal signed in the last year by an AI company was that by OpenAI in October in Mission Bay. The ChatGPT maker subleased from Uber two buildings comprising a total of 486,600 square feet that were part of the ride hailing giants headquarters campus.

But that deal was something of an exception, and not just for its large size. Among the nine largest lease deals signed by AI companies, OpenAIs was the only one located in Mission Bay, according to data from JLL.

OpenAI signed another one in the Mission, and Adept inked one in Potrero Hill, but the other six of the biggest deals were located in either the FiDi or SoMa. Those deals, which included Anthropics 233,633-square-foot lease at 500 Howard St., accounted for a total of 462,249 square feet of space.

Even with OpenAIs big deal, 74% of all the active leases by AI companies in San Francisco are in either FiDi or SoMa. And those two neighborhoods account for nearly 62% of all the space leased in The City by such businesses.

The lore about Cerebral Valley aside, that shouldnt be much of a surprise  its where theres space. The central business district accounts for about 60 million of San Franciscos approximately 86 million square feet of total office space, according to JLL figures.

Hayden AI was among the companies that leased space in SoMa in the last year. It signed a deal in June for nearly 42,000 square feet at 460 Bryant St. The company, which has developed computer-vision-powered cameras designed to identify parking and traffic violations that obstruct city buses and street sweepers, moved into the space in August, said CEO Chris Carson.

Hayden was looking for a bigger space than its previous location in Downtown Oakland and liked the Bryant Street site because it was move-in ready, close to transit and a short BART trip from its former base, Carson said. He and his team founded Hayden in San Francisco and were eager to return to what he called the emerging hub of AI.

We are excited to be based in San Francisco for our next chapter, Carson said.

AI businesses  which for JLL and CBRE include not just generative AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic, but autonomous-vehicle developers like Waymo and Cruise and smaller startups focused on machine learning, natural language processing and similar technologies  are unlikely to account for as large a share of total leased space this year as they did in 2023, according to the brokerages.

But demand is still high. Such companies are currently in the market for about 500,000 square feet of space, according to both brokerages, and are likely to end up leasing around 1 million square feet in total this year, according to JLL.

By 2030, AI companies will be leasing 12.7 million square feet of space in San Francisco, or nearly 15% of all the current office space in The City, JLL forecasts. That increase will likely be uneven, with more space leased in some years than others, Quinn said. And by itself, it wont solve San Franciscos vacancy problem; The City has nearly 28 million square feet of vacant office space.

But its a good bet to happen, Quinn argued. AI is expected to be a multitrillion-dollar business opportunity by 2030, according to consulting firm PwC. San Francisco and the Bay Area have seen a disproportionate share of all the venture investment into the AI sector, according to data from PitchBook. It already has by far the highest concentration of AI companies in the country, according to JLL. And some 20% of all the people in the U.S. who have AI-related skills are based in the Bay Area, with plenty more being trained at Stanford and UC Berkeley, according to JLL.

AI is creating new and growing demand (for space) within The City, he said. Because the sector is helping drive demand for professional services and other kinds of businesses, it will have a larger impact than AI alone.

Just dont expect to find too many of those companies in Hayes  ahem, Cerebral  Valley.
Nevada Independent CEO and editor Jon Ralston, left, and Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, right, speak during The Nevada Independent's "IndyTalks" series on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nev. Gabe Stern/AP

RENO, Nev. (AP)  Nevadas Republican governor showed his strongest support Wednesday for Donald Trump in his legal battles since the former president was first indicted for falsifying business records nearly a year ago.

At the same time, Joe Lombardo distanced himself from Nevada's six Republican so-called fake electors in a window into how he will weigh in on hot-button issues affecting his party leading up to the 2024 election.

Lombardo's comments came in a wide-ranging discussion with Jon Ralston, CEO and editor of The Nevada Independent, which hosts the speaker series IndyTalks. Over 90 minutes, Lombardo defended his vetoes of gun-control measures, gave himself a B+ grade for his first 14 months in office and lamented that he is still figuring out how to bring accountability to a historic $2.6 billion investment in public education.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The conversation in front of 300 people hinted at how Lombardo will wield his power within the GOP and how the moderate governor in a swing state known for split-ticket outcomes will navigate a polarizing election season.

Lombardo weighed in on what is set to be one of the tightest U.S. Senate races this cycle, endorsing retired Army Capt. Sam Brown, the front-runner in a crowded Republican primary to unseat incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen. He also painted a dreary picture if Democrats gain a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers of Nevada's Legislature.

Lombardo dismissed a question when asked to rate the enthusiasm of his endorsement of Trump on a scale of 1 to 10. He gestured to Ralston, then looked blankly at the crowd, prompting laughs before saying next question.

Elizabeth Ray, a spokesperson for Lombardo, later said the governor has consistently supported Trump and is looking forward to helping him win Nevada.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Here's a look at key moments Wednesday:

Donald Trump

Lombardo told Ralston in September that he was concerned about Trump's legal troubles, before endorsing Trump in January.

On Wednesday, Lombardo offered his clearest backing of Trump, who is navigating multiple criminal indictments. Lombardo pointed to additional information associated with the indictments that made him feel better about Trump, but he didn't elaborate. When pressed about whether Trump will be proven innocent or guilty, Lombardo pivoted to the election.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Let's forget all that. Let's talk about Biden-Trump," he said. I feel the world was safer under Trump. I feel the economic outlook, especially for Nevadans ... we were better off.

Trump endorsed Lombardo during the former sheriffs 2022 run for governor, which helped him emerge from a crowded GOP field to win the primary. Lombardo campaigned with Trump but briefly distanced himself from the former president during a debate in Nevadas general election, then called Trump the greatest president during a rally the following week.

Lombardo has maintained support of Trump while pushing back on his false claims of a stolen 2020 election. But Wednesday appeared to be Lombardo's strongest showing of support for the former president since Trump's indictments.

Hes innocent until proven guilty, Lombardo said. "And Im looking forward to his day in court.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Distance from Nevada, Washoe County GOPs

The six fake electors face felony charges for their roles in submitting certificates to Congress that falsely declared Trump won Nevada in the 2020 presidential election.

Lombardo said he has experienced personal angst over the conduct of the electors, distancing himself from the Nevada Republican Party that is further to the right. Three of the six electors from Nevada are in leadership roles in the state party.

I don't understand the need to even have it done, Lombardo said. "But thats the path they chose to go down. And well see how the chips fall.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Lombardo vetoed a bill last year that would have established felony charges specifically for fake electors. He said those actions should come with strict punishments," but the range outlined in the bill of four to 10 years in prison was too harsh.

The fake electors include Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald, who considers Lombardo a friend and has supported him and his policies, as well as Clark County GOP chair Jesse Law, who Lombardo had endorsed for another term.

Still, Lombardo's views and those of the state GOP haven't always aligned, including when Nevada GOP national committeewoman Sigal Chattah called Lombardo a laughingstock across the nation on X, formerly Twitter, after he signed two bills related to transgender rights.

Lombardo also said he was "outraged with the Washoe County GOP  Nevada's lone swing county  for excommunicating a Republican county commissioner he had appointed. The Washoe County GOP said that Clara Andriola's bipartisan votes intentionally and willfully failed to uphold the Republicans and the Republican brand, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Ive had several conversations with the players in the space, Lombardo said. "And Ive been very, very, very vocal in my absolute support for Clara."

Veto power threatened

Lombardo took aim at his Democratic opponents while defending his 75 vetoes last year, which were the highest in a single legislative session in state history.

He said he agreed with a political action committee supporting him that claims that there is a culture of corruption among Democrats in the legislature, citing what he called a lack of transparency in the legislative branch.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The phrase originally stems from conflicts of interest between part-time legislators and non-profits that received funding through a bill the Legislature approved and Lombardo signed. It was Lombardos first embrace of the attack as Democrats try to thwart his veto power ahead of next years legislative session.

In a statement, Nevada State Democratic Party spokesperson Tai Sims called Lombardo corrupt, citing the governor's vetoes of bills that Sims said would lower prescription drug and housing costs, as well as his disputes with the Nevada Commission on Ethics, including a lawsuit challenging its oversight authority.

Democrats held a supermajority in the state Assembly and were one seat away from a supermajority in the state Senate last year. If they gain a supermajority in both chambers this election cycle, they can override his veto power on party-line votes in 2025.

Nevada was one of 10 states last year where the executive and legislative branches were led by different political parties  the lowest number since 1952, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

I wouldnt want a supermajority out of both houses on the Republican side, right? Lombardo said. It just doesnt work. We've got to have that little push and pull.

___
Helium One Global described significant milestones in its half-year report on Thursday, including the acquisition of the Epiroc Predator 220 drilling rig, which it said had been successfully mobilised to the Rukwa site.

The AIM-traded firm said the start of the second drilling campaign in the third quarter proceeded as scheduled.

Notably, the drilling of the Tai-3 well was completed, reaching a total depth of 1,448 metres measured depth, providing valuable data for understanding the region and identifying the follow-on Itumbula prospect.

Financially, Helium One raised 12.9m before expenses through two fundraises in September and December, resulting in a net cash balance of $8.7m by 31 December.

Since the half-year ended, the company had drilled the Itumbula West-1 well, achieving a total depth of 961 metres measured depth at a revised well location.

Subsequently, significant discoveries were made, with the well flowing a high concentration of helium at 4.7% and hydrogen at 2.2% to the surface.

Those concentrations were thousands of times above background levels, indicating promising potential for commercial extraction.

Moreover, hot basement fluids exceeding 80 degrees Celsius were encountered across the fault zone, consistent with helium and hydrogen prone intervals.

To further advance the project, Helium One had raised 4.7m before expenses through a company-led placing.

Despite the complexity of operations, the company maintained a strong safety record, with 197 operating days completed since the spud of the Tai-3 well, boasting zero lost time injuries.

This has been an incredibly busy and transformational period for the company, especially post the half year-end, said chairman James Smith.

The acquisition of our own rig in July 2023 enabled us to commence our second drilling campaign and provides us with significant optionality going forward, whether that be to drill additional wells efficiently and quickly or as a future revenue stream for the company.

Helium One's phase two drilling campaign has been very successful.

Smith said Tai remained an interesting prospect which had been logged and sampled, while the Tai-3 well had been cased and suspended.

The results from Itumbula can only be seen as transformational for the company - flowing helium concentrations at these levels to surface would position Itumbula in the top section of major helium producing fields and this success is a testament to the hard work of the team and their expertise.

The results acquired across both wells will now hold our focus as we look to evaluate the best way to advance this project in the most effective way possible.

This is an exciting time for the company, and we would like to thank all our stakeholders, local communities and the government of Tanzania for their continued support and look forward to providing further updates in the near future.

At 1245 GMT, Helium One Global shares were down 12.33% at 1.89p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
PARIS  Orest Group, the jewelry manufacturer owned by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, cut the ribbon on its second jewelry factory in the east of France on Wednesday.

Among the guests to the ceremony in Saint-Die-des-Vosges that included elected officials and local business leaders was Alexandre Arnault, executive vice president, product, communications and industrial of Tiffany & Co.

More from WWD

With good reason, most of the additional production power will be dedicated to the American jeweler, Orests president Denis De Becker told journalists during a factory visit ahead of the inauguration.

Located in Saint-Die-des-Vosges, also known as Saint-Die, a city of 19,000 people in the Vosges department of Frances Grand Est region, the new factory currently employs 200 artisans in its 32,300-square-foot, two-level facility.

It is the culmination of a process that began with the 2021 acquisition of Tiffany & Co. and continued with the 2023 acquisition of Orests parent Platinum Invest, a holding company of five workshops that also includes high jewelry specialist Abysse.

When we saw what the needs we would have for our five-year growth [for Tiffany & Co.], we saw investing in this sector was necessary, Arnault said. Among the designs that are produced by Orest for the American jeweler is the Lock line, introduced in 2022 and a rapid hit.

The creation of the Saint-Die factory represents an investment of 7.5 million euros for facilities and equipment, and a total of 10 million euros overall in the region from LVMH, De Becker said.

The jewelry manufacturer specializes in pieces that retail under 100,000 euros and works mainly with diamonds under 2 carats, essentially for pave. Gold makes up the majority of its output, with platinum taking a 10 percent share.

Story continues

Platinum Invest said its turnover was 185 million euros in 2023, with Orests share at 130 million euros across both sites, with an output of 800,000 pieces from its 1,000 employees. Some 16,000 gemstones are set in its workshop each day.

Almost 50 percent of Orests business has come from LVMH-owned houses Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chaumet and Tiffany & Co. since early 2023.

Half of Saint-Dies production capacity will be for Tiffany & Co. by next year, and within five years, Arnault expects Tiffany to take up to 50 percent of Platinum Invests overall capacity.

Almost all of the organic growth of the group will be dedicated to [the jeweler], confirmed De Becker.

Business from its historic clients, which include competitors such as Van Cleef & Arpels and Hermes, is expected to remain stable.

While De Becker would not reveal how many pieces were produced for the American jeweler by Orest, he said that Platinums output for the house would amount to 100,000 hours of work this year, a figure that will triple in 2025 and reach 500,000 hours in 2026.

Among the Tiffany products that will come out of the Saint-Die factory are all-gold designs from the Lock line, which grew from four models to 40 SKUs.

Pave versions as well as products from the Knot and Line collections are produced 75 kilometers away in Alsace, in Orests initial 48,400-square-foot facility with 400 workers in Erstein, which also includes a foundry.

At Saint-Die, headcount would reach 300 by the end of the year, with around 10 hires a month. A foundry is also being set up, to be operational in June, and represents an additional investment of 600,000 euros.

And we have the order books for it, added the Orest executive, revealing it was fully booked for the year. The group has an average annual growth of 15 percent, with a 23 percent leap in 2023 and it has budgeted 20 percent for 2024.

Denis De Becker and Alexandre Arnault in the Orest factory in Saint-Die-des-Vosges, France.

The factory sits on a five-hectare plot previously occupied by Inteva, which manufactured car parts such as locks. Some of its former specialists took part in a reskilling program that saw them join the Orest teams.

While gold and diamond jewelry that comes out of the Saint-Die factory are covetable, more precious are the skillsets.

Investing in building and equipment is easy  you just invest a bit of money  but the real need is to train and retain the craftspeople who produce these items of excellence, said De Becker, touring the training dojo, where some 20 apprentices were practicing their skills. Plans for state-recognized training programs are being put in place in partnership with education institutions in the area.

The site could have a maximum capacity of 400 workers, which would be reached in under three years at the current pace, although plans have not yet been put in motion. We have a year to decide if we need to invest in building further on site or if other units of the group can support the progression, said De Becker.

By all accounts, especially as the global watch and jewelry market continues to grow, Tiffany will need Saint-Dies additional capacity. Its existing U.S. workshops in Pelham, N.Y., and Cumberland, R.I., will continue to focus on its silver jewelry.

During the visit, Arnault said the brand has enjoyed a very good year in 2023, particularly in Latin America and Europe. According to an HSBC estimate released in February, Tiffany & Co. reached 5.4 billion euros in sales in 2023.

At the conglomerates 2023 results, LVMH chairman and chief executive officer Bernard Arnault said Tiffanys operating income had tripled against 2020s pre-acquisition figures. In that same period, the jeweler has multiplied by five its high jewelry business, which now equals its silver ranges in terms of sales.

Its overall average price has risen by 2.5 to reach $2,000 across all its offers, with gold jewelry averages comparable to competitors such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels.

And that increase did not correlate with the skyrocketing price of gold  it soared past Decembers $2,135 per troy ounce record on Tuesday  as Tiffany & Co. prices were only increased by 5 to 7 percent.

The younger Arnault expressed confidence in Tiffanys outlook for 2024, saying he was very optimistic for the Americas, which accounts for 40 percent of sales. Japan, where the jeweler has been present for 50 years and is one of the leaders of the market, remained strong and China is a priority.

Overall, the jeweler will continue to pursue a strategy of image and brand elevation, including in the configuration of its 330-store retail network, which would achieve a coherent footprint by the end of 2024, Arnault said.

In addition, to its successful Lock, T, Knot and Hardware collections, the jeweler is planning to lean into the 16 Stones line and the figurative Bird on a Rock design by Jean Schlumberger, developing it into categories beyond its initial brooches.

The jeweler will burnish its heritage with Tiffany Wonder, the houses largest retrospective, opening in Tokyo in April. Some 200,000 visitors are expected during the eight-week exhibition that will showcase an array of archival and current designs as well as Schlumbergers sketches, Arnault said.

Later in April, it will also present its annual Blue Book high jewelry collection, expected to include 175 unique creations, in Los Angeles.

Best of WWD
Full-year results from sports betting and gaming group Entain were in line with expectations, with underlying earnings hitting the 1bn mark and record-high online customers, though it warned of the significant impact from regulatory changes which will dampen profits in 2024.

The Ladbrokes, BetMGM and Gala Bingo owner reported group EBITDA of 1.01bn for 2023, up 1% on the previous year. Net gaming revenues rose 11% to 4.83bn, helped by online active customers rising 23% and BetMGM  in which it owns 50%  seeing a 36% jump in revenues.

However, the company warned that new stake caps on online slot games in the UK, and a potential agreement on uniform safer gambling measures across the market, could result in "continued player disruption over the short term".

Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, regulator KSA recently proposed tighter deposit limits from the second quarter of 2024 which also have the potential to impact profits.

"As a result, we expect that, in aggregate, these dynamics could reduce FY24 EBITDA by approximately 40m," the company said.

"2023 was a period of necessary, but ultimately positive, transition for Entain," said chair Barry Gibson, following the exit of Jette Nygaard-Andersen in December along with the resolution to the HMRC investigation into Entain's legacy Turkish facing business, which was sold in 2017.

"We have significantly strengthened the quality of our revenue base, enhanced our board, and delivered a resolution to a critical, historic, regulatory issue," Gibson said.
The share price of small business credit provider Funding Circle soared on Thursday after the company announced a new share repurchase programme to bolster its share price as well as plans to offload its US arm as management attempts to rightsize the business.

The stock was up 42.5% at 39.9p by 0933 GMT.

However, the shares are still down 27% over the past year even when including Thursday's gain, as losses continue to rise on the back of its investments into US expansion and its business-focused buy-now-pay-later offering FlexiPay.

The company said it is now choosing to focus on its UK businesses  comprising UK Loans and FlexiPay  and has already received "indications of interest for the US business and will update further in due course".

It is expected that the UK business will be profitable  in terms of pre-tax profit  by the second half of 2024.

Separately, the board said it would buy back 25m worth of shares after judging that the the current trading price "materially undervalues Funding Circles business". The company said in a statement that a share repurchase "will improve balance sheet efficiency by returning excess capital to shareholders".

Total income over 2023 increased 7% to 162.2m, but adjusted EBITDA dropped to a negative 3.9m, from a profit of 9.5m in 2022, on the back of investments in the US and FlexiPay.

The UK Loans business specifically saw adjusted EBITDA swell to 21.3m from 13.8m, helped by FlexiPay transactions soaring to 234m from 59m previously.
International Women's Day, a global event taking place annually on March 8th, proves the unbreakable spirit and accomplishments of women worldwide. It is a time of both acknowledging the progress in the pursuit of gender equality and remembering the challenges and hardships that women still experience. This year, on the occasion of International Women's Day falling on a Friday, we have a chance to pause and evaluate the progress we have made and the still unresolved challenges of the march towards true equality for women. The International Womens Days roots can be traced back to the early 20th century which was characterized by growing womens rights and social justice movements. It was against this setting that the first National Women's Day occurred on February 28, 1909, as a result of an announcement by the Socialist Party of America. This turning point paved the way for a wider global movement in 1910. At the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen, Clara Zetkin proposed the creation of an annual Women's Day. The proposal became very popular, and as a result, the first International Women's Day was celebrated in 1911 in several European countries where over a million people came together for women's rights and suffrage.

The International Women's Day theme of 2024, Inspire Inclusion, is a strong slogan for evoking a world where women are not only acknowledged but also respected, valued, and empowered to take part in all areas of life. Inclusion is not only an ethical issue but also a crucial factor for societal development and prosperity. When women are included, whether it is in the boardroom, the classroom or in the community decision-making processes, their varied perspectives, talents and experiences add and strengthen the social fabric. Through making others see the importance of the values of inclusiveness, we can build the path for a world where everyone, regardless of gender, will have the same chances and rights.

Complementing the theme of inclusion is the overarching imperative of Invest in women: Accelerate progress for International Women's Day 2024. This directive underscores the critical importance of investing in women's education, healthcare, economic empowerment, and leadership development as potent tools for driving meaningful and sustainable progress toward gender equality. The benefits of such investments extend far beyond the individual, rippling outward to families, communities, and entire nations. By empowering women economically, ensuring their access to quality education and healthcare, and fostering an enabling environment for their leadership and participation, we not only unlock their full potential but also unlock the collective potential of society as a whole, driving positive social and economic transformation. As we commemorate International Women's Day in 2024, let us re-dedicate to the cause of gender equality not only in speech but in action. Let's use this occasion as a platform to honor women of the past and present generations while reaffirming our commitment to the ongoing effort of creating a world free from discrimination, injustice, and inequality.

Kavitha Ramachandragowda, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Routematic-

"The technology landscape in our country is witnessing a powerful transformation as women carve their path, proving that brilliance, determination, and ambition know no gender. Women are shattering stereotypes and emerging as powerful, influential leaders, contributing significantly to the success of enterprises, job creation, and Indias economy. According to Women's in India's Startup Ecosystem Report, the womens entrepreneurial landscape is on an upward trajectory in India. My advice to aspiring female leaders is to believe in your capabilities and grab the boundless opportunities ahead. Establish clear limits, assign tasks strategically, give importance to both personal and professional well-being, and make sure you have a robust support network around you. The perseverance, fearless spirit, and drive, coupled with empathy, leadership, and communication skills that women naturally possess, will surely enable young women leaders to continue breaking barriers and thrive in their endeavours, leaving a lasting mark in the field of technology and innovation".

Manisha Dubey, Head of IDEMIA India Foundation and VP Marketing Communications & Brand, IDEMIA-

"In today's digital world, skilling and development initiatives are essential for unlocking the vast potential of women. By providing access to opportunities and empowering women with relevant skills and knowledge, these programs enable them to close the gender gap in STEM fields and tech-related industries. Moreover, skilled women bring diverse perspectives and drive innovation, fostering creativity and pushing boundaries in technology and business. Economic empowerment follows suit as women secure higher-paying jobs and better economic opportunities, contributing to the prosperity of communities. Additionally, skilling programs cultivate adaptability and resilience, equipping women to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Ultimately, investing in the skilling and development of women not only benefits individuals but also drives societal and economic growth, creating a more inclusive and innovative future for all".

Radhika Singh, Global Lead, Learning and Development (US, Europe, Japan and India), Creative Synergies Group-

Career progression of female employees is intrinsically linked with the level of investment companies make in their profession, highlighting the role of nuances in progress assessment. While it is crucial to assess whether organizations prioritize the advancement of their female workforce, it is equally important to take the methodologies into account. After all, organizing a few learning and development workshops does not directly translate to tangible growth. In 2023, only 30 percent of organizations globally measured the impact and outcomes of their D&I initiatives. Measuring results is the cornerstone for enhancing programs and initiatives year-on-year. Embracing these progressive changes not only helps women hone their skill sets and develop their professional competencies, but it also fosters a culture where they feel acknowledged and valued. Strategically designed learning and development initiatives inspire inclusion, uplifting the organizations values and outlook in the long run. At Creative Synergies Group, we ensure that all our employee-based initiatives are followed by extensive feedback and assessment, thereby elevating the success rates of our programs, creating a culture that embraces change".
Hyundai Motor and Kia, South Korea's leading automakers, unveiled their latest electric vehicle (EV) technologies at the annual EV Trend Korea exhibition. Organized by the Ministry of Environment to promote EV technologies and adoption, the three-day trade show took place at the COEX convention center in southern Seoul.

Hyundai Motor featured special booths, such as the EV Benefit Zone and EV Experience Zone, providing attendees with hands-on experiences to showcase the advantages of EVs compared to traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. A highlight of Hyundai's presentation was the V2L system, allowing electric vehicle power to be used for operating household appliances. Additionally, the company showcased updates to its Ioniq 5 and Kona EV models.

Kia, on the other hand, presented three themed spaces emphasizing EV charging, space and technology , and sustainability. Visitors were given the chance to explore various services and features tailored for Kia model drivers, including over-the-air software updates and the company's environmental sustainability initiatives.

The exhibition aimed to highlight the strides made by both automakers in the EV sector and foster awareness and interest in electric vehicles. Hyundai and Kia's commitment to innovation, demonstrated through features like the V2L system and sustainability initiatives, reflects their dedication to staying at the forefront of the rapidly evolving electric vehicle market. The event signifies a strategic move by South Korean automakers to contribute to the global transition towards sustainable and eco-friendly transportation solutions.
Azerbaijan is reportedly striking a deal for the JF-17 Thunder fighter developed jointly by China and Turkey. Miguel Medina/Getty Images

Azerbaijan's biggest arms supplier has been Russia but it will likely acquire jets from elsewhere.

The rumored deal suggests the longtime ally is detaching more from Moscow, a defense analyst said.

Russia's answer to America's F-22 and F-35, the Su-57, has severe shortcomings.

The small, oil-rich South Caucasus country of Azerbaijan has big plans to upgrade its modest fleet of fighter jets over the next decade. However, rather than turn to Russia, its traditional arms supplier for decades, Baku will likely acquire modern fighters from Pakistan and Turkey.

The turn away from Russia shows that longtime allies like Azerbaijan are finding effective arms sellers who aren't afflicted by the problems of Russia's newest fighter jets.

Unconfirmed reports in Azerbaijani and Pakistani media surfaced in late February claiming Azerbaijan reached a deal with Pakistan to buy an undisclosed number of JF-17C Thunder fighter jets for $1.6 billion. Azerbaijan officially joined Turkey's TF Kaan fifth-generation fighter program last July, strongly suggesting it will acquire that jet. The Kaan made its maiden flight in February.

Russia previously marketed the 4.5-generation Su-30SM, Su-35, and MiG-35 fighters to Azerbaijan in the late 2010s. Azerbaijan's president said in 2018 that his country had spent $5 billion on Russian military hardware. But now it doesn't seem likely Baku will turn to Moscow for 4.5-generation aircraft. Azerbaijan is even less likely to invest in Russia's troubled 5th-generation Su-57 or Su-75 "Checkmate" jets.

Russia has been Azerbaijan's largest arms supplier until recent years, said Frederico Borsari, a defense expert at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

"However, things have progressively changed as Russia launched a reckless war of aggression against Ukraine and started to lose influence among countries in the Caucasus amidst growing difficulties in Ukraine and financial constraints," Borsari told Business Insider. "Turkey, among others, has exploited this situation from a security standpoint and started to expand its military cooperation with Baku, including through weapons sales."

Story continues

Consequently, Turkish sales to Azerbaijan began increasing in 2017, while Russian arms exports halted around 2019.

"Against this backdrop, the rumored JF-17 purchase from Pakistan further consolidates this trend of progressive detachment from Moscow's fold and may also be the result of the poor performance of Russian aircraft (and the air force overall) in Ukraine," Borsari said.

Sebastien Roblin, a widely published military-aviation journalist, says it is understandable if Azerbaijan decides to use its oil wealth to overhaul its manned fighter fleet until the Kaan begins rolling off production lines "in quantity" around 2033.

"Given close relations with Turkey and ambivalent ones with Russia, its preference for the latter is understandable, particularly given Russia's own problems bringing Su-57s into service," Roblin told Insider.

Roblin noted that Azerbaijan faces "tricky considerations" when weighing a "politically reliable vendor" for new fighters.

"Neither Russia nor Western democracies are ideal suppliers, even though Russia has historically sold arms to Azerbaijan," Roblin told Insider. "Pakistan and Turkey, and through Pakistan, China, may seem like more reliable partners for Baku unlikely to cut off deals due to upset over human rights issues or future potential wars with Armenia."

Borsari said Azerbaijan's participation in the Kaan project is "first and foremost the natural consequence of a long-standing and growing security partnership" between Ankara and Baku that stems from their close political and diplomatic ties. Turkey provided training and arms that enabled Azerbaijan to defeat Armenia's armed forces in the 2020 war over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.

"For both countries, this appears to be a win-win solution," Borsari said. "This choice would allow long-term and robust cooperation that ensures the sustainability of Baku's air force in terms of logistics, training, maintenance, etc, with a close ally while providing Turkey with a long-term contract and client in the defense sector."

The CEPA analyst noted that "prospective problems" in the Russian military aircraft industry, the "huge disappointment surrounding the Su-57," and the "poor performance" of other Russian fighters in Ukraine are other possible factors that pushed Baku "to opt for Turkey's project."

While Russia has promoted the Su-57 as its answer to America's F-22 and F-35, the fifth-generation fighter has exhibited some severe shortcomings. Analysts have noted it lacks fifth-generation engines, and its body panels are not placed tightly enough together to reduce the aircraft's radar cross-section  a key feature in any stealth aircraft.

An Azerbaijani acquisition of the JF-17, which the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and China's Chengdu Aircraft Corporation jointly developed, would also be significant.

A Sukhoi Su-57 jet fighter performs during the MAKS 2021 air show in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, Russia, July 25, 2021. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva

Azerbaijan's neighbor and rival Armenia acquired four Su-30SMs in 2020. The Su-30SM is more advanced than Azerbaijan's MiG-29s, although they did not face off against each other in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.

"The JF-17 is a modernization of the MiG-21/J-7 airframe with 4th-generation technology," Roblin said. "It doesn't outmatch the bigger, faster, heavier-payload lifting Su-30 twin-engine fighter in terms of raw performance and maximum radar search range."

Nevertheless, the Block III version Azerbaijan is set to acquire has significant advantages. Roblin noted its newer systems could give it an "electronics edge" over the Su-30SM, especially its powerful and purportedly jam-resistant KLJ-7A active electronically scanned array radar. Furthermore, if paired with China's PL-15E air-to-air missile, it could match Russia's equivalent.

"So, while not strictly an overmatch, JF-17Cs could hold their own against Armenian Su-30SMs to the extent that it would depend on tactics and training used by both sides in the event of an air war," Roblin said. "By contrast, Azerbaijan's Soviet-vintage MiG-29s purchased from Ukraine, while sound aircraft broadly speaking, have older electronics than the Su-30SMs and much inferior radar."

These latest rumors of Azerbaijan's interest in the JF-17 signal that Baku wants the former aircraft to replace its aging MiG-29s and serve as a stopgap solution until the Kaan is available.

Read the original article on Business Insider
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- During March, Womens History Month, we celebrate the strides women have made in the fight for equality. But the fight isnt over: Women earned roughly 82% of what their male counterparts made in 2022, according to Data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

And on Staten Island, the median earnings for women ages 16 and older was $47,729, representing 86.5% of the median male earnings of $55,209.

But these 11 women -- many of whom have been featured in the Advance/SILive.coms New Businesses in Focus column over the last three years -- have all taken matters into their own hands to upstart their own successful businesses.

MICHELE CONVISSAR

Michele Convissar opened Amor Aesthetics in Arden Heights in January 2022. (Courtesy of Michele Convissar)

Michele Convissar, 31, who recently launched Amor Aesthetics in Arden Heights -- which provides a range of beauty services and facials, including Hydrafacials -- said being a female entrepreneur on Staten Island can often be a challenge.

I chose to embrace that challenge and take it head on, she said. The biggest challenge when starting your own business is attracting clients. And having my business on Staten Island makes this challenge a bit harder do to a relatively small population with competitors in a relatively small geographic footprint.

To meet this challenge, Convissar decided to keep it simple and focus on what all consumers look for: service, sincerity and personalization, and above all, honesty. And those traits have helped grow her business, attracting the likes of everyone from celebrities to entire bridal parties.

CAILEEN GONZALEZ

Port Richmond resident Caileen Gonzalez, 30, launched Tiny To Tall Tutoring & Test Prep LLC in September 2020, and on Aug. 22, 2021 she opened Prana & Peace Travel LLC.Courtesy of Caileen Gonzalez

Port Richmond resident Caileen Gonzalez, 30, never thought shed have the bandwidth to launch two totally unrelated businesses in less than a year. But she did. Gonzalez launched Tiny To Tall Tutoring & Test Prep LLC in September 2020, which offers tutoring for all age groups, from age 3 to college students. And on Aug. 22, 2021 Prana & Peace Travel LLC was born and she planned her first retreat in the home of her ancestors -- Puerto Rico.

For me, being a female business owner on Staten Island is about nurturing community through service and support. I view both of my businesses as an offering to the borough. With heart centered missions, we are able to touch peoples lives in very meaningful ways. These last few years have been a beautiful testament to what is possible through human connection, and my success is very much due to the connections that I continue to create and foster, she said.

And while Gonzalez says she is grateful for the space that women take up in Staten Island, and their courage to fight for these roles in the community, it doesnt come without challenges.

A challenge that I personally face as a female in business is the tendency to undervalue myself. I think that in a country where women are still paid a fraction of what men are paid, some of us cannot help but internalize the idea of not deserving all that we are worthy of. As we continue to work towards equality, I appreciate the people who remind us women that we are incredible and are active in supporting us, said Gonzalez.

LOREN GREGORY

Loren Zoe Gregory, who formerly worked in high-end Manhattan-based salons, opened Love Is In the Hair by Loren Zoe in Rosebank. (Courtesy of Loren Zoe Gregory)

Loren Gregory, who opened Love Is In the Hair by Loren Zoe on Bay Street in Rosebank in 2022, said going out on her own after years of working in high-end salons -- including The Salon Project By Joel Warren at Saks Fifth Avenue -- has been one of the best risks shes ever taken.

She has cut, colored and styled hair for Victoria Secret models, those in bridal shoots and even for high-profile designers during NYC Fashion Week.

And in the last two years she has become a go-to salon on Staten Island.

In the last two years the salon has grown so much like all the beautiful plants that I started in the beginning of this journey. Building a business from the ground up takes patience, lots of love and care. [You must trust] that in time your seeds will flourish! Its been a journey, but Im grateful, she said.

SHANA TAYLOR

Having first launched a business, Soil Vibes, in Manhattan, Shana Taylor recently brought her business back home, to Jersey Street.

Shana Taylor, 34, a New Brighton resident and descendant of Sandy Ground -- the nations oldest free Black settlement still inhabited by ancestors of its settlers -- decided to quit a job at the U.S. Post Office to pursue her passion for plants.

At the time, she was living in Manhattan, and often turned her plant penchant into a therapeutic way of dealing with depression and anxiety. Having first launched a business, Soil Vibes, in Manhattan, Taylor recently brought her business back home, to Jersey Street. To do so, she went into business with her parents, Denise Armfield and Michael Taylor, who have owned businesses on Staten Island, to open Koze Vibes Plant Shop Cafe on Jersey Street last year.

She said she loves the feeling of accomplishment that comes from owning your own business, but its not easy.

Being a woman-owned business on Staten Island feels great, but it is very hard. I feel I have to work twice as hard for respect, exposure and resources, said Taylor. Im grateful for the small woman-owned business community and non-profit organizations here that are willing to share advice, resources and their time. We are approaching one year as Koze Vibes on Staten Island in June. We have experienced lows like many other businesses. Without support and funding we can not succeed. I can only hope we can reach more people so they may experience the joy that planting brings especially those dealing with mental health issues.

CHRISTINE & RAY KAMINSKY

Ray and Christine Kaminsky found themselves in business and combined their first names to form icray8.com.(Courtesy of Ray and Christine Kaminsky)

Right before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shutdown, Eltingville residents Ray and Christine Kaminsky bought a cricut machine, which is a small cutting device that allows users to create designs from materials, such as paper, vinyl and iron-on transfers.

We made one Valentines Day personalized bucket and posted it on Facebook Marketplace just for the hell of it, and my phone didnt stop going off with orders until 2 a.m. that morning, said Christine. We were shocked and couldnt believe it. Needless to say, 200 buckets later we said, Lets do this, and we love it.

Since then, the Kaminskys have purchased a DTF machine, which allows users to print a design on film and transfer it to a surface, such as fabric, wood or plastic. Before they knew it, the couple found themselves in business and combined their first names to form icray8.com.

With so many crafters on Staten Island theres still room for all of us to make sales. Probably the biggest struggle would be pricing right now [and] finding supplies to make things affordable for our clients, and still be able to make a small profit, said Christine.

You know the old saying, Its a mans world. Well, I think women have stepped it up in this world in so many ways, and yet there are still some who refuse to work with women. Thats OK, because Ill hustle all day, everyday, no matter what it is. I love the hustle, and we love what we do, she added.

ANGIE CHEUNG

Angie Cheung, co-owner of Mango Mango Dessert which recently opened its doors in New Dorp. (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon)Jason Paderon

Angie Cheung was a hospital lab supervisor when her 12-year-old daughter Myla Wu kept asking to be taken on trips to Mango Mango Dessert in Manhattan to indulge in her favorite traditional Hong Kong delights.

I didnt see myself moving forward at the hospital, and I wasnt happy with what I was doing. My dream was to open a cafe, said Cheung. Since I am not experienced with running a cafe, I knew that I needed to do something with a franchise first. And since Staten Island is booming with a large Asian population, and my daughter loved Mango Mango so much, I chose that as my franchise to open.

Since opening, Cheung said the community has embraced her shop and she has many regulars, who patronize the business.

Since opening our Asian dessert has expanded to different cultures and business is doing well. We serve breakfast too. And have many options. Different cultures come in to enjoy our smoothies and cakes, crepes and Hong Kong waffles, she said.

MARIE QUATTROCHI

Marie Quattrochi spends weekends traveling to local fairs and flea markets to sell her handmade bracelets as part of her new business, Bracelets By Marie Q.(Courtesy of Marie Quattrochi)

Born premature at just one pound, Marie Quattrochi, now 16, was only given a 30% chance of survival, and spent her first six months in this world in the hospital, said her mother, Lori Quattrochi.

She was born at 30 weeks. ...She was born in September, but she didnt come home until May, said the New Springville mom. She had a feeding tube for seven years, and she didnt talk until she was 4 years old.

But that didnt stop her from working to realize her dream of owning her own business. Quattrochi opened her own business, Bracelets By Marie Q, last year.

And becomtming a female business owner at age 16 has helped Quattrochi with many life skills.

The best take-away from being a female business owner is how much more independent and confident I am, she said. I feel that this business has allowed me to open up with others and practice my social skills, while doing something I love - making bracelets. My business has grown where I now take custom orders to make personalized items. I have also taken personalized bulk orders that were used as favors for parties.

JETZABELLE M. CAMPOS

Jetzabelle M. Campos, 35, advises all woman who ever felt it was impossible to pursue their desired career paths, to go for it.(Courtesy of Jetzabelle M. Campos)

Jetzabelle M. Campos, 35, advises all women who ever felt it was impossible to pursue their desired career paths, to go for it.

Thats because when she became a single mother, she needed to build her career while taking care of her two young daughters. Faced with this challenge, Campos said she worked hard to make her dream of becoming a lash specialist and owning a beauty salon reality.

The word itself says, Im possible, said the New Springville resident. Hard work pays off. ...I worked from my home living room with my kids since I couldnt afford daycare or baby sitting services.

After working from home as a lash specialist for several years, Campos launched Le Milan Beauty & Academy in November in New Dorp.

Since opening Campos said she feels more empowered than ever.

Female businesses are so important to me. Im so empowered to be a female who chose to chase her dreams, said Campos. I believe we as a community should believe more in making a difference especially being an independent woman in such a world.

DANIELLE MARIE WALLEY

Danielle Marie Walley recently launced Ask The Nurse, where she accompanies people -- mainly senior citizens -- to doctors appointments, and helps them understand their diagnosis and/or course of treatment with in-home education.(Courtesy of Danielle Marie Walley)

A nurse for more than 20 years and full-time professor at Wagner College, Grymes Hill, Danielle Marie Walley knows all too well how difficult it can be to understand medical jargon.

Thats why the 45-year-old decided to launch a new business, Ask The Nurse, where she accompanies people -- mainly senior citizens -- to doctors appointments, and helps them understand their prognosis and/or course of treatment with in-home education.

As a nurse, providing a service to someone in need comes easy for me. My tenacity for patient advocacy and patient education helps me bring my business to fruition. I hope one day my vision provides empowerment to all who are in need of it.

LYNNE DECKER

Lynn Decker, 60, owner of Wired For Love Designs Jewelry Studio, says youre never too old to try new things. And as a business owner, this is especially true.(Courtesy of Lynn Decker)

Lynn Decker, 60, owner of Wired For Love Designs Jewelry Studio, says, Youre never too old to try new things.

You have to be willing to pursue new things and start over, or just make an addition to your existing life, said Decker. You have to make room for new experiences.

And thats just what Decker did recently when she opened a personal shopping studio for her handmade jewelry business.

Ive been fortunate to have my office and studio here in Staten Island, and so close to where I live and where my friends are. I have connected with so many amazing female entrepreneurs and business owners here, and its nice to know I have a community to turn to, she said. Working for oneself has many challenges, and it can be very lonely at times, so its important to remember to reach out to others and to offer support to them as well. Women supporting women is always a win-win for everyone.

If you have a new business on Staten Island, e-mail porpora@siadvance.com.
A New York City Correction officer was suspended this week without pay after a search conducted at Rikers Island yielded a dangerous stash of contraband, the Daily News reported.

Items seized from a metal box in a second floor hallway of the North infirmary Command included a cell phone, a Wi-Fi hotspot adaptor and a tool for breaking car windows, according to the report.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Indulge your senses this weekend across Staten Island with these ideas for fun.

Friday

Titanic: Oscar Night Pre-Party / March 8, 7 p.m.

Be part of the St. George Theatres Oscar Night Pre-Party! The venue is screening the 1997 film Titanic as part of its 2024 Better on the Big Screen Classic Movie Series. Snag your tickets via Ticketmaster.

Admission cost: $20

Location: St. George Theatre

Saturday

Zumba / March 9, 9 to 10 a.m.

Join a Zumba class for a mix of Latin, International, and popular music. Its a fun workout with fast and slow rhythms thatll get your heart pumping and muscles working. With fun music and easy-to-follow steps, you cant go wrong!

Admission cost: Free

Location: Aerobics Room in Greenbelt Recreation Center

Womens History Month presentation by Naomi Basner / March 9, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In recognition of Womens History Month, Naomi Basner, a senior member at the Pride Center of Staten Island, will host an intergenerational presentation focusing on women in history and feminism. All ages are invited to attend this event.

Admission cost: Free

Location: The Pride Center of Staten Island, Clifton

High Rock Hike (Vigorous) / March 9, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Join the Urban Park Rangers for an exploration of New York Citys hidden treasures. Theyll guide you through High Rock Park, revealing its diverse forests and ecosystems on a leisurely hike. Dont forget to wear comfortable walking shoes!

Admission cost: Free

Location: Nevada Avenue Parking Lot in High Rock Park, Egbertville

Sunday

Womens History Month: Women in Conservation / March 10, 1 to 2 p.m.

Celebrate Womens History Month with the Urban Park Rangers! Take a hike around the park while honoring the achievements of women who have been essential to nature and wildlife conservation, both in the past and present. Dont miss out on the guest speaker, Dr. Shannon Curley, ecologist for the Freshkills Park Alliance.

Admission cost: Free

Location: Freshkills North Park Entrance in Freshkills Park
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Many New Yorkers wish for a day when Daylight Saving Time becomes permanent, while others would like to ditch the whole idea completely.

New Yorkers, along with residents of most U.S. states, will push the clocks ahead one hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 10, as we move into Daylight Saving Time, giving us an additional hour of daylight at the end of the day.

The system of uniform Daylight Saving Time throughout the United States was established by the Uniform Time Act of 1966. And though not every state participates, New York does  for now.

During the fall 2023 legislative session, lawmakers introduced a pair of bills in the New York State Assembly and Senate to make Daylight Saving Time permanent. Those leading the charge are from upstate counties, including state Sen. Joe Griffo, of upstate Rome, and state Sen. Angelo L. Santabarbara of Schenectady.

However, both bills remained trapped in committee, and no vote took place. So, neither has become law.

The bill did pass the Senate in March 2022, and State Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, author of the bill, reintroduced the bill in March 2023 with bi-partisan support. But the House never voted on it, citing more pressing matters at hand.

So, we switched our clocks back again in fall 2023, and well switch them ahead on March 10, ushering in Daylight Saving Time 2024.

Rubio and other supporters of a permanent switch to Daylight Saving Time argue that the clock change practice is antiquated. They say locking the clock, in Daylight Saving Time will result in better sleep for all, especially for young parents  because babies clocks dont change.

Others say setting the clocks back an hour in the fall robs us of sunlight during the darkest time of the year, making winter days even shorter at a time when depression and anxiety peak.

Advantages to Daylight Saving Time

A change to permanent Daylight Saving Time will help those in the agriculture business, some say. Tourism, too, will benefit, since more shopping and dining out takes place during the longer days of Daylight Saving Time.

Those whod like to see a permanent end to Daylight Saving Time argue that a permanent change to Standard Time aligns better with natural circadian cycle, promoting health and safety.

For now, anyway, be prepared to step out of Standard Time into Daylight Saving Time on Sunday.

And enjoy the fact that the amount of daylight we enjoy each day in New York City is slowly increasing.

On Saturday, March 9, the sun will set at around 6 p.m. on Staten Island.

The following day, after the time shift and the end of standard time, sunset is at 7 p.m.

Thats one full hour of extra evening sunshine to enjoy.

The sun will, however, rise nearly an hour later  at about 7:16 a.m. on Sunday, March 10, after coming up at 6:18 a.m. on Saturday, March 9.

Spring officially arrives at 11:06 p.m. on March 19.

In the meantime, the amount of daylight we have each day on Staten Island will continue to slowly increase.

And for now, at least, Daylight Saving Time, sometimes incorrectly referred to by the plural Daylight Savings Time, concludes on Nov. 3, 2024, at 2 a.m.
Lady luck smiled on a Kentucky couple who were under the impression they werent going to be able to claim their winning Powerball prize, the Associated Press reported.

The $50,000 win came in November, but Marc Perdue and his wife of Bowling Green couldnt find the ticket that they had purchased a week prior to the drawing, the report said.

Perdue was shocked to be congratulated by a convenience store employee who informed him of the win, which is when the panic set in, the report said.

Perdue and his wife looked high and low for the ticket, only to end up concluding that they probably threw it away, the report said.

Lucky enough, Perdue happened to stumble across the valuable stub inside of a company car, the report said.

I dont know how long it might have sat out there if I hadnt needed the car, Perdue said. I was shaking a little bit.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  New York state is offering classes on how to view the total solar eclipse on April 8 without the use of special eclipse glasses.

On April 8, a rare total solar eclipse will pass over Mexico, the United States and Canada, according to NASA. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the sun. During this time, the sky will darken, as if it were dawn or dusk.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday that New York state Parks and Historic Sites will host a range of events and activities to celebrate the rare eclipse passing through the state. This cosmic event happens once every 400 years in the same location. New York state has several cities in the path of totality, which means hundreds of thousands of people are expected to visit to see the phenomenon. Those cities include Niagara Falls, Buffalo and Rochester.

While we prepare to welcome the public to our beautiful state parks for the total solar eclipse in New York State, were also offering dozens of events and activities leading up to this extraordinary event, said Hochul. Our top priority is ensuring that New Yorkers and visitors can safely witness this generational spectacle, and I encourage everyone to keep safety in mind so that all can savor this experience in our state.

Events will be held across the state  at locations where the eclipse will be viewed in the path of totality, and where a partial solar eclipse will be visible  to build a tool to view an eclipse without special glasses.

Those who are planning to view the eclipse are being advised to protect their eyes, as viewing the sun during an eclipse can cause severe damage.

Visitors will be able to learn how to make a pinhole projector, which allows you to see the celestial event safely and easily from anywhere  while not looking directly at the sun.

People who would like to register for an event and activity can do so through the Office of Parks, Recreation, Historic Preservation (OPRHP) event calendar and eclipse website.

On Staten Island, there will be an event held at Clay Pit Ponds Interpretive Center, located at 2351 Veterans Rd. West, on Saturday, March 16, from 1 to 3 p.m.

Except during the brief total phase of a total solar eclipse, when the moon completely blocks the suns bright face, it is unsafe to look directly at the sun without specialized eye protection for solar viewing.

According to NASA, viewing any part of the sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter secured over the front of the optics will instantly cause severe eye injury. The partial phases of the solar eclipse can only be safely observed directly with specialized solar viewing glasses (eclipse glasses) or a handheld solar viewer. Regular sunglasses, polarized or otherwise, are not a safe replacement for solar eclipse glasses.

Consumers should only use new eclipses glasses that are certified by the International Safety Organization (ISO). These glasses will have ISO stamped on them. The current standard for solar viewing material is called ISO 12312-2. Glasses from the 2017 eclipse should not be reused.

The following ISO-certified glasses are now available via Amazon:

Soluna Solar Eclipse Glasses 12-pack, now on sale, priced at $9.99.

EclipSee Solar Eclipse Glasses, 6-pack, now on sale, priced at $7.97.

Kesseph Solar Eclipse Glasses, 2-pack, now on sale, priced at $9.99.

Hochul strongly encouraged eclipse enthusiasts to partake in this once-in-a-generation event safely by:

Protecting your eyes with specialized solar viewing glasses

Checking traffic before heading out for this event as higher volumes of visitors are anticipated

Preparing for the weather

Bringing the proper gear and watching out for ticks if camping

WHEN TO SEE ECLIPSE IN NEW YORK

On April 8, a total solar eclipse will encompass the western and northern parts of New York state. In less than 15 minutes  within a 3:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. window  the moon will pass between the Earth and sun.

The roughly 100-mile wide path of totality will enter in the southwestern part of the state just after 3:15 p.m. and will depart northern New York just before 3:30 p.m. Cities and towns within this path include Jamestown, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Watertown, Old Forge, Lake Placid and Plattsburgh.

The entire event will last for up to two-and-a-half hours, which marks the time the sun is first obstructed to its last moments when the moons shadow is cast.

Heres a more specific breakdown:
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The NYPD is cautioning residents about a scam involving fake law enforcement calls about bail bonds, arrest warrants, or requests for contributions to a bogus police charity.

The 121st Precinct posted to X on Thursday, warning residents of a scam in which individuals pretending to be from a law enforcement agency call victims on the phone, and tell them either their loved ones need help with bail, they have an active warrant for their arrest, or ask for donations to a fake police charity.

The police will never contact you to ask for money, police said. Its not a cop, its a scam!

Scammers can manipulate caller ID to make it appear as if the calls are coming from law enforcement, police say. The caller ID may also have your name or a family members name in order to seem legitimate, police warn.

Recent phone scams in our area involved someone calling and claiming to be a law enforcement agency while requesting payment to help with bail, or help a family member.



ATTENTION 



The police will never contact you to ask for money. Its not a cop, its a SCAM  pic.twitter.com/R2OeIYM9zv  NYPD 121st Precinct (@NYPD121Pct) March 6, 2024

A HISTORY OF SCAMS

In September, Assistant Chief Joseph Gulotta, the NYPD borough commander, spoke with the Staten Island Advance/SILive.com about the the prevalence of scammers.

Gulotta said at the time telephone and internet scams targeting senior citizens cost Staten Island victims more than $2.6 million in 2023 alone.

An 86-year-old Staten Island man fell victim to a telephone scam in August of last year that cost him $50,000 when he thought he was helping his son, who he was falsely told by scammers was under arrest in New Jersey.

According to the NYPDs post, the best thing one can do if confronted with these types, or any other type, of scams is to hang up the phone.

To report suspicion of a scam to local authorities call 718-556-7226 or email reportscams@rcda.nyc.gov.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Z100s Elvis Duran told his listeners on his national morning radio show, which can be heard in over 80 cities across the U.S., to go to Staten Islands very first inclusive St. Patricks Day Parade on March 17.

There is something going on, and this has made national news, and it does almost every year right around St. Paddys Day on Staten Island, said Duran to his listeners on Thursday morning.

Here in New York City there is the annual St. Patricks Parade and for many, many years, everyones been allowed to march...to celebrate all things Irish -- unless you were a member of an LGBTQ group, you were not allowed to march or show support for the rainbow flag or anything. If you did, they asked you to leave, said Duran.

Sounds like a different country, quipped Durans co-host, Danielle Monaro.

Durans guest for the radio spot was Nina Flores, executive director of the Staten Island Business Outreach Center and Forest Avenue Business Improvement District (BID), which is hosting the parade.

The Forest Avenue BIDs mission is to cultivate strong bonds between local businesses and the community we serve. Celebrating inclusivity and diversity is the heart of what we stand for here at the Forest Avenue BID. This parade exemplifies our commitment to fostering a sense of unity and belonging within our community, she said, noting the last day to register to participate in the parade is Thursday.

Members of the Staten Island Pride Center volunteer and community organizers take to the street before the Staten Island St. Patrick's Parade. March 5, 2023. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)Staten Island Advance

When Duran asked Flores about the how the business owners along the Forest Avenue commercial strip reacted to the new, inclusive parade, she said: The businesses were very excited. They are 100% supportive. They love their community and they just want it to be inclusive and invite everybody out. So we just wanted this to be supportive and support all of our community.

Duran, who is married to Staten Islander Alex Carr, a board member of the Pride Center of Staten Island, said hes excited to march in this first inclusive celebration of Irish heritage on Staten Island. He also told his co-hosts that hell figure out some type of float or presence to show the support from the crew and co-hosts of the popular Z100 morning show.

He also made it clear that the inclusive parade is meant to be a celebration of Irish heritage for all.

Just in case Staten Islanders haven't heard, the Forest Avenue BID has a truck driving around the borough, advertising the first inclusive parade.(Courtesy of Matt Maniscalco)

Its not a gay pride parade. Its an everyone parade -- including everyone. I want to be very clear that this is about including everyone. And of course, the Pride Center of Staten Island, this is our first year to be able to be in the parade. So its a very, very moving thing.

The move to launch a second parade comes after an advocacy project launched last year by the Advance/SILive.com highlighted the LGBTQ+ exclusion by parade organizers through a series of stories that explored the large amount of city resources used to support the event, as well as the overwhelming support from the community of the Pride Center of Staten Island.

THESE GROUPS HAVE SIGNED UP

From celebrities and politicians to public high school and college marching bands, many groups and individuals have signed up to be part of the first inclusive Staten Island St. Patricks Day Parade to be held March 17 by the Forest Avenue Business Improvement District (BID).Advance composite

From celebrities and politicians to public high school and college marching bands, many groups and individuals have signed up to be part of inclusive Staten Island St. Patricks Day Parade.

Most of the groups that have signed up to march have, in recent years, boycotted the traditional St. Patricks Parade -- organized by the Staten Island St. Patricks Parade Committee -- because of its continued ban of LGBTQ+ groups. That parade was held on March 3.

The event will kick off at Hart Boulevard at 12 p.m. and proceed along Forest Avenue to Broadway. Participants wishing to walk in the parade may register by visiting Eventbrite.com (keywords: Forest Ave. St. Patricks Day Parade).

Among the groups signed up to march are: Girl Scouts of Greater New York; Tottenville High School Marching Band; Port Richmond High School Marching Band; Wagner High School Marching Band; Wagner College Marching Band; Nonprofit Staten Island; NYC Mayors Office, NYC Department of Transportation; The Pride Center of Staten Island and many more, said Flores.

Our students are very excited to march on the 17th, said Andrew Greenfield, principal of Port Richmond High School. They have been practicing all year, and look forward to performing in front of a hometown crowd. The Forest Avenue parade was always a favorite of ours and its unfortunate that these students have never had the opportunity to participate since they have been in high school.

Sarah Kate Ellis, a lifelong Staten Islander and president and CEO of GLAAD, the worlds largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, also committed to marching in the parade.

Sarah Kate Ellis, a life-long Staten Islander and president and CEO of GLAAD, the worlds largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, has issued a statement celebrating the communitys effort to create a new event where all are welcome. Thanks to the local advocates in Staten Island, led by the Pride Center of Staten Island, who have fought tirelessly for inclusion and visibility, all will be able to celebrate St. Patricks Day! As a proud Irish-Catholic lesbian from Staten Island, I am heartened to see that Staten Island will have an inclusive St. Patricks Day Parade, Ellis said.(Staten Island Advance composite)

And its not just Staten Islanders who are coming out to celebrate thi inclusive parade. Consul General of Ireland in New York Helena Nolan, a representative for the Irish government has committed to marching on March 17.

POLITICIANS WELCOME INCLUSIVE PARADE

Mayor Eric Adams said he plans to take part in the parade. In addition, Councilman David Carr (R-Mid-Island), who is a member of the LGBTQ+ community; Assemblyman Charles Fall (D-North Shore/Brooklyn/Lower Manhattan); Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks (D-North Shore), and State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D-North Shore/South Brooklyn), the latter of whom joined members of the LGBTQ+ community in a protest last year against the traditional parades exclusionary practices, all have said they plan to march.

And many other elected officials will be on hand for the annual Jerome X. ODonovan Parade Breakfast  co-chaired by District Attorney Michael McMahon, former Assemblyman Michael Cusick and former Councilman Ken Mitchell  at Jodys Club Forest ahead of the parade. Last year the breakfast was cancelled during the traditional parade due to the LGBTQ+ exclusion.

Last year, only three elected officials marched in the 2023 exclusionary St. Patricks Parade: Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn), Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo (R-Mid-Island) and Borough President Vito Fossella. The trio marched in the March 3 parade this year and said they plan to also participate in the inclusive event on St. Patricks Day.

FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and X
Representational image: Police in Bangladesh have arrested a professor for shooting a student (AFP via Getty Images)

A Bangladesh medical college professor has been suspended and sent to prison for allegedly shooting a student in the classroom.

Raihan Sharif, a lecturer at the Shaheed M Mansur Ali Medical College and Hospital in Sirajganj city, was suspended by the Health Ministry on Wednesday following his arrest earlier this week.

Mr Sharif was sent to judicial custody pending an investigation in at least two cases filed against him.

He has been accused of opening fire on student Arafat Amin, 23, during an oral examination on Monday. During the exam, Mr Sharif allegedly brought out a gun and shot the student in his knee, but the bullet hit Mr Amin's mobile phone in his trouser pocket.

About 45 students, who were present in the class, locked the teacher in the room and called the police. Mr Amin has reportedly undergone surgery and remained under medical care.

Law enforcement officials said Mr Sharif was known for notoriously carrying guns and knives and would often display them during lectures while threatening students.

Bangladesh has a strict gun regulation policy, which only allows citizens above the age of 25 to carry firearms with a valid licence.

The local police have seized two pistols, 81 rounds of bullets, four magazines, and 12 knives from the professor. Authorities said Mr Sharif shot the student "with an illegal pistol".

Students staged a protest on Tuesday demanding strict punishment for the gun-wielding professor.

At the time of the incident, the professor took out a pistol from his bag and said "this is my pet bird" before firing a round that hit the survivor, witnesses told Prothom Alo.

Mr Sharif was served two show-cause notices based on complaints from students.

He was previously fired from the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital on allegations of threatening a senior colleague at gunpoint.
Support the Peninsulas only locally-owned newspaper. Subscribe!

Subscribing annually brings you big savings. We also offer monthly and weekly subscriptions.

Premium Subscription

As low as $8.25 per month

Premium Includes:

Access to the Daily Journals e-Edition: a digital replica of our daily newspaper including crossword puzzles, games, comics, classifieds and ads.

The ability to download a digital replica of the Daily Journal for offline reading.

The ability to clip & download articles or images to share with others.

Access to the last 90 days of e-Editions with search, downloading and clipping options.

Unlimited access to our award-winning online content

Commenting access on all stories as a valued member of the DJ community
Shyamoli, 50, a local doula, holding hair she believes she has lost as a result of bathing in pondwater contaminated by salt water and farming pesticides (WaterAid/Fabeha Monir)

Women in south Asia are becoming silent victims of an alarming side effect of the climate crisis as sources of clean water for drinking and bathing become more and more scarce  the loss of their hair.

In the coastal regions of Bangladesh, where over half of the water is tainted with salt and pollutants, women are walking back-breaking distances to fetch slightly safer water for drinking.

But with clean water being such a precious resource, women are bathing in hard water, which is not just leading to infections but is also causing them to lose their hair, laying bare the deeper wounds inflicted by the climate crisis.

In the Satkhira region in southwestern Bangladesh, where residents rely solely on rice crops and fishing for their livelihood, women say they are losing hair at an alarming rate. Some are worried about premature baldness, while others are selling their hair to vendors in an attempt to make ends meet.

Women in the Satkhira region are living without the basics of clean water, decent toilets, and good hygiene, and the climate crisis is making it worse, Anindita Hridita, programme lead on climate resilience at WaterAid Bangladesh, tells The Independent.

They say continued exposure to contaminated water sources is not only causing dangerous waterborne diseases but also robbing them of their hair, an added layer of injustice in an already dire situation.

Hridita and her team travelled through the region for days, collecting stories from women in the villages of Satkhira who are suffering through the multifaceted effects of the climate crisis.

The water I bathe in causes my skin to get very dry, and I often get blisters, shares Shyamoli Munda, a rice and fish farmer from Bhetkali village in Satkhira. The blisters sometimes get so dry they bleed.

Shyamoli says she has lost so much hair in recent years that she fears going bald.

Every day I am getting lots of hair falling out, almost a handful, she says. It comes out whenever I comb my hair. As a woman, hair is everything to us, so whenever I lose hair, I feel insecure about going bald or something.

Story continues

Shyamoli Munda brushing her hair, Bhetkali, Satkhira, Bangladesh (WaterAid/Fabeha Monir)

Scientific studies show that hard water makes hair and skin dry and weak. However, the extreme exposure these women have daily to saline water is causing more severe effects.

In Satkhira, where salinity is higher, women who move in from other areas see more rapid hair loss. Hridita says the women who had moved to the village after marriage told her that, if earlier they were losing one handful of hair, now they lose double the quantity.

We use pondwater for showers and washing. The water is not good, but there is no alternative, says Jhorna Munda, a 22-year-old resident of Bhetkhali, Satkhira. Im scared that I wont have any [hair] eventually.

Jhorna, 22, and her daughter Obonita, 3, in front of the pond they use for washing (WaterAid/Fabeha Monir)

The narrative of hair loss extends beyond aesthetics, holding deep cultural and personal significance. Hridita says the issue deeply relates not just to womens mental health, but also to their standing in society and even their future.

In south Asia, before arranged marriages, the grooms family comes to see the potential brides, and the women are showcased with all their beauty and confidence, Hridita says. It is very important to have hair.

While the issue affects men, too, Hridita says they did not seem as bothered as the women about their hair falling out. But for women, it represents a loss of their identity.

The issue is not limited to Bangladesh; in the arid regions of Uganda, women are facing similar challenges. Since we get water from far away, I only use a little water to wash my hair. As a result it is not thoroughly washed clean at times, says Lina Lokol, 30, a mother of six who lives in Ariamaoi village in the Karamoja region of Uganda.

My hair keeps breaking because of my daily household chores. I keep my hair clean and neat to fit in[to] society. Here in Karamoja, if a woman has shabby hair, people laugh at her; they may think she is a madwoman. And if you shave off your hair, people may think you have lost your husband.

Lina Lokol, 30, getting ready to carry a 20 litre jerrycan full of water back home from River Nataa, Ariamaoi village, Nabiratuk District, Karamoja region, Uganda (WaterAid/James Kiyimba)

When I have unattended hair, I become a disgrace to my husband, and he may even abandon me for other women who are more beautiful and have well-plaited hair.

In most houses in rural Bangladesh and Uganda, women are responsible for fetching the water. They are undertaking arduous journeys, covering long distances to collect drinking water for their families. With whatever they fetch in their jerrycans, household chores take priority, and their personal hygiene and hairwashing take a back seat.

When I go to collect water, I take a kolosh (jug), which holds 10 litres of water. Im afraid of the walk, says Lina. The roads are not very safe and Im afraid Im going to trip and fall, especially when its dark.

I find the walk very physically straining. The kolosh has to be carried on my side, over my hips, so its very straining on that part of my body.

Some women have also started selling their fallen hair. South Asia has long been a hub for the hair trade. But hair, which was once obtained as a donation, has now become a way for Bangladeshi women to make some money.

Im selling my hair to buy groceries, says Shyamoli, a mother of three, whose rice crops have been suffering due to extreme weather. I feel bad about it, but what can I do? There is no other way to get the groceries. I sell my hair for 600-700 Taka (4-5) each time.

Hridita says that this has become common practice in the community. If these women had access to clean water their lives could have been a lot easier.

She says her team at Water Aid is helping women to collect water through rainwater harvesting, but a lot more work needs to be done to make clean water available to women, who are often the last people in their families to be allowed to use it despite being the ones who fetch it.
US President Joe Biden had three things he had to achieve in his final State of the Union address before this years presidential election.

First, he had to assuage concerns that he is too old and unfit for another term.

US President Joe Biden delivered a fiery State of the Union address. Credit: Bloomberg

Second, he had to convince a sceptical nation of what hes achieved over the past three years and lay out a vision for another four.

And third, he had to draw a contrast with Donald Trump and make their looming rematch a referendum on the former president, when elections are often referendums on the incumbent.

To that end, the 81-year-old president did a convincing enough job, delivering a loud and fiery address warning that basic freedoms are under attack, both domestically and overseas.

I know I may not look like it, but Ive been around a while, he joked at one point, drawing laughs from the audience in the joint sitting of Congress.

Read the full analysis.
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 their grocery bills surge, shoppers are looking for ways to opt out of the supermarket duopoly. Letters writers and online comments agreed it was time to turn up the pressure on the big two: Coles and Woolies. Illustration: John Shakespeare Credit: john shakespeare Is competition good? Business reporter Millie Muroi explained that, until recently, she would shop with her flatmate exclusively at the big supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths, because of their proximity. But sick of their growing grocery bills, they ventured out to a market with a mission: to conduct their own inquiry into grocery pricing. Shan Competition is good and I hope the government will encourage a couple of established players to come in to major population centres in Australia. Im pretty sure the duopoly didnt like the arrival of Aldi either. Herbert Simple solution. Everyone invest in the big two supermarkets and vote to lower their margins. Sorted. Aiden My neighbourhood has two Coles, two Woolies, two IGAs, and a bunch of independents  the Coles and Woolies are way cheaper than the rest of them.

Advertisement

Zahn Pithers The supplier should be setting the costs, not the buyer. Fix it, government. Thats what we pay you for. Loading Maramanah The ACCC preview has identified numerous strategies used by the duopoly to force customers to accept price increases, such as shrinkflation where the size is reduced, but the price remains the same. Dray Not sure why anyone would defend the supermarkets. The reality is that they make significant profits and hold the Australian public to ransom. Things such as salaries are taken into their operating profit margins, so this doesnt explain anything. Its time for the pressure to be turned up against this duopoly. Chau Vuong Xi Mang Ive said it a million times. Supermarkets are for milk, toilet paper, washing stuff and cans. Thats it. Everything else, go to the market. Braaap If you really want to save on groceries, go to Aldi. Only buy the weekly specials at Coles and Woollies. Plan your meals, make a list and stick to it. Eat leftovers for lunch or a second meal and freeze excess for another time. If you find your veggies are going bad before you use them, switch to frozen and save time prepping meals. Willy Wonka Flemington markets are brilliant, but Sydney could do markets a lot better. We have Paddys Markets in the city but for a city of our size there should be more outlets for producers to sell directly to consumers. When I lived in Melbourne, I was spoilt for choice with markets. Its beyond the ACCC to recommend it but definitely something for city planners across Sydney to consider. Not just monthly farmers markets, but proper large markets where people can do their weekly shopping.

Advertisement

Illustration: Dionne Credit: Are supermarkets all about profit? After working a student summer job in the head office of the British behemoth Sainsburys, where he was assigned to its elite fresh produce department, author and journalist Nick Bryant only had one question about the Woolworths and Coles duopoly: why are the major Australian supermarkets so bad, especially given the scale of their profiteering? Considered Simple, Watson. In Australia, they maximise home brands, reduce selection on the shelves, package anything that moves in black trays and plastic wrap. Why do I need mushrooms in a plastic container all cut up? Its gone to the dogs. Gen-X One has to wonder whether the concentration of Australian supermarkets in big box shopping centres, and the consequent cost of rent, one of the main distinctions from the UK. Are most UK supermarkets on the high-street and stand-alone, or beholden to the likes of Westfield? Janet Argal, Dulwich Hill Supermarkets in the UK put the Great in Britain. Years living in London gave me a deep appreciation for their supermarket supremacy. Returning to our duopoly desert was one of the rare times I considered Australia the unlucky country, vowing to UK friends aisle return one day. Hya-Who Australia suffers twice from the tyranny of distance, both within its borders, and from outside its borders. We also dont have the critical numbers of customers. Doesnt excuse what the cosy little duopoly is doing to us, but it is part of the explanation of what we/they have to deal with. They certainly dont have a conscience. And our governments dont have the balls to set up an effective watchdog.

Advertisement
The family of Clare Nowland has reached a settlement on confidential terms in its civil case against the state of NSW over the Tasering of the 95-year-old great-grandmother in a Cooma nursing home.

Nowland died in hospital in May 2023, a week after she was Tasered inside Yallambee Lodge, causing her to fall and hit her head. Senior Constable Kristian White has been committed to stand trial in the NSW Supreme Court charged with manslaughter.

Clare Nowland died in hospital a week after being Tasered.

While Nowland was still critically ill, her family filed a civil case against the state of NSW for trespass to the person (assault and battery) and negligence. She was initially listed as the plaintiff, but her son, Michael Nowland, took over the case.

The NSW District Court previously granted Nowlands daughter, Lesley Lloyd, permission to watch police footage of the incident.
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 Cranbrook headmaster Nicholas Sampson resigned on Friday. In this story first published in November 2022, Anne Hyland looks at the inner workings of this most private of private schools. At the turn of the 20th century, as Australia became a nation, Cranbrook, a house built by a beer baron in the eastern Sydney enclave of Bellevue Hill, became the residence of three successive NSW governors. The house, which commanded stunning water views, was later sold and transformed into a prestigious all-boys school, which for the past century has been educating the sons of some of the countrys most prominent and wealthiest families, many of whom would go on to work at the top legal and financial institutions, and major company boards. A handful of its alumni in more recent decades emerged as billionaires such as James Packer, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Will Vicars. Cranbrooks history and location has always meant the independent Anglican school has been steeped in power, money, and status. However, for the past 18 months this most private of private schools, where the fees for year 12 are almost $40,000, has been a pressure cooker of discontent. The school council, parents  past and present  and also the headmaster, have been at war. The ugly dispute involving lawyers, spin doctors and parents-turned-activists has played out like a soap opera across the pages of the nations newspapers. The lid finally blew this past week, when 10 of the 11 members of Cranbrooks governing council quit on Monday, including the president, Jon North, a lawyer and investment banker. The councillors, four of which are nominees of the Anglican church, are now acting in caretaker mode until the end of this year, when a new council will be formed.

Advertisement

Helen Nugent and Roger Massey-Green, former school council presidents and well-known business leaders, will head the selection committee. A move welcomed by a former school councillor and school parent Angus Dawson. I served on council with both and trust them to listen to the broad school community and to select a council to support the headmaster in taking the school forward. At the heart of the dispute at Cranbrook was concern by parents and alumni that the council was not governing appropriately, and did not understand its role; claims which 10 members of the council strongly disagree with. None of the latter would speak on the record. These schools are very big businesses, they have to have properly functioning governance bodies, says Nicola Wakefield Evans, whose four sons attended Cranbrook. We have to have a rethink about how these governing bodies are constituted, and there needs to be a lot more transparency with the school communities. I hope as a result of whats happened at Cranbrook there will be change. Nicola Wakefield Evans is a director of Macquarie and Lend Lease, and is a former managing partner international for King & Wood Mallesons. Credit: Janie Barrett Wakefield Evans, who is a highly regarded board director and former managing partner international for King & Wood Mallesons, led a push for change at the school with three contemporaries. They included fund manager Will Vicars, whos worth an estimated $1.3 billion, former McKinsey head of Australia and New Zealand, Angus Dawson, and board director and former fund manager Warwick Negus. All are major donors to the school and had, or have, sons at Cranbrook. Donors have been behind one of Cranbrooks biggest building projects in recent history, which was unveiled in October. The $125 million revamp included an Olympic-sized pool and gymnasium, a 267-seat theatre, a chapel, theatre and a basement car park. Private schools, parents are paying a lot of money to these schools for their childrens education, says Wakefield Evans. Their expectation should be, and probably is, that the school is being run properly, with a governing body thats doing its job properly, and part of doing your job properly, in a modern governance sense, is to listen to your stakeholders, which is what did not happen here.

Advertisement

The grievances from parents past and present at Cranbrook were myriad. There were concerns about the delays around the transition of the school to becoming co-educational from 2026, and why the results of a survey done of parents and alumni on the matter were not disclosed, except to reveal that the majority were in favour. A push by Australias fourth-richest man, Scott Farquhar, whos worth $26.4 billion, and his wife Kim Jackson, to have the school start the co-ed process next year, with an offer to fund 40 scholarships for girls, ultimately failed. A number of parents were opposed to rushing the process, and had preferred co-ed start in year seven rather than in year 11 as planned. Others such as former politician Graham Richardson, who has a son at the school, would prefer Cranbrook remained all-boys. Former politician Graham Richardson has opposed Cranbrooks plan to go co-educational. Credit: Jessica Hromas Its what I signed up for, and they have a duty to stick to the deal, but they dont seem to see it that way, says Richardson, who is an admirer of headmaster Nicholas Sampson and lunches with him. He also likes North and has been disappointed at what has gone on at the school. Jon North has been a strong leader of the troops. This controversy wont do the school much good. For other parents their criticism of the school council was of its silence. Letters to the council that raised concerns and complaints, often went unanswered.

Advertisement

Fund manager Doug Tynan, who has three sons at the school, wrote to the council in September raising concerns about anti-social behaviour such as bullying, anti-Semitism, and online abuse. He also raised concerns about reports that there had been a breakdown in the relationship between the school council chair Jon North and headmaster Nicholas Sampson. The relationship between North and Sampson had disintegrated to the point where the two men could not be in a room together without another school councillor present. Sampson brought a legal complaint against North earlier this year, which was being investigated before most of the councils resignation on Monday. Neither North nor Sampson would comment when contacted. The only councillor who didnt resign was lawyer and SBS director Katrina Rathie. North responded to Tynans letter as did Rathie. Tynan later had a meeting with Sampson. The passionate upswell of parent and community support for Nick Sampson this last week has been overwhelming, says Cranbrook parent and fund manager, Doug Tynan. Credit: Brook Mitchell Other concerns among Cranbrook parents were that the junior school had no representation on the school council.

Advertisement

Another problem for parents and alumni was the decision by North and the council to amend the constitution at the schools annual general in May. The amendment allowed Craig Carroll to serve a fifth three-year term. In corporate Australia, 10 years is considered the maximum a director should spend on a board. The feedback from some parents was that no one was indispensable, as most of the councillors would find out. This month, the festering conflict came to a head. On November 17, the school council sent out a letter accusing Wakefield Evans, Vicars, Dawson and Negus of being disaffected individuals, who had challenged the reputation and governance of Cranbrook in an ongoing media campaign, and intimidated members of the school council via legal threats. Earlier in the year, Wakefield Evans, Vicars, Dawson and Negus had sent a letter to each school councillor foreshadowing that they might face legal action in the NSW Supreme Court, if it was shown they had failed in their director duties. After the councils November 17 letter, the disaffected four fired back in a letter to the school community. The lengthy letter dated Saturday, November 19, addressed a long list of concerns with the schools governance and transparency, and claimed that parents had not been informed of serious allegations about the treatment of the headmaster, and that there was a risk Sampson and other teaching staff would leave.

Advertisement
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinners $1.8 billion Metro megabus project won support from the Greens, but not Labor, during the Brisbane City Council mayoral debate.

The first two stages of the Metro  an electric, three-car rapid bus service running through 18 stations along 22 kilometres of busways  are due to finally take passengers in late 2024.

The first Metro line will run from Eight Mile Plains to Roma Street Station, while the second will connect the Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital to the University of Queensland and all stops in between.

The Brisbane Metro has been designed to carry more passengers at one time, in a bid to ease congestion and improve public transport efficiency. Credit: Matt Dennien

Future Metro links on Brisbanes northside have been proposed by the LNP; to a proposed northern electric bus charging station at Fitzgibbon, to Brisbane Airport and to Capalaba.
Anthony Albaneses cabinet is in danger of being weighed down by jealousy and favouritism following allegations that two members of his left faction, Penny Wong and Katy Gallagher, together with two bureaucrats, are frustrating ministers by shutting them out of key spending decisions in the approach to the federal budget.

In the first major Labor leak since winning office 22 months ago, four members of the ministry confirmed that Industry, Science and Innovation Minister Ed Husic had complained directly to Albanese about the behaviour of the powerful expenditure review committee, responsible for overseeing ministers submissions for the May budget.

Penny Wong and Katy Gallagher are de facto deputy prime ministers in the Albanese government, according to cabinet-level leaks. Credit: Marija Ercegovac

The Heralds exclusive story by James Massola and Shane Wright has Wong and Gallagher derisively dubbed co-deputy prime ministers and reveals growing disquiet among some in Labor that the quest for a second surplus is overriding other important policy agendas. The story comes as Treasury and the Department of Finance seek to re-exert control over spending after the pandemic, when government expenditure exploded.

However, Treasurer Jim Chalmers disputed the impact of cabinet tensions and hit back at claims from some ministers that two departmental heads had too much power over funding decisions. We run a responsible budget and that means running a tight ship on spending  it means whittling down hundreds of good ideas into a smaller set of priorities that can be funded, he told the ABC.
The Young Liberals are siding with the Minns government over its plan to increase housing density around train stations, urging their parliamentary colleagues to help Labor achieve its targets.

The Young Liberals state council meeting on Wednesday night agreed to support the state governments proposed transit-oriented development sites, which will increase housing within 400 metres of 31 train stations, describing the policy as an important step, but one needing some tweaks.

The Young Liberals have welcomed Labors approach to transport-oriented developments to boost density. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

The motion also urged the NSW Parliamentary Liberal opposition and local councillors to work collaboratively with the government to deliver on NSWs housing targets.

NSW needs to significantly ramp up the number of homes built each year if it is to reach its ambitious target of 75,000 new dwellings a year for five years, but the state government is facing fierce resistance from some councils.
SABA:--- During the week of February 26th - February 29th, Commissioner Eviton Heyliger and Policy Advisor and EU Focal Point, Courtney Hassell travelled to Brussels to attend the 20th OCTs-EU Forum. The forum takes place annually and is the highest-level instance of dialogue that brings together representatives from the OCTs, member states and the European Commission, at a political level.

Leading up to the forum, the Saba Delegation met with the Directorate General for International Partnerships to discuss progress with on-going programmes that are being financed with European Union funding. One such programme is the Territorial Multiannual Indicative Programme (MIP) that is financing sustainable and resilient energy on Saba and will contribute to the implementation of the third phase of renewable energy.

The delegation also participated in workshops concerning the possibilities for regional and intraregional cooperation and attended the Overseas Countries and Territories Association (OCTA) Ministerial Conference. All 13 OCTs were represented during the Ministerial Conference where OCTAs new strategic course was discussed and adopted, amongst other items.

The forum itself was held on February 29th. Several keynote speeches and political statements were made throughout the day on various topics such as regional partnerships and integration, youth engagement and culture. Commissioner Heyliger had the opportunity to speak on the topic of culture. During his speech, the Commissioner spoke about the inauguration of the new Culture Department that is working to preserve Sabas diverse cultural heritage and instill Saban Pride among residents. Further to this, he spoke about the vision for culture on Saba and the importance of preserving and celebrating our identity. The speech was concluded by stating that Saba eagerly awaits future collaborations and funding opportunities that may arise through the forum.

The OCTs were also afforded the opportunity to engage with Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International partnerships, in trilateral sessions. The Dutch OCTs, alongside the member state representative, Alexandra van Huffelen and Special Envoy for EU Funding, Edison Rijna, had a productive meeting where multiple topics were discussed, including the importance of investing in youth, having easier access to funds, renewable energy initiatives and the support provided by the office of the Envoy, among others.

Commissioner Heyliger stated it was a successful week of meetings. Sabas participation at the 20th OCTS-EU Forum showcases our unwavering dedication to enhancing the strategic partnership between the European Union and our island as an Overseas Country and Territory. Through constructive dialogue and engagement, we are fostering meaningful collaborations and working towards having access to more funding opportunities that will move Saba towards continued growth and prosperity.
Paula Lobo/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

Amanda Knox is ready to tell her story on screen, with the help of friend and mentor Monica Lewinsky.

Knox took to X on Thursday to share a multi-post thread about the news that shes producing an eight-episode Hulu series about her run-in with the law as a study abroad student in Italy, where she was tried and acquitted for murdering her roommate Meredith Kercher and spent four years in prison. She also spilled that Drive Away Dolls and Maid actress Margaret Qualley will be playing her in the series.

In the since-deleted posts, Knox explained that none of the previous retellings of her story in the media have felt true to her lived experience, and she wants to tell her story in a way thats artful and unexpected.

When I first came home from prison, I was approached by big players in Hollywood who wanted to tell my story, she wrote. I turned them down. It didnt feel like MY story. It felt like the story of a bunch of other peoples mistakes and the consequences that I and others suffered as a result. It felt like a story I was trapped in.

She added that shed revisited Italy to confront her trauma, and that it took her another decade to really understand what had gone wrong in Italy, and for me to respond to that trauma with a sense of agency and empathy for everyone involved.

Amanda Knox Media Circus Hits Peak Weird on 15th Anniversary of Murder

There have been several film and TV projects about Knoxs story in the past, including the 2011 Lifetime drama Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial and the 2016 Netflix documentary Amanda Knox, but the upcoming Hulu series will be the first major scripted project. Knox said on X that she is producing the series with her husband, Christopher Robinson, under their KnoxRobinson banner. According to Deadline, Qualley and Lewinsky will both executive produce, along with Warren Littlefield, Lisa Harrison, Ann Johnson, and Graham Littlefield of The Littlefield Company.

According to Knox, Lewinskywho knows a thing or two about navigating a tabloid frenzywas instrumental in the seriess pickup by Hulu. [Lewinsky] deeply understood the stakes, and had a keen talent for storytelling herself. She connected us with 20th Television and Hulu, and we were off to the races!

Story continues

As for Qualley, Knox said the actress was her first choice for the role. Margaret Qualley, who is magical in everything shes starred in, from Maid, to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, to the new Drive Away Dolls. I still cant quite believe she said yes.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
The full moon of March 2024 will feature a lunar eclipse visible from the Americas, Alaska, Antarctica and parts of northern Russia.

The full moon of March, called the Worm Moon, will occur in the eastern U.S. at 3 a.m. on March 25, (0700 UTC) according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, within a day of the planet Mercury reaching its highest elevation in the evening skies for Northern Hemisphere observers. The moon will also undergo a penumbral lunar eclipse, passing through the outer part of Earth's shadow.

In New York City on March 24 the moon rises at 7:21 p.m. local time, and the eclipse starts at 12:53 a.m. March 25. During the eclipse, the moon will reach its full phase, and the maximal eclipse is at 3:12 a.m. The eclipse ends at 5:32 a.m., about an hour and a half before moonset at 7:02 a.m. ET.

Related: Full moon names for 2024 (and how they came to be)

TOP TELESCOPE PICK: (Image credit: Celestron) Looking for a telescope to see the features of the full moon up close? We recommend the Celestron Astro Fi 102 as the top pick in our best beginner's telescope guide. Don't forget a moon filter!

Full moons occur when the moon is on the opposite side of Earth from the sun. Because we designate the time of actual full moon as being when the moon is 180 degrees around the celestial sphere from where the sun is, the timing of the full moon depends on one's time zone.

This full moon will also pass through the outer part of Earth's shadow, known as the penumbra. At least part of the eclipse can be seen from as far west as the eastern half of Australia, Papua New Guinea, Japan and Eastern Russia. The eastern boundary of visibility is in the middle of Europe (Vienna marks the approximate boundary) and a line that connects the Gulf of Sidra in Libya to a point west of Cape Town, South Africa.

A map showing from where the penumbral lunar eclipse on March 25, 2024 will be visible. (Image credit: Dominic Ford/In-The-Sky.org)

The shadow of Earth is so large relative to the moon that lunar eclipses are visible from anywhere on the side of Earth that faces the moon as it nears full phase; the moon can pass entirely within the Earth's shadow. The moon's shadow is smaller and only hits a small part of the Earth's surface; this is why catching a solar eclipse requires one to be in a very narrow path.

Unlike a partial or total lunar eclipse, the moon won't darken or turn red; during a penumbral eclipse the moon only looks a little darker than normal (some people see the color as brownish or a slightly off-color gray). If one were standing on the moon one would see a partial solar eclipse, with the Earth blocking part of the sun's light but not all.

For observers at the western limit of the area of visibility, the eclipse starts just before moonrise. According to timeanddate.com, in Melbourne, for example, the eclipse begins at 3:53 p.m. Australian Eastern Daylight Time on March 25, but the moon doesn't rise until 7:25 p.m. By then the penumbral eclipse is already in full swing, and the maximum eclipse for Australians is only a few minutes later at 7:29 p.m. The penumbral shadow will cover the top half of the moon, and the eclipse ends by 8:32 p.m.

Further north, in Tokyo, the eclipse starts at 1:53 p.m. local time and the moon rises at 5:56 p.m., the maximum eclipse is at 6:04 p.m. and the penumbral shadow will only cover the top right (western) quadrant of the moon.

As one moves eastwards more of the eclipse is visible. In Wellington, New Zealand, the eclipse starts at 5:53 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time and moonrise is at 7:24 p.m.; the maximal eclipse, when all but a sliver of the bottom left portion of the moon will be in shadow, is at 8:12 p.m. The eclipse ends at 10:32 p.m.

The first states of the United States to see the eclipse will be Alaska and Hawaii; in Alaska, from Anchorage, moonrise is at 8:06 p.m. local time on March 24, and the eclipse starts at 8:53 p.m. The maximum eclipse is at 11:12 p.m. and the eclipse ends at 1:32 a.m. on March 25. At maximum eclipse the moon will be 18.5 degrees high in the southeast. Hawaiians (in Honolulu) will see the moon rise at 6:36 p.m. local time, the eclipse starts at 6:53 p.m., reaches maximum at 9:12 p.m. and ends at 11:32 p.m. At maximum the moon will be 34 degrees above the horizon in the east-southeast.

A penumbral lunar eclipse on Jan. 10, 2020 as seen from Oria, Italy. (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons/Giuseppe Donatiello)

The eclipse gets higher in the sky as one moves eastwards; in San Francisco the eclipse begins at 9:53 p.m. Pacific Time and the moon will be 29 degrees high towards the east-southeast. The eclipse reaches a maximum at 12:12 a.m. March 25, with the moon 47 degrees high (a bit more than halfway to the zenith). The eclipse ends at 2:32 a.m.

In Chicago, Dallas or Mexico City the eclipse starts at 11:53 p.m. local time March 24, and reaches a maximum at 2:12 a.m. March 25., ending at 4:32 a.m. The times of moonrise will differ, though; in Chicago moonrise is at 6:44 p.m., in Dallas it is at 7:23 p.m., and in Mexico City it is at 6:33 p.m. While all three cities are in the same time zone, Mexico does not observe daylight savings time, while Chicago and Dallas are on different sides of the time zone and differing latitudes, so the local time of moonrise (as well as moonset, sunrise and sunset) can differ significantly.

Further east the eclipse moves to March 25, as in New York City. For those an hour ahead, as in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the eclipse starts at 12:53 a.m. March 25, maximal eclipse is at 3:12 a.m., and the eclipse ends at 5:32 a.m.  it's the same as Eastern Time because Puerto Rico doesn't observe daylight savings. moonset there is at 7:30 a.m. March 25. In the Americas one of the last big cities to catch the eclipse is Fortaleza, Brazil, where it starts at 1:53 a.m., reaches maximum at 4:12 a.m. and ends at 6:32 a.m.  after moonset at 5:44 a.m. local time. At maximum eclipse the moon will be almost due west and about 21 degrees high.

And finally, as one gets to Europe and western Africa, the eclipse starts late enough that it sets before maximum; in London, it begins at 4:53 a.m. and the maximal eclipse there is at 5:57 a.m., but the moon sets only four minutes later and the actual maximum eclipse happens when the moon is below the horizon. The situation is similar in Marrakech, where the eclipse also starts at 4:53 a.m. local time, but the moon sets just before it reaches maximum at 6:33 a.m. (actual maximal eclipse is at 6:35 a.m.)

Full moons are easy targets for binoculars or small telescopes, but they can be almost disappointing because the moon is so bright the surface loses contrast. One issue is the lack of shadows; we are seeing the lunar surface at noontime on the moon, so the sun (from the perspective of a person standing on the moon) is directly overhead.

That said, moon filters are available that can make some lunar features stand out. If one waits a few days after the full moon or observes a few days before, shadows bring out more detail. For those taking photos with their phones, one should be aware that the way the phone measures (and adjusts for) the light from the moon can be unpredictable, and depend a lot on the camera app one is using and the design of the camera itself. On an iPhone, for example, a full moon can be so bright relative to the background (a dark sky) that it appears a white blob in the image. Against a bluish, twilight sky, however, the image can show detail. There are apps that allow one to control the ISO (the "film speed" of the camera) and the exposure time, and one has to adjust those and be ready for some trial and error. (DSLRs allow for fine-tuning both of those parameters, so are easier to work with).

If you're interested in taking photographs of the Full Worm Moon, check out our helpful how to photograph the moon guide for the best lunar photography tips and tricks. We also have guides to the best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography if you need to gear up for this or other celestial events.

Read more: Smartphone astrophotography: How to take pictures of the night sky

Visible Planets

The night of March 24-25 offers some planet-viewing opportunities, as early in the evening Mercury and Jupiter will all be above the horizon. Mercury in particular will be at its greatest elongation (distance from the sun) east, meaning it is as high as it will get for Northern Hemisphere sky watchers this spring. On March 24, as the sun sets (at 7:12 p.m. local time in New York ) Mercury will be about 17 degrees above the western horizon. the end of civil twilight, when the sun gets 6 degrees below the horizon, is at 7:40 p.m., and Mercury should be just becoming visible; it will still be about 12 degrees high. Meanwhile Jupiter will be above and slightly to the left, at an altitude of about 32 degrees. Mercury sets by 8:50 p.m. , and Jupiter by 10:38 p.m. From New York City (and other mid-northern latitude locations) Venus, Mars and Saturn are all lost in the solar glare at dawn.

On the evening of Sunday, March 24, Mercury (orbit shown as red curve) will reach its widest separation of 18.7 degrees east of the sun for its current apparition. (Image credit: Chris Vaughan/Starry Night)

Moving south, seeing Mars and Saturn becomes more feasible; but one has to get nearer the equator to do it. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, for example, in the predawn hours of March 25 Mars rises at 4:42 a.m. local time and gets to about 17 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon by 6:00 a.m.; civil twilight starts at 6:02 a.m. and sunrise is at 6:24 a.m. Saturn rises at 5:19 a.m. and only gets to about 14 degrees high by sunrise; it will be to the left and below Mars, but hard to see without a flat horizon and clear skies.

Venus rises at 5:31 a.m. but by 6:00 a.m. is only 6 degrees high; count yourself lucky if you can spot it (though its brightness makes that somewhat easier).

In Quito, the three planets form more of a vertical line in the east, with Mars at the top. Sunrise on March 25 is at 6:16 a.m. local time, and Mars rises at 4:15 a.m. Saturn follows at 4:57 a.m. and Venus is the last to rise at 5:11 a.m. By 5:56 a.m., when the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon (the beginning of civil twilight) Mars' altitude is 24 degrees, high enough to see easily, especially if one has followed it from earlier in the night. Saturn will be 10 degrees below it and Venus is four degrees below that; a challenge to see but not as difficult as from locations further north.

In the Southern Hemisphere the line the three planets makes starts to "tilt" to the left (northwards). From Santiago, Chile, Mars rises at 5:12 a.m. local time , Saturn at 6:04 a.m. and Venus at 6:22 a.m. Sunrise is at 7:50 a.m., and by that time Mars is a full 32 degrees above the eastern horizon, so even Venus will be easy to spot by the time of civil twilight at 7:25 a.m.

Constellations

By late March the bright winter constellations are high in the sky or towards the west in the evening. Orion, Taurus, Gemini, and Canis Major are all high in the southern sky by about 8 p.m. in mid-northern latitudes, with Orion just on the western (right) side; it is visible even from city locations, with the distinctive Orion's Belt of three stars in a line an easy marker to look for. Surrounding Orion's Belt are the four stars that mark his shoulders and his feet; to the left and above the belt is Betelgeuse, recognizable by its red orange color, and below and to the right is Rigel, a bluish white star that is his foot.

Taurus the Bull is to the right and above Orion; one can find it using Aldebaran, a bright orange-hued star that is almost directly to the right of Betelgeuse about the same distance as Rigel is below it. Gemini, the Twins, is above Orion, the two bright stars Castor and Pollux marking the twins' heads. On the left side of Orion is Canis Major, the Big Dog, home to Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. All four constellations are bright enough that they don't get overwhelmed by the full moon, even in urban areas.

Looking east one will see Leo the Lion above the moon, with its two brightest stars Denebola and Regulus. Denebola will be to the left of the moon and above it, while Regulus is above that and to the right at some distance. You know you've spotted Regulus when you see the "sickle"  a backwards question-mark shaped grouping just above and to the left of Regulus.

If one looks north and finds the Big Dipper, which will be on the eastern side of the sky and facing upwards (so that the bowl appears to be on top with the handle pointing towards the horizon) one can use the "pointers" in the bowl of the dipper to Polaris, the Pole Star, and keep turning left to the western side of Polaris, to the distinctive "W" shape of Cassiopeia, the legendary queen and wife of Cepheus. If one follows the pointers in the other direction, one reaches Leo the Lion.

For those in the Southern Hemisphere, one would see Orion looking northwest, and "upside down" with Rigel above Betelgeuse. By about 9 p.m., Gemini is on the right side of Orion with Castor and Pollux halfway to the northern horizon. Turning to the south and looking almost straight up, one can see Canopus, or Alpha Carinae, the brightest star in Carina, the Ship's Keel. It is one of the brightest stars in the southern skies, so it is easy to distinguish.

Still facing south, if one looks slightly to the southeast and halfway to the horizon, one can see the Crux, the Southern Cross, and as one continues downward one encounters Hadar and then Rigil Kentaurus, also known as Alpha Centauri. Using Canopus again as a marker, turning one's head towards the horizon but westwards, (this will be to the right), about two thirds of the way down one encounters Achernar, which marks the end of Eridanus the River. If one follows the "river" of stars, it ends near Rigel, the foot of Orion.

Moon Legends

The March full moon is called the Worm Moon in the Old Farmer's Almanac, supposedly because of the emergence of earthworms. North American Native peoples had other names for it, often differing widely. According to the Ontario Native Literacy Project, the Ojibwe (or Anishinaabe) peoples called it the Sugar Moon, as it was when maple tree sap was harvested; this lunation also happens to mark the Anishinaabe new year. Meanwhile, the Tlingit, whose traditional territory stretches along the coast of what is now western Canada and Alaska, called the March lunation Heentaanax Kayaani Dis or "Underwater plants sprout," according to the Tlingit Moon and Tide Teaching Resource published by the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.

Jewish people will celebrate Purim, the 14th day of the lunar month of Adar, on March 24, which commemorates Esther saving the Jewish people of the Persian Empire from being exterminated by the king's vizier. For Muslims March 11-April 9 is the month of Ramadan, and the full moon of March marks the halfway point.

In China, the traditional lunar calendar calls the March lunation the second month, Xingyue, the Apricot Month, for when those trees blossom.

People in the Southern Hemisphere had different associations with the March lunations; March there is the end of summer. In South Africa, the Zulu name for the month is uNdasa and refers to people being well-fed.
EU demands answers over Epic-Apple feud



Brussels, Belgium, March 7 (AFP) Mar 07, 2024



Apple must explain its decision to halt Epic Games' effort to develop a competing app store for its devices, EU regulators said Thursday, as they consider whether the iPhone-maker violated any laws.

"We have requested further explanations on this from Apple under the DMA," a spokesperson for the European Commission, the EU's powerful antitrust regulator, said, referring to the bloc's new landmark Digital Markets Act.

The DMA orders the world's biggest tech companies to open up their platforms to competition, including allowing rival application stores on devices.

Six of the biggest companies designated as "gatekeepers" had until the end of Thursday to comply with tough new DMA rules.

Fortnite-maker Epic on Wednesday said its first effort to introduce its own stores on the iPhone was rejected, in what it views as punishment for public criticism of Apple.

"We see Apple's decision to block us from competing as a blatant effort to kneecap their leading competitor as enabled by the DMA," Epic CEO Tim Sweeney told reporters.

The spokesperson for the commission said it was "also evaluating whether Apple's actions raise doubts on their compliance" with two other EU laws regulating digital players.

That was because of links between Apple's developer programme membership and its App Store, which is designated as a "very large" online platform under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA).

Apple compliance with the DSA -- a content moderation law -- means any decisions to suspend or terminate accounts must be "proportionate and in due regard to fundamental rights," the spokesperson said.

Companies such as Apple that have to comply with an EU Platform-to-Business regulation should notify a business user when terms and conditions are changed and before an account is shut down.



- Let battle commence -



Epic Games a few years ago embarked on a mission through courts and regulators to demand that Apple and Google open up their iPhone and Android devices to competing app stores and stop taking a significant commission for purchases made on their devices.

The EU included clauses responding to that demand in its DMA.

But it appeared implementation would not be smooth sailing.

Sweeney compared Apple's actions to "feudal lords mounting the skulls of their former enemies on their castle" in an effort "to dissuade others" from speaking out.

Specifically, Apple on March 2 closed Epic's developer account that allowed it to build the software necessary to launch its stand alone stores on Apple devices.

In a letter made available by Epic, a lawyer for Apple cites the frequent criticism made by Sweeney against Apple as well as past behaviour in which Epic flouted Apple's app store rules.

"Epic's egregious breach of its contractual obligations to Apple led courts to determine that Apple has the right to terminate (Epic activity) at any time and at Apple's sole discretion," an Apple spokesperson said in an email to AFP.

"In light of Epic's past and ongoing behaviour, Apple chose to exercise that right," the spokesperson added.

For Epic, the rejection demonstrated that "Apple has no intention of allowing true competition" on Apple devices.

Given the clear violation of the DMA, "there needs to be swift action," Sweeney said.

Apple needs "to be called out for what they're doing in the same way that any other person would be called out if they violated the law in this way," he said.

"We are very confident that this is exactly the type of action that the DMA was designed to try to get at," said Corie Wright, vice president of public policy for Epic Games.
After long tussle, Sweden to become NATO member



Washington, March 7 (AFP) Mar 07, 2024



After two centuries of non-alignment and two years of torturous diplomacy, Sweden on Thursday becomes the 32nd member of NATO, a major step for a country once careful not to anger Russia.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was visiting Washington where Secretary of State Antony Blinken will ceremonially receive the ratification documents after the hard-fought battle to secure the green lights needed from all NATO members.

Kristersson is likely later in the day to attend the annual State of the Union address by President Joe Biden, who has been struggling to persuade the rival Republican Party to approve new aid to Ukraine.

Sweden's blue and golden-yellow flag is expected to be hoisted on Monday at the Brussels headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance.

Russia has vowed "countermeasures" over Sweden's entry into NATO, especially if the alliance's troops and assets deploy in the country.

Sweden and Finland, while both militarily intertwined with the United States and members of the European Union, have historically steered clear of officially joining NATO, formed in the Cold War to unite against the Soviet Union.



- Turning page on non-alignment -



Sweden has not been involved in a war, including World War II, since the Napoleonic conflicts of the early 19th century.

But Finland and Sweden launched a joint bid after Russia in 2022 invaded Ukraine, which had unsuccessfully sought to join NATO -- which considers an attack on one member an attack on all.

Finland successfully joined in April 2023. Sweden's candidacy stalled due to an assertive push by Turkey, which demanded that Stockholm, known for its liberal asylum policies, crack down on Kurdish militants who have campaigned against Ankara.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later demanded action after protesters, enjoying Swedish laws on free speech, desecrated Islam's holy book the Koran.

In a clear if unstated sweetener, the United States dangled the prospect of F-16 warplanes to Turkey, which has faced the wrath of US sanctions over a major military purchase from Russia.

The Biden administration in January approved $23 billion in F-16 warplanes to Turkey swiftly after it ratified Sweden's membership.

The United States simultaneously pushed ahead with $8.6 billion in more advanced F-35 jets for Greece, a fellow NATO member that has a historic rivalry and frequent tensions with Turkey.

Even with Turkey's blessing, Sweden faced another obstacle as it needed approval of a last country -- Hungary, whose nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, has often thumbed his nose at Western allies.

The Hungarian parliament ratified Sweden's membership on February 26. But in one last hiccup, Hungary could not formally sign the accession document due to a brief absence in the mostly ceremonial post of president, after an Orban ally resigned in a scandal over pardoning a convicted child abuser's accomplice.

A recent poll by Swedish broadcaster SR said that most Swedes believe the country made too many sacrifices to join NATO, although more than three-quarters believed NATO would strengthen the country's security.
India confirms citizen fighting with Russian army dead



New Delhi, March 7 (AFP) Mar 07, 2024



India's embassy in Moscow has confirmed the death of a citizen recruited by the Russian army, days after a relative told AFP he had been sent to fight in Ukraine.

Two years after Russia's invasion began, tens of thousands of its soldiers have been killed in Ukraine and Moscow is on a global quest for more combatants.

The foreign ministry in New Delhi said last month that it was working to secure discharges for around 20 Indian nationals "stuck" in the Russian army.

The embassy did not state the circumstances behind Mohammed Afsan's death but said it was in touch with his family and Russian authorities.

"Mission will make efforts to send his mortal remains to India," the embassy wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Afsan's brother Mohammed Imran told AFP in February that his brother had been missing for nearly two months.

Afsan had last called from the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don to say that he had been deployed to the frontlines, Imran had said.

He said that another Indian soldier who managed to escape told his family that 30-year-old Afsan had been wounded by a bullet.

Afsan is the first death confirmed by Indian authorities among its citizens serving with the Russian army and the second confirmed overall.

A 23-year-old man from Gujarat state was killed in a Ukrainian airstrike while working as a "security helper", local media reported last month, citing relatives and another Indian soldier at the frontlines.

Several Indian recruits told AFP last month that they were lured into joining up by promises of high salaries and a Russian passport before being shipped to the frontlines.

The soldiers who spoke with AFP said they had been promised non-combatant roles but were trained to use Kalashnikov assault rifles and other weapons before being sent to Ukraine.

ash/gle/dhw
Sweden to join NATO in shadow of Ukraine war



Washington, March 7 (AFP) Mar 07, 2024



Sweden was set to join NATO on Thursday, capping two centuries of non-alignment and two years of torturous diplomacy overshadowed by the war in Ukraine.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was visiting Washington where Secretary of State Antony Blinken was to ceremonially receive the ratification documents after the hard-fought battle to secure the green lights needed from all NATO members.

Russia's February 2022 invasion prompted Sweden and neighbouring Finland to apply to join the bloc, ending a long-standing stance of non-alignment in both countries.

In a post to X on Thursday just hours before the ceremony, Kristersson said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had informed him "that all NATO member states have accepted our accession protocol, and has invited Sweden to accede to the North Atlantic Treaty."

"Sweden will soon be NATO's 32nd member," Kristersson said.

Meanwhile, the Swedish government announced it was holding "an extraordinary government meeting this afternoon to approve Sweden's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty."

Afterwards, "Kristersson will deposit Sweden's instrument of Accession with the Government of the United States. Sweden will then be a member of NATO and fully participating Ally," the government said in a statement.

The Swedish prime minister is later in the day to attend the annual State of the Union address by President Joe Biden, who has been struggling to persuade the rival Republican Party to approve new aid to Ukraine.

Sweden's blue and golden-yellow flag is expected to be hoisted on Monday at the Brussels headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance.

Russia has vowed "countermeasures" over Sweden's entry into NATO, especially if the alliance's troops and assets deploy in the country.

Sweden and Finland, while both militarily intertwined with the United States and members of the European Union, have historically steered clear of officially joining NATO, formed in the Cold War to unite against the Soviet Union.



- Turning page on non-alignment -



Sweden has not been involved in a war, including World War II, since the Napoleonic conflicts of the early 19th century.

But Finland and Sweden launched a joint bid after Russia in 2022 invaded Ukraine, which had unsuccessfully sought to join NATO -- which considers an attack on one member an attack on all.

Finland successfully joined in April 2023.

Sweden's candidacy stalled due to an assertive push by Turkey, which demanded that Stockholm, known for its liberal asylum policies, crack down on Kurdish militants who have campaigned against Ankara.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later demanded action after protesters, enjoying Swedish laws on free speech, desecrated Islam's holy book the Koran.

In a clear if unstated sweetener, the United States dangled the prospect of F-16 warplanes to Turkey, which has faced the wrath of US sanctions over a major military purchase from Russia.

The Biden administration in January approved $23 billion in F-16 warplanes to Turkey swiftly after it ratified Sweden's membership.

The United States simultaneously pushed ahead with $8.6 billion in more advanced F-35 jets for Greece, a fellow NATO member that has a historic rivalry and frequent tensions with Turkey.

Even with Turkey's blessing, Sweden faced another obstacle as it needed approval of a last country -- Hungary, whose nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, has often thumbed his nose at Western allies.

The Hungarian parliament ratified Sweden's membership on February 26. But in one last hiccup, Hungary could not formally sign the accession document due to a brief absence in the mostly ceremonial post of president, after an Orban ally resigned in a scandal over pardoning a convicted child abuser's accomplice.

A recent poll by Swedish broadcaster SR said that most Swedes believe the country made too many sacrifices to join NATO, although more than three-quarters believed NATO would strengthen the country's security.
Ukraine to get 800,000 shells in weeks: Czech president



Prague, March 7 (AFP) Mar 07, 2024



Czech President Petr Pavel said Thursday 800,000 artillery shells bought from outside Europe could reach Ukraine within weeks as Kyiv's outgunned forces struggle to fend off Russia's two-year-old invasion.

The head of state, a retired NATO general, said an 18-nation coalition called the Czech initiative collected the money, at a time when Europe's defence industry is falling short of the production levels needed to supply Ukraine.

Pavel told a security conference in Munich last month that the Czech Republic -- an EU and NATO member of 10.8 million people -- was able to collect a substantial amount of weaponry for Ukraine outside the continent.

He said at the time that, working with Canada and Denmark, the Czechs had "identified" 500,000 rounds of 155-millimetre ammunition and 300,000 122-millimetre shells.

"We have collected the total sum needed to buy the entire amount... as of this morning," Pavel told reporters on Thursday without disclosing the sum.

"If there are no fundamental problems, the ammunition could reach Ukraine within several weeks," he added.

The Financial Times had previously reported Prague was looking to amass $1.5 billion to pay for the munitions.

Ukrainian forces have for months been contending with a lack of ammunition as they try to hold off Russian troops, which invaded in February 2022.

Kyiv's backers have sent millions of their own shells to Ukraine, but stocks are running low.

Some of Ukraine's EU allies have also been reluctant up until now to channel defence spending to anywhere outside the bloc.

And a US aid package worth $60 billion has been held up amid wrangling in Congress.

Pavel said it was now up to the Czech government to write up a deal on the supply.

Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden are among countries contributing to the project.

The Netherlands has pledged to donate 100 million euros ($109 million), while Germany has offered a "three-digit million euro sum".

The EU has fallen way short of a promise made last year to deliver one million shells to Ukraine by March 2024.
NATO, the US-led defence alliance



Brussels, Belgium, March 7 (AFP) Mar 07, 2024



Born at the start of the Cold War, NATO -- the North Atlantic Treaty Organization -- is the world's biggest collective defence grouping with 32 members in Europe and North America -- counting Sweden, its newest arrival.



- How many divisions? -



NATO's military forces come from its member countries, put under a unified Allied command each time it launches a mission.

US forces are by far the biggest contingent. In Europe, there are some 79,000 US servicemen and women deployed, more than 48,000 of them in Germany, according to the Pentagon.

The only military equipment NATO itself owns is a fleet of sensor-loaded AWACS planes and drones.

With Sweden joining, the alliance will be able to count on 50,000 more troops -- around half of them reservists -- to swell its potential ranks to more than three million, according to several specialised institutes.



- Brussels HQ -



NATO was created from a Washington Treaty signed on April 4, 1949. Its mission at the time was to counter the threat posed by the Soviet Union and to affirm the principle of mutual defence of its members.

In a Madrid summit following Russia's all-out invasion on Ukraine in 2022, the alliance adopted a new strategic concept designating Russia as "the gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security".

Its 12 founding nations (Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the United States) have been joined by others over succeeding years, up to Sweden's adhesion.

NATO's first headquarters was in London, then it was moved to Paris before being transferred to Brussels in 1966 where it remains today. Its SHAPE military command is in Mons, also in Belgium.

The head of the alliance since 2014 is Jens Stoltenberg, a 64-year-old former Norwegian prime minister. His term was extended in 2022 and runs to the end of October this year.

NATO's main decision-making body is the North Atlantic Council.



- Article 5 -



The core of NATO is Article 5 of its founding treaty which stipulates that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.

It has been invoked just once to date: in 2001, in a show of allies' support for the United States the day after it was hit by the September 11 attacks.

NATO has carried out several missions over its history, including one in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 attacks. That came to an end with a hasty pull-out in September 2021 of the 10,000 personnel deployed at the time.

NATO is present in Iraq and notably in Kosovo, where it has 4,500 troops in its KFOR stabilisation force sent from 27 countries and currently under Turkish command.
Sweden finally joins NATO, ending non-alignment, in Ukraine war shadow



Washington, March 7 (AFP) Mar 07, 2024



Sweden on Thursday became the 32nd member of NATO in the shadow of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, turning the page on two centuries of non-alignment and capping two years of torturous diplomacy.

Days after Hungary followed key holdout Turkey and became the last NATO member to sign off, Sweden ceremonially handed over accession documents to the United States, the leading force of the transatlantic alliance that promises joint security for all.

"It is a major step but, at the same time, a very natural step," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said at the State Department.

"It's a victory for freedom today. Sweden has made a free, democratic, sovereign and united choice to join NATO," he said.

He later delivered a televised address to the nation from Washington, telling Swedes: "We are a small country, but we understand more than most the importance of the greater world beyond our borders."

President Joe Biden, whose rival Donald Trump has disparaged NATO as unfairly burdening the United States, said in a statement that the alliance was stronger and "more united, determined and dynamic than ever" with Sweden.

The Swedish prime minister was set later Thursday to attend the annual State of the Union address by Biden, who has been struggling to persuade Trump's Republican Party to approve new aid to Ukraine.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said few would have expected Sweden as well as Finland to join NATO before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

There is "no clearer example than today of the strategic debacle that Putin's invasion of Ukraine has become for Russia," Blinken said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also hailed Sweden's membership, saying: "One more country in Europe has become more protected from Russian evil."

Sweden has not fought in a war since the Napoleonic conflicts of the early 19th century.

Sweden and Finland, while militarily intertwined with the United States and both members of the European Union, had historically steered clear of joining NATO, formed in the Cold War to unite against the Soviet Union.

Finland and Sweden launched a joint bid quickly after the invasion of Ukraine, which itself had unsuccessfully sought to join NATO -- an alliance that under Article 5, considers an attack on one member an attack on all.



- 'Those who wait' -



Finland successfully joined in April 2023, but Sweden's membership was stalled by Turkey.

"Good things come to those who wait," Blinken said as he received the documents from Sweden. "Some doubted we'd get here; we never did."

Russia has vowed "countermeasures" over Sweden's entry into NATO, especially if the alliance's troops and assets deploy in the country.

Sweden's blue and yellow flag is expected to be hoisted on Monday at the Brussels headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance.

Other NATO allies hailed Sweden's entry, with the German foreign ministry saying, "It's good to know you are firmly by our side."

Before agreeing to ratify membership, Turkey used its leverage to press Sweden, known for its liberal asylum policies, to crack down on Kurdish militants who have campaigned against Ankara.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later demanded action after protesters, enjoying Swedish laws on free speech, desecrated Islam's holy book the Koran.

In a clear if unstated sweetener, the United States dangled F-16 warplanes to Turkey, which has faced the wrath of US sanctions over a major military purchase from Russia.

The Biden administration in January approved $23 billion in F-16 warplanes to Turkey swiftly after it ratified Sweden's membership.

The United States simultaneously pushed ahead with $8.6 billion in more advanced F-35 jets for Greece, a fellow NATO member and historic adversary of Turkey.

Even with Turkey's blessing, Sweden faced another obstacle as it needed approval of a last country -- Hungary, whose nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, has often thumbed his nose at Western allies.

The Hungarian parliament ratified Sweden's membership on February 26. But in one last hiccup, Hungary could not sign the accession document due to a brief absence in the mostly ceremonial post of president, after an Orban ally resigned over pardoning a convicted child abuser's accomplice.
Democratic Party of Hawaii interim chair Adrian Tam places his presidential caucus ballot for counting in an envelope held by party volunteer Bonnie Fraser in Honolulu on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. Audrey McAvoy/AP FILE - President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting of his Competition Council to announce new actions to lower costs for families in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Democrats in Hawaii are voting on their partys nominee for president. There has been little visible campaigning in the islands but Biden has a large advantage. Others on the ballot include U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips and self-help author and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson. Andrew Harnik/AP FILE - Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., gestures while addressing a gathering during a campaign stop, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Manchester, N.H. Democrats in Hawaii are voting on their partys nominee for president. There has been little visible campaigning in the islands but incumbent President Joe Biden has a large advantage. Others on the ballot include Phillips and self-help author and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson. Charles Krupa/AP FILE - Democratic presidential hopeful Marianne Williamson speaks a campaign stop at the Keene Public Library in Keene, N.H., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. Democrats in Hawaii are voting on their partys nominee for president. There has been little visible campaigning in the islands but incumbent President Joe Biden has a large advantage. Others on the ballot include Williamson and U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP, File) Kristopher Radder/AP

HONOLULU (AP)  President Joe Biden won the Democratic caucuses in Hawaii on Wednesday, propelling him closer to winning his partys nomination again after romping through the Super Tuesday contests earlier this week.

The president defeated long-shot candidates including U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips and author Marianne Williamson.

Biden went into the vote with the advantage of incumbency and name recognition. Hes expected to formally clinch the Democratic nomination later this month and will almost certainly face Donald Trump in the general election after his last major Republican rival, Nikki Haley, exited the race.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Biden won with 66% of the vote in a contest in which only 1,563 votes were cast, according to the Hawaii Democratic Party. Twenty-nine percent of voters chose Uncommitted.

John Bickel, a high school social studies teacher, voted for Bernie Sanders four years ago but showed up to this years caucus in a blue Biden-Harris T-shirt. He liked how Biden shepherded an expansion of the child tax credit, which cut the U.S. child poverty rate in half, and how he stood on the picket line with striking auto workers. He said no other president has done what Biden has done to be there personally for labor.

Those kinds of things really impressed me about Joe Biden, he said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Bill Milks, an 80-year-old retiree, voted uncommitted because he doesnt think Biden, who is 81, is capable of effectively debating or campaigning for president.

He just is not healthy enough to exhibit a lot of enthusiasm and inspire people to believe that he can hang in there and do a good job for four more years, Milks said.

Democrats in Hawaii cast their ballots at school cafeterias, community centers and union halls across the state. Only registered voters who were party members were allowed to participate but the party made same-day day party enrollment and voter registration possible at each poll site.

Hawaii is a Democratic Party stronghold. Democrats control both chambers of the state legislature and the governors office. All four members of the states congressional delegation are Democrats.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
That may not sound much but the attrition rate is running at about 15 a month, with few signs of a revival in new share listings  or IPOs  to top up the equity gene pool. Ashton fears the total is as low as it has been since records began with numbers down by 40 per cent since the 2008 peak. Chief executives speak of a growing crisis of confidence in the City with the value of having shares listed in London questioned as never before.
Boeings problems with its 737 jets may hit Melrose, but only in the short term, says Dilnot, who has been at Melrose for five years.
The Chancellor was boxed in by fiscal reality. Were GDP booming and tax receipts bumper, Hunt would have more room for manoeuvre. Unfortunately, he runs the British economy. Moreover Hunt, like Labours Rachel Reeves, maintains the fiction that tax rises wont be necessary in the next parliament. Given the state of the public realm and the already sky-high levels of borrowing, they are close to guaranteed.
Macanese food in London is about to get a pie week-led shot in the arm courtesy Ana Da Costa and Caravel. One of the hippest restaurants in London is getting a week-long pie pop up from one of the coolest people in food and the star of the show is pie perfection. The minchi pie (also called minchee or mian zhe in Macau) is a mixed pork and beef mince creation from Da Costa, with potato and egg running through the filling. With Da Costas special on this week, but with pies from Richard Corrigan, Anna Tobias and Max Halley inbound for the rest of the month, Caravel is celebrating pies in style.
Asked about the purpose of their travels in December 2022 and January last year, Marten said: We moved jurisdictions between one and three days, so no local authority could have jurisdiction over an unborn baby and so that my family couldnt coincide with social services or the police.
The London Fire Brigade said the fire was under control by 5.44pm but its cause is not yet known.
But the Budget watchdog stuck to its prediction over the scale of economic damage being inflicted on Britain by Brexit splintering it away from its biggest trading partner, the European bloc, and the Government has yet to strike a much-promised free trade deal with America, or one with India, and tens of thousands of asylum seekers and economic migrants have crossed the Channel by small boats in recent years.
But it is also to help patients, to improve patient safety. With the Governments clear intent to expand the numbers of MAPs in the medical workforce, but without the clarity on the scope of their skills and responsibilities, it is even more important that patients must know who is treating them and the skills and abilities that clinician has.
Asked whether it was acceptable for people to make false claims and wait for a several-months-long investigation to take place before retracting them, the official said: There was an independent investigation. At the conclusion of that, the Secretary of State was clear that she fully accepted that the individual was not an extremist, a supporter of Hamas or any other proscribed organisation, and she therefore withdrew her concerns and deleted her original post.
Recommendations in the report included AI companies publicly reporting on energy usage and emissions, being able to publicly demonstrate their products are safe for users and the environment, and to introduce rules on investigating and mitigating the climate impacts of AI with strong penalties for non-compliance.
The Jamaican government announced in February that it had begun the first step in the legislative process of constitutional reform, with the preparation of the Constitution of Jamaica (Amendment of Section 61) Bill.
A witness at the scene told the Standard: The whole building looks ruined. Its a big deal, the police will have lost files and who knows if there is evidence for cases that has perished in the fire. Also the police have no base now so they will have to be sent elsewhere I guess.
Speaking about the introduction in the UK of Jemperli, Professor Peter Clark, the lead at the NHS Englands Cancer Drugs Fund, said: The rollout of this drug as a first-line treatment on the NHS is great news for patients living with this type of womb cancer  this new immunotherapy could offer hundreds of women the hope of precious extra time to live well before their cancer progresses.
Israel is reportedly refusing to participate until Hamas provides a list of hostages who are still alive. The deal presented to Hamas for Gaza would free some of the hostages it still holds following the October 7 attack, in which Israel said 1,200 people were killed and 253 abducted. Palestinian prisoners held in Israel would also be released.
As well as demanding assured pricing for their crops, Indian farmers are also calling for pensions for the elderly, the waiving of debts, and for the Indian government to withdraw from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and scrap all free trade agreements.
Sandra McFadden, head of business BBC Scotland Commissioning, said: Rebus, of course, needs no introduction, being one of Scotlands most prolific literary characters, but were thrilled to be bringing this new television adaptation, starring Richard Rankin, to our audiences in Scotland and across the UK.
I had this crazy dream last night that I just need to share here.

It was a dystopian world, with random lightning strikes all over the place, sort of like Blade Runner (1982) of course. Then over the broadcast system came the announcement:

Nikon has acquired RED!

Even though I was apparently dreaming it turns out I could even hear myself snicker. Dont be ridiculous. Please wake-up soon.

When I did wake up I realized I had not been dreaming. Somehow I must have been inadvertently doom scrolling in the middle of the night. So I double checked my Twitter X feed and sure enough:

Nikon has acquired RED!

Like many I had to do a double take; surely this was an early April Fools prank. Indeed, it isnt. It wasnt. All of it is real, backed by a press release  albeit short at only four paragraphs  from Nikon themselves.

Interestingly, note the company mentions in the section below specifically the intent to expand the fast-growing professional digital cinema camera market

This agreement was reached as a result of the mutual desires of Nikon and RED to meet the customers needs and offer exceptional user experiences that exceed expectations, merging the strengths of both companies. Nikons expertise in product development, exceptional reliability, and know-how in image processing, as well as optical technology and user interface along with REDs knowledge in cinema cameras, including unique image compression technology and color science, will enable the development of distinctive products in the professional digital cinema camera market. Nikon will leverage this acquisition to expand the fast-growing professional digital cinema camera market, building on both companies business foundations and networks, promising an exciting future of product development that will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in film and video production. Source: Nikon

Also, it didnt go unnoticed that the press release included a positive mention of REDs proprietary RAW compression technology.

One final point regarding the announcement itself: theres no trace of the news on the red.com web site. Youll only find an official mention of the deal on Nikons press room.

RED: End of an Era?

That RED (RED.com, LLC.), maker of high end cinema cameras for Hollywood, indie filmmakers and, increasingly, content creators, would be bought out isnt much of a surprise. Times are tough for small, startup-like camera companies. Especially against the notable likes of industry behemoths like Arri (Germany) and Sony (Japan). Then theres the whole AI trend. Couple that with the headwind that is the smartphone (iPhone predominantly) and you can see more than one reason for wanting to exit.

But most of us thought it would be something more Avant Garde? Like, say, Apple. Or maybe something more in keeping with the industry like a Sony or Panasonic. But Nikon? That old school stills company? (that still makes great cameras nonetheless).

Perhaps that its something unexpected like Nikon means that the deal is, in fact, something worth making. That RED provides Nikon something it needs (patents, compressed RAW litigation avoidance) and in return Nikon provides something that RED needs (cash). On that last point, my guess is that for flamboyant RED (and Oakley sunglasses) founder James Jannard and president Jarred Land this a highly prized liquidity event. Its hard to imagined these two pioneering entrepreneurs and L.A.-centric dudes readily aligning as a subsidiary of anything.

Good on them.

RED, as a brand and a product, has been a resounding success. Even if lately it hasnt been at the pinnacle of major Academy Award work (that would mostly still be Arri and Sony), RED has a firm foothold in Hollywood workflow as a well as that in production hubs across the world. Using RED is a safe choice. People know it. RED RAW and Redcode (.R3D) files are ubiquitous and widely supported and the industry is adept as well at bringing footage to big screens, or televisions.

Now, though, the big questions remain.

The one Im most curious about: will RED remain as an ongoing brand?

Theres a case to say, yes, of course Nikon management should keep the RED brand a going concern. As mentioned, the industry has familiarity with the name. Why throw away almost two decades of good will?

Others will argue the brand has done more harm than good lately. Plus, reliability has been an issue in the past.

Maybe Nikon will create a new cinema line called Nikon RED? It could still leverage its core, iconic brand for high end digital photography, while using a sub-branded version targeted at filmmakers.

Then theres other odds and ends. Such as what becomes of the Canon RF mount now found on current RED cameras (Komodo, Komodo-X, V-Raptor, V-Raptor XL)? Will it become a Nikon mount at some point? Or does any of that matter despite the new parent company?

Of course, Nikon could always just shut everything down and profit from patents and licenses and maybe RED would simply become an interesting footnote in cinema camera history.

Also, will Jannard and Land remain involved? My guess is no. Why, given the mission is essentially accomplished? That could be a glaring gap going forward should Nikon try to keep inroads alive in the biggest productions which, no doubt, are centered in Los Angeles. There, RED was, in my view, skilled at exposing some of the biggest directors and filmmaking to their products. Michael Bay and David Fincher are just two of many high profile names that come to mind who have an affinity to RED cameras and products thanks largely to face time with Jannard and Land. Without those relationships and, also importantly, a geographical footprint here in California and Nikon could realize the difficulty of winning over production crews at arms length.

RED: Love and Hate

Like many I too was smitten by RED back in the day. Or at least the idea of RED. I had shot Canon DSLR for as long as I can remember. I couldnt afford the legendary Canon EOS 5D Mark II that ushered in the DSLR HD video era. So I worked my way up the entry models from a Rebel to a 60D, then 70D and finally an 80D, before really splurging on a Canon EOS C100 Mk II that we would use here on Stark Insider to cover backstage Broadway, red carpet stuff, and live events up in Napa and Sonoma.

If youre in video long enough, at some point you get the bug. So when the entry level RED Raven came along I placed an order. Exciting times. Costly times. Soon after I realized the newer Scarlet-W model might be better (only a few dollars more!) as it had a wider FOV, interchangeable lens mount and faster frame rates.

At the time I mustve had a momentarily lapse of sanity. Checking my past invoices I realized that I had paid the most ever for a memory card for those DSMC2 cameras:

$1,850 for 480GB

Thats $1,850 USD for a single 480GB RED mini-mag card. One that only works in RED cameras. By comparison, you can get 512GB CFexpress Type B cards (many newer camera models including REDs own Komodo-X thankfully use them) for $199. Just crazy the difference how a closed system (mini-mags) can create a fountain of profit at the cost of its users. Fortunately, those days are over.

So that was one of the things I didnt appreciate so much as a RED user.

Then there was the whole bro culture marketing thing. Kind of annoying. All that in the woods, driving motor bikes and drinking whiskey while shooting slow motion music videos stuff at night with the boys. All really grating. Pair that with the skull and crossbones style branding and overall aesthetic to REDs early marketing and it was off-putting to say the least. Yes, we get it. Youre (were) rebels! Fighting against the staid overlords of Arri and Sony to release are inner bros. To me this is a creative tool  a paint brush!  not some sort of battle scythe middle aged men need to use for therapy. And on this point I will say it would be quite something to sit in on some of the upcoming meetings between the Nikon (Japan) team and the RED (USA) teams.

Sony: The Cinema Juggernaut As an aside its worth pointing out how complete Sony has mapped out its cinema camera line-up in recent years. In my estimation, at least, its the most well-rounded with cinema-specific models ranging from $1,798 USD for the APS-C compact FX-30 body, all the way up to $60,000+ for the flagship Sony Venice 2 used on many of todays Hollywood features. Also, Sony has the Burano now shipping this month, a $25,000 8K mid-range camera that should appeal to potential RED buyers  its right in that sweet spot for many productions. Its hard to deny how well Sony has executed in the marketplace. Below is my unofficial take at Sonys current cinema camera line-up, not including broadcast and specialty models. Sony Cinema & CineAlta Line-Up 2024 Sony FX30 // 4K APS-C, $1,798 Sony FX3 // 4K Full-Frame, $3,898 Sony FX6 // 4K Full-Frame, $5,998 Sony FX9 // 6K Full-Frame, $9,998 Sony Burano // 8K Full-Frame, $25,000 Sony Venice 2 // 8K Full-Frame, $60,000+ (?)

Despite the bumps here and there, I could never envision selling my RED Dragon. The image it to die for. Many modern users will prefer noise reduction and sharpening. Todays iPhone is masterful at image manipulation and producing a social-ready result. That Dragon sensor, though, is something special. To my eyes its a phenomenal approximation of digital film. It just looks glorious, grain and all. Ive never had a better image come out of any camera Ive ever owned in the past. I never tire of reviewing footage out of that Scarlet-W.

If the sensor is the chocolate then the Redcode is the peanut butter. Just divine. RED files play natively in Premiere Pro (and I suspect other NLEs as well such as Final Cut and DaVinci Resolve) without any transcoding. Playback is butter smooth. And, as widely known, you can use source settings to tweak the image pretty much at will. White balance. Exposure. Contrast. Color wheels. Highlight roll off, etc. All of it means you can focus on the project at hand, and not worry about all the other, often necessary, steps required to work with the files produced by other cameras. When they talk about digital negatives I get what they mean, and Ive fully bought into the idea (cult and all). Its creative utopia.

Other Potential Acquisition Targets More Consolidation to Come? During difficult times such as the dedicated camera marketplace is facing thanks in large part to the smartphone and massive players such as Canon and Sony and Arri, consolidation can become a key, long-term survival play. Heres some other names that come to mind as potential acquisition targets (pure speculation): Atomos (Australia)  camera monitor/recorders

(Australia)  camera monitor/recorders Blackmagic Design (Australia)  cameras, broadcast and audio-visual gear

(Australia)  cameras, broadcast and audio-visual gear Smallrig (China)  camera accessories, stabilizers

(China)  camera accessories, stabilizers Kinefinity (China)  cameras

(China)  cameras DJI (China)  drones, stabilizers

(China)  drones, stabilizers GoPro (USA)  drones

(USA)  drones Sigma (Japan)  lenses, cameras

(Japan)  lenses, cameras Z CAM (China)  cameras

Yes, Nikon Was Cool

I dont know much about Nikon. I shoot Canon and RED, and own almost all EF/EF-S glass including a vintage lot handed down by the Stark men. I have one special lens in the form of a crank-able Angenieux zoom (C mount) that I adore and might be the sole reason why Blackmagic cameras with their Super 16 options sometimes find there way into our experimental video projects. When I travel I bring along a compact Sony Alpha a6000 that is just magic to use, even after all these years (Fujifilm X100VI be damned!).

But I do know this about Nikon.

Dennis Hopper was the coolest Nikon user ever. Who can forget him, as photojournalist, loafing around the jungles of Vietnam in Apocalypse Now (1979) with a bunch of Nikon cameras dangling from his neck? A hipster influencer before his time. A brand ambassador perhaps ready for reincarnation if ever there was a perfect place and time.

Yes, Nikon was cool. Can they be again? My guess is RED may know the way.
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu declared on Thursday, in a discussion with journalists, that he would hold a referendum to see whether the Romanians agree to start mining gold from Rosia Montana.

"I would hold a referendum on whether it is appropriate to mine the gold from Rosia Montana", said Ciolacu.The prime minister made the clarification before the Government meeting.PM Ciolacu stated that the Government would wait on Friday for the International Court of Arbitration of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) decision in the case of Rosia Montana and, depending on its provisions, will decide on the way forward.Also on Thursday, the Minister of Finance, Marcel Bolos, stated that the negotiation strategy in the Rosia Montana file would be implemented when the dialogue with the holders of the decision begins, under the conditions that the decision is expected to be pronounced by the international arbitration court regarding compensations.He specified that the maximum amount requested by the investor from Rosia Montana is 6.7 billion dollars, and the minimum "what they invested". "The minimum of what was presented as a document, and I think it is a minimum from which the decision starts, is one billion dollars, we know this, and in this range should be the value of this decision, respectively the value of the impact budget that we will have from the decision from Rosia Montana", stated Marcel Bolos.Bolos reminded that there is also the prospect of a non-monetary decision, and this alternative will be taken into account by the international arbitration court.
The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, expressed her hope, in an interview granted to AGERPRES, that Romania's decision to combine the European Parliament elections with the local ones will lead to an increase in voting participation, but also to send a message from the local level to the European level for the members of the European Parliament to take with them to the EU legislature.

Metsola admitted that the Council's decision to only approve Romania's maritime and air border accession to the Schengen Area from March 31 this year comes much too late, but she asked the people not to lose hope and to vote in the elections in June, because the European Parliament is their partner in this endeavour.

Moreover, the president of the European Parliament let it be understood that she does not see with bad eyes the PSD (Social Democratic Party, ed. n.) and PNL (National Liberal Party,e d. n.) decision to run with a joint list in the European Parliament elections, stating that the grand coalition in which the European People's Party of the EP and the Social - Democrats, S&D - the European political families of the main parties in Romania - is the one that got the European Union through the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, and that it has always collaborated excellently with all Romanian members of the European legislature, regardless of party from which they came.

Last but not least, Roberta Metsola also said in the interview given to AGERPRES on Wednesday evening in Bucharest, on the occasion of the participation in the Congress of the European People's Party, that she is not worried about the so-called fatigue of the member states regarding the war in Ukraine, which it has been talked about at the European level, but only their eventual inability to explain their decisions regarding this conflict. She argues that it is clear that if Russian president Vladimir Putin did not want to stop either in 2008 or 2014 and has shown no signs of wanting to do so now, the lack of involvement will only make things worse.

AGERPRES: Romania will join the Schengen Area with sea and air borders from March 31st, an achievement that you yourself welcomed. However, many Romanians believe that the European Union delivered on the Schengen method too little, too late. Considering that Romania meets the technical conditions for accession since 2011. What is your message for these people who are expected to vote in the European elections?

Roberta Metsola: Well, that I understand them, that I have been talking about this since 2011 and they've had the European Parliament by their side, not only just the Romanian members of the European Parliament, but the whole European Parliament. That has said that once a country is in the European Union achieves all the conditions, then why should citizens from those countries feel discriminated against. You know, when I landed yesterday (on Tuesday, ed. n.) in Bucharest and I remembered that I needed to show my passport, I thought this is what Romanian citizens go through every day. So I welcomed the decision, final decision, still hoping that it will go through on the 31st of March and that we will immediately call for full access of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area immediately after that. This is something that is way too late. But I would also tell those people not to give up, and also to look at the European Parliament as their partner in this and for them to vote in the June elections.

AGERPRES: In Romania, the European elections are combined this year with the local elections. Do you think that there is a risk of diluting the European topics of debate as a result of this merger, or on the contrary, will this situation take the discussion about the benefits of EU membership to a more accessible level?

Roberta Metsola: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the situation is different in different countries, but also in my country it will take place at the same time as local elections. And for me, all politics has always been local. If anything, rather than looking at the European elections as only about sending Romanian members of the European Parliament to Brussels and Strasbourg, we will see candidates for the European Parliament in each and every Romanian city, town and village, walking side by side with local candidates that will present advantages of EU membership. You feel the European Union on the local level, projects that have meant that we have levelled up societies, also places where we need to do more. So a message from the local level to the European level that members of the European Parliament will take with them. So on the one hand, we will hopefully see an increase in turnout because we have seen a dip in European election turnout when compared to the local elections in Romania. On the other hand, we will also see a common message that politics can be felt on the national level, local level and a European level without difference.

AGERPRES: The two largest parties in Romania, PSD and PNL, recently announced that they will have a joint list for the European Parliament elections. How do you comment on the fact that the PNL, a member of EPP, which you are also a member, allies itself with the party from the group of the main political rival in the European Parliament?

Roberta Metsola: Who are you referring to exactly?

AGERPRES: To the PNL, the party which is in EPP.

Roberta Metsola: I mean, well, I'm the president of the European Parliament. So this is an occasion where I'm in Bucharest representing all members from all groups. What I welcome is the fact that people collaborate and that if there is a pro European project and that is that project that will be taken into the European Parliament also after the elections in June, is one that we will have no choice but to grow, because it is that majority that will need to continue to work together. It is that majority that overcame the Covid pandemic, it is that majority that overcame the difficulties that we reached for the Recovery and Resilience Facility, as you call it, the National Recovery Plan, the PNRR. It is the one that has taken us with unprecedented unity and solidarity during the Ukraine war. All of this will need to take us through to the very difficult next five years. And the more collaboration we have in the pro-European camp, the better.

AGERPRES: Do you think that this initiative can affect the credibility of the political platform of the EPP in Romania, which is discussed, including in the Congress in Bucharest?

Roberta Metsola: Well, that is not something for me to answer. We will need to see the campaign and you will need to see the result. But one thing I can say is that I have worked excellently, with all Romanian members of the European Parliament. They love their country, they fight for their country. They also pilot the most crucial pieces of legislation over the past five years, from economic affairs to artificial intelligence to industry, transport, research, regional. This is where Romania can really feel proud of its members, and it is those members that we will continue to collaborate with as we plot a path for the next five years. Without going from one party to another, I would look at the big picture.

AGERPRES: Europe is facing a special kind of extremism these days, which is trying to legitimise Russia's invasion of Ukraine. With what tools can this type of extremism be fought and who is most vulnerable to it?

Roberta Metsola: Well, those extremists are very few and far between. They are a very small number, in the European Parliament. And it is one that is, I would say, in thanks to the fact that our citizens across all European Union, not only in Romania, all of the member states told us to open our homes and our hearts to Ukrainians from the very beginning of the illegal Russian invasion. That enthusiasm has not waned. And that is what has kept us in being as clear as possible that we need to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. It is the same message that we are repeating in every city, and we will counter whether it is disinformation, lack of knowledge, whether it is intolerance, whether it is extremism, whether it is xenophobia. We can talk about all types of, I would call them projects that seek to destroy rather than to build or run on ideals of fear rather than on hope. I stand for the opposite of that, and I am confident that the next Parliament will do so too.

AGERPRES: So you are not worried about the fatigue, about the Ukraine war?

Roberta Metsola: I worry about us no longer being able to explain our decisions. Why did we vote for an extra 50 billion for Ukraine? Because Ukraine needs to win the war. Why did we take the decision to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova? Because these countries want to join. And when we join, Europe is more than just an economic block. It is also a block of security. It is a block of peace. It's a block of freedom. As we celebrate, 20 years of my country, together with another nine the big enlargement in 2004, that is what we look at. The transformative effects that EU accession has meant for countries. So we look at these countries, one of which is fighting an unfair, illegitimate, unjustified war. And we explain the decisions why. If Putin did not stop in 2008, he did not stop in 2014. He doesn't show that he is stopping now. Turning our backs away will only make it worse.
President Klaus Iohannis had a meeting on Thursday at the Cotroceni Palace with Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria Karl Nehammer, with Romania's full admission to the Schengen Area being one of the topics approached.

"In my discussion with Chancellor Nehammer we agreed to continue the process for Romania's full accession to Schengen until we reach this final objective. The EU has to be united, strong, prosperous, and this will further strengthen the EU security for the benefit of all our citizens," Klaus Iohannis wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Karl Nehammer is in Bucharest for the March 6 - 7 Congress of the European People's Party.

On the first day of the convention, the EPP unanimously adopted the manifesto requesting Romania's full Schengen admission as soon as possible, with the document stating the need for "the full Schengen admission of Bulgaria and Romania, by lifting not just air and sea

controls, but also land border controls, as soon as possible."
Trade unionists members of the National Trade Union Bloc (BNS) on Thursday are picketing the Romexpo Exhibition Complex, where the PPE Congress is unfolding, in order to draw the attention of European political leaders to the anti-union practices of the general director of the Romanian National Post Company, a press release from the trade union federation, sent to AGERPRES, informs.

The protest is taking place as a result of "the latest actions of the general director Valentin Stefan and his hostile attitude".

"The manager of the Romanian Post violates the fundamental labour rights of the employees! He violates the fundamental rights of work and workers. Currently, Valentin Stefan represents a stain on the face of the PNL. As a trade union organization, we will not tolerate anti-union practices in the Romanian Post. It is need for social justice for postal workers!" the representatives of the National Bank of Romania say in the document.

Also on Thursday, similar picketing actions will take place at the headquarters of the National Liberal Party (1 Modrogan Street) and at the headquarters of C.N. Posta Romana (140 Dacia Boulevard), states the BNS.

The list of grievances of the trade unionists currently includes the same subjects as in the previous year, namely: the lack of a transparent, motivating and non-discriminatory salary system, which led to the situation in the Romanian Post Office where 80% of the staff receive the minimum wage in the economy, regardless of position, studies, responsibilities, professional experience.

Also, the Posta Romana Free Trade Union (SLPR) emphasizes that there is a huge risk that, once the minimum wage in the economy increases, from January 1, 2024, the Romanian Post will enter into insolvency proceedings or lay off many thousands of employees.

Posta Romana is the market leader in the postal services sector and serves approximately 19 million Romanians, through an extensive network of 5,500 post offices.

Currently, the company is owned by the Romanian state, represented by the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization, which owns 93.52% of the share package. Fondul Proprietatea owns 6.48% of the company's share capital.
President Klaus Iohannis had several meetings on Wednesday, with heads of government, ministers, but also party leaders from Europe, on the sidelines of the EPP Congress, which takes place in Bucharest, on March 6 and 7.

At the meeting with Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who came directly from Odessa, where several explosions took place, Klaus Iohannis told him that he was glad that he was feeling well and that he was sorry that he experienced such a scare.

"I apologize for the outfit, I didn't have time to change," Mitsotakis told the head of the Romanian state when he met him.

Iohannis said on the X platform that he discussed with the Greek prime minister about security aspects, from an allied perspective, about bilateral economic relations and about the need to improve regional connectivity and ensure the energy security of the EU, including through the Three Seas Initiative.

At the meeting with the Serbian prime minister, Ana Brnabic, president Iohannis declared that Romania will continue to advocate for the advancement of the EU enlargement process, the discussions focusing on the importance of regional cooperation and ways to deepen the bilateral dialogue.

The president of Romania also met with the president of the Christian Democratic Union in Germany, Friedrich Merz, with whom "we agreed on the need to encourage a strong pro-European force in the future European Parliament, in order to face future challenges. Romania and Germany have very close relations, based on the important role of our communities and the strong partnership within the European Union," according to a post on the page of the Presidential Administration.

At the meeting with the Latvian minister of Foreign Affairs, Krisjanis Karins, Klaus Iohannis noted that the two countries "have an excellent bilateral relationship, with developing economic exchanges and a good collaboration in European affairs", and as allies, "we share similar visions on strengthening European security and unity in the current difficult international context, it being necessary to strengthen NATO's defense and deterrence position on the Eastern Flank and to continue supporting Ukraine, as long as it will be necessary."

Finally, president Iohannis also had a conversation with the Croatian prime minister, Andrej Plenkovic, with whom he discussed the very good bilateral relations between Romania and Croatia, the ways to develop economic exchanges, as well as cooperation within the European Union and NATO. "Regarding the war in Ukraine and global challenges, we must ensure security as NATO allies and maintain EU unity," Klaus Iohannis said.
Senate President Nicolae Ciuca said on Thursday that the meeting he had earlier in the day with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reconfirmed the strong ties connecting the two countries not just as EU and NATO allies, but also as friendly states.

Ciuca referenced the close call Mitsotakis had in Odessa on Wednesday, which reminded "of the fragility of peace in these times", and expressed his joy that the Greek prime minister and his delegation walked away unharmed by the Russian drone attack that rocked the city during their visit to Ukraine.

"Today's meeting with Prime Minister Mitsotakis, less than 24 hours after this alarming incident, reconfirmed the strong ties between Romania and Greece - not only as European Union and NATO allies, but also as friendly countries. Our discussions touched on topics of interest for the cooperation between the two states, such as Greece's support for Romania's accession to the Schengen Area, a stance that strengthens not only our bilateral relationship, but also the joint vision for a more united and freer Europe. The Greek government knows that tourism and trade between our countries will get a boost from the lifting of customs controls. Truck drivers or those who take their family on vacation to Greece will clearly feel a difference in time if they no longer waste hours queuing at the customs in Kulata or Makaza," Ciuca wrote on Facebook.

The Senate head also said that Greece will soon open an embassy in Chisinau.

"Greece is interested in tightening relations with our brothers across the Prut, and a diplomatic representation will strengthen this cooperation. In addition, the Greek government is waiting for the completion of the Romania - Bulgaria - Greece Vertical Corridor that will allow gas transportation between the three countries, bolstering the region's energy independence from Russia," Ciuca added.
MEP Corina Cretu expressed on Wednesday evening, at a meeting with representatives of the press, her willingness to collaborate with the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and to continue working in the interest of Romania, after having resigned from Pro Romania.

"If the PSD needs me, I will respond positively. First of all, because I would like to continue this experience I have for the country. If not, surely everyone can survive. I would have liked an alliance, honestly, but at this moment this alliance is really not possible," said Corina Cretu.

"Two and a half, three years ago, Mr. chairman Marcel Ciolacu sent a letter to the press in which he agreed that Pro Romania should join the Party of European Socialists, because this is the rule: the oldest party must accept the newest party. (...) He was very open then. Our colleague who represents PSD in PES spoke very nicely that our place is in the family of European Socialists. I have 29 years of PSD membership plus five years of Pro Romania. Basically, I grew up in politics. But perhaps there is life without politics. I don't know. I try to look in the mirror every morning and think that maybe others can do more and better. I have a clear conscience," said MEP Corina Cretu, told Agerpres.

The Romanian politician recalled some of her achievements as European Commissioner, including attracting EUR 8 billion to Romania.

The MEP met on Wednesday evening with Romanian media representatives participating in the JTI Journalist Fellowship programme, the only one of its kind in Romania, which has been running for 25 years. Under the programme, ten journalists visit European institutions in Brussels, NATO headquarters and other relevant actors in EU public life.
Elliott Brown, the chef and owner of the Biscuit Joint, asked me not to reveal one crucial step in his biscuit recipe. I agreed, of course. There are rules to this game between restaurants and critics, like Cold War tradecraft. But after I made a final visit to Browns Midtown restaurant a few days after our phone conversation, I considered going back on my word.

On that unseasonably warm early Saturday afternoon, crowds were already gathering for the Blues and City SC games later, convenient parking was scarce, and customers packed the Biscuit Joints modest storefront. They sat at the counter facing the small open kitchen to eat, and they sat along the front windows. They stood in line to order, and they stood in what little free space remained to wait for their takeout.

Brown and his team hustled, dressing biscuits with gravy, building biscuit sandwiches, dropping a basket of tots into the deep fryer. I knew I couldnt replicate the Biscuit Joints biscuits myself, but armed with that secret technique, surely someone could.

The Biscuit Joint rewards patience. Brown crafts an exemplary biscuit: golden-brown; tender but retaining its form whether sluiced with gravy or cut in half to sandwich sausage, egg and cheese; teasingly tangy with buttermilk and rich with just plain butter. The classic formula finds a trend in three examples, but between the Biscuit Joint and Honey Bees Biscuits + Good Eats in Kirkwood, St. Louis has entered a golden age for biscuits.

One key to the Biscuit Joints success isnt confidential. Brown, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native who moved to Wentzville as a child, has worked at some of the areas best restaurants, including Vicia and its sibling Winslows Table, the Niche Food Group and Beast Craft BBQ Co. Brown has cooked, baked bread and butchered meat.

Along the way, Brown founded his own pop-up series, Dinner at the Loft. Launched at the Midtown event space Work + Leisure, Dinner at the Loft soon proved popular enough to merit its own space. With that space acquired, Brown then needed something to generate revenue during the week, and plans for the Biscuit Joint took shape. The restaurant debuted in October.

Brown told me he doesnt primarily cook Southern food, but he has always gravitated toward the cuisine. He learned the biscuit recipe from a chef for whom he worked and remembered thinking, Man, these are the best biscuits ever. He is biased, but he isnt wrong.

You should probably try a Biscuit Joint biscuit by itself to appreciate them fully. (One opportunity: order biscuits and gravy to go, and the gravy is served on the side.) But they also stand out when eaten with gravy or as part of a sandwich. The OG sandwich is a classic ensemble of a peppery sausage patty, lacy-edged fried egg and gooey American cheese, all of it slicked with the grown-up sweetness of sorghum butter.

The Papa sandwich swaps bacon for the sausage. Instead of sorghum butter, Brown dresses it with the house Juke Jam, a blend of strawberry and peach jams that conveys a more direct and appealingly ripe sweetness. For lunch  or breakfast; I wont judge  the GOAT sandwich jolts a skinny fried patty of housemade chicken sausage with a Calabrian chile aioli and a generous layer of bread-and-butter pickle slices.

It isnt a criticism to say the Biscuit Joints straightforward sausage gravy is the restaurants least interesting option. By itself, this gravy is exactly what you want from the gravy atop your biscuit, creamy, meaty, but with a breeze of herbs that keeps it from being too heavy on the palate. Yet the local mushroom gravy accomplishes the same effect without meat, and its pronounced note of sage adds a summery lushness.

Best of the three regular options is the roasted chicken, a slinky, schmaltzy gravy bristling with paprika oil. Get this with a side of tots  collapsing with a delightful crunch, as freshly fried tots should  and you will be tempted to use the gravy instead of ketchup as your dipping sauce.

The Biscuit Joints focus on savory breakfast and lunch isnt absolute. In addition to daily specials like, say, French toast, a countertop bakery display will include a limited number of cinnamon rolls. Dense in your hand but nearly as light and flaky as a proper croissant, tasting of cinnamon rather than simply sugary icing, these could launch a spinoff venture for Brown.

If not, I encourage him to share the cinnamon rolls secrets with me.

Rating Recommended. The Post-Dispatch evaluates restaurants on the following scale, lowest to highest: not recommended, recommended, highly recommended, essential. The rating reflects how the restaurant succeeds on its own terms  and how it meets a diner's good-faith expectations of quality food and hospitality  regardless of cuisine, location or cost.
CRYSTAL CITY  The Chesterfield-based Mercy health system is starting a teaching program at its Jefferson County campus, a deal aimed toward growing the areas health care workforce.

The health system struck an agreement to train students from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine at Mercy Hospital Jefferson  a 320-bed hospital, about 40 miles south of St. Louis.

Dr. Karthik Iyer, the hospitals chief medical officer, said the program will help with recruitment, one of Mercy Jeffersons biggest challenges. Hospitals across the country face shortages of health care workers. In outlying areas, it can be even more challenging.

We have a huge paucity of primary care physicians, mental health care providers, said Iyer, who will become the regional dean for the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. We need more physicians.

After graduation, medical students tend to take jobs in the same places they did clinical work. And the chance to serve as faculty at a teaching hospital is also a draw for many doctors.

The issue grows more urgent, as the U.S. grows older. In Jefferson County, 16% of residents were seniors in 2021, Iyer said, up from 11% in 2010.

Our geriatric population is really growing at a pace that wasnt anticipated, Iyer said. We really need the primary care support.

About 70% of the LECOMs graduates become primary care physicians.

A dozen medical students will arrive at Mercy Jefferson this fall, each in their third year working toward a doctor of osteopathic medicine degree, Iyer said.

They will come from LECOMs Lake Erie campus, and spend their time at Mercy doing rotations in internal medicine, family medicine, geriatrics, pediatrics, psychiatry, surgery, and obstetrics and gynecology.

The medical students will spend their third year and most of their fourth year at Mercy Jefferson, said Dr. Michael Rowane, LECOM associate dean of clinical education.

Though Mercy has some medical students at its other hospitals, including in St. Louis County, the deal with the Pennsylvania school is one of the health systems largest steps yet into teaching.

The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine was established in 1992. In 2002, it started a pharmacy school, and in 2004 added a branch campus in Bradenton, Florida.

Rowane said the school works to keep tuition low, and prioritizes first-generation college students.

Mercy Hospital Jefferson is just an ideal center to nurture those exact ideals, Rowane said. Our hope is to be a tremendous impact to the community.

In the coming years, Mercy plans to grow the campus to as many as 72 students. Hospital staff will have the opportunity to serve as faculty. But one day, Iyer said, Mercy might consider going even further, and creating a residency program.

Iyer said he recognizes that the hospital is a novice in these sorts of programs. He wants to take small steps  but he also wants to be ambitious, considering the aging population, and the challenges facing health care in small towns like his.

Its a great time to be in health care, and come up with innovative measures that not only impact the community, but expand access, Iyer said. The opportunities that lie ahead are immense.
ST. LOUIS  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Wednesday ordered the regions natural gas utility, Spire, to repair more than a dozen private properties it damaged when building its controversial Spire STL natural gas pipeline.

Spire said Wednesday it was happy to take the steps, and in fact had made the pitch itself to FERC.

We are committed to doing the right thing, said Sean Jamieson, general counsel for Spire STL Pipeline. He touted the orders as an important step toward a mutual goal of full restoration along the entirety of the project.

But at least one farmer said he is skeptical about what FERCs orders mean for his land.

Its too premature here to figure out whats going on, said Marc Steckel, a Carrollton, Illinois, resident who owns farmland traversed by the Spire pipeline.

Spire, based in St. Louis, has faced years of criticism about damages along the path of the 65-mile pipeline that cuts through farmland and forests in Illinois, before entering north St. Louis County.

For example, landowners along the pipelines route complain of erosion and drainage problems, piles of wood left behind, loss of topsoil, rocks and construction debris buried in farm fields, diminished crop yields, and the perhaps unnecessary alteration of prized hunting land and future home sites.

The landowners complaints have also formed the basis of an active lawsuit against Spire from the Office of the Illinois Attorney General.

Spire has been ordered to remove construction debris and rocks on all properties, replant trees, test well water and repair damaged roads and driveways, among other fixes, according to a FERC statement.

Spire declined to comment on costs related to the restoration work.

Even following FERCs orders, Spire will still need to get permission from individual landowners to access their property, before conducting any work  something some property owners have been unwilling to provide, saying that prior repair attempts had made damage worse.

Spire said that a total of 179 landowners were affected by the permanent path of the pipeline. It was not immediately clear Wednesday whether FERCs orders regarding almost 20 tracts of land have addressed all outstanding complaints about the project.
Joe Holleman Political correspondent/columnist 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

Maplewood residents wont see an official debate between incumbent mayor Nikylan Knapper and challenger Barry Greenberg before the April 2 election.

But if they go to the Missouri Ethics Commission website, they can finally see Knappers campaign report  which was filed two weeks late.

Knappers fundraising and spending report finally was filed late Thursday.

Shevaun McNaughton, Knappers campaign treasurer, said she was to blame for not having the report filed on time. Knapper could not be reached for comment.

Greenberg, running as a write-in candidate this time around, filed his report on Feb. 21. The report shows Greenberg has raised $4,153 for his campaign and has spent $1,285.

Aside from the $1,000 Greenberg contributed to his own campaign, his biggest financial supporter thus far is Dan Lessig, a Richmond Heights lawyer who also gave $1,000.

Greenberg served 14 years as a Maplewood councilman. He was elected mayor in 2017 and then lost in 2021 to Knapper, who got 58.3% of the vote.

Knapper's report showed she has raised only $150 this reporting period and has spent $2,441. That leaves her campaign with 5,404 cash on hand.

The next campaign reports are due on March 25, eight days before the election.

As to Knapper and Greenberg hashing it out in a debate, community news site 40 South News has reported that Knapper did not respond to requests to participate in a debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters.

The site reported that Knapper didnt commit to participating ... by March 1, the leagues deadline, so there will be no forum.

Doug Miner, editor and publisher of 40 South News, said the league uses outside entities to help organize debates, adding that he has helped set up debates in the past, including several in Brentwood.

Miner said that in 2021, Knapper declined to participate in a debate with Greenberg. This time, Knapper never responded to his requests, he said.

Greenberg said Thursday that he had agreed to participate in the debate.

Knapper, the first African American elected as Maplewoods mayor, has been at the center of some controversy and criticism over the last six months.

Municipal grumbling became more public in September when city manager Michael Reese abruptly quit his job. Several sources have said that the working relationship between Reese and Knapper had become contentious.

Shortly after Reese stepped down, the city paid Reese about $166,000 as part of a separation agreement.

According to city records, about $130,000 of that total was for damages allegedly suffered by Reese; and the remaining $36,000 was to cover expenses and lost wages.

After the Reese departure, Knapper came under fire again when she and all but one member of the City Council quickly supported the hiring of Amber Withycombe as Reeses replacement.

A friend and political ally of Knapper, Withycombe  who had no experience in city management or college degree in public administration  took over the job in January and is being paid $137,000 a year.

Until being replaced three months ago by McNaughton, Withycombes husband, Joshua Kryah, had been Knappers campaign treasurer.
ST. LOUIS  Goodfellow Boulevard was once home to a sprawling ammunition industry that employed thousands and supplied the national war efforts in Europe, Korea and Vietnam. Now, the north-south thoroughfare is a no mans land of abandoned businesses, littered roadways and lawlessness thats driving Black residents out of northwest St. Louis.

They call it Goodfellow. There aint nothing good, Shirley Robinson, 66, said from her front porch. I can see why people be moving. I am going to be next as soon as my money pops. I like this house, but people come through our gangways with guns. I am going to buy a house where there are stores and a fence so high that nobody can get in.

A $30.5 million tax-subsidized effort is underway to stabilize low-income housing at Hillvale Apartments, a huge complex in the area. Many neighbors like Robinson are skeptical it will last if security isnt better addressed, particularly at the busy intersection of Goodfellow and Natural Bridge thats an epicenter of mayhem.

There, a headless lamppost leans like a giant sword over the entrance to the most dangerous gas station in St. Louis, according to a Post-Dispatch analysis of crime data. The business has had many formal names in its storied history. Today, its a Conoco, but residents still call it the Murder Mobil.

I dont go there, said Robinson, who lives a few blocks away. Its been robbed so many times. There are a bunch of people hanging around. You never know when they get to shooting.

Other than a man who buys booze, several long-term residents said they avoid the gas station for the same reason. Its been on the citys radar for some time, but problems persist.

Out of more than 100 gas stations still in operation citywide, the station in question at 5750 Natural Bridge Avenue had the highest number of aggravated assaults  106  and robberies  66  between 2005 and 2020. Aggravated assaults were more than double the runner-up  46  at the Phillips 66 on the Halls Ferry Circle. It was also one of eight gas stations with two or more homicides during that time frame.

The Post-Dispatchs analysis relied on 15 years of uniform crime report spreadsheets, published monthly by St. Louis police on their website until 2020, when they changed computer systems. Police on Tuesday released a crime dataset covering the missing years, 2021 to 2023, but in a different format that cant be directly compared with the old data. That data shows 5750 Natural Bridge ranked fifth for aggravated assaults over those three years, with just under half the total of the leader, the Shell station at 721 North Tucker Boulevard.

Twenty years of police calls for service to 5750 Natural Bridge also paint a bleak picture.

Between 2004 and 2016, the station averaged 186 calls per year. Then, in January 2017, the stations owner, 31-year-old Maulik Patel, was cut down in a hail of gunfire as he drove home one night, a murder case that remains unsolved. Calls for service doubled that year to 504, kicking off a multiyear surge that lasted through 2022, except for a brief reduction during the 2020 pandemic year.

Then, on July 12, 2022, local and federal police raided the North Western Inn, another chronic source of calls for service next door known for drugs and prostitution. They arrested more than a dozen people, lining them up on the curb of the gas station. The hotel was shuttered.

The following year, calls for service at the gas station fell to a 20-year low: 55.

Now, hotel owners want to reopen. Disruptions continue at the gas station. Its ATM was recently yanked out and stolen.

As crime ebbs and flows, the Murder Mobil lives on in an area where the Rallys burger joint is one of the latest businesses to shutter. Stakeholders say the future of stations like this one pose an enormous challenge and opportunity for those who want North City to thrive once more. Gas stations bring in tax revenue, but also come with heavy tolls.

That place over there makes the Shell downtown look like the Ritz-Carlton, said Jermaine Wooten, an attorney. Thats where people meet for drug sales and all types of crime. Police say if you pull up on that lot, they assume they are going to commit a crime. Thats how bad it is.

Wooten represented Michael Williams in a personal injury case involving the property. Williams alleged in court records that he was beaten unconscious and robbed by a group of individuals marauding on the parking lot July 4, 2017. Williams claimed the gas station manager poured water over his face and left him on the ground for about 30 minutes before calling for help. He claimed he was mentally and physically disabled by the incident, which, he argued, was foreseeable given the troubling pattern of crime at the location.

Ayush One LLC has owned the gas station since 2013. Several months ago, the manager described to a reporter a sense of being trapped. He complained that the city wasnt providing enough security and that if he or his employees called for help, it worsened their case with city problem properties officials. He said hed be open to allowing a reporter and photographer to observe the challenges for a day or night, but, when pressed on a date, changed his mind, saying the business may be sold soon.

By early March, the store hadnt sold. The same manager angrily told the Post-Dispatch to leave the property and that he didnt want to participate in a story about gas stations in the city. The Williams case, filed in 2019, had recently been dismissed; its unclear if a settlement was reached.

And another personal injury lawsuit had been filed  this one against Ayush One and a private security company, Beast Mode LLC.

William E. Jones, the plaintiff, claims in court records that a private security guard used a firearm to strike somebody inside the gas station on Sept. 8, 2021. During the struggle, the gun allegedly fired and struck Jones in the arm, making it one of many shootings that have happened at the station.

Corvettes to crime

The intersection of Goodfellow and Natural Bridge was a beacon of prosperity in the 1970s. Corvettes rolled off a nearby assembly line. The federal center hummed with jobs. Goody Goody Diner filled stomachs with fried eggs.

And Gary Hinton, just a teenager, closed the gas station at 5750 Natural Bridge at 1 a.m.

It was a different time, Hinton, now 66, said by telephone from Arizona.

He said his parents took over the station about a year after it opened. They initially called it Jodies Mobil, after his father, and later, Jodie Hinton and Sons Enterprises. There wasnt much money in gas, so they offered full-service and auto repair. He said they had a couple tow trucks and sold ice and cigarettes.

Having a job was huge at that time because it kept you off the street, said Gary. Time on your hands and hot ass St. Louis in the summertime. It was the best thing for me to work at that gas station.

He said they were robbed a few times, but nobody paid attention to it because no one was physically harmed.

We were well-embedded in the community, he said. People called us who needed stuff. Dad was really personable.

In the mid-1980s, around the time Gary was leaving for a career in the Air Force, the family business fell apart and turned over. Jodie Hinton pivoted to running a northside lounge. In 1986, seated at the bar, police said somebody came in and fatally shot him in the head without saying a word.

By then, the gas station was advertising as the Goodfellow Sunoco. It later sat vacant from 1989 to 1997, when new bays were built, according to city records.

It became a hot spot for crime. In the past 20 years, there was a wide variety of more than 4,650 calls for police service. Michael Anthony Tunstall alone racked up at least 22 trespassing cases filed in St. Louis Circuit Court. In one, police also claimed he had a crack pipe and threatened to kill arresting officers.

One afternoon in 2016, somebody drove off in a womans SUV when she went up to the window of the gas station to check on a child inside. A 2-month-old boy, left in the back seat, was later found uninjured, dumped at a Sherman Park bathroom, along with the stolen vehicle nearby.

Its unclear when the gas station picked up the informal name Murder Mobil. According to news reports, five people have been killed there since 2002:

Lawrence Brady II, 19, the son of a former Wellston mayor, was shot in the head in 2002 as he got out of a car and later died of his wounds.

Acme Price III, 44, of University City, who served a brief stint in the Marines, was fatally stabbed in 2004. Family said hed done time in federal prison and struggled with drug addiction.

Damien Guy, 21, of Pine Lawn, was killed in 2004. Witnesses told police that they saw somebody chasing him from the gas station before being shot in the street.

Arnold Grice, 24, who lived in northwest St. Louis near the border of Pine Lawn, was gunned down in 2011.

Caylin Hudson, 18, was killed in 2016. He was a passenger in a fleeing car that a group of men shot at in the parking lot.

Police said then that Hudson lived in the 6200 block of Lenox Avenue in Wellston. No one there could be found recently who remembered him, but Samuel Shannon, a Wellston councilman who lives nearby, said many people have been shot at the infamous gas station he avoids.

They need to shut it down and do something, said Shannon, 73. Its just a bad place for the city of St. Louis. Its a place you dont want to go to get gas.

No surrender

To this day, few are aware that a recent owner of the gas station was slain. Like many fatal shootings, Maulik Patel suffered a violent death that was briefly mentioned in the news right after it happened on Jan. 11, 2017.

He was on his way home to unincorporated west St. Louis County around 10 p.m., right after work. He was driving north on Goodfellow Boulevard in a 2011 Hyundai Sonata with personalized license plates: AYUSH.

A witness told police that when the Sonata stopped at a traffic light leading to the Interstate 70 on-ramp, a sedan with tinted glass pulled up directly beside the Sonata and started blasting. The witness told police that the victim got out of the car and held his hands up in the air, attempting to surrender; however, the assailant or assailants continued to shoot until the victim collapsed on Goodfellow Boulevard.

The suspect vehicle sped off on Interstate 70, according to the police report.

Another witness stopped and got out of her Impala to check on the victim and call police. Soon she reported that somebody from the amassing crowd sped off in her car.

Patel was pronounced dead at the scene. One employee at the gas station told police that several unknown individuals had made verbal and physical threats toward Patel on a regular basis. A police review of surveillance video from the night of his death didnt reveal anything notable, according to the police report.

Police wouldnt sit for an interview to discuss the unsolved case. Evita Caldwell, a police spokeswoman, said by email that detectives received leads over the years, but none of them have been substantial enough for an arrest.

In 2017, St. Louis police Detective Daniel Sweeney acknowledged in court testimony that we have reason to believe that Patel was intentionally targeted.

Court records show that Patel filed a last will and testament three weeks before his death. He had a young son and wife at home but was only 31. According to a copy of the will, his business interests were Ayush One at 5750 Natural Bridge, as well as Hare Krishna LLC, which had locations in Florissant and Louisville, Kentucky.

Two witnesses signed the will, including a parent.

In a lawsuit against a car insurance company, Patels widow, Ripal, claimed in court records that there was no plausible reason why Maulik Patel would be targeted by the occupants of the fleeing vehicle.

In a 2017 television news story, three months after the shooting, Ripal called for justice for Mauliks death. She described him as a family man without enemies.

Who did this? Why they did this? she said. Whats the point? My husband was an innocent man. He never did nothing wrong in his life that somebody would just kill him in this way.

Recently reached at her home in Chesterfield, Ripal confirmed that she is the current owner of the gas station. She said crime has dipped quite a bit since the neighboring hotel was shut down in 2022. She declined to be interviewed at length.

Different sets

St. Louis police declined requests to talk about the broader challenges they face in the neighborhoods along Goodfellow Boulevard.

The closest the Post-Dispatch came was at a recent town hall held at the OFallon Park Rec Complex that addressed the exodus of more than 27,000 Black residents from the city between 2010 and 2020.

We all have to collaborate to address the challenges that we face in north St. Louis, Neal Richardson told the crowd.

As leader of the St. Louis Development Corporation, hes expected to carry out the economic development strategy of Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, who celebrated her election victory in 2021 at a former United Auto Workers union hall near Goodfellow and Natural Bridge.

Balancing economic development and public safety continues to be a main challenge of her administration, as seen at the town hall.

An announcer struggled to pronounce the name of police Capt. Matthew Karnowski, the new leader of District 6, who also struggled to recall what SLDC stands for.

Asked by a reporter after his public remarks if he had ideas for addressing crime around problematic gas stations anywhere in the city, Karnowski said: I am super new in this role, but leveraging technologies  ShotSpotter, real-time crime center cameras  and then working with problem properties officers, City Hall, the building division, and all relevant stakeholders to try to come up with a solution.

A Sunshine request for problem properties records explaining the situation with the gas station at the intersection of Goodfellow and Natural Bridge took the city counselors office three months to process. It ultimately turned up a 27-page chronological summary of numerous actions, hearing dates, nuisance notices, crackdowns and scheduled meetings with city attorneys and representatives of the police, Board of Aldermen and gas station ownership dating to 2013.

Noted incidents range from the robbery and assault of an elderly woman to possession of a controlled substance to seven men seen hanging around in the parking lot that was packed with cars at the pumps and not at the pumps.

After a rash of police calls for service in 2017, a meeting was held with Ripal Patel and the manager. A police sergeant told them they should hire a security company that has off-duty St. Louis police officers, which would allow them to make arrests. The sergeant advised having them walk the perimeter of the lot every 30 minutes. An attorney with the city counselors office also recommended increased lighting, power washing the lot more often and ending sales of single cans of beer.

Soon, Patel was accused of failure to abate. More meetings were scheduled. Gas station representatives told officials they couldnt afford to hire off-duty police. They said the gas station was taking blame for being a safe spot for Hillvale Apartments residents to call police.

At one point in 2018, a police colonel provided two options: either close or hire off-duty police until crime subsides. Its unclear if they ever hired off-duty police, but a St. Louis police chaplain who has a private security company was accused of shooting at a vehicle fleeing from the gas station. Dealings with Beast Mode resulted in the ongoing personal injury lawsuit.

After another no-show from the property owner in 2020, another cease-and-desist order was issued for the business that expired in 2021. Another one was posted in 2021 that expired in 2022. Then, more calls for service: stolen vehicle at gunpoint; stolen bank bag of cash, cigarettes, liquor; suspected hand-to-hand transactions with numerous individuals gathering on the parking lot.

The current cease-and-desist order expires in July.

They arent coming over here to do a deep dive on this, Hassan Shariff said of city officials. They could fix this if they wanted to.

Shariff, 56, used to work for the Cure Violence initiative, which was aimed at deescalating potential gun violence in the city. He also used to refer people to drug court and is the current president of the Wells-Goodfellow Neighborhood Improvement Association.

He said different sets of people from throughout the city congregate at the gas station. Nobody wants to take a chance to try and fix that.

After local police and federal agents raided the neighboring hotel in 2022, Shariff, Alderwoman Pamela Boyd, a state representative and a couple others successfully testified against reopening the hotel. The owners, who testified they have made notable changes, must wait another year before applying for occupancy again, officials said.

The hotel is closed. The gas station is open.

When Murda was painted on the exterior wall, somebody eventually cleaned that up. But the building is still tagged with spray paint. Theres a memorial for Mike, apparently the guy who racked up all those trespassing cases. In 2022, somebody accidentally ran him over in a nearby street, thinking he was debris. According to the autopsy report, he had fentanyl, PCP, cocaine and old bullets in his body. He was 31.

Inside the gas station, a loaf of bread is expensive, and the beer is cheap  $1.29 for a single 32-ounce can of Milwaukees Best.

Shariff wants something better for the children and adults left to endure the neighborhood.

What is the solution? Shariff said. Dont give up. Stay in the fight.
ST. LOUIS  A judge on Thursday set a date to consider overturning the 1991 murder conviction of Christopher Dunn, a St. Louis man who said he is innocent.

The hearing is set to take place on May 20. The court will hear evidence from Dunn's original trial and other court proceedings from the time.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore filed a motion in February to vacate Dunn's conviction.

Dunn was accused of fatally shooting 15-year-old Ricco Rogers on May 18, 1990, in the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood. He was 18 years old at the time.

After a trial that lasted a day and a half the following year, Dunn was convicted of first-degree murder, first-degree assault and armed criminal action the following year.

The conviction relied on testimony from two children who later recanted. The jury deliberated for just 42 minutes, according to Gore's motion.

Gore said his office found experts who could debunk the eyewitness testimony, as well as evidence about Dunn's alibi for the night of the killing.

The Missouri Attorney General's Office has the authority to oppose the motion. The office did oppose the ultimately successful effort to free Lamar Johnson, who spent nearly three decades in prison for a murder he did not commit.

Lawyers with the attorney general's office were present at Thursday's status hearing but did not say if they would oppose Dunn's freedom.
ST. LOUIS  The moment an SUV slammed into Janae Edmondson, she felt something warm. Numbness. And pain.

She fell face down onto a downtown St. Louis street. Her father pulled something tight around her legs. Her mother took her head into her hands and told her not to close her eyes. Stay awake.

The chaos of the scene melted into the background as she tried to figure out what was happening. Paramedics loaded her into an ambulance. As they worked on her, she repeated her mothers words.

My mom said dont close my eyes, she recalled. I have to stay awake.

Edmondson testified Thursday at the trial of Daniel Riley, 22, accused of driving dangerously last year and causing the crash that severed both of her legs. She spoke from a wheelchair with her amputated, scarred legs visible to the courtroom.

She paused to compose herself a few times while remembering details of the crash, and she spoke at length about her perseverance over the past year. She also recalled that when she saw her siblings for the first time in the hospital, she told a joke to lighten the mood.

By the end of the day, Riley was convicted of two felonies  second-degree assault and armed criminal action  and two misdemeanors, including driving without a license. The jury deliberated Riley's sentence late into Thursday evening, eventually recommending up to 18 years and nine months in prison.

The Feb. 18, 2023, crash and its aftermath jump-started an effort to remove former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner from office after it was revealed that Riley was out on bond for a previous robbery case despite violating the conditions of his bond dozens of times. Gardner eventually resigned.

Prosecutors argued Riley had fentanyl, THC and codeine in his blood when he pulled out of a parking space on St. Charles Street in an Audi SUV, accelerated from 5 to 45 mph in a matter of seconds, violated a yield sign and collided with a Chevrolet Malibu that was traveling north on 11th Street.

Edmondson was pinned between two cars, and both her legs were amputated as a result.

On Thursday, Edmondsons mother, Francine Edmondson, was the first witness to take the stand.

She tearfully described seeing her daughter in the hospital and waiting for hours during nearly two dozen surgeries her daughter underwent during their two-week stay in St. Louis.

She remembered being awoken at night and working with her husband, James Edmondson to help quell the phantom pains that caused her daughter to cry out. They cleaned and dressed her wounds, took her to physical therapy and watched an active, energetic kid slip into depression.

The first thing she said to me (in the hospital) is, Mama, Ill never be able to play volleyball or walk again, Francine Edmondson said.

When Janae Edmondson came home from the hospital, she reunited with her beloved dog, and the family rearranged their house to accommodate her wheelchair. Janae also could no longer climb the stairs to her bedroom. They bought her a car and equipped it with levers that allowed her to drive with her hands. They took her to physical therapy most days each week.

Janae Edmondson testified after her mother on Thursday morning.

At one point, she stumbled over how to refer to the crash.

She at first called it my accident, before adding, Well, not my accident. The ... before a prosecutor said crash, and Janae Edmondson agreed.

In all, she has undergone 29 surgeries and still has four more to go.

She graduated from high school and is now enrolled at Middle Tennessee State University, where she is a manager of the volleyball team and helps at practices. She is working on walking with prosthetics and continues to recover.

Edmondsons father, James Edmondson, took the stand on Tuesday. He spoke of his his military background and using a belt to apply a tourniquet and stop the bleeding after the crash  a move he later learned saved his daughters life.

My mind went from father mode to military, he said. It was like God just had control of my hands.

Four months after the crash, she filed a lawsuit against the city of St. Louis, Riley and the driver of the Malibu. That suit is ongoing.

Rileys attorney, Dan Diemer, argued at trial that police rushed to judgment in arresting Riley despite evidence suggesting the driver of the Malibu may have been at fault.

Prosecutor Tanja Engelhardt said in closing statements it was a miracle that Janae survived.

But for the grace of God, we would be here on a homicide today, Engelhardt said.

After Riley was convicted, the trial went straight into the punishment phase, where jurors recommended to the judge a sentence of nearly 19 years.

Several jurors hugged the Edmondson family, who had urged a sentence of 23 years, after making the recommendation.

Judge Michael Noble will sentence Riley in April.

Riley did not speak before jurors issued their recommendation, and no one in his family delivered a statement.

Janae Edmondson told the jury before sentencing that she was reminded each day of the little things she used to take for granted  standing, walking, sitting and taking a shower.

She thanked her parents for saving her life the night of the crash and building her up with the strength to survive new challenges. She said she found hope in her faith in God that she could persevere.

I will not let this define who I am or what I bring to the world, Janae Edmondson said.

Photos: The trial of Daniel Riley, convicted in car crash that injured Janae Edmondson
JEFFERSON COUNTY  Unlike other school districts that have considered a four-day week to attract teachers, the Fox School District in Arnold is looking to save money.

Due to declining enrollment, the district will be financially stressed by 2027, Superintendent Paul Fregeau said Wednesday at a community meeting to discuss the potential switch to a shortened school week. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education defines financially stressed as carrying a fund balance below 3% of the operating budget, a distinction that comes with increased state oversight.

The four-day week would shave 2% to 3% off the budget each year, Fregeau said, as part of a strategy to right-size our budget.

In the second public meeting this year on the topic, Fox invited Dale Herl, superintendent of the Independence School District to talk about their move from five to four days. Independence, with 14,000 students, last fall became the largest among the 168 mostly rural districts in Missouri that have adopted the practice.

For Independence, the four-day week was 100% driven around our ability to recruit and retain staff members, Herl said via videoconference. The move has proven successful, with a 360% increase in applications for teaching positions in the district and very few vacancies.

The district in suburban Kansas City dropped 15 Mondays from the calendar, bringing total instructional days for students from 170 to 155. Each school day is 35 minutes longer to make up the difference.

Student attendance is up 2% and teacher absences are down 16%. Enrollment increased by almost 200 students.

Whenever I look at how its gone this year, its gone better honestly than I expected, Herl said. Since the school year started, Ive had one negative email regarding the four-day week. I get more complaints than that about where somebodys bus stop is or what we had for school lunch.

In most districts the cost savings of a four-day week are negligible because salaries and benefits, the largest budget items, stay the same.

The shortened week actually costs more money in Independence because of the programming offered on open Mondays. All students can receive tutoring and participate in various clubs on Mondays. High school students can take courses for credit through local colleges.

But the Monday tutoring and clubs are not well attended, which has been the biggest disappointment for district leaders, Herl said. There were 2,500 struggling students invited to intensive tutoring, and only 10% show up each week.

The reality is, kind of like summertime or spring break, parents figure it out, Herl said. They find what works best for their children and they dont send their children to the activities on Mondays.

Fox would become the second largest district, with 10,500 students, to start a four-day week and the fourth in Jefferson County behind Crystal City, Grandview and Sunrise. Fregeau first floated the idea for Fox in early 2023 among other potential budget cuts. The proposal was shelved pending a property tax increase that voters ended up rejecting in August.

This year the districts enrollment dropped by more than 200 students or 2%  one of the fastest rates of decline in the state. Enrollment has steadily fallen since hitting a high of 12,500 in 2011.

Sarah Lurkins of Arnold said she enrolled her 6-year-old in private school instead of Rockport Heights Elementary this year because of the districts ongoing discussion about four-day weeks.

Lurkins said her biggest concern is the long-term impact on students social and academic development with a shorter week.

Its not necessarily the inconvenience that it poses to parents thats my issue, Lurkins said. Why should the children ultimately be affected by decisions that are made by adults, including mismanagement of funding?

Most of the commentary on Foxs social media pages regarding a four-day week has been negative. One high school teacher said there are concerns about students who rely on free meals, medical care and special education in schools five days a week. Other parents and teachers think the district is trying to enact a four-day week ahead of a proposed bill that would require voter approval.

The plan by state Sen. Doug Beck, D-south St. Louis County, calls for school districts in larger counties including Jefferson to hold elections before adopting shorter weeks starting in 2025. The bill passed out of committee and could be discussed on the floor of the Missouri Senate in the next week.

The bill would also give an additional 2% of state funding to districts that keep a five-day schedule. The extra funds would be earmarked for teacher raises.

The legislation is Senate Bill 784.
JEFFERSON CITY  An attorney attempted to crash a closed-door meeting Wednesday of a special committee investigating the top member of the Missouri House.

Attorney Lowell Pearson, who has been hired to represent embattled House Speaker Dean Plocher in the scandal, was turned away from the meeting Wednesday as the panel met for the fifth time behind closed doors to review allegations against the Des Peres Republican.

Rep. Hannah Kelly, R-Mountain Grove, who chairs the House Ethics Committee, refused to allow Pearson to stay in the hearing after the bipartisan panel voted to close their deliberations to the public.

Gentleman, you will have your day before this committee, Kelly told Pearson, who was seeking to remain in the hearing room.

Im just asking to listen so I can understand the report, Pearson said as reporters began exiting the meeting.

Kelly later decried the theatrics and said the panel must be given the time and latitude to complete its inquiry.

The interaction marked the first time that Plocher has been publicly linked to the work of the House Ethics Committee, which began its secret deliberations last year after Plocher admitted falsely billing taxpayers for travel to conferences in Hawaii and elsewhere.

Plocher, who is attempting to run for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, also is accused of allegedly pressuring House staff to hire an outside software vendor to oversee an estimated $800,000 constituent management services without going through proper bidding channels.

Lawmakers also could focus on the abrupt firing of his chief of staff and the departure of two other top staffers in the wake of the scandal.

Plocher, a former municipal judge serving his final year as speaker, has rejected calls for his resignation.

Pearson, a public policy lawyer from Columbia who served in former Gov. Matt Blunts administration, told Kelly he was seeking to listen to the committees review of a report compiled by an investigator who has been interviewing lawmakers and House staff in connection with the allegations in recent weeks.

After Kelly rejected the request, Pearson left the meeting without incident but declined to discuss the case with reporters.

The report, which has not been publicly released, is expected to form the basis of a formal response from the ethics committee, which can recommend sanctions to the full House.

Under House rules, the committee investigates complaints of ethical misconduct by members of the House. The harshest punishment the panel can recommend is the expulsion of a member. They also can issue lesser sanctions, such as a letter of reprimand.

While all of the committees work has been behind closed doors, a public window into its work could be coming soon. House rules allow the subject 21 days to respond to findings, putting the probe on track to continue into April.

Lawmakers are scheduled to be in session until mid-May.
BRENTWOOD  Four months after the regions transit authority promised to improve services for people with disabilities, advocates say the agency has failed to make enough progress.

A group of regional disability rights advocates on Thursday released a report card that gives Metro Transit an F in accessibility, among other bad grades. The group, STL Metropolitan Alliance for Reliable Transit, plans to compile and release the report quarterly.

Customers still wait an hour or more on the phone to request a ride with Call-A-Ride, Metros curb-to-curb transportation service, and have to plan their trips days in advance, said alliance member Duane Gruis, who uses Call-A-Ride daily.

Life doesnt happen three days in advance, Gruis said at a news conference at the St. Louis Society for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

The outcry from riders started in April last year when Metro cut Call-A-Ride services because of labor shortages. Trip denials doubled, and wait times skyrocketed, leaving people with disabilities feeling stuck. Advocates filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice. In November, Metro Transit leaders promised to upgrade the service and hire a consultant to advise on accessibility improvements.

On Thursday, Metro said it welcomes the feedback from advocates.

We see this as an opportunity for us to improve not only communications, but quality of service, Metro executive Charles Stewart said in a statement. We are following up on the commitments that we made and will continue to do so.

Services are improving, advocates said Thursday. Call-A-Ride denials were down to about 7,000 in January compared to 18,000 in January 2023, said Jeanette Mott Oxford, a manager with the St. Louis disability rights organization Paraquad. And community engagement is making headway, too, she said.

Metro is communicating with us a lot more than they were, Mott Oxford said. We see some effort, and were hoping that things are moving in the right direction.

Metro officials presented progress this week to the St. Louis County Council.

We are committed to enhancing the customer experience, Stewart said at the council meeting Tuesday. Weve unwavering in that, and we have taken steps toward that effort.

Metro has nearly completed a deal on new reservations and scheduling software, Stewart said, expected to be in place by May.

And Call-A-Rides call system now has a phone tree where riders can pick what kind of service they need. Previously, riders had to call different numbers for requests, cancellations and changes.

But the upgrade hasnt reduced how long riders have to wait on the phone, or how far in advance they have to plan, Robyn Wallen, a blind Call-A-Ride user and transportation committee chairperson for the Missouri Council of the Blind, said at the news conference Thursday.

Metro reported this week that it has also made headway across other services:

It has hired more bus drivers, after the COVID-19 pandemic caused severe shortages, Stewart told the council, thanks in part to a $5,000 signing bonus. The agency needs 592 bus drivers to run its routes  it employs about 600 now, and continues hiring. They need more to fully restore service cuts, but theyve been able to increase frequency on 17 routes.

Work to add gates to MetroLink platforms is progressing, said CEO Taulby Roach. Workers were adding fencing this week in preparation for the gates at the Washington Park and Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center stations in Illinois.

We are moving to gate every single one of the MetroLink stations, Roach said. What were talking about is making our community safer.

Still, for disability services, progress isnt coming quickly enough, advocates said Thursday.

The report card, which they sent to the agency, gives Metro a D in engaging with people with disabilities, an incomplete in keeping promises, a D+ in customer service, plus the F in accessibility.

Advocates suggested Metro expand its advisory committee on the Americans with Disabilities Act, hold board meetings in accessible locations, take public testimony, and better involve people with disabilities in program planning, implementation and evaluation.

Nothing should happen about us without us, Seyoon Choi, a university student who is blind and takes Metro daily, said in a statement.
JEFFERSON CITY  The Missouri House voted 122-12 Thursday to pay $2.2 million to send National Guard troops and a contingent of highway patrol officers to aid Texas efforts to patrol the nations southern border.

Acting on a request by Republican Gov. Mike Parson, the funding will finance his plan to send 200 Missouri National Guard troops and 11 members of the Missouri Highway Patrol to the Lone Star State this month.

Although there is $4 million for emergency costs already available in the budget, Parson, a Republican, is seeking the midyear funding adjustment as a buffer in case money is needed for other emergencies that may arise in the state.

The administration doesnt want to roll the dice in case a tornado, flooding or other natural disaster hits the state before the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

Rep. Chad Perkins, a Pike County Republican, said he was proud to send Missouri troops and highway patrol to Texas.

Every state is a border state. If we dont have a border we dont have a country, Perkins said.

Rep. Maggie Nurrenbern, D-Kansas City, urged a yes vote in the absence of action in the U.S. Capitol.

For far too many years Congress has punted on the issue of serious immigration reform, said Nurrenbern, who is running for a seat in the state Senate.

Parson announced the decision last month after witnessing the crisis on a recent trip to Texas, placing blame on President Joe Biden for what he described as a wide open border.

Parson joined other Republican governors who said they would dip into taxpayer coffers to assist Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in his election-year standoff with the federal government.

Guard members will assist in the construction of physical barriers and with security patrols as needed.

Illegal crossings at the southern border reached an all-time high in December, but that figure dropped by 50% in January due to seasonal trends and enhanced enforcement efforts by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

In February, U.S. House members shot down a bipartisan border security package after former President Donald Trump disapproved the proposed deal.

The first deployment is scheduled to be active in Texas this weekend and rotating groups of National Guard members will be deployed roughly every 30 days. The mission is set to last 90 days, though it could be extended.

Eleven Missouri Highway Patrol troopers have been in Texas since March 1. They will be partnered with Texas troopers, riding with them in their vehicles near the border and answering calls.

Up to 22 highway patrol troopers could be deployed.

The National Guard already has a presence in Texas. There have been 250 Missouri National Guard members in the state for the past four years under federal orders.

I cant support this bill. We already have troops there, said Rep. Ingrid Burnett, D-Kansas City. I think its a reckless to deplete our service people even more.

Missouri National Guard Adjutant General Levon Cumpton said sending troops to Texas will not impact services back home. In all, there are 12,000 soldiers in the state.

The package now heads to the Senate for further debate.

The legislation is House Bill 2016.
The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to approve a measure to renew and expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which provides government payments to people who were exposed to radiation from atomic testing or uranium mining.

The measure, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, passed by a vote of 69-30 with 20 Republicans and all but two Democrats voting in favor. Its prospects in the House are uncertain.

Save RECA families and @HawleyMO celebrating after the Senate voted 69-30 to reauthorize pic.twitter.com/v48BahVaHW  Alan He (@alanhe) March 7, 2024

RECA, first passed in 1990, already covers people who were residents of Utah, Nevada and Arizona at the time of nuclear testing and uranium mining during World War II.

But the measure that won final approval Thursday adds new sites, including in Missouri, where uranium ore was processed for the Manhattan Project.

Were ecstatic, said Dawn Chapman, a co-founder of Just Moms STL, a group of activists who closely track north St. Louis Countys legacy of radioactive waste issues. The bill is great.

Among those who likely will benefit are current and former St. Louis-area residents who were potentially exposed to radioactive waste produced by Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, which worked under contract to the Manhattan Project, developer of the worlds first atomic bombs, which destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Some of Mallinckrodts waste was stored at sites near the airport in north St. Louis County where it eventually contaminated areas along the Coldwater Creek watershed; some of that waste was later taken to and buried at West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton.

In Weldon Spring, some people who developed cancers blamed exposure to Mallinckrodts uranium processing there from 1957 to 1966.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Hawley spoke of the sacrifices working people made in service of the nation.

The government exposed them over a period of decades to nuclear radiation and waste, and in almost every case did nothing about it. In many cases lied to them about it.

He continued, It is the pride of our nation that when we won the Second World War, when we won the Cold War, we rebuilt the lands of our former enemies. Im proud of that as I ever have been. But now it is time to rebuild these communities. It is time to finish the work in the United States of America. It is time to turn to the men and women who have borne the brunt of the battle.

U.S. Sens. Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, and Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, co-sponsored the bill and spoke Thursday in support.

The U.S. Senate last year added the measure, co-sponsored by Hawley and Lujan, to the National Defense Authorization Act. But the language, which was not part of the House version of the defense bill, was stripped from the final bill in conference committee.

The law, if it passes the House and is signed into law, will provide compensation to individuals who resided in certain affected areas and had a medical condition linked to nuclear radiation exposure. Living individuals could get at least $50,000; surviving spouses, $25,000.

In the St. Louis area, the bill provides that people who seek compensation would have to document that they were physically present in an affected area  defined by 21 ZIP code areas  for at least two years after Jan. 1, 1949.

In addition, they would have to provide evidence of a specified disease, including certain kinds of cancer, leukemia, multiple sclerosis, and lymphoma.

Affected ZIP code areas, which cover most of north St. Louis County, the north riverfront area of St. Louis and a large swath of St. Charles County anchored by Weldon Spring, are 63031, 63033, 63034, 63042, 63045, 63074, 63114, 63135, 63138, 63044, 63121, 63140, 63145, 63147, 63102, 63304, 63134, 63043, 63341, 63368, and 63367.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order in 2022 extending RECA for two years, but it expires in June. Hawleys bill would extend the law for five years and expand coverage to include people in Missouri as well as Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alaska and Guam.

The states that we got added are great, said Chapman, who was in the Senate gallery for the vote.

She said that activists visiting Washington  not only from St. Louis, but from places around the country affected by radioactivity issues  have been busy meeting with lawmakers to push for the bill.

Entering Thursdays vote in the Senate, Chapman didnt expect the measure to receive more than 63 or 64 votes  a good margin below the 69 that it finished with.

It came out way better than we thought, said Chapman, who saw the vote as an encouraging sign, as attention now turns to the bills chances of passing the House.

Were optimistic, based on the yes votes that we didnt expect today, she said.

The White House indicated Wednesday that Biden would sign the legislation if it reaches his desk.

The President believes we have a solemn obligation to address toxic exposure, especially among those who have been placed in harms way by the governments actions, the White House said in a statement.

The measure likely faces an uphill battle in the GOP-led House. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis, is among those pushing for the measure.

In a statement Thursday, Bush applauded the Senates vote, calling it a crucial step towards securing the compensation St. Louisans deserve.

I look forward to championing this legislation as it advances to the House, and I remain committed to ensuring our government does everything in its power to rectify their wrongdoings, Bush said.

Advocates for the bill who traveled to Washington for the vote said it represents hope for them and their families as they have been burdened with medical costs.

Christen Commuso, who works for the advocacy group Missouri Coalition for the Environment, said she has dealt with many health issues, including thyroid cancer, and has had to at times ration her care because it is so costly.

Its not about putting money in my pocket, Commuso said. Its about providing me the ability to get the care that I deserve and need.

The legislation is S. 3853.

Bryce Gray of the Post-Dispatch and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
ST. CHARLES COUNTY  After nearly four decades in public office, St. Charles County Councilwoman Nancy Schneider said she won't seek reelection this fall.

Schneider, the county council's lone woman, represents the sprawling sixth district on the seven-person county council. Her district includes much of the city of St. Charles, plus the communities of West Alton and Portage Des Sioux.

The district also includes large chunks of farmland between the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers.

"I've lived here pretty much my entire life, and I would like to believe that I did my best to help people, to make St. Charles County a better place to live," Schneider said in an interview Wednesday.

Schneider, a Republican, was appointed to the county council in 2019 by County Executive Steve Ehlmann following the resignation of Mike Klinghammer, who left the council after accepting an economic development job with the city of St. Charles. She won a full term in 2020.

She also served 26 years as a circuit court judge in St. Charles County.

Ehlmann said Thursday he has "always respected Nancy for her intelligence and fairness." The two worked together in the late 1980s as law partners and again as judges in St. Charles County.

Schneider has at times been at odds with other Republicans on the county council in recent months. She supported the county's plans to invest millions into the Family Arena over the next four years, despite pushback from some fellow councilmembers who wanted to shutter or potentially sell the multi-purpose arena.

In November, she was one of three members who voted down a resolution that opposed the resettlement of Latin American refugees in the St. Louis metro area.

Then, in December, she voted to fully fund the St. Charles County Election Authority after councilmembers Tim Baker and Joe Brazil tried to strip funding from the office over concerns about the election authority's use of electronic ballot-tabulating machines.

Schneider has continued to support the election authority office and the use of electronic ballot-tabulating machines, despite pressure from some residents who have urged the county to hand-count its election returns amid worries of the potential for election fraud.

"I enjoy the debate of the county council, but there were certain times that people would bring up issues that were not in the scope of the county council as outlined in the county charter," Schneider said. "There were times that I felt that because of those issues, we were not really using the time we'd been given to do the business of the county council."

Schneider said she still plans to be a volunteer tutor and to serve on the Community and Children's Resource Board, an organization that strives to help prevent child abuse and neglect, reduce homelessness and substance abuse, and reduce school-based violence.

Schneider's seat is one of three on the county council up for election this November, with the primary election in August.

County Councilman Joe Brazil, who has represented southwestern St. Charles County since 2000, is being challenged by Nathan Bibb. Bibb is a five-year member of the OFallon City Council and represents the third ward. Bibb and Brazil are both running as Republicans.

County Councilman Dave Hammond, who has represented portions of OFallon and St. Peters on the County Council since 2012, is being challenged by Debbie Cook. Cook represents OFallons fifth ward. Both Hammond and Cook are running as Republicans.

Two people have already filed for Schneider's seat, including former St. Charles Mayor Patti York and Missy Palitzsch. York filed on Feb. 29 and Palitzsch filed on March 1.

York, who served 12 years as mayor, previously served on the St. Charles City Council, too. In 2014, she unsuccessfully ran against incumbent Director of Elections Rich Chrismer in the Republican Party primary.

Meanwhile, Schneider said she plans to stay out of the primary and will not offer her endorsement.

"The voters have the right to decide who represents them," Schneider said.

But she hopes her successor will heed some words of advice.

"Become familiar with the County Charter, and listen to your constituents," she said. "Listen to your fellow councilmembers. I learned an awful lot about the county just by listening, so I do hope they spend some time listening."
CAIRO  Hamas said Thursday that its delegation has left Cairo and that talks on a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release will resume next week, making it extremely unlikely that mediators will broker a deal before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Egyptian officials had earlier said the negotiations reached an impasse over Hamas demand for a phased process culminating in an end to the war. But they did not rule out a deal before Ramadan, which is expected to begin on Sunday and has emerged as an informal deadline.

Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said Israel refuses to commit to and give guarantees regarding the cease-fire, the return of the displaced, and withdrawal from the areas of its incursion. But he said the talks were still ongoing and would resume next week. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

The U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been trying for weeks to broker an agreement on a six-week cease-fire and the release of 40 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

The Egyptian officials said Hamas has agreed on the main terms of such an agreement as a first stage, but wants commitments that it will lead to an eventual, more permanent cease-fire.

Hamas has said it will not release all of the remaining hostages without a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Palestinian militants are believed to be holding around 100 hostages, and the remains of 30 others, captured during Hamas Oct. 7 attack into Israel that triggered the war.

Hamas is also demanding the release of a large number of prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences, in exchange for the remaining hostages.

Israel has publicly ruled out those demands, saying it intends to resume the offensive after any cease-fire with the goal of destroying Hamas.

The Egyptian officials say Israel wants to confine the negotiations to the more limited agreement. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations with media. Both officials said mediators are still pressing the two parties to soften their positions.

Ramadan, the month of dawn-to-dusk fasting, often sees Israeli-Palestinian tensions rise over access to a major holy site in Jerusalem. It is expected to begin on Sunday, but the start of the lunar month depends on the sighting of the moon.

Sewell reported from Beirut.

Updated at 6:12 a.m.
On Easter morning last year, I was in my college dorm hall preparing to go to church, when the schools alarm system went off. As soon as I stepped outside my room and into the hallway, I attempted to walk to the nearest stairwell, only to find it locked down. The first picture that popped into my head was of a person storming through with a semi-automatic rifle.

While the emergency turned out to be a false alarm, the reality of fear of gun violence among members of Gen Z is all too prevalent. I and other members of my generation know what its like to hear the doors of our schools latch shut during school shooter drills.

With the recent mass shooting in Kansas City plaguing the minds of Missourians and folks across the country, weve seen that the one thing that is all too common is the lack of action from our elected lawmakers. In response to the tragic events, GOP Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher refused to discuss any possible legislation regarding firearms restrictions, and other members of his delegation have put out statements largely blaming illegal immigration, an unrelated issue, for the shootings.

I truly want to believe that no sitting representative, senator, or other elected official wants to see folks in schools or on the streets die from gun violence. However, there are countless examples of the GOP voting down solutions, often in unanimous opposition.

My congresswoman, Ann Wagner, voted with 167 of her Republican colleagues against a bill in the 2022 congressional session to create an amber alert-like system for active shooters. When I contacted her office later to speak in opposition to her vote, an intern promised that she would send me an email response back. This was in August of 2022. I have yet to hear a response from her office while my generation is being slaughtered by acts of gun violence.

One may look at the inaction from our representatives and think that there is no hope to solve this problem of gun violence, but I urge readers to keep fighting.

Red flag laws are extremely popular in America. According to a poll conducted by NPR, 77% of Americans support allowing a family member to seek a court order to temporarily take away guns if they feel a gun owner may harm themselves or others.

Another poll conducted by NPR says that 70% of Americans support allowing law enforcement to seek a court order to temporarily take away guns if they feel a gun owner may harm themselves or others. Fox News polling states that 76% of gun-owning households support red flag laws. The majority of Americans agree that its simply common sense to take away the firearm of one who openly exhibits dangerous behavior.

In a perfect world, I would like to see assault weapons banned, but this is a reality that I dont see happening federally, and certainly not in our GOP-supermajority state legislature. However, can we enact red flag laws within our state? I may sound optimistic, but I believe that we can.

In the 2024 election cycle, Missourians have an opportunity to break the GOPs supermajorities in both chambers and elect a Democratic governor in 2024. With this election is still nine months away, you may wonder what you can do now: Look for whos running for the state House or Senate in your district and sign up to volunteer.

Those candidates need your support. Call your state representatives. The Legislature is where the real battle is fought; its where the decisions will be made regarding red flag laws within our state.

We must hold our elected representatives accountable if we want to spark positive change within our state. We arent alone in our opposition to gun violence. The vast majority of the country is in our corner. Its just about taking the time to fight for the right to stay alive.
What is it about Air Force Col. Benjamin Jonssons record that makes Sen. Eric Schmitt deem him unworthy of promotion?

Is it his 900 hours of combat flight in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria? Is it his seven Air Medals? Is it his status as an Air Force Academy graduate who is fluent in Arabic? Is it his reputation as a devout Christian family man?

No, the reason Schmitt has decided to unilaterally freeze a promotion that colleagues up and down the chain of command say is richly deserved is because a few years back, Jonsson penned an essay encouraging his fellow white officers to recognize their own blind spots regarding institutional racism.

And, heavens, we cant have that.

In a new low even for the bottomless demagoguery of Missouris Republican junior senator, Schmitt is using his position to prevent approval of Jonssons promotion to brigadier general.

It stems from an essay Jonsson wrote in the Air Force Times in July 2020, in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by white Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin.

As white colonels, you and I are the biggest barriers to change if we do not personally address racial injustice in our Air Force, begins the 800-plus-word essay.

Jonsson, who is white and happens to have a biracial family, recounts  thoughtfully, constructively and without judgment  the difficulty hed noticed among other white officers in discussing racial issues.

If we do not take the time to learn, to show humility, to address our blind spots around race  then our Air Force will not rise above George Floyds murder, Jonsson wrote.

That was apparently too much for Schmitt. Using the power that all senators have to individually block nominations, he put a hold on Jonssons pending promotion in December.

In a statement at the time, Schmitt confirmed that it was all about banging one of the hard-rights favorite culture-war drums: diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.

It is long past time to root out divisive DEI policies and their advocates from our apolitical military, said Schmitts statement. Leaders must emphasize unity of mission and purpose, not our immutable differences if we are to maintain our military as the greatest meritocracy in the world.

If Schmitt has read Jonssons essay, he knows it directly and intelligently addresses the supposed conflict between racial understanding and mission readiness.

A white colonel asserted that making race a focus area would cost us mission focus, Jonssons essay recounts.  He was right to point out that we cannot afford to let our mission focus slip.  However, if we buy into a false binary choice between addressing racial injustice or keeping mission focus, we give ourselves a moral fig leaf and justify our lack of action in addressing or understanding race in our formations.

Its important to note that Jonssons offense in Schmitts eyes  promoting racial diversity, equity and inclusion  is entirely consistent with the stated policy of the military itself. The Defense Department officially recognizes DEI as a legitimate area of focus and even has an office dedicated to the issue.

Jonsson didnt break ranks here, in other words. Yet, as a headline on Military.com aptly puts it: A Promising Air Force Officer Took a Stand Against Racism. Now, His Career is in Political Jeopardy.

That career is, by all accounts, a sterling one, and includes playing a major role in the evacuation of 124,000 people from Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Schmitt  whose biography mentions not one minute in uniform  has spent his first year in the Senate primarily tweet-trolling the Biden administration and lurking around right-wing media outlets touting culture-war nonsense.

We would categorize the rights anti-DEI crusade as being among that nonsense, but its actually worse than that.

Think about how far down the ideological rabbit hole a political movement has to have gone to declare (in 2024) that policies promoting racial diversity and tolerance are among societys greatest threats.

Then think about how craven a sitting senator has to be to deploy that twisted worldview against a decorated and deserving serviceman. Missouri military veterans especially shouldnt forget it the next time Sen. Schmitt asks for their support.
LAKEWOOD, CO / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / American Clean Resources Group (OTC:ACRG), a leading environmentally sustainable development platform dedicated to reshaping the American Supply Chain, is strategically positioned to capitalize on its potential projects valued in the multi-billions that are under consideration for development. These projects meet the requirements of IRS-approved federal tax credits, aligning with recent Congressional Authorization in the renewable energy sector. This positions ACRG as a significant player in advancing renewable energy initiatives, presenting a lucrative opportunity for investors, company stockholders, and those anticipating forthcoming regulations regarding the transference of renewable energy tax credits.

A recent development highlighted in Barron's, a sister publication of The Wall Street Journal, shed light on Schneider Electric's desire to utilize the IRA's transferability clause to bolster investments in renewable power generation. Recognizing the vast opportunities presented by this legislative framework, ACRG is strategically positioning itself to leverage tax credit transfer agreements to drive its commitment to sustainable development while maximizing returns for investors

"The IRA's transferability clause represents a paradigm shift in renewable energy investments," comments Tawana Bain, CEO of ACRG. "With this newfound flexibility, we believe our ability to accelerate the development of renewable energy assets is greatly enhanced."

As articulated in Barron's, the transferability clause enables the transfer of eligible federal tax credits from renewable energy projects to investors, providing a viable alternative to traditional tax equity structures. This innovative approach not only streamlines the financing process but also opens opportunities for a broader pool of investors to participate in renewable energy ventures.

"We are committed to passing along a portion of our IRS-approved federal tax credits to investors and shareholders, ensuring that they can reap the benefits of our sustainable development efforts," adds Bain.

According to a Bloomberg tax law article, "The new IRA clean energy tax credits and deduction will be available for the next 10 years. While many of the incentives are already in effect, a few will take effect in 2024 or 2025." This article provides guidance on how companies can claim and qualify for these tax credits.

With projections indicating significant growth in the market for tax credit sales, ACRG is well-positioned to capitalize on this momentum, driving increased capital inflows into renewable power projects. By facilitating access to renewable energy tax credits, ACRG aims to foster the rapid expansion of renewable energy infrastructure, such as The Miller project located in Nevada - an endeavor poised to be a flagship initiative in the renewable energy landscape.

As the renewable energy sector continues to gain traction as a cornerstone of sustainable development, ACRG remains steadfast in its commitment to driving positive change while delivering value to investors. With the IRA's transferability clause paving the way for innovative financing structures, ACRG is poised to lead the charge in reshaping the future of renewable energy investment.

Safe Harbor

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about American Clean Resources Group, Inc. and its management's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and a number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. These factors include, but are not limited to, (i) changes in renewable energy, minerals and mining, (ii) capital and credit market volatility, (iii) local and global economic conditions, (iv) our anticipated growth strategies, (v) governmental approvals and regulations, and (vi) our future business development, results of operations and financial condition. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "target," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "potential," "continue," "is/are likely to" or other similar expressions. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and American Clean Resources Group, Inc. undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

About ACRG American Clean Resources Group, Inc.

("ACRG"), an environmentally sustainable development platform, is at the forefront of renewable and environmental development in the United States, through comprehensive Resource Management and processing of precious minerals and metals in a carbon-neutral and environmentally safe manner. Dedicated to revolutionizing the new American Supply Chain by aiming to deliver goods with a net-zero environmental impact, ACRG is committed to advancing climate change reduction, strengthening the American Supply Chain, and aiming to lead one of the largest renewable energy projects in the U.S. ACRG leverages existing assets and pursues strategic acquisitions across air, water, and land domains to benefit both public and private properties within the United States.

For additional information, please contact:

Susan Assadi

Media Relations

347-977-7125

[email protected]

SOURCE: American Clean Resources Group Inc

View the original press release on accesswire.com
CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / CannaPharmaRx, Inc. (OTC PINK:CPMD), a future leader in ultramodern, highly efficient cannabis production facilities announced today that it will hold an investor conference call on Tuesday, March19, 2024 at 2PM Eastern time to give an update on the year to date progress of CannaPharmaRx Inc.

Chief Executive Officer Dean Medwid will be presenting with the topics being discussed will include:

Review of 2023 Operational Activities

Licensing Update

Product Update

Supply Partner(s) Update

Forecasted Revenues

Interested parties can join the conference call by dialing in as directed below.

North American Toll Free: 1-530-881-1212 Passcode: 1674609 PIN: 615253385# Passcode: 1674609

An archived replay of the webcast will be available at: https://investors.trulieve.com/events

Please visit www.cannapharmarx.com for additional information about our company and products

About CannapharmaRx, Inc.

CannapharmaRx is focused on the acquisition and development of state-of-the-art cannabis grow facilities in Canada. CPMD is in discussion with other companies regarding potential acquisitions. CannapharmaRx's business strategy is to become a leader in high quality and low-cost production of cannabis through the development, acquisition, and enhancement of existing facilities. CannapharmaRx is committed to operating high-quality facilities utilizing the latest technology in combined heat and power generation to ensure being a low-cost producer of cannabis.

Safe Harbor Statement

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information or Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information or statements. 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.' Forward-looking information or 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. With respect to forward-looking information and statements contained herein, Management of CannapharmaRx has made numerous assumptions, including, among other things, assumptions about general business and economic conditions. Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and 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 information or statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking information or 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 forward-looking information or statements. CannapharmaRx assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or statements, even if new information becomes available as a result of future events, new information, or for any other reason except as required by law.

Contact Information:

Brokers and Analysts

Chesapeake Group

(410) 825-3930

SOURCE: Cannapharmarx, Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE: CBRE) has received the 2024 World's Most Ethical Companies recognition from Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices. This is the 11th consecutive year CBRE has earned this distinction.

To receive the recognition, companies are evaluated on more than 240 proof points related to culture, environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, ethics and compliance activities, diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) and initiatives to support a strong value chain. In 2024, 136 companies were recognized, spanning 20 countries and 44 industries.

Read the full story on cbre.com

About CBRE Group, Inc.

CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE: CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas, is the world's largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2023 revenue). The company has more than 130,000 employees (including Turner & Townsend employees) serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE serves a diverse range of clients with an integrated suite of services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com. We routinely post important information on our website, including corporate and investor presentations and financial information. We intend to use our website as a means of disclosing material, non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Such disclosures will be included in the Investor Relations section of our website at https://ir.cbre.com. Accordingly, investors should monitor such portion of our website, in addition to following our press releases, Securities and Exchange Commission filings and public conference calls and webcasts.

About Ethisphere

Ethisphere is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that strengthen corporate brands, build trust in the marketplace, deliver business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies build strong cultures of ethics and integrity. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World's Most Ethical Companies recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with Ethisphere Magazine. Ethisphere also advances business performance through data-driven assessments, guidance, and benchmarking against its unparalleled data: the Culture Quotient dataset reflecting the ethical business practices of 3+ million employees around the world; and the Ethics Quotient dataset, featuring 240+ data points on the ethics, compliance, social, and governance practices of the World's Most Ethical Companies. For more information, visit https://ethisphere.com.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from CBRE Group, Inc. on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: CBRE Group, Inc.

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/cbre-group-inc

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: CBRE Group, Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / CNH Industrial

New Holland, a brand of CNH, attended this year's Coopavel Rural Show and showcased its latest agricultural innovations - including new precision farming and training innovations in a special digital agriculture area.

The show acted as a launch venue for new solutions developed by New Holland's Dealer Technical & Customer Training team, utilizing virtual reality headsets and the metaverse platform to train partners, dealers, customers, and students, in this new technology. This way, they'll be able to connect from different locations and can learn without needing to be physically with the machine in the field.

The metaverse solution takes advantage of the virtual immersive environment to connect an instructor with multiple students, wherever they are. With different settings such as collaborative learning mode, virtual reality mode, and self-learning mode - there are a multitude of ways to learn with this innovative technology.

The advantages of this new solution are numerous. Training can be done in a completely safe environment to teach the first operating steps even to inexperienced users. It gives complete teaching flexibility - with the metaverse, students and instructors connecting from different locations to learn and teach without the need to be with the physical product or in the operating field. In addition, it accelerates the learning speed - in a few minutes the student can go through the entire operation process before moving on to the real product.

This training mode is currently available on the New Holland CR EVO 7.90 combine harvester, where one can carry out the complete harvesting operation, take a tour around the machine for full product recognition, climb into the cabin and carry out all operating commands. The operator can harvest a soybean field, practicing the headland maneuver at the headland and unloading the grain into a truck. Additional training is available for the New Holland Defensor 2500 Sprayer as well.

Showcasing these strides in technological innovation demonstrates CNH's commitment to sustainable innovation and technology. Enhancing how customers and dealers learn how to use virtual reality and the metaverse accelerates the global journey toward a more sustainable future.

New Holland displays latest machines alongside full digital agriculture solutions, including brand new training technology using the metaverse platform and VR.



View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from CNH Industrial on 3blmedia.com.



Contact Info:

Spokesperson: CNH Industrial

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/cnh-industrial

Email: [email protected]



SOURCE: CNH Industrial

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Shuttle Computers, a major supplier of computer hardware, has partnered with Mvix to leverage their award-winning digital signage software for distribution, all at a one-time-cost.

STERLING, VA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Shuttle Computers, a major provider of ruggedized and semi-ruggedized computer hardware, has partnered with Mvix, a leading provider of enterprise-grade digital signage, to deliver an affordable, fully integrated digital signage solution.

Headquartered in City of Industry, Los Angeles County, CA, Shuttle Computers is the North American subsidiary of Shuttle Inc. based in Taiwan. Shuttle Computers provides high-performance industrial computers and personalized support, specializing in OEM customizations and drop-ship services. Committed to quality and customer satisfaction, their knowledgeable staff ensures needs are met with expert assistance.

As a part of this partnership, Shuttle Computers and Mvix will supply ready-to-use, 4K media players preloaded with fully licensed Mvix digital signage software. "We focused on simplifying the user experience and the delivery system," stated Tosh Akhgar, Director of Sales & Marketing at Shuttle Computers. "The initial hurdle in digital signage projects often revolves around managing monthly subscriptions and billing across a networked deployment. Our perpetual licensed bundle, coupled with our hardware, offers a solution to this widespread challenge. Additionally, our streamlined online store for purchasing this bundle and personalized communication with project managers for customization make us enthusiastic about introducing this new tool to the digital signage marketplace."

"At Mvix, we are constantly seeking to add value for our clients," followed-up Mike Kilian, VP of Client Relations at Mvix. "By bundling Shuttle Computers & Mvix solutions, we are providing unparalleled service and ROI to digital signage users worldwide. This value also translates to our partner channel, where the Shuttle Computers & Mvix solution can be deployed seamlessly and efficiently."

A trailblazer in full-service digital signage, Mvix solutions include premium features such as Power BI integration, interactive digital signage, and digital court dockets, all complemented by high-quality content. Notably, Mvix stands out for its cost-effective pricing model, which involves no licensing or subscription fees. This makes it one of the most budget-friendly end-to-end signage systems currently accessible in the market.

The Shuttle Computers & Mvix hardware/software solution is available now and can be purchased through either the Shuttle or Mvix websites.

About Mvix

Mvix is a leading digital signage provider, specializing in end-to-end, full-service solutions backed by its award-winning digital signage software that offers unique value to clients all over the world. For more information, contact Mvix at 866.310.4923 or visit: www.mvix.com

About Shuttle Computers

Shuttle Computers is committed to unparalleled customer service and offers a diverse range of compact, high-performance industrial computers. Our expert team specializes in OEM customizations, imaging, and drop-ship services, ensuring personalized support tailored to your needs. With a steadfast focus on quality and customer satisfaction, we're dedicated to providing the perfect solution for you. Contact Shuttle Computers at 888-972-1818 or visit: www.ShuttleComputers.com.

Contact Information:

Evan Magner

Marketing Project Coordinator

[email protected]

866.310.4923

SOURCE: Mvix Digital Signage

View the original press release on newswire.com.
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Planet MicroCap, a global multimedia financial news, publishing, and events company that focuses on delivering news, information, data and analytics for publicly traded microcap companies, today announced that the Winter/Spring 2024 Issue of the Planet MicroCap Review Magazine is now available in digital format.

Click here to read: Planet MicroCap Review Winter/Spring 2024 Issue

URL: https://planetmicrocap.com/planet-microcap-review-winter-spring-2024/

"On behalf of the entire Planet MicroCap Team we are pleased to announce the Winter/Spring 2024 issue of the Planet MicroCap Review," said Robert Kraft, CEO, Planet MicroCap. "Turning over every rock is what drives us to provide you with the highest possible quality content covering the MicroCap community; and despite what continues to be a difficult market for MicroCaps overall, we put together a collection of articles and Q&As that encapsulates what's caused negative sentiment in 2023, as well as provide some space for hope in 2024 and beyond. We'd like to thank all of our contributing writers, advertisers and subscribers for their contributions and continued support; please enjoy our Winter/Spring 2024 Issue."

The Winter/Spring 2024 issue of the Planet MicroCap Review also includes profiles on public MicroCap companies, including:

Planet MicroCap Review Winter/Spring 2024 Issue: Articles from leading thinkers and experts in the MicroCap space include:

FEATURE : High-yield Spread Significant Predictor of Small-cap Equity Returns - Q&A with Chris Satterthwaite, Senior Analyst at Verdad Advisors

: High-yield Spread Significant Predictor of Small-cap Equity Returns - Q&A with Chris Satterthwaite, Senior Analyst at Verdad Advisors FEATURE: Canadian MicroCap Buy-outs: Something Has to Give - Q&A with Mathieu Martin, Portfolio Manager at Rivemont MicroCap Fund

Canadian MicroCap Buy-outs: Something Has to Give - Q&A with Mathieu Martin, Portfolio Manager at Rivemont MicroCap Fund FEATURE: CBOE Global Listings Initiative - Q&A with Erik Sloane, Global Head of Company Listings for CBOE Global Markets & Chief Revenue Officer at CBOE Canada

CBOE Global Listings Initiative - Q&A with Erik Sloane, Global Head of Company Listings for CBOE Global Markets & Chief Revenue Officer at CBOE Canada FEATURE: Making the Case for Japanese MicroCaps - Q&A with David Baeckelandt, Senior Vice President and Head of Client Relations at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management Americas, Inc. (SuMi TRUST)

Making the Case for Japanese MicroCaps - Q&A with David Baeckelandt, Senior Vice President and Head of Client Relations at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management Americas, Inc. (SuMi TRUST) Where to Find Capital with Jennifer Scutti, The Benchmark Company

US MicroCap Sell Off Provides Opportunities for Patient Investors by Claire Aitchison, Independent Investment Research

Accounting Corner: Americans Aren't Seeing the Flood of New EV Designs Coming Out of China, But Investors Can't Afford to Ignore Them by Drew Bernstein, CPA, Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk

Americans Aren't Seeing the Flood of New EV Designs Coming Out of China, But Investors Can't Afford to Ignore Them by Drew Bernstein, CPA, Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk The MicroCap Report 2023: Year in Review by Joseph Lucosky, Esq., Lucosky Brookman LLP

ESG Investing in Action by Filip Erhardt, ESG FIRE

Emerging Growth Companies and New Tech in Canada by Sean Peasgood, Sophic Capital

SPAC Corner: Changes Coming to SPACs by Douglas Ellenoff, Member, Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP

Changes Coming to SPACs by Douglas Ellenoff, Member, Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP Listing vs. Settlements by Erik Nelson, Coral Capital Advisors, LLC

Microcap Review - What's Next for 2024 by Kelly Anderson, CPA, CXO Executive Solutions

Murphy is Alive and Well by Lynne Bolduc, Esq., Partner at FitzGerald Kreditor Bolduc Risbrough LLP

Asia Corner: Hong Kong's IPO Rebound Falls Flat Amid Ongoing Global Pressures by Leslie Richardson, Elite IR

Hong Kong's IPO Rebound Falls Flat Amid Ongoing Global Pressures by Leslie Richardson, Elite IR ESG and D&O by Chaz Churchwell, Churchwell Insurance Agency

Making Money in Gold and Silver is Easy with the Right Information by David Morgan, The Morgan Report

Planet MicroCap Review Magazine is available to subscribers Free on PlanetMicroCap.com, see here: Planet MicroCap Review WInter/Spring 2024 Issue

To receive the next issue of the Planet MicroCap Review Magazine, please subscribe to our Substack here: SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: Planet MicroCap

Subscribe to Planet MicroCap Podcast: Planet MicroCap Podcast - iTunes

Would you like to advertise in the Planet MicroCap Review? Send us an email: [email protected]

About Planet MicroCap

Founded in 1998, Planet MicroCap is a global multimedia financial news, publishing, and events company that focuses on market awareness and investor visibility for public and pre-public microcap companies. In addition to its recently launched index and quarterly online magazine, Planet MicroCap also broadcasts a microcap news podcast, the Planet MicroCap Podcast, and hosts investor conferences.

Investors and those who wish to receive the next issue of Planet MicroCap Review Magazine, please follow the link here: SUBSCRIBE. Contact Planet MicroCap at [email protected] for advertising inquiries and questions about services.

For more Information, Contact:

Robert Kraft, CEO

Planet MicroCap

[email protected]

SOURCE: Planet MicroCap

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Technology Platform Has Been Granted Patents in Over 40 Countries Including -- United States, Canada and Europe

Patents Include United States Patent 11,206,817, 11,617354 and Canadian Patent 2973601

PHOENIX, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / RushNet, Inc (OTC PINK:RSHN), (the "Company") announced today that it has executed a strategic license agreement with Royal Caridea LLC, granting RushNet exclusive rights to its technology platform for the United States and Canadian markets. Royal Caridea LLC is completing a demonstration facility in Gila Bend, Arizona which sits on 72 acres, approximately 68 miles southwest of Phoenix, Arizona.

The Royal Caridea technology platform empowers individuals to cultivate and harvest aquaculture species such as shrimp from virtually anywhere in the world. Boasting characteristics of low production costs, easy installation, full integration, and modularity -growing shrimp close to its customers virtually on a daily basis, each production system can seamlessly scale from 300 thousand pounds per year to an impressive 2 million pounds per year. With a fully enclosed sealed design, it minimizes heat loss and facilities corrosion while maintaining robust biosecurity measures, the system adheres to stringent operating protocols, guaranteeing optimal performance and efficiency.

The following table depicts the description of the patent, the patent number and a link to the patents which are included in the license agreement.

Description Patent No. Google Link Multi-phasic Integrated Super-intensive Shrimp Production System 11,206,817 https://patents.google.com/patent/US11206817B2 Multi-phasic Integrated Super-intensive Modular System 11,617,354 https://patents.google.com/patent/US11617354B2 Multi-phasic Integrated Super-intensive Shrimp Production System CA 2973601 https://patents.google.com/patent/CA2973601A1

With a relentless dedication to environmental stewardship, Royal Caridea has invested substantial resources in research and development to create a proprietary technology that addresses the pressing challenges facing the aquaculture sector. Leveraging advanced engineering and scientific expertise, Royal Caridea proprietary technology promises to enhance productivity while minimizing environmental impact - it is sustainable!

Royal Caridea LLC, an Arizona-based limited liability company, was established in 2009 under the laws of the state of Delaware and Arizona. The company has successfully secured over $8,000,000 in funding from a discerning group of accredited investors from both the United States and Europe. The company's business strategy is substantiated by a $2.7M loan granted by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2020, underscoring the credibility of its operations. Royal Caridea LLC believes it has developed the world's premier aquaculture technology production system.

Mr. Cunha, the recently appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of RushNet commented, "RushNet's goal is to work closely with Royal Caridea to introduce this technology platform to the United States and Canadian markets. We believe that Royal Caridea's system will be disruptive to the North America aquaculture markets. The system has been designed to supply a fresh supply of shrimp to any local market almost anywhere in the world."

About RushNet

With over 25 years in the public sector, RushNet has continually evolved, embracing change and innovation at every turn. The company is completing its transition out of the lab business.

CONTACT:

Michael Cunha

Phone 916-616-7037

Email [email protected]

Twitter Handle: @rushnetrevival

Safe Harbor Notice

Certain statements contained herein are "forward-looking statements" (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). The Company cautions that the statements and assumptions made in this news release constitute forward-looking statements and make no guarantee of future performance. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the time statements are made. These statements may address issues that involve significant risks, uncertainties, estimates made by management. Actual results could differ materially from current projections or implied results. The Companies undertake no obligation to revise these statements following the date of this news release.

SOURCE: RushNet

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) today announced the appointment of veteran finance executive, Michael Levitt, to its Board of Directors, effective March 1, 2024. Levitt previously served on the Companys Board as the Lead Director from 2011 to 2014. Kevin Jones, who has served as a director since 2021, will step down from his role on the Board.

We are honored to welcome Michael back to our Board, said Michael Johnson, Chairman and CEO of Herbalife. Michaels deep financial expertise, understanding of our business and shared passion for Herbalifes vision will further strengthen our Board.

Levitt is the Chairman of Irradiant Partners, LP, an investment management firm. He also serves as a member of the firms Management and Investment Committees. Prior to the launch of Irradiant Partners, he held various executive and leadership roles at several investment firms, including Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, LP, Apollo Global Management, LLC, Smith Barney Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. Levitt has also served on multiple board of director positions.

It is with great enthusiasm that I return to Herbalifes Board of Directors during a transformational time in the Companys history and look forward to being a part of its future growth, said Levitt.

The Company and its Board of Directors extend sincere appreciation to Kevin Jones for his board service, valuable perspective, leadership, and commitment to Herbalife.

For more information, visit https://ir.herbalife.com/.
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ooma, Inc., a smart communications platform for businesses and consumers, today announced that 2600Hz, an Ooma company, has won the 2024 TMCnet awards for Internet Telephony Product of the Year and Remote Work Pioneer.

2600Hz won the TMCnet Internet Telephony Product of the Year Award for new offerings within its cloud call center offering and won the TMCnet Remote Work Pioneer Award for adding In-Browser Deployment to its comm.land unified communications users portal.

TMCnet is a leading website covering communications and technology, including IP and cloud communications, contact center and more, delivered by an in-house editorial team and dozens of contributing editors. The site is read by more than 750,000 unique monthly visitors and has more than 20 million page views every month.

2600Hz (https://www.2600hz.com/) created, maintains and contributes to Kazoo, a turnkey open-core solution that brings together UCaaS, CPaaS, and CCaaS functionality on a single code base. This rich feature set is paired with customization options through more than 300 open APIs, all packaged in a completely white-labeled solution, which empowers resellers and service providers to build and maintain their brand recognition in the market.

The TMCnet 2024 Internet Telephony Product of the Year Award was given for new features added to the 2600Hz cloud call center in the last year, including:

An Agent Workspace as the new default experience for agents, with customizable tiles and layout that present agents with all relevant information alongside space for disposition and call notes.

A configurable call disposition field for quick annotations within the Agent Workspace.

The ability to pause and resume call recording from within the Agent Workspace for added regulatory compliance.

In-app documentation that removes the need for service providers or resellers to brand and distribute user guides to end users.

Support for inbound CRM queries for Salesforce and HubSpot to provide agents with necessary context for resolving customer concerns efficiently.

The TMC 2024 Remote Work Pioneer Award was given for In-Browser Deployment. UC clients typically require downloading and installing software on computers, tablets or smartphones, which can block access for users who want to connect through personal or public devices, as well as for organizations looking to adopt low-cost hardware such as Chromebooks. In-Browser Deployment for comm.land includes all the features and functionality of the desktop application without any software installation, giving users the option to access their business communication tools and collaborate wherever they are. All major browsers  including Chrome, Edge and Safari  are supported.

I am honored to recognize 2600Hz with the 2024 Internet Telephony Product of the Year Award and the 2024 Remote Work Pioneer Award for its commitment to excellence and innovation, said Rich Tehrani, CEO, TMC. In the opinion of our judges and editorial team, 2600Hz has proven to be among the best communications and technology solutions available on the market. I look forward to continued leadership from 2600Hz.

Our team works hard to give resellers and service providers a powerful yet highly customizable communications platform they can make their own, said Patrick Sullivan, vice president of Kazoo ecosystems at Ooma. We very much appreciate these awards from TMCnet that recognize the value of our continuing innovation.

About Ooma

Ooma (NYSE: OOMA) creates powerful connected experiences for businesses, consumers and service providers, delivered through smart cloud-based communications platforms and services. For businesses of all sizes, Ooma offers advanced voice and collaboration features including messaging, intelligent virtual receptionists and video meetings. Oomas all-in-one replacement for analog phone lines helps businesses maintain mission-critical systems by moving connectivity to the cloud. For consumers, Oomas residential phone service provides PureVoice HD voice quality, advanced features and integration with mobile devices. Learn more at www.ooma.com or www.ooma.ca in Canada.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307294983/en/

MEDIA CONTACT:

Mike Langberg at Ooma

[email protected]

650-566-6693

INVESTOR CONTACT:

Matt Robison at Ooma

[email protected]

650-300-1480

Source: Ooma, Inc.
Collaboration with SUEZ, a leading player in circular waste solutions, aims to create value from organic waste

Project is in line with AFYRENs core strategy of transforming organic waste streams into resources with real value

The work is part of the European AFTER-BIOCHEM1 project, with support from the CBE-JU2

CLERMONT-FERRAND, France & LYON, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

AFYREN (Paris: ALAFY), a greentech company that offers manufacturers natural, low-carbon ingredients produced using unique fermentation technology based on a completely circular model, and SUEZ, a world leader in circular solutions for water and waste management, are working together on a new way of creating value from organic waste.

At a time when nearly 20% of global food production is wasted, the importance of limiting these losses throughout the value chain and better valorizing waste streams is a fundamental challenge. Regulatory developments in France are moving in this direction. A provision of the AGEC (Anti-Waste for a Circular Economy) law on organic waste collection for private households came into effect in January 2024, while at the European level Amended Directive 2018/851 on the circular economy is set to make this subject relevant across the EU. ADEME, the French agency for ecological transition, estimates that the average French person puts 83 kg of household organic waste in the garbage every year. The re-organization of sorting and collection systems will go a long way toward facilitating access to these flows and increasing the amount of organic waste available to be processed.

An AFYREN initiative launched with SUEZ to develop a new, complementary organic waste recovery process

Using waste from SUEZ's collection and treatment activities, AFYRENs process for manufacturing products that can replace petroleum-derived molecules promises to offer an attractive valorization path and a concrete, circular solution to the decarbonization challenges faced by a variety of industrial sectors.

The goal of this collaboration between AFYREN and SUEZ is to develop an offer based on this solution that would be complementary to the processes currently in place in France  such as those using bio-waste as amendment or to generate methane for energy purposes. In concrete terms, SUEZ is drawing on its expertise in organic waste to identify possible sources, while AFYREN is continuing laboratory tests at its R&D facility in Clermont-Ferrand. The two players will also be working on a business model with a view to marketing the solution, provided that it meets their financial and sustainability requirements.

A project supported by the AFTER-BIOCHEM consortium

Created in 2012 and running at industrial scale since 2022, the AFYREN process is based on the natural fermentation of biomass from locally sourced co-products that do not compete with human food crops. A wide range of raw materials can be used, including co-products from the sugar industry (beet and cane), other organic co-products (soy, cane, corn, beer production)  and now also organic waste from garbage collection. AFYREN's ambition has always been to position itself using raw materials that have little or no value, with a view to creating better economics and bolstering sustainability.

For its part, thanks to this collaboration, SUEZ will be able to strengthen and diversify its range of circular solutions for organic waste recovery. Today, the group converts in France around 2 million metric tons of organic waste into compost every year; 200,000 tons are valorized as biogas in France.

This initiative marks a significant step forward in the collaboration between the two companies, initiated in 2020 as part of the AFTER-BIOCHEM consortium. It is fully aligned with Europe's ambitious policy on these subjects.

Jeremy PESSIOT Managing Director, R&D Director and co-founder of AFYREN, said: "SUEZ is a long-standing partner in the AFTER-BIOCHEM consortium, and I'm delighted to be able to move forward on this project, which is particularly close to my heart, as it is fully aligned with AFYRENs DNA: innovate to turn waste into a valuable resource."

About AFYREN

AFYREN is a French greentech company launched in 2012 to meet the challenge of decarbonizing industrial supplies. Its natural, innovative and proprietary fermentation technology valorizes local biomass from non-food agricultural co-products, replacing petro-sourced ingredients usually used in many product formulations. AFYREN's 100% biobased, low-carbon and sustainable solutions can meet decarbonization challenges in a wide variety of strategic sectors: human and animal nutrition, flavors and fragrances, life sciences and materials, and lubricants and technical fluids. AFYREN's plug-and-play, circular technology combines sustainability and competitiveness, with no need for manufacturers to change their processes.

The Group's first French plant, AFYREN NEOXY, a joint venture with Bpifrance's SPI fund, is located in the Grand-Est region of France, in Saint Avold, serving mainly the European market.

AFYREN is also pursuing a project in Thailand with a world leader in the sugar industry, and is developing its presence in the Americas, following up on distribution agreements it has already signed.

At the end of 2023, AFYREN employed about 120 people in Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand and Carling Saint-Avold. The company invests 20% of its annual budget in R&D to further develop its sustainable solutions.

AFYREN has been listed on the Euronext Growth exchange in Paris since 2021 (ISIN code: FR0014005AC9, mnemonic: ALAFY).

Find out more: afyren.com

_____________________

1 https://after-biochem.eu/

2 Circular Bio-Based Europe Joint Undertaking

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306866623/en/

AFYREN

Director for ESG, Communications and Public Affairs

Caroline Petigny

[email protected]

Investor Relations

Mark Reinhard

[email protected]

NewCap

Investor Relations

Theo Martin / Mathilde Bohin

Tel: 01 44 71 94 94

[email protected]

NewCap

Media Relations

Nicolas Merigeau / Gaelle Fromaigeat

Tel: 01 44 71 94 98

[email protected]

International Media relations

Bogert-Magnier Communications

James Connell

+33 6 2152 1755

[email protected]

Source: AFYREN
Bank continues to prioritize digital banking solutions that enhance client relationships

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Banc of California, a wholly owned subsidiary of Banc of California Inc. (NYSE: BANC), announced today that industry leader Greg Smith has joined the company as senior vice president of Digital Strategy. In this role, Smith is leading a team that will augment the banks client-centric digital experience, including its online and mobile banking tools. Smith is based in Los Angeles and reports directly to Chief Operating Officer John Sotoodeh.

Being a tech-forward, relationship-focused bank means that Banc of California understands how important it is to have industry-leading digital tools that seamlessly complement our personalized banking solutions and are easy for clients to use, Sotoodeh said. Enhancing our digital offerings will only strengthen our client relationships and solidify our position as a leading business bank. Greg is a talented leader in digital banking, and his addition is another example of Banc of Californias ability to enhance its market position by attracting top talent.

Smith joins Banc of California from City National Bank in Los Angeles, where he spent five years as a senior vice president leading the Digital Channels and Innovation team. While there, he led transformational digital strategies and initiatives, including the redesign of the banks mobile apps for both personal and business clients. He also led enhancements around the banks website that improved the client experience and expanded the sites lead-generation capabilities. Before that, he spent several years at Transamerica in Denver, where he was the head of Digital Platforms.

Smith is also active in the community. He is the treasurer of the board for Elizabeth House in Pasadena, California, which takes a trauma-informed approach to empowering pregnant and parenting women in need so they can build successful family legacies.

Im passionate about making digital banking solutions increasingly accessible and intuitive, and about making it easier for clients to manage their financial lives, Smith said. It was clear to me from the start that Banc of California is committed to technology and innovation, which is why Im thrilled to be leading its team of very talented digital strategy professionals.

A picture of Smith is available here.

About Banc of California, Inc.

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE: BANC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Los Angeles with one wholly owned banking subsidiary, Banc of California (the bank). Banc of California is one of the nations premier relationship-based business banks focused on providing banking and treasury management services to small, middle-market and venture-backed businesses. Banc of California offers a broad range of loan and deposit products and services through more than 90 full-service branches throughout California and in Denver, Colorado, and Durham, North Carolina, as well as full-stack payment processing solutions through its subsidiary, Deepstack Technologies. Banc of California also serves the Community Association Management industry nationwide with its technology-forward platform, SmartStreet. The bank is committed to its local communities by supporting organizations that provide financial literacy and job training, small business support, affordable housing and more. For more information, please visit us at www.bancofcal.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307292998/en/

Jenn Saylors

Mobile: (310) 926-9563

[email protected]

Source: Banc of California, Inc.
Bitdefender CSPM+ Delivers Advanced Protection and Reduces Complexity of Managing Public Cloud Environments

BUCHAREST, Romania & SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Bitdefender, a global cybersecurity leader, today unveiled GravityZone CSPM+, a powerful Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) solution for monitoring and managing configurations of cloud infrastructures including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Microsoft Azure and others. In addition, GravityZone CSPM+ incorporates threat detection and response along with Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) capabilities allowing businesses to easily apply Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies and configuration best practices, especially in pursuit of compliance, across multi-cloud environments.

Organizations are struggling to contend with growing complexities of managing public cloud environments leading to increased cybersecurity risk around misconfigurations and authorized access to resources. Gartner stated in a report that, By 2026, 60% of organizations will see preventing cloud misconfiguration as a cloud security priority, compared with 25% in 2021. In an independent global survey of 400 IT and cybersecurity professionals, more than two in five (43%) stated that extending cybersecurity capabilities across multiple environments (on premises, cloud, and hybrid) and complexity of security solutions are the greatest challenges they face.

Bitdefender GravityZone CSPM+ simplifies the assessment, monitoring, and management of cloud infrastructure configurations and ensures identities accessing resources are valid to enforce set policies, adhere to regulatory compliance and help minimize risk of cybercriminal exploitation or abuse. GravityZone CSPM+ is powered by the GravityZone Platform, a unified security and risk analytics platform that provides advanced endpoint protection including endpoint detection and response (EDR), extended detection and response (XDR) and security across physical, virtual, and multi-cloud environments. The platform delivers deep security context to detections and offers a seamless path to Bitdefender Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services.

"Cybercriminals are targeting cloud environments capitalizing on misconfigurations, unpatched applications, and overprivileged users  any means to get a foot in the door, said Andrei Florescu, president and general manager at Bitdefender Business Solutions Group. GravityZone CSPM+ extends security, configuration management, and IAM capabilities across cloud infrastructures on a single platform - empowering businesses to proactively mitigate risks and strengthen overall security posture. As the attack surface continues to expand, managing cloud configurations while having visibility of privileges of identities with access to company resources is as vital in a defense-in-depth strategy as defending against malware and other conventional threats.

GravityZone CSPM+ is easy to deploy and offers several benefits for businesses:

Powerful Cloud Native Security  GravityZone CSPM+ delivers agentless asset discovery and configuration management along with CIEM for identity management over cloud instances, serverless computing, storage, and data across multiple and hybrid cloud environments. Additionally, GravityZone includes industry leading endpoint protection, container security with run-time support for containers and Linux kernel module independence, and security for servers, hypervisors, and virtualized environments  a true Cloud Native Security solution.

Automated detection of misconfigurations and entitlement violations  Identifying misconfigurations and user entitlement infractions in cloud environments has become far too complex for businesses to efficiently manage manually, resulting in increased cyber risk. GravityZone CSPM+ automates the discovery and alerting of cloud misconfigurations and identity access policy violations supporting the Zero Trust (least privilege) model by identifying overprivileged identities (users and machines) and anomalous access behaviors.

Automated out-of-the-box compliance audits  GravityZone CSPM+ drastically reduces team hours required for regulatory and compliance reporting for NIST, PCI DSS, APRA, GDPR, ISO 27001, SOC 2, MAS-TRM and others by delivering out-of-the-box templates and plug-and-play mapping of technical controls across various cloud services including PaaS and IaaS.

Genetics testing company NalaGenetics stated, Right from the start, Bitdefender CSPM+ helped bridge the gap in terms of cloud infrastructure and security expertise. Regular cloud configuration scans are now able to be done at the click of a button, easily saving us painful hours a day from manual checks.

Bitdefender GravityZone CSPM+ is now available. For more information visit https://www.bitdefender.com/business/products/gravityzone-cspm-plus.html.

1Gartner, Forecast Analysis: Cloud Security Posture Management, Worldwide, Shailendra Upadhyay, Mark Wah, Lawrence Pingree, Rahul Yadav, Akshita Joshi, July 18, 2023

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

About Bitdefender

Bitdefender is a cybersecurity leader delivering best-in-class threat prevention, detection, and response solutions worldwide. Guardian over millions of consumers, enterprises, and government environments, Bitdefender is one of the industrys most trusted experts for eliminating threats, protecting privacy, digital identity and data, and enabling cyber resilience. With deep investments in research and development, Bitdefender Labs discovers hundreds of new threats each minute and validates billions of threat queries daily. The company has pioneered breakthrough innovations in antimalware, IoT security, behavioral analytics, and artificial intelligence and its technology is licensed by more than 180 of the worlds most recognized technology brands. Founded in 2001, Bitdefender has customers in 170+ countries with offices around the world. For more information, visit https://www.bitdefender.com.

Trusted. Always.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307736556/en/

Steve Fiore

Bitdefender

1-954-776-6262

[email protected]

Source: Bitdefender
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP), a leading global provider of essential minerals, today announced that it has agreed to a Term Sheet with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands (FFSL) outlining voluntary water conservation and other commitments the company will be making in an effort to help preserve the long-term sustainability of the Great Salt Lake. Compass Minerals and FFSL are currently crafting a binding Voluntary Agreement based on the framework established within the Term Sheet.

We recognize that a healthy Great Salt Lake is essential to both the environmental and economic well-being of the region, said Edward C. Dowling Jr., president and CEO. We are proud to be pursuing this Voluntary Agreement with FFSL and are committed to actively contributing to the health and preservation of this vital natural resource.

Compass Minerals Ogden facility has operated on the Great Salt Lake for over half a century, producing sulfate of potash, salt and magnesium chloride from the lakes mineral-enriched brine. The companys Ogden operation currently provides nearly 400 local jobs and representatives of Compass Minerals participate on multiple policy and advisory groups focused on ensuring a healthy lake ecosystem.

As part of its regulatory authorities, FFSL is responsible for managing Utahs sovereign lands, including the beds and banks of navigable rivers and lakes within the State.

This agreement provides a framework where critical minerals can be extracted when the lake is at appropriate levels, and water is conserved as lake levels decline, said Jamie Barnes, FFSL Director and State Forester. We are pleased that Compass Minerals has actively pursued an agreement with FFSL, which will be the first of its kind for Great Salt Lake.

During the 2024 legislative session, the Utah Legislature passed House Bill 453 (H.B.453), Great Salt Lake Revisions, which amends and expands current state statute governing mineral extraction on the Great Salt Lake, including but not limited to new severance taxes and a requirement for the state to develop a mandatory water distribution plan for mineral extractors on the lake. Also included within H.B.453 were provisions allowing mineral companies to enter into Voluntary Agreements with FFSL, thereby enabling severance tax relief, protections against potential eminent domain actions and the ability to proactively negotiate voluntary water conservation commitments.

Its critical we strike the right balance between industrys ability to extract the various minerals found in the lake without compromising the health of the lake, added Great Salt Lake Commissioner Brian Steed. We are committed to safeguarding the lakes ecological integrity while incentivizing extraction methods that prioritize sustainability and mitigate impacts to the lake. The Commissioners Office appreciates the leadership of the Legislature and the willingness of Compass Minerals to take these important steps to protect the Great Salt Lake.

About Compass Minerals

Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP) is a leading global provider of essential minerals focused on safely delivering where and when it matters to help solve natures challenges for customers and communities. The companys salt products help keep roadways safe during winter weather and are used in numerous other consumer, industrial, chemical and agricultural applications. Its plant nutrition products help improve the quality and yield of crops, while supporting sustainable agriculture. Additionally, its next-generation, long-term fire retardant products provide a more innovative and environmentally friendly option in the fight against wildfires. Compass Minerals operates 12 production and packaging facilities with nearly 2,000 employees throughout the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Visit compassminerals.com for more information about the company and its products.

Forward-Looking Statements and Other Disclaimers

This press release may contain forward-looking statements including, without limitation, statements regarding the potential execution and terms of a binding Voluntary Agreement, severance tax relief, protections against potential eminent domain actions and the ability to proactively negotiate water conservation commitments. These statements are based on the companys current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the companys actual results to differ materially. The differences could be caused by a number of factors including those factors identified in the Risk Factors and Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations sections of the companys Annual and Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, including any amendments, as well as the companys other SEC filings. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect future events or developments, except as required by law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306392124/en/

Media Contact

Rick Axthelm

Chief Public Affairs and Sustainability Officer

+1.913.344.9198

[email protected]

Investor Contact

Brent Collins

Vice President, Investor Relations

+1.913.344.9111

[email protected]

Source: Compass Minerals
ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Darryl Jackson has been elected to the Securian Financial board of directors. He assumed his director role on March 1, 2024.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307154252/en/

Darryl Jackson, Securian Financial board member and Hendrick Automotive Group vice president of Financial Services and Fixed Operations (Photo: Business Wire)

Securian Financial continues to benefit from talented people with diverse backgrounds and experiences governing our company through service on our board of directors, said Chris Hilger, Securian Financials chairman, president and CEO. Darryl Jackson is an excellent addition to our board, and we are pleased and honored to welcome him.

Jackson is vice president of Financial Services and Fixed Operations for Hendrick Automotive Group, the largest privately held automotive retail organization in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., the company employs more than 10,000 people in its 93 dealership locations, 21 collision centers and four accessories distributor installers. Jackson is also director of Common Enterprise for The Hendrick Companies, and he has served as an executive for The Hendrick Companies since joining the business in 2015.

Previously, Jackson worked 19 years for Chrysler Corporation, holding a variety of leadership positions, including serving as vice president of U.S. sales for Chrysler Motors and chief operating officer for Chrysler Financial. Hes also worked as a certified public accountant for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte & Touche.

Jackson is a graduate of Central Michigan University and Harvard Business School. He is a member of Polaris, Inc.s board of directors.

ABOUT SECURIAN FINANCIAL

To be confident in your financial future, you need to trust the strength and commitment of the companies you choose to work with. For more than 140 years, the Securian Financial family of companies has been developing innovative insurance and retirement solutions to meet the evolving needs of individuals, families and businesses. Offered through partnerships with employers, financial professionals and affinity groups, our products help bring peace of mind to more than 23 million customers throughout the United States and Canada. We are trusted by our partners and customers to fulfill our purpose of helping to build secure tomorrows. For more information about Securian Financial, visit securian.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Securian Financial is the marketing name for Securian Financial Group, Inc., and its subsidiaries. Insurance products are issued by its subsidiary insurance companies, including Minnesota Life Insurance Company and Securian Life Insurance Company, a New York authorized insurer.

DOFU 3-2024

3422121

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307154252/en/

Securian Financial

Jeff Bakken, Media Relations

651-665-7558

[email protected]

Source: Securian Financial
BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Elfster has appointed Thomas Shin as its new Chief Growth Officer and Douglas Hoggatt as its new Vice President of Marketing. Having grown exponentially to 33 million customers, Elfster now takes it up a notch by adding two industry leading Growth and Marketing executives to accelerate growth and impact of its industry leading gift-giving service.

Elfster is the #1 site and app for gift-exchanges, gift-giving, wish lists, and Secret Santa gift exchanges, serving over 33 million customers globally. Its mission is to strengthen social bonds by increasing acts of generosity, helping friends and families spread good cheer by making gift-giving free, fun, and easy. Elfster partners with e-commerce leaders and trendsetters to bring a unique and curated gift-giving experience to all shoppers.

Elfster is the ultimate gifting experience for gift-givers and recipients alike year-round, especially with its Wishlist feature which is utilized by would-be gift-givers and shoppers. For partners, this means impressive conversion rates, some of the highest Ive seen in Ecommerce, and purchase intent data that informs the Elfster experience with trending and real-time products, said Thomas Shin, Chief Growth Officer at Elfster. I love what Elfster is about. Its about spreading joy and generosity - how lucky are we to build a business around that? More people need to know about Elfster, and the secret is getting out.

Shin is a veteran in the digital space spanning product development, sales, and marketing disciplines. An early employee of Facebook (Meta) and Yahoo!, he developed and managed multi-billion dollar businesses during hyper-growth periods. At Meta, he drove mobile ads development which appears today in Metas direct response mobile and video ads suite, for which he was recognized at the company-level for his innovative work. Shin managed Metas vertical teams in Ecommerce and Disruptors forging partnerships with major Ecommerce and DTC companies alike such as Amazon, Netflix, Dollar Shave Club, Stitch Fix, etc. At Yahoo!, he revamped Y! Mails ad business and drove it from $20M to $460M annual business, turning it into a flagship property via innovative ads in the early days of digital. Recently he has consulted for fast-growing companies such as Elfster, Moloco, Intension Design, and Imperfect Foods.

Hoggatt has over 25 years of experience as a growth marketer, working with later-stage start-ups across several verticals including travel, online dating, food delivery, fashion, and beauty. He has managed marketing and growth teams at ecommerce, tech and subscription businesses including Minted, NatureBox, JustAnswer and, most recently, Betabrand. Earlier, Hoggatt spent five years at Yahoo!, managing customer acquisition for Yahoo! Travel and Yahoo! Personals.

Elfster is an amazing service, known for its fun and intuitive website that connects gift-givers to recipients and the brands they love. Why create paper lists and draw names from a hat only to wonder what on earth to buy? Elfster does the work for you, helping participants create wishlists of gifts from hundreds of websites, said Hoggatt. Im excited to join such a fun, whimsical brand that strengthens bonds for so many people. Exciting growth opportunities are ahead for Elfster.

I am thrilled to bring Tom and Doug, accomplished industry leaders, to the team to help make Elfster a household name and critical partner to all top ecommerce destinations, said Peter Imburg, Founder & CEO of Elfster.

To learn more about Elfster, please visit www.elfster.com or on Instagram

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307296561/en/

[email protected] or [email protected]

Source: Elfster
COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Express, Inc. (NYSE: EXPR) (Express or the Company) today announced that it received notification from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) indicating that the common stock of the Company will be delisted, and trading of its common stock on the NYSE was suspended, after market close on March 6, 2024.

The Companys common stock will now trade publicly on the OTC Pink Market under the symbol EXPR. This transition to the over-the-counter market will not affect the Companys business operations or its U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reporting obligations, and it does not conflict with or cause an event of default under any of the Companys material debt or other agreements.

The NYSE reached its decision to delist the Companys common stock pursuant to Rule 802.01B of the NYSE Listed Company Manual, which requires listed companies to maintain an average global market capitalization of at least $15 million over a period of 30 consecutive trading days.

Over the past several months, we have taken decisive steps to position Express for the long term, including implementing a series of cost-saving initiatives and streamlining our process to enhance operational efficiency, said Stewart Glendinning, CEO. We remain focused on continuing to serve our customers and positioning our organization for the future.

About Express, Inc.

Express, Inc. is a multi-brand fashion retailer whose portfolio includes Express, Bonobos and UpWest. The Company operates an omnichannel platform as well as physical and online stores. Grounded in a belief that style, quality and value should all be found in one place, Express is a brand with a purpose  We Create Confidence. We Inspire Self-Expression.  powered by a styling community. Bonobos is a menswear brand known for exceptional fit and an innovative retail model. UpWest is an apparel, accessories and home goods brand with a purpose to Provide Comfort for People & Planet.

The Company has approximately 530 Express retail and Express Factory Outlet stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, the Express.com online store and the Express mobile app; approximately 60 Bonobos Guideshop locations and the Bonobos.com online store; and 12 UpWest retail stores and the UpWest.com online store. For more information about our Company, please visit www.express.com/investor and for more information about our brands, please visit www.express.com, www.bonobos.com or www.upwest.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words in the future tense and statements accompanied by words such as outlook, indicator, believes, expects, potential, continues, may, will, should, seeks, approximately, predicts, intends, plans, scheduled, estimates, anticipates, opportunity, leads or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. Forward-looking statements are based on the Companys current expectations and assumptions, which may not prove to be accurate. These statements are not guarantees and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict, and significant contingencies, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Many factors could cause the Companys actual results to differ materially and adversely from any of these forward-looking statements. Among these factors are (1) changes in consumer spending and general economic conditions; (2) the duration and severity of ongoing negative macroeconomic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and their future impact on the Companys business operations, financial condition, liquidity and cash flow; (3) geopolitical risks, including impacts from the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and increased tensions between China and Taiwan; (4) the Companys ability to operate its business efficiently, manage capital expenditures and costs, and obtain financing when required; (5) the Companys ability to identify and respond to new and changing fashion trends, customer preferences, and other related factors including selling through inventory at an appropriate price; (6) fluctuations in the Companys sales, results of operations, and cash levels on a seasonal basis and due to a variety of other factors, including its product offerings relative to customer demand, the mix of merchandise we sell, promotions, inventory levels, and sales mix between stores and eCommerce; (7) customer traffic at malls, shopping centers, and at the Companys stores; (8) competition from other retailers; (9) the Companys dependence on a strong brand image; (10) the Companys ability to adapt to changing consumer behavior and develop and maintain a relevant and reliable omni-channel experience for its customers, including the Companys efforts to optimize its omni-channel platform through its partnership with WHP Global; (11) the failure or breach of information systems upon which the Company relies; (12) the Companys ability to protect customer data from fraud and theft; (13) the Companys dependence upon third parties to manufacture all of its merchandise; (14) changes in the cost of raw materials, labor, and freight; (15) labor shortages and supply chain disruption; (16) the Companys dependence upon key executive management; (17) the Companys ability to execute its growth strategy, EXPRESSway Forward, including, but not limited to, engaging its customers and acquiring new ones, executing with precision to accelerate sales and profitability, creating great product and reinvigorating its brand; (18) the Companys substantial lease obligations; (19) the Companys reliance on third parties to provide it with certain key services for its business; (20) impairment charges on long-lived assets; (21) claims made against the Company resulting in litigation or changes in laws and regulations applicable to the Companys business; (22) the Companys inability to protect its trademarks or other intellectual property rights which may preclude the use of its trademarks or other intellectual property around the world; (23) restrictions imposed on the Company under the terms of its current credit facility, including asset based requirements related to inventory levels, ability to make additional borrowings, and restrictions on the ability to effect share repurchases; (24) the Companys inability to maintain compliance with covenants in its current credit facility; (25) changes in tax requirements, results of tax audits, and other factors including timing of tax refund receipts, that may cause fluctuations in the Companys effective tax rate; (26) changes in tariff rates; (27) natural disasters, extreme weather, public health issues, including pandemics, fire, acts of terrorism or war and other events that cause business interruption, (28) risks related to the Companys strategic partnership with WHP Global; (29) the Companys ability to realize the expected strategic and financial benefits of the Bonobos acquisition; (30) impacts of the delisting of the Companys common stock from the New York Stock Exchange; and (31) the financial and other effects of the Companys workforce reduction and other cost reduction actions, including an inability to realize the benefits from such actions within the anticipated timeframe. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the additional information concerning these and other factors in Express, Inc.'s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306597495/en/

Mark A. Still

Interim Chief Financial Officer

614-474-8221

[email protected]

Source: Express, Inc.
Flagstop has several more locations in development with plans to operate over 25 sites in the central Virginia market by 2025

RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Flagstop Car Wash (Flagstop or the Company), the leading express car wash brand in Richmond, Virginia, today announced the acquisition of a three-unit platform in the greater Richmond metropolitan area that was completed last month. The units have been converted to the Flagstop brand and reopened earlier this week. As a Richmond-based car wash platform, Flagstop is committed to bringing the community best-in-class car wash services. This acquisition further strengthens the Companys footprint and leading market position.

Founded in 1981 in Chester, Virginia, Flagstop has grown to become the leading express car wash brand in the greater Richmond area, offering premium wash and membership services across 19 units. Flagstops growth plan to reach over 25 units by 2025 will focus on continuing to build out the Companys density in the greater Richmond metropolitan area. Since inception, Flagstop has invested in creating a relationship of trust with the community and has built a customer-focused business model. This approach, along with Flagstops commitment to providing affordable car wash services, is embodied in its RVA Wash Club program, which allows members to receive unlimited high-quality washes at any of Flagstops locations.

We are incredibly excited about the opportunity this acquisition presents the Flagstop brand with, as it will allow us to continue scaling our platform, offering services to a greater number of customers, and pursuing our objective of being the preferred car wash with the highest customer satisfaction in the greater Richmond area. With several additional units under development, we are dedicated to providing the Richmond community the highest quality experience, and we look forward to expanding our reach and deepening our ties with the residents of our city, said Jamie Nester, CEO of Flagstop.

Flagstops continued expansion and success is supported by a previous investment from Garnett Station Partners, LLC, a New York-based principal investment firm that manages over $2.3 billion of assets. Since the beginning of the partnership, Flagstop has grown its local footprint with five additional sites and has two additional locations set to open later this spring.

About Flagstop Car Wash

Flagstop Car Wash was founded over 40 years ago in Chester, Virigina and is led by industry executive Jamie Nester. Flagstop is the leading express car wash platform in the greater Richmond market with 19 existing locations. The Company is fueled by a highly recognizable brand, the RVA Wash Club, and a multi-pronged Virginia centric growth strategy. Flagstop is well-positioned to continue to capitalize on strong industry tailwinds and its market leadership. For the latest news from Flagstop as well as more information on the companys services, locations, and hours, please visit www.flagstopcarwash.com.

About Garnett Station Partners

Garnett Station Partners is a principal investment firm founded in 2013 by Matt Perelman and Alex Sloane that manages over $2.3 billion of assets. Garnett Station partners with experienced and entrepreneurial management teams and strategic investors to build value for its portfolio of growth platforms. The firm draws on its global relationships, operational experience and rigorous diligence process to source, underwrite and manage investments. Core sectors include consumer and business services, health and wellness, automotive, and food and beverage. Garnett Station's culture is based on the principles of entrepreneurship, collaboration, analytical rigor and accountability. For more information, please visit garnettstation.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307421062/en/

Media

Gagnier Communications

Dan Gagnier / Lindsay Barber

[email protected]

Source: Flagstop Car Wash
Womed Leaf reduces severe and moderate intrauterine adhesions, the primary mechanical cause for female infertility

MONTPELLIER, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Womed, the women's health company pioneering innovative, safe and effective treatments to free women from uterine pathologies, today announced that the results of the PREG2 clinical trial demonstrated Womed Leaf is effective in the management of severe and moderate intrauterine adhesions (IUAs), the primary mechanical cause for female infertility. No device indicated for IUA prevention has been shown to be effective in this specific patient group. The PREG2 trial results were presented today by Prof. Jean-Louis Benifla, head of the ObGyn department at Lariboisiere Hospital  APHP, Paris, France, during the Choix des Armes conference in Marseille, France.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307289661/en/

Womed Leaf mode of action

IUA, which refers to the pathological binding of the uterine walls, is caused by poor scarring of the uterus after procedures such as dilation and curettage or fibroid removal, and can occur in 20% to 45% of those procedures. IUAs are a major cause of infertility, recurrent miscarriages and pain. IUA treatment, called adhesiolysis, consists of surgically cutting the adhesion, but the very high recurrence rate leaves women unsure and anxious about their chance to conceive.

Womed Leaf is the first and only mechanical barrier to protect against IUA. It is composed of a soft film made from Womed's proprietary polymer, which is inserted like an IUD at the end of the uterine procedure, expands into the entire cavity to prevent the direct contact of the uterine walls against each other for a week, and is naturally discharged afterwards.

PREG2 is an international, randomized clinical trial designed to measure Womed Leaf's effectiveness. 160 women with severe or moderate IUA were randomly assigned to receive a Womed Leaf or not after adhesiolysis surgery. At the six week follow up visit, women who received Womed Leaf were 2.4 times more likely to have no adhesion than those in the control group. All other efficacy endpoints were also statistically favorable to Womed Leaf. From a safety perspective, there were no serious adverse events and no device related adverse events. Post-operative pain and discomfort from vaginal discharge were low and equally reported by patients in both groups. The details of the PREG2 trial will soon be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

"The results of this landmark study, rigorously conducted in several hospitals around the world, are great news for our patients," said Prof. Herve Fernandez, Bicetre University Hospital  APHP, Paris, France and principal investigator of the study. "Womed Leaf, which protects the cavity during the healing phase, is breaking new ground and becomes, to the best of our knowledge, the first technology to achieve a proof of efficacy in this highly complex population."

"Womed has achieved an unprecedented feat and we are very proud to be the first team to offer a solution to women with scarred uterus in their exhausting journey to become pregnant," said Gonzague Issenmann, co-founder and CEO of Womed. "Womed Leaf, which is already registered in Europe and Brazil, will be marketed through commercial partners."

About PREG2

PREG2 is a multi-center, double-blind, randomized, controlled, stratified, two-arm superiority clinical trial conducted in 16 centers in 7 countries. 160 patients scheduled for hysteroscopic adhesiolysis because of symptomatic severe or moderate IUA were randomized after surgery to either have a Womed Leaf film inserted (treatment group) or not (control group). The reduction in IUA severity at six week follow up was significantly higher in the treatment compared to the control group (mean AFS score reduction 5.2  2.8 vs. 4.2  3.2; p=0.0153). Similarly, the responder rate was significantly higher in the treatment arm compared to controls (51% vs 29% OR 2.72 [CI 1.353 - 5.447]; p=0.0052). The absence of adhesions at follow up was significantly higher in the treatment group (41% vs 24% OR 2.44 [CI 1.161 - 5.116]; p=0.0189). None of the reported adverse events were considered related to the device. Post operative pain and discomfort from vaginal discharge was equivalent in both groups (17% vs 27% and 10% vs 10% respectively, in the treatment and control groups).

About WOMED

Womed was founded by health tech entrepreneur Gonzague Issenmann, biomedical polymer specialist Prof. Xavier Garric and reproductive specialist Dr. Stephanie Huberlant, to commercialize an invention from Garric's Polymers for Health and Biomaterials lab at the University of Montpellier, France. Womed's proprietary degradable polymer technology is designed specifically for temporary uterine implantation and controlled drug delivery.

The first product, Womed Leaf, is a medical device to treat and prevent bonding of the uterine walls, which occurs in particular in one in five women treated for miscarriage. Womed's pipeline of intrauterine drug delivery products include treatments for fibroids, endometriosis and acute uterine bleeding.

www.womedtech.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307289661/en/

Press: Gonzague Issenmann, [email protected]

Source: Womed
The Chippewa Falls Police Department saw its chief step down to pursue other career options in February.

After almost eight years as chief and 24 years within the Chippewa Falls Police Department, Kelm announced in November he would leave the department. His last day as chief was Feb. 16, when police chief Ryan Douglas took over as Kelms replacement.

Mayor Greg Hoffman presented Kelm with a plaque Tuesday night during the Chippewa Falls City Council meeting, recognizing Kelms years of service to the city and its residents.

I always say these are always very bittersweet. I mean it's bitter to see them leave. They've been here so long, done an outstanding job, but on the other hand, they're going on to do what they want to do, Hoffman said Tuesday. Tonight, I have a plaque here for Matthew Kelm. You know, chief, in all the years I've known you I've never called you Matthew.

The plaque commemorates a police career with the Chippewa Falls Police Department that began Nov. 28, 1999.

His 25-year career in law enforcement included 24 spent with the city of Chippewa Falls. During this time, Kelm wore many hats, including chief, lieutenant, sergeant, patrol officer and firearms instructor.

Kelm said Tuesday he loved his time as chief.

It was an honor and a privilege to serve this community for 24 years  the last almost eight years as chief. I would not have been able to do it without the team," he said. We have some of the finest men and women in law enforcement that I've ever seen, that I've ever worked with. I really appreciate the guidance of the mayor, city council members and the police and fire commission over these many years.

During his tenure, Kelm oversaw the hiring of 23 new patrol officers, seven sergeant and lieutenant promotions and the addition of two K9 teams and a therapy dog. He has also navigated civil unrest directed toward police, a global pandemic and three homicide investigations.

One of those homicide cases was the Lily Peters investigation.

I can't tell you how supportive our community was. It was unbelievable. Unbelievable, Kelm told The Chippewa Herald in November. I know there were many other officers from other jurisdictions and other areas of the state that came here to help us out with that investigation. They were simply blown away by how the community came out and supported the family, but also the first responders, the law enforcement officers, the investigators that worked that case. It was humbling.

Kelm said in January that he found Chippewa Falls to be a generous community that is very proud of their city and what they stand for. This truly is a special place.

On Feb. 14, Douglas was sworn in at the Chippewa County Courthouse as the new chief of police for the Chippewa Falls Police Department. Douglas said in his statement at the courthouse that Kelm had done a great job of setting him and the department up for success in the future.

I want to thank my friend and fellow officer, chief Matthew Kelm. I have worked with Matt for 22 years, the last eight of those he was chief. Chief Kelm has positioned CFPD in great shape as he departs on his next journey. I appreciate everything youve provided me during our years. Matt, be proud knowing CFPD will thrive as we move forward. Best wishes and dont be a stranger, Douglas said. Chippewa Falls has been home for my entire life. I know what this community is made of and today is no exception. To say Im proud with the opportunity to lead our team of professionals is an understatement. I have the utmost confidence in every officer and staff member as we move forward.

Kelm told Douglas on Tuesday that he felt confident in his ability to lead the department.

I turned it over, a great department to a great successor with chief Douglas, and I can't wait to see what he does, Kelm said.
SHANGHAI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, Jabil Inc. (NYSE: JBL) announced that its site in Shanghai has received the Shingo Prize, the world's highest standard for organizational and operational excellence. The award from the Shingo Institute  a program of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University  recognizes organizations that achieve operational excellence by applying the principles of the Shingo Model.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306460676/en/

The Shingo Institute sent a group of eight examiners to assess Jabils site in Shanghai in December 2023. (Photo: Business Wire)

Jabil's site in Shanghai is the largest medical device manufacturer recognized with the Shingo Prize since 2008, according to the Shingo Institute.

Shanghais commitment to operational excellence goes to the very heart of what the company stands for, said Gerald JJ Creadon, Executive Vice President of Global Operations. It starts with employees doing the right thing the first time, following standardized processes and procedures while being supported by a lean culture that is embedded in everything we do. This award represents the work of thousands of our people who demonstrate this exceptional culture every day.

Jabil established its site in Shanghai in 2002 and now employs over 3,000 people. It offers electronics manufacturing services to clients in various sectors such as automotive, 5G, networking and storage, industrial, and healthcare. The Shanghai site is certified by the FDA and NMPA. It has a wide range of capabilities such as new product introduction (NPI), kitting, Build-to-Order (BTO), Configure-to-Order (CTO), and high-level, complex assembly and integration. The site also boasts an ISO Class 7 microbiological and chemical lab.

"This is an incredible recognition. A key component of achieving this prestigious award is being able to demonstrate throughout the organization that the key tenets of our culture are understood and are part of the team's DNA," said Mike Mahaz, Senior Vice President of Global Business Units.

With more than 100 sites across the globe, Jabils commitment to operational excellence is a driving force towards the companys ability to navigate and implement practical solutions and options that best serve the needs of its customers given the commonality of systems embedded throughout the companys seamless network of factories around the globe.

In Jabils journey for the award, eight examiners from the Shingo Institute evaluated the site based on the institute's rigorous principles, such as Cultural Enablers, Continuous Improvement, and Enterprise Alignment. The team will receive the award at the 36th Annual Shingo Conference held from May 9-10 in Orlando, Florida.

This is Jabil's second Shingo Prize recognition. The company's site in Bray, Ireland, was awarded the Shingo Prize in 2021.

About Jabil:

At Jabil (NYSE: JBL), we are proud to be a trusted partner for the world's top brands, offering comprehensive engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain solutions. With over 50 years of experience across industries and a vast network of over 100 sites worldwide, Jabil combines global reach with local expertise to deliver both scalable and customized solutions. Our commitment extends beyond business success as we strive to build sustainable processes that minimize environmental impact and foster vibrant and diverse communities around the globe. Discover more at www.jabil.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306460676/en/

Aileen Han

Director, Enterprise Marketing and Communications

[email protected]

Source: Jabil, Inc.
Worlds leading legal recruitment firms join forces

HOUSTON & LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Johnson Downie and Lippman Jungers, the world's leading legal search firms, announced their strategic merger today, uniting the unparalleled expertise and networks of Sabina Lippman, Clint Johnson, Mark Jungers, and their respective colleagues. Combined, the two firms have placed more than 2,000 law firm partners and opened more than 40 offices for AmLaw 50 firms.

When we established Lippman Jungers, our goal was to build the leading legal recruiting firm in the United States, serving the elite segment of all major markets, said Sabina Lippman, co-founder of Lippman Jungers. With our growth in recent years and this exciting merger with Johnson Downie, we are almost there.

Since its inception in 2008, Johnson Downie has been the premier legal search firm in Texas and the driving force behind the meteoric growth of the Houston, Dallas, and Austin legal markets. Lippman Jungers, established in 2011, is acclaimed for its deep connections and placements among the legal elite in New York, California and globally.

"We are especially proud of the relationships we have forged with the dynamic leaders of the world's most profitable law firms and the trust they have placed in us as key strategic advisors," said Clint Johnson, founder of Johnson Downie. "We're equally proud of the reputation we've earned among major rainmakers as the go-to firms for taking their practices to the next level. I could not be more excited about the future for our newly combined firms."

Mark Jungers, co-founder of Lippman Jungers, expressed his enthusiasm about the merger, stating, "Joining forces represented a unique opportunity to supercharge our collective vision to be the best and most trusted legal recruiting firm in the world. In the months and years ahead, we will raise the bar of our concierge service to a new level for our clients and candidates.

The two firms have already integrated their operations and will announce the new name for their combined venture later this year.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306811699/en/

Steven Krainin

[email protected]

Source: Johnson Downie and Lippman Jungers
Bank becomes the first financial provider in New Zealand to shift to a cloud-hosted solution and managed service for payment processing

OMAHA, Neb. & SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Kiwibank has successfully gone live with ACI Worldwides Enterprise Payments Platform, a managed cloud solution that will process all of Kiwibanks account-to-account real-time payments.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306222382/en/

Aligned with our vision for transformation and to build a new, modern, flexible tech stack, the ACI Enterprise Payments Platform is vital for future-proofing our payments system. By moving everything to ACIs platform, weve replaced over 50% of the tech underpinning our banking solutions and opened our business up to embrace technology faster, while maximising performance and enhancing security, said Mark Stephen, Kiwibank Chief Customer Officer.

Were the first bank in New Zealand to do this, and were really excited about what it means for our customers. Future phases of our migration will include moving domestic and international payment functionality out of our old systems and onto ACI Enterprise Payments Platform as well as offering services like real-time payments, said Stephen.

Working with ACI to move its infrastructure to the cloud provides Kiwibank access to cutting-edge technology at scale to streamline operation of multiple, and growing, payments services. This significantly improves our readiness for future innovation. It also means we will be able to implement change at lower cost and lower risk, not having to work around multiple systems, utilising the expertise of the ACI managed service model, commented Stephen.

Were always working to improve our offer of being simple, easy, accessible and providing expertise for our customers, this move will help us deliver on that promise. ACI has helped us provide the tools our customers need in todays fast-moving society. Its a really exciting time for us as we continue to grow and gear up for future growth of the bank, said Stephen.

For ACI Worldwide, this project epitomizes how ACIs technology and global expertise can help our customers meet the increasing demands of their customers and their markets. The cloud-native managed service Enterprise Payments Platform solution is a transformative move for Kiwibank to leapfrog the competition. It enables the bank to realize the convergence of all payment rails and offers scalability and flexibility to bolt on additional technology solutions without having to build the architecture from the ground up. Were very excited to have implemented such an advanced solution for one of New Zealands leading banks, said Leslie Choo, Senior Vice President, Managing Director  APAC, ACI Worldwide.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has urged local banks to pick up the pace in New Zealand's journey towards real-time payments. New Zealands economy could benefit from additional economic growth of $271 million, or 0.1%, by 2027 if the country were to introduce a domestic real-time payments scheme, according to a study by the Centre for Economic and Business Research commissioned by ACI and Payments NZ, the payments industry association responsible for the governance of New Zealand's core payment systems.

Kiwibank is a long-standing ACI banking customer, leveraging ACIs ATM/POS and AI-powered Fraud Management solutions. The strategic partnership with ACI marks a significant milestone in Kiwibanks digital transformation efforts and sets the foundation to unlock the benefits of real-time payments.

About ACI Worldwide

ACI Worldwide is a global leader in mission-critical, real-time payments software. Our proven, secure and scalable software solutions enable leading corporations, fintechs and financial disruptors to process and manage digital payments, power omni-commerce payments, present and process bill payments, and manage fraud and risk. We combine our global footprint with a local presence to drive the real-time digital transformation of payments and commerce.

 Copyright ACI Worldwide, Inc. 2024

ACI, ACI Worldwide, ACI Payments, Inc., ACI Pay, Speedpay and all ACI product/solution names are trademarks or registered trademarks of ACI Worldwide, Inc., or one of its subsidiaries, in the United States, other countries or both. Other parties trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.

About Kiwibank

Kiwibank is a purpose-led organisation that has modern, Kiwi values at heart and keeps Kiwi money where it belongs  right here in New Zealand. As a Kiwi bank, with more than a million customers, our trusted experts are focused on supporting Kiwi with their home ownership aspirations and backing local business ambitions, so together we can thrive here in Aotearoa and on the world stage. Kiwibank is the #1 bank in Kantars 2023 Corporate Reputation Index and the only bank in the top 20. To find out more about Kiwibank visit www.kiwibank.co.nz.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306222382/en/

Media

Nick Karoglou | Head of Communications and Corporate Affairs | [email protected]

Lyn Kwek | Communications and Corporate Affairs Director, APAC/South Asia | [email protected]

Source: ACI Worldwide
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MAIA Biotechnology, Inc., (NYSE American: MAIA) (MAIA, the Company), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted immunotherapies for cancer, today announced its participation in the 36th Annual ROTH Conference being held March 17-19, 2024 in Dana Point, California. Chief Executive Offer Vlad Vitoc, M.D. will host one-on-one meetings with institutional investors and analysts on Monday, March 18th and Tuesday, March 19th.

Conference Details:

Location: The Ritz Carlton, Laguna Niguel in Dana Point, California. Registration: Available on the conference website. 1x1 meetings: Investors may request a meeting by contacting a ROTH

representative at 800.678.9147 or by contacting MAIA investor Relations.

MAIAs lead candidate is THIO, a small molecule telomere-targeting anticancer agent that acts by producing direct telomeric DNA damage and inducing cancer-specific immune responses. THIOs efficacy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is being evaluated in THIO-101, a Phase 2 go-to-market clinical trial nearing completion, which is expected to be the first completed clinical study of a telomere-targeting agent in the field of cancer drug discovery and treatment. MAIA plans to pursue the FDAs accelerated approval program for THIO.

Recent news from MAIAs THIO-101 trial includes:

Early completion of enrollment; trial nears completion with topline data expected in second half of 2024; (press release, February 22, 2024)

Strong response rate of 38% in third-line treatment efficacy data; (press release, March 6, 2024).

Multiple paths to potential commercial approval of THIO under consideration; MAIA anticipates a final FDA decision on THIO in 2026; (MAIA Shareholder Letter 2024).

About MAIA Biotechnology, Inc.

MAIA is a targeted therapy, immuno-oncology company focused on the development and commercialization of potential first-in-class drugs with novel mechanisms of action that are intended to meaningfully improve and extend the lives of people with cancer. Our lead program is THIO, a potential first-in-class cancer telomere targeting agent in clinical development for the treatment of NSCLC patients with telomerase-positive cancer cells. For more information, please visit www.maiabiotech.com.

Forward Looking Statements

MAIA cautions that all statements, other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our or our industrys actual results, levels or activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those anticipated by such statements. The use of words such as may, might, will, should, could, expect, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, project, intend, future, potential, or continue, and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements. However, the absence of these words does not mean that statements are not forward-looking. For example, all statements we make regarding (i) the initiation, timing, cost, progress and results of our preclinical and clinical studies and our research and development programs, (ii) our ability to advance product candidates into, and successfully complete, clinical studies, (iii) the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals, (iv) our ability to develop, manufacture and commercialize our product candidates and to improve the manufacturing process, (v) the rate and degree of market acceptance of our product candidates, (vi) the size and growth potential of the markets for our product candidates and our ability to serve those markets, and (vii) our expectations regarding our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for our product candidates, are forward looking. All forward-looking statements are based on current estimates, assumptions and expectations by our management that, although we believe to be reasonable, are inherently uncertain. Any forward-looking statement expressing an expectation or belief as to future events is expressed in good faith and believed to be reasonable at the time such forward-looking statement is made. However, these statements are not guarantees of future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors beyond our control that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it was made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. In this release, unless the context requires otherwise, MAIA, Company, we, our, and us refers to MAIA Biotechnology, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307087667/en/

Investor Relations Contact

+1 (872) 270-3518

[email protected]

Source: MAIA Biotechnology, Inc.
Key tax proposals expected to be included in presidential address

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- President Joe Biden is set to deliver the State of the Union address today, his final before the 2024 U.S. presidential elections. During the address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress, Biden is expected to lay out what he views as his administration's accomplishments over the last three years and share his vision for his priorities for the balance of his first term, including important tax changes that could impact millions of individuals and corporations. Wolters Kluwer invites reporters to speak to its tax experts for their insights.

As background, last year Biden outlined three tax policy proposals which included raising the tax on stock buybacks, imposing a billionaire minimum tax, and expanding the child tax credit, none of which was enacted into law in 2023.

In his upcoming address to the nation, it is believed that Biden likely will comment on the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, which the U.S. House of Representatives passed on a bi-partisan basis by a 357 - 70 vote on January 31, 2024. Wolters Kluwer experts anticipate that the president will express his support of the bills tax provisions and encourage the U.S. Senate to move the bill forward.

Expert Interviews

Wolters Kluwer experts are now available to reporters wishing to discuss any of the following key tax bill provisions including:

Expansion of the Child Tax Credit

Bonus Depreciation extensions

Business interest limitation

Disaster relief

Immediate deduction of Research and Experiment expenditures

Tax treaty-like benefits for Taiwan Residents

Early end of Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) claims

Global Minimum Tax

Reporters are invited to contact Shannon Wherry, Associate Director, External Communications, to arrange interviews with either of the following Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting (TAA) experts:

Mark A. Luscombe, JD, LL.M, CPA, Principal Analyst, Wolters Kluwer TAA

Mark Friedlich, ESQ., CPA, Vice President, Government Affairs, Wolters Kluwer TAA

Reporters are also invited to speak with Sarah Whybrow, Associate Director, External Communications, to arrange interviews with the following Wolters Kluwer Corporate Performance & ESG (CP &ESG) expert:

Perry Hatch, Senior Director, Global Product Management at Wolters Kluwer CP & ESG

Wolters Kluwer TAA federal tax experts are also available to discuss any other current tax topics impacting business and individual taxpayers.

About Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer (EURONEXT: WKL) is a global leader in information, software solutions and services for professionals in healthcare; tax and accounting; financial and corporate compliance; legal and regulatory; corporate performance and ESG. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2023 annual revenues of 5.6 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 21,400 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.

For more information, visit www.wolterskluwer.com, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

PLEASE NOTE: The content of this media alert is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information regarding the subject matter covered. The information is provided with the understanding that Wolters Kluwer TAA is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307808987/en/

Shannon Wherry

Associate Director, External Communications

Tax & Accounting

Wolters Kluwer

Office: +1 972-209-2767

[email protected]

Sarah Whybrow

Associate Director, External Communications

Corporate Performance & ESG

Wolters Kluwer

Mobile: +44 7855 186713

[email protected]

Source: Wolters Kluwer
API advancements and new technology partnerships will be highlighted in MEDITECH Interoperability Showcase Kiosk #71

CANTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- As the healthcare industry continues to advance new technologies and care models to reduce clinician burden, improve consumer satisfaction, and provide targeted patient-centered care, the need for interoperable health records has never been greater. As a longtime interoperability leader and advocate, MEDITECH is once again excited to feature its latest interoperability innovations in the HIMSS Interoperability Showcase.

MEDITECH will present its interoperability strategy at the Interoperability Showcase Spotlight Theater on Wednesday, March 13 at 11:15 a.m. in the Intelligent Interoperability session. MEDITECH Senior Director of Interoperability Market and Product Strategy Mike Cordeiro will be joined by Director of Interoperability Development Chris Kundra to share their strategies on leveraging EHR intelligence to ensure data is available in a timely, appropriate, and precise manner.

Innovation is happening at such a rapid pace that its virtually impossible for any solution or health system to provide everything, explains Cordeiro. Intelligent interoperability opens the doors to innovation by leveraging the flexibility and scalability of the cloud, along with modern and open data standards like SMART apps and FHIR APIs. Our strategy ensures that healthcare organizations are not beholden to a single vendor solution to stay ahead of the latest emerging technologies, like AI and consumer-facing apps. With MEDITECH Expanse, we aim to provide all healthcare organizations with a sustainable, future-proof platform that encourages independence, controls costs, scales with increasing demands, and enables innovation to thrive.

MEDITECH interoperability experts will also be on hand at MEDITECHs Interoperability Showcase Kiosk #71, where they will be joined by other partner experts to highlight many of the companys latest interoperability advancements. Attendees can drop in during exhibit hours to discuss the following topics:

Ambient listening: Showcases how MEDITECH integrates with Suki to leverage ambient listening and reduce documentation burdens for clinicians. (3/12 at 2:30 p.m., 3/13 at 3:30 p.m., 3/14 at 11:30 a.m.)

Showcases how MEDITECH integrates with Suki to leverage ambient listening and reduce documentation burdens for clinicians. (3/12 at 2:30 p.m., 3/13 at 3:30 p.m., 3/14 at 11:30 a.m.) Pharmacogenomics in the EHR with FDB: Discusses how MEDITECH is incorporating Pharmacogenomics in Expanse with RESTful APIs by providing the latest guidance and interpretation for 400+ medications at the time of ordering. (3/12 and 3/13 at 11:30 a.m.)

Discusses how MEDITECH is incorporating Pharmacogenomics in Expanse with RESTful APIs by providing the latest guidance and interpretation for 400+ medications at the time of ordering. (3/12 and 3/13 at 11:30 a.m.) Therapies and Clinical Trial Matching with MEDITECH and GenomOncology: Highlights how the solutions harmonize discrete genetic data, problem information, and demographics to recommend optimal therapies and clinical trials. (3/12-3/14 at 12:30 p.m.)

Highlights how the solutions harmonize discrete genetic data, problem information, and demographics to recommend optimal therapies and clinical trials. (3/12-3/14 at 12:30 p.m.) Facilitated FHIR: Highlights the tools MEDITECH will use to help scale FHIR across various networks, including TEFCA. (3/12 at 3:30 p.m.)

Highlights the tools MEDITECH will use to help scale FHIR across various networks, including TEFCA. (3/12 at 3:30 p.m.) Extending USCDI : Includes projects completed to bolster our USCDI offerings, including our work with the Cancer Moonshot initiative. (3/13 at 1:30 p.m.)

: Includes projects completed to bolster our USCDI offerings, including our work with the Cancer Moonshot initiative. (3/13 at 1:30 p.m.) Interoperability in Canada : Highlights MEDITECHs groundbreaking Traverse Exchange Canada interoperability network and the company's integration with OLIS (3/12 at 1:30 p.m.). MEDITECH will also share its Canadian interoperability strategy at the Achieving a Collaborative Approach to Meaningful Interoperability Across Canada session. (3/13 at 2:30 p.m. in W330A)

: Highlights MEDITECHs groundbreaking Traverse Exchange Canada interoperability network and the company's integration with OLIS (3/12 at 1:30 p.m.). MEDITECH will also share its Canadian interoperability strategy at the Achieving a Collaborative Approach to Meaningful Interoperability Across Canada session. (3/13 at 2:30 p.m. in W330A) Health App Integrations: Highlights how MEDITECH integrates with individual access, provider, and SMART apps. (3/13 at 2:30 p.m.)

Highlights how MEDITECH integrates with individual access, provider, and SMART apps. (3/13 at 2:30 p.m.) Patient Engagement: Identifies how MEDITECH is helping health systems engage and retain their patients using FHIR APIs. (3/14 at 1:30 p.m.)

API office hours will also be held at 10:30 a.m. each morning for third-party app developers to discuss integration with Expanse and our future roadmap.

As a CommonWell-Connected vendor, MEDITECH will also participate in the CommonWell Health Alliance Clinical Scenario in kiosk #91. This scenario will follow a patient through cardiac catheterization and open-heart surgery, leveraging MEDITECH, other EHRs, and digital health tools to share her clinical records.

MEDITECH Development Manager for APIs and Structured Documents Jason Vogt will also participate in the panel FAST FHIRside chat: Security & UDAP role in FHIR Infrastructure on Tuesday, 3/12, at 12:45 p.m. in the Interoperability Showcase.

The Interoperability Showcase is a great opportunity for EHR vendors, app developers, health system leaders, and other industry stakeholders to unite around a common purpose, explains Kundra. The more we look beyond the boundaries of our own EHRs and embrace the transformational impact that unfettered interoperability can have on patient outcomes, the better we can collectively address the many challenges health systems face today.

Visit MEDITECHs HIMSS page to learn more about MEDITECHs HIMSS presence, including presentations in MEDITECH booth #2580 and a mainstage session featuring leaders from MEDITECH, Google Cloud, and Mile Bluff Medical Center.

About MEDITECH

MEDITECH empowers healthcare organizations around the globe to expand their vision of whats possible with Expanse, the worlds most intelligent EHR platform. Expanse answers the demands of an overburdened workforce: personalized workflows, intuitive functionality, interoperable systems, and innovative AI applications, all working together to drive better outcomes. See why thousands of healthcare organizations in 27 countries and territories choose Expanse. Visit ehr.meditech.com and follow us on YouTube, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307647636/en/

Jason Patnode

Manager, Content, Branding, and Digital Marketing

MEDITECH

781-774-5746

[email protected]

Source: MEDITECH
Wolfgang Van Halen and the Van Halen family kick off program with charitable $100,000 donation for schools in need of instruments

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Mr. Hollands Opus Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that supports music programs in schools across the country through instrument donations, has rolled out the Adopt A School campaign nationwide. The new initiative connects qualifying schools in need of musical instruments with donors interested in supporting music education within a local community of their choice.

With generous and transformative support from Eddie Van Halen over the years and now continuing through his son Wolfgang, the Mr. Hollands Opus Foundation is pleased to announce the Van Halen Family has committed to kick-starting the Adopt A School campaign with a generous $1,000 donation toward each of the first 100 participating schools.

Music has been a huge part of my life, and it is our familys great pleasure to help support music education programs and bring the gift of music to students across the country, said Wolfgang Van Halen. Music education has proven to be a huge contributor toward a students success in school and in life.

People who wish to donate money to the school of their choice or the campaigns general fund can do so at https://mhopus.org/adopt-a-school/. Schools interested in participating can get more information by emailing [email protected].

Our mission is to make sure there is an instrument in the hands of every student who needs and wants one, said Tricia Williams, CEO of the Mr. Hollands Opus Foundation. By increasing schools inventories of quality, playable instruments, music teachers will have the tools they need to deliver a quality music education to students who want to learn.

In a recent survey of 225 schools across the country conducted by the Mr. Hollands Opus Foundation, 68% reported having to turn away students from the music program because of a lack of instruments; 59% said their students had to share instruments which greatly limited their playing and practice time; and 68% said students were playing aged instruments that are beyond repair which greatly challenged their ability to learn and grow.

Donors can either select a specific school in need to benefit from their donation or contribute to the campaigns general fund. Schools in need are qualified through the organizations vetting and eligibility process, giving donors confidence their investment is protected and sustainable, impacting students for a minimum of 10 years, which is the life span of an instrument in a school setting. Each school has its own campaign page that shows how much money has been donated to-date as well as the overall goal for that school. Once the goal is met, the Mr. Hollands Opus Foundation will use the funds to provide the school with new instruments for its music program.

The Mr. Hollands Opus Foundation keeps music alive in schools across the country by providing vital support services to school districts, and new musical instruments to underfunded music programs nationwide, giving under-represented youth access to the many benefits of music education, leading them to success in school and inspiring creativity and expression through playing music. Since its founding in 1996 the organization has donated more than $33 million worth of instruments to over 1,800 schools. More information is available at MHOpus.org.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307547245/en/

Steve Honig

The Honig Company, LLC

212-401-4875

[email protected]

Source: Mr. Hollands Opus Foundation
TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MUFG Bank announced the following changes in Representatives of the Board of Directors decided at todays meeting of the Board of Directors.

1. Reasons for the Changes

Changes of Representatives of the Board of Directors due to regular changes in corporate executives.

2. Changes effective in Representative of the Board of Directors

(1) Effective as of April 1, 2024

Name New Position Former Position Tetsuya Yonehana  Member of the Board of Directors, Senior Managing Executive Officer (Representative of the Board of Directors) Shuichi Yokoyama  Member of the Board of Directors, Managing Executive Officer (Representative of the Board of Directors)

(2) Effective as of the date of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and the meeting of the Board of Directors which are scheduled to be held in June, 2024

Name New Position Former Position Jun Togawa Member of the Board of Directors, Senior Managing Executive Officer (Representative of the Board of Directors) Senior Managing Executive Officer Katsunori Yokomaku Member of the Board of Directors, Managing Executive Officer (Representative of the Board of Directors) Managing Executive Officer

About MUFG Bank

MUFG Bank, Ltd. is Japans premier bank, with a global network spanning around 40 countries. Outside of Japan, the bank offers an extensive scope of commercial and investment banking products and services to businesses, governments and individuals worldwide. MUFG Banks parent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) is one of the worlds leading financial groups. Headquartered in Tokyo and with over 360 years of history, MUFG has a global network with approximately 2,000 locations in more than 40 countries. The Group has about 120,000 employees and offers services including commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, and leasing. The Group aims to be the worlds most trusted financial group through close collaboration among our operating companies and flexibly respond to all of the financial needs of our customers, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world. MUFGs shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York stock exchanges. For more information, visit https://www.mufg.jp/english.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307987290/en/

Press contact:

Tomoya Suzuki

Public Relations Division

Tokyo/Head Office

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.

MUFG Bank, Ltd.

T +81-3-5218-1814

E [email protected]

Source: MUFG Bank, Ltd.
Acquisition Will Add 3,700 New Customers

CAMDEN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- New Jersey American Water announced today it has signed an agreement to acquire the wastewater collection system (commonly referred to as the sewer system) of the Borough of Manville, N.J. for $6.5 million. This municipally owned system serves approximately 3,700 customers, most of whom already receive water service from New Jersey American Water. The agreement follows a voter referendum that took place in November 2023, in which over 80 percent of the voters approved the sale of the system to New Jersey American Water.

I want to thank the residents and elected officials of Manville for entrusting us to manage and improve their sewer utility and help safeguard the Borough and the environment from the many risks associated with operating a sewer collection system, said Mark McDonough, president of New Jersey American Water. We have extensive experience and expertise in providing drinking water and sewer service. As Manvilles longtime water company, we remain committed to making the needed improvements to provide the community with sewer service that is as safe, reliable and affordable as the water service we provide.

As part of the acquisition agreement, and subject to approval from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJ BPU), New Jersey American Water will invest a minimum of $10 million in sewer system improvements in the ten years following completion of the acquisition. The system upgrades include addressing inflow and infiltration, flood mitigation efforts, and sewer main repairs and replacements. The agreement also includes short- and long-term rate stability proposals.

Selling the sewer system to New Jersey American Water provides a number of benefits to the Borough and our residents including stabilizing municipal property taxes and freeing up Borough resources to be dedicated to other responsibilities, said Mayor Richard Onderko. New Jersey American Water continues to put Manville customers first and I trust them to maintain our sewer system with the same level of responsibility and dedication which they do our water system.

Additional customer benefits include combined monthly billing for water and sewer, and extending the monthly water service charge discount to the monthly sewer service charge for income-qualifying customers who participate in the companys H2O: Help to Others program.

New Jersey American Water is working with the Borough to help ensure a smooth transition for customers. The company anticipates completing the acquisition in the second half of 2024, pending approval from the NJ BPU.

About American Water

American Water (NYSE: AWK) is the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States. With a history dating back to 1886, We Keep Life Flowing by providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people with regulated operations in 14 states and on 18 military installations. American Waters 6,500 talented professionals leverage their significant expertise and the companys national size and scale to achieve excellent outcomes for the benefit of customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders.

For more information, visit amwater.com and join American Water on LinkedIn, Facebook, X and Instagram.

About New Jersey American Water

New Jersey American Water, a subsidiary of American Water, is the largest regulated water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water and wastewater services to approximately 2.9 million people.

For more information, visit www.newjerseyamwater.com and follow New Jersey American Water on Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307465906/en/

Media:

Denise Venuti Free

Senior Director of Communications and External Affairs

[email protected]

Source: New Jersey American Water
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- PitchBook, the premier data provider for the private and public equity markets, today released 2023 All In: Female Founders in the United States (US) and European Venture Capital (VC) Ecosystems. This is PitchBooks fifth annual report on the US market and its first European edition, both examining how female founders and investors are stacking up in the broader VC industry. The US report is published with support from Deloitte, Pivotal Ventures, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. The European report is published with support from UBS Wealth Management, Shoosmiths, and Enterprise Ireland.

Across the VC industry, venture dealmaking declined for the second year in a row and an economic downturn proved that 2023 was a turbulent year for many. Despite these challenges, female founders and investors fared well in the market. Notably, US female founders secured record-high proportion of total US deal value and their European counterparts raised the third-highest capital totals on record. However, with these bright spots, female founders were not without challenges and saw those play out across venture stages and regions in different ways. Aligned with exit activity across the venture ecosystem in the US, cumulative exit value for female-founded companies declined by more than one-third since 2022 to the lowest amount since 2016. Whereas in Europe, female founders proportion of all European exit value rose to 20.8 percent, the highest level since 2017. Unicorn activity grew in the US especially in areas like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) and IT but declined in Europe even though there has been growth in the total population of European female-founded unicorns. Angel investment into female-founded companies fell in the US by more than half, and, in Europe, angel investment saw the lowest amount of total deal value since 2018. Fewer than 20 percent of US decision-makers and just over 15 percent of European decision makers at venture firms are women as the General Partner (GP) landscape continues to be male-dominated.

To download the full US report, click here.

To download the full European report, click here.

The VC ecosystem has seen a major pullback since it peaked in 2021, but female founders have shown tremendous resilience amid market turbulence. Female founders made significant strides in 2023 by securing a record-high proportion of VC capital in the US and near-record levels in Europe, but there continues to be a wide gap between investment in female-founding teams and male-founding teams, said Annemarie Donegan, research analyst at PitchBook. We know that angel investors play an integral role in offering initial opportunities for founders, especially during market turbulence. With many female investors taking a step back last year, we will continue to see the impacts on female founded companies over the next few years. It has never been more important for female representation in the VC ecosystem and the industry has a long way to go to see true equity.

Following the methodology of the first four All In reports, PitchBook analyzed investment activity in US- and Europe-based startups with at least one female founder. The reports also include spotlights on all-female founding teams, female angel investors and GPs, and breaks down funding activity within specific US regions and European countries.

PitchBook tracks female founder data throughout the year in their US Female Founder and Europe Female Founder data dashboards.

US Key Takeaways:

Deal value declines but reaches record high proportion of total US deal value.

Female-founded companies, defined as including at least one female founder, secured a record 27.8 percent of total US VC deal value in 2023 - a notable increase from last years 18.7 percent. Total VC deal value was $34.4 billion, down from 2022s $44.2 billion.

All-female founded companies, on the other hand, represent a single-digit percentage of total US VC activity. Although they have closed more than $3 billion each year since 2018, deal value declined year-over-year from $5.1 billion in 2022 to $3.2 billion in 2023.

Representation at the GP level grows for women.

For firms with AUM of at least $50 million, the proportion of female decision-makers experienced slight growth in 2023, reaching 17.4 percent compared to 16.1 percent in 2022. Among smaller firms with AUM under $50 million, the share of female decision-makers is 18.8 percent.

Female angel investment stalled.

Due to the current state of the larger dealmaking environment, many female angel investors took a step back in 2023 and stats dropped by more than half. VC deal activity for female-founded companies with female angel investor participation totaled $1.2 billion in 2023 down from $3.7 billion in 2022.

Similarly, deal count in female-founded companies with female angel participation as a proportion of all deals with angel participation dropped from 34.4 percent in 2022 to 29.8 percent in 2023.

Female-founded unicorns grow, especially in AI/ML and IT.

The cumulative number of female-founded unicorns grew 4.7 percent in 2023, with more than 100 companies in the mix.

2023 was a big year for companies within AI and ML and this was also the case for top female-founded unicorns.

Exit activity declined to the lowest amount since 2016.

Exit strategies remain on pause for most companies, and the cumulative exit value for female-founded companies declined by more than one-third year-over-year to the lowest amount since 2016.

With fewer companies successfully exiting in 2023 overall, female-founded companies accounted for a larger share of those that did. They reached a record 23.3 percent of total exit activity and demonstrated a third straight year of growth in that metric.

Europe Key Takeaways:

Deal activity remains male dominated, but female founders represent a growing fraction.

European female-founded companies with at least one female founder generated a record high proportion of total VC deal value at 20.5 percent and deal count at 25.8 percent. Their proportion of total deal value grew 36.2 percent from 2022 - the sharpest year-over-year uptick since 2012.

All-female founded companies have seen significant growth and consistency over the past several years with at least 400 deals closed each year since 2018.

Female-founded companies collectively exhibit solid investment opportunities.

Pre-money valuations for female-founded companies have grown markedly over the past decade, with additional momentum provided by the venture surge in 2021.

More than three-quarters of all venture rounds closed by female founders in 2023 were based on a higher valuation than the previous round.

At the GP level, most decision-makers are male.

Among larger venture firms with AUM of at least 50 million, 15.2 percent of all decisionmakers are women. For smaller firms with AUM under 50 million, the percentage of female decision-makers fell to 11.4 percent.

Angel investors are key early drivers of VC activity.

The number of female angel investors active in Europe grew materially over the past few years, though it declined by almost half in 2023, which contributed to a drop in deal flow for female-founded companies receiving angel investments.

For the past three years, female angel investors have participated in more than a quarter of all VC deals that involved both a female founder and any angel participation.

Cumulative exit value for female-founders declined for second year in a row.

Female founders generated approximately 2 billion in total exit value each year between 2019 and 2022, but the 2023 figure fell just short of that threshold alongside a material drop in the number of exiting companies.

Female-founded companies demonstrated the ability to exit efficiently with a median time to exit of 7.9 years, six months faster than the broader pool of companies.

About PitchBook

PitchBook is a financial data and software company that provides transparency into the capital markets to help professionals discover and execute opportunities with confidence and efficiency. PitchBook collects and analyzes detailed data on the entire venture capital, private equity and M&A landscapeincluding public and private companies, investors, funds, investments, exits and people. The company's data and analysis are available through the PitchBook Platform, industry news and in-depth reports. Founded in 2007, PitchBook operates globally with more than 3,000 team members. Its platform, data and research serve over 100,000 professionals around the world. In 2016, Morningstar acquired PitchBook, which now operates as an independent subsidiary.

Quote Sheet

Helen Burnell, Corporate Partner at Shoosmiths

A key factor in understanding and addressing the funding gap for female founded and led companies is the data and insight that sits behind the marketplace, which is why Shoosmiths is proud to partner with PitchBook and this report. Raising awareness of the inequality between male and female led businesses is the first and most important step in order to start a dialogue to action real change. It is more crucial than ever that women can access better networking, growth and finance on their journey that is building a business, as we remain steadfast on the goal of bridging this gender venture investment gap in efforts that will, ultimately, benefit everyone.

Emma Wheeler, Head, Womens Wealth, UBS Global Wealth Management

The increase in total deal value for female-founded companies is significant and a positive indication that, despite economic uncertainties and global disruption making investors more cautious, there is recognition of how these companies make good investments. We all have a part to play in driving this significant economic opportunity, knowing that if female entrepreneurs were invested in equally to male counterparts, global GDP could grow by up to USD 5 trillion, according to research. We must not be complacent about this good news but continue to mentor, build networks and support with investor readiness and introductions where we can.

Jenny Melia, Executive Director of Enterprise Ireland

Supporting women entrepreneurs to scale and develop their start-ups and ventures is at the heart of Enterprise Irelands strategy. We strongly believe that the key to Irelands economic success is a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem which utilises the skills, ambition, and talent of a diverse population. We have been championing this agenda since 2011, when only 7 percent of the start-ups we invested in were led by women. By 2023, that figure rose to 30 percent, but our ambition is to continue to increase this. Also, by 2022, 70 percent of the Seed and Venture Capital funds we support, had women at partner or manager level. Despite the challenging investment landscape in Europe for start-ups and scaling companies, we are proud to see that the All In PitchBook report finds that Ireland is the 3rdcountry in Europe per deal count on a per capita basis for investment in women-led start-ups. This is a strong position for Ireland, and we remain committed to achieving an equal gender divide and fostering an environment and investment ecosystem, where women entrepreneurs thrive and deliver transformative innovations.

Heather Gates, Audit & Assurance Private Growth Leader of Deloitte & Touche LLP

For women in VC, the future hasnt yet arrived. The numbers show slow progress, however changing the VC ecosystem will take time. Funds work on 10-year cycles; turnover is low; entry into senior positions is limited. Only persistent, sustained effort will ensure that future female founders experience the benefits of todays endeavors for improvement.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306750545/en/

Kendall Langis

[email protected]

Source: PitchBook
The Colfax County 4-H Council held its annual volunteer banquet on Saturday, Jan. 28.

Russ Pickhinke, Aubrie Hanna and Steve McKelvey of Steves Madhouse Market were honored for their dedication to the Colfax County 4-H Program. The awards were sponsored by the Colfax County 4-H Council and the Nebraska 4-H Foundation.

Pickhinke of Howells was honored with the Outstanding 4-H Alumni Award. As a youth, Pickhinke was an active member of the Howells 4-H Hustlers and enjoyed showing cattle. In 1991, he became the leader of the 4-H Hustlers, a position he held until he stepped down in 2013.

Throughout his tenure as a leader, Pickhinke championed the belief that 4-H youth should actively engage with their own livestock and develop an understanding of their animals to become better showman and livestock judgers. His dedication extended to mentoring kids with their livestock at the county and state fair.

He also encouraged club projects, such as making blocking chutes, rockets, stepping stones, and first aid kits, emphasizing that 4-H should not only be an educational pursuit but also an enjoyable one. Under his guidance, the club undertook initiatives including making floats for the fair parades and participation in the livestock judging contests at the fairgrounds.

Pickhinke also volunteered by taking charge of the funnel cake stand. He tried new food items and created metal frames for the fryers, enhancing efficiency and safety. Even as the funnel cake stand transitioned to the food stand and selling ice cream, he continued to donate his time and skills. When the food stand was looking into a cotton candy machine, he found one and paid for half of the new machine. He continues to donate the dishes and waffle cones that are used each year.

Hanna of Leigh was awarded the 2023 Outstanding 4-H member. Hanna joined 4-H in 2014 as a Clover Kid and has been an actively involved member ever since. She has tried her hand at and completed projects in various areas including sheep, woodworking, sewing, art, small animals, cake decorating, knitting, horticulture, and archery.

Hanna has been an active member in two 4-H clubs in two counties in the last 10 years, holding all officer positions for Platte County Bullseye Archery Club and acting as club treasurer for Colfax County Blue Banner 4-H Club. She has also served as 4-H Council representative for Blue Banner for the last three years where she has been elected vice-chair and chairperson of the council and served on the scholarship committee.

During her time with the clubs, she has participated in numerous community volunteer activities including serving food to Platte County Habitat for Humanity building volunteers, fairground bench and table painting, and assisting with the Colfax County Livestock Judging Competition. She enjoys working with other 4-H members and supporting them with their projects, often stepping in to help show livestock for fellow exhibitors or giving her time to help guide new 4-Hers and Clover Kids with sheep and static exhibit projects.

Hannas pride and excitement in 4-H has been evident over the last 10 years. In a recent Senior Spotlight article in the Leigh World, she stated that being involved in 4-H has been one of her favorite hobbies outside of school.

McKelvey of Steves Madhouse Market located in Leigh was honored as the Friend of 4-H. Steves Madhouse Market supports 4-H through multiple acts of service and dedication. Over the years, they have given their time to make the meat patties for the meals served at the Colfax County Fair Beef Show. They have also donated water on those hot fair days for the contestants and spectators and have been a reliable source for watermelons for the county fair clean up days.

In recent years, when the 4-H Council was exploring the option of serving UNL Dairy Store Ice Cream at the 4-H Food Stand, they generously lent the use of one of their small freezers to store and serve the ice cream from. This business has always been a solid supporter of Colfax County 4-H with service, donations, and the talent of the generous employees.

Many leaders were also honored for their milestone years of service to the Colfax County 4-H program. Recognized for 50 years of service: Linda Grovijohn; 29 years, Renae Vogel; 25 years, Marla Prusa; 22 years, Jill Ruskamp; 14 years, Danelle Marxsen; 10 years, Phillip Wendt; 9 years, Rachel Malena; 8 years, Chris Bourek, Tina Bourek, Brent Brabec; 7 years, Laura Eisenmann; 5 years, Al Sucha; 4 years, Brandy Balzer, Sara Prinz; 2 years, Jill Bailey, Jamie Hastrieter, Amanda Jedlicka, Greg Shonka, Staci Shonka, Cori Vavricek; 1 year, Brianna Burenheide, Kari Kracl. A combined total of 217 years of service.

Guests were treated to a presentation by Tamara Boettcher and Melanie Jensen of Global Passion Ministries.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In connection with the preparation of its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, CI&T Inc. (the Company), in consultation with its independent registered public accounting firm, KPMG Auditores Independentes Ltda. (KPMG), identified certain non-cash accounting errors related to deferred income accounting for tax-deductible goodwill, as required under IFRS  International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS). As a result, the audit committee of the board of directors of the Company, after discussions with management and consultation with KPMG, on March 4, 2024, concluded that (i) the Companys audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2022, included in its annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2022 filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 28, 2023, and (ii) the Companys unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements as of and for the periods ended March 31, 2023, June 30, 2023 and September 30, 2023, each previously furnished to the SEC on a current report on Form 6-K, should no longer be relied upon (collectively, the Non-Reliance Periods).

Similarly, any previously furnished reports, such as earnings releases, investor presentations or other communications describing the Companys consolidated audited financial statements, and condensed consolidated interim financial statements and other related financial information covering the Non-Reliance Periods should no longer be relied upon.

The corrective adjustments required in accordance with IFRS are expected to be non-cash in nature and will not increase the amount of income tax to be paid in the future. The corrective adjustments are not expected to impact net revenue, operating profit before financial income and tax, or any other line of statement of profit and loss that is above profit before income tax" for the Non-Reliance Periods. The corrective adjustments are not expected to impact Adjusted EBITDA for the Non-Reliance Periods or cash and cash equivalents at the end of the Non-Reliance Periods.

The Company intends to file its restated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2022 together with its audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2023, in the 2023 Form 20-F. The Company believes this will allow readers to easily review all pertinent data in a single document. The Company intends to file the 2023 Form 20-F as soon as possible (and in any case, before April 30, 2024) and, therefore, does not plan to amend its 2022 Form 20-F. The Company also intends to furnish to the SEC, as soon as possible, a current report on Form 6-K showing the impact of the restatement of its unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements as of and for the periods ended March 31, 2023, June 30, 2023 and September 30, 2023.

Description of the adjustments

In 2021 and 2022, the Company completed business combinations, which resulted in book goodwill and income tax deductible goodwill as part of the acquisition accounting. Since January 2022, the Company has been deducting the goodwill from the acquisitions for income tax purposes in accordance with the Brazilian income tax regulations, reducing current income tax expense, income tax liability, and income tax paid in cash. During this period, the Company considered the financial statement impacts of tax-deductible goodwill amortization arising from these acquisitions as a permanent difference in the determination of its income tax provision, instead of a temporary difference between tax basis goodwill and financial statement basis goodwill, as required under IFRS. As a result, the income tax expense was R$40.5 million understated in year ended December 31, 2022 and by R$30.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023. The amortization of the tax goodwill should have been recognized as a deferred income tax liability and deferred tax expense, due to changes between the tax basis and the financial statement basis of goodwill.

In addition, the amortization of the identifiable intangible assets recognized as part of the Dextra business combination was considered nondeductible in the income tax calculation, which is not consistent with Brazilian income tax regulations. As a result, the income tax expense was overstated by R$10.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 and by R$4.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023.

The Company estimates the net impact of these adjustments will increase Income Tax Expense by approximately R$30.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 and R$26.7 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2023. As a result, Net Income should be reduced by approximately R$30.2 million in 2022 and R$26.7 million in the nine months ended September 30,2023.

The Company also expects to reflect certain classification corrections to non-derivatives and loans and borrowings as part of the restatement to the financial statements. The reclassifications will reduce current assets in R$ 19.6 million, reduce current liabilities in R$30.4 million and increase non-current liabilities in R$ 10.8 million. These reclassifications have no impact on statements of profit or loss, comprehensive income, changes in equity and cash flows.

The Company expects that the restatement described above will be attributable to a material weakness in the Companys internal control.

The Audit Committee and management have discussed the matters disclosed in this Report on Form 6-K with KPMG.

A summary of the anticipated impacts on the consolidated statements of profit or loss for the year ended December 31, 2022, is included below.

Consolidated statement of profit or loss (unaudited) (in thousands of Brazilian Reais) Consolidated statements of profit or loss December 31, 2022 (as issued) Adjustments December 31, 2022 (as restated) Profit before income tax 200,272 - 200,272 Current income tax (69,873 ) 10,303 (59,570 ) Deferred income tax (4,483 ) (40,509 ) (44,992 ) Total income tax expense (74,356 ) (30,206 ) (104,562 ) Net profit for the year 125,916 (30,206 ) 95,710

Forward-Looking Statements

This form 6-k includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact that may be deemed forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to: the statements under Business Outlook, including expectations relating to revenues and other financial or business metrics; statements regarding relationships with clients; and any other statements of expectations or beliefs. The words believe, will, may, may have, would, estimate, continues, anticipates, intends, plans, expects, budget, "scheduled, forecasts and similar words are intended to identify estimates and forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements represent our management's beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. You should read this press release with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from our expectations. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements in this press release. Such risk factors include, but are not limited to, those relating to: the completion of our year-end audit process, implementation of corrective adjustments and restatement of our previously issued financial statements, the ongoing war in Ukraine and the economic sanctions imposed by Western economies on Russia, as well as the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and their impact on our business and industry; the impact of competition on our business; uncertainty regarding the demand for and market utilization of our services; our ability to maintain or acquire new client relationships; general business and economic conditions; our ability to successfully integrate the recent-acquired business; the impact of pandemics, epidemics and disease outbreak; and our ability to successfully implement our growth strategy and strategic plans. Additional information about these and other risks and uncertainties is contained in the Risk Factors section of CI&T's annual report on Form 20-F. Additional information will be made available in our Annual Reports on Form 20-F, and other filings and reports that we may file from time to time with the SEC. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to and do not intend to update these forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306480868/en/

Investor Relations Contact:

Eduardo Galvao

[email protected]

Media Relations Contact:

Illume PR for CI&T

Zella Panossian

[email protected]

Source: CI&T Inc.
$96 million contract to advance defense technologies and critical business operations

RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAIC) today announced it has been awarded a $96 million contract by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)) to modernize business operations.

The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering delivers crucial technology capabilities to warfighters, said Vinnie DiFronzo, executive vice president, Air Force and Combatant Command Business Group at SAIC. OUSD(R&E) is a critical and longtime SAIC customer, and this award builds on our ongoing delivery of powerful solutions and key expertise to advance our support of their mission.

Through this contract, SAIC will partner with OUSD(R&E) BusOps to modernize its policies and procedures through SAICs data management, knowledge management and strategic planning capabilities. Enhancements will include an increase in data reuse and the reduction of internal organizational operational delivery times.

To learn more about SAICs work in digital modernization visit www.saic.com/defense.

About SAIC

SAIC is a premier Fortune 500 technology integrator driving our nations technology transformation. Our robust portfolio of offerings across the defense, space, civilian and intelligence markets includes secure high-end solutions in engineering, digital, artificial intelligence and mission solutions. Using our expertise and understanding of existing and emerging technologies, we integrate the best components from our own portfolio and our partner ecosystem to deliver innovative, effective and efficient solutions that are critical to achieving our customers' missions.

We are approximately 24,000 strong; driven by mission, united by purpose, and inspired by opportunities. SAIC is an Equal Opportunity Employer, fostering a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion, which is core to our values and important to attract and retain exceptional talent. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $6.9 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For ongoing news, please visit our newsroom.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this release contain or are based on forward-looking information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as expects, intends, plans, anticipates, believes, estimates, guidance, and similar words or phrases. Forward-looking statements in this release may include, among others, estimates of future revenues, operating income, earnings, earnings per share, charges, total contract value, backlog, outstanding shares and cash flows, as well as statements about future dividends, share repurchases and other capital deployment plans. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risk, uncertainties and assumptions, and actual results may differ materially from the guidance and other forward-looking statements made in this release as a result of various factors. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause or contribute to these material differences include those discussed in the Risk Factors, Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Legal Proceedings sections of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as updated in any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the SEC, which may be viewed or obtained through the Investor Relations section of our website at saic.com or on the SECs website at sec.gov. Due to such risks, uncertainties and assumptions you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. SAIC expressly disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statement provided in this release to reflect subsequent events, actual results or changes in SAICs expectations. SAIC also disclaims any duty to comment upon or correct information that may be contained in reports published by investment analysts or others.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307106880/en/

Media Contact:

Thais Hanson

703.676.8215 | [email protected]

Source: Science Applications International Corp.
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Saviynt, a leading provider of cloud-native identity and governance platform solutions, is pleased to announce its participation at the 2024 IT Security Analyst and CISO Forum taking place 18th  19th March at The Clermont Charing Cross in London. The two day, in-person event offers vendors the opportunity to brief industry analysts on their business strategy and products, as well as participate in a roundtable discussion with CISOs from the UKs leading enterprises.

Jonanthan Neal, field CTO at Saviynt, will represent Saviynt at the event. Neal is well versed in both enterprise business requirements, as well as the latest identity security technologies and strategies. He offers his insights into how Saviynt helps CISOs protect their identity perimeters, and can discuss the benefits of converged identity as realized by many different customers identity security projects.

We eagerly anticipate our participation in the IT Security Analyst and CISO Forum as it offers us a prime opportunity to showcase the Saviynt narrative, roadmap and portfolio to influential figures in the security realm, said Neal. As the innovator of a converged cloud identity platform managing both human and machine identities in a cost-effective manner, weve witnessed substantial demand and growth throughout 2023. This positions Saviynt for an exciting trajectory in 2024, and were keen to impart our insight to analysts, illustrating how weve made a significant impact by safeguarding over 50 million identities worldwide. Furthermore, were enthusiastic about demonstrating how CISOs can modernize their identity programs and establish a zero-trust foundation, primed to tackle emerging challenges.

On the Forums first day, Saviynt will meet with security analysts from the industrys most influential analyst firms, including Forrester, Frost & Sullivan, IDC, KuppingerCole, Omdia and S&P Global 451 Research. Saviynt will brief analysts on the companys product road map, as well as showcase its Enterprise Identity Cloud (EIC) platform, the largest SaaS platform for Identity Governance and Administration (IGA), and the only truly converged identity solution on the market.

The second day of the IT Security Analyst and CISO Forum is dedicated to an interactive roundtable with CISOs from some of the worlds largest enterprises, including GlaxoSmithKline, Barclays Bank, Canon Europe, Deloitte, NHS and Cognizant. The discussion format is designed to encourage an open dialogue between CISO and vendors to better understand each CISOs pain points, business requirements, and the solutions they need to improve their security posture.

To learn more about the only converged enterprise identity cloud, please visit our website.

About the IT Security Analyst and CISO Forum 2024

This unique, in-person event offers a powerful combination of one-on-one analyst briefings and a CISO roundtable discussion. Over the course of two days, participants discuss a wide range of security strategies and technologies and have the chance to engage with experienced CISOs in order to truly understand the challenges that todays CISOs face to secure their organizations from attack.

About Saviynt

Saviynt empowers enterprises to secure their digital transformation, safeguard critical assets, and meet regulatory compliance. With a vision to provide a secure and compliant future for all enterprises, Saviynts cutting-edge solutions have been recognized as industry leaders. For more information, please visit www.saviynt.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307045184/en/

Jacklyn Kellick

[email protected]

Source: Saviynt
Database Proxy delivers highest protection for popular databases such as Oracle PostgreSQL and Microsoft SQL Server without sacrificing usability or performance

SAO PAULO & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Senhasegura, a global provider of privileged access management (PAM) solutions, today expanded its 3600 Privileged Platform capabilities with the launch of Database Proxy. Database Proxy seamlessly integrates Senhaseguras PAM security controls with the industrys most popular databases, helping database administrators (DBAs) manage data security, control, and compliance to better protect against costly data breaches.

Databases, with their vast quantities of sensitive data, are highly attractive targets for cyber attackers. In order to prevent malicious actors or disgruntled employees from stealing, editing, deleting or corrupting the database, the verification of each users identity and appropriate access privileges is essential. However, company databases are often used and managed by multiple groups within the organization, making it even more difficult for database administrators to effectively secure and manage proper access.

Senhaseguras new Database Proxy empowers DBAs with granular control over user and group access, safeguarding their companys valuable data. Database Proxy intercepts every query or user action, making sure that every action is authorized and monitored. It offers the ability to execute specific actions based on the command, such as blocking execution or dropping the session. Database Proxy lets DBAs track and audit user activities, detect potential violations, and take proactive measures to uphold compliance standards.

Senhasegura is the first and only PAM vendor to introduce command filtering capabilities tailored specifically for the most popular Oracle databases, making Database Proxy the preferred choice for organizations heavily reliant on Oracle systems. This specialization underscores the companys commitment to providing targeted and efficient database security solutions for the industrys most popular database environments.

Senhaseguras Database Proxy also makes it easy for database developers to interact directly with their preferred database client while leveraging the advanced security controls already offered by Senhaseguras PAM Core. Unlike competitive approaches, users do not need to initiate a remote session. Users benefit from automatic and transparent protection without sacrificing usability or performance.

According to Marcus Scharra, CEO of Senhasegura, Senhasegura has always been committed to simplifying the user experience while providing the most granular protection across an organization. Senhaseguras new Database Proxy leverages all of the security controls already offered by Senhaseguras PAM Core, extending fine-grained control over database management in a way thats transparent, easy to manage and with no effect on performance.

Key features of Senhaseguras Database Proxy include:

Command block: Every query is intercepted, and actions can be executed based on the command, such as blocking execution or dropping the session. This can be configured by criteria such as users, time-frames, and various other filters based on business needs.

Every query is intercepted, and actions can be executed based on the command, such as blocking execution or dropping the session. This can be configured by criteria such as users, time-frames, and various other filters based on business needs. Unmatched Auditing: All activity performed through Database Proxy is logged for auditing purposes, ensuring complete transparency.

All activity performed through Database Proxy is logged for auditing purposes, ensuring complete transparency. Notification: Real-time event notifications can be activated to ensure that DBAs are instantaneously informed about high risk activities, ensuring immediate response to potential threats or anomalies.

Real-time event notifications can be activated to ensure that DBAs are instantaneously informed about high risk activities, ensuring immediate response to potential threats or anomalies. Powerful Integrations: Senhaseguras Database Proxy supports a wide range of database clients, including Oracle PostgreSQL and, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL and MariaDB in 1H 24, and MongoDB, Apache Cassandra, Amazon Redshift, Google Cloud SQL and Azure Database by the end of the year.

Senhaseguras Database Proxy supports a wide range of database clients, including Oracle PostgreSQL and, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL and MariaDB in 1H 24, and MongoDB, Apache Cassandra, Amazon Redshift, Google Cloud SQL and Azure Database by the end of the year. Approval Workflow for Blocked Commands: Approval workflow allows controlled execution of a blocked command.

Approval workflow allows controlled execution of a blocked command. Restriction of Editing Capabilities: allows access to data tables without editing privileges, to preserve the integrity of the database.

Detailed product information can be found at Database Proxy.

About Senhaseguras 360 Privilege Platform

Senhaseguras 360o Privilege Platform offers all-in-one, advanced protection for privileged identities throughout the complete identity lifecycle, from onboarding of employees through offboarding. The Companys exceptional commitment to simplifying the user experience allows customers to deploy in minutes, resulting in the fastest time-to-value. Senhasegura was recently named a 2024 Gartner Peer Insights Customers Choice for Privileged Access Management (PAM) and a Customers Choice for Midsize Enterprises. Senhasegura also received the highest percentage of customers willing to recommend its products, with a 99% rating, according to the 2024 Gartner Peer Insights Voice of the Customer for PAM.

About Senhasegura

Senhasegura is committed to helping companies become more secure and resilient by stopping privilege abuse from inside and outside the organization. Senhaseguras award-winning 360 Privilege Platform addresses the entire privileged access management lifecycle, including before, during, and after access, and plays a critical role in implementing a robust zero trust architecture. Headquartered in Brazil, Senhasegura is a global leader with customers in over 55 countries throughout Latin America, North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The Companys PAM solution is distributed through an international network of more than 150 value-added, trusted channel partners. For more information, go to https://senhasegura.com or follow us on Twitter @senha_segura.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307497716/en/

Media Contacts:

Dan Chmielewski

Madison Alexander PR

949-231-2965

[email protected]

Source: Senhasegura
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Texas Pacific Land Corporation (NYSE: TPL) (the Company) today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a three-for-one stock split to be distributed to stockholders as a stock dividend. Each stockholder of record at the close of business on March 18, 2024, will receive two additional shares of common stock of the Company for each share held as of this record date. The new shares will be distributed on March 26, 2024. We expect that trading of the Companys common stock will begin on a stock-split adjusted basis on March 27, 2024.

About Texas Pacific Land Corporation

Texas Pacific Land Corporation (NYSE: TPL) is one of the largest landowners in the State of Texas with approximately 868,000 acres of land in West Texas, with the majority of its ownership concentrated in the Permian Basin. The Company is not an oil and gas producer, but its surface and royalty ownership allow revenue generation through the entire value chain of oil and gas development, including through fixed fee payments for use of our land, revenue for sales of materials (caliche) used in the construction of infrastructure, providing sourced water and treated produced water, revenue from our oil and gas royalty interests, and revenues related to saltwater disposal on our land. The Company also generates revenue from pipeline, power line and utility easements, commercial leases, and temporary permits related to a variety of land uses including midstream infrastructure projects and hydrocarbon processing facilities.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307485320/en/

TPL Investor Relations

[email protected]

Source: Texas Pacific Land Corporation
STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI) (URI) today announced that its subsidiary, United Rentals (North America), Inc. (URNA), is offering $1.1 billion principal amount of Senior Notes due 2034 (the Notes) in a private offering.

URNAs obligations under the Notes will be guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by URI and certain of URNAs domestic subsidiaries.

Aggregate net proceeds from the sale of the Notes are expected to be approximately $1.090 billion after initial purchasers discounts and commissions and payments of estimated fees and expenses. URNA expects to use the net proceeds from its offering of the Notes, together with borrowings under URNAs senior secured asset-based revolving credit facility, to finance the acquisition of Yak Access, LLC (Yak) and to pay related fees and expenses.

URNA is offering the Notes (and the related guarantees) pursuant to an exemption under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act). The initial purchasers of the Notes will offer the Notes only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers in reliance on Rule 144A under the Securities Act or outside the United States to certain persons in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act. The Notes have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or under any state securities laws. Therefore, the Notes may not be offered or sold within the United States to, or for the account or benefit of, any United States person unless the offer or sale would qualify for a registration exemption from the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws.

This news release is not intended to be a recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No assurance can be made that the offering of Notes will be consummated on its proposed terms or at all.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, known as the PSLRA. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. These statements are based on current plans, estimates and projections, and, therefore, you should not place undue reliance on them. No forward-looking statement, including any such statement concerning the completion of the proposed acquisition, can be guaranteed, and actual results may differ materially from those projected. United Rentals undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but rather are based on current expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections about the business and future financial results of the equipment rental industry, and other legal, regulatory and economic developments. We use words such as anticipates, believes, plans, expects, projects, future, intends, may, will, should, could, estimates, predicts, potential, continue, guidance and similar expressions to identify these forward-looking statements that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the PSLRA. Actual results could differ materially from the results contemplated by these forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, those described in the SEC reports filed by United Rentals, as well as (1) the length of time necessary to consummate the proposed transaction may be longer than anticipated; (2) problems that may arise in successfully integrating the businesses of United Rentals and Yak, including, without limitation, problems associated with the potential loss of any key employees of Yak; (3) the proposed transaction may involve unexpected costs, including, without limitation, the exposure to any unrecorded liabilities or unidentified issues that we failed to discover during the due diligence investigation of Yak or that are not covered by insurance, as well as potential unfavorable accounting treatment and unexpected increases in taxes; (4) our business may suffer as a result of uncertainty surrounding the proposed transaction, any adverse effects on our ability to maintain relationships with customers, employees and suppliers, or the inherent risk associated with entering a geographic area or line of business in which we have no or limited experience; (5) we may not achieve the benefits we expect from the transaction, including with respect to revenue, earnings and free cash flow, the matting business and the industries we are targeting may not experience the growth or levels of investment we expect, we may not be able to realize expected tax benefits, and we may not be able to achieve anticipated synergies; and (6) the industry may be subject to future risks that are described in the Risk Factors sections of the Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents filed from time to time with the SEC by United Rentals. United Rentals gives no assurance that it will achieve its expectations and does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements.

The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties that affect the businesses of United Rentals described in the Risk Factors sections of the Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents filed from time to time with the SEC. All forward-looking statements included in this document are based upon information available to United Rentals on the date hereof; and United Rentals assumes no obligations to update or revise any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

About United Rentals

United Rentals, Inc. is the largest equipment rental company in the world. The company has an integrated network of 1,504 rental locations in North America, 38 in Europe, 23 in Australia and 19 in New Zealand. In North America, the company operates in 49 states and every Canadian province. The companys approximately 26,300 employees serve construction and industrial customers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners and others. The company offers approximately 4,800 classes of equipment for rent with a total original cost of $20.66 billion. United Rentals is a member of the Standard & Poors 500 Index, the Barrons 400 Index and the Russell 3000 Index and is headquartered in Stamford, Conn.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306060937/en/

Elizabeth Grenfell

Vice President, Investor Relations

O: (203) 618-7125

[email protected]

Source: United Rentals, Inc.
Untether AIs commitment to the automotive market and industry leading AI acceleration solution brings valuable insight to the industry consortium

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Untether AI, the leader in energy-centric AI inference acceleration, today announced that it has joined the Scalable Open Architecture for Embedded Edge (SOAFEE) Special Interest Group (SIG). The SOAFEE SIG is focused on delivering an architecture for automotive applications with associated reference implementations to help advance the deployment of software-defined vehicles (SDV). Untether AIs joining the organization represents the company's ongoing commitment to the automotive marketplace. Untether AIs expertise in AI inference acceleration for advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicle (AV) applications will be invaluable for furthering the organization's goals.

As the industry leader in energy-centric AI inference acceleration, we are excited about contributing to and engaging with SOAFEE SIG, said Robert Beachler, vice president of product at Untether AI. The clear benefits of SDV and the associated demands for best-in-class AI acceleration performance with predictable, low-latency responsiveness makes SOAFEE membership a natural fit for Untether AI. We look forward to collaborating closely with the SOAFEE ecosystem to provide our unique AI insights to the SIG to help usher in this transformative era in the automotive industry.

More than 100 companies are members of the SOAFEE SIG, including major automotive OEMs, Tier 1s, semiconductor suppliers, IP suppliers, and software suppliers. The concept of the software-defined vehicle promises to lower development costs and enhance platform scalability by revolutionizing how vehicles are designed, built, and maintained. The key to platform scaling for SDVs lies in a centralized architecture. This drives the need for both high-performance and energy-centric AI acceleration. With todays connected car, this requirement extends beyond the vehicle itself to encompass cloud services, creating a significant market for AI acceleration solutions tailored for automotive use.

About Untether AI

Untether AI provides energy-centric AI inference acceleration from the edge to the cloud, supporting any type of neural network model. With its at-memory compute architecture, Untether AI has solved the data movement bottleneck that costs energy and performance in traditional CPUs and GPUs, resulting in high-performance, low-latency neural network inference acceleration without sacrificing accuracy. Untether AI embodies its technology in runAI and speedAI devices, tsunAImi acceleration cards, and its imAIgine Software Development Kit. Founded in Toronto in 2018, Untether AI is funded by CPPIB, GM Ventures, Intel Capital, Radical Ventures, and Tracker Capital. More information can be found at www.untether.ai.

All references to Untether AI trademarks are the property of Untether AI. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307418617/en/

Michelle Clancy Fuller, Cayenne Global, LLC

[email protected]

1-503-702-4732

Source: Untether AI
Retailer seeks emerging food brands for Early Growth cohort, announces newest members of its On the Verge cohort

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Whole Foods Market opened the application process for its 2024 Local and Emerging Accelerator Program (LEAP) today, seeking 10 innovative food brands not yet sold in Whole Foods Market stores to join the programs Early Growth cohort. Launched in 2022, LEAP advances Whole Foods Markets core value of creating win-win partnerships and its longstanding support of local and emerging suppliers by creating mentorship opportunities for cohort participants with Whole Foods Market experts accompanied by months of tailored educational programming.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307265250/en/

Whole Foods Market opened the application process for its 2024 Local and Emerging Accelerator Program (LEAP) today, seeking 10 innovative food brands not yet sold in Whole Foods Market stores to join the programs Early Growth cohort. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Selected participants for the Early Growth cohort will undergo a 12-week educational curriculum, and, once complete, will be considered for placement on the grocer's shelves in their home city or area. They will also be eligible to be considered for a $25,000 equity investment from a donor-advised fund managed by the Austin Community Foundation, with proceeds benefiting Whole Foods Markets private operating Foundations.

Whole Foods Market deeply values the connections to local and emerging brands, enriched by the LEAP program, said Alyssa Vescio, Senior Vice President of Merchandising at Whole Foods Market. By equipping emerging brands with the necessary tools, education, and access, we're not just fostering their growth  we're cultivating a dynamic platform for creativity, innovation, and positive change that resonates with our purpose to nourish people and the planet.

ON THE VERGE 2024 COHORT REVEALED

In 2023, Whole Foods Market introduced a second LEAP cohort, On the Verge, to deepen relationships and foster growth with local and emerging suppliers currently carried in select Whole Foods Market stores. These brands demonstrate serious growth potential, have a finger on the pulse of trends, and align with Whole Foods Markets values and priorities.

On the Verge participants have officially been selected for 2024 after being nominated by Whole Foods Market Merchants and Foragers. Selected suppliers include Dare Vegan Cheese, Evergreen, Funky Mello, Moku, Myles Comfort Food, Painterland Sisters, The Organic Pantry Co., Shar, Sinto Gourmet and Uncle Waithleys.

Our 2024 On the Verge cohort participants have truly impressed the Whole Foods Market team with their innovation, dedication and vision, and were thrilled to help them explore the next phase of their brand growth, said Kelly Landrieu, Principal Planner for Local & Emerging Brands. Mentoring these brands-to-watch is one of the most exciting and personal ways we can be hands-on with emerging producers and uplift them in our stores. We cant wait to see what the future holds for them.

LEAP SUPPLIER SUCCESSES

Jaju Pierogi, founded by two sisters using their grandfathers Polish pierogi recipes, launched in select Whole Foods Market stores in Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire and Rhode Island in December 2023 after completing the 2023 Early Growth LEAP Cohort.

The LEAP program reinforced the foundation of our relationship with Whole Foods Market and gave us insider access to leaders in the CPG space and a great network of other emerging suppliers, said Vanessa White, Co-Founder of Jaju Pierogi. The relationship with Whole Foods Market feels like a real partnership - not just words on paper. We can be transparent about any questions, doubts or dilemmas we're having with our Forager, and work through them together.

Nguyen Coffee Supply, founded in 2018 by Sahra Nguyen, is America's first specialty Vietnamese coffee company. Nguyen Coffee Supply launched nationally at Whole Foods Market after completing the inaugural LEAP On the Verge cohort in 2023.

The LEAP organizers were so kind, thoughtful and caring. They listened to our concerns and it was apparent they designed the program to deliver real value to founders navigating retail and offered specific and tactical advice for us to leverage, said Sahra Nguyen, Founder and CEO of Nguyen Coffee Supply. Entering retail and executing on everything from inventory planning, route to market and promotional strategy can be very overwhelming for first time founders/brands. With LEAP, it felt like we were truly cared for and were provided a safe space to ask questions and accelerate our learning on everything from marketing to execution, as well as provided mentors and peers to support along the way.

Brands seeking more information on the LEAP application process can visit the Information for Potential Suppliers page on Whole Foods Markets website.

About Whole Foods Market

Founded in 1980, Austin-based Whole Foods Market is the worlds leading natural and organic foods retailer and the first certified organic national grocer in the United States. Part of Amazons Worldwide Grocery Stores, Whole Foods Market serves customers in more than 530 stores across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. To learn more about Whole Foods Market, please visit https://media.wholefoodsmarket.com/.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307265250/en/

[email protected]

Source: Whole Foods Market
NEW YORK & JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Z Capital Group (ZCG), a leading privately held merchant bank, and Zahrat Al Amaal Holding Company (Fawaz Alhokair), an investment entity founded by Fawaz Alhokair, today announced a direct lending joint venture focused on providing flexible capital solutions to high-growth small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307398748/en/

(Graphic: Business Wire)

The strategic partnership, set to be operational by the end of 2024, will directly source and originate senior secured and asset-based loans, offering growth capital solutions and alternative financing opportunities to SMEs across industries throughout Saudi Arabia.

Utilizing Fawaz Alhokairs local relationships, market insight, and robust investment pipeline across industries, as well as ZCGs complementary asset management, in-house consulting, and innovative proprietary technology solutions, the joint venture will seek to invest in strong companies with resilient business models, highly predictable cash flows, high-quality management teams, and strong growth.

As a global investor with a deep track record and unique experience, we share Fawaz Alhokairs conviction in the long-term growth opportunities for SMEs, and look forward to our joint venture delivering a new private capital solution for high-growth businesses in Saudi Arabia, said James Zenni, Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of ZCG. Bringing together ZCGs global investment, consulting, and technological expertise with Fawaz Alhokairs excellent reputation, network, and market insight to support the businesses propelling economic development within the region, we can deliver on our investment return and economic development goals.

The strategic focus of the joint venture aligns with the rapid growth and market opportunities presented throughout the Kingdom, underscored by nearly nine percent GDP growth in 2022. The nations young and consumer-oriented population presents an attractive landscape for investment. Additionally, the surge in the number of small- and medium-sized companies in recent years further enhances the potential throughout the region.

We welcome our partnership with ZCG, one of the leading U.S. private equity firms with an over 25-year track record in private debt, said Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair. In line with Vision 2030 and the governments objective to increase access to capital for local SMEs, we believe in the success of such a venture. Leveraging our local capabilities, extensive network, and market insights, coupled with ZCGs technology and proven track record in managing such business, we anticipate a mutually beneficial collaboration.

About ZCG

ZCG is a leading, privately held merchant bank comprised of private markets asset management, business consulting services, technology development and solutions.

For almost 30 years, ZCG Principals have invested tens of billions in capital and have industry leading track records in private equity and credit.

ZCG has approximately $7B of AUM in asset management and its investors are some of the largest and most sophisticated global institutional investors including pension funds, endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, central banks, and insurance companies.

ZCG has a global team comprised of over 400 professionals. For more information, please visit www.zcg.com.

About Zahrat Al Amaal Holding Company

Founded by Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair, Zahrat Al Amaal Holding Company is an investment entity which focuses on two segments: healthcare and financial services. The company focuses on setting joint ventures with strategic partners, leveraging on its local expertise and the partner's track record to ensure the success of the joint venture.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307398748/en/

ZCG

Tim Ragones / Kate Thompson / Erik Carlson

Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

212-355-4449

Source: Z Capital Group and Zahrat Al Amaal Holding Company
Beyond, Inc. (NYSE: BYON), owner of online retail giants Overstock and Bed Bath & Beyond, today announced the acquisition of the intellectual property and other brand assets of Zulily, the flash sale pioneer and ecommerce retailer. This strategic move was designed to further strengthen Beyond's position in the off-price market, enhancing value for customers on the products theyre looking for. The addition of Zulily will complement Beyonds suite of brands, including Overstock, which is scheduled to relaunch later this month.

This acquisition doubles down on our belief in the off-price market, and its importance to building our business, improving our margin profile, and growing our customer file, said Marcus Lemonis, Executive Chairman of Beyond, Inc. Zulily, in combination with our legacy brand, Overstock, will provide our vendors multiple outlets that, not only meet customers at various price points, but also offer an additional outlet to improve their inventory turns and financial performance.

As part of the transaction, Beyond, Inc. acquires certain intellectual property assets related to the Zulily brand, including website and domain names, trademarks, tradenames, customer database, social media accounts, software to run the Zulily website, and goodwill associated with the brand. The transaction excludes all of Zulilys liabilities, liens, and debts. Pursuant to Beyonds asset purchase agreement, the Company purchased the assets for $4.5 million plus acquisition-related costs, funded entirely with cash on hand.

This acquisition marks a strategic step forward in the transformation and long-term growth of Beyond, said Lemonis. Were excited about the global vendor pool this acquisition opens the door to, driving incremental revenue by reengaging Zulilys 18 million customers as well as the existing Beyond customer database with significant synergies across product categories, said Lemonis.

The new Zulily site is expected to be fully functional by the end of Q2 2024 and contribute to Beyonds 24-month revenue goal without adding any additional incremental fixed expense.

Bringing the trusted Zulily brand into our asset-light business model allows us to offer furniture and home furnishings, apparel and footwear, jewelry and watches, among other categories that are also core competencies of our off-price Overstock business with flash sale deal pricing, said Dave Nielsen, CEO of Overstock. The ramp with Zulily is simple, as the website and mobile app are already built and available in the Shopify environment. We will be able to integrate it seamlessly into our back-end systems for order fulfillment, logistics, and operations to be handled by our existing teams.
Anna Krepel of Schuyler has been named to the 2023 fall semester presidents honor roll at the University of Wyoming.

The presidents honor roll consists of regularly enrolled undergraduates who earned a 4.0 (A) grade-point average for the semester. To be eligible, students must have been enrolled for a minimum of 12 credit hours taken for letter grades.
In connection with the preparation of its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, CI&T Inc. (NYSE: CINT), in consultation with its independent registered public accounting firm, KPMG Auditores Independentes Ltda. (KPMG), identified certain non-cash accounting errors related to deferred income accounting for tax-deductible goodwill, as required under IFRS  International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS). As a result, the audit committee of the board of directors of the Company, after discussions with management and consultation with KPMG, on March 4, 2024, concluded that (i) the Companys audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2022, included in its annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2022 filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 28, 2023, and (ii) the Companys unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements as of and for the periods ended March 31, 2023, June 30, 2023 and September 30, 2023, each previously furnished to the SEC on a current report on Form 6-K, should no longer be relied upon (collectively, the Non-Reliance Periods).

Similarly, any previously furnished reports, such as earnings releases, investor presentations or other communications describing the Companys consolidated audited financial statements, and condensed consolidated interim financial statements and other related financial information covering the Non-Reliance Periods should no longer be relied upon.

The corrective adjustments required in accordance with IFRS are expected to be non-cash in nature and will not increase the amount of income tax to be paid in the future. The corrective adjustments are not expected to impact net revenue, operating profit before financial income and tax, or any other line of statement of profit and loss that is above profit before income tax" for the Non-Reliance Periods. The corrective adjustments are not expected to impact Adjusted EBITDA for the Non-Reliance Periods or cash and cash equivalents at the end of the Non-Reliance Periods.

The Company intends to file its restated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2022 together with its audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2023, in the 2023 Form 20-F. The Company believes this will allow readers to easily review all pertinent data in a single document. The Company intends to file the 2023 Form 20-F as soon as possible (and in any case, before April 30, 2024) and, therefore, does not plan to amend its 2022 Form 20-F. The Company also intends to furnish to the SEC, as soon as possible, a current report on Form 6-K showing the impact of the restatement of its unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements as of and for the periods ended March 31, 2023, June 30, 2023 and September 30, 2023.

Description of the adjustments

In 2021 and 2022, the Company completed business combinations, which resulted in book goodwill and income tax deductible goodwill as part of the acquisition accounting. Since January 2022, the Company has been deducting the goodwill from the acquisitions for income tax purposes in accordance with the Brazilian income tax regulations, reducing current income tax expense, income tax liability, and income tax paid in cash. During this period, the Company considered the financial statement impacts of tax-deductible goodwill amortization arising from these acquisitions as a permanent difference in the determination of its income tax provision, instead of a temporary difference between tax basis goodwill and financial statement basis goodwill, as required under IFRS. As a result, the income tax expense was R$40.5 million understated in year ended December 31, 2022 and by R$30.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023. The amortization of the tax goodwill should have been recognized as a deferred income tax liability and deferred tax expense, due to changes between the tax basis and the financial statement basis of goodwill.

In addition, the amortization of the identifiable intangible assets recognized as part of the Dextra business combination was considered nondeductible in the income tax calculation, which is not consistent with Brazilian income tax regulations. As a result, the income tax expense was overstated by R$10.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 and by R$4.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023.

The Company estimates the net impact of these adjustments will increase Income Tax Expense by approximately R$30.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 and R$26.7 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2023. As a result, Net Income should be reduced by approximately R$30.2 million in 2022 and R$26.7 million in the nine months ended September 30,2023.

The Company also expects to reflect certain classification corrections to non-derivatives and loans and borrowings as part of the restatement to the financial statements. The reclassifications will reduce current assets in R$ 19.6 million, reduce current liabilities in R$30.4 million and increase non-current liabilities in R$ 10.8 million. These reclassifications have no impact on statements of profit or loss, comprehensive income, changes in equity and cash flows.

The Company expects that the restatement described above will be attributable to a material weakness in the Companys internal control.

The Audit Committee and management have discussed the matters disclosed in this Report on Form 6-K with KPMG.

A summary of the anticipated impacts on the consolidated statements of profit or loss for the year ended December 31, 2022, is included below.
Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAIC) today announced it has been awarded a $96 million contract by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)) to modernize business operations.

The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering delivers crucial technology capabilities to warfighters, said Vinnie DiFronzo, executive vice president, Air Force and Combatant Command Business Group at SAIC. OUSD(R&E) is a critical and longtime SAIC customer, and this award builds on our ongoing delivery of powerful solutions and key expertise to advance our support of their mission.

Through this contract, SAIC will partner with OUSD(R&E) BusOps to modernize its policies and procedures through SAICs data management, knowledge management and strategic planning capabilities. Enhancements will include an increase in data reuse and the reduction of internal organizational operational delivery times.

To learn more about SAICs work in digital modernization visit www.saic.com/defense.
(Reuters) -Shares of OneSpan rose 19% to near seven-month highs on Thursday after the company forecast upbeat full-year revenue and reported quarterly profit above expectations, fanning optimism among investors about healthy demand for cybersecurity services.

The Boston, Massachusetts-based company's larger peer Crowdstrike also forecast annual results above market estimates, which had sparked a rally in cybersecurity stocks last week.

OneSpan forecast revenue between $238 million and $246 million for fiscal 2024, compared with analysts' average estimate of $239.65 million.

"We ended the year on a high note led by strong operational rigor and accelerated cost reduction actions over the second half of 2023," said OneSpan interim CEO Victor Limongelli, who took over the role in January.

OneSpan reported an adjusted per-share profit of 19 cents for the fourth quarter, topping expectations of 3 cents, according to LSEG data.

The company, which offers a range of digital identity and anti-fraud solutions, also said it had cut headcount by 5% in the quarter.

Brokerage D.A. Davidson raised its price target on the company's stock to $12 from $9.5.

Reuters had reported last year that OneSpan, which had become the target of activist hedge funds such as Legion Partners Asset Management, was exploring options including a sale.

Two of the four analysts covering the stock rate it "buy" or higher and the remaining two "hold". They have a median target price of $12.

(Reporting by Priyanka.G in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Maju Samuel)
Fisher House Foundation and Military Times Foundation will provide $250,000 in awards to nonprofits.

Rockville, MD, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fisher House Foundation is accepting applications for the Fisher Service Award that recognizes and supports other nonprofits serving the military and veteran communities. Fisher House Foundation and Military Times Foundation will award $250,000 to innovative programs enhancing the quality of life for service members, veterans, and their families. Applications for the 2024 award cycle close March 21 at 9:00 PM ET.

The Fisher Service Award replaced the long-running Newmans Own Award Program. Together, they have distributed more than $3 million to 205 nonprofit programs over the last 23 years.

As part of the award package, recipients of the Fisher Service Award will each also receive an advertising package valued at $50,000 from Military Times.

Recipients of the Newmans Own Award have included many key players in the military nonprofit community such as Blue Star Families, Inc; Hope for the Warriors; Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund; the Tragedy and Assistance Program for Survivors; and many more. Fisher House Foundation anticipates that future recipients of the Fisher Service Award will continue this great tradition of recognizing excellence in service to our greatest national treasure, our service members, veterans, and their loved ones.

Award recipients will be chosen by a diverse and esteemed judging panel comprised of individuals who combine their knowledge to recognize programs that meet the dynamic needs of military and veteran communities. Moreover, the spouses of senior military leaders have traditionally helped judge submissions since the early 2000s, starting with Mrs. Mary Jo Myers, Mrs. Lynne Pace, and Mrs. Suzie Schwartz and most recently Mrs. Christine Grady, Mrs. Gina Allvin, Mrs. Kelly Hokanson, Mrs. Ann Morrison, and Mrs. Jennifer Saltzman.

Information on the application process and information about previous winners is available at https://fisherhouse.org/programs/fisher-service-award/.

###

About Fisher House Foundation:

Fisher House Foundation is best known for its network of 96 comfort homes where military and veteran families can stay at no cost while a loved one receives treatment. These homes are located at major military and VA medical centers nationwide and in Europe, close to the medical center or hospital they serve. Fisher Houses have up to 21 suites with private bedrooms and baths. Families share a common kitchen, laundry facilities, a warm dining room, and an inviting living room. Fisher House Foundation ensures that there is never a lodging fee. Since its inception, the program has saved military and veteran families an estimated $610 million in out-of-pocket costs for lodging and transportation. www.fisherhouse.org

About Military Times Foundation:

Military Times Foundation is a nonprofit corporation organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes to recognize, salute and highlight the exemplary service of active-duty personnel serving in each branch of the U.S. Armed Services and support other organizations conducting activities with similar goals. Military Times Foundation has a flagship program entitled Service Members of the Year, which recognizes and awards outstanding service members and veterans each year.

Attachment
VANCOUVER, British Columbia and TORONTO, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ATHA Energy Corp. (TSXV: SASK) (FRA: X5U) (OTCQB: SASKF) (ATHA) and Latitude Uranium Inc. (CSE: LUR) (OTCQB: LURAF) (FRA: EI1) (Latitude Uranium) are pleased to announce the successful completion of the previously announced arrangement (the Arrangement or the Merger) whereby ATHA has acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Latitude Uranium (the LUR Shares) and Latitude Uranium has become a wholly owned subsidiary of ATHA.

Pursuant to the Arrangement, Latitude Uranium shareholders (the LUR Shareholders) received 0.2769 common shares of ATHA (each whole share, an ATHA Share) for each LUR Share held. In aggregate, ATHA issued approximately 64,444,004 ATHA Shares under the Arrangement.

In addition, the escrow release conditions in relation to the 4,000,000 subscription receipts (the Subscription Receipts) issued in connection with ATHAs private placement (the Offering) of flow-through ATHA Shares and Subscription Receipts have been met. As a result, each outstanding Subscription Receipt has been converted into one ATHA Share and the net proceeds from the offering have been released from escrow. For additional information on the Offering, please refer to the news release of ATHA dated December 28, 2023.

Troy Boisjoli, CEO of ATHA, commented, We are thrilled to announce the completion of this transaction, which in our view adds considerable maturity to our asset portfolio and further separates ATHA as the leading exploration company with comprehensive exposure to a unique profile of uranium upside. This acquisition marks a significant milestone for the Company by adding historical resource to our portfolio and enabling us to expand the reach of our robust balance sheet across a diverse range of exploration catalysts. With the expertise of our excellent development team, we are very excited about the prospect of further exploration and development across multiple high-grade uranium jurisdictions, with the objective of defining the next generation of world-class uranium assets.

Philip Williams, Executive Chairman of Latitude Uranium, commented, The closing of the Merger between Latitude Uranium and Atha begins a new era of opportunity for LUR shareholders, who can now expect to benefit from multi-basin uranium exploration in Canada. With significant funding and an exceptional team in place, Atha stands ready to accelerate exploration at Angilak, and drive additional discoveries in the Athabasca Basin and the Central Mineral Belt. In the two short years of being public, Latitude Uranium has made significant advancements through exploration and M&A, and I look forward to supporting the Atha team drive additional growth as a board member. I would like to thank the Latitude Uranium board and management for their invaluable support and contributions since inception and wish them well in their future endeavours.

The LUR Shares are expected to be delisted from the Canadian Securities Exchange at market close on March 7, 2024. ATHA will cause Latitude Uranium to apply to the relevant Canadian securities regulatory authorities to cease to be a reporting issuer under applicable Canadian securities laws.

Board of Directors and Management

ATHAs board of directors now consists of five directors, including Mike Castanho (Chair), Doug Engdahl, Sean Kallir, Jeff Barber and Phil Williams.

The senior management team of ATHA includes Troy Boisjoli as Chief Executive Officer, Akash Patel as Chief Financial Officer and Cliff Revering as Vice President, Exploration.

Full details of the Merger and certain other matters are set out in the management information circular of Latitude Uranium and can be found under Latitude Uraniums issuer profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. A copy of the early warning report of ATHA in connection with its acquisition of the LUR Shares will be filed under LURs issuer profile on SEDAR+ and can be obtained by contacting ATHA as set out below.

Additional Information for Former LUR Shareholders

In order to receive ATHA Shares in exchange for LUR Shares, former registered LUR Shareholders must complete, sign, date and return (together with the certificate or DRS statement representing their LUR shares) the letter of transmittal that was mailed to them prior to closing of the Merger. The letter of transmittal is also available under LURs issuer profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and by contacting Odyssey Trust Company, the depositary for the transaction, by telephone at: (587) 885-0960 or by email at: [email protected].

For those former LUR Shareholders whose LUR Shares are registered in the name of a broker, investment dealer, bank, trust company, trust or other intermediary or nominee, they should contact such nominee for assistance in depositing their LUR Shares and should follow the instructions of such intermediary or nominee.

About ATHA

ATHA is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral resource properties. ATHA owns the Angilak and CMB uranium discoveries, hosting a historic resource estimate of 43.3 million lbs and 14.5 million lbs U3O8, respectively, in addition to the largest cumulative exploration package in each of the Athabasca Basin and Thelon Basin, two of the worlds most prominent basins for uranium discoveries, with 6.5 million total acres along with a 10% carried interest portfolio of claims in the Athabasca Basin operated by NexGen Energy Ltd. and IsoEnergy Ltd.

For more information visit www.athaenergy.com.

For more information, please contact:

Troy BoisjoliChief Executive Officer Email: [email protected]1-306-460-5353www.athaenergy.com

Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

None of the securities to be issued pursuant to the Arrangement have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act), or any state securities laws, and any securities issuable in the Arrangement are anticipated to be issued in reliance upon available exemptions from such registration requirements pursuant to Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable exemptions under state securities laws. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. 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. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to ATHAs ongoing business plan, exploration and work program.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at the time, are inherently subject to business, market and economic risks, uncertainties and contingencies that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such assumptions include, but are not limited to, assumptions regarding expectations and assumptions concerning the Arrangement, and that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner. Although Latitude Uranium and ATHA have 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.

Such statements represent the current views of Latitude Uranium and ATHA with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Latitude Uranium and ATHA, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the following: the TSX Venture Exchange not providing final approval to the Arrangement and all required matters related thereto; changes to Latitude Uraniums and/or ATHAs current and future business plans and the strategic alternatives available thereto; regulatory determinations and delays. Other factors which could materially affect such forward-looking information are described in the risk factors in Latitude Uraniums most recent annual information form, in Latitude Uraniums management information circular in connection with the Meeting, in ATHAs most recent financial statements and management discussion and analysis, and in ATHAs and Latitude Uraniums other filings with the Canadian securities regulators which are available on the Latitude Uraniums and ATHAs respective profiles on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Latitude Uranium and ATHA do not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Source: ATHA Energy Corp.
ARLINGTON, Va., March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tunnl, a leading provider of AI-powered audience intelligence, is celebrating the first anniversary of its audience intelligence platform. Tunnls platform equips customers like DoorDash, TelevisaUnivision, and more to define their target audiences, visualize key insights for media planning, and confidently launch effective, timely campaigns.



Launching Tunnls audience intelligence platform ushered in a long-overdue shift for advertisers, says Tunnl Co-Founder and CEO Sara Fagen. A lack of reliable audience data and practical audience intelligence solutions creates a costly challenge for advertisers. The Tunnl Platform solves these needs by redefining how audiences are created, reached, and activated. Were empowering advertisers to make strategic decisions on how to be more effective and move faster.

Tunnls audience intelligence platform provides brands and agencies with a more seamless way to deliver cost-efficient campaigns by helping them identify their target audience, plan the right media mix, activate their campaigns, and measure their impact. Hundreds of advertisers connected with over 2000 audiences using the Tunnl Platform in its first year. Tunnl helped our customers drive over 2.26 billion campaign impressions across streaming, digital channels, and linear TV.

Since launching the platform, Tunnl has continued to release critical product updates and new features to best serve the needs of its advertising clients.

Key features

Audience Builder

Use the Tunnl Platform's Audience Builder to build your own custom audiences on-demand, in minutes, based on thousands of data points from our robust data library, including issue advocacy, social causes, media consumption, personality traits, and more.





Use the Tunnl Platform's Audience Builder to build your own custom audiences on-demand, in minutes, based on thousands of data points from our robust data library, including issue advocacy, social causes, media consumption, personality traits, and more. Premier Audience Suite

The new Premier Audience Suite in the Tunnl Platform unlocks access to the most influential leaders in U.S. policy, finance, technology, and healthcare. With the Premier Audience Suite, Tunnl clients connect their ads directly with top opinion makers in their target sectors to advance their message where it matters most.





The new Premier Audience Suite in the Tunnl Platform unlocks access to the most influential leaders in U.S. policy, finance, technology, and healthcare. With the Premier Audience Suite, Tunnl clients connect their ads directly with top opinion makers in their target sectors to advance their message where it matters most. Prebuilt Audience Suite

The Tunnl Platform's Prebuilt Audience Suite enables Tunnl clients to reach over 400 ready-to-use audiences. These data-driven segments of the American public are grouped together based on their sentiments about policy issues, demographics, and media consumption habits.



In our first year, the Tunnl Platform streamlined how advertisers access and apply audience intelligence to make media planning and optimization easier, faster, and more successful, says Tunnl Co-Founder and Chief Data Science Officer Brent Seaborn. Were proud of what weve helped our clients accomplish, and were looking forward to an even bigger year ahead.

Several feature releases are planned for the Tunnl Platforms sophomore year, including advancements in linear television campaign management:

Reach & Frequency

Learn more about how the audiences you care most about are being exposed to advertising at a granular level. Reach & Frequency equips media buyers and strategists with performance metrics for their linear TV campaigns while allowing them to take action and build incremental audiences to create incremental reach.





Learn more about how the audiences you care most about are being exposed to advertising at a granular level. Reach & Frequency equips media buyers and strategists with performance metrics for their linear TV campaigns while allowing them to take action and build incremental audiences to create incremental reach. TV Ratings

The Tunnl Platforms TV Ratings feature is the most comprehensive solution for local market audience-based ratings. Build ratings on-demand for any audience with a push of the button in any local media market with robust TV consumption insights and a self-serve rate card tool.



For more information about Tunnls audience intelligence platform, visit TunnlData.com.

About Tunnl:

Tunnl is the leading provider of AI-powered, issue and cause-based audience intelligence for brands, agencies, and associations committed to building meaningful connections with their audiences.

Only the Tunnl Platform delivers actionable audience intelligence to advertisers and agencies. By streamlining optimization, measurement, and incremental reach, the Tunnl Platform provides a pathway for brands and organizations to reach and impact the audiences that matter most to them.

Built on over two decades of data and machine learning on Americas attitudes and behaviors, Tunnl is best equipped to help you build better connections.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2ece7ee2-d392-45b0-b099-1abdf33d9b35
Company strategically doubles down on the off-priced home and lifestyle segment

MIDVALE, Utah, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Beyond, Inc. (NYSE: BYON), owner of online retail giants Overstock and Bed Bath & Beyond, today announced the acquisition of the intellectual property and other brand assets of Zulily, the flash sale pioneer and ecommerce retailer. This strategic move was designed to further strengthen Beyond's position in the off-price market, enhancing value for customers on the products theyre looking for. The addition of Zulily will complement Beyonds suite of brands, including Overstock, which is scheduled to relaunch later this month.



This acquisition doubles down on our belief in the off-price market, and its importance to building our business, improving our margin profile, and growing our customer file, said Marcus Lemonis, Executive Chairman of Beyond, Inc. Zulily, in combination with our legacy brand, Overstock, will provide our vendors multiple outlets that, not only meet customers at various price points, but also offer an additional outlet to improve their inventory turns and financial performance.

As part of the transaction, Beyond, Inc. acquires certain intellectual property assets related to the Zulily brand, including website and domain names, trademarks, tradenames, customer database, social media accounts, software to run the Zulily website, and goodwill associated with the brand. The transaction excludes all of Zulilys liabilities, liens, and debts. Pursuant to Beyonds asset purchase agreement, the Company purchased the assets for $4.5 million plus acquisition-related costs, funded entirely with cash on hand.

This acquisition marks a strategic step forward in the transformation and long-term growth of Beyond, said Lemonis. Were excited about the global vendor pool this acquisition opens the door to, driving incremental revenue by reengaging Zulilys 18 million customers as well as the existing Beyond customer database with significant synergies across product categories, said Lemonis.

The new Zulily site is expected to be fully functional by the end of Q2 2024 and contribute to Beyonds 24-month revenue goal without adding any additional incremental fixed expense.

Bringing the trusted Zulily brand into our asset-light business model allows us to offer furniture and home furnishings, apparel and footwear, jewelry and watches, among other categories that are also core competencies of our off-price Overstock business with flash sale deal pricing, said Dave Nielsen, CEO of Overstock. The ramp with Zulily is simple, as the website and mobile app are already built and available in the Shopify environment. We will be able to integrate it seamlessly into our back-end systems for order fulfillment, logistics, and operations to be handled by our existing teams.

About Beyond

Beyond, Inc. (NYSE: BYON), based in Midvale, Utah, is an ecommerce expert with a singular focus: connecting consumers with products and services that unlock their homes potential. The Company owns Overstock, Bed Bath & Beyond, Baby & Beyond, and other related brands and associated intellectual property. Its suite of online shopping brands feature millions of products for various life stages that millions of customers visit each month. Beyond regularly posts information about the Company and other related matters on the Newsroom and Investor Relations pages on its website, Beyond.com.

Beyond, Bed Bath & Beyond, Welcome Rewards, Overstock and Overstock Government are trademarks of Beyond, Inc. Other service marks, trademarks and trade names which may be referred to herein are the property of their respective owners.



Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements include all statements other than statements of historical fact, including but not limited to statements regarding the impact of the acquisition and the Zulily brand on our business; the relaunch of Overstock; the launch of the new Zulily site; our future actions, growth, strategy, or performance, including with respect to revenue, margin profile and customer profile. Additional information regarding factors that could materially affect results and the accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained herein may be found in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on February 23, 2024, and in our subsequent filings with the SEC.
Propelled Brands CEO Recognized for Significant Contributions to the Advancement of Franchising

CARROLLTON, Texas, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Propelled Brands, the premier multi-brand franchisor of FASTSIGNS International, MY SALON Suite, Camp Bow Wow, and NerdsToGo, announced today that CEO Catherine Monson has been honored with the International Franchise Association (IFA) Hall of Fame Award.



The Hall of Fame Award is the oldest and most prestigious recognition conferred by the IFA, recognizing a franchisor or franchisee who has contributed significantly to the advancement of the franchise business model and to the benefit of the IFA mission.

As the only two-term chair of the International Franchise Association, Catherine Monson is a passionate advocate for the franchising business model and a leading voice for the industry. In partnership with LightBay Capital and Freeman Spogli, Catherine led the creation of Propelled Brands, an international multi-brand franchisor which includes FASTSIGNS, MY SALON Suite, Camp Bow Wow, and NerdsToGo. Catherines career also includes past leadership roles at Sir Speedy, PIP Printing, and Multicopy Europe. She has received numerous accolades for her business and community leadership and is known for her unrelenting focus on franchisee profitability and satisfaction.

Our heartfelt congratulations to Catherine for this momentous achievement, and our thanks for her continued partnership as we build the industrys premier multi-brand franchisor, said David Burcham, Partner at LightBay Capital and Jordan Hathaway, Partner at Freeman Spogli. Catherines strategic leadership, strong industry-wide relationships, and continued commitment to franchisee success have propelled our initial single-brand investment into a growing partnership of service-focused brands with over 1,300 locations globally. Along the way, she has assembled a best-in-class management team with demonstrated success. We are excited for whats to come!

My career in franchising has been driven by a passion for the entrepreneurial spirit and countless opportunities that define our industry, said Catherine Monson. This remarkable honor is a collective achievement, shared not only by me, but by every franchisee, team member, and mentor who has played a role in shaping my career. As the next generation of franchise leaders emerges, I am committed to sharing my knowledge for the benefit of franchising.

Catherine Monson is the embodiment of the franchise model at its finest, and her commitment to supporting the IFAs mission to protect, enhance, and promote franchising is unmatched, said IFA President and CEO Matt Haller. Catherines hard work, drive, and entrepreneurial spirit have not only fueled her professional achievements, but also opened the doors for so many others to pursue the American dream of franchise ownership that has created generational wealth for countless families from all walks of life.

About Propelled Brands

Propelled Brands is a multi-brand platform company dedicated to accelerating the growth of service-oriented businesses with an unrelenting focus on franchising best practices and franchisee profitability and satisfaction. We have a robust franchise business model that provides a clear growth trajectory for the unique position, purpose, and momentum of each brand. While there are many paths to success, theres only one direction we know: forward. Our portfolio includes highly recognized and award-winning brands: FASTSIGNS, MY SALON Suite, Camp Bow Wow, and NerdsToGo. Propelled Brands is looking to partner with other service-oriented franchise concepts. For more information or to learn about opportunities, please visit www.propelledbrands.com or contact Mark Jameson ( [email protected] or call 214.346.5679).

About LightBay Capital

LightBay Capital is a Los Angeles-based growth-focused private equity firm that applies a flexible capital approach to middle-market investing. Primarily focused on the healthcare, consumer, and business services industries, LightBay invests across the capital structure and in all market environments to help accelerate the growth of high-quality companies. For more information, please visit www.lightbay.com . To discuss investment opportunities, contact David Leeney at [email protected] .

About Freeman Spogli & Co.

Freeman Spogli & Co. is a private equity firm dedicated exclusively to investing in and partnering with management in consumer and distribution companies in the United States. Since its founding in 1983, Freeman Spogli has invested over $5.7 billion of private equity capital in 70 portfolio companies and 220+ add-on acquisitions with an aggregate transaction value of over $28 billion. Freeman Spogli is currently making investments from FS Equity Partners VIII, L.P. and has offices in Los Angeles and New York. For more information, please visit www.freemanspogli.com . To discuss investment opportunities, contact Richard Prestegaard at [email protected] .
Steve Simpson joins as President, Data, Audiences and Technology; Shiva Vannavada appointed as President, Data and Technology Solutions

TOKYO, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dentsu (brand: dentsu; Head Office: Dentsu Group Inc.; Location: Tokyo; Representative: President and Global CEO Hiroshi Igarashi) today announced the appointment of Shirli Zelcer as Chief Data and Technology Officer (CDTO), sitting on dentsus Group Management Team. In this role, Zelcer will be responsible for all of dentsus client-facing data-driven, analytics and technology-enabled products and platforms, driving innovation and sustainable growth for clients.

Dentsu also announced today that Steve Simpson has been appointed as President, Data, Audiences and Technology, dentsu and Shiva Vannavada as President, Data and Technology Solutions, dentsu. Simpson will join the Global Media Practice leadership team to support the development of a winning Media Practice community that delivers continued excellence in its offering to clients, driving client growth and transformation. In his newly created role, Simpson will be responsible for the strategic planning and delivery of a globally-scaled, data-driven and technology-enabled audience platform that drives growth for clients, while Vannavada will focus on creating synergies across product and platforms, AI innovation, analytics and across Dentsu Global Services (DGS).

Zelcer brings over 20 years of experience in analytics and insights, business advisory and organizational design, AI and data science, and cloud and marketing technologies. She was most recently the Global Head of Analytics and Technology at Merkle, where she led a global division of over 5,600 practitioners across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. In her new role at dentsu, Zelcer will be responsible to innovate the vision, roadmap, development and commercial impact of dentsu's data and tech strategy across our three core practice areas: Media, CXM and Creative, working closer with Practice leads and Jean Lin, Global President  Global Practices, dentsu. The role will lead a newly formed team brought together from these Practice areas to drive consistency, interoperability and ultimately to deliver growth to dentsus clients through more unified capabilities.

Joining from Publicis, in his new role, Simpson will lead a global team of experts from across data management, identity, personalization, media activation and dynamic creative production, and partner with dentsus global products and platforms team to integrate and scale the platform across dentsus Global Practices.

Simpson will also be accountable for evolving dentsus global media delivery platform. Enabled by programmatic media delivery, enriched with 1st, 2nd and 3rd party data, it will leverage dentsus leading Merkury products suite to drive client competitiveness.

Having previously served as Global Chief Product and Technology Officer, dentsu Solutions, Vannavadas expanded responsibilities as President, Data and Technology Solutions will include driving cross-practice and product collaboration, nurturing dentsus AI Connective community and leading his team to contribute to tech-enabled solutions and strategy.

Innovation across data and technology are two of dentsus most critical points of differentiation, having led the market for many years in the development, adoption and application of proprietary platforms which give our clients the edge, said Hiroshi Igarashi, President and Global CEO, dentsu. We are very proud to appoint Shirli, Steve and Shiva into these new strategic roles which bring together our efforts across the organization, honing our capabilities and ensuring that dentsu and our clients remain at the forefront of innovation.

The leadership of the broader Data and Tech organization at dentsu includes: Head of Product, Matt Seeley, and Sunil Rao leading Analytics, and Peter Rogers leading Data Platforms. DGS will also now report into Zelcers Data and Technology structure and in turn, Zelcer will report into Michael Komasinski, CEO, dentsu Americas & Global President - Data & Technology, dentsu.

Quotes:

During her time at Merkle, Shirli brought together teams from around the world to collaborate on vital programs, ranging from data infrastructure implementation to advanced media mix modeling, personalization strategies and the development of bespoke AI solutions, commented Michael Komasinski, CEO, dentsu Americas & Global President - Data & Technology, dentsu. With her vast experience of successfully partnering with clients, alongside a proven ability to solve business challenges with cutting-edge technology solutions, I'm truly excited to see the impact that Shirli will have in her new expanded global role at dentsu.

It is a very exciting prospect to move into this new role at a time when not only is dentsu at a pivotal moment in its history, but data and technology have never evolved at a faster pace, remarked Shirli Zelcer, Chief Data and Technology Officer, dentsu. As a group, we have already made some big moves into AI over the last few years, but I truly see the combination of AI with dentsu proprietary and partner technologies as a major differentiator for our clients. Im looking forward to broadening the impact I can have across dentsu and working closely with the talented leaders and teams across our tech community.

Steve Simpson, President, Data, Audiences and Technology, dentsu, said: I am thrilled to join dentsu at this exciting time of transformation and innovation. Data and technology are at the heart of the media industry and the integrated opportunity across Practices at dentsu in vast. I look forward to working with the talented teams throughout dentsu to build a world-class platform that will deliver value and innovation for our clients, helping them achieve their business goals.

Shiva Vannavada, President, Data and Technology Solutions, dentsu, commented: Since I began my journey at dentsu, we have been actively planning our future with AI and I am excited to take on this new expanded remit as we enter into what will undoubtedly be a transformational year for AI and the products and solutions we build using it. At dentsu, we dont consider AI as a standalone technology, it is part of the fabric of our data, technology and product capabilities, ingrained into every practice and present in every agency brand. This makes us naturally more collaborative, more integrated and faster to market for our clients, and I look forward to working with teams across dentsu to break new ground in what is possible across data and tech for our clients.

About dentsu

Dentsu is the network designed for whats next, helping clients predict and plan for disruptive future opportunities and create new paths to growth in the sustainable economy. Taking a people-centered approach to business transformation, we use insights to connect brand, content, commerce and experience, underpinned by modern creativity. As part of Dentsu Group Inc. (Tokyo: 4324; ISIN: JP3551520004), we are headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and our 71,000-strong employee base of dedicated professionals work across four regions (Japan, Americas, EMEA and APAC). Dentsu combines Japanese innovation with a diverse, global perspective to drive client growth and to shape society.



https://www.dentsu.com/

https://www.group.dentsu.com/en/

Contact:

Matt Cross

Phone: +442074306319

Email: [email protected]

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cf533a57-ac1f-4ad2-87e5-340b90ec6957
The Polk County Health Department will hold immunization clinics from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 13, and Monday, March 18, at the Polk County Health Department in Stromsburg.

Flu shots are available. An appointment is required. Infant, kindergarten, seventh grade and college entry vaccines are available for Vaccine For Children eligible children from birth through 18 years of age.

All children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and a record of all previous immunizations is required. Donations are appreciated, however, services will not be denied to those who have a true inability to pay.

Call the Polk County Health Department at 402-747-2211 for further details or to schedule an appointment.
Boerne, TX, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On April 8th, 2024, the cosmic stage is set to awe spectators across the nation as a total solar eclipse graces the skies. Boerne, Texas, nestled in the heart of the Hill Country, eagerly anticipates this rare event and extends a warm invitation to visitors from far and wide to witness this natural wonder.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon completely covers the sun, casting a shadow on Earth and creating a breathtaking spectacle in the sky, creating complete darkness in the middle of the day. The next time the United States is slated to experience a total solar eclipse isnt until 2044. Boerne, TX, with its clear skies and panoramic vistas, is an ideal destination to experience this natural phenomenon.

For out-of-town visitors planning to witness the eclipse in Boerne, preparations are key to ensuring a memorable experience. Guests are encouraged to arrive early and secure lodging in advance, as accommodations across the Texas Hill Country are filling up quickly. Fortunately, Boerne has availability at a variety of lodging options, from cozy guest houses to modern hotels, all within close proximity to prime viewing locations. Its not too late to plan an escape to the Texas Hill Country to take part in this once-in-a lifetime event.

During the eclipse, Boerne businesses and organizations plan to host a series of public events and provide designated viewing locations throughout the community. In a variety of these locations, visitors can expect a festive atmosphere with live music, food vendors, and educational programs to enhance their eclipse viewing experience. The Hill Country Mile, Boernes award-winning, historic downtown shopping and arts district, is prepared to welcome out-of-town guests for a relaxed weekend of small-town fun featuring elevated dining and retail exploration.

"Boerne is thrilled to welcome visitors for this once-in-a-lifetime event," said Larry Woods, Director of Visit Boerne. "We invite families, astronomy enthusiasts, and curious travelers to join us in witnessing the magic of the total solar eclipse. With our hospitality, scenic beauty, and array of activities, Boerne promises an unforgettable experience for all."

As anticipation builds for the April 8th eclipse, now is the perfect time to plan a visit to Boerne, TX. With ample lodging options still available and a vibrant community ready to welcome guests, there's no better place to witness this astronomical spectacle.

For more information about lodging options, public events, and viewing locations in Boerne, TX, visit www.eclipseboerne.com or contact the Boerne Visitors Center at 830-249-7277.

Attachments

Tori Bellos Visit Boerne (830)249-7277 [email protected]

Source: Visit Boerne
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In countries with higher levels of economic freedom, people are less likely to subscribe to social norms that prioritize men over women in education, the labour force and political leadership, finds a new study published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

In more economically free jurisdictions, the government permits individuals to make more of their own economic decisionswhat to buy, what to sell, where to work, how to run a business, and so onwhereas in less economically free jurisdictions, politicians, bureaucrats, and regulators make more of these decisions.

International Womens Day is an opportune time to consider the relationship between economic freedom and those social norms that prioritize men over women in schools, the workforce and politics, said Rosemarie Fike, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute, economics instructor at Texas Christian University, and author of Economic Freedom and Gender Norms.

The study uses data from the Fraser Institutes annual Economic Freedom of the World Index. The index assesses economic freedom through 45 indicators gathered from each of 165 jurisdictions worldwide. Comparing this data with the World Values Survey, it finds that social norms concerning whether men should take priority when it comes to jobs, political leadership roles, and university enrollment are less likely to show a male bias in societies that are economically free.

Specifically, in countries with greater levels of economic freedom, people are less likely to agree with the following three statements:

1) "When jobs are scarce, men have more right to a job than women."2) "Men make better political leaders than women do."3) "University is more important for a man than a woman."

The evidence is clearcountries that embrace economic freedom are more likely to have gender norms that treat men and women more equally, Fike said.

By removing formal barriers to economic participation, economic freedom empowers us to challenge gender norms that discourage people of all gender identities from pursuing what they perceive as the best course of action for their own life.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Rosemarie Fike, Senior FellowFraser Institute

To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact:Drue MacPherson(604) 688-0221 ext. 721[email protected]

Follow the Fraser Institute on Twitter | Like us on Facebook

The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institutes independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org

Source: Fraser Institute
CHICAGO, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Long an advocate for consumerism and price transparency in healthcare, the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) today called the latest report from Patient Rights Advocate (PRA) irresponsible and incorrect.

HFMA has maintained that to be effective, price transparency must offer clear information that is readily accessible to patients to enable them to make meaningful comparisons among providers. Transparency also requires a collaborative effort among providers, payers and other care purchasers to identify and develop the information and tools most useful to patients.

PRA continues to release reports and scorecards that are an irresponsible mix of misleading, incomplete and incorrect, said HFMA Director of Policy and Analysis Shawn Stack, a leading industry expert on federal price transparency regulations.

The latest PRA report asserts that only 34.5% of the 2,000 hospitals it reviewed are compliant with the federal price transparency regulations implemented in January 2021. PRAs results contradict the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) scorecard, which last scored compliance at 70% of hospitals.

Beyond disagreeing with CMSs assessment, we see PRA is consistently misinterpreting federal rules in each of its reports, Stack said.

HFMA makes these comments in its role as a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonlobbying association that for decades has provided finance and patient payment guidance to hospitals and health systems, as well as the White House, the IRS and others. HFMA is known for providing healthcare finance guidance that prioritizes the patient.

Key points of contention with regard to the PRA report include:

PRA is accusing many noncompliant hospitals of not including all their standard charge files related to accepted insurance plans. However, PRA assumes that when a hospital negotiates rates with a payer it secures negotiated rates with all plans and products under that umbrella. This is incorrect and leads to PRAs overstatement of noncompliance. This is reckless as it may misrepresent hospital compliance and unfairly impact a providers reputation and the patients comfort in seeking care, Stack said.

PRA penalizes hospitals for not including plan-specific names in machine-readable files. Many providers currently include plan-specific contracted rates within the payer-specific data fields and are adjusting to separate these rates to comply with the new plan-specific data field by July 1, 2024. Currently, only the payer-specific data field is required in the MRF. In HFMAs view, the new addition of the plan-specific data field will further clarify negotiated rates with payer products. However, Any implication that the plan data field has always been mandatory, or that hospitals refuse to report these rates, is incorrect," Stack said.

PRA does not demonstrate an understanding of the definition of machine-readable files, leading to additional confusion and misinterpretation of federal requirements. A machine-readable file is designed to be easily processed and interpreted without the need for human intervention, while PRA seemingly thinks these files should have human-readable access. Deviation from the standard understanding of MRFs is perplexing, Stack said.

PRA disregards CMSs mandated price estimator tool, saying it fundamentally undermines the intent of the regulations, assuming a goal of price transparency is to have one price for every service or procedure. Actual treatment can vary between patients given various individual complexities. For the patients interest, its crucial to acknowledge this uncertainty upfront when considering the value and potential outcomes of healthcare interventions, Stack said.

The report refers to an independent review and validation of the report by FireLight Health LLC and its founder. But the founders LinkedIn page says he co-authored the report in a feed filled with anti-hospital posts. This hardly qualifies as an unbiased, independent review, said Brad Dennison, HFMA director of editorial and policy affairs.

HFMA encourages PRA Founder Cynthia Fisher to carefully consider her organizations expertise, accuracy and role in the serious business of assessing hospital compliance and federal regulations, said HFMA Senior Vice President of Professional Practice Richard Gundling. And its important for PRA to operate with a level of transparency itself when it comes to the ambiguous nature of its sampling, analysis and validation processes.

Those with questions about federal price transparency regulations and compliance are encouraged to contact Shawn Stack at [email protected] for more information.

About HFMAThe Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) equips its more than 110,000 members to navigate a complex healthcare landscape. Finance professionals in the full range of work settings, including hospitals, health systems, physician practices and health plans, trust HFMA to provide the guidance and tools to help them lead their organizations, and the industry, forward. HFMA is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization that advances healthcare by collaborating with other key stakeholders to address industry challenges and providing guidance, education, practical tools and solutions, and thought leadership. We lead the financial management of healthcare.

Press inquiries should be directed to:Brad DennisonHFMA Director of Editorial & Policy Affairs(630) 386-2945[email protected]

Source: Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA)
Zurich, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hitachi Energy today announced that Andreas Schierenbeck will be appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2024. Claudio Facchin, Hitachi Energy CEO, will step down at the end of June 2024. Andreas will engage with the Hitachi Energy Board, Executive Team and Claudio to ensure a smooth transition prior to the handover on July 1, 2024.

Andreas joins Hitachi Energy from HH2E, a new green-hydrogen production company, where he is currently co-founder and board member. He previously worked as CEO of Uniper from 2019 to 2021, where he launched the companys decarbonization strategy. Prior to that he was the CEO of thyssenkrupp Elevator, where he led the transformation of the company into a global leader leveraging digital technology from 2013 to 2018. Between 1992 and 2012, Andreas held various management positions within Siemens, including President and CEO of Siemens Building Technologies in the US between 2010 and 2012 and Senior Vice President in the Siemens electric utility sector in Switzerland. He holds a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the TU Dresden and an Advanced Management Certificate from Harvard University in the US. Andreas is a German citizen.

"I would like to welcome Andreas to Hitachi Energy to lead the next phase of exciting growth for the business. I would also like to express my appreciation to Claudio for his great leadership transitioning and transforming the company over the last four years from the carve-out of ABB's Power Grids business through the Hitachi ABB Power Grids Joint Venture (JV) into Hitachi Energy, a fully-owned subsidiary of Hitachi Group", said Keiji Kojima, Representative Executive Officer, President & CEO of Hitachi, Ltd. I look forward to continuing to support Hitachi Energy's growth plan under the leadership of Andreas, and I wish Claudio all the best for the journey ahead."

"Following a planned transition and a thorough selection process, we have appointed Andreas Schierenbeck as the successor to Claudio Facchin", said Alistair Dormer, Chair of Hitachi Energy and Executive Vice President, Executive Officer and General Manager of Green Energy & Mobility Strategy Planning Division, Hitachi Ltd. "Claudio can be proud of his four years as CEO, and it has been a pleasure working with him during the past two years, supporting him and the Executive Team to deliver the transformation into Hitachi Energy, the leading power grids technology and solution provider. The Hitachi Energy 2030 growth plan centered around the commitment to continuously invest in innovation and partnerships to serve our customers is a solid foundation to build on, and I look forward to working with Andreas and the entire Hitachi Energy leadership team as we accelerate the delivery of the Hitachi Energy growth plan. Andreas' experience of delivering transformational growth across sectors will help Hitachi Energy to scale growth and synergies with Hitachi."

"It's been an honor and a privilege to lead the transition to Hitachi Energy, working alongside the Executive Team and the entire Hitachi Energy organization across the globe", said Claudio Facchin, CEO of Hitachi Energy. "The authentic passion and unwavering ownership of this team has been a limitless source of energy and motivation for me personally. Together with Hitachi teams, we have worked with customers and partners to advance the world's energy system to be more sustainable, flexible and secure. The extraordinary achievements of Hitachi Energy would not have been possible without the continuous support from Hitachi Group. I look forward to onboarding Andreas, together with the Executive Team and the Board of Hitachi Energy, until the handover on July 1, 2024."

"I am thrilled to embark on this journey as the new CEO of Hitachi Energy, steering the company towards new horizons in an era of transformation, where the demand for electricity is surging due to the rapid electrification of transport, buildings, and industries", said Andreas Schierenbeck. "It is a profound honor to lead an experienced team so deeply committed to quality, innovation and sustainability as we help our customers and society accelerate towards a greener future. Together, we will continue to expand Hitachi Energy's profitable business, ensuring that our collective efforts contribute significantly to a sustainable and electrified future."

Hitachi Energy to appoint Andreas Schierenbeck as new Chief Executive Officer

- End -

About Hitachi EnergyHitachi Energy is a global technology leader that is advancing a sustainable energy future for all. We serve customers in the utility, industry and infrastructure sectors with innovative solutions and services across the value chain. Together with customers and partners, we pioneer technologies and enable the digital transformation required to accelerate the energy transition towards a carbon-neutral future. We are advancing the world's energy system to become more sustainable, flexible and secure whilst balancing social, environmental and economic value. Hitachi Energy has a proven track record and unparalleled installed base in more than 140 countries. We integrate more than 150 GW of HVDC links into the power system, helping our customers enable more wind and solar. Headquartered in Switzerland, we employ more than 40,000 people in 90 countries and generate business volumes of over $10 billion USD.

https://www.hitachienergy.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/hitachienergy https://twitter.com/HitachiEnergy

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi drives Social Innovation Business, creating a sustainable society through the use of data and technology. We solve customers' and society's challenges with Lumada solutions leveraging IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products. Hitachi operates under the business structure of "Digital Systems & Services" - supporting our customers' digital transformation; "Green Energy & Mobility" - contributing to a decarbonized society through energy and railway systems, and "Connective Industries" - connecting products through digital technology to provide solutions in various industries. Driven by Digital, Green, and Innovation, we aim for growth through co-creation with our customers. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal year 2022 (ended March 31, 2023) totaled 10,881.1 billion yen, with 696 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 320,000 employees worldwide. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at https://www.hitachi.com.

Attachment

Global Media Relations Hitachi Energy [email protected]

Source: Hitachi Energy Ltd.
St. Louis, MO, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Interface Systems, a leading managed service provider of business security, actionable insights, and purpose-built networks for multi-location businesses, has moved its corporate headquarters to a new location in St Louis, MO.

Located at 1844 Lackland Hill Parkway in St. Louis, the new 22000-square-foot facility features a state-of-the-art iSOC (interactive security operation center) to help manage the 24/7 security monitoring operations of leading consumer-facing businesses across the US.

With open work areas that employees can pick and choose on the days when they work in the office, several talk rooms for informal meetings, and a layout designed to break down traditional hierarchical silos, the new facility has been specifically designed to accommodate the needs of a flexible workforce and promote collaboration.

"As Interface Systems continues to expand, we envision our new headquarters not just as a physical space but as a dynamic hub of innovation and collaboration. Our move to these new headquarters marks a milestone in our journey towards fostering a flexible, inclusive work environment where talent thrives and ideas flourish. With our state-of-the-art iSOC and versatile workspace design, we are not just redefining how we work; we are shaping the future of managed services for multi-location businesses across the nation," commented Brent Duncan, CEO of Interface Systems.

As the company continues its fast growth trajectory, Interface is always looking for talented individuals to join their team. To explore career opportunities, please visit: https://interfacesystems.com/join-our-team/careers/

Interface also has a head office and iSOC in Dallas, Texas, and regional offices in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

About Interface SystemsInterface Systems is a leading managed service provider of business security, actionable insights, and purpose-built networks for multi-location businesses. We enhance security, streamline connectivity, optimize operations, and reduce IT costs, maximizing ROI for the nations top brands. Learn more and follow us on our blog Making IT Happen and on LinkedIn.

Veronique Froment Interface Security Systems 6035379248 [email protected]

Source: Interface Security Systems
TORONTO, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Juno Corp. (Juno or the Company) and Marten Falls First Nation (MFFN) are pleased to announce a new cooperation agreement to foster economic participation opportunities and advance exploration and potential mining partnerships in Northern Ontarios Ring of Fire. The Exploration Agreement (the Agreement) was signed on March 6, 2024, in Toronto, Ontario between Chief Bruce Achneepineskum and Jacob McKinnon, President & COO of Juno.

Chief Achneepineskum of Marten Falls First Nation said, Marten Falls First Nation Chief and Council are pleased to announce with Juno an exploration agreement on Marten Falls First Nation traditional territory. It is the start of a productive and beneficial agreement that fosters goodwill and open engagement on exploration initiatives and issues.

Moving forward, the Agreement formalizes collaborations and strengthens the existing relationship between MFFN and Juno at both the strategic and working level. The agreement includes commitments to regular meetings; the establishment of a work group committee; and cooperation measures to mitigate any impacts from exploration activities on traditional lands. This Agreement signifies a common goal between the two parties to ensure that any future exploration and mining development increases economic participation for local First Nations people, and builds stability in the developing region.

Jacob McKinnon said, Juno is continuing its commitment to unlocking the tremendous economic potential of the Ring of Fire for the benefit of First Nations, the Province of Ontario, and the mineral industry in support of a green economy. Juno has a genuine desire to respect the traditional lands of the people of Marten Falls First Nation and carry forward with a principled and respectful approach to Indigenous engagement and partnerships. This is the start of a strong and positive relationship with Marten Falls First Nation which we will continue to foster throughout the life of this project.

On March 5, 2024, the Province of Ontario, Marten Falls First Nation and Webequie First Nation signed an agreement to develop community infrastructure projects that could support future development opportunities in the area, including building all-seasons roads. Juno would like to commend the Province of Ontario and both Marten Falls and Webequie First Nations for coming together to support this historic collaboration. These projects will help improve the well-being and readiness of the First Nations to participate fully in the construction of road projects that would connect the Ring of Fire with manufacturing hubs in the south, paving the way for made-in-Ontario supply chains for batteries and electric vehicles.

About Marten Falls First Nation

Marten Falls First Nation is a remote First Nation community led by an elected Chief and Council, located in the Far North of Ontario at the junction of the Albany and Ogoki Rivers, approximately 170 km northeast of Nakina, Ontario and 430 km northeast of Thunder Bay.

About Juno Corp.

Juno Corp. is a private critical mineral exploration company and the largest claimholder in the Ring of Fire with approximately 18,400 mineral claims covering 3,600 square kilometers. Juno has established what it believes to be respectful and inclusive working relationships with nearby First Nations communities and has signed exploration agreements with Marten Falls First Nation, Webequie First Nation, and Kasabonika Lake First Nation.

For more information please contact:Jacob McKinnon, President & COO, Juno Corp.[email protected](416) 864-6336

www.junocorp.com

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, including, but not limited to, the future exploration plans of Juno, the government of Ontarios infrastructure plan with respect to the Ring of Fire and the future interest in the Ring of Fire area. 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 based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is made, and is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Juno to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including risks associated with the exploration and development such as economic factors as they effect exploration, future commodity prices, actual results of development and exploration activities, government regulation, political or economic developments, environmental risks, permitting timelines, capital expenditures, operating or technical difficulties in connection with exploration and development activities, relations with First Nations, the speculative nature of exploration and development, contests over title to properties, and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined. Although Juno 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 information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Juno does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Source: Juno Corp.
NEW YORK, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LifeSci Search, a leading global executive search firm specializing in the healthcare sector, is proud to introduce its prestigious new advisory board. The board comprises distinguished experts and leaders with track records of significant achievements and contributions to the life sciences field. Members include:

Gaurav Shah, MD, CEO of Rocket Pharma, renowned for pioneering work in cell and gene therapies.

Campbell Murray, MD, MBA, Partner at Agent Capital, has extensive experience in investment and board responsibilities within the life sciences sector.

Faith Charles, JD, a leading corporate transactions and securities partner, heading Thompson Hine's Life Sciences practice.

Yaron Daniely, PhD, MBA, General Partner at aMoon, known for transforming academic research into groundbreaking technologies.

Karen Smith, MD, PhD, MBA, LLM, Chief Medical Officer, Chief Executive Officer, and Board member with a vast background in clinical development, global product launches, and medical affairs.

Amanda Kurihara, CHRO at 89Bio, an expert in fostering inclusive company cultures and enhancing employee experience in the biotech industry.

This strategic move bolsters LifeSci Search's mission of delivering exceptional leadership talent to businesses, leveraging a foundation built on trust, resourcefulness, and unparalleled expertise, said Matt Toner, CEO of LifeSci Search.

The advisory board will serve as a cornerstone for LifeSci Search, offering invaluable insights, trends, and strategic guidance to reinforce the firms service offerings.

Dr. Karen Smith, a foundation member, said, I look forward to contributing my expertise and working closely with LifeSci Search to match exceptional talent with businesses poised to transform patient outcomes."

This collaboration is poised to enhance LifeSci Search's credibility and influence in the life sciences sector, further cementing its position as a trusted partner for companies seeking transformative leadership.

Toner added, "The life sciences industry is undergoing transformative changes that will redefine talent acquisition. With our advisory board's insight, we aim to lead in navigating these shifts."

About LifeSci Search:

LifeSci Search is a global executive search firm that prides itself on a personalized approach to talent acquisition. Specializing in the life sciences industry, LifeSci Search is driven by a commitment to excellence, trust, and a deep understanding of the unique needs and aspirations of the businesses and leaders it serves. Through its bespoke services, LifeSci Search aims to deliver unparalleled leadership solutions that drive growth and success.

For media inquiries and more information about the LifeSci Search Advisory Board, please contact:

Matt TonerChief Executive OfficerLifeSci Search[email protected]

Source: LifeSci Search
MAPS, which celebrates its 38th anniversary on April 8, 2024, will celebrate with a total solar eclipse at the Texas Eclipse 2024 festival outside of Austin, Texas.

Festival highlights include over 300 musical artists, an immersive art installation by Meow Wolf, and programming on science, technology, AI, wellness, and psychedelics.

The event will also feature a Psychedelic Speakers Series curated by MAPS and a camping area for MAPS supporters.

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) is excited to announce its collaboration with Texas Eclipse 2024 for its 38th anniversary celebration. Texas Eclipse 2024 is an immersive music, art, and technology festival produced by award-winning global promoter Disco Donnie Presents (DDP) and experiential event company Probably Nothing. The event takes place from April 5 to April 9 in Burnet, Texas, close to the total solar eclipses path of totality. MAPS 38th anniversary, celebrating its founding on April 8, 1984, coincides with the last total solar eclipse that will be visible in the contiguous US for another 20 years. With the totality expected to last for over 4 minutes and 20 seconds, the heavens are coming together to make a very special occasion.

Texas Eclipse 2024 will transform Reveille Peak Ranch (one hour from Austin, Texas) into Eclipse Village, a sanctuary for music, creativity, inspiration, and cultural exchange. The event will bring together leading space, tech, AI experts, science and wellness thought leaders, futurists, and immersive art, creating a stimulating environment for intellectual exploration. The festival boasts a multi-genre music lineup with world-renowned artists performing on six distinct stages, including iconic jam band String Cheese Incident and Grammy-nominated indie/electronic artist Tycho. Festival-goers can also dive into wellness experiences, including yoga, movement, tranquil spa areas, and an immersive experience created by Meow Wolf.

2023 was filled with momentous moments for MAPS, including the largely successful Psychedelic Science 2023 conference and the steady progress toward FDA approval for MDMA assisted-therapy for PTSD. After a year of diligent and hard work, the organization feels this anniversary celebration will be extra special. The collaboration with Texas Eclipse will feature MAPS 38th Anniversary Psychedelic Speaker Series with MAPS Founder and President Rick Doblin, Ph.D., Allyson Grey & Alex Grey, Sutton King, Paul Stamets, and more! Within the Eclipse Village, there will also be a Friends of MAPS camping area, providing a unique space for MAPS supporters to camp together.

"MAPS is proud to partner with Texas Eclipse to celebrate our 38th anniversary. We couldnt have planned for a more monumental event to be happening on the day our organization was created in 1986. This event will give us an opportunity to educate, commune, and celebrate with a community weve been a part of for just shy of 40 years.

- Shari Boyer, Director of Marketing, MAPS

The stars have truly aligned to make this MAPS biggest anniversary celebration yet. Full information about the event can be found on the Texas Eclipse website. To receive a 10% discount and join the Friends of MAPS camp, use code MAPS38 at checkout. More information about the Friends of MAPS camp can be found here.

ABOUT MAPSFounded in 1986, MAPS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and educational organization that develops medical, legal, and cultural contexts for people to benefit from the careful uses of psychedelics and marijuana. MAPS previously sponsored the most advanced psychedelic-assisted therapy research in the world and continues to support psychedelic and marijuana research with a focus on the people and places most impacted by trauma. MAPS incubated Lykos Therapeutics, a drug-development public benefit company, and The Zendo Project, a leader in psychedelic harm reduction.

Source: Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)
Company is advancing mitochondriotropic therapeutic pipeline for rare neuromuscular disorders and neurodegenerative diseases

OXFORD, United Kingdom, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MitoRx Therapeutics (MitoRx), a biotechnology company developing novel therapeutics that reverse mitochondrial dysfunction to arrest the progression of degenerative diseases, announces the appointment of four distinguished international experts to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB): Caroline Le Guiner PhD, Milos Filipovic PhD, Professor Phil Hansbro PhD, and Professor Annemieke Aartsma-Rus.



Dr. Jon Rees, Chief Executive Officer of MitoRx, said, We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Le Guiner, Dr. Filipovic, Professor Hansbro, and Professor Aartsma-Rus, to our Scientific Advisory Board. These accomplished scientists bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in gene therapy, chemical biology, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and respiratory research, bolstering our efforts in developing transformative treatments for degenerative diseases with the world's only mitochondrial platform restoring sulfide-signaling."

Dr. Caroline Le Guiner is a renowned preclinical expert and team leader at the TaRGeT lab (Translational Research for Gene Therapy, INSERM, Nantes Universite and University Hospital of Nantes) in Nantes, France, who has over two decades of experience in translational research focused on gene therapy for rare muscular diseases, playing a pivotal role in coordinating international networks aimed at developing therapeutic solutions for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).

Dr. Milos Filipovic is a distinguished researcher with expertise in chemical biology who brings his wealth of experience in cysteine post-translational modifications and their implications in aging and aging-associated diseases. Having led research groups at prestigious institutions such as the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Leibniz Institute for Analytical Sciences in Dortmund, Dr. Filipovic's insights will be invaluable in advancing MitoRx's understanding of redox changes in cellular signaling.

Professor Phil Hansbro is a globally recognized authority in respiratory research. As Director of the Centenary/UTS Centre for Inflammation, he has made significant contributions to the identification of novel treatments for chronic lung diseases. His extensive publication record and track record in securing research funding underscore his expertise in this field. He led the presentation of research at the 10th Annual Meeting of the International Cytokine and Interferon Society which showed MitoRxs compounds provided an anti-fibrotic effect and preserved lung function in a COPD model.

Professor Annemieke Aartsma-Rus is professor of translational genetics at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). She has a visiting professorship at the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Center at the UKs Newcastle University. In 2016 & 2017 she was elected as the most influential scientist in the field of Duchenne muscular dystrophy based on publications of the past decade. In 2014 she was accepted in the Jonge Akademie (Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences), consisting of the 50 most prominent scientists of under 45.

The companys first-in-class mitochondriotropic therapeutic pipeline is aimed at restoring the function of sulfide-signaling, which targets mitochondria dysfunction linked to the progression of rare diseases such as the neuromuscular disorder DMD, the neurodegenerative disorder Huntingtons disease (HD), and has also been implicated in common neurodegenerative diseases.

The Companys promising preclinical results validate its platform in a mammalian model of severe neuromuscular disease, which is extendable to other degenerative diseases, and additional evidence has been generated in a mammalian respiratory disease model through its academic collaborators.

A recent seed extension financing round was backed by a broad range of investors, and the company expects to see preclinical readouts in DMD and HD by the end of Q2 2024.

Company Contact (MitoRx)

Jon Rees, CEO

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +44(0)7826 556622

Media Contact (Scius Communications)

Katja Stout, Managing Partner

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +44(0)7789 435990

About MitoRx Therapeutics

At MitoRx our mission is to become the leading global developer of medicines arresting the progression of degenerative diseases driven by mitochondrial dysfunction. We are a preclinical stage biotechnology company developing our first-in-class first-in-target, orally delivered, mitochondriotropic therapeutics targeting rare neuromuscular disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.

Located in Harwell, Oxford, we have raised 4m seed financing from investors including the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund, Wren Capital, Longevitytech.fund, the Fink Family Office, the Science Angel Syndicate Network, Oxford Technology Management, as well as angel investors. For more information visit our website at www.mitorxtherapeutics.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
Reykjavik Energy (RE; Orkuveita Reykjavikur) financial position according to the 2023 financial statements is a promising start for the transformation projects that the company and Icelandic society are facing. This is according to Svar Freyr rainsson, CEO, who is implementing the companys new overall strategy and introducing a new organisational structure.

Profit but High Financial Costs

Reykjavik Energy operated with a profit of ISK 6.4 billion in 2023, and the year's investments amounted to ISK 29.2 billion. The consolidated annual financial statements of RE were approved by the Board of Directors today. In addition to the parent company, RE includes Veitur Utilities, ON Power, Reykjavik Fibre Network, and Carbfix. Revenues increased by 10.1% year-on-year, EBITDA by 3.8% but cash flow from operations almost stand still. Interest expenses increased by 29.7% between 2022 and 2023, with most of the borrowed capital sourced from the domestic market.

The BoD proposes to the annual meeting that a dividend of ISK six billion be paid, with ISK two billion being conditional upon the plans to sell shares in Reykjavik Fibre Network and Carbfix.

The consolidated annual financial statements of Reykjavik Energy are made in accordance with IFRS standards and contain, for the first time, accounting in accordance with the EUs Taxonomy directive. Reykjavik Energy also issues its 2023 Green Finance Allocation and Impact Report today with auditors assurance.

A Turning Point

Significant changes were in Reykjavik Energys leadership in 2023, and late in the year, the BoD approved for its part a new overall strategy. Svar Freyr rainsson took over the CEO position almost a year ago and says the new strategy marks a turning point. He states that energy transition is both one of the biggest and most important challenges in the history of mankind but also complex and urgent. "Energy transition does not adequately describe the opportunities that we as a society possess," says Svar Freyr. "It's about changing production methods, transportation, general lifestyles, and finding new ways to propel societies forward to greater success  in harmony with nature. We at Reykjavik Energy are ready to take on the challenges that Iceland and the whole world face," says Svar Freyr rainsson, CEO.

Alongside introducing the new strategy, Reykjavik Energys brand has been updated, and a new organisational structure of REs parent company has been introduced to staff.

Leading in Climate Issues

In 2023, Reykjavik Energy took leadership among companies in climate issues. RE now has an A- rating from the international Carbon Disclosure Project. Furthermore, the Science Based Targets initiative has confirmed that REs climate goals align with the Paris Agreement's objectives. Yesterday, Reykjavik Energy celebrated that its climate accounting, which is done according to the international ISO-14064-1 standard, received international independent certification. This is the first time an Icelandic company has received such wide recognition of the validity of its climate accounting.

Still, most of REs greenhouse gas emissions originate in the steam utilised in the power plants in the Hengill area, but the capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide at Nesjavellir began last year. By 2025, emissions from the Hellisheii Power Plant will be negligible. The goal is to achieve net-zero targets for own operations by 2030 and for the supply chain by 2040.

Price Changes in Licensed Services

The graph attached shows the development of the tariff for licensed services of Reykjavik Energy, operated by Veitur Utilities. Combined, they have decreased significantly in real terms since it became mandatory to unbundle energy operations. The consumer price index is shown as a flat line, and the tariff development from the beginning of 2014 is measured against it.

Integrated Annual Report Issued

The Annual Report of Reykjavik Energy 2023 is published alongside the financial statements. It provides a detailed account of REs operations last year, including environmental aspects, social aspects, governance, and various critical financial metrics. The Report is audited by independent parties and signed by the CEO and BoD. It can be found at annualreport2023.or.is .





Attached files:

RE Consolidated Financial Statements 2023 on pdf-format.

RE Green Finance Impact Report 2023

Zip-file containing RE Consolidated Financial Statements 2023 on ESEF-format.

XHTML-viewer file.

Contact:

Svar Freyr rainsson

CEO

[email protected]



Attachments
Saxophones are known for their sultry, smooth tones, from almost whistling highs to brassy lows. One alone can play a wide variety of genres and songs, but four in an ensemble open up a world of possibilities.

That is the premise behind the Columbus Friends of Music's next musical guests: The Sinta Quartet. Soprano Saxophonist Dan Graser said that variety is what makes their music special and it's why people should come to the March 8 show at 7 p.m. at the Nantkes Performing Arts Center.

"It's got a beautiful, powerful sound, and it kind of fuses a lot of the great sounds you would equate with classical music. It's got that string quartet sort of intimacy to it, but it's also got the power and brashness of like, a really great horn section from a funk band or a jazz band, so it's a very different tone and sound to what people are used to," Graser said.

Friends of Music Executive Director Kirsten Ritter said that when they were deciding on artists to bring to town, she was impressed at the Sinta Quartet's virtuosic playing.

"This group really fills the classic music style. Last year we brought a pianist, but we didn't this year," Ritter said. "This group fills the same space  the instruments are playing in a classical style, but what I really like about them is they don't just play classical style."

They play a wide variety of styles and songs entirely from memory. As it turns out, a lot of musical arrangements can fit a saxophone ensemble.

"What defines a classical saxophone quartet is versatility. The first repertoire for sax quartets started getting written in 1930's and theres a lot of really great modern music for it, but a lot of the great classics of the string quartet and chamber music work perfectly on sax as well," Graser said.

They try to have a little fun during their shows as well. On top of playing from memory, the group likes to talk to the audience during the performance.

The group got its start at the University of Michigan saxophone studio. In 1960, the Michigan Symphony Band had toured in the Soviet Republic at the height of the Cold War. For the 50th anniversary they wanted to do another tour, and chose China in 2010. Donald Sinta, an instructor at the university and the group's namesake, wanted a sax quartet to be a part of that and auditions were held for the group. The players who went realized they liked working together and the rest is history, Graser said.

"There was some high-level stuff going on and we really enjoyed it, so we started doing classical competitions after that," Graser said. "In 2013 we won a competition and the Concert Artists Guild gave us professional management, so we had a really nice breakout into the classical chamber music world and have been at it ever since."

Ritter said that the artists the Friends of Music bring to Columbus are integral to the cultural life of the area, both in the present and the future. Everyone will enjoy listening to the music, she said, but some may find inspiration in it beyond that.

"It's especially important for students in town who play saxophone. Maybe they've never heard it played at this level live," Ritter said. "Here's an opportunity to see these folks out there, professional musicians playing the same instruments these students play in band and they may not even realize they could turn into a career like this."

Those with season tickets may get into the even as normal. Those without can get tickets for the show at the door for $25 for adults or $10 for students. More information is available at concertassociation.net/columbusne.
NEW YORK, March 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces an investigation of potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of JBS S.A. (OTC: JBSAY) resulting from allegations that JBS may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public.



SO WHAT: If you purchased JBS securities you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. The Rosen Law Firm is preparing a class action seeking recovery of investor losses.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the prospective class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=22976 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] for information on the class action.

WHAT IS THIS ABOUT: On February 28, 2024, Reuters published an article entitled New York sues meatpacking giant JBS over climate claims. The article stated, in pertinent part, that JBS, the worlds largest beef producer, was sued on Wednesday by New York states attorney general, which accused it of misleading the public about its impact on the environment in order to boost sales. Attorney General Letitia James said JBS USA Food Co, the Brazilian companys American-based unit, has no viable plan to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, making its stated commitment to achieving that goal false and misleading.

On this news, the price of JBS American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) went down by $0.22 per ADR, or 2.38%, to close at $9.02 on February 28, 2024.

WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs Bar. Many of the firms attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Contact Information:



Laurence Rosen, Esq.

Phillip Kim, Esq.

The Rosen Law Firm, P.A.

275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor

New York, NY 10016

Tel: (212) 686-1060

Toll Free: (866) 767-3653

Fax: (212) 202-3827

[email protected]

www.rosenlegal.com
NEW YORK, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, is investigating potential claims against New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYCB or the Company) (NYSE: NYCB) and reminds investors of the April 8, 2024 deadline to seek the role of lead plaintiff in a federal securities class action that has been filed against the Company.



Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP Securities Litigation Partner James (Josh) Wilson Encourages Investors Who Suffered Losses Exceeding $100,000 In NYCB To Contact Him Directly To Discuss Their Options

If you suffered losses exceeding $100,000 investing in NYCB stock or options between March 1, 2023 and February 5, 2024 and would like to discuss your legal rights, call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310). You may also click here for additional information: www.faruqilaw.com/NYCB.

Faruqi & Faruqi is a leading national securities law firm with offices in New York, Pennsylvania, California and Georgia. The firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors since its founding in 1995. See www.faruqilaw.com.

As detailed below, the complaint alleges that the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by making false and/or misleading statements and/or failing to disclose that: (i) the Signature Bank acquisition would not be immediately accretive to New York Community Bancorp because it caused New York Community Bancorp to be required to comply with materially enhanced prudential standards, including, among other things, risk-based and leverage capital requirements, and liquidity standards, and required that New York Community Bancorp build capital, reinforce its balance sheet and strengthen its risk management processes; (ii) New York Community Bancorp failed to comply with the materially enhanced prudential standards; (iii) New York Community Bancorp overstated the quality of its commercial office loan assets; (iv) New York Community Bancorp was experiencing higher net charge-offs and deterioration in its commercial office portfolio than represented; (v) New York Community Bancorp was reasonably likely to incur higher loan losses because it was experiencing higher net charge-offs and deterioration in its commercial office portfolio; (vi) New York Community Bancorp was reasonably likely to be forced to increase its allowance for credit losses due to its status as Category IV bank; (vii) New York Community Bancorp's loan loss provisions were understated so it overstated quarterly earnings and/or understated quarterly losses; and (viii) New York Community Bancorp failed to have adequate internal risk or disclosure controls and procedures.

On January 31, 2024, New York Community Bancorp disclosed that it had recorded a $552 million provision for loan losses, up significantly from the $62 million reported just one quarter earlier, and that as a result, New York Community Bancorp had incurred a 4Q23 loss of $252 million, or $0.36 per share, down significantly from a profit of $0.27 per share Wall Street consensus estimate. New York Community Bancorp also disclosed it would cut its quarterly dividend from $0.17 to $0.05 per share. On this news, the price of New York Community Bancorp stock fell nearly 38%.

Then, on February 5, 2024, Bloomberg reported, citing "people with direct knowledge of the matter," that it had been "mounting pressure from a top US watchdog" that "led to" New York Community Bancorp's "surprise decision to slash its dividend and stockpile cash in case commercial real estate loans [went] bad." According to the Bloomberg article, "[t]he drastic financial moves . . . followed behind-the-scenes conversations with officials from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the people said, asking not to be identified describing the confidential discussions." On this news, the price of New York Community Bancorp stock fell more than 22%.

The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class who is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff or not.

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding NYCBs conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others.

Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (www.faruqilaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4bde5a72-f32e-4aaf-9187-2830bc82c5a2
TORONTO, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stack Capital Group Inc., (Stack Capital or the Company) (TSX: STCK and STCK.WT) today announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2023. Stack Capital reports all amounts in Canadian Dollars unless otherwise stated.

Company Commentary:

As at December 31, 2023, Book Value per Share (BVpS) of the Company was $10.91, compared with $11.30 as at September 30, 2023. During Q4, currency fluctuations resulted in a $0.19 drag to BVpS. As of today, the US dollar has recovered, thereby reversing the $0.19 decrease in BVpS.

Stack Capital increased its exposure to Locus Robotics through a share-swap transaction issuing 273,501 Stack Capital common shares, at $11.30 per share, which closed on March 4, 2024.

The Companys cash position as at December 31, 2023, was $25.1 million or $2.80 per share.

To date, the Company has completed eight investments contributing $8.13 per share as at December 31, 2023, into the following: SpaceX (space exploration & communications) Omio, Inc. (travel & leisure) Hopper, Inc. (travel & leisure) Locus Robotics, Inc. (robotics) Newfront Insurance, Inc. (insurance & benefits) Prove Identity, Inc. (cyber-security) Bolt Financial, Inc. (e-commerce) Varo Money, Inc. (neo-banking)

During Q4-2022, the Company announced a normal course issuer bid to buy back its outstanding common shares which it believes to be undervalued. During 2023, 201,900 common shares were repurchased at an average price of $6.49 per share.

During 2023, the Company invested additional capital into Omio, an existing portfolio company. This subsequent Omio investment is already up 40% from the purchase date.

I believe that this is one of the most exciting times to invest in growth and late-stage private markets, and Stack is ready to capitalize given its advantageous cash position of $25 million. With the IPO market beginning to show signs of re-opening, we believe that high-quality private companies will be some of the first to list. Were optimistic that some of our existing portfolio companies fit that profile, and represent excellent candidates for future liquidity events, said Jeff Parks, CEO of Stack Capital.

Q4-2023 Highlights

As at December 31, 2023, the Book Value of the Company was $97.7 million, and the Book Value per Share was $10.91. A detailed summary of Book Value per Share is as follows:

Breakdown of Book Value per Share as at December 31, 2023: Cash $ 2.80 Investment  SpaceXi 1.34 Investment  Omio, Inc.ii 1.22 Investment  Hopper Inc. 1.19 Investment  Locus Robotics, Inc. 1.18 Investment  Newfront Insurance, Inc. 1.18 Investment  Prove Identity Inc.iii 1.13 Investment  Bolt Financial, Inc. 0.55 Investment  Varo Money, Inc. 0.33 Net other assets (0.01 ) Book Value per Share $ 10.91

i the Company invested in units of FNEX Ventures LLC  Series 103 which is primarily invested into Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX).ii the Company invested in shares of GoEuro Corp. which carries on business as Omio. iii the fair value of Prove Identity Inc. includes an unrealized deferred gain of $939,349.

SpaceX achieved a valuation of $180 billion from a secondary tender offer run by SpaceX resulting in an increase in Stack Capitals Book Value per Share by $0.19.

Stack Capital adjusted Bolt Financials valuation down by $0.34 for the year ended December 31, 2023 due to recently updated financial information provided by Bolt Financial.

Prove raised $40 million from MassMutual and Capital One in its latest series of funding to focus on the next phase of growth.

Stack Capitals investment in a secondary transaction of Omio resulted in a Book Value per Share increase of $0.08 during Q4-2024, illustrating Stacks ability to acquire shares at an attractive price.

Given Stack Capital has the majority of its assets in US dollars, the Company experienced a decrease in its Book Value per Share of $0.19 in Q4-2023 due to the weakened US dollar. Since year-end, the US dollar has strengthened; as such, as of today, Stack Capital has recovered more than $0.19 in BVpS.

About Stack Capital

Stack Capital is an investment holding company and its business objective is to invest in equity, debt and/or other securities of growth-to-late-stage private businesses. Through Stack Capital, shareholders have the opportunity to gain exposure to a diversified private investment portfolio; participate in the private market; and have liquidity due to the listing of the Common Shares and Warrants on the TSX. At the same time, the public structure also allows the Company to focus its efforts on maximizing long-term performance through a portfolio of high growth businesses, which are not widely available to most Canadian investors. SC Partners Ltd. (the Manager) has taken the initiative in creating the Company and acts as the Company's administrator and is responsible to source and advise with respect to all investments for the Company.

For more information, please visit our website at www.stackcapitalgroup.com or contact:Brian ViveirosVP, Corporate Development, and Investor Relations647.280.3307[email protected]

Non-IFRS Financial Measures

This press release may make reference to the following financial measures which are not recognized under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and which do not have a standard meaning prescribed by IFRS:

Book Value - the aggregate fair value of the assets of the Company on the referenced date, less the aggregate carrying value of the liabilities, excluding any deferred taxes or unrealized deferred gains or losses if applicable, of the Company; and

- the aggregate fair value of the assets of the Company on the referenced date, less the aggregate carrying value of the liabilities, excluding any deferred taxes or unrealized deferred gains or losses if applicable, of the Company; and Book Value per Share (BVpS) - the Book Value on the referenced day divided by the aggregate number of Common Shares that are outstanding on such day.

The Companys Book Value and Book Value per Share is a measure of the performance of the Company as a whole. The Companys method of determining this financial measure may differ from other issuers methods and, accordingly, this amount may not be comparable to measures used by other issuers. This financial measure is not a performance measure as defined under IFRS and should not be considered either in isolation of, or as a substitute for, net earnings per share prepared in accordance with IFRS.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information. Such forward-looking statements or information are provided for the purpose of providing information about managements current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Any such forward-looking information may be identified by words such as proposed, expects, intends, may, will, and similar expressions. Forward-looking information contained or referred to in this press release includes, but may not be limited to the business of Stack Capital and the risks associated therewith, including those identified in the Annual Information Filing under the heading Risk Factors.

Forward-looking statements or information are based on a number of factors and assumptions which have been used to develop such statements and information, but which may prove to be incorrect. Although Stack Capital believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements because Stack Capital can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, the ability to capitalize on investment opportunities. The forward-looking information in this press release reflects the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of Stack Capital based on information currently available to Stack Capital.

Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Stack Capital disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or results or otherwise. The forward-looking statements or information contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Source: Stack Capital Group Inc.
Atlanta, GA., March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The King Center joins the King Family, civil rights leaders, and cultivators of the Beloved Community in mourning the loss of Naomi Barber King, the wife of the late Rev. Alfred Daniel Williams King, the brother of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Naomi King passed today at age 92.

Naomi King married Rev. A.D. King in 1950 and faithfully stood by his side as he and his brother organized and successfully implemented nonviolent civil rights campaigns that changed the world. She bravely endured the bombings of their Birmingham, Alabama home and one of the churches her husband pastored in Louisville, Kentucky. She continued to support Rev. A.D. King until his untimely death in 1969, which she publicly labeled, a murder.

Naomi King was a strong supporter of The King Centers founder, Mrs. Coretta Scott King after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Through lifes struggles, adversity, and the unexpected deaths of three of her five children, Naomi King persevered working in The King Center Bookstore, The King Center Archives, and as one of Mrs. Coretta Scott Kings travel companions and assistants. As a manager of The King Center Bookstore, her presence made her an unofficial greeter and ambassador for The King Center as visitors valued her acquaintance and firsthand knowledge of the civil rights movement and the King family.

In 2008, Naomi King founded the A.D. King Foundation to keep Rev. A.D. Kings memory alive and focus on youth and women empowerment, and nonviolent social change strategies as a way of life with entrepreneurship at its core. She continued her work with youth at The King Center serving 10 years as a consistent panelist for Students with King. The students were often intrigued by her presence and were always eager to ask her personal questions about the King family and her relationship with Dr. and Mrs. King. Students with King is The King Centers flagship initiative for K through 12 students that introduces the philosophy of Kingian nonviolence and offers programs that empower teachers to introduce the King Legacy into their classrooms.

In 2014, Naomi King published a book entitled "A D and ML King: Two Brothers Who Dared to Dream."

The King Family will announce homegoing celebration plans in the next few days.

About The King Center

The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (The King Center) is a 501(c) (3) organization established in 1968 by Mrs. Coretta Scott King. The King Center is the official living memorial and programmatic nonprofit organization committed to educating the world on the life, legacy, and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The King Center serves to inspire new generations to carry forward his unfinished work, strengthen causes and empower change-makers who are continuing his efforts today. The King Centers premiere educational initiative, Nonviolence365, is based on Dr. Kings nonviolent philosophy and methodology. His teachings engage participants from various sectors of society, including emerging and next-generation leaders, in modules and exercises that enhance communication, leadership, interpersonal, and conflict reconciliation skills, as well as empower individuals to address injustice.

Attachment

Mina Bryant The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change 770-722-3071 [email protected]

Source: The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change
The market momentum has already rotated into cyclicals, according to analysts at Bank of America.The investment bank explained in its ...
The R.AI.SE Summit, a gathering of 1,500 global leaders and generative AI pioneers, is heading to the prestigious Westin Paris Vendome in Paris, France. Set for April 8, 2024, the landmark conference will bring together the corporate world and the top artificial intelligence builders to share first-hand insights on using generative AI to address essential business and societal challenges. The full-day Summit will feature over 90 expert speakers and 100 partners. It looks to welcome attendees with an array of keynotes, panels and workshops delving into the latest advancements and applications of generative AI. AVEVA is committed to harnessing the power of all types of artificial intelligence, machine learning, advanced analytics and generative capabilities to build comprehensive digital ecosystems that boost collaboration, enable higher efficiency and drive competitive advantage, Caspar Herzberg, CEO of AVEVA and board member of Schneider Electric, said of the event. At R.AI.SE, we are pleased to share how leading companies are using such technologies, including generative AI, to shape a more sustainable future for global industries.

To view the full press release, visit https://ccw.fm/ui2GB

About The R.AI.SE Summit

The R.AI.SE Summit is a cutting-edge gathering of 1,500+ global leaders dedicated to exploring the transformative power of generative AI on businesses. Organized by the company behind Paris Blockchain Week, the full-day conference features a buzzing agenda, workshops, exhibitions and networking to bring together some of the brightest minds in the artificial intelligence industry in person in Paris, France. Learn more at https://www.raisesummit.com.

About CryptoCurrencyWire

CryptoCurrencyWire (CCW) is a specialized communications platform with a focus on blockchain and the cryptocurrency sector. It is one of 60+ brands within the Dynamic Brand Portfolio @ IBN that delivers: (1) access to a vast network of wire solutions via InvestorWire to efficiently and effectively reach a myriad of target markets, demographics and diverse industries; (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ outlets; (3) enhanced press release enhancement to ensure maximum impact; (4) social media distribution via IBN to millions of social media followers; and (5) a full array of tailored corporate communications solutions. With broad reach and a seasoned team of contributing journalists and writers, CCW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that want to reach a wide audience of investors, influencers, consumers, journalists and the general public. By cutting through the overload of information in todays market, CCW brings its clients unparalleled recognition and brand awareness. CCW is where breaking news, insightful content and actionable information converge.

To receive SMS alerts from CryptoCurrencyWire, text CRYPTO to 888-902-4192 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only)

For more information, please visit https://www.CryptoCurrencyWire.com

Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the CryptoCurrencyWire website applicable to all content provided by CCW, wherever published or re-published: https://www.CryptoCurrencyWire.com/Disclaimer

CryptoCurrencyWire

New York, NY

www.CryptoCurrencyWire.com

212.994.9818 Office

[email protected]

CryptoCurrencyWire is powered by IBN
Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - AGP LLP, recognized for its proficiency in criminal law, has recently achieved a notable outcome in a complex and high-profile criminal case in Ottawa/Montreal. This result highlights AGP LLP's dedication to legal excellence and justice.

Demonstration of Legal Expertise

The firm's team, known for their expertise and dedication, effectively navigated through the complexities of the legal system in this case. Their strategic approach, comprehensive investigation, and customized defense strategies contributed to the positive outcome. The resolution of this case, marked by intricate legal challenges and public attention, showcases AGP LLP's depth of understanding in criminal law. This achievement has been acknowledged by legal publications, including Best Lawyers and Canadian Lawyer Magazine, recognizing AGP LLP among the top criminal law boutiques in Ottawa/Montreal.

Client-Centered Legal Approach

Led by partner Oliver Abergel, C.S., AGP LLP emphasizes a proactive and empathetic approach to legal representation. "This outcome reflects our team's dedication and strategic efforts in defending our clients' rights and freedoms," Abergel noted. The firm prioritizes understanding and addressing the unique needs of each client throughout the legal process.

In addition to courtroom success, AGP LLP is committed to supporting assault victims, advocating for their rights, and providing comprehensive legal representation to navigate their challenges. The firm focuses on seeking justice, holding perpetrators accountable, and supporting clients' recovery processes.

About AGP LLP

For two decades, AGP LLP in Ottawa has been a steadfast advocate in criminal law, committed to the belief that everyone deserves dedicated legal representation. The firm handles a broad spectrum of criminal cases, ensuring personalized and rigorous defense for all clients.

Contact Information

I Website: https://www.agpllp.ca/

I Phone: +1 613-235-9779

I Email: [email protected]

I Address: 116 Lisgar Street, Suite 200, Ottawa, ON K2P 0C2

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200431
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 6, 2024) - Atomic Minerals Corporation (TSXV: ATOM) ("Atomic" or the "Company") - Further to the Company's news release on February 5, 2024 in which it entered into a letter of intent to acquire an extensive uranium land package, consisting of nine properties totaling just under 6,500 hectares within very close proximity to the Athabasca Basin in Northern Saskatchewan (the "Property"), the Company is pleased to announce it has signed an Asset Purchase Agreement (the "Purchase Agreement") with the vendors of the Property. The Purchase Agreement remains subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange").

Terms of the Acquisition

The Company purchased the Property from arm's length vendors in exchange for the following:

a payment of $100,000 due within five days of Exchange approval;

issuance of 6,000,000 common shares in the capital of the Company (the " Shares ") within five days of Exchange approval; and

a second payment of $100,000 due on the 6-month anniversary of Exchange approval.

There is a 2% NSR on any future production. The Company can reduce the NSR to 1% through a $1,000,000 cash payment.

All Shares issued pursuant to the Purchase Agreement will be restricted from trading for four months and one day after issuance.

Two of the Project properties lie proximally or close to known deposits and a third hosts a 1957 historic resource. Highlights from the property package include:

Bleasdell Lake - host to a 1957 historic resource of 620,700 pounds of U 3 O 8 contained within two zones.

Parks Lake - 3 km to SE of historic Rabbit Lake Mine and 2 km to 4km E to NE of Uranium Energy Corp.'s Horseshoe and Raven deposits.

Pistol Lake - completely surrounded by Cameco and 600 metres north of their Sand Lake deposit.

The 1957 Bleasdell Lake historic resource was disclosed in a shareholder report for Columbia Metals Exploration Co. Ltd. dated November 9, 1957 (the "Shareholder Report"). There is no technical report. The historic resource is relevant to the potential of the Bleasdell Lake property and is reliable as it was calculated to the standards of the day. The estimate was based on closely spaced shallow drill holes and more widely spaced deeper drill holes. The calculations, methods or parameters were not disclosed in the Shareholder Report. The resource would be comparable to a current inferred resource. There are no more recent estimates though subsequent geologists visited the Property in the 1960's and 1970's, confirming the showings and the drilling was completed. The Company will need to twin a significant number of the historic drill holes to upgrade or verify the historical estimate as current mineral resources.

A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. Therefore, Atomic is not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource.

Atomic CEO Clive Massey commented: "With this Saskatchewan acquisition, Atomic now holds significant land positions in the two largest producing North American uranium districts, the Athabasca Basin and the Colorado Plateau. While the Bleasdell Lake historic resource may turn out to be the jewel, both Parks Lake and Pistol Lake hold significant exploration potential given Pistol Lake is mere meters away from Cameco's 5,000,000 pound Sand Lake1 discovery. Our technical team is currently reviewing the data rooms for the various projects with the objective of generating drill targets for near term diamond drilling."





Figure 1. The Saskatchewan Project Locations



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10252/200773_ebe78d58e4960b4a_002full.jpg



Table 1. The Saskatchewan Project Tenures

Title Number Claim Name Effective Date Good To Date Area (ha) MC00017797 Carswell 10/26/2023 1/24/2026 556.60 MC00017923 Baby Loon 11/21/2023 2/19/2026 859.67 MC00017924 Astleford 11/21/2023 2/19/2026 579.14 MC00017989 Tuma 12/4/2023 3/4/2026 705.48 MC00018301 Archie 1/11/2024 4/11/2026 263.55 MC00018463 Big Sardine 1/17/2024 4/17/2026 2760.27 MC00018466 Horn 1/17/2024 4/17/2026 515.93 S-111700 Pistol 11/25/2010 2/22/2024 225.00 S-112000 Parks 12/3/2010 3/1/2024 33.00 Total





6498.65

A brief summary of each of the nine claims is as follows:

Bleasdell Lake lies to the east of the Athabasca Basin, 95 kilometres southwest of Lynn Lake, Manitoba. Exploration in the late 1950's discovered two uranium bearing pegmatite dykes on the west shore of Bleasdell Lake. The 400 metre Horn Zone hosted zones of 90 metres of 0.12% U3O8 over 2.56 metres and 0.062% U 3 O 8 over 1.21 metres, while drill width intersections over the entire 400 metre ranged from 0.091% U 3 O 8 over 1.86 metres to 0.2025% U 3 O 8 over 2.99 metres. There is little information on the Jackpine Zone located 450 metres along strike to the northwest. The sampling, trenching and diamond drilling defined a 1957 historic resource of 620,700 pounds of U 3 O 8 contained within two zones.

A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. Therefore, Atomic is not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource.





Figure 2. Bleasdell Lake Project



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10252/200773_ebe78d58e4960b4a_003full.jpg

Parks Lake lies in a highly prospective area on the eastern side of the Athabasca Basin, 3 km to SE of historic Rabbit Lake Mine and 2 km to 4km E to NE of Uranium Energy Corp.'s Horseshoe and Raven deposits. Parks Lake is completely surrounded by majors, with Uranium Energy bordering to the west and south and Cameco bordering to the east and north. Conductors appear to trend from Uranium Energy's land onto the Parks Lake property, suggesting a high priority target.





Figure 3. Parks Lake Project



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10252/200773_ebe78d58e4960b4a_004full.jpg

Pistol Lake also lies in a highly prospective area on the eastern side of the Athabasca Basin and is completely surrounded by Cameco. The Cameco Sand Lake Uranium Deposit lies 600 metres from the southern claim boundary. Recent drilling has been undertaken on most of the nearby claims according to the property vendor, suggesting conductors that appear to trend onto the Pistol Lake property are high priority targets.





Figure 4. Pistol Lake Project



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10252/200773_ebe78d58e4960b4a_005full.jpg

Carswell Lake lies in the Cluff Meteorie Crater approximately 15 kilometres to the north of the Cluff Lake Mine. Carswell Lake hosts an historic showing and three historic drill holes and is completed surrounded by Uranium Energy Corp. Four historic showings have been documented in the provincial mineral inventory database.

Two other clams lie in the same area as Carswell Lake. Tuma Lake covers an aeromagnetic anomaly approximately 10 kilometres to the northeast of Carswell Lake. Big Sardine is contiguous to Tuma Lake and lies along a significant fault system.

Baby Loon Lake lies to the south of the eastern side of the Athabasca Basin and covers two historic uranium showings near the Needle Falls Shear Zone. Astleford Lake is contiguous to the south and covers the potential strike extension of the zone.

Archie Lake lies contiguous to north, east and west to NexGen Energy, in the southwest edge of the Athabasca Basin. The assessment records need to be reviewed for conductors within the property, prior to the initiation of 2024 exploration.

Atomic is committed to responsibly advancing the Propertywith a focused exploration strategy aimed at uncovering the full potential of these assets. The Company's dedication to sustainable practices, community engagement, and ethical exploration will drive the development of these projects.

The data disclosed in this news release are related to historical exploration and drilling results. Atomic has not undertaken any independent investigation of the sampling, nor has it independently analyzed the results of the historical exploration work in order to verify the results. Atomic considers these historical exploration and drill results relevant as the company is using these data as a guide to plan exploration programs. The Company's current and future exploration work includes verification of the historical data through sampling and drilling.

Qualified Person

Mr. R. Tim Henneberry, P.Geo. (BC), an advisor to the Company, is the "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and is responsible for the technical contents of this news release and has approved the disclosure of the technical information contained herein.

About the Company

Atomic Minerals Corporation is a publicly listed exploration company on the Exchange, trading under the symbol ATOM, led by a highly skilled management and technical team with a proven track record in the junior mining sector. Atomic's objective is to identify exploration opportunities in regions that have been previously overlooked but are geologically similar to those with previous uranium discoveries. These underexplored areas hold immense potential and are in stable geopolitical and economic environments.

Atomic's property portfolio contains uranium projects in three locations within North America, all of which have technical merit and or are known for hosting uranium production in the past. Three of the properties are located on the Colorado Plateau, an area which has previously produced 597 million pounds of U3O8. Three others are in the prolific Athabasca Basin region.

For additional information about the Company and its projects, please visit our website at www.atomicminerals.ca.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"Clive Massey"

Clive H. Massey

President & CEO

For further information, please contact:

Dave Langlais

(778) 316-5105

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor their Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking" statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

________________________

1 *Source for Sand Lake Resource is Saskatchewan Mineral Deposit Index: https://applications.saskatchewan.ca/Apps/ECON_Apps/dbsearch/MinDepositQuery/default.aspx?ID=2144

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200773
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - Cross River Ventures Corp. (CSE: CRVC) (FSE: C6R) (the "Company" or "Cross River") is pleased to announce the closing of its non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement"). In connection with the closing of the Private Placement, the Company issued 55,400,000 units at a price of $0.005 per unit (the "Units") for gross proceeds to the Company of $277,000. Each Unit consists of one common share (a "Share") and one half of one Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant") with each whole Warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Share of the Company at a price of $0.05 per Share until March 7, 2026.

The Company intends to use the proceeds from the Private Placement for general working capital purposes.

Closing of the Private Placement is subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals including final acceptance of the Canadian Securities Exchange. All securities issued under the Private Placement are subject to a hold period under applicable securities laws in Canada expiring four months and one day from closing of the Private Placement.

A director and an officer of the Company participated in the Private Placement for an aggregate amount of $41,000. The transaction with the officer constitutes a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company is relying on the exemptions under section 5.5(a) and section 5.7(1)(a) from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101, as the fair market value of the Units issued to the related party and the consideration paid by the related party under the Private Placement does not exceed 25% of Company's market capitalization, as determined in accordance with MI 61-101. The Company did not file a material change report in respect of the related party transaction at least 21 days before the closing of the Private Placement, as the details of the participation by related party of the Company were not settled until shortly prior to closing of the Private Placement.

About the Company

Cross River is a gold exploration company focused on the development of top tier exploration properties located in emerging Greenstone Districts of NW Ontario, Canada. The Company controls over 20,000-ha within a multiple project portfolio containing highly prospective ground in and among prolific, gold bearing greenstone belts. Cross River's common shares trade in Canada under the symbol "CRVC" on the CSE, and in the US under the symbol "CSRVF" on the OTCQB. Please visit www.crossriverventures.com for more information.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of

CROSS RIVER VENTURES CORP.

Sam Wong

CEO

[email protected]

www.crossriverventures.com

The Canadian Securities Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. 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.

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.

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/200920
Lead, South Dakota--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - Dakota Gold Corp. (NYSE American: DC) ("Dakota Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to report assays from an additional four drill holes, RH23C-020, RH23C-024, RH23C-026 and RH23C-074, from the Richmond Hill Gold Project ("Richmond Hill") in South Dakota. The drill holes reported today have continued to demonstrate the robust, higher-grade, near-surface oxide mineralization hosted at Richmond Hill. The drill holes expand the mineralization and indicate the opportunity for further exploration of higher grades.

Significant Highlights (See Table 1):

RH23C-024 and RH23C-026 successfully expanded mineralization and returned numerous intervals with significant grades proving that the Turnaround Breccia is pervasively mineralized. RH23C-024 intersected 0.049 oz/ton Au over 37.7 feet (1.68 grams/tonne over 11.5 meters), and RH23C-026 intersected 0.030 oz/ton Au over 71.1 feet (1.04 grams/tonne over 21.7 meters).

RH23C-074 was an offset of RH23C-016, a drill hole announced on September 7, 2023, which had a length weighted average of 0.028 oz/ton Au over 1,007 feet (0.95 grams/tonne over 306.9 meters) in the MW3 Main Zone. RH23C-074 confirmed higher grade near surface oxide mineralization intersecting 0.049 oz/ton Au over 199.9 feet (1.68 grams/tonne over 60.9 meters). These drill holes combined with other holes in the MW3 Main Zone area illustrate the presence of higher grade structures with thicker contiguous intervals.

James Berry, Vice President Exploration of Dakota Gold, said, "The mineralization found in RH23C-074 confirms earlier results and, more significantly, shows that high-grade oxide mineralization is present near surface at Richmond Hill. Understanding the orientation of mineralizing feeders and projecting them into prospective geologic areas, such as favorable host rocks, is proving to be an effective tool for targeting our exploration at Richmond Hill. The Precambrian hosted gold mineralization at Richmond Hill is located within and around the breccia pipes. We have additional exploration opportunities at other breccia pipes and yet to be discovered pipes beneath cover. Our focus is now on finishing the initial Richmond Hill S-K 1300 resource estimate early in Q2 2024, but work will begin to expand it using all the great results we've reported here and in our last few news releases for the Richmond Hill Gold Project."

The results from RH23C-074 will not be included in the current S-K 1300 maiden Richmond Hill resource expected to be released in early Q2 2024, as they were received after the cutoff date for drill data to be used in the calculation. Accordingly, these results have the potential to expand the resource in future estimates. All holes from the 2023 drilling campaign drilled around the historical resource area are now reported.

Table 1. RH23C-020, RH23C-024, RH23C-026 and RH23C-074 Drill Results (Imperial / Metric Units)1,2

Hole # From To Depth Interval* Gold From To Depth Interval* Gold Mineral Type g x m ft ft ft ft oz/ton m m m m g/t

RH23C-020 196.4 211.5 136.0 15.1 0.046 59.3 64.5 41.5 4.6 1.58 Tert 7 RH23C-024 39.9 65.0 37.0 25.1 0.021 12.2 19.8 11.3 7.7 0.72 Bx 5

235.6 260.1 184.0 24.5 0.016 71.8 79.3 56.1 7.5 0.55 Tert 4

307.0 331.3 241.0 24.3 0.023 93.6 101.0 73.5 7.4 0.79 Bx 6

396.5 434.2 317.0 37.7 0.049 120.9 132.3 96.6 11.5 1.68 Bx 19

542.4 598.1 428.0 55.7 0.025 165.3 182.3 130.5 17.0 0.86 Bx 15

905.0 919.3 676.0 14.3 0.023 275.8 280.2 206.0 4.4 0.79 Bx 3

932.3 955.0 688.0 22.7 0.024 284.2 291.1 209.7 6.9 0.82 Bx 6

973.6 1013.8 721.0 40.2 0.030 296.8 309.0 219.8 12.3 1.03 Bx 13 RH23C-026 144.2 215.3 136.0 71.1 0.030 44.0 65.6 41.0 21.7 1.04 Bx 22

805.0 825.7 740.0 20.7 0.048 245.4 251.7 225.6 6.3 1.65 Bx 10 RH23C-074 48.1 248.0 38.0 199.9 0.049 14.7 75.6 11.6 60.9 1.68 Td/Tert 102 inc. 142.0 167.7 116.0 25.7 0.068 43.3 51.1 35.4 7.8 2.33 Td 18 & inc. 188.0 222.4 149.0 34.4 0.134 57.3 67.8 45.4 10.5 4.59 Td 48

362.7 385.9 282.0 23.2 0.058 110.6 117.6 86.0 7.1 1.99 Tp 14

492.6 523.7 381.0 31.1 0.032 150.1 159.6 116.1 9.5 1.09 Tp/Tert 10

533.7 560.3 410.0 26.6 0.018 162.7 170.8 125.0 8.1 0.62 Tp/Tert 5

704.0 716.4 540.0 12.4 0.033 214.6 218.4 164.6 3.8 1.14 Tp 4

1326.0 1339.8 1017.0 13.8 0.021 404.2 408.4 310.0 4.2 0.72 Bx 3

1477.3 1517.3 1114.0 40.0 0.018 450.3 462.5 339.5 12.2 0.61 Bx 7



*True Thickness Unknown

The table may contain rounding errors. Abbreviations in the table include ounces per ton ("oz/ton"); grams per tonne ("g/t"); feet ("ft"); meter ("m"); Tertiary breccia hosted mineralization ("Bx"); Cambrian Deadwood Fm hosted Tertiary mineralization("Td"); Tertiary intrusive hosted mineralization ("Tert"); and Precambrian hosted Tertiary mineralization ("Tp").







Figure 1. Plan View of Dakota Gold Corp. Richmond Hill Drill Holes with Highlighted Gold Intercepts.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8218/200781_3a4d4950541cf9b6_002full.jpg







Figure 2. Cross Section View of Richmond Hill Drill Hole RH23C-074.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8218/200781_3a4d4950541cf9b6_003full.jpg







Figure 3. Cross Section View of Richmond Hill Drill Hole RH23C-024 and RH23C-026.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8218/200781_3a4d4950541cf9b6_004full.jpg







Figure 4. Cross Section View of Richmond Hill Drill Hole RH23C-020.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8218/200781_3a4d4950541cf9b6_005full.jpg

The Company currently has four drills on site at its properties in the Homestake District of South Dakota. Richmond Hill is located 2.3 miles west of Maitland and 1.5 miles north of Coeur Mining, Inc.'s Wharf Mine. Based on Coeur Mining, Inc.'s Form 10-K Full-Year 2023 Reported Results, the Wharf Mine produced 93,502 ounces at 0.026 oz/ton gold in 2023. Richmond Hill and Maitland are located on private land and provide operational synergies due to their proximity.

About Dakota Gold Corp.

Dakota Gold (NYSE American: DC) is a South Dakota-based responsible gold exploration and development company with a specific focus on revitalizing the Homestake District in Lead, South Dakota. Dakota Gold has high-caliber gold mineral properties covering over 48 thousand acres surrounding the historic Homestake Mine.

The Dakota Gold team is focused on new gold discoveries and opportunities that build on the legacy of the Homestake District and its 145 years of gold mining history.

Subscribe to Dakota Gold's e-mail list at www.dakotagoldcorp.com to receive the latest news and other Company updates.

Shareholder and Investor Inquiries

For more information, please contact:

Jonathan Awde, President and Chief Executive Officer Tel: +1 604-761-5251

Email: [email protected]

Qualified Person and S-K 1300 Disclosure

James M. Berry, a Registered Member of SME and Vice President of Exploration of Dakota Gold Corp., is the Company's designated qualified person for this news release as defined in Subpart 1300 - Disclosure by Registrants Engaged in Mining Operations of Regulation S-K and has reviewed and approved its scientific and technical content.

The ranges of potential tonnage and grade (or quality) disclosed above in respect of the Richmond Hill Gold Project are conceptual in nature and could change as the proposed exploration activities are completed. There has been insufficient exploration of the Richmond Hill Gold Project to allow for an estimate of a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a mineral resource. The disclosure above in respect of the Richmond Hill Gold Project therefore does not represent, and should not be construed to be, an estimate of a mineral resource or mineral reserve.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control consists of regular insertion of certified reference materials, duplicate samples, and blanks into the sample stream. Check samples will be submitted to an umpire laboratory as the drill program progresses. Assay results are reviewed, and discrepancies are investigated prior to incorporation into the Company database. Samples are submitted to the ALS Geochemistry sample preparation facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Gold and multi-element analyses are performed at the ALS Geochemistry laboratory in Vancouver, British Columbia. ALS Minerals is an ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited lab.

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and expectations that may not be realized and are inherently subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the execution and timing of our planned exploration activities, our use and evaluation of historic data, our ability to achieve our strategic goals, the state of the economy and financial markets generally and the effect on our industry, and the market for our common stock. The foregoing list is not exhaustive. For additional information regarding factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in our forward-looking statements, we refer you to the risk factors included in Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-KT for the nine-month transition period ended December 31, 2022, as amended, as updated by annual, quarterly and other reports and documents that we file with the SEC. We caution investors not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this communication. These statements speak only as of the date of this communication, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. We do not give any assurance that we will achieve our expectations.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200781
A Nebraska man appeared in court Tuesday after a federal indictment was unsealed alleging he disseminated secret information about the Russia-Ukraine war to a supposed Ukrainian woman he met on a foreign dating site.

David Slater, 63, a former civilian employee with top-secret security clearance at the Offutt-based U.S. Strategic Command, was indicted by a federal grand jury last month. The indictment, unsealed Monday, charges Slater with one count of conspiracy to disclose national defense information and two counts of willful transmission of national defense information. He pleaded not guilty to all charges Tuesday.

Slater is alleged to have repeatedly sent classified information to a person he met on a dating site who represented herself as a Ukrainian woman. The woman brazenly and repeatedly asked for confidential defense information during a three-month period in 2022, according to the indictment, and she often referred to Slater with names like "my secret agent" and "my secret informant."

"Dear, what is shown on the screens in the special room??" she wrote on March 11. "It is very interesting."

On March 18: "Beloved Dave, do NATO and Biden have a secret plan to help us?"

"Dave, it's great that you get information about (Specified Country 1) first," she wrote March 23. "I hope you will tell me right away? You are my secret agent. With love."

If convicted, Slater faces up to 10 years in prison on each of the three counts.

On Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Nelson ordered Slater to be released from custody ahead of trial. He will be monitored by GPS and required to stay home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. He will have limited access to the internet, though he will be allowed access to one internet-connected device with monitoring software. Slater also will be required to surrender his passport and will not be allowed to leave Nebraska.

Slater applied to have a federal public defender appointed to represent him for the case, but the request was denied by Nelson, who found Slater financially able to hire his own attorney.

The indictment specifically alleges that Slater transmitted information classified as secret about the war to the woman on March 28 and April 13 of 2022  the first "regarding military targets in Russia's war against Ukraine," and the second "regarding Russian military capabilities."

On April 14, 2022, according to the indictment, the woman thanked Slater for "valuable information" about two U.S. officials visiting Ukraine. That same day, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., became the first U.S. officials to visit Ukraine since the war began.

"My sweet Dave, thanks for the valuable information, it's great that two officials from the USA are going to Kyiv," the woman messaged Slater.

Slater, an Army lieutenant colonel, retired from the military in December 2020. From August 2021 to April 2022, according to an Offutt spokesman, he worked in a "classified space" in StratCom's logistics directorate.

According to the indictment, Slater held a TOP SECRET//SENSITIVE COMPARTMENTED INFORMATION (TS/SCI) clearance since beginning the logistics role. He signed a nondisclosure agreement and attended multiple trainings on the handling of classified information.

But in February 2022  the same month the war began  Slater began communicating with the woman through email and an unspecified online messaging platform, according to the indictment. They allegedly met on a "foreign dating website."

Slater is from Auburn, Nebraska, according to his Facebook page, and attended Peru State College and Creighton University.

Slater was a logistician (90A) during an Army career that stretched nearly four decades, from 1981 to 2020, said Army spokesman Bryce Dubee. He served on active duty from 1981 to 1984 and from 2008 to 2020, and in the Army Reserve from 1984 to 2008.

Slater was a combat veteran who served multiple overseas tours: in Iraq, in 2003-04; in Afghanistan, in 2010-11 and 2019-20; and Qatar, 2016-17.

World-Herald staff writer Steve Liewer contributed to this report.
Logistics company invests 187 million euros to expand its global network and leverages its own solar power to meet electricity needs in the DACH Region

Lauterach, Austria--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - The international transport and logistics company Gebrder Weiss ended its 2023 fiscal year with a net revenue of 2.47 billion euros (2022: 3 billion euros). Despite this decline, the company remains above its growth trend seen between 2015 and 2020. The coronavirus-related effects of the two previous years did not persist in 2023. At 774 million euros, net revenue in the Air & Sea business area subsequently returned to levels seen in previous years. Given the higher freight rates shipping lines and airlines charged, Gebruder Weiss generated 1.27 billion euros in this segment in the previous year. Revenue was also stable in the Land Transport and Logistics business areas at 1.45 billion euros (2022: 1.48 billion euros), with declining energy and fuel prices. The equity ratio increased to 63 percent (2022: 60 percent), ensuring the company's ability to handle crises and positioning it as an ideal employer.





Gebruder Weiss

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10370/200813_logistics_gw_2023.jpg

"Despite the challenges posed by general economic conditions, we have been able to help our customers enjoy success in their global sales markets with our first-rate service and increase the presence of Gebruder Weiss with new locations in the USA and Germany. This is due first and foremost to the wholehearted dedication shown by our employees. Geopolitical conflicts and weaker global economic output had a negative impact on revenue and transport volumes. Our stable financial situation meant that, in 2023, we were still able to implement a comprehensive investment program to expand both locations and services," says Wolfram Senger-Weiss, CEO of Gebruder Weiss. Many projects that had to be postponed as a result of COVID-19 could now be carried out in 2023.

Investments in network expansion

With a record investment volume of 187 million euros, Gebruder Weiss substantially expanded its network in the German and US markets, as well as South-Eastern Europe, while also investing in customer projects and sustainable energy generation. In Bavaria in particular, the logistics company consolidated its position through acquisitions and real estate purchases in Bayreuth, Konradsreuth and Nuremberg and the construction of a new freight forwarding terminal in Straubing. The US network was expanded to include locations in Miami and Laredo, Texas. Other investment projects included a second location in Bucharest, the enlargement of the logistics terminal in Hungary, and the construction of a new logistics warehouse in Graz and Reutte, Tyrol. As a result of the acquisitions, the number of employees at the 180 locations worldwide increased to 8,600 (2022: 8,400).

At the same time as it works to expand its network, Gebruder Weiss has also been investing in the digitalization of supply chain management. Warehouse analysis functions (Warehouse Analytics) have been added to the web-based customer portal myGW. The portal offers transparency along the entire supply chain and serves as a central information and communication platform for customers and their global shipments, covering everything from real-time tracking to estimated times of arrival (ETA).

North American growth continues

In North America, Gebruder Weiss continued strategic expansion across the continent with a newly opened office and warehouse in Laredo, Texas, leveraging the largest inland port in North America to provide additional road, air, and sea logistics services for the critical flow of trade between the U.S. and Mexico. Gebruder Weiss also opened an air and sea freight hub in Miami to facilitate transport between Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean, and a 106,000-square-foot warehouse in Elgin, Illinois, near the North American headquarters office in Wood Dale, Illinois. On the capabilities front, the team added highly specialized experts in breakbulk and complicated cargo projects and expanded road transport capabilities with new key hires and full truckload services. Notably, Gebruder Weiss USA was named a winner in the 2023 Excellence in Customer Service Awards from Business Intelligence Group. Daniela Hendricks, Chief Compliance & Process Officer, was recognized with a Supply & Demand Chain Executive 2023 Pros to Know award.

"2023 was a pivotal year in which we cemented our logistics leadership in nearshoring by opening multiple key locations and bringing in talented leaders to expand our depth of services," says Mark McCullough, CEO of Gebruder Weiss USA. "At the same time, our employees continued to receive accolades for the quality of their work, and I appreciate our entire teams' ongoing efforts to foster a collaborative culture and surpass customer expectations."

More renewable energies

The company made progress in decarbonizing its own business activities. Three-quarters of the company's own electricity requirements in the DACH region are already met by its own solar power. In 2023, the logistics expert commissioned nine further photovoltaic systems (PV) in the DACH region and Eastern Europe. A total of 27 PV systems generated 5,850 megawatt hours of electricity, doubling the amount of CO 2 emissions saved to 2,750 tons. Gebruder Weiss has also been helping improve the green credentials of the electricity mix in Germany since 2011 with its wind farm in Northern Germany.

The company's attention is increasingly on its own vehicle fleet as part of its goal to achieve climate neutrality in the operation of its own assets and trucks by 2030. The logistics company already uses e-vans to deliver goods ordered online to end customers in Austria, Hungary, Croatia, and Romania. Two battery-powered trucks will be launched in Germany this year, and further e-trucks and e-delivery vehicles will be purchased in Austria. To manage the transition period to e-mobility, the company is converting a large part of its own truck fleet in Austria to hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO).

Following the downturn in global trade and signs of a recession, Gebruder Weiss expects a slight economic upturn in the second half of 2024, thereby translating into more positive revenue development fed by the success of individual national companies. Wolfram Senger-Weiss noted, "We are now benefiting from the fact that we have a global position and can swiftly respond to economic upturns in individual regions with the necessary local logistics services. At the same time, we see confirmation of our "best of both worlds" strategy. The last few years in particular have shown how important it is to invest in both the development of the operational network and the company's digital expertise."





The Managing Directors of Gebruder Weiss (from the left): Peter Kloiber, Wolfram Senger-Weiss (CEO), Lothar Thoma and Jurgen Bauer (source: Gebruder Weiss / Ohligschlager)

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10370/200813_8a3cab34842eaa1a_003full.jpg

About Gebruder Weiss

With its head office in Lauterach (Austria), Gebruder Weiss Holding AG is a global full-service logistics provider with around 8,600 employees and 180 company-owned locations. The family-run organization with a core business of overland transport, air and sea freight, and logistics, Gebruder Weiss is the world's oldest transport company with a history that dates back more than 500 years. The business presence in North America includes headquarters in Chicago and offices in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, Laredo, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. The company has implemented a wide variety of environmental, economic, and social initiatives and is considered a pioneer in sustainable business practices. The company's emphasis on superior customer service and a combination of digital and real-world expertise enables the organization to respond to customer needs in a swift and flexible way. For more information visit www.gw-world.com/us.

Contact

Gebruder Weiss North America

Karolyn Raphael

[email protected]

312-494-0422

www.gw-world.com/newsroom/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200813
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - Hemostemix Inc. (TSXV: HEM) (OTCQB: HMTXF) (FSE: 2VF0) ("Hemostemix" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the non-exclusive engagement of Oak Hill Asset Management Inc. ("OHAM"), an Exempt Market Dealer to provide capital markets advice related to the Company's capital markets strategy. Services include advice on the structure of equity or debt capital financing and the identification of potential future investors.

The Company intends to raise approximately C$6 million in low-dilution capital (the "Offering"). Proceeds will be used to re-establish production of ACP-01 for sale as an exempt compassionate treatment and to complete its phase III CLTI clinical trial.

Pursuant to an engagement letter between the Company and OHAM, the Company has agreed to pay OHAM a cash fee of $12,000 plus $20,000 in common shares as a work fee. Additional fees would be paid on any financing raised by OHAM.

Proceeds from the Offering will allow the Company to lease ready-to-occupy cGMP production capacity in Puerto Rico in 2024 and generate revenue by the end of 2025 through 30-40 exempt compassionate treatments per month, while scaling production and progressing its clinical trial. Sales of ACP for CLTI treatments will be through clinical trial sites (to patients who do not meet inclusion criteria), through limb salvage clinics and podiatrists. To-date, seven clinical trial sites have agreed to refer patients to Hemostemix for exempt compassionate treatments; and, have agreed to process up to 226 of Hemostemix's referrals to them per month.

Puerto Rico's Act 60 legislation enables the company to obtain 50% cash back on eligible expenses including clinical trials. Additionally, ACT 60 provides the company with a 15-year 1% profit tax structure, and a 20% tax credit for offshore expenses.

The structure and price of the Offering has yet to be determined and the Company will issue a follow-up news release once details are available. The Company is confident that it can be completed on a low-dilutive basis that appropriately values the significant, near-term revenue and cash flow streams.

"The 498 treatments of ACP, including the seven clinical studies published in peer reviewed journals to-date, demonstrate ACP is safe and effective in the treatment of peripheral arterial disease and three forms of heart disease," stated Thomas Smeenk, CEO. "It is remarkable that the clinical trial sites will be able to refer and see up to 226 no-option referrals. Compared to no-option and amputation, an ACP injection under exemption to save the limb makes sense," Smeenk said.

ABOUT HEMOSTEMIX

Hemostemix is an autologous stem cell therapy company, founded in 2003. A winner of the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer Award, the Company has developed, patented, and is scaling a patient's blood-based stem cell therapeutics platform that includes angiogenic cell precursors, neuronal cell precursor and cardiomyocyte cell precursors. For more information, please visit www.hemostemix.com.

For further information, please contact: Thomas Smeenk, President, CEO & Co-Founder

EM: [email protected] PH: 905-580-4170

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking information. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information in relation to: the engagement of Oak Hill Financial, the sales of ACP-01 as an exempt compassionate treatment, the licensing of ACP-01, the Trademark Know Your Health! and related results, including the commercialization of ACP-01. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. This forward-looking information reflects Hemostemix's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Hemostemix and on assumptions Hemostemix believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to: the underlying value of Hemostemix and its Common Shares; the successful resolution of the litigation that Hemostemix is pursuing or defending (the "Litigation"); the results of ACP-01 research, trials, studies and analyses, including the analysis being equivalent to or better than previous research, trials or studies; the receipt of all required regulatory approvals for research, trials or studies; the level of activity, market acceptance and market trends in the healthcare sector; the economy generally; consumer interest in Hemostemix's services and products; competition and Hemostemix's competitive advantages; and Hemostemix obtaining satisfactory financing to fund Hemostemix's operations including any research, trials or studies, and any Litigation. 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 Hemostemix to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the ability of Hemostemix to complete clinical trials, complete a satisfactory analyses and file the results of such analyses to gain regulatory approval of a phase II or phase III clinical trial of ACP-01; potential litigation Hemostemis mayface; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; general capital market conditions and market prices for securities; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; the actual results of future operations including the actual results of future research, trials or studies; competition; changes in legislation affecting Hemostemix; the timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; long-term capital requirements and future developments in Hemostemix's markets and the markets in which it expects to compete; lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals; and risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic including various recommendations, orders and measures of governmental authorities to try to limit the pandemic, including travel restrictions, border closures, non-essential business closures service disruptions, quarantines, self-isolations, shelters-in-place and social distancing, disruptions to markets, disruptions to economic activity and financings, disruptions to supply chains and sales channels, and a deterioration of general economic conditions including a possible national or global recession or depression;the potential impact that the COVID-19 pandemic may have on Hemostemix which may include a decreased demand for the services that Hemostemix offers; and a deterioration of financial markets that could limit Hemostemix's ability to obtain external financing. A description of additional risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information can be found in Hemostemix's disclosure documents on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. Although Hemostemix has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of Hemostemix as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, it is Subject to change after such date. However, Hemostemix expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200905
London, Ontario and Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - The tactical training division of Canada's International Test Pilots School (ITPS) is currently training two Ukrainian Air Force Officers on a Fighter Lead-in Programme in Southwest Ontario and have received a request to train 30 more students. The Ukrainian Air Force has submitted a formal request with Canada's Department of National Defence to proceed with the training. Two Ukrainian pilot instructors began training in October 2023 and have forged a productive collaboration with the Ivan Kozhedub National Air Force University (KNAFU) in Ukraine.

This fighter pilot training pipeline will be essential to ensure Ukrainian Air Force air superiority once new Western fighters are introduced.

ITPS and KNAFU have agreed on a dedicated syllabus for the university cadets who are awaiting the opportunity to complete Fighter Lead-In Training (FLIT) to NATO Phase IV standard. In addition, the programme includes 40 hours of F-16 simulator training and ground school to enable the students to readily adapt to the NATO-provided F-16 training. In the meantime, ITPS has been providing online English language training to the cadets at KNAFU whilst they await their departure to Canada.

"I am pleased to report that based on the successful program launch of the pilot instructors, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence has submitted a formal request for the training of 30 cadets at ITPS to the Government of Canada. This programme is a customized training solution available right now that will provide Ukraine with 30 much needed fighter pilots by early 2025. I ask the Government of Canada to favourably consider the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence's request and urgently approve this training," said David Clementi, Chief Operating Officer of ITPS Canada.

ITPS' tactical training programme has no impact on DND training or assets. This training is entirely provided by ITPS's tactical training arm of their operations at their facilities in London, Ontario. KNAFU has further written to ITPS expressing a desire for long-term cooperation with advanced training programs not available at other institutions, including Mission Commander and Fighter Weapons Instructor Courses (FWIC) that ITPS has long provided to friendly countries since 2001.

ITPS' training program for KNAFU cadets is complementary to NATO efforts to train Ukrainian fighter pilots on the F-16 adding another dimension of allied support to ensure that Ukraine is successful in the war against Russia, and ensuring a critical pipeline of new fighter pilots trained to Western standards ready to commence training on the F-16.

ITPS has the experience, proven syllabi, aircraft, instructors, and simulators, and this training is available now. ITPS Canada and its tactical training division the International Tactical Training Centre (ITTC) is a Canadian success story, as the world's largest independent school of flight test training. ITPS is one of only eight schools of experimental flight test in the world recognized by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, currently providing training to the Royal Canadian Air Force, Australian Defence Force, Royal Netherlands Air Force, Belgian Air Component, German Armed Forces Flight Test Centre, and several allied industry partners. ITPS Canada recently passed a full audit for, and is registered under, the Canadian Controlled Goods Program, Federal Contract Security Program, and the US DoD Joint Certification Program.

-30-

Contact:

For more information regarding ITPS Canada and its tactical training division (ITTC), please contact ITPS Canada at [email protected]

To learn more about ITPS and ITTC visit www.itpscanada.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200744
Singapore, Singapore--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - NodeAI, a leading innovator in decentralized computing solutions, is excited to announce the nearing completion of its third iteration, marking the advent of a significant breakthrough in its technological evolution. The introduction of a bespoke Layer 1 (L1) blockchain represents a pivotal moment for NodeAI, setting new standards for computational task distribution and management across its vast network of nodes.

NodeAI

This newly developed L1 blockchain is engineered to redefine the efficiency and scalability of NodeAI's ecosystem. By optimizing how computational tasks are allocated and managed, NodeAI aims to facilitate unprecedented levels of performance and growth capabilities. The focus on peak efficiency ensures that the NodeAI network remains at the forefront of technological advancement, capable of accommodating the increasing demands of its user base.

The integration of this L1 blockchain into NodeAI's infrastructure is poised to revolutionize the execution of tasks within its network. Users can anticipate enhanced speeds, reliability, and efficiency in processing, thanks to the advanced capabilities of this blockchain technology.

This initiative underscores NodeAI's commitment to innovation and its dedication to providing superior service to its users.

As NodeAI prepares to roll out this significant update, it extends its gratitude to its community for their ongoing support and enthusiasm. This advancement is not just a milestone for NodeAI but a testament to the collaborative spirit of its users and the shared vision of reimagining the possibilities of decentralized computing.

Stay tuned for further updates as NodeAI continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in the realm of distributed computing.

About NodeAI

NodeAI is at the forefront of developing decentralized computing solutions that leverage the power of blockchain technology. With a focus on innovation, efficiency, and scalability, NodeAI is dedicated to enhancing the way computational tasks are distributed and executed across a global network of nodes. Through its commitment to excellence and a community-driven approach, NodeAI aims to revolutionize the digital landscape and pave the way for a more efficient, reliable, and secure computing future.

Contact:

Name: Ethan Tan Wei Jie

Business name: NodeAI

Business email: [email protected]

Website & source: https://nodes.ai/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200820
Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - Northern Graphite Corporation (TSXV: NGC) (OTCQB:NGPHF) (FSE: 0NG) (XSTU: 0NG) (the "Company" or "Northern") announces today that it will not exercise or extend its agreement with Edgewater Capital Partners ("Edgewater") providing it with an option to acquire a stake in NeoGraf Solutions, LLC ("NeoGraf"), and accordingly the option has expired.

"Given current market conditions, and in consultation with NeoGraf, we have decided it is not in the best interests of shareholders or the Company to exercise or extend the option at this time," said Northern Chief Executive Officer Hugues Jacquemin.

"Our mine-to-market strategy has not changed, and together with our new Battery Materials Group, we are going to continue to work closely with NeoGraf to explore ways to work together in this very important partnership to develop cutting edge graphite applications, inside and outside of the battery industry," he added.

NeoGraf is one of Northern's largest customers and is a leading provider of specialty, value-added industrial products manufactured from natural graphite and has a strong intellectual property portfolio and a blue-chip customer base.

"We will continue to explore different ways to enhance the partnership between NeoGraf and Northern as both companies work to address evolving supply needs in the downstream market for graphite products," said Edgewater Capital Partner and Chairman of the Board, Robert Girton.

"We continue to value our relationship with Northern Graphite, which is a win-win for our companies and for our customers," said NeoGraf Chief Executive Officer Natesh Krishnan.

About Northern Graphite

Northern, the only graphite producing company in North America, is a Canadian, TSX Venture Exchange listed company that is focused on becoming a world leader in producing natural graphite and upgrading it into high-value products critical to the green economy, including anode material for lithium-ion batteries/EVs, fuel cells and graphene, as well as advanced industrial technologies.

Northern owns and operates the Lac des Iles graphite mine in Quebec and expects to become the third-largest natural graphite producer outside of China when its Namibian operations come back online. The Company also has the large-scale Bissett Creek project in Ontario, and substantial additional measured and indicated resources in Namibia and the Mousseau property in Quebec, which are expected to be sources of continued production growth in the future. All projects have "battery quality" graphite and are located close to infrastructure in politically stable jurisdictions.

For Media Inquiries Contact

Pav Jordan, VP of Communications

Email: [email protected]

For Additional Information

Please visit the Company's website at northerngraphite.com, the Company's profile on www.sedarplus.caour Social Channels listed below or contact the Company at (613) 271-2124.

LinkedIn

YouTube

Twitter

Facebook

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "potential", "possible" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may", "will", "could", or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding, among others, the Company's intentions enhance its partnership with NeoGraf, to bring its Namibian operations back online and develop its other graphite projects. All such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by management based on their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors they believe are appropriate in the circumstances. However, these statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected including, but not limited to, unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of other parties to perform as agreed; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; unexpected failure or inadequacy of infrastructure and the failure of ongoing and contemplated studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued studies, development or operations and the inability to raise required financing. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements.

Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based on what management believes are reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with them. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this news release.

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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200825
Pomona, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - Q Home Sales, a real estate agency located in Rockland County, has unveiled plans for an expansion of its sales team. This strategic move is a direct response to the agency's sustained growth and the accompanying need to enhance its workforce with additional real estate professionals.





Photo credit: Q Homes Sales, with permission.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8977/197584_22515ce28471daad_001full.jpg

Leadership and Achievements Under Naomi Streicher

Under the leadership of Naomi Streicher, who brings over three decades of expertise to the field, Q Home Sales has consistently held the number one spot in Ramapo. Streicher's direction has been crucial in driving the agency to surpass notable milestones, including achieving a sales volume of over $300 million. The agency is also recognized for having five of its agents ranked among the top 10 in Rockland County, demonstrating its significant impact on the local real estate landscape.

Commitment and Support to the Community





Photo credit: Q Homes Sales, with permission.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8977/197584_22515ce28471daad_003full.jpg

Q Home Sales Team Helping Pack Food Boxes for Tomchei Shabbos, a local organization in Rockland County that Gives Food to Those In Need.

Q Home Sales is not just focused on real estate transactions; the agency is deeply committed to community service. Their involvement with Tomchei Shabbos in Rockland County exemplifies their dedication to supporting the local community, aligning with their ethical business practices.

Strengthening Service Capabilities

The decision to expand the Q Home Sales team is a direct response to the changing dynamics of the agency's operational requirements.

The agency is in the process of enhancing its real estate sales team by seeking individuals for roles including agents, brokers, and administrative positions, with a focus on the following qualifications:

Professional Experience: Relevant experience in real estate sales, brokerage, or appraisal is preferred.

Licensing: Appropriate licensure for real estate agents and brokers as required by New York State law.

Communication Skills: Strong ability to maintain open and effective communication with clients, partners, and the community.

Community Engagement: A demonstrated interest in community service and a willingness to participate in agency-supported local initiatives.

These roles are crucial to the agency's functioning, encompassing responsibilities like advising clients, evaluating properties, and aiding in transactions.

Q Home Sales commits to maintaining open communication with its clients, partners, and the community, providing updates on the agency's progress and how it is adapting to better meet the needs of Rockland County. This initiative represents an important advancement in the agency's mission to excel in the real estate industry.

About Q Home Sales

Located at 1609 Route 202, Pomona NY 10970, Q Home Sales is a premier real estate agency in Rockland County. The agency stands out for its experience, market knowledge, and client-centered approach.

Contact Information

Q Home Sales

Contact number: 845-364-0007

QHomeSales.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/197584
The annual conference in NYC brings together educators of girls and gender-expansive youth to deepen their practices to support and expand girls' leadership spaces.

New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - Student Leadership Network, a nonprofit advancing educational equity for students in diverse, under-resourced communities nationwide, announces its second Whole Girl Education National Conference taking place on March 17-19, 2024. Hosted at renowned girls' school, The Nightingale-Bamford School in New York City, the Whole Girl Education National Conference will explore Whole Girl theory and practice with distinguished speakers and innovative and inspiring breakout sessions designed by and for fellow education leaders.





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9557/200872_01.jpg

This year's conference theme is "CLOSING THE GAP: The Role of Girls' Education in Creating a More Equitable World." Our highly rated interactive sessions will explore this theme across areas of leadership, politics, health care, and STEM fields, with practical applications to deepen public educators' practices in their schools and communities. This event will bring together educators from across the country who are creating opportunities for students to innovate and succeed. Participants will also hear from leading voices in gender equity, including:





Featured speakers at the Whole Girl Education National Conference



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9557/200872_9adc715f04943b32_002full.jpg

Valerie Jarrett , CEO of the Obama Foundation, Former Senior Advisor to President Obama

, CEO of the Obama Foundation, Former Senior Advisor to President Obama Dr. Ruha Benjamin , Sociologist and Professor of African American Studies, Princeton University

, Sociologist and Professor of African American Studies, Princeton University Tina Tchen, EVP & Chief Strategy and Impact Officer, Obama Foundation, in conversation with Jemina Bernard, President & COO, Teach For America

"We are excited to bring new and returning educators together to develop and exchange meaningful practices that they can implement in and out of their classrooms," shared Laura Rebell Gross, Senior Managing Director of Student Leadership Network's Girls' Education Team. "Even though we have seen gains made by girls in college graduation rates, when you look at who holds decision-making and leadership roles in STEM, politics, healthcare, and other areas that impact our lives, the gender gaps persist. We are working together with educators across the nation to improve the quality of education and outcomes for girls and gender-expansive youth."

Sarah Boldin, Managing Director of Leadership and New School Development, added, "Closing the gender gap starts in the spaces we create for girls and gender-expansive young people to lead within schools and beyond the classroom. We're excited to welcome teachers, school leaders, and program providers across the nation to our conference this month!"





Breakout session presenting partners



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9557/200872_9adc715f04943b32_003full.jpg

Attendees will have the opportunity to learn from experts in the field, participate in interactive sessions and workshops, and network with peers. Conference topics will include:

Techniques to integrate STEM into teaching through real-world examples

Strategies for recruiting students in a changing landscape and other resources for school leaders

Leading & Building Community through Global Crises

& and more!

For more information about the conference, please visit https://www.eventleaf.com/e/wgenc24.

About Student Leadership Network

For nearly three decades, Student Leadership Network has supported young people growing up in diverse underserved communities to gain access to higher education, helping them fulfill their dreams. The organization impacts students at 33 New York public schools and 18 girls' affiliate and partner schools across the country, with students graduating college at nearly four times the rate of their national peers. Student Leadership Network supports over 37,000 students nationally every year through its three pillar programs:

The Young Women's Leadership Schools (TYWLS) is a high-performing network of six girls' public schools in New York City.

CollegeBound Initiative (CBI) is a comprehensive college access and success program for young women and men in New York State.

Young Women's Leadership Network (YWLN) is a national network of girls' schools sharing the TYWLS model.

Press Contact:

Jheramis A.H. Collado

Director of Marketing and Communications

[email protected]

Phone: 646-677-8322

Visit us on social media: @studentleadlet

X (Twitter), LinkedIn, Instagram

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200872
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - Xebra Brands Ltd.(CSE:XBRA) (OTCQB:XBRAF) (FSE:9YC0)("Xebra" or the "Company"), a cannabis company, is pleased to announce that is has closed its non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") of 12,000,000 units of the Company (the "Units") as previously announced on October 2, 2023 and January 31, 2024. The Units were issued at a price of $0.05 per Unit for gross proceeds of $600,000.

Each Unit is comprised of one common share of the Company (a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to acquire one Common Share (a "Warrant Share") at an exercise price of C$0.10 per Warrant Share at any time for a period of eighteen (18) months following the closing of the Offering.

All of the Units sold under the Offering were purchased by David Ross Macias Diaz, a director of the Company, under a strategic investment agreement. Following the closing of the Offering, Mr. Diaz holds 18.04% and 30.56% of the Common Shares of the Company on a non-diluted basis and partially diluted basis, respectively. The Company obtained such shareholder approval at its annual general and special meeting held on November 7, 2023 for the issuance of the Units to Mr. Diaz.

The net proceeds of the Offering are expected to be used for working capital and general corporate purposes. All securities issued in connection with the Offering will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the Closing Date. The Offering is subject to the final acceptance of the CSE.

Certain Early Warning Disclosures

Immediately prior to the Offering, Mr. Diaz did not have ownership of any securities of Xebra. After giving effect to the Offering, Mr. Diaz ownership stands at 12,000,000 Common Shares and 12,000,000 Warrants, representing approximately a 18.04% ownership interest in the Company's issued and outstanding common shares on a non-diluted basis and 30.56% on a partially diluted basis, assuming the exercise in full of the Warrants.

This press release and Mr. Diaz's corresponding early warning report (the "Early Warning Report") which will be available on SEDAR+ under Xebra's profile in the near term, constituting the required disclosure pursuant to section 5.2 of National Instrument 62-104 Take-Over Bids and Issuer Bids ("NI 62-104"). The requirement to file an early warning report was triggered because the acquisition of the Units by Mr. Diaz caused Mr. Diaz's ownership in the Company to exceed 10% on a non-diluted and partially diluted basis. Mr. Diaz entered into the Offering for investment purposes and intends to review his investment in the Company on a continuing basis. Depending upon a number of factors including market and other conditions, Mr. Diaz may from time to time increase or decrease his beneficial ownership, control, direction or economic exposure over securities of the Company. This news release and the Early Warning Report are issued under the early warning provisions of Canadian securities legislation.

Xebra is a corporation existing under the laws of British Columbia with its head office at 410-1111 Melville Street, Vancouver, BC, V6E 3V6.

Debt Settlement

The Company also announces that it intends to settle a total of $262,712 (the "Debt") of accrued liabilities for fees and expenses owed to certain officers, directors and consultants of the Company (the "Debt Settlement"). The Company expects to settle the Debt by issuing a total of 4,776,582 Common Shares at a price of $0.055 per Common Share. The board of directors and management of the Company believe that the proposed Debt Settlement is in the best interests of the Company as it allows the Company to preserve its funds for operations and continued growth opportunities. The Debt Settlement is subject to CSE acceptance. The Common Shares issuable under the Debt Settlement will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance.

Related Party Disclosures

Certain directors and officers of the Company (the "Insiders") are expected to be issued 4,487,273 Common Shares pursuant to the Debt Settlement, directly and indirectly. Accordingly, the issuance of such Common Shares to the Insiders pursuant to the Debt Settlement each constitute a "related party transaction" as such term is defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Xebra is relying on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements provided under MI 61-101 pursuant to section 5.5(b) and section 5.7(1)(b) of MI 61-101.

Convertible Debenture Offering

As previously announced on October 2, 2023 and January 31, 2024, the Company and Mr. Diaz reserve the right to close an additional private placement of up to a principal amount of $400,000 of unsecured convertible debenture units (the "CD Offering") in the near future. Each convertible debenture unit issued pursuant to the CD Offering is expected to consist of: (i) C$1,000 principal amount of unsecured convertible debenture of the Company (each, a "Debenture"); and (ii) 20,000 Common Share purchase warrants (each, a "CD Warrant"). Each CD Warrant shall entitle the holder to acquire one Common Share (a "CD Warrant Share") at an exercise price of C$0.10 per CD Warrant Share at any time for a period of eighteen (18) months following the closing of the CD Offering. The Debentures are expected to mature on the date that is 36 months from the date of issuance (the "Maturity Date") and shall bear interest at a rate of 8% per annum, payable semi-annually in arrears, and will not be redeemable by the Company. The Debentures will be convertible into Common Shares (a "Debenture Share") at the option of the holder at any time prior to the Maturity Date at a conversion price equal to $0.05 per Debenture Share.

The securities issued under the Offering and Debt Settlement have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and were not to 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 the United States or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

ABOUT XEBRA

Xebra Brands Ltd. is an international leading cannabis company dedicated to providing high-quality CBD products to consumers around the world. With a focus on compliance, quality, and innovation, Xebra is committed to leading the way in the CBD industry.

Rodrigo Gallardo

Interim CEO

For more information contact:

+1 (833) XEBRA 88

[email protected]

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain information contained in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements, these include, without limitation, statements regarding Xebra Brands Ltd.'s expectations in respect of its ability to successfully execute its business plan or business model; its ability to close the Debt Settlement or CD Offering and timing of closing of the Debt Settlement or CD Offering, its expected use of the net proceeds of the Offering and CD Offering, the ability to obtain necessary approvals in connection with the Offering, CD Offering and Debt Settlement; its ability to enter into and execute partnerships or joint venture opportunities on acceptable terms; its ability to provide economic, environmental, social, or any benefits of any type in the communities it operates in or may operate it in the future; its ability to be a first mover in a country, or to obtain or retain government licenses, permits or authorizations in general, or specifically in Mexico, Canada, or elsewhere, including cannabis authorizations from the Mexican Health Regulatory Agency (COFEPRIS); its ability to satisfy the conditions of authorizations granted by COFEPRIS; its ability to successfully apply for, obtain and retain trademarks and other intellectual property in any jurisdiction; its ability to be cost competitive; its ability to commercialize, cultivate, grow, or process hemp or cannabis in Mexico, Canada, or elsewhere and related plans and timing; its ability to manufacture, commercialize or sell its CBD products,, wellness products, or other products in Mexico, Canada, or elsewhere, and its related plans and claims, including market interest and availability; its ability to create wellness products that have a therapeutic effect or benefit; plans for future growth and the direction of the business; plans to increase product volumes, the capacity of existing facilities, supplies from third party growers and contractors; expected growth of the cannabis industry generally; management's expectations, beliefs and assumptions in general, including manufacturing costs, production activity and market potential in Mexico or any jurisdiction; events or developments that Xebra expects to take place in the future; general economic conditions; and other risk factors described in the MD&A of the Company for the period ended November 30, 2023. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking information and statements. The words "aim", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "contemplate", "target", "intends", "continue", "plans", "budget", "estimate", "may", "will", and similar expressions identify forward-looking information and statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Xebra as of the dates of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the inability of Xebra to retain the authorizations granted by COFEPRIS, failure to receive required regulatory approvals for securities offerings, the inability to generate sufficient revenues or to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plan; changes in government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in various countries; risks associated with agriculture and cultivation activities generally, including inclement weather, access to supply of seeds, poor crop yields, and spoilage; compliance with import and export laws of various countries; significant fluctuations in cannabis prices and transportation costs; the risk of obtaining necessary licenses and permits; inability to identify, negotiate and complete potential acquisitions, dispositions or joint ventures for any reason; the ability to retain key employees; dependence on third parties for services and supplies; non-performance by contractual counter-parties; general economic conditions; the continued growth in global demand for cannabis products and the continued increase in jurisdictions legalizing cannabis; and the timely receipt of regulatory approvals for license applications on terms satisfactory to Xebra. In addition, there is no assurance Xebra will: be a low-cost producer or exporter; obtain a dominant market position in any jurisdiction; have products that will be unique. The foregoing list is not exhaustive and Xebra undertakes no obligation to update or revise any of the foregoing except as required by law. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies could affect Xebra's actual performance and cause its actual performance to differ materially from what has been expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, Xebra. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those set out in such statements.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR DISSEMINATION DIRECTLY, OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES



To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200819
Paid press release content from The Financial Capital. The StreetInsider.com news staff was not involved in its creation.

Press Release Zen has published a new press release guide for business relocation, including an example PR and sample template.



With its latest piece, Press Release Zen guides business owners through the process of writing a business relocation press release to help keep customers informed and the business running as smoothly as possible.

According to the new guide, not only does a well-written business-moving press release keep current clients informed but also helps to drive more traffic towards the new location. Similarly, a relocation press release can generate excitement about a brand, attracting new customers while fortifying relationships with existing ones.

Press Release Zen points to 12 vital elements to ensure the effectiveness of a business-moving press release. Foremost is the use of an attention-grabbing headline that quickly and succinctly announces the move. Readers are also taught to include business details, such as name, industry and the new location, along with a short paragraph explaining the reasoning behind the move, and are given a business relocation press release template to make things much easier.

In addition to why the move has taken place, the press release should also explain the potential impact on customers, employees and the wider community. Further information about products and services should be included, particularly if these are changing post-move.

Press Release Zen recommends including customer reviews and testimonials, alongside a boilerplate paragraph detailing history, achievements and the businesss unique selling proposition. According to the experts, an effective PR should also include the business URL, release date and contact information, so that customers can make further inquiries if necessary.

To support business owners with the PR's structure, Press Release Zen provides a sample business-moving press release containing the 12 vital elements mentioned in the guide. Readers can also make use of the companys business relocation press release template, helping them to structure and communicate their announcement effectively.

The guide is brought to a close with a series of writing tips for an effective press release, such as the use of relevant keywords for improved search engine ranking. Business owners are advised to keep their press releases concise, focusing on the positives of the move to build brand loyalty.

A spokesperson from Press Release Zen states: By crafting a well-written and targeted press release that emphasizes the benefits of your new location and highlights your companys achievements and future plans, you can generate positive buzz, attract new customers, and establish your presence in your new community.

Interested parties can read the full guide at https://pressreleasezen.com/business-relocation-press-release-tips-sample-template-example/

Contact Info:

Name: Press Release Zen

Email: Send Email

Organization: Press Release Zen

Address: 15 Hardwood Rd, London, London SW64QP, United Kingdom

Website: https://pressreleasezen.com/



Release ID: 89123589

In the event of any inaccuracies, problems, or queries arising from the content shared in this press release, we encourage you to notify us immediately at [email protected]. Our diligent team will be readily available to respond and take swift action within 8 hours to rectify any identified issues or assist with removal requests. Ensuring the provision of high-quality and precise information is paramount to us.
27 years of expertise in web development and Digital Marketing services brings forth competitive advantage to UAE businesses



Pentagon Information Technology, based in Abu Dhabi, holds its reputation as a trusted firm in the field of web design and digital marketing and aims to explore horizons in the present technology driven world ever since its inception in the year 1996. Premium services including web development and hosting, Digital Marketing, SEO services, email solutions are just a few to name, when it comes to what the firm has to offer to the table. Pentagon Information Technology strongly believes in drawing out the right solutions which perfectly blend in with the clients expectations and aspirations while not compromising on quality. The proficient team comprising top web developers focus on custom-made solutions with a tinge of innovation and excellence. The firm seeks to transform businesses to be fit to conquer the digital era and gain a competitive edge in the industry.

As years roll by, the digital world is swiftly evolving day by day and an adaptive and pivotal marketing strategy is crucial to coin success for a business. With over 27 years of profound experience in the industry, Pentagon Information Technology offers a medium for businesses to expand in terms of technical guidance and ensures unity across all marketing channels. 3500+ associated clients have placed their trust in the dedicated team provided by the firm with 24/7 endless support to bring out the best for the acquainted companies. Building captivating websites from front-end to back-end, engaging search engine optimization techniques over various platforms, content optimization, Google Ads, interactive multimedia and graphic designing ideas are some of the services Pentagon Information Technology has to offer. These help businesses shape their digital presence precisely aligned with the current industry trends.

When it comes to website development, Pentagon Information Technology has proved its expertise in that domain as well. The firm believes that a great website is the key to unlock exponential growth for a business in todays competitive industry. It is the first captivating glimpse a company gives to its potential clients. The firm specializes in churning out visually appealing and user-friendly websites which provides a hassle-free experience on both sides. Light is thrown on security, functionality and improved user experiences which scripts the best quality websites fit to compete in todays technical market.

Adding to that, the firm also provides a holistic umbrella of services including web hosting, email hosting and search engine optimization (SEO). Over 80-90% of website experiences majorly kick start via search engines and being appealing to the eyes of potential customers is essential to differentiate from competitors. The firm strives to bring forth a digital presence along with a wider reach for its clients through strategic SEO services including keyword research, competitor analysis, and content optimization, which are fine-tuned to fit in with the clients requirements and in turn drive organic traffic and website visibility.

On top of that, the Digital Marketing Agency directs its focus on Google Ads, a powerful ad platform, to place sponsored ads on search results, websites and many more. Tailor-made solutions, which rightly fit in with the customers affordability and demands while not compromising on quality and lead generation, is what Pentagon Information Technology seeks to bring forth. The firm channels its attention towards offering increased lead generation and conversion rates by reaching the eyes of the target audience through right placement of ads.



Another area of expertise is social media marketing. The team takes time and effort to deeply understand the social media platforms in and out and curates the best for their clients to be fit to take over the industry. From right platform selection, content creation, posting strategies to a 24/7 dedicated team to enable businesses to enhance their social media presence with the right target audience, Pentagon Information Technology has got it all covered. Front-end to back-end web development, multimedia and graphic design, are curated carefully after crucial consultation with the clients diverse requirements.

On a whole, Pentagon Information Technology is known for its profound excellence and established trust among its associated clients and is believed to be a platform for businesses to transform into being the right fit in todays competitive world. Its 24/7 support and endless services to firms in Abu Dhabi has made the agency a trusted brand which delivers tangible results and drives business growth which is essential to survive in todays digital age.

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/pentagon.ae/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/pentasolutions

https://www.facebook.com/pentagon.ae/



Contact Info:

Name: Rojo Jose

Email: Send Email

Organization: Pentagon Information Technology

Address: P O Box: 30036, X5 Building, Salam Street, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Phone: +971 2 6413920

Website: https://www.pentame.com/



Release ID: 89123417

In the event of any inaccuracies, problems, or queries arising from the content shared in this press release, we encourage you to notify us immediately at [email protected]. Our diligent team will be readily available to respond and take swift action within 8 hours to rectify any identified issues or assist with removal requests. Ensuring the provision of high-quality and precise information is paramount to us.
The Legislature's Education Committee advanced a bill to create a pilot program that makes menstrual products available in women's restrooms in public schools across the state.

The bill (LB1050) from Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad requires school districts to provide tampons or pads to students beginning in the 2025-26 school year and directs the Nebraska Department of Education to develop rules to carry out the law.

Conrad introduced the measure this year after working with Lincoln East High School student Cassidy Bell, who has advocated for menstrual equity in Nebraska schools at the local and state levels.

Bell and the other students from across the state who worked to put the issue before lawmakers drafted what Conrad described as "an ambitious bill" that would address so-called period poverty across Nebraska.

But Conrad said talks with other senators, as well as the students, led to a pared-down version that will serve as a pilot program.

On Tuesday, the Education Committee advanced an amended version of the bill that would appropriate $250,000 to supply menstrual products at school districts with high poverty levels or those deemed lowest performing.

It would also give school districts that apply for and receive funding the ability to set rules for how those products are distributed  Conrad said she wanted the Legislature to not micromanage the districts  and requires a report be filed with the Education Committee at the end of the pilot.

Conrad said Lincoln Public Schools and Omaha Public Schools would not be eligible to participate in the pilot project.

Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn said the program might spur more schools to make menstrual products available for free to students in the future.

Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, the committee chair, said he would abstain until he obtained assurances that the menstrual products would not be placed in men's restrooms in schools.

Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston voted against advancing LB1050. She said schools should be providing those resources out of their existing budgets.

Top Journal Star photos for March 2024
Paid press release content from The Financial Capital. The StreetInsider.com news staff was not involved in its creation.

Lai & Turner Law Firm transforms Oklahoma's legal landscape with the appointment of Kaitlin Allen as Director of the Criminal Defense Division. Allen's experience and dedication reinforce the firm's commitment to excellence, setting new standards in criminal defense representation.



In a significant move set to redefine the legal landscape of Oklahoma, Lai & Turner Law Firm proudly announces the appointment of Kaitlin Allen as the Director of the Criminal Defense Division. This strategic expansion underscores the firm's commitment to excellence and its determination to remain at the forefront of Oklahoma Criminal Defense Attorney advocacy in the state.

Kaitlin Allen joins Lai & Turner Law Firm with a distinguished background in legal practice, combining rigorous academic credentials with extensive hands-on experience. A graduate of Oklahoma City University Law School, Kaitlin's journey in law is marked by high-profile internships and a commendable tenure at the Public Defenders Office. Her track record is a testament to her skill, tenacity, and dedication to justice, making her an invaluable asset to the firm and its clients.

In her new role, Kaitlin aims to leverage her deep understanding of criminal law and her strategic approach to defense to provide clients with unparalleled legal representation. She brings a fresh perspective to the division, drawing on her experience and innovative tactics to navigate the complexities of criminal cases effectively.

"Kaitlin Allen represents exactly what our firm stands for - excellence, dedication, and an unwavering commitment to justice," said a spokesperson from Lai & Turner Law Firm. "Her appointment is more than just an addition to our team; it's a declaration of our ambition to set new standards in OKC criminal defense. We are thrilled to have her lead our Criminal Defense Division into this new chapter."

Known for her dynamic approach to legal challenges, Kaitlin's philosophy extends beyond achieving case victories. She is deeply committed to making a tangible difference in the lives of her clients, advocating for their rights with passion and integrity. Her strategic mindset and meticulous preparation have been instrumental in securing favorable outcomes, earning her a reputation as a formidable advocate in the courtroom.

This expansion reflects Lai & Turner Law Firm's dedication to providing top-tier legal services across Oklahoma criminal defense. With Kaitlin Allen at the helm of the Criminal Defense Division, the firm is poised to offer its clients robust defense strategies backed by comprehensive legal expertise and compassionate counsel.

As Lai & Turner Law Firm continues to grow and evolve, the addition of Kaitlin Allen marks a significant milestone in its mission to deliver justice and safeguard the rights of individuals facing criminal charges. The firm looks forward to the positive impact Kaitlin will have on its practice and the broader community.



About the company: Based in Oklahoma City, Lai & Turner Law Firm is renowned for its exceptional legal services and client-centric approach. Specializing in various legal areas, including criminal defense, family law, and civil litigation, the firm is committed to achieving outstanding results for its clients through detailed preparation, aggressive advocacy, and innovative legal solutions.

Contact Info:

Name: Jimmy Lai

Email: Send Email

Organization: Lai & Turner Law Firm PLLC

Address: 2000 N Classen Blvd ste 230, Oklahoma City, OK 73106, United States

Phone: +1 405 665 8866

Website: https://www.laiturnerlaw.com/kaitlin-allen



Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laiturnerlaw

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LaiTurnerLaw

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/laiturnerlawfirm/



Release ID: 89123564

If you come across any problems, discrepancies, or concerns related to the content contained within this press release that necessitate action or if a press release requires takedown, we strongly encourage you to reach out without delay by contacting [email protected]. Our committed team will be readily accessible round-the-clock to address your concerns within 8 hours and take appropriate actions to rectify identified issues or support with press release removals. Ensuring accurate and reliable information remains our unwavering commitment.
HONG KONG, Mar 7, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - - OrbusNeich Medical Group Holdings Limited ("OrbusNeich" or the "Group"; stock code: 6929), a major global medical device manufacturer specializing in interventional devices for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) procedures, today announced its annual results for the year ended December 31, 2023, reporting record high revenue and net profit despite facing global economic headwinds.

Results Highlights:

-- Revenue hit record high at US$153.9 million, up 12.5% year-on-year

-- Revenue from PCI balloons and PTA balloons grew by 12.1% and 29.0% year-on-year, respectively.

-- Gross profit increased by 15.2% year-on-year to US$106.5 million, with gross margin reaching 69.2%

-- Record-high profit for the year attributable to owners of the Company reached US$45.1 million, up 143.8%

-- The Board has proposed a final dividend of HK10 cents per share

-- The Group added 4 CE-Marked products including coronary and peripheral paclitaxel-coated drug-eluting balloons, a coronary drug eluting stent and a peripheral self-expandable stent following the acquisition of eucatech AG

-- The Group strengthened its global sales network through acquisition of South Korean and Indonesian distributors and extended the US exclusive distribution agreement with an Abbott Laboratories' subsidiary

-- The Group has a portfolio of over 240 granted patents and published patent applications worldwide, along with more than 40 approved products, including its first CE Marked product under the new MDR regime, Scoreflex TRIO

-- Acquired a land parcel in Hangzhou to build the Group's largest R&D and production base which will bring an additional annual production capacity of 2.4 million units of products when operational

-- Established a newly leased manufacturing site in Shenzhen, which helped raise aggregate annual production capacity to approximately 1.9 million balloon products and 60,000 stent products

For the year ended December 31, 2023 (the "Year"), the Group continued to achieve sales volume growth, driving revenue to a record high of US$153.9 million, up 12.5% year-on-year. In particular, revenue from PCI balloons and PTA balloons grew by 12.1% and 29.0% year-on-year to US$115.4 million and US$14.7 million, respectively. Coupled with increase in sales volume of products which have higher average selling prices, its gross profit rose by 15.2% to US$106.5 million, with gross profit margin up 1.6 percentage points to 69.2%. Accordingly, profit for the year attributable to owners of the Company recorded an increase of 143.8%, reaching record high at US$45.1 million, with net profit margin up by 15.8 percentage points to 29.3%. Basic earnings per share were US5.45 cents (2022: US3.17 cents).

As at December 31, 2023, the Group was in a strong financial position with cash and bank balances amounting to US$255.8 million (2022: US$229.1 million). Having considered future capital requirements, the Board has proposed a final dividend of HK10 cents per share in cash, as a token of appreciation for the continuous support of shareholders.

Mr. David Chien, Chairman, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of OrbusNeich, said, "I am proud of our unwaveringly dedicated team which has helped the Group navigate the challenging market environment and achieve exceptional financial performance and operational excellence. During the Year, not only did we make significant progress in enhancing research and development ("R&D"), sales and marketing and our production capacity, but also completed three merger and acquisition ("M&A") transactions to strengthen market penetration, expand product sales channels, and diversify our product portfolio. As we continue to pursue our growth objectives and invest in strategic initiatives, we remain committed to generating returns for our valued shareholders and making a positive impact on the quality of life for patients worldwide."

Employing multiple approaches to consolidate leading market position

The Group achieved satisfactory results across all its key geographical markets in 2023. The US continued to be the fastest-growing market, showing a robust growth of 27.9%. Other markets, including Japan, APAC, and EMEA also achieved year-on-year revenue growth despite the foreign exchange impact. These positive results were driven by the continuous increase in sales and adoption of new generation products. Sales in local currency were maintained in the PRC market despite the temporary fluctuation in the operating environment of the industry.

For markets with high demand for medical products and services, the Group made strategic moves through M&A initiatives to enhance its presence in markets with strong potential. For example, in the Asia-Pacific region ("APAC") it acquired 100% equity stake in the South Korean distributor SJ Medicare Co. Ltd., a move expected to significantly contribute to local revenue growth, as well as allow the Group to strengthen sales channel management, diversify product offerings and enhance physician education. Additionally, the Group acquired an 84% equity stake in the Indonesian distributor PT Revass Utama Medika that holds a sizable market share in the world's fourth most populous country, where the number of cardiac catheterization laboratories is steadily increasing. For the established US market, the Group extended its exclusive distribution agreement with Cardiovascular Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of Abbott Laboratories, to accelerate growth in the market. Moreover, to foster brand awareness, the Group invited renowned physicians to share their expertise and knowledge in 11 physical physician exchange programs, as well as actively participated in industry exchanges at 73 seminars.

Harnessing synergies from strategic M&A and in-house R&D to enrich product portfolio

Through the strategic acquisition of the German company eucatech AG, that possesses CE Marked products, including a sirolimus-eluting coronary stent, a peripheral self-expandable stent and paclitaxel-coated PTCA and PTA balloons, the Group has not only enriched its portfolio with complementary products, but can also effectively address the growing trend of "leave nothing behind" in PCI and PTA procedures, bolstering its ability to treat lesions in PCI and PTA procedures.

During the Year, the Group's innovation also kept transforming into marketable production, with Scoreflex TRIO, the three-wire scoring balloon well received by Japanese physicians, becoming its first CE Marked product in the new Medical Device Regulation ("MDR") regime. The product was launched in early 2024 in the Group's key direct sales markets across APAC and EMEA regions, and its clinical trial patient enrolment in China is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2024 with the NMPA registration application to be submitted in the second half year. Additionally, registration applications for Sapphire Ultra and Sapphire NC Ultra coronary balloons with good product cost control and promising product quality, have been submitted to the FDA. Approval is expected in the first quarter of 2024, further enhancing the competitiveness of the Group's products in certain price-sensitive markets. As at December 31, 2023, the Group owned more than 240 granted patents and published patent applications globally across key jurisdictions, as well as more than 40 approved products, including 27 PMDA-approved, 26 CE Marked, 14 FDA-cleared, and 20 NMPA-approved.

In addition to the Group's PCI and PTA product offerings, the joint venture ON P&F, which has enabled the Group to expand into the structural heart field, also made significant progress in both commercialization and product development in 2023. Its first TricValve case was successfully performed in both Australia and Taiwan, with satisfactory clinical outcomes, and a TricValve study protocol has been submitted to the NMPA, with patient enrollment for the clinical trial in the PRC expected at the beginning of the second quarter of 2024.

Bolstering production infrastructure to keep pace with rising demand

The Group has been consistently expanding its production capacity to meet growing demand. By raising the annual production capacity of balloon products by 550,000 units, it achieved a total annual production capacity of approximately 1.9 million units of balloons and 60,000 units of stents as at December 31, 2023. The capacity increase was made possible through establishing a newly leased manufacturing site in Fuyong, Shenzhen, adding production machinery and relocating certain production procedures. To address future production needs, the Group has acquired an approximately 20,000-square-meter land parcel in Fuyang, Hangzhou for building its largest R&D and manufacturing base with a gross floor area spanning approximately 60,000 square meters. With construction officially commenced in December 2023, the new R&D and manufacturing base is expected to be operational by 2027, adding an annual production capacity of 2.4 million units of products upon commencement of production.

Mr. Chien concluded, "Looking ahead, we expect the growth momentum of our businesses to prevail, fueled by our continuing relentless pursuit of market expansion and product enrichment. Armed with abundant financial resources, we remain committed to identifying M&A opportunities that align with our corporate strategies. By continuously strengthening our commercialization capabilities and complementing our existing product portfolios and technology platforms, we aim to create value for shareholders and the global healthcare market as a whole."

About OrbusNeich Medical Group Holdings Limited

OrbusNeich is a major global medical device manufacturer specializing in interventional devices for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) procedures. Headquartered in Hong Kong, China, OrbusNeich sells its products in more than 70 countries and regions worldwide. It is also actively expanding into neuro vascular intervention and structural heart disease. As at December 31, 2023, OrbusNeich has more than 240 granted patents and published patent applications worldwide. Its in-house R&D team has more than two decades of product development experience and has developed world-leading proprietary technologies.

For more information, please visit the Group's official website: https://orbusneich.com/

Copyright 2024 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
WASHINGTON , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) will celebrate its Golden Jubilee with a concert by the internationally acclaimed classical crossover tenor Mario Frangoulis at the historic Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. , April 12, 2024 , at 8 PM .

Mario Frangoulis , born in Africa and raised in Greece , celebrates a milestone year in 2023, marking his 35th anniversary on stage. Discovered by Sir Cameron Mackintosh in 1988 and signing with Sony Classical New York, Frangoulis soared to international acclaim vying for the top 3 positions with Andrea Bocelli on the Billboard charts for 52 weeks. He continues to captivate audiences with 22 albums and 7.5 million in sales, showcasing his mastery in classical crossover music to popular musical theater and other genres in five languages. Having graced prestigious stages worldwide including Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Dallas Opera , Orchestra Hall Chicago , La Scala to numerous collaborations, including Sarah Brightman , Placido Domingo , Justin Hayward , and Smokey Robinson .

In 2023, Frangoulis debuted as Pollione in 'Norma' alongside Joyce El Khouri , commemorating Maria Callas's 100th anniversary while celebrating his 35th stage anniversary with a remarkable concert at the Herod Atticus Odeon, beneath the Acropolis. Now returning to Washington , Frangoulis promises an enchanting performance, featuring favorite songs from some of the greatest composers.

As the Global Ambassador for the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans since 2005, Mario Frangoulis advocates for scholarships to support young people facing adversity in pursuing higher education. Frangoulis's commitment to humanitarian causes extends to organizations such as Unesco's Youth in Greece , WCCCI, Unicef's "Fostering a Child," and cancer awareness programs.

Mario Frangoulis' Concert will feature an enchanting collaboration with up-and-coming soprano Theresa Carlomagno , known for her timeless vocal artistry and notable portrayals, including Adele in Die Fledermaus and Adina in Donizetti's L'Elisir D'Amore, and the Warner Theatre Studio Orchestra conducted by Maestro Stathis Soulis .

There's no mistaking that when Mario Frangoulis takes the stage, his rich resonant voice and personality take over. Be prepared to be swept on a musical journey unlike any other.

Watch a captivating short video clip featuring highlights from Mario Frangoulis's mesmerizing previous performances, showcasing his extraordinary talent and the enchanting moments.

Secure your tickets now for an enchanting evening filled with extraordinary music at ticketmaster.com.

Contact:

George Veras

President/Owner

Veras Communications Inc.

[email protected]

216-244-1286

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-hellenic-institutes-golden-jubilee-celebration-acclaimed-tenor-mario-frangoulis-to-headline-concert-at-washington-dcs-historic-warner-theatre-302083454.html

SOURCE American Hellenic Institute
HONG KONG , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CNOOC Limited (the "Company", SEHK: 00883 (HKD Counter) and 80883 (RMB Counter), SSE: 600938) announces today that the Company has made a major oilfield discovery of Kaiping South in the deep-water deep-play of the South China Sea , which adds over a hundred million tons of oil equivalent proved in-place volume.

The Kaiping South Oilfield is located in the eastern South China Sea , with an average water depth of approximately 500 meters. The main oil-bearing plays are Zhuhai Formation, Enping Formation and Wenchang Formation of Paleogene, and the oil property is light crude. The discovery well KP18-1-1d was drilled and completed at a depth of 3,462 meters, which encountered a total of 100.6 meters oil and gas pay zones. The well was tested to produce an average of approximately 7,680 barrels of crude oil and 0.52 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. Through continued exploration, the proved in-place volume of Kaiping South Oilfield has reached 102 million tons of oil equivalent.

Mr. Xu Changgui , Deputy Chief Exploration Officer of the Company, said, "Kaiping South Oilfield is China's first deep-water and deep-play oilfield with proved in-place volume over a hundred million tons. The discovery fully demonstrates the broad prospects for exploration in deep-water South China Sea and further expands the resource base for the Company's high-quality development."

Mr. Zhou Xinhuai, CEO and President of the Company, said, "In recent years, CNOOC Limited has achieved remarkable breakthroughs in oil and gas exploration in the eastern South China Sea , building a new growth pole for offshore oil and gas production. The Company remains committed to oil and gas resources exploration and development in the South China Sea , thereby continuously enhancing its energy supply capacity."

 End 

Notes to Editors:

More information about the Company is available at http://www.cnoocltd.com

*** *** *** ***

This press release includes forward looking information, including statements regarding the likely future developments in the business of the Company and its subsidiaries, such as expected future events, business prospects or financial results. The words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by the Company as of this date in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that the Company currently believes are appropriate under the circumstances. However, whether actual results and developments will meet the current expectations and predictions of the Company is uncertain. Actual results, performance and financial condition may differ materially from the Company's expectations, including but not limited to those associated with macro-political and economic factors, fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas prices, the highly competitive nature of the oil and natural gas industry, climate change and environmental policies, the Company's price forecast, mergers, acquisitions and divestments activities, HSSE and insurance policies and changes in anti-corruption, anti-fraud, anti-money laundering and corporate governance laws and regulations.

Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. The Company cannot assure that the results or developments anticipated will be realised or, even if substantially realised, that they will have the expected effect on the Company, its business or operations.

*** *** *** ***

For further enquiries, please contact:

Ms. Cui Liu

Media & Public Relations

CNOOC Limited

Tel: +86-10-8452-6641

Fax: +86-10-8452-1441

E-mail: [email protected]

Mr. Bunny Lee

Porda Havas International Finance Communications Group

Tel: +852 3150 6707

Fax: +852 3150 6728

E-mail: cnooc.hk@pordahavas.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cnooc-limited-announces-a-hundred-million-ton-oilfield-discovery-of-kaiping-south-in-south-china-sea-302081344.html

SOURCE CNOOC Limited
HOUSTON , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CODE Staffing Corp, the IT contingent staffing arm of the CODE Group, has added three members to its Board of Advisors. The new advisors are David Blumenthal , Gregg Gerken , and Chris Williams . They join CODE Group Founder and President Markus Egger and CODE Staffing CEO Yair Griver .

David Blumenthal has more than 30 years of experience as a founder, leader and entrepreneur in consulting, healthtech and digital business. He currently serves as Vice President of Strategic Client Development and Client Success for Zelis, a leading healthtech company that delivers cost transparency solutions to health plans. Prior to his current role he served as Chief Operating Officer for a publicly traded reseller of wireless services. He also co-founded and served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Flash Creative Management, a business technology company focused on assisting companies identify their strategic objectives and tactical plans and build the processes and technologies to support them. He has a Master of Business Administration degree from New York University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from New York University.

Gregg Gerken is the former Head of Commercial Real Estate for TD Bank, N.A., where he was responsible for a $28 billion investment real estate portfolio and a $4 billion low-income housing tax credit equity portfolio serving regional, institutional real estate and not-for-profit clients. He has more than 35 years of banking experience, with more than 25 years in the real estate industry. Before joining TD Bank, Gerken was responsible for real estate lending in New Jersey for Fleet Bank, National Westminster Bank & Citizens First National Bank, which were combined through mergers. He currently serves on several Mortgage Bankers Association committees, is a member of the Real Estate Roundtable's Real Estate Capital Policy Advisory Committee and Homeland Security Task Force Committee. Gerken earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in International Business and Political Science from Ohio University.

Chris Williams is a leadership advisor with more than 45 years of experience building and leading teams. As the Vice President of Human Resources at Microsoft, he wrote software and scaled teams. Williams is currently an advisor who works with executives to help them become better and smarter leaders. He shares leadership videos on social media with more than 250,000 followers and is a regular contributor to Business Insider magazine. Williams graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Bowling Green State University.

"This is an extremely strong group of advisors who will help CODE Staffing in our efforts to transform the contingent staffing industry," Griver said. "We look forward to working with them as we grow and evolve our business."

CODE Staffing is the IT contingent staffing arm of Houston -based The CODE Group, which was established in 1993 by Markus Egger and has grown its service offerings from publishing and distributing one of the longest-running, global software magazines (CODE Magazine), to completing multi-million-dollar projects with its CODE Consulting and CODE Training. CODE Staffing provides professional software developers at a client's workplace or remotely to augment their software development team and help staff projects of any size. Learn more at www.codestaffing.com.

CONTACT

Cynthia Flash

425-603-9520

[email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/code-staffing-adds-three-members-to-its-board-of-advisors-302082322.html

SOURCE CODE Staffing
PLEASANT GROVE, Utah , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As the world celebrates International Women's Day on March 8, 2024 , doTERRA, a leading global wellness company, pays tribute to the extraordinary women within its ranks who tirelessly advocate for empowerment and inclusion. Through their unwavering dedication, these women exemplify the essence of International Women's Day, fostering an environment where every voice is heard and valued.

Misty Bond , Vice President of Corporate Communications and Philanthropy at doTERRA, expressed gratitude to the remarkable women who play pivotal roles in the company's success. She stated, "In celebration of International Women's Day 2024, we at doTERRA extend our heartfelt gratitude to the remarkable women who tirelessly champion female business builders and foster an environment of inclusion every single day. Your dedication fuels the heart of our mission, inspiring a community where every woman's voice is heard and empowered. Together, we honor your unwavering commitment to creating a brighter, more inclusive future for all."

At doTERRA, women are not only driving business growth but are also instrumental in nurturing a culture of support and collaboration. Through their leadership and mentorship, they empower others to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams and achieve their full potential.

To commemorate this occasion, doTERRA has released a special video sharing their gratitude for the women within the doTERRA community who have made significant contributions to empowerment and inclusion. The video serves as a tribute to their achievements and highlights the impact of their efforts in creating a more equitable world for all.

To watch the video and join in honoring the women of doTERRA, along with all women, this International Women's Day, please visit here. You can also read more inspiring stories about the women of doTERRA here.

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. Like and follow doTERRA on Facebook and Instagram and learn more at www.doterra.com .

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dterra-honors-women-empowerment-and-inclusion-on-international-womens-day-2024-302083094.html

SOURCE doTERRA
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. and LOGANVILLE, Ga. , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Encompass Health Corp. (NYSE: EHC) and Piedmont today announced they have been awarded a certificate of need to build a freestanding, 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Loganville, Georgia . The hospital will be located at 3195 Loganville Highway . When the Loganville hospital opens, Piedmont intends to relocate its existing 20-bed rehabilitation unit at Piedmont Eastside Medical Center to the new hospital.

The hospital will care for patients recovering from debilitating illnesses and injuries including strokes and other neurological disorders, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations, and complex orthopedic conditions. Complementing local acute care services, the future hospital will offer physical, occupational, and speech therapies and 24-hour nursing care to restore functional ability and quality of life. The hospital will feature all private patient rooms, a spacious therapy gym with advanced rehabilitation technologies, and activities of daily living suite, cafeteria, pharmacy, and therapy courtyard.

"We are excited to continue expanding our partnership with Piedmont , a wellrespected integrated healthcare leader that has been serving Georgia residents for more than a century," said Ronnie Wagley , President of Encompass Health's South Atlantic Region . "By leveraging the strengths of both organizations, we look forward to serving more patients and providing highquality, rehabilitative care to residents in the East Atlanta area and beyond."

"We are honored to serve patients in Gwinnett County and the surrounding communities, now in partnership with Encompass Health," said Larry Ebert , CEO of Piedmont Eastside Hospital. "We look forward to building a rehabilitation facility where patients can regain function, strength, hope, and independence before rejoining the community."

About Piedmont Healthcare

Piedmont is empowering Georgians by changing health care. We continue to fuel Georgia's growth through safe, high-quality care close to home through an integrated health care system that provides a hassle-free, unified experience. We are a private, not-for-profit organization with more than 12,000 donors annually that for centuries has sought to make a positive difference in every life we touch in the communities we serve. Across our 1,600 physical locations we care for 3.7 million patients and serve communities that comprise 80 percent of Georgia's population. This includes 23 hospitals, 65 Piedmont Urgent Care centers, 25 QuickCare locations, 1,875 Piedmont Clinic physician practices and nearly 3,100 Piedmont Clinic members. Our patients conveniently engage with Piedmont online, as they scheduled more than 515,000 online appointments and over 154,000 virtual visits. With more than 44,000 care givers we are the largest Georgia -based private employer of Georgians, who all came for the job, but stayed for the people. In 2023, Piedmont has earned recognition from Newsweek as one of America's Greatest Workplaces for Diversity and also as one of America's Greatest Workplaces for Women. In 2022, Forbes ranked Piedmont on its list of the Best Large Employers in the United States . In addition, Piedmont provided nearly $360 million in Community Benefit in Fiscal Year 2022, including approximately $310 million in uncompensated care.

For more information, or booking your next appointment, visit piedmont.org.

About Encompass Health

Encompass Health (NYSE: EHC) is the largest owner and operator of rehabilitation hospitals in the United States . With a national footprint that includes 160 hospitals in 37 states and Puerto Rico , the Company provides high-quality, compassionate rehabilitative care for patients recovering from a major injury or illness, using advanced technology and innovative treatments to maximize recovery. Encompass Health is ranked as one of Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies and Modern Healthcare's Best Places to Work in Healthcare. For more information, visit encompasshealth.com, or follow us on our newsroom, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements contained in this press release which are not historical facts, such as those relating to the likelihood, timing and effects of the completion of this and other hospital projects, are forward-looking statements. In addition, Encompass Health may from time to time make forward-looking public statements concerning the matters described herein. All such estimates, projections, and forward-looking information speak only as of the date hereof, and Encompass Health undertakes no duty to publicly update or revise such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily estimates based upon current information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Encompass Health's actual results or events may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors. While it is impossible to identify all such factors, factors which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated include, but are not limited to, the regulatory review and approval process, any adverse outcome of various lawsuits, claims, and legal or regulatory proceedings that may be brought by or against the Company; the possibility this project will experience unexpected delays; the ability to successfully complete this project consistent with Encompass Health's growth strategy, including realization of anticipated revenues and avoidance of unforeseen exposure to liabilities; disease outbreaks, including the speed, depth, geographic reach and duration of the spread; the actions to be taken by Encompass Health in response to disease outbreaks; changes in the regulation of the healthcare industry at either or both of the federal and state levels; competitive pressures in the healthcare industry and Encompass Health's response thereto; the hospital's ability to maintain proper local, state and federal licensing; potential disruptions, breaches, or other incidents affecting the proper operation, availability, or security of Encompass Health's information systems; Encompass Health's ability to attract and retain nurses, therapists, and other healthcare professionals in a highly competitive environment with often severe staffing shortages and the impact on Encompass Health's labor expenses from potential union activity and staffing shortages; changes, delays in (including in connection with resolution of Medicare payment reviews or appeals), or suspension of reimbursement for Encompass Health's services by governmental or private payors; general conditions in the economy and capital markets; and other factors which may be identified from time to time in Encompass Health's SEC filings and other public announcements, including Encompass Health's Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2023 .

Encompass Health contacts:

Media contact: Kennedi Spurling | 205-970-5912

[email protected]























Piedmont contact:

Media contact: Alexis Scott | 470-446-8342

[email protected]



























Investor Relations contact: Mark Miller | 205-970-5860

[email protected]



























View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/encompass-health-and-piedmont-announce-plans-to-build-a-40-bed-inpatient-rehabilitation-hospital-in-loganville-georgia-302082941.html

SOURCE Encompass Health Corp.
The learning software company launches its Skills Accelerator Program to help female entrepreneurs with upskilling and cultivating a culture of continuous learning.

SAN FRANCISCO , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Epignosis, a leading global learning software company, is proud to announce the launch of its Skills Accelerator Program for women-owned small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). This initiative is designed to empower women entrepreneurs by providing them with the necessary technology and resources for employee reskilling and upskilling opportunities, helping foster a culture of continuous learning. Epignosis will offer 20 selected women entrepreneurs free access to its industry-leading learning platform  TalentLMS  for two years.

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, it is imperative to address the challenges faced by women-owned businesses. Economic and social imperatives underscore the importance of strengthening women entrepreneurs, not only as a matter of equality but also for economic growth and sustainability. Women-owned businesses often encounter obstacles such as limited access to capital and lower profitability compared to their male counterparts. According to a recent LinkedIn global study, organizations that invest in employee development report 15% higher productivity levels than those that don't.

Epignosis recognizes these challenges and is committed to providing support to bridge the gender gap in entrepreneurship. "At Epignosis, we believe in the power of SMBs and the vital role women play in shaping the workforce and driving business and economic growth. By launching the Epignosis Skills Accelerator Program for women-owned SMBs, we are taking tangible steps towards creating a more equitable business environment," said Nikhil Arora , CEO of Epignosis. "We firmly believe that prioritizing and investing in a culture of continuous learning is key to shaping the future of work and are pleased to expand this opportunity to more organizations who may not have the capital resources to do so. The data demonstrates that learning and development programs within organizations not only strengthen company cultures but also drive engagement, foster innovation and growth."

The program will offer the selected women-owned SMBs access to Epignosis's cutting-edge Learning Management System technology, TalentLMS, along with access to TalentLibrary, a library of ready-made courses for training on soft skills and workplace topics. TalentLMS makes training easy, simple, and accessible. It ensures your learners are not only engaged but also grow and excel in their roles, significantly contributing to your company's success.

Epignosis invites women-owned SMBs from all industries to apply for the Skills Accelerator Program to take advantage of this opportunity to drive positive change within their organizations.

For more information about the Skills Accelerator Program for women-owned SMBs, please visit www.talentlms.com/iwd-skills-accelerator.

About Epignosis

Epignosis is a leading global software house in learning tech and trusted by over 22 million people in more than 160 countries worldwide. With a mission to democratize learning for companies of all shapes and sizes across the globe, its portfolio includes TalentLMS  a zero-overhead cloud LMS for SMBs, TalentLibrary  an on-demand library of ready-made courses, eFront  an enterprise learning management platform, TalentCards  a mobile app for training the deskless workforce and TalentHR an all-in-one HRIS to manage people operations. Epignosis's suite of software solutions is used by SMBs and global enterprises including Google, the United Nations, Schneider Electric, eBay, LVMH, ISUZU, Epson, Zalora, and HarperCollins Publishers, and many more. For more information, visit www.epignosishq.com.

About TalentLMS

TalentLMS is the LMS built for training success. Designed to get a "yes" from everyone, it's where great teams and companies go to grow. With an experience that's fully customizable, easy to manage, and a joy to use, teams embrace training while feeling right at home.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/epignosis-offers-talentlms-learning-software-to-women-owned-smbs-for-international-womens-day-302083039.html

SOURCE Epignosis
SAN DIEGO , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ESET, a global leader in digital security, announced today that Tony Anscombe , the company's chief security evangelist and cybersecurity threat expert, will present "Enhancing the Defense Against Cyberattacks with Threat Intelligence and Human Expertise" at this year's Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference in Orlando , one of the largest healthcare events in North America. Taking place March 13 at 3:15 p.m. Eastern in Theater A at the Orange County Convention Center , the presentation aims to shed light on the critical role of advanced threat intelligence and the indispensable value of human expertise in bolstering cyber defenses, particularly in the healthcare sector.

"In the face of escalating cyber threats, the fusion of advanced threat intelligence and human expertise is key to protecting our healthcare services," said Anscombe. "With patient care and privacy on the line, it's never been more important that healthcare providers analyze their cybersecurity postures and develop new strategies to fortify their defenses. I am eager to share strategies that empower them to outsmart the ever-evolving cyber risks we face at the crucial juncture of technology and human insight."

Cyberattacks in the healthcare industry are not only financially motivated but can also be extremely disruptive, affecting critical services and patient care and comprising confidential patient data. Anscombe's remarks will focus on the motivations behind these attacks and the importance of understanding the evolving trends in the threat landscape. The session will also highlight the necessity of integrating cyberthreat intelligence as a key component of an organization's cybersecurity strategy.

While technology, particularly AI, plays a crucial role in automating cyber defense mechanisms, Anscombe will emphasize the irreplaceable need for human insight and expertise to effectively counteract and mitigate cyber threats. He will explore the synergy between technological advancements and human judgment in creating a resilient and responsive cybersecurity posture.

Anscombe brings over 25 years of experience in the cybersecurity industry to the table. As an established author, blogger, and speaker, he has contributed significantly to the discourse on the current threat landscape, security technologies, data protection, privacy and internet safety. His insights are widely recognized across various industries and in the media, making him a sought-after commentator on cybersecurity matters.

ESET invites attendees of the HIMSS conference to join Anscombe's cybersecurity session to gain invaluable insights into enhancing cybersecurity defenses in an increasingly complex environment. For those interested in discussing these and other key cybersecurity trends, Anscombe will be available for meetings and briefings throughout the conference.

For more information about Tony Anscombe's presentation please visit the HIMSS website.

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 X.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/esets-chief-security-evangelist-tony-anscombe-to-present-at-himss-302083311.html

SOURCE ESET
WASHINGTON , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Fannie Mae (OTCQB: FNMA) priced Connecticut Avenue Securities (CAS) Series 2024-R02, an approximately $751 million note offering that represents Fannie Mae's second CAS REMIC  transaction of the year. CAS is Fannie Mae's benchmark issuance program designed to share credit risk on its single-family conventional guaranty book of business. Year to date, Fannie Mae has issued approximately $1.57 billion of notes under the CAS program.

The reference pool for CAS Series 2024-R02 consists of approximately 56,000 single-family mortgage loans with an outstanding unpaid principal balance of approximately $18.6 billion . The reference pool includes collateral with loan-to-value ratios of 60.01 percent to 80.00 percent, which were acquired between April 2023 and July 2023 . The loans included in this transaction are fixed-rate, generally 30-year term, fully amortizing mortgages and were underwritten using rigorous credit standards and enhanced risk controls.

Fannie Mae will retain a portion of the 1M-1, 1M-2, 1B-1, and 1B-2 tranches, and initially will retain the full 1B-3H first-loss tranche.

Class Offered Amount ($MM) Pricing Level Expected Ratings (S&P/DBRS) 1M-1 $256.326 30-day Average SOFR plus 110 bps A (sf) / A (high) (sf) 1M-2 $229.809 30-day Average SOFR plus 180 bps BBB+ (sf) / BBB (high) (sf) 1B-1 $176.776 30-day Average SOFR plus 250 bps BB+ (sf) / BBB (low) (sf) 1B-2 $88.388 30-day Average SOFR plus 370 bps B+ (sf) / BB (sf)

Wells Fargo Securities, LLC ("Wells Fargo") is the lead structuring manager and joint bookrunner. StoneX Financial Inc. ("StoneX") is the co-lead manager and joint bookrunner. Co-managers are BofA Securities, Inc. ("BofA"), Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. ("Cantor"), Citigroup Global Markets Inc. ("Citigroup"), and Morgan Stanley & Co, LLC ("Morgan Stanley"). Selling group members are Minority and Service-Disabled Veteran-owned Academy Securities, Inc. and African-American-owned CastleOak Securities, L.P.

With the completion of this transaction, Fannie Mae will have brought 63 CAS deals to market, issued over $66 billion in notes, and transferred a portion of the credit risk to private investors on over $2.1 trillion in single-family mortgage loans, measured at the time of the transaction.

To promote transparency and to help credit investors evaluate our securities and the CAS program, Fannie Mae provides ongoing, robust disclosure data, as well as access to news, resources, and analytics through its credit risk transfer webpages. This includes our innovative Data Dynamics tool that enables market participants to interact with and analyze CAS deals that are currently outstanding in the market and Fannie Mae's historical loan dataset. Our EU Resources and UK Resources webpages are designed to help European Union and UK institutional investors, as well as those managing funds subject to EU/ UK regulations.

In addition to our flagship CAS program, Fannie Mae continues to transfer mortgage credit risk through its Credit Insurance Risk Transfer (CIRT) reinsurance program.

About Connecticut Avenue Securities

CAS REMIC notes are issued by a bankruptcy-remote trust. The amount of periodic principal and ultimate principal paid by Fannie Mae is determined by the performance of a large and diverse reference pool. For more information on individual CAS transactions, visit our credit risk transfer webpage.

About Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae advances equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing for millions of people across America. We enable the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and drive responsible innovation to make homebuying and renting easier, fairer, and more accessible. To learn more, visit:

fanniemae.com | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Blog

Fannie Mae Newsroom

https://www.fanniemae.com/newsroom

Photo of Fannie Mae

https://www.fanniemae.com/resources/img/about-fm/fm-building.tif

Fannie Mae Resource Center

1-800-2FANNIE

Statements in this release regarding the company's future CAS transactions are forward-looking. Actual results may be materially different as a result of market conditions or other factors listed in "Risk Factors" or "Forward-Looking Statements" in the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 . This release does not constitute an offer or sale of any security. Before investing in any Fannie Mae issued security, potential investors should review the disclosure for such security and consult their own investment advisors.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fannie-mae-prices-751-million-connecticut-avenue-securities-cas-remic-deal-302083307.html

SOURCE Fannie Mae
The Legislature on Tuesday advanced a bill seeking to clarify the requirements motorcycle operators must meet in order to ride without a helmet in Nebraska.

The bill (LB1004) from Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair addresses concerns raised by law enforcement, the Department of Motor Vehicles and motorcyclists after the repeal (LB138) of Nebraska's motorcycle helmet law that passed last year.

Hansen said the bill gives clarity to law enforcement officers in how to treat out-of-state riders without helmets during traffic stops by removing a statute obligating them to show proof of completion of a safety course.

It also removes the requirement for more-experienced riders to complete an 11-hour in-person safety course if they have obtained a Class M license prior to May 1, 2024.

Those veteran motorcycle operators will only be required to show they have completed a three-hour online safety course, which reviews the rules of the road, defensive driving strategies and other safety topics.

Following the passage of the helmet repeal last year, Hansen said basic safety courses have been inundated with experienced riders, which prevents newer, inexperienced riders from accessing those resources.

The cleanup bill, which still requires those who obtain a Class M license on or after May 1 of this year to submit proof of completing both courses, will help alleviate that problem, Hansen said.

A committee amendment adopted on Tuesday also clarifies that passengers on a motorcycle are still required to wear a helmet unless they are 21 or older and the person operating the motorcycle has been approved to ride without one.

"I received a lot of feedback on how unrealistic it is to require someone who never intends to operate a motorcycle to get on a bike and take a 14-hour, $275 course," Hansen said. "This is one of the provisions we might have overlooked in the original bill."

The Legislature advanced the bill to second-round debate on a vote of 34-3.

Meet the Nebraska state senators making laws in 2024
Female-led Company will offer New Product Development, Marketing, Sales, Media and Digital Innovation to Lifestyle Consumer Beverage Brands

HUGHSON, Calif. , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Terry Wheatley , former President of Vintage Wine Estates, has partnered with notable business leaders Jessica Kogan , Jenna Duran , and Stephanie Mayer to form Connect the Dots Collective. The company launched today with the mission to provide innovative services and expertise to consumer lifestyle brands in the alcohol, non-alcohol, functional and alternative beverage spaces.

Female-Founded Alcohol, Non-Alcohol, and Functional Beverage Company Connect the Dots Announces Launch

Through innovation and expertise in branding, marketing, sales, public relations and digital and ecommerce, Connect the Dots Collective is a full-service female-led branding agency that takes brands quickly from concept to shelf. The agency also provides consultancy services to emerging and existing brands seeking to revitalize, create awareness, and add value in a competitive and evolving marketplace.

"I am thrilled to bring together some of the most talented players in the beverage industry," explains Wheatley. " Jessica Kogan will lead digital initiatives including ecommerce strategy, execution, and web and social media development. Jenna Duran brings deep brand development, marketing and sales expertise, and Stephanie Mayer is curator of design and concept visionary. Together, we will bring new and legacy brands to next level impact and profitability."

Ms. Wheatley began her career at E. & J. Gallo Winery in Modesto, California . Following a 17-year tenure, she moved to Trinchero Family Estates/Sutter Home Winery in Napa, California , where she served as SVP Sales & Marketing. An entrepreneur at heart, Ms. Wheatley then founded Canopy Management, a wine sales and marketing company, which was acquired by Vintage Wine Estates in 2017. At VWE, she became the first female president to take a wine company public in 2020. That year she was also named to the Forbes Magazine 50 over 50 list and was recognized by Wine Enthusiast Magazine's WINE STAR as Innovator of the Year.

Ms. Kogan was Chief Digital Officer at Vintage Wine Estates and co-founder of the wine industry's most powerful digitally native brand, Cameron Hughes Wine . She was named Wine Enthusiast WINE STAR Innovator of the Year for Cameron Hughes Wine and is an omnichannel leader focused on the intersection of DTC and retailer ecommerce. Ms. Kogan is considered one of the most influential female voices and noted authorities in the digital beverage space and is a regular keynote speaker sharing her expertise on numerous panels and podcasts.

Ms. Duran was VP Marketing at Vintage Wine Estates, responsible for creating Hot Brands such as Bar Dog Wine and House of the Dragon Wines. With an MBA from Sonoma State Wine Business Institute and over a decade of experience in adult-beverage, she has led marketing initiatives across all sales channels including DTC, national 3-tier, wholesale as well as leading innovation for major national accounts and exclusive brands. Ms. Duran is an expert in all functions in the alcohol, non-alcohol, functional beverage space and beyond, from concept, production, supply chain, sales to shelf. Her creativity, enterprise, insight, and knowledge of the sales ecosystem moves brands forward to success.

Ms. Mayer is a creative director, visual communications consultant, tastemaker, and brand experience expert. She has built identities, experiences, and interior architecture for a variety of clients. Her award-winning projects include brand and retail marketing for iconic San Francisco companies GAP, Inc, Old Navy and Banana Republic, Napa Valley's Favia Winery and Erda Tea. Her expertise is inspiring connection as an architect of brand identities, curator of ideas and innovator of products and experiences.

About Connect the Dots Collective

Connect the Dots Collective is a female-founded company launched in 2023. Their mission is to bring innovative alcohol, non-alcohol, and consumer lifestyle products from concept through production to shelf. Connect the Dots is a full-service branding agency with practices in brand creation, design, marketing, sales, digital and ecommerce, and public relations. Connect the Dots also provides consultancy services to emerging and existing brands seeking to launch, revitalize, create awareness, and add value in a competitive and evolving marketplace. For additional information visit https://www.ctdcollective.net/ .

Contact:

Jenna Duran

Partner, Connect the Dots Collective

[email protected]

David Abrams

Publicist

[email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/founder-and-managing-partner-terry-wheatley-and-partners-announce-the-launch-of-connect-the-dots-collective-302083285.html

SOURCE Connect the Dots Collective LLC
MILTON, Mass. , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Friends of the Blue Hills is excited to share that Jen Klein will join its leadership team as Executive Director following an extensive search process. Inspired by formative experiences during her time growing up in Detroit , she has dedicated her career to fostering ecological literacy, connecting people to urban green spaces, and cultivating civic engagement to care for our natural world.

"We are thrilled to welcome Jen as our new Executive Director," said Matt Panucci , Board President. "Jen's passion for promoting environmental education and her commitment to protecting and creating inclusive outdoor spaces align perfectly with our current priorities. We learned during the pandemic about the critical role that the Blue Hills play in supporting the mental, physical, and social health of Boston area communities. Jen is the right leader to raise local and regional awareness about issues that threaten the park as well as to connect people and communities through a shared vision to ensure that the park is accessible for all."

In her previous role as Director of Outdoor Experience at The Trustees of Reservations, Jen spearheaded substantial growth in outdoor programming, established crucial partnerships to diversify audiences, and launched initiatives to reach underserved urban communities. Prior to her tenure at the Trustees, Jen held various positions at Mass Audubon including as the first State-wide Education manager. She is also President of the Board of the Massachusetts Environmental Education Society.

"As a long time Blue Hills trail user I am thrilled to bring my love of the outdoors and passion for connecting people to nature to the great work of Friends of the Blue Hills and lead the organization into its next chapter," says Klein. "As the social and ecological role of parks are evolving, Friends of the Blue Hills is well positioned to build upon over forty years of great work and usher in a new chapter for the park and the communities it serves. I look forward to continuing the great work the staff, board, and volunteers have done to protect the park, steward our trails, and engage with communities while expanding our work to make Blue Hills the preeminent green space for not only greater Boston , but all of southern New England ."

Jen holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies, with a focus on urban ecology, urban green space, and ecological literacy. She shares her expertise as an adjunct faculty member at Lesley University and Johnson and Wales University, teaching courses in Urban Ecology, Environmental Justice, Science and Outdoor Education.

Dr. Klein assumed the role of Executive Director on March 4 th and will succeed Judy Lehrer Jacobs , who served in this role at Friends of the Blue Hills for nearly 20 years.

For further information, or to arrange and interview, please contact: Morgan Pearson , Trustee at Large | [email protected] | 508-838-9551

About Friends of the Blue Hills:

Friends of the Blue Hills is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and enhancement of the Blue Hills Reservation's natural beauty, unique ecology, and recreational opportunities. For more information, visit friendsofthebluehills.org.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/friends-of-the-blue-hills-to-welcome-jen-klein-phd-as-new-executive-director-302081636.html

SOURCE Friends of the Blue Hills
ROCKVILLIE, Md. and SUZHOU, China , March 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovent Biologics, Inc. ("Innovent") (HKEX: 01801), a world-class biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and commercializes high quality medicines for the treatment of cancer, metabolic, autoimmune, ophthalmology and other major diseases, today announced that the results of two clinical studies of IBI311 (anti-IGF-1R monoclonal antibody),a Phase I trial in healthy subjects and a Phase II trial in patients with thyroid eye disease (TED), in the form of oral presentation at the 39th Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) Congress and the 21stInternational Congress of Endocrinology (ICE), respectively.

A Phase I Study of IBI311 (Anti-IGF-1R Monoclonal Antibody) in Chinese Healthy Volunteers

Abstract No.: 200683

The oral presentation at the 39th APAO annual meeting was based on a single dose escalation Phase 1 clinical study (NCT05480597) to evaluate the safety and tolerability of a single intravenous infusion of IBI311 in Chinese healthy volunteers. The primary endpoint of the study was safety variables, and secondary endpoints included pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters and immunogenicity results. The results showed that IBI311 was safe and well tolerated, with the most common treatment-emergent AEs being Grade 1 or 2, transient, and most resolving without treatment. All IBI311 dose groups were tested negative for anti-drug antibodies during the study. These indicated that a single intravenous administration of IBI311 at various dose levels in healthy subjects is safe and well tolerated, and the PK profile supports dose selection for subsequent clinical development.

A Phase II Study of IBI311 for the Treatment of Thyroid Eye Disease

Abstract No.: # 792

The oral presentation at the 21stInternational Congress of Endocrinology was based on a multicenter, randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled Phase II study (NCT05795621) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of IBI311 in subjects with moderately to severely active TED. A total of 33 eligible subjects were randomized in a 2: 1 ratio to receive either IBI311 or placebo. The primary endpoint was the proptosis response rate at Week 12 of the study eye (defined as the percentage of subjects with a reduction in proptosis of 2 mm from baseline in the study eye without deterioration  2 mm increase of proptosis in the fellow eye). After 12 weeks, all subjects received IBI311 until Week 21. The results of the study showed:

The primary endpoint was achieved: at Week 12, the proptosis responder rate in the study eye was significantly higher in the IBI311 group than in the placebo group (59.1% vs 18.2%, OR=11. 55, P=0. 0309).

With continued treatment and follow-up to week 24, the IBI311 treatment group achieved up to 72.7% proptosis responder rate, 3.37 mm reduction in proptosis from baseline, 88.2% diplopia responder rate (defined as diplopia improvement  grade 1).

Safety: The overall safety profile of IBI311 was favorable, with the majority of AE being mild or moderate in severity, and no treatment-emergent AE leading to drug discontinuation/interruption in the IBI311 group.

These results suggested that IBI311 significantly improves the proptosis in patients with TED in 12 weeks of treatment, and can lead to clinical benefits such as further improvement of proptosis and improvement of diplopia after continuation of treatment, with a favorable safety profile.

Professor Xianqun Fan , the leading principal investigator of the study, the Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor of ophthalmology at the Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, stated, " As an organ-specific autoimmune disease closely related to thyroid disease, TED is one of the most common orbital diseases in adults, and seriously affects the visual function and appearance of patients. At present, there is no targeted therapy approved for the treatment of thyroid ophthalmopathy in China , and the options for therapeutic interventions are limited. IBI311 is currently the most advanced candidate in the clinical development in the TED therapeutic area. As the Principal Investigator of the IBI311 series of studies, I am very pleased to see the progress of IBI311 in TED presented in an oral presentation at the ophthalmology and endocrinology Congress. This is an academic recognition of Chinese studies. I also wish that IBI311 will be approved and available in the clinic in the near future to alleviate the disease burden of Chinese TED patients. "

Dr. Lei Qian , Vice President of Clinical Development of Innovent, stated, "We are pleased to present the clinical development progress of IBI311 in thyroid eye disease at APAO Congress and ICE. This is another achievement of in-depth collaboration between Innovent and academia. It is also a prestigious recognition by the international ophthalmology and endocrinology academic community to Innovent IBI311's progress in the treatment of thyroid eye disease. We look forward to the approval of IBI311in the near future, providing treatments to TED patients. We will continue to make efforts to facilitate people's pursuit of a happy life and serve more patients."

About Thyroid Eye Disease (TED)

TED, the most common orbit-related disease in adults, is an autoimmune disease involving ocular tissues and usually associated with Graves' disease (GD) and is the most common orbit-related disease in adults. TED occurs in approximately 25 to 50% of GD patients and can also be seen in other thyroid diseases, even in euthyroidism[1].

The annual incidence of TED is estimated to be 16/100,000 in women and 2.9/100,000 in men[2]and the estimated prevalence of clinically relevant TED ranges from 0.1% to 0.3%[3]. According to disease severity, it can be classified into mild, moderate and severe. Although TED appears to affect women more often, severe cases occur more frequently in men. Patients aged 30 to 50 years are most commonly affected, and severe cases occur more frequently in patients over 50 years[4]. At present, the pathogenesis of TED is not fully understood, but several studies have shown that OFs present in muscle fibers, orbital fibrous connective tissue space are key factors leading to orbital soft tissue enlargement in TED[5].

The natural history of TED is classified into active and inactive phases[6]. The most common symptoms are dry eye, ocular gritty, photophobia, lacrimation, diplopia, and pressure behind the eye, while typical signs include upper eyelid retraction, eyelid edema, periorbital and conjunctival edema, and proptosis. TED is usually mild to moderate, and about 35% of patients with TED are severe, manifesting as severe pain, vision-threatening corneal ulcers, or compressive optic neuropathy[7]. In addition to potentially affecting vision, TED can have an extremely severe impact on the patient's appearance and social functioning as well as quality of life.

Currently, the first-line treatment for moderately severe active TED is intravenous glucocorticoid therapy, which suffers from unsatisfactory improvement of proptosis and systemic side effects. The second-line treatment includes other immunomodulators, which also have risks related to unclear improvement of proptosis and treatment.

Teprotumumab, Tocilizumab and Rituximab are recommended by the Chinese Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines for Thyroid Eye Disease (2022)[8], the European Group on Graves' orbitopathy (EUGOGO)[9] and the consensus on thyroid eye disease of the American Thyroid Society and the European Thyroid Society[10] as the second-line treatment options for moderate to severe active TED. Teprotumumab targeting IGF-1R is recommended as first-line therapy for patients with clinically significant proptosis.

About IBI311

IBI311 is a recombinant anti-IGF-1R antibody developed by Innovent Biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of TED. IGF-1R, a transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor that plays a role in development, metabolism, and immune regulation, is overexpressed in OFs, B, and T cells of TED patients[11]. IBI311 can bind IGF-1R, block IGF-1R signaling pathway activation mediated by IGF-1 and other related ligands or agonistic antibodies, thus reducing the expression of downstream inflammatory factors, inhibiting the synthesis of hyaluronic acid and other glycosaminoglycan caused by OFs activation, as well as related inflammatory reactions including tissue congestion and edema. IBI311 can inhibit adipocyte cellularization of OFs, thereby reducing the disease activity of patients with TED and improving proptosis, diplopia, ocular congestion and edema and other symptoms and signs.

About Innovent

Innovent is a leading biopharmaceutical company founded in 2011 with the mission to provide high-quality biologics that are affordable to all. The company discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes innovative medicines that treat some of the most intractable illnesses. Its pioneering therapies to treat cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic, autoimmune and eye diseases. Innovent has 10 products in the market, 3 new drug applications under the NMPA review, 4 assets in Phase III or pivotal clinical trials and 19 more molecules in early clinical stage. Innovent partners with over 30 global healthcare leaders, including Eli Lilly, Roche, Sanofi, Adimab, Incyte and MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Guided by the motto, "Start with Integrity, Succeed through Action," Innovent maintains the highest standard of industry practices and works collaboratively to advance the biopharmaceutical industry so that first-rate pharmaceutical drugs can become widely accessible. For more information, visit www.innoventbio.com, or follow Innovent on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Statement: Innovent does not recommend the use of any unapproved drug (s)/indication (s).

Forward-looking statement

This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to Innovent Biologics ("Innovent"), are intended to identify certain of such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements regularly.

These forward-looking statements are based on the existing beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates, projections and understandings of the management of the Company with respect to future events at the time these statements are made. These statements are not a guarantee of future developments and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company's control and are difficult to predict. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of future changes or developments in our business, the Company's competitive environment and political, economic, legal and social conditions.

The Company, the Directors and the employees of the Company assume (a) no obligation to correct or update the forward-looking statements contained in this site; and (b) no liability in the event that any of the forward-looking statements does not materialize or is otherwise inaccurate.

References:

1. Li Z, Cestari D M, Fortin E. Thyroid eye disease: what is new to know? Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2018; 29 (6): 528-534. 2. Bartley G. The epidemiological characteristics and clinical course of ophthalmology associated with autoimmune thyroid disease in Olmsted Country, Minnesota . Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc 1994; 92: 477-588. 3. Hiromatsu Y, Eguchi H, Tani J, Kasaoka M, Teshima Y. Graves' ophthalmopathy: epidemiology and natural history. Intern Med. 2014;53(5):353-60. 4. Edsel I. Thyroid Associated Orbitopathy. Retrieved June 7, 2011 , from Medscape Reference: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1218444-overview # a1http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1218444-overview 5. Ali F, Chorsiya A, Anjum V, Ali A. Teprotumumab (TEPEZZA): From the Discovery and Development of Medicines to USFDA Approvals for Active Thyroid Eye Disease (TED) Treatment. Int Ophthalmol. 2021; 41 (4): 1549-1561. 6. Dolman P J. Evaluating Graves' orbitopathy. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2012; 26 (3): 229-248. 7. Bahn R S. Graves' ophthalmopathy. N Engl J Med. 2010; 362 (8): 726-738. 8. Bartalena L, Kahaly GJ, Baldeschi L, et al. The 2021 European Group on Graves' Orbitopathy (EUGOGO) clinical practice guidelines for the medical management of Graves' Orbitopathy. Eur J Endocrinol. 2021; 185 (4): G43-G67. 9. Group of Oculoplastic and Orbital Diseases, Chinese Ophthalmology Branch, Chinese Medical Association; Group of Thyroid Diseases, Chinese Endocrinology Branch, Chinese Medical Association. Chinese Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Thyroid Associated Ophthalmopathy (2022). Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology. 2022; 58 (9). 10. Burch HB, et al. Management of Thyroid Eye Disease: a Consensus Statement by the American Thyroid Association and the European Thyroid Association. Eur Thyroid J. 2022; 11 (6): e220189. 11. Douglas RS, Naik V, Hwang CJ, et al. B cells from patients with Graves' disease erase express the IGF-1 receptor: implications for disease pathogenesis. J Immunol 2008; 181: 5768-5774.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/innovent-released-the-results-of-two-clinical-studies-of-ibi311-an-anti-igf-1r-monoclonal-antibody-in-oral-presentations-at-the-asia-pacific-academy-of-ophthalmology-congress-and-international-congress-of-endocrinology-2024-302082339.html

SOURCE Innovent Biologics
Internal Leader Takes Helm to Drive Global Resilience

MORRISVILLE, N.C. , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- IEM International, Inc., the largest consulting firm of its kind specializing in emergency management, disaster recovery, homeland security, and digital citizen services, is proud to announce the selection of IEM's James Clark as our new Vice President of International Homeland Security and Emergency Management. The leadership transition is effective immediately.

His expertise and guidance have informed countless IEM response and recovery projects.

Clark, formerly IEM's Director of Response and Recovery, joined IEM in 2021. In this capacity, he directed IEM's support to state, local, tribal and territorial clients for their disaster response and recovery efforts to include federal grant programs for public assistance and hazard mitigation. Leveraging his experience working with emergency management agencies, Clark delivers expert consulting and advisory services on IEM's project work given his unique perspective. His insight has shaped the sector's goals and initiatives, expanding the firm's reach to support communities around the nation and world.

"I am honored to assume the role of Vice President of International Homeland Security and Emergency Management and am excited to continue supporting our efforts as part of IEM's executive team," stated Clark. "In my time at IEM, I've directly seen how our services aid communities during their most challenging and vulnerable times. I'm committed to working alongside IEM's extensive team of experts and professionals to build safer, more resilient communities."

The Vice President of Homeland Security and Emergency Management position was previously held by Bryan Koon. Earlier this year, Koon assumed the President and CEO position, opening his previous role to a nationwide search. Among numerous talented individuals, Clark showcased his excellence as the indisputable choice to step into the role. Having worked closely together in the past, Koon and Clark will continue their partnership to shape IEM's future.

"James' leadership has been invaluable since he joined IEM. His expertise and guidance have informed countless IEM response and recovery projects, helping to expand and improve our services and better reach communities across the nation," stated Bryan Koon , President & CEO. "I am confident that he will lead and inspire the entire team with the same passion he has already showcased and am excited to collaborate with him as we lead IEM to new heights. I have no doubt that under James' guidance, our homeland security and emergency management sector will maximize impact and expand its reach in our collective mission to build a safe, secure, and resilient world."

About Clark

Before joining IEM, Clark served in several leadership roles at Louisiana's Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP). As Assistant Deputy Director of Grants and Administration, Clark managed grants and oversaw disaster consulting contracts. As Executive Officer of the Disaster Recovery Division, he led the state's disaster recovery, public assistance, and hazard mitigation programs. He also previously worked in the private sector, leading teams in national disaster recovery projects. Clark is also a decorated Army veteran and holds a degree from Louisiana State University.

About IEM

IEM: Building a safe, secure, and resilient world, one innovative solution at a time. Founded in 1985, IEM has grown to 1,100 dedicated consultants, becoming the world's largest woman- and minority-owned consulting firm. Our comprehensive services cover emergency management, homeland security, disaster and economic recovery, grants management and compliance, logistics and transportation policy and operations, infrastructure security and resilience, public health policy and operations, digital citizen services, cutting-edge national security and law enforcement technologies, and public engagement and outreach. We leverage scientific expertise, technology, and practical experience to create meaningful client outcomes. From securing crucial funding and program implementation to empowering communities, IEM is a trusted partner for government agencies and private organizations worldwide. Visit iem.com to learn more.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/james-clark-selected-as-iems-new-vice-president-of-international-homeland-security-and-emergency-management-302083106.html

SOURCE IEM International, Inc.
Award-winning Part 145 MRO completing first article installation on a Phenom 300

RESEARCH TRIANGLE, N.C., March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SmartSky, provider of the most advanced inflight air-to-ground (ATG) connectivity for business aviation, today announced Jet Access as a new sales and installation partner. The company has recently signed an agreement to complete the first-of-type installation of a SmartSky LITE system on an Embraer Phenom 300, the world's best-selling light jet, which is expected to be completed this summer. The Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) will make SmartSky available to more than 400 in-service aircraft.

"We are receiving numerous requests from operators and flyers for SmartSky because of its performance."

Jet Access is the first vertically integrated, fully transparent, full-service aviation management company in the industry. Committed to making private jet travel safe, cost-effective, uncomplicated, and comfortable, the Indiana -based company provides full-service FBO, MRO, charter, aircraft management, fractional ownership and fight training. Jet Access offers Part 145 operations throughout Central Indiana and Central Tennessee .

"We are proud to be able to expand our offerings to elevate the flying experience for everyone on the aircraft through this partnership with SmartSky. Its high-performance inflight connectivity is receiving rave reviews from users in the cabin and cockpit because of its unprecedented ability to move data to and from the aircraft with equal ease, enabling use of applications from business and leisure to situational awareness and operational data," said Scott Dillon , President of Maintenance for Jet Access. "We are receiving numerous requests from operators and flyers who are asking for SmartSky because of its performance that users describe as 'game changing'."

Jet Access is a multi-year recipient of the FAA Diamond Award of Excellence and is an Authorized Service Center for Embraer and Pilatus aircraft. The company's MRO operation is located near downtown Indianapolis at Eagle Creek Airpark (EYE).

"Jet Access' commitment to delivering the best possible customer experience makes them a natural fit to offer SmartSky. It is exciting to be part of their efforts to deliver the best to the industry," said Aria Bahawdory , Director of MRO Account Management for SmartSky. "Whether the Flagship system for mid to large cabin aircraft or the award-winning SmartSky LITE for smaller business aircraft, SmartSky is delivering next-generation technology now."

SmartSky continues to aggressively expand its diverse roster of certified aircraft, covering mid to large cabin business jets as well as light jets and turboprops. A list of SmartSky STCs, current and in progress, can be found at smartskynetworks.com/STC.

About SmartSky

SmartSky Networks was founded to transform aviation through disruptive communications technologies, services, and tools. The network takes advantage of patented spectrum reuse, advanced beamforming technologies and 60 MHz of spectrum for significantly enhanced connectivity. SmartSky Networks uniquely enables an "office in the sky" experience with unmatched capacity for data transmissions both to and from the aircraft. This real-time, very low latency, bidirectional data link makes SmartSky Networks the best in-flight user experience, and a key enabler for new and enhanced applications and services. For more information, visit SmartSkyNetworks.com

SmartSky Networks. Data moves us.

About Jet Access

Jet Access is a full-service aviation enterprise that provides the entire spectrum of private aviation services, including maintenance, charter, FBOs, brokerage, aircraft management, and flight training. Jet Access is an internationally recognized and award-winning Part 145 MRO .

Built on a foundation that spans four decades, Jet Access has an established reputation for providing customers with exceptional aircraft maintenance and repairs. They provide maintenance inspections, parts, repairs, avionics modifications, equipment installations, interior and exterior refurbishment, and other specialized services.

Jet Access has Part 145 operations throughout Central Indiana and Middle Tennessee.

SmartSky Media Contact

Mark Hazlin

Phone: (202) 289-4001

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.smartskynetworks.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jet-access-joins-smartsky-installation-network-302083468.html

SOURCE SmartSky Networks
12 month contract focused on the development of new antiviral drugs

Novel candidates to be produced using Kimer Med's broad-spectrum antiviral platform

95% of viral diseases lack an approved antiviral treatment

Download high resolution images here: www.kimermed.co.nz/media

NELSON, New Zealand , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimer Med, a New Zealand -based biotech start-up, today announced it has signed a contract valued at up to USD$750,000 (NZD$1.3 million) with Battelle, the world's largest independent, nonprofit research and development organisation.

The 12 month contract is funded by the United States government through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), and will fall into Battelle's Accelerated Therapeutics for Combating Acute Viral Epidemics programme. The contract is focused on the discovery and development of new antiviral drug candidates for the treatment of alphaviruses.

Spread mostly by infected ticks and mosquitoes, alphaviruses cause significant human and animal disease. Infections that result in encephalitis - inflammation and swelling of the brain - are often fatal and can cause ongoing neurological problems.

There is currently no effective antiviral treatment for alphavirus infection.

"Approved antiviral drugs are currently available for only 11 out of more than 200 viruses that cause widespread sickness, suffering and death in humans," said Kimer Med's CEO, Rick Kiessig .

"Our mission is to change that. We're developing a family of broad-spectrum antivirals capable of treating many of these infections."

"This contract is an important milestone for Kimer Med, as it provides another opportunity to prove the capability of our platform for rapid, broad-spectrum antiviral development," said Kiessig.

Since the company's launch in 2020, Kimer Med has developed antivirals that have shown in vitro efficacy against 11 different viruses, including the priority viruses Dengue (all four serotypes) and Zika.

Their technology holds significant promise to deliver vital broad-spectrum antiviral treatments with a range of applications, including:

Infectious diseases: Half the world's population is at risk from mosquito-borne viral infections for which there are no antiviral treatments available.





Half the world's population is at risk from mosquito-borne viral infections for which there are no antiviral treatments available. Pandemic protection: Vaccines will not be ready and waiting when the next pandemic occurs, but broad-spectrum antivirals can be stockpiled for early protection.





Vaccines will not be ready and waiting when the next pandemic occurs, but broad-spectrum antivirals can be stockpiled for early protection. Military use: Broad-spectrum medical countermeasures to protect military personnel against a range of existing and emerging viral threats.





Broad-spectrum medical countermeasures to protect military personnel against a range of existing and emerging viral threats. Healthcare and First Responders: Vital protection for frontline health workers and other first responders in the event of viral outbreaks, especially when the pathogen is unknown.

"With broad-spectrum antivirals, we have within our grasp the potential to revolutionise the treatment and prevention of viral infections in the way that penicillin did for bacterial infections. We're looking forward to working with such a highly-regarded and well-resourced organisation as Battelle to advance antiviral drug candidates that will be able to treat these alphaviruses, and hopefully a range of other viruses as well," said Kiessig.

About Battelle

Every day, the people of Battelle apply science and technology to solving what matters most. At major technology centers and national laboratories around the world, Battelle conducts research and development, designs and manufactures products, and delivers critical services for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio since its founding in 1929, Battelle serves the national security, health and life sciences, and energy and environmental industries. For more information, visit www.battelle.org.

About Kimer Med

Founded by Rick Kiessig and Phil Oliver in 2020, Kimer Med is a biotech start-up, based in Nelson, New Zealand . Backed by a multi-million dollar seed funding round, the company has designed a platform for the rapid development of novel, broad-spectrum antivirals. Kimer Med launched a Series A capital raise in September 2023 to progress development of their lead antiviral candidate through to Phase 1 clinical trials. For more information, visit www.kimermed.co.nz.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kimer-med-innovative-new-zealand-biotech-start-up-signs-contract-with-battelle-memorial-institute-to-pioneer-antiviral-drug-advances-302083553.html

SOURCE KIMER MED LIMITED
Two low-orbit nano satellites, built by Mongolian company Ondo Space , launched aboard SpaceX 's Falcon-9 rocket.





Mongolian Government to develop a 'sandbox' for space industry, offering policy support and flexible regulatory environment for testing and R&D.





Launch marks historic milestone in Mongolia's ambitious national space and digital economy programme.

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mongolia becomes the latest country to enter the global space industry with the launch of its first satellites today, ushering in new era of innovation and investment for the nation's burgeoning tech sector.

Two low-earth-orbit nano satellites were successfully launched into space aboard Space-X's Falcon-9 rocket from the company's Vandenberg Space Force Base launch site in California on 4th March 2023 .

The Cubesat satellites, named Ondosat-Owl-1 and Ondosat-Owl-2, were built by Mongolian company Ondo Space and successfully completed rigorous space environmental testing at the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan .

The Government of Mongolia has also announced it will establish a 'space sandbox' to support the continued growth of the domestic space sector. This comprehensive new framework will provide regulatory and policy support for companies to conduct testing and R&D in Mongolia while making use of the country's newly enhanced connectivity and competitive talent pool.

The dual satellite network and space sandbox will position Mongolia as a high-value investment and research destination for global companies across the space and technology sectors.

Prime Minister of Mongolia , L. Oyun-Erdene , commented:

" Mongolia's historic achievement in sending a man to space in 1981 laid the foundation for today's momentous occasion, showcasing the swift advancement of our domestic space endeavors. This milestone marks just the beginning of our journey towards cultivating a vibrant domestic space industry.

With a meticulously crafted policy framework, Mongolia aspires to emerge as a leading global center for space technology innovation and research."

Mongolia Minister of Digital Development and Communications, Mr. Uchral Nyam-Osor, commented:

" Mongolia presents immense potential for businesses in this dynamic and rapidly expanding sector. Introducing a regulatory 'sandbox' within a comprehensive legislative framework aimed at facilitating the business landscape for cutting-edge technologies will ensure that the government actively fosters ongoing growth and innovation across key domains such as the space economy, artificial intelligence, iOT, and other emerging technologies.

Leveraging its amicable relations with key stakeholders in the space economy, Mongolia also aims to cultivate its talent pool to strengthen its position in the global landscape."

Ondo Space Founder and President, Mr. Anar Chinbaatar, commented:

"We are thrilled to be part of this historic moment for the country as we launch our first ever Mongolian satellite into orbit. This achievement is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team, as well as the support of the Mongolian government in advancing our capabilities in space technology.

The Mongolian Government is also currently in discussions with SpaceX to explore options to launch the first country's first high-orbit national satellite, currently under construction by French company Thales Alenia Space, is the latest milestone in the Mongolian Government's ambitious and wide-ranging programme to develop a domestic space economy.

Enabling digital transformation across Mongolia is one of the central pillars of the Government's Vision 2050 and New Recovery Policy. It continues strengthening partnerships with G7 countries to explore space-related cooperation opportunities for peaceful purposes.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/maiden-satellite-launch-marks-new-era-of-mongolian-space-industry-302082801.html
Media availability for interviews with an Abacus technician on how the VIP membership can save homeowners money on costly repairs.

HOUSTON , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- With the rising costs of food, gas and day to day needs, investing into your home may be on the backburner. But there's a new VIP membership that not only has the ability to save you thousands of dollars, but also give you peace of mind!

Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning and Electrical is now offering their VIP membership in Houston and Austin , giving Abacus customers the best value, savings and warranties on every service, every time. The membership plan offers substantial savings on all manufacturer recommended annual HVAC and water heater maintenance plus complete plumbing and electrical inspections too, for one low monthly price.

Some companies offer loyalty programs, but it's nothing like what Abacus is offering. This is without a doubt the best deal in Texas !

For only $24.95 per month, the Abacus VIP plan includes:

UNLIMITED DRAIN CLEANING between Monday thru Sunday, 8am  8pm

between Monday thru Sunday,  ANNUAL COOLING & HEATING INSPECTIONS on all systems with VIP discounts on any repairs or replacement needed.

on all systems with VIP discounts on any repairs or replacement needed. ANNUAL PLUMBING INSPECTIONS on ALL sinks, toilets, fixtures, and exposed water lines, in kitchen, laundry and bathrooms, washing machine hoses and valves and diagnostics for any plumbing problems with VIP discounts on any repairs or replacement needs.

on sinks, toilets, fixtures, and exposed water lines, in kitchen, laundry and bathrooms, washing machine hoses and valves and diagnostics for any plumbing problems with VIP discounts on any repairs or replacement needs. ANNUAL ELECTRICAL INSPECTIONS including main panel/circuit board; checking surge protection; proper grounding; back-stabbed connections; splices in the attic; proper voltage for HVAC systems and hot water heaters; smoke detectors; GFCI protection and breakers; arc fault Breakers and more.

including main panel/circuit board; checking surge protection; proper grounding; back-stabbed connections; splices in the attic; proper voltage for HVAC systems and hot water heaters; smoke detectors; GFCI protection and breakers; arc fault Breakers and more. VIP VOUCHERS guarantee hundreds to thousands in savings on any plumbing, HVAC or electrical equipment and major repairs like new air conditioning systems, tank or tankless water heaters, emergency standby generators, whole-house water treatment systems; garbage disposals, electric panels, gas and water lines and more.

guarantee hundreds to thousands in savings on any plumbing, HVAC or electrical equipment and major repairs like new air conditioning systems, tank or tankless water heaters, emergency standby generators, whole-house water treatment systems; garbage disposals, electric panels, gas and water lines and more. Guaranteed VIP Discounts of 10% up to $500 per Repair

VIPS ALSO GET EXTENDED WARRANTIES ON ALL REPAIRS.

Plus, ALL SERVICE FEES ARE WAIVED FOR STANDARD SERVICE Monday thru Sunday, 8am to 8pm!

Monday thru Sunday, 8am to 8pm! To learn more, see all the terms and conditions, at www.abacusplumbing.com/vip ( Austin ) www.abacusplumbing.net/vip ( Houston ).

"Taking care of your home's critical equipment, like your HVAC systems, water heaters, and electrical systems, can help extend the life of that equipment beyond the normal lifespan," said Thos Graham , General Manager, Abacus Plumbing. "This is a gamechanger for our VIP members who save money and have the comfort of knowing they're in great hands with Abacus."

Abacus plumbers, electricians and HVAC technicians are fully licensed and certified for their trade and pass rigorous background and drug screening checks, while maintaining the highest level of customer satisfaction. "At Abacus, our customers can rest easy knowing that our technicians are highly trained to take care of any issues that may arise in their homes," said Tony Patino, President of Abacus in Houston .

About Abacus

Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical has been serving Texas since 2003; maintains an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and has earned multiple years of Awards for Excellence. Abacus only hires licensed and certified technicians who pass a rigorous drug and background check. All pricing is provided up front and offers a 100 percent job satisfaction guarantee.

To learn more about Abacus Plumbing in Houston , visit abacusplumbing.net or for Austin, visit abacusplumbing.com

Licenses: ALAN O'NEILL M-20628 | TACLB82488E | TECL 30557

Media Contact:

Michelle J. Lamon

C: 214-228-9135

[email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/media-alert-houston-and-austin-homeowners-can-save-thousands-of-dollars-through-abacus-vip-memberships-302082512.html

SOURCE Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning and Electrical
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management has accepted Messer's bid for the Federal Helium System and the company will move forward to the necessary regulatory reviews to acquire the assets.

"Messer is fully committed to the future success of the Helium System, as evidenced by Messer's safe and reliable operation of the System's Cliffside Gas Plant since May 2022 ," said Elena Skvortsova , President and CEO, Messer Americas .

The Federal Helium System was auctioned by the General Services Administration (GSA) on January 25, 2024 , in accordance with the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013, which required the Bureau of Land Management to sunset its management of the System and follow a statutory disposal process. The Helium System includes helium molecules stored in the caverns in Amarillo, Texas , as well as the Cliffside field, wells and gathering system, the 423-mile-long crude helium pipeline, and additional operational assets.

The accepted bid must now undergo required antitrust review by the Department of Justice. The company will also work with regulators across multiple states to comply with local laws and regulations.

"Messer intends to be a responsible operator and steward of this critical asset for decades to come, continuing to serve the many industries that rely on this vital resource that enables key technology and innovation in multiple sectors of the economy," Skvortsova added.

About Messer



Messer is the largest privately held industrial gas business in the world and a leading industrial and medical gas company in North and South America . Messer offers 125 years of expertise in industrial, medical, specialty and electronics gases. The company delivers quality gases, related services and technology via an extensive production and distribution network. Health and safety, sustainability practices and environmental protection are core Messer values that are embedded in the company's daily operations.

Messer Americas is part of the Messer SE & Co. KGaA, representing an approximately $4.4 billion USD enterprise with presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit: www.messeramericas.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/messer-bid-for-federal-helium-assets-accepted-by-blm-302083041.html

SOURCE Messer North America, Inc.
WASHINGTON , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report from the National Institute on Retirement Security ( NIRS ) finds shifting employees in the Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island (ERSRI) from defined benefit pensions in 2012 to a hybrid retirement plan is causing demonstrable changes in public employee attrition. The data specific to state employees, municipal general employees, police officers, firefighters, and teachers demonstrates a consistent pattern of higher turnover.

The impact varies across professions, but the overall trend indicates increasing challenges in retaining experienced workers. This trend towards higher turnover contributes to a workforce with less experience, potentially affecting productivity and the quality of public services.

These findings are contained in a new report, Employees' Retirement System Of Rhode Island: Examination Of Turnover Trends Since Retirement Reforms. Read the report.

"At a time when states like Rhode Island are confronting severe public service worker shortages, it is critical to fully understand the workforce impacts of benefit changes because public service workers typically place a high value on their retirement benefits," said Dan Doonan , NIRS executive director and report author. "Often times, pensions serve as worker magnets in terms of recruitment and retention for public sector jobs that typically offer lower salaries than private sector jobs."

"The Rhode Island experience follows the pattern that we observed in Alaska . Both situations seem to confirm the impact of changing retirement benefits in worker attrition," Doonan said. "For example, the Rhode Island state employee withdrawal rate has spiked since 2010 across the full range of years of service as compared to the previous four actuarial studies. Moreover, the most recent actuarial study projects only 31 of 100 new hires would remain employed in Rhode Island state government in 20 years. In contrast, the 2010 actuarial study before benefit changes were implement projected 47 employees would still be employed in 20 years. This reduction in the number of experienced state employees certainly will have an impact on the quality of public services."

Significant changes were made to ERSRI retirement benefits in 2011. The plan changed from a defined benefit pension plan to a hybrid plan with a reduced pension component and mandatory participation in a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan. Participation in the new hybrid plan has been obligatory for all new hires since July 1, 2012 , as well as current active workers with less than 20 years of service as of June 30, 2012 . The hybrid plan has been in place for more than 11 years, which is sufficient time to study its impact on employee behavior.

The report's key findings are as follows:

Employee turnover has been consistently higher in the most recent actuarial experience report for nearly every age grouping (using five-year intervals), and for each group of workers, including state employees, general employees, police officers and firefighters, and teachers. The data was grouped into 19 segments (four types of workers and by service groupings), and turnover was the highest in 17 of the 19 groupings studied in the most recent actuarial report.





in the most recent actuarial experience report for nearly every age grouping (using five-year intervals), and for each group of workers, including state employees, general employees, police officers and firefighters, and teachers. The data was grouped into 19 segments (four types of workers and by service groupings), and turnover was the highest in 17 of the 19 groupings studied in the most recent actuarial report. Higher turnover will result in fewer workers providing full careers in their communities . For instance, the experience shown from the 2022 study suggests that only 29 of 100 new state employees would reach 25 years of service. Past experience studies estimated 34 to 45 of 100 new state employees reaching the same mark.





. For instance, the experience shown from the 2022 study suggests that only 29 of 100 new state employees would reach 25 years of service. Past experience studies estimated 34 to 45 of 100 new state employees reaching the same mark. It is possible to develop a return-on-investment perspective regarding hiring by using the same experience data . To do this, the analysis projects the total service provided to Rhode Island citizens by 100 newly hired workers based on the experience data for each study. For state employees, this measure has been falling since 2010  from 1,518 years of service per 100 new hires to 1,191 years  or from about 15 years per new hire to about 12.





. To do this, the analysis projects the total service provided to citizens by 100 newly hired workers based on the experience data for each study. For state employees, this measure has been falling since 2010  from 1,518 years of service per 100 new hires to 1,191 years  or from about 15 years per new hire to about 12. These increased turnover trends not only dictate how much hiring public employers must undertake, but also the average and median level of experience of their workforce . Higher turnover translates into workers with fewer years of experience with their employers, which could impact the productivity of a workforce as well as the quality of public services.





. Higher turnover translates into workers with fewer years of experience with their employers, which could impact the productivity of a workforce as well as the quality of public services. The rate of change in attrition may be somewhat understated in this report because each experience study covers six years, while the report is conducted every three years. So, each study is examining data that is roughly half new and half from the prior three years. This almost certainly has a smoothing effect on the rate of change that is being measured every three years.

This report analyzes the past five experience studies that are available on ERSRI's website, covering June 30, 2004 through June 30, 2022 . It is important to keep note that other issues, like the availability and size of pay raises, employer-initiated terminations during recessions, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic likely also are key factors. While ERSRI experience studies provide an accurate snapshot of employee behavior, the studies do not provide explanations for employee choices.

Additional research from NIRS examining jurisdictions that have moved away from pensions includes No Quick Fix: Closing a Public Pension Plan Leads to Unexpected Challenges and Retirement Reform Lessons: The Experience of Palm Beach Public Safety Pensions and Alaska Teacher Recruitment and Retention Study: Options and Analysis Supporting Retirement Plan Design.

The National Institute on Retirement Security is a non-profit, non-partisan organization established to contribute to informed policymaking by fostering a deep understanding of the value of retirement security to employees, employers, and the economy as a whole. Located in Washington, D.C. , NIRS membership includes financial services firms, employee benefit plans, trade associations, and other retirement service providers. More information is available at www.nirsonline.org.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-institute-on-retirement-security-finds-changes-to-rhode-island-public-employee-retirement-benefits-are-contributing-to-employee-attrition-302083016.html

SOURCE National Institute on Retirement Security
French Cryptography Startup Zama Raises $73M for Blockchain, AI Privacy Apps

French cryptography startup Zama has raised $73 million in a Series A funding round led by Multicoin Capital, Protocol Labs and participation from well-known crypto players such as Polkadot co-founder Gavin Wood, and Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko.

Zama is an open-source cryptography company that builds out a new type of technology calledfully homomorphic encryption (FHE). The funding will be used to build applications in Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Other key investors in this funding round included Metaplanet, Blockchange, VSquared, Stake Capital and Portal Ventures and Juan Benet the founder and CEO of Protocol Labs, Filecoin, Julien Bouteloup from StakeDAO and Tarun Chitra from Gauntlet.

Largest Funding Round in French History



In an announcement, the French-Lebanese CEO of Zama, Rand Hindi said, Im proud to announce that Zama has raised $73 million in a Series Aone of largest venture rounds in Frances history.

Four years ago Zama was founded as an open-source cryptography company focused on FHE, and dubbed the holy grail of cryptography.

Hindi shared a timeline for 2024 plans where he predicts FHE innovation will take off exponentially as more developers discover what they can now build.

I am also excited about the applications of FHE in Artificial Intelligence. Using our Concrete framework, it is now possible to convert an AI model into an FHE equivalent, and to both train and run inference on encrypted data, said Hindi in a blog post.

Hindi goes on to explain that data scientists can already start building simple confidential AI applications today, and integrate more complex models such as LLMs as hardware acceleration becomes available soon.

VC Funding Picks Up in 2024



Crypto is making a comeback this year and is getting even better, as venture capitalists are reentering the funding arena.

Breaking a downward trend, VC investment in crypto startups has climbed 2.5% to $1.9b in Q4 2023, marking the first such rise since Q2 2022, PitchBook data, reports Shalini Nagarajan from Cryptonews.
HONG KONG , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited ("NetDragon" or the "Company"; Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is excited to announce a series of strategic partnerships aimed at transforming the educational technology landscape in Saudi Arabia . These initiatives were unveiled at the Saudi Arabia Human Capability Initiative event held in Riyadh last week, marking a significant step forward in the Kingdom's educational development under the visionary leadership of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud . This landmark conference, attracting registrants from upwards of 100 nations, has established a benchmark for global initiatives aimed at unlocking human potential.

A delegation of senior executives led by Dr. Simon Leung , Vice Chairman of NetDragon, engaged in a series of signings and discussions during the event, including a pivotal conversation with His Excellency, the Minister of Education, Dr. Yousef Al-Benyan to explore avenues for integrating advanced educational technologies and methodologies into Saudi Arabia's education system. The discussion resulted in the reaching of common ground and is expected to provide a foundation for NetDragon and the Ministry of Education to work closely together to identify and evaluate innovative education technology solutions to be offered by NetDragon that will elevate the quality and accessibility of education across the country.

NetDragon is also pleased to announce the signing of two agreements during the event, including:

1. Executive Programme Agreement with the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation ("TVTC"), the governmental agency responsible for vocational education and training in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - This signed agreement covers collaboration areas including virtual training hubs, digital vocational content, learning management system and e-sports. The signing of this agreement also took place on the back of the recently signed MOU between the Ministry of Commerce in the People's Republic of China and TVTC to strengthen collaboration between the two countries to enhance the quality of technical and vocational training.

2. MOU with The Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu - The MOU signing with the Royal Commission is expected to serve as the first K-12 market entry point in the country, putting NetDragon in a strong position to scale its edtech solutions. The scope of this MOU spans across cooperation opportunities across joint research in educational technology, as well as partnership in designing and implementing comprehensive educational technology projects. The MOU was signed in the presence of H.E Eng. Khalid bin Mohammed Al Salem , The President of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, highlighting the high level commitment and support for this initiative.

Dr. Simon Leung , Vice Chairman of NetDragon, remarked, "We are deeply honoured and thrilled to support Saudi Arabia's progressive vision for its educational sector. Our strategic partnerships aim to deliver the tools and skills tailored to meet the needs of Saudi students and educators, ensuring they are well-prepared for success in our ever-changing world. We are eager to embark on this transformative journey together, and we are confident that our collaborative efforts will set the stage for a new era of educational achievement within the Kingdom."

Dr. Dejian Liu , Chairman of NetDragon, commented, "We are extremely excited to take part in the compelling growth journey within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . Our initiatives in Saudi Arabia represent an integral part of our commitment to leveraging technology to unlock the potential of learners. We are confident that our unparalleled reputation in the market, as well as our capability in developing innovative technologies and applications, puts us in a unique position to provide the most complete and cutting edge technology solutions that deliver tangible results for our partners."

About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users, including previous establishments of China's first online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China's most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless.

Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and well-known online game developers in China with a history of successful game titles including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved, Conquer Online and Under Oath. In recent years, NetDragon has also started to scale its online education business on the back of the vision to create the largest global online learning community, and to bring best-in-class learning solutions to every school around the world.

For investor enquiries, please contact:

Maggie Zhou

Senior Director of Investor Relations

Tel.: +852 2850 7266 / +86 591 8390 2825

Email: [email protected]

Website: ir.netdragon.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/netdragon-forges-strategic-partnerships-to-revolutionise-human-capability-in-saudi-arabia-302083234.html

SOURCE NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
AUSTIN, Texas , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Teachers' overall enthusiasm and confidence about their jobs is negative, according to the Teacher Morale Index, a new, multifaceted gauge developed by the nonprofit Education Week. With an overall score of -13 (on a scale that ranges from -100 to +100), America's teachers on average have a somewhat dim view of the state of their profession.

This is a key finding of a new report released by Education Week yesterday at the SXSW EDU Conference in Austin . The report is part of an ambitious, multi-year project that aims to portray the "difficult, beautiful" work of teaching, correct misconceptions, and help guide more effective policies and practices for the workforce of more than 3 million teachers in the nation's K-12 schools.

"Teachers today face a multitude of challenges not always apparent to people outside classrooms," said Education Week Editor-in-Chief Beth Frerking . "This myth-busting project couples robust journalism and exclusive survey data to reveal how teachers view their work and the distancesometimes greatbetween what they experience and what their school leaders perceive. We found that despite their struggles, most teachers still value their work because of their students."

In addition to the Teacher Morale Index, the project features analysis of the top issues facing the profession, as seen by teachers and school leaders (available as a shareable Research Summary); in-depth field reporting from schools across the country; articles and videos capturing the everyday highs and lows of teaching; and downloadable guides to the findings for school and district leaders.

The report found that nearly half of teachers49 percentsaid their morale worsened over the past year.

"These findings are important because how teachers feel about their current jobs and their own future as educators is a critical indicator of the profession's long-term health," said Holly Kurtz , director of the EdWeek Research Center.

Kathryn Vaughn , an elementary art teacher in Brighton, Tenn. , and a member of the EdWeek Teacher Advisory Panel said, "I think the more information the public has, the better, and the more empathy it can create for people that have chosen the teaching profession. It's very different from the outside looking in as to what teachers do. Maybe this will demystify what we do every day."

The report is available at https://www.edweek.org/the-state-of-teaching.

The State of Teaching Project is supported by grants from the Charles Butt Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation, and by general operating support from Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Charles and Lynne Schusterman Family Philanthropies.

Since 1981, Education Week has been America's most trusted resource for K-12 education news and information. A non-profit organization, teachers, principals, and district leaders nationwide turn to us for the most up-to-date information on K-12 education, as well as innovative, high-value tools and solutions. Learn more at www.edweek.org.

Contact: Robyn Miller-Tarnoff , [email protected], 703-405-8355

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-report-portrays-the-reality-of-todays-teaching-profession-302081977.html

SOURCE Education Week
MADISON, N.J. , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Century 21 Real Estate LLC , a subsidiary of Anywhere Real Estate Inc. (NYSE: HOUS), announced at its One21Experience Global Conference in Las Vegas this week that Amy Hullet of CENTURY 21 Morrison Realty in Bismark, North Dakota has received the prestigious honor of being inducted into the CENTURY 21Dick Loughlin International Hall of Fame (IHOF). Hullet was recognized thanks to her dedication to the advancement of real estate professionals and commitment to giving back to the community.

The CENTURY 21 Dick Loughlin International Hall of Fame is presented to the most elite independent sales professionals in the CENTURY 21 System. To be considered, sales associates must be affiliated with the CENTURY 21 System a minimum of 10 years, with eight years at CENTURION level production*, including the current year.

"Amy is a prime example of not just a relentless real estate professional but also a selfless individual who is committed to serving others," said Michael Miedler , president and CEO, Century 21 Real Estate LLC . "From going above and beyond in helping her clients achieve the dream of homeownership to dedicating her time and efforts to better the lives of friends and neighbors, she is an inspiration to all those around her. We are so proud to have Amy as part of the CENTURY 21 brand and are thrilled to welcome her into this group of elite individuals. We look forward to the continued success that lies ahead for her."

A CENTURY 21 System member for nearly 20 years, Hullet has been named a CENTURION producer since 2017 and a CENTURY 21 President's Award winner since 2019. Her commitment to elevating the real estate profession throughout the state of North Dakota is demonstrated by her involvement with her local and state REALTORS associations, culminating in her recognition as REALTOR of the Year for the Bismarck Mandan Board of REALTORS in 2013 and North Dakota Board of REALTORS in 2016. Her involvement with both her local Chamber Economic Forum and the National Association of REALTORS has positioned as a leader in both business and the real estate industry.

A belief that you must go "all in" when it comes to giving back has inspired her extensive work in community service including serving as chair for NDAR Ring Day, raising money for the Backpacks for Kids Program, co-chairing of the Little Black Dress poverty awareness campaign and work with charitable organizations such as Make-A-Wish, the American Heart Foundation and The Pride Manchester House, a children's inpatient therapy home.

"Amy Hullet exemplifies excellence in every aspect of her work," shares Tricia Schlosser , Broker/Owner of CENTURY 21 Morrison Realty. "Her unwavering dedication, outstanding service to others, and tireless efforts make her truly deserving of the CENTURY 21 Dick Loughlin International Hall of Fame award. She has not only achieved remarkable success but has also inspired those around her. Our entire team is so proud of her outstanding contributions and well-deserved recognition."

To learn more about the CENTURY 21 value proposition, or to join the ranks of the relentless, please go to century21.com/about-us/contact/media.

* The CENTURION PRODUCER award honors CENTURY 21 affiliated brokers, agents and managers that earn $320,000 in sales production or 71 closed transaction sides within a calendar year.

About Century 21 Real Estate LLC

The approximately 135,000 independent sales professionals in approximately 12,000 offices spanning 84 countries and territories in the CENTURY 21 System live their mission every day: to defy mediocrity and deliver extraordinary experiences. By consistently chasing excellence, giving 121% and always elevating, the CENTURY 21 brand is helping its affiliated brokers/agents to be the first choice for real estate consumers and industry professionals worldwide. Century 21 Real Estate has numerous websites to help answer specific consumer needs. They are century21.com, century21.com/global, century21.com/commercial,

century21.com/finehomes and century21.com/espanol.

Century 21 Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Anywhere Real Estate Inc. (NYSE: HOUS), a global leader in real estate franchising and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation, and settlement services.

2024 Century 21 Real Estate LLC. All Rights Reserved. CENTURY 21, the CENTURY 21 Logo and C21 are registered service marks owned by Century 21 Real Estate LLC. Century 21 Real Estate LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each office is independently owned and operated.

Contact:

Erin Siegel

Century 21 Real Estate LLC

[email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/north-dakota-realtor-and-community-leader-amy-hullet-of-century-21-morrison-realty-appointed-to-century-21-dick-loughlin-international-hall-of-fame-by-global-franchisor-302082627.html

SOURCE Century 21 Real Estate LLC
Paladin Leads a Coalition of Investors to Publicly Commit to Safe Investing

WASHINGTON , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Paladin Capital Group, a leading multi-stage investor in advanced cyber and AI technologies, announced in a meeting with the White House National Security Council staff and other representatives from across the Executive Office of the President a set of investment principles and commitments that promote innovation while protecting America and its allies' democracies and economies.

With agreement from other leading cyber and advanced technology investors, these voluntary, high-level commitments signal the industry's dedication to a safer era of investing and solidify a private-public sector partnership to protect the U.S. and its allies from the risks of new technology. These commitments ensure investors take action to put trust, safety, and security at the center of the technological innovation they are creating. Under Paladin's leadership, other important investors  including America's Frontier Fund, Ballistic Ventures, Forgepoint Capital, Gula Tech Adventures, Razor's Edge, Scout Ventures, Shield Capital, and Squadra Ventures  have signed on to the commitments.

"Protecting national security and critical infrastructure has been Paladin's priority for more than two decades. In today's world of changing cyber and AI technologies, investors have a responsibility to achieve maximum returns and help protect our democracy and economy by securing the critical infrastructure of the U.S. and our allies," said Michael Steed , Founder and Managing Partner of Paladin Capital Group. "These responsibilities go hand in hand: trust and resiliency are the bedrock upon which we build good investments and do something good for our country. Through this partnership with our peers, and in line with U.S. Government national security priorities, we can all use these principles to lay the foundation for a safer society and better returns."

"We applaud these initial commitments to direct trusted capital in ways that harness sophisticated new technologies while promoting the values of free and open societies, which members of the investor community shared for the first time at a meeting at the White House. These efforts are consistent with the Administration's priorities of countering the misuse of commercial spyware, incentivizing cybersecurity, and encouraging the safe and secure development of AI. We welcome continued efforts like this from the investor community," said NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson .

The investment commitments agreed to today by the investors are based upon principles that have long governed Paladin's collective investments, guided by a concept called "Trusted Capital." Trusted Capital ensures that investment decisions prioritize trust and safety to maximize returns and ensure that technology protects democratic institutions. The principles agreed to today by the investors recognize the increased risk AI and advanced cyber technologies could pose to free and open societies if in the hands of adversaries and call for investment in protecting U.S. national security and allied interests.

The investment principles agreed to include, among others:

Free and open societies grounded in economic liberty are the engine that drives technological innovation and the expansion of economic opportunities for all people around the globe;

Investors must considerat the time and during the lifetime of an investmentits impact on free and open societies and should seek to uphold the democratic values and principles that undergird them; and

Investors have a responsibility and obligation to invest in a manner that will ensure the highest possible return while also ensuring that our adversaries and criminal enterprises are not able to exploit the technologies against our countries and allies around the world.

Key commitments include:

Ensure that companies we invest in are taking affirmative steps to protect themselves against cyber attacks, including threats like ransomware and other nation-state sponsored attacks;

Ensure that companies we invest in only sell to countries that abide by international law;

Ensure that companies we invest in undertake robust testing of AI models; and

Invest consistent with our fiduciary duties in capabilities that will enhance the national security interests of the United States and our allies;

and our allies; Avoid investments, consistent with their fiduciary duties and investment approach, in companies that we determine would undermine the defense, national security, and foreign policy interests of free and open societies.

Find the full list of investment principles and commitments here.

About Paladin Capital Group

Paladin Capital Group was founded in 2001 and has offices in Washington DC , New York , London , Luxembourg, and Silicon Valley . As a multi-stage investor, Paladin's core strength is identifying, supporting, and investing in innovative companies that develop promising, early-stage technologies to address the critical cyber and advanced technological needs of both commercial and government customers.

Combining proven investment experience with deep expertise in global security, cyber technology, and cutting-edge research, Paladin has invested in more than 70 companies since 2008 and has been a trusted partner to investors, entrepreneurs, and governments for over two decades.

For more on Paladin Capital Group, follow us on Twitter at @Paladincap and on LinkedIn or visit us at www.paladincapgroup.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/paladin-capital-group-introduces-principles-and-commitments-to-prioritize-national-security-in-tech-investing-during-meeting-with-white-house-302083249.html

SOURCE Paladin Capital Group
MINNEAPOLIS , March 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Dementia may be three times more common among people with essential tremor, a movement disorder that causes involuntary shaking, than the general population, according to research released March 6, 2024 . The study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 76th Annual Meeting taking place April 1318, 2024, in person in Denver and online.

Essential tremor is the most common tremor disorder, more common than Parkinson's disease. In addition to arm and hand tremors, people may also develop involuntary shaking of the head, jaw and voice.

"While many people living with essential tremor experience mild tremor, in some individuals, the tremor can be quite severe," said study author Elan D. Louis , MD, MSc, at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. "Not only do tremors affect a person's ability to complete daily tasks such writing and eating, our study suggests that people with essential tremor also have an increased risk of developing dementia."

The study involved 222 people with essential tremor who had an average age of 79 at the start of the study. They took thinking and memory tests to determine whether they had normal cognitive skills, mild cognitive impairment or dementia at the start of the study.

Participants then had follow-up exams every 1.5 years for an average of five years.

Of this group, 168 people had normal cognitive skills, 35 had mild cognitive impairment and 19 had dementia at the start of the study.

During the study, 59 developed mild cognitive impairment and 41 developed dementia.

Researchers then compared the rate at which people developed mild cognitive impairment and dementia, as well as the prevalence of these conditions, to the rates and prevalence for the general population. They also compared participants to the rates and prevalence for people with Parkinson's disease.

Researchers found 19% of participants had or developed dementia during the study, and each year an average of 12% of people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment went on to develop dementia. These rates were three times higher than the rates in the general population. However, the rates were lower than those seen in people with Parkinson's disease, a population for which dementia is more prevalent.

Researchers also found that 27% of participants had or developed mild cognitive impairment during the study, a rate almost double that of the rate of 14.5% for the general population, but less than the rate of 40% for people with Parkinson's disease.

"While the majority of people with essential tremor will not develop dementia, our findings provide the basis for physicians to educate people with essential tremor and their families about the heightened risk, and any potential life changes likely to accompany this diagnosis," Louis said.

A limitation of the study was that the comparison data for the general population was published prior to the start of the study.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more about essential tremor at BrainandLife.org, home of the American Academy of Neurology's free patient and caregiver magazine focused on the intersection of neurologic disease and brain health. Follow Brain & Life on Facebook, X and Instagram.

When posting to social media channels about this research, we encourage you to use the American Academy of Neurology's Annual Meeting hashtag #AANAM.

The American Academy of Neurology is the world's largest association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals, with over 40,000 members. The AAN is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, concussion, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy.

For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit AAN.com or find us on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/people-with-essential-tremor-may-have-increased-risk-of-dementia-302082224.html

SOURCE American Academy of Neurology
RamSoft's robust solutions provide Premier with unmatched speed and reliability for reading and processing images for its fast-growing teleradiology operations

TORONTO and MIAMI , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - RamSoft, a global leader in novel cloud-based RIS/PACS radiology solutions for imaging centers and teleradiology providers, is pleased to announce that Premier Radiology Services ("Premier"), based in Miami, FL , has signed a 5-year agreement to use RamSoft's OmegaAI and cloud-based PowerServer PACS platform for its 1,000+ teleradiology locations. Premier is one of the largest teleradiology service providers in the US, with its radiologists processing and reading thousands of imaging studies daily.

Premier, a long-time customer of RamSoft, committed to a 5-Year Contract because of OmegaAI and PowerServer's superior technical capabilities. "With our 120+ radiologists reading thousands of scans daily, we require a PACS platform that is quick to implement, reliable, fully HIPAA-compliant, and operates at the fastest speeds", says Drew Gaudet , CEO of Premier. "In addition, we require robust and flexible automated workflows to drive efficiencies for reviewing and processing our cases. RamSoft's OmegaAI and PowerServer provide best-in-class software and allow Premier to provide 24/7 radiology services and deliver on our guarantee of average STAT-read turnaround times of under one hour".



Premier, which has multiple contracts for occupational health, primary care, urgent care, mobile and outpatient imaging has been able to quickly deploy PowerServer in just a few hours to enable new locations to start sending and interpreting images.

"We have contracts with NGOs and emergency relief organizations where we are required to quickly establish image distribution to support disaster relief and refugee operations", says Ryan Furlough, Premier's Chief Innovation & Technology Officer. "Recently, our team was hired to provide teleradiology reading expertise as part of the first responder efforts for Hurricane Ian on the Gulf Coast of Florida . We were able to set up PowerServer in under two hours, including the ability to access all of our automated workflows. This enabled our radiologists to start reading images and reporting results right away. This flexibility, adaptability and ease of implementation is impressive  and is another key reason that we have entered this long-term relationship with RamSoft".



"PowerServer is the industry standard RIS/PACs platform. We have more than 500 teleradiology and independent imaging centers using PowerServer 365 days a year to manage their imaging needs," said Vijay Ramanathan , CEO, RamSoft. "Premier's selection of OmegaAI and PowerServer for their 1,000+ teleradiology locations is significant. These platforms reflect our thirty years of digital imaging expertise, and we're excited to offer Premier the reliable platform they need to manage and grow their teleradiology services."

About RamSoft

RamSoft is a global provider of novel cloud-based radiology software solutions for imaging centers, radiology departments and teleradiology providers. PowerServer is used by 500+ sites and thousands of customers worldwide. Its flexible, scalable design allows imaging operations from the smallest clinics to large, nationwide practices to leverage the full benefit of its comprehensive cloud-based RIS (Radiology Information System)/PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) platform. RamSoft's newest offering, OmegaAI, is a cloud-native AI-driven platform granting radiologists more rapid, secure, and robust RIS and PACS capabilities that are completely zero footprint. Powered by Microsoft Azure, OmegaAI provides the highest levels of security, HIPAA compliance, and protection against cybersecurity threats. It also includes Blume - Patient Portal , a comprehensive patient app allowing patients to access and share their diagnostic imaging studies and results with family members and referring physicians, as well as allowing patients to book appointments.

About Premier Radiology Services

Based in Miami, Florida , Premier Radiology Services, LLC is a leading provider of teleradiology services offering 24/7 coverage across a range of modalities and sub-specialties. With a network of over 120 radiologists, Premier interprets approximately two million medical images annually for a wide range of customers, serving the needs of primary care providers, mobile imaging providers, occupational health centers, urgent care providers, and outpatient imaging centers. For more information, visit https://premierradiologyservices.com/.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/premier-radiology-services-signs-5-year-agreement-to-use-ramsofts-omegaai-and-cloud-based-powerserver-rispacs-platforms-for-its-1-000-teleradiology-sites-302082336.html

SOURCE RamSoft Inc.
Kenya's EcoCloud and UAE's G42 to develop world-class 1 Gigawatt data center powered by geothermal energy.





The new facility will mark the beginning of a new era for cloud computing and AI services, propelling digital transformation advancements in the region.

NAIROBI, Kenya , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In an unprecedented move that positions Kenya at the forefront of the global digital economy, His Excellency President William Samoei Ruto has proudly witnessed the MoU signing between EcoCloud and G42, a pioneering project destined to revolutionize the digital landscape not just in East Africa , but across the globe. Powered by the untapped potential of Kenya's 10 gigawatts of geothermal energy, the mega data center is the first of its kind in scale and ambition, heralding a new era of green energy-driven digital infrastructure.

Strategically located in Kenya's geothermal-rich region, the EcoCloud-G42 Mega Data Center is planned to have initial capacity of 100 MW, but with the potential to build up to 1 Gigawatt, setting a new standard for sustainable data centers. This initiative is not just an investment in technology but a bold statement of Kenya's commitment to harnessing renewable energy for technological advancement. By leveraging the earth's heat, the project dramatically cuts fossil fuel dependence, slashes carbon emissions, and stands as a beacon of environmental stewardship. The collaboration between EcoCloud, a trailblazer in data center development, and G42, the leading UAE -based technology conglomerate, marks a significant leap in Kenya's journey toward becoming a digital hub. This strategic partnership underlines a shared vision for fostering a robust digital infrastructure that not only accelerates the country's digital transformation but also fortifies its position as a leader in technology-driven development.

This strategic agreement was signed by Eng. Amos Siwoi, CEO of EcoCloud and Peng Xiao, Group CEO of G42, leading the UAE delegation, in the presence of His Excellency President William Samoei Ruto of Kenya and Dr. Salim Ibrahim Binahmed Mohammed Alnaqbi, the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Kenya.

This partnership is not just about erecting a digital infrastructure; it's a foundation for a comprehensive ecosystem that includes cloud services and artificial intelligence, catering to the vibrant and youthful population of Kenya . The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between these giants extends beyond infrastructure, aiming to usher in an era of cloud computing and AI services. This initiative promises to unlock unprecedented economic opportunities, stimulate innovation, and drive the digital economy forward, making Kenya the center of technological innovation in Africa and a competitive player on the global stage.

Eng. Amos Siwoi, CEO of EcoCloud said: "This collaboration marks a significant milestone in our commitment to sustainability and innovation. By harnessing the power of geothermal energy, we are not only meeting the region's data needs but also setting a new standard for eco-friendly infrastructure. This partnership underscores our dedication to a greener, more sustainable future for Africa and beyond."

Peng Xiao, Group CEO of G42 said: "In establishing this strategic partnership with EcoCloud, G42 is proud to be at the forefront of combining groundbreaking technology with sustainability. This geothermal-powered data center is a milestone towards realizing Kenya's potential as a global digital hub and fulfilling our mission of making intelligence accessible to everyone, everywhere."

The launch of this mega data center is a clear call for innovation, sustainability, and economic growth. It invites the world to witness Kenya's transformation into a digital hub, powered by green energy and driven by the unwavering vision of its leaders.

About EcoCloud

EcoCloud is a leading provider of sustainable data centre solutions, committed to building environmentally responsible infrastructure for the digital age. With a focus on renewable energy and efficient resource management, EcoCloud is driving innovation in the data centre industry and setting new standards for sustainability.

Website: www.ecocloud.co.ke

About G42

G42 is a technology holding group, a global leader in creating visionary artificial intelligence for a better tomorrow. Born in Abu Dhabi and operating the world over, G42 champions AI as a powerful force for good across industries. From molecular biology to space exploration and everything in between, G42 realizes exponential possibilities, today.

To know more visit www.g42.ai

Media contact: Giacomo Ziani , giacomo.ziani@g42.ai

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/president-of-kenya-unveils-green-powered-mega-data-center-in-collaboration-with-the-uae-setting-stage-for-kenya-as-a-global-digital-hub-302082878.html

SOURCE G42
SAN FRANCISCO , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP is investigating a data breach impacting the private information of health insurance subscribers of UnitedHealth Group, Inc., a Minnesota -based health insurer, and Change Healthcare, Inc., a Tennessee -based healthcare technology firm.

On February 21, 2024 , UnitedHealth and Change Healthcare disclosed that they were the subject of a massive data breach in which hackers known as ALPHV/Blackcat gained unauthorized access to their networks. Blackcat is a notorious cybergang that exploits security vulnerabilities in healthcare companies' computer systems. Following the breach, UnitedHealth reportedly paid a $22 million ransom in cryptocurrency to the hackers.

Blackcat claimed to have seized six terabytes of highly confidential and sensitive data, resulting in healthcare network outages across the country that have impacted millions of patients, physicians, and hospitals. The stolen data may include medical records, payment information, claims and insurance information, and other personal records, including contact information and Social Security numbers.

As UnitedHealth is the largest health insurer in the United States , the breach has been especially disruptive to the entire healthcare industry. UnitedHealth has taken many critical systems offline, including systems to process prescription-drug claims, resulting in patients being unable to fill their medications without paying out-of-pocket.

If you are a current or former subscriber of UnitedHealth, you may be at risk of identity theft, financial fraud, and other serious violations of your privacy. As a result, you may be entitled to money damages and an injunction requiring changes to UnitedHealth's cybersecurity practices.

If you are a UnitedHealth subscriber or received notification of this data breach and wish to obtain additional information about your legal rights, please contact us today or visit our website at https://www.classactionlawyers.com/unitedhealth.

About Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP

Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe represents shareholders, employees, and consumers in class actions against corporate defendants, as well as shareholders in derivative actions against their officers and directors. The firm is based in San Francisco , and with the help of co-counsel, litigates cases nationwide.

Contact

Amber L. Schubert

Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP

[email protected]

Tel: 415-788-4220

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/privacy-alert-unitedhealth-and-change-healthcare-under-investigation-for-massive-data-breach-302083438.html

SOURCE Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP
Supporting Rakuten Medical's efforts to accelerate its global Phase 3 study with the goal of achieving approval of ASP-1929 in US as soon as possible

Also supporting development of additional pipeline using the Alluminox platform, including ASP-1929 photoimmunotherapy in combination with anti-PD-1, development of new drugs and devices, and further leveraging learnings from real-world experiences in ASP-1929 photoimmunotherapy

New investments by Hikma , a global pharmaceutical company, and Mizuho Bank and Dai-ichi Life, leading financial institutions in Japan , as well as additional investments by SBI Group , Rakuten Group and its Chairman and CEO, Mickey Mikitani

Mazen Darwazah , Hikma's Executive Vice Chairman and President of MENA region joins the board of directors to fuel the next chapter of growth

SAN DIEGO , March 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rakuten Medical, Inc., a global biotechnology company developing and commercializing precision, cell targeting therapies based on its proprietary Alluminox platform, today announced the completion of a $119 million Series E preferred stock financing, including $45 million in new capital and the conversion of $74 million of convertible promissory notes with accrued interest.

Rakuten Medical intends to further develop its proprietary Alluminox platform and contribute to the future of patients and healthcare around the world by allocating the funds raised for the following business priorities:

Continuing efforts to accelerate its global Phase 3 clinical trial (ASP-1929-301 study, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03769506) of Alluminox treatment (photoimmunotherapy) using ASP-1929, with the goal of achieving approval of ASP-1929 in the United States and several other countries and regions as soon as possible

and several other countries and regions as soon as possible Supporting ongoing clinical trials and initiating new studies for Alluminox treatment using its three key assets (ASP-1929, RM-1995, and RM-0256 ), including combination therapy with anti-PD-1, which has shown promising early data that Rakuten Medical believes warrant additional clinical studies

), including combination therapy with anti-PD-1, which has shown promising early data that Rakuten Medical believes warrant additional clinical studies In-house discovery of new drug conjugates under its drug discovery program, Alluminox Palette

Development of new medical devices to improve treatment in the clinic and trials

Leveraging learnings and experience from Alluminox treatment in the commercial setting in Japan in an effort to improve patient outcomes and for further understanding and development of this treatment technology

Mickey Mikitani , Co-CEO of Rakuten Medical, commented, "We are very proud to have raised $119 million in Series E financing despite the challenging market environment for biotechnology companies in 2023, when we started this financing round. I would like to thank our many investors for having valued our achievements and great potential. The Alluminox platform will continue to evolve, and together with our trusted business partners and the healthcare professionals who believe in our technology, we will expand this innovative therapy both geographically and clinically, and pave the way for a brighter future."

One of the major investors in this Series E Financing is Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC ("Hikma"), a global pharmaceutical company headquartered in the UK , with a local presence across the MENA region, North America and Europe . Other major investors include existing investors such as Rakuten Group, Inc., a global internet services company and its Chairman and CEO, Mickey Mikitani , and SBI Group, a leading venture capital firm in Japan , as well as new investors Mizuho Bank, Ltd. and the Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited, leading Japanese financial institutions.

Rakuten Medical also welcomed Mazen Darwazah , Hikma's Executive Vice Chairman and President of MENA region, to its Board of Directors. Darwazah is an experienced executive with more than 38 years of pharmaceutical industry experience gained through serving in various positions within the Hikma Group. With his strong operational direction and experience in driving strategic business decisions that grow healthcare businesses in the MENA region and globally, Darwazah will add value as a solid guide for Rakuten Medical as it moves to a new stage of uncovering more potential as a global biotechnology company.

In making this investment and appointment to the Board of Directors, Darwazah commented, "I am honoured to join Rakuten Medical's board. Through this appointment, I am looking forward to driving synergies and facilitating a closer working relationship with an important partner that shares Hikma's vision of shaping a healthier world."

About Rakuten Medical, Inc.

Rakuten Medical, Inc. is a global biotechnology company developing and commercializing precision, cell targeting therapies based on its proprietary Alluminox platform, which, in pre-clinical studies, has been shown to induce rapid and selective cell killing and tumor necrosis. Alluminox therapies have not yet been approved outside of Japan . Rakuten Medical is committed to its mission to conquer cancer by delivering its innovative treatments as quickly as possible to as many patients as possible all over the world. The company has offices in 5 countries, including the United States , where it is headquartered, Japan , Taiwan , Switzerland and India . For more information, visit www.rakuten-med.com.

About Alluminox platform

The Alluminox platform is an investigational technology platform based on a cancer therapy called photoimmunotherapy, which was developed by Dr. Hisataka Kobayashi and team from the National Cancer Institute in the United States . Rakuten Medical is developing the Alluminox platform as a technology consisting of a drug, device, and other related components. The drug component of the platform consists of a targeting moiety conjugated with one or more dyes leading to selective cell surface binding. The device component consists of a light source that locally illuminates the targeted cells with light to transiently activate the drug. Pre-clinical data have shown that this activation elicits rapid and selective necrosis of targeted cells through a biophysical process that compromises the membrane integrity of the targeted cells. Therapies developed on the Alluminox platform may also result in local and systemic innate and adaptive immune activation due to immunogenic cell death of the targeted cancer cells and/or the removal of targeted immunosuppressive cells within the tumor microenvironment. Outside of Japan, Alluminox therapies have not yet been approved by any regulatory authority.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward looking statements. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that may cause Rakuten Medical's business plans and results to differ from the anticipated results and expectations expressed in these statements. These "forward looking statements" contain information about the plans, status and development of our research, clinical trials and products, including the Alluminox platform, combination therapies, product and developmental candidates and related medical devices, as well as our commercial activities, other regulatory and marketing authorization efforts; the potential benefits, efficacy, and safety of our product candidates or other therapies created using the Alluminox platform, and the status, plans and timing of regulatory filings and approvals therefor; plans to advance other pipeline product candidates or discovery efforts; the Company's ability to leverage learnings from experiences in ASP-1929 photoimmunotherapy; and the intended use of proceeds from the financing. The approval and commercial success of any of our products or product candidates may not be achieved. Such statements may include words such as "expect," "believe," "hope," "estimate," "looks as though," "anticipate," "intend," "may," "suggest," "plan," "target," "contemplate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "strategy," "will," and "do", and are based on our current beliefs. In addition, this press release uses terms such as "important," "notable," and "abnormal" to express opinions about clinical trial data. Ongoing clinical trial studies include various risks and uncertainties, in particular, problems that arise during the manufacturing stage of our therapies, the occurrence of adverse safety events and situations and failure to demonstrate therapeutic benefits, and other various risks and uncertainties, both reasonable and unreasonable. For this reason, actual results, including regulatory approvals and uncertainties in the commercialization process of our therapies, may differ from published information. Except to the extent required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update this or any other forward-looking statement, whether because of new information, future developments or events, changes in assumptions, changes in the factors affecting forward-looking statements. If one or more forward-looking statement(s) is updated, no inference should be drawn that additional updates will be made to those or other forward-looking statements.

Contact Us

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rakuten-medical-closes-119-million-series-e-financing-to-further-develop-its-alluminox-platform-302081867.html

SOURCE Rakuten Medical, Inc.
BRADENTON, Fla. , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanderson Firm PLLC, a leading Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) compliance firm servicing the insurance and legal communities nationwide, is proud to announce national certification as a Women's Business Enterprise by the Women's Business Enterprise Council Florida, a regional certifying partner of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

"I am incredibly pleased for Sanderson Firm to be officially a WBENC certified Women's Business Enterprise. Sanderson Firm has been a woman owned business since day one, and we are always looking for opportunities to make sure that women have a seat at the table as stakeholders. With Sanderson Firm's expertise in Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Compliance matters and as a rapidly growing firm with nationwide outreach, our workforce continues to diversify and as we have grown. Further, we have been excited to be able to elevate numerous qualified women to leadership positions within our company" said Heather Sanderson , Chief Executive Officer.

The WBENC standard of certification implemented by the Women's Business Enterprise Council Florida is a meticulous process including an in-depth review of the business and site inspection. The certification process is designed to confirm the business is at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by a woman or women.

By including women-owned businesses among their suppliers, corporations and government agencies demonstrate their commitment to fostering diversity and the continued development of their supplier diversity programs.

To learn more about Sanderson Firm, please visit www.sandersoncomp.com.

About Sanderson Firm:

Sanderson Firm PLLC, a law firm founded by Heather Schwartz Sanderson , Esq. in 2021, is committed to providing comprehensive compliance solutions to the Medicare Secondary Payer Act (MSP). Our team of legal, clinical, and claims professionals has over 200 years of experience in the MSP industry, and we are proud to serve as trusted counsel and MSP compliance services vendor to some of the nation's most well-recognized insurance carriers, self-insured companies, and third-party administrators, as well as smaller, regional insurance carriers and governmental entities.

About WBENC:

Founded in 1997, WBENC is the nation's leader in women's business development and the leading third-party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women, with more than 17,000 certified Women's Business Enterprises, 14 national Regional Partner Organizations, and more than 350 Corporate Members. More than 1,000 corporations representing America's most prestigious brands as well as many states, cities, and other entities accept WBENC Certification. For more information, visit www.wbenc.org.

Press Contact

Heather Sanderson

Sanderson Firm, PLLC

[email protected]

941-479-9877 ext. 101

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sanderson-firm-pllc-certified-by-the-womens-business-enterprise-national-council-302082347.html

SOURCE Sanderson Firm PLLC
Kimchi Premium Returns: Bitcoin Trades at 10% Price Premium in South Korea Against Global Exchanges

Bitcoins infamous Kimchi premium has made a comeback, with the cryptocurrency commanding an average 10% price premium in South Korea compared to global exchanges.

As of the Asian morning hours, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading just above $66,000 on most global exchanges, while on Korean exchanges like Upbit, it reached over 93 million won, equivalent to over $71,000 at current exchange rates.

The Kimchi premium phenomenon refers to the price difference of Bitcoin on local Korean exchanges compared to global platforms.

In theory, traders can exploit this arbitrage opportunity by purchasing Bitcoin on a global exchange, transferring it to a Korean exchange, and selling it for a risk-free 10% profit in Korean won.

However, capital controls and challenges in withdrawing large sums of money from Korea make it difficult for most investors to take advantage of this opportunity.

Sam Bankman-Fried Profited From Kimchi Premium



One notable figure who capitalized on the Kimchi premium was Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of Alameda Research and FTX exchange.

Bankman-Fried claimed that the premium reached as high as 50% during 2019 and 2020, enabling his firm to make significant profits.

The return of the Kimchi premium indicates renewed interest and participation from retail investors in South Korea, driven by local demand for the asset.

Ki Young Ju, the founder of on-chain analysis firm CryptoQuant, referred to the Kimchi premium as a pure retail FOMO indicator, suggesting that Korean retail investors are getting back into the market.

Korea Premium Index(a.k.a. Kimchi Premium) is a pure retail FOMO indicator because

1/ There are no notable crypto funds in Korea

2/ Korea has very strict capital control policies  Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) August 8, 2021

The increased premium creates an arbitrage opportunity, prompting traders to bring their overseas holdings back to Korea and leading to a rise in Bitcoin reserves on local exchanges like Upbit.

While the Kimchi premium provides potential gains for traders, it also highlights the unique dynamics of the South Korean cryptocurrency market.

The countrys strict capital controls, combined with limited infrastructure for smaller investors, present challenges for capitalizing on the arbitrage trade.

Nevertheless, as the premium continues to rise, more traders are likely to exploit the opportunity, further increasing Bitcoin reserves on Korean exchanges.

South Korea Could Allow Spot ETFs



Earlier this week, South Koreas chief of the financial watchdog revealed that authorities are discussing the potential approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the country.

Lee Bok-hyun, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, said in a recent radio interview that there are differing opinions among authorities.

While some, like himself, hold a positive stance on virtual assets, others are more cautious. Lee emphasized the need to consider all perspectives and engage in internal discussions.

Among authorities, I am one of those who are positive about virtual assets, while there are others who are wary, and we need to hear their opinions as well. We are internally discussing it.

As of now, spot Bitcoin ETFs are not available for South Korean crypto investors.

In January, the countrys financial authorities announced that they had no plans to regulate the sales of Bitcoin futures ETFs.
WASHINGTON , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The San Antonio River Authority and students from the Advanced Learning Academy in San Antonio, Texas , will have an opportunity Friday, March 8 , to hear from NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara aboard the International Space Station .

The space to Earth call will air live at 12:30 p.m. EST March 8 , on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency's website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.

In preparation for the event, students and their families will participate in a star party hosted by the San Antonio Astronomical Association. Students are working on numerous science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) projects related to astronomy, astronautics, and space technology that will be showcased at Advanced Learning Academy on the day of the event. The River Authority and academy, along with event partners Scobee Education Center at San Antonio College, Southwest Research Institute, and the Science Mill , Johnson City, Texas , will facilitate hands-on STEM activities with the participating K-12 students. In addition, more than 50 school groups and partners representing four Texas counties ( Bexar , Wilson , Karnes , Goliad ) in the River Authority's jurisdiction will also host an education downlink viewing party.

Media interested in covering the event must RSVP no later than 9:30 a.m. Friday, March 8 , to Nicole Marshall at [email protected] or 210-302-3252.

For more than 23 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing the skills needed to explore farther from Earth . Astronauts living in space aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Near Space Network.

Important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the International Space Station benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for future exploration. As part of Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars. Inspiring the next generation of explorers  the Artemis Generation  ensures America will continue to lead in space exploration and discovery.

See videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the space station at:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/texas-students-to-hear-from-nasa-astronaut-aboard-space-station-302083550.html

SOURCE NASA
WASHINGTON , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Umbra, a vertically integrated space technology company, proudly announces the forthcoming release of imagery from its tandem pair of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites. Umbra is set to provide customers with bistatic SAR data later in 2024.

Umbra, a SAR satellite provider, is set to provide customers with bistatic data in 2024.

The monumental launch of Umbra's first tandem pair of satellites, Umbra-07 and Umbra-08, aboard the SpaceX Transporter-9 mission on November 9, 2023 , marked a significant leap in SAR imaging. With eight satellites currently in orbit, Umbra plans to deploy the remaining satellites in its licensed 32-satellite constellation in strategically designed pairs.

Operating satellites in a cluster formation facilitates multistatic collection and other integrated operations, offering distinctive phenomenology and inherent resilience. This innovative approach opens the door to various applications, including Intelligence Surveillance Recognizance (ISR) capability, elevation modeling, imaging resilience, and the implementation of moving target indication techniques.

Jason Mallare , Vice President, Global Solutions, expressed his enthusiasm, stating, "The ability to operate spacecraft in coherent pairs is an important step in unlocking the novel promises of cluster operations. The scaling up from one to many, with highly affordable individual satellites, enables clustered flight with the potential for proliferation of truly resilient systems that offer tremendous traditional and full spectrum capabilities."

Umbra's development of the technology necessary to automate formation flying and multistatic data processing has been dramatically accelerated by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) over the past year, which selected the company as a partner for its Distributed Radar Image Formation Technology program.

With the unique ability to capture images at day/night, all-weather capable, Umbra's SAR satellites are indispensable for monitoring change. Umbra's high-performance SAR satellites deliver the highest quality SAR data at unprecedented volumes and area density, enabling the US. Government, its allies, and commercial partners with actionable, all-weather insights.

ABOUT UMBRA

Umbra is a vertically integrated space technology company that offers intelligence data as a service to commercial and government customers. Our cutting-edge products help customers solve complex business, environmental, and security challenges. Umbra is founded, funded, built and operated in the USA with headquarters in Santa Barbara, California , and has a presence in Austin, Texas , and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit https://umbra.space.

Media Contact: Jon Galpern, [email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/umbra-unveils-bistatic-sar-data-from-its-tandem-pair-of-satellites-302082434.html

SOURCE Umbra
Securitas arranged an Investor Day at its headquarters in Stockholm today.

STOCKHOLM , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A team of senior Securitas leaders provided an update on the successful transformation of the company over the last years, the long-term strategy and execution areas, a roadmap to achieve its financial targets and its strong position within sustainability.

All Group financial targets were reiterated with a modification of the target of a net debt to EBITDA ratio of below 3.0x to reflect the impact of items affecting comparability (IAC). The Group financial targets are:

810 percent technology and solutions annual average real sales growth

8 percent Group operating margin by year-end 2025, with a >10 percent

long-term operating margin ambition

net debt to EBITDA ratio below 3.0x before items affecting comparability

an operating cash flow of 7080 percent of operating income before amortization

"We are now entering the final phase of transforming the company and integrating STANLEY Security, a journey that started in 2019, and are beginning to reap the benefits from these investments", says Magnus Ahlqvist , President and CEO. "Our investments will decrease sharply in 2024 as we finalize our transformation and integration efforts, setting us up for further improvements of earnings per share and cash flow to the benefit of our shareholders in the years to come."

The Investor Day was webcasted live, recorded and can be found at securitas.com.

Further information:

Investors: Micaela Sjokvist , Vice President, Investor Relations,

+46 76 116 7443, [email protected]

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/1062/3942746/2655850.pdf Investor Day 240307

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/update-from-securitas-investor-day-302083291.html

SOURCE Securitas
HANGZHOU, China , March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Zylox-Tonbridge (2190.HK, "the Company"), a leading medical device company in the peripheral and neurovascular interventional market in China , today announced a new strategic partnership with Avinger, a commercial-stage medical device company developing and marketing the first and only intra-vascular image-guided, catheter-based systems for diagnosis and treatment of vascular disease. This partnership includes an exclusive right to Zylox-Tonbridge to localize, manufacture, and commercialize the entire product family developed by Avinger in Greater China (including Mainland China, Hong Kong , Taiwan , and Macau ), and a technology transfer agreement to leverage Zylox-Tonbridge cost-efficient manufacturing capacity to support Avinger's global sales outside of Greater China . This collaboration also provides Avinger the opportunity to distribute high-quality peripheral vascular products developed by Zylox-Tonbridge in the United States and Germany . Based on the achievement of certain milestones, Zylox-Tonbridge will invest 15.0 million USD into Avinger in two tranches by subscribing for newly issued common shares and preferred shares of Avinger.

Avinger is globally recognized for its pioneering OCT-guided, catheter-based system and devices, offering real-time intra-vascular imaging during treatment. This innovation empowers physicians to precisely identify and treat diseased vessels while minimizing vascular damage risks. Avinger's flagship products include Pantheris (an OCT-guided atherectomy device), Ocelot and Tigereye (OCT-guided CTO-crossing devices), and LightBox 3 (the OCT imaging console). These products have demonstrated clinical safety and efficacy in multiple clinical trials completed by Avinger.

According to some market research data, there are over 8 million PAD patients in the United States as of 2022. Atherectomy has become widely adopted, leading the Total Addressable Market of atherectomy devices to around 760 million USD in 2022. Compared to the U.S. market, atherectomy devices are at the initial stage to be utilized during PAD procedures in China , while it is estimated that the population of PAD patients in China was approximately 40 million as of 2020 and the number is still growing rapidly. Driven by the increasing penetration of drug-coated balloons in interventional procedures, the demand for better vessel preparation and atherectomy devices to optimize post-intervention results is growing.

By collaborating with Avinger, Zylox-Tonbridge is introducing the globally leading OCT-guided vascular treatment technology to the Chinese peripheral intervention market. The collaboration is anticipated to further bolster Zylox-Tonbridge's peripheral product portfolio for PAD, making another step toward achieving its strategic goal of offering a comprehensive solution in peripheral vascular Intervention medical devices. Furthermore, Zylox-Tonbridge will leverage its robust and cost-effective manufacturing capabilities to enhance Avinger's global market competitiveness. The partnership represents a progressive stride in Zylox-Tonbridge's mission to expand globally and bring high-quality and affordable medical products and services to patients worldwide.

Dr. Jonathon ZHAO , Chairman and CEO of Zylox-Tonbridge, said, "We are pleased to partner with Avinger to provide Chinese healthcare professionals and patients with cutting-edge medical technologies and innovative products. We believe this collaboration will expand the company's Peripheral Vascular Intervention product portfolio, reinforcing our market leadership, and accelerating the growth of the vessel preparation business in China's peripheral vascular intervention market. Leveraging our advanced manufacturing capabilities and working with Avinger, we are confident in bringing more cost-efficient and high-quality products to patients. We are looking forward to cooperating with global partners to capitalize on growing market opportunities by offering high-quality and affordable innovative medical products and services for all."

"We are excited to announce this strategic transaction with Zylox-Tonbridge, a dynamic leader in the peripheral interventional market in China ," said Jeffrey M. Soinski , Avinger's President and CEO. "Our broad-reaching partnership creates an exciting new pathway for Avinger products to enter the large and growing Greater China market through an established commercial channel. It also provides the opportunity for a more cost-efficient manufacturing structure to support the growth of global sales, as well as the potential for Avinger to access Zylox-Tonbridge's high-quality peripheral products for distribution in the U.S. and Germany ."

About Zylox-Tonbridge:

Zylox-Tonbridge is one of the leading players in the neuro- and peripheral-vascular interventional medical device market in China . The Company was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Hangzhou, China .

As an integrated medical device company supported by our in-house R&D and manufacturing capabilities, proprietary technological platforms, and commercialization capabilities, we strive to provide patients with high-quality and affordable medical devices and services, so that everyone has access to the high-quality life brought by advanced medical technology.

For more information, please visit our official website: www.zyloxtb.com.

About Avinger, Inc.

Avinger is a commercial-stage medical device company that designs and develops the first image-guided, catheter-based system for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with vascular disease in the peripheral and coronary arteries. Avinger is dedicated to radically changing the way vascular disease is treated through its Lumivascular platform, which currently consists of the Lightbox series of imaging consoles, the Ocelot and Tigereye family of chronic total occlusion (CTO) catheters, and the Pantheris family of atherectomy devices for the treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD), estimated to affect more than 200 million people worldwide. Avinger is developing its first product application for the treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD), an image-guided system for CTO-crossing in the coronary arteries, which provides the opportunity to redefine a large and underserved market. Avinger is based in Redwood City, California . For more information, please visit www.avinger.com.

Follow Avinger on Twitter and Facebook.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zylox-tonbridge-and-avinger-forge-strategic-partnership-to-expand-disruptive-oct-solutions-for-peripheral-vascular-interventions-302082578.html

SOURCE ZYLOX-TONBRIDGE
FILE PHOTO: A wheel loader is used to move sugar in cargo terminal TIPLAM (Integrator Port Terminal Luiz Antonio Mesquita) from the VLI Multimodal S.A. at Santos port in Santos, Brazil May 25, 2023. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli/File Photo

By Marcelo Teixeira

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Brazil cane mills will boost their sugar production capacity as much as 10% in the new season from April to take advantage of relatively high sugar prices and as increasing supplies of corn make the grain a cheap feedstock for ethanol output.

Brazil is the world's largest sugar producer. It accounted for nearly 50% of global sugar trade last year as unfavorable weather due to the El Nino climate pattern reduced output and exports from competitors India and Thailand.

Sugar prices have dipped from a 12-year peak hit in November, but are still historically high. Brazilian mills are rushing to complete expansions or new plants to boost their sugar production capacity, analysts said.

"Every mill that can do it (boost sugar capacity), is doing it," said Julio Maria Borges, a director and partner at JOB Economia e Planejamento, an advisory firm.

"The difference on financial returns between sugar and ethanol is just too big."

Sugar prices are currently 60% higher than Brazilian ethanol prices, broker and supply chain services provider Czarnikow said in a report this week. It is the widest price gap in 15 years.

Among some of the largest sugar investments are Jalles Machado's 170 million reais ($34.19 million) plant in Minas Gerais state, Cerradinho Bionergia's 289 million reais factory in Mato Grosso do Sul and Coruripe's 200 million reais new sugar production line also in Minas Gerais.

France's Tereos, which has seven plants in Brazil, plans to allocate 70% of its sugarcane for sugar production, and 30% to ethanol. That is a boost from the already high level of 67% last season.

Many other mills are making smaller adjustments, optimizing sugar installations. Cane allocation towards sugar production - and away from ethanol production - across Brazil last year was the largest in 12 years at 49%. Most analysts expect it to be a record in the new season.

CLIMATE HIT

Despite the increase in sugar production capacity, Brazil is unlikely to produce more of the sweetener in the new season than it did in 2023/24.

"We had (in 23/24) a climate that was like laboratory, just perfect," Borges said.

"It rained well at the right time, and then was dry for harvest. We are not seeing this now."

Cumulative rainfall in the main sugar area of Ribeirao Preto in Brazil this year, for example, is 50% below normal, according to GFS climate modeling.

Tereos expects Brazil's Centre-South (CS) sugarcane production to fall below 600 million tons in 2024/25 from 660 million tons in 2023/24.

Broker StoneX still projects a record sugar production in the new season at 43 million tons, saying the increase in cane allocation to sugar production, at the expense of ethanol, will offset a smaller sugarcane volume.

CORN ETHANOL

StoneX estimates that production of ethanol from sugarcane will fall by nearly 3 billion liters in 2024/25, or 10.4%, to 24.5 billion liters. It said output of corn-based ethanol, on the other side, will grow 16% to 7.2 billion liters.

"There is a change in the industry," said StoneX sugar and ethanol analyst Filipi Cardoso. "Corn-ethanol is more cost-efficient, so cane mills are going for sugar."

Corn production has expanded quickly across Brazil, which became the world's top corn exporter last year. That has also encouraged the expansion of corn-based ethanol production. Typically, ethanol in Brazil has been made from sugar cane rather than ethanol.

"Brazilian corn ethanol production was less than 1 billion liters five years ago and this crop it could reach 5 billion liters, and 10 billion in the next 5-6 years," said Citi analysts.

Brazil is one of the world's largest consumers of ethanol as a transport fuel. The biofuel accounted for 46% of light vehicle fuel use in Brazil in 2023, or 28.5 billion liters.

The rapid expansion of corn ethanol production, however, has capped prices for the biofuel in Brazil, another factor that has encouraged sugar mills to focus on sugar.

(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Simon Webb and Chizu Nomiyama)
By Toby Sterling

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A crisis meeting between top executives of ASML and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte led to the CEO of the Netherlands' largest company ruling out quitting the country but failed to resolve issues surrounding its future growth plans.

As chipmakers around the globe pour billions of dollars into setting up new plants to cope with soaring demand, ASML, their largest supplier, has said it will need to roughly double the size of its operations in the coming decade, but faces challenges in doing so at home.

"There is a considerable gap between the concerns of industry, and what we think is necessary, and what politicians think," ASML CEO Peter Wennink told reporters after Wednesday's meeting in Rutte's office.

If ASML cannot grow in the Netherlands "it can do so elsewhere", he said.

ASML employs 42,000 staff worldwide, half of them in the area around its headquarters in Veldhoven, Netherlands, where its machines are designed and assembled.

Attracting scarce foreign engineering talent to the Netherlands is a major issue. Others include difficulty obtaining building permits, constraints on the Dutch electrical grid, transportation bottlenecks and ensuring that there are plans in place for hospitals, schools, and housing to accommodate growth.

It emerged on Wednesday that Rutte's Cabinet has launched a campaign dubbed "Operation Beethoven" to try to address the company's concerns, having seen multinationals Shell and Unilever depart the Netherlands in recent years.

However, difficulties around staffing cannot fully be resolved by talks with Rutte's government, which is in a caretaker role following 2023 elections that saw anti-immigration parties book major gains.

While populist lawmaker Geert Wilders is negotiating a new right-wing government, parliament has approved motions to cap the number of foreign students allowed into Dutch universities and scrap a tax break for skilled migrant workers.

Ending that tax break in particular has met with criticism from ASML, industry groups, staffing experts, and many Dutch tech employers, including chipmaker NXP. More than 40% of ASML employees in the Netherlands are not Dutch.

Following Wednesday's meeting, Economy Minister Micky Adriaansens told reporters the caretaker Cabinet is now trying to "look at alternatives that do less pain."

It is not clear whether a tax break for foreigners, highly unpopular with Dutch voters, could be restored.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
FILE PHOTO: A bell used for official ceremonies hangs from a wall inside the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in Sydney, Australia, March 17, 2016. Picture taken March 17, 2016. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo

(Reuters) - Australia's corporate regulator said on Thursday that ASX Ltd has paid a A$1.1-million ($721,930) fine following a compliance investigation, marking the first such infringement notice issued to an exchange operator in the country.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said it had reasonable grounds to believe ASX breached the rule requiring pre-trade transparency on 8,417 occasions between April 4, 2019 and Dec. 22, 2022.

The rules require bourse operator ASX to make available pre-trade information for orders on its market, unless an exception applies.

The infringement notice is for a configuration error within the system in the block trade minimum threshold for a subset of exchange traded funds and warrants, ASX said on Thursday.

The system configuration error, which impacted some orders on ASX's anonymous matching system Centre Point, was immediately identified, corrected and brought to ASIC's notice, according to the exchange operator.

"The availability of pre-trade information is fundamental to a fair and transparent market, and we take seriously any impairment to this," ASX CEO Helen Lofthouse said.

"This matter is separate to the ongoing ASIC investigation into oversight, statements and disclosures around the CHESS replacement project," ASX added.

Last year, the corporate regulator investigated possible breaches of disclosure rules at ASX over a troubled rebuild of its trading software.

($1 = 1.5237 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Shweta Agarwal and Shounak Dasgupta)
Residents run after hearing gunfire as the government said it would extend a state of emergency for another month after an escalation in violence from gangs seeking to oust the Prime Minister Ariel Henry, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 7, 2024. REUTERS/R

By Matt Spetalnick and Daphne Psaledakis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone on Thursday to Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry and told him there was an urgent need to accelerate the transition to a more inclusive government, a senior State Department official said.

Brian Nichols, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, told a think-tank conference in Washington the conversation with Henry was intensive, as Haiti faced a continuing wave of gang violence that has threatened to bring down the government.

Blinken also spoke with Guyana's president, Irfaan Ali, chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) regional bloc, Nichols said.

"Secretary Blinken spoke with President Ali and with Prime Minister Henry about the urgent need to accelerate transition to a broader, more inclusive government today and those were intensive conversations," Nichols said.

Nichols did not provide details on Henry's whereabouts. The prime minister has been in Puerto Rico since Tuesday, apparently unable or unwilling to return to the capital, where gunfire has broken out around key transport hubs, including the international airport.

Haiti's government on Thursday said it would extend a state of emergency around Port-au-Prince for another month following the wave of gang violence that has led thousands to flee their homes.

Authorities first announced a state of emergency on Sunday after fighting escalated, inmates were broken out of prison by armed gangs, and an estimated tens of thousands were displaced while Henry was in Kenya.

"Helping Haiti restore security and democracy, especially at this critical moment, represents a top priority for the administration," Nichols said.

The United Nations estimates hundreds of thousands have been displaced and thousands killed in the overall conflict, with widespread reports of rape, torture and ransom kidnappings.

(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)
By Ana Mano

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors in Brazil have recommended that the country's environment agency Ibama suspend blasting work in the bay of Paranagua port pending an investigation into the death of a diver, according to a statement on Wednesday.

The statement called on Ibama to immediately suspend the license it had granted for the blasting work based on "possible non-compliance with basic safety rules for people, especially employees on the work site," as well as potential contamination of the environment and threats to local marine life.

Ibama did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Suspension of the work will likely stall completion of the blasting project that started in 2021 to deepen the bay. The public company that runs the port, Portos do Parana, said then the project would improve navigability and security for ships.

Portos do Parana and TCP, the privately owned company that manages the port's container terminal, said in statements they are cooperating with the authorities handling the investigation, without elaborating.

TCP, a part of China Merchants Port Group, is South America's largest container terminal.

Located close to farming and industrialized regions in southern Brazil, Paranagua is one of country's busiest ports, together with Santos, in Sao Paulo state.

Last year, global grain traders shipped 14.6 million metric tons of soybeans and 4.1 million tons of corn out of Paranagua, according to shipping data.

The project was budgeted at 23 million reais ($4.7 million).

($1 = 4.9446 reais)

(Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Tom Hogue)
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will increase its spending on drones for Ukraine by 125 million pounds ($160 million), raising the total number of drones supplied to more than 10,000, the government said on Thursday as Defence Secretary Grant Shapps visited Kyiv.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Britain's support comes at a crucial time for Ukraine in the two-year war. Vital U.S. military aid has stalled, while Russia's offensive looks more assertive after it took the city of Avdiivka last month, its biggest gain since May 2023.

Drones, which are cheap to produce and can conduct surveillance or target enemies with great accuracy, have emerged as a key weapon in the conflict, with both Ukraine and Russia striving for the upper hand in technology.

KEY QUOTES

"I am ramping up our commitment to arm Ukraine with cutting-edge new drones coming directly from the UK's world-leading defence industries - straight from the factory floor to the frontline. I encourage international partners to join the UK in this effort," Shapps said, as he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

BY THE NUMBERS

Britain said it would expand its drone package to 325 million pounds from the 200 million pounds announced in January.

The package includes thousands of first-person view drones, 1,000 one-way attack drones researched and developed in Britain as well as surveillance and maritime drones.

($1 = 0.7833 pounds)

(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar)
No Bitcoin ETF Without Further Crypto Regulation, Says South Korean FSS Chief

No Bitcoin ETF will gain approval in South Korea unless the government introduces new crypto rules, the head of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said on March 5.

The FSS chief Lee Bok-hyun this week struck an optimistic note about possible Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund approval.

But per the media outlet Nocut News, Lee also tempered his claims with several calls for caution.

No Bitcoin ETF If Regulation Isnt Forthcoming



Lee was widely reported as claiming on March 5 that he was one of the regulators who are positive about virtual assets. He claimed that there are others who are more wary.

But Lee also said that certain regulatory conditions still needed to be met before regulators could green-light a crypto-related financial product. He explained:

To [approve] a Bitcoin spot ETF, we need a system that lets regulators manage and operate virtual assets. Only when this is in place can the [BTC] spot ETF market be opened in South Korea.

Seoul is under pressure to approve Bitcoin ETFs in line with a landmark move from Washington-based regulators in January.

But in mid-January, anonymous financial investment industry officials said new crypto regulation must wait until the end of next months legislative elections.

South Koreans will go to the polls to vote for National Assembly members on April 10.

Crypto Rules Overhaul on Its Way?



The same officials stated that a major overhaul of crypto law would likely follow the elections.

However, the nature of this legislative change may depend on the makeup of the single-chamber parliament.

President Yoon Seok-yeols manifesto promises before his election in 2022 contained a series of pro-crypto industry pledges.

Thus far, he has failed to deliver on many of these  including a revision of the nations long-standing ban on domestic cryptoasset issuance.

Lee, meanwhile, said that regulators were constrained by the current legal system, particularly when it comes to Bitcoin ETF approval.

While he stopped short of saying that there would be no Bitcoin ETF green light under his watch, he appeared keen to dampen expectations. Lee said:

At this stage, we are open to discussing various possibilities. But since there are restrictions under the current Capital Markets Act, we must consider policy direction. We must do so while reviewing whether amendments to legislation are at all possible.

South Korean stocks are undervalued compared to many of their peers. Now the government is trying to fix the "Korea Discount" by making company boards more accountable to shareholders https://t.co/jJWBb8x1rP  Bloomberg (@business) March 6, 2024

Next Parliament Will Deal With Crypto Price Manipulation, Says FSS Chief



Lee suggested that further crypto regulations could focus on efforts to stamp out altcoin price manipulation.

Several high-profile altcoin-related court cases have dominated the headlines in recent years.

These range from allegations of coin manipulation at smaller exchanges, as well as large exchanges like Bithumb. Ongoing Terra-related trials are also in the public eye. Lee said:

There is currently no institutional mechanism to prevent crypto-related price manipulation, theft, or hacking. Once these things are in place and trust in the virtual assets themselves has been established, we can discuss the second round of legislation related to virtual assets. That is when we will see if they can be brought into the financial system.

Lee concluded that the next National Assembly  in other words, the post-election house  would be tasked with creating new crypto regulation.

[Election 2024] How will general election outcome play out for Yoon?https://t.co/4epCw9jIL4  The Korea Herald  (@TheKoreaHerald) March 4, 2024

This would appear to suggest that the FSS will not make any more attempts to police the crypto sector or approve crypto ETFs until late April at the earliest.
By Max A. Cherney and Stephen Nellis

(Reuters) - Chip startup Efficient Computer said on Thursday it had raised $16 million in a seed funding round led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Eclipse to help fund work on its low-power chip designs.

Pittsburgh-based Efficient developed a new design, or architecture, for its chips that focuses on producing processors that use the least possible amount of energy. Called Fabric, the architecture was developed by Efficient's founding team over seven years at Carnegie Mellon University.

"This new architecture allows us to target software in a more efficient way," CEO Brandon Lucia said in an interview with Reuters. "It's a more efficient way of executing programs."

Efficient has built a test chip called Monza and plans to use the funding help with research and development, and go-to-market to begin to sell chips.

The company will market the chips to customers in industries such as health devices, civil infrastructure monitoring, satellites, defense and security. Devices running on chips that use a tiny amount of power will last longer in the field without the need for replacement power.

Chip giants such as Intel and Qualcomm already make chips for those markets. Arm produces a competitive architecture.

Beyond the hardware, Efficient has produced a set of tools that allows software developers to easily transform, use and optimize computer code for use on its processors.

"There's a lot of innovative software (development) that they're doing but they're also able to leverage a lot of the work that has been done in the ecosystem already through open source development projects," Eclipse Partner Greg Reichow said.

(Reporting by Max A. Cherney and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Jamie Freed)
Farmers drive tractors in front of government office, where they dump manure, during a protest against European Union agricultural policies and grievances shared by farmers across Europe, in Prague, Czech Republic, March 7, 2024. REUTERS/Eva Korinkova

By Eva Korinkova

PRAGUE (Reuters) -Czech farmers dumped manure in front of the government's office, blocked Prague streets with tractors and taunted the country's farm minister on Thursday as they renewed protests demanding more help and a halt to cheap imports to the European Union.

Farmers across the EU have taken to the streets this year, calling for the removal of restrictions placed on them by a Green Deal plan to tackle climate change and for customs duties on farm products from Ukraine to be reimposed.

On Wednesday, thousands of Polish farmers protested outside the prime minister's office in Warsaw, burning tyres and throwing firecrackers. Last month farmers in Brussels set tyres alight outside an EU farm ministers' meeting.

Czech farmers, in their third protest since mid-February, rolled into Prague early on Thursday in hundreds of tractors, lining streets and a river road leading to the government offices, bringing traffic to a standstill in several spots.

Police said farmers dumped manure in front of government headquarters, leading to one arrest.

Farmers marched on foot before midday to protest in front of the government building, where they used whistles and sirens while shouting "shame" amid scattered hay bales and waving signs saying "Don't take our jobs".

"The government should take farmers' demands seriously. Not only in the Czech Republic, but around Europe the future of farming is playing out," 50-year-old farmer Ivo Kasal said.

"For now it looks like the Czech government wants us to be maintenance workers for the landscape."

The government has said it would not be pressured in talks with farmers, with Prime Minister Petr Fiala saying on Thursday it was like "blackmail".

Agriculture Minister Marek Vyborny criticised dumping manure on the street, and was interrupted by jeers several times when he appeared and addressed the demonstration.

Farmers say they are the ones being put under pressure by the government and EU policies.

"We have had enough," Agrarian Chamber president Jan Dolezal told the crowd outside the government office.

The Agrarian Chamber has called for subsidies matching 2022 levels and programmes to support employment in farming, along with a reduced property tax for farmland.

It also wants the government to help tackle a surplus in EU markets caused by cheap imports.

"I don't like what they do to us, that they import rotten grains, meanwhile we can produce proper grain full of worth," tractor driver Zbynek Slajchrt, 56, said.

(Reporting by Eva Korinkova and Jason Hovet; Editing by Nick Macfie and David Evans)
The Czech Republic's President Petr Pavel speaks during a joint statement for members of the media with French President Emmanuel Macron, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France. Christophe Ena/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

PRAGUE (Reuters) -A Czech-led plan to buy 800,000 rounds of ammunition for Ukraine to fight Russia's invading forces has secured enough funding, with contributions from 18 countries, Czech President Petr Pavel said on Thursday.

The most pressing need for Ukraine two years after Russia's full-scale invasion began has become artillery ammunition, which is running low as the sides use heavy cannon fire to hold largely static, entrenched positions along the 1,000-km (620-mile) front line.

But the European Union has been unable to deliver 1 million ammunition rounds as it pledged to do a year ago, and U.S. military aid, which has been the backbone of international support for Kyiv, has stalled.

The Czech Republic has taken a lead on efforts to source more ammunition from third countries.

Pavel had said last month it had located 500,000 rounds of 155-calibre ammunition and 300,000 rounds of 122-calibre ammunition that could be delivered if funding was secured.

Speaking to reporters on a visit to regional towns on Thursday, Pavel said ammunition deliveries to Ukraine could start in weeks.

"As of this morning, we have collected the entire amount for buying all the ammunition, that is the 800,000 pieces," he told a briefing that was replayed on Czech Television.

The full funding comes after Norway had said earlier on Thursday it would donate up to 1.6 billion Norwegian crowns ($153 million) for the plan. That followed pledges by Germany and France also this week.

The Czechs had lined up early backing from Canada, Denmark and the Netherlands, among others. The government has not said from what countries supplies were being sourced.

(Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Alison Williams, Alexandra Hudson and Hugh Lawson)
FILE PHOTO: India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to his supporters as he arrives to cast his vote during the second and last phase of Gujarat state assembly elections in Ahmedabad, India, December 5, 2022. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo

By Shivangi Acharya

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - From transporting voting machines on camelback to remote corners of its vast western desert to bolstering control rooms for monitoring malicious deepfakes, India is preparing to run the world's largest election due by May.

More than 960 million Indians are registered to vote at over one million polling stations across the country in a mammoth electoral exercise with 2,400 political parties that may contest, and during which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will bid for a rare third term.

India could announce in weeks the dates for general elections that Modi is widely expected to comfortably win.

The nation's election commission - tasked with conducting a fair vote - will for the first time set up hundreds of control rooms dedicated to spotting fake content on social media.

The teams will continuously monitor feeds, analyse narrative, sentiment and content, the commission's top officer Rajiv Kumar said at a press briefing on Thursday. "And whenever anything which is factually incorrect, they will take whatever action they can take."

Actions including issuing notices or filing police complaints against creators of content that disturbs a level-playing field, is communally charged or incorrect.

Indian officers may also block web addresses or request social media platforms to take down fake content, Kumar added, armed with legal powers enhanced since India's last national election in 2019.

"But we will tread on this cautiously, as there is a thin line between freedom of speech, criticism and disturbance."

The Indian election commission's small scale operation in New Delhi with 400 to 450 officials will quickly expand to rope in 15 million employees to conduct this election.

From transporting voting machines to the world's highest polling station in the nation's north at 15,000 feet (4572 m) above sea level, or visiting homes of some octogenarians to collect votes - these employees will do it all.

The commission hopes the country's 2019 record voter turnout of 67% will improve and has hosted awareness programs for voters in regions where fewer people voted than the national average, Kumar said.

(Reporting by Shivangi Acharya, Additional Reporting by Munsif Vengattil, Editing by Josie Kao)
By Garba Muhammad and Hamza Ibrahim

KADUNA, Nigeria (Reuters) -Gunmen in Nigeria kidnapped more than 200 school pupils in the northern town of Kuriga on Thursday, a teacher, local councillor and parents of the missing children said, in the biggest mass abduction from a school since 2021.

Police in Kaduna state did not respond to requests for comment on the abductions, which happened shortly after morning assembly at the Local Government Education Authority School in the town of Kuriga.

"The number of the kidnapped from the secondary section based on the statistics we took together with the parents is 187 while that of the primary section is 40 for now," said Sani Abdullahi, a home economics teacher.

Local councillor for Kuriga Idris Maiallura said he had been to the school and said the gunmen initially took 100 primary schools pupils but later freed them while others escaped.

Parents and residents blamed the kidnapping on lack of security in the area.

Kaduna state Governor Uba Sani visited Kuriga and promised to get the students released, his office said, but did not say how many pupils were missing.

Amnesty International called on Nigerian authorities to safely rescue the students and hold perpetrators to account.

"We don't know what to do, we are all waiting to see what God can do. They are my only children I have on Earth," Fatima Usman, whose two children were among those abducted, told Reuters by telephone.

Another parent, Hassan Abdullahi, said local vigilantes had tried to repel the gunmen but had been overpowered.

"Seventeen of the students abducted are my children. I feel very sad that the government has neglected us completely in this area," Abdullahi said.

Kidnappings for ransom by armed men have become endemic in northern Nigeria, disrupting daily lives and keeping thousands of children from attending school.

The last major reported abduction involving school children in Kaduna was in July 2021 when gunmen took more than 150 students in a raid. The students were re-united months later with their families after they paid ransoms.

(Reporting by Garba Muhammad in Kaduna, Hamza Ibrahim in Kano and Ahmed Kingimi in Maiduguri, writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Jon Boyle and Sandra Maler)
People flee their homes holding their belongings to escape gang violence, as Haiti continues in a state of emergency, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti March 6, 2024. REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol

By Harold Isaac and Sarah Morland

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) -Haiti's government on Thursday said it would extend a state of emergency around Port-au-Prince for another month as gang violence that has threatened to bring down the government and led thousands to flee their homes appeared to show no sign of abating.

The U.N. humanitarian affairs agency warned that the country's health system was "nearing collapse," with shortages of staff, equipment, beds, drugs and blood to treat patients with gunshot wounds.

Two dozen trucks carrying vital equipment, medical supplies and food were stuck at the capital's port, according to the U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP), which said it had suspended its maritime transport service, citing the "insecurity."

Authorities first announced a state of emergency on Sunday after fighting escalated, inmates were broken out of prison by armed gangs, and an estimated tens of thousands were displaced while Prime Minister Ariel Henry was in Kenya, seeking its leadership of an international force intended to fight the gangs.

Henry, who has been in Puerto Rico since Tuesday, spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken by phone on Thursday, senior State Department official Brian Nichols said in Washington.

In an "intensive" conversation, Blinken spoke with Henry about "the urgent need to accelerate transition to a broader, more inclusive government," said Nichols.

The prime minister has been apparently unable or unwilling to return to Port-au-Prince, where gunfire has broken out around key transport hubs, including the international airport.

The state of emergency in the Ouest Department, the seat of the capital, will be extended to April 3, with a nightly curfew until March 11, according to a declaration in the Caribbean country's official gazette. The government said this was in order to "reestablish order and take appropriate measures to retake control of the situation."

The state of emergency bans all public protests, day and night, and allows security forces to use "all legal means" at their disposal to enforce the curfew and apprehend those who break it, the government said.

In Port-au-Prince on Thursday, flames licked around a looted food warehouse and burned-out cars lined the streets. With gas stations shuttered, people bought petrol for their vehicles from street vendors with plastic containers.

"The situation in the country is critical," said a man who gave his name only as Marckenson. "People can no longer go about their business. Our children can no longer go to school. Merchants can't go to market... We have a prime minister, we don't know whether he's dead or alive, because he's lost in the wild."

Aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders) said on Thursday it estimated that at least 2,300 people had been killed in the violence in 2023 in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Cite Soleil alone, home to 9% of the capital's population.

"It is likely the real scale of the violence is much higher," MSF said. The aid group had a day earlier reopened an emergency clinic in the capital, shuttered after armed men intercepted an ambulance and killed a patient in the street.

PORT CLOSURE

The situation on the ground has made it increasingly difficult for transport and aid groups to operate.

The WFP's now suspended maritime transport service, the U.N. said, "is currently the only means of transporting food and medical supplies for humanitarian and development organizations from Port-au-Prince to other parts of the country."

Local media reported that armed men had broken into the capital's main cargo port, CPS, and had looted containers.

In a statement, CPS said it had been the target of "malicious sabotage and vandalism," forcing it to suspend its services.

In a statement on Wednesday, the chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) said regional leaders were meeting "around the clock" with government and opposition representatives, but had not yet reached consensus on how to proceed.

Henry, who is unelected, came to power shortly after the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise. He has repeatedly postponed elections, saying security must first be established to hold a free and fair vote.

Martine Moise, the president's widow who was charged last month alongside some 50 other people for involvement in the 2021 assassination, said on X Haiti was "upside down" because those in power "want to crucify the victims, make them responsible, while they who are the killers seek to stay in power."

Gangs have massively expanded their influence and territory in the years since Moise's death, amassing wealth from ransom kidnappings and large arsenals of firearms that the UN has said are largely trafficked from the United States.

(Reporting by Harold Isaac and Steven Aristil in Port-au-Prince, Sarah Morland in Mexico City, Don Pessin, Matt Spetalnick and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by Kylie Madry, Alistair Bell and Rosalba O'Brien)
Palestinian fighters from the armed wing of Hamas take part in a military parade in front of an Israeli military site to mark the anniversary of the 2014 war with Israel, near the border in the central Gaza Strip, July 19, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Musta

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO (Reuters) -Hamas on Thursday left Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo where there was no sign of progress just days before the start of Ramadan, while the U.S. said the onus was on the Palestinian militant group to strike a deal on Israeli hostages.

Israel and Hamas blamed each other for the lack of agreement after four days of talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt about a 40-day ceasefire amid fears violence could escalate during the Muslim fasting month.

Egyptian security sources said talks, taking place without an Israeli delegation in Cairo, would resume on Sunday, the expected start of Ramadan.

Senior U.S. administration officials said the onus was on Hamas to complete a hostage deal and attributed the delay to what they described as Hamas so far not agreeing to release sick and elderly hostages.

A Hamas official told Reuters the United States was in partnership with Israel and that such comments were misleading. Hamas has insisted that a ceasefire deal include a process toward ending the war altogether.

Hamas said earlier in a statement the delegation left Cairo to speak to the movement's leaders, "with negotiations and efforts continuing to stop the aggression, return the displaced and bring in relief aid to our people."

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters Israel had been "thwarting" efforts to conclude a ceasefire deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his intention on Thursday of pressing on with the military campaign in Gaza, launched after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, in which Israel said 1,200 people were killed and 253 abducted.

Israel has previously said its aim is to destroy Hamas and that any ceasefire must be temporary. It has also pressed for a list of hostages still alive and held by Hamas in Gaza.

"Needless to say, Israel will do whatever it takes to release our hostages... unfortunately, it is Hamas who is the stumbling block right now by not telling us who is alive and who they have in their custody," Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said.

The deal presented to Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza would require it to free some of the hostages it still holds. Palestinian prisoners held in Israel would also be released.

'DESPAIR'

Hamas officials have said a ceasefire must be in place before the hostages are freed, Israeli forces must leave Gaza and all Gazans must be able to return to homes they have fled.

Hamas has said it can't provide a list of the hostages who are still alive without a ceasefire as the hostages are scattered across the war zone.

News that the Hamas delegation had left Cairo without an accord was met with despair in Gaza, which is in the grip of a deep humanitarian crisis after five months of war.

"I feel great disappointment and despair, fear too," said Abir, who along with her 12-member family has taken refuge in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where more than half of the enclave's 2.3 million people are now sheltering.

Hamas media said one Palestinian was killed and several wounded on Thursday by Israeli gunfire as people waited for aid trucks at the Al-Nabulsi roundabout in western Gaza City.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry reported that Israeli fire killed 118 people last week at the same site when desperate civilians swarmed an aid convoy. Israel said most of those killed were trampled or run over.

U.S. officials said President Joe Biden would announce that the U.S. military will construct a port on Gaza's Mediterranean coast to receive humanitarian assistance by sea.

While it would take weeks to set up, the port will make it possible to bring in the equivalent of hundreds of truckloads of aid, a White House official said.

The U.S. Central Command and Royal Jordanian Air Force continued on Thursday with airdrops of food and other aid in the north of the enclave, where UN aid agencies say a large proportion of the population is on the brink of famine.

Netanyahu vowed to press on with Israel's offensive, including into Rafah.

"Whoever tells us not to act in Rafah is telling us to lose the war and that will not happen," he said.

HAMAS CALLS FOR VISITS TO MOSQUE

Health officials in Gaza said the number of people confirmed killed in Israel's offensive had now passed 30,800. It reported 83 deaths in the past 24 hours and witnesses said the Israeli bombardments continued in Khan Younis, Rafah and areas in central Gaza.

Hamas reiterated a call on Thursday for Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem and inside Israel to step up visits to the Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan to increase pressure on Israel to "agree to demands for a ceasefire".

Negotiators are pushing for an accord ahead of Ramadan partly due to concerns that the mosque complex in Jerusalem, the third holiest shrine in Islam, might become a flashpoint for violence during the fasting month.

Israel has said it will allow a similar level of access to the site as in previous years, without providing figures.

(Reporting by Nidal Al Mughrabi; additional reporting by Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, Jana Choukeir, Tala Ramadan, Steve Holland, Jonathan Landay in Washington; Writing by Sharon Singleton, Alexandra Hudson and Cynthia Osterman Editing by Gareth Jones and Diane Craft)
Pro-democracy activist Tam Tak-chi walks to a prison van to head to court, over national security law charges, in Hong Kong, China March 2, 2021. Picture taken March 2, 2021. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

By Jessie Pang

HONG KONG (Reuters) -Three Hong Kong High Court judges on Thursday rejected an appeal by pro-democracy activist Tam Tak-chi against his conviction and 40 month sentence on charges which included 7 sedition offences.

In dismissing Tam's appeal, High Court judges Jeremy Poon, Derek Pang and Anthea Pang said sedition is a statutory offence and intention to incite violence is not a necessary element of the offence.

"The submission that the exercise of the right of assembly should qualify as a mitigating factor in the present case ignores the fact that the applicant was being punished for the very act of inciting others to participate in, or holding, an unauthorised assembly, which is an illegal act going outside the permissible scope of the right," the judges wrote.

Tam's lawyer had argued in court that the conviction and sentence was a disproportionate restriction on freedom of speech.

Tam, 51, a leader of the now-disbanded People Power party and a former radio host and DJ known as "Fast Beat", was the first Hong Kong person tried on a sedition charge since the city's handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

Tam was sentenced to 40 months in 2022 by District Court Judge Stanley Chan over a total of 11 charges that included uttering seditious words, public disorder and incitement to take part in an unauthorised assembly.

This case comes as Hong Kong authorities prepare to release a proposed new set of national security laws known as Article 23 aimed at addressing what officials call loopholes in the national security regime, which was bolstered just four years ago by another national security law imposed directly by China.

Among those crimes targeted are espionage, state secrets and sedition, which could see the current sentences substantially raised for sedition.

The ruling could impact other closely watched sedition cases, including a verdict against two editors of the now shuttered liberal online media outlet Stand News, which is seen as a test case for media freedoms under the security clampdown.

"Words are not spoken in vacuum and cannot be understood in abstract. They must be understood against the contemporaneous socio-cultural and political setting of society," the judges said. "Thus, words which were innocent in the past may have become offensive now with the change in the state of society."

"With rapid technological advances and diversity and ease in communications, the offence must have the flexibility to keep pace," the judges added.

Last October, the UK Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled that it is "a requirement that there must be an intention to incite violence or disorder" for sedition offences.

The Privy Councils judgement was not binding in Hong Kong courts, although the city remains part of the British-based common law system.

The judges, however, said it wasn't necessary for the prosecution to prove the defendant's intention was to incite violence, and consideration must be made to "the specific legal and social landscape" in which the criminal code exists.

Tam had appealed last July.

He was arrested in 2020 after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law punishing secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.

Tam is among 31 opposition figures awaiting sentencing for another landmark national security case involving "conspiracy to subvert state power".

(Reporting by Jessie Pang; Editing by Greg Torode, James Pomfret and Michael Perry)
Hemil Mangukiya, middle, poses for a photograph with two other men in military uniform, in this undated handout picture. Hemil Mangukiya Family/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

By Sakshi Dayal

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - When Mohammed Asfan from India's Hyderabad city travelled to Russia to work as a "helper" in the army, his family never imagined he would end up fighting in the Ukraine war, much less die there.

Asfan is among several Indian men who, their relatives say, were lured to Russia with the temptation of lucrative job opportunities, only to be forced to fight at the front against their will.

India's foreign ministry has said that every such case brought to its attention has been "strongly taken up".

"We have an understanding that something like 20-odd people are stuck, we are trying our level best for their early discharge," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said last week.

The Russian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It was a post on YouTube promising a job and permanent residence after six months that led Asfan, previously a manager at a clothing store, to Russia, leaving behind his wife and two children, both under the age of two.

"He called us from the Ukraine border to tell us his passport had been seized and he was being made to fight...he asked for help but by then he was already stuck," his brother, Imran, said, speaking to Reuters a day after being informed of Asfan's death.

The Indian embassy in Russia, in a post on X, said efforts were being made to bring his body to India.

A similar YouTube recruitment video had lured Hemil Mangukiya, a 23-year old embroiderer from Gujarat, to Russia in December.

"Hemil was told he would work as a helper in the army and would be trained for three months, but after reaching (Russia) he realized he was being trained to fight," his father Ashwin Mangukiya told Reuters on Thursday.

The family found out about Hemil's death on Feb. 23, two days after he was killed, through a phone call from another Indian man who was fighting alongside him.

"We are still waiting for his body to arrive so we can conduct his last rites," the father said.

Seven other men, in videos circulating on social media, have sought New Delhi's help in returning from Russia, saying they went there on tourist visas but were forced to join the army or face 10 years' imprisonment, local media reported.

India's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the videos.

Tens of thousands of soldiers have died on both sides since Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine in Feb. 2022 in Europe's bloodiest land war since World War Two, which Moscow calls a "special military operation".

(Additional reporting by Krishn Kaushik)
Rahul Gandhi, a senior leader of India's main opposition Congress party addresses his supporters in a public meeting during Rahul's 66-day long "Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra", or Unite India Justice March, in Jhalod town, Gujarat state, India, March 7, 2024. RE

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's main opposition Congress party said on Thursday it would guarantee paid apprenticeships to every graduate under 25 if it wins the upcoming election, as it tries to tap into voter concerns over high unemployment, even among the well educated.

Opinion polls predict another big defeat for the party that has ruled India for much of its independent history but was thrashed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last two general elections.

National elections are likely to be held in the coming weeks.

"We are going to ensure your 'first job' of Rs 1 lakh ($1,209) per year," former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, said on X social media. "This historic plan of ours is a forever cure for the disease of unemployment."

Gandhi, who is in the middle of a cross-country march exhorting young people to vote for Congress, said the party would enact a 'Right to Apprentice Act' guaranteeing a one-year apprenticeship in a government or private institution, with the opportunity to continue in the job.

"This revolutionary scheme will change the face of Indian industries and the destiny of the youth by closing the skill gap between industry and India's workforce," he said.

According to a report by Azim Premji University last year, the unemployment rate for graduates under 25 was 42.3%. This fell to less than 5% for those aged 35 and above. India's overall unemployment rate increased to 8% in February from 6.8% in January, according to data from the independent Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.

Economists and business leaders have often complained about the employability of young graduates in the world's most populous country because of a lack of suitable skills. A recent study showed that less than half of India's young graduates who apply for jobs are employable.

($1 = 82.6880 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Krishna N. Das in New Delhi; Editing by Ros Russell)
NYCB Shares Plunge 42% Before Rebound on $1 Billion Capital Raise

New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) made headlines on Wednesday as its stock experienced a dramatic plunge of 42% before staging a rebound following the announcement of a $1 billion capital raise.

The bank also unveiled a leadership shake-up, featuring former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as one of the new board members.

In a press release issued on Wednesday afternoon, NYCB confirmed that it had struck a deal with several investment firms, including Liberty Strategic Capital (led by Mnuchin), Hudson Bay Capital, and Reverence Capital Partners, to raise over $1 billion in exchange for equity in the bank.

As part of the agreement, Mnuchin and Joseph Otting, former comptroller of the currency, would join the board of directors, with Otting taking over as CEO.

Following the announcement, NYCBs stock experienced a sharp rebound, although trading remained highly volatile throughout the day.

The shares briefly halted trading, surging nearly 30% before retracing some gains when trading resumed.

Ultimately, the stock closed the day up over 7% after several additional halts.

NYCB Faces Challenging Year After Crypto Bank Acquisition



The capital raise and leadership changes come after NYCB faced a challenging start to the year.

In late January, the bank disclosed a significant increase in its allowance for potential loan losses, primarily attributed to its exposure to commercial real estate.

Moodys Investors Service subsequently downgraded NYCBs credit rating to junk status, and the bank appointed former Flagstar bank CEO Alessandro DiNello as executive chairman.

Last week, NYCB revealed the identification of material weaknesses in its internal loan review controls and announced DiNellos brief tenure as CEO before transitioning to nonexecutive chairman, as stated in the press release on Wednesday.

The recent developments surrounding NYCB evoke memories of the struggles faced by regional banks such as Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic, which failed in the spring of 2023.

Signature bank was one of the major crypto banks that offered fiat and banking services to crypto startups.

The lender was shut down on March 12, 2023, after depositors withdrew large sums of money on the heels of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

At the time, NYCB, based in suburban New York, acquired a significant portion of Signature Banks assets, including deposits and loans, totaling nearly $13 billion.

US Banks Face Difficulty Amid Crypto Involvement



Last year, Heartland Tri-State Bank, a community bank in Elkhart, Kansas, was forced to shut down after its CEO, Shan Hanes, lost millions of dollars in a cryptocurrency scam.

The Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner launched an investigation into the bank and declared it insolvent on July 28.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), which was appointed as the banks receiver, has estimated a loss of $54 million from its insurance fund to protect depositors.

The collapse of Heartland came as four major US lenders failed last year, including Silvergate Bank, Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and First Republic Bank.

Among these banks, the failure of Silvergate and Signature was partly related to the 2022 crypto meltdown.
Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen amid shortages of food supplies, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, January 16, 2024. REUTERS/Saleh Salem/Fi

By Emma Farge

GENEVA (Reuters) -A U.N. expert said on Thursday that Israel was destroying Gaza's food system as part of a broader "starvation campaign" in its war against Hamas militants and berated a U.N. human rights body for not doing more.

"The images of starvation in Gaza are unbearable and you are doing nothing," Michael Fakhri, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, said in a speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Aid officials have warned of looming famine five months into the campaign against the Islamist Palestinian group, while hospitals in the isolated northern part of the enclave say children have started dying from malnutrition.

Fakhri told the council that Israel was "destroying the food system in Gaza".

"Israel has mounted a starvation campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza," he added, saying that included targeting small-scale fishermen.

Several other countries have criticised Israel for the growing hunger in the enclave, including Egypt and Iraq.

Yeela Cytrin, a legal adviser at the Israeli mission to the U.N., called the allegations against it a "blatant lie".

"Israel utterly rejects allegations that it is using starvation as a tool of war," she told the council and then walked out in protest.

Israel denies restricting relief into Gaza and has started working with private contractors to deliver aid. It says its fight is with Hamas whose fighters killed 1,200 people and seized 253 hostages during its Oct. 7 attacks.

FISHING SECTOR HIT

Fakhri, a Lebanese-Canadian law professor, is one of dozens of independent human rights experts mandated by the United Nations to report and advise on specific themes and crises.

In his speech to the 47-member Geneva council, he alleged that Israel is targeting small-scale fishermen by denying them access to the sea and destroying boats and shacks.

Around 80% of Gaza's fishing sector has been destroyed since Oct. 7, he said, adding that every boat had been demolished by Israeli forces in the main port of Gaza City.

Reuters could not verify that, although images from Oct. 8 showed smoke billowing from a boat there after Israeli strikes.

In his closing remarks, Fakhri called on member countries to also consider sanctions, cutting diplomatic ties and arms embargoes.

"This is on your watch. Please turn your words into action," he said.

The council set up an open-ended U.N. Commission of Inquiry in 2021 to investigate violations on both sides of the conflict but has not passed any new motions since the latest violence began.

(Reporting by Emma Farge; Aditional reporting by Nidal Al Mughrabi; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Hugh Lawson)
FILE PHOTO: Judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rule on emergency measures against Israel following accusations by South Africa that the Israeli military operation in Gaza is a state-led genocide, in The Hague, Netherlands, January 26, 2024

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel accused South Africa on Thursday of acting "as the legal arm of Hamas" after Pretoria again petitioned the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to take measures against Israel.

A South African government spokesperson dismissed the accusation.

"South Africa continues to act as the legal arm of Hamas in an attempt to undermine Israel's inherent right to defend itself and its citizens, and to release all of the hostages," Israel's foreign ministry said.

"The repeated requests for provisional measures made by South Africa in order to assist Hamas are yet another cynical exploitation of the International Court of Justice in the Hague, which has already twice rejected the baseless attempts to deny Israel its right and obligation of self-defense," it said.

Clayson Monyela, a spokesperson for South Africa's department of international relations and cooperation, said: "South Africa has spelled out its concerns in its application to the ICJ. They (Israel) know what they are doing. It is absurd to keep saying that South Africa is acting on behalf of Hamas."

South Africa in January asked the World Court to declare that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and to order Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza. The court did not do this but instead issued a more general order that Israel must make sure it prevents acts of genocide.

South Africa is now asking the top U.N. court to order further steps against Israel, which it said was breaching measures already in place. It said those in Gaza were facing starvation and asked the court to order that all parties cease hostilities and release all hostages and detainees.

"Israel acts and will continue to act in accordance with international law, including by facilitating humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, regardless of any legal proceedings," the Israeli ministry said. "We call on the ICJ to reject outright the new request of the representatives of Hamas."

The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and included the seizure of 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's military campaign has since killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities say.

Israel has pledged to continue its offensive until it eliminates Hamas, which rules Gaza and is sworn to Israel's destruction, and secures the release of more than 130 Israeli hostages still in Gaza.

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Additional reporting by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Gareth Jones)
FILE PHOTO: The Eurovision logo is pictured at the entrance of the master room of the European Broadcast Union (EBU) in Geneva November 13, 2007. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse (SWITZERLAND)/File Photo

By Charlotte Van Campenhout

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Two Belgian ministers have called for Israel's exclusion from the Eurovision Song Contest while the Gaza war is ongoing as a punitive measure for the toll on Palestinian civilians.

Controversy over the conflict has hit various cultural events, with organiser The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) resisting calls from some artists and activists for Israel to be dropped from Europe's May 7-11 annual song competition.

Belgium's French-speaking Culture Minister Benedicte Linard and Flemish counterpart Benjamin Dalle added their voices.

"Just like Russia has been excluded from competitions and Eurovision following its invasion of Ukraine, Israel should be excluded until it puts an end to its flagrant violations of international law, which are causing thousands of victims, especially children," she said on X.

There was no immediate response from the EBU, or from Israel, which says it is the victim of a smear campaign over its push to root Hamas militants out of the Palestinian enclave.

Linard told parliament on Wednesday she would ask French-language public broadcaster RTBF, which is organising Belgium's participation in Eurovision, to voice the concerns to the EBU.

Dalle said an Israeli suspension would be appropriate while so many Palestinian civilians were suffering, according to a report by Flemish broadcaster VRT.

Israel has already agreed to revise the lyrics of its potential submission to the song contest after EBU took issue with verses that appeared to reference Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.

The leading Israeli submission is "October Rain", a ballad sung by female soloist Eden Golan. It had included lyrics such as: "There's no air left to breathe" and "They were all good children, each one of them" - apparent allusions to victims of Hamas' killing and kidnapping spree which sparked the war.

Eurovision, to take place this year in the Swedish city of Malmo, bills itself as a non-political event and can disqualify contestants deemed to have breached that rule.

(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout; Additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
Shikoku Electric Power's Ikata nuclear plant is pictured near the water in Ikata, Japan, October 2, 2018. Picture taken October 2, 2018. REUTERS/Mari Saito/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese court rejected a complaint demanding the shutdown of Shikoku Electric Power's Ikata No.3 reactor, in the first formal ruling on the legal battle for the nuclear plant in western Japan, public broadcaster NHK reported on Thursday.

The Oita District Court's ruling against the local residents worried about natural disaster risks allows the 30-year-old, 890-megawatt active reactor to continue operating.

Shikoku Electric had faced two court injunctions to stop the reactor in 2017 and 2020, but both orders had been overturned by higher courts later.

(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)
By Steve Gorman

(Reuters) - A man accused of victimizing dozens of minors as the leading purveyor of child sexual abuse material on the "dark web" between 2018 and 2021 was convicted on Thursday of multiple counts of child pornography and exploitation by a federal court jury in Nevada.

James Patrick Burns, 55, of Sparks, Nevada, who was already a registered sex offender, faces a prison term of 25 years to life when he is sentenced on June 10, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Nevada said in announcing the conviction.

According to court documents and trial evidence, Burns used threats to coerce children into producing pornographic imagery and then posted this material to "dark web" forums carried by such online platforms as Omegle, Snapchat, Tiktok and Mega.NZ.

At the time of these offenses, between 2018 and 2021, Burns "was the most prolific creator of illegal content on these forums," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

A federal court jury in Reno found him guilty on eight counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, eight counts of coercion and enticement of a minor and one count each of advertising, receiving, distributing and possessing child pornography.

Prosecutors said Burns' child victims numbered more than 100, many of whom have yet to be identified.

His role in the online child porn world came to the attention of law enforcement when a mother of one of his victims noticed threats on her child's cellphone and reported what she had seen to police.

In a separate trial, Burns was also convicted of committing various offenses while required to register as a sex offender.

The case was investigated by an FBI-led task force that included local police and sheriff's detectives and received assistance from law enforcement around the country, prosecutors said.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by David Gregorio)
Moldova's President Maia Sandu shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron before a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, March 7, 2024. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

By John Irish

PARIS (Reuters) - Moldova's president on Thursday signed a defence cooperation accord with France, warning that Russia was renewing efforts to destabilise her country and that if President Vladimir Putin was not stopped in Ukraine he would keep going.

Maia Sandu's visit to Paris, also to sign an economic roadmap, comes as Western states seek to strengthen the former Soviet state's capabilities amid what they fear are increasing destabilisation efforts by Russia.

"If the aggressor is not stopped, he will keep going, and the front line will keep moving closer. Closer to us. Closer to you," Sandu said. "Europe must therefore present a united front."

Moldova, a western neighbour of Ukraine with a tiny defence budget, has seen long tense relations with Moscow worsen as it backs Ukraine in the war.

Russia has troops and peacekeepers based in Transdniestria, a breakaway statelet of Moldova that has maintained its autonomy for three decades with Kremlin support.

Moscow says it was forced to intervene in Ukraine two years ago to protect itself against aggression and threats from the NATO military alliance and that claims of further territorial ambitions are unfounded scaremongering by the West.

RUSSIAN 'PRESSURE'

The defence accord sets the legal framework for future training, regular dialogue and intelligence sharing.

A French defence mission will open in Moldova's capital Chisinau by the summer to help assess needs and talks have begun on possible weapons' contracts, the French defence ministry said.

President Emmanuel Macron said the agreement marked France's determination to protect and help Moldova.

Moldova's spy chief said this week that Russia was planning fresh attempts to meddle by provoking protests, interfering in an upcoming presidential election, and disrupting plans to join the European Union.

"The regime in Moscow seeks to control my country through energy blackmail, sponsoring protests, running disinformation campaigns, launching cyber attacks, interfering in our elections, pouring in dirty money and even attempting a coup," Sandu said.

"But we stand tall."

(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Andrew Cawthorne)
By Nyasha Nyaungwa

WINDHOEK (Reuters) - Namibian communities whose ancestors were massacred by German colonial forces and had their property seized more than a century ago are calling for fresh talks with Berlin to negotiate the return of ancestral land.

Germany agreed in May 2021 to fund projects worth 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) over 30 years to make up for the property seizures and killings by German colonial forces between 1904 and 1908, after the tribes rebelled against German rule.

Germany also apologised for its role in the slaughter, officially describing the massacre of some 65,000 Herero and 10,000 Nama people as genocide for the first time.

But critics have said Germany should not have directed its apology to the Namibian state, which did not exist at the time of the genocide and had no mandate to speak to Germany on behalf of traditional Herero and Nama authorities.

Mutjinde Katjiua, leader of a faction of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority, said the exclusion of descendants of the affected communities from the talks deviated from a 2006 parliamentary resolution that stated negotiations should be between those communities and the perpetrator government.

The communities also argue that the issue of land ownership was not addressed in the 2021 joint declaration, noting that ancestral land taken by German forces has not be returned.

"What we have now is a bilateral agreement to fund development aid. It's not even reparations and something to do with genocide," Katjiua told Reuters. "Germany must come to the table, discuss with us, negotiate with Hereros and Namas, and together we agree on what is appropriate to repair the damage (caused)."

"If nothing works out, the only thing that we can lay our hands on is the land because we know where that is, we know the names of the rivers, we know the names of the farms," he added.

Germany, which lost all its colonial territories after World War One, was the third biggest colonial power after Britain and France. However, its colonial past was ignored for decades while historians and politicians focused more on the legacy of Nazi crimes, including the Holocaust.

The joint declaration was subject to ratification by the Namibian parliament but the process has been put on hold as the two governments discuss amending the document, said Harald Hecht, chairman of the Forum of German-speaking Namibians.

The proposed amendments include reducing the 30-year period in the agreement to five or 10 years, Hecht said.

"It (the joint declaration) is not the perfect model because the amount of compensation offered doesn't amount to reparations, but there is at least an offer on the table," Hecht said. "In the absence of anything else, I think we need to support it."

The foreign ministry in Berlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ambassador Tonateni Intenge-Envula, chair of Namibia's technical committee on genocide, said all affected parties were invited to join the negotiations.

"The Office of the Vice President deals with the issue. As far as I know that office is open and has had discussions with the affected community," she told Reuters.

White people make up 5% of Namibia's population but control more than 70% of prime agricultural land.

($1 = 0.9198 euros)

(Additional report by Alexander Ratz in Berlin; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo, William Maclean)
By Sinead Cruise and Yadarisa Shabong

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Nationwide Building Society has agreed to buy Virgin Money UK in a potential 2.9 billion pound ($3.7 billion) all-cash deal to create the country's second-largest savings and mortgage provider.

The proposed deal is the latest example of a bounce in merger and acquisition activity among British lenders, with some seeking to bolster their balance sheets against a possible bump in bad loans as households and businesses face a recession.

Barclays said last month it would buy the banking operations of supermarket group Tesco for about 600 million pounds and some analysts said the Nationwide's move could prompt deals by others looking to preserve market share.

Nationwide said its offer of 220 pence per Virgin Money share represented a premium of 38% as of March 6 and would be funded through the mutual's existing cash resources.

Virgin Money's shares were up 36% to 217 pence at 1242 GMT, and were set for their biggest one day gain since its initial public offering (IPO).

Richard Branson's Virgin Group Holdings, which founded Virgin Money and which holds around 14.5% of its total shares in issue, has also indicated support for the deal.

Analysts said the transaction could increase competition in Britain's mortgage and savings market and spur a revival in some bank stocks, which have wilted in the face of geopolitical tensions and lacklustre economic growth.

"With the outlook for the UK economy stabilising, we wouldn't be surprised to see more deals like this," RBC Capital Markets analyst Benjamin Toms told Reuters.

"UK bank valuations are relatively cheap for the sustainable returns they offer," Toms added.

MUTUALLY-OWNED

Nationwide, which describes itself as the world's largest building society, itself a product of several takeovers and mergers, would remain a mutually owned lender under the terms of the offer, which remains subject to conditions.

It holds almost 1-in-10 pounds saved in Britain, as well as one in ten of the UK's current accounts. It has more than 17 million customers and employs more than 16,000 people.

Virgin Money is the UK's sixth-largest retail bank by assets and has around 6.6 million customers, with total lending of 72.8 billion pounds including around 57.1 billion in mortgages.

Its board said it had carefully evaluated the Nationwide deal and was likely to recommend it to shareholders.

Nationwide said the deal would allow it to offer a wider range of products and services and build its financial strength.

It currently operates Britain's largest single-brand high street branch network, spanning more than 60 outlets, and said it intends to retain a branch everywhere where the combined group is present, until at least the start of 2026.

Most other major UK banks have slashed branches in a bid to save costs, citing the rising popularity of online banking.

"A combined group would bring the benefits of fairer banking and mutual ownership to more people in the UK, including our continuing commitment to retain existing branches," Nationwide CEO Debbie Crosbie said.

If the deal goes ahead as announced, the new entity would have assets of approximately 366.3 billion pounds, with lending and advances of around 283.5 billion.

Nationwide said it did not intend to make any material near term changes to the size of Virgin Money's 7,300-strong workforce in the near term.

"A mutual taking over a listed bank is a rare move but Nationwide clearly doesn't want to be stuck in the past and wants the know-how and access to scoop up future customers who demand more cutting edge financial services," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Virgin Money CEO David Duffy said the deal would "complete our journey in the banking sector as a national competitor".

Nationwide said it would seek to integrate Virgin Money gradually over several years, but in the medium term the bank would continue to operate as a separate legal entity with a separate board of directors and banking licence.

Virgin Money's 9 billion pounds in business lending would enable Nationwide to build on its existing business savings business and diversify its funding sources, Nationwide said.

($1 = 0.7851 pounds)

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru and Sinead Cruise in London; Additional reporting by Alun John and Amanda Cooper, Editing by Sonia Cheema, Carolyn Cohn, Sharon Singleton and Alexander Smith)
FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Jerusalem, February 18, 2024. REUTER

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel will push on with its offensive against Hamas, including into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite growing international pressure to stop, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas after its fighters attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting 253, according to Israeli tallies. More than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza during Israel's subsequent offensive, Palestinian health authorities estimate, prompting worldwide criticism and condemnation.

"There is international pressure and it's growing, but particularly when the international pressure rises, we must close ranks, we need to stand together against the attempts to stop the war," he said.

About 1.5 million people are estimated to be crammed into Rafah, on the southernmost fringe of the enclave close to the border with Egypt, most of them having fled their homes further north to escape Israel's military onslaught.

Addressing a graduation ceremony at a training school for Israeli army officers, Netanyahu also said Israel must push back against a "calculated attempt" to blame it for Hamas' crimes.

He added that Israel would operate throughout Gaza, "including Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold".

"Whoever tells us not to act in Rafah is telling us to lose the war and that will not happen," Netanyahu said.

(Reporting by Emily Rose and Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Gareth Jones)
FILE PHOTO: Alabama Governor Kay Ivey speaks during a presentation at the opening of a Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle Battery Factory, marking one of only seven locations producing batteries for their fully electric Mercedes-EQ models, in Woodstock, Alaba

(Reuters) - Alabama Governor Kay Ivey on Wednesday signed into law a measure aimed at protecting in vitro fertilization after the state Supreme Court ruled frozen embryos should be considered children, prompting at least three Alabama providers to halt the procedure.

Both chambers of the state's Republican-controlled legislature passed the proposal protecting IVF providers from both criminal charges and civil lawsuits after brief debates on Feb. 29.

In a statement on Wednesday night, Ivey said IVF was "a complex issue, no doubt," and anticipated there would be more work to come. "But right now, I am confident that this legislation will provide the assurances our IVF clinics need and will lead them to resume services immediately," she said.

Republicans nationwide have scrambled to contain backlash from a Feb. 16 decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, whose elected judges are all Republican, that left unclear how to legally store, transport and use embryos, prompting some IVF patients to consider moving their frozen embryos out of Alabama.

Democrats have seized on the Alabama court ruling as evidence that reproductive rights are under assault.

IVF involves combining eggs and sperm in a laboratory dish to create an embryo for couples having difficulty conceiving.

The Alabama high court issued its ruling in response to three families' lawsuits against a fertility clinic and hospital for failing to properly safeguard their frozen embryos, resulting in their destruction when a patient improperly accessed them.

The ruling was based on the state's 2018 Sanctity of Unborn Life Amendment approved by voters, which supports "the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children."

The bill that Ivey signed would not necessarily mean IVF providers could revert to business as usual, according to its sponsor, Republican state Senator Tim Melson.

Replying to another senator's question about what Alabama IVF providers could do with unused embryos under the proposed law, Melson said during a state Senate debate on Thursday that, as a result of the court ruling, some providers told him they planned to start perpetually storing embryos that aren't implanted into a uterus.

"That's going to probably become their policy," he said. "That's not in effect, but that's what they're looking at doing."

(Reporting by Julia Harte; Editing by Donna Bryson and Jonathan Oatis)
Philippine Govt Cracks Down on Unlicensed Crypto Exchanges, Binance Still Accessible

The Philippine National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has initiated the blocking of websites belonging to crypto companies offering investment products without the necessary licenses in the country.

Despite the Securities and Exchange Commissions (SEC) three-month countdown for banning unlicensed crypto trading platforms, Binance remains accessible in the country.

NTC Blocks Websites of Crypto Firms MiTrade and OctaFX Following SECs Request



The NTC has taken action to block websites and apps offering investment opportunities without the necessary license, following a request from the SEC. On March 7, local media Bitpinas reported that the websites of crypto firms MiTrade and OctaFX were inaccessible through one of the countrys largest internet providers following an order from the NTC issued on February 21.

In response to the SECs request, the NTC issued a memorandum to all internet service providers on February 21, instructing them to block the websites and apps of MiTrade for violations of securities regulations enforced by the SEC.

SEC Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino expressed gratitude to the NTC for supporting their efforts to combat investment scams and protect the investing public. He emphasized the importance of such directives in preventing the proliferation of illegal investment activities.

Aquino highlighted that the NTCs actions support their efforts against predatory financial schemes and protect investors in the country. He said,

The SEC and NTC will continue to work closely together to take similar actions on other platforms facilitating illegal investment-taking activities and other predatory financial schemes.

Despite Warnings, Binance Remains Accessible in the Philippines as NTC Blocks Unlicensed Crypto Platforms



The Philippines NTC has initiated the blocking of unlicensed crypto trading platforms, yet Binance remains accessible in the country despite regulatory warnings.

The SEC previously warned Filipino investors on November 28, advising them that the exchange is not authorized to sell or offer securities in the country. The announcement urged Binance to seek registration and provide adequate information about the securities it offered to comply with regulatory requirements.

In addition to operating without the necessary license, the SEC argued that Binance had been illicitly promoting its services in the country. The regulator warned that entities involved in promoting or trading on Binance may be held criminally liable under Section 28 of the SRC. This is a criminal offense that carries the penalty of a fine of up to 5 million Philippine pesos ($90,300), imprisonment of 21 years, or both, under Section 73 of the SRC, the statement notes.

In a December 2023 panel discussion, then-Commissioner Kelvin Lee explicitly mentioned that Binance, OctaFX, and MiTrade are candidates for the blocking. Lee said the internet has been very confused about the ban after regulators issued an advisory to the cryptocurrency exchange on November 28 for operating without a license.

He was asked to clarify the matter and that the ban was supposed to be three months from the issuance date, which he said was given on November 29.

Depending on how feedback is, we can actually extend that, but currently, we should feel lucky with the three months.

He said the original recommendation was one month, even a one-week transition period, but he decided on more time due to the Christmas holiday. Not to make it hard for Filipino investors during that time, he said. Lee indicated that the ban should have been enforced three months after issuance, implying a ban commencement on February 29. However, the SEC has not specified the implementation timeline.
An aerial view of the Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence ablaze following a Houthi missile attack at sea, March 6, 2024, in this handout photo. DVIDS/Handout via REUTERS

By Jonathan Saul

LONDON (Reuters) -India's navy evacuated all 20 crew from a stricken vessel in the Red Sea on Thursday, after a Houthi attack killed three seafarers in the first civilian fatalities from the Yemeni group's campaign against the key shipping route.

The Iran-aligned militants fired a missile at the Barbados-flagged, Greek-operated True Confidence on Wednesday about 50 nautical miles off the southern Yemeni port of Aden, setting it ablaze.

In a statement, the owners and manager said all 20 crew and three armed guards on board were taken to hospital in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa by an Indian warship.

Two of the dead were Filipino nationals, while the third was Vietnamese, the owners and managers said, expressing condolences to families. Two other Filipinos were also severely injured.

Vietnam on Thursday condemned the attack, and said one of the Vietnamese crew died while the remaining three nationals were in good health.

Images released by the Indian Navy showed a helicopter winching crew members from a small life raft in choppy seas and taking them to a naval ship.

Some wounded were shown lying in the bottom of a navy lifeboat sent to assist. They were carried on stretchers onto the ship and were shown later with heavily bandaged limbs as they were evacuated to the Djibouti hospital.

"The vessel is drifting well away from land and salvage arrangements are being made," the companies said in the statement.

A salvage contract for the vessel has been signed, a spokesperson for the companies told Reuters, declining further details citing security issues.

The Houthis have kept up a relentless campaign of attacks on vessels in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes since November, in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians during Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza.

"The loss of life and injuries to civilian seafarers is completely unacceptable," leading global shipping associations said on Thursday.

"The frequency of attacks on merchant shipping highlights the urgent need for all stakeholders to take decisive action to safeguard the lives of innocent civilian seafarers and put an end to such threats."

The cost of insuring a seven-day voyage through the Red Sea has risen by hundreds of thousands of dollars since November.

War risk insurance rates have already reflected the sinking of the Rubymar cargo ship, days after being hit by a Houthi missile on Feb 18, and the first fatalities from the True Confidence, said Munro Anderson, head of operations at marine war risk and insurance specialist Vessel Protect  part of Pen Underwriting.

"So, the degree to which they create any further upwards pressure is likely to be limited in the short term," he said.

"This is, however, predicated on how events evolve from this point forward."

SAILORS' WELFARE

The Houthis have used an array of sophisticated weapons, including ballistic missiles and "kamikaze drones", despite retaliatory U.S. and U.K.-led strikes on their bases in Yemen aimed at crippling their ability to attack.

Stephen Cotton, General Secretary of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), the leading seafarers union, also called for better protection.

"No delivery window is worth the loss of seafarers' lives," he said. "We call on the industry to divert ships around the Cape of Good Hope until safe transit through the Red Sea can be guaranteed."

Around 23,000 ships a year pass through the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the Suez Canal, accounting for around 12% of global trade.

Taking the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa adds about 10 days to the journey, delaying supply chains and pushing up costs.

The True Confidence was sailing from China to Jeddah and Aqaba with a cargo of steel products and trucks.

The vessel is owned by Liberia-registered True Confidence Shipping SA and operated by Greece-based Third January Maritime. There is no current connection with any US entity, the companies said.

(Reporting by Jonathan Saul; writing by Sharon Singleton; editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Alexandra Hudson)
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Swedish police on Thursday apprehended four people on suspicion of preparing a terrorist crime tied to violent Islamist extremism, the Sapo security service and prosecution agency said.

"We see links to serious organised crime and also international connections that we tie to the terrorist organisation Islamic State," a Sapo spokesperson told Reuters.

The spokesperson gave no further details about the suspected links to IS, the identity of the suspects or the nature of the alleged planned attack.

The arrests followed an extensive investigation of the case, police said in a statement. The arrests were made in the Stockholm area, the national prosecution service said separately.

Swedish media earlier on Thursday reported that a large number of police officers led by the security service had made the arrests in Tyreso, a southern suburb of the Swedish capital.

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Terje Solsvik)
FILE PHOTO: A Tesla vehicle is charged at a Tesla supercharging station in Kettleman City, California, U.S., January 25, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

By Mike Scarcella

(Reuters) - Tesla owners who accused it of falsely advertising estimated driving ranges for its electric vehicles must pursue their claims in individual arbitrations rather than banding together in proposed class action lawsuits, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California said on Thursday the drivers had agreed to an arbitration provision for resolving disputes with the automaker when they bought their vehicles.

The plaintiffs accused Tesla of fraudulently inducing consumers to buy its cars by overstating how far they can travel on a single charge. The pair of lawsuits also alleged that Tesla, led by billionaire CEO Elon Musk, misrepresented the driving range on vehicle dashboards.

A Reuters special report in July revealed that Tesla had created a secret team to suppress drivers' complaints about driving range. Both lawsuits cited the special report.

Tesla and lawyers for the company did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Tesla has called the claims in the lawsuits "unmeritorious."

Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the two cases either declined to comment or did not immediately respond to a request for one.

Rogers' order did not address the merits of the drivers' claims. She did not dismiss the lawsuits and said she could eventually issue an injunction against Tesla if the drivers successfully arbitrated their claims under California's unfair competition law and other provisions.

The drivers' attorneys had called Tesla's effort to compel individual arbitration an "effort to avoid classwide liability for its deceptive conduct."

Tesla lowered driving-range estimates across its EVs in January, as a new U.S. government vehicle-testing regulation was implemented to ensure automakers accurately reflect real-world performance.

(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario and Jamie Freed)
A confiscated red panda is seen inside luggage at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport after authorities arrested Indian national passengers who tried to smuggle wildlife, Thailand, March 7, 2024. Thai Customs Department/Handout via REUTERS

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai customs officials rescued a red panda, snakes, monkeys and chameleons from checked-in luggage at the country's main airport this week after arresting six Indian nationals for attempted smuggling.

A total of 87 reptiles and mammals were found in the baggage, including chameleons, snakes, a large-beaked parrot, red-eyed squirrels, bats and monkeys.

Some animals were wrapped in paper, others in plastic containers, photos from customs at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport showed.

The six, bound for Mumbai, were arrested on Monday, authorities said in a statement.

Thailand, which borders four countries, has seen its fair share of illegal wildlife trafficking and customs officials at Suvarnabhumi often seize reptiles and small animals in luggage.

There is high demand for animal products in countries including China, Myanmar and Thailand, where they are used in traditional medicine or consumed directly.

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Edited by Nick Macfie)
FILE PHOTO: Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim speaks at a press conference during Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official visit, at Putrajaya, Malaysia, 05 November 2023. FAZRY ISMAIL/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

By Lewis Jackson

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Attempts to contain China's rise would only aggravate the country and sow discord in the region, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said during a speech in Australia on Thursday.

In an speech at the Australian National University in Canberra, he said countries needed to put themselves in China's shoes and recognise how its leaders saw its military buildup and growing diplomatic influence as a natural result of its economic and technological prowess.

In their eyes, the adverse actions on China's rise, militarily, economically and technologically, represent nothing less than an attempt to deny their legitimate place in history," Anwar said.

"The obstacles being placed against China's economic and technological advancement will only further accentuate such grievances.

Anwar, who attended an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Australia that ended on Wednesday, repeatedly struck a dovish line on China at the meeting that was overshadowed by clashes between the Philippines and China in the disputed South China Sea.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday his country would grow security ties with the U.S. and resist Chinese incursions in the disputed sea.

In his address, Anwar said Malaysia and Australia had a duty to encourage China, the U.S. and other major players in the Asia-Pacific to behave in a manner conducive to cooperation and economic integration.

Anwar, who heads a Muslim majority nation, also said the differences in the West's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza defied reason.

"Why ... has the West been so vociferous, vehement, and unequivocal in the condemnation of the Russia invasion of Ukraine while remaining utterly silent on the relentless, bloodletting inflicted on innocent men, women and children of Gaza."

The joint Australia-ASEAN statement on Wednesday reiterated concern over the "dire" humanitarian situation in Gaza, as well as calling for the release of hostages held in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

(Reporting by Lewis Jackson; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
By Can Sezer

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Turkey signed an offshore oil and natural gas cooperation deal with Somalia on Thursday, the Turkish Energy Ministry said, further strengthening bilateral ties after agreeing a defence deal last month.

The energy ministry said the deal, which it described as an inter-governmental agreement, includes exploration, evaluation, development and production of oil in Somalia's land and sea blocks.

"With this agreement, we will carry out joint activities to bring the resources of Somalia to the Somali people. We aim to strengthen Turkey's presence in the Horn of Africa with new collaborations in the field of energy," Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on social media platform X.

"Oil and natural gas exploration offshore of Somalia, and it looks more like oil for now, will start very soon in the areas we have identified. We will maybe send our seismic (exploration) vessel there in the first phase," he said separately in a panel, without elaborating.

The deal includes transportation, distribution, refining, sales and services operations of oil and other products from land and sea projects, the ministry also said.

Turkey has become a close ally of the Somali government. It has built schools, hospitals and infrastructure and provided scholarships for Somalis to study in Turkey.

In 2017, Turkey opened its biggest overseas military base in Mogadishu. Turkey also provides training to Somali military and police.

In February, Turkey signed a defence and economic cooperation agreement with Somalia and will provide maritime security support to help the African country defend its territorial waters.

Albayrak said Turkey was also interested in oil and gas exploration with Libya. In 2022, Ankara signed a deal similar to Thursday's accord with Somalia with Libya's internationally-recognised government in Tripoli.

"We are interested in offshore Libya, our interest in some areas on land continues. But Somalia is an exploration operation that we are especially considering on the sea," he added.

(Reporting by Can Sezer;Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun and Tuvan Gumrukcu;Editing by Daren Butler, Alexandra Hudson and Jane Merriman)
FILE PHOTO: People walk under election posters for Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling AK Party (AKP) flags in Istanbul, Turkey, February 20, 2024. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo

By Birsen Altayli

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Disunity among Turkey's opposition parties has boosted President Tayyip Erdogan's hopes that his AK Party can regain control of Istanbul in this month's municipal elections, pollsters say, following his victory in last year's presidential vote.

The outcome of the March 31 election in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, is seen as key in deciding the political fate of its mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, 52, long touted as a potential leader of the main opposition CHP and possibly a future president.

Five years ago, Imamoglu and the secularist CHP dealt Erdogan a heavy blow in municipal elections by winning control of Istanbul, the president's home city, and the capital Ankara after 25 years of rule by the AKP and its Islamist predecessors.

But Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for nearly a quarter of a century, beat off a strong opposition challenge last May to win re-election as president, while the AKP and its allies secured another parliamentary majority.

The alliance that helped propel Imamoglu to victory in Istanbul has since collapsed, and his nationalist and pro-Kurdish allies are fielding their own candidates this month.

Recent polls point to a close race, with pollsters MAK this week showing 41.5% support for Imamoglu, just 1.5 points ahead of AKP candidate Murat Kurum. According to pollster Murat Gezici, Kurum had 44.1% support, ahead of Imamoglu's 43.5%.

"The race is neck-and-neck, on a knife edge," Ozer Sencar, chairman of pollsters Metropoll, told Reuters, emphasising the importance of Istanbul for future national politics.

"If Ekrem Imamoglu wins the election in Istanbul and this election is not cancelled by objections in some way, he will become the president (of Turkey) in 2028," he said.

FRAGMENTED OPPOSITION

But Imamoglu's hopes in Istanbul have been dented by the decision of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party and the Turkish nationalist IYI Party, whose voters supported him in 2019, to field their own candidates.

"The damage that the IYI and DEM parties will do to Ekrem Imamoglu must be taken seriously," Sencar said.

Metropoll's latest survey showed support for Imamoglu among Kurdish voters had declined to 32% last month from 35% in January. Support among IYI party voters fell to 45% from 64%.

Discord within the CHP itself, which elected a new leader this year, has added to Imamoglu's challenge, with many in the party unhappy with the choice of election candidates.

"The biggest risk for the opposition in Istanbul is that it is becoming more fragmented than ever," said Ertan Aksoy, head of Aksoy Research, whose survey conducted 40 days ago showed Imamoglu to be 3-4 percentage points ahead of his AKP rival.

Imamoglu has accused central government of hampering his delivery of services in Istanbul since 2019. Campaigning is now focused on solving traffic problems in a city of 16 million and the need for urban transformation, given earthquake risks in the region.

In election campaigning, Erdogan has made the opposition's difficulties the focus of his speeches.

"No change has been able to cure the political exhaustion of the CHP. Everyone who comes and goes just makes things worse," he told a rally this week.

(Additional reporting by Canan Sevgili; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Gareth Jones)
(Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Wednesday that it carried out strikes against two unmanned aerial vehicles in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen that "presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region."

U.S. Central Command did not say if the strikes were successful.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; editing by Jasper Ward)
By Alistair Smout

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's trade minister Kemi Badenoch on Thursday said she did not see a forthcoming election in India as a deadline for securing a trade agreement between the countries, saying it would be "challenging" to secure a deal by then but possible.

Britain and India have held stop-start talks over a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) for two years, and both countries are set to hold national elections in 2024 that could complicate the timeline for negotiations.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to win a third term, with the official election campaign expected to begin in the coming weeks.

"We can actually sign an agreement before the Indian election. I suspect that that is not necessarily going to be the case because I don't want to use any election as a deadline," Badenoch said at an event at Chatham House in London.

"It is possible that we can sign, but I'm not using it as a deadline."

Ministers in British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government have said that the content of the deal matters more than the date it is delivered, marking a contrast with his predecessors who had suggested deadlines for a deal that were then missed.

Badenoch cited India's negotiations with the EU, which launched over a decade ago, and said the size of India and the differences between the two economies made talks more complex.

"India is still very protectionist, whereas we are very, very liberalised," Badenoch said, adding she was interested in "high-quality trade deals", with Britain pulling for better coverage on services and digital trade, and not just goods.

"It has to be something that is commercially meaningful," she said. "Trying to do something that's going to make sense for the UK as it is in 2024, not 1984 or 1954, is challenging."

Vikram Doraiswami, High Commissioner of India to the UK, said it was natural that each side in a trade negotiation brought their own particular interests to the table, but that a deal with Britain was being prioritised.

"We are negotiating one (an FTA) which we hope we can bring to a conclusion soon," Doraiswami said later at the same event.

"The FTA with the UK for us is obviously of great importance as an affirmation of the strategic depth that we seek to develop with this important partner country."

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by William James and Ros Russell)
FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a press conference on the day of the Ukraine Southeast Europe Summit in Tirana, Albania, February 28, 2024. REUTERS/Florion Goga/File Photo

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will visit Turkey on Friday and meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Presidency said.

In a post on social media platform X, the Turkish Presidency said leaders will discuss the course of the Ukraine-Russia war, the Black Sea grain deal and bilateral relations.

Russia withdrew in July from the deal, which had allowed Ukraine to safely export grain from its Black Sea ports, saying its demands for better terms for its own food and fertiliser exports were being ignored.

Ankara has sought to persuade Russia to return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative - brokered by Turkey and the United Nations. Russia has said it was not interested in reviving it.

NATO member Turkey shares a maritime border with Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea and has aimed to maintain good ties with both amid the war. It has provided military support for Kyiv and voiced support for its territorial integrity, while opposing the sanctions on Russia.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ece Toksabay; Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Chris Reese, Alexandra Hudson)
SEC Commissioners Criticize Agencys Crypto Enforcement Strategy Following ShapeShift Settlement

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioners, Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, have publicly criticized the agencys unclear cryptocurrency enforcement policies following a recent settlement with ShapeShift.

In a detailed statement published on March 5, Peirce and Uyeda highlighted the ShapeShift case as emblematic of broader issues within the SECs handling of digital assets.

The Commissions enforcement action against ShapeShift is the latest installment in the serial drama of the Commissions poorly conceived crypto policy, said the commissioners.

ShapeShifts $275,000 Settlement with SEC



The SEC recently concluded its proceedings against the crypto platform ShapeShift by accepting a $275,000 settlement. This agreement followed charges that ShapeShift had offered unregistered securities to its customers.

Operating from Denver, Colorado, ShapeShift listed at least 79 crypto assets. Some were deemed unregistered securities by the SEC, using the Howey Test as the benchmark for determination.

Under the terms of the settlement, ShapeShift must pay the civil penalty within two weeks from the orders issuance. Additionally, the company agreed to a cease-and-desist order, halting any future violations.

The Standards Are So Opaque and Arbitrary



The Securities Exchange Act defines a dealer as any person engaged in the business of buying and selling securities . . . for such persons own account through a broker or otherwise, the statement reads.

ShapeShift meets this definition, according to the Commission, because [t]he crypto assets offered by ShapeShift included those that were offered and sold as investment contracts and, therefore, securities, the statement explained.

However, the commissioners claimed the SEC did not specify which of the 79 crypto assets traded by ShapeShift were considered investment contracts, nor did it offer any rationale for its determination.

Peirce and Uyeda argued that ShapeShift faces repercussions despite the significant time elapsed since its inception and business model shift, with the SEC alleging violations involving an unspecified subset of these assets as investment contracts, without providing clarity on its reasoning.

According to the statement, the SEC did not even allege any harm caused by ShapeShift, as both the platform and customers voluntarily transacted.

The standards are so opaque and arbitrary that the Commission itself is unwilling to stand by its own analysis, said the commissioners. The environment we have created for the crypto asset markets, especially as it relates to secondary trading, is untenable.

Cases like this do not protect investors; they intimidate innovators and entrepreneurs. We respectfully dissent, Peirce and Uyeda concluded.
FILE PHOTO: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during a news conference with Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves (not pictured) ahead of the 8th Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday urged the warring parties in Sudan to agree to halt hostilities during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, a move the Security Council is also considering.

"This cessation of hostilities must lead to a definitive silencing of the guns across the country, and set out a firm path towards lasting peace for the Sudanese people," Guterres told the 15-member Security Council.

"There is now a serious risk that the conflict could ignite regional instability of dramatic proportions, from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea."

The Security Council is negotiating a British-drafted resolution that would also call for a truce for Ramadan, which begins early next week, in the nearly year-long war between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

British deputy U.N. Ambassador James Kariuki said they hoped to put the draft text to a vote on Friday. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Russia, Britain, China or France to be adopted.

The United States says the warring parties have committed war crimes and the RSF and allied militias have also committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. The U.N. says nearly 25 million people - half Sudan's population - need aid, some 8 million have fled their homes and hunger is rising.

"Hunger is stalking Sudan. Some 18 million people are acutely food insecure. This is the highest number ever recorded during a harvest season, yet numbers are expected to surge even higher in the coming months," Guterres said. "We are already receiving reports of children dying from malnutrition."

Between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed in one city alone in Sudan's West Darfur region last year in ethnic violence by the RSF and allied Arab militia, according to a U.N. sanctions monitors report seen by Reuters in January.

"The human rights situation continues to spiral out of control throughout Sudan," Guterres said.

Since war erupted on April 15, 2023, the council has only issued three press statements condemning the violence and expressing concern. It then echoed that language in a resolution in December that shut down a U.N. political mission - following a request from Sudan's acting foreign minister.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Nick Macfie)
By Jasper Ward and Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Army intelligence analyst was arrested on Thursday and charged with conspiring to sell sensitive defense information to China.

Federal prosecutors charged Korbein Schultz with conspiracy to disclose national defense information, exporting defense articles and technical data without a license, and bribery of a public official, the U.S. Justice Department said in a press release.

Schultz, who was arrested at Kentucky's Fort Campbell, was paid approximately $42,000 to provide an individual he believed lived in Hong Kong with information about U.S. plans in the event Taiwan came under military attack, according to the release.Schultz put "personal profit above the security of the American people, Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said in the statement.Todays arrest shows that such a betrayal does not pay  the Department of Justice is committed to identifying and holding accountable those who would break their oath to protect our nations secrets.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Caitlin Webber)
By Steve Gorman

(Reuters) - A federal judge in Texas has ruled that the U.S. Minority Business Development Agency, founded during the Nixon administration, must avail itself to disadvantaged entrepreneurs of all races and ethnicities, including whites.

The summary judgment rendered on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, appointed in 2019 by then-President Donald Trump, was the latest in a recent series of federal court decisions rolling back decades of affirmative action programs aimed at remedying racial discrimination.

Pittman, a judge in the Forth Worth branch of the Northern Texas District, sided with two white businessmen who sued the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), a branch of the Commerce Department, last year after being denied benefits on the basis of race.

The plaintiffs were told they were ineligible for agency assistance because they were not members of any of the races or ethnicities included on a list of qualified minorities presumed to be disadvantaged and thus entitled to services, according to the judge's summary of the case.

Pittman found that presumption violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law, and cited the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in a case last June striking down race-conscious admissions policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.

MBDA attorneys argued that the agency's polices are constitutional because they help rectify past discrimination in which the government played a role, according to background in the judge's decision.

But Pittman said such reasoning effectively punishes non-minorities.

"While the agency's work may help alleviate opportunity gaps faced by MBEs (minority business owners), two wrongs do not make a right," the judge wrote.

As part of his 93-page decision, the judge granted a permanent injunction barring the $550 million agency from "using an applicant's race or ethnicity in determining whether they can receive business center programming."

Three white businessmen originally brought the lawsuit - Jeffrey Nuziard, owner of a chain of sexual wellness clinics in north Texas; Christian Bruckner, a disabled immigrant from Romania who started a federal contracting business in Florida; and Matthew Piper, an architect in Wisconsin.

Piper was dismissed from the case on grounds that he lacked legal standing, though the effect of the judge's order applies to the agency as a whole and all applicants for its benefits.

The agency itself, formed in 1969 by then-President Richard Nixon as the Office of Minority Business Enterprise and made permanent in 2021, was the primary defendant in the case. Also named were President Joe Biden, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Donald Cravins, under secretary for minority business development, as defendants.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Michael Perry)
FILE PHOTO: Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi holds a press conference on the opening day of a quarterly meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna, Austria, March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Lisa Leutner/File Phot

By Francois Murphy

VIENNA (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday threatened future action against Iran at the U.N. nuclear watchdog if Tehran keeps "stonewalling" the watchdog by denying it the cooperation and answers it seeks on issues including long-unexplained uranium traces.

At a quarterly meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation Board of Governors, Washington again told Iran to cooperate with IAEA inspectors who for years have been seeking explanations from Tehran on the origin of uranium particles at undeclared sites.

The United States has stopped short, for now, of seeking a resolution against Iran, however. Diplomats have cited the U.S. presidential election in November as a reason Washington has been reluctant to do that. Tehran bristles at such resolutions and often responds by stepping up its activities.

"We believe we have come to the point that we and the broader international community must consider anew how to respond to Iran's continued stonewalling," the United States said in a statement to the Board meeting. "We cannot allow Iran's current pattern of behavior to continue."

It is now more than a year since the last Board resolution against Iran, which ordered it to cooperate urgently with the investigation into the particles. Tehran dismissed the resolution as "political" and "anti-Iranian" even though only China and Russia opposed it.

The United States and its three top European allies - Britain, France and Germany - again opted against seeking a resolution against Iran at this week's meeting but the United States said that if Iran did not provide the necessary cooperation soon, it would act.

"It is our strongly held view that Iran's continuing lack of credible cooperation provides grounds for pursuing further Board of Governors action, including the possibility of additional resolutions and consideration of whether Iran is once again in noncompliance with its safeguards obligations," it said.

In 2018 then-President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of a 2015 deal under which major powers lifted sanctions against Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activities. After sanctions were re-imposed, Iran expanded those activities far beyond the deal's limits.

It is now enriching uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% of weapons grade and far above the deal's cap of 3.67%. Western powers say there is no credible civil explanation for enriching to that level and the IAEA says no country has done so without producing a nuclear bomb.

Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful and it has the right to enrich to high levels for civil purposes.

The United States said Iran should provide the IAEA with cooperation including access "for the purposes of collecting environmental samples ... and it must begin to do so now".

If it did not, it would ask IAEA chief Rafael Grossi to provide a "comprehensive report" on Iran's nuclear activities more wide-ranging than his regular quarterly ones, it said.

"Then, based on the content of that report, we will take appropriate action in support of the IAEA and the global nuclear nonproliferation regime," it added.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
false 0001070985 0001070985 2024-03-05 2024-03-05

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):

CoreCivic, Inc.



(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Maryland

001-16109

62-1763875

(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) (Commission File Number) (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

5501 Virginia Way , Brentwood , Tennessee 37027

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

( 615 ) 263-3000

(Registrants telephone number, including area code)

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:



Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)



Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)



Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))



Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered Common Stock

CXW

New York Stock Exchange



Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. 

Item 1.01. Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

On March 5, 2024, CoreCivic, Inc., a Maryland corporation (the Company), and the subsidiary guarantors of the Company named therein (the Guarantors) entered into an underwriting agreement (the Underwriting Agreement) with Citizens JMP Securities, LLC, as representative of the underwriters listed on Schedule A thereto (the Underwriters), for the issuance and sale of $500 million aggregate principal amount of the Companys 8.250% senior unsecured notes due 2029 (the Notes). The Notes will be issued by the Company and will be unconditionally guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by the Guarantors (the Guarantees). The Notes are being offered pursuant to an automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on March 4, 2024 (File No. 333-277631) (the Registration Statement).

The Company and the Guarantors have made certain customary representations, warranties and covenants in the Underwriting Agreement concerning the Company, the Guarantors, the Registration Statement and offering documents related to the offering of the Notes and the Guarantees. The Company and the Guarantors have agreed to indemnify the Underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Subject to customary closing conditions, the sale of the Notes is expected to close on or about March 12, 2024.

The foregoing description of the Underwriting Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Underwriting Agreement, a copy of which is filed as Exhibit 1.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 8.01. Other Events.

On March 5, 2024, the Company issued a press release announcing the pricing of its public offering of the Notes. A copy of the press release announcing the pricing of the Notes is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits

(d) Exhibits.

104 Cover Page Interactive Data File. The cover page XBRL tags are embedded within the inline XBRL document.

* Certain schedules have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K and will be provided on a supplemental basis to the SEC upon request.

SIGNATURE

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 hereunto duly authorized.

Date: March 7, 2024 CORECIVIC, INC. By: /s/ David Garfinkle David Garfinkle Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer





ATTACHMENTS / EXHIBITS

EXHIBIT 1.1

EXHIBIT 99.1

XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION SCHEMA

XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION LABEL LINKBASE

XBRL TAXONOMY EXTENSION PRESENTATION LINKBASE

IDEA: R1.htm

IDEA: Financial_Report.xlsx

IDEA: FilingSummary.xml

IDEA: MetaLinks.json

IDEA: ny20022920x5_8k_htm.xml
Air Force Office of Special Investigations personnel are assisting Italian authorities in Pordenone, Italy, following the death of a 12-year-old daughter of an Aviano Air Base airman, officials said. She was found dead at her home following a recent hospital visit due to a sports-related injury. (Brian Erickson/Stars and Stripes)

NAPLES, Italy  Air Force investigators are assisting Italian authorities as they work to determine how the daughter of an Aviano Air Base airman died this week.

The prosecutors office for the city of Pordenone is the lead agency investigating the 12-year-olds death, said Linda Card, a spokeswoman for the services Office of Special Investigations.

OSI is gathering details and information for that agency as requested by that agency, Card said Thursday in an email.

She added that requests for information about the case only could be made to the Italian prosecutor.

Stars and Stripes phone calls and emails to the prosecutors office went unanswered Wednesday and Thursday.

An official for the agency told local Italian media that the girls parents found her dead in her bed at the familys northern Italy home Tuesday. The family lives in Prata di Pordenone, a town about 15 miles from the base.

The investigation was in the early stages, and no cause or contributing factors to the girls death had yet been determined, Maria Grazia Zaina, acting public prosecutor for the city of Pordenone, told the Italian news agency Ansa on Wednesday.

Zaina said she ordered a local coroner to examine the girls body to determine if an autopsy was needed. The autopsy appeared likely, she said.

On Sunday, the girl was taken to a local hospital complaining of leg pain due to a sports-related injury two days earlier. She was released and then discovered dead two days later, according to the Ansa report.

Principals for Avianos middle-high and elementary schools informed parents of the death in emails Tuesday evening. School officials discussed it with students Wednesday morning, a spokeswoman for the 31st Fighter Wing said the same day.

The schools crisis management team would be available to provide support to students, staff and parents for as long as needed, DODEA spokeswoman Jessica Tackaberry said Wednesday.
An A-10C Thunderbolt II assigned to the 175th Wing taxis to the flight line during a readiness exercise March 2, 2023, at Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport, Md. (Laura Weaver/(U.S. Air National Guard)

(Tribune News Service)  The U.S. Air Force said Thursday that Marylands Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport in Middle River is the preferred location to transition from a flying mission with aging A-10 aircraft to a cyber wing mission.

Maryland is home to the nations most advanced cyber assets, and the expansion of the National Guards mission is further testament to the vital work our men and women do for our national security as our country prepares to confront future challenges and adversaries, Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, said in a statement.

The A-10 Thunderbolt II provides close air support for forces on the ground. The planes have been flown by the Maryland National Guard since 1979.

A news release from the Air Force said that replacing those 21 aircraft at the 104th Fighter Wing with a cyber mission would mesh well with preexisting cyber assets at Fort George G. Meade in Anne Arundel County, as well as the 175th Cyberspace Operations Group operating at Warfield.

This transition would not preclude Warfield from being considered for potential future missions. The Air Force will perform an environmental impact analysis for the cyber wing, which will be completed by fall 2025. Warfield will start to divest its A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft later this year.

According to Moore, members of the Maryland Air National Guard have 60,000 hours of combined flying experience, 12,000 hours of combat flying experience, and provide support for combat airpower, cyber warfare capacity, partner nations, home communities and the State of Maryland.

He said that Marylands A-10 aircraft are prepping to deploy to the U.S. Central Command theater of operations in the Middle East later this month.

Moore said he and the Maryland congressional delegation are advocating vigorously to maintain the states flying mission, and were disappointed to learn that the Air Force is retiring the A-10 mission across the country with no plan to replace older systems with advanced aircraft or keep experienced pilots and maintainers. They said they are committed to working with federal partners at the White House and the Pentagon to secure another flying mission in Maryland this year.

The dedicated pilots and maintenance personnel of the 104th Fighter Squadron have bravely served our nation both at home and abroad, U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and U.S Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger  all of whom are Democrats  said in a statement Thursday. These professionals will continue to operate the venerable A-10 Warthog until it is retired next year.

2024 Baltimore Sun.

Visit baltimoresun.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A Marine flies a DJI Mavic Pro drone while deployed to the Middle East in 2017. The U.S. Army needs to get small, off-the-shelf drones to troops in the field and let them experiment, a March 6, 2024, report by the Modern War Institute at West Point argues. (Shellie Hall/U.S. Marine Corps)

Ukrainians shocked by lack of drone knowledge from U.S. trainers

Army procurement process glacial, author says

Theyre cheap enough for junior soldiers to destroy while trying them out, report says

STUTTGART, Germany  The U.S. needs to get small, off-the-shelf drones immediately into the hands of junior soldiers, who are getting left behind by a lethargic military bureaucracy and playing catch-up with their Russian counterparts, a new report argues.

During the Kremlins two years of fighting in Ukraine, Russia has gotten a jump-start on the U.S. and allies in buying, manufacturing and fielding small unmanned systems for ground combat, according to the Wednesday report by the Modern War Institute at West Point.

The Army fancies itself an innovative organization, but China and Russia are surging ahead in the realm of (small drones) while the United States moves at a relatively glacial pace, said the report, which was authored by Tyler Hacker, a former Army artillery officer and current researcher at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington.

Ukrainian troops trained by Americans were shocked by the U.S. soldiers general ignorance of drone warfare tactics, the report noted.

The criticisms, which circulated on social media last summer, related to training the Ukrainians received from the U.S Army in Germany.

The Americans have not participated in a serious war for a while now. Their army does not even have an analogue of the Chinese Mavik 3 (small drone), it was a shock for us, wrote one soldier on X, who added that the use of such systems seemed absent from U.S. planning.

The U.S. knows how drones are transforming the battlefield, but it is moving too slowly to adapt and lacks a realistic plan to produce cheap, disposable drones at scale, according to the report.

One could identify myriad reasons for American and European sluggishness, but given the availability of drones on the commercial market, institutional inertia and military bureaucracy no doubt play a role, it said.

Arguably the Armys greatest asset, junior leaders working in platoons, are stymied by archaic procurement processes and risk-averse regulation, according to the report.

Over the past couple of years, the Army has taken steps to get up to speed, such as setting up a drone warfare school and instituting procurement efforts to develop small unnamed systems and counter-drone technology.

But not enough attention has been given to how soldiers can go on the offensive with small drones at the unit level, the report contends, adding that the service should consider outfitting formations with affordable commercial drones so units can try using the devices in new ways.

That would mean supplying them in large quantities to units at the platoon and squad level, bypassing the usual cumbersome top-down procurement approach.

From there, soldiers would experiment in the field and develop standard operating procedures while the Army addresses procurement.

These inexpensive drones need not do everything or satisfy traditional Army requirements, the report said.

To be effective, though, the service would have to accept that the drones are expendable and therefore wouldnt hold it against soldiers if the devices were destroyed in training, Hacker said in the report.

Furthermore, the training should be carried out in realistic settings, with an array of weather conditions and in the face of indirect fire, he argued.

The Army cannot afford to slow roll innovation in the time before it goes to battle with an adversary who has been refining its (small unmanned aerial systems) capabilities for years, the report concluded.
Army Lt. Col. Orlando Bandeira, 54, died March 4, 2024, while serving as a member of the security staff at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, the Pentagon announced. (LinkedIn)

WASHINGTON  Army Lt. Col. Orlando Bandeira died Monday while serving as a member of the security staff at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, the Pentagon announced Thursday.

Bandeira, 54, of Tampa, Fla., died from noncombat related injuries, and the incident is under investigation. He was found unresponsive in his residence, the Army said in a statement.

Bandeira served as deputy chief of operations at the embassy for two months, according to a LinkedIn page with his name and background.

He enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1997 as an administrative specialist. He joined the Army Reserve in 2019, the service said.

Bandeira served time in the Reserve elements of U.S. Central Command in Tampa. In 2023, he was assigned to the 3rd Brigade of the 94th Training Division in Indianapolis.

His awards and decorations include two Defense Meritorious Service Medals; a Meritorious Service Medal; an Army Commendation Medal; an Army Achievement Medal; a Joint Meritorious Unit Award; an Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal; a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; an Iraq Campaign Medal with two campaign stars; an Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon; an Armed Forces Reserve Medal with M device and 20-year Silver Hourglass; a Humanitarian Service Medal; two Army Service Ribbons; two Overseas Training Ribbons; a National Defense Service Medal; and a Korea Defense Service Medal.
Joel Newton Brewer, who had pleaded guilty to felony death by motor vehicle for a January 2023 accident at what is now Fort Liberty, N.C., was sentenced to eight years in prison March 5, 2024 in federal district court in Raleigh. (File photo)

A North Carolina man who killed a mother while driving drunk on one of the largest Army bases in the U.S. was sentenced this week to eight years in prison, according to prosecutors.

Joel Newton Brewer, 34, had pleaded guilty in federal district court in Raleigh to felony death by motor vehicle for causing a Jan. 3, 2023 collision at Fort Liberty, N.C., court documents said.

He was driving 89 mph in a 55 mph zone at what was then known as Fort Bragg, a Justice Department statement Wednesday said.

Brewer crossed the center line on Plank Road and struck another vehicle, a police report submitted to the court said. The other driver, an unidentified woman, was thrown from the vehicle and partially decapitated, prosecutors said.

She was pronounced dead at the scene. Her 1-year-old child had life-threatening injuries from the crash but survived, the police report said.

Plank Road is prone to high speeds and fatal accidents because drivers use it as a shortcut that trims several miles off a trip between Fayetteville and Southern Pines, local NBC affiliate WRAL reported in 2010.

Brewers blood alcohol content was measured at 0.15, higher than the North Carolina limit of 0.08, prosecutors said.

In letters provided to the court prior to sentencing, Brewers friends and family said he had been surrounded by substance abuse while growing up. He expressed remorse in a letter submitted to court: I hate to think of that child growing up without their mother.
Have you ever driven past the same building day after day and wondered what it looks like inside?

Have you ever only seen a space from the street and wondered what lies within?

Maybe the location is closed to the public, or maybe youve just never had a reason to go in.

Now you dont have to.

The Sentinels Inside Look series aims to take readers into the curious places Cumberland County has to offer from the comfort of their living rooms.

Join us every other week for a video and photo gallery of new, or sometimes very old, local places that are just waiting to be explored.

Irving Female College

Nowadays, two buildings nestled at the corner of South Filbert and East Main streets in Mechanicsburg offer apartment housing.

If not for the historical marker planted in the sidewalk out front, one might never know the space formerly served as Irving Female College, the first womens college in Pennsylvania to grant degrees in arts and sciences.

The Sentinel reported in 2016 that land for the school was donated by Solomon Perry Gorgas, a wealthy businessman and landowner.

Irving Female College was chartered in the late 1850s and named after Washington Irving, author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle and a member of the colleges Board of Trustees, according to The Sentinel.

A Cumberland County Historical Society article says that the name later changed to Irving College for Young Ladies, then Irving College for Young Women and, finally, Irving College and Music Conservatory.

The college consisted of two primary buildings, Irving Hall and Columbia Hall; a third building called Argyle was constructed in 1911 to house the president.

Rev. Conway Wing, of Carlisle, addressed the first graduating class in 1859 with a focus on Psalm 114:12, which says That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth: that our daughters may be as corner stones polished after the similitude of a palace.

According to the Historical Society, the second half of the verse became the schools official motto.

Low enrollment in the decades after the Civil War closed the college for a few years during the 1880s before it reopened under the leadership of Edmond Earnest E.E. Campbell.

Campbell was the president for more than 35 years, according to The Sentinel, a time that saw the graduations of Ida Kast, class of 1892, who became the first woman admitted to the practice of law in Cumberland County, and Jane Deeter Rippon, class of 1902, who became national executive director of the Girl Scouts.

While enrollment remained steady through the 1920s, Irving Female College began to struggle financially after Campbells death in 1926 and closed its doors for good in 1929, the Sentinel reported.

Irving Hall and Columbia Hall were converted into apartments in the 1930s while Argyle was demolished in 1991.

The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and the remaining two buildings make up Irving College Apartments, a name that pays homage to their past.

In 2021, the property was purchased by new owners and it is now managed by Helsel Incorporated Realtors.

President Jim Helsel said the two buildings contain a combined 41 apartments, including efficiency units, and one and two bedroom spaces.

Its an interesting property to be involved in, he said. A lot of people have ... interest in it because its kind of a cool property in some way.

A collection of items from Irving Female College can be found at Simpson Library along North Walnut Street in Mechanicsburg.

All items are catalogued and the artifacts include photos, student records, scrapbooks, event programs, alumni association newsletters and more.

Photos: An inside look at Irving Female College in Mechanicsburg
Two lance corporals assigned to the prestigious Marine Corps Barracks Washington are being investigated by the service for their roles in scrawling antisemitic and racial slurs on the walls of a dormitory at the University of Maryland. (U.S. Marine Corps)

The Marine Corps is investigating two lance corporals assigned to the prestigious Marine Corps Barracks Washington for their roles in scrawling antisemitic and racial slurs on the walls of a dormitory at the University of Maryland.

Lance Cpl. Sergio Delgado, 21, and Lance Cpl. Hayden Pritchard, 22, face charges in Prince Georges County district court for the April 2023 incident.

Both Marines appeared in court Thursday and asked for a speedy trial. Under Maryland law, they must now be brought to trial within 180 days of the court appearance.

Pritchard is charged with race/religion property damage and trespassing. Delgado is charged with trespassing.

All the charges are misdemeanors. The property damage charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in jail and a fine of up to $2,500. Trespassing carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $500 for a first offense.

The Marine Corps has launched its own review but will wait for the civilian court to rule before proceeding.

The accused Marines are waiting trial, and upon conclusion, Marine Barracks Washington will determine which administrative and/or punitive measures are necessary and appropriate, Capt. Kayla Haas, spokeswoman for the Marine Barracks Washington, said in a statement Thursday.

Pritchard and Delgado were charged Feb. 8 after a nearly yearlong investigation into the April 29, 2023, incident at La Plata Hall at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md. Investigators used security video of the hall to trace the source of the graffiti.

The university police contacted the Marines in January 2024 to assist with identifying the perpetrators of the crime.

The Marine Barracks has been the symbolic home of the Marine Corps since 1801. It is home to its elite ceremonial units and the residence of the Marine commandant.
Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, served as personal physician to Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump between 2013 and 2018. ( Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Ronny Jackson, the former White House physician turned GOP congressman, regularly touts his military bona fides.

As a retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral with nearly three decades of military service I understand the commitment and sacrifices made by servicemen and servicewomen to serve our country, the two-term Texas representative writes on his congressional website, posted to a page listing his work on veterans issues.

But Jackson is no longer a retired admiral. The Navy demoted him in July 2022 following a damaging Pentagon inspector generals report that substantiated allegations about his inappropriate behavior as a White House physician, a previously unreported decision confirmed by a current defense official and a former U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive personnel move.

Jackson is now a retired Navy captain, those people said  a demotion that carries significant financial burden in addition to the social stigma of stripped rank in military circles.

Despite the demotion, Jackson has continued to refer to himself as a retired rear admiral, including in statements released since the Navy reclassified him as a retired captain. Former president Donald Trump and other Republicans have also continued to publicly describe Jackson using his former rank; its unclear if they were aware of his demotion.

Jacksons office did not respond to requests for comment about the Navys 2022 personnel action and his demotion. The former White House physician has become a prominent voice in the 2024 campaign, repeatedly affirming Trumps fitness to serve while castigating President Bidens.

After publication of this report, the Navy provided Jacksons service record. It shows the rank of captain retroactively applied to the date of his retirement in December 2019.

For an officer who served 24 years like Jackson, there is more than a $15,000 difference in annual pension payouts between a retired one-star admiral, the rank that Jackson held when he retired from the Navy in December 2019, and a retired captain, according to an estimate by Katherine L. Kuzminski, a military policy expert at Center for a New American Security. That payout gap is likely to widen over time as the military periodically increases its pay rates for each position.

Kuzminski also said that it was inappropriate for Jackson to describe himself as a retired rear admiral. While it is possible that others will mistakenly refer to him as Admiral in perpetuity, he himself should not make that mistake, she said.

A Navy official confirmed that the service took unspecified action against Jackson in the wake of the 2021 inspector general report, which found that Jackson berated subordinates in the White House medical unit, made sexual and denigrating statements about a female subordinate, consumed alcohol inappropriately with subordinates and consumed the sleep drug Ambien while on duty as the presidents physician. At the time of the report, Jackson was classified by the Navy as a rear admiral (lower half), a one-star admiral that is distinct from the two-star rear admiral position.

The substantiated allegations in the DoDIG investigation of Rear Adm (lower half) Ronny Jackson are not in keeping with the standards the Navy requires of its leaders and, as such, the Secretary of the Navy took administrative action in July 2022, Lt. Cmdr. Joe Keiley, a Navy spokesperson, said via email.

Keiley declined to comment on Jacksons current rank and whether he had been demoted. The Pentagon inspector generals report had recommended that the Navy secretary take action against the retired officer, concluding that Jackson did not behave in the exemplary manner that is required of Navy officers.

Military guidelines allow a provisional retirement rank if an officer is under investigation for misconduct at the time, as Jackson was during his departure from the Navy. Military officials have the option to downgrade the final rank if adverse findings are made, busting down an officer to the last grade they satisfactorily served.

Retired officers can respond to the decision, according to Navy regulations, but it is unclear if Jackson did so or otherwise challenged the Navy secretarys determination.

In his July 2022 memoir, Holding the Line, Jackson dismisses the inspector general report as politically motivated.

If I had retired and not gotten into politics, this investigation would have never gone anywhere, Jackson writes. This was happening because I am a perceived threat to the Biden administration and because a few political appointees in the Department of Defense want to make a name for themselves.

In the memoir, Jackson does not address the prospect of being demoted by the Navy.

The Pentagon oversees the White House medical team, which is staffed by career military medical personnel and has become the focus of several investigations in the wake of Jacksons tenure. The Defense Department in January released a second inspector general report into the White House medical teams operations that does not name Jackson but faults aspects of how the unit was run while he served in the White House, such as the units lax controls for powerful drugs like Ambien and the stimulant Provigil.

Jackson, who first arrived at the White House in 2006, served as the medical units director between 2010 and 2014 and as personal physician to Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump between 2013 and 2018.

Former colleagues, political officials and Jackson himself have all described his strategy of providing complementary, round-the-clock care to numerous White House officials and even their friends and family. The Pentagons most recent investigation found that many of the patients who received complementary care from the White House medical team were not eligible for it.

But in the White House, Jacksons approach won him favor within two presidential administrations. Obama, who personally chose Jackson as his physician in 2013, considered him a friend and promoted him to a one-star admiral in October 2016.

Jackson also endeared himself to Trump, particularly after a January 2018 news conference where the White House physician extolled Trumps health  joking to reporters that the then-71-year-old president could live to be 200 years old if he only ate healthier. Jackson added that Trump performed exceedingly well during a cognitive exam, a test that Jackson scheduled to rebut growing questions about the presidents fitness for office.

Trump soon attempted to put Jackson in his Cabinet as secretary of Veterans Affairs, a failed nomination that prompted a whistleblower complaint to Congress and, later, the Pentagons inspector general investigations. Trump also twice nominated Jackson to become a two-star admiral, although the nominations stalled and he was not promoted.

Jackson retired from the military and left the White House in 2019 to run for Congress, a long-shot campaign that succeeded with the backing of Trump.

Jackson won reelection in 2022 and has emerged as a leading critic of President Bidens fitness for office, injecting himself into this years presidential campaign with frequent TV appearances, news conferences and public statements where he assesses the 81-year-old Bidens mental and physical health. Jackson also has publicly called for Biden to undergo a comparable cognitive exam that he administered to Trump in January 2018, invoking concerns that are shared by many independent voters and some Democrats. A Monmouth University poll conducted last month found that 32 percent of registered voters were confident in Bidens physical and mental stamina, compared to 51 percent of voters who were confident in the 77-year-old Trumps fitness.

Around Capitol Hill and in political circles, Jackson is frequently referred to by his onetime military rank.

Wheres the admiral, Ronny Jackson? Come on up here, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), a retired Pennsylvania Army National Guard brigadier general, urged at a House Republican news conference in July 2023 as lawmakers discussed a defense-spending bill.

Speaking at the August 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference  days after the Navy privately demoted Jackson  Trump also extolled his former physician.

He was an admiral, a doctor and now hes a congressman, and I said, which is the best if you had your choice? And he sort of indicated doctor because he loved looking at my body, it was so strong, Trump joked before pivoting to the reason for his affection for Jackson. He said Im the healthiest president thats ever lived.  I said, I like this guy.
The Defense Department inspector general is sending investigators to several Navy installations to evaluate suicide rates, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday, March 7, 2024. (Joshua J. Seybert/U.S. Air Force)

The Defense Department inspector general is sending investigators to several Navy installations to evaluate suicide rates, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday.

Site visits are planned for Naval Base Kitsap in Washington, Naval Base San Diego, Naval Station Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and Naval Air Station Norfolk in Virginia, according to a memo about the review. It will also look at suicides and suicide attempts on ships at sea. Dates for inspections at each facility have not been announced.

The Pentagon said investigators could visit additional installations as the review moves forward. The timing and scope of the review will not be released in advance.

The suicide review was mandated in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy and spending priorities for the Pentagon.

The Navy has reported an increase in suicides and suicide attempts in recent years, with 71 suicides by active-duty sailors in 2022. The service reported 65 suicides in 2020 and 59 in 2021. Final statistics for 2023 are not yet available.

Suicide rates differ because of fluctuations in the number of Navy personnel each year. The rate per 100,000 active-duty sailors was 20.6 in 2022, 17 in 2021 and 19 in 2020, according to the Pentagons 2022 annual report on suicide in the military.

A federal study in 2021 found 30,177 active-duty personnel and veterans in all service branches who served in the military died from suicide in the 20 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It was more than four times higher than the 7,057 service members killed in combat during the same time.

The review will determine whether the Department of Navy effectively took actions to prevent and respond to incidents of deaths by suicide, suicide attempts and suicidal ideation among members of the Navy assigned to sea duty or shore duty, according to a Feb. 27 memo from the inspector generals office.

Additionally, we do not disclose our tactics, techniques or procedures used to perform our evaluations, said Mollie Halperin, a spokeswoman for the Defense Department Office of Inspector General.

Installations visited by investigators must also assign a rear admiral or high-ranking civilian employee to respond to questions. The Navys Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and the Defense Health Agency will lead the review.

When the review is completed, it will be published on the inspector generals website.

The memo said the review could lead to revisions in how the Navy manages and evaluates its programs.
Many Voices, Many Stories, One Place is a new permanent exhibition at the newly remodeled Historic Fort Snelling, built between 1819 and 1825 at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers. (Historic Fort Snelling/Facebook)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (Tribune News Service)  A blue-tinted 4,000- to 8,500-year-old copper blade. A pair of U.S. Infantry captains shiny silver epaulets, worn on dress uniforms, each with a golden numeral 5 imprinted onto it. Abigail Snellings mourning ring, which once contained a lock of Josiah Snellings hair. A pair of quilled moccasins, circa 1890, embroidered with blue and pink beads, made by an unknown Santee Dakota craftsperson.

These are just a few of the myriad objects associated with Historic Fort Snelling on view in Many Voices, Many Stories, One Place, a permanent exhibition at the newly remodeled Historic Fort Snelling, which was built between 1819 and 1825 at the confluence of the Mni Sota Wakpa (Minnesota) and Haha Wakpa (Mississippi) rivers.

There is this trope or the standard narrative when were talking about Dakota people in Minnesota that gets relegated to the U.S.- Dakota War, said Associate Vice President of Tribal Nation Relations and Native American Initiatives Amber Annis.

The new approach to this exhibition departed from the building of the fort as a starting point, while taking into account the changes that its construction brought to the land.

It was a space and a place where a lot of diplomatic interactions were happening, Annis said. Indigenous leaders, fur traders, these people all came along on the highways of the water to figure out that relationship of what it meant, before Minnesota was a state, before there was a fort  what it meant to be relatives on this land together.

The exhibit is the last phase of a $34.5 million revitalization project, including rehabilitating the 1904 cavalry barracks and transforming it into the Plank Museum & Visitor Center.

For the first time, it gave us a gallery space where we can create a long-term exhibit that tells the comprehensive history of both Fort Snelling and Bdote, the region that surrounds Fort Snelling, said Bill Convery, research director at the Minnesota Historical Society, which runs Fort Snelling.

Deep histories

The exhibition begins with the deep history of the land, explaining it as the Dakota homeland of Bdote, which means a place where two rivers meet. In the Dakota worldview, it is known as the Center of the Earth and holds sacred significance.

Visitors will meet characters such as Dakota leader Little Crow, who with six other Dakota leaders welcomed Americans to Bdote in 1805. (By the 1830s, Dakota leaders had to decide whether to sell off land to pay debts incurred to traders.) The story of Abigail Hunt, who was married off to 30-year-old Josiah Snelling when she was 15, appears through panels and realistic renderings of their faces.

The powerful Living Legacies video series offers oral histories from people who can trace lineage to the land, such as Cheyanne St. John, whose great-great-great-grandfather Chief Wapahasa was one of the principal leaders of the Mdewakanton Band of Dakota in the Minnesota River Valley area.

He signed the Treaty of Mendota in 1851 and then was forcibly relocated.

You have named a place for our home, but it is prairie country, said the voice-over of Chief Wapahasa in the video. I am a man used to the woods. I do not like the prairie. Perhaps some of those here will name a place we would like better.

From there, the exhibition zooms in on specific groups whose history is entwined with the fort.

Despite the fact that in 1820 Congress banned slavery in Minnesota, there were enslaved people at the fort. The exhibition highlights the stories of Harriet and Dred Scott, two enslaved people who sued the U.S. government in 1846 for their freedom.

During World War II, Japanese Americans who were interned at concentration camps were recruited to Fort Snelling where Isamu Sam Saito worked as a linguist, and Toyome Terry Uyeno Nakanishi worked in the Womens Army Corps.

Physical gems abound in this show, like a life-sized Model T ambulance and a record player used by Minneapolis-born Harold Brown, who flew with the Tuskegee Airmen and ended World War II in a POW camp. The exhibition also touches on the early 2010s, when there were protests demanding that the fort be taken down, calling it a symbol of American imperialism.

One of the highlighted histories is that of Coxswain William Little Wolf (White Earth Ojibwe), who was only 18 when he left Carlisle Indian School and enlisted in the Army. Native Americans served in the U.S. armed forces at higher rates than any other ethnic group, with more than 16,000 in World War I.

Its not a military story, but its a symbol to a lot of people of patriotism, nationalism, military pride, and we wanted to remind people that you know, people of color and Native people served in the military, that they have histories and stories that are all similar, Annis said. And we wanted to show that nationalism looks different for a lot of different folks. And so, its important, you know, that people were seeing that there were you know, Native people, African American, Japanese American, Latinx folks that served in these different wars at a time when they were struggling with the United States government.

Many Voices, Many Stories, One Place

Where: Historic Fort Snelling, 200 Tower Av., St. Paul.

Hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thu.-Sat.

Cost: $8-$12, free for kids 4 and under and MNHS members.

Info: mnhs.org/fortsnelling or 612-726-1171.

2024 Star Tribune.

Visit startribune.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
In 1987, George Smith returned to AFN Nuremberg as an Army civilian after working at Voice of America in Washington, D.C. He led the station of 14 service members and government civilians, moving the affiliate from Nuremberg, Germany, to the former William ODarby Kaserne in Fuerth. The station is now called AFN Bavaria and is located in Vilseck. (George Smith)

During the Vietnam War, an acne-prone, academic underachiever named George Smith walked into an Army recruiting office in Pennsylvania Dutch country and landed himself a radio gig that lasted for four decades.

Gorgeous George, as he would one day be known, didnt have much in the way of future prospects. He had graduated at the bottom of the Class of 1972 at Annville-Cleona High School and was stuck in a below-minimum-wage job at the local car wash.

Intrigued by stories from his former guidance counselors memories of listening to Army DJs while stationed in West Germany, he told the recruiter, I want to sign up for that.

Wouldnt you rather fight for your country? the soldier asked, offering Smith a signing bonus to go infantry.

No, Id much rather talk for my country, Smith said.

Smith ended up enlisting, leaving behind his buffing cloth and small-town roots for jungle boots and a life of adventure.

He would go on to spin records in Thailand, South Korea and Germany, interview rock stars and politicians and report on pivotal moments in history.

George Smith shares humorous stories and memorable adventures from his nearly 45-year-career in-and-out-of-uniform as a broadcast journalist for American Forces Network and the U.S. government in his new memoir, Soldier of the Airwaves: Defending Democracy One Song at a Time. Any American who served overseas with the U.S. military should be able to relate to Smiths experiences in the book, he says. (George Smith)

In his recent self-published memoir Soldier of the Airwaves: Defending Democracy One Song at a Time, he tells the story of that fateful recruiter visit and the twists and turns of the career that followed.

Smith takes readers on his 44-year journey in and out of uniform as a broadcast journalist for the U.S. government, including 32 years overseas with American Forces Network, which airs popular radio and television programs for U.S. troops stationed overseas.

The books title reflects how Smith and his colleagues used their microphones to favorably influence foreign listeners tuning into AFNs public radio stations abroad by passing along the best of our countrys culture, including American music and values, retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, former commanding general of U.S. Army Europe, wrote in the books introduction.

Hertling heard Smith on the airwaves during his time in Europe and met him in 2011, when he went live on AFN Wiesbaden to respond to the concerns of soldiers and their families, and once even hosted a morning DJ show.

George Smith spun vinyl as an Army American Forces Network DJ in Nuremberg, Germany, from 1980 to 1981, under his on-air nickname, Gorgeous George. Smith shares a funny story of how he came by the name in his new memoir, Soldier of the Airwaves: Defending Democracy One Song at a Time. (George Smith)

Hertling relates to Smiths book and suggests that other Americans who served overseas would too, because Georges life was my life.

His stories are jaw-droppingly cool, the people he met and interviewed and influenced are pretty big deals, and the fun he had made me smile, reflecting some of the similar experiences I had when arriving in a new country, Hertling wrote.

Among the stories Smith tells is the origin of his on-air moniker. He was a sergeant at the time at AFNs radio station in Nuremberg, where he was the morning DJ.

His acne was gone, but one German woman he encountered, recognizing his name from his radio show, in typical direct German fashion, jokingly said, Its good you work on radio. Youre no Gorgeous George!

Inspired, and with tongue firmly in cheek, I opened my mic the next day as Gorgeous George, he wrote.

Smith began writing his memoir during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I always wanted to put it all together and write a book, he said in an interview from California, where he lives after retiring from AFN in 2022. Through my story, I wanted to tell the story of military journalists around the world.

George Smith looked out onto 30,000 screaming fans while working as the stage announcer at the 1981 Golden Summer Night rock concert at Zeppelin Field in Nuremberg, Germany. Bands such as Foreigner, Blue Oyster Cult and Iron Maiden took the stage. The concert was a highlight for Smith while working as a military broadcast journalist in Germany, an experience he writes about in his new memoir, Soldier of the Airwaves: Defending Democracy One Song at a Time. (George Smith)

The Defense Department gave him the boot from Germany in 2013, when it began holding many civilian employees to a rule capping overseas assignments at five years.

After hed spent 26 years in Germany as a civilian and two more as a soldier, the military sent him to the land of Teslas to become AFNs Worldwide Spokesman at the agencys broadcast center in Riverside, Calif., Smith wrote.

While writing, he relied on three boxes of notebooks, newspaper articles and journals to ensure that the details in his stories were accurate, he said, and he also bounced memories off friends to see whether they shared his recollection of events.

At the end of the book, many of the military broadcasters he served with are listed, with bold text denoting those who have died.

This is my story, but every military journalist has a story, Smith said. I wanted to take time to salute those that had an impact on my career.

Smiths book is available on Amazon in paperback, hardcover and electronic formats. It has 37 reviews on the retailers website so far; many are from readers who also served overseas and could relate to Smiths experiences.

One reviewer who said Smith was his best friend in high school described him as the class clown.

When George joined the Army, it came as a shock, he wrote. George in the Army? Little did I believe he was going to rise to the position and greatness that he did. Im so proud of my buddy.
Chef Wolfgang Schlitter, owner and operator of WAM Burrito in Weiden, Germany, seen here on Feb. 19, 2024, offers Mexican fare made with fresh ingredients, homemade sauces and proprietary spice blends. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)

Chef Wolfgang Schlitter cut his teeth in Michelin-starred kitchens around the world and now serves up burritos that kick.

The German is one half of the fictitious luchador tag-team duo, Wilfredo and Marcio, who give WAM Burrito in Weiden its name. The inspiration for Marcio is his girlfriend, Marion Od.

Located just under 15 miles from the U.S. Armys Tower Barracks, WAM offers Mexican fare made with fresh ingredients, homemade sauces and proprietary spice blends.

People from Mexico say it tastes like home, Schlitter said Feb. 19. That was, for me, very important.

Chef Wolfgang Schlitter, owner and operator of WAM Burrito in Weiden, Germany, prepares a burrito for a customer on Feb. 12, 2024. The restaurant opened in late 2022. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)

Schlitter, 42, grew up modestly in neighboring Neustadt an der Waldnaab. He always dreamed of being a chef and received training at the renowned Jorg Muller restaurant on the German island of Sylt, which had two Michelin stars at the time.

The experience laid the groundwork for WAM, as the restaurant was split into fine dining and also down-home comfort food. He went on to work in restaurants in Denmark, Spain and the Cayman Islands, to name a few locations.

While working as a sous chef for the Bellagio in Las Vegas in 2006, he lived with a Mexican family and learned about its cuisine. Schlitter opened WAM in November 2022.

The main event there is obviously the burritos, which are finished off in a press to give them a crispy exterior. Schlitter offers an array of options, from chipotle pulled pork carnitas to carne asada; he also does monthly specials like Bavarian weisswurst.

WAM also features fish and vegan options, such as cauliflower asada and chorizo tofu. Toppings include rice, beans and cheese, as well as lettuce, red onions, peppers, cilantro and guacamole, to name a few.

The meat in the chipotle pulled pork burrito at WAM Burrito, in Weiden, Germany, was tender and well-spiced. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)

All the vegetables except for corn, which comes from a can because of scarcity, are prepared fresh daily, Schlitter said. The restaurant also has a selection of sauces that are made in-house.

The burritos range from 8 euros for a chico luchador burrito to 10 euros for full size. They also offer burrito bowls for 10 euros and a selection of french fries platters or nachos.

The assortment of beverages includes horchata, a freshly made rice drink that a guest I dined with enjoyed, adding that it wasnt overly sweet like some lesser versions. Jarritos Mexican and bottles of Corona are also stocked in the fridge.

Ive been to WAM several times now and Im always amazed at the quality and flavor. The chipotle pulled pork had a nice texture and pulled apart effortlessly. I added some burrito sauce to give it a little zing.

The chorizo burrito at WAM Burrito in Weiden, Germany, is made with fresh ingredients and homemade sauces. The restaurant has drawn in a significant clientele from the Army's base in Grafenwoehr, which is about 15 miles away. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)

My favorite is the chorizo  minced meat with a proprietary chorizo spice blend  topped with a little burrito sauce and bang bang sauce for a spicy kick.

Every bite exploded with the meats natural juices and spice, and there was a wonderful synergy between the meat, fresh vegetables, rice, beans and sauces. I finished it off with a cold mandarin Jarritos.

For me, the undisputed champion of Mexican fare near the garrison at Grafenwoehr has to be WAM Burrito.

WAM Burrito in Weiden, Germany, first opened its doors in November 2022. It offers Mexican fare made with fresh ingredients, homemade sauces and proprietary spice blends. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)

WAM Burrito

Address: Bahnhofstrasse 9, Weiden, Germany

Hours: Open 7 days a week, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Prices: Burritos range from 8-10 euros, plus add-ons. Cards can be used to order online, but only cash is accepted at WAM. They will deliver 15 burritos or more to Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr; send a request via Instagram.

Information: WAM does not have a phone. Order online at wam-burrito.igetnow.com/menu
President Joe Biden recently announced his administration would pause the approval of new liquefied natural gas exports to reassess their impacts on our families, our country and our planet. (Department of Energy)

President Joe Biden recently announced his administration would pause the approval of new liquefied natural gas exports to reassess their impacts on our families, our country and our planet. This decision was celebrated as a major victory for climate action  and rightfully so, as the total emissions of all operating and planned LNG export projects would be equivalent to building 688 new coal-fired power plants. But this important step forward is more than just action on climate  it tackles an emerging national security threat that oil and gas CEOs would rather not talk about.

With the Pentagons emphasis on the climate crisis as an unprecedented security threat, the pollution associated with unchecked natural gas exports would compound an already dangerous gamble. However, the reckless and unlimited expansion of natural gas exports is currently turning what could be a security asset into a real liability. Right now, Americas rivals are increasingly buying up and importing American natural gas at a record pace. The controversial CP2 project in southwestern Louisiana is already contracted to export its gas to China Gas, for example. With this American energy in adversarial hands, China and others are expanding their influence over the global energy market, controlling a greater and greater volume of U.S. produced gas to build their own power. In other words, our rivals like China are leveraging American LNG to build more influence all over the world  all while our families pay higher energy prices as a result.

It wasnt always like this. Initially, after Russian President Vladimir Putins heinous invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. expanded our LNG exports to provide a lifeline to our partners in Europe as Russian gas became unavailable. But the oil and gas industry took this opening and ran wild with it, even after Europe met its necessary gas supply. Fossil fuel CEOs saw the opportunity to grow their cash cow and exploited it. Right now, the U.S. is already surpassing its LNG commitments to Europe, and current exports are sufficient in meeting Europes LNG needs. In fact, some are predicting future supply glut given just the status quo.

This excess supply is only said to increase if Biden moves forward with the proposed 20 LNG export facilities he recently paused. The latest data from European economic think tank Bruegel shows European Union natural gas demand was actually 19% below the 2019-21 average in 2023 (January-November). The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis found European gas demand is expected to fall further by 2030, noting The U.S  LNG export capacity in 2030 will be 76 percent higher than Europes forecasted demand for the super-chilled fuel in that year.

But rather than adjusting to reality, the oil and gas industry is claiming our allies still need this gas  all while exporting more and more to China. With no destination restrictions on U.S. LNG exports, companies affiliated with the Chinese government can seize control of the market by selling American-produced LNG anywhere in the world to influence geopolitics.

By turning over U.S. gas to Chinese companies connected to the Chinese Communist Party, their government can stockpile and then sell critical U.S. energy sources to advance Chinas interests across the world. In the event of future conflicts, their contractual control of U.S. energy resources could prove extremely dangerous to our country and empower our opponents, totally defusing any strategic value these LNG exports may have had.

To put it plainly, letting China buy up huge quantities of American LNG and leverage it to expand their influence over the global energy market is a serious risk to our national security, one that could harm our ability to sufficiently respond in moments of crisis. Rather than functioning as an asset, LNG exports are now being leveraged by Americas rivals like China to take control of key sectors of the global energy economy due to American oversupply. Coupled with the fact that they greatly exacerbate climate change and the challenges it poses to the safety and security of our nations military personnel around the globe, LNG exports must be assessed for their risks across the board.

The Biden administration is making the prudent move for our national security and our nation by pausing new approvals and looking closely at the risks involved with the ongoing LNG buildout. Moreover, theyve wisely created a carve-out to reconsider this pause in case of international emergency  a common-sense step forward. It is critical that the Department of Energy investigates the impacts of the unrestricted flow of U.S.-produced energy across the globe and enacts reasonable limits to ensure our national security is protected and our rivals cant use our energy to build their power. A pause and reassessment of new LNG exports can protect Americans now and in the future.

Steve Anderson, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general, is a retired logistician, environmental advocate, project manager, business developer and service-disabled military veteran. He is a board member of Vet Voice Foundation, a nonpartisan veterans advocacy organization that represents more than 1.5 million veterans and military families.
People take to the streets of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on Jan. 25, 2022 to rally in support of the new military junta that ousted democratically elected President Roch Marc Christian Kabore and seized control of the country. According to reports on Thursday, March 7, 2024, the military juntas ruling Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger say they have agreed to create a joint force to fight extremist violence in their nations. (Sophie Garcia/AP)

BAMAKO, Mali  A joint security force announced by the juntas ruling Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso to fight the worsening extremist violence in their Sahel region countries faces a number of challenges that cast doubt on its effectiveness, analysts said Thursday.

Nigers top military chief, Brig. Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou said in a statement after meeting with his counterparts Wednesday that the joint force would be operational as soon as possible to meet the security challenges in our area.

The announcement is the latest in a series of actions taken by the three countries to strike a more independent path away from regional and international allies since the region experienced a string of coups  the most recent in Niger in July last year.

They have already formed a security alliance after severing military ties with neighbors and European nations such as France and turning to Russia  already present in parts of the Sahel  for support.

Barmou did not give details about the operation of the force, which he referred to as an operational concept that will enable us to achieve our defence and security objectives.

Although the militaries had promised to end the insurgencies in their territories after deposing their respective elected governments, conflict analysts say the violence has instead worsened under their regimes. They all share borders in the conflict-hit Sahel region and their security forces fighting jihadi violence are overstretched.

The effectiveness of their security alliance would depend not just on their resources but on external support, said Bedr Issa, an independent analyst who researches the conflict in the Sahel.

The three regimes are also very fragile, James Barnett, a researcher specializing in West Africa at the U.S.-based Hudson Institute, said, raising doubts about their capacity to work together.

Theyve come to power through coups, they are likely facing a high risk of coups themselves, so it is hard to build a stable security framework when the foundation of each individual regime is shaky, said Barnett.

Associated Press writer Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria contributed.
United Nations logo. (WikiMedia Commons)

UNITED NATIONS  The United Nations chief urged Sudans warring parties on Thursday to halt hostilities during the month of Ramadan, warning that the nearly year-long conflict threatens the countrys unity and could ignite regional instability of dramatic proportions.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appeal came ahead of an expected U.N. Security Council vote Friday on a British-drafted resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities ahead of the month of Ramadan.

The draft resolution expresses grave concern over the spreading violence and the catastrophic and deteriorating humanitarian situation, including crisis levels of acute food insecurity, particularly in Darfur.

Sudan plunged into chaos last April, when long-simmering tensions between its military led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo broke out into street battles in the capital, Khartoum.

Fighting spread to other parts of the country, but in Sudans western Darfur region it took on a different form, with brutal attacks by the Arab-dominated Rapid Support Forces on ethnic African civilians. Thousands of people have been killed.

Two decades ago, Sudans vast western Darfur region became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias against populations that identify as Central or East African.

The International Criminal Courts prosecutor, Karim Khan, said in late January there are grounds to believe both sides in the current conflict are committing possible war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur.

At a Security Council meeting on Sudan, Guterres pointed to renewed military offensives and growing fears of a further expansion of hostilities in the east, calls for arming civilians in various states, and armed groups entering the fighting in western Darfur and South Kordofan.

All these dangerous developments are pouring fuel on the fire for an even more serious fragmentation of the country, a deepening of intra-and inter-communal tensions, and more ethnic violence, Guterres said. A Ramadan cessation of hostilities can help stem the suffering and usher the way to sustainable peace.

Sudans U.N. Ambassador Al-Harith Mohamed said the government was very pleased with what the U.N. chief said and told the Security Council that he just heard from general Burhan. He commends the secretary-general on his appeal for a cessation of hostilities during the month of Ramadan, the ambassador said.

However, hes wondering about how to do this, Mohamed said, stressing that the Rapid Support Forces are continuing their attacks. All those who would like to see that appeal transformed into action  if they would like to present a mechanism for implementation of it, we would welcome it.

As the conflict continues with no end in sight, Guterres warned that the humanitarian consequences of the conflict are reaching colossal proportions.

Half of Sudans population  25 million people  need life-saving assistance, some 18 million are acutely food insecure, and the U.N. is receiving reports of children dying from malnutrition, Guterres said.

Sudan also has the worlds worst internal displacement crisis, with 6.3 million people who fled their homes and remain in the country seeking safety, he said. Civilian infrastructure has been destroyed and 70% of health facilities in conflict areas arent functioning. And millions of children arent going to school.

He said the U.N. is also receiving reports of systematic sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, as well as abduction and trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

With Ramadan expected to begin around Sunday, depending on the sighting of the new moon, Britains deputy U.N. ambassador James Kariuki said he hopes for a Security Council vote on a Ramadan cease-fire on Friday.

The Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces bear responsibility for the horrendous situation in Sudan, he told the council. Shelling and attacks from both sides in heavily populated urban areas and across the entire western region of Sudan continue to kill and terrorize civilians.

Kariuki echoed the secretary-generals call for an immediate cease-fire for Ramadan and urged the government to allow humanitarian aid deliveries from neighboring Chad to conflict-torn Darfur, and both sides to allow deliveries across conflict lines.

It should not be for the military leadership of both the SAF (Sudan Armed Forces) or RSF to determine the political future of Sudan, Kariuki said. We call on them to give way to a civilian transitional government that will fully respect the basic human rights of the Sudanese people.
Workers with Joint Task Force-Red Hill disconnect a fuel line from a truck used for moving the final gallons of accessible residual fuel from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawaii on March 6, 2024. (Department of Defense)

FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii  The last gallons of residual fuel in the Red Hill underground storage facility in Honolulu were removed Wednesday, the Defense Department announced.

The massive tanks were emptied about six months ahead of the schedule from the original defueling plan, according to a DOD news release.

With 61,414 gallons of residual fuel removed in recent weeks, the effort to permanently close the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility moves into a new phase with the Navy in charge.

Residual fuel is what remains in low points of pipelines after tanks have been emptied via gravity.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in March 2022 ordered the World War II-era facility permanently closed after a jet fuel leak contaminated the Navys water distribution system in late 2021.

Thousands of people living in military housing communities on or near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam were forced to temporarily relocate as the Navy flushed the entire system. Hundreds of residents and former residents have filed suit in federal court seeking compensation for medical conditions and other hardships they say arise from the contamination.

The Defense Department established Joint Task Force-Red Hill to empty the 20 massive underground tanks. That task force will stand down in the coming weeks, with the next phases in shutting down Red Hill to be overseen by Navy Closure Task Force-Red Hill.

The new task force, headed by Rear Adm. Stephen Barnett, who commands Navy Region Hawaii, will remove about 4,000 gallons of fuel in the pipelines accessible only by destroying them. The task force will undertake the multiyear task of emptying about 28,000 gallons of sludge at the bottom of the tanks, cleaning them and removing contaminants that have leeched into the soil and aquifer.

As of Wednesday, 104,703,574 gallons of fuel had been removed since the operation began in October, according to the news release.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Hawaii Department of Health are conducting inspections to determine that defueling has been done in accordance with orders issued by the two agencies, the release said.
A Chinese coast guard boat moves near the Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 (in green) after it was hit by their water canon blast causing injuries to multiple crew members as they tried to enter the Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin Shoal, in the disputed South China Sea Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels collided in the disputed South China Sea and multiple Filipino crew members were injured in high-seas confrontations Tuesday as Southeast Asian leaders gathered for a summit that was expected to touch on Beijing's aggression at sea. (Aaron Favila/AP)

ABOARD BRP SINDANGAN  The Philippines will not allow China to remove a Philippine military outpost in a fiercely disputed South China Sea shoal, a navy official said Wednesday, a day after four Filipino navy personnel were injured in a confrontation between Chinese and Philippine ships.

Philippine officials summoned a Chinese Embassy diplomat in Manila to convey a strong protest over the confrontation Tuesday off Second Thomas Shoal. A small Filipino navy contingent has stood guard on a long-marooned warship that has served as an outpost in the shoal since the 1990s.

Washington issued a warning after Tuesdays hostilities that it is obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack anywhere in the South China Sea.

Philippine navy Commodore Roy Trinidad also said Filipino forces will not allow any structure to be erected in another hotly contested South China Sea area, Scarborough Shoal. China surrounded the vast fishing atoll northwest of the Philippines with coast guard and suspected militia ships in 2012 after a tense standoff between Chinese and Philippine ships.

These are red lines for the Philippines, to the armed forces, Trinidad said at a news conference in Manila when asked what Chinese actions would be unacceptable to the Philippines in the disputed waters.

Trinidad said the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, who preceded current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., established those red lines, which delineate actions by China and any other rival claimant state that would spark fierce Philippine resistance in the disputed sea.

The latest flareup in the long-simmering disputes began when Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships shadowed, surrounded and blocked two Philippine coast guard ships which were escorting two civilian motorboats manned by Filipino navy personnel.

They were on the way to deliver supplies and replacement navy and marine personnel to the BRP Sierra Madre, a navy warship that was deliberately grounded by the Philippine military in the late 1990s in the shallows of Second Thomas Shoal to serve as a territorial outpost.

China also claims the area and has surrounded the shoal with coast guard, navy and suspected militia ships to prevent Filipino forces from delivering construction materials to reinforce the Sierra Madre, which is encrusted with rust and slightly tilting but remains an actively commissioned navy ship, meaning any attack on it would be considered by Manila as an act of war.

After dawn on Tuesday, a Chinese coast guard vessel sideswiped one of the Philippine coast guard ships, the BRP Sindangan, where crewmen scrambled to lower rubber fenders along the side to avoid damage to the hull. Two Associated Press journalists and other media who were invited to travel on the patrol ship witnessed the tense confrontation.

Inviting journalists to join trips by Philippine ships to the area is part of a strategy adopted last year by the government to publicize Chinas aggressive actions in one of the worlds most hotly contested waterways. China has reacted by providing its coast guard personnel with video cameras to contest Manilas version of the confrontations.

The Chinese coast guard said in its account of the incident that the BRP Sindangan had rammed its ship, although the journalists aboard the Philippine coast guard vessel saw the Chinese ship approach dangerously close before the collision.

Later, another Chinese coast guard ship blocked and then collided with a supply boat being escorted by the Philippine coast guard, Filipino officials said.

The supply boat was later hit by water cannon blasts from two Chinese coast guard ships. Philippine navy Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos was aboard the boat and witnessed the water cannon assault, which he said caused minor injuries to four navy personnel.

The pressure was really intense, Carlos said. It shattered the windshield of the boat and caused some injuries.

The damaged boat immediately returned to the western Philippine province of Palawan. The other supply boat managed to evade the Chinese coast guard blockade and delivered supplies to the Filipino forces guarding the shoal, Philippine officials said.

The two-decade-long territorial standoff sparked a series of confrontations between Chinese and Filipino forces last year, with the Philippines protesting dangerous maneuvers by Chinese coast guard vessels and China demanding that the Sierra Madre be towed away by the Philippines.

The Chinese coast guard said in a statement that it took control measures in accordance with the law against Philippine ships that illegally intruded into the waters adjacent to Renai Reef, the name Beijing uses for Second Thomas Shoal.

Washington condemned the Chinese coast guards actions, and its ambassador in Manila, MaryKay Carlson, said the U.S. stands with the Philippines. Australia and Japan separately expressed their concern over Chinas actions.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the incidents demonstrated Chinas reckless disregard for the safety of Filipinos and also for international law, and that China was interfering with lawful Philippine maritime operations.

The confrontations have sparked fears of a larger conflict that could involve the United States.

Chinese and Philippine officials met in Shanghai in January and agreed to take steps to lower tensions, but the recent confrontations underscore the difficulty of doing so.

If China desires some improvement or progress in resolving these maritime disputes in a peaceful and orderly manner, we demand that they match their words with their actions, Jonathan Malaya, assistant director-general of the National Security Council, said Wednesday at a news conference in Manila.

Associated Press journalist Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a briefing on the sideline of the National People's Congress in Beijing, Thursday, March 7, 2024. (Ng Han Guan/AP)

BEIJING  Chinas foreign minister accused the U.S. on Thursday of devising tactics to suppress Chinas rise and criticized the Biden administration for adding more Chinese companies to its sanctions lists.

Wang Yi, speaking to media during the annual meeting of Chinas legislature, said Chinas relations with the U.S. have improved since Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met in November, but America has not fulfilled its promises.

If the U.S. always says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major power? If the U.S. gets nervous and anxious when it hears the word China, where is its confidence as a major power? he said. If the U.S. is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself.

Wang also demanded that members of the U.N. Security Council stop blocking Palestine from becoming a member of the United Nations.

The 70-year-old veteran diplomat, who has earned Xis trust, returned to the foreign ministers post last summer after his successor, Qin Gang, was abruptly dismissed without explanation after a half year on the job. Wang is also the ruling Communist Partys top foreign affairs official, a more senior position that he moved to when Qin became foreign minister at the end of 2022.

Analysts had speculated the Communist Party might use the weeklong meeting of the National Peoples Congress to name a new foreign minister, but that appeared off the table after an agenda released on the eve of the opening session did not include personnel changes.

Chinas U.N. ambassador, Zhang Jun, said during a Security Council debate in January that China supports Palestine becoming a full member as soon as possible, as a first step toward creating a Palestinian state, according to Chinese media reports.

Wang called Thursday for a major international conference to draw up a roadmap and timetable for a two-state solution. We support Palestine becoming a full member of the United Nations and call on individual members of the Security Council not to set obstacles for this any more, he said.

TAIWAN AND SOUTH CHINA SEA

He accused the United States, without mentioning it by name, of stirring up trouble in Taiwan and the South China Sea. China says that self-governing Taiwan is part of China and should be under its control, and it claims a wide swath of the South China Sea, putting it at odds with the Philippines, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian neighbors.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a press conference on the sideline of the National People's Congress in Beijing, Thursday, March 7, 2024. (Ng Han Guan/AP)

The Philippines and the U.S. have accused China of aggressive tactics in trying to block Philippines ships from reaching reefs and other outcroppings that both sides claim, most recently in a collision between coast guard vessels of both countries this week.

For unreasonable provocations, we will take just countermeasures, Wang said. We also advise certain countries outside the region not to stir up trouble, choose sides, and not to become disruptors and troublemakers in the South China Sea.

He said countries that insist on maintaining official ties with Taiwan are interfering in Chinas domestic affairs. Most countries, including the United States, dont have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but China objects to visits by U.S. lawmakers to the island and U.S. sales of military equipment for its defense.

China will continue to work for peaceful reunification with Taiwan, Wang said, but warned that anyone who supports independence for Taiwan would pay a price. Most Taiwanese prefer to remain separate from China without antagonizing it. They fear Chinese rule could endanger their freedoms and democracy, particularly after Chinas crackdown on Hong Kong.

Our bottom line is also very clear, Wang said. That is Taiwan will never be allowed to split from the motherland.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

Wang praised Chinas growing ties with Russia, noting that trade between the two reached $240 billion last year, beating a target to hit $200 billion by the end of 2024.

The U.S. and EU say that China is giving Russia an economic lifeline at a time when they are trying to pressure its government with sanctions over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which sparked a devastating war that has continued for more than two years.

Russian natural gas has entered thousands of households in China, and Chinese cars are driving in the streets of Russia, which fully demonstrates the strong resilience and broad prospects of mutually beneficial cooperation, Wang said.

Polands deputy foreign minister, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, told a Chinese diplomat the country should not provide political, economic and military support to Russia, a Polish government statement said. Bartoszewski made the comment at a meeting on Wednesday with a Chinese diplomatic envoy, Li Hui, who is is visiting several European countries this week for talks on the conflict.

The U.S. and EU expanded sanctions on companies and individuals from China and several other countries two weeks ago for allegedly aiding Russias war effort.

Associated Press researcher Yu Bing contributed to this report.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, observes marksmanship training at an undisclosed military base in North Korea on March 6, 2024. (Korean Central News Agency)

SEOUL, South Korea  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called on his countrys army Wednesday to further intensify its training for war as U.S. and South Korean troops continued their own large-scale exercise, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency report the next day.

Kim visited an unidentified military base in western North Korea to observe marksmanship training and troops practicing to clear buildings, according to KCNAs report and photos.

The high intensity combat drills in preparation for an actual war were also observed by North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam, KCNA reported.

Kim set forth the important tasks for intensifying the practical actual-war drills ensuring the victory in a war, the report said.

Kims inspection comes a day after his countrys military criticized the ongoing U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise, Freedom Shield. The exercise is a reckless maneuver and practice for an invasion of North Korea, according to the defense ministry in Pyongyang.

The large-scale war drills staged by the worlds biggest nuclear weapons state  in the Korean Peninsula, where a nuclear war may be ignited even with a spark, can never be called defensive,  the ministry said in a KCNA report.

North Korean troops train at an undisclosed military base in North Korea on March 6, 2024. (Korean Central News Agency)

The 11-day Freedom Shield exercise kicked off Monday and includes 48 joint drills by U.S. and South Korean forces, twice the number of drills from the previous year, according to the Souths military. The drills will be held throughout South Korea and will include air assault, air-to-air, air-to-surface and cyber-related operations.

The exercise, which includes 11 other U.N. Command member states, are defensive in nature and will better fortify the combined defense posture and enhance alliance response capabilities against a spectrum of security threats, U.S. Forces Korea said in a statement Feb. 27.

North Korea previously conducted weapons tests  an act the Souths military characterizes as a provocation  during large-scale military exercises by the U.S. and South Korea.

During the allies 10-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise in late August, North Korea launched a spy satellite that failed to reach orbit on Aug. 24 and two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, or Sea of Japan, on Aug. 30.

The South Korean military will maintain a firm readiness and overwhelmingly respond  if North Korea provokes, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Jeon Ha Gyu said during a news conference Thursday.

North Korea fired cruise missiles for five days over a 10-day span starting Jan. 24, according to the Souths Ministry of National Defense. Ten days earlier the communist regime fired a solid-fueled intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew roughly 620 miles before splashing down in the East Sea.
Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of State for East Asian Pacific Affairs, attends a meeting in New York, on Sept. 22, 2023. Kritenbrink criticized China on Thursday, March 7, 2024, for using intimidation tactics against other countries in the region to press its sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea. (Bing Guan/Pool via AP)

BANGKOK  The top American diplomat for East Asia and the Pacific criticized China on Thursday for using intimidation tactics against other countries in the region to press its sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea.

Speaking to reporters after returning to the United States from meetings with officials in Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei, Daniel Kritenbrink said he had used the trip to emphasize Washingtons commitment to ensuring all nations respect freedom of navigation and freedom of overflight in the peaceful resolution of disputes.

He said China has taken a number of steps in the South China Sea that both run counter to international law, but that also utilize coercion to intimidate partners in ways that we find deeply unacceptable and destabilizing, said Kritenbrink, who is the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own territory, and has active disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei. It has become growingly assertive with its maritime presence in the resource-rich and busy waterway, and Kritenbrinks comments came the same week that a Chinese coast guard ship sideswiped a Philippine patrol vessel at sea.

The hostilities Tuesday off the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal were just the latest in the contested waters, which many fear could spark a larger conflict between China and the U.S. and its allies.

The U.S. regularly sails warships through the Taiwan Strait and conducts naval maneuvers in the South China Sea and everywhere that international law allows, which Kritenbrink said demonstrates that all countries share those same rights. The U.S. strategy also involved helping ensure its partners have their own ability to protect their sovereignty and their own interests, he said.

If we do that, we maximize our chances of preventing miscalculation and conflict and, again, promoting peace and stability, he said.

In Beijing on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi accused the U.S. of stirring up trouble in Taiwan and the South China Sea, without mentioning it by name.

For unreasonable provocations, we will take just countermeasures, Wang told reporters. We also advise certain countries outside the region not to stir up trouble, choose sides, and not to become disruptors and troublemakers in the South China Sea.

Beyond security issues, Kritenbrink said his talks with officials in the region included discussions on economics, climate and energy policy and other issues.

In meetings with new Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, he said he again brought up U.S. concerns about Chinas involvement in the expansion of the Ream Naval Base, a project begun under Hun Manets authoritarian father, Hun Sen. Hun Manet succeeded Hun Sen as prime minister last year.

Even though Cambodia insists its constitution does not allow any foreign military bases on its soil, two Chinese naval ships already docked there in December. The base on the Gulf of Thailand could give China better access to the strategically important Malacca Strait nearby.

The United States and a number of countries in the region have expressed serious concerns about the intent, the nature and the scope of construction at the Ream Naval Base, as well as the role that the PRC military is playing in this process and in the future use of the facility, Kritenbrink said.

He did not say how Hun Manet responded to the concerns, but said overall we had a very productive and candid exchange.

Throughout his trip in Southeast Asia, Kritenbrink said, he sought to assure officials that even with much of the worlds focus currently on the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, the U.S. remains committed to the region.

Despite the many global challenges that we collectively face, the United States remains squarely focused on the Indo-Pacific region, he said.

It is a region, he said, where we think much of the history of the 21st century will be written, and where Americas future security and prosperity will largely be determined.
A photo of Robert Lugos glazed ceramic Street Shrine 1: A Notorious Story (Biggie), on display at The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century at the Schirn in Frankfurt, Germany. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

A new arrival at the famed Schirn exhibition hall in Frankfurt examines the influence of hip-hop, a musical genre that started as a block party 50 years ago in the Bronx borough of New York and transformed into a global movement.

The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century is a polyphonic experience of fashion, photography, sculpture, video, painting and more, as curator Andrea Purnell of the Saint Louis Art Museum describes it.

On display are more than 100 works by more than 80 artists. They range from an album cover by Rammellzee and K-Rob, with Jean-Michel Basquiat, to an Adidas track jacket designed by Pharrell Williams, to Kahlil Josephs m.A.A.D., a two-channel video installation set to music by Kendrick Lamar.

The Culture was first shown last year at the Saint Louis Art Museum and at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Frankfurt, often called the German capital of hip-hop, is its only European stop.

A detail photo of Devan Shimoyamas Before the Storm. It is a mobile-like work with Timberland shoes bedecked with rhinestones. It is one of many works on display until May 26 at the exhibit The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century at the Schirn in Frankfurt, Germany. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes) Inside the exhibit The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century at the Schirn in Frankfurt. At left and right foreground are Monica Ikegwus oil on canvas works Open/Closed, from 2021. In the background at left is Megan Lewiss Fresh Squeezed Lemonade from 2022 and at right, Nina Chanel Abneys work Untitled, from the same year. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes) Fahamu Pecons Real Negus Dont Die: Thug from 2013 on display at The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century at the Schirn in Frankfurt, Germany. It shows a young man looking down at his T-shirt with a portrait of the murdered rap star Tupac Shakur on it. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes) El Franco Lee IIs "DJ Screw in Heaven" from 2008 is one of the works displayed at the new exhibit at the Schirn in Frankfurt, Germany, The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Hip-hop fashion is one of the centerpieces of the exhibit, with clothes designed or inspired by artists like the late Virgil Abloh or Daniel Dapper Dan Day. As Purnell noted on the exhibits opening day, the track suit has become the symbol of hip-hop culture.

While the exhibit shows the influence of hip-hop on contemporary arts, one thing it does not do is give a timeline of the genre.

Most of the works, as the shows title implies, are from this century. One thing missing, surprisingly, is actual hip-hop songs. There is some music in the video installations, but it lacks beats, rhymes and rap.

However, the creators of the music are prominent in the exhibition. Examples include a collection of Lil Kims wigs and a print of Cardi B. sitting on plastic crates with a frame of tea boxes.

Fahamu Pecous Real Negus Dont Die: Thug shows a young man looking down at his T-shirt, which depicts murdered rap star Tupac Shakur. Superstars Beyonce and Jay-Z serenade each other in the video installation 4:44 by TNEG.

A visitor to The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century at the Schirn in Frankfurt, Germany, looks at Dionne Alexanders installation Lil Kim Wigs, 1999-2001. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes) Texas Isaiah and Ms. Boogies photo of the Afro-Latina transgender rapper, and Isaiahs devotional altar Untitled in front of it, are two works on display at The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century at the Schirn in Frankfurt, Germany. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes) Hip-hop has influenced many things besides music over the decades, especially fashion. This runway exhibit at The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century at the Schirn in Frankfurt, Germany, shows some of the fashion, including this Virgil Abloh piece for Louis Vuitton. In the background is a blowup of A Great Day in Hip Hop, by the renowned photographer Gordon Parks. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes) A good question is asked on Shirts work Dont Talk To Me About No Significance Of Art. The exhibit The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century at the Schirn in Frankfurt, Germany, answers the question with a "yes," although music does not play a big part in the show. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Although much has been said over the years about hip-hops misogyny, a substantial number of the exhibit artists are women. The first room displays large works by Megan Lewis, Nina Chanel Abney and Monica Ikegwu, whose Open/Closed is featured on the exhibits posters.

Other highlights are El Franco Lee II s painting DJ Screw in Heaven; Devan Shimoyamas Before the Storm, a mobile-like work with Timberland shoes bedecked with rhinestones; and Black Power, a photo of a gold mouth grill by Hank Willis Thomas.

For a deeper look into the influence of hip-hop on contemporary art, the exhibit catalog with photos and essays is well worth the 45 euros at the Schirn shop. The exhibit runs until May 26.

A visitor to The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century show at the Schirn in Frankfurt, Germany, watches the video installation 4:44 by TNEG that features Beyonce and Jay-Z serenading each other. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes) The 2012 video installation Picture Me Rollin by Larry W. Cook features a man spinning in a Lamborghini, with a version of Martin Luther Kings I have a Dream speech chopped and screwed  slowed down  as the soundtrack. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes) Visitors to The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century at the Schirn in Frankfurt, Germany, discuss Nation, a 2018 work by Deana Lawson. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes) Two works by Miguel Luciano on display in The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century, a new exhibit at the Schirn in Frankfurt, Germany. At left Platano Pride, and Pure Plantainum, right. It is made of polyurethane encased in platinum and sterling silver. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)

Address: Schirn Kunsthalle, Roemerberg, Frankfurt

Hours: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday and Friday to Sunday; 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.

Cost: Admission is 12 euros for adults, 10 euros for seniors and children 8 and up; free for children up to age 7. A family ticket for two adults and their children up to age 17 is 24 euros.

Information: https://www.schirn.de/en/. Here you can buy tickets online and see what other events connected to the exhibit are happening.
Polish farmers, hunters and their supporters hold a protest in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. The protest ratchets up pressure on the government as they demand the Poland-Ukraine border closed to food imports and demand changes to European Union climate and agricultural policies. (Michal Dyjuk/AP)

WARSAW, Poland  Poland saw its most violent protest by farmers and supporters yet Wednesday as some participants threw stones at police and tried to push through barriers around parliament, injuring several officers, police said.

Police used tear gas and said they detained over a dozen people and prevented the protesters from getting through to the Sejm, the Polish parliament.

Farmers are angry over European Union climate policies and food imports from Ukraine that they say threaten their livelihoods. Such protests have occurred across the 27-member EU in recent weeks, but this one was decidedly angrier than earlier demonstrations in the central European nation.

Police noted on the social media platform X that its officers are not a party to the ongoing dispute and warned that behavior threatening their safety cannot be taken lightly and requires a firm and decisive response.

The deputy agriculture minister, Micha Koodziejczak, said he didnt believe that real, normal farmers caused a riot in front of the Sejm today, and that it was necessary to isolate provocateurs and troublemakers.

He did not say who he thought was behind the violence.

Farmers on tractors blocked highways leading into Warsaw while thousands of their supporters gathered in front of the prime ministers office before marching to the parliament. Some trampled a European Union flag and burned a mock coffin bearing the word farmer.

Farmers were joined by miners, foresters, hunters and other supporters. They blew horns and set off firecrackers and smoke bombs, despite police warnings that the use of pyrotechnics was banned. Some protesters burned tires.

The protesters are demanding a withdrawal from the EUs Green Deal, a plan meant to fight climate change and protect biodiversity, including with plans requiring farmers to reduce the excessive use of polluting chemicals to boost their crops.

The protests have led politicians to water down some provisions.

The protesters also want the Polish-Ukrainian border closed to stop the imports of Ukrainian food products, which farmers say drive down market prices and put Polands agricultural sector in jeopardy.

The protest increased pressure on the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a former president of the European Council who is strongly pro-EU and seeks to support Ukraine as it fights Russias invasion.

Tusk has sought to meet the farmers demands, calling their frustrations justified. He has said he plans to propose amendments to the Green Deal.

Anti-Ukrainian slogans have featured at the protests in Poland, where authorities have said they are concerned that Russia is trying to leverage legitimate concerns to create divisions between Warsaw and Kyiv.

Agriculture, forestry and fishing make up less than 3% of Polands GDP, according to the World Bank.
In a video screenshot, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks as Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson looks on during a ceremony in which Sweden officially joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on March 7, 2024. (Facebook/U.S. State Department)

Sweden officially joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Thursday, a historic shift that highlights how Russian President Vladimir Putins war in Ukraine is transforming European security in ways he may not have foreseen.

At a meeting in Washington, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson deposited the final paperwork with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the last step needed for the former militarily nonaligned nation to become NATOs 32nd member. Swedens neighbor, Finland, joined last year.

To justify his aggression in Ukraine, Putin cited the possibility of NATO expansion. Now, in one of the conflicts many twists, his war has brought a bigger, stronger alliance to his door. Russia will have to live with the consequences for years.

There is no clearer example today of the strategic debacle that Ukraine has become for Russia, Blinken said Thursday, standing beside an elated Kristersson.

Everything that Putin sought to prevent, he has actually precipitated by his actions, by his aggression.

The addition of Sweden and Finland will strengthen NATO in the far north, where Russia keeps much of it second-strike nuclear capability, and boost its presence around the Baltic Sea, particularly around the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Swedens navy has experience operating in  and under  Baltic waters, and its fighter jets will patrol the regions skies, making it easier for NATO to supply or defend Baltic allies, should the need arise. Stockholm has already said it will send troops to join a multinational force based in Latvia.

Swedens accession makes NATO stronger, Sweden safer, and the whole Alliance more secure, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote on X.

Kristersson said it was a historic moment and pledged that his country would meet the alliances defense spending target of 2% of gross domestic product from this year onward.

Unity and solidarity will be Swedens guiding light as a NATO member, he said. We will share burdens, responsibilities and risks with other allies.

Although Swedens NATO bid was blocked at various points by Turkey, and then by Hungary, its admission Thursday sends an important signal to Putin as he wages war in Ukraine and threatens other neighbors, said Anna Wieslander, director for Northern Europe at the Atlantic Council.

That message: That he cannot dictate, and if he does, there will be pushback.

Russia did not immediately comment on the news. The countrys response to Finnish membership was muted, though Russian officials have talked in general terms about the need to adjust their military posture in response to NATOs new borders and plans.

A few years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine Sweden joining NATO. Military nonalignment was a part of the countrys identity.

But Russias February 2022 invasion of Ukraine seemed to rouse Europe from a post-Cold War slumber, spurring deep changes in how the regions relatively wealthy democracies think about their own security.

The European Union began the process of weaning itself off Russian oil and gas. It dug into its stockpiles to send weapons to Ukraine. And it has started to step up defense spending - albeit more slowly than many at NATO headquarters or in Washington might like.

NATO, meanwhile, began its biggest overhaul since the Cold War, drawing up new battle plans that are more squarely focused on deterring Russia and defending every inch of NATO territory from day one should Moscow try anything.

When Russian tanks rolled on Kyiv, Finnish sentiment about NATO shifted quickly. Sweden took slightly longer to come around but applied for membership alongside its neighbor in May 2022.

In his remarks Thursday, Blinken noted that most Swedes were not interested in NATO before Russias invasion, but Moscows actions prompted a dramatic rethink. Swedes realized something very profound, he said, that if Putin was trying to erase one neighbor from the map, then he might not stop there.

Both countries  and much of the alliance  expected a smooth accession process. But approving newcomers requires unanimity, and it soon became clear that Turkey would object at every step.

What followed was more than 20 months of obstruction and delay from Turkey, followed by stalling from Hungary  public feuding that no doubt pleased Putin.

When it became clear that Turkeys problem was with Sweden, not Finland, their bids were split. Finland joined last spring, while Sweden kept negotiating.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sought F-16 fighter jets from the United States and insisted that Sweden crack down on groups that Turkey considers to be terrorists. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pressed Swedens prime minister to visit Budapest and cut a deal to get more Swedish-built fighter jets.

In the end, after much drama and fraught diplomacy, both countries extracted what they could and agreed to welcome another new member.

The Swedish flag will not rise outside NATOs Brussels headquarters until Monday, officials said, but NATOs key protection  the collective defense clause known as Article 5  goes into effect immediately.

We will go to sleep here tonight with Article 5 embracing this country, Wieslander, of the Atlantic Council, said in a phone call from Sweden. That is a huge shift for us.
Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, seen in Kyiv on June 28, has been appointed as Ukraines ambassador to Britain. (Oksana Parafeniuk/The Washington Post)

KYIV  President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday appointed his former military chief, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, to become Ukraines ambassador to Britain  a next step outside of the military for Zaluzhny a month after he was replaced.

Zaluzhny was offered the post last month but didnt immediately accept, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The appointment will be viewed as a resolution between Zelenskyy and Zaluzhny after reports that they had a strained relationship, in part because Zelenskyy was suspicious of Zaluzhnys political ambitions. Zaluzhny, 50, remains extremely popular in Ukraine, rivaling the president, and this move keeps him in an influential role but as a diplomat outside the country.

Zaluzhny told me that this is the direction he would like to take  diplomacy, Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram social media app. Our alliance with Britain should only get stronger.

Ukraines ambassadorship to Britain  a critical posting as London has taken a leading role in supplying weaponry to Ukraine  had been vacant since July, when Zelenskyy removed Vadym Prystaiko. Prystaiko, an experienced diplomat, had criticized Zelenskyys unhealthy sarcasm during a television appearance.

Zaluzhnys role as commander in chief involved some diplomacy  he often directly lobbied his foreign military counterparts for more weapons so they could convince their governments. He is likely to be doing some of the same in London, but after two years of commanding Ukraines war effort, Zaluzhny will be in a civilian posting and removed from any battlefield decision-making.

Zaluzhny was dismissed last month and replaced by Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, who had been Ukraines ground forces commander, in part because Zelenskyy felt that new leadership could rejuvenate the military after the fighting had reached a stalemate over the past year. But the move was unpopular with rank-and-file soldiers, many of whom respected Zaluzhny.

Syrsky has had a difficult first month on the job, ordering troops to withdraw from the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka three weeks ago. Ukraine is also facing ammunition shortages as a $60 billion security assistance package from the United States has stalled in Congress.

Amid uncertainty in Washington, the job of securing British support has heightened importance. Though Britain provides less materiel than Washington does, it has often taken the lead in what kind of weapons it approves. For example, Britain sent Kyiv long-range missiles, its Storm Shadow cruise missiles, while the Biden administration was still denying Kyiv its Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron has in recent days escalated his rhetoric regarding the Wests responsibility to help Ukraine defeat Russia.

On Thursday, he met in Paris with parliamentary party leaders, who said Macron reaffirmed his position that there should be no limits in support for Ukraine.

His comments followed an announcement late last month that France currently has no consensus on sending ground troops to Ukraine but that nothing should be excluded.

While visiting Prague on Tuesday, he then urged Ukraines allies to not be cowards.

Fabien Roussel, leader of the French Communist Party, summarized the Thursday meeting to reporters, saying Macron told attendees that there should no longer be, according to his analysis, any limits to Frances intervention or that of the countries of the E.U. when it comes to supporting Ukraine.

The declaration, Roussel asserted, suggests that France no longer believes in the power of diplomacy or politics to stop the war. This represents a shift in position, he said, from two years ago when there were red lines.

Macrons remarks demonstrate that he is prepared tomorrow to engage in an escalation of war that could become very dangerous, Roussel said.

Marine Tondelier, of Frances Greens, said it is extremely worrying to see the French president say, when referring to a war involving a nuclear-armed leader, that we must show we are without limits.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state TV on Thursday that Macron continues to raise the level of Frances direct involvement in this war.
Palestinians in Rafah, Gaza Strip, attend a mass funeral on Thursday, March 7, 2024, of people killed in the Israeli offensive on Khan Younis. (Hatem Ali/AP)

CAIRO  Hamas said Thursday that its delegation has left Cairo and that talks on a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release will resume next week, making it extremely unlikely that mediators will broker a deal before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Mediators had looked to Ramadan as an informal deadline because the month of dawn-to-dusk fasting often sees Israeli-Palestinian violence linked to access to a major Jerusalem holy site. The war already has the wider region on edge, with Iran-backed groups trading fire with Israel and the United States.

Egyptian officials had earlier said the negotiations had reached an impasse over Hamas demand for a phased process culminating in an end to the war. But they did not rule out a deal before Ramadan, which is expected to begin on Sunday.

Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said Israel refuses to commit to and give guarantees regarding the cease-fire, the return of the displaced, and withdrawal from the areas of its incursion. But he said the talks were still ongoing and would resume next week. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

The U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been trying for weeks to broker an agreement on a six-week cease-fire and the release of 40 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

The Egyptian officials said Hamas has agreed to the main terms of such an agreement as a first stage but wants commitments that it will lead to an eventual more permanent cease-fire. They say Israel wants to confine the negotiations to the more limited agreement.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations with media. Both officials said mediators are still pressing the two parties to soften their positions.

Hamas has said it will not release all of the remaining hostages without a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Palestinian militants are believed to be holding around 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others captured during Hamas Oct. 7 attack into Israel that triggered the war.

Hamas is also demanding the release of a large number of prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences, in exchange for the remaining hostages.

Hamas is believed to be holding the hostages deep inside its vast tunnel network, where rescue operations would be virtually impossible, and using them as human shields for its top leaders. It hopes to use them as bargaining chips to end the war on its terms.

That poses a major dilemma for Israel, which at some point may have to choose between its two main goals of bringing back the hostages and trying to annihilate Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly ruled out Hamas demands, saying Israel intends to resume the offensive after any cease-fire, expand it to the crowded southern city of Rafah and battle on until total victory. He has said military pressure will help bring about the release of the hostages.

Ramadan is a time of heightened prayer, reflection and charity for Muslims the world over, who hold festive nightly gatherings with family and friends after fasting ends at sundown. The lunar month is expected to begin Sunday or Monday, depending on the sighting of the moon.

In past years, Israeli forces and Palestinians have clashed in Jerusalem over access to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam. The hilltop on which it is built is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount because it was the location of the Jewish temples in antiquity.

Hamas says it launched the Oct. 7 attack partly in response to what it sees as Israels encroachment on the site and has called for heightened confrontations with Israel during the holy month. Israeli authorities say access to the site will remain unchanged from previous years.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and captured another 250 when they stormed across the border on Oct. 7. Over 100 hostages were released in a cease-fire deal last year.

Israel launched a massive air, land and sea campaign in Gaza that has driven some 80% of the population from their homes and pushed hundreds of thousands to the brink of famine.

Gazas Health Ministry says at least 30,717 Palestinians have been killed. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tallies but says women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government, maintains detailed records and its casualty figures from previous wars have largely matched those of the U.N. and independent experts.

Israel says it has killed over 13,000 Hamas fighters, without providing evidence. It blames the high civilian death toll on Hamas because its fighters operate in dense, residential neighborhoods.

Gaza is mired in a humanitarian crisis, and conditions are particularly dire in the north, where the offensive has caused widespread devastation. Many of the estimated 300,000 people still living there have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive, and the U.N. says one in six children younger than 2 in the north suffers from acute malnutrition.

Facing global calls to alleviate the crisis, Israeli officials said Wednesday that it will begin allowing aid to move directly from its territory into northern Gaza and will also cooperate with the creation of a sea route from Cyprus.

Aid groups have said it has become nearly impossible to deliver supplies within most of Gaza because of the difficulty of coordinating with the Israeli military, the ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of public order. It is even more difficult to get aid to the north.

Sewell reported from Beirut.
Items on display in the Google Store at the Google Visitor Experience in Mountain View, Calif., in October 2023. (Eric Risberg/AP)

WASHINGTON  A former software engineer at Google has been charged with stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets from the company while secretly working with two companies based in China, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

Linwei Ding, a Chinese national, was arrested in Newark, California, on four counts of federal trade secret theft, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The case against Ding, 38, was announced at an American Bar Association conference in San Francisco by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who along with other law enforcement leaders has repeatedly warned about the threat of Chinese economic espionage and about the national security concerns posed by advancements in artificial intelligence and other developing technologies.

Todays charges are the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the Peoples Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation, FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences.

Google said it had determined that the employee had stolen numerous documents and referred the matter to law enforcement.

We have strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets, Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said in a statement. After an investigation, we found that this employee stole numerous documents, and we quickly referred the case to law enforcement. We are grateful to the FBI for helping protect our information and will continue cooperating with them closely.

A lawyer listed as Dings defense attorney did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday evening.

Artificial intelligence is the main battleground for competitors in the field of high technology, and the question of who dominates can have major commercial and security implications. Justice Department leaders in recent weeks have been sounding alarms about how foreign adversaries could harness AI technologies to negatively affect the United States.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a speech last month that the administrations multi-agency Disruptive Technology Strike Force would place AI at the top of its enforcement priority list, and Wray told a conference last week that AI and other emerging technologies had made it easier for adversaries to try to interfere with the American political process.

Garland echoed those concerns at the San Francisco event, saying Wednesday that, As with all evolving technologies, (AI) has pluses and minuses, advantages and disadvantages, great promise and the risk of great harm.

The indictment unsealed Wednesday in the Northern District of California alleges that Ding, who was hired by Google in 2019 and had access to confidential information about the companys supercomputing data centers, began uploading hundreds of files into a personal Google Cloud account two years ago.

Within weeks of the theft starting, prosecutors say, Ding was offered the position of chief technology officer at an early-stage technology company in China that touted its use of AI technology and that offered him a monthly salary of about $14,800, plus an annual bonus and company stock. The indictment says Ding traveled to China and participated in investor meetings at the company and sought to raise capital for it.

He also separately founded and served as chief executive of a China-based startup company that aspired to train large AI models powered by supercomputing chips, the indictment said.

Prosecutors say Ding did not disclose either affiliation to Google, which described him Wednesday as a junior employee.

He resigned from Google last Dec. 26.

Three days later, Google officials learned that he had presented as CEO of one of the Chinese companies at an investor conference in Beijing. Officials also reviewed surveillance footage showing that another employee had scanned Dings access badge at the Google building in the U.S. where he worked to make it look like Ding was there during times when he was actually in China, the indictment says.

Google suspended Dings network access and locked his laptop, and discovered his unauthorized uploads while searching his network activity history.

The FBI in January served a search warrant at Dings home and seized his electronic devices, and later executed an additional warrant for the contents of his personal accounts containing more than 500 unique files of confidential information that authorities say he stole from Google.
If youve had a rough week, a collection of tap-dancing numbers, memorable tunes and vintage visuals may be just the ticket.

Four County Players is opening its production of Anything Goes, packed with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, on Friday evening in its Mainstage space in Barboursville, and audience members whod like to stow away to give stress the slip are more than welcome. Keeping track of the onboard romances and trying to figure out wholl end up with whom is about as tense as it gets.

First of all, its very light, said director and choreographer Geri Carlson Sauls. Its fun to escape into a happy place.

The original book is by P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The Four County team will be using the updated book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman.

The cast includes Mariko Schaper Doktor as Reno Sweeney, Gary Warwick White as Billy Crocker, Alex Mitchell as Hope Harcourt, Edward Warwick White as Lord Evelyn Oakley, Dan Stern as Moonface Martin, Aly Brookland as Erma, Tim Carlson as Elisha Whitney, Geri Schirmer as Evangeline Harcourt, Ian Amos as Spit, Elena Witt as Dippy, John Baker as the Ships Captain and Sam Carannante as the Ships Purser.

Playing Renos Angels are Stephanie Kowalczyk as Purity, Jennifer Schindler as Chastity, Talia Santia as Charity, Haley Griffith as Virtue and Kristen Scott Bell as Prudence.

The Sailor Quartet includes Ian Amos, Amelia Camacho, Tres Wells and Elena Witt.

The ensemble is packed with featured dancers and players in supporting roles; look for Steve Bliss, Eric Bryant, Samantha Cadieux, Amelia Camacho, Ella Caplin, Megan Ellis, Stephanie Finn, Kristen Gass, Kyle LaTorre, Veronica Schoenster, Annie Way and Tres Wells.

Were blessed in this area with so much talent, Sauls said. Practically anyone in the ensemble couldve taken the principal roles as well.

Each member of the cast is endearing, Sauls said, adding that theres not really a character to dislike. Theres not a villain.

Theres even a character played by a puppet: Evangeline Harcourts tiny dog.

Together, theyll be diving into songs that have kept toes tapping for generations, including Youre the Top, I Get a Kick Out of You, Friendship and, of course, Anything Goes.

Porters wit and way with words remain fresh after nine decades.

The rhymes he comes up with amaze me sometimes, Sauls said.

Debbie Owen serves as production stage manager, Tres Wells and Hannah Vidaver are producers, Katie Hutchins is assistant stage manager and John Wharton is assistant director. Amy Goffman and Tricia Emlet are costume designers, Sarah Burstock is hair and makeup designer, Sophi Schlicht is wardrobe manager, Dan Feigert is scenic designer, Eric Rodas is lead carpenter, Mary Speed is scenic painter, Kim Faulkinburry is lighting designer, David Hutchins is sound designer and engineer and Pam Edelman and Hannah Vidaver are properties and set dressing designers. Gary Warwick White is production manager, Devynn Thomas is assistant production manager and Nick Edelman is shop and build supervisor.

The costumes are stunning. Our costumers are very cognizant of the fact that the action is in the 30s, Sauls said. And we have a ship on our stage.

The principal players bring singing, dancing and acting skills to their numbers, and the director said to keep an eye out for Sterns version of Be Like the Bluebird.

The musicals dancing and slapstick elements may appeal to youngsters, but the show does carry a parental advisory. Sauls said very young children might get bored between dance numbers, but parents know their kids, she said. The humor can be subtle, and young children arent going to get a lot of the saucy innuendoes.

There also will be gunshot sound effects to accompany a skeet-shooting contest that happens offstage. No one gets shot, Sauls said.

Anything Goes runs weekends through March 31, with performances at 8 p.m. Friday, 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. If you have company on hand during Easter weekend, Sauls said the show can help you entertain family members and houseguests.

Before heading to the theater, take a look at the theaters COVID-19 protocols online at http://fourcp.org/covid-19-and-four-county-players/.

Tickets are $20; theyre $18 for seniors and students and $16 for ages 12 and younger. All Friday-night tickets are $10. For tickets and information, go to www.fourcp.org or call (540) 832-5355.
Army Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, who leads U.S. Central Command, provides testimony in March 2023 at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington. (John Wright/Department of Defense)

U.S. strikes in early February on Iranian proxies in the Middle East have deterred militant groups in Iraq and Syria from attacking American forces but have not been as effective against Houthi rebels in Yemen, the top U.S. general in the region said Thursday.

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria, including those responsible for the Jan. 28 drone attack in Jordan that killed three U.S. soldiers, have not fired at American troops in more than a month, Army Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He credited the retaliatory strikes on some 85 targets in Iraq and Syria, including a drone strike on a top Kataib Hezbollah commander, with restoring an informal cease-fire in those countries.

Iran has to understand there are consequences to their actions. I think that on that last attack that we did  our messaging matched our actions  and I think that sent a very strong deterrent message, and we have not had an attack in 32 days in Iraq or Syria, said Kurilla, who leads U.S. Central Command and is responsible for American forces in the Middle East and central Asia. But I will tell you deterrence is always temporary.

The unofficial detente has come after a period that saw the Iranian-linked groups launch some 175 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants on Israel. The surprise attack by Hamas militants raised tensions across the region as Israel launched a retaliatory war against Gaza, a Palestinian enclave. Kurilla described the Hamas attack as having permanently changed the region.

It created the conditions for malign actors to sow instability throughout the region and beyond, he said. Iran exploited what they saw as a once in a generation opportunity to reshape the Middle East to their advantage.

Blaming Iran for the uptick in violence throughout the region, Kurilla said the country should face more consequences for its actions. Neither the United States nor Iran, he added, wants to fight the other directly.

While violence has dropped in Iraq and Syria, it has increased off Yemens coast. Repeated U.S. strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are also backed by Iran, have not deterred the group from its attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, Kurilla said. The Houthis claim the attacks are in retaliation against those supporting Israels war in Gaza.

Near-daily strikes against the Houthis have been defensive in nature  taking out drones or missiles before they can be launched or once they are on the way toward a target, including U.S. Navy ships on several occasions, Kurilla said.

The Arleigh Burke-class, guided-missile destroyer USS Carney attacks a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea on Oct. 19, 2023. (Aaron Lau/U.S. Navy)

The Houthis on Wednesday struck a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden, killing three mariners in the first rebel attack that resulted in deaths. Another ship struck by the Houthis sank Saturday, weeks after it was hit by an anti-ship ballistic missile.

The Houthis weapons come from Iran, Kurilla said. While the United States has been joined by 24 other countries in efforts to protect commercial shipping vessels near Yemen, the general said more is needed to stop the illicit flow of advanced weapons from Iran to the Houthis.

The most important thing is to deny their ability to resupply from Iran, Kurilla said. The Houthis are not building. Theyre putting it all together and assembling, but they dont create  medium-range ballistic missiles or the anti-ship cruise missiles.

Several Republicans blamed President Joe Biden for being too soft on the Iranians for their actions in support of these proxy groups, including Hamas, Kataib Hezbollah and the Houthis. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, suggested the United States should attack Iranian vessels when they are found to support the Houthis.

The committees top Republican, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, called Bidens military approach a pinprick, warning the relative calm in Iraq and Syria could end at any time.

This approach has failed and will fail because it assumes that we can deter terrorist groups without causing pain to their chief sponsor  Iran, he said.

But Democrats said Bidens approach has balanced the need to protect U.S. troops and interests without dragging the region into an even broader conflict.

Direct war with Iran would have devastating second- and third-order consequences and would likely engulf the entire region in war, said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the chairman of the committee. President Biden has balanced these considerations by synchronizing military operations with strong diplomacy, economic sanctions and other tools of statecraft.

Kurilla declined to reveal what suggestions he has made to Biden, but he said he could use some help from Congress.

The general endorsed the national security supplemental bill passed last month by the Senate, but the legislation has not been considered by the House. That bill includes billions in aid to Ukraine and Israel, and it would funnel some $2.4 billion to support CENTCOM operations. Among his chief concerns, Kurilla said, was some $531 million in that bill that would support counter-drone defense systems for troops in the Middle East.

Kurilla said he worries a Houthi-fired drone or missile could sneak through the layered U.S. defensive shields and strike a Navy vessel. The extra money would bolster those efforts to protect American forces, he said.

Overall, American forces have been somewhat lucky that attacks in the region have only resulted in U.S. troops death once in recent months, Kurilla said.

There are several incidents where [enemy drones] coming into a base hit another object or got caught up in netting or other incidents where had they hit the appropriate target that they were targeting it would have injured or killed service members, the general said.

He also warned of problems elsewhere in the CENTCOM region.

The risk of attack emanating from Afghanistan is increasing, Kurilla said.

The instability in the Middle East has at times forced him to divert intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets  primarily drones  from watching over Afghanistan, he said. The Islamic States Afghanistan affiliate, ISIS-Khorasan, continues to operate there and appears to be gaining momentum toward launching attacks on Western nations, Kurilla testified.

The threat appears to be limited, for now, to attacks in Europe or Asia but, if unchecked, could grow to include North America, he warned.

I assess ISIS-Khorasan retains the capability and will to attack us and Western interests abroad in as little as six months and with little to no warning, Kurilla testified.
A batch of 60 Starlink test satellites stacked atop a Falcon 9 rocket. (Spacex)

A pair of House Democrats are investigating SpaceX over claims that Russia is using the companys Starlink internet terminals in its war against Ukraine.

In a letter to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, Representatives Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Robert Garcia of California pressed the closely held company over whether it had appropriate guardrails in place to ensure that Starlink technology wasnt obtained in violation of sanctions.

Starlink is an invaluable resource for Ukrainians in their fight against Russias brutal and illegitimate invasion, the lawmakers said in the letter dated March 6. It is alarming that Russia may be obtaining and using your technology to coordinate attacks against Ukrainian troops.

The probe heightens the stakes for Elon Musks company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., after Ukrainian officials said recently that Russian troops were using illicitly obtained Starlink terminals on the front line. SpaceX provided the technology to Ukraine in the early days of Russias invasion, and Starlink has since become vital to Ukraines communications infrastructure.

SpaceX didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Musk, the companys chief executive officer, has denied that it sold Starlink terminals to Russia.

Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, and Garcia requested responses by March 20 to a series of questions, including on actions SpaceX has taken to ensure Russia isnt using its terminals. The letter was reported earlier by the Washington Post.
Jessica Wittner joined the U.S. Navy after graduation and became an aviation mechanic. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Arizona and a masters degree from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. She became a test pilot and was project officer with Test and Evaluation Squadron VX-31, the Dust Devils, in China Lake. (NASA)

(Tribune News Service)  Jessica Wittner is getting some deserved time off  just a day or so to decompress with family before jumping back into the work of being one of NASAs newest astronauts.

Im filled with excitement and energy right now, Wittner told The Bee in a phone interview Tuesday, following a graduation ceremony at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

This is the dream scenario for the Clovis native and Buchanan High School graduate.

She was 12 when she first verbalized wanting to be an astronaut. She joined the U.S. Navy after graduation and became an aviation mechanic. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Arizona and a masters degree from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

She became a test pilot and was project officer with Test and Evaluation Squadron VX-31, the Dust Devils, in China Lake. She served on engineering teams in the development and flight tests for the F/A-18E-F Super Hornet and was heading the the Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-151 at at Naval Air Station Lemoore when she was accepted by NASA.

Wittner is in rarefied company.

NASA has graduated just 360 NASA astronauts since the original Mercury Seven were chosen in 1959. That crew included John Glenn and Alan Shepard, who was the first American to travel into space.

Wittners training class, selected in 2021, was just 10 people chosen from a pool of 12,000 applicants.

Over the past two years, the astronauts completed training across five subject categories, according to NASA. They learned to operate and maintain International Space Station systems. They trained for spacewalks, learned Russian and robotics skills, and operated a T-38 supersonic training jet.

It was during her first run in an underground pool in a simulation of the ISS that Wittner felt the full impact of what it means to be an astronaut. Standing there in a full space suit, thats really when it starts to hit.

Jessica Wittner, one of NASAs newest astronauts. (NASA)

A trip to the moon?

Individual missions have yet to be assigned, but could involve anything from research aboard the International Space Station to launching commercial spacecraft, or deep-space missions to destinations including the moon, NASA said.

In 2017, the space agency launched the Artemis project, a series of new lunar missions with the ultimate goal of eventually launching a mission to Mars. An uncrewed test flight was launched in 2022.

A second, fly-by mission was scheduled to happen this year but was postponed until 2025.

I would love to go to the moon, says Wittner, knowing its the consensus feeling among her peers.

I think youre going to hear that from a lot of people.

Of course, Wittner is a firm believer in following passions  and her passion is exploration in all of forms. Even though weve already been to the moon, she says, these next visits will unlock an amazing amount of new information and opportunity.

Thats like the next frontier right now, she says

We know what questions need to be answered.

2024 The Fresno Bee.

Visit fresnobee.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
In a tit-for-tat response, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday, in a brief post on X, thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his congratulatory message following his election as the countrys premier.

Thank you @narendramodi for felicitations on my election as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz wrote on his official X account.

The Indian premier had congratulated PM Shehbaz on assuming the charge of prime minister on Tuesday but his brief post on X apparently carried a quiet message for Pakistan.

Modi, who is nearing his second term as prime minister, previously congratulated Imran Khan and Shehbaz Sharif in August 2018 and April 2022 respectively.

In fact, he spoke to then prime minister Imran when he got elected as the countrys chief executive. He also invited Nawaz Sharif in May 2014 to attend his swearing in ceremony along with other South Asian leaders.

But what was different this time is that Modis statement was not only brief but he made no mention of any desire for normalising ties or seeking peace with Pakistan.

Congratulations to @CMShehbaz on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, he wrote on X.
Defence solicitor Mark OSullivan said Simon McGinley had way too much to drink

A drunken nightclubber asked gardai on the street outside for a fight and spat on their patrol car, saying it was to give it a wash.

Simon McGinley (25) threw a plastic pint glass at the garda car when he became aggressive and volatile, a court heard.

Judge Monika Leech said she would spare him a criminal record if he made a 250 charity donation.

McGinley, of Coolcotts, Wexford, pleaded guilty to threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour, and public intoxication.

Dublin District Court heard gardai were on patrol at Middle Abbey Street at 2.40am last November 11 when they saw the accused outside a club, sticking his finger up at them.

The gardai rolled down the patrol car window and asked did he have some issue with them, a sergeant said. McGinley became insulting to the gardai, asked them for a fight, threw a plastic pint glass at the patrol car and spat at it.

He stood in a fighting motion, was quite aggressive and became more and more volatile as gardai dealt with him.

Asked why he had spit at the car, he said to give it a wash, then said the pint glass had slipped from his hand.

Defence solicitor Mark OSullivan said McGinley had been at a club, had way too much to drink and had a very limited recollection of the incident but accepted he should have kept his mouth shut.

The plastic glass did not make contact with the patrol car, Mr OSullivan said.

Judge Leech adjourned the case to next month and said she would dismiss the charge if the donation was made.

Gardai are entitled to go about their lawful business without being insulted, she said.
He agreed to give him a warning, telling the youth to be careful to comply or bail could be revoked; the boy replied "yes" when asked if that made sense.

A photo from the scene and (inset) Tristan Sherry who died after opening fire at the restaurant

A 17-year-old boy accused of violent disorder at the scene of two deaths in a restaurant in Dublin on Christmas Eve has been warned he faces custody for repeatedly breaking bail terms.

Tristan Sherry, 26, died of blunt force trauma to the head after shooting Jason Hennessy Sr at Browne's Steakhouse in Blanchardstown. Mr Hennessy, 48, had been having dinner with family and friends before the gun attack, and died 11 days later in hospital.

Gardai charged the teenager in January with engaging in violent disorder in the restaurant on December 24 by using or threatening to use violence with three others, which would cause another person present to fear for their safety.

Following a six-week adjournment, the boy, who is a minor and has the legal right to anonymity, faced his second hearing in the Dublin Children's Court.

The case was listed for the Director of Public Prosecutions' (DPP) directions because "there is a possibility of further charges."

Garda John Hayes said they were not ready yet and said he would submit a file to the DPP in the next three weeks.

Defence barrister Doireann McDonagh acknowledged the case's complexity but reminded the court that the boy was anxious to have his case heard before he turned 18 when he would be an adult.

Jason Hennessy Snr

The garda also raised issues about the teen breaching bail terms nine times recently. He did not make a bail revocation application but asked the judge to consider tightening the conditions, which cannot be reported due to a court order imposed previously.

Ms McDonagh said the boy had no previous convictions or court experience and suggested a warning instead.

"If he is unfamiliar with the process of the court and has no previous experience, he does not fully appreciate the possibility of bail being revoked and being taken into custody," said Judge William Aylmer.

He agreed to give him a warning, telling the youth to be careful to comply or bail could be revoked; the boy replied "yes" when asked if that made sense.

The case was adjourned for six weeks.

He is one of seven people charged in the investigation.

His mother and other relatives accompanied him to his hearing.

Earlier, the court heard the teen "made no reply to the charge" after handing himself in at Garda station.

Six others are before the courts.

David Amah, 18, of Hazel Grove, Portrane Road, Donabate, Dublin and Michael Andrecut, 22, with an address at Sheephill Avenue in Dublin 15, and a 17-year-old boy who cannot be identified because he is a minor, have been charged with the murder of Mr Sherry.

Another co-defendant, Wayne Deegan, 25, of Linnetsfield Avenue, Phibblestown, Dublin 15, was charged with producing a knife as a weapon during an offence, assault causing harm to Tristan Sherry, and violent disorder at the steakhouse.

Jonas Kabangu, 18, is charged with engaging in violent disorder on December 24 at the steakhouse. His address has been suppressed due to security concerns.

Brandon Hennessy, 20, of Sheephill Avenue, Dublin 15, is accused of violent disorder and producing a steel-handled brush as a weapon. A court has heard he allegedly "retaliated" to his father Jay Hennessy Snr being fatally injured.
The man has pleaded guilty to sending lewd pictures of himself to three random females around the country in Dublin, Kerry and Limerick

A 40-year old Co Clare man sent a lewd image of himself to a female "public figure, a court has heard.

In the case at Ennis District Court, the man has pleaded guilty to sending lewd pictures of himself to three random females around the country in Dublin, Kerry and Limerick and committing a solo sex act in public on the early Galway to Limerick train service.

One of the injured parties who witnessed the man masturbating on the 6.15am Galway to Limerick service on February 20, 2023 videoed the incident and handed over the recording to gardai as evidence in the case, the court has heard.

At Ennis District Court, Judge Alec Gabbett remarked that one of the women to receive a lewd image is a public figure.

Judge Gabbett asked that victim impact statements be provided, commenting that the women on viewing the images would not forget what they viewed for a long time.

Judge Gabbett said that the accused needs to understand that these are very, very serious charges and have the capacity to damage someones life.

Judge Gabbett said a Probation Report handed into court confirms that vigilantes have come upon the man".

Judge Gabbett ruled that the man due to "the vigilante behaviour and out of concern for the personal safety of the accused that reporting restrictions would continue in the case.

Judge Gabbett remarked that the man has stated that the "vigilantes are after me.

Judge Gabbett said: "That troubles me greatly - people taking law into their own hands which they shouldnt do."

Judge Gabbett said that the public does have a right to know the identity of the accused and told solicitor, Stiofan Fitzpatrick for the accused he is not sure that he would order the reporting restrictions if I was pushed on that.

Mr Fitzpatrick said that the accused is facing charges of a similar nature in Dublin.

In Dublin, the accused is facing five charges including ones of attempting to send explicit material to and sexually exploit a child online.

Judge Gabbett said that "the biggest concern I have here is the issue of the pattern of harmful exhibitionist behaviour.

Judge Gabbett said that the accused by his own admission "has this compulsion.

The Probation Officer told Judge Gabbett that her report has recommended a therapeutic programme which deals with individuals who have sexual harmful behaviours.

In response to the vigilantism, Mr Fitzpatrick said his client "has left himself in a very vulnerable position.

Mr Fitzpatrick said that his client has lost a lot. He said that his client lives in a rural area and is isolated.

He said: He has withdrawn from society. He is not working at present and he has a lot of personal shame and embarrassment over what has happened.

He said that his client no longer has a smartphone and that he has insight into his condition.

Mr Fitzpatrick said that his client sourced the phone numbers of the three women he sent images to from Instagram. He said that his client has expressed a willingness to address his harmful behaviour.

Judge Gabbett commented that the accused might have to spend some time in a custodial setting to recalibrate his ideas on what his continuous offending is going to do.

He said: "I would move to that level unless I knew it had no other option.

Judge Gabbett adjourned sentencing for the victim impact statements and to allow the case in Dublin against the accused to advance.

The offence on the train in February 2023 came only nine days before the man made his first appearance in court on March 1st 2023 concerning sending the lewd images of himself to females.

In relation to the first offence, the man randomly selected a Co Kerry womans phone number before sending her a lewd image of himself on October 16th 2020.

The man has also pleaded guilty that on May 1st 2021 of intentionally engaging in offensive conduct of a sexual nature by sending an image of his erect penis via WhatsApp to a female living in Limerick in such a manner to cause fear, distress or alarm to another person.

The man has also pleaded guilty to on May 4th 2021 of intentionally engaging in offensive conduct of a sexual nature by sending an image of his erect penis via WhatsApp to another female living in Dublin in such a manner to cause fear, distress or alarm to another person.

The charges are contrary to Section 45(3) of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 where a maximum sentence of six months in the district court applies.
Judge David McHugh remanded him on continuing bail for the preparation of a book of evidence.

A FATHER accused of abandoning his infant daughter in a car for 10 hours has been further charged with possession of cocaine.

The man, who was already accused of child neglect over the incident last year, had the fresh drugs charge brought against him today.

He is facing trial after DPP directions were given at Blanchardstown District Court.

Judge David McHugh remanded him on continuing bail for the preparation of a book of evidence.

The accused, who is in his 30s and cannot be identified due to reporting restrictions, was already charged with an offence under section 246 of the Children Act.

It was alleged he assaulted, neglected, ill-treated, neglected or abandoned a child in a manner likely to cause suffering injury at a location in west Dublin on October 21 last year.

At his latest court appearance today, a garda sergeant told Judge McHugh he further charged the accused at Clondalkin station this morning and the man made no reply after caution. He was handed a copy of the charge sheet.

The drugs charge alleges that the accused was in possession of cocaine at the same location on either October 20 or 21.

The sgt said the DPP directed that the child neglect charge should be sent forward for trial to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The accused could be sent forward on a signed plea of guilty if that should arise, he said.

The garda also applied to amend this charge to add that the accused allegedly exposed the child in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to the childs health, or seriously affect her well being.

Defence solicitor Richard Young said it was quite a significant change to whats there previously and he was reserving his position in relation to the amendment.

Judge McHugh amended the charge but said the defence had liberty to make an application to the court about it later.

The judge ordered disclosure of prosecution evidence to the defence and adjourned the case to a date in May, for service of a book of evidence. The judge said the accused could be excused from attending court on the next date if the book is not ready.

The defendant, dressed in an overcoat, brown jumper and black trousers, was not required to address the court during the brief hearing and has not yet indicated how he intends to plead to the charges. He was remanded on continuing bail.

Under previously set bail conditions, he is to reside at his current address, be contactable by phone 24 hours a day, and sign on at his local garda station once a week.

The offence of child neglect can, on conviction in the Circuit Court, carry a penalty of up to seven years imprisonment.

The accused cannot be named to protect the child's legal right to anonymity. Section 93 of the Children Act applies to media coverage of the case. The legislation states, "No report shall be published or included in a broadcast which reveals the name, address or school of any child concerned in the proceedings or includes any particulars likely to lead to the identification of any child concerned in the proceedings."

daughtdd The alleged incident sparked a major garda operation last October when a man raised the alarm in Clondalkin Garda Station at around 2 am October 21. The baby was found in west Dublin following a two-hour search. She was taken to Temple Street Children's Hospital and given a medical all-clear.
Visitors at Founding Father Thomas Jeffersons estate-turned-museum often begin their tour gazing up a brick pathway at Monticellos four-column front, while behind them a vista overlooks rural Albemarle County.

A new tour at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, however, begins in a small, unassuming room that most on the mountaintop  even those who work there  have never entered.

The Revolutionary Women at Monticello tour starts in the estates first completed structure at the end of the south terrace where Jefferson and his bride, Martha, spent their honeymoon.

Only offered during the month of March, recognized as Womens History Month, the new tour guides guests through many of the same buildings general tours offer (honeymoon cottage aside), but this time the focus is entirely on the women, enslaved and free, who lived at Monticello alongside Jefferson, third U.S. president, founder of the University of Virginia and author of the Declaration of Independence.

Some of the revolutionary women discussed on the tour lived most, if not all, of their lives on the mountaintop: Martha Randolph and Maria Eppes, daughters of Thomas and Martha Jefferson; Ursula Granger, an enslaved woman trained as a pastry chef and brewer; and Harriet Hemings, daughter of Thomas Jefferson and the enslaved Sally Hemings. Others were frequent visitors, such as Dolley Madison, wife of Thomas Jeffersons fellow Founding Father James Madison. And one never stepped foot on the grounds: Sacagawea, the Lemhi Shoshone woman who guided the Lewis and Clark expedition.

I am excited to have a tour that focuses on the perspectives of women here at Monticello, to understand Monticello, to understand Thomas Jefferson and this early founding of the United States, Ashley Hollinshead, team lead for Monticellos education and visitor programs department, told The Daily Progress. We need to look closer at womens stories, and I think this tour provides a great opportunity to look at this site through a different lens and perspective.

One room placed under an entirely new lens is the big houses parlor. On a typical tour, the room is noted for its sizable art collection; on the Revolutionary Women at Monticello tour the art is not necessarily the focus. Both of Thomas Jeffersons daughters with his wife were married in the parlor; Harriet Hemings, the daughter he had with Sally Hemings after his wifes death, was not given the same privilege.

Tour guide Alice Wagner navigates often difficult conversations in the parlor about the Founding Fathers relationship with Sally Hemings as well as the struggle of Monticellos enslaved families, including those descended from Thomas Jefferson. Two of his children with Sally Hemings, Harriet and Beverly Hemings, managed to pass as White and moved to Washington, D.C., living the remainder of their lives in a freedom many of their friends and family back in Virginia would never know.

As she did on several occasions during a recent tour, Wagner will often pose a question to the group to contemplate and discuss: What did Harriet have to sacrifice in order to pass as White?

Similar to the parlor, instead of discussing Thomas Jeffersons appetite for knowledge or the great political works he composed in the library, Wagner uses the room as a chance to talk about some of the inequalities women faced in Thomas Jeffersons time, specifically regarding education. In the mans own words, A plan of female education has never been a subject of systematic contemplation." Women, including Thomas Jeffersons own legitimate daughters, often had to fight to gain access to the same level of education as men, working toward equality at a professional level outside the classroom and library.

Wagner used the Native American art and artifacts hanging in the houses great hall as a means to discuss Sacagawea, who never met Thomas Jefferson or visited his residence but was nevertheless critical to the expedition west that the Founding Father famously sponsored.

A teenager married to a French Canadian fur trapper, Sacagawea delivered her first child on the expedition with explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark; Lewis assisted with the labor. She served as a diplomat to other Native American tribes they encountered, negotiated the purchase of horses for the party and even participated in the first recorded vote of an Indigenous woman. (In the end, the men did not heed Sacagaweas vote and set up their winter camp on the south side of the Columbia River where they faced illness and scarce food).

The tour highlights various features and experiences that are hidden in plain sight, according to Jane Kamensky, the new president of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the nonprofit group that owns and operates Monticello.

Despite Kamenskys scholarly background in womens history in America (she came to Monticello from Harvard University), the work researching and structuring the Revolutionary Women at Monticello tour was already well underway when she came on board in January.

Womens history is close to my heart, Kamensky told The Daily Progress. Im really excited to see how this one developed. I think its really special to be able to show our visitors the people who made the house home in any way, even though they werent the headliners in the newspaper of the day.

Hollinshead, who led the curation of the tour, said her department began working on the concept about a year ago. In part, the tour is inspired by a women-focused conference hosted by the foundation at the end of March in addition to preparing for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence taking place in July 2026.

Only a handful of Monticellos tour guides received the training and education required to lead the tour  all of them women. Wagner likened the additional study time to taking a graduate course. Hollinshead, who also guides tours, said that in many ways every tour of Monticello is a womens history tour: The majority of people who lived on the mountaintop were women.

We are building on the research that has been ongoing for decades; that research began close to 100 years ago, said Hollinshead. So, were really building on the research that was already there and that we use every day on tours of Monticello.

As Wagner quotes at the start of her tours, well-behaved women seldom make history, so a key challenge for this tour was accumulating enough puzzle pieces to create a complete picture for visitors. During Thomas Jeffersons time, women often served as a households record keepers while the accounts of their own lives were often ignored or discarded.

Much of what we know about the ambiance of the house in the period of Jeffersons retirement comes from female witnesses and Washington socialites who wrote extensive descriptions of social life at Monticello, said Kamensky.

One frequent visitor whose letters informed a significant portion of the knowledge on what life at Monticello was like was Dolley Madison.

Her pen is part of how we know what we know, said Kamensky.

The one-hour Revolutionary Women at Monticello tour is only offered once a day starting at 2:15 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout March. Tickets are $42.

The foundation plans to assess the tour's popularity to determine whether to continue offering the exclusive look into what life was like for the women on the mountaintop after March.
Mr Garrigan, who runs an IT recovery and computer repair business, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Brian Garrigan, from Fairview, Dublin pictured at the Criminal Courts of Justice (CCJ) on Parkgate Street in Dublin a District Court appearance. Pic: IrishPhotoDesk.ie

A FORMER general election candidate has pleaded not guilty to producing a slash hook as a weapon during a dispute with a work crew in Dublin.

Businessman Brian Garrigan, 56, who unsuccessfully ran as an independent candidate in 2020 but wants to be elected in this years council elections, appeared at Dublin District Court today.

He was accused of engaging in threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour under the Public Order Act, a weapons offence for the production of a slash-hook during a dispute, and criminal damage to freshly laid tarmac.

The incident allegedly occurred at Annesley Bridge Road, Fairview, Dublin on October 22 last.

Mr Garrigan, who runs an IT recovery and computer repair business, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

He did not address the court, but his barrister confirmed that the case would be contested.

Judge Monika Leech adjourned it until an April sitting when it will be mentioned to confirm the date for his hearing.

Mr Garrigans website and social media say he has donated more than 550 free computers to various causes to help Syrian and Ukrainian families, Temple Street Hospital, as well as suicide, homeless, and addiction charities.

He has announced on X, formerly Twitter, that he intends to run in the local elections for Dublin Central to put Irish lives first, with a photo of him holding an Irish Lives Matter poster.

During his run for the Dail, he secured 588 votes, including transfers, in the Dublin Bay North constituency and was eliminated in the fourth round of counting.

Mr Garrigan of Fairview Corner, Dublin 3, had canvassed on various issues, including immigration, health, the climate emergency, housing and gender equality.
Derek Delaney (60) retired from the army last summer after 43 years of service, including five tours of duty to the Lebanon

A former long-serving member of the Irish Defence Forces has been jailed for sexually assaulting his young sister in the mid-1980s and for assault causing harm to his former partner last year.

Derek Delaney (60) retired from the army last summer after 43 years of service, including five tours of duty to the Lebanon.

He pleaded guilty earlier this year to the indecent assault of his sister on a date unknown between October 1982 and December 1988 at an address on Bunratty Road, Coolock, Dublin 17.

Delaney was in his early twenties at the time, and his sister, 11 years his junior, was between nine and eleven.

Delaneys sister, Ms Jackie Gardiner, has waived her anonymity in order to allow her brother be named.

Delaney, of Montpelier Hill, Dublin 7, further admitted assault causing harm to his former partner on July 2 last at Common Manor, Seatown Road, Swords.

In a ruling today, at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Martin Nolan sentenced Delaney to twenty months in prison for indecent assault and to a concurrent sentence of 15 months for assault causing harm.

Judge Nolan said Delaney had taken advantage of his sister in what was, for her, a very frightening incident that has marred her life from that date.

The judge set a headline sentence of two to four years but reduced it based on mitigating factors, including Delaneys long history of work and service to the State.

The court heard that Ms Gardiner first reported the indecent assault to the gardai in August 2022, as she wanted to wait until after the death of her father, to whom she was very close.

In a victim impact statement read on her behalf, Ms Gardiner said she was glad that justice had been done, adding, Its a weight off me.

Ms Gardiner said her brother had destroyed her life. I was called a liar by my family for many years. I got threats. I was told I destroyed the family  he destroyed the family, she said.

Ms Gardiner said that after she was sexually assaulted by her brother, she tried to block it out for many years, but that it was always there and caused her to suffer with her mental health.

It always set me back. It made me nervous around men if I didnt know them, she said.

When she was 19, Ms Gardiners friend suffered a similar experience, which triggered her own memories of being abused.

In her statement to the court, she detailed how she tried a number of times to take her own life.

Ms Gardiner said she remembers ringing Delaney in 2011 and telling him: Youll never get away with what youve done. Youve destroyed me.

Detective Garda Michael McCabe told George Burns BL, prosecuting, that Ms Gardiner went to gardai to lodge a complaint in August 2022.

She said that she was nine years old and her brother was 11 years older than her when she was sexually assaulted in an upstairs bedroom of the family home.

Ms Gardiner said she couldnt recall the exact details and had blocked it out, but that her brother had asked her to go to the bed, and she went. She said he was rubbing on her, and she experienced pain in her genitals.

Delaney was arrested in February last year and gave a detailed account of what had happened when he returned from his first tour of duty in Lebanon in 1985.

He told gardai he thought he was on top of his sister moving up and down, but that, as far as he remembered, he never had sexual intercourse with her.

Delaney has one previous conviction, also for indecent assault, dating back to February 7, 1985.

The court heard that Delaney was due to get married to his partner of 17 years when he assaulted her after a night out on July 2 last year.

The court heard that the woman went to Swords Garda Station and reported that she had been headbutted twice and knocked unconscious by Delaney after an argument.

Gardai noticed a large bruise on her forehead, the court heard.

Delaney was arrested shortly after 2 am but deemed unfit for questioning due to intoxication.

He said the reason for the argument was jealousy, adding: I dont be happy when she talks to fellas and vice versa.

He admitted headbutting her on the forehead but said it wasnt full force and denied that he had knocked her unconscious.

She wasnt out cold. I know her; she acts it up, he said but agreed that she had been afraid of him.

The woman submitted a victim impact report, which was not read aloud, and the court heard the couple broke up after this offence.

Delaney has two daughters and a stepson with the woman.

The prosecuting garda agreed with counsel for the defence that Delaney was drinking heavily at the time and under stress due to the allegations that had been made by his sister.

Maurice Coffey SC, defending, noted the brevity of Ms Gardiners evidence and said Delaney had filled in a lot of the details.

He said Delaney was left incredibly bereft after his relationship ended with the woman whom he described as the love of my life.

Mr Coffey said his client got his first job working a paper round at the age of seven and then worked continually until his retirement from the army last summer.

Delaney joined the army in 1981 and went on his first trip to the Lebanon in 1982.

The court heard that Delaney was only in Lebanon a matter of hours when three of his colleagues were shot dead by another Irish soldier at a checkpoint near the Israeli border on October 27, 1982.

Mr Coffey said Delaney was one of the first on the scene of the murders and that it had been traumatic for him. The court heard that Delaney was also briefly taken hostage while in the Lebanon, and suffered from PTSD.

Counsel said that Delaney did not come to garda attention for 40 years and suffered a heart attack in 2018.

Delaney has numerous health problems, the court heard, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. He is also being investigated in Beaumont Hospital in relation to Parkinsons Disease.

The court heard Delaney apologised to gardai for indecently assaulting his sister and for assaulting his former partner and was embarrassed and ashamed about both offences.

Mr Coffey said the indecent assault was a gross breach of trust of his sister but pointed out that there was no allegation of violence or threats.
Mr McCartney said his client had undergone a road to Damascus experience since moving to Donegal

A criminal who provided a getaway car for the attempted murder of notorious Limerick gangster Christy Keane has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years imprisonment by the Special Criminal Court.

At the three-judge court today, 'Red' Larry McCarthy was sentenced for what Ms Justice Caroline Biggs said was the procurement and placement of a getaway car during the course of an "infamous" feud between crime gangs - the McCarthy-Dundons and the Keane-Collopys - in the attempted murder of veteran Limerick criminal Christy Keane.

At a sentencing hearing last month, Brian McCartney KC, for McCarthy, said his client is committed to his family and his new community in Co Donegal, where his personal circumstances and lifestyle are "completely different" to what persisted during his period of offending.

Mr McCartney said his client had a "Damascus Road experience", claiming he turned his life around, since moving to Donegal.

Christy Keane

McCarthy (45), with a previous address at Tower Lodge, Old Court Road, Limerick City, pleaded guilty at the non-jury court in October last year that between June 27 and June 29, 2015, he made a vehicle available to a criminal organisation, the McCarthy-Dundons, that was used as a getaway vehicle in the attempted murder of drug-dealer Keane.

The offence, contrary to Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, carries a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment.

At a hearing last month, Detective Garda Sergeant Paraig O'Dwyer told prosecution counsel John Byrne SC that the McCarthy-Dundon and Keane-Collopy organised crime gangs have been involved in an "infamous feud" dating back to 1993, when Patrick McCarthy was killed.

Christy Keane, said counsel, was acquitted of that murder but his brother, Kieran Keane, was later murdered. Five members of the McCarthy-Dundon gang have been convicted in relation to that offence, the detective said.

In separate cases before the gangland-specialised court, evidence has been given that the Keane gang are involved in the distribution of drugs and suspected of the importation of firearms on a national and international level.

The court heard they had been involved in an ongoing feud with the McCarthy-Dundon gang and that there had been 19 murders.

At the Special Criminal Court today, Ms Justice Biggs said McCarthy has 14 previous convictions, including violent disorder and assault causing harm. She noted that in July 2005 McCarthy received an eleven-year sentence from Southwark court in the UK for possession of a MAC-11 military armament gun.

In sentencing McCarthy, Ms Justice Biggs set a headline sentence of 10 years imprisonment, which placed the offence at the top end of the mid-range for incarceration.

Ms Justice Biggs said that in mitigation the court would reduce McCarthys sentence by 20% to eight years imprisonment.

Ms Justice Biggs said mitigating factors included McCarthys guilty plea, which was of great assistance and a psychologists report saying McCarthy was not judged to be a significant risk of reoffending.

Ms Justice Biggs noted that the psychologist reported that McCarthy had spent his time extremely positively in Donegal, had a job before being taken into custody, had engaged in various programmes and was socially proactive.

In addressing McCarthy's personal circumstances, the judge noted that all three of McCarthys children were either studying or working, with one studying law and another in the British Army, and that his wife had health issues.

Ms Justice Biggs said McCarthy had made very significant progress in Donegal and had been crime-free for nine years.

Ms Justice Biggs said that to incentivise McCarthys ongoing rehabilitation the court would suspend the final 18 months of the eight-year sentence during which time he is to be of good behaviour and remain under the supervision of the probation service.

Prosecution counsel John Byrne SC said McCarthy had already spent two years, seven months and 20 days in custody on the matter, which Ms Justice Biggs said the court would regard as time already served on the six-and-a-half year sentence.

At the sentencing hearing, Garda Superintendent Eamon O'Neill agreed with defence counsel that McCarthy's personal circumstances growing up "eliminated any real prospect of an alternative lifestyle" and that McCarthy had left school at 11 years of age.

The lives of McCarthy, his wife and his three children are "in total contrast" to the lifestyles they may have been attracted to had they remained in Limerick, counsel said.

"His living accommodation and circumstances are completely different to those that persisted during the period of his offending and earlier lifestyle," counsel said. He said the report concluded that McCarthy does not pose a significant risk of threat to any member of the public and is unlikely to reoffend.

He added: "The accused has experienced a Damascus Road experience in terms of his move to the northwest."

"Thirty years ago, his social and personal circumstances would have rendered such changes impossible or highly unlikely. A totally different person appears before this court today," Mr McCartney told the sentence hearing.

ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE

On June 29, 2015, at 6.30am Christy Keane arrived at the University of Limerick gym of which he was a member and where he regularly attended in the mornings.

Two gunmen wearing balaclavas got out of a red Ford Focus and fired 13 rounds into Keane's Nissan pickup truck as he sat in the driver's seat. The gunmen fled in the Ford Focus while Keane made his way on foot to an adjacent running track, where he collapsed.

A nurse who was due to attend the gym class with Keane found him, called emergency services and began administering first aid.

Crime boss Keane was taken to University Hospital Limerick and treated for four gunshot wounds - three to the upper arm and wrist and one to the lower back that punctured a lung.

The Ford Focus was found burned out a short distance away and the gunmen transferred to a white Volvo Estate car which they drove to another area on the outskirts of Limerick City before it was also set on fire.

When gardai examined the cars they found a Glock semi-automatic pistol in the Ford Focus and a Luger in the Volvo forensically linked to the shooting of Keane.

McCarthy, the detective said, had assisted in making the white Volvo estate available to the gunmen. He said McCarthy and another man, Noel Price, travelled from Limerick to Dublin one week before the shooting where Price picked up the Volvo and drove it to Limerick, followed by McCarthy.

McCarthy was also involved in putting the Volvo in position the evening before the shooting, ready for the gunmen to help them make their escape.

In July of last year, Price (then 45) of Kileely Road, Limerick City was jailed for six-and-a-half years for the same offence relating to the Ford Focus.

Price was jailed for having knowledge of the existence of the McCarthy-Dundon criminal organisation, he assisted in making available a vehicle to that criminal organisation with the intention of facilitating the commission by the aforesaid organisation of the attempted murder of Mr Christy Keane or being reckless as to same.

At the time of his sentencing, Price had 90 previous convictions, which include criminal damage, possession of drugs, burglary and assault. Price previously received a 12-year sentence for arson in 2001, after he threw a petrol bomb at the front window of a property belonging to Christy Keane's sister.

Drug-dealer Keane was himself sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2000 for possession of 240,000 worth of cannabis.
Neil Pinkerton (35) of Clandeboye Street in Belfast was ordered to pay legal and court costs and compensation, as well as the suspended sentence.

Its after his bull terrier-type dog bit an 11-year-old boy on the leg on May 3 last year.

The prosecution was taken by Belfast City Council and Mr Pinkerton was convicted under Article 29(2) of The Dogs (Northern Ireland) Order 1983.

Mr Pinkerton was convicted and received a four-month prison sentence, suspended for one year and required to pay 150 legal and court costs and compensation order totalling 250 to the victim.

It was also ordered the dog be destroyed unless kept confined in a building, shed, yard or other enclosure from which it cannot escape, fitted with a muzzle sufficient to prevent the dog biting any person and kept under control.
David Archer (60) showed up in Dublin following his release from a UK prison in March 2023

David Archer (60) had been operating the business in central Dublin. Photo: Mark Condren

A sex trafficker turned artist has been given a three-month prison sentence for failing to inform gardai of his whereabouts after he moved to Ireland from the UK.

David Archer (60) who earned a fortune from prostitution in Britain, showed up in Dublin following his release from a UK prison in March 2023 after serving six of a 13-year sentence.

The former brothel keeper, who then began working as a handyman and artist, had used a hotel and a B&B in Dublin before he was picked up by gardai last month.

He was then refused bail after facing three charges for breaking the terms of the Sex Offenders Act on a date from September 2023  February 12, on November 13, and from June 23  July 1 last year.

He appeared again at Cloverhill District Court, where Judge Alan Mitchell imposed a three-month sentence backdated to February 13, when Archer first went into custody on remand.

At an earlier stage in the proceedings, Garda Paul Cummins said Archer, who "made no reply after caution", had no ties to the State.

He said the accused "evaded" gardai since July and was found on January 31 with a UK passport and driving licence "in the name of an alias".

David Archer (60) had been operating the business in central Dublin. Photo: Mark Condren

At a contested bail hearing, another judge was told that Archer had presented himself at the front of an address he was using but "fled out the back door."

The court heard he then "emptied his bank account".

The garda feared Archer, who had been in the country about a year, would flee if granted bail.

He believed the accused, arrested at a Leeson Street B&B, had access to large sums of money outside the State.

The charges were summary offences dealt with at the non-jury District Court level.

The garda had said that the accused was convicted of very serious sex offences in the UK.

As a result of his past, he was required to notify gardai of his whereabouts every three days.

Pleading for bail with "stringent" conditions, his solicitor had said there were stories about his client in the news media after he came to Ireland to work as a handyman and artist.

However, the articles about him "made his life as difficult as possible", his solicitor said.

The proceedings also heard that there were no other offences alleged against him.

He withdrew 8250 from his bank account, but his solicitor, Peter Connolly, said his earnings were from his work, not nefarious activity.

He also told the court he was instructed Archer minded the UK driving licence and passport for a friend.

Legal aid was granted.
The man has been named as former chef Danilo De Silva who was serving a three jail sentence

No foul play has is suspected in the death of a 43-year-old inmate who was found dead in his cell in Mountjoy Prison earlier this morning..

The grim discovery was made this morning in the prisons C Base.

The man has been named as former chef Danilo De Silva who was serving a three jail sentence imposed in May, 2022, for the brutal assault of a sex worker in November, 2000.

Da Silva was on a protection regime in Mountjoy Prison which means he was serving his time on a segregated wing.

This afternoon the Irish Prison Service said in a statement: The Irish Prison Service can confirm that there was a death of a person in custody in Mountjoy Prison on 6th March 2024 and the next of kin have been notified.

All deaths in custody are investigated by the Irish Prison Service, the Inspector of Prisons and An Garda Siochana, where circumstances warrant. The cause of death is determined by the Coroners Office.

In June 2021 De Silva of Jigginstown, Naas, Co Kildare pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to the woman at her home in Clondalkin on November, 2020.

After being charged with the 2020 assault, Da Silva spent a number of weeks on remand in prison before being released on bail.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that during the frenzied attack in November 2020, he was shouting at the woman like a crazy man to give him money.

She said he struck the knife at her head and throat but she managed to shield the blows using her hand.

When gardai arrived at the scene, the palm of her hand had a large cut and was covered in blood. De Silva had fled the scene but was later arrested.

The woman also sustained a small cut to her face. In her victim impact statement, she said she has struggled with anxiety and fear since the attack.

The victim was operating as a sex worker at the apartment at the time. De Silva arrived by appointment and they had consensual sex after which De Silva produced the large knife.

The court heard that he had previously worked as a professional chef but was out of work once again at the time after the country had gone back into lockdown due to Covid 19 transmission rates.

Judge Pauline Codd said that this was an attack on the most vulnerable of women, a woman working in the sex industry. She noted that De Silva did not deliberately set out to bring the knives and they were in his backpack from his work as a chef.

She said there has to be deterrence to this sort of attack of vulnerable women. She sentenced De Silva to three years imprisonment.

The Irish Prison Service does not comment on individual prisoner cases, a spokesman said when specifically asked about Da Silvas prison regime.
Khan (41) told the court he had fallen onto the bonnet of Ursula Fowlers car after she had reversed and drove four times into his leg injuring his knee and ankle

A taximans allegation that an 80-year-old woman had driven her car four times into his leg after rear-ending his taxi, was described in court today as untruthful, bizarre and grotesque before he abandoned the 60,000 personal injury claim he had brought against her.

Talal Khan, of Rosse Court Heights, Lucan, Co Dublin, was told by barrister Shane English that he had made the very same allegations of being driven into against one of six other motorists he had brought damages claims against arising from road traffic accidents.

Mr English, who appeared with Hayley Tarmen of Ennis Solicitors, told Judge Terence OSullivan in the Circuit Civil Court that Khan had refused to divulge how much compensation he had already obtained from his previous damages claims.

Khan (41) told the court he had fallen onto the bonnet of Ursula Fowlers car after she had reversed and drove four times into his leg injuring his knee and ankle. He said Fowler, of Ardagh Crescent, Blackrock, Co Dublin, had driven into him as he attempted to take a photo of her car.

He said he had injured his neck and back when Ms Fowler had minutes earlier collided with the rear of his taxi near Leopardstown in October 2019.

Mr English, in cross-examination, asked Khan why he had not divulged a number of other accidents he had been involved in, claiming he had allegedly suffered neck and back injuries in every one of them.

Mr English told him Ms Fowler would tell the court he had bullied her by driving out of a bus lane and forcing her to give way and let him into her traffic lane. He described his allegations of her having driven into his leg as outrageous and told him he was untruthful and grossly exaggerating his injuries and what had happened.

When Judge OSullivan was told by Mr English he would be making an application for the court to dismiss Khans claim on the basis of misleading the court the judge agreed to give the party a few minutes for talks.

When Khans barrister told the court he had been instructed to withdraw the 60,000 claim against Ms Fowler, Judge OSullivan said he thought it was a very sensible approach and would not say anything that he might have said.

During the trial Mr English had told the court Ms Fowler had been driving for 50 years during which time she had worked for her insurer, Aviva.
Two men are due in court later today as part of a garda probe into the alleged activities of an organised human trafficking gang.

Last week, gardai arrested three men after searches of five locations in Co Cork and two locations in Co Roscommon.

Gardai said the searches came as a result of an investigation into the activities of an Organised Crime Group (OCG) based in Ireland, with an Eastern European connection.

A garda spokesman said the group were involved in the alleged trafficking of persons into Ireland for the purpose of labour exploitation.

More than 100 officers were involved in last weeks operations led by detectives from the Divisional Protective Service Unit, Co Cork and supported by uniform and plain clothes Gardai, Garda Dog Unit, Armed Support Unit, and Scenes of Crime Unit.

This morning, gardai confirmed two of the arrested men have now been charged, while a third man has been released without charge.

A spokesman said: Gardai have charged two men (30s and 40s) who were arrested on Saturday 2nd March 2024 as part of an investigation into organised crime related activities.

They are expected to appear before Midleton District Court this morning, Thursday 7th March 2024.

The third arrested man (30s) has been released without charge. A file will be prepared for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Last week, gardai also appealed to any person who may be the victim of human trafficking or labour exploitation to speak to come forward and speak with them, either at a local Garda station, or to call the Garda Confidential Phone Number on 1800 666 111.

An Garda Siochana understands that victims of these crimes may not always be in a position to report themselves, maybe there is opportunity to speak to a Garda who you might meet at any location, gardai added.

Importantly, An Garda Siochana appeals to any person with any information on these heinous crimes or suspects that any person is the victim of human trafficking to speak up.
The 35-year-old was rushed to hospital after the terrifying knife attack

Two teens have been arrested in Brazil after an Irish tourist was savagely knifed over six times in a street robbery.

The 35-year-old Irish man was rushed to hospital after being attacked by two men who mugged him in the early hours of December 29 as he headed to a holiday home he was renting with relatives.

The mugging occurred around 1am in the upmarket neighbourhood of Vila Velha, a coastal resort in the state of Espirito Santo just over 300 miles north of Rio de Janeiro.

Brazilian Police announced today that it has concluded an investigation into the vicious assault and arrested two juveniles.

Brazilian newspaper A Gazeta reports:

The victim, stabbed in the head and back, was in Espirito Santo to spend New Year's Eve with his mother and sister, who came from Minas Gerais.

On that occasion, the man, with dual nationality (Brazilian and Irish), was hit by two teenagers, aged 16 and 17. The duo was identified and one of them was apprehended last Friday.

Delegate Gabriel Monteiro, head of the Specialized Department of Criminal Investigations (Deic), detailed the the suspects were responsible for other robberies in the municipality.

CCTV footage of attack

"Hours before the crime, the duo also robbed a woman in Coqueiral de Itaparica.

"In the case of the tourist, they approached him demanding his cell phone, with extreme violence.

A Police Spokesperson said: "At no point, according to the victim, was there a reaction (from him).

"But we believe, even from the images, that there was no reaction. They stabbed more than six times. Due to great luck, he did not die, thank God.

The Irish victim reportedly didn't understand what was happening and did not had over his mobile phone.

The teenagers who confessed to the crime reportedly have a history of drug trafficking.

According to Brazilian cops, the knife used in the crime was thrown into the Jucu River.

The un-named Irishman said that he saw a firearm in the waist of one of the attackers. This was denied by the pair.

This would be an aggravating situation for both of them, highlighted top Brazilian cop Gabriel Monteiro.

In the grainy footage of the incident, the two attackers are seen sneaking up on the Irish man from behind.

An interaction occurs and a melee ensues.

A resident whose husband alerted the emergency services told Brazilian media: He was left covered in blood and local residents helped him. He was stabbed four times, in the back, shoulder and head.

The telephone the muggers tried to steal was left lying on the street following the violent struggle and was handed in to the authorities by a member of the public.

The Irish tourist was treated in hospital in Vitoria, which is Santo Espiritos capital city.
The assets were determined to have come from the illegal sale and supply of drugs in the wider Cabra and Finglas suburbs of Dublin

The watches were sold at auction on the 4th December 2023 for a total of 72,900. Source: An Garda Siochana

One of the watches seized by CAB

One of the seven designer watches seized by CAB. Source: An Garda Siochana

The bathroom from inside the 61 Killala Road, Cabra, Dublin 7 home seized by CAB, due to be sold by private treaty and/or public auction in due course. Source: An Garda Siochana

The kitchen of Christopher Waldron's Cabra home, which was seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) Source: An Garda Siochana.

The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) have seized the assets of Christopher Waldron, including a property in Cabra, seven designer watches amounting to 72,000, and a sum of cash.

The assets were determined to have come from the illegal sale and supply of drugs in the wider Cabra and Finglas suburbs of Dublin, following a year long investigation by CAB.

Home of Christopher Waldron in Cabra.

Christopher Git Waldron, who has a number of criminal convictions, lost his Cabra home following a three-year legal battle with CAB.

It was agreed in November in the High Court that the Cabra home would be turned over to CAB, however a Finglas property was returned to Mr Waldron.

High Court orders were granted to CAB to seize the property on Killala Road, Cabra, seven designer watches as well as 4,605 and 445, both in cash.

One of the watches seized by CAB

The watches were sold at auction in December last and amounted to 72,900. The most expensive of those was a Gentlemans 18ct yellow gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Day automatic watch sold for 30,100.

Its hefty price tag is followed by Gentlemans stainless steel and 18ct yellow gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sky-Dweller automatic watch sold for 14,900.

In total, more than 77,000 has already been returned to the State.

The property seized this morning had been acquired by Mr Waldron in 2013. As part of the investigation, a quantity surveyor was appointed to carry out an inspection of the home.

One of the seven designer watches seized by CAB. Source: An Garda Siochana

Following the inspection, it had been determined that the property had been extensively renovated.

The estimated cost of these works excluding fees was in the region of 430,000.

The funds used to build an extension and renovate the property were also determined to have derived from criminal activity, CAB said.

The property will be sold by private treaty and/or public auction in due course, the proceeds of which will also be lodged to the States Central Fund.
The University of Virginia Creative Writing Program will present a reading by author Amir Ahmadi Arian at 5 p.m. March 14 in Newcomb Halls Commonwealth Room as part of his time as Rea Visiting Writer in Fiction.

Arian has published two novels, a collection of stories and a nonfiction book in Persian. His first novel in English, Then the Fish Swallowed Him, was published in 2020 by HarperVia/HarperCollins.

Arian also has translated works from English to Persian, including novels by E.L. Doctorow, Paul Auster, P.D. James and Cormac McCarthy.

Jefferson-Madison Regional Library and Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP have teamed up to encourage students to consider professional library work as a career choice by offering a library internship and scholarship program for students in Charlottesville and Albemarle, Greene, Louisa and Nelson counties. Applications will be accepted through 5 p.m. April 19.

Students in the program can find 200 annual hours of library work and a $3,000 stipend. An annual $2,000 scholarship can go toward the completion of an associates, bachelors or masters degree.

Candidates must be at least 17 or entering 12th grade to apply. Application forms can be found at https://www.jmrl.org/sites/default/files/pdf/internship_application-2024.pdf.

Paper and electronic applications will be accepted; they must include a completed form, a 300-word essay, transcripts showing completed high school courses and grade-point average and a resume listing work, volunteer and extracurricular experience.

High school students must include a letter of college acceptance or a letter from a high school counselor verifying the applicants intention to attend college. Letters of reference from two people who are not family members who are familiar with the applicants academic and/or work background are required as well.

The award will be announced on or before May 24. For information, email David Plunkett, library director, at director@jmrl.org; write to him at 201 E. Market St., Charlottesville, VA 22902; or write to Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP President, P.O. Box 1522, Charlottesville, VA 22903.

The Library of Virginia Foundation has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Americana Corner Preserving America Grant Program to support its project to conserve and digitize the executive papers of Thomas Nelson, who was elected Virginias fourth governor in 1781.

The project is focusing on 2,048 documents from Nelsons short term from June 12 to Nov. 22, 1781. They include correspondence related mainly to the Revolutionary War, including letters from George Washington, the Marqis de Lafayette and Nathanael Greene. The Library of Virginia is one of 121 organizations across the country receiving more than $1.4 million in grant funding for 2024.

Nelson County is named for him, as is Nelson County in Kentucky.
Dubliner Carl Carrs furious family say Wayne Walsh is making a mockery of the Spanish justice system

AN IRISHMAN facing nearly two decades behind bars over his flatmates suspected Costa love triangle murder has bragged he is chilling like a villain while he awaits trial.

Dubliner Carl Carrs furious family say Wayne Walsh is making a mockery of the Spanish justice system after he posted selfie videos and photos online showing off his carefree lifestyle while they try to come to terms with their devastating loss.

Public prosecutors have accused Walsh of hitting Carl in the face with a knuckleduster while another Irishman stabbed him and carrying out a Reservoir Dogs crime scene clean-up before burying his body with an alleged Spanish accomplice.

A judge is expected to set a trial date at a court hearing next month in Torrevieja near the Costa Blanca city of Alicante.

But Walsh, out on bail despite his homicide and unlawful weapons possession charges and a recent separate drugs arrest, has made it clear in a series of astonishing TikTok posts the thought of a long prison stretch is not worrying him.

One of the videos he posted recently on the social media app, where he uses the controversial 'chilling like a villain' tagline alongside a clover emoji to describe his easy-going way of life, shows him driving a speedboat bare-chested with shades on alongside the caption: Roll on the summer.

Another pic shows him locking lips during a day out at the beach with a pretty blonde expat friends have described as a new girlfriend he began dating after being bailed.

He has also filmed himself dancing at a festival with the mystery woman in his life who he affectionately calls Tasha.

The brazen influencer, followed by thousands every day, professes his devotion for her with several I love you messages.

Overnight Carls family accused Walsh of complete insensitivity with his gloating posts and his TikTok tagline choice.

The murdered mans mum Marie Carr was too upset to speak today.

But a close friend said: They have seen some of the photos Walsh is posting and are absolutely disgusted.

Its sickening for them that hes not being kept behind bars when hes being accused of such serious crimes.

It turns their stomach to see hes gloating about his sunshine lifestyle on social media when they feel he should at least be keeping a low profile and ideally hiding in a hole somewhere.

Carls mum is still having sleepless nights over what happened to her son. Seeing his alleged killer out on a boat and having lovely restaurant meals is making her suffer even more. The family just cant believe this is real.

Another said: Walsh doesnt think hes doing any prison time by the looks of these pictures. Why would he write Roll on the summer otherwise!

It beggars belief he can be so insensitive. I hope the Spanish authorities get wind of all this and bring him up over it.

The case Spanish public prosecutors will present against Walsh at trial was laid bare for the first time late last year.

The knifeman, identified as Kilkenny-born Simon Fahy, died last October aged just 31 after Costa authorities made a second attempt to have him extradited from Ireland so he could face trial.

He and Walsh, 36, had been accused of fatally attacking their victim with a knuckle-duster and knife at the Torrevieja flat they shared.

Prosecutors allege Fahy saw Carr having sex with Walshs part-time British model ex-partner Milly Leonard at the flat following a night out and went to a nearby pub his pal was drinking at to alert him.

Their indictment says they attacked their alleged victim by common and prior agreement, acting with the intention of ending his life.

It adds, outlying the prosecution case against Walsh and Fahy before it emerged Fahy had died and cannot be tried: The accused Wayne Patrick Walsh hit Carl Aidan Carr several times in the face using a knuckle-duster and with the same disposition, the accused Simon Fahy stabbed him several times, causing his death as a result of complex facial bone fractures.

The 13-page document, made public last November, accuses them of calling a Spaniard named as Alberto Fernandez Camino to help them carry out a Reservoir Dogs-style clean-up of the crime scene after killing dad-of-two Carl before removing his body in the boot of Walshs Audi A4 and burying it a 20 minute drive away.

Carls body was discovered buried in woodland by the AP-7 motorway between the Costa Blanca towns of Benijofar and Algorfa at the end of January 2019, just over five months after he was last seen.

The row that led to the Irishman being attacked is said to have occurred around 2.30am on September 17 2018.

Five suspects, all currently on bail, are due to go on trial.

The defendants also include Walshs 28-year-old ex Milly Leonard, full name Emilia Nicole Leonard Phillips. She has been charged with concealment and warned she faces a prison sentence of up to three years if convicted after being accused of lying about her movements in the run-up to Carls murder to help her former partner evade justice.

Two more British women are facing the same charge and prison demand, a bar worker named as 34-year-old Natalie Jane Edwards and 43-year-old Anna Marie Hudson.

State prosecutors have said they want Walsh jailed for 18 years if found guilty - 15 years for homicide and three for unlawful possession of a firearm.

Local reports around the time of the suspects arrests said Walsh had started seeing Milly again after a split shortly before Carl was killed but was also sleeping with fellow defendant Natalie Edwards. There is no mention of an ongoing romance with either woman in the indictment.

Carls grief-stricken mum Marie said after being told her sons body had been found: I believe he was killed because of a romantic triangle, by a man he knew who accused him of dating one of his girlfriends.

He told me twice in the last conversation we had that he loved me. Those were his last words, I love you Mam.

Whoever did this to my son must pay the consequences.

In March last year it emerged Walsh had been re-arrested in Spain as the alleged leader of a drug trafficking organisation.

He had been released on conditional bail in August 2020 while he continued to be probed over Carl Carrs homicide.

The Civil Guard subsequently held him on suspicion of leading a gang based in the Costa Blanca resort of Torrevieja which was using parcel and courier companies to send drugs to the UK, Ireland and the States.

That investigation is understood to be still ongoing.
I had internal bleeding. My family was brought in to say goodbye. I was given minutes to live

A Clare woman has described the horror of almost losing her life following surgery for a gastric sleeve in Turkey.

Leanne ODriscoll, a mother from Meelick, advocates for people to avoid bariatric surgeries abroad, after her near-death experience following gastric band surgery.

The procedure two years ago led to severe complications, with Leanne ultimately ending up moments from death.

Leanne shared her frightening story on Thursdays Morning Focus show on Clare FM.

"Ireland was costing between 12 and 14,000 for the procedure. I knew people who went to Turkey to get the surgery and they came out fantastic," she said.

Leanne had not been happy with her appearance, she explained, and had joined together with three others to get the weight reduction surgery completed in unison.

"I was depressed about my weight, shopping was a nightmare, she said.

"People looked great after their surgery so we decided to go as a group.

"You send your name, age, weight and height by Whatsapp.

"But there was no English speakers when we arrived at the hospital. They told me everything was fine. You hand over the money after they did their tests.

"We got a group discount for 2,400. Looking back, that was a red flag.

Leanne initially delayed her surgery and then wanted to back out completely.

"It was looking ok but we were using Google translate to communicate. The doctor said he would do three of us in one evening.

"I wanted to wait until the morning. I got cold feet but they sedated me and brought me down anyway. I got a gut feeling to say no.

"After the surgery I was vomiting blood for two days. Surgery was on a Tuesday and we were flying on the Saturday.

"By the Friday I was okay and they removed the drain.

"I started pumping. The nurse just put a gauze and pressed it against me. I was feeling so cold. I was drifting in and out of sleep.

On the flight home, everyone in her group was hot but they became concerned for Leannes safety as she was shivering.

"I took a shower and woke up on the bed when I got home. I felt so dizzy. It was not normal.

"I thought I was dehydrated. When my sister saw me they rang an ambulance immediately. I was grey and my lips were blue.

"Thanks to my partner and his brother; they carried me down. I was brought to UHL. My blood pressure showed I needed an emergency scan.

"I had internal bleeding. My family was brought in to say goodbye. I was given minutes to live.

"I was oblivious that I was dying. I had sepsis and went into septic shock.

Leannes kidneys failed and she had emergency surgery which lasted six hours.

"I lost 11 pints of blood. There are question marks now over my future. Im on antibiotics for the rest of my life.

"I have no immunity against bacteria. I have to take penicillin for the rest of my life.

"Health is wealth, that is how I look at life now.

"Do not go abroad for surgery, the Clare woman added.

You can listen to Leannes harrowing story here.
Ms Ferguson, a trainee beautician, and Samuel Stewart (37) died in the accident last Thursday night

A priest has urged friends and family of a young woman killed in a Co Antrim crash to keep her memory alive.

Leah Ferguson (20) died following a three-vehicle collision in Crumlin last week.

Her funeral was held in St Bernards Church in Glengormley yesterday , where Fr Patrick Sheehan urged mourners: Dont waste Leahs death  you can hold her in your memory by living life as she did.

Ms Ferguson, a trainee beautician, and Samuel Stewart (37) died in the accident at Ballyhill Road last Thursday night.

Both were from the Belfast area.

Fr Sheehan passed his sympathies on to Ms Fergusons family, telling them: She had so much more to live for, Im sure you have many memories of her as a child being so loving and affectionate.

Ms Ferguson had a strong bond with her family, the priest said, urging her loved ones to remember the importance of family during their grieving process.

Value the family we sometimes fight with and fall out with as Leah often did when she was a teenager, he said. And fall back in with them like Leah often did.

He urged Ms Fergusons friends to use her life as an example, telling them: Let the last thing she can do be [to give you] a call to true life.

The priest noted the large congregation that had arrived to pay their respects, saying he hoped it would provide her family with some comfort.

I hope everyones presence here today is a little bit of a help to you, he said.

He told her loved ones: "I am sure the memories will come back every so often of Leah, always ready to give hugs and kisses when you least expect them.

Over the past week, many of Ms Fergusons devastated friends have offered their condolences to her family online.

The most beautiful girl in the world, one tribute read.

Another wrote: Absolutely heart-breaking, Leah was such a beautiful young girl.

Im so sorry for your loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and all the family at this sad time.

An online fundraiser has been set up in Leahs memory.

The JustGiving page has already raised over 5,000 despite the initial goal being 1,500.

Meanwhile, the funeral of Mr Stewart, who also died in the crash, will be held at his parents home at Hopewell Crescent tomorrowat 11.30am and afterwards to Roselawn Cemetery.

Samuel Stewart

A message on the notice from his parents says: Our precious son, you were taken from us too soon, our world has fell apart, it will never be the same without you.

How can we go on living without you, but hopefully it wont be long until we are together again. We love you son, forever, your broken-hearted mum and dad.
This was Tweeds way of getting back at the girls. He really was a sick and warped individual

This is the last will and testament made by Davy Tweed, when in care of HMP Magilligan for the rape of his daughters. Tweeds daughters said that their father continues to play games with them from the Grave after he excluded Two of his daughters from his will.

Davy Tweeds stepdaughter Amanda Brown, with reporter Hugh Jordon, who broke the first story on the abuse the tweed girls suffered at the hands of their father. Amanda, with her recently published book, No Peace Until Hes Dead - My Story of Child Abuse at the hands of Davy Tweed and My Journey to Recovery.

Sex-abuse monster Davy Tweed sent a sick beyond-the-grave message to his victims, the Sunday World can reveal.

In Tweeds last will and testament  lodged in Belfasts Chancery Court a year ago today  the predatory paedophile declined to leave any cash payout to two of the young women who testified against him in court.

This was Tweeds way of getting back at the girls. He really was a sick and warped individual, a member of the Tweed family said.

Tweed died two-and-a-half years ago when his motorbike crashed at a junction on the Antrim coast. His neck snapped when the bike struck a fence post and he died instantly.

Davy Tweed's headstone

But the Sunday World has learned that a year after Tweed was jailed for eight years for child abuse, he hatched a plot to deny the daughters who gave compelling evidence against him during two trials.

It is believed that even though Tweed eventually walked from court a free man, he was furious with the girls.

And he was determined to pay them back for the humiliation they caused him by forcing him into the dock for abusing them.

On December 5, 2013  a year after his incarceration  Tweed arranged a meeting inside HMP Magilligan to draw up his last will and testament.

He appointed two of his sisters as executors and he personally signed the legal document which was then witnessed by another sister and the male partner of one of the executors.

But the devil is in the detail of the document. Tweed created four beneficiaries and the net value of his estate  147,113  is to be divided four ways.

Tweed instructed his executors to leave cash to two named charities as well as his daughters Victoria and Jamiee-Leigh.

But he has deliberately excluded his daughters Catherine and Lorraine and stepdaughter Amanda. Lorraine and Amanda both gave evidence against him in court.

Lorraine Tweed said last night: I think most people now realise Davy Tweed was a manipulative and scheming individual.

I remember giving evidence against him and the witness box was close to the dock. When I was speaking, he was coughing and moving about in the dock.

It was all a diversion to put me off. But I refused to look at him or even acknowledge his presence.

Davy Tweed's daughters (clockwise from back left) Jamiee-Lee, Lorraine, Victoria, Amanda and Catherine,

By doing this with his will, it is just another example of his controlling nature.

If he only knew  none of us care what he did with his money. But it is interesting to see the sick game he was playing when he was in prison.

On his release from prison, Tweed paraded around Ballymoney as though he owned the place.

He renewed his old unionist and loyalist friendships and he was soon invited to renew his membership of the Orange Order and the Apprentice Boys of Derry.

He even bought himself a new bowler hat for a trip to the Maiden City, where he was seen parading around Derrys ancient walls.

In the months before his death in 2021, Tweed had been attending the Hebron Free Presbyterian Church in Ballymoney, where he lived. And it was there his funeral took place.

He is buried near his parents grave in the cemetery behind Dunloy Presbyterian Church.
A new rescue helicopter is joining the Bay of Plenty fleet.

In a statement released this week, the Aerocool Rescue Helicopter announced the newest addition to its fleet  the Airbus H145 twin-engine rescue helicopter.

The Bay of Plenty Coastal region will now be seeing this new rescue helicopter flying above, all thanks to the amazing community and sponsors.

The Airbus H145 rescue helicopter has advanced autopilot capabilities which work by allowing the helicopter's flight control system to take over several manual tasks that were previously operated by the pilot, enabling the helicopter to fly predefined and customised routes accurately.

This, in turn, significantly reduces the pilots workload, meaning they can concentrate on critical tasks.

With its advanced autopilot system, your rescue helicopter crew also have greater capability to fly in poor weather conditions that were previously considered unsuitable.

On top of that, there is also an increased amount of space in the cabin, which allows easy access to specialist emergency medical equipment for the Critical Care Flight Paramedic, making the emergency response process even more efficient.

"The addition of the Airbus H145 rescue helicopter is a game-changer for the Aerocool Rescue Helicopter crew. With advanced avionic technology and increased cabin space, our ability to respond to critical situations has been significantly enhanced," says Aerocool Rescue Helicopter base manager and pilot Liam Brettkelly.

"We are proud to serve the Bay of Plenty Coastal region with this top-of-the-line aircraft and are thankful to our community and sponsors for making this happen."

The Aerocool Rescue Helicopter is manned with a dedicated team of pilots, crewmen, and critical care flight paramedics on call 24/7, 365 days a year.

In 2023, alone, the Aerocool Rescue Helicopter carried out 519 missions to the Bay of Plenty Coastal and surrounding regions.

The launch of the Airbus H145 rescue helicopter marks a significant milestone for the region.

With its advanced technology and skilled crew onboard, the Aerocool Rescue Helicopter is available in an instant for those who need it most.
When fate cruelly conspired to close one door on Dr Sharon De Luca, a couple of security doors slid quietly open for her. And a bit of normality crept through.

I have my independence back, says Dr De Luca. I have more time in the mornings, and I am not all flustered arriving at work.

And all because she scored a fob key and a bike park in the Tauranga CBD.

Its very exciting.

Its the Bike Stop on Grey St  the first covered and secure bike and scooter parking facility in the CBD  another incentive for car-addicted Tauranga City workers to embrace alternative transport options.

And its changed a life. Very cool, says Dr De Luca.

To appreciate that cool and why the bike park is important to her, it helps to understand her past.

Four years ago she was diagnosed with a disease of the central nervous system  the name of which, is as long, menacing sounding, and as complicated as the disease itself. Autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein astrocytopathy, or GFAP astrocytopathy for short.

Very rare, very un-studied, says Dr De Luca. So un-studied, her neurologist has been learning alongside as she navigates the disease. Probably only a couple of cases in New Zealand. Not that this outdoorsy-kind-of-woman wants, or needs, that kind of celebrity.

Reduced mobility

Initially the lurgy, as she jokingly understates it, affected the optic nerves in both eyes, then her mobility, her spatial awareness and cognitive ability.

I am left with reduced mobility now. She gets about with the aid of hiking poles.

The marine scientist cant do field work anymore.

Very frustrating! But she can still write expert marine ecology reports. She cant play her beloved squash anymore. I used to be pretty good.

But she can still prepare expert evidence for the environment court.

Her bio says the scientist enjoys a complex and challenging ecological project. But she struggled with a challenge that arose every day just before getting to her office at Boffa Miskell, the environmental consultancy in Grey St.

Where to park her flash $22,000 recumbent electric bike? A bike with a semi-reclined seat and the pedals in front rather than below. A sturdy three-wheeler, which removes some of the balance issues of a traditional upright bike.

But her condition made it impossible for Dr De Luca to manhandle and manoeuvre the bike through two doors into a bike park in her building  it was achievable but a hassle.

If I got the right angle I could squeeze it into the lift and take it to my office on the fifth floor. Again, a real bother to start every working day.

But Dr De Luca thrives on her boardwalk ride through the mangroves on the Waikareao Estuary every day  the salt marshes and the bush fringes along the Daisy Hardwick walkway. Its probably why shes known to some as the mad mangrove woman.

I love being out in the open. Its my passion. She could drive but chooses to ride. Thats what city fathers, the transport planners want to hear  the will to get out of cars.

78 bike and scooter spaces

Thats why Tauranga City Council partnered with locally-owned business, Basestation, the co-working space outfit.

They leased a vacant shop at 28 Grey Stand fitted it out with 78 bike and scooter spaces, powerpoints for charging e-bikes and scooters.

And lockers. All safely behind double security doors and monitored by CCTV cameras. Its open Monday-Friday from 5am to 10pm.

To gain access riders can register on the Basestation website and theyll get an access code, or fob key. Just $1 a day to assist with managing the facility. Beats the cost and bother of carparking, or a bus fare.

The city centre is transforming, says TCCs Gareth Wallis.

So its important we create a future which supports a wider range of sustainable transport choices.

What our transport planners are saying is theyre making it easier for people to bike or scooter into the city to work. And a big part of that is having end-of-trip facilities like Bike Stop.

So easy!

And, it doesnt end there though  plans are underway for some free and covered bike stands for people who want to visit the city centre to just shop, eat or take in a movie.

Its more significant than all that for Dr De Luca. Its a life-changer.

Bike Stop makes it so easy to go to work on your bike, get some exercise and be in the environment. It tells her we need to get out of our cars. I hardly use my car at all now.

Bike Stop has started slowly  just 15 cyclists a day. But word is getting out, and it had its busiest day just last week. It deserves to be used by more people.
Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription.

Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service.
Stephen Baldwins daughter, Alaia Baldwin Aronow, has been arrested after an alleged bar fight.

A police report released this week shows Aronow, the older sister of Hailey Bieber, was arrested on Feb. 24 at club Elan in Savannah, Georgia. Aronow, 31, is accused of throwing a used tampon at the clubs bartender, leading to charges of simple assault, simple battery, battery and criminal trespassing.
President Joe Bidens administration announced a new round of student loan forgiveness earlier in February and now the federal Education Department is revealing how many people in each state will benefit.

Over 8,100 people in New York will see loans forgiven in the new round of cancellation. The forgiven debt will total over $63 million.

Nationwide, the new student loan forgiveness will benefit nearly 153,000 people total. About $1.2 billion in student loans will be canceled.

The new relief will go to borrowers currently enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan who have been making loan payments for 10 years or longer and who originally took out $12,000 or less, according to CNBC.

If you qualify, the forgiveness will be automatic. People who are eligible will get an email informing them of the debt cancellation, according to CBS News.

Normally, borrowers in income-driven repayment plans like SAVE get loan forgiveness after making payments for 20 or 25 years. Under SAVE, those who borrowed less can get the debt canceled after just 10 years, CNBC said.

Biden has been announcing various batches of student loan relief for months.

The administration has now forgiven about $138 billion in student debt overall. Nearly 3.9 million people have benefited from the moves, according to the White House.

The moves are part of a political strategy as Biden seeks reelection in November, according to USA Today. Research has shown Democrats and younger voters reward politicians who deliver on loan relief, USA Today said.

You can see a breakdown of how many people in each U.S. state will benefit from the new round of student loan forgiveness in the table below. The amount of total forgiveness in each state is also shown.

If you cant see the table, click here to open it in a new window.
New York  A Texas man was arrested Wednesday on accusations that he schemed to dupe George Santos into wiring him money with the false promise that he could get the criminal corruption charges against the disgraced congressman dropped.

Federal prosecutors said Hector Medina of El Paso concocted a fake identity as a fixer with connections to judges as he solicited a wire transfer from Santos, then a New York congressman facing his own wire fraud charges and scandal.

There is no indication in the criminal complaint that Santos took Medina up on his alleged offer.
Washington  Central New Yorks two Republican members of Congress cast opposing votes on a $460 billion spending bill that the House passed to avoid a partial government shutdown.

Rep. Brandon Williams, R-Sennett, joined the House Republican majority who voted with Democrats to pass a package of six spending bills that would extend funding for federal programs through Sept. 30.

The bill passed Wednesday by a vote of 339-85.

Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-Cleveland, was among 83 Republicans who voted with two Democrats against the measure.

Tenney stood out as the only one of New Yorks 26 House members to vote against the legislation. She agreed with hard-right Republicans who said the bills did not cut spending enough or include their policy demands, such as new limits on access to abortion.

This 1,050-page spending monstrosity does not provide the relief that the American people are demanding and will only increase already sky-high prices and add to our national debt, Tenney said in a statement.

Tenney, whose district includes Cayuga County and most of Oswego County, said the bill also had some positive aspects  namely the funding for 12 infrastructure projects in her district. Those projects would cost more than $16 million.

Williams secured about $20 million in grants for projects in the 22nd Congressional District, including about $6 million for upgrades at Syracuse Hancock International Airport.

The Senate is expected to quickly approve the spending bills ahead of a Friday deadline to avoid a partial shutdown.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
A former WWE wrestling star and Republican congressional candidate has voluntarily surrendered to authorities after being accused of murder.

The Associated Press reports Daniel Rodimer, 45, turned himself in to police in Nevada on Wednesday. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said earlier in the day that a warrant was issued for Rodimers arrest on a charge of open murder in the death of Christopher Tapp.
Santa Fe, N.M.  A jury convicted a movie weapons supervisor of involuntary manslaughter on Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal on the set of the Western movie Rust.

The verdict against movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed assigned new blame in the October 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021 after an assistant director last year pleaded no contest to negligent handling of a firearm.

Gutierrez-Reed also had faced a second charge, of evidence tampering, stemming from accusations that she handed a small bag of possible narcotics to another crew member after the shooting to avoid detection. She was found not guilty on that charge.

Immediately after the verdict was read in court, the judge ordered the defendant to be placed in the custody of deputies.

Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer on Rust, was indicted by a grand jury in January on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. He was pointing a gun at Hutchins on a movie set outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.

The proceedings were a preamble to the actors scheduled trial in July on the single charge of involuntary manslaughter. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty.

Messages seeking comment about the verdict from Baldwins spokeswoman and a lawyer were not immediately returned.

Prosecutors say Gutierrez-Reed unknowingly brought live ammunition onto the set of Rust at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe, arguing that rounds lingered for at least 12 days until the fatal shooting. In closing arguments, prosecutor Kari Morrissey described constant, never-ending safety failures on the set of Rust and Gutierrez-Reeds astonishing lack of diligence with gun safety.

We end exactly where we began  in the pursuit of justice for Halyna Hutchins, Morrissey had told the jury before they began deliberating. Hannah Gutierrez failed to maintain firearms safety, making a fatal accident willful and foreseeable.

Prosecutors contend the armorer repeatedly skipped or skimped on standard gun-safety protocols that might have detected the live rounds.

This was a game of Russian roulette every time an actor had a gun with dummies, Morrissey said.

Defense attorneys said the problems on the set extended far beyond Gutierrez-Reeds control, including the mishandling of weapons by Baldwin. At trial they cited sanctions and findings by state workplace safety investigators.

Prosecutors did not come close to proving where the live rounds originated and failed to fully investigate an Albuquerque-based ammunition supplier, the defense said at trial.

Lead attorney Jason Bowles told jurors that no one in the cast and crew thought there were live rounds on set and Gutierrez-Reed could not have foreseen that Baldwin would go off-script when he pointed the revolver at Hutchins. Investigators found no video recordings of the shooting.

It was not in the script for Mr. Baldwin to point the weapon, Bowles said. She didnt know that Mr. Baldwin was going to do what he did.

To drive the point home, Bowles played a video outtake in which Baldwin fired a revolver loaded with blanks  including a shot after a director calls cut.

On the day of the shooting, Bowles said, Gutierrez-Reed alone was segregated in a police car away from others, becoming a convenient scapegoat.

You had a production company on a shoestring budget, an A-list actor that was really running the show, Bowles said. At the end, they had somebody they could all blame.

Dozens of witnesses testified during the 10-day trial, from FBI experts in firearms and crime-scene forensics to a camera dolly operator who described the fatal gunshot and watching Hutchins go flush and lose feeling in her legs before death.

The prosecution painstakingly assembled photographic evidence it said traced the arrival and spread of live rounds on set, and argued that Gutierrez-Reed repeatedly missed opportunities to ensure safety and treated basic gun protocols as optional.

The defense had cast doubt on the relevance of photographs of ammunition, noting FBI testimony that live rounds cant be fully distinguished from dummy ones on sight.

Bowles began his closing arguments by highlighting testimony from Rust armorer Sarah Zachry saying that, in a panic in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, she threw out ammunition from guns used by actors other than Baldwin. That undermined all evidence about the sources of ammunition, the defense argued.

Prosecutors said six live rounds found on set bear mostly identical characteristics and dont match live rounds seized from the movies supplier in Albuquerque. Defense attorneys said the cluttered supply office was not searched until a month after the shooting, undermining the significance of physical evidence.
A brush-clearing crew discovered skeletal remains while working on Highway 20 near Foster Lake, east of Sweet Home.

Authorities are working to confirm the identity, but the remains are believed to be 25-year-old Holden Reed Kinsey of Lebanon.

A Place to Sleep, episode 4: Sweet Home In Sweet Home, you'll find the region's only designated sleeping place for folks actively self-medicating with alcohol and narcotics.

The Oregon State Police was notified of potential human remains around 9 a.m. Monday, March 4, according to Capt. Kyle Kennedy.

Investigators responded to the scene and confirmed the remains were human. The Linn County Sheriff's Office and Medical Examiner reportedly assisted with recovery.

Kennedy said detectives are working with the Oregon State Medical Examiners Office on positive identification. The cause of death and circumstances behind the location of the remains are not yet clear.

Kinseys mother reported him missing Jan. 11, 2020, according to Lebanon Police Department records, which note a domestic incident occurred at her home a little more than a week prior, and Kinsey had not returned since.

He was reportedly seen by a coworker walking near Subway the day after he left.

Also in the police records, Kinseys mother reported that he had mental issues that he was not treating at the time of his disappearance, adding that he might have been in possession of a gun or knife. She didnt know where he might have gone, saying he had no friends and rarely left home.

The records also state there was existing probable cause to arrest Kinsey on a strangulation allegation.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by becoming a subscriber today.

Kinseys mother provided police with a toothbrush and hairbrush for DNA samples in February 2020, according to the records. In March 2020, police reviewed Kinseys bank statements, finding the last transaction occurred Feb. 2 at the Dollar Tree in Sweet Home. He had an ending balance of $9,805.

In August 2021, search and rescue operations were conducted around Highway 20 and Quartzville Road, where a vehicle Kinsey drove was abandoned, according to the records. But no clues were turned up during the search, though multiple nonhuman bones were found.
The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
While the Corvallis School District is wrapping up its major construction projects, tapping a nearly $200 million bond approved by voters in 2018, theres still work to do and money owed  to the city of Corvallis.

Some of that work is now holding up final occupancy certificates for three of the districts elementary school buildings and has forced the district to rack up over $20,000  and counting  in permitting fees.

A Place to Sleep, episode 3: Corvallis Do unhoused people know where to go in Corvallis? Well, the city has outlined where they shouldn't be: near creeks, rivers, wetlands, sidewalks or within 20 feet of trees.

The buildings in question are the new additions at the remodeled Adams and Letitia Carson elementary schools, and the completely new Bessie Coleman building.

To be clear, those buildings have been deemed safe and up-to-code by city officials, but unfinished projects, such as sidewalk improvements, need to be completed before the city can grant final occupancy permits.

That means the school district has had to continually obtain temporary occupancy permits, according to Kevin Russell, the city's Development Services manager.

But now the district is behind in paying for them. While Russell called it a paperwork issue, school district officials cast it more as a misunderstanding.

It's incumbent on the school district, according to Russell, to extend temporary certificates of occupancy, or TCOs in city-speak, monthly until each school receives its final stamp of approval.

It's not uncommon for ongoing construction projects to apply for temporary occupancy permits, according to school officials, and indeed permitting expenses were forecasted in each bond project's budget.

But according to a 2023 email from a bond project manager addressed to Corvallis Development Services, the school district was looking to waive those particular permitting fees, citing dwindling bond funds.

The city denied the request.

Since December 2021, the district has paid a total of $17,500 in TCO fees for the three elementary schools unable to gain their final occupancy permits. That's not counting the fees the district has incurred since those temporary permits have lapsed.

The holdups?

The outstanding items preventing the school district from clinching final occupancy certificates include a yet-to-be completed sidewalk improvement at Letitia Carson, a backorder for trash enclosure gates at Adams, and final improvements to the Aspen Street and Walnut Boulevard intersection at Bessie Colman. That's according to Kim Patten, the districts operations manager.

The sidewalk improvement at Letitia Carson, however, wasnt the original holdup for the school's final occupancy certificate, a document that proves a building is safe to inhabit and is issued by the city after all the necessary inspections.

Before the start of the school year in 2022, there were unfinished bond improvements at Carson that included, among other things, a required installation of mechanical screens. That's a building feature that basically shields unsightly equipment, which in Letitia Carson Elementary's case were roof ventilation units.

Those incomplete items prompted the district to apply for a TCO for the school's new addition in August. Certificates are good for 30 days and can be extended each month. They also come with a $500 administrative fee for each application and ensuing extension.

Making mechanical screens to meet the citys specifications proved to be a drawn-out process, Patten said.

In monthly bond reports posted on the Corvallis School District website, the district notes the city rejected the buildings initial mechanical screens in October 2022 because they werent the appropriate height. It took months for the district's contractor to resolve the issue.

Then there was the crosswalk.

According to Patten, a Public Works inspection last fall drew attention to the west side of a crosswalk on Satinwood Street near Wildcat Park, which currently lacks an American with Disabilities Act-compliant sidewalk ramp, unlike the school side of the street.

Patten said the district improved the sidewalk on the east side of the street as part of a driveway makeover at the schools parking lot. The city says because of that, the district also has to update the west side, which wasnt part of the districts original development plans.

The district plans to complete the ramp improvement with a new contractor as soon as spring break at a cost of $35,000, according to Patten.

Another intersection, this one at Aspen Street and Walnut Boulevard, is what's holding up the final occupancy sign-off at Bessie Coleman, though those improvements were part of the original bond project plans. Patten said the district intends to finish applying a seal coating of asphalt in the next three months.

At Adams, the current holdup is related to the school's trash enclosure, a city requirement. That enclosure requires metal gates, which are scheduled for delivery and installation next week.

Unforeseen costs and delays aren't unheard of in construction and are indeed baked into the process.

According to Patton, 2.5% of each school bond project's budget is set aside for permitting fees, along with contingency funds for unanticipated expenses, like the ADA ramp across the street from Carson Elementary.

Still, the district has tried to waive the temporary permitting fees, which apparently led to a misunderstanding with the city's development division.

Expired permits

Temporary certificates of occupancy the school district previously obtained for Adams, Carson and Coleman have since expired, said Russell, the city's Development Services manager.

The district's TCO at Coleman lapsed mid-February. Permits for Carson and Adams lapsed around last November.

The reason for the expired permits likely stems from a misunderstanding over a waiver agreement, according to Patten.

In an email to Mid-Valley Media, she said a proposed agreement to waive TCO fees was made in a conversation between the districts contractor and city inspectors last fall  around the time the district's TCOs expired at Adams and Carson.

Fortis Construction and Wenaha Group, the district's bond project managers, documented their understanding of that waiver agreement in an email with inspectors, according to Patten, but received no confirmation from the city.

It was our responsibility to make sure we had a written agreement, and we didnt follow through, she said via email.

Russell confirmed there's been no such waiver agreement on the books and the only fee waiver request he's received from the district came in January 2023, which he denied.

In that Jan. 12, 2023, email, Dale Kuykendall, a senior project manager at Wenaha Group, asked the city to waive TCO fees on behalf of the district, citing the difficulties with the mechanical screening process.

Bond funds are dwindling, (and) the budget could use the support, Kuykendall wrote in the email.

Its unclear how much of the bond project's permit budget for each elementary school has been tapped.

Regardless of the misunderstanding, the district remains on the hook for the fees, Russell said, adding there are no penalty fees associated with the expired permits.

Through the end of February, the district owes $2,000 each for the Carson and Adams building additions and $500 for Coleman. That's on top of the nearly $20,000 the district has already paid.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by becoming a subscriber today.

In her email to Mid-Valley Media, Patten noted the bulk of the school district's bond projects occurred during the height of the pandemic, which impacted supply chains and labor resources and made it difficult to predict timeframes and budgets.

"We are proud to have accomplished all of our bond promises within available bond program funding during such a difficult time in the construction industry," she wrote.

She also said the district would work to get their TCO applications updated.

Related stories:
Thank you for reading!

Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
Minister Coveney Announces 7 million in Funding to UCD and Teagasc to Deliver New Entrepreneurship Programme

Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has today, Thursday, 7 March announced 7 million in funding, over the next 6 years, to University College Dublin (UCD) to deliver a new food and agriculture innovation and entrepreneurship training programme, in partnership with Teagasc.

Pictured at the announcement of 7 million in funding to deliver a new food and agriculture innovation and entrepreneurship training programme were; (l-r) are; Gary Ryan, Director, AgTechUCD Innovation Centre; Dr Siobhan Jordan, Head of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, Teagasc; Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Marina Donohoe, Head of Research and Innovation, Enterprise Ireland and Professor Nick Holden, UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering and Academic Director, FAST-IP. (Credit: Paul Sharp, Sharppix).

The focus of the Food and Agriculture Sustainable Technology Innovation Programme (FAST-IP) is to increase innovation knowledge within the food and agriculture sector leading to the creation of more high potential start-ups (HPSUs) and jobs in this sector of the economy.

The programme forms part of Enterprise Irelands Innovators Initiative which is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

FAST-IP will be delivered by the UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering, in partnership with Teagasc, at the newly opened AgTechUCD Innovation Centre at UCD Lyons Farm in Co. Kildare.

Minister Simon Coveney TD said, I am delighted to launch UCD and Teagascs Food and Agriculture Sustainable Technology Innovation Programme (FAST-IP) under the Enterprise Ireland Innovators Initiative. Irelands Sustainable Food and AgTech industry is already a success and nationally important, contributing an estimated 8 billion to the economy and employing over 160,000 people. This programme will further enhance innovation in the sector by providing participants with the necessary skills to evaluate, select and validate ideas for new products and services. Over the lifespan of the programme, FAST-IP is expected to contribute to the creation of new Sustainable Food and AgTech SMEs and High Potential Start-Ups, with the potential to create hundreds of new jobs in the process.

FAST-IP will have 5 intakes of 15 participants, beginning in September 2024 and running until the end of 2029. The 12-month in-person programme, aimed at mid-career professionals, is accredited by UCD at Level 9 on the National Qualifications Framework. Participants who complete the programme will be awarded a Graduate Diploma in Agricultural Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

The entrepreneurial training programme will use design-thinking methodologies and will have a practical focus. Through the programme participants will learn how to conduct needs-led innovation to develop market validated solutions to unmet needs in the areas of agricultural technology and food sustainability sectors. The programmes focus will be on the immersive experience and participants will spend 8-10 weeks immersed in agricultural environments including farms and food processing companies throughout the year long programme.

Marina Donohoe, Head of Research and Innovation, Enterprise Ireland, said, The agri-food sector is an integral part of the Irish economy and society, both nationally and regionally, in particular for rural communities. Through the Innovators Initiative funding announced today FAST-IP will further build resilience and strengthen innovation within the agri-food sector through training and entrepreneurship leading to the creation of more start-ups with global potential and jobs across the country.

UCD and Teagasc, with strong reputations for academic and research excellence in the areas of Sustainable Food Systems, Agriculture, and Food Science, will utilise their extensive networks, connections, domain expertise, entrepreneurial experience, and track-record for supporting, fostering and spinning out start-ups over the next 6 years.

Gary Ryan, Director, AgTechUCD Innovation Centre, said, The key objective of FAST-IP is the creation of a pipeline of commercialisation fund applications and an increase in the number of HPSUs in the sustainable food systems and AgTech sectors. The exciting and dynamic programme will deliver a unique perspective to the participants in each cohort that will position them to carry out real-world needs identification and follow that through with innovative, realistic, and commercial solutions.

He added, Placing high calibre, passionate, mid-career professionals in agricultural immersive environments will facilitate the development of high quality, commercially viable business ideas. These ideas will have the potential to develop into solutions that will make the industry more sustainable and profitable. From the outset programme participants will be encouraged to focus on innovations that have a positive impact on climate change and the environment. Sustainability around innovative solutions will be to the fore in FAST-IP as it has to be in everything facing the wider ag sector.

Dr Siobhan Jordan, Head of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, Teagasc, said, Ireland's national Agri-Food strategy, Food Vision 2030, has a goal for Ireland to become a world leader in sustainable food systems over the next decade by balancing climate, smart agriculture, environmental and economic sustainability, health, and innovation. Teagasc will play a key role in the programme enabling the participants to evaluate, select and validate compelling ideas for new products, processes and services to address the range of current challenges faced by the global Agri-Food sector. Through the programme participants will have access to state of the art agri-food immersive environments including Signpost Programme farms and food processing facilities along with connections to extensive advisory and mentoring networks covering all areas from farm to fork.

Professor Nick Holden, Professor of Biosystems Engineering in the UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering is the Academic Director of the Graduate Diploma Programme. Professor Holden is also a co-founder of Proveye, a UCD spin-out company, which is pioneering the use of digital imagery for more predictable and profitable decision-making for agriculture and the environment.

FAST-IP provides participants with a tax-free 38,000 stipend over the 12-month duration of the programme. The first FAST-IP programme will begin at the AgTechUCD Innovation Centre in September 2024.

The AgTechUCD Innovation Centre, which is part of NovaUCD, is focused on promoting and accelerating early-stage start-ups and SMEs with disruptive innovations in the agri, agtech, agrifood, equine and veterinary sectors, as they build their innovative businesses into leading enterprises creating jobs.

FAST-IP, supported under the Innovators Initiative Programme, is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the Southern, Eastern and Midland Regional Programme 2021-2027.

We welcome expressions of interest from potential applicants for FAST-IP and further information is available via https://www.ucd.ie/innovation/fast-ip/
What just happened? Epic Games has spent years fighting Apple for the right to distribute its software on iPhones without paying a 30 percent commission fee. Epic thought it had won a minor victory as Europe's Digital Markets Act goes into effect Thursday, but Apple has snatched it away, citing Epic's past behavior and comments.

Apple has terminated Epic Games Sweden's developer account, banning the company from releasing any iOS software on or off the Apple App Store. The decision comes mere weeks after Europe's new Digital Markets Act (DMA) pushed the Cupertino giant to let Epic start an alternate app store.

Epic and its hit game Fortnite were initially kicked off of the App Store in 2020 amid a legal battle with Apple over its policies, which lock downloads and payments to the iOS operator's backend while imposing a commission fee  usually 30 percent. The court's decision mostly favored Apple, and Fortnite remains playable on iOS only through browser-based cloud streaming.

However, the DMA forces Apple to allow sideloading, and Epic quickly announced plans to launch a third-party iOS app store through its Swedish subsidiary, which would signal Fortnite's return as a native app. Instead, Apple's termination of Epic's developer account has killed the effort before it could begin.

Epic responded by publishing a series of letters between it and Apple, in which the latter explains its reasoning. Cupertino cites Epic CEO Tim Sweeney's public criticism of Apple's DMA compliance measures and the prior court fight between the two companies, calling Epic "verifiably untrustworthy." The argument centers around Epic's deliberate defiance of the original iOS Terms of Service, which caused Fortnite's original ban.

Although Apple will begin allowing European companies to distribute iOS software outside the App Store, it still imposes tight restrictions on them and has introduced new fees  a strategy Sweeney labeled "Malicious Compliance." Spotify also blasted the measures, claiming that the fees amounted to extortion and indirectly maintain the status quo, where Apple retains ultimate control over what software is available on iOS.

Sweeney considers Epic's second ban illegal under the DMA, but it remains to be seen how the EU will respond. The action demonstrates that the law's current iteration can't stop Apple from unilaterally blocking developers and software from its devices.
A hot potato: Ever since the public first got its hands on ChatGPT, there have been concerns about students using the generative AI to do their work. But it seems teachers are also utilizing the tool to speed up marking and develop a curriculum, despite the potential negative impacts this could have.

Called Writeable, the new ChatGPT-powered tool is designed to help teachers in grades 3-12 evaluate student papers, writes Axios. The website promises that Writeable will save grading time and offer suggestions for specific areas of improvement. Teachers are supposed to review the comments produced by the AI before handing them to their students.

Writeable also provides AI-powered prompt suggestions, promising to generate unique prompts on any topic. It can even create curriculum units "based on any novel, generate essays, multi-section assignments, and multiple-choice questions, with included answer keys."

Writeable was purchased by Mifflin Harcourt last month. The company's education materials are used in 90% of K-12 schools. Its CEO, Jack Lynch, said "We have a lot of teachers who are using the program and are very excited about it."

There are several reasons why people are unhappy about teachers using Writeable. Generative AIs are still prone to hallucinations, which isn't a good thing when it comes to marking students' papers or creating a curriculum. There are also the privacy implications, though Writeable's makers say it "tokenizes" students' information so that no personally identifying details are submitted to the AI program.

The other concern is that relying on an AI to do the bulk of the marking will lessen teachers' understanding of individual students and their needs. There could even be cases of troubled kids writing essays that are subtle cries for help, which ChatGPT fails to spot.

The flip side of the argument is that most teachers are vastly overworked and must deal with overfilled schools, a fact that could result in them making their own errors and not paying certain students enough attention. A tool that eases their workload could help enormously and give teachers more free time to focus on other areas.

A poll released in October by the National Coalition for Public School Options found that 45% of parents said "yes" when asked if K-12 schools should be able to use AI to evaluate students' academic performance. Although it was less than half, this still does not represent an overwhelming majority of participants resistant to such a plan.
WTF?! There's been another case of a tech worker stealing trade secrets from their employer and handing them over to China-based rivals. Former Google software engineer Linwei Ding, aka Leon Ding, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for pilfering confidential AI tech while secretly working for Chinese AI firms. He even launched a startup in his home country without Google realizing.

Ding, a national of the People's Republic of China residing in Newark, California, has been charged with four counts of theft of trade secrets. The indictment states that he transferred confidential Google information from the company's network to his personal account while secretly working for two China-based firms within the AI industry.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said that Ding is alleged to have stolen over 500 files containing AI trade secrets from Google and intended to pass them on to his Chinese employers who were looking to gain an advantage in the AI race.

The technology Ding allegedly stole was mostly related to Google's tensor processing unit (TPU) chips that are optimized for AI computation. Prosecutors claim that he stole chip architecture and software design specifications for TPU versions 4 and 6 on separate occasions.

Ding is also accused of stealing hardware, software, system management, and performance specifications for GPU chips deployed in Google's supercomputing data centers. The indictment adds that the files included software design specs for Google CMS that managed machine learning workloads on TPU and GPU chips in Google's supercomputer data centers.

Ding is said to have transferred the files to a personal Google Cloud account between May 2022 and May 2023. He allegedly did this by copying data from the Google source files into the Apple Notes application on his Google-issued MacBook laptop, then converting them from Apple Notes to PDFs to avoid detection by Google's data loss prevention systems.

Prosecutors said that Ding, without Google's knowledge, launched his own startup in China and had colleagues swipe his badge at Google's offices to conceal the fact he was in another country. As per The Verge, a Chinese machine learning company named Rongshu offered to make him CTO less than a month after he started stealing files from Google.

Ding resigned from Google in December 2023 and booked a one-way ticket to China after the company started questioning him about his suspicious uploads. He faces up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of his four counts.

Samsung, Tesla, and Apple are just some of the tech firms that have had employees arrested for stealing trade secrets and selling them to Chinese competitors in the past.
In context: March 6 was the deadline for the biggest tech companies in the world to comply with the provisions of the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA). The six so-called "gatekeepers," including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft, are all announcing plans for adhering to the new law.

Meta had earlier announced that its popular instant messaging service, WhatsApp, will soon introduce third-party chat support for its 2 billion+ users to stick to the provisions of the DMA. The company has now shared its detailed plans to ensure interoperability between WhatsApp/Messenger and third-party chat apps to comply with the requirements of the new regulation while maintaining user privacy and security.

In a blog post announcing its updated policies, Meta confirmed that engaging with third-party chat clients will require explicit user consent to prevent potential spam and scams. The company also stated that developers wanting to take advantage of the new interoperability should preferably switch over to the Signal Protocol, as it's considered to be the current gold standard for E2EE chats.

However, according to the provisions of the DMA, WhatsApp and Messenger will have to be compatible with all apps irrespective of whether they are using the Signal Protocol for encryption or not. To comply with the law, Meta says it will allow third-party chat apps to use a compatible protocol if they can demonstrate it offers the same level of security as Signal.

WhatsApp and Messenger both use encryption based on the tried and tested Signal Protocol as Meta clearly believes that it is the best way to keep spam at bay while offering the strongest possible security. While Messenger is still in the process of rolling out end-to-end-encryption (E2EE) by default for personal communication, WhatsApp enabled it way back in 2016 for all its users globally.

It is worth noting here that despite using a secure E2EE solution for WhatsApp and Messenger, Meta says that it cannot guarantee full privacy for chats originating from or culminating in third-party apps. That's because according to Meta, it has no way of controlling "what a third-party provider does with sent or received messages, and we therefore cannot make the same promise."
A hot potato: Sam Altman might be dominating the artificial intelligence industry as CEO of OpenAI, but his iris-scanning crypto experiment isn't finding the same level of success: Worldcoin has just been banned in Spain over privacy concerns due to the collection of biometric data.

Worldcoin's system uses orbs, which bring to mind The Lord of the Rings' Palantir crystal balls, packed with iris-scanning technology to establish an individual's identity. The company says they're designed to tell the difference between humans and robots, something that is becoming more difficult in the age of advanced AI. It then creates a digital World ID that can be used pseudonymously in a wide variety of everyday applications, purportedly without revealing the person's identity. Once a person's identity has been established, users can receive free Worldcoin crypto tokens.

Unsurprisingly, the scanning of people's eyeballs has led to privacy concerns. Now, Spanish data protection regulator AEPD has demanded Worldcoin temporarily stop collecting and processing personal data. It must also stop processing any previously collected data from Spain.

Spain is using the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) "urgency procedure" for its cessation order, meaning it can only last for three months.

TechCrunch notes that violations of GDPR rules can result in fines of 4% of offending entities' annual turnover. The law can also be used to stop data processing when situations entail high risks for people's rights, such as the processing of biometric data.

The AEPD writes in its announcement that the agency has received several complaints about Worldcoin related to the amount of information it collects, the collection of data from minors, and the withdrawal of consent not being allowed.

Worldcoin responded to news of the ban by claiming the AEPD was "circumventing EU law" and "spreading inaccurate and misleading claims about our technology." Jannick Preiwisch, Worldcoin's Data Protection Officer, said in a statement that efforts to engage with AEPD had gone unanswered for months.

"We are grateful to now have the opportunity to help them better understand the important facts regarding this essential and lawful technology," Preiwisch said, via Reuters.

Worldcoin was temporarily banned in Kenya in 2023 over privacy concerns, though it is reportedly set to return at some point.

World ID has over 4 million sign-ups in 120 countries. According to Worldcoin.org's website, the eyeball-scanning orbs are currently available in nine countries: The US, Mexico Germany, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Chile, Japan, and Singapore.
Facepalm: VM hypervisors are designed to isolate a guest operating system from the host. Nothing should escape the VM's insulated environment, but hackers can theoretically exploit these recently discovered security flaws in VMware products to do just that.

VMware has released a new security advisory addressing four critical vulnerabilities discovered in its virtualization products. These vulnerabilities pose a risk of escaping the self-contained environment of a virtual machine, potentially enabling malicious actions on the host system. Updates and patches are already available, including for products that Broadcom, VMware's new owner, has decided to discontinue.

According to VMware's advisory, the security flaws affect ESXi, Workstation Pro/Player, Fusion Pro/Fusion, and Cloud Foundation. Broadcom recently confirmed the discontinuation of ESXi, a free type-1 hypervisor developed for homelab enthusiasts, but support for paid products is still available until the end of contract obligations.

The individual ESXi flaws outlined in the advisory have an "important" severity level, as stated by VMware. However, skilled hackers could combine them to achieve a "critical" impact on vulnerable products. The initial issue is a use-after-free vulnerability found in VMware's XHCI USB controller (CVE-2024-22252), a bug that a malicious actor with local VM admin privileges could exploit to execute code as the VMX process running on the host. On Workstation and Fusion desktop (type-2) hypervisors, this exploitation could result in code execution on the host operating system.

The second issue is a use-after-free vulnerability in VMware's UHCI USB controller (CVE-2024-22253). Cyber-criminals could exploit the bug to achieve exactly the same results as CVE-2024-22252, with malicious code execution on the host. The third flaw is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in ESXi (CVE-2024-22254), an "important" issue that may trigger a sandbox escape.

Lastly, an information disclosure vulnerability in UHCI USB controller (CVE-2024-22255) could be exploited to leak memory content from the VMX process outside the virtual machine. VMware has already released patches and updated versions of its VM tools to properly address the four security bugs discovered by security experts.

If updates cannot be installed right away, the company is also providing instructions for an effective workaround that would make exploiting the vulnerabilities pointless. Users and system administrators can remove all USB controllers from their virtual machines, disabling the VM's USB passthrough functionality. Guest operating systems that don't support PS/2 mouse and keyboard drivers (like macOS) would also be left without mouse or keyboard input, however.
In brief: Nikon has agreed to acquire Red Digital Cinema, the high-end digital cinematography company based out of Foothill Ranch, California. Financial terms of the deal were not shared, but Red will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nikon once everything has been finalized.

Red Digital Cinema was founded in 2005 by Jim Jannard, the entrepreneur behind the popular Oakley brand of sunglasses and sportswear. Jannard set out to revolutionize the industry with a digital movie camera that could match the richness and detail of analog film and according to many, he was successful.

Red's headquarters is still located in Foothill Ranch, and they have expanded to reach nearly 220 employees.

In its announcement, Nikon said the acquisition was the result of the companies' mutual desire to meet customer needs and offer an exceptional user experience that exceeds expectations. Namely, Nikon's expertise in product development, reliability, optical technology, and know-how in image processing will blend with Red's knowledge in cinema cameras, unique image compression tech, and color science, to pave the way for the development of new products in the pro digital cinema space.

This is not the first time the two companies have crossed paths. Back in 2022, Red sued Nikon over claims that a firmware update for the Nikon Z9 introduced data compression technology patented by Red. Less than a year later, the lawsuit was dismissed and Nikon was allowed to continue using the tech in its camera.

Perhaps acquisition talks started during this period and the suit was dismissed to clear the way for the buyout?

Nikon has been keeping busy as of late. Earlier this month, the Japanese optics specialist announced a partnership with NASA to develop the first mirrorless camera for use on the Moon. Should everything go according to plan, the camera  dubbed the handheld universal lunar camera (HULC)  will be ready for the human return mission to the Moon (Artemis III) scheduled for no earlier than September 2026.

Image credit: TopSphere Media, Jakob Owens
"The Flies" are ready to fly! NASA has welcomed a new group of astronauts, known as "The Flies," into its corps as the space agency intends to explore the cosmos further.

NASA Newest Class of Astronauts Graduates

The welcoming of "The Flies" coincided with NASA's call for new candidates as the agency prepares for forthcoming International Space Station (ISS) missions, lunar expeditions under the Artemis program, and eventual voyages to Mars.

NASA welcomed its 10 latest astronauts in a ceremony held at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on Tuesday, marking the culmination of their rigorous training journey.

These individuals, now officially certified astronauts, are now eligible for flight assignments to various missions. Expressing enthusiasm for the new astronauts, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson lauded their diversity and underscored the pivotal role astronauts play in advancing humanity's foray into space exploration.

"Congratulations to the newest class of NASA astronauts! We are excited to have a new and diverse set of explorers ready to expand humanity's reach," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

"Astronauts are pioneers who will help us embark on this new era of exploration, and we need more adventurers ready to join the ranks to explore the cosmos, including future missions to the Moon, on to Mars, and beyond," he added.

Newly Minted Astronauts

Chosen from a pool of over 12,000 hopefuls, the astronaut graduates underwent comprehensive training, honing their skills in critical areas such as spacewalking, robotics, and space station operations. Their training regimen, spanning more than two years, prepared them for the demanding challenges of space travel.

These graduates may find themselves on missions to the ISS, participating in future ventures to commercial space stations, joining Artemis missions aimed at lunar exploration, or laying the groundwork for a future trip to Mars.

Celebrating this milestone achievement, US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kiran Ahuja commended NASA's streamlined hiring process, which was facilitated in partnership with OPM.

Ahuja highlighted the collaborative effort to identify and recruit candidates for these prestigious roles, signaling OPM's continued support for NASA's workforce development initiatives.

Echoing Ahuja's sentiments, Chief Astronaut Joe Acaba expressed his pride in welcoming "The Flies" to the astronaut corps as he recognized their dedication and resilience.

Read Also: NASA Mars Mission Now Looking for Astronauts, Possible Crewed Venture Coming Soon

Who Are the New Graduates?

The newly graduated NASA astronauts are Nichole Ayers from Colorado Springs, Colorado; Marcos Berrios from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico; Chris Birch from Gilbert, Arizona; Deniz Bunham from Wasilla, Alaska; Luke Delaney from Debary, Florida; Andre Douglas from Chesapeake, Virginia; Jack Hathaway from South Windsor, Connecticut; Anil Menon from Minneapolis; Chris Williams from Potomac, Maryland, and Jessica Wittner from Clovis, California.

In a display of international cooperation, two UAE astronauts, Nora AlMatrooshi and Mohammad AlMulla, also trained alongside their NASA counterparts and participated in the graduation ceremony.

This partnership between NASA and the UAE has spanned missions to the ISS, collaborative efforts under the Artemis program, and joint scientific endeavors on Earth and in space.

Related Article: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Unlocks the Secrets of a Very Distant Luminous Galaxy

 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
NASA shared updates on the remarkable Voyager 1, currently navigating challenges at a staggering distance of 15 billion miles from Earth.



According to the US space agency, the historic spacecraft is experiencing difficulties with its flight data system (FDS), a pivotal element that gathers and sends scientific and engineering data back to Earth.

While Voyager 1 is successfully receiving and executing commands from Earth, the FDS is encountering communication glitches with the telemetry modulation unit (TMU), impeding the transmission of binary-coded data. The TMU, responsible for transmitting data, is exhibiting an unusual pattern of repetitive ones and zeros, indicating a potential malfunction.

Astronomer Stella Ocker regrets Voyager 1's mishap, which lost crucial scientific data, per NPR. The spacecraft's unusual position beyond the solar system gives Ocker's research unmatched interstellar space insights.

Complicated Problem

Engineers are diligently working to troubleshoot and address the spacecraft's issues. After failing to restart the FDS, the Voyager team must create a new approach spanning many weeks or even months. According to NASA's blog, resolving Voyager 1's challenges involves consulting decades-old documents, complicating the understanding of potential consequences for spacecraft operations.

The inherent communication delay further complicates the troubleshooting process, with commands taking 22.5 hours to reach Voyager 1 and an additional 45 hours needed for response evaluation.



Voyager 1, launched in 1977, had an amazing space voyage exploring the outer regions of our solar system. Mission management has extended the life of the spacecraft by turning off heaters and employing other energy-saving methods.



Nevertheless, it is likely to shut down in the 2030s due to its plutonium power source running out. Given the situation, scientists are planning a new NASA-funded project to send another probe even farther out into space between stars.

(Photo: NASA/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

An artist's impression of NASA's Voyager 1 space probe passing behind the rings of Saturn, using cameras and radio equipment to measure how sunlight is affected as it shines between the ring particles. The image was produced in 1977, before the craft was launched, and depicts events due to take place in 1980.

Read Also: US Senate Debates Bill Targeting Chinese Biotech Giants WuXi Apptec, BGI Over National Security Concerns

New NASA Astronauts Ready to Take on Space Missions

In another development, NASA's newest astronauts were unveiled at Houston's Johnson Space Center. These ten graduates, dubbed as The Flies, were chosen from over 12,000 hopefuls to undergo a two-year training program in robotics, spacewalking, and space station operations to prepare them for space travel, as previously reported by TechTimes.



With their astronaut certification now in hand, the new astronauts may now go on a variety of missions, such as trips to the International Space Station (ISS), commercial space stations, the Artemis lunar exploration program, or even Mars. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson praised the astronauts' varied backgrounds and areas of expertise, highlighting the vital role they play in expanding the boundaries of space exploration.



The newly graduated NASA astronauts are Nichole Ayers from Colorado Springs, Colorado; Marcos Berrios from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico; Chris Birch from Gilbert, Arizona; Deniz Bunham from Wasilla, Alaska; Luke Delaney from Debary, Florida; Andre Douglas from Chesapeake, Virginia; Jack Hathaway from South Windsor, Connecticut; Anil Menon from Minneapolis; Chris Williams from Potomac, Maryland; and Jessica Wittner from Clovis, California.



In a show of international collaboration, UAE astronauts Nora AlMatrooshi and Mohammad AlMulla trained with NASA astronauts and attended the Flies' graduation ceremony. This relationship between NASA and the UAE includes ISS flights, Artemis program collaborations, and Earth and space research.

Related Article: NASA's Picture of the Day Offers Stunning View of a Disc Galaxy Seen From Its Edge

 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A group of Australian scientists from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney is exploring the possibility of implanting miniature solar panels into people's eyeballs, which could revolutionize the treatment of incurable eye diseases.

Solar-Powered Eyes for the Future?

Neuroprosthetics, devices that restore lost functionality by interacting with the nervous system, offer promising avenues for enhancing quality of life.

The concept drew parallels with the widely recognized cochlear implant, which converts sound into electrical signals to stimulate the auditory nerve in individuals with severe hearing impairment.

Researchers from various areas, including engineers, neuroscientists, clinicians, and biotech experts, envision leveraging this technology to address visual impairments caused by damaged photoreceptors-cells responsible for detecting light and color.

Dr. Udo Roemer, a specialist in photovoltaics, or solar panel technology, led the investigation at UNSW. Individuals afflicted with conditions like retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration experience gradual vision loss as their photoreceptors deteriorate.

Roemer proposes a novel approach to bypass damaged photoreceptors by harnessing solar technology to convert light entering the eye into electricity, facilitating the transmission of visual information to the brain.

Traditional methods involving electrode-based implants necessitate complex procedures with wires inserted into the eye. In contrast, Roemer's concept involves affixing a miniature solar panel to the eyeball, eliminating the need for cumbersome wires.

This self-powered and portable solution aims to convert light directly into electric impulses, which the brain interprets as visual stimuli.

Read Also: Solar Farm Spanning 3,500 Acres in Wisconsin, Now Online

Solar Cell Integration for Vision Restoration

While previous research has explored solar cell integration for vision restoration, Roemer's focus now shifts toward semiconductor materials like gallium arsenide and gallium indium phosphide.

These materials offer greater flexibility in tuning properties compared to conventional silicon-based devices. Roemer emphasizes the need for higher voltages to stimulate neurons, necessitating the stacking of multiple solar cells.

The current research is in the proof-of-concept stage, with initial experiments demonstrating the successful stacking of two solar cells on a large surface area in the lab.

The next phase involves miniaturizing these cells into pixels suitable for vision restoration, followed by integrating additional solar cells to enhance voltage output.

Roemer envisions future iterations of the technology to be approximately 2mm in size, with pixel dimensions of around 50 micrometers. However, significant hurdles remain before clinical implementation, including extensive laboratory testing and validation in animal models.

Moreover, challenges related to the intensity of sunlight necessitate supplementary devices like goggles or smart glasses to amplify solar signals for reliable neuronal stimulation.

While the prospect of solar-powered vision restoration offers hope for individuals with degenerative eye diseases, practical implementation awaits further advancements and rigorous evaluation.

"One thing to note is that even with the efficiencies of stacked solar cells, sunlight alone may not be strong enough to work with these solar cells implanted in the retina," Roemer said in a statement.

"People may have to wear some sort of goggles or smart glasses that work in tandem with the solar cells that are able to amplify the sun signal into the required intensity needed to reliably stimulate neurons in the eye," he added.

Related Article: SolarEV City: Researchers Suggests Combining Solar Power With EVs in Lighting Up Cities Like Paris

 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has enacted a new regulation mandating some public companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change-related risks.

The rule voted to pass on Wednesday aims to provide investors with more transparent and standardized information regarding the financial implications of climate-related risks on companies' operations.

SEC Adopts Standardized Climate-Related Disclosures

Under the new SEC regulation, companies must report their Scope 1 and 2 emissions, which encompass direct operational emissions and energy usage.

However, emissions falling under Scope 3, such as those generated throughout supply chains or by customer usage, are excluded from the reporting requirements.

In a press release, the SEC emphasized the need for enhanced climate-related disclosures to meet investors' demands for consistent and reliable information.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler highlighted the importance of transparency in financial reporting, emphasizing the commission's commitment to ensuring investors receive comprehensive and truthful disclosures.

"Our federal securities laws lay out a basic bargain. Investors get to decide which risks they want to take so long as companies raising money from the public make what President Franklin Roosevelt called 'complete and truthful disclosure,'" said Gensler.

"Over the last 90 years, the SEC has updated, from time to time, the disclosure requirements underlying that basic bargain and, when necessary, provided guidance with respect to those disclosure requirements," he added.

Read Also: SEC Implements New Rule Requiring Tech Firms to Disclose Cybersecurity Breaches in 4 Days

Disclosing Climate-Related Risks

The regulations will require companies to disclose various aspects of climate-related risks, including their impact on business strategy, financial condition, and operational outlook.

Additionally, companies must provide details on mitigation or adaptation activities undertaken to address these risks, associated expenditures, and impacts on financial estimates.

The SEC's decision to include climate risk disclosures in company filings, such as annual reports and registration statements, aims to improve the reliability and accessibility of this information for investors.

The SEC intends to give investors more precise insights into companies' climate-related risks and mitigation efforts by standardizing reporting requirements.

Before finalizing the rules, the SEC reviewed over 24,000 comment letters, thoroughly considering stakeholders' feedback.

"The rules will provide investors with consistent, comparable, and decision-useful information, and issuers with clear reporting requirements. Further, they will provide specificity on what companies must disclose, which will produce more useful information than what investors see today," Gensler noted.

"They will also require that climate risk disclosures be included in a company's SEC filings, such as annual reports and registration statements, rather than on company websites, which will help make them more reliable," he added.

Related Article: Former Prosecutor: 'SEC Will Stop at Nothing to Control the Entire Crypto Space' while Threatening Coinbase as Ripple Lawsuit Continues





 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has recently captured a striking image of Phobos, one of the Red Planet's two moons, as it passed in front of the sun last month.

The remarkable event observed on February 8, the 1,056th Martian day of the mission, provides scientists with valuable insights into the orbit and dynamics of this enigmatic moon.

According to NASA, by analyzing such transits, researchers can refine their understanding of Phobos' orbit and its eventual fate, which is predicted to lead to a collision with the Martian surface in the distant future.

NASA: Capturing Phobos' Transit Across the Sun

The captured video, recorded using the Mastcam-Z camera onboard the Perseverance rover, offers a real-time view of Phobos' transit across the sun's surface.

NASA explained that this data was instrumental in advancing scientist's knowledge of Phobos' orbital parameters and trajectory, shedding light on its complex relationship with Mars.

Arizona State University led the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems and the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen.

These collaborative efforts contribute to the cameras' successful design, testing, and operation, facilitating observations such as the recent capture of Phobos' silhouette.

Perseverance's mission on Mars encompasses various objectives, including astrobiology and the search for signs of ancient microbial life. Additionally, the rover aims to characterize the planet's geology and climate history, paving the way for future human exploration and potential sample return missions.

As part of NASA's broader exploration strategy, the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission aligns with the agency's moon-to-Mars approach, which includes preparing for human exploration of Mars through Artemis missions to the moon.

Read Also: NASA's Perseverance Marks 1,000th Day on Mars, Robotic Rover Unravels Ancient History of Martian Lake

Digging Deep into Phobos

Phobos is Mars' larger moon. It orbits the planet at a remarkable frequency, completing three orbits per Martian day. The moon's proximity to Mars' surface renders it invisible from some locations of the planet, adding to its mystique and allure.

Despite its relatively small size, Phobos bears the scars of numerous meteorite impacts, including the prominent Stickney Crater, named after Chloe Angeline Stickney Hall, the wife of astronomer Asaph Hall, who discovered both the Mars' moons in 1877.

According to NASA, Stickney Crater, measuring approximately 6 miles in diameter, dominates Phobos' surface and is filled with fine dust and boulders. Phobos appears to be composed of C-type rock, the same as the blackish carbonaceous chondrite asteroids.

Phobos' extreme temperature variations range from pleasant winter days to harsh Antarctic nights. The moon was discovered by Asaph in 1877. Its name was derived from the son of the Greek god of war, Ares, and the brother of Deimos.

Related Article: Mars Dust Devil: NASA Perseverance Rover Manages to Record its Sound, to Help Give More Info on its Atmosphere





 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Tesla's German plant, located near Berlin, is facing a complete electricity outage until the end of next week, attributed to a suspected arson attack that left the facility powerless. A pylon near the factory was damaged in a fire, and German police have confirmed receiving a letter from a far-left group claiming responsibility, deeming it authentic.

The Tesla EV plant has been a focal point for climate protesters opposing its construction. Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, labeled the attack "extremely dumb," raising concerns among businesses about the vulnerability of electricity supplies. Some advocate for changes to the country's grid to enhance security against power losses.

Tesla electric cars stand outside the Tesla Gigafactory on March 07, 2024 near Gruenheide, Germany. Tesla has announced that it is suspending production at the Gruenheide factory until the end of next week due to the recent sabotage of an electricity pylon that is connected to the plant. A leftist activists association called the "Vulkan Group"("Vulkangruppe") has claimed responsibility for the sabotage. (Photo : Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Incident Will Not Cause Significant Impact on Business

Clemens Fuest, President of Germany's IFO business institute, downplays the alarm, stating, "What happened is an exception." He suggests that a shift to a new strategy by terrorist groups would warrant further discussion. However, investor confidence remains largely unaffected, given the scarcity of such infrastructure attacks.

Tesla anticipates significant financial losses due to the Tesla Germany Gigafactory stoppage, with around 1,000 cars left unfinished on Tuesday alone. This setback compounds existing challenges for the company, grappling with weakened demand. Morgan Stanley and other banks recently downgraded estimates for Tesla's car deliveries this year, citing weak sales in China and highlighting the impact of the German factory fire on future deliveries.

Giga Berlin Fly Through 2.0 pic.twitter.com/5ivAA6Wvvv  Tesla Manufacturing (@gigafactories) March 1, 2024

Read Also: US Senate Debates Bill Targeting Chinese Biotech Giants WuXi Apptec, BGI Over National Security Concerns

Tesla Cuts Ties with Major Auto Lobby in Australia

In Australia, Tesla cut relations with the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), the main car lobby organization. Tesla cited the FCAI's "demonstrably false claims" concerning the Albanese government's clean vehicle agenda as the reason behind its decision.

In a letter to the FCAI, Tesla expressed reservations about the lobby group's public assertions that the proposed vehicle efficiency standard would significantly increase the prices of popular cars and utilities while reducing the prices of Tesla models, per The Guardian. Tesla accused the FCAI of representing only car companies seeking to delay climate crisis action and excluding those supporting the Labor Party's stance.

Tesla urged the FCAI to publicly correct these alleged "false claims" and called for an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission into the lobby group's assertions. The company plans to withdraw from FCAI membership after the 2023-24 financial year. The FCAI defended its stance, emphasizing its decade-long advocacy for an efficiency standard and its members' commitment to combating climate change.

On a different note, TechTimes earlier reported on Elon Musk's one-word response on social media that hinted at the potential arrival of the Tesla app on the Apple Watch. The Tesla CEO gave a straightforward "Sure" in response to a Tesla owner's request after she found herself locked out of her vehicle due to her iPhone's battery running low. While no further details were provided, the porting of the iPhone app to the Apple Watch is considered feasible, given Apple's swift adaptation of iPhone apps to watchOS.

Related Article: Rivian R2 Leaks: EV Range, Starting Price Revealed

 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Press Release

March 7, 2024 TRANSCRIPT OF KAPIHAN SA MANILA BAY WITH SENATOR WIN GATCHALIAN AND MARICHU VILLANUEVA ON EDUCATION AND POWER SHORTAGE SEN. WIN: Again thank you very much for inviting me and the Senate is quite busy because we'll be terminating our session on March 20. So we're trying to rush many things on the floor to include some of the LEDAC bills like the real property evaluation reform law. We're also rushing some education bills as well and at the same time we're also conducting many consultations, many hearings. This year we plan to increase the number of recommendations so that we can have meaningful reforms in the education system. We also acknowledge that in 2025 will be the next round of PISA. So hopefully this year and next year we'll have reforms that will improve learner outcomes and improve our PISA outcomes. So we're just very busy finishing up all the bills that are on hand, on the floor so that before we go on a break all of these can be done. FOREIGN OWNERSHIP OF EDUCATION Q: On that note Sir, yung EDCOM started when and how long will it be complete? SEN. WIN: It has a life of three years so by next year it will end. The concept of this EDCOM is it's only a temporary or a short-term body that will conduct massive consultations, massive analysis. We have almost 93 researchers and analysts all specializing in education looking at our education system. This year and next year we'll be making recommendations in various facets of education. For example recommendations on early childhood, on basic education, on tertiary and tech-voc and this is actually, this endeavor actually bodes well with the talk on cha-cha because one of the items that is being contemplated to open up is education. And if you have been following the discussions in the Senate, it's quite interesting to listen to both sides. Admittedly there are stakeholders who are against opening up the education sector but there are also stakeholders who are pro or in favor of opening up the education sector. But in my point of view, my personal point of view after listening to all of them and after doing my own analysis, we cannot look at education in the context of charter change as short-term. We cannot look at education as a major driver of foreign direct incentives in the short-term. Because education is a building block. Meaning we impart education, we impart knowledge, we impart training now, but we reap the benefits five, maybe ten years, or even longer after. So if you listen carefully to the stakeholders, especially those who are advocating education cha-cha, they are looking at increasing research and development in our country, producing more students or more graduates with PhD. And with this workforce, we can level up our economy from a labor-intensive economy to a knowledge-based economy, and later on to an innovation-based economy. We cannot jump from labor-based to innovation-based. We need to create the building blocks. And one of the building blocks is knowledge and training. And this is where liberalizing education will come in, because hopefully when we liberalize education, we can attract the likes of Harvard, the likes of Stanford, or even the tech-voc, the foreign tech-voc training centers will come here to the Philippines and train and impart knowledge to our youth. And they will be part of the future workforce, who will drive us to the innovation-based economy. So, interesting. In fact, I'm learning a lot through the hearings. Q: And I learned a lot from your summary of your hearings yesterday on that. And I'm glad that you are hearing both sides. But on the side of the anti, what are your sentiments? SEN. WIN: On the side of the anti, especially with basic education, many stakeholders are not in favor of the education cha-cha. Fear that basic education in the hands of foreign institutions will impart a different kind of value, a different kind of patriotism, and a different kind of nationalism, not the Filipino kind. So, in other words, basic education, basic education kasi is, we're talking about children ranging from 5 years old all the way to 12. So these are, these should be imparted with fundamental concepts on Filipino values, on Filipino patriotism, on Filipino nationalism. That can only happen with Filipino schools and Filipino-owned educational institutions. So, in other words, they fear that if the ownership would be in the hands of foreigners, it will be a different kind, not the Filipino kind. Not the kind that we fought for in the past. Not the kind that we are yearning for in the future. And that's why they advocate that it should stay with Filipino schools. The ownership should stay with Filipino schools. So those are, basically in a nutshell, but those are the concerns of the anti-education cha-cha. Q: If I was there during that hearing, my immediate reaction was, how come there is the international school, the British school, the Breton in Baguio, are they imparting un-Filipino values, un-Filipino education, un-Filipino culture? So why are we allowing them if they teach us things? SEN. WIN: Pareho tayo magisip. In fact, that was my question yesterday. I just didn't, I just didn't have time to ask, but it's in my notes. Because there are British schools, Singapore schools, international schools, maraming international schools here. So, I read the Department Order of the Department of Education, the Department Order 88, that governs private schools to include international schools. And in that Department Order, it's written there that there are minimum standards, meaning, the government will prescribe the minimum standard. All schools, regardless whether international or local, will follow that minimum standard. Anything about that, you should ask permission from the DepEd. In a nutshell, that is the design. But, Ako, I agree with you. There are international schools coming. In fact, most of our constituents, if they have extra money, would rather send their children to international schools kasi mahal yan. So, that angle should be looked at as well. Q: What is our school there in Las Pinas? Southville. Southville. Southville, from basic education to college. Who draws international, international networks? Who draws schools? You want to establish a knowledge base, an innovation base education, and we are now having this labor economic base education. So, it requires a lot of curriculum review. SEN. WIN: But, what is, I think, what is in agreement during the hearing, what stood out and what is mostly in agreement during the hearing is higher education and tech-voc, which ako I agree to open it up to for foreign ownership and to foreign institutions. For example, magiging example, tech-voc. Ang tech-voc nagte-training ng mga skills-based courses. For example, vehicle repair. For example, yung mga maraming Toyota dito. Toyota or Japanese brands and they train technicians. These technicians will be with us for the next 50 years. Hindi naman mamawala ang sasakyan sa mundo. 50 years, we would still have vehicles. So we need to have technicians to repair those vehicles. But those vehicles are produced abroad. The technology is produced abroad. A lot of these technologies are not present here in the Philippines. But unfortunately tech-voc cannot be owned by foreign institutions or foreign ownership. So for example, if Toyota wants to open a tech-voc school here, they cannot open a tech-voc school here. Q: Di ba meron namang limitations na more than one person? SEN. WIN: Yes. They can only, you should have a partner. But in my opinion, tech-voc should be liberalized. So we can invite German companies, European companies, like for example, Boeing. If they want to set up their own tech-voc school here, they will put equipment. The complaint of many of the schools is that the equipment is very expensive. They cannot afford equipment. But these companies can supply the equipment as long as they run the institution. But they're not allowed. They're only allowed up to 40% ownership. Q: But the problem with inviting this tech-voc and other educational institutions, parang investor ang mentality nila. What incentives can you give? SEN. WIN: That's a very good question. In fact, lumabas na sa hearing na in some, for example, in Vietnam. In Vietnam, they allow 100% ownership of education. From basic all the way to tertiary, all the way to capital. And there is one Australian college there that went in. They 100% own the college. And the agreement with the government is they will take in a number of Vietnamese and train them. But the Vietnamese also provided incentive, for example, land. So they provided land. Lease under lease agreement. Under the lease agreement, That institution built the building. But the agreement is to take X amount of Vietnamese so that the Vietnamese will be trained. So in other words, it's going to be a mixture of ownership, a mixture of incentive. So we have to find the right things. The point is we are now bringing foreign and international institutions with foreign technology in the country to train our locals. So that's very important because that's where we level up. We upgrade our knowledge going into what we call the innovation-based world. Q: Kaya nga sir, di ba ang argument niya? Wala, hindi mapawala sa amin yan eh. There are many arrangements available. Di ba leasing, di naman forever na magtatagal sa atin yan. SEN. WIN: Correct. Q: So, if ever you allow amendment education cha-cha, do you have to pass new laws to provide this incentive? SEN. WIN: Yes. When we, assuming this economic cha-cha, education cha-cha gets approved, there's still a limitation there. Q: Unless provided for by law. SEN. WIN: So Congress can act in act laws that will regulate and limit the participation of these foreign institutions when they come to the Philippines. For example, if you want to come to the Philippines, at least 60% of your students should be Filipino. At least you will invest X amount of capital to build buildings. So, we can put many regulations so that we can build it towards our benefit rather than to their own benefit. So, hindi siya open slate. We can still put conditions so that we can attract them and so that we can also benefit. Q: I think that's what's lacking in the messaging in our economic cha-cha. That there is still that provision. That Congress must still come up with the conditions. SEN. WIN: Correct. So that as you go along, because the world is evolving, we can regulate it, make it more liberal. But if we feel that it's already affecting our, for example our national identity, national security. then we can make it tighter. Yeah. It really depends on the situation. But the flexibility that is given to Congress is going to make it responsive to the times. Kasi ngayon, it's not responsive. For example, the example of Vietnam. Vietnam, since it's not in their constitution, they can open it up, they can close it up, depending on the situation. So, they're very responsive to what is happening around the globe. CATCH-UP FRIDAYS Q: Correct me if I'm wrong, Sir. I know that you have been chairing the Senate Committee on Education before. Isang buo yun and then hinati through your leadership at the Senate on that point, ano pa ang kailangan, I mean, but on your part, what have you done to improve the education system? SEN. WIN: Our education system right now, of course we all know what happened. Siguro ba you all know what happened with the 2018 PISA and the 2022 PISA. So, when you analyze all of those, it boils down to the basics. In fact, last week we went to Benigno Aquino National High School in Makati. Because that's the only school, that's the only public school out of the 188 public schools that reach minimum proficiency. The 187 schools did not even reach the minimum proficiency. So, only one public school reached the minimum proficiency. So, when we asked them, what are their concerns and what are the best practices? Their concerns, nakita nila, as late as junior high school and even senior high school. We have students who cannot read. Sabi ng mga teacher doon. Not from me, sabi ng mga teacher and school officials doon. So, one of our biggest problems in education is the foundational skills or the fundamental skills of our students. Which is reading and math. And that's why DepEd has now embarked on what they call Catch-up Fridays. And this is a fruit of a lot of these hearings and they pointed out all of these things. And now they have Catch-up Fridays wherein they will really intensify the tutorial. Especially on reading. And later on, they will also come up with math. So, at an early age, their foundational skills will be strengthened. So that when they reach junior high school, senior high school, it will be easier for them to take or absorb complex lessons or much more what we call higher order lessons. Q: Ikaw lang Sir. I'll take your views on this. Because during the pandemic, almost 3 years of pandemic, do you think kung pag-go down natin sa teacher rating has to do with a blended learning that we have to adapt during the pandemic. Kaya bumaba ang teacher rating. BLENDED LEARNING SEN. WIN: Actually, if you look at the 2022 PISA, we look at the 2022 visa. Statistically, it's the same as 2020. And if you look at the good side, hindi tayo bumaba. If you look at the bad side, hindi rin tayo tumaas. So we stayed the same. But my biggest fear during that time is because of the pandemic. Because for two years, we have had one of the longest school lockdowns. Students did not have any opportunity to go to school. We will regress. But surprisingly, we did not regress. So, and for me, that's an opportunity to build on. So, meaning we have reached the bottom, but we have no way but to go up. But we need to do our work also. That's why I credit our teachers and principals and school officials for that. Because even though the pandemic closed our school, our schools, they managed to hold the line or hold the line and the grades did not go down. Q: And we are now also adopting that blended learning. Yes. And then there's typhoon or calamity or catastrophe. SEN. WIN: That's also one thing that we want to support the Department of Education. In the basic education report of Vice President Sara, she emphasized on digitalization, which I support. And I think that is a learning that we got from the pandemic. In cases of typhoons, cases of volcano eruptions wherein the schools close for a prolonged period of time dahil ginagawa itong mga evacuation centers, Kids can still continue to learn through technology. So we just have to make sure that we have the right content, of course internet connection, the gadgets that our learners will use in case blended learning will be the mentality. Q: But there's also the downside of that digital learning na if we consider the OSAEC findings na yung mga AI na gagamit sa pornographic. SEN. WIN: Actually, Because we managed to, the Senate managed to increase the OSAEC budget by P30 million this year. Because we also saw that... Q: Saan pa under OSAEC sir? SEN. WIN: DOJ. There's a task force handling human trafficking on OSAEC. So, the offshoot of technology, tama ka is Online sex and child abuse. And we need to curb that. And it's actually quite concerning that it's happening in our country. And in fact, nakakatakot na I was reading the news. In the last, I think, 30 or 60 days, the Bureau of Immigration managed to take three or four foreigners who are Pedophile or sex offenders coming to the country. So, we need to continue to fund the task force on OSAEC to prevent child abuse, to prevent the Philippines to becoming a hub for this type of illegal activity. Q: Pero yung nga ang problema sa digital eh, mga bata, mayroon na siya online. Somebody has to watch kaya dapat lagyan ng lock yung digital devices. SEN. WIN: Mayroon kasing global task force yan. Global Interpol. And based on my readings in the news, a lot of these arrests that are made here in the Philippines were based from the U.S. information. So, itong mga Interpol or international organizations giving us information about where and who are perpetuating OSAEC, we need to continue to participate and even increase our participation. Because, na-didetect nila eh. They have the technology to detect it. Q: From our own side, how do we protect our school children? Kasi nga sabi mo, the VP Sara is supporting the digital platform na yan. So, paano ginagawa nyo internal state courts. SEN. WIN: Based on my experience, that's why face-to-face classes are very important. The teacher needs to interact with their students because it will improve learning, it will also improve their social behavior, and at the same time teachers will detect abuses and violations. The teachers will know if something bad is happening in their home, something bad is happening to the student and they can detect that. For me, it's also important that we have face-to-face classes and we continue to maintain face-to-face classes. Q: Speaking of teachers, are they technologically or digitally up to that work? Because I know mostly our teachers are not that techno-haptic. SEN. WIN: In fairness, depende anong generation, those who are, I think, millennials, mga tech-savvy. When I visit schools, the millennials are tech-savvy. They have their own laptop, they have their own projectors, they're also teachers. In fact, they know how to use learning management systems. Admittedly, the older generation needs to be trained in schools, but I don't think that would be a problem because these are basic applications. Q: (inaudible) SEN. WIN: Yeah. And it's also, in the latest thesis in 2022, it's written in one of the, what they call contextual surveys that they conducted. This correlation with the internet and gadget use, the right internet and gadget use, the productive internet and gadget use to learners outcomes. Meaning, if learners know how to use computers and the internet productively, meaning they conduct research, their output is better or their outcome is better. Sabi ng PISA. In this case, our children have very limited use of the internet and gadgets, productively. So, we need to change the habits of our children and also exposure to it. Q: Natatandaan ko nung pandemic Senator Imee was saying, provide each kid face-to-face in a public school... SEN. WIN: Hindi kaya eh. We have a bill, one learner, one laptop, but realistically, that will cost us billions of pesos. So, that's an aspiration, to be honest, Marichu, but to fund that immediately, we'll take time. Q: Ano ang estimate ko? SEN. WIN: Something to the effect of 20 billion? Q: A year? SEN. WIN: Yeah. Just to give gadgets to those who are in the poorest of the poor. But if you give everything, I think it will go up to about 40 to 45 billion. EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT (ECCD) Q: On bills. SEN. WIN: Yeah, well, isa sa mga bills that we are pushing on the floor, and also pushing is to fix our early childhood education. So, these are children age between 3 and 4. So meron tayong, if we fix that, because marami tayong children who are malnourished. It's not about education, but also nutrition. The other facets of Early Childhood. So yung bill na pinapush namin is to reform early children care and development. So meaning, we have to look at their nutrition properly, we have to get the local government involved, we have to build more daycare centers, we have to also retrain our daycare teachers. So, there are many studies already that if a child is exposed to education at an early age, if you take care of the nutrition, when they reach grade 1, it will be easier for them so we minimize drop-outs. So the key is early childhood. We're fixing early childhood care and development. Early childhood education, care and development. Q: Anong difference niya in the past? SEN. WIN: Ang problema in the past, the local governments are not involved. So we want to get the local governments more involved this time. Q: Ano yung batas na yun? SEN. WIN: Early Years Act. Q: Was it also your bill? SEN. WIN: No, it's a bill that was enacted a long time ago. So we're just enhancing that bill to get the local governments more involved. Q: Ano ang estimate na population? SEN. WIN: Ngayon kasi maliit lang eh. But hopefully we get about 4 to 5 million 3 and 4 years old in our daycare. Q: 4 to 5 million children and 3 to 4 hours. SEN. WIN: Ngayon kasi, konti lang nagda-daycare sa atin. Very limited. It's not universal yet. Hopefully we make it universal. We encourage more parents to send their children to daycare. We call it a child development center. Q: At least per barangay. SEN. WIN: That's in the law also that we put. At least one per barangay. There will be a child development center. We call it a child development center. Q: Para kasing playtime ng school, to play and learn. SEN. WIN: Even now, the concept of learning has changed. If you remember before, we didn't have any kindergarten. We started grade 1. But now, paaga ng paaga. Because in studies, the earlier the child is exposed to education, the better the child will perform later on. Q: (inaudible) SEN. WIN: We will expand the daycare centers. At least one per barangay. Q: For free? SEN. WIN: For free. And then we will also make the local government units be the responsible entity to expand early childhood, care, and development. And then, we will make local government units accountable when it comes to ECCD. Q: Under this bill? SEN. WIN: Under this bill. Q:How much credit or budget are you providing for that? SEN. WIN: Well, definitely it will take time. We were not looking at building all of this in one year. Q: Have you provided a budget for that? Or this will be provided for next year's budget. SEN. WIN: Well, admittedly it will take a lot of money. But it really depends. For example, Valenzuela. We can afford to put up daycare centers. We're just giving you the power to do it. Q: Wala ba yan sa local government code? SEN. WIN: There's no explicit local government code. But local governments are doing it right now. But we're making it more explicit that it's the responsibility of the local government. Q: It's a very good idea. It could be a landmark. SEN. WIN: Yeah, it's important because the dimension of learning has changed. It's no longer grade 1 and above. It has to be as early as possible. Q: Kasi nga ang nakakaafford lang to send their 3 to 4 years old... SEN. WIN: Maraming bata ngayon, 3 years old, pinag-aaral na. Q: Kaya nga nakarami sa kalye lang. SEN. WIN: Well, hopefully we encourage parents. It's not mandatory. But we encourage parents to send their children. It's not mandatory. But we've seen models, for example, in Singapore or Malaysia. It's not mandatory. But the enrollment is high. It's 80%. So, meaning, even though it's not mandatory, the parents see it as beneficial. K-12 Q: Anyway, sir, as chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, anong report sa iyo on K-12? Ano ba? Is it successful? Is it regressive? Is it progressive? SEN. WIN: Many people are not happy with K-12. Particularly senior high school. To be honest, in the survey, it's as much as I think almost 60% who are not happy with K-12. The parents. K-12 and senior high school. And that's why we aim to reform the senior high school system or the senior high school portion starting this year. So, right now, the senior high school, they have four tracks that they can take. Tech-voc, academic, sports, and arts. So, we're now giving free certification to those who are going to take tech-voc. Right now, kasi sa senior high school, if you take two years of tech-voc, there's no certification. You need to go to TESDA again to get certification. Uulitin mo ulit yun. Because it wasn't contemplated that way during the past. So, many feel that senior high school is useless. Many feel that senior high school is not valuable to them because they end up taking tech-voc after senior high school, they take the same course. And most of them who underwent senior high school need to go to college as well. So, many feel that it's useless. So, now we're reforming it. This year, we included almost 500 million to certify our senior high school. Q: Sino sa mag-certify? SEN. WIN: TESDA. Starting this year. So, TESDA will now evaluate those who took tech-voc. And then, if they pass, they will be given certification. So, pag-graduate niya, dalawa hawak niya. A diploma and a national certification. And that national certification will enable him to get employment. Q: How? Kailan maging this year? So, kailan yun, sir? June? SEN. WIN: Hopefully, June to start. Kasi ginagawa na ngayon. So, pagpapasok na. Sorry, school year, June. Yung bagong school year. Q: Kailan pang graduation kung ano na yan? Mag-apply? SEN. WIN: Graduation. Ngayon, nasa old calendar pa tayo. So, I think May yan. Q: So, pwede na sila pumunta direct sa TESDA. SEN. WIN: This will be implemented this coming school year. 2023-2024. Next year pa. This coming ano pa lang. Kasi ginagawa pa yung mechanism. Q: So, pero may budget na for this year. SEN. WIN: May budget na this year. Q: Why? Bakit advance yung budget? SEN. WIN: Because yung budget na yan will be addressing the 2023-2024. Ongoing kasi siya eh. Ongoing kasi. Q: Ano pa gawin ng test evaluation? Naga-aapply yung mga senior high school doon. Tapos itetest off nila. SEN. WIN: Yes. Kasi throughout the process meron mga evaluation. Q: NC2, NC1, NC2. SEN. WIN: NC1, NC2. May bayad din yun. So ngayon libre na. May yung NC1, NC2 certification. Libre na. For senior high school. So what happens? If I'm a senior high school, I will take the tech-voc track. I will be certified by TESTA and they will give me my certification. Tapos dalawa. May diploma ka for your academic side. May NC2 pa. And then may NC1, NC2 pa for your tech-voc side. And ready for employment. And ready for employment. Q: So may coordination sa mga employers. So this is enough. SEN. WIN: TESDA ang mag-certify. Maganda ang senior high school natin. Kita po, they pass. Almost 80% ang passing rate. Of those who took the certification. So walang problema sa passing. GASTPE Q: Ay, yung naman problema sa GASTPE. SEN. WIN: Ah, yes. We had a hearing last week. And we found out that we're... The GASTPE program, as a background, the GASTPE program is meant to help... Matagal na yan. Matagal na.Yes. So maganda yung GASTPE program because it helps decongest schools. And it helps students to apply to private schools. So, if a public school student wants to apply to a private school, tutulungan ka ng gobyerno. But Let's prioritize the poor. Because these are public funds. These are funds being paid by our taxpayers. So, it's important to practice equity. Or important that equity is being observed. So, meaning, we start off with the poor. But we found out that hindi lahat ng poor students... Non-poor ang nag-aaral doon. Well, in short, ginagawa kasi binibigyan ng mga private school ng slots, diba? For example, private school, I give you, let's say, 40 slots. Kung walang nag-apply, kahit sino na kunin mo. Kasi may allotment na siya. So, ang nangyayari, binigyan ka na ng allotment. At walang nag-a-apply na mahirap. Because may top up. Ang nag-a-apply na lang ay mga non-poor. And then yung... The subsidy, they use it as a discount. Kaya tawag ng ibang school, discount eh. So, but for us, who are paying our taxes... Q: Sabi mo, equity for the poor. SEN. WIN: Nagbabayad tayo. And we want to see... Ako, I want to see my taxes to help the poor first. Not to help the non-poor. So, the program is defective. And we see, estimate namin, almost a year 8 billion ang pumupunta sa non-poor. Q: Anong annual budget ng GASTPE? SEN. WIN: Ang annual budget ng GASTPE is about... More or less, on the average, about 35 billion. Malaki ang GASTPE. Q: Sa DepEd yan? SEN. WIN: DepEd yan. DepEd is the one that is paying. Pero meron isang organization, yung PEAC is the one selecting the schools. So, again, we need to make sure that that 8 billion goes to the poor. Kasi, it's unfair that we're allocating budget and subsidy for the non-poor. Kaya nga marami. In fact, to be honest, marami akong mga kaibigan na nakakuha ng ganitong subsidy na alam ko, every summer nasa Japan. Every summer, Every Christmas, nasa Amerika, nasa Singapore nanonood ng Taylor Swift. Q: You just found it out last week. SEN. WIN: Just last week, the hearing. Q: Paano mo that you stumbled into this information? SEN. WIN: That's very good question. Noong reunion kasi namin, may mga kaibigan ako na ipinagmamalaki na nakakuha sila ng subsidy. Sila pa nagmamalaki. Depende. May coupon, mayroong cash, So doon ko lang nalaman. And then, of course, I did my investigation. Maraming lumalabas na ganun. So that's why we did some research. Lumabas na ganun. Q: And how many schools are getting the cash rate? SEN. WIN: I don't have the exact number right now. But many private schools. I don't have the exact number right now. But the data is 8 billion. So that means wala marami. Q: And remember, during the pandemic, maraming umiyak na private schools na nag-struggle during that pandemic. SEN. WIN: So sa akin naman, okay naman itong GASTPE, it's a good program because it gives our poor students an opportunity to study in the private school. But let's make it, let's make sure that it's the poor that is given the opportunity. Because right now, it's not that, it's not happening that way. We need to review that program also. All. The programs we have to review. Free tertiary, itong GASTPE, it's just, hindi lang na-review in the past. So, we're doing the review, that's all yung sinasabi ko kanina is only for junior high school. Wala pa yung senior high school. We detected sa senior high school, may ganyan din. We'll have the next hearing on senior high school. Kasi yung, yung ESC, na voucher, is under one GASTPE program. Q: Ano yung ESC? SEN. WIN: ESC is for junior high school. Education Service Contracting. Grade 7 to 10. Yung voucher is grade 11 to 12. Voucher is, actually, the same concept siya. Iba lang yung mechanism. But the same concept, yung bata, from public, pwede mag-aral sa public. Na-expand siya. Dati hanggang junior high school lang siya, na-expand siya to senior high school. Same funding. It can be through remedial legislation. But we're pushing it. Inadmit naman ng DepEd during the hearing that the program needs to be tweaked in order to prioritize the poor. They admit it now. Ang result is they will release a new department order tweaking it to make sure that the poor are given priority and to make sure that equity is practiced. Q: Ano yung assurance sa'yo last week? SEN. WIN: Yes. Last week. Last week. By way of a DepEd order. Kasi everything is governed by a DepEd order. Meron kasing COA report na nagsabi na itong program is not being managed properly. So, DepEd created a new office to manage the GASTPE program. So, I think this was created late last year if I'm not mistaken. Q: So, ang COA ngayon lang na-discover? SEN. WIN: 2018 pa. The COA report is 2018 pa. Ngayon lang lumalabas. P80 billion is only one year. TEACHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION Q: May isa pang problem ating education, di ba sir? Yung sinasabi nyo. Yung mga teachers natin na take excellence in teacher education. Maraming yung non-performing teachers' in educational institutions. SEN. WIN: Oo. We found out that maraming people in TEI, Teacher Education Institutions, na has been operating for many years pero hindi nakakapasa ng licensure examination. For a teacher education institution, the ultimate bragging right is how many students have you passed in the LET. But a number, I just want to have the number right now, of TEIs that have been operating, but they have not yet passed, or their graduates do not pass the licensure examination. So two things are happening, number one, because some of them are state universities. So in other words, we're giving free education, but di naman pumapasa. So that's number one. And number two, yung bata na nag-aaral doon, gumagastos rin, on their own, out of pocket, hindi rin pumapasa. So we told CHED, and CHED is going to release a memo on this, to clean up the teacher education. Because if your students cannot pass the licensure exam for many years, then there's a problem with the way and the quality of your teaching in your school. So you need to already, it's either you close down that program, or you fix that program. Q: Ano ba, attrition rate? SEN. WIN: Ang passing rate natin for teacher education, mababa. I think on an average, around 40 to 50 percent. Ang pumapasa, for teacher education. Thousands rin yun. I just don't remember the exact. Parang 200,000 yun a year. Oh, dami rin pala. Marami, maraming pumapasa. It's a very popular course. It's very popular. Education is a very popular course. That's fine. But we need to make sure that the teacher education institutions are of quality. Because we're also losing money in terms of pre-higher education, in terms of out-of-pocket on the part of the students. So, para sa atin, leakage rin yan eh. So if you want to, if you have to have an education program in your school, make sure it's of quality. And make sure you have the faculty to teach it. MATATAG curriculum Q: So, let's talk about the professors, the teachers already teaching, na nag-cocomplain masyadong silang congested ang workload. Ano nang ginawa? SEN. WIN: Well, yung matatag curriculum is a massive reform. So, we need to manage the new curriculum, which is the matatag curriculum to reduce competencies by 70%. So, they will implement what they call most essential learning competencies. And these competencies will be under the matatag curriculum. This coming school year, the 2025-2024 school year, the matatag curriculum will be rolled out. Grades, kindergarten, grade 1, grade 4, grade 5, and grade 7. Ito yung 4 grades that matatag curriculum will be rolled out in. So, but the goal of the matatag curriculum is to reduce the number of competencies and enable the teachers to teach all the competencies. In a survey, tinanong ang isang teacher, "using the old curriculum, do you finish all the competencies?" I think only 20 to 30% of the teachers said yes. 70% said we do not finish the learning competencies. So, in other words, yung mga teachers themself, hirap sa pagtuturo because we're giving them too many things to teach. And at the same time, we also... Because that's what the National Achievement Test will follow. That's the reason also why our children are not doing well in many of the National Achievement Tests. It's because they're not learning all the competencies. But they're testing... Q: Ano ba yung mga competencies kaya? SEN. WIN: Iba-iba eh. But, siyempre, in, for example... Because marami silang tinuturo. Marami silang tinuturo. So, we're just reducing it to the most essential. And this is the same in Singapore, the same in other OECD countries. And that is a massive reform. And I'm supporting that because matagal na sinasabi yan ng mga teachers natin. Q: Ano yan? Reducing to a basic essential? SEN. WIN: Most essential learning. They call it the most essential learning competencies. Q: Okay. Ano yang most essential na yan? SEN. WIN: Iba-iba, no? Depending on the subjects. For example, in math, of course, the basics, no? Like addition. Addition, subtraction... Q: Ah, yun na lang specific. SEN. WIN: Very specific na. One of those is one competency. For example, in English...may mga competencies doon. Let's say in History may mga ganun. So it's a very good reform and we are supporting it. Of course, we'll not see that in the next 3 years, kasi ang full rollout nga is the next 3 years. Nakikita pa natin yan maybe in the 4th or the 5th year. Q: So ang start of that reform in education by the next school year that's still, sabi mo nga you're investing in the future. And so other than the two that you mentioned na education bills na nira-rush, are there any other education skills that you have? SEN. WIN: So those are the two most important sa senior high school and sa early childhood. The rest are department orders. Q: Pardon me for asking this but are you politically satisfied with the way that it's running? SEN. WIN: Yeah, I'm very happy. For example, there are basics that I'm satisfied with, very happy because there are basic reforms, low-hanging fruit basic reforms that are now being implemented. Like for example, yung unloading non-teaching with the teachers. So teachers now, there's a DepEd order now, removing non-teaching tasks from teachers. For example, yung mga extra, for example, yung mga health tasks. Yung mga teachers kasi during the beginning of the school year, sila pang in charge ng deworming, diba, antay-kuto, diba, health concerns. Dapat health na yun. So they identified, I think, 50% of teachers. So there are 50 plus tasks, different tasks, non-teaching tasks assigned to teachers. So sobrang daming tasks, non-teaching tasks. Q: Eh yung election SEN. WIN: Nan-teaching rin yan. That's actually another issue. But in the regular day-to-day, there are 52 different non-teaching tasks assigned to teachers. Ang dami naman. Ang dami. Nagulat rin ako ang dami. Over the years kasi nagpatong-patong na. For example, cleanliness ng school. Gulayan para sa skwela. Sila rin in charge na. Ang dami niyan. Q: Sabagay si Tony Lopez inaway niya yung taga-DepEd dahil biruin mo estudyante. The young pupils are trained to carry water, pail of water to their bathroom, kasi wala tubig. Galit na galit sila. Bakit? Bakit ang mga bata ang pinagdadala ng tubig? SEN. WIN: Well, going back, now DepEd has removed all of those. And then programming periodically for every budget, they will be allocating funds to increase yung tinatawag nating non-teaching personnel. Q: Eh paano naman ang mga bata naman. Yung mga non-education related tasks. Is it being addressed? SEN. WIN: Well, depende na yun sa school. Yung school naman have their own programs. For example, if that's part of their community participation, I don't know the context. Mayroon kasi minsan sila yung community participation. So the goal there is for teachers to have more time to teach and prepare. Q: How many eight hours teaching? SEN. WIN: No, six teaching hours. The two hours are for preparation. Q: Then speaking of hours, di ba sa overpopulation natin, shortage of classrooms, how many? Three shifts? May boarding? SEN. WIN: May iba. May three shifts. Unfortunately, because of our increasing student population, our student population is increasing about 4 to 5 percent a year. And then you also have typhoons that destroys our classrooms and school buildings. You also have dilapidated classrooms. Natural dilapidation of our classrooms. So all of that, you will need approximately 400 billion just to catch up on the classroom. So that's a large amount. We only allocate close to about 20 to 30 billion a year for classrooms. In other words, you will need 10 years just to catch up. But every year, dumadami yan. So we need the help of our local government unit, especially dito sa urban areas to build additional classrooms. Q: Valenzuela City is more prosperous. SEN. WIN: Yeah. So we're trying our best. Admittedly, meron din kami areas or meron kami schools that are congested as well. But we're trying our best to catch up. Lupa kasi dito is a problem. Even though you want to build schools, but you don't have the land to build schools. Because land is very expensive when you come here. SCHOOL CALENDAR Q: Like any school year, we're going to close the school year for this topic. Ngayon school year, ano ang closing? March pa ba? April? SEN. WIN: May tayo. May. Because we're still operating under the old calendar. Q: Ano ang report sa'yo, sir, na are we going to have a good bounty of graduating sa K-12? SEN. WIN: Yes, I think you gave me an idea to push for that NC1, NC2. Maybe this coming graduate, itong new batch of graduates. I think you gave me an idea to push TESDA to already certified graduates. May budget na and May pa naman. May pa naman. So we'll try our best to push TESDA to certify these coming new graduates at senior high school with NC1, NC2. So that yung mga graduate na doon, makakaano na sila, makakahanap ng trabaho. POWER SHORTAGE Q: Can we shift, sir, sa amin? Sa other committee mo on energy? Kasi marami ngayon naglalabas ng mga...Actually, because of the investment issues of President Marcos, marami na kukuha mga offers ng renewable energy. And now, having a lot of nuclear, modular nuclear. What do you think? Panay may problem. Yung power shortage problem. Kasi kailangan, may way ahead ang projection ng demand and supply. SEN. WIN: I think, short-term muna. El Nino is going to be a big concern for our country. For food security and energy security. Almost close to 10%, 10 to 15% of our power comes from hydro. So, meaning a big chunk of our hydro will experience drought. So their output will be curtailed. And that will impact some parts of our country. So we need to have a contingency plan for that. Especially during the hot months. So all the repairs should be done now. All the preventive maintenance should be done now. So that when summer comes, all the plants are running in full capacity. But we need to really monitor this very carefully. Like in the past, ito. Madalas natin pag-usapan, in the books, our reserves are quite high. But in actuality, because of the breakdowns, the maintenance, it's not so high. That's why every summer we already experience brownouts in the past. But because of El Nino, we might experience that again. So that's why we're calling on the Department of Energy to come up with a contingency plan to meet all the plan owners, to make sure that they don't do repairs during summer time. They also have feedstock, meaning supply of gas, supply of coal, because coal is still 50% of our capacity to make sure that all of the plants are ready to come to help. And also the reserves. Ito madalas nating pag-usapan, yung ancillary reserves. And we've been pushing fairness to NGCP. They've been increasing what we call the ancillary reserves. But we're also pushing ERC and DOE to make sure that 100% are contracted so that when El Nino comes, we have ancillary reserves ready to run after that. On the side of renewable energy, they also acknowledge that there is a lot of interest in terms of renewable energy. And the reason for that, there's only one reason. When DOE released, DOJ and DOE released that circular allowing 100% ownership, maraming nagka-interest. So that goes to show that liberalization sparks interest. And the interest is in complex projects, renewable energy, very complex renewable energy projects. For example, offshore wind. That's very, very complex. I don't think any domestic company for now can build that because the technology is very complex. But we're now seeing a lot of interest, in fact I've had a few offshore wind companies who are very interested to come to the field. So, andyan na yung interest. Ang kalaban lang natin, red tape. Yun ang kalaban natin and of course, corruption. So, we need to make sure that red tape, magkapatid kasi ito, red tape and corruption. So, we need to make sure that by rolling out red carpet, we ensure that they come in online as fast as we can. Hindi magkaroon ng complication. Hindi matapilok. At tulungan natin for them to come online. Hindi lang application online eh. Kasi apply ka ng apply. Wala naman online. So, we really need to make sure that yung trips ni Presidente, In fairness kay Presidente, he is attracting a lot of investors. But the secretaries are the ones implementing the application. So, it's useless that we will attract the investors. Pero pagdating naman dito, naiipit yung papeles. So, it's important that the secretaries and the bureaucrats follow through with the investment commitments. NUCLEAR Q: Yung modular nuclear? SEN. WIN: The most feasible modular nuclear will come online probably 2027. But it's good that we talk about it. Because we need many things also. For example, a law on regulating nuclear. Wala pa tayo, ganun eh. Of course, where to put all of those. Citing issues, safety issues. Q: Wala ka pang bill na ganyan? SEN. WIN: Meron. Meron na akong finile na bill to establish a regulator for nuclear. So, the regulator will regulate safety. Q: Kailan mo finile? SEN. WIN: Last December? Q: Last December. Kasi yun na nangyayari. Putting the cart ahead of the horse? SEN. WIN: There are also interests in nuclear. In fact, I've been talking to some parties who are interested in nuclear energy. Q: Dami yung U.S. diba? SEN. WIN: But the small ones.Yeah, Korea is one. Very interested sila. But the small ones, the modular. They'll now online 2027. Q: Ano yan sa U.S.? SEN. WIN: Ang dami eh. U.S., Korea, halos lahat. Meron. China. Q: Pero diba ang concept is to deploy the (inaudible)? SEN. WIN: Yes. Even in Metro Manila. Because the Philippines in terms of consumption is not too big. That's why I think the small nuclear, the small modular nuclear will be acceptable. Because the big one. Most of the provinces would not agree to put it in their own provinces. But the smaller ones, smaller footprint, the safety is much higher. They would be acceptable in accepting those. Q: So sa 2027, saan yan? SEN. WIN: Marami. Sa U.S. mostly. Q: Sa Pilipinas. SEN. WIN: Wala pa naman area na. But the interest is there. It's good that the government is open. But again, we have to approach this with a lot of caution. And we have to make sure that the laws, the treaties, the regulations are in place. Nuclear may be clean and efficient. But safety is still a concern. So we have to address that safety issue. SENIOR CITIZEN DISCOUNT Q: Last one na lang. Sinusulit ko paka-interview sa iyo dahil ito lang pagkakataon ko na ma-interview ka. I wrote it in my forum last week about the FIT. Feed-in-tariff. Diba nag-resume na naman ng collection starting February. Nakita ko yung aking electric bills. Naka-announce dun. We are now starting to spend it on FIT. Okay lang kasi yun yung pesos ka nun. FIT is for the renewable. Senior citizen discount. Mga less na mga peso. And I asked Joe of Meralco. What is this senior citizen discount? Diba discount yan? Why am I being charged? Eh senior citizen, why am I being charged? Tapos sa lower portion? Taxes. Nagbabayad na nga ako system losses. Ako pa tinatax. Pagdating sa senior citizen discount, may tax pa rin ako. Much higher. Ano yan, 8 pesos pa. Sabi ko, ano yan? Kala ko pa may discount. Ako na nga nagbabayad ng bayad. Binabayaran ko na yung senior citizen discount, I'm supposed to save it. And I'm now being taxed. More than that. Tapos, ang salot nga is the ERC guidelines. Implementing rules and regulations. And we are just complying with it as implemented for the collecting agency. SEN. WIN: Well, on the issue of senior citizen discount. It's in the law that senior citizens get the discount. Q: Yeah, but I'm paying for it. I'm senior citizen. Nakapangalan nga sa pangalan ko. SEN. WIN: Hindi pwede yun. It's a discount to you. Being a senior citizen. I'll review that. But that's not correct. I'll take a look at that. But that's not correct. I mean, the whole point of the senior citizen discount is to extend the discount to our senior citizens. But not to pass on to us as consumers. It will be absorbed by the corporation. Mali yun and And not pass on yan. Not pass on. We cannot pass it on to us, consumers. Because lahat naman, whether you're a restaurant or a hotel or.. We'll look into that. SCHOOL CALENDAR Q: Senator, bakit kailangan ibalik ulit yung June na opening ng klase? Hindi po ba maghahabol ng lecture yung mga bata? May hirapan sila? Magkakaroon ba ng sakit? O hindi po ba magkakaroon ng problema ulit? SEN. WIN: Hindi naman. And that's why I also support DepEd's move to return to the old calendar. In fact, nag-survey kami, almost 90% of our constituents wants to go back to the old calendar. Pero hindi pwedeng biglain yan. Kasi pag binigla mo, there'll be one year of no summer break. So you need to slowly revert back. And when we, in fact, conducted a hearing on that, there are pros and cons to reverting, there are pros and cons to staying with this calendar. Ang pinakamasama is the heat. In some parts of our country, especially in Tuguegarao, Isabela, napakainit. And a lot of our students suffer inside the classrooms, because their classrooms do not have air conditioning. And a lot of the outdoor activities cannot be conducted. Also, sinasabi ng ibang mga psychologist, summer break is usually family time. That's what disappeared during the old calendar. So, that's why, for the child to grow holistically, it's not only academic. But you also need to spend time with your family, you need to go out with your friends. And that disappeared because of the movement of the calendar. So, we supported the reversion to the old calendar in which the summer break is through April and May. But that will happen in the transition now. Q: Aside from considering the summer break, yung sama-pamilya, at saka yung heat. So, do we consider din po ba na naging effective po yung September na pag-open na klase ng mga bata? Naging epektibo po ba? Naging maganda po ba yung kinalabasan? O hindi, kaya kailangan pa rin ibalik yung June? SEN. WIN: Yeah, if you remember, the reason why we moved the calendar is because of the pandemic. Nung 2020, we did not open school right away because they were printing the self-learning modules. We opened schoolsl on October 9 during that time. I remember that. So, because of that movement, natulak rin yung summer break. It was pushed. We didn't have a summer break. At that time, break was around, I think, July and then we just continued it for the next 2 or 3 years. So, we're now going back slowly to the old calendar. So, the only reason why we moved it, there was no compelling reason except COVID. So, we're just going back to the old. They're going to do it slowly until we go back. Because mawawala yung isang year na may break tayo. So, we're going to do it. GASTPE Q: Senator, last question on that. Yung sa subsidy, parang yung sa private, po ba matatanggal? SEN. WIN: Yung subsidy, ang tatanggalin lang yung ibinibigay sa non-poor. Because what we want is to also encourage poor students to study in private schools, or if your school is congested, that school can transfer students to private schools. So, the private schools, it's the students that receive the subsidy. We're subsidizing the student. So, they can still go to private schools, but we have to make sure that the subsidy only goes to poor students. Q: So pagkagaling ka sa public, pumunta ka sa private, mababawasan? SEN. WIN: Hindi naman. Basta poor ka. If you're a poor student, ang importante yung ma-prioritize ka. So, you need to prioritize some poor students. If you're poor, you can study in private schools. And the private schools also need to make sure that you come from marginalized families. Q: So, paano po natin ika-classify na non-poor siya o poor siya? SEN. WIN: That's why in one of the reforms that we're looking at, the school should make sure that you come from poor families. Like for example, you have a, let's say, a poor evaluation, assessment. Ngayon kasi wala eh. Any student can come there and get the subsidy. Basta may voucher ka lang. Kaya in my experience, yung mga kaklase na nasa Hokkaido every summer, sa Japan, sila yung pang nakakuha ng voucher. It's not morally correct. Ang GASTPE kasi is to utilize the private schools to help the poor and to decongest our schools. That's the GASTPE. But hindi siya, hindi ganun ang nangyayari. It's not decongested. may mga congested schools pa tayo and it's also funding non-poor students. Which is not correct. Q: Eh, sir, pag hindi nga nakabayad, yun ang ginagamit, sir eh. SEN. WIN: That's why we need to, yun ang lumabas, we need to fix that eh. Q: Sa private school, Ang halimbawa private school siya. Pag merong kang outstanding na bill, yun daw ang pinagagamit? SEN. WIN: Yun naman hindi tama. May mga ganyan na ako naririnig. Q: Sir, following up ang P8B, yun ang nabanggit niyo nga sa GASTPE. It's not considered malversation, diba since it's used on other people na non-poor? Hindi yun yung intended beneficiaries ng program? SEN. WIN: Well, because in the guidelines, it didn't specify to prioritize the poor. So, that's why, in fairness to the implementers, especially the private schools, since it's not specified there, they were taking in students. So, that's why I'm pushing to fix or to tweak or to amend the department order. Because it's a problem with the department order. That's why the implementation became like that. Q:Sabi mo, 2018 CoA report suggested that the DepEd created spatial body for that? SEN. WIN: Yes, yes. It's very clear, if you want to copy that 2018 CoA report, it's very clear there that the guidelines are not clear. And the guidelines also lack explicit requirements that it should be only for poor students. Walang ganun sa guidelines. Q: Sir, while it is not DepEd that specifically selected the students, sabi niyo nga po, they created an office. Is it an attached agency po ba to DepEd? Is it under DepEd. SEN. WIN: It's under DepEd. It's a new office. It's only because you don't have infinite resources that can subsidize everyone. So, because we have very limited resources, we should prioritize the poor. Q: So, pang-level niya, sir? Sir, ay committee hearings pa lang po? SEN. WIN: Committee hearings pa lang po. Q: Wala pa pong bill to amend. SEN. WIN: Wala pa. Wala pa. But that's the result, we're thinking of coming up with a bill. Next hearing will be focusing on senior high school because we also heard the same problems and leakages in senior high school vouchers. SHORTAGE OF TEACHERS Q: Sir, I have another topic. The United Nations has raised a global alert for a shortage of teachers. So they recognize it's a global problem. And they projected that by 2030, there will be 44 million teachers and a deficit worldwide. Ang DepEd, they also recognize the problem, saying that in the Philippines alone, we have 58,000 teachers na kulang pa po. So, what can be done to prevent yung projection of the UN that by 2030, 44 million teachers globally ang wala? SEN. WIN: Our teachers are unique. And they're very in demand. They're unique because they're highly skilled, they're highly knowledgeable, and they can speak English. In fact, pupunt ang EDCOM two weeks from now in Vietnam. And we found out, yeah, the EDCOM group. Q: So, pupunta kayo? SEN. WIN: March 20 to 24? We found out that a lot of Filipino teachers are teaching in Vietnam. I don't have the exact number, but we found a good number. And because number one, they're licensed teachers. Number two, they can speak English. So, they can adapt very fast. But there are pros and cons to that. Because what will happen is our teachers will be pirated abroad because of that shortage. And that's what I fear,that's what I have in mind because our good teachers will be pirated. They will be attracted by the big salaries being offered abroad. And then second, new teachers will also be pirated abroad. So, we might have a shortage in our own country of teachers. I don't have the exact number. Ang basic entry level natin ngayon is nasa 22,000. I'm sure Vietnam's offering much more. That's why they're willing to move to Vietnam. So, two things, my concern is, our incumbent teachers will be pirated. And then number two, our new teachers will be lured to work abroad. And that will also create problems domestically or locally because we will have a shortage. And like I said, our student population is growing. Therefore, we will also need teachers to fulfill those, to fulfill the growing student population. Q: Actually, sir, if you really talk to teachers, salary is really one of the concerns. It's the top concern. So, ano po ba yung hindrances na nakikita natin, sir, in terms of raising the salaries of teachers? SEN. WIN: Admittedly, salary is their number one concern. Number two, their next concern is they're overworked because of too many non-teaching tasks. And DepEd has already addressed that. So, number one is much more complex because when we increase the salaries of teachers, we have to increase the salaries of the entire bureaucracy. But admittedly, me personally, I'm pushing to increase it because I saw in the ASEAN region, tayo pinakamababa or one of the lowest in terms of teacher salary. On the average, ASEAN is paying about 40,000 to 45,000. Singapore is even paying higher. So, that's why it goes without saying, Vietnam is paying higher because they're pirating our teachers. Teachers are attracted to work there, apparently. That's one area that we should look at, what the government should look at, how to increase teacher's salaries gradually to make it competitive. Q: Yung mga teachers natin nagupunta sa Hong Kong as domestic helpers. SEN. WIN: I heard. Oo, I heard. The whole world is looking for English-speaking teachers because they know that English is the world language. They want their children to learn how to speak English so they can move around. They can look for jobs abroad. And they can also do business. So, at an early age, they want their children to be exposed to English. At meron tayo nun because we're bilingual by nature. Q: Sir, sorry, maraming pa akong tanong. On GAA, nabanggit po kasi ng DepEd. It's one of the limitations in terms of hiring and addressing yung backlogs natin ng teachers. Kasi every year daw po, parang they're only allowed 10,000 teachers. Yun lang yung kayang pasweldohin based on the approved budget. So, may magagawa ba tayo dun, sir? Because they wanted to increase the number to 20,000. SEN. WIN: Actually, kulang yan, story na yan. It's also the process of hiring teachers, they've done. In fact, this has been a granule problem of DepEd. Yung hiring of teachers. It takes about 4 to 6 months to hire one teacher. Because it goes through the CSE. In fact, during one of our EDCOM meetings, we broke down the number of steps. And it takes about 4 to 6 months to hire a teacher. So, we are now recommending that, we recommend to DepEd to decentralize the hiring of teachers so that they can hire faster. If they can hire at the regional level or even at the division level, they should do it. So that it won't go all the way to the central to hire teachers. And they should reduce the number of processes. Kasi ang daming processes eh, to hire teachers. So, yes, tama sila, 10,000 a year. Not because limited ang budget to hire teachers, but the process is so long. Takes so long. So, that's why hindi nilalagyan niyan. Because even though we add 20,000, 30,000, if you cannot hire 30,000, sayang yung pera. So, DepEd needs to fix that process first. Q: So, can we guarantee sir na mapu-push po siya sa Senate? Pag in-address ng DepEd, on their side, yung bureaucracy or red tape in terms of hiring teachers, we can help them increase the slots allowed to them. SEN. WIN: It is during the time of Secretary Briones we always got that. Because nakita ko na every year, out of the 10,000, only 2,000 are hired. So, not the entire 10,000. That's why the DBM is not giving them higher than 10,000 because they cannot hire anyways. It takes time. They have to fix the process. It's not a question of number of teachers, it's a question of process. TECH-VOC EDUCATION Q: Sir, yung on liberalizing tech-voc education, may existing bills na po ba tayo on that? SEN. WIN: That will be part of the education chacha or the economic chacha. Q: But di ba sabi mo, once na-approve yun ng plebiscite, saka lang kayo makakapag come up? SEN. WIN: Yes. Q: But kung hindi ma-approve ang plebiscite, you still push it. SEN. WIN: Economic Cha-cha? Q: Hindi, yung education lang, kung yung in case na sama, yun kasi yun lang na-identify. SEN. WIN: Kung hindi ma-approve sa plebiscite. Well, when the plebiscite is a no, then that means ayaw ng tao, then I think it's not... Q: Pero yung tech-voc maganda naman yung... SEN. WIN: Maganda siya, maybe that provision lang. That's why the hearings are very important. All of these things are coming out. Q: Are you for cha-cha or not? SEN. WIN: I filed a bill. Economic lang, economic lang. I filed a resolution for... I filed a resolution on economic chacha. Yan yung RBH 1. ECCD Q: Sir, kanina nabanggit niya rin, you are finishing on the floor sa Senate yung Child Development Center for Barangay. What is our timeline on this, sir? Ganon po siya possibly mapasa sa Senate? And also, just to clarify, so this will be under DILG? SEN. WIN: Yes. DILG. We put DILG, it will still be under DepED. DepEd is the chairman, DILG, the vice chairman. But we're now empowering the local...More child development centers, one per barangay. Q: LGU po ang gagastos sa hiring of teachers? SEN. WIN: Yes. Right now, LGU siya, so we're maintaining that. But tutulong din ang national. In that bill, the national government will help the 4th, 5th, 6th class municipalities. GASTPE Q: Senator, balikan ko lang po yung doon sa selection ng students, doon sa discount na tinatawag. Meron bang pananagutan ang school doon, doon sa kanilang mali na pagpili kung sino bibigyan ng discount? SEN. WIN: Good question. In fairness naman, tinignan namin yung guidelines, they're just following the guidelines. But the guidelines are not in line with the law because of the different interpretation based on the COA report. But during the hearing, they agreed that equity should be observed and practiced. And therefore, they will review and change the guidelines through a department order. But just to answer your question, yung mga private schools, wala silang pananagutan. Because sumusunod lang sila sa guidelines. Q: Maaaring kaya, kasi sabi ninyo kanina na parang kokonti yung mga parents na in-enroll yung anak nila sa private school para ma-avail yung discount. Maaaring kayang hindi nila alamin tungkol dito, sir? SEN. WIN: Tama ka. Actually, lumabas din yan sa COA report. That some hindi alam ng mga parents itong subsidy na binibigay natin. So, one of the recommendation is to increase awareness of the subsidy na binibigay ng government. Kasi subsidy kasi, ang government ang nagbibigay ng subsidy. To address number one, congestion. Para yung mga congested schools, ma-transfer nila yung students sa mga private schools na hindi congested. And then number two, to help the poor. To give the poor the opportunity to study in a private school. So, that's the objective of that subsidy. Q: Sino kaya ang dapat na nagpu-push itong information? SEN. WIN: It should be DepEd. Tsaka may isang organization called PEAC. PEAC is the organization that chooses the schools. So, the funding comes from DepEd and then PEAC chooses the schools. And then DepEd pays the schools. So, ganyan ang mechanism na. Q: Sir, based na rin doon sa interest ng DepEd. Parang lumalabas na ang kanilang gustong mangyari sa ating mga estudyante. Kumbaga parang yung education is parang labor-based. Ibig sabihin, kaya sila nakikipag-collaborate sa mga businesses para malaman nila kung ano ang pangangailangan ng mga business para ituturo nila ito sa mga estudyante para pag graduate ng K-12 ay meron na sila agad employment. Ito ba in line sa paniniwala mo, sir? SEN. WIN: Well, mayroong ang estudyante, they have choices. There are four tracks. Yung academic track, if you want to go to college and pursue more studies. The tech-voc track, if you want to work right away, so you will have skills. Then you have the sports, and then you have the arts. Ang pinaka-popular is tech-voc and academic. That's why we're enhancing the tech-voc track by giving them national certifications right away during senior high school. So that when they graduate, they carry two types of documents. Their diploma and their national certification. Q: So para sa inyo, sir, pwede nating siyang sabihin na quality education. Yun ba yun? SEN. WIN: Well, quality is still a long-term aspiration. Admittedly, it's not the quality that we are looking for. Because you'll see the PISA scores, you'll see the national achievement test. So quality is still something that we are not satisfied with. So that's why pinu-push namin itong mga reports, especially in tech-voc, so that we will improve quality. K-12 Q: Last question na lang, sir. Ano po ang magiging kapalaran ng K-12 sa Senado, sir, in the future? SEN. WIN: Ang K-12, in senior high school, we're fixing it. National certification is one. We're also making sure that at the senior high school level, na yung bata ay mabibigyan ng training. Kasi meron tayong tinatawag na apprenticeship or OJT. This is a good way of exposing the learner to real life situations. But it's not being maximized. So we're fixing that as well. At senior high school level, they're already exposed to real world scenarios. So that when they want to look for work, ang importante when they graduate, employed na sila. At senior high school, we should already be exposing them and giving them the necessary push. So we're fixing the senior high school level. OVERPRICED LAPTOPS Q: Ano na po update dun sa overpriced laptops? SEN. WIN: Na-suspend na po yung ilang officials na DepEd. As far as I know, na-suspend yung ilang officials na DepEd. Incumbent officials na DepEd. But I'm not sure whether the case went to Sandigan. Thank you. Thank you, Marichu, for this opportunity. And I thank everyone for coming today and giving your questions. So hopefully, ang goal ng EDCOM, I don't know if I can speak on behalf of EDCOM, is to suggest reforms to our education system to improve learner outcomes. And also, what's more important, sinabi ng kasamahan natin, is to get them employed. The dissatisfaction comes because their children are not employed. So we need to fix the system first. Make sure that we're delivering quality education. Make sure that they're learning. Make sure that our teachers are competent. So once they graduate, they can be employed to help out their family. So that's what we're focusing on right now. We're going out to Vietnam to look at their best practices. We discovered something in Vietnam kasi, Marichu. Vietnam and the Philippines are spending the same amount of money per student. Q: Oh, really? How much? SEN. WIN: We're spending around 11,000 US dollars per year and Vietnam is spending about 13,000 US dollars per year so Vietnam is spending around the same. Pero their grade is 100 points higher than us sa PISA. So they're performing much better than the Philippines but spending the same only per student. So meron silang ginagawa na much better than us. So they're much more efficient in terms of spending compared to the Philippines. So we want to learn from them. And in fact, in terms of performance, the US and Vietnam are the same in terms of PISA grades. So ganun kagaling ang Vietnamese in terms of academics nila.
They simply had nowhere to evolve: a Russian paleontologist on the progress of scientific ideas about dinosaurs

A business manager suspected of having ordered the attack on an elected official from Saint-Denis

Tigrane Seydoux, the Frenchman behind the fashionable Italians in Madrid in which you always have to visit the bathroom

Energy transition: The experts say so, the Court of Auditors says so

Scientists invent a pill to avoid having to go to the gym

Japan warns of increasing cases of serious streptococcal infection that can cause toxic shock syndrome and death

Shanghai police cracked down on a series of burglaries: the suspect "switched his face" by buying film and television silicone masks online

Device to produce hydrogen and oxygen on the moon unveiled Planned to launch this winter

Second trial of residents who evacuated from the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident also does not accept national responsibility

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant First detection of object that may contain nuclear fuel debris on water

Love and family are more important than money: what is the comedy series Inheritance about?

Founded in the Meiji era, 119 years of history, Endurance, First appearance in Koshien, Locals are in an uproar

Darvish: ``I want to fight without putting personal feelings in the way'' in his first match with Otani

"Watch me overcome difficulties step by step and fight back." This Chinese golden flower keeps his word.

A Blaugrana nightmare and the bogeyman Joao Felix: "It was a game for him, he made a difference"

NBA: Victor Wembanyama and Gregg Popovich confirm the Spurs will come to Paris next season

Defeat in the FA Cup: Klopp breaks off interview  I have no nerves for you

Defeat in the FA Cup: Klopp breaks off interview  I have no nerves for you

Does the end of the thermal engine in 2035 have any problems?

The world's first driverless "air taxi" goes on sale for the first time

The world's first driverless "air taxi" goes on sale for the first time

China Cuisine Association: Catering consumption was booming from January to February, and companies in the ready-made beverage category were active

Real estate crisis: Number of building permits also fell significantly at the beginning of the year

The "egg-smashing" trend is blowing into a small town in Zhejiang, how to play the cards in your hand?

Analyst: the drivers of rising oil prices were signs of high demand in the United States

The first batch of imported exhibits of the 135th Canton Fair entered the country smoothly

Yen exchange rate: The yen depreciates to the low 149 yen level to the dollar, due to speculation regarding monetary policy.

Daihatsu's name announced by the FTC: ``We were waiting, but we will set up a forum for discussions.''

What are the most important economic files awaiting the new Palestinian Prime Minister?

Political funding issue: Prime Minister In addition to sanctions against members of Congress, concrete measures to prevent recurrence will be accelerated

Ski areas in the world are in danger.. What threatens them?

Nine soldiers hospitalized for frostbite and hypothermia after maneuvers in the Aragonese Pyrenees

Peskov: Russia will not listen to US assessments of the past elections

Pascal Praud and you - A police station under siege: the spokesperson for a police union recounts the scene of chaos in La Courneuve

Germany said it would not congratulate Putin on his election victory

Blocking the way of those who are fasting...a Ramadan custom in Sudan

The occupation commits 8 new massacres in Gaza and announces its intention to carry out a massive activity in Rafah

Peskov: Putin spoke about the idea of exchanging Navalny, but not about the fact of negotiations

Martyrs, dozens of detainees, and the killing of a soldier when the occupation stormed the Shifa complex in Gaza

Moscow Region: a strike was struck at the meeting place of representatives of the command staff of the SBU and the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Civil servants will have the salary increase after Easter and before the Budgets are approved

Niger: what follow-up after the denunciation of the military agreement between Niamey and Washington?

TikTok is at the heart of the US election season

Putin: all traitors fighting against Russia will be identified by name and they will not be given peace

Urgent | Al Jazeera obtains exclusive photos showing the Qassam tracking the movements of officer in the Shaldag unit, Yitzhar Hoffman, before he was killed by a snipers bullet.

Faced with the risks of war with Russia, Latvia restores its military service for men

The Japanese Cabinet of Ministers refrained from commenting on the results of the elections in Russia

 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.
They simply had nowhere to evolve: a Russian paleontologist on the progress of scientific ideas about dinosaurs

A business manager suspected of having ordered the attack on an elected official from Saint-Denis

Tigrane Seydoux, the Frenchman behind the fashionable Italians in Madrid in which you always have to visit the bathroom

Energy transition: The experts say so, the Court of Auditors says so

Scientists invent a pill to avoid having to go to the gym

Japan warns of increasing cases of serious streptococcal infection that can cause toxic shock syndrome and death

Shanghai police cracked down on a series of burglaries: the suspect "switched his face" by buying film and television silicone masks online

Device to produce hydrogen and oxygen on the moon unveiled Planned to launch this winter

Second trial of residents who evacuated from the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident also does not accept national responsibility

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant First detection of object that may contain nuclear fuel debris on water

Love and family are more important than money: what is the comedy series Inheritance about?

Founded in the Meiji era, 119 years of history, Endurance, First appearance in Koshien, Locals are in an uproar

Darvish: ``I want to fight without putting personal feelings in the way'' in his first match with Otani

"Watch me overcome difficulties step by step and fight back." This Chinese golden flower keeps his word.

A Blaugrana nightmare and the bogeyman Joao Felix: "It was a game for him, he made a difference"

NBA: Victor Wembanyama and Gregg Popovich confirm the Spurs will come to Paris next season

Defeat in the FA Cup: Klopp breaks off interview  I have no nerves for you

Defeat in the FA Cup: Klopp breaks off interview  I have no nerves for you

The world's first driverless "air taxi" goes on sale for the first time

The world's first driverless "air taxi" goes on sale for the first time

China Cuisine Association: Catering consumption was booming from January to February, and companies in the ready-made beverage category were active

Real estate crisis: Number of building permits also fell significantly at the beginning of the year

The "egg-smashing" trend is blowing into a small town in Zhejiang, how to play the cards in your hand?

Analyst: the drivers of rising oil prices were signs of high demand in the United States

The first batch of imported exhibits of the 135th Canton Fair entered the country smoothly

Yen exchange rate: The yen depreciates to the low 149 yen level to the dollar, due to speculation regarding monetary policy.

Daihatsu's name announced by the FTC: ``We were waiting, but we will set up a forum for discussions.''

Nine soldiers hospitalized for frostbite and hypothermia after maneuvers in the Aragonese Pyrenees

Peskov: Russia will not listen to US assessments of the past elections

Pascal Praud and you - A police station under siege: the spokesperson for a police union recounts the scene of chaos in La Courneuve

Germany said it would not congratulate Putin on his election victory

Blocking the way of those who are fasting...a Ramadan custom in Sudan

The occupation commits 8 new massacres in Gaza and announces its intention to carry out a massive activity in Rafah

Peskov: Putin spoke about the idea of exchanging Navalny, but not about the fact of negotiations

Martyrs, dozens of detainees, and the killing of a soldier when the occupation stormed the Shifa complex in Gaza

Moscow Region: a strike was struck at the meeting place of representatives of the command staff of the SBU and the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Pascal Praud and you - We never had this fear when going to work: a supermarket manager recounts a daily life that became nightmarish

Sciences Po: we will be uncompromising on anti-Semitism, promises the president of the Foundation

Trump: If I were president, the Gaza invasion would not have happened

US Senator: Allegations that UNRWA is a tool in the hands of Hamas are a lie

Civil servants will have the salary increase after Easter and before the Budgets are approved

Niger: what follow-up after the denunciation of the military agreement between Niamey and Washington?

TikTok is at the heart of the US election season

Putin: all traitors fighting against Russia will be identified by name and they will not be given peace

Urgent | Al Jazeera obtains exclusive photos showing the Qassam tracking the movements of officer in the Shaldag unit, Yitzhar Hoffman, before he was killed by a snipers bullet.

Faced with the risks of war with Russia, Latvia restores its military service for men

The Japanese Cabinet of Ministers refrained from commenting on the results of the elections in Russia

 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.
Singtel announced it raised SGD950 million (US$711 million) by selling a 0.8% stake in Bharti Airtel to US-based investment firm GQG Partners.

In a statement, Singtel detailed that the gain from the sale is estimated to be around SGD700 million. Its stake in Airtel will be reduced to 29% and is worth an estimated SGD33 billion.

The transaction is a part of Singtels 2021 strategy to recycle capital to unlock value from its assets. To date the operator has recycled around SGD8 billion in the last three years to enable the company to fund growth of its data centre, IT services and reduce net debt by SGD3.2 billion (since end September 2023).

Singtel Group CFO Arthur Lang added: The Group is now in an even stronger position to execute our disciplined capital approach of balancing investing for greater growth and delivering strong, sustainable returns for our shareholders.

The executive noted Airtel had seen steady growth across its units and had been rewarded with strong market valuations.

We believe theres more room for growth given Indias accelerated digital transformation and we intend to stay invested for the long term while working with Bharti Enterprises to equalise our effective stake in Airtel over time, he added.

Singtel sold a 3.3% stake in Airtel to Bharti Telecom in 2022 for around SGD2.54 billion.
Spekboom bushes protect earth but can they cool Earth?



Van Wyksdorp, South Africa, March 7 (AFP) Mar 07, 2024



Andre Britz pulled over his pick-up truck on a rocky mountain track to show off the nature-preserving powers of southern Africa's spekboom shrub.

The 62-year-old Afrikaner is an evangelist for Portulacaria afra, a red-stemmed bush or small tree with thick, dense green leaves that acts as a sponge for carbon dioxide.

"Here you can see the difference between degraded land and what we call pristine spekboom veld," he said, pointing out a division running like a contour between lush green hilltop and arid valley side.

The plant once dominated the dry terrain of the Little Karoo in South Africa's Western Cape.

But decades of what Britz calls over-grazing and mismanagement have destroyed the shrub and the vital shade it offers the sun-scorched earth, not to mention its strength at absorbing carbon.

"The spekboom does carbon sequestration day and night. It is one of the few plants that do it," Britz told AFP on a tour to explain his ten-year-old mission.

"And the other thing is that it occurs here naturally," he said. "So that was why it was important to plant spekboom here and to have that secondary effect on the change of climate."

Ten years ago Britz founded Jobs 4 Carbon, an organisation dedicated to replanting and encouraging the spekboom in an area where farming was devastated by the long 2015-2020 drought.

Now he has a team of planters, labouring with shovels and picks in the rocky terrain to nurture new plants that could once more blanket the dry ground with lush green leaves.



- 'Miracle plant' -



Nearby, a two-year-old replanted Spekboom has begun to spread its branches above fresh shoots. Jobs 4 Carbon has already replanted almost 700 hectares (1,730 acres).

"It brings nature back to life," team leader Jan Cloete, 49, said with a smile.

To botanist Alastair Potts, 41, in its natural semi-arid ecosystem or "subtropical thicket", it is a "miracle plant".

It "creates forest-like micro-environments", a "carpet" of leaves that "trap water and dust and nutrients", as well as carbon, he said.

The latter is stored in large quantities because of the succulent's rare ability to swing between two types of photosynthesis.

In dry, hot weather, spekboom sucks carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere at night and stores it in the form of malic acid.

During the day, the plant closes its pores, called stomata, to minimise water loss and uses its night stash for photosynthesis.

This greatly boosts its sequestration capacity.

Fact-checkers have debunked overenthusiastic claims that the plant rivals the Amazon rainforest in terms of carbon absorption, but proponents say it still pulls above its weight when allowed to grow in its natural environment.

A 2006 paper estimated that one hectare of spekboom sequestered on average four tonnes of CO2 per year. Others put the figure at more than 15 tonnes.



- Carbon credits -



Jobs 4 Carbon is hoping to plant more of it and fund the venture selling carbon credits, a financial instrument bought by companies to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.

To make that viable, however, scientists first have to agree on just how much CO2 the little succulent exactly sequesters.

Still, Potts is optimistic. Spekboom doesn't have the drawbacks of other tree-planting projects criticised for setting up monocultures in unsuitable ecosystems, he said.

And by restoring the environment, it helps prevent emissions from land degradation.

"I feel that carbon farming and spekboom is the perfect mix," he said.

"We're changing the ecosystem functioning back to what it was, through carbon, which is fantastic."

With funding from international foundations and private companies, Jobs 4 Carbon is looking to green 13,000 hectares across the region, said Andre Britz.

But much more could be done across the country, according to Potts.

The group currently plants the shrub for free if landowners agree to leave their plot fallow for at least 15 years in return.

In the courtyard of his village church, 15,000 small plants are ready to put down roots in the arid ground, which reminds him of an old saying he heard from his grandfather: "Take care of your veld, and your veld will take care of you".
Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) will upgrade its broadband footprint with Netcracker Technology to support expanding demand for its fibre to the home (FTTH) service.

In a statement, IOH said demand for its FTTH service had grown tenfold after several expansions of the operators fibre coverage.

A memorandum of understanding was signed with US-based Netcracker to seal the deal at MWC Barcelona last week.

Under the agreement, Netcracker will upgrade IOHs IT infrastructure with its Digital BSS portfolio, which addresses the need of its growing business segments Home Broadband (HBB), Fixed-Wireless Access (FWA) and OTT.

IOH President Director and CEO Vikram Sinha said: At Indosat, we aspire to become the main driver of the empowerment of Indonesia. Collaborating with Netcracker reflects our shared vision to accelerate the nations digital transformation. This partnership will broaden our portfolio and expand our home broadband business, helping us to consistently deliver world-class digital experiences to our customers. We are confident this partnership will set a new milestone in the longstanding collaboration journey between Indosat and Netcracker.

Netcracker President Sylvain Seignour said: We are delighted that Indosat has identified Netcracker as its preferred IT supplier of choice as the company adds new lines of business and builds up its presence across different customer segments. Our partnership with the Ooredoo and Hutchison groups is extremely meaningful, and we look forward to helping them reach their goals.
TowerCo of Africa Uganda has procured funding of US$40 million to boost coverage in rural areas of the country.

The financing will be delivered over a 10-year period, and will be supplied by the European Investment Bank, the Development Bank of Austria (OeEB) and Belgian Investment Company for Developing countries.

TowerCo of Africa Uganda aims to install 506 new telecom towers, positioned strategically in rural areas that currently lack mobile network access or where existing mobile networks are saturated. The towers will enable rural communities to access 4G and 5G data services, mobile money solutions, and foster financial inclusion.

At present only 65% of Uganda has mobile network coverage, and this investment is aimed at overcoming barriers to rural access in order to push Uganda towards its 95% coverage goal. The towers will be shared by multiple mobile network operators, ensuring commercial viability for network expansion and providing more comprehensive and inclusive network access for rural communities.

A significant portion of the new towers will be powered by solar energy, reducing the risk of fuel and generator theft, and aligning with TowerCo of Africa Uganda dedication to responsible infrastructure development and climate action.

Geoffrey Donnels Oketayot, CEO of TowerCo of Africa Uganda, said: "The deployment of hundreds of new telecom towers across Uganda will make a significant leap towards ensuring that no one is left behind in the digital age."

The new telecom towers will be installed over the next two years and the rural telecom expansion initiative is expected to create 2,000 skilled and unskilled jobs for local communities during construction.
A long line, which wrapped around the back side of the building and can't be seen in the photograph, waited Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, to get inside the Aldi store on O'Neal Lane. In 45 degree weather, the line was in place about 30 minutes before the new store's grand opening at 9 a.m.
Demand for fixed-line telephone services has reportedly spiked in North Koreas North Pyongan Province due to the easing of border restrictions with China, which has also led to a spike in installation prices.

According to Daily NK, citing anonymous sources, the relaxation of border controls has led to an increase in traffic in provincial areas like Sinuiju, Ryongchon, Uiju, and Cholsan. As much of that traffic is commercial (to allegedly include smugglers), wholesalers in those areas are starting to install two phones at home, as fixed-line services cost less than mobile phones.

The report also said that demand for fixed-line in North Pyongan has been driven by an increase in families who want to install their own home phone instead of sharing one with another family, mainly due to privacy concerns.

Consequently, post offices in the province have been swamped with requests for phone installations since the beginning of this year  so much so that the North Pyongan Province Post and Telecommunications Bureau has brought forward its annual revenue targets, the report said.

However, this also means provincial post offices have raised installation costs to take advantage of the spike in demand and hit those targets. The report claims the cost of fixed-line phone installation now costs between US$350-450 in Sinuiju and US$400-500 in Ryongchon. By comparison, installing a telephone in the capital Pyongyang costs between US$100-250.

The reports source said the price of installation is particularly high in Ryongchon County because it has become a major bottleneck for shipping, as goods imported from China must pass through customs in Sinuiju before being distributed throughout the country.

Since its the area where goods are distributed the fastest and wholesale prices are set, home phones are in high demand and installation prices are also high, the source said.

The source also told NK Daily that Ryongchon County residents filed a complaint with the provincial party committee over the price hike, but the matter was closed without results.

According to the latest available figures from the CIAs World Factbook, North Korea had 1.18 million fixed lines at the end of 2021, which works out to a market penetration of 5%. Figures from the World Bank (also for the end of 2021) say there are 6 million mobile subscriptions in North Korea, which comes to 23% market penetration.
Advertisement

Exclusive Eating outRestaurant news Nervous as hell: George Calombaris takes the reins at one of Sydneys top Greek restaurants The Melbourne-based celebrity chef and former MasterChef judge takes over from founding chef Peter Conistis. Scott Bolles March 8, 2024 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

In a culinary plot twist, a celebrity Melbourne chef will replace the pioneer of Sydney modern Greek at one of the harbour citys most-loved restaurants. Former MasterChef judge George Calombaris is headed north, joining Alpha restaurant next month as creative partner. Alphas founding chef, Peter Conistis, has already departed the Castlereagh Street restaurant. From left: General manager Joey Commerford and head chef Alessandro Mandelli with creative partner George Calombaris. Steven Woodburn What Peters done for Greek food in Australia is amazing, Calombaris says of his predecessor. Keen to continue to evolve Alpha, the chef admits to some apprehension. Im nervous as hell, he says. I come here with so much respect, joining somewhere steeped in history.

Advertisement

Calombaris was lured by the challenge of a fresh city. While he has some experience in the Sydney market with his embattled souvlaki fast-food chain, Jimmy Grants, its his first restaurant venture in city. He previously came close, buying a building in Surry Hills, which was sold before actually opening as a restaurant. He will spend one week every fortnight in Sydney. The expansive dining room at Alpha. Supplied The chef was also intrigued by the evocative bones of the Alpha building. The Greek consulate is across the road, there are Greek men playing backgammon behind [Alpha], it has a great feel, he says. At Alpha, he has a clear idea of the food direction. Fresh, bright, light, yummy, super interesting, not cliched, he says. I want the place to be fun. Im into fun dining, not fine dining. The venue has been fronted by chef Peter Conistis since its 2013 opening. Rumblings of change at Alpha surfaced late last year when its landlord and operator, the Hellenic Club, quietly invited a small posse of Sydneys A-list restaurateurs to pitch to operate the luxe Castlereagh Street restaurant. In January, Good Food revealed Public Hospitality had added the hatted restaurant to its portfolio.

Advertisement

I want the place to be fun. Im into fun dining, not fine dining. George Calombaris Public has ridden a few bumps on its expansion trail, but The Australian Financial Review reports it is in discussions with global juggernaut Bain Capital and Sydney-based private debt investor Madigan Capital to put together $500 million in debt refinancing. Public has had some big wins with its chef collaborations, notably Guy Grossi at Puttanesca restaurant in Melbourne and Karen Martini at Saint George in St Kilda, which last week nabbed a 15/20 Good Food review. Calombaris has also experienced his share of controversies over the years, with his Made Establishment group going into administration in early 2020, forcing 12 venues to close. The collapse followed the business identifying $7.8 million in underpayments to 515 employees, who have since been reimbursed. Publics web of businesses will enable the Maybe Sammy bar team to advise on Alphas drinks and bar, while future additions at the Sydney restaurant include a raw bar, new oven for fresh bread and even a Greek karaoke room. Outgoing chef Peter Conistis at Alpha. Supplied

Advertisement

Calombaris will work with the existing Alpha team, including head chef Alessandro Mandelli, and has lured general manager Joey Commerford (The Press Club, Vue de Monde) up from Melbourne. While stressing his menu wont be unveiled at Alpha until next month, Calombaris has already sorted his work commute. Hell alternate between his one-hatted Hellenic House Project in Melbourne and Alpha for the next six months, before deciding on the next step. An unabashed fan of Sydney, Calombaris is revelling in the new opportunity. Im older and more mature, that egotistical young chef has gone, he says. The day I stop learning I should hang up the apron. Exclusive $300,000 is at the centre of a falling out between two Sydney hospo heavyweights

Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox. Sign up
I want to talk now about the little-discussed paradox of the commercial news media. On one hand, most news outlets are in the business of selling their news to make a profit, just like all businesses. On the other, the commercial news media play a vital role in our democracy, informing citizens about the actions of governments and holding governments to account. We rarely think about this paradox, but the truth is, it was ever thus. We had newspapers before we had democracy. Today we talk about public-interest journalism, but I like to think of it as the commercial medias higher purpose. Making enough profit to keep our shareholders happy is the obvious part, but we must keep our eyes focused on the more important part, our self-appointed duty to ensure our readers are kept fully informed about all the things our governments are doing  and not doing. Ross Gittins is congratulated celebrating 50 years at the Herald in the newsroom last month. Credit: Rhett Wyman Theres an old saying in journalism: news is anything somebody somewhere doesnt want you to know about. Governments have a lot of things they do want the public to know about what theyre doing. And their spin doctors are always trying to induce the news media to help them get the good news out to the voters. Governments have a near monopoly on news about their own doings. When they want something known, they can just put out a press release. Or, maybe a better idea would be for me to leak it to you exclusively  provided you give it a lot of prominence, and provided you run it uncritically. Why would the media agree to such a restriction on their freedom to fully inform their readers? Because if I play along today, you might give me another leak tomorrow. And that will make me look a lot more successful than my competitors. Small problem: what about the reader? Is this the way to keep them fully informed and ensure theyre never misinformed? What if Im so busy trying to be the best at extracting from the government news the government wants our readers to know about that I neglect my duty to dig out all the news the government doesnt want our readers to know about?

Now, let me be clear. In saying this critical stuff, I dont want you thinking Im having a go at my own masthead. Im giving my free advice to all mastheads. The mastheads formerly known as Fairfax arent perfect. No one knows that better than I do. But there are other outlets that have strayed a lot further from perfection than we have. Naturally, I wont name those other Australian news outlets. The digital revolution has hugely changed the news media. Once Im retired, Ill give in to the thought that it was all much better in my day. But while my day is still the present day, I can see the things that are better than they were. These days, the mastheads our envious competitors like to dismiss as the Nine newspapers devote more resources to investigative journalism than we ever have. Maybe because of the digital world we now inhabit, generating your own news makes more commercial sense. What Id add is that we need to make all our ordinary news more investigative. More questioning of all the messages some interest group or another wants us to pass on to our readers. Illustration: John Shakespeare Another thing thats better than it used to be  one close to my heart  is much greater emphasis on explanatory journalism. The internet has hugely increased the blizzard of news that we must fight our way through each day. Our readers dont need more news, they need more help figuring out what on earth it all means. This, of course, is a big part of what Ive always seen as my role. With the advent of the internet, social media, the greater scope for the spread of misinformation and disinformation, and now AI, its easy see all this as a huge threat to whats now called the MSM  the mainstream media, of which the SMH is a prime example. We live in a media world where people are finding it harder and harder to know whose news to believe. Who to trust.

What I want to say is that, for the mainstream media, and the quality end of the MSM, all the extra doubt and uncertainty about who to believe is playing into our hands. We are still more trusted by our customers than other, less reputable sources of information. Provided we retain our readers trust, work to regain what trust we have lost, and make retaining the trust of our readers our highest priority, I think well survive  maybe even prosper  in a world teeming with misinformation. Loading We must never knowingly mislead our readers. We must see quickly correcting any errors weve made inadvertently, not as an admission of failure, but as badge of honour. Proof that we can be trusted. It means no more Im not sure its true, but its a great yarn and the punters will love it stories. No more dubious stories published to oblige a powerful source  usually a government  and keep it supplying us with exclusives. It means telling our readers what they need to know, not what they want to hear. It means being a good read the hard way, not the easy way. Im confident that, if we get the trust right, enough money will follow. Im hoping to stay around doing my bit for a few years yet. This is an edited version of the speech Ross Gittins gave at the event honouring his 50th anniversary at The Sydney Morning Herald. Held in the Great Hall of the University of Sydney and staged in partnership with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
The son of former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon has died after a parachuting incident at Sydney air force base RAAF Richmond.

Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon, who was a special forces soldier in the 2nd Commando Regiment, was conducting a routine training drill when his parachute failed to properly deploy on Wednesday night.

The 33-year-old was taken to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition. On Thursday afternoon, the armys acting Special Operations Commander, Brigadier James Kidd, said Fitzgibbon had died of his injuries.

Defence has paused all parachuting operations and is reviewing the incident.
It is one of about 15 former walk-up estates where, under the states public housing renewal program, old public flats are being replaced with a mix of social and private housing. Under the development deal between the government and MAB, the developer was to replace 112 50s-era walk-up flats with 133 social and 167 private homes, the private component a mix of upmarket townhouses along Haines Street and more affordable apartments on Abbotsford Street. The North Melbourne Abbotsford Street estate being demolished in 2020. Credit: Jason South It was going to be a hard slog, but Smith signed a sales contract with the state Director of Housing and paid a 10 per cent deposit on a $637,000 two-bedroom apartment off-the-plan on Abbotsford Street, to be built by the first quarter of 2024. The purchase was part of an early release of apartments prioritised for first home buyers.

The governments involvement in the project added to Smiths sense of trust in her purchase  a trust she says was soon proven to be misplaced. Months after signing up, Smith noticed that little work had been done on the site. She repeatedly sought progress updates from MAB but got no response. In July 2023, a MAB representative contacted Smith to explain that not enough apartments had been sold to get the project started, that some of the apartments were to be redesigned, and that work would be delayed for at least a couple of years. The developer encouraged Smith to withdraw from her contract, offering an immediate refund, with interest. While she was disappointed about the delay, Smith told MAB she would stick with the project.

Then in September, MABs lawyers wrote to Smith notifying her that her contract would be cancelled because MAB and the vendor  the government  would not be proceeding with the project. Despite her best efforts to get an explanation from the government, Homes Victoria referred Smith back to MAB. An artists impression of the planned private apartments on Abbotsford Street, North Melbourne. Credit: MAB Corporation Smith said she suspects that, after selling apartments off the plan, MAB realised that ballooning construction costs were eating into prospective profits. So they were just trying to cajole me and others off our contracts so that they would be able to go to the government and say, Look, we just havent been able to sell enough.

Now, nearly four years after the old housing commission walk-ups were demolished, the social housing and townhouse stages are near completion, but mystery surrounds the future of the Academy apartments. Smith predicts that, in time, MAB will relaunch the apartment project but with apartments at a higher price, with no priority for first home buyers. Neither MAB nor the government would comment on the current status of the development contract, nor on the likely price point for any future apartments on the site. MAB directed The Ages questions to the government. Homes Victoria CEO Simon Newport refused to comment.

Housing Minister Harriett Shing did not respond to questions. Instead, the government issued a brief statement on behalf of a Homes Victoria spokesperson: Were replacing old houses that did not meet the needs of residents with well-designed, modern and sustainable homes that will improve the area while delivering a 50 per cent increase in social housing. A resident of the old North Melbourne housing estate looks at his home in 2018. Credit: Joe Armao Responding to questions from the Greens about the North Melbourne redevelopment, Shing last month told state parliament: MAB is currently reviewing its scheme for the private apartment stage, which has been impacted by current market conditions, including escalating construction costs. This has impacted MABs ability to proceed with the private apartment stage in its current form, she said.

Smith remains angry at the way she was treated by the government and MAB. Loading They [Homes Victoria] just completely failed to address the fact that my contract had failed with them. She said there was a wider public interest in the governments handling of the private development of former public housing. The thing that really angers me is the way the government has just handed over responsibility to a developer; theyre asleep at the wheel on this.
The Liberal Party recently preselected former Uber executive Tom White as its candidate to take on Chaney, who said his party was back in Curtin. But Chaney is not convinced by the partys approach to climate change, which remained a top priority for her voters, as evidenced by the 50 volunteers who helped her pen a 72-page report on how to get Curtin to net-zero emissions. She lashed Opposition Leader Peter Duttons plan, announced this week, to build nuclear reactors on old coal-fired power stations as a culture war pipe dream. I think the discussion about nuclear is entirely part of a culture war, she said. Its just not economically viable and the Liberal Party, if they want to be taken seriously, actually have to have policies that are viable, and feasible.

A hung parliament isnt so bad In Chaneys ideal world, the teals would have held the balance of power in the lower house following the 2022 election, but Labors surge in Western Australia snatched that from them. The teals goal will be to achieve a hung parliament at next years election to force any major party hopeful of forming government into meaningful policy compromises  particularly around political integrity and climate change ambitions. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with independent MPs Monique Ryan, Allegra Spender, Kate Chaney and Zoe Daniel in discussion after a division in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra last year. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen The last hung parliament occurred in 2010 when Labor successfully formed a minority government with the Greens and independents, but the country was subjected to significant political turbulence.

Chaney rubbished suggestions a hung parliament was a bad thing and said the teals would be a force for good policy and legislation. I think the crossbench in this Parliament has shown that we and I are interested in the long-term interests of the country, she said. A crossbench can be a moderating influence, rather than creating the chaos and uncertainty that we get warned about. Theres no doubt that I and my crossbench colleagues have had a greater ability to influence policy than we would have if we were Liberal Party backbenchers at this point. Donations and tax

Two policy areas that interest Chaney were tax reforms to alleviate personal income tax burdens and political donations. Tax reform is a longer-term issue that Chaney said needed a mature approach that was severely lacking. Loading She hinted GST and corporate tax rates should be looked at, but declined to comment further over fears of causing a political storm. What happens is every time that turns into a debate about one particular piece of the tax puzzle, and scare campaigns are out there, and then we end up in this rule-in, rule-out game rather than actually looking at what the whole picture needs to look like, she said.

Everything should be on the table with tax, and we cant have this situation where its taboo to even talk about parts of our tax system. Donation reforms are less contentious, and Chaney criticised the Albanese government for dragging its feet on proposed legislation. She collected more than $1 million during her campaign, with several significant contributions from climate-independent backers Climate 200. She has received more than $70,000 in donations since winning her seat. Chaney has disclosed donations on her website in real-time since beginning her campaign and has continued to do so.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says economic responsibility will always guide the creation of the budget process as he described it as collaborative and hit back at claims from some ministers that the heads of Treasury and the Finance Department had too much power over funding decisions.

Chalmers disputed there was tension in the governments cabinet leading up to the federal budget, saying on Thursday he was proud the government ran a tight ship.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers rejects claims there is tension within the government about the budget. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Four members of the ministry confirmed to this masthead that Industry, Science and Innovation Minister Ed Husic had complained directly to Albanese that the cabinets powerful expenditure review committee  responsible for overseeing ministers submissions for budget measures  was shutting out ministers from decision-making.

Husic also raised concerns about what he saw as the influence on the committee of two unelected bureaucrats  Finance Department secretary Jenny Wilkinson and Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy. Some critics claim the pair are holding the government back from spending on Labor policy initiatives.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has accused Western nations of hypocritically railing against Russias invasion of Ukraine while overlooking alleged Israeli human rights abuses, as he revealed he personally lobbied Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to urgently restart funding for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.

The Canadian government is reportedly poised to resume funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), paving the way for Australia to potentially do the same given that Canada, Australia and New Zealand have taken a unified approach on the war in Gaza in recent months.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Western leaders could not selectively apply international law. Credit: Joe Armao

Anwar said it was crucial that world leaders not selectively apply international law as nations such as the United States, Australia and the Philippines demand China complies with global maritime rules in the South China Sea.

Unfortunately, the gut-wrenching tragedy that continues to unfold in the Gaza Strip has laid bare the self-serving nature of the much vaunted rules-based order, Anwar said in a speech at the Australian National University in Canberra on Thursday.
Thursday gave Brisbane voters the first and only chance to see the city councils three major mayoral election candidates share the spotlight before polls close at 6pm next Saturday.

But after delivering a five-minute pitch, and before answering questions from journalists, it was how they shone the light on each other in full view of their 1.2 million or so constituents that was maybe the most telling.

With Schrinner right of stage projecting a message of stability, Sriranganathan with calls for systemic change from the left, and Price somewhere in the middle, the spotlight is Brisbanes voters to shine now. Credit: Sean Parnell

As some 200 political, business and community organisation-types picked at their convention centre plates, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, Labors Tracey Price and the Greens Jonathan Sriranganathan were given one minute to ask a question of both others, with one minute to respond.

Beforehand, in response to one of the 20 questions from Brisbane Times own interviews with the candidates, Schrinner was alone in saying he didnt see a situation where his party would have to work with others.
High school and middle school students are encouraged to hop online Tuesday, March 19, for an interactive virtual career night organized by the University of Wyoming Extension.

Hosted on Zoom, the annual event offers an opportunity for young people to interact with professionals in fields ranging from agriculture, firefighting and wildlife management to video production, tourism and exercise physiology. Participants will also receive information on postsecondary education options and financial aid.

While the career fair is organized by Wyoming 4-H educators, it is free and open to any youth who are interested in attending.

This years event features speakers from across the country, including YouTube personality and agricultural professional Greg Peterson of the Peterson Farm Brothers and Teffany Fegler, an Educational Opportunity Center TRIO coordinator based in Riverton.

Sometimes we dont know whats out there, especially as kids, says Washakie County 4-H educator Amber Armajo. This gives a small glimpse of things that are out there and encourages them to explore.

After years of organizing in-person career fairs for local youth, Armajo pivoted to offer a virtual event in 2021. The new format was a success, attracting students from across Wyoming and beyond. Last year, more than 200 participants from 26 states registered for the annual event.

When we first started, we wanted to show kids whats available in Wyoming, Armajo comments. Now weve broadened the scope and I think its fun for them.

The 2024 career fair begins at 6 p.m. Mountain time. To register and learn more about this years speakers, visit https://bit.ly/wy-4h-career-fair.

After Peterson and Feglers presentations, participants will have the opportunity to attend two additional presentations of their choice. The event concludes with a group wrap-up and Q&A session at 7:25 p.m.
Photo-Illustration: The Cut; Photos: Getty

When she was 29, Jennifer and her boyfriend of two years werent ready to get married. So he proposed an alternative: freezing embryos together to cement their bond. They would split the $20,000 cost. It was a symbol of how committed he was to me, Jennifer thought. She said yes.

For Jennifer, the trouble started shortly before her first shot of high-dose ovary-stimulating hormones when her boyfriend confessed he had cheated on her on multiple occasions. Now five months deep into planning, Jennifer felt trapped and manipulated, especially since hed brought up the idea of merging genes while hiding his infidelity.

She wasnt sure she wanted to break up, but if I had said no to embryos at that point, it was a symbol that our relationship was dead. Jennifer went ahead with the procedure and used half of her retrieved eggs to create and freeze 20 embryos. Two years later, when Jennifer pushed for a proposal, her boyfriend dumped her: He decided he didnt want me to be the mother of his children. Jennifer was devastated. Im going through the seven stages of grief, she told me eight months later. Not about him but about my embryos. Her ex offered that hed be open to letting her use their embryos in the future, a suggestion Jennifer found offensive. For now, theyre frozen with Jennifers eggs; eventually she and her ex plan to have them destroyed.

In hindsight, Jennifer felt that her exs proposition was just a way to extend the timeline or appease me, whether it was done maliciously or not. She said she has multiple friends in similar positions: This whole trend of embryo freezing as an extension and a stand-in for commitment fucking needs to stop.

But for many couples, fertility preservation is now a standard part of building a future. Today, with more people meeting later in life or delaying child-rearing, embryo freezing has become a popular option as both an insurance policy and a symbol of commitment. (Vanderpump Rules stars Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval spent several episodes pursuing it before their breakup made international headlines.) But it also puts womens bodies, choices, and freedom at inordinate risk  particularly as a recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling has classified embryos as children with other states poised to follow suit.

For some, the consequences can transcend heartbreak and wasted cash  even when embryos dont make it to the finish line. When Mallory turned 40, she and her boyfriend of one year started getting serious. Mallory, who asked to be identified by a pseudonym, had previously frozen her eggs and was eager to fertilize them with her partners sperm before they got older. Instead of the horse and the cart and the baby carriage, she told me, we went straight to the baby carriage.

Mallory works in sales at a fertility start-up, so she thought she understood what could go wrong and how to protect herself. She said she hired a lawyer to write up a document stating that if her partner died or they parted ways, shed have ownership of their embryos, which her boyfriend signed. Typically, clinics have patients check a box declaring what to do with embryos in case of separation or death, but that doesnt necessarily prevent custody disputes, such as the one between actress Sofia Vergara and her ex-husband, who wanted to bring their two frozen girls to life against Vergaras will. A year after Mallorys boyfriend gave his sperm sample, with no embryos created, they broke up. Little did she know that, even though they never ultimately combined DNA, shed wind up embroiled in a 16-month-long legal battle that would cost her over $100,000.

Shortly after the split, Mallorys ex began stalking her: He was constantly calling, texting, showing up wherever I was. After she received an order of protection against him, he contacted the fertility clinic. Mallory said his lawyer demanded that because the embryo process had started, he should get control of her previously frozen eggs. It didnt make sense, because theyre my eggs, she said. Court-ordered to stay away from Mallory, the legal issues with the DNA were his only hold.

Mallory hired an attorney, who went back and forth with her exs for 16 months before ending in mediation and a six-figure bill. She showed me two moving boxes filled with court documents. You need to think about all of the choices, Mallory said, and what those choices mean if things go south.

Dr. G. Donald Royster IV, a partner at the Southern California Center for Reproductive Medicine whose office displays a vanity plate reading BABY MKR, said he has seen an uptick in couples freezing embryos for future use. He estimates that the majority of couples he treats are unmarried, though he doesnt ask and rarely knows: Clinically, its irrelevant.

But why do couples create embryos instead of freezing eggs and sperm separately?

If you have a partner, freezing embryos is infinitely better, Royster said. During consultations with potential patients deciding their course of treatment, he cites a 2023 paper in Fertility and Sterility suggesting that fresh eggs led to twice as many embryos as the same number of thawed eggs: When you thaw a frozen embryo in our clinic, it survives 99.5 percent of the time, whereas a frozen egg can have a 50 percent to a 90 percent [chance of] survival. This also means that, to get the same number of embryos through frozen eggs, a woman needs to go through twice as many painful, inconvenient egg-retrieval cycles, doubling the toll on her body at twice the cost. Creating embryos is particularly attractive, Royster said, because a growing number of insurance plans are covering IVF  but many of those plans do not cover egg freezing. If a woman is coming in and egg freezing isnt covered but she has a partner, she can preserve fertility but bill it as infertility coverage, potentially saving her $18,000 to $30,000 a cycle.

Roysters advice? If youre married and together, freeze embryos. Thats going to give you the best chance at success 100 percent of the time.

But discussions of commitment dont come up in the fertility clinic. Of the 11 women I spoke to, only two told me their doctors brought up the possibility of breakups; none mentioned what might happen to the embryos if their relationship ended. According to Jennifer, This is not something we talked about at all. Laura Grubb, a Canadian who froze embryos after treatment for thyroid cancer, told me, There was absolutely no counseling provided to me beforehand. Another woman said, We literally never had that conversation.

Suggesting how things could go wrong deters potential clients. The fertility services boom is a multibillion-dollar, for-profit endeavor, increasingly owned by hedge funds and venture capitalists. (Roysters clinic is part of a conglomerate backed by Morgan Stanleys private-equity arm.) Often, clinics feel like it with women complaining that they were ushered through baby factories and assembly lines that prioritize the bottom line over their interests.

Even the benefit of creating embryos may be overstated. When Royster tells patients that fresh eggs work twice as well as thawed ones, hes citing a study that includes eggs frozen as early as 2005, using primitive methods. Recent improvements in vitrification techniques have led other doctors to conclude that outcomes from fresh and recently frozen eggs are not significantly different.

At Roysters clinic and most others, the question about what to do if a couple separates is contained in a single form, buried among medical consents, explanations of risk, and surgical protocols. He told me separations happen but that they dont cause issues for his practice. Clients embryos are in long-term storage, managed by a third party. Royster only hears from heartbroken patients when theyre coming back to preserve new tissues.

A year into dating, 34-year-old Kitty and her boyfriend started discussing life plans: marriage, kids, moving in together, egg freezing.

Kitty initially planned to freeze eggs. Her clinic suggested that, since she had a partner, they create embryos. Her boyfriend agreed to provide sperm. It really gave me the confidence that he was in this for the long haul, Kitty said. It showed what I thought was a dedicated commitment to our future together.

Kitty footed the $11,000 bill. Then she was stunned by the painful, grueling process: Youre pumping your body with so many hormones and chemicals over and over and over, and for me, I just felt like I was going insane. The side effects werent only physical. They spilled into how I felt about myself, my decision-making, my depression and anxiety, my motivation, concentration  everything. Men are almost as likely to cause infertility, but all her boyfriend had to do was masturbate into a cup.

Eight months after creating embryos, on their two-year anniversary, Kittys boyfriend dumped her completely out of the blue. The clusters of cells that once represented her boyfriends dedication now seemed like an emblem of his betrayal. Kitty and her ex havent discussed what to do. They live in Louisiana, which currently bans the destruction of frozen embryos, so they had their embryos shipped for storage in Texas. She plans to simply stop paying the $1,200 annual storage fee, hoping that eventually the abandoned tissues will be donated to science, freeing her from the burden of dealing with them. But what if the law in Texas changes, as it has in Alabama?

Michele Goodwin, a professor of reproductive law at Georgetown University, described the Alabama ruling as a potential living nightmare that could lead not only to wrongful-death cases for destroying or damaging embryos but also to forced implantation. The next step in this kind of logic is that embryos must have a place where they implant and fertilize as part of their right to life.

As to whether other states may follow suit, Goodwin warned, This wont be the last of it. Royster has seen an uptick in patients flying in from southern states for treatment.

But even in the most liberal environments, women who freeze embryos with a partner may encounter unexpected issues. Carly, a 43-year-old attorney in Long Beach, California, was single when she selected several sperm donors and created frozen embryos. Shortly after, she started dating a man seriously. Together, they created and froze two rounds of embryos using his sperm, none of which was viable. After they broke up, Carly decided to become a single mother by choice. She contacted her clinic to implant one of the embryos she had made with donor sperm. The clinic said no; she needed her exs permission.

Carly remembered them telling her, We need you to get a notarized statement that he gives up his rights to the embryos. She was incredulous: Youre going to make me get an affidavit from him for something that I paid for?

The clinics attorney eventually allowed her to use the embryos shed previously frozen: But it couldve easily gone either way.

Im a lawyer, so this is scary. So much of this can be decided by a single judge, Carly said. If an ex wants to take revenge, she warned, it doesnt matter if its in a contract  they can dispute it later.

Jennifer was also shocked by her clinics restrictions, which required her exs consent to destroy their existing frozen embryos before she could move her eggs across state lines or create new embryos. What if this was a totally different couple who were not copacetic? she wondered. That could literally keep a woman hostage.

Although Jennifers experience was isolating, she soon learned shes far from alone. During her first Hinge date post-split, Jennifer found herself unloading her story. To her surprise, her date had also recently made embryos with an ex and felt gutted when the relationship died.

For a while, Jennifer swore shed never again combine her DNA with a mans in a petri dish  at least not until she was ready for kids. She planned to freeze her eggs one more time as a symbolic end to this nightmare.

Yet a year after her breakup, Jennifer has selected a diamond and is finalizing her engagement ring, preparing to marry her new boyfriend. But first they are freezing embryos.
"I think it's better to have parents, who are separated, who are happy and who can be the best version of themselves, than staying together in a situation that it not working," she told her followers.
Famous for their creative twists on classic treats, DOMO is now the first-ever 'Breakery, giving away 500 croissants on March 16th and 17th until theyre all snagged - good thing theres a limit of 2 per person, cos I know someone who could down a fair few in one sitting.
10th Green Fashion India Prelude conducted





Business Reporter

Green Fashion India (GFI), an initiative of Maharshi Karve Stree Shikshan Samsthas (MKSSSs) School of Fashion Technology (SOFT), Pune in association with MKSSSs SOFT, Nagpur successfully hosted the 10th GFI Prelude recently at MKSSSs Cummins Engineering College, Nagpur. The event witnessed active participation from eminent fashion, textile industrialists, Government and non-Governmental organisation representatives, fashion academicians, and students pursuing fashion in higher education. The GFI Prelude aimed to address sustainability issues within the fashion industry through a series of seminars, and a green fashion show.

Under the mentorship of industry stalwarts such as Rahul Bhajekar, CEO Global Organic Textile Standards, Germany; Hemang Agrawal, Eminent Designer Promoting Exclusive Brocades of Varanasi; and Benjamin Itter, Director of Lebenskleidung Germany. Mohana Kadam, President of GFI, Milind Lele, Trustee MKSSS, and GFI Core Committee Member, Dr M Hundekar, Secretary of GFI, and Dr Garima Bhalla, Principal SOFT Pune provided guidance throughout the event.
AIIMS Nagpur amongIndias chosen four for AYUSH-ICMR centres





Staff Reporter

The Ministry of AYUSH and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have signed a landmark agreement to champion high-quality research in integrative healthcare. This initiative leverages India's unique strengths in traditional medicine systems, combined with its robust modern medical infrastructure. Among 17 AIIMS which applied for the establishment of an AI-ACIHR Centre, AIIMS Nagpur is one of the four centres chosen in the country. Two project proposals from AIIMS Nagpur have been selected.

AIIMS Nagpur will establish an Advanced Centre for Integrative Health Research in Cancer Care, signifying its pivotal role in this national initiative. The programme will focus on generating evidence-based data by integrating traditional AYUSH systems with modern medicine and cutting-edge technology. Two research projects focusing on an integrative approach to head and neck cancers, led by principal investigators, Dr Gayatri Muthiyan (Department of Anatomy) and Dr Kiran Kumar Prathipati (Department of ENT), have been selected. Dr Vinu Vij (Department of Physiology) has been appointed as Nodal Officer for the centre.

These projects involve a team of coinvestigators from various departments: Radiotherapy, ENT, Community Medicine, Pharmacology, Dentistry, Surgical Oncology and various collaborating institutes including Government Ayurveda College; GoVidnyan Anusandhan Kendra, Deolapar; IIT Kharagpur, and Regional Ayurveda Research Institute, Nagpur. Dr (Prof.) Prashant P. Joshi, Executive Director, AIIMS Nagpur, has expressed his unstinting support and commitment towards the successful establishment of this integrative research centre at AIIMS Nagpur.
Cabinet approves implementation of Krishak Unnati Yojana





Staff Reporter

RAIPUR,

In a move to uphold yet another Modi Ki Guarantee, the Chhattisgarh Cabinet has approved the implementation of the Krishak Unnati Yojana starting from the Kharif season of 2023-24 in State. Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao, addressing the media at Mantralaya, Nava Raipur in Atal Nagar after the cabinet meeting, emphasised that this decision aims to enhance farmers income, crop production, and productivity while reducing input costs. Under this scheme, farmers will receive input assistance amounting to Rs 19,257 per acre based on paddy purchase during the Kharif season of 2023. The Cabinet has resolved to reinstate the Samman Nidhi for Loktantra Senaniyons (MISA detainees), which was discontinued by the previous Congress government in 2020. The reinstated scheme will provide monthly honorariums ranging from Rs 8,000 to Rs 25,000 based on the duration of detention. This decision aligns with the High Courts order to revive the scheme and settle outstanding payments.

Furthermore, the Cabinet has decided to establish the Sushasan and Abhisaran Department to ensure efficient implementation of public welfare policies and swift resolution of public issues. Additionally, it has approved the renaming of the Rajiv Nagar Awas Yojana to Atal Vihar Yojana and the construction of EWS and LIG houses under this scheme. Other decisions include purchasing sugar from cooperative sugar factories for distribution to Antyodaya and priority ration card holders, setting up a State Investigation Agency (SIA) for quick disposal and investigation of terrorism, Naxal and other special cases on the line of National Investigation Agency. Total 74 posts including one SP have been approved for the SIA, amending rules for contract appointments, implementing the National Education Policy-2020 in the Higher Education Department, and renaming the State Planning Commission as State NITI Aayog. To enhance economic development, the Cabinet has decided to form the Chhattisgarh Economic Advisory Council and terminate the contract with Tata Technology for the Industrial Training Institute Upgradation Scheme.

Amendments to the Chhattisgarh Motor Vehicle Taxation Act 1991 were approved, including levying green tax and extending the contractual service of training officers. Keeping in mind the interests of the applicants for recruitment on compassionate grounds, it was decided that on receipt of the application after forwarding it to the Collectors office, action will be taken by the District Collector to provide compassionate appointment on the vacant posts in the subordinate offices in the districts. If there are no vacant posts for compassionate appointment in any office in the district, the application will be sent to the Divisional Commissioners office. The Divisional Commissioner will forward the case to the Collector of the subordinate district where the post is vacant. Cases of compassionate appointment will be resolved in a time limit.
CBI gets custodyof Shajahan after HC sets deadline





KOLKATA :

THE Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday got the custody of Sandeshkhali ED official attack case accused Shajahan Sheikh from the CID, after a fresh directive by the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday morning. A team of CBI officials reached CID headquarters Bhawani Bhawan before 4 PM. But the handover from the State agency took place at around 6:48 pm, despite the Calcutta High Court setting a deadline of 4.15 pm. Shajahan Sheikh was handed over to the CBI, a CID official said.

The CBI on Tuesday failed to get the custody of suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh from the West Bengal CID even after waiting for more than two hours. The CID had then said the leader of Sandeshkhali was not handed over to the central agency as State Government has moved the Supreme Court against an order of the Calcutta High Court. Earlier in the day, in a fresh directive, the Calcutta High Court ordered the West Bengal Government to hand over the Shajahan Sheikh to the CBI by 4.15 pm. Accordingly a team of CBI officials reached the CID headquarters on 4 pm to take custody of Sheikh.
DSP Sahu bags silver in shooting





Staff Reporter

Durg,

Deputy Superintendent of Police Shilpa Sahu has bagged silver medal in the shooting competition organised at Raipur.

The three-day long shooting competition was organised at Eklavya Shooting Academy, Reserve Lines, Raipur by Raipur Police. Around 130 government officials and employees from different districts participated in the event which concluded recently. 10 meter air rifle, 10 meter air pistol and a separate competition for women were organised during the state-level shooting competition.

For her excellent performance, DSP Shilpa Sahu, presently posted in the Durg Range IG Office, received silver medal. Inspector General of the Durg Police Range, Ram Gopal Garg praised Shilpas performance and extended wishes for her bright future. Other shooters who participated in the competition were also congratulated by IG Garg. Among those who participated included SI Dr Sankalp Rai, Constable Prashant Shukla and others.
Egg prices decline as demand weakens





Business Reporter

The eggs prices have witnessed a sharp decline in the wholesale market due to weaker demand. As the temperature increased the demand for eggs has declined not just in Nagpur but across the country. The egg prices are being quoted at Rs 5 per piece, as compared to Rs 5.50 per piece, a week ago in the wholesale market, said Moiz Burhani of Vidarbha Eggs, Mahatma Phule Wholesale Market while speaking to The Hitavada.

Burhani further said, With rising mercury the demand for eggs has witnessed a sharp decline of 30 to 35 per cent, thus affecting its price. The rising temperatures across the country has lowered its demand among the people. In Nagpur city, the peak demand during the winter months is about 14 to 15 lakh eggs per day. But, now the demand has fallen drastically to about 10 lakh eggs per day. The wholesale egg market situated at Mahatma Phule Market also popularly known as Cotton Market caters to the demand of the city and also smaller towns like Kamptee, Kanhan and other places in Vidarbha region. Burhani said that eggs are being quoted at Rs 150 per tray (one tray consists of 30 pieces) in wholesale market.

In December, 2023, the egg prices were quoted at a high of Rs 6.30 per piece in the wholesale market. At present, in retail, the eggs are available at Rs 6 per piece to Rs 7 per piece, depending on the locality. He expects the egg prices to drop to a low of Rs 4.50 per piece in May. On a daily average 15 lakh eggs to 16 lakh eggs are brought to the wholesale market. Out of this, about 10 lakh eggs are consumed within the city itself while the remaining eggs are sent to nearby locations like Bhandara, Wardha, Chandrapur among other places, he added. Apart from this, Burhani said, the egg production has gained momentum in the country. The Government is encouraging egg production in every state of the country. It is offering loans and subsidy to set up poultry farms. In the past 10 years the egg production has accelerated to 35 crore eggs per day from 20 crore eggs per day, in the country.
STATEMENT OF SEN. WIN GATCHALIAN ON THE DEATH OF TWO FILIPINOS BY HOUTI REBELS ATTACK

I am deeply saddened by the loss of two Filipino seafarers in the recent attack by Houthi rebels on ships in the Gulf of Aden. The Filipino people mourn the death of these brave individuals.

I urge the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to investigate the incident, ensure justice for the victims, and enhance measures to safeguard the lives of Filipino seafarers in these high-risk regions. The DFA should engage diplomatically to address the matter on an international level, recognizing that the safety of our seafarers is a collective responsibility that transcends borders.

Let us stand united in our commitment to protect those who contribute significantly to our maritime industry and ensure the safety of those who continue to serve at sea.
Higher tiger mortality in Bandhavgarh





By Ankita Garg

An adult male tiger was found dead in Panpatha core area of Haldi Beat of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Umaria district. This is the seventh mortality of a stripped cat within 55 days in BTR. The recent case is sparkling alarm about why there is spurt in mortality of cats. Even in the month of January this year, there were four causality in the reserve. Wildlife experts feel that incursion of herd of elephants into Bandhavgarhs core area is pushing tigers and leopards, especially the young ones, out of their territories and into collision course with other tiger or human. Madhya Pradesh always remain in news for having abundance of big cats, but at the same time, it has higher mortality rate of tigers. If we talk about last year (2023), a total deaths of 38 tigers were reported from State.

In terms of tiger mortality, month of January reported the maximum number of cases. Of the total 38 deaths, 7 were reported only in the month of January. Of the 38 deaths, 9 were reported from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. The reserve has highest number of tigers. This figures four more than the total deaths during year 2022. Alarmingly, ten carcasses have been found out of tiger reserve area that is matter of concern for the forest officials. Experts said that if carcass is found out of tiger reserve area, then there are chances of poaching.

Ajay Dubey, Secretary of Prayatna and Wildlife Activists, said, No doubt MP has dense population of tigers as well as leopards. But there is a need to put curb on poaching activities around the jungle. Though our forest teams are active with number of patrolling staff, guards, Baagh Mitra etc in the field but they need to put some extra effort. If we talk about past ten years record, then there are 270 tiger deaths reported from Madhya Pradesh and this is the highest in the entire country. However, forest officials said that Madhya Pradesh is home to highest population of tigers. According to data received from the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, there were total 38 tiger deaths in State during the year 2023. Aseem Srivastav, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF Wildlife), said, Our team is making all efforts for providing safe and secure movement to the wildlife into the field. There are mortality cases and out of them some are natural deaths and further enquiry is continued in poaching or suspected cases.
Indias first underwater metro line inaugurated





KOLKATA :

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated Kolkata Metros Esplanade-Howrah Maidan section, which passes below the mighty Hooghly river through the countrys first underwater transportation tunnel. He also took a ride on a metro train from Esplanade to Howrah Maidan and interacted with school students during the journey passing through the tunnel, which is a testament to the countrys engineering capabilities. He returned to the Esplanade station through the same route, and was accompanied by Leader of the Opposition in the State Suvendu Adhikari during the trip. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did not attend the programme. The 4.8-km Esplanade-Howrah Maidan stretch, which is a part of the East-West Corridor, has been built at a cost of Rs 4,960 crore, officials said. The PM also inaugurated the 1.25-km-long Taratala-Majherhat section of the Joka-Esplanade line. It has been built at a cost of Rs 520 crore, they said.

The Rs 1,430-crore Kavi Subhash-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay section of the New Garia-Airport line was also inaugurated from the function at the Esplanade metro station. The Kavi Subhash-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay stretch, which is 5.4 km long, will bring the areas in the south-eastern parts of Kolkata on the metro map, officials said. These sections will help decongest road traffic and provide seamless, easy and comfortable connectivity, a statement said. The Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section of the East-West corridor has the first transportation tunnel under any mighty river in India. It passes under the Hooghly river, on the east and west banks of which Kolkata and Howrah are situated. The stretch also has the deepest metro station in the country -- the Howrah metro station, at 32 metre below the ground. The East-West metro corridor, the construction for which commenced on April 14, 2009, has suffered several delays owing to various issues, including accidents at Bowbazar in central Kolkata.

The stretch between Howrah Maidan and Esplanade is the second section of the corridor, in which commercial operations would begin. With this, only the Esplanade-Sealdah stretch of the line is left to be completed. Metro Railway General Manager P Uday Kumar Reddy had earlier said it is targeting June-July this year to start commercial operation on the entire line. Completion of the project has suffered delays owing to an aquifer burst at Bowbazar on August 31, 2019, leading to severe ground subsidence and the collapse of a number of buildings there and two more water leakage incidents at the same site in 2022 during tunneling and construction work. The Salt Lake Sector V to Sealdah stretch of the East-West Metro corridor is commercially operational at present. Of the total 16.6 km length of the line, the underground section is 10.8 km long between Howrah Maidan and Phoolbagan, while the rest is elevated. The Majerhat metro station of the Taratala-Majerhat section is a unique elevated metro station across railway lines, platforms and a canal, the statement said. The 6.5-km section between Joka and Taratala of the Joka-Esplanade line is already operational. Along with these, the PM unveiled metro projects in various cities of the country. These projects are cumulatively worth around Rs 15,400 crore, officials said.
Injured tiger rescued from village, shifted to quarantine centre at Mukki





Our Correspondent

MANDLA,

Panic gripped the populated area in village Sijhora Raiyat of Sijhora area under Kanha Tiger Reserve after villagers spotted a tiger, on Tuesday morning. On being informed by villagers, SDM Bichhia Sarjana Yadav, Circle Officer Sijhora and TI, Dharmendra Dhurve and other officers reached the spot. After taking stock of the situation, safety of local people was ensured by the team. At the site of the incident, Area Director Kanha Tiger Reserve, S K Singh and the rescue team reached and observed the tiger. The tiger was identified as T 67 of Kanha Tiger Reserve, aged around 12 to 13 years. Condition of the tiger was found to be weak. Due to injury on tigers leg, he had become very weak and was finding it difficult to walk.

Due to crowd of villagers, he was trying to go towards the nearby forest but due to interference, he sat near the fence of a house. Chief Wildlife Warden and Principal Chief Forest Conservator, Wildlife, Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal, were informed about the condition of the tiger on phone and permission was obtained to rescue the injured tiger. After receiving permission, the rescue team of Kanha Tiger Reserve in presence of N S Yadav, Deputy Director Buffer Zone Forest Division Mandla and Dr Sandeep Aggarwal Wildlife Doctor rescued the injured tiger. After anaesthesia, after inspection of the tiger the team found that all four canine teeth of the tiger were broken and there were deep injuries in legs.

Looking at the weakness of the tiger, it seems that it might not have been able to hunt in the nearby area, due to which it had become weak. The injured tiger was taken to quarantine centre at Mukki in Kanha Tiger Reserve for advance testing and health treatment, where special attention will be paid to his health in next three to four days and after assessing his condition, further action will be taken. In this rescue work, special cooperation was given in maintaining the administrative system by the forest staff of Bichhia area under former General Forest Division, Central Police Force staff and Revenue Department staff.
PM in Kashmir Valley today





SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI :

IN HIS first visit to Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil multiple development projects worth more than Rs 6,400 crore and address a public meeting in Srinagar on Thursday. Stringent security arrangements have been put in place to ensure an incident-free visit as Bakshi Stadium, the venue of the Prime Ministers rally, has been draped in tricolour, officials said. Modi will attend the Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir programme at the stadium in Srinagar and inaugurate initiatives worth nearly Rs 5,000 crore for boosting the agri-economy in the Union Territory, according to an official statement. The officials said tight security arrangements have been made for the visit of the prime minister. Security personnel have been deployed in large numbers all along the routes to be taken by Prime Minister Modi during his stay in Srinagar while barricades have been established at many places to prevent movement of the people during his visit, they said. Drones and CCTV cameras are being used for surveillance while foot patrolling by the security forces has been intensified in a two-kilometre radius around the venue. Marine commandos have been deployed in Jhelum river and Dal Lake to prevent the use of these water bodies for any subversive activities, the officials said.

With the Lok Sabha elections around the corner and Opposition parties seeking an announcement on Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Ministers scheduled visit has acquired a keen political dimension in terms of what he might have to say on the issue. The BJP-led Centre abrogated the provisions of Article 370 on August 5, 2019 and bifurcated the erstwhile state into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. In Srinagar, several schools falling along the route to be taken by the Prime Minister have been closed for Wednesday and Thursday while board examinations scheduled to be held on Thursday have been postponed till next month.

The statement said, Modi will launch nationwide projects related to the tourism sector worth more than Rs 1,400 crore under the Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive) schemes, including a project for the integrated development of the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar. He will launch the Dekho Apna Desh Peoples Choice Tourist Destination Poll and the Chalo India Global Diaspora campaign as well, besides announcing tourist destinations selected under the Challenge-Based Destination Development (CBDD) scheme. Modi will distribute appointment letters to nearly 1,000 newly-recruited Government employees in Jammu and Kashmir and also interact with the beneficiaries of various central schemes, including women achievers, farmers and entrepreneurs, the statement said. In a step that will provide a major boost to the agri-economy of the region under the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) to be launched by the prime minister, the statement said it will cover the full spectrum of activities in three major domains of horticulture, agriculture and livestock husbandry. The programme is expected to equip about 2.5 lakh farmers with skill-development training and about 2,000 farmers service centres will be established and robust value chains put in place for the welfare of the farming community. The tourism projects to be launched by Modi are in line with his vision to improve the overall experience of tourists and pilgrims visiting prominent pilgrimage and tourism sites across the country by building world-class infrastructure and amenities at these sites, the statement said.

Besides the Hazratbal shrine project, the initiatives include tourism facilities in the Northeast Circuit in Meghalaya, Spiritual Circuit in Bihar and Rajasthan, Rural and Tirthankar Circuit in Bihar and some other projects in states such as Telangana and Madhya Pradesh. The Prime Minister will also launch 43 projects that will develop a wide range of pilgrimage and tourist sites across the country. He will also launch the first-ever countrywide initiative to identify the pulse of the nation on tourism in the form of Dekho Apna Desh Peoples Choice 2024, the statement said.
PM Modi unveils Rs 12,800 cr projects in Bihar





BETTIAH,

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi unveiled projects worth Rs 12,800 crore in Bihar on Wednesday. The PM unveiled the projects at a programme at Bettiah, the district headquarters town of the West Champaran district. Governor Rajendra V Arlekar, Deputy CMs Samat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, and State Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary of the JD(U) were among those present at the programme. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was, however, not present at the programme. The PM inaugurated the 109-km-long Muzaffarpur-Motihari LPG pipeline of Indian Oil, which will not only provide cleaner cooking fuel to the people of Bihar but also to neighbouring Nepal.

He also inaugurated Indian Oils LPG bottling plant and storage terminal at Motihari. It would also act as a strategic supply point for the export of petroleum products to Nepal, besides the eight districts of north Bihar. The PM laid the foundation stone of the city gas distribution project in East Champaran, West Champaran, Gopalganj, Siwan and Deoria, and grain-based ethanol projects at HCPCL Biofuels Ltds facilities at Sugauli and Lauriya. He also inaugurated the two-laning of the Piprakothi-Motihari-Raxaul section of NH-28A and the Sheohar-Sitamarhi section of NH-104. He laid the foundation stone for a six-lane cable bridge over the Ganga, parallel to Digha-Sonepur rail-cum-road bridge, and the four-laning of the Bakarpur Hat-Manikpur section of NH-19 bypass.

Modi called RJD President Lalu Prasad and his family the biggest offenders of Bihar, accusing them of ushering in jungle raj in the state during its more than a decade-long rule. Addressing a rally in Bettiah, Modi alleged that the youths of Bihar had been compelled to migrate in large numbers due to the misrule of the RJD-Congress combine. He asserted that it was only after the NDA took charge that the state began to witness improvements. The family responsible for jungle raj...They are biggest offenders (sabse bade gunahgar) of Bihar. Their misrule imperilled the future of an entire generation. Youths were forced to migrate to other parts of the country, while only one family prospered, said Modi.
RBI asks banks to allow customers to choose from multiple card networks





MUMBAI,

RESERVE Bank has directed banks to provide their eligible customers with an option to choose from multiple card networks at the time of issuing credit or debit cards, a move which will benefit card users. The central bank also asked issuers of credit cards not to enter into any arrangement or agreement with card networks such as American Express, MasterCard Asia, Diners Club and Rupay that restrain customers from availing the services of other networks. On a review, it is observed that some arrangements existing between card networks and card issuers are not conducive to the availability of choice for customers, the Reserve Bank said in a circular. For the existing cardholders, this option may be provided at the time of the next renewal, it said.
Rear Admiral Vashishta interacts with senior officials of OFs





Staff Reporter

Rear Admiral Brijesh Vashishta, Director General of the Naval Armament Inspection (DGNAI) of the Indian Navy recently conducted an official visit to Gun Carriage Factory (GCF) and Ordnance Factory Khamaria (OFK) in Jabalpur. He interacted with the senior officials of the Ordnance Factories. The focus of the meeting was to accelerate the production of indigenous products and reduce dependency on foreign nations. The DGNAI also appreciated the synergy of all stakeholders for the efforts invested towards indigenization and innovation in the recent years, while urging the senior officers to maintain focus on futuristic capability development for effectively overcoming emerging challenges in the Armament Domain.

Speaking on the prevailing security environment in the world, the DGNAI referred to the ongoing conflicts and stated that this has once again highlighted that being self-reliant without dependencies is a vital necessity. He brought out that the Indian Navy will continue to be at forefront of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat initiative of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and said that the Navy strives in continuing to lead the way in the field of indigenization of Armament Stores. The visit underscores the commitment of the Indian Government and the Indian Navy towards promoting domestic defense production, which not only enhances national security but also boosts the economy by creating job opportunities and fostering technological advancements. It is a crucial step towards achieving self-sufficiency in defense manufacturing, reducing import dependence, and showcasing Indias capabilities on the global stage. During his visit to NAI, Jabalpur, DGNAI has appreciated the efforts taken for indigenization by offices and staff of Naval Armament Inspectorate Jabalpur.
Sandeshkhali women meet PM, he assures them justice





BARASAT (WB) ;

Modi calls the women Maa Durga. Women became emotional while narrating their ordeal to the PM.

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met a group of women from Sandeshkhali, where allegations of sexual abuse against TMC leaders have been levelled, and assured them of justice and security. On the sidelines of a public meeting at Barasat in North 24 Parganas district where Sandeshkhali is located, Modi met five women who charged suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his followers with sexually harassing them. He described the women who have been protesting against the alleged atrocities as Maa Durga.

The rally, organised by the BJPs Mahila Morcha, was themed Nari Shakti Vandan (celebrating womens empowerment). Scores of women who were headed to the rally venue from Sandeshkhali, however, failed to meet the Prime Minister on account of their vehicles being stopped by the police at multiple locations en route, resulting in delay in arrival. These women, along with their accompanying BJP workers, were seen staging protests against the State administration at their stoppage points as well as at the meeting venue. After the public meeting, the Prime Minister met a few women from Sandeshkhali. The women spoke about the atrocities that were perpetrated on them, BJP State General Secretary Agnimitra Paul told PTI over phone.

He called us Maa Durga and showered his respect for us when we went into his backstage enclosure to touch his feet and narrate our plight, one of the victims told reporters. The group representing the womenfolk of Sandeshkhali who were allegedly tormented and abused by Trinamool leader Shajahan Sheikh and his cohorts later said that the Prime Minister had assured them of all safety and security going forward. BJP sources said the women turned emotional while narrating their ordeal to the PM who heard them patiently like a father figure. He understood their pain, party sources said. He asked our names and the names of the villages where we live. We revealed to him the names of the perpetrators of the crimes and told him about the insecurity we continue to live in. He told us not to worry and expressed his respect for the fight we have put up against those criminals, a female Sandeshkhali resident stated after meeting Modi. We requested him to ensure that we get justice since we no longer have faith in the state administration. The PM, despite his busy schedule, gave us a patient hearing.

We are hopeful about getting justice, another women protestor said. Earlier, addressing a rally in Barasat Modi condemned the incidents of violence against women, stating, Whatever has happened with the women in Sandeshkhali is a matter of shame. He accused the TMC Government of prioritising appeasement politics over ensuring the safety of women in the State. TMC leaders are committing atrocities against sisters and daughters of poor, Dalit and tribal families at various places. The women of Bengal and the country are incensed. This storm of Sandeshkhali will reach every part of West Bengal, and decimate the TMC across the state, Modi said. The PM highlighted the historical significance of West Bengal as a beacon of womens empowerment, lamenting that under the TMC rule, the State has witnessed grave atrocities against women. The land of Bengal has been a source of inspiration for womens power. But on this very land, women have been subjected to atrocities under the TMC rule. Whatever has happened in Sandeshkhali will lower anybodys head in shame. But, the TMC government here does not care about the sorrows of women, he said. Alleging that the TMC was shielding criminals, Modi said that despite legal intervention, the state authorities resisted the arrest of those responsible for the Sandeshkhali incidents.
Tech Dominance





By RENAUD FOUCART

EUROPE invests a lot in research, and publishes and patents many ideas. But it fails to compete with the US and China when it comes to translating its innovation effort into large, global technology firms. The seven largest US tech companies, Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla, are 20 times bigger than the EUs seven largest, and generate more than ten times more revenue. That isnt to say Europe has no tech success stories. The world leader in music streaming is Spotify, a Swedish company. Dutch company ASML produces the worlds most advanced computer chips, and Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk is leading the extremely profitable market for weight-loss drugs. European start-ups are also actually a better deal for venture capitalists on average than US ones. But they rarely develop into major global players. The main reason for this is that Europe regulates more. Research has found that Europeans are less optimistic than Americans about social mobility, want to redistribute income more than they do in the US, and have a more cautious relationship to owning risky assets. This leads to some very predictable outcomes.

Environmental, inequality and life expectancy metrics perform better in Europe, while the US does better on purely economic indicators. This is not necessarily bad news. In the competition to define the rules of the technological game, combining the huge US tech ecosystem and the European obsession for regulation may be the best chance to protect consumers, freedom of expression, accountability and transparency around the world. The world leader in regulation: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is faster to expedite its approval of new drugs than the European Medicine Agency. Pharmaceutical firms are also allowed a larger profit: drugs in the US are on average more than three times more expensive than in the rest of the OECD. So it makes sense for pharmaceutical companies to develop their products in the US first. The same is true if you want to develop a new synthetic meat, a modified crop, or a product linked to Artificial Intelligence (AI). Europe could grow faster by changing its model. But ask European leaders which precise regulation they are happy to relax, and you will hear a deafening silence. Britain is perhaps the best illustration.

A large part of the Brexit project was to simplify European rules that were perceived as excessive. However, the UK is yet to make any major regulatory change eight years after the referendum, and the Government shows no interest in changing tack. In the US, innovation has gone hand in hand with market concentration and market power. When companies have high market power, they may have fewer incentives to innovate. They also start to gain political power. This is where the role of Europe as an independent regulator is very important. The largest companies tend to abide by EU law because they want to keep access to the EU. They also have a tendency to offer the same products all over the world, which means European rules apply to everyone. European rules have clear objectives. The EUs Digital Markets Act, which comes into force in March 2024, establishes rights and rules for large online platforms  so-called gatekeepers such as Google, Amazon or Meta  to prevent them from abusing their market power. Europe is also credible when it comes to protecting consumers, citizens and transparency.

It cannot be suspected of favouring European tech champions, because there are none. Europe can, for instance, judge Tiktok based on whether it breaches child protection rules, and not based on fears that a Chinese company is taking market share away from a European one. Technology and democracy: Perhaps the best example of the benefits of old regulating Europe and unleashed America is the current race for AI. The US is positioned as the market leader in AI technology, which can power products and applications such as image generators, voice assistants and search engines. Roughly half of the worlds investment in AI currently happens in the US. At the same time, Europe has already taken several steps to regulate. The EUs Artificial Intelligence Act, for example, defines different levels of transparency and the auditing of algorithms depending on how dangerous they could become. Europe will certainly not win the global innovation race for AI. But it has the chance to write the global rules according to its own values. This means it can make companies liable for the actions of their AI tools and transparent on the data used for training them.

It also means it can require a companys AI algorithms to be audited. But for the EU to write the new rules of AI, western companies must win the innovation race. The main competitor is China, where companies are given massive access to government data, including facial recognition. The Chinese Government can largely choose its champions by deciding who gets access to data. Chinas concerns about regulation could not be further away from those in Europe. China is not interested in improving transparency and fair political competition  it wants to use data to promote the policies of the Chinese Communist Party, and discipline and foster the national economy. Far from a competition between Europe and the US for tech dominance, western democracies should see their different approaches as a unique opportunity to promote their shared values. In that context, the lack of large, global European tech leaders might actually be a blessing. (The Conversation)
Will it be a safe bet for Sharma?





By Bhavana Aparajita

Shukla

Although, State Capital, Bhopal has been a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but the organisation has chose to field a new candidate instead of repeating sitting MP Sadhvi Pragya Thakur. It has given ticket to Alok Sharma, who had lost recently conducted Assembly elections. The BJPs announcement to Bhopal candidature for the 2024 elections has drawn much attention. The party has replaced MP Sadhvi Pragya with Alok Sharma, the former Mayor of Bhopal. It is being seen as a strategic move towards a more inclusive political stance. From a hardcore Hindutava figure to a moderate Brahmin candidate. It presents the balance of caste equation, after Thakur now a Brahmin candidate. In surrounding regions, most of the candidates belong to the Kirar sect, including Shivraj Singh Chouhan from Vidisha. On other hand, the party seems to distance itself from the politics of extremism.

MP Pragya Thakurs controversial statements have sparked debates across the nation several times. Sharma, known for his administrative experience as the Mayor of Bhopal, indicates the party prefers to bet on pro developmental and good governance issues. Barring the incident of his statement during a gathering of BJP workers in Jaora Assembly constituency where he said if you are not voting for BJP, do not vote at all. I want to appeal to our Muslim brothers of Jaora that if you dont want to vote for the BJP, then dont. But, I request you not to go for voting at all in that case. You must know and whole-heartedly accept the fact that the house you are living in has been granted to you under the Prime Ministers housing scheme. (Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister) Shivraj Singh Chouhan even built a Haj House in MP, Sharma had said.

The candidature of 53-year-old Sharma got green signal some two years back. It is learnt that the party had conducted surveys on its leaders performance and public image. In this survey, Sharma scored an impressive ranking. As far as losing Assembly elections matter, It is well-known that Bhopal Uttar constituency has 55 per cent population from the minority community. Pre-poll surveys had brought a rosy picture for a candidate hailing from the same community. It was not a surprise for many when Sharma lost the 2023 Assembly elections. Infact, the party found him obedient and accepted the challenge. Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan campaigned for Sharma in most of the elections whether it is for Mayor or legislative Assembly polls. In the 2018 elections too, Congress Arif Aqeel had won the election. The runners-up candidate was Alok Sharma from BJP who secured 54,241 votes. Winning margin was 4,026 votes. Sharma contested the election from the same seat in 2008 too but he lost to Arif Aqeel with a huge margin of votes. Now, it seems that the party is going to reward him by offering him a safer bet in the General Elections 2024.
Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM  Get Free Report)s stock had its hold rating restated by analysts at Argus in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PM. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, November 16th. They set a neutral rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Societe Generale upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $87.50 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. UBS Group cut shares of Philip Morris International from a buy rating to a sell rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $105.40.

Get Philip Morris International alerts:

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:PM opened at $91.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.15, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.65. Philip Morris International has a 12 month low of $87.23 and a 12 month high of $101.92.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $9.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.53% and a negative return on equity of 116.29%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Philip Morris International will post 6.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Philip Morris International

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC raised its position in Philip Morris International by 10.4% in the second quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 213,136 shares of the companys stock worth $20,806,000 after acquiring an additional 20,104 shares during the period. Aspen Grove Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 13.0% in the second quarter. Aspen Grove Capital LLC now owns 4,756 shares of the companys stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Berger Financial Group Inc raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.0% in the second quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 3,902 shares of the companys stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.5% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 120,894 shares of the companys stock valued at $11,802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,764 shares during the period. Finally, Elevated Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 2.8% in the second quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 17,016 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,661,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.70% of the companys stock.

Philip Morris International Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Philip Morris International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Philip Morris International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI  Free Report) by 7.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,303 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLPs holdings in Badger Meter were worth $1,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 9.1% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,393 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 6.1% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 29,408 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock valued at $2,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Badger Meter by 12.7% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,216 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock valued at $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the first quarter valued at approximately $291,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.81% of the companys stock.

Get Badger Meter alerts:

Badger Meter Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMI opened at $162.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a PE ratio of 51.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.85. Badger Meter, Inc. has a twelve month low of $112.46 and a twelve month high of $170.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $152.35 and a 200-day moving average of $150.93.

Badger Meter Announces Dividend

Badger Meter ( NYSE:BMI Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. Badger Meter had a net margin of 13.16% and a return on equity of 19.07%. The firm had revenue of $182.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Badger Meters dividend payout ratio is currently 34.39%.

Insider Transactions at Badger Meter

In other news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total transaction of $30,952.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,672 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,181,367.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Badger Meter news, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 1,416 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.23, for a total value of $221,221.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,422 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,096,919.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP William R. A. Bergum sold 194 shares of Badger Meter stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.55, for a total transaction of $30,952.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,181,367.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Badger Meter from $142.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Badger Meter from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $147.50.

Read Our Latest Research Report on BMI

Badger Meter Company Profile

(Free Report)

Badger Meter, Inc manufactures and markets flow measurement, quality, control, and communication solutions in the United States, Asia, Canada, Europe, Mexico, the Middle East, and internationally. It offers mechanical or static water meters, and related radio and software technologies and services to municipal water utilities.

Recommended Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BMI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Badger Meter Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Badger Meter and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its position in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 181,996 shares of the financial services providers stock after buying an additional 1,460 shares during the quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LPs holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cito Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 1.9% in the third quarter. Cito Capital Group LLC now owns 52,370 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,434,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 3.6% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,843,772 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $77,848,000 after acquiring an additional 99,146 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Grove Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 6.5% in the third quarter. Redwood Grove Capital LLC now owns 325,700 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $8,918,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Bank of America by 2.5% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 4,230,403 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $115,828,000 after acquiring an additional 103,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Bank of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $747,000. 68.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Get Bank of America alerts:

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In related news, major shareholder Of America Corp /De/ Bank acquired 5,398 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.56 per share, with a total value of $57,002.88. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 5,398 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $57,002.88. The transaction 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on BAC. Barclays upped their target price on Bank of America from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Odeon Capital Group lowered Bank of America from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $33.90 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Bank of America from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, December 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Bank of America from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Bank of America from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $35.53.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Bank of America

Bank of America Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BAC opened at $35.53 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $279.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.38. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $24.96 and a 1 year high of $35.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.50.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.70 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 15.42%. The firms quarterly revenue was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. Analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Bank of Americas payout ratio is 31.27%.

Bank of America Profile

(Free Report)

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BAC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Bank of America Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of America and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE  Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $95.33.

A number of brokerages have commented on CBRE. Raymond James boosted their target price on CBRE Group from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. TheStreet upgraded CBRE Group from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI downgraded CBRE Group from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and boosted their target price for the company from $79.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded CBRE Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on CBRE Group from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 22nd.

Get CBRE Group alerts:

Read Our Latest Analysis on CBRE

Insider Activity at CBRE Group

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CBRE Group

In related news, CEO Chandra Dhandapani sold 11,925 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.03, for a total transaction of $1,121,307.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 127,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,947,827.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website . In other CBRE Group news, CEO John E. Durburg sold 25,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.20, for a total value of $2,305,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 207,856 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $19,164,323.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink . Also, CEO Chandra Dhandapani sold 11,925 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.03, for a total value of $1,121,307.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,064 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $11,947,827.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SageView Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in CBRE Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in CBRE Group by 103.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 44,065 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $4,102,000 after acquiring an additional 22,442 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in CBRE Group by 164.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,505,177 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $419,387,000 after acquiring an additional 2,799,097 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of CBRE Group by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 1,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of CBRE Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.71% of the companys stock.

CBRE Group Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:CBRE opened at $92.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.12 and a beta of 1.42. CBRE Group has a 1-year low of $64.63 and a 1-year high of $96.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $88.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.01.

CBRE Group (NYSE:CBRE  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.17. CBRE Group had a return on equity of 13.69% and a net margin of 3.09%. The firm had revenue of $8.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. CBRE Groups quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CBRE Group will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About CBRE Group

(Get Free Report

CBRE Group, Inc operates as a commercial real estate services and investment company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Advisory Services, Global Workplace Solutions, and Real Estate Investments segments. The Advisory Services segment provides strategic advice and execution to owners, investors, and occupiers of real estate in connection with leasing of offices; industrial and retail space; property sales and mortgage services under the CBRE Capital Markets brand; property and project management services, including construction management, marketing, building engineering, lease administration, accounting, and financial services for owners of and investors in office, industrial, and retail properties; and valuation services that include market value appraisals, litigation support, discounted cash flow analyses, and feasibility studies, as well as consulting services, such as property condition reports, hotel advisory, and environmental consulting.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for CBRE Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CBRE Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Crestwood Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF (NYSEARCA:IAT  Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 88,791 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,983,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC owned approximately 0.44% of iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of IAT. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF in the 2nd quarter worth about $23,985,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF by 99.4% during the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 487,136 shares of the companys stock valued at $16,489,000 after purchasing an additional 242,874 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF by 215.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 289,386 shares of the companys stock valued at $10,357,000 after purchasing an additional 197,573 shares during the last quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC grew its holdings in iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF by 7,561.8% during the 3rd quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 134,081 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,505,000 after purchasing an additional 132,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF by 57.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 359,444 shares of the companys stock valued at $12,167,000 after purchasing an additional 130,601 shares during the last quarter.

Get iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF alerts:

iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSEARCA:IAT opened at $42.41 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $858.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82 and a beta of 1.09. iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF has a 12 month low of $28.80 and a 12 month high of $48.02. The firms 50-day moving average is $40.83 and its 200 day moving average is $37.33.

iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF Profile

The iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF (IAT) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the DJ US Select \u002F Regional Banks index. The fund tracks the performance of an index of small- and mid-cap regional banks. IAT was launched on May 1, 2006 and is managed by BlackRock.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC  Free Report) by 5.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,227 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 742 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLCs holdings in Honda Motor were worth $479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Honda Motor by 77.6% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 975 shares of the companys stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Honda Motor by 186.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the companys stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Credit Suisse AG grew its stake in shares of Honda Motor by 3,638.7% during the 3rd quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 1,159 shares of the companys stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Honda Motor by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,233 shares of the companys stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Honda Motor in the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 5.32% of the companys stock.

Get Honda Motor alerts:

Honda Motor Stock Performance

HMC opened at $36.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $61.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.54, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.71. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has a 1-year low of $24.60 and a 1-year high of $36.82. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Honda Motor Profile

Honda Motor ( NYSE:HMC Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $36.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.68 billion. Honda Motor had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 8.04%. Equities analysts forecast that Honda Motor Co., Ltd. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

(Free Report)

Honda Motor Co, Ltd. develops, manufactures, and distributes motorcycles, automobiles, power, and other products in Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Motorcycle Business, Automobile Business, Financial Services Business, and Power Product and Other Businesses.

Recommended Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HMC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE:HMC  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Honda Motor Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Honda Motor and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Jeremiah Darby, Jazian Goldsmith, Kiyan Beaty, and Raymond McGoley are four of the finest young men I know, said Lee Bradley, Jobs for Alabama Graduates instructor at the Enterprise High School Career and Technical Education Program. The four young men are part of the high schools JAG program and they outlined Bundles of Joy, their community project to those attending the February Board of Education Meeting.

This is the 2nd year of JAG at Enterprise High School. We started the program at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year. Interested students sign up for JAG classes during the registration process. Then, the JAG Specialist, currently Lee Bradley, interviews the interested students to see if they meet the admission criteria, explained Enterprise High School Career Technical Education Principal Cami McClenney. There is a list of barriers that is published by the national organization. Students need to identify at least five of these barriers to be admitted.

JAG is not a Career Tech program; however, currently our JAG program is housed at the Enterprise Career and Technology Center, McClenny said. The goals of JAG are so closely aligned to the goals of our career tech courses, that it just makes sense. Students can take JAG each year they are enrolled in high school.

The goal is to take students who have untapped potential and help them be successful, to help them grow in whatever area they need to so they not only graduate but bring with them soft skills developed so that they can become good business and industry employees added Bradley.

Our first day as a group was Jan. 8, said McGoley. We didnt even know each other before then. The group was tasked with initiating a community service project and ultimately decided to create giveaway bags for mothers of newborns to be distributed at Medical Center Enterprise by the nursing staff. What can we do to improve the quality of life for these new mothers and their newborns, was the impetus behind the giveaway package for the mothers, McGoley said. As a group, we came up with the Bundle of Joy project to let the new mothers know the community services available to them, so they dont feel stuck and so alone.

The group collected Alabama Department of Health Information, and basic baby needs to include disposable diapers, disposable wipes, baby bottles, and baby socks. They asked local businesses to help with donations of items and the students researched and collected relevant contact information and tips for the new parents.

Judy Penuel, coordinator for the Coffee County Dolly Parton Imagination Library Program talked to the class about the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, a program that provides a free book a month for children in Coffee County between the ages of birth and five years old.

Jan. 16 was the first deadline the group met, reporting all their progress. The second deadline was Jan. 26 when all the materials had to be collected and on Jan. 28, they assembled and planned delivery of all the bags.

Meeting MCE Chief Executive Officer Joey Hester and MCE Director of Community Services Lisa Fenner was a highlight for the group, McGoley said. Fenner agreed to deliver the bags to the nurses station for distribution and said she would report back to the students the reaction from the mothers receiving their goodie bags.

Our goal is to bring this program to the table statewide, McGoley said. Its something we believe can really impact the community.

We wont know unless we put that foot out in front of us, McGoley said. And we know that Ms. Bradley and Ms. McClenny are willing to help us every step of the way.
StockNews.com downgraded shares of Getty Realty (NYSE:GTY  Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Getty Realty from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 8th.

Get Getty Realty alerts:

View Our Latest Stock Report on Getty Realty

Getty Realty Trading Up 1.0 %

Getty Realty Dividend Announcement

GTY opened at $27.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 3.73 and a quick ratio of 3.73. Getty Realty has a fifty-two week low of $25.90 and a fifty-two week high of $36.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 23.66, a P/E/G ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.89. The companys 50-day moving average is $27.74 and its 200 day moving average is $28.39.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Getty Realtys payout ratio is 156.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GTY. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Getty Realty by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 585,653 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $16,762,000 after acquiring an additional 7,892 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Getty Realty by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 15,914 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Getty Realty by 56.8% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 22,011 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $630,000 after acquiring an additional 7,969 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Getty Realty by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 155,688 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $4,456,000 after acquiring an additional 41,905 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in shares of Getty Realty by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 34,008 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $973,000 after acquiring an additional 4,193 shares during the period. 83.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Getty Realty Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Getty Realty Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Getty Realty and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Great Portland Estates Plc (LON:GPE  Get Free Report) insider Toby Courtauld purchased 41 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 364 ($4.62) per share, with a total value of 149.24 ($189.41).

Toby Courtauld also recently made the following trade(s):

Get Great Portland Estates alerts:

On Wednesday, January 31st, Toby Courtauld purchased 36 shares of Great Portland Estates stock. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 411 ($5.22) per share, with a total value of 147.96 ($187.79).

Great Portland Estates Stock Performance

Shares of Great Portland Estates stock opened at GBX 374.20 ($4.75) on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.62. Great Portland Estates Plc has a twelve month low of GBX 350.40 ($4.45) and a twelve month high of GBX 580.50 ($7.37). The stock has a market cap of 946.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -285.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.80. The companys fifty day moving average is GBX 393.54 and its 200 day moving average is GBX 402.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Berenberg Bank reiterated a hold rating and set a GBX 453 ($5.75) price target on shares of Great Portland Estates in a report on Thursday, December 14th.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on GPE

About Great Portland Estates

(Get Free Report)

We are a FTSE 250 property investment and development company owning 2.5 billion of real estate in central London. We proactively manage our portfolio, flexing our activities in tune with London's property cycle to deliver long-term out-performance. We create in-demand spaces that people want to be part of; helping our occupiers, local communities and the city to thrive.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Great Portland Estates Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Great Portland Estates and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII  Get Free Report) VP Edgar A. Green III sold 3,603 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.75, for a total transaction of $1,047,572.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,169,285.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Price Performance

Huntington Ingalls Industries stock opened at $293.99 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $269.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $241.26. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $188.51 and a 52 week high of $299.50. The stock has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Get Huntington Ingalls Industries alerts:

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The aerospace company reported $6.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $2.63. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 5.95%. Huntington Ingalls Industriess revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. will post 16.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Dividend Announcement

Institutional Trading of Huntington Ingalls Industries

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 22nd. Huntington Ingalls Industriess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.41%.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HII. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.3% during the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 185,744 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $42,275,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 1.9% in the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 54,141 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $11,076,000 after buying an additional 992 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 26.5% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 513,870 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $116,957,000 after acquiring an additional 107,539 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 0.6% during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 492,959 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $100,850,000 after acquiring an additional 2,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries by 186.3% in the 2nd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 43,731 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $9,953,000 after acquiring an additional 28,458 shares during the last quarter. 89.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HII has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Barclays raised their target price on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $257.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Huntington Ingalls Industries

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

(Get Free Report)

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls, Newport News, and Mission Technologies. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships; expeditionary warfare ships; surface combatants; and national security cutters for the U.S.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Huntington Ingalls Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Huntington Ingalls Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM  Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 17,013 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,627,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Boston Beer as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN acquired a new stake in shares of Boston Beer in the 1st quarter valued at $35,680,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of Boston Beer in the 1st quarter valued at $38,859,000. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Boston Beer in the 2nd quarter valued at $18,690,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Boston Beer by 119.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 92,524 shares of the companys stock valued at $35,943,000 after purchasing an additional 50,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Boston Beer by 3,954.5% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 51,168 shares of the companys stock valued at $19,877,000 after purchasing an additional 49,906 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Boston Beer alerts:

Boston Beer Stock Performance

Shares of SAM traded up $2.92 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $298.45. 10,382 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 137,741. The stocks fifty day moving average is $345.97 and its 200 day moving average is $353.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.02. The Boston Beer Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $294.70 and a 1-year high of $395.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Boston Beer ( NYSE:SAM Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($1.49) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($1.27). The business had revenue of $393.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $413.57 million. Boston Beer had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 8.13%. The businesss revenue was down 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.93) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Boston Beer Company, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SAM shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Boston Beer from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Boston Beer from $406.00 to $422.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Boston Beer from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $280.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Boston Beer from $370.00 to $350.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Boston Beer from $390.00 to $355.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $343.58.

Get Our Latest Analysis on SAM

Insider Activity at Boston Beer

In related news, insider Carolyn L. Oboyle sold 102 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.72, for a total value of $35,773.44. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,630 shares of the companys stock, valued at $922,393.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Boston Beer Profile

(Free Report)

The Boston Beer Company, Inc engages in the production and sale of alcohol beverages primarily in the United States. The company's flagship beer is Samuel Adams Boston Lager. It offers various beers, hard ciders, flavored malt beverages, and hard seltzers under the Samuel Adams, Twisted Tea, Truly Hard Seltzer, Angry Orchard, Dogfish Head, Angel City, Coney Island, and Havana Lager brand names.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Boston Beer Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Boston Beer and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR  Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,463 shares of the industrial products companys stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of IR. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Ingersoll Rand by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 15,601 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 1,675 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ingersoll Rand by 47.6% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,880 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 3,185 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ingersoll Rand in the first quarter worth approximately $327,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ingersoll Rand by 62.2% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,937 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 11,096 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ingersoll Rand by 1.7% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 57,771 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $2,909,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares during the period. 94.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Ingersoll Rand alerts:

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Vicente Reynal sold 240,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.16, for a total value of $21,638,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 91,957 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,290,843.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Andrew R. Schiesl sold 10,421 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.95, for a total value of $937,368.95. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 48,904 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,398,914.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Vicente Reynal sold 240,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.16, for a total transaction of $21,638,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 91,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,290,843.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 258,011 shares of company stock worth $23,243,689 over the last three months. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ingersoll Rand Stock Performance

Ingersoll Rand Dividend Announcement

IR opened at $90.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $36.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.49, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.44. Ingersoll Rand Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.84 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th will be given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.09%. Ingersoll Rands payout ratio is currently 4.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on IR. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ingersoll Rand from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ingersoll Rand from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ingersoll Rand from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Ingersoll Rand from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Cfra boosted their target price on shares of Ingersoll Rand from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $81.64.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on IR

About Ingersoll Rand

(Free Report)

Ingersoll Rand Inc provides various mission-critical air, gas, liquid, and solid flow creation technologies services and solutions worldwide. It operates through two segments, Industrial Technologies and Services, and Precision and Science Technologies. The Industrial Technologies and Services segment designs, manufactures, markets, and services air and gas compression, vacuum, and blower products; fluid transfer equipment and loading systems; and power tools and lifting equipment, including associated aftermarket parts, consumables, air treatment equipment, controls, other accessories, and services under the under the Ingersoll Rand, Gardner Denver, Nash, CompAir, Elmo Rietschle brands, etc.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Ingersoll Rand Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ingersoll Rand and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Eldorado Gold Co. (TSE:ELD  Get Free Report) (NYSE:EGO) Director George Raymond Burns sold 13,434 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$14.87, for a total transaction of C$199,806.57.

Eldorado Gold Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of TSE ELD traded down C$0.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching C$16.35. The companys stock had a trading volume of 81,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 389,102. The company has a current ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.60. Eldorado Gold Co. has a fifty-two week low of C$11.38 and a fifty-two week high of C$18.30. The stock has a market capitalization of C$3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a PEG ratio of 56.20 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of C$16.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$15.02.

Get Eldorado Gold alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ELD shares. National Bank Financial reaffirmed an outperform spec overweight rating on shares of Eldorado Gold in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Stifel Canada downgraded shares of Eldorado Gold from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Eldorado Gold from a buy rating to a hold rating and raised their target price for the stock from C$15.50 to C$17.25 in a report on Friday, January 26th. Cormark dropped their target price on shares of Eldorado Gold from C$26.00 to C$25.00 in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, National Bankshares dropped their target price on shares of Eldorado Gold from C$21.00 to C$19.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Three equities research 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 stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$18.06.

About Eldorado Gold

(Get Free Report)

Eldorado Gold Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mining, exploration, development, and sale of mineral products primarily in Turkey, Canada, Greece, and Romania. The company primarily produces gold, as well as silver, lead, and zinc. It holds a 100% interest in the Kisladag and Efemcukuru gold mines located in western Turkey; Lamaque gold mines located in Canada; and Olympias, Stratoni, Skouries, Perama Hill, and Sapes gold mines located in Greece, as well as the 80.5% interest in Certej development projects located in Romania.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Eldorado Gold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eldorado Gold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR  Get Free Report) CEO Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda sold 50,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.94, for a total transaction of $797,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,897,286.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda also recently made the following trade(s):

Get Coursera alerts:

On Thursday, February 15th, Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda sold 50,000 shares of Coursera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.85, for a total transaction of $842,500.00.

On Friday, February 2nd, Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda sold 25,000 shares of Coursera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.14, for a total transaction of $503,500.00.

On Monday, January 29th, Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda sold 50,000 shares of Coursera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.06, for a total transaction of $1,003,000.00.

On Thursday, January 18th, Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda sold 50,000 shares of Coursera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.43, for a total transaction of $971,500.00.

On Thursday, January 4th, Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda sold 50,000 shares of Coursera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.09, for a total transaction of $954,500.00.

On Tuesday, December 26th, Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda sold 11,048 shares of Coursera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.01, for a total transaction of $221,070.48.

On Friday, December 22nd, Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda sold 13,952 shares of Coursera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total transaction of $279,458.56.

On Thursday, December 7th, Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda sold 75,000 shares of Coursera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.59, for a total transaction of $1,544,250.00.

Coursera Stock Up 0.0 %

Coursera stock opened at $15.01 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.49 and a beta of 1.52. The firms fifty day moving average is $18.00 and its 200 day moving average is $18.44. Coursera, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.91 and a 52-week high of $21.26.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Coursera

Coursera ( NYSE:COUR Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $168.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.64 million. Coursera had a negative net margin of 18.33% and a negative return on equity of 18.15%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Coursera, Inc. will post -0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COUR. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Coursera by 0.9% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 312,725 shares of the companys stock valued at $7,205,000 after purchasing an additional 2,907 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new stake in Coursera during the first quarter valued at $2,214,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Coursera by 55.4% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 40,863 shares of the companys stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 14,570 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Coursera by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 71,452 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Coursera by 45.7% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 13,892 shares of the companys stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 4,357 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.36% of the companys stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on COUR shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Coursera from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. William Blair reiterated an outperform rating on shares of Coursera in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Coursera from a neutral rating to a sell rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Coursera in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Coursera from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $22.10.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Coursera

About Coursera

(Get Free Report)

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, physical science and engineering, language learning, information technology, health, social sciences, math and logic, project management, and arts and humanities; campus student plans; degree courses; and certification education.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Coursera Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Coursera and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II (NYSE:HPF  Get Free Report) announced a monthly dividend on Friday, March 1st, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.1235 per share on Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 8th.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE HPF opened at $16.46 on Thursday. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $16.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.22. John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II has a fifty-two week low of $12.99 and a fifty-two week high of $17.70.

Get John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II alerts:

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new stake in John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II during the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,178 shares of the companys stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 3,647 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II during the 2nd quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II by 21.4% during the 1st quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 13,683 shares of the companys stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 2,410 shares during the last quarter.

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II Company Profile

John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II is a closed ended fixed income 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 fixed income markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in securities of companies operating across diversified sectors.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for John Hancock Preferred Income Fund II and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (NYSEARCA:EWZ  Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,019 shares of the exchange traded funds stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EWZ. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Brazil ETF by 48.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 121,568 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $3,729,000 after purchasing an additional 39,565 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI Brazil ETF by 288.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 61,270 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,879,000 after buying an additional 45,493 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI Brazil ETF by 94.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,250 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 1,582 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in iShares MSCI Brazil ETF by 71.5% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,277 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 3,450 shares during the period. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of iShares MSCI Brazil ETF in the third quarter worth $486,000.

Get iShares MSCI Brazil ETF alerts:

iShares MSCI Brazil ETF Stock Performance

Shares of NYSEARCA:EWZ opened at $33.14 on Thursday. iShares MSCI Brazil ETF has a 52-week low of $25.00 and a 52-week high of $35.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a PE ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $33.44 and a 200 day moving average of $32.51.

iShares MSCI Brazil ETF Profile

iShares MSCI Brazil Capped Index Fund (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund, seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of publicly traded securities in the Brazilian market, as measured by the MSCI Brazil Index (the Index).

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EWZ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (NYSEARCA:EWZ  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Brazil ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Brazil ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG  Free Report) by 36.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,812 shares of the energy exploration companys stock after purchasing an additional 12,726 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLCs holdings in EOG Resources were worth $6,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EOG. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in EOG Resources in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in EOG Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in EOG Resources in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in EOG Resources in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in EOG Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 89.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get EOG Resources alerts:

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EOG has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered EOG Resources from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their price target for the company from $150.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Bank of America downgraded EOG Resources from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price target for the company from $147.00 to $140.00 in a report on Friday, January 5th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on EOG Resources from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on EOG Resources from $150.00 to $138.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on EOG Resources from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $142.40.

EOG Resources Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of EOG Resources stock opened at $116.49 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $114.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 2.13. The company has a market capitalization of $67.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.39. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $98.52 and a 1 year high of $136.79.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The energy exploration company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.14 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $6.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.18 billion. EOG Resources had a return on equity of 25.38% and a net margin of 31.40%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EOG Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 15th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. EOG Resourcess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.98%.

EOG Resources Profile

(Free Report)

EOG Resources, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, explores for, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, and natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its principal producing areas are in New Mexico and Texas in the United States; and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The company was formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Company.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for EOG Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for EOG Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
FORT NOVOSELNo names are as synonymous to aviation history as Orville and Wilbur Wright, pioneers in the discovery of flight. The Federal Aviation Administrations (FAA) most prestigious award began in 2003 and was rightfully titled in their namesake.

Steve Rutland, Fort Novosel flight instructor and Amentum employee, received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award at a small ceremony at Cairns Army Airfield on March 1, 2024. The award is reserved for U.S. aviators reaching 50 years of accident-free flying and has been awarded 8,410 times.

Director of Amentum Rotary Wing Flight Training, Todd Marshburn, spoke highly of Rutlands contributions to the Federal Aviation Administration over the years. This is what 50 years of aviation looks like, Marshburn said, while pointing out the crowded room.

Does anyone know what he has done in these 50 years and over 21,000 flight hours? An ROTC program at Murray State University, Army Flight Training in 1975, a platoon leader with the 118th Aviation Company in Hawaii. He found his love for the sea and served with the U.S. Coast Guard until 1982 and served as a civil servant for 3 full decades. He has taught every rank up to colonel, and on every training aircraft besides the one that he initially learned on. In 2012, he joined Amentum as a contractor where he has remained a steadfast instructor since.

Marshburn continued by listing the achievements of the highly decorated Rutland. Steve has served on the FAA safety team for 25 years. He has been awarded Flight Instructor of the Year for Alabama/Northwest Florida three times, Master Flight Instructor 11 times, National Association of Flight Instructors, Order of St. Michael, Master Army Aviator, Naval Aviator. What more can I say? asks Marshburn.

And hes still doing it today. The amount of people here today is proof of his legacy and inspirational to all of us. It is a proud day not just for Amentum but for Army Aviation, this achievement is truly incredible.

Rutland received his official award from the FAA, reminiscing on 50 years as an accident-free aviator.

I know I have been very fortunate to fly for this many years and this many hours. I know God has watched over me many times. Over the years I have had 4 engine failures and I have precautionary landed more times than I can count and 11-12 bird strikes, but it all came out well in the end. said Rutland.

Decades of experience training Army Aviators carries a depth of wisdom for the next generations to lean into.

An old instructor pilot once told me that you need four things in life. You need two things to believe in, and God and country have been two good things for me. He said you need someone to love and someone to love you. Ive been married to my lovely bride now for 52 years this August. I have no idea how she has been able to put up with me all these years but Im grateful she has, expressed Rutland.

He also said you need enough to live on. I can say we have had some lean times over the years. We started out in college together and worked our way through that, continued Rutland. Back in the early 80s flight instructors didnt make a whole lot here, but we always got by. And he also said you need a purpose in life.

Rutland paused to reflect on his purpose before concluding.

I can tell you that for 50 years aviation has been that purpose for me, and most of all Army Aviation. Of all the pilots I have worked with and flight instructors that I have flown with, all the students I have trained, the officers and supervisors I have worked for, maintenance people that keep the aircraft flying, administration people that keep me out of trouble, the ATC people that keep us safe, the fuel handlers, everyone from top to bottom, they have all been far more than good enough for me. I hope and pray that I have been and continue to be good enough for them, said Rutland.

After expressing his gratitude for everyone that has crossed his path, Rutland closed with continued hope for the future. Who knows. Maybe we can all do this again in the next 50 years!
LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB  Get Free Report) CAO Chukwuemeka A. Oyolu sold 7,084 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.47, for a total value of $711,729.48. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,575 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,770,460.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LYB opened at $99.94 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. LyondellBasell Industries has a one year low of $81.24 and a one year high of $102.93.

Get LyondellBasell Industries alerts:

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.07). LyondellBasell Industries had a return on equity of 21.89% and a net margin of 5.16%. The company had revenue of $9.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that LyondellBasell Industries will post 8.86 EPS for the current year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 1st. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.00%. LyondellBasell Industriess dividend payout ratio is currently 77.28%.

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LYB. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 1.0% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 10,812 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $1,112,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 26.2% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,362 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $4,349,000 after buying an additional 8,596 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries in the first quarter valued at $731,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 29.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,488 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $770,000 after buying an additional 1,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 20.2% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,268 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 1,053 shares in the last quarter. 91.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LYB shares. Citigroup cut LyondellBasell Industries from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Vertical Research raised LyondellBasell Industries from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on LyondellBasell Industries in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued an underperform rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut LyondellBasell Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised LyondellBasell Industries from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and increased their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $100.92.

Get Our Latest Analysis on LYB

LyondellBasell Industries Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. operates as a chemical company in the United States, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Poland, France, Japan, China, the Netherlands, and internationally. The company operates in six segments: Olefins and PolyolefinsAmericas; Olefins and PolyolefinsEurope, Asia, International; Intermediates and Derivatives; Advanced Polymer Solutions; Refining; and Technology.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for LyondellBasell Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for LyondellBasell Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL  Get Free Report) declared a  dividend on Wednesday, March 6th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.10 per share on Friday, January 24th. This represents a dividend yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MSDL opened at $19.89 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending has a twelve month low of $19.05 and a twelve month high of $20.82.

Get Morgan Stanley Direct Lending alerts:

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (NYSE:MSDL  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 1st. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $100.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.34 million.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSDL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. They set a neutral rating and a $20.50 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They issued a market perform rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. They set a buy rating and a $23.50 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. They set an outperform rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $21.50.

Get Our Latest Report on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Morgan Stanley Direct Lending and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,076 shares of the healthcare product makers stock, valued at approximately $782,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 137,153,545 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $14,952,480,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584,552 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 77,225,258 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $8,419,032,000 after acquiring an additional 820,369 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 74,817,109 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $8,156,561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362,889 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 59,178,607 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $6,451,127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,747,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product makers stock worth $4,278,132,000 after acquiring an additional 4,886,954 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.70% of the companys stock.

Get Abbott Laboratories alerts:

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $128.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $120.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 15,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.00, for a total transaction of $1,620,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,022,916. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 15,000 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.00, for a total value of $1,620,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,022,916. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 71,435 shares of company stock worth $8,071,298 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $1.35 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $120.69. The companys stock had a trading volume of 822,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,088,496. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $114.13 and a 200 day moving average of $105.13. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $120.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.42 billion, a PE ratio of 36.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of $1.19. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratoriess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.48%.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

(Free Report)

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Meniere's disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ABT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Abbott Laboratories Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Abbott Laboratories and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY decreased its position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ  Free Report) (TSE:CNQ) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 63,375 shares of the oil and gas producers stock after selling 470 shares during the period. Canadian Natural Resources comprises about 1.7% of Roanoke Asset Management Corp NYs investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NYs holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $4,098,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNQ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 6.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,235,475 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $2,493,796,000 after buying an additional 2,332,528 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 17,926,955 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $1,009,030,000 after acquiring an additional 182,756 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the 1st quarter valued at about $960,796,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 14,225,902 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $789,964,000 after acquiring an additional 234,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 12,852,785 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $837,145,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750,013 shares during the period. 73.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Canadian Natural Resources alerts:

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $94.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock traded up $1.13 during trading on Thursday, hitting $73.01. 452,194 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,083,397. The stock has a market cap of $78.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.12 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.44. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a twelve month low of $48.81 and a twelve month high of $73.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.774 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resourcess previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. Canadian Natural Resourcess payout ratio is 53.25%.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

(Free Report)

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO).

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Canadian Natural Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian Natural Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH  Free Report) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,556,974 shares of the electronics makers stock after buying an additional 250,292 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canadas holdings in Amphenol were worth $382,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Amphenol by 1.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,500,422 shares of the electronics makers stock worth $4,661,480,000 after acquiring an additional 691,964 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Amphenol by 6.1% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 48,104,261 shares of the electronics makers stock valued at $4,086,457,000 after buying an additional 2,752,517 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Amphenol by 5.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,214,089 shares of the electronics makers stock worth $2,232,289,000 after buying an additional 1,419,808 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Amphenol by 4.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,279,911 shares of the electronics makers stock worth $1,283,360,000 after buying an additional 653,354 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Amphenol by 95,441.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,868,807 shares of the electronics makers stock valued at $1,055,971,000 after acquiring an additional 13,854,291 shares in the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Get Amphenol alerts:

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Lance E. Damico sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.75, for a total transaction of $1,571,250.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,700 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,692,075. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Lance E. Damico sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.75, for a total transaction of $1,571,250.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,692,075. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Craig A. Lampo sold 100,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.67, for a total transaction of $10,467,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 147,045 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $15,391,200.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 285,000 shares of company stock valued at $29,633,250. Corporate insiders own 2.22% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on APH shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on Amphenol in a research report on Friday, January 5th. They issued a buy rating and a $117.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Amphenol from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Amphenol from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Amphenol from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $107.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amphenol currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $102.11.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Amphenol

Amphenol Stock Performance

Shares of Amphenol stock opened at $110.51 on Thursday. Amphenol Co. has a 1 year low of $72.00 and a 1 year high of $112.40. The firms 50-day moving average is $102.02 and its 200 day moving average is $92.55. The stock has a market cap of $66.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.53, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 23.94%. The businesss revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amphenol Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 18th. Amphenols payout ratio is 28.30%.

Amphenol Company Profile

(Free Report)

Amphenol Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, primarily designs, manufactures, and markets electrical, electronic, and fiber optic connectors in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Harsh Environment Solutions, Communications Solutions, and Interconnect and Sensor Systems.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding APH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Amphenol Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Amphenol and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lessened its stake in KB Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:KB  Free Report) by 53.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 946,900 shares of the banks stock after selling 1,087,059 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.s holdings in KB Financial Group were worth $38,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in KB Financial Group by 79.8% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,959,952 shares of the banks stock valued at $107,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313,605 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in KB Financial Group by 36.1% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,434,596 shares of the banks stock valued at $88,619,000 after acquiring an additional 646,184 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of KB Financial Group by 86.3% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 600,940 shares of the banks stock worth $29,344,000 after purchasing an additional 278,345 shares in the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in KB Financial Group by 26.4% in the third quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 523,641 shares of the banks stock valued at $21,527,000 after buying an additional 109,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in KB Financial Group by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 403,021 shares of the banks stock worth $16,568,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 6.30% of the companys stock.

Get KB Financial Group alerts:

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered KB Financial Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday.

KB Financial Group Price Performance

KB Financial Group stock opened at $51.68 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.85 billion, a PE ratio of 5.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.69. KB Financial Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.20 and a 12 month high of $52.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.92.

About KB Financial Group

(Free Report)

KB Financial Group Inc provides a range of banking and related financial services to consumers and corporations in South Korea and internationally. The company operates through seven segments: Retail Banking, Corporate Banking, Other Banking, Credit Card, Securities, Life Insurance, and Non-Life Insurance.

Recommended Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding KB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for KB Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:KB  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for KB Financial Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for KB Financial Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Royal London Asset Management Ltd. reduced its position in shares of The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD  Free Report) (TSE:TD) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 571,882 shares of the banks stock after selling 21,613 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.s holdings in Toronto-Dominion Bank were worth $34,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Toronto-Dominion Bank in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bray Capital Advisors grew its position in shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank by 206.7% in the third quarter. Bray Capital Advisors now owns 460 shares of the banks stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.52% of the companys stock.

Get Toronto-Dominion Bank alerts:

Toronto-Dominion Bank Stock Performance

Shares of TD stock opened at $60.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $107.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.86. The firms 50 day moving average price is $60.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.37. The Toronto-Dominion Bank has a one year low of $54.69 and a one year high of $66.15.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Increases Dividend

Analysts Set New Price Targets

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.7519 per share. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.98%. This is a boost from Toronto-Dominion Banks previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Toronto-Dominion Banks dividend payout ratio is 60.47%.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TD shares. CIBC lowered Toronto-Dominion Bank from a sector outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a hold rating for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, December 4th. Bank of America cut shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $89.33.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on TD

Toronto-Dominion Bank Profile

(Free Report)

The Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, U.S. Retail, Wealth Management and Insurance, and Wholesale Banking.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Toronto-Dominion Bank Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Toronto-Dominion Bank and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Schroder Investment Management Group decreased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM  Free Report) by 6.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 409,378 shares of the business services providers stock after selling 29,277 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned about 0.10% of Waste Management worth $62,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of Waste Management by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 3,881 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $592,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 2,224 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,363 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 288 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cassia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,546 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.34% of the companys stock.

Get Waste Management alerts:

Waste Management Price Performance

WM stock opened at $207.92 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.48 and a 12 month high of $209.78. The firm has a market cap of $83.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.72. The companys 50-day moving average price is $190.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.52.

Waste Management Increases Dividend

Waste Management ( NYSE:WM Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. This is a positive change from Waste Managements previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Waste Managements payout ratio is presently 49.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $163.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group lowered shares of Waste Management from a buy rating to a neutral rating and raised their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Waste Management from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $197.57.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Waste Management

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.00, for a total value of $1,690,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,388 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $28,742,676. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Waste Management news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James C. Fish, Jr. sold 9,550 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.00, for a total value of $1,690,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,388 shares of the companys stock, valued at $28,742,676. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,954 shares of company stock valued at $7,648,660. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Waste Management

(Free Report)

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Waste Management Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Waste Management and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Inchcape plc (OTCMKTS:IHCPF  Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 114,900 shares, an increase of 6.3% from the January 31st total of 108,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 15.1 days.

Inchcape Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of Inchcape stock opened at C$8.21 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of C$8.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$8.79. Inchcape has a 12-month low of C$7.83 and a 12-month high of C$10.83.

Get Inchcape alerts:

About Inchcape

(Get Free Report)

See Also

Inchcape plc operates as an automotive distributor and retailer. It engages in the distribution, sales, and marketing of new and used cars, and parts. The company also provides aftersales service and body shop repairs; and finance and insurance products and services. It operates in the Asia Pacific, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Americas, and Africa.

Receive News & Ratings for Inchcape Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Inchcape and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Stillwater Critical Minerals Corp. (CVE:PGE  Get Free Report) traded down 7.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as C$0.13 and last traded at C$0.13. 84,566 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 19% from the average session volume of 70,932 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.14.

Stillwater Critical Minerals Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 5.39 and a current ratio of 2.77. The firms 50 day simple moving average is C$0.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of C$25.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.67 and a beta of 1.74.

Stillwater Critical Minerals Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Stillwater Critical Minerals Corp., a mineral exploration company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in Canada and the United States. The company explores for gold, palladium, nickel, cobalt, and copper deposits, as well as platinum group metals. Its flagship project is the Stillwater West project, which comprises 763 claims covering an area of approximately 61 square kilometers located in Stillwater District, Montana.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Stillwater Critical Minerals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Stillwater Critical Minerals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
AlphaSense is a market intelligence and search platform that allows users to uncover critical insights on companies, topics, and industries within seconds. With an extensive universe of content, including external premium documents and proprietary internal content, AlphaSense empowers businesses to access the information they need efficiently and effectively.

With over a decade of experience in refining their proprietary AI and NLP technology, AlphaSense ensures that users can easily surface and track insights from millions of documents across various sources, such as earnings reports, broker research, expert calls, and company documents. This single platform eliminates the need for time-consuming manual tasks, allowing users to focus more on analysis and decision-making.

AlphaSense offers an extensive content library with access to over 300 million premium external documents, as well as the ability to search for any company, industry, trend, or topic. This wealth of information enables users to stay informed and avoid blind spots by monitoring and surfacing critical insights in real-time.

In addition to providing market intelligence, AlphaSense also offers enterprise intelligence, Wall Street insights, and expert insights, ensuring that users have all the perspectives they need in one place. The platform is equipped with enterprise-grade security measures, including a zero trust security model, modern authentication practices, and secure data encryption to protect sensitive company data.

Overall, AlphaSense is a powerful tool that streamlines the process of market research and analysis, saving users valuable time and providing them with the data and insights they need to make informed decisions.

AlphaSense  Features

Market Intelligence: Search across company filings, broker research, expert calls, and more

Enterprise Intelligence: Centralize market intelligence by integrating internal and external content

Wall Street Insights: Access leading equity research from top Wall Street firms

Expert Insights: Access tens of thousands of expert call transcripts or conduct your own expert calls

AlphaSense  Pricing

Available upon request, free trial.

Visit alpha-sense.com for more.

Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter , Facebook and Instagram.
Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH  Free Report) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,760 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the period. UnitedHealth Group makes up about 1.3% of Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLCs holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLCs holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $11,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Robbins Farley bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth about $25,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 340.0% during the third quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 66 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter worth about $35,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. 85.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get UnitedHealth Group alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and issued a $591.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 19th. HSBC reiterated a reduce rating and set a $480.00 price target (down from $550.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating and set a $610.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $584.00 to $581.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $565.00 to $503.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong 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 $579.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.35% of the companys stock.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH traded up $6.33 on Thursday, hitting $478.93. 1,560,578 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,179,116. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $516.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $518.30. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1-year low of $445.68 and a 1-year high of $554.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $441.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.98 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $94.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.13 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 6.02%. The firms revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.34 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.82 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th will be given a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. UnitedHealth Groups dividend payout ratio is presently 31.54%.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

(Free Report)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. It operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UNH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for UnitedHealth Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for UnitedHealth Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP  Free Report) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,172,193 shares of the energy producers stock after acquiring an additional 78,093 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.18% of ConocoPhillips worth $260,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.4% in the third quarter. V Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,400 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 103,125 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $12,354,000 after buying an additional 22,272 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,396 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 2,118 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter worth $586,000. Finally, Regal Partners Ltd bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter worth $13,099,000. 80.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get ConocoPhillips alerts:

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of COP stock traded up $0.95 on Thursday, hitting $112.94. The stock had a trading volume of 709,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,529,451. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $111.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.97. The company has a market cap of $132.86 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.23. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $91.53 and a one year high of $127.35.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

ConocoPhillips ( NYSE:COP Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The energy producer reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.32. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 22.08% and a net margin of 18.71%. The company had revenue of $15.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is a positive change from ConocoPhillipss previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. ConocoPhillipss payout ratio is presently 25.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COP. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, November 14th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $139.00 to $132.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $134.61.

Read Our Latest Report on COP

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In related news, VP Christopher P. Delk sold 8,505 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.06, for a total value of $953,070.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other ConocoPhillips news, EVP Dominic E. Macklon sold 23,372 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.17, for a total value of $2,621,637.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher P. Delk sold 8,505 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.06, for a total value of $953,070.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,425 shares of company stock worth $4,077,489. Insiders own 0.37% of the companys stock.

About ConocoPhillips

(Free Report)

ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; various LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding COP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for ConocoPhillips Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ConocoPhillips and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Over 10 million Thais require medical treatment because of air pollution in 2023

View of Bangkok, Thailand in polluted air on Feb. 2, 2023. Photo by Reuters

Thailand's National Economic and Social Development Council has warned that the government must do more to tackle air pollution as more than 10 million people in the country required treatment for pollution-related health problems in 2023.

According to the council (NESDC), cities often rank among the worst in the world for PM 2.5 particles during the early months of the year due to farmers burning stubble and exhaust fumes.

The NESDC emphasized that local authorities should place prioritization on dealing with the impact of PM2.5 on public health.

Data from the Health Ministry show that in 2023, up to 10.5 million people in the country suffered from diseases related to air pollution.

Since the beginning of this year, some 1.6 million people have needed treatment for problems linked to air pollution.

Air quality in Thailand regularly plummets in the early months of the year as smoke from farmers burning stubble in the fields adds to industrial emissions and vehicle exhaust fumes.

Last month, people in Bangkok were told to work from home for two days as a layer of noxious haze blanketed the Thai capital.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has pledged to improve air quality in the country, and his cabinet endorsed a Clean Air Act in January.
The church is not centered around us, it is centered in Christ
That release could not be found.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese at a press meeting after a dialogue in Canberra, Australia, March 7, 2024. Photo by Nhat Bac

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese on Thursday announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between their two countries.

"At the dialogue today, I and the [Australian] Prime Minister, on behalf of the governments of the two countries, announced the upgrade of the Vietnam-Australia ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership," Chinh said at a press conference in Canberra, Australia, Thursday.

He said the new framework would bolster political trust and deepen Vietnam-Australia relations, meeting the demands of both peoples.

It is also expected to entail economic, commercial, investment, and scientific cooperation, and in digital transformation, innovation, culture, education and training, and environment and climate change response, foster people-to-people exchanges and understanding in security and defense to engender peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world, he said.

Australian Prime Minister AnthonyAlbanese said he is glad the two countries have become important partners, which reflects their mutual vision, goals and expectations.

He said he had held discussions with Chinh on climate change, energy, digital transformation, commerce, agriculture, and defense.

He is "proud" to see the two countries' comprehensive strategic partnership in fields like climate change, environment and energy cooperation, he said.

Both target achieving zero emissions by 2050, and have signed agreements to improve monitoring of the impacts of climate change on the marine environment.

They also hope to seize opportunities for technological transformation, which would bolster their capabilities in science and technology, innovation and commerce.

Bilateral trade was worth AUD25.7 billion ($16.9 billion) in 2022, a 75% increase from 2020, making Vietnam Australias 12th largest commercial partner.

Australia hopes to further bolster bilateral economic ties and investments.

The two prime ministers agreed to support each other and coordinate their positions at regional and international forums, especially the United Nations, ASEAN and other mechanisms led by ASEAN.

Chinh praised Australia for its stance on respecting international law in the region and resolving conflicts in the South China Sea through peaceful means in accordance with international law, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The two leaders witnessed the signing of 11 agreements in various fields like education, peacekeeping, investment, science and technology, innovation, and finance and banking.

Chinh said the upgrade in ties would create a new chapter in bilateral relations in terms of effectiveness, comprehensiveness and sustainability, positively contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

A comprehensive strategic partnership is Vietnams highest level of ties with other countries.

It has diplomatic relations with around 200 countries, but only seven comprehensive strategic partners: China, Russia, India, South Korea, the U.S., Japan, and Australia.
Last year, another Aussie news reporter went viral, but it was for some self-inflicted damage. Tyra Stowers was covering a storm in the Gold Coast for 9News when she suddenly slipped, screaming as she fell before laughing it off.
Today

Sunny with gusty winds developing this afternoon. High 68F. WNW winds at 5 to 10 mph, increasing to 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.

Tonight

A clear sky. Low around 35F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.

Tomorrow

Sunshine. High 64F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.
Vietnamese visitors traveling to Mongolia for stays of up to 30 days no longer require a visa starting from March 7.

Mongolia's foreign affairs ministry website has added Vietnam to the list of countries eligible for visa-free entry, effective from March 7 with a maximum travel period of 30 days, extending until the end of 2025.

Previously, Vietnamese visitors to Mongolia were required to obtain either a regular visa, with a processing time of five to seven working days, or an e-visa, processed within three days, costing $25, plus additional charges.

A Vietnamese tourist takes a photo with camels in Mongolia. Photo by Doan Phuoc Truong

Zolo Zolkhuu, a Mongolia tour guide specializing in Vietnamese tours, told VnExpress that although applying for a Mongolian visa was not difficult, many Vietnamese tourists avoid researching the process and prefer visa-free destinations.
Country

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
The state government today enhanced the remuneration of ASHA and Anganwadi workers, chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced today.

The monthly remuneration of ASHA workers has been enhanced by Rs 750 and that of Anganwadi helpers by Rs 500.

Congratulating the state governments decision Abhishsk Banerjee, national general secretary of Trinamul Congress wrote in his X handle With Womens Day approaching Didi @ MamataOfficial makes a major announcement for the women who devote themselves to selflessly helping our people. The monthly remuneration for ASHA & Anganwadi workers has been enhanced by Rs 750 and that of ICDS helpers by Rs 500. Thank YouDidi.

Advertisement

Miss Mamata Banerjee has said over and again that though the Centre has stopped releasing the money meant for their remuneration, the state government continues to pay it. Miss Banerjee today announced enhancement of their remuneration and that has brought relief to the workers.

The ASHA and Anganwadi workers take part in various state run projects. They visit every household to create awareness about health particularly among women and young girls. During anti-larvae drive they visit the houses to ensure that the dos and dont instructions are strictly followed by the people.

Meanwhile, the ASHA workers, who were protesting, pressing for their demands had also urged the chief minister Mamata Banerjee to hike their present incentive.

The announcement of a raised incentive of Rs 750 for ASHA and Anganwadi workers and Rs 500 for helpers, brought happy tidings to the self-help group women. They celebrated the announcement, smearing green abir on one another, and distributed sweets among themselves at Hooghly district. The Chinsurah MLA Ashit Mazumdar also joined in, in their celebrations.

One of the ASHA workers, Madhumita Mondal of Chinsurah Kodaliya-1 gram panchayat, said, We were on protest to press for our demands. We felt deprived. Hike in our present incentive was one of the major demands. We are happy that the state chief minister has announced an added incentive for us. We extend our heartfelt thanks to her. However, the present added incentive is too low than what we expected. We face a lot of problems to meet our ends, hence we request our Didi to further increase the incentive in days to come. We are lifting our protest and returning to work to serve the people.

MLA Mazumdar said, Our chief minister is manobik (humane). She came forward to help out the self-help group women in spite of fund limitations. The central government has withheld crores of rupees, trying to stop the progress and development work in west Bengal. Yet the CM is doing her best to look into the needs and wants of the common people.

The district BJP has ridiculed the hike in the incentive of self-help groups.
State chief minister and Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday urged people to take a pledge not to allow anyone to destroy the rich culture, heritage of Bengal and protest against implementation of NRC and arbitrary cancellation of Aadhaar cards at the Janagorjan Sabha on 10 March. The Trinamul Congress is organising the Janagorjan Sabha (Roar of the Masses) rally on Sunday at the Brigade Parade ground.

Miss Banerjee, in a video message, urged people to raise their voice against the arbitrary decisions of BJP loudly so that it could be heard from Delhi. She said: A heinous conspiracy is being hatched to demolish the rich culture and tradition of Bengal. Bengal took a leading role in the freedom movement and social reforms started here.

Bengal has welcomed people coming from different castes, creeds and religions. We firmly believe religion is individual but festival is for all. But they are trying to destroy our social fabric by introducing divisive politics in Bengal. She added: We will fight back. We will fight it out and win the battle.

Advertisement

I urge those who love Bengal to come together and foil any attempt to destroy the culture of Bengal. Asserting that it would be a historic rally, Miss Banerjee said despite repeated requests the Centre did not release the funds meant for various projects. The job card holders under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme did not get their money and the state government took the intitiative to clear their dues.

The state government has also decided to construct 11.36 lakh houses of rural poor if the Centre does not clear the funds for the Centrally sponsored housing scheme by April. They have not cleared the dues meant for rural roads and other projects. They have not cleared the dues deliberately and we will fight it, Miss Banerjee said. Bengals patience & courtesy should NOT be mistaken for its weakness. The Bohiragoto Jomidars must be reminded of this on March 10.

The #JonogorjonSabha at Brigade Ground this Sunday will be a historic event on the land that has always fought for its rights. Join us as we lead the peoples movement for Bengals secure future. Bengal will show the way, the Chief Minister posted on microblogging site X along with the video message. The Trinamul Congress has held a series of meetings across the state to make Sundays rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata a grand success. The party workers have been asked to reach the venue by 11 a.m.

The party has taken steps to inform people about the step motherly attitude of the Centre. Miss Banerjee along with other MPs had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to clear the dues. She also took part in a dharna on the issue, but so far there has been no positive response from the Centre.
The state cabinet, which in all probability, met for one last time today before the dates for the Lok Sabha polls are announced (13 March) by the Election Commission of India, approved some key decisions, which sources claimed are likely to be game changers.

The one of the key four projects that the state council of ministers has put its seal of approval on today is a SHORE project for calamity-hit Sunderbans, that the state has taken in association with the help of the World Bank.

Shashi Panja, the minister for woman and child development and industries, said that the Sustainable Harnessing Ocean Resources and Economy or SHORE, is a joint project of the state government and the World Bank with 70:30 share of funding. The total cost of the project has been estimated to be Rs 4,100cr, with the state governments share of Rs 1,230cr.

Advertisement

Elaborating on the project, Mrs Panja said that the project has been initiated with an eye to minimise damage that vast areas of Sunderbans bear the brunt during floods and cyclones.

With this SHORE project works on strengthening of 50 per cent embankments at about 39 islands would start in the first phase. Besides, works on eco-tourism and other works on rehabilitations and compensations too would be done, said Mrs Panja.

Chandrima Bhattacharya, minister for finance said that a post named as joint superintendent nurse, had been approved by the cabinet for which about 324 senior nurses are to be recruited.

The minister also said that about 28 lakh registered migrant workers would be brought under the ambit of Swastha Sathi scheme of the state government for which a decision to this effect had been taken.

Besides, the finance minister also said that untrained workers under the MGNREGA scheme would get their wages under the states Karmasree project in which, the state government would ensure at least 50 days works for them.
The United States is gravely concerned by the rise in violence against civilians in northern and eastern Burkina Faso in late February, said State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller in the wake of a spate of deadly attacks and executions in that West African country. Many of the killings were perpetrated against civilians.

For nearly a decade, Burkina Faso has been battling an insurgency of al-Qaida- and ISIL-affiliated jihadists, who crossed the border from strife-torn neighboring Mali. By the end of 2022, as a result of the insurgency, some 20,000 people had perished in Burkina Faso, while another two million or more were displaced.

Today, attacks against the civilian population continue. On February 25, 170 people were executed in three villages in northern Yatenga province. Many of the victims were women and young children, according to survivors.

On that day, a number of coordinated attacks took place across Burkina Faso.

In addition to deadly attacks on multiple military installations, terrorists killed dozens of worshipers in a mosque in Natiaboani and churches in Essakane, a tribal leader and his security team in Kominyenga, and civilian road crews in multiple locations. Such attacks on civilians, especially in their places of worship, are reprehensible, said Spokesperson Miller.

The executions in Yatenga province were separate from the other attacks that took place on February 25, according to local Burkinabe authorities.

Burkinabe forces reportedly attacked and killed civilians in Tuy. These most recent attacks follow previous incidents of large-scale violence against civilians in 2023, notably at Karma, Zaongo, and several locations in the province of Soum, said Spokesperson Miller. He called on the current Transition Authorities to complete investigations of these incidents with integrity and transparency and hold those responsible to account.

Spokesperson Miller stressed the importance of maintaining respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of civilians during the planning and execution of security operations.

The only long-term solution to the scourge of terrorism is expanding good governance based on the rule of law, respecting human rights, and promoting social cohesion, he said.

The United States remains a committed partner to the Burkinabe people, providing hundreds of millions of dollars in development and humanitarian assistance, as well as counterterrorism support to civilian security and law enforcement actors.
Coming down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party leaders said Modi ki guarantee is an attempt to hoodwink the people of Bengal.

Trinamul Congress leaders said Mr Modi had claimed during his speech in Barasat that the BJP government in a law ensured death penalty for rapists. They said this claim is absolutely baseless as the BJP-led Gujarat government had allowed early release of jailed rapists of Bilkis Bano and garlanded the convicts upon their release.

Mr Modi also falsely claimed that the BJP government stands for womens safety. In reality, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya hired rapists for his IT cell, who were involved in the gangrape of IIT- BHU victims in PMs home constituency.

Advertisement

He also claimed that he stood by the women of the country and worked for their welfare. In reality, grapplers Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat were dragged on the streets of the national capital, barely a few kilometres away from the PMs residence, for demanding punishment of BJP leader Brijbhusan Sharan Singh for abusing women athletes.

He claimed that he would uproot corruption from the country. In reality, he and his band of ministers are promoting corrupt leaders like Suvendu Adhikari who was seen taking bribe.

The Prime Minister claimed that in the past decade, BJP has worked for Viksit Bengal and Viksit Bharat with full honesty. However, in reality the picture is just the opposite. After facing a humiliating defeat in the 2021 Assembly election, BJP stopped releasing funds worth Rs 1.60 lakh crore. Bengal is the only state in the entire country that did not get any MGNREGA allocation for the year 2023-24.

The PM claimed that BJP wants to resolve all issues faced by women. In reality, while Bengal witnessed three visits by the Prime Minister in the past six days, the women of Manipur still await a visit from him after facing ethnic violence in the past 10 months.

The leaders said what the PM said during his speech was nothing but a bagful of lies. His sole business is to confuse people of Bengal before the Lok Sabha election. We warn people against such fake and tall claims, they maintained.
For the second consecutive day on Wednesday, the West Bengal government failed to list its plea in the Supreme Court for an early hearing on its appeal challenging the Calcutta High Court order to hand over the investigation into the attack on the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) officials in Sandeshkhali in January from the state police to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The West Bengal government had on Tuesday (March 5) as well pleaded before a bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna for an urgent listing of the matter. However, the bench asked senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi to approach the Registrar General of the Supreme Court, following which Chief Justice DY Chandrachud will order its listing.

But Singhvi could not mention the matter before the CJI bench as Chief Justice Chandrachud is heading a nine-judge Constitution bench hearing a matter pertaining to levy of taxes in mines case.

Advertisement

The protocol and standard operating procedure (SOP) of the Supreme Court restrict a lawyer from mentioning any case for an urgent listing in the midst of a hearing or after the hearing is over.

Singhvi called the decision of the Calcutta High Court against the concept of federalism.

Challenging the Calcutta High Courts March 5 order, the West Bengal government said that the urgency in the matter was that the CBI wanted overnight compliance with the interim order of the High Court.

Singhvi alleged that the order passed by the Calcutta High Court was uploaded at 3.30 pm and the High Court had asked the state government to comply with the directions by 4.30 pm, leaving it no time for seeking remedy.

The prime accused in the case, Shahjahan Sheikh, a Trinamul Congress leader, was arrested on February 29, after evading arrest for over 50 days.

The Calcutta High Court, in its order on March 5, transferred the probe into the attacks on ED officials by Shahjahan Sheikhs men to the CBI. The High Court had directed that all the relevant papers and documents in the case and Sheikhs custody be handed over to the CBI.

The High Court ordered on Wednesday as well that Sheikhs custody be handed over to the CBI. Following this, a CBI team reached the police headquarters to take custody of Sheikh.
Punjab and Sind Bank is poised to enhance its presence in the North Eastern region, with a particular focus on expanding its ATM kiosks in key locations within Guwahati.

The Managing Director and CEO of the Public sector bank, Swarup Kumar Saha, during an interaction with the media in Guwahati, reiterated the institutions vision to broaden its footprint across the North Eastern states, aligning with the developmental aspirations of the region.

Emphasising this commitment, the Managing Director highlighted the recent inauguration of the banks 32nd branch in the North Eastern region, with plans underway to establish four additional branches in the near future.

Advertisement

This strategic expansion initiative not only signified the banks dedication to bolstering its network but also underscored its pledge to extend financial accessibility and services to the local populace, he said.

Furthermore, the Managing Director underscored the pivotal role of banks as facilitators, stressing the importance of fostering cordial relationships with customers and addressing their concerns and queries promptly.

By prioritising customer satisfaction and service excellence, Punjab and Sind Bank aims to instill trust and confidence among its clientele, thereby strengthening its position as a reliable financial partner, he stated.

In reaffirming the banks commitment to the socio-economic development of the North East, Saha reiterated its unwavering support towards contributing to the regions progress.

Additionally, he emphasised the banks broader national outreach strategy, underscoring its determination to extend its services far and wide across the country, thereby fostering inclusive growth and prosperity.
Delhi minister and senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj on Thursday alleged that the agencies functioning under the Central government in Delhi are out to demolish the homes of the Hindu refugees from Pakistan at Majnu Ka Tila.

Addressing a press conference here, Bharadwaj said the refugees living near the Gurudwara Majnu Ka Tila are afraid of bulldozer action after the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) issued notices to them. They anticipate demolition of their houses either on Thursday or Friday.

The minister, in response to a question, said the law has a provision to accord citizenship to the people. Until this happens, the refugees, who have managed to escape from Pakistan for their lives, should be provided with basic amenities on humanitarian grounds.

Advertisement

If the DDA had sent a letter to me as the vice-chairman of Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), I would have provided basic facilities to them through the board, Bharadwaj said.

Questioning the raw deal being meted out to the hapless people, the minister asked the LG, under whom the agencies function, if he had an enmity with the poor.

The AAP leader pointed out that a DUSIB-listed cluster behind the Sunder Nursery was demolished before serving notices on the Mehrauli and then the RK Puram sector 12 clusters. He alleged that the court had been misled with wrong information.

Taking a dig at the LG, he said on the one hand, he takes up the issues of civic woes of the poor with the government while on the other the DDA under him conducts such demolition drives against them.

Bharadwaj pointed out that the people from Pakistan have been living near the Majnu Ka Tila for 13 years. While the children of some have their board exams, others have issues like their daily struggle for livelihood. Ever since the DDA issued notices to them, they have been living in fear as they have nowhere to go if they lose the roof over their heads.
The Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) on Thursday discussed the probable names of candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge chaired the maiden meeting of the CEC, in presence of Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and partys general secretary in charge of Organisation KC Venugopal, and other senior leaders, at the party headquarters here.

During the meeting, they discussed at length the names of the partys nominees to be announced in the first list for the general elections.

Advertisement

The meeting of the CEC came a day after Congress Manifesto Committee, headed by former Union minister and party stalwart P Chidambaram, had handed over the draft manifesto to Kharge.

Notably, the partys National Alliance Committee (NAC), which is being headed by Mukul Wasnik, has been holding meetings with top leaders of parties under the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc on seat-sharing for the general elections.

The party announced seat-sharing with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Haryana and Goa.

In Delhi, as per the seat-sharing arrangement, the AAP will contest in four parliamentary constituencies and the Congress in three seats.

The Congress is yet to make an official announcement on the total number of seats it would be contesting in the polls.

It may be mentioned that the ruling BJP released the first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming elections last week. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will contest from Uttar Pradeshs Varanasi parliamentary seat.

The saffron party announced candidates for five of the seven parliamentary seats in Delhi for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, denying tickets to four sitting MPs, including Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi.
Manoj Tiwari, BJP candidate from the North-East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, inspected the work on the elevated road of Delhi-Dehradun Expressway on Thursday along with officials.

To know the progress of Delhi Dehradun Expressway being built at a cost of about Rs 5,000 crore, Tiwari inspected the construction work of elevated road with officials.

Talking to reporters after inspection, Tiwari said 90 per cent of the work on the Delhi portion of National Highway 709B has been completed and traffic on it will start in the coming June.

Advertisement

After traveling on this route, one can travel from Delhi to Dehradun in 2.5 hours and from Haridwar in 2.15 hours, the BJP MP said.

Tiwari said this elevated road will be the biggest elevated road in our parliamentary constituency.

He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) from the North East Delhi constituency since 2014.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah will launch the National Cooperative Database on Friday in New Delhi. He will also release the National Cooperative Database 2023: A Report.

Under the initiative, the Ministry of Cooperation has recognised the imperative need for a robust database to capture vital information about Indias vast cooperative sector. Collaborating with State Governments, National Federations, and stakeholders, a National Cooperative Database has been developed to foster a cooperative-centric economic model.

Around 1,400 participants including Secretaries and other senior officers of Central Ministries/Departments, Additional Chief Secretaries/Principal Secretaries of Cooperation from States/UTs, RCS, Cooperative Societies, and Cooperative Federations/Unions across the country will attend the event.

Advertisement

A technical workshop will be organised in the forenoon session to brief and enlighten the participants about the use and application of the National Cooperative Database (NCD) and its potential to improve the cooperative landscape in India.

The data of cooperatives was collected on the National Cooperative Database in a phased manner from the various stakeholders. In the first phase, mapping of about 2.64 lakh primary cooperative societies of three sectors i.e. Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS), Dairy and Fisheries was completed. In the second phase, data of various National Federations, State Federations, State cooperative banks (StCB), District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs), Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs), State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank (SCARDB), Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank (PCARDB), Sugar Cooperative Mills, District Unions and Multi State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) were collected/mapped. In the third phase, data of more than 5.3 lakh primary cooperative societies was mapped from all the remaining other sectors through the office of State/UTs RCS/DRCS offices.

The National Cooperative Database is a web-based digital dashboard wherein data of cooperative societies including National/State Federations have been captured. The data of cooperative societies have been entered and validated by States/ UTs nodal officials at RCS/ DRCS offices and data of federations have been provided by various national/state federations. The National Database has collected/mapped information of about 8 lakh cooperatives with collective membership of more than 29 crores spread across various sectors in the country. The information collected from cooperative societies are on various parameters such as their registered name, date, location, number of members, sectoral information, area of operation, economic activities, financial statements and status of audit.

The National Cooperative Database serves as a crucial tool for efficient communication between the Central Ministry, States/UTs, and Cooperative Societies, benefiting all stakeholders in the cooperative sector. Database provides comprehensive contact details for registered societies, facilitating smooth communication between government entities and these societies.

The launch of the National Cooperative Database will be a milestone in the cooperative sector, a government press note said on Thursday.

The growth of cooperatives in rural areas holds the promise of addressing economic, social, and community challenges, empowering individuals, alleviating poverty, and contributing to the overall well-being of rural communities. This initiative signifies a positive transformation at the grassroots level, aligning with the vision of a prosperous and AtmaNirbhar Bharat.
Nazim Nazeers parents wanted him to be a doctor, but his heart was in beekeeping and honey. He started with two bee boxes on his house rooftop in Pulwama.

On Thursday, he told Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Srinagar, he got timely help from government schemes, and has today 2000 boxes, engages 100 youth for work, and sells several thousand kilograms of honey.

Beaming with success, the young entrepreneur was excited to share his story with the Prime Minister, who was interacting with beneficiaries of government schemes on his first visit to Jammu Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and to participate in the Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir programme.

Advertisement

Nazim said he bought 25 boxes for beekeeping on a 50 per cent subsidy, and expanded to 200 boxes by availing Rs 5 lakh under Prime Ministers Employment Generation Programme.

This led to Nazeer building a brand for himself and creating a website that further generated thousands of orders worth about 5000 kilograms across the country, growing his business to almost 2000 beekeeping boxes and engaging about 100 youth from the region.

He told the Prime Minister he had no worries after joining an FPO in 2023. The Digital India initiative of the Prime Minister transformed the fin tech landscape in the country. The Prime Minister lauded Nazims efforts for leading a sweet revolution in Jammu & Kashmir.

Answering Mr Modis query, he said he did face some difficulty initially but once he contacted the Department of Agriculture, there was support for his work. The Prime Minister said bees, in a way, work like farm labourers making it beneficial for crops.

Nazim said that landowners are ready to offer him land for beekeeping at no cost in other States also as the process is also beneficial for the farmers.

The Prime Minister suggested that he should do research on the honey produced in Central Asia around the Hindu Kush mountains and asked him to look towards crafting a new taste for honey by growing specific flowers around the boxes as it is a niche market.

Mr Modi accepted Nazims request for a selfie with him and later posted on X: A memorable selfie with my friend Nazim. I was impressed by the good work hes doing. At the public meeting he requested a selfie and was happy to meet him. My best wishes for his future endeavours.

Ahtesham Majid Bhat, a bakery entrepreneur of Srinagar, told the Prime Minister how she brought innovations in her work through a food technology skill development programme.

She was supported by the incubation centre at Government Polytechnic for Women Skill Development. The governments single window system helped her and her team in getting all the NoCs from various departments.

The Prime Minister told her that in the last 10 years, the government has been providing all support to crores of youth in realizing their start-up dreams. He praised her for involving her friends from different districts in her entrepreneurial ventures.

It is our efforts that the ideas of our youth do not suffer from the deficiency of resources and finance. They should move with confidence. These daughters of Jammu and Kashmir are setting inspiring examples for the youth of the entire nation, the Prime Minister said. He praised her specially for taking care of underprivileged daughters.

Hamida Bano of Ganderbal is in the dairy business. She told the Prime Minister that she benefited from the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) and opened a processing unit for milk products as there was plenty of milk left after making other products.

She employed other women also. She said her work involved quality check, packaging and marketing of products. Her milk products are devoid of preservatives.

The Prime Minister praised her for her business acumen and also for promoting the cause of nutrition. He complimented her for taking care of quality and doing her business in an environment-friendly way.
Amidst the prevailing challenges faced in Manipur, the Indian Army has continued its dedicated efforts to connect with the Ex-Servicemen (ESM) fraternity.

Multiple ESM Rallies were organised across different districts in Manipur, demonstrating the Armys commitment to the welfare of its veterans.

The rallies, held in Bishnupur, Senapati, and Churachandpur districts on 26th February, 28th February, and 4th March respectively, drew an overwhelming response from the community despite the security situation. Over 2,000 personnel, including 1,650 veterans, 50 Veer Naris, 180 widows, and 65 dependents, participated in these events, showcasing the strong bond within the ESM fraternity.

Advertisement

Conducted under the aegis of the Red Shield Division of the Spear Corps, the rallies aimed to provide a platform for interaction with the ESM community and address their grievances, especially during these challenging times.

Dedicated assistance booths were set up at each rally site, offering support and guidance on crucial matters such as healthcare, pension documentation, ECHS Polyclinic services, CSD, and Army recruitment.

General Officer Commanding of the Manipur-based Red Shield Division, Maj Gen Sameer Sharan Kartikeya, SM, expressed gratitude to the veterans and their families for their sacrifices and services to the nation. He assured prompt redressal of their complaints and appreciated the support extended by the ESM community towards the Armed Forces during the prevailing security situation in Manipur.

Medical and dental specialists from the Army and District Hospitals also organised medical camps at the rally sites, providing much-needed medical assistance, treatment, and necessary medicines to the attendees.

The Ex-Servicemen Rally exemplifies the Indian Armys unwavering commitment to its veterans, Veer Naris, and war widows, particularly during times of crisis.

It serves as a testament to the spirit of camaraderie and solidarity that defines the ethos of the Indian Armed Forces, according to a Defence ministry statement.
Indian Navys INS Kolkata came to the rescue of 21 crew members, including an Indian national, after their cargo vessel was hit by a missile in the Gulf of Aden, a Navy spokesperson said on Thursday.

The crew members had abandoned Barbados-flagged bulk carrier MV True Confidence after it caught fire following the attack on Wednesday.

INS Kolkata, deployed for maritime security operations in the Gulf of Aden, rescued the crew with the help of a life raft using its integral helicopter and boats, Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said.

Advertisement

The rescued crew, including the critically injured personnel, have been evacuated to Djibouti.

The Barbados-flagged vessel was reportedly hit by a drone approximately 55 nm south west of Aden resulting in the fire on board and critical injuries to some of the crew members, forcing the crew to abandon the ship, the spokesman said.

Reports said three crew members were killed and four injured onboard a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday in missile attacks by Yemen-based Houthi rebels who have relentlessly pounced on these waters to protest Israels war in Gaza.

On social media platform X, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said an anti-ship ballistic missile was launched from the Iran-backed Houthi areas of Yemen towards the Barbados-flagged merchant vessel MV True Confidence.

One of the 11 unified combatant commands of the US, CENTCOM further said, The missile struck the vessel, and the multinational crew reports three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition, and significant damage to the ship.

The latest incident comes only two days after the INS Kolkatas firefighting team escorted the merchant vessel, MSC Sky II, with a crew of 23 (including 13 Indians), to safety.

India, which is not part of a US-led multinational coalition in the area, has been independently assisting ships in distress.

The Red Sea crisis hit close to home last December when a commercial vessel carrying oil from Saudi Arabia to Mangaluru came under attack by a drone, about 217 nautical miles off the Porbandar coast. The Navy decided to deploy several warships in the region after more such incidents were reported in the Arabian Sea.

The Indian Navy, as of today, has sent out around 10 to 12 warships, including frigates and destroyers, in the Indian Ocean Region to ward off piracy attempts and attacks by Houthi rebels, who have been disrupting the movement of merchant vessels through the Red Sea.
Press Release

March 8, 2024 On IWD, Hontiveros demands justice for women victim-survivors of Quiboloy Senator Risa Hontiveros, on International Women's Day (IWD), said that justice must be served for women victim-survivors of Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) founder Apollo Quiboloy. Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, has led three inquiries into the reported cases of large-scale human trafficking, sexual violence, and child abuse allegedly perpetrated by Quiboloy. The senator has also presented firsthand testimonies of women who were allegedly routinely assaulted by the religious leader for several years. "Our women witnesses have had to overcome overwhelming feelings of shame and fear in order to speak their truth, to get justice, and to find peace. Ngayong ipinagdiriwang natin ang araw ng kababaihan, sana matiyak natin ang hustisya para sa bawat babaeng paulit-ulit na inabuso ng taong itinangala nila," Hontiveros said. In the previous hearings, former members who identified as "pastorals," or women who occupy a prestigious position in the Kingdom because they are assigned to perform personal tasks for Quiboloy, revealed that they were allegedly coerced to sleep with the Pastor as a sign of their devotion to him. "Hindi lang Pilipinang menor de edad ang diumanong ginahasa ni Quiboloy, pati mga dayuhang pinangakuan niya ng maganda at mapayapang buhay sa Davao. We've heard the stories of at least three Ukrainian women who left everything in Ukraine only to be exploited by the Pastor. They were effectively used as sex slaves," Hontiveros said. "I also have to stress that these abuses are ongoing. Maraming mga pastoral pa ang nasa loob ng Kingdom na patuloy na inaabuso diumano ni Quiboloy," the senator added. In 2021, a US Court indicted Quiboloy for heinous crimes committed in America, including the systematic rape of women, as well as minors as young as 11 years old. Early this week, the Department of Justice directed the filing of trafficking and child abuse charges against the KOJC leader after a review of a complaint filed by a 17-year-old girl in 2019. "This IWD, I call on all of us to listen to these women and girls. Let us not waste their courage. Hindi madali ang ginawa nilang pagbahagi ng mga mapapait na karanasan alang-alang sa hustisya. Let us show them that justice in this country can work for the most vulnerable," the senator said. "To the victim-survivors, your strength and resolve remind us of the women before us who fought for our dignity, our freedom, and our rights. Your grace amid this chaos inspires us to stand with you, tall and undeterred. Umaasa ako na titindig hindi lang ang Senado, kundi ang buong bansa, kasama ninyo," Hontiveros concluded.
The United States is in discussions with the Philippines about dangerous actions taken by the Peoples Republic of China against lawful Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea.

The latest in a series of incidents occurred March 5 when a group of PRC ships surrounded and blocked a small resupply convoy carrying provisions to Filipino soldiers stationed on Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands. The PRC ships employed dangerous maneuvers and water cannons against the Philippine vessels, causing multiple collisions, injuries to four Filipino service members, and damage to at least one Philippine vessel.

State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a briefing that these actions demonstrate once again a reckless disregard by the PRC for the safety of Filipinos and also for international law:

By impeding the safe operation of Philippine vessels carrying provisions to Filipino service members stationed at Second Thomas Shoal, the PRC interfered in lawful Philippine maritime operations and in Philippine vessels exercise of high-seas freedom of navigation.

The PRC continues to make large territorial claims to the South China Sea and to the islands within it, despite the legally binding 2016 Arbitral Ruling that determined the PRC has no lawful maritime claim to the waters around Second Thomas Shoal. Thomas Shoal, as Spokesperson Miller noted in a written statement, is clearly within the Philippines exclusive economic zone.

Under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, the arbitral decision, he emphasized, is final and legally binding on the PRC and the Philippines. The United States calls upon the PRC to abide by the ruling and desist from its dangerous and destabilizing conduct.

Spokesperson Miller pointed out that Article IV of the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft  including those of its Coast Guard  anywhere in the South China Sea.

He told reporters, The United States stands with our Philippine allies in the face of [the PRCs] dangerous and unlawful actions.
Dedicated to empowering Indias women power to become self-reliant, Patanjali University, Haridwar held a four-day workshop on LokOS application under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).

The four-day workshop was organized by the Uttarakhand State Rural Livelihood Mission (USRLM). Participants from 10 states of the country, including Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttarakhand, attended the workshop.

Speaking at an event to conclude the workshop, Acharya Balakrishna praised the utility of the LokOS App workshop by NRLM and called upon everyone to work towards women empowerment and the mission of prosperous villages.

Advertisement

On the occasion, Haridwars Chief Development Officer, Prateek Jain, provided information on various activities being undertaken for women empowerment and expressed gratitude for the cooperation being received from Patanjali.

Highlighting the digitization of activities being carried out by Patanjali, he mentioned the collaboration with NRLM to digitize the work of women self-help groups through the LokOS App.

Expressing gratitude for the special support provided by Patanjali University, Pradeep Kumar Pandey, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of USRLM, briefed about the ongoing activities and achievements under USRLM and thanked Acharya Balkrishna for his cooperation.

It is worth noting that the LokOS App has been developed to facilitate digitization from end to end within the entire self help groups (SHG) network of the country.

It has been designed for both web and mobile platforms, each with its own user profile and features. The web application provides services at various levels of authorization by their bookkeepers (SHG/VO/CLF).

On the other hand, the mobile application is designed to record data efficiently on ground-level transactions and activities such as meetings and registration of SHG members within a short period of time.

The app enables SHG information management to be brought into the digital platform, including savings, loans, and repayments. The primary objective of the app is to enhance transparency along with digitization.
The DYFI state secretary Meenakshi Mukherjee is likely to be the CPM candidate for the prestigious Durgapur Lok Sabha seat.

Meenakhsi Mukherjee has become the latest poster girl of CPM in West Bengal with her simplicity and fighting abilities, after another girl from Durgapur, Aishe Ghosh, the former president of students union in JNU and SFI leader, who has also contested the 2021 Assembly polls from Jamuria unsuccessfully.

She will be pitted against two likely heavyweights  sitting MP Surendar Singh Ahluwalia from the BJP and Kirti Jha Azad from the TMC. Both the BJP and TMC are yet to announce the names of its candidates in Durgapur  Burdwan Lok Sabha seat.

Advertisement

Meeankshi, the girl from Kulti in West Burdwan, the oldest steel township in Asia has also fought the 2021 Assembly polls from Nandigram as the Left Front candidate and stood third after Suvendu Adhikari of BJP and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee. While one of them is now the chief minister, the other is the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly. But her tremendous fightback despite all odds has won the hearts of the red brigade.

Durgapur has traditionally been a CPM stronghold for many decades unlike Asansol. Prima facie it has been learnt that the CPM will allocate the Asansol Lok Sabha seat to the Congress and instead will fight from Durgapur as it feels it has a better strength there.

The vast majority of the industrial workers of Durgapur West and Durgapur East seat are still considered as CPM strongholds and CITU is still very much active amongst the workers of the CPSU heavy manufacturing units.

The district leadership of CPM has sent four names for the Durgapur  Burdwan seat and in that list the name of Meenakshi Mukjerjee is on top. The other names are of Partha Mukherjee, state committee member of CPM and former Zonal secretary in Asansol.

Yesterday, Meenakshi campaigned for the CPM at Sinduli Colliery belt in Andal.
On his first visit to Srinagar after the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday lashed out at the Congress and other dynasts for misleading the people on Article 370 for their political gains.

For decades, the Congress and its allies misled the people of Jammu and Kashmir and the country for political gains in the name of Article 370. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are now aware of the truth about whether Jammu and Kashmir benefited from Article 370 or only a few families took advantage of it. The talent of Jammu and Kashmir is getting its due respect today as there is no Article 370 now, Modi said.

Modi unveiled a slew of development projects worth more than Rs.5,000 crore before addressing a public meeting in the Bakshi Stadium. Underlining that the new Jammu and Kashmir has been awaited for decades, the prime minister said, Dr Shyama Prasad Mookerji had sacrificed for this Jammu and Kashmir.

Advertisement

He stated that the new Jammu and Kashmir has the sparkle for the future in its eyes and the determination to clear all obstacles. 140 crore citizens feel at peace when they see the smiling faces of the people of Jammu & Kashmir, Modi said.

Expressing his gratitude for the affection of the people who had turned out in large numbers to listen to him, he said I have always treated the people of J&K as my family and Modi will not leave any stone unturned to repay this debt of affection. I have been doing all this hard work since 2014 to win your hearts and I believe that I am on the right path. I will continue my efforts to win your hearts. This is Modis guarantee and all of you know that Modis guarantee means the guarantee of fulfilment of the guarantee

The feeling of coming to this heaven on earth is beyond words. There was an era when the law implemented in other parts of the country could not be enforced in Jammu and Kashmir. There was an era when schemes for the welfare of the poor were implemented across the country, but our brothers and sisters of Jammu and Kashmir were deprived of the benefits. And see now, how the times have changed, Modi said.

Jammu and Kashmir is not only a region but is the crown of India. A head held high is the sign of development, he added.

Stating that the youth of J&K were not allowed to exhibit their talent before the abrogation of Article 370, Modi said, Freedom from restrictions has come after the removal of Article 370. Did J&K benefit from Article 370 or were only a few political families taking advantage of it, he asked. The people of J&K have come to know the truth that they were misled. J&K was kept in chains for the benefit of a few families. Today there is no 370, hence the talent of the youth of J&K is being fully respected and they are getting new opportunities. Today there are equal rights and equal opportunities for everyone here.

The Prime Minister pointed out that J&K has been a victim of dynastic rule and corruption.

The prime minister noted, There was a time when people questioned who would visit Jammu and Kashmir for tourism. Today, Jammu and Kashmir is breaking all tourism records.

He further elaborated, In 2023 alone, over 2 crore tourists visited J&K, surpassing previous records. Over the past 10 years, the Amarnath Yatra has witnessed the highest number of pilgrims participating, and Vaishno Devi also recorded a significant increase in devotee footfall. Highlighting the surge in foreign tourist arrivals and the growing attraction for celebrities and international guests, the Prime Minister stated, Now, even prominent celebrities and foreign guests visit the valleys of Jammu and Kashmir to explore and create videos and reels.

Recalling that J&K has been a favourite destination of film makers, Modi said, Now my mission is to promote it as a wedding destination. People should come to J&K to host their weddings so that the locals also get economic benefits.

The prime minister emphasised the strength of Jammu and Kashmirs agricultural produce, including saffron, apples, dried fruits, and cherries, branding the region as a significant agricultural hub. The Rs 5,000 crore agricultural development program will result in unprecedented growth in the agricultural sector of Jammu and Kashmir over the next 5 years, particularly focusing on horticulture and livestock development. This initiative will create thousands of new opportunities, especially in the fields of horticulture and animal husbandry, he assured.

Dwelling on the transformation of the J&K Bank the prime minister recalled the mismanagement of the past and called it a victim of dynasty politics and corruption. He listed the reforms to restore the health of the bank. He mentioned 1000 crore rupees in assistance to the bank and action against wrongful appointments. The Anti-Corruption Bureau is still investigating thousands of such appointments.

On reaching Srinagar, Modi shared on X his picture of seeing the majestic Shankracharaya Temple Hill from a distance. He also interacted with young achievers and handed over appointment letters to kin of police martyrs. He also handed over appointment letters to 1000 youths.

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh and J&K LT Governor Manoj Sinha accompanied the prime minister.
In a major setback to the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Padmaja Venugopal, the daughter of former Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday.

Padmaja was welcomed into the party fold at the BJP headquarters in Delhi by Prakash Javadekar.

It is learnt the Congress state leaderships decision to give a Rajya Sabha seat to the Muslim League is the immediate provocation for Padmaja to leave the Congress camp.

Advertisement

She said she was joining the BJP because she was not happy with the grand old party.

I am so happy. For the first time, I am changing my party as I was not happy with the Congress for so many years. I had complained to the party high command, but there was no response.

I even came to see the leadership but they didnt see meI have great respect for Sonia Gandhi (former Congress president) but she never gave me time, she added.

Padmajas first election outing was at the Mukundapuram Lok Sabha constituency in 2004, a seat which Karunakaran and numerous Congress candidates won with ease, but she had to bite the dust and lost by a mile to Lonappan Nambadan.

After the loss, she went into political hibernation for a while and her clout further declined after the passing away of Karunakaran in 2010. Then after a while she started getting active in politics, but by then her brother had become a leader, even after he left the Congress for a while and returned.

Her next outing was at the 2016 Assembly elections and from the home bastion of Karunakaran- Thrissur, but luck deserted her and she lost. And again in the 2021 Assembly polls, she lost by a very thin margin of 946 votes and by then for all practical purposes, her electoral ambitions came to a grounding halt.

The exit of Padmaja, who comes from a prominent Congress family that dominated state politics for long, has buoyed both the ruling LDF and the BJP, though for divergent reasons.

She had met the BJP central leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on Wednesday. Ironically, she had even come out with a Facebook post on Wednesday and rubbished reports of her shifting gears. But late on Wednesday, she removed the post.

The development has caught the Congress state leadership unaware. Having nursed political ambitions, Padmaja had never managed to win an Assembly or Lok Sabha election.

Congress MP and brother of Padmaja Venugopal, K Muraleedharan called her step an act of treason and announced that the family will sever all ties with her. We wont allow those affiliated to the BJP to even come near Karunakarans memorial, he said.

With Padmajas entry into the BJP, the children of two former Congress chief ministers in Kerala are now in the saffron camp. Congress veteran A K Antonys son Anil Antony had joined the BJP. He is contesting the upcoming general elections as the BJP candidate from Pathanamthitta.

There is speculation that the BJP will field Padmaja from Chalakudy. If she does not contest, the party will seek her help to campaign in Thrissur where Suresh Gopi is contesting as the BJP candidate. Gopi is Padmajas friend and is learnt to have played a role in bringing her to the BJP.
Former Kerala chief minister K Karunakarans daughter Padmaja Venugopals exit from the party has put the Congress in Kerala in a state of despondency.

Padmajas decision to quit the grand old party and join the BJP has sent shock waves to the Congress in Kerala. However, the BJP may not get much political dividends by her entry into the party. But the psychological impact that will be there on the political scene in Kerala may not be minimal.

The fact that Padmaja comes from a prominent Congress family that dominated state politics for long is adding to the significance of her exit from the party. It sends out the message that the BJP has succeeded in bringing Congress leaders to its fold, as being done in other states, in Kerala too.

Advertisement

In April, 2023, Anil Antony, former head of Congress partys digital media head in Kerala and son of veteran leader AK Antony, former Kerala chief minister and defence minister had joined BJP.

While Anil, who is now the national secretary of the party and a BJP candidate for Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency, did not have much experience working for the party, Padmaja was active in the Congress party. A general secretary of the Indian National Congress Kerala unit, she was also a member of the partys political affairs.

Padmajas desertion came at a politically inopportune moment for the Congress in Kerala. Her desertion from the Congress also raised concerns about whether it would, at least in some measure, subvert the credibility of the UDFs strident anti-BJP messaging at the hustings.

Padmajas entry into the BJP has buoyed the ruling CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front (LDF). This has provided the CPI-M with an opportunity to project the Congress as a party that adopts the soft Hindutva line.

CPI-M Kerala secretary MV Govindan said Padmajas defection underscored the partys case that a vote for the Congress in Kerala was tantamount to a referendum for the BJP.

The CPI-M leader sarcastically said that the successors of two prominent Congress leaders in Kerala, the late K. Karunakaran and A.K. Antony, both former Chief Ministers, had deserted the party for the BJP. More Congress leaders in Kerala are ready to follow suit at the drop of a hat, he said

LDF convener EP Jayarajan urged the IUML to acknowledge that Padmajas defection had rendered the Congresss secular credentials highly suspect .

BJP leadership believes that Padmajas entry would advantage the party in the high-stakes Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency where Suresh Gopi, is fighting against Congress and CPI nominees.
The police has stepped up vigil at the border points of the national capital with farmers set to resume their Delhi Chalo protest.

A traffic jam was witnessed at Delhi-Haryanas Singhu border in the morning hours.

The police will be keeping a vigil at the border points, railway stations and bus terminals, the police sources said.

Advertisement

The farmer unions leading the protests at Punjab- Haryana Singhu border, on Sunday, March 3 had given a call to farmers across the nation to reach Delhi and had also announced Rail Roko between 12-4 pm on March 10.

The farmers from different parts of the country were reportedly asked to reach Delhi in a peaceful manner to put forth their demands, while those at Singhu and Khanauri border points will continue with their agitation on the spot.

However, talking to a news agency on Wednesday on farmers Delhi Chalo march, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said that an announcement was made earlier that farmers from other states will start marching towards Delhi from March 6, but coming from far-off places, they will not be able to reach Delhi today, and may take 2-3 days to reach.

He said the situation would be clear by March 10 while speaking to the news agency.
Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy R K Singh on Thursday exhorted the Indian manufacturing industry to embrace the challenge of being able to compete globally by making in India not only for the country but for the world.

Addressing a Media Summit here, he said the Indian industry needs to look around to compete in external markets and be able to export. There is no country which can be fully self-sufficient; every country needs to import something, for which you need to be able to sell to that country, which in turn needs quality, finishing, and product improvement. This is what the industry did not do in the era of licensing, he said.

The minister told the industry representatives that they should ensure that the quality of their products is so good that they are able to compete globally and that their prices are reasonable. Ultimately, you have to compete, and the people are not going to suffer while you give them outdated or bad-quality equipment or high prices, he added.

Advertisement

Mr Singh said India is also open to people coming and setting up industry in the country. We want the manufacturing to come here. The world is looking at China plus one, we want to be that one, he added.

Reflecting on challenges faced historically by the manufacturing sector, the minister said that there has never been a dearth of demand, but that the pace of growth brought in by the government has multiplied the demand manifold.

Speaking about the power sector, he said the government has invested about Rs 20 lakh crore in the power sector during the last nine years, and that another Rs. 17 lakh crore will be invested in the next 5-7 years.

In the last ten years, we have added 190 GW of power generation capacity, increasing it to around 436 GW, nearly doubling it. This required a lot of thermal and renewable equipment. We added 200,000 circuit kilometres to transmission lines; our transmission system today is the largest integrated transmission system in the world, he added.
Telangana High Court on Thursday quashed the decision of Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan rejecting the nominations of BRS leaders Dasoju Sravan Kumar and Kurra Satyanarayana as Members of the Legislative Council (MLC) under the governors quota.

The bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti also quashed the subsequent notification issued on 27 January this year under the Congress government nominating Prof M Kodandaram and Amer Ali Khan as MLC under Governors quota.

The names of Dasoju Sravan Kumar and Kurra Satyanarayana were recommended by the state Cabinet under the BRS government but rejected by Dr Soundararajan on the grounds that the duo did not meet the criteria laid out for nominations under Governors quota. She further urged the Chief Minister to avoid recommending politically aligned persons under such nominations. The two leaders had then approached the High Court.

Advertisement

Today, the bench quashed the orders of the Governor on 19 September 2023 on Dasoju Sravan Kumar and Kurra Satyanarayana and also the subsequent recommendation of the Council of ministers (Congress) on 13 January 2024 regarding M Kodandaram and Amer Ali Khan. The order issued by the court said A public law declaration is issued that the governor is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of ministers while exercising powers under Article 171(5) of the Constitution of India. However, it is open for the governor to examine the issues of eligibility or disqualification of a person recommended by the Council of ministers to the Legislative Council. In addition, the governor has the power to remit the matter to the Council of ministers either to furnish requisite documents/information or for reconsideration of the recommendation made by the Council of Ministers.

The court further observed that the Governor was not answerable to the court according to Article 361 of The Constitution and hence no positive direction can be issued to him. However, it hoped and trusted that suitable action in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution shall be taken.
Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), University of Delhi will hold the 13th edition of its flagship undergraduate economics festival  Shri Ram Economics Summit 2024  from March 19 to March 21.

The three-day extravaganza will be held by the Economics Society of SRCC in partnership with ACCA.

Several events, including lectures, fireside chats, live interviews and panel discussions by distinguished experts and leaders from various fields of economics, business, policy and academia, will be held during the festival.

Advertisement

The summit strives to be the epicentre of intellectual discourse and collaborative exploration in economics, fostering a dynamic exchange of ideas and innovations among students, professionals, and enthusiasts alike, the SRCC said.

In addition to on-campus events, the Shri Ram Economics Summit will also feature five captivating competitions spanning diverse realms such as data analysis, economics, business simulation, policymaking and consulting.

Notable speakers for this years festival include Union Minister of Railways, Communications and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, former Economic Affairs Secretary Subash Garg, former Planning Commission principal advisor Pronab Sen among others.

Speaking about the festival, Md. Sajid Khan, director at ACCA India, said, We believe in the power of preparation and determination. As sponsors of The Shri Ram Economics Summit, we are excited to support an event that embodies these values and encourages students to push boundaries, face challenges, and strive for excellence.
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) Ship Bertholf arrived at Port Blair on Thursday, marking a significant step in bolstering bilateral cooperation with the Indian Coast Guard (ICG).

The visit is part of a broader initiative aimed at strengthening maritime security and safety in the region.

The US vessel, Bertholf, is a Legend-class maritime security cutter, equipped with advanced technology and weaponry, including helicopter landing pad, state-of-the-art sensors and communication equipment.

Advertisement

The ship serves the operational function for complex law enforcement, defence, and national security missions, reflecting the USCGs commitment to maritime safety and security.

The highlight of its visit is the upcoming joint exercise, codenamed Sea Defenders-2024, with the ICG scheduled to take place on 9-10 March 2024 off Port Blair.

This exercise will involve coordinated efforts between the USCG Ship Bertholf and ICG ships and aircraft, focusing on aspects of maritime security and safety, especially counter drone attacks, drug interdiction and other contemporary transnational organised crimes in the oceans in the region.

The exercise will simulate scenarios relevant to maritime piracy and asymmetric threats, including simulated drone attacks on commercial merchant traffic, joint maritime search and rescue operations, major firefighting, marine pollution response, and counter-drug interdiction exercises. Additionally, a simulated medical evacuation will be conducted to enhance readiness in emergency situations.

This visit underscores the importance of international cooperation in addressing maritime challenges and reaffirms the longstanding partnership between the ICG and the USCG, an official release said.
On 19 November, the Houthis hijacked a commercial ship in the Red Sea and have since attacked more than two dozen others with drones, missiles and speed boats.

US-led naval forces have thwarted many of the attacks, said Daniel Shapiro, Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for the Middle East, in Congressional testimony.

Our main defensive effort in the Red Sea is called Operation Prosperity Guardian. Since Secretary [Lloyd] Austin announced this coalition in December, more than 20 countries have joined to increase maritime patrols in the Red Sea and safeguard commercial shipping, he said. Operation Prosperity Guardian is designed to reassure the maritime shipping industry, deter illegal activity, and promote safe navigation while protecting the free flow of international commerce.

Meanwhile, the Defense Department has been engaged in efforts to destroy and degrade the capabilities of the Houthis used to conduct maritime attacks, explained Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Shapiro.

U.S. forces have also conducted self-defense strikes against Houthi targets, including missiles and UAS, on launchers, posing an imminent threat nearly three dozen times over the past few weeks. In total, we struck over 230 targets in Houthi controlled Yemen through both deliberate and self-defense strikes, likely destroying hundreds of Houthi weapons.

The Defense Department has also worked to stem the flow of Iranian origin, lethal aid to Yemen that enables these attacks, said Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Shapiro:

On January 11th and January 28th, U.S. naval forces interdicted dhows carrying Iranian origin lethal aid to the Houthis in clear violation of international law. ... U.S. forces discovered over 200 packages that contain components of unmanned, underwater and surface vehicles, propulsion guidance and warheads for Houthi medium range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles, air defense, associated components, military grade communication network equipment, anti-tank guided missile launcher assemblies, explosive and other military components.

We've made very clear to Iran that we hold it accountable for attacks by its partners and proxies, stated Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Shapiro.

The Department of Defense supports the overall aim of de-escalating tensions and restoring stability in the Red sea, but added Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Shapiro, we will not hesitate to defend civilians and protect the free flow of commerce in one of the world's most critical waterways.
Amid buzz over Congress leader Rahul Gandhis Amethi nomination for Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has taken a dig at the Congress party, saying no one in Uttar Pradesh is listening to the Nehru-Gandhi family today.

The big state like UP had given votes to four generations of Nehru-Gandhi family, today no one is listening to them in UP. Its like the state has bid farewell to Nehru-Gandhi family, so its natural to be frustrated and disappointed Union Minister Anurag Thakur said on Thursday.

Terming the Congress partys alliance with Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh a Thugbandhan, Thakur said that the grand old party and its allies are habitual of criticising Sanatan Dharma and Hindu religious places.

Advertisement

Overall the alliance is a Thugbandhan Congress and its allies are habitual of criticising religious places Sometimes insulting Lord Rama, sometimes talking about crushing Sanatana Dharma and sometimes talking about dividing North and South What kind of thinking does Congress and its allies have?.. he added.

There is a strong buzz over Rahul Gandhi contesting the elections from Amethi even as Congress has not made any official announcement in this regard.

The Amethi District Congress Committee has started gearing up after they received an indication from the party high command that Rahul Gandhi could be the candidate from Amethi again.

Amethi Congress District President Pradeep Singhal met Priyanka Gandhi in Delhi on Monday. It is being claimed that after meeting, Priyanka asked him to prepare for the polls, saying Amethi is our family.

Party sources in Amethi on Wednesday said that during the meeting, the District President informed Priyanka that there is a situation of doubt in Amethi and people are worried whether Rahul Gandhi will contest from the family turf or not .
Arunachal Pradesh, like Ladakh, has tremendous tourist potential. If development takes place in right earnest and at the right pace, tourism can emerge as a strong industry. Apart from scenic beauty, the flora and fauna of Arunachal Pradesh can also give fillip to lots of connected economic activities in the state, which may not only result in the development of the area, but also attract large investments.

Recent improvements in air connectivity and impending rail connectivity will go a long way in giving a boost to the development of the area. Arunachal Pradesh covers the largest geographical space among the eight sisters of the North-east. Apart from the strategic importance from the national security point of view, Arunachal Pradesh has tremendous geo-economic importance as well for the nation. If exploited well, it can open floodgates for the prosperity of the North-eastin general, and Arunachal Pradesh in particular.

The state is in the easternmost part of the country and shares international borders with Myanmar (520 km), China (1,080 km)and Bhutan (217 km). The geo-economic corridors of Arunachal Pradesh, if developed, will not only serve our national interest but also bolster cross-border trade relations with Myanmar, Bhutan and China as well. Nampong is situated in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, and it can be a developed as a corridor to serve our economic interests with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). India has so far developed its two-lane highways, while China has renovated its own segment through six-lane highways. If the Myanmar segment is completed, Nampong can be connected to Muse, Lashio, Mandalay and Yangon (Myanmar) through Asian Highway (AH) 14, Ruili, Wanding and Kunming (China) through AH 3, and Bangkok (Thailand), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Singapore (Singapore) through AH 2, and further to Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) of the greater Mekong sub-region through AH1.

Advertisement

The road distance between Nampong-Mandalay-Yangon (1428.2 km), Nampong-Bangkok (2091.1 km), Nampong-Kuala Lumpur (3436.7 km), NampongSingapore (3795.2 km), Nampong-Phnom Penh (2737.1 km) and Nampong-Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh (3066.6 km) is a beneficial proposition as compared to the trans-shipment of goods to Southeast/East Asia from the Northeast via Kolkata port, passing through the Siliguri corridor. The development of the Nampong corridor would promote subregional/regional cooperation, and it would generate opportunities for Arunachal Pradesh to collaborate with ASEAN, Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) and Bangladesh-ChinaIndia-Myanmar (BCIM) Forum on multiple fronts.

Tawang, which is situated in the western part of Arunachal Pradesh, can be a potential geo-economic corridor to Bhutan to reinforce Indias economic interests in the neighbourhood. Given the strategic importance of the place, the TawangLumla (Western Arunachal Pradesh)-Trashigang (Eastern Bhutan) patch can be developed to boost economic growth and development in the region. Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan have many commonalities in the fields of ecology and natural resources, and in the fields of hydro power generation, tourism, food processing and beverage industries, the synergy can be utilised. Development of cross-border trade, and cooperation in the Indo-Bhutan sector would pave the way for sub-regional cooperation. This would subsequently strengthen the South Asian Growth Quadrangle (SAGQ) and Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) as well.

The Kibithoo corridor, situated in Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh at an altitude of 4,070 feet above sea level,is an important area from the geo-economic point of view and it can be developed as an all-weather road to the Tibet Autonomous Region, Sichuan and Yunnan of China. It will provide shorter and faster access to Indian industries to tap the southwestern and southeastern Chinese markets. The proposed geo-economic passage would counter Chinese penetration into the region while reinforcing Indias strategic significance along the McMahon Line.

China has already built up several infrastructure projects along the international boundary near Arunachal Pradesh. Development of Kibithoo may result in development of trade between India and China and may result in concomitant development of the region. Arunachal Pradesh can fit in the larger canvas of trade activities to play a bigger role in the India-China sector despite Chinese intransigence over the McMahon line. Any cross-border initiative is to be based on mutual compatibilities and not on intransigence or hegemony. A unilateral Chinese position would only foment trouble between the two Asian giants, and would adversely impact the peace in the region.

India and China being emerging global powers should work together to design the destiny of the Asian century. As such, proactive dialogues along with strategic preparedness are to be sustained for crossborder engagement between India and China. What is required is a joint IndoChina effort to transform this geostrategic zone into a geo-economic zone for a win-win situation for both countries. Arunachal Pradesh can be a potential geoeconomic corridor to the East. Special Economic Zones, as well as industrial corridors, should be developed and the capabilities of the state in hydro power, horticulture, handicrafts and handlooms, and tourism should be explored by tapping cross-border synergies.

Additionally, security threats,in the form of smuggling of drugs and small arms, and dumping of Chinese goods, if any, can be identified and the challenges can be addressed appropriately so that the pace of development takes off. It is highly essential as well that Arunachal Pradesh should come up with specific products and earn a Make in Arunachal image to expand its global reach. The requirement is to frame action-oriented policies along with a fresh vision document, Arunachal Vision 2040, and then transform them into practice at the ground level for the benefit of all.

Nepal, being a landlocked country sandwiched between India and China, holds strategic importance for India. Both countries have historically maintained close ties due to their shared cultural and religious heritage. However, in recent years, Chinas increasing influence in Nepal has caused concerns for India. China has invested heavily in Nepals infrastructure development, leading to speculation about its long-term strategic intentions. India, on the other hand, is keen to maintain its historical ties with Nepal and ensure stability in the region.The recent visit of the Nepalese Prime Minister to China and signing of various pacts with it shows that vis-a-vis India, Nepal is more inclined to develop relations with China mainly because of economic considerations, but it has a serious implication on the security scenario of our nation. Bhutan, a small landlocked kingdom, has traditionally been an ally of India. Indias close cooperation with Bhutan stems from their shared security concerns and close cultural ties. Bhutan is crucial for Indias security as it acts as a buffer state between India and China. India has maintained a strong military presence in Bhutan and provides assistance in various developmental projects. However, Chinas recent attempts to establish diplomatic ties with Bhutan have raised concerns for Indias strategic interests. Pakistan, situated to the northwest of India, shares a volatile relationship with India. The Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir, which is disputed between the two countries, has been a bone of contention for decades. The rugged terrain and difficult climate conditions in the Himalayas make it an ideal theatre for cross-border insurgency and terrorism. India has witnessed numerous security challenges emanating from the Himalayan region, making it crucial for Indias security apparatus to keep a close watch on developments in this area.

Indias strategic considerations in the Himalayan region revolve around maintaining its territorial integrity, preserving its influence, and countering potential threats from its neighbours. India has focused on enhancing its military capabilities, building infrastructure, and strengthening diplomatic relationships with its Himalayan neighbours to protect its interests. Cooperation with other countries such as the United States, Japan, and Australia, which also have concerns about Chinas assertive behaviour, has gained importance in recent years. In conclusion, the Himalayan nations hold a significant position in Indias geo-political and strategic calculations.

The regions geography shared cultural ties, and security concerns have made it imperative for India to closely monitor developments in this area and take necessary steps to safeguard its interests. By maintaining strong ties, enhancing military capabilities, and developing robust infrastructure, India aims to ensure its security and influence in the Himalayan region.

(The writer, a retired IPS officer, has served in various capacities including as Commissioner of Delhi Police, DG-BSF, DG-NCB, DG-BCAS and Special Director, CBI. He can be reached at asthaanarakesh@gmail.com)
In a landmark decision, the US Supreme Court unanimously overturned Colorados exclusion of former President Donald Trump from its primary ballot, citing that only the US Congress holds the authority to enforce constitutional provisions against federal officeholders. This ruling, issued on the eve of Super Tuesday, sends ripples across the political landscape, highlighting the delicate balance between state powers and federal authority. The heart of the matter lies in the interpretation of the 14th Amendments Section 3, which bars individuals who engaged in insurrection from holding federal office. The Colorado Supreme Court had taken a bold stance, disqualifying Mr Trump based on his alleged involvement in the 6 January 2021 Capitol attack.

However, the US Supreme Courts decision asserts that states lack the power to enforce Section 3 in respect of federal offices, particularly the presidency. While the outcome is clear, the nuances within the Supreme Courts decision reveal a division among the justices. Four, including three liberals and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, expressed reservations about the courts decision to set future limitations on enforcing Section 3. This internal dissent underlines the complexity of the issues at hand and the courts role in defining the boundaries of federal enforcement. Mr Trump, the focal point of this legal saga, welcomed the ruling, stating that candidates should not be disqualified based on opponents desires. This sentiment echoes a broader concern about the potential misuse of constitutional provisions for political gain. The courts decision not only impacts Mr Trumps candidacy but also sets a precedent for how states can navigate the intricate terrain of disqualifying candidates under Section 3. Critics argue that the Supreme Court missed an opportunity to directly address the insurrection allegations against Mr Trump. While the ruling allows him back on the ballot, it does not explicitly exonerate him from the Colorado Supreme Courts findings.

This leaves room for ongoing debates about the former Presidents role in the Capitol attack and whether the court should have taken a more decisive stance. Justice Barrett, in a concurring opinion, urged for a measured approach, emphasising the need to lower the national temperature during a volatile Presidential election season. Her words echo a call for unity and a reminder that, despite differences, the courts unanimity on the outcome is paramount. This decision places the Supreme Court, deeply divided as it is along ideological lines, at the centre of a political maelstrom reminiscent of the Bush v. Gore case in 2000. The courts role in shaping the trajectory of a Presidential race underscores the pivotal position it occupies in safeguarding democratic processes.

Advertisement

As the legal dust settles, the rulings broader implications resonate. It prompts reflection on the balance between state autonomy and federal oversight, inviting a broader conversation about constitutional interpretation and the role of the judiciary in preserving the integrity of the electoral process. Ultimately, the Supreme Courts decision opens the door to ongoing discussions about the limits of state powers in disqualifying candidates for federal office and the responsibilities that come with interpreting constitutional provisions
TO ACCESS THIS CONTENT

YOU MUST OPEN A SESSION OR CREATE AN ACCOUNT

MEMBER LOGIN CREATE YOUR USER ACCOUNT

112-megawatt facility would support area vital to local and national economies Entergy Louisiana filed a request with the Louisiana Public Service . . .
Job Title: Legal Advisor

Organisation: United States US Embassy, US Mission in Uganda

Duty Station: USAID Uganda Office, Kampala, Uganda

Salary: UGX 118,018,022 to 173,277,435 /= per annum

Reports to: Resident Legal Advisor

Solicitation Number: SOL-72061724R10006

About US Embassy:

The United States Embassy in Kampala, Uganda has enjoyed diplomatic relations with Uganda for over 30 years. Ambassador Natalie E. Brown currently heads the U.S Mission to Uganda. The Mission is composed of several offices and organizations all working under the auspices of the Embassy and at the direction of the Ambassador.

Among the offices operating under the U.S Mission to Uganda are:

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

Peace Corps

Job Summary: The USAID/Uganda Legal Advisor is an important member of the USAID/Uganda Front Office (USAID Front Office). The Legal Advisor performs legal tasks primarily of a paralegal nature, while also dedicating regular efforts to administrative matters for the Resident Legal Officer (RLO). As a paralegal, the employee will perform a variety of functions in the legal office, primarily substantive legal work specifically assigned by the RLO. The job holder serves as a front-line reviewer of all documents that come into the USAID Front Office for clearance. The employee also performs a variety of unique (not routine or recurring) legal and factual research and analytical tasks for the RLO. These include locating difficult-to-find U.S. and USAID legal materials, performing research in non-traditional sources to identify facts on which the RLO can base legal opinions, and careful analysis and interpretation of complex and ambiguous written material. Administratively, the Legal Advisor is expected to organize and ensure the smooth operation of a busy legal office and support the efficient operations of the Front Office. The Legal Advisor is responsible for managing the Missions outside law firm as well as solving complex administrative problems. This position reports directly to the RLO.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Legal Duties (85%)

Legal research and analysis

With general direction from the RLO, the job holder is responsible to identify, analyze, and summarize U.S. legal materials for RLO decision-making and projects. Sources of such materials include U.S. statutes, regulations, court decisions (U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts), the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM), applicable USAID Automated Directive Systems (ADS) provisions, the Office of General Counsels knowledge repository, and host country law sources such as tax and non-governmental organization (NGO) registration provisions.

Preliminary review of documents

Screens correspondence and specific documents for Front Office and RLO clearance to ensure they contain all necessary supporting documentation and required clearances, citations, and attachments.

Conducts a first-line review of documents for the following: accurate and sufficient necessary information; sound justification, and citation to statutes, the ADS, and the FAM; grammar; readability, and logic. Examples of documents to be reviewed include pre-obligation checklists and activity checklists; various action memoranda; waivers; certifications; mission notices; and mission orders.

Provides preliminary analysis of documents and clearance requests, and identifies any potential legal, ethical, or regulatory issues for the RLO.

Communicates with technical and support offices to ensure that all documents and approval requests transmitted to the USAID Front Office for approval are well-written and cogent.

Legal knowledge management

Monitors the ADS, Agency Notices, and other sources, including local law sources, for legal, regulatory and policy updates.

Maintains a file of ethics opinions in response to employee requests, including a log of employee recusals.

Provides legal materials produced by the RLO to the General Counsel (GC) legal opinion repository, such as by uploading to the GC Knowledge Management site.

Prepares educational and informational materials for USAID/Uganda staff on legal and policy matters impacting USAID/Uganda operations or programs.

Develops and manages templates for action memoranda and other documents that are frequently submitted to the USAID/Uganda Front Office for clearance to increase efficiency in the approval process.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests

Serves as USAID/Ugandas liaison for the FOIA program at the Mission, accepting FOIA requests from the USAID/Washington (USAID/W) FOIA office and communicating these requests to pertinent Mission staff.

Ensures that relevant USAID/Uganda offices receive FOIA requests and are apprised of deadlines.

Monitors to ensure that FOIA deadlines are met.

Advises internal staff and offices of the FOIA processes and procedures.

Coordinates with the FOIA office in Washington, D.C.., for clarifications on FOIA requests.

Makes FOIA exemption recommendations to the RLO for consideration.

Ensures that FOIA response documents are transmitted to the USAID/W FOIA office on a timely basis.

Maintains log of FOIA requests, their status, and USAID/Ugandas responses.

Mission Ethics Program

Manages U.S. Government ethics compliance requirements for staff in USAID/Uganda.

Assists the RLO in organizing annual ethics training, including preparation of training announcements, scheduling training sessions, and developing training materials.

Ensures that all required staff fulfill their ethics compliance requirement.

Keeps attendance logs and coordinates with USAID/GC to update training attendance records.

Prepares and schedules ethics orientation briefings for new to ensure that newcomers are aware of U.S.

Government ethics compliance requirements.

Litigation and Legal Developments

Monitors local-court litigation and hearings involving or which impact USAID/Uganda programs, activities, and implementing partners, including tort cases.

Provides advice to the RLO on the timeframe, process, and possible outcomes of pending litigation.

Follows legal and legislative developments that may impact USAID/Uganda programs, activities, implementing partners or staff.

Liaises with attorneys and members of the Ugandan bar to maintain connections with other lawyers, paralegals, and justice sector actors.

Provides ad hoc training in RLO-developed training courses, as requested by the RLO.

Confidential Financial Disclosure Reports (OGE-450)

Working closely with the Executive Office, manages USAID/Ugandas Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE-450) process, including preparation of financial disclosure announcements, circulating forms for preparation by staff, identifying filers, and assisting with developing training materials.

Ensures that all required staff fulfill their Confidential Financial Disclosure Report requirement.

Maintains a completion log and coordinates with GC in updating records of compliance.

Outside Law Firm Management

Manages the Missions contract with a local outside law firm, to ensure advice from local counsel is accurate and timely received.

Administrative Duties (15%)

While the central focus of the position is on paralegal work, the incumbent also coordinates administrative office management and support functions of the RLO and carries out administrative duties necessary to ensure the smooth operation of the office. The employee:

Manages RLO travel; prepares travel requests and makes travel arrangements, ensuring optimal detailed itineraries; obtains country clearances; liaises with other USAID Missions; ensures visas are obtained; stays abreast of USAID travel regulations; and prepares travel reimbursement requests.

Prepares procurement requests for RLO and liaises with the EXO Procurement Team to ensure timely procurement entry, and with other Mission offices to ensure timely processing of RLO procurement requests.

Identifies, orders, and maintains necessary office supplies and equipment.

Acts as liaison for coordination between the RLO and other offices and staff; coordinates and assists with office directors, administrative assistants, and secretaries to assure smooth workflow and cooperation.

Takes a lead in organizing all RLO-led events such as brown bags, trainings, regional conferences, or internal training courses.

Provides support for high-level visitors and other visitors from USAID missions or USAID/W as needed.

Screens and appropriately directs incoming calls and visitors with courtesy, patience, and tact. Schedules meetings and appointments for the RLO; maintains the RLO calendar.

Prepares, submits, and maintains time and attendance for the RLO.

Maintains electronic files for legal, ethical, or contract issues that require RLO review.









Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

The applicant for the USAID Uganda job must hold a Bachelor of Laws degree is required. A Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice is required.

A minimum of five (5) years of professional legal experience with a law firm or legal partnership, corporation, non-government organization, government body or institution, or international organization is required. The prior work experience must have been legal in nature.

Language Proficiency: Level IV (fluent) written, reading, and speaking proficiency in English is required. Language competence may be tested.

How to Apply:

Eligible Offerors are required to complete and submit (Requirements (i)  (v) below are critical for compliance of the offer. Therefore, candidates MUST pay due attention to these):

A complete DS-174 Employment Application for Locally Employed Staff or Family Member (https://eforms.state.gov/Forms/ds174.pdf; [click at this link for latest version]. Offerors are required to complete sections 1 through 6 (use additional pages, if needed).

Cover letter (addressed to the USAID Supervisory Executive Officer) clearly indicating the position for which you are applying and describing how you meet the minimum requirements.

Complete curriculum vitae/resume. In order to fully evaluate your application, the resume must include:

Paid and non-paid experience, job title, dates held (month/year). Please specify unpaid or part time work. Any experience that does not include dates (month/year) will not be counted towards meeting the solicitation requirements. (NOTE: Resume and DS-174 work experience should match.)

Specific duties performed that fully detail the level and complexity of the work.

Education and any other qualifications including job-related training courses, job-related skills, or job-related honors, awards, or accomplishments.

Name and contact information (phone and email) of three (3) professional references. At least one of the references must be a prior or current direct supervisor.

Supplemental [separate] document specifically addressing each QRF as outlined in the solicitation

Copies of Academic Transcripts

Offers should be in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). No other file types will be accepted. All documents should be scanned into one (1) document (one (1) ATTACHMENT) which should not exceed 10MB.

Documents should be arranged and scanned in this order:

DS-174

Cover Letter

Complete Curriculum vitae/resume

Supplemental documents

Academic Transcripts

(vi) Submitted offers and documents become the property of USAID and will not be returned.

Offers must be received by the closing date and time specified in Section I, item 3, and submitted to the Point of Contact in Section I at kampalausaidjobs@usaid.gov Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

All qualified Offerors will be considered regardless of age, race, color, sex, creed, national or tribal origin, lawful political affiliation, non-disqualifying handicap, marital status, sexual orientation, affiliation with an employee organization or other non-merit factor.

Offeror submissions must clearly reference the Solicitation number on all offeror submitted documents.

For this position, the subject line of the email MUST read:

SOL NUMBER TITLE OF POSITION, LAST, FIRST CANDIDATE NAME Ex: 72061724R10006_ Legal Advisor, Smith, Jose

Deadline: 28th March 2024

For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline
On a moonlit Kochi night, this writer was sweating inside a KSRTC Swift awaiting departure at the Ernakulam stand. The Super Fast bus was destined to reach Thiruvananthapuram around 5 in the morning. It was not before several minutes that the crew entered through their designated doors. The conductor, in his ironed sandal-orange uniform and trimmed beard, was followed inside through the front by a bunch of passengers, all men, who quickly scrambled to find comfy seats for the long night journey.

''This is not the women's seat, is it?'' The bus was hardly half-full, yet one had to ask the million-dollar question from a few rows behind. The conductor, configuring the ticket machine, signalled he could stay put.

''Don't bother once the bus leaves here. They can only claim the seats from the originating depot. Once the journey starts, the women can't make you move. That's the law...,'' another fellow loudly declared from the front. He was confidently looking at the conductor, who stood beside me.

I, too, looked at him, waiting for my ignominious co-passenger to be tutored.

The conductor, too pleasant and lively for a tiry night, was still clicking on the ticket machine as he went, ''No point. You can't oppose them (women) even with laws. What they say is the rule these days...''

A double bell followed and the driver pressed the ignition switch.

**********

No doubt the man was wrong. On a six-hour-long journey across four districts of the state, the reserved seats cannot be just for the depot of origin. If a woman boards an occupied long-distance government bus midway, is she supposed to depend on the mercy of random men to get a seat that she has a lawful claim for? What's the point of reservation if a first-come first-serve system is in place?

The ladies' seats are marked the same way as other reserved seats. So, if a senior citizen or differently-abled person enters a packed KSRTC bus midway, don't they get to sit? More importantly, the conductor's seat is labelled the same way the women's seats are. If one were to take this seat as the conductor takes one of his routine trips to the other end of the vehicle to give tickets, is he supposed to complete the rest of the journey standing?

I didn't speak up that night. The reason was the same as that of a bunch of girls seen in a video that has gone viral on Malayalam social media circles recently. Originally published as an Instagram reel, the clip showed an exchange between a man behind the camera and the girls inside a moving KSRTC bus. He's lecturing the young women that they can't lay claim to the ladies' seats once the bus has started its journey. It is not mandatory that the reserved seats should be given to women when demanded, he claims. He goes on to challenge the girls to call the police or lawyers but he will still not give up the reserved seat he was occupying for any woman. Interestingly, the woman conductor of the bus, seen briefly in the video, refuses to interfere.

The girls in the video, like me the other night, couldn't react constructively due to the lack of information. To counter abysmally confident (though absurd) individuals, you need unerring data that denies them any chance at a comeback. Otherwise, it is just like wrestling a pig in the mud.

Here's a deep dive to uncover the misinformation behind the age-old sexist claim.

"Viral" claim tracked to Facebook

A Malayalam keyword search revealed that the claim is not new. It has been doing rounds for some years now. Over the years, it found takers across platforms in different layouts. It migrated from the lengthy textual formats of Facebook to brief videos on Instagram and YT Shorts.

We found a post from February 2019 that elaborated on the argument. This viral post was shared and reproduced by numerous users in early 2019, the search confirmed.

One of the viral posts from 2019 that shared the bogus claim

However, the search also revealed a post on the official Facebook page of Kerala Police from March 13, 2019. Evidently, it was an effort to put brakes on the viral post that was spreading like wildfire. The lengthy post debunked the bogus claim surrounding reservation seats and warned defaulters of consequences quoting the Motor Vehicle Department.

''It is being circulated in social media that there is a law that restrains the ouster of men occupying the reserved seats for women in buses. Some online media have also picked up this fake news after it went viral on social media. But the Department of Motor Vehicles warns that this argument has no legal backing.

''Men can use the women's seats if they are not occupied. But the law insists that they should get up when women board the bus. The KSRTC, in an order, has instructed that the conductor should ask men to vacate the priority seats if women demand during the journey,'' the post in Malayalam said.

Explaining the consequences of breaking the law, the post added, ''The Department of Motor Vehicles has informed that there will be punishments including fines for travelling in reserved seats in buses. Legal action will be taken against any passenger who refuses to vacate the seat and argues with the conductor.''

We also found a 2022 media report that claimed access to a 2016 Right To Information (RTI) response from the KSRTC. The Corporation's response dated January 29, 2016, said that as per government order, male occupants of the 25 per cent of seats reserved for women are liable to vacate them once women board the bus.

Conductors shouldn't be silent spectators

Passengers often raise their complaints and protest with bus conductors. But what can their tribe do in case an argument erupts inside a bus?

''Some time back, a group of ex-servicemen boarded the bus. One of them sat in a ladies seat. I reminded him right away that he would have to get up once women board but he paid no heed. A few stops later, I had to ask him to vacate and he was not pleased. Later, he told me I wronged him and we had a long chat. He said he had seen an order that proved me wrong. But, I had seen this viral post on Facebook and knew he was talking about the same. I dared him to show me the order. He's a regular at the depot but never mentioned the episode again. I think he learnt the truth,'' Sabari Nath, a state general council member of KSRTC's biggest employee union, said.

Conductors can ask non-deserving occupants of reserved seats to vacate and said if attempts to defuse the situation amicably fail and the perpetrators become a nuisance, the crew can inform the police of the development, he said. ''Halting the bus is not advisable as it affects every passenger. In worst-case scenarios, the crew can take the bus to the nearest police station,'' he said. ''Even educated people fall for such posts and create a scene,'' the KSRTEA leader added.

But what about private buses?

Anoop Nair, an Assistant Motor Vehicle Inspector with the Kerala MVD, said that all state carriages fall under the same rules and regulations. The onus is always on the conductors to ensure rules are followed.

"There are no special provisions for the state transport corporation."

An instruction inside a KSRTC bus stating that reserved seats must be vacated for eligible passengers

"No passenger is going to approach a driver with their concerns as there is not much he can do. Conductors are not just meant to collect money and give tickets. They are responsible for ensuring rules, including those concerning reservation, are followed," the MVD officer said.

"They should do their best to convince the person to vacate the seat. If he is not budging, the best thing to do is to contact the nearest police aid post. The driver and conductor will face the music if the Road Transport Officer receives a complaint claiming that they failed to do their duty," Nair said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the BJP of spreading canards about incidents at Sandeshkhali while asserting that the state is the safest place in the country for women.

Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "lecturing" the West Bengal government on women's security, alleging that he keeps silence when women are tortured in BJP-ruled states.

In an apparent reference to former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who joined the BJP during the day, she said, "We will ensure your defeat no matter from where you contest in the Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing people after leading a rally in Kolkata for women's rights, she said, Many have given fake sandesh (message) on Sandeshkhali. The way a few incidents were shown is reprehensible. Some incidents may have happened and they have not reached us. But when we get to know something, we take action. I don't hesitate to arrest TMC workers if they are at fault.

Without naming the prime minister, the TMC supremo said, Yesterday you came here and lectured us that atrocities on women are being committed here. In Uttar Pradesh, gruesome rapes are taking place. The BJP should be shameful that our daughters were raped and burnt in Manipur.

"West Bengal is the safest state in the country for women," she said.

Banerjee's comment comes in the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modis remark on Wednesday that the "storm of Sandeshkhali" will sweep Bengal and 'Nari Shakti' (woman power) will play a pivotal role in decimating the ruling party in the Lok Sabha polls.

Banerjee accused the BJP leaders of spreading canards about the safety of women in West Bengal but they maintain a stoic silence when women are tortured in BJP-ruled states.

Hitting out at Gangopadhyay for "taking away jobs of thousands of youths" across the state through his judgments, Banerjee said, "The youths will not forgive you. All your judgments are under question. We will ensure your defeat.

Banerjee claimed that the BJP is angry with the TMC as the party doesn't allow divisive politics in Bengal.

As we don't allow their divisive politics here, Pinto Babu ka gussa aata hai (Pinto babu is angry). I refer to BJP as Pinto babu. Why is Pinto Babu angry? They sent over 400 teams to Bengal but none in Manipur where women were assaulted and stripped," she said.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday led a rally in Kolkata for women's rights. The rally, themed 'Mahila Der Adhikaar, Aamader Angikaar' (women's rights are our commitment), was organised by the TMC a day ahead of International Women's Day.

Clad in her trademark white and blue bordered cotton sari with a shawl wrapped around her neck, Banerjee was seen greeting people and onlookers on both sides of the road with folded hands.

The Trinamool Congress supremo was seen waving at people as she marched from College Street to Dorina Crossing, around two kilometres away, in central Kolkata.

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was also present at the rally.

BJP's Ranaghat Dakshin MLA Mukut Mani Adhikari, who was not happy with BJP repeating its sitting MP from Ranaghat, Jagganath Sarkar, on Thursday switched over to the TMC and participated in the rally.

I think TMC is the only platform where you can work for the masses. So I decided to join the TMC, he said.

Since the 2021 assembly polls, seven BJP MLAs have switched over to the TMC but are yet to resign as MLAs.
Representational image.

A day after a youth from Hyderabad lost his life fighting for Russia on the frontlines of Ukraine, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday busted a gang involved in trafficking Indian citizens to Russia.



According to news reports, CBI raided over 10 locations after it got information about the presence of the human trafficking network in seven different cities including two in Tamil Nadu. The central agency raided locations in Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram, Ambala, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Chennai and Madurai, NDTV said in a report.

The CBI's case reportedly named Dubai-based Youtuber Faisal Khan. According to the NDTV report, Faisal Khan's name repeatedly cropped up during its interaction with the kin of Indian youths who were tricked into joining Russian war efforts after being promised high-paying jobs in the country.

Over 20 Indian citizens fell into the trap and ended up on the war front. Amongst them was Telangana-native Mohammed Asfan, whose death in an Ukrainian offensive was confirmed on Wednesday.

ALSO READ | Tell everyone I'm badly hurt, Indian youth killed in Ukraine war had pleaded to his friend

Afsan, 30, was working in a clothing store in Hyderabad till September. He received an invitation letter in Russian sent by an agent for processing his visa. According to the letter, Afsan was employed with a semi-conductor company located in Hyderabads IT corridor.

The letter said the purpose of Afsans trip to Russia was to provide IT services. According to his family, he neither did work for the said company, nor was he an IT professional.

Afsan got his visa allegedly based on this and flew to Russia in late 2023.

A few days ago, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said India is doing its best to get an "early discharge" of nearly 20 Indians who are working as support staff to the Russian army.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said these 20 Indians had contacted Indian authorities seeking assistance to come back home.

"We have an understanding that 20-odd people are stuck. We are trying our level best for their early discharge. We have issued two statements which you saw. We have also told people not to venture into the war zone or get caught into situations which are difficult. It. We are in regular touch with Russian authorities both here in New Delhi and also in Moscow," Jaiswal had said.
The Centre on Thursday declared Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative Mohammad Qasim Gujjar alias Salman alias Suleman as a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

In a post on X, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Gujjar has caused numerous deaths and injuries with terror attacks and is involved in planning war against India.

Anyone found involved in activities against the unity and integrity of the nation will be dealt with ruthlessly, he said.

Gujjar will be the 57th individual to be designated a terrorist under the anti-terror law, UAPA.

Gujjar, with the intention to wage war against the country, has been involved in carrying out a wide-range of terrorist activities, including coordinating, supplying, identifying locations for drones for dropping arms, ammunition, improvised explosive devices and cash, and delivering and managing consignments from across the border, said an official notification.

He has also been involved in creating new terror modules through recruitment and radicalisation by various means, including social media and other online encrypted communication applications, it said.

The 32-year-old hails from Angrala in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir and is presently residing in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

In its notification, the MHA said it exercised the powers conferred by clause (a) of sub-section (1) of Section 35 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 to designate Gujjar as a terrorist.
Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan will arrive in Delhi on Thursday to meet BJP central leadership to decide on the potential alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, according to reports.

There has been talk of a triparty alliance between the regional parties and BJP for some time. The leaders of TDP are enthusiastic about the alliance as it would give it a renewed vigour to fight the YSR Congress in the elections.



Though several meetings were held between the parties, they have yet to iron out creases. Last month, Naidu met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda in Delhi to discuss the electoral alliance but no decision was taken.



On Wednesday, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan called on Naidu at the latters residence at Tadepalli. They reportedly held discussions on the sharing of seats with the BJP in case an alliance is struck. A little later, Naidu received a call from Delhi, requesting his presence in Delhi for talks.



BJP State Unit chief D Purandeswari too is also in Delhi to meet the party's high command and she is likely to help decide on the number of seats the party will contest.



As per speculations, of the state's 25 Lok Sabha seats, the TDP has agreed to give the BJP four seats, but the BJP wants to field candidates on at least 10 seats while Jana Sena will contest on three seats. For Assembly elections, BJP would seek at least 15 seats. "The party will settle for no less than six Lok Sabha seats. It is confident that it can win at least two to three seats in the State," BJP sources told The New Indian Express.



The TDP had an alliance with the BJP but snapped it in 2018. Though the party tried to revive the ties, the BJP's reaction was less than enthusiastic as it had warm relations with the Jagan government. The YSR Congress had supported BJP in Parliament in passing several key bills.


In what could come as a shot in the arm for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Kerala ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Congress leader Padmaja Venugopal joined the saffron camp on Thursday.

Padmaja, daughter of late Congress stalwart K. Karunakaran, joined the BJP in the presence of the senior leaders, including the partys Kerala in-charge and former Union minister Prakash Javadekar.

Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Padmaja said the Congress lacked a strong leadership and that she had not been happy with the grand old party for the last several years.

"I decided to quit because I was not happy with the Congress for so many years, especially since the last assembly elections in the state (Kerala)," she told reporters.

Padmaja claimed she had tried to reach out to the Congress leadership several times to discuss her grievances but had never been given an appointment.

"There should be a strong leadership in every party. In Congress, there is no leadership. I have great respect for Sonia Ji, but I can't see her. She didn't give (me) an appointment, she said.

Terming Padmajas move as a "breach of confidence", Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K. Sudhakaran said there were no reasons for her to leave the party.

Sudhakaran said he himself had taken many decisions to protect Padmajas interests, but she disregarded all that to leave the party.

Earlier, Padmajas husband, Venugopal told Manorama News that she had been sidelined within the party for the past few years. He alleged that Padmaja was deliberately defeated by a section of the Congress during the recent assembly election in Thrissur, and the party leaders turned a deaf ear to her complaints.

Venugopal further alleged that the Congress leaders did not even take any initiative to form a Trust in the name of Karunakaran, despite the government allotting land for the purpose.

Padmajas brother and senior Congress leader K. Muraleedharan told the media that her decision was a betrayal and would not benefit the saffron party in any way.

Taking Padmaja will not benefit the BJP. It will also not affect our determination to fight. We will push the BJP to the third spot everywhere, including in seats where they hope to win. This betrayal would be answered through the EVMs," he said.
The Supreme Court on Thursday listed the contempt petition by the NGO, Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), against the State Bank of India's (SBI) non-compliance for March 11.

The plea by ADR was filed by lawyer Prashant Bhushan challenged SBI's application to extend time to disclose the details of each electoral bond encashed by political parties till June 30.

The apex court bench, led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, while taking note of Bhushan's submissions, told him to send an email request with the details of the application number and assured him that the plea will be scheduled for March 11.

The move comes after SBI on Wednesday missed the top court deadline to disclose information regarding electoral bonds. A five-judge bench had struck down the 2018 scheme for anonymous limitless donations to political parties, calling it unconstitutional.

ADR's plea comes as it fears that SBI's application to extend deadline till June 30 would mean that information about political funds will remain secret till Lok Sabha elections conclude.
TO ACCESS THIS CONTENT

YOU MUST OPEN A SESSION OR CREATE AN ACCOUNT

MEMBER LOGIN CREATE YOUR USER ACCOUNT

The contract specifies that LS Cable, a Korea-based industrial corporation and one of the biggest cable manufacturers worldwide, will supply offshore . . .
Indian warship INS Kolkata has rescued 21 crew members, including one Indian national, after their Barbados-flagged cargo vessel was hit by a missile in the Gulf of Aden, a Navy spokesperson said on Thursday.



The crew members had abandoned bulk carrier MV True Confidence after it caught fire following the attack on Wednesday.

INS Kolkata, deployed for maritime security operations in the Gulf of Aden, arrived at the scene of action at 4.45pm and rescued 21 crew members, including one Indian national, from a life raft using its integral helicopter and boats, Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said. Critical medical aid was provided to the injured crew by the ship's medical team, he said.

The rescued crew, including the critically injured personnel, have been evacuated to Djibouti by INS Kolkata. The Indian Navy warship swiftly responded to the maritime incident in the Gulf of Aden, Madhwal said.

The Barbados-flagged vessel was reportedly hit by a drone approximately 55 nm southwest of Aden resulting in the fire on board and critical injuries to some of the crew members forcing the crew to abandon the ship, he said.

The fresh incident came amid increasing global concerns over attacks on various commercial vessels in the Red Sea by the Houthi militants. In the last few weeks, the Indian Navy has extended assistance to a number of merchant vessels in the Western Indian Ocean following attacks on them.
The BJP is likely to put up candidates in 30-32 seats in Maharashtra in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections where the party is in an alliance with Shiv Sena and NCP.

Senior BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde and NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Wednesday and though a final decision was not reached, the consensus was that BJP would field candidates in 30-32 seats. While 12-13 will go for Shinde-led Shiv Sena, Ajit Pawar group will get five seats.



Sources with Maharashtra BJP told THE WEEK that Amit Shah is said to have told all three leaders, including Chief Ministers Shinde and Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar that the target was 45 seats in the state. Urging the allies to work together and keep egos aside, Shah also called for a practical approach, which centres on supporting the party which has the strongest chance to win.



Shah is said to have told the trio not to get stuck on "we had won this seat last time, so we want to contest this time too" idea. He added that seats could get changed depending on elective merit and only candidates who have the maximum chance of winning need to be fielded.



Shah's remarks came as both Shiv Sena and NCP sought more seats for themselves in the upcoming elections.



Meanwhile, reports have emerged that Union Minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari is likely to be fielded from Nagpur for the third time while Pankaja Munde, BJP's national secretary and daughter of party veteran late Gopinath Munde, may also contest from the state. State BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule's name is being circulated for the Wardha constituency. There are also speculations that the BJP may choose about 10 new faces for the Maharashtra Lok Sabha battle.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly declared in the last few days that the BJP will cross 370-plus seats and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will get 400-plus seats in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.



(With inputs from Dnyanesh Jathar)


Stringent security arrangements are in place in Srinagar ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis maiden visit to Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. The Prime Minister will unveil multiple development projects worth over Rs 6,400 crore and address a public meeting in Srinagar on Thursday.

The Prime Minister's schedule includes attending the 'Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir' programme in Srinagar. He will also inaugurate initiatives worth nearly Rs 5,000 crore for boosting the agri-economy in the Union Territory.



According to the official statement, tourism projects worth over Rs 1,400 crore will be launched. This includes a project for the integrated development of the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar. Modi will also distribute appointment letters to nearly 1,000 newly recruited government employees in Jammu and Kashmir and interact with the beneficiaries of various central schemes, including women achievers, farmers and entrepreneurs, the statement said.



He will launch the 'Dekho Apna Desh People's Choice Tourist Destination Poll' and the 'Chalo India Global Diaspora' campaign as well, besides announcing tourist destinations selected under the Challenge-Based Destination Development (CBDD) scheme.



He will also launch the first-ever countrywide initiative to identify the pulse of the nation on tourism in the form of 'Dekho Apna Desh People's Choice 2024', the statement said. The 'Chalo India Global Diaspora' Campaign aims to inspire the Indian diaspora to become Incredible India ambassadors and promote tourism in India.



The visit is a highly anticipated one, considering the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Since it is his first visit to Kashmir since the historic move, there is a certain political dimension as to what he might say on the issue. The BJP-led Centre abrogated the provisions of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, and bifurcated the erstwhile state into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.



Security arrangements



A security personnel stands guard outside the venue where the Prime Minister is scheduled to address in Srinagar |AFP

Srinagar city has been declared a 'Temporary Red Zone' for drones and quadcopters as part of the security cover. Security personnel have been deployed in large numbers all along the routes to be taken by Modi during his stay in Srinagar. Barricades have been put up at many places to prevent the movement of people during the VVIP visit.



Drones and CCTV cameras are being used for surveillance, and foot patrolling by the security forces has been intensified in a two-kilometre radius around the venue.



"Srinagar city has been declared as a "Temporary Red Zone" for the operation of drones and quadcopters, as per the provisions of Rule 24(2) of the Drone Rules, 2021, with immediate effect," wrote District Police Srinagar in 'X'.



All unauthorised drone operations in the Red Zone are liable to be penalised as per the relevant provisions of the Drone Rules, 2021. As responsible citizens, your cooperation is solicited in this regard,



The police have also issued an advisory for CBSE students who will be writing their SST papers today. They have been asked to reach the examination centres before 8.30 am and stay there till 3 pm. The public has been asked to avoid travelling on routes where vehicular movement is temporarily suspended.



Marine commandos have been deployed in Jhelum River and Dal Lake to prevent the use of these water bodies for any subversive activities, the officials said.

Decked up in tri-colour



The BJP workers have decorated the city and the routes leading to the Bakshi Stadium, where the Prime Minister will address a big rally and make some important announcements. The stadium too has been draped in national tricolour.



This is his second visit to Jammu and Kashmir. On February 20, he visited Jammu and inaugurated and laid the foundations of several developmental projects worth several crores.



(With inputs from Tariq Bhat)
The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed reservations about Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar using the legislative majority test to ascertain which faction of the Shiv Sena was the real party.

The top court questioned if the speakers decision had contradicted a judgement of the Constitution bench in the Subhash Desai case.

In a significant ruling on January 10, Speaker Narwekar had held that the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was the "real political party" when rival groups emerged on June 21, 2022 as the group had an overwhelming majority of 37 out of 54 MLAs.

The Speaker also refused to disqualify any member belonging to either faction.

Hearing a petition filed by the Uddhav Thackeray faction against the speaker's order, a bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra summoned the original records relating to the disqualification row.

"See Paragraph 144. He says which faction is the real political party' is discernible from the legislative majority which existed when the rival factions emerged. Is it not contrary to the judgment?, the CJI asked.

The court fixed the petition for hearing on April 8.

The apex court, which had issued notice on the Thackeray group's petition on January 22, asked Shinde and his MLAs to file a response positively on or before April 1.

The bench took note of the submissions of senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the Thackeray group, that there was a distinction between legislative majority and organisational majority post defection.

The top court also took note of the claim of senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the group led by the chief minister, about "forgery" in some relevant documents.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched his next mission during a rally at Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. Modi says his next mission is to make India a wedding destination thereby promote tourism in the country.



Addressing the gathering in Srinagar, Modi said, Now my next mission is 'Wed in India'. People should come to Jammu and Kashmir and host their weddings. The world has seen how G20 was organised in J&K. There was a time when people used to say, who will go to J&K for tourism? Today, tourism in J&K is breaking all the records. In 2023, more than two crore tourists have come here. Now big celebrities from across the world are also coming to J&K, ANI reported.

However, this isnt the first time Modi has pitched the idea of hosting marriages within India, aiming to retain the revenue generated within the country. In a Mann Ki Baat episode in November, Modi said, Friends, this sentiment towards Indian products should not be limited to festivals only. The wedding season as well has commenced now. Some trade organizations estimate that there could be a business of around Rs 5 lakh crore during this wedding season. While shopping for weddings, all of you should give importance to products made in India only.

He added, These days a new milieu is being created by some families to go abroad and conduct weddings. Is this at all necessary? If we celebrate the festivities of marriages on Indian soil, amid the people of India, the countrys money will remain in the country. The people of the country will get an opportunity to render some service or the other at your wedding, even poor people will tell their children about that occasion. Can you extrapolate on this mission of Vocal for Local? Why dont we hold such wedding ceremonies in our own country? It is possible that the kind of system you want may not be there today, but if we organize such events, systems will also develop. This is a topic related to very big families. I hope this pain of mine will definitely reach those big families.

The prime minister reiterated the idea during an event in Gujarat in January. Is it appropriate to hold marriage abroad? Can't the marriage be held in our country? How much of India's wealth goes out. You should create an environment that this disease of getting married abroad does not enter your community. Why shouldn't the marriage take place at the feet of Ma Khodal (Goddess revered by the community). I would say 'Wed In India', like Made in India, Marry in India," Hindustan Times reported.
Demanding the resignation of Haiti's Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, gang leader Jimmy Cherizier said that the Caribbean country will witness civil war if he doesn't step down.

Either Haiti becomes a paradise or a hell for all of us, declared Cherizier.

If Ariel Henry doesnt resign, if the international community continues to support him, well be heading straight for a civil war that will lead to genocide, added Cherizier.

In its latest attacks, police stations were targetted and set on fire in the capital. The gang leaders have shuttered the country's main international airport and freed over 4,000 inmates from prison in recent days.

On Wednesday, Henry remained in Puerto Rico, where he landed the day before after he was barred from landing in neighbouring Dominican Republic.

Who is Jimmy Cherizier?

Jimmy Cherizier, also known as Barbecue and born in 1976, leads the Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies. This federation comprises more than a dozen Haitian gangs centred in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.

Born in Delmas, Cherizier was a police officer with the Haitian National Police.

While being a police officer, he was alleged to have been involved in perpetrating the 2018 La Saline massacre, which claimed over 70 lives and burned down over 400 homes. Not just that, he was also accused of being involved in the 2017 Grand Ravine massacre, which killed at least 9 people. Later in 2018, he was fired by the Haitian National Police.

He then became the leader of the Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies. Initially, the group was composed of nine gangs later it expanded.

The formation of the G9 was formally announced by Cherizier in 2020. He calls himself, the leader of the "armed revolution".

The gangs have a stronghold in many regions including Delmas, Ouest, Village de Dieu, Martissant, Bel Air, Cite Soleil, and Fort Dimanche.
Negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of more Israeli hostages will resume next week, Hamas said Thursday, after a delegation of the Palestinian militant group left Cairo.

The announcement dimmed hopes that mediators could broker a truce before the start of Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin at sundown on Sunday. Egyptian officials had earlier said the negotiations reached an impasse over Hamas' demand for a phased process culminating in an end to the war.

After nearly five months of war, much of Gaza is in ruins, and international pressure is growing for Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would halt the fighting and release the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have been trying to broker an agreement that would stop the fighting for six weeks, and include the release of 40 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

The Egyptian officials said that Hamas has accepted the proposal as a first stage, but wants commitments that it will eventually lead to a more permanent cease-fire. Israel has publicly ruled out that demand, saying it intends to resume the offensive after any cease-fire with the goal of destroying Hamas.

Israel's near-total blockade of Gaza and the ongoing fighting have made it nearly impossible to deliver supplies in most of Gaza, aid groups say. Many of the estimated 3,00,000 people still living in northern Gaza have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive.

Israel launched its offensive after Hamas-led militants stormed across the border on October 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Over 100 hostages were released in November in exchange for 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The number of Palestinians killed has climbed above 30,700, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures, but says women and children make up around two-thirds of the total casualties. It says over 72,000 people have been wounded.

Currently:

Houthi missile attack kills two crew members in Yemen rebels' first fatal assault on shipping.

The hostage crisis poses a dilemma for Israel and offers a path to victory for Hamas.

Few Americans want US more involved in current wars in Ukraine and Gaza, AP-NORC poll finds.

A Mideast Starbucks franchisee is firing 2,000 workers after being targeted in an Israel-Hamas war boycott.

Indiana lawmakers in standoff on antisemitism bill as critics of Israel seek changes.

Here's the latest:

EGYPTIANS OFFICIALS SAY CEASE-FIRE TALKS ARE STUCK

Cairo: Egyptian officials say negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza have reached an impasse over Hamas' demand for a phased process culminating in an end to the war.

The US, Egypt and Qatar have been trying for weeks to broker an agreement on a six-week cease-fire and the release of 40 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

The officials said Thursday that Hamas has agreed on the main terms of such an agreement as a first stage, but wants commitments that it will lead to an eventual, more permanent cease-fire.

Hamas has said it will not release all of the remaining hostages without a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Palestinian militants are believed to be holding around 100 hostages, and the remains of 30 others, captured during Hamas' October 7 attack into Israel that triggered the war.

Hamas is also demanding the release of a large number of prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences, in exchange for the remaining hostages.

Israel has publicly ruled out those demands, saying it intends to resume the offensive after any cease-fire with the goal of destroying Hamas.

The Egyptian officials say Israel wants to confine the negotiations to the more limited agreement. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations with media.

Both officials said mediators are still pressing the two parties to soften their positions.

The mediators had hoped to reach a deal before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin Sunday. The month of dawn-to-dusk fasting often sees Israeli-Palestinian tensions rise over access to a major holy site in Jerusalem.

NORWAY WARNS AGAINST BUSINESS WITH ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS

Copenhagen: Denmark Norway's government on Thursday urged Norwegian companies to avoid trade and business activities that contribute to maintaining illegal Israeli settlements. Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said that for years, Norway has been clear that the settlement policy in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is in violation of international law, including humanitarian law and human rights.

Norwegian businesses should be aware that, through economic or financial activity in the Israeli settlements in violation of international law, they risk contributing to violations of international humanitarian law or human rights, Barth Eide said.

He said that last year was also the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the UN began recording. I repeat that the injustice to which the Palestinians are subjected must stop, he said.

CHINA CALLS FOR PALESTINIAN STATE TO JOIN UN

Beijing: China's foreign minister is demanding that other members of the UN Security Council stop blocking Palestine from becoming a member of the United Nations.

Wang Yi reiterated China's call for a major international conference to draw up a roadmap and timetable for a two-state solution.

We support Palestine becoming a full member of the United Nations and call on individual members of the Security Council not to set obstacles for this any more, he said Thursday at a news conference during the annual meeting of China's legislature.

Zhang Jun, China's UN ambassador, said in January that his country supports UN membership for Palestine as a first step toward the creation of a Palestinian state. The Security Council needs to send a clear and unequivocal signal, reaffirming the urgency of the two-state solution as the sole feasible way out, he was quoted as saying by China's official state media.

China, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, backed Palestine becoming a UN member in a joint statement issued last June during a state visit to China by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

AT LEAST 15 KILLED BY THREE ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES IN CENTRAL GAZA

Deir al-Balah: Gaza Strip At least 15 people were killed by three Israeli airstrikes that hit buildings in central Gaza.

The bodies were taken to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where an Associated Press journalist counted the bodies as they arrived. People were reported to be still trapped under the rubble.

Two strikes hit buildings in Deir al-Balah and a third in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Films based on real-life incidents have more often than not appealed to the Malayali audience, be it 2018, Pada, Virus or Take Off, in recent times. Keeping with the trend, director Ratheesh Raghunandan revisits a tragic and infamous incident from 1986, which left a black mark in Kerala's political history.

ALSO READ: The real story behind Dileep-starrer 'Thankamani'

Thankamani begins with the brutal murder of a top politician, Varadarajan (Kottayam Ramesh)  in fact, the brutality might remind one of the American thriller series Saw. The identity of the murderer is revealed soon, as Arpitha Nath IPS (Pranitha Subhash) investigates the case, and so is the motive.

A flashback shows Abel Joshua Mathan (Dileep) returning to his village Thankamany in Idukki district on the 'Highlight' bus (originally, Elite), after three years in Abu Dhabi. An altercation between the bus operators and the college students sets the stage for the conflicts to follow.

Dileep and Manoj K. Jayan as the antagonist Mani Peter do justice to their roles. The supporting cast of Pranitha Subhash, Neeta Pillai and others, too, complement the lead characters well.

Music, too, plays an important role. The background score by William Francis and cinematography by Manoj Pillai deserve a special mention. While the music highlights the tension in each scene, the production design unit does a great job at reproducing the late 1980s.

Thankamani focuses on the tragic incident, sometimes at the cost of ignoring the fringe incidents that are related to it. It paints a distressing picture of a village that did not get justice. But it suffers from predictability and cliches, which spoil the experience.

P.G. Viswambharan's 1987 Malayalam film Itha Samayamayi, too, was based on this incident. Both the films have done a commendable job to keep it as close to the truth as possible.

Film: Thankamani

Director: Ratheesh Raghunandan

Cast: Dileep, Neeta Pillai, Pranitha Subhash and others

Rating: 2.5/5
On March 6, the US supreme court announced that it would hear arguments in the Donald Trump presidential immunity case on April 25, the final day of the court's argument calendar in this term. (Each year, the supreme court term begins on the first Monday in October and oral arguments conclude in April.) The schedule was given following a decision the court made a week ago to take up Trump's claim on absolute presidential immunity, and it clearly appeared like a gift to the former president.

Trump had approached the supreme court claiming immunity after federal prosecutors charged the former president with leading a pressure campaign against the Congress to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, which led to the January 6 attacks on the US Capitol and criminal conspiracy to nullify the results in Joe Biden's favour in swing states like Georgia and Arizona. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiring to defraud the United States and to obstruct and overturn an election.

The trial in the case was supposed to begin on March 4 before US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, but the case now remains frozen because of the supreme court's intervention. Jack Smith, the federal prosecutor handling the case, had asked the supreme court to take up the case in December bypassing the federal appellate court review, arguing that there was a national interest in seeing the charge against Trump resolved promptly because they struck at the heart of American democracy. But he was told that Trump should go down the appellate court route first.

When Trump approached the US court of appeals for the DC circuit as suggested by the supreme court, a three-judge bench explored all possible legal issues and rejected the appeal (it was earlier rejected by Chutkan). Trump's stance would collapse our system of separated powers by placing the president beyond the reach of all three branches. We cannot accept that the office of the presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter, observed the circuit court.

Trump then took his plea to the supreme court as expected. And Smith asked the top court to dismiss the appeal outright, or, if the court really wanted to intervene, expedite the proceedings by starting oral arguments on March 4. But the court waited for more than two weeks just to announce that it would take up the case. Then it set oral arguments on April 25, the last day it could possibly choose.

It is not that the supreme court is always slow in giving its decisions. The court can act fast when it wants to. During the Bush versus Gore election case in 2000, it was lightning fast, giving a decision in Bush's favour in four days. Initially, Bush had only asked for a stay on the Florida recount; the court granted the stay, then allowed a new petition to be filed in a day and gave its final order two days later.

The supreme court was also relatively quicker in overturning a decision by the Colorado administration to bar Trump from running as a candidate in the presidential elections. The court decided to take up Trump's appeal in two days, conducted a quick hearing and gave its verdict in just over two months from the start of the process. In a unanimous decision, the nine justices said individual states were not empowered to disqualify Trump from the ballot under the anti-insurrection clause in the US constitution. While the ruling was specific to Colorado, it also applies to other states, undercutting efforts to bar Trump by several state administrations. The court held that only the Congress had the power to disqualify a candidate under the anti-insurrection clause.

In the ongoing immunity case, some legal experts argue that the delay was probably the result of a compromise among the liberal, moderate and conservative factions of the supreme court. The liberal Obama appointees must have wanted the immunity plea to be dismissed outright, while conservatives like Samuel Alito would have preferred to keep the prosecution on hold indefinitely. The centrists, like Chief Justice John Roberts, must have argued for a middle path, pitching for a time-frame which could technically allow the issue to be resolved before the elections.

The court will now decide whether and if so to what extent does a former president enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure. If the court finds Trump has immunity, the case ends there. But such a determination appears highly unlikely. Even with its conservative-heavy composition and with three judges appointed by Trump himself, the court is expected to reject the immunity claim as it prima facie appears really frivolous, something which all the lower courts agreed upon.

The former president's legal team argues that he enjoys absolute immunity on all official acts he took as president, which includes his efforts to overturn the 2020 elections. One of his lawyers even argued that Trump could not be prosecuted even if he had a political rival killed by the Navy Seals, unless he is impeached and convicted by the Congress first. As the immunity claim has no sound legal basis, Trump, who is facing 91 criminal charges across four cases, has clearly made the decision that his best chance depends on delaying the major cases as much as possiblesomething which the supreme court seems to be facilitating at the moment.

Even if the court rules that Trump enjoys no immunity, there may not be enough time to take the judicial process to a logical conclusion before the elections, despite the best intentions of the centrist judges. Following oral arguments on April 25, the earliest window for a decision appears to be in May, or it could even stretch to late June or early July, especially if some of the arch conservative justices like Alito dissents and holds out.

In that case, the trial is likely to begin only by end of September. Because, when Chutkan first paused the case following Trump's decision to claim immunity, there were 88 days left until the trial was set to begin. She has indicated that she would give the same amount of time for Trump's legal team to prepare, if the supreme court gives the go ahead. But by that time, the trial could run into the justice department's 60-day rulea policy of avoiding any action that could affect the outcome of an election within 60 days of the raceforcing Chutkan to postpone the trial until after the November polls.

If Trump wins the elections, then it is easy for him to subvert the whole process. He then gets to choose the attorney general who will oversee the trial. And in the unlikeliest scenario of him getting convicted despite that, he could very well pardon himself or claim presidential immunity once again. Both would be unprecedented and would lead to multiple legal challenges, but such concerns have never stopped Trump.
India

The 'Delhi Chalo' protest is being staged to demand a legal guarantee of MSP for all crops, full debt waiver for farmers, pension and the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's formula.
Elko-based High Mark Construction has been working on mining projects in Nevada since it started in June 1998, and owner-president Brad Lynch said he is hoping 2024 is as good as last year, which was our biggest year.

He said High Mark started 2024 in the same fashion as 2023 when it came to projects and contracts, although the jobs will vary.

High Mark began over 25 years ago with two employees and has grown over the years to as many as 200 employees.

Since I took over, there has been around the same number of employees. We run with 150 people plus or minus, said Lynch, who fully acquired High Mark in 2020 from retiring founder Richard Katsma.

Those employees live in Elko, Spring Creek, and Winnemucca, and Lynch said they try to send those living in Winnemucca to jobs in that area when possible.

High Mark worked on the Lithium Americas project for a year and half under a contract that covered such work as constructing a water pipeline, massive amounts of grading, building access roads and laydowns, and constructing water ponds, along with site work for a man camp for construction workers who will be coming to work on the mine.

Lithium Americas began construction at its Thacker Pass project in March 2023. The lithium mine north of Winnemucca is expected to produce 40,000 to 80,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate per year over a 40-year operation.

Also in February, High Mark was building a new leach pad and stormwater channel at Argonaut Golds Florida Canyon Mine at Imlay, and was doing site development for Nevada Gold Mines at the new Goldrush underground mine at the Cortez complex, Lynch said.

Work on Goldrush includes building access roads, dewatering corridors, and constructing rapid infiltration basins. High Mark is also working at Cortez on a switch yard at Tenabo, as well as a new power substation for the Cortez Underground Mine.

Were getting ready to mobilize to build a leach pad at Pan Mine, Lynch also said.

Calibre Mining operates the Pan open pit gold mine in White Pine County and is expanding the heap leach pad there.

We primarily work from Highway 50 north, primarily along the I-80 corridor, Lynch said. He said there are exceptions, such as working at the Rawhide Mine near Fallon before the mine went on care and maintenance, and working at Kinross Gold Corp.s Round Mountain Mine in Nye County.

Weve bid on another leach pad at Round Mountain, and we just finished work at Bald Mountain, he said.

Bald Mountain in White Pine County near the Elko County line is also a Kinross operation.

Another High Mark project was the new leach pad at Coeur Minings Rochester Mine expansion project near Lovelock. Rochester is nearing completion of the expansion and began stacking ore on the Stage 6 pad last year, according to Coeur.

In the spring of 2023 High Mark provided equipment for mining contractor N.A. Degerstrom to use when roads to McEwen Minings Gold Bar Mine in Eureka County were flooded. Access to the mine was blocked by high water.

High Mark may focus on the mining industry, but the company also does work for governments and for private subdivision developers, and the company does constructability and feasibility reviews.

Most of our clientele appreciate what we can offer in terms of infrastructure needs and construction needs in general, Lynch said.

High Mark hires subcontractors to help with studies, lay leach pad liners and do other specialty work, including electrical and welding jobs.

There are a handful in each trade we work with all the time, Lynch said.

Lynch said Richard Katsma founded the company in 1998 with the same emphasis we still hold today, and thats to serve the mining industry.

The company started at a rather challenging time  precious metal and gold prices were reaching historic lows, and the majority of High Marks clients were gold based.

The company has weathered the ups and downs of the precious metal markets over the years. Gold prices are now high  more than $2,000 per ounce at timeswhich benefits the mining industry. Copper and lithium markets also fluctuate.

Since 1998, weve experienced slight downturns in the market due to metal prices, but not significant enough to derail the train, Lynch said. Were actively engaged in other markets throughout the area with the intent that we will be able to seamlessly offset any future downturn in the mining industry when the time comes.

Lynch considers High Mark a small, locally owned family-oriented company, for sure. A lot of the guys who work for me I grew up with since elementary school.

He said he learned the construction business on the job. He started working for High Mark in 2008 as a laborer and began easing into ownership in 2018 before completing the takeover in 2020.

I learned everything I know at the end of a shovel, he said.

Lynch also is proud of High Marks safety record, which speaks volumes about our company in general. Its outstanding. There have been no fatalities in the 26 years High Mark has been in business.

Along with its regular business, High Mark donates people and equipment to work on Nevada Department of Wildlife projects.

Im a big supporter of the Nevada Department of Wildlife, Lynch said.

High Mark Constructions office is in Elko on Manzanita Lane. The site includes a shop, but Lynch said most of the work on equipment is done in the field. Only major repairs are done in the shop.
Panaji, Mar 7 (PTI) Co-working spaces for people visiting Goa will soon come up on the Morjim and Ashwem beaches in the coastal state, a tourism department official has said.

The Goa government wants to promote the state as a tourism destination not only for its beaches but also for other activities, state tourism secretary Sanjeev Ahuja told PTI at the ITB Berlin, the world's leading travel trade show.

The three-day event began on March 5.

"We want to invite more tourists specially from Europe and high spending tourists from other destinations by providing them an all round experience," he said.

The Goa tourism department wants to given other reasons also to travellers to come to the state, the official said.

He said the concept of co-working spaces on the beaches has been introduced by the department led by minister Rohan Khaunte wherein the state will give nomad visa to the people who can come here, work and also enjoy the beaches.



The facilities at Morjim and Ashwem beaches are taking shape and would be ready soon, the official said.

The state government has already written to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the External Affairs Ministry to provide nomad visa for such travellers, he said.



The state government is in talks with the Centre for a "positive consideration" and things will materialise soon after the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, he said.



Speaking about regenerative tourism, Ahuja said the state government wants to involve the local people, culture, cuisine, festivals and even farmers into the tourism spectrum through this concept.



There are very few people who would know that Goa has huge temples which can be developed from the tourism perspective, he said, adding that even churches are covered under this concept.



The state tourism department has already signed an agreement with the Temple Connect (organisation dedicated to the revival and development of the temple eco-system) for this purpose, the official said.



Besides beach tourism, importance is also being given to spiritual tourism through the concept of regenerative tourism, he said.



Visitors will also be given an experience of spice and cashew plantations in the coastal state. "We want to give them an experience of having food directly from the farm," the official said.



He said activities like hiking have also been introduced for visitors by the tourism department.

The carnival, organised in the state every year, is already being promoted by the department. "It will also promote the festival like Chikhal Kalo, where people play with mud. It is like the Tomatina festival (a tomato-throwing spectacle in Spain)," he said.
Beijing, Mar 7 (AP) China's foreign minister accused the US on Thursday of devising tactics to suppress China's rise and criticised the Biden administration for adding more Chinese companies to its sanctions lists.

Wang Yi, speaking to media during the annual meeting of China's legislature, said that relations with the US have improved since Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met in November, but that America has not fulfilled its promises.

If the US always says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major power? If the US gets nervous and anxious when it hears the word 'China,' where is its confidence as a major power? he said. If the US is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself."

Wang, a 70-year-old veteran diplomat who has earned Xi's trust, returned to the foreign minister's post last summer after his successor, Qin Gang, was abruptly dismissed without explanation after a half year on the job.

Analysts had speculated the ruling Communist Party might use the weeklong meeting of the National People's Congress to name a new foreign minister, but that appeared off the table after an agenda released on the eve of the opening session did not include personnel changes. (AP) GRS

GRS
New York, Mar 7 (AP) Nikki Haley suspended her presidential campaign on Wednesday after being soundly defeated across the country on Super Tuesday, leaving Donald Trump as the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination.

Haley didn't endorse the former president in a speech in Charleston, South Carolina. Instead, she challenged him to win the support of the moderate Republicans and independent voters who supported her.

It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that, she said. At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people.

Haley, a former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador, was Trump's first significant rival when she jumped into the race in February 2023. She spent the final phase of her campaign aggressively warning the GOP against embracing Trump, whom she argued was too consumed by chaos and personal grievance to defeat President Joe Biden in the general election.

Her departure clears Trump to focus solely on his likely rematch in November with Biden. The former president is on track to reach the necessary 1,215 delegates to clinch the Republican nomination later this month.

Haley's defeat marks a painful, if predictable, blow to those voters, donors and Republican Party officials who opposed Trump and his fiery brand of Make America Great Again politics. She was especially popular among moderates and college-educated voters, constituencies that will likely play a pivotal role in the general election. It's unclear whether Trump, who recently declared that Haley donors would be permanently banned from his movement, can ultimately unify a deeply divided party.

Haley planned to address donors on a Zoom meeting Wednesday afternoon, according to two people familiar with the plans.

Trump on Tuesday night declared that the GOP was united behind him, but in a statement shortly afterward, Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said, "Unity is not achieved by simply claiming, We're united.'"

Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump, Perez-Cubas said. "That is not the unity our party needs for success. Addressing those voters' concerns will make the Republican Party and America better.

Haley has made clear she doesn't want to serve as Trump's vice president or run on a third-party ticket arranged by the group No Labels. She leaves the race with an elevated national profile that could help her in a future presidential run.

Swiftly following her speech Wednesday, Trump's campaign in a fundraising email falsely claimed that Haley had endorsed his candidacy and did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the message. Earlier this week, Haley said she no longer feels bound by a pledge that required all GOP contenders to support the party's eventual nominee in order to participate in the primary debates.

In a social media post, Trump continued to mock his former rival, while at the same time extending an invitation to all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in the history of our Nation. BIDEN IS THE ENEMY, HE IS DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY, he wrote. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!

On Wednesday, Biden welcomed any voters who had backed Haley, acknowledging Trump's previous rejection of her supporters.

Donald Trump made it clear he doesn't want Nikki Haley's supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign, Biden said in a statement. I know there is a lot we won't agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America's adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.

A group that had targeted independents and Democrats to vote for Haley over Trump in Republican primaries is now pushing those voters to back Biden in November. On Wednesday, Primary Pivot said it was pivoting again with a new initiative  Haley Voters for Biden  which might ultimately amount to basically encouraging Democrats to revert back to supporting their party's likely eventual nominee.

By staying in the campaign until now, Haley drew enough support from suburbanites and college-educated voters to highlight Trump's apparent weaknesses with those groups.

In AP VoteCast surveys conducted among Republican primary and caucus voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, between 61% and 76% of Haley's supporters said they would be so dissatisfied if Trump became the GOP nominee that they wouldn't vote for him in the November general election. Voters in the early Republican head-to-head contests who said they wouldn't vote for Trump in the fall represented a small but significant segment of the electorate: 2 in 10 Iowa voters, one-third of New Hampshire voters, and one-quarter of South Carolina voters.

Haley leaves the 2024 presidential contest having made history as the first woman to win a Republican primary contest. She beat Trump in the District of Columbia on Sunday and in Vermont on Tuesday.

She had insisted she would stay in the race through Super Tuesday and crossed the country campaigning in states holding Republican contests. Ultimately, she was unable to knock Trump off his glide path to a third straight nomination.

Haley's allies note that she exceeded most of the political world's expectations by making it as far as she did.

She had initially ruled out running against Trump in 2024. But she changed her mind and ended up launching her bid three months after he did, citing among other things the country's economic troubles and the need for generational change. Haley, 52, later called for competency tests for politicians over the age of 75  a knock on both Trump, who is 77, and Biden, who is 81. (AP) NB

NB
Dubai (UAE), Mar 7 (AP) A missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday killed three of its crew members and forced survivors to abandon the vessel, the U.S. military said. It was the first fatal strike in a campaign of assaults by the Iranian-backed group over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The attack on the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence further escalates the conflict on a crucial maritime route linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe that has disrupted global shipping. The Houthis have launched attacks since November, and the U.S. began an airstrike campaign in January that so far hasn't halted their attacks.

Meanwhile, Iran announced Wednesday that it would confiscate a $50 million cargo of Kuwaiti crude oil for American energy firm Chevron Corp. aboard a tanker it seized nearly a year earlier. It is the latest twist in a yearslong shadow war playing out in the Middle East's waterways even before the Houthi attacks began.

The U.S. military's Central Command said an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from a Houthi-controlled area in Yemen struck the True Confidence, causing significant damage to the ship. In addition to the three deaths, at least four crew members were wounded, with three in critical condition.

Two aerial photos released by the U.S. military showed the the ship's bridge and cargo on board ablaze.

These reckless attacks by the Houthis have disrupted global trade and taken the lives of international seafarers simply doing their jobs, which are some of the hardest jobs in the world, and the ones relied on by the global public for sustainment of supply chains, Central Command said.

The attack came after the ship had been hailed over radio by men claiming to be the Yemeni military, officials said. The Houthis have been hailing ships over the radio in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since beginning their attacks, with analysts suspecting the rebels want to seize the vessels.

After the missile hit, the crew abandoned the ship and deployed lifeboats. A U.S. warship and the Indian navy were on the scene, trying to assist in rescue efforts.

The ship's managers and owners said the ship's crew of 20 included one Indian, 15 Filipinos and four Vietnamese. Three armed guards, two from Sri Lanka and one from Nepal, also were on board. The ship had been carrying steel from China to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The United Nations called on the Houthis to cease all attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, expressing serious concern about the continuing attacks, including the latest incident where the status of the crew is unknown.

Dujarric said the attacks are causing risks to property, to life, to ecology in the area.

At the State Department in Washington, spokesman Matthew Miller condemned the attack. We continue to watch these reckless attacks with no regard for the well being of innocent civilians who are transiting through the Red Sea. And now they have, unfortunately and tragically, killed innocent civilians, he told reporters.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre separately warned: The U.S. obviously is going to continue to take action.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, claimed the attack in a prerecorded message, saying its missile fire set the vessel ablaze. He said the rebels' attacks would only stop when the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza is lifted.

The rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over the Israel-Hamas war, but up to Wednesday hadn't killed any crew members. The vessels have included at least one with cargo bound for Iran, the Houthis' main benefactor, and an aid ship later bound for Houthi-controlled territory.

Despite more than a month and a half of U.S.-led airstrikes, Houthi rebels have remained capable of launching significant attacks. They include the attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertilizer, the Rubymar, which sank on Saturday after drifting for several days, and the downing of an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars.

It was unclear why the Houthis targeted the True Confidence. However, it had previously been owned by Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based fund that finances vessels on installments. Oaktree declined to comment.

Meanwhile, a separate Houthi assault Tuesday apparently targeted the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has been involved in the American campaign against the rebels. The Carney shot down bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, Central Command said. Saree acknowledged that attack as well.

The U.S. later launched an airstrike destroying three anti-ship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats, Central Command said.

The Houthis haven't offered any assessment of the damage they've suffered in the American-led strikes that began in January, though they've said at least 22 of their fighters have been killed. One civilian has reportedly been killed.

The U.S. Treasury separately announced new sanctions targeting a Houthi financier and the expeditionary Quds Force of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which arms the rebels.

The Houthis have held Yemen's capital, Sanaa, since 2014. They've battled a Saudi-led coalition since 2015 in a long-stalemated war there.

Meanwhile, the Indian navy released a video of its sailors from the INS Kolkata fighting a fire aboard the MSC Sky II, which had been targeted by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden on Monday. The Mediterranean Shipping Co., a Switzerland-based company, said the missile struck the ship as it was traveling from Singapore to Djibouti. No one was injured.

Iran separately announced the seizure of the crude oil aboard the Advantage Sweet through an announcement carried by the judiciary's state-run Mizan news agency. At the time, Iran alleged that the Advantage Sweet collided with another ship, without offering any evidence. (AP) NB

NB
Mumbai, Mar 6 (PTI) A 25-year-old man, held for theft, jumped from the second floor of a police station in suburban Mumbai during interrogation and landed in hospital with injuries, an official said on Wednesday.

The incident took place on late Tuesday night after he was caught by police on suspicion of mobile phone theft, he said.

According to the official, the man, identified as Samir Arif Siddique, was brought to the Kandivali police station for interrogation.

During the interrogation, the suspect suddenly jumped from the detection room located on the second floor of the police station building, he said.

Siddique suffered fractures on his hand and is undergoing treatment at state-run JJ Hospital in central Mumbai, said the official.
Panaji, Mar 7 (PTI) The Goa Human Rights Commission has recommended that male officers should always be accompanied by female wardens during their visit to the wards of women prisoners in the state's central jail.

A male officer should also record details and reasons of his visit in the jail report book, it said on Wednesday.



The commission was responding to a complaint filed in June last year by a group of women inmates of the Central Jail, Colvale, alleging that male officers often visit their wards unaccompanied by the jail matron and cause embarrassment and harassment to them.



The panel cited rule 1445 of the Goa Prisons Rules, 2021 which mentions that "no male is permitted to enter the female ward of any prison at any time, unless he has a legitimate duty to attend."



It said a male officer is not at all allowed to enter the ward during night time, unless during an emergency.



"The commission recommends that authorities of the Central Jail, Colvale, strictly comply with the said provision, ensuring that when male officers visit the female wards, they always be accompanied by female wardens/female officers and that they shall make a record of the report of the visit with reasons for such visit in the report book," it said.
Patna, Mar 6 (PTI) The Bihar government on Wednesday put on hold its recent order to freeze bank accounts of state-run universities and asked authorities of the varsities to attend a review meeting convened by the education department on March 9.

The direction comes amid the ongoing standoff between the education department and the Raj Bhavan.

The state government had previously ordered the freezing of the bank accounts of all state universities, barring one, and withheld the salaries of their vice-chancellors for allegedly being absent at an education department meeting last month.

Earlier this month, the Raj Bhavan had also written to banks to overrule the education department order that had frozen the accounts of state-run universities, barring one.

Higher Education Department Deputy Director Deepak Kumar Singh on Wednesday urged all VCs of the state universities to attend the March 9 review meeting of the department.

The deputy director, in his letter, mentioned that the accounts of varsities will not be frozen till March 9.

Ahead of the scheduled meeting on Saturday, the Raj Bhavan appeared to have thrown a spanner in the works through a letter by which VCs were warned against leaving their stations without prior permission from the governors office.

The governor is the chancellor of state universities.

In a letter to all VCs, the governor's Principal Secretary Robert L Chongthu on Wednesday directed them "not to leave their universities' headquarters without taking permission from the competent authority (Governors office)".

Strict disciplinary action would be taken if instructions are violated, says the letter, a copy of which is in the possession of PTI.

The standoff between the Raj Bhavan and the education department seemed to be worsening.

The state education department had already lodged police complaints against VCs of those universities, who did not attend the department's review meeting held in the last week of February.

Its earlier letter to all VCs, except the vice-chancellor of Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University, had sought clarification for their absence from the meeting to discuss pending examinations and other issues.

The letter had warned that if satisfactory replies were not received, FIRs would be lodged against the university authorities, and salaries of VCs would remain withheld.

Despite several attempts, Bihar Education Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary could not be reached for comment on the issue.
New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) The BJP on Thursday accused the Congress of "treachery" as it showed pictures in which senior leaders of the opposition party, including Rahul Gandhi, are purportedly seen with a person arrested for allegedly raising 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogan on Karnataka Assembly premises.

Addressing a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia fired the fresh salvo over the February 27 incident in the Congress-ruled state, saying it was an insult to Kannadigas and every Indian.

Noting that Congress leaders initially denied that such a slogan was raised and instead targeted the BJP for raising the issue, Bhatia demanded that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and its senior leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi acknowledge their party's mistake and apologise.

The slogan was raised by some supporters of Congress leader Syed Naseer Hussain after his victory in the Rajya Sabha elections.

While democracy is getting stronger under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, "it will not be wrong to say that the opposition is being cunning and doing treachery", he said in an attack on the Congress.

The BJP leader showed pictures of one accused with different Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi. He also highlighted photographs of another accused with state Congress leaders.

Three persons were arrested for allegedly raising the 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogan in the Vidhana Soudha corridors on February 27.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ordered an investigation by government-run Forensic Science Laboratory to check the veracity of the allegations.

Based on the FSL report, the police arrested the three persons.

The Karnataka government acted under pressure after the BJP raised the issue, Bhatia claimed.

He also took a swipe at some "fact-checkers" for rejecting the BJP's allegation.

Rahul Gandhi is seen "hugging" one of the accused, he said, claiming that the opposition party is now seeking to draw its sustenance from Pakistan.

The BJP's resolve is to develop India and stamp out terrorism but the Congress is concerned solely about coming to power even if it has to express its love for Pakistan and those who are anti-national, he alleged.

People will give Modi a historic mandate for a third term in government, he asserted.
New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has decided to release Rs 15 crore every month in accordance with the recommendations of the seventh Central Pay Commission to clear the pending arrears of its pensioners, according to an official document.

The civic body has issued a conveying order to disburse the first instalment of the pending arrears of the pensioners, many of whom have been waiting to get their dues for over seven years.

This comes after the Delhi High Court pulled up the MCD for the second time while hearing a batch of pleas last week over non-payment of salaries and pensions to municipal staff and retired employees and gave an ultimatum to pay dues for the month of February within 10 days.

The court cautioned the civic body that it would direct its dissolution and replace it with a "better system" if the corporation is unable to make itself financially viable.

"The competent authority vide order dated 29.04.2024 is pleased to allow the release of Rs 15 crore every month on account of seventh CPC arrears of pensioners, the order issued by the finance, accounting, and planning department of the MCD dated March 6 read.

"In view of the above, Rs 15 crore is being released as the seventh CPC arrears of pensioners. Accordingly, you are requested to make the payment to pensioners as per rules," it read.

The civic body has a liability of Rs 403 crore amounting to the non-payment of salaries and pensions, according to the MCD's counsel who informed the court that dues of only a few employees are left to be cleared.

The corporation has already received Rs 803.69 crore from its parent AAP-led Delhi government, the state government's lawyer had said.

Earlier in February, the Delhi High Court had warned the MCD to augment its resources to clear the dues stating it will wind up the civil body if it fails to pay the employees.
New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) The Delhi University has allocated a fund of Rs 67.71 crore for setting up a WiFi network across all its college campuses and in an upcoming girls hostel in northwest Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar, according to an official document.

The WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) connectivity will be set up across about 90 colleges of Delhi University, on both north and south campuses and the Dhaka Hostel complex, the document said.

The execution of the work will be funded from the loan corpus of Rs 938.33 crore taken by the varsity from the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) in October last year to undertake various developmental projects.

A loan share of Rs 261.33 crore from this corpus has been sanctioned by the HEFA for setting up the WiFi network as well as to start the work for the construction of a building for the Faculty of Technology.

The HEFA is a joint venture company of Canara Bank and the Ministry of Education which provides financial assistance for the creation of educational infrastructure and research facilities in India's premier educational Institutions.

The Delhi University had applied for a HEFA loan in 2022 to meet its infrastructural needs and expansion plans including setting up DU's east Delhi campus in Surajmal Vihar, and opening a new college in Najafgarh, among other projects.

The agency has also approved proposals for five other projects to get funding from the HEFA loan, work on which will begin as and when the funds are sanctioned.
Governments around the world are in a rush to replace internal combustion cars with battery-powered cars (EVs) in an attempt to reduce pollution and slow global warming. However, some countries might be pushing technology too fast by announcing a date when all cars sold must be EVs. The media has raised concern about whether the world can supply key elements for meeting ambitious deadlines for making and charging millions of EVs, and whether the USA would need to rely on minerals from deposits in Asia, South America, or Africa.

Journalists arent often mineral economists, however, and mineral economists dont often write the news. There is no mineral shortage; the earth is big and varied, and there are deposits of practically everything scattered in many places, including the USA and Canada.

While it may be premature to put that many drivers in an EV, the bottlenecks preventing these ambitious goals will not be from a lack of key minerals, for there are enough known deposits to make the cars and charging stations that America needs using key resources in the USA.

Recent news stories raise particular concern over inadequate domestic supplies of lithium, rare earths, and copper. However, for a more detailed perspective, the United States Geological Service (USGS) website lists key mineral deposits, their estimated size, and where they are located. These deposits are resources that are not necessarily desirable at current prices, but as prices increase to meet demand, more deposits will come into play. As long as the EV projections are reasonably accurate, the USAs EV goals will not be missed for the lack of these key elements:

Lithium

Lithium is a lightweight metal, and batteries made from lithium are more expensive than conventional lead-acid batteries. However, lithium batteries are ideal for EVs because they are lighter, last longer, and hold more energy.

Despite the global plans for more EVs, lithium prices dropped 78% in 2023, as increased production has overcome consumer demand that has yet to materialize.

The USA has adequate resources to meet the needs of domestic EV production, and a recent report from Lithium Americas Corp. claims that their project at Thacker Pass in Nevada is part of the worlds largest deposit, which straddles the Oregon border.

The USAs only operating lithium producer is also in Nevada, near Tonopah. However, there are other domestic lithium startups in the works, including three at Californias Salton Sea.

Rare Earths

Rare earths are a group of 17 soft metals that have various electrical and magnetic properties that are needed in EV motors. Most rare earths are plentiful, but are called rare because they are combined in small amounts with other minerals in low-grade deposits.

China has been a major source of rare earths in recent years because Chinese export prices are lower than domestic American prices. The largest rare earth mine in the U.S. is alongside Interstate 15 west of Las Vegas, just inside California, but the USGS lists several other resources throughout the country that could be brought into production if needed.

Demand forecasts have launched more exploration. American Rare Earths recently determined that their claims in Wyoming contain 2.3 billion tons of resources, and last year, Ramaco Resources also reported promising findings on its claims in Wyoming.

Copper

Recent news articles have even raised the possibility of an imminent global copper shortage, since vast amounts of copper wire and circuits will be needed to produce millions of EV batteries and chargers.

Copper deposits exist in many parts of the world, including the USA, but the world may use twice as much copper in coming years until a network of EVs and charging stations are put in place. Nevada has a copper mine in Lyon County slated to resume production, and another longstanding major producer in White Pine County, but most of the countrys copper production comes from mines in Arizona and New Mexico. Many dormant copper mines are scattered throughout the west, and some of them could be reopened if the price of copper gets high enough.

The need for more copper does not have to be solved by expanding existing operations. As with all minerals, global production can be boosted by new operations in other deposits and reopening dormant, low-grade deposits that become profitable to mine as the price rises. In addition, substitutes, like aluminum and recycled scrap, can also help close a copper gap.

Transitioning to EVs

If shortages arise in any of those minerals, the problem is of our own making, and to get beyond that, we need to make the judgement whether to import key minerals from abroad and let other countries deal with mine waste, or source these minerals domestically, which will mean higher costs and perhaps some compromises on whether to preserve a historical site or a rare plant or bird habitat so that there will be fewer gasoline-powered vehicles.

Domestic EVs are expensive, and import restrictions that prevent low-priced Chinese EVs from undercutting domestic carmakers will be unpopular if EVs take up a larger percentage of household income. According to the Heritage Foundation, the average EV will cost about $5,300 per year more than comparable gas cars, without government subsidies. Its unlikely that existing state and federal subsidies will be extended to support Chinese EV imports that have also been subsidized by the Chinese government.

Low-priced Chinese EVs are flooding the European market, forcing Volkswagen and Volvo to pause or reduce their EV production plans, even though overall EV sales are growing in Europe.

Expanding the domestic network of charging stations needed for EVs will be expensive as well. Bidens infrastructure plan calls for half of new cars to be EVs in six years, and for installing 500,000 public chargers. Currently, 80% of EV owners installed home chargers, at costs ranging from $500-$2000.

Despite the huge numbers involved, converting the country to EVs is possible, and similar in scope to the times when the country needed to design and build thousands of airplanes, trucks, tanks, and ships to win two world wars in the 20th century.

In the first half of the 20th century, mining thrived in remote areas like Cuprum, Idaho, to produce copper for shell casings in World War I, and Gabbs, Nevada, for magnesium to make aircraft in World War II. If enough politicians take action to supply critical minerals from domestic deposits, the materials will be produced in time.

When the country decides that putting everyone in an EV instead of a gas or diesel car by a specific date is essential to our survival, then the job will get done as priorities shift. Current regulatory restraints will be relieved when mines need to be brought into production faster when the need is urgent, and when the perceived consequences for not taking action are severe.

The main obstacle to getting drivers to buy an EV and get rid of their gas-powered cars is convincing consumers to support such a radical change. However, it may take more than a consensus of climate scientists and the current administrations support to get a majority of Americans to believe that replacing their car or truck with an EV is unavoidable and must be done immediately at great personal expense.

Meanwhile, the minerals are still there, in the ground where they have always been, where they will remain until some crisis or shortage comes along to make them worthwhile to mine. 
New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi have patented a power-management unit designed explicitly for direct cloud-enabled indoor wireless sensor network (WSN) nodes powered by solar.

These nodes, offering distinct advantages over low-power wireless communication technologies, often face challenges related to the consumption of higher peak current during data transmission, leading to battery-capacity degradation and a reduced lifespan.

According to officials, the power-management unit is a novel design specifically tailored for applications that necessitate frequent data transmission. A key feature of this innovative architecture is the implementation of battery-supercapacitor hybrid storage to maximise battery life.

The power conditioning unit (PCU) ensures efficient energy routing, allowing the system to operate optimally under varying external conditions.

"Our power-management system is designed for wireless sensor nodes powered by solar. It uses solar panels, batteries and supercapacitors for power and has an MPPT controller. It optimises node-energy distribution for performance and longevity. This power-management system maximises solar panel efficiency and battery longevity and lowers network costs.

"This power-management system has multiple-use cases in wireless sensor nodes used for environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, smart cities, disaster management and industrial IoT," Satvasheel Ramesh Powar, Associate Professor, School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, IIT-Mandi, told PTI.

The hybrid storage system integrates a supercapacitor to alleviate the battery from frequently occurring peak current, a common factor in degradation. The approach is to ensure that battery charge and discharge are free from intermittent peaks, preventing the acceleration of capacity degradation and ultimately, extending the cycle life.

"We have developed a hybrid technology to power the sensor node such that the battery life can be increased where frequent data transmission is required. This product utilises a supercapacitor-battery hybrid storage scheme, which provides the required peak current during data transmission, sufficient enough to fulfil the heavy load requirement.

"We introduced a novel drip-charge controller that works in sync with the sleep period and the active period of the sensor node. The performance of the developed power-management unit is successfully tested and validated experimentally for indoor and outdoor applications," said Tushar Jain, Associate Professor, School of Computing and Electrical Engineering, IIT-Mandi.

Jain explained that the controller, coupled with the supercapacitor, provides the necessary peak current during data transmission when power from photovoltaic (PV) sources is not available.

"Simulation and experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed design, showcasing its ability to prevent intermittent peaks and mitigate capacity degradation acceleration. This achievement is a significant stride towards optimising the efficiency and lifespan of direct cloud-enabled sensor nodes, making those more resilient and sustainable in real-world applications.

"At IIT-Mandi, we plan to use this patented technology in various ongoing projects, namely agriculture automation, robotics and drones etc. This technology shall be further developed to make it low-cost so that it can be deployed in farmers' fields for better crop production and disease-detection management," he said.
Westerly, RI (02891)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. High near 50F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 31F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Three Orthodox Jews  Rabbi Abraham Lunger, his wife Mrs. Miriam Lunger, and Ms. Brucha Ungar  have filed a lawsuit against JetBlue Airways alleging they were unjustly removed from a flight due to their religious beliefs and claim it was anti-Semitism.

The incident unfolded on December 31, 2023, aboard JetBlue Flight 2050, scheduled from Palm Springs International Airport to JFK in New York. According to the lawsuit, the conflict began when Rabbi Lunger requested a seat change to avoid being seated next to a female passenger.

The lawsuit says that this simple request was met with resistance from the flight crew, leading to a heated exchange that eventually saw the Lungers and Ms. Ungar being ordered off the aircraft.

The lawsuit asserts that despite a male passengers offer to switch seats with Rabbi Lunger, which would have resolved the issue, the flights captain claimed it would cause a weight imbalance and denied the switch. This justification, along with the subsequent decision to remove the plaintiffs from the flight, has been labeled by the plaintiffs as a pretext for discriminatory treatment based on their religious and racial identity.

The complaint highlights the plaintiffs adherence to Orthodox Jewish traditions, including their distinctive clothing and appearance, which they argue made them targets for discrimination.

The Lungers and Ms. Ungar were left stranded without accommodation, food, or transportation following their removal from the flight, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit further accuses JetBlue and its staff of civil rights violations, discrimination, and harassment, calling into question the airlines policies and practices regarding religious accommodations.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for greater war fighting capabilities against the United States and South Korea, state media reported Thursday, after his defense ministry vowed to respond to the ongoing South Korean-U.S. military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal.

During a visit to a western operational training base on Wednesday, Kim said the military must steadily intensify the actual war drills aimed at rapidly improving its combat capabilities for perfect war preparedness, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

Kim said the heightened readiness is required to contain the constant threat of the enemies with overwhelming force, KCNA said.

It said Kim guided maneuvers of military units at the site but didnt elaborate. State media photos showed Kim wearing a black leather jacket and standing in position to shoot a rifle and standing near soldiers who were lying on the ground and aiming their rifles.

Kim has previously made similar calls for a stronger military numerous times. But his latest demand came two days after North Koreas Defense Ministry threatened to conduct unspecified responsible military activities because South Korean-U.S. military drills were allegedly getting more undisguised in their attempt for invading the North.

The South Korean and U.S. militaries began their annual computer-simulated command post training and a variety of field exercises on Monday for an 11-day run. This years drills were to involve 48 field exercises, twice the number conducted last year. The two countries have said their drills are defensive in nature.

North Korea has reacted to previous South Korean-U.S. military exercises with missile and other weapons tests.

Jeon Ha Gyu, a spokesperson for the South Korean Defense Ministry, told reporters later Thursday that South Korea will overwhelmingly deal with any provocations by North Korea. He said its nonsensical for North Korea to call the South Korea-U.S. military drills an invasion rehearsal while elevating its nuclear and missile threats.

Animosities on the Korean Peninsula remain high in the wake of North Koreas barrage of missile tests since 2022. Many of the tests involved nuclear-capable missiles designed to attack South Korea and the mainland U.S. This year, North Korea performed six rounds of missile tests. The U.S. and South Korean forces have responded by expanding their training exercises.

Experts say North Korea likely believes a bigger weapons arsenal would increase its leverage in future diplomacy with the United States. They say North Korea would want to win extensive sanctions relief while maintaining its nuclear weapons.

North Korea is expected to further raise tensions with more provocative weapons tests and fiery rhetoric this year as the U.S. and South Korea head into major elections, observers say.

(AP)
Chinas foreign minister accused the U.S. on Thursday of devising tactics to suppress Chinas rise and criticized the Biden administration for adding more Chinese companies to its sanctions lists.

Wang Yi, speaking to media during the annual meeting of Chinas legislature, said Chinas relations with the U.S. have improved since Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met in November, but America has not fulfilled its promises.

If the U.S. always says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major power? If the U.S. gets nervous and anxious when it hears the word China, where is its confidence as a major power? he said. If the U.S. is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself.

Wang also demanded that members of the U.N. Security Council stop blocking Palestine from becoming a member of the United Nations.

The 70-year-old veteran diplomat, who has earned Xis trust, returned to the foreign ministers post last summer after his successor, Qin Gang, was abruptly dismissed without explanation after a half year on the job. Wang is also the ruling Communist Partys top foreign affairs official, a more senior position that he moved to when Qin became foreign minister at the end of 2022.

Analysts had speculated the Communist Party might use the weeklong meeting of the National Peoples Congress to name a new foreign minister, but that appeared off the table after an agenda released on the eve of the opening session did not include personnel changes.

Chinas U.N. ambassador, Zhang Jun, said during a Security Council debate in January that China supports Palestine becoming a full member as soon as possible, as a first step toward creating a Palestinian state, according to Chinese media reports.

Wang called Thursday for a major international conference to draw up a roadmap and timetable for a two-state solution. We support Palestine becoming a full member of the United Nations and call on individual members of the Security Council not to set obstacles for this any more, he said.

TAIWAN AND SOUTH CHINA SEA

He accused the United States, without mentioning it by name, of stirring up trouble in Taiwan and the South China Sea. China says that self-governing Taiwan is part of China and should be under its control, and it claims a wide swath of the South China Sea, putting it at odds with the Philippines, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian neighbors.

The Philippines and the U.S. have accused China of aggressive tactics in trying to block Philippines ships from reaching reefs and other outcroppings that both sides claim, most recently in a collision between coast guard vessels of both countries this week.

For unreasonable provocations, we will take just countermeasures, Wang said. We also advise certain countries outside the region not to stir up trouble, choose sides, and not to become disruptors and troublemakers in the South China Sea.

He said countries that insist on maintaining official ties with Taiwan are interfering in Chinas domestic affairs. Most countries, including the United States, dont have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but China objects to visits by U.S. lawmakers to the island and U.S. sales of military equipment for its defense.

China will continue to work for peaceful reunification with Taiwan, Wang said, but warned that anyone who supports independence for Taiwan would pay a price. Most Taiwanese prefer to remain separate from China without antagonizing it. They fear Chinese rule could endanger their freedoms and democracy, particularly after Chinas crackdown on Hong Kong.

Our bottom line is also very clear, Wang said. That is Taiwan will never be allowed to split from the motherland.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

Wang praised Chinas growing ties with Russia, noting that trade between the two reached $240 billion last year, beating a target to hit $200 billion by the end of 2024.

The U.S. and EU say that China is giving Russia an economic lifeline at a time when they are trying to pressure its government with sanctions over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which sparked a devastating war that has continued for more than two years.

Russian natural gas has entered thousands of households in China, and Chinese cars are driving in the streets of Russia, which fully demonstrates the strong resilience and broad prospects of mutually beneficial cooperation, Wang said.

Polands deputy foreign minister, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, told a Chinese diplomat the country should not provide political, economic and military support to Russia, a Polish government statement said. Bartoszewski made the comment at a meeting on Wednesday with a Chinese diplomatic envoy, Li Hui, who is is visiting several European countries this week for talks on the conflict.

The U.S. and EU expanded sanctions on companies and individuals from China and several other countries two weeks ago for allegedly aiding Russias war effort.

(AP)
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called out his former Republican presidential rival Nikki Haley for failing to endorse the presumptive nominee, former President Donald Trump, despite dropping out of the race.

DeSantis told Newsmax that Haleys defeat on Super Tuesday and subsequent suspension of her campaign was to be expected because she had waged a campaign on the idea that you can somehow win the Republican nomination for president by getting the votes of mostly just non-Republicans, and that just doesnt work.

We saw that play out in Iowa and I said at the time that she didnt have a pathway, so Im glad were all through that process and, you know, now were in a situation where Republicans are staring down the barrel of a President Biden whos clearly not up to the job, he added.

When asked about Haleys refusal to endorse Trump, despite her earlier pledge to do so if the election came down to Trump versus Biden, DeSantis expressed his disappointment. I signed the pledge and you sign the pledge saying that youre gonna not take your ball and go homeI honored the pledge and shes gonna have to make a decision about whether she wants to or not, he said.

For me, I tell people, you know, if I say Im gonna do something, Im gonna do it.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
LAS VEGAS  Communities In Schools of Nevada, part of a key national stay-in-school organization serving 110 schools in Elko, Clark, Humboldt and Washoe County school districts, recently received a $500,000 donation from Nevada Gold Mines.

The donation, an annual monetary commitment to CIS, brings the total donations from NGM and Barrick to more than $4.3 million over the past 14 years. NGM is the joint venture partnership between Barrick Gold and Newmont.

This years donation supports approximately 19,000 students at 16 elementary, middle, and high schools through CIS programming.

It marks the second year NGM leaders increased the funding to support CIS sites statewide, ensuring more students have the support needed to succeed in and outside of school. The donation covers the cost of tutoring, basic needs such as food and clothing, and free tele-counseling for vulnerable students across Elko, Clark, Humboldt and Washoe county school districts.

The annual contribution from NGM continues to maintain and expand CIS Integrated Student Supports program into the schools the organization serves with custom designed wraparound services provided by CIS community and nonprofit partners. CIS evidence-based model is founded on the premise that removing roadblocks to learning helps students to reach their potential and stay in school.

In the 2022-2023 school year, the high school graduation rate for CIS case-managed high school seniors and eligible juniors in Nevada was 95%, a 1% increase from the CIS graduation rate for the previous school year.

We remain incredibly grateful to Nevada Gold Mines for its ongoing investment in CIS and the students we serve throughout the state. By providing funding for our Integrated Student Supports, the core of our organizations programs and services, NGM is transforming thousands of students lives throughout our Silver State, said Tami Hance-Lehr, CEO and state director of Communities In Schools of Nevada. This partnership we have with Nevada Gold Mines enables us to continue providing students with what they need to succeed, resulting in more graduates, a more robust workforce, a more prosperous economy and thriving communities.

We are proud to be longtime partners with Communities In Schools of Nevada in supporting the states most vulnerable youth, said Alissa Wood, head of community engagement and development for Barrick North America. Their efforts are both seen and felt, resulting in increased graduation rates for Nevada students. NGM is committed to investing in education and supporting students to meet their full potential  and this partnership aligns with that commitment.

CIS of Nevada provided a list of some of the programs which NGMs recent donations is helping to support:

CIS of Northeastern Nevadas telehealth program. In 2022-2023, 85% of participating students in Elko and Humboldt Counties improved their ability to manage emotions, and 80% increased their ability to handle and cope with difficult situations. This program is a joint venture between CIS of Northeastern Nevada and UNLVs The PRACTICE: A Community Mental Health Clinic. Approximately 55 students utilize this program annually.

CIS of Nevadas site coordinators work with individual students and families to identify solutions to the myriad of barriers that often prevent students from low socioeconomic backgrounds from making academic success a priority. CIS says that because of this, their program looks different from district to district, school to school, and student to student. This funding will provide wraparound services to 10,400 students in Clark County, 3,661 students in Elko County, 3,129 students in Humboldt County, and 1,842 students in Washoe County for a total of 19,032 students throughout Nevada.

NGMs recent gift includes a $1,000 sponsorship to CIS of Northeastern Nevadas Nite at The Races in August, which raised more than $23,000 last year.
A once-prominent pro-black Instagram account, Dear White Staffers, has shifted its focus from sharing experiences of staffers of color on Capitol Hill to almost exclusively promoting anti-Israel rhetoric, according to an investigative report by Jewish Insider. The account, which has grown to nearly 120,000 followers, has been criticized for perpetuating antisemitic tropes and driving antisemitism among congressional staff.

The accounts transformation began on October 7, when it started posting anonymous, unvetted testimonials accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza and condemning the administration and Congress for continuing aid to Israel. Some posts have even accused Jewish members of seeking the deaths of children and blamed Israeli training for the Capitol Polices response to a cease-fire protest that turned violent.

Jewish Insider has linked the account to a staffer working for anti-Israel Rep. Summer Lee. Congressional staffers and Biden Administration staffers have been conducting anonymous protests against U.S. support for Israel against Hamas terrorists, demanding an immediate ceasefire for several months.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
A terrible tragedy occurred in Israel overnight Tuesday when Yisroel Eliyahu Suissa, zl, a 21-year-old Lubavitcher chassid from Montreal, Canada who was serving as a lone soldier in the IDF was killed in a motorcyle accident.

The niftar had served in Gaza since the war began, for 150 consecutive days, and had just been released for a break.

He was driving a motorcycle on Highway 4 near the Morasha Junction when he apparently lost control of the vehicle and was killed on impact.

He left behind a grieving family in Montreal, Canada.

Yehi Zichro Baruch

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
A letter with a serious warning of a possibly imminent attack on Israel was slated to be sent to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the members of the political-security cabinet immediately after Simchas Torah, Kan News reported on Tuesday evening.

Brig-Gen. Amit Sar, a senior official in the IDF Intelligence Directorate, warned in the letter that according to intelligence information, Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah were preparing for a major attack on the Jewish state and the government must prepare for it.

Saar wrote that Israels enemies perception of the IDFs lack of readiness for war along with the internal strife in the country led them to believe that the opportunity was ripe for an attack. He also wrote that senior Iranian officials were urging Hamas to perpetrate a devastating attack on Israel.

IDF Chief of Staff Hertzi Halevi and the head of the Intelligence Directorate read the letter and approved it to be sent to the prime minister. But it was too late  the attack occurred on October 7th and the letter was never sent.

According to a Maariv report, the Intelligence Directorate had previously sent four letters of warning about a possible attack to senior IDF officials in 2023 but the letters were not shared with the prime minister or senior political officials.

The report comes after a previous Maariv report revealing that Israel was aware of the full Hamas plan to infiltrate Gaza border communities about a year and a half before the October 7th attack. The report says that Israeli intelligence officials received intelligence information about the plan in April 2022 and assigned it to a female officer in Unit 8300 named V. to oversee it.

V. translated the plan from Arabic into Hebrew, naming it Walls of Jericho and monitored the intelligence information from Gaza, including recordings of its tactical communication networks.

A year later, in May 2023, Hamas carried out a massive training exercise next to the security fence on the border, during which they practiced everything written in the Walls of Jericho plan  including the paragliders and infiltration via sea and land with motorcycles and trucks.

V. sent urgent emails to her commanders in the Southern Command. She wrote that everything shes seeing on the border corresponds with what is written in the Walls of Jericho plan, adding that she is hearing verses being quoted from the Koran on the networks that she never heard before. She did research and discovered that the new verses are the ones said before going out to war. However, all her warnings were to no avail  her superiors repeatedly dismissed her and scoffed at her fears.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
Disagreements among Indiana lawmakers could stop passage of a bill aiming to address antisemitism on college campuses for the second year in a row, leaving Indiana students and professors uneasy as divisions surrounding the ongoing Israel-Hamas war deepen.

Indiana House Republicans passed House Bill 1002 two months ago as one of their five priorities for the 2024 session. The legislation  largely aimed at higher education  broadly defines antisemitism as religious discrimination and promises to provide educational opportunities free of religious discrimination.

The House bill used the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, and explicitly included contemporary examples of antisemitism provided by the alliance, which make references to Israel. These have been adopted by the U.S. Department of State.

State senators debating the bill this week, however, passed an amended version of the bill Tuesday in a 42-6 vote that removed language opposed by Hamas supporters. The amended version still includes the IHRAs broad definition of antisemitism but deleted the alliances name and examples that include explicit references to Israel.

Opponents argued that using direct references would stifle criticism of Israel in academic settings and advocacy on campuses for Palestinians in a worsening humanitarian crisis.

But the bill needs final approval from the House before lawmakers plan to adjourn Friday, and Republicans in the House want the original language restored.

The divide between the chambers is familiar. An identical bill passed unanimously in the state House last year but died after failing to reach a vote in the Senate.

For students on Indiana campuses, the legislation comes during a painful year of heightened anxiety over the conflict. To some, the Senates changes are a welcome relief following weeks of protest against the measure. Others see the changes as a betrayal and feel unheard by lawmakers.

Maya Wasserman, a 22-year old Jewish student at Indiana University Bloomington wants to see the examples that reference Israel returned to the bill because they provide guidance on what antisemitism looks like.

Without the examples and without the reference to the IHRA, it doesnt have the same effect, she said.

Mikayla Kaplan, a 19-year-old freshman from Houston who chose to attend Indiana University because of its strong Jewish student community, said while she was suspicious of the changes, she still wants to see the bill advance.

Jewish students need the protection of the law, she said.

Kaplan said shes experienced antisemitism since she was in the 7th grade, when someone dropped a drawing of a swastika in front of her. Normally open to sharing Jewish holidays and practices with friends, she has found herself holding back since Oct. 7.

Jewish students have been verbally harassed around campus, she said, some while wearing the star of David or other symbols of Judaism. Kaplan said she only feels comfortable now in her dorm or at the Helene G. Simon Hillel Center, a center for Jewish students at the university.

The state House sent the bill to a conference committee, where lawmakers from both chambers will work to resolve differences in only days.

(AP & YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
The South African government, which opened a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for genocide, was disgruntled that the court refused to order Israel to end the war so on Wednesday they filed another case with the ICJ, urging the court to order Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Last month, a South African MP in the countrys capital threatened a bloodbath in Cape Town if its handed over to the Zionists.

But not all South African politicians hate Israel. At the opening session of the South African parliament last month, MP Kenneth Meshoe attacked the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC) and said that they have invited a curse upon themselves for cursing Israel.

I want to remind the ANC today that Isaiah 54:17 says that no weapon that is formed against Israel shall prosper and every tongue that rises against it in judgement will be condemned, he said. ANC, you have gone too far and your judgement is imminent. When the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob said that He will bless those who bless Israel and and curse those who curse her, He was not joking but meant every word He said.

You have invited the curse on yourself and youre going to get it!

Earlier in the speech, Meshoe slammed the government for its friendly ties with Hamas leaders, saying that the governments cosy relationship with Hamas leadership, who still refuses to recognise the State of Israel, is just going to exacerbate an already volatile situation and hasten the demise of the ANC.

He then provided an outline for the South African government and other countries to end the war within three weeks.

That is why I believe that this government and the international community can end the war in Gaza within three weeks, if they want to, he said. They will have to do the following if they want to end the war.

Firstly, they should prevail on the Hamas, their friend, to release all remaining hostages hidden in their tunnels. Secondly, the ANC and the international community should order Hamas to destroy all tunnels under Gaza, particularly those leading into Israel. Thirdly, Hamas and the international community must accept the right of Israel to exist within safe and secure borders. Without these fundamental agreements in place, that war will never end, and the dream of a two-state solution will never materialize.

Speaker, it is not possible to live in peace next to a neighbour who has vowed to remove you from the face of the earth. It is not possible for Israel to live in peace next to Hamas who has vowed to repeat the despicable atrocities they carried out of the 7th of October last year, which reportedly included rape, murder, abductions and beheadings.

The ACDP longs to see peace between Israel and Palestine, but this wont be possible until the right of Israel to exist within safe and secure borders has been acknowledged and agreed to.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
The ceasefire and hostage deal negotiations in Cairo reached a dead end without reaching an agreement, Al Jazeera reported early Thursday afternoon.

The talks were taking place without Israeli officials as Israel refused to send a delegation after Hamas failed to provide a list of the hostages who are still alive and continued with its delusional demands, as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu termed it.

According to the report, Hamas refused to return the hostages unless Israel would call a permanent ceasefire, withdraw IDF forces from the Gaza Strip, and allow the unconditional return of Gazans to their homes throughout the Strip, including areas that are still combat zones.

The Hamas delegation left Cairo on Thursday for consultations but according to Egyptian officials, talks are slated to resume next week.

Meanwhile, Hamas political leaders are calling for an uprising during Ramadan.

Israeli senior officials believe that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is purposely sabotaging ceasefire talks, preferring to kindle tensions in the Middle East during Ramadan.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
The Biden administration quietly approved and delivered over 100 separate weapons sales to Israel since the war began on October 7th, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

In a recent classified briefing, US officials told members of Congress that the sales to Israel included thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms, and other lethal weapons.

According to the report, the weapons sales were carried out without any public debate because each one was under a specific amount of money that would necessitate the executive branch to notify Congress.

Only two weapons sales to Israel were made public since October 7th  each approved by invoking an emergency authority  $106 million worth of tank ammunition and $147.5 million of components needed to produce 155 mm shells.

State Department spokesman Matt Miller said the Biden administration has followed the procedures Congress itself has specified to keep members well-informed and regularly briefs members even when formal notification is not a legal requirement.

He added that U.S. officials have engaged Congress on arms transfers to Israel more than 200 times since Hamas launched the October 7th attack.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Thursday afternoon that the IDF will continue to operate against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, a plan that has been met with fierce international opposition.

Speaking at an IDF officers graduation ceremony, Netanyahu said: Well operate in Rafah, Hamass last stronghold. Whoever tells us not to operate there is telling us to lose the war  it wont happen.

The prime minister added that Israel will stand up to the international pressure to end the war, saying that leaders in the West should understand that Israel is preventing the next September 11 by defeating the October 7 murderers.

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that US President Joe Biden and his administration were considering ways to ban Israel from using US weapons in Rafah. Yisrael Hayom and The Guardian reported that the UK is considering a similar move.

Minister Benny Gantz (National Unity) met with members of the Biden administration on Monday evening and said that Israel will launch an operation in Rafah despite the international pressure against it.

Gantz told National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan that ending the war without an operation in Rafah is like sending a firefighter to extinguish 80% of the fire.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
Impressions of the 15th Annual Project Inspire Convention

By C.B. Weinfeld

When Avrumi Schonfeld took a flight to Miami on November 9, 2022, he could never have imagined the ramifications of his seating arrangements.

Turns out, his seatmate was a rugged Israeli ex-pat named Alon Tal, who, despite his size, was having a panic attack about the sudden bout of turbulence that tossed the airplane to and fro like an oversized rag doll.

Avrumi turned to his quaking seatmate, who had bageled him earlier, and offered to pray for their safety, in return for an unusual request. Have you ever wrapped tefillin? he asked. When Alon admitted that he hadnt worn his tefillin in years, Avrumi asked for a pledge that he would do so the following morningand send him a selfie to prove that he did. Alon readily agreed, and as they davened together the turbulence abated.

True to his promise, Alon sent a selfie to his newfound friend the following morning, showing him wrapped in his tefillin, absorbed in prayer. In response, Avrumi sent him another tefillin selfie, with the promise to repeat the deal the following day.

For four months, we kept exchanging tefillin selfies, said Avrumi to a rapt audience at the Motzoei Shabbos program of the Project Inspire Convention. And then something interesting occurred. A friend heard of my tefillin chat and invited an unaffiliated friend to join. The four of us exchanged tefillin selfies each morning for a couple of months as the tefillin chat grew.

And then one day David Sharabi of Baltimore discovered the tefillin Whatsapp group and decided to join as well, in a domino effect. Though raised in a religious home, David, an artsy young man with multiple piercings, had undergone a journey of his own. Now, for the first time in many years, he wrapped his tefillin each day and shared a selfie.



The tefillin group became so popular that before long it had mushroomed to nearly 1,000 members, and the original group was no longer adequate. Today, four years later, there are three separate Whatsapp groups, with over 3,000 members, many of them formerly unaffiliated Jews, who are proudly wearing tefillin and sharing their daily selfies with their brothers. And to think it all began with a chance conversation on a plane.

After Avrumi shared his story, he apologized, saying that Alon had been unable to join them for Shabbos. And then the curtain opened, and the hero of the hourAlon Tal in the flesh appeared on stage, joining a surprised Avrumi for a bear hug to sustained applause.

Is there a mike in the room? Deadpanned Yossie Friedman, the Executive Director of Project Inspire. This was Davids cue to emerge, having driven in from Baltimore, to join his mentor Avrumi on stage. The two had never met before, and only exchanged selfies on the group. Would Avrumi recognize his surprise guest? Not to worry; it only took a moment, and the two embraced like old friends.



Yossie and the dedicated staff at Project Inspire had done it again, highlighting the ripple effect of a kind word and generous gesture toward a fellow Jew during a random encounter, with everlasting results.

When you see something, do something.

These iconic wordsand their timeless message, was the theme of this incredible weekend, which, as the 1,000 plus participants can attest, was one of the most magical and poignant ever.

Under the dynamic direction of Founding Director Rabbi Chaim Sampson and Executive Director Yossie Friedman, Project Inspire has delivered their most successful convention yet.

Participants were treated to several riveting talks by Rav Yisroel Meir Lau, the distinguished former Chief Rabbi of Israel, who miraculously survived Buchenwald as a little boy, rebuilding from the ashes. Rabbi Lau shared his impressions of the war in Eretz Yisroel and the achdus it engendered upon Jews from every walk of life.

Another special guest was the iconic Mordechai Shenvald, an injured tank commander who, despite having broken most of his ribs during the October 7 massacre, passionately played the violin before a rapt and cheering audience.

One of the most moving surprises was the appearance of Shalom Shitrit, a heroic soldier who tragically lost his leg in a grenade attack during the battles on October 7. Shalom, who flew in from rehab in Eretz Yisroel to address the attendees, stood tall on his crutches to sustained applause that lasted several long minutes.

As Shalom expressed, I am willing to sacrifice my right leg if this is what it takes to unite all of Klal Yisroel. He stressed that the only way our nation can endure through these horrific times is through achdus, through caring for one another.

Sivan Rahav Meir, and her husband, Yedidya Meir, a beloved Israeli power couple with their own radio show, addressed the crowd several times, sharing her journey of return, which she called the most boring baal teshuvah story. It began with a casual request from a stranger in Beer Sheva, a girl she met at a convention, who asked her to come for Shabbos. That first Shabbos was the harbinger of many more, and today she and her husband are raising their beautiful family who impacting tens of thousands of secular Israelis.

When you see something, do something.

This call to action, to see opportunities to connect with our fellow Jews at every opportunity, was repeated, over and over again, by some of the most fascinating and articulate speakers from around the world.

Rav Ephraim Eliyahu Shapiro knocked it out of the ballpark with his enduring message about the Asian woman who kept searching for herselfbecause she had no idea who she was! As always, Rabbi Steven Burg gave us a powerful rundown on the state of our fellow Jews, who, in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre, want to connect as never before. Mrs. Dina Schoonmaker and Mrs. Yaffa Palti inspired the women, while Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky and Rav Gav kept us laughing all weekend, spurring us to greater awareness. Rabbi Joey Habers concluding message about the three ways to connect with our fellow Jews summed up a spectacular weekend.

And of course, the overriding theme, Take responsibility and take action, has already created an impact, with a newly formed WhatsApp group where participants have begun sharing stories and successes.



If you see something, do something. Never has this message been more relevant than this year, when our fellow Jews are yearning to connect, their hearts and emotions wide open.

What can we do that will make an enduring difference? For the over 1,000 people who attended last weeks Project Inspire convention, the answer is clear. All it takes is a smile, a kind word, a Shabbos invitation. Your actions can have a ripple effect, not only on your newfound friend, but on his or her generations for eternity.

Project Inspire empowers committed Jews to take responsibility to create a vibrant and unified Jewish people by sharing the beauty and wisdom of our common heritage with fellow Jews. To learn more, visit www.projectinspire.com and to be a part of the movement of When you See Something, Do Something, sharing stories with other participants making a difference, and receive inspiring clips from the convention, join the WhatsApp group here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Lyfc4mLfMjVEd5c23waSyW
There have been a lot of developments with Ioneers Rhyolite Ridge lithium/boron project since we last checked in with Ioneer Managing Director Bernard Rowe nearly two years ago.

There has been a lot of progress made since we spoke, Rowe said in mid-February.

Rhyolite Ridge is in central western Nevada, in Esmeralda County about 40 miles southwest of Tonopah.

In July 2022 Ioneer signed a binding lithium offtake agreement with Ford, and a binding offtake lithium agreement with PPESPrime Planet Energy & Solutions  a battery company which is a joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic. Ioneer also has a binding lithium offtake agreement with EcoPro Innovation which was announced in 2021. The three agreements cover about 80% of the lithium which Ioneer plans to produce at Rhyolite Ridge.

In May 2023 Ioneer announced a commercial offtake agreement with Dragonfly Energy, a Nevada-based energy storage company.

In September 2022 Ioneer announced it had completed an agreement with Caterpillar to adopt an autonomous haul system at the mine.

In January 2023 the U.S. Department of Energy committed to a loan of up to $700 million to Ioneer for the Rhyolite Ridge project as part of the Biden administrations commitment to develop a U.S. domestic electric vehicle supply chain. The loan is conditional on several factors, including completion of the permitting process.

Rowe said Rhyolite Ridge is still the only mine project that has received this kind of a loan commitment from the Department of Energy. He said this commitment covers the projects debt funding.

Ioneer is the only lithium project that Im aware of in the United States that has its debt funding in place, Rowe said.

Sibanye Stillwater has committed to $490 million in funding for the Rhyolite Ridge project, which will make it a 50% joint venture partner in the mine. Ioneer will be the operator.

In April 2023 Ioneer announced that its Rhyolite Ridge South Basin mineral resource estimate had increased from 1.2 million metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent to 3.4 million metric tons, an increase of 168%. The South Basins boric acid equivalent resource estimate increased from 11.9 million to 14.1 million metric tons, an increase of 18%.

Ioneer is proposing an initial production of around 22,000 metric tons per year of lithium, enough to supply around 400,000 electric vehicles. With a resource of 3.4 million metric tons of lithium, the mine could continue that level of production for many decades into the future.

Permitting

The permitting process continues to progress, but the projected deadlines have been pushed back several times. The process has been slowed as Ioneer has taken in feedback and made some changes in plans and done work to protect the Tiehms buckwheat plants that grow near the mine site.

Ioneers original Plan of Operations for Rhyolite Ridge was accepted by the Bureau of Land Management in August 2020. After further discussions and feedback from stakeholders, Ioneer decided to modify the plans in order to completely avoid the area around the buckwheat and not move any of the plants. A revised plan of operations was submitted to the BLM in July 2022.

In mid-January 2024 the BLM completed the administrative draft of the Environmental Impact Statement for Rhyolite Ridge. The draft EIS may be published in the Federal Register late in the first quarter of the year. Timelines can shift, but the BLM could approve a Record of Decision for Rhyolite Ridge in the third quarter of this year, construction could begin shortly after that, and lithium production could begin in 2026.

2024 promises to be a momentous year for Ioneer, including the expected conclusion of the federal permitting process and the commencement of construction at Rhyolite Ridge, Ioneer Executive Chairman James Calaway said in the companys quarterly report published in January. We look forward to delivering these critical and valuable materials and strengthening domestic EV supply chains.

A unique deposit

The combination of lithium and boron at Rhyolite Ridge makes it almost a one-of-a-kind deposit. It is one of only two known deposits of this type of any significant size in the entire world. There is a somewhat comparable deposit in Serbia, but it is currently not being developed.

Rowe said having the combination of lithium and boron is a double bonus for Rhyolite Ridge. One bonus will be having the revenue from the boron along with the revenue from lithium. Ioneer estimates that about 70% of the mines revenue will be from lithium, and boron will provide about 30% of the revenue.

Another big bonus from the boron, Rowe said, is that having the lithium at Rhyolite Ridge mixed with boron instead of clay makes the processing of the material simpler and less expensive.

Rowe explained that there are three types of ore at Rhyolite Ridge. Type one is a combination of lithium and boron. That type of ore has been the focus of the project. Type two is lithium in clay without boron. Type three is lithium with a low amount of boron. Types one and three have no or very little clay.

Ioneer is currently planning to just stockpile the type two ore, since their process is designed for the ore with boron.

With clay, youve got to do massive amounts of filtering and dewatering and washing and filtering again, Rowe said. He said it takes a lot of capital to build all the equipment for the filters and presses and dewatering systems needed to process a clay deposit, and there are high operating costs.

With the Rhyolite Ridge ore with no or low clay, Rowe said, you take those things off the table completely, you dont need them. And thats the big difference between Rhyolite Ridge and all other lithium deposits that we know of in Nevada and Arizona and Utah, the Southwestall of the others that we know of are all clay deposits.

Ioneer has been focused on the type one, high boron ore as the Rhyolite Ridge project has been developed, but in September 2023 the company announced that results from the latest leach tests confirmed type three and North Basin mineralization as candidates for heap or vat leaching methods, similar to those to be employed for processing type one mineralization.

The ability to process both type one and three ores could expand the potential size of the resource.

To process the lithium/boron ore, Rowe explained, they will put the hard rock material through a fairly delicate crushing process to get the rock pieces to about  of an inch. They will put the rock fragments into vats with a solution of sulfuric acid and water to leach out the minerals.

The liquid essentially eats its way into the rock fragments and takes out the lithium and the boron, Rowe said.

He said their process can be compared to having a bucket of sand, and you pour in water that then drains out through holes in the bottom of the bucket. If you tried that with a bucket of clay, you would just end up with clumps of clay, and you would need to have a more complicated process to get the materials you want out of the clay.

Although there are challenges to extracting lithium from clay, lithium may be extracted from the type two clay ore at Rhyolite Ridge in the future. In October 2023 Ioneer and EcoPro Innovation signed a memorandum of understanding saying that EcoPro will conduct research and development on the lithium clay resource at Rhyolite Ridge.

The announcement of the memorandum of understanding said that as part of the new agreement, EcoPro has agreed to fund and build a commercial-scale refining plant to develop lithium clay supplied from Rhyolite Ridge. The lithium clay raw material would be supplied at no cost to EcoPro, and the profits from the commercial refining plant would be equally shared between EcoPro and Rhyolite Ridge.

Lithium & boron prices

The big drop in the price of lithium in 2023 has caused a lot of companies mining lithium to reevaluate their plans.

The lithium industry is in a bit of a low cycle at the moment because the price of lithium has fallen a lot, Rowe said. But mind you, its fallen from very lofty heights from the previous two years, so actually where it is now is back to where it was a few years ago.

In fact, when we started this project in 2016, the price of lithium was $6000 a ton, And now its around about $12,000, plus or minus a bit. So its still double where it was.

People say, oh, its fallen 80, 90%. Yeah, well, but if you look back six months or 12 months earlier, it went up by that amount, it went from $10,000 to $80,000. Now its just come back to around the low teens, so thats not surprising to us. Probably the speed at which it happened is a bit of a surprise, but thats the reality of an emerging market, which lithium is.

Rowe said the total worldwide production of lithium is still only around 700,000 tons.

So one or two mines can either tip that into surplus or deficit.

A fairly small increase in lithium production at the same time that electric vehicle sales are not increasing as quickly as has been forecast can lead to big swings in lithium prices.

Volatility is not what you want when youre building a big mining project, Rowe said.

What you want is stability and certainty.

For the Rhyolite Ridge project, boron provides some of that stability.

The boron market is incredibly stable, and has been for a very long time, Rowe said. There are very few players in it. So its a great companion to the lithium for this project, because it doesnt have that sort of volatility, and its a significant amount of our revenue. That sort of underpins the project.

Tiehms buckwheat

We know that the conservation of Tiehms buckwheat is just part and parcel of this project, Rowe said.

Tiehms buckwheat is a perennial wildflower with yellow blossoms that was first identified at Rhyolite Ridge in 1983, and which apparently only grows on about 10 acres of land in this area.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) listed Tiehms buckwheat as an endangered species in December 2022 and designated a critical habitat area of 910 acres for the plant. Mining activity is allowable within areas designated as critical habitat with the prior approval of the FWS and BLM. Since the critical habitat designation, Ioneer has revised its plans in order to minimize activity within that area.

Ioneer fully supports the listing of Tiehms buckwheat as an endangered species and critical habitat designation, Rowe said at the time of the listing. We are committed to the protection and conservation of the species.

Ioneer has been working for years on plans for ways to preserve and increase the number of the plants. Ioneer has hired a full-time botanist, and opened the Tiehms Buckwheat Conservation Center greenhouse in May 2023. The botanists seed cleaning in 2023 yielded around 3,600 seeds from the plants at the greenhouse. The seeds are being germinated in the spring of 2024. Also in 2023, Ioneer worked with the Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank on seed collection work at Rhyolite Ridge, and a total of around 8,000 seeds were collected.

Weve done two things in parallel, Rowe said. Weve said well avoid the plants, so no direct impact. But at the same time, weve also said that voluntarily we will ratchet up the conservation efforts around the plant. So thats meant building the greenhouse, collecting seeds, growing seedlings, so that in the future those seedlings can be planted out into the ground.

It is well documented by Fish and Wildlife and others that the key to the conservation of a species thats threatened is uplift. You have to increase the number of plants. Otherwise, that plant will always face high risks.

In the fall of 2020 University of Nevada, Reno personnel under the direction of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources conducting a survey of the Tiehms buckwheat found that about half of the plants had been damaged or destroyed. The FWS concluded ground squirrels were responsible for the damage because drought conditions had likely made them seek out the moisture in the plants. Several other organizations, including the BLM, the University of Nevada, Reno, and the Nevada Department of Wildlife reached similar conclusions.

If there are just a small number of plants on a small area there is the risk that they could be wiped out in the years ahead by animals, drought, or a fire sweeping through the area.

So to address that you really need to be proactive, Rowe said. And thats what we are doing as part of the project.

He said that with their two sources of seeds they have seen an almost exponential growth in the number of seeds.

So the program is going extremely well. Were very pleased with it.

There has been speculation in the past that Tiehms buckwheat was growing in this area because it likes this particular type of soil with boron in it. Rowe said Ioneers research has shown this is not the case.

Weve actually shown that the plant is very easy to grow from seeds, it grows in all kinds of soils, Rowe said. In fact, the best results weve had so far is just growing in soils that are pretty neutral, potting mix type soils that dont have any boron in them.

That actually makes it easier to manage as a species, because then you can indeed look at uplift, and planting out, and getting a bigger and broader population so that the plants are better positioned to cope with the fluctuations in climate, as an example, and other existential threats that its going to face in the future.

Rowe said Ioneer has worked with the BLM and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in looking at the best ways to preserve the buckwheat plants.

I must compliment the BLM and Fish and Wildlife, because they engaged with us to come up with these solutions, he said. These werent things that Ioneer just went off and did ourselves. We engaged with Fish and Wildlife. We listened to their concerns, and we discussed strategies of how to deal with those concerns, and thats whats been incorporated into both the conservation efforts and also the avoidance efforts.

I do think that what weve done at Rhyolite Ridge on buckwheat with Fish and Wildlife is a pretty good example that you dont have to choose A or B, one or the other. You come together and you compromise, and you can come up with solutions.

And were doing something that I dont think anyone else would step up and fund, Rowe said. I mean, Fish and Wildlife cant spend the sort of money that we are on a single species. Because if they did that, there would be a long, long list.

So weve taken on the commitment, both time and financial, to assist in the conservation of this plant. And its a win-win. It shows what you can do when youre prepared to come together and work solutions through.

Water

Rowe said Ioneer has also put a lot of effort into studying the mines water usage.

Water is a really sensitive issue, particularly in rural Nevada, and its something that, just like with the buckwheat, weve been working on this and listening to the community and their concerns.

He said any water used by the mine will be offset by a corresponding reduction in water used for agriculture in the area,

Were making sure that our water usage in the valley is net zero, Rowe said.

And weve done a very detailed groundwater model so that we understand very well the overall dynamics of the water table, the groundwater in this valley.

The one producing lithium mine in the United States, Albemarles Silver Peak mine, which is about 12 miles east of Rhyolite Ridge, is a brine operation which has large evaporation ponds. Rhyolite Ridge will not have evaporation ponds. The process plant will have large containers where water will evaporate to concentrate the lithium, but the plant will capture the steam to cool it and reuse the water. Rowe said about 50% of the water used in the processing will be recirculated.

Also, the mine will not need a tailings dam.

Were designing this to be very efficient, in terms of water and energy needs, Rowe said. And we are also committing to the community to work as a good citizen around our water consumption and making sure we dont add to the burden on the water table in Fish Lake Valley.

Its a bit like the buckwheat, in my mind, Rowe said. Its a matter of, you engage with the community, you listen to their concerns, you work with them to come up with some solutions. Not everythings always going to work. Sometimes youre going to have to make some hard decisions and say, well, we simply cant do that.

But in these cases, the buckwheat and water, I think weve come up with some really excellent solutions to address concerns and to mitigate any potential impacts.

The community

Rowe said that working on a project like Rhyolite Ridge, it is essential to have buy-in from the community.

You have to work with the rural communities in order to be successful, you have to have a good relationship and engage with them. Otherwise, youll never arrive at a solution.

Esmeralda County where the Rhyolite Ridge project is located is a very rural, sparsely populated area. With a population of around 740 people and a land area that covers 3,589 square miles, Esmeralda is the least populous county in Nevada, and a look at national data indicates that Esmeralda is the third least densely populated county in the lower 48 states, after Loving and Kenedy Counties in Texas.

If the Rhyolite Ridge project proceeds into construction and mining, it will have a big impact on this part of the state, and a large percentage of the people in the area have expressed their interest in the project.

In the early days we would get 100 people coming to community meetings, Rowe said. And it wasnt to object to what we were doing, it was to listen to what we were doing and let us know if they had concerns, and also to express support.

Ioneer plans to have around 500 people working at Rhyolite Ridge during the two years of construction, and the mine is expected to employ around 220 to 280 people.

And that doesnt include all the indirect jobs, all the support that you have to have, Rowe said.

There will need to be more housing, and were in discussions with various groups about that, Rowe said. But our idea is to spread the workforce out. So Tonopah, Dyer, even Hawthorne, spread people out, so that theyre living in different areas, and then we will run buses between the site and those towns.

We dont want to alter the fabric of the country community too significantly.

The goal is to achieve a balance of keeping the benefits of the rural area that people appreciate, while also bringing the benefits of having more jobs available.

Job creation is important, Rowe said. Its important to us, and its obviously important to the rural communities. There are not a lot of job opportunity in these areas.

There are plenty of people who want to live in these rural areas. And so, high paying, rural jobs are a big benefit of a project like this, as are all the taxes.

Rowe said Rhyolite Ridge will be a very important employer and very important economic contributor to Esmeralda County, and it will be there for a long time, because its very large deposit. 
New build homes divide opinion. Some argue they are more likely to be hassle-free and cheaper to run, while others think they are overpriced, small and poorly built compared to their second hand counterparts.

The former camp seem to be in the majority at the moment. According to Zoopla, two thirds of buyers either want a new home, or would consider buying new.

But there is a perception that new homes are more expensive than the second hand market, and property experts tend to agree with this view.

New or old? According to Zoopla, as many as two thirds of buyers either want a new home or would consider buying new

Jonathan Hopper, chief executive of buying agent Garrington Property Finders says: 'When you're comparing like-for-like in size and location terms, new build homes will often be priced 10 per cent to 20 per cent higher than a second-hand property.'

Matt Thompson, head of sales at estate agent Chestertons, suggests the new build premium can in some cases be even higher than 20 per cent.

He says: 'New build homes tend to demand a premium that can be as high as 25 per cent compared to an older property.'

However, analysis by Zoopla shows there are areas across the UK where new builds are the cheaper option.

The property portal has revealed there are 30 areas where the asking price of a new build home is cheaper than a second hand property.

Leading the way is the cathedral city of Winchester, where a three-bed new-build home is 118,500 (22 per cent) cheaper than an equivalent second hand home.

This is followed by the nearby New Forest, where a three-bed new-build home is 45,000 or 9 per cent cheaper than a three-bed second hand property.

In percentage terms, three-bed new builds in Coventry come with a 15 per cent discount, or 36,200, according to Zoopla.

Zoopla also says value for money can also be found in new-build properties in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, including Chichester in West Sussex where new build homes are 8 per cent cheaper than older ones.

Stroud in Gloucestershire also offers a 6 per cent new build discount, while South Hams in Devon has a 7 per cent reduction.

The biggest price difference is in Winchester, where a three-bed new-build home is a whopping 118,500 cheaper than the equivalent second hand property, according to Zoopla

Daniel Copley, consumer expert at Zoopla said: 'There's often a perception that new-build properties are more expensive than resale homes - however, our data shows that there are in fact many areas of the country where new-builds are cheaper than resale homes.

'New-build homes offer additional benefits over buying a second hand property, most notably better energy efficiency and the possibility to purchase your home using a scheme like shared ownership as well as the availability of special offers and incentives.'

Are Zoopla's new build hotspots value for money?

Zoopla's figures are useful, but what they don't take into account is the size of the homes. If a new build is cheaper than an older property, but also smaller, then it might not necessarily mean the buyer is getting good value for money.

With the help of analytics firm, PropertyData, which is a tool used by developers and investors, we were able to establish accurate price per square foot figures in each of the local markets above - and compare those of newer and older homes.

Most online property adverts on Zoopla or Rightmove will come with floor plans, which provide the total square footage or square meters of a property. 1,000 square feet equals 92.9 square metres.

The square footage of each room is reached by multiplying the length by the width. The total square footage of the property is then reached by totting up the square footage of each room.

Surveyors and valuers often measure the cost per square foot when trying to determine how much a property is worth.

If someone is purchasing a property that is 1,000 square feet in size and sells for 200,000 then the buyer is paying 200 per square foot.

Price per square foot: Analysis of sales from the last two years revealed that people may not be getting such a great discount after all

PropertyData's analysis of transactions within the last two years suggests all may not be as it seems in the locations highlighted by Zoopla.

For example, in Coventry, where Zoopla says there is a 15 per cent new build asking price discount at present, PropertyData found there to in fact be a 23 per cent premium when buying new builds in the city, based on sold prices.

The average second hand home sold over the past two years in Coventry has gone for 245 per square foot. Meanwhile, the average new build sold in the city over the last two years has sold for an average 301 per square foot.

In Winchester, where new-build homes are selling for a whopping 118,500 less than the equivalent second hand home, buyers may also find they are being short-changed when it comes to size.

The data revealed the average new build home in Winchester sold for 572 per square foot, compared to 495 per square foot for the average second hand home, equating to a 16 per cent new build premium over the past two years.

Both in Canterbury and in Worthing, new builds sell with a 10 per cent premium based on price per square foot. Meanwhile, new builds in Cheltenham have demanded a 23 per cent premium over the past two years on average.

In Redcar and Cleveland, in north Yorkshire, there is a whopping 32 per cent premium for those buying new build.

There, the average new build costs 215 per square foot, while the average second hand property sells for 163 per square foot.

Peter Bill, co-author of Broken Homes: Britain's Housing Crisis: Faults, Factoids and Fixes believes that people who buy new builds need to be aware that they are paying a premium - and that they may see their house price fall in the short term.

He says: 'New homes can cost on average between 15 per cent and 20 per cent more than second hand homes and therefore tend to fall in value to begin with, rather than rise.

'Like a new car, the price falls as soon as you step in the door. It can take up to five years for overall prices to rise before you can get what you paid.'

Where are older properties more expensive?

When comparing price per square foot, the average new build premium recorded for the UK as a whole is 13 per cent, according to PropertyData.

However, new builds don't always attract a premium, according to the analysis by the property analytics firm.

For example, in the Derbyshire Dales, the older second hand stock commands a 6 per cent premium compared to new builds in terms of price per square foot.

In Perth and Kinross in Scotland, it found that older stock is on average 7 per cent more expensive than new builds, based on price per square foot.

In South Oxfordshire, the average new build over the past two years has sold at 429 per square foot compared to 447 for second hand homes, representing a 4 per cent new build discount.

Older home premium: Somewhere where the old stock is of particularly desirable high quality may see the new build discount flipped

Buying agent Jonathan Hopper says: 'New builds don't always attract a premium. Established homes in certain "golden postcodes" can trump even the frothiest of new build premiums due to the scarcity premium they command.

'Typically, golden postcodes will have a combination of high quality homes and a powerful 'pull factor' for buyers  like being in the catchment area of an outstanding state school.

'In areas like this, supply and demand will always be out of balance and thus top dollar prices are frequently paid.'

Why would you pay more for a new build?

While some will consider new builds as overpriced, there appears to be a reason why many buyers are prepared to pay a premium.

'New build buyers pay this premium for several reasons,' says Hopper, 'The first is personalisation  and the chance to have a home designed specifically around your needs, lifestyle and even furniture.

'Then there's the ease of owning a new build home. It will typically be lower maintenance than an older home and come with the reassurance of a builder's guarantee to cover any issues that might emerge.

'Crucially you won't need to worry about repainting or refurbishing it  meaning you can just move in and enjoy with minimum fuss.'

Less hassle? Typically new builds will be lower maintenance than an older homes and will come with the reassurance of a builder's guarantee, according to Jonathan Hopper

Damien Wynne, director of the green housebuilder Q New Homes, says the argument for having an energy efficient home has become more persuasive in recent years.

Older homes tend to be poorly insulated and cost more to run while new builds offer buyers the opposite.

'Energy efficiency  and the prospect of lower energy bills  has always been a key advantage of new build homes compared to second-hand properties,' says Wynne.

'But when energy bills soared following Russia's invasion of Ukraine two years ago, energy efficiency moved from being a "nice to have" to a must-have for many homebuyers.

'Along with location and lifestyle, it's near the top of the wish list of many of the prospective buyers we speak to.

'When you consider the new Ofgem price cap  which estimates that a typical household in Britain will spend 1690 a year on energy from April  you can see how energy efficiency can be a trump card for the best new build homes compared to the UK's existing housing stock, which official data shows is the worst insulated in Europe.'

Green: Alongside location and lifestyle, energy efficiency is also near the top of the wish list of many prospective buyers, says Damien Wynne, director of housebuilder Q New Homes

Ultimately, it will be a matter of personal preference. For all the people who prefer new homes, there are plenty who have experienced problems with new builds and will feel not just ripped off on price but also in terms of quality.

Matt Thompson of Chestertons adds: 'It can be challenging to make a decision between a new build and an older property as both offer pros and cons that each buyer needs to weigh up to decide which element is more important to them.

'Whilst new builds often have better eco-credentials and a more modern look, some house hunters favour Georgian or Victorian homes due to their room size and layout as well as general character.

'Investors who opt for an older property do need to pay particular attention to any looming repair works and take those into consideration.

'Should the home suddenly require a new roof, for example, it could have dire consequences on the overall return on investment.'
Have you had a problem with a firm? Email helen.crane@thisismoney.co.uk

I'm a UK national but have lived in France since 1986. I've banked with Barclays since 1965, but in late 2022 my cheques stopped being honoured.

I was later told I could no longer keep my account due to the Brexit rule changes, and the account was closed.

My problem is getting the 15,000 I held with Barclays transferred to my French bank - it has been a nightmare. It's been 10 months and my money is still stuck in a 'holding account' which I can't access.

Continental calamity: Living in France means our reader has had his account closed - but he has been struggling to access the money that was within it for months

I was asked to send various documentation signed by an official, including a copy of my UK passport, my French account details and various forms Barclays sent me.

This has been done and signed off by my accountant, and I have even filled out some of the forms multiple times - but the money has still not been transferred.

I'm in my eighties, don't use the internet and can't travel to the UK to sort this out due to my ill health.

Recently I got a call from the Barclays complaints department and the person told me she couldn't see or find an account for me at Barclays at all - not even a holding account. This is quite concerning. Where is my money? F.E, France

Helen Crane, This is Money's consumer champion, replies: While you have enjoyed living la belle vie in France since the 1980s, there are certain financial downsides to being a UK expat.

Since Brexit, many banks have taken a harder line on customers living in European countries outside of the UK.

Some have decided to stop allowing customers who don't have a UK address to bank with them at all, and have closed their accounts.

Others will allow them to keep their accounts open, but prevent them from opening new ones or accessing certain services. Some banks gave customers the opportunity to open special expat accounts, but these come with hefty fees.

CRANE ON THE CASE Our weekly column sees This is Money consumer expert Helen Crane tackle reader problems and shine the light on companies doing both good and bad. Want her to investigate a problem, or do you want to praise a firm for going that extra mile? Get in touch: helen.crane@thisismoney.co.uk

In your case, Barclays made the decision to close your account entirely, as it did for most of its expat customers.

You accept that that is the case. However, there has been a breakdown in communication which has made it a real challenge to get your cash.

You don't use email, instead preferring to bank via phone and post.

Barclays did say that it warned you about this six months in advance of your account being closed, sending you a letter in July 2022 - but you say you didn't receive it.

You also say that you didn't receive a bank statement from Barclays for more than a year in advance of this.

Whether or not that July letter was sent, I think it is the sort of urgent information that would have been better explained to you via a phone call from Barclays.

The bank has set up a website for those who are having their accounts closed, but it seems things have gone wrong when it comes to getting touch with customers directly.

Thousands of customers living all over Europe are affected by this - many of whom will be retirees who don't regularly go online.

Offline: Our reader prefers to do his banking via phone and post, which seems to have made it more difficult to deal with Barclays

As it happened, your account was closed in February 2023. If you had realised about the closure earlier, you could have simply transferred the funds yourself to your French bank account before the UK account was shut down. But as you had missed that deadline, the process was much trickier.

In the instructions on Barclays website, it says those living outside the UK should only need to fill out one form in order to transfer their money.

Sounds easy - but unfortunately that wasn't your experience. Understandably, there were several documents you had to provide, but you say that you have sent these off and not heard anything back from Barclays.

You sent some by registered post, so know that they were delivered. You also said you had to fill out the same form several times, which was stressful given your age and ill health.

I do feel that banks are getting lazier when it comes to dealing with customers who prefer to correspond by post or phone, instead of doing things online.

Too often, letters in particular seem to be ignored with the assumption that the customer will eventually pick up the phone or use online banking. But you are in your eighties, don't bank online and don't intend to start.

You don't even have an email address, and had to enlist the help of your daughter back in the UK's account to get in touch with me and send me your correspondence.

Once you did, I contacted Barclays in November to ask why getting your money had taken so long. After I did that, it said it attempted to call you several times, but you didn't pick up.

You assured me you hadn't received the calls, though, and when I questioned this Barclays said it didn't have the right phone number for you on file - even though you had called them on that number multiple times.

You also received the call from the complaints department, which told you it couldn't find an account for you, on that same number - so someone in the Barclays must have known it.

I had to send them your correct phone number in order to get the money transferred, which I am pleased to say was finally done in late December.

That was 10 months after your account was closed, and more than a year after you first became aware of the problem. If I hadn't got involved, who knows how long it may have taken.

Tranquil: F.E lives on the Cote d'Azur, close to the beautiful St Tropez - but his peaceful retirement has been interrupted by this bank account blip

A Barclays spokesman said: 'Our Barclays UK products are designed for customers within the UK. Barclays UK is no longer offering personal current or savings accounts to retail customers who have an address registered with us outside of the UK, with limited exceptions.

'Our customer was given six month's notice in July 2022 of this decision before account closure took place in February 2023, with accompanying information explaining the next steps they needed to take.

'Letters were sent monthly between April 2023 and July 2023 to our customer requesting information that would allow the funds to be released.

'Unfortunately, without this information we were unable to complete the claim. Once we were able to speak to our customer the required information was obtained and the funds released.'

You claim you didn't receive those monthly letters, and again I think the information would have been better communicated in a phone call.

However, I am glad that you finally have your money safely in your French account.

You have since sent me a postcard from your town in the beautiful Cote d'Azur - and I hope you continue to enjoy your twilight years there, unhampered by any further banking bother.
Central Puerto (NYSE:CEPU  Get Free Report) is set to post its 12/31/2023 quarterly earnings results after the market closes on Friday, March 8th. Analysts expect Central Puerto to post earnings of $0.02 per share for the quarter. Individual interested in participating in the companys earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Central Puerto Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of CEPU opened at $8.04 on Thursday. Central Puerto has a 52-week low of $4.69 and a 52-week high of $9.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firms fifty day moving average is $8.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.58. The stock has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 22.97 and a beta of 1.42.

Get Central Puerto alerts:

Central Puerto Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a  dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 1st were paid a dividend of $0.0662 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 12th. This represents a yield of 2.1%. Central Puertos dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

About Central Puerto

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CEPU. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Central Puerto during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Susquehanna International Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Central Puerto during the 4th quarter valued at about $66,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Central Puerto during the 2nd quarter valued at about $88,000. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Central Puerto during the 2nd quarter valued at about $105,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Central Puerto during the 4th quarter valued at about $114,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.84% of the companys stock.

(Get Free Report)

Central Puerto SA engages in the electric power generation in Argentina. It operates through three segments: Electric Power Generation from Conventional Sources, Electric Power Generation from Renewable Sources, and Natural Gas Transport and Distribution. The company generates energy through thermal, hydroelectric, and wind farms.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Central Puerto Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Central Puerto and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shore Capital reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Rightmove (LON:RMV  Free Report) in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on RMV. Citigroup restated a sell rating on shares of Rightmove in a report on Wednesday, November 22nd. Numis Securities raised Rightmove to a buy rating and upped their target price for the stock from GBX 660 ($8.38) to GBX 675 ($8.57) in a research report on Monday, November 27th. Finally, Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a buy rating and set a GBX 605 ($7.68) target price on shares of Rightmove in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rightmove has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of GBX 603.83 ($7.66).

Get Rightmove alerts:

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on RMV

Rightmove Price Performance

Rightmove Increases Dividend

Rightmove stock opened at GBX 566.40 ($7.19) on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of 4.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,360.00, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.96. Rightmove has a 52-week low of GBX 457.70 ($5.81) and a 52-week high of GBX 603 ($7.65). The stocks 50 day moving average price is GBX 554.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 545.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.67, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 2.41.

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a GBX 5.70 ($0.07) dividend. This is a positive change from Rightmoves previous dividend of $3.60. This represents a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Rightmoves dividend payout ratio is presently 3,750.00%.

About Rightmove

(Get Free Report)

Rightmove plc, together with its subsidiaries, operates property portals in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates through Agency, New Homes, and Other segments. The Agency segment provides property resale and letting advertising services on its platforms. It also offers tenant references and rent guarantee insurance services to landlords.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Rightmove Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Rightmove and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Research analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Flanigans Enterprises (NYSEAMERICAN:BDL  Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday. The firm set a hold rating on the stock.

Separately, TheStreet downgraded shares of Flanigans Enterprises from a b- rating to a c rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th.

Get Flanigan's Enterprises alerts:

View Our Latest Analysis on BDL

Flanigans Enterprises Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSEAMERICAN:BDL opened at $25.00 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $46.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 0.71. Flanigans Enterprises has a fifty-two week low of $24.43 and a fifty-two week high of $34.59.

Flanigans Enterprises (NYSEAMERICAN:BDL  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $45.14 million for the quarter. Flanigans Enterprises had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 4.65%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Flanigans Enterprises

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BDL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Flanigans Enterprises by 61.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,502 shares of the companys stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 7,427 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Flanigans Enterprises during the 2nd quarter valued at $114,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Flanigans Enterprises by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 60,984 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,556,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Flanigans Enterprises by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,212 shares of the companys stock valued at $190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Flanigans Enterprises by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 32,840 shares of the companys stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.62% of the companys stock.

About Flanigans Enterprises

(Get Free Report)

Flanigan's Enterprises, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a chain of full-service restaurants and package liquor stores in South Florida. The company operates in two segments, Package Stores and Restaurants. It operates package liquor stores under the Big Daddy's Liquors name, which offer private label liquors, beer, and wines; and restaurants under the Flanigan's Seafood Bar and Grill service mark that provide alcoholic beverages and full food services.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Flanigan's Enterprises Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Flanigan's Enterprises and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR  Get Free Report) and American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT  Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Equity Residential and American Assets Trusts gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Get Equity Residential alerts:

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Equity Residential $2.87 billion 8.27 $835.44 million $2.20 28.47 American Assets Trust $441.16 million 2.87 $64.69 million $0.84 24.75

Equity Residential has higher revenue and earnings than American Assets Trust. American Assets Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Equity Residential, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Analyst Recommendations

Equity Residential has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Assets Trust has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Equity Residential and American Assets Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Equity Residential 1 9 4 0 2.21 American Assets Trust 0 1 0 0 2.00

Equity Residential currently has a consensus target price of $65.68, indicating a potential upside of 4.87%. American Assets Trust has a consensus target price of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.82%. Given American Assets Trusts higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe American Assets Trust is more favorable than Equity Residential.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

84.8% of Equity Residential shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.4% of American Assets Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Equity Residential shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 35.4% of American Assets Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Equity Residential and American Assets Trusts net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Equity Residential 29.07% 7.43% 4.16% American Assets Trust 11.42% 4.31% 1.68%

Dividends

Equity Residential pays an annual dividend of $2.65 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. American Assets Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. Equity Residential pays out 120.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. American Assets Trust pays out 157.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Equity Residential has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and American Assets Trust has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. American Assets Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Equity Residential beats American Assets Trust on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Equity Residential

(Get Free Report)

Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of residential properties located in and around dynamic cities that attract affluent long-term renters. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 305 properties consisting of 80,683 apartment units, with an established presence in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California, and an expanding presence in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Austin.

About American Assets Trust

(Get Free Report)

American Assets Trust, Inc. is a full service, vertically integrated and self-administered real estate investment trust ("REIT"), headquartered in San Diego, California. The company has over 55 years of experience in acquiring, improving, developing and managing premier office, retail, and residential properties throughout the United States in some of the nation's most dynamic, high-barrier-to-entry markets primarily in Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Oregon, Texas and Hawaii. The company's office portfolio comprises approximately 4.1 million rentable square feet, and its retail portfolio comprises approximately 3.1 million rentable square feet. In addition, the company owns one mixed-use property (including approximately 94,000 rentable square feet of retail space and a 369-room all-suite hotel) and 2,110 multifamily units. In 2011, the company was formed to succeed to the real estate business of American Assets, Inc., a privately held corporation founded in 1967 and, as such, has significant experience, long-standing relationships and extensive knowledge of its core markets, submarkets and asset classes.

Receive News & Ratings for Equity Residential Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Equity Residential and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
RB Global, Inc. (NYSE:RBA  Get Free Report) (TSE:RBA) insider Darren Jeffrey Watt sold 2,300 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.97, for a total transaction of $177,031.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,103 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,624,297.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Darren Jeffrey Watt also recently made the following trade(s):

Get RB Global alerts:

On Wednesday, February 28th, Darren Jeffrey Watt sold 1,100 shares of RB Global stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.05, for a total transaction of $84,755.00.

RB Global Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of RBA opened at $74.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $13.71 billion, a PE ratio of 88.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.87. The companys fifty day moving average is $67.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.06. RB Global, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.07 and a fifty-two week high of $77.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

RB Global Announces Dividend

RB Global ( NYSE:RBA Get Free Report ) (TSE:RBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. RB Global had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 4.19%. RB Globals revenue for the quarter was up 134.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. Analysts forecast that RB Global, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. RB Globals payout ratio is 127.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RB Global

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RBA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of RB Global by 144.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,647,288 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $1,415,456,000 after acquiring an additional 13,400,942 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in RB Global by 286.9% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,479,856 shares of the business services providers stock worth $388,791,000 after buying an additional 4,804,923 shares during the period. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in RB Global by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,649,251 shares of the business services providers stock worth $467,920,000 after buying an additional 2,655,388 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in RB Global during the 4th quarter worth $141,970,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in RB Global by 241.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,983,676 shares of the business services providers stock worth $178,932,000 after buying an additional 2,109,713 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.24% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on RBA. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of RB Global from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of RB Global from $75.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of RB Global from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of RB Global from $76.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, National Bankshares raised their target price on shares of RB Global from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, November 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $79.67.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on RBA

RB Global Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

RB Global, Inc, an omnichannel marketplace, provides insights, services, and transaction solutions for buyers and sellers of commercial assets and vehicles worldwide. Its marketplace brands include Ritchie Bros., an auctioneer of commercial assets and vehicles offering online bidding; IAA, a digital marketplace connecting vehicle buyers and sellers; Rouse Services, which provides asset management, data-driven intelligence, and performance benchmarking system; SmartEquip, a technology platform that supports customers' management of the equipment lifecycle; Xcira that provides live simulcast auction technologies; and Veritread, an online marketplace for heavy haul transport solution.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for RB Global Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for RB Global and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS  Get Free Report) has received an average rating of Moderate Buy from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $89.58.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of CVS Health from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of CVS Health from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Wednesday. They set an equal weight rating and a $78.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reiterated an outperform rating on shares of CVS Health in a research note on Monday, February 26th.

Get CVS Health alerts:

View Our Latest Stock Report on CVS

Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CVS Health

In related news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total value of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website . Company insiders own 0.25% of the companys stock.

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CVS. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 92.9% in the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 377,875 shares of the pharmacy operators stock worth $38,245,000 after purchasing an additional 181,966 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 7.2% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 18,658 shares of the pharmacy operators stock valued at $1,888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,260 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 4,063.8% during the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 12,075 shares of the pharmacy operators stock valued at $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 11,785 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 116.9% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,572 shares of the pharmacy operators stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,386 shares during the period. Finally, Ergoteles LLC bought a new stake in CVS Health during the first quarter valued at about $1,551,000. 75.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CVS Health Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CVS Health stock opened at $74.35 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $93.57 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.51. CVS Health has a 1-year low of $64.41 and a 1-year high of $83.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $76.24 and a 200-day moving average of $72.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $93.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.58 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 2.33%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that CVS Health will post 8.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About CVS Health

(Get Free Report

CVS Health Corporation provides health solutions in the United States. It operates through Health Care Benefits, Health Services, and Pharmacy & Consumer Wellness segments. The Health Care Benefits segment offers traditional, voluntary, and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for CVS Health Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CVS Health and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Bank of Hawaii Co. (NYSE:BOH  Free Report)  Research analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for Bank of Hawaii in a research report issued on Monday, March 4th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the bank will post earnings of $0.97 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $0.95. The consensus estimate for Bank of Hawaiis current full-year earnings is $3.70 per share.

Get Bank of Hawaii alerts:

Bank of Hawaii (NYSE:BOH  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.01. Bank of Hawaii had a net margin of 17.35% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The company had revenue of $252.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Bank of Hawaii from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Friday, December 8th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Bank of Hawaii from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Bank of Hawaii from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Hawaii to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and one has given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Reduce and a consensus price target of $52.40.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Bank of Hawaii

Bank of Hawaii Price Performance

NYSE:BOH opened at $62.50 on Thursday. Bank of Hawaii has a one year low of $30.83 and a one year high of $75.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.06. The firms fifty day moving average is $64.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.49.

Bank of Hawaii Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.48%. Bank of Hawaiis dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.47%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Hawaii

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Hawaii by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 70,245 shares of the banks stock worth $5,895,000 after purchasing an additional 3,843 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Hawaii by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 15,739 shares of the banks stock worth $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 2,093 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Hawaii by 43.8% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 14,531 shares of the banks stock worth $1,219,000 after purchasing an additional 4,423 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Hawaii by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,757 shares of the banks stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Hawaii by 32.7% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 26,023 shares of the banks stock worth $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 6,407 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.46% of the companys stock.

Bank of Hawaii Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Bank of Hawaii Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Hawaii that provides various financial products and services in Hawaii, Guam, and other Pacific Islands. It operates in three segments: Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers checking, savings, and time deposit accounts; residential mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit, automobile loans and leases, personal lines of credit, installment loans, small business loans and leases, and credit cards; private and international client banking, investment, credit, and trust services to individuals and families, and high-net-worth individuals; investment management; institutional investment advisory services to corporations, government entities, and foundations; and brokerage offerings, including equities, mutual funds, life insurance, and annuity products.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Bank of Hawaii Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of Hawaii and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW  Free Report) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 10,280 shares of the utilities providers stock, valued at approximately $757,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new position in Pinnacle West Capital in the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Pinnacle West Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Retirement Group LLC grew its position in Pinnacle West Capital by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 600 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Pinnacle West Capital during the third quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Pinnacle West Capital by 235.5% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 718 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. 84.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Pinnacle West Capital alerts:

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Robert Edgar Smith sold 1,610 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.95, for a total transaction of $122,279.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,178 shares of the companys stock, valued at $697,069.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on PNW. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Pinnacle West Capital from $83.00 to $80.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Barclays decreased their target price on Pinnacle West Capital from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim upgraded Pinnacle West Capital from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Pinnacle West Capital in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. They set a neutral rating and a $69.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Pinnacle West Capital from $78.00 to $74.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $73.00.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on PNW

Pinnacle West Capital Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:PNW opened at $69.76 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $69.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.00. Pinnacle West Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $65.20 and a 12-month high of $86.03.

Pinnacle West Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. Pinnacle West Capitals dividend payout ratio is presently 79.82%.

Pinnacle West Capital Company Profile

(Free Report)

Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, through its subsidiary, Arizona Public Service Company, provides retail and wholesale electric services primarily in the state of Arizona. The company engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity using coal, nuclear, gas, oil, and solar generating facilities.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PNW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE:PNW  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Pinnacle West Capital Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pinnacle West Capital and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
The Women in Mining annual National Conference is coming back to Elko, Nevada in 2024, and the WIM Nevada Chapter has been hard at work putting together a dynamic event that will be fun and educational.

Were excited to have the opportunity to host the annual conference here. Its been a lot of work, but its been a rewarding process, WIM Nevada Chapter president Teryn Faiman said.

She said the conference will bring together trailblazers from across the mining industry to share insights, expertise, and experiences.

Almost 500 people attended last years Women in Mining National Conference in Tucson, Arizona. Faiman said the Nevada chapter is hoping that around the same number will attend the conference in Elko.

Faiman said Elko will be the perfect stage for this empowering conference, where attendees can engage in thought-provoking discussions, network with industry leaders, and celebrate the achievements of women in mining and change within the mining industry.

The conference launches Wednesday, April 10, with volunteer opportunities to get involved in sharing the news about the importance of mining in todays world. Conference attendees can visit area high schools to talk with students about modern mining and mining careers.

Wednesday evening it will be time for a good time at the welcome dinner and dance, sponsored by Nevada Gold Mines.

Thursday, April 11 brings a full day of conference activities  speakers, panel discussions, workshops, and networking.

After a networking breakfast, Denise Johnson, the group president of resources industries at Caterpillar, gets the days sessions started with a keynote address. In an interview with the Arizona School of Mining & Mineral Resources after becoming the first woman inducted into the American Mining Hall of Fame of the Mining and Minerals Education Foundation, Johnson commented that Theres never been a more exciting time to be a part of the (mining) industry.

Thursdays sessions and panel discussions include insights into empowering better wellness, a look into the future of mining, a keynote address from leadership development professional Amber Barnes, and a conversation about fostering a sustainable and inclusive workforce.

Thursday afternoon the conference is calling all changemakers to join in on DEIdeas, an interactive discussion session on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the mining industry.

Amanda Hilton, the new president of the Nevada Mining Association who was previously the general manager of the Robinson Mine in Nevada, will wrap up the days conference events with a closing address Thursday afternoon.

Friday morning begins with a leadership discussion with Janet Foutty, one of the three co-authors of Arrive and Thrive, a bestselling book on seven impactful practices for women navigating leadership.

Nike CEO John Donahoe said the book captures insightful and practical lessons that all aspiring leaders can learn from.

Foutty spent 30 years with Deloitte, the largest professional services network in the world, where her roles included serving as the chair and CEO of Deloitte Consulting and the executive chair of the board of Deloitte U.S.

After the opening session, Fridays agenda presents what might be a tough decision on how to spend the day, because there are a lot of great options. Conference attendees can choose between a professional development workshop or five different field trips to local mines. The mine field trips include Kinross Gold Corp.s Bald Mountain Mine; Nevada Gold Mines Carlin Mine  processing, surface, or underground; or I-80 Gold Corp.s Lone Tree Mine and SSRs Marigold Mine. A maximum of 50 people can go on each tour, and registration is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Fridays workshop on courageous & conscious leadership will be led by Amber Barnes, the founder and chief education officer of StartHuman, which is based in Reno. The goal of StartHuman is to help workplaces become places where people thrive. The companys website says, A business doesnt achieve results; its people do. And people achieve greater results when they are engaged, energized, fulfilled, and treated like people rather than instruments, machines, or tools for the job. An educator at heart, Amber develops leaders and equips them with the skills, knowledge, and abilities they need to be effective at leading people.

The conference will wrap up Friday evening for many of the attendees. For members of Women in Mining USA, there will be a WIM USA board meeting Saturday morning.

Women in Mining USA

Along with attending this years national conference, Faiman encourages people to join and get involved in their local Women in Mining chapter.

Women in Mining USA was formed in the Denver area in 1972, and is a nationwide organization committed to positioning mining as an equitable, sustainable and reputable industry.

Faiman said WIM USA experienced remarkable growth in 2023, and the flourishing network has expanded its footprint with the recent addition of an Alaska chapter and a student chapter at the University of Nevada, Reno.

WIM USA currently has eight professional and eight student chapters. The professional chapters are in Alaska, Arizona, California, Denver, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Utah. The student chapters are at the Colorado School of Mines, the Missouri University of Science & Technology, Montana Tech, the University of Arizona, the University of Kentucky, the University of Nevada, Reno, the University of Utah, and West Virginia University.

Faiman said the Nevada chapter has four primary objectives: Education (changing misconceptions about the mining industry), advocacy (advocating for a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce), empowerment (empowering members through professional development and networking), and inspiration (attracting future generations to pursue careers in the mining industry).

The Nevada chapter has done a great job making sure we accomplish each one of our objectives, Faiman said.

We have quarterly events focused on professional networking, elementary education, and fundraising, Faiman said. The Women in Mining Nevada mission is to educate members and communities on all aspects of the mining industry through educational programs and fundraising events. We focus our education efforts on the future generations and work closely with elementary students. We seek to promote diversity by providing opportunities for professional networking and development while preserving the history of mining.

Faiman, who is the director of human resources and administration at Linkan Engineering in Elko, has been the president of the Nevada Chapter of Women in Mining for about three years. She said everything she has been working on as the WIM Nevada president has been geared towards making an impactful change in the mining industry.

I am passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion and strive to see a difference within the industry in the coming years, Faiman said. The Nevada Chapter has been working diligently to reach the youth in our communities to spark an interest in mining.

She said the chapters activities have included visits to local schools and Boys and Girls Clubs, attendance at Elko Area Chamber of Commerce meetings, and a presence at high school career fairs, as they work on inspiring community members to consider a career in mining.

Faiman is the mother of two, a boy and a girl, and she said she has instilled in them at a young age that mining is a career option for both of them.

Talking with young people, she shares all the possibilities that mining offers.

If you like rocks, have you considered being a geologist? Do you like math? What about becoming an engineer? If you like hunting, what about becoming an environmental specialist to preserve the wildlife and the areas where you hunt? There are so many opportunities that mining can offer. All you need to do is pick a direction and run with it. 
Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI  Free Report) (TSE:CNR) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,213 shares of the transportation companys stock after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NAs holdings in Canadian National Railway were worth $1,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the 1st quarter worth about $2,575,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Canadian National Railway by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 931,027 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $124,888,000 after purchasing an additional 193,116 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Canadian National Railway by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 762,341 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $102,260,000 after purchasing an additional 22,984 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in Canadian National Railway by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 60,441 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $8,107,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in Canadian National Railway by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 33,602 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $4,511,000 after purchasing an additional 5,349 shares in the last quarter. 67.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get Canadian National Railway alerts:

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

NYSE CNI opened at $126.95 on Thursday. Canadian National Railway has a 1 year low of $103.96 and a 1 year high of $132.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.50 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.88. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $126.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $117.63.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

Canadian National Railway ( NYSE:CNI Get Free Report ) (TSE:CNR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.02. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 33.38% and a return on equity of 23.56%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.25 billion. Analysts predict that Canadian National Railway will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th will be paid a $0.638 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 6th. This is a boost from Canadian National Railways previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.55 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. Canadian National Railways dividend payout ratio is currently 36.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CNI. Susquehanna Bancshares increased their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $115.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, CIBC downgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a sector outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Seventeen 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, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $144.20.

Read Our Latest Report on Canadian National Railway

About Canadian National Railway

(Free Report)

Canadian National Railway Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the rail, intermodal, trucking, and marine transportation and logistics business in Canada and the United States. The company provides rail services, which include equipment, custom brokerage services, transloading and distribution, business development and real estate, and private car storage services; and intermodal services, such as temperature controlled cargo, port partnerships, and logistics parks.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CNI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI  Free Report) (TSE:CNR).

Receive News & Ratings for Canadian National Railway Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian National Railway and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU  Free Report) by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 300,000 shares of the business services providers stock after buying an additional 75,000 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.15% of TransUnion worth $21,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $338,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 39,000 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $2,800,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 74.8% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 283,656 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $20,364,000 after buying an additional 121,411 shares during the period. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TransUnion in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,774,000. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of TransUnion by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 50,871 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $3,652,000 after buying an additional 13,961 shares during the period.

Get TransUnion alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on TRU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of TransUnion from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of TransUnion from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of TransUnion from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $77.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Martin sold 12,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.59, for a total transaction of $943,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 54,522 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,284,883.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

TransUnion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRU opened at $79.10 on Thursday. The companys fifty day moving average price is $71.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.96. TransUnion has a 12 month low of $42.09 and a 12 month high of $82.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -53.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.61.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.08. TransUnion had a negative net margin of 7.50% and a positive return on equity of 13.58%. The firm had revenue of $954.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $927.04 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. TransUnions revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that TransUnion will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TransUnion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 6th. TransUnions dividend payout ratio is currently -28.19%.

TransUnion Company Profile

(Free Report)

TransUnion operates as a global consumer credit reporting agency that provides risk and information solutions. The company operates in three segments: U.S. Markets, International, and Consumer Interactive. The U.S. Markets segment provides consumer reports, actionable insights, and analytic services to businesses, which uses its services to acquire new customers; assess consumer ability to pay for services; identify cross-selling opportunities; measure and manage debt portfolio risk; collect debt; verify consumer identities; and mitigate fraud risk.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for TransUnion Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for TransUnion and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. decreased its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL  Free Report) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 640,036 shares of the transportation companys stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.10% of Delta Air Lines worth $23,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,234,306 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $2,700,032,000 after buying an additional 1,267,578 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 26,563,427 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $1,262,825,000 after buying an additional 995,107 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,150,815 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $1,053,050,000 after purchasing an additional 498,172 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 399.7% in the second quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 19,665,620 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $934,904,000 after purchasing an additional 15,729,876 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines by 2.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,493,033 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $640,323,000 after purchasing an additional 324,229 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.29% of the companys stock.

Get Delta Air Lines alerts:

Delta Air Lines Stock Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines stock opened at $42.01 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.88, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.42. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.60 and a 52 week high of $49.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend

Delta Air Lines ( NYSE:DAL Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 12th. The transportation company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.11. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 46.35%. The business had revenue of $14.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $13.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 23rd. Delta Air Liness dividend payout ratio is currently 5.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. TheStreet raised Delta Air Lines from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Delta Air Lines from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Delta Air Lines has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $55.54.

Read Our Latest Report on DAL

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total transaction of $2,816,128.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 428,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,807,705.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.89% of the companys stock.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

(Free Report)

Delta Air Lines, Inc provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Airline and Refinery. Its domestic network centered on core hubs in Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Salt Lake City, as well as coastal hub positions in Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, and Seattle; and international network centered on hubs and market presence in Amsterdam, Bogota, Lima, Mexico City, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Sao Paulo, Seoul-Incheon, and Tokyo.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Delta Air Lines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Delta Air Lines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Evergreen Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO  Free Report) by 14.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,011 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 1,343 shares during the quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLCs holdings in Southern were worth $518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838,857 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,816,104 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,387,945,000 after purchasing an additional 452,511 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,070,918 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,128,982,000 after buying an additional 642,737 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Southern by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,910,166 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $836,689,000 after buying an additional 883,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Southern by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $694,953,000 after buying an additional 163,986 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.85% of the companys stock.

Get Southern alerts:

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,998 shares of company stock valued at $1,817,613. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $68.58 on Thursday. The stocks fifty day moving average is $68.84 and its 200 day moving average is $68.62. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.89, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Southern (NYSE:SO  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Southerns dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $73.46.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Southern

Southern Company Profile

(Free Report)

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Southern Company (NYSE:SO  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Southern Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Southern and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
New York Community Bancorp (NYSE:NYCB  Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by stock analysts at Wedbush from $3.50 to $3.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underperform rating on the financial services providers stock. Wedbushs price objective indicates a potential downside of 13.79% from the stocks previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com lowered New York Community Bancorp from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James cut New York Community Bancorp from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group cut New York Community Bancorp from a buy rating to a hold rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on New York Community Bancorp from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, Compass Point lowered shares of New York Community Bancorp from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $8.00 in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $7.73.

Get New York Community Bancorp alerts:

Read Our Latest Research Report on New York Community Bancorp

New York Community Bancorp Trading Up 8.1 %

NYSE:NYCB opened at $3.48 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $7.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.41. New York Community Bancorp has a 12 month low of $1.70 and a 12 month high of $14.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The stock has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.95.

New York Community Bancorp (NYSE:NYCB  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported ($0.27) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.56). The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $935.90 million. New York Community Bancorp had a net margin of 28.96% and a return on equity of 5.85%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. Equities analysts predict that New York Community Bancorp will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at New York Community Bancorp

In other news, CEO Thomas R. Cangemi bought 11,310 shares of New York Community Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $4.41 per share, with a total value of $49,877.10. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 69,704 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $307,394.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Thomas R. Cangemi bought 11,310 shares of New York Community Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $4.41 per share, with a total value of $49,877.10. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 69,704 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $307,394.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Alessandro Dinello bought 50,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.19 per share, with a total value of $209,500.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 114,305 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $478,937.95. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 186,310 shares of company stock valued at $775,627. Insiders own 1.62% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of New York Community Bancorp by 212.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,982,700 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $22,444,000 after buying an additional 1,348,601 shares in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of New York Community Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $4,990,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in New York Community Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $338,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in New York Community Bancorp by 3.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,699,449 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $30,612,000 after acquiring an additional 88,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in New York Community Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $371,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.52% of the companys stock.

About New York Community Bancorp

(Get Free Report)

New York Community Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Flagstar Bank, N.A. that provides banking products and services in the United States. The company's deposit products include interest-bearing checking and money market, savings, non-interest-bearing, and retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for New York Community Bancorp Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for New York Community Bancorp and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Pentair (NYSE:PNR  Get Free Report)s stock had its outperform rating reissued by research analysts at Oppenheimer in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $88.00 target price on the industrial products companys stock, up from their previous target price of $82.00. Oppenheimers price objective indicates a potential upside of 11.15% from the companys previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Pentair from $72.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Pentair from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com cut shares of Pentair from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Pentair from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Pentair from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pentair presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $83.67.

Get Pentair alerts:

Check Out Our Latest Report on PNR

Pentair Price Performance

NYSE:PNR opened at $79.17 on Thursday. Pentair has a one year low of $50.15 and a one year high of $80.14. The company has a market cap of $13.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.20. The firms fifty day moving average price is $73.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. Pentair had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The firm had revenue of $984.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $975.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Pentair will post 4.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David A. /Wi Jones sold 2,260 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.85, for a total value of $153,341.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,081 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,566,045.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pentair

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Pentair by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 126,437 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $9,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,813 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Pentair by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 221,599 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $16,112,000 after purchasing an additional 48,527 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pentair during the 4th quarter valued at $75,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Pentair by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 73,875 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $5,371,000 after purchasing an additional 5,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Pentair by 138.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 834,203 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $60,655,000 after purchasing an additional 484,810 shares during the last quarter. 88.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pentair Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Pentair plc provides various water solutions worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Pool, Water Solutions, Industrial & Flow Technologies. It designs, manufactures, and sells residential and commercial pool equipment and accessories, including pumps, filters, heaters, lights, automatic controls, automatic cleaners, maintenance equipment, and pool accessories for residential and commercial pool maintenance, repair, renovation, service, and construction applications; and water treatment products and systems comprising pressure tanks, control valves, activated carbon products, conventional filtration products, and point-of-entry and point-of-use systems for use in residential whole home water filtration, drinking water filtration, water softening solutions, commercial total water management and filtration, and foodservice operations.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Pentair Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pentair and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB  Free Report) by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,794,782 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after selling 455,901 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 3.38% of AvalonBay Communities worth $823,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 255.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 192 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1,542.9% during the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 230 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 316.7% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 53.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 312 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. 88.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get AvalonBay Communities alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AVB. Mizuho lowered their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $188.00 to $185.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Truist Financial lowered AvalonBay Communities from a buy rating to a hold rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $202.00 to $203.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and issued a $185.00 target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a buy rating and a $206.00 price target for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $196.34.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of AVB opened at $184.26 on Thursday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.07 and a 52-week high of $198.65. The stock has a market cap of $26.17 billion, a PE ratio of 28.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.92. The firms fifty day moving average is $179.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $2.73 by ($1.03). The business had revenue of $704.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $701.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 33.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communitiess previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. AvalonBay Communitiess payout ratio is 100.76%.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

(Free Report)

As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 299 apartment communities containing 90,669 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for AvalonBay Communities Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AvalonBay Communities and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR  Free Report) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,547,716 shares of the industrial products companys stock after purchasing an additional 213,441 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s holdings in Ingersoll Rand were worth $735,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Ingersoll Rand in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new position in Ingersoll Rand during the third quarter worth $28,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new position in Ingersoll Rand during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ingersoll Rand by 1,566.7% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 450 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ingersoll Rand in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 94.54% of the companys stock.

Get Ingersoll Rand alerts:

Insider Transactions at Ingersoll Rand

In other Ingersoll Rand news, insider Vicente Reynal sold 240,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.16, for a total transaction of $21,638,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 91,957 shares in the company, valued at $8,290,843.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Andrew R. Schiesl sold 10,421 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.95, for a total transaction of $937,368.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 48,904 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,398,914.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vicente Reynal sold 240,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.16, for a total value of $21,638,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 91,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,290,843.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 258,011 shares of company stock valued at $23,243,689 in the last ninety days. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Ingersoll Rand from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Cfra increased their price target on Ingersoll Rand from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ingersoll Rand from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Ingersoll Rand from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Ingersoll Rand from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $81.64.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on IR

Ingersoll Rand Stock Performance

NYSE IR opened at $90.24 on Thursday. Ingersoll Rand Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.84 and a fifty-two week high of $92.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.49, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.22.

Ingersoll Rand Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th will be given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.09%. Ingersoll Rands dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.21%.

Ingersoll Rand Profile

(Free Report)

Ingersoll Rand Inc provides various mission-critical air, gas, liquid, and solid flow creation technologies services and solutions worldwide. It operates through two segments, Industrial Technologies and Services, and Precision and Science Technologies. The Industrial Technologies and Services segment designs, manufactures, markets, and services air and gas compression, vacuum, and blower products; fluid transfer equipment and loading systems; and power tools and lifting equipment, including associated aftermarket parts, consumables, air treatment equipment, controls, other accessories, and services under the under the Ingersoll Rand, Gardner Denver, Nash, CompAir, Elmo Rietschle brands, etc.

Recommended Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Ingersoll Rand Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ingersoll Rand and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Seven Eight Capital LP boosted its holdings in Tenet Healthcare Co. (NYSE:THC  Free Report) by 158.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,859 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 13,387 shares during the quarter. Seven Eight Capital LPs holdings in Tenet Healthcare were worth $1,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of THC. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Tenet Healthcare by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 629 shares of the companys stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tenet Healthcare by 94.1% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 588 shares of the companys stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Tenet Healthcare by 1,063.9% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 419 shares of the companys stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Tenet Healthcare in the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG bought a new stake in Tenet Healthcare in the second quarter worth $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.56% of the companys stock.

Get Tenet Healthcare alerts:

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Thomas W. Arnst sold 17,000 shares of Tenet Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.84, for a total transaction of $1,612,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,148 shares of the companys stock, valued at $772,756.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Tenet Healthcare news, Director Richard W. Fisher sold 2,100 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.21, for a total value of $185,241.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,127 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,775,402.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas W. Arnst sold 17,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.84, for a total value of $1,612,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,148 shares of the companys stock, valued at $772,756.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on THC. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Tenet Healthcare from $98.00 to $85.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 9th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Tenet Healthcare from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays began coverage on Tenet Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday. They set an overweight rating and a $113.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Tenet Healthcare from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 14th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Tenet Healthcare from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $95.27.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Tenet Healthcare

Tenet Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE THC opened at $97.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $9.73 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 2.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.87. Tenet Healthcare Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.76 and a fifty-two week high of $98.21.

Tenet Healthcare (NYSE:THC  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $5.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.28 billion. Tenet Healthcare had a return on equity of 26.34% and a net margin of 2.97%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Tenet Healthcare Co. will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tenet Healthcare Company Profile

(Free Report)

Tenet Healthcare Corporation operates as a diversified healthcare services company in the United States. The company operates through two segments: Hospital Operations and Services, and Ambulatory Care. Its general hospitals offer acute care services, operating and recovery rooms, radiology and respiratory therapy services, clinical laboratories, and pharmacies.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding THC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Tenet Healthcare Co. (NYSE:THC  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Tenet Healthcare Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Tenet Healthcare and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
V Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR  Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,500 shares of the financial services providers stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new position in Piper Sandler Companies in the third quarter worth $26,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 328.3% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 227 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 67.0% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 344 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 706.0% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 403 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.23% of the companys stock.

Get Piper Sandler Companies alerts:

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Piper Sandler Companies news, President Debbra L. Schoneman sold 204 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.04, for a total value of $34,688.16. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 19,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,361,180.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, President Debbra L. Schoneman sold 204 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.04, for a total value of $34,688.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 19,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,361,180.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Debbra L. Schoneman sold 950 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.12, for a total value of $171,114.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 14,021 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,525,462.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,678 shares of company stock worth $10,044,513 in the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Piper Sandler Companies Price Performance

NYSE PIPR traded up $1.00 during trading on Thursday, reaching $191.69. The companys stock had a trading volume of 3,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 92,399. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 38.80 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $186.36 and a 200 day moving average of $175.13. Piper Sandler Companies has a one year low of $120.97 and a one year high of $193.38.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.61 by $1.42. The business had revenue of $457.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $370.12 million. Piper Sandler Companies had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 6.33%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.33 EPS. Research analysts expect that Piper Sandler Companies will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Piper Sandler Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. Piper Sandler Companiess dividend payout ratio is currently 48.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PIPR. Northland Securities cut Piper Sandler Companies from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Piper Sandler Companies from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Piper Sandler Companies from $171.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Piper Sandler Companies

Piper Sandler Companies Profile

(Free Report)

Piper Sandler Companies operates as an investment bank and institutional securities firm that serves corporations, private equity groups, public entities, non-profit entities, and institutional investors in the United States and internationally. It offers investment banking and institutional sales, trading, and research services for various equity and fixed income products.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Piper Sandler Companies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Piper Sandler Companies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
ELKO  Two men were taken into custody on narcotics charges following a raid by the Elko SWAT team at the Elko Inn and Studio and Greenacres Apartments on Wednesday morning.

Members of the Elko Combined Narcotics Unit and Elkos SWAT  Special Weapons and Tactics  team executed three search warrants at 9:30 a.m. in an investigation into narcotics trafficking at the Greenacres Apartments and the Elko Inn and Studio Motel across the street at the corner of Idaho and Ninth streets.

One search warrant led to the arrest of Ian Park, 32, at his apartment at Greenacres.

The other two search warrants led to the arrest of Sita Leusogi, 31, who was found living in the closed motel.

Park and Leusogi were booked in Elko County Jail on narcotics charges.

Elko police Lt. Rick Moore said law enforcement officers were still searching the premises as of 2 p.m. and called the raid the result of a lengthy, ongoing investigation.

A video posted on social media showed a SWAT vehicle plowing through the chain link fence and ordering people out of the building.

A few hours later, fencing was strewn in the parking lot, doors were opened into the rooms and one window on the second floor was broken.

Moore said the Elko Inn has been closed and is at the center of an ongoing nuisance complaint investigation by the city of Elko. The complaints being made has been the nexus of narcotics trafficking and other quality-of-life crimes.

Classes were in session at surrounding schools in the area Wednesday morning at Elko High School and Grammar No. 2.

Moore said Elko County school resource officers were informed about the raid and gave principals at EHS and Grammar a heads up about the situation, and the schools were not affected.

Neighbors practically cheered as they watched the SWAT teams armored vehicle break through the fence, telling police they were happy things were getting done, he said.

Traffic was temporarily diverted away from the area during the raid, he said.

The Elko Police Department would like to thank the Nevada State Police and the Elko County Sheriffs Office for their assistance, Moore said.

Nuisance against inn

The Elko City Council unanimously approved to declare the motel a nuisance on Aug. 29, following numerous complaints from residents and businesses near the motel, reporting attempted break-ins, incidents of indecent exposure and fears for their safety at night.

Police also pointed to the uptick in crime in the months following the sale of the motel.

In February 2023, profane graffiti appeared on the wall of the second unit of the motel as trash piled up due to unpaid sanitation bills.

Current owner Keith Warburton with Ville 837 LLC out of West Jordan, Utah, explained to the City Council the goal was to convert the property into low-cost housing. He said he tried evicting squatters who remained in the rooms.

Since it was declared a nuisance, city officials have regularly updated the City Council about the abatement. Owners were ordered to remove all unauthorized people from the premises. They were also ordered to arrange services with a security company and install fencing and cameras on the property.

In an update to the City Council on Feb. 27, City officials said owners had secured a local contractor to provide security services, but the owners did not identify the name of the contractor.

City code enforcement officials said they found a potential violation of the nuisance order when they inspected the property and found the manager living with a woman and two small children in one of the rooms without running water. Water service resumed to the motel after the bill was paid by the owners on Feb. 27.

It is the second time in six years the City Council declared a nuisance on a property due to complaints by neighbors of drug activity, abandoned cars and trash strewn around the residence.

A house on Pine Street was damaged in a fire started by owner William J. Armstrong with a meth pipe on April 10, 2019. The blaze occurred four months after the city ordered the property to be cleaned up in 30 days.

The property was purchased by a local Realtor, who razed the structure to the cheers of neighbors a year after the fire.

Moore said after Wednesdays raid on the Elko Inn, the city could be almost there regarding a final disposition of the motel.

He said the ordeal has frustrated the community and that he believed Wednesdays activities could lead to the two buildings on the motel property being razed.

The wheels of justice sometimes turn slow, Moore said.
Dana Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG  Free Report) by 2.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,887 shares of the energy exploration companys stock after buying an additional 625 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $3,281,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EOG. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 1,353.3% in the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 35,707 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $4,526,000 after buying an additional 33,250 shares during the period. Annandale Capital LLC lifted its holdings in EOG Resources by 12.2% during the third quarter. Annandale Capital LLC now owns 7,235 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $917,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of EOG Resources by 18.3% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 64,922 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $8,230,000 after purchasing an additional 10,052 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in EOG Resources by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 245,208 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $31,096,000 after buying an additional 11,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of EOG Resources by 15.5% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,283,833 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $162,739,000 after acquiring an additional 172,409 shares in the last quarter. 89.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get EOG Resources alerts:

EOG Resources Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE EOG traded up $1.53 on Thursday, hitting $118.02. The companys stock had a trading volume of 234,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,268,826. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.52 and a 52-week high of $136.79. The firm has a market cap of $68.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.95, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.39. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $114.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.10.

EOG Resources Dividend Announcement

EOG Resources ( NYSE:EOG Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The energy exploration company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.14 by ($0.07). EOG Resources had a net margin of 31.40% and a return on equity of 25.38%. The company had revenue of $6.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The businesss revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 15th. EOG Resourcess dividend payout ratio is 27.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on EOG. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut EOG Resources from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $134.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, December 11th. Bank of America downgraded EOG Resources from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price target for the company from $147.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $150.00 to $138.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $153.00 to $141.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Eleven research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $141.80.

View Our Latest Report on EOG Resources

About EOG Resources

(Free Report)

EOG Resources, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, explores for, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, and natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its principal producing areas are in New Mexico and Texas in the United States; and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The company was formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Company.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EOG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for EOG Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for EOG Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
iA Global Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG  Free Report) by 49.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 44,023 shares of the companys stock after selling 42,621 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $6,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wunderlich Capital Managemnt bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. VitalStone Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.43% of the companys stock.

Get Procter & Gamble alerts:

Procter & Gamble Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock traded up $0.85 during trading on Thursday, hitting $160.42. 702,189 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,067,601. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $154.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.31. The firm has a market cap of $377.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.44. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 52-week low of $136.10 and a 52-week high of $161.74.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

Procter & Gamble ( NYSE:PG Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.14. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The business had revenue of $21.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 19th were given a dividend of $0.9407 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 18th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. Procter & Gambles dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.98%.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total value of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 163,428 shares in the company, valued at $25,097,637.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 101,704 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.57, for a total value of $15,618,683.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 163,428 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $25,097,637.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 3,865 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.60, for a total value of $620,719.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,886 shares in the company, valued at $1,908,891.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 279,063 shares of company stock worth $43,187,745. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Procter & Gamble from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $167.53.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on PG

About Procter & Gamble

(Free Report)

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.

Recommended Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Procter & Gamble Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Procter & Gamble and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Toroso Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO  Free Report) by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 149,149 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 38,954 shares during the period. Toroso Investments LLCs holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MO. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 108,222.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,590,308 shares of the companys stock worth $849,763,000 after purchasing an additional 18,573,146 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Altria Group by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 96,401,945 shares of the companys stock worth $4,367,008,000 after purchasing an additional 7,546,851 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 84.1% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,426,522 shares of the companys stock worth $245,823,000 after acquiring an additional 2,478,576 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,302,349 shares of the companys stock worth $1,896,798,000 after acquiring an additional 2,178,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the companys stock worth $198,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,653,455 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.94% of the companys stock.

Get Altria Group alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. UBS Group reissued a sell rating and issued a $36.10 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $47.22.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $41.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,530,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,495,486. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.43%. Altria Groups dividend payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the companys board believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Company Profile

(Free Report)

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Altria Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Altria Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Toroso Investments LLC lessened its position in Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO  Free Report) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,798 shares of the basic materials companys stock after selling 4,765 shares during the period. Toroso Investments LLCs holdings in Southern Copper were worth $6,535,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hartford Financial Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 43.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 602 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Copper in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.40% of the companys stock.

Get Southern Copper alerts:

Southern Copper Price Performance

NYSE SCCO traded up $4.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $85.58. 255,890 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 866,518. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $66.16 billion, a PE ratio of 25.92 and a beta of 1.27. Southern Copper Co. has a fifty-two week low of $64.66 and a fifty-two week high of $88.40. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $82.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.19.

Southern Copper Cuts Dividend

Southern Copper ( NYSE:SCCO Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.15). Southern Copper had a return on equity of 30.85% and a net margin of 24.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Research analysts expect that Southern Copper Co. will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. Southern Coppers dividend payout ratio is currently 101.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SCCO shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Southern Copper from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and cut their price target for the company from $83.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Monday, November 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Southern Copper from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $66.75.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Southern Copper

About Southern Copper

(Free Report)

Southern Copper Corporation engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile. The company is involved in the mining, milling, and flotation of copper ore to produce copper and molybdenum concentrates; smelting of copper concentrates to produce blister and anode copper; refining of anode copper to produce copper cathodes; production of molybdenum concentrate and sulfuric acid; production of refined silver, gold, and other materials; and mining and processing of zinc, copper, molybdenum, silver, gold, and lead.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SCCO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Southern Copper Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Southern Copper and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI India ETF (BATS:INDA  Free Report) by 7.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 198,983 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 13,424 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.15% of iShares MSCI India ETF worth $8,799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of iShares MSCI India ETF in the third quarter worth approximately $40,291,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in iShares MSCI India ETF by 27.4% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 899,571 shares of the companys stock worth $39,779,000 after acquiring an additional 193,439 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in iShares MSCI India ETF by 203.8% in the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 21,170 shares of the companys stock worth $936,000 after acquiring an additional 14,202 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new stake in iShares MSCI India ETF in the third quarter worth $3,376,000. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in iShares MSCI India ETF in the third quarter worth $214,000.

Get iShares MSCI India ETF alerts:

iShares MSCI India ETF Trading Up 0.8 %

iShares MSCI India ETF stock traded up $0.39 on Thursday, hitting $52.11. 4,716,084 shares of the stock traded hands. The firm has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.86 and a beta of 0.68. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $50.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.88. iShares MSCI India ETF has a 1 year low of $30.57 and a 1 year high of $38.21.

About iShares MSCI India ETF

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.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI India ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI India ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Halliburton (NYSE:HAL  Get Free Report) Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $176,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,625 shares of the companys stock, valued at $339,762.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Halliburton Stock Up 2.4 %

HAL stock traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $36.20. 1,326,067 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,570,411. The stock has a market cap of $32.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Halliburton has a fifty-two week low of $27.84 and a fifty-two week high of $43.85. The firms 50 day moving average price is $35.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.74.

Get Halliburton alerts:

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oilfield services company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. Halliburton had a return on equity of 31.59% and a net margin of 11.46%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Increases Dividend

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 5th. This is an increase from Halliburtons previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Halliburtons payout ratio is presently 23.21%.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Halliburton from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Halliburton from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on Halliburton from $44.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Halliburton in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Halliburton from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Halliburton currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $48.63.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Halliburton

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 443.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the oilfield services companys stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV boosted its stake in shares of Halliburton by 1,134.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV now owns 1,000 shares of the oilfield services companys stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.09% of the companys stock.

Halliburton Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Halliburton Company provides products and services to the energy industry worldwide. It operates through two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services that include stimulation and sand control services; cementing services, such as well bonding and casing, and casing equipment; and completion tools that offer downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, and service tools, as well as liner hanger, sand control, and multilateral systems.

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for Halliburton Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Halliburton and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
WealthPlan Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH  Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 110,666 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,824,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 5,020.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,229 shares of the companys stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in Norwegian Cruise Line by 272.7% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,856 shares of the companys stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Norwegian Cruise Line by 46.2% in the 2nd quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the companys stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC purchased a new stake in Norwegian Cruise Line in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Norwegian Cruise Line by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,574 shares of the companys stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.49% of the companys stock.

Get Norwegian Cruise Line alerts:

Norwegian Cruise Line Price Performance

Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $20.24. The stock had a trading volume of 2,302,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,798,486. The stocks 50 day moving average is $17.64 and its 200 day moving average is $16.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a PE ratio of 71.57, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 2.59. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. has a twelve month low of $12.15 and a twelve month high of $22.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Norwegian Cruise Line ( NYSE:NCLH Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.99 billion. Norwegian Cruise Line had a return on equity of 108.69% and a net margin of 1.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.10) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A number of equities analysts have commented on NCLH shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated an equal weight rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Tigress Financial reiterated a strong-buy rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line in a research note on Friday, December 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Norwegian Cruise Line from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $21.08.

Get Our Latest Analysis on NCLH

About Norwegian Cruise Line

(Free Report)

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a cruise company in North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands. It offers itineraries ranging from three days to a 180-days calling on various locations, including destinations in Scandinavia, Russia, the Mediterranean, the Greek Isles, Alaska, Canada and New England, Hawaii, Asia, Tahiti and the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand, Africa, India, South America, the Panama Canal, and the Caribbean.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NCLH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Norwegian Cruise Line Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Norwegian Cruise Line and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
KB Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC  Free Report) by 76.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 198 shares of the technology companys stock after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. KB Financial Partners LLCs holdings in WESCO International were worth $28,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Park Place Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of WESCO International by 41.3% in the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 294 shares of the technology companys stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new stake in WESCO International during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in WESCO International by 403.2% during the 1st quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares during the period. FDx Advisors Inc. raised its stake in WESCO International by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 1,555 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in WESCO International by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,977 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. 99.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get WESCO International alerts:

Insider Activity at WESCO International

In other news, EVP Nelson John Squires III sold 3,490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $663,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 54,385 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,333,150. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

WESCO International Price Performance

WCC opened at $154.87 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $165.74 and a 200 day moving average of $156.17. WESCO International, Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.90 and a 52-week high of $195.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $7.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.44, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 2.05.

WESCO International (NYSE:WCC  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The technology company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.86 by ($1.21). WESCO International had a net margin of 3.42% and a return on equity of 17.01%. The business had revenue of $5.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.13 EPS. WESCO Internationals revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WESCO International, Inc. will post 14.64 EPS for the current year.

WESCO International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. This is a boost from WESCO Internationals previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. WESCO Internationals payout ratio is presently 11.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WCC. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded WESCO International from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and decreased their target price for the company from $202.00 to $173.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on WESCO International from $185.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on WESCO International from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on WESCO International from $203.00 to $170.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut WESCO International from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WESCO International has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $181.33.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on WESCO International

WESCO International Profile

(Free Report)

WESCO International, Inc provides business-to-business distribution, logistics services, and supply chain solutions in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Electrical & Electronic Solutions (EES), Communications & Security Solutions (CSS), and Utility and Broadband Solutions (UBS).

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for WESCO International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for WESCO International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Ford Motor (NYSE:F  Free Report) by 15.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,187,611 shares of the auto manufacturers stock after acquiring an additional 709,896 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.13% of Ford Motor worth $64,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of F. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ford Motor by 86.4% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 657,842 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $8,170,000 after purchasing an additional 304,923 shares during the period. Pearl River Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Ford Motor by 174.2% in the third quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC now owns 332,161 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $4,125,000 after acquiring an additional 211,037 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new stake in shares of Ford Motor during the third quarter worth approximately $1,104,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Ford Motor by 110.5% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 700,928 shares of the auto manufacturers stock worth $8,460,000 after purchasing an additional 367,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ford Motor by 616.0% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 300,951 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $3,738,000 after purchasing an additional 258,920 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.73% of the companys stock.

Get Ford Motor alerts:

Insider Transactions at Ford Motor

In other news, insider John Douglas Field purchased 182,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, December 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.05 per share, with a total value of $2,011,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 720,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,957,944.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.80% of the companys stock.

Ford Motor Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:F opened at $12.40 on Thursday. Ford Motor has a 52 week low of $9.63 and a 52 week high of $15.42. The companys 50 day moving average is $12.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.65. The company has a market cap of $49.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $43.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.06 billion. Ford Motor had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 2.47%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ford Motor will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ford Motor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a Variable dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Ford Motors payout ratio is 55.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ford Motor from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group cut Ford Motor from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $12.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. HSBC started coverage on Ford Motor in a research note on Monday, December 4th. They issued a hold rating and a $11.30 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of Ford Motor in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ford Motor presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $13.81.

View Our Latest Analysis on F

Ford Motor Company Profile

(Free Report)

Ford Motor Company develops, delivers, and services a range of Ford trucks, commercial cars and vans, sport utility vehicles, and Lincoln luxury vehicles worldwide. It operates through Ford Blue, Ford Model e, and Ford Pro; Ford Next; and Ford Credit segments. The company sells Ford and Lincoln vehicles, service parts, and accessories through distributors and dealers, as well as through dealerships to commercial fleet customers, daily rental car companies, and governments.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Ford Motor Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ford Motor and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Royal Bank of Canada cut its stake in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK  Free Report) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 752,777 shares of the asset managers stock after selling 10,332 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.50% of BlackRock worth $486,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smithfield Trust Co raised its position in BlackRock by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 296 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors raised its position in BlackRock by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 1,101 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $712,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. raised its position in BlackRock by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 1,128 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in BlackRock by 47,042.9% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 33,000 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $22,808,000 after purchasing an additional 32,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspen Grove Capital LLC bought a new position in BlackRock during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $208,000. 77.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get BlackRock alerts:

BlackRock Price Performance

Shares of BlackRock stock opened at $837.51 on Thursday. BlackRock, Inc. has a one year low of $596.18 and a one year high of $841.96. The stocks fifty day moving average is $797.71 and its 200 day moving average is $728.67. The stock has a market cap of $124.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a current ratio of 3.48.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

BlackRock ( NYSE:BLK Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The asset manager reported $9.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $8.84 by $0.82. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 30.81%. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.93 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 39.63 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th will be issued a $5.10 dividend. This represents a $20.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. This is a boost from BlackRocks previous quarterly dividend of $5.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 6th. BlackRocks payout ratio is 54.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas raised BlackRock from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and set a $885.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. TD Cowen raised BlackRock from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their target price for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on BlackRock from $719.00 to $793.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, November 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BlackRock from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $708.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on BlackRock from $720.00 to $818.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $785.73.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on BlackRock

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In related news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total value of $5,085,660.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,914 shares in the company, valued at $3,366,142.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other BlackRock news, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 18,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.54, for a total transaction of $5,085,660.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,914 shares in the company, valued at $3,366,142.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Christopher J. Meade sold 3,100 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $793.86, for a total value of $2,460,966.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 8,628 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,849,424.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 100,511 shares of company stock valued at $71,864,028. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About BlackRock

(Free Report)

BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BLK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
The Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili, met with the President of the Republic of Iceland, Guni Johannesson.Shalva Papuashvili emphasized the importance of the first high-level visit from the Republic of Iceland to Georgia. He thanked the Icelandic side for supporting Georgia's territorial integrity and Euro-Atlantic goals.According to Guni Johannesson, it is important that small states cooperate at the international level to achieve common goals.The press service of the Parliament stated that the parties discussed potential areas of cooperation between Georgia and Iceland, including renewable energy, the fight against climate change, innovation, and cultural and educational exchanges. Guni Johannesson noted that Iceland has achieved great success in the utilization of hydropower and geothermal energy.The Icelandic side stated that Georgia possesses a unique geographical location and significant potential for utilizing water energy. Guni Johannesson expressed his readiness to share Iceland's best practices and experiences with Georgia.The Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia, Pawel Herczynski, emphasized the significance of consensus and highlighted the necessity for political parties to collaborate in order to complete the 9 recommendations, despite the considerable energy and attention demanded by elections."Although there is an election in October, which requires a lot of energy and attention, it is important that, in parallel, all political parties do their best to implement all nine recommendations. This means ensuring an inclusive process on the part of the government and giving the opposition the opportunity to participate in the process.It requires a constructive approach from the side of the opposition. The involvement of civil society is also important for us. Therefore, we hope that, despite the election campaign, there will be consensus, and everyone will work together in the direction of European integration," Herczynski said.
ELKO  Former Assemblyman John Ellison officially filed to run as a Republican candidate for State Senate District 19.

Ellison is seeking the seat held by Republican Sen. Pete Goicoechea, who has served for 12 years and is termed out.

He pointed to his 12 years in the Legislature, noting he is prepared to step up into the upper chamber.

I am immensely proud of the accomplishments achieved during my tenure in the Assembly, he said. The opportunity to run for State Senate has long been a goal of mine, and with my friend Pete Goicoechea stepping down, I am prepared to step up.

He did a great job, a wonderful job as a senator, Ellison said.

Ellison told the Elko Daily Free Press on Wednesday he had considered not running for another office, but was asked by the public to do so to keep a Republican in the seat and support Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.

I always let the people make the decision if Im going to run or not, Ellison explained. The governor has got to have the help that hes going to need in the next session. If we lose some seats, its going to be disastrous for rural Nevada.

He noted his campaign has received backing from the community, along with public endorsements from Republican Assembly Leader P.K. ONeill and Republican Assembly Northern Leader Jill Dickman.

I am grateful for the encouragement and support from friends and former colleagues, and I am eager to return to Carson City and begin the important work ahead, Ellison stated in a news release.

Ellison is a native of Elko County and has been involved in the community as founding member of the Independence Day committee, an electrician and businessman and a longtime public servant, holding elected office twice.

A news release issued on Monday described him as a dedicated family man, successful small business owner, and skilled electrician, Ellison brings a wealth of diverse experiences to the political arena.

His civic journey includes notable service as a member of the Elko City Council and as President of the Elko County Board of Commissioners before his election to the Nevada Assembly, where he served from 2011 to 2020.

Ellison served 12 years on the county commission , 10 years on the city council and two years on the city planning commission.

In the Assembly, Ellison emerged as a steadfast advocate for conservative principles and policies, championing the values cherished by the Silver State, according to the news release.

His commitment to these ideals earned him recognition from esteemed conservative organizations such as The American Conservative Union and the National Rifle Association, solidifying his status as a prominent conservative voice in Nevada. Ellison is also a proud supporter of former President Donald J. Trump, and he delivered remarks on stage at the former Presidents last campaign rally in Nevada, according to the news release.

In addition to his political career, it said, Ellison finds joy in treasured moments with his family, grandchildren, and close friends. He also embraces his passion for flying and takes pride in honing his skills at the shooting range.

John Ellisons candidacy for State Senate District 19 reflects his dedication to serving the constituents of Nevada with integrity, extensive experience, and an unwavering commitment to conservative values, it says.

To learn about Ellisons platform and his candidacy, visit www.EllisonForNevada.com.
V Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (NYSE:CP  Free Report) (TSE:CP) by 83.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,440 shares of the transportation companys stock after selling 17,031 shares during the period. V Wealth Advisors LLCs holdings in Canadian Pacific Kansas City were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tenere Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tenere Capital LLC now owns 127,843 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $9,513,000 after purchasing an additional 15,363 shares in the last quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Canadian Pacific Kansas City by 1.0% in the third quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC now owns 45,197 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $3,363,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Canadian Pacific Kansas City during the third quarter valued at about $343,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City by 27.1% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 470,165 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $35,126,000 after buying an additional 100,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sands Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.93% of the companys stock.

Get Canadian Pacific Kansas City alerts:

Analyst Ratings Changes

CP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities lowered Canadian Pacific Kansas City from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Canadian Pacific Kansas City from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Canadian Pacific Kansas City from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna Bancshares cut Canadian Pacific Kansas City from a positive rating to a neutral rating and lowered their target price for the company from $90.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Pacific Kansas City presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $92.94.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Stock Performance

Shares of CP stock traded up $1.54 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $89.16. The company had a trading volume of 163,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,210,506. Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited has a one year low of $68.92 and a one year high of $89.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.53. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $81.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.16. The firm has a market cap of $83.13 billion, a PE ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.94.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City (NYSE:CP  Get Free Report) (TSE:CP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.71 billion. Canadian Pacific Kansas City had a net margin of 31.29% and a return on equity of 8.52%. Sell-side analysts predict that Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.1415 per share. This is a boost from Canadian Pacific Kansas Citys previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Canadian Pacific Kansas Citys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.15%.

About Canadian Pacific Kansas City

(Free Report)

Canadian Pacific Kansas City 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.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (NYSE:CP  Free Report) (TSE:CP).

Receive News & Ratings for Canadian Pacific Kansas City Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian Pacific Kansas City and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE  Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $140.43 and last traded at $140.00, with a volume of 183834 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $139.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on ICE shares. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $154.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Intercontinental Exchange from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $135.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $146.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued 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 a consensus price target of $145.83.

Get Intercontinental Exchange alerts:

Read Our Latest Report on Intercontinental Exchange

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Up 0.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $131.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.12 billion, a PE ratio of 33.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.02.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.91% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 24.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Intercontinental Exchanges previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Intercontinental Exchanges payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Intercontinental Exchange news, CAO James W. Namkung sold 1,171 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $140,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 18,677 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,241,240. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Intercontinental Exchange news, SVP Douglas Foley sold 7,070 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.09, for a total value of $962,156.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,383 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,501,742.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO James W. Namkung sold 1,171 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $140,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 18,677 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,241,240. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 160,054 shares of company stock worth $21,057,153 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intercontinental Exchange

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,239,612 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $6,066,983,000 after buying an additional 320,496 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 42,188,650 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $4,770,693,000 after buying an additional 525,322 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 25,406,629 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,606,466,000 after buying an additional 4,044,744 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,796,474 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,577,825,000 after purchasing an additional 480,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,114,267 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,755,753,000 after purchasing an additional 5,354,161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.91% of the companys stock.

About Intercontinental Exchange

(Get Free Report)

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of market infrastructure, data services, and technology solutions for financial institutions, corporations, and government entities in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Singapore, India, Abu Dhabi, Israel, and Canada.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Intercontinental Exchange Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Intercontinental Exchange and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
iA Global Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Free Report) by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,520 shares of the companys stock after selling 2,220 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $11,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Eli Lilly and Company during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Retirement Group LLC boosted its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 159.1% during the second quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 57 shares of the companys stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Eli Lilly and Company during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in Eli Lilly and Company during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new position in Eli Lilly and Company in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Eli Lilly and Company alerts:

Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

Eli Lilly and Company stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $779.84. 1,469,557 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,341,606. The companys fifty day moving average is $686.46 and its 200-day moving average is $615.18. The firm has a market cap of $740.97 billion, a PE ratio of 134.48, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.34. Eli Lilly and Company has a 52 week low of $309.32 and a 52 week high of $800.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Eli Lilly and Company Increases Dividend

Eli Lilly and Company ( NYSE:LLY Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $9.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.95 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 51.22%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 28.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.44 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Eli Lilly and Companys previous quarterly dividend of $1.13. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Eli Lilly and Companys dividend payout ratio is presently 89.66%.

Insider Transactions at Eli Lilly and Company

In other news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 14,388 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $630.28, for a total value of $9,068,468.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 99,754,422 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $62,873,217,098.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 195,055 shares of company stock valued at $125,254,657 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LLY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $700.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an overweight rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Wednesday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $805.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $650.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $680.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $677.62.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Eli Lilly and Company

About Eli Lilly and Company

(Free Report)

Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. It offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; and Jardiance, Trajenta, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Eli Lilly and Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eli Lilly and Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM  Free Report) (TSE:AEM) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 144,972 shares of the mining companys stock after selling 4,682 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLCs holdings in Agnico Eagle Mines were worth $6,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AEM. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Agnico Eagle Mines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. acquired a new position in Agnico Eagle Mines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in Agnico Eagle Mines by 98.1% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 935 shares of the mining companys stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Agnico Eagle Mines by 34.9% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,016 shares of the mining companys stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. 59.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Agnico Eagle Mines alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. CIBC decreased their target price on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Raymond James increased their target price on Agnico Eagle Mines from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. National Bank Financial reissued an outperform overweight rating on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Agnico Eagle Mines in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. They set a hold rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $63.71.

Agnico Eagle Mines Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Agnico Eagle Mines stock traded up $0.56 during trading on Thursday, hitting $54.22. 912,940 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,121,011. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firms 50-day moving average price is $49.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.48. The stock has a market cap of $27.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 23.20 and a beta of 1.03. Agnico Eagle Mines Limited has a 12-month low of $43.22 and a 12-month high of $61.15.

Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM  Get Free Report) (TSE:AEM) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The mining company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Agnico Eagle Mines had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 29.29%. Agnico Eagle Miness revenue for the quarter was up 26.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Agnico Eagle Mines Limited will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agnico Eagle Mines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 29th. Agnico Eagle Miness payout ratio is 38.93%.

Agnico Eagle Mines Profile

(Free Report)

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited, a gold mining company, exploration, development, and production of precious metals. The company's mines are located in Canada, Australia, Finland and Mexico, with exploration and development activities in Canada, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AEM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM  Free Report) (TSE:AEM).

Receive News & Ratings for Agnico Eagle Mines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Agnico Eagle Mines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC cut its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (NYSEARCA:EWY  Free Report) by 45.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 315,300 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 261,917 shares during the quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI South Korea ETF were worth $18,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in iShares MSCI South Korea ETF during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,014 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF by 235.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,106 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF by 345.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,197 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares during the last quarter.

Get iShares MSCI South Korea ETF alerts:

iShares MSCI South Korea ETF Trading Up 1.0 %

EWY traded up $0.68 during trading on Thursday, reaching $65.76. 1,108,957 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,468,367. The stock has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.39 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $62.53 and a 200 day moving average of $61.57. iShares MSCI South Korea ETF has a 52 week low of $54.49 and a 52 week high of $67.95.

iShares MSCI South Korea ETF Company Profile

iShares MSCI South Korea Capped ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI Korea 25/50 Index (the Index). The Index consists of stocks traded primarily on the Stock Market Division of the Korean Exchange.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EWY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (NYSEARCA:EWY  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI South Korea ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI South Korea ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
ABB Ltd (NYSE:ABBNY  Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $46.41 and last traded at $46.38, with a volume of 21200 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $46.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABBNY. Citigroup raised ABB from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, December 11th. TD Cowen downgraded ABB from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th.

Get ABB alerts:

Get Our Latest Report on ABBNY

ABB Stock Up 0.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $87.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.66.

ABB (NYSE:ABBNY  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $0.50. The firm had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.15 billion. ABB had a return on equity of 27.93% and a net margin of 11.62%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ABB Ltd will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABBNY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in ABB by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 86,463 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $2,965,000 after buying an additional 4,356 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of ABB by 6.3% during the first quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 677,095 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $23,222,000 after acquiring an additional 40,009 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of ABB by 2.7% in the first quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 91,528 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $3,139,000 after buying an additional 2,399 shares in the last quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of ABB by 3.1% in the first quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 37,604 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,290,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp raised its position in shares of ABB by 2.6% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 20,854 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $716,000 after buying an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.37% of the companys stock.

About ABB

(Get Free Report)

ABB Ltd manufactures and sells electrification, automation, robotics, and motion products for customers in utilities, industry and transport, and infrastructure in Switzerland and internationally. Its Electrification segment provides electric vehicle charging infrastructure, renewable power solutions, modular substation packages, distribution automation products, switchboards and panel boards, switchgears, UPS solutions, circuit breakers, measuring and sensing devices, control products, wiring accessories, enclosures and cabling systems, and intelligent home and building solutions.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for ABB Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ABB and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:SMFG  Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $12.03 and last traded at $12.01, with a volume of 526550 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.76.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Trading Up 2.1 %

The firms 50-day simple moving average is $10.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58.

Get Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group alerts:

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The bank reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 7.27%. The company had revenue of $14.95 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts expect that Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

About Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SMFG. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 143.6% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,977 shares of the banks stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 74.8% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,869 shares of the banks stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 69.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,241 shares of the banks stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 1.62% of the companys stock.

(Get Free Report)

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides banking, leasing, securities, credit card, and consumer finance services in Japan, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Oceania. It operates through Wholesale Business Unit, Retail Business Unit, Global Business Unit, and Global Markets Business Unit segments.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP  Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,604 shares of the payment services companys stock, valued at approximately $836,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AXP. RB Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 3,783 shares of the payment services companys stock worth $707,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Roundview Capital LLC grew its stake in American Express by 0.4% in the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 27,029 shares of the payment services companys stock worth $5,054,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its stake in American Express by 5.6% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,421 shares of the payment services companys stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in American Express by 207.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 946 shares of the payment services companys stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the first quarter worth about $397,000. 83.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get American Express alerts:

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AXP. UBS Group lifted their price target on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on American Express from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on American Express in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. They issued a neutral rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on American Express from $157.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $189.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the companys stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $3.56 during trading on Thursday, hitting $222.01. The company had a trading volume of 926,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,319,007. The company has a market cap of $160.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $224.69. The businesss 50-day moving average is $200.46 and its 200 day moving average is $173.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.18%. American Expresss dividend payout ratio is currently 21.41%.

American Express Profile

(Free Report)

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for American Express Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for American Express and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK  Free Report) by 0.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,268 shares of the asset managers stock after buying an additional 18 shares during the quarter. BlackRock makes up 1.7% of Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLCs holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLCs holdings in BlackRock were worth $15,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.01% of the companys stock.

Get BlackRock alerts:

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total transaction of $25,089,701.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares in the company, valued at $335,425,128.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 30,978 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $809.92, for a total transaction of $25,089,701.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,146 shares of the companys stock, valued at $335,425,128.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Rachel Lord sold 36,059 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $818.06, for a total value of $29,498,425.54. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,910,292.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 100,511 shares of company stock worth $71,864,028. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BLK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut BlackRock from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $708.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, December 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $720.00 to $818.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. BNP Paribas raised BlackRock from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and set a $885.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. TD Cowen raised BlackRock from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their price target for the company from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $719.00 to $793.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, November 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $785.73.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on BlackRock

BlackRock Trading Up 0.5 %

BlackRock stock traded up $3.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $834.34. The companys stock had a trading volume of 146,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 596,429. The stocks fifty day moving average is $797.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $728.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. BlackRock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $596.18 and a 1 year high of $841.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.37.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The asset manager reported $9.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $8.84 by $0.82. BlackRock had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 30.81%. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.93 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that BlackRock, Inc. will post 39.63 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $5.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $20.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. This is a boost from BlackRocks previous quarterly dividend of $5.00. BlackRocks payout ratio is 54.78%.

BlackRock Company Profile

(Free Report)

BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BLK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM  Free Report) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 209,826 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after purchasing an additional 3,276 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLCs holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $24,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of XOM. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Exxon Mobil by 83.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,269,030 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $149,213,000 after acquiring an additional 575,649 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP raised its stake in Exxon Mobil by 34.3% during the third quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 4,700 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its stake in Exxon Mobil by 5.9% during the third quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 390,975 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $45,971,000 after acquiring an additional 21,895 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Exxon Mobil by 23.5% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 229,416 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $24,605,000 after acquiring an additional 43,654 shares during the period. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its stake in Exxon Mobil by 36.0% during the third quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 87,395 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $10,276,000 after acquiring an additional 23,148 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.53% of the companys stock.

Get Exxon Mobil alerts:

Analysts Set New Price Targets

XOM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Exxon Mobil from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the company from $116.00 to $119.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Mizuho lowered shares of Exxon Mobil from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $117.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Erste Group Bank reiterated a hold rating on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $134.00 to $127.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Exxon Mobil has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $127.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Leonard M. Fox sold 12,000 shares of Exxon Mobil stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.65, for a total transaction of $1,231,800.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 220,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,652,596.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Exxon Mobil news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,400 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $252,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,189 shares in the company, valued at $3,169,845. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Leonard M. Fox sold 12,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.65, for a total transaction of $1,231,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 220,678 shares in the company, valued at $22,652,596.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the companys stock.

Exxon Mobil Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Exxon Mobil stock traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $107.51. 6,258,109 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,623,043. The company has a market cap of $426.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.96. Exxon Mobil Co. has a 52 week low of $95.77 and a 52 week high of $120.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.48. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $101.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.89.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $84.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.03 billion. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 18.51%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.40 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th will be given a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. Exxon Mobils dividend payout ratio is 42.74%.

Exxon Mobil Company Profile

(Free Report)

Exxon Mobil Corporation engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and internationally. It operates through Upstream, Energy Products, Chemical Products, and Specialty Products segments. The Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding XOM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Exxon Mobil Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Exxon Mobil and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
CARSON CITY  While he is not up for reelection, Gov. Joe Lombardo will hardly be a bystander in this years election cycle, and political observers believe his influence could play a role in the handful of races that decide whether he maintains veto power over the Nevada State Legislature.

The Republican governor has largely embraced the narrative that he is Nevadas last line of defense against unfettered Democratic control. Last year, he racked up the most gubernatorial vetoes issued during a single legislative session, a distinction he has welcomed.

Lombardo told Nevada Newsmakers in November he is doing what he can to stop Democrats from gaining supermajorities in both chambers. Two-thirds supermajorities would allow Democrats to override any gubernatorial veto.

Democrats hold 13 of 21 Senate seats  one shy of a supermajority. This year, 10 of the seats are up for reelection. Democrats could gain a supermajority by maintaining the six of those seats they currently control and flipping one of the four Republican seats.

Democrats currently have the bare minimum for a supermajority in the Assembly  28 of 42 seats. If Republicans can maintain their existing 14 seats and flip one Democratic seat, they will break the supermajority.

The super-majority has to be prevented, whatever partisan side of the aisle youre looking at, Lombardo told Newsmakers. And so were proactive as a campaign and as me, personally, as the governor, in identifying candidates, supporting candidates and helping them be successful in their election time.

The result has been a slate of Republicans who announced their candidacies early, well before the start of candidate filing this week, and immediately became the frontrunners in their primary races. Many of the candidates have also been boosted by the well-funded pro-Lombardo political action committee Better Nevada PAC.

For many, the effort feels better coordinated than in previous election cycles and more reminiscent of Democratic campaign operations. And it hasnt gone unnoticed.

Through his spokesperson, Lombardo declined to comment on his efforts to boost fellow Republicans this election cycle.

Better Nevada PAC declined a request for an interview, but in a statement Ryan Erwin said the governor has personally made it a priority to recruit stronger candidates for the state legislature.

Candidate filing begins

The filing period for non-judicial candidates opened Monday and runs until 5 pm on March 15. After the filing period ends, there will be a withdrawal and challenge period. The secretary of states office expects the official list of candidates to be released no later than April 3.

The unofficial list of candidates is available online.

As of Tuesday night, nearly 400 candidates had filed, according to the SOS website. That number includes candidates who have filed for the states numerous judicial offices, whose candidate filing period was held in January.

Lombardo has endorsed all of the GOP caucuss returning incumbents, as well as several new candidates.

Secure the veto, secure Nevada, reads an image shared by state Assemblyman Toby Yurek, a Henderson Republican running for reelection, on social media this week.

Republican Brittany Hausle, who is running for an open seat in Assembly District 35, said on social media that the party will flip the seat red to protect Lombardos veto power.

Democratic Assemblywoman Michelle Gorelow, who currently represents AD35, announced she would not run for reelection. Her announcement came after Republicans, and especially the Lombardo-aligned Better Nevada PAC, publicly attacked her for taking a job as director of a disability advocacy nonprofit that months earlier had received $250,000 in funding through a bill she voted on.

The Nevada Ethics Commission ruled that Gorelow did not commit an ethics violation by taking the job or when voting for the bill, which also gave funds to dozens of other nonprofit organizations.

Yeager, who has also been criticized by Republicans for excessive traveling and perceived conflicts of interest, defended Gorelow and the nonprofit funding bill.

I wont apologize for allocating money to nonprofits that do things like feed hungry seniors, make sure kids have child care and tutoring, he said. I would challenge anybody who wants to make that argument to spend a day or two with some of the nonprofits that we funded and see the work they do. Then tell me who is going to do that work if the nonprofits dont? Because the answer is nobody. We dont have the state capacity to do it because were one of the leanest state governments in the country.

He added, And a reminder, theres only one constitutional officer who was found to have intentionally violated ethics provisions. Thats the governor himself. So theres a bit of irony that his henchmen would attack us.

The Nevada Ethics Commission last year found Lombardo willfully violated Nevadas ethics laws by repeatedly wearing his Clark County sheriffs badge and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department uniform in advertisements and promotions for his gubernatorial campaign.
Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB  Free Report) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,763 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.s holdings in LyondellBasell Industries were worth $2,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LYB. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 10,812 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in LyondellBasell Industries by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,362 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 8,596 shares during the period. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in LyondellBasell Industries during the 1st quarter worth $731,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 29.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,488 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $770,000 after acquiring an additional 1,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 20.2% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,268 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.41% of the companys stock.

Get LyondellBasell Industries alerts:

Insider Buying and Selling at LyondellBasell Industries

In other LyondellBasell Industries news, CAO Chukwuemeka A. Oyolu sold 7,084 shares of LyondellBasell Industries stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.47, for a total transaction of $711,729.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,575 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,770,460.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Kenneth Todd Lane sold 29,229 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.19, for a total transaction of $2,899,224.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 91,758 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,101,476.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Chukwuemeka A. Oyolu sold 7,084 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.47, for a total value of $711,729.48. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,575 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,770,460.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,802 shares of company stock valued at $4,549,606 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance

LyondellBasell Industries stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $100.35. The stock had a trading volume of 211,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,843,171. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. LyondellBasell Industries has a 12 month low of $81.24 and a 12 month high of $102.93. The firms 50-day moving average price is $96.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.32.

LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $9.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $9.85 billion. LyondellBasell Industries had a net margin of 5.16% and a return on equity of 21.89%. The firms quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that LyondellBasell Industries will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LyondellBasell Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 1st. LyondellBasell Industriess payout ratio is presently 77.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LYB shares. Vertical Research raised shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of LyondellBasell Industries from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on LyondellBasell Industries in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set an underperform rating on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $102.00 to $98.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a $107.00 target price on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a research note on Monday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $100.92.

View Our Latest Research Report on LyondellBasell Industries

About LyondellBasell Industries

(Free Report)

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. operates as a chemical company in the United States, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Poland, France, Japan, China, the Netherlands, and internationally. The company operates in six segments: Olefins and PolyolefinsAmericas; Olefins and PolyolefinsEurope, Asia, International; Intermediates and Derivatives; Advanced Polymer Solutions; Refining; and Technology.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LYB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for LyondellBasell Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for LyondellBasell Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) meets Deputy Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives Sharon Claydon in Canberra, Australia March 7, 2024 - Photo: VGP

The meeting took place within the framework of his official visit to Australia.

The Prime Minister expressed thanks to Australia for providing official development assistance (ODA) for Viet Nam, and assistance for the Southeast Asian country's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

He hailed the partnership between the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) and the Australian Parliament, especially after the visit by NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue to Australia in 2022.

The guest hoped that the relations between the two legislative bodies as well as the two friendship parliamentarians' groups will continue to be strengthened through promoting the exchange of young parliamentarians and female ones.

He also expected the two legislative bodies will continue to support each other for the development of each country and for peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

The Vietnamese Government leader proposed the two sides cooperate to refresh old growth drivers in investment, export, and consumption while adding new ones such as digital economy, green economy, circular economy and sharing economy.

He suggested Australia should relax regulations on labor and visa for Vietnamese people doing business and living in Australia, and consider and recognize the Vietnamese community in Australia as its ethnic minority.

Sharon Claydon, who is also Chairperson of the Australia-Viet Nam Friendship Parliamentarians' Group, spoke highly of Viet Nam's contributions to Australia-ASEAN relations, and to the success of the recent Special Summit commemorating 50 years of the ASEAN-Australia dialogue relations.

The two countries share a lot of common interests, for the development of each country and for security, safety, stability and development in the region, she noted./.
The Irish Hospice Foundation Cycle Challenge is heading to France in 2024 with people now being invited to sign up and take part this summer.

Organisers said: "We are delighted to announce that the IHF Cycle Challenge 2024 will see us take on a stunning route across the South of France, beginning in Biarritz on the Bay of Biscay and ending in Canet Plage on the Mediterranean."

The route travels along the foothills of the Pyrenees, taking in the former Royal City of Pau and the UNESCO world heritage town of Carcassonne.

"Those looking for a greater challenge and to tackle hillier terrain in the Pyrenees will have the opportunity to take on the fantastic Tourmalet, one of the original climbs of the Tour de France," they added.

"We invite cyclists of varying levels to take on this stunning 500km+ cycle. You will explore some of the most beautiful parts of France whilst raising vital funds for Irish Hospice Foundation."

The Cycle Challenge is the Irish Hospice Foundation's largest and longest standing fundraising events. Since it was established in 2009, the event has raised over 2.2 million.

With the funds raised, thousands of families have been cared for by their Nurses for Night Care service, as they provide over 2,000 nights of care every year.

Where: Biarritz to Canet Plage

When: Sunday 30th June  Saturday 6th July 2024

Full details are available in Irish Hospice Foundations Cycle Challenge 2024 brochure or you can register online here.

If you have any questions about the event, contact Louise at louise.mccarron@hospicefoundation.ie or (01) 679 3188.
China will adopt a visa-free policy for Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg on a trial basis, starting March 14, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

"We hope more countries will also offer Chinese citizens visa facilitation and work with us to build fast-track networks for cross-border travels and encourage speedy resumption of international passenger flights," Wang told a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress, China's national legislature.

This will make it more convenient for Chinese citizens to travel abroad, and make foreign friends feel at home in China, he said.
President Michael D. Higgins has returned home to Aras an Uachtarain following his discharge from St Jamess Hospital this Thursday afternoon.

In a statement, the President thanked all of the staff of St Jamess Hospital for the care which he received following his admission last week.

"Ireland is lucky to have such wonderful, dedicated and caring medical staff," the statement read.

"The president is looking forward to his pre-scheduled meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Aras an Uachtarain tomorrow afternoon," it continued.

President Higgins was admitted to hospital "after experiencing a mild transient weakness" last Thursday, February 29.

Tests conducted following his admission have indicated no serious or long-term concerns for the Presidents health and his medical team expect him to make a full recovery.

He has been advised to cut back on the extent of his public engagements for the next coming weeks in order to facilitate a recommended short period of recuperation.

According to Aras an Uachtarain, President Higgins continued to carry out his constitutional duties while in hospital and this week considered and signed two pieces of legislation - the Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2023 and the Social Welfare and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023.

He is currently considering a further two pieces of legislation  the Criminal Justice (Engagement of Children in Criminal Activity) Bill 2023 and the European Arrest Warrant (Amendment) Bill 2022.
Heads of delegations to the ASEAN - Australia Special Summit (Photo: VNA)

At the meetings, the PM conveyed regards from General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong and other key leaders of Vietnam to the foreign leaders and the ASEAN Secretary-General, and thanked them for their cooperation and support for Vietnam in economic recovery and development.

PM Pham Minh Chinh expressed his hope for stronger cooperation in ASEANs major pillars as well as enhanced collaboration with other countries, particularly in politics-diplomacy, economy-trade-investment, national defence-security, education-training, and science-technology.

He stressed the need to maintain close cooperation to build a united ASEAN, strengthen intra-bloc collaboration, and carry forward the group's centrality in settling issues regarding regional security and strategy.

The PM used this occasion to propose the foreign leaders to send ministerial-level representatives to the ASEAN Future Forum, slated for April 23 in Hanoi.

Australian PM Anthony Albanese said he looked forward to his Vietnamese counterparts visit, as well as the upgrade of the bilateral ties to a new height.

Lao PM Sonexay Siphandone agreed to step up the implementation of agreements reached by high-ranking leaders of Vietnam and Laos, and thanked Vietnam for its assistance to Laos in taking over the ASEAN Chairmanship 2024.

Bruneis King Hassanal Bolkiah consented to promote the exchange of high-level visits, and cooperation in the field of halal, saying he hoped to return to Vietnam soon.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said the two countries should foster cooperation in rice trade and agriculture, specifically aquaculture, suggested Vietnam encourage its VinFast company to invest in electric vehicles in Indonesia.

Thai PM Srettha Thavisin shared PM Pham Minh Chinhs view on the need to soon hold a joint Cabinet meeting between the two countries, and intensify connectivity between the two economies.

Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. suggested the two countries work closely together in rice variety production, along with climate change response, including the El Nino phenomenon.

Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong concurred to push ahead with the construction of Vietnam - Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP), and strengthen cooperation in digital transformation, green economy, digital economy, and population data building and management.

Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim congratulated Vietnam on its rapid development in various spheres, and noted his wish to learn from Vietnams experience in foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction, in which, he said, the two countries should coordinate closely.

New Zealands PM Christopher Luxon spoke highly of Vietnam's role in ASEAN, and affirmed that New Zealand will cooperate closely with Vietnam and other ASEAN countries in regional issues.

Timor Lestes PM Xanana Gusmao expressed his wish to pay an official visit Vietnam at an early date, and appreciated Vietnam's support to Timor Leste to officially join ASEAN soon.

ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn affirmed that he and the ASEAN Secretariat will attend the ASEAN Future Forum and suggested that it should will be held annually and become a leading forum to discuss issues related to the future of the bloc./.
The Vietnamese youth delegation at the 2024 World Youth Festival in Russia

(Photo: VNA)

The Vietnamese youth delegation led by Mr. Bui Quang Huy, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCYU) and Chairman of the National Committee on Youth, aims to convey the message of peace, integration, and development.

With the theme of connecting young people around the world to build a common future, a multipolar, fair world based on cooperation and balance of interests, the 2024 World Youth Festival hopes to create an open space for young people to meet, share, and raise awareness about issues of concern to young people in the current situation.

The event also offers a good chance to introduce the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and Vietnam's youth organisations, as well as the role of youth and youth union organisations in the work of building and protecting the socialist Vietnamese Fatherland.

Through this festival, Vietnam has an opportunity to promote the country's image as well as its socio-economic development achievements after more than 45 years of national unification and more than 30 years of innovation./.
Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN (Photo: VNA)

Addressing a UN Security Council (UNSC) discussion held in New York on March 4-5 on the conflicts and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, showed deep concern about the prolonged conflict and increasingly serious humanitarian crisis in the area.

He held that what the council has done in the past five months is not enough to prevent violence and reduce tensions, and expressed his hope that the council will stay united and make more efforts to end fighting and promote dialogue.

Emphasising the urgency of humanitarian relief activities and the key role of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in this issue, the Vietnamese representative proposed to prioritise ensuring enough water, food, medicine, and fuel for civilians to stay alive; and welcomed all international mediation efforts to promote peace negotiations on the basis of the "two-state solution" and relevant UN resolutions.

For his part, President of the UN General Assembly expressed disappointment at the use of veto by a permanent member of the UNSC on the draft resolution on an emergency humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on February 20. He reiterated his call for all parties to respect international law and exercise maximum restraint, adding that he hopes that the international community will continue to make efforts to find a solution to end the crisis.

Representatives of many countries called on the UNSC to show responsibility and stronger role in promoting the achievement of a sustainable ceasefire, ensuring the unhindered provision of emergency humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza./.
A drone photo taken on March 2, 2024 shows the "Shenditake 1" borehole in the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The drilling of a superdeep borehole in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reached 10,000 meters at 2:48 p.m. Monday and is going deeper, marking a breakthrough in the country's deep-Earth exploration.

Located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, the "Shenditake 1" is expected to reach a designed depth of 11,100 meters upon completion. It is China's first scientific exploration borehole designed to exceed a depth of 10,000 meters. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

URUMQI, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The drilling of a superdeep borehole in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reached 10,000 meters at 2:48 p.m. Monday and is going deeper, marking a breakthrough in the country's deep-Earth exploration.

Located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, the "Shenditake 1" is expected to reach a designed depth of 11,100 meters upon completion. It is China's first scientific exploration borehole designed to exceed a depth of 10,000 meters.

Since the start of drilling on May 30, 2023, the borehole has penetrated 13 continental strata, with more than 1,000 drill pipes driven into the Earth and over 20 drill bits consumed in the process.

"It is the first time that China has drilled a vertical borehole over 10,000 meters deep," said Wang Chunsheng, chief expert of the Tarim Oilfield of China National Petroleum Corporation, which is in charge of the drilling.

Located between the Tianshan and the Kunlun mountains, the Tarim Basin is one of the most difficult areas to explore due to its harsh ground environment and complicated underground conditions.

Wang said that after reaching 10,000 meters, the drilling will face more severe challenges such as temperatures of over 200 degrees Celsius and formation pressure exceeding 130 MPa, and the difficulty will multiply with each meter drilled deeper.

The deepest vertical well in the world today has a depth of more than 12,262 meters. Jia Chengzao, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the "Shenditake 1" has become the second deepest vertical well worldwide and the deepest in Asia, and is of milestone significance in deep-Earth scientific research and ultra-deep oil and gas exploration.

Staff members work at "Shenditake 1" borehole in the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, March 3, 2024. The drilling of a superdeep borehole in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reached 10,000 meters at 2:48 p.m. Monday and is going deeper, marking a breakthrough in the country's deep-Earth exploration.

Located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, the "Shenditake 1" is expected to reach a designed depth of 11,100 meters upon completion. It is China's first scientific exploration borehole designed to exceed a depth of 10,000 meters. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

A drone photo taken on March 4, 2024 shows the "Shenditake 1" borehole in the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The drilling of a superdeep borehole in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reached 10,000 meters at 2:48 p.m. Monday and is going deeper, marking a breakthrough in the country's deep-Earth exploration.

Located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, the "Shenditake 1" is expected to reach a designed depth of 11,100 meters upon completion. It is China's first scientific exploration borehole designed to exceed a depth of 10,000 meters. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

Staff members work at "Shenditake 1" borehole in the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, March 3, 2024. The drilling of a superdeep borehole in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reached 10,000 meters at 2:48 p.m. Monday and is going deeper, marking a breakthrough in the country's deep-Earth exploration.

Located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, the "Shenditake 1" is expected to reach a designed depth of 11,100 meters upon completion. It is China's first scientific exploration borehole designed to exceed a depth of 10,000 meters. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

Staff members work at "Shenditake 1" borehole in the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, March 4, 2024. The drilling of a superdeep borehole in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reached 10,000 meters at 2:48 p.m. Monday and is going deeper, marking a breakthrough in the country's deep-Earth exploration.

Located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, the "Shenditake 1" is expected to reach a designed depth of 11,100 meters upon completion. It is China's first scientific exploration borehole designed to exceed a depth of 10,000 meters. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

A drone photo taken on March 4, 2024 shows the "Shenditake 1" borehole in the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The drilling of a superdeep borehole in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reached 10,000 meters at 2:48 p.m. Monday and is going deeper, marking a breakthrough in the country's deep-Earth exploration.

Located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, the "Shenditake 1" is expected to reach a designed depth of 11,100 meters upon completion. It is China's first scientific exploration borehole designed to exceed a depth of 10,000 meters. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

Staff members celebrate as the drilling of the "Shenditake 1" borehole reaches 10,000 meters in the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, March 4, 2024. The drilling of a superdeep borehole in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reached 10,000 meters at 2:48 p.m. Monday and is going deeper, marking a breakthrough in the country's deep-Earth exploration.

Located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, the "Shenditake 1" is expected to reach a designed depth of 11,100 meters upon completion. It is China's first scientific exploration borehole designed to exceed a depth of 10,000 meters. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

A drone photo taken on March 3, 2024 shows staff members working at "Shenditake 1" borehole in the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The drilling of a superdeep borehole in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reached 10,000 meters at 2:48 p.m. Monday and is going deeper, marking a breakthrough in the country's deep-Earth exploration.

Located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, the "Shenditake 1" is expected to reach a designed depth of 11,100 meters upon completion. It is China's first scientific exploration borehole designed to exceed a depth of 10,000 meters. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

An aerial drone photo taken on March 4, 2024 shows the "Shenditake 1" borehole in the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The drilling of a superdeep borehole in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reached 10,000 meters at 2:48 p.m. Monday and is going deeper, marking a breakthrough in the country's deep-Earth exploration.

Located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, the "Shenditake 1" is expected to reach a designed depth of 11,100 meters upon completion. It is China's first scientific exploration borehole designed to exceed a depth of 10,000 meters. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

A researcher looks at samples collected from deep earth through a microscope at "Shenditake 1" borehole in the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, March 3, 2024. The drilling of a superdeep borehole in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reached 10,000 meters at 2:48 p.m. Monday and is going deeper, marking a breakthrough in the country's deep-Earth exploration.

Located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, the "Shenditake 1" is expected to reach a designed depth of 11,100 meters upon completion. It is China's first scientific exploration borehole designed to exceed a depth of 10,000 meters. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

A researcher looks at samples collected from deep earth through a microscope at "Shenditake 1" borehole in the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, March 3, 2024. The drilling of a superdeep borehole in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reached 10,000 meters at 2:48 p.m. Monday and is going deeper, marking a breakthrough in the country's deep-Earth exploration.

Located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, the "Shenditake 1" is expected to reach a designed depth of 11,100 meters upon completion. It is China's first scientific exploration borehole designed to exceed a depth of 10,000 meters. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

A drone photo taken on March 3, 2024 shows the "Shenditake 1" borehole in the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The drilling of a superdeep borehole in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reached 10,000 meters at 2:48 p.m. Monday and is going deeper, marking a breakthrough in the country's deep-Earth exploration.

Located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, the "Shenditake 1" is expected to reach a designed depth of 11,100 meters upon completion. It is China's first scientific exploration borehole designed to exceed a depth of 10,000 meters. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

A researcher looks at samples collected from deep earth through a microscope at "Shenditake 1" borehole in the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, March 3, 2024. The drilling of a superdeep borehole in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reached 10,000 meters at 2:48 p.m. Monday and is going deeper, marking a breakthrough in the country's deep-Earth exploration.

Located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert in the Tarim Basin, the "Shenditake 1" is expected to reach a designed depth of 11,100 meters upon completion. It is China's first scientific exploration borehole designed to exceed a depth of 10,000 meters. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

Editor: GSY
From our vantage . . .

We prefer more research & study into the Kansas City Irish mobster Tom Pendergast because his political influence was far greater than so many street hoodlums and this legacy reminds us of the not-so-long-ago time when mostly white thugs killed youngsters and innocent people in much the same manner as our current, far more diverse and inclusive selection of gang-affiliated criminals.

Still . . . Today hipsters share a worthwhile preview . . .



"Haydes Mafia Dreams is an in-depth analysis of the true crime that took place on the very ground that keeps our city afloat."





Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Skeptics like TKC aren't so impressed by yet another anti-chop crusade that CLEARLY isn't swaying public opinion.

In fairness . . .

More hopeful activists remind us that changing public opinion is a constant struggle the requires pressure over time . . . Kinda like how the Grand Canyon might've started with just a little trickle of water millions of years ago. Still . . . That tactic is about as exciting as watching erosion in progress.

And so . . . We merely clip the main points of the constant complaint and more info for curious readers:



The fight song the team plays over the stadium loudspeakers to rally the crowd is from a the theme to a cartoon that first aired in 1949, The Adventures of Pow Wow. This song is a Hollywood stereotype, not a traditional piece of tribal music, and does not honor Native Americans.



The tomahawk chop and stereotypical chanting by fans as show of team spirit during game and randomly at any time around Kansas City (or in the faces of Native Americans opposed to stereotypes) does not honor Native Americans. The pounding of the big drum removes that style of drum from its place of importance within our culture, and does not honor those drum teachings or Native Americans.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
The impact of late night local gunfire crossed the state line as police were called to investigate early this morning.



In our unofficial www.TonysKansasCity.com count that's based on the KCPD daily homicide analysis. It looks the like we've hit #22 so far this year compared to 26 at this time last year.

Here is the first report . . .



Homicide- 3901 Rainbow Blvd., KC,KS

Early this morning, just after 12:45AM officers were dispatched to KU Hospital on a reported shooting.



When officers arrived, they were advised by hospital staff that two adult males were transported by private conveyance to the hospital suffering from gunshot trauma. Those two victims were both pronounced deceased at the hospital.



Preliminary information is believed the shooting occurred in a wooded area somewhere within the Kansas City, Missouri limits.



An adult male subject is in police custody for further investigation. We are not currently searching for any additional persons of interest at this time.



This case is considered ongoing and is being investigated as a homicide.



Homicide detectives have responded to the scene and will begin gathering evidence and collecting witness statements.



We are committed to assisting victims of violent crimes through use of Missouris Protection Program for Victims/Witnesses of Violent Crime. Funding for temporary, or even permanent relocation, may be available but is subject to pre-approval by the States administering agency.



We are working with Partners for Peace in all our homicide investigations to monitor risks for retaliation and provide social services to affected residents.

############



Developing . . .


There's a lot to cover in this update on consequences following tragedy, rising local violence and yet another threat confronting causal drug users & addicts alike . . .



Check TKC news gathering . . .

Missouri governor offers 'deepest sympathy' after reducing former Chiefs assistant's DWI sentence Reid pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury and was sentenced to three years. Parson reduced that term and ordered his release on March 1. Reid had been expecting to be released about eight weeks later.

Homeless man charged with killing another homeless man in east KCMO in November 2023 A homeless man is charged with the stabbing murder of another homeless man inside an abandoned house in November 2023 in east Kansas City, Missouri.

Independence man charged with double homicide makes first court appearance The man charged with killing a Jackson Co. Civil Court Processor Server and an Independence Police Officer made his first appearance in court.

Man accused of murdering officer and court employee has bond set at $2M: Jackson County Larry Acree appeared in court for the first time Wednesday after being charged with murdering an Independence police officer and Jackson County court employee during an eviction.

Raytown man who blamed Trump, Hawley for his actions in Jan. 6 attack sentenced to prison A Raytown man will spend the next nearly six years in federal prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks on the U.S. Capitol.

Police search for 'armed and dangerous' man accused of killing 18-year-old in Lawrence Lawrence police reported that Dawson Edward Paine shot Davin Gregory Kerr in the 2900 block of Crestline Drive about 10:40 p.m.

Families react to extra law enforcement presence at Winnetonka for basketball games following recent shooting This past weekend, North Kansas City High School had a similar tone to what Kansas City experienced a few weeks ago - celebration that ended in a crime scene.

Suspect taken to hospital after SWAT sent to home near William Jewell College A suspect remains in the hospital after a SWAT team was called to a home near William Jewell College after shots were fired during a rescue attempt.

Procession route for slain Independence officer Cody Allen funeral released, will impact traffic Officials with the city of Independence released details for the procession route of slain Officer Cody Allen scheduled for Friday.

KC area residents warned of new illegal drug that could lead to amputation Law enforcement officials in the Kansas City area have warned residents about the presence of a new illegal narcotic on the streets that could result in amputation.

KC Common Good rallies community members, organizations to fight gun violence KC Common Good gathered community members to address gun violence for their "KC United" event. They're hoping to make sure incidents like what happened at the high school don't happen again.

Developing . . .
Not since Mayor Q decided to tinker with police funding or sue gun companies has he endured this kind of harsh criticism.

MILLIONS OF PEOPLE SPOKE OUT AGAINST MOVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND ANY REASONABLE OBSERVER MIGHT REALIZE THAT PROGRESSIVE PROVOCATION LIKELY BACKFIRED!!!



Consider . . .

There are many people who even support trans people and their right to exist in the public space who DON'T necessarily believe that teaching "gender fluidity" to youngsters is the right way to go.

The main point of Mayor Q's response . . .



"Im always proud to support helping one belong."



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link to Mayor Q's tweet. . .
Right now hottie activst/actress Kirsten inspires this latest peek at pop culture, community news and top headlines.

Check TKC news gathering . . .

Developing Wayback Kansas City As Well

Historic Kansas City Club up for sale after renovation The 102-year-old building in Kansas City's Library District is now available for purchase after its multiyear renovation as an event space.

The Dotte Fears Tax Spike

Wyandotte County residents concerned about property appraisal increases The Wyandotte County Appraiser's Office said most taxpayers can expect their property valuations to increase.

Rock Chalk Pipe Dream Rally

At Statehouse rally, Gov. Laura Kelly takes another swing at Kansas Medicaid expansion * Kansas Reflector Around two hundred Kansans crowded into the second floor of the Statehouse to urge lawmakers to hear a Medicaid expansion proposal.

Show-Me Debate Over Tactic That Doesn't Work

Democrats blast Missouri bill that would nullify gun buy-back programs State lawmakers debated a Missouri bill that would render local gun buy-back programs irrelevant.

Building Up Golden Ghetto Redux

Developer plans 500+ apartments along K-7 in Lenexa Kansas City-based Oak IQ Investments wants to build 529 apartments across 15 buildings at 89th Street and Woodsonia Drive in Lenexa.

Check JoCo Good Life

See inside $3.2 million home on sale in Overland Park with outdoor pool, 3 acres of land "This beautiful property can be an entertainer's dream, or a family's private sanctuary," says the listing of the Johnson County house.

Kansas City Snack History

Remember Hydrox? Kansas City created the original Oreo cookie Oreo is the best-selling cookie in the world today. But few people remember the product that Nabisco blatantly ripped off: Hydrox. A creation of Kansas City's Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company, Hydrox was billed as the "aristocrat of cookies," with a novel combo of chocolate and cream filling.

Hollywood Fashion Debut

Kristen Stewart's risque bodysuit at the 'Love Lies Bleeding' L.A. premiere has fans eager for more: See her other looks The actor is never shy on the red carpet, and she's not stopping now.

Prez Talk Postscript

President Biden's State of the Union speech faces dual political challenges President Biden's State of the Union speech on Thursday night will be his opportunity to challenge his critics while offering additional clarity on how he would approach his second term.

Deuce Calls It Quits

Nikki Haley ends White House bid, clearing path for a Trump-Biden rematch Nikki Haley ended her long-shot challenge to Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Wednesday, ensuring the former president will be the party's candidate in a rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden in November's election.

MAGA Marches Forward

Analysis: America has never had a presumptive nominee like Donald Trump | CNN Politics Donald Trump has put America on notice - his second term would be even more disruptive and turbulent than his first.

Close Call For Commander

Missile explodes near Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's meeting with Greek prime minister: Sources A missile exploded in Odesa Wednesday, just hundreds of feet from where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was meeting with the Greek prime minister, according to sources.

CELEBRATE MR. JAB!!!

'Hypervaccinated' man reportedly received 217 Covid jabs without side effects German man said he had vaccines for 'private reasons', but reports say he was selling certificates to people who didn't want jab

Holy Land Stockpile Spikes

US uses loophole to keep 100 arms sales to Israel under the radar amid Gaza war Biden administration not required to disclose sales below set dollar amount, in addition to public shipments worth over $573m

Far East Tech Check

US urges allies to tighten China's access to chip technology, Bloomberg reports The U.S. government is urging the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea and Japan to further tighten curbs on China's access to semiconductor technology, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.

Medical Tech For Modern Era

'Bigger Booty' Pills Are REal - And They're Just $23 Visibly enhance the size and shape of your booty with these Bigger Booty pills from Amazon - see what reviewers are saying

Hipster Calendar Debut

Concert Presales This Week: The Revivalists, Two Door Cinema Club, Cage the Elephant, Mike Campbell Bridge listeners can access tickets to a few concerts before they go on sale to the public this week - find more info & grab those tickets!

First Responder Mosaic Report

KCFD firefighter still finds time for his passion: art Sean Tiller chose to become a first responder as a Kansas City Fire Department firefighter and EMT. However, he didn't push his art to the side or never pick up a paintbrush again.

He's Not Wrong

Tyreek Hill says Patrick Mahomes is the NFL's best quarterback: 'He's a different dude' In a Tuesday interview, the Miami wide receiver talked about the leadership Mahomes displays in Kansas City.

They'll Make A Lot Of Dough

Co-founders of The Blakk Co. open new location in the historic Wonder Bread Factory Williams and Ross launched The Blakk Co. for people of color in the height of the George Floyd protests. Conversations on race and mental health will continue at its new location on 30th & Troost.

Later Another Forecast Peek

Sporadic rain storms will roll in on Thursday Kansas City has increasing clouds tonight with lows in the mid-40s.

bbno$, Low G & Anh Phan - pho real is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now.
A group meeting of deputies from the delegation of Hebei Province is held at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

A group meeting of deputies from the delegation of Guizhou Province is held at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

A group meeting of deputies from the delegation of Liaoning Province is held at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

Journalists work at a group meeting of deputies from the delegation of Hebei Province at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

A group meeting of deputies from the delegation of Hubei Province is held at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)

Editor: GSY
A group meeting of deputies from the delegation of Hebei Province is held at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

A group meeting of deputies from the delegation of Guizhou Province is held at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

A group meeting of deputies from the delegation of Liaoning Province is held at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

Journalists work at a group meeting of deputies from the delegation of Hebei Province at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

A group meeting of deputies from the delegation of Hubei Province is held at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)

A group meeting of deputies from the delegation of Heilongjiang Province is held at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

Journalists work at a group meeting of deputies from the delegation of Heilongjiang Province at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

Journalists work at a group meeting of deputies from the delegation of Guangdong Province at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

Editor: JYZ
TV Programm heute

Wer heute Fernsehen sehen will, greift entweder zur Programmzeitschrift oder  vor allem bei jungeren TV-Zuschauern gang und gabe  nutzt den Programmguide seines Vertrauens im Internet. Bei TV SPIELFILM gibt es mit der "TV Programm von heute"-Ubersicht eine praktische Zusammenstellung aller Sendungen des Tages. Von den Hauptprogrammen Das Erste, ZDF, RTL, Sat.1, ProSieben und kabel eins bis hin zu den Spartenkanalen, Dritten Programmen und Sport- oder Infokanalen: Wer das Programm heute kennen will, kann sich kinderleicht durch die Ansicht navigieren.

TV heute: Vielseitig aber auch unubersichtlich

Im Laufe der Jahre bevolkern immer mehr Sender die deutsche Fernsehlandschaft. Wer das Fernsehprogramm heute im Auge behalten will, muss uber einen breiten Blick verfugen. Der durchschnittliche deutsche TV-Haushalt empfangt mehr als 70 vollwertige Programme uber seinen Fernseher, insgesamt gibt es mehr als 400 Programme im deutschen TV. Landesweite, regionale und lokale Fernsehangebote dominieren das Programm heute. Mit dem Aufkommen von Streamingdiensten wie Netflix und Amazon oder der wachsenden Bedeutung des Pay-TV wird die Auswahl fur Fernsehen heute immer groer.

Mit dem TV Programm von heute wahrt der Programmguide Ubersicht in Zeiten der Unubersichtlichkeit. Auch bei der Auswahl einer geeigneten Sendung hilft TV SPIELFILM: Wir geben Programm-Tipps fur jeden Tag, zeigen mit dem bestens bekannten Daumen, ob sich das Programm heute lohnt oder nicht. Die Kritiken und Tipps stammen aus der Redaktion und werden taglich gewissenhaft und mit geubtem Auge ausgewahlt und verfasst. Informationen bezuglich des Genres, der Schauspieler und der Altersfreigabe im TV sind ebenfalls ersichtlich. Die ubersichtliche Darstellung in Tabellenform gliedert die einzelnen Sendungen zeitlich und liefert einen schnellen Uberblick uber das tagliche TV-Programm.

Fernsehen heute: Webseiten und Apps

Eine weitere Moglichkeit sich nicht nur uber das TV Programm zu informieren, sondern auch direkt einzuschalten, besteht uber die digitalen Angebote von TV SPIELFILM. Mit den Apps oder uber die Internetseite kann direkt ins tagliche Programm geschaltet werden.

Auch eine Verbindung zu den Streamingangeboten findet sich unter jeder Sendung: Wenn eine Serie auch uber Netflix, Amazon, Maxdome und Co. streambar ist, erfahrt ihr es im EPG von TV SPIELFILM.

Der mobile Zugriff, aktuelle Informationen nach einem Programmwechsel und die Funktion, Sender nach eigenem Belieben zu sortieren, stellen weitere Vorteile fur das Fernsehen von heute dar. Hilfreiche Features sind auerdem die integrierte Suchleiste sowie eine Erinnerungsfunktion. Durch diese Funktion erhalt der Zuschauer die Moglichkeit, von ihm favorisierte Filme, Serien oder Dokumentationen fur das Programm heute auszuwahlen und auf eine Merkliste zu setzen. Kurz vor der Ausstrahlung wird der Nutzer uber das gewunschte Programm im TV heute informiert.
Why is Denali so tall?

Photo courtesy of Peter Haeussler

Kara Haeussler and her father Peter pose in front of the Kahiltna Peaks and Denali on June 3, 2014, at the conclusion of a trip during which they climbed mountains and collected rock samples.

Denali, North Americas highest peak at 20,310 feet above sea level, always seemed abnormally high to Peter Haeussler. He is a geologist who has studied the mountain for years and has also climbed it a couple of times.

Denali soars at least 9,000 feet above surrounding peaks in the Alaska Range, except for neighbor Mount Foraker.

Its ridiculous how much bigger it is, he said.

He recently came up with a theory as to why Denali is so tall.

Haeussler  pretty tall himself at 6-foot-6  has slept on and analyzed mountain ranges all over Alaska during the past 30 years as a professional with the U.S. Geological Survey in Anchorage. During the 2023 Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco last December, Haeussler explained why he believes Denali stands head and shoulders above neighboring peaks.

The answer was a long time coming for Haeussler, with epiphanies arriving at random times, including when he sat at his desk in Anchorage and while mapping the faults in Ruth Gorge roped up on the mountain.

Over the years, he also learned that the collision of a slab of Earths crust into the southeast corner of Alaska shoves parts of the Alaska Range ever higher, and a sharp bend in a nearby fault system is critical to help Denali grow. But there must have been another factor to explain why Denali and Foraker are such monoliths.

Illustration by UAF Geophysical Institute

A star on a map of Alaska marks Denali's location.

One important journey for him in formulating an answer was the few weeks he spent near Denali with his daughter Kara and colleague/friend Richard Lease 10 summers ago.

While in a region near Denali called the Kahiltna Peaks in late May 2014, Haeussler and Kara collected rock samples. He would later analyze those granite chunks for beryllium 10, an isotope that can tell geologists about mountain building because it allows them to detect how long a rock has been exposed to sunlight.

While approaching a mountain wall to gather one of those rocks, the snow upon which Haeussler was walking gave way. He fell into a crevasse, a massive crack in glacier ice sometimes hidden by snow.

Luckily, he was attached by climbing rope to Kara, who was then 22 years old, and Lease. They both immediately dropped to the snow, digging in with their ice axes to arrest his fall.

While dangling at the end of the rope in the sudden darkness, Haeussler found that he could swing sideways onto a ramp of ice. He then climbed upward, surprising Kara as his ice axe punched through the snow. He then crawled out of the bottomless slot.

Photo by Peter Haeussler

Peter Haeussler emerged from this hole in the Kahiltna Glacier after falling into a crevasse during a rock-gathering mission in 2014.

After he emerged, Haeussler ate a snack and then used his ice axe to chop out a rock sample for his studies.

The crevasse fall was not the only drama he remembers from the trip, which also featured a snow- and windstorm that confined him and Kara to their tent for five straight days.

Years later, with all those rock samples analyzed and evidence trickling in from other studies, Haeussler came up with this explanation for why Denali is so tall: granite at the higher elevations is just not eroding as fast as it does down low.

Why not?

Denali grew (and is growing) so high that its rock is beyond the reach of erosion, Haeussler said.

He explained that the air temperature almost never gets above the freezing mark above 14,500 feet or so in the Alaska Range. That prevents rocks from crumbling due to the repeated expansion of liquid water into ice.

That shuts down the freeze-thaw that other mountains experience, he said. (Denali) has shut off the weathering.

Since the late 1970s, the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute.
Qabil Ashirov

The Russian Minister of Economic Development, Maxim Reshetnikov, will visit Azerbaijan on a working trip on March 7, Azernews reports.

During the visit, Minister Reshetnikov is expected to hold a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Minister of Economy Mikail Jabbarov, and Chairman of the State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan Fuad Nagiyev.

Maxim Reshetnikov will also hold a meeting with Russian and Azerbaijani entrepreneurs and visit a Russian enterprise.

During the upcoming meetings, the parties will consider issues of developing trade and economic cooperation between the countries, as well as prospects for promoting joint projects.
The need to quickly resolve problems in mutual trade relations between Ukraine and Poland was discussed on Thursday at an online meeting by Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Czesaw Siekierski and Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Mykola Solsky.

The Polish side expects to reach an agreement with the Ukrainian side, which will help eliminate disruptions in the Polish market and put an end to farmers protests, the Polish ministry said on its website.

Responding to Solsky's question about the requirements for the Green Deal, the Polish minister said that Warsaw is striving to remove excessive requirements for farmers.

Our expectations are clear: we will not be content with cosmetic changes, Siekierski emphasized and expressed hope that the revision of the Green Deal will improve the situation of farmers who currently face the problem of low profitability of their farms.

It is indicated that Solsky expressed understanding of the demands of the Polish side and noted that Ukrainian farmers are awaiting decisions and putting pressure on the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.

During the meeting, the ministers also discussed preparations for participation in the ninth meeting of the Polish-Ukrainian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation, which is scheduled for the near future.
On the afternoon of March 7, a 52-year-old civilian man was killed in the Russian mortar shelling of the Semenivka community in the Chernihiv region.

Viacheslav Chaus, the head of the Chernihiv Regional Military Administration, said this in a post on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.

"Today, around 16:00, a civilian man born in 1972 was killed in a mortar attack in the Semenivka community. The body was found near the crater by neighbors," the post reads.

Read also: Ukraine repels 39 attacks in Avdiivka and Novopavlivka directions

Chaus also said that a private house was damaged as a result of the drone attack, but the owner was not injured.

As Ukrinform reported, the Russian army fired mortars and cannon artillery at three border communities in the Chernihiv region over the past day.

Photo: NPU
03/06/2024

By Ed Brennen

Image by Ed Brennen

Image by Ed Brennen

Image by Ed Brennen

Image by Ed Brennen

Image by Ed Brennen

An orange flag with the silhouette of a fork is the only signage you see outside of FORK Included , an Asian fusion restaurant located on University Avenue, on the edge of North Campus.Thats because when Vidon Pich and his wife, Chinda, started FORK three years ago, it was intended to be a ghost kitchen  an establishment that only offers takeout and catering orders.As UML students learned about FORK through word of mouth, they started texting Pich their orders for bulgogi bowls, pad thai and drunken noodles. Before long, Pich says, 80% of his business was coming from UML students.So, with the help of somestudents and a $60,000 economic resilience grant from the city of Lowell, Pich decided to relaunch FORK Included as a traditional sit-down restaurant.We want to create that vibe where, when students walk in, they feel like theyre home, Pich said after cutting the ribbon at the restaurants recent grand reopening ceremony, where guests noshed on free food and admired the remodeled spaces bold colors and canopy of pink silk flowers in the window.Among those in attendance were members of Mill City Consulting, a student-run venture that assists local businesses. Its part of Internship in Entrepreneurship, a three-credit course that gives students hands-on experience with evaluating a small businesss goals and challenges and with developing a strategy to improve the businesss bottom line.This spring, a half-dozen Mill City Consulting students are helping Pich with social media marketing, website improvements and general operations management. They started by spreading the word about the reopening, and they will continue to meet with Pich during the semester to assess his business needs.Students love this place, said senior business major Avijay Ghosh, who has been coming to FORK for the fried rice and chicken once a week for the past two years.I like making an impact in the community with what Im learning in school, said Ghosh, an accounting and management information systems student from Washington, D.C. I want to see all the local businesses do better.Standing in the restaurants back hallway, MBA student Chioke Onwuogo admired the UMass Lowell flag hanging on the wall, surrounded by more than a hundred paper cranes  all folded by Pich family members.It feels homey here, like a place where you can relax while doing homework and grabbing a bite to eat, said Onwuogo, who completed his undergraduate business degree in December and is taking Internship in Entrepreneurship along with his online MBA courses this semester.This course lets you experience one-on-one business relationships, which is helpful if you want to be your own entrepreneur someday, said Onwuogo, a Peabody, Massachusetts, native who starts work this month as a market intelligence representative at Similarweb, a data software company.Another team member, junior finance and MIS student Daniel Oluwasuyi of Lynn, Massachusetts, said he is taking the course to improve my problem-solving and analytical skills, while giving back to the community at the same time.Other students in the course, which is taught by adjunct faculty member Daniele Parravano '17, '18, are working with The Perfect Cup Cafe, a coffee shop that recently opened in Dracut, Massachusetts.I love when people take a big step to start something of their own. Its really cool to help them, said juniormajor Sonakshi Gupta, a Dracut native who is part of the Perfect Cup consulting team.Taking the Internship in Entrepreneurship course, Gupta said, allows her to explore an interest outside of her computer science major.I enjoy working with like-minded people who have the same ambitions as me, and feeling like part of the community, she said during the FORK Included re-opening, which was attended by Lowell City Council Vice Chair Paul Ratha Yem and state Rep. Vanna Howard.Pich was born in Cambodia, grew up in Boston and has called Lowell home for the past 20 years. He used the $60,000 grant from the city to upgrade FORKs kitchen equipment. He and his wife plan to start a nonprofit, donating at least 200 meals a month to the community.He plans to meet weekly this spring with the Mill City Consulting students, and then see their final presentation in class at the end of the semester.Theyre really good. They have a vision, and I embrace that, he said in the crowded six-table dining area of his remodeled restaurant.Phase two of the renovation, he said, is to add a TV on the wall  and a sign outside.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during a joint visit to Odesa with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, showed him the Transfiguration Cathedral destroyed by Russia.

"Odesa's Transfiguration Cathedral, which had been severely damaged by a Russian missile strike. The vast majority of Russian targets are ordinary civilian facilities," Zelenskyy said on the X social network.

The President of Ukraine noted the need to restore each of them.

He also thanked Greece for its willingness to contribute to the restoration of Ukrainian cultural heritage, in particular in Odesa.

It was previously reported that the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa was damaged as a result of Russian shelling on July 23, 2023.
In Nikopol, the Epicenter shopping center was destroyed in a Russian attack on Wednesday, March 6, the press service of the retail chain has reported.

"Despite the difficult situation in the city, we continued to work so that people could provide themselves with essential goods. It hurts to realize that a place where hundreds of people invested a lot of their own efforts and labor turned into a dump in a moment. People lost their jobs, and residents lost a bastion of stability," Director of Retail at Epicenter K LLC Dmytro Tanko said.

Fortunately, no casualties are reported.

Later, Head of Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration Serhiy Lysak reported that the fire in the Nikopol shopping center had been extinguished.

According to Lysak, firefighters fought the fire for over five hours with a team of 70 people.

The destroyed shopping center was one of the largest retail facilities in the city with an area of over 5,100 square meters, which supplied essential goods to all nearby populated areas and continued to operate since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
Brown University will reintroduce standardized testing requirements for admission, aligning with Yale, Dartmouth, and M.I.T. in reversing pandemic-era test-optional policies. This decision, disclosed on Tuesday, will mandate submission of either SAT or ACT scores for the upcoming admissions cycle.

Why Go Back?

Brown University stated that standardized test scores serve as clear indicators of future academic success. The university emphasized that SAT and ACT scores are among the key factors predicting a students ability to excel in Browns rigorous academic environment. Additionally, Brown echoed concerns expressed by Dartmouth and Yale, suggesting that the suspension of test requirements inadvertently disadvantaged prospective students from low-income families. The admissions review committee at Brown highlighted that some students from less-advantaged backgrounds chose not to submit scores under the test-optional policy, potentially impacting their chances of admission.

Applications to highly selective colleges surged during the test-optional period, with Brown receiving over 51,000 applications for its fall 2023 class.

READ ALSO: Yale University Implements 'Test-Flexible' Policy, Allowing AP and IB Exams as Alternatives to SAT and ACT

Is This a Growing Trend?

While Brown University and several other institutions are reintroducing standardized tests, a significant number of colleges and universities are moving towards test-optional or test-blind admissions policies. Advocates of test-optional policies argue that they level the playing field, eliminating advantages held by students from affluent families who can afford expensive test prep courses. Despite the reinstatement of standardized tests, many colleges have opted to maintain test-optional policies even as the pandemic subsides. Columbia and Harvard are among the institutions continuing with test-optional policies, while the University of Michigan has recently transitioned to test-optional admissions.

Moreover, the California university system has implemented a test-blind policy, refraining from considering test scores in admissions decisions, even if they are submitted.

The debate over standardized testing in college admissions continues, with some arguing that these tests are biased and do not accurately reflect a student's potential or ability to succeed in college. Others believe that standardized tests provide valuable information about a student's academic preparedness and are an essential tool for evaluating applicants on a level playing field.

What About Other Admissions Practices?

Brown University's admissions review committee has also considered legacy preferences, wherein the children of alumni receive preferential treatment. While legacy admissions create a sense of community and loyalty among graduates, they raise complex questions about equity and access.

Analyzing admissions data, the committee found that admitting fewer legacy students could potentially lead to increased representation of low-income, first-generation, and historically underrepresented groups. Despite debates surrounding legacy preferences, Brown intends to retain its early decision admissions program, a practice criticized for favoring students from wealthier families.

RELATED ARTICLE: Dartmouth College Breaks from Ivy League, Reinstates Standardized Testing Requirement
North Carolina representative Virginia Foxx, the Republican chairwoman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, criticized Harvard University's response to a subpoena issued last month.

Foxx expressed dissatisfaction with Harvard's compliance efforts, stating that the university's actions thus far are "shameful" and lacking in good faith. She highlighted heavy redactions in the documents provided, rendering several of them useless for the committee's investigation.

"I dont know if its arrogance, ineptness or indifference thats guiding Harvard," Foxx remarked, emphasizing that the committee is considering an appropriate response to what she described as Harvard's malfeasance.

Harvard's Response

Harvard University turned over 1,500 pages of documents to the House Education and Workforce Committee on Monday, following a subpoena issued as part of an investigation into antisemitic incidents on campus.

The documents include a summary of Harvards actions to address campus antisemitism, as stated by a university spokesperson. However, Foxx and other committee members found the response inadequate, citing heavy redactions throughout the documents.

Harvard officials reiterated their commitment to combating antisemitism but maintained that the subpoena was unwarranted. Despite this stance, the university stated that it would continue to cooperate with the committee's inquiry.

READ ALSO: Unprecedented Subpoena to Harvard Signals Heightened Scrutiny of Higher Education

Committee's Investigation

The House Education and Workforce Committee's investigation into antisemitic incidents on college campuses has drawn attention to Harvard University's response. The subpoena issued to Harvard marks the first of its kind as part of this investigation.

The committee sought documents and communications related to antisemitic incidents, disciplinary actions taken by Harvard, and meeting minutes of the university's governing boards. While Harvard has provided thousands of pages of documents since January, concerns persist regarding the completeness and transparency of the university's response.

RELATED ARTICLE: Jewish Students Testify on Widespread Campus Antisemitism at Congressional Hearing
As the possibility of Donald Trump's re-election grows, concerns mount over the future of higher education in the United States. Recent polling indicates Trump leads over Biden, raising alarms within the academic community. Despite the looming threat, responses from the higher education sector have been lackluster, prompting calls for proactive measures.

Policy Preparations Underway

For over a year, various stakeholders, including think tanks, consultants, congressional aides, and campaign staff, have been crafting policies geared towards reshaping higher education under a potential Trump administration. These efforts, if implemented, could significantly alter the landscape of higher education in the country. Notably, Republican politicians have honed in on issues within academia, leveraging them to push for policy changes.

Key figures like conservative activist Christopher Rufo have voiced concerns over what they perceive as a decline in academic standards and an overemphasis on certain ideologies within universities. Proposals to address these concerns include mobilizing government agencies to investigate admissions procedures, imposing penalties on institutions for curbing free expression, and potentially closing certain academic departments.

READ ALSO: College-Educated Conservatives Rally Behind Trump

Anticipated Changes and Concerns

Academics and university leaders fear that a Trump administration with a Republican legislative majority could reshape higher education in ways that undermine academic freedom and diversity. The proposed changes, including increased government scrutiny of admissions processes and penalties for institutions perceived as stifling free expression, pose significant challenges to the traditional autonomy of universities. Furthermore, the potential closure of academic departments deemed ideologically problematic raises concerns about the erosion of intellectual diversity and academic freedom within higher education institutions.

The academic sector faces numerous challenges in defending itself against potential policy changes under a Trump administration. Weaknesses include the management style of academic leaders, their responses to political scrutiny, and their ability to articulate the value of higher education effectively. With the stakes high, the sector must reassess its approach to self-defense and prioritize areas of policy preservation and reform.

As the specter of a Trump re-election looms, higher education institutions must brace themselves for potential changes and take proactive steps to safeguard their values and missions in the face of evolving political landscapes. It's imperative for university leaders to engage with policymakers, stakeholders, and the public to advocate for policies that uphold academic freedom, diversity, and the pursuit of knowledge. Additionally, fostering a culture of open dialogue and critical thinking within academic communities can help counter attempts to undermine the principles of higher education. By actively addressing these challenges, the higher education sector can better position itself to navigate the uncertainties of a potential Trump presidency and continue fulfilling its vital role in society.

RELATED ARTICLE: College-Educated Conservatives Rally Behind Trump
The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education has intensified financial oversight for two faith-based colleges in the state, expressing concerns about their ability to remain operational.

The agency stated that it cannot confirm whether Northpoint Bible College and Boston Baptist College have the financial resources to sustain operations through the upcoming academic year.

Contingency Plans Underway

According to the department, it is collaborating with both institutions to develop contingency plans in case of closure. With both colleges having relatively small student populations, financial sustainability remains a significant challenge.

Under state law enacted in 2019, Massachusetts mandates annual financial reviews of private colleges to identify potential closure risks, aiming to prevent sudden shutdowns like the one experienced by Mount Ida College in 2018.

READ ALSO: University of Antelope Valley Faces Imminent Closure Amid Financial and Operational Challenges

Regulatory Requirements and Recent History

Regulations mandate that colleges devise comprehensive closure contingency plans, including provisions for student transfers and budget allocations to support educational activities during potential closures. Additionally, colleges at risk may be required to provide financial collateral to ensure student refunds and preserve academic records.

Recent years have witnessed several college acquisitions and closures in Massachusetts, including Boston College's acquisition of Pine Manor College and the closure of Becker College in 2021.

Response from the Colleges

Northpoint Bible College acknowledged the oversight from the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education and attributed its financial challenges to declining enrollment and increased debts, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite enrollment declines in previous years, the college reported a recent uptick in fall 2023, although specific figures were not disclosed.

Similarly, Boston Baptist College experienced a significant decline in enrollment over the past decade. However, David Melton, the college president, has not yet responded to requests for comment.

As both institutions navigate financial uncertainties, increased oversight from state authorities aims to ensure the protection of student interests and the stability of higher education in Massachusetts.

RELATED ARTICLE: Arizona Governor Calls for Urgent Meeting Amidst Financial Dispute Between Faculty and Regents
Strengthening Judicial Response: UNODC's Symposium on Counter-Terrorism

29th February 2024, Islamabad - In a proactive move to bolster the judicial response to terrorism, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) hosted the Annual Symposium for Judges on Counter-Terrorism in Islamabad on February 27-28, 2024. This event, made possible through the generous support of Global Affairs Canada, marked a pivotal moment in the collective endeavor to fortify the counter-terrorism legal framework within Pakistan.

The symposium brought together a distinguished cadre of judges from across Pakistan, delving into the intricacies of adjudicating terrorism cases. The event underscored the critical need for a nuanced understanding of both national and international counter-terrorism measures, with a keen focus on striking a balance between upholding national security and safeguarding fundamental human rights.

The first day of the symposium commenced with a series of insightful sessions, beginning with a comprehensive overview of international approaches to adjudicating terrorism. Led by Ahmer Bilal Soofi, President of the Research Society of International Law (RSIL), discussions navigated through the complexities of integrating modern evidential standards and techniques, best practices in judicial education, and strategies to safeguard the integrity of the judicial process against external interference.

A significant segment of the symposium was dedicated to reviewing the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and evaluating the current capabilities of the criminal justice actors. Presentations from provincial judiciary representatives shed light on the challenges and advancements in case management, training curricula for Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) judges, and the implementation of computerized case management systems.

The second day delved further into legislative and procedural issues within the ATA, emphasizing the implementation of modern evidential standards and techniques, and addressing management inefficiencies, infrastructural needs, and case management. These sessions were instrumental in identifying obstacles to ATC effectiveness, with UNODC moderating discussions aimed at pinpointing and addressing these critical areas.

The symposium not only served as a platform for sharing knowledge and best practices but also facilitated a collaborative environment where judges engaged in meaningful dialogues on enhancing the judicial response to terrorism financing and related crimes. The closing remarks emphasized the importance of continuous learning, judicial independence, and the enforcement and protection of fundamental rights in ATA cases.

This initiative stands as a testament to the UNODC's commitment to supporting Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts through judicial capacity building and legal reform. With the support of Global Affairs Canada and in close collaboration with National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), the symposium represents a significant step towards achieving a more effective, rights-based approach to counter-terrorism, reinforcing the rule of law and ensuring justice and security for all.

Social Media:

https://www.facebook.com/unodc.pakistan/posts/720394710297559

https://twitter.com/UNODCPakistan/status/1764605220909092868

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7170371935145566208
Biden to make statement of support for Ukraine in his speech  White House

Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House National Security Council John Kirby said that U.S. President Joe Biden in his upcoming speech to the American people and Congressmen will speak out about support for Ukraine, which continues to resist large-scale Russian military aggression, Voice of America reports.

Kirby did not reveal details of Biden's upcoming speech, but noted that he will talk, in particular, about the things that he has achieved in these three and a half years as president - from the economy to education, health care, and jobs.

This is also about renewing American leadership on the world stage, Kirby said.

He explained that this leadership provides the power to unite in response to challenges, tremendous opportunity, and undoubtedly helps influence the decisions and actions of other leaders around the world, especially adversaries, in a manner that best serves our national security interests.

Kirby emphasized that support for Ukraine comes first here.

According to him, this means helping Ukrainian soldiers achieve success in the battle against Russian aggression. But again, our national security will benefit from this, because the situation on the European continent has changed, the official noted.

Kirby added that if the United States simply leaves this and allows Putin to conquer Ukraine, which he still wants, then he will be on NATO's doorstep.
Mongolia-UNODC partnership to boost corruption prevention

Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), 6 March 2024  In an initiative aimed at combating corruption through proactive partnerships between government agencies, civil society, and the media, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Mongolias Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC) are joining forces this week.



From 6 to 7 March in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, a workshop is taking place to underscore the critical role of civil society organizations and the media in the fight against corruption.



By harnessing the power of civil society and the media, we can foster a culture of integrity and accountability that transcends borders and transforms societies," said Annika Wythes, UNODC Southeast Asia and Pacific Anti-Corruption Team Lead. "This corruption prevention workshop represents a crucial step in our collective efforts to combat corruption in Mongolia.



Titled Harnessing the Role of Civil Society and the Media to Address Corruption, the workshop signifies a significant strengthening in Mongolia's anti-corruption efforts, fostering collaboration and empowering stakeholders to effect tangible change. Key objectives of the workshop include to formally recognize the role of non-State actors in Mongolias efforts to address corruption, to facilitate knowledge exchanges among stakeholders, as well as to identify areas that require technical assistance to strengthen anti-corruption initiatives, both from civil society, the media, and from government stakeholders.

"We are pleased to partner with UNODC in organizing this important workshop, which underscores our commitment to promoting transparency and combating corruption in Mongolia in line with Mongolias new National Anti-Corruption Strategy. By working together, we can harness the collective strength of civil society and the media to drive positive change and build a more just and equitable society," said Bolorchimeg Jargalsaikhan, the IAAC Senior Foreign Affairs Officer.



The Corruption Prevention Workshop marks a significant milestone in Mongolia's anti-corruption journey, highlighting the invaluable contributions of civil society and the media in the fight against corruption, said Joel Ortez, Regional Security Officer at the US Embassy in Ulaanbaatar. This Mongolian dialogue is the first activity of UNODC's integrity work under the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Mongolian Law Enforcement Training project.



It will be complemented by other UNODC work taking place this week in Mongolia, including a United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) Review Follow-Up and Implementation Workshop taking place from 4 to 5 March as well as a Workshop on Confiscated Assets happening today.



Click here to learn more about UNODCs anti-corruption efforts in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.



Click here to access UNCAC Review documents for Mongolia.
March 7 2024

Whiteburn Projects have shown off their development of 87 new homes on the site of a C-listed former school in Kirkcaldy.

The brownfield site has been transformed with the help of LBA Architects to provide a range of accommodations for the Kingdom Housing Association.

Speaking to minister for housing Paul McLennan on a site visit Whiteburn managing director Eve McCurrich said: We talked in detail about the challenges of brownfield regeneration and NPF 4, as well as the general challenges of the planning system and working with Local Authorities to secure planning and technical consents for our sites.

"We welcomed the opportunity to discuss these aspects of our business directly with the minister and raise the question of what funding mechanisms the government can initiate to support of delivery of more housing of all tenures across Scotland.

Enjoying an elevated position overlooking the Firth of Forth Viewforth the project incorporates the former Viewforth High School which is being turned into 14 apartments.
Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and Rizq Trust, a well-known charity organization, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to tackle the serious problem of hunger, especially during Ramadan, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Mar, 2024) Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and Rizq Trust, a well-known charity organization, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to tackle the serious problem of hunger, especially during Ramadan, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

At a ceremony held at the Rizq Trust headquarters, former SCCI president Sherbaz Bilour and Rizq Trust's Co-Founder and Vice President, Huzaifa Ahmad, officially signed the agreement, said in a press release issued here on Thursday.

The event was attended by important officials, members of the business community, and representatives from different groups. Under the agreement, both organizations agreed to work together to fight hunger and poverty and help those in need across K-P province.

Speaking at the event, Sherbaz Bilour praised the partnership as a big step towards addressing hunger issues. He stressed their joint commitment to helping the poor, especially by providing meals during Ramazan.

Bilour pointed out that almost half of Pakistan's population lives in poverty, so everyone must work together to ensure food security, reduce hunger, and poverty, and improve the lives of the less fortunate.

Bilour assured SCCI's full support, both with resources and funding, to organize meals during Ramadan. He also mentioned plans to create a detailed action plan with input from everyone involved to make sure their commitments are met.

Huzaifa Ahmad from Rizq Trust talked about the organization's goals and the importance of working together with SCCI to address hunger and poverty. He stressed the need for collaboration between government, businesses, and charities to solve these pressing issues. Ahmad reaffirmed Rizq Trust's dedication to working alongside SCCI to implement various programs outlined in the agreement.
(@FahadShabbir)

Brillanz Group, a Pakistan-based company, hosted its first-ever Sustainable Energy Summit at world largest connectivity event MWC Barcelona, with a focus on sustainable telecom innovation and AI solutions

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Mar, 2024) Brillanz Group, a Pakistan-based company, hosted its first-ever Sustainable Energy Summit at world largest connectivity event MWC Barcelona, with a focus on sustainable telecom innovation and AI solutions.

This summit represents a historic moment as it is the first time, that a Pakistani origin company has hosted a summit of such scale at Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona, Spain. Leading Pakistani Companies that participated in the Summit include Jazz (VEON), Telenor Pakistan, Softoo Ltd, Mercurial Minds, Nokia, ZTE Pakistan, SCT, Digitization Integrators, Infralectric Pvt Ltd, amongst others.

The summit, titled "Innovate, Fund, Transform: Telecoms Journey to a Sustainable, AI-Powered Era," has set a new precedent for the intersection of technology and sustainability within the telecom sector, with a special focus on AI-enabled solutions.

Bilal Qureshi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Brillanz Group, a trailblazer in engineering & energy solutions for the telecom sector, highlighted the summit's significance in propelling innovative and sustainable solutions within the industry.

He emphasized that hosting such an event at MWC Barcelona was a historic milestone for a Pakistani company.

Bilal said: This summit marks a historic moment as it's the inaugural occasion a Pakistani company has hosted such a large-scale event at MWC Barcelona. The global launch of Thunder, our AI-Enabled Energy Intelligence Platform, underscores our dedication to spearheading impactful innovation, particularly in enhancing energy efficiency within the global telecom sector, which accounts for approximately 3% of worldwide carbon emissions."

The unveiling of Thunder, a hardware-agnostic SaaS platform, at the summit heralds a paradigm shift in how the telecom industry approaches energy efficiency, establishing a benchmark for intelligent energy management. The Sustainable Energy Summit has been a landmark event, highlighting Brillanz Group's leadership in sustainable innovation.

Notable moments from the summit comprised a fireside chat with Aamir Ibrahim, CEO of Jazz. Aamir Ibrahim's discussions offered deep insights into the future of the telecom sector, underlining the necessity for a sustainable strategy to address the escalating energy requirements.

Awais Vohra, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Telenor Pakistan, introduced Thunder, an AI-driven Energy Intelligence Platform, during his keynote address. Vohra also highlighted Telenor Pakistan's innovative sustainability initiatives and shared a collaborative case study on Thunder's development with Brillanz Group.

Thunder offers a revolutionary approach to energy management in the telecom sector, boasting hardware-agnostic capabilities and widespread adoption across Telenor Pakistan's network.

Telenor Pakistan has implemented Thunder across its network, marking a substantial improvement in energy management and operational efficiency. Additionally, Vohra introduced Pakistan's first sustainability-aligned innovation, "Deferred Capex, Energy Modernisation" by #Infralectric, presenting a pioneering business model for the global telecom industry.

The summit featured renowned global speakers such as Emanuel Kolta, Lead Innovation at GSMA, Danial M, VP Technology Sales at Nokia, Shakil Ahmad, Senior Sales Director at Rohdes & Schwarz, Falk Schroder, MD at Detecon MEA, along with others who engaged in insightful panel discussions.

The summit concluded with insight from Ousama Hanif, Chief Commercial Officer at Brillanz Group, delivering a keynote on IoT-driven innovations in asset security, specifically Cratus Smart Cabinets for global telecoms. These discussions and collaborations are expected to leave a lasting impact on the industry, guiding it towards a greener and more efficient future.

Brillanz Group is a leading provider of innovative energy and technology solutions for the telecom industry. Committed to sustainability, its specialization includes cutting-edge AI, IoT-enabled Smart Cabinets, and cleantech initiatives.
(@Abdulla99267510)

Ambassador Masood Khan inaugurates the event as the Chief Guest in jam-packed hall of over six hundred attendees.

ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-March 7th, 2024) Pakistans Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan says the growing visibility and outstanding performance of Pakistani-Americans in all walks of life reflects the huge potential of our people.

It is also indicative of the deepening bonds between Pakistan and the United States.

Addressing a large gathering of Police officers and the members of Pakistani diaspora who have gathered at NYPD headquarters to celebrate Pakistan Heritage and Resolution Month being organized by New York Police Department.

The event was attended among others by Mayor New York City Eric L. Adams, First Deputy Commissioner Tania O. Kinsella, Chief of NYPD Jeffrey B. Maddrey, US District Judge of New Jersey Zahid Qureshi, Consul General of Pakistan in New York Aamer Ahmed Atozai and other senior officials.

Ambassador Masood Khan inaugurated the event as the Chief Guest in jam-packed hall of over six hundred attendees.

This is for the first time in the history of NYPD that such a ceremony has been organized at the headquarters of the worlds largest Police department by Pakistani American Law Enforcement Society and Pakistans Consulate in New York to commemorate Pakistans heritage and to pay tribute to the contributions of Pakistani officers serving the department.

Ambassador Masood Khan lauded PALS for its contributions towards strengthening ties between Pakistani-American youth and law enforcement agencies in USA. He said we are proud of our sons and daughters who are serving the community and fostering a spirit of inclusivity, diversity and understanding between our communities.

The Ambassador said that the holding of Pakistans Heritage & Resolution Month on the eve of Pakistan Day carried a special significance and reflected the strength of decades-long Pak-US ties.

He said one million strong Pakistani American community is the most abiding link between Pakistan and the United States.

In his speech, Mayor Adams paid a glowing tribute to the contributions of Pakistani officers of NYPD who are serving the community with dedication, commitment and professional zeal. He assured his continued support to Pakistani community in their efforts to excel in all walks of life.

First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella acknowledges PALS and said your humanitarian efforts go beyond the badge and strengthen the bonds within our communities.

Chief of Department Jeffrey B. Maddrey in his remarks appreciated the cooperation of Pakistani diaspora in maintaining law and order and wished the community happy and safe Ramdhan.

United States District Judge of New Jersey Zahid Qureshi highlighted the opportunities for Pakistani youth and professionals to excel in merit-based US society.

Pakistans Consul General Aamer Ahmed Atozai said historic event signified the enduring bonds of collaboration and friendship between the NYPD and Pakistan. He said the dedication, professionalism, and commitment to upholding the values of justice and safety are truly commendable, and they serve as shining examples of the strength and resilience of our community.

The Ambassador also gave away awards to various officers for their outstanding performance. He expressed his best wishes for NYPD and the entire team of PALS in their personal and professional lives. He said the contributions of over 600 Police officers of Pakistani descent in NYPD and around 1000 police personnel across the United States is a matter of great pride for Pakistan and our community.
(@Abdulla99267510)

The workshops brings together all key stakeholders including federal and provincial government officials, policymakers, water experts, and practitioners from across the country.

ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-March 7th, 2024) The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Pakistan Wednesday organized a national consultation workshop titled "Updates on Current Status of Water Accounting in Four Provinces of Pakistan and Developing National Level Water Accounting Guidelines".

The workshop aimed to support the implementation of the National Water Policy (NWP), and was organized under the UK Aid-funded Water Resource Accountability in Pakistan (WRAP) Programme Component 1: Climate Resilient Solutions for Improving Water Governance (CRS-IWaG).

Dr. Mohsin Hafeez, Director for Water, Food, and Ecosystems and Team Leader for the WRAP Programme Component 1: CRS-IWaG, briefed the meeting on the provincial consultations for the Water Accounting Journey. He informed them that IWMI Pakistan had initiated work on Water Accounting and Water Resources Assessment at the federal level under the WRAP Programme Component 1: CRS-IWaG.

Furthermore, he said that developing a National Water Accounting Framework would enable the government to make informed decisions and resolve disputes between the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, KP, and Balochistan.

He added that the government has information on surface water for the Indus Basin, but groundwater data is unavailable, which hinders accurate decision-making for water management.

While giving an overview of the WRAP Programme Component 1, Dr Hafeez said that IWMI Pakistan had developed a water accounting framework at the federal level in Punjab's Okara district. In addition, Eddy Covariance flux towers were installed in Okara, Chakwal, Rahim Yar Khan, and Sheikhupura, which will provide data on water and carbon emissions in agriculture and contribute to agroecological zoning.

Dr. Hafeez also mentioned that IWMI Pakistan organized four consultation workshops at the provincial levels.

The workshops brought together all key stakeholders, including federal and provincial government officials, policymakers, water experts, and practitioners from across the country, to discuss and deliberate on the importance of Water Accounting and its implications for sustainable water management in Pakistan.

As chief guest, Federal Secretary Ministry of Water Resources, Syed Ali Murtaza, shared insightful perspectives on the government's commitment to addressing the complex interplay of water, food, and climate challenges. He expressed concern over the lack of a water framework in Pakistan for 70 years and highlighted the groundwater depletion situation in Multan and Lahore.

"Water governance is only implemented to a certain extent in Punjab.

The groundwater level in Multan has plummeted to 600 feet, while in Lahore, the water table is decreasing by three feet each year.

Despite the existence of the Punjab Water Act and Water Policy, WASA pumps 350 million gallons of water daily in Lahore. It is challenging to prevent private individuals from pumping water, but solar pumping can be supported as a solution. However, it should not be allowed without any law in place, he added.

Engr. Ahmad Kamal, Chairman Federal Flood Commission (MoWR), presented an overview of challenges and opportunities in the Indus Basin regarding water accounting and management. He said that Pakistan is the eighth most vulnerable country to climate change, and over the last 30 years, we have been ranked amongst the top 10 climate-vulnerable countries. There is no groundwater regulatory framework, and anyone can abstract as much groundwater as they want, leading to fast depletion of groundwater sources across Pakistan."

The event ended with a group discussion on the Development of National Water Accounting Guidelines and the way forward. Participants were divided into five groups belonging to Punjab, KPK, Sindh, and Baluchistan.

The groups discussed developing the Punjab-level water accounting system and its integration with the water monitoring system, ensuring data reliability, capacity building institutes, and having necessary policy frameworks in place.

The participants presented suggestions for the accuracy of water accounting data.

They suggested developing a website for centralizing water data, capacity building of WASA, Public Health Engineering, and IRSA related to water accounting, data sharing arrangement among institutions of provinces, integrated water accounting, i.e., groundwater, surface water, and rainfall data; future projections of water availability assessments from different sectors, incorporating water accounting systems in Water Resources Commission (WRC) of Punjab, Sindh, KPK and Baluchistan groundwater monitoring for the entire country.

Captain (r) SaifAnjum, the Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation, gave the closing remarks at the workshop.

Other speakers included Dr Muhammad Ashraf, Advisor for Science and Policy at IWMI, Muhammad Ehsan ul Haq Leghari, Member of Sindh IRSA, Engr. Kifayat Zaman, Director General of FWMC, Bilal Anwar, CEO of NDRMF, Jippe Hoogeveen from FAO, Mazhar Hayat Deputy Secretary of MoCC, Mahar Sahibzad Khan, Director General of PMD, and Dr Jehanzeb Masud Cheema from IWMI.
A meeting to control the prices of daily commodities and give maximum relief to people during the holy month of Ramazan, was held at Chief Ministers House on Thursday with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Khan Gandapur in the chair

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Mar, 2024) A meeting to control the prices of daily commodities and give maximum relief to people during the holy month of Ramazan, was held at Chief Ministers House on Thursday with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Khan Gandapur in the chair.

Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, Inspector General Police Akhter Hayat Khan Gandapur, Additional Chief Secretary Home Muhammad Abid Majeed, Principal Secretary to CM Amjad Ali Khan and Divisional and Deputy Commissioners attended the meeting.

The participants of the meeting were briefed in details about the proposed Price Control Mechanism for providing relief to people during the holy month and were told that district administrations across the province have been directed to ensure implementation of that mechanism without any delay, adding that control rooms have also been established at district level for this purpose.

The authorities told that mobile teams would be deployed in all the districts in addition to establishing monitoring desks in the markets so as to ensure that people are provided with edible items as per the rates fixed by the provincial government.

The Chief Minister on this occasion, directed the quarters concerned to go all out for providing maximum relief to the people during the month of Holy Ramazan adding that the prices of essential food items must be on lower side in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as compared to other federating units.

He directed the district administrations to ensure regular monitoring of the markets in their respective districts and the elements found involved in overcharging should be dealt with iron hands.

He further directed them to ensure that government vegetable markets are available in all the districts of the province.

He made it clear that there would be no specific Sasta Bazar during Ramazan, every bazar would be converted into Sasta Bazar in the province.

He further directed the Deputy Commissioners to display price lists on Pena flex instead of papers, further directing them to depute special teams for strict compliance of those price lists.

He directed all Deputy Commissioners would have to utilize social media platforms in an effective manner for ensuring direct coordination with the general public; and actions taken against profiteers should be uploaded on social media pages for awareness of the general public, and added that all the DCs would also public their Whatsapp numbers for taking complaints directly from the citizens.

Ali Amin Khan Gandapur directed that implementation of official rate lists should be ensured at all costs adding that the government does not want just publicity but building the public confidence on government machinery is the first priority; all the relevant institutions and departments would have to perform as per the expectations of the general public for this purpose.

The Chief Minister further directed that Ramazan Daster Khwan be arranged at all District and Tehsil Headquarter Hospitals across the province.

Moreover, he underlined the need to have vigilant eye on hoarding and black marketing adding that the services of special branch should also be hired for this purpose.

He also directed for crackdown against the big fish involved in hoarding, black marketing and profiteering. He said that good governance is the top most priority of government and district administrations would have to play proactive role for this purpose.

He said that the corruption has become the menace of the society, thats why his government has decided to have zero tolerance policy against this menace.

He directed the Deputy Commissioners to take pragmatic steps against the corrupt practices within their respective districts, and pay special attention on cleanliness in their districts adding that the people should feel visible change in all the sectors.

He assured that the government will extend its all-out support to district administrations in this regard and work freely with full confidence, no one would be allowed to put pressure on them for any kind of wrong doing. Ultimate goal is to deliver as per the expectations of general public, all the stakeholders would have to perform their responsibilities in an effective manner for this purpose, he concluded.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Mar, 2024) Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and police in a joint operation here on Wednesday night arrested three terrorists from Adiala Jail area with explosives and the jail map.

According to a police spokesman, it was an intelligence based operation. The law enforcers received information about the presence of the terrorists in the area.

City Police Officer, (CPO) Syed Khalid Hamdani informed that the CTD personnel and police conducted a joint operation and arrested three terrorists with sophisticated weapons including explosives, Improvised Explosive Device (IED), and a map of the prison.

The arrested terrorists belonged to Afghanistan and wanted to conduct terror activities in the area, the CPO said and informed that police and law enforcement agencies were conducting search operation in adjoining area of Adiala Jail.

The arrested terrorists were shifted to an undisclosed location for further investigation.
The Sindh Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution to declare the former prime minister and PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto a National Democratic Hero, following a historic opinion of the Supreme Court on the late premier's trial, sentence and execution

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Mar, 2024) The Sindh Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution to declare the former prime minister and PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto a National Democratic Hero, following a historic opinion of the Supreme Court on the late premier's trial, sentence and execution.

The provincial assembly, during a session, unanimously welcomed the historical opinion of the top court in the presidential reference filed by former president Asif Ali Zardari, seeking to revisit the death sentence of the first elected prime minister of Pakistan.

A resolution was tabled by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in a session held on Friday afternoon which stated the Supreme Court's opinion a "significant" move by acknowledging that justice and a fair trial were not granted to Zulifikar Ali Bhutto, who had been sentenced to death 45 years ago.

Sindh CM Syed Murad Ali Shah, PPP provincial president Nisar Khuhro, Saeed Ghani, MQM Pakistan's Abdul Waseem and Pakistan Sunni Itehad Council members also welcomed the Apex Court decision on the presidential reference.

The resolution also endorsed the sacrifices of Begum Nusrat Bhutto and Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed who sacrificed their lives to seek justice against death sentence of Z A Bhutto. It also demanded the Sindh Govt to approach Federal Govt to declare Zulifikar Ali Bhutto a national democratic hero, besides officially declaring him a "Shaheed".

Syed Murad Ali Shah while addressing the session, said necessary amendments to the concerned laws should be carried out to avoid such atrocities in the future.

Jamaat-e-Islami's MPA Muhammad Farooq, SIC member Shabir Qureshi and MQM Pakistan's lawmakers also endorsed the resolution.
The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on Thursday declared Justice Sayyed Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi as guilty of misconduct and recommended for his removal from the office of judge

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Mar, 2024) The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on Thursday declared Justice Sayyed Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi as guilty of misconduct and recommended for his removal from the office of judge.

SJC rendered its opinion in respect of the nine complaints against Sayyed Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi under Article 2009(6) of the constitution, said a press release.

It said that The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) met on 29 February 2024 and 1 March 2024.

Allegations are leveled against judges of the supreme court and high courts and the same are publicized. A number of judges have expressed concern that if they respond to such allegations the same may be construed as misconduct because the code of conduct, dated 2 September 2009 issued by the SJC, in its Article-V states that a judge should not seek publicity.

The SJC deliberated upon the matter and was of the opinion that if a reply or clarification is issued by or on behalf of a judge it does not violate Article-V. However, since concerns have been expressed by judges it was agreed that the following be added to article-V of the Code of Conduct:

However, if an allegation is publicized against a judge he may respond to it.



Therefore, Article-V of the Code of Conduct is amended to read as under:

Functioning as he does in full view of the public, a judge gets thereby all the publicity that is good for him. He should not seek more. In particular, he should not engage in any public controversy, least of all on a political question, notwithstanding that it involves a question of law. However, if an allegation is publicized against a judge he may respond to it.

The press release said that SJC considered six different complaints, in chronological order, and in respect of five the opinions expressed by the members to whom it was referred, recommended that there was no substance therein, with which the SJC concurred.

However, in respect of complaints submitted against a judge of the high court of Balochistan the SJC issued notice to submit his reply/explanation within fourteen days, it said.
Some EU countries do not extradite terrorism, corruption suspects to Ukraine, but can check safety of their detention here - Prosecutor General

Since the beginning of the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation, Ukraine has sent about 700 requests for extradition; refusals of a number of European Union countries to extradite suspects, including war crimes, are due to concerns about detention conditions and security in Ukraine, Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said in an interview with The Guardian.

"Ukraine is pressing up to 10 EU member states to allow the extradition of criminals to the country, including suspects involved with the Wagner group and those accused of large-scale corruption," says an article published on the publication's website on Thursday.

According to The Guardian, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General did not specify the EU member states that are concerned about the conditions of detention of suspects in Ukraine, however, as the publication writes, France, Austria and Finland recently refused to extradite suspects to Ukraine.

Referring to the words of the Prosecutor General, the publication reports that Ukrainian courts have issued about 700 extradition orders since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. One of the requests, as noted in the article, concerns the extradition of terrorist suspect Yan Petrovsky, involved in the Wagner PMC, who entered Finland under an assumed name. The court in Finland, as the publication recalls, refused to extradite him. The Guardian also writes that Austria and France recently refused to extradite to Ukraine suspects in the embezzlement of a former bank manager, ex-deputy and businessman.

"Of course we all understand that the decisions on extradition are taken by courts. But we see that some of the countries  are resistant because of their understanding of the conditions of detention, which we are improving. And I will speak about this [to justice ministers]," he said.

Referring to the words of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, The Guardian writes that countries can ensure that extradited suspects will be kept in central and western Ukraine, away from the front line.

"Conditions [of detention] will be in line with the rules and standards of the European Union and especially the European convention on human rights... Ukraine will invite those states hesitant about extradition to visit the country and see for itself the conditions under which a suspect would be held," he added.
Los Angeles, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Mar, 2024) The deadly shooting on the set of Alec Baldwin's budget movie "Rust" was the result of "constant, never-ending safety failures" by the film's armorer, a US jury heard Wednesday.

Hannah Gutierrez, who was responsible for weapons on the production, is on trial for involuntary manslaughter over the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Hutchins was shot by a live round fired from the Colt .45 that Baldwin was holding in a church on the New Mexico set. Director Joel Souza was wounded by the same bullet.

The two-week trial has focused on how the round -- one of a number that investigators found -- made its way onto the set, in contravention of strict industry safety rules.

The jury has also been shown footage of performers handling guns in a way that witnesses described as dangerous, with Gutierrez failing to intervene, including Baldwin waving his weapon around like a "pointing stick."

"This is not a case where Hannah Gutierrez made one mistake and that one mistake was accidentally putting a live round into that gun," prosecutor Kari Morrissey told the jury in her closing argument Wednesday.

"This case is about constant, never-ending safety failures that resulted in the death of a human being and nearly killed another."

Morrissey said on the morning Hutchins was shot, the armorer, who is also known as Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was characteristically haphazard with her supervision of the more than 20 guns the production was using, and was not present as Baldwin and the crew prepared for a scene.

"She left the gun in the church contrary to all the industry standards for armorers on movie sets," Morrissey said.

"As you heard from many witnesses, she would leave guns unattended all the time. There was nothing unusual about October 21," the day of the fatal shooting.

Gutierrez, Morrissey said, had brought live rounds onto the set, and did not perform basic checks to ensure the dummy rounds she was loading into guns were inert, including shaking them to hear their characteristic rattle.

"Folks, if she's not checking the dummy ammunition... to make sure that those rounds... are in fact dummy rounds, this was a game of Russian Roulette every time an actor had a gun," she told the jury.

Defense lawyer Jason Bowles said Gutierrez was a scapegoat for a production that skimped on safety for financial reasons.

Gutierrez had no way of knowing there were live rounds on set and was entitled to believe that producers had procured dummies for the movie, he said.

"The buck stops with production, as in any organization. It starts at the top," he said.

He claimed that in the aftermath of the tragedy, producers had circled the wagons and offered up Gutierrez to law enforcement.

"The big guys they want to sail off into the sunset and go on about their business to finish the movie. Make the money.

"They've got the convenient fall person sitting right here."

Gutierrez also faces one charge of tampering with evidence in relation to the alleged disposal of cocaine in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

She denies all charges.

Baldwin, who was also a producer on the movie, faces his own charge of involuntary manslaughter over the shooting.

His trial is expected in July.
Gaza Strip, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Mar, 2024) China described the war in Gaza as a "disgrace to civilisation" and called on Thursday for an immediate ceasefire as the conflict stretched into its sixth month despite efforts by mediators to reach a truce.

US President Joe Biden has urged Hamas to accept a ceasefire plan with Israel before the Muslim fasting month begins, which could be as early as Sunday depending on the sighting of the crescent moon.

However, mediators in Egypt have struggled to overcome tough obstacles in their attempts to negotiate a pause, while the United Nations has warned that famine looms for Palestinians trapped by the fighting.

"It is a tragedy for humankind and a disgrace for civilisation that today, in the 21st century, this humanitarian disaster cannot be stopped," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a news conference in Beijing.

China, historically sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, has been calling for a ceasefire since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7.

"The international community must act urgently, making an immediate ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities an overriding priority, and ensuring humanitarian relief an urgent moral responsibility," Wang said.

The war has reduced vast stretches of Gaza to a wasteland of gutted buildings and rubble and sparked a humanitarian disaster for its 2.4 million people.
Seoul, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Mar, 2024) A Korean-Canadian director's debut feature film -- a quiet romance exploring time, longing and lost chances -- has arrived in South Korea for theatre release after garnering two Oscar nominations.

Ever since South Korea's "Parasite" became the first non-English language film to win a Best Picture Oscar in 2020, works by Korean diaspora filmmakers have witnessed a significant surge of global interest.

Celine Song's "Past Lives" comes alongside the critical success of other works featuring the Korean overseas experience, such as "Minari", "Pachinko" and Netflix's "Beef".

The film follows a Korean-American woman in New York who is visited by her childhood crush from Seoul more than 20 years after she abruptly left South Korea for North America.

It was a favourite at last year's Sundance, won best picture at this year's Independent Spirit Awards and has received two nominations for the upcoming academy Awards: best picture and best original screenplay.

The project was inspired by Song's own experience -- drinking with her husband who does not speak Korean and her childhood friend who was visiting from South Korea in New York -- where she had to act as an interpreter for the gathering.

"As I was doing the interpretation, I also realised that I was interpreting two parts of my own story, my personal history itself and my identity," Song said at a press conference in Seoul.

Her film skillfully explores what it means to live in the realm of "what ifs", and one's complex relationship with a younger self that exists solely in the past and in places they no longer inhabit.

"We are not fantasy characters nor do we traverse multiple universes or parallel dimensions," Song said in an interview with AFP and others, when asked about the film's title.

"But because we pass through so much time and space, and because we age and we relocate, I believe that there are always lives that we end up leaving behind."
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Dakar, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Mar, 2024) Senegal on Thursday looked set to elect a new president at the end of March and ease the crisis triggered by the delay to the presidential poll, but the exact date of the vote remained uncertain.

President Macky Sall plunged Senegal into one of its worst crises in decades with his last-minute postponement of the election, originally scheduled for February 25.

The vote delay triggered widespread outcry at home and abroad and unleashed protests which left four people dead.

The traditionally stable West African nation is now re-embarking on what is perhaps its most open presidential vote in modern history.

There have been some potentially significant developments in the meantime.

The adoption of a controversial amnesty law late Wednesday could see anti-establishment opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye released from prison to campaign.

But there is still confusion over the date of the first-round vote.

Sall late Wednesday set March 24 as the date, while Senegal's top constitutional body said it should take place on March 31.

Either way, the election would happen before Sall's mandate ends on April 2, which was one of the key drivers of the turmoil.

Babacar Gueye, one of the leaders of a major civil society collective opposed to the election delay, told AFP he expected the Constitutional Council to "align itself" with the presidency, even though the decision of the council should in theory prevail.

Gueye added that March 31 would fall on Easter Sunday, affecting Senegal's significant Christian community.
United Nations, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Mar, 2024) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Thursday for warring parties in Sudan to agree to a ceasefire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, warning that the country's humanitarian crisis is reaching "colossal proportions."

"In just days, the holy month of Ramadan will commence. So from this chamber today, I am making an appeal. I call on all parties in Sudan to honor the values of Ramadan by honoring a Ramadan cessation of hostilities," he told a Security Council meeting.

Deputy British Ambassador James Kariuki announced a draft Council resolution calling for an "immediate ceasefire before the holy month of Ramadan and urging all parties to allow for unhindered cross border and cross line humanitarian access."

He said he hoped for a vote on Friday.

Sudan has been rocked by a brutal war that has killed thousands -- including up to 15,000 in a single Darfur town, according to UN experts -- and displaced millions since last April.

The war between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, has also destroyed infrastructure and crippled Sudan's economy.

It has also uprooted more than eight million people, in addition to two million who had already been forced from their homes before the conflict -- making it the world's largest displacement crisis.

The UN's World Food Programme had warned on Wednesday that the nearly 11-month war risks triggering the world's largest hunger crisis.

"The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is reaching colossal proportions," Guterres told the Council on Thursday.

Some 25 million people, half the population, need life-saving assistance, he said.

"Water and sanitation systems are breaking down. Diseases are multiplying. Hunger is stalking Sudan. Some 18 million people are acutely food insecure. This is the highest number ever recorded during a harvest season, yet numbers are expected to surge even higher in the coming months," he continued.

"We are already receiving reports of children dying from malnutrition."

He repeated fears about civilians mobilizing, and new armed groups entering the fray, and cited reports of systemic sexual violence including rape, gang rape and human trafficking.

"All these dangerous developments are pouring fuel on the fire for an even more serious fragmentation of the country, a deepening of intra- and inter-communal tensions, and more ethnic violence," he said.

abd/st/bgs
Small-business owners can improve their digital literacy skills Thursday, March 14.

Bridget Manley and Daniel Patterson will present a Wyoming Community Navigator Program (CNP) webinar titled Digital Literacy for Small-Business Owners: Evaluating Information Online from 10-11 a.m. To register, go here. Registration is free.

The Wyoming CNP, through the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network at the University of Wyoming, provides small-business resources and assistance for traditionally underserved entrepreneurs throughout Wyoming.

Making good decisions for your business matters now more than ever. But, how can you be sure your decisions are guided by reliable information? In the session, small-business owners will learn practical strategies for analyzing, comparing and evaluating digital sources; the factors that influence the credibility and reliability of online sources; and apply best practices for spotting misinformation and disinformation online.

Manley is an e-learning specialist with a passion for helping learners become effective agents in their careers and in their communities. She co-founded Ascendant Design and Training with Patterson, her husband, in July 2020. Before that, she was the curriculum manager for a Denver-based startup company, where she developed compliance and manufacturing training for the state-legal cannabis industry.

Patterson is a software systems developer with more than 30 years of multidisciplinary experience in software, electronic and mechanical design. He has been involved in several different industries, including logistics, gaming, music and heavy equipment. In those industries, Patterson has managed projects large and small; has overseen research, development, engineering and IT departments; and has managed the implementation and upkeep of automated production systems.

For more information, call Maureen Johnson, marketing, communication and database manager for the Wyoming SBDC Network, at (307) 343-0925 or email mjohn125@uwyo.edu.
One of the largest news portals and mail server ukr.net is temporarily unavailable to users due to the domain name being disabled by the registrar.

"Unfortunately, millions of Ukrainian users who read news every day on the ukr.net portal and use @ukr.net mail cannot do this now. We are doing everything possible to restore work. Caring people are helping us with this," it is reported on the Telegram channel ukr.net on Thursday.

The message noted that the ukr.net domain was disabled by the domain name registrar for unknown reasons. This happened on the night of Thursday, March 7 at 1:35 Kyiv time.

"The domain name registrar Network Solutions suddenly and without any warning blocked the ukr.net domain. As a result, the ukr.net news feed and email @ ukr.net became unavailable to Internet users," the message states.

The problem has not yet been resolved through the registrar's support service. ukr.net expressed the hope that they will be able to obtain more information when the office of the American registrar company begins working hours.

The administration of the portal reported that it had already asked for help from Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United States Oksana Markarova.

"We are sure that these difficulties are temporary, and soon the mail @ ukr.net and the news feed on the ukr.net portal will work again," the company assured.
Breshna Musazai endured 19 agonizing months in Qatar, anxiously awaiting resettlement to the United States as a refugee.

Forced to flee Afghanistan just two days after the Taliban seized Kabul in 2021, Musazai found herself separated from her parents and her dreams shattered.

A dull ache in her right leg was a physical echo of the trauma she had endured.

A polio paraplegic in the left leg, Musazai took three bullets in her right leg from suspected Taliban assailants in 2016.

I was praying at a mosque inside the universitys campus when the shooting started, Musazai said, recalling the attack on the American University of Afghanistan, or AUAF.

Thirteen people, including seven students and a teacher, were killed, and 50 were injured in the complex attack that went on for hours.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, although the Afghan government blamed the Taliban.

A year after the attack, after doctors at First Baptist Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, performed surgery on her bullet wounds, Musazai was able to return to AUAF.

Following her graduation in 2018, Musazai embarked on a career focused on volunteering and advocating for women's rights.

"Out of my four sisters," Musazai told VOA from her home in Virginia, "I'm the only one who has been to university."

Her parents, although they never went to college, supported her difficult pursuit of education.

I wanted to be a doctor, but the AUAF did not have a medical school, so I decided to study law, she said.

Opportunities in the US

Upon arriving in the United States, Musazai sought out paralegal and English legal language classes to continue her education.

"There are a lot of opportunities here," she said, explaining her plans to pursue a masters degree in law before working as a lawyer.

Since the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan, the U.S. government has admitted more than 80,000 Afghans.

As special emigrants and refugees, they are entitled to live and work across the United States. Many receive essential support, including medical care, food and other forms of assistance, to aid in their resettlement.

Most of my classmates have left Afghanistan, but I heard some of them have got married, she told VOA.

Musazai did not want to leave her home country but feared for her life under Taliban rule.

Despite the grim situation in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, particularly for women, Musazai holds onto the hope that Afghan girls will regain access to secondary education.

"Every other Muslim country lets girls go to school. So, why does Afghanistan deny its girls this basic right?" she asked.

As Afghanistan's schools reopen for a third year under Taliban rule, there is no sign the regime will lift its ban on secondary and university education for girls.

International human rights organizations condemn the Taliban's policy of excluding girls from secondary education, calling it gender apartheid.

I hope [the Taliban] understand that girls education is good for Afghanistan and even good for them, she said. It makes no sense, and it serves no ones interest to shut schools for anyone.
An anti-ship ballistic missile launched Wednesday from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen killed three crew members on a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Aden, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

It was the first fatal strike by Iran-backed Houthi militants since the onslaught on international shipping lanes began in mid-November. It was the fifth such missile fired by the Houthis in two days, CENTCOM said.

The Houthi missile hit the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence and caused a fire in the pilothouse, defense officials told VOA.

Four were injured by the attack, three of whom were in critical condition, CENTCOM said. The attack forced the 23-member multinational crew to abandon ship, according to defense officials.

The Philippines said Thursday two of those killed and two others injured in the attack were Filipino crew members.

The USS Philippine Sea, an American guided-missile cruiser, was trying to assist in rescue efforts, one official said. An Indian destroyer was first on the scene to help with rescue, he added.

More than a dozen commercial ships have been impacted by Houthi drones or missiles since mid-November. Those vessels have included an aid ship with grain bound for Yemen and at least one ship with cargo bound for Iran. One vessel carrying fertilizer, the MV Rubymar, sank over the weekend after being damaged in a Houthi attack last month.

"We are seeing the risks caused to property, life, to the ecology in the area by these continued activities," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Wednesday. "We call on the Houthis to cease all attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea."

A coalition of about two dozen countries, including the United States and Britain, has been working to secure the region from the Houthi attacks since mid-January.

The U.S. and British militaries have launched multiple combined operations against the Houthis, and the U.S. has also carried out near-daily strikes to take out incoming Houthi missiles and drones, along with weapons that were prepared to launch.

Asked by VOA on Tuesday whether there was enough military power in the Red Sea region to stop the attacks, Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder said the United States has "a significant amount of capability already in the region."

"But it's not just about the U.S. We will continue to work with allies and partners, and as we continue to need more, we'll certainly work with them," he added.

On Tuesday, the Houthis targeted the USS Carney, which shot down bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, according to U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East.

The U.S. also launched airstrikes destroying three anti-ship missiles and three suicide drone boats, the command said.

The Iranian proxies have said their attacks against international shipping lanes are carried out in solidarity with the Hamas government in Gaza.

Hamas terrorists launched a brutal attack that killed hundreds of Israelis on October 7. Israel responded with an operation to root out Hamas in the Gaza Strip, an ongoing operation that has killed thousands.
The State of the Union address is traditionally the venue where American presidents highlight domestic successes, and President Joe Biden is expected to discuss his handling of the economy, reproductive rights, gun control, and immigration Thursday evening.

But as the United States deals with wars in the Middle East and Europe, foreign policy may be higher on the agenda in Bidens fourth, and potentially final, such speech to a joint session of Congress.

The president intends to highlight his achievements in restoring American leadership on the world stage, John Kirby, White House national security communications adviser, told VOA during an interview on Wednesday.

American leadership, he added, gives it the ability to influence actions of world leaders and adversaries in ways that are more in keeping with our national security interests.

That influence has failed to overcome stark differences between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on issues including how to deliver more humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, the postwar role of the Palestinian Authority and the U.S. vision for a future Palestinian state.

On Ukraine, American leadership is overshadowed by House Republicans obstruction of a Senate-approved $95 billion foreign aid package that includes $61 billion to support Kyiv in its fight against Russia. The bill also includes $14 billion in security assistance for Israel, $9 billion in humanitarian assistance and $5 billion to support partners in the Indo-Pacific, as Washington competes against Beijing for regional influence.

The wars in Ukraine and Gaza will be prominently featured in the foreign policy portion of Bidens speech, as will the U.S. strategic rivalry with China. Analysts say the president will employ different approaches on the two issues as he considers voters sentiments ahead of his bid for reelection in November.

Push for Ukraine aid

Biden will use his address to again call for the passage of the foreign aid bill and argue that it is not in Americas interest to embrace isolationism amid signs of growing Russian expansionism.

The president is going to continue to make his case that House Republicans need to move forward. The speaker needs to put the national security supplemental on the floor, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during her briefing Wednesday. We know that it would get overwhelming support.

While the Biden administration has gathered international support for an effort that includes substantial military and economic aid to Ukraine, major sanctions on Russia and greatly increasing NATOs military posture in eastern Europe, it has failed to provide a strong case for this policy for the American people, said John Herbst, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine who is now senior director of the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center.

This in turn has made it easier for naive voices, especially in the one corner of the Republican Party to block the assistance Ukraine needs to avoid a defeat, Herbst told VOA.

Vanderbilt University presidential historian Thomas Schwartz predicted Biden will go all in on Ukraine, particularly in light of the recent death of Alexey Navalny in a Siberian prison. The Russian dissidents death has intensified U.S. views that supporting Ukraines efforts to push back against Russian President Vladimir Putin is a real moral cause, Schwartz told VOA.

This will also allow him to draw a sharp contrast with Trump, who has, of course, expressed admiration for Putin in the past and has not been as supportive on the Ukraine issue, Schwartz added.

Polls show that Americans support for sending military aid to Kyiv is fractured along party lines, with voters of the presidents party largely sympathetic to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys war efforts.

According to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 67% of Democrats see it as a priority for the U.S. government to prevent Russia from gaining more territory in Ukraine and to help Ukraine regain territory that is currently occupied by Russia. Only 37% of Republicans agree.

Biden will use his address to rally support amid Americans war fatigue. Overall, 37% of respondents  55% of Republicans and 17% of Democrats  say the U.S. government is spending too much on aid to Ukraine.

Tread carefully on Gaza

The president is likely to tout his immediate support for Israelis following Hamas October 7 attack and underscore the importance of ensuring that Israel can defend itself against the U.S.-designated terror groups threats.

But he will need to tread carefully on the issue, taking into account the division between pro-Israel Democrats and independents who support his stance on the conflict and progressive Democrats, as well as Arab and Muslim Americans, who are angered by it.

Outrage over the more than 30,000 people killed in Gaza and Bidens refusal to put conditions on U.S. military aid for Israel has resulted in significant portions of Democratic primary election voters in Michigan and Minnesota marking their ballots uncommitted to signal their protest and demand an immediate and permanent cease-fire.

Negotiators have not yet been able to bring the fighting in Gaza to a halt ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins this weekend. On Tuesday, Biden said the fate of the temporary cease-fire deal is in the hands of Hamas after Israel agreed to a rational offer that had been put on the table.

Hamas has since responded saying there can be no hostage exchange without a permanent cease-fire and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The group accused Israel of stalling the talks.

Israeli politicians will be carefully watching Thursday to see who Biden blames for the deadlock and how critical he is of Israeli efforts to protect and deliver aid to Palestinian civilians, said Jonathan Rynhold, head of the Department of Political Studies at Israels Bar-Ilan University.

As Biden is likely to reiterate his call for a two-state solution, Israelis will be anxious to see whether he calls on Israel to present a clear vision that includes a Palestinian state, Rynhold told VOA. I doubt he'll do it, but if he does, it's bad for Netanyahu but not bad for the war.

Biden is likely to focus his criticisms on the far-right elements within the Israeli government and signal displeasure at violence committed by what he calls extreme settlers in the West Bank, as he has done several times in the past.

Kirby said the president will also call for increasing humanitarian aid for Palestinians. With the Netanyahu governments refusal to open more land crossings for aid convoys and the death of more than 100 people after Israeli troops opened fire as desperate Palestinians mobbed a convoy of food trucks, the U.S. has resorted to using military aircraft to drop supplies  a more expensive, inefficient and dangerous means to deliver aid.

A Gallup poll released this week shows 58% of Americans hold a favorable view of Israel, down from 68% last year, and the lowest favorable rating for the country in over two decades.

Iuliia Iarmolenko contributed to this report.
Botswana, which supported calls for the removal of targeted sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe, has described the United States' move to partially lift the restrictions as encouraging.

Botswanas President Mokgweetsi Masisi, addressing the media in Gaborone Wednesday, said there is need for further dialogue between Zimbabwe and the United States to enable the complete removal of the sanctions.

"It's very, very encouraging that finally some of our calls have been responded to in ways that will help Botswana when those are done and to promote dialogue on aspects the Americans deem offensive with Zimbabwe," said Masisi. "We want to encourage both parties to meet over what else remains to be resolved in order for a country not to be sanctioned.

But Zimbabwe-based political analyst Reason Ngwenya says dialogue over the complete removal of the restrictions can only be possible if Harare meets Washingtons conditions.

If there is to be unconditional lifting of sanctions, it means there has to be unconditional governance in this country," Ngwenya said. "We dont want corruption, we dont want the opposition to be harassed, we want a free media. Until all these things have been removed, I dont think it is possible that the Americans will want to sit down and negotiate anything. We should all be fair. We are unhappy with this situation, but our government should do its part.

The United States placed sanctions on certain Zimbabwean officials and companies starting in 2003 for alleged election rigging and human rights violations by the government of then-President Robert Mugabe.

Although the U.S. lifted many of the restrictions this week, current President Emmerson Mnangagwa, his wife and some senior government officials remain sanctioned.

Washington cites human rights abuses and corruption for extending the restrictions.

Moeti Mohwasa, spokesperson for Botswanas main opposition coalition, the Umbrella for Democratic Change, or UDC, says removal of the sanctions is only fair.

We believe this is a welcome development because the biggest victims were the ordinary citizens who had to endure economic hardships arising from sanctions and grapple with atrocities and abuses visited upon them by the regime," Mohwasa aid. "We all know the people behind political and economic abuse in Zimbabwe. The U.S. should not have skirted around the Zimbabwean situation. It was very unfair to have the Zimbabwean ordinary people suffer double jeopardy.

The Zimbabwean government says the sanctions were baseless, maligned the country and left its leaders without due process.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says remaining restrictions imposed on President Mnangagwa and other officials are part of a stronger and more narrowly targeted sanctions policy.
On Thursday afternoon, March 7, the Russian occupiers launched an air and missile attack on the city of Sumy, Sumy Regional Military Administration has reported.

"Civil infrastructure facilities have been damaged. All necessary services are working on site," the message posted on the Telegram channel says.

The consequences of the Russians' attack are being clarified.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Thursday criticized the United States for trying to suppress Chinas rise through sanctions and reiterated Beijings commitment to uphold the multipolar world order with partners such as Russia.

Speaking to local and foreign media during the annual meeting of Chinas rubber-stamp parliament, Wang said while relations between China and the United States have improved since the summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November, Washingtons misconception of China remains strong and it has not honored the promises made during the summit.

The U.S. continues to renew their means of suppressing China while expanding the sanctions list, he said, adding that Washingtons desire to punish Beijing has reached an unimaginable level.

Questioning Washingtons credibility as a great power, Wang urged the U.S. to view Chinas rise and development objectively and rationally handle its interactions with Beijing.

We urge the U.S. to recognize the general trend of historical development and put its promises into practice, Wang added.

Some analysts say Wangs criticism of the U.S. reflects Beijings concern about facing technological bottlenecks and economic encirclement by Washington and its allies.

Beijing is hoping to elicit further American concessions and its asking the U.S. to lower its walls on technological de-risking from China, Wen-ti Sung, a political scientist at Australian National University told VOA in a written response.

While Wang urged the U.S. to promote a healthy and stable development of bilateral relations alongside China, he touted Beijings close partnership with Russia, saying both countries continue to deepen political mutual trust while pursuing mutually beneficial cooperation.

As major world powers and permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, China, and Russia have forged a new paradigm of great power relations that adheres to permanent good neighborliness while deepening comprehensive strategic cooperation on the basis of nonalignment, nonconfrontation and nontargeting of third parties, Wang said.

Some experts say Chinas efforts to double down on its no limits partnership with Russia is mainly due to its attempt to build an alliance that can resist pressure imposed by the United States.

Since Russia is anti-U.S., China needs an ally to help it resist pressure from Washington, Liu Dongshu, an expert on Chinese politics at the City University of Hong Kong, told VOA by phone.

Since China has been highlighting the importance of its partnership with Russia before the Ukraine war, Liu said China may feel the need to stick with that commitment.

Its difficult for Beijing to admit that its made a mistake in being too supportive of Russia, so for the sake of saving its face, China needs to insist that its not wrong for maintaining the partnership with Russia, he added.

As the war in Ukraine and the Middle East continue, Wang, a 70-year-old veteran diplomat who returned to the role of foreign minister last year following the mysterious dismissal of former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, said China is actively putting forward proposals for resolving regional and global issues.

He said the only way to end the vicious cycle extended from the conflict between Israel and Hamas is to comprehensively implement the two-state solution and said Beijing supports establishment of a Palestinian U.N. member state.

On the Ukraine war, Wang said China has always maintained an objective and impartial position and reiterated Beijings support for convening an international peace conference that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine.

Liu in Hong Kong said China is facing a dilemma where it wants to present itself as a responsible great power internationally, but it doesnt want to take action to address the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Unlike the U.S., which has experience in mediating global conflicts, China has long adopted this nonintervention approach, he told VOA. China is unwilling to take actions to get involved in these conflicts and it also may not be capable of doing that.

Amid rising tension across the Taiwan Strait in recent weeks, with Chinese coast guard vessels increasing efforts to patrol disputed waters near Taiwans outlying islands, Wang said Beijing will never allow Taiwan to be separated from the motherland and warned countries around the world not to support Taiwans potential pursuit of independence.

Whoever engages in Taiwan independence on the island will be held accountable by history and whoever in the world supports Taiwan independence will get burned for playing with fire and taste the bitter fruit of their own doing, he warned during the 90-minute press conference.

Sung from Australian National University said Wangs comments on Taiwan are intended to intensify pressure on Taiwans diplomatic partners and ensure Taiwan remains internationally isolated. Wang is trying to warn other countries about the consequences of offering support for Taiwan while reiterating Beijings ultimate goal of achieving unification, he told VOA.

As tension between China and the Philippines grows because of repeated confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the disputed South China Sea, Wang said China has always exercised a high degree of restraint when handling maritime disputes.

China has always respected historical and legal facts and sought a solution thats acceptable to each party, he said, adding that Beijing will not allow its good intentions to be abused or the law in the sea to be distorted.

After Wang set the tone for Chinas foreign policy in 2024 through the press conference on Thursday, some analysts think Beijing will likely adopt a multiprong approach to manage its relationship with different countries.

China will focus on managing ties with Europe, maintaining close relations with Russia and other pariah states, heightening tensions with Taiwan, India and in the South China Sea, cautiously testing the waters with the U.S. while seeking to court the Global South, Sana Hashmi, a postdoctoral a fellow at the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation, told VOA in a written response.
Chinas top diplomat on Thursday scolded the United States and touted his countrys closer ties with Russia. The comments came on the sidelines of a meeting of Chinas parliament. More from VOAs Bill Gallo, who is in the Chinese capital. (Camera: William Gallo)
Family members say they are still seeking answers more than two months after Chinas detention on spying charges of a Chinese citizen who had tried to help an American company find office space in the country.

Emily Chen, 50, was supposed to meet her husband, U.S. citizen Mark Lent, at Nanjing airport on December 29. She texted Lent that her plane had landed but never emerged from the airport, prompting Lent to initiate a frantic inquiry about her whereabouts.

Her flight was supposed to land at 10:30 p.m. on December 29, but she still hadnt shown up by midnight, Lent told VOA by phone. I contacted the airport police, and 20 minutes later, they told me that Emily had been taken away by state security officers.

Four days after her detention, Chens son, who is also a Chinese national, received a notification from the Dalian state security bureau stating that Chen had been arrested on December 30 for illegally providing state secrets to overseas parties, a charge that could carry a sentence of 10 years or more.

I know my wife and [spying on China] is not the kind of thing that she would do to her country, Lent said. She really cares about her country, and I seriously doubt the charges against her.

Worried that Chens arrest may increase the stress on her son, who is in his early 20s and has mental health issues, Lent tried to take his stepson to Doha, Qatar, with him on February 9. However, when they were going through customs at the Shanghai airport, his stepson was banned from leaving China.

Lent told VOA that his stepsons relationship with his father in China is strained and that he is still in Nanjing on his own.

Worked for US logistics company

Authorities in Dalian have not spoken publicly about Chens case, including her exact whereabouts. It is believed that Chen is being held under what is called residential surveillance at a designated location, or RSDL. The Dalian state security bureau hung up the phone when VOA tried to inquire about Chens case.

While there is no clear explanation for the spying charges against Chen, Lent believes her detention may be related to the work she did for an American logistics company in Dalian in 2023.

According to Lent, Chen spent four months working on behalf of Safe Ports, a company that describes itself as a global leader in supply chain management. She was supposed to find them an office space, he told VOA.

Safe Ports has previously done work for the U.S. Department of Defense, including supplying American troops in Afghanistan. While there is no confirmation that Chens detention is directly related to her work for Safe Ports, the companys prior association with the U.S. Department of Defense and the sensitive nature of Dalian, which hosts a Chinese naval base, may have resulted in her arrest, some observers say.

Dalian is also where China constructed its first domestically built aircraft carrier, the Shandong.

Either what the company was doing, which they didnt share, involves some potential espionage-related activities or her arrest is just a terrible overreach by the Chinese government that has gone out of proportion, Peter Dahlin, the director of Madrid-based NGO Safeguard Defenders, told VOA by phone.

Neither Safe Ports nor the companys CEO, Lucy Duncan, responded to multiple interview requests from VOA. However Duncan was quoted by The Guardian newspaper, saying that Chens work for Safe Ports was purely administrative and that she had no idea why Chen was detained.

Dahlin  who was himself previously held under RSDL  said the fact that Chen was arrested upon returning to China indicates that Chinese authorities have been tracking Chens activities for a while.

Since RSDL is typically used against individuals viewed as a threat to national security in China, Lent said until recently the family had received little information about Chens condition for weeks.

Over the past week, her family says, they have received several updates about Chens situation in detention, including a letter in which Chen said she was fine and a call from state security officers handling her case. According to Lent, the officer told Chens son that the investigation was ongoing.

When [my stepson] talked to them, he seemed to think they were honest and that Emily was given everything she needed, Lent told VOA, adding that the updates have made him feel more positive about Chens situation in detention.

Stepped-up security efforts

Chens detention comes as China doubles down on efforts to safeguard national security, passing amendments to laws such as the anti-espionage law and state secrets law and initiating raids against some foreign businesses, including some American due diligence firms.

In a recent interview, the U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns told 60 Minutes that over the past year Chinese authorities raided at least seven American companies and arrested employees on suspicion of espionage.

Some analysts say Chens case is part of Beijings campaign to further securitize the country, efforts that ultimately will further reduce foreign businesses confidence in China.

Its becoming riskier for Chinese citizens to work for foreign companies because the Chinese government under Xi Jinping continues to securitize the country and initiate national-security related investigations against foreign companies, Yaqiu Wang, research director for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan at Freedom House, told VOA by phone.

In response to an inquiry about Chens case, the Chinese Embassy in Washington told VOA that it was unaware of the specifics of her detention but that China protects the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese nationals in accordance with the law.

China is actively advancing its high-level opening-up and making efforts to provide a world-class, market-oriented business environment governed by a sound legal framework, Liu Pengyu, the embassy spokesperson, wrote in response.

While the recent updates have eased some of Lents concerns about Chens conditions in detention, he said the case has caused serious financial and emotional damage to the family.

Theres not a day that goes by that I dont break down over this because I love her very much, he told VOA. [While] I have so much confidence that she will eventually prevail on this, I still think its going to be a tough road ahead for her.
Nearly 2 billion Muslims around the world will celebrate the Islamic holiday Ramadan, which is expected to begin on March 10 or 11, depending on the sighting of the moon.

During the month of Ramadan, Muslims abstain from food, drink, smoking, gossip and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset.

Fasting is meant to bring Muslims closer to God and help them better empathize with those who are less fortunate.

The global Muslim population is vast and diverse, so Ramadan traditions vary slightly throughout the world. Here are some facts about Ramadan:

What are the origins of Ramadan?

Muslims believe that in the year 610, the Quran, the Muslim holy book, was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by a messenger of God.

The five pillars of Islam are: shahada (profession of faith), salat (prayer), zakat (giving of alms), sawm (fasting) and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca).

How is the start of Ramadan determined?

Ramadan occurs in the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and begins and ends with the appearance of the crescent moon. Because the Muslim calendar year is shorter than the Gregorian calendar year, Ramadan begins 10-12 days earlier each year. The Gregorian calendar is used in most parts of the world.

In 2024, Ramadan ends at sunset April 9 or 10.

Because lunar sightings depend on the moon's location in relation to the globe, countries may celebrate the start of Ramadan on different days.

What are the rules of fasting during Ramadan?

During Ramadan, Muslims wake up before dawn to eat suhoor  a light meal containing protein, other nutrients and beverages before fasting begins at sunrise.

Many Muslims recite the Quran before breaking the fast.

After sunset, however, Muslims typically gather for iftar  the breaking of the fast  and the most important meal of the day. An iftar meal typically includes fruits, cheeses, sweets, vegetables, bread and halal meat. The fast is initially broken, however, the way the Prophet Muhammad did it  by a sip of water and dates.

Are some Muslims exempt from fasting?

Fasting is not meant to cause hardship. The elderly, young children, the sick, women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or menstruating, and those who are traveling are exempt from fasting.

But Muslims who do not fast are required to observe the holy month by reading and reciting the Quran, focusing on their spiritual goals and giving alms.

Some Ramadan facts

Many Muslims greet one another at the start of the month by saying "Ramadan Mubarak" (Blessed Ramadan).

Sunni Islam is the largest branch of the religion. Sunni Muslims make up about 87% to 90% of the world's Muslims. Shiite Islam is the second-largest branch. Shiite Muslims account for about 10% to 13%.

What is Eid al-Fitr?

Eid al-Fitr is the celebration ending the monthlong observation of Ramadan.

Eid al-Fitr celebrations vary, but often include spending time with family and friends, gift-giving, charitable giving and festivals with food and activities.

Muslim population

Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim population, about 240 million people. Muslims make up nearly 90% of the country's population of 277 million people.

The world's Muslim population of roughly 2 billion people accounts for nearly a quarter of the global population.

Islam is the world's second-largest religion. Christianity is the largest.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
On February 25, Globe Eye News, a blue-checked X account, claimed that Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud promised Saudi women the freedom to choose what to wear.

Global Eye News post, which had gained nearly 8 million views by the time of this writing, features a photograph of Prince Salman next to the picture of a group of women wearing black burkas, a type of loose female attire that covers entire body and face except for the palms.

The post states:

"Saudi Prince Salman: From now on, only Saudi Arabian women can decide what clothing Saudi Arabian women will wear."

That is misleading.

Polygraph.info could not find any recent interview with or statement by the Saudi Arabian prince about his nations dress code for women.

While Saudi Arabia does not have a law laying out a dress code for women, they are expected to dress in accordance with Sharia law.

Prince Salman made that clear in a March 19, 2018, interview with CBS:

The laws are very clear and stipulated in the laws of Sharia: that women wear decent, respectful clothing, like men. This, however, does not particularly specify a black abaya or a black head cover. The decision is entirely left for women to decide what type of decent and respectful attire she chooses to wear.

In saying that the decision is entirely left for women, Prince Salman seemed to be referring to the choice of color rather than the type of clothing, which he said is stipulated by Sharia law for both men and women.

X added a community note to Globe Eye News post, stating that it was missing important context.

Saudi Arabias Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which is popularly known as the mutawa and functions as a religious police force, imposed a strict dress code on women and gender segregation between the early 1980s and 2010s.

While the religious police still exist, Saudi King Salman abolished the mandatory burka for women in 2015. In 2019, women were given permission to drive cars, wear colorful clothes instead of black burkas, and choose different clothing styles and designs.

Still, women in Saudi Arabia remain restricted in their choice of clothing, and many designs are listed as prohibited. Among the banned items are clothes that reveal too much skin, garments that do not cover the knee or elbow, bikinis, and tight or see-through clothing.

Saudi Arabia also has dress code for foreigner visitors, called the Public Decorum Charter, which describes the types of prohibited clothing in both words and illustrations.

Foreigners are banned from wearing clothes bearing human photographs, human silhouettes, or signs and phrases that violate common decency.

Recent social media posts and YouTube videos show that more women in Saudi Arabia interpret the Sharia dress code liberally, with some abandoning head and face covers and even switching to modern clothing, while many continue to cover their bodies fully.

While Saudi Arabia's dress code is experiencing some reform, other Muslim nations, like Iran and Afghanistan, are moving in the opposite direction.

Afghanistan had liberal dress code from the early 1900s to the 1970s, when it was a kingdom.

In the 1920s, Queen Soraya Tarzi, the wife of King Amanullah Khan, emerged as a stylish and powerful figure in the Middle East. During her reign, King Amanullah Khan famously remarked, "I am your King, but the Minister of Education is my wife, your Queen."

Queen Soraya Tarzi was an exemplar of modern Afghanistan, establishing the first school for girls and launching the kingdoms first womens magazine in 1927, called Ershad-I-Niswan, or "Guidance for Women."

However, Afghanistan subsequently saw a regression in women's rights. After coming to power in 1996, the Taliban banned girls from attending schools. In 2021, after retaking power, they barred girls from studying beyond sixth grade, enforced stricter dress codes and imposed other limitations that led to the increased isolation of women from public life and narrowing professional opportunities.

In Iran, the religious police, bearing a name similar to the one in Saudi Arabia, is infamous for its brutal enforcement of the dress code for women.

With the regimes encouragement, this morality police and its adepts have physically attacked women in Iran, with some having had flesh-eating acid thrown on their faces and others even beaten to death for wearing loose hijabs.

Thousands of Iranians protested in 2022, accusing the regimes religious police of killing Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died in police custody after being arrested for wearing a loose hijab.

Irans Islamic clergy responded to the public unrest by introducing even stricter legal limitations on women and girls who violate the dress code, including punishments of up to 10 years in prison and fines of around $8,500.
A former Google software engineer was charged with four counts of federal trade secret theft for an alleged plan to steal artificial intelligence technology from Google while also secretly working for two China-based companies, according to a Justice Department indictment Wednesday.



Linwei Ding, a Chinese national, was arrested Wednesday in Newark, California. Hired by Google in 2019, he was granted access to confidential information about the companys supercomputing data centers. He allegedly began uploading hundreds of files to a personal Google Cloud account between May 2022 and May 2023.



While employed by Google, he was offered a chief technology officer position at an early-stage technology company in China that emphasized artificial intelligence usage. The indictment said Ding traveled to China to participate in investor meetings aimed at securing capital for the company.

The indictment said Ding also founded and served as CEO of a separate China-based startup, aimed at training AI models. Neither of his affiliations were disclosed to Google before he resigned on December 26. However, they were discovered shortly after when officials learned he had presented as a CEO of one of the companies at a Beijing investor conference.

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said, "We have strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets. After an investigation, we found that this employee stole numerous documents, and we quickly referred the case to law enforcement."

A lawyer listed as Dings defense attorney did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday evening, The Associated Press reported.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the case during an American Bar Association Conference in San Francisco.

The FBI and Commerce Department are investigating the case.

Law enforcement authorities have consistently issued warnings regarding the dangers of Chinese economic espionage and the national security implications associated with advancements in artificial intelligence.



"Today's charges are the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the People's Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation," FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. "The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences."



If convicted, Ding faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count. It is not immediately clear whether Ding has a lawyer to speak to on his behalf.



Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry is struggling to stay in power as he tries to return home, where gang attacks have shuttered the country's main international airport and freed more than 4,000 inmates in recent days.

As of midday Wednesday, Henry remained in Puerto Rico, where he landed the day before after he was barred from landing in neighboring Dominican Republic because officials there closed the airspace to flights to and from Haiti.

Locked out of his country for now, Henry appears to face an impasse as a growing number of officials call for his resignation or nudge him toward it.

Here's what to know about the embattled prime minister and the crisis he faces:

Who is Ariel Henry?

The 74-year-old neurosurgeon who trained and worked in southern France got involved in Haitian politics in the early 2000s, when he became leader of a movement that opposed then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

After Aristide was ousted, Henry became member of a U.S.-backed council that helped choose the transitional government.

In June 2006, he was named director-general of Haitis Ministry of Health and later became its chief of staff, helping to manage the governments response to a devastating 2010 earthquake.

In 2015, he was named minister of the interior and territorial communities and became responsible for overseeing Haitis security and domestic policy.

Months later, he was appointed minister of social affairs and labor but faced calls for resignation after he quit the Inite party.

He then largely disappeared from the limelight, serving as a political consultant and working as a professor at Haitis medical university until he was installed as prime minister shortly after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, who had selected him for that position.

Moises party likely thought Henry would bring credibility and some kind of constituency, said Brian Concannon, executive director of the U.S.-based nonprofit Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.

It seems to me he must have been a pretty big figure. Presidents dont just pick random people, he said.

Why are people demanding that Henry resign?

Henry has faced calls for resignation ever since he was sworn in as prime minister with the backing of the international community.

Those demanding that he step down include gangs vying for political power and Haitians angry that general elections have not been held in nearly a decade. They also note that Henry was never elected and does not represent the people.

Concannon noted that Henry has served the longest single term of any Haitian prime minister since the country's 1987 constitution was established.

He was not appointed through any recognized Haitian procedure, Concannon said. He was basically installed by the courtroom.

Henry has repeatedly said he seeks unity and dialogue and has noted that elections cannot be held until its safe to do so.

In February 2023, he formally appointed a transition council responsible for ensuring that general elections are held, calling it a significant step toward that goal.

But elections have been repeatedly delayed as gang-related killings and kidnappings surge across the country. Last year, more than 8,400 people were reported killed, injured or kidnapped, more than double the number reported in 2022.

Why is the prime minister not in Haiti?

Henry left Haiti last month to attend a four-day summit in the South American country of Guyana organized by a regional trade bloc known as Caricom. That's where Haitis worsening crisis was discussed behind closed doors.

While Henry did not speak to the media, Caribbean leaders said that he promised to hold elections in mid-2025. A day later, coordinated gang attacks began in Haitis capital and beyond.

Henry then departed Guyana for Kenya last week to meet with President William Ruto and to push for the U.N.-backed deployment of a Kenyan police force, which a court in the East African country ruled was unconstitutional.

Officials never said when Henry was due back in Haiti following the trip to Kenya, and his whereabouts were unknown for several days until he unexpectedly landed Tuesday in Puerto Rico to the surprise of many.

He was originally scheduled to land in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, but the government closed its airspace and said Henrys plane did not have the required flight plan.

What happens now?

Caribbean leaders spoke to Henry late Tuesday and presented him with several options, including resigning, which he rejected, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to share details of the call.

Meanwhile, the prime minister of Grenada said Henry told officials that his plan is to return to Haiti.

The U.N. Security Council planned to hold an emergency meeting later Wednesday to talk about Haiti and the troubles Henry faces.

Ahead of that meeting, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the U.S. and its partners are asking Henry to make concessions.

So we are not calling on him or pushing him to resign, but we are urging him to expedite the transition to an empowered and inclusive governance structure," Miller said
In Nepal, a growing Hindu nationalist movement is calling for the country to adopt Hinduism as its state religion and reinstate the countrys Hindu monarchy. Now there is concern over recent clashes between Hindu nationalists and police. Analysts say the movement stems from a combination of disillusionment with the government, inspiration from neighboring India, and social media influencers. Henry Wilkins reports from Kathmandu.
Journalists and environmental media networks are teaming up to expand coverage of issues ranging from the effects of extreme weather on farming communities to the damage caused by sand mining.

In India, two veteran journalists  Sharada Balasubramanian and Varsha Singh  are among those looking at how environmental issues are shaping the lives of those in developing countries.

Their coverage has taken them to remote villages, coastal regions, and on high-altitude treks.

Singh says female journalists play an important role in reporting these stories.

I see this time as a unique opportunity for women in environmental journalism. Ecofeminism, Singh told VOA. Women are generally more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It's often easier for a female journalist to connect with the vulnerable communities living in rural areas.

Balasubramanian, a journalist from Coimbatore in southern Tamil Nadu state, says when she started out in journalism, environmental coverage was largely missing in mainstream media.

Then she took a job at Greenpeace. The experience, she said, made her realize that her interest in environmental issues and her reporting skills could be combined.

A Bay of Bengal grant from the Earth Journalism Network, or EJN, in 2018 gave her the support to be able to report from the Andaman Islands.

There, she said, I covered stories of island farmers impacted by climate change.

Access to that grant and others enabled her to investigate issues such as wildlife crimes and to cover events like an International Whaling Commission meeting in Slovenia.

"The grants have been immensely helpful to pursue undercovered stories from untold geographies," she told VOA.

Her assignments have taken Balasubramanian to unexpected places. She recalled staying in rustic huts and encountering insects. Another time, she trekked the Rumbak valley in Ladakh. Ladakh is a union territory of India in the Himalayas.

But covering the environment can be risky. The reporter says she has to be alert, all the time.

Of course, one needs to also take precautions, especially as a woman journalist. When we do stories like these, we learn where to be warm, passive and a little cold, she said. The journalist says she adapts her behavior or tone, and watches closely for body language as a safeguard.

Another risk is sometimes politically charged content.

In the recent times, one needs to also exercise caution while approaching these stories, as (they) could converge with political issues and could potentially harm journalists, she said.

Media groups like Reporters Without Borders or RSF say the environment for journalism is declining in India. RSF cites attacks, legal action, and pressure from officials among the issues for the countrys media. Journalists who cover illegal environmental activity, such as sand mining, can also be at risk of physical attack.

Balasubramanians coverage has caught international attention. An Oxpeckers grant that enabled her to report on a wildlife crime investigation led to an invitation to speak at an event in Geneva.

The European Union event for its Eco Solve project is looking at solutions to the illegal wildlife trade.

I spoke about India's attempt to go digital in documenting wildlife crimes, she said.

In her interview with VOA, Balasubramanian underscored the collaborative nature of creating change, attributing any impact to those who act on the information in her stories.

The change coverage can bring is also core to Singh's work. The journalist from Dehradun, in Uttarakhand state, has contributed to outlets including Newsclick, Mongabay Hindi, and BBC Hindi.

Collaborating with international organizations such as EJN and Climate Tracker helped her develop a global perspective on local environmental challenges and events.

(Once you) brace yourself for the challenges of telling these stories, the world will be yours. I've embarked on some challenging yet remarkable reporting trips through these stories, she said.

The partnerships allowed her to highlight marginalized communities and their struggles. The goal was to raise awareness globally, putting pressure on regional leadership and policymakers to take action.

"Thanks to grants, training, and mentorship from organizations like the Earth Journalism Network, I've had the opportunity to cover stories from some of India's most marginalized rural areas and bring them to global attention," said Singh.

Founded in 2004 by Internews, the EJN helps journalists from developing countries report more effectively on issues affecting their communities.

Joydeep Gupta, the networks India manager, says that the fellowships and training have significantly contributed to the ability of journalists like Balasubramanian to adopt a more holistic approach to stories.

In Balasubramanians case, the network was able to help by providing resources, including access to contacts and experts.

Globally, the network has trained thousands of journalists, who in turn have produced more than 14,000 stories.

Those stories  and the networks research  look at everything from conservation efforts to climate mis- and disinformation across Africa.

In India, says Gupta, some of the most impactful projects have looked at the situation in the Bay of Bengal, or the transition to clean energy.

These projects align with the network's mission to enhance journalists' capabilities in delivering more impactful environmental stories, he said.

The collaborative efforts and training of the network, and work of journalists like Balasubramanian and Singh are helping draw attention to core environmental issues while amplifying voices of those most affected.
The USS San Diego is a warship designed to deliver troops and equipment into combat zones, something the crew routinely trains for from their base in San Diego, California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

But a closer look at the patches and colors of some of the uniforms on board recently are clues that one of their current missions has objectives about as far away from a theater of war as one can get.

This is a unique opportunity, but this is well within the wheelhouse of what we do day in and day out, says Lieutenant Jackson Cotney, a U.S. Navy helicopter pilot attached to the USS San Diego conducting search and rescue training operations supporting NASAs Artemis crewed missions to the moon.

During recent exercises in the Pacific Ocean, Cotney and hundreds of sailors worked with NASAs four-person Artemis II crew to prepare for a critical part of the complex operation  the safe return and recovery of the Orion capsule and crew once it completes reentry through Earths atmosphere.

This is the 11th underway recovery test, but the first with astronauts engaged in the training, explains Captain David Walton, who is the commanding officer of the USS San Diego. Once the crew comes back, really their health and welfare is our number one concern. Getting them out of the capsule and getting them medical treatment rapidly is what were driving for, and then recovering the equipment for further flights back to the moon or further.

Cotney is already an Artemis veteran. He piloted one of the helicopters monitoring the uncrewed Orion capsule that touched down in the Pacific Ocean at the end of the 25-day Artemis 1 mission in 2022, which orbited the moon and traveled the farthest into space of any craft designed to carry humans.

We were the first platform up at 10,000 feet to see that the capsule was intact as it came over the horizon, he told VOA during a recent interview on board the San Diego. Super exciting to see it come out of the sky. This mission itself is new to me, but not new to naval aviation. Naval aviators and the naval helicopter community have been rescuing astronauts, picking up astronauts out of the water since the early Apollo days.

Although NASA has delayed the launch of a crewed mission to orbit the moon until 2025 at the earliest, it has already selected four astronauts for the first such journey in more than 50 years.

This Artemis mission campaign is not just about going back to the moon and going back responsibly and sustainably, its about building on what we learned there and exploring even deeper and answering some of those fundamental questions that we all have about ourselves, says Christina Koch, who could make history as the first woman to orbit the moon. What does it mean to be human, are we alone in the universe, how did we all get here?

Speaking at a press conference at the conclusion of their session aboard the San Diego, Koch said the training isnt preparing them just for a path already forged by astronauts five decades ago. Its helping them compete in a new space race, in which the United States isnt the only country with aspirations beyond Earths orbit.

The question really isnt why we go; its are we going to lead or are we going to follow. To see this team work together and innovate to come up with a unique solution for getting four people out of the Pacific Ocean, the answer was very clear to me that we are going to be leading, he says.

Space kind of got back to being cool, says Lieutenant Derek Pelletier, who, along with most of the crew of the San Diego, wasn't alive the last time people reached the moon. But they know their role in this training is one small step in NASAs greater leap in the Artemis program that doesnt stop on the lunar surface.

The next step is going to be to Mars and beyond, so knowing that we played a part in getting humanity back to the moon and out to the space frontier is going to be fantastic to us, so the importance that we feel as a crew is great, he says.

NASA astronauts Koch, Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover and Canadas Jeremy Hansen could orbit the moon as early as September 2025. The return of astronauts to the lunar service is scheduled for the following mission  Artemis III  which NASA plans to launch in 2026.
Kuleba: Ukraine needs more artillery shells, ammunition produced in Europe should be used to protect country

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that if Europe wants to restore peace, it must increase weapons production and ban the export of artillery ammunition to other continents.

In a column in the French publication Le Monde, Kuleba said that due to a critical shortage of artillery shells, the Ukrainian army is unable to destroy Russian artillery and protect its soldiers.

"If Ukraine finds itself in this situation today, it is because our allies in Europe and the United States discussed for several months before deciding to supply us with sufficient quantities of artillery ammunition. As they did not speed up the production of weapons on time, they took their time before purchasing military equipment from third countries and exported projectiles produced in Europe to other regions of the world," the minister said.

He thanked the allies for the decision taken at Paris Conference on February 26 to increase the purchase of ammunition from third countries, but stressed that "this is not enough" and "decisive and systematic decisions are needed."

"There are some simple and obvious solutions our partners can take to help our warfighters. Ukraine needs more artillery ammunition and long-range missiles to repel Russian attacks and liberate its territory. It needs Patriot and other air defense systems to protect its cities. Funds for faster repair of military equipment at bases in Ukraine, and not abroad," he said.

At the same time, he urged partners not to allow themselves to be guided by fear. "Fear does not prevent problems, it aggravates them," the Foreign Minister said.

The minister agreed with the words of French President Emmanuel Macron that Europe does not need to wait for the results of the U.S. presidential elections, since "our continent, our freedom and the future of our children are at stake, and we must act now."

Kuleba said in 2023 Ukraine increased the capacity of its defense industry by about 300%, and in 2024 it should increase its potential by another 600% compared to 2023.

"Our friends must also step up their game and get on par with Ukraine if they are serious about achieving our common goal of restoring peace in Europe. They should invest more in defense production and ban the export of artillery ammunition to regions outside Europe. These days, every ammunition produced in Europe must be used to protect it," Kuleba said.

Speaking about Macron's statement about the possibility of sending foreign military personnel to Ukraine, Kuleba indicated that if this hypothetically happens, Western soldiers "will face the same acute shortage of ammunition as the Ukrainians."

At the same time, he said numerous statements about the exclusion of the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine are not a blow to Ukraine, but they are a blow to European security.

Lets make no mistake: Putin sensed that war instilled a primal fear in Europeans, and he took note. Unfortunately, too many people in politics and society do not understand that the era of peace in Europe is over, the head of the Foreign Ministry noted.

He also recalled that during ten years of Russian aggression and two years of large-scale invasion, Ukraine has never asked foreign soldiers to fight against the Russian Federation.
Haitian politicians started pursuing new alliances Wednesday, seeking a coalition that could lead the country out of the gang violence that has fueled lawlessness, closed the main airport and prevented embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry from returning home.

Haiti remained largely paralyzed, with schools and businesses still closed amid heavy gunfire blamed on the gangs that control an estimated 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, where several bodies lay on empty streets. The country's two biggest prisons were also raided, resulting in the release of more than 4,000 inmates over the weekend.

Henry faces increasing pressure to resign, which would likely trigger a U.S.-supported transition to a new government.

One new political alliance involves former rebel leader Guy Philippe and ex-presidential candidate and senator Moise Jean Charles, who told Radio Caraibes on Wednesday that they signed a deal to form a three-person council to lead Haiti.

Philippe, a key figure in the 2004 rebellion that ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, returned to Haiti in November and has been calling for Henry's resignation. He spent several years in prison in the U.S. after pleading guilty to a money laundering charge.

Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations was asked Wednesday whether the United States asked Henry to step down.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield replied that the U.S. has asked Henry to "move forward on a political process that will lead to the establishment of a presidential transitional council that will lead to elections."

American officials believe it's urgent for Henry to start "the process of bringing normalcy back to the people of Haiti," she said.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller echoed her remarks, saying the United States was not acting unilaterally but rather in consultation with partners in the region.

"And what we are saying to the prime minister is that he needs to expedite the transition to empowered and inclusive governance," Miller said.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the organization continued to deal with Henry as prime minister, adding that diplomats were "not in the business of encouraging him to resign."

He said the U.N. chief is urging the government and all parties to set aside their differences and agree on "a common path towards the restoration of democratic institutions."

Dujarric described the situation in Port-au-Prince as "extremely fragile," with sporadic attacks forcing the cancellation of all flights in and out of Haiti.

"Health infrastructure is on the brink of collapse," he said, noting that wounded civilians were overwhelming hospitals and blood products were urgently needed.

U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk said nearly 1,200 people have been killed in Haiti since the beginning of the year "because of this man-made violence."

Caribbean leaders who have traveled to Haiti and previously met with Henry said Wednesday that a political solution is needed before the crisis worsens.

"In spite of many, many meetings, we have not been able to reach any form of consensus between the government, the private sector, civil society, religious organizations," said Irfaan Ali, president of Guyana, a country on South America's Atlantic coast.

The challenges are "compounded by the absence of key institutions" such as the presidency and parliament, as well as the violence and the lack of humanitarian aid, he said.

The prime minister has not made any public comments since gangs began attacking critical infrastructure late last week while he was in Kenya pushing for the U.N.-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country to help fight the surge in violence in the troubled Caribbean nation.

Before flying to Kenya, Henry was in Guyana for a summit held by a regional trade bloc known as Caricom, where Haiti was high on the agenda.

Meanwhile, a Caribbean official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that leaders of Caricom spoke with Henry late Tuesday and presented several alternatives to end Haiti's deepening crisis, including his resignation, which he refused to do. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share details about the talks.

Henry landed Tuesday in Puerto Rico after he was not allowed to land in the Dominican Republic, where officials closed the airspace around Haiti. Hector Porcella, director of the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation, told reporters the plane did not have a required flight plan.

The Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Wednesday that U.S. and Haitian officials informally contacted it to inquire about the possibility of Henry's plane making an "indefinite stop" in the Dominican Republic, adding that the prime minister was in New York at the time.

The government said it twice told foreign officials that such a move would require a defined flight plan.

"It is essential to note that the Dominican Republic maintains its willingness to continue cooperating with the international community to facilitate Haiti's return to normalcy. However, it is imperative that any action taken does not compromise our national security," the foreign affairs office said.

Dickon Mitchell, prime minister of the eastern Caribbean island of Grenada, told the AP that regional leaders spoke late Tuesday with Henry, who did not indicate anything except "that he is trying to get back into Haiti." Mitchell did not provide details.

Henry was appointed prime minister with the backing of the international community shortly after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

As he tried to return to Haiti on Wednesday, heavy gunfire echoed throughout Port-au-Prince as Haitians feared additional attacks led by powerful gang leaders.

It was not clear when the country's international airport would reopen.
U.S. President Joe Biden will deliver his election-year State of the Union address Thursday, when he is expected to discuss his handling of the economy, reproductive rights, immigration, and the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts. But the 81-year-old will also use the occasion to demonstrate he is physically and mentally fit for a second term. VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell reports. Hopes dim for a ceasefire in Gaza ahead of the start of the Ramadan holy month. And an alarming report on the state of the world's oceans
The United States privately warned Russia not to deploy nuclear weapons in space, The Wall Street Journal reported on February 22. The warning followed media reports citing U.S. intelligence sources as saying that Moscows plans to develop a nuclear space weapon pose a serious threat to U.S. national security.

The warning to Russia is part of a diplomatic campaign that the Biden administration is mounting to head off the threat that also involves approaches to China, India, G-7 nations and other close allies that have interests in space and channels to Moscow, the WSJ wrote.

While the details of the U.S. intelligence findings remain classified, the White House said Russia is seeking to put a nuclear weapon into space for possible use against satellites.

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the allegations as unfounded, fake and false.

Addressing Russias parliament on February 29, Putin said Moscow has no plans to deploy nuclear weapons in outer space and accused the U.S. of blocking a Russian-drafted agreement that would ban such deployments:

"They [the U.S.] have recently made unfounded allegations, in particular, against Russia, regarding plans to deploy nuclear weapons in space. Such fake narratives, and this story is unequivocally false, are designed to involve us in negotiations on their conditions, which will only benefit the United States, Putin said.

At the same time, they have blocked our proposal, which has been on the table for over 15 years. I am referring to the agreement on preventing the deployment of weapons in outer space, which we drafted back in 2008. There has been zero reaction to it.

That is misleading.

Putin failed to mention that the 1967 Outer Space Treaty bans the deployment of nuclear weapons in outer space. The United States and the Soviet Union were among the 110 nations that ratified the treaty. Another 89 countries signed the treaty but have not yet ratified it.

This treaty prohibits the placement of nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction in Earth's orbit, on the moon or any other celestial body, or on a station in outer space. In addition to nuclear weapons, the term weapons of mass destruction includes chemical, biological and radiological weapons.

In citing the agreement on preventing the deployment of weapons in outer space drafted in 2008, Putin was referring to the Treaty on Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space and of the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects, or PPWT, which Russia and China presented jointly at the U.N-backed Conference on Disarmament in Geneva in 2008.

The U.S. opposed the Sino-Russian draft treaty mainly because it did not take into account the ground-based anti-satellite systems that China and Russia are actively developing.

In June 2014, Russia and China presented an updated PPWT draft, which again did not include the systems capable of hitting satellites from the ground. As of 2024, the U.S., China, India and Russia have developed and successfully tested such systems, reportedly destroying satellites.

Four U.S. presidents have been in office since the PPT was drafted in 2008, and all of them expressed the following concerns (as voiced on March 22, 2022, at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, by Michael Aho, then advisor to the U.S. delegation to the conference):

The draft does not take into account anti-satellite weapons by countries that seek to deny other countries use and benefits of outer space through ground-based systems, which represent the most pressing threats to on orbit systems today;

PPWT does not offer any verification mechanisms, thus verification of compliance by others cannot be achieved;

The drafts broad use of language allows manipulation. For instance, weapons in space cannot be defined because many space systems have dual purposes.

The draft fails to address concerns about a potential stockpiling and breakout capabilities as well as potentially troubling behavior by Russian space objects operating in the vicinity of U.S. space objects.

According to Kari Bingen, director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., a conventional anti-satellite missile can destroy only one satellite, while a nuclear anti-satellite missile can destroy many satellites and cause strategic damage:

A nuclear detonation in space, I see as a one-versus-many weapon. If your aim is to target and take out as many satellites as you can, you might seek this nuclear option  to create a large detonation that fries any satellites within range and then creates a high-radiation environment that degrades even more satellites over time.
The Biden administration is looking at options to support Ukraine amid House Republicans continued obstruction of a Senate-approved $95 billion foreign aid package that includes $61 billion to support Kyiv in its fight against Russia.

In a Wednesday interview with VOA, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said President Joe Biden plans to use Thursdays State of the Union address to emphasize the importance of continued support for Ukraine and highlight his administrations success in restoring American leadership.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

VOA: How will the president use this opportunity to convince lawmakers and House Speaker Mike Johnson of the urgent need for military support for Ukraine?

John Kirby, White House National Security Communications Adviser: I don't want to get ahead of the president's speech. Of course, he's very much looking forward to the opportunity to talk to the American people, to the Congress, and actually, quite frankly, the world about all the incredible things that he has accomplished in these three and a half years as the president of the United States. From the economy to education, to health care, to employment, as well as on the world stage, and really restoring American leadership on the world stage.

Here's what American leadership buys you. It buys you convening power. It buys you enormous capability. And it certainly buys you an effort to influence and affect the decision-making and the actions of other leaders around the world, particularly adversaries, in ways that are more in keeping with our national security interests. And supporting Ukraine is certainly first and foremost. That's about helping Ukrainian soldiers succeed in these fights against Russian aggression, but it's also a benefit to our national security because the landscape on the European continent has changed. And if we just walk away and let [Russian President Vladimir] Putin have Ukraine, which is what he still wants, then he's right up against the doorstop of NATO.

VOA: Ukraine is rationing munitions and losing territory in part because of the lack of American support. Do you still see a path forward with the supplemental package or should Ukrainians be preparing themselves for the reality where there is no American assistance?

Kirby: We're going to keep working with Congress to see if we can get that supplemental passed. It's that important. We are also working with allies and partners about contributions that they might be able to make, not that they aren't already making them  they are. But [were] seeing what more could maybe be done. And of course, we're looking inside our own system, inside our own government, and across the administration to see if there's anything else that we might be able to do to support Ukraine. But we've got nothing. None of those efforts are going to be able to replace the volume, the scale that the supplemental would provide us.

VOA: But there might be a Plan B?

Kirby: We have never not looked at what other opportunities we might have before us. But whatever they are, they're not going to be as good as the supplemental. There's no replacing the supplemental. As I've said many times, it's not like there's some magical source out there that can do what the supplemental can do. But are we looking at options? We absolutely are. We have to, given the situation on the ground  particularly in the east.

VOA: But do you still believe the supplemental may pass?

Kirby: It's difficult to say with any certainty. That's really going to be up to Speaker Johnson. We know  and Speaker Johnson knows  that if you put that to the floor, it'll pass. There's plenty of bipartisan support for that; both sides of the aisle in the House. No question about that. The question is really: Will he put it to the floor? And only he can answer that question.

VOA: Six countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Germany, Denmark and France, recently signed bilateral security agreements with Kyiv that are meant to give Ukraine security reassurance before Ukraine joins NATO. Should we expect such an agreement between the United States and Ukraine soon?

Kirby: We have long been working with the Ukrainians, obviously making sure that they have what they need in this war, talking to them about what they're going to need whenever the war ends, because whenever and however the war ends, they're still going to have a long border with Russia that they're going to need to safeguard. So, yes, the United States is talking to our Ukrainian counterparts about what more we can do over the long term to help make sure that they can defend their own national security interests and [those of] the Ukrainian people. I don't have anything to announce or speak to right now, but these are conversations we're having with the Ukrainians.

VOA: More on the State of the Union: How will the president address the worsening situation in Gaza and U.S. strategic competition with China?

Kirby: Again, I'm not going to get ahead of the president's speech, but I would point you to the things that he has said before. On Israel: How important it is to make sure Israel can defend itself against the still viable threat by Hamas, making sure that more humanitarian assistance gets in [to Gaza, and] making sure we get the hostages out. Trying to get this new hostage deal in place so that we can get a six-week temporary cease-fire to reduce the suffering on the ground and again try to find ways to help alleviate suffering of the Palestinian people.

And on China, as you know, the president wrapped up not too long ago a meeting with President Xi [Jinping] in San Francisco. Good, constructive dialogue. We're not going to agree with China on everything, but the president believes strongly that this is the most consequential bilateral relationship in the world, and it's incumbent upon both of us as two major powers  and both of them as two major leaders  to handle that relationship in a responsible way.

VOA: The president warned of a "dangerous" situation if there is no cease-fire by Ramadan. What did he mean by that? Is he warning of more bloodshed and potential regional spillover?

Kirby: He's referring to the fact that Ramadan is obviously the holiest time of the year for Muslims and it's also a sensitive time, particularly in the Middle East, where actions take on an even larger meaning and can have an outsized impact. And so, we all want this temporary cease-fire in place as soon as possible. We obviously would have preferred to have it in place already. It's not, we're still working at that. But we recognize that as you get closer to Ramadan, whatever actions get taken is done in the context of this holiest of time for Muslims around the world.

VOA: Both the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, and the widow of a deceased Russian opposition leader Yulia Navalnaya declined the invitation to attend Bidens State of the Union address. What message was the administration trying to convey by inviting them both?

Kirby: We certainly respect their desires in terms of not attending, but obviously Ukraine is such a key partner here. And they have been fighting bravely now for a little bit over two years. And, certainly, this was an opportunity to recognize America's commitment to Ukraine, and to the fighting, the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people.

Again, we all mourned the passing of Alexey Navalny, and we all recognize his courage, his bravery, and we all of course continue to hold the Kremlin accountable for what happened to him. The president had a chance to meet with his wife and his sister to express his personal condolences and the condolences of the entire American people
Russias Federal Security Service, the FSB, said Thursday it shot dead a Belarusian man who planned to blow up an administrative building in Russias northern Karelia region on behalf of Ukraine.

The FSB said the man planned to use an improvised explosive device to carry out the attack in the city of Olonets, about 250 kilometers from the Russia-Finland border.

The agency shared a video showing officers closing in on a building in a remote area and then firing shots, followed by video of a body on the floor.

There was no immediate comment by Ukrainian officials on the matter.

The sound of a large explosion reverberated through Ukraines southern city of Odesa on Wednesday, just as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis were ending a tour of the war-ravaged area.

The Greek leader said officials were getting into their vehicles when they heard the blast, which he said was a "vivid reminder" that Odesa is gripped by the war with Russia.

Mitsotakis said it was one thing to hear about the war and "quite another to experience war firsthand."

Zelenskyy said the explosion killed an unknown number of people and wounded more. "You see who we're dealing with, they don't care where to hit," he told reporters.

Zelenskyy has regularly visited cities and military units on the front line during the war, always in secrecy until after he has left. Foreign leaders have made numerous trips to Ukraine, often to the capital of Kyiv, and they occasionally have had to take refuge in shelters when air raid sirens have sounded.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, condemned what she called the "vile attack" during the Greek leaders visit. She called it a "new attempt at terror" by Russia.

Zelenskyy showed Mitsotakis the destruction in Odesa, where the most recent major Russian attack killed 12 people  including five children  when debris from a Russian drone hit an apartment block on March 2.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Authorities on the Indian side of Kashmir are on high alert ahead of a scheduled visit to the region by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, March 7. This will be Modis first visit since his government stripped the disputed area of its special status as a semiautonomous region in 2019. Kashmir is Indias only Muslim majority region.

Thousands of troopers, including local police and paramilitary forces, have been deployed in Srinagar, the capital. Fences installed by the Jammu and Kashmir, or J&K, government and flags of Modis Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, will welcome him at Bakshi Stadium in the Wazir-Bagh neighborhood where he is scheduled to address the public.

Security forces deployed around Srinagar have taken other security measures ahead of the visit, including frisking commuters, which has offended some residents, and using sniffer dogs in the search for banned substances.

Frisking is a form of harassment, and we Kashmiris have been subjected to it for decades. I believe nothing has changed in Kashmir; rather, the situation has in fact worsened, said Jahangir Khan, a resident of Srinagar.

The slogan of the security forces, Respects all and suspects all, is full of hypocrisy. How can you respect everyone if you suspect everyone? he said, adding that in recent days, most residents have preferred to stay at home.

Modi, according to a statement issued from his office through the Press Information Bureau, will participate in a program titled Developed India  Developed Jammu Kashmir.

During the program, the prime minister is expected to "dedicate" an agriculture development program worth more than $600 million for boosting agri-economy in J&K, a press statement read. He will also launch multiple projects related to the tourism sector, the statement added.

The BJP sees Modis visit to Kashmir as a move to gain support for a third consecutive term in power with nationwide elections scheduled for April. Politicians associated with the J&K branch of the BJP contend that more than 200,000 people from Kashmir are expected to be on hand for the prime minister's arrival at Bakshi Stadium.

Modi "has written the new chapter of development in J&K by opening the gates of treasure of India for the people of the region, Ravinder Raina, the J&Ks BJP president, told reporters on Tuesday. His visit on March 7th will be remembered as a historic event.

Raina added that people of the Himalayan territory admire Modi and that is why they will visit the capital from various parts of the valley in large numbers to catch his glimpse.

The stadium does not have the capacity to accommodate 200,000 people, therefore arrangements are made at several locations in Srinagar so that everyone can see and hear him on big screens, Raina said. Every household in Kashmir appreciates Prime Minister Modis effort he took for the betterment of people of J&K.

Some locals said they didn't expect the Modi visit to produce benefits, in part because of the regions loss of its special status.

People were robbed of their rights on 5 August, 2019. The special status was never an obstacle to develop the region. No one expects anything from Modi and his government, said Mohammad Ayaz, another resident of Srinagar. People have a clear picture in front of them. People here know who is working for their betterment and who is misleading them.

The unemployment rate in J&K has surged to an all-time high, Ayaz told VOA. BJP can try everything to win seats, but they wont succeed either in Kashmir, Jammu or in Ladakh.

Kashmirs loss of its special status led to the division of the region into two federal territories  Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Both areas are ruled by the central government and have no legislatures of their own.

On March 4, The Hindu, a newspaper in New Delhi, reported that the J&K administration was mobilizing thousands of government employees to attend Modis rally. The report said that 13 government departments had been told to send their employees to Bakshi Stadium.

Yes, this is true. Many government employees, including those from the J&K Bank, have been instructed to visit the venue at 5:30 a.m., a government employee told VOA on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

The administration is not only compelling government employees but also private schools by asking them to send their vehicles to ferry employees to the stadium, he added.

Everyone has to abide or else he or she will face the consequences, the employee said. No unknown person would be allowed to enter the venue, as the government has prepared the list of individuals after security agencies cleared their names following a proper verification.

Many residents of Srinagar said their family members had been detained by local police in the lead-up to Modis visit.

My friend has been detained because of his past, a resident of the Soura neighborhood of Srinagar told VOA. He will be released after Modi travels back to Delhi.

Vidhi Kumar Birdi, inspector general of the Kashmir police, was approached for his comments. He disconnected the call as soon as he was questioned.

India and Pakistan have both claimed Kashmir since the two countries gained independence from Britain in 1947. They administer parts of the region with a Line of Control as the de facto border.

Wasim Nabi and Ayesha Tanzeem contributed to this report. Some information came from the Associated Press.
Senegalese presidential candidates faced a shortened race to election day on Thursday after the Constitutional Council confirmed the delayed vote would be held on March 24, kick-starting a competition that remains wide open.

Uncertainty over the date of the vote has gripped the West African country since early February, when the authorities' thwarted bid to postpone the February 25 poll by 10 months provoked widespread protests and warnings of democratic backsliding.

Many hope the worst of the crisis is over after the council ruled on Wednesday that the vote must be held before President Macky Sall's mandate expires on April 2, prompting him to schedule it for March 24  a date the top court has now approved.

"Like all Senegalese people, today we feel relieved to have resolved this issue that was causing us a lot of divisions," said doctor Mohamed Diop on a busy thoroughfare in the capital Dakar.

The new date leaves the 19 candidates little more than two weeks to canvas support. It also means that for the first time, campaigning will take place during the holy month of Ramadan, when many in the Muslim-majority country fast.

"This is an unprecedented situation," said opposition candidate Thierno Alassane Sall in a statement on Thursday, expressing the hope the election would "allow us to close the painful chapter that has just passed."

The ruling Benno Bokk Yakaar, or BBY, coalition's candidate, Amadou Ba, sounded a confident note.

"From this evening onwards, I will be devoting myself fully to preparing for the presidential election ... to ensure a victory in the first round," he said in a statement late Wednesday.

There are no public election polls in Senegal, but Ba's presidential prospects are far from certain.

Even before the postponement dispute, some within the BBY coalition questioned the first-time candidate's low profile with voters compared with seasoned rivals. Meanwhile the authorities' push to delay the vote could have undermined BBY's already shaky support.

With a record number of candidates in the race, the chances are high none of them will win more than 50% of the vote and avoid a second-round head-to-head contest.

The recent political turmoil could also have played out in some candidates' favor. An amnesty bill proposed by Sall to ease tensions and passed by parliament on Wednesday is likely to lead to the release from detention of Bassirou Faye, a candidate backed by popular opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.
In preparation for Thursday's State of the Union address by President Joe Biden, the White House and members of Congress have invited a wide array of guests, focusing on issues that Democrats and Republicans want to highlight before this year's election.

Among the guests are union workers, those impacted by nationwide abortion restrictions, family members of overseas political prisoners and individuals affected by what many see as a broken U.S. immigration system.

The guests will be seated in the upper gallery of the House chamber, where the speech is set to occur at 9 p.m. Washington time.

Reproductive health care

Some guests invited by first lady Jill Biden and Democratic members of Congress spotlight healthcare rights.

Elizabeth Carr, invited by Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat representing Virginia, was the first baby in the U.S. born through in vitro fertilization, a process under attack by some groups.

Kate Cox is a woman from the Dallas area, invited by Jill Biden, who sued for her right to terminate a health-threatening non-viable pregnancy in Texas after stringent anti-abortion legislation was passed there.

Tammi Kromenake, invited by Senator Tina Smith, Minnesota Democrat, helped run the only abortion clinic in the state of North Dakota for 25 years. After the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade  the ruling that established the right to an abortion  she had to move the clinic to Minnesota.

Immigration

Some invited guests highlight the key role immigration policies are set to play in the upcoming elections.

Ben Kurian and Zunxu Tian are two New York City police officers who were invited by Republican New York representatives Anthony D'Esposito and Nicole Malliotakis. Kurian and Tian were attacked by migrants in January, in an incident that drew national attention.

Brandon Budlong, president of the National Border Patrol Council Local 2724, was invited by Representative Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, for his extensive experience as a border patrol agent and experience with what she calls Joe Bidens irresponsible border policies.

Invited by Representative Lou Correa, a California Democrat, is Valeria Delgado, a student from Chapman University in California, who benefited from a policy to protect child migrants entering the U.S.

International relations

Also among guests expected to attend Thursday are family members of political prisoners and hostages overseas. The presence of those guests shows the prominence of international issues like the war in Gaza in voters minds.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson invited Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, parents of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter imprisoned in Moscow on espionage charges.

Invited by Johnson and Representative Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, are Orna and Daniel Neutra, the mother and brother of Omer Neutra, an American who has been held hostage by Hamas since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel.

Ketsia, Miriam and Caleb Corbett, children of Taliban hostage Ryan Corbett, were invited by Johnson and Representative Claudia Tenney, a Republican from New York. Corbett has been held hostage since 2022, the year after Biden withdrew troops from Afghanistan.

Gabriel Shipton, the brother of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, was invited by Representative Thomas Massi, a Republican from Kentucky. Assange is imprisoned in London. The U.S. is seeking to extradite him for publishing classified documents in 2010.

Other notable guests

Among other notable guests are Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Bettie Mae Fikes, Shawn Fain and Jazmin Cazares, all invited by Jill Biden.

Kristersson has helped lead Swedens effort to join NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Sweden formally joined the alliance as the 32nd member on Thursday.

Bettie Mae Fikes is a singer and civil rights activist from Selma, Alabama. Fikes was known as a "Bloody Sunday foot soldier during the 1965 police attacks on civil rights protesters crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

The first lady also invited Shawn Fain, the president of the United Auto Workers union, which last year held a strike that resulted in better worker salaries and benefits. Other union representatives are also expected to be in attendance. Last year, President Biden stood at the picket line during their strike in a historic first.

Gun control advocate Jazmin Cazares traveled the nation during her last year of high school to tell her sister Jackie's story. Jackie was one of the 19 students and two teachers killed during the 2022 Uvalde, Texas, school shooting.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
Taiwan's Foreign Ministry has issued "sincere apologies" following a remark by Taiwan's labor minister that has threatened to disrupt fast-warming ties between the island republic and India.

In an interview with Yahoo TV last week, Hsu Ming-chun, Taiwan's minister of labor, said that Taiwan may start recruiting migrant workers from India's northeast region because "their skin color and eating habits are similar to ours." She added that "most of them believe in Christianity, and [have] skills in manufacturing, construction and agriculture."

Critics on social media called the remarks racist.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry issued a statement late Monday calling Hsu's comments "not entirely appropriate" and expressed "sincere apologies."

"Taiwan will welcome any Indian worker who meets conditions for recruitment and satisfies industry demand, regardless of their ethnic background," the ministry said in a statement.

Amid a rapidly aging population, Taiwan has been seeking to expand its source of foreign workers beyond Southeast Asian nations. Most now come from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, according to the Center for International and Strategic Studies.

Taiwan signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with India on February 16, laying the framework for recruiting workers from India, which has high unemployment and a fast-growing population. India overtook China last year as the world's most populous country with more than 1.4 billion people.

The details of the implementation of the MOU have yet to be worked out, but Bloomberg reported in November it could involve hiring as many as 100,000 Indian workers for industry, agriculture and health care on the self-ruled island. Taiwan has denied that it expects to hire that many workers.

China has been publicly silent on the agreement but could be irked by any bilateral agreement involving Taiwan, which it considers a breakaway province that must one day reunite with mainland China, by force if necessary.

India's Ministry of External Affairs did not immediately respond to the labor minister's comments or the ministry's apology. But there was some domestic backlash from India's business sector.

"The Taiwanese minister's statement is racist in nature, and it disrespects our Indian ethos," said Nafisul Q. Jilani, a Delhi-based businessman who wants to do business with Taiwan. "In the wake of current geopolitical fragility, such statements are unwarranted, and they could hamper the growing bilateral relation(s) between India and Taiwan."

He added that "India is a diverse country and constitutionally, every Indian is an equal citizen. We believe that any opportunity should be given on candidates' individual merit, and not based on his/her skin color, appearance or religion."

Namrata Hasija, a research fellow at the Delhi-based Centre for China Analysis and Strategy, told VOA these kinds of statements harm the relationship between the two governments.

Leaders in Taiwan "should sensitize their ministers to India, and they should understand that both countries have come a long way," said Hasija, who is also a member of the advisory committee set up by Taiwan's Ministry of Labor to look at labor issues with India.

"But if ministers, politicians and bureaucrats are not sensitized towards India, they don't know India, and they don't understand how diverse India is. Then such hiccups will keep coming in, and there will be a negative image of Taiwan here. Why give fodder to China, who are trying to dismantle the relationship?" she asked.

Priya Purswaney, an Indian entrepreneur and interpreter based in Taipei, told VOA the Indian community there "is slightly shocked by these comments, and such comments do not represent the majority view and do not align with the government's policy on India, which has been actively working to strengthen ties with India."

"The particular comment that has been criticized was not meant to be offensive to anyone," said Purswaney. "She just had an error of judgment and has apologized for that. I hope the matter is not dragged on any further, because this agreement is definitely beneficial to both sides and marks an important milestone in India-Taiwan collaboration."

Purswaney noted that Hsu was full of praise for India, Indians and migrant workers from India during the TV interview, emphasizing the contribution they have made in many countries around the world.

Like most countries, India has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan and adheres to a "One China" policy as do other governments that wish to have formal relations and do business with Beijing. India was one of the first noncommunist nations to recognize the government in Beijing, but New Delhi maintained informal ties with Taipei while trade and other exchanges flourished.

While bilateral trade between India and Taiwan is a modest $8 billion per year, compared to $136 billion between India and China, Taiwan is home to at least 5,000 Indian citizens and diaspora, considered among the best educated in the expatriate community.

Nearly 3,000 Indian students study in Taiwan, making up the fastest-growing group of international students.
The URL has been copied to your clipboard

The code has been copied to your clipboard.

Three sailors were killed when a Houthi missile attack hit a Red Sea merchant ship. U.S. President Joe Biden to deliver the annual State of the Union speech. And, legislation to ban Tik Tok in the U.S. on the grounds its a national security threat.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting in Kyiv with British Defense Minister Grant Shapps, during which the parties discussed the continuation of defense cooperation between the countries.

"The main focus is on strengthening air defense, the long-range capabilities of our army, meeting other urgent needs for weapons and ammunition, as well as the issue of joint production of weapons," Zelenskyy said in his Telegram channel on Thursday.

He thanked the government and people of Great Britain for their leadership support for Ukraine and Ukrainians.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed Thursday for a cease-fire in Sudan for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, saying it is time for rival generals there to lay down their weapons as the countrys humanitarian crisis reaches colossal proportions.

I call on all parties in Sudan to honor the values of Ramadan by honoring a Ramadan cessation of hostilities, Guterres told a meeting of the Security Council on the situation in Sudan. Ramadan starts early next week.

This cessation of hostilities must lead to a definitive silencing of the guns across the country and set out a firm path towards lasting peace for the Sudanese people, he added.

He said the countrys unity is at risk and there is a serious risk of the war igniting regional instability of dramatic proportions from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea.

Fighting erupted in April of last year between Sudan's army chief, General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The two generals were once allies in Sudans transitional government after a 2021 coup but became rivals for power.

The ensuing power struggle has led to thousands of deaths, a massive displacement crisis and large-scale atrocities, particularly against non-Arab communities in the countrys Darfur region. Hunger is also reaching catastrophic levels.

We are already receiving reports of children dying from malnutrition, Guterres said.

He said U.N. efforts to reach millions in need have faced numerous challenges and the parties must comply with the Jeddah Declaration, which calls for full aid access by land and air to all populations regardless of who controls the area.

Britain, which is in charge of Sudan issues on the 15-nation council, circulated a draft resolution echoing the secretary-generals cease-fire call and calling for more aid access.

The situation in Sudan warrants a robust response from this council and increased attention from the international community, Deputy Ambassador James Kariuki told the council. As we approach the holy month of Ramadan, we echo the secretary-generals call for an immediate cease-fire and urge all parties to allow for unhindered cross-border and cross-line access.

He told reporters Britain plans to put the resolution to a Security Council vote on Friday.

On Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said countries supplying the rival generals with arms are fueling death, destruction and depravity.

She said a report released this week from a panel of experts monitoring implementation of sanctions imposed by the Security Council on Sudan chronicled stomach-churning atrocities.

A conflict that, as this report details, is being fueled by arms transferred from a handful of regional powers  arms transfers that must stop, she told reporters.

The United Nations says around 25 million people  half of Sudans population  need some form of humanitarian assistance. Of them, 18 million face acute food insecurity.

Sudan is now home to the worlds largest internal displacement crisis, with 6.3 million people forced from their homes in search of safety. Another 1.7 million have fled to neighboring countries. More than 70% of health facilities in areas where there is fighting have stopped functioning.
The United Nations is condemning the reported mass abduction of over 200 internally displaced persons, or IDPs, in Nigerias Borno state last week. The U.N. Office for the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs in Nigeria said the incident occurred while the victims, mostly women and children residing in government-run camps, went into the forest in search of firewood.

Mohammed Malick Fall, the U.N. Nigeria resident and humanitarian coordinator, released a statement criticizing the abduction and calling for the immediate release of the victims.

The majority of victims were women living in camps in Gamboru Ngala town near Nigeria's border with Cameroon and Chad.

Fall said the incident, just days ahead of the International Womens Day commemoration, was a reminder that women and girls are among the most impacted by conflict.

He also called on Nigerian authorities to provide more job opportunities to IDPs within their camps so they dont have to venture out and expose themselves to gangs and terrorists.

According to local media reports, details of the abductions are only emerging now due to deliberate damage of telecommunications lines in the area by terrorists.

Security analyst Kabiru Adamu says he has been monitoring the situation.

"It started filtering in early in the week. The first instance we heard about 139, and then later 350. It wasn't just one camp, it was about three camps. And so this is difficult in identifying the numbers of persons affected, he said. As we know, the state government has set up an emergency response team and that team is out there."

Neither the Borno state government nor federal authorities have commented on the kidnappings, and there has been no claim of responsibility.

Borno is where the Boko Haram insurgency was launched in 2009. This week, the state government said 95% of Boko Haram terrorists are either dead or have surrendered to authorities.

Adamu says the claims may be true, but notes that many parts of Borno remain insecure.

"At the last count, over 80,000 of the families and members of these groups have surrendered either to the Nigerian military or to the Borno State government. So yes, successes are being made, [but] what we call overall success unfortunately hasn't been made, he said. The ability of the government to stop these groups from generating funding, I don't think the Nigerian state has done enough."

Nigerias police force of about 300,000 is controlled by the federal government. But for the first time, the government and Nigerias 36 states are seeking to create state police units.

Security analyst Mike Ejiofor says that would be a step in the right direction.

"We need to adopt new measures. That's why I was excited when the president and governors backed the establishment of the state police. Security challenges are local, we must look for local solutions, Ejiofor said. The Nigerian police is too centralized to be effective."

However, the plan for state police units has critics who say officials could use officers for ulterior motives.
The Islamic month of Ramadan is being observed this year as the Israel-Hamas war surges in Gaza, where the United Nations is warning of a growing humanitarian crisis.

Imam Talib Shareef of Masjid Muhammad, the Nations Mosque, in Washington said there will be differences in how Muslims observe this year because of the conflict.

Other than organizing prayers for the community, the mosque is "more engaged in service and feeding; we actually feed at the masjid and [also at] shelters, and we also go to other faith communities," said Shareef, who served for more than 30 years in the U.S. Air Force and helped to establish the first Islamic military chaplain in 1993.

"I do expect that  religious communities are going to be trying to come together," he said, noting that his mosque also works with churches and gives food to others in the community.

"Obviously [the conflict] is going to be on people's hearts, on people's souls, it's bothering people," Shareef said.

Nearly 2 billion Muslims around the world will begin observing the Islamic month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin on March 10 or 11, depending on the sighting of the moon.

During the month of Ramadan, Muslims abstain from food, drink, smoking, gossip and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset. Fasting is meant to bring Muslims closer to God and help them better empathize with those who are less fortunate.

US Muslims

In the United States, the Muslim population is about 3.45 million, which accounts for slightly more than 1% of the population, according to Pew Research.

Depending on where Muslims live in the United States, their experience can vary. In some rural areas, Muslims may not have access to a mosque or a community where they can practice their faith.

This is particularly true for immigrants who move to areas without a large Muslim population.

Jemal Yasin, who immigrated to the U.S. from Ethiopia in 2008 to do postgraduate research at the University of Vermont, described his first experience in the United States as "a little bit lonely."

He said there was a community of Somali immigrants, though he didnt get a chance to pray with them.

During that first year in the States, he said he had to "pray in my room by myself," which he said was a typical experience of many Muslim immigrants.

Now, Yasin is president of the board of directors of a the First Hijrah Foundation in Washington.

The FHF started as a small organization that aimed to "promote and preserve the Islamic heritage," and "foster the Islamic principles of brotherhood, equality, mutual assistance and teachings of peace, love and justice," according to its website.

Initially, the organization didn't have a building, and members of the foundation would meet at one another's houses. It wasn't until 2005 that their current building was officially secured, said Yasin.

"This is a center for Muslims, all Muslims.  So, when you come here, you see [people of many] backgrounds  African Americans, Ethiopians, Somalians, Arabs  they will come pray together and break fast together, so this is a place for everybody," Yasin said.

He added that the foundation works with the community and organizes events for Muslims, before, during and after Ramadan.

When he moved to Washington later in 2008 Yasin became involved with the foundation and was able to be part of a larger Muslim community.

Ramadan observations are becoming more common in the United States, with many organizations hosting events to observe the month.

Shareef said, "We used to have more  private iftars in the past, and now they're more open  and we are able to share more."

After sunset, Muslims typically gather for iftar  the breaking of the fast and the most important meal of the day.

Yasin said the foundation helped organize a bazaar on Sunday to help the community prepare for Ramadan. Traditional clothing, incense and foods, such as dates, were sold.

During Ramadan, the First Hijrah Foundation will be providing free iftars for the community each night.

Ramadan this year

The ongoing Israel-Hamas war is the result of an October 7 terror attack in which Hamas crossed into Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking more than 240 civilians hostage. The Israeli military response has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Negotiators are pushing for a possible cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict ahead of the start of Ramadan.
A senior U.S. official urged countries to stop supplying Sudans rival generals with weapons for their civil war, saying they are fueling death, destruction and depravity.

A conflict that, as this report details, is being fueled by arms transferred from a handful of regional powers  arms transfers that must stop, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters on Wednesday.

She was speaking of the final report of the five-member panel of experts on Sudan, who are mandated by the Security Council to report on the implementation of council sanctions. That report was published this week.

Thomas-Greenfield described the reports findings as stomach-churning and said it detailed atrocity after atrocity after atrocity.

Fighting erupted in April last year between Sudan's army chief, General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The two generals were once allies in Sudans transitional government after a 2021 coup but became rivals for power.

The 52-page report, completed in mid-January, says both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the rebel Rapid Support Forces had the financial means to fund their war, noting they control most of the gold trade in Sudan.

While the SAF started the war in good economic shape, the panel found the group has lost control of some important economic sectors and companies and now relies in large part on wealthy businessmen to purchase military equipment for its troops.

The RSF funds its operations in part through fees it charges people for safe passage and to protect convoys passing through areas under its control in the Darfur region of Sudan, which has seen much of the fighting.

The RSF has also developed new supply lines for its fighters, smuggling weapons, ammunition, fuel and vehicles into Sudan through eastern Chad, southern Libya and South Sudan.

The panel found that from July onward, the RSF started using several types of heavy and sophisticated weapons that it did not have at the start of the war.

This new RSF firepower had a massive impact on the balance of forces, both in Darfur and other regions of the Sudan, the panel wrote. New heavy artillery enabled RSF to swiftly take over Nyala and El Geneina, while its new anti-aircraft devices helped to counter the main asset of SAF, namely, its air force.

The panel said that since June, various flight-tracking experts have observed numerous cargo planes originating from Abu Dhabi International Airport in the United Arab Emirates arriving at Amdjarass International Airport in eastern Chad, with stops in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. They said information they gathered substantiated media reports alleging the aircraft carried weapons, ammunition and medical equipment for the RSF.

The experts reached out to the UAE for a response. The government denied any involvement in the transfer of arms and ammunition, and said its flights transported humanitarian assistance for displaced Sudanese.

A similar panel request to Chad went unanswered.

In December, Sudans U.N. envoy asked the Security Council to lift sanctions on government forces and impose an arms embargo against rebel forces.

If you truly wish to safeguard peace and security in Darfur, there is a need to exclude the armed forces from the embargo imposed since 2004, Ambassador Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed said at the time.

The experts said the SAF has used aerial bombing and heavy shelling in urban areas in Darfur, causing a large-scale humanitarian crisis.

The U.N. human rights office says at least 14,600 people have been killed and 26,000 others injured, although the real toll is likely to be higher. In their report, the experts say at least 10,000 to 15,000 people have been killed in El Geneina alone.

The experts detailed horrific conflict-related sexual violence, particularly in Darfur by the RSF, which was often ethnically targeted against women and girls ages 9 to 75, often from the Masalit community. The panel said RSF snipers also indiscriminately targeted civilians, including pregnant women and young people, and their bodies were often left decomposing on roads for fear of being targeted while retrieving them.

On Wednesday, the World Food Program warned that the war could trigger the worlds largest hunger crisis, with 25 million people across Sudan, South Sudan and Chad trapped in a spiral of deteriorating food security.

Humanitarians cannot get enough food to civilians because of the insecurity and interference from the warring parties. WFP says 90% of people facing emergency levels of hunger in Sudan are largely in hard-to-reach areas.

The U.N. secretary-general will brief the Security Council when it meets on Sudan on Thursday.

Read the U.N. panel's full report here.
Zimbabwes government criticized the modification of U.S. sanctions this week that renew measures against President Emmerson Mnangagwa and some senior leaders while removing others from the list.

U.S. Embassy officials said the new sanctions aim to improve Zimbabwes human rights record and reduce corruption.

Zimbabwe Information Minister Jenfan Muswere on Wednesday condemned the United States and called for an immediate and unconditional removal of what he called illegal sanctions.

Government of Zimbabwe would like to dismiss any suggestions that this is a new development between Harare and Washington, he said, noting that Mnangagwa has long been under U.S. sanctions.

To this end, the government of Zimbabwe condemns the perpetuation of the heinous sanctions against Zimbabwe and their intended effect to decimate our economy, Muswere said. Consequently, we do not celebrate the current delisting of other key players. ... Zimbabwe was never supposed to be under any form of sanctions from another nation in the first place.

U.S. Embassy Charge dAffaires Laurence Socha on Wednesday said the Biden administration was committed to ensuring the sanctions are relevant, timely and targeting those closely connected to corruption and serious human rights abuses, including Mnangagwa.

In Zimbabwe we continue to witness gross abuses of political, economic and human rights, Socha said. The targeting of civil society and severe restrictions on political activity have stifled fundamental freedoms, while key actors, including government leaders, have siphoned off government resources for personal gains. U. S. sanctions are not on the country of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwes government blames sanctions for the countrys economic struggles since the early 2000s. Critics attribute the decline to corruption and bad policies by Harare.

Marvellous Kumalo, spokesperson for the rights group Crisis Coalition of Zimbabwe, said, We have never invited sanctions or celebrated their existence. We are happy now because the Harare administration has always blamed sanctions whenever they failed to deliver in terms of social-economic goods. So now we will keep them in check and see whether they will deliver.

He continued, We urge Zimbabwes government to revise their human rights record, their public corruption, issues to do with reforms. We will be happier if they institute reforms that make Zimbabwe a better country.

Obert Masaraure, president of Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, said he hopes the new measures announced by Washington will do more than improve the economic picture.

Zimbabwe keeps sliding back with respect to issues of human rights, democracy, holding credible elections, he said. We have also seen massive looting of our mineral wealth. All this has led to serious poverty among our people. Teachers are also affected; earning below the poverty datum line. That is why at least 4,000 are leaving the country annually to seek greener pastures.

So, we hope that this [new] sanction regime can apply pressure on Harare so that it reforms and creates a governance architecture that carries the hopes and aspirations of our people, he said. Thats democracy.

In announcing the modified sanctions, U.S. President Joe Biden also terminated the official U.S. state of emergency regarding actions and policies of the Zimbabwe government, which was first imposed in 2003 following reports of election rigging and human rights abuses.
By Patsy Widakuswara

The State of the Union address is traditionally the venue where American presidents highlight domestic successes, and President Joe Biden is expected to discuss his handling of the economy, reproductive rights, gun control, and immigration Thursday evening.

But as the United States deals with wars in the Middle East and Europe, foreign policy may be higher on the agenda in Bidens fourth, and potentially final, such speech to a joint session of Congress.

The president intends to highlight his achievements in restoring American leadership on the world stage, John Kirby, White House national security communications adviser, told VOA during an interview on Wednesday.

American leadership, he added, gives it the ability to influence actions of world leaders and adversaries in ways that are more in keeping with our national security interests.

That influence has failed to overcome stark differences between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on issues including how to deliver more humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, the postwar role of the Palestinian Authority and the U.S. vision for a future Palestinian state.

On Ukraine, American leadership is overshadowed by House Republicans obstruction of a Senate-approved $95 billion foreign aid package that includes $61 billion to support Kyiv in its fight against Russia. The bill also includes $14 billion in security assistance for Israel, $9 billion in humanitarian assistance and $5 billion to support partners in the Indo-Pacific, as Washington competes against Beijing for regional influence.

The wars in Ukraine and Gaza will be prominently featured in the foreign policy portion of Bidens speech, as will the U.S. strategic rivalry with China. Analysts say the president will employ different approaches on the two issues as he considers voters sentiments ahead of his bid for reelection in November.

Push for Ukraine aid

Biden will use his address to again call for the passage of the foreign aid bill and argue that it is not in Americas interest to embrace isolationism amid signs of growing Russian expansionism.

The president is going to continue to make his case that House Republicans need to move forward. The speaker needs to put the national security supplemental on the floor, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during her briefing Wednesday. We know that it would get overwhelming support.

While the Biden administration has gathered international support for an effort that includes substantial military and economic aid to Ukraine, major sanctions on Russia and greatly increasing NATOs military posture in eastern Europe, it has failed to provide a strong case for this policy for the American people, said John Herbst, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine who is now senior director of the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center.

This in turn has made it easier for naive voices, especially in the one corner of the Republican Party to block the assistance Ukraine needs to avoid a defeat, Herbst told VOA.

Vanderbilt University presidential historian Thomas Schwartz predicted Biden will go all in on Ukraine, particularly in light of the recent death of Alexey Navalny in a Siberian prison. The Russian dissidents death has intensified U.S. views that supporting Ukraines efforts to push back against Russian President Vladimir Putin is a real moral cause, Schwartz told VOA.

This will also allow him to draw a sharp contrast with Trump, who has, of course, expressed admiration for Putin in the past and has not been as supportive on the Ukraine issue, Schwartz added.

Polls show that Americans support for sending military aid to Kyiv is fractured along party lines, with voters of the presidents party largely sympathetic to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys war efforts.

According to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 67% of Democrats see it as a priority for the U.S. government to prevent Russia from gaining more territory in Ukraine and to help Ukraine regain territory that is currently occupied by Russia. Only 37% of Republicans agree.

Biden will use his address to rally support amid Americans war fatigue. Overall, 37% of respondents  55% of Republicans and 17% of Democrats  say the U.S. government is spending too much on aid to Ukraine.

Tread carefully on Gaza

The president is likely to tout his immediate support for Israelis following Hamas October 7 attack and underscore the importance of ensuring that Israel can defend itself against the U.S.-designated terror groups threats.

But he will need to tread carefully on the issue, taking into account the division between pro-Israel Democrats and independents who support his stance on the conflict and progressive Democrats, as well as Arab and Muslim Americans, who are angered by it.

Outrage over the more than 30,000 people killed in Gaza and Bidens refusal to put conditions on U.S. military aid for Israel has resulted in significant portions of Democratic primary election voters in Michigan and Minnesota marking their ballots uncommitted to signal their protest and demand an immediate and permanent cease-fire.

Negotiators have not yet been able to bring the fighting in Gaza to a halt ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins this weekend. On Tuesday, Biden said the fate of the temporary cease-fire deal is in the hands of Hamas after Israel agreed to a rational offer that had been put on the table.

Hamas has since responded saying there can be no hostage exchange without a permanent cease-fire and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The group accused Israel of stalling the talks.

Israeli politicians will be carefully watching Thursday to see who Biden blames for the deadlock and how critical he is of Israeli efforts to protect and deliver aid to Palestinian civilians, said Jonathan Rynhold, head of the Department of Political Studies at Israels Bar-Ilan University.

As Biden is likely to reiterate his call for a two-state solution, Israelis will be anxious to see whether he calls on Israel to present a clear vision that includes a Palestinian state, Rynhold told VOA. I doubt he'll do it, but if he does, it's bad for Netanyahu but not bad for the war.

Biden is likely to focus his criticisms on the far-right elements within the Israeli government and signal displeasure at violence committed by what he calls extreme settlers in the West Bank, as he has done several times in the past.

Kirby said the president will also call for increasing humanitarian aid for Palestinians. With the Netanyahu governments refusal to open more land crossings for aid convoys and the death of more than 100 people after Israeli troops opened fire as desperate Palestinians mobbed a convoy of food trucks, the U.S. has resorted to using military aircraft to drop supplies  a more expensive, inefficient and dangerous means to deliver aid.

A Gallup poll released this week shows 58% of Americans hold a favorable view of Israel, down from 68% last year, and the lowest favorable rating for the country in over two decades.

Iuliia Iarmolenko contributed to this report.
Chaos continues in the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change following the recall of four senators who were sworn in Tuesday after they were chosen by a faction led by Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti and Lynette Karenyi Konye under the proportional representation qouta.

A letter signed by former Entumbane-Makhandeni lawmaker Dingilizwe Tshuma who claims to be the CCC chairperson working closely with Albert Mhlanga, indicates that the recalled proportional representation senators are Kucaca Phulu, Lilian Mlilo, Linda Sibanda and Collet Ndlovu. Phulu was Tshabangu's attorney.

Speaking to Studio 7 last night, Mhlanga said, "Yes, we had a meeting where we resolved to recall them because Sengezo Tshabangu single-handedly picked former People's Democratic Party members where he belonged with Tendai Biti and Jacob Mafume. We are CCC which was led by Nelson Chamisa so these PDP members never stopped fighting in the party from the days of the late Morgan Tvsangarai who is the former founding president of the Movement for Democratic Change."

The four filled posts left vacant following the recalling of some lawmakers, including former Bulawayo Member of Parliament Gift Ostallos Siziba and others by Tshabangu, who still claims that he is the interim secretary general of the party.

Nelson Chamisa dumped CCC a month ago citing Zanu PF interference.

Responding to this move, Tshabangu, who is now a senator, said, That's a kids play and we are above that. Parliament is a respectable institution and it ought to be given that dignified status.

Tshabangu recalled several CCC lawmakers and councilors resulting in the holding of byelections that were won by the ruling party. The High Court barred the recalled parliamentarians to participate in the byelections held last year and early this month.
By Ken Bredemeier

Nikki Haley, former U.S. President Donald Trumps last remaining challenger for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, suspended her campaign on Wednesday after he defeated her decisively in Super Tuesday primary elections across the country.

Haley, Trumps one-time United Nations ambassador, congratulated Trump but did not endorse him. But she acknowledged the almost certain likelihood that he will be the Republican standard bearer in the November 5 election against President Joe Biden, who also swept to victories over token opposition in Tuesdays Democratic party primaries.

Haley said she wished Trump well but said it was up to him to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him.

She often won a quarter to more than 40% of the vote in party primaries against Trump but captured only two contests since voting started in January, in Washington, D.C., last weekend, and in the small northeastern state of Vermont on Tuesday.

Trump, on his social media site, said Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion, despite the fact that Democrats, for reasons unknown, are allowed to vote in Vermont, and various other Republican Primaries.

Biden, already looking to grab some of Haleys votes in the national election eight months from now, said in a statement, Donald Trump made it clear he doesnt want Nikki Haleys supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign.

I know there is a lot we wont agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to Americas adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.

Haley said she had no regrets about running for president and said she would continue to speak out on public issues, immediately noting it is a moral imperative for Congress to approve more aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.

But continued assistance for the Kyiv governments fight against Russias two-year invasion of Ukraine has divided Republican lawmakers and an aid package favored by Biden, almost all Democratic lawmakers and a sizeable group of Republicans has stalled.

Democratic lawmakers have solidly lined up to support Bidens reelection, and most Republicans have weighed in for Trump as well.

One key lawmaker, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, often at odds with Trump during his presidency from 2017 to 2021, said Wednesday, "It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States. It should come as no surprise that as [the] nominee, he will have my support.

The 52-year-old Haley, a former South Carolina governor, had for months told voters that it was time for the U.S. to elect a new generation of leaders. She contended that neither Trump at 77 nor Biden, 81, was fit to run the country in a new four-year term starting next January.

But Trump, even as he faces an unprecedented four criminal indictments encompassing 91 charges, holds large support among his Republican followers. He easily defeated Haley in 14 of 15 states that held party presidential nominating elections in the Super Tuesday voting.

Biden was equally as dominant in Democratic contests, losing only in a party caucus in the U.S. territory American Samoa. After Bidens victories, a long-shot Democratic contender against him, Minnesota Representative Dean Phillips, dropped out of the race on Wednesday.

Neither Trump nor Biden officially clinched their respective Republican and Democratic presidential nominations for the November election but are on track to do so in party primaries in other states in the next few weeks. Both would then be officially nominated at national party conventions this summer.

But the voting Tuesday unofficially set off what will be one of the longest U.S. presidential campaigns ever, eight months ahead of Election Day.

In a statement, Biden said Tuesdays results leave the American people with a clear choice: Are we going to keep moving forward or will we allow Donald Trump to drag us backwards into the chaos, division, and darkness that defined his term in office?

My message to the country is this: Every generation of Americans will face a moment when it has to defend democracy, Biden said. Stand up for our personal freedom. Stand up for the right to vote and our civil rights. To every Democrat, Republican, and independent who believes in a free and fair America: This is our moment. This is our fight. Together, we will win.

Trump said on his social media platform, TOGETHER, WE are going to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, GREATER than EVER BEFORE!

November 5th is going to go down as the single most important day in the HISTORY of our COUNTRY!, he exclaimed. We are going to win this election, because we have no choice  if we lose the election, were not going to have a Country left!

Trump won the presidency in 2016 but lost his reelection bid to Biden in 2020 and to this day falsely says he was cheated out of another term in the White House by voting and vote-counting irregularities.

He also is facing the four criminal indictments, dozens of them related to his efforts to upend his 2020 election loss.

While three of his trials have been delayed, one of them starts March 25 in a New York state court, where he is accused of hiding a hush money payment to a porn star just ahead of the 2016 election to keep her from talking about a one-night tryst she claims to have had with him a decade earlier.

Trump has denied the affair, as well as all 91 charges he faces.

Trumps victories Tuesday included contests in the populous states of Texas and California, and also in Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Virginia and North Carolina. He rolled up huge margins against Haley in state after state.

The Republican Party holds its convention in July, with the Democratic Party following in August.

National polling currently shows Trump with a narrow edge nationally over Biden and in several key battleground states that are likely to determine the national outcome.

In the U.S., the national popular vote does not determine the presidential winner. Rather, the contest is decided in the Electoral College, with the vote winner in each of the 50 states getting that states electoral votes. The largest states have the most electoral votes and thus hold the most sway in the national outcome.

Biden will be in the spotlight Thursday night when he gives his annual State of the Union address before Congress and a national television audience.

He is expected to tout the U.S. economic advance during his three-plus years in office, although polls show many Americans do not think he has managed the economy very well and often complain about higher prices for groceries, the one consumer item that affects everyone.
The URL has been copied to your clipboard

The code has been copied to your clipboard.

For students with a disability, career options can appear limited. But in Ghana, one journalist is using photojournalism to encourage students at a deaf school to broaden their horizons. For VOA, Senanu Tord reports from Savelugu, Ghana.
James A. Anderson, 89 of Starbuck and formerly of Lowry, died on Tuesday, March 12th.
Zelenskyy on potential appointment of Zaluzhny as ambassador to UK: Our alliance with this country should only strengthen

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking about his approval of the candidacy of former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny for the post of ambassador to the United Kingdom, said that the alliance between the two states should only strengthen.

"Today I have agreed on the candidacy of our country's ambassador to the UK. General Valeriy Zaluzhny told me exactly about this direction for himself - the diplomatic one. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has sent a corresponding request to the agreman," the President said in an evening video message.

"Our alliance with Britain should only strengthen," he stressed.
Under normal circumstances, you wouldnt watch a pair of episodes in which a woman hacks a man to death with a machete and a machine-gun battle over the future of Hitlers testicle gets decided with a vintage hand grenade and say the television show in question is taking its foot off the gas a bit. After all, either event would be the most exciting thing that ever happened in, I dont know, This Is Us. But this is The Gentlemen were talking about here, and in its first two episodes, writer-director Guy Ritchie set the mayhem bar pretty high.

But if the shows third and fourth outings dont clear that bar, they glide pretty confidently right underneath it. The main issue is simply a structural one. The first two episodes were one long daisy chain of escalating close calls, narrow escapes, and victories snatched from the jaws of defeat (only to be dropped immediately into a new, larger pair of jaws), connected by the Freddy shotgun-murder cliffhanger. These are the kinds of tricks Breaking Bad and even Ozark used to keep things cooking.

By comparison, Wheres My Weed At? and An Unsympathetic Gentlemen are more episodic in nature. Sure, our heroes adventures in both are connected by their deepening, evolving business relationship, as well as by an unknown player using a good old-fashioned honeytrap to get the dirt on their operation. But the two capers are otherwise self-contained, almost villain-of-the-week affairs.

Episode three, Wheres My Weed At? is Jimmys fault, pretty much. The lovable weedhead gets himself socially engineered by Gabrielle (Ruby Sear), an operative working for a fedorad mystery man. While she strikes up a meet-cute with Jimmy, she also swipes his keys and hands them off to an associate who steals his van and the enormous weed shipment inside it. The shipment winds up getting torched, some men just want to watch the world burn style.

The missing weed understandably pisses off its intended recipient, an Albanian gangster named Tonibler (Cameron Cook)  thats Tony Blair, in honor of the prime minister. While Susie and her men hunt for the weed, she gives Eddie the job of taking care of Tony Blairs make-good: stealing an ultra-rare green Lamborghini Hurricane from a grey-market high-end auto-dealer named Mercy (Martha Millan).

Rather foolishly (in my opinion), he involves Freddy in every stage of the operation, from having him and his considerably more capable wife Tammy (Chanel Cresswell) pose as preposterous Russian oligarchs to using him as the wheelman the night of the theft. The former goes alright; the latter ends up with Freddy tied to a chair with a machete pointed at him. This time, Tony Blair himself is the make-good: They exchange the Albanians life for Freddys, and Mercy makes them watch as she hacks the guy to death. (The show repeatedly drives home that regardless of their personal stance on or interest in violence, everyone in this world has to protect their reputations violently, or else every swinging dick will take a shot at them.)

Episode four, An Unsympathetic Gentlemen, goes back to the Breaking Bad well in a different fashion: Its big bad winds up being a Nazi. That would be Max (Freddie Fox), another cash-poor aristocratic heir who inherits a sprawling, pricey estate when his dad has a heart attack after chasing tourists away with a machine gun in the nude while ranting about lizards. (Pro tip: When old British men rant about lizard people, you can pretty well guess how they feel about certain other, less imaginary groups of people.)

Max comes into the equation when, to make up for Jimmys shortfall and further their agreement to raise revenue, Susie tells Eddie she wants to open a new weed farm on his family estate. When he finds out about Maxs situation, Eddie suggests his place instead  with the caveat that Maxs dad was being blackmailed over some untoward artifact, the son wants the evidence back, and the blackmailer paid off in exchange for leasing the land.

The blackmailer is an ex-journalist named Frank (John Thomson), who was one of the top reporters in the country until the oligarchs took over, as his daughter helpfully informs everyone. Now, instead of breaking stories, he uses what he digs up to extort money from those same oligarchs. Eddie scoffs at his supposed integrity, although Im not sure anyone as conversant with killing people as Eddie has a leg to stand on. And he needs the money to placate a hulking restauranteur named Sandy (Hon Ping Tang), who is both some kind of loan shark and, apparently, an excellent chef.

Eddies mistake this time around is agreeing to Maxs request not to look inside the blackmail file before returning it. It turns out its Max, not his dad, who was the target of Franks scheme. Max is a huge admirer of the art, and the testicle, of Adolf Hitler, both of which he has collected. Of course, admitting all this to gangsters makes him an even better blackmail target, and now Susie will be able to get a better deal out of him  after they kill his mom in a battle using old World War II armaments. This finally earns Eddie the respect of Jack (Harry Goodwins), Susies boxer brother and consigliere.

In the end, though, its Lady Sabrina who really saves the day. With the help of groundskeeper Jeff, she sets the organization up with a new home in the form of a neighboring sheep farm, whose owner is broke, amenable to extralegal income, and easily charmed by beautiful aristocrats. (Considering how gorgeously Joely Richardson and Kaya Scodelario are styled on this show, Im semi-surprised they cant charm bullets back into their guns after being fired at them.) But it all may be for naught because here comes our man Jimmy, bringing Gabrielle right into the underground farm and divulging the details about the entire national network of similar facilities. Hey, I get chatty when Im stoned, too.

Susie makes a perceptive comment about an emerging theme of the show at some point during this stretch: Eddie is valuable to them given the nature of their operation because he is able to move effortlessly among the upper crust, yet can also kill and watch people get killed right in front of him without losing sleep over it. The implication is that both his life in the aristocracy and his life in the military prepared him for life as a gangster. This is not a compliment for either institution.

Nazi fanboys get a well-deserved drubbing here too. Not just in the sense that (Trump supporters dont read this) its always fun to watch Nazis get killed, but in the sense that theyre ridiculous, laughable imbeciles. Maxs overheated praise of Hitlers merely adequate art has decades of tradition to back it up, as does his almost sexual rhapsodizing about the more severe and still-influential design aesthetic of the Third Reich. (Ask House Harkonnen if you dont believe me on that.)

While his ecstasy over Hitlers severed testicle appears to be of a piece with the swipes at fash kitsch, though, its a misplaced and misjudged plot point. Its funny, I guess, if youre a seventh grader, to trace the horrors of World War II to Hitler getting one of his balls blown or bitten off, depending on the story you believe. Its also, in addition to being false, a smokescreen. Hate is something any human being can come by naturally; no involuntary orchiectomy is required.

But whatever, in the end this is a black comedy about British gangsters and their counterparts with peerages. Its a show where a lady with a machete can politely say Thank you for your attention while her face drips with blood like a slasher villain, or a Lady Sabrina can happily inform her son she found a place for his marriage-juana plantation. It is the definition of it aint that deep. I just hope it can keep up its breakneck speed across the surface.
Christian Dior is a tortured soul. Earlier in The New Look, Christian struggled to work in Nazi-occupied Paris. Then, he struggled to find his creative voice under Lelong (I miss him already, by the way!), and as his sisters fate was uncertain but certainly horrific. In episode six, hes torn between his future  his own couture house  and his sister, CATHERINE!!, who has returned from Nazi imprisonment. Christian is also ridden with anxiety (he is sooo me), and as a result, is drawn to Madame Delahayes clairvoyance. But, being who he is, hes still pulled in different directions: His heart and mind are split between practicality and the vague but promising visions of the future, though hes leaning toward the latter.

This week, The New Look adds a new perspective despite the tight 36-minute run time  and, in doing so, continues its insistence on moving the story at the pace of a hamster on a wheel  to a bedridden Catherine, who suffers from amnesia caused by trauma. Because this is, first and foremost (at least till the episodes final scene), a television program for boomers who regularly donate to PBS and NPR, the episode utilizes a done-before narrative device: PTSD as flashback. Its not innovative, but it is effective. The more Catherine is exposed to, the more she remembers.

Herve visits, which triggers memories of the day she was taken: She remembers sending Jean away and Herve sending her out to send messages by bike. She blames herself for Jeans execution. Despite the doctor ordering no visitors, Christina brings Madame Delahaye by, who successfully proves her validity by mentioning that Catherine held someones hand in a bathroom. While Catherine is stunned that Delahaye knows about the bathroom, shes still dubious. After making calls asking to visit Catherine, a young man arrives, hoping to speak with her. He ignores Christians insistence to leave and takes Catherine, who recognizes him, to the gravesite of the five students, including Jean, who were executed for their involvement in the Resistance. He tells her that they ran an anti-Nazi publication out of his grandmothers home, and that after his peers were executed and Catherine captured, he waited and waited for his inevitable fate to arrive. But it never did: The Nazis never came for him or his family, so after several days, he knew it was because Catherine didnt give up his name despite the torture.

After the liberation of Paris in episode four, Coco shouts, The rich and sexy always come out on top! This line looms over The New Look, which is not subtle at all in contrasting the lives of the upper and lower classes. Elsa Lombardi makes a grand return after running into Coco at a lunch for the richest women in Switzerland, designed to connect Coco with clients so she can make money since she still does not have access to it and has not paid her bills at the hotel. Elsas presence is not a coincidence, though. Elsa, who has been outcast from her family in England because of her involvement in Cocos Nazi espionage, blackmails her. If Coco doesnt pay Elsa the money she was promised for their tryst in Madrid, she will expose her. Coco doesnt take Elsa  despite what she knows  seriously because of her less-reserved, loud personality, which is showcased in her ambitious, slightly wacky for-the-time wardrobe (she wears an embellished tie in a pattern that matches her waistcoat, while Coco wears a classic black-and-white-trimmed jacket with her signature layered pearls). Elsa  who, in case you forgot, was married to and therefore protected by a high-ranking member of the Italian Fascist Party  describes her life as absolute torture in a scene sandwiched between scenes of Catherine Dior actually getting tortured. I must take a moment to acknowledge Emily Mortimers performance as Elsa, which can only be described as freaking it. Its a muppet-level (complimentary) performance. She watched Billy Crudup on The Morning Show and took notes.

At the end of last weeks episode, Coco Chanel promised war, but, similar to Christian, she gets a second chance, albeit an unearned one. This war is filled with mind games and  well, it is kinky. Cocos uninhibited cruelty extends to Elsa and the staff at the hotel where she is not paying to live large; and her business partner, Pierre Wertheimer, gleefully joins her selfish war by hosting a party at the hotel she is not paying for and invites everyone except Coco, allowing Elsa to gloat. Coco dines alone in the empty  save for a table of seniors  but not quiet restaurant, the sounds of the party drowning her mind, probably racing with antisemitic insults to throw at Pierre. Pierre (Charles Berling) leaves his own party to speak with her, and the dynamic shifts: Pierre is one of the few people who makes Coco uneasy, and we have seen her dine with high-ranking Third Reich officers. Every other time Coco has faced consequences for her actions, her power, wealth, and connection to Churchill put her at ease. But she loses control in the presence of Pierre, one of the masterminds behind the success of the house of Chanel. Dont walk away when Im talking to you, he says, in a sequence filled with insults and dialogue in a tone that, upon rewatch, sets up what happens next. Pierre, mirroring Elsa earlier in the series, suggests that Coco takes too much credit for Chanel. He accuses her of giving the impression that shes the mind behind its business success, adding that the house never would have become a success without his business savvy. Coco, who throws a book at him, shouts, Thats all you people are good at! All you are is money! Shes not exactly proving she did not willingly collaborate with Nazis.

I cannot lie: When Coco Chanel opened the door to the hotel room she was not paying for, I assumed Claes Bangs Spatz was behind it. My jaw dropped when it was Pierre. And then my jaw dropped through all the floors of my apartment building when Juliette Binoche, as Nazi Coco Chanel, began to dom her Jewish business partner, who she had recently thrown a book at after shouting, All you are is money! Binoche is incredible in this episode, as she successfully dares you to believe this is really happening: Despite what shes done and said, Cocos charisma (and Binoches electricity) makes it make sense. The rich and sexy always come out on top literally, figuratively, and, apparently, in the bedroom.

Christian opens the episode making soup in his dimly lit kitchen (once again, he is so me, as I am also a hater of light). Christian struggles to nurture Catherine back to health and nurture his couture house. I never would have made a leap if I had known she would return, he tells Jacques. Who is he lying to here: himself or to Jacques? Out of shame, he took this leap because a fortune teller told him that if he pursued his own fashion house, Catherine would return. Hes struggling with his belief that he is to blame for Catherines capture and imprisonment, and with his growing belief in superstition.

Monsieur Baccarat, who has invested a record-high amount in Christians vision, is impatient and eager to build the house of Dior. Before finding tailors, seamstresses, models, and staff, they need to find a location, which is vital. Rather than showing up for an appointment to view a location for his couture house, Christian accompanies Catherine and the student instead. Catherine weeps with Christian as she remembers everything, including that he was with her, holding her hand all along, proving Madame Delahayes vision true. This spurs his belief in second chances: for postwar France, for himself, for Catherine, for the house of Dior. With a sense of relief  as much as someone like Christian can have  his ambition returns, and hes ready to move forward and change fashion forever.

Its fitting and most definitely not a coincidence (capitalism at its best!) that this weeks Catherine-centric episode coincides with Diors Paris Fashion Week show. In the fall 2024 ready-to-wear collection, creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri paid homage to former creative director Marc Bohans Miss Dior subcollection. Launched in 1967, the collection made the house of Dior appealing to a younger audience and, thus, fulfilled Christian Diors vision of making clothing for every woman. Several pieces in Chiuris collection  including a trench coat, skirts, and a suit jacket  have large Miss Dior branding on display in black graffiti-style text against the definitively Dior cinched waist.

The episode closes with a Beabadoobee (this name fills me with Christian Diorlevel anxiety) cover of Its Only a Paper Moon, whose original title was the title of this episode, If You Believed in Me. The song, which had a revival after World War II with popular recordings by Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald, certainly reflects Christians superstition state (But it wouldnt be make-believe/If you believed in me).

Im not going to say I hope Claes Bang comes back next week, because then he wont. Look at that: Christians superstition is affecting me. What I will say is that it looks like by next week, the hamster will hop off the wheel, out of its glass cage, and onto the streets of Paris, allowing the New Look narrative to move forward as the house of Dior finds its home at 30 Avenue Montaigne.
Ulviyya Shahin

A meeting was held at the Central Bank with the delegation led by Vice President Antonella Bassani for Europe and Central Asia of the World Bank, Azernews reports, with reference to the post shared by the Governor of the Central Bank on the "X" social network.

During the meeting, the current state of cooperation with the World Bank, ongoing projects, and the key directions of the new Country Partnership Framework (2025-2028) were discussed.

Additionally, the current status of technical assistance jointly implemented by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan and the World Bank was also reviewed.

Significantly, in the previous year, the governor of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) and Bassani engaged in two discussions concerning the planning of the Country Partnership Framework Program (2024-2028) and the funding of upcoming investment projects.

The collaboration between Azerbaijan and the World Bank (WB) has spanned over three decades. Since 1995, the WB group has extended support exceeding $500 million for 56 projects fostering private sector development, leading to the generation of approximately 4,000 jobs.

The collaborative relations between the Central Bank of Azerbaijan and the World Bank reflect a strategic partnership aimed at fostering economic development, financial stability, and sustainable growth within Azerbaijan. This alliance is built upon mutual cooperation and shared objectives, emphasising the exchange of expertise, technical assistance, and financial support.

Key aspects of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan and the World Bank partnership are economic development initiatives, financial stability, project implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and so on.
The Norwegian government on Thursday decided to allocate NOK 1.6 billion ($152 million) for the purchase of artillery ammunition for Ukraine as part of the Czech Republic's initiative to purchase ammunition to third countries, according to the Norwegian government's website.

Ukraine has an urgent need for large quantities of artillery ammunition to defend themselves against Russias war of aggression. Norway already supports Ukraine with artillery ammunition both from its own stocks and directly from the industry. Today, we have decided to further contribute up to NOK 1.6 billion to an initiative led by Czechia to secure much-needed artillery ammunition to Ukraine as quickly as possible, said Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Stre.

As noted in the message, the Czech Republic has taken the initiative to purchase up to 1 million 155-mm artillery shells and other allies to receive funding.

Norway, in cooperation with several other allies, will contribute. The Norwegian support of up to NOK 1.6 billion ensures that the initiative will be fully funded. This was discussed at a meeting of donors to Ukraine in Paris last week. The Norwegian contribution was communicated to Czechias President Petr Pavel by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre in a conversation on Thursday morning.

Earlier, the Norwegian government allocated up to NOK 2 billion ($191 million) to increase the production capacity of the Norwegian defense industry, of which NOK 1 billion Norwegian kroner will be used for specific measures to increase the production capacity of the Finnish-Norwegian aerospace and defense group Nammo AS.

"It is important for the government that Norwegian military support helps cover the needs that are a priority for Ukraine in its defense struggle  Ukraine needs access to a large amount of artillery ammunition, and we hope that Norwegian and European support for the Czech initiative will help Ukraine receive large quantities of new ammunition as soon as possible," Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram said.

It is also reported that the government has made a number of important decisions on military support for Ukraine for 2024 and is constantly in dialogue with allies and partners on measures that can help cover Ukraine's high-priority military needs. Norway and other allies have taken measures that will help increase production capacity in the defense industry in the long term.

"Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine, contrary to international law, remains the biggest problem of Norway's security policy. No other crisis or conflict can affect Norway's security to the same extent ... Therefore, it is extremely important for Ukraine and for our own security that Norway continue to support Ukraine's defensive struggle through military and civilian support," Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said.
Cycle raises funds for motor neuron disease charity.

Rome will welcome more than 100 cyclists from various European cities, including Edinburgh, as they arrive in Piazza Navona on Friday 8 March at 17.00.

The bike ride fundraiser has been organised by Scottish charity association My Name'5 Doddie in conjunction with the Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Scotland being played on Saturday in Rome's Stadio Olimpico.

My Name5 Doddie was founded by Scottish rugby legend Doddie Weir, who died in 2022 after a five-year battle with motor neuron disease (MND).

The fundraising cycle to the Italian capital forms part of the charitys wider All Roads Lead to Rome campaign, with more than 50,000 participants expected to take part throughout the year.

A Scottish team left Edinburgh last week, comprising a group of seven friends led by Davy Zyw, an importer of Italian wines in Scotland, who was diagnosed with MND five years ago aged 30.

The cyclists making the 2,700-km journey were brought together by a mutual drive of raising vital funds and awareness of this degenerative, incurable disease.

My Name5 Doddie has already raised over 11 million to support research projects and treatments - and ultimately work towards finding a cure.

Photo My Name5 Doddie
Genoa launches three new flavours of ice cream dedicated to women.

As Italy prepares to mark International Women's Day on Friday, a controversy has broken out over an initiative in Genoa offering women three new flavours of gelato.

The ice cream offer by three Genovese gelaterie is backed by municipal and regional authorities in the north-west Italian city as well as by the Confartigianato group that serves small business owners and artisans.

The three different flavours include "Val dOro e Ibisco" made with a selection of citrus fruits and an infusion of red tea and hibiscus; "Women, a blueberry and sparkling wine sorbet with passion fruit ripple and grated lemon peel; and Primavera in rosa, a pink semifreddo coloured with berry puree and decorated with sponge cake.

"Three different flavors to highlight the uniqueness of each woman, a sweet opportunity to reflect once again on equal opportunities", declared the president of Confartigianato Genova Felice Negri.

The initiative was presented officially on Tuesday by Genova's councillor for equal opportunities Francesca Corso and her counterpart in the Liguria region Simona Ferro, reports Corriere della Sera.

The three flavours of ice cream dedicated to International Women's Day are a laudable initiative that shines a spotlight on gender equality and the need to build a truly inclusive and woman-friendly society together, stated Corso.

"Even a simple gesture like eating an ice cream becomes an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of 8 March", added Ferro.

On the occasion of World Women's Day on 8 March, the City of Genoa presents its initiative: three new ice cream flavours dedicated to women.



Take that, gender inequality.



March 7, 2024 pic.twitter.com/NgOVGghC9a Crazy Ass Moments in Italian Politics (@CrazyItalianPol) March 7, 2024

The initiative has sparked a backlash on social media in Italy amid an ongoing debate about the culture of patriarchy, women's rights and gender inequality.

Corriere della Sera also noted that the gelato campaign is a "purely commercial move - the ice creams will be sold at full price, no donations to associations or anti-violence centres are envisaged, there will be no discounts for women."

The feminist collective Non Una Di Meno, which is organising rallies and strikes across Italy on Friday "against patriarchal violence", slammed the Genovese gelato offer.

It responded with a statement noting that France has just enshrined abortion rights in its constitution, the Spanish region of Catalonia is offering women and girls free and reusable period products, while "in Liguria they let us taste three new flavours of pink ice cream. We deserve better."

No Justice No Peace Italia also took aim at the campaign, imagining three alternative flavours: "equal pay", "self-determination over one's own body" and "end of patriarchal rape culture".
Interview with Michele Favorite, Ph.D, Executive Director, Graduate Studies Center at John Cabot University Rome.

Which graduate degree and continuing education programs does the Graduate Studies Center offer and who is it primarily geared towards?

We offer Master programs in International Affairs and Art History, and a dual-degree MBA with the Milan Polytechnic (POLIMI) Graduate School of Management (GSoM). The MA in International Affairs and the MBA will start in September 2024. In continuing education, we offer a Master in Luxury Management and an Executive MBA with Polimis Graduate School of Management.

The International Affairs MA will make the most of its location in Rome, a major policy-making hub which joins Europe, the Middle East and the Atlantic. It is also the headquarters for the UNs food security and development, and the home to diplomatic missions to both Italy and the Holy See.

The MA in Art History is the first graduate degree program in its field based entirely in Rome and offered by a U.S. accredited university.



Our dual-degree MBA is a world-class, groundbreaking program that combines the technical expertise provided by POLIMI with the liberal arts tradition of John Cabot. This kind of holistic preparation is what future leaders will need to be able to manage increasingly complex challenges in sustainability, digitalization and innovation.

Our two schools have the highly prestigious AACSB accreditation. Plus, our Milan partner boasts a Triple Crown accreditation which to date has been awarded to only 100 business schools worldwide. In 2024, the Financial Times ranked POLIMI GSoMs MBA programs 6th worldwide for international course experience and 2nd in Europe among those belonging to a technical university.





Could you tell us about the Center's collaboration with the Graduate School of Management of the Polytechnic University of Milan?



This is a strategic partnership that provides an ideal blend of complementary strengths: the Milan Polytechnic (POLIMI)s School of Management contributes its expertise in technology, engineering, innovation and design, while John Cabot University provides its excellence in the liberal arts. Come and find out more on 15 March at our Open Day at 18.00 at our campus on Via della Lungara.This is a strategic partnership that provides an ideal blend of complementary strengths: the Milan Polytechnic (POLIMI)s School of Management contributes its expertise in technology, engineering, innovation and design, while John Cabot University provides its excellence in the liberal arts.

Besides the dual-degree MBA course previously mentioned, with POLIMIs Graduate School of management we also offer an MA in Luxury Management and an Executive MBA, both continuing education programs.



Do the programs on offer attract mainly international or Italian students or a mix of both?



We attract students from all over the world. Every continent is represented. We welcome diversity and believe that it enriches the learning process and contributes to making us all more aware, empathetic and better decision-makers.



What makes the JCU Center for Graduate Studies unique and what opportunities await its graduates?

The Center rests on John Cabots solid foundations of academic excellence in the liberal arts for over 50 years. This is the core and distinctive trait of the University, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. On top of this, some of our graduate programs are offered in partnership with the Milan Polytechnics School of Management. Together, we are complimentary in a very special way.

Our graduate students have access to our Career Services Center, which is a strategic resource that prepares them for the world of work, and matches them with over 770 organizations and companies. Besides the skills and industry-specific training we provide, we constantly offer internship and job opportunities to students and alumni.



What role does the Center's geographical location in Rome play in the education of graduate students?



Rome is phenomenal from a cultural and strategic perspective. It has been the cradle of civilisation for thousands of years. It is located at the centre of the Mediterranean and is a bridge between the European, African and transatlantic worlds. Its the seat of the Holy See. It is the hub of the UN agencies for food security and development. It offers an extraordinary network of embassies to the Italian State and the UN agencies.
MILAN  The humanitarian rescue group SOS Humanity on Wednesday protested Italys seizure of its migrant rescue ship Humanity 1, fresh from a weekend rescue during which the charity said Libyan Coast Guard fired live bullets and used violence. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight The German charity said The Humanity 1 followed international law, and that no clear reason was given for the seizure, which took place after the vessel docked in the southern port of Crotone and disembarked 77 rescued people.

Humanity 1 was first on the scene and therefore responsible for the rescue according to maritime law, said the captain, who was identified only by his first name Leo. If the so-called Libyan Coast Guard had not turned up to illegally return survivors to Libya, we would have carried out the rescue in an orderly way.

SOS Humanity said several migrants aboard three unseaworthy boats had to jump into the water during Saturdays rescue. It said it picked up 77 people but others were forced aboard a coast guard vessel, separating families. At least one migrant is presumed to have drowned.

Advertisement

Italys far-right-led government has seized boats that have not followed new hardline rules, which have included ordering boats to proceed to port without making additional rescues and assigning ports further north in Italy. But the charity said none of the authorities involved has been able to explain exactly why the boat was impounded.

Share this article Share

Italian authorities have not publicly commented on the seizure.

The Italian authorities attempted to justify the arrest of the Humanity 1 on the grounds that the Humanity 1 would have caused a dangerous situation for the people in distress at sea. In fact, it was the so-called Libyan Coast Guard, financed by the EU, who endangered the lives of the people in the water and our rescue crew, the captain said in a statement. He said he has video backing up the charitys account.

Advertisement

Since 2015, the European Union has been funding the Libyan coast guard as part of efforts to stem the flow of migrants from the North African country towards Italian shores. Up to 90% of people crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe depart from Libya, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

As part of the deal, the coast guard has intercepted migrants in Libyan and international waters and has returned them to Libya. A project run by the International Organization for Migration has recorded at least 17,000 deaths and disappearances on that route since 2014.
As a result of enemy mortar shelling in the Semenivska community, a local resident was killed, Head of Chernihiv Regional Military Administration Viacheslav Chaus said.

"Another civilian was killed by Russia on the territory of Chernihiv region. Today at about 16:00 in Semenivska community, a man born in 1972 was killed during a mortar attack. The body was found by neighbors near the crater," Chaus said on the Telegram channel on Thursday evening.

According to the administration's head, as a result of a "drone attack, a household was damaged. The owner miraculously survived."
With a $US1 trillion ($1.5 trillion) wall of commercial real estate loans scheduled to mature this year and next, the extent of the losses and their impact on the banking sector should progressively become clearer. Anecdotally, based on a relatively small sample size of transactions, office properties in major cities have been sold for as much as 50 per cent of their previous valuations. Donald Trumps lawyers pointed to the distressed state of the market recently when they told a New York judge that he would have to raise capital under exigent circumstances if he had to hand over the $US454 million of penalties (plus interest) in his civil fraud case in full ahead of his appeal of the judgement. New Yorks attorney-general, Letitia James, has made it clear she will seize Trump properties if he doesnt pay the penalties or post a bond and specifically mentioned one of his trophy assets, 40 Wall Street. That building was valued at $US540 million in 2015. Bloomberg recently valued it at only $US270 million.

If the value of a trophy asset in New York has fallen by anything remotely close to that much  and it could be even worse in a forced and rushed sale  heaven help the owners and financiers of second-tier properties. Loading The $US1.05 billion that Mnuchin and his co-investors have stumped up for New York Community Bank probably averts, or at least defers, what was fast developing into a crisis that could have spilled over into a second wave of stress for the regional and small US banks that, while accounting for only around a third of the US banking systems assets, provide more than two-thirds of the systems commercial real estate funding. The first wave came last year when Silicon Valley Bank became the largest US bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis. Its distress sent shockwaves through the smaller bank sector, with the Signature, Silvergate and First Republic banks falling over soon after. Then, of course, with depositors in banks perceived as risky cashing out as fast as they could, Credit Suisse was forced into a merger, on distressed terms, with arch-rival UBS.

Whether the commercial real estate problems exposed within New York Community Bank have the potential to spread similar contagion wont be clear until after the event, if indeed there were an event. The problems New York Community has experienced were exposed after it, ironically, acquired assets from the detritus of Signature Bank, which took its asset base above the $US100 billion level that attracts more intense regulatory scrutiny and tougher capital and liquidity requirements. The plummeting value of Trumps building at 40 Wall Street highlights the issues facing commercial property. Credit: Bloomberg The big US banks are regulated more stringently and have significantly tougher regulatory capital and liquidity requirements than their smaller counterparts. They were supposed to be exposed to even more onerous rules as the Federal Reserve Board implements the final Basel III requirements formulated by the Basel Committee, the global banking standards-setter.

There has been a fierce backlash from the big US banks against what the Fed was proposing, including a television advertising campaign and threats to sue the Fed because it would have meant a steep increase in the amount of capital the biggest bank had to hold. They would also have to regard some customer deposits differently from others  some depositors, particularly large ones, are more likely to yank their funds more quickly than others if the bank comes under pressure  which would force the banks to hold more and higher-quality liquidity. An issue in the Silicon Valley run was that it was forced to sell bonds, valued at face value because they were classed as held-to-maturity, at considerable losses. The Fed planned to change the approach to dealing with those bonds, which could have forced the banks to mark their value to market (as Australian banks do) and, therefore, hold more capital against them. Addressing the US Congress in his semi-annual testimony on monetary policy on Wednesday, Fed chair Jerome Powell effectively said the Fed had crumbled in the face of the banks opposition.

He said he expected there to be broad and material changes to the proposed reforms and conceded, as the banks have argued, that there were concerns that the proposals could increase risks to the system and undermine competition. The big banks may not have big direct exposure to commercial property, which seems to be the most vulnerable segment of the US economy, with their share of the lending to the sector in the single digits. Significant distress in that market would, however, have spillover effects throughout the US economy and financial system, as Australians discovered in the early 1990s. NYCB shares plunged after it announced material weaknesses in its internal controls for evaluating loans, took a new $US2.4 billion charge to its earnings and dumped its chief executive. Credit: Bloomberg Shares in regional banks and real estate investment trusts have been falling this year, and the spreads on bonds issued by the banks and trusts have been blowing out. The commercial property market does have lines into other parts of the system. The Feds Beige Book, released this week, describes the current economic conditions. It includes numerous references to declining real estate prices, the rising tide of loan maturities, and the likely increase in defaults over the next few years.
Media mogul and former Fox and News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch is engaged for the sixth time.

Murdochs office told the New York Times he planned to marry his girlfriend, Elena Zhukova, 67, who he started dating last year. He turns 93 on Monday. It would be Murdochs fifth marriage.

The pair started dating last year. Credit: Instagram

The wedding will be held in California, at Murdochs vineyard and estate, Moraga, the spokesman said. Invitations have already been sent out.

Married four times already, Murdoch called off his wedding to Ann Lesley Smith in August last year.
Cancel the dog sitter. Jet-setting animal lovers could soon travel with their furry friends under a proposal from Virgin Australia to allow animals on board flights.

Virgin Australia wants to be the first airline in the country to allow small animals to travel with passengers on domestic flights, and the airline will seek regulatory approval to make it happen.

Under the proposal, pet parents would pay extra to sit in designated aisles  and Rex and Mittens would travel in carriers under their seats.

Pooches would not be permitted to pop up onto passengers laps for a pat mid-flight and the service would be restricted to small pets.
The Main Intelligence Agency (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine received information from a reliable informant about the Russians' intention to seize the Antonov airfield in Hostomel on February 24, 2022, the press service reports, citing an interview with head of the GUR Kyrylo Budanov in an interview with Zeit.

The State Emergency Service received from the British company a mounted module for the Armtrack 400 mine clearance machine. The Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (GUR) received information from a reliable informant about the Russians' intention to seize the Antonov airfield in Hostomel on February 24, 2022, the press service reports, citing an interview with head of the GUR Kyrylo Budanov in an interview with Zeit.

The State Emergency Service received from the British company a mounted module for the Armtrack 400 mine clearance machine.

According to a message posted on Facebook, the most experienced special forces scouts were sent to defend Antonov. Budanov reported to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, data on the situation on the battlefield in Hostomel, which he received from his units involved in the defense of the airfield.

"It is clear that people who see dozens of helicopters shooting in their direction are not entirely happy," Budanov said.

It is indicated that units of the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine launched a counterattack against the Russian occupiers in the afternoon of February 24. As a result, about 80 enemy paratroopers were eliminated in battle by the end of the night.

"Further, the runway of the airfield was damaged by Ukrainian artillery in order to make it impossible for military transport aircraft of the aggressor state to land," the report says.

The GUR notes that the battle for the airfield in Hostomel disrupted the Moscow Blitzkrieg and defeated the intentions of the Russian Federation to occupy Kyiv "in three days."
Melbourne chefs Jess van Nooten, 39, and Kevin Middleton, 42, were shocked when their surrogate baby, Alba, was born 10 weeks premature in Ukraine. Then there was an invasion.

Jess van Nooten and Kevin Middleton: Weve survived a lot, Jess says, and are more committed to each other than ever. Credit: Scott McNaughton

Kevin: We met in the kitchen at Donovans in St Kilda 20 years ago. She was 19, I was a bit older. She had to walk past my section to use the oven. She was cheeky, would do a little strut. Six months later, we moved in together. Becoming parents was on the backburner until Jess hit 30, then we thought, This is our time. But nothing happened. We tried procedures, medications. The toll IVF took on Jess, mentally and physically, was horrible. It was hard to watch.

We exhausted every option before looking overseas and in May 2021, we finally met our Ukrainian surrogate over Zoom. Five embryos travelled from Melbourne to Odesa on liquid nitrogen via a special carrier that cost us $5000. When our surrogate got pregnant after the first try, we were elated.

At 28 weeks, I was at work when my phone started buzzing: Your babys been born unexpectedly; shes alive for the moment.
Its something that we wouldnt want anyone to experience. It hasnt been good for a while, nearly five weeks, but were doing as good as we can, its a brave face. Samantha Murphys husband, Mick, outside his home on Thursday. Credit: Jason South In court, defence lawyer David Tamanika said it was his clients first time in custody, and he was at risk of self-harm. But, the lawyer earlier said the accused had no drug and alcohol or mental health concerns. Mykytowycz noted there was strong community interest in the high-profile matter, but said the accused was entitled to a fair trial. He was remanded in custody to reappear in court on August 8.

Patton asked the community to help find Murphys remains. Some cases, some disappearances  bring out outpourings of grief  and weve seen that here, he told reporters, noting the feeling of emotion expressed across Australia and internationally. That is our primary role now, to try and get Samantha back for her family. Several homes near Scotsburn were searched after the mans arrest about 6am on Wednesday. Patton refused to provide further details about the police case.

In Victoria, when someones charged  irrespective [of] what peoples views may be  the details of that evidence are tested in court, not press conferences. Patton said his thoughts were with Murphys family, adding they had been under intense scrutiny throughout the investigation. They were told about the arrest on Wednesday night and about the murder charge on Thursday afternoon, he said. They have provided everything we needed, and they have had no involvement whatsoever in this matter, Patton said. The chief commissioner would not say if a particular public tip, mobile data, doorknock or ground search led to the 22-year-old mans arrest.

Im not going to identify what has specifically led us to this man other than to say it came about from painstaking detective work with great assistance from the public, he said. He said the ongoing search for Murphys body was of vital importance to her family. The last known image of Samantha Murphy. Thats why the focus from our investigators will not be stepping back at all, Patton said. In fact, will be going even harder to try and recover her body. Murphys family reported her disappearance to police when the mother of three failed to attend a Sunday brunch after leaving for a lengthy trail run about 7am on February 4. She was last seen on CCTV outside her home.

Police began searching for her in an area behind the Buninyong Golf Club, about eight kilometres from where they arrested the man on Wednesday morning. Loading After a week with no breakthroughs, missing persons investigators took control from local police. Specialist detectives and counter-terrorism officers were also called in. Samantha Murphys uncle, Allan Robson, said his nieces parents had been through hell over the past month. Speaking from his home in Maryborough, about 58 kilometres north of Ballarat, on Thursday, Robson said it was a relief that the investigation was moving forward.

As long as they havent forgotten about her, he said. Murphys disappearance had vexed investigators, who had been scouring the community and local bushland looking for evidence. Detectives leave the Murphy house in Ballarat on Thursday. Credit: Jason South Last week investigators said they believed that Murphy was not alive as they probed the possibility that her body may have been moved from the area where she went missing. Earlier this month, dozens of officers carefully sifted through bush at Mount Clear, about six kilometres from where Murphy was last seen, after mobile phone data pointed detectives to the area. Hundreds of concerned residents also conducted their own search.

Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt earlier this month said investigators had established Murphy left her house for a run and made it to the Woowookarung Regional Park, formerly known as Canadian State Forest. Loading He said the search of the Mount Clear area was pinpointed by intelligence derived from phone data. Detectives combed the area, which had been searched in the past, looking for smaller objects that could reveal clues about Murphys movements. Investigators reviewed about 12,000 hours of CCTV footage and followed up more than 500 pieces of information.
Homicide squad detectives have arrested a woman in Applecross and charged her with murder two weeks after discovering a mans body 1600 kilometres away in the Pilbara.

WA Police allege police and emergency services were called to a residence in South Hedland on Friday, February 23, where they located the body of a 56-year-old man.

Following an investigation into his death, Willetton woman Janet Goolada, 43, who was known to the man, was charged over his death on Wednesday.

She appeared briefly in Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday where she spoke only to confirm her name.

She was remanded in custody to appear in the Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on March 20.
A driver in a hurry in an Isuzu D-MAX can get the wildly popular ute from zero to 100km/h in less than 10 seconds by flooring the diesel turbo and shifting quickly into sixth gear. That is exactly what Peter Dutton is up to in this years political drag race over emission standards, car prices and climate change.

Foot down. Top speed. No stopping. The opposition leader is hoping to destroy Labor with a scare campaign about what he calls a ute tax that adds $25,000 to the cost of a new vehicle. And he will run a red light if he needs.

Illustration: Simon Letch Credit:

But the emission standards are not a tax. And the $25,000 claim is an exaggerated piece of modelling that is based on a worst-case scenario about a policy that is yet to be decided. The changes could, in fact, save households money on fuel.

So the country is in for a long argument that echoes the carbon price dispute of more than a decade ago, complete with a tax claim borrowed from Tony Abbott and a war of attrition over competing spreadsheets and the fear of change.
London: Former US president Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a six-figure legal bill to a company founded by a former British spy whom he unsuccessfully sued for making what his lawyer called shocking and scandalous false claims that harmed his reputation.

A London judge, who threw out the case against Orbis Business Intelligence last month saying it was bound to fail, ordered Trump to pay legal fees of 300,000 ($580,000), according to court documents released on Thursday.

Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump speaks at an election event this week. Credit: AP

Orbis was founded by Christopher Steele, who once ran the Russia desk for Britains Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6.

The British court case was one of few in which Trump, who is almost sure to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was not a defendant. He faces massive legal problems back home where he has been charged in four criminal cases and faces a civil complaint. He lost a subsequent defamation case in which a jury found him liable for sexual abuse, and has been ordered to pay $US355 million ($536 million) after a fraud verdict against his businesses.
The World Customs Organization (WCO), with support from the Customs Cooperation Fund  China (CCF-China), led a mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from 19 to 23 February 2024. The mission aimed to assist the DRC in launching its Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programme under the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards, focusing on bolstering Customs capacities.

Led by WCO AEO experts from Morocco Customs and China Customs, the mission included comprehensive training sessions, presentations, a field visit, and simulation exercises. During the opening address, the Director General of the DRC reiterated the administration's commitment to launching the AEO programme promptly, urging stakeholders to prioritize the workshop's outcomes.

The workshop addressed critical areas such as the WCO AEO Implementation and Validation Guide, Customs-Business Partnership, performance measurement, risk management, and post-clearance audit. Participants also gained valuable insights from AEO experts sharing country-specific experiences.

The WCO remains dedicated to enhancing the DRC's capabilities, facilitating smoother international trade, and fostering economic growth through the implementation of the AEO programme.
As part of his working visit to the United States, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin has held a meeting with Assistant U.S. Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen.

My working visit to the United States commenced with a productive meeting with Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. We discussed cooperation within the framework of the Disruptive Technology Strike Force and Task Force KleptoCapture, as well as strengthening our partnership with European counterparts, Kostin said on X Thursday.

He stressed that the Prosecutor Generals Office of Ukraine (PGO) is ready to provide all necessary information to promote Ukrainian and American joint initiatives aimed at stopping the illegal export of technologies and dual-use goods to the Russian Federation, as well as ensuring the freezing and confiscation of Russian assets related to the financing of aggression.

The United States' decisive enforcement of sanctions and export controls is commendable, and it's imperative that we intensify these measures to completely block the supply of Western technologies to the aggressor state and cut off the resources that enable the continuation of hostilities, Kostin noted.

He thanked Olsen and colleagues for their unwavering support for Ukraine and steadfast commitment to the principles of justice and the rule of law.
On Thursday, March 14, at 11.00, the press centre of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency will host a press conference entitled "Liberal tax reform as effective alternative to National Revenue Strategy."

The event is held with the support of NGO Initiative Center to Support Social Action Ednannia (ISAR Ednannia) within the project Civil Society Sectoral Support Activity, which is implemented by ISAR Ednannia in a consortium with the Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research (UCIPR) and the Center for Democracy and Rule of Law (CEDEM).

Participants: co-founder of the analytical center Ukrainian Institute for the Future, director of economic programs Anatoliy Amelin and expert of economic programs of the analytical center Ukrainian Institute for the Future Yana Lavryk (8/5a Reitarska Street).

Admission requires registration on the spot with press ID cards. The event will be streamed on the Interfax-Ukraine YouTube channel.

Additional information: by e-mail [email protected], (066) 704 9096 (press secretary of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future Olha Tymkiv).
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) looks forward to a close collaboration with Azerbaijans COP29 Presidency to support the global effort to tackle the impacts of climate change, a source at the IMF Spokesman's office told Trend.

"We are also working closely with the authorities to assess the risks and macroeconomic implications of climate change for Azerbaijan, develop policies to meet the countrys climate mitigation and adaptation goals, and examine options for climate financing," the source added.

In this regard, Kristalina Georgieva, the IMFs Managing Director has already met with COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev on the sidelines of the World Government Summit where they discussed priorities for COP29 and ways the IMF can support the global effort to tackle the impacts of climate change.

According to the IMF, COP28 made important progress in several key areas, including a historic call to transition way from fossil fuels in energy systems. "Now is the time for all stakeholders to step up to deliver on a response to the Global Stocktake that prioritizes action in this decade".

Meanwhile, the official announcement regarding the decision to host COP29 in Azerbaijan was made in Dubai on December 11, 2023, allowing Azerbaijan to be the host for the event in November.
By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

Minister for Media Catherine Martin said she discussed the programme of reform at RTE during a meeting with the new chair of the board of the broadcaster, Terence ORourke.

Mr ORourke was appointed to the position this week following the resignation of former chair Siun Ni Raghallaigh.

Mr ORourke and Kevin Bakhurst, director general at the crisis-hit broadcaster, met with Ms Martin on Thursday.

The minister said: This was a very positive engagement where we discussed the importance of continuing the programme of reform of RTE, and the priority of putting in place a sustainable funding model for RTE and public service media in Ireland.

Irish broadcaster RTE has been hit by a number of controversies (Liam McBurney/PA)

The meeting discussed responses to recommendations published by the Public Accounts Committee and two independent expert advisory committee reports that Ms Martin has commissioned.

She said: I am looking forward to working with the chair and the board in progressing the major reform agenda underway in the organisation.

Ms Ni Raghallaigh resigned from her role on the board of the broadcaster hours after Ms Martin expressed disappointment in her during a live television interview.

Appearing on Prime Time on February 22nd, the minister refused to express confidence in Ms Ni Raghallaigh, saying she had been misinformed about the chairwomans role in approving an exit package for former RTE chief financial officer, Richard Collins.

The minister was criticised for her handling of the situation with opposition TDs claiming she had effectively sacked the chairwoman live on air.
Councillors from the Westport-Belmullet Municipal District again debated where their future meetings should be held.

Westport-based Fine Gael councillor Peter Flynn proposed at Januarys meeting at Aras Inis Gluaire in Belmullet that all future meetings be held in Westport or Castlebar. He said that hosting meetings in Belmullet did not make sense because councillors had to travel long distances to attend the meeting and Aras Inis Gluaire could not facilitate members who wanted to attend the meeting online.

His proposal was met with criticism from members from the Erris area.

The issue was an item on the agenda at last week's meeting in Westport. Cllr Flynn said they should base their standing orders off Dublin City Councils, whose approach to online goes way beyond theirs.

What we have in our standing orders simply isnt adequate. In theirs, they facilitate all-year round online meetings. The fact that Cllr [Brendan] Mulroy could not attend the meeting shows the weakness of the system, Cllr Flynn said.

Cllr Flynn proposed they put it as an item in Marchs meeting, to which Fianna Fail Cllr Paul McNamara opposed.

I dont agree, I think members are always being facilitated. Theres no need to put it on the agenda again, Dublin can do it whatever way they want, and well do it our way down here. Having meetings all around the district is so important, we went out to Murrisk and Clare Island and it was facilitated, Cllr McNamara said. I dont see what the issue is when we only have three meetings left, some of us might not be here come June.
Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Partly sunny, breezy, and noticeably colder; gusty winds add a chill. A sprinkle or flurry possible, mainly north and west. .

Tonight

Partly cloudy, windy, and cold. Brisk winds add a chill. There could be an early flurry, especially north and west.
U.S. President Joe Biden Biden said Thursday night the U.S. military will help establish a temporary pier on the coast of Gaza as a way to boost the delivery of aid for Palestinians trapped in the besieged territory by the Israel-Hamas war.

He unveiled the plan during his State of the Union address to Congress. The move comes after Biden last week approved the U.S. military airdropping aid into Gaza.

Biden said the temporary pier will enable a massive increase in humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza.

But at the same time he called on Israel to do more to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians even as its forces try to eliminate the Hamas militant group.

To Israel, I say this humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip, Biden said.

The plans follow an announcement by Hamas that negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of more Israeli hostages will resume next week, dimming hopes that mediators could broker a truce before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin at sundown Sunday..

After nearly five months of war, much of Gaza is in ruins, and international pressure is growing for Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would halt the fighting and release the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Israels near-total blockade of Gaza and the fighting have made it nearly impossible to deliver supplies in most of Gaza, aid groups say. Many of the estimated 300,000 people still living in northern Gaza have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive.

Israel launched its offensive after Hamas-led militants stormed across the border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Over 100 hostages were released in November in exchange for 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The number of Palestinians killed has climbed above 30,700, according to Gazas Health Ministry. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures but says women and children make up around two-thirds of the total casualties. It says over 72,000 people have been wounded.

Currently:

 Analysis: First fatal attack on shipping by Yemens Houthi rebels escalates risk for a reeling Mideast

 Leading NGOs slam Israels halt in visa renewals for aid workers in Gaza and West Bank

 Violence in the Mideast, rising threats from Islamic State group in Afghanistan pressure US and allies

 Find more of APs coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Here's the latest:

UN SPOKESMAN SAYS GAZA AID MISSIONS A MIXED BAG, DEPENDING ON ISRAELI HELP

UNITED NATIONS  U.N. humanitarian officials say that in February half of the 224 missions they planned for delivering aid to areas in the Gaza Strip where coordination with Israeli authorities is required got it and succeeded  and half did not.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday that the U.N. paused opertions in north Gaza following Israeli naval fire that hit a U.N.-coordinated food convoy heading there Feb. 5. As a result, he said, only 24 U.N. aid missions to the besieged north were planned in February  and just six were facilitated by Israeli authorities.

By contrast, Dujarric said, of the 200 U.N. missions planned for areas south of Wadi Gaza where access required coordination, 105 were facilitated by Israeli authorities.

The U.N. spokesman said humanitarian workers in Gaza face risks from the hostilities between Israel and Hamas including bombings.

Despite the many challenges, he said, last week 19 of the U.N.s humanitarian partners provided health services to some 80,000 patients and over a dozen World Health Organization teams treated 13,000 patients. He issued an urgent appeal for tents, tarpulins, blankets, bedding and other shelter supplies.

UN OFFICIAL WELCOMES AIRDROPS OF AID IN GAZA BUT SAYS MORE LAND ENTRIES NEEDED

UNITED NATIONS  The U.N. official trying to spur the delivery of humanitarian supplies to more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza is welcoming air drops and the prospect of more sea deliveries. But she says the most critical need is to open more land entries into the territory.

Sigrid Kaag, the senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, told reporters late Thursday that air and sea deliveries cannot substitute for expanding and diversifying supply routes on land.

Its easier, its faster, its cheaper, particularly if we know that we need to sustain humanitarian assistance to Gazans for a long period of time, she said, speaking after briefing the U.N. Security Council behind closed doors. We need to flood the market in Gaza with humanitarian goods as well as re-energize the private sector so commercial goods can be entering in to really meet the needs of civilians.

But Kaag said thatits been made very clear to me from the outset that there is little willingness by the Israeli Cabinet to open more crossings. She pointed to Israel domestic concerns, demonstrations at crossings, and the absence of a deal to release Israeli hostages seized during Hamas Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel.

Nonetheless, Kaag said, from her conversations she expects additional crossings to be opened and will continue urging the Israelis to do so because the goal is to expand the volume and quality of aid to Gaza.

She called the air drops of aid a symbol of support for the civilians in Gaza, but said that its a drop in the ocean.

Kaag said she has welcomed plans for a maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza, backed by a coalition that she expects the United States and other countries to be joining to accelerate its establishment.

She said the Americans may be building a temporary port with a view to provide for that much urgent humanitarian assistance and the scale-up thats needed particularly to reach the north, where the humanitarian crisis is especially dire, she said.

At the same time, I cannot but repeat, air and sea is not a substitute for land, she said. However, the additional aid at this critical juncture will be very important.

ISRAELIS WILL BE ALLOWED TO VISIT CONTESTED HOLY SITE DURING RAMADAN, ISRAELI POLICE SAY

JERUSALEM  Israels police force said Thursday that Israelis will be allowed to visit the Al-Aqsa compound during the first week of Ramadan, raising concerns about the access for Palestinians to the revered site during the holy month.

Al-Aqsa has often been the site of Palestinian protests and clashes with Israeli police, especially during times of high tension like the current war between Israel and Hamas.

Palestinians from the occupied West Bank have been unable to visit Jerusalem under Israeli government restrictions put in place immediately after an Oct. 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel killed 1,200. Israels invasion of Gaza in response has killed more than 30,000 people.

The Al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest site in Islam. Jews consider the compound the most sacred site in Judaism and refer to it as the biblical Temple Mount.

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the same number of people as last year would be allowed to enter the Al-Aqsa mosque compound for prayers during the first week of Ramadan and that this would be evaluated on a week-to-week basis throughout the holy month. The statement did not say who would be allowed onto the compound.

In 2023, over 289,000 Palestinians from the West Bank visited Jerusalem for Ramadan prayers, according to Israeli authorities.

The Israeli police did not respond to The Associated Press request to clarify the restrictions.

Ramadan is expected to start Sunday but depends on the sighting of the crescent moon.

DUTCH GROUP CONFIRMS ISRAELI TANK FIRE KILLED A REUTERS VIDEOGRAPHER IN SOUTHERN LEBANON LAST OCTOBER

BEIRUT  A report by an independent research organization in The Netherlands confirmed that Israeli tank fire killed a Reuters videographer and wounded six other journalists in southern Lebanon last October.

The journalists were covering cross-border clashes between Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group and Israeli forces on Oct. 13, just days after the eruption of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, when an Israeli tank shell landed among them.

The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, TNO, said that after two ammunition rounds struck the area where the journalists were working, arms fire and bullets whizzing through the air were heard. It said the two ammunition rounds were 37 seconds apart.

The report by TNO, which was contracted by Reuters to analyze evidence from southern Lebanon clashes on Oct. 13, was released Thursday. It said the Israeli fire in the attack lasted 1 minute and 45 seconds.

Israeli officials have said that they do not deliberately target journalists. Israel did not immediately comment on the Dutch group's findings.

In December, international human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said Israeli strikes that killed and wounded the journalists on Oct. 13, were apparently deliberate and a direct attack on civilians.

The strikes killed Issam Abdallah and wounded Reuters journalists Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, Qatars Al-Jazeera television cameraman Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, as well as AFPs photographer Christina Assi and video journalist Dylan Collins.

Assi, who was seriously wounded, was discharged from Beiruts American University Medical Center earlier this month, after nearly five months of treatment.

EGYPTIAN OFFICIALS SAY CEASE-FIRE TALKS ARE STUCK

CAIRO  Egyptian officials say negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza have reached an impasse over Hamas demand for a phased process culminating in an end to the war.

The U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been trying for weeks to broker an agreement on a six-week cease-fire and the release of 40 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

The officials said Thursday that Hamas has agreed on the main terms of such an agreement as a first stage, but wants commitments that it will lead to an eventual, more permanent cease-fire.

Hamas has said it will not release all of the remaining hostages without a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Palestinian militants are believed to be holding around 100 hostages, and the remains of 30 others, captured during Hamas Oct. 7 attack into Israel that triggered the war.

Hamas is also demanding the release of a large number of prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences, in exchange for the remaining hostages.

Israel has publicly ruled out those demands, saying it intends to resume the offensive after any cease-fire with the goal of destroying Hamas.

The Egyptian officials say Israel wants to confine the negotiations to the more limited agreement. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations with the media.

Both officials said mediators are still pressing the two parties to soften their positions.

The mediators had hoped to reach a deal before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin Sunday. The month of dawn-to-dusk fasting often sees Israeli-Palestinian tensions rise over access to a major holy site in Jerusalem.

 By Samy Magdy in Cairo.

NORWAY WARNS AGAINST BUSINESS WITH ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS

COPENHAGEN, Denmark  Norways government on Thursday urged Norwegian companies to avoid trade and business activities that contribute to maintaining illegal Israeli settlements. Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said that for years, Norway has been clear that the settlement policy in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is in violation of international law, including humanitarian law and human rights.

Norwegian businesses should be aware that, through economic or financial activity in the Israeli settlements in violation of international law, they risk contributing to violations of international humanitarian law or human rights, Barth Eide said.

He said that last year was also the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the UN began recording. I repeat that the injustice to which the Palestinians are subjected must stop.

CHINA CALLS FOR PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES TO JOIN UN

BEIJING  Chinas foreign minister is demanding that other members of the U.N. Security Council stop blocking the Palestinian territories from becoming a member of the United Nations.

Wang Yi reiterated Chinas call for a major international conference to draw up a roadmap and timetable for a two-state solution.

We support Palestine becoming a full member of the United Nations and call on individual members of the Security Council not to set obstacles for this anymore, he said Thursday at a news conference during the annual meeting of Chinas legislature.

Zhang Jun, Chinas U.N. ambassador, said in January that his country supports U.N. membership for the Palestinian territories as a first step toward the creation of a Palestinian state. The Security Council needs to send a clear and unequivocal signal, reaffirming the urgency of the two-state solution as the sole feasible way out, he was quoted as saying by Chinas official state media.

China, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, backed the Palestinian territories becoming a U.N. member in a joint statement issued last June during a state visit to China by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
L. SAUCON TWP., Pa.  Lower Saucon Township Council opened its meeting Wednesday night with a presentation and thanks to the emergency crews who responded to last Saturday's derailment of a Norfolk Southern train.

The meeting was attended by many of those responders, who received a standing ovation from council and fellow audience members.

"I saw a community come together to help in what could have been a catastrophe," said council President Priscilla deLeon.

"We are so lucky that this was not worse. We are so proud of all of you," she said.

"You couldn't ask for more from first responders, and everybody should be very proud," said Lower Saucon Township Police Chief Thomas Barndt.

"I believe it went the best it possibly could," Barndt said of the response. "The training that the first responders have had throughout the years have surely proved that Saturday morning and afternoon."

Township Manager Mark Hudson read a statement that thanked responders at the scene. Those thanked included:

Lower Saucon Fire Rescue.

Lower Saucon Township Police.

Dewey Fire Company.

Dewey EMS.

Bethlehem Township Fire and EMS.

Freemansburg Fire Company.

Nancy Run Fire Company.

Northampton County Emergency Management.

Lehigh County Special Operations.

Pennsylvania Water Rescue.

Williams Township Fire Police.

City of Bethlehem Fire Department.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Councilmember Victoria Opthof-Cordaro said, "We have a tremendous number of volunteers who stepped up and were first on the scene and acted professionally, like a paid fire force, and I can't thank them enough."

Hudson also read a statement from Norfolk Southern Railway, saying that they made "substantial progress in cleaning up the site."

Councilmember Jason Banonis asked which among the responders was first to the scene. He said it had been reported that Nancy Run Fire Company was first to the scene.

3:16 NTSB reveals more details of train derailment in Lower Saucon New details have emerged from federal investigators about last Saturday's train crash and derailment in Lower Saucon Township.

Ty Johnson, Lower Saucon Township fire chief, said the department adhered to its social media policy that does not allow posting photos. Their lack of photos was not indicative of the order in which they appeared on the scene.

Also during Wednesday's meeting, federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board provided an update on their findings related to the crash and derailment.
WASHINGTON - President Biden will deliver his third State of Union address Thursday night, with a likely rematch against Donald Trump on the horizon.

"In our country when the president speaks so many people tune in, there's so much political theater surrounding it, and it's a privilege to have that platform," said Nichola Gutgold, a professor of communications at Penn State Lehigh Valley.

Gutgold says the address will be one of Biden's last opportunities to address concerns over his age.

"So he needs to look as hardy as he can during that process. So much is focused on his age and then he must not trip over any of his words," Gutgold said.

Political scientist John Kincaid, with Lafayette College, agrees.

"He needs to demonstrate he's vibrant, healthy, able to deliver a long speech before Congress," said Kincaid.

Both are also expecting a strong focus on abortion, which is expected to be one of the centerpieces of his campaign against Trump.

"It can be a slippery slope for Catholics, but I think he's going to lean into that," Gutgold said.

"Abortion is clearly a winning issue for Democrats and since that Alabama state Supreme Court ruling about IVF, Democrats have been able to double down on this," said political scientist Ted Masthay with DeSales University.

And we'll likely hear more about the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, and the fight to reform immigration, says Masthay.

"Recent polling shows immigration as an issue Americans are concerned with is right at the top, which traditionally isn't the case," Masthay said.

"I think we may see him trying to appeal to African-American and Hispanic voters because they're starting to defect from him," Kincaid said.

"I feel like most of us know a lot about the two front runners so I think his challenge is to make that feel OK and fresh, and that's a tall order," Gutgold said.

Biden's address will be airing live on WFMZ-TV at 9 p.m. and will be streamed on wfmz.com and on the free WFMZ+ app.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Azerbaijan implemented 13 roadmaps (472 activities in total), related to the World Bank's (WB) Business Ready report in 2023, Executive Director of the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communications Vusal Gasimli told reporters, Trend reports.

He also emphasized the implementation of 14 action plans and roadmaps in other significant sectors last year.

Meanwhile, Business Ready (B-READY) is the World Banks new flagship report benchmarking the business environment and investment climate in most economies worldwide. The report assesses the regulatory framework and public services directed at firms, and the efficiency with which regulatory framework and public services are combined in practice.

With data that are comparable across economies and over time, B-READY provides actionable evidence to promote reforms for a stronger private sector.

The first B-READY report will be launched in September 2024.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
EASTON, Pa. - More than 60,000 hearts adorned Easton, after the launch of a campaign meant to foster joy and camaraderie, and to celebrate what makes Easton unique.

Downtown Easton business owners Ron Morris and Ken Jones Jr. initiated the "Love, Easton" campaign as a Mercantile Home Community Art Project on Jan. 6, according to a news release from the Greater Easton Development Partnership.

The campaign launched to rally community members to craft 28,127 hearts  one for each Easton resident  and adorn the city with a symbol of affection throughout the Valentines Day month, the organization says.

The campaign amassed 63,077 hearts and counting, far surpassing the initial goal, according to the news release.

From residents to businesses, students to families, people from all walks of life participated, contributing hearts of various shapes, sizes, and materials including paper, clay, knitted and crocheted fabrics, painted rocks, felt, and more, according to the news release.

Stretching from the Free Bridge on the Citys eastern edge to 15th Street in the West Ward, and from the top of Cattell Street on College Hill to the peak of St. Johns on the Southside, Easton's streets were "transformed into an exhibition of love and unity," the organization said.

The camaraderie among the business and property owners in Easton was clear and visible during this heartwarming community art project. This effort provided our volunteers with many opportunities to engage with business owners and solidify relationships that truly bring soul and connectedness to our Main Street district and beyond. Residents and visitors alike sincerely appreciate and value the positive energy our business owners bring to Easton's Downtown Life," says Kim Kmetz, Main Street Manager.

Easton Main Street Initiative is a program of Greater Easton Development Partnership.

The organization says more than 25 volunteers collectively contributed more than 300 hours of their time.

Heart-cutting parties, totaling 20 events, brought the community together in a spirit of collaboration and creativity, the organization says.

Lafayette Colleges Landis Center emerged as the group that produced the most hearts, while the furthest heart submission traveled all the way from Anchorage, Alaska, according to the news release.

The campaign will draw to a close on March 9.
L. SAUCON TWP., Pa.  New details have emerged from federal investigators about last Saturday's train crash and derailment in Lower Saucon Township, including how the second crash happened just after the first one.

On Wednesday night, Lower Saucon Township Council heard from Ruben Payan with the National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB, who gave an account of the incident that involved three trains colliding in two crashes.

Payan is the head investigator leading a team of experts in train operations, signals and train control, mechanical systems and human performance, who will present their findings to the U.S. Congress. The NTSB says its investigation focuses on safety and will not determine blame or guilt.

According to Payan, an eastbound train stopped at a signal was rear-ended by an intermodal freight train, which caused three intermodal cars to derail into an adjacent track.

Payan said less than a minute later, a westbound train collided with the derailed cars, which resulted in six rail cars derailing and sending two lead locomotives into the Lehigh River.

Three of the six derailed cars on the westbound train track were empty at the time but were carrying ethanol and butane residue, Payan said. They were not breached and did not leak any fluids.

Payan said minimal diesel fuel was discharged during the collision. Efforts are being undertaken to eradicate and remove the fuel from the river. He also said black boxes, or recording devices, were collected from all trains and sent to a lab in Washington for analysis.

The NTSB says a conductor and engineer were in one train; a conductor, engineer and a trainee were in the other train.

Lower Saucon Fire Chief Ty Johnson was one of the first on scene, assisting one of the conductors.

"I did speak with them just to find out that their crew was accounted for, and they were not injured. Beyond that, they gave us some information," Johnson said.

During a question-and-answer period, a resident asked whether the trains have sensors to help them avoid such collisions.

According to Payan, the trains operate using Positive Train Control, a system that monitors the location of every train and "is supposed to make sure the safety buffer system works." Payan said the system works with signals, but when trains are at a speed under the system threshold, the "system no longer maintains train separations."

Councilmember Jason Banonis asked Payan about claims on social media that the incident was caused by a softening of the railbed due to water runoff. Payan said that the track was not a contributing factor in the derailment.

Payan said a full investigation of the incident will take 12 to 18 months, but a team of five NTSB investigators will issue a preliminary report in 15 to 20 days. However, if issues need to be addressed, his organization can make recommendations before the final report is released.

"We don't have to wait if we find something significant that needs to be dealt with right away," Payan said.

The derailment was mentioned during a hearing in Washington on Wednesday, where U.S. senators questioned NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy.

"The inspections that have been less than lacking on the requirements to make sure that we really are looking out for these longer trains, and tech and improvements, and that is just frustrating given last Saturday's Norfolk Southern derailment in Pennsylvania, where three trains collided," said U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, the chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, during the hearing.
LOWER SAUCON TWP., Pa. -- Within minutes of the hearing with the head of the NTSB on Capitol Hill was a mention of last weekend's train derailment in Lower Saucon Township, Northampton County.

The National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy was in the hot seat Wednesday, being questioned by U.S. senators.

"The inspections that have been less than lacking on the requirements to make sure that we really are looking out for these longer trains, and tech and improvements, and that is just frustrating given last Saturday's Norfolk Southern derailment in Pennsylvania, where three trains collided," said U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, the chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

That chaotic scene is among eight Norfolk Southern crashes the NTSB is investigating.

"I'm very concerned that the derailment rate of the largest four class one railroads have increased by 23% in the last decade," said U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

Homendy insisted the NTSB has tried to prompt change.

"We have 190 safety recommendations that we've issued that are currently open to improve rail safety, whether it's preventing fatigue or providing for increased inspection or new technologies, to supplement, not supplant workers, to ensure safety. Those 190 have not been acted upon," said Homendy.

She also said she strongly supports investment in rail, adding there's a big need for workers and training.

As for the Railway Safety Act being considered in the Senate, she's a fan of expanding the definition of high-hazard flammable trains, more information to communities, and ensuring first responders have necessary resources, but she wants a provision clarified: excluding a certain type of car from hazmat service.

When asked about companies are prioritizing profits over safety, she replied, "I do not have evidence, either way."

"So what tools does the NTSB have to investigate and improve the safety culture?" asked U.S. Sen Raphael Warnock.

"We are doing a separate investigation into safety culture with respect to Norfolk Southern," replied Homendy.
S. WHITEHALL TWP., Pa.  South Whitehall Township is hoping to get a grant to help update its shade tree policy and hire an arborist.

The township board of commissioners on Wednesday approved a grant submission to the 2024 Lehigh Valley Greenways Conservation landscape mini-grant program for the South Whitehall Shade Tree Education Grant.

The submission's origins are connected to another measure approved also during Wednesday night's meeting which repealed the township's 2008 shade tree policy and guide in order to update it with a new guide.

Staff indicated to commissioners that the current policy and guide are "out-of-date, difficult to read and should be reviewed with consideration of modern tree management practices."

To update the guide, township officials asked commissioners to approve the grant application. If successful, the money would be allocated for a graphic designer to help prepare a PDF policy and guide.

In addition, staff would use the funding to hire an International Society of Arboriculture-certified arborist. The arborist will conduct a resident tree-trimming workshop later this year at one of the township's parks. The workshop would be free to residents and focus on the importance of shade trees while providing hands-on training for appropriate trimming techniques.

Snow rules: South Whitehall considers new ordinance for clearing sidewalks The South Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners discussed adding a new ordinance section governing snow, ice and sleet removal from sidewalks.

Township staff estimates the two positions will cost $8,000, with half coming from the grant and half coming from a township match.

Also during Wednesday's meeting, commissioners discussed adding a new ordinance section governing snow, ice and sleet removal from sidewalks Wednesday night at the administration building.
L. SAUCON TWP., Pa.  During its Wednesday night meeting, Lower Saucon Township Council voted to pay a $2,052 invoice from former township solicitor Mark Freed with Curtin & Heefner LLP. The vote came after significant debate.

During the discussion, Councilmember Jason Banonis offered information about emails he claimed were exchanged between Freed and council President Priscilla deLeon, Councilmember Victoria Opthof-Cordaro and council Vice President Laura Ray  a group Banonis dubbed "the coverup girls."

'Gavel Nazi': Insults, partisan divide highlight Lower Saucon council meeting For more than three hours Wednesday night, Lower Saucon Township Council was again plagued by personal attacks and partisan battles.

He said the emails were proof of "secret" meetings in which township business was conducted. Banonis claimed that the trio made decisions regarding the township without the public's knowledge.

"If that's not a violation of the Sunshine Act, I don't know what is," he said.

To these allegations, deLeon said the meetings did not violate the Sunshine Act because Opthof-Cordaro and Ray were not yet councilmembers at that time, as they were not sworn into office until January.

"I'm not embarrassed, ashamed, or have done anything wrong," deLeon said.

She explained that the expenses outlined in the invoice were related to official council business: Freed's attendance at three meetings held in January.

"All legit," deLeon said.

The meetings happening prior, Ray said, related to following through on campaign promises and planning for the future.

"We wanted to be able to rock and roll in January," said Ray.

During public comment before voting on the invoice, audience members chastised Banonis for putting an undue burden on township employees to comply with the right-to-know requests he submitted to obtain information about the communications.

Council ultimately voted to pay the invoice.

St. Luke's flyer

Council also voted to undo a measure of their predecessors. In December, council voted to send a letter to the Internal Revenue Service asking for an investigation into whether a flyer addressing the Bethlehem Landfill's proposed expansion violates political engagement restraints on nonprofits.

The issue stems from a flyer sent by St. Luke's Health Network to its patients. The flyer opposed the Bethlehem Landfill's expansion and explained St. Luke's position, particularly regarding the campus's proposed expansion, which they say will be adversely affected.

"This matter is particularly important to St. Luke's since the proposed expansion would be adjacent to St. Luke's Anderson Campus, whose unique bucolic setting includes an organic farm, walking trail, and our signature sunflower fields," council records state.

Ultimately, the flyer called for patients to reach out to their local government to support the hospital if they were so inclined.

Joseph Bubba of Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba spoke on behalf of St. Luke's, saying the health network has "been a tremendous partner in every municipality."

"I'm not asking for any favors. It's a terrible waste of township resources," Bubba said. "What good does that letter (to the IRS) do to the residents of Lower Saucon Township?"

Council voted to send an additional letter negating the initial letter's investigation directive.

Township manager resignation

In other news, council also voted to accept the resignation of township manager Mark Hudson, who had been with the township for 18 months.

"It will be a loss to the township. I wish you nothing but the best," said deLeon.

"I will be sorry to see him leave," Ray said.

Lower Saucon Township Manager Mark Hudson resigns effective March 28; no reason given "It's a loss for the township," deLeon said. "I wish him the best in his future endeavors. He's one of the good guys."

For his part, Banonis said Hudson's resignation would be bad for the township.

"We're going to have literally and figuratively more train wrecks," Banonis said.

He identified many scenarios that he said could occur with Hudson's absence. Among those, he claimed, was using non-township email addresses for communications about township business by deLeon, Opthof-Cordaro and Ray.

He said using a personal email address was "straight from the Hillary Clinton school of good governance and covering up," and called deLeon "Hillary deLeon."

After accepting the resignation, council voted to hire a firm, Keystone Municipal Solutions, for $10,500, to help find a new township manager.

"This is another knee-jerk reactionI don't understand why we're hiring a firm to do this," said Banonis.

"It's just laziness," he added.

Ray supported hiring an outside firm.

"I think considering the hostile working environment, the rudeness  I think it's going to be a difficult position to fill," said Ray. "I think it will be worthwhile."
ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- Elizabeth Meade never imagined she would one day serve as the president of a college, but since 2018, that is the role she has taken on at Cedar Crest College in Allentown.

"I was born in 1962," she said. "Growing up in my neighborhood, women were either teachers or nurses, and when they got married, they stopped working."

That wasn't what she wanted for herself, and in the early '80s, it started to become clearer what she could become. Meade said it was a turning point for her when Walter Mondale named Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate for vice president of the United States.

"I talk about Geraldine Ferraro, Sandra Day O'Connor as the first woman to make it on the Supreme Court," said Meade. "These all came in my early 20s as I was forming my own identity."

Meade thought she wanted to be a lawyer, but realized that wasn't a good fit. So, she started climbing the academic ladder, and ended up with a PhD in philosophy.

In 1993, she accepted a position to teach philosophy at Cedar Crest College.

"I'm passionate about the importance of women's colleges and was really just beyond lucky to land at Cedar Crest. It was the right place, at the right time for me," said Meade.

Little did she know, decades later, she would be named the 14th president of the college.

"I have a very strong personal ethic that says if you can do something to make the world a better place, if you can do something to contribute, if you can step up and do something that needs to be done, you should do it," said Meade.

For her, that meant stepping up in her leadership role all while working as a mother of three.

Having gone to a women's college herself, she's focused on preserving the integrity of the school, in a world where women's colleges are shrinking.

"There were 260 women's colleges in 1960 and there are, depending on how you count, 30 today," she said.

She is passionate about making sure Cedar Crest remains one of them.

"Women face a lot of barriers, and barriers that women's colleges help us overcome. First of all, the barriers into professions that are still set up to discourage women from entering," she said.

Meade hopes to empower the women who set foot on campus to open doors they never thought possible.

"My legacy at Cedar Crest will be to have set the college up to be the right institution for women, for the women of the Lehigh Valley for the upcoming challenges of the next 35, 50, 150 years," she said.
Elections 101 from Spotlight PA protects you against election misinformation and empowers you to make informed decisions. Sign up for our free newsletters.

HARRISBURG, Pa.  As Pennsylvania prepares for the 2024 presidential election, voters may start hearing about a new piece of technology rolling out in more and more counties: electronic pollbooks.

E-pollbooks, as they are commonly called, replace the paper booklets that contain voter registration information that people generally see when they sign in at their polling place on election day.

This updated tech doesnt change the voter experience much. Instead of signing their names in the booklets, voters in counties that use e-pollbooks do the same thing on electronic tablets.

But behind the scenes, the differences are significant.

E-pollbooks make election day operations much easier for poll workers and speed up key processes. But like most election technology, they are potentially vulnerable to hacking if officials do not have safeguards in place.

When Lancaster County piloted e-pollbooks last year, poll workers praised them, but at least one county commissioner said he was wary of fully implementing them, in part, because of cybersecurity concerns.

Read on for a rundown on why election officials like e-pollbooks, why theyre becoming more common, and what security measures are taken to keep them from being hacked.

How do e-pollbooks change the process?

The purpose of any pollbook is to record which voters are eligible to cast ballots at a given polling place. That allows poll workers to double-check that the people who show up to vote are indeed eligible.

They are also used after the election for a process known as pollbook reconciliation, in which poll workers scan every voters name into the commonwealths Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors  or SURE  system, to verify that nobody voted more than once.

In counties that use paper pollbooks, election workers have to print out reams of voter sign-in sheets weeks ahead of time and add supplements if people register close to the deadline.

When doing pollbook reconciliation using paper, workers must scan a unique barcode next to every voters name to enter it into SURE. Jeff Greenburg, a former Mercer County election director who now works for the good-government group Committee of Seventy, called this an extremely labor-intensive process that takes days even in a small county.

E-pollbooks make everything a lot more seamless, he said.

Its quicker to find voters names for sign-in in an electronic format, Greenburg told Spotlight PA in an email, which helps move voters through the process quicker and keeps the size of lines down. Plus, if someone isnt on the rolls, poll workers can look up voters from the whole county and figure out if the person belongs in another precinct.

E-pollbooks also make it less likely that a poll worker will overlook a name and wrongly have a voter cast a provisional ballot. (Provisional ballots are used if a voters eligibility is in question, and are subject to additional checks.)

Plus, pollbook reconciliation is much quicker when the process is electronic. Instead of spending days scanning, Greenberg said, poll workers can use e-pollbooks to upload voter records to the SURE system essentially at the push of a button.

Which Pennsylvania counties use e-pollbooks? Which dont?

Pennsylvania has no statewide e-pollbook policy. While a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State told Spotlight PA that the new pollbooks provide several benefits, the agency leaves the decision of whether to adopt them entirely up to counties.

Counties have increasingly done so in recent years. As of the November 2023 municipal election, 25 of the commonwealths 67 counties were using electronic pollbooks  up from 19 in that years May primary.

These counties range from some of Pennsylvanias sparsest and most rural, like Warren and Susquehanna, to its largest and most urban county, Philadelphia.

Philly, which has the most logistically complicated elections in the commonwealth, first used e-pollbooks in the 2023 primary election. The city previously tried to implement them in 2019 but paused the effort due to technical issues.

Ahead of last years general election, a spokesperson for city commissioners, who run elections, told Spotlight PA that the new technology allowed pollbook reconciliation to be conducted much faster than with the paper pollbooks.

Other counties have adopted the new tech more slowly. One of the big reasons? Its expensive. Phillys contract, for instance, cost $3.1 million initially and another $589,000 annually, according to The Inquirer.

Some counties have said they can cover costs with election funding from the state. Lebanon, for instance, piloted e-pollbooks last year and said if it opts to move forward with buying a system, it would fund it using about half of a $450,000 election integrity grant it accepted from the state this fiscal year.

The same 2022 law that initiated those election integrity grants also barred counties from using private election funding. During the pandemic, many counties used private sources to finance big equipment upgrades.

Allegheny County, the biggest county that doesnt use e-pollbooks, once explored the possibility of upgrading its system, but county officials said estimates for a contract were in the millions of dollars at the time.

Both cost and the timeline to implement were considered when looking at vendor products, said county executive spokesperson Abigail Gardner. The group reviewing the proposals did not find a solution that they collectively felt comfortable implementing.

Are e-pollbooks secure?

Counties that want to adopt e-pollbooks have to pick from a list of models the state has tested and approved. Pennsylvania cleared its first e-pollbook for use in 2010, and 20 models are currently on its list.

Three vendors  ES&S, Knowink, and Tenex  are currently in use in the commonwealth, with one county, Lebanon, using a combination of ES&S and Knowink in its pilot program last year. Some counties, like Philadelphia, used a fully electronic pollbook system in the last election, while a handful used a hybrid paper and electronic system.

According to a Pennsylvania Department of State spokesperson, any e-pollbook vendor that wants to be considered for use in the commonwealth needs to provide rigorous security compliance assurance, which includes showing their equipment comports with Commonwealth IT policies, and allowing the agency to inspect the equipment during a demonstration of its use.

E-pollbook security has a lot to do with the devices network settings. According to the states reports on approved systems, e-pollbooks can generally be set up two ways: using a wide area network, in which the systems are connected to a host server, or using a local area, or peer-to-peer network, in which e-pollbooks in a given polling place can connect only to each other.

The Pennsylvania Department of State says the commonwealth requires that all e-pollbooks use the latter setup during voting hours, and connect only to each other. Specifically, they must never connect to a publicly accessible wireless network, and the closed network they use must be encrypted and have security settings that prevent outside devices from detecting the network.

Before and after voting hours, e-pollbooks must have voter data transferred to and from them. Counties work with the commonwealths state department and with their vendors to load in the data ahead of elections using a secure, encrypted file transfer protocol that has to be tracked and audited.

After the election, there are even more security steps, according to the state agency.

County administrators upload data from each pollbook to a secure location that the vendor can access. The vendor then sends it to the Pennsylvania Department of State using a secure file transfer, and the agency verifies the data and uploads it to SURE. (The department said only it is authorized to update voter records.) Finally, the county again verifies the uploaded results against its own records.

The security of e-pollbooks has recently gotten some national attention from outlets like the Associated Press because not all states have a uniform process for securing their files. In the past decade, hackers from Iran and Russia have accessed voter systems to look for weaknesses and find voters contact information.

The Pennsylvania state department said it considers the federal Election Assistance Commission to be a key partner in informing its election administration. The commission is working on creating uniform testing criteria for e-pollbooks as their use expands. Those criteria arent expected to be ready for this years presidential election, however.

Greenburg noted that with any new tech, there is a learning curve, and problems arise. In Berks County in 2022, for instance, e-pollbook issues prompted a judge to extend voting for an hour.

The biggest challenge in implementing them, as you might expect, is ensuring proper training is provided to poll workers and to ensure there is adequate backup in the event of a breakdown or failure at the precinct, Greenburg said.

In some ways, he added, the stakes are particularly high for e-pollbooks.

If the voting machines break down, voters can still cast ballots, he said. If the e-pollbook fails and there is no backup, voting will essentially stop.

BEFORE YOU GO If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.
A Monroe County commissioner and elections board member is accused of misconduct in the Nov. 2023 election.

The Monroe County Republican Party says county Commissioner Sharon Laverdure dropped off her husband's ballot in a ballot box in October without following the proper election laws to do so.

In a news release Thursday, the party committee says the county elections board, of which Laverdure is a member, received a statement Wednesday about Laverdure's conduct.

The statement says Laverdure was seen on video depositing two ballots into a drop box on two separate dates in October, the news release says. Records show there was an authorization request from Laverdure's husband giving her permission to return his ballot, but it was timestamped on Oct. 25, about a week after the ballot was dropped off.

Election law also says that when someone is designated to return another person's ballot, they must take the ballot and authorization form to the voter registration office and not leave it in a ballot box, the county GOP says.

The district attorney reviewed the evidence and sent the case to the attorney general's office, the release says.

The county Republican Committee is calling for a full investigation by the county and state attorney general, and "appropriate consequences" to follow.

Laverdure is serving her second term as county commissioner. She is also on the county elections board.

Monroe County's Director of Elections, Sar May-Silfee, says she is unable to comment because it's a county personnel matter and a confidential issue.

Sharon Laverdure says she has yet to hear from the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, and cannot comment at this time. She said she will comment when the time is appropriate.
PHILADELPHIA - SEPTA transit is promising it's not going to take it on criminals who commit crimes on their buses and trains in Philadelphia.

Officials say they're taking an aggressive approach in response to a number of recent shootings; the latest one Wednesday sent eight teens  including one who was shot nine times - to the hospital.

That 16-year-old male is in critical condition.

Police say four shootings happened in less than a week in Philly.

More than 30 gunshots rang out during Wednesday's mass shooting, and it happened all while those eight teens waited at a SEPTA bus stop.

"We will not be held hostage," said Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker.

Police say three people shot eight teens, ages 15 to 17, while those students waited for a SEPTA bus in the 1700 block of Rising Sun Avenue near Cottman Ave.

Police say video evidence shows a car parked around the corner near a Dunkin Donuts.

As the students went to get on the bus, police say the suspects got out and opened fire. At least 30 shots could be heard.

"We don't want you feeling captive in your homes," Parker stressed.

In one week alone, four different shootings involved SEPTA riders. Among those shootings, bullet casings could be spotted on the ground near Broad and Snyder Streets where a 37-year-old was shot twice and killed.

It's where police say a verbal fight escalated to a physical one. Then, a suspect fired into a SEPTA bus. That shooter is still on the run.

In the city's Ogontz neighborhood, things turned violent at the bus stop.

Two women described as innocent bystanders were hit by bullets there. Two teens got hurt and one 17-year-old died.

"We will use every legal tool in the toolbox to ensure the public health and safety of the people of our city," added Parker.

The mayor's message was first said by SEPTA's police chief during a planned news conference before the fourth shooting on Rising Sun.

"We're going to use every legal means at our disposal to target illegal gun possession on SEPTA," stressed Transit Police Chief Charles "Chuck" Lawson.

That, police say, includes greater enforcement of fare evaders, riders disobeying a mask ban, and open drug use.

Philly isn't the only place where people using mass transit have become victims of gun violence.

Subway attacks in New York prompted the governor to announce 750 National Guard Members and 250 other personnel and police will help NYPD restart bag checks at subway stations across the city.

They're also hoping to pass a law to allow judges to ban more violent offenders from using the system.
PHILLIPSBURG, N.J. - The Town of Phillipsburg is considering limits on just how much landlords can raise the rent every year.

We spoke with Mayor Randy Piazza on the phone, who said it's an issue that affects Phillipsburg specifically.

"We have close to 50% rental population here. That means 50% renters," said Piazza.

Piazza said he's hearing those renters' concerns, especially after neighboring Lopatcong Township just extended its rent cap of 3% per year for apartment complexes with three or more units. Piazza said those concerns are valid.

"New Jersey has a tendency to be one of the highest places in the country to live," said Piazza.

According to the popular housing website Zillow, the median rental in the state is $2,500 a month, 23% higher than the national average. We also spoke with the President of the Phillipsburg Downtown Association, Bill Benz, who said it might make more sense to take a more targeted approach.

"If somebody is truly struggling, instead of looking at that as maybe a wider brush, let's specifically look at the programs that we have in place with groups like Norwescap, who did a phenomenal job making sure that they're meeting those residents that need that assistance," said Benz.

For now, Piazza said they aren't considering any one option in particular, but he said the conversation is important.

"I think we owe it to the constituents to at least look at all avenues if we can make their quality of life better," said Piazza.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov spoke with World Bank (WB) Regional Vice President Antonella Bassani prospective cooperation on COP29 and investment projects, the information posted on the Minister's social network says, Trend reports.

"We reviewed the priorities of bilateral collaboration during our meeting with the World Bank delegation led by Regional Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Antonella Bassani. These are investment projects within the Framework Partnership proposed by the WB, as well as collaboration with the WB on COP29," Jabbarov noted.

Azerbaijan and the World Bank have been working together for almost 30 years. Since 1995, the World Bank Group has invested more than $500 million in 56 private sector development projects, creating around 4,000 jobs.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Azerbaijan will host the National Competitiveness Forum this year, said Deputy Head of the State Service for Antimonopoly and Control Over Consumer Market under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan Jafar Babayev, Trend reports.

He made the statement during the "Economic reforms and modern challenges for improving the business environment" conference in Baku.

"Azerbaijan will host the National Competitiveness Forum this year, where several experts will give speeches sharing their perspectives on the Competition Code," he emphasized.

The Law "On approval and implementation of the Competition Code and associated legal regulations" was signed by President Ilham Aliyev on January 23, 2024.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR  Free Report) by 27.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,125 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after buying an additional 4,712 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.s holdings in Digital Realty Trust were worth $2,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 19.8% in the first quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 545 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 15.4% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 691 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 1.8% during the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 5,448 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,175 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,110,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 17,883 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $2,164,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.71% of the companys stock.

Get Digital Realty Trust alerts:

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on DLR shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Digital Realty Trust from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Digital Realty Trust from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Scotiabank cut Digital Realty Trust from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating and set a $157.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, HSBC began coverage on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a research report on Friday, December 1st. They set a reduce rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Digital Realty Trust currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $136.53.

Digital Realty Trust Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Digital Realty Trust stock opened at $149.84 on Thursday. The firms 50 day moving average is $140.23 and its 200 day moving average is $132.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.79 billion, a PE ratio of 50.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.54. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.33 and a 1 year high of $154.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Digital Realty Trusts payout ratio is 164.31%.

Digital Realty Trust Profile

(Free Report)

Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL, the company's global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data meeting place and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Digital Realty Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Digital Realty Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
AltaGas (TSE:ALA  Get Free Report) will release its earnings data before the market opens on Friday, March 8th. Analysts expect AltaGas to post earnings of C$0.76 per share for the quarter.

AltaGas Stock Down 0.2 %

AltaGas stock opened at C$29.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of C$8.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.28, a P/E/G ratio of -4.97 and a beta of 1.27. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is C$28.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$27.25. AltaGas has a twelve month low of C$21.25 and a twelve month high of C$29.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 114.73.

Get AltaGas alerts:

AltaGas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a $0.298 dividend. This represents a $1.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from AltaGass previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. AltaGass dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. National Bankshares lifted their price objective on shares of AltaGas from C$31.00 to C$33.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. CIBC boosted their price objective on AltaGas from C$34.00 to C$36.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of AltaGas from C$31.00 to C$33.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a C$34.00 price target on AltaGas and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of AltaGas from C$33.00 to C$32.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of C$33.05.

Read Our Latest Analysis on ALA

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer Randy Warren Toone sold 5,036 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$28.30, for a total transaction of C$142,518.80. In other news, Senior Officer Randy Warren Toone sold 5,036 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$28.30, for a total transaction of C$142,518.80. Also, Senior Officer Donald Mark Jenkins sold 80,062 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$27.59, for a total transaction of C$2,208,910.58. Company insiders own 0.63% of the companys stock.

AltaGas Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

AltaGas Ltd. operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. The company operates through Utilities and Midstream segments. The Utilities segment owns and operates franchised, cost-of-service, rate-regulated natural gas distribution and storage utilities in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the District of Columbia serving approximately 1.7 million customers.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for AltaGas Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AltaGas and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO  Free Report) (TSE:BMO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Sunday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on BMO. Bank of America upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a buy rating for the company. 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, Bank of Montreal currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $131.00.

Get Bank of Montreal alerts:

View Our Latest Research Report on Bank of Montreal

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

Shares of BMO stock opened at $92.48 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of $73.98 and a 12 month high of $100.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.12. The companys fifty day moving average price is $94.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.56.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a $1.1172 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of Montreals previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $4.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.83%. Bank of Montreals dividend payout ratio is presently 82.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,432 shares of the banks stock worth $877,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 426,005 shares of the banks stock worth $50,256,000 after purchasing an additional 22,030 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the 1st quarter worth $225,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,478,058 shares of the banks stock worth $2,651,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 145,939 shares of the banks stock valued at $17,199,000 after acquiring an additional 3,071 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.89% of the companys stock.

About Bank of Montreal

(Get Free Report)

Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. It operates through Canadian P&C, U.S P&C, BMO Wealth Management, and BMO Capital Markets segments. The company's personal banking products and services include deposits, mortgages, home lending, consumer credit, small business lending, credit cards, cash management, financial and investment advice, and other banking services; and commercial banking products and services comprise various of financing options and treasury and payment solutions, as well as risk management products.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Bank of Montreal Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bank of Montreal and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT  Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $48.27 and last traded at $48.17, with a volume of 315601 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $46.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EAT shares. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Brinker International from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Brinker International from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Brinker International from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com lowered Brinker International from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Brinker International from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, four have issued 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 Hold and a consensus price target of $41.77.

Get Brinker International alerts:

Read Our Latest Report on EAT

Brinker International Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of 14.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 2.46.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The restaurant operator reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.05. Brinker International had a negative return on equity of 113.41% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Brinker International, Inc. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Joseph G. Taylor sold 24,163 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.97, for a total transaction of $1,086,610.11. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 56,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,548,045.17. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Joseph G. Taylor sold 24,163 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.97, for a total transaction of $1,086,610.11. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 56,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,548,045.17. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Joseph G. Taylor sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.11, for a total value of $452,210.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 71,286 shares in the company, valued at $2,930,567.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,114 shares of company stock worth $2,148,223. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brinker International

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Brinker International by 63.9% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 31,428 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $993,000 after purchasing an additional 12,251 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Brinker International by 411.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 170,719 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $5,394,000 after buying an additional 137,354 shares in the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Brinker International in the second quarter valued at about $24,426,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Brinker International by 0.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,694,269 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $211,472,000 after buying an additional 54,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Brinker International by 0.7% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 137,565 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $4,346,000 after buying an additional 991 shares in the last quarter.

About Brinker International

(Get Free Report)

Brinker International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the ownership, development, operation, and franchising of casual dining restaurants in the United States and internationally. It operates and franchises Chili's Grill & Bar and Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant brands.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Brinker International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Brinker International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBAPH  Get Free Report) announced a interim dividend on Tuesday, March 5th, MarketIndexAU reports. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 1.405 per share on Thursday, March 14th. This represents a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Commonwealth Bank of Australias previous interim dividend of $1.37.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia Price Performance

About Commonwealth Bank of Australia

(Get Free Report)

Commonwealth Bank of Australia provides financial services in Australia, New Zealand, and internationally. It operates through Retail Banking Services, Business Banking, Institutional Banking and Markets, and New Zealand segments. The company offers transaction, savings, and foreign currency accounts; term deposits; personal and business loans; overdrafts; equipment finance; credit cards; international payment and trade; and private banking services, as well as home and car loans.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Commonwealth Bank of Australia Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Commonwealth Bank of Australia and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
BV Financial (OTCMKTS:BVFL  Get Free Report) is one of 297 public companies in the Banks  Regional industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare BV Financial to related companies based on the strength of its profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares BV Financial and its peers net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Get BV Financial alerts:

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets BV Financial N/A N/A N/A BV Financial Competitors 23.76% 10.99% 0.96%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

26.8% of shares of all Banks  Regional companies are owned by institutional investors. 17.5% of shares of all Banks  Regional companies 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.

Earnings & Valuation

Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio BV Financial $37.80 million N/A 8.03 BV Financial Competitors $3.63 billion $1.26 billion 84.01

This table compares BV Financial and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

BV Financials peers have higher revenue and earnings than BV Financial. BV Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for BV Financial and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score BV Financial 0 0 0 0 N/A BV Financial Competitors 1108 3109 3324 20 2.30

As a group, Banks  Regional companies have a potential upside of 32.35%. Given BV Financials peers higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe BV Financial has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Summary

BV Financial peers beat BV Financial on 8 of the 8 factors compared.

About BV Financial

(Get Free Report)

BV Financial, Inc. operates as the holding company for BayVanguard Bank that provides various financial services to individuals and businesses in Maryland. The company offers checking and money market accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposits. Its loan products include real estate, home equity, construction, lot, auto, boat, and other personal loans; and commercial lending products, such as commercial equipment/installation, commercial real estate, construction, investment real estate, lines of credit, and SBA loans, as well as loans for short-term real estate purchase, renovation, and sale projects. The company also offers ATM, overdraft, safe deposit, bill pay, remote deposit capture, ACH origination, merchant, and online banking services. The company was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.

Receive News & Ratings for BV Financial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BV Financial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Equities research analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Credit Suisse Group (NYSE:CS  Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday. The firm set a hold rating on the financial services providers stock.

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $8.00 target price on shares of Credit Suisse Group in a report on Tuesday, November 28th.

Get Credit Suisse Group alerts:

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on CS

Credit Suisse Group Price Performance

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Credit Suisse Group

Credit Suisse Group stock opened at $0.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.27. Credit Suisse Group has a 52-week low of $0.82 and a 52-week high of $6.36. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $0.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Credit Suisse AG bought a new position in shares of Credit Suisse Group in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Credit Suisse Group by 70.3% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,931 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 3,273 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in Credit Suisse Group during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Credit Suisse Group during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, CI Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Credit Suisse Group during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. 11.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Credit Suisse Group Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Credit Suisse Group AG is a holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It operates through the following four divisions: Wealth Management, Investment Bank, Swiss Bank and Asset Management and four geographic regions: Switzerland, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Asia Pacific, and Americas.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Credit Suisse Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Credit Suisse Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D  Get Free Report) CEO Robert M. Blue bought 21,735 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $45.91 per share, for a total transaction of $997,853.85. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 176,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,091,178.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Dominion Energy Trading Up 2.2 %

Dominion Energy stock opened at $47.10 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Dominion Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.18 and a 12 month high of $58.69. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $46.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.82. The firm has a market cap of $39.44 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.61.

Get Dominion Energy alerts:

Dominion Energy (NYSE:D  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.21 billion. Dominion Energy had a return on equity of 8.83% and a net margin of 12.40%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.06 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Dominion Energy, Inc. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dominion Energy Dividend Announcement

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be given a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.67%. Dominion Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.59%.

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Dominion Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Dominion Energy from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Dominion Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, December 1st. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Dominion Energy from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Dominion Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Dominion Energy presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $50.09.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Dominion Energy

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Dominion Energy by 7.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 168,723 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $14,325,000 after purchasing an additional 12,002 shares during the period. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in Dominion Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $1,528,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Dominion Energy by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,195 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 1,661 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Dominion Energy by 49.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 394 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dominion Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $419,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.66% of the companys stock.

About Dominion Energy

(Get Free Report)

Dominion Energy, Inc produces and distributes energy in the United States. It operates through four segments: Dominion Energy Virginia, Gas Distribution, Dominion Energy South Carolina, and Contracted Assets. The Dominion Energy Virginia segment generates, transmits, and distributes regulated electricity to approximately 2.7 million residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental customers in Virginia and North Carolina.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Dominion Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dominion Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE  Free Report) by 23.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 211,119 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 66,167 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLCs holdings in DTE Energy were worth $20,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its stake in DTE Energy by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 702 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Brinker Capital Investments LLC raised its stake in DTE Energy by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 2,392 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC raised its stake in DTE Energy by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 11,908 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Telemus Capital LLC raised its stake in DTE Energy by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Telemus Capital LLC now owns 3,709 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in DTE Energy by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 1,990 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 74.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get DTE Energy alerts:

DTE Energy Stock Up 1.6 %

DTE stock opened at $111.75 on Thursday. DTE Energy has a twelve month low of $90.14 and a twelve month high of $116.73. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $107.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The company has a market cap of $23.07 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.64.

DTE Energy Dividend Announcement

DTE Energy ( NYSE:DTE Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.01. DTE Energy had a net margin of 10.96% and a return on equity of 11.00%. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that DTE Energy will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 15th. DTE Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Lisa A. Muschong sold 2,775 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.43, for a total value of $300,893.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $593,003.67. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other DTE Energy news, CAO Tracy J. Myrick sold 600 shares of DTE Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.04, for a total transaction of $64,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,462 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $370,572.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Lisa A. Muschong sold 2,775 shares of DTE Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.43, for a total transaction of $300,893.25. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,469 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $593,003.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,095 shares of company stock worth $2,168,183 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.61% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DTE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim downgraded shares of DTE Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $111.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of DTE Energy from $108.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, December 4th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of DTE Energy from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of DTE Energy from $106.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of DTE Energy from $113.00 to $111.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $114.33.

View Our Latest Stock Report on DTE Energy

DTE Energy Profile

(Free Report)

DTE Energy Company engages in the utility operations. The company's Electric segment generates, purchases, distributes, and sells electricity to various residential, commercial, and industrial customers in southeastern Michigan. It generates electricity through coal-fired plants, hydroelectric pumped storage, and nuclear plants, as well as wind and solar assets.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DTE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for DTE Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for DTE Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Engaging in discussions with Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov in Baku presents a valuable opportunity to establish a unified focus in advancing bilateral cooperation, said Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov after a meeting with his counterpart, Trend reports.

"The trade and economic cooperation between the countries is on the rise, reflecting the outcomes of collaborative and productive efforts. All matters between us are addressed transparently and constructively," Jabbarov emphasized.

The Azerbaijani minister noted a 17 percent increase in trade turnover between the countries by the end of 2023. Promising areas of cooperation include transportation, tourism, and enhanced interaction between businessmen and the private sectors of both countries.

The data of the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan shows that trade turnover with Russia in 2023 amounted to more than $4.358 billion. The country exported goods worth $1.196 billion to Russia and imported over $3.162 billion worth of goods.
StockNews.com downgraded shares of Griffon (NYSE:GFF  Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning.

GFF has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James upped their price target on Griffon from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Griffon from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, TheStreet raised Griffon from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research report on Friday, November 24th.

Get Griffon alerts:

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on GFF

Griffon Price Performance

GFF opened at $69.38 on Friday. Griffon has a 12-month low of $25.97 and a 12-month high of $72.13. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.79.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.29. Griffon had a net margin of 2.65% and a return on equity of 72.80%. The business had revenue of $643.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $595.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Griffon will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Griffons payout ratio is 44.78%.

Griffon announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, November 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the conglomerate to repurchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the companys board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Griffon

In other news, Director James W. Sight sold 2,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.38, for a total value of $134,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,269,641.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Griffon

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Griffon in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Griffon by 671.1% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 640 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Griffon by 530.3% during the second quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 769 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Griffon by 128.6% during the second quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 944 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.88% of the companys stock.

Griffon Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Griffon Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides consumer and professional, and home and building products in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Home and Building Products, and Consumer and Professional Products. The Home and Building Products segment manufactures and markets residential and commercial sectional garage doors, rolling steel service doors, fire doors, shutters, steel security grilles, and room dividers for the use in commercial construction and repair, and home remodeling applications.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Griffon Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Griffon and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
IDT Co. (NYSE:IDT  Get Free Report)s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $38.53 and last traded at $38.19, with a volume of 8517 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $37.19.

IDT Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.97. The stock has a market cap of $928.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68 and a beta of 0.98.

Get IDT alerts:

IDT (NYSE:IDT  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter. IDT had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 3.05%. The business had revenue of $301.21 million for the quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at IDT

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IDT

In other news, CFO Marcelo Fischer sold 2,937 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.25, for a total transaction of $100,592.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,321,913. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link . Corporate insiders own 15.00% of the companys stock.

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of IDT by 3.7% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,436,165 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $37,125,000 after buying an additional 50,879 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in IDT by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,216,941 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $41,486,000 after acquiring an additional 285,681 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in IDT by 0.8% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,020,397 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $26,377,000 after purchasing an additional 8,500 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of IDT by 27.9% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 726,232 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $24,750,000 after acquiring an additional 158,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adirondack Retirement Specialists Inc. raised its holdings in IDT by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Adirondack Retirement Specialists Inc. now owns 614,927 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $13,559,000 after purchasing an additional 51,694 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.28% of the companys stock.

About IDT

(Get Free Report)

IDT Corporation provides communications and payment services in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through Fintech, National Retail Solutions, net2phone, and Traditional Communications segments. The company operates point of sale, a terminal-based platform which provides independent retailers store management software, electronic payment processing, and other ancillary merchant services; and provides marketers with digital out-of-home advertising and transaction data.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for IDT Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for IDT and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Cushman & Wakefield plc (NYSE:CWK  Get Free Report) major shareholder Tpg Gp A, Llc sold 7,734,954 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.74, for a total value of $75,338,451.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,098,001 shares of the companys stock, valued at $166,534,529.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a companys shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Cushman & Wakefield Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:CWK opened at $9.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. Cushman & Wakefield plc has a one year low of $6.24 and a one year high of $12.84. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $10.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.02. The stock has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -57.58 and a beta of 1.34.

Get Cushman & Wakefield alerts:

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE:CWK  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Cushman & Wakefield had a positive return on equity of 11.87% and a negative net margin of 0.37%. Cushman & Wakefields quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cushman & Wakefield plc will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cushman & Wakefield

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Cushman & Wakefield by 3,128.2% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,292 shares of the companys stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,221 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Cushman & Wakefield by 108.3% during the 1st quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the companys stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cushman & Wakefield during the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Cushman & Wakefield by 181.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,182 shares of the companys stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 3,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cushman & Wakefield during the 1st quarter valued at $62,000. 90.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CWK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised Cushman & Wakefield from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $12.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 8th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Cushman & Wakefield from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Cushman & Wakefield from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $10.58.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on CWK

Cushman & Wakefield Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Cushman & Wakefield plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides commercial real estate services under the Cushman & Wakefield brand in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through Americas; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; and Asia Pacific segments.

See Also

Receive News & Ratings for Cushman & Wakefield Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Cushman & Wakefield and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Shares of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE  Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $140.43 and last traded at $140.00, with a volume of 183834 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $139.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Intercontinental Exchange from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $135.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $154.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $145.83.

Get Intercontinental Exchange alerts:

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on ICE

Intercontinental Exchange Price Performance

The companys 50-day moving average is $131.28 and its 200-day moving average is $119.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.33, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.02.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 23.91% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 24.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Intercontinental Exchange Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. This is a positive change from Intercontinental Exchanges previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Intercontinental Exchanges dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Intercontinental Exchange, Inc purchased 2,762,009 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $0.87 per share, for a total transaction of $2,402,947.83. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 7,476,345 shares in the company, valued at $6,504,420.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Intercontinental Exchange, Inc purchased 2,762,009 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $0.87 per share, for a total transaction of $2,402,947.83. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 7,476,345 shares in the company, valued at $6,504,420.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Warren Gardiner sold 500 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction on Friday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.34, for a total transaction of $56,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,025 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,687,908.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 160,054 shares of company stock worth $21,057,153 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Intercontinental Exchange

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RB Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 3.2% during the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 4,044 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 2.7% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 15,988 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,112,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 13.5% during the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 31.5% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 204,883 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $27,077,000 after acquiring an additional 49,081 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the first quarter valued at $1,679,000. Institutional investors own 87.91% of the companys stock.

About Intercontinental Exchange

(Get Free Report)

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of market infrastructure, data services, and technology solutions for financial institutions, corporations, and government entities in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Singapore, India, Abu Dhabi, Israel, and Canada.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Intercontinental Exchange Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Intercontinental Exchange and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSE:IVN  Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of Buy from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$15.64.

Several research firms recently issued reports on IVN. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Ivanhoe Mines from C$17.00 to C$17.50 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ivanhoe Mines from C$17.00 to C$18.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Ivanhoe Mines from C$6.50 to C$6.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 12th.

Get Ivanhoe Mines alerts:

View Our Latest Stock Report on Ivanhoe Mines

Ivanhoe Mines Stock Up 2.5 %

Insider Transactions at Ivanhoe Mines

IVN opened at C$14.49 on Friday. Ivanhoe Mines has a 12 month low of C$9.89 and a 12 month high of C$14.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of C$13.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$12.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.66, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 20.86. The stock has a market capitalization of C$18.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.13 and a beta of 2.02.

In other news, Director Setha Patricia Makhesha sold 3,295 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$14.30, for a total value of C$47,102.03. In related news, Senior Officer Stephen Ralph Amos sold 2,489 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$13.24, for a total transaction of C$32,941.92. Also, Director Setha Patricia Makhesha sold 3,295 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$14.30, for a total value of C$47,102.03. Insiders sold 6,984 shares of company stock valued at $95,644 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 50.87% of the companys stock.

Ivanhoe Mines Company Profile

(Get Free Report

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. engages in the mining, development, and exploration of minerals and precious metals located primarily in Africa. It explores for platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, gold, rhodium, zinc, silver, germanium, and lead deposits. The company's projects include the Platreef project located in the Northern Limb of South Africa's Bushveld Complex; the Kipushi project located in Haut-Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo; and the Kamoa-Kakula project located within the Central African Copperbelt.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Ivanhoe Mines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ivanhoe Mines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Kincora Copper Limited (CVE:KCC  Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as C$0.03 and last traded at C$0.03, with a volume of 10000 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.03.

Kincora Copper Trading Down 16.7 %

The stock has a market cap of C$6.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.25 and a beta of 2.07. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$0.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$0.03.

Kincora Copper Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Kincora Copper Limited engages in acquisition, exploration, and evaluation of mineral properties in Mongolia and Australia. It primarily explores for copper and gold deposits. The company's flagship project is the Trundle Project, including one license covering an area of 167km2 located in the Junee-Narromine volcanic belt of the Macquarie Arc.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for Kincora Copper Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kincora Copper and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Otis Worldwide Co. (NYSE:OTIS  Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $96.18 and last traded at $96.04, with a volume of 74454 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $95.19.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Otis Worldwide in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Vertical Research cut Otis Worldwide from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Otis Worldwide from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Argus upgraded Otis Worldwide from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $102.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $92.29.

Get Otis Worldwide alerts:

Read Our Latest Report on OTIS

Otis Worldwide Trading Up 0.6 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $90.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.08 and a beta of 1.01.

Otis Worldwide (NYSE:OTIS  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. Otis Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 30.75% and a net margin of 9.90%. The business had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Otis Worldwide Co. will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Otis Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 8th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 15th. Otis Worldwides dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 37,312 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.83, for a total value of $3,426,360.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 192,319 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $17,660,653.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Otis Worldwide news, CEO Judith Fran Marks sold 37,312 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.83, for a total transaction of $3,426,360.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 192,319 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $17,660,653.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Montlivault Stephane De sold 18,393 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.10, for a total value of $1,675,602.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 67,274 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,128,661.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Otis Worldwide

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,817 shares of the companys stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 11,669 shares of the companys stock valued at $898,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,574 shares of the companys stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,536 shares of the companys stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Otis Worldwide by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,876 shares of the companys stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. 85.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Otis Worldwide Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Otis Worldwide Corporation engages in manufacturing, installation, and servicing of elevators and escalators in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, New Equipment and Service. The New Equipment segment designs, manufactures, sells, and installs a range of passenger and freight elevators, as well as escalators and moving walkways for residential and commercial buildings, and infrastructure projects.

Featured Articles

Receive News & Ratings for Otis Worldwide Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Otis Worldwide and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Invesco Senior Income Trust (NYSE:VVR  Free Report) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,062,296 shares of the investment management companys stock after purchasing an additional 85,675 shares during the quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLCs holdings in Invesco Senior Income Trust were worth $12,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VVR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Invesco Senior Income Trust by 64.4% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 494,484 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $2,107,000 after purchasing an additional 193,668 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Invesco Senior Income Trust by 81.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 406,759 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $1,733,000 after acquiring an additional 182,228 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC bought a new stake in Invesco Senior Income Trust in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Invesco Senior Income Trust by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 59,174 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 2,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Invesco Senior Income Trust by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 38,539 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 10,117 shares in the last quarter.

Get Invesco Senior Income Trust alerts:

Invesco Senior Income Trust Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE VVR traded down $0.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $4.16. The stock had a trading volume of 153,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 692,361. The companys 50-day moving average price is $4.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.02. Invesco Senior Income Trust has a 12 month low of $3.55 and a 12 month high of $4.22.

Invesco Senior Income Trust Dividend Announcement

About Invesco Senior Income Trust

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.043 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.40%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th.

(Free Report)

Invesco Senior Income Trust is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Invesco Ltd. It is co-managed by Invesco Advisers, Inc, Invesco Asset Management Deutschland GmbH, Invesco Asset Management Limited, Invesco Asset Management (Japan) Limited, Invesco Australia Limited, Invesco Hong Kong Limited, Invesco Senior Secured Management, Inc, and Invesco Canada Ltd.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VVR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Invesco Senior Income Trust (NYSE:VVR  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Invesco Senior Income Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invesco Senior Income Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ramirez Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:IWF  Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,050 shares of the exchange traded funds stock, valued at approximately $1,875,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF by 34.1% in the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 26,203 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $7,275,000 after acquiring an additional 6,665 shares during the period. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF in the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF by 11.6% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,211 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares during the period. West Michigan Advisors LLC raised its position in iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF by 3.7% in the first quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 7,595 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,109,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, Flow Traders U.S. LLC bought a new position in iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF in the first quarter worth approximately $33,422,000.

Get iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF alerts:

iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF Stock Performance

Shares of NYSEARCA IWF traded up $3.36 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $333.60. The stock had a trading volume of 324,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,428,011. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $316.78 and a 200-day moving average of $292.96. The company has a market capitalization of $85.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14 and a beta of 1.08. iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF has a 12-month low of $221.56 and a 12-month high of $335.46.

iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF Company Profile

iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares Russell 1000 Growth Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment returns that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell 1000 Growth Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of equity securities of Russell 1000 index issuers with relatively higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth.

Recommended Stories

Receive News & Ratings for iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Royal Bank of Canada lowered its position in shares of Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D  Free Report) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,483,187 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 15,717 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 1.01% of Dominion Energy worth $378,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of D. Operose Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Dominion Energy by 158.0% in the second quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 516 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the period. Pacific Center for Financial Services bought a new stake in Dominion Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Dominion Energy by 149.6% during the 3rd quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 684 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Dominion Energy by 49.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 394 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new position in shares of Dominion Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.66% of the companys stock.

Get Dominion Energy alerts:

Insider Buying and Selling at Dominion Energy

In other news, CEO Robert M. Blue acquired 21,735 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $45.91 per share, for a total transaction of $997,853.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 176,240 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,091,178.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the companys stock.

Dominion Energy Stock Performance

NYSE D opened at $47.24 on Thursday. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $46.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Dominion Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.18 and a 1 year high of $58.69.

Dominion Energy (NYSE:D  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.11). Dominion Energy had a return on equity of 8.83% and a net margin of 12.40%. The business had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Dominion Energy, Inc. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dominion Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.65%. Dominion Energys payout ratio is 114.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on D. StockNews.com cut Dominion Energy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Dominion Energy from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Mizuho lowered their target price on Dominion Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Dominion Energy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Dominion Energy from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $50.55.

Read Our Latest Report on Dominion Energy

Dominion Energy Company Profile

(Free Report)

Dominion Energy, Inc produces and distributes energy in the United States. It operates through four segments: Dominion Energy Virginia, Gas Distribution, Dominion Energy South Carolina, and Contracted Assets. The Dominion Energy Virginia segment generates, transmits, and distributes regulated electricity to approximately 2.7 million residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental customers in Virginia and North Carolina.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for Dominion Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dominion Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Ulviyya Shahin

The headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London hosted the celebration of Azerbaijan Day and Novruz Holiday, Azernews reports.

The event was attended by EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso, Regional Director for the Caucasus Alkis Drakinos, Director for Azerbaijan Yasemin Girici, members of the bank's board and management team, heads of relevant departments, and Azerbaijani citizens working at the bank.

In his opening speech, EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso spoke about the successful relations between the Bank and Azerbaijan, the implemented projects, and the contributions made to the development of the region. Expressing his satisfaction with participating in the event, Odile Renaud-Basso emphasised his positive outlook on future cooperation prospects and highlighted the importance of close collaboration with Azerbaijan for the successful organisation of COP-29.

Subsequently, Regional Director for the Caucasus Alkis Drakinos addressed the successful implementation of extensive transportation and infrastructure projects. Azerbaijan's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Elin Suleymanov, discussed the significance of collaboration with the Bank in Azerbaijan, emphasising the importance of joint projects. The ambassador underscored the importance of COP-29 for the entire region, highlighting the relevance of continuous development, transitioning to recovered energy, and addressing economic development issues, including the importance of the corridors passing through Azerbaijan's territory, including the Middle Corridor, for the world and the region.

The ambassador then spoke about the Novruz holiday, its history, and traditions, expressing confidence that Novruz, symbolising renewal, would mark the beginning of a new era in the region and the world.

Following the speeches, a concert featuring Azerbaijani and international classical music gems was performed by renowned violinist Ceyla Seyidova.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. The Azerbaijan Energy Regulatory Agency (AERA) held a seminar at Sumgayit State University (SSU) as part of the Energy Talks project. The event was attended by AERA representatives, SSU professors, teachers, researchers, and students.

Rufat Azizov, the Rector of SSU, in his welcoming speech at the seminars opening, highlighted the significance of such events in developing relations between the university and government agencies. Azizov expressed gratitude to AERAs management for organizing the seminar and highlighted the importance of cooperation with the Ministry of Energy, including AERA in training professionals in the energy sector.

Zeynab Kazimova, Head of AERAs Press Section, emphasized the Agencys interest in building connections and cooperation with various higher education institutions that train specialists in the energy sector. Speaking about the Energy Talks project, Kazimova noted that similar seminars have been held in both online and offline formats with several universities. She also thanked SSUs rector for his support in hosting the event.

The seminar featured a presentation by Elmar Gulaliyev, Head of the Agencys Department of Energy Liberalization and Investment Attraction, on the topic of Overview of the Energy System of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Renewable Energy Targets.

In conclusion, a Q&A session was held to address the topics of interest to seminar participants.

After the event, AERA representatives visited outdoor educational museum of the electric power industry.

March 07, 2024
Sei Investments Co. lowered its stake in shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB  Free Report) by 4.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,029,927 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after selling 53,156 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.07% of Schlumberger worth $60,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors raised its position in Schlumberger by 85.7% during the second quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 43,080,354 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $2,116,107,000 after acquiring an additional 19,885,771 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Schlumberger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,008,286,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Schlumberger by 200.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,736,684 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $527,173,000 after buying an additional 7,158,943 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 34.9% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 8,056,492 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $469,693,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Schlumberger by 30.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,370,835 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $488,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,954,620 shares in the last quarter. 79.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Get Schlumberger alerts:

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.86, for a total transaction of $336,625.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 163,515 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,806,917.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.86, for a total transaction of $336,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 163,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,806,917.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mogharbel Khaled Al sold 38,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.42, for a total value of $1,944,699.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 386,841 shares in the company, valued at $19,504,523.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 178,441 shares of company stock worth $8,972,947. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Benchmark reiterated a buy rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Schlumberger from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Schlumberger from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Schlumberger from $77.00 to $74.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $70.87.

View Our Latest Analysis on SLB

Schlumberger Price Performance

SLB stock opened at $50.03 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.32. Schlumberger Limited has a 1 year low of $42.73 and a 1 year high of $62.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.77. The firm has a market cap of $71.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.59.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.02. Schlumberger had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The business had revenue of $8.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Schlumberger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Schlumbergers dividend payout ratio is presently 34.25%.

About Schlumberger

(Free Report)

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SLB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Schlumberger Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Schlumberger and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Schroder Investment Management Group lessened its holdings in shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG  Free Report) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 392,914 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock after selling 30,304 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Groups holdings in PPG Industries were worth $51,000,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of PPG Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 84.9% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 220 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 79.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Get PPG Industries alerts:

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Vincent J. Morales sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.94, for a total transaction of $479,196.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,439 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,192.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.55% of the companys stock.

PPG Industries Price Performance

Shares of PPG stock opened at $140.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $32.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $142.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.82. PPG Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $120.32 and a one year high of $152.89.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.04. PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.96% and a return on equity of 23.51%. The firm had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. PPG Industriess dividend payout ratio is presently 48.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Vertical Research upgraded shares of PPG Industries from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of PPG Industries in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a peer perform rating on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $166.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of PPG Industries from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $157.13.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on PPG Industries

PPG Industries Profile

(Free Report)

PPG Industries, Inc manufactures and distributes paints, coatings, and specialty materials worldwide. The company operates through Performance Coatings and Industrial Coatings. The Performance Coatings segment offers coatings, solvents, adhesives, sealants, sundries, and software for automotive and commercial transport/fleet repair and refurbishing, light industrial coatings, and specialty coatings for signs; and coatings, sealants, transparencies, transparent armor, adhesives, engineered materials, and packaging and chemical management services for commercial, military, regional jet, and general aviation aircraft.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PPG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for PPG Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for PPG Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM  Free Report) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,140,266 shares of the semiconductor companys stock after purchasing an additional 8,878 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Companys holdings in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing were worth $185,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TSM. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,381,845 shares of the semiconductor companys stock valued at $144,071,000 after purchasing an additional 318,570 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 597 shares of the semiconductor companys stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 12,700 shares of the semiconductor companys stock valued at $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 3,638 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the semiconductor companys stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 138.6% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 45,497 shares of the semiconductor companys stock valued at $4,744,000 after acquiring an additional 26,426 shares during the last quarter. 16.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing alerts:

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on TSM shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $115.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, December 8th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $128.25.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Stock Performance

NYSE TSM traded up $5.46 on Thursday, reaching $147.03. 6,550,354 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,462,864. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited has a one year low of $81.21 and a one year high of $147.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $762.56 billion, a PE ratio of 27.33, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.15. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $117.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $102.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The semiconductor company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a net margin of 38.80% and a return on equity of 25.24%. The company had revenue of $19.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $18.99 billion. Analysts expect that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.4408 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 13th. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturings payout ratio is currently 29.54%.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Profile

(Free Report)

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, packages, tests, and sells integrated circuits and other semiconductor devices in Taiwan, China, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, the United States, and internationally. It provides complementary metal oxide silicon wafer fabrication processes to manufacture logic, mixed-signal, radio frequency, and embedded memory semiconductors.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TSM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE  Free Report) by 13.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,650,385 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 874,695 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.10% of Pfizer worth $187,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Front Street Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 4.3% in the first quarter. Front Street Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,168 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in Pfizer by 1.4% in the second quarter. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. now owns 19,863 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. V Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Pfizer by 0.9% in the second quarter. V Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 31,001 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Pfizer by 5.2% in the second quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,751 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC raised its holdings in Pfizer by 2.4% in the first quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 12,207 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. 68.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Pfizer alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Pfizer from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, March 1st. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a report on Friday, February 23rd. They set a buy rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen lowered shares of Pfizer from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $32.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Pfizer from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $36.88.

Pfizer Price Performance

PFE stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Thursday, reaching $27.05. 9,784,890 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 44,234,531. Pfizer Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.61 and a twelve month high of $42.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $152.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.31.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.29. Pfizer had a net margin of 3.62% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was down 41.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pfizer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 26th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This is a positive change from Pfizers previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 25th. Pfizers dividend payout ratio is currently 466.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Scott Gottlieb bought 3,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.47 per share, with a total value of $79,410.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,000 shares in the company, valued at $238,230. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.05% of the companys stock.

About Pfizer

(Free Report)

Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women's health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, Zavzpret, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, Abrysvo, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, and Trumenba brands; and COVID-19 prevention and treatment, and potential future mRNA and antiviral products under the Comirnaty and Paxlovid brands.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PFE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Pfizer Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pfizer and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its stake in Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC  Free Report) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,288,393 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 40,509 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.26% of Marsh & McLennan Companies worth $245,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MMC. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 0.4% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 223,867 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $42,602,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 312,437 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $58,763,000 after purchasing an additional 12,970 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $314,000. Eqis Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 92.3% in the 2nd quarter. Eqis Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,553 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 2,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Marsh & McLennan Companies by 327.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 235,000 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $44,199,000 after buying an additional 180,000 shares during the last quarter. 86.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get Marsh & McLennan Companies alerts:

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from $186.00 to $185.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a buy rating to a sell rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $185.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a market perform rating and a $189.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan Companies from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marsh & McLennan Companies currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $202.71.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Stock Up 0.3 %

MMC traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $204.23. 231,780 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,713,370. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.41 billion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $196.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.79. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $151.86 and a 1 year high of $206.18.

Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.54 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies had a return on equity of 33.72% and a net margin of 16.52%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 25th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 24th. Marsh & McLennan Companiess dividend payout ratio is currently 37.72%.

Insider Activity at Marsh & McLennan Companies

In related news, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.00, for a total value of $438,138.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,868,198. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Martine Ferland sold 9,128 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.63, for a total transaction of $1,840,478.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,979 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,012,065.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Paul Beswick sold 2,169 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.00, for a total value of $438,138.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,199 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,868,198. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,791 shares of company stock worth $4,787,287. Company insiders own 0.30% of the companys stock.

About Marsh & McLennan Companies

(Free Report)

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc, a professional services company, provides advice and solutions to clients in the areas of risk, strategy, and people worldwide. It operates through Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting segments. The Risk and Insurance Services segment offers risk management services, such as risk advice, risk transfer, and risk control and mitigation solutions, as well as insurance and reinsurance broking, strategic advisory services, and analytics solutions, and insurance program management services.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MMC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Marsh & McLennan Companies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Marsh & McLennan Companies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 396,059 shares of the financial services providers stock after buying an additional 121,012 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLCs holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $16,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 53.0% during the 3rd quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 803 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 444.8% during the 3rd quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 899 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Get Wells Fargo & Company alerts:

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WFC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a hold rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $54.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Odeon Capital Group lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $48.80 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wells Fargo & Company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $51.43.

Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company stock traded up $0.22 on Thursday, reaching $57.33. 5,166,951 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,969,084. The firms 50 day moving average is $50.42 and its 200-day moving average is $45.35. Wells Fargo & Company has a one year low of $35.25 and a one year high of $57.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $205.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.19.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.30). Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 16.60%. The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 4.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Companys payout ratio is 29.05%.

Wells Fargo & Company Profile

(Free Report)

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WFC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Wells Fargo & Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Wells Fargo & Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Townsquare Capital LLC lowered its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Free Report) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 280,862 shares of the healthcare product makers stock after selling 5,663 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLCs holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $27,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.70% of the companys stock.

Get Abbott Laboratories alerts:

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Barclays upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, TheStreet raised Abbott Laboratories from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $120.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.00, for a total transaction of $1,620,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,022,916. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 15,000 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.00, for a total value of $1,620,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,022,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,435 shares of company stock valued at $8,071,298 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded up $1.35 during trading on Thursday, reaching $120.69. 847,116 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,089,589. The stock has a market cap of $209.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $114.13 and a 200 day moving average of $105.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $120.76.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $10.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratoriess dividend payout ratio is currently 67.48%.

About Abbott Laboratories

(Free Report)

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Meniere's disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ABT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Abbott Laboratories Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Abbott Laboratories and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
WealthPlan Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF (BATS:EFV  Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 30,007 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,468,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF by 5.8% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 41,773 shares of the companys stock worth $2,100,000 after purchasing an additional 2,299 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 15,000 shares of the companys stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF by 78.1% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 38,808 shares of the companys stock worth $1,951,000 after purchasing an additional 17,015 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF in the 1st quarter valued at about $16,807,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 450,991 shares of the companys stock valued at $22,667,000 after acquiring an additional 55,103 shares in the last quarter.

Get iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF alerts:

iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of BATS EFV traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $53.07. 1,868,556 shares of the stock traded hands. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $51.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.21. iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF has a 52-week low of $49.15 and a 52-week high of $59.57. The company has a market capitalization of $17.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 0.84.

About iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF

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.

Read More

Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lifted its position in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (BATS:EFG  Free Report) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,976 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 437 shares during the quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF were worth $1,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,110,935 shares of the companys stock valued at $296,877,000 after purchasing an additional 100,616 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 84,603 shares of the companys stock valued at $7,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,863 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank acquired a new position in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF during the 3rd quarter valued at $282,000. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 133,517 shares of the companys stock valued at $11,522,000 after purchasing an additional 37,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC raised its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Asset Management LLC now owns 51,777 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,940,000 after purchasing an additional 946 shares during the last quarter.

Get iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF alerts:

iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Stock Up 1.3 %

iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF stock traded up $1.37 on Thursday, hitting $103.34. The companys stock had a trading volume of 438,410 shares. The firm has a market cap of $13.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69 and a beta of 0.89. iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF has a one year low of $67.58 and a one year high of $85.81. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $97.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.51.

iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Company Profile

iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI EAFE Growth Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI EAFE Growth Index (the Index). The Index is a subset of the MSCI EAFE Index and constituents of the Index include securities from Europe, Australasia (Australia and Asia), and the Far East.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EFG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (BATS:EFG  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF (BATS:USMV  Free Report) by 316,966.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,512 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares during the quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF were worth $688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 7.8% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,253 shares of the companys stock worth $646,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 1.7% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 95,612 shares of the companys stock worth $7,417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. AJ Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. AJ Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,348,690 shares of the companys stock worth $104,618,000 after purchasing an additional 57,434 shares during the period. Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 88,779 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,887,000 after purchasing an additional 18,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Michigan Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 12,575 shares of the companys stock valued at $975,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the period.

Get iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF alerts:

iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF Stock Performance

Shares of BATS:USMV traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $81.94. 2,062,332 shares of the company traded hands. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $79.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.38. The firm has a market cap of $31.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17 and a beta of 0.75. iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF has a 52-week low of $47.44 and a 52-week high of $55.45.

About iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF

The iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF (USMV) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) index. The fund tracks an index of US-listed firms selected and weighted to create a low-volatility portfolio subject to various constraints. USMV was launched on Oct 18, 2011 and is managed by BlackRock.

Featured Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding USMV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF (BATS:USMV  Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. My visit to Azerbaijan follows the recent visit of the head of the Russian government to Baku and his intensive talks with the President of Azerbaijan, Minister of Economic Development of Russian Federation Maxim Reshetnikov said during the briefing in Baku, Trend reports.

"We have already held discussions on several directions in the development of agreements reached at the meeting of the President of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation held the previous day," he noted.

According to Reshetnikov, he discussed issues of mutual investments and trade growth in Baku.

"Our trade is growing. Certain issues arise, which we systematically discuss, remove a range of barriers," the Russian minister said.

He noted that among the topics are the effectiveness of the development of transportation corridors, and the development of tourism.

"Mutual flows of tourists are growing. But it needs several steps to promote them, to solve issues with payments, and to use the tourist potential of the Caspian Sea. Generally, we have a progressive development of economic relations. This is a driver for the growth of prosperity of our peoples," Reshetnikov emphasized.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Wunderlich Capital Managemnt boosted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEARCA:EWJ  Free Report) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,269 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the quarter. Wunderlich Capital Managemnts holdings in iShares MSCI Japan ETF were worth $378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 202,282 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $12,462,000 after purchasing an additional 27,428 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 37.8% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 92,661 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $5,807,000 after buying an additional 25,415 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 15.3% during the first quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 89,447 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $5,511,000 after acquiring an additional 11,850 shares during the period. Wit LLC acquired a new position in iShares MSCI Japan ETF in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Finally, Founders Financial Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Japan ETF in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,797,000.

Get iShares MSCI Japan ETF alerts:

iShares MSCI Japan ETF Price Performance

Shares of EWJ traded down $0.02 on Thursday, reaching $71.35. 2,249,241 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,263,942. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $66.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.12. The firm has a market cap of $15.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 0.68. iShares MSCI Japan ETF has a 12 month low of $54.56 and a 12 month high of $71.64.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF Company Profile

iShares MSCI Japan ETF (the fund), formerly Ishares Msci Japan Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of publicly traded securities in the Japanese market, as measured by the MSCI Japan Index (the Index).

Further Reading

Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Japan ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Japan ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
A foreign visitor takes photos of an exhibit at an exhibition area of the 2023 China Jingdezhen International Ceramic Expo in Jingdezhen City, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 18, 2023. [Xinhua/Ma Ning]

NANCHANG, March 6 (Xinhua)  With masterful precision, Allan Denis Naymark breathed life into the shapeless clay on his potter's wheel. As he worked his magic, a teapot emerged, ready to be decorated with his signature algae pattern.

After finishing his work, the 33-year-old American left Jingdezhen for Hainan for a winter vacation. "I will be back to the studio in Jingdezhen and restart my work there in April."

Jingdezhen, a city in east China's Jiangxi Province, is known as the world-famous "porcelain capital." Its history of ceramic craftsmanship spans over 2,000 years.

Naymark came to Jingdezhen nine years ago from New York. "I found the origin of ceramic culture here," he said. The city inspired him to start his career as a ceramics designer.

He gave himself the Chinese name Ni Deming. The Chinese character "Ni," which is pronounced similar to the "Nay" in his name, means clay, the main component in ceramics.

In a village on the outskirts of Jingdezhen, Naymark owns a studio in a former farm house. He is in good company as there are more than 200 such studios in the vicinity.

Driven by a passion for ceramics, more than 30,000 people have migrated to Jingdezhen, a city with a population of less than 900,000, in recent years. During the peak period, there is one foreigner among every six migrants.

The foreigners, which come from around 60 countries and regions, are compared to migratory birds, as they flock to Jingdezhen annually. Some even stay longer.

"This year we have already got a record of more than 1,000 foreign artists applying for on-site work here," said Wu Hao, head of Taoxichuan International Art Center.

The center has run the three-month Taoxichuan Art Center Residency Program every year since 2015, inviting art institutions of over 50 countries and regions to recommend artists to join the program. All expenses are covered; the only request is that each artist should leave one third of the work.

The recent decade has witnessed over 3,000 "migratory" artists working at Wu's international art center. Some even come every year.

Japanese artist Takayanagi Ayao works in Jingdezhen, east China's Jiangxi Province, Oct. 10, 2021. [Xinhua/Cheng Di]

Ceramicists are attracted to the porcelain hub for its ceramic culture, while the city's industrial chain of handmade porcelain allows them to enter the market at low cost.

According to a Dutch designer who only gave his name as Johannes, a porcelain mould that would sell 2,000 euros in the Netherlands cost just one eightieth of the price in Jingdezhen. "From ceramic clay, glaze, tools to kilning, I can handle everything simply by making a phone call here," he said.

"You can innovate boldly thanks to the more inclusive market here," said Japanese ceramist Takayanagi Ayao, adding bowls made in Jingdezhen have richer color and sells at a higher price.

Livestreaming has also helped boost the sales of porcelain in Jingdezhen. There are over 10,000 livestream hosts engaged in the ceramics industry. According to the local government, last year the sales of porcelain via livestreaming exceeded 7 billion yuan (about 985.54 million U.S. dollars), accounting for almost 70 percent of China's e-commerce market share in ceramics industry.

Yoo Si-hyoung, a ceramist from the Republic of Korea who has lived in Jingdezhen for eight years, said that Jingdezhen enables people to translate creations into reality with good sales.

Naymark told Xinhua that although he lives in a relatively remote area, he has seen more and more foreigners in recent years, including sculptors and historians from countries like Italy, Egypt and Russia. Locals, already used to seeing outsiders, are happy to talk with any newcomers about ceramics and local cuisine.

Apart from designing ceramics, Naymark also enjoys the slow life there, drinking tea, admiring porcelain, hiking, and visiting the Changjiang river, which passes through the city.

He said that he loved the ubiquitous artistic atmosphere and the warm, delicate, and free living environment of Jingdezhen. "I will continue working and living here," he said.

(Source: Xinhua)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. President of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) Rovshan Najaf has met with CEO of Tatneft OJSC Nail Maganov in Tatarstan, Russian Federation, Trend reports with reference to SOCAR.

In the course of the visit, SOCAR and Tatneft inked an agreement outlining collaborative initiatives in the petrochemical sector and a memorandum of understanding concerning joint endeavors in the oil industry. Additionally, discussions encompassed the development of human capital and potential collaborative initiatives.

Throughout the visit, the SOCAR delegation toured the TANECO Oil Refining Complex, comprising oil refineries and petrochemical plants, along with other facilities of Tatneft, gaining insight into the production processes.

Tatneft is one of the largest oil companies in Russia. The company is pursuing a strategy of increasing reserves and expanding its presence not only in Russia but also abroad.

SOCAR operates in diverse sectors, encompassing oil and gas field exploration, oil, gas, and gas condensate extraction, processing, and transportation, alongside the distribution of oil and petrochemical products in both domestic and international markets. Furthermore, the company plays a crucial role in supplying natural gas to both industrial enterprises and the general population of Azerbaijan, as well as extending its services to Europe.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel


Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
Weather Alert

...Elevated Fire Danger Today and Tuesday... ...Hard Freeze Expected Tonight... The combination of very dry air and northwest winds gusting up to 20 mph will create an elevated risk of uncontrolled fire spread this afternoon. Relative humidity values will fall to 20 to 35%, with the lowest humidity levels over the Ozark Foothills of southeast Missouri. A more substantial fire danger is expected Tuesday, as southwest winds increase significantly, with gusts of 25 to 40 mph forecast Tuesday afternoon. Relative humidity values Tuesday afternoon will fall to 25 to 35%. If you are planning outdoor burning today and Tuesday, use extra caution and have fire suppression equipment ready. Tonight, very cold and dry surface high pressure will allow temperatures to drop into the middle and upper 20s throughout the region. Although the growing season has not officially started, tender vegetation could be impacted by these cold temperatures. Please take necessary actions to protect any tender vegetation tonight.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. A delegation led by Turkiye's Deputy Foreign Minister Yasin Ekrem Serim has visited the Alley of Honors and the Alley of Martyrs, Trend reports.

The guests first visited the Alley of Honors, where they laid a wreath at the tomb of National Leader Heydar Aliyev.

Then the memory of prominent scientist-ophthalmologist, and academician Zarifa Aliyeva was honored.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Labour and Plaid Cymru vote down changes to proposed new Senedd voting system

Labour and Plaid Cymru voted down changes to an undemocratic voting system proposed for future Senedd elections.

Senedd polls from 2026 would use a so-called closed list-system which would see the electorate voting for parties rather than specific candidates.

Concerns have been raised that this places too much power in the hands of political parties which would decide the order of their candidates on eight-name lists for each constituency.

Opposition MSs proposed moving to a flexible-list system to give people more say  with candidates receiving more than 10% of their partys votes leaping to the top of the list.

But the Conservative proposal, backed by the Liberal Democrats, was defeated 40-16 during a heated debate on amendments to the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) bill.

Darren Millar warned that closed lists amount to a power grab by political parties, which would dictate the order of candidates and determine those most likely to be elected.

Hugely detrimental

Calling for greater voter choice, the Conservatives shadow constitution minister said: It is a hugely detrimental step for Welsh democracy.

Mr Millar argued closed lists would result in a parliament where MSs loyalty to their political party would trump the interests of their constituents.

He said: Party whips on the Labour and Plaid benches will force members to vote for it  even if it is against their better judgement.

Mr Millar accused Plaid Cymru of rolling over to Labours demands and slavishly voting in lockstep with the Welsh Government.

Addressing the Plaid Cymru benches, he said: Youre prepared to kowtow to the Labour party as the little lap dogs that we have seen over the years in this chamber.

I would have thought and hoped that youd have a better backbone than that frankly.

Stitch-up

Jane Dodds, an advocate of the single transferable vote (STV), which would allow voters to number candidates, said Senedd committees heard no evidence in favour of closed lists.

The Lib Dems leader in Wales told the chamber: We heard time after time after time that closed-list systems put power in the hands of the party, not the people.

Backing calls for a flexible-list system, Ms Dodds said the landmark bill represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revolutionise democracy in Wales.

She told MSs that experts have roundly criticised closed lists as undemocratic, reducing voter choice and autonomy over candidate selection.

Ms Dodds warned that Wales would be an outlier, disconnected from democratic norms, with voter empowerment and candidate accountability glaringly missing.

She said: This proposal has all the hallmarks of a backroom deal  a stitch-up decided behind closed doors  designed to present closed lists as a fait accompli.

Compromise

Plaid Cymru committed to the single transferable vote in its 2021 Senedd election manifesto and Heledd Fychan said her party continues to favour STV or a flexible-list system.

She told the chamber: This is a compromise  collaboration, finding the middle ground for the benefit of our communities  there is nothing secretive about that  this shows maturity.

Ms Fychan stressed the priority is to ensure that the bold reforms are in place by 2026, with a meaningful review to consider further changes to the electoral system by 2030.

She pointed out that the first-past-the-post system used to elect MPs in Westminster, in reality, sees voters choosing from a closed list of one candidate selected by a party.

Ms Fychan said: The idea that the particular kind of proportional representation provided for in this bill is the end of democracy in Wales or the end of devolution is an overstatement.

Supermajority

Mick Antoniw, Wales constitution minister, said the closed-list system can command the necessary supermajority of two-thirds support to pass through the Senedd.

The member in charge of the bill, which would increase the number of MSs from 60 to 96, argued the proposed system would ensure that every vote counts.

He said: Firstly, it represents a much more democratic and fairer system. It is an enormous improvement on the system that we have at the moment.

And, secondly, it provides an opportunity and a mechanism where the experience we have in 2026 can be reviewed.

The objective above all else: if we dont have a two-thirds majority then nothing changes.

Alun Davies, a Labour backbencher, said: It is right and proper that we find common ground with each other to make improvements and strengthen our democracy.

Recall and vacant seats

The Senedd rejected a Conservative amendment which would have introduced a mechanism for voters to remove MSs between elections by signing a recall petition.

Labour and Plaid Cymru said the standards committee will be undertaking work on accountability and recalling members by the end of this Senedd term.

Conservative amendments to close a loophole allowing second home owners to stand in Senedd elections and introduce a 21-day grace period for disqualification both fell.

Members agreed a Tory amendment on powers for Welsh ministers to increase the number of ministers in future, without going through the full parliamentary scrutiny process.

The power will now be subject to a two-thirds supermajority rather than a simple majority.

Lib-Dem calls for a by-elections to be held for vacant seats which would not otherwise be filled were voted down but agreement was reached on ensuring names are on ballot papers.

The stage-two debate continued on March 6.

By Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter

[email protected]
Senedd electoral reform and expansion plans wont be put to referendum

MSs rejected calls for the public to be given the final say on contentious plans to expand the Senedd and change the electoral system.

Labour, Plaid Cymru and the Lib Dems voted down a Conservative amendment for a referendum on the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) bill.

Under the bill, the size of the Senedd would increase from 60 to 96 members and a full form of proportional representation would be used in elections from 2026.

The 32 constituencies that will be used in the next general election will be combined to create 16 for the next Senedd poll, with each returning six members.

Darren Millar, the shadow constitution minister, argued the overwhelming majority of the public do not support expanding the Senedd nor changing its electoral system.

No mandate

The Conservative disputed claims there is a clear public mandate for the reforms as he criticised scant references to Senedd reform in Labour and Plaid Cymru manifestos.

He accused Plaid Cymru of abandoning a commitment to pursue the single transferable vote electoral system, which would allow voters to rank candidates.

Mr Millar said: It is abundantly clear that neither Labour nor Plaid Cymru voters at the last Senedd elections have given the green light for the reforms this bill seeks to introduce.

He pointed out that the Conservative-led UK Government held a referendum on scrapping Westminsters first-past-the-post system in favour of the alternative vote (AV) in 2011.

Mr Millar argued the planned closed-list voting system, which would see the electorate voting for parties rather than specific candidates, would prove even more unpopular than AV.

Frightened

He told the chamber: The reality is youre all frightened of a referendum because you know full well that those proposals would be roundly rejected by the people of Wales.

Mike Hedges, a Labour backbencher, pointed out there was no vote on the method of election for police and crime commissioners or mayors in England.

Heledd Fychan, for Plaid Cymru, told the chamber more than 63% of the vote in the 2021 election went to parties that had committed to Senedd reform.

She said: It is beyond any reasonable doubt that there is a democratic mandate.

Ms Fychan said there was no referendum on reducing the number of Welsh MPs from 40 to 32, and the UK Government resisted calls for a public vote on its Brexit deal.

Crocodile tears

Alun Davies, a Labour backbencher, who represents Blaenau Gwent, accused the Conservatives of crying crocodile tears about Welsh democracy.

He said: If they respected Welsh democracy, we wouldnt have seen the erosion of the powers of this place week after week, month after month.

Mick Antoniw, the member in charge of the bill, said a compelling case for reform has been made in expert reports, which have been endorsed by three of the four political parties.

Wales constitution minister pointed out that hundreds of new members have been appointed to the House of Lords without a referendum.

Mr Antoniw told MSs the Wales Act 2017, which gave the Senedd control over its electoral system for the first time, does not include any referendum requirement.

Grossly unfair

Mr Millar also raised concerns about the unacceptable potential for a 10% variance in the size of Senedd constituencies from 2030, which is twice that allowed at Westminster.

He said from 2026 all Senedd constituencies will have about 147,000 electors, aside from whichever is paired with the protected Ynys Mon constituency.

Mr Millar explained that the paired Ynys Mon seat could have up to 25,000 fewer electors.

The Tory warned that from 2030 it will be possible for constituencies to vary in size by 30,000 electors or more, which he described as grossly unfair and inappropriate.

He said: In the interests of fairness and equality of representation for all citizens of Wales, it is important that all MSs represent a similar number of constituents.

Artificial

Ms Fychan raised concerns about artificial quotas and unintended consequences, pointing to the example of the new Brecon, Radnor and Cwmtawe seat at Westminster.

The Plaid Cymru MS said: If there must be a quota then we must include as much flexibility as possible rather than bind the boundary commissions hands.

Similarly, Mr Antoniw said introducing a smaller variance than 10% would mean more changes in Senedd constituency boundaries between 2026 and 2030.

He pointed out that there is no numerical limit in Scotland as he stressed the importance of flexibility to respond to matters such as geography and local ties.

MSs voted down the Tory amendment which would have halved variance to 5%.

Following the two-day stage-two debate on March 5 and 6, the bill now moves onto stage three  which will see further amendments debated and is expected to be held in late April.

By Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter

[email protected]
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on the official emblem of the Security Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

According to the decree, the provision of the official emblem of the Security Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the description of the official emblem of the Security Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan were approved.

Will be updated

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
The landslide election of George Galloway as MP for Rochdale in a campaign based mainly on opposition to the genocide in Gaza highlights the dangers posed to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer ahead of a general election. Galloways victory expressed the enormous opposition that exists among workers and young people to the Labour and Tory parties collusion with and support for Israels criminal assault.

Of essential significance for the political development of this growing anti-war movement is the exposure of Jeremy Corbyns bankrupt combination of opposition to Israels genocide against the Palestinians with an abject refusal to mount his own political challenge against Starmer and the Labour Party.

Jeremy Corbyn speaking at the London rally against Israel's genocide, February 3, 2024

Speaking to Not the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Galloway made an extended pitch for a Corbyn-led socialist alliance:

I dont know why he [Corbyn] has procrastinated so long in making a final, total break with Labour and leading something himself. If he was here now, I would say to him, you saw what happened last night, set up, announce an alliance of the remaining socialists in the country. You lead it, Ill support it, you be the leader, and lets go. Time is running out; the general election might be three months from now.

And I wish I knew why he had procrastinated, because if he had left Labour at the moment that he should have, at the peak of his powers, hed have taken a couple of hundred thousand people with him, and thats a force, you know, not many parties in Europe have a force like that.

He could have led it, and he must avoid being a wasting asset. He is a very considerable asset, and everyone loves him, but he should be very careful that he doesnt waste the remaining opportunity that exists.

If he wont then we will, well run ourselves, well support independents where we dont ourselves, and well do that, but well be weaker because of the absence of Jeremy Corbyn at the head of it.

Screenshot of still from video of George Galloway speaking on the Not the Andrew Marr Show [Photo: Not the Andrew Marr Show/YouTube]

Corbyn gave his answer to this offer the next day.

On winning their seat in parliament, new MPs are required to be escorted into the House of Commons by two fellow MPs to swear allegiance to the monarch. Galloway had indicated his expectation that the former Labour leader would join him. But Corbyn absented himself from the chamber and observed a complete silence on the matter. Galloway apologised on his behalf: Jeremy Corbyn was supposed to be my sponsor but then he realised he had a long-standing commitment.

Prior commitments remembered at the last minute ahead of politically difficult moments are something of a trend with Corbyn. Another occasion in 2016 saw him miss a vote on a motion calling for an investigation into Tony Blair for misleading parliament over the Iraq War.

Nor was any other Labour member on hand to escort Galloway. Galloway was instead partnered with Conservative Sir Peter Bottomley, who stepped in as required as Father of the House because no one else would, and Neale Hanvey of the Scottish nationalist Alba Party.

There are many valid reasons not to form a political alliance with George Galloway and his Workers Party of Great Britain. He espouses a nationalist populism, rooted in his Stalinist political history and rejection of the revolutionary role of the international working class, which has seen him denounce mass immigration, share platforms with Nigel Farage and Steve Bannon, and even attempt to run for Farages Brexit Party.

The political bedrock of such manoeuvres is his advocacy of a left-right alliance. This is advanced as the basis for defending a supposed British national interest, whether by advocating for Brexit or for the UK not to follow US imperialism in waging wars such as Iraq and Ukraine and instead take a reduced position within a new multipolar world dominated by China.

None of these are the determining reason for Corbyns rejection of Galloways hand of friendship. He wants to make absolutely clear his continuing refusal to launch a movement opposed to the Labour Party, even as he appears on innumerable platforms pledging to oppose the Gaza genocide that Starmers party defends to the hilt.

Galloway has said his partys job is to take chunks out of Labour, and its our intention to replace Labour. His candidates, he boasts of a potential 90, will stand in seats against Labour to win or make sure that Keir Starmer doesnt win. He specifically named Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayners constituency as a target. He also pledged support for other electoral challenges.

This is anathema to Corbyn, who was opposed to unseating right-wing Labour MPs even when the party membership organised to do so during his leadership. His likely stand as an Independent for his Islington North constituency against a Labour candidate is a purely personal exception, a necessity forced upon him while he continues to defend the Labour and trade union bureaucracy from his enforced political exile.

The immediate implications of Corbyns loyalty to the Labour right were highlighted by the response in the last days to Galloways deputy in the Workers Party, Chris Williamson. Immediately following Galloways Rochdale victory in the early hours of March 1, a BBC reporter challenged Williamson over whether he would condemn the October 7 incursion into Israel by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups. Williamson replied that the two main parties have not condemned or indeed called for a ceasefire; they have not condemned the Israeli regimes activities.

Under repeated questioning, he added, You can't expect to live in a situation where people have been oppressed for 75 years and not expect a reaction What about the Palestinian people that had been massacred over nearly 76 years now actually? Where is the media outrage at that. What do you expect? In international law oppressed peoples have an absolute right to armed resistance

That night, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gave his televised address outside 10 Downing Street denouncing Galloways election as beyond alarming and proposing a raft of attacks on Gaza genocide demonstrators portrayed as violent extremists and a threat to our democracy.

Tory MP David Davis, who sells himself as a defender of free speech, had agreed to escort Galloway into parliament. But with the witch-hunt of Muslim and left-wing protesters kicked into a new gear, he withdrew after declaring that Williamson had crossed the line.

Williamson, a former Labour MP, was expelled from Labour for trying to defend Corbyn against the antisemitism witch-hunt. Corbyn refused to defend him in return. Nothing has changed. Davis says openly what Corbyn makes clear in practiceWilliamson and Galloway have crossed the line and neither they nor anyone else targeted for attack can expect any fight from him in their defence.

This is the real political character of the man Galloway and others still portray as a socialist tribune. It is why Corbyn has procrastinated so long in breaking with the Labour Party, because he understood very well that he would have taken hundreds of thousands with him.

Galloway still makes his pitch to Corbyn because, apart from a willingness to break organisationally with the Labour Party, they are kindred political spirits who seek to prevent the working class from drawing revolutionary conclusions about British capitalism and imperialism. They stand for an exclusively parliamentary orientation, advising the ruling class to moderate its worst excesses. Throughout his career outside the Labour Party, Galloway has presented himself as real Labour and a challenge to the Labour Party to rediscover its supposed values.

The Socialist Equality Party has systematically exposed Corbyns slavish support for the Labour Party, his abandonment of opposition to NATO and Britains nuclear weapons while leader, and numerous other retreats. By combating political illusions in Corbyn and the chimera of a left rebirth of the Labour Party, we fought to create the basis for a genuine socialist alternative.

Today the mass movement against the Gaza genocide is radicalising ever broader layers of workers, above all the younger generation. They will come to understand the urgent necessity for the building of a genuinely independent socialist party and the industrial and political mobilisation of the working class in Britain and around the world against the Tory government, its Labour accomplices and all their international counterparts.
For the 21st successive week, thousands of workers and young people attended rallies across Australia last weekend to protest Israels barbaric assault on Palestinians in Gaza. Reporters for the World Socialist Web Site spoke to some of those who demonstrated in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Newcastle. The video interviews are below.

Join the fight for socialism
More than 22,000 artists of every possible description, and figures in related professions, signed a petition calling for the exclusion of Israel from the Venice Biennale, the international cultural exhibition, which runs from April 20 to November 24. The signatories assert that platforming art representing a state engaged in ongoing atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza is unacceptable. No Genocide Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Biennale officials have rejected the appeal out of hand.

The lengthy global list includes designers, architects, visual artists, dancers, writers, museum workers, art students, curators, art historians, publishers, musicians, filmmakers, photographers, journalists, videographers, researchers, educators, costume designers and many others.

ANGA poster

The Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) open letter refers to the International Court of Justices affirmation that Israel is plausibly committing genocide and continues, Israels months- and in fact many-decades-long assault on Gaza continues regardless, while its leaders proclaim they are above International Law and boldly advertise their genocidal intent.

ANGA notes that the Biennale discouraged apartheid South African from exhibiting from 1950 to 1968, and in the latter year officially banned the racist regime, a prohibition that lasted until 1993. The appeal further comments that the Biennale and its curator issued various statements of support for Ukraine in 2022 and blocked the presence at any of its events of official delegations, institutions or persons tied in any capacity to the Russian government.

The statement continues strongly:

The Biennale has been silent about Israels atrocities against Palestinians. We are appalled by this double standard. Israels assault on Gaza constitutes one of the most intense bombardments in history. By the end of October 2023 Israel had already fired tonnes [metric tons] of explosives on Gaza equal in force to the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. In January 2024 it was reported that the daily death rate in Gaza exceeds that of any other major conflict in the 21st century.

The open letter describes the statement by the Israeli pavilion curators and artist, Ruth Patir, about the necessity of art in dark times and the need for a pocket of free expression and creation as another double standard.

The protesting artists insist that:

Euphemisms cannot erase violent truths. Any work that officially represents the state of Israel is an endorsement of its genocidal policies. There is no free expression for the Palestinian poets, artists, and writers murdered, silenced, imprisoned, tortured, and prevented from travelling abroad or internally by Israel...There is no free expression in the war crime of cultural genocide.

In response to plans for the Israeli installation, Fertility Pavilion, reflecting on contemporary motherhood, the open letter points out that Israel has murdered more than 12,000 children and destroyed access to reproductive care and medical facilities. As a result, Palestinian women have C-sections without anaesthetic and give birth in the street.

The Israeli pavilion in Venice [Photo by Orietta.sberla / CC BY-SA 3.0

The list of signatories includes American photographer Nan Goldin, British visual artist Jesse Darling, who won the Turner Prize last year, Moroccan artist Yto Barrada, British artist and writer Hannah Black, Basel-based performance artist Sophie Jung, the Italian curatorial platform LOCALES Project and Karachi Biennale CEO Niilofur Farrukh. Hyperallergic writes that the ANGA signers include prominent art world figures, past and present Biennale exhibitors, and curators and cultural workers, both Palestinians and Israelis, among them Carolina Caycedo, Michael Rakowitz, Rehana Zaman and the British-Palestinian artist Rosalind Nashashibi, known for her celebrated film Electric Gaza (2015).

Among the thousands of protesting artists and cultural workers, Hyperallergic adds, 471 have previously worked at or participated in the Venice Biennale, including artists Sin Wai Kin, who was featured in the 2019 edition, and Sophia Al-Maria, who was selected for the events 2022 Special Project.

Artnet reports that the appeal has also been signed by the Palestine Museum U.S., which had its proposal for Foreigners in their Homeland, an exhibition showcasing work by 24 Palestinian artists, rejected by the Biennale as an official collateral event. The show will go ahead at Venices Palazzo Mora as an unofficial collateral event, opening on April 20.

Venice Biennale grounds (Venice Biennale)

The New York Times was pleased to report February 28 that the Biennale had rebuffed the call for Israels exclusion. According to the Times, exhibition officials, in a statement, asserted that any country recognized by Italy could request to participate. The Biennale would not take into consideration any petition or call to exclude countries, it added.

Italys far-right culture minister issued a provocative and reactionary statement. Outrageously, Gennaro Sangiuliano, Italys culture minister, claimed that Israel not only has the right to express its art, but it has the duty to bear witness to its people precisely at a time like this when it has been ruthlessly struck by merciless terrorists. Sangiuliano added, in a comment dripping with hypocrisy, that the Venice Art Biennale will always be a space of freedom, encounter and dialogue and not a space of censorship and intolerance.

Sangiuliano belongs to a government headed by fascist Giorgia Meloni. As Deadline wrote at the time of his appointment as culture minister, Sangiuliano has never hidden his right-wing political sympathies. Like Meloni, he was a member of the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI party) in his youth. These are Israels defenders.

The Brooklyn Museum and PEN America came in for criticism this week for their silence on a Gaza ceasefire. According to Hyperallergic, filmmakers Michele Stephenson and Joe Brewster and writers Nikki Giovanni and Doreen St. Felix withdrew from an event planned for March 1, in which they were scheduled to feature, in protest.

In place of the event, a film screening followed by a talk, activists distributed leaflets to visitors asking, How many more Palestinians will die before the Brooklyn Museum breaks its silence? The leaflet encouraged visitors to demand the museum issue a statement, according to a joint post by Palestinian advocacy collective Museum and Culture Workers Coalition for Palestine (MCWC), Art Against Displacement (AAD), and arts activist group Decentralize Culture. (Hyperallergic)

In recent months, pro-Palestinian activists have scrutinized the Brooklyn Museums corporate relationships over funders financial links to Israeli weapons manufacturing and settlements in Palestine, the online publication added. As opposed to the museums officialdom, Brooklyn Museum staff have already made their own call for a ceasefire, published in a November 12 missive asking the institution to make a public statement on Gaza.

PEN America, headed by pro-Zionist Suzanne Nossel, former vice president of strategy and operations for the Wall Street Journal and US State Department official, has become notorious for its refusal to denounce Israels crimes. The organization occasionally issues toothless statements about the need to oppose censorship and defend freedom of expression.

Typically, PEN America opens its statement, Free Expression and the Israel-Hamas War, by arguing that the most recent war between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7, 2023, with Hamas murderous attack on civilians in Israel, including the taking of hostages and the targeting of an open-air music festival. The very notion that this is a war between one of the most heavily armed countries in the world, with advanced and lethal weaponry provided by American imperialism and all its predator-allies, and Hamas, is an obscenity. This is a one-sided and sadistically murderous assault on a virtually defenseless population, resulting already in 100,000 dead, missing or wounded.

The claim of even-handedness in the face of Israels mass slaughter of Palestinians (The profiles on this page are of writers, artists, journalists, and thinkers caught in the violence of war between Israel and Hamas) is sickening and deserves to be denounced. PEN America is little more than an extension of the US state and its various operations.
In a notable but little reported development, a team of lawyers from the Birchgrove Legal firm in Sydney this week referred Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Labor Party government to the International Criminal Court (ICC) under an accusation of complicity in the Gaza genocide. The action, they state, has been endorsed by more than one hundred lawyers, as well as members of the community, including those of Palestinian background.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with Foreign Minister Penny Wong, on the right, at ASEAN Special Summit in Melbourne, March 6. [Photo: X/Twitter @AlboMP]

To the extent that the case has been referenced in the media, the coverage has largely been dismissive. The unlikelihood of the ICC examining an action brought by a private legal firm has been noted. The international court is not only ineffectual but is deeply compromised by its close alignment with American imperialism and its military operations.

The referral, though, has an undeniable significance. It appears to be the first time that a legal complaint of complicity in genocide has been levelled against an Australian prime minister.

Whatever action may or may not follow, moreover, the meticulous 92-page legal brief is an unanswerable indictment. Under conditions where the Labor government is seeking to distance itself from the consequences of Israels crimes, including by shedding crocodile tears over mass civilian deaths, the brief demonstrates that Australia has supported the Zionist onslaught, politically, diplomatically and materially.

In a press release, the lawyers stated that they had written to the government twice, warning that Albanese and his cabinet were encouraging and supporting war crimes by Israel against the Palestinians. Both communications were ignored. The lawyers also noted that under Australian law, international crimes can only be prosecuted domestically with the approval of the attorney-general. Given that the chief law officer is a senior member of the government, this is a clear conflict of interest.

The brief cites the Genocide Convention, which defines that crime as any of a series of acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, including: Killing members of the group; Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part

Meeting the legal threshold requires proof of intent on the part of the perpetrator. The brief cites extensively comments by senior Israeli leaders establishing that intent. This began with a statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on October 7, the day of the Palestinian military uprising, which read All of the places which Hamas is deployed, hiding and operating in, that wicked city, we will turn them into rubble.

Perhaps the most useful and damning aspect of the brief is an annexure entitled Israeli statements and actions and Australian Minister replies. In a detailed, day by day chronology, it juxtaposes statements such as that made by Netanyahu, along with the carpet bombing and war crimes committed by Israel, with the responses of senior members of the Labor government.

For instance, the entry for October 16 noted that in a speech to the Israeli Parliament, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: This is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle. He also tweeted this quote but removed it after significant backlash. To that point, the brief notes, at least 1,000 children had been killed in Gaza, and more than 60 health facilities targeted.

On the same day, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong proclaimed: Australia stands with Israel, and always will. Responding to the reports of mass civilian deaths, Wong effectively defended the Israeli onslaught and blamed the victims, trotting out the line of human shields, which the lawyers point out has no basis in international law.

The brief records that on October 19, Israeli forces operating a US-provided Apache helicopter indiscriminately opened fire on a group of civilians, mostly children. The next day, Prime Minister Albanese responded The responsibility for what is happening now rests firmly with Hamas and the actions they have taken.

The chronology, extending throughout October, documents multiple other instances of gross Israeli crimes and enunciations of genocidal intent, coupled with a carte blanche endorsement from Labor. The irrefutable conclusion is that the Labor leaders were well aware that a genocide, involving the mass murder of civilians and the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure, was underway and chose to support it.

The brief explains that Australias backing for the genocide has extended beyond the provision of political and diplomatic, to active material involvement. This includes:

Since 2017, Australia has approved 322 defence exports to Israel, including 49 permits for Israel-bound exports in 2022 and 23 in the first three months of 2023, which may cover both military-specific goods and also dual-use devices. The contents are hidden behind national security provisions.

Australia is a member in the Lockheed-Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter global supply program and part of the global supply chain No bombs could be dropped on Gaza by an F-35 without parts manufactured for the F-35s by Melbourne company, Rosebank Engineering (RUAG Australia). Other firms are also involved.

Other material support provided by Australia includes a dispatch of a significant contingent of troops and two aircraft to the Middle East amid the ongoing Israeli attack on Gaza.

Further, Australians have been permitted by the Federal Government, whether explicitly or implicitly, to travel to Israel to join the IDF and its attacks on Gaza. Australian citizens are banned from serving in any foreign defence force, aside from that of Israel.

During the Premiership of Prime Minister Albanese, Australia also appears to have provided not insignificant intelligence assistance to Israel. The US-run Pine Gap surveillance base, located outside of Alice Springs in Australias Northern Territory, collects an enormous range of communications and electronic intelligence from the Gaza-Israel battlefielddata which is then provided to the IDF and which may aid its campaign in Gaza. The role of Pine Gap was revealed by Declassified Australia in November, and has been buried by the official media ever since.

Australia has supported Israels genocidal intentions in the Gaza Strip by suspending key humanitarian support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which supports Palestinians across the Occupied Territories. That move, based on now discredited Israeli allegations, means Australia is a direct party in the use of starvation against the Palestinians as a means of ethnically-cleansing them.

In arguing for the ICC to pursue a case of complicity in genocide against the government, the brief summarises its argument. Australia has supplied Israel with military equipment, intelligence data, and significant and ongoing political support. Prominently, one of the most steadfast points of rhetorical and political support that Australia has provided to Israel concerns the posited right to self-defence that Israel allegedly has in perpetrating these attacks against Palestinians in Gaza. As demonstrated by Australian ministerial public statements, the Australian government has defended Israels genocidal actions against Palestinians in Gaza on the basis of Israels right to self-defence.

The response from the government has been utterly contemptuous. Albanese, speaking as vaguely as he possibly could, said there has been substantial amounts of misinformation about what is occurring. The legal brief had no credibility going forward. Turning reality on its head, Albanese presented the government as a partisan of an immediate ceasefire, and as having been motivated throughout the conflict by humanitarian principles. The brief itself shows those assertions to be bald-faced lies.

Albaneses response again underscores the impossibility of ending the genocide through appeals to or pressure being placed upon the governments that have facilitated this historic war crime. In their support for the mass murder of civilians, these governments have shown that there is no red line they will not cross. As in the 1930s, capitalism and its political representatives offer a future of carnage and catastrophe.

The full brief can be accessed here.
The leader of the Turkish Workers Party (TIP) and Istanbul deputy Erkan Bas has announced that he will be his partys candidate for mayor of the Gebze district of Kocaeli in the local elections to be held on March 31. Bass campaign makes it clear that TIP, whatever its name, is in reality not oriented towards the working class but towards the bourgeoisie and the trade union bureaucracy.

Erkan Bas during his visit to Gebze Branch of Turkish Metal Union [Photo: @TipGebze]

In his statement on social media, Bas said the following: The meaning of TIPs candidacy is to take responsibility, to put your hand under the stone. I share the responsibility that I expect from my friends and I declare my candidacy from Gebze, the biggest labor basin of our country.

This is purely demagogic. The TIP is not running an election campaign based on raising the consciousness of the working class and youth and mobilizing them against the ruling class and imperialism, in the face of such fundamental problems as the danger of a nuclear war escalated by the USA/NATO against Russia, the genocide in Gaza, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the danger of earthquakes.

On the contrary, the entire electoral campaign of the TIP is based on unprincipled horse-trading for seats with the Kemalist Republican Peoples Party (CHP), the Kurdish nationalist Peoples Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) and various pseudo-left parties, and serves to politically disarm the working class and youth.

The CHP and the DEM party did not put up a mayoral candidate in Gebze and supported Bas. The TIP participated in last years parliamentary elections in alliance with the DEM Party and supported Kemal Klcdaroglu, the candidate of the CHP-led National Alliance, in the presidential elections.

The TIP recently reached an agreement with the right-wing bourgeois CHP for the local elections. CHP leader Ozgur Ozel summarized this unprincipled alliance:

We worked with TIP as follows. They did not nominate candidates in places where the CHP was running neck-and-neck and where there was a risk of losing.

Erkan Bas ran for the mayor in Gebze which is a district with a large working-class population. We support him there.

But in Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, in the districts and in the places where the TIP did not nominate a candidate and where we are competing, the TIP voters will support the Republican Peoples Party in return for this gesture in Gebze.

The right-wing character of the CHP, which Bas thanked for supporting his campaign and which is supported by the TIP and numerous pseudo-left groups in major provinces such as Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, was clearly demonstrated on Wednesday in a rally speech by Burcu Koksal, the CHPs deputy group leader and candidate for mayor of Afyonkarahisar.

If I am elected mayor, the doors of Afyonkarahisar Municipality will be open to all political parties except the DEM party, Koksal said, expressing her open hostility towards Kurds.

In the same speech, she threatened, I will send the Syrians out of Afyonkarahisar, no questions asked.

Koksal's far-right campaign against Syrian refugees and Kurds is not an aberration, but a continuation of former CHP leader Klcdaroglus campaign in the presidential elections. Klcdaroglu formed an anti-refugee and anti-Kurdish alliance with the fascist Zafer Party in the second round of the elections, while the DEM Party and the TIP continued to support him.

Bass visits after declaring his candidacy also clearly show that his party is oriented towards the bourgeoisie and the trade union bureaucracy and not the working class. Last week, as part of his election campaign, he visited the KBS Mold Fastening Systems factory in Gebze, with the permission of the companys management. The video posted on X/Twitter shows a member of the management introducing Bas to the workers.

In the video, this person says, It is a great privilege for us to have him with us today, sharing our meal. I thank him for that... This is also an advertisement for us, before giving the floor to Bas.

In his speech, Bas made it clear that his partys campaign is based on an alliance with two bourgeois parties (CHP and DEM) and promotes the pseudo-left lie that the capitalist system can be reformed.

They have turned people against each other with false and erroneous polarizations, Bas said, criticizing both the Erdogan government and the CHP-led opposition and thanking the CHP and the DEM party for supporting him.

Repeating the lie that all capitalist establishment parties repeat in general and local elections, If you vote for us, your situation will improve, Bas continued, If you want to change, if you want to beautify, if you want to live well, if you want to make Gebze an example for Turkey, if you think that we can realize an exemplary municipalism in Gebze not only for Turkey but for the world, March 31 is an opportunity to take your destiny into your own hands.

For the first time in Turkey, workers can govern a large distirct like Gebze. We became candidates to show this.

The next visit demonstrated the TIPs orientation not towards the working class but towards the trade union bureaucracy that stands against it. Bas visited the Gebze branch of the Turkish Metal Union, which is mainly responsible for the wage and social losses of metalworkers and whose members rebelled by occupying factories in 2015.

Earlier this year, Turk Metal, together with the DISK-affiliated Birlesik Metal-Is, signed a sellout contract one day before the announced strike date of some 160,000 metal workers.

The TIP is neither a working-class nor a socialist party. Like the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), a faction of the Democratic Party in the USA, it acts as a so-called left extension of the CHP and the DEM party in Turkey. Its function is to try to keep the growing opposition among the working class and youth, which is turning to the left, within the limits of the capitalist order represented by parliament, local governments and the trade unions.

TIPs adaptation to the politics of the bourgeois order was also reflected in the way it opened its doors to the politicians of these parties. Many people who had been officials of or candidates for various parties across the country, such as The Kemalist CHP, the far-right Good Party, the Democratic Left Party (DSP), which supported Erdogan in last years elections, the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), which broke away from the AKP, and Erdogans de facto ally the Vatan Party, were running for the TIP in the local elections.

There is an inseparable connection between the TIPs orientation towards the two bourgeois parties and their pro-NATO imperialist character. Last year, TIP deputies did not participate in the vote on Finlands membership in NATO, signaling that they could be a reliable ally like Syriza in Greece, Podemos in Spain or the Left Party in Germany.

The attitude of the TIP towards the genocide carried out by Israel in Gaza with the support of the USA and NATO is not very different. This genocidal war, which the Erdogan government feeds by continuing to trade with Israel, has never been on the main agenda of the TIP. This is because consistently opposing the genocide in Gaza would require mobilizing the working class and youth against US-NATO imperialism, Zionism and the entire bourgeois political establishment in Turkey.
On Monday, documents connected with the settlement of a Wisconsin lawsuit were released revealing important details about the plan by Donald Trump and his supporters to keep the Republican president in the White house by overturning the results of the 2020 elections.

The more than 1,400 pages of emails, text messages and other documents were made public from a civil case against attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Jim Troupis, along with 10 Wisconsin Republicans who agreed to be fake electors. The case was settled in late February.

Kenneth Chesebro sits with his attorney Manny Arora during a hearing where Chesebro accepted a plea deal from the Fulton County District Attorney in front of Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee at the Fulton County Courthouse Friday, Oct. 20, 2023 in Atlanta. [AP Photo/Alyssa Pointer]

The contents of the documents show that, starting five days after the presidential election on November 3, 2020, Chesebro began communicating with the former Wisconsin judge, Troupis, about a scheme to use litigation and the appointment of alternative electors to block the certification of Joe Biden as president.

Trump campaign attorney Jim Troupis speaks during a Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee hearing to discuss election security and the 2020 election process, Dec. 16, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. [AP Photo/Jim Lo Scalzo]

The new documents show that the fascist mob assault on the US Capitol on January 6 was the culmination of a carefully worked out strategy that began immediately after Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election.

The strategy involved filing a barrage of court cases alleging systemic abuses, dragging out the legal process to create a cloud of confusion, especially in the battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, then pushing for slates of fake electors to be endorsed by state legislators so as to flip the states from Biden to Trump.

In an email to Troupis dated November 19, 2020, Chesebro wrote that the Trump lawyers should pursue a shot at having two bites at the applelitigate, hoping to ultimately win by January 6, but also use delay in litigation to try to win in the state legislature on December 8.

According to federal election rules, states must resolve all election-related disputes by what is known as the Safe Harbor Deadline, which was December 8, 2020. Six days later, electors had to meet in each state to cast their votes on paper ballots for president and vice president of the United States.

The purpose of the Trump elector scheme was to create and submit fraudulent certificates that falsely asserted he had won the electoral college vote in the states where the disruption efforts were being conducted. In the end, Trump supporters attempted to change electoral votes in seven key states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, Nevada and New Mexico.

As described by the New York Times, Taken together, the documents show in new detail how the Trump campaigns litigation strategy was not designed to win in court as much as it was designed to give cover for their political efforts.

Some of the documents refer to a meeting of Troupis, Chesebro and Trump in the Oval Office on December 15, 2020. The meeting was arranged by Republican Party official and former Trump Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

In one message to Troupis before the meeting, Chesebro wrote: Pretty clear national people realize this wouldnt be happening if you and Reince and others hadnt pushed it! Indicating the secretive nature of the discussion with Trump, Troupis wrote to Chesebro after the meeting, Reince was very explicit in his admonition that nothing about our meeting with the President can be shared with anyone.

Revealing the way the court cases were to be used to overturn the electoral vote process in multiple states, Chesebro wrote in an email on December 26, If Georgia is pending before the Supreme Court on January 6, a fairly boss move would be for [Vice President Mike] Pence, when he gets to Georgia, to simply decline to open any of the Georgia envelopes. Here Chesebro was referring to the vice-presidents normally ceremonial role in presiding over the joint session of Congress that officially certifies the Electoral College vote, which was set for January 6, 2021.

In a message to Chesebro at 11:04 am during the January 6 insurrection, Troupis wrote, Enjoy the history you have made possible today.

The lawsuit in Wisconsin was filed against the Republican conspirators by the progressive law firm Law Forward and Georgetown University Law Centers Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection on behalf of a group of Democratic Party electors and Wisconsin voters.

Mary McCord, the director of Georgetowns Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, said of the settlement and its connection to the January 6 fascist riot, As these documents show, the fraudulent electors plot originated in Wisconsin, with Trump campaign attorney James Troupis and legal adviser Ken Chesebro concocting the scheme that ultimately provided the false narrative used by the rioters to justify the attack on the Capitol.

In settling their portion of the civil lawsuit in December, the 10 fake Trump electors acknowledged that Biden won the state of Wisconsin, withdrew their filings and agreed not to serve as presidential electors in 2024 or any other election where Trump is on the ballot.

Additionally, the fake electors agreed to send a statement to the government offices that received the Electoral College votes saying that their actions were part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

Troupis and Chesebro did not have admit any wrongdoing or liability for the scheme. They simply had to agree not to engage in similar election activities in the future, including not participating in schemes to advance slates of false electors. The settlement also included a payment to the plaintiffs of an undisclosed amount.

Following the release of the documents, Troupis issued a defiant statement saying he agreed to the settlement to avoid endless litigation, and nothing in todays settlement constitutes an admission of fault, nor should it. Meanwhile, as a reward for services rendered and for avoiding criminal prosecution, Troupis was reappointed to the Judicial Conduct Advisory Committee for another two-year term by the Wisconsin Supreme Court on March 2.

Thus, the man who was a key mastermind behind Donald Trumps criminal months-long post-election drive to overturn the 2020 presidential election is now responsible for rendering formal advisory opinions and giving informal advice to judges and judicial officers governed by the Code of Judicial Conduct.

For his part, Chesebro had already pled guilty in October to a felony count of conspiracy to file false documents in the case brought by the Fulton County (Georgia) prosecutor against 19 people in connection with the fake elector scheme in Georgia.

Powell, Ellis, Chesebro and Hall have all pleaded guilty and agreed to turn state's witness.

When asked by the New York Times about the revelations, Reince Priebus, who appears regularly as a Republican-aligned pundit on ABC News This Week program, declined to comment. The Times report said, A person familiar with his [Priebus] actions said that he had recommended Mr. Troupis as a lawyer in Wisconsin, his home state, to the Trump campaign, but was not involved in the day-to-day of the legal efforts.

Summing up the significance of the documents, Georgetowns Mary McCord said, This all came out of Wisconsin and expanded to other states. That was a significant part of the narrative that led to the violence on January 6.
On Wednesday, the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration has worked to hide weapons transfers for use in Gaza by splitting them up into over 100 separate transactions falling below a minimum threshold for reporting to Congress.

Smoke and debris rise following an explosion in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. [AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg]

The exposure of the Biden administrations surreptitious arms transfers to Israel makes clear that it is a key participant in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people carried out by Israel that has already killed more than 35,000 people.

To date, the Biden administration has only made public two sales of weapons to Israel since the start of the genocide: a $106 million shipment of tank ammunition and $147.5 million worth of components for artillery shells.

However, this was accompanied by over 100 smaller packages of weapons, which fall below the minimum threshold required for congressional reporting.

The secret weapons shipments include, thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms, and other lethal aid, the Washington Post reported.

In its article, the Wall Street Journal notes, The U.S.-supplied arms since the beginning of the Gaza war include at least 23,000 precision-guided weapons, including Hellfire air-to-ground missiles, drones, and Joint Direct Attack Munition kits, which turn unguided bombs into smart bombs, along with other similar weapons.

In defense of the Biden administrations actions, State Department spokesman Matt Miller told the Washington Post the administration followed the procedures Congress itself has specified to keep members well-informed and regularly briefs members even when formal notification is not a legal requirement.

This statement is effectively an admission that the Biden administration explicitly structured its arms transfers to Israel to get around the very congressional oversight measures he described.

Critically, when asked by the Washington Post to state the total value of weapons transferred by the United States to Israel since October 7, Miller refused to answer.

In other words, the actual level of involvement of the United States in the Gaza genocide is a secret from the American population.

The United States provides more than $3.3 billion in military funding to Israel every year, more than any other recipient of US foreign aid. The Biden administration has called on Congress to provide an additional $17.6 billion in standalone military aid.

The Post cited Jeremy Konyndyk, a former senior Biden administration official and current president of Refugees International, as observing, The U.S. cannot maintain that, on the one hand, Israel is a sovereign state thats making its own decisions and were not going to second-guess them, and, on the other hand, transfer this level of armament in such a short time and somehow act as if we are not directly involved.

In reality, the Biden administrations efforts to publicly distance itself from the Gaza genocide are completely false.

Earlier this month, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby was asked whether the United States will reduce its military aid to Israel if it assaults the southernmost city of Rafah without taking into consideration what happens to civilians.

To this, Kirby replied, We will continue to support Israel. They have a right to defend themselves against Hamas, and we will continue to make sure they have the tools and capabilities to do that.

To drive this point home, Politico reported on Tuesday, based on statements by three US officials, that The Biden administration is not planning to punish Israel if it launches a military campaign in Rafah without ensuring civilian safety.

Politico continued, No reprimand plans are in the works, meaning Israeli forces could enter the city and harm civilians without facing American consequences.

In November, Kirby reiterated that there were no red lines regarding the killing of civilians by Israel. That is still the case, Kirby said. Its also true that the airstrikes continue, and its also true that civilians are dying in those airstrikes.

The revelations of routine US weapons transfers come amid daily reports of new Israeli war crimes in Gaza. On Wednesday, Gazas health ministry said that two more people have died of starvation and malnutrition, bringing the total to 20. The United Nations warned that malnutrition rates among pregnant and breastfeeding women have surged, posing significant health risks to both mothers and newborns.

In a visit to Gaza earlier this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) found, according to WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, severe levels of malnutrition, children dying of starvation, serious shortages of fuel, food, and medical supplies, hospital buildings destroyed. Kamal Adwan Hospital is the only pediatric hospital in the north of Gaza, and is overwhelmed with patients. The lack of food resulted in the deaths of 10 children. The lack of electricity poses a serious threat to patient care, especially in critical areas like the intensive care unit and the neonatal unit.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on amendments to some decrees and orders of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in connection with the implementation of the laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism and on Targeted Financial Sanctions, Trend reports.

The full text of the decree can be found at the link.

Will be updated

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is launching a campaign throughout the working class to regain the SEPs official party registration. This is essential to ensure that the SEPs name appears on the ballot papers for the next federal election, as the only party fighting for the socialist alternative to capitalist barbarism, war, inequality and dictatorship.

SEP campaigners win strong support from workers and youth during 2022 federal election.

We urge all our readers to sign up as SEP electoral members. We need 1,500 electoral members in total to get back on the ballot! This basic political right was stripped from us in 2022 under blatantly anti-democratic electoral laws that were rushed through parliament in the lead-up to the last federal election, suddenly trebling the requirement from 500 to 1,500.

We warned in 2022 that the political establishment was intent on stamping out any challenge to the two-party system of capitalist rule after decades of a bipartisan pro-business offensive on working-class conditions had produced staggering social inequality. They feared deepening disaffection and opposition as they dismantled COVID safety measuresletting the pandemic rip for the sake of corporate profitramped up their commitment to US-led wars, including the AUKUS military pact against China, and slashed workers wages and social conditions to pay the price.

These conditions have intensified enormously since 2022. The monstrous Israeli genocide in Gaza, slaughtering over 30,000 people so far, is backed and armed to the hilt by Washington and its allies, including the Albanese Labor government. The US and its allies, already at war against Russia in Ukraine, are engaged in an escalating conflict in the Middle East and rapidly advancing the preparations for war against China. In its reckless efforts to reassert its global hegemony, US imperialism is plunging humanity into a cataclysmic third world war involving nuclear armed powers.

The COVID pandemic, now in its fifth year, has been unleashed at the cost of nearly 30 million lives globally, and the spread of debilitating Long COVID. Every capitalist government is demonstrating the same criminal indifference to lives as they have in refusing to take the necessary action to halt the disastrous impact of global warming.

A man sits on the rubble as others wander among debris of buildings that were targeted by Israeli airstrikes in Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)

The crisis of world capitalism that has produced the descent into barbarism is also creating the conditions for a global movement against capitalism, as witnessed by the massive ongoing worldwide protests against the Gaza massacre. But this requires the development of a political leadership in the working class fighting for the only progressive solutionthe overthrow of the world capitalist system and its replacement by socialism.

That is the perspective being advanced only by the SEP and our sister parties worldwide, and this is what the ruling class and its political servants are desperately trying to suppress.

There are no national solutions to the lurch into war and genocide. Our campaign to regain ballot status is part of the fight by the International Committee of the Fourth International, the world Trotskyist movement, for a unified global struggle against capitalism.

It will be conducted in unison with the international campaign launched by our sister Socialist Equality Party in the United States to stand Joseph Kishore and Jerry White as the SEPs candidates in the 2024 US presidential election campaign to provide the socialist alternative to Biden and Trump, the corporate candidates of war and dictatorship, in the headquarters of global capitalism.

In Australia, the SEP was anti-democratically removed as a registered party in February 2022 as the result of a bipartisan conspiracy between the then Liberal-National Coalition government and the Labor opposition.

In late August 2021, behind the backs of the populationand a wall of silence in the corporate mediathe Labor Party joined hands with the widely hated Morrison Coalition government to ram the electoral bills through both houses of parliament in just over 24 hours, less than six months before the 2022 election.

The Greens were complicit as well. While they opposed aspects of the legislation, they quickly shut their mouths and buried the issue, allowing the anti-democratic laws to remain in place for their own benefit.

The legislation nakedly sought to strip party registration from all those political parties, including the SEP, that did not then have parliamentary representation. Overnight, it lifted to 1,500 the number of members required to be officially recognised.

The SEP was given just three months to recruit and register an extra 1,000 electoral members amid lockdowns as the Delta variant and then the Omicron strain threatened lives and health, making public campaigning either illegal or dangerously impossible.

On November 11, 2022, the Australian Electoral Commission rejected the SEPs request for a six-week pandemic extension of the sudden December 2 deadline set by the laws to submit all the names and details.

Without party registration, election candidates cannot identify their political affiliations on ballot papers. They must stand without any party name or as politically unidentified independents. This denies fundamental democratic rights, not least the essential right of electors to know candidates political platforms.

In the 2022 election, enormous social and political discontent was displayed, but in a distorted form. Labor barely scraped into office. Its primary vote fell to a near-record low of less than 33 percent, even though the Coalitions electoral base substantially imploded. The party that lost the least number of votes won the election!

Since then, the political crisis has escalated. Capitalist rule has depended directly on Labor governments, federally and every mainland state and territory, and on Labors trade union apparatuses, to suppress rising working-class unrest, strikes and protests.

Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses government has intensified the attacks of the Morrison government on every front.

Labor has dismantled what remained of COVID safety measures, leading to thousands of deaths. It has stepped up the commitment to US wars, not least by allocating hundreds of billions of dollars for the AUKUS military buildup against China, and supporting Israels bloodbath in Gaza. Labor is forcing working-class households to bear the burden, through cuts to public health, education, housing and other essential programs and the worsening cost-of-living crisis.

To fight this barbarism, the working class must have a political voice, and only the SEP can provide it. The opposition to the Labor government and the dictates of big business has to be guided by a socialist program that puts the pressing needs of working peopleabove all their health and livesahead of the private profits of the wealthy few.

The SEP alone fights for this socialist perspective, against the Greens and pseudo-left socialist groups that are trying to channel the disaffection back behind illusions in putting pressure on the thoroughly pro-capitalist Labor Party and the union bureaucrats. These groups function as the last line of defence of capitalist rule.

We appeal to our readers, supporters, members of rank-and-file committees and all working people, students and youth: Sign up yourselves, if you are not already an SEP electoral member, and help us recruit the extra electoral members that we need to regain our party registration. This is crucial, not just to restore our ballot status but to take forward the struggle for world socialism. At the same time, give serious consideration to taking the next step by becoming a full member of our party, the Australian section of the ICFI.

To take forward this campaign, we urge our readers to complete the form below or contact the SEP.

Phone: (02) 8218 3222

Email: sep@sep.org.au

Facebook: SocialistEqualityPartyAustralia

Twitter: @SEP_Australia

Instagram: socialistequalityparty_au

TikTok: @sep_australia
Fairfax Connector workers on strike in February 2024. [Photo: Amalgamate Transit Union Local 669]

In a bid to end the two-week-old Fairfax Connector transit strike in Northern Virginia, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689 announced Tuesday that it had reached a tentative agreement (TA) with Transdev, the private operator overseeing the transit service.

In reality, no such agreement has yet been completed. According to a source, the more than 638 drivers, mechanics, facility workers and clerks that work at the Connector were not given a full TA before voting due to the fact they still need to be typed up.

A vote was hastily called for the next day despite the membership not being even given a full version of what they were voting on. On Wednesday, the ATU published an announcement that the contract had passed.

The ATUs social media proclaimed it had won transformative improvements for its members without providing specific details.

No vote conducted under such conditions can be considered legitimate. The ATU Local 689 has created conditions for the extortion of its own members. The fine print and numerous loopholes that have doubtlessly been introduced into the final contract after the fact will more than make up for whatever figleaf compromises Transdev may have accepted.

Transdev cheered the TA in a statement, declaring it was pleased to share that ATU Local 689 and Transdev came to a mutually agreeable, tentative agreement on their collective bargaining agreement for employees for the Fairfax Connector Fixed-Route Bus Service, as a spokesperson told WTOP.

Fairfax Connector workers are some of the most exploited transit employees in the Washington D.C. region. Striking workers explained to World Socialist Web Site reporters that they had been given no protections during the first months of COVID-19 and that their bus system did not even pause its services while others did.

This company is not prepared to spend resources. They hoard everything, a former Transdev employee told the WSWS.

Again demonstrating its ruthlessness, on Monday the company cut health insurance for the striking workers. The ATU published the story of one of its striking members, Fallah Moiwah, whose son, Sahr, was diagnosed with cancer.

Because @TransdevNA cut off Fallahs health insurance without even 24 hours notice, Sahr is having to put lifesaving chemotherapy on hold, the ATU posted on Twitter/X. Fallah and Sahr are just one of the hundreds of working families that @TransdevNA has no problem retaliating against, it added.

The fact that a tentative agreement was announced only one day after the company cut off health care for striking workers suggests that the deal is entirely in line with managements demands.

Throughout the strike, which crippled commutes in the busy Northern Virginia-Washington D.C. metropolitan area, the ATU refused to mobilize its membership to assist the struggle while absurdly begging the local Democratic Party officialdom to stand with workers.

While Democratic County Supervisor Jeff McKay never so much as acknowledged the issues in the strike, he has iterated several times that costs must be kept down, signaling that transit contractors demands would be opposed if they impacted the countys bottom line.

Northern Virginia is home to numerous military and intelligence headquarters, as well as powerful corporate interests, such as General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and Amazons HQ2 East Coast corporate base. Despite this or because of it, the regions big business political representatives refuse to offer basic assistance and living standards to its working class population.

A recent report, published by Virginia Commonwealth University titled Lost Opportunities: The Persistence of Disadvantaged Neighborhoods in Northern Virginia, explains that while between 2009 and 2021 poverty rates fell in over half of the wealthy countys jurisdiction, this growth came at the expense of displaced poorer residents.

While one communitys median household income shot up from $87,233 to $132,603 and the poverty rate plummeted from 19% to 5%, less economically well-off groups left the area in droves.

Under these circumstances, it is noteworthy that ATU Local 689 has offered its support to a harsh anti-crime bill which recently passed in the Washington D.C. legislature.

On Tuesday, the same day it announced its phony agreement with Fairfax Connector, the ATU Local 689 tweeted support for the Secure DC omnibus, thanking the bills sponsoring legislator for passage of increased penalties for assaulting transit workers.  This measure is a major victory for transit workers and riders!

As the WSWS wrote last week, rather than deal with the root social causes of crime, Democratic Party officials advocate a massive crackdown on the poorest layers of the population, thus criminalizing poverty. The ATUs promotion of law-and-order policies goes hand and hand with its sellout of its membership.

Throughout the strike, the World Socialist Web Site and its reporters advocated for workers to form their own, independent worker-based organizations capable of extending their struggle beyond the narrow confines of the ATU.

Striking Fairfax Connector workers must form links with other workers struggles, in particular, that of 9,000 WMATA employees whose contract expires in June this year, coinciding with major planned cutbacks in transit service, we wrote.

In doing this, they must refuse to subordinate themselves to the strategy and demands of the pro-corporate and pro-Democratic Party ATU, which is seeking to contain their struggle before it even gets started. This warning has been confirmed.
After burning more than one million acres in the past week, four separate wildfires continue to sweep across the Texas Panhandle through several counties north of Amarillo, resisting the efforts of fire crews, with the raging flames surging over the state border into Oklahoma.

A business was destroyed by the Smokehouse Creek Fire, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, in Stinnett, Texas [AP Photo/Julio Cortez]

In the period of a week, the cluster of wildfires have scorched an area across the region greater than 1,700 square miles (4,403 square kilometers).

Contributing to the dry, hot conditions across the southern United States fueling the fires is the climate phenomenon El Nino, which causes warming of the eastern tropical Pacific Oceans surface waters and influences weather patterns from Australia to the Americas. This has produced record shattering warm winter temperatures and lower moisture across much of the United States.

The impact of capitalist-induced climate change has contributed to the increase in wildfires and their intensity. Just in the last year, devastating and record-breaking blazes have sparked from Canada, to Chile, and Greece. Currently, there are wildfires raging on every continent around the globe even as fire season is still a month away in the Northern Hemisphere and approaching its typical end in the Southern Hemisphere.

Speaking to the climate change-fueled phenomenon of simultaneous wildfires occurring around the world, Hamish Clarke, a senior research fellow at the University of Melbournes Flare Wildfire Research Group, told Bloomberg, Climate is connected to fire in many ways  most obviously through extreme weather conditions  but climate also influences ignitions, fuel, moisture and the growth of vegetation. In many cases its going to make things much, much worse.

The Panhandle wildfires follow last years record-breaking fires in Canada, with its large emissions of smoke, soot, and ash traveling for thousands of miles. The Canada blazes were sparked by a similar pattern of hot, dry weather, providing the perfect conditions for fire outbreaks, conditions which have continued to prevail heading into this years fire season. Some of last years fires in Canadas vast forested northwest have continued to burn underground through the winter and are primed to re-erupt.

According to updates posted on Wednesday to the website of the Texas A&M Forest Service which maintains a tracking service of wildfires in the state, the cluster of fires in the Panhandle still raged with varying degrees of containment.

After igniting Monday last week, the Smokehouse Creek fire in Hutchinson County, the largest of the cluster and the largest fire recorded in the states history, has burned nearly 1.1 million acres (445,154 hectares) alone; an area approximately five times greater than New York City. According to reports on Tuesday, the Smokehouse Creek fire was 44 percent contained.

The Windy Deuce fire in Moore County, which threatened nuclear weapons facility Pantex last week, forcing it to to shut down operations for a day, has scorched 144,206 acres. It was reported as 81 percent contained.

The Grape Vine Creek fire in Gray County has scorched 35,000 acres (14,164 hectares) at 77 percent containment. The Magenta (Oldham County) and 687 Reamer (Hutchinson County) fires together burned more than 5,300 acres (2,145 hectares). Magenta and 687 Reamer are reportedly 100 percent contained.

A new fire, the Roughneck, flared up Sunday evening near Sanford in Hutchinson County, causing the evacuation of around 200 families. After burning 300 acres (121 hectares), blaze is 100 percent contained.

The suppression efforts of firefighters have had a reduced impact at extinguishing the fire clusters due to the extremely dry conditions and high temperatures. Further hampering efforts are persistent high winds that have quickly spread the flames across large areas of the Panhandle.

Fire crews were hopeful that by Thursday and Friday, when rain and cooler temperatures are anticipated, that efforts to suppress the fires will meet better success.

Three deaths have so far been reported by Texas authorities due to the fires. Last week, 83-year-old retired school teacher Joyce Blankenship was found dead in her home, and Cindy Owen was driving in Hemphill County when she encountered the smell of smoke from her vehicle. When she exited to investigate, she was engulfed in flames. Early Tuesday, Zeb Smith, the Fire Chief of Fritch, Texas was reported dead from injuries sustained during the fighting of a structural fire.

Texas authorities reported to media that 500 structures, including many homes, have been destroyed by the blazes over the past week. Additionally, thousands of cattle have perished across the Panhandle, leaving ranchers with catastrophic financial losses.

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott visited the Panhandle town of Canadian on Tuesday, one of the most devastated by the fires. Since the start of the blazes, Abbott has given his typical insincere proclamations of sympathy towards the victims of the blazes while avoiding any reference to the destructive reality of climate change.

On the Office of the Governors web site, Abbott stated, As Texans in the Panhandle respond to these devastating wildfires, the State of Texas continues working around the clock to swiftly provide the necessary resources to protect Texans. The safety and well-being of impacted Texans is our No. 1 priority as the potential for more dangerous wildfires persists in the coming days.

Adherence to climate science should form the basis of any plan to address its intensifying effects on the planet, including wildfires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. Along with strict orientation on a scientific basis, appropriate funding should be allocated to countering its impact on the environment and humanity.

But to carry out any such program is a futile prospect under the existing capitalist set up, in which the ruling elite subordinate every aspect of society under the profit system.

While Texans lose their homes and even their lives, the ruling class demands that its profit interests be prioritized over the allocation of funding to ameliorate the social catastrophe to the population by wildfires.
Following a Court of Appeal decision to back the Conservative governments stripping of Shamima Begums citizenship, human rights experts appointed by the United Nations called on the UK to allow her to come home from a refugee camp in Syria.

Begum lost a challenge at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in February last year. Her legal team took her case to the Court of Appeal in October. Begums appeal of the governments decision was denied on February 23.

This Monday February 23, 2015 file handout image of a three image combo of stills taken from CCTV issued by the Metropolitan Police shows Kadiza Sultana, left, Shamima Begum, center, and Amira Abase going through security at Gatwick airport, south England, before catching their flight to Turkey. [AP Photo/Metropolitan Police via AP]

She was deprived of her citizenship in 2019 for having travelled to Syria as a 15-year-old schoolgirl and joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The ruling means the Begum, now 24-years-old, is permanently barred from Britain and officially stateless. She remains stranded in a dangerous detention camp in northern Syria without legal rights or protection.

The ruling by three appeal judges (Dame Sue Carr, Lord Justice Bean and Lady Justice Whipple) was unanimous in agreeing with the SIAC. Technically the decision could still be challenged. But the dismissal of all Begums arguments seriously hinders her ability to gain a full appeal at the Supreme Court.

The judges made the perverse ruling that there was no material shortcoming on the part of then Home Secretary Sajid Javid arising out of any failure to take account of the possibility that Ms Begum had been trafficked for the specific purpose of sexual exploitation. This was despite the courts own acknowledgment of the likelihood that she was a child victim of others who wished to exploit her for sexual or extremist reasons. All evidence points to this.

According to the judges, Javid was entitled to conclude that fears Begum posed a risk to national security were more significant because it was a question of evaluation and judgment allowed to him in law.

In reality, Javids decision is a gross violation of democratic rights that is designed not only to perpetuate a demonisation of Muslims, but also to prevent any examination of the filthy role played by British and world imperialism in fomenting Islamist terror organisations over several decades.

To justify their actions, successive UK home secretaries have claimed that Begum could have applied for Bangladeshi citizenship through her parents. This is a lie. Under Bangladeshi law, Begum could apply for citizenship only up to her 21st birthday. The government of Bangladesh made clear that it would refuse in any case and execute her if she ever set foot in the country.

Washing their hands of the Begums basic human rights, Carr said, It could be argued the decision in Ms Begums case was harsh. It could also be argued that Ms Begum is the author of her own misfortune. But it is not for this court to agree or disagree with either point of view.

The decision was condemned on Wednesday by Siobhan Mullally, the UNs Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; Mama Fatima Singhateh, Special Rapporteur on the sale, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children; Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences; Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences; and Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism.

They said, Protections owed to victims of trafficking and those at risk of trafficking, especially children, must be respected to be meaningful, adding of Begums departure from the UK as a vulnerable child, that these circumstances were never properly investigated.

The UN statement was clear that any supposed question of consent or voluntariness or use of force, deception or coercion is irrelevant where the victim of trafficking is a child. The experts concluded, Given the continuing serious risk of irreparable harm, we urge British authorities to take steps to ensure Ms Begums protection and to follow the lead of many other governments who are now repatriating women and children from northeast Syria.

The UK has only repatriated two nationals in recent years and around 30 British women and children remain in camps across northern Syria and the region. Between 2012 and 2022, the Home Office deprived 220 people of their UK citizenship, almost always due to national security concerns. Only Bahrain had a higher figure.

Begums fate is deeply tragic. She left east London in 2015 with her two school friends Amira Abase, also 15, and 16-year-old Kadiza Sultana to join ISIS in Syria. The US-orchestrated civil war in the country was in its fifth year and ISIS, spawned out of Washingtons various Islamist proxies, commanding around 30,000 fighters, temporarily took control of large parts of north-western Iraq and eastern Syria.

This undated photo released by the Metropolitan Police of London, shows Shamima Begum. [AP Photo/Metropolitan Police of London via AP, File]

It was revealed in 2022 that, unbeknown to her, Begums transit to Syria was facilitated by a Canadian state intelligence asset and that British intelligence were aware she had been groomed online.

Ten days after arriving in the Syrian city of Raqqa, then an ISIS stronghold, Begum was married to Dutch convert Yago Riedijk. She lived under ISIS rule for more than three years, having three children, all of whom died youngone of pneumonia while she was in a refugee camp hoping to return to the UK to raise him.

Sultanas family said they believed she died in an airstrike in May 2016, while planning to escape and return home. It is not known whether Abase is alive.

Following the military defeat of ISIS, Begum was located in al-Roj camp in northern Syria in 2019. Her lawyers warn that conditions there have reached a critical point of near starvation and disease. It is not a refugee campthose detained are unable to leave and the conditions have, with ever greater urgency, been categorised by every international body as well as by the UK courts in Shamimas case itself, as constituting torture and inhuman treatment.

The denial of citizenship to Begum has played a major role in shifting politics to the right, with her every legal denial greeted with sadistic glee by a fascistic constituency and hailed in the right-wing media.

Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, a darling of the far right who has made anti-immigration measures the main plank of an expected future Tory Party leadership challenge, said of the Court of Appeal decision: My priority is, and always will be, the safety and security of the UK. I am pleased with the decision from the court today, who have agreed with the Governments position on every appeal ground.

Interviewed on the right-wing GB News, Priti Patel, Bravermans predecessor as home secretary, said of the UNs intervention: Its absolutely clear, the UN are wrong on this, basically. The UN should not be getting involved in what is a very domestic case of the United Kingdom. She added that Begums case is closed as far as we're concerned.

The hounding of Begum in the media continued Thursday with two hosts on Talk TV, owned by the Murdoch corporations News TV, denouncing her and the United Nations. Kevin OSullivan bewailed how the increasingly ridiculous woke United Nations under the control of that fool Antonio Guterres from Portugal... a sort of left-wing idiot was now demanding that Britain repatriate ISIS bride Shamina Begum. He concluded, Shes not coming back. Shes a terrorist who will stay in the Syrian desert where she deserves to stay.

The Labour Party is fully behind this filthy and vindictive campaign. When the special immigration appeals commission ruled last year that Javid had acted lawfully in stripping Begum of her British citizenship, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, a former Director of Public Prosecutions, said the court had made the right decision.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Measles (Rubeola) page (updated biweekly), as of February 29, 2024, a total of 41 measles cases had been reported by 16 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.

The largest ongoing outbreak continues in Florida, with Broward County the epicenter of the outbreak. A seventh child at the Manatee Bay Elementary School was diagnosed with measles last week. Two other cases in the county had no ties to the school and another in Polk County involved an adult with a travel-related diagnosis, raising the total number of measles cases in Florida to 10.

There have been three cases reported in Michigan, two this week, all in unvaccinated individuals who had recently traveled internationally and are believed to have contracted the disease abroad. There is no evidence of spread within the state, and the three cases are not believed to be related.

The two new cases occurred in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, in Wayne County, and in Ypsilanti, in adjoining Washtenaw County. Both cases were in adults who visited emergency rooms and urgent care facilities, with the infected person in Dearborn visiting a pharmacy as well.

Several hundred people could have been exposed to the measles virus, including all the health care workers at the four facilities visited, and the staff of the pharmacy. Contact tracing has found most of those exposed at the health care facilities, and was able to narrow down those exposed to 10 people who were not vaccinated, but the number exposed at the pharmacy, inside a CVS drug store, is unknown and probably untraceable.

Michigan has had a sharp decline in vaccination coverage for measles in recent years. Coverage with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine for children aged 4-6 fell from 89.4 percent in 2017 to 84 percent in 2022. In Washtenaw County, the coverage for younger children 19-35 months, fell from 90 percent in 2017 to only 81 percent in 2022.

Number of measles cases reported to the CDC, by year. [Photo: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]

Although the total number of infections nationwide may seem small, it bears noting that before the COVID pandemic, the annual number of measles infections across the US had been gaining momentum (1,274 cases documented in 2019). This underscores the salutary effect the efforts undertaken to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the first two years of the pandemic had on the spread of the highly contagious measles. In 2020, only 13 individuals developed measles across eight jurisdictions. In 2021, there were 49 measles infections and in 2022 a total of 121 measles cases, in large part due to a community outbreak in central Ohio, with 85 locally acquired measles cases. And in 2023, there were 58 across 20 jurisdictions. At the current pace, 2024 may be the largest measles outbreak experienced in the US during the COVID pandemic.

The current trends show the dangers posed by the governments abdication of the responsibility to maintain an actively engaged public health infrastructure. This has led to the promotion of anti-scientific misinformation campaigns by reactionary and fascistic groups who are downplaying the dangers posed by respiratory infections, leading to a decline in childhood immunization and resurgence of disease, specifically measles.

This was particularly evident in the actions of Harvard-educated anti-COVID vaccine quack Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Floridas surgeon general (who might be better described as Floridas chief executive for spreading diseases). He sent a letter to parents and guardians of the students at Manatee Bay Elementary School. Disregarding all previous public health recommendations to have unvaccinated children and individuals isolate at home after exposure to measles, Ladapo wrote, Due to the high immunity rate in the community, as well as the burden on families and educational cost of healthy children missing school, the department of health is deferring to parents or guardians to make decisions about school attendance.

Ladapos comments were met with sharp rebukes from the infectious disease experts and epidemiologists for putting the lives of children in danger. He has been playing fast and loose with the use of the term high immunity rates among school-aged children. In Florida, rates of vaccination of kindergartners have fallen to 90 percent, when at least 95 percent vaccination rates are required to take advantage of herd immunity against this highly infectious disease. Also absent from the letter was the call to parents to get their children vaccinated, which helps guard against infection even 72 hours after the initial exposure.

The rationale for isolation, just as with COVID or influenza, is simple; stop the forward transmission of the disease so that others dont contract the disease. The virus that causes measles has a very long incubation period. It is also one of the most contagious pathogens known, which is why a very high herd immunity through vaccination is required to protect those who are immunocompromised or unable to take the vaccine for various medical reasons.

Prior to the introduction of the first measles vaccine in the 1960s, the US used to experience upwards of three to four million measles cases each year and hundreds of measles-related deaths. Once the mass vaccination campaigns were implemented, it took only three decades for the US to declare in 2000 that measles had been eliminated, a significant advance in public health.

Also, across the globe, prior to the measles vaccines, annual cases numbered 135 million, while 6 million, mostly children, died from the disease. Yet, the vaccination efforts were so successful that the World Health Organization estimates the measles vaccines averted 56 million deaths across the globe in the first two decades of the 21st century.

Given this history, the current global surge in measles cases and deaths amid the COVID pandemic means we are seeing a rapid reversal of these gains. It stands as an exposure of capitalisms advanced state of decay.

Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine scientist and pediatrician at the Baylor College of Medicine, who has been viciously attacked by the right wing and anti-vaccine groups, wrote an important opinion piece on January 9, 2020, when scientists in China were just identifying the novel coronavirus, on the issue of not vaccinating children for measles.

Hotez wrote, Vaccines prevent diseases, and being unvaccinated carries a risk. Last year (2019), the World Health Organization ranked vaccine hesitancy, a reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines, among the top 10 health threats worldwide, alongside Ebola, HIV, and drug-resistant infections.

He then made the comparison between those vaccinated for measles and those who werent. Hotez noted that if 10,000 people received the MMR vaccine, there would be three fever-related seizures, 0.4 cases of abnormal blood clotting, and 0.035 allergic reactions (or 1 in a quarter million). Also, the MMR vaccines do NOT cause autism.

However, if 10,000 children were allowed to contract the virus that causes measles because they werent vaccinated, approximately 2,000 would need hospitalization, 1,000 could expect ear infections with potential for permanent hearing loss, 500 children would get pneumonia, 10 to 30 would die, 10 would develop encephalitis (brain infection/inflammation), and there would be several cases of abnormal blood clotting.

Recent research has also shown that a measles infection can inflict lasting harm on the immune system, weakening it to a point that those infected are left vulnerable for several years to other pathogens. The measles virus can injure the cells that make the necessary antibodies that help fight off these infections. The effect has been called immune amnesia.

Measles, COVID, syphilis, cholera and other diseases that have reappeared are tell-tale signs of a diseased social system for which a diagnosis has been made by the Trotskyist movement. The necessary treatment is the eradication of capitalism through social revolution. Only then can the working class address these urgent social needs on an international basis.
On Tuesday, the US government effectively kidnapped Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, a right-wing figure whom it had hitherto staunchly supported, a Miami Herald report has revealed.

Against the will of the vast majority of Haitis impoverished people, Washingtonbacked by Canada and France, the other imperialist powers long involved in Haitiplaced Henry in power following the July 2021 assassination of the countrys president, Jovenel Moise. The US-led Core Group of nations has continued to support Henry ever since, although he has no popular or legal-constitutional legitimacy and has refused to hold parliamentary or presidential elections despite the mandates of all elected officials having long expired.

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken [Photo: Haitian government]

Now, however, under conditions where the country is overrun by criminal gangs, most of which have close ties to rival factions of Haitis ruling elite, the Biden administration has apparently concluded Henry is a liability who should be flushed from office. To accomplish this, as the Herald article documents, US imperialism is resorting to its traditional thuggery and criminality.

This is all playing out as Washington and Ottawa scramble to put together a foreign paramilitary force to be deployed to Haiti with US and Canadian logistical support to bloodily restore bourgeois law and order on the Caribbean island-nation.

Both the US and Canada have a long history of neo-colonial occupation and military intervention in Haiti, including as recently as 2004 when they deployed troops to oust its elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. But under conditions where they are waging war against Russia in Ukraine, supporting Israels genocide in Gaza and actively preparing for war with China, and where there is visceral opposition among the Haitian masses to an intervention led by either of North Americas twin imperialist powers, they are anxious to contract out the job.

Last week Henry traveled to Kenya, whose avidly pro-imperialist government has volunteered to lead a Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti and staff it with more than a thousand Kenyan national police.

In Henrys absence, the gangs launched a coordinated offensive, whose purpose it soon became clear was to derail the planned MSS deployment and oust the prime minister. Over the weekend, the gangs stormed two Port-au-Prince prisons, freeing several thousand prisoners, and attacked Haitian National Guard facilities. On Monday, they encircled the capitals two airports forcing them to suspend operations.

On Tuesday, Henry attempted to return to Haiti via the Dominican Republic, only to find his plans thwarted by his Washington patrons. Even if the Miami Herald exclusive published on Wednesday does not put it in so many words, its account makes clear that the Haitian prime minister was effectively kidnapped so that US officials and those of allied governments could browbeat him into accepting new marching orders.

According to the Herald, Henry, who had spent the previous two days in the United States and had informed Washington and the UN of when and how he intended to return to Haiti, was suddenly informed by Dominican officials as his plane approached Santo Domingo that he would not be allowed to land.

This soon proved to be only an opening gambit. Once his small 13-seat jet changed course for the US territory of Puerto Rico, Henry received a second midair message, this one from the US State Department, asking him to agree to a new transitional governmentand resign. When Henrys plane landed in San Juan, Puerto Ricos capital, it was immediately met by US Secret Service agents and for hours the Haitian prime minister was refused permission to deplane.

During this time, Washington, working with various CARICOM (Caribbean Community) leaders, was sounding out Haitian opposition and business leaders on putting together some type of new interim government to provide a fig-leaf of popular support for another imperialist-backed military/security intervention in Haiti.

According to the Herald, The US proposal would have Henry usher in a new government structure in which a new prime minister and presidential board will lead a transition to elections and prepare for the Kenya-led mission. He would agree to step down once the new structure has been established, and a new prime minister is appointed or the security mission has deployedwhichever comes first.

On Tuesday evening, US officials, acting in classic imperial potentate fashion, were making clear that Henrys days were over. The Herald cited an unnamed US National Security Council official as saying the administration was not providing any assistance to help the prime minister return to Haiti.

Our support, the official continued, is focused on helping the [Haiti National Police] restore security, expediting the deployment of the MSS mission, and accelerating a peaceful transition of power via free and fair elections. Our dialogue with Prime Minister Henry has been focused on these efforts and the need for security and a peaceful political transition.

On Wednesday afternoon, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller clumsily tried to cover up the abundant evidence that Washington is once again carrying out regime change in Haiti, shuffling in figurehead presidents and prime ministers as needed. Miller told a press conference, the Biden administration is not calling on him [Henry] or pushing for him to resign.

Criminal gangs and social devastation

What will happen next is unclear, to say the least.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Henrys whereabouts were unknown or at least not being reported.

One of the most prominent gang leaders, Jimmy Chezier, or Barbecue, has declared, If Ariel Henry doesnt resign, if the international community continues to support him, well be heading straight for a civil war that will lead to genocide.

Either Haiti becomes a paradise or a hell for all of us. Its out of the question for a small group of rich people living in big hotels to decide the fate of people living in working-class neighborhoods.

Cheziers claims to be a spokesman for Haitis workers and toilers is a monumental fraud. He is an ex-senior Haitian national police officer who came to prominence by using gang violence to assist the late President Moise in suppressing popular opposition in the slums of Port-au-Prince.

As for Haiti becoming a hell, it is already a nightmare for the vast majority. Subject to the ravages of imperialist occupation and oppression for over a century, Haiti was further devastated in 2010 by an earthquake from which it never recovered, largely because the imperialist-led humanitarian efforts to help it rebuild turned into systematic plunder and opportunist banditry. Haitis social crisis was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and repeated rounds of austerity measures, including the slashing of fuel subsidies, implemented by Moise and then Henry on the orders of the IMF.

Youths raise their hands to show police they are not carrying weapons during an anti-gang operation at the Portail neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. [AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph]

The social conditions faced by the Haitian people are among the most brutal on earth. About half of the countrys population, some 5.5 million people, are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Pervasive gang violence is hindering the basic functioning of normal social life. According to UN humanitarian coordinator Ulrika Richardson, gang violence has forced more than 300,000 Haitians from their homes, reducing them to living on the streets. Haiti had more than 8,000 cases of killings, lynchings or rape, including group rapes of women and young girls last year said Richardson. In January, the country saw its most violent month in two years with 1,100 people killed, injured or kidnapped and a thousand schools failing to open due to the violence.

Recent months have also seen the re-emergence on Haitis political scene of Guy Philippe. He is a a fascistic figure who was instrumental in Aristides ouster, having emerged from the Tonton Macoutesthe terror gang employed by the Duvaliers during their three-decade-long, US-backed dictatorship to suppress left-wing and working class opposition. In 2004, the US and Canada stood by, allowing a far-right rebellion of ex-army and Tonton Macoutes personnel led by Phillipe to reach the gates of Port-au-Prince, then intervened ostensibly to save democratic and constitutional government in Haiti. In fact, the very first thing that the US and Canadian troops did on deploying to Haitis capital was to hustle Aristide, whom Washington and the Haitian elite viewed as insufficiently pliant, although he had long ago abandoned any radical pretensions, onto a plane destined for the Central African Republican episode that finds an echo in Henrys kidnapping Tuesday.

Phillipe, who was elected a Haitian senator in 2016, only soon after to be extradited and imprisoned in the US on drug-trafficking charges, is reportedly being promoted by the most right-wing sections of Haitis capitalist elitethose once aligned with the Duvaliers, Michel Martelly (Haitis president from 20011-16) and his chosen successor Moiseas the head of an interim presidential council.

A humanitarian intervention to secure imperialist interests

The UN Security Council was due to meet behind closed doors on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the crisis in Haiti. At the time of writing, there were no reports on its deliberations, but it is evident Washington hopes to use the UN to provide humanitarian cover for what will be another bloody imperialist intervention. An intervention that is aimed not at assisting the Haitian people, but rather defending imperialist interests and domination.

The proposal to have the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission led by Kenya is a further demonstration of imperialist criminality. The Kenyan National Police are popularly considered by Kenyans to be themselves a criminal gang. It routinely coerces money from working class people and youth and has a long record of human rights abuses, including killing more than 60 people in mass protests last year against the brutal austerity measures imposed by the government of President William Ruto. Even Canadas state broadcaster the CBC had to report: There [are] concerns about the human rights record of Kenyas security forces. They used live fire to suppress protests this summer and are frequently accused of brutal excesses at home.

The imperialist powers are utterly indifferent to the plight of the Haitian peoplefor which they are principally responsibleand hostile to their democratic and social aspirations. Earlier this week the UN reported that an appeal for $674 million in funding for Haiti this year is currently only about 2.5 percent funded.

By contrast, for the Haitian National Police and the prospective MSS deployment, Canadas trade union-backed Trudeau Liberal government announced a $125 million contribution last month. This is in addition to previous contributions of armored vehicles and other paramilitary gear.

Under pressure from the Biden administration, the Trudeau government did carry out reconnaissance and other preparatory work for a possible Canadian-led military intervention in Haiti in late 2022 and 2023. But ultimately it balked, for fear of being drawn into a military quagmire that would result in significant casualties, and no less importantly, shatter the myths long promoted by the ruling class, the unions and the pseudo-left of Canada as a benevolent, non-imperialist power. In recent years Haitians have taken to the streets to protest Ottawas role, working alongside Washington, in suppressing them and propping up the venal Haitian capitalist elite. This includes an October 2022 demonstration outside the Canadian embassy in Port-au-Prince in which thousands participated.

While the US and Canada have economic interests in Haiti, they have picked over the carcass of the Haitian people and bled them white. Today they effectively treat the half of the island of Hispaniola where the Haitian people live as an open-air prison camp.

Their principal concerns are that the crisis in Haiti not precipitate a mass outflow of refugees to the US and Canada or serve to destabilize the Caribbean region. Washington also views the manifest unraveling of a state in its historic backyard and stomping ground, a supposed US ally, as a threat to its global prestige.
Delegates take their seats at the EPP Congress in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. [AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda]

On March 5, the European Union (EU) Commission adopted a far-reaching plan to put the EU economy on a war footing, diverting massive resources to the arms industry. It asserts vast powers to restructure production around the diktat of the military, arguing: An industry investing in new capacities and ready to shift to a wartime economic model whenever needed, is essential.

This plan appeared as the European powers respond to the bloody defeat of the NATO-backed Ukrainian army by threatening Russia with open-ended military escalation, including long-range missile strikes and openly sending European troops to Ukraine to fight Russia. The EU plan shows that this reckless escalation, playing Russian Roulette with nuclear weapons, is indissolubly bound up with the bourgeoisies escalation of class war across Europe.

The plan calls for EU countries to raise military spending to 2 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in what is nominally peacetime. Over a decade, it notes, the EU could spend approximately an additional 1.1 trillion for defence, of which around 270 billion on investment in weapons systems. It also establishes a 1.5 billion emergency fund, to be increased to 100 billion over the next five years, and calls for private investment: Under the EU sustainable finance framework, no EU rule, or any EU planned rule, impedes private investment in the defence industry.

To spend trillions of euros more on the army, the EU is preparing savage attacks on social programs and living standards. Last year, to fund a 100 billion increase in French military spending through 2030, Macron imposed an overwhelmingly unpopular pension cut that provoked mass strikes and protests by millions of workers. Such sums are, however, just intended as an initial down payment, since the EU is moving to invoke emergency powers to spend far broader resources on the military.

The plan proposes to turn the EU Commission into a coordinating body, overseeing supply chains and production of EU arms manufacturers. It decrees that the Commission  will work towards the establishment of a single, centralised, up-to-date catalogue of defence products developed by EU arms manufacturers. It will also help fund strategic stockpiling by industry of basic components such as electronic components and raw materials.

The plans most drastic provisions are those granting the European Commission and Council vast emergency powers to control and reorient European economic production towards war, suspending civilian production, in the event of international crises. The European Council is the assembly of heads of state of the EU countries, while the Commission is the EUs main executive body.

The plan identifies two types of crises in which the emergency powers would be invoked. The first is a crisis of military production due to shortages in key supplies of raw materials or components, such as microchips. Under these conditions, the plan states, the activation by the Council of a crisis state  will ensure the supply of the concerned components and/or raw materials for defence supply chains, including, where necessary and justified by the overarching public interest, by ensuring priority over some or all civilian supplies.

More drastic prioritizing of military over civilian production will take place in security crises, the plan states: To face such scenarios, the Council should be given the possibility to activate a second, upper level of the crisis state to resort to measures necessary and proportionate to the resolution of the crisis (mostly focusing on the supply of products specifically designed for military use).

The plan calls to prepare the possible repurposing of civilian production lines for war production, and for industry to speed up delivery time of EU-made defense products. It is, in short, a plan to massively boost military spending, turn production away from civilian needs, impose speed-up and intensified exploitation on workers, and hand control of the economy to the officer corps.

This is a recipe for a collapse in living standards for broad masses of workers, together with the imposition of military dictatorship in all but name. The EU Commission plan cynically tries to justify such policies by invoking the NATO-Russia war in Ukraine.

The plan applauds the NATO puppet regime in Ukraine as a crucial partner of the Union in the defence industrial sector. Ukraines arms industry, it states, will emerge as one of the engines of the economic recovery of the country at the end of the war and a test bed of defence industrial readiness. A closer cooperation between the EU and the Ukrainian defence industrial sectors will be part of the EUs future security commitments to Ukraine.

In its conclusion, the EU plan advances the tired lie that EU militarization is a response to the supposedly unprovoked 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. For decades the Unions citizens have enjoyed an unprecedented period of peace. However, Russias war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as the rising tensions at EUs doorsteps, call for the EU and its Member States to take up strategic responsibility and power up the EU defence industry, the plan states.

This is a pack of lies. In reality, the decades since the 1991 Stalinist dissolution of the Soviet Union have been years of mounting imperialist war and social austerity. NATO waged wars of plunder in Iraq, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Mali and beyond, as European NATO countries poured funds into a huge increase in their armed forces. Russians 2022 invasion of Ukraine came after nearly a decade over which Europe increased its yearly military spending by nearly 100 billion, and built up Ukraine as a military base for attacks on Russia.

As capitalism plunges into a Third World War, the imperialist powers are not aiming to protect themselves from Russia, but competing to grab as much plunder as they can from the world economy. This is why, even though the United States and most EU states are nominally NATO allies, the EU military plan contains a series of measures aimed at competing with Washington.

The EU plan complains that EU countries still today overwhelmingly buy their major weapons systems from the United States. It states, 78 percent of the defence acquisitions by EU Member States between the start of Russias war of aggression and June 2023 were made from outside the EU, with the US alone representing 63 percent.

A critical component of the EU military plan is to ensure that EU armies buy a majority of their equipment from EU companies. The plan states, Member States are invited to make steady progress towards procuring at least 50 percent of their defence investments within the EU by 2030 and 60 percent by 2035. This is in effect a policy to cut US arms manufacturersor, since Britain left the EU, British arms manufacturersout of much of the European defense market.

This policy reflects deep, objectively-rooted conflicts between US and European imperialism, particularly with uncertainty hanging over this years US election. As former President Donald Trump continues to win primaries, there are mounting questions in European ruling circles as to whether Trump will carry the election and, in office for a second term, return to imposing trade sanctions on Europe as he did in his first term.

This has accelerated calls in the EU ruling establishment for Europe to have a more independent military policy from Washington. Yesterday, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner reacted to Trumps primary victories by saying: We must be better at defense. ... We must invest in our defense capabilities in the context of NATOquite independently of who sits in the White House.

The French financial daily Les Echos cited a report by Britains Standard Chartered bank, pointing to EU vulnerability to Trumps threats of tariffs on its exports to America. Since the 2008 Wall Street crash, US trade deficits with the EU have risen continuously, more than doubling to reach 215 billion in 2023. This sum would have been even higher, had Washington not been able to charge Europe tens of billions of euros in very high prices for US liquefied natural gas under crisis conditions, after the EU reacted to the Ukraine war by stopping purchases of Russian natural gas.

In his first term in office, Donald Trump made reducing the US trade deficit a priority, and Europe a key target, Les Echos wrote. With the US trade deficit with Europe continuing to rise, it added, it seems likely that Trump will again want to fix this disequilibrium with tariffs, particularly targeting German exports to the United States.

The European bourgeoisies response, to prepare to install a militarized regime ready to wage war in all directions, is however utterly reactionary. It plays a key role in pressing humanity to the brink of nuclear war. The broadest possible opposition must be mobilized in protests and strikes to oppose the accelerating collapse of Europe into World War III, and a military-police state regime.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on the appointment of a special representative of the President in the Aghdam, Fuzuli, and Khojavand districts, Trend reports.

According to the decree, Emin Huseynov was appointed as Special Representative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Aghdam, Fuzuli, and Khojavand districts.

The document canceled the decree "On Appointment of Special Representative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Territories of the Karabakh Economic Region Liberated from Occupation.".

The decree enters into force on the day of its signing.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree encouraging the use of electric-powered vehicles, Trend reports.

According to the decree, the Cabinet of Ministers is tasked with proposing enhancements to normative legal acts within a month to promote the wider use of electric vehicles and the expansion of electric charging points. Additionally, business entities are encouraged to collaborate on establishing these points. The directive also instructs the identification of suitable locations for electric refueling points within a month, based on proposals from the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport, the Ministry of Energy, AzerEnerji OJSC, and Azerishig OJSC.

Azerishig OJSC and AzerEnerji OJSC are responsible for implementing necessary measures to establish electric refueling points, including the development of required infrastructure and ensuring a sustainable power supply for these points.

To execute the measures outlined in this directive, AzerEnerji OJSC and Azerishig OJSC are directed to secure the allocation of necessary funds from the state budget for the current and next years based on their proposals, as well as to address any other issues arising from this decree.

The full text of the decree can be found at the link.

Will be updated
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Turkiye Yasin Ekrem Serim, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan, Trend reports, referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

At the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the prospects of bilateral, regional, and multilateral cooperation agenda between the two countries, the current situation in the region, Azerbaijani-Armenian peace process.

The sides expressed satisfaction with the efforts to further expand strategic allied relations between the two countries at all levels. The importance of further expansion of the agenda of the Azerbaijan-Turkiye strategic alliance in political, economic, trade, military, defense, energy security, investments, transport and communications, humanitarian, educational, cultural, and other spheres was noted.

Jeyhun Bayramov shared his impressions of the high-level organization of the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya and noted that he is proud of the diplomatic successes of brotherly Turkiye and the fact that this country has risen to third place in the world in terms of the number of diplomatic missions. He emphasized that the decision to establish Azerbaijani-Turkish University will further deepen cooperation between the two countries in the field of education.

Additionally, it was noted that the mutually beneficial partnership within bilateral and international organizations on international and regional threats, migration problems, and other areas is exemplary.

The importance of increasing the intensity of joint activities within the Organization of Turkic States, which is one of the main foreign policy priorities of Azerbaijan, and the promotion of new multilateral initiatives was mentioned.

Jeyhun Bayramov also informed about the recent steps taken towards the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The Minister emphasized the importance of Armenia's renunciation of claims to territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan for the achievement of peace and stability in the region.

The sides also exchanged views on other bilateral, regional, and international issues of mutual interest.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Armenia continues negotiations on signing a peace agreement with Azerbaijan, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said during an interview with Turkiye's Anadolu Agency, Trend reports.

However, Mirzoyan underlined that the sides' viewpoints diverge on two major topics, despite the fact that agreement has been reached on several of them.



When asked about the next meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, he stated that the date has yet to be determined. He expressed hope that the decision would be made shortly.

To note, the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia met in Berlin on February 28 this year.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
"I'm speechless, I'm shaking, I'm nervous," magnet fisherman Josh Parker, who pulled the latest ordnance out of the water, recalled

Massachusetts State Police A military projectile that was recovered from the Charles River in Massachusetts on March 1, 2024

For the second time in a week, a military projectile was recovered from the same Massachusetts river, thanks to magnet fishing enthusiasts.

The Needham Police Department said that individuals were magnet fishing from the Charles River late Wednesday morning when they picked what appeared to be explosive ordnance.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Needham Police and Needham Firefighters - Local 1706 responded to the scene and secured the area pending arrival of the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad, the police department wrote on Facebook Wednesday. They have since determined the ordnance will need to be detonated. It will be disposed of shortly in an unspecified area of town. You may hear it in town.

Related: World War II Bomb Explodes at Munich Construction Site, Injuring 4 People

The latest discovery comes just less than a week after authorities announced a military projectile was retrieved on March 1 by a person also magnet fishing from the Charles River.

Upon arriving on scene, Needham Police had the area secured with the object  approximately 12 long and 4 in diameter  sitting on the sidewalk (that area of Kendrick Street is a bridge over the Charles River), said the Massachusetts State Police.

Following an inspection of the object, authorities determined the projectile was in a very deteriorated state and needed to be disposed of.

Related: Couple Stuck Inside for Hours After Finding Live, 'Extremely Volatile' WWII-Era Japanese Bomb

"The projectile was secured and transported to the disposal site, where the Bomb Squad members safely countercharged and disposed of it without incident, Massachusetts State Police added.

Sean Martell, a magnet fishing enthusiast, discovered the first projectile on March 1. He told CNN when he pulled the object out, it screamed mortar (round).

Martell, who has a YouTube channel called Brockton Magnet Fisher with over 6,000 subscribers, recalled his reaction after pulling up the projectile to NBC affiliate WBTS. I knew right away [it was a bomb]. As soon as I put it downI was like, Im gonna have to call the police. 

Massachusetts State Police A deteriorated military projectile was found in Massachusetts' Charles River on March 1, 2024

According to Popular Mechanics, magnet fishing involves using a strong magnet to pull objects submerged in water; some powerful magnets can retrieve items weighing as much as 2,000 pounds from the water. The hobby grew in popularity during the pandemic, CBS affiliate WBZ reported.

Related: Child Finds Grenade Buried Behind South Carolina Home

"I'm speechless, I'm shaking, I'm nervous," magnet fisherman Josh Parker, who pulled the latest ordnance out of the water Wednesday, told WBZ "The cone-shaped head, the fins on the bottom, I can see some wires."

Parker, who described himself as a history buff, told WBTS that finding the projectile was an awesome experience. To find a bazooka round?" That's every little boy's dream is to be the bazooka guy when they're playing army, he said.

In an interview with CNN about the second discovery of a military projectile, Massachusetts State Police spokesperson Dave Procopio appeared incredulous that this occurred again from the Charles River and was also linked to magnet fishing.

The discovery of the round was the second time in a matter of days that a member of a magnet fishing group pulled an old piece of military ordnance from the Charles River under the Kendrick Street bridge, Procopio said. This begs: Why are these objects being found there all of a sudden?

The spokesperson also told CNN that it is common for magnet fishermen to locate ordnances in bodies of water.

PEOPLE contacted the Massachusetts State Police Thursday for updates about the discoveries and how the projectiles ended up in the Charles River.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Berlin-winning Argentine helmer Ariel Rotter (Incident Light, The Others) debuts his latest feature A Blue Bird (Un Pajaro Azul) to Spanish audiences in Malaga this week, the film screening in a particularly robust out-of-competition 19 title lineup that include Benito Zembranos Jumping the Fence and Morena Films-backed Puntos Suspensivos, from David Marques.

Produced by Argentinas Tarea Fina, behind Sublime and Cannes Camera dOr winner Las Acacias, alongside Uruguays Montelona Cine (Nunchaku), the film follows Javier (Alfonso Tort) and his partner Valeria (Julieta Zylberberg), as they navigate their exhausting six-year battle to conceive a child.

More from Variety

Scenes sit still, sometimes in silence between the pair as they embrace, breathe, sigh, indicative of the love poured into their struggle.

In the years that my partner and I spent trying to become parents, we went through periods of great uncertainty that strengthened us and wore us down at the same time. The feeling of those years is reflected, in some ways, in the film but the synthesis process also generates precision. Telling things in a few scenes generates depth, Rotter told Variety.

Amidst the threat of company layoffs, Javier is met with further life-altering news that his tepid office fling with co-worker Camila has resulted in her pregnancy. Abruptly entering a new phase of his life, he strives for redemption while attempting to repair long-buried wounds.

In general, deception in love is clumsy. It can be triggered by an attraction, a novelty, but in general its a manifestation of discomfort. A discomfort that co-exists with love and doesnt invalidate it, Rotter explained.

In this case, the couples in a circle of excitement and frustration due to the impossibility of becoming parents. The news of a pregnancy in another person causes structural damage to their relationship. The quick deescalation of that conflict doesnt solve anything but it opens up a path toward perhaps the real center of the movie  which deals with what happens to this couple, especially when it comes to Javier and his inner child.

Portraying the inner workings of the broader human condition through troubled and relatable leads, Rotter calculates Javiers next move by utilizing a real-time rhythm, an audience allowed to sit with the discomfort as he grapples with the consequences of his lukewarm infidelity while renegotiating what it means to be a partner, a son, an adult.

I always work on the protagonists mental space, in fact I love that movies are a trigger for the viewer to try to decipher and decide what battles are being fought in the protagonists head, Rotter admitted.

In this case, its a film of changing hypotheses. There seems to be an obvious plot on the surface  which has to do with deception  but the plot diffuses that conflict and becomes an introspective film about the emotional maturity of its protagonist.

Javier, suffering internal and external strife bides time with his father, a particularly stoic scene sees him set-up in his childhood bedroom, scrolling through photos and videos of Valerie. Another encounter, he sits in his car outside their once-shared apartment, listening to cassette tapes he made for her when their relationship was brand new. Its uncertain where the emotions will culminate and the open-ended scenarios lend a human aspect to the narrative.

I like to reflect on emotions and experiences that I think I can understand. But, at the same time, I leave some of the story up to chance, Rotter admitted. This film is built on two thematic pillars: the years spent with my partner, our desire to become parents  all of the awkward moments our relationship experienced  and, on the other hand, a wound from the past, and how that pain tries to emerge despite the years.

What I didnt know is whether these two narrative lines would eventually connect in some organic way-man as father, man as son.

Sold by Lucia and Julia Meiks Buenos Aires-based Meikincine, the film exposes the flesh wounds that come with modern love, laying bare relationships weathering a tsunami of emotion, betrayal predicated on a whim but carrying potentially devastating repercussions.

As the film advances alongside Javiers forward trajectory toward self awareness, Rotter bestows him the ultimate grace, a slow-burning growth.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Alejandro Monteverdes Cabrini reminds the audience of one extraordinary woman: Mother Cabrini (or Francesca Cabrini)an Italian immigrant nun who travelled to New York in 1889 to look for orphans and create homes for them.

While Monteverdes film highlights the main characters incredible work and contributes to relaying a significant and shameful part of the United States history, including its encounters with xenophobia, the biopic as a whole falls short of leaving a lasting impression on the spectator. Despite its fantastic acting, the ensemble performers are unable to carry this overlong picture on their shoulder.

Cabrini begins with an emotional scene that sets the tone for the rest of the story. An immigrant boy travels through the streets of New York with his sick mother in a wheelbarrow. No one pays attention to his urgent pleas for help. People who pass ignore the distressed child, dismissing him as a nuisance.

Monteverde and screenwriter, Rod Barr, purposefully open the biopic in this manner to highlight the specific time in US history, where the influx of Italian immigrants unveiled New Yorks xenophobic society.

Based on the true story of Frances Xavier Cabrini, the film depicts the titular character (Cristiana DellAnna) embarking on a daring journey with the fellow sister nuns. The God-fearing woman who speaks broken English and struggles with her health, utilizes her tenacity and passion to help those in need. While the sisters tirelessly work to create a loving home for children, Cabrini attempts to persuade the stern and frequently bigoted mayor Gould (John Lithgow) to provide healthcare for New Yorks immigrant children.

There is no doubt the depicted piques interest regarding the central character post-viewing. While its a movie about a woman of faith it doesnt dwell on religious themes too much, instead focusing on depicting Mother Cabrinis life and highlighting her beginnings after arriving in the United States. One way in which Cabrini works is that its narrative prompts more study into her life and begs for recognition of how much work she has done for the Italian community in New York and other immigrant groups in the United States.

Cristiana DellAnna, who plays the titular role, does an excellent job of capturing the real womans drive, passion and love for children. DellAnna depicts her character venturing into a mans world, with Cabrini challenging the Vatican and defying her employers in order to help orphaned kids.

Similar to DellAnna, Lithgow and Giancarlo Giannini deliver brilliant performances. The first of them, in particular, gives off similar negative connotations as one of his past characters, B.Z., from Jeannot Szwarcs Santa Clause: The Movieboth of his characters are selfish men of power who only care about money.

David Morse, as Archbishop Corrigan, is another strong cast member, but ultimately they all serve as a canvas for DellAnna to exhibit her impressive acting abilities. As we observe Cabrinis struggle to hop through the myriad fences of bureaucracy and prejudice, the creators experiment with camera angles, allowing the lead and supporting actors to occasionally break the fourth wall, thereby establishing clear contact with the audience.

Despite the strong cast, decent sets and costume design, the film falls short when capturing Cabrinis life overall. The film is too long in certain instances and too short in others that could have been expanded. The tone is frequently too pompous and the music far too pretentious. Despite the scenes that pique your interest and compel you to finish the film, this biopic is relatively forgettable and one that you watch once and move on.

Cabrini manages to be stimulating as it shares a forgotten part of US history, but thats not enough. The discussion about xenophobia and caste, so prevalent in the US to this day, could have been deeper and explored more. While DellAnnas performance will captivate you as you follow Cabrinis path to success, the films inconsistent pacing makes it a biopic for a single viewing.

Cabrini is in theaters March 8.

The post Cabrini Review: Angel Studios Uneven, Indifferent Biopic of a Determined Woman appeared first on TheWrap.
In Dune: Part Two, the quiet scenes set on the capital planet Kaitain stand in sharp contrast to the Fremens fight on the windswept deserts of Arrakis and the black-and-white fascist world of the Harkonnen on Giedi Prime. Its a juxtaposition the audience can physically feel. As the film cuts to the world of Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV (Christopher Walken) and his daughter Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh), we absorb the peacefulness of nature and serenity of the Emperors grounds.

Production designer Patrice Vermette believes the shooting location  and its original designer and architect Carlo Scarpa  Brion Sanctuary deserves a great deal of credit for those scenes power.

More from IndieWire

The way the architecture blends with the surrounding nature is pure perfection, said Vermette of the sanctuary, which he referred to as one of the most sublime pieces of architecture hes ever seen. Its the first time that I started crying walking on a location.

Brion Monumental Tomb, designed by architect Carlo Scarpa, in Veneto, Italy. De Agostini via Getty Images

The power of Scarpas work was hardly new to Vermette. The production designer points to discovering a book of Scarpas work at the Montreal Architecture Center in the early 1990s as a defining moment in his education. Of the 17 feature films Vermette has production designed, its Dune, for which he won the Oscar, that the Italian masters inspiration can be most directly felt.

Theres a language, that definite Carlo Scarpa language, that I brought to the very different worlds of Arrakis and Caladan [in Dune], said Vermette. It looks very brutalist, but its not brutalist, its Carlo Scarpa. Its a lot of intricate details. Pointing to the motif of the steps in Dune as an example, Theres a sense of intrigue that I love in the simplicity of his designs.

Considering Scarpas influence on Arrakis and Caladan in Dune, there was a narrative logic in using Brion Sanctuary as a shooting location to introduce the emperor and princess in Dune: Part Two.

It all made sense because its the influence of the Imperium on the rest of the galaxy, said Vermette. You feel that the emperor has had an aesthetic influence throughout centuries.

Dune: Part Two screenshot

Director Denis Villeneuve instantly saw how the shooting location could be used to bring an otherworldly feel to Kaitain, so much so that while the rest of production was spread throughout the Middle East and Budapest, a detour to Italy to shoot Walken and Pughs scenes, which are largely dialogue driven and tightly framed (not the type of setting productions typically go out of their way for), was deemed worthwhile. But supervising location manager Duncan Broadfoot received a quick no when inquiring about getting permission to shoot there. Commissioned in 1969 by Onorina Tomasin-Brion, who made his fortune with Vega-Brion Televisions, the heart of the sanctuary is the familys private cemetery. Over the years, the Brion family has turned down a number of requests to shoot there, including from the Star Wars team.

But when the Brions son realized it was Dune, he said, Wow, Im interested in meeting the people involved because yeah, I see theres Carlo Scarpa influence on Part One, said Vermette.

Tomb of the Brion family Getty Images

For Vermette, shooting at Brion was a full circle moment beyond using Scarpas work within his world-building. In 1978, not yet finished with the sanctuary, the architect died in Japan after a fall. He is buried in the same cemetery as the Brions, just outside the familys plot.

A lot of architects go there to pay tribute to the master, and when you go to pay your respects, you leave your drawing pen on his tomb, instead of leaving a flower, said Vermette, who did leave one of his favorite pens, but also found much bigger ways to pay tribute to the master.

Best of IndieWire

Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Six individuals have reportedly been arrested for attempting to smuggle dozens of animals from Thailand to India

Thailand Customs Deptartment/Facebook A red panda found in checked luggage at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand

Six people were reportedly arrested in Thailand on Monday after attempting to smuggle 87 animals, including an endangered red panda and two critically endangered cotton-top tamarin monkeys, out of the country.

Thailand's Customs Department announced the arrests in a Facebook statement  translated into English by Google  on Wednesday.

Per the statement, five males and one female were arrested at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport on Monday for "trying to smuggle animals" internationally. The party was reportedly heading to Mumbai, India.

Thailand Customs Deptartment/Facebook A red panda found in checked luggage at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists several of the animals, including the red panda, found in the checked luggage as endangered.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The smuggling suspects are accused of attempting to export live animals without declaring them, which is a violation of animal disease control laws, per the statement Thailand's Customs Department shared on Facebook.



The 87 animals recovered at the airport included a red panda, two critically endangered cotton-top tamarin monkeys, 29 chameleons, 21 snakes, 15 birds, seven lizards, four skinks, two red-eyed squirrels, two bats, a fish tiger, a frog, a rat, and a Sulawesi bear cuscus, the statement said. Per The Guardian's report on the arrests, the Sulawesi bear cuscus is listed as a vulnerable species.

Thailand Customs Deptartment/Facebook A Sulawesi bear cuscus found in checked luggage at an airport in Bangkok, Thailand

Related: Baby Otters Are the Latest Exotic Animals to Be Sold as Trendy Pets Through Facebook

The animals were discovered inside the checked luggage stored in wicker baskets, fabric bags, or plastic tubes, according to CNN and photos taken at the scene.

CNN obtained a statement on the arrests from Kanitha Krishnasamy, the director of TRAFFIC's Southeast Asia office. TRAFFIC is a non-government organization that campaigns against the "illegal and unsustainable trade in wild species."

Thailand Customs Deptartment/Facebook A bird discovered inside checked luggage at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport

Related: Month-Old Leopard Cub Found in Man's Luggage After Officials Hear Odd Noises Coming From Bag

Krishnasamy told CNN that her organization has noticed increased attempts at wildlife trafficking into India. She called the instances a "growing fad" fueled by an interest in exotic pets.

"We need to get to the bottom of the market in India," she said. "A robust understanding of the contemporary pet market is needed to guide future interventions, including on strengthened regulation and reducing demand."



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Our Guy in Russia Season 1 is a mini docuseries that follows motorbike adventurer and mechanic Guy Martin as he traverses across the Russian city of Moscow, the frigid region of Siberia, and the radioactive Chornobyl and explores the people and ordinary life in the northernmost region of Asia. Channel 4 originally aired the series in July 2018.

Heres how you can watch and stream Our Guy in Russia Season 1 via streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video and Peacock.

Is Our Guy in Russia Season 1 available to watch via streaming?

Yes, Our Guy in Russia Season 1 is available to watch via streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Peacock.

From riding with the Night Wolves, a motorcycle gang associated with President Vladimir Putin, and exploring bike culture in Russia to visiting the Kalashnikov factory that produces the infamous AK-47 assault rifles and a diamond mine in the remote, frigid landscape of Siberia, the first two episodes of the miniseries explore Russian life. The show also features a visit to Chornobyl, where Guy Martin delves into the aftermath of the biggest nuclear catastrophe and the progressions to radioactive safety.

Season 1 of Our Guy in Russia features Guy Martin.

Watch Our Guy in Russia Season 1 streaming via Amazon Prime Video

Our Guy in Russia Season 1 is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video. The streaming platform allows users to access on-demand content including TV series and movies from Amazon and third-party content providers.

You can watch via Amazon Prime Video by following these steps:

Go to Amazon Prime Video Select Sign in and Create your Amazon account Sign up for a Prime Video membership: $14.99 per month or $139 per year with an Amazon Prime membership

$8.99 per month for a standalone Prime Video membership

Amazon Prime is the online retailers paid service that provides fast shipping and exclusive sales on products, so the membership that includes both this service and Prime Video is the companys most popular offering. However, you can also opt to subscribe to Prime Video separately.

Watch Our Guy in Russia Season 1 streaming via Peacock

Our Guy in Russia Season 1 is available to watch on Peacock. It is a subscription-based streaming service that features video content from NBC Universal Studios and other video content providers.

You can watch via Peacock by following these steps:

Go to PeacockTV.com Click Get Started Choose your payment plan $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year (premium)

$11.99 per month or $119.99 per year (premium plus) Create your account Enter your payment details

Peacocks Premium account provides access to over 80,000+ hours of TV, movies, and sports, including current NBC and Bravo Shows, along with 50 always-on channels. Premium Plus is the same plan but with no ads (save for limited exclusions), along with allowing users to download select titles and watch them offline and providing access to your local NBC channel live 24/7.

Our Guy in Russia Season 1 synopsis is as follows:

Our Guy in Russia is the fourth in the series of critically-acclaimed adventure travelogues hosted by popular UK lorry mechanic and television daredevil, Guy Martin. He travels from Moscow to Siberia, and as usual ignores the traditional tourist attractions  preferring instead to follow his passions to discover what everyday life is really like in Russia. He rides with the Night Wolves  President Putins biker gang, and goes to work in the factory that produces one of Russias proudest exports  the Kalashnikov machine gun, to name but a few of his adventures in Russia.

NOTE: The streaming services listed above are subject to change. The information provided was correct at the time of writing.

Dune: Part Two finally hit theaters after an eternal wait. Thankfully, the Denis Villeneuve movie lives up to the hype

Movies Jeff Ames 6 hours ago

Amazon MGM Studios announced on Wednesday that The Beekeeper will release on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD next month. The

Movies Anthony Nash 7 hours ago

For the second time in one day, the Karate Kid cast for the newest movie in the series has grown.

Movies Spencer Legacy 7 hours ago

According to Deadline, Chicago Med and Expats star Brian Tee has been tapped to join the Reacher Season 3 cast

TV Maggie Dela Paz 7 hours ago

Read more

The post Our Guy in Russia Season 1 Streaming: Watch and Stream Online via Amazon Prime Video and Peacock appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
'Rust' armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed faces up to 18 months in prison following her involuntary manslaughter conviction in Halyna Hutchins' 2021 death

Gabriela Campos-Pool/Getty Images; Mat Hayward/Getty Images Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and Halyna Hutchins

Halyna Hutchins' family is speaking out after Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins' October 2021 death.

"Halynas parents and her sister have always wanted everyone who is responsible for Halynas death to be held accountable," a statement issued by Hutchins' family attorneys, Gloria Allred and John Carpenter, obtained by PEOPLE reads. "Today was the first trial and conviction in the criminal justice process. We are satisfied that the jury, based on the evidence, found Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty beyond a reasonable doubt for her part in the taking of Halynas life."

"We look forward to the justice system continuing to make sure that everyone else who is responsible for Halyna's death is required to face the legal consequences for their actions," the attorneys added.

A jury at the First Judicial District Courthouse in Santa Fe, New Mexico found Wednesday that Gutierrez-Reed, 26 was liable, in part, for the on-set fatal shooting of Hutchins, who died at 42 years old. Gutierrez-Reed was acquitted of a separate charge of tampering with evidence.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.



Jim Weber - Pool/Getty Hannah Gutierrez-Reed on March 1, 2024

Related: 'Rust' Armorer Speaks Out About Criminal Charges: 'We Intend to Bring the Full Truth to Light'

Gutierrez-Reed was the armorer hired for the indie Western film Rust, which Alec Baldwin starred in and produced. During a rehearsal on the set at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021, Baldwin, 65, held a prop gun that happened to be loaded with live rounds and discharged, shooting director Joel Souza and cinematographer Hutchins. Souza, 50, survived his injuries; Baldwin has maintained he did not pull the trigger.

In her closing argument on Wednesday, prosecutor Kari Morrissey said, "The astonishing lack of diligence with regard to gun safety is without question a significant cause of the death of Halyna Hutchins," per ABC News.



"This is not a case where Hannah Gutierrez made one mistake, and that one mistake was accidental -- putting a live round into that gun," Morrissey told jurors. "This case is about constant, neverending, safety failures that resulted in the death of a human being and nearly killed another."



Defense attorney Jason Bowles said during his closing argument that Gutierrez Reed was a "convenient fall person" and that detectives did not conduct a thorough investigation of the Oct. 2021 shooting. Bowles told PEOPLE following the verdict that the defense will appeal.



Rachel Luna/WireImage; Mat Hayward/Getty/AMC Networks Alec Baldwin; Halyna Hutchins

Related: Halyna Hutchins' Family Attorney Says SAG-AFTRA's Defense of Alec Baldwin 'Flies in the Face of Common Sense'

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ordered that Gutierrez-Reed be remanded into custody at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center following the guilty verdict. She faces up to 18 months in prison with the conviction. A sentencing date has not been set.

Baldwin was also charged with involuntary manslaughter in January 2023, but the criminal case against the actor was delayed when those charges were dropped three months later. He was indicted for a second time this past January. Baldwin's criminal trial is expected to begin Aug. 6, per New Mexico court documents obtained by PEOPLE. He has pled not guilty to the new charge.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Fatime Letifova

Azerbaijan and Russia have discussed enhancing partnerships within transport and infrastructure projects.

Azernews reports that Azerbaijan's Economy Minister, Mikayil Jabbarov, has shared this on his official X account.

"During the meeting with Russia's Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, they discussed the agenda of joint activities in the economic field, including supporting bilateral trade and fostering stronger ties between businesspeople, enhancing partnerships within transport and infrastructure projects, and mapping out new fields of cooperation," says the minister.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Steps to restore the work of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Iran are being discussed, Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Aykhan Hajizada said, Trend reports.

"This issue is still being discussed. The exact date of the resumption of the embassy's work is yet unknown," he said.

To note, an armed attack took place at the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Iran on January 27, 2023, at about 8:30 (GMT+4). The gunman turned out to be a man in his 50s who drove up to the administrative building, armed with a Kalashnikov automatic rifle.

Earlier reports from the Chief of Tehran Police indicated there were two children in the car with the gunman; however, security camera evidence revealed later proved he was alone. He entered the facility after momentarily waiving his hand at the Iranian security guard outside. There were no attempts to apprehend the gunman, who entered the embassy freely. The man killed the head of security and injured two diplomatic guards. The gunman was eventually apprehended. The incident is still being investigated.

Following the tragic assault, Azerbaijan evacuated its officials from the embassy, including those injured, and ceased all operations at the mission in Tehran.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
The case of the allegedly stolen lyrics to The Eagles Hotel California, which sparked when Don Henley discovered them up for auction in 2012, has come to an unceremonious end. According to CBS News, the case was dismissed on Wednesday after a cache of emails became available in the wake of Henleys testimony. After taking the stand, Henley had waived attorney-client privilege, thereby releasing a trove of communications that the defense argued called the trials fairness into question.

The reportedly 6,000 pages of previously private communications between Henley and his lawyers have not been made public, but according to the Associated Press, the defense argued the emails identified additional potential witnesses and raised questions about some testimony from Henley and others. The prosecution ultimately agreed with the defense and declined to move forward with the case. These delayed disclosures revealed relevant information that the defense should have had the opportunity to explore in cross-examination of the Peoples witnesses, Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Aaron Ginandes wrote (via NBC News). The case was then dismissed by Judge Curtis Farber, who said that witnesses and their lawyers used attorney-client privilege to obfuscate and hide information that they believed would be damaging.

Heres how the whole thing went down: Henley only realized the Hotel California lyrics (among other Eagles-related documents) were missing when they went up for auction in 2012. He bought back some of the material himself, but also reported his property stolen. The new emails reportedly reveal that Henleys lawyers initially wanted to categorize the situation a burglary to make their case stronger.

However, the chain of possession actually started with Ed Sanders, a writer contracted to pen an Eagles biography back in 1979. Henley testified that he gave Sanders access to the handwritten Eagles memorabilia, but he had never gifted them or gave them to anybody to keep or sell. Nevertheless, Sanders (who was never on trial) kept them and sold them to rare books dealer Glenn Horowitz, who then sold them to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and rock memorabilia collector Edward Kosinski, who put the pages up for auction in 2012. Per the AP, prosecutors argued that this trio knew the pages chain of possession was shaky but sought to keep and sell them anyway, contriving to fabricate a provenance that would pass muster with auction houses and stave off Henleys demands for the return of the handwritten sheets.

We are glad the district attorneys office finally made the right decision to drop this case. It should never have been brought, Jonathan Bach, an attorney for Horowitz, said outside court (via CBS). One of Kosinskis attorneys told press that they would consider their own potential action. Henleys lawyer Dan Petrocelli, meanwhile, said in a statement, As the victim in this case, Mr. Henley has once again been victimized by this unjust outcome. He will pursue all his rights in the civil courts.
"Rust" movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, right, talks with her attorney Jason Bowles during her involuntary manslaughter trial on March 5, 2024 at the First Judicial District Courthouse in Santa Fe, N.M. Credit - Jim WeberSanta Fe New Mexican via AP

(SANTA FE, N.M.)  A jury convicted a movie weapons supervisor of involuntary manslaughter on Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal on the set of the Western movie Rust.

The verdict against movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed assigned new blame in the October 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021 after an assistant director last year pleaded no contest to negligent handling of a firearm.

Gutierrez-Reed also had faced a second charge, of evidence tampering, stemming from accusations that she handed a small bag of possible narcotics to another crew member after the shooting to avoid detection. She was found not guilty on that charge.

Immediately after the verdict was read in court, the judge ordered the defendant to be placed in the custody of deputies.

Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer on Rust, was indicted by a grand jury in January on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. He was pointing a gun at Hutchins on a movie set outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.

The proceedings were a preamble to the actor's scheduled trial in July on the single charge of involuntary manslaughter. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty.

Messages seeking comment about the verdict from Baldwins spokeswoman and a lawyer were not immediately returned.

Prosecutors say Gutierrez-Reed unknowingly brought live ammunition onto the set of Rust at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe, arguing that rounds lingered for at least 12 days until the fatal shooting. In closing arguments, prosecutor Kari Morrissey described constant, never-ending safety failures on the set of Rust and Gutierrez-Reed's astonishing lack of diligence with gun safety.

We end exactly where we began  in the pursuit of justice for Halyna Hutchins, Morrissey had told the jury before they began deliberating. Hannah Gutierrez failed to maintain firearms safety, making a fatal accident willful and foreseeable.

Prosecutors contend the armorer repeatedly skipped or skimped on standard gun-safety protocols that might have detected the live rounds.

This was a game of Russian roulette every time an actor had a gun with dummies, Morrissey said.

Defense attorneys said the problems on the set extended far beyond Gutierrez-Reeds control, including the mishandling of weapons by Baldwin. At trial they cited sanctions and findings by state workplace safety investigators.

Prosecutors did not come close to proving where the live rounds originated and failed to fully investigate an Albuquerque-based ammunition supplier, the defense said at trial.

Lead attorney Jason Bowles told jurors that no one in the cast and crew thought there were live rounds on set and Gutierrez-Reed could not have foreseen that Baldwin would go off-script when he pointed the revolver at Hutchins. Investigators found no video recordings of the shooting.

It was not in the script for Mr. Baldwin to point the weapon, Bowles said. She didnt know that Mr. Baldwin was going to do what he did.

To drive the point home, Bowles played a video outtake in which Baldwin fired a revolver loaded with blanks  including a shot after a director calls cut.

On the day of the shooting, Bowles said, Gutierrez-Reed alone was segregated in a police car away from others, becoming a convenient scapegoat.

You had a production company on a shoestring budget, an A-list actor that was really running the show, Bowles said. At the end, they had somebody they could all blame.

Dozens of witnesses testified during the 10-day trial, from FBI experts in firearms and crime-scene forensics to a camera dolly operator who described the fatal gunshot and watching Hutchins go flush and lose feeling in her legs before death.

The prosecution painstakingly assembled photographic evidence it said traced the arrival and spread of live rounds on set, and argued that Gutierrez-Reed repeatedly missed opportunities to ensure safety and treated basic gun protocols as optional.

The defense had cast doubt on the relevance of photographs of ammunition, noting FBI testimony that live rounds can't be fully distinguished from dummy ones on sight.

Bowles began his closing arguments by highlighting testimony from Rust armorer Sarah Zachry saying that, in a panic in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, she threw out ammunition from guns used by actors other than Baldwin. That undermined all evidence about the sources of ammunition, the defense argued.

Prosecutors said six live rounds found on set bear mostly identical characteristics and dont match live rounds seized from the movies supplier in Albuquerque. Defense attorneys said the cluttered supply office was not searched until a month after the shooting, undermining the significance of physical evidence.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.

In 2018, XXXTentacion, 20, was leaving a motorsports dealership in Deerfield Beach, Florida, when two men fatally shot him. The incident occurred on the afternoon of June 18 when the armed men approached the rapper and opened fire at him while trying to rob $50,000 in cash, reported ABC News and BBC. The shooting victim was later pronounced dead in a hospital.

Police stated that surveillance captured XXXTentacions killers, namely Michael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams, and Trayvon Newsome. They identified Boatwright as the shooter, Newsome as the second gunman, and Williams as the driver of their SUV. All three suspects faced first-degree murder charges. A fourth individual and former friend of the rapper, Robert Allen, was also present in the vehicles backseat. Allen pleaded guilty and testified at the trial.

Hulus documentary Look At Me: XXXTENTACION chronicles the late rappers rise to fame shortly before his tragic demise. The documentary, which premiered in 2022, is named after his sensational track and all-time hit Look At Me!

What happened to XXXTentacions killers & where are they now?

According to The New York Times, prosecutors alleged that all four suspects involved in XXXTentacions killing had been planning to commit robberies on June 18, 2018. They then spotted the rapper at Riva Motorsports, and after confirming his identity, the men waited for him in the parking lot. Surveillance footage captured all four suspects: Michael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams, Trayvon Newsome, and Robert Allen.

The footage showed an SUV swerving in front of XXXTentacion as he left the motorcycle shop and blocked his BMW. He was sitting inside his BMW when two men, Boatwright and Newsome, jumped out of the SUV. They approached the rapper and demanded his chain. When the 20-year-old put up a fight, the robbers shot him, stole a Louis Vuitton bag from his car, and drove away, per ABC News.

Nearly five years later, in March 2023, a Florida jury convicted the killersMichael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams, and Trayvon Newsomeof first-degree murder. The fourth individual involved, Robert Allen, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder the year before. Allen also testified at the trial, per The New York Times report.

Prosecutors used surveillance footage and cellphone and Bluetooth data to link the men to the location and the SUV. Other evidence included videos showing the defendants dancing and posing with cash hours after XXXTentacions killing. The men were flashing handfuls of $100 notes, stated BBC.

NBC News further reported that prosecutors and authorities identified Boatwright as the main shooter and Newsome as the second gunman. They identified Williams as the SUVs driver. In April 2023, Judge Michael Usan sentenced all three convicts to mandatory life sentences, reported Variety.

Meanwhile, Allen, who testified against the former three, received a reduced sentence of seven years, per AP News. The judge gave him credit for five years already served, with only two years in prison. Allen will then serve 20 years on probation.

According to the Florida Department of Corrections, Michael Boatwright is serving time in the Northwest Florida Reception Center Main Unit. Dedrick Williams is in the Wakulla Correctional Institution, and Trayvon Newsome is in the Suwannee Correctional Institution.

Other documentaries that have previously chronicled the life and death of XXXTentacion include In His Own Words, Long Live X: The Life and Death of XXXTentacion, and more.

The post Who Killed Rapper XXXTentacion? appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
King Charles III has finally returned to work in the palace amid speculations regarding his health status. Back in February, the monarch was diagnosed with cancer while undergoing treatment for an enlarged prostate.

Since his diagnosis was announced, Charles took a break from his royal duties to manage his health and receive treatment. However, he is now back at work, and Buckingham Palace has released photos of the king greeting ambassadors.

King Charles Has Returned To Work

MEGA

Amid his ongoing cancer treatment, King Charles has made his grand return to work. On Wednesday, Buckingham Palace released official photos of the monarch greeting ambassadors with a very cheery demeanor.

In photos shared online, the 75-year-old King had a broad smile on his face as he shared a handshake with Algeria's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Nourredine Yazid, and Samba Mamadou, the ambassador of Mauritania.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Royal Family (@theroyalfamily)

The palace captioned the photo: "The King received Ambassadors from Algeria and Mauritania at Buckingham Palace earlier today. Mr. Nourredine Yazid and Mr. Samba Mamadou Ba presented their 'letters of credence' to His Majesty - formal letters from their Heads of State which mark the beginning of their posts in the UK."

There were other meetings that the monarch attended today besides his private audience with the ambassadors.

In an earlier photo shared, King Charles can be seen speaking with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a video conference at Buckingham Palace. The image was captioned, "This afternoon, His Majesty The King had an audience with the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, via video link."

Royal Fans Celebrate King Charles' Return To Work

MEGA

Fans and supporters of the monarch were happy to see him back at work, with many commending Charles for his resilience and dedication to his duties amid his cancer battle.

One person said, "King Charles, ever the professional, he learnt from the best- his beloved mother."

Another wrote, "Such an amazing King. Despite his illness and his Medical Attention our wonderful King is STILL WORKING TOO. Make sure you get some rest Sir your body needs it. We want you for many years to come."

"Lovely to see his Majesty looking so well which indicates that his health is doing well despite diagnosis," a third person noted.

"God bless [the] King, His Majesty King Charles. I'm glad to see him back to his royal duty," another person said.

One more individual commented, "Hoping His Majesty Our King is on the mend, our family wishes him good health and happiness and a long reign."

King Charles Says The Support He Received Moved Him To Tears

MEGA

As we previously reported, the King revealed that he had been "reduced to tears" after being showered with kind words and support following his cancer diagnosis.

Charles said this during a meeting with Prime Minister Sunak at Buckingham Palace to discuss matters about the government.

At the meeting, the Prime Minister told the King that it was "wonderful to see you looking so well," to which Charles quipped, "It's all done with mirrors."

Sunak then reassured the monarch, "We're all behind you. The country is behind you," prompting him to reply, "I've had so many wonderful messages and cards. It's reduced me to tears most of the time."

During the King's conversation with Sunak, they talked about how Charles' cancer diagnosis helped spotlight important cancer charities.

"I hear there's been a lot more attention and interest on those main, wonderful cancer charities, many of which I've been [a] patron for years," Charles noted. The Prime Minister responded, "They do incredible work up and down the country."

What Kind Of Cancer Was The Monarch Diagnosed With?

MEGA

Since his diagnosis, many have asked to know what kind of cancer the monarch was diagnosed with, but the palace has been tight-lipped with the information. However, they made sure to note that his cancer diagnosis was not related to his treatment for an "enlarged prostate."

An earlier statement read: "During The King's recent hospital procedure for benign prostate enlargement, a separate issue of concern was noted. Subsequent diagnostic tests have identified a form of cancer."

It continued, "His Majesty has today commenced a schedule of regular treatments, during which time he has been advised by doctors to postpone public-facing duties. Throughout this period, His Majesty will continue to undertake State business and official paperwork as usual."

Besides the King, his daughter-in-law, Kate Middleton, has also sparked concern due to her disappearance from the public eye after undergoing abdominal surgery. Reports have since noted that Kate is "doing well" and will return to work when she has recovered.
Chasity Nunez and her 11-year-old daughter Zella were shot and killed in their parked car in Worcester, Mass. on Tuesday

Worcester Police Department Dejan Belnavis mugshot

A manhunt is underway in Worcester, Massachusetts, after a mother and her 11-year-old daughter were shot dead in a parked car on Tuesday.

Around 3:09 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Worcester police responded to a report of gunshots on a residential street and found two females, later identified as Chasity Nunez and Zella Nunez, inside a parked vehicle, per a police release. Both the mother and daughter had serious injuries from gunshot wounds and they were pronounced dead after they were transported to a local hospital.

On Wednesday, Worcester police identified 27-year-old Dejan Belnavis as a suspect in the fatal shooting and issued an arrest warrant for him, per the department's Facebook page. Belnavis is wanted for charges connected to the murder of the mother and daughter and is considered armed and dangerous.

Per police, a second individual, identified as Karel Mangual, 28, has been arrested on charges of armed assault to murder and carrying a firearm without a license. He also had a preexisting arrest warrant.

In a statement shared on Facebook, City Manager Eric D. Batista, Mayor Joseph M. Petty, Interim Police Chief Paul Saucier, and Superintendent Dr. Rachel Monarrez said they stand alongside our community in sorrow and solidarity in the wake of the tragedy.

Today we mourn the senseless loss of two Worcester residents, a mother and daughter whose lives were taken far too soon and far too tragically. Collectively, we ask for patience and privacy on behalf of the victims family and friends and for the Worcester Public Schools who are grieving the loss of a student. An act of such violence has no place in our City, the statement continued. The residents of Worcester deserve better.

Worcester is a resilient community, and we know that our residents will lovingly embrace the victims family and friends as we work toward healing from this traumatic event.

Chasity Nunez/Instagram Chasity and Zella Nunez

Chastity leaves behind a 2-year-old daughter, according to her cousin, Tyrae Sims. "I'm thankful to God she wasn't in the car," Sims told NBC Boston. "It's a horrible silver lining, I guess."

Sims said Zella was just the best. So full of life, such a good little girl. She didn't deserve it at all.

He described Chastity, a childhood friend of his, as the best mom she could possibly have been.

She loved those girls with all her heart, he told the outlet.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

Worcester police encouraged anyone with information regarding the incident to reach out via an anonymous online tip service at worcesterma.gov/police or by calling the the Worcester Police Detective Bureau at (508) 799-8651.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Max will become the latest streamer to cut down on password sharing, as Warner Bros. Discovery plans to start its crackdown in late 2024 into 2025.

Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom conference, J.B. Perrette, president and chief executive global streaming and games at Warner Bros. Discovery, announced plans to limit password sharing, citing Netflixs crackdown, which he said was implemented extremely successfully. All of this is part of WBDs several-part plan to build streaming profits.

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Were going to be doing that starting later this year and into 25, which is another growth opportunity for us, Perette said of the password-sharing crackdown.

Asked how big of a revenue opportunity the password-sharing crackdown represents, Perette said its a meaningful opportunity, but was cautious on overselling it given given the comparison of Netflixs 260 million subscribers and longer history to Maxs 97.7 million.

Im conscious of not overselling because you see Netflixs success. Netflix was in market for 17 years. That means people were sharing passwords for 17 years. Weve been in the market for four, if you count the HBO Max launch, and obviously were not quite at the same scale. But we think, relative to the scale of our business, its a meaningful opportunity.

WBD posted a full-year streaming profit for 2023, a rarity among the Hollywood media conglomerates, but in the fourth quarter, the streaming segment posted a loss of $55 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, compared with a year-ago loss of $217 million.

The goal is to maintain a consistent profit in this segment, which Perette said the company believes it can achieve through further globalization, given that 80 percent of the companys revenue is still based in the U.S., as well as broadening the advertising tier, which launched in the U.S., into Europe and Latin America.

Additionally, he pointed to an improving content slate over the next 18 to 24 months, which includes season two of House of the Dragon in June and next year, season two of The Last of Us, the second season of Euphoria, and the third season of The White Lotus.

Unfortunately, we launched Max in the U.S. and in the eight months following, for a variety of reasons  some that we knew about, some related to the strike  we went into probably the lightest content slate weve ever had, he said.

While Netflix was the first streamer to enact a password crackdown, which helped translate to a surge of 13 million new subscribers in the most recent quarter, Disney has also said it will start to enact a password-sharing policy.

Disney has already updated its subscriber agreement for Disney+, as well as Hulu, to ban account sharing for new subscribers starting Jan. 25, and for existing subscribers starting March 14. And last month, Disney CFO Hugh Johnston said that starting this summer, Disney+ account holders will be presented with new capabilities that allow account-sharers to start their own subscriptions.

Best of The Hollywood Reporter
Netflixs upcoming horror series Parasyte: The Grey released a brand-new trailer, teasing the central storyline about parasites taking over humans. The series is a live-action adaptation of Hitoshi Iwaakis Japanese manga Parasyte. It will stream exclusively on Netflix, with its premiere on Friday, April 5, 2024. This unique take on the manga adaptation raises anticipation among viewers about the execution of the series.

Popular director Yeon Sang-Ho helms Parasyte: The Grey. He is known for the successful and critically acclaimed 2016 movie Train to Busan and the 2021 series Hellbound. While the upcoming Netflix series takes some elements of the manga into consideration, it is a completely original story set in South Korea. The newly released trailer documents gory but intriguing visuals about parasites controlling human bodies.

Parasyte: The Grey trailer: Parasites infect human hosts in the Netflix live-action horror series

The trailer for Parasyte: The Grey begins with an introduction to the storyline. An established team of humans infected with parasites talk about their one and only goal  to infect human bodies in order to survive. From then on, a number of parasitic humans take over the world and begin to infect human beings.

Whats interesting about these parasites is that they look, think, and act like humans and easily camouflage themselves among people. As they continue to spread their base in the world, humans come together to battle these forces. However, it isnt easy, given how fast they infect humans, who spread it to others, forming a vicious circle.

One of the lead cast members is Jeon So-Nee, who plays Jung Soo-In. She is the central character, a human connected to the origins of mysterious parasites. In the trailer, she grapples with the parasites wreaking havoc in the world. By the end of the trailer, a fellow parasitic human calls her different. This could indicate that she is a hybrid battling between her human and parasitic identities.

Other cast members of the Netflix series include Koo Kyo-Hwan, who plays Seol Kang-Woo, a man looking for his sister. Lee Jung-Hyun plays Choi Joon-Kyung, part of an elite team designed to battle and hunt the parasites. Meanwhile, Kwon Hae-Hyo essays the role of Kim Chul-Min, who investigates cases related to these mysterious but dangerous parasites. Kim In-Kwon plays Kang Won-Seok, a police officer who helps Chul-Min.

To watch the journey unfold, dont forget to watch Parasyte: The Grey on Friday, April 5, 2024, on Netflix.

The post Netflixs Parasyte: The Grey Trailer Trailer Teases Parasites Taking Over Humans appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
A rollicking rom-com road trip, Oklahoma City Repertory Theater's production of "Vietgone" roars into Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, souped up on comic-book style, uproarious comedy and ninja attacks.

For all its frantic fun, though, it's the heartbreakingly human and honest way that the show shares its characters' Vietnamese refugee stories  particularly the astonishingly insightful finale  that delivers a powerful zap to the heart and resounding pow to the head.

Oklahoma City Repertory Theater, aka OKC Rep, is closing its 2023-2024 main stage season with Qui Nguyen's "Vietgone," playing through March 9 at Oklahoma Contemporary's Te Ata Theater.

Amanda Le Nguyen and Daniel May star in Oklahoma City Repertory Theater's production of "Vietgone."

Here's what you need to know about the wildly entertaining show:

What is the Off-Broadway hit 'Vietgone' about?

Set in 1975 after the fall of Saigon has ended the Vietnam War, "Vietgone" is billed as an "all-American love story about two very new Americans."

An award-winning playwright, Nguyen uses the play to convey an irreverent, loving and outlandishly fictionalized version of his parents' refugee stories  even as the show opens with a version of the author (portrayed by multitalented Edmond actor Ashley J. Mandanas) cheekily swearing that all the characters the audience is about to meet are totally fictional and that any resemblance to real people, especially his parents, is a completely coincidental.

Told in fast-paced nonlinear fashion, "Vietgone" follows Quang (Daniel May), an American-trained helicopter pilot in the South Vietnam Air Force. During the chaotic fall of Saigon, he ferries dozens of his countrymen to the safety of waiting U.S. Navy ships, but he is forced to leave behind his wife and two young children.

Haunted by his guilt, Quang is shipped to a Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, resettlement camp, where he crosses paths with Tong (Amanda Le Nguyen), a smart, sexy and sharp-tongued fellow refugee who feels signficantly less remorse about leaving her whiny would-be fiance (Mandanas again) behind in Vietnam.

That's not to say that Tong doesn't have her regrets: A U.S. Embassy employee, she got two tickets out of Vietnam, and her beloved younger brother Khue (Jang) refused to abandon the love of his life. Instead, he insisted that Tong evacuate their overbearing mother Huong (Jenelle Chu), even though she didn't want to go.

At Fort Chaffee, Huong makes her disdain for American life loudly known, and she and Quang bond over their mutual longing to return to their homeland. And sparks fly when he meets Tong, despite her determination to build the kind of life in the United States that she couldn't in Vietnam as an outspoken, independently minded woman.

Despite his undeniable chemistry with Tong, Quang fixes up a rusty old motorcycle and sets off with his best pal, the geekily good-natured Nhan (Zion Jang), on a road trip to California with the hopes of making his way back to Vietnam.

Along the way, he and Nhan encounter a Confederate flag-flying biker, a pair of long-haired hippies and even a couple of masked ninjas. Edward T. Morris' striking scenic and projection designs keep the show on track as it roams to 30 different locations and jumps back and forth in time.

From left, Daniel May, Jenelle Chu, Ashley J. Mandanas, Zion Jang and Amanda Le Nguyen star in Oklahoma City Repertory Theater's production of "Vietgone."

How does 'Vietgone' incorporate rap and smash stereotypes?

Directed by Nikki DiLoreto, OKC Rep's production of the Off-Broadway hit features an entirely Asian American cast of five able performers  with Mandanas, Chu and Jang ably taking on multiple roles  along with several Asian Americans on the creative team and crew.

Immediately smashing stereotypes of Asians as weak and milquetoast, the "Vietgone" is packed with plenty of 1970s-style sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.

Showing off his emotional range, May plays Quang as a brave, noble and appealing hero, while Amanda Le Nguyen proves a charismatic leading lady as the confidently feminist Tong, who is sexually liberated and capable of taking care of herself and her mother.

Cleverly striking back at America's sordid stage and screen history of putting white actors in yellowface to play Asian roles, the playwright has all "Vietgone's" white side characters portrayed with deliberately over-the-top gusto by members of the Asian American cast.

From left, Daniel May, Ashley J. Mandanas and Zion Jang star in Oklahoma City Repertory Theater's production of "Vietgone."

Hilariously, the show establishes early on that the Vietnamese characters speak perfect English with no heavy accents and spot-on slang, while the white Americans communicate in a broken dialect punctuated by shouty nonsense like "french fries, tater tots, cholesterol!"

An award-winning pioneer of "geek theater"  pop culture-infused action-adventure stories with heroes who are people of color, women and/or LGBTQ  Nguyen playfully works in a charming dance sequence, kung-fu fighting and a classic outlaw country hit.

He also makes the boldly anachronistic choice to incorporate rap into much of "Vietgone," from the opening scenes of Quang spitting profanity-laced rhymes while steering a motorcycle down the open road.

Featuring original music by Shane Rettig, the show's centerpiece is an emotional recurring hip-hop duet between Quang and Tong about the meaning of home. The raps aren't as refined as those in "Hamilton"  which, like "Vietgone," debuted in 2015  but they effectively lay out the characters' inner thoughts for the audience.

Oklahoma City has a large Vietnamese American population, and our neighbors deserve to see themselves on stage in an engaging and imaginative show like "Vietgone," which has already spun off the first of two planned sequels.

But "Vietgone" is an all-American show with the potential to delight teens and adults who don't have an aversion to f-bombs, hookups and too-real insights into the complexities and costs of war.

'VIETGONE'

When: Feb. 29-March 9.

Where: Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center's Te Ata Theater, 11 NW 11.

Tickets: https://www.okcrep.org/vietgone.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Irreverent refugee rom-com 'Vietgone' delights in OKC show: What to know
[Note: This story has been updated to reflect the Russo Brothers' connection to best picture-winner "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once."]

Calling all movie buffs. The biggest night in the film industry is just days away.

The 96th Academy Awards arrives this Sunday, March 10 on ABC. The show will recognize the best movies of 2023, as the industry's top writers, actors and executives wait with bated breath to find out who will take home a an Oscar.

But which of Ohio's celebrities have become proud owners of the coveted award?

Here's a look back at 10 of the Oscar winners that have represented Ohio in previous years, from the oldest to the most recent award ceremony.

A look back at Oscar winners from Ohio

1. George Chakiris, Best supporting actor for 'West Side Story'

Actor George Chakiris, from Norwood, poses with the 10 Academy Awards given to the 1961 film "West Side Story," including his Oscar for supporting actor.

Born in Norwood, George Chakiris won an Academy Award in 1962 for his performance as Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks gang, in the 1961 film version of "West Side Story." The film won 10 Academy Awards in total.

2. Charles Guggenheim, Four-time Oscar award winner

Oscar trophies are prepared backstage during the 94th Academy Awards in 2022.

Charles Guggenheim, a Cincinnati native and Walnut Hills High School alum, was the most honored documentary filmmaker in Academy history, receiving twelve Academy Award nominations and winning four Oscars.

His wins include: Documentary short subject for "Nine from Little Rock" (1964), best live action short film for "Robert Kennedy Remembered" (1968), documentary short subject for "The Johnstown Flood" (1989) and documentary short subject for "A Time for Justice" (1995).

3. Halle Berry, Best actress for 'Monster's Ball'

Halle Berry celebrates backstage after winning best actress for her role in "Monster's Ball."

Halle Berry, a Cleveland native and Cuyahoga Community College alum, became the first Black woman to win an Oscar for best actress in 2002 for "Monster's Ball."

Over two decades later, she is still the only Black woman to take home that award.

4. George Clooney, Best supporting actor for 'Syriana' and Best picture for 'Argo'

George Clooney, born in Lexington, Kentucky and raised in Mason, Ohio, has earned two Academy Awards.

He accepted his first Oscar in 2005 for best supporting actor in political thriller film "Syriana." His second win came in 2012, when "Argo" won best picture  a film he co-produced.

5. John Legend, Best original song for 'Selma'

Chrissy Teigen, left, and John Legend at the Oscars in 2017. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Legend, a Springfield native, earned an Oscar in 2015 for his song "Glory," featured in the film "Selma."

In 2018, he became the first Black man to reach EGOT status  or earn an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award  when he received an Emmy for his portrayal of Jesus Christ in NBCs Jesus Christ Superstar, Live in Concert.

6. Allison Janney, Best supporting actress for 'I, Tonya'

Allison Janney, raised in Oakwood, accepted the Oscar for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Tonya Harding's mother in "I, Tonya" in 2018.

She is an alum of Kenyon College.

7. Hannah Beachler, Best production design for 'Black Panther'

Hannah Beachler

Centerville native Hannah Beachler became the first Black woman to accept an Oscar for production design in 2019, when she was recognized for her work on "Black Panther" alongside fellow designer Jay Hart.

Beachler, a University of Cincinnati alum, also received praise for her work on the 2017 Oscar best picture winner Moonlight."

8. Julia Reichert and Steve Bognar, Best documentary feature for 'American Factory'

Yellow Springs residents Julia Reichert and Steve Bognar received an Oscar in the documentary feature category for their critically-acclaimed film "American Factory" in 2020.

The documentary profiles a Chinese billionaire who opens a factory in an abandoned General Motors plant in Moraine, near Dayton. The filmmakers married each other the same year as their Oscar win.

9. Paul Newman, Best actor for 'The Color of Money'

Shaker Heights native Paul Newman didn't take home Oscars for some of his iconic roles in classic movies such as "The Hustler," "Cool Hand Luke," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" or "The Sting," though the actor did earn nominations for the latter two.

The Academy made up for lost time at the 1987 ceremony by giving Newman the Oscar for best actor in a leading role for "The Color of Money." He starred alongside Tom Cruise as he reprised his role as Eddie Felson from "The Hustler" to earn his first  and only  acting Oscar. Newman won honorary Academy Awards in 1986 and 1994.

10. Ryan Lott, Best original score for 'Everything, Everywhere, All at Once'

Ryan Lott performs in Florida.

The 2022 standout film "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" took home seven Oscars at the 95th Academy Awards. Among its wins was best original score for its soundtrack composed by the band Son Lux, led by former Clevelander Ryan Lott.

Lott won the Cleveland Arts Prize as an emerging artist in 2006.

Honorable mention: The Russo brothers, 'Everything, Everywhere, All at Once'

Cleveland natives Anthony Russo, left, and Joe Russo attend a special screening of "Captain America: Civil War" (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP).

"Everything Everywhere All At Once" was the big winner at the 2023 Academy Awards, and Cleveland natives Anthony Russo and Joe Russo were a big part of it.

The brothers served as producers for the best picture winner, but they didn't take home a statuette as producers' guild guidelines and Academy rules limit the number of producers who can earn awards.

The brothers are best known for directing four films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014), "Captain America: Civil War" (2016)," Avengers: Infinity War" (2018), and "Avengers: Endgame" (2019).

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Oscars 2024: A look back at Ohio's Academy Award winners
The criminal sexual assault case against Paul Haggis in Italy could be coming to an end, with prosecutors in the Southern Italy city Brindisi, where Haggis was charged with sexual assault, requesting that the case be dismissed.

The case dates back to June 2022, when the writer-director was booked and placed under house arrest following the complaint of a British woman who was attending the Allora Film Fest with the director. According to the charges, Haggis allegedly abused the woman for three days (June 12-15, 2022) in the lodgings they shared. As a result of the complaint, the director was kept under preventative house arrest from June 19 to July 4, a decision later revoked by Preliminary Investigation Judge Vilma Gilli once it was determined that there was no risk of recurrence.

More from The Hollywood Reporter

The Public Prosecutors Office in Brindisi has told local media that the investigation could not establish that the relationship was nonconsensual. The decision to dismiss the case had been floated last January to THR Roma by prosecutor Antonio Negro, who said at the time, In mid-February we will present either the request to dismiss the case or the notice of conclusion of the preliminary investigation.

Haggis, 70, has denied the charges.

A judge in Brindisi will now decide if the case will be dismissed. There is still the possibility that the British woman who made the allegations against Haggis in 2022 will come forward to oppose the dismissal.

Haggis and prosecutors could not immediately be reached for comment.

This is not the first case of sexual assault charges for Haggis. In the United States, he was found liable in civil court for the rape of his former collaborator Haleigh Breest. She sued Haggis in 2017, in the early months of the #MeToo movement, for an assault that occurred in the directors apartment in 2013. While he never faced any criminal charges in the case, a New York civil court awarded Breest $7.5 million in compensatory damages, and an added $2.5 million in punitive damages, for a total of $10 million.

Last January, with investigations into the Brindisi case still ongoing (and after the New York court ruling), Haggis returned to Italy. From Jan. 26 to 28, he organized a private workshop, open to up to 20 actors and actresses that focused on the auditioning process: from preparing for a scene to shooting, according to an Instagram ad posted Jan. 8.

But the association promptly distanced itself from the event. President Cinzia Mascoli stated, Artisti 7607 is not involved in this workshop, referring any further communication and requests to Haggis personal assistant.

Through communication with the assistant, however, it was not possible to obtain a meeting with Haggis nor was the workshop location shared, despite repeated requests. Paul thanks you for the interest, was the response. However, he has asked me to inform you that his classes are not open to journalists and/or press exclusives because this could violate the privacy of artists who need intimacy and protection to explore their characters in the workshop Paul offers.

Best of The Hollywood Reporter
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Turkiye and Armenia have reached certain agreements on the border, said Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan during an interview with the Turkish Anadolu news agency, Trend reports.

The Armenian ministry emphasized a phone call between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Mirzoyan emphasized that an agreement was reached to open the land border between Turkiye and Armenia for the transit of third-country citizens visiting both countries, and that this arrangement applies not only to third-country citizens but also to individuals holding diplomatic passports in both countries.

"We are discussing the revival of the Silk Road Bridge, and specific agreements have been made regarding the construction of infrastructure and roads in the border regions," he said.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Gutierrez Reed was charged with involuntary manslaughter after cinematographer Hutchins was killed by a prop gun held by Alec Baldwin on set

Jim Weber - Pool/Getty Hannah Gutierrez Reed confers with attorney Jason Bowles during her involuntary manslaughter trial in New Mexico

Hannah Gutierrez Reed has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

After less than three hours of deliberations, a jury at the First Judicial District Courthouse in Santa Fe, New Mexico, found that the 26-year-old Rust armorer was liable, in part, for the on-set fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Gutierrez Reed was acquitted of a separate charge of tampering with evidence.

In her closing argument on Wednesday, prosecutor Kari Morrissey said, "The astonishing lack of diligence with regard to gun safety is without question a significant cause of the death of Halyna Hutchins," per ABC News.

Jim Weber - Pool/Getty Hannah Gutierrez Reed confers with attorney Jason Bowles during her involuntary manslaughter trial in New Mexico

"This is not a case where Hannah Gutierrez made one mistake, and that one mistake was accidental -- putting a live round into that gun," Morrissey told jurors. "This case is about constant, neverending, safety failures that resulted in the death of a human being and nearly killed another."



Defense attorney Jason Bowles said during his closing argument that Gutierrez Reed was a "convenient fall person" and that detectives did not conduct a thorough investigation of the Oct. 2021 shooting.

Jim Weber - Pool/Getty Hannah Gutierrez Reed talks to her defense team during her involuntary manslaughter trial

Bowles told PEOPLE following the verdict that they will appeal.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ordered that Gutierrez Reed be remanded into custody at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center following the guilty verdict. She faces up to 18 months in prison with the conviction. A sentencing date has not been set.



Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.



Fred Hayes/Getty Halyna Hutchins

Related: How Can Alec Baldwin Be Charged Again for the Shooting of Halyna Hutchins? A Legal Expert Explains

Both Gutierrez Reed and Rust star/co-producer Alec Baldwin were charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in January 2023, over the death of Hutchins, 42, from a prop gun that Baldwin, 65, was holding on the film's New Mexico set on Oct. 21, 2021. (The actor maintains that he did not pull the trigger.)

No charges will be filed related to the shooting of Rust director Joel Souza. Souza, 50, was injured in the incident, which occurred during a rehearsal on the set at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe.

In response to the criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence filed against her, Gutierrez Reed entered a written plea of not guilty on Aug. 9, 2023.

"Ms. Gutierrez has pled not guilty to all charges and is preparing for her day in court," her attorney Jason Bowles said in a statement to PEOPLE at the time. "She looks forward to her day in court, and to having the conduct of everyone on set fully examined."



The agreed-upon conditions of Gutierrez Reed's release said she could not possess firearms, could not consume drugs or alcohol (with twice-monthly tests) and could not return to the location of the alleged incident.

Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office via AP Hannah Gutierrez-Reed in New Mexico on Oct. 21, 2021

Related: Alec Baldwin and Wife Hilaria Find New Rust Shooting Charge 'Very Stressful,' Source Says (Exclusive)

In January 2023, Bowles and Todd J. Bullion, attorneys for Gutierrez Reed, said in a statement, "Hannah is, and has always been, very emotional and sad about this tragic accident. But she did not commit involuntary manslaughter."



"These charges are the result of a very flawed investigation, and an inaccurate understanding of the full facts," they added. "We intend to bring the full truth to light and believe Hannah will be exonerated of wrongdoing by a jury."

Baldwin was also charged with involuntary manslaughter in January 2023; however the charges were dropped three months later, delaying the criminal case.

Following his second indictment this past January, the actor was released on his personal recognizance, according to court documents.

A date of Aug. 6 was set earlier this month for Baldwin's trial, per New Mexico court documents obtained by PEOPLE. He has pled not guilty to the new charge.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Baldwin's own involuntary manslaughter trial is set for July

John Lamparski/Getty; Fred Hayes/Getty; Jim Weber - Pool/Getty Alec Baldwin, Halyna Hutchins and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed

The swift verdict for Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who on Wednesday was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the fatal 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, could hint at Alec Baldwins fate, according to legal expert Emily D. Baker.

Baldwin, 65, an actor and producer on the Western film, was holding a prop gun when it discharged, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. He was charged in January with involuntary manslaughter (negligent use of a firearm) or alternatively, with involuntary manslaughter (without due caution or circumspection).

The 30 Rock alum heads to trial in New Mexico in July and faces up to 18 months in prison.

He has repeatedly said that he did not know the gun mistakenly contained a live bullet, and also claimed he did not pull the trigger. His lawyers, Alex Spiro and Luke Nikas of Quinn Emanuel, have also maintained their clients innocence, saying, "We look forward to our day in court.

Related: Everything to Know About Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' Shooting Charges, and What Happens Next?

But legal expert Baker, a lawyer and former L.A. Deputy District Attorney, says a jury might not be so sympathetic to their case.

Courtesy of Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office Alec Baldwin on the set of 'Rust'

Pointing to the Gutierrez-Reed jury members, who deliberated for less than three hours before delivering their swift verdict, Baker notes that has to be some indication to [Baldwins] team that he may also be convicted in this case. (Gutierrez-Reed was also found not guilty of tampering with evidence, a charge Baldwin does not face.)

The jurors in New Mexico that spoke to the media didn't hold back in saying people on set are responsible for what happened, continues Baker.

Indeed, juror Alberto Sanchez spoke to Albuquerques KOAT Action News, saying [they] never did the safety checks. Never checked the rounds [in the gun] to pull them out to look at them, shake em. I mean, if you woulda done that, this never would have happened.

He added of Gutierrez-Reed, That was her job to check those rounds.

Baker says Baldwins team will likely lean into the testimony of the states weapons expert, Bryan Carpenter, who found fault with Gutierrez-Reeds handling of weapons.

He said in his testimony [that] it's not the actor's job to check the weapon and if the actor checks the weapon, the armorer has to check it again after. Which is consistent with what Baldwin has been saying all along, continues Baker.

Gabriela Campos-Pool/Getty Hannah Gutierrez-Reed at New Mexico's First Judicial Courthouse Feb. 29

The problem Baldwin has is the negligent use of a firearm component of the involuntary manslaughter because every weapons expert agrees that you don't point a gun at someone's chest and pull the trigger. That's negligent use of a firearm, she adds.

Baldwin's going to have to bring in industry experts that will explain that this is acceptable standards in Hollywood when you are handed a gun and told that it is fine, that those rules of gun safety are slightly different on a movie set, says Baker, I don't know if a jury will buy it, but that's what he needs to do.

She adds that some of the evidence shown during trial, including previously unseen video of Baldwin firing a gun on set when he wasnt supposed to, shows him in an unflattering light.

We did see video of Joel Souza calling cut and Baldwin continuing to fire a blank round that makes a noise and shoots powder. And you hear the director call Baldwin a motherfr on that video right after Baldwin fires it again, she notes.

Sam Wasson/Getty The entrance to Bonanza Creek Ranch, where 'Rust' shot in New Mexico

That will all come up at Baldwins trial, says Baker.

The actor had been previously charged with involuntary manslaughter in January 2023 before charges were dropped that April.

Two months later, special prosecutors Kari T. Morrissey and Jason J. Lewis wrote in a court filing that the gun that discharged had been sent to an independent expert for further testing.

The charges against Alec Baldwin were dismissed without prejudice because a possible malfunction of the gun significantly effects causation with regard to Baldwin, not with regard to Gutierrez. If it is determined that the gun did not malfunction, charges against Mr. Baldwin will proceed, Morrissey and Lewis wrote in their filing.

Related: Halyna Hutchins' Parents and Sister 'Satisfied' with Rust Armorer's Guilty Verdict After Cinematographer's Death

A forensic report obtained by PEOPLE that summer concluded that the trigger of the gun must have been pulled sufficiently enough to go off.

Although Alec Baldwin repeatedly denies pulling the trigger, given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver, Lucien Haag and Mike Haag, experts, who were hired by the State of New Mexico in its case against Gutierrez-Reed, wrote in the report.

That report goes to disprove the things [Baldwin] said about this gun firing, continues Baker, The prosecution believes he lied about what happened. They are very much anxious to go after Alec Baldwin, and you saw that in this trial.

Noting Morrisseys closing arguments in the Gutierrez-Reed trial, Baker says, She was talking about Alec Baldwin and saying I will be prosecuting him. She's looking forward to that.

One bright spot for Baldwin, says Baker, is that his legal team got a preview of not only the evidence but also public perception of Baldwin and that's a really unique position. They got to watch a preview of the trial against him.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
The artist who will champion Australia at the 68th Eurovision Song Contest has been officially revealed. SBS have announced South Australian duo Electric Fields will be heading Malmo, Sweden this May to rep for the green and gold.

We are buzzed with euphoria at our chance to share this music with the world, the pair said in a press statement. Our music comes from the deepest place in both of us and Eurovision is the most exciting opportunity to bring together our cultures and share the joy of our global connection.

Electric Fields  One Milkali (One Blood)

Electric Fields will also make history, becoming the first ever two-piece chosen to rep Australia at Eurovision. Made up of vocalist Zaachariaha Fielding and producer/keyboardist Michael Ross, the pair combine traditional living culture with music that ranges from soulful pop to epic-scale electronica.

Their official Eurovision 2024 song One Milkali (One Blood), which you can stream above, also incorporates Yankunytjatjara, an Aboriginal language of the Anangu peoples.

Eurovision fans will remember Electric Fields from SBSs 2019 national selection show, Eurovision  Australia Decides, where they came a close runner-up to Kate Miller-Heidke.

Last year, Perth prog metal act Voyager did us proud at the international song contest, making it to the final and coming in ninth place overall.

This years sequin-studded festivities will run from Tuesday, 7th May through til Saturday, 11th May 2024 (CEST) in the Swedish city of Malmo.

SBSs Eurovision TV coverage will once again be in the capable hands of music buff Myf Warhurst and comedian Joel Creasey, with official details of the stations 2024 broadcast to be announced soon.

Further Reading

Australias Voyager Reflect on Surreal Eurovision Experience After Placing Ninth in 2023 Contest

Australian Act Voyager Have Made the Eurovision Final

Sydney Festival 2024: The Teskey Brothers, Courtney Barnett, Anoushka Shankar + More

The post SA Duo Electric Fields To Represent Australia At Eurovision 2024 appeared first on Music Feeds.
Sony Music is quickly fighting back against a discrimination lawsuit filed by a former assistant to Columbia Records chief executive Ron Perry over race-conscious hiring policies, saying the allegations are contradictory and false and are designed to harass her former employer.

The case, filed last week by Patria Paulino, claims that she was forced to resign after she pushed back on hiring practices that allegedly discriminated against white applicants. She claims she was explicitly told that she could only hire Black candidates because Perry wanted to bolster the appearance of diversity.

More from Billboard

But in a blistering motion on Wednesday  an unusually fast response for any lawsuit  attorneys for Sony and Perry called the accusations contradictory and false and asked a federal judge to toss them out of court.

She alleges  that defendants both discriminated against her because they preferred white employees but also constructively discharged her because she would not play along with their preference for non-white employees, the labels lawyers wrote, adding the italics themselves for emphasis. In reality, plaintiff worked for Sony  for less than five months, performed poorly, and was a willing participant in the entirely legal hiring practices she now alleges were discriminatory.

Sonys response argued that far from being effectively fired, Paulino voluntarily resigned after receiving unfavorable performance feedback. The label said she had filed her case simply to harass her former employer and boss, who sought only to help her succeed in her job.

Though it sharply criticized the merits of the case, Sonys filing actually attacked the case on simpler grounds: That the federal court where she filed the case cannot procedurally hear it. The company says there is not the required cross-state jurisdiction for the case to be handled in federal court.

In a statement to Billboard, Paulinos attorney Erica L. Shnayder stressed that Sonys motion involves a procedural issue and has no bearing on the factual allegations which are supported by text messages. Shnayder added: The case will proceed forward.

Paulino sued on Friday (March 1), claiming that after she was hired by Sony in late 2022, she was repeatedly told she could not hire white candidates for a vacant assistant role in Perrys office. She says that Perry had been hit with multiple racial discrimination complaints by former employees and that he and the company wanted to have more color in his office.

Although numerous Caucasian candidates were qualified for the position, they were removed from consideration because of their race, Paulinos lawyers wrote in their complaint.

The lawsuit came in the wake of a high-profile Supreme Court ruling last year that outlawed the use of race-conscious admissions in higher education, commonly known as affirmative action. Though that ruling didnt directly deal with hiring or with the state laws at issue in Paulinos case, it has led to overall increased scrutiny of corporate practices aimed at diversity, equity and inclusion. Last week, CBS and Paramount were hit with a similar lawsuit, claiming they had broken the law by using diversity quotas that discriminated against white men.

Despite the directives to aim for diversity, Paulinos lawsuit claims she continued to recommend qualified Caucasian applicants for the role. At one point, when she advanced a particular white candidate, she says that another Sony employee told her in writing: We cant hire another white Jewish girl unfortunately. Her lawyers say Sony conducted sham interviews with candidates of all backgrounds, but in reality was determined to only hire a Black candidate.

In March 2023, Paulino says she was effectively forced to resign from her job. A Sony employee allegedly told her to do so because she was not really working out, but she says the move was made in retaliation for plaintiffs opposition to defendants discriminatory hiring practices.

As noted in Sonys response, the lawsuit also includes other allegations beyond the hiring policies. In addition to claiming the company discriminated against white job seekers, Paulino (who says she is Hispanic) also claims that the company also discriminated against her on the basis of her race.

A spokesperson for Sony Music declined to comment on the lawsuits allegations, citing the pending nature of the case.

Best of Billboard
Spotify will pass-on the music streaming tax imposed by the French government by hiking its subscription prices in that market.

As previously reported, Frances National Assembly last December approved a so-called CNM Tax on streaming brands, the funds from which would finance the national public body, The Centre National de la Musique (CNM), which was created in 2020 and is already partly financed by the live music industry.



The tax was predictably decried by the streaming services. For platforms that earn more than 20 million euros ($22 million) in annual turnover  including Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer  a new tax charge of 1.2% would be applied on all streaming revenue generated in France in addition to their existing tax duties. Social media platforms including Facebook and TikTok, which license and feature music, would also be subject to the taxes.

More from Billboard

Spotify, the global market leader, said it couldnt absorb the Macron governments new costs and would offset them one way or another.



After announcing back in December that the streaming giant would pull its financial support to a number of local music festivals, Spotify today (March 7) confirms a price increase for its premium packages  applied only to subscribers in France.



Reps from Spotify claim the tax doesnt add up. This new fee will generate approximately 15 million euros, when the CNMs administrative budget (office fees, personnel, capital expenditure, media monitoring or professional training etc.) sits at 20.2 million euros, reads an open statement issued today.

Our concern is that possibly less than half of its overall 146.9 million euros budget will find its way toward effectively aiding music.



Spotify, the message continues, has proudly championed French artists for the past 15 years; we certainly didnt wait for the CNM to be created in 2020 to help artists find success in France, and outside of France; to help promote French repertoire and grow the royalty pool for French rights holders. Spotifys payments have totaled close to 225 million euros in 2022 alone (or about 1/4th of all the French recorded music industry revenues for that year). That is up more than 200% percent since 2017.



The price increase isnt laid out, though Spotify promises to update its French subscribers over the coming weeks with full details.

To put it bluntly, all French users will see their subscription plan fee go up, the message confirms. French users will now pay the highest subscriptions across the European Union.

Read Spotifys open-letter below.

Spotify Premium subscribers in France will soon experience a price increase due to additional costs on music streaming services imposed by the government, as part of the CNM Tax. While we worked very hard to encourage the government to avoid adding this tax, unfortunately they decided to move forward.

Perhaps youve never heard of the CNM  its a public body that commissions studies on the French music industry, and provides financial aid to record labels and the live industry. At the end of 2023, as part of its 2024 budget, the French government decided that digital music streaming services will now have to pay a new tax in order to finance it. Our worry, on top of what would be equivalent to a double payment on our part, has been that this tax will not go directly to artists, nor will it have a tangible output visible to fans; instead, it will simply come at the expense of listeners, and create an additional middleman  the CNM. In fact, this tax will generate approximately 15 million euros, when the CNMs administrative budget (office fees, personnel, capital expenditure, media monitoring or professional training etc.) sits at 20.2 million euros. Our concern is that possibly less than half of its overall 146.9 million euros budget will find its way toward effectively aiding music.

Spotify has proudly championed French artists for the past 15 years; we certainly didnt wait for the CNM to be created in 2020 to help artists find success in France, and outside of France; to help promote French repertoire and grow the royalty pool for French rights holders. Spotifys payments have totaled close to 225 million euros in 2022 alone (or about 1/4th of all the French recorded music industry revenues for that year). That is up more than 200% percent since 2017.

Yet, with the creation of this new tax, Spotify would be required to give approximately two-thirds of every euro it generates to music to rights holders and the French government. Of course, this is a massive amount and does not allow for a sustainable business. As we have long said, we simply cant absorb any additional taxes. Even after making the difficult decision to reduce our artist marketing budget and support of French music festivals  which is an essential vehicle for Spotify to continue to drive hundreds of millions of euros to the music industry  it still continues to impede our ability to operate in France. Accordingly, over the coming weeks and months, well need to make changes to our price plan in France.

To put it bluntly, all French users will see their subscription plan fee go up. French users will now pay the highest subscriptions across the European Union.

Spotify is increasing prices in France in order to offset these new costs. Well come back to our French subscribers over the coming weeks with the full details on the upcoming price increase.

For more information on the global streaming economy, the players, and the process, visit our website Loud & Clear.





Best of Billboard
The Views Joy Behar revisited her stand-up days on Thursday by delivering a risque joke at Donald Trumps expense, claiming the former president last did a push-up while having sex with an adult film star.

The liberal comic and outspoken Trump critics quip came amid a discussion over whether President Joe Biden should debate Trump now that the twice-impeached ex-president has become the presumptive Republican nominee.

Following a dominant Super Tuesday performance that saw his last remaining GOP opponent drop out, Trump declared that he would debate Biden anytime, anywhere, anyplace, signaling that the race has now entered the general election phase. While Trump refused to participate in any Republican primary debates, it is Biden who has come under scrutiny amid the ex-presidents challenge.

Deflecting questions from Fox News Peter Doocy on whether Biden's dodging the debates would raise further questions about the 81-year-old presidents mental acuity, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told Doocy to talk to the campaign. The campaign, meanwhile, declined to address whether Biden would debate Trump and instead said thats a conversation well have at the appropriate time in this cycle.

During Thursdays broadcast of The View, Behar said she thinks Biden should debate the former president because hed wipe the floor with him. At the same time, she snarked that the two elderly candidates should also engage in a physical test.

Biden should just challenge him to push-ups, she stated, prompting laughter from the studio audience. But that was just the set-up for the rest of her joke.

The last time Trump did a push-up, he was on top of Stormy Daniels, Behar added, drawing howls from the crowd and her colleagues.

While resident conservative panelist Alyssa Farah Griffin exclaimed, Oh my god, longtime co-host Sunny Hostin turned to her standard response: silently sipping from her mug.

Of course, Behar was referencing the alleged affair that Trump had with Daniels. The former president, meanwhile, is currently facing criminal charges in New York over his alleged payments to buy the adult entertainers silence prior to the 2016 election.

Soaking up the audience's response to her wisecrack, Behar eventually stood up and took a bow. She also drew more applause when she suggested that Biden should perhaps refuse to debate his Republican opponent.

On the other hand, why does Joe Biden have to lower himself to even be on the same stage with this criminal? Behar wondered. This 91 times indicted, sexual harasser, accused of sexual assault. Why, why?!

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
The first known Fender Stratocaster dates back to the spring of 1954, and the manufacturers are celebrating the instrument's 70th anniversary in the way that most music-related anniversaries are celebrated these days: through commerce, and a range of guitars that trumpet "seven decades of timeless tone and iconic style".

They've also made a video, in which a number of well-known endorsers of the Stratocaster shred their way through an instrumental cover of Jimi Hendrix's psychedelic classic Voodoo Chile (Slight Return).

The video, which appears to be set atop a carpeted plinth in some lush pastureland, finds Tom Morello, Nile Rodgers, Ari O'Neal, Mateus Asato, Rei, Tash Sultana, Jimmie Vaughan, Rebecca Lovell, Tyler Bryant and Biffy Clyros Simon Neil finding a fleet-fingered path through the song, and it's all snappily edited together to reflect the different tones generated by the various guitarists.

Fender have also filmed a number of clips in which the musicians discuss their own Stratocasters, including Chic founder Rodgers, whose 1960 Stratocaster, known as 'The Hitmaker', is famous as an instrument used on countless hit songs and albums.

I got my Stratocaster in 1973 when I realised that it was what my sound was missing, and once I did it changed my life 1000%," says Rodgers. "I have been able to write the jazz-influenced dance-disco funk-pop songs that people have loved for decades as well as rock, country, folk and EDM collaborations thanks to my Strat."

Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Ritchie Blackmore, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Andy Gill of Gang of Four and Brother Wayne Kramer of the mighty MC5 have all wielded the Strat in inspirational ways, says Morello. My Soul Power Strat allowed me to unlock a new era of sound and fury in Audioslave."

Fender's 70th anniversary Stratocaster collection is available now.
Stefanie Smith was traveling from the Dominican Republic to Charlotte, N.C. when she became unwell mid-flight

Stefanie Smith/Facebook Stefanie Smith

Family and friends are speaking out following the sudden death of a 41-year-old woman during an American Airlines flight from the Dominican Republic last week.

Stefanie Smith was traveling to Charlotte, N.C. on Feb. 28 when she became unwell "mid-flight," according to a media release from the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force. The plane made an emergency landing at Providenciales International Airport in Turks and Caicos and Smith was transported to the hospital where she later died.

Speaking to ABC News, Smith's friend Maria Yannotti revealed that Smith had been on vacation with her boyfriend and appeared healthy before the flight.

"She loves going to the gym every day, even while we were in the Dominican. She made it a point to get up every morning to go to the gym and run on the beach," Yannotti, who was also on the trip, told the outlet.

Related: Delta Pilot's Strongly Worded Speech to Passengers Amid Delay Leaves Internet Divided: 'Is He Going...to War?'

Stefanie Smith/Facebook Stefanie Smith

According to Yannotti, Smith's boyfriend was sitting next to her on the flight and said her eyes rolled back and she started convulsing.

Meanwhile, Smiths brother Chris Volz told ABC News that she was the mother of two children: an 18-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter. Volz added that he was not aware of his sister having any pre-existing health conditions.

"She was a special personHer kids reallylove her a lot, and I know she loved them," Volz said. "And so it's tough."

Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty A stock image of an American Airlines plane

Related: Woman Who Stopped Kid Closing Plane Window in Viral Video Sparks Debate: An Expert Reveals Who's Right

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Police said Air Traffic Control requested medical assistance for the woman, "who at the time was receiving Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, at around 6:15 p.m. local time.



A commercial flight was diverted to the Turks and Caicos this evening after a female passenger fell ill mid-flight, police shared in a statement on Facebook. At 6:12 pm, the Police Control Room received a call from the Air Traffic Control Tower requesting medical assistance for a 41-year-old female, who at the time was receiving Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

A medical team, along with police units, were dispatched, and the patient was transported to Cheshire Hall Medical Centre, where she died, they added. A post-mortem will be conducted to ascertain the cause of death.

PEOPLE has contacted the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force for further information.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
WWE has announced the details for a three-show ticket combo for the weekend of Money in the Bank later this year.

The company revealed in January that the event would take place on July 6, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. WWE will also host two other events that weekend, WWE SmackDown and NXT Heatwave.

Earlier today, WWE revealed that three-day combo tickets for Smackdown, Money in the Bank and NXT Heatwave would be made available to purchase later this month.

Tickets will be available for purchase on Friday, March 15 at 10 am ET, via Ticketmaster. However, a presale opportunity for the combo tickets will begin on Wednesday, Match 13 at 10am ET. Fans are able to register their interest on the WWE website.

WWE Have Begun Having More Shows Outside The United States

Money in the Bank 2024 will be broadcast from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It will stream live exclusively on Peacock in the U.S. and will be available in Canada on WWE Network through Sportsnet+.

This will continue the WWEs decision to put more Premium Live Events outside the United States. Starting with Clash at the Castle in Cardiff, Wales in 2022, they have visited England, Canada and Puerto Rico. They have also announced shows in mainland Europe as well.

WWE will bring Backlash to Paris, France in May 2024, while Bash in Berlin will be the companys first-ever Premium Live Event in Germany, in August this year.

This had led to continued speculation of a WrestleMania event outside the US. At Money in the Bank last year, John Cena speculated upon the idea of having WrestleMania in London.

Money in the Bank 2024 will take place later this year, although no matches have been announced for the card.

The post WWE Announces Three-Show Combo Tickets For Money In The Bank 2024 Weekend appeared first on Wrestlezone.
A 19-year-old Sri Lankan national has been arrested and charged with the alleged murders of six people, including four children, in Ottawa, Canada, Ottawa police said at a press conference Thursday.

Frank Desouza, believed to be studying in Canada, has been charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder, Ottawa police said.

Ottawa police were called to the crime scene at about 11 p.m. local time on Wednesday. The police received two 911 calls reporting a suspicious incident. When police arrived at the scene, officers quickly identified and arrested the suspect "without incident," Ottawa Deputy Police Chief Trish Ferguson said during Thursday's press conference.

PHOTO: Ottawa Police Service officers surround a home after four children and two adults were found dead inside a house in the Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven, Ontario, Canada, March 7, 2024. (Blair Gable/Reuters)

After police arrested Desouza, they entered the house, where they discovered the six deceased, the youngest of which was less than 3 months old.

"The family were newcomers to Canada and are originally from Sri Lanka," Ferguson said.

The victims are Darshani Banbaranayake Gama Walwwe Darshani Dilanthika Ekanyake, 35, Amarakoonmubiayansela Ge Gamini Amarakoon, 40, Inuka Wickramasinghe, 7, Ashwini Wickramasinghe, 4, Rinyana Wickramasinghe, 2, and Kelly Wickramasinghe, 2 months old, Ottawa police said in a release.

MORE: Suspect arrested in NYC stabbing spree; charged with attempted murder, police say

The motive of the crime is not yet known and is the focus of the law enforcement investigation, police said.

"There are a lot of questions about why this tragedy occurred. This is the focus of our homicide unit as a diligently investigate this tragic crime," Ferguson said.

"Our investigators and forensic teams are working very hard to determine all of the facts and ensure justice is done but that also means we must maintain the integrity of the investigation for court," she added.

19-year-old charged with murder of 6, including 4 children, in Canada originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. The seventh meeting of the State Commission on the Delimitation of the State Border between Azerbaijan and Armenia was held, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan said, Trend reports.

At the same time, the meeting of the Commission on the Delimitation of the State Border and Border Security between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan was held on the border between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia under the chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Shahin Mustafayev and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Mher Grigoryan.

The sides have exchanged views on delimitation issues, and have commenced the negotiations on the draft Regulation on Joint Activity of the State Commission on Delimitation of the State Border Between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia and the Commission on Delimitation of the State Border and Border Security between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, and discussed the drafts of relevant instructions on the order of delimitation works.

The parties decided to complete the agreement on the draft Regulation on Joint Activity of the Commissions as soon as possible.

The parties also came to an agreement to determine at the working level the date and the venue for the next meeting of the Commissions.
A longstanding law in Missouri that, in some cases, may prevent a pregnant woman from getting divorced is gaining national attention.

Headlines about the law, in place since the 1970s, went viral in recent weeks due to interest in women's reproductive rights after the fall of Roe v. Wade, and because of newly introduced legislation that would make changes to the current law.

Here are five questions answered about the law in Missouri and how it impacts women.

1. Does the law specifically state that pregnant women cannot get legally divorced?

No, the current law states that "whether the wife is pregnant" is one of eight pieces of information that must be presented in the divorce petition, along with other information like the date of separation and the names and ages of children.

By requiring the disclosure of pregnancy status in the divorce petition, however, the subject of pregnancy can then be considered in the divorce, legal experts say.

"Just because it's not a ban on the books doesn't mean that it's not being interpreted in that way," Rachel J. Wechsler, J.D., DPhil, MSc, an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Law, told ABC News. "There are clearly situations in practice where the existing statute is being interpreted by judges as, 'Because the wife's pregnancy status has to be provided, that's the legislature telling us that we should be considering it when we are proceeding with a divorce and deciding whether to finalize it.'"

2. If the law has been in place since the 1970s, why is it making news now?

The law is getting attention now both because of the newly introduced legislation to change it, and because of the way it highlights pregnancy status at a time when women have less access to reproductive rights, according to Wechsler.

In the two years since the Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, Missouri has become one of 16 states that have ceased nearly all abortion services.

PHOTO: The Missouri State Capitol building in Jefferson City, Mo. (STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images)

The lack of access to reproductive health makes the required inclusion of pregnancy status in divorce proceedings all the more striking, according to Wechsler. She added the law is also getting attention, in her opinion, because of its "archaic" nature.

"I think one of the reasons this has gotten particular attention is because it singles out pregnancy status, which feels also really archaic," Wechsler said. "We no longer, in this day and age, see pregnancy as a barrier to working and doing things in life, so to be thinking that it could impact something, I feel like there's a reflexive response of, 'We shouldn't be making any decisions or any sort of conditions based on someone's pregnancy status.'"

MORE: Illinois, Florida, California saw largest increase in abortions in first 15 months after overturn of Roe v. Wade

Denise Lieberman, adjunct professor at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, echoed Wechsler, saying she believes people are surprised by the law.

"The truth of the matter is that I think this is gaining attention, this particular bill, because a lot of people didn't realize it was still on the books," Lieberman told ABC News.

3. What changes would new legislation make to the current law?

Missouri state Rep. Ashley Aune, a Democrat, introduced legislation in January that would repeal the current statute requiring the inclusion of pregnancy status in a divorce petition.

Aune's bill instead specifically states, "Pregnancy status shall not prevent the court from entering a judgment of dissolution of marriage or legal separation."

The legislation was discussed at a House Emerging Issues Committee hearing in February, but no further legislative action has been scheduled.

State Rep. Bill Hardwick, chair of the House Emerging Issues Committee, told The Associated Press last week that he is not sure the bill will be brought up for a vote.

"That's kind of a new frontier for some judges and some lawyers," Hardwick said. "I think we've just got to think through that responsibly."

Lieberman described the legislation as both "necessary and needed."

"This legislation is a necessary and needed modernization of divorce law," she said, adding, "In 2024, an individual who is pregnant, regardless of their marital status, has a right to determine who to share that information with and has a right to autonomy on decisions on their future life."

4. What are the pros and cons of keeping Missouri's law as is?

In some cases, divorce lawyers argue that it is more practical to wait for the birth of a child before finalizing a divorce because of custody and child support decisions, according to the AP.

Both Lieberman and Wechsler noted though that it is extremely commonplace for custody and support issues to be continually modified as divorce proceedings continue and are finalized.

"The person can reveal the pregnancy over the course of the divorce proceedings and seek child support at that time, or the person can go back after the birth of the child and seek to amend the divorce decree to address custody and child support concerns, but they also have the ability not to," Lieberman said.

She added, "Certainly divorces include lots of determinations about property, about children and child support, and those things can change over time, and they frequently do."

MORE: Opill, first over-the-counter birth control pill, will go on sale later this month

The danger of pregnancy status being involved in divorce, according to Lieberman, Wechsler and other advocates of Aune's bill, is that keeping a pregnant woman in a marriage she is trying to leave can increase the risk of intimate partner violence.

Aune told the AP that she introduced her legislation after learning that local pregnant women in domestic violence situations were facing increased housing needs, in part, because they could not get divorced during their pregnancy.

Lieberman said the language in Missouri's current law allows the non-pregnant spouse to hold the other "hostage" during divorce proceedings, which can lead to bad acts.

"What we know statistically is that pregnancy is associated with an increase in intimate partner violence," Lieberman said, "which is why pregnancy is considered one of the most dangerous times in a household where intimate partner violence is going on."

Wechsler said she worries that even though Missouri does not ban divorce during pregnancy, the ambiguity of the law can lead to coercion by an abusive spouse.

"It can be used as a tool of abuse because the abuser can say, 'There's a ban on getting divorced while you're pregnant, so don't even try,' even though there is no ban," she said. "Abusers can use it to say, 'You're not allowed to divorce me.'"

5. Do laws like Missouri's exist in other states?

It is not exactly clear how many other states have laws in place that are identical to Missouri's, according to Lieberman and Wechsler.

Wechsler said she searched a handful of states identified as potentially restricting divorce during pregnancy and found that only Arizona currently has a law similar to Missouri's, requiring that pregnancy status be provided in a divorce petition.

She noted though that while all states now allow no-fault divorces, a number of states require waiting periods for a divorce to be finalized.

"In some states, there are rules like a divorce can't be finalized for a year, and that can also make someone feel trapped," Wechsler said. "But it's also important to realize that most divorces don't happen overnight. Divorce is often an extended process."

What to know about Missouris law on divorce and pregnancy originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
A former Google engineer was arrested in California on Wednesday for stealing more than 500 files containing artificial intelligence trade secrets from the company and using the information to benefit rival tech companies in China.



In an indictment that was unsealed in a federal California court, prosecutors accused Linwei Ding, a 38-year-old Chinese national who started working at Google in 2019, of uploading trade secrets from his Google-issued laptop to personal cloud storage accounts. The documents that Ding stole involved building blocks of Googles AI infrastructure, according to the indictment. He uploaded them to his personal accounts over a period of one year from May 2022 to May 2023.



Ding was arrested in Newark, California, and charged with four counts of theft of trade secrets. If convicted, he can be sentenced up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count.



We have strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda told Engadget. After an investigation, we found that this employee stole numerous documents, and we quickly referred the case to law enforcement. We are grateful to the FBI for helping protect our information and will continue cooperating with them closely.



The development comes at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and China over the explosion of artificial intelligence. Last year, the Biden administration banned the export of advanced AI chips designed by American companies like NVIDIA to China to stop the country from using AI to strengthen its military. Todays charges are the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the Peoples Republic of China are wiling to go to steal American innovation, said FBI director Christopher Wray in a statement. The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences.

The indictment revealed all kinds of details about the nature of the crime. Ding allegedly copied information from Googles files into Apple Notes on his laptop first, and then converted them to PDF files that he uploaded to his personal Google account to evade detection by Googles data loss prevention systems. He also gave his Google badge to another Google employee in California to make it seem like he was working from Googles offices in the state while actually working for rival companies in China. Prosecutors said that Ding helped in raising capital for one of the Chinese companies he worked with as its chief technology officer. Last year, he also founded another AI company in China and served as its CEO.



This isnt the first time that the US has arrested a Chinese national for stealing trade secrets from American companies. In the last few years, the US attorneys office in San Francisco has charged three former Apple employees for stealing trade secrets related to the Apple Car, a project the company recently canceled, and siphoning them off to companies in China. Last month, one of those engineers was sentenced to six months in prison and asked to pay nearly $150,000 in fines.
A feline resident of the University of Essex in the United Kingdom, a cat called Pebbles, is getting official recognition for his campus contributions. In celebration of Pebbles popularity, the university declared March 5 as Campus Cat Day. Moreover, they unveiled a bronze statue of the cat in his honor.

University of Essexs campus cat Pebbles is honored with a statue

Pebbles, a cherished cat who frequents the University of Essex campus, has received an official honor, as per BBC. Recognizing his widespread popularity, the university has established March 5 as Campus Cat Day. They also revealed a permanent tribute  a bronze statue. This special ceremony celebrated Pebbles and his unique bond with the university community.

Pebbles is a black and white cat who was first spotted on campus in 2010. He stole the hearts of the students and became their beloved mascot. Despite his respectable age of 16, Pebbles remains a sprightly figure, still gracing the university grounds with his presence.

In addition, the University of Essex has an official page dedicated to Pebbles. On the page, his motto reads, If I fit, I sit.

Craig Stephens, CEO of the Student Union, adopted Pebbles in 2011. According to him, the cat has brought a lot of joy to peoples lives.

Additionally, Stephens acknowledged that the duck population on the campus showed a small decline when Pebbles was younger. However, Stephens assured the feline has mellowed with age, saying, Now hes actually a really placid cat. He loves being stroked and played with.

Stephens also emphasized the true spirit of Campus Cat Day, saying that its about having a celebration. He added the cat is all about bringing people together and having fun.

Furthermore, a representative from the University of Essex stated that Pebbles now wishes for another recognition. He eagerly anticipates a building to be named in his honor, something along the lines of Pebbles Teaching Centre.

The post Campus Cat Pebbles Honored With Statue at University of Essex appeared first on CatTime.
Wipeouts. Fun to watch from the comfort of our screens, not so fun when you're actually the one taking beatings underwater. And we've seen a lot of good ones lately.

Surf legend Shane Dorian air dropped head-first into the water at Backdoor not long ago. J.O.B. shared his 'deadliest wipeout ever" at Pipeline recently. And Levi McConaughey, the son of movie star Matthew McConaughey, shared a Hawaii wipeout reel last week.

In the video below, a big wave surfer from Hawaii survives a mental wipeout in Fiji.

Related: Clip: Huge Whale Almost Tail-Whips Surfer as it Cruises Through the Lineup

The clip above of Maui surfer Billy Kemper charging huge Cloudbreak comes from Zoard Janko, who regularly shoots the Florence brothers.

Kemper captioned it:

"Nice warm-up at Cloudbreak today! Shook it off, went back out, and had one of the best sessions of my life. Vinaka Fiji @zoard @tavaruaislandresort"

What unfolds in the clip is quite simple. Kemper's charging a massive barreling wave at the legendary Fijian surf break. He airdrops, hits the water, and gets sucked over in the lip, only to be rag-dolled underwater for who knows how long.

Other big wave surfers were baffled and expressed it in the comments:

Nathan Florence: "That was next-level flight time, injuries are a mindset, and mayonnaise is a superfood"

Dustin Barca: "Bra! Looked so much like your brother right there @billykemper ="

Ross Clark-Jones: "Fi?k me !! Seriously braa! Glad you smashed it straight after"

Tom Carroll: "Yeeeeeew Cloudbreak turned it on today!!! Shes a beautiful thing glad your ok @billykemper"

Brian Bielmann: "Thats one of those thank God I didnt end up in rehab for another eight months wave"

Nic von Rupp: "Heavy shit! Glad ur ok"

Ross Williams: "Nahts"

Kalani Robb: "Holy moly!"

***

Don't miss another headline from SURFER! Subscribe to our newsletter, follow us on Instagram, and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of surfing. We're always on the lookout for amusing, interesting and engaging surf-related videos to feature on our channels.

Whether you're a professional surfer or just an amateur, we want to see your best footage and help you share it with the world. Submit your video for a chance to be featured on SURFER and our social channels. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch high-quality surf videos.
A sailor went to sea, sea, seaand became the first American woman to sail alone non-stop around the world. Cole Brauer, 29, of Long Island, New York, made history on Thursday after sailing into A Coruna, Spain, four months after striking out of the same harbor on the Global Solo Challenge, a treacherous 30,000-mile journey that saw her traverse three oceans.

Brauer, 5-foot-2 and 100 pounds soaking wet, was the youngest and only female competitor among the 16 people who competed in the challenge. She placed second in the race, which took her 130 days to complete.

She and her 40-foot sailboat, dubbed First Light, were met by a crowd of jubilant family, friends, and admirers. This is really cool and so overwhelming in every sense of the word, NBC News quoted her as saying as she drank Champagne from her trophy.

Brauer set out from A Coruna on Oct. 29, sailing down Africas western coast and around the Cape of Good Hope before making her way east towards Australia. She rounded South Americas notorious Cape Horn before finally heading back towards Spain.

She kept her audience of more than 400,000 Instagram followers up to date along the way, posting frank updates as to the brutal conditions she was enduring. In one terrifying caught-on-camera moment, Brauer was thrown across her boat as it was tossed by 30-foot waves, landing so hard that one of her ribs cracked.

I dont want you guys to think Im like Superwoman or something, she said in a video posted shortly after, saying she had to keep making repairs and recalibrations despite feeling broken.

Its all part of the journey, and Im sure Ill be feeling better once the work is done and Ive gotten some sleep, she wrote in the caption. But right now things are tough.

Speaking on NBCs Today on Thursday from Spain, Brauer explained to the hosts, There really is no option at that point. Youre so far away from landthere is no rescue, theres nobody to come and grab you. You kinda just have to keep moving along.

More than half of the Global Solo Challenges sailors have dropped out so far, according to NBC News. Brauer said she hoped that her big finish could inspire younger women to get into sailingand start busting records of their own. It would be amazing if there was just one girl that saw me and said, Oh, I can do that too, she told NBC.

With her voyage at an end, Brauer told WBZ-TV on Thursday that she was excited to enjoy a cappuccino and croissant on dry land. It seemed like she wasnt quite ready to rest on her laurels, however. It hasnt really hit me yet. Everyones so excited, but for me it hasn't really sunk in that I now hold these records, she said in a statement. It just feels like I went for a little sail, and now Im back.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
DHL Group gave a soft outlook for the first half of 2024, with the German logistics giant saying it does not foresee a broad economic upturn in the six months based on what CEO Tobias Meyer called a weak global economy and, above all, weak global trade.

The weak macroeconomic demand environment, particularly in Europe, put a damper on DHLs 2024 outlook and fourth-quarter performance. To close the year, the carrier saw revenue decline 10.2 percent to 21.3 billion euros ($23.3 billion) on a net profit decline of 14.6 percent to 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion).

More from Sourcing Journal

Meyer was more positive on the state of the Red Sea, since the overall supply-demand balance in ocean freight was more relaxed than during the pandemic.

It doesnt look like the Red Sea incidenteven if it continues to be thereis going to change that, Meyer said. Theres tonnage still coming into the market.

Meyer also agreed with an analysts assertion that the impact on air freight was minimal so far, noting that the limited overspill into air freight is indeed interesting. We do see some discussions around that with some customers, but its just not across the spectrum of customers. Also, the demand in Europe is not as strongthats our conclusion.

Ironically, air cargo demand across the board in January had its largest annual increase since summer 2021, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA) data. But that demand appeared to be heavily buoyed by the shifting dates of Lunar New Year, which started earlier last yearmeaning fewer cargo flights out of China.

Beyond the Red Sea, Meyer said DHL was continually monitoring the Panama Canal backlogs, saying that if two or three of these global disruptions accumulate, that the amount of goods that could shift to air freight might drastically change.

A major chunk of DHLs wider revenue hit came from its global freight forwarding division, which saw sales decline 32.9 percent to 4.6 billion euros ($5 billion). The unit faced headwinds from volumes and freight rates that were both lower from the year prior.

The companys revenues at its DHL Express division tanked 6.7 percent to 6.6 billion euros ($7.1 billion), reflected in the lower B2B volumes moved when compared to previous years.

For the quarter, DHL saw 7.6 percent growth in its e-commerce division, which was the firms best performing unit. The DHL Supply Chain segment had flat revenue growth.

DHL cautioned that its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) is likely to remain flat to the companys 6.3 billion euros ($6.9 billion) it generated last year, with the company forecasting between 6.0 billion euros ($6.5 billion) and 6.6 billion euros ($7.2 billion) in 2024.

The guidance range reflects DHLs expectation that first half EBIT will decline, balanced out by a projected growth in the second half if macroeconomic conditions improve.

Europe is showing weakness in Q4 and into Q1. That for us is a relevant market, and that is something that clearly affected our views, Meyer said during the call. We do see the second half of the year growing due to the comparables, and also the economic forecastFor our business, for global trade, the trough has been exceptionally long, so we do expect that there is some progression.

Free cash flow for all of 2024 is projected at around 2.75 billion euros ($3 billion), with the company setting aside an overall budget of 250 million euros ($273 million) for M&A expenses throughout the year.

The company had been tied to a potential acquisition of another logistics giant, DB Schenker, which German rail operator Deutsche Bahn put up for sale in December.

But DHL will not pursue the Schenker deal, Meyer said in the earnings call, noting that the economies of scale are very limited when dealing with a company of Schenkers size, especially if they offer a similar freight forwarding business. DB Schenker generated 27.6 billion euros ($30 billion) in revenue in 2022, and another 10.1 billion euros ($11 billion) in the first half of 2023.

The CEO said DHL would need to see very substantial upside in a potential M&A deal, pointing to the companys own last-mile delivery business as the type of business model that could scale efficiently.

Im sure the bride will find a husband, Meyer said of DB Schenker. But for us this was very clear that this just doesnt stack up to the value generation we are looking for. The forwarding space is challenging as it is.

DHL followed in the footsteps of fellow logistics services provider Kuehne + Nagel, which said it was not bidding on the company in its own earnings call Friday.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Ali Asadov has met with a World Bank (WB) delegation headed by Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Region Antonella Bassani, the Cabinet of Ministers' press service told Trend.

During the meeting, it was emphasized that Azerbaijan and the World Bank have maintained a longstanding and fruitful partnership. Satisfaction was conveyed regarding the successful implementation of collaborative projects spanning various sectors in the recent period.

The prime minister informed about measures taken in Azerbaijan to ensure a sustainable and competitive economy, stimulate entrepreneurial activity, develop a non-oil economy, and increase employment.

At the same time, discussions revolved around Azerbaijan's strategy for transitioning to green energy, initiatives in the realm of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, and our nation's efforts in addressing the repercussions of climate change.

The meeting covered the potential collaboration between Azerbaijan and the World Bank in various sectors, the implementation of key projects on the cooperation agenda, the development of a new framework document for country partnership with the WB, and cooperation in the upcoming 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) scheduled to take place in Azerbaijan this year.

The decision to hold COP29 in Azerbaijan was officially announced in Dubai on December 11, 2023, enabling Azerbaijan to host the above event in November.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth have been married for almost 14 years and have three children together, but even these lovebirds have ups and downs in their marriage. Elsa opened up to Hola! Spain about what its like being in a long term relationship while managing two very high profile careers, and she was brutally honest. Keep reading for all the info.

Rumors Swirl About Elsa Pataky & Chris Hemsworth's Marriage

Many rumors have been whispered about the state of Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth's marriage, especially after the two took various vacations over the past yearseparately. In one instance, the Captain America actor went to Iceland with their daughter, India, while the Spanish model went to Japan with their sons, Sasha and Tristan.

This reportedly came shortly after Hemsworth told a close friend that he was stepping away from Hollywood to focus on his family, which raised a lot of eyebrows. In another instance, Hemsworth went to Abu Dubai with his brothers while Elsa went to Spain for a red carpet event. Of course, the two celebrities obviously have packed schedules, but some things just weren't making sense.

Elsa Pataky Clears Up Rumors About Her Marriage

In an interview with Hola! Spain, Pataky actually addressed one of their separate vacations, when she headed to Japan while her husband visited Iceland. "We had already decided on the trip," she said, speaking of the Japanese vacation, "but Indian didn't want to go to Japan. She didn't want to do the city. She wanted nature, mountains, and exploring."

"Her dad told her she could go wherever she wanted," she continued. "That was an opportunity where Chris wasn't working and he could enjoy his daughter, because it's important to spend time with each of the kids on their own."

She also addressed their relationship outside of their children, and how it can be difficult to find time to spend together just the two of them. "It's always good to find moments alone where we can have dinner or be alone, because its not easy with three kids. And more now, because theyre always doing something. I think this has been a time for us to enjoy our time together as a family," she concluded. So, it's safe to say their marriage is in a good place, they're just busy people and busy parents.
The total solar eclipse of 2024 is gaining a lot of attention from avid space fans to amateur onlookers across the globe. If youre in the path of totality then consider yourself lucky because you wont have to contend with other travelers rapidly searching for accommodations.

Its estimated that up to 4 million people will travel for this event. If youre looking to plan a whole family getaway centered around the event or even if you just want to figure out how to watch the whole thing from your neck of the woods then, youre in the right place. Scroll through for all you need to know to catch a glimpse of the solar eclipse.

When is the total solar eclipse

A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon comes between the Earth and the Sun, completely blocking the face of the Sun. The sky darkens and it can look like dusk in the middle of the afternoonthat darkness is whats referred to as the path of totality.

On April 8, 2024 the total solar eclipse will be visible in parts of the US, Canada and Mexico. Although the phenomenon occurs every year, its not always visible from North America. The last time it occurred was in 2017 and, according to NASA, it wont be visible again until 2044.

Which states are in the path of totality

Its estimated that the path of totality will first hit Mexico at 11:07 am PDT (pacific daylight time). From there it will travel into Texas and make its way through a few lucky states. Thats not to say that you can view it from every corner of the statesome cities will have a better view than others. The duration of totality is typically just a few minutes long so planning your trip is key!

List of states in the path of totality:

Texas

Oklahoma

Arkansas

Missouri

Illinois

Kentucky

Indiana

Ohio

Pennsylvania

New York

Vermont

New Hampshire

Maine

If youre interested in catching the different phases, partial visibility and totality, check out this time chart that outlines the exact times the eclipse will hit different cities.

How to catch a glimpse of the eclipse

Whether youre an umbraphile whos been waiting years and years for this day or you just want to see what all the fuss is about, there are different ways you can catch this spectacular event. Here are a few cities throwing a notable bash to mark the event:

1. French Village, Missouri

Solar Strings, the Missouri eclipse festival, runs April 5th to the 8th and is held in the beautiful Ozarks. Its a family-friendly camping experience with live music and plenty of space to catch the total solar eclipse.

2. Burnet, Texas

The Texas eclipse festival will be held at Reveille Peak Ranch from April 5 to 9. Youll be in the path of totality and youll also be immersed in science talks, interactive art, live music and so much more.

3. Hot Springs, Arkansas

Atlas Obscuras Eclipse Festival is a four-day celebration, April 5 to 8, at the Valley of the Vapors. Youll have a full viewing experience alongside live music. Theres also related events with astronomers, artists, philosophers and more.

4. Indianapolis, Indiana

The Indy Eclipse Weekend, April 5 to 8, brings special performances, films, lectures and gatherings all related to the scientific phenomenon. If thats exciting enough, theres also a food truck festival!

5. Burlington, Vermont

Burlington promises eclipse enthusiasts a small-town-meets-big-celebration experience. The weekend leading up to the big event is chock-full of eclipse activities including watch parties, artisan markets and festivals.

How to view the eclipse safely

Normally, looking directly at the sun can be damaging to our eyes, but on the day of the eclipse, when totality hits, theres a brief period where you can do so. During the partial phases, youll need special solar-safe glasses.

Homemade glasses with dark filters, no matter how dark, are not enough to protect your eyes. The American Astronomical Society (AAS) has a special AAS Solar Eclipse Taskforce that already has a vetted list of manufacturers that produce safe products with which to view the eclipse safely. Unless youve got a telescope with a solar filter laying around somewhere, solar safe glasses are the way to go. (Need some suggestions? Weve linked Taskforce-approved options below!)

The STAR library network, managed by the Space Science Institute, is offering free glasses, informational materials and eclipse-related activity ideas to libraries across the country. Check with your local library to see if they signed up!

Traveling the day of the eclipse

If you happen to be traveling that day, make sure to pack your solar safe glasses! Traveling by car, plane or boatyoull need specialty glasses in order to safely view the partial-eclipse. There are also specialty flights offered specifically for eclipse viewing and other regularly scheduled flights that could still offer a great view.

During totality, the skies darken and the temperature can drop a few degrees. If youre planning on traveling to watch the solar eclipse 2024, dont forget to bring a jacket!
It felt surprisingly emotional to be back at Southern Ocean Lodge, the South Australian hotel that was reduced to rubble when wildfires swept through Kangaroo Island in 2020. When I last visited, it was still a building site surrounded by scorched vegetation. But now, after a two-year, 28.5 million rebuild, the Lodge has reclaimed its clifftop position, with every floor-to-ceiling window amplifying the sublime turquoise and ivory crescent of Hanson Bay below.

Sunshine, the kangaroo sculpture by Indiana James, was back in its usual spot in the lobby, but subtle improvements were everywhere. The suites, arranged in a row downhill from the Great Room (the aptly named amphitheatre lounge), have been repositioned for a better view while maximising privacy. Theres a much expanded spa with sauna and plunge pools; and the fire prevention and suppression systems have been given a marked upgrade, alongside sustainability initiatives such as solar panels and water conservation. Ocean Pavilion, a four-bedroom mega-suite set apart from the rest of the hotel, now caters for larger groups. New artworks have been created from objects recovered from the rubble.

For a famously remote hotel, SOL 2.0 has also become surprisingly well connected. We have Starlink satellite, Wi-Fi and 4G, John Hird, the hotels long-time manager, told me with the kind of enthusiasm youd expect from someone whos won the lottery. Its with good reason  after all, the new technology would allow him to control the propertys sprinkler system from anywhere in the world. So in the event of a fire, we will evacuate the whole place. There will be no one staying behind. Unlike last time.

The fire season dubbed Black Summer was traumatic to say the least. A particularly hot summer meant Kangaroo Islands eucalyptus forests were kindling-dry. When lightning from electrical storms struck in December 2019, sparks exploded into an inferno so hot it created its own weather system. It was only a matter of time before the flames were licking at the rust-brown front door of Southern Ocean Lodge; the hotel was surrounded by conservation land that blended into Flinders Chase National Park, the point of origin for one of the fires.

The aftermath of the fires on Kangaroo Island - Avid Mariuz/EPA-EFE-REX

Hird was one of six people left behind to start the sprinkler system once all the guests and most of the staff had been evacuated. The thinking was that, should anything go wrong, four people could carry a stretcher while one person attended the injured. Fortunately there wasnt a need for that  the bunker underneath the Great Room survived the fire storms that devastated the rest of the hotel. Even Hird, who had undergone heart surgery a mere two months earlier, escaped relatively unscathed.

The rest of the island wasnt so lucky. By the time the fires finally stopped burning in February 2020 thanks to a change in wind direction, almost half of the island had been scorched and tens of thousands of animals had died. It was the most devastating blaze on record.

The Australian bush thrives on fire  it depends on it for regeneration, for seeds to germinate. But even knowing this, the first fire ecologists to visit from other parts of Australia thought it would be decades before the landscape here could recover. Kangaroo Islands resilience surprised everyone.

'Kangaroo Island's resilience surprised everyone,' says Qin

Within days of the flames dying down, different types of fungus were already growing, altering the pH levels of the soil as they digested the ash. This almost imperceptible change in the environment meant that other organisms could start establishing themselves, eventually making way for bigger plants.

In fact, scientists saw the reappearance of species that hadnt been recorded in decades, whose seeds had been waiting patiently for the exact right conditions to germinate. What probably made the biggest difference, according to the biologist and long-time resident Mike McKelvey, was the fact that Kangaroo Island didnt have any rabbits to devour new growths.

When I visited Kangaroo Island a little over a year ago, Craig Wickham, who had been spearheading eco-tourism through his company Exceptional Kangaroo Island, took me to areas that were completely devastated by the fires. What I saw for the most part was greenery, with dense foliage and undergrowth that was impossible to penetrate.

Wildlife was everywhere, from echidnas (a quill-covered mammal) digging for insects on the side of the road to koalas stripping eucalyptus leaves from the branches theyre clinging to. At dawn and dusk, mobs of kangaroos emerged from their hideouts to graze on verdant hillsides and birdsong rang out from the bushes at every hour of the day. It was magical.

Kangaroos are once again grazing on verdant hillsides - South Australian Tourism Commission

It was only when we drove deep into Flinders Chase National Park that I started seeing blackened branches penetrating the new growth, and clearings in which the only thing left standing were the fire-resistant yakkas (Australian grass-gum trees) with their aerial-like flower spikes piercing the sky.

It was eerie, with a post-apocalyptic air. But even here, everywhere you looked, life was trying to create a new ecosystem; insects used hollowed-out trees for food and shelter, while birds nested in the branches or used them for a better vantage

I revisited some of the same spots, as part of Southern Ocean Lodges included signature experiences, and the change was even more remarkable. Patches of wildflowers on either side of the boardwalk leading to Remarkable Rocks and nearby Admirals Arch were now meshed together into a fine carpet. At Bunker Hill Lookout, the sea of yakkas that dominated the landscape was now obscured from view by other plants; the only evidence of their existence a sign explaining that they responded to fires by flowering profusely. Even in Flinders Chase National Park, the scorched branches have been weathered to silver, with fresh leaves crawling up their sides. In a year or two, these too will be swallowed up by the new life erupting all around them.

Southern Ocean Lodge's reopening is symbolic of the island's rebirth

When you look at all thats changed, Southern Ocean Lodges reopening is just a small part of the islands post-fire regeneration. But its also symbolic of its rebirth; because until the hotels original opening in 2008, few had heard of Kangaroo Island, not even South Australians. The Lodge simultaneously reimagined experiential luxury travel in Australia and put this island on the world map. Its triumphant reopening is keeping it there.

Southern Ocean Lodge suites have been repositioned for a better view

Essentials

Qin Xie travelled as a guest of Tourism Australia, the South Australia Tourism Commission and Southern Ocean Lodge (00 61 2 9918 4355; southernoceanlodge.com.au), which offers suites from 1,757, all inclusive, with a minimum two-night stay.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
A flight in China was delayed by more than four hours on Wednesday after a passenger threw coins into the engine, according to Chinese state media.

China Southern Airlines flight CZ8805 was originally scheduled to take off from the southern city of Sanya to Beijing around 10 a.m. local time on March 6, but it did not depart until around 2:16 p.m. local time, flight-tracking websites Flightradar24 and Flight Aware showed.

In a video shared by multiple state media outlets, a flight attendant is seen questioning a passenger believed to have thrown the coins, asking them how many coins were thrown into the engine. The passenger, whose identity was not revealed in the video or by state media, can be heard on camera saying three to five coins.

The passenger who allegedly threw the coins was later taken away by airport police, state media reported, citing Chinese Southern Airlines.

The airline said coins were found during security checks, but did not specify how many were located.

The aircraft maintenance staff conducted a comprehensive safety inspection and determined that there were no safety issues before takeoff, the airlines customer service told state media.

Prayer for a safe flight

China Southern Airlines issued a warning against uncivilized behaviors on their official Chinese social media Weibo account on Wednesday, saying throwing coins at the plane pose a threat to aviation safety and will result in different levels of punishment. However, the post did not reference the incident directly.

CNN has reached out to China Southern Airlines.

Similar incidents of people throwing coins at planes, apparently for good luck, have occurred in recent years in China.

Last October, a China Southern Airlines flight was delayed in Guangzhou after a passenger was observed throwing coins towards the plane. In 2021, a GX Airlines flight between Weifang and Haikou was canceled when several coins wrapped in red paper were discovered on the ground. And in 2017, an elderly passenger threw coins at a China Southern Airlines plane during boarding at Shanghais Pudong International Airport, claiming it was a prayer for a safe flight.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
CAMBRIDGE, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 23: (EMBARGOED FOR PUBLICATION IN UK NEWSPAPERS UNTIL 24 HOURS AFTER CREATE DATE AND TIME) Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge departs after visiting the Fitzwilliam Museum during an official visit to Cambridgeshire on June 23, 2022 in Cambridge, England. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge are visiting the Fitzwilliam Museum to view a newly unveiled portrait of themselves painted by portrait artist Jamie Coreth. (Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

Ekin-Su Culculoglu is getting down to business on this season of Celebrity Big Brother.

The Love Island winner saw an opportunity and grabbed on tight when she had a moment to chat with Kate Middletons uncle, Gary Goldsmith, on the Wednesday, March 6 episode, bluntly asking the royal-adjacent, who is the brother of the princess' mother Carole Middleton, where on Earth she is amid the ongoing concern for her wellbeing, an abundance of conspiracy theories into her disappearance, and conflicting information about her return to her royal duties following a reported abdominal surgery and lengthy recovery.

Representatives for the royal have made it clear time and again that they won't be giving out any information about the princess unless it's "significant," which hasn't sat right with her fans, so Culculoglu took one for the team when she pressed for information.

Goldsmith, however, is respecting his niece's wishes, telling the reality star that, "because she doesn't want to talk about it," neither will he, as seen in a clip from the series uploaded to Twitter.

The last thing Im gonna do theres a kind of code of etiquette," he said. "If its announced, Ill give you an opinion.

At the end of the day, he said "the most important thing" is that "she's getting the best care in the world." The whole family has come together to "look after family first, before anything else."

As Culculoglu expressed that she was okay and would be back soon, Goldsmith assured her, "She's amazing. She'll be back; of course she will."

Viewers were stunned to see the contestant go for it but loved that she was taking matters into her own hands.

ekin su asking where kate is oh my godd #cbbuk  mary (@maryfarrell97) March 6, 2024

Unfortunately, we're still sitting at square one in this investigation.

Next: Prince William Officially Speaks Out About Theories Surrounding Kate Middleton's Health
Cat lovers do not have to worry about overdue library books at this Massachusetts library. The Worcester Public Library (WPL) has launched a purr-fect solution for erasing those pesky fines. As part of their new program, people can bring cat photos to clear their outstanding balance on overdue library items.

Massachusetts library encouraging patrons with late book fines to send cat photos instead

The Worcester Public Library (WPL) in Massachusetts has launched the Felines for Fee Forgiveness program as part of its month-long celebration of March Meowness, as People reports. Throughout March, you can bring a photo of a cat, which will act as your late book fees.

In addition, the librarys criteria for acceptable feline pictures are pretty flexible. As the library states on its website, Worcester librarians will gladly accept photos or drawings of pet cats, friends cats, famous cats, shelter cats, or any other pet.

Sharing online, the library said, We will accept honorary cats as well, so you may show us a picture or drawing of a dog, raccoon, orca, capybara, or any other animal.

They further added, We understand accidents can happen, and sometimes fees might hold you back from fully using your public library. We hope that you will join us as we celebrate March Meowness at all of our Worcester Public Library locations.

While the librarys cat-related guidelines are minimal, its important to note that the items eligible for fee forgiveness must belong to WPL. Additionally, the waived fees must pertain to items lost for at least two months. Accordingly, library staff will assess how cat photos will waive what fees.

As it turns out, March Meowness is proving to be a roaring success, as per Boston.com. The WPLs program has generated a wave of positive participation within days. Hundreds of returns have been generated, with random cat photos posted on the librarys Facebook page. Moreover, the librarys main building has established a cat wall, which includes many cat photos and drawings.

The post March Meowness: Library Accepts Cat Photos for Late Book Fees appeared first on CatTime.
(Phot/Canva)

New findings published in the Journal of the American Heart Association reveal more than 70% of American Indian young adults aged 20-39 and 50% of American Indian teens have cholesterol levels or elevated fat in the blood that put them at risk for cardiovascular disease.

The study supported by the National Institutes of Health came from a 19-year-review of the Strong Heart Family Study, part of the Strong Heart Study  the largest study of cardiovascular health outcomes and risk factors among American Indian adults. Researchers followed more than 1,400 participants, ages 15-39, between 2001-2003 and 2020. At the beginning of the study, 55% of participants ages 15-19 had abnormal cholesterol levels, as did 74% of those ages 20-29, and 78% of those ages 30-39.

Never miss Indian Countrys biggest stories and breaking news. Click here to sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning.

We were surprised about the numbers, especially in adolescents, said Jessica A. Reese, Ph.D., an epidemiologist in the Center for American Indian Health Research at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City. These findings show the importance of early screenings and interventions, especially for teens and young adults who may be more likely to have underlying cardiovascular risks, diabetes, or chronic liver disease.

The researchers defined a persons cholesterol as abnormal if they had either high total cholesterol; high LDL cholesterol or other types of bad cholesterol; moderately-high triglycerides; low HDL cholesterol, often thought of as good cholesterol; or if they had been prescribed cholesterol-lowering medication.

This research supports efforts to identify ways, such as increased screenings and culturally relevant education, to improve heart health and support younger generations of Native Americans, said Mona Puggal, M.P.H., an epidemiologist in the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of NIH.

Heart disease is twice as high in American Indian adults compared to the general U.S. population. Abnormal cholesterol levels seen among participants in the current study were also twice as high as abnormal levels seen in the general population of U.S. teens and young adults. Researchers underscored the value of routine check-ins and screenings. All participants in this observational study were also notified about their lab work and imaging results after their physical exam and researchers encouraged them to take the results to their healthcare providers.

At the start of the study, 1,165 participants had ultrasounds of the carotid artery, an artery in the neck that carries blood from the heart to the brain. Approximately 61 (5%) showed signs of plaque or early plaque development. Plaque can prohibit blood flow to the heart or rupture when too much of it accumulates in an artery, and that can lead to a stroke or need for surgery.

About 5.5 years after the baseline measurements, 19 participants  about one-third of those with detectable plaque  had signs of their plaque getting worse. Among the 1,104 who did not have detectable plaque at the beginning, 109 (10%) had signs of it during the second check-in. Researchers linked high levels of LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, and other non-HDL cholesterol to these outcomes.

By the end of the study, approximately 127 participants (9%) had experienced a heart attack, stroke, heart failure, or a related heart surgery or death. Participants who had diabetes and at least a few cardiovascular risks, such as having a large waistline, high blood sugar, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, or low levels of HDL cholesterol, were also more likely to have cardiovascular events.

To support early risk detection, researchers emphasized the importance of youth staying connected to health care providers.

Its important for everyone to work with their physician to annually check their blood cholesterol and blood sugar, which can support a healthy life later on, said Ying Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., Director at the Center for American Indian Health Research at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Its also vital that annual care is coordinated as youth mature from seeing pediatricians to adult health care providers.



To learn more about cholesterol and heart health, visit https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/resources/cholesterol-your-heart-what-you-need-know-fact-sheet.

This research was funded by NHLBI.

About the Author: "Native News Online is one of the most-read publications covering Indian Country and the news that matters to American Indians, Alaska Natives and other Indigenous people. Reach out to us at editor@nativenewsonline.net. "

Contact: news@nativenewsonline.net
Anatomy of a collection meets Anatomy of a Fall?

On the eve of the Academy Awards, scheduled for Sunday, Phoebe Philo has cast acclaimed German actress Sandra Huller in the campaign for the second installment of her signature collection.

More from WWD

Nominated for best actress in a leading role for her gripping portrayal of a writer trying to prove she is innocent of her husbands death, Huller is pictured beaming in a pair of angular, cat-eye sunglasses, and looking more serious sitting cross-legged on a white table wearing a black turtleneck and trousers.

Sandra Huller in the Phoebe Philo campaign.

Daria Werbowy also returns to model the second edit of Philos signature designs, with the initial delivery going on sale on phoebephilo.com from Thursday. The site ships to the U.K., Europe and the U.S.

Three subsequent deliveries are planned through March, April and May, along with select pieces from Philos first edit.

During London Fashion Week last month, Philo invited select editors to inspect the latest additions to her line, characterized from the get-go as a continuous body of work.

The visit underscored that Philo has a knack for creating clothes that are carefully considered and often plain, but at the same deliver jolts of fashion.

Daria Werbowy in the Phoebe Philo campaign.

At her new headquarters in West London, she mingled her new designs with ones that she first unveiled and sold back in October, demonstrating that she hasnt tired of batwing sleeves, leg-lengthening trousers, mannish tailoring, meaty leather jackets and extremely roomy tote bags.

Yet there were new, waist-focused silhouettes, including cropped bomber jackets and jersey dresses with tightly gathered ballerina skirts. Shoulders were widened with rounded padding on jersey tops and T-shirt dresses.

Philo also embraced more color, including cotton-candy pink for a roomy shirt and silky cargo pants and lots of pale yellow, a shade she endorsed during her years leading Celine.

A range of rich reds and a splash of mauve arrived on some of her key handbags, especially the Drive model with its channels of vertical padding, and on a new sandal style melding leather and suede.

The Drive bag by Phoebe Philo.

Philo wasnt present for the unveiling, but provided a fact sheet to highlight Hullers participation in the campaign, which will debut on her website.

The fact sheet noted that a third edit is scheduled to arrive in the fall of this year.

Philo supplied a biography of Huller, lauding her as one of the most accomplished talents of her generation, renowned for her intimate, intelligent and fearless performances on stage and screen.

It notes that Huller trained at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin, and that she was nominated for BAFTA awards in leading and supporting acting categories for Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest, respectively.

A look from Phoebe Philos second edit of her signature collection.

Best of WWD
PARIS  Beauty and fashion group Puig crossed the 4 billion-euro sales threshold in 2023.

The family-owned Spanish company posted net sales of 4.3 billion euros in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, a 19 percent increase in both reported and like-for-like terms, powered by all segments and regions, which registered double-digit sales growth.

More from WWD

Despite tailwinds from challenging economic and geopolitical environments, Puig significantly outpaced the beauty market that grew an estimated 8-plus percent last year.

We have achieved these strong results thanks to our strategy of building up a portfolio of owned brands, focusing on prestige products and expanding our leadership in niche fragrances and makeup, said Marc Puig, chairman and chief executive officer of Puig, in a statement released Thursday morning. Due to the strength and desirability of our diversified portfolio, we have reinforced our position in our core regions  Europe and the Americas  while continuing to invest in markets with high growth potential for our brands.

Marc Puig, chairman and chief executive officer of Puig.

We have kicked off 2024 with positive momentum, including strengthening our foothold in premium skin care, with the acquisition of Dr. Barbara Sturm, Puig continued, referring to the transaction in January.

Among other highlights he underlined were the inauguration of Puigs new tower in Barcelona, in the presence of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain last month.

Puigs strong showing in 2023 was powered by a confluence of factors instigated over the past 15 years, including integrating dermocosmetics and focusing on storytelling. Company-owned brands last year generated 95 of the groups overall sales.

In 2023, Puigs net profits were 465 million euros, up 16 percent on a like-for-like basis. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization reached 849 million euros, a 33 percent rise against 2022, equating to an EBITDA margin of 20 percent.

Puig in March 2021 presented a three-year plan with the goal of reaching sales of 3 billion in 2023 and 4.5 billion euros in 2025. But because of strong growth over the past three years, the company doubled 2020 net sales a year ahead of schedule and almost tripled sales two years earlier than expected.

At the end of 2023, Puig net debt amounted to 1.2 billion euros.

During the year, the groups fragrances and fashion activitys sales combined reached 3.12 billion euros, up 17 percent, driven by its own brands business. The activity made up 72 percent of Puigs sales against 74 percent in 2022. Last year, Rabanne became the first Puig brand to cross the 1 billion-euro net sales threshold, after introducing a new brand identity. Meanwhile, Jean Paul Gaultier became the companys fastest-growing brand.

Helping spur Puig to lasso 11 percent prestige fragrance market share worldwide in 2023 were perfumes including Rabannes 1 Million and Carolina Herreras Good Girl, as well as the launches of Gaultiers Le Male Elixir and Divine.

The company noted that there was strong momentum at Dries Van Noten, its fastest-growing niche brand, and that Byredo, in its first year at Puig, notched up double-digit growth despite the slowdown of retail sales in Asia.

Carolina Herrera resort 2024

The groups fashion activity posted double-digit gains. Its highlights included Carolina Herreras first resort show in Rio de Janeiro, Harris Reed joining Nina Ricci as creative director, and Gaultier signing on guest designers Haider Ackermann and Julien Dossena.

Dossena crossed the 10-year line as creative director at Rabanne, and had a well-received collaboration with H&M. Van Notens debuted his first beauty and accessories store, in Paris.

Puigs makeup sales reached 773 million euros, a 23 percent gain and the equivalent to 18 percent of the groups net revenues versus 17 percent in 2022. The growth continued to be driven by Charlotte Tilbury, which turned 10 last year and performed strongly in the U.K., North America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Singapore.

The strong growth in the segment was further fueled by the acceleration in the Middle East and Latin America, the performance of Christian Louboutin Beaute and the positive reception of the launch of Rabannes makeup line, which is advancing the brands appeal with new and diverse audiences, the company said.

Skin care eclipsed makeup as the Puig category with the fastest growth, which advanced 31 percent to 431 million euros, or 10 percent of group sales. Business was buoyed by Charlotte Tilburys bestseller, Magic Cream, and products from dermatological brands Uriage and Apivita. The group said the incorporation of Loto del Sur and Kama Ayurvedas sales in 2023 were key to skin care obtaining robust double-digit gains last year.

By geographic region, Puigs growth was the fastest in Asia Pacific, where sales increased 26 percent to 439 million euros. This positive performance follows Puigs strategic investment in regions with high growth potential for the companys brands and establishment of a strong presence in Asia, including in China and India, the group said.

China is a priority and the companys biggest Asian country in terms of sales, which were up 27 percent last year, bolstered by Charlotte Tilbury and Byredo, Puigs largest brand and fastest-growing niche label in the region, respectively.

Sales in the Europe, Middle East and Africa zone rose 18 percent to 2.32 billion euros. There, it registered strong growth in Spain, which rings up 7 percent of company sales, France and the U.K, where Kama Ayurveda opened a store and a Harrods spa in London. Charlotte Tilbury entered Poland, Sweden and Saudi Arabia. Puig opened new offices in Paris.

Carolina Herreras Good Girl

In the Americas, sales reached 1.54 billion euros, gaining 18 percent, driven mostly by the U.S., Brazil and Mexico. In the U.S., which is the worlds largest beauty market and Puigs biggest sales-wise, substantial growth came from prestige fragrances. There, Good Girl became the second top-seller among prestige womens perfumes, and Charlotte Tilbury was the number-five makeup brand, despite limited distribution, according to Puig estimates.

Growth in Brazil, Mexico and Chile was boosted by fragrances, and the integration of Loto del Sur consolidated Puigs presence in Colombia, the company said.

Also in 2023, Puig opened a Miami travel retail hub, which reinforced the groups ambitions in the region and channel.

The companys digital business remained robust, rising one percentage point to represent 26 percent of total company sales.

Puigs travel retail business recovered from the coronavirus pandemic, reaching business levels above those of 2019. The group uses the channel to launch some perfumes, such as Rabannes Phantom and Fame.

Last year, Marc Puig said the company is assessing all strategic options for the groups future, including the option of opening its capital to third parties via an initial public offering.

The company revealed its partnership with the 37th Americas Cup, including the first Puig Womens Americas Cup. The event will be held in Barcelona, Puigs headquarters, from August to October.

Best of WWD
I was giddily excited about the journey to Wick and Thurso. I had been to Scotlands northeast corner only once before  a flying visit to John OGroats after a road trip from Lands End. I have little recollection of it except signing a book to register my visit and feeling that it was a bit pathetic to drive there when so many people rode bicycles or even, like Ian Botham, walked.

This time I was catching the train. As I live in Lancashire, the Caledonian Sleeper is not as convenient as it is for Londoners. It stops at Preston at 12.30am on the way up and at around 4.30am on the return leg. I managed to doze for a couple of hours and woke to coffee and porridge somewhere north of Perth.

The snow was right up to the trackside. I spotted a stag on a hillock. I saw the great slab of the Cairngorms central plateau. I saw the word Dalwhinnie and could almost taste the wee drams. But let me hasten onward past Inverness  a beautiful, rather posh town, firmly on the tourist trail  and get us on to the Far North Line.

Moss took The Caledonian Sleeper train on his journey to the Flow Country - Peter Devlin

This 161-mile railway weaves through the Flow Country: the largest area of blanket bog on earth. Look on a map and youll be struck by the lines sweeping meanders.

While crossing wetland isnt easy, its more straightforward than skirting the inlets and ups and downs of the coast. The train runs on an embankment and you can see glistening pools, rivulets and spongy peatland made up of sphagnum mosses, ling heather, asphodel and butterwort.

Formed over 10,000 years, the peat is up to ten metres deep. In the 1970s and 80s, Government tax incentives encouraged forestry and swathes of bog that had been treeless since forever were drained, gouged with deep furrows, and planted with fast-growing conifers.

Formed over 10,000 years, the peat is up to ten metres deep in parts of the Flow Country - alamy

The Flow Country became a battleground between pro-plantation developers and conservationists concerned at the destruction of such a rare, undisturbed habitat.

The area is now being allowed to recover, which is good for the planet  peat is a superb carbon store  and native fauna. Merlin, short-eared owls and golden eagles hunt over the mosses and pools.

Divers, plover and greenshank feed and nest in the wetlands. Microhabitats support insects, spiders, amphibians, reptiles and small mammals like shrews. In February 2023, a bid was submitted to Unesco to recognise this magical region as a World Heritage Site.

Under lowering sunshine, the tough grasses looked golden. It reminded me of the Patagonian steppe. When I first travelled around southern South America in the 1990s I would look for analogues of the landscapes of my Lancashire home. Now I find myself spotting little Patagonias in my homeland. Our northern end of the world is as beguiling as Argentina and Chiles fin del mundo.

Wick is a solid, stone-built town that has a special atmosphere. Its name derives from Vik  indicative of a distant Nordic past  but it grew to prominence in the 19th century as a fishing port. Its divided into two.

On the left bank of the river is a town centre that has seen better days. For every shop still open, there are three empty ones. I checked into Mackays Hotel, on the other side of the river, for two nights. Its a cosy place with great steaks and whiskies, located on Ebenezer Place, the worlds shortest street. When night fell or rain blew in it was my refuge.

Rising up behind the hotel was Pulteneytown, the oldest planned industrial settlement. Thomas Telford built the harbour in 1803-11, adding a tidy grid of houses for workers and managers. Bang in the middle of the upper section of the houses is the Old Pulteney distillery; I went on a tour of the mash tuns, pot stills and dark warehouses, followed by a tasting. Its strange to find yourself drinking single malts in the afternoon, but not at all unpleasant.

An aerial view of the blanket bog around Forsinard - Alamy

Nearby was the towns other great attraction: Wick Heritage Centre, which tells the story of its prominence as Europes biggest herring fishing harbour through an eclectic mix of artefacts: a kippering kiln, militaria old and new (Wick suffered the first daytime bombing raid of mainland Britain in the Second World War), a fishing boat and the fabulous Johnston Collection of photographs.

The close-ups of fishermen were moving, and the panoramic shots of the harbour filled with barrels of salted silver darlings magnificent. Thousands of men came here to cash in, spending their downtime in local bars. The town got a reputation for heavy drinking, fights and prostitution. Temperance campaigners joined forces with local wives fed up with being handed empty wage packets. Prohibition was eventually imposed along US lines. It lasted from 1922 till 1947.

I mentioned to Donald Henderson, the chair of the Wick Society, which runs the heritage centre, that the landscape reminded me of Patagonia. He nodded and mentioned, almost as an aside, that many people from Caithness emigrated to Patagonia to work in sheep farms. The following day a book called From Caithness to Patagonia by Ian Leith was left at reception in Mackay. Life imitating daydreams.

A mid-morning walk took me along the coast, passing through the harbour and an old quarry squatted by fulmars. There were lobster creels and a few boats, but the boom today is wind power; turbine and cabling equipment filled the docksides. I walked past The Trinkie, an extraordinary natural sea-water lido on a shelf of bare rock, and came to a castle known as the Old Man. It was an atmospheric spot, with birds soaring on the cold thermals and mist and mizzle isolating me and the lichen-dappled ruin from the rest of the world.

Boats in the harbour at Wick - getty

I took the bus to Thurso. There was the option of a crack-of-dawn train but I didnt want to hurry my Full Scottish. I only knew two things about my destination. One, that it was the northernmost town in mainland Britain. Two, that it grew bigger and got richer thanks to the Dounreay nuclear testing and experimental site, which came on stream  or went critical, as the jargon goes  in the late 1950s.

It was an airier, slightly livelier town than Wick and had a nice beach. Its apparently a popular cold surf hangout. Again, I found a welcoming hotel, the Pentland, and a great little museum. I learnt a lovely third thing: that Thursos etymology contains an allusion to Thor, god of storms, sacred groves and trees.

You cant come up here without ticking off Dunnet Head  Britains most northerly point. I then spent some time with Martin Murray who runs a nearby gin distillery. Hes rebuilding an old grain mill at Castletown to make whisky, using the famous Caithness flagstone  as used at Ground Zero in New York  and conserving lots of original features.

The Wolfburn and North Point Distilleries, which opened in 2013 and 2020 close to Thurso, and the even newer 8 Doors Distillery at John OGroats, are already transforming the highest corner of the Highlands into a whisky hotspot.

King Charles at the 8 Doors distillery last summer - getty

I tried a drop of the 8 Doorss peated whiskey in situ. Afterwards I met up with American expat Jay Wilson, who created the John OGroats Trail about a decade ago. We did the short hike along the coast to Duncansby Head, the northeasternmost point.

It was a more than fitting end to my mini-odyssey. Jay showed me some geos  deep gullies where the sea rushes in  and led me across a patch of carpet bog. It rolls and shifts just like a soft rug. Flow Country is a perfect name. At the promontory, beneath the lighthouse, I looked back and saw, beyond a wall of impressive cliffs, the Noss Head lighthouse near Wick.

But which way was I to look  down or upward? Thurso was far north  as far from Kings Cross as Budapest is from Paris. But my gaze was drawn towards Stroma and the Orkneys. Why do travellers yearn to go to the ends of lines?

I dont have an answer, but I think the urge is strongest in wide-open landscapes. Perhaps Thor came on shore and flattened Caithness and Sutherland by stamping his god-sized feet just to keep us wanting more.

Chris Mosss trip to Caithness was supported by Visit Scotland and Caledonian Sleeper. Mackays Hotel has B&B doubles from 115. The Pentland Hotel has B&B doubles from 88. The standard tour at Old Pulteney is 15pp. See the websites of the Flow Country, Caithness and Sutherland tourism and the official distilleries map for more information.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. The second meeting of the Organizing Committee of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was held on March 7, Trend reports.

The Head of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Samir Nuriyev, outlined the progress made in preparation for COP29 since the first meeting, in accordance with the directives of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. Samir Nuriyev emphasized that, as per the order of the head of state, the Organizing Committee had been expanded to incorporate Members of Parliament and representatives from civil society in order to ensure inclusivity.

Samir Nuriyev stated that President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, in remarks at a meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council and in an interview with Euronews TV channel, had identified the key directions and framework of the COP29 Chairmanship agenda. As reflected in the said theses, Samir Nuriyev emphasized the importance of a fair approach in relation to countries rich with oil and natural gas and said their activities should be evaluated in the light of their contributions to environmental matters. The Chairman of the Organizing Committee said that Azerbaijan had recently signed the Global Methane Pledge, which aims to reduce the volume of methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030 compared to 2020.

Noting that the Action Plan on declaring 2024 as the "Green World Solidarity Year" had already been approved in the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Action Plan for COP29 was under preparation, the Chairman of the Organizing Committee stressed the importance of ensuring alignment between the two action plans.

Samir Nuriyev touched upon the work carried out with the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and noted that Azerbaijans level of preparedness had received a positive assessment from the UN.

The Chairman of the Organizing Committee stated that, taking into account the successful experience of Azerbaijan's chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement and its active representation in other international organizations, the country was capable of playing the role of a bridge between the Global South and the Global North and would make every effort to achieve global solidarity and consensus at COP29.

The Chairman of the Organizing Committee also stated that the creation of the "Troika" mechanism among the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and Brazil regarding the COP was a commendable step.

Then, the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources and the President-Designate of COP29, Mukhtar Babayev spoke about his visits to Turkiye, Germany, the UAE and Kenya to discuss issues arising from the countrys COP29 chairmanship, and his meetings with the officials of foreign countries and international organizations responsible for climate issues. Mukhtar Babayev noted that more visits and meetings would be organized as part of the preparations for the prestigious event and pointed out that the next visit would be to China.

The Minister of Digital Development and Transport, Rashad Nabiyev, spoke about the steps undertaken to solve transport issues in the process of preparation for COP29.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and COP29 Lead Negotiator, Yalchin Rafiyev, spoke about Azerbaijan's COP29 priorities and initiatives, as well as contacts with various counterparts.

The Chairperson of the COP29 Management Board of the COP29 Operating Company, Narmin Jarchalova, spoke about the organizational and logistical issues and other preparatory works.

Member of the Parliament Nigar Arpadarai spoke about her activities as a High-Level Champion on Climate Change.

Member of the Parliament Fatma Yildirim reported on parliamentary diplomacy and climate changes, as well as the activities of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan regarding COP29.

Young Climate Champion Leyla Hasanova provided information about her meetings and activities in her capacity.

The Executive Director of the State Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Support for Non-Governmental Organizations, Aygun Aliyeva, and the Executive director of the "Health Service" Public Association, co-founder of the "Environmental Protection First" Coalition, Parvana Valiyeva, highlighted the role of civil society at COP29 and spoke in favor of including civil society representatives in the Organizing Committee, noting that cooperation of representatives of national and international NGOs, as well as the private and public sector was commendable.

At the conclusion of the meeting, tasks were assigned for the implementation of the Action Plan and other pertinent matters concerning the organization and hosting of COP29.
Pasta salad is a quintessential lunchtime favorite and potluck mainstay because of its versatile dump-it recipes. Similar to slaws and potato salads, pasta salad dressings are either oil and vinegar-based or mayonnaise-based. Barring macaroni salad, many classic pasta salad recipes call for Italian dressing consisting of a foundation of white or red vinegar and olive oil. While white vinegar and olive oil offer a balance of tangy and savory, balsamic vinegar is the dressing swap you need for a richer pasta salad.

A prized product of Italy, balsamic vinegar is arguably the most complex type of vinegar around. It's made from crushed grape juices and aged in wood barrels, providing its unmistakable dark hue and full-bodied mouthfeel. Like any vinegar, balsamic is tangy, but the barrel aging concentrates the fruity sweetness of the grapes and infuses woody, earthy notes. Italians use balsamic vinegar as a flavor enhancer to drizzle over risotto, bread, and pasta and, of course, as a condiment to accompany cheeses and the famous Caprese salad. Consequently, using balsamic vinegar in a pasta salad is a no-brainer as it will add a tangy, sweet richness to brighten tried and true savory pasta salad ingredients like cheese, tomatoes, basil, and olive oil that likewise overlap with the aforementioned Italian dishes.

Read more: Vinegar Cooking Hacks You'll Wish You Knew Sooner

How To Incorporate Balsamic Vinegar Into Pasta Salad

glass bottles of olive oil and vinegar - Fcafotodigital/Getty Images

Balsamic vinegar is sweeter and richer than white or red vinegar, but it's still sour enough to necessitate an oil pairing to temper its acidity. Just as olive oil and balsamic vinegar are served as a dipping sauce for bread, they are also the best pairing for pasta salad. The ratio of balsamic vinegar to olive oil tends to be one part vinegar to three parts olive oil in a typical vinaigrette. If you want to further enhance the pairing, you can add fresh or dried herbs like oregano and basil or a sprinkling of parmesan cheese to the mix.

Instead of whisking a dressing separately, Tasting Table's balsamic chicken pasta recipe recommends measuring and pouring the oil and vinegar directly into your pasta salad with seasonings and basil, tossing to combine. If you want a stronger balsamic flavor, you can marinate any vegetables or proteins you plan on adding in balsamic vinegar, oil, and garlic. Balsamic marinated broccoli, carrots, onions, and green beans would all taste delicious in a pasta salad.

You can draw inspiration from a caprese salad by pairing balsamic vinegar with pasta salad ingredients like chopped tomatoes, fresh basil, and cubes of mozzarella cheese. Olives, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, feta, and arugula would also be a great mix of umami, savory, and peppery flavors to receive a tangy sweet complement from balsamic vinegar.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.
Three sailors were killed in a Houthi missile attack on a merchant ship traveling via the Red Sea on Wednesday, U.S. and U.K. officials said, marking the first reported fatalities since the Yemen-based militants started attacking vessels in November.

According to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, an anti-ship ballistic missile struck the bulk carrier True Confidence while transiting the Gulf of Aden. Indias navy evacuated 20 crew members and three armed guards from the stricken vessel, taking them to a hospital in Djibouti.

More from Sourcing Journal

Two of the sailors killed were identified as Filipino, while the third was recognized as Vietnamese. At least four other seafarers were injured, three of whom are in critical condition.

This is the fifth such ballistic missile fired by the Iran-backed Houthis since Tuesday, with one other having hit the container ship MSC Sky II.

At the TPM24 logistics conference, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned the audience not to expect any near-term improvement to the Red Sea disruptions.

[The Houthis] may decide that they like the idea of controlling the amount of shipping going through the Red Sea, and say Well continue this for an indefinite period of time, Gates said.

Gates is one of many with ties to the Department of Defense who isnt buying the Houthis implication that their attacks are related to the Israel-Hamas war in Gazanamely due to the largely indiscriminate nature of the incidents.

One scenario is that if there is a ceasefire, and if the major military operations against Hamas in Gaza stop, that the Houthis do what theyve said they will do. I think theres good reason to doubt their word on this, Gates said. In all honesty, well just have to wait and see which scenario plays out.

While the future of the region remains uncertain, some apparel retailers are enduring varying consequences from the skirmish as container ships continue to be diverted away from the area.

Abercrombie & Fitch, which was previously identified by credit ratings firm Moodys Investors Service as an apparel retailer at risk of feeling the heat from the Red Sea disruptions, is seeing the impacts in Europe.

This is mostly an impact to the European market for us. A lot of shipping goes through that area, said Scott Lipesky, chief financial officer and chief operating officer at Abercrombie & Fitch, in a company earnings call. Our teams have been read and reacting, changing modes, whatever they need to do to get the product here at the right time at the best price.

Lipesky said the retailer is seeing some friction on shipping costs, which will have an impact on expenses in Q2 and into the back half of the year.

While Abercrombie initially anticipated lower freight costs to be a benefit going into 2024 as freight rates declined precipitously throughout 2023, we think thatll be more than offset by the Red Sea, Lipesky said.

Another apparel retailer that recently reported earnings, Nordstrom, has barely felt the impacts from the Red Sea reroutings. According to CEO Erik Nordstrom, the retailer is not seeing any effects on the merchandise margin.

We have some portion of our goods thats delayed a bit, but we dont see any material effect to our results, Nordstrom said in an earnings call.

Carters is the rare example of a retailer that appears to have felt the impact of the Red Sea on overall demand and sales.

Demand slowed a bit in February, in part, we believe, due to having less spring inventory in our stores as a result of disruptions in shipping through the Red Sea, said Richard Westenberger, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Carters, in an earnings call on Feb. 27. Weve made changes in our product routing to direct more of our import activity to the West Coast and around the southern tip of Africa to avoid the Red Sea. Right now, were not expecting significant further disruptions in bringing product to the U.S. from Asia.

A major byproduct of the Red Sea crisis appears to normalizing by the week. Spot freight rates measured by the Drewry World Container Index (WCI) have declined for the sixth straight week after reaching a 15-month peak on Jan. 25 at $3,964 per 40-foot container, coming down 17 percent to $3,287 per container as of Thursday.

The composite index, which measures ocean spot rates across eight major trade lanes, decreased by 6 percent this week, but is still up by 82 percent when compared with the same week last year.
The airline is also adding flights to Shanghai, Hong Kong, Porto, and more.

Getty Images

United Airlines will become the only carrier to fly nonstop to Marrakech from the United States in October, part of a larger international expansion from the airline.

The new route will launch on Oct. 24, United shared with Travel + Leisure, and operate from Newark Liberty International Airport. United will fly the route three times each week on a Boeing 767-300ER aircraft with 46 Polaris business class seats and 22 Premium Plus seats.

Currently, there are no other nonstop flights to Marrakech from the U.S. Tickets for the flight will go on sale later this year.

We have consistently been ahead of the curve in finding hidden gem destinations for our customers to explore and remain committed to providing the most unique slate of travel options for their adventures abroad, Patrick Quayle, Uniteds senior vice president of global network planning and alliances, said in a statement shared with T+L With our leading global network and elevated inflight experience, United has become the airline of choice for discerning customers looking for experiences they cant have with any other carrier.

In addition to Marrakech, United will add a new flight between Houston and Medellin, Colombia, on Oct. 27. That flight, operated on a Boeing 737 aircraft, will complement Uniteds existing service from both Houston and Newark to Bogota.

The airline will also increase frequencies to popular destinations, including Hong Kong, Seoul, and Porto in Portugal, as well as plan to add four weekly flights between Los Angeles and Shanghai on Aug. 29 before increasing that to daily flights in late October.

United is also expanding closer to home and launched nearly 20 percent more flights to Florida this past winter along with more nonstop flights to popular ski destinations like Jackson Hole, Vail, Steamboat, Telluride, and Big Sky.

The airline is also planning its largest-ever expansion into Canada this summer after seeing a surge in interest from travelers. It comes on the heels of the airlines major partnership expansion with Air Canada.

For more Travel & Leisure news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Travel & Leisure.
The idyllic Mexican town has long lived in our collective cultural imagination: for its stunning white beaches, yoga retreats, and some of the best preserved archaeological sites in the world. Its also been a celebrity fave (hello, Dua Lipa) and gained a reputation through the 70s to today as an artists haven and party destination. Walk along the stretch of warm, pale sand and youll come across a vinyasa flow, a seafood shack, and an EDM DJ fast approaching 160 BPM with equal chance.

Nestled on the Caribbean coastline of the Yucatan Peninsula, Tulum is transforming  and finally taking flight. The much-anticipated Tulum airport is set to see in and off its first international flights, and the Maya train project is already up and running. But its also about an hour and a half away from Cancun, and eight different UK cities fly there direct. Theres 11 flights a week from London.

With the expected influx of new tourists, Tulum has had investment thats been articulated in its vibrant food scene and holistic offerings. To cut through the noise, heres a guide to the must-dos on the Mexican coast: where to stay, what to do, eat, and see.

Where to stay in Tulum, Mexico

Motto by Hilton, Tulum

Motto by Hilton is a relatively new addition to Tulums ever-evolving hotel landscape, having just opened in 2022. The lifestyle brand is deft at setting up in prime global locations  from Rotterdam to New York and Cusco, Peru  offering authentic, local experiences. The Tulum addition is a lifestyle hotel that fits right in with the local community, sitting inside the Hunab lifestyle center which also houses restaurants, shops, and a jungle bar. Open your blinds, and youll be met with a staggeringly uninterrupted view of the jungle (keep your eyes peeled for panthers in the trees at night, it could happen!).

Motto is compact, chic, and eco-conscious in its design, and features neat guest rooms that really suit urban travellers that like to get out and about. A nifty, forward-thinking feature of the hotel is the 43 sets of connecting rooms, meaning guests can book up to five rooms and connect them up to coordinate with pals or family groups. After an entire day hiking and chilling at the cenotes, or partying to the wee hours at the formidable beach clubs, resting your head in a Motto room is dreamy. The white noise preferences on the room system were a personal lifesaver.

The location is optimal  its a short bike or scooter ride away from the beaches, and a stretch of town centre shops, bars and restaurants. Make use of the hotels e-bikes and e-scooters to zip about on. Motto. The hotel can also sort you out with two of Tulums biggest beach clubs  Bagatelle and Vagalume  to nab you some sunbeds. Its other amenities make it really special too  the fitness centre is impressive and wide-ranging, and I loved the morning yoga classes set against the breathtaking jungle backdrop and Jaguar National Park. The two rooftop pools are postcard-perfect, and the breakfast tacos from Bistro Coba were a recurrent feature of my stay.

Rooms at Motto by Hilton Tulum start from 110 per night.

 2024 Hilton

What to do in Tulum, Mexico

Do the wellness side

I visited the Quinto Elemento Spa in the Hunab Lifestyle Center. The space is styled like a temple, and all of its treatments and rituals are inspired by the Air, Fire, Water, and Earth elements. I had their holistic massage, which was tailored to my personal achs and pains, and included aromatherapy and Tibetan bowls  bliss.

Visit the ruins and cenotes

Tulums original Maya name, Zama, translates as place of the dawning sun, and the dramatic view from the clifftops where the ancient ruins sit articulates exactly why. The sprawling archaeological site sits on the coastline  look out and youll see an endless blue horizon, hordes of fishing boats, and some spiny-tailed iguanas chilling on the cliff face. I took a guided tour through the site and learned a lot about the Mayan civilizations, its once vibrant, trading seaside town, and all its enduring ways of life. Theres a temple for a honey bee god, and a temple for fertility that still retains 6,000-year-old bloody handprints on its walls. An altar for human sacrifice had survived centuries. One factoid thats stayed stuck in my mind  when human sacrifice was banned, the now staple Mexican street food tamales became a substitute for human flesh in rituals.

The Temple of the Wind God is an incredible sight on the hill  an opening in its roof makes the wind whistle through, to warn locals of approaching storms. The ruins open at 8am and it's worth getting there early  by the time I was leaving, around noon, the queues were long. It's around 7 to visit, plus 25 for a guided tour.

A short journey away from the ruins is the Parque Nacional Tulum, a stunning, lush coastal area with mangroves, wetlands, unique local floral and cenotes (sinkholes filled with groundwater  you'll have seen them with their crystal clear waters and striking limestone-snarled walls on Instagram). The Yucatan Peninsula has around 10,000 cenotes, and dotted around Tulum are some of the most breathtaking. Cenote Calavera is a popular one, its name meaning 'skull' because of its three pits that resemble just that. Be brave, just the 13-foot in!

Cenote Angelita is a crystalline paradise, with an almost 200-foot deep pit that makes it a cool area for divers. Because of the water densite here, it looks like an underwater river flows through it from above. Cenote Sac Actun has the largest underwater cave system in the world, at 226 miles long and around 390 feet deep. You can choose to dive or float along.

Visit Xel-Ha, a natural water and theme park

This was one of the highlights of my trip. You can spend the whole day here exploring cenotes, natural aquariums, and jungle trails. Its a natural water and theme park that has just about anything youd think. Walk any of the many routes around the park and youll find snorkeling, rock-climbing, cliff diving and ziplining. You can scuba dive in some of its many private cenotes to see a variety of colourful fish, which I found really magical. If thats not your thing, take a lilo around the lazy river.

Xel-Ha has retained a lot of its 80s, zany holiday charm, with Mariachi bands popping up amid dining tables, frozen marg dispensers and a completely unskippable, retro world buffet  it was very fun to peruse the British section, though a Sunday roast wasnt really hitting for me in the heat. The mini guava cheesecakes though, I had several. Its all-inclusive, so why not! Carve out a whole day for this one. Xel-Ha Park's all-inclusive tickets start at around 80.

Xel-Ha

Choose to chill or party in style at the beach clubs

Motto sorted me out with beach club access and a guaranteed bed at two of Tulums most popular clubs  Vagalume and Bagatelle  which in high season, is a great tip. By day, theyre sumptuous spots playing breezy house music to sway the palm trees. Yoga, sound healing, and luxe spa treatments are there to avail of. Order a cocktail and some seared octopus and nachos to your bedside, sigh smugly behind your sunglasses. By night, they transform with Tulums wildest nightlife and an eclectic mix of DJs. Expect sparklers, ABBA edits and bottles popping. Even when I was there in early December, pre peak season, the party vibes were high. New Year's Eve is meant to go wild.

Explore on an e-bike or e-scooter

The Motto hotel offers e-bikes and e-scooters for guests to zip around on, and you can choose to have a Motto host guide you or go it alone. My tour guide, Julio, is a born and bred  and very proud  Tulum resident (he told me as a kid, he saw the CIA pursuit of Pablo Escobar around the area). I learned some Mayan from Julio too (its a government-protected language, which 60% of people there still speak) and he gave me all the taco tips too (more on that later). Going solo, I explored the area around a Mayan church and cemetery, taking in the Christian and ancient Mayan influences that coalesce.

Go downtown and shop

Tulum Pueblo has a long stretch of shops, bars, restaurants and street food vans. Duck your head inside the shops with white cotton billowing outside to buy some textiles, dresses and beach cover ups. Take a break and seek out some churros and homemade ice lollies  I fixated on a coconut and passionfruit one that seems popular. I was lucky enough to visit over Day of The Dead, so I got to see the colourful traditional parades, shrines to lost loved ones (local delicacies are left out for the dead to enjoy the festivities too), and an incredible costume pageant. A voguing dragged up skull was my winner.

La Troupe is a stunning beach shack shop. that houses wares from local artisans, from wall hangings to blankets. For ceramics, head to the impressively stocked World By Hand and grab some trinkets, spice pots and clay pots with faces delicately carved into them.

Head to Mixik for locally crafted and authentic souvenirs, and La Madre Tierra for organic body and skincare products  I picked up a jade face roller and some beautiful natural honey soaps. Tulum Bazaar is a classic market with a buzzy atmosphere.

Where to eat in Tulum, Mexico

Taqueria Honorio is repped by locals and tourists alike as the best tacos in Tulum. It's simple and no frills, at around 1.50 a taco. Arrive before the lunch rush at noon to try their famous cochinita pibil tacos, with zippy, sharp citrus that cuts through the rich pork. I loved the carne asada, which is a charcoal roasted, bitter orange and spiced pork steak taco. Try every single one of the sauces on offer.

If you're out in downtown, look out for Aca Tacos de Canasta's yellow awning and bamboo set up. Their steamed tacos (known as tacos de canasta) with scrambled eggs are a great breakfast paired with orange juice. If youre feeling sweet, grab an Argentine caramel gelato and a Veracruz bean coffee from Campanella Cremerie. If you wanna eat some XXL churros and towers of ceviche while you party with the pros, head to club kid central Rosanegra.

Alma Verde does a brilliant brunch, acai and pitaya bowls and baby blue pina coladas made with spirulina, while Mottos Bistro Coba provides big salads, snacks and seafood. NU is a contemporary, imaginative Caribbean restaurant in an enchanting jungle space. Cesar Castaneda is a celebrated Mexican chef who leads NU , championing traditional cooking and local produce, with modern twists. Wood grilled prawns, chorizo spiced cauliflower, stuffed chili and fish crudo are stars of the menu, and the ice cream with barbecued fruits was really memorable.

On a balmy evening though, weaving through the vendors of downtown and leaving everything to your stomach's immediate whim sets you up to experience the best of Mexican street food. You'll find tacos al pastor, sweet rolled crepes called marquesitas, and elote  corn cobs grilled and slathered with crema, lime, and Mexican cheese like cotija.

anna cafolla

You Might Also Like
[Source]

Patti Lee, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Prices former spokesperson, filed a legal claim on Monday, accusing Price of constantly and openly making derogatory comments against Asian Americans.

The lawsuit: Lee is seeking a $1.5 million settlement for emotional distress stemming from discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination and failure to pay wages. Lee alleges that Price fostered a culture of anti-Asian bias in the workplace that promoted racist views and hindered transparency with journalists.

Lees claims: Lee, who worked with Prices administration for about six months in 2023, claims that Price openly referred to her enemies as the media and the Asians. Lee portrays herself as a whistleblower, exposing abuses of open records laws after Price barred The Berkeley Scanner reporter Emilie Raguso from a press conference on Nov. 29. She also accuses Prices staff of attempting to flout public records laws and hide, delete or change records in response to media inquiries.

Price fires Lee: Lee specifically accuses Haaziq Madyun, the office's communications director and a former TV news reporter, of not being forthcoming with documents and potentially deleting or altering records required to be released under state law. As Lee voiced her concerns to colleagues, she was reportedly handed a termination notice and given eight minutes to clear out her desk on Dec. 12. Lees law firm says this swift action was a textbook case of retaliation, with no reason provided for her firing.

Trending on NextShark: Indian painter gets brain-dead woman's hands in rare bilateral hand transplant

The real reason for Ms. Lee's termination will be plainly evident and intuitive to any jury, the firm wrote. We are confident will find that Ms. Lee was terminated as a result of racial discrimination against her protected status as an Asian American and whistleblower retaliation.

No response from Price: The legal action comes amid a recall effort against Price, who became the county's first Black woman to hold the position of district attorney. The allegations also coincide with broader challenges facing Oakland, including a surge in crime and the closure of businesses, leading to a decline in the city's reputation. The Alameda County District Attorney's Office has not yet responded to the claim.

Not the first time: This is not the first time Price has been accused of racism against the Asian American community. In May last year, two Alameda prosecutors resigned over what they viewed as Prices inequalities and disparate treatment. Rebecca Warren, who was a veteran prosecutor who has been with the office for over 17 years, accused Price of being condescending and disrespectful to the AAPI community in a letter regarding the death of toddler Jasper Wu, who died from a stray bullet.

Trending on NextShark: Asian family donates $5 million to Black students in honor of family who helped them

Lees law firm has requested a response from the District Attorney's office by March 11. If no response is received by that deadline, the firm states its intention to proceed with litigation promptly and without hesitation.

Download the NextShark App:

Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
One person was killed in a shooting in downtown Lawrence Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Police responded around 5:10 p.m. Wednesday to the 700 block of Vermont Street. Officers began talking to witnesses and are seeking more people who may have seen the shooting happen.

Lawrence Police posted on its X account (formerly Twitter) Wednesday, saying One person is confirmed dead. We know there are a lot of witnesses to the incident.

No other information about the shooting or victim was released.

Lawrence police asks witnesses to contact them at 785-832-7509.

Police still looking for suspect in Tuesday evening shooting

The shooting on Wednesday comes one day after Lawrence police responded to a shooting at a home in the 2900 block of Crestline Drive that left an 18-year-old man dead.

Police said Davin Gregory Kerr was transported to a Kansas City-area hospital with life-threatening injuries and later died from his injuries.

Police are searching for Dawson Edward Paine, 21, in connection with the Tuesday shooting. He has brown hair and blues eyes and tattoos on his face and neck. Police said he is considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached by anyone other than law enforcement.

Anyone who has seen Paine or knows of his whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the anonymous Crime Stoppers of Lawrence and Douglas County hotline at 785-843-8477.

The Stars Andrea Klick contributed reporting.
Chef Jet Tila attends the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival on October 15, 2022 in New York City. Dave Kotinsky via Getty Images

Some people seem to have been born with a talent for cooking, a love for experimenting with flavors and textures, and a keen intuition in the kitchen. Others admit they dont have a lick of culinary sense but still harbor dreams of creating delicious meals for themselves and the ones they love.

Regardless of where we fall on that spectrum, there is now so much cooking advice available to us  from online recipes to Food Network shows to TikTok reels  that we can feel overwhelmed before we even open up our refrigerators.

What are the most essential skills we need to learn? What gear do we absolutely need to have in our kitchens? How much do we need to spend to make something tasty? We want the secrets and we want them now!

Luckily, we  Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, the co-hosts of HuffPosts Am I Doing It Wrong? podcast  recently convinced celebrity chef and restaurateur Jet Tila to spill some of his best tips and tricks, so that we  and you  can become better cooks.

Knife cuts are the most fundamental core skill that affects every part of your cooking, Tila told us. If you cut something inconsistently, it doesnt cook right ... You cut a piece of meat too big and you apply, lets say, a recipes worth of heat to it, but if its too big, its going to be raw in the middle.

Practicing is key if you want to get good, and that means cutting and chopping a lot.

I think people know me as the fastest knife on Food Network and thats basically repetition, Tila said. Im only good because Ive done it for 30 years, and I took it really seriously and I had really mean chefs [as bosses] who demanded perfection.

The good news is, we dont need an armory of knives in order to hone these crucial chopping skills.

You only need two knives in your kitchen, Tila said. Everyone needs a tapered chefs knife  its a standard knife thats bigger at the handle and tapers to the tip. Six inches to 10 inches  thats your number one knife.

The other knife he says he cant live without is a serrated knife to cut bread, tomatoes and ripe fruit.

Ninety percent of the average cooks are not going to be deboning a side of animal, Tila noted. You can filet a fish with these knives  you can do 99% of the work [you need to do] with these knives.

So, do we need those $1,000 knives we see fancy chefs on TV wielding to make something delicious?

Absolutely not, Tila said. You only need to invest in a knife A) if youre vain and want to look cool or B) ... Youre getting married and youre registered [for gifts] and you want something to display. A $10 aluminum knife from the Asian market, latin market or ethnic/global market, when its sharp, is going to do the same work as that $5,000 handmade knife.

Myth busted. Minds blown. Bank account saved.

Instead of splurging on expensive equipment, Tila said we should invest our time in improving our skills.

I will crush any person with a $5,000 knife with a $10 knife. Theyre tools, Tila claims. Im not going to lie  when Im on TV, Im using really, really fancy knives. But thats no different than taking the time to get a nice wardrobe ... Youre [on TV], youre projecting an image ... But you dont need it.

What we do need, according to Tila, no matter how much  or how little  we spend on our knives is to keep them sharp.

Please, everyone, buy a steel, Tila advised. You dont need to sharpen a knife, but you need to hone a knife. As a 30-year chef who is decently accomplished, I dont sharpen my own knives. My best friend, chef Tad Weyland, sharpens my knives once a year. But my job is to keep them honed and the edges straight  thats all that long thing [a knife steel] does.

Chef Jet also revealed what kind of salt we should be using, the kitchen gadget he wouldnt want to live without, and much more.

After youve had a listen to the full episode above or wherever you get your podcasts, subscribe to Am I Doing It Wrong? so you dont miss a single episode, including our investigations of the ins and outs of tipping, how to score the best deals on airline tickets, how to apologize or vanquish your credit card debt, how to find love online or overcome anxiety, online shopping, tips for taking care of your teeth, pooping like a pro, secrets to booking and staying in a hotel, how to deal with an angry person, and more.

For more from Jet Tila, visit his website and find him on Instagram, X and Facebook.

Need some help with something youve been doing wrong? Email us at AmIDoingItWrong@HuffPost.com, and we might investigate the topic in an upcoming episode.

Related...
UPDATE (6:38 p.m.): An Alabama Law Enforcement Agency spokesperson confirmed Interstate 10 near mile marker 4 eastbound has reopened.

ORIGINAL STORY:

MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. (WKRG)  The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is investigating a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 10.

UPDATE: Business continues a day after deadly shootout at Mobile car dealership

According to authorities, the crash, involving a commercial vehicle, has caused both eastbound lanes of Interstate 10 near Exit 4 to be closed. Both lanes are currently blocked and will be for an unknown amount of time, according to a news release from the ALEA.

Troopers with ALEAs Highway Patrol Division are investigating the crash. Authorities say they are continuing to monitor the situation.

WKRG News 5 will provide updates as they are released.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
(KRON)  A 10-year-old boy was injured after being struck by a vehicle Wednesday morning, the Dublin Police Department announced in a news release. Around 8:05 a.m., he was riding his bicycle westbound on Davona Drive near Chatam Street.

A vehicle that was going eastbound on Davona Drive then crashed into the young bicyclist, police said.

The boy suffered significant injuries. He is currently being treated at UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital in Oakland.

Mother and 10-year-old son found dead in Santa Rosa apartment

The driver remained at the scene of the accident and is cooperating with the police investigation. Police said drugs or alcohol do not appear to be a factor in the collision.

Both the bicyclists and drivers identities are not being released at this time.

The crash happened a few blocks away from Dublin High School. Dublin police say anyone who may have witnessed the collision is asked to call 925-833-6670.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
11 endings at New Beginnings in disputed staff shakeup at veterans homeless shelter

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  One point of agreement between the now-former New Beginnings staff members and the CEO of the homeless shelter is its successful record of helping veterans get back on their feet.

The common ground seems to end there. The two sides dispute why 11 disabled veterans who ran the program are no longer working at the facility that is funded by the James Haley VA.

New Beginnings has 54 beds, making it one of the largest shelters of its kind in the country.

One guilty plea, one indictment in federal investigation of Port Richey law firm

Army combat veteran Andy Reyes, the former Program Director, said about 8 out of 10 of the veterans who lived here were considered successful discharges when they left.

Successful discharge from our program would mean either we found permanent housing for them or they actually self-resolved and actually purchased a house, Reyes said. [The VA was] giving us a lot of kudos and a lot of praise.

CEO Tom Atchison has also touted the success for years, even during times when the New Beginnings was criticized for various reasons.

Following the staff turnover and dispute, Atchison said New Beginnings is doing just fine.

The VA is not interested in the drama and gossip, Atchison said. Theyre interested in whether were living up to our end of the contract.

Reyes and others claim New Beginnings is not living up to the contract that they said pays the facility about $70,000 a month.

Veteran not offered civilian care after VA appointment wait that took forever

While Atchison said he fired two employees for trying to take over the program, Reyes insisted the number was much higher.

In total there were 11 disabled veterans who were fired, Reyes said. Theres no way its two.

8 On Your Side talked with several of the former staff members who all said they were fired by Atchison. Reyes is one of them.

[Atchison] called me on the phone and told me, Reyes said. He fired me.

Atchison denied Reyes is one of the two he fired.

I would take him back in a heartbeat, Atchison said.

I cannot work there with him in charge, Reyes said.

Reyes also denies anyone was trying to take over New Beginnings.

No, he said. We were just trying to come up with a plan for the veterans program to run more efficiently and with better funding.

One of the issues according to several of the former employees and volunteers involved basic services.

Neonkita Frazier, a self-described military brat, said she volunteered there to help the veterans. But she recalled issues during her tenure.

When I came to work there were no lights, Frazier said. In my four years, I would say it happened about six times.

Atchison denies utilities were shut off in recent years.

We havent had water and electric shut off in 10 plus years, Atchison asserted.

Very hurtful: St. Pete widow asking what happened to her plot next to husband at troubled Royal Palm

Several of the now former employees said they were recently interviewed by VA personnel about their complaints. But according to James Haley public affairs, the VA is not investigating New Beginnings.

Tri Tran, a disabled combat Marine, said he was offered whistleblower protection after he was interviewed.

[I am] a little confused because what was told to me was different than what was told to you, Tran said. I cant believe there is no investigation.

Reyes was also surprised.

I hope they change their mind and investigate further with all the information they gathered from not just us but from numerous clients and veterans that were calling in, Reyes said.

Reyes and others said losing their jobs was secondary to losing the opportunity to help fellow veterans at the lowest point in their lives.

Im a veteran and my main goal was to come into this facility and help my fellow veterans, Reyes said. So, right now, were all heartbroken.

Atchison expressed confidence in his new staffs ability to run New Beginnings.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has met with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Turkish diplomatic sources says, Trend reports.

According to the information, the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia was also discussed at the meeting.

It was noted that the progress that needs to be made in the peace process will be critical to the prosperity of the Caucasus.
ST. CHARLES, Mo.  Travis Wolfe, the 12-year-old boy who has been on life support since a car crash months ago, passed away Wednesday.

On Dec. 20, Travis and his family were involved in a car crash that left injuries for him and his parents.

It was the night before Travis 12th birthday.

Janae Edmondson testifies: I was screaming because I couldnt feel my body

According to Travis brother-in-law, he hit his head on the window and potentially the roof, leaving damage to his brain and brain stem.

Travis was rushed to St. Louis Childrens Hospital, with his parents taken to a different hospital for their injuries. His dad had broken wrists and ribs, while his mom had a broken ankle and sternum.

To donate to Travis GoFundMe to support the family in medical expenses, click here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
Theres more to the holiday hotspot than winter sun and mouthwatering kebabs (Getty Images)

Straddling south east Europe and south west Asia, Turkeys charm extends well beyond its 5,000 miles of golden coastline.

Though already a sought-after holiday destination for the luxury beach resorts of Bodrum and Antalya on the sparkling Turkish Riviera, venturing away from the fine sands can be the best way to curate a top-notch Turkey itinerary.

Youll quickly discover off-grid echoes of a Neolithic past, a city life ripe for embracing in the capital, and otherworldly views from Unesco hotspots Pamukkale and Mount Nemrut, if you tread your own tracks between the nations highlights.

Active thrills hiking the Lycian Way and paragliding over Oludeniz meet religious architectural feats in Ephesus and Istanbul, alongside afternoons haggling at the Grand Bazaar.

Heres our guide to the best adrenaline-fuelled adventures, relaxing spa sessions and traditional sweet treats to try during your next trip to Turkey.

Read more on Turkey travel:

Visit the Blue Mosque

Ornate tiles of cobalt and aquamarine decorate the interior of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, nicknamed the Blue Mosque for its ornate interior tiles of cobalt and aquamarine, is an Ottoman-era mosque in Istanbul and one of Turkeys most famous attractions. With a domed exterior, thousands of blue Aznik tiles and a grand central prayer space, the historic religious and architectural feat is jaw-droppingly impressive to visit outside of daily prayer times.

Haggle at the Grand Bazaar

A labyrinth of lamps, rugs and spices in Istanbuls Grand Bazaar (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Think artisan stalls, traditional crafts and a thrilling haggling culture in Istanbuls Grand Bazaar. Weave your way through a labyrinth of technicolour lamps, woven rugs and piles of fragrant spices in one of the worlds oldest markets to experience the pleasure of bargaining for yourself. Some 3,500 shops pepper the 15th-century establishment, so you're bound to come home with a souvenir antique or two.

Explore the ancient city of Ephesus

Once an ancient port city, Ephesus is an archaeological site of Greek and Roman ruins (Getty Images)

As far as Turkish archaeology is concerned, the Greek city of Ephesus, one of the best-preserved Greco-Roman ruins in the world, is an unmissable ancient metropolis on the Aegean coast. Among the marvels of the 10th-century city that once stood, youll find the towering facade of the Library of Celsus, a 40,000-seat theatre carved into the hillside.

Paraglide over the Oludeniz Blue Lagoon

Take off on a tandem glide over Oludenizs cobalt waters (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Flirt with danger on a tandem paraglide from the Babadag mountain in Oludeniz for unrivalled views of the Blue Lagoons cobalt waters 1,200m above sea level. For the fearless, simply run towards the edge of the mountain and allow gravity (and some serious wind) to float you down over the impressive shades of blue to a grassy landing  its a thrill you wont be quick to forget.

Catch the sleeper train to Sofia

All aboard Istanbuls night train to Bulgaria (Getty Images)

The Turkey to Bulgaria sleeper train weaves out of Halikali station past burek stands, earthen homes and colourful minarets on its journey to Sofia  resumed in April 2022. Berths are fitted with plugs, fridges, light snacks and fold-out beds for the journey through Bulgarias mountainous landscape into the urban sprawl of stations and post-Soviet architecture in Sofia  the ideal adventure for interrailers in the Balkans.

Take a Turkish bath

The traditional Turkish bath treatment, a hammam, involves hot steam rooms and cold plunge pools (Getty Images)

Turkeys spa scene  centuries-old hammams complete with steamy antechambers, mineral water and the powerful forearms of a Turkish masseuse  offers an opportunity to unwind and relax away from the hustle of tourist-drawn town squares. The faded grandeur of tiled arches, ornate columns and crescent carvings still looms over visitors looking for muscle-melting treatments between sightseeing sessions.

Summit Mount Nemrut at sunrise

Ancient statues sit atop the Unesco World Heritage Site (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The 2,150m Mount Nemrut, a Unesco World Heritage Site, is a must-visit site for hikers and stargazers alike. Summit at sunrise to get your steps in with a side of spectacular views of its seated statues and the Euphrates River illuminated in every shade of orange. Watch the horizon shine with Made in Turkey Tours for unobstructed views, an experienced guide and a local lunch after the journey.

Swim in the Pamukkale thermal pools

The cascading limestone pools at Pamukkale are well worth a dip (Getty Images)

Just north of Denizli, Pamukkales (Cotton Palace) cascading limestone pools take hot spring paddling to a new level. The unique terraced geology, coated in calcium carbonate to create the dazzling shade of white, was once the backdrop of the Hellenistic spa town of Hierapolis. Today, visitors to the Unesco-listed area can walk and soak in select swimming sections of the cloudy blue waters for just 11 (9.52).

Get a taste of the countrys culinary backstreets

Youll find roasted chestnuts, seasoned corn, fish sandwiches and molasses-dipped breads on Turkeys culinary backstreets (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Youll be spoilt for choice with unfussy mangal kebabs, meze plates and sweet baklavas in the culinary backstreets of Turkeys big cities. Spiced egg breakfasts of menemen meet the famed donner kebab and kofte-filled pittas and, come winter, chestnuts roasted on the squares and side streets of Istanbul. Take a walking tour for the best taste of the mighty bites and flavours that have shaped Turkish cuisine.

Cruise the Mediterranean on a gulet boat

Set sail on a gulet for a sailors view of the Turkish coastline (Getty Images)

One of the best ways to explore southwest Turkey's coastline is by boat. More specifically, by gulet  a traditional twin-masted wooden sailing boat. The vessels, once carriers of silks and spices, now host holidaymakers looking to discover hidden coves on the water and anchor in off-grid villages for platters of meze enjoyed with the crew.

Reach new heights on a hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia

Float over Cappadocia at sunrise for the best views of its surreal tufa formations (Getty Images)

Cappadocia in central Turkey has become synonymous with the image of hot-air balloons floating across its skyline. The modern bucket list topper sees thousands of tourists take to the skies to enjoy the World Heritage Site each year and early birds get the worm for the best views on whimsical sunrise journeys over the historic Goreme Town, the distinctive fairy chimneys and tufa rock formations.

Bathe on the beaches of Bodrum

Bodrums beach resorts sit on the azure Aegean (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Turkeys own St Tropez, Bodrums balmy coastline is a paradise of deluxe beachfront resorts complete with floating sunbathing platforms and four poster cabanas for basking on the golden sands all year round. Away from the ease of all-inclusive life on a lounger, beach bars, lively seafood restaurants and a whole host of watersports lapping at the shore make the holiday hotspot a dream for a Turkish getaway.

Hike the Lycian Way

Stretching 539km from Fethiye to Antalya, the Lycian Way is a historic walking trail through Turkeys ancient ruins (Getty Images)

Those who like to soak in their history on two feet will find plenty about Turkeys past to learn on the 539km Lycian Way. The long-distance walking route that snakes from Fethiye to Antalya traces Lycian settlements in graves and Roman ruins with secluded beaches, traditional hilltop villages and boutique hotels staple stop-offs on the hike. Picture preserved Roman amphitheatres, acropolis and wild camping backdropped by the sparkling Mediterranean.

Planning a trip to Turkey? Here are the best Turkey holiday destinations  and when to travel to each one
Banning books isnt anything new. Throughout history, authoritarian regimes have suppressed literature to shut down democratic ideas such as freedom of speech. Literature has always been an effective way of conveying a diversity of experiences to the general public while offering education about various subject matters.

Tony Marx, the President of The New York Public Library, noted the importance of public libraries in sharing literature and education.

Since their founding, public libraries have combated the forces of ignorance and hate by making information and knowledge freely available to all, he said. We stand in solidarity with the library workers and communities across the country who are being censored and threatened.

Marx refers to recent efforts to ban or challenge books across the United States. In 2022, the country saw the highest number of attempted book bans since the American Library Association started keeping records over 20 years ago. Last year, this number grew by 20%.

Book banners never sleep. We've had some victories to celebrate in 2023, but the number of book challenges is on track to match or exceed 2022 numbers. Will you chip in $19 to help us fight back and meet our #GivingTuesday goal? https://t.co/QVHDDbi3uB#UniteAgainstBookBans pic.twitter.com/LSV09IP1rG  American Library Association (@ALALibrary) November 28, 2023

Both the ALA and the NYPL note that most books being banned or challenged are works written by or about a person of color or a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Parents, school officials, and local governments often remove these books from school and public libraries.

These recent book bans come as efforts to implement conservative ideals into legislation have soared. This includes efforts to ban critical race theory and mentions of LGBTQ+ history in schools, the repeal of Roe v. Wade and the introduction of bills targeting queer people.

NYPL's next Banned Book Club pick is The Downstairs Girl by @staceyleeauthor! Readers anywhere in the U.S. aged 13+ can borrow the book for free from SimplyE, NYPL's e-reader app. Start reading now! #UniteAgainstBookBans https://t.co/62MkyKGQgY pic.twitter.com/agSgkbWfOc  NY Public Library (@nypl) March 5, 2024

Below, youll find books that have been banned or challenged in recent years. This list includes classic works of literature, award-winning fiction, graphic novels relating to the authors real-life experiences, as well as modern stories about marginalized communities.

7. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Morrisons first novel tells the story of Pecola, a young African American girl growing up in the 1940s. In response to her experience as a Black woman in Ohio, she yearns for blue eyes.

The novel has been one of the most challenged books since its publication in 1970, featuring themes of childhood sexual abuse and molestation. Reasons for the ban also include disturbing language and an underlying socialist-communist agenda.

8. The Complete Maus: A Survivors Tale by Art Spiegelman

This graphic novel recounts the real-life story of the authors father, who survived the Holocaust as a Polish Jew. It won a Pulitzer Prize and is arguably one of the most important pieces of storytelling of the 20th century.

It was banned by a Tennessee school district for featuring inappropriate language and an illustration of a nude woman.

9. The Odyssey by Homer

This classic is one of the oldest existing works of literature. It features poems divided into 24 books telling the Ancient Greek myth of Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, on his journey home after the Trojan War. This book is the blueprint for modern storytelling as it features epic tales of the Cyclopes, Calypso, giants, deadly sirens and more.

This classic was removed from a Massachusetts school curriculum in 2020 because it featured ideas considered to be offensive and opposed to modern norms of behavior.

10. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This modern American classic recounts the story of a Black man being falsy accused of raping a white woman. The story is told from the point of view of a child during the Great Depression in Alabama.

The novel was challenged by a California school district for its use of the N-word and its portrayal of Black people. Some educators and defenders of the book say it opens up important conversations about systemic racism.

11. Beloved by Toni Morrison

After the Civil War, this novel recounts the story of Sethe, a woman born into slavery who escapes to Ohio. Throughout the years, she is haunted by both her memories and the ghost of her baby.

This novel has frequently been banned and challenged. Reasons cited for the bans are the inclusion of sexual content and depictions of violence.

12. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

In this graphic novel, Satrapi recounts her experience growing up in Iran and Austria during the Islamic Revolution 1979. She tells her firsts as a girl and a young woman while touching on themes of religion, nationalism and political repression.

The book was challenged several times since 2013 as it was deemed inappropriate by Chicago Public Schools. It was then pulled from schools in both Illinois and Texas for its depiction of Muslim characters.

13. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

This graphic memoir chronicles the authors journey into adulthood as they explore sexuality and their gender identity. It voices the experience of being nonbinary.

This book is one of the most banned books in the country for addressing the experience of LGBTQ+ individuals, with sexual content often cited as a reason for the bans.

14. The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood

This dystopian novel recounts the story of Offred, who lives in a fictional America in which womens rights are entirely suppressed, and womens sole purpose is to serve their male counterparts by giving birth. The novel highlights themes of extremist religious beliefs, political repression, resistance and the fight for individual freedom.

The book is one of the most challenged and banned books in the country, with sexual activity used as a reason for the ban. In 2022, the author released an unburnable edition of the book after her work was pulled from schools across America.

15. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Published in 2003, this contemporary classic tells the story of a friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his fathers servant in Kabul, Afghanistan.

This novel has been subject to bans and challenges since its release because of offensive language, sexually explicit [content], and unsuit[ability for] age group.

16. Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson

A Black teenage girl disappears and her best friend investigates what happened to her. The novel tackles the real-life issue of Black women disappearing with little to no investigation or media coverage.

A Texas school cited explicit language about sex as a reason for pulling the novel from its library.

17. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Junior, an aspiring cartoonist, leaves the Spokane Indian Reservation, where he grew up, to attend an all-white farm town high school where he is the only indigenous student.

The novel was banned in several schools for making references to masturbation, containing profanity and for alleged anti-Christian views.

18. Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

This semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel follows Mike Munoz, a young Mexican American man, through his experience of self-discovery and growing pains as a recent high school graduate.

The novel is one of the most banned and challenged books in the country, with LGBTQ+ content and sexual language cited as reasons for the ban. Defenders of the book have highlighted that it tackles issues of race, sexual identity and capitalism.

19. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

This young adult novel follows Charlie, an introverted teenager in the 1990s, through his first year of high school. It features the universal themes of teen angst, relationships and wanting to belong.

The novel is one of the most banned books in the country for its mention of sexual abuse, LGBTQ+ content, drug use and profanity.

20. Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez

This historical young adult novel chronicles a love story between a teenage Mexican American girl and a teenage African American boy in 1930s Texas.

Published in 2015, the novel was challenged and banned for its depiction of racial violence and claims of sexually explicit content.

21. Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro

Xochit is made to wander the desert alone and tell her villages stories when she comes across Emilia, the daughter of the towns conqueror. This is a coming-of-age fantasy novel about love, finding a home, and stories coming to life in the desert.

This novel was banned from a Texas high school library for talking about racism and for featuring an LGBTQ+ relationship.
Democrat Michael B. Moore officially kicked off his campaign Thursday for the 1st Congressional District with a stop in Beaufort where the bust of legendary Beaufortonian Robert Smalls stands next to the Tabernacle Baptist Church. Smalls was a Civil war hero who later represented the Lowcountry region during the Reconstruction Era. Moore is Smalls great-great grandson and he hopes to win the seat 150 years after his famous ancestor walked the halls of Congress.

Its powerful to run for the same seat my great-great grandfather held, Moore told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet before he spoke to some 20 supporters who gathered at the church to hear Moore speak as he revs up his campaign for Congress.

But Moore, of Mount Pleasant, will need to get past Mac Deford, an attorney and Citadel graduate, in the Democratic primary, before he gets a crack at incumbent Congresswoman Nancy Mace, R-Isle of Palms  assuming Mace wins the Republican primary. Mace is facing her own test in the GOP primary from Catherine Templeton, a former state agency director, and other candidates.

Michael B. Moore, a Democrat, officially announced his campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in South Carolinas First Congressional District on Thursday, March 7, 2024 at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Beaufort. Moores great, great, grandfather, Robert Smalls, the Civil War hero who served nine years in the same Congressional district is buried on the churchs grounds. The district is currently held by Republican Nancy Mace.

Moore is confident, saying he has the right platform to appeal to independents, the right campaign infrastructure and a strong fundraising start to unseat two-term incumbent Mace. He described the experience of launching his campaign at the historic location where his great-great grandfathers mighty bust looks out over downtown Beaufort as surreal.

In 1862, Smalls, who was born into slavery, commandeered a Confederate ship in Charleston harbor, carrying his family and 15 other enslaved people to freedom. Smalls went on to become one of the first African Americans to serve in Congress.

Moores campaign has been operating quietly

Moore called Thursdays Beaufort stop the official launch of a campaign to flip this swing district, which covers the Lowcountry, but hes actually been campaigning for a year. The business executive is the founding president of the Charleston-based International African American Museum.

Filing for congressional races begins March 16 and runs until April 1. Primary elections for congressional and state legislative seats are June 11. The general election is eight months away on Nov. 5.

Joe Cunningham became the first Democrat to flip a U.S. House seat in South Carolina in 30 years when he won the 1st District seat in 2018, but Mace beat him in 2020 and was reelected in 2022.

Both Templeton and Mace backed former President Donald Trump in the recent GOP presidential primary in South Carolina, which Trump won easily over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who has since left the race. But Haley took the 1st Congressional District.

Moore says the district has an unusually high number of persuadable voters and the campaign has a plan to reach out and touch them multiple times. He called the campaigns field organization world class and said it includes a Barack Obama campaign official on Hilton Head who worked on the former presidents campaign in South Carolina. The campaign has raised almost $600,000 with donations coming in from 48 states.

Michael B. Moore, a descendant of Civil War hero Robert Smalls, spends some time at the gravesites of the Smalls family on Thursday, March 7, 2024 at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Beaufort. Moore, a Democrat, officially announced his campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in South Carolinas First Congressional District.

The next phase of Moores campaign is building a field organization ahead of the June primary.

I know they are going to throw the kitchen sink at us, Moore said.

Moore bills himself as a supporter of working people and says he is talking up kitchen table issues like jobs, better education, preserving Social Security and Medicare and affordable health care. Smalls, considered by many as the father of South Carolina public schools, would roll over in his grave at the current state of schools, he says. He supports a womans right to choose an abortion, and what he calls common sense reforms addressing gun violence. Thoughts and prayers are no longer good enough, Moore says.

Environmental issues are particularly relevant to the Lowcountry because of the threat of sea level rise. Weve got to get serious about he environment, he said.

Moore stood next to the Smalls bust as he spoke. Smalls was born in 1839 and died in 1915. His final resting place is the historic Tabernacle Baptist Church, built in 1840, that served as the backdrop to Moores campaign stop. The Rev. Kenneth Hodges, pastor at Tabernacle Baptist, prayed for Moore, and Anita Singleton Prather, the well-known Beaufort resident who plays Aunt Pearlie Sue, a character she created to recount Gullah history in performances across the state, recommended him. With Moores credentials, Singleton Prather said, he could have chosen another path. But like his great-great grandfather Smalls, Singleton Prather said, Moore chose public service and chose to come back to South Carolina.

He has some big shoes to fill, Singleton Prather said, but he has big feet.

Smalls isnt the only well-known public figure in Moores lineage. Other ancestors include South Carolina lawyer and legislator Samuel Jones Bampfield, and Judge Harold Boulware  who litigated the Briggs v. Elliott school segregation case and served on the legal team that won famous Brown v. Board of Education case that found separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional.

If elected, Moore would be the fourth person descended from Smalls to serve in elected office. But he would be the first person in the family to serve in Congress since Smalls held the job.

Thursdays campaign stop wasnt the first time Moore has given a speech at the location where the bust of his great-great grandfather is located.

In 1976  48 years ago  Moore, then 13, was chosen to unveil that bust when it was presented to the public. This place, Moore said, is a special, special place.

In 1976, Michael B. Moore unveiled a bust of his great-great grandfather Robert Smalls Tabernacle Baptist Church in Beaufort. Moore announced a run for Congress at the same location Thursday.

District boundaries in dispute

Smalls served in the U.S. House from 1874 to 1879 and 1881 to 1887.

He would be serving in this same district today if he were in Congress today in Beaufort, Moore said.

Gerrymandering  manipulating the boundaries of a district to favor one party or class  was an issue in the district for Moore and his great-great grandfather. Smalls lost reelection to the U.S. House after the state legislature redrew his district to reduce the voting power of Black residents, Moore said.

And in January 2023, a panel of three federal judges of the Federal District Court in Columbia ruled that the boundaries of the 1st Congressional District, drawn after the 2020 census, violated the constitutional prohibition on racially based gerrymandering. That case was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in October which has yet to release a decision in the case.

Moore said his campaign is proceeding as if the current lines will be in place for the election. Even if the Supreme Court comes out with a decision today, Moore said, state lawmakers would still need to redraw the lines.

Im just not optimistic that will happen in this cycle, Moore said.

While Moore was born in Pennsylvania and grew up outside of Boston, he has returned to Beaufort often over the years and considers the city as his family home. After graduating from Syracuse University, Michael earned an MBA from Duke University and received an honorary Doctorate in Public History from Dickinson College. He and his wife, Karla, have four sons and a grandchild.

Later Thursday, Moore planned to travel to Charleston for a larger campaign event with family, friends, and supporters in the Poinsette Room of the Francis Marion Hotel. Grammy-winning musician and South Carolina native Charlton Singleton was scheduled to provide music, with former South Carolina Poet Laureate Marjory Wentworth reciting an original poem for he occasion.
Dmytro Lykhovii, the spokesperson for the Tavriia Operational and Strategic Group of Forces (OSGF), has reported that Russian soldiers have intensified their activity on the Orikhiv front and seek to cut off the Robotyne salient.

Source: Dmytro Lykhovii on air of the national joint 24/7 newscast

Quote: "Orikhiv is turning into an intense battleground in our area of responsibility. The enemy is trying to cut off the Robotyne salient in this area. In the previous days and weeks the enemy launched no attacks there; occasionally there were one or three or maybe five attacks at most. A total of 16 assault attempts took place in the areas west of [the settlements of] Verbove and Robotyne [in Ukraines south  ed.] over the past 24 hours."

Details: The military official noted that Russian troops are currently using similar tactics to those they employed in mid-February 2024, until they were stopped by Ukrainian soldiers. Lykhovii also added that Russian forces are trying to advance with ATVs on the Zaporizhzhia front.

Background:

Ukrainian defenders liberated the village of Robotyne (Zaporizhzhia Oblast) at the end of August 2023.

On 4 February 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the frontline positions of Ukrainian forces in Robotyne.

On 15 February 2024, Dmytro Lykhovii reported that Russia had concentrated more troops on the Orikhiv front than on the Avdiivka front, likely planning to mount an assault on Robotyne.

Support UP or become our patron!
A teenager has been charged with murder for a deadly shooting in west Charlotte last month.

On Feb. 15, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer found 24-year-old Jaziyah Joseph Haigbea-Boone shot on Wilkinson Boulevard near Midland Avenue. He died at the scene, according to police.

PREVIOUS: Man shot and killed in west Charlotte

Channel 9 saw several CMPD units and an ambulance in the parking lot of a Kangaroo Express gas station.

The shooting was one of three homicides being investigated by CMPD within a 12-hour period.

Police said they identified the suspect as a 17-year-old. He turned himself in Wednesday and was charged with murder.

Channel 9s Hannah Goetz spoke to Haigbea-Boones cousin on Thursday. It was an emotional conversation as Goetz told her an arrest had been made in the case.

I just want the gun violence, the shooting, to stop, Versa Henderson said. What are yall doing? What are yall doing? Yall out here, for what?

The teen is in the custody of the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice.

ALSO READ: Wadesboro, state police search for man wanted for murder

My baby almost 25 years old got murdered for what? For what? Henderson asked. A 17-year-old. I cant believe it, I cant believe it. I still cant believe hes gone.

Henderson said she last saw her cousin on Valentines Day, just hours before he was shot and killed.

He was so happy, she said. And this was Valentines Day, because he wanted to do something special for his girl.

Henderson said she told him she loved him and would see him later. She said she wishes she could talk to her cousin one more time.

Police never said what led up to the shooting, but said their investigation is still active.

I tell him I am so sorry. I tell him all the time I am so sorry this happened to you, Henderson said. He just talked to me, I was the last person he saw, his cousin.

(WATCH BELOW: Police: Man accused of killing a mom, holding 2 hostage in Gaston County)




ROBESON COUNTY, N.C. (WBTW)  A 17-year-old student at Purnell Swett High School has been identified as the person killed in a shooting Tuesday night in Robeson County, authorities said.

Sheriffs deputies found Kaden Strickland of Pembroke dead after responding to a shooting at about 11 p.m. Tuesday in the area of Downy and Midway roads near Rowland. His death is being investigated as a homicide but deputies have not provided any details about the shooting.

The Public Schools of Robeson County released the following statement on Thursday.

We ask the community to join us in prayer for the family of Purnell Swett High School student Kaden Strickland who passed away recently. We are deeply saddened for the Strickland family. Please also keep students and staff members in your prayers as they navigate this difficult time of loss.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the sheriffs office at 910-671-3170 or 910-671-3100.

* * *

Taylor Ford is a digital journalist for News13. She joined the News13 team in January 2023. Taylor is a Florence native and covers the Pee Dee out of News13s Florence Bureau. Read more of Taylors work here.

* * *

Dennis Bright is a Digital Producer at News13. He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on, Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
After spending nearly 23 years in jail for a murder he didnt commit, a man from Downey is finally free.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon announced that Ronald Velasquez Jr. has been exonerated and released after being wrongfully convicted of a murder that occurred in 2000.

His co-accused, Abraham Villalobos, has also been exonerated. He was released from prison in 2015.

Our commitment to seeking the truth is unwavering, Gascon said in a statement. The exoneration of these two men serves as a reminder of the importance of accountability within our own office and throughout the justice system.

Velasquez and Villalobos were charged with the murder of Michael Roybal. On Sept. 2, 2000, Roybal was shot when he was leaving an apartment he was visiting on Deming Street in Downey around 2:50 a.m.

There was a single eyewitness to the murder, who originally stated she could not see who committed the crime. Then, at trial, the witness identified Velasquez and Villalobos as the shooters.

A jury found Velasquez guilty of first-degree murder in October of 2001. He was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison. Villalobos was found guilty of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Villalobos was paroled in 2015.

Officials say both Velasquez and Villalobos maintained their innocence since their initial arrest. In May of 2021, Velasquez  who was still in prison  filed a conviction review request with the Conviction Integrity Unit.

Upon further investigation, the evidence revealed that Velasquezs original claim that Sergio Torres was the shooter was deemed to be true. Torres was killed in a drive-by shooting in October of 2001. He was under investigation for a separate murder at the time of his death.

Velasquezs attorney, John Hanusz, says that his clients family is grateful for all of the work done to free Velasquez from prison.

Ronald Velasquez Jr. and his family worked tirelessly for more than 20 years to demonstrate his innocence, and their pleas for justice fell on deaf ears  until today, Hanusz said. Mr. Velasquez Jr.s exoneration also would not have been possible but for the pro bono work of private investigator Dana Orent.

During Gascons tenure as D.A. in L.A. County, 12 people have been exonerated and released after being wrongfully convicted.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
NEW YORK (PIX11)  Two men are accused of violently attacking MTA employees in separate incidents in Manhattan last month, including one who allegedly fractured a transit workers eye socket, authorities said Thursday.

Rashon Eagle, 43, and Abdellahi Mohammed, 25, were indicted on assault charges stemming from the incidents in February, prosecutors said.

MTA workers and passengers should not have to fear for their safety when on our buses and subways, and those who jeopardize their safety will be held accountable, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.

Boy, 8, caught with gun at Brooklyn school: NYPD

Eagle allegedly threatened to stab the driver aboard the M15 bus at the South Ferry Whitehall Terminal at around 12:05 p.m. on Feb. 10, prosecutors said. Eagle swung at the driver who tackled him before the two started brawling on the bus floor, authorities said.

During the fight, Eagle allegedly pulled a pocketknife and tried to stab the driver but the MTA worker was able to wrestle it away from him, according to court records. The victim was taken to the hospital with scratches on his face, hands, and eyes, which caused some blurred vision.

Four days after the bus attack, Mohammed punched an MTA worker in the face on the platform of the southbound Nos. 4 and 5 lines in the Wall Street subway station at 5:50 a.m., authorities said. Mohammed allegedly attacked the woman when she saw him lying under a bench, breaking her eyesocket, according to court documents.

Mohammed is also accused of punching and fracturing a good Samaritans nose when he tried to help the worker, prosecutors said.

The defendants pleaded not guilty during their arraignments Thursday, according to court records. Eagle was released after posting bail, court records show.

Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the New York City area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
DENVER (KDVR)  There are two misconceptions about Denver and Colorado in general that often get thrown around by people who, for whatever reason, have never been lucky enough to visit.

Those misconceptions are the idea that Colorado is entirely made up of mountains and that Denver itself is a mountain town  with a name like the Mile High City, it can be easy to see why.

Have you driven on Colorados oldest paved road?

These misconceptions are so persistent that when FOX31 asked viewers what myths they wanted to see busted the most, the idea that everyone lives in the mountains was a major one.

Denver is not in the Rocky Mountains

Ask anyone who lives in an actual mountain town: Denver is near the mountains, not in them.

In fact, two other Front Range major metros are situated even closer to the mountains than Denver. This includes Boulder, which is in the foothills, and Colorado Springs.

Despite this, Denver is known as a destination for outdoor lovers because of its easy access to the mountains.

5 urban legends that still live in Colorado

Ski areas like Winter Park, Aspen, Vail and Breckenridge, as well as places like Rocky Mountain National Park, are all within a days drive of Denver.

Additionally, the views Denver boasts to the west are not to be scoffed at, and likely contribute to Denvers reputation.

Snow covered Longs Peak, part of the Rocky Mountains stands tall in the background with green trees and the Downtown Denver skyscrapers as well as hotels, office buildings and apartment buildings filling the skyline.

Colorado is not all mountains

The other misconception is that Colorado is entirely made up of mountains.

That isnt true. According to Colorado State University, nearly 40% of the state is made up of the eastern high plains. This is part of the Great Plains, known for its vast prairie lands.

While this eastern portion of the state may not be as flashy to look at as the mountains, it still has many great features, including the Pawnee National Grasslands northeast of Greeley.

FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox

Regardless, the more flat part of the state stands out, quite literally: The lowest point of the state, located at 3,315 feet elevation at the border with Kansas in the east, is the highest low point of any U.S. state.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Miguel Angel Moratinos, the High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), is expected to attend the XI Global Baku Forum, Trend reports.

"The Nizami Ganjani International Center (NGIC) is proud to have a strategic partnership with the UNAOC

to improve understanding and cooperation among peoples and nations," the NGIC wrote on its page on X in this regard.

Meanwhile, the XI Global Baku Forum, hosted by the NGIC, is scheduled to be held on March 14-16, 2024.

This event will bring together around 400 internationally renowned professionals, as well as previous and present world leaders, ministers, and Nobel laureates.

The last Global Baku Forum in March 2023 saw the participation of numerous countries and notable international organizations.

The event drew four presidents, two prime ministers, six speakers, and ministers, along with leaders from five UN organizations. Furthermore, there were 25 former presidents, 21 ex-prime ministers, and deputy foreign ministers from 23 countries in attendance. Some 360 representatives hailing from 61 countries were in attendance.
A 20-year-old from Bay St. Louis pleaded guilty in federal court for his role in trafficking fentanyl-laced pills from Louisiana to Mississippi, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Mississippi announced Thursday.

Kolby Zu Sims pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Gulfport to one count of interstate travel in aid of an unlawful activity. He faces a maximum of four years in prison, the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a news release.

Authorities arrested Sims after the Hancock County Sheriffs Office and federal agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration responded to a written tip of possible drug trafficking at the Motel 6 in Bay St. Louis, the Sun Herald previously reported.

Agents arrested three other Bay St. Louis residents and one Louisiana man in that case. Christopher Antonio Fricke, Emma Kate Stoute and Dakari Lamont Sykes, all of Bay St. Louis, and Santana Philipe Elzy, of Covington, Louisiana, were also arrested, records show.

Fricke and Stoute pleaded guilty in the case in November, court records show. Elzy pleaded guilty on Monday. The case against Sykes is pending but in January court records show he entered a notice of intent to change his plea to guilty.

The arrests came after federal agents surveilled the Motel 6 on U.S. 90, the news release said. Agents saw a red Toyota Camry arrive and pick up two people suspected of selling drugs, according to the release.

Agents followed the car into Louisiana, where they saw the occupants participate in a drug transaction, the release said. Records show that in later interviews, agents found the four Bay St. Louis suspects drove to a Louisiana Walmart store to buy drugs from Elzy, who authorities believed was their dealer.

Agents followed the car back to Mississippi and conducted a traffic stop to make the arrests.

Authorities said Sims was inside the Camry and had contributed money to buy around 1,000 fentanyl-laced pills in Louisiana.

Fentanyl is 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 times stronger than heroin, according to the DEA. Two milligrams  an amount smaller than a penny  can be lethal.

Fricke had 1,000 fentanyl-laced pills stuffed into a baggie in his pant waistband, records show. A body scan of Stoute found 50 pills in a plastic bag hidden inside her body cavity.

A federal grand jury had indicted all five suspects by October on charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

Sims will be sentenced March 21.
21-Year-Old Joshua Anthony Sets Sights On Georgia House Of Representatives Seat As Youngest Candidate In The Race: I Am Inspired To Lead | Davel5957

Joshua Anthony is running for the Georgia Legislature at 21-years-old. He hopes to represent the 153rd House District, which encompasses Dougherty County and downtown Albany.

Anthony says he has a clear plan mapped out to help the community, which has been experiencing increased poverty and unemployment in recent years.

Weve had a few past leaders who have brought great ideas to Albany, he told The Atlanta Voice. But overall, most people in our city are still struggling, and it has been for years. There are other cities outside Albanys District 153 that are progressing at unprecedented levels. Now is the time to get involved and create change with a real plan to reverse the continuous cycles of poverty and struggles for Albanys residents. I cannot make promises or changes overnight, but I have a five-year revitalization plan that will create opportunities over the next five years. I want to help my city so they can believe.

We Qualified, It Can Be Done We are the Youngest Candidate in the Georgia Running! Shoutout the 229!!! #gapol pic.twitter.com/Pwy7bddTmF  Joshua S. Anthony (@imjoshuaanthony) March 5, 2024

Anthony is currently a student at Georgia State University, where he takes his classes online as he is campaigning. He is hoping to succeed David Sampson, a fellow Democrat from Albany, as a representative for District 153 in the Statehouse Legislature.

The 21-year-old has led several community focused actions as part of his campaign. He helped farmers apply for federal aid with USDA last September, and launched a literacy reading program in partnership with Morningside Elementary.

Anthony supports the expansion of Medicare and Medicaid, infrastructure renovation, the increase of teachers salaries and the development of training programs in emerging industries.

I think the only way we can move forward is to initiate a focus on important platforms now, he added. I dont know what other candidates are doing, but I believe in having a plan concerning policies that improve peoples lives. We must invest in the communitys growth so they can believe together.

Ver esta publicacion en Instagram Una publicacion compartida por Joshua S. Anthony (@iamjoshuaanthony)

He is hoping to find common ground with Republicans, who Anthony says also support educators in the state.

If we can find that common consensus, we can grow and expand to create great legislation, he told the news outlet. Its important to have adult conversations and attack the issue head-on and not be distracted by our internal battles. My job is to listen, work, and think of what is best to bring home to Albany, and this is important.

I am inspired to lead, Anthony said. I will never forget the encouraging words of my grandfather: Yes, there will be a struggle and tough times, but that doesnt have to be Albanys story.
The logo of the Hugo Boss fashion group, taken at an outlet store at the company's headquarters in Metzingen. Bernd Weibrod/dpa

The parent company of luxury fashion brand Hugo Boss posted a 22% rise in fourth-quarter net income attributable to equity holders on Thursday.

Income at the German firm increased to 85 million ($93 million) from the previous year's 70 million.

Earnings per share also saw a rise to 1.23 from 1.02 a year ago.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) grew by 2% to 219 million, with an improved EBITDA margin of 18.6%.

Quarterly sales showed a significant increase of 10% to 1.18 billion, marking a 13% growth on a currency-adjusted basis.

The company plans to propose a dividend of 1.35 per share for 2023 at the upcoming annual general meeting, representing a 35% increase from the previous year.

In the forecast for fiscal year 2024, Hugo Boss anticipates sales growth ranging from 3% to 6%, reaching about 4.3 billion-4.45 billion.

EBIT is expected to grow between 5% and 15% to a level of about 430 million to 475 million, with an EBIT margin target of 10.0% to 10.7% in 2024.

Despite challenges such as weak consumer sentiment and economic uncertainties, the company said it remains optimistic about growth opportunities outlined.

Hugo Boss aims to enhance profitability, with a focus on increasing EBIT faster than sales in the coming years. The company reaffirmed its goal to raise the EBIT margin to at least 12% by 2025.

Key leadership appointments were also announced on Thursday, including the reappointment of Daniel Grieder as chairman of the managing board and chief executive until December 31, 2028.

Oliver Timm was named as his deputy, in addition to his role as chief sales officer, and Yves Muller is set to continue as chief financial officer and chief operating officer until December 31, 2027.
Police transport escaped prisoners Atiba Stanislaus, far left, and Trevon Robertson who are handcuffed together in Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Monday, March 4, 2024. The men had escaped from a police holding cell in Grenada on Feb. 18 and are suspected of hijacking a catamaran while Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel, who disappeared, were aboard. (AP Photo/Kenton Chance)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)  Three escaped inmates from the eastern Caribbean island of Grenada were charged in the killing of a U.S. couple whose catamaran they hijacked, police said Thursday.

Ron Mitchell, a 30-year-old sailor; Atiba Stanislaus, a 25-year-old farmer; and Trevon Robertson, a 23-year-old unemployed man, were charged with capital murder, escaping lawful custody, housebreaking, robbery and kidnapping. Stanislaus also was charged with one count of rape, according to a statement from the Royal Grenada Police Force.

The men appeared in court on Thursday and were ordered held in prison until their hearing in late March.

They were accused of escaping from a police holding cell on Feb. 18 and hijacking a catamaran owned by Ralph Henry and Kathy Brandel while they were aboard. Authorities said they believe the couple was thrown overboard as the suspects sailed to nearby St. Vincent, where they were arrested on Feb. 21.

The three men were ordered deported from St. Vincent on Monday.

The nonprofit Salty Dawg Sailing Association described Hendry and Brandel as veteran cruisers who participated in last years Caribbean Rally from Hampton, Virginia, to Antigua, and had planned to spend the winter cruising in the eastern Caribbean.

Their bodies have not been found.
DAVISBORO, Ga. (WJBF)  Three men are behind bars after allegedly attempting to drop various illegal items into the Washington State Prison.

According to the Washington County Sheriffs Office, on March 5th the Davisboro Police Department requested assistance from deputies for a suspicious person call within the city of Davisboro.

As deputies responded, they were given a lookout for two vehicles. They were able to find and stop both vehicles.











After further investigation, it was found that the occupants were attempting to make a contraband drop at the prison in Davisboro.

Lamarion Deandrea Weems, age 37, of Morrow, Georgia; Timmie Darold Cobb, age 44, of Rex, Georgia; and Toddrick Raymond Williams, age 22, of Atlanta, Georgia were all arrested.

All are charged with the following:

Crossing Guardline without Consent of Warden Use of Unmanned Aircraft to Accomplish Violations Items Prohibited for Possession by Inmates Trading with Inmates Trafficking in Marijuana Trafficking in (MDMA) Possession of Schedule II Drug (Oxycodone) with Intent to Distribute Racketeering Conspiracy to Commit a Crime

The amounts of illegal drugs confiscated from this incident are estimated below:

15 pounds of marijuana

10 pounds of tobacco

70 grams of ecstasy

10 grams of oxycodone scheduled II

The Washington County Sheriffs Office remains committed to collaborating with various agencies to ensure the safety and security of our community and its residents, including those incarcerated at Washington State Prison. We will not permit individuals from other areas to enter our community and engage in criminal activities. Sheriff Joel Cochran, Washington County Sheriffs Office

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF.
ITHACA, N.Y. (WETM)  The Finger Lakes Land Trust is receiving more funding to protect the vital watersheds across the region, the organization announced on Wednesday.

According to the FLLT, $4.5 million in state grant money was announced on Wednesday through the New York State Water Quality Improvement Project. The program gives money to projects that go directly to addressing water quality impairments or protecting a drinking water source.

The $4,464,000 grant was awarded to fund conservation projects within the Skaneateles, Owasco, Seneca, and Keuka Lake watersheds.

Erie Canalway challenges New Yorkers to get active this month

The health of our lakes depends on the health of our watersheds, said FLLT Executive Director Andrew Zepp. This funding will allow us to secure sensitive lands where we can implement restoration projects to ensure water quality, he said.

$1,840,000 of the grant will go toward projects within the Keuka and Seneca Lake watersheds, and $1,240,000 will go towards supporting projects within the Owasco Lake watershed. The remaining $1,384,000 will be used to support the acquisition and restoration of lands bordering Shotwell Brook, a tributary of Skaneateles Lake.

Projects that will be helped by this grant will add to the 32,000 acres already protected by the FLLT.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com.
Four children were among the six people killed in a Ottawa townhouse late Wednesday night, victims of what police have described as a senseless act of violence perpetrated on purely innocent people.

The crime has shaken the Canadian capital, where officers made the grim discovery just before midnight Wednesday after receiving a flurry of 911 calls. Inside a townhome in the suburb of Barrhaven, they discovered six bodies and a seventh victim who was rushed to a hospital.

Most of the slain victims were identified as a Sri Lakan family, including a mother and her four children, all of whom were younger than 7 years old, CBC reported. The kids father survived the ordeal and was hospitalized, but a sixth person, a 40-year-old man who lived with the family, was also killed in the carnage.

Evidence of Traumatic Brain Injury Found in Gunman Behind Maines Deadliest Shooting

The suspect accused of carrying out the attack was identified as 19-year-old Febrio De-Zoysa, also of Sri Lanka, who was studying in Canada. Police said he was an acquaintance who lived with the family, but did not give a motive for the crime.

Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs said he doesnt believe the slayings were an instance of intimate partner violence. Stubbs initially described the tragedy as a mass shooting, but he clarified in a later statement that an edged weapon was used in the killings.

We know there are a lot of questions about why this tragedy occurred, he said in the statement. This is the focus of our homicide unit as they diligently investigate this tragic crime.

Stubbs said De-Zoysa was taken into custody at the scene. He said there is no ongoing threat to the public, but described the investigation as a complex one.

The chief added that the crime was the deadliest mass killing in Ottawa in at least three decades.

De-Zoysa made his first court appearance late Thursday afternoon. CBC reported he wore a black tracksuit jacket and spoke little, only stating his name and birthdate before sitting down.

Mining Company Confirms Number of Our People Died in Canadian Plane Crash

This is a tragic file and it will greatly impact the city of Ottawa, let alone the immediate neighborhood in Barrhaven, Stubbs said. So obviously we encourage everybody to reach out and get help to help manage themselves through this traumatic event.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe addressed the shooting on Thursday morning, calling it one of the most shocking incidents of violence in our citys history.

Editors Note: This story has been updated after police revised their account of the killings, clarifying that it was not a mass shooting.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
A child was injured during car drop-off at a Fort Worth elementary school Wednesday morning, and three other children were injured in an accident involving a school bus and a bicyclist, officials said.

According to police, a 6- or 7-year-old child was hit by a vehicle near J.T. Stevens Elementary School at 6161 Wrigley Way. The childs injuries were minor, and the driver remained at the scene.

MedStar was initially asked to respond, but the request was later canceled while the ambulance was on the way to the school, according to Matt Zavadsky, a spokesperson for the ambulance service.

Principal Drew Farr told J.T. Stevens families in a letter that a student was injured during the morning car drop-off, but didnt give specific details about the incident.

We immediately contacted emergency personnel, who swiftly arrived and helped the student, Farr said in the letter, which was shared with the Star-Telegram. No other students or staff were injured.

Farr invited anyone with questions to reach out to the schools main office.

Another accident was reported Wednesday morning near Bray Birch Drive and Alta Vista Road in far north Fort Worth. According to officials, a school bus struck an 11-year-old child who was riding a bike.

Today's top stories:

 North Texas primaries: Outsider vs. establishment politics on display

 Large hail, damaging winds expected in Dallas-Fort Worth

 Burgess concedes loss in GOP primary for Tarrant tax assessor

Get free alerts when news breaks.

The bicyclist sustained minor injuries, along with two children who bumped their heads when the bus stopped suddenly, Zavadsky said. MedStar treated the children at the scene but didnt transport them to a hospital.

Its not clear which district the bus was from. A spokesperson from Fort Worth Independent School District told the Star-Telegram that the bus was not from Fort Worth ISD.
A 45-year-old man was wounded during a Russian strike on Kherson on the morning of 7 March.

Source: Oleksandr Prokudin, Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration, on Facebook

Quote: "A 45-year-old man was injured. He is currently in the hospital being examined and treated."

Details: Prokudin added that a house, garages and parked vehicles were also damaged in the latest attack.

Support UP or become our patron!
Five months after a stunningly brutal attack on Israel prompted the devastating siege of Gaza, the numbers of displaced are growing as videos showing the expanding destruction emerge almost daily from the embattled enclave.

More than 1,500 Hamas-led militants stormed across the fortified border Oct. 7, killing almost 1,200 people in Israel before retreating back into Gaza with more than 240 hostages in tow. Within hours of the attack, Israel unleashed an aerial bombardment on Gaza, and on Oct. 27 the ground invasion began  resulting in a staggering humanitarian crisis over the following months that grows increasingly dire by the day.

Today more than 30,000 Palestinians are dead, tens of thousands more are wounded, hundreds of thousands are struggling to avoid starvation, and 1.7 million have been displaced from their homes. Talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire have been unsuccessful, and the Israeli military continues bombardment on the enclave.

Images of the suffering have been seen around the world, resulting in international protests. The U.S. is the largest provider of aid to Gaza, sending more than $180 million in humanitarian assistance since the war began. But the few hospitals still able to provide care are overwhelmed. The few aid trucks that get through are overrun by desperate families at risk of starvation.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency says that 17,000 children have been orphaned and that in northern Gaza, 1 in 6 children under age 2 are acutely malnourished. UNICEF regional director Adele Khodr said the demand for nutritious food, safe water and medical services is growing more severe as humanitarian agencies struggle to function in the war zone. People are hungry, exhausted and traumatized, Khodr said.

Palestinian children carry empty bowls during a march demanding an end to the war on March 6, 2024, in Rafah, Gaza.

"The child deaths we feared are here and are likely to rapidly increase unless the war ends and obstacles to humanitarian relief are immediately resolved," Khodr said. "We need reliable, multiple entry points that would allow us to bring aid in from all possible crossings ... with no denials, delays and access impediments."

With truck convoys unable to meet the demand, the U.S. Department of Defense and the Jordanian Royal Air Force have collaborated to airdrop 70,000 meals into Gaza in recent days. It's not nearly enough.

The Biden administration, Egypt and Qatar are brokering talks aimed at resolving the crisis. The latest proposal calls for a six-week cease-fire, release of the sick, wounded, elderly and female hostages, and a large-scale increase in crucial humanitarian aid, the White House said.

"Responding to the humanitarian crisis and the needs of the Palestinian people has been a priority since Day One," White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said Monday. But in the U.N. Security Council, calls for an immediate cease-fire have been vetoed by the U.S., where officials maintain such a resolution is meaningless and could disrupt efforts at reaching a negotiated agreement.

A war with no walls: Inside the devastating impact of Israel-Hamas war around the globe

'Western hypocrisy is difficult to comprehend'

Dr. Mehran Kamrava, a professor of government at Georgetown University Qatar, says both sides have been guilty of crimes against humanity. But the Israeli response has gone way too far, he said.

"For millions of people across the world, the West has lost its moral mooring," Kamrava said. "Western hypocrisy, loudly proclaiming the virtues of human rights but ignoring the deaths of thousands of Palestinians in most horrific ways, is difficult to comprehend. How could the United States, that self-declared bastion of peace around the world, repeatedly veto United Nations cease-fire resolutions to stop the war?"

Palestinians line up for a free meal in Rafah, Gaza Strip, on Feb. 16, 2024.

Israel, Hamas at odds on cease-fire proposals

Kirby says Israel has agreed to a cease-fire framework and "now the onus is on Hamas to do the same." Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan, however, insists that Israel's military withdraw from Gaza and that displaced Palestinians be allowed to return to their homes. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also raising concerns, refusing to send a delegation to the talks in Cairo until Hamas provides an accounting of the hostages, including how many are alive and their conditions.

Hamas has said that the hostages are being held by multiple militant groups  the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Mujahideen Brigades and Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades are among those claiming custody  scattered around Gaza and that a cease-fire is required to track all the hostages down. The United States has for years designated Hamas a terrorist organization.

Zev Faintuch, senior intelligence analyst at the security firm Global Guardian, says Israel won't be deterred from crushing Hamas and hunting down Hamas leaders.

"No external pressure will prevent Israel from finishing the job  that is, eradicating Hamas infrastructure, degrading its fighting capabilities and creating the foundation for a Hamas-free future Gaza," he said.

Israel's war on Gaza Strip: Mapping the devastation

Americans split politically on halting military aid to Israel

According to one poll, 52% of Americans believe the U.S. should halt weapons shipments to Israel until its military pulls out of Gaza, while 27% disagree and 21% are unsure, according to a new YouGov poll commissioned by the Center for Economic and Policy Research. The poll, however, shows a partisan split: 62% of President Joe Biden's supporters favor the halt in shipments, while only 30% of Donald Trump supporters want the shipments discontinued.

Will Hamas decide to compromise?

Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official and author of Inside The Middle East: Entering A New Era," said Hamas' negotiating strength is fading as the holy month of Ramadan draws near. Netanyahu's resolve shows no signs of winding down the fighting until Hamas is broken and the hostages are returned, Melamed said.

Hamas, he said, will need to compromise. The final deal is likely to provide a temporary pause, but the war won't end, and Israel will once again set its military sights on the crowded city of Rafah.

"The deal wont likely be perfect for Israel, as no doubt it will need to free some terrorists with blood on their hands," he said.

In the long term, Hamas is drawing "furious" criticism in the Arab world and will be weakened, Melamed said. He foresees a revitalized Palestinian Authority that Biden and the West have called for, with Hamas most likely playing a role.

This image grab from an AFPTV video shows Palestinians running toward parachutes attached to food parcels, air-dropped from U.S. aircraft on a beach in the Gaza Strip on March 2, 2024.

Hamas attack was among world's deadliest

The Hamas attack was the third-deadliest terrorist attack since data collection began in 1970, according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic & International Studies. The deadliest was the 9/11 attack by al-Qaida on the U.S. in 2001 that killed almost 3,000 people, followed by an Islamic State attack in Tikrit, Iraq, in 2014 that killed 1,700.

On Oct. 7, the Hamas-led militants killed almost 1,200 people after crashing through a 40-mile-long border wall outfitted with machine-gun turrets and observation towers, cameras, radars, barbed wire and an underground concrete barrier to frustrate tunneling. Hamas struck on a Saturday morning after the end of Sukkot, a weeklong celebration to commemorate the harvest season and the time Jews lived in the desert after being freed from slavery in Egypt.

The militants used drones to drop explosives onto the observation towers, blew holes in the border fence with explosives and bulldozers to smash open gaps large enough to allow vehicles to roll through. Several military outposts were struck first, slowing the defensive response, and communities, kibbutzim and a large music festival were invaded in the deadly rampages.

U.N. envoy Pramila Patten said this week that evidence indicates the militants committed rape and "sexualized torture'' of women during the attack and on some of the hostages

Scores of militants were killed then, and Israel says it has killed more than 10,000 since. More than 240 Israeli soldiers have also died in the ground assault, and more than 100 hostages remain captives of Hamas and other militant groups.

The Israeli government blames the civilian death toll in Gaza on Hamas efforts to hide among civilians they use as human shields. Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting until Hamas and its leaders are crushed.

"Netanyahus relentless refusal to halt the war will leave scars on the collective memory of Israelis for years to come," Kamrava said. "President Biden will go down in history as Netanyahus unwitting enabler in one of the 21st centurys worst episodes of mass killings."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel-Hamas war in Gaza hits 5 months as humanitarian crisis rages
AGHDAM, Azerbaijan, March 7. Azerbaijan's Shusha city has hosted a roundtable event on the "Organization of vocational training of the population" within the framework of the 'I State Program on the Great Return to the liberated territories of Azerbaijan', Trend reports.

The event emphasized that such initiatives provide crucial support in ensuring employment for citizens relocating to the liberated regions, and noted that within the working group of the mentioned state program, a study was conducted (covering demographic, labor, and social indicators), meetings were held with 256 employers, the demand for labor was assessed, and employment has already been secured for 1,495 people, with ongoing efforts to ensure employment for 979 more.

Participants of the event were briefed on professional courses that the State Employment Agency plans to organize for residents of the liberated territories to acquire new skills.

The event also highlighted that the initial goal is to involve 12,000 people in vocational training, and the Karabakh Regional Center for Vocational Training, opened in Barda last year, plays a significant role in this area.

The discussion topics included engaging private educational institutions in activities in the liberated territories and supporting the activities of these institutions by government bodies in the liberated areas, and proposals were discussed to enhance employment and organize vocational training.

The event was jointly organized by the State Employment Agency under the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population and the Special Representative Office of the President of Azerbaijan for the Karabakh Economic Region, except Shusha district.

The participants included the Deputy Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan for the Karabakh Economic Region, except Shusha district Bashir Hajiyev, Chairman of the Board of the State Employment Agency Mustafa Abbasbayli, personnel of the Special Representative Office of the President of Azerbaijan for the Shusha district, the State Committee for Affairs of Refugees and IDPs, the Small and Medium Business Development Agency, other government agencies and private educational institutions.

Following the liberation of its territories from Armenian occupation in 2020, Azerbaijan initiated the long-awaited 'Great Return' program, which envisions the return of IDPs to their native lands.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
President Biden is set to give his State of the Union address Thursday, at a critical time for his campaign as it fully turns to taking on former President Trump in the general election.

Biden will head to the Capitol just two days after Super Tuesday, when both he and Trump swept their respective primaries. Republican Nikki Haley dropped out of the race Wednesday, helping set up a clear 2020 rematch in November.

Here are five things to watch for during Thursdays address.

Can he reassure voters?

Biden is faced with the challenge of reassuring voters Thursday that he is up for another four years in the job.

The president has been hit with polls for months showing Americans dont approve of his job as president, and he is lagging slightly behind Trump, according to polling averages from The Hill and Decision Desk HQ. He also is consistently hit with questions over his age and stamina, with special counsel Robert Hurs report on his handling of classified documents that called him an elderly man with a poor memory fueling concerns.

A recent New York Times/Siena College poll found 65 percent of registered voters believe the country is heading in the wrong direction. A CBS News/YouGov poll found 33 percent of Americans would rate Bidens presidency as excellent or good so far.

Biden will simultaneously need to sell voters on the accomplishments of his first term while pitching them on the idea of four more years under his leadership.

The president has always been an optimistic person, as you know, and even in the face of challenges in front of us, he will share why hes hopeful about this countrys future and why it is a mistake to bet against the American people, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday.

Can he make it through gaffe-free?

Just as important as what Biden will say Thursday is how he delivers it.

Polling has shown voters are concerned about Bidens age, and any verbal miscues will come under a microscope. A New York Times/Siena College poll released last weekend found 73 percent of registered voters said they either strongly or somewhat agree that Biden is too old to be an effective president.

Recent stumbles  including mixing up Ukraine and Gaza and mistakenly referring to the leader of Egypt as the president of Mexico  received increased attention after a special counsel report called Bidens memory into question.

Biden made it through last years State of the Union without any notable hiccups, and he even managed to create a memorable moment when he went off script and engaged with heckling Republicans about protecting Social Security and Medicare.

The president could use a similarly strong showing this time around as a way to reassure Democrats and other voters that hes fully in control and capable of speaking with energy and precision about his agenda.

The president has been  very honest about his age, Jean-Pierre said Wednesday, adding later: But this is also a president that has gotten done more in the last three years than most presidents have in their two terms of presidency, and that is what weve seen from the data. And a lot of that is because of his experience.

Will he talk directly about Trump?

The State of the Union isnt a campaign speech in the traditional sense, but this years event will serve as a launching pad for Bidens reelection bid the day after Trump became the last candidate standing in the GOP primary.

The president may not mention Trump by name, but he could seek to draw direct contrasts between his administration and the previous administration on issues such as crime and the economy.

Biden has increasingly been addressing Trump directly ahead of an expected November rematch, though.

The president called on Trump directly to work with him to pass border security legislation during their dueling trips to Texas on Friday. Before that, he directly spoke about Trump to bash him for his comments that Russia can invade delinquent NATO countries.

Bidens campaign has also been directly targeting Trump and lifting up his remarks as a way to demonize him. The anti-Trump operation is expected to get more intense, and the campaign will likely criticize and elevate everything that the former president says that they deem dangerous.

What will he say on Israel and Gaza?

The speech comes while Biden faces increasing backlash from fellow Democrats on his handling of the war in the Middle East. Progressives and activists have protested Biden for months for not calling for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, while the administration maintains that a temporary cease-fire to release hostages is essential but a permanent one would only help Hamas.

Democrats made their feelings of discontent known in a couple of states this primary season. More than 45,000 Democratic primary voters in Minnesota selected uncommitted on their primary ballots Tuesday, and more than 100,000 Democratic primary voters in Michigan cast ballots for uncommitted last week. Each secured nearly a dozen delegates in the process.

Meanwhile, Republicans are expected to bash Biden over any comments that dont convey full support for Israel. Biden is expected to call on Congress to pass more funding for Israel amid the war, which has been an uphill battle with the aid tied to support for Ukraine and border security measures.

Biden and top officials have floated that a six-week cease-fire deal will be announced soon, which would involve Hamas releasing hostages and allow for more aid to get into Gaza. The president last week said negotiations could end as early as Monday, but that deadline passed. Jean-Pierre on Wednesday said he is going to be optimistic in his address about finalizing negotiations.

What else will get the most time?

The State of the Union is typically a way for the president to touch on key issues of the day, priorities for their party and personally important projects. But a couple areas are expected to stand out for Biden on Thursday.

Immigration is a hot-button issue, and the president will likely put the onus on Congress to pass a border security bill after Republicans rejected a bipartisan proposal out of the Senate that had the White Houses backing. Biden traveled to the border last week, and he is likely to use the bully pulpit Thursday to remind Americans what GOP lawmakers are opposing.

The war in Ukraine is also expected to get significant attention, just as it did last year. Biden has been adamant that it is in the United Statess interest to aid Ukraine so Russia doesnt draw the world into a wider conflict. The Senate passed $60 billion in assistance for Ukraine last month, but Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has refused to bring it up for a vote in the House.

Otherwise, the speech is likely to serve as an opportunity for Biden to remind voters what hes accomplished in his first three years, hitting on the bipartisan infrastructure law, a bipartisan investment in semiconductor manufacturing and Democratic legislation to incentivize clean energy investments and lower prescription drug costs.

I think there are some places where he can draw some lines, said Jim Kessler, a co-founder of left-leaning think tank Third Way. The border deal. Talking about choice. The economy. This is mostly where he gets to make his positive case.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)  Cash rewards are being offered for information leading to the arrest of nine suspects wanted for various crimes in Abilene.

Police are seeking these suspects for the following offenses:

Ferral Martinez  Assault on a Peace Officer

Jorge Hernandez  Injury to Child

Devion Williams  Robbery, Criminal Trespass

Broderic Levingston  Robbery, Evading Arrest

Johnathan Lechuga  Child Endangerment

Mario Albarado  Injury to Child, Burglary of Habitation

Charles Irwin  Indecency with a Child

Jacqueline Gammage  Robbery

Quinn Ervin  Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child

Keighvoucia Lamb (FEATURED FUGITIVE)  Aggravated Assault x3

CrimeStoppers is offering $500 cash rewards for information that leads to the capture any of the suspects, and a $1000 cash reward for information that leads to the capture of the featured fugitive.

Cash rewards will only be given if the information is received during the week their mugshots are aired on Abilenes Wanted Criminals.

Abilenes Wanted Criminals is a police-run social media segment that will highlight wanted suspects from around the City each week.

Episodes will be posted to the Abilene Police Departments YouTube page or APDs PIO Youtube page.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com.
A Dayton was sentenced to time in prison for possessing a large amount of stolen mail.

Jayon Perrin, 22, was sentenced in U.S. District Court was sentenced to 32 months in prison.

In Oct. 2022, law enforcement searched Perrins Dayton apartment and found a postal service key, a United States Postal Service logo jacket, $6,000 in cash, more than 500 checks, and around 15 debit and credit cards.

The checks had payable amounts ranging from approximately 50 cents to $282,000, according to a media release.

>> Area man arrested on kidnapping charges in potential human trafficking investigation

The stolen mail also included forms and documents, such as a federal tax return, payment slips for medical and dental bills, and a loan forgiveness application.

Perrin also had equipment for cloning debit and credit cards as well as altering stolen checks, according to a media release.

He was charged federally in October 2022 and pleaded guilty in September 2023.








A California assemblywoman has introduced a bill to address the poor literacy rates of California students.

Data show 60% of children in California cant read by third grade, according to a policy brief co-authored by the EdVoice Institute in December.

In Modesto City Schools Elementary District, around 73% of students did not meet the achievement level for English Language Arts in the California Assessment of Student Performances and Progresses, also known as CAASPP, in the 2022-23 school year. In California, 53% of students did not meet the achievement standard for that test.

Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio, D-Baldwin Park  a former teacher in Fontana Unified School District in San Bernardino County  said she wants this bill passed to set students up for success in their classes by high school and to avoid building more prisons. She finds low literacy rates are affecting Black, Latino and low-income students the most.

When a child is not literate, its very easy to get into fits of low self-esteem and expectations and they seek alternative methods of getting popular or being part of a group, she said. Sometimes that means being in gangs, getting in trouble or being incarcerated at some point.

In Modesto City Schools, 82% of Black students and 77% of Latino students did not meet the standard for the English Language Arts assessments. This is compared to only 57% of white students not meeting the standard.

The bill would require updates to state-adopted English language arts, English language development and reading instructional materials. In addition, the bill calls for professional development for elementary educators.

Professional development for teachers would be on evidence-based practices including instruction focused on the ability to recognize and manipulate the spoken parts of words, ability to identify specific sounds of a word, oral language development, vocabulary, comprehension and writing.

This bill will help prepare teachers. No one wants to be in a job that they dont feel good at, said Megan Potente, the co-state director for Decoding Dyslexia California. Decoding Dyslexia California is an advocacy organization who aims to raise awareness to communities and families about dyslexia to help improve resources for students. The organization helped sponsor this bill.

Potente said children with dyslexia and other special needs are vulnerable to poor levels of literacy as well.

Its really important that we identify challenges that kids are having early and because we know that 90% of children with reading difficulties will achieve grade-level reading if they get the right help before the end of first grade.

Local parent Ketrina Serrano who has a child in Modesto City Schools High School District, believes it would be nice to see this bill as an addition. She believes if the curriculum hasnt changed in 10 years, it would be great to upgrade it and get more training.

Its not going to upgrade what teachers do but add to it, she said. Funding for curriculum is always nice as well. Also, scores are so low, we obviously need to teach towards the structure of the test.
DURHAM  Fifty years ago this week, a plan to locate a $600 million oil refinery in Durham was effectively blocked by local grassroots efforts, an opposition led by a trio of women that prevented 400,000 barrels of oil from being produced in the Seacoast a day.

In March 1974, Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis bid to have the nations largest oil refinery built in the college town was foiled by Durham voters and state legislators. The proposed Olympic Oil Refinery had garnered support from two influential figures  then-New Hampshire Gov. Meldrim Thomson and William Loeb, publisher of the Manchester Union Leader  but never crossed the finish line.

The movement to bar the plan from Onassis, one of the richest men in the world at the time, was led largely by Durham state Rep. Dudley Dudley, Nancy Sandberg, head of the citizens group Save Our Shores, and the late Phyllis Bennett, publisher and co-founder of Publick Occurrences.

Fifty years ago this week, a plan to locate a $600 million oil refinery in Durham was effectively blocked by local grassroots efforts, an opposition led by a trio of women that prevented 400,000 barrels of oil from being produced in the Seacoast a day. One of those women, Dudley Dudley, was a freshman New Hampshire state representative from Durham at the time of the movement. Dudley (seen here) teamed up with thousands of residents and volunteers to oppose the project, which ultimately never moved forward.

The enormous development would have provided storage for 30 million barrels, placed a terminal located at the Isles of Shoals, required an oil pipeline to run through Great Bay, Newington, Portsmouth and Rye, and would have necessitated a large transportation presence in the region to move the oil from place to place.

It would look like the worst parts of New Jersey or Texas, said Dudley, a Durham resident, in an interview Wednesday. A refinery would be bigger than anything there, and it would have just been loaded with super tanks and truck terminals and a refinery. It would have destroyed the Seacoast of New Hampshire. I dont see how it could have done otherwise.

I think one of the great benefits of going through the intense battle 50 years ago is that it got a lot of people aware of the treasures that we have in the natural resources of the Seacoast, added Sandberg, a fellow Durham resident. It got a lot of people actively involved in running for office, be it locally, at the state level or beyond that.

The two women and environmental advocates were recognized Monday night by the Durham Town Council for their historic work.

Legislation made history in New Hampshire

Fifty years ago this week, a plan to locate a $600 million oil refinery in Durham was effectively blocked by local grassroots efforts, an opposition led by a trio of women that prevented 400,000 barrels of oil from being produced in the Seacoast a day. One of those women, Dudley Dudley, was a freshman state representative from Durham at the time of the movement. Dudley (seen here) teamed up with thousands of residents and volunteers to oppose the project, which ultimately never moved forward.

The well-documented, David versus Goliath-esque local lore, captured in David Moores 2022 book Small Town, Big Oil, began in June 1973, when a representative of Onassis met with Thomson in New Hampshire to discuss the idea of the refinery. Within months, Durham property owners were being approached by Onassis team about selling their land, and Publick Occurrences broke the news that the refinery plan was in the works, according to a May 2022 speech given by Dudley in Portsmouth.

Dudley, a freshman legislator, and Sandberg teamed up to advocate against the idea. Rallying locals, Dudley presented a 4,000 signature petition to Thomson showing all those opposed to the plan, a document so long it stretched down Main Street in downtown Durham, she said two years ago.

She then sponsored House Bill 18, the Home Rule bill that stated municipalities have the final say on certain projects, including the Olympic Oil Refinery.

At town meeting on March 6, 1974, Durham residents voted against zoning amendments that Olympic needed for approval. The final vote showed 1,254 residents voting against amendments compared to just 144 people in favor, per Dudley.

With the townspeople having had their say, House Bill 18 was voted on by New Hampshire House of Representatives members the next day. After House Bill 34, which would which would have established an energy siting body that could override zoning in municipalities, was voted down, legislators crossed party lines to pass House Bill 18 after an impassioned speech from Dudley.

The New Hampshire House of Representatives never specifically voted against the Olympic Oil Refinery, though the House Bill 18 vote essentially affirmed the plan would not move forward. Onassis didnt fight the outcome.

I want people to be ever vigilant when things are being proposed like an oil refinery, a housing complex, a new factory or a wind farm, Dudley said. I think people just have to be willing to study it and be willing to determine whether or not its a good idea for our area. I didnt really study the oil refinery. It was more intuition that caused me to say no adamantly at the very beginning. There were people, well-intentioned, smart people, who wanted to study it, and eventually they came around to the same answer that those of us who were there at the beginning had. That was good. It also led me to a place that believed that there was a place for home rule in our democracy.

Judging by the experience of small towns in Texas, Louisiana and California, I think the refinery itself would have taken up 3,000 acres in the town of Durham right next to the bay, then connected to a pipeline into Rye, Sandberg recalled. We also realized that along with the refinery would have come a huge transportation effort to get the product out of here, including hundreds of rail cars to transport the product and a huge trucking system along I-95 to truck it in three different directions.

The chronic spillage that would have happened there would have ruined our beaches and ruined New Hampshires huge tourism industry, she added. It would have had huge effects on New Hampshires environment, economy and ecology. It would look very different from what we have now.

'An attack on her home'

Dudleys daughter, Morgan Dudley, was a teenager at the time of her mothers rise to fame, a period she found to be embarrassing at times as an adolescent. She remembers their familys landline ringing off the hook throughout the entire movement, prompting her pacifist father to at one point rip it off the wall.

To her, it felt like an attack on her home, she said of her mothers reaction to the refinery plan. She took this on with every fiber of her being and it completely consumed her time and her energy.

Years later, Morgan Dudley co-authored the award-winning screenplay Oil and Water along with Alfred Catalfo, a film about the efforts from her mother, Sandberg, Bennett and the endless volunteers who stood in unison against Olympic Oil Refinery. The script has generated interest from a production company into possibly making the story into a feature film or limited television series.

Morgan Dudley compared the Save Our Shores movement to the current political climate in the United States and the divide over the upcoming general election.

It seems more relevant today than it ever had been in my life because its a story about democracy, she said of the refinery opposition. What it shows is that on many topics, there is an interest in common good, and Republicans and Democrats should be able to work together to reach decisions that benefit everybody.

Her mother went on to become the first woman elected to serve on New Hampshires Executive Council, and a portrait of her hangs in the Statehouse in Concord.

The fact that these three women with no power defeated these three men with endless power, its a miracle as I look back on it, Morgan Dudley added. In the early 1970s, that was unheard of. At that time, my mother had to get my fathers permission to have a credit card in her name. Im in awe. Shes my hero. Im so proud of what she accomplished.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Onassis $600M oil refinery blocked 50 years ago in Durham NH
PIERRE  The 99th legislative session has balanced the budget for the 135th consecutive year. Lawmakers adopted the $7.3 billion fiscal year 2025 state budget on Thursday with a vote of 61-9 in the House of Representatives and a vote of 32-2 in the Senate.

The budget is up $27 million from Gov. Kristi Noems ask of $7.27 billion in her December budget address.

A gavel sitting on the desk inside the Senate on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 at South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre.

"When I started this year out as chair, I told my committee this year, far be it from me to be the guy that breaks the streak," of balancing the budget, Rep. Mike Derby, R-Rapid City, told the House ahead of the general budget vote.

Included in the 2025 fiscal year budget are 4% increases for state employees, educators and Medicaid health providers. The state will also fund a new office and commission for public defenders, two new judges in the Second Circuit Court and continue funding the construction of the new womens prison in Rapid City and the future mens prison in Lincoln County. On top of that, various water and waste water infrastructure projects will be funded with the remainder of the American Rescue Plan Act dollars.

State universities and technical colleges will also benefit from a tuition freeze for the third year in a row.

The state can afford the budget increase because ongoing revenue sources are expected to be high over the next fiscal year, despite last years overall sales and use tax cut from 4.5% to 4.2%, which will sunset in 2027. Lawmakers adopted an ongoing revenue estimate of $2.42 billion for FY2025 in mid-February of state funds. The remainder of the revenue sources come from one time receipts, or from federal and other funds.

More: SD analysts say they're cautiously conservative about 2025 budget, with a hint of optimism

Republican leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives lauded the budget process and the funding coming down the pike for education.

House Majority Leader Will Mortenson described the Legislative session as a banner year for education that focused on the future.

This is how we build a strong South Dakota for the next 30 years, the Fort Pierre Republican said, speaking to the tuition freeze. Getting these folks to stay here, getting our talented, hardworking young people to stay here. This is a real needle mover and one of the strongest levers to shape policy that we can pull.

S.D. Senate Majority Leader Casey Crabtree speaks during the first day of legislative session on Tuesday, January 10, 2023, at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre.

By keeping young people in the state for their education and eventual employment, Sen. Casey Crabtree, R-Madison said it would help solve the workforce shortage problem the state is facing.

The best way to address that is by making sure that we keep our kids and our grandkids here... we can also have them enjoy the quality of life we love here so much, he said. So if we can afford [the tuition freeze], I think we should continue to do that.

Democratic leadership, while appreciative of the Big Three budget increases and the tuition freeze, were a bit more subdued about the adopted budget. They noted the Legislatures inability to pass funding for a summer EBT program for school-aged children.

We needed to fund that program, said Rep. Oren Lesmeister, D-Parade. We had the money from the federal level to do it. The Governor chose not to, or even bring it forward. Them funds wouldve been miles and miles for the children of South Dakota.

More: Sioux Falls area to benefit from increased budgeting for the criminal justice system

Both parties were wary of the future of the states revenue since a potential ballot measure to remove the state sales tax on food is currently gathering signatures.

Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown, said if that consumption tax passes on the ballot, you take all that money out of our budget and you're gonna have a train wreck.

Lesmiester, the House Minority Leader, said the future legislature, if the ballot measure passes, will have to work to figure out how the state will fund its obligations.

We cant do both, he said. This budget cannot survive by having both cuts in place. If this measure passes, they're going to have a hard task in figuring out what they're going to raise for taxes.

Sen. Reynold Nesiba, D-Sioux Falls, added that he was confident the measure, if put on the ballot, would pass since the Legislature has failed to cut the sales tax on food.

Noem has 14 days to approve the budget.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota Legislature adopts $7.3 billion FY2025 state budget
The men in charge of a tour boat that flipped and fatally trapped a child and woman underneath in New Yorks Hudson River were arrested, federal prosecutors said.

Richard Cruz, the owner and captain of the boat, and Jaime Pinilla Gomez, the boats pilot, are accused of causing the drowning deaths of the 7-year-old boy and 48-year-old woman in July 2022.

Information regarding their legal representation wasnt immediately available March 7.

In the months before the boat named Stimulus Money capsized, Cruz and Gomez made money running boat tours but lacked credentials and certifications required by the U.S. Coast Guard, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York.

On July 12, 2022, a group of family members boarded the boat for a tour of the New York Harbor and the Hudson River, a complaint says. The harbor is surrounded by Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island, three New York City boroughs.

However, Cruz and Gomez overloaded the boat beyond its maximum capacity, according to prosecutors.

With 13 people on board, including Cruz and Gomez, the men operated Stimulus Money at a high rate of speed during a Small Craft Advisory in high winds and heavy seas, prosecutors said.

Gomez, an insufficiently experienced mariner, piloted Stimulus Money in a dangerous manner, including by rapidly accelerating one engine of the vessel immediately before the capsizing, which contributed to the overturning of the vessel, prosecutors added.

The boat ultimately capsized and everyone was tossed into the Hudson River, according to prosecutors.

About 25 minutes later, the boy and woman were found unconscious underneath the boat after they became trapped, prosecutors said.

The New York City Fire Departments Dive Rescue Team recovered them from the water, and they were pronounced dead by emergency medical personnel, according to the attorneys office, which said their causes of death were drowning.

The capsized boat.

Cruz, 32, and Gomez, 25, were arrested March 7 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where theyre from, the attorneys office said.

Theyre both charged with one count of misconduct and neglect of a ship officer resulting in death, according to prosecutors.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams accused the men of flouting federal regulations and safety protocols.

They recklessly disregarded safety protocols, operated the vessel at an unsafe speed in hazardous conditions, and overloaded the vessel with too many passengers onboard, Williams said in a statement. And the result was tragic.

The boat being recovered from the Hudson River.

If Cruz and Gomez are convicted, they could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, according to prosecutors.

The attorneys office encourages the public to report tips about illegal passenger boats to the U.S. Coast Guard here.

Two boaters go overboard and drown within days on same Georgia lake, officials say

Lightning cuts through sailboat, leaving crew sinking in remote Atlantic, officials say

16-year-old drowns while fishing on family camping trip, Georgia officials say

Boaters caught trying to smuggle over 110,000 live eels out of Puerto Rico, feds say
[Source]

In a recent study, The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) examined the sense of safety among Asian Americans in New York City, finding that more than 70% still felt unsafe in public settings.

Feeling unsafe: Asian American New Yorkers reported feeling most unsafe on public transportation (51%), in their own neighborhoods (21%) and local markets (21%). Asian American women were specifically more likely (83%) to express concern for public safety in the city. Due to this perception, three out of four Asian Americans also reported changing habits and behaviors out of fear of being targeted. Almost one in two (48%) said they avoided going out late at night and 41% noted avoiding taking the subway or going into certain neighborhoods.

Widespread experience: According to the data, one in two (54%) respondents personally experienced being insulted, harassed, threatened or physically attacked in the past 12 months due to their race or ethnicity. More than half (62%) of Asian Americans in New York City also said they witnessed someone else experience a hate incident because of their race or ethnicity.

Reporting the incidents: When asked about reporting such incidents, less than half (46%) said they reported their own experience to anyone, but when shared, most often it was with a friend or family member (61%), followed by local or federal law enforcement agencies (54%, with only 29% going to the NYPD). Over 80% of Asian Americans who experienced a hate incident didnt know they could report, how to report and/or felt uncomfortable reporting to law enforcement or officials.

Trending on NextShark: Indian painter gets brain-dead woman's hands in rare bilateral hand transplant

Call for resources: To combat anti-Asian incidents, a large majority of Asian Americans strongly believe the following resources are necessary: better relations with police (67%), mental health services (62%), legal services (62%), senior services (60%) and youth activities (58%).

Overall, TAAF calls for a need in training on reporting hate incidents, increased accessibility to reporting, training in safely intervening in anti-Asian hate situations, improved relations with law enforcement and more support from local organizations and government agencies.

Unexpected results: While aiming to understand the current safety state of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community, TAAF CEO Norman Chen expressed shock at the alarming results of the study. Despite the issue receiving less media coverage, Chen stressed the ongoing urgency of the anti-Asian hate crimes crisis. He believes the study has accessed new segments of the population that had not been interviewed before since it was conducted in different languages.

Trending on NextShark: Asian family donates $5 million to Black students in honor of family who helped them

We were shocked by the results of the study, Chen tells NextShark. To think that one in five NYC APIs had directly experienced physical assault, just in the last year, it was really shocking and disturbing. There's this common perception that the worst of anti-Asian hate has passed us and things have gotten better. But you know, certainly compared to pre-COVID, things are still very dire. It's really disappointing. We need to be aware that this is still very much a crisis for our community.

About the study: TAAF commissioned BSP Research to conduct the survey with a representative sample of 1,000 Asian American residents of New York City aged 16 to 82. Survey participants were interviewed both online (70%) and by telephone (30%) between Nov. 30 and Dec. 19, 2023.

TAAF plans to expand the study to other major cities across the country with large AANHPI populations to explore whether the issues identified in New York City are similar or different in other locations. This initiative builds upon TAAFs existing anti-hate national network with over 45 partners funded in nine cities. The focus is on raising awareness within the network and collaborating with partners on innovative solutions to enhance safety.

Trending on NextShark: Portland Commissioner halts odor complaints after closure of pho restaurant

Download the NextShark App:

Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
Evidence markers dot the ground following a shooting in northeast Philadelphia on Wednesday. Four shootings over four days in Philadelphia have left at least three dead and 12 injured, many of them children. Joe Lamberti/Associated Press

Eight high school students were shot at a Philadelphia city bus stop on Wednesday, marking the fourth incident of violence involving a city bus in as many days.

The eight teens were shot Wednesday afternoon as they waited to board a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) bus in northeast Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Police Department said.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel told WPVI-TV that the students, ages 15 to 17, were hit with gunfire when three men got off the bus and started firing.

At some point when the bus is pulling up and the kids are converging to get on the bus, three individuals exit that vehicle and then [fire] multiple times, Bethel said, according to WPVI-TV.

One student was in critical condition and the other seven were listed as stable after being taken to hospitals, according to WTFX-TV in Philadelphia.

BREAKING VIDEO: @SEPTA bus hit with multiple bullets through bus windows and bus frame. Im on scene now updating by the minute. LIVE TEAM COVERAGE AT 5PM @FOX29phillypic.twitter.com/Kc4uZhzOpg  Steve Keeley (@KeeleyFox29) March 6, 2024

The latest shooting took place just hours after Chief of SEPTA Transit Police Charles Lawson gave a press conference saying officers are going to be aggressive in tackling crime following three deadly shootings involving SEPTA buses in the past three days.

The rash of gun violence began Sunday night when a man was shot and killed after he got into an argument with another man on a SEPTA bus.

On Monday afternoon, a 17-year-old boy was killed and four others were wounded when a gunman opened fire on a group of teens waiting at a SEPTA bus stop.

And on Tuesday, a 37-year-old man was fatally shot while riding a bus in southwest Philadelphia.

No arrests have been made in any of the shootings. The Philadelphia Police Department said further updates will be provided on Wednesdays shooting as the situation unfolds.

Related...
A mass shooting at a bus stop in Philadelphia left eight teenagers injured Wednesday, according to authorities.

The Philadelphia Police Department said its officers responded to numerous reports of a shooting in the area just before 3 p.m. Wednesday at a bus stop near a Dunkin. The group of teenagers, ages 15-17, were transported to local hospitals.

One 17-year-old male, shot nine times in the torso, is in critical condition while the rest of the victims are currently stable, according to police. No arrests have been made so far in connection to the shooting.

The Associated Press reported that the incident marks the fourth shooting on the transit system in four days. The previous three shootings all resulted in a fatality, the AP noted.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said at a press conference that the teenagers were students of Northeast High School who were waiting at the bus stop, per the AP. He said at about 3 p.m., three people emerged from the car that was waiting at the scene and fired more than 30 shots.

Law enforcement added that the three people were masked and the car was a dark blue Hyundai Sonata. Police are asking for the publics help in gathering information on the suspects and have posted a video of masked people running to and from the scene, and escaping in the car.

Bethel said police are looking into whether the shooting is connected to a separate incident at a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority station on Monday that left a 17-year-old student from Imhotep Institute Charter High School dead, ABC News reported.

It is hard to sit here and see, in three days, 11 juveniles shot, who were coming and going from school, Bethel said at the press conference, according the outlet.

The Associated Press contributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, March 7. Private educational institutions have been invited to Azerbaijan's Eastern Zangezur and Karabakh regions, Chairman of the Board of the State Employment Agency under the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population Mustafa Abbasbayli said, Trend reports.

He made the remark at an event on the "Organization of vocational training of the population" in Shusha.

"One of the important issues is vocational training. The State Employment Agency is trying to implement this program through four vocational training centers run by the agency. At the same time, permanent orders are being carried out with private educational institutions within the framework of the public-private partnership model, which started in 2021. At today's event, these institutions were invited to the territory of Eastern Zangezur and Karabakh. Support for their activities was discussed," the official explained.

According to Abbasbayli, the mentioned program set return of the former IDPs to the liberated lands and their employment provision.

"In this context, one of the most important issues is to determine the professions of people moving there and ensure their adaptation to the labor market, he added.

Notably, following the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from Armenian occupation in the 2020 second Karabakh war, Azerbaijan launched a great scale restoration process, covering rebuilding of schools in the liberated territories.

Thus, up to now, schools have been built and commissioned in the liberated Fuzuli and Lachin cities, Aghali, Talish, and Zabukh villages.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
At least eight high school students were shot Wednesday afternoon in a hail of gunfire while waiting at a transit bus stop in Northeast Philadelphia, authorities said in a news conference  the second time in a week young people in the city were shot en route to or from school.

The students, ages 15 to 17, were waiting just before 3 p.m. at the bus stop when three people got out of a car around the corner, walked up and fired at them at least 30 times, then fled, the police commissioner said. A 16-year-old was shot nine times, police said, while among all injured were leg, arm, back and upper-body wounds.

Authorities were still hunting Thursday afternoon for the three armed and dangerous suspects who got out of the car, plus its driver, they said at a news conference. They are conducting forensic testing on a blue Hyundai Sonata believed to have been involved, said Frank Vanore, Philadelphia Police deputy commissioner of investigations.

Its not clear whether the gunfire was related to a deadly Monday afternoon shooting in which Philadelphia schoolchildren also were victims, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel told reporters Wednesday, even as year-to-date homicides in the city are down about 30% and far below the highs of the pandemic years, police statistics show.

If they are connected  and I dont know if they are  we want to end this dispute very quickly, Vanore said.

The incidents come as the United States grapples with an ongoing gun violence epidemic, particularly among youth. Firearms are now the No. 1 killer of children and teens in America, having surpassed motor vehicle accidents, which had been the leading cause of death among Americas youth until 2020.

The attacks also are among 71 mass shootings reported in the United States in the first 66 days of this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which tallies those in which four people, not including shooters, are hit by gunfire.

The three suspects in Wednesdays shooting in Philadelphia got out of a car and ran up behind the Northeast High School students, some wearing backpacks, according to surveillance video posted by police on X. Gunfire then erupted before the three retreated into the car, which drove off  all within about 10 seconds.

Police found 34 shell casings at the scene from three handguns, Vanore said.

The edited police video shows zoomed-in stills of each of the three suspects, saying all are males with thin builds. Each wore a mask, according to the video captions, which describe the clothing of each assailant; there is no description of the driver.

In pouring rain, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and Bethel vowed to roll out more law enforcement resources to fight back against this type of gun violence.

It is hard to sit here and see in three days  11 juveniles shot who were going and coming to school, Bethel said. The cowardly acts that weve seen over the last three days are unacceptable.

Wednesdays eight gunshot victims include two 15-year-olds, five 16-year-olds and a 17-year-old; one is a girl, Philadelphia police said in a news release. The teen shot nine times remains in critical condition, while the others are stable, police said Thursday.

Two Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority buses also were struck by gunfire, according to a spokesperson. No one on the buses was injured.

Police will ramp up resources, chief says

The mayor assured residents that city officials will do everything they can to ensure the publics safety. And we dont apologize for using every legal and constitutional tool in our tool belt in order to get that done, Parker added.

In Mondays shooting, one teen was killed, two other teens were injured, and two women on a bus were hit by bullets in a shooting police labeled as targeted.

Investigators are also combing tips from the public and social media to figure out what may have led to Wednesdays shooting.

Theres some kind of dispute that happened before  we dont know where, we dont know how  and it led to this violence, Vanore said.

The downstream impacts if we do not address gun violence and we do not address guns is what we see today, Bethel said. As a result of what weve seen over the past three days, we are going to be ramping up our resources significantly.

Transit police and Philadelphia police are working together on the investigation.

CNNs Danny Freeman reported from Philadelphia and Steve Almasy reported and wrote in Atlanta. CNNs Alisha Ebrahimji, Michelle Watson and Yan Kaner contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
PHILADELPHIA  Police say eight Philadelphia high school students waiting to board a city bus after classes Wednesday were wounded by gunshots from suspects who jumped from a car and opened fire, the fourth shooting on the transit system in as many days.

The previous three shootings each involved a fatality. At least one student was critically wounded at the bus stop, a 16-year-old who was hit nine times, Kevin Bethel, the citys police commissioner, said at a news conference. The others were in stable condition.

Bethel said the Northeast High School students, ranging in age from 15 to 17, were waiting for the bus around 3 p.m. when three people emerged from the car, which was waiting at the scene, and fired more than 30 shots.Police then received numerous 911 calls about a mass shooting on the highway near Dunkin Donuts, in northeast Philadelphia, according to police spokesperson Tanya Little.

The injured teens were taken to Einstein Medical Center and Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, according to John Golden, a spokesperson for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA. Two buses  a Route 18 bus and a Route 67 bus  were hit by gunfire, but there were no reports of injuries to passengers or the driver.

Northeast High School is more than a mile from where the shooting took place and the largest public high school in the city, with more than 3,000 students.

Monique Braxton, deputy chief of communications for the Philadelphia school district, said the shooting occurred near Crossan Elementary, which was dismissing students at the time but pulled them back inside and locked down. It later got an all-clear from police.



Mayor Cherelle Parker, standing at the scene with the city police commissioner and prosecutor and the school superintendent, said she wanted people to know that we will not be held hostage, that we will use every legal tool in the toolbox to ensure the public health and safety of the people of our city.

Superintendent Tony Watlington Sr. said officials were absolutely heartbroken and angry that innocent children walking home from school would be impacted by gun violence, and we agree with the mayor: Enough is enough.The scene was cordoned off with yellow police tape in the aftermath of the shooting, with dozens of evidence markers lying on the rain-slicked pavement.

Neighborhood resident Jessica Healy, who was with her 2-year-old daughter, said the area has become more unsafe in recent years, and she has neighbors who are already in the process of moving due to previous incidents.I think its really sad and just dangerous that I dont even want to walk my daughter out here, Healy said.Its not safe.  I dont like it here. I would like to move. But my boyfriend has a good job here, so this is why we stay, she added.

Another longtime resident, Brenda Keith, said she doesnt take extraordinary measures to stay safe, other than being aware of her surroundings in case she suddenly needs to get away from trouble. She understands if people dont feel safe in the city right now or are uneasy about riding SEPTA, but shes determined not to let shootings stop her from living her life.

But were not the only city thats going through this.  Ive been here a long time and things have gotten worse, but thats the way life is, Keith said.

Wednesdays shooting followed shootings the previous three days in which someone was killed while riding, entering or leaving a SEPTA bus.

Tuesdays shooting occurred around 6:35 p.m., when police said a verbal argument and then a physical fight began. One of the two passengers exited, turned and fired two shots from a 9 mm handgun, hitting a man later identified as 37-year-old Carmelo Drayton. He died shortly afterward at a hospital.

The shooter, who officials said was wearing one of the kinds of masks not allowed on the transit system, fled. Authorities were investigating a possible motive, and no other injuries were reported.

SEPTAs chief of transit police, Charles Lawson, said the shots were fired at the victim while the driver was immediately behind.

On Monday, a 17-year-old student was killed and four other people were wounded when gunfire erupted at a bus stop. The victims included two women who were riding on a bus. And on Sunday, around 11:30 p.m., a 27-year-old man was killed by another passenger moments after they both got off a bus. Witnesses said the two had argued, but a motive remains under investigation.

No arrests have been made in any of the shootings, Frank Vanore, deputy commissioner of the Philadelphia police department, said Wednesday.

While serious crime overall is down along the transportation system, Lawson said, a pattern that has emerged over the past year and a half is people carrying weapons, usually illegally, getting into an argument and then opening fire. He vowed that officials would enforce crime aggressively and unapologetically and use every legal means at our disposal to target illegal gun possession.

Were going to target individuals concealing their identity. Were going to target fare evasion. Were going to target open drug use, Lawson said. Were going to target every criminal code on the books. Officials are increasing monitoring of security cameras and looking into ways to let employees report potential problems discreetly and safely, Lawson added.
ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)  Honor Guard members with the Abilene Police and Fire departments (APD/AFD) were invited to honor Abilenes last survivor of the World War II Lost Battalion on Wednesday after his passing last month.

In a Facebook post from APD, the department highlighted Corporal Rufus Choate, an Abilene High graduate and one of just 99 men from town who belonged to the Lost Battalion, also known as Battery E.

Lost Battalion remembered at 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum

CPL Choate passed away in February, just about five weeks shy of his 102nd birthday. He passed in Wise County and had his ashes interred at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.

In life, CPL Choate was remembered as a kind and sympathetic man.

It was November of 1940 when CPL Choate joined Battery E, at just 18 years old. His battalion of 534 men was captured by Japanese forces just before his 22nd birthday in March of 1942, and the men were finally liberated in September of 1945. Eight Abilene men belonging to Battery E died as prisoners of war (POW).

During his service, CPL Choate would be forced to spend his days as a POW at least four times.

Since 1945, Battery E would get together once a year. Their last reunion was held in 2018 with just four members remaining. To this day, there is one last member of the Lost Battalion  a Robert L. Handley of Wyoming, Minnesota, as according to Choates obituary by the Wise County Messenger.

After his time of service, CPL Choate came back to his Abilene stomping grounds and run the Choate Plumbing Company. In April of 1959, he was elected commander of the Abilene American Legion Post No. 57.

School renovation discovery reveals untold story of Abilene hero, Japanese POW during WWII

Today, Lost Battalion Memorial Highway signs are on display between County Road 3001 in Decatur through Texas Highway 199 in Jacksboro. You can visit a very special memorial plaque at the front lawn of the old Taylor County Courthouse on Oak Street in Abilene.

What a great piece of Abilene history and such an honor for our department to be invited to celebrate him, APD wrote about CPL Choates service.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com.
Capital punishment opponents launched a petition on Tuesday to halt the execution of a Black, disabled Georgia man who was convicted of murder nearly 30 years ago.

Willie Pye, 59, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection on March 20 at 7 p.m. for the November 1993 killing of his ex-girlfriend Alicia Lynn Yarbrough, a judge announced last Thursday.

Georgians For Alternatives to the Death Penalty, an organization working to end capital punishment, launched a petition this week to stop Pyes execution, citing his intellectual disability. The petition states that the U.S. Constitution prohibits the execution of intellectually disabled people, but Georgia is the only state in the country that requires proof of intellectual disability beyond a reasonable doubt before they can be declared ineligible for the death penalty.

According to The New York Times, Georgias standard for proving an intellectual disability is intended to be hard to meet and, in the context of prosecutions, meant to let some guilty people go free to avoid the risk of sending innocent people to prison. Every other state in the U.S. uses preponderance of evidence  showing that it is more likely than not  as a standard for proving an intellectual disability.

This is an unattainable standard, the petition wrote. Had Willie Pye been tried in a state that uses preponderance of evidence as a standard of proof, he would have been ineligible for the death penalty.

The petition also claimed that Spalding County, where Willie was tried and convicted almost 30 years ago, pursued the death penalty at a higher rate than counties of similar sizes and disproportionately against Black people.

It went on to highlight how, during Pyes trial, the jury didnt get to hear about Pyes deeply traumatic childhood, intellectual disability, the racism in the community he was raised in or how hes been non-violent throughout the decades hes been in prison. Pyes lawyers had made similar arguments for years, claiming that his trial attorney failed to do a sufficient investigation into Pyes life, background, physical and psychiatric health as a way to prevent mitigating evidence to the jury during sentencing, Georgia Public Broadcasting reported.

In one day, the petition garnered over 1,400 signatures, as well as the support of organizations such as Death Penalty Action and New Disabled South.

According to a press release from the Georgia attorney generals office, Pye and two other people broke into the home of a man whom Yarbrough was living with at the time with the intention to rob him. The three found Yarbrough in the house with her baby, stole her ring and necklace and abducted her, leaving the baby behind.

Pye and his two companions drove off with Yarbrough and pulled over on a dirt road, where Pye ordered his ex-girlfriend to lie face down and shot her three times. On June 6, 1996, Pye was found guilty by a jury on counts of malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, armed robbery, burglary and rape.

The execution scheduled for later in March will be the first in Georgia since January 2020, following its temporary halt on executions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Georgia Public Broadcasting reported.

Related...
Sandler's earnings show that cinema is no longer the only route to riches for A-list actors - HANNES P ALBERT / AVALON

Adam Sandler has become Hollywoods highest-paid actor as a result of his deal with Netflix.

Sandler made $73 million (57 million) last year, according to Forbes magazine. Murder Mystery 2, in which he starred opposite Jennifer Aniston, was one of the streamers biggest comedy hits.

The Forbes list has traditionally been dominated by stars of cinema, from Kevin Costner and Harrison Ford to Tom Cruise and George Clooney.

Sandlers position at the top demonstrates the new power of streaming services. Neither Murder Mystery 2 nor Sandlers other big film of 2023, Leo, were shown on the big screen.

The actor signed a reported $250 million renewal deal with Netflix in 2020, amid claims subscribers had spent two billion hours watching his films since 2015. Theres no such thing as too much Sandler, the company said at the time.

Aniston and Sandler in a scene from Murder Mystery 2 - NETFLIX

The original Murder Mystery was the most-watched film on the streaming platform in 2019.

Murder Mystery 2 received lukewarm reviews from critics but 42 million views in its opening weekend, appearing in Netflixs top 10 in 91 countries.

The deal also allows Sandler, 57, to make more serious fare. This year he released Spaceman, in which he plays a Czech astronaut mourning the breakdown of his marriage.

Last year he also released the low-key coming-of-age story You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah, playing a Jewish father.

His 2023 earnings were boosted by a string of stand-up comedy dates.

Margot Robbie was second on the Forbes list with earnings of $59 million thanks to her star turn in Barbie, which she also co-produced. At 33, she is the youngest person in the top 10 by a decade.

She was followed by Tom Cruise, Ryan Gosling, her Barbie co-star, and Matt Damon.

Sandlers Murder Mystery partner Jennifer Aniston was sixth, followed by Leonardo DiCaprio, Jason Statham, Ben Affleck and Denzel Washington.

The highest earner in 2022 was actor, writer and studio boss Tyler Perry, while Dwayne The Rock Johnson topped the list for three years before that.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
ADAMS COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM)  A death investigation in Adams County is underway and a man faces charges including abuse of a corpse after Troopers say they found a dead woman at a deplorable residence Tuesday.

Darryl Carter, 35, of Biglerville, allegedly stepped on a womans dead body multiple times and assaulted a child after first responders arrived at a home along Chambersburg Road in Franklin Township, State Police in Gettysburg said in a criminal complaint.

Carter called 911 before 2:30 p.m. for a 38-year-old woman in cardiac arrest and sounded out of breath. When EMS arrived no one opened the door so they had to force their way inside the home, where they were met by Carter who asked them why they were there, Troopers said.

PSP: Pennsylvania man accused of igniting trucks on fire for insurance money

A womans dead body was spotted by EMS lying in plain view, and there was no running water or sewer services. Dirty diapers were also piled throughout the residence and there were wrappers and food throughout the kitchen area, including the floor, according to court documents.

Close

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Nittany Insiders

The circumstances surrounding the womans death are currently under investigation, State Police said in a news release.

The criminal complaint states that Carter refused to talk to Troopers about the dead body that was outside his bedroom. When Troopers said they had to check for other victims, Carter got mad, grabbed a young child, and swung him in the air past a Trooper.

Carter then stepped on top of the dead body multiple times as he walked back and forth throughout the home, State Police said.

State Police said that when they tried to open the bathroom door they couldnt because there were cooking pots filled with urine and feces blocking it.

What is the most popular alcohol in Pennsylvania?

Court documents state that as Carter was being detained, a white powdery substance was found on a bedroom dresser. There was also a crib in the bedroom that had blankets soaked in urine.

Carter faces numerous charges that include two felony counts of endangering the welfare of children and misdemeanor counts of simple assault and abuse of a corpse.

Carter is currently locked up in Adams County prison with bail set at $50,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 13.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
We need stronger privacy laws on the federal level that stop corporations from tracking this data and holding onto it, said Jon McCray Jones, an ACLU policy analyst.

Rights advocates are pushing for privacy laws to protect pregnant women from being surveilled and criminalized for receiving abortion care.

Jon McCray Jones, a policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union, told theGrio that women who live in states that outlaw abortions can be surveilled and criminalized for getting an abortion in states that have legalized the procedure.

Alexis McGill Johnson (center), president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, advocates for safe and legal abortion during New York Citys Pride parade in 2022, the year the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

Jones told theGrio that surveillance can begin the moment, a family member, friend, coworker or social worker of a pregnant woman leaves a tip for law enforcement.

Next, law enforcement can obtain a subpoena or a warrant to acquire devices belonging to the pregnant woman and anyone else who helped her terminate the pregnancy. Officers can then sift through text messages and social media messages to find evidence to criminalize those involved.

Jones told theGrio that pregnant women are also at risk of surveillance while receiving medical treatment.

You come to a hospital and say I had a miscarriage, however a health care worker can then tip off law enforcement and state that the patient engaged in a self-managed abortion, he said.

Officers would then obtain a subpoena or a warrant to access the patients phone and look through the search history to see if the patient looked up ways to get an abortion.

At the U.S. Supreme Court, justices ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization overturned Roe and gave states the authority to set their own laws on abortion. (Photo by Jacquelyn Martin, AP/File)

Jones said, They can prosecute you that way and build a case.

U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., told theGrio that she has seen an influx of pregnant women coming to California from states where its not legal to get abortions. As a result, these women have become victims of tracking.

The person who gave them money to rent the car, drove with them or let them stay with them while getting an abortion are also being tracked, monitored and then criminalized, she continued.

Jones highlighted a case out of Nebraska, where a mother and daughter were sentenced to prison for working together to abort a pregnancy and for burying the remains.

In April 2022, Facebook messages showed that Jessica Burgess, 41, gave abortion pills to her daughter Celeste, who was 17 at the time. Before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Nebraska had enacted a law that prohibited abortions after 20 weeks.

In April 2023, Planned Parenthood and Los Angeles County leaders held a news conference to respond to a Texas judges ruling to rescind FDA approval of mifepristone, a drug that blocks progesterone, a hormone needed for a pregnancy to continue. (Photo by Christina House/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Celeste was around 28 weeks pregnant at the time she consumed the abortion pills. She then confided in a friend, who alerted law enforcement to the crime.

Officers obtained a warrant and found messages on Facebook that confirmed Burgess and Celeste conspired to illegally terminate her pregnancy. As a result, Burgess was sentenced to two years behind bars and Celeste faced 90 days in jail and two years probation.

Although this case took place before the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Jones said history could repeat itself.

The Supreme Courts decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, which overturned Roe, also gave states the authority to create their own abortion laws. Since then, a number of Republican-led states have enacted abortion bans, including Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Texas and Idaho, and the restrictions have disproportionately impacted marginalized communities.

America has a long history of enforcing its moralistic views on sexuality and bodily autonomy in a very authoritarian way on people even if that comes down at the cost of your liberty, privacy and freedom, said Jones.

With laws restricting abortion, pregnant women are at risk of having their privacy violated, rights advocates contend. (Photo by Rogelio V. Solis, AP/File)

Everyone should have the right to have an abortion, Jones added. We need stronger privacy laws on the federal level that stop corporations from tracking this data and holding onto it.

Rep. Kamlager-Dove told theGrio that she is prioritizing keeping data safe for all Americans.

We are now dealing with making sure privacy is observed and keeping people safe and preserving their right to making private medical decisions, she added.

Never miss a beat: Get our daily stories straight to your inbox with theGrios newsletter.

The post Advocates push for privacy laws to protect women seeking abortions from criminalization appeared first on TheGrio.
The Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021 after almost 20 years of Western military intervention

An Afghan judge who has been forced to go into hiding from the Taliban was wrongly refused relocation to the UK, the High Court has ruled.

The anonymous claimant prosecuted Taliban and Islamic State group members, and has since avoided an assassination attempt, the court heard.

The UK government argued he had not worked closely enough with the UK in Afghanistan to qualify for relocation.

A UK government spokesperson says officials are "considering" the ruling.

The Afghan judge is currently in hiding in an unspecified third country with his wife and children, two of whom are in poor health, it emerged in court.

He lives with the constant "risk that they may be forcibly returned to Afghanistan", according to a ruling in his favour.

Zoe Cooley, the claimant's solicitor, said the government had a "moral, as well as a legal, responsibility to bring our client and his family to safety".

The ruling does not automatically qualify him for relocation but does mean the government must now reassess his application in light of the court's findings.

Ms Cooley called on the UK government to act "very swiftly" to bring the judge and his family to the UK before it was "too late".

'Plainly faulty'

The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme was set up to offer people who worked for or with the UK government in Afghanistan a path to move to the UK.

It is aimed at those who could be exposed to retribution by the Taliban, which re-seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, due to their association with international forces involved in the invasion.

The Afghan judge who brought the High Court case first applied to ARAP in August 2021 but was rejected in March 2022 - a decision upheld by an appeals panel in May 2023.

The government officials responsible for reviewing the application effectively ruled that he did not directly work for or with the UK government and was therefore not eligible.

Now High Court judge Mr Justice Julian Knowles has ruled that decision was "irrational" and based on "plainly faulty" reasoning as the Afghan judge's activities "personally and directly" had helped to further the UK's goals in Afghanistan.

'Assassinations and terror'

The High Court heard the judge asked for help to leave Afghanistan during the August 2021 evacuation but "did not receive a reply" and was left in the country.

He served as a senior judge for six years in an area which saw some of the heaviest fighting and counter-insurgency during the Afghanistan war.

The court heard he oversaw cases involving murder, violence against women, terrorism, kidnapping, drug smuggling and corruption.

The perpetrators were often members of the Taliban and the Islamic State group.

When the Taliban had surrounded his home city in 2021 during its rapid campaign to seize control of Afghanistan, the judge had to be "air-lifted out of the region by military aircraft" for his safety, the High Court was told.

Mr Justice Knowles accepted the claimant's evidence that the Taliban had had informants on the court's staff during his time as a judge - some of whom now hold high-ranking positions in the government.

Some of the people the judge sentenced in Afghanistan have since "obtained high positions in the present Taliban regime".

The judge was involved in cases where suspects were apprehended after operations based on intelligence provided by "international forces" operating in Afghanistan.

Taliban operatives have "visited family members seeking [the] whereabouts" of the judge, the court heard.

A partial statement from the judge was published by the court on Monday as part of the ruling. It read: "I am struggling a lot and my wife and children now have a very hard life. What we are going through is very difficult.

"The situation here is much worse than the Taliban are admitting to publicly. We are aware of constant killings and assassinations and terror.

"The media and the journalists have no access to this and so it is not being properly reported... As a Chief Judge I know I will be killed and my family too."

'Semantic hair-splitting'

The judge's solicitor told the BBC his work had come at "immense personal risk" and he "was the subject of repeated threats, including a documented assassination attempt upon him in March 2020".

In his written judgement, Mr Justice Knowles said the grounds on which the panel had rejected the judge's application for relocation amounted to "semantic hair-splitting".

He said the MoD had failed to explain why working to uphold the rule of law in Afghanistan was "not sufficient to count as working 'alongside' and in 'support'" of the UK government.

He continued: "[The judge] performed significant activities which were closely aligned with the democracy-building and rule of law building activities of the UK government... He made significant contributions to the building of a properly functioning criminal justice system in the fields of terrorism, anti-narcotics, and anti-corruption, among others."

It is unclear how long it will take for the judge's application to be reassessed.

Responding to the ruling, a government spokesperson said: "We note the outcome of the court proceedings in relation to an ARAP-related case, which we are considering. It is inappropriate to comment further at this time.

"We continue to honour our commitment to those brave Afghans that supported the UK mission in Afghanistan.

"So far, we have brought around 27,900 people to safety from Afghanistan, including over 15,800 people from the ARAP scheme, including over 3,000 since October 2023."
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  A physician has been convicted after practicing at his Grand Rapids clinic while his license was suspended, the Michigan attorney general says.

A Kent County jury found 54-year-old Husam Thamin Abed, of Sterling Heights, guilty of six counts of the unauthorized practice of a health profession, the Michigan Department of Attorney General announced Wednesday in a release.

State: Doctor treated girls for conditions they didnt have

The department says Abed had initially practiced urogynecology with a license at his Grand Rapids clinic. But with authorization from the Board of Medicine, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs started investigating Abed and on May 17, 2022, filed an administrative complaint against him, according to the release. The complaint alleged the physician had diverged from acceptable medical standards.

About a week later, LARA issued a summary suspension of Abeds license to practice medicine, according to the AGs office.

The office says Abed continued to treat patients even after the suspension, based on an investigation by LARA and the Michigan Department of Attorney General.

Practicing medicine without a license, or while that license is suspended, is a criminal offense that the State will meet with appropriate enforcement to protect the public health, Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement.

The AGs office says sentencing is scheduled for late May. The unauthorized practice of a health profession is a felony that can carry up to four years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine, according to the office.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
An AI call handler could struggle with Birmingham accents, it's feared - Ingus Kruklitis/iStockphoto

A police force trialling an AI-powered non-emergency call service fears the technology will not understand callers with a Birmingham accent, it has emerged.

West Midlands Police trialled a voice assistant powered by artificial intelligence in an attempt to deal with rising volumes of 101 calls.

It set out potential risks of the AI, including whether the system, named Amy101, would understand local Brummie accents.

A document detailing the plan was mistakenly posted online by the office of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).

The document, seen by the BBC, was reportedly marked official sensitive with warnings that it was not to be publicly disclosed.

The findings, which were prepared for an ethical oversight committee that advises the PCC and chief constable, have since been removed.

The report highlights potential problems including whether the tech could cope with the local accent.

Bias will naturally occur within the Amy system based on accents/localisation  for example can she understand Brummie accents? And are they treated with equal weighting to different accents in English? the document asks.

The force recognised that technologies capable of understanding ordinary language were not flawless, and therefore may struggle with accents.

If calls were not understood however, they would be transferred to the queue for a human operator.

AI could prioritise vulnerable callers

The technology, which was based on Amazons voice assistant, Alexa, was designed to help the force cope with increasing volumes of calls, and potentially offer new services such as responses in different languages.

Amy101 was expected to handle about 200 calls per day. The project, a two month proof-of-concept trial, was nationally funded.

The AI also had the ability to prioritise vulnerable callers, the document stated, by looking out for keywords such as those linked to domestic violence.

Those calls would then be handled by the next available human call operator.

Potential issues around safeguarding data were also flagged.

The ethics committee also had a number of questions, recorded in its minutes, about Amy101, such as the voice and gendered name of the tool. The force responded arguing humanisation was needed.

It also suggested officers requested further analysis from Amazon on potential issues such as regional accent recognition and bias testing.

West Midlands Police told the BBC the trial began on Dec 19 2023 and had now concluded.

Peter Gillet, the director of commercial services at the force, said: AI does present some potential opportunities for providing a more efficient and robust service.

Now the trial is over, the force would be sharing the results and outcomes at a national scale, he added.

AI is already being used in other areas of policing, such as retrospective facial recognition (RFR) software.

In October last year, Chris Philp, the policing minister, wrote to chief constables urging them to double their use of the software over the next six months.

RFR allows authorities to use facial recognition after an event to establish who a person is or whether their image matches other media held on a database.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Drug smuggling from Iran to Azerbaijan has been prevented, a source in the Azerbaijani State Border Service told Trend.

According to the source, the smuggling was prevented owing to the vigilance of the Horadiz border detachment's servicemen on March 6 at 06:30 (GMT +4).

As a result of border searches and operational activities in the service territory, 11.25 kg of drugs were found and confiscated.

The investigation into the facts continues.

Previously, narcotics smuggling from Iran to Azerbaijan was blocked in the service territory of the Horadiz border detachment of the Border Guards of the State Border Service on February 9.

As a result, during the inspection of the territory, 11.7 kg of marijuana were found and confiscated.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
DENVER (KDVR)  From a marriage in the backyard to a rental with over 100 proposals, these two Colorado Airbnbs are some of the most well-known stays in the world for proposals.

Airbnb listed a handful of spots around the world that are the top stays for popping the question, and two of them are in Colorado.

One Airbnb home in Idledale, known as the Red Rocks Oasis, made the list after having over 100 proposals on the property, according to Airbnb. Idledale is an unincorporated town south of Genesee.

This Colorado city was planned as a utopia

Another property in Estes Park is also known for proposals and even weddings. The place is named Hot Tub Near National Park.

Nathan Welton, the owner of the Airbnb in Estes Park, said one time he came home, and his guests were getting married in the backyard. As a wedding photographer, hes also taken many engagement photos on his property.

Estes Park Airbnb (Credit: Nathan Welton)

Estes Park Airbnb (Credit: Nathan Welton)

Estes Park Airbnb (Credit: Nathan Welton)

Estes Park Airbnb (Credit: Nathan Welton)

View from Estes Park Airbnb (Credit: Nathan Welton)

Estes Park Airbnb (Credit: Nathan Welton)

Welton attributes some of the spots romance to the design of the home.

I wanted to create a space where people can connect, said Welton. I made a conscious decision not to have a television in there, and I put the bed right in front of this giant window so every morning when the sun rises, if you want to watch the sunrise, you can just see it come up over the mountains right from bed. Little things like that just, I feel like, make it a little bit more romantic and encourage people to actually connect.

Right now, the Airbnb consists of a private basement room, but Welton plans to transform the entire home into a rentable space.

Guests have left reviews on both Airbnb homes announcing they got engaged at the properties.

At the Idledale Airbnb, multiple guests left reviews that mention proposals on the website that range from a few months ago to years ago.

This oasis was beautiful, and the views are unmatched. I proposed to my girlfriend here and the hosts were so kind with extra little touches. The bed is super comfortable, and all of the amenities were fantastic. Try to take advantage of the hot tub if you can. Very romantic and also feels private being detached from the main house, Corey commented eight months ago.

Gorgeous castle and terrace. Proposed to my girlfriend there. It was magical, Vishal commented in 2016.

Denver property owners asked to rent to migrants

Meanwhile, the Estes Park location reviews mentioned many proposals throughout the years as well.

I took my now fiance here to stay the night in Estes after I proposed in RMNP, and it was perfect. The view was gorgeous, it was simple, and we loved hut rubbing with the view. Also, SUPER close to downtown and good price. Easy to find. Would stay again! Rachel commented in October 2023.

Nathans place was great for our weekend stay among the Rockies. I chose this as the home base for my girlfriend and my trip where we got engaged and would definitely recommend it to anyone celebrating a special occasion or looking for some great views. The way the bed is positioned in the open-style flat, you can get an amazing view of the mountains as you lay down. It felt naturey and private and was in a wonderful location to visit the national park and the cool town nearby, Nathan commented in 2017.

Airbnb lists other places worldwide as top spots to propose with locations in Australia, Italy, Scotland, England, Canada, North Carolina and Texas.

These Colorado Airbnbs are two of the four rentals in the U.S. that made the list.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
Richland County may soon join Columbia and other South Carolina jurisdictions in requiring Airbnbs and other short-term rentals to have permits and pay taxes.

Richland County Council on Tuesday approved a measure to require all short-term rentals in the unincorporated county to have a county business license and to pay a 3-percent accommodations tax. The council unanimously approved the rules Tuesday but will need to vote twice more before the rules are final.

If passed, anyone operating an Airbnb or other short-term rental  meaning a property being rented for 30 days or less  will have to have a Richland County business license and be subject to safety inspections. The cost of a business license in the county is determined by how much revenue a business makes in a year.

The rental operators will also have to provide at least two parking spaces and keep a record of all guests who have stayed in the last two years along with the guests contact information.

The county previously considered adopting rules for the rentals but paused the discussions while the state Legislature debates a number of bills that could prevent cities and counties from limiting short-term rentals.

If the state did forbid local jurisdictions from restricting where short term rentals could operate, the new regulations could cost the county more than $100,000 per year because suddenly the number of possible rentals would require up to two more staff members, according to a memo presented to County Council Tuesday.

But the memo also estimates that if 500 short-term rentals were licensed in Richland County, they would produce an annual gross revenue of $100,000 from business licenses and $1.5 million in new accommodations taxes.

For now, however, Richland County likely wont have more than 100 short-term rentals, estimated Assistant County Administrator Aric Jensen.

Short-term rentals are only allowed in a handful of mixed-use and commercially-zoned areas in the countys new land development code. The rentals are not permitted in single-family neighborhoods, for example, which make up the bulk of land in the county.

The updated land development code, which took effect March 1, actually creates more space for short-term rentals. Previously they werent allowed anywhere.

Jensen said the new rules would give the county the ability to collect taxes on the rental properties and to enforce minor safety requirements.

The rules are less stringent than in Columbia, which distinguishes between owner-occupied rentals and non-owner-occupied rentals and charges more for non-owner-occupied properties. Columbia previously considered only allowing owner-occupied rentals, but rental owners said that would decimate the rental volume because most of the rentals in the city are not in owner-occupied properties.

Richland Countys ordinance makes no distinction when it comes to the rules for either property.

Neighboring Lexington County also has been mulling an ordinance that could restrict how, when and where short-term rentals could operate, but county leaders have not yet passed any regulations.
Republicans in Alabama were spurred to quickly pass legislation protecting IVF after clinics across the southern US state halted the procedure (Elijah Nouvelage)

After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children, women who were undergoing fertility treatments in the southern US state had their lives thrown into shock and uncertainty.

One woman had her long-awaited embryo transfer canceled, while another did not know when or if she would be able to retrieve her frozen eggs, they told US media.

The state supreme court ruled in mid-February that embryos created by in vitro fertilization (IVF) should have the rights of children.

Destroying abnormal or non-viable embryos -- among other common measures practiced by fertility clinics -- could therefore open the clinics to liability claims.

Immediately after the ruling, several Alabama clinics announced that they were suspending their programs, while the issue quickly became a national political flashpoint.

"Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God, who views the destruction of His image as an affront to Himself," Alabama Chief Justice Tom Parker wrote in his concurring opinion.

After seeing a harsh response to the decision's impacts -- including from national Republicans such as Donald Trump -- state lawmakers rushed to find a fix to allow clinics to reopen.

On Wednesday, the state legislature quickly passed new legislation, which the governor promptly signed, but uncertainty still remains -- with experts fearing that ambiguities in the text may not provide a sufficient shield.

The Alabama saga was the latest shift in the American legal landscape related to reproductive rights following the US Supreme Court's historic 2022 decision to revoke the national right to abortion.

Even then, specialists had expressed worries that fertility treatments could be curtailed if conservative states moved to ban abortions by giving embryos and fetuses personhood rights.

- Families 'stuck' in legal limbo -

Meghan Cole, an Alabama attorney, has a blood disorder that causes her "not to be able to carry children," she told NBC's Today Show after the state's decision.

"My husband and I want a child desperately," she said, explaining that they had used IVF and were planning to transfer an embryo to a surrogate to carry the fetus.

But a few days after the Alabama ruling, her clinic told her that the transfer had been canceled.

"We had meetings with lawyers all day. We can't move forward knowing that we might be open to some sort of liability or criminal prosecution if something were to happen to the embryo before it's transferred," she recalled her doctor saying.

Despite her pleas, the clinic would not proceed, not even allowing her to transfer the embryo out of state.

Anistie Held, who lives far away in Virginia, found herself in similar straits.

She was diagnosed with cancer while residing in Florida, and chose to have her eggs frozen in neighboring Alabama before undergoing chemotherapy, she told NBC Washington.

She said she hopes to use the eggs within the year, but her clinic "paused all their IVF treatments" following the court ruling.

Cole said she and her husband were "stuck," and left wondering "how long this will take?"

They expect the entire process, including payments to the surrogate, to cost them around $250,000. A single IVF cycle in the United States can cost more than $20,000.

- 'Pro-life, pro-family' -

Experts and NGOs strongly denounced the decision, while Democratic President Joe Biden called it "outrageous and unacceptable."

"What is really frightening about the decision is it uses the very concept -- and I am quoting the decision -- 'extra-uterine children,'" said Nancy Northup, head of the Center for Reproductive Rights.

"If it weren't so scary in its implications, it almost sounds like a farce," she told CNN.

For Republicans, the case has become a major political liability, with Democrats expected to make the preservation of reproductive rights a central part of their 2024 election campaign.

"IVF is a complex issue, no doubt, and I anticipate there will be more work to come," said Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, a Republican, on Wednesday after signing into law new liability protections for any embryos destroyed during IVF.

"From protecting the unborn to supporting IVF, Alabama is proud we are a pro-life, pro-family state."

The University of Alabama at Birmingham, one of several facilities to halt IVF treatments after the February ruling, said Wednesday it would "promptly" resume treatments but "continue to assess developments and advocate for protections for IVF patients and providers."

iba/des/caw
From left to right: Cody Carnley of Crenshaw County, Alabama; Carrie McNair of Mobile; Veronica Wehby-Upchurch of Birmingham and Lindsey Shaw of Birmingham hold signs at a rally in support of legislation to protect in vitro fertilization on Feb. 28, 2024 in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

In todays divisive political landscape, it is extremely unlikely to find an issue where the vast majority of people  much less Alabama legislators  are in agreement. Yet in the period of time since the Alabama Supreme Court ruled frozen embryos are also children in the eyes of the law and effectively halted all IVF services in the state, we have seen near universal public and legislative support in finding a way to help those who need reproductive assistance to build their families regain their ability to do so.

Alabamians overwhelmingly believe that creating families is pro-life, regardless of whether or not technology is required to do it.

It is a rare occurrence to have the legislature almost universally pass legislation that represents the direct beliefs of most of the voters in the state, much less in such a quick and effective manner. The Supreme Court ruling created a problem; the Legislature addressed it; most voters (and all who participate in IVF procedures) are reasonably satisfied by the results for the moment, and clinics should soon reopen. Unfortunately, this is not a permanent fix as long as our court interprets the state constitution as promoting fetal and embryonic personhood.

When voters were told to vote on the Sanctity of Life amendment in 2018, proponents of the measure called it a statement of values, rather than something that would have real and direct impact on their ability to make medical decisions for themselves and their families. Opponents of the amendment were scoffed at when they argued that it could make contraception illegal, force people who were pregnant due to sexual assault to give birth against their will, or make IVF inaccessible in the state.

Amendment 2 merely declares a policy as the will of the people, leaving the specific prohibitions or liberties to the Legislature, the director of Alliance for a Pro-life Alabama said back during the campaign. Yet here we are today, watching our state government craft a response bill that represents the will of the people while battling concerns that no legislative act can supersede the language now found in our state constitution.

Many Alabama voters consider themselves pro-life, but their definition is much more nuanced than the narrow, extreme version coming from the Supreme Court. It is not pro-life to deny families the ability to create a pregnancy any more than it is pro-life to force anyone to risk their permanent health and ability to conceive again by continuing a doomed pregnancy. It is not pro-life to deny access to any contraceptive options in a state with one of the worst maternal mortality and morbidity rates in the nation, nor is it pro-life to have a medical system in which doctors can be subject to more punishment criminally and civilly if they do something that might harm an embryo or fetus than they would if they kill the person carrying it due to their medical neglect.

These were not the results the people of Alabama wanted when they voted for the Sanctity of Life amendment. It is the obligation of the Legislature to provide us with a second chance to define what our values truly are. If every lawmaker who voted for the short-term IVF bill agrees to pass legislation that would allow another vote on the Sanctity of Life amendment, then we can see if this is truly the will of the people and not just the fanatical beliefs of a far-right court.

Now that we have full awareness of what its language does, this is the only way to return the power to the voters and their elected officials, right where it belongs.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Alabama deserves a revote on Life appeared first on Alabama Reflector.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed a bill shielding fertility clinics and patients receiving in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments from civil and criminal liability almost immediately after it was sent to her desk by the Republican-controlled state legislature on Wednesday night, cementing protections for providers less than a month after the Alabama Supreme Courts seismic decision to equate frozen embryos with children.

The overwhelming support of SB159 from the Alabama Legislature proves what we have been saying: Alabama works to foster a culture of life, and that certainly includes IVF. I am pleased to sign this important, short-term measure into law so that couples in Alabama hoping and praying to be parents can grow their families through IVF, Ivey said in a statement, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.

IVF is a complex issue, no doubt, and I anticipate there will be more work to come, but right now, I am confident that this legislation will provide the assurances our IVF clinics need and will lead them to resume services immediately.

At least three clinics in the state immediately suspended treatment in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Courts ruling last month, panicking over liability concerns should an embryo be damaged, destroyed, or discarded during transfer. The Alabama House and Senatewhich voted for the bill 81-12 and 29-1, respectivelyscrambled to pass the bipartisan immunity legislation in the hopes that it might allow the providers to resume services immediately.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham, the first health system to table IVF treatment, said in a statement to the Advertiser on Wednesday that it planned to promptly begin treating patients again. Doctors with Alabama Fertility, another paused clinic, told the Associated Press they would resume service starting tomorrow.

But Infirmary Health Systems and the Center for Reproductive Medicine, the facility at the center of the legal battle that led to the state Supreme Courts ruling, said it was not yet ready to reopen services.

At this time, we believe the law falls short of addressing the fertilized eggs currently stored across the state and leaves challenges for physicians and fertility clinics trying to help deserving families have children of their own, it said in a statement to The New York Times.

The bills Republican sponsor, state Sen. Tim Melson, declared that he was just elated to get these ladies back on schedule.

The immunity proposal was embraced by Alabama Republicans, who nevertheless balked when asked by their Democratic counterparts to consider legislation to address the so-called issues of fetal personhood, or the conferring of legal status on fetuses and embryos.

I think there is too much difference of opinion on when actual life begins, Melson, a retired anesthesiologist, explained to the AP. A lot of people say conception. A lot of people say implantation. Others say heartbeat. I wish I had the answer.

The Alabama Supreme Court laid a hand directly on a third rail with its ruling, sparking a national outcry, upending the lives of IVF patients, and demonstrating the danger still posed to what remains of Americans reproductive rights in a post-Roe landscape.

It also touched off discussions among lawmakers in other states, including in Florida, where Republicans shelved a bill that would have allowed civil claims to be brought over the wrongful death of a fetus; and in Tennessee, where Republicans blocked a bill to enshrine access to IVF treatments and contraceptives, saying the clarification was unnecessary.

Both IVF and contraception are legal here in Tennessee, and theres not something that anybody is doing to not make that legal in Tennessee, state Rep. Brian Terry (R) told the Tennessee Lookout.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
A House committee Wednesday held a public hearing on Wednesday on bills related to sex and gender education. (Getty Images)

An Alabama House committee Wednesday held public hearings on two bills that could restrict sex and gender instruction in public schools, though neither came to a vote.

HB 130, sponsored by Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, would prohibit classroom instruction for any K-12 student regarding sexual orientation or gender identity.

The bill expands a Dont Say Gay law banning those discussions in kindergarten through fifth grade, a measure added in the last hours of the 2022 legislative session to a bathroom bill. Butlers bill is a more limited version of legislation that did not pass out of committee last year.

Butler said that indoctrination was happening in schools, and his bill would allow schools to focus on core subjects.

It is happening all over and it is a component of Marxism, destroying the family in teaching some of these things, let it happen somewhere else other than our schools, he said to the House Education Policy Committee.

Opponents of the bill said it could keep LGBTQ children from having access to safe space with teachers and could have unintended consequences on limiting discussion of any sexual identity or gender.

Jordan Price said the bill was part of a plan to erase LGBTQ people, and said it could also prevent the teaching of notable women.

Every first lady would be doubly erased if we werent allowed to mention that they were married to men nor that they were women themselves, Price said.

Proponents of the bill said that it would protect children.

Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl said that he felt it was a common sense bill.

I think this bill just strengthens the law thats already in place and goes a little bit further making sure that we keep a political agenda or a social agenda out of our schools, he said.

In his opening description, Butler also said that it would contribute to purify the schools. Butler walked that back in discussion with Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, who said that purity was a subjective definition.

Is that what we should be aiming for? she asked. Someone elses subjectivity?

No, maam, said Butler.

HB 195, sponsored by Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, would require sexual education in the state to teach exclusively and emphatically teach sexual risk avoidance content. DuBose defined sexual risk avoidance as abstinence first.

The bill does not explicitly prohibit the teaching of contraception but places limitations on instruction, including that it is in line with sexual risk avoidance; does not normalize, encourage, or promote sexual behavior by youth and teens; does not say that contraception is 100% effective against pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections; and dispels any false sense of security about safe sex.

The bill also requires teachers to instruct students on the states abortion ban, domestic adoption and infant-surrendering laws. Our sex ed program will continue to teach primarily abstinence, which is now called SRA, or sexual risk avoidance, she said.

Christina Clark Okarmus, executive director the Alabama Campaign for Adolescent Sexual Health, which was attacked by DuBose at the start of the hearing, said that Alabama has high rates of teen pregnancy. She said abstinence-only programs do not help reduce teen pregnancy or sexually-transmitted infection (STI) rates.

I think most of us can agree that young people need messages of abstinence and prevention when it comes to sex, she said. This bill, HB 195, is an archaic and dangerous piece of legislation for our youth.

Many medical and health associations endorse comprehensive sex education as the most effective, but the actual research on the impact of different sexual education programs tends to be sparse and ambiguous, according to a 2023 Hechinger Report article.

Beth Pruitt, a sexual-risk avoidance educator, said they took a holistic approach to education and included information about relationships and drug and alcohol use.

We need to discuss that, how they are highly effective, but birth control provides zero protection against STDs and STIs, she said. Condoms have according to the CDC, an 18% typical use failure rate.

The CDC says that external condoms often fail due to inconsistent or incorrect use. The CDC says the typical use failure rate is 13%.

Hannah Burkle, a professional health educator with Planned Parenthood, said that she thinks teen parents can be good parents but, in her experience, teen parents said they think that more sex education could have had an impact on them.

We at Planned Parenthood also agree and believe that parents are the first and most important educators for their children, and from my studies as well as my work, I know that Alabama parents want comprehensive education for their kids, she said.

Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, the chair of the committee, said the bills would return for a vote after spring break.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Alabama House committee holds public hearings on bills limiting sex and gender instruction appeared first on Alabama Reflector.
Alabama state Sen. Tim Melson talks with media after the Senate passed the SB159 bill (IVF Fertility Bill), Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in Montgomery, Ala. | Butch Dill

IVF treatments in Alabama moved to firmer legal footing Wednesday when Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill protecting patients and medical providers.

State lawmakers crafted the IVF bill in response to a state Supreme Court ruling stating that frozen embryos are people and individuals could be held liable for destroying them, according to The Washington Post.

The new law gives IVF patients and providers criminal and civil immunity from lawsuits related to the ruling.

Fertility clinics that paused treatments after the Feb. 16 Alabama Supreme Court decision have already begun resuming them, The Washington Post reported.

Heres a look at the key events that led to Wednesdays bill signing and what could happen next.

Timeline of Alabamas IVF dispute

December 2020  Frozen embryos belonging to several couples are destroyed when a patient at Mobile Infirmary Medical Center in Mobile, Alabama, wanders into the embryo storage facility, attempts to pick up some embryos and then drops them on the ground.

Three of the affected couples sue the hospital and the Center for Reproductive Medicine, alleging wrongful death.

The trial court dismissed one suit involving two of the couples and most of the claims in the second suit after determining that Alabamas Wrongful Death of a Minor Act does not apply to frozen embryos.

Feb. 16, 2024  The Alabama Supreme Court rules that embryos created through IVF and kept frozen in labs can be considered children under the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.

The central question ... is whether the Act contains an unwritten exception to that rule for extrauterine children  that is, unborn children who are located outside of a biological uterus at the time they are killed. Under existing black-letter law, the answer to that question is no: the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location, the ruling said.

Feb. 21, 2024  The University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System cites the ruling to explain why its pausing IVF treatments.

We are saddened that this will impact our patients attempt to have a baby through IVF, but we must evaluate the potential that our patients and our physicians could be prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages for following the standard of care for IVF treatments, said Hannah Echols, a spokesperson for UAB, in a statement about the health systems decision to NBC News.

The next day, two other major IVF providers in the state put their own IVF programs on hold.

Feb. 23, 2024  Former President Donald Trump responds to the Alabama ruling on social media, expressing support for IVF treatments.

Under my leadership, the Republican Party will always support the creation of strong, thriving, healthy American families. We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder! he wrote, according to The Associated Press.

Trump was one of several Republican leaders to defend IVF, USA Today reported. Id have several fewer grandkids if we didnt have IVF, said Sen. Mitt Romney.

Feb. 27, 2024  A bill aiming to protect IVF services in the state is read for the first time in the Alabama Senate.

The bill protects IVF patients and treatment providers with immunity from potential prosecution under the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. Sponsors and others refer to it as a short-term solution.

We are providing with this legislation a pretty broad immunity at this moment in time which to me gives us the impetus to continue to work on this issue for a long term fix, said Rep. Terri Collins to NPR.

March 6, 2024  The Alabama Legislature passes the IVF bill and Gov. Kay Ivey signs it.

Let me say clearly: Alabama supports growing families through IVF, Ivey said when signing the bill, according to The Washington Post. From protecting the unborn to supporting IVF, Alabama is proud we are a pro-life, pro-family state.

The legislation is designed to allow patients and clinics to immediately restart IVF treatments in Alabama, without fear of legal repercussions if embryos are damaged or destroyed during the medical procedure or related services like embryo storage and shipment, NPR reported.

Future of IVF treatments in Alabama

Following the bills passage, IVF providers in Alabama that had put services on hold announced plans to resume treatments.

In that sense, the policy accomplished its goal. But it did leave questions unanswered, including when life begins.

State Republicans are reckoning with a crisis they partly helped create with anti-abortion language added to the Alabama Constitution in 2018. The amendment, which was approved by 59% of voters, says it is state policy to recognize the rights of unborn children, according to The Associated Press.

One of the bills sponsors, Republican Sen. Tim Melson, who is a medical doctor, acknowledged to NPR that many difficult conversations remain to be had.

I think theres just too much difference of opinion on when actual life begins, he told NPR. A lot of people say conception, a lot of people say implantation, a lot of people say heartbeat. ... I wish I had an answer.
Embryologist Ric Ross holds a dish with human embryos at the La Jolla IVF Clinic February 28, 2007 in La Jolla, California. The University of Alabama Bimringham Wednesday said it was stopping IVF treatments after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos were children. (Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey Wednesday night signed a bill aimed at restarting in vitro fertilization (IVF) services in the state, minutes after the Alabama Legislature gave final approval to the legislation.

SB 159, sponsored by Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, which provides criminal and civil immunity to providers and patients of IVF services, passed the House 81-12.

The Senate concurred in House changes to the bill on Wednesday evening on a 29-1 vote.

I truly hope and believe that the clinics will open back, that this is going to provide the immunity that they need to continue doing the process with these families, said Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, who carried the bill in the House, after the bills passage.

Collins sponsored Alabama near-total abortion ban in 2019.

IVF programs in Alabama have been paused since a Feb. 16 Alabama Supreme Court decision that declared frozen embryos children. The court, ruling on a lawsuit over the destruction of frozen embryos by an unauthorized person in a Mobile clinic in 2020, said parents in the suit could collect damages under an 1872 state law allowing civil actions for the deaths of children. Several IVF programs closed in the days following the decision, citing the legal risks to patients and providers.

The decision led to widespread criticism; drew hundreds of people to Montgomery for a Feb. 28 protest and left Republican lawmakers scrambling to restart the programs.

A woman holding a sign saying "I'm Here Because of IVF"

Sarah Brown, a Birmingham resident and in vitro fertilization patient, holds a sign saying Im Here Because of IVF at the Alabama Statehouse on Feb. 28, 2024 in Montgomery, Alabama. Supporters of bills aiming to protect IVF access held a rally Wednesday ahead of committee hearings on the legislation. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

The legislation was amended in committee to also provide criminal but not civil immunity to manufacturers of goods involved in IVF treatment if embryos are destroyed. If found liable, manufacturers of goods would have to pay for damages, determined by the price the family paid for the fertilization treatment.

The court also based its decision on a 2018 Sanctity of Life amendment to the Alabama Constitution, passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2017 and approved by voters in 2018. The amendment says that it is the public policy of this state to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children,including the right to life.

Democrats have argued that the courts reliance on the 2018 measure means that the situation can only be addressed by another constitutional amendment. House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, filed an amendment to do that on Feb. 27, co-sponsored by all 28 Democratic House members. The bill has not come up for a committee vote.



A man in a blue suit and green tie

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, speaks during a debate on a bill aimed at preserving in vitro fertilization services in Alabama in the Alabama House of Representatives at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama on Feb. 29, 2024. The House approved a bill providing criminal and civil immunity to IVF providers, following an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that caused many programs to close their doors. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, said during debate on Wednesday this is a really bad piece of legislation, across the board, because they are legislating issues that lawyers are paid to spot in terms of filing lawsuits.

A second wrongful death of a minor lawsuit was filed last week against the Mobile clinic at the center of the Supreme Court decision. England said the purpose of that lawsuit is to challenge the immunity that the Legislature is creating for IVF providers. He said the Legislature was creating more problems.

Our legislation here provides a clear pathway for doctors in those facilities to destroy embryos, he said. If Im not mistaken, (and) you go back and you read the constitutional amendment, it says that we cant do that. We cant.

Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery, called the legislation a Band-Aid fix and that hes concerned the Legislature will have to come up with another solution if someone successfully challenges the statute.



Are we going to be back in the same exact place? So, I hope moving forward, instead of just the statutory, temporary fix, that we look at the big picture, that we never have to do this again, Ensler said.

Melson said Wednesday night he did not think it was time to go back and re-evaluate the 2018 amendment.

I know there was some talk about looking at it again when Roe v. Wade got overturned, but nobody expected to get overturned, and were just having to deal with the consequences, he said. But again, first and foremost, weve been pro-life. and I think thatll continue, and we just have to work through these complications.

Barbara Collura, president and CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, said in a statement that while they are relieved that clinics in Alabama can restart IVF treatment, that this legislation does not address the underlying issue of the status of embryos as part of the IVF process.

There is more work to be done, the statement said.

At a press conference called by the House Republican Caucus after the bills passage, Collins said that those kinds of solutions are a longer conversation than we can have in the five days.

What were going to have to do is just see what happens as we move forward, Collins said.

Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, said she was concerned that the Legislature is creating a special class of doctors that are immune from damages that other doctors wont have.

I think this is a very dangerous bill for us to be adapting just for the urgency of the situation, Givan said.

Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, voiced his opposition before the Senate concurred. He said that the Legislature is setting a dangerous precedent by assigning a value to a life, in reference to providing partial immunity to manufacturers of goods.

I think it is a path that we absolutely should not have gone down. And we may say were so far down and now we cant turn around and go back, Stutts said.

Some Democratic House members suggested the Legislature is acting with urgency because the Supreme Court ruling is largely affecting people who can afford to pay for the expensive fertility treatment.

England, citing unequal access to reproductive care in the state, said he doesnt want to create a situation where the Legislature creates the haves and the have nots.

Because essentially, if you are rich, and you have the resources, you can do things that IVF clinics that poor people cant do in an abortion clinic, England said.

Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence (right) speaks to a rally for IVF legislation with Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur on Feb. 28, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Supporters of bills aiming to protect IVF access held a rally Wednesday ahead of committee hearings on the legislation. Melson and Collins have both sponsored legislation. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

Rep. Patrick Sellers, D-Birmingham, said hes not opposed to IVF, but he does have issues with it in Alabama if the state chooses to define life at conception. He asked what happens to embryos that are not used and compared it to an abortion.

Im just a little confused at this whole process because it seems on one hand, were being quite hypocritical, but on the other hand, its okay, if you can afford (it), Sellers said.

House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said in the press conference after the bills passage that the legislation was probably as much of a pro-life piece of legislation that weve ever passed.

Rep. Paul Lee, R-Dothan, chair of the House Health committee, said that they had no idea what they would be dealing with the issue three weeks ago, and treated this as a priority by putting everything else on hold.

Our goal was to make sure that the families could continue the process, because life to us is that important, and we wanted to make sure it happened as quickly as we could, Lee said.

Jemma Stephenson contributed to this report.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Alabama Legislature gives final approval to in vitro fertilization bill appeared first on Alabama Reflector.
Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, during a session on redistricting on July 19, 2023 in Montgomery, Ala. (Stew Milne for Alabama Reflector)

The Alabama Senate Wednesday approved a program that would provide public funds for certain education-related expenses after lengthy debate on the Senate floor.

HB 129, sponsored by Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, also known as the CHOOSE Act, passed 23-9. The bill goes to Gov. Kay Ivey, who said in a statement Wednesday that she looks forward to signing it into law.



Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, carried the bill in the Senate and had filed a Senate companion bill. Orr, the chair of the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committe, said it would help students by broadening the education opportunities.

I believe we have a bill that is conservative in nature, and is certainly sustainable in the education budget, he said.

The bill creates a tax-credit program to provide up to $7,000 to a school-age child, based on a number of factors. The money could be spent on a number of non-public education expenses, including private school tuition, private tutoring or educational software and applications.

The bill underwent a number of changes in the House of Representatives, including adding an overall fund cap; giving priority to children of active-duty service members in priority schools, or schools with D or F grades on the states school report card; and expanding the number of accrediting agencies.

In the first two years, the program will be limited to families making less than 300% of the federal poverty line, or around $75,000 for a family of three. The first 500 spots for special education students are not subject to income-level. Orr said after the 500 spots, children of active-duty service members would get preference. Additional students would be brought in based on economic status.

Starting Sept. 30 2026, the Legislature must appropriate at least $100 million for the program each year.

Democrats in the House and Senate said the program will drain the Alabama Education Trust Fund (ETF), which funds K-12 schools and public colleges and universities in the state. Democratic senators continued to raise objections.

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, tried to add an amendment that would provide money for any special needs-related services at zoned schools if the student uses the money to go elsewhere. Orr said that was federal money and could not be calculated.

Smitherman said that children were not being thought of in the process.

I appreciate you, said Orr.

I want you to appreciate these students, said Smitherman.

Smitherman said the bill would lead to students with more resources to leave public schools, which would increase racial polarization in the public school system.

It breeds segregation, he said.

Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, said the Senate was not doing their role as the deliberative body.

This legislation is so important, were talking about the livelihood of the future of children and and how children are going to be educated in this state, he said.

The bill had been fast-tracked in the Senate after a surprise committee meeting Tuesday evening.

During debate, Singleton said that the bill was not an ultimate choice bill as schools can still choose not to accept students.

Youre being negative, said Orr.

Im just being truthful, said Singleton.

Singleton said school choice was not about choice but about money for the choice.

Orr said that it was about the parents choice to choose the quality of instruction, while Singleton said it was about the use of state dollars.

Theres not really a choice here for rural school children, which makes up 40% of this public school system in the state of Alabama, Singleton said. Some 300,000 kids can be left out of this choice. Its really no choice to those kids who are receiving free and reduced lunches. Whose parents have to go to work early in the morning and cannot travel to the next county to go to school. Its not a choice, people. Its not a choice to them. They got to, they got to, they got to, they got to hammer it out.



Singleton offered two amendments requiring participating schools to be accredited and to hire certified teachers teaching a subject they were certified in. Both failed. Orr said accreditation can take a long time, and that parents would be able to choose the quality of their instructors. Orr said that additional choice was still added because money is available.

Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, who sponsored an education savings account bill the previous year which was far more expansive and began as more expensive, also offered two amendments to the bill.

Stutts had an amendment that would have had retirees added to the active-duty military children provision. Orr said retirees children were already eligible.

The amendment was tabled.

His second amendment said that money left over in an account could be rolled over until the student is 21. Orr said that would be problematic.

The amendment was also tabled.

Stutts said that he did not appreciate his two thoughtful amendments being tabled and said he was being run over.



Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, was the only Republican who voted no. Afterwards, he said it was because his local superintendents and school boards called him and said they did not want money going towards vouchers, charters and private schools.

Im here to represent my district and I have to vote my district, and I know my district and so that is why I need to keep public dollars in the public school system, he said.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Alabama Legislature gives final approval to school voucher-like program appeared first on Alabama Reflector.
Gov. Kay Ivey maintained education as her top priority in Alabama for the last year, and on Wednesday evening, her $100 million school choice plan received its final approval from the state Senate, having already passed the House. Pending her official signature, the program will start in the 2025-26 school year.

Dubbed the CHOOSE Act, the legislation apportions up to up to $7,000 of state funding per student for families to spend on education-related expenses, like private school tuition, private tutoring and textbooks.

"Today, we've finally overcome the last hurdle in enacting Alabama's historic education savings account plan after the Alabama Senate strongly approved the CHOOSE Act. While our state has a strong public education system, all Alabama families will soon have the right to choose their children's schools," Ivey said in a statement Wednesday.

Ivey signed the bill into law Thursday morning.

The state legislature will be required to allot a minimum of $100 million each year to the CHOOSE Act Fund, and the accumulated balance of the fund is limited to $500 million. If the balance exceeds that amount, any surplus will go back into the Education Trust Fund.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey delivers the State of the State address and unveils her school choice plan at the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024.

The first 500 spots are reserved for students with special needs, like a 504 plan or an individualized education plan. Initially, the program will be limited to families making less than 300% of the federal poverty level, but the special needs reserved spots are not subject to income limitations.

Come 2027, the program will open up to families of all income levels.

While most state lawmakers, the governor and plenty of parents across the state support the program, public school advocates do not.

Ahead of Wednesdays vote, Montgomery Public Schools Superintendent Melvin Brown called the education savings program a money pit.

Public institutions should be supported by public funds. Private institutions should not, fundamentally, and what's happening now is a seething shift in the landscape to siphon public dollars into private entities, Brown said. I think it's also an effort to further segregate our schools, which is not humanistic. It's not what our society should be about.

Groups like the Alabama Education Association have also pointed out concerns that kids who need education funding the most will not have access to the savings accounts since the income limits disappear after the first two years.

The school choice movement

As a concept, school choice allows families to use public funding to access alternatives to traditional public schools, like charters, private schools and online learning. The CHOOSE Act also allows participating homeschool parents to access up to $2,000 per student.

In recent years, a school choice movement has been building across the United States, particularly in Republican states, as parents look for ways to educate their children outside of public schools.

According to reporting from EducationWeek and the Education Writers Association, the COVID-19 pandemic helped the school choice movement pick up momentum, as pandemic learning exposed weaknesses in the public education system. Kids fell behind meeting grade-level benchmarks, parents disagreed with masking policies and everything in between.

The CHOOSE Act will provide an opportunity for students to learn and thrive in an environment that best meets their needs, which could be a public school, Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, said during a debate in February.

Garrett is the bills sponsor along with Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur.

Alabamas program is most similar to those in Arizona, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

A key point for lawmakers has been that parents will not directly receive the funds. Instead, the parent will be able to make periodic payments to a participating education service provider or participating school electronically.

Many parents desire the opportunity to present their children with proven alternative methods of learning, Ivey said during a visit to Montgomerys private, Christian school Valiant Cross Academy earlier this year. They must not be hindered in their determination to give that to their children.

Legislators criticisms

Sen. Rodger Smitherman proposed an amendment to the CHOOSE Act on Wednesday.

Before the bills passage, there was a five-hour debate that included several amendments that did not pass.

Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, proposed two amendments toward the end of the debate that were both tabled. He said he didnt appreciate getting run over like that.

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, proposed an amendment to clarify that any money that is distributed for a special needs student must follow that student to whichever school they choose to attend, private or public. Ultimately, it failed.

Were wanting to look good to certain special interest groups who won't disappear, but the most important interest group is the kids, and we are not listening to them, Smitherman said. We are not showing that we're sensitive to what's happening to them, and we're not showing we care.

Smitherman spoke for over an hour ahead of the vote about how he wanted to make the bill the best it could be for Alabamas children.

Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, also criticized the unintended consequences of school choice.

School choice is really not about having a choice to go somewhere, Singleton said. It's about having the money to go down to make the choice, and then there are limitations on that choice, depending on the school districts.

He emphasized that the choice is determined by which students private schools want to accept.

Singleton proposed an amendment to specify that participating schools must be accredited. That amendment failed. He also proposed an amendment to require certified teachers in participating schools, and it also failed.

Yall just hate public schools, he said. Were not giving our babies choices. Were giving our babies fanfare.

Hadley Hitson covers children's health, education and welfare for the Montgomery Advertiser. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work, subscribe to the Advertiser.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama lawmakers pass school choice bill to create savings accounts
Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijani artist Lala Huseynova has showcased her art works at the National Carpet Museum.

In their remarks, the acting director of the National Carpet Museum Mira Mammadkhanova, the director of the National Art Museum Shirin Malikova, Deputy Chairman of the Azerbaijan Artists' Union, People's Artist, Professor Aghali Ibrahimov, Head of the Department of Decorative and Applied Art at the Azerbaijan Artists' Union, People Artist Aydin Rajabov, and People's Artist Arif Huseynov hailed the creativity of the young artist, Azernews reports.

More than 40 art works by Lala Huseynova are displayed as part of the exhibition. Among them are unique art pieces that trace Azerbaijan's rich heritage from the past to the future, combining traditional carpet art with modern art forms.

Here are graphic works from the artist's personal collection, Nihal Atsiz's illustrations for the book "The Death of Gray Wolves", as well as rare carpets from the collection of the National Carpet Museum.

The exhibition titled "Touch" is an artistic expression of the thousand-year-long relationship between nature and man.

The art works reflect the inner monologue of the four elements of the universe - Water, Fire, Air and Earth, as well as the artist's boundless creative world, rich imagination, feelings, and thoughts. They also demonstrate the close interaction of man with the environment as well as the carpet motifs.

Lala Huseynova's paintings have a deep philosophical meaning, both culturally and historically. Stunning art works were highly appreciated by art enthusiasts.

Art lovers have a chance to enjoy an exhibition until March 12.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. On the eve of International Women's Day - March 8, discussions on "Gender and Climate Action: Solutions for Women by Women" were held at ADA University, Trend reports.

The speakers included Deputy Chairman of State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs Sadagat Gahramanova; UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan Vladanka Andreeva; UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP29 Azerbaijan Nigar Arpadarai; journalist and political analyst Anastasia Lavrina; representative of the COP29 Organizing Committee and Head of Gender Hub Azerbaijan Maryam Majidova.

As stated by Sadagat Gahramanova, women play a crucial role in the state, and the incorporation of gender components is vital for the effective implementation of state policies.

"Given the advancement of the green economy, women are now tasked not only with roles related to work, family, education, and cultural development but also with actively contributing to shaping a novel framework for the state's activities. This includes considerations for environmental protection and the upbringing of the new generation," she noted.

Vladanka Andreeva emphasized the UN's desire to support women in increasing their role in the implementation of the climate agenda.

"The UN is presently engaged in Azerbaijan, addressing matters such as sustainable development, climate change, and gender equality. We are conducting consultations across government, private sector, and public spheres to determine effective approaches to address pressing climate change issues. It is crucial to acquire a genuine understanding of the situation and share this knowledge, enabling us to actively contribute to the global fight against climate change," she said.

Vladanka Andreeva added that the UN welcomes the participation of people with the right knowledge and experience in creating a climate action plan.

"Active public participation is essential for comprehending and resolving the climate crisis, and every voice will be given due consideration. We are committed to empowering women to actively engage in this process. I believe the role of women in bringing COP29 to Azerbaijan will be invaluable. Such a partnership is crucial, and we have full confidence in its success," said UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan.

Nigar Arpadarai underscored advancements in education and educational programs aimed at enhancing responsibility for environmental protection.

"The higher the level of education among women, the more independent and distinctive perspectives they can cultivate, contributing to the advancement of a 'green society' rather than merely a consumer-driven one. We aspire to see more women in prominent, innovative roles within society," she emphasized.

Anastasia Lavrina believes that every woman possesses ample energy to contribute to the progress of green energy and the processes of a green economy in Azerbaijan.

"I agree that there is a need to advance education in the realm of understanding gender dynamics, climate issues, and devising solutions, particularly among the younger generation. I believe the media can play a significant role in this endeavor. Collaboration at all societal levels, including with international organizations, is essential. Women should not be sidelined in addressing both pressing issues and those posing threats to the future of the Earth," she said.

Maryam Majidova highlighted the challenges related to water resources and desertification in certain regions of Azerbaijan, attributing these issues to climate change.

"The absence of a culture of electricity and water resource consumption, considering it a communal affair, is deemed unacceptable. It is crucial to instill in the younger generation a conscientious attitude toward their land, its resources, and waste disposal issues. Women, encompassing the roles of mothers, teachers, and mentors, play an invaluable part in fostering this awareness," Majidova said.

Following the discussions, participants acknowledged the imperative to increase endeavors in advocating for environmental protection.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
A look at the war in Gaza five months after the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel. Alabama passes a new law to protect in vitro fertilization, weeks after a controversial state Supreme Court ruling. And why a Chinese American family in California is donating millions for Black college students.

Heres what to know today.

In Gaza, a worsening humanitarian crisis fueled by Israels stalled military goals

Five months after Hamas launched multipronged attacks on Israel, almost half of Gazas buildings lie in ruins and at least 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the enclaves Health Ministry. That organization, along with aid agencies, is now warning that some of the most vulnerable children in the territory have begun to starve to death.

The Israeli military controls swaths of the Gaza Strip, and it has threatened to attack Rafah, a southern city where 1.5 million Palestinians have fled, unless a cease-fire deal is reached by next week. Israel has not achieved its military goals: destroying Hamas in response to its Oct. 7 attacks, which killed 1,200 people, and rescuing the 100-plus remaining hostages taken that day. It is unclear whether either is even possible.

This is Morning Rundown, a weekday newsletter to start your morning. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

Abroad, the worsening humanitarian tragedy has heaped international pressure on Israel, including the U.S. Washington is also sponsoring talks in Egypt to negotiate a cease-fire by the start of Ramadan, but there is little sign of a breakthrough

When children are starting to die from starvation, that should be a warning like no other, Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the United Nations humanitarian office, said at a news briefing Tuesday. If not now, when is the time to pull the stops, break the glass, flood Gaza with the aid that it needs?

Read the full story here.

More on the Israel-Hamas war:

As malnutrition deaths are reported and hunger grows, will famine be declared in Gaza?

At least three sailors were killed in a Houthi attack on a shipping vessel, U.S. and British officials said, the first fatal attack by the group since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Swift reaction after Alabama passes law protecting IVF

Two Alabama fertility clinics that paused in vitro fertilization services after a controversial state Supreme Court decision will now resume those services after state lawmakers passed a bill to protect the treatments. The bill provides the protections that we need, said Dr. Janet Bouknight, an IVF provider at Alabama Fertility. The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology will also resume its IVF services but said it would continue to advocate for protections for patients and our providers.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed the Republican-proposed bill into law last night after weeks of backlash prompted by the state Supreme Courts ruling that embryos are considered children. The new bill offers civil and criminal immunity to doctors, clinics and other health care personnel who provide IVF, but it does not specify whether frozen embryos created via IVF have the same rights as children under state law. For that reason, some fear the new law doesnt go far enough.

Bidens wake-up call in a critical primary race

A network of major Democratic donors say the traction of uncommitted in the Michigan primary is nothing to ignore, even though President Joe Biden saw a resounding win there last week (81% of votes for Biden, compared to uncommitteds 13% of votes). In a memo sent to donors, progressive group Way to Win said, Michigan 2024 is not an anomaly, just as Michigan 2016 was not. In 2016, Hillary Clinton was caught off guard when Bernie Sanders beat her in the states Democratic primary but nonetheless headed into the general election thinking Michigan and other Great Lake states were safe.

The uncommitted movement began largely over concerns about Bidens support for Israel in its war with Gaza. On Super Tuesday, thousands more Democrats voted for either uncommitted or no preference in six states. And now, as the president races toward the 2024 nomination, his campaign is working to reassure fellow Democrats that they are working to address the war in the Middle East and other challenges.

More on the 2024 election:

Rust armorer found guilty of involuntary manslaughter

Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed faces up to 18 months in state prison after a New Mexico jury found her guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021 on the set of the film. A jury found Gutierrez-Red not guilty of tampering with evidence. A major factor in juror Albert Sanchezs decision in the case was pretty much not checking the weapons, he said. I mean, you cant do that, he told NBC News yesterday, after the verdict was announced. Sanchez said there was not much disagreement among jurors, who took about two and a half hours to deliberate.

During the trial, Gutierrez-Reed was portrayed by prosecutors as negligent and careless while Gutierrez-Reeds attorneys alleged that actor Alec Baldwin, who fired the round that killed Hutchins, was ultimately responsible in the death. The trial also featured a series of eyewitnesses who were on set the day of the shooting, including director Joel Souza and the films safety coordinator. A criminal trial for Baldwin is scheduled for July.

Cyberattack exposes health care system vulnerabilities

The aftermath of a cyberattack on Change Healthcare  a little-known but critical subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group  is stretching into its third week, with patients being forced to pay for medicines out of pocket, pharmacies unable to refill prescriptions and doctors offices caught in a bind. However, UnitedHealth said a new network connecting pharmacies to benefit managers could come online as soon as today.

In the meantime, people are running into problems getting medicine critical to their health. Breast cancer patient Donna Hamlet, who is 73, is one of them. Her medication would cost her around $16,000 a month if not for insurance. Without the medicine, the cancer would fill up my body, and I guess I would die, she said. Other patients said theyve had to forgo lifesaving medications or pay steep out-of-pocket prices.

Politics in Brief

Government funding: House lawmakers passed a package of six spending bills in an effort to avert a partial government shutdown by the end of tomorrow. The package now goes to the Senate.

Biden impeachment inquiry: Hunter Biden is invited to testify publicly on March 20 in a House Oversight Committee hearing as part of the GOP-led impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Fani Willis investigation: The defense attorney who first alleged a personal relationship between Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutors Nathan Wade told a state Senate committee about how she found out about their romance.

Election integrity: A federal agency charged with safeguarding elections provided recommendations to rural counties and small towns on how to safeguard their elections, but not all of them can afford the fixes.

Want more politics news? Sign up for From the Politics Desk to get exclusive reporting and analysis delivered to your inbox every weekday evening. Subscribe here.

Staff Pick: Unity in the margins of society

In the 1930s the Dongs, a Chinese American family in Coronado, California, werent able to rent a place to live because of racially restrictive housing laws. That is, until a Black couple stepped in. Gus Thompson, a former slave, and his wife Emma allowed the Dong family to rent and eventually buy their home when no one else would.

Brothers Lloyd Dong Jr., left, and his brother Ron stand outside of their childhood home on C Street in Coronado. (San Diego State University)

Now, some of the descendants of the Dong family plan to use proceeds from the sale of the house to donate $5 million to help Black college students. This inspiring, anecdotal story recognizes the enduring impact of one familys will to help another get ahead and brings it full circle.  Elizabeth Both, associate platforms editor

News. Culture. The stories were talking about across our communities. Sign up for our newsletter from NBC Asian America.

Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

Compared to running sneakers, training shoes are lightly cushioned and flatter to prioritize stability. These are the seven best training shoes, perfect for high-intensity workouts, CrossFit and weight training.

Sign up to The Selection newsletter for exclusive reviews and shopping content from NBC Select.

Thanks for reading todays Morning Rundown. Todays newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Robinson. If youre a fan, please send a link to your family and friends. They can sign-up here.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA - FEBRUARY 29: A model of the female reproductive system and an embryo transfer catheter, in the office of Vitaly Kushnir, M.D., at West Coast Fertility Centers, photographed February 29, 2024, in Fountain Valley, CA. Kushnir, who is also an associate clinical professor, reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of California, Irvine, has written extensively about fertility issues and has been weighing in on the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling declaring that embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) should be considered children. (Photo by Jay L. Clendenin/for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

MONTGOMERY, Ala.  Alabama lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation to shield in vitro fertilization providers from civil and criminal liability, capping off their scramble to allow the fertility treatment after a state Supreme Court ruling found that frozen embryos should be considered children.

Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, swiftly signed the bill into law.

Two major clinics said they were moving to restart treatments, possibly in the coming days, while another clinic said it was not assured about the scope of protections and would wait for legal clarification.

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times

Lawmakers and legal experts acknowledged that the law did not address existential questions raised by the court about the definition of personhood, leaving open the prospect of legal challenges in the future.

The overwhelming vote of support  81-12 with nine abstentions in the House and 29-1 in the Senate  came barely two weeks after the ruling demonstrated the intense urgency among Republicans to protect IVF treatments, even if that meant sidestepping the thorny contradictions between their pledge to protect unborn life and fertility treatment practices.

Its happy tears, its a sigh of relief just because we know we are protected, said Stormie Miller, a Hoover, Alabama, mother who had twin girls through IVF and has two remaining frozen embryos. Talking about the future of those embryos, she added, Were able to make that decision for ourselves and not have someone make that decision for us.

Reproductive medicine in the state was thrown into turmoil by the court ruling, which applied to a group of families who filed a wrongful-death claim over the accidental destruction of their embryos at a clinic in Mobile in 2020. But the courts interpretation of Alabama statute that frozen embryos should be considered children  coupled with an impassioned, theology-driven opinion from the chief justice  sowed fear about civil and criminal liability among doctors and clinics, and raised concern about the ramifications of other states taking a similar stance.

At least three major clinics stopped IVF treatments, and an embryo shipping company paused its business in the state. Patients, who said they were already exhausted by the financial, physical and emotional toll of treatment, pleaded with lawmakers to preserve their chance to grow their families.

And from Montgomery to Washington, Republicans suddenly found themselves racing to publicly endorse IVF treatments, with some lawmakers sharing their own fertility stories and others calling for a quick legislative fix. The party has already struggled to respond to voter concerns about stringent anti-abortion laws in a hotly contested presidential year, and President Joe Biden and Democrats pointed to the ruling as yet another sign of Republican overreach into womens lives.

But Alabama Republicans stopped short of addressing whether a frozen embryo conceived outside the womb should be considered a person. Instead, they quickly negotiated a measure that broadly shields clinics and IVF providers from civil and criminal liability and limits the liability for shipping companies to damages to cover the price paid for the impacted in vitro cycle.

The problem were trying to solve right now is to get those families back on a track to be moving forward as they try to have children, said state Rep. Terri Collins, the lead sponsor of the measure in the House. Will we need to address that issue? Probably.

I dont want to define life  thats too important to me, to my faith, Collins, who previously led the push in the House to ban abortion in 2019, added. But we do have to decide where we begin protection, and thats what I think well have to talk about.

Infirmary Health Systems and the Center for Reproductive Medicine, the clinic and doctors entangled in the wrongful-death lawsuit, said they would not yet resume IVF treatments.

At this time, we believe the law falls short of addressing the fertilized eggs currently stored across the state and leaves challenges for physicians and fertility clinics trying to help deserving families have children of their own, their statement said.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham health system said it was moving to promptly resume IVF treatments but would continue to assess developments and advocate for protection.

Some lawmakers opposed the bill, expressing reservations over whether patients would be able to pursue negligence lawsuits against doctors and clinics. And some conservatives grappled with whether it went too far in supporting a treatment disavowed by the Catholic Church and other religious organizations.

Im for IVF  its just the treatment of embryos and how we handle that, and I feel like we need more time to process, said state Sen. Dan Roberts, one of two Republicans who abstained from a committee vote on Tuesday. He asked, Does that embryo have a soul or not have a soul?

Collins and other senior Republicans suggested that a task force could be formed to further discuss the issue. But it was unclear whether that would be enough to clear the murky legal and largely unregulated landscape for IVF treatments.

The question thats answered by this bill is, are our fertility clinics liable? said Clare Ryan, a professor of family law at the University of Alabama. It doesnt address these bigger questions about, what is the child? When does the act of conception occur? What is the role of uterine implantation?

Leaders of conservative, religious and anti-abortion groups, including the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America group and the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, had signed on to a letter urging Ivey to veto the bill to avoid a rash reaction to a troubling situation.

Lawmakers, the groups wrote, must resist an ideology that treats human beings as expendable commodities and take into consideration the millions of human lives who face the fate of either being discarded or frozen indefinitely, violating the inherent dignity they possess by virtue of being human.

The state Supreme Court ruling also drew upon a constitutional amendment approved by Alabama voters in 2018 to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children, reflecting language championed by groups opposed to abortion rights. Because that language is now enmeshed in the 1901 Alabama Constitution, some experts said the new shield law would likely face further legal challenges.

Republicans created this mess for themselves, and now theyre trying to contain the damage from it without dealing with the mess itself, said Susan Pace Hamill, a University of Alabama law professor who specializes in the Alabama Constitution. She added, They are doing back somersaults to avoid disturbing directly anything the Alabama Supreme Court said.

Democrats had put forward both a constitutional amendment and a measure that explicitly countered the personhood definition established in the ruling. But Republicans, who hold a supermajority, instead focused on their measure, tucking in a clause that would make the immunity retroactive for any case or situation that was not already in litigation when the law passed.

Were creating more problems  we have to confront the elephant in the room, said Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa.

But for the women and some doctors who have been in limbo for an agonizing two weeks, the passage of the bill was a welcome relief, with a couple people in the gallery applauding when the bill passed the House.

Seated in a row of a key Senate committee hearing Tuesday, three doctors from the provider Alabama Fertility reflected on what the past two weeks had been like since they shuttered IVF treatments at their clinics across the state. They had spent hours deciphering the latest legislative development and having gut-wrenching conversations with their patients.

She just sobs that, I want my baby, Dr. Mamie McLean recalled of one conversation. I usually have something to say. I didnt have anything to say, because we feel that.

But the bill before them, the doctors said, meant that they could restart their work as early as Thursday. And the experience made them realize that perhaps they needed to spend more time talking to lawmakers about their work.

We now have to think of this as an extension of our duty to our patients, said Dr. Michael C. Allemand, adding that this has opened our eyes.

c.2024 The New York Times Company
Alabama lawmakers are pushing forward a bill that would ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and offices in certain public entities, state agencies and universities, joining anti-DEI efforts led by Republicans in states across the country.

Senate Bill 129 would prohibit state agencies and colleges from funding diversity, equity and inclusion offices, programs and initiatives that advocate divisive concepts, which are defined as topics of race, ethnicity, sex, national origin or religion.

The bill also folds in a requirement for students attending public universities to use bathrooms that align with their biological sex, which targets transgender students and, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), reflects legislation that has been introduced in 19 other states this year.

Republican proponents of the Alabama bill argue that diversity, equity and inclusion ideologies in colleges and universities are divisive and a form of indoctrination that fails to welcome students of different backgrounds, a stance that has been echoed by GOP lawmakers in other states that are pushing anti-DEI legislation.

Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies, State Senator Will Barfoot, one of the Republican lawmakers who sponsored the bill, said in a statement. This legislation will build bridges to celebrate what people have in common, not erect walls that silo people into the idea that their race, religion, and sexual orientation solely define who they are and how society should view them.

But opponents of the Alabama bill, including Alabama Democrats who have attempted to amend it, have concerns about the legislation, especially regarding how it would negatively affect historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU).

HBCUs were created to give us an opportunity and space to be able to be creative and grow and to be self-sufficient, self-sustaining, state Rep. Prince Chestnut (D), said according to the Alabama Reflector, adding that the legislation would possibly destroy that opportunity.

Similar concerns have been brought up by opponents of DEI bans across the country, who have pointed out the ways that such legislation would also impact students who are Hispanic, disabled, women, and those with veteran status, among other demographics.

The ACLU warned that the Alabama bill, along with other DEI bans, would have a chilling effect on race, class, sexuality and national origin discourse, adding that it is a form of censorship that curtails an education on systemic inequities, racial violence, and the historic efforts to gain civil rights.

Previous attempts to pass the Alabama legislation have failed in the past, but on Wednesday the bill was passed by an Alabama Senate Committee and is now heading to the Senate floor, according to the Alabama Political Reporter.

Anti-DEI legislation has surged in states across the country since 2021, and follows a conservative-led effort to ban critical race theory as a way of restricting discussions of anti-racism in K-12 public schools, Axios reported. Notably, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has spent years pushing multiple bills forward to prohibit educators in K-12 schools from discussing topics of race, gender and sexuality, including the Stop W.O.K.E. Act that barred certain colleges from teaching race-related curriculum.

In 2023, state legislators introduced at least 65 anti-DEI bills, which included bans on diversity offices and training, the use of diversity statements in hiring processes, and the use of race or ethnicity in admissions decisions, according to the Chronicles of Higher Education.

This year, at least 50 of anti-DEI bills have been introduced in at least 20 states across the country, The Associated Press reported.

Related...
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE)  An Albuquerque man has been sentenced for the murder of his mother in 2021. Michael Gallegos pled guilty to second-degree murder for stabbing his mother to death at their home near Unser and Paradise when he was only 16 years old.

Albuquerque Police warn of increase in guns stolen from vehicles

The now 19-year-old was sentenced to stay at the New Mexico Youth Diagnostic Center until he turns 21 which is less than two years away.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE)  An Albuquerque mother who hid fentanyl inside her childrens luggage pleaded guilty to a federal drug crime on Wednesday, according to U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Magdalena Silva Banuelos, 47, pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl before U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn. Silva Banuelos was indicted in November 2020. On May 31, 2022, Silva Banuelos put her sons, ages 8 and 10, on a flight from Albuquerque to Dallas to visit her ex-husband, their father.

Man found guilty of killing Albuquerque church security guard

Surveillance video from Dallas/Love Field Airport showed that her ex-husband picked up the boys from the gate, went through their luggage, and then went into the airport restroom. A few minutes later, he overdosed and died in a restroom stall, according to the news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

Investigators who responded to the scene recovered a Clinique brand makeup container containing more than a gram of fentanyl. In plea papers, Silva Banuelos admitted she packed the fentanyl for her ex-husbands use. This case is a double tragedy: A pair of young boys lost one parent to drugs, and the other to the criminal justice system, said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton in the news release. This defendant allowed her two young sons to fly more than 500 miles cross-country with a highly lethal synthetic opioid stashed inside their suitcase, knowing full well how dangerous it was.

Per her plea agreement, Silva Banuelos faces 12 years in prison.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
An Albuquerque woman who hid a deadly dose of fentanyl in her childrens luggage for the use of their father, who overdosed and died, pleaded guilty to a federal drug crime Wednesday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Magdalena Silva Banuelos, 47, admitted in plea papers that she provided the fentanyl that killed her sons father, the DOJ said. She was indicted in November 2022 and pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl in exchange for a 12-year sentence in a federal prison.

Banuelos put her sons, an 8-year-old and 10-year-old, on a flight from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Dallas to visit their father on May 31, 2022, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Texas. When her ex-husband picked them up at Dallas Love Field Airport, surveillance video shows him rifling through the childrens luggage. Around 10:26 p.m., he went into the airport restroom.

A few minutes later, the man died of an overdose in a restroom stall, steps away from his sons, the DOJ said in the news release. The boys left the restroom, distraught, around 10:33 p.m.

Investigators found in the stall a Clinique brand makeup container storing more than a gram of fentanyl, the Justice Department said. In plea papers, Banuelos admitted she packed the fentanyl for her ex-husband to use.

Today's top stories:

 Man nearly decapitated wife, told police she cut herself: affidavit

 Fort Worth considers new fee on homeowners, businesses to pay for roads

 DFW Airport car thefts nearly doubled. How many were recovered?

Get free alerts when news breaks.

Text messages included in the news release showed Banuelos knew the risks of her ex-husband taking fentanyl.

Hey you need to be careful, she wrote a few hours before he died.

He answered that he understood.

Yes maam. Very slow and easy, he replied.

Banuelos told him to just take one dose, which he said he would.

No passing out on the kitchen floor, she responded. Seriously you could od. No dying on the kitchen floor Its going to (expletive) you up!!!

Authorities said at a detention hearing in January 2023 that Banuelos used her minor children to mule drugs.

U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton said in the release that the case is a double tragedy because the two boys lost their dad when he died of an overdose and lost their mother because she used the children to deliver the deadly fentanyl to their father.
Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty in court to involuntary manslaughter

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died on the set of Western film Rust in New Mexico in 2021, after a gun held by Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin fired a live round while he was rehearsing a scene.

He has denied pulling the trigger and has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. He is expected to go on trial in July.

The film's armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for the weapons on the set, has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Here is a summary of the events so far.

21 October 2021

Hutchins was a "wonderful mother, first and foremost", a former colleague told the BBC

Halyna Hutchins dies and director Joel Souza is injured after Alec Baldwin fires a prop gun on a film set for 19th Century western Rust in New Mexico.

Ukrainian-born Hutchins was shot while working as the film's director of photography. The 42-year-old was flown to hospital by helicopter, but died of her injuries. Souza was taken by ambulance from the scene at Bonanza Creek Ranch.

Baldwin, who is also a co-producer of Rust, plays the film's lead and namesake - an outlaw whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of manslaughter. The actor, 64, is best-known as Jack Donaghy on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, and for his portrayal of Donald Trump on sketch show Saturday Night Live.

Speaking at the time, he said: "My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna." He said he was "fully co-operating with the police investigation".

23 October 2021

Joel Souza thanked "hundreds of strangers who reached out" at the time of the shooting

In his first statement since the on-set shooting, injured director Souza says he is "gutted by the loss of my friend and colleague" Hutchins.

Hutchins was fatally shot in the chest. Souza, who had been standing behind her, was treated in hospital for a wound to the shoulder, and later discharged.

Court submissions show assistant director David Halls did not know the gun contained live ammunition, and indicated it was unloaded by shouting "cold gun!"

24 October 2021

People hold candles in front of an image of Halyna Hutchins

A vigil takes place in New Mexico to mourn Hutchins, with industry professionals among those lighting candles in her memory.

25 October 2021

Legal documents reveal Alec Baldwin was drawing a revolver across his body and pointing it at a camera during the on-set rehearsal when the gun fired.

26 October 2021

The shooting occurred on the film set of the western Rust

It is revealed Rust's assistant director, David Halls, had been sacked from a previous production, war drama Freedom's Path, over gun safety violations in 2019.

A statement from the producers of that film told news agency AFP that Halls was dismissed after a crew member "incurred a minor and temporary injury when a gun was unexpectedly discharged".

Halls could not be reached for comment. There is no suggestion that he was at fault for the Rust incident.

28 October 2021

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said police had recovered evidence, including 500 rounds of ammunition

Criminal charges may still be filed over the shooting on the set of Rust, police say, a week after the tragedy.

Investigators said a "lead projectile" had been removed from director Souza's shoulder, and that it appeared to be a live round.

Sante Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said police had recovered 600 pieces of evidence so far - including three firearms and 500 rounds of ammunition.

31 October 2021

Alec Baldwin described the team on the set of Rust as a "well-oiled crew"

Baldwin speaks publicly for the first time since the shooting, calling Hutchins "my friend".

"The day I arrived in Santa Fe and started shooting I took her [Hutchins] to dinner with Joel," he said. "We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together, and then this horrible event happened."

He said police had ordered him not to discuss the ongoing investigation, but described the accident as a "one-in-a-trillion episode".

He tells reporters he would be in favour of limiting the future use of firearms on film productions to protect people's safety.

17 November 2021

Mamie Mitchell (left) and her lawyer, Gloria Allred, spoke to the media

A legal action against Alec Baldwin alleges that the film script did not require him to fire a gun when he fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Script supervisor Mamie Mitchell - who called police after the shooting on the New Mexico film set - filed the case.

Her lawyer, Gloria Allred, accused the actor of "playing Russian roulette" when he fired the gun without checking it first.

1 December 2021

Police obtain a further warrant to search the premises of an arms supplier.

An affidavit - a written statement of evidence - with the warrant says police were told ammunition for the film had come from several sources, including PDQ Arm & Prop.

The affidavit said the ammunition supplier's owner, Seth Kenney, had told investigators the live round may have been from some "reloaded ammunition".

He said the ammunition he supplied for the film consisted of dummy rounds and blanks, according to the affidavit.

3 December 2021

Lead actor Baldwin described the shooting as a "one-in-a-trillion event"

Baldwin admits his acting career may be over, telling George Stephanopoulos of ABC News: "It could be", adding that he did not care.

He also says he "didn't pull the trigger" of the gun during the incident, and adds: "Someone put a live bullet in a gun. I know it's not me."

Baldwin said that, while he didn't feel guilty, the incident had left him emotionally scarred.

According to court records, Halls was given the gun by Gutierrez-Reed. Her lawyers have said she did not know where "the live rounds came from". That question lies at the centre of the police investigation.

17 December 2021

Police obtain a search warrant for Baldwin's phone, issued by a Sante Fe court. The warrant claims "there may be evidence on the phone" that could be "material and relevant to this investigation".

Investigators move to confiscate Baldwin's iPhone to look at text messages, emails, web browser history and other information.

9 January 2022

Investigators, led by District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, believe Baldwin's phone may contain evidence relevant to their investigation

Despite obtaining a search warrant more than three weeks earlier, in December, officials say they have been unable to obtain Baldwin's phone.

The actor hits back at suggestions he is not complying with the investigation.

In a long video message posted to his Instagram page, the actor says "any suggestion" he had been deliberately evasive with investigators was a "lie".

"They can't just go through your phone and take your photos, or your love letters to your wife, or what have you," Mr Baldwin said. "That is a process that takes time. But of course we are going to comply 1000% with all that."

13 January 2022

Gutierrez-Reed sues the prop supplier, alleging his company distributed "a mix of dummy and live ammunition" on set.

She filed her legal claim in New Mexico state court, and is seeking unspecified damages from Seth Kenney and PDQ Arm and Prop LLC. Kenney has not yet commented.

Her claim states: "The ammunition was misrepresented as only dummy ammunition when it contained both dummy and live ammunition."

But in December, Kenney had told Good Morning America: "It's not possible that they [the live rounds] came from PDQ or myself personally."

Court documents state Gutierrez-Reed said police discovered seven bullets suspected of being live after the shooting, according to AFP news agency.

The documents said the bullets were distributed among a box of cartridges with other ammunition and cartridge belts, intended for the actors to use as accessories.

15 January 2022

Baldwin turns over his mobile phone to police investigating the fatal shooting.

15 February 2022

Halyna Hutchins in 2019

Hutchins' family brings a lawsuit against Baldwin, assistant director Halls, armourer Gutierrez-Reed and prop master Sarah Zachry.

It alleges Baldwin "recklessly shot and killed" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust in October 2021.

Lawyers for the Hutchins' family say she would still be alive if crew members had not cut corners.

The case was filed in the First Judicial District Court of New Mexico on behalf of the cinematographer's husband, Matthew, and son Andros, and seeks unspecified damages.

24 February 2022

Hutchins' husband says it is "absurd" that Baldwin is not taking responsibility for her death.

Matthew Hutchins tells NBC's Today: "I was angry to see him talk about her death so publicly in such a detailed way, and then to not accept responsibility after having just described killing her."

EXCLUSIVE: Matt Hutchins, husband of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed by a prop gun held by Alec Baldwin on set of "Rust," is speaking out in an exclusive interview with @hodakotb.



More here: https://t.co/cIvEhK76Qv  TODAY (@TODAYshow) February 23, 2022

20 April 2022

A photo of Halyna Hutchins at a vigil following her death in October

The producers of Rust are fined and strongly criticised by authorities for failing to follow safety guidelines.

The makers of the film showed "plain indifference to recognised hazards associated with use of firearms on set", according to the New Mexico Environment Department.

The agency issues the maximum $136,793 (105,000) fine to Rust Movie Productions.

26 April 2022

Police release footage from the set of Rust, including of the aftermath of the fatal shooting.

Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza also releases crime scene photos and witness interviews with people including Baldwin.

11 May 2022

Alec Baldwin said he said he did not pull the trigger but the revolver fired after he cocked it

The producers of Rust dispute an official report saying they were indifferent to gun safety before the on-set shooting tragedy.

Rust Movie Productions says it "enforced all applicable safety protocols".

In legal documents filed to contest the official findings, the firm also said it "did not 'wilfully' violate any safety protocol".

5 October 2022

Baldwin reaches a settlement with Hutchins' family.

Filming of Rust will continue in January 2023, with her widower Matthew on board as the movie's executive producer.

All parties believe Hutchins' death was an accident, her husband said.

The exact terms of the settlement, which is subject to court approval, are not disclosed.

Heather Brewer, spokesperson for the office of the first judicial district attorney for New Mexico, said the proposed settlement "will have no impact on District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altweis' ongoing investigation, or her ultimate decision whether to file criminal charges in the case".

19 January 2023

Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed will each will be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter over the shooting of Halyna Hutchins, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announces.

Lawyers for both say they intend to fight the charges in court.

Both face up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 (4,040) fine if convicted. They will be tried by a jury, prosecutors say.

Assistant director David Halls entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanour charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, prosecutors said. He will spend six months serving probation.

31 January 2023

Baldwin is photographed in New York in January

Baldwin was on the phone during firearms training for Rust, prosecutors say, as they charge him with involuntary manslaughter.

Santa Fe's District Attorney's Office accuse the actor of "many instances of extremely reckless acts".

"If Mr Baldwin had performed mandatory safety checks with armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and not pointed the gun at Hutchins, the "tragedy would not have occurred", wrote Robert Shilling. He is a special investigator for the district attorney's office, and wrote this in a statement of probable cause filed with the manslaughter charges.

Baldwin has previously denied responsibility for the shooting and a representative declined to comment to the BBC.

A lawyer for Gutierrez-Reed says she "will fight these charges" and blamed Halls for not letting her know that a real gun was to be used in the moment when the fatal shooting occurred.

9 February 2023

Gloria Allred is representing Hutchins' family

Hutchins' family files a new civil suit against Alec Baldwin and producers involved in Rust.

Their lawyer, Gloria Allred, says they were "devastated by the shocking killing" and "feel strongly that anyone who is responsible for her loss must be held accountable".

The case alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence, and is being brought in Los Angeles County Superior Court by Hutchins' mother, father and sister, who are living in Ukraine.

15 February 2023

Alec Baldwin

Filming on Rust is to resume this spring, according to US reports, with Baldwin remaining in the the starring role. It is shifting location to Montana.

A mix of new and old crew members will work on the film, with Bianca Cline taking over as cinematographer.

Meanwhile Hutchins' widower Matthew has also approved a documentary about his late wife, producers said.

The documentary, made "at [executive producer, Mr] Hutchins' behest, and with his blessing and support" will explore Ms Hutchins' life and "final work, including the completion of the film", a statement said.

Rust Movie productions, which Baldwin is part of, have said that the scene which was being rehearsed when Ms Hutchins was shot has now been rewritten, and that the "any use of working weapons and any form of ammunition" had been barred from the set.

20 February 2023

Prosecutors in New Mexico drop firearm enhancement charges against Baldwin, in a move which reduces possible prison time for the actor, as the charges carry a mandatory five-year prison sentence.

He still faces up to 18 months in prison under involuntary manslaughter charges.

Heather Brewer, Santa Fe county district attorney spokesperson, said the prosecution dropped the firearm enhancement charge to "avoid further litigious distractions by Mr Baldwin and his attorneys".

According to CBS News, the BBC's US partner, prosecutors also dropped the firearm enhancement charge for Gutierrez-Reed.

Lawyers for Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed had been arguing against the firearm enhancement charge, saying prosecutors were applying a version of the law passed after the October 2021 shooting accident.

23 February 2023

Baldwin pleads not guilty to involuntary manslaughter for the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust.

He entered his plea online and also waived his right to an upcoming virtual court hearing.

Gutierrez-Reed is also accused of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors say she failed to ensure that dummy bullets were loaded into the gun that killed Hutchins.

20 April 2023

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins (right)

Criminal charges are dropped against Alec Baldwin over the fatal on-set shooting.

A statement, released by New Mexico special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis, said that "over the last few days... new facts were revealed" in the case, requiring further investigation.

"This decision does not absolve Mr Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled," the statement continued, adding: "Our follow-up investigation will remain active and ongoing."

A lawyer for Mr Baldwin praised the move by prosecutors, saying: "We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Alec Baldwin and we encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident."

The film's armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, is still facing two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and there will be a preliminary hearing on 3 May.

On the same day, filming and principal photography for Rust resumed in Montana.

21 April 2023

The family of Halyna Hutchins said they will sue Alec Baldwin despite his criminal charges being dropped.

A lawyer for Ms Hutchins' parents and sister said that the actor "cannot escape responsibility" for her death.

Mr Baldwin had already reached a deal with her widower and 10-year-old son.

1 June 2023

A judge approved a settlement agreement for the family of Halyna Hutchins.

Lawyers representing Ms Hutchins' husband Matthew and their son Andros sued Baldwin and the film's other producers for wrongful death in 2022.

An undisclosed settlement was agreed later the same year.

On Thursday, US judge Bryan Biedscheid approved that agreement, which will see youngster Andros receive "periodic payments" when he reaches the ages of 18 and 22.

The order stated that the settlement was "fair, appropriate, and in the best interests of Andros Hutchins, a minor, protected person".

Matthew Hutchins, as part of the settlement, will also become an executive producer on Rust - the western film which recently resumed filming in Montana.

The fatal incident happened in Bonanaza Creek Ranch, New Mexico

14 June 2023

A weapons supervisor on the set of Alec Baldwin's film Rust was likely hungover on the day a cinematographer was fatally shot, prosecutors alleged.

They accused Hannah Gutierrez-Reed of drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana in the evenings during filming.

In response, her lawyer said prosecutors had mishandled the case and resorted to "character assassination".

9 August 2023

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armourer and weapons supervisor on Rust pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering charges.

Prosecutors say Ms Gutierrez-Reed acted recklessly when loading the gun.

They said she failed to ensure that dummy bullets were loaded into the weapon that killed Ms Hutchins, and that the armourer handed the gun to Baldwin, having not checked that all the bullets were dummies.

Ms Gutierrez-Reed denies this.

15 August 2023

A new report appeared to cast doubt over Mr Baldwin's accounts of events.

He repeatedly denied pulling the trigger of the prop gun which went off, killing Ms Hutchins.

But weapons experts said the trigger would have "had to be pulled".

19 January 2024

A grand jury in New Mexico charged Alec Baldwin with a fresh count of involuntary manslaughter over the shooting.

Local prosecutors shared "additional facts" from forensic tests on the weapon used in the shooting.

The actor's lawyers told the BBC: "We look forward to our day in court."

1 February 2024

Alec Baldwin pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

He has maintained he did not pull the trigger of the Colt .45 pistol and only drew back its hammer.

20 February 2024

Ms Gutierrez-Reed went on trial, pleading not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence.

6 March 2024

Ms Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter but not guilty of evidence tampering.

In closing arguments, prosecutors told jurors that she had failed to ensure the weapon was only loaded with dummy rounds - fake bullets used to look and sound like real ones.

Ms Gutierrez-Reed did not testify, but her lawyer said prosecutors had failed to prove his client was the sole person responsible for the fatal shooting.
Alligators arent supposed to be in north Georgia, but youll have a hard time convincing one Hall County sheriffs deputy who found himself trying to outrun one that popped out of a pond.

Hall County is northeast of Atlanta, about 130 miles north of the known range for alligators in Georgia, state officials told McClatchy News.

The dangerous encounter happened around 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 5, as Hall Countys K9 teams were training in a rural area southeast of Gainesville, Georgia, the sheriffs office said in a March 6 news release.

A drone recorded video of the large alligator, which is living Large alligator living 130 miles beyond its natural range in Georgia, officials said. Hall County Sheriff's Office video screengrab

The deputy was laying a track for a K9 team when he heard a hissing sound and saw the alligator with its mouth open, the sheriffs office said.

The alligator, estimated to be between 7 and 9 feet in length, charged at the deputy who was able to run up an embankment and evade the animal. He was not injured.

A drone sent to investigate from the air on March 6 revealed an alligator quietly resting at the surface of the water.

The reptile is apparently being allowed to stay for the time being, after officials concluded it lives in an area too remote to pose a community threat.

While the pond is located in an area not typically accessible to the public, HCSO is encouraging citizens to take precautions around the water in that area, including the stream that feeds the pond, the sheriffs office said.

As a result of (the) sighting, HCSO will be installing warning signs, cautioning the public about alligators, snakes and other wildlife that may pose a danger.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources was notified and wildlife experts suspect the alligator was put there by someone.

Not sure that we will ever know for certain how it got there, but placement is most likely, DNR Outreach Specialist Melissa Cummings told McClatchy News.

It is possible that this was an alligator that was part of an older program (no longer allowed) where chicken farm owners could get a permit to place an alligator on a property pond to be a disposal area for chicken carcasses.

According to Hall County, this pond is not typically accessible to the public, so it may have been there for a while and gone unnoticed.

Alligators head has an oddity experts have never seen before, Georgia researchers say

11-foot alligator was living with deer antler stuck in its mouth, SC hunters discover

Stunned hiker turns to see large alligator climbing the fence behind her in Florida
On February 15, Amazon followed the lead of two other major companies and made a radical argument: The National Labor Relations Board, which has existed for 88 years, is unconstitutional. If this argument is ultimately accepted by the Supreme Court, it will make virtually every federal administrative agency unconstitutional. At a time when the Supreme Court is already cutting back on the administrative state, major companies are seeing an opportunity to go much further and fundamentally change the nature of the federal government.

In early January, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed a complaint against SpaceX, alleging that it illegally fired eight employees who circulated a letter critical of their working conditions. The next day, SpaceX filed a lawsuit in federal court arguing that the NLRB was unconstitutional. SpaceX raised several claims, but the most stunning was that the NLRB is unconstitutional because it violates the separation of powers by mixing executive, judicial and legislative functions.

Opinion

In mid-January, at an NLRB hearing about whether Trader Joes illegally retaliated against union activism, the grocery chain announced that it planned to argue that the structure and organization of the National Labor Relations Board and the agencys administrative law judges is unconstitutional.

Now, Amazon, faced with a charge that it illegally retaliated against workers at a Staten Island warehouse, has argued in an administrative proceeding against it that the structure of the NLRB violates separation of powers.

It would be extraordinary for courts to declare unconstitutional a federal agency that has existed since 1935 and whose constitutionality was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1937. It certainly would cause chaos in labor law, as the NLRB would no longer exist and perhaps everything it has ever done would be called into question.

But the implications are far greater than even this one important federal agency. If the NLRB is unconstitutional, then so is every federal administrative agency because all possess some combination of executive, judicial and legislative functions.

Consider the Securities and Exchange Commission, which promulgates rules that have the force of law pursuant to delegations of authority from Congress. It brings enforcement actions against those accused of violating the law, which can be heard either before administrative law judges within the agency or in federal court.

Consider another agency that affects so many peoples lives: the Social Security Administration. Several sections of of the Social Security Act give the Social Security Commissioner broad statutory authority to issue regulations. The Social Security Administration also implements and enforces the law, and it has more than 1,700 administrative law judges and issues more than half a million hearing and appeal dispositions each year.

Indeed, the implication of these challenges to the NLRB is that the federal Administrative Procedures Act, which covers virtually all federal agencies, is unconstitutional because it provides for an agency being able to engage in both rule-making, which is legislative in nature, and adjudications, which is judicial.

The argument being made by SpaceX, Trader Joes and Amazon has no basis in constitutional law or in practical reality. Nothing in the Constitution precludes an agency from possessing executive, legislative and judicial functions. Although the Constitution makes no mention of administrative agencies, they have existed since the time of George Washington and grew in number and role as the economy grew in size and complexity.

Moreover, all agencies are structured to separate their legislative, executive and judicial functions. The NLRB, for example, has a prosecutorial arm, which issues complaints against those accused of violating federal labor law, administrative judges who hear complaints and a board to which decisions can be appealed. Quite importantly, federal courts are empowered to review the actions of agencies, whether they take the form of rules or adjudications.

Why are these companies now bringing challenges to the constitutionality of an agency that has existed for almost 90 years? They perceive a Supreme Court that is hostile to the administrative state. In the last two years, the court has created a significant new limit on agency power: the major questions doctrine which says that a federal agency cannot act on a major question of economic or political significance without clear authorization from Congress.

In January, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments as to whether to overrule the principle (called Chevron Deference) which requires the court to defer to federal agencies when they are interpreting statutes they operate under.

But SpaceX, Trader Joes and Amazon are obviously not satisfied with new limits on agency powers; they want the agencies declared unconstitutional. Hopefully, this argument will be quickly and emphatically rejected. But there is every reason to worry about the implications of an argument that would invalidate virtually every federal administrative agency.

Erwin Chemerinsky is dean and professor of law at the UC Berkeley School of Law.
U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) arrives during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmation hearing for Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget nominee for U.S. President Joe Biden, on Feb. 1, 2022. Photo by Al Drago | Pool/Getty Images

My prescient colleague, Arizona Mirror Editor Jim Small, got it right Tuesday when he predicted that U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema would not seek reelection because she had no path to victory in a three-way Senate race this year.

Later that same day, Sinema only got it half right when she tried to explain why she was not running to keep her seat.

On Twitter, Sinema said: I believe in my approach. But its not what America wants right now. Because I choose civility, understanding, listening, working together to get stuff done, I will leave the Senate at the end of this year.

Lets translate that from politispeak to plain English: Sinema isnt running because she knew shed lose, which she ultimately didnt see coming because she assumed she had managed to make the transition from being a progressive Democrat (before that she was a member of the Green Party) to an aspiring political independent with the courage to buck convention in the name of doing whats right for the people of Arizona. She tried her damnedest to cast herself in the mold of her hero, the late Republican Sen. John McCain.

Turns out, she couldnt stick the landing.

While it is true that Sinemas voting record, especially in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, evolved over her 20-year political career from that of tree-hugging lefty to something more akin to a center-right politician, what Sinema doesnt get  or refuses to admit  is that it wasnt her civility that turned America off. It was the arrogance she exhibited once elected to the Senate that left the Arizona voters who put her there feeling betrayed.

Sinema won a majority of Arizonas vote in 2018 by running as a center-left Democrat, who, yes, had already proven she was willing to sometimes cross party lines to get things done. But instead of building on her reputation for governing that way, Sinema quickly earned a reputation for turning her back on the very voters that elected her.

While she helped negotiate gun-control legislation, President Joe Bidens visionary infrastructure bill, and, most recently, a get-tough immigrant measure, what most Arizona voters will remember about Sinema is her unwillingness to protect voting rights, reproductive rights and a minimum wage increase, as well as her strong and suspect ties to big money campaign donors from Wall Street.

After joining the Senate, Sinema calculated that, to ensure her reelection, or at least lay the groundwork for even greater political aspirations  Sinema for President, anyone?  she needed to convince big money campaign contributors and the Republican elite that she was on their side, too.

The Washington Post recently reported that many of Sinemas closest relationships in the Senate are with Republicans. You know, people like outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who just endorsed the twice-impeached, criminally indicted, all-around business fraudster Donald Trump for his partys nomination.

The trouble with her master plan was that Trump and the MAGA partys hard-right base was never, ever going to trust her, much less help get reelected.

Trump sycophant Kari Lakes brand of politics is much more to their liking. Despite her white nationalist ties, Lake proved that by nearly beating Katie Hobbs in the 2022 governors race. Today, Lakes the heavy favorite to become the Republican nominee in the fight against Democrat Ruben Gallego for Sinemas seat.

Then theres that little matter of the GOPs shameless persecution of the LGBTQ+ community in general, and the trans community in particular, all of which should have made it crystal clear to Sinema, who is bisexual, that most Arizona Republicans, desperate to stay on the good side of Christian nationalists in their party, werent about to back her reelection.

Its one thing for normie Republicans in the Senate to show up for a photo-op with Sinema in support of a get-tough bipartisan immigration bill. It would have been quite another to back Sinemas reelection and risk the wrath of their partys deeply homophobic base.

Yes, politics in the U.S. today is hyper-polarized. Sinema is right on that point.

But its not because the right and left decided, each for equally legitimate reasons, to retreat to their partisan corners. Its because the rightward jerk by Republicans thats paralleled Sinemas two-decade political career has brought us to a place where one of our countrys two major parties, the GOP, no longer believes in democracy, and Democrats are fighting hard to defend it.

And it wasnt Sinemas civility and habit of working across the aisle that led most Arizona voters to abandon her and left her trailing in the polls; it was her willingness in the name of raw political ambition to abandon her principles and leave her supporters behind.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post America didnt abandon you, Kyrsten Sinema, you left Arizona behind appeared first on Arizona Mirror.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Issues on the agenda of joint activities in the economic sphere were discussed at a meeting with Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov, Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov wrote on X, Trend reports.

"The meeting discussed support for bilateral trade, expansion of ties between businessmen, strengthening of partnerships within the framework of transportation and infrastructure projects, and determination of new directions for cooperation," the post reads.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Fresno County election officials wrapped up their Election Night counting shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday, reporting results of ballots cast by about 16% of the countys registered voters.

But theres an estimated 38,000 more ballots  vote-by-mail ballots and provisional ballots were received Tuesday by the county Elections Division  that have yet to be processed and counted. If all of those votes are validated, it would boost voter turnout to 23.7%  and have the potential to affect the outcome of some close contests by the time they are counted in the coming days and weeks.

Fresno County has more than 507,000 registered voters who were eligible to vote in Tuesdays primary.

The number of outstanding ballots doesnt include an unknown number of mail-in ballots postmarked by Tuesday but still in the hands of the U.S. Postal Service to be received by March 12.

Where in Fresno or Fresno County those outstanding ballots are coming from is undetermined, but potentially could tip the balance on a handful of close races for where the margin of victory or defeat is smaller than the number of votes to be counted. Historically, however, trends in the early mail-in ballots and in-person voting on Election Day tend to hold up through the late vote-by-mail ballots with only modest changes in results.

Results through Wednesday morning

Returns as of early Wednesday showed that in the election for Fresno mayor, incumbent Jerry Dyer was easily winning his re-election bid against a pair of challengers on the ballot as well as a write-in candidate.

Incumbent Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi held a healthy lead over challenger Matthew Gillian for a four-year term representing northwest Fresnos District 2 on the City Council, while Tyler Maxwell was unopposed in his re-election bid in District 4 covering east-central Fresno.

The District 6 contest to represent northeast Fresno on the City Council is headed for a November runoff between the top two vote-getters. Attorney Roger Bonakdar held a sizable lead as of Wednesday morning, with 35.9% of the votes.Fundraising consultant Nick Richardson held the second spot with 28.0%, with businesswoman Molly Fagundes-Johnston and bank executive Raj Sodhi-Layne rounding out the field with 23.1% and 13.0%, respectively.

FRESNO COUNTY RACES  Two of the three races for seats on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors are destined for a runoff election in November between the top two vote-getters, as no candidate received an outright majority of votes in District 2 and District 3.

In District 2 encompassing much of north Fresno, current Fresno City Councilmember Garry Bredefeld and incumbent Supervisor Steve Brandau were the leading candidates. As of Wednesday morning, Bredefeld had received 39l8% of votes tallied so far, compared to Brandaus 27.4%. Rounding out the five-person field were county Assessor-Recorder Paul Dictos with 16.5%, businessman Bryce Herrera at 9.0%, and social worker Dion Bourdase at 7.4%.

The District 3 race to represent south Fresno on the county board shows incumbent Supervisor Sal Quintero and Fresno City Councilmember Luis Chavez as the top two vote-getters. Quintero held 41.1% of the votes as of Wednesday morning, while Chavez received 25.4% Trailing them were Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias at 17.6% and teacher E.J. Hinojosa at 15.8%.

Incumbent District 5 Supervisor Nathan Magsig appeared destined for victory in his re-election bid to represent eastern Fresno County on the board. Magsig had 70.8% of votes as of Wednesday morning, ahead of challenger Jennifer Cruz, a nonprofit manager who collected 29.2%.

FRESNO COUNTY BALLOT MEASURES  Two major Fresno County ballot measures were heading for defeat in results through Wednesday morning. Only Measure A, a proposal to keep elections for the county sheriff and district attorney in non-presidential election years, was passing with 56.0% of voters saying yes compared to 44% voting no.

Measure B, a proposal by the county Board of Supervisors to sidestep state and federal efforts to rename the foothill town of Squaw Valley to Yokuts Valley by reserving for the board the authority to rename places within the county, was being soundly rejected by voters, with 63.7% voting no compared to 36.3% voting yes.

And Measure E, a second attempt by backers of California State University, Fresno, to enact a sales tax to support facilities improvements at the university, was also losing. By Wednesday morning, fewer than 44% of voters said yes to the measure, compared to 56.1% voting no.

The county expects to provide its next update of results by 5 p.m. Thursday.

In comparison to the turnout for Tuesdays primary election, turnout for other major elections over the past 10 years has been:

44.2% in the November 2022 non-presidential general election.

27.3% in the June 2022 non-presidential primary election.

51.7% in the September 2021 recall election against Gov. Gavin Newsom.

74.7% in the November 2020 presidential general election.

19.6% in the March 2020 presidential primary election.

56.4% in the November 2018 non-presidential general election.

31.1% in the June 2018 non-presidential general election.

66.7% in the November 2016 presidential general election.

40.8% in the June 2016 presidential primary election.

39.2% in the November 2014 non-presidential general election.

26.2% in the June 2014 non-presidential primary election.
NEW YORK -- Following a series of violent incidents in the New York City subway system, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a new five-point safety plan that includes bringing in hundreds of National Guard troops and adding new security cameras.

Hochul announced that a combined 1,000 personnel  including 750 National Guard troops, along with MTA Police  would be deployed in the subway system to help the NYPD conduct bag checks in an effort to keep weapons off trains.

"Let me just be very, very clear. These brazen, heinous attacks on our subway system will not be tolerated," Hochul said Wednesday.

This followed Mayor Eric Adams' announcement Tuesday to add more police officers and re-institute bag checks.

"I know how it plays on your psyche when you hear about some random acts of violence and that's why we must be proactive," Adams told CBS New York in an interview earlier Wednesday ahead of Hochul's announcement.

The governor and mayor both argued the new safety plan will protect both passengers and transit workers. However, within an hour of the its announcement, another subway conductor was attacked. The conductor was struck on the head with a bottle at the East 170th/Jerome Avenue station in the Bronx, the NYPD said.

Adams speaks ahead of announcement

In Wednesday's interview with CBS New York, both the mayor, who was noticeably absent during the governor's announcement, and NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper, defended the bag checks as an important safety tool.

"We are instituting random bag checks," Adams said. "They are random. They are not profiling. They are random."

"Including with what they're doing checking bags to make sure explosive or illegal weapons are not entering our subway system, it's also creating another sense of presence," said Kemper.

City Hall sources told CBS New York that each week the NYPD will deploy 94 bag-screening teams at 136 stations, about one-third of the 472 stations in the system.

Hochul's 5-point plan

In addition to the bag checks, Hochul's plan incudes:

Amending state law to ban repeat offendersInstalling cameras in each conductor's cabin$20 million for mental health outreachA plan to improve coordination between police officers and district attorneys to go after repeat offenders, the suspects who seem to make all the headlines that scare people

"There's a psychological impact. People worry they could be next," Hochul said.

The mayor is on board.

"We have a recidivist problem. When you look at the subway system, we have 38 people who were arrested for assaulting just transit workers. They committed 1,126 crimes in our city," he said.

Watch Marcia Kramer's report

Transit riders had mixed feeling about whether bag checks will improve safety.

"How many people do you know that actually carry a knife or gun in their bag when it is they are ready to stick you up, 'Oh, hold up, I'm going to go into my bag.' It doesn't make sense," one person said.

"That's just racial profiling. It's just a way to solve a fake problem that's not there," another person said.

"I've got to trust the NYPD. If they feel that there is cause and it's not discriminatory, that's the real issue. We got to keep our city safe, but it's got to be equitable," another person said.

"New York City's subways are crazy. You don't know what to anticipate anymore. I would rather the bag checks than end up dead," another said.

"I know these are difficult times in many ways and I've been through bag checks before. They do them at theaters. I can do it if I have to do it," another added.

Read More: New York City reinstituting bag checks to combat rising subway crime

In a statement, the New York Civil Liberties Union said in part, "These heavy-handed approaches will, like stop-and-frisk, be used to accost and profile Black and Brown New Yorkers, ripping a page straight out of the Giuliani playbook."

Richard Davis, the head of the Transport Workers Union, said the measures don't go far enough, and that the 1,000 National Guardsmen and MTA Police cannot be temporary. CBS New York asked Hochul how long the surge would last, but she refused to say how long and how long the state would fund the program.

She tartly pointed out that New York City has an unanticipated $3 billion surplus.

New York governor deploys National Guard to subways following string of violent attacks

Boeing and United Airlines investigate after wheel detaches from plane

Sen. Katie Britt delivers Republican rebuttal to State of the Union address
This black-and-white image released by the U.S. military's Central Command shows the fire aboard the bulk carrier True Confidence after a missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. A missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday killed three of its crew members and forced survivors to abandon the vessel, the U.S. military said. It was the first fatal strike in a campaign of assaults by the Iranian-backed group over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (U.S. Central Command via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  The first fatal attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on shipping threatens to further sever a crucial maritime artery for global trade and carries with it risks beyond those just at sea.

Already, the White House is warning that there will be a response to Wednesday's attack on the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden. What that will look like remains unclear, but the U.S. has already launched round after round of airstrikes targeting the Houthis, a rebel group that has held Yemen's capital since 2014, and more are likely on the way.

However, a wider economic, humanitarian and political impact is looming from the attack. It also further highlights Yemen's yearslong war, now overshadowed by Israel's grinding war on Hamas on the Gaza Strip that may reach into the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, raising the danger of worsening regional anger.

HIGH-SEAS CRISIS WIDENS

Since the onset of the Houthi attacks, the rebels have framed them as a way to pressure Israel to stop the war, which has killed over 30,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The war began Oct. 7 with a Hamas attack in Israel that killed about 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage.

But as shippers began avoiding the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, the rebels began attacking ships with tenuous  or no  ties to Israel or the war. Meanwhile, U.S. and coalition warships have shot down any Houthi fire that's come near them. That's left the rebels targeting commercial ships whose only protection has been armed guards, barbed-wire fencing and water cannons  good enough to deter pirates, but not an anti-ship ballistic missile.

Wednesday's attack underlines the danger to those not even involved in the war. The Houthi missile that hit the True Confidence killed two Filipinos and one Vietnamese national.

"We demand the relevant sides stop immediately armed activities for the safety and freedom of navigation on international maritime routes according to international law, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said Thursday.

The Iranian-backed Houthis have not acknowledged those deaths and sought to distance themselves from any consequence of their actions.

We hold America responsible for the repercussions of everything that happens, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam wrote online Thursday.

Another ship sank this past weekend after being abandoned following a Houthi attack.

AID, ECONOMIES BECOME CASUALTIES

Already, the Houthis have attacked at least one ship carrying aid bound for territory they hold. The Greek-flagged, U.S.-owned bulk carrier Sea Champion, full of grain from Argentina, was bound for Aden and then rebel-held Hodeida when it was hit in February. As hunger stalks the Gaza Strip during the Israel war, so too does it still grip Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country.

The escalation of the crisis in the Red Sea is likely to worsen the food insecurity situation in Yemen in 2024, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has warned.

Then there are the conflicts gripping East Africa. The World Food Program issued a warning Tuesday regarding its operations in Somalia, saying the shipping crisis is hindering its ability to maintain its regular flow of humanitarian aid. In war-torn Sudan, the International Rescue Committee says it has suspended its operations to Port Sudan over hiked costs and other concerns rising from the Houthi attacks.

Then there's the economic pressure. While Israel has described its economy as so far unaffected, the same can't be said for neighboring Egypt. Traffic in its Suez Canal linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea onward to Europe has dropped by nearly half, according to U.N. figures.

Those shipping fees provide crucial revenue for Egypt's government, which has allowed the Egyptian pound to rapidly devalue as it reached a deal with the International Monetary Fund to increase its bailout loan from $3 billion to $8 billion. Further economic turmoil could spark unrest in Egypt, less than 15 years on from the 2011 Arab Spring.

AIRSTRIKES MAY IMPERIL PEACE TALKS, EMPOWER HOUTHIS

Since beginning its campaign of airstrikes in January, the U.S. military has claimed it destroyed over 100 Houthi missiles, according to an Associated Press analysis of its statements. However, that hasn't halted the rebels' ability to launch attacks.

That's something a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis learned after launching its own campaign against the rebels beginning in 2015 in support of the country's exiled government. The American strikes so far have been more precise, with only one reported civilian death over dozens of attacks.

But the American involvement has rubbed Saudi Arabia and its main partner, the United Arab Emirates, the wrong way  particularly after President Joe Biden in 2021 came into office and promptly declared that Yemen's war has to end. Both countries have avoided actively taking part in the U.S.-led campaign now targeting the rebels. And Saudi Arabia reached a detente a year ago with Iran it hoped would lead to a peace deal, something that still hasn't happened.

For the Houthis, the fight against Israel and the U.S. may be everything they've wanted. Their Zaydi Shiite group ran a 1,000-year kingdom in Yemen until 1962. Their slogan has long been: God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.

Fighting against two of their archenemies allows the rebels to shore up their own support with Yemen, as well as gain international recognition in an Arab world otherwise enraged by the killing of Palestinians in Israel's campaign in the Gaza Strip. If fighting there goes into Ramadan, a time in Islam for peace and reflection, it may inspire a further spread of militant violence.

___

EDITORS NOTE  Jon Gambrell, the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press, has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran, Yemen and other locations across the Mideast and wider world since joining the AP in 2006.
Knights being attacked by a Bonnacon, a mythical creature with an interesting form of defence

A medieval manuscript held in the care of the University of Aberdeen is believed to have British comedy's earliest example of an animal joke.

The fictional ox-like Bonnacon appears in The Aberdeen Bestiary, a collection of animal stories written and illustrated in England more than 800 years ago.

While all of the book's other stories have Christian morals, the Bonnacon is about a creature with an ability to repel attackers by spraying them with a hot, smelly acid from its rear.

Journalist and satirist Ian Hislop has featured the beast as part of his hunt for Britain's oldest jokes.

Ian Hislop has included the Bonnacon among Britain's oldest jokes

The Have I Got News for You panellist and editor of satirical magazine Private Eye visited Aberdeen to view the bestiary for his BBC podcast, Ian Hislop's Oldest Jokes.

He said: "I am looking at what scholars think is maybe the earliest example of the comedy animal."

The Bonnacon first appeared in a story by ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle.

Bestiaries were popular across medieval Europe and based on stories from the 4th Century.

Written in Latin, the manuscripts were lavishly illuminated with decorative lettering and illustrations featuring silver and gold leaf.

The Aberdeen Bestiary has a story about a tiger tricked by a knight

The Aberdeen Bestiary is stored in climate controlled conditions to protect it

The Aberdeen Bestiary is kept in climate controlled conditions to protect it.

One of its stories is about a female tiger deceived by a hunter so he can steal her cub.

Prof Jane Geddes, emeritus professor at Aberdeen's School of Divinity, History, Philosophy and Art History, said: "You have these very upright, moral stories about good animals and sad animals doing the right thing and the wrong thing.

"And then you come to the Bonnacon."

Prof Jane Geddes said the Bonnacon story contain no moral message

Hislop said the mythical creature appeared to be using a novel form of attack against two knights by turning around and excreting all over them.

Prof Geddes added: "A gold leaf shower of manure coming out of its backside at high speed - propelled, as the Latin will tell you.

"It's his secret weapon - amazing flatulence.

"The knights are overcome by acid burns, heat and smell.

"There is no moral attached to this story whatsoever."

Hislop said the humour was in the faces of the knights.

"The expression on their faces - they don't know what's happening," he added.

Related internet links
Crawford Lake in Ontario (Photo/Wiki)

Guest Opinion. An international panel of scientists, on the verge of driving a golden spike into the heart of Mother Earth and Indigenous history, has shown wisdom in backing off on a premature declaration of human hubris and Euro-American cultural arrogance.

Several global scientific organizations had shown signs of being on the verge of declaring a new era in the Earths history, the so-called Anthropocene. That declaration would have argued that the entire planet and its natural systems, including lands and ecosystems occupied and cared for by Indigenous Peoples, are now largely shaped by or even entirely dominated by anthropocentric activities and cultures.

Never miss Indian Countrys biggest stories and breaking news. Click here to sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning.

The Anthropocene term has gained currency in environmental circles and mainstream journalism. However, for the designation to become official, the scientific bodies that name geological eras needed to give their approval.

The final stages of decision making about the renaming of our current era focused on Crawford Lake in Ontario, Canada. It was selected because of its uniquely delineated sediments which allow scientists to measure and mark the deposition of human made substances with great precision. A great deal of fuss was made about the detection of minute traces of plutonium, which some scientists were arguing is a demonstrable and indisputable signal, a golden spike, or inflection point marking a universal human transformation of all of nature.

Discussion of how and why Crawford Lake was selected occasionally mentioned other discoveries in the lakes sediment. Most interesting was pollen from corn grown by Indigenous People who had a long presence on the lakes shore. Some grains of corn were also found. A museum, Crawford Lake Iroquoian Village & Conservation Area, offers the public an opportunity to visit a replica of the 15th century Indigenous settlement that existed on the lakes shore.

Crawford Lakes Indigenous history was at risk of being erased and overwritten like a page of Medieval vellum whose message is scrubbed away so that a new story can be inscribed. The threatened erasure was too painful. I wrote to the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) of the International Commission on Stratigraphy in July of 2023 suggesting that their proposed designation of the Anthropocene is premature, and more importantly, risks drowning out a desperately needed centuries old positive story of humans working as stewards, not dominators of nature.

Much to my wonder and surprise, several members of AWG responded to my letter within hours. The letter was forwarded to an Indigenous partner of the AWG purportedly working on reconciling the historical mission of the Crawford Lake Iroquoian Village and the sites new notoriety as exhibit number one in an ongoing and unresolved debate about the future of our planets viability. Two philosophers wrote to me from Vienna. They had received a forwarded copy of my letter. Their concern was that the term Anthropocene is Eurocentric, and part of a tendency to assume that European culture has become dominant everywhere and is the only important value set worthy of attention in scientific discourse.

Quite unexpectedly, the renaming process has been halted. For now, Crawford Lake will remain a monument to the ability of the two-legged to live in harmony with Mother Earth. This is good news. But Indigenous Peoples must continue to push back on this attempted act of erasure of our history. It may come up for a revote.

We should help the International Commission on Stratigraphy to understand that their scientific endeavor is more than a technical investigation. It would inevitably become part of the medias attempt to tell the story of our time and our possible futures. We must remind them that storytelling is how we all transmit wisdom from generation to generation. We must awaken them to the fact that, in the 21st century, science is sometimes a story that we tell ourselves about ourselves. We, both Indigenous and mainstream people, cannot risk telling ourselves that it is game over as far as Mother Earth being a vibrant and self-healing system is concerned. We, Indigenous Peoples, must keep telling our story of how a small percentage of the worlds population, living on a small percentage of the worlds territory, is protecting 70% of the worlds biodiversity, and keeping the planet from slipping into the Anthropocene.

Randy Kritkausky is an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, co-founder of ECOLOGIA, an international environmental organization, and author of "Without Reservation: Awakening to Native American Spirituality and the Ways of our Ancestors."

About the Author: "Levi \"Calm Before the Storm\" Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print\/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net."

Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net
(KRON)  Authorities are searching for a suspect who allegedly stole a vehicle, the Antioch Police Department (APD) announced Wednesday on social media. The suspect was caught on video stealing the car.

Photos of the suspect were posted by Antioch PD (below).

Police recovered the stolen vehicle near East 6th Street and A Street. The suspect was seen on camera walking away from the car in the area, according to APD.

10-year-old bicyclist struck by driver in Dublin, suffers significant injuries

(Antioch Police Department)

(Antioch Police Department)

Antioch police did not say when the alleged vehicle theft happened.

APD did not provide a description of the suspect. Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call Officer Collazo at 925-778-2441 or email jcollazo@antiochca.gov and reference case #24-1991.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  The Michigan Court of Appeals will not reconsider its ruling that the former police officer who shot and killed Patrick Lyoya should stand trial for murder.

The court issued its decision Thursday in response to a request from Christopher Schurrs attorneys, simply saying the motion was denied.

One of the three appeals judges dissented, saying he thought the reconsideration should be granted. He also dissented from the original decision in January.

Chris Schurr in a Grand Rapids courtroom for the end of his preliminary hearing on Oct. 31, 2022.

Schurrs lawyers had argued that the court misstated or misconstrued the moments leading up to the shooting and that led to an incorrect decision. But Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said the law was properly applied and the appeals court could make its own assessments of the video showing the shooting.

Prosecutor: Courts Lyoya case decision should stand

No one disputes that Schurr, then a Grand Rapids Police Department officer, shot and killed Lyoya on April 4, 2022, during a traffic stop. Video from the traffic stop shows Lyoya run away from Schurr and the two struggle over Schurrs Taser. Ultimately, Schurr, who was on top of Lyoya trying to hold him down, shot him in the back of the head.

An undated photo of Patrick Lyoya (Courtesy of Lyoya family)

What is being debated now is whether Schurrs actions constituted murder. Prosecutors, saying he was not justified in the shooting, charged him with second-degree murder in June 2022. Schurrs defense team argues his actions were justified.

With other appeals possible, its unclear when the case might actually go to trial.

Schurr was fired from GRPD after he was charged with murder. He also faces a civil excessive force lawsuit filed by Lyoyas family.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
An architecture practice has built a house inspired by nature while minimizing the impact on the island that influenced its design.

As detailed by Designboom, Australian firm JDA Co. built a disaster-resilient home on the edge of Queensland's Great Barrier Reef, one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

The client reportedly wanted "the greatest reef house in the world," and stunning images of the structure reveal a practical and beautiful result.

In order to help the house blend in with the environment on Lizard Island, JDA Co. used board-formed concrete, a sturdy, long-lasting material that also gave the exterior a natural-looking texture.

The outside of the house is also equipped with perforated copper blades to protect against debris from strong cyclonic storms, though Designboom didn't provide specifics on the strength of winds the home can withstand.

Meanwhile, the shape of the house mirrors that of a stingray, coming to a point on one end, while slit windows reminiscent of gills allow air to flow from south to west, reducing the need for electric cooling on warm days.

The interior of the house features other nature-inspired elements, including a conch-like kitchen bench and green accents that mirror parts of the landscape.

This homeowner isn't the only one looking to live in harmony with the environment, as the demand for climate-resilient and eco-friendly construction appears to be on the rise.

According to the U.N. Environment Programme, the buildings and construction sector produces 37% of the heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere. As global temperatures have risen as a result of this and other polluting industries, so too have the intensity and frequency of severe weather.

For this project, JDA Co. used 3D laser technology called Spatial Ops, reducing travel associated with surveying the area  and thus pollution associated with the practice. This method also ensured minimal disruption to the rock beds in the area.

"Every detail in the house ties back to its magical setting. The site itself is so incredibly beautiful and the house is there to act as a frame to its surroundings," JDA Co. director James Davidson told design publication Wallpaper.

Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the coolest innovations improving our lives and saving our planet.
(The Hill)  Researchers are warning that Arctic Ocean sea ice is melting at an even faster pace than previously thought  and the region could experience its first ice-free conditions sometime before the 2030s.

According to a study published in Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, the Arctic sea ice cover and the ices thickness have declined conspicuously since satellite observations began in 1978.

For years, the melting of Arctic sea ice has been viewed as a measure of climate change effects.

Stunning telescope images show nebulas thousands of light years away

Predictions indicate that the earliest ice-free conditions in the Arctic Ocean could potentially occur sometime in the 2020s to the 2030s and are likely to happen before the 2050s, the study found.

The sea ice in question is seasonal. It freezes each winter but melts in the summer. Each year, the amount of summertime sea ice has declined because of human-caused global warming.

The researchers said that sea ice is typically at its lowest in September. Researchers predict that by 2035 to 2067 there will be consistent ice-free September conditions.

The first ice-free summer year would happen when the Arctic has less than 386,000 square miles of ice, the Los Angeles Times noted.

Tumbleweeds take over Utah town amid winter storm

Alexandra Jahn, researcher for the University of Colorado Boulder, told the outlet that at this point its no longer a remote possibility, and an ice-free Arctic Ocean will happen under all emissions scenarios.

The studys scientists argue that there is an urgent need to better understand what the impacts of an ice-free Arctic are, including the effects on marine ecosystems, the global energy budget, wave height and coastal erosion.

The study, published Tuesday, follows a summer of record-breaking temperatures in 2023. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed its annual report last December, which found 2023 was the sixth-warmest year ever in the Arctic, which melted sea ice at record rates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Argentinas President Javier Milei has banned the use of gender-inclusive language in the government, including in all official documents, the presidential spokesperson said Tuesday, as the far-right libertarian continues to implement his socially conservative agenda.

The ban, effective immediately, will prohibit inclusive language and everything related to the gender perspective throughout the national public administration, Manuel Adornis, spokesperson for the Casa Rosada, said in his daily press conference.

Spanish is a gender-defined language where most nouns are given a masculine o ending or a feminine a ending. In an effort to create gender-inclusive language in Spanish-speaking countries, there has been a push to use x, e, or @ to create general-neutral nouns instead of using o or a. For example, the gender-neutral term Latinx as opposed to the masculine Latino or feminine Latina.

Going forward, it will not be possible to use the letter e, the @ sign, the x, Adornis said, adding that people should also avoid the unnecessary use of the feminine in all public administration documents.

Adornis rejected the argument that gender-inclusive language covers all demographics of society, saying, the language that covers all sectors is the one we use; it is the Castilian language, it is Spanish, he said.

Gender perspectives have been used as a political tool, the spokesperson said.

This announcement comes after gender-inclusive language was banned in the military following a resolution by the countrys defense ministry.

The debate around gender-neutral language has become a lightning rod in the culture wars in the Americas, with Milei previously railing against gender ideology  a term that has gained prominence in recent years among social conservatives who oppose LGBTQ rights.

The change comes after Argentina became the first country in Latin America to allow a different option in the gender field of identity documents. In 2021, the government of former President Alberto Fernandez announced a new National Identity Document (DNI) for nonbinary people that establishes the terminology x in the field of gender for amended DNI and passports.

Fernandez also used inclusive language during his speeches, in stark contrast to Milei, a social conservative with ties to the American right, who opposes abortion rights and has called climate change a lie of socialism.

Since coming to power last year, Milei has pursued conservative culture war issues. Last week, his government announced the closure of its anti-discrimination agency, saying the Ministry of Justice would absorb its functions.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Even though the pre-pandemic indicators have not been fully restored, according to statistics for 2023, Azerbaijan ranks first among the countries where Russian tourists go, Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Reshetnikov said. Trend reports.

He made a comment during the meeting with the Chairman of the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan Fuad Nagiyev in Baku.

According to him, there is a large potential for the development of bilateral tourism ties between Azerbaijan and Russia.

The Minister also spoke about the draft law that provides for the stimulation of the activity of Russian tour operators organizing tours to CIS countries and noted that the bill will contribute to strengthening partnership ties with Azerbaijan.

Fuad Nagiyev, in turn, noted that Azerbaijan pays special attention to the development of the tourism industry.

He stated that in 2023, the number of foreign visitors to Azerbaijan increased by 30 percent compared to 2022. The chairman of the State Agency noted that 30 percent of them in 2023 were citizens of the Russian Federation. The Roadmap for the Development of Tourism between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation for 20242026, signed in Baku on March 5, contains important opportunities in this direction.

According to Nagiyev, there is a large potential for cooperation in tourism between the two countries, and Russia is an important tourism market for Azerbaijan.

Using the example of Shahdag tourist center, he spoke about the interest of Russian tourists in winter and ski holidays in Azerbaijan and noted the possibilities of cooperation within the Eurasian Alliance of Mountain Resorts, which also includes Shahdag and the Russian winter center Rosa Khutor.

The meeting exchanged views on regular direct flights with Russia, the opening of Azerbaijan's tourist office in Moscow, the potential for the development of cruise tourism in the Caspian Sea, cooperation on winter tourism, promotion of Azerbaijan's tourism opportunities in Russia, investment opportunities, extensive marketing and advertising campaigns, the organization of mutual visits by representatives of the tourism industry, etc.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
A British aristocrat accused of manslaughter over the death of her newborn daughter told jurors Thursday that she did nothing but show her love and denied harming her baby.

Constance Marten, 36, and her 49-year-old partner, Mark Gordon, allegedly caused the death of their fifth child, Victoria, last year while on the run from police in the U.K. in the cold winter months of early 2023. Marten, whose family have been close to members of the British royal family, and Gordon both deny the charges against them, including manslaughter by gross negligence, concealing the birth of their child, and perverting the course of justice by hiding her body.

Aristocrat Constance Marten Lost Custody of 4 Kids Before Fifths Death: Prosecutors

Prosecutors claim the pair caused Victorias death by living off the grid while authorities tried to find the family. Police had started a national search for the couple after a placenta was found in the burned-out shell of their car in northwest England on Jan. 5, 2023. Marten and Gordon went on the run and camped with their newborn in freezing conditions because they wanted to keep their child, prosecutors claim, after they had lost custody of all four of their other children.

Speaking in a courtroom at Londons Old Bailey on Thursday, Marten insisted she had never done anything to harm Victoria. I did nothing but show her love, she told the court, according to Sky News. I gave her the best [care] that anyone would have.

Marten also told jurors of her disbelief, shock, and intense grief when Victoria died. I dont think its anything I will move on from, she said. I feel guilty because she was in my arms. I feel like its not an easy thing to live with.

Police found the couple and arrested them on Feb. 27 last year. Days later, Victorias decomposed body was found in a shopping bag covered with garbage inside a shed in southeast England.

While an exact cause of death remains unascertained, jurors were told that the infant may have died as a result of cold temperatures or co-sleeping. Marten told police her baby died as Marten slept in the tent holding Victoria under her jacket.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Prosecutors in Arizona have issued several grand jury subpoenas in recent weeks to people connected to efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election in that state, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

The subpoenas suggest the state-level probe is accelerating ahead of the 2024 presidential election, when Trump is expected to once again be on the ballot as the Republican nominee. Sources told CNN that Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes could be nearing a decision on whether to bring criminal charges.

Mayes, a Democrat, has primarily focused her investigation on the 11 fake electors from Arizona and those who helped organize them, but sources familiar with the probe say she is also looking into individuals tied to the former presidents national campaign as well. Politico first reported the grand jury subpoenas were issued.

Arizona prosecutors have asked witnesses about meetings attended by Trump where the plan to put forward slates of fake GOP electors across the country was mentioned, including one in the Oval Office on December 16, 2020, the sources said.

They have also inquired about several other boldfaced names who aided Trumps attempt to upend Joe Bidens 2020 election win, including conservative attorney John Eastman, the sources added.

Questions about Eastman, who was among those pushing fringe legal theories for overturning the 2020 election results and intimately involved in the fake electors scheme, primarily focused on his actions in the weeks and days leading up to January 6, 2021, according to the same sources.

Among those who have been interviewed by Arizona prosecutors in recent months is pro-Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro.

CNN has identified Chesebro as one of Trumps unindicted co-conspirators in special counsel Jack Smiths federal indictment of the former president, which details how he was a driving force behind the fake electors plot.

Chesebro has also pleaded guilty in the sprawling conspiracy case in Georgia for his role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results there and met with prosecutors from several other states who are investigating the fake electors plan.

Arizona prosecutors asked Chesebro about the December 2020 Oval Office meeting he also described during an earlier interview with investigators in Michigan, sources said.

During that Oval Office meeting, Chesebro says he told Trump he could still win  and explained how the alternate electors he helped assemble in Arizona and six other states gave Trump an opening to continue contesting the election until Congress certified the results on January 6, 2021, according to audio of his Michigan interview obtained by CNN.

I ended up explaining that Arizona was still hypothetically possible  because the alternate electors had voted, Chesebro told Michigan state investigators, later adding that this made it clear (to Trump) in a way that maybe it hadnt been before, that we had until January 6 to win.

And that, you know, created a real problem, Chesebro added.

CNN has reached out to lawyers for Eastman and Chesebro for comment.

Eleven fake electors for Trump convened at the state Republican Party headquarters in Phoenix, on December 14, 2020. They broadcast themselves preparing to sign the documents, allegedly provided by a Trump campaign attorney, claiming that they were the legitimate representatives of the states electoral votes.

By that time, Trumps loss in the state  by fewer than 11,000 votes  had already been certified by its Republican governor, affirming that Biden won Arizona in the 2020 presidential election.

But in the weeks that followed, some of the fake electors continued to push for Vice President Mike Pence to reject the legitimate Democratic slate of electors.

CNNs Kyung Lah, Marshall Cohen and Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Voters wait in line at a Mesa polling location on Nov. 8, 2022. Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror

Arizona election officials will begin frequently checking voters U.S. citizenship and requiring voters to submit proof of residency when they register, under new laws upheld by a federal judge last week.

Under those laws, if the citizenship checks show that someone has an ID typically given to someone who is not a U.S. citizen, they will be barred from registering to vote, or will be kicked off the rolls. And if new registrants dont provide documents proving they live in the state, they wont be able to vote in state and local elections.

This article was originally published by Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access.

While voting by non-citizens in Arizona rarely happens, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton concluded in her ruling, the new laws could help prevent it, and they wouldnt pose an overly burdensome barrier to voting.

The investigations are likely to disproportionately involve voters of lower socioeconomic status and naturalized citizens, Bolton found, but she said they arent inherently discriminatory. A Votebeat analysis found the laws are also likely to disproportionately affect younger voters and voters who live on college campuses, who often register to vote without providing documents proving residency or citizenship.

Boltons ruling comes after long and complex litigation over two laws, HB2243 and HB2492, enacted by Republican state lawmakers and Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in 2022, that supporters said would help keep non-citizens from voting. Several voting rights groups, including those representing Hispanic, Native American, and Asian American voters, sued, alleging that the laws were discriminatory and violated federal voting rights laws.

Boltons ruling follows a preliminary ruling in September and a 10-day trial in December, Taken together, her two rulings blocked the most restrictive elements of the new laws. For that reason, the Republican-controlled state Senate is likely to appeal Boltons decision, according to a Senate spokesperson. Its unclear whether voting rights groups will, too.

Most significantly, Boltons September ruling blocked any provision that further limits voting for those who havent provided documented proof of citizenship, including provisions that would have prohibited them from voting for president or by mail.

With last weeks ruling, the judge also blocked a provision that would have required voters to provide their birthplace when they register to vote, explaining that the information isnt a reliable or useful way to determine someones voting eligibility. And she will not allow counties to investigate citizenship on the basis that a recorder had reason to believe that the voter was not a citizen, finding that the way the law is written would discriminate against naturalized citizens.

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes celebrated Boltons ruling last week, saying in a statement that it dismantles a blatant attempt to suppress the votes of Arizonas diverse electorate.

Boltons rulings preserve the states unique split voting system, which limits voters to voting in federal elections if they havent provided documented proof of citizenship. Thats because federal law doesnt require this documentation, but state law does. There are about 32,000 federal only voters in the state who havent provided documented proof of citizenship.

Its unclear when election officials will begin using the new methods outlined in the law to verify residency and citizenship, and when the monthly citizenship checks will begin. Fontes wrote in a new Elections Procedures Manual finalized in December that any program to systematically cancel registration records, such as the new monthly checks, should occur at least 90 days before a primary or general election.

Fontes office did not respond when asked when the new procedures would begin.

Ruling finds voter citizenship checks are not discriminatory

Bolton wrote in her ruling that it is not illegal or discriminatory for the state to require county recorders to conduct initial and monthly investigations of voters U.S. citizenship status and cancel registrations of voters who they confirm are not citizens.

While recorders already examine citizenship records when someone registers to vote  using records from the state Motor Vehicle Division and a federal immigration database, the USCIS Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements System  the new law requires them to also use other databases to do these checks. If they see that the person has an ID that is issued only to non-citizens, such as a USCIS number, they must not process their registration. They also are required to send a list of these voters to the state attorney general for investigation.

The voting rights groups that sued the state told Bolton that these rules would require officials to rely on faulty or old databases that would likely incorrectly flag citizens, especially newly naturalized ones, resulting in the disenfranchisement of eligible voters and an uneven system around the state.

Bolton in her ruling said that the databases are generally reliable, if not fully up to date.

Fontes issues rules for recorders as new laws go into effect

Fontes new Elections Procedures Manual outlined rules about the new laws, including instructions apparently meant to protect eligible voters from being removed from the rolls as citizenship checks happen.

For example, he told county recorders they have to notify the voter that their registration will be rejected, and give them until the next election to send in documents correcting the record.

He also told recorders that they have no obligation to use other databases named in the new laws, such as the Social Security Administration database, because they dont have access to them currently, and the new laws only require them to do so when practicable.

The Arizona Republican Party and the Republican National Committee have challenged that instruction in a sweeping lawsuit, which claims Fontes manual conflicts with state law and should be thrown out.

The new monthly investigations will work like this: The Motor Vehicle Division will send the Secretary of States Office a monthly list of anyone who updates their address, moves out of state, or obtains a state ID given to non-citizens. The secretary of state will sort the list by county and send it to county recorders, who must use it and other databases to identify ineligible voters on their rolls. Voters will have their registration canceled only if the check shows that they have a non-citizen ID. If recorders just cant find documents proving citizenship, those voters will be barred from state and local elections, but remain on the rolls for federal elections only.

The rules still leave open the possibility that an eligible voter could be restricted from voting: Just because someone has a non-citizen ID doesnt mean they are not citizens. A naturalized citizen, for example, might have not yet updated their records with the state.

Michael McDonald, a political science professor at the University of Florida, analyzed Arizonas voter rolls and found that 6,084 full-ballot voters who have already provided documented proof of citizenship nonetheless also have a foreign identification card that would cause them to be flagged as non-citizens in the MVD database. These are naturalized citizens who appear to not have updated their state ID since becoming citizens, McDonald found.

He also said the records show that 65 federal-only voters possess a foreign identification card or number.

Under the new laws, these voters would be immediately flagged for county recorders.

The new law also requires counties to immediately remove voters from the rolls when they tell the state through a jury-duty questionnaire that they are non-citizens.

Fontes in his manual told county recorders that the lists sent from the secretary of state and the juror questionnaires shouldnt be taken as confirmation of non-citizenship. Recorders should still independently confirm this in other ways, he wrote, such as checking whether the voter has already provided documented proof of citizenship, checking other relevant government databases, and in some cases, contacting the registrant directly.

The Republican lawsuit challenging the manual claims that these instructions regarding jury notifications conflict with state law.

Fontes also used the manual to clarify that voters who registered in 2004 before the state law requiring documented proof of citizenship took effect are exempt from providing the documentation.

Advocates for Native Americans, college students aired concerns

Bolton said she heard concerns from advocates for Native Americans that the new requirement for document proof of residency could disenfranchise residents of reservations where addresses may not have conventional street names or building numbers.

But Fontes clarified in his manual that the law doesnt require tribal members or other Arizona residents to have a standard street address.

Advocates for student voters, meanwhile, told Bolton that the proof-of-residency requirement would disenfranchise Arizona college students from out of state  who arent likely to have an in-state ID  by prohibiting them from voting in state and local elections.

Thats the problem, Kyle Nitschke, co executive director of the Arizona Students Association told Bolton in December. They dont have that proof of residency. They dont have an in-state drivers license. They dont have a utility bill that matches with their dorm address  They really dont have proof that they are living at the dorm they are living at a lot of the time.

Bolton found that the states requirements for proof of residency and citizenship are not overly burdensome.

The post Arizona voters face more scrutiny of their citizenship and residency, after judge upholds 2022 laws appeared first on Arizona Mirror.
Arkansas State Capitol (Dwain Hebda/Arkansas Advocate)

Arkansas executive branch employees would receive a 3% pay raise, and the minimum wage for those workers would be raised to $15 an hour under a plan announced Wednesday.

The more than 22,500 state employees affected received a letter from Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders detailing some of the steps to increase their pay this year before an overhaul of the states pay plan can be proposed during the 2025 legislative session.

Sanders temporary plan will be subject to legislative approval during the General Assemblys fiscal session that begins April 10.

This past year has been full of bold changes to Arkansas state government, Sanders wrote. That is thanks to you, our Arkansas state employees. We have the best public servants in the country, and I am excited to announce a pay plan that rewards you for your hard work.

The Arkansas Department of Transformation and Shared Services expects the temporary proposal to cost $42.4 million over the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. Roughly $19.3 million of that will come from the states general revenues; the rest will be absorbed in state agencies existing budgets.

The increases will go to executive branch employees, excluding those at independent agencies, like the Department of Transportation and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, as well as workers at state colleges and universities.

State employees, Sanders and lawmakers alike have been frustrated with Arkansas personnel and merit-raise system since last year when Sanders approved pay bumps for only about a quarter of the states highest-rated workers.

The pay plan was last overhauled in 2017.

A rework of the pay plan is one of the first priorities for the contractor the state hired last month to help the executive branch identify ways to make state government more efficient.

The components of the temporary plan are:

Up to 3% one-time market adjustment increases for all state employees.

Raising the minimum wage for executive branch workers to $15 an hour by eliminating the first four steps in the states pay schedule. Employees will now start at GS05, which pays between $32,405 and $46,987, depending on qualifications and experience.

Increasing the maximum salary range for all steps in the pay scale by 10% to reward our best for their hard work and commitment, according to the Republican governor.

Modifying special rates of pay for exceptionally qualified applicants from 30% to 40%.

Adding special compensation awards.

Modifying hazardous duty pay to allow correctional workers to receive greater pay for temporary assignments to maximum security units or facilities, which have struggled to recruit and retain guards.

Raising the states pay floor by July will impact 1,988 employees who are currently working below the GS05 level, according to Transformation and Shared Services Chief of Staff Alex Johnston.

State government is only as efficient and effective as the people who staff it, Sanders said. I believe this plan strikes the balance between spending Arkansans tax dollars wisely, increasing competitiveness, and rewarding our best state employees. I look forward to the legislatures speedy review and approval of these proposals.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Arkansas governor pitches pay plan revamp, 3% raises for state employees appeared first on Arkansas Advocate.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  The House of Representatives passed partial funding legislation Wednesday in attempts to prevent a government shutdown, with the Arkansas delegation all voting for the plans.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 passed on a 339-85 vote, with the four Arkansas congressmen joining 207 Democrats and 128 of their fellow Republican legislators in approving.

House approves spending package to avert shutdown

The bill is expected to pass the Senate and avoid the government shutdown that would have occurred Friday without its passage.

Rep. French Hill (AR-02) spoke to the legislations reigning in of what he described as irresponsible fiscal policy.

Since President Biden took office, government spending has been out of control on a scale never seen before, Hill said. Passing this funding today was a step in the right direction toward returning to sane fiscal policy, and this is in line with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which was negotiated last June under former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Hill said he and his colleagues would work together to pass the remaining 2024 funding.

Arkansas House delegation: 2 votes to expel, 1 to stay, 1 abstain for Santos

Rep. Rick Crawford (AR-01) pointed out the bill was the largest cuts to non-VA and non-defense spending in almost a decade.

The spending package brought forward after months of deliberation has many conservative wins to be proud of, Crawford said. This legislation cuts spending and prevents a partial government shutdown, which would create more interest-accumulating debt and cost more taxpayer dollars.

Rep. Steve Womack (AR-03) spoke about the legislations impact on the third district in northwest Arkansas.

First and foremost, this package delivers for the people of Arkansas Third, Womack said. The district-specific funding will improve our infrastructure and grow our local economy while ensuring the critical FMS mission at Ebbing Air National Guard Base is kept on schedule.

Womack added that the legislation included support for the Marshallese community and other projects for his district.

US Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas fends off challenge from state lawmaker in GOP primary

Rep. Bruce Westerman (AR-04) pointed out that the legislation was imperfect but did result in federal spending cuts.

The appropriations bill that I supported today was far from perfect, but it did incorporate policies negotiated by Speaker Johnson that cut federal spending according to the caps in the Fiscal Responsibility Act and changed the parameters that were in effect under the continuing resolution that continued the policies under Nancy Pelosis last omnibus bill, Westerman said. The 2024 Fiscal Year is nearly halfway complete, and we have more work to do on the six remaining appropriations bills that include defense funding and important provisions for Arkansas agriculture and transportation.

Westerman also spoke to the bills foreign policy move in its support for the Marshall Island.

Six government funding bills for 2024 remain and are due by March 22 to avoid a shutdown.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
The Pentagon has identified an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel who died in a noncombat incident while supporting the U.S. security staff at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel.

Lt. Col. Orlando Bandeira, 54, of Tampa, Florida, died March 4, according to an Army press release. He was discovered unresponsive in his residence. The incident is under investigation.

Bandeira was assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 94th Training Division in Indianapolis, Indiana. According to a Linkedin webpage with Bandeiras name and background he had been serving as the deputy chief of operations at the embassy for the past two months. The page also lists his civilian employment as a contracted Intel Analyst with Cyntel Technologies, LLC since January 2022.

Bandeira enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1997 as an administrative specialist. He joined the Army Reserve on Oct. 31, 2019 after a period in the Individual Ready Reserve, according to the release. Bandeira served assignments with the reserve elements of U.S. Central Command. He was assigned to the 94th Training Division in 2023.

In January, three Army Reserve soldiers died as a result of a one-way drone attack on their base in northeastern Jordan.

Military Times reported last week that 39 Missouri National Guardsmen received Combat Infantryman Badges for participating in active ground combat during their 2023 deployment to Syria.

Regular rotations to Iraq, Syria and Jordan, all along with Israel in the U.S. Central Command, have been conducted more frequently by Guard and Reserve soldiers as the active force has pivoted to support allies in Europe and the Pacific Region to counter Russian and Chinese military threats.

Bandeiras awards and decorations include two Defense Meritorious Service Medals, a Meritorious Service Medal, an Army Commendation Medal, an Army Achievement Medal, a Joint Meritorious Unit Award, an Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, an Iraq Campaign Medal w/2 Campaign Stars, an Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon, an Armed Forces Reserve Medal w/M Device and 20-year Silver Hourglass, a Humanitarian Service Medal, two Army Service Ribbons, two Overseas Training Ribbons, a National Defense Service Medal, and a Korea Defense Service Medal.
We may not have reached artificial general intelligence (AGI) yet, but as one of the leading experts in the theoretical field claims, it may get here sooner rather than later.

During his closing remarks at this year's Beneficial AGI Summit in Panama, computer scientist and haberdashery enthusiast Ben Goertzel said that although people most likely won't build human-level or superhuman AI until 2029 or 2030, there's a chance it could happen as soon as 2027.

After that, the SingularityNET founder said, AGI could then evolve rapidly into artificial superintelligence (ASI), which he defines as an AI with all the combined knowledge of human civilization.

"No one has created human-level artificial general intelligence yet; nobody has a solid knowledge of when we're going to get there," Goertzel told the conference audience. "I mean, there are known unknowns and probably unknown unknowns."

"On the other hand, to me it seems quite plausible we could get to human-level AGI within, let's say, the next three to eight years," he added.

To be fair, Goertzel is far from alone in attempting to predict when AGI will be achieved.

Last fall, for instance, Google DeepMind co-founder Shane Legg reiterated his more than decade-old prediction that there's a 50/50 chance that humans invent AGI by the year 2028. In a tweet from May of last year, "AI godfather" and ex-Googler Geoffrey Hinton said he now predicts, "without much confidence," that AGI is five to 20 years away.

Best known as the creator of Sophia the humanoid robot, Goertzel has long theorized about the date of the so-called "singularity," or the point at which AI reaches human-level intelligence and subsequently surpasses it.

Until the past few years, AGI, as Goertzel and his cohort describe it, seemed like a pipe dream, but with the large language model (LLM) advances made by OpenAI since it thrust ChatGPT upon the world in late 2022, that possibility seems ever close  although he's quick to point out that LLMs by themselves are not what's going to lead to AGI.

"My own view is once you get to human-level AGI, within a few years you could get a radically superhuman AGI  unless the AGI threatens to throttle its own development out of its own conservatism," the AI pioneer added. "I think once an AGI can introspect its own mind, then it can do engineering and science at a human or superhuman level."

"It should be able to make a smarter AGI, then an even smarter AGI, then an intelligence explosion," he added, presumably referring to the singularity.

Naturally, there are a lot of caveats to what Goertzel is preaching, not the least of which being that by human standards, even a superhuman AI would not have a "mind" the way we do. Then there's the assumption that the evolution of the technology would continue down a linear pathway as if in a vacuum from the rest of human society and the harms we bring to the planet.

All the same, it's a compelling theory  and given how rapidly AI has progressed just in the past few years alone, his comments shouldn't be entirely discredited.

More on AGI: Amazon AGI Team Say Their AI is Showing "Emergent Properties"
The Carr family of Westminster, Mass., made headlines in 1981 when their daughter, Elizabeth, became a medical marvel: She was the first baby born through in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the United States, at a hospital in Virginia.

The reason I was born there was because IVF was not actually allowed in Massachusetts at the time, Elizabeth Carr, now 42 years old, told Yahoo News. Norfolk had the only fertility program that was even attempting IVF at the time in the United States.

While IVF has now become commonplace  with about 2% of babies born in the U.S. and more than 12 million births worldwide as a result of it  access to the fertility treatment has recently come under threat. Last month the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are considered children under state law, which led to fertility clinics in the state pausing aspects of their IVF programs.

On Thursday, Carr will attend President Bidens State of the Union address as a guest of Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine. Kaine says Carrs story has given hope to so many families struggling with infertility, and urges protections for IVF access.

I am completely honored and totally humbled to represent the IVF community, Carr said of Kaines invitation. I have been a passionate advocate, since as early as I could string a sentence together.

Carr spoke with Yahoo News ahead of Thursdays State of the Union to share more of her thoughts on the Alabama ruling and how it comes into play in the November elections.

Elizabeth Carr, born in 1981, plays with microphones during a news conference. (Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

New Alabama IVF law doesnt quite go far enough

The Alabama Supreme Court decision that said frozen embryos created through IVF are considered children is based on the states 2018 Sanctity of Unborn Life Amendment that was intended to ban abortion. Following the ruling, several clinics paused certain stages of IVF treatments out of fear they and their patients would be held legally responsible if a frozen embryo were accidentally damaged in the IVF process.

This battle is one Ive been fighting my whole life, Carr said. Essentially, for 42 years, weve been having the same debate over where life begins.

Carr added the Alabama ruling felt like a personal attack and said she was incredibly sad, angry and frustrated when the ruling landed last month.

Many of us are afraid that this is kind of laying the groundwork for other states to figure out a way to essentially make IVF impossible in other states, Carr said. My opinion is, regardless of when you think [life begins], you should not impose your opinions on somebody else to hamper their ability to have children.

The issue has also become a flash point on the 2024 campaign trail. Biden and former President Donald Trump agree that IVF access shouldnt be impeded. Biden vowed to protect IVF access and sent the nations top health official to Alabama to meet with patients and doctors affected by the controversial decision.

Trump, meanwhile, called on Alabama lawmakers to act quickly to find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF in the state.

Judith Carr of Westminster, Mass., holds her newborn daughter, Elizabeth. (Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

Late Wednesday, Alabama passed a law that enables fertility clinics to resume IVF treatments without fear of being held liable for the damage to or death of an embryo. However, it does not solve the question of whether a frozen embryo created by IVF should be considered a child under state law.

Carr told Yahoo News on Thursday that shes very pleased that Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed the legislation into law because it will allow for IVF care to continue in the state, but said it doesnt quite go far enough.

Theres definitely more work to be done to address the underlying issue of the status of embryos as a part of the IVF process, which is going to take a longer effort, Carr said. We all need to stay engaged in the conversation and continue to work toward resolving that.

This is not a small segment of the population that uses IVF anymore

Carr said part of the reason the Alabama ruling was so devastating is because IVF treatments extend way beyond people who are infertile. She pointed out that same-sex couples who want to have a child, people going through cancer treatments who want to preserve their fertility before chemotherapy, and people who want to screen for genetic diseases before having children often use IVF treatments.

So this is not a small segment of the population that uses IVF anymore, she said, adding that 1 in 6 people experiences infertility.

Somebody in your circle, at some point, will probably have to access IVF. Wouldnt you want to protect that access for them? Carr said. I think if we dont protect things like IVF, entire segments of the population will feel very abandoned.
LEHI, Utah (ABC4)  One person was arrested in connection to an alleged assault at a Utah Transit Authority public transportation stop in Lehi on Wednesday, according to officials with the Lehi City Police Department.

Police officers were dispatched to a reported assault in progress at the UTA stop in the afternoon, according to a social media post from the department on March 6.

READ NEXT: Man allegedly hits hotel sprinklers with hammer while on drugs, floods Orem hotel room

Lehi Police said two officers who were in the area  which was near Thanksgiving Point  were in an unmarked vehicle and were able to make contact with the suspect. In their post, the Lehi Police Department said the alleged assault took place at the UTA Thanksgiving Point Trax Station, but one commenter claimed that it was not a Trax station.

The subject was non-cooperative, at one point picking up a rock, while demanding that officers stay back, Lehi Police said in the post.

Police said the suspect dropped the rock when uniformed officers began arriving at the scene. In the social media post, Lehi Police said officers continued their attempts to de-escalate the situation by speaking with the suspect.

That continued to be unsuccessful, with the subject squaring up to officers several times, officials wrote on social media.

Police reported that the suspect was taken into custody after a brief scuffle and after they had attempted to walk away from officers.

The victim of the reported assault stayed at the scene to provide a statement to officers, police said.

There is no further information at this time.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA)  This week is National Consumer Protection Week, and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is highlighting the scams and consumer complaints which affected the states residents in 2023.

During National Consumer Protection Week, I encourage Illinois residents to visit my office`s website and social media channels to learn more about common consumer complaints and how to protect themselves from fraud and scams, Raoul said.

With Raouls Consumer Fraud Bureau, officials saved consumers more than $9 million through mediation and secured more than $76 million through enforcement actions in 2023.

Gen Z losing more money to scams than other age groups, data shows

In 2023, the Attorney General received 19,450 written complaints, along with tens of thousands of phone calls. The top 10 categories of scams and consumer complaints for Illinois residents in 2023 are:

Construction/home improvement repairs  2,091 reports Identity Theft  1,885 reports Consumer Debt  1,683 reports Motor Vehicle/Used Auto Sales  1,678 reports Promotions/Schemes like phishing and phone scams  1,343 reports Internet/Mail Order Products 1,249 reports Telecommunications  932 reports Motor Vehicle/ Non-Warranty Repair  831 reports Motor Vehicle/New Auto Sales  647 reports Government Agencies  513 reports

Home repairs has been the number one category for complaints from Illinois consumers for three years in a row. Raoul said homeowners often leave complaints after unsatisfactory work or because of contractors who do not show up to repair after a down payment is made. The attorney general has tips to avoid home repair scams.

Identity theft complaints moved up to the number two spot from last year. The attorney general recommends being very private about sharing your personal information online and changing important passwords often.

How to keep yourself safe from romance scams

Raoul also advises consumers to alert on responding to unsolicited calls and texts. Especially with the rise of AI, scammers have more technology to fool unsuspecting customers.

Any Central Illinoisan who wants to report fraud or a consumer complaint can call the Attorney Generals Springfield Consumer Fraud Hotline at 1-800-243-0618 or by visiting his website.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Agreements on opening credit lines to Azerbaijani banks will be signed this year, President of the Azerbaijan Banks Association (ABA) Zakir Nuriyev said during a conference on "Economic reforms and modern challenges for improving the business environment" in Baku, Trend reports.

He reminded that during 2023, international financial institutions signed a number of agreements on the opening of large-scale credit lines to Azerbaijani banks.

"In the coming months, we'll witness the continuous signing of these contracts. As ABA, together with the Central Bank and the Ministry of Economy, we have launched a project to finance socio-economic development. The goal of the project is to form a systematic approach to expansion of financing of the real system, he emphasized.

Established in 1990 by commercial banks, the ABA serves as a representative body for its member organizations. Its primary objectives include addressing the diverse business service needs of members and facilitating coordination among them. ABA currently boasts a membership of 23 banks and 6 non-banking organizations.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Ashleigh Merchant, the lead attorney pushing for the disqualification of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and 18 others, provided new testimony to a Georgia Senate panel Wednesday about how she says she uncovered the romantic relationship between Willis and prosecutor Nathan Wade that sits at the heart of the misconduct allegations.

Merchant told the Republican-led committee that she was looking into possible "financial irregularities" in the election case when Wade's former law partner and divorce attorney, Terrence Bradley, reached out to her, eventually sharing his belief that Wade and Willis had begun dating "before she became DA."

The judge in the election interference case, Scott McAfee, is currently weighing motions to disqualify Willis, primarily over accusations from Merchant's client, Trump co-defendant Michael Roman, that Willis benefited financially from a "personal, romantic relationship" with Wade, who she hired for the case, through Wade's "paying for vacations across the world with money he is being paid by the Fulton County taxpayers and authorized solely by Willis."

MORE: Fulton County hearing: Trump case hangs in balance as judge mulls DA Willis' disqualification

Willis and Wade have admitted to a relationship but said it "does not amount to a disqualifying conflict of interest" and that it "has never involved direct or indirect financial benefit to District Attorney Willis."

Merchant, Roman's attorney, testified Wednesday before the Georgia Senate's Special Committee on Investigations as part of its probe into the district attorney's office. While the panel does not have the authority to bring charges against Willis or remove her from the case, officials say their findings could lead to changes in some of the statutes governing the operations of the DA's office.

Merchant, who testified for over three hours, said there was an immediate response when she filed her motion seeking Willis' dismissal based on her relationship with Wade.

"I file it and at that point, the world is shocked," she said. "I mean, shocked because nobody had any idea this had been hidden."

PHOTO: Attorney Ashleigh Merchant testifies before a Georgia Senate committee, March 6, 2024, in Atlanta. (POOL/ABC News)

Regarding Wade's former attorney, Merchant told legislators that "Mr. Bradley essentially went through the whole thing and said, 'Well, this is what's really happening.' He was very specific that it was before she became DA."

But when Bradley was called as a witness during last week's disqualification hearing, he reversed course, saying under oath that his remarks to Merchant were "speculation" made without personal knowledge of the matter. Willis and Wade both testified they didn't consider their relationship to have become romantic until after Wade was hired.

Attorneys for Trump are accusing Willis of committing "appalling and unforgivable" forms of forensic misconduct through what they allege is her "testifying falsely" about the timeline of the relationship.

Willis has pushed back on any allegations of misconduct. In a filing this week, she urged the judge to reject the motion to disqualify her, saying that in order to disqualify an elected district attorney, "an actual conflict of interest must be proven" -- which she says the defendants have not done.

Merchant, in her testimony Wednesday, also offered details about her conversations with Bradley and what she described as his motives. She said that Bradley was personally "upset" with Wade about the way Wade handled his divorce.

During Bradley's testimony at the disqualification hearing, the state questioned him about a potential different motive for coming forward -- saying he left the firm with Wade over a "disagreement" when he was accused by an employee of sexual assault. Bradley said he "didn't sexually assault anybody."

MORE: Fani Willis ethics case may reverberate long after judge decision: Experts

Merchant told the committee that it was Bradley who suggested Merchant track down Robin Yeartie, Willis' former friend and one-time Fulton County DA employee who testified last month that Wade and Willis' relationship predated Wade's employment.

Before Merchant filed her initial motion for disqualification, she said that Bradley personally reviewed her filing and suggested changes so as not to "tip off" to others that he was her source.

"He did not want anybody to know that he was talking. He was very concerned," Merchant said.

After filing her disqualification motion in January, Merchant claimed that Bradley received a phone call from another lawyer to probe his role in Merchant's filing.

"He took it as what he described to me as the 'first shot against the bow' -- you know, that they were trying to figure out if it was him, and they were trying to silence them," Merchant said.

According to Merchant, Wade also called Bradley's best friend -- who she did not name -- to request he "call Mr. Bradley and remind him of his privilege" as Wade's former divorce attorney.

"It just seemed like tampering," she said, adding, "He took it as intimidation, yes."

Willis, responding to the committee hearing, told Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB-TV that it was political in nature.

"I think it's all just a political quest," she told WSB. "I think that people are angry because I'm going to do the right thing and I'm going to stand up for justice."

Much of Wednesday's testimony rehashed the allegations from the earlier evidentiary hearings, with the committee chairman Bill Cowsert peppering Merchant with questions about Willis' office and the standards in the law.

"You're a good investigative reporter here," Cowsert told Merchant at one point.

MORE: Bank records show Fulton County DA Fani Willis traveled with her top prosecutor, filing says

However, Georgia Sen. Harold Jones, asking questions on behalf of the committee's Democratic minority, raised concerns about the legitimacy of Merchant's disqualification effort, including the idea that a few vacations were a financial incentive for Willis.

"So your argument is that a person who makes $200,000 a year is actually setting up prosecutions to go on a trip that costs $3,500?" Jones asked.

Cowsert said the committee is tasked with, if necessary, "amending existing statutes or creating new statutes to build guardrails ... to essentially restore public faith in our criminal justice system in its impartiality and its fairness."

Attorney leading effort to disqualify DA Fani Willis tells legislators how she uncovered allegations of misconduct originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
DENVER (KDVR)  Auontai Anderson, a former outspoken Denver Public Schools board member, has been ordered to pay more than $61,000 in legal fees after a defamation case he filed backfired.

In 2021, Anderson sued Black Lives Matter 5280, along with a group of activists and DPS parents, because he said they knowingly and willfully published false allegations he committed sexual assault.

FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox

The school district investigated and could not confirm the claims made against Anderson, but it did find he engaged in flirtatious and questionable social media contact with a 16-year-old DPS student.

In 2022, a Denver District Court judge dismissed Andersons case against BLM 5280 because the judge found Anderson had no case, ruling BLM 5280 did not act with malice or reckless disregard for the truth when it released its statement.

Auon'tai Anderson

Anti-SLAPP law used against Auontai Anderson

Since the case was dismissed, the defendants filed a motion asking for their legal fees to be reimbursed under Colorados anti-SLAPP law  short for strategic lawsuits against public participation  which seeks to deter frivolous lawsuits.

The judge agreed and ordered Anderson to pay BLM 5280 and Amy Brown  an activist affiliated with the group  $61,060 for attorney fees and costs incurred.

Anderson told the Problem Solvers he may appeal.

I continue to be appalled by the actions of this organization and the false statements they made about me on their social media platforms in 2021, Anderson said in a statement. I believe that the members of this organization are detrimental to the community and should be reintegrated into spaces dedicated to the ongoing liberation of the Black community.

FOX31 Weather: View the latest Denver forecasts, maps and radar

Legal experts told FOX31 that Anderson can only appeal the amount he owes, not the fact that he owes the defendants money for their legal fees. But if Anderson were to appeal, he might dig a deeper hole for himself, because he could then be on the hook for the additional appellate legal, which the defendants would be owed were he to lose the appeal.

Legal experts told the Problem Solvers that if Anderson doesnt appeal in 49 days or agree to pay the $61,060, he might have to declare bankruptcy.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  Austin City Council members and the mayor will ultimately have the final say in who leads the City of Austin moving forward. First, though, those candidates will meet with city staff and with the community.

Dallas, Kansas City, former Austin leaders finalists for Austins city manager job

After Mayor Kirk Watson announced they were moving forward with three candidates Tuesday, heres what the hiring body is saying about those selections.

Austin City Council members

Council Member Zohaib Zo Qadri

I am excited that we have identified final candidates for City Manager. I look forward to having the chance to interview them and get public feedback before we make such an impactful decision for Austins future.

Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Pool

Im looking forward to the community engagement opportunities we have ahead of us for these three candidates, and the amount of time that will be devoted to public discussions. This has been a smooth process thus far, and weve stayed true to the principle of hosting an open and transparent process to fill this leadership post for Austin.

Council Member Ryan Alter, District 5

While I was disappointed to not have a Latino candidate as part of this final group, Im excited to hear how they will help advance the important goals we have for Austin  more affordable, sustainable, and livable city for everyone.

Council Member Mackenzie Kelly, District 6

In our recent executive session, the Council made significant progress by narrowing down an extensive and diverse list of 39 City Manager candidates to our top three. This careful and deliberate process reflects our dedication to finding the most qualified individual to lead our city into the future. Transparency has been and always will be, a cornerstone of our selection process. We understand the importance of this decision for the future of Austin and are committed to conducting this search with the highest standards of openness and public engagement. We look forward to introducing our final candidates to the community and taking the next steps together toward a bright and prosperous future for Austin.

Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, District 2

What we found is that both from community stakeholders and city employees, that they wanted a leader that was experienced, a leader that could help us with some of our biggest challenges around homelessness, public safety as well as improving morale.

Mayor Kirk Watson

In a Watson Wire, the mayor thanked Interim City Manager Jesus Garza and laid out what happens next in the process.

While we knew from the beginning that Jesus wouldnt be our long-term City Manager, we took our time in the search because we wanted him to focus on fixing the problems of the past so that the new City Manager would be able to focus on the future of Austin. Jesus has done extraordinary work under trying circumstances and has made a difference at City Hall helping to make local government work better, less chaotic, and with a focus on results, the mayor wrote.

KXAN asked Watson if he had any concerns about the backgrounds of any of the candidates. He said the following, in part:

I dont worry about backgrounds. First of all, anybody that has the kind of experience were looking for in a city hall and to come to our city hall, theres two sides to that coin, youve got lots of experience but the other side of the coin is youve got a lot of folks who have taken shots at you over the years and goodness gracious knows somebody may have made a mistake along the way, he said.

The mayor added that next steps, council will be allowed to dig deeper into the candidates, talk to references and allow the community to ask questions.

What happens next?

The candidates will meet with staff on Monday, March 25, and then participate in a community town hall that evening. The exact details of that town hall are yet to be announced.

The following day, the candidates will interview with Austin City Council members and the mayor.

The top candidates from that process will then move to additional discussion on April 1.

We will ask one, two or all three candidates to return for additional discussion on April 1 and anticipate voting to direct our search firm to negotiate a contract with a specific person on April 2. We will post for a vote on that day, the mayors office wrote in a message board post.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia said on Thursday that it would make pension contributions for workers who take paid parental leave, the latest effort by the centre-left Labor government to address gender imbalance in the workplace.

Under the new policy, the government will contribute 12% of a worker's wages into their pension fund, known in Australia as superannuation, on top of their government-funded parental leave. The policy will start in July 2025, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said in a statement.

"The data is clear - that when women take time out of the workforce to raise children it impacts their retirement incomes with women retiring, on average, with about 25% less super than men," Gallagher said, referring to superannuations.

Currently, new parents on government-paid leave do not benefit from any pension contributions.

AustralianSuper, the country's biggest pension fund, said it welcomed the move, which it said would add about A$7,000 ($4,594.10) per parental leave period for members at retirement.

"This boost to the retirement savings for those receiving the Commonwealth Parental Leave Pay will be particularly beneficial for low paid and vulnerable workers," AustralianSuper Chief Executive Paul Schroder said in a statement.

Employers are required by law to pay workers 11% of their salary as a pension contribution.

Addressing gender inequality in the workplace has been a key policy focus for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese' Labor government.

Despite years of commentary by governments and companies, there is still a gap between what men and women earn at some of Australia's biggest employers. A first of its kind report released last month showed the national gender pay gap was at 19%.

($1 = 1.5237 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Gerry Doyle)
Authorities name former GOP congressional candidate as suspect in potential murder

An arrest warrant has been issued naming former GOP congressional candidate Dan Rodimer as the suspect in a homicide.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department announced Wednesday that Rodimer, 45, has been identified as the suspect in a suspicious death that is now being investigated as a homicide that occurred Oct. 29, 2023, on the Las Vegas strip.

Rodimer won Nevadas Republican primary in 2020 in the states 3rd Congressional District. He lost the general election to Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) by fewer than 13,000 votes. Rodimer was endorsed by then-President Trump.

He is an attorney and former professional wrestler. In the primary, Rodimer defeated his nearest primary opponent by more than 15 percentage points.

Las Vegas Police said homicide detectives were examining the suspicious death of 47-year-old Christopher Tapp. Police said medical personnel responded to a call about a male suffering from injuries as a result of a purported accident.

Tapp was transported to a hospital and later pronounced dead, the release said.

The homicide department was made aware of the suspicious death circumstances Nov. 22, 2023, and began investigating.

The arrest warrant, dated March 6, 2024, has been issued for Rodimer on the charge of open murder.

The Clark County Coroners Office has ruled Tapps death a homicide as a result of blunt force trauma to the head, police said.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Rodimer is flying into town to address the warrant. The warrant calls for him to be held on a $200,000 bail.

The outlet, citing the police report, said the dispute between Rodimer and Tapp occurred when Tapp offered Rodimers stepdaughter cocaine during a party at Resorts World. Rodimder reportedly told Tapp if you ever talk to my daughter again, Ill fing kill you. A witness told police that two loud banging noises were heard and Rodimer had punched Tapp.

Tapp, an Idaho resident, spent 21 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of the rape and murder of an 18-year-old. He was released in 2017 and exonerated in 2019, the outlet reported.

The Hill has reached out to Las Vegas police for more information.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Authorities on Thursday released the autopsy results of the 75-year-old man found murdered in Manchester, New Hampshire Sunday.

An autopsy conducted by Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Mitchell Weinberg found Vernon Hayford died from a stab wound to his chest and ruled his death a homicide.

Manchester police officers responding to a 911 call around 5 a.m. Sunday morning at 259 Chestnut Street in Manchester, discovered Hayford inside with life-threatening injuries. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Carrie Drake was arrested and charged with second-degree murder for allegedly stabbing Hayford to death, according to New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella. She is also charged with being a felon in possession of a deadly weapon and resisting arrest, added Formella.

Boston 25 News has learned that Drake also served time for stabbing the same man in the same apartment in 2020. Hayford survived that initial attack. Drake was convicted of the assault and served time.

Drake was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday at Manchester Circuit Court but waived arraignment.

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
Editor's Note: A previous version of this article said that Russian forces had launched an airstrike against Sumy. It has been updated following new reporting to indicate that it was a missile strike.

Russia carried out a missile attack against the northeastern city of Sumy, the regional military administration reported in the afternoon on March 7.

At least one person was injured, and the central city hospital, a regional emergency medical center, a school, and water supply infrastructure were damaged in the attack, the local authorities said.

Local media reported explosions in the city at around 2:40 p.m. local time. Although regional authorities initially reported an airstrike, the announcement was preceded by ballistic missile warnings and unconfirmed claims of an S-300 missile attack against the city.

Russia carried out a drone attack against Sumy in the early hours of March 6, injuring four people and causing damage to multiple homes, schools, and medical centers.

Sumy Suspilne wrote that the local hospital No. 5 was damaged in the March 6 drone strike, leaving the institution temporarily without electricity and hot water.

Sumy Oblast lies on Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia and suffers near-daily attacks from Russian forces, most frequently drone and artillery strikes.

This is the first missile strike against the regional capital of Sumy since July, when a local educational institution was damaged, one person was killed, and at least 17 were injured in a single missile attack.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Russia launches missile strike at Odesa during Zelensky, Greek PM visit, killing 5

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Keesha said Ephraim was very intuitive

A dog owner making their debut at Crufts has praised their pet for opening up their world.

Keesha Brignall-Roe, 25 from Salisbury in Wiltshire was diagnosed with autism in their early 20s. They own one-year-old coonhound, Ephraim.

Mx Brignall-Roe said the dog, a North American import, bred to hunt racoons, has helped them to connect with people.

The pair will compete in this year's Import Hound Junior group at Crufts, which is taking places at Birmingham's NEC until Sunday.

'Dogs never judge'

Mx Brignall-Roe said they immediately understood why they connected more easily with animals after the diagnosis.

"From the get-go I have always had that connection with dogs and animals that I couldn't find with people," they said.

"Dogs never judge you for your social slips-ups. They never judge you for being a little bit different.

"They're a solid friend that you can always rely on."

Mx Brignall-Roe also praised Ephraim for reading their mood: "He knows when I'm not feeling great.

"He knows when I've had a bad day. He's a very intuitive, emotionally-intelligent dog.

"Sometimes people react strangely to me, I can be a bit intense, I can be very visibly autistic, it does put people off sometimes.

"But dogs don't get put off, they don't care, they just like you as you are."

Keesha said they had made new friends through dog ownership and training

As well as having a close bond, Ephraim has helped Mx Brignall to connect with more people.

"I have made so many friends since getting this dog," they said.

"It's mostly people in his show circles. I feel like I've never had this many friends in my life.

"I can have a normal conversation with them and they're the loveliest people in the world."

Since picking Ephraim up, Mx Brignall-Roe has also spoken to the owner of the dog's brother most days and they will meet for the first time at Crufts.

"I'd probably call her a best friend," said Mx Brignall.

"I'm really, really excited to see her."

'Fog-horn puppy'

Mx Brignall-Roe has been taking Ephraim to weekly ringcraft classes in preparation for the show.

"They've been absolutely fantastic, really supportive," Mx Brignall said of the organisers.

"They've been so gracious, putting up with my, fog-horn puppy.

"He does have big feelings and he does like to voice those feelings constantly."

Keesha describes Ephraim as 'big-hearted'

Mx Brignall-Roe is expecting to be "humbled" on the Crufts famous green carpet but said the community was very supportive.

"They're used to seeing these puppy antics," they said.

"I think if I go in there and have fun, I'll have a great time."

Reflecting on their bond with Ephraim and the late diagnosis of autism, Mx Brignall-Roe, added they would tell their 13-year-old self 'hang in there" and "we are different and that's OK".

And [am] so much I'm looking forward to in the future that this dog has opened up for me. I would say - don't ever give up."
People should not be claiming sickness benefits because of bad nerves and should be at work instead, a former Tory minister has claimed.

Rachel Maclean was a minister at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities until November 2023.

In Thursdays Budget debate, she pointed out that anxiety, depression and bad nerves  an undefined, non-medical concept  are lumped together in official statistics that show the number of economically inactive people in Britain.

Pointing out that she has two degrees in psychology, Ms Maclean said both depression and anxiety are clinically recognised conditions while bad nerves is not.

She continued: Theres no data or information on how this concept of bad nerves is defined, assessed, treated, understood or prevented, as a separate condition from depression or anxiety.

This is because there cant be. Having bad nerves is a totally meaningless phrase. Nobody knows what it is, so how can people decide if theyre unfit to work if they have it?

I just dont believe, frankly, that bad nerves is a reason to be on sickness benefits.

Survey plans to drop the term

The number of people who are economically inactive because of long-term sickness rose to 2.5 million in 2023, according to the quarterly Labour Force Survey led by the Office for National Statistics.

Of these, more than 1.3 million reported that they had depression, bad nerves or anxiety, though more than a million also said that this was not the main reason for their benefits claim.

This compared with 908,000 people reporting the same conditions in 2013.

The Labour Force Survey is planning to drop the term bad nerves from its questionnaire, according to a letter sent to Ms Maclean in January 2024.

In future the survey will ask people if they experience depression or anxiety.

The phrase, which Ms Maclean compared to something out of a Good Housewife manual, was introduced in the 1990s.

The same letter sent to the former minister admitted that there is currently no work under way between the ONS and the DWP to define the terms of depression, bad nerves, or anxiety.

In the debate, Ms Maclean also said criticism of welfare cuts from the opposition were total fake outrage.

She said: The true failure is to let people languish on benefits and not expect any better from them.

A Government spokesperson said: We are committed to giving those who are fit to work the support they need to secure a job and reap the health and financial benefits that offers. Our changes to the Work Capability Assessment will more than halve the net inflow of people on incapacity benefits, reducing the number by over 370,000.

Our 2.5 billion Back to Work Plan will help one million people find and stay in work through tailored support, including those with long-term health conditions and disabilities. Mental health funding is at record levels, reaching 16 billion last year.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
SAN DIEGO (Border Report)  Santiago Meza Lopez, who dissolved at least 300 bodies in acid for a drug cartel, was sentenced on Tuesday to an additional 30 years in prison.

He was arrested in 2009 and was dubbed El Pozolero, the pozole maker. (Pozole is a stew made with hominy, spices, vegetables, and pork or chicken.)

Meza Lopez is said to have stirred and dissolved at least 300 dead bodies in acid at his Ensenada ranch about 70 miles south of the border.

In 2012, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was due to be released two years ago.

Many community members and those in law enforcement appealed for an extended sentence.

Cartel member who dissolved hundreds of cadavers in acid gets more prison time

On Tuesday, a court ruling came down giving Meza Lopez an additional 30 years in prison for kidnapping and his ties to organized crime. The extra years behind bars have nothing to do with dissolving bodies in acid.

Prosecutors say he was connected to the Arellano Felix cartel that at one time controlled the flow of narcotics through Tijuana into the United States.

When arrested, Meza Lopez confessed to earning $600 per week to submerge cadavers in a tub filled with acid and sodium hydroxide while stirring the bodies for eight hours until everything but the teeth, nails and some bone fragments dissolved.

He also said that whatever was left would be burned and then buried in an empty lot on his property.

After the arrest, investigators reportedly found anywhere from 14,000 to 15,000 remains buried in his ranch.

Visit the BorderReport.com homepage for the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the U.S.-Mexico border

His 30-year sentence was supported by private groups of people who search for missing loved ones.

This generates some comfort to those of us who search for the disappeared in Baja California, said Fernando Ocegueda Flores, president of the United Association of the Missing. We know this man is not roaming the streets, because if he was, he would be involved in the same business of dissolving bodies. Were pleased with the sentence.

Meza Lopez is now 71 years old, and Ocegueda Flores suspects it is unlikely he will live past his time in custody.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, March 7. The oil and gas condensate production plan in Turkmenistan for January through February of this year was achieved at a rate of 100.2 percent, Trend reports.

This was announced by Deputy Chairman of the Government of Turkmenistan Batyr Amanov at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers.

According to his statement, notably, during this specified timeframe, the Turkmennebit State Concern surpassed the production plan for oil and gas condensate by 102.4 percent.

Furthermore, Amanov highlighted that the execution of the oil refining plan at Turkmennebit State Concern refineries from January through February of the current year reached 101.9 percent.

Meanwhile, with the aim of broadening the economy and bolstering its stance in the international energy arena, Turkmenistan is prioritizing the advancement of its oil and gas industry.

This initiative involves the modernization and enlargement of infrastructure, enticing foreign investment to enhance the production and exportation of oil and gas, alongside the vigorous exploration of novel technologies and production techniques.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) released her first ad of her reelection campaign as she seeks her third term representing Wisconsin in the Senate.

The ad, released Tuesday, shows workers from Wisconsin talking about building steel parts that contribute to bridges, ships and rockets being launched into space, but China lowballing their prices makes competition tough.

Baldwin then discusses her sponsoring of a law enacted during the Trump administration that requires federally funded infrastructure projects in the United States use iron and steel from inside the country.

Tammy Baldwin got President Trump to sign her Made in America bill, one worker says.

And then she got President Biden to make it permanent, another one responds.

The bipartisan infrastructure law that Biden signed into effect in 2021 included Baldwins Build America, Buy America Act, which made the requirement for using steel and iron from the U.S. permanent. It also expanded the original law to include other materials like copper, plastic, concrete and glass.

Tammy Baldwin has our back, one worker concludes.

The ad came out just one day before her likely Republican opponent for the seat, Eric Hovde, released his first ad of the campaign.

In the ad, his wife, Sharon Hovde, talks about her husband, noting he graduated from the University of Wisconsin, built up numerous companies and started a foundation focused on addressing homelessness and children facing abuse, sex trafficking and slavery.

The ad came after Hovde faced attacks over his ties to the state, with critics emphasizing his business connections to California.

Sharon Hovde says in the ad that her husband is a man of integrity  principled, honest and straightforward.

These are the qualities I want in a U.S. senator to fight for Wisconsin. How about you? she says.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A woman who was last seen three days ago was found safe when someone heard her banging on a shipping container, Florida police said.

Marlene Lopez, 52, was last seen at her home on March 4, according to a news release from the Cocoa Police Department on March 7.

Two days later, on March 6, her co-worker reported her missing when she failed to pick up her son, police said.

Detectives started to search for Lopez in places she was known to go, interviewed members of her family and put out a missing persons bulletin, the police department said.

As the search entered a second day, someone called police to say they found her.

A person heard a banging sound coming from a shipping container next to a business, police said.

The person went to investigate, unlocked the shipping container and found Lopez trapped inside, according to police.

The circumstances of how she ended up in the shipping container remain under investigation, police said.

Lopez was uninjured and taken to a hospital for a medical examination and for possible dehydration, police said.

Cocoa is about a 45-mile drive east of Orlando.

Endangered mans hidden car leads searchers to his body in the woods, Alabama cops say

Lumber truck found at bottom of hill after crash, WV cops say. Now driver is missing

Woman got out of a vehicle in 2022  and vanished. Remains now identified in Colorado

Missing woman who didnt show up to salon was likely kidnapped, Washington cops say
BATH, N.Y. (WETM)  A Bath man was arrested on Monday after police said he was responsible for an apartment fire in downtown Bath back in June.

According to the Village of Bath Police Department, 26-year-old Jordan C. Jones was arrested on Monday, March 4, on a superior court arrest warrant on the charges of arson in the second degree, a class B felony, criminal mischief in the second degree, a class D felony, and reckless endangerment in the first degree, a class D felony.

Original Post: Apartment burns during early morning fire in Bath

Police say that the warrant is from an investigation into an apartment fire that took place at 3 East William St. in the village on June 9, 2023.

At the time of the fire, crews reported a fire on the third floor of the building and were able to extinguish it before the flames reached other parts of the building. However, the remainder of the building did sustain smoke and heat damage.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com.
Those of a certain age will remember the TV trolley being wheeled in to the class, or even a special TV room in school

The 1920s was a period when children would be seen and not heard, especially in school.

So imagine the excitement when in such an austere setting, senior pupils at Garnetbank School in Glasgow were ushered to the school hall.

Settled down on the polished parquet flooring, no doubt cross-legged, they were part of something that would shape the learning landscape forever.

Taking place 100 years ago this week, it was the very first BBC experiment in providing programmes for schools.

Instead of the teacher standing out front talking to them, the lesson came from a large speaker or amplifier. What they heard was a special, instructive programme put together just for them.

Early schools programmes came via a large amplifier

Lord Reith, the managing director of the BBC at the time, had held a meeting in the Central Hotel in Glasgow just weeks earlier, and suggested this idea to local education bodies.

Now it was about to be tested.

Technical details are sparse about how the programme was broadcast into the school, which was a five minute walk away from where the BBC studio was located on Bath Street in Glasgow.

The performers were in Studio 5SC in front of a huge, early model of a microphone.

Prof Charles Martin, Mademoiselle Pierette Grizel and Mr J R Peddie presented a violin recital, a talk about ballads, a music lesson and even a little French language taster.

About 100 pupils and interested spectators listened in the school hall, and they must have liked what they heard.

Dorothy Holmes-Gore in the radio studio in Glasgow in 1926

The broadcast seemed to prove the concept that providing educational programmes for school would capture the attention of pupils and that they would be able to learn in this way.

It gave the BBC confidence to start making regular schools broadcasts, and the team in Glasgow were broadcasting for Scottish schools just months later.

By the 1960s, programmes for schools were available on television.

There was a published timetable for teachers, which meant they could book their school's television to be wheeled into the classroom, or make a trip to the television room.

Alison Douglas has retired, but still works as a supply teacher at Garnetbank School.

She says she has valued schools programmes throughout her 48-year teaching career.

A class listening to a transmission in Edinburgh in the late 1920s

"It took the children outside of Glasgow and outside the school," she said.

"Children need lots of different stimulus, and there were lots of benefits for children who learned in different ways."

Asked about her favourite schools programmes, she remembered a "fabulous" show called Numbertime.

"This character called El Nombre would swing in and shout to the kids: 'What number is it?'

"They would all shout seven, seven! And he'd swing back out again.

"The kids all loved El Nombre. It was the highlight of their week and a highlight for me too, because he was funny."

Teacher Alison Douglas enjoyed the programmes almost as much as her pupils

Teachers could also use programmes made by the BBC in Scotland which were specifically aimed at the Scottish curriculum.

These included Around Scotland; See You See Me; Let's See; and What? Where? When? Why? featuring the Happy Gang.

Bitesize is now the corporation's education brand, and BBC Scotland is still commissioning shows to reflect the country's curriculum.

However, these days they are more likely to be more interactive and can all be found on the BBC Bitesize website.

Derek Farrell, from Scotland Bitesize, says pupils can now use the material when it suits them - on a laptop, tablet or phone; at home or in the classroom.

Numbertime produced a hit character in El Nombre, the masked number bandit

However, when the Covid pandemic struck they very quickly responded with a more traditional approach.

"We were very lucky to have the BBC Scotland channel," he said.

"We packaged up our material online and added some new content into TV programmes, so there was a schedule and an appointment to view.

"Children, teachers and parents knew there would be a time in the morning they could sit down and know there was something of quality on the television they could definitely learn from.

"I think that sense of familiarity - it was what parents knew from sitting down for broadcasts - was very helpful, and we continued that for months."
GETTYSBURG, Pa. (WHTM)  Ever watch reenactment groups bring history to life, found yourself thinking Id like to do that!, but werent sure how or where to start?

On Saturday, March 16, from 12-4 p.m., you can learn more at the Gettysburg Heritage Centers Reenactor Recruitment Day.

Get daily news, weather, breaking news and alerts straight to your inbox! Sign up for the abc27 newsletters here

More than 20 different reenactment groups, covering eras from the Revolutionary War to World War II, will be on hand to provide you with an in-depth look at the world of historical reenacting.

Visitors have the chance to discover a historical period that really interests them, and possibly find a reenactment group to join. Even if youre not interested in doing living history, there are still lots of neat things to look at, and cool stuff to learn.

Reenactors practice near their camps during the 160th reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg, at Daniel Lady Farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on June 30, 2023. The Battle of Gettysburg, which is considered to be the bloodiest battle ever fought on US soil, occurred from July 1-July 3, 1863 during the US Civil War. Approximately 10,000 Union and Confederate troops were left dead, and another 30,000 wounded. Each year, the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association holds a reenactment on the weekend closest to the original battle, hosting living history demonstrations and military reenactments to help teach people the history of the Civil War battle. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Reenactors stand near a confederate flag during the 160th reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg, at Daniel Lady Farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on June 30, 2023. The Battle of Gettysburg, which is considered to be the bloodiest battle ever fought on US soil, occurred from July 1-July 3, 1863 during the US Civil War. Approximately 10,000 Union and Confederate troops were left dead, and another 30,000 wounded. Each year, the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association holds a reenactment on the weekend closest to the original battle, hosting living history demonstrations and military reenactments to help teach people the history of the Civil War battle. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Reenactors do a demonstration on horseback during the 160th reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg, at Daniel Lady Farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on June 30, 2023. The Battle of Gettysburg, which is considered to be the bloodiest battle ever fought on US soil, occurred from July 1-July 3, 1863 during the US Civil War. Approximately 10,000 Union and Confederate troops were left dead, and another 30,000 wounded. Each year, the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association holds a reenactment on the weekend closest to the original battle, hosting living history demonstrations and military reenactments to help teach people the history of the Civil War battle. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Reenactors practice near their camps during the 160th reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg, at Daniel Lady Farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on June 30, 2023. The Battle of Gettysburg, which is considered to be the bloodiest battle ever fought on US soil, occurred from July 1-July 3, 1863 during the US Civil War. Approximately 10,000 Union and Confederate troops were left dead, and another 30,000 wounded. Each year, the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association holds a reenactment on the weekend closest to the original battle, hosting living history demonstrations and military reenactments to help teach people the history of the Civil War battle. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

A reenactor waves a confederate flag on the battlefield during the 160th reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg, at Daniel Lady Farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on June 30, 2023. The Battle of Gettysburg, which is considered to be the bloodiest battle ever fought on US soil, occurred from July 1-July 3, 1863 during the US Civil War. Approximately 10,000 Union and Confederate troops were left dead, and another 30,000 wounded. Each year, the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association holds a reenactment on the weekend closest to the original battle, hosting living history demonstrations and military reenactments to help teach people the history of the Civil War battle. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Spectators watch reenactors during the 160th reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg, at Daniel Lady Farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on June 30, 2023. The Battle of Gettysburg, which is considered to be the bloodiest battle ever fought on US soil, occurred from July 1-July 3, 1863 during the US Civil War. Approximately 10,000 Union and Confederate troops were left dead, and another 30,000 wounded. Each year, the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association holds a reenactment on the weekend closest to the original battle, hosting living history demonstrations and military reenactments to help teach people the history of the Civil War battle. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Reenactors fire cannons during the 160th reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg, at Daniel Lady Farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on June 30, 2023. The Battle of Gettysburg, which is considered to be the bloodiest battle ever fought on US soil, occurred from July 1-July 3, 1863 during the US Civil War. Approximately 10,000 Union and Confederate troops were left dead, and another 30,000 wounded. Each year, the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association holds a reenactment on the weekend closest to the original battle, hosting living history demonstrations and military reenactments to help teach people the history of the Civil War battle. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Representatives from each group will be present to talk about their portrayals, member expectations, uniform and weapon requirements, and any additional details to help you make informed decisions about participating.

As part of the days events, the Gettysburg Heritage Center Museum will be free and open to the public. Local Gettysburg businesses will offer door prizes and giveaways, and The Huskey Hut Coffee Company will be on-site in the Heritage Center parking lot offering refreshments from 10 am to 2 pm.

The centers website lists the following organizations taking part:

The National Regiment

Coopers Battery B First PA Light Artillery, Inc.

12th GA Co G/ 7th VA Cav Co A

Patriot Daughters Of Lancaster

First Rhode Island Light Artillery Battery B

Chesapeake Independent Blues

2nd United States Sharpshooters Co.

French 3rd Line Infantry

2rd Gebirgsjagers (WW2 German Mountain Troops)

11th PVI Co. G

14th Brooklyn Living History Association

17th Pennsylvania Cavalry Co. F

1st PRVC Field Music

Blue & Gray Hospital Association

Company F 3rd North Carolina Infantry

28th VA CO D

4th Texas Co B Infantry

2d Virginia Regiment

Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War

82nd Airborne, 508 PIR

Bureau of Military Information (BMI)

PACS Artillery

Federal Vol. Brigade

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War GBG Camp 112

The center is located at 297 Steinwehr Ave., Gettysburg, PA 17325. For more information about the event, you can visit the Gettysburg Heritage Centers website.

If you have additional questions, email them at info@GettysburgMuseum.com or call 717-334-6245.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
What is there still to say about a text that is thousands of years old and has been translated into over 700 languages? That has been painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, carved in marble, filmed on celluloid, and built in Lego? That has perplexed Kant and Kierkegaard? That has given rise to several world religions and countless books and articles and sermons, not to mention the Flood Experience, an Illinois tourist attraction where visitors can climb aboard a replica of Noahs ark to learn more about the chaos flooding the world today?



Grappling with the vast cultural legacy of Genesis is a potentially infinite task, and in Reading Genesis, Marilynne Robinson doesnt attempt it. Instead of positioning herself amid the crowded field of Genesis readers throughout the ages, she writes almost as if she is alone in the formless void that preceded the first day of Creation. For well over 200 pages, she doesnt mention a single other modern reader of Genesis by name. Not one translator, theologian, historian, or biblical scholar from the past thousand years; not even a fellow novelist. At first, I thought she was going to make it all the way through without citing anyone since late antiquity, but then a few pages from the end she briefly mentions Melville and Shakespeare.

In a way, Reading Genesis can be seen as a tour de force demonstration of the Reformation doctrine of sola scripturathe belief that Scripture is the only infallible authority, and any believer is equipped to read it for themselves without undue deference to external authorities or sources. There is a kind of self-reliant, unapologetic grandeur in Robinsons declaration on the first page that the Bible is a work of theology, not simply a primary text upon which theology is basedin other words, the Bible interprets itselfand her subsequent assertion that the so-called books of Moses are not (as scholars believe) a patchwork of distinct, divergent source texts but instead are a stable and unified whole characterized by a profound coherency. These claims are neither argued for nor bolstered with sources but simply stated as truth. Like Let there be light, they aim to evoke illumination through the sheer creative power of a well-wrought sentence.



In another way, though, Reading Genesis is the opposite of sola scriptura in that it is literally Scripture bound to human commentary. Each copy consists of a 228-page essay by Robinson followed by the entire 112-page text of Genesis in the King James Version, a commentary to text ratio of nearly two to one. Her extended reflection on Genesis functions as a long and reverent introduction, taking on some of the sanctity of Scripture from its intimate proximity to it. Robinson is the opening act for God.

This is a role she has been preparing to play for a while. As a work of biblical commentary, Reading Genesis might be a departure from the historical novels and collections of essays that she is known for, but it is also a natural next step. Housekeeping, her first novel, is shot through with biblical allusions, and her four Gilead novels are explicitly religious, revolving around the family, friends, and spiritual musings of John Ames, a Congregationalist pastor in midcentury Iowa. Robinson herself is a lay preacher, and her essays often have a sermonic quality. As a highly acclaimed, commercially successful literary writer who identifies strongly and publicly as a Christian and whose books are suffused with religious belief, she occupies a unique place in American culture today. Her work attracts a set of audiences that seldom converge: secular or non-Christian fiction-lovers, who often read her quiet, meditative novels with something like religious reverence; mainline liberal Protestants like herself, members of a once dominant but now declining demographic increasingly sidelined since the rise of the religious right; and theologically traditional evangelicals, who find a lot to relate to in her Calvinist preoccupations and her loving depictions of Midwestern ministers.

All these readers look to Robinson for a certain kind of book that no one else providesgracious, grave, radiant, and revelatory, with a distinctly anachronistic tinge. She has been writing semisacred texts for over 40 years, and her take on the ultimate sacred text in her tradition, the origin of it all, is fervent and expansive yet also remarkably unyielding, even dogmatic.





Beholden neither to scholars nor fundamentalists (two groups explicitly dismissed in the jacket copy), Robinson fashions a version of Genesis that fits beautifully with her own fiction. Of course, in some ways it fits so beautifully because her fiction has so clearly been written under its influence. Like Erich Auerbach in Mimesis, Robinson revels in the realism of much of the Hebrew Bible compared to other ancient tales. Its family stories are not epics, and its humans are not heroes; its primary settings are not legendary battlefields or idealized pastoral retreats but the domestic dwellings and workplaces of ordinary daily life: tents, cooking fires, watering holes. Yet its narratives are no less significant on this account. On the contrary, as Auerbach observes, The sublime influence of God here reaches so deeply into the everyday that the two realms of the sublime and the everyday are not only actually unseparated but basically inseparablea claim that many critics have made almost verbatim about Robinsons novels.

But Robinsons version of Genesislike the patriarchal family story she tells in the Gilead booksis much milder than most versions of the Hebrew Bible. Robinson writes that these tales of the patriarchs are notably human in scale, gentle, even domestic, an emphasis on gentleness that sets her apart. Whereas Auerbach describes the Old Testament as obscure, abrupt, with gaps and ambiguities giving rise to a multiplicity of interpretations, Robinson is more likely to discern a quietly understated truth. She even succeeds in giving these Middle Eastern stories a hint of Midwestern flavor. I was especially struck by her repeated use of the words tact and restraint to describe the behavior of God and the patriarchsnot terms I had previously associated with them.

This placidity extends even to her accounts of the less realistic, more mythical tales of the Creation and the Flood. Robinson favorably contrasts the infinite serenity of the biblical Creation myth, with its calm proclamation of let there be  and there was, to the terror and violence of Babylonian origin stories. And instead of reading the Flood as a tale of divine anger a la The Epic of Gilgamesh, she reads it as a life-affirming second creationan occasion when God could have ended humankind entirely but instead mercifully promised to preserve us in perpetuity. In other ancient stories, she claims, gods are volatile, impulsive, but also needy (a description that sounds a lot like many readers experience of the God of the Hebrew Bible). But in her gentle Genesis, God is good, and so is the world.

This is not to say that Robinson ignores the darkness and complexity of Genesis. On the contrary, she foregrounds it, making it central to what she sees as the purpose of Genesis and the Bible as a whole. She opens her book with a series of bold statements about the theological work that she sees the Bibleincluding Genesisas doing:

The Bible is a theodicy, a meditation on the problem of evil. This being true, it must take account of things as they are. It must acknowledge in a meaningful way the darkest aspects of the reality we experience, and it must reconcile them with the goodness of God and of Being itself against which this darkness stands out so sharply.

There is a lot to grapple with here. A resistant reader might balk at the coercive quality of This being true, which asserts rather than persuades, and the series of musts that follow. (Since when is the Bible a single unified text with one overarching theological preoccupation? Must a meditation on a famously intractable problem result in a successful reconciliation of opposites? When did we agree that God and Being itself are good? Or, for that matter, that God exists?) For some of us, its easy to get caught up in objections. But once disbelief is suspended, Reading Genesis can be appreciated on its own terms as a serene and stalwart statement of faith, and perhaps as a kind of ancient prequel to the Gilead novels, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as distant ancestors of the Ames family.

Robinson believes that Genesis responds to the problem of evil by subordinating evil to goodness. In her words, it establishes a profound and essential assertion of the sacred good, making pangs and toil a secondary reality, likewise the punitive taking of life. She sees this gracious message in the narrative sequence of the Fall, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel, as well as in the stories of the patriarchs and their descendants. Her summary of the books message has a downright New Testament flavor: Grace modifies law. Law cannot limit grace.





Making the case for God, grace, and goodness with Genesis might seem like an uphill battle. John Miltons Paradise Lost presents its retelling of the first few chapters of Genesis as an attempt to justify the ways of God to men, but readers often see Satan as the sympathetic breakout star of the poem. Its often easier to root for an underdog, and an overwhelmingly powerful God will never be that. But Robinson is determined to tell biblical stories in a way that presents God in a glowing lighteven the famously fraught story of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah.

This story has been a stumbling block for generations of readersa classic dramatization of the problem of evil. Why would a good God command Abraham to sacrifice his son? Why would he make Abraham go through the agonizing process of binding Isaac and laying him on the altar and raising a knife to kill him? Why torture the father; why terrorize the child? Granted, God relents before Isaac is murdered, but why is any of it necessary?

Existentially inclined readers have interpreted the story of the Binding of Isaac as a model of utter submission to divine authority, even when that authority seems inscrutable or immoral. In contrast, Robinson chooses to follow the more comfortable tradition of interpreting it as a pointed condemnation of child sacrifice that demonstrates Gods superiority to the kind of gods who would actually demand a dead child. Despite appearances, the God of Genesis is not cruel but kindnot just better than the Babylonians but more compassionate than the Carthaginians:

If the story of the binding of Isaac is cruel, the cruelty it exposes plagued the lives of those who felt compelled to sacrifice children, whether Carthaginians or those unspecified others who are mentioned among the idolators of that world. The one God, Elohim, might have mourned this suffering and chosen to correct this misapprehension of His nature and His will.

This tenderhearted God intervenes to provide not only an alternative sacrificethe ram in the bushbut an alternative and merciful ethic: The plain statement of the tale is that the Lord does not want the sacrifice of a child. Zooming out to what she calls a Gods-eye view, Robinson focuses not on a temporarily traumatized Abraham and Isaac but on the thousands of parents and children who were spared a profound, self-inflicted misery of child sacrifice because of the story: the seeming cruelty toward Abraham is compassion toward those great nations who learned from him or modeled their piety on his.

Robinsons interpretation here exemplifies two literary approaches to Genesis she relies on throughout her book. First, she reads Genesis as a carefully constructed counterstatement and corrective to nonbiblical narratives. (At times, her repeated insistence on the exceptionalism and superiority of Hebrew versus non-Hebrew texts verges on a troubling chauvinism.) And second, she reads individual stories in the context of what she calls providential history, an overarching view in which, for example, the enslavement of the Hebrew tribes is divinely intended, and slaverys attendant sorrow and cruelty are part of a larger purpose that becomes clear only when it is told as part of a longer story, generations later:

Over time, the biblical narrative inverts the apparent meaning of the suffering. Grueling misfortune prepares for singular favor, difficult favor, whose main product and proof might be the narratives that record and interpret this history.

Robinsons redemptive account of predestined suffering is a standard Calvinist doctrine, but I was struck by the self-referential, self-contained, almost wholly literary quality of how she phrases it. A biblical characters singular, difficult reward for suffering is that  they end up in the Bible! The text itself, she tells us, is a gracious and divine act.

Theres a smoothness and elegance in Robinsons view of biblical narrative, if perhaps also a slightly claustrophobic quality. The Bible is like a perfectly plotted historical novel. Nothing is unintended; nothing is wasted; everything tends toward the same predestined end. At times, I found Robinsons readings fascinating to watch as feats of consummate control, like dressage. Other times I wanted to cut the reins and watch the text gallop away.

Perhaps it makes sense that some of my favorite parts of the book are the rare occasions when the Sunday school voice slips a little: when Robinson casually disses Isaac as the least interesting of all the patriarchs, or when she gives into her unrestrained exasperation with Rebekah, whom she sees as a whiner. Robinson writes with apparent disapproval that Rebekah, alone in Scripture, laments the discomforts of her pregnancy; But she was pregnant with twins! I want to protest. I was stunned when I read, Though the text says that Isaac loved Esau and Rebekah loved Jacob, there is really no evidence that she loved anyone. Robinsons dislike of Rebekah trumps her faith in the reliability of Scripture! But not for long. Perhaps feeling she has gone too far, Robinson defensively allows that, although it might be bad feminism to criticize Rebekah, her role in the story was nonetheless providential, and that should give hope to us all.

The most frustrating parts of the book are places where Robinson is so committed to her version of Genesis that she cannot allow an iota of room for any other interpretation, no matter how urgently it is needed. This is especially evident in her reading of Hagar, an enslaved Egyptian woman who is impregnated by Abraham when her mistress, Sarah, Abrahams wife, cant conceive. Sarah abuses her, and she flees, but God sends her back into servitude. Later, after Sarah has her own child, Isaac, Abraham sends Hagar and her son, Ishmael, into exile in the desert where they face death alone, but God saves their lives. For decades, feminist and womanist scholars have claimed Hagar as an anti-patriarchal figure. Phyllis Trible reads her story as a text of terror showing the evil at the heart of the patriarchal narrative; Delores S. Williams sees it as a revelation of the faith, hope, and struggle with which an African slave woman worked through issues of survival, surrogacy, motherhood, rape, homelessness and economic and sexual oppression. Hagar, like many black women, goes into the wide world to make a living for herself and her child, with only God by her side.

Without directly engaging these scholars, Robinson strenuously resists such readings, insisting that Ishmaels conception was not rape (this was a recognized form of surrogacy at the time, formally and properly arranged), and that Hagars Egyptianness is irrelevant to her mistreatment (there is no reason to think of Hagars ethnicity as stigmatizing). Readers can feel that Hagar is unvalued because she is a woman, a maid, a foreigner, Robinson writes dismissively, but what actually matters is the value the text finds in her. The value that the text finds in her, according to Robinson, is that she shows the laudable inclusivity of Gods covenant with Abraham: Hagar and Ishmael are part of Abrahams family tree, proving that it can absorb and naturalize outsiders. In passages like these, I wondered what Reading Genesis would have been like if Robinson had allowed herself to open up her project to more secondary sources: to the attention to Genesiss heterogeneity, history, politics, and poetics that scholarship could supply.

Ultimately, though, Robinson requires a coherently good Genesis, and in Reading Genesis that is what she delivers: a throwback text that puts on critical blinders to single-mindedly defend the much-maligned Old Testament God. Though it is an illuminating read for any Robinson fan, it will probably be most satisfying to readers who share her theological commitments. Others may prefer to find Genesis in her novels instead: in the fateful flood in Housekeeping; in the mark-of-Cain scar on Jacks face in Jack; in Glorys wistful musings about Scripture in Home:

During the years she lived alone she had read the Bible morning and evening  to remember who she was, to remember the household she came from, to induce in herself the unspecific memory of a comfort she had not really been conscious of until she left it behind. What a strange old book it was.

Robinsons fiction makes some space for the strangeness of Scripture, even as her biblical commentary attempts to domesticate it, offering the cold comfort of consistency in lieu of awe. But despite her best efforts, her readers may still find themselves unsettled by the cryptic power of these ancient stories. In Reading Genesis, Robinsons voice eventually gives way to the Bible, and the strange old book gets the last word.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  The cat mascot of an Italian Village brewery has been diagnosed with cancer, and its owners are asking for help.

Seventh Son Brewery is known for a variety of beers such as Kitty Paw, Humulus Nimbus and more. But most of all, regular visitors may identify the brewery for its cat mascot Horatio, Seventh Sons assistant manager cat which even has a brew named after him.

Get out and do something this weekend in central Ohio, March 7-11

In a social media post on Wednesday, the brewery announced that Horatio had been diagnosed with cancer.

We know that many of you may have heard that our favorite employee Assistant Manager Cat (aka Horatio) has cancer in his right hind leg, the owners wrote. Fibrosarcoma is more common than we realize in cats. We hope to use this moment to highlight feline cancer treatment and help other pets and their parents in a similar situation.

Horatio, the Assistant Manager Cat at Seventh Son Brewery, has been diagnosed with cancer. (Courtesy Photo/Joseph Krygier)

Horatio, the Assistant Manager Cat at Seventh Son Brewery, has been diagnosed with cancer. (Courtesy Photo/Joseph Krygier)

Horatio, the Assistant Manager Cat at Seventh Son Brewery, has been diagnosed with cancer. (Courtesy Photo/Joseph Krygier)

Horatio, the Assistant Manager Cat at Seventh Son Brewery, has been diagnosed with cancer. (NBC4 Photo/Aaron Burd)

Seventh Son co-founder Collin Castore told NBC4 that Horatio has been a neighborhood cat since the brewerys earliest days. The local community and Seventh Son employees have come to embrace the beloved feline, according to Castore.

Hes been our all-natural pest control, friend and mascot almost from the time that we opened up, Castore said. He just kind of wandered into the neighborhood and we fell in love with him. Hes a really great guy. All our guests love him, our staff loves him.

Castore said that the brewery didnt open with plans of having a cat mascot, but that Horatio made his presence felt by the community and that it was a natural progression.

He was so kind and sweet, hanging out with everyone while theyre on the patio, drinking beers and everything, Castore said. He just kind of evolved into this mascot for us. We didnt set out to be a brewery with a cat mascot. But somehow, here we are.

Horatio was diagnosed with Fibrosarcoma after employees at the brewery noticed a small lump on his right leg, according to Castore. They then took the neighborhood cat to the vet, where he was diagnosed.

Coast Wine House to open new restaurant inside historic Dublin home

Now, Seventh Son is asking for the community to help Horatio, as well as other animals in need. A GoFundMe has been posted for the cats cancer treatment, with 50% of proceeds going to the Assistant Manager Cat himself, and the other 50% being split between UC Davis Feline Cancer Research Fund and Ellies Rainy Day Fund.

Additionally, Seventh Son is selling a $15 commemorative glass with a Horatio print on its website. Proceeds from those sales will be split in the same way as the GoFundMe. Once Seventh Sons goal has been reached, however, all remaining proceeds will go to the research and rainy day funds.

To contribute to the GoFundMe, follow this link.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
Losing a child is "every parent's nightmare" according to a religious minister, who believes everyone should talk about their experiences.

Dr Rosa Hunts son, Chris, who was 25, died of natural causes a few days before Christmas in 2022.

While natural causes was the recorded cause, his family believe he took drugs to fill an emptiness in his life.

Dr Hunt said his death has made her a better minister at Tabernacle chapel in Cardiff.

Her son had tried to take his life more than once, according to Dr Hunt.

The first time that happened, was during his first year at university, and we know that he tried twice afterwards  every time slightly less serious," she said.

That was a comfort because it was a sign that he was trying to get help," said Dr Hunt, who occasionally presents All Things Considered on BBC Radio Wales.

While it is was officially noted that Chris died of natural causes, she believes his death was an accident, linked to his use of drugs.

Chris was intelligent, studying GCSE mathematics in primary school and had a first class honours degree from Exeter University. He was also a talented musician.

His mother described him as somewhat different since he was a young boy.

He was always a very faithful friend, popular with his friends at school, but he didnt want to be there," she added.

"It was a shock finding out how serious the drugs problem was, but he didnt want us to know, " says Dr Rosa Hunt

In his first year in university, a close friend took his own life, and that was an awful and lonely experience for him, she said.

Although he was happy among his friends at university, his family urged him to seek mental health support.

It was a major shock to get a WhatsApp message from him very early one morning saying Im sorry, Im in hospital. I took an overdose the second shock, which was an even bigger shock was discovering he was taking drugs, said Dr Hunt.

Later it was a shock finding out how serious the drugs problem was, but he, of course, didnt want us to know.

He loved us so much, and he would be ashamed.

Dr Rosa Hunt now works with homeless people who suffer from addiction

Dr Hunt believes it was his way of coping with his problems and emptiness in his life.

She said: But what happens, of course, is that the problem gets worse, and its a vicious circle.

She recalled the day she got the dreadful news of his death, a few days before Christmas.

He was meant to return home to celebrate with the family.

His death, most likely, was an accident, as hed packed Christmas presents for us, she added.

I cant imagine anything worse than losing a child. Its every parents nightmare to lose a child.

I looked after him for 25 years, I fed him, stayed up with him when he was ill  I constantly thought of him, especially during the last few years when he was ill.

Dr Hunt said she gained strength from her faith.

She now feels like the experience has made her a better minister, and works with homeless people.

Some of them take drugs or alcohol, and every time someone wants a chat with me for being addicted to drugs, I think every time that this could be Chris, and I want to be there for them.

I understand now that this can happen to anyone  even people like Chris who was raised in a family who loved him so much.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story, BBC Action Line has links to organisations which can offer support and advice.
Our eye vision and pressure can sometimes fluctuate depending on the time of day. Luis Alvarez via Getty Images

If you have ever looked at a screen for a long time, you know that your eyes can get more tired as the day goes on. But could eye fatigue impact the results of your eye exam? Is there a time of day thats best to test your eyes?

You want to get your eye exam done right, after all. It is important for catching conditions before they progress and for getting the most up-to-date prescriptions for your vision.

HuffPost asked eye specialists to weigh in if theres an ideal time of day to do an eye exam. Heres what they shared:

Morning may be the best time of day if you have a choice.

For the average person, the time of day you do your eye exam is not terribly significant, said Dr. Benjamin Bert, an ophthalmologist at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California.

But he said that if you do feel like your eyes get more tired and drier as the day goes by, doing your exam earlier in the day can lead to more accurate results.

We know that our eyes get drier as the day progresses. And if the eyes are significantly dry, it can affect the measurements that are taken when trying to get a new prescription for glasses or contact lenses, Bert said.

So if youre someone who tends to feel like their eyes are getting fatigued or getting really tired toward the end of the day, it may be a sign that you have dryness developing, he continued. If youre one of those people who has those tendencies, it would probably be better to do it earlier in the day when you havent had quite as much time focusing on reading or on screens.

Morning may be especially good if youre worried about glaucoma. When eye specialists check the health of your eyes, one of the factors they are going to check is your eye pressure, because its a way for them to screen for the condition.

Typically for most people, [eye pressure is] the highest in the morning, and then it gets a little bit lower as the day goes on, Bert said. So if theres any question of glaucoma, or if theres a family history of glaucoma, for those patients in particular, it is important for them to try and have appointments in the morning.

So if you wake up with major pressure spikes in your eyes in the morning, but you schedule eye exams in the afternoon, its possible to kind of miss those early warning signs of glaucoma, Bert said.

Ultimately, its important to schedule an eye exam  regardless of timing.

Jill Beyer, an ophthalmologist and a clinical assistant professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, pointed out that morning could be helpful for some people, but any time was still best.

If you had a wide open schedule, and you feel like you are on the computer a lot, and your vision gets dramatically worse as the day goes on, then it might be worth going in the morning, Beyer said. But anytime of day that fits into someones schedule I think is the best time.

Routine annual eye exams are critical for detecting early warning signs of vision loss and certain diseases. Thats why many eye specialists say its more important to get scheduled for an eye exam than to worry about what time of day you are doing it.

In a perfect world, you wouldnt be staring at the computer for a couple hours prior to going to your eye exam. But anytime you can go is kind of optimal, Beyer said.

If your eyes are having trouble focusing because you stared at a screen for too long, your provider should be able to work around it or simply reschedule you. If its a real problem, we can have someone come back for it, Beyer said.

For routine eye exams, Dr. Sunir Garg, a clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, said there is no reason morning exams are better than at a different time of day. Garg said that even if someone experiences eye strain from electronic devices, it wont cause their eye shape to change, which is what these examinations depend on.

You can take small but effective actions that will help make your eye exam go as smooth as possible. Makiko Tanigawa via Getty Images

There are other things you can do to make your eye exam effective.

Beyond scheduling your eye exam for the time that works best for you, eye specialists said there are simple but helpful tips you can do to make your exam much more effective. You should:

Get a good nights sleep the night before.

Bert said eye specialists want to see how your eyes are behaving in the standard normal day-to-day fashion, so showing up extra tired with heavy eyelids is not ideal.

Know that certain health conditions do impact your prescription.

If you are pregnant, dont be surprised if your health care provider suggests waiting until after childbirth to do an eye exam. Beyer said pregnancy hormones can make your eye prescription fluctuate.

We often tell people if possible, Lets wait until after youve given birth, and then maybe a month or so after that if its not an emergency to get glasses, because that prescription could fluctuate as well, she said.

Beyer also noted that for people with diabetes, when blood sugar fluctuates, then the glasses prescription can absolutely fluctuate. So having stable blood sugar is really helpful.

Bring your glasses, eye drops and the exact products you have been using on your eyes.

Dont just remember the brand of eye product you use  remember the exact product. Beyer suggests bringing your glasses, contact lens solution, eyedrops, and any eye product that youre using, because they may have unusual preservatives or something in them that patients are allergic to inside.

Being able to see what it is theyre using can help us get to whats causing irritation in their eyes, Beyer said.

And its helpful to bring your previous contacts prescription, especially if you are seeing a new eye doctor, Bert said.

In those cases, Wed like to know what your prescription was before, because even a big change in your prescription you may not tolerate if its too different from your previous prescription, Bert said. So sometimes well give like a partial step in the prescription in order to allow it to be tolerable.

For people who are considering LASIK or PRK, Bert said doctors will want to review at least two years of previous prescriptions to see if your prescription has been stable in order to assess if youre a candidate for either surgery.

Properly preparing for an eye exam takes a little bit more research, but it can help you not waste yours or your eye specialists time.

Related...
A handful of Democratic governors made their way through a gaggle of their colleagues last month to tell President Joe Biden directly what theyve been stressing behind the scenes: He needs to be fighting harder.

The Democrats told Biden that he needed to show more of the fire that was on display in a closed-door meeting with governors when Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte handed him a letter demanding more action on the southern border. Biden flashed a smile, according to two of the governors standing there.

State of the Union, Biden said, teasingly.

That fighting attitude is anticipated to be on display during Thursdays primetime speech, in which the president is expected to go much further than he is used to in bashing corporations for gouging consumers and racking up profits. But with anger about rising prices driving so much of the bad vibes surrounding the economy  even the Cookie Monster X account posted about shrinkflation on Monday, prompting a response from the White House  Biden is going where he long resisted, in an effort to redirect the fury that has been weighing him down in the polls.

Leading Democrats say its far past time.

Two dozen top Democratic officials and operatives who spoke to CNN said theyre tired of reading that the president is cursing about Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu behind the closed doors of the Oval Office, or hearing reports that he told donors that Vladimir Putin is a crazy SOB and that MAGA Republicans are worse than segregationists. They want to see that passion and fire out in public as assurances that the presidents behind-the-scenes demeanor doesnt match the public perception of the 81-year-old commander-in-chief are wearing thin.

A lot of times you need to hear it from the candidate, said Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota whos eagerly thrown himself into becoming one of the presidents most active defenders. Joe Bidens a nice guy. People get that. One of the things people wonder, Is he tough enough to take these things on?

Plus, Walz said, it would push back against the concerns that Biden is too old.

I think it helps. Hes still going to be his age, but I think it helps to make the case on this, Walz said. Punch [Trump] a little bit. He earned it.

Multiple Democratic officials told CNN they are hesitant of how much of to say, weighing the risks of calling even more attention to what Biden isnt doing by going public.

But privately, many talk longingly about wanting to see more passion and pride  political theatrics, sure, but ones that they argue are crucial  at a moment when exhaustion with the process is pervasive and the Democratic worries over a second Trump administration are high. Bidens effort in standing up for democracy shouldnt top out with a few sly digs on Seth Meyers late-night show, they insist. They argue he shouldnt give a forceful speech marking the anniversary of the January 6, 2021, insurrection and assume that will fill out his energetic quota for over two months.

People do want to see that hes a fighter, which he is. Anything that presents the contrast, which I think that would help do, Id be for, said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a longtime friend of Biden.

Planning for traps

At a moment when polls show majorities of Democrats dont think Biden should be running for reelection, and with the biggest national audience he is likely to get outside of the summer convention, Biden and his aides are hyper aware of the importance of Thursdays speech. They know every word and stutter and shuffle will be picked over as much as any of the policy proposals, and the drafting has been going until late into the evening in the West Wing.

Top Biden advisers insist that their favorite moment from last years speech  when he got Republicans to boo cutting Social Security and Medicare, punctuating the moment with I enjoy conversion  was not at all planned.

This time around, aides acknowledge that the political pressure has them workshopping options to not leave Bidens fate up to another improvisation and the hope that he will have another smooth off-the-cuff response.

Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz isnt sure the State of the Union is the right forum for Biden to come out in full force, but after that, I think hes going to have to be gloves off.

Biden aides love to scold and shame reporters for coverage they think is unfair or over-torqued. Schatz said the president and his aides need to move past that to get negative stories about Trump covered by getting Biden to take the swings.

We dont have time to rewrite the rules of engagement in journalism. We just have to work with what we have, Schatz said. Hes personally going to have to make that case, and not assume that people are organically going to get it, either from surrogates or via osmosis.

Biden aides acknowledge hed look stronger if he fought more

For months, Biden campaign aides have been talking about the need to step up, and the obvious benefit they see in him doing it. People look strong when theyre picking fights, is how one senior Biden campaign official summarized the thinking to CNN all the way back in January  and they know the president needs to look stronger than he does.

They have found this easier said than done, and not just because Biden is trying to maintain the chances of getting a few outstanding bills through Congress, including avoiding a shutdown and sending more aid to Israel and Ukraine.

The real Joe Biden is: Were red states, were blue states, but were the United States of America, said Gov. John Carney, whos known Biden for decades and attributes that sensibility to their shared Delaware roots. But he also is feisty.

President Joe Biden talks with Delaware Gov. John Carney following a dinner reception for governors and their spouses on February 11 in Washington, DC. - Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

And while Biden has enjoyed needling Trump while knowing hell probably get a response, his inclination is to present a calm demeanor for the sake of trying to insert more civility into politics  like the laudatory statement about Sen. Mitch McConnell he pushed to release last week after the Kentucky Republican announced he would be stepping down as minority leader. Biden did rile up many core Democrats by putting out any statement praising McConnell and by not mentioning things like his role in overturning Roe v. Wade by ensuring that Antonin Scalias and Ruth Bader Ginsburgs Supreme Court seats went to conservatives.

A statement like that, you have to wonder if Joe Biden gets it, one enraged high-level Democratic operative complained to CNN.

Most of the fiercest statements to come out of Bidens campaign so far have been attributed to staff members or written largely by others in his name. Aides say realistic management of the presidents time is a basic consideration: busy running the country, he cannot be constantly running to microphones to blast Trump.

President Biden is on offense, demonstrating whose side hes on and calling Republican officials out for choosing rich special interests over middle class families, choosing extreme attacks on basic reproductive health care over Americans freedoms, and choosing fentanyl traffickers over the Border Patrol by opposing the toughest bipartisan border security legislation in modern history, said White House spokesman Andrew Bates.

Biden campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt followed up with a statement noting similar points and that the president and vice president will absolutely continue holding Donald Trump accountable and communicating directly to voters how much is at stake in this election.

Tactically skipping some fights

But on several issues with huge potential for wavering voters, Biden cant say much at all.

Trumps kaleidoscope of indictments and court cases is one of the former presidents greatest political liabilities and a popular line of attack from Nikki Haley. But Biden is committed to making clear the independence of the Justice Department and courts.

He has more to say about Netanyahu and the situation in Gaza that American voters might be interested in, but White House aides are wary of how scrupulously every word attributed to the president is being read both by the Israeli government and Arab leaders in the region.

Bidens habit of pulling back the curtain on these thoughts and others at fundraisers isnt just because he gets comfortable in front of a friendly crowd. Its an occasionally tactical decision to try to get his comments into the media bloodstream while preserving a sliver of plausible distance.

Just because going harder lights up Democrats already obsessing about the race and plays well online doesnt mean its the best strategy for winning over the moderates and Republicans turned off by Trump that Biden is hoping to be a palatable enough alternative for, especially over a long campaign that can already feel like a slog with still eight months to go.

For now, the campaign has been leaning on a format for videos for its new TikTok and other social media accounts: Hand Biden an iPad and record him watching and reacting to a video of the latest Trump comment that the campaign wants to highlight. Its what one campaign aide called the real digital equivalent of Let Biden be Biden. Bidens mostly exasperated reactions from watching the videos tend to be fresh, but the comments he makes after to sum them up are scripted and modulated.

And for all the people complaining that Biden can seem like an elderly man sleepwalking on the job, aides feel like they have plenty of time to ratchet up the outrage.

That only goes so far.

You cant be at an 11 out of 10 in terms of being alarmed for eight months in a row  so I understand the need for him to peak at the right time, and to make those arguments when the maximum number of voters are paying attention. Schatz said. But a lot of times politicians are advised not to be too rough, because it can harm, it can backfire, because it can backfire. In this case, people really know what they think of Joe Biden as a human. So, hes got a lot of runway here to be as tough as necessary.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. The suspension of supplies of Russian oil to the Lukoil refinery in Burgas from March 2024 does not mean the company's losing the opportunity to supply this refinery with raw materials, a source familiar with the matter told Trend.

The refinery still belongs to Lukoil, and its trading structure Litasco has simply stopped supplying oil of Russian origin to this plant since March but supplies oil from other countries, in particular Iraq, Tunisia, and Kazakhstan. No one except Litasco It does not have the right to supply this refinery with oil, the source noted.

Back in December 2023, the Bulgarian Parliament unanimously approved laws restricting the export of gasoline derived from Russian oil beginning January 1, 2024. Furthermore, the law stipulated that the processing of Russian-origin oil at the Lukoil refinery (the only large refinery in Bulgaria) in Burgas would end on March 1, 2024.

Besides, in December of last year, Lukoil announced plans to reconsider its business in Bulgaria "due to political decisions by the Bulgarian leadership."

"Lukoil has been investing in Bulgaria for over 20 years, with its investments in the refinery in Burgas exceeding $3.4 billion, making it the largest enterprise in the region. The company has established 220 gas stations and nine oil depots in the country. Our potential strategy review is related to political decisions," noted the company's statement.

The oil processing capacity of the Burgas refinery exceeds eight-nine million tons per year, producing a full range of petroleum products and serving as the main fuel supplier for the Bulgarian market.

"Bulgaria is seeking buyers for the Burgas refinery on the Black Sea, but there are no clear conditions. Currently, no company can guarantee uninterrupted oil supply to this plant and is not ready to purchase it," emphasized the source.

Regarding the prospects of supplying oil to the Burgas refinery from SOCAR Trading, an affiliate of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), the source mentioned that although SOCAR has been operating in Bulgaria for almost a year, it holds a 10-year license only for gas trading, not oil.

"Litasco holds the monopoly right for the Burgas refinery. As for SOCAR Trading, it can sell gas to consumers in Bulgaria from various sources, including Azerbaijan," explained the source.

Bulgaria considers SOCAR as one of the potential buyers for the Burgas refinery, but the Azerbaijani side is concerned about the complex logistics involved.
President Joe Biden will order the U.S. military to establish a temporary port in Gaza to increase the flow of humanitarian aid, senior administration officials said Thursday.

Biden will formally make the announcement at the State of the Union address Thursday night.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement, did not elaborate on how the port will be built but said that the military had unique capabilities to undertake the emergency mission.

The operation will not need American troops to be on the ground.

The truth is we know that the aid flowing into Gaza is nowhere near enough and nowhere fast enough, said one official. The president will make clear again this evening that we all need to do more and that the United States is doing more and we are seeking to use every channel possible to get additional assistance into Gaza.

Large shipments of more food, water, and medicine will initially be received from Cyprus and will take several weeks to execute.

Earlier this week on Tuesday, the U.S. airdropped additional aid into Gaza in coordination with the Royal Jordanian Air Force. The first U.S. aid drop supplied Gazans with more than 38,000 meals.

A catastrophic humanitarian crisis has been unfolding in Gaza, with cases of newborns and children starving to death. International aid organizations have criticized Israeli forces for impeding and blocking aid operations within Gaza. Earlier this week, Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting for aid in northern Gaza.

Hunger has reached catastrophic levels, Jamie McGoldrick, the U.N.s Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told journalists at U.N. Headquarters on Wednesday after a visit in Gaza.
President Joe Biden arrives to board Air Force One, Tuesday, March 5, 2024, in Hagerstown, Md. The President is traveling to Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden will announce a plan in his State of the Union address Thursday for the U.S. military to help establish a temporary port on the Gaza coast, increasing the flow of humanitarian aid for the beleaguered territory during the Israel-Hamas war, according to administration officials.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement, said the operation will not require that American troops be on the ground to build the pier that is intended to allow more shipments of food, medicine and other essential items.

The officials did not provide details about how the pier would be built. One noted that the U.S. military has unique capabilities and can do things from "just offshore.

The move provides one more layer to the extraordinary dynamic thats emerged as the United States has had to go around Israel, its main Mideast ally, and find ways to get aid into Gaza, including through airdrops.

Biden last week first raised the idea of establishing a marine corridor, saying the U.S. was working with allies on how it might provide assistance from the sea to those in Gaza.

Gen. Erik Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee, that he had briefed officials on such a maritime option.

Also Thursday, the U.S. conducted a third airdrop in the northern part of Gaza, where there is no Israeli presence. Kurilla said Central Command has provided options for increasing the number of trucks taking aid to those areas.

Five months of fighting between Israel and Hamas have left much of Hamas-run Gaza in ruins and led to a worsening humanitarian catastrophe. Many Palestinians, especially in the devastated north, are scrambling for food to survive.

Aid groups have said it has become nearly impossible to deliver supplies within most of Gaza because of the difficulty of coordinating with the Israeli military, the ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of public order.

___

Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.
A general view over the Gaza Strip as seen from the Israeli side of the border on Jan. 8, 2024, in southern Israel. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden is expected to use his State of the Union address Thursday night to announce that the U.S. military will build port infrastructure on the Gaza Strip coast to allow humanitarian aid to arrive by sea.

Senior White House officials briefed reporters earlier in the day on the plan that they say will require no American boots on the ground in Gaza, where starvation after five months of the Israel-Hamas war has reached disastrous levels, nongovernmental agencies warn.

Rather, an unspecified number of U.S. troops will construct what officials described as a pier or causeway from an offshore military vessel.

The U.S. military has unique capabilities, and they can do things from just offshore that are extraordinary, a senior White House official said on the call. And so that is the concept of operations that the president has been briefed on that he is going to authorize and then we will work here over the coming days to get this underway.

The plan will be done in partnership with allies, including with the Israelis who will provide security on the ground and the United Nations and other nongovernmental organizations that will coordinate distribution of shipments, Biden administration officials said.

The U.S. construction will enable delivery of shipments from Cyprus, the Mediterranean island nation that initially proposed the plan last year.

This new significant capability will take a number of weeks to plan and execute, a senior official said, without providing a specific timeline.

The forces that will be required to complete this mission are either already in the region or will begin to move there soon. We look forward to working with our close partners and allies in Europe, the Middle East and beyond to build a coalition of countries that will contribute capabilities and funding for this initiative, the official said.

Bidens announcement comes a week after more than 100 Palestinians died and hundreds were injured in a rush to aid trucks along a coastal road just southwest of Gaza City. Palestinian health authorities maintain many died from bullets fired by Israeli forces, which Israel denies. Other witnesses have said most killed were run over by trucks.

The United Nations warned this week that hunger in the Gaza Strip has reached catastrophic levels.

The agency is pushing for a plan to transport aid into the Gaza Strips northern area via a military access road. White House officials told reporters that the U.N. confirmed Thursday that a first delivery using the northern route will occur this week.

Pressures on administration

Biden continues to face pressure as negotiations over a temporary cease-fire and releases of Israeli hostages have stalled.

Voters in numerous primary states cast uncommitted ballots as recently as the Democratic 2024 Super Tuesday presidential nominating contests, apparently as a protest of Bidens continued support of Israels bombardment in the Gaza Strip.

While just a tiny fraction of the delegate count, Biden lost 11 delegates to uncommitted in Minnesota Tuesday, seven in Hawaii Wednesday and two in Michigan last month.

White House officials said Thursday the onus is on Hamas. The Gaza-based militant group has so far refused to agree to a deal during ongoing negotiations in Cairo, Egypt.

It is essential that we see a temporary cease-fire in Gaza. The path to a cease-fire is straightforward, a senior White House official said. There could be at least a six-week cease-fire today if Hamas would agree to release a defined category of vulnerable hostages, including women, elderly, sick and the wounded. That deal is on the table now and has been for more than the past week.

Thursday marks five months of fighting in the Gaza Strip after Hamas militants stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 in Israel and initially taking roughly 200 hostages into the Hamas-controlled territory.

The Gaza health ministry estimates the death toll in the small strip of land bordered by Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea has surpassed 30,000.

The post Biden to announce U.S. will construct a port on Gaza coast to deliver humanitarian aid appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
A general view over the Gaza Strip as seen from the Israeli side of the border on Jan. 8, 2024, in southern Israel. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

A general view over the Gaza Strip as seen from the Israeli side of the border on Jan. 8, 2024, in southern Israel. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden is expected to use his State of the Union address Thursday night to announce that the U.S. military will build port infrastructure on the Gaza Strip coast to allow humanitarian aid to arrive by sea.

Senior White House officials briefed reporters earlier in the day on the plan that they say will require no American boots on the ground in Gaza, where starvation after five months of the Israel-Hamas war has reached disastrous levels, nongovernmental agencies warn.

Rather, an unspecified number of U.S. troops will construct what officials described as a pier or causeway from an offshore military vessel.

The U.S. military has unique capabilities, and they can do things from just offshore that are extraordinary, a senior White House official said on the call. And so that is the concept of operations that the president has been briefed on that he is going to authorize and then we will work here over the coming days to get this underway.

The plan will be done in partnership with allies, including with the Israelis who will provide security on the ground and the United Nations and other nongovernmental organizations that will coordinate distribution of shipments, Biden administration officials said.

The U.S. construction will enable delivery of shipments from Cyprus, the Mediterranean island nation that initially proposed the plan last year.

This new significant capability will take a number of weeks to plan and execute, a senior official said, without providing a specific timeline.

The forces that will be required to complete this mission are either already in the region or will begin to move there soon. We look forward to working with our close partners and allies in Europe, the Middle East and beyond to build a coalition of countries that will contribute capabilities and funding for this initiative, the official said.

Bidens announcement comes a week after more than 100 Palestinians died and hundreds were injured in a rush to aid trucks along a coastal road just southwest of Gaza City. Palestinian health authorities maintain many died from bullets fired by Israeli forces, which Israel denies. Other witnesses have said most killed were run over by trucks.

The United Nations warned this week that hunger in the Gaza Strip has reached catastrophic levels.

The agency is pushing for a plan to transport aid into the Gaza Strips northern area via a military access road. White House officials told reporters that the U.N. confirmed Thursday that a first delivery using the northern route will occur this week.

Pressures on administration

Biden continues to face pressure as negotiations over a temporary cease-fire and releases of Israeli hostages have stalled.

Voters in numerous primary states cast uncommitted ballots as recently as the Democratic 2024 Super Tuesday presidential nominating contests, apparently as a protest of Bidens continued support of Israels bombardment in the Gaza Strip.

While just a tiny fraction of the delegate count, Biden lost 11 delegates to uncommitted in Minnesota Tuesday, seven in Hawaii Wednesday and two in Michigan last month.

White House officials said Thursday the onus is on Hamas. The Gaza-based militant group has so far refused to agree to a deal during ongoing negotiations in Cairo, Egypt.

It is essential that we see a temporary cease-fire in Gaza. The path to a cease-fire is straightforward, a senior White House official said. There could be at least a six-week cease-fire today if Hamas would agree to release a defined category of vulnerable hostages, including women, elderly, sick and the wounded. That deal is on the table now and has been for more than the past week.

Thursday marks five months of fighting in the Gaza Strip after Hamas militants stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 in Israel and initially taking roughly 200 hostages into the Hamas-controlled territory.

The Gaza health ministry estimates the death toll in the small strip of land bordered by Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea has surpassed 30,000.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Biden to announce U.S. will construct a port on Gaza coast to deliver humanitarian aid appeared first on Alaska Beacon.
A general view over the Gaza Strip as seen from the Israeli side of the border on Jan. 8, 2024, in southern Israel. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden is expected to use his State of the Union address Thursday night to announce that the U.S. military will build port infrastructure on the Gaza Strip coast to allow humanitarian aid to arrive by sea.

Senior White House officials briefed reporters earlier in the day on the plan that they say will require no American boots on the ground in Gaza, where starvation after five months of the Israel-Hamas war has reached disastrous levels, nongovernmental agencies warn.

Rather, an unspecified number of U.S. troops will construct what officials described as a pier or causeway from an offshore military vessel.

The U.S. military has unique capabilities, and they can do things from just offshore that are extraordinary, a senior White House official said on the call. And so that is the concept of operations that the president has been briefed on that he is going to authorize and then we will work here over the coming days to get this underway.

The plan will be done in partnership with allies, including with the Israelis who will provide security on the ground and the United Nations and other nongovernmental organizations that will coordinate distribution of shipments, Biden administration officials said.

The U.S. construction will enable delivery of shipments from Cyprus, the Mediterranean island nation that initially proposed the plan last year.

This new significant capability will take a number of weeks to plan and execute, a senior official said, without providing a specific timeline.

The forces that will be required to complete this mission are either already in the region or will begin to move there soon. We look forward to working with our close partners and allies in Europe, the Middle East and beyond to build a coalition of countries that will contribute capabilities and funding for this initiative, the official said.

Bidens announcement comes a week after more than 100 Palestinians died and hundreds were injured in a rush to aid trucks along a coastal road just southwest of Gaza City. Palestinian health authorities maintain many died from bullets fired by Israeli forces, which Israel denies. Other witnesses have said most killed were run over by trucks.

The United Nations warned this week that hunger in the Gaza Strip has reached catastrophic levels.

The agency is pushing for a plan to transport aid into the Gaza Strips northern area via a military access road. White House officials told reporters that the U.N. confirmed Thursday that a first delivery using the northern route will occur this week.

Need to get in touch?

Have a news tip?

CONTACT US

Pressures on administration

Biden continues to face pressure as negotiations over a temporary cease-fire and releases of Israeli hostages have stalled.

Voters in numerous primary states cast uncommitted ballots as recently as the Democratic 2024 Super Tuesday presidential nominating contests, apparently as a protest of Bidens continued support of Israels bombardment in the Gaza Strip.

While just a tiny fraction of the delegate count, Biden lost 11 delegates to uncommitted in Minnesota Tuesday, seven in Hawaii Wednesday and two in Michigan last month.

White House officials said Thursday the onus is on Hamas. The Gaza-based militant group has so far refused to agree to a deal during ongoing negotiations in Cairo, Egypt.

It is essential that we see a temporary cease-fire in Gaza. The path to a cease-fire is straightforward, a senior White House official said. There could be at least a six-week cease-fire today if Hamas would agree to release a defined category of vulnerable hostages, including women, elderly, sick and the wounded. That deal is on the table now and has been for more than the past week.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

Thursday marks five months of fighting in the Gaza Strip after Hamas militants stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 in Israel and initially taking roughly 200 hostages into the Hamas-controlled territory.

The Gaza health ministry estimates the death toll in the small strip of land bordered by Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea has surpassed 30,000.

The post Biden to announce U.S. will construct a port on Gaza coast to deliver humanitarian aid appeared first on Arkansas Advocate.
President Biden will announce during his State of the Union address Thursday that hes directing the U.S. military to lead the construction of a port along the coast of Gaza on the Mediterranean Sea to boost the amount of aid getting to Palestinian civilians.

We know the aid flowing into Gaza is nowhere near enough and nowhere near fast enough. The president will make clear again this evening that we all need to do more, and the United States is doing more, a senior administration official said on a call with reporters.

The port would be able to receive large ships that can bring in food, water, medicine and other supplies into Gaza, which has been under fire for months as Israeli forces carry out shellings and military operations in response to Hamass attacks last October.

Biden will direct the U.S. military to undertake the mission alongside allies and humanitarian partners, a senior administration official said. The project will take a number of weeks to plan and execute and will involve forces already in the region or that will be there soon.

Senior administration officials said the project will not require any U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza. Instead, the plan involves U.S. personnel on military vessels offshore who will not be required to go ashore to install the port.

Initial shipments of supplies would come via Cyprus, enabled by the U.S. military and partners. Officials said the U.S. would work with the United Nations and other humanitarian partners to distribute aid across Gaza once it reaches the port.

A senior administration official said the U.S. worked very closely with the Israelis in developing this initiative.

Biden has tried to walk a fine line in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks last October that killed about 1,200 Israelis.

He has remained adamant that Israel has a right to defend itself and go after Hamas, which governs Gaza, and the U.S. has provided aid to Israel.

The president has simultaneously called on Israel to do more to protect civilians and allow aid into Gaza via border crossings. The U.S. in recent days began conducting airdrops into Gaza to get meals and other supplies into the area, with more drops planned in the coming days.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in fighting in Gaza, and Democrats have become increasingly outspoken with their concerns that Israel is not doing enough to prevent civilian casualties.

Some progressives have pressured Biden to call for a permanent cease-fire, but the administration has instead backed a temporary pause in fighting that would last at least six weeks and allow hostages to get out and more aid to get into Gaza. Biden is expected Thursday night to reiterate his call for a cease-fire and put the onus on Hamas to accept the terms.

Bidens speech comes days after Super Tuesday, when more than a quarter million voters cast ballots for uncommitted or no preference in Democratic primaries, largely viewed as a protest of Bidens handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

The protest vote netted 11 delegates in Minnesota, though Biden still won the primary easily and racked up 64 delegates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Fifty-nine years ago on Thursday, white state troopers brutalized voting rights protesters as they attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.

Footage of the carnage  one officer cracked 25-year-old John Lewis skull with a billy club  enraged the country, and galvanized widespread support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which President Lyndon B. Johnson enacted on Aug. 6 of that year.

Nearly six decades on, the fundamental right to vote is still under assault, as Republican lawmakers and Republican-nominated judges across the South chip away at the landmark law with renewed intensity.

The ongoing attack on this basic freedom is just one of many issues Black voters want President Joe Biden to address in his third State of the Union speech  which, perhaps coincidentally, falls on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Other concerns include policing, student debt relief, and health care.

Our hope is that in his speech on Thursday hell mention two pending voting rights bills: the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, Cliff Albright, the co-founder of the community empowerment organization Black Voters Matter, told Capital B. Wed love to hear a commitment from him that, on day one if hes reelected, hell call on Congress to make it possible for him to sign those bills.

Read more: How the Legacy of a Reconstruction-Era Massacre Shapes Voting Rights Today

Other groups also have emphasized the importance of protecting the power of the franchise through federal legislation.

We have employed litigation and legislative strategies to safeguard voting rights at the state level, Elsie Cooke-Holmes, the international president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., a co-plaintiff in the legal challenges to restrictive voting legislation in Texas and Georgia, told Capital B. Yet the true remedy lies in federal intervention.

She added, We firmly advocate for the passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act  it honors the efforts of our predecessors. It enshrines a future that values every voice and vote, fostering a multicultural and inclusive democracy.

Cooke-Holmes and Albright are fully aware that passing federal voting rights legislation is difficult, given the current composition of Congress: Democrats hold the thinnest of majorities in the Senate. But the margins are changing, as redrawn voting maps in states such as Louisiana shrink Republicans slim House advantage.

In the absence of robust federal legislation, some advocates are increasingly pushing for state Voting Rights Acts, which allow states to fill in the gaps left by congressional gridlock. Six states  Connecticut, California, New York, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington  have passed such legislation.

Beyond the ballot box

Black voters want more from Biden than just a promise to protect access to the ballot box. They also want the president to rededicate his energy to a variety of other racial justice causes, including police accountability.

Biden must speak clearly, unequivocally, and forcefully on the issue if he wants to appeal to Black voters, Marc Morial, the president of the National Urban League, told Capital B.

Some of these things were tried in the first term, but they werent accomplished mainly because of congressional blockades, he said.

In the thick of the 2020 uprisings, Biden championed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The legislation would rein in racial bias in policing and police misconduct, among other things. It passed the House, but then it stalled in the Senate and never made it to the presidents desk.

Biden has delivered on his pledge to diversify the federal judiciary. Most of the judges hes appointed are women or racial or ethnic minorities, making the bench more diverse than its ever been. Notably, he nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022. She was confirmed by the Senate and sworn into office that same year, becoming the first Black woman (and the first former federal public defender) to join the high court.

Former President Donald Trump, on the other hand, packed the Supreme Court with conservative justices who have undermined reproductive rights and eroded voting rights, eroded affirmative action, and undercut civil rights, Morial said.

Read more: How Biden Can Reclaim Black Voters Support in 2024

One of the bright spots of the current administration, Albright argued, comes from the U.S. Department of Justices Civil Rights Division, which just released a damning report about three Mississippi prisons that found that the facilities violate inmates constitutional rights.

The people in that department have really been doing some good work, he said. Wed love to hear that theyre going to get more resources. Give [Assistant Attorney General] Kristen Clarke more funding and more staff so that they can go deeper.

Shauna Sias, a resident of Opelousas, Louisiana, also is concerned about funding.

Id like Biden to talk about investing in childrens education  more funding for schools and social services, and preparing children for 21st century jobs, she told Capital B.

Part of Bidens task on Thursday, per advocates, is to make plain all that hes accomplished over the past several years. He must set the record straight.

Weve already seen historic levels of student loan debt cancellation [under the current administration]. And Biden just went even bigger. We want to hear about that, Albright said, referring to the presidents announcement in February that hes expanding student debt relief to 153,000 more borrowers. And Bidens moves to cap the price of insulin. That means something. Thats more than a notion. Everybody in our community knows somebody with the sugars  with diabetes.

Put another way: We know that Biden can claim many achievements, Albright said. We want to hear about them  and what the presidents plans are to do more.

Capital B staff writer Christina Carrega contributed to this report.

The post Biden, Bloody Sunday, and the Ongoing Fight for Black Votes appeared first on Capital B News.
President Bidens reelection campaign argued in a new memo on Wednesday that former President Trump is driving away Republican Nikki Haley voters, building on the presidents plea that there is a place in his campaign for her supporters.

First shared exclusively with The Hill, the memo from Biden communications director Michael Tyler said that Trump is not seeking Haleys voters, he is driving them away, just hours after Haley dropped out of the race.

It argues that Trump faces a divided Republican party and will not be able to build a coalition come November. Trump on Wednesday bashed Haley as she dropped out of the GOP presidential race but encouraged her supporters to back his campaign.

Biden earlier on Wednesday said while there are policy disagreements between his campaign and those who supported Haley, they agree on some fundamental issues, such as preserving democracy.

A winning presidential candidate looks to build bridges and expand beyond their base  to attract the critical suburban, independent, and moderate voters that decide elections. Not Trump. He spent the morning mocking Haley and her voters, following her exit from the race, Tyler wrote.

The Biden campaigns attempt to appeal to Haley voters in the memo argues that Trump is driving her voters away through pandering to dictators like Vladimir Putin and throwing our NATO allies under the bus.

The voters who are going to determine this election rejected him and his candidates in 2020, 2022, 2023, and now 2024. Instead of learning from those elections, he is driving these same suburban, moderate, and independent voters away with his divisive rhetoric and his extreme Project 2025 agenda to ban abortion, restrict birth control, repeal the Affordable Care Act, and take our country backwards, Tyler said.

Tyler also argued that Trump, instead of courting Haley voters, is actively attacking and demeaning them through threats to blacklist her supporters, and he said that the former president is weak on independents and moderates because of his stance against abortion rights, among other issues.

He also outlined some comments from Haley supporters vowing not to support Trump, sharing a clip from MSNBC that includes voters saying they would vote for Biden over Trump.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
US Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA) wears a shirt and button showing slain Georgia college student Laken Riley ahead of US President Joe Biden's State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 7, 2024. (Mandel NGAN)

President Joe Biden launched a scorching attack on his "dangerous" election rival Donald Trump in Thursday's State of the Union address, delivering a barnstorming performance to make his case for four more years.

Biden, 81, let the punches fly from the opening moments, accusing the Republican of "bowing down" to Russian President Vladimir Putin and lashing him on everything from abortion to the economy.

"Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War, have freedom and democracy been under assault at home as they are today," he said. "What makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack at both at home and overseas."

In one of the most direct attacks in memory by a president on an election challenger during the State of the Union, Biden never said Trump's name but instead blasted him 13 times as merely "my predecessor".

Trump's recent comments calling the US commitment to NATO into doubt were "bowing down to a Russian leader" he said, before vowing to cheers from Democrats: "I will not bow down."

The annual set-piece presidential speech was a unique chance for Biden to pitch his reelection message in front of his closest political allies and foes -- and a national TV audience of millions of voters -- ahead of November's election.

- 'Four more years' -

At just over an hour long, it was also a high-stakes test of his ability as the oldest ever US president to think -- and stay -- on his feet.

Republicans frequently booed and heckled Biden but he shot back each time, sprinkling a vigorous delivery with jokes that mocked his opponents.

Democrats feted him with chants of "four more years" and Vice President Kamala Harris repeatedly rose to her feet to applaud Biden from her seat behind him, while Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson shook his head.

Trump, 77, has a narrow lead over Biden in opinion polls. However, he faces multiple criminal charges linked to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and refusal to give back boxes of top-secret documents after grudgingly leaving the White House.

Trump had promised retorts throughout the speech posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, but only offered a lukewarm and glitchy response as the website repeatedly crashed.

"He looks so angry when he's talking, which is a trait of people who know they are 'losing it.' The anger and shouting is not helpful to bringing our Country back together!" Trump posted.

In his speech, Biden slammed Republican abortion opponents, saying they have "no clue about the power of women in America," in what Democrats see as a key vote-winning issue.

And he touted the booming US economy as the "greatest comeback story never told," even if Americans are still unhappy with high prices and polls show many saying their economic fortunes have not improved.

"I inherited an economy that was on the brink," he said. "Now our economy is literally the envy of the world."

The Democrat took on the war in Gaza, which has provoked fury among leftists and the Arab-American community, angered by Biden's strong support for Israel's attempt to crush Hamas.

He called for an "immediate ceasefire" and announced that he has ordered the US military to set up a port on Gaza's coast to bring in aid, while promising "no US boots will be on the ground."

Protesters against his support for Israel had earlier tried to block the presidential motorcade from the White House to Congress.

Biden meanwhile sought to turn the tables on Republicans on the hot-button issue of migration, calling them out for refusing to pass a bill that would have sharply increased controls on the Mexican border.

"We can fight about fixing the border or we can fix it," he said in response to heckling from Republican right-winger Marjorie Taylor Greene.

- Making light of age -

With polls showing Biden's age is a top concern for voters, Biden also pushed back on the narrative that he is too old to serve.

"I know it may not look like it but I've been around a while," he said to laughter.

But "when you get to be my age certain things become clearer than ever. I know the American story."

In line with tradition, First Lady Jill Biden hosted a number of guests chosen to highlight the White House's priorities.

This year they include a Texan woman forced to leave the state for an abortion, a woman whose IVF treatment was halted by an Alabama court ruling, and the prime minister of Sweden, which became NATO newest member on Thursday.

dk/sms
President Joe Biden previewed a key piece of the agenda he plans to tout Thursday at the State of the Union address by holding a meeting Tuesday of economic regulators to announce plans to lower prices, tackle junk fees and increase market competition.

But the antitrust agenda, now a major political talking point for the Democratic Party, is threatened by another priority: funding the government. The consolidated budget bill containing six separate appropriation bills includes $45 million in cuts to the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. The House passed the legislation Wednesday, and its expected to soon pass in the Senate.

The Antitrust Division has been at the forefront of the Biden administrations economic agenda as it files suits against companies engaged in monopolistic practices and blocks mergers that would increase prices for consumers, including a recent successful suit against the merger of JetBlue and Spirit Airlines.

On Tuesday, Biden announced that the Antitrust Division would lead a strike force on unfair and illegal pricing along with the Federal Trade Commission.

President Joe Biden held a meeting Tuesday with his Competition Council to announce new work to advance his antitrust initiatives. Nathan Howard via Getty Images

If you keep prices high while engaging in illegal practices that are fraudulent or unfair or deceptive or anti-competitive, ... we will enforce the law, Biden said. We will enforce the law.

The already underfunded agency would have to take on this additional work with a smaller budget if Congress maintains the cuts written into the budget bill for the next fiscal year.

Those cuts come by effectively nullifying a bipartisan law enacted in 2022 that increased filing fees that corporations pay prior to merger authorization. The Merger Fee Modernization Act increased these fees for the express purpose of providing more resources for the Antitrust Division and the FTC as they file antitrust lawsuits against the largest corporations in the world  and their well-paid attorneys.

The budget bill, however, dilutes the law by putting a $233 million cap on funding for the Antitrust Division. Pre-merger filing fee projections showed that the agency should receive $278 million for the next fiscal year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The cuts were first reported by The American Prospect and Matt Stoller of the American Economic Liberties Project.

Unbeknownst to us, they just took the money and ran, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the lead sponsor of the Merger Fee Modernization Act, said Tuesday in a Senate floor speech. They took the money and put it in other parts of the governments budget.

Klobuchar is now leading an effort to get the funding cap removed from the consolidated budget bill before it passes. She signed two letters, joined by 31 lawmakers from both parties, to the heads of the House and Senate appropriations committees and the relevant subcommittees urging them to reverse their decision to gut the merger modernization law.

One letter directed solely to the appropriations committee chairs was signed by Klobuchar and includes the other original co-sponsors of the merger fee law: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.). The second Klobuchar letter includes 27 other members of the House and Senate Democratic caucuses, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), a leading advocate of antitrust policy, opposes the cuts in the consolidated appropriations bill to the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. Ken Cedeno/Pool via Getty Images

Since the Biden administrations antitrust agenda is one of his few policy priorities with strong bipartisan support, opposition to the provision cutting the Antitrust Divisions budget could increase.

Generally, I dont want to cut DOJ Antitrust, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who recently praised the administrations antitrust regulators, said.

It may be too late to change the bills language. The bill passed the House with a 339-85 vote. All of the Democrats who signed on to Klobuchars letters voted for the bill. Buck, the only House Republican to sign a letter, voted no.

Though the proposed cuts are projected to trim $45 million from the agencys budget in the next fiscal year, their effect is potentially much greater. By effectively capping the amount of money the Antitrust Division can receive from the fees it generates, the bill would cause significant reductions in the agencys budget for years to come. Those fees had been projected to generate $1.4 billion in income over the next five years, which would be split between the Antitrust Division and the FTC, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

This budgetary retrenchment could significantly affect the ability of the agency to fund its lawsuits against monopolistic corporations. The agency recently argued a major anti-monopolization case against Google in federal court. Its lawsuit against the JetBlue-Spirit merger forced the airlines to abandon their plan. And it is currently investigating Apple in what could be another potential blockbuster anti-monopoly lawsuit.

This threatens to kneecap the Antitrust Division, Warren said, and thats a big win for the giant corporations that dont want the law to apply to them and a loss for everybody else.

Related...
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, March 7. Turkmenistan discussed with the International Energy Agency (IEA) the International Forum on Attracting Foreign Investment in the Energy Sector of Turkmenistan (TEIF 2024), scheduled for April 24-25, which will be held in Paris, Trend reports.

According to the official source, these issues were discussed between the Ambassador of Turkmenistan to France Maksat Charyev and the Executive Director of the IEA, Fatih Birol.

During the meeting, the parties noted that within the framework of the investment forum, representatives of leading energy, construction, transport, and telecommunications companies, as well as global financial institutions, will discuss the role of Turkmenistan in the global energy sector and issues of attracting appropriate investments.

The Turkmen Ambassador presented the head of the IEA with an official invitation to the forum, stressing that the presence of the distinguished guest at the event would enrich the country's initiatives in the field of fuel and energy cooperation.

For his part, Fatih Birol thanked the Turkmen side for the invitation and highlighted the importance of Turkmenistan joining the Global Methane Pledge.

He also noted that the International Energy Agency is ready to assist Turkmenistan in finding donors for the development of the energy sector.

Meanwhile, Turkmenistan, which owns one of the Galkynysh largest gas fields and has conditions for the development of solar and wind energy, has been actively adapting to the global transition to new types of energy in recent years, as well as developing cooperation with foreign leading companies.
President Joe Biden is set to order US forces on an emergency mission that will see them construct a seaport on the Gaza coast to allow a new influx of much-needed humanitarian aid into the territory amid the continuing Israeli war on Hamas.

A senior administration official said Mr Biden will announce the new aid mission on Thursday evening when he delivers his annual State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress.

The official said Mr Biden will tell Congress that he is directing the US military to lead an emergency mission to establish a port in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine, and temporary shelters.

This is an initiative that will get underway here when the president makes the announcement and issues the orders, the official said, adding later that the building of a bespoke temporary seaport in Gaza is part of continuing efforts to get life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza to alleviate the suffering of innocent Palestinians who have nothing to do with Hamas.

Responding to the humanitarian crisis and the needs of the Palestinian people has been a priority since day one and it remains one today. But the truth is, we know that the aid flowing into Gaza is nowhere near enough and nowhere near fast enough, they said. The president will make clear again this evening that we all need to do more and that the United States is doing more and we are seeking to use every channel possible to get additional assistance into Gaza.

The senior official, who has been directly involved in negotiations with the Israeli government over aid routes into Gaza, also said Israel has now agreed to open a new land crossing it has prepared into northern Gaza.

He also confirmed UN reports that the crossing will see its first aid deliveries transit through it in the coming week, and said the Israeli government has agreed to boost capacity at the Kerem Shalom border crossing from roughly 48 trucks per week to as many as 50 or more trucks of aid per day.

The news of increased aid transfers through land crossings into Gaza comes after the US government faced criticism for conducting airdrops of aid into Gaza rather than pressuring the Israeli government into allowing more aid into the territory over land.

Pointing to the continuing airdrops, the official said the Biden administration is not waiting on the Israelis to ensure sufficient humanitarian assistance reaches Gaza.

This is a moment for American leadership, and we are building a coalition of countries to address this urgent need, said the official, who noted that the Defense Department has conducted three rounds of airdrops of 192 bundles containing 112,896 meals into both northern and southern Gaza, with yet more airdrops planned for the coming days.

A second official said the port construction is part of a sustained effort to ensure that more aid enters Gaza, in partnership with allies including Jordan, Egypt, France, the Netherlands and Belgium.

The United States is taking the lead and activating a maritime corridor to allow assistance to flow by sea directly into Gaza as part of our sustained effort to increase aid flows coming into Gaza by land, air and sea. So tonight, the president will announce in his State of the Union address that he has directed the US military to undertake an emergency mission to establish a port in Gaza, working in partnership with like-minded countries and humanitarian partners, they said.

The official added that the temporary pier would permit capacity for hundreds of additional truckloads of assistance each day to be brought into Gaza in coordination with Israel on security matters and with the UN and other NGOs that can provide expertise and resources to ensure the aid is properly distributed within Gaza.

The first shipments of aid through the port will come via Cyprus and will be facilitated by US forces along with partners and allies.

A US defence official said the forces needed to build the emergency port are either in the region or will be in transit there soon, but without putting any American boots on the ground in Gaza. The flow of goods through the port will make use of capacity for screening by Israeli officials in the Cypriot port of Lanarca, and while the port will initially be operated by US forces, the official said it is expected that it would eventually transition to be operated by a commercial entity.

Any way to get more aid into Gaza, whether by sea or airdrop, is obviously good, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, but that the international communitys focus should be on increasing the large-scale distribution of aid into Gaza by land. Entry of aid by land is cost and volume-effective, and we need more entry points and we need a larger volume of aid to come in by land, he added.

The presidents announcement comes as Washington has been ramping up the political pressure for a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, triggered by a Hamas attack inside Israel during which around 1,200 people were killed and another 250 were taken hostage. The Israeli response, an aerial assault, ground operations and a blockade, have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

On Thursday, Hamas said a delegation had left Cairo amid ongoing negotiations on a possible ceasefire that mediators hope to achieve before the start of Ramadan early next week. After four days of talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt to secure a 40-day ceasefire ahead of the Muslim fasting month there is still no sign of progress on key sticking points, with both sides blaming the other.

Hamass delegation left Cairo this morning for consultation with the leadership of the movement, with negotiations and efforts continuing to stop the aggression, return the displaced and bring in relief aid to our people, a Hamas statement said.

Later, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his intention of to press on with the military campaign in Gaza. Israel has previously said its aim is to destroy Hamas and that any ceasefire must be temporary. It has also pressed for a list of hostages still alive and held by Hamas in Gaza.

There is international pressure and its growing, but particularly when the international pressure rises, we must close ranks, we need to stand together against the attempts to stop the war, Mr Netanyahu said  referring to warnings from the US, the UK and other nations that pushing into the southernmost city in Gaza, Rafah, where up to 1.5 million of the territorys population of 2.3 million are sheltering.

Whoever tells us not to act in Rafah is telling us to lose the war and that will not happen, Mr Netanyahu said.
The News

President Joe Biden is directing the U.S. military to undertake an emergency mission to open a port on the coast of Gaza in order to ramp up aid deliveries to starving Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Biden will announce the mission, which senior Biden administration officials said would not involve putting U.S. troops on the ground in Gaza, during his State of the Union address on Thursday night.

The U.S. will work with like-minded countries and humanitarian partners to set up a temporary pier on the Gaza coast to allow shipments of aid  including food, water, medicine, and temporary shelters  into the country, officials said. The port will allow for hundreds more truckloads of aid to enter Gaza daily, one official said, but would take a number of weeks to set up.

Shipments will be delivered to the port by the U.S. and allies via Cyprus. The U.S. worked closely with the Israeli government in developing the plan, the official said, and will coordinate with the Israelis on security requirements, while also coordinating with the United Nations and non-governmental organizations to actually distribute the food and other aid within Gaza.

The mission to set up the port will involve the presence of U.S. military personnel on military vessels offshore, but does not require military personnel to go ashore to install the pier or causeway facility that will allow the transportation of humanitarian assistance ashore, a senior defense official said.

Know More

Biden has faced rising pressure from Democrats to do more to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Last week, the U.S. military started airdropping aid into Gaza. The United Nations is also looking at using an Israeli military road to get more aid to the Gaza Strip.

The president has directed that we look at all options, that we not wait for the Israelis, and that we are pursuing every channel possible to get assistance into Gaza, one of the Biden administration officials said.

The U.S. is also engaged in ongoing hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas that officials hope will unlock a deal for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza.
U.S. intelligence officials are planning to brief Donald Trump on national security matters if he secures the GOP nomination this summer  despite concerns about his handling of classified information.

The decision would be in keeping with a tradition that dates back to 1952, but it would mark the first time an administration has volunteered to share classified information with a candidate who is facing criminal charges related to the mishandling of classified documents.

The Biden administration intends to share intelligence with the former president no matter the outcome of his trial in Florida, according to a senior intelligence official and a second person with knowledge of internal conversations. They, like some others interviewed, were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations.

The sit-down is not legally required, but for the last 72 years, incumbent administrations have tapped the spy agencies to read in the candidates of both major political parties on some of the most pressing threats to the country. While often this is just one meeting, sometimes candidates receive several briefings.

The briefings, which are managed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and approved by the White House, normally take place after the national conventions in late summer.

Its unclear when Trumps trial will take place or whether the case will be decided before the election.

Several current and former intelligence and national security officials who spoke with POLITICO said the normally humdrum decision was fraught with unusual risk this year due to the pending court case and Trumps historically cavalier attitude toward national security information.

A former senior U.S. intelligence official, granted anonymity to avoid backlash from the Trump camp, noted that Trump still retains close ties with foreign leaders, including Israels Benjamin Netanyahu, and could use the information to support them or advance his own interests. Trump once spilled details of a highly classified Israel intelligence operation to senior Russian officials in the Oval Office. In another case, he tweeted a picture taken by a classified spy satellite.

Id be afraid about giving him stuff, the former official said. I mean, who knows what kind of riff he would do.

ODNI and The National Security Council declined to comment. The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Shortly after Biden took office, he barred Trump from receiving separate intelligence briefings that are historically volunteered to former U.S. presidents, citing Trumps erratic behavior. Biden noted that as a former president Trump had no need for the information and said he wanted to avoid the risk that Trump might slip and say something.

John Bolton, Trumps former national security adviser and an outspoken critic of his former boss, said the pending court case could justify holding back the candidate briefing for Trump.

We haven't faced this situation before. But I think the logic could well dictate to Biden he's not going to give Trump an intelligence briefing, Bolton said.

But for the White House, opting not to extend the tradition to Trump would likely embolden the former presidents claims  in court and outside it  that the intelligence community is biased against him.

And, it could further sour his already fraught relationships with the same agencies Trump would have to lean on to navigate conflicts across the globe if he wins in November.



It's too politically dangerous for the White House as well as the intelligence community, said Douglas London, a former longtime CIA case officer who has recently voiced concerns about what a second Trump term would mean for U.S. spy agencies.

If the White House didnt give the briefing for political or legal reasons, it could backfire on the intelligence community and taint them in the eyes of somebody who might very well be their boss again in a few months, he said.

And, current and former officials noted, the briefings to presidential candidates  while classified  exclude sensitive sources and methods. Theres also nothing legally barring the administration from sharing classified material with Trump even if he is found guilty in his Florida trial, said a senior official.

The decision to brief Trump despite his Florida trial is bursting with novel legal and political questions.

Trump faces 40 counts related to retaining highly protected national security documents in his gilded Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them. He also faces three other criminal trials unrelated to his handling of classified material.

But the officials who spoke with POLITICO said their overriding concern was making sure Trump  the possible next president  feels he can trust the intelligence agencies.

The current senior intelligence official said the intelligence community plans to brief Trump in largely the same manner it has briefed prior presidential candidates.

The candidate briefings are delivered orally and have not historically included the intelligence communitys most highly protected secrets  top secret and top secret/sensitive compartmented information.

By contrast, in the court case, Trump is accused of improperly retaining physical documents that did include intelligence classified at that level.

David Priess, a former CIA officer who has written a book on the intelligence briefings given to presidents, argued that the risk of Trump misusing sensitive information given to him in the briefing is low.

He noted that the intelligence typically shared with candidates is not all that sensitive, roughly resembling what top spies share in public testimony.

And since there are no legal requirements to the exercise, he said, the Biden administration can modulate what it shares with Trump to avoid any sensitive or hot-button topics. There's a way that the briefings could be done either unclassified or sensitive or technically classified while very much protecting information, he said.

Other former intelligence officials countered that the spy agencies would not want to withhold anything important from Trump  or even be perceived as playing it too safe.

I can see him using the brief to denigrate the worth of the intelligence community, and saying, you know, theres nothing here I didnt read in the Wall Street Journal,' argued one of the former officials.

If the intelligence community is asked to brief Trump, it wont half-ass the job, but rather try to earn trust in its credibility and be as forthcoming as it can be, added London, the former CIA officer.

Another concern is that Trumps lawyers in the classified documents case could use the briefing to argue that whatever Trump did could not possibly be that bad, since the intelligence community still trusts him enough to share its secrets with him.

These briefings would definitely be to Trump's advantage, argued Mark Zaid, a lawyer specializing in national security and whistleblower cases.

It most certainly would give Trump a valuable talking point, he said, even if it doesnt amount to a robust legal argument.
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  President Joe Biden will deliver his third and potentially final State of the Union address before Congress Thursday night.

With the election day less than 9 months away the stakes couldnt be higher for the president.

More than 30 million Americans are expected to tune in to see the president lay out his vision for the country in his most crucial State of the Union address to date.

He will talk about whos side hes on as he tries to approve the lives of all Americans, said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

The White House says the president will highlight ongoing efforts to lower consumer costs and spotlight his legislative successes which include a multi-billion dollar infrastructure deal and the first gun safety passed in nearly 30 years.

Hes got more done in the first three years than most presidents have accomplished in two terms, said Jean Pierre.

Biden is also expected to call on Republicans to end their blockade and pass bipartisan legislation to send military aid to Ukraine and Israel and secure the southern border.

Right now, Republicans are demanding tougher border policy to keep undocumented immigrants out.

Ahead of the presidents speech, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson published a 90 second video titled Three years of decline where he hammered the president on immigration and the economy.

Of course, the State of the Union is not strong and everybody around the country knows it and everybody in this room knows it, Johnson said.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell who endorsed former president Trump Wednesday calls the presidents record a disaster.

He inherited everything he needed to point our nation towards further security and prosperity, but he chose weakness, said McConnell.

While Democrats are rallying behind the president, he is also facing some criticism from the left over his handling of the war in Gaza.

In response, the White House says President Biden will announce a new plan to send more humanitarian aid into the war zone.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
A new White House stance on sanctuary cities has put vulnerable Democratic senators up for re-election in a difficult position as they traverse the issues of border security and illegal immigration.

On Wednesday, Fox News Digital asked several Democratic senators in competitive states whether they agreed with the White House's shift toward encouraging local jurisdictions to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This marks a change from President Biden's previous statements.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said in a statement to Fox News Digital: "Wisconsinites have said loud and clear they want real action that fixes our broken immigration system, secures our Southern border, and ensures that anyone who is a violent threat to our communities is prosecuted  and I am committed to working with anyone to do just that."

Sens. Jon Tester, Tammy Baldwin, Bob Casey and Sherrod Brown

GOP SENATOR'S BILL WOULD FORCE BIDEN ADMIN TO ALLOW VA FACILITY UPDATES STALLED BY INFRASTRUCTURE LAW

While Baldwin stated her support for addressing both illegal immigration and the border, she did not answer whether she believes local municipalities should cooperate with ICE or turn over illegal immigrants who are detained.

In a statement last month, Biden's White House said, "We welcome local law enforcements support and cooperation in apprehending and removing individuals who pose a risk to national security or public safety."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"When a local jurisdiction has information about an individual who could pose a threat to public safety, we want them to share that information with ICE," the statement continued.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin attends a news conference after a meeting with Senate Democrats at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 29, 2022.

The White House's statement differed from Biden's previous stance on sanctuary city policies. During a Democratic presidential primary debate in 2020, he notably said "no" when he was asked whether arrested illegal immigrants should be turned over to ICE. After he entered office, Biden attempted to place a moratorium on deportations for 100 days, which was ultimately blocked by a federal judge.

MCCONNELL ENDORSES TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT AFTER SUPER TUESDAY RESULTS: 'HE WILL HAVE MY SUPPORT'

"I voted for our bipartisan, Border Patrol Union-supported bill that would staff up our law enforcement, stop fentanyl from coming into the U.S., and invest in border security," Baldwin said in her statement, referencing a bipartisan border security and immigration measure that was killed by Republicans following former President Donald Trump's coming out against it. "Republicans need to come back to the table on this compromise because the consequences of inaction are unacceptable."

In the past, the Wisconsin Democrat has voted against cloture on motions that would allow the Senate to move forward with bills seeking to withhold federal grants for sanctuary cities. Such occasions occurred in 2018, 2016 and 2015.

Sen. Jon Tester asks questions during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Sept. 12, 2023.

Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester's campaign declined to comment, referring Fox News Digital to his office.

"Senator Tester strongly believes local jurisdictions should cooperate with ICE," his office said in a statement. "He does not support sanctuary cities and believes anyone who enters the country must be vetted and go through legal channels that keep our nation secure."

TOP REPUBLICANS RALLY BEHIND TRUMP, CALL FOR UNITY AFTER DOMINANT SUPER TUESDAY SHOWING: 'PRIMARY IS OVER'

Tester's strong stance against sanctuary cities presents a contrast with his voting history, however. Similar to Baldwin, the Montana Democrat voted against invoking cloture to proceed with bills aimed at preventing sanctuary city policies and halting federal grants from going to them.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., joined Tester's opposition to sanctuary policies via a statement from spokesperson Maddy McDaniel. "Senator Casey doesnt support sanctuary cities and believes all jurisdictions must cooperate with ICE and law enforcement at all levels, and has opposed Republican efforts to defund the COPS program which helps law enforcement keep communities safe," she told Fox News Digital.

Sen. Bob Casey leaves the Capitol after a vote on April 18, 2023.

But on the same cloture motions to move forward with bills to stop federal funding for self-proclaimed sanctuary cities, Casey voted against it.

A spokesperson for Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said in a statement to Fox News Digital, "Senator Rosen has consistently fought for commonsense, bipartisan reforms to secure the border, fix our broken immigration system, and keep our communities safe." Her campaign did not say whether she believes local jurisdictions should cooperate with ICE, however.

Rosen's campaign further contended there are no sanctuary cities in Nevada.

As a member of Congress in 2017, Rosen voted against an amendment which would have prevented federal funds from going to state and local entities that refused to cooperate with ICE.

BIDEN TO DELIVER STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH AT THE LATEST DATE EVER

U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada, speaks during a news conference on June 16, 2023, at the East Vegas Library.

Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, are also up for re-election in states considered competitive, according to the Cook Political Report. Asked about their positions on sanctuary cities, they did not respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital in time for publication.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee slammed the group of Democrats in pivotal 2024 races, telling Fox News Digital in a statement, "Senate Democrats have spent decades voting to open Americas borders and give millions in taxpayer dollars to illegal immigrants, now cities across the country are paying the price for their radical agenda."

"None of their candidates will be able to hide their disastrous records from the public," added NRSC spokesman Philip Letsou.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was contacted by Fox News Digital for comment and did not hear back at press time.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.





Original article source: Biden sanctuary city pivot puts vulnerable Senate Democrats' stances in spotlight
President Biden is expected to lay out his administrations "historic achievements" during his third State of the Union address Thursday night, the White House said, while stressing the importance of "uniting the country" and "saving our democracy."

The president is expected to deliver his State of the Union address Thursday at 9 p.m. ET.

A White House official told Fox News Digital the president will "lay out the historic achievements he has delivered on for the American people and his vision for the future."

"President Biden got more done in the first three years than most presidents have accomplished in two terms," a White House official told Fox News Digital.

JIM BANKS CALLS ON BIDEN TO 'PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGE' LAKEN RILEY AT SOTU

President Biden delivered his State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol Feb. 7, 2023.

The president is expected to discuss "protecting and implementing his agenda" during the last year of his term and in what he hopes will be a second term.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The official said Biden will discuss infrastructure and investment in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, lowering drug prices and "getting rid of junk fees."

But, at the heart of the speech, the president is expected to discuss "whose side he is on," the official said, and "the work ahead to make life better for every American."

The president will discuss lowering costs, lowering health care premiums and "taking on the drug companies to lower the cost of prescription drugs."

Biden is also set to discuss ways he intends to put the middle class "first."

The official said Biden will also lay out strategies for "saving our democracy" and "protecting womens reproductive health."

While the State of the Union cannot be viewed as a campaign speech, the president, who is running for re-election, will likely try to draw a contrast between his policies and Republican policies.

"Rights and freedoms are on the ballot," the White House official said, adding that Biden will discuss "uniting the country" and his "unity agenda."

That "unity agenda," according to the official, will touch on privacy and big tech, ways to curb fentanyl, helping veterans and ending cancer.

President Biden visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Brownsville, Texas, last month.

"We want to get as much done as we can as soon as we can," the official said. "We're going to be pedal to the metal this year, and theres much more to come in a second term."

BIDENS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS: BRET BAIER, MARTHA MACCALLUM TO LEAD FOX NEWS CHANNEL'S SPECIAL COVERAGE

But the White House did not offer any insight into how the president will address the crisis at the southern border during his Thursday night address.

The ongoing border crisis has become a top political issue in the days leading up to the address, with Biden expected to renew his calls for the Senate to pass a border agreement unveiled earlier this year. Republicans have blamed the crisis on the policies of the administration.

The address comes after a historic year for illegal immigration, with more than 2.4 million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2023. Fiscal 2024 has been similarly overwhelming, with over 300,000 encounters in December.

The president visited the southern border last week, traveling to Brownsville, Texas. His visit came on the same day as his GOP opponent, former President Trump. Biden met with Border Patrol, law enforcement and local leaders and urged Republicans to back a bipartisan Senate bill to address the crisis.

President Biden is delivering the State of the Union March 7, the latest in-person presidential speech to a joint session of Congress ever delivered.

"It's real simple. It's time to act. It is long past time to act," the president said last week. "It's time for us to move on this. We can't wait any longer."

The president's visit came just days after the murder of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley. Jose Antonio Ibarra, an illegal migrant from Venezuela, was arrested and charged in Riley's murder.

ALABAMA SEN. KATIE BRITT TO DELIVER REPUBLICAN RESPONSE TO BIDEN STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS: 'TRULY HONORED'

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed the Venezuelan national entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and had previously been arrested in New York City and later released.

Biden has not yet mentioned Rileys name.

The presidents address also comes at a time of global uncertainty, amid ongoing wars between Israel and Hamas and Russia and Ukraine and tensions rising in the Indo-Pacific.

Last month, White House officials acknowledged a national security threat related to Russian abilities in space that could impact U.S. and global military telecommunications.

RUSSIAN NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES IN SPACE COULD THREATEN INTERNATIONAL SATELLITES, US MILITARY COMMS: SOURCES

Also, last month, the United States conducted retaliatory strikes on more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria against Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups and proxies. The strikes came in response to the deaths of three U.S. service members on a U.S. base in Jordan.

There have been at least 160 attacks on U.S. troops in the Middle East since mid-October.

The U.S. launches airstrikes in western Iraq in a barrage of retaliatory strikes.

The president's address also comes as the House of Representatives conducts an impeachment inquiry against him. GOP lawmakers are investigating whether he was involved or benefited from his family's overseas business dealings, something they say could impact U.S. national security.

US 'NOT LOOKING FOR A WAR WITH IRAN,' WHITE HOUSE SAYS, STRIKES DESIGNED TO 'PUT AN END' TO ATTACKS ON TROOPS

His speech to the nation also comes just weeks after special counsel Robert Hur released his highly anticipated report following his months-long investigation into Biden's improper retention of classified records.

Special counsel Robert Hur's report calling out President Biden's "poor memory" sparked media coverage of the leader's mental capacity in office.

Hur, in his report, described the president as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," and did not bring charges against him.

SPECIAL COUNSEL CALLS BIDEN 'SYMPATHETIC, WELL-MEANING, ELDERLY MAN WITH A POOR MEMORY,' BRINGS NO CHARGES

Opponents of the president have raised concerns about his mental fitness for the presidency and a potential second term.

Meanwhile, White House communications director Ben LaBolt said the president, in his address, "will make the case to continue to build the economy from the bottom up and the middle out," saying his policies have "led to record job creation, the strongest economy in the world, increased wages and household wealth and lower prescription drug and energy costs."

BIDEN ON ICE CREAM OUTING WITH SETH MEYERS SAYS HE HOPES FOR GAZA CEASE-FIRE BY END OF THE WEEKEND

LaBolt drew the contrast between that of the "MAGA Republican agenda," which he claims is focused on "rewarding billionaires and corporations with big tax breaks, taking away rights and freedoms and undermining our democracy."

But the White Houses messaging is not only focused on Thursday nights speech. LaBolt said we live in a "fractured communications landscape" and said many Americans "wont consume the State of the Union collectively in the same moment or through the same medium."

President Biden speaks on the phone during a National Small Business Week event in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., May 1, 2023.

"Therefore, were fanning out aggressively not only Thursday but in the weeks ahead to reach Americans where they receive the news with the presidents message about whose side hes on," LaBolt said.

In the days following the State of the Union, Biden is expected to travel to Philadelphia and Atlanta, and Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Arizona and Nevada.

The White House will also send cabinet secretaries to states across the nation, including Colorado, Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky, South Carolina, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Tennessee, Michigan and other states to highlight the Biden administrations agenda.

Following Bidens address Thursday night, Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt is expected to deliver the GOP response.

Fox News' Adam Shae contributed to this report.





Original article source: Biden to use State of the Union to stress 'historic achievements' and importance of 'saving our democracy'
Joe Biden and Donald Trump cruised to comfortable victories on Super Tuesday, setting up an almost certain rerun of the 2020 election, but their primary successes cloak problems that could have a significant impact on the White House race.

Worries over Biden's age and anger over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war have muted celebrations over his big wins while Trump faces doubts over his ability to unify a party fractured like no time in modern history by his attacks on the Republican establishment.

Third-party and independent candidates have meanwhile emerged as a potentially critical factor, with voters -- turned off by the two historically unpopular frontrunners -- apparently more open than ever to wildcards who could tilt the election.

If the primaries held so far have demonstrated anything, it's that the Republican Party is not united behind its now-presumptive nominee.

Substantial anti-Trump resistance has cropped up among moderate suburban voters in almost every state to hold a presidential nominating contest.

Crucially, around two-thirds to three-quarters of his rival Nikki Haley's voters in South Carolina, Iowa and New Hampshire made clear in exit polls that Trump could not count on their vote.

"Haley's quixotic race for the GOP nomination exposed Trump's flawed and weakened standing within the Republican Party, but more broadly with the American electorate," Alyssa Farah Griffin, a communications director in the Trump White House, wrote Wednesday in an op-ed for The Daily Beast.

- 'Alarm bells' -

Trump's criminal exposure -- 91 felony charges across four jurisdictions -- has further complicated his path, with at least one in three Republican primary voters ruling out supporting a convicted felon.

Trump said Monday on social media that he wants to unite Republicans, but at the same time gloated over how he had "trounced" Haley and accused her of having received support from "radical left" Democrats.

Biden's troops, meanwhile, are lukewarm about their own standard-bearer for different reasons.

A recent New York Times/Siena College poll revealed that the majority of the 81-year-old president's 2020 voters believe he is "too old to be effective."

"If I'm in team Biden's camp right now, those alarm bells, they are sounding, and they are sounding loudly," Republican strategist Colin Reed told Sky News.

While there's not much he can do about his age, another vexing issue is a growing protest movement among Democrats over the war in Gaza.

In Michigan -- a state Biden won in 2020 but Trump took home in 2016 -- more than 100,000 Democratic voters cast ballots for "uncommitted" in the February primary. Figures of 45,000-88,000 in several Super Tuesday states piled on the agony.

"These are unbelievable numbers," Hassan Abdel Salam, a founder of the Abandon Biden movement told AFP, adding that he was seeing support from Jewish and African Americans, as well as Latinos and young voters.

Biden supporters however point to similar numbers in some of those states when Obama sought reelection in 2012.

- The Kennedy question -

But it is still a headache the Biden campaign could do without in an election that is expected to come down to a few hundred thousand votes across a handful of swing states.

Biden and Trump may be able to tamp down rebellions within their ranks by November, leaving what could turn out to be the biggest threat of all: third-party candidates.

Americans haven't elected an independent president since George Washington, but a public turned off by a Biden-Trump rematch appears more open than ever to the idea of a wildcard who could tilt the election.

Democrats are particularly sensitive to the threat, recalling how Green Party standard-bearer Jill Stein threw a spanner in the works for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Some analysts believe that John F Kennedy's nephew -- Robert F Kennedy Jr. -- could shape 2024 into a genuine three-person race, pointing doubters to the multitude of pundits who gave Republican Trump no hope in 2016.

"RFK is going to be an issue for Trump and Biden because it allows people to go somewhere else," said political consultant Keith Nahigian, a veteran of numerous campaigns and an official in George HW Bush's White House.

"It is up to both campaigns to keep people in their lane."

ft-ia/des
President Biden and former President Trump are set to hold dueling campaign events this weekend in Georgia, a state that was critical to Democrats winning the White House and Senate in 2020.

Bidens campaign event will be in the Atlanta area Saturday and is part of his travel to battleground states following his State of the Union address Thursday. The presidents reelection team sees March  after Super Tuesday and his address to Congress  as a pivotal time to fully turn toward the general election against Trump.

Also Saturday, Trump will hold out a Get Out the Vote Rally in Rome, Ga., more than 60 miles northwest of Atlanta and toward the Alabama border. His rally will take place at 5 p.m. EST.

Biden narrowly won Georgia by tight margins in 2020, with 49.5 percent of the vote compared to Trumps 49.2 percent.

Trump then pushed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to overturn his defeat in the state and find more than 11,000 ballots needed to overcome the gap between him and Biden, an ask that was made during a phone call later released in January 2021.

He also called for Gov. Brian Kemp (R) to call a special legislative session to overturn the states results and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani spread falsehoods that a duo of election workers engaged in mass voter fraud, a move that led to a jury in February ordering him to pay $148 million to the workers for defaming them.

Trump was arraigned alongside 18 other defendants in Georgia last year and is facing 13 charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act for his alleged attempt to overturn the election results.

Biden and the former president also made dueling trips to the U.S. southern border last week, when they both traveled to Texas towns.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A version of this story appears in CNNs What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.

The Joe Biden vs. Donald Trump rematch is a presumptive reality after the president and former president both dominated Republican and Democratic primaries on Super Tuesday.

The flaws, general unpopularity and baked-in perceptions of both candidates suggest the coming election will be one of mutually assured destruction, where Republicans try to make Biden seem as old and feeble as possible and Democrats equate a second Trump term with the end of democracy as we know it.

What are the alternatives?

If 2024 is anything like 2020 (or 2016, for that matter), the Republican or Democratic winner will eke past the loser in a handful of key states  which means third-party or independent candidates, even though they have little chance of winning such a hotly contested election, could play an important role in deciding the outcome.

Third parties. The Libertarian Party has been on the ballot in every state in recent elections. The Green Party is usually on the ballot in most but not all states. Those parties have not traditionally drawn large followings, but in elections with close margins, the tens of thousands of votes they win in key states in any given year lead to a lot of speculation.

It has been argued that stronger Libertarian and Green Party tickets in 2016, led by former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, respectively, sucked support from Hillary Clinton and helped elect Trump. There was similar grousing with regard to the Green Partys Ralph Nader in Florida in 2000.

But most in-depth assessments conclude that its not realistic to assume third-party voters would simply opt for a major-party candidate if the third-party option was not available. The Libertarian Party will pick a nominee at a party convention in May. The Green Party will pick its candidate in July.

Independent candidates. This year, there is a different kind of wild card than in 2020, when the rapper Kanye West ran for president. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a famous name, a history in politics and deep-pocketed supporters helping him get on November ballots as an independent. The academic and social justice advocate Cornel West is also running as an independent and formed a new party: Justice for All.

No Labels. Sensing frustration with the major parties, No Labels formed as a centrist group, not a political party, that set about seeking ballot access for an unnamed unity candidate. No such candidate has emerged, at least not yet. No Labels members will vote this week on whether or not to seek a candidate.

The group has recently suggested that if it does field a ticket, it would search for a Republican presidential candidate and Democratic vice presidential candidate. Key moderate figures like Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia have said they will not run.

No Labels chief strategist Ryan Clancy did not name any particular candidate who could serve as a No Labels candidate during an interview with CNNs Abby Phillip on Wednesday. He said the groups members, which are not publicly known, would be deciding whats next for the group.

What youll get on Friday is youll get news on whether were going to be going forward. And then if we are indeed going forward, you will hear in short order in the coming weeks of the process by which that ticket would get chosen, Clancy said.

Where are Kennedy and West going to be on the ballot?

A main hurdle for independent candidates is getting on the ballot.

Just ask Kanye West, whose weird 2020 campaign only got about 70,000 votes in 18 states. It was a telling development that people aligned with the Trump campaign helped West get on the ballot in the swing state of Wisconsin, clearly hoping he would siphon votes away from Biden.

Heres the current state of Kennedys effort to get the signatures to appear on ballots, which is being aided by the well-funded super PAC that supports him:

 Nevada and New Hampshire are swing states where Kennedys campaign claims to have enough signatures. Add in the blue state of Hawaii.

 The super PAC that supports him claims to have enough signatures to get him on the ballot in the key states of Arizona and Georgia.

 Hes already on the ballot in red state of Utah.

Cornel Wests campaign says it is on the ballot in three states so far: Alaska, Oregon and South Carolina.

How do West and Kennedy do in polls?

Its complicated and in flux.

A February poll by Marquette University found that in a head-to-head matchup, Trump had 51% to Bidens 49%.

When Kennedy, West and the Green Partys Stein were added into the question, things changed. Trump was still on top with 42%, Biden got 39%, Kennedy had 15%, West had 3% and Stein had 2%.

Kennedy pulled more support from Republicans in that poll, while West and Stein pulled more support from Democrats. Trump maintained a higher portion of independents than Biden when independents were included.

When I asked CNN polling editor Ariel Edwards-Levy how to view these polls, she pointed out that polls that explicitly ask about third-party candidates by name tend to overstate the level of support they actually end up taking. There are reasons to suspect thats particularly likely in the case of Kennedy, who could be benefiting to some extent from a combination of dissatisfaction with Biden and Trump and the value of his name recognition, which doesnt necessarily indicate durable support for his candidacy.

Buzzy independent candidates have a tendency to lose support as Election Day nears. Think Ross Perot, the most successful recent independent or third-party candidate, who did not break 20% in the national popular vote and won no states or electoral votes. He may very well have helped elect Bill Clinton, the Democrat who won the White House with just 43% of the national vote in 1992.

Who is more afraid of independent candidates?

Democrats. They have actively opposed the No Labels campaign since its inception, warning that it would draw support from Biden.

And they have lodged complaints about coordination between Kennedys campaign and the super PAC that supports him and is gathering signatures on his behalf.

If you want to know why Kennedys candidacy is concerning to Democrats, watch Eva McKends report after Kennedy held an event with Black voters in New York.

Kennedy has also flirted with the idea of running as a Libertarian. He spoke to the state party convention in California, for instance. But it would be an odd fit for a Kennedy  who still holds notably liberal views on some key issues and made his career as an environmental activist  to join the Libertarian Party.

Libertarians are like wet cats. Theyre very difficult to herd, and they dont like to be told by rich, famous outsiders that they need to vote for their candidates, Matt Welch, the editor at large of the Libertarian magazine Reason told CNNs Michael Smerconish last week.

But Welch predicted that Kennedy has raised enough money to hire signature gatherers and lawyers needed to get on the presidential ballot as an independent candidate in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

Definitely read Jake Tappers story on his interactions with Kennedy about Kennedys vaccination claims. Or watch the candidates interaction with CNNs Kasie Hunt where she rolls the tape to jog his memory on his claim that no vaccines are safe.

And expect Kennedys opponents, particularly on the liberal side of the political aisle, to spend some time and money reintroducing people to his conspiracy-minded views on vaccines and other topics.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Subscription to paid content

Gain access to all that Trend has to offer, as well as to premium, licensed content via subscription or direct purchase through a credit card.
Nikki is out. The race is on.

For the second time in four years, it appears certain that Joe Biden will face Donald Trump in an election for the presidency. Thats right. Two senior citizens. One was impeached twice, faces 91 felony charges in four different jurisdictions and has been fined more than $500 million for fraudulent business practices and defamation. The other spearheaded the passage of a bipartisan trillion dollar infrastructure bill, but has sleep apnea and walks gingerly because he is recovering from a broken foot.

At this moment it is a close race, which is a testament to the stupidity of the average American voter. Never in the modern era has a race been so seemingly pre-determined. Never have the stakes been higher.

So, stepping into Congress for the State of the Union Address tonight, Joe Biden faces a unique and inescapable moment in history. His speech may well be the most scrutinized, most important of any president in my lifetime. Thats not hyperbole. What he says has the potential of changing history for the next several lifetimes  and perhaps longer.

Polling data shows that democracies overseas are concerned if Biden were to lose his re-election bid they will see a rising threat from authoritarian rule, a lack of support for Ukraine and a lack of response to the existential threat of climate change.

Yet there are those who are just waiting for Joe Biden to stutter, mispronounce a name, and confuse a fact.

Just days after the Super Tuesday round of presidential primaries, Biden knows who his opponent will be this fall. He also knows that his appearance before Congress and everywhere going forward will be filled with MAGA supporters who preach hate. He faces a seemingly impossible task: unite a divisive nation and bring back into the fold an opposition party led by a man who claims that Revenge is the Ultimate Victory while at the same time claiming only he, Donald Trump, can unite the country  even as he tries to tear it apart. He cant even be gracious to those in his own party who dont agree with him. Hes called Nikki Haley a loser. As for his opposition, Donald Trump calls President Joe Biden the enemy. Not his opposition. Not a loyal American. Not the head of our government  but the enemy. This is the guy who claims only he had united us. He cant even unite his own party. Only the members of the MAGA movement remain loyal to Trump.

Biden further faces an opposition party that has demonized illegal immigrants, refuses to accept Trumps loss in the 2020 election, and doesnt want to continue backing Ukraine in its effort to remain free. At the same time Biden is also dealing with a dangerous war in the Middle East (that MAGA supporters blame him for) and an economy the GOP says is floundering  despite evidence to the contrary.

So Biden will stand tonight in front of Congress packed with the ultimate hecklers like the human stains of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Bobert. It should be a memorable encounter  considering the relentless attacks from Republican officials  according to Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre, who said Wednesday that Biden is ready for the scrap.

On the economy, Biden has to explain that even though the numbers look good, why is it young people are finding it harder to buy a home and why does every household not only have to have two incomes, but a couple of side hustles to make ends meet?

We arent lazy, but we are tired.

On other issues, Jean-Pierre reminded us Biden has taken on Big Pharma and has led the way in making sure the richest Americans pay their fair share in taxes. That has to be part of his speech.

On immigration, Biden needs to explain the historical problem, put the current crisis in perspective and continue to hammer away at people like House Speaker Mike Johnson who have blocked bipartisan legislation needed to help fix the problem. More importantly, it appears he has to explain to the American people the art of half a loaf instead of the I get everything I want, or I burn it all down attitude of the MAGA party.

But somewhere Biden has to do something far more important, and far harder to convey to an American public that is battered, bruised and very angry.He must be convincingly hopeful.

Right now in this country, an overwhelming majority of voters on the right and the left do not have faith in the federal government. Because we elected the fools whove torn down the foundations of our democracy, we are unable to understand how far weve fallen, how desperate times are and how much we need hope. We are like frogs who sit in a pot of water and boil to death because we cannot recognize the change in temperature. Biden has to not only turn down the heat but cool the waters enough to make people feel good about who they are even if they dont agree with him.

United we Stand. Divided we fall. Its the motto of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and I grew up being taught this meant we had a great deal of tolerance for those who think differently than us because we were all in the same boat. Today thats rather forward thinking.

Jean-Pierre told us Wednesday that in his speech President Biden will look back at achievements and successes, and push forward on important pieces of legislation he wants enacted after his re-election. She also said he would talk about his vision  hes an optimistic guy.

Yes, weve all heard the standard stump speech where he stresses that we are the United States of America and theres nothing we cant do if we put our minds to it.

But thats not enough. Biden needs to give people tangible and simple reasons to feel better about themselves and this country. We need to at least accept others who think differently than we do.

And Biden desperately needs to address education and the media.

Jean-Pierre has often said Biden will meet Americans wherever they are,  whether its Tik Tok, in a parking lot I suppose, or at an ice cream store. Where Biden fails to meet us is in the briefing room. Americans are there, too. Biden sounds disingenuous when he talks about being transparent and accessible when hes neither.

I recently spoke with a Trump supporter who is also a moon landing denier. The man had no basic understanding of science, which he called just voodoo because scientists are always changing their mind. He didnt understand the principle of scientific theory. He didnt understand vaccinations. He told me that Polio was made up. We never cured it. And millions lack the crucial understanding of science, history and civics needed to participate in a government of, by and for the people.

Many Trump supporters cannot define fascism, democracy, socialism or communism, but they spit the words at you as insults.

Our mass communication system desperately needs overhauling. Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos cannot be the standard bearers of news. There are three times the number of people on this planet as on the day I was born and a quarter of the number of reporters. Houston we have a problem.

In short, in order to defeat Donald Trump we have to have renewed faith and hope in the institutions we used to hold most dear  and helped build a national community. We need to have greater faith in government, public education, and our press. We also need to tax the rich and help the middle class and the poor  instead of using the poor, and especially illegal immigrants as a wedge to threaten the shrinking middle class.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

Thats a tall wall to climb, pun intended, for the president as he delivers the State of the Union.

But this is a time, more than any other, that calls for big thinking, big ideas, hope and strategy to reach our goals.

Think of John Kennedy in his inaugural address; And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you  ask what you can do for your country.

Think of Martin Luther King Jr. when he gave his I have a Dream speech; Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.

We are there once again at a crucial point in time when the United States can either fall to despots or rise to meet the challenges of a new century filled with hope and promise.

The alternative to Biden is Donald Trump  who every day spouts nonsense, divisiveness hatred and revenge. Those who follow him cannot be cleaved from him with anger, for it is anger that drove them to him. Anger and fear are Donald Trumps stock in trade. After a lifetime of grifting, it is all he has left. He is a gangrenous pustule of pain.

If this is to be a battle between two old white men for the soul of the country, then make the lines clear. Hope vs. fear. Unity vs. divisiveness.

As Martin Luther King Jr. so aptly put it, Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.

For better or worse, Bidens speech and the next few months will define him for history.

Lets pray its a good showing  for all of us. We all need to see hope and unity; not fear and divisiveness.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Legislation that would ban riders from using controlled substances on public transit is heading to Gov. Tina Koteks desk.

Earlier this week, legislators passed Senate Bill 1553. When it was first introduced, the bill called on the Oregon Health Authority to study the states troubling addiction crisis and share its research with lawmakers.

Commissioner Rene Gonzalez says city is running into barriers with post-overdose response

The updated legislation addresses the crime of interfering with public transportation. Notably, SB 1553 deems it a Class A Misdemeanor if someone knowingly ingests, inhales, ignites, injects or otherwise consumes a controlled substance that is not lawfully possessed by the person while on public transit.

In Oregon, Class A Misdemeanors are punishable by a jail sentence of up to 364 days, a $6,250 fine, or both.

Both the Oregon Transit Association and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 have applauded lawmakers for addressing an ongoing issue for the states public transportation passengers and drivers.

Alaska Airlines flight returns to PDX after reports of fume smell in cabin

In September 2023, the University of Washington released a study on drug exposure in public transit vehicles. On Oregon and Washington buses and train cars, researchers found that 98% of surface samples and 100% of air samples tested positive for methamphetamine. They also learned that 46% of surface samples and 25% of air samples were positive for fentanyl.

According to the university, the small traces of drugs werent enough to pose a health risk for riders or drivers. Portland-area transit service TriMet has still pushed for SB 1553s passing.

Over the past six years, TriMet reported a 30% decline in passengers who feel safe on buses and trains. The organization added that just 18% of non-riders believe that public transit is safe.

PHOTOS: One-eyed Oregon chihuahua selected as semifinalist for Cadbury Bunny Tryouts

TriMet has a diverse team of safety and security personnel who, by design, are unarmed and trained in de-escalation, TriMet said in a statement on Wednesday. However, in situations where law enforcement involvement is necessary, this legislation gives law enforcement the tool they need to help support our security efforts and let drug users know that transit vehicles are off-limits.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
A handful of state lawmakers found themselves literally herding cats on Wednesday as they argued for more transparency among the state's commercial pet breeders.

Rep. Mike Freiberg, DFL-Golden Valley, and Sen. Bonnie Westlin, DFL-Plymouth, said in a news conference that the bills they have authored in the House and Senate would make state inspection reports of large-scale dog and cat breeders public.

They were joined at the briefing by special guests: the kittens Lima and Pinto (who briefly joined Freiberg by standing on the lectern), and the German shepherd puppies Cupcake and Danish, all of which are adoptable pets at the Animal Humane Society.

"This is an opportunity to help consumers make informed decisions about the pets that they are bringing into their homes," Westlin said. "When families bring a pet into their home, that this is a significant emotional and financial investment."

The Minnesota Pet Breeders Association is opposing the bill, saying that it would reveal business information that should remain private.

"All this does is invite every member of the public who looks at a licensed breeder's website to contact [the Board of Animal Health] to get a bundle of proprietary info about the breeder's business," Elaine Hanson, the association's legislative liaison, wrote in an email. "Other businesses are not treated in such manner."

Freiberg responded that the change would actually put breeders in line with public data requirements for other licensed jobs in Minnesota, like accountants, doctors and barbers.

Under a law passed in 2014, dog and cat breeders with 10 or more unneutered animals that birth more than five litters a year became subject to state supervision and licensing. Smaller hobbyist breeders were not included.

But Freiberg said "a last minute change to the bill" made most information about these breeders secret. The only public information available now is the names of licensed breeders; there are over 100 in Minnesota.

Under the new bills, the three most recent inspection reports, the city or township a breeder is located in and all the business names a breeder has used in the past would become public information. Whether a license was revoked would also become public. Anyone could request this information from the Board of Animal Health.

Licensing information about nonprofit animal shelters is already public under state law. Breeders who sell to pet stores are subject to inspections by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Reports of those inspections are public, but that excludes many of the commercial breeders in the state, said Paul Sorenson of the Animal Humane Society.

For state-licensed breeders, "we know that there were 47 violations over the past five years," Sorenson said. With the new bill, "we'd be able to know who had those violations. Were they repeat violations? Were they record-keeping violations or were they health and safety violations?"

But Hanson said breeders worry that shelters would start using the reports to discourage people from buying an animal from a breeder. In the bill's first hearing in the Senate, later on Wednesday, she called the legislation an effort to "harass and slander pet breeders."

During that same hearing, Sen. Gary Dahms, R-Redwood Falls, argued that the original provision to keep breeder information secret was not a sudden addition to law in 2014 but rather a negotiated compromise between animal adoption agencies and people who raise puppies and kittens.

He questioned the latest bill, and whether it was part of "a witch hunt again like we have been [on] for several years to go after these breeders, because there have been some bad apples and we want to go over the whole bunch."

In the committee meeting, Westlin said the legislation was only meant to provide more information to those who want it.

"There's no punishment here," she said.

Freiberg and Westlin said they were confident the bill would pass this session. It has bipartisan support in both chambers; Republican Rep. Andrew Myers and Republican Sens. Jim Abeler and Karin Housley, the assistant minority leader, are co-authors.
Florida is just a governors signature away from blocking a possible ballot initiative to curtail development in rural portions of Orange County.

The Florida House voted by a 104-9 margin Wednesday to send SB 1420 to DeSantis, with local representatives LaVon Bracy-Davis, Anna Eskamani, Johanna Lopez and Susan Plasencia among the few votes in opposition. Last week, the Senate pushed it through with a 38-1 vote, with Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando, the lone dissenting vote.

The local push to ask voters to approve a so-called rural boundary in lands in east and west Orange was studied for six months by a subcommittee and hadnt yet been approved by county commissioners to be placed on the ballot.

But state lawmakers stepped in before that could happen, banning any citizen-led county charter amendment that overrules existing land development regulations.

The amendment creating the ban, which in reality only impacts Orange County, was added to broader legislation concerning a host of other items like allowing local governments more time to repay certain loans and imposing homeowners association notification requirements.

rygillespie@orlandosentinel.com
WAVERLY, Ohio (WCMH)  The Wagner family patriarchs trial for the killing of the Rhoden family has been delayed until 2025.

George Billy Wagner III, the last Wagner awaiting prosecution for the 2016 shooting of eight Rhoden family members, was originally slated to go to trial on May 6. But at a status conference Thursday, defense attorney Mark Collins requested the trial be delayed, citing fellow attorneys health and personal issues and the receipt of 16,000 pages of court transcripts.

Judge Alan Corbin continued the trial until Jan. 6, 2025.

Suspect unknown decades after Columbus woman strangled, scalded and killed in fire

Billy Wagner, 52, faces five charges of aggravated murder, having been accused of helping his sons, Edward Jake Wagner and George Wagner IV, kill members of the Rhoden family in their homes nearly eight years ago. On the morning of April 22, 2016, eight Rhodens were found dead; most had been shot while they slept. They included Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40; Dana Rhoden, 37; Clarence Frankie Rhoden, 20; Hanna Rhoden, 19; Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16; Hannah Gilley, 20; Kenneth Rhoden, 44; and Gary Rhoden, 38.

Prosecutors argued during Wagner IVs trial in 2022 that the massacre was a meticulously planned killing that stemmed from a custody dispute between Jake Wagner and Hanna Rhoden. Their child, then an infant, was found unharmed, as were two other young children.

All four Wagners, including Billys wife Angela, were arrested in 2018 and faced the death penalty. Although all Wagners originally pleaded not guilty, Jake and Angela switched their pleas in 2021 to avoid the death penalty.

Major pharmacies will soon offer medication abortion, but not in Ohio

George IV was convicted on 22 charges, including eight aggravated murder charges, multiple aggravated burglary charges, conspiracy and other felonies, but the judge dropped the death penalty consideration against him. In December 2022, he received eight life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole.

Billys trial has faced multiple delays. The Ohio Supreme Court needed to appoint a new judge in the case after the presiding judges February 2023 retirement  since the judge replacing him on the bench prosecuted several Wagners. This past November, the judge denied Billys request to move the trial out of Pike County.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
The News

Black members of Congress are hoping that Joe Biden will use his State of the Union Speech to speak directly to the concerns of African Americans who are feeling lukewarm about this reelection bid.

Theres not necessarily a secret formula that will win those voters over, some members say, but he at least needs to explain in clear terms what hes accomplished for them.

I just want him to reaffirm a lot of what he has done already and how it impacts Black communities, Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y. told Semafor. So many of our constituents, mine in particular, are actually benefiting from the work that we have done already. And I think its important for him to give a vision of how he can build on those accomplishments.

Other lawmakers offered more specific suggestions. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, told Semafor she personally requested the president say something about housing  specifically affordability, homelessness, discrimination, and rental assistance programs for low-income residents.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas said Biden needed to focus on justice issues, and promise to protect Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies that have historically benefitted black Americans from Republican efforts to roll them back.

I think the African American community wants to know that theres equity, that if people are eliminating DEI, that the federal government will have their back, she said.

Black voters will also be listening carefully to Bidens message on Gaza, argued Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y.. He told Semafor he hears resentment from his constituents over the conflict both because of the humanitarian toll it has taken among the Palestinians and what Black voters see as misplaced priorities.

Many wonder why taxpayer money is going there for that but not coming to our communities to help build out infrastructure, he said. We got money for wars but cant feed the poor, Bowman then added, quoting a 1993 Tupac Shakur song Keep Ya Head Up.

Know More

Black voters have become an unexpected source of concern for the White Houses reelection hopes this year. While Biden still commands support from a solid majority of African Americans, some polls have shown his numbers trailing well below the 92% he won in 2020. For months, Black leaders have said the White Houses inability to highlight Bidens wins for their communities has contributed to the slippage. Some members of Congress think the administration needs to do a better job targeting its messaging.

We need to make sure were meeting voters where they are and not just talking about it here or on TV, but were reaching them on every medium possible, Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Va. told Semafor.
President Bidens State of the Union address takes place on the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, and Black leaders around the nation are urging the president to address the fight for equity in his speech.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) are expecting Biden to mention the anniversary of a key marker in the civil rights fight, and have pushed him to focus on the need to address racial justice.

A lot of times we talk about Bloody Sunday  as if its a vestige of decades past, caucus Chair Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) said. But let me be absolutely clear: There are forces working to take away the very tools of economic opportunity and freedoms that we have fought so hard to advance..

What was Bloody Sunday?

On March 7, 1965, more than 600 demonstrators gathered in Selma, Ala., to march from the Brown Chapel AME Church, the meeting headquarters for a voter registration campaign, to the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

These demonstrators were led by a young John R. Lewis, a Freedom Rider, founding member and chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and a soon-to-be congressman.

A sea of Alabama state troopers led by the segregationist Selma sheriff, Jim Clark, met the demonstrators on the bridge, telling them to return to the church. After Lewis and the demonstrators stood firm, Clark told the troopers to advance.

What we see is this horror of these marchers being violently attacked by the Alabama State Troopers on national TV, international news, said Ryan Jones, associate curator and historian for the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenn.

You see John Lewis is clubbed in the head, theres tear gas. The troopers are on horseback, so there were injuries of all sorts  no fatalities, thank God. But there were injuries all over the place.

Cedric Haynes, vice president of policy and legislative affairs for the NAACP, said without Bloody Sunday, its unclear if President Lyndon B. Johnson ever would have signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

People in many parts of the nation had never seen the brutality that occurred to Black people in the South, Haynes told The Hill. That basically pushed then-President Johnson and legislators to ultimately introduce and pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The lead-up to Bloody Sunday was months in the making, with the killing of a young Black man named Jimmie Lee Jackson.

In February 1965, Jackson joined a group of demonstrators for a night march for voting rights in Marion, about 20 minutes west of Selma. The marchers were confronted by state troopers and Jackson was shot in the stomach. He died eight days later.

For Black leaders nearly 60 years later, the fight for voting rights remains a top-of-mind issue going into November.

The fight for voting rights today

In a meeting with reporters last month, Horsford said the Congressional Black Caucus is concerned about the most fundamental institution within our democracy, which is our right to vote.

Last year between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, at least 14 states enacted 17 restrictive voting laws, though at least 356 restrictive bills were considered by lawmakers in 47 states, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice.

One of the most restrictive laws came in North Carolina, where the period for returning mail-in ballots was shortened, ballot drop boxes were eliminated, and the likelihood that voters using same-day registration would not have their ballots counted increased.

Many advocates have highlighted the threat to voting rights because before the Voting Rights Act, Black voters who were unable to vote lived in an environment in a climate that practices white supremacy, said Jones, of the National Civil Rights Museum.

This is a recycled process of the discriminations that certain individuals were forced to have to live under in that type of society [in 1965], he said.

The Congressional Black Caucus has been pushing for the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act, a bill that would require all 50 states to offer early voting periods for at least two weeks prior to Election Day, including on nights and weekends, for at least 10 hours per day. It would also make mail-in voting easier by prohibiting certain requirements such as needing mail ballots to be notarized.

The caucus has also been a staunch supporter of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would expand the governments ability to respond to voter discrimination.

What we hope to hear from the president is that he will use the moment of the State of the Union and the anniversary of Bloody Sunday to lift up and to tie the fight for democracy, for voting rights, and the fight for economic justice together, Horsford said. And he is uniquely capable of, as hes done in the past, using the moment to speak to the minds and hearts of the American people to explain this moment.

Several organizations have sent an open letter to Biden calling on him to address voting rights Thursday.

As youve made clear, anti-democratic forces are working to take away the freedom to vote, cause chaos in our electoral systems, and corruptly tilt our politics in favor of big money special interests, the groups wrote. No less than the future of our Republic is at stake.

They are now demanding Biden publicly ask Congress to send him the Freedom to Vote Act and John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act for signature on the very first day of his next term  should he be reelected in November.

Haynes, of the NAACP who attended a meeting at the White House with Vice President Harris last week, said the administration has been doing all it can to protect the right to vote, though there remains a lot of work left in the fight.

Biden will have to highlight that to the nation Thursday, Haynes said.

The message from the president has to be one where he recognizes that there are systemic problems that continue to exist and continue to plague our communities, but also there needs to be some substance there for him to restore our faith or create faith for us that they are doing what they can with the plan to address these issues to make some substantive outcome.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Biden administration is attempting to tap $200 million from US Army funding to provide immediate assistance to Ukraine while more significant aid remains held up in Congress, Bloomberg reported March 6.

The temporary funds could be used to assist the Ukrainian military with replenishing critical supplies and weapons that are rapidly running out.

Drawing on the Pentagon reserves would free up about $200 million in military aid to Ukraine. A source familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that a final decision has not been made as to the army funds.

U.S. aid to Ukraine has been delayed since autumn 2023, as various versions of a foreign aid bill have been derailed due to border security disagreements. Most recently, a $95 billion aid package to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan passed in the Senate with bipartisan support, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to bring it to a vote in the House of Representatives.

Johnson is reportedly allowing Republicans who support Ukrainian aid to work on an alternative bill, which is expected to be complete by late March or early April.

Equipment and weapons shortages have led to recent Russian territorial advances, including the capturing of Avdiivka  a key city near occupied Donetsk  where heavy fighting took place for many months.

The EU Council recently approved a funding package of 50 billion euros ($54 billion) in loans and grants for Ukraine.

Read also: Ukrainian soldiers near Kupiansk prepare for potential Russian offensive

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The EU will propose new sanctions against Russia in response to opposition leader Alexei Navalny's death last month, Bloomberg reported on March 7, citing a draft proposal they had obtained.

Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin's main political opponent, died on Feb. 16 in a penal colony in the town of Kharp, Yamal Nenets Autonomous District. He had been convicted in several fabricated criminal cases as part of the Kremlin's crackdown on dissent.

Several countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and Australia, have imposed fresh sanctions against Russia over Navalny's death.

The EU now readies restrictive measures against 35 individuals, including prison and government officials and judges, Bloomberg wrote. The IK-3 and IK-6 penal colonies where Navalny was imprisoned are also reportedly included in the list.

Navalny was detained in Russia in January 2021 and was later sent to prison on two separate sentences, one for nine years and another for 19, in trial proceedings described by human rights groups as a "sham."

The opposition leader was moved to the IK-6 maximum security prison in Melekhovo, Vladimir Oblast, in June 2022. Since December 2023, Navalny was held at IK-3, where he also died.

Leaders around the world pointed at Putin as to blame for Navalny's death. It remains unclear whether the harsh prison conditions caused his death or if he was intentionally murdered.

Read also: European Parliament adopts resolution on Navalnys death

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Dave Rowntree, the drummer for the band Blur, has been selected as a Labour candidate for the next general election.

Rowntree, 59, will stand in Mid Sussex, a Tory seat held by Mims Davies since 2019.

In a statement posted to the social media site X on Wednesday night, the musician said: Im absolutely thrilled to have been selected as the UK Labour candidate for Mid Sussex! Now the work begins.

Residents have their best chance in a generation to make their vote count and return a Labour MP to parliament, he said in a separate statement.

The Tories have run out of ideas, and the Lib Dems have run out of steam.

Im running for parliament to provide the energy and vision the area so desperately needs.

Ms Davies has represented Mid Sussex since 2019 - Geoff Pugh

Rowntree is not the only musician standing in the next election; Labour is also hoping to draw on the rockstar power of Tom Gray, of the band Gomez, to win over the Brighton Pavilion constituency.

Essex-born Rowntree, who is also a trained lawyer, previously represented the party during his four years as a Norfolk County councillor.

He announced in 2021 he was standing down as councillor due to the Covid pandemic and the Conservative governments handling of lockdown policies.

The pandemic has made life very difficult for everyone. Like many people, I live with a vulnerable family member so I have had to spend much of the year shielding, Rowntree said at the time.

Many countries whose governments have followed the science and tackled the epidemic head-on arent in this position.

I could complain that its unfair, but I think my residents could also complain about unfairness if I stood again, not knowing when Id be able to get back out there, knocking on doors, looking for problems to solve.

During his break from politics, Rowntree worked on his own 10-track debut album, Radio Songs, a tribute to radios role as one of the steadying factors in (his) life. Last year, he picked up the sticks again for Blur, performing at Wembley in the groups first headline show since 2015.

Rowntree, pictured with celebrated producer James Ford, attended the Brit Awards last week - Reuters

Blur frontman Damon Albarn announced in December the band was taking another break despite only recently reuniting for the tour after creating their ninth studio album, The Ballard of Darren.

Its time to wrap up this campaign, Albarn told a French magazine.

The hiatus should give Rowntree more time to concentrate on his own campaign, but its unclear whether he plans to leave the band entirely if he is elected later this year.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. The Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan Mukhtar Babayev discussed preparations for the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) with the CEO of the World Climate Foundation Jens Nielsen, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan said, Trend reports.

The meeting included an exchange of ideas on the planning process for Azerbaijan's major event this year, as well as discussions about future collaboration.



To note, the decision to convene COP29 in Azerbaijan became official on December 11, 2023, in Dubai, UAE.



On January 4, 2024, Mukhtar Babayev was appointed as President of COP29.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
WASHINGTON  Oleksandr Batalov, a Ukrainian army veteran, had a simple answer when asked what happens when a unit runs out of artillery shells on the battlefield.

If we had proper artillery support in the battle where I was, I would still have my leg, he said through an interpreter. After the injury, I was lying on the ground for six and half hours, waiting to be evacuated.

Batalov is part of a group of Ukrainian vets and service members who met with lawmakers, American veterans and Pentagon officials in recent days as part of a project called The Message on the Frontline. The initiative is aimed at raising awareness of the continuing war in Ukraine.

My body shows you the price when there is lack of proper support, Batalov said during an appearance with other vets Wednesday at the Ukraine House cultural center in Washington.

The group was in Washington at a pivotal time, as a foreign aid bill that would send about $48 billion of weapons and $8 billion in economic aid to Ukraine, which is facing shortages of artillery and ammunition, is hung up in the House because of Republican opposition.

Initially, Ukraine was to get a smaller tranche of aid at the end of September, but Republicans ripped it out of a temporary spending bill at the last minute. Then in February, a carefully negotiated bill that would have boosted border security in return for approving the aid was killed when Senate Republicans refused to support it after GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump said he opposed it.

Instead, the Senate passed a narrower bill with 70 votes that provided aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. That bill has not been taken up by House Republicans.

President Joe Biden is likely to press Republicans to move on the package in his State of the Union address Wednesday evening. Biden ripped House Republicans for taking a break in February instead of taking up the Senate bill, saying, We cant walk away now. Thats what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is betting on.

In the meantime, Ukraine has suffered setbacks on the frontline stemming in part from a growing Russian logistical advantage, including in artillery shells. Ukraine lost the strategic town of Avdiivka recently, after having held it for 10 years.

Dmytro Finashyn, a second lieutenant in Ukraines National Guard, said lack of artillery makes it more dangerous for frontline soldiers.

If you dont have that, you have to send your soldier with a rifle to go there and fight in contact. And so a human life becomes a replacement for a product made of some metal and gunpowder, Finashyn said through a translator.

Of course those two things are incomparable, human life and that projectile thats being produced, he said.

Liudmyla Meniuk, a recently discharged sergeant who served in the eastern Ukraine town of Bakhmut, said lacking artillery or grenades for launchers is terrifying.

If you have nothing but the AK rifle in your hands, you understand that this is going to be your last battle, she said through a translator.

A small group of House Republicans is working with a similarly small group of House Democrats to try to force a bill to the floor that would have aid and some border provisions important to Republicans. But the method to force a vote, called a discharge petition, takes time and would require a majority of House members to sign.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.) said Wednesday the process of gathering signatures could begin as early as Friday. But he said he wants to give House leaders a chance to come up with a bipartisan bill that could differ from his groups.

To be clear, the discharge petition that I filed is putting a clock on a time- sensitive matter. That is all this is, he said.

The Ukrainian military service members, perhaps mindful of the political landscape, declined to criticize Republicans for being the biggest factor in the aid holdup.

Both the Republicans and the Democrats seem to accept, now agree that this is not only needed for Ukraine, but for the world at large, Finashyn said.

But even if Ukraine is ultimately denied U.S. weapons  most of which would come from weapons in storage that would be replaced by newer, better arms  the group members said Ukrainians would continue to fight on, regardless.

Batalov, the amputee, said his wife once asked him if he had known he would lose a limb, would he have still gone to war.

I said, yes, Batalov said. Because this is my country and because its about defending my wife, my other family and my nation.
Ukrainian border guards defended against a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group in Sumy Oblast overnight, the State Border Guard Service reported on Telegram on March 7.

Sumy Oblast borders the Russian oblasts of Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod. Russian forces retreated from Sumy Oblast in April 2022 but continues to attack the region on a daily basis.

Russia also regularly conducts cross-border raids into Sumy Oblast, which has a long, heavily forested border.

"Last night, border guards as part of the Defense Forces discovered an enemy sabotage and intelligence group advancing from the Russian side," the State Border Guard said.

The border guards "immediately opened fire," and the group retreated.

The losses on the Russian side "are being ascertained," the State Border Guard said.

Read also: Russian attacks kill 7, injure 15 over past day

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP)  Young right-hander Brayan Bello and the Boston Red Sox agreed Thursday to a $55 million, six-year contract.

Bello gets a $1 million signing bonus and salaries of $1 million this year, $2.5 million in 2025, $6 million in 2026, $8.5 million in 2027, $16 million in 2028 and $19 million in 2029. The deal includes a $21 million team option for 2030 with a $1 million buyout that if exercised would make the agreement worth $75 million over seven seasons.

Bello turns 25 in May and was signed by the Red Sox from the Dominican Republic in 2017 for $28,000.

He would have been eligible for arbitration after the 2025 season and for free agency following the 2028 season. He had a $729,500 salary last year and, absent the long-term deal, likely would have received about $750,000 this season.

Bello was 12-11 with a 4.24 ERA in 28 starts last year for the last-place Red Sox, averaging 95.5 mph with his four-seam fastball. His fastball velocity was 97.7 mph in 2022, when he went 2-8 with a 4.71 ERA in 11 starts and two relief appearances.

He is part of a projected rotation that includes Nick Pivetta, Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock.

Boston signed free agent Lucas Giolito to a $38.5 million, two-year contract, but the 29-year-old right-hander likely will need Tommy John surgery for the second time.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Last year on International Women's Day, pairs of shoes with the names of Brazilian femicide victims were displayed on Copacabana Beach (Tercio TEIXEIRA)

An average of four Brazilian women per day were murdered for motives linked to their gender in 2023, according to a study published Thursday on the eve of International Women's Day.

The Brazilian Public Security Forum (FBSP) NGO collected data from police records which showed 1,463 femicides last year, a 1.6 percent increase from 2022.

This data has been collected since 2015, when a law was passed in the country describing femicide as murder "caused by domestic or family violence due to the condition of the female sex."

Since then, 10,655 women have fallen victim to this crime.

"We cannot normalize the deaths of more than 10,000 women murdered in less than a decade just because they are women," said Samira Bueno, the director of FBSP, in a statement.

"This topic has been the object of numerous debates by civil society, but this is not enough to reduce the number of these crimes committed each day in Brazil."

A year ago, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced on International Women's Day a series of measures to combat "the intolerable physical violence against women."

These included an increase in funds dedicated to women's shelters and the reactivation of a monitoring program to prevent repeat cases of domestic violence.

lg/ybl/fb/bgs
Side saddle rider Shirley Anderson, horse trader Felim Crane, horse trader James Gault and livery yard owner Philippa Auret at the protest

Members of Northern Ireland's equine industry protested at Belfast docks on Thursday night over what they described as "a continuing Irish Sea border".

They claimed many aspects of trading between NI and Great Britain had not improved since the deal which led to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) returning to Stormont.

The protesters were joined by a number of sheep and poultry farmers.

They called on the government to take immediate action.

Felim Crane, who has a horse and pony business in Irvinestown, County Fermanagh, said new regulations introduced under the Northern Ireland Protocol in January 2021 had been "decimating".

The Northern Ireland Protocol was the part of the UK's Brexit deal with the EU which introduced new checks on goods from Great Britain at Northern Ireland's ports.

It was later amended by the Windsor Framework.

"It's been a disaster," Mr Crane said.

"We would have bought a lot of animals in Great Britain and brought them home to Northern Ireland.

"We can no longer do that due to blood tests which are required for animals travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland."

The DUP walked out of devolved government at Stormont in February 2022 in protest against the post-Brexit trading rules.

The deal which saw it return to Stormont at the start of the year will reduce checks and paperwork on goods moving from the rest of the UK into Northern Ireland.

However Mr Crane said that despite the deal, there had been "no change" to the situation.

"We need to do something about it and it needs to be done ASAP," he added.

Mr Crane said he had written to DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who Mr Crane said was "unaware of the problems and will work at them going forward".

The DUP walked out of Stormont over the Irish Sea border

Philippa Auret, who runs a livery yard in Saintfield, County Down, also believes that "nothing has changed" since the deal.

"We travel backwards and forwards across the water, some of our customers in yard do the same," she said.

"We want to be able to move freely with our animals.

"It's nearly impossible for people to make a living bringing horses backwards and forwards across the water."

She added there was also "a major welfare issue" with having animals standing in lorries at the ports for "hours and hours".

Lesley Liggett, a sheep farmer from Omagh, also said importing from Great Britain had become "impossible".

"If I take livestock across to the mainland and don't get it sold, I have to leave it there for six months before I can bring it back home again which is ridiculous."
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron speaks at a press conference with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Not Pictured) during the second German-British Strategy Dialogue at the Foreign Ministry. Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has strongly advocated the delivery of long-range weapons to Ukraine during a visit to Berlin on Thursday.

"When it comes to the long range weapons I can only speak for Britains experience of how effective these weapons have been in helping Ukraine to fight of this illegal aggression," he said after meeting German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Berlin.

Storm Shadow cruise missiles are among the weapons that Britain is supplying to Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, however, refuses to provide the lober-range Taurus cruise missiles by the German Armed Forces because he fears that Germany could become involved in the war.

Cameron firmly opposed the theory that the delivery of new weapons systems could lead to a widening of the war. "At every stage it has been said, if you give anti tank weapons to Ukraine, that is escalation. No it wasn't. If you give tanks to Ukraine, that is escalation. No it wasn't. If you give long range artillery or long range fires to Ukraine, that's escalation. No it isn't," Cameron said.

"If what you are doing is helping a country defend itself from illegal and completely unjustified aggression then there should be nothing to stop you helping that country to recover its territory," Cameron continued.

"As long as we are not in a situation, where a nato soldier is killing a russian soldier, we are not causing escalation. we are allowing Ukraine to defend itself."
With calls for the Church of England to increase its reparations fund for its historical links to slavery from 100 million to 1 billion, NHS Lothian Board agreeing to take action after a study revealed the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh has similar connections, and pressure on King Charles III to apologise for the British monarchys role in the Atlantic slave trade, one could be forgiven for thinking that we are drowning in a sea of confected guilt.

Only today, Rowan Williams said Britain should learn from the Bibles honesty about historical issues like slavery, with the former Archbishop of Canterbury saying violently self-justifying national narratives prevent people across the world from facing up to the less pleasant aspects of their countries histories.

Of course, I would not be in the business of whitewashing British participation in slave-trading activities. Merchants from these islands played a significant part in transatlantic slave trade between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. The history of the royal family includes the likes of William IV  who, before becoming King of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover in the summer of 1830, was a strong supporter of the pro-slavery lobby. The origins of the Church of Englands 10 billion endowment fund were partly traced to the Queen Annes Bounty. A financial scheme established in 1704 designed to augment the incomes of relatively deprived members of the clergy, it had invested considerable amounts in the South Sea Company  which supplied African slaves to the Spanish Americas.

There is no doubt that there are British institutions  including the monarchy and the Church of England  which benefited from slave-related endeavours in the colonial period. That is a part of our national history. What is also part of it is Britains unquestionably integral role in suppressing the international slave-trading system  even resorting to military campaigns to do so, along with diplomatic and humanitarian pressure. What is also part of it is the fact that the monarchy had influential figures such as Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh  who supported the abolition of slavery both in parliament and as president of the African Institution (formed to provide a viable refuge for freed slaves in Sierra Leone). During his presidency, he was joined by clergymen and aristocrats.

While it may be fashionable to punish Britains traditional institutions over the slavery of centuries past, it fails to appreciate the complicated nature of history. It also means that we risk overlooking present forms of slavery in need of eradication. Recent estimates of those trapped in global contemporary slavery have reached as high as 50 million people. This incorporates forced labour (state and private), abusive employment practices in sectors such as domestic work, construction and agriculture, and sexual exploitation fuelled by the trafficking of humans. The world has millions of female victims of forced marriages  bringing with it a life of servitude. Surely it would be worth investing our time, energy, and resources in tackling these modern forms of slavery which continue to plague the world?

This ongoing debate shows that some are clearly more interested in taking aim at long-standing institutions which are a significant part of British culture and its heritage, as opposed to freeing people who remain locked in slavery and servitude. Much of the conversation on reparations is ultimately driven by a desire to impose grave financial harm on modern Britain  a place which has provided a wealth of opportunities for those who originate from all corners of the world; one which remains a generally well-respected member of the post-colonial international community (to the point that the Commonwealth now includes a number of countries which were colonised by other former European imperial powers such as France, Germany, Portugal and Belgium). Also, there is a conversation to be had over whether demands for slave-connected reparations are designed to deflect attention away from internal political and governance failures within some independent, sovereign, post-colonial nation-states.

It is right that we take the subject of slavery seriously in the UK  but at the heart of it needs to be a central focus on how we can continue having an integral role in fighting it in its contemporary international forms.

Dr Rakib Ehsan is the author of Beyond Grievance

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Getty Images

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

Legislation banning social media use for children under 14 and allowing access only with parental approval for those aged 14 and 15 was headed for Gov. Ron DeSantis desk Wednesday following final passage by the Florida House.

The Senate passed the measure earlier in the week. The bill (HB 3) is more lenient than an earlier version, which would have cut off access at age 16, with parental consent or not. However, DeSantis vetoed that version but reached agreement with House and Senate leaders on the new language.

The final 109-4 vote on House Speaker Paul Renners top priority for the annual legislative session came two days before its scheduled adjournment on Friday.

This is something that will, I believe, save the current generation and generations to come if were successful, Renner said following the vote.

Republican State Rep. Tyler Sirois, representing part of Brevard County. Credit: Florida House

Bill sponsor Tyler Sirois, a Republican from Brevard County, gave an emotional closing speech, accusing social media platforms of knowingly using algorithms and other tools to hook kids and subject them to dangerous material, including challenges to engage in dangerous behaviors.

Addictive design features manipulate the way our children think, how they learn, how they form relationships. These companies know it and they have done nothing to correct it. And we see the results of their inaction in increasing rates of mental health conditions like anorexia, increased rates of hospital admissions for self-harm, Sirois said.

The platforms are less a town square than a dark alley, he continued. A town square is not built on a foundation of deception and manipulation.

Bad people

Critics worried the bill doesnt give parents enough control over their childrens access to social media. Orange County Democrat Anna Eskamani argued it would open the state to constitutional litigation.

Whether you ban a platform or not, bad people are still going to find a way to impact our kids, Eskamani said.

House Democrat Michele Rayner debates on the House Floor on Marcg 6, 2024, Source: Screenshot/Florida Channel

Bill co-sponsor Michele Rayner, a Democrat representing parts of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, rejected suggestions the measure violates the First Amendment or Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, interfering with business relationships.

I would not be putting my name on something that I feel was unconstitutional, that would not be able to meet constitutional muster, said Rayner, who is an attorney.

It is narrowly tailored, it is, I believe this is the least restrictive means, and I think when you identify social media for children as a vice, that is how you get over the hump of it actually going against the Commerce Clause, she continued.

And I challenge yall to show me a page number and a line where this actually restricts content. If it doesnt, then I will fall on my sword and say Im wrong, Rayner concluded.

The revised bill drops language requiring platforms to verify teenagers ages in favor of authorizing prosecution by the attorney generals office or civil lawsuits if they fail to take reasonable steps do so.

It exempts platforms that dont subject users to engagement features calculated to keep them online, including algorithms and like buttons. Supporters argued those features result in a form of addiction.

Harmful to minors

Other provisions require platforms that allow people access to material harmful to minors, defined as appealing to prurient interest as established by contemporary community standards, to apply a reasonable age verification method conducted by a nongovernmental, independent, third-party not affiliated with the commercial entity to ensure they are at least 18 years old.

Covered material would include patently offensive sexual material that when taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors. It contains penalties equivalent to those in the social media bill.

The bill says platforms have to terminate accounts for children under 14 or allow them or their parents or guardians to request cancellation. They have to delete any personal information about the users. They couldnt launch new accounts for 14- and 15-year-olds without parental permission.

Knowing or reckless failure to obey would subject a platform to action by the Florida Department of Legal Affairs, punishable by up to $50,000 in civil penalties. They also could be subject to civil lawsuit, with potential damages set at $10,000.

Veto urged

ACLU of Florida Kara Gross legislative director issued a written statement urging DeSantis to veto the bill.

The internet, including social media platforms, contains vast amounts of constitutionally protected speech for both adults and minors. Blanket bans infringe upon our constitutional rights, Gross said.

The age-verification requirements in HB 3 place barriers between users, whether theyre adults or minors, and their constitutional right to speak online. Age verification requirements blatantly chill the speech and threaten the privacy of adults by requiring them to surrender their anonymity to engage in constitutionally protected speech, she continued.

The Constitution is clear. Lawmakers cannot control what ideas and information parents can allow their families to access. This is government overreach.

The last thing that our state needs is more censorship. It is both unconstitutional and unnecessary. With the rising costs of living in the state, families are facing real hardships. Yet Florida lawmakers continue to fail to address the issues that are impacting the le ability to live and thrive in this state. Instead, they have sought to advance government censorship to online platforms.

This story has been updated to include comments from the ACLU of Florida.

The post Broad social media restrictions for teens and younger kids are headed to Gov. DeSantis desk appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
The Brockton School Committee has approved a stricter cellphone policy at the high school, where students and teachers say violence is now a daily occurrence.

Very unsafe: Teachers, students demand change at Brockton High School amid rash of violence

Under the new rules, students will have to place their phones, earbuds, and headphones in individual pouches that will be locked so they cannot access the devices during the school day. Additional devices also prohibited under this policy include gaming and other streaming devices.

Each student will be assigned a pouch and will be responsible for bringing it to school each day. Before the start of school, students will have to turn their phone off and place their devices inside the pouch and secure it in front of school staff. The students will keep the pouch with them throughout the day and can unlock it before they leave for the day, said Jordan Mayblum, a spokesperson for the Brockton Public Schools.

The policy was approved unanimously Tuesday and will be implemented in the coming months as the district is in the process of acquiring the pouches that will be used, Mayblum said.

This comes after a recent push from four school committee members to bring in the National Guard to help with issues like fights, disruptions, students leaving school without permission, trespassers at the school, and teachers calling out.On Monday, a staff member was injured in a fight between students.

Brockton High School is the largest public school in Massachusetts, with over 3,000 students enrolled.

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
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Azerbaijan's Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, together with the Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO), conducted environmental monitoring in the Bay of Baku, Trend reports via ASCO.

"Guided by President Ilham Aliyev's announcement of 2024 as the Year of Solidarity for a Green World and the fact that the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) will be held in Baku, the Caspian Sea Integrated Environmental Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Ecology, with the help of ASCO's Orion 17 ship, conducted environmental monitoring in the bay," ASCO noted.

The statement clarifies that during the monitoring, bottom sediment samples were collected from specific depths of the sea in Baku Bay (the research area extended from the Baku Marriott Hotel to the State Flag Square).

"Based on the results of the samples taken, appropriate measures will be taken to improve the ecological condition of the bay," the statement from ASCO also reads.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
NEW YORK  A high-profile ex-con-turned-anti-violence activist who recently guested on Joe Rogans hit podcast was charged with murder Thursday after he was caught with a headless armless torso in a Bronx apartment.

On Thursday Sheldon Johnson Jr., 48, was charged with murder, manslaughter and weapon possession for allegedly killing 44-year-old Colin Small.

Im innocent! Johnson Jr. yelled to reporters as he was led from the 44th Precinct stationhouse Thursday afternoon to appear in Bronx Criminal Court.

Police took Johnson Jr. in for questioning after officers responding to reports of gunfire found the suspect with Smalls mutilated corpse inside a sixth-floor unit at a Summit Ave. apartment building near W. 162nd St. at around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, cops said.

Johnson Jr. was hired to work as a client advocate for Queens Defender after spending 25 years in an upstate prison for a 1997 robbery he committed in his early 20s. He was released from prison in May, records show.

On a Feb. 1 episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, lawyer Josh Dubin called Johnson Jr. a miracle and told the shows host that he had been unfairly sentenced for the robbery that left his victim with only two stitches.

(He) was basically told by an African American judge that you dont matter, you dont count and Im going to throw your life away, said Dubin, who appeared on Rogans podcast as a guest alongside Johnson Jr.

Residents of the Summit Avenue apartment building heard two shots coming from a sixth-floor apartment around 1 a.m. Tuesday, followed by a man shouting, Please dont, I have a family, and then another two shots, cops said.

Law enforcement wasnt notified of the gunshots until the buildings super  who complained that a neighbor waited hours before informing him of the disturbance  called in a wellness check for Small around 11:30 a.m., police said.

Responding officers were directed to a sixth-floor apartment where they were met by Johnson Jr. around 8:30 p.m., according to law enforcement.

Inside they found the torso and one foot stuffed inside a blue bin.

Smalls decapitated head was found with a bullet wound alongside his severed arms, legs, and remaining foot inside a freezer in NYCHAs Kings Towers housing development in Harlem, where Johnson Jr. lives, according to police sources.

Upon reviewing the buildings security feed, the Bronx super recovered footage of a man who appears to be Johnson Jr. entering and exiting the buildings elevator carrying garbage bags and containers, including a blue bin. He is seen wearing various outfits, including a newsboy cap and blazer, a boonie hat and beige jacket and a blond womans wig with a down puffer.

Johnsons family was the subject of an expansive 2016 Buzzfeed profile detailing a legacy of crime that began with Johnson Jr.s father, Sheldon Johnson Sr., whose corrupt influence infected the lives of both his son and grandson.

Deaf and addicted to crack cocaine and heroin, Johnson Sr. was arrested for raping his 7-year-old daughter three times and forced his son to translate for him during drug deals, according to Buzzfeed.

He blamed himself for instilling the behavior in Johnson Jr. that would leave the young man staring down a 50-year prison sentence.

Generation to generation, it all stems from me, Johnson Sr. told a Buzzfeed reporter through a sign language interpreter. I feel disappointed. I regret a lot of the decisions I made in life. It enters my mind all the time. A big, huge amount of guilt. I ruined everything.

Johnson Jr.s son, also named Sheldon Johnson, made headlines in 2008 when he attacked a 24-year-old Columbia University graduate student, Mingui Yu, near the corner of Broadway and W. 122nd St. in Morningside Heights, punching his victim repeatedly in the face.

Yu stumbled into traffic in an attempt to flee his teenage attacker but was struck and killed by a passing SUV. The younger Johnson was charged with manslaughter for Yus death and would spend 18 months in a juvenile detention boot camp.

Small was imprisoned twice for felony assaults both committed in Manhattan, including a 10-year stint in state prison for which he was paroled in Oct. 2018.

_____
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand  Brunei, a small Southeast Asian sultanate bordered by Malaysia, is significantly raising its 2024 defense budget amid concerns over how to protect its territory.

In the coming fiscal year, the government has allotted 796.3 million Brunei dollars (U.S. $594 million) for defense. This represents a 31.6% jump over last years allocation of 605.2 million Brunei dollars.

This rise in military spending heavily surpasses the 5.5% increase in overall government outlays during the fiscal 2024/2025 time period.

When the budget was discussed at the Legislative Council on March 2, the secondary defense minister, Halbi bin Mohammad Yussof, warned Brunei faces a complex and unpredictable security landscape. (The countrys sultan serves as the primary defense minister.)

The Ministry of Defence and Royal Brunei Armed Forces are actively working to improve intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance, where a new system will be used in the near future, Halbi said, without providing specifics. Attention is also focused on the ability to monitor and detect underwater threats to ensure an effective response in maintaining the territorial integrity of Brunei.

The International Trade Administration, which is part of the U.S. Commerce Department, notes opportunities for American defense contractors in Brunei, having updated this information Feb. 22.

Brunei has stated its intent to acquire new defense equipment, including surface/maritime surveillance radar, airspace surveillance platforms, maritime patrol aircraft, fixed-wing transport aircraft, medium-range air defense systems, and related assets, the organizations website reads. Military services may also be interested in non-lethal equipment, which may be procured through vendors registered with the Ministry of Defense.

Brunei considers tensions in the South China Sea, where it and several other nations dispute territorial ownership, as a major security challenge. It also identified other threats in its 2021 defense whitepaper, including regional and global instability; terrorism, extremism and transnational crime; cyber and technological threats; natural disasters; and the influence of major power dynamics in the region.

Tensions over overlapping claims, [and over] illegal fishing, and the security of sea lines of communication (SLOC) from those who seek to exploit internationally recognised laws, all have placed continued and growing demands on Brunei Darussalams security forces to secure and police its sovereign maritime borders and territory, the document noted, using the formal name of the country.

Two C295MW tactical transport aircraft entered service with Brunei on Feb. 14, 2024, with two more units still to come. (Airbus)

Brunei has already filled some maritime surveillance gaps. It received Insitu-made Integrator drones in 2022 and subsequently set up its first drone unit, No. 39 Squadron.

Furthermore, the Navy received two refurbished Fearless-class patrol vessels in 2023. Singapore donated these secondhand, 500-ton vessels.

Another important purchase in December 2022 was four Airbus C295MW tactical transport aircraft. The first two aircraft were commissioned Feb. 14, with the manufacturer Airbus saying they would strengthen the countrys air capabilities, and can be deployed on a wide range of missions, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, medical evacuations, noncombatant evacuations as well as search and rescue operations.

In addition to new equipment, Bruneis military plans to carefully husband its current assets.

The replacement, upgrading and service life extension programs for capability systems and infrastructure will be done in stages based on the level of priority, before moving on to new acquisitions in the future, Halbi said.
Fitting a bump stock to a rifle lets it fire hundreds of bullets per minute - akin to a machine gun

US Supreme Court justices grappled with the mechanics of bump stocks on Wednesday as they weighed whether to lift a ban on the gun accessory.

Fitting a bump stock to a rifle enables the weapon to fire hundreds of bullets per minute.

The Trump administration banned the devices by classifying them as machine guns after they were used in the deadliest mass shooting in US history.

Under the 1986 National Firearms Act, owning a machine gun is mostly legal.

The law prohibits the transfer or possession of machine guns made after 19 May 1986, the effective prohibition date.

However, transfer or possession of machine guns lawfully obtained before that date is legal.

A Texas resident and gun shop owner Michael Cargill has challenged the ban on bump stocks, saying the government has interpreted what qualifies as a machine gun too broadly.

The case has now reached America's highest court.

It is illegal to modify the internal components of semi-automatic rifles - which typically manage about 60 aimed shots per minute - to make them fully automatic, but gun owners can legally buy accessories to increase the rate of fire.

The bump stock harnesses a rifle's recoil to rapidly fire multiple rounds. It replaces the weapon's stock, which is held against the shoulder, and allows the gun to slide back and forward between the user's shoulder and trigger finger. That motion - or "bump"- lets the gun fire without the user having to move their trigger finger.

At Wednesday's hearing, both liberal and conservative justices seemed to struggle with some of the more technical aspects of the case - about the function and application of bump stocks, as well as the statutes that define and ban machine guns.

Speaking to Mr Cargill's lawyer, liberal justice Elena Kagan asked how a gun with a bump stock could be differentiated from a machine gun.

She said a machine gun needed continued pressure on a trigger, while a bump stock needed continuous pressure on a barrel, adding: "I can't understand how anybody could think that those two things should be treated differently."

But conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh pointed out that the two presidential administrations before Donald Trump's had found that rifles with bump stocks were not considered machine guns under the relevant federal statute. "That's reason for pause," Justice Kavanaugh said.

Another conservative justice, Amy Coney Barrett, highlighted another problem for the Biden administration, which has found itself defending the Trump-era ban: that Congress had not acted to ban bump stocks itself.

"Intuitively, I am entirely sympathetic to your argument. I mean, it seems like, yes, this is functioning like a machine gun would," she said. But she asked why Congress had not acted "to make this covered more clearly".

Wednesday's case is linked to a 2017 mass shooting, when a gunman opened fire at a concert in Las Vegas, killing 60 people and injuring hundreds. It was the deadliest shooting the country has ever experienced.

Officials determined that the attacker had attached bump stocks - which were then legal but controversial - onto 12 of his semi-automatic rifles to fire hundreds of rounds per minute, the same rate as many machine guns.

Political pressure grew to outlaw the relatively new devices, which could be obtained without the extensive background checks required for purchasing automatic weapons.

Shortly after the Las Vegas shooting, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) under President Donald Trump expanded the definition of machine gun to prohibit the production, sale, and possession of bump stocks.

In the 1986 firearms act, machine guns are defined as any "weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger".

After the ban was imposed, Texan Michael Cargill challenged the ATF's rule.

A federal appeals court reversed an earlier decision that "bump stocks qualify as machine guns under the best interpretation", saying it was too broad.

Now the conservative-majority Supreme Court will have the final word. Its ruling is expected in June.

If it sides with the Texas Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, it would invalidate the ATF's rule and any states that do not have their own laws in place restricting bump stocks would automatically see bump stocks legalised again.
Burglars, shoplifters and some violent criminals will be among prisoners released more than a month early under emergency measures to tackle the jail overcrowding crisis, The Telegraph can reveal.

Next week, Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, will announce that prisoners will be freed up to 35 days before their scheduled release date at jails that are so full they are at risk of breaching their official capacities.

It represents a major expansion of an early release scheme that was first introduced in October but has until now restricted governors to freeing prisoners only 15 days before their release date.

It is estimated that some 40,000 prisoners are eligible under the scheme, which covers offenders on fixed sentences who would normally be released automatically halfway through their jail terms.

However, it is restricted to full prisons at the discretion of governors, meaning it is likely to be hundreds, rather than thousands, who are released early.

Sex offenders, convicted terrorists, category A prisoners and all violent offenders serving four or more years are excluded.

However, violent offenders serving under four years are eligible, as are burglars, thieves, shoplifters and fraudsters serving any length of fixed-term sentence.

It follows internal warnings that prison places could run out within weeks as courts ramp up cases and prosecutions are set to increase following the uplift of 20,000 police officers. Last month, there were just over 1,000 spaces available out of 89,041.

In an interview with The Telegraph last month, Mr Chalk said his first, second and third priorities were to increase prison capacity.

He pledged to do whatever it takes to keep the British people safe and ensure that there were sufficient prison places to accommodate criminals jailed by the courts.

Ministers are drawing up measures to target the 10,000-plus foreign prisoners to fast-track their deportation. We must take further steps to drive down the number of foreign criminals who increasingly are clogging up the system, said a source close to Mr Chalk

Its completely unreasonable for the British taxpayer to continue to fork out tens of thousands of pounds each year to incarcerate prisoners who should be on a plane home at the first opportunity. Deporting them is a win-win in that we save British taxpayers money while keeping our streets safer  always our top priority.



However, a prison service insider warned: These are just sticking plasters on an escalating prison population crisis, which is not going to go away. These changes, along with previous ones, just give the Government and the prison service breathing space for another few weeks.

Prisons cannot continue being in perpetual crisis, as a system permanently running hot does not rehabilitate and protect the public from crime. There needs to be fundamental change on the use of custody  not least because, as a country, our economy cannot afford it.

Documents leaked last week showed that the early release scheme has been activated for an undefined period because of the overcrowding crisis.

The scheme, known as End of Custody Supervised Licence, was last used 17 years ago when the then-Labour government faced a similar crisis and was forced to release thousands of prisoners early.

Prison governors have the authority to veto the release of an offender if they believe that person could pose a risk to the public. The scheme is currently restricted to male prisons, because there is not the same overcrowding crisis in womens jails.

The early release scheme is the main safety valve for overcrowding, although a scheme due to start next month, revealed this week by The Telegraph, could be just as important.

This will allow up to 4,000 offenders recalled to prison for breaching their licence to be released early.

Mr Chalk is to change the law so that criminals sentenced to less than 12 months who are released but then sent back to prison for breaking their conditions will receive fixed-term recalls, meaning they spend just 14 days back in jail before being let out again.

At present they can be given standard recalls, which means they remain in prison until deemed safe to release by the Parole Board. This often means they stay in custody until the end of their licence period.

Legislation currently before Parliament will go further by creating a presumption that offenders facing sentences of less than a year should receive suspended sentences rather than being jailed. However, this is unlikely to take effect until the summer.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: This Government is categorical that dangerous offenders should stay behind bars, which is why new laws will keep rapists locked up for every day of their prison sentence and ensure life means life for the most horrific murderers.

While we are carrying out the biggest prison expansion programme since the Victoria era and ramping up removals of foreign national offenders, the prison estate remains under pressure following the impact of the pandemic and barristers industrial action.

We will always ensure we have the prison places we need to keep criminals locked up and the public safe.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Four members of an organized burglary crew responsible for thefts across Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley were arrested late last month, authorities announced this week.

Detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department tracked the four males, including one who is a juvenile, and moved to arrest the crew on Feb. 29 as they were preparing to commit additional burglaries, authorities said in a department news release.

At around 1:30 p.m. in Pacific Palisades, authorities arrested three of the suspects while they were still inside their vehicle near the intersection of Castellammare Drive and Sunset Boulevard.

Police warn of thieves using wifi-jamming tech to disarm cameras, alarms

The 17-year-old suspect attempted to flee on foot, discarding his cellphone and changing his clothes as police chased him. He was later detained.

Inside the vehicle, detectives found burglary tools and other potential evidence related to the theft crews illegal activities.

The suspects were identified as:

20-year-old Patricio Lian, charged with felony burglary and felony parole violation

20-year-old Carlos Antonio Gonzalez-Ravest, charged with outstanding felony warrants for burglary and grand theft, as well a conspiracy to commit burglary charge

19-year-old Joaquin Elias Munoz, charged conspiracy to commit burglary

17-year-old juvenile, charged with conspiracy to commit burglary

Anyone with information about this investigation is urged to contact LAPDs Northeast Division detectives at 323-561-3220.

Anonymous tips can be made through L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or online at L.A. Crime Stoppers.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
A Utah school bus driver was detained Saturday after being accused of setting a bus on fire on two occasions, the first involving dozens of kids on board, the U.S. Attorneys Office in Utah announced.

Former Granite School District bus driver Michael Austin Ford, 58, of West Valley City, Utah, was indicted last month and is facing two counts of arson of a vehicle of an organization receiving federal funds. Prosecutors alleged thatvideo evidence shows him using an ignition device to start a fire with 42 kids on board in February 2022.

According to the announcement, the video also shows Ford continuing to drive the bus into traffic despite smoke billowing past his face towards the back of the bus where children were seated.

A video released by the U.S. Attorney's Office allegedly shows driver Michael Austin Ford inside a school bus that prosecutors say he set on fire on April 7, 2023. U.S Attorney's Office for the District of Utah

According to the prosecutors motion for detention, the video shows Ford stopping the bus when children are seen and heard on video coughing, covering their faces, and complaining about smoke.

In a statement to HuffPost on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Granite School District said students were able to evacuate through the regular doors and no one was injured.

The spokesperson added that, although the school district had its suspicions about the incident, there was no evidence that Ford was involved at the time.

The District worked with law enforcement and installed additional camera systems on his bus and took other measures based on those suspicions, the statement said.

Ford allegedly set another fire last April, which was also caught on video footage that was cited in a motion for detention. A snapshot from the footage showed no passengers on board the bus then.

The entire fire, and the Defendants casual and long-delayed efforts to extinguish that fire, are captured on video, the motion read.

According to the motion, there is also video evidence of Ford attempting to tamper with the video surveillance system on the bus by covering up the camera above his seat.

Ford was arrested days after the April fire by Granite School Police and was questioned, but he was released, the U.S. Attorneys Office said in the announcement. The spokesperson for Granite School District said Ford was immediately placed on leave during the investigation and was terminated in June 2023.

According to the motion, Ford acknowledged to investigators that he was involved in three previous fires on buses he was driving in 2017, 2016 and in 2001 or 2002.

In October, his home and personal car were severely damaged by fire, according to prosecutors, who noted it was second time a fire was reported at Fords home.

According to online court records reviewed by HuffPost, Ford has entered a plea of not guilty and is set to appear in court on March 18. A public defender listed as his representative did not immediately respond to HuffPosts request for a statement.

Related...
(KRON)  A proposed semi-utopian community backed by tech billionaires in Solano County released a new rendering Wednesday. The rendering, described as an aerial photo, provides visual details of what the proposed community would look like from above.

According to a news release from California Forever, the group behind the project, the new rendering illustrates a compact, walkable community surrounded by agriculture, open space, and solar and wind farms.

Rendering: California Forever

The rendering is also intended to illustrate the distance between California Forever and nearby Travis Air Force Base. According to the news release, the new community will be 4.5 miles from the base.

Thats further away than Fairfield, which is less than a mile from Travis and Vacaville which is about two miles away.

The group also announced its first run of cable advertising on Wednesday, with an apparent eye on swaying area voters at the ballot box in November.

Gilroy home likely rigged as explosive booby trap, investigators say

A knowledgeable voter is the best kind of voter, and we find that the more Solano County residents learn about our project, the more they like it, said Matt Rodriguez, campaign manager for a ballot measure related to the project. Were excited to be engaging with members of the Solano County community and this is another opportunity for us to continue sharing information about how we plan to bring middle class homes and good paying jobs to Solano County.

So far, the project has received a mixed reception from residents in the area. A series of town hall meetings were held in December. Critics, including a congressman and environmental groups that include the Sierra Club, have expressed skepticism regarding the projects aims.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
(KTLA)  In October 1997, Rebecca Anderson was riding along with her mother in a white van when tragedy struck in California.

The pair entered an intersection in North Hills and were broadsided by a driver who was fleeing the police.

The van carrying Anderson and her mother, Linda Wageman, burst into flames as a result of the crash. Anderson survived, but her mom died that night.

Anderson woke up in the hospital and assumed first responders had saved her life. She carried on thinking that way until last month when she received a letter in the mail from a man named Daniel Mena.

Massive tree comes down on Southern California driver

Mena, who witnessed the accident nearly 27 years ago, explained that he was the one who pulled Anderson from the burning vehicle.

Anderson and Mena kept in contact and decided to meet face-to-face on Wednesday, the first time he had seen her since that fateful night.

I went over there and saw [Anderson], dragged her into the liquor store, Mena said to Nexstars KTLA as he fought back tears. I tried getting the mother out, but it got too hot. I just couldnt do it.

Mena said he has often wondered about what happened to Anderson since that night. He found her address and decided to reach out by mail. Mena explained who he was, and the pair decided to meet.

I constantly thought what happened to her afterwards? Mena said. Just wondering if she lived a fruitful life?

Anderson was nervous at the prospect of meeting the man who pulled her from the burning vehicle.

He saved my life that day, Anderson said. I was unconscious so I dont remember too much of what happened.

Jury convicts movie armorer of involuntary manslaughter in fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin

Anderson and Mena were both visibly emotional at the reunion. The pair kept in contact through phone calls and text messages leading up to the meeting on Monday. Anderson says the pair felt compelled to see each other face-to-face.

Just to meet each other, she said. And maybe find some sort of closure.

Anderson and Mena said they plan to meet again in the future.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
This photo provided by Pavlotski Productions Inc., shows Victor Dotsenko, his wife Rimma, and their three children, David, Adam and Emma. The Canadian family of five were killed in a small plane crash in Nashville on Monday, March 4, 2024. (Pavlotski Productions Inc. via AP)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Police in Tennessee identified those killed in a fiery small plane crash next to Interstate 40 on Monday as a family of five from Canada.

The pilot was Victor Dotsenko, 43, and the passengers were his wife Rimma, 39, and their three children, David, 12, Adam, 10, and Emma, 7, Metro Nashville Police said in a news release.

I was shocked. I couldn't believe it at first, when I got the call, Rabbi Chaim Hildeshaim said in a telephone interview. The family were members of the Chabad Russian Center of Thornhill Woods, he said. He officiated at the couple's wedding and counted them as friends.

Victor Dotsenko was a very, very generous person, a very, very kind person, he said, adding that his wife was also very kind. They had a beautiful relationship between them. They were great parents as well.

Victor Dotsenko installed windows and when the synagogue needed new ones, he donated the entire installation, Hildeshaim said. The family often came to the rabbi's home and Victor Dotsenko would come by the synagogue and pray together with him.

I would ask people to do a good deed in their memory, an act of kindness ... in memory of this family, these beautiful five precious souls, he said.

The Mayor of King Township, where the family lived, released a statement on Thursday calling the deaths a heartbreaking and devastating loss for our tight-knit community.

While we await further details from the ongoing investigation, our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of the victims during this incredibly difficult time, the statement from Mayor Steve Pellegrini reads. We also extend our gratitude to the first responders and officials involved in the response and investigation.

The UMCA Rich Tree Academy posted a statement saying the three children were part of the UMCA family for many years.

These beautiful children lit up our hallways every day. They all had such a positive energy and attitude towards their friends and teachers, the statement reads. Words cannot express the profound sadness and grief we are experiencing as we mourn the loss of the Dotsenko family.

Their flight originated in Ontario and made stops in Pennsylvania and Kentucky, likely to refuel, before attempting to land in Nashville at dusk on Monday evening, NTSB investigator Aaron McCarter said at a Tuesday news conference.

Victor Dotsenko radioed to air traffic controllers at around 7:40 p.m. saying his engine has shut down. He said he overflew John C. Tune airport, just west of downtown, at 2500 feet (762 meters) and circled back around, according to a recording of the transmissions.

Im going to be landing  I dont know where! Dotsenko said.

The air traffic controller told him they were clearing a runway and urged him to try to glide in.

But he said they had already descended to 1600 feet (488 meters), and in his last transmission he said, Im too far away. Im not going to make it.

Many witnesses called 911, some of them still in shock and disbelief at what they had seen, according to audio of the calls obtained through a public records request. Some who didnt see the plane fall assumed a car or truck had caught fire.

Oh my God. It almost hit my car! one caller said.

Another said the explosion was so big that she had to swerve around it on the interstate with her three kids in her car.

We were driving, and I saw it kind of come across out of the corner of my eye, and I saw that it was tilted,

McCarter said they packed up the wreckage for transport to a facility in Springfield, Tennessee, where the plane will be reassembled. The NTSB will have a preliminary report out in about 10 days. The full report will take about nine months.

___

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the last name of Rabbi Chaim Hildeshaim.

___

Associated Press writer Jonathan Mattise contributed to this report.
Edward McDaid says the cancer centre was a "beacon of light" for him

A County Donegal man who had lifesaving treatment at the North West Cancer Centre (NWCC) has said "borders don't matter" when fighting cancer.

Edward McDaid, 67, who lives in Ramelton in County Donegal, had radiotherapy at Altnagelvin after being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2020.

Tackling cancer on an-Ireland basis "makes sense", he told the BBC.

And a leading academic has called on both governments to "work harder together".

Prof Mark Lawler, associate pro vice-chancellor at Queen's University, said sharing knowledge and funding could mean governments would fight cancer "which is the common enemy" instead of "competing against each other".

He said governments should "work closer and harder together to conquer cancer and deliver better for patients across the island".

Professor Mark Lawler says governments should "work closer and harder together to conquer cancer and deliver better for patients across the island"

Aside from the congenital heart disease network and the North West Cancer Centre in Derry, academics and clinicians say there is little cross border activity in joint cancer policy or research.

While there is evidence of patients travelling from the ROI to NI there is little sign of traffic going the opposite direction.

Now that the Northern Ireland Assembly is functioning again, attentions are turning to what opportunities are out there to improve better health outcomes on a shared basis.

Mr McDaid said that when he fell ill, he wanted to start treatment as soon as possible and as close to family as possible.

"The border didn't matter to me one iota," he told BBC News NI.

"You want to be near family - that's what it does to you.

"We can't see this disease. It's something which just seems to creep up on you and all of a sudden it is there."

Cross-border treatment funding

The North West Cancer Centre (NWCC) at Altnagelvin Hospital in Londonderry treats more than 1,000 cancer patients annually - about 300 of whom are from the Republic of Ireland.

The facility is funded in part by the Irish government.

Since it opened in 2016 about one in five cancer patients from County Donegal have been able to receive treatment closer to home, rather than in Galway or Dublin.

On a site visit, Neasa Hourigan, a member of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) health committee, said investment in the NWCC is "money well spent" for the Irish government, and the cross-border clinical care model could be reproduced elsewhere on the island.

"It's supporting people's well-being, it's supporting their health - so it's money very well spent," she said.

"If the services are there, and they aren't far away, we should all be pooling our resources and working as hard as possible to make it make sense for patients."

But there is no overarching framework for cross-border care.

Northern Ireland's cancer statistics are the worst in the UK and parts of Europe, and many experts feel more cross-border interventions would improve standards.

Good Friday Agreement

As well as its impact on peace and reconciliation, the Good Friday Agreement attempted to tackle cancer on all island basis.

In 1999, after the agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the respective departments of health in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the US National Cancer Institute (NCI).

That triggered an agreement designed to develop links between cancer researchers, physicians and other health healthcare professionals across Ireland and the United States.

It is called the Ireland-Northern Ireland-National Cancer Institute Cancer Consortium.

While it has been delivering high quality research involving students from both sides of the border who are based in Washington, many believe there remains an untapped pool of knowledge and opportunity - and room for both governments to develop cancer policy on an joint all-Ireland basis.

Prof Lawler is the link in the tripartite agreement and operates between Belfast, Dublin and Washington.

"The Good Friday Agreement recognised cancer as something that the three countries had in common," he said.

"At the time it was clear cancer in Ireland was a big challenge. In Northern Ireland, pretty much every cancer had the worst outcomes in the UK and similarly it was the same in the Republic. Tackling it together felt as though it could be the health dividends of peace."

All-Ireland Cancer Network

Separately, the All-Ireland Cancer Network (AllCaN) was established to improve survival rates on less survivable cancers.

It aims to tackle why the long-term survival rates for certain types of cancers differ depending on which side of the border a patient lives.

It started by considering oesophageal cancer.

The five-year survival rate for people with this type of cancer in the Republic of Ireland is 24%, while in Northern Ireland it is 19%.

AllCaN also gathers samples and data from patients on both sides of the border with Barrett's Oesophagus, a pre-cancerous condition.

Cross-border researchers use the data to identify potential inequalities across demographics, healthcare systems and impact outcomes for patients.

Orla Dolan says "research isn't a luxury"

Orla Dolan, chief executive of Breakthrough Cancer Research, which runs the network, said experts across the island of Ireland "can learn from each other, so people on both sides can benefit".

She states it's "not good enough" that some cancers have survival rates between 80-90% while others "haven't seen any improvement in 50 years".

"Research isn't a luxury, it's a necessity that we must do if we are going to increase the amount of people who can survive cancer."

'Beacon of light'

In February, after nearly three years of treatment, Mr McDaid officially became a cancer survivor.

He said being treated in Altnagelvin was a one-hour door to hospital door "lifeline".

"Being an hour away allowed me to have some sort of life while continuing with treatment. I can't thank everyone at the cancer centre enough. It was a beacon of light in a very dark time for me."

Cross-border cancer care in numbers

Collaborative cancer research on the island of Ireland has doubled since 1999

More than 35,000 cancer patients have been enrolled in clinical trials since 1999

More than 500 healthcare professionals and scientists from Ireland were trained at the US National Cancer Institute

Outcomes for breast cancer in Northern Ireland went from being the worst in the UK to the best in the UK in less than two decades

Source QUB, UK government
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has congratulated Azerbaijani women on the occasion of March 8, International Women's Day, Azernews reports.

Dear ladies!

I sincerely congratulate you on International Women's Day and wish you good health, happiness and continued success in your future endeavors.

The people of Azerbaijan have always held deep respect for women and have esteemed the rights of mothers highly. The primary principles of the states womens policy have evolved from this centuries-old foundation.

The preservation of our rich spiritual and moral values, and their rightful survival to this day, is closely associated with our mothers. Azerbaijani women, distinguished by their beauty, elegance, and nobility, have also written bright pages in our history by demonstrating exceptional skill and courage. They have always been a true moral support for our society in moments of fateful ordeals, and proved this again with self-sacrifice during the 44-day Patriotic War.

Adhering to the traditional family values of our people, modern Azerbaijani women possess a strong sense of modernity and an innovative nature. As creative successors to their enlightened predecessors who diligently worked on the path of cultural progress, their current public reputation and important achievements in the fields of healthcare, education, culture and science are among key characteristic features of the comprehensive development of our country.

We are currently living through a glorious and proud phase of our independence. I believe that Azerbaijani women will continue to attach special importance to the upbringing of the young generation in the spirit of loyalty to the motherland and statehood, which is the embodiment of our national ideals, and closely participate in construction work in the interests of our bright future with their public and cultural activities that bring harmony to the development of society, the address reads.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Electric recharging stations for cars will be installed in Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

Based on information, this is reflected in the decree signed by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on encouraging the use of vehicles with electric engines.

The decree will empower the Cabinet of Ministers to pick the locations for electric recharging outlets within a month based on proposals from the Ministries of Digital Development and Transport, Energy, Azerenerji Open JSC, and Azerishig OJSC.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
(Reuters) -A top Ukrainian official said he could not exclude the possibility that a Russian missile had deliberately targeted the delegations of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the visiting prime minister of Greece when they visited Odesa port.

The missile slammed into port infrastructure in the Black Sea city on Wednesday just a few hundred metres away from Zelenskiy and Greece's Kyriakos Mitsotakis as they inspected the port's grain export facilities.

Russia denied the suggestion.

"It really was less than 500 meters from us... You cannot exclude that it was directed at the delegation of my president or the delegation of the foreign guest," Ihor Zhovkva, a top diplomatic adviser, told CNN Live in an interview.

Both Zelenskiy and Mitsotakis appeared at a press conference on Wednesday to say they had witnessed the strike. Five people were killed in the attack, the Ukrainian military said.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said Russia had not targeted the delegations and that it was obvious "to everyone" that there had been no planned strike on the motorcade.

Russia's defence ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that its troops had attacked a hangar housing Ukrainian naval drones in the port, adding that "the goal has been achieved".

Ukraine's Black Sea port infrastructure has been a constant target for Russian attacks, which have been stepped up since last July when Moscow quit a U.N.-brokered deal that allowed safe passage of Ukrainian grain and Kyiv established its own export corridor.

Zhovkva said Wednesday's missile had been launched from Crimea, the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.

"It took the missile less than three minutes to reach the target, the site of the port of Odesa," Zhovkva said.

If Ukraine had sufficient air defences, he added, "this ballistic missile could have been intercepted".

(Reporting by Yuliia DysaEditing by Bernadette Baum and Gareth Jones)
The Stellantis logo is seen on a banner outside the Opel plant in Eisenach. Martin Schutt/ZB/dpa

Multinational carmaker Stellantis is planning a multibillion-dollar investment in South America.

The firm, which has its corporate headquarters in the Netherlands, announced on Thursday that it would invest 5.6 billion ($6.1 billion) in the region from 2025 to 2030.

"The planned investments will support the launch of more than 40 new products during the period as well as the development of new Bio-Hybrid technologies, innovative decarbonization technologies across the automotive supply chain, and strategic new business opportunities," the company said.

Bio-hybrid technologies combine electrification with hybrid engines fuelled by bio-fuels like ethanol at three different levels.

The Stellantis facility in the Brazilian town of Betim serves as the company's global centre of expertise for bio-hybrid technology.

The bio-hybrid technology is supported by three hybrid powertrains that will be gradually produced and introduced to the market.

These new technologies include bio-hybrid, bio-hybrid electrified dual-clutch transmissions, bio-hybrid plug-in, and BEV, which is 100% electric. The new hybrid technologies are expected to be available by the end of 2024.

Stellantis holds significant market shares in Brazil (31.4%) and South America (23.5%).

As part of its Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, the company is investing over 50 billion globally in electrification over the next decade to achieve carbon neutrality by 2038.
Six froglets of one of the world's most threatened frog species have been born at London Zoo.

The arrival of the new Mountain chicken frogs has been heralded by conservationists, who estimate that just 20 frogs remain in the wild.

Originally from the Caribbean, jumbo frogs are a local delicacy supposedly tasting like chicken and can reach up to 1kg (2lbs) - hence the name.

An invasive fungus and continued habitat loss has ravaged the species.

Zookeepers had suspicions offspring were on their way after the resident male Mountain chicken started digging a 'bowl' in the newly-built enclosure - in an attempt to entice his female counterpart.

His efforts paid dividends and shortly after a foam nest was created, where the tadpoles developed.

During this period, the female frog feeds the tadpoles by producing infertile eggs until the tadpoles metamorphose.

Mother mountain chicken frogs may feed their tadpoles 10-13 times during their development, meaning she may produce an estimated 10,000-25,000 eggs.

Soon after the zoo welcomed six froglets to their colony.

Two females had been living together before a male was introduced in November and the births were the first Mountain chickens to be born at the zoo for five years.

The zoo's curator of reptiles and amphibians, Ben Tapley said the zoo was "delighted" at how quickly the mountain chicken frogs had settled into their new enclosure.

The mother was seen "puffing up and using her body to defend her young from anything that gets a little too close" he added.

The species is the largest native frog in the Caribbean and was once widespread across seven islands.

Today, they can only be found in the wild on Dominica, where a recent survey by the Mountain Chicken Recovery Programme found just 23 individuals - two of which were found dead, flattened by vehicles.

Alongside habitat loss and predation by invasive species, it was the arrival of an invasive fungus, amphibian chytridiomycosis in 2002 which decimated numbers and left the frogs on the verge of extinction .

The new frogs will be crucial to the survival of the species

In 2009, a collaboration involving London Zoo saw a handful of the remaining Mountain chicken frogs airlifted from the island in a last-ditch attempt to save them.

Dedicated facilities were built and a coordinated breeding programme was established for the species.

Now, visitors to London Zoo can see the Mountain chickens for the first time as part of the new Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians experience.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk
A carjacker who kidnapped two women in North Texas while trying to avoid law enforcement has been sentenced to 30 years in prison , federal prosecutors said in a news release.

Anthony Scott Gordon, 36, pleaded guilty in September 2022 to kidnapping, carjacking and brandishing a firearm while committing a violent crime and was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay, according to the news release from the United States Attorneys Office, Northern District of Texas.

Gordon admitted in plea papers that on Aug. 6, 2020, he walked up to a Ford F150 parked off Interstate 20 in Fort Worth with a gun in each hand, according to the news release. He ran up to the pickup truck and shot one gun toward the street while aiming the other at the driver. The driver feared for her life and got out of the vehicle. Gordon sped away.

Four days later, Gordon went into a Richardson store through the back door and aimed a gun at an employee, according to the news release. He demanded the employees vehicle that was parked outside and the employee handed over the keys. He told her he would shoot her if she tried to call police and got in the vehicle and left.

Authorities said that in late August, Gordon kidnapped another woman while trying keeping his identity from being shared with police. He hit her in the head with a gun and crushed her iPhone in his bare hand, according to the news release. The next day, he dragged her down a flight of stairs and forced her into his car at gunpoint. The woman screamed and tried to fight back when he pushed her into the backseat and started driving around Dallas.

Gordon said while the woman was in the car that he needed to get out of the state, according to the news release. She convinced him to park at a motel, where she managed to escape. After she escaped, Gordon sent a text to her threatening to hurt her.

I swear to god ima hurt you bad ... I promised Ill make it long and painful, Gordon said in the text, according to the DOJ.

In early September, Gordon kidnapped yet another victim in an attempted to evade arrest, authorities said.

Gordon found his second victim when he went to Fort Worth for a drug deal and spotted police and fled, according to the news release. He raced into a womans house through the back door, grabbed her by the neck and aimed a gun at her before leading her at gunpoint toward the front of the house. The woman was able to get free and escape through the front door, where police met her.

Police searched Gordons vehicle and found a .40-caliber handgun and a stolen 12-gauge shotgun.
Jenny Willis, center, looks on during the Republican caucus at Millcreek Junior High School Tuesday, March 5, 2024, in Bountiful, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  For the second time in a decade, a decision by the Utah Republican Party to select its presidential nominee through community caucus meetings instead of a traditional primary left many voters confused and frustrated as the nation waited until just after midnight for the state to unveil its results.

Utah's Republican leaders are facing stiff blowback Wednesday after long lines and technology issues at some of the 2,300 neighborhood caucus locations made Utah the last of the 15 Super Tuesday states to release voting numbers.

The Associated Press ultimately called the state for former President Donald Trump at 1:39 a.m.  more than an hour after Alaska, which is two time zones behind Utah and was the only other state that held caucuses.

Neighbors gathered at schools and community centers to debate the candidates as a group before casting votes in a presidential preference poll that helped distribute Utah's 40 delegates between Trump and GOP rival Nikki Haley, who suspended her campaign Wednesday after being soundly defeated across the country on Super Tuesday.

But the process meant to restore a sense of community in politics descended into chaos at several caucus locations, where voters such as Richard Preiss say they struggled to confirm their registration and were not given an opportunity to debate.

Lines stretched out the door of Evergreen Middle School in Salt Lake City on the frigid March evening as the scanners for reading registration QR codes stopped working and volunteers ultimately let anyone in the door, the University of Utah English professor said.

Somebody essentially just looked at my phone and saw that I had a QR code and gave me a red wristband, which basically meant that I was cleared to participate, Preiss said. The problem is that that QR code could have been for a movie ticket or a Jazz game or something, so there wasnt a lot of election security.

Preiss, who called the caucus a failure, said he registered as a Republican despite his liberal leanings to have more of a say in his GOP-led state. He and thousands of voters wandered aimlessly around the school in search of the right room. Volunteers seemed ill prepared to offer guidance, he said.

Utah Republican Party Chairman Robert Axson downplayed the problems as ill-timed curveballs and told reporters just after midnight that he thought the caucus was successful," even as the state was only just beginning to release results.

He would not elaborate on the technical glitches that he said caused system delays, and he blamed holdups at certain locations on some volunteers who didn't show up.

Yet Axson defended the partys decision to use the mostly volunteer-run caucus system for the first time since 2016.

That year, many voters were left waiting in the cold as similar registration issues plagued caucus sites. Meanwhile, an online balloting system rejected many registered voters whose status couldn't be verified, leaving the GOP to field thousands of calls from people who couldn't cast ballots.

Elections went much smoother in 2020 when the state used a conventional voting system. But Axson said the GOP brought back the caucuses this year because they drive political engagement in communities across the Beehive State.

Ultimately, the engagement that you can get in the precinct level is incredibly valuable. Its worthwhile, he said. So, I think the effort is worth it.

However, the level of engagement seemed to vary across precincts on Tuesday.

Voters at Millcreek Junior High School in Bountiful engaged in structured debates for more than an hour. But others across the Salt Lake Valley said they were out the door within minutes as some volunteers opted to skip debate and vote immediately. Attendees were mostly elderly or adults without kids.

The caucus system often draws the most politically active members of a community and makes it difficult for anyone who is unable to attend a Tuesday night meeting to have their voice heard, said Utah State University political scientist Damon Cann. As a result, it can sometimes be less representative than a traditional primary.

But primaries cost the state a lot of money, he said. The caucus system passes off the cost and responsibility to the party, creating a system run mostly by volunteers with limited training.

Utah will hold primaries for governor and Congress in June, so opting for a March presidential caucus allowed Republicans to vote earlier in the presidential election cycle without the state having to fund two primaries, Cann explained.

In 2020, poor communication, technological failures and calculation errors at the Iowa caucuses led many voters to question efficacy of the caucus system. With the world waiting to learn who won the nations first presidential nominating contest, the Iowa Democratic Party did not release even partial results until 21 hours after residents began gathering in schools and churches to express their preferences.

Anytime you find that people are having a difficult time interfacing with elections or choosing not to participate or even worse  making an effort to participate and finding out they're unable to  that's problematic, and it's not good for the state, Cann said. I think there's much room for improvement on that.

___

Associated Press writer Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana, contributed to this report.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  The Clark County School Board is taking a step toward finding a superintendent to run the nations fifth-largest school district, as they face an onslaught of criticism from the public, accusing them of being disconnected and not transparent.

In a unanimous vote, trustees voted to seek requests for proposals on hiring firms that will gauge community input on replacing Dr. Jesus Jara.

Jaras last day at CCSD was February 23.

Jara submits resignation as Clark County School District superintendent

Trustees held a work session Wednesday night at the Greer Education Center, where one of the agenda items was outlining the parameters of a superintendent search.

Before voting, trustees laid bare their opposing views on hiring a superintendent.

It may be someone right here in our district, our state, or maybe someone else, but we do need to cast a wide net to see whos out there, Trustee Linda Cavazos said.

Trustee Lola Brooks advocated for a local search to find the districts next leader.

So whichever decision is made, it is unlikely to be unanimous, and a national search with provide amplified opportunity for board dysfunction, Brooks said.

The majority of public comments on Wednesday agreed on one thing:

We urge the board to conduct a comprehensive national search for the next superintendent ensuring transparency, Amber Stidham of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance said.

The Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, ACLU of Nevada, Vegas Chamber, and Nevada Resort Association were among several groups that penned a letter to trustees urging a nationwide search. They also lobbied for setting a minimum of qualifications for all superintendent candidates.

Our kids deserve a good school superintendent, they deserve great teachers. And the teachers deserve a great school superintendent, Vegas Chamber President Mary Beth Sewald said.

The Clark County Education Association rallied outside Wednesdays meeting.

CCEA Executive Director John Vellardita says the process has to be fair and in full public view.

No superintendent is going to be successful in this school district unless they build a bridge with these teachers. If theres no bridge, theres no relationship. If theres no relationship, theres going to be problems all the time, Vellardita said.

He added, So how do you build it? I think you start by doing a national search thats transparent. Go to the community, and get feedback from the community. Listen to these educators.

According to CCSD Board President Evelyn Garcia Morales, a nationwide search can take up to six months and possibly extend the hiring process into the next school year.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
This weekend will be a very special one for fans of Bix Beiderbecke, jazz and music history.

Sunday, March 10 is the 121st anniversary of Bixs birth in Davenport and this year is the 100th anniversary of the first recordings by the legendary cornetist, pianist and composer. The following events are scheduled to honor the occasions:

Bix Beiderbecke fans gather with a cutout of the legendary Davenport native at the annual jazz fest in his honor at Davenports Rhythm City Casino Event Center.

On Saturday, at 1 p.m., the Davenport Public Library at 6000 Eastern Ave., will celebrate 100 years of recorded music through conversations with Dr. Charlie B. Dahan and Bob Jacobsen, who will talk about Bix and Gennett Records.

The Bix Museum (on the lower level of Common Chord, 129 Main St. Davenport, will host an Open House Saturday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. as they celebrate re-opening following renovations after the downtown flood last April.

On Sunday, March 10 is the Bix Birthday Bash, with music by Josh Duffees Graystone Monarchs, from 2 p.m. to 4:15 pm., Viking Club of Moline, 1450 41st St. VIP holders can attend a 12:45 p.m. meet and greet.

The birthday bash tickets are $25 General Admission, and $50 VIP includes a meal plus meet and greet. Catfish Jazz Society, Bix Museum, and Bix Society members can purchase GA tickets for $15, available HERE. Reservations are recommended, tickets will be sold at the door. This is an all-seated show. VIP tickets are reserved while GA is first come. Dinner is available for $10 and there will be a full bar service.

The 2024 Bix Birthday Bash will be on Sunday, March 10 (Bixs actual birthday) at the Viking Club of Moline, featuring Josh Duffees Graystone Monarchs.

Were celebrating the centennial of his records, were celebrating his birthday and were celebrating being open and were just kind of celebrating the history of jazz, the history of Davenport, Bix Museum director Nathaniel Kraft said Wednesday afternoon.

Its the only time people will hear Don Murrays saxophone played. He died 95 years ago and the saxophone has never been played since, he said. The 1923 tenor sax is normally on display in the museum.

Don Murray was born in Joliet, Ill., attended high school in Chicago, and was a member with Bix in the Jean Goldkette Orchestra, and played clarinet on Bixs classic Davenport Blues in its Gennett recording Jan. 26, 1925. Murray died five days before his 25th birthday, on June 2, 1929, at a Los Angeles hospital after injuries sustained in a freak automobile accident.

Bix friends Don Murray (left) and Hoagy Carmichael at the Bix Beiderbecke Museum & Archive (photo by Jonathan Turner).

Apparently, he was standing on the running board of a moving roadster and fell; he struck the back of his head on the pavement and was then hospitalized with serious head injury. Murray is buried at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Skokie, Ill.

This 1923 gold-plated C.G. Conn tenor saxophone and early 1920s Otto Link mouthpiece was owned and used by Murray, and donated to the Bix Museum in February 2020 by his great-nephew in the Chicago area, Kraft said. A popular model for professional musicians of the period, this saxophone is covered in intricate engravings.

It took two years to restore it, by Lee Stofer of Camanche. Only 1,000 of that kind of sax were made and it was hard to find parts, Kraft said, and Sunday will be the first time the instrument has been played in 95 years.

The 1923 Don Murray tenor sax, normally on display in the museum.

Leon Bix Beiderbecke (1903-1931), born in Davenport, became a jazz legend in his short lifetime, bringing an amazing new energy and unprecedented maturity to the music and influencing generations of musician, according to a summary of Saturdays library talk.

On Feb. 18, 1924, Bix and a group of musicians known as the Wolverines Orchestra recorded their first music at a small studio in Richmond, Ind., named Gennett Records. Bixs first record was Jazz Me Blues and Fidgety Feet.

Don Murray, left, and Jimmy Dorsey.

As the recording branch of the Starr Piano Company, this studio produced some of the earliest recordings by music greats such as Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, and Hoagy Carmichael, and produced for others such as Jelly Roll Morton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, and Gene Autry.

Guest lecturers

Dr. Charlie Dahan is a professor in the Recording Industry Department at Middle Tennessee State University. He has co-authored two books on Gennett Records, including the 2023 released discography through UCSBs Discography of American Historical Records, and three successful National Register for Historic Places nominations: FAME Studios, Hank Snows Rainbow Ranch, and the King Records Buildings.

His book Dont Lose Your Good Thing: Saving Americas Historic Recording Places will be released by SUNY Press in 2024. He serves on the boards of the King Records Legacy Foundation, the Starr-Gennett Foundation (Advisory), and Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. Previously, he was the A&R Director at Shanachie Records and a talent agent with the Roots Agency.

Kraft said Dahan knows everything about Gennetts recording history. Bixs and Louis Armstrongs first records were for Gennett.

Bix (second from right) and the Rhythm Jugglers at Gennett Records in January 1925 (courtesy of Bix Museum).

Bob Jacobsen is a past president and long-time board member of the Starr-Gennett Foundation, Inc. in Richmond, Ind., where he is asked frequently to talk with visitors and tourists about the Gennett Records Walk of Fame and its honored musicians. Jacobsen has attended the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival in Davenport since about 2006.

This Saturday program is offered through a partnership with the Bix Beiderbecke Museum & Archive, in celebration of Bixs 121st birthday.

If youre from the Quad Cities or just passing through, its a great museum, Kraft said. It talks about the history of local jazz legend and it also talks about American history, a lot of different musicians. It talks about the story of the Quad Cities and America in the 1920s. Its a lot of stuff I think people are really interested in and its done very well.

Bix Museum Nate Kraft (standing in front of a model of Bix Beiderbecke at the Indiana resort Hudson Lake in summer 1926) on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 (photo by Jonathan Turner).

This is a very special museum, I think a lot of people take for granted sometimes, but they also just dont know much about, he said. If youre interested in music history, the Roaring Twenties, youll find something interesting in the exhibit.

The Saturday open house at the museum will be from 3-7 p.m. following the talk at the library to celebrate being open following our flooding last year. Admission is always free with donations encouraged.

Recovering from flooding

After last springs flooding, the museum had to remove water damaged drywall and replace it, but luckily none of the collection or cases were damaged, Kraft said.

We got through it unscathed, but we had a contractor that said itd be a seven-day job, and then they disappeared for three months, he said March 6. The museum had to find another contractor over the summer, which worked here and there. The restoration was done by November and the museum just reopened by appointment only.

The Bix Museum in 2023 in the midst of renovations after spring flooding, in the lower level of Common Chord, 2nd and Main streets, Davenport.

Last month, they reopened regular hours  10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, and Saturdays 10-2 or by appointment.

We could have been opened by mid-May, Kraft said, noting they missed about 1,000 guests theyd normally get when they closed, especially during the annual Bix jazz fest in August.

The entrance to the museum was carpeted and that had to be removed, and Common Chord moved its offices from the lower level to the second floor.

The 1931 piano Bix had in his Sunnyside, Queens apartment in New York City, in the Davenport museum (photo by Jonathan Turner).

The museum is raising money for a possible move downtown, to get away from possible flood risks in the future. Were kind of hoping to get back on our feet, Kraft said. We were flooded in 2019; 2020 we were closed for a year, it flooded in 2023.

In 2019, the museum was closed from May to August, after the levee broke downtown.

A new piece out on display in the museum is the Bix family piano, which was in the home of paternal grandparents Charles and Louise Beiderbecke (todays Beiderbecke Inn bed and breakfast, 532 W. 7th St.). The Beiderbecke family enjoyed many family gatherings in their home where the grandchildren would all put on performances for the family. Bixs performances on this piano were always the most enjoyed.

The 19th-century Bix family piano (from his paternal grandparents house in Davenport) now in the museum.

Bix and his friends would spend a lot of time growing up playing on his grandmothers piano as Bix would always play the songs they heard at the movie theater or from the passing river boats and dancehalls shortly after returning home from hanging out downtown. This 19th-century piano is a Julius Bauer Grand made in Chicago and sold by the Schmidt Music Company in Davenport.

The piano was covered under a stairwell since 2017 (when the Bix Museum opened), and they even forgot it was there, Kraft said. The late Bix Society board member Gerri Bowers asked about it one day, inspiring them to put it on display, he noted.

A 100 Club

Last year, the Bix Birthday Bash was at the Columbus Club on West 35th Street in Davenport, the first time they had it since COVID. The Graystone Monarchs (led by drummer and Bix expert Josh Duffee) have never played the birthday event before.

The museum has a new 100 Club, which seeks $100 donations in honor of this centennial year. It really hasnt been advertised, after one Bix Society member gave $100 and suggested it as a museum fundraising tool during the 100th anniversary year, to end next Jan. 26, 2025, the 100th anniversary of Bixs recording of his Davenport Blues.

Bix played cornet on the Gennett recording in Richmond, Ind., with His Rhythm Jugglers, including Tommy Dorsey on trombone, Paul Madeira Mertz on piano, and Don Murray on clarinet.

Bix joined the famous Paul Whiteman Orchestra in October 1927. Whiteman commissioned the immortal, iconic Rhapsody in Blue from George Gershwin, which he premiered 100 years ago. The work (with Gershwin at the piano) premiered in a concert titled An Experiment in Modern Music on Feb. 12, 1924, in Aeolian Hall, New York City.

Video of King of Jazz Paul Whiteman at the Bix Museum (photo by Jonathan Turner).

Bix had moved to Manhattan in 1927, and later moved to Queens, where he died Aug. 6, 1931 from pneumonia and alcoholism.

On March 9, that night in 1924 (the night before Bixs 21st birthday), Louis Armstrong played the Col Ballroom in Davenport, just about five days after they played for a crowd of 2,000 at the Col, and attracted 2,000 again on March 9, Kraft said.

Davenports Col Ballroom attracted music legends Louis Armstrong and George Gershwin to perform there in 1924 (photo by Jonathan Turner).

Louis played here 100 years ago, he said, not sure if Bix was in that audience (it was likely he was touring with the Wolverine Orchestra). Gershwin and Whiteman brought Rhapsody in Blue to the Col in Davenport May 23, 1924.

Bix taught himself piano starting at age 3, and he was self-taught on the cornet, starting when he was about 14, Kraft said.

Opening family home?

He spoke with Italian filmmaker Pupi Avati recently while they were filming at the Bix boyhood home (1934 Grand Ave.), which the Avati brothers have owned over 30 years.

It looked like they got the inside all nice and cleaned up; it looked really nice in there, Kraft said. He expressed he would love to make sure the house gets fixed up. We said wed try to support them any way we could. Were not sure what the next step is. Were waiting to hear what they want to do.

The Bix boyhood home at 1934 Grand Ave., Davenport, is owned by the Italian filmmakers Pupi and Antonio Avati.

Its their house and we just want to make sure the house is taken care of, he added. Were very supportive of everything theyre doing. Pupi wants to open it eventually for tours, Kraft said.

He didnt get to visit the museum during their week here. Kraft wants to keep the museum free and encourage donations.

We want everyone to see it, but we want people to donate, he said. I think people are very generous when you give them the opportunity to. I let people see the museum first and let them decide.

In 2022, the museum had over 1,000 visitors, and when Kraft started as director in early 2020, the museum had just averaged 300-500 a year.

The open house is meant to raise awareness and let people to know theyre back open. Kraft is seeing more school groups come through.

We want the community to see us, he said. There are a lot of great organizations in town and a lot of people dont know we exist yet. We do something great for the community.

A possible move is open-ended, Kraft said, depending on funding and finding the right spot.

Were hoping if we do move, its before we get water in, he said. They pay rent at Common Chord (the former River Music Experience). Its a good building, but unfortunately were in the basement.

For more information on the museum, click HERE.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.
The nearly completed, massive office building in University City started by Centene Corp. before the company abandoned plans for an East Coast headquarters in Charlotte is attracting attention from prospective buyers, according to several sources in the commercial real estate industry.

Centene site in University City could shift from corporate campus to mix of uses

The 800,000-square-foot building at 1030 Centene Court is nearing completion and being marketed by Cushman & Wakefield. The building was expected to be part of a multiple-building campus spanning 80 acres that would house more than 6,000 Centene employees before the healthcare company dropped the project in August 2022.

Cushman officials have remained tight-lipped since the company began marketing the property.

Read the full story on CBJs website here.




Haiti is again at the precipice of national collapse. A state of emergency has been imposed, following fears that the Haitian National Police will be overwhelmed by violent gang lords before a long-planned multinational mission led by Kenya arrives.

Outgunned Haitian police have been battling a united front of gangs and losing key firefig. A power void  who is in charge here?  makes matters worse.

The government could fall at any time, a U.S. official told McClatchy.

If the collapse occurs, the impact will be felt not just in Haiti but also in South Florida, where some 250,000 Haitians live. Our community is filled with families now in serious fear for their loved ones safety in what has become almost a lawless land.

The stress and uncertainty is taking an immense emotional and psychological toll.

McClatchy and Miami Herald Caribbean Correspondent Jacqueline Charles are chronicling the situation. They broke the news of the dire political situation in Haiti. The next concern is a mass exodus of Haitians headed to South Florida to escape the chaos.

The Biden administration is moving to expedite the deployment of a Multinational Security Support mission, or MSS, that has been in the works for over a year. We hope its not too little, too late.

Its been 14 months since the U.S. began pushing for a United Nations solution to the increasingly fraught situation in Haiti. Kenya agreed to send 1,000 police officers to control the violent gangs, but the plan hit snag after snag. Now a solution is even more difficult to craft. Can police officers really restore order in a country?

On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council met behind closed doors to address the violence and escalating gang rule. The meeting unfolded as the U.S. met with Haitian stakeholders in the hope of finding a consensus on implementing a system to carry out democratic elections.

In play is a proposal that would remove Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has been in charge of governing the country since the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise.

Oddly enough, the U.S. , Caribbean leaders and violent gangs all want Henry gone, a strange alliance.

Meanwhile, life in Haiti continues to worsen. In the capital of Port-au-Prince, armed gangs are in control, terrorizing citizens and plunging the country deeper into chaos. The airport has been seized, prisons emptied by gangs, and innocent lives lost daily.

From South Florida, its heartbreaking to see the seemingly-never-ending suffering of the Haitian people. After enduring so many years of oppression, military dictatorships, natural disasters and now raging gang warfare, the citizens of Haiti deserve a break.

But their country continues to be failed by weak governments, political instability and a lack of security. Fundamental rights such as safety, stability and justice remain a distant dream.

The international community must do more to help resolve Haitis political crisis and restore law and order.

The U.S. remains caught in a Catch-22. Help and be viewed as imperialist; dont help and watch things get worse.

Many Haitians, like Miami-Dade Commissioner Marleine Bastien, want a Haitian-based solution, not foreign intervention.

The United States must immediately stop propping up the corrupt, repressive government that has generated this crisis; do more to stop the flow of heavy weapons and ammunition to Haiti and stop all efforts to intervene in Haiti, Bastien told the Miami Herald Editorial Board.

Bastien wants civil society to take the leadership in organizing a Transitional Committee to work on an emergency plan to stop violence, bring security to the population and build a pathway for free and fair elections.

However, ultimately, long-term solutions require addressing the roots of poverty, inequality and lack of opportunity, which fuel instability.

The Haitian people deserve the chance at a peaceful and prosperous future they have been denied for far too long.

Click here to send the letter.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Over 150 internet operators and providers have about 1.9 million fixed broadband internet subscribers in Azerbaijan, Deputy Minister of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan and head of the Technology and Innovation Working Group Samir Mammadov said, Trend reports.

He made the remark during a conference on "Economic reforms and modern challenges for improving the business environment" in Baku.

According to him, nearly 70 percent of the above subscribers are provided with internet services via fiber optic cable.

"More than 150 Internet operators and providers have about 1.9 million fixed broadband subscribers in Azerbaijan. About 70 percent of them are provided with Internet services via fiber optic cable. Our country's average fixed broadband internet speed is 35.2 Mbit/s. These values are much higher than in prior years. Currently, 88.1 percent of the population uses the internet. Overall, the country's 3G and 4G network coverage is close to 100 percent. Currently, our country has more than 8.8 million active mobile internet users. The ratio of active mobile internet subscribers to 100 individuals is 86, he noted.

From 2021 to 2023, Azerbaijan saw investments of 792 million manat, or $465.9 million, in the communication sector and 133.6 million manat, or $78.6 million, in the information sector.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
CHARLES COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now)  Detectives and a school resource officer were investigating after a high school student was assaulted and carjacked on Wednesday.

The Charles County Sheriffs Office (CCSO) said a student was leaving St. Charles High School for the day around 11:10 a.m. when several people approached him in the parking lot. Officials said that he was hit in the head with what appeared to be a handgun.

Third man charged in connection to murder of 10-year-old Arianna Davis

The student dropped his keys, and the suspects picked them up before driving away in his car.

EMS treated the student at the scene.

CCSO said that the assault does not appear to be random.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Wimberly at (301) 609-6491.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (NEXSTAR)  Where do Yelps Elite members go when they get a hankering for doughy treats and refined sugars?

If theyre in North Carolina, they just might head over to Villanis Bakery, according to the review website.

Yelp has recently compiled a list of the best bakeries in every state based on the ratings of its Elite Squad  a group of users who have demonstrated a knack for going above and beyond with their reviews and photos  and Villanis Bakery apparently takes the cake in North Carolina.

Its like a little NYC/NJ bakery in the heart of Plaza, shared one Yelp Elite reviewer. Everything youd expect from an Italian bakery, but without the craziness.

Food trucks allowed to serve at Belmont parks

Villanis Bakery, located on Pecan Avenue in Charlotte, serves a wide variety of pastries, muffins, desserts, and cakes. Theyre also constantly changing the menu based on seasonal freshness or if one of their bakers has a creative idea.

In particular, several Yelp reviewers mentioned their tiramisu. Their tiramisu is to die for  its so light and fluffy but sooo flavorful and amazing, shared one reviewer.

Gastonia ice cream shop recognized by Southern Living

A complete list of the best bakery in every state  as determined by Yelps Elite Squad  can be found at Yelp.com. More information on Yelps Elite Squad, and how to become a member, are available at Yelps official site.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Chasity Nunez attends a training in Fort Drum, New York. At right is Maj. Gen. Francis Evon, adjutant general of the Connecticut National Guard.

WORCESTER  As Worcester reels from the killings on Tuesday of Chasity Nunez and her daughter Zella, Chasity is being remembered as an exemplary member of the Connecticut National Guard and a beloved co-worker.

Police say Chasity and Zella Nunez were killed in a car on Englewood Avenue on Tuesday when two people walked up to the vehicle and started shooting. Police made at least 40 markings at the scene of the shooting.

More: Suspects in murder of Worcester mother and daughter have long list of past charges

ChasityNunez was a patient administration specialist for the Connecticut National Guard, serving in a unit based in Danbury. She had served for four years, starting in 2020.

"Our hearts are broken because we lost Specialist Chasity Nunez to senseless violence. She and her daughter were killed while sitting in their vehicle in their own neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon. Chasity was beloved by her fellow Soldiers in the 142nd Medical Company," Maj. David Pytlik, public affairs officer for the Connecticut National Guard, said in a statement. "Her wit, social nature and dedication to duty made her one of the best Soldiers in our unit. I cannot begin to make sense of why this happened and why her family, friends, co-workers and fellow Soldiers have been robbed of her and Zella. What we can, and must do now, is support one another as we grieve, process this profound loss and honor their memory."

Specialist Chasity Nunez at a recent training in Fort Drum, New York. Nunez was a member of the 142nd Medical Company in the Connecticut National Guard.

Pytlik described Nunez as "incredibly resilient, brilliantly intelligent, destined for success in her civilian and military careers, and more full of compassion than anyone I know."

As a civilian, Nunez worked as a patient safety and clinical quality program coordinator at MIT Health, starting in July 2023.

A spokesperson for MIT said the institution is offering outreach and conversations to community members who knew her. MIT Health staff have set aside time to mourn Nunez.

In statement, Cecilia Stuopis, chief health officer of MIT Health, reflected on Nunez's dedication to her position.

Chas was passionate about the health and well-being of the MIT community. She was beloved by the colleagues who worked closely with her, and her dedication to our patients was powerful and impactful. She will be deeply missed, Stuopis said.

According to a Worcester Public Schools spokesperson, Nunez graduated from South High Community School in 2014. A Quinsigamond Community College spokesperson said she attended the college from spring 2015 to spring 2019.

Zella, a Worcester Public Schools student, was "a high-achieving sixth-grade student who had many friends and was well respected by her teachers," the spokesperson said.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Chasity Nunez had also worked as a patient access representative for UMass Memorial Medical Center and was seeking a master's degree in data analytics from University of Maryland Global Campus.

Chasity Nunez, right, and daughter Zella

UMass Memorial Medical Center declined to comment, citing confidentiality as a patient and former employee.

Karel Mangual of Sterling Street was arrested Wednesday and charged with armed assault to murder and carrying a firearm without a license.

Mangual appeared Thursday in Worcester District Court, where he was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing on Tuesday.

Police have also issued an arrest warrant against Dejan D. Belnavis of Worcester in connection with the killing. The search for Belnavis continued Thursday.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Tributes for Chasity Nunez, Worcester homicide victim
(NEXSTAR)  Where do Yelps Elite members go when they get a hankering for doughy treats and refined sugars?

If theyre in Illinois, they just might head over to Mindys Bakery in Chicago, according to the review website.

Yelp recently compiled a list of the best bakeries in every state based on the ratings of its Elite Squad  a group of users who have demonstrated a knack for going above and beyond with their reviews and photos  and Mindys Bakery apparently takes the cake in Illinois.

Truly the BEST pastry place in Chicago! It is totally worth the wait, shared one Elite Yelp reviewer. The line goes by quickly and once you get inside, its an endless array of treats.

Yelp names Chicago pizza spot best in US

Mindys Bakery, located in Bucktown, specializes in Eastern European, French, Italian, and Middle Eastern-influenced baked goods.

The bakery was established in 2022 after the owner, Mindy Segal, closed her restaurant of 17 years, Hot Chocolate, when the pandemic hit in 2020. What started as a weekend bakery pop-up became a brick-and-mortar business when Mindys Bakery officially opened on Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park in summer 2022.

Best known for its signature hot chocolate, which Segal brought over from her previous restaurant, Mindys Bakery serves a variety of bagels, croissants, danishes, donuts, and so much more.

This is my favorite bakery of all time. The line is worth it. The staff is friendly. You cannot go wrong with literally anything on the menu, shared another Elite Yelp reviewer.

Fan favorite returning to Dairy Queen

A complete list of the best bakery in every state  as determined by Yelps Elite Squad  can be found at Yelp.com. More information on Yelps Elite Squad, and how to become a member, are available at Yelps official site.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
CHICAGO - A Chicago woman was charged in connection with a carjacking Tuesday night in the Galewood neighborhood.

Litzy Rodriguez, 18, was accused of being part of a group who stole a vehicle from a 39-year-old man around 10:30 p.m. in the 1800 block of North Austin Avenue, police said.

She was arrested roughly 10 minutes later and charged with one felony count of vehicular hijacking and one felony count of possession of cannabis.

Rodriguez has a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday.

No further information was available.
China's foreign minister has called for an end to the violence against civilians in Israel's war in the Gaza Strip against the Palestinian militant organization Hamas.

"There can no longer be any justification for the continuation of the conflict and no excuse for the killing of civilians," said Wang Yi on Thursday in Beijing at a press conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress.

All prisoners must be released and the international community must support an immediate ceasefire, he said.

Wang said that the vicious circle of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could only be broken through the full implementation of a two-state solution and justice for the Palestinian people, thus destroying the breeding ground for extremist ideas.

The quest for an independent state of Palestine can no longer be circumvented, he said.

A two-state solution foresees the peaceful co-existence of Israel and a Palestinian state, based on the borders of the Palestinian Territories occupied by Israel since 1967 - the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

In his remarks, Wang did not mention the massacre carried out by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups on Israeli soil on October 7, which triggered Israel's invasion of Gaza.

China is trying to maintain its neutral position and maintain good relations with Israel and the Palestinians. Beijing is still to condemn the attacks by Hamas.

Wang emphasized that China's foreign policy this year will continue to be guided by the principles of State and Party leader Xi Jinping - mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and cooperation for mutual benefit.

Wang Yi, China's Foreign Minister, speaks during a press conference at the National People's Congress (NPC). Johannes Neudecker/dpa
In this image made from video provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4, center, is hit by two Chinese coast guard water canon blasts, causing injuries to multiple crew members as they tried to enter the Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin Shoal, in the disputed South China Sea, Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels collided in the disputed South China Sea and multiple Filipino crew members were injured in high-seas confrontations Tuesday as Southeast Asian leaders gathered for a summit that was expected to touch on Beijing's aggression at sea. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)

ABOARD BRP SINDANGAN (AP)  It was a heart-pounding moment far out in the disputed South China Sea: One of at least five Chinese coast guard ships aggressively approached and sideswiped a Philippine patrol vessel, creating a loud, jarring noise that sent its Filipino crew scrambling to lower rubber fenders to cushion the boat's hull.

As the high-seas faceoff unfolded Tuesday, two Chinese coast guard ships used water cannons against a smaller supply boat carrying a Filipino admiral and his sailors. The high-pressure spray shattered the boats windshield and mildly injured the admiral and four sailors with glass shards and splinters of debris.

"That's very concerning and very worrisome, Vice Adm. Alberto Carlos later told reporters, after witnessing firsthand the Chinese actions against the supply boat Unaizah Mae 4, which he was aboard.

As the highest-ranking Filipino military commander overseeing the disputed waters, Carlos joined the trip to ensure that any confrontation would not spiral out of control, the navy said.

It was the latest showdown in one of the worlds most hotly disputed waters that many fear could descend into a larger conflict that puts the United States and China on a collision course.

Tuesday's hostilities off the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal lasted about five hours starting after dawn and were witnessed by two Associated Press journalists. The journalists were invited to join the trip aboard the Philippine coast guard ship BRP Sindangan, which was sideswiped by the Chinese coast guard ship in a tense and dangerous moment they caught on camera.

The Philippines adopted a strategy last year of exposing Chinas increasingly assertive actions in the disputed sea by embedding journalists on its coast guard patrol ships. Manila said the transparency campaign aims to pressure China to abide by international law, including anti-collision regulations.

It has publicly released coast guard videos and photos of dangerous Chinese actions against Philippine forces, including the use by China's coast guard of a military-grade laser that temporarily blinded Filipino crew in an incident last year that angered Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The campaign has sparked a war of words with Beijing, which has accused the Philippines of hyping up the disputes and allowing itself to be used as a pawn in U.S. efforts to contain China's rise.

Aboard the BRP Sindangan, the journalists witnessed up close how a mission to deliver food, water and other supplies to a long-marooned warship was partly thwarted by a Chinese blockade of at least 26 ships, including coast guard and suspected militia vessels.

They caught on video and camera how the Chinese ships shadowed, surrounded and blocked the two Philippine coast guard ships and two small supply boats carrying Filipino sailors to the disputed shoal.

Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich and busy waterway, where a bulk of the worlds commerce and oil transits.

Beijing claims almost the entire sea, a key global trade route. In the last decade, China has turned barren reefs into seven islands that now serve as missile-protected island bases, including three with runways, that have bolstered its capability to fortify its territorial claims and patrols.

In response, Washington has been strengthening an arc of military alliances in the Indo-Pacific, including with the Philippines, Vietnam and other countries at odds with China in the disputed sea.

After China effectively seized another disputed atoll, the Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines, in 2012, Manila brought its disputes with Beijing to international arbitration and largely won. China, however, rejected the 2016 ruling of the U.N.-backed tribunal that invalidated its expansive claims on historical grounds and continues to defy the decision.

Filipino officials said the latest confrontation was particularly serious because of the injuries sustained by its navy personnel and damage to their vessel.

"The systematic and consistent manner in which the Peoples Republic of China carries out these illegal and irresponsible actions completely negates any of its calls for peaceful dialogue and de-escalation of tensions in the West Philippine Sea, Jonathan Malaya, a spokesperson for a Philippine government task force dealing with the South China Sea disputes, told a news conference on Wednesday, using the Philippine name for the long-troubled waters.

China blamed the Philippines for the hostilities.

"China has unwavering determination and will in safeguarding its legitimate rights. The Philippines attempt of making infringements and provocations will not succeed, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday in Beijing.

After the U.S. repeated a warning that its obligated to defend the Philippines, its longtime treaty ally, in case of an armed attack, Mao urged Washington to refrain from using the Philippines as a pawn to destabilize the South China Sea."

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the latest incidents demonstrated Chinas reckless disregard for the safety of Filipinos and also for international law, and that China was interfering with lawful Philippine maritime operations."

Filipino officials said they would continue to assert Philippine rights in the disputed sea.

"We continue to view with great alarm the continuing dangerous maneuvers and dangerous actions, Marcos told reporters Wednesday in Melbourne, Australia, where he attended a Southeast Asian summit that had the territorial disputes high on its agenda.

___

Associated Press journalist Jim Gomez contributed to this report from Manila, Philippines
Wang said China opposes all acts of hegemony and bullying (WANG Zhao)

China will be a global force for peace and stability, the country's foreign minister Wang Yi said Thursday in a wide-ranging press conference where he hit out against US "suppression" and expressed support for Palestinians.

"In the face of complex turmoil in the international environment, China will persist in being a force for peace, a force for stability, and a force for progress in the world," Wang told reporters.

Wang met the press on Thursday on the sidelines of China's largest annual political gathering, which opened in Beijing earlier this week.

The "Two Sessions" -- parallel meetings of China's rubber-stamp parliament and political consultative body -- offer a rare glimpse into the strategy of the Communist Party-led government for the year ahead.

This year's gathering is being closely watched for signals as to Chinese leaders' confidence in current geopolitical conditions, as tensions persist across the Taiwan Strait and Russia's war in Ukraine enters its third year.

China's expanding political reach has sparked friction on multiple fronts, with Wang's press conference coming after Southeast Asian and Australian leaders warned this week against Chinese actions that "endanger peace" in the South China Sea.

China has increasingly flexed its muscles in the South China Sea, which it claims almost entirely despite an international arbitration ruling that declared its stance baseless.

Chinese coast guard boats were accused on Tuesday of badgering a flotilla of Philippine ships on a resupply mission.

"We resolutely oppose all acts of hegemony and bullying, and will strongly uphold national sovereignty and security as well as development interests," Wang said on Thursday.

He hit out at what he called efforts by Washington "to suppress China", saying "the desire to heap blame under any pretext has reached an unbelievable level".

And the top diplomat warned that people seeking independence for self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory, would be "liquidated by history".

- 'New paradigm' -

Wang reiterated China's support for Palestinians when asked about the ongoing conflict in Gaza, saying Beijing supports full United Nations membership for a Palestinian state.

"The catastrophe in Gaza once again reminded the world that the fact that the Palestinian territories have been occupied for a long time can no longer be ignored," Wang said.

"The long-cherished wish of the Palestinian people to establish an independent country can no longer be evaded, and the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people cannot continue for generations without being corrected," he added.

Beijing has been calling for an immediate ceasefire since the start of the current Israel-Hamas war in October last year.

Wang on Thursday also defended Beijing's close relationship with Moscow, saying that "China and Russia have set a new paradigm for major power relations that is completely different from the old Cold War era."

The foreign minister said that bilateral ties rested on "the basis of non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third parties".

Western powers have criticised Beijing for refusing to condemn Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

China says it is a neutral party in the Ukraine war, but its strategic partnership with Russia has grown closer since the start of the war.

Wang also told reporters on Thursday that the European Union's portrayal of China as a rival was "not factual or feasible", amid efforts by the bloc to fend off competition from China in areas including technology, energy and electric vehicles.

bur-tjx/je/cwl
BEIJING  Chinas foreign minister said Thursday that the United States was obsessed with suppressing China, potentially jeopardizing efforts to strengthen relations between the worlds two biggest economies.

Relations fell to their lowest point in decades last year amid disputes over tech, trade, human rights, the status of Taiwan, an alleged Chinese spy balloon shot down over the U.S., and Beijings position on wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said there had been some improvements in U.S.-China relations since Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping held a summit in California in November, their first encounter in a year. But the U.S. still has misperceptions about China and is seeking to restrict its development, Wang said, with the list of unilateral sanctions on Chinese tech and other companies reaching bewildering levels of unfathomable absurdity.

If the United States says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major country? he said at a wide-ranging news conference in Beijing on the sidelines of the annual meeting of Chinas rubber-stamp legislature. If it gets jittery every time it hears the word China, where is its confidence as a major country?

The challenges the U.S. faces lie within itself, not in China, Wang continued, noting that this year is the 45th anniversary of the establishment of formal U.S.-China relations. If the United States is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself.

Wang, 70, a former foreign minister who also holds a separate title as Chinas top diplomat, returned to the foreign minister role last year after his successor, Qin Gang, was removed from his post without explanation about six months into the job. Qin has not been seen in public since last June.

The meeting of the National Peoples Congress in Beijing this week had been seen as a potential opportunity to announce a new foreign minister, though that now appears unlikely.

On the Israel-Hamas war, Wang called for an immediate cease-fire, the release of all detainees and the provision of humanitarian aid, saying the long-standing occupation of Palestinian territories cannot be ignored.

Only by delivering justice to the Palestinian people and fully implementing a two-state solution can we break the vicious cycle of the Israel-Palestine conflict, he said.

Wang also addressed tensions in the South China Sea, a strategic shipping route that Beijing claims virtually in its entirety, giving rise to territorial disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam and other neighbors in Southeast Asia.

This week, Philippine officials accused Chinese ships of blocking a resupply mission for soldiers stationed at the Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef that is claimed by China, the Philippines and others. Video provided by the Philippine Coast Guard showed a Chinese vessel using water cannon against the supply boat, shattering the windshield.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday that the Philippines had violated Chinese territorial sovereignty and that Chinas operations were professional, restrained, justified and lawful.

In the face of unwarranted provocation, we will respond with prompt and legitimate countermeasures, Wang said Thursday.

On Taiwan, a self-ruling democracy that Beijing claims as its territory, Wang said that elections held on the island in January are just local elections in one part of China.

The result does not change even in the slightest terms the basic fact that Taiwan is part of China, he said.

Taiwan rejects Beijings sovereignty claims, saying only the islands 23 million people can decide its future. The winner of the presidential election, Vice President Lai Ching-te, favors maintaining the status quo but is regarded by Beijing as a separatist and troublemaker.

Wang said that while China will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with Taiwan, Beijings bottom line is quite clear: We will never allow Taiwan to be separated from the Chinese motherland.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Chinas top diplomat hit out at Washingtons bewildering trade policy during a news conference Thursday on the sidelines of a political gathering in Beijing, where Chinese leaders have been championing high-tech development in the face of mounting curbs from Washington.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi accused the US of devising various tactics to suppress China and said Washingtons lengthening unilateral sanctions list had reached bewildering levels of unfathomable absurdity.

If it gets jittery whenever it hears the word China, where is its confidence as a major country? Wang said in a response to a question about trade with the US and technological restrictions.

If it only wants itself to prosper, but denies other countries legitimate development, where is international fairness? If it persistently monopolizes the high end of the value chain and keeps China at the low end, where is fairness and competition?

Wang made the comments during an annual Foreign Ministers briefing held during each two sessions gathering of Chinas rubber stamp legislature and its top political advisory body. Though highly choreographed, the more than hour-long engagement is a key opportunity for Chinas top diplomat to express the countrys foreign policy vision directly to reporters from media around the world.

In a stark contrast to his comments on the US, Wang praised Chinas burgeoning relationship and record trade with Russia  highlighting this near the top of his press conference when a Russian state media reporter was the first question taken from a foreign reporter.

Wangs comments on the US come as Washington continues its drive to narrow the kinds of high-end technology that can be accessed by China. In October, the White House further reduced the types of semiconductors that US companies can sell in China as it aims to ensure American tech wont be used to bolster the Chinese military.

The US has also enacted sanctions against Chinese actors over a host of issues in recent years, including allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the illicit fentanyl trade and providing support for Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Wang spoke during what has been a period of relative stability between the China and the US. Adopting a softer tone at times, Wang noted that there had been some improvements in the US-China relationship since a summit between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco last November.

He called on Washington to work with Beijing to bring the relationship back on the track of stable, sound and sustainable development.

What has been on the agenda at the meetings this week is Chinas drive to bolster its self-reliance and strength in science and technology, with Beijing sending a message that it will boost its self-reliance rather than sit back and wait for tech frictions with the US to improve.

The government announced plans to increase its annual budget for science and technology by 10% to an unprecedented 370.8 billion yuan ($51.6 billion)  the biggest jump since 2019 after years of minimal growth.

Russian relations

Wang also praised robust trade ties between China and Russia, which have deepened following the Kremlins invasion of Ukraine and Moscows subsequent economic isolation on the global stage.

Bilateral trade between China and Russia hit a historic $240 billion last year, surpassing a target of $200 billion set by Xi and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in 2019 ahead of schedule.

Russian natural gas is fueling numerous Chinese households and Chinese-made automobiles are running on Russian roads, Wang said. All this shows the strong resilience and broad prospects of China-Russia mutually beneficial cooperation.

Beijings ties to Moscow have sparked deep suspicion in the West, including over concerns about Chinas position as the Kremlins key economic lifeline. While China claims neutrality in the Ukraine conflict it has appeared unwilling to use its significant economic leverage to curb Russias aggression and has not condemned the invasion.

During the briefing, Wang repeated Chinas call for peace talks to avoid an unthinkable escalation and deterioration of the conflict. He also reiterated past rhetoric framing Chinas relationship with Russia as a responsible one.

Maintaining and growing the China-Russia relationship is a strategic choice by the two sides based on their fundamental interests and is also what we must do to keep pace with the trend of the world, Wang said.

China and Russia have forged a new paradigm of major country relations that differs entirely from the obsolete Cold War approach on the basis of non-alliance, non-confrontation and not targeting any third party, he added.

Tensions in Asia

The diplomat also addressed simmering tensions in the disputed South China Sea where non-lethal but increasingly tense clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels in recent months have raised concerns about the risk of conflict, which could then embroil the United States, a Philippine mutual defense ally.

Those flared again Tuesday when the Philippines Coast Guard accused Chinese vessels of executing dangerous maneuvers to impede and obstruct a resupply mission in contested waters in the South China Sea.

CNN reporters were on board one of the Philippine Coast Guard vessels and witnessed how a much larger force of Chinese coast guard ships and boats from its shadowy maritime militia penned in a smaller convoy of Philippine vessels resupplying a remote military outpost.

Despite an international tribunal rejecting Chinas claim of historic rights to the bulk of the sea, it has continued to militarize islands and maintains a large presence of coast guard and fishing vessels to enforce its claims.

In the face of deliberate infringement, we will take justified actions to defend our rights in accordance with the law. In the face of unwarranted provocation, we will respond with prompt and legitimate countermeasures, Wang said Thursday.

We also urge certain countries outside the region, not to make provocations, excite or stir up troubles, he said, in an apparent jab at the US presence in the region.

The foreign ministers comments on Taiwan also caught the notice of those closely watching for any evolution of Chinese policy on Taiwan during the two sessions meeting.

Chinas ruling Communist Party claims the self-governing democracy as its territory, despite never having controlled it. It has not ruled out the use of force to retake the island, which maintains close unofficial ties with the US.

Some observers had noted that a line in a report delivered by Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday proclaimed that China would advance the cause of Chinas reunification instead of saying peaceful reunification as it has been written at times in the past.

On Thursday, when responding to a question about Taiwans recent election of Lai Ching-te, whose party views Taiwan as a de facto sovereign nation under threat from China, Wang specifically called for the support of peaceful reunification.

He also reiterated staid language that whoever in the world supports Taiwan independence will get burned for playing with fire.

This story has been updated.

CNNs Sophie Jeong and Wayne Chang contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 7. Kazakhstan has begun supplying locomotives to Mongolia, Trend reports.

As attested by the Ministry of Industry and Construction of the country, as part of the first shipment, four locomotives worth over $4 million each were sent to Mongolia.

The ministry notes that six nations have already placed orders for Kazakhstan's locomotives: Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan. Mongolia became the eighth country to buy locomotives from Kazakhstan.

In Kazakhstan, diesel-electric locomotives are manufactured by two companies: Lokomotiv Kurastyru Zauyty JSC and Elektrovoz Kurastyru Zauyty LLP.

The production capacity of each enterprise is 100 units per year.

Meanwhile, the volume of trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Mongolia in 2023 will amount to about $133 million.

The structure of trade turnover is dominated by Kazakh exports to Mongolia, which total $124.3 million. Imports from Mongolia, in turn, amounted to $8.7 million.
By Yimou Lee

TAIPEI (Reuters) -China has stepped up grey-zone warfare against Taiwan, aiming to make the areas around the democratic island "saturated" with balloons, drones and civilian boats, a Taiwan defence ministry report said on Thursday.

Taiwan, whose government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, has complained in recent years that China has been using so-called grey-zone warfare, which wields irregular tactics to exhaust a foe without resorting to open combat.

In a report sent to parliament, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, the ministry said Beijing has launched "multi-front saturated grey-zone" tactics to harass Taiwan, including increased patrols of ships and planes.

China has attempted to "increase burdens of our naval and air forces and to obscure the existence of the median line in the strait", the report said, referring to an unofficial border between the two sides, which China's forces have began regularly crossing in recent years.

It added China has also incorporated research and militia vessels in a move to "disguise military activities with civilians".

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to request for comment.

To counter the Chinese threats, the ministry said it was working on measures to "preserve" its troops in the event of a war by boosting the resilience of its infrastructure and running drills to ensure Taiwan forces survive in a prolonged conflict. It also said it was drawing lessons from the war in Ukraine and the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

The ministry said it is stockpiling weapons and fuel to endure a prolonged war with China.

In a conflict, China will try to speedily seize Taiwan and prevent external intervention, the ministry added. To complicate that, the island is working to diversify its command systems and incorporate more mobile and long-range weapons, as well as artificial intelligence, while boosting "connections" with democratic allies, including the United States. The report did not elaborate on what those steps entailed.

China said this week it would boost its defence spending by 7.2% this year, fuelling a military budget that has more than doubled under President Xi Jinping's 11 years in office as Beijing hardens its stance on Taiwan.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of parliament, Taiwan Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng said Taipei would not join an arms race with Beijing because it was an "indisputable fact" that China's military is more powerful than Taiwan's.

"The only thing we can do is to boost every aspect of our training," he said.

Taiwan Defense Ministry this week said it would this year increase the number of missile drills and begin night-time exercises for pilots.

Beijing last month begun regular coast guard patrols around the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands, which hug the Chinese coast, after two Chinese fishermen died trying to flee Taiwan's coast guard.

(Reporting By Yimou Lee. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday warned other countries not to interfere in Beijing's dispute with Taiwan.

Those supporting Taiwan's independence will "get burned for playing with fire and taste the bitter fruit of their own doing," Wang said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual rubber-stamp National People's Congress in Beijing.

"We will never allow Taiwan to be separated from the motherland," Wang said.

The minister described the recent parliamentary and presidential elections in Taiwan in mid-January as "just local elections in one part of China. The result does not change even in the slightest terms the basic fact that Taiwan is part of China."

The ruling Communist Party in Beijing counts Taiwan as Chinese territory, although the island with more than 23 million inhabitants has had an independent government since 1949.

Taiwan's recent election was won by Lai Ching-te, also known as William Lai, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Lai is due to be inaugurated on May 20, replacing President Tsai Ing-wen, who has held office for two terms.

"Certain countries that still insist on maintaining official relations with Taiwan are just interfering with China's internal affairs," Wang said.

The island's most important ally is the United States. The US is legally bound to support Taiwan's defence capabilities due to the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which marks its 45th anniversary this year.

The situation in the Taiwan Strait is tense, and China regularly demonstrates its military might there.

Wang Yi, China's Foreign Minister, speaks during a press conference at the National People's Congress (NPC). Johannes Neudecker/dpa
A Chinese delegation led by Li Hui, Special Representative of the Chinese Government for Eurasian Affairs, visited Kyiv on 7 March, where officials from the Presidents Office and the government briefed them on the security situation in Ukraine.

Source: Office of the President, as reported by European Pravda

Details: During a briefing at the Presidents Office, the Chinese delegation was told about the "situation on the battlefield" and shown the wreckage from a downed North Korean missile of the type that Russia uses to attack Ukraine. It was also explained to them how Russia continues to obtain weapons for the war by circumventing sanctions.

The Ukrainian officials also spoke about the nuclear and radiation safety situation in Ukraine, including the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant; Russia's violations of the rules on the treatment of prisoners of war; and efforts to bring back children and civilians abducted by Russia.

Li Hui also met with Head of the Presidents Office Andrii Yermak, Deputy Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to discuss Ukraine's Peace Formula and China's involvement in these efforts.

Li Hui has been visiting Ukraine, Russia, several EU countries and Brussels since late February for talks on the settlement of the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Michael Siebert, Head of the EU External Action Service's Eastern Europe and Central Asia Division, and Niclas Kvarnstrom, Head of the Pacific Division, held a meeting with Li Hui in Brussels to discuss Ukraine.

Support UP or become our patron!
Chinese Family Donates $5M From Real Estate Business To Black College Students, Honoring The Black Couple Who Rented To Them In 1939 | Yevgen Romanenko via Getty Images

The Dongs, a Chinese American family, are donating funds from their real estate properties to Black college students since their chance at a new life in California was given to them by a Black couple.

In 1939, the Dongs moved to Coronado, California for a fresh start in hopes of changing the trajectory of their family, NBC News reported. During that time, the areas real estate was known for its racially discriminatory housing laws, which made it hard for the Dongs to rent or buy a home. Luckily, their battle ended when they met Emma and Gus Thompson, a Black couple who were real estate investors, who allowed them to make their dreams a reality when they let them rent their home the pair before selling it to the couple 16 years later in 1955.

I think that when we talk about racism generally in California, and especially in places like San Diego and L.A., people think because there was no slavery in California, that racism didnt exist, Jo Von M. McCalester, a political science professor at Howard University, said in an interview with NBC News. But it doesnt mean that groups and individuals didnt understand their places within the society.

A few years later in 1957, the Dongs tore down the barn and built an apartment complex to have a new margin of income. Now, 81-year-old Lloyd Dong Jr. and his family are ready to sell the house and complex, estimated to be worth $8 million. He and his big brother, Ron Dong, plan to give $5 million of the proceeds to Black college students to pay it forward to the marginalized community that changed their lives.

Without them, we would not have the education and everything else, Lloyd said.

The Thompsons related to the Dongs as they were Kentucky natives who moved to the West Coast for a new life themselves. They arrived in California in the late 1800s so Gus could work a new job at Hotel Del Coronado. In 1895, he decided to expand and build a house and barn on the property before the new rules and regulations that were enforced to keep the neighborhood white. To provide a safe and welcoming place for newcomers of color and families from diverse backgrounds to stay, he transformed the barn into a boarding house.

Ron and his wife, Janice Dong, are both former educators who believe knowledge is power because its intellectual property that sets the foundation for a person to accomplish any goal.

Its just exactly whats appropriate, Ron said about their decision to give back.

Its time, Janice added. We want to give back.

Janice, along with the Dong family, are happy to make this generous contribution and lend a helping hand.

It may enable some kids to go and flourish in college that might not have been able to otherwise, Janice said.

With the constant talk about reparations for the Black community, McCalester says that the Dongs are leading by example and showing how easy it can be to do the right thing without any expectations.

They are saying, Look at all you guys fighting about reparations. Were giving this all back to the Black community,' he said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi praised the strengthening of relations between Beijing and Russia, and claimed that China is a "force for peace" and stability during a press conference on March 7.

Beijing has maintained close ties with Moscow during the war, increasing economic cooperation and disrupting Western attempts at isolating Russia.

Ukraine is keeping diplomatic channels with Beijing open, while European officials have urged Beijing to use its influence over Moscow to help end the war.

Speaking at a press conference in Beijing, Wang said that Russia and China's "mutual political trust continues to deepen" and noted that bilateral trade reached a record $240 billion in 2023.

"The China-Russia relationship moves ahead," Wang said, as quoted by the Guardian.

Wang claimed that China has an "objective and impartial position" on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the South China Morning Post.

Wang also called for peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. "The earlier the talks start, the sooner peace will come," Wang claimed.

Ukraine invited China in January to participate in the upcoming Global Peace Summit, aimed at building support for the Ukrainian peace formula. Switzerland has agreed to host the talks, though no date or venue has been set.

China previously participated in international talks supporting Ukraine's peace plan in August 2023 in Saudi Arabia. Beijing has not yet committed to joining the next summit in Switzerland.

Wang also alleged the U.S. had imposed an "unfathomable" level of sanctions against China.

In light of the strengthened economic and political ties between Russia and China since 2022, dozens of Chinese companies that supply the Russian military have been sanctioned by the U.S.

In February, three of China's four largest banks stopped accepting payments from sanctioned Russian financial institutions in fear of the secondary impacts of U.S. sanctions due to interaction with Russian banks and companies.

Read also: Sanctions for show: Russian oil sales to China, India single main driver of Ukraine invasion

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
China's top diplomat accused the United States of trying to suppress China and criticized Europe's view of Beijing in a wide-ranging press conference on Thursday.

The United States had failed to fulfil its promises and had extended its sanctions on China, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday during a press conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress.

He questioned whether - if it regarded China as such a threat - the US had the self-confidence of a great power.

Washington should cooperate with Beijing for a stable development of relations, Wang said. A conflict between China and the US would have "unimaginable consequences," he said.

Washington has repeatedly sanctioned China, including cutting off China's access to cutting-edge technology in the chip sector. It has criticized Chinese companies suspected of violating human rights in the north-western Chinese province of Xinjiang and suspects Beijing of supplying Russia with important technology needed for the war against Ukraine.

China has responded to Western sanctions by, for example, restricting the export of rare earth elements, which are vital for manufacturing in the technology sector.

In the same press conference, Wang accused the EU of having misconceptions of China. The fact that Brussels has described the world's second-largest economy as "a partner for cooperation, an economic competitor and a systemic rival" does "not correspond to the facts," said the 70-year-old.

This had unnecessarily disturbed the development of EU-China relations, he argued.

In recent months an ongoing anti-subsidy investigation by Brussels into car manufacturers in China has put considerable strain on the relationship between the two major trading partners.

Wang Yi, China's Foreign Minister, speaks during a press conference at the National People's Congress (NPC). Johannes Neudecker/dpa
A Chinese national was charged with stealing trade secrets on Googles artificial intelligence (AI) technology while secretly working for two AI companies based in China, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.

Linwei Ding was indicted on four counts of theft of trade secrets after he allegedly transferred more than 500 unique files containing confidential information from Google to his personal account.

The Justice Department will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that could put our national security at risk, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

We will fiercely protect sensitive technologies developed in America from falling into the hands of those who should not have them, he added.

Ding, who began working at Google as a software engineer in 2019, started secretly uploading files to his personal account in May 2022, according to the indictment.

He was able to avoid immediate detection by copying data from the files into the Apple Notes app on his computer, converting the Notes into PDFs and uploading them to his personal account, the indictment alleges.

In June 2022, Ding received several emails from the CEO of an early-stage technology company based in China, suggesting that he had been offered the role of chief technology officer (CTO), according to the indictment.

He traveled to China and participated in investor meetings to raise capital for the company in late 2022 and early 2023.

By May 2023, Ding had also founded a startup based in China and was serving as its CEO, the indictment alleges. Google was not aware of Dings affiliation with either company, until after he resigned in late December.

After Dings resignation, the tech giant learned that he had presented as the CEO of the startup at an investor conference in Beijing in November and that he had been making unauthorized uploads of Google files, according to the indictment.

Todays charges are the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the Peoples Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation, FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.

The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences, Wray continued. The FBI will continue its efforts to vigorously pursue those responsible for stealing U.S. companies intellectual property and most closely guarded secrets.

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda emphasized in a statement that the company has strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets.

After an investigation, we found that this employee stole numerous documents, and we quickly referred the case to law enforcement, Castaneda said. We are grateful to the FBI for helping protect our information and will continue cooperating with them closely.

Updated at 12:13 p.m. ET

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The boyfriend of a model who claims her ex-partner bit and beat her in his central London flat told police he heard her "screaming for help" on the phone, a court has heard.

Chloe Othen, 33, was also punched in the head 30 times by Ricky Lawrence in Knightsbridge, the court was told.

The prosecution said Mr Lawrence had strangled Ms Othen and prevented her from leaving his flat in October 2022.

Mr Lawrence, 32, denied a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The businessman and Ms Othen had been in a relationship earlier in 2022, but were still sleeping together despite the model having a new boyfriend, Bora Guccuk, at the time, a trial at Nightingale Crown Court in Holborn has heard.

Jeweller Mr Guccuk told jurors he called Ms Othen's phone on the morning of the alleged assault because he was worried about her, but Mr Lawrence answered and threatened them both.

Ricky Lawrence is accused of biting and strangling Ms Othen

Mr Guccuk said: "He told me, 'she's here if you want to come and get her, I'll kill you both and stab you in the neck'.

'Chaotic screams'

"I could hear Chloe in the background screaming 'he's going to kill me'."

In a number of calls to police, played to the jury, Mr Guccuk said he had heard "chaotic" and "hysterical" screams from Ms Othen in the background.

Mr Guccuk told the police phone operator: "My girlfriend is being held by her ex-boyfriend against her will in his place right now, she is screaming for help."

The witness also said: "He is violent, very violent, he stalked her."

Mr Guccuk told the court Ms Othen was in a "really bad state" and "covered in bruises, bleeding and crying", claiming she did not want to go back to his house in Kensington because Mr Lawrence knew where he lived.

Tony Wyatt, defending Mr Lawrence, asked Mr Guccuk if he was jealous of the model's sexual relationship with the defendant, to which he replied: "No."

Mr Wyatt also accused Mr Guccuk of losing his temper and assaulting Ms Othen that morning, which the witness denied and said: "Absolutely ridiculous."

Mr Guccuk claimed Mr Lawrence "battered, bit and bashed" the model.

He said to the defence barrister: "The person on trial here is Ricky Lawrence, the fact you're trying to turn this on me must sound ridiculous to the jury."

The trial continues.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hellobbclondon@bbc.co.uk
The Cincinnati Zoo has issued a warning about a fake promotion that has been on social media.

>>Asbestos found in local elementary school; parents, school officials call for new building

The fake promotion was posted on the account by Zoo Promo and shows the profile of a bald eagle. It offers a discount on Cincinnati Zoo tickets.

It says people can grab 4 entry tickets for just $6.95! The promotion includes an image with the Cincinnati Zoos logo and graphics and adds that the zoo is celebrating its 150th anniversary.

The zoo says that the promotion is not real.

Several zoos & aquariums across the country are being targeted with the same FAKE OFFER, the zoo wrote on its social media page.

The Cincinnati Zoo officially opened its doors in 1875 and will turn 149 later this year.

 #ScamAlert  If you come across this discount promo, it is NOT REAL. Several zoos & aquariums across the country are being targeted with the same FAKE OFFER. pic.twitter.com/kFMSyfUvk8  Cincinnati Zoo (@CincinnatiZoo) March 6, 2024
Anti-terror measures costing 1.6m are set to be installed in a city centre.

Peterborough City Council plans to install the features to protect residents and businesses after an audit identified areas of weakness in case of a terrorist attack on the city centre.

The council gave no further details of the measures due to the sensitive nature of the project.

It is one of three projects set to benefit from 8.1m in approved funding for highways services in the councils 2023-24 budget.

The council will spend 300,000 on carriageway surface dressing to upgrade roads including the A16 in Eye and A15 in Glinton

A total of 6m has been allocated to the largest of the three projects, which will see Cygnet Bridge built over the River Nene, connecting Fletton Quays and the Embankment for pedestrians and cyclists.

The smallest, allocated 1m, is for repairs to roads damaged by extreme weather, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

More than half of this will go towards potholes, while just under 1m will go towards street lighting.

A further 300,000 will be spent to resurface the A16 in Eye and A15 in Glinton, while 284,000 will go towards footway treatments in Glinton, Stanground and Westwood.

Traffic calming

Several small footbridges will be replaced in Werrington Park and Baron Court while the Westfield Road retaining wall will also benefit from 1.2m allocated to bridge improvements.

Finally, 1.235m will be spent on general improvements including city centre cycle storage lockers, electric vehicle charging points and enhancing the Queensgate bus station and its accessibility.

Several traffic calming measures will also be added to the city including speed cushions on Elmfield Road in Dogsthorpe, a traffic island on Buckland Close in Bretton, a one-way system on Millstone Lane in Barnack and widening the footway on the Mayors Walk in the city centre.

All of these projects are due to begin in the 2024/25 financial year and will be carried out by Milestone Infrastructure Limited, which has been contracted by the council.

Officers have recommended the council's cabinet sign the projects off at a meeting on 11 March.

It will also be asked to sign off plans for a separate 6.83m pot of funding for highways which has come via the Department for Transport.

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 0800 169 1830

See Also

Related Internet Links
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 7. Kazakhstan and the EU have discussed the issue of initialing the "Agreement between the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the European Union on certain aspects of air transport" (horizontal agreement), Trend reports.

The discussions took place during a meeting between the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Committee of the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan, Tompiyeva Saltanat, and the EU Ambassador, Kestutis Jankauskas.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the progress being made in preparation for the agreement's initialing.



Tompiyeva Saltanat stated that the initialing and subsequent signing of the horizontal agreement is a key goal in the Committee's work, as it will boost economic, business, and cultural cooperation between Kazakhstan and EU nations.



Following the discussion, the parties agreed to continue working on initialing the horizontal agreement.



The "horizontal agreement" ensures that all air carriers in the 27 EU member states have equal possibilities to operate air transport services on agreed-upon routes.

In the meantime, Kazakhstan has established international flights with 28 countries by the end of 2023. Flights are operated on 108 routes with a frequency of 550 flights per week by 4 Kazakh and 30 foreign air carriers.

In 2023, flights were opened and resumed on 23 routes to 13 countries: Lahore, Muscat, Manama, Delhi, Sharm El Sheikh, Beijing, Xi'an, Urumqi, Samarkand, Baku, Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Bishkek, Ankara, Hangzhou, and Jeddah.

In addition, the largest low-cost airline in Southeast Asia, AirAsia, announced the launch of direct flights between Almaty and Kuala Lumpur in March 2024.
In the weeks since the alleged murder of Laken Riley, the Clarke County Sheriffs Office has faced what they call ongoing speculation regarding how they process undocumented arrestees and inmates.

Jose Antonio Ibarra and his brother Diego Ibarra, both of whom are undocumented migrants from Venezuela, were both living in Athens-Clarke County.

While Jose Ibarra is accused of murdering Riley, his brother Diego Ibarra was reported to have been cited and detained on multiple occasions by the Athens-Clarke Police Department.

The sheriffs office said that speculation about their policies and procedures in relation to Diego Ibarras status had prompted a clarification to their current policies as a result of his remaining out of custody while awaiting his asylum hearing, scheduled for the end of April.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

In the wake of Rileys death, Clarke County Sheriff John Q. Williams said he and his office would like to respectfully offer their condolences to the Riley family, then said they wanted to clarify their position on detention policies for foreign nationals booked into custody at the Clark County Jail.

As previously reported by Channel 2 Action News, both of the Ibarras were accused of shoplifting, while Diego Ibarra was also detained on separate occasions for driving under the influence.

Channel 2s Courtney Francisco spoke exclusively with Sean Ervin, the Field Operations Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Atlanta about detainer policies, following the news of the Ibarras history and citations by law enforcement in Athens.

Ervin said not all law enforcement agencies honor detainer requests by ICE.

As previously reported by Channel 2 Action News, authorities said Diego Ibarra was in the country illegally and was arrested twice, including by federal authorities, when he crossed the border. Each time, he was released.

RELATED STORIES:

The Clark County sheriffs office said they had reviewed and updated their detention policy back in 2018, based at the time on a review of public input, best practices, relevant case law and input from legal counsel.

The sheriffs office updated their policy to decline requests from ICE for detainers to hold inmates because those detainers are not signed by a judge. The law requires us to notify ICE whenever we book someone either known or suspected to be a foreign nation, which the office said their policy reflects.

However, the sheriffs office said ICE detainers are requests, not a court order or warrant. Holding a person based solely on an ICE detainer constitutes a warrantless arrest. The policy does allow for detaining if a warrant or court order signed by a judge is issued. Whenever ICE is able to pick up an undocumented person before the time they would have been able to bond out or otherwise be lawfully released, the Sheriffs Office does not prevent them from doing so. When Sheriff Williams took office in 2021, we maintained this policy.

Discussing specifics related to the Riley death, the sheriffs office said Jose Ibarra, the murder suspect, had never been arrested in Athens-Clarke County or the state of Georgia. At no time was Jose Ibarra detained by CCSO before his arrest for the murder of Laken Riley. The Sheriffs Offices first contact with him was when he was charged with the murder and he is currently confined and held with no bail.

Additionally, the sheriffs office wanted to clarify the responsibilities of their agency.

It is important to note that the Clarke County Sheriffs Office is not a full-service law enforcement agency. Under Section 4-105 of the Charter of Athens-Clarke County, [t]he Sheriff shall be responsible for the operation of the jail, the transport of prisoners, the service of process and such other duties being provided on the effective date of the Charter. Thus, the Clarke County Sheriffs Office does not typically handle duties such as response to 9-1-1 calls and routine patrols, the sheriffs office said in a statement.

However, while the sheriffs office said the case had called attention to some record-keeping practices that could be improved to help identify and track our responses to any interactions with subjects determined to be undocumented. The stakes involved are of the highest importance. As a result, we are strengthening our policy and will continue to work to uphold all local, state, and federal laws.

Georgia Rep. Mike Collins, who represents the district Athens is in, sponsored legislation in U.S. Congress to give ICE more tools to handle immigration issues involving cited detainees and other crimes.

The legislation passed the U.S. House with bipartisan support Thursday.

Separately, a Georgia bill in the General Assembly, House Bill 1105, also passed, which allows Georgia officers to arrest anyone suspected of violating immigration laws in the state.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
The Nassau County Sheriffs Office announced another drug house was shut down after serving a warrant on Wednesday.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

The Joint Narcotics Task Force served the warrant at a home located on Di Charia Street in Yulee.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

One suspect, Shelley Renee Crider, was arrested and charged with a litany of drug offenses. Some included, but werent limited to, three counts of sale of methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a church, possession of meth within 1,000 feet of a church, and possession of drugs without a prescription.

Shelley Renee Crider, Yulee, was arrested and charged with several drug offences.

Sheriff Bill Leeper said that thanks to this investigation, we are able to get more dangerous drugs off our streets and away from our community.

Its been a busy 2024 for NCSO.

Action News Jax first reported in December 2022 on a nuisance home in Fernandina Beach and the push from neighbors to see a cleanup.

Over two years later that same home was shut down for being a notorious drug house.

RELATED: Authorities shut down drug house in Fernandina Beach

Multiple agencies, including Code Enforcement, Law Enforcement, and various departments within Nassau Countys administration joined forces to devise strategies to tackle the longstanding issue.

On the morning of Feb. 9, NCSOs narcotics unit, in partnership with the Fernandina Beach Police Department, formally closed the drug house on Pine Road.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
SILVER LAKE (KSNT)  Donice Wade has worked at Wehners Thriftway in Silver Lake since 2001. As lead cashier, shes been able to form relationships with her co-workers and shoppers for over 13 years.

On Jan. 13, Wehners announced that the Silver Lake location would be closing its doors. Wade told community members she would continue to work for the store by commuting to the Rossville location. When former Wehners employee, Christy Hanson, heard the news, she took to action alongside her small-town community.

Hanson organized a fundraiser that would help Wade replace old parts in her car. The fundraiser is called, Do Nice for Donice.

Shes always on our hearts and our minds, and part of our family, Hanson said.

I-470 bridge demolition schedule, traffic disruptions announced

This is not the first time Silver Lake has rallied around Wade. Ten years ago, when Wade suffered from medical issues, the community placed food basket donations around Wehners that helped her to take a needed break from the register.

Theres always been a lot of community pride in Silver Lake. Weve always been about helping your neighbors, helping your friends, and watching out for each other, Wade said.

There has been an account created at Stockgrowers Bank in Silver Lake to donate.

For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools student earned nationwide recognition as the Jewish Teen Leader of the Year at the International CTeen Shabbaton summit held in New York City last month.

Community stands in solidarity at Jewish Community Center

Aliya Martin, a senior at Providence High School, spearheaded the Charlotte CTeen chapter and contributed to the community, which set her apart from hundreds of thousands of Jewish teens worldwide, officials said.

Aliya Martin was named Jewish Teen Leader of the Year at the CTeen Shabbaton Summit held in February in New York City.

To me, being the Jewish Teen Leader of the Year means being a vocal advocate for the Jewish community and for Israel, Martin told Channel 9. It is about being proud of my Jewish identity and defending it while simultaneously uplifting teens around me to feel that same pride.

Martin founded a Jewish culture club at Providence to celebrate Jewish holidays with Jewish and non-Jewish students.

Coming out of the CTeen Summit, I aspire to continue the unity that was formed within the teens from our Charlotte group and expand that to the larger Charlotte Jewish community, she said. That unity equates to strength and uplifting our morals during more trying times, and I am confident that the Jewish pride we exhibit on our trip will continue.

Martins leaders and mentors praised the positive impact she has had on her peers.

Aliyas passion and dedication to fostering a vibrant Jewish community are truly inspirational, said Rabbi Levi Cohen. Her efforts have not only strengthened Jewish identity among local teens but have also created a welcoming space for celebrating our heritage.

More than 3,000 Jewish teens from 30 countries will converge on New York City this weekend for the annual CTeen International Summit, which included a mega post-Shabbat rally in Times Square and a concert featuring the Jewish rapper Nissim Black.

CTeen Charlotte is part of the Chabad Teen Network, the worlds largest network of Jewish teenagers, which encompasses over 730 chapters in 58 countries across six continents.

This year, 3,000 teens from 54 countries went to the CT Summit in New York City between Feb. 22 and Feb. 25. They were joined by 200 Israeli peers, including Nova massacre survivors.

VIDEO: Jewish Federation of Charlotte travels to Israel
This photo provided by Cole Brauer Ocean Racing shows Brauer as she became the first American woman to race nonstop around the world by herself when she arrived Thursday, March 7, 2024, in A Coruna, Spain. (James Tomlinson/Cole Brauer Ocean Racing via AP)

A CORUNA, Spain (AP)  Alone, Cole Brauer braved three oceans and the elements as she navigated her sailboat for months.

When she and her 40-foot (12.2-meter) sailboat arrived Thursday in A Coruna, Spain, the 29-year-old became the first American woman to race nonstop around the world by herself, traveling across about 30,000 miles (48,280 kilometers).

Brauer, all 5-foot-2 (1.6-meter) and 100 pounds (45.4 kilograms) of her, is one of more than a dozen sailors competing in the Global Solo Challenge. Brauer was the youngest and only woman in the group that set sail in October from A Coruna.

The starts were staggered. Brauer took off Oct. 29. As of Thursday, some in the field had dropped out of the race.

The race took Brauer south along the west coast of Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope and then eastward toward Australia. From there, she continued east where Brauer faced the unpredictable, treacherous and deadly Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America before continuing northeast across the Atlantic Ocean toward Spain.

The race took her 130 days to complete.

This is really cool and so overwhelming in every sense of the word, NBC News reported Brauer saying before drinking Champagne from her trophy Thursday while being celebrated by family and fans.

While Brauer is the first American woman to race around the globe alone by sea, she is not first woman to do so. Polish sailor Krystina Chojnowska-Liskiewicz finished her 401-day voyage around the globe on April 21, 1978, according to online sailing sites.

Kay Cottee of Australia was the first woman to achieve the feat nonstop, sailing off from Sydney Harbor in Australia in November 1987 and returning 189 days later.

The global voyage is not an easy one, even on a vessel with a full crew.

Solo sailors, you have to be able to do everything," Brauer told the NBC Today show Thursday. "You need to be able to take care of yourself. You need to be able to get up, even when youre so exhausted. And you have to be able to fix everything on the boat.

Satellite communications allowed Brauer to stay in touch with her racing team and connect with fans on social media, where she posted videos from the race and her boat, First Light.

Along the way she encountered 30-foot (9.1-meter) waves that tossed her about the boat, according to NBC News.

She injured a rib and even gave herself an IV to fend off dehydration.

Sailing solo means not just being a skipper but a project manager, said Marco Nannini, the race's organizer. That means steering the vessel, making repairs, knowing the weather and keeping yourself healthy, he said.

The biggest asset is your mental strength, not the physical one, Nannini said. Cole is showing everyone that.

One of Brauer's social media posts from Dec. 8 showed her frustration.

I havent really had the bandwidth to get into everything thats been going on the past 48 hours, but the short version is the autopilot has been acting up again and I needed to replace some parts and do a rudder recalibration, she wrote. For once the light air is actually helping, but its been exhausting, and Im sore and tired.

Its all part of the journey, and Im sure Ill be feeling better once the work is done and Ive gotten some sleep, Brauer added. But right now things are tough.

But she's handled the tough, even though some in the sport believed it wouldn't be possible due to her gender and small frame.

I push so much harder when someones like, no, you cant do that, or youre too small, Brauer said.

It would be amazing if there was just one other girl that saw me and said Oh, I can do that, too,' she added.

___

This story has been updated to remove an erroneous reference to Brauer being the first American woman to circumnavigate the globe alone in a sailboat.
College students love social media. But one app especially strikes their fancy. It's called Sidechat and it lets them gossip anonymously about all the latest campus drama. All they have to do is fork over their school email address.

Colleges, on the other hand, dont love Sidechat so much. And members of Congress are increasingly alarmed by its content.

A sort of virtual quad where college students across the country sound off on just about everything, Sidechat has played a central role in the House education committees ongoing probes into antisemitism at a handful of schools, including the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University in New York City.

Last month, when the committee slapped Harvard with a subpoena  the first time the legislative body has issued such a demand to a university  Sidechat played a big role in that request. Lawmakers ordered the college to round up antisemitic posts on the social media platform.

Read more: Harvard, under fire for campus antisemitism, hit with subpoenas in House GOP probe

Administrators at Harvard and leaders at the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish anti-hate organization, sat down separately with the executives from Sidechat in recent months, urging the company to crack down on hateful content as college campuses nationwide devolved into turmoil over the Israel-Hamas war.

Read more: Israel-Hamas war stirs free-speech battles at college campuses across US

The company has said its working on it. Responding to the House subpoena this week, Harvard told the committee that Sidechat agreed to limit app users to just undergraduates on the Ivy League campus. The companys top brass assured the university its content moderation guidelines were being strictly enforced.

The Israel-Hamas war upended college campuses across the country last fall.

The controversy shines a spotlight on the influential platform, which has largely tried to evade scrutiny since its launch about two years ago. The app's role in allowing users to whip up hate on college campuses, largely without significant consequences for the instigators, has forced some school administrators to take a more hands-on approach than they're used to in policing its usage.

The phenomenon is raising larger questions, too. On an anonymous app, can students violate the real-life policies of the schools they attend? Should colleges do more to prevent students from virtually and anonymously violating campus rules? And if universities could monitor what students are saying, how anonymous is the app, really?

Lawmakers in Washington havent held the social media companys feet to the fire in the same way they did a trio of university presidents. Yet it has become clear that some people in Congress dont like what theyre seeing  and they believe schools share the blame for allowing hateful posts to continue.

The use of Sidechat on college campuses has allowed students, faculty, and staff to post antisemitic hate anonymously, said Nick Barley, a spokesperson for the GOP-led House education committee, in a recent statement. The Committee is rightly asking universities within the scope of its antisemitism investigation about how they are responding to this issue.

In an email to USA TODAY, Sidechat cofounder Sebastian Gil said the app has a team of 30 content moderators who work "24/7" reviewing posts. He said accounts are banned after a single severe violation of the platforms community guidelines. Those rules require accounts to be suspended and banned if they spread anything that qualifies as hate speech under a Racism and Bigotry provision.

Despite the scrutiny, the company has not turned over user information to Congress or the universities, and they have yet to ask for it, even in cases where officials say discriminatory posts caused problems.

We recognize these are difficult times on campuses and were committed to ensuring Sidechat remains a safe environment for students, the app's cofounder wrote.

What is Sidechat?

College campuses have long been the locus of popular social media apps. Facebook was started at Harvard as a means for college students to interact on the nascent web.

Young people eventually soured on Facebook as it grew more popular with the general public. Other social media platforms, like Instagram and Snapchat, later joined the fray. But collegegoers seemed to have a penchant for keeping their names out of their hottest takes.

Then came Yik Yak, an anonymous gossip app that exploded among young people about a decade ago. The social network let people post namelessly on a forum that included anyone within a 1.5-mile radius of a user. It had millions of monthly users in 2014.

But by 2017, it had fallen out of fashion, beset by problems with hate speech and violent threats. Some schools even blocked wireless access to it. The app was so ostracized that it even shut down for a few years before quietly reentering the App Store in 2021.

In 2022, Sidechat rolled out on several Ivy League campuses. Similar to Yik Yak, the app let people post anonymously. Except unlike its predecessor, the new app promised to build more intimate communities. Rather than being location-focused, users only needed to be affiliated with a college. The app asked users to verify their school email addresses to create an account.

Students can opine about anything on Sidechat, from national politics to the menu options at the dining hall. That mixture of different topics, combined with the app's anonymity and intimacy, encourages lots of unfiltered opinions, said Kenneth Joseph, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the University at Buffalo who studies social media.

"This is a place where people feel comfortable saying things they might not otherwise say," Joseph said. "It's that kind of perfect storm."

Sidechat's next move was to pay students like T.K. Monford, a 21-year-old junior at Brown University, to promote the platform among their peers. Monford was recruited as an ambassador by the company when the app launched on his Rhode Island campus in March 2022.

Its actually become a bigger part of campus than I think I ever expected, he told USA TODAY.

Last year, Sidechat took over Yik Yak, merging the companies under the same app developer. While Sidechat's executives hoped to replicate some of the success of Yik Yak, they wanted to avoid the same issues with hate speech and lack of control that doomed the predecessor.

Then came a war on the other side of the world, and a new set of challenges.

A 'disturbing rise' in hate speech

Unlike on other social networks, posts on Sidechat arent filtered before they go public. Thats a big difference from forums like Reddit, where moderators approve posts before theyre shared more widely.

In the weeks after Hamas Oct. 7 attack in Israel, Sidechat spilled over with hateful content. Harvard reported a disturbing rise in antisemitic posts. And there were similar reports on other campuses.

In a nationwide survey of more than 5,000 college students conducted by the ADL before and after the Hamas attacks, roughly one in 10 students reported recently seeing someone associated with their university post something anti-Jewish on social media.

Sidechat seemed to offer a glimpse into what some people were saying in unsupervised spaces.

On many campuses, the norms against antisemitism have been totally eradicated, said Adam Neufeld, a senior vice president and the chief impact officer at the ADL.

Neufeld said his organization met with Gil, the top official at Sidechat, as the situation with posts on the app  and on physical college campuses  worsened. They urged him to release more detailed community guidelines, with specific examples of what types of content violate its policies.

Sidechat hasn't done that. But the company insists that antisemitism, racism and bigotry "have no place" on the platform.

Until the company does a better job moderating content on the app, Neufeld said colleges must make an effort to work more closely with Sidechat. School email addresses, after all, are the foundation of its business model, he said.

What Id like to see is a much stronger partnership between Sidechat and schools, he said, so that this does not become the loophole by which Jews and other historically marginalized populations are harassed online in ways that protect the harasser.

Zachary Schermele covers education and breaking news for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Anonymous campus app Sidechat has a hate speech problem, critics say
DENVER (KDVR)  Colorado senators are considering a bill that would prohibit drivers operating commercial vehicles, like semitractors, from driving in the left lanes on Interstate 70 in certain areas.

Senate Bill 100, Commercial Vehicle Highway Safety Measures, passed from the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee and is headed to the Appropriations Committee before it goes to the full Senate.

3 injured in crash that caused hazmat spill on I-25 and Happy Canyon

The measure as originally introduced would have made it a traffic offense for any commercial vehicle to be driving in the farthest left lane on I-70 between milepost 116 in Glenwood Springs and milepost 259 in Morrison, except to pass a vehicle driving under the posted speed limit. However, there have been several amendments to the bill text.

The amendments will make the same left lane requirements, but only in certain areas of I-70, and not for the full 143-mile stretch originally defined.

Those areas are:

Between milepost 116 in Glenwood Springs and milepost 131 in Glenwood Canyon

Between milepost 180 in Vail and milepost 189 in Vail Pass

Between milepost 208 in Silverthorne and milepost 213 at the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnel

Between milepost 222 in Bakerville and milepost 228 at the Georgetown Hill

Semitractors that drive in the left lane in those areas would be committing a class A traffic infraction if the bill as amended is passed.

FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox

The bill would also double the fines and surcharges for commercial motor vehicle drivers who commit speeding violations in a heightened speed limit enforcement zone. The bill says this is because of safety concerns related to commercial motor vehicle drivers exceeding the posted speed limits.

The bill also would allow the Colorado Department of Transportation to require that all commercial vehicle drivers have chains on Interstate 25 and any interstate, as well as U.S. highways and state highways west of I-25.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
DENVER (KDVR)  After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization are legally considered children, it has led to a nationwide conversation  including one in Colorado.

On Feb. 8, Colorado House Bill 24-1224, Personhood of Living Unborn Human Child, was introduced by Rep. Scott Bottoms, the main sponsor and a Republican from El Paso County.

Democratic lawmakers ramp up efforts to protect IVF

The bill summary reads as follows:

The bill defines person to include a living unborn human child at any stage of development, from fertilization at the fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum, as person relates to a private right of action and neglect provisions and current homicide and assault provisions. The bill declares that any existing state law relating to prenatal neglect, homicide, or assault, or regulating abortion or abortion facilities, is superseded to the extent it conflicts with or is inconsistent with the bill. The bill states that the defense of duress is available for an offense of murder in the first degree if the victim is a living unborn human child and the defendant is the childs mother. The bill authorizes the state to disregard any federal court decision that purports to enjoin or void the bill and subjects a Colorado judge to impeachment or removal if the judge purports to enjoin, stay, overrule, or void the requirement. HB24-1224

The bill aims to define a living person as an unborn child in any stage of development, including through IVF. The proposed bill would then subject the childs mother to murder charges if she gets an abortion, and a judge who overrules could be impeached.

The bill was postponed indefinitely on March 4 in an 8-3 vote by the State, Civic, Military and Veterans Affairs committee.

Abortion and IVF treatments are safe, legal, and protected in Colorado  we will not let Republicans legislate away our fundamental rights, state Rep. Jenny Willford, a Democrat from Adams County, said in a press release.

Decisions around IVF treatment are still circling the nation.

Meanwhile, Democrats worry the recent Alabama ruling threatens the practice and want to protect it at the federal level. Republicans in Congress are blocking legislation that aims to protect access to IVF.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 7. An agreement was signed between the government of Kazakhstan and the government of Saudi Arabia on the implementation of a joint project to build a wind power plant, Trend reports.

The corresponding agreement was signed following a meeting between President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud.

Mohammed Abunayyan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi company ACWA Power, who was present at the meeting, spoke about the prospects of the joint investment project, as well as plans for interaction with Kazakhstan in the field of green energy.

The joint project involves the construction of a 1 GW wind power plant in the Zhetysu region.

In July 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding on the development of electricity and renewable energy was signed between the Kazakh Ministry of Energy and ACWA Power Company.

In March 2023, an agreement on the principles of implementing joint projects was signed between the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan, the Samruk-Kazyna Kazakh National Welfare Fund, and ACWA Power Company.

According to the agreement, the parties will collaborate on the construction of a 1 GW wind power plant in the Zhetysu region, near the Dzungarian Gate. The construction of the wind power plant is scheduled to commence in the summer of 2025.
AURORA, Colo. (KDVR)  A fearless Aurora veteran plans to jump from an airplane at age 75 to pay tribute to local Marines and help raise money for a Colorado veterans memorial.

And what is Paula Sarlls doing to prepare for the jump?

I pray a lot, she joked.

It will not be the first jump for Sarlls. She also went skydiving 12 years ago.

Anybody can do it. Its not hard. You just gotta make that first little inch out of the plane, she told FOX31.

Golden veterans memorial needs repairs

Sarlls is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, having served from 1967 to 1971. And she wants to honor a group of other Colorado Marine Corps veterans who mean the world to her, like Iwo Jima survivors Jim Blane and Don Whipple.

Don Whipple is the veteran who inspired me to skydive. And he did it when he was 90, and I thought, well, now I can do it when Im 90. But I dont want to wait that long, Sarlls joked.

She isnt jumping just for fun. Shes doing it as a fundraiser for a veterans memorial in Golden. Sarlls is President of the USMC Memorial Foundation, and theyre in the middle of a costly renovation and expansion project.

Colorado WWII POW soldier identified over 80 years after death

Visitors to the memorial at Colfax Avenue and U.S. 6 will notice that there are crumbling walls and cracks in the concrete.

And we just thought this would be a great way to maybe raise some funds and help us maybe maintain the memorial, and you know, raise some more money for the remodel project, Sarlls said.

Paula Sarlls tandem skydives

The plan to revamp the memorial is ambitious. When the project is finished, theyre planning for an Honor Plaza, a big new entry arch crowned with the Marine Corps emblem, a walk of valor and a memorial wall. They intend for it to be a gathering place to honor and remember the service and sacrifice of Coloradans who donned the uniform.

More from FOX31 Serving Those Who Serve

And if it takes jumping out of an airplane to jumpstart donations, Sarlls is more than willing  especially if it works out like it did the first time she went skydiving.

They just made it so easy and so nice, it was spectacular, she said.

The jump is scheduled for Saturday morning, March 16, at Mile-Hi Skydiving Center in Longmont. Anyone interested in donating to the USMC Memorial Foundation can visit their website.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
Beset by a serious illness and out on medical leave, Columbus District Attorney Stacey Jackson has decided not to run for a second term.

Jackson, 49, was appointed district attorney by Gov. Brian Kemp in May 2022. The office is up for election this year, and qualifying ends Friday at noon.

Don Kelly, now acting district attorney for the six-county Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit based in Muscogee County, said he qualified for the office Thursday as a Republican.

The party primary will be May 21, and the General Election will be Nov. 5.

Kelly said in a phone call with the Ledger-Enquirer that he met with Jackson and his parents Laura and Arnold Jackson on Wednesday, and they told him Jackson was too ill to run for election.

I am disappointed that Mr. Jackson is not able to run in this election, Kelly said in a later news release. We started the task of rebuilding the district attorneys office together, and I plan to continue and build upon his solid record of service to the citizens of our circuit. It is a record of accomplishment in which Mr. Jackson and his family can take immense pride.

Kelly, a 58-year-old Columbus native, has 22 years of experience as a prosecutor, most of it in the local circuit.

Then-Senior Assistant District Attorney Don Kelly gives an opening statement in a Columbus murder trial before Judge Maureen Gottfried.

I will continue to focus on public safety, especially violent crimes, by holding those who commit crimes in our circuit responsible for their actions, he said in the news release. I believe that my experience as a career prosecutor and my knowledge of our circuit make me uniquely qualified to lead the office as we deal with the surge in violent crime that followed the last election.

Kelly was Jacksons chief assistant district attorney before Jackson went on medical leave Nov. 27.

Kelly graduated from Hardaway High School, the University of Georgia, and Georgia State University College of Law.

He said Jackson will remain district attorney as the election proceeds, his term in office concluding at the end of the year.

Kelly said that though Jackson is on medical leave, he is at home, and communicating with family and friends. The district attorneys office has had to deal with widespread rumors of Jacksons demise.

The office in an online post had to clarify his condition this week, writing, Jackson has been under medical care, but he is very much still living. Please be respectful of Mr. Jackson, his office, and his family. Do not spread these rumors.

Jackson, a native of Harris County, was appointed to the post after chaos in the local district attorneys office led to the removal of former District Attorney Mark Jones, who in November 2021 pleaded guilty to misconduct. The governor suspended Jones after just 10 months in office.

Jones won election in 2020, defeating incumbent Julia Slater in the Democratic Primary with no further opposition.

Besides Muscogee, the judicial circuit includes the counties of Harris, Talbot, Taylor, Chattahoochee and Marion.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  A father and son who lead a drug trafficking scheme in Columbus have been sentenced to prison after selling methamphetamine to undercover agents.

Eric Dewayne Turner Jr., 33, was sentenced in federal court on Wednesday to eight years in prison for possessing and distributing the narcotics, according to Kenneth Parker, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. His father, Eric Dewayne Turner Sr., 50, pleaded guilty in May last year and was sentenced on Jan. 16 to 24 years in prison.

Turner Sr. led the drug trafficking organization and owned a trap house in the 1400 block of East 22nd Ave. in Columbus, court records show. He also had an apartment inside The Reserve at Sharon Wood Apartments where he distributed illicit narcotics.

Parker said Turner Sr. sold large amounts of meth to undercover agents on four occasions. The controlled purchases, plus a fifth transaction that was not completed, involved nearly eight kilograms of meth.

In addition to four counts of distributing meth, Turner Sr. pleaded guilty to one count of possessing with intent to distribute the drug and one count of illegally possessing a firearm after a prior felony conviction.

Turner Jr. conspired with his father from September 2022 through January 2023 and personally participated in two of the drug transactions, Parker said. He transported the packages of meth for his father to sell to the undercover agents.

When Turner Jr. was arrested, he possessed more than $16,000 in suspected drug trafficking funds, Parker noted.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
A 30-year-old woman was arrested after she allegedly pointed a gun and threatened employees at a Georgia Taco Bell.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

On Monday, around 9:15 a.m., Savannah police were called to the Taco Bell on New Jesup Highway regarding a person with a gun.

When officers arrived, they spoke with two employees who stated a woman, later identified as Lindsay Stansberry, banged on a window with a gun and threatened to kill one of them.

According to police, employees said Stansberry walked up to the restaurant doors and was motioned for her to go around to the drive-thru to pick up her DoorDash order.

Stansberry then got back into her vehicle and drove through the drive-thru. The employees allegedly told Stansberry that they did not see a DoorDash order in their system.

TRENDING STORIES:

Officers said the employees and Stansberry began to exchange words. Stansberry allegedly told the employees to come outside.

Savannah authorities said the video showed when the employees opened the door and exchanged words with Stansberry. The employees then went back inside and shut the door.

The video then shows Stansberry driving away from Taco Bell, stopping at the stop sign, and then walking up to the window, banging on it and pointing it in the direction of inside the restaurant where the [employees] were. Stansberry then gets in her car and leaves.

Stansberry was arrested and charged with aggravated assault. She was taken to the Glynn County Detention Center.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:




TOPEKA (KSNT)  State senators from Missouri and Kansas are joining forces in a call for answers from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) on recent mail delays from the Kansas City area.

A coalition consisting of Kansas Senators Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran along with Missouri Senators Eric Schmitt and Josh Hawley have signed on to a joint letter on Thursday, March 7 directed to the USPS. The letter, addressed to USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, asks for an explanation from the mail delivery service on service delays in the greater Kansas City area.

We write today to express both concern and frustration over persistent and continued delays in mail service to the residents of the greater Kansas City Metro area. According to the U.S. Postal Services own metrics, delivery performance of all classes of mail in the Kansas-Missouri region lags far behind national performance data, indicating substantial and unique issues with the facilities that serve this region. Letter excerpt

KDOL unveils innovative website for Kansas labor market

27 News reached out to the USPS for comment on this situation. USPS spokesperson Mark Inglett said a direct response to the senators letter will be given once the letter is received.

Recent mail delivery delays prompted homeowners in an Overland Park neighborhood in January to air their frustrations to FOX4s news team. The homeowners complained of inconsistent deliveries and long delays, leading to bills not being paid.

The USPS regularly updates its website with reports of service issues and delays. You can check to see if your area is experiencing delivery issues by clicking here.

To read the full letter submitted to DeJoy by the Kansas and Missouri senators, click here or see the document below:

2.23.24 KC Metro USPS With Signatures by Matthew Self on Scribd

This embedded content is not available in your region.

For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. To download our Storm Track Weather App, click here.

Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  Democrats and Republicans in Congress are teaming up to take on TikTok.

A new bipartisan bill threatens to ban the popular social media app in the U.S. unless it completely removes itself from its Chinese-based parent company.

Think of this as a surgery designed to remove the tumor and thereby save the patient, said U.S. Rep Mike Gallagher, (R-Wis.)

Its a choice for ByteDance, said U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, (D-Ill.).

Krishnamoorthi and Gallagher warn the Chinese Communist Party has too much influence over ByteDance, which owns TikTok. During the bills unveiling Wednesday, Krishnamoorthi showed how its editor-in-chief is also a member of the CCP.

So whenever ByteDance says its not controlled by the CCP, thats false, he said.

Many other lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, (R-Texas), agree that ByteDances ownership of TikTok threatens national security, especially since the app has become a major news source for users.

We should have technology like this not being controlled by the CCP or our adversaries, Roy said.

However, some lawmakers worry this bill wont hold up in court because it targets a specific company.

This is about that ownership structure and that framework, not about going after a particular company, Gallagher said.

Still, TikTok calls the bill an outright ban. A company spokesperson said it would violate Americans First Amendment rights and hurt small businesses ability to grow.

This bill is not a ban, Krishnamoorthi said.

We dont see this as banning these apps, said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Thats not what this is.

But it is complicated. The White House helped craft the bill, and President Biden supports it. However, his reelection campaign also recently got on TikTok.

A House committee plans to give the bill its first vote Thursday. If passed and signed into law, ByteDance would have roughly six months to divest from TikTok.

Previous efforts in Congress to implement an outright ban on TikTok didnt have White House backing.

Lawmakers have passed legislation that now bans the app from government phones.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said congressional inaction on Ukraine aid was "nothing short of a gift to Putin' during her remarks to German officials. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

March 7 (UPI) -- In remarks delivered during a meeting with Germany's vice chancellor, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said congressional obstruction of Ukraine aid is "nothing short of a gift" for Vladimir Putin.

"In addition to the EU's approval for 50 billion euros in economic aid for Ukraine, EU member states like Germany are also our partners in providing Ukraine bilateral security, economic, and humanitarian support," Yellen said, according to a readout from the Treasury Department Thursday regarding her meeting with German Vice Chancellor and Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck.

Saying Ukrainian forces were rationing ammunition, Yellen called on congressional Republicans to stop obstructing Ukraine aid.

"As Congress gathers for the President's State of the Union address tonight, I once again urge Speaker Johnson to swiftly to pass the Senate's bipartisan national security supplemental to provide Ukraine with vital military and economic assistance," Yellen said.

Yellen said Congress was emboldening U.S. adversaries.

"Congressional inaction is nothing short of a gift to Putin, Iran and other adversaries that stand against America and its allies," Yellen said.

Yellen also praised Russian citizens who came out to mourn opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian penal colony under mysterious circumstances.

"Last week, we witnessed the courage of thousands of Russian people who stood up to Putin and took to the streets to mourn the death of Alexei Navalny," Yellen said.

In February, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer visited Ukraine with a delegation of lawmaker to express solidarity and call for support.
Constance Marten gave evidence at her trial at the Old Bailey on Thursday

Constance Marten has denied harming her newborn baby girl and told a jury she "did nothing but show her love".

Giving evidence in court, Ms Marten said she believed her baby died on 9 or 10 January last year and that she wondered if it was something she "will ever move on from".

Ms Marten, 36, and partner Mark Gordon, 49, both deny the manslaughter by gross negligence of their daughter Victoria.

Her body was found in a Lidl bag in a shed in Brighton on 1 March.

Ms Marten and Mr Gordon had allegedly been living in a tent in wintry conditions on the South Downs.

On Thursday, Ms Marten wept in the witness box as she gave evidence in her defence - after Mr Gordon declined the opportunity earlier in the week.

She insisted that she and Mr Gordon loved their children "more than anything in the world" and were concerned about future access to their other four children.

Ms Marten described being in "shock" and "despair" after discovering her daughter had died.

Defence barrister Francis FitzGibbon KC asked her: "Did you do anything to harm baby Victoria?"

Ms Marten replied: "Absolutely not."

Mr FitzGibbon said: "Did you do anything cruel to baby Victoria?"

Ms Marten said: "No. I did nothing but show her love."

'I gave her the best that any mother would'

She told jurors she did not expose her baby to cold or allow her to get too hot so far as she was aware.

Mr FitzGibbon said: "So far as you are concerned, did you give her anything less than the proper care you thought she deserved?"

Ms Marten replied: "I gave her the best that any mother would, yeah."

Asked later by her barrister if the tent was a good place for a baby, she added: "Obviously it would be preferable to be in a house, that's just common sense, but (at) no point did I think she was at danger our whole reason for being in the tent was for Victoria she was very well protected and looked after."

Referring to her daughter's death, she said: "I do not think it is anything I will ever move on from."

She said she felt "guilty", adding: "I think initially it was disbelief, shock, intense grief."

The jury heard from an emotional Ms Marten that she found Victoria dead in her jacket when she woke up.

She said she woke her partner and they tried to resuscitate Victoria but could not.

"I immediately panicked", Ms Marten told the court.

"They'd have a field day out of this, the media, the press, social services, everyone, because she was in my care, I panicked and thought how am I going to get my other kids back now that Victoria has passed away."

The pair later considered cremating their daughter, but "couldn't do it", she added, explaining that she wrapped Victoria in her black scarf, "said some parting words to her, and then placed her in the bag for life."

Greater Manchester Police had launched a nationwide search after a placenta was found in the couple's burnt-out car by the motorway near Bolton, Greater Manchester, on 5 January 2023.

Constance Marten and Mark Gordon deny all the charges.

It is alleged the defendants went on the run because they wanted to keep their daughter, after four other children were taken into care.

Ms Marten said that the family court decision to remove her first four children was "one of the most disgraceful cases, if anyone looked at it objectively from the outside".

Asked if she had ever harmed any of her children, she started crying and said: "Mark and I love our kids more than anything in the world.

"So I am pretty angry that we had to go through this process. There is literally nothing I wouldn't do for my children."

Days after the pair were arrested on 27 February, Victoria's badly decomposed body was found in a Lidl bag inside an allotment shed in Brighton, East Sussex.

While the cause of her death is "unascertained", jurors have heard she could have died from the cold or co-sleeping.

Ms Marten told police Victoria died when she fell asleep in the tent while holding her under her jacket.

The court has heard Ms Marten had previously been warned by social workers of the risks of falling asleep with the baby on her and that a tent would be "wholly inappropriate for a baby to live in".

Questioned about events on January 7, two or three days before Ms Marten said Victoria died, the defendant suggested the baby was in good health.

But, she added: "Mark and I were in a state of panic with all the media attention and not knowing what to do. I became quite hyper-vigilant and thought everyone knew who we were."

Describing herself as "extremely stressed", she said the couple were concerned about officers taking Victoria away.

Mr FitzGibbon asked her why she and Mr Gordon left the scene of the car fire days earlier.

She replied: "Because I knew that if the fire brigade came then the police would I was just thinking about keeping Victoria with us and saving her so we just fled straight away."

Ms Marten said it did not occur to her to seek help because "everything was fine with (Victoria)".

Asked about January 8, when the trio arrived in Newhaven, she said she did not remember the day being "particularly cold".

Addressing his client, Mr FitzGibbon said: "Did you have a concern at that time that the weather might have an effect on Victoria?"

"Of course, because she was my baby and I worry about her all the time", Ms Marten replied.

"If I thought for one second the cold would affect then we wouldn't be staying in that position."

She added that she thought they had enough to keep Victoria warm.

Describing her early life, Ms Marten told jurors she came from a wealthy family and was privately educated before studying Arabic at Leeds University.

Ms Marten said she and Mr Gordon met in a shop selling incense in 2014 and got married in Peru two years later in a ceremony not legally binding in the UK.

She told jurors that she had "wanted a conventional life but I have had great difficulty with my wider family".

She said Gordon did not meet her relatives as the relationship with her family had "broken down" and there was a "long history of issues".

When pregnant with her first child in 2017, Ms Marten said she was trying to flee her family who had hired a private detective after she spoke out about her grandmother's will.

She was living in a tent in Wales with Mr Gordon and when the child was born she gave a false name in hospital and asked social services for help.

'Made a bet with the devil'

"I feel like I made a bet with the devil," she said. "And that was the worst decision. I don't believe they are there to help children."

Ms Marten told the jury that when her first child was born, her family trust fund was giving her 50 a week, but after she wrote a "stern" email, this was increased to 1,700 a month.

"I have got three brothers," she said. "They have all had houses purchased for them. They've got a lot more than me."

"I don't think they (the trustees) agree with my marriage," she added.

The defendants, of no fixed address, deny manslaughter by gross negligence, perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty and causing or allowing the death of a child.

The trial continues.
Constance Marten has claimed that she was followed by private detectives in a row over her grandmothers will.

The wealthy aristocrat, 36, is accused of going on the run with her partner, Mark Gordon and their newborn baby Victoria in the depths of last winter, allegedly resulting in the childs death.

Giving evidence at her manslaughter trial at the Old Bailey, Miss Marten told how she was previously trying to flee my family after the birth of her first child in 2017 when she discovered she was being trailed by private detectives in a family finances dispute.

After the birth of her fourth child Victoria, Miss Martens car was found with 34 burner phones inside. Miss Marten said this was because she and Mr Gordon believed that their mobiles and emails were being hacked.

She earlier told jurors that she did nothing but show love to Victoria.

The couple are accused of manslaughter by gross negligence, concealing the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16, causing or allowing the death of a child and perverting the course of justice. They deny all the charges.

Follow the latest updates below.

05:44 PM GMT

Live blog wrapped

Thats all for today, thanks for joining us.

05:15 PM GMT

Marten says she considered taking her life

Constance Martens defence counsel Francis FitzGibbon KC then asked her what the couples plans had been with the body of baby Victoria.

She said at one point she considered cremating the remains, and even thought about ending her own life at the same time.

She explained: Mark said why dont we jump in with her, call it quits? Lets just all have a fire and say goodbye to life together. We had just had enough at that point.

As she continued to give evidence her own mother, who was in court, sobbed quietly.

04:48 PM GMT

Constance Marten: When I woke up...she wasnt alive

Moving to the time when baby Victoria died, Miss Marten said it had happened on the night of January 8 while they were all asleep.

She said: I had her in my jacket and when I woke up...she wasnt alive. I believe it was January 9.

She said prior to that she had been happy and well and had been feeding every three or four hours.

Asked what happened next, Miss Marten explained: I took her out of my jacket. I believe I woke Mark up and said something is wrong. He did not believe me so we tried to resuscitate her.

She wasnt alive but we just didnt want to accept the fact she was not alive. You do not want to accept when someone has passed away, it was harrowing, its too much to take in.

She said she and Mr Gordon were not thinking straight at that point and were in shock and despair.

04:00 PM GMT

Marten says living in tent did not pose any danger to baby

Miss Marten was next asked about the couples arrival in Newhaven in East Sussex.

Explaining why the couple had chosen that area, she said: We wanted to be near a port so we had two plans in our mind. The first was to get a cottage that we could pay for with cash with no electrical tracing and also to be near a port so that someone could smuggle us abroad. Our plan was only to be in the tent for a day or two maximum.

She denied that it was ever uncomfortably cold or wet inside the tent.

Asked by Mr FitzGibbon if she thought a tent was an appropriate place for a baby, she replied: Obviously it would be preferable to be in a house, that is just common sense, but at no point did I think she was in any danger.

She was our pride and joy, the whole reason for us being in the tent was for Victoria, she was always well cared for.

03:22 PM GMT

Lets get a tent and lay low away from prying eyes

The jury was told that the couple ended up in East Ham in London where they bought a buggy and some other baby items.

Miss Marten explained: We wanted to get a flat in East Ham but we realised that wasnt going to happen.

She went on: The problem with a flat if someone banged on the door there would be nowhere to run with Victoria. We realised our options were slowly diminishing so that is when we thought lets get a tent and lay low away from prying eyes.

Asked about baby Victorias welfare as they were moving around, Miss Marten replied: That was our primary concern.

Asked how they ensured she was well cared for, she answered: As we always protected her, through parental care, love, warmth, food.

02:59 PM GMT

Constance Marten denies carrying baby in carrier bag

Mr FitzGibbon asked Miss Marten how she had been transporting her daughter as they moved around the country.

He said: Was there a time before Victoria died that she was being carried in a carrier bag?

She replied: No.

The prosecution had previously claimed that the baby spent much of her short life being carried around in a Lidl Bag for Life.

Miss Marten also insisted that throughout their movements around the country her daughter remained in good health and was feeding normally.

Asked about her own health and state of mind, she said: I had not slept very much in hotels and I was in a heightened state of panic so I was probably quite tired but I was happy to be with one of my children.

02:41 PM GMT

We were trying to get to a seaport as quickly as possible

Resuming after the lunch break, Mr FitzGibbon continued taking Miss Marten through her movements in the days following Victorias birth.

The court heard that after their car caught fire on Jan 5, the couple got a lift to Bolton and then a taxi to Liverpool.

Asked why they had chosen Liverpool, Miss Marten replied: I think we were trying to get to a seaport as quickly as possible.

But after arriving in Liverpool they then took another taxi to Harwich in Essex.

Miss Marten explained: We wanted to be by a seaport. I wanted to get abroad as quickly as possible with Victoria. Harwich was the place that I had in my mind.

But while they were in Harwich they discovered that they were the subject of a media appeal when a member of the public approached them and asked them if they were the people he had seen on the television.

Miss Marten said they then decided to try to get a flat in London for a while in order to lie low for a while.

01:48 PM GMT

Questionable car breakdown days after babys birth

The jury heard details of how the couples Suzuki car had broken down on Dec 28.

Miss Marten said the car had broken down in questionable circumstances.

The breakdown driver who had picked the couple up had previously told the court that he had not seen or heard a baby.

But Miss Marten insisted Victoria had been under her coat throughout the journey. They later checked into a hotel and Mr FitzGibbon asked her how she had been feeling at the time.

She said: I was in a state of high anxiety. I was fearful that someone was going to bash down the door and take her away.

The case has now broken for lunch.

01:44 PM GMT

Marten wanted to bury placenta

Miss Marten was also asked about a car fire that took place on the M61 motorway on Jan 5, in which many of the couples possessions were destroyed.

She told jurors: It all happened so quickly. Our plans disintegrated after the car fire, we acted on impulse and instinct.

The court heard how the couple had left the scene before the fire brigade arrived because they were worried the police would alert the authorities and baby Victoria would be removed.

Miss Marten was also asked by her defence counsel Mr FitzGibbon why she had taken the placenta away with her after the birth.

She said: I did not know what to do with it to be honest, it is not something you can dispose of easily. I wanted to bury it and plant something there but having Victoria and moving around so much we did not get round to it really.

01:42 PM GMT

34 burner phones found in couples car

Miss Marten explained that the couple had moved around every few days in order to avoid being pursued by private investigators that she believed had been hired by her family.

Asked why it was the case that when her car was recovered there were 34 burner phones inside, she said it was because she and Mr Gordon believed that their mobiles and emails were being hacked.

She said they had used cash to pay for things when they were moving around in order to avoid being traced.

01:37 PM GMT

Marten describes birth of baby

The court was told that on Dec 20 2022, the couple had booked a holiday cottage in Northumberland and Miss Marten said Victoria was born there late on Christmas Eve.

She explained that the couple had taken various items with them to assist them with the birth, including a tens machine and sheets and blankets.

She said they also had a paddling pool, but had not used it.

Miss Marten said she had already given birth at home once and was confident she could do so again without any problems.

If I felt there were any issues then I would have gone to hospital, she explained.

01:02 PM GMT

Trying to avoid social services

Miss Marten said in the run up to Victorias birth she and Mr Gordon had been moving around regularly in order to avoid social services.

Asked why they were trying to avoid the authorities, she replied: So that she would not be taken.

When her defence counsel Francis FitzGibbon KC asked why she feared her baby would be taken from her, she said: Because my four other kids had been taken.

12:48 PM GMT

Not fair that any child should be split from parents, says Marten

Resuming evidence after a short break, Miss Marten said that even though her other four children had been taken into care or adopted she still wanted to have a family with Mark Gordon.

She said initially the plan had been to go abroad, but following a legal dispute with a member of her family, Mr Gordons passport was not available so they were unable to travel.

Asked what their plan was, Miss Marten said: We were in two minds. I wanted Victoria with me for the first six months of her life so that I could give her the love that she needs because I do not think it is fair that any child be apart from their parents.

She explained that their plan was to then find a carer who could look after the child before bringing her abroad to meet them.

12:27 PM GMT

Marten: I love my kids more than anything in the world

Miss Marten told the court that when her first child had been born she had been receiving around 50 a week from a family trust.

But she said she had written a stern email to the trustees, saying they had a duty of care.

She said after that, the payments had been increased to around 1,700 a month and later to 2,000.

But she went on: I have three brothers who have all had houses bought for them. They get a lot more. I am treated very differently.

The court heard that all four of her children had been taken into care.

Mr FitzGibbon asked her if she had harmed any of her children.

She replied: Absolutely not, thats the sad thing, Mark and I love my kids more than anything in the world. There is literally nothing I wouldnt do for my children.

12:25 PM GMT

Court sketch: Constance Marten in the witness box

Constance Marten appearing at the Old Bailey - Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire

12:15 PM GMT

Marten says she bet with the devil by asking for social services help

The court was told that prior to her giving birth, Constance Marten had been living in a tent.

But asked by her defence counsel Francis FitzGibbon KC if she had intended to live in the tent after the birth, she replied: Absolutely not.

She said she had asked social services for help but said she regretted doing so.

I feel like I made a bet with the devil because I asked for social services help and I think that was the worst decision because from my perspective, having gone through social services I do not believe they are there to support parents or children, she said.

12:09 PM GMT

Marten gave false name to hospital, court told

Miss Marten described how she had been in receipt of a regular income but that had stopped before she gave birth.

I was eight and a half months pregnant and they cut me off overnight, she said.

The court was told Miss Marten had given a false name to the hospital when she gave birth.

Asked why she had done that, she admitted it had been naive but said she thought it was the only way to avoid her family.

I would do anything to protect my child, she said.

11:59 AM GMT

Constance Marten says she was trailed by private detectives

Moving onto the birth of her first child in 2017 in Wales, Miss Marten was asked why she was in that part of the country at the time.

She replied: I was trying to flee my family, I have spoken about a traumatic event involving one of my family members.

She told the jury that there had been a dispute about her grandmothers will and around that time she discovered she was being trailed by private detectives.

I did not think it was fair for my child to live under those conditions, she said.

I wanted to bring up my oldest child in a happy home without the constant surveillance of my family.

11:57 AM GMT

Constance Marten felt guilty when baby died

Constance Marten told jurors that she did not expose her baby to the cold or allow her to get too hot so far as she was aware.

Her defence counsel Francis FitzGibbon KC said: So far as you are concerned, did you give her anything less than the proper care you thought she deserved?

Marten replied: I gave her the best that any mother would, yeah.

She told jurors Victoria died last Jan 9, saying: I do not think it is anything I will ever move on from.

She said she felt guilty, adding: I think initially it was disbelief, shock, intense grief.

11:51 AM GMT

Constance Marten tells of long history of issues

Mr FitzGibbon asked Miss Marten if she had had an unconventional way of life.

She replied: I wanted a conventional life but I have great difficulty with my wider family so it is not a choice, I would prefer to have a conventional way of life.

Miss Marten said she had not introduced Mr Gordon to her family. She had cut them out of her life around two years before the couple had met.

We have had a long history of issues, she told the court. When I met him I made the decision that I would have nothing more to do with them.

Her mother Virginie de Selliers was in court as her daughter gave evidence.

11:44 AM GMT

Marten married Mark Gordon in Peru

Miss Marten told the jury that she had met Mark Gordon in around 2014 in a shop in London and had begun chatting.

We were good friends at the start and then we went travelling together, she said.

Miss Marten told the jury she and Mr Gordon had gone travelling together to Peru in around 2016.

We got married over there but it is not recognised over here. It is a Peru wedding ceremony that is not legally binding, she explained.

11:35 AM GMT

Travelling is my passion, says Marten

Miss Marten explained that she had been in receipt of a private income, but she said it was a discretionary fund that she could not access as she pleased.

I am not allowed to just access it. They will give me money if it is potentially for work or for a house, they wouldnt just give me money, she explained.

She said after university she had worked as a researcher for the Al Jazeera news channel and had also worked as a nanny and as a photographer.

Miss Marten also said she had been very blessed to travel extensively, visiting India, Nepal, Uganda and South America.

Travelling is my passion, she said.

11:34 AM GMT

Upbringing in wealthy family

Miss Marten told the jury she had grown up in a wealthy family and had benefited from a private education.

She explained that she went on to Leeds university where she studied Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies.

While there she received a fixed penalty notice for shoplifting a t-shirt.

Miss Marten said it was a silly prank but other than that she had had no previous convictions.

11:27 AM GMT

Live updates

We are bringing you live updates from Constance Marten and Mark Gordons manslaughter trial at the Old Bailey.

Follow the latest on this page.

11:23 AM GMT

I did nothing but show her love, says Constance Marten

Constance Marten began answering questions from her defence counsel, Francis FitzGibbon KC, about the death of her child.

He asked: Did you do anything to harm Baby Victoria?

She replied: No

He went on: Did you anything cruel to her?

She replied: No I did nothing but show her love.

Miss Marten told the court that she had not allowed her to get too cold or too hot and told the jury she believed her daughter had died around Jan 9 2023.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Florida Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to a measure designed to keep identity politics out of teacher preparation programs that lead to educators getting their professional certificates, readying the bill to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The Republican-controlled Senate voted 28-12 along party lines to approve the bill (HB 1291) nearly a week after the House passed the measure.

 WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS

The bill emerged as one of the most controversial education bills of the 2024 legislative session.

Under the bill, teacher preparation programs at colleges and universities would be barred from teaching identity politics or include lessons that are based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities.

Read: Florida lawmakers pass bill banning balloons from being released outside, heads to governors desk

A House analysis of the measure said that there are 57 initial teacher preparation programs in Florida at 10 state universities, 19 state colleges and 28 private colleges and universities. The bill also would apply to preparation programs for prospective school leaders.

The term identity politics is not defined in the measure, which drew questions from Democrats during Senate debate Wednesday.

Outnumbered Democrats in the Senate also gave impassioned arguments against the bill, with some senators arguing that the measure threatens to chill teachers speech in the classroom.

Read: Unusual situation: Brevard County wildlife hospital takes in 20 pelicans with broken wings

I disagree with the premise that learning about white privilege, learning about systemic racism, learning about diversity is problematic, Sen. Tina Polsky said.

Numerous critics of the bill also have argued that such restrictions on programs that prepare educators to teach would in turn prevent students from learning the realities of history.

You cant celebrate progress if you deny the distance that youve had to go to get where you are, Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Windermere, said.

Read: First Look: Brevard Family Partnership to takeover foster care in Orange, Osceola, and Seminole

Senate sponsor Blaise Ingoglia, a Spring Hill Republican, argued during debate on the bill Wednesday that teacher preparation programs containing the targeted content are not teaching empathy, theyre teaching blame. And I think thats a big distinction.

Ingoglia also contended that the measure would not make changes to what content students encounter in the classrooms.

The ability to teach to diverse backgrounds is critically important in getting your message across. This (bill) is about how teachers are taught to teach. Not the content of what theyre teaching, Ingoglia said before the measure was approved.

A separate provision of the bill also requires that the teacher preparation programs must afford candidates the opportunity to think critically, achieve mastery of academic program content, learn instructional strategies, and demonstrate competence.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 7. The cooperation between Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia carries a strategic nature, said President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during a meeting with Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, Trend reports.

"We view your visit as a symbol of the strong friendship between our two countries. I remain deeply impressed by my recent visit to your wonderful country, which was highly successful. We reached agreements on various issues, particularly in the crucial area of energy cooperation. I am optimistic about the future of our relations, as our cooperation holds a strategic significance," Tokayev said.

According to him, Kazakh-Saudi relations have reached an unprecedented level.

The Kazakh president also mentioned that the agreements with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud significantly boosted bilateral cooperation across all sectors.

For his part, the Saudi energy minister thanked Kazakh president for the warm welcome.

"We place great importance on the longstanding bilateral relations with Kazakhstan, rooted in deep historical ties. Saudi Arabia was among the first countries to offer assistance to Kazakhstan upon its newly gained independence," the minister said.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
The Ada County Coroners Office identified the victim killed Tuesday in a shooting that led to a murder charge for a Delaware man.

Boise police are still investigating the killing at an apartment along Silver Lake in Northwest Boise, after initially responding to a report of gunshots. They arrested Javon Harmon, 24, of Dover, Delaware, after interviewing witnesses.

In a news release Thursday, the coroners office named Maximilian Myers, 26, of Boise, as the man who was killed. The coroner listed Myers cause of death as a gunshot wound of the abdomen and the manner of death as homicide.

Officers first responded early Tuesday morning in the 300 block of North Lakeharbor Lane, according to a Boise Police Department news release. They said they found a Myers lying on the floor of an apartment after being shot in the stomach.

First responders transported Myers to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead in an operating room at 2:01 a.m., according to the coroners release.

Police said they also found an unharmed woman and child in the apartment.

Boise officers said they detained Harmon in the parking lot, according to the release, after conducting a primary investigation. He was booked into the Ada County Jail that morning after detectives interviewed multiple people determined to be in or near the apartment at the time of the shooting.

Online records show that Harmon is charged with second-degree murder and an enhancement for use of a deadly weapon while committing a felony.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (KXAN)  Corpus Christi police are asking for the publics help searching for a missing 21-year-old man originally from New Braunfels.

The police department posted Caleb Harris was last seen overnight on March 4 near his apartment complex in the 1900 block of Ennis Joslin Road. Police said his roommates were not able to locate him later that morning.

Calebs family also later reported him missing.

He is described as approximately 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs about 180 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes.

Corpus Christi police are searching for missing 21-year-old Caleb Harris originally from New Braunfels (Photo: Corpus Christi police)

Caleb left behind his keys, vehicle and wallet. Caleb did have his phone with him but its now turned off, according to police.

If you have any information or know the whereabouts of Caleb Harris, contact the Corpus Christi Police Department by calling (361) 886-2840 or (361) 886-2600.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
The Miami Seaquariums lease has been terminated and its owner ordered to move out next month following a series of federal inspection reports that found the facility in disrepair and the safety of its animals jeopardized.

The Office of Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava sent a Notice of Termination lease letter on Thursday to Eduardo Albor, the CEO of the aquariums operator, The Dolphin Company.

The owner must vacate the property by April 21, the letter said.

The letter cited numerous instances in which the Seaquariums ownership failed to properly upkeep its facilities, had staffing problems and placed animals in harms way, which were documented in multiple reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

For example, between July 6, 2022, and January 9, 2024, Lessee has been cited by the USDA seven times for failing to adequately maintain facilities, seven times related to inadequate veterinary care, two times for inadequate handling of animals (in one instance resulting in a patron being bitten during a dolphin encounter), three times for failure to maintain outdoor facilities, three times for failing to have adequate staff, two times for failure to maintain indoor facilities, and three times for inadequate water quality, according to the letter.

No one with the Dolphin Company could be immediately reached for comment Thursday afternoon. Representatives with the Seaquarium were also not reached.

NBC South Florida reported theres been a years-long battle by animal activists to close the facility.

Demonstrators hold up signs after the death of captive orca Lolita (Wilfredo Lee / AP file)

One report in January by the USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service found troubling conditions at the Seaquarium during an inspection on Oct. 16.

The report noted that a dolphin named Ripley was found with a two-inch nail, mangrove pods, and small pieces of shell in his throat, NBC South Florida reported.

Another dolphin, Bimini, was found with a broken bolt in her mouth.

Weeks before the inspection, it had been discovered that an adult female California sea lion named Sushi had been holding her right eye closed and rubbing both eyes due to needing cataract surgery, the report said.

The sea lion started refusing food due to eye pain and at the time of the inspection the cataract surgery had still not been scheduled, the report said, according to NBC South Florida.

Last month, two PETA protests were held in Miami calling for the Seaquariums lease to be terminated, the news outlet reported.

The Seaquarium also garnered headlines in 2023 when an orca named Lolita, that was captured in 1970, died in captivity from a health ailment.

Last month, the Seaquariums head veterinarian resigned, NBC South Florida reported.

PETAs Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a Thursday statement: After more than 50 years of miserable animals and false promises to clean up its act, the Seaquariums impending shutdown is overdue, and PETA looks to Miami-Dade County authorities to keep up the good work by ensuring that these animals are sent to reputable facilities where theyll get the care they so desperately need.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A couple who say they are tired of paying for damage after driving over potholes in Compton is taking action.

Independent contractors Alex and Daisy De La Rosa drive a lot within the city limits and have seen firsthand how recent storms have battered roads, opened up new potholes, and turned small holes into big problems.

Daisy De La Rosa says she has had to pay to fix their vehicles suspension, axles, flat tires and other general maintenance due to the potholes.

Daisy and Alex De La Rosa fill a pothole in Compton on March 7, 2024. (KTLA)

Alex De La Rosa fills a pothole in Compton on March 7, 2024. (KTLA)

Alex De La Rosa fills a pothole in Compton on March 7, 2024. (KTLA)

Alex De La Rosa fills a pothole in Compton on March 7, 2024. (KTLA)

Practically everything that we were earning, it was becoming money to fix the car, Daisy said.

Daisy said she and Alex have already gone through three sets of tires on a vehicle they recently purchased.

He [Alex] decided to take initiative and started filling in those holes, Daisy said.

The couple even started a Facebook Group where residents can report potholes and also donate money for materials to fix them.

Alex posted the idea and it blew up from there, Daisy said.

What were using right now is the $300 that we got through Zell and Cash App this morning, Daisy said as Alex was filling a pothole in one Compton neighborhood.

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/concern-grows-over-big-bear-bald-eagle-eggs-that-have-not-yet-hatched/

Blanca, who lives near the hole Alex was working on, says the city fixed the problem once but it came back and has been growing for a while.

Years back it started growing again  So I am so happy to know that someone is actually coming out here, Blanca said.

She said her daughter had just got a flat tire after hitting the pothole.

Thank you so much, you guys are doing an awesome job, Blanca told Daisy and Alex.

KTLA has put in a request to the city for a statement and is waiting to hear back.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
The Michigan Court of Appeals is formally accelerating its consideration of a legal challenge to rezoning tied to Ford Motor Co.'s BlueOval Battery Park Michigan near Marshall.

On Tuesday, the Court of Appeals granted the Committee for Marshall - Not the Megasite's motion to expedite its appeal in its case against the city of Marshall, City Clerk Michelle Eubank and the Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance. Committee members originally filed the lawsuit last year, arguing the city and Eubank inappropriately rejected their petition seeking a citywide vote on Ordinance # 2023-08  which effectively rezones 741 acres of the Marshall Megasite in support of the Ford project.

The city, Eubank and MAEDA must respond in the case by March 15, according to court documents.

This is great news for the voters of Marshall, Gretchen Esser of the Committee for Marshall - Not the Megasite said in a statement. Weve always said, our case is an election law case, and now the Court of Appeals shows it agrees. It was critical that the court take up the issue as soon as possible so that we can vote on the referendum on the zoning ordinance this November. We are thrilled with this early win.

The Committee filed its appeal with the Michigan Court of Appeals in early February after Circuit Judge William Marietti dismissed the group's lawsuit against the City of Marshall and MAEDA on Jan. 10.

"Technically, all the Court of Appeals had to do (in granting the motion to expedite) was agree to issue a decision by an earlier date than it normally would, but the court went out of its way to significantly shorten the briefing schedule," Robby Dube, attorney for the Committee for Marshall - Not the Megasite, explained Wednesday. "Normally, the city and MAEDA would have had 35 days to respond; the court shortened that to 14 days from date of service, which was March 1. We then would normally have 21 days to file a reply; that was shortened to seven days. The court then made clear it will not extend briefing time."

Attorney Robby Dube speaks on behalf of the Committee for Marshall  Not the Megasite during a court hearing Wednesday, July 12.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Michigan Strategic Fund, meanwhile, are appealing Marietti's denial of their motions to intervene in the case. The Court of Appeals has set that for a fast briefing schedule as well, with MSF/MEDCs brief due March 19.

"By granting our motion, the court is saying clearly that it agrees that this case is an election law issue, and that it agrees that timing is of the essence," Dube said.

On the heels of the Committee's appeal filing in February, MAEDA CEO Jim Durian told the Enquirer that he remains confident the courts will allow this "once-in-a-generation project" to move forward.

Fords BlueOval Battery Park Michigan is already creating local jobs, investment and opportunities across our region. Hundreds of workers have been hired, new customers are visiting local businesses and spending money at our stores," Durian said in a statement Feb. 8. "We are watching with excitement as the steel goes up on this innovative facility that will create new career pathways for young people in the Marshall area. The opposition has already had its day in court, with multiple hearings, and the court has consistently ruled in our favor. Ongoing litigation does not help us move forward as a community. We remain confident the Court of Appeals will affirm the lower courts decisions and allow this once-in-a-generation project to move forward and bring new jobs and investment to the region."

The Marshall City Council on May 1, 2023 unanimously approved a request to rezone 741 acres of the Marshall Megasite to Industrial and Manufacturing (I-3) Zoning, marking a key step forward in Ford's plans to build an electric vehicle battery plant on a portion of the Marshall Megasite. The 2,000-acre parcel southwest of the I-94/I-69 interchange in Marshall Township has been considered for decades as a potential destination for a large-scale manufacturing operation.

Marshall resident Regis Klingler hands over petition signatures to city clerk Michelle Eubank at Marshall City Hall on Tuesday, May 30, 2023.

The Committee for Marshall - Not the Megasite subsequently submitted more than 800 petition signatures to Eubank on May 30 in hopes of triggering a citywide vote on the rezoning request. The number of signatures collected was well above the 10% threshold of about 580 signatures required by the city charter.

In a June 16 letter, Eubank indicated the targeted ordinance, in this case the rezoning of 741 acres of the Megasite, is not subject to a referendum or vote because the ordinance amendment approved by the city council included appropriations of $40,000 for site plan review services and $250,000 for building inspection services for the development of the proposed project. Such appropriations make the ordinance amendment ineligible for referendum under Article V, Section 5.01(b) of the city charter.

Eubank added the petition lacked the minimum number of valid signatures to place the measure on the ballot, in large part because the bulk of signatures were obtained by circulators that were not part of the five-member petition committee. Committee members claimed they were unaware of this requirement and argued the city charter does not explicitly state that only committee members can collect signatures.

What it comes down to is our constitutional and city charter right to refer ordinances and put them up for a vote of the people," explained Jim Sleight of the Committee for Marshall - Not the Megasite. "The city clerk cant take that away from us.

Ongoing construction progress at the Blue Oval Battery Park site along Michigan Avenue in Marshall on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.

Ford initially promised 2,500 new jobs and a $3.5 billion investment when announcing the project last February. The automaker then instituted a two-month pause on its own work at the Marshall site in September amid the UAW strike.

In November, Ford indicated it would be reducing its commitment to the Marshall-area EV battery facility by 800 jobs and more than $1 billion, moves that company officials said will reduce the plant's production capacity by roughly 40%. State officials have indicated incentives for the project will likewise be revised in accordance with the new investment parameters.

Construction of the plant continues, with production of lithium iron phosphate batteries expected to begin at the plant in 2026.

Contact reporter Greyson Steele at gsteele@battlecreekenquirer.com

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Court of Appeals agrees to expedite appeal challenging Ford EV plant
A specialist livestock vet left the island in December and their replacement only visits once a month

The lack of an on-island vet dealing with livestock emergencies has led to the preventable death of a cow.

A specialist vet left the island in December and their replacement only visits once a month.

Farmer Josh Dorey said he had to put one of his heifers down last month after her calf was too big to deliver.

He said ideally a Caesarean section should have been performed but there was no emergency vet available.

"To put the animal down was the only decision at the point because I haven't got any other option for the welfare of the animal at the end of the day," he said.

"I tried my best effort trying to get the calf out myself [and] probably put the animal under a bit of stress, which I didn't like doing.

"It's a bit upsetting."

Mr Dorey said the loss of the cow had cost him thousands.

"It's not a cheap or easy decision to make," he said.

David Chamberlain, States Veterinary Officer for Guernsey, said there were currently no plans for another on-island specialist to be in place.

But he said a UK company was working with farmers to provide an emergency out-of-hours call service.

"They will advise the farmer on how to best proceed," he said.

"They will never be able to deal with a Caesarean but they may be able to deal with other less critical problems.

"If you look at the population of Guernsey, and the number of animals we have here, there probably isn't sufficient work to retain a vet in full-time work just doing livestock."

Follow BBC Guernsey on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.

More on this story

Related internet links
CHICAGO  An officer shot and killed a large dog attacking a woman in West Pullman Thursday morning, according to Chicago police.

A 52-year-old woman was in the 11800 block of South Ashland just before 8:15 a.m. when two large dogs approached her.

CPD said they approached in an aggressive manner and attacked her. A responding officer shot and killed one of the dogs.

Man injured in Logan Square drive-by shooting

The second dog was contained by animal control.

The woman sustained minor injuries and was treated at the scene.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
UPDATE 3/11: The suspect in the Calcasieu Parish officer-involved shooting has been identified as Quinton C. Baker, 37, of Gadsden, Alabama. Baker was airlifted to a Lake Charles hospital were he died from injuries received in the incident.

Officials said approximately two kilos of suspected cocaine was recovered during the investigation.

ORIGINAL STORY 3/7: IOWA, La. (KLFY)  A Calcasieu Parish Sheriffs deputy faces a State Police officer-involved shooting investigation after allegedly shooting the driver of a vehicle that was kidnapping the deputy, authorities said.

According to the Calcasieu Parish Sheriffs Office, a deputy with the Combined Anti-Drug Task Force initiated a traffic stop at about 10 a.m. today on eastbound I-10 near mile marker 38, about five miles west of Iowa.

During the traffic stop, the deputy allegedly found drugs as he was conducting a search of the vehicle. While the deputy was still inside the vehicle, the suspect entered the drivers side and drove off with the deputy still inside, kidnapping the deputy, officials said.

According to CPSO, the deputy commanded the suspect to stop but he did not comply, at which time the deputy shot the suspect. The vehicle crashed and the suspect and deputy were taken to a local hospital.

Close

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

KLFY Daily Digest

CPSO will investigate the drug charges, the attempted first degree murder of a deputy, and the kidnapping of the deputy. The Louisiana State Police Bureau of Investigations has been asked to investigate the deputy-involved shooting.

Latest news

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLFY.com.
COLUMBUS (WCMH)  The 2023 MLS champions saved some heroics for the 2024 Champions Cup.

Alexandru Matans cross in front of the goal deflected off a defender and into the net, lifting the Crew to a 1-0 win in stoppage time over the Houston Dynamo in a CONCACAF Champions Cup Round-of-16 match Wednesday at Shell Energy Stadium.

The goal came in the 96th minute on Columbus last gasp effort, when Matan attempted to chip a pass to Cucho Hernandez, who was streaking to the left corner of the net. The ball rolled behind Cucho in the box and grazed the leg of defender Coco Carrasquilla before bouncing into the opposite corner of the net.

Buckeyes stars react to prop bets on college athletes being banned

The goal followed two disallowed goals in the second half, one for each team. Houstons Ethan Bartlow and Columbus Christian Ramirez each had goals waived off due to offsides and the match headed into stoppage time tied at zero.

With the Crew holding a one-goal advantage, the second leg of the series with Houston will be played on March 12 and Lower.com Field in Columbus at 6 p.m.

In the Round of 16, opponents play two games with the combined goals from those two matches determining who advances to the quarterfinals. If the teams are tied on goals after two games, the first tiebreaker is which team scored more away goals. If that too is equal, the second leg goes to extra time and possibly penalties.

Columbus or Houston will face the winner of the Round of 16 series between Mexican club UANL Tigres and Orlando City.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
Noxious gas engulfed officers as they stepped inside a Gilroy, California, home. Propane spewed out of the kitchen stove, and the unlit burners were on high, officials said.

Nauseous from the fumes, the officers looked around, noticing cell phones strewn about the floor in a possible attempt to remotely ignite a fire, officials said.

The chimneys and fireplace were plugged, the Santa Clara County District Attorneys Office said, recounting the scene in a news release. The whole house appeared rigged as an explosive booby trap.

What brought the police to the home that day was a series of strange events that unfolded in the days prior. The owner of the home, Markus Beck, a 46-year-old software engineer, had been on a crime spree, officials said.

On Feb. 26, Beck showed up at Luigi Aprea Elementary School down the street from his house, asking to speak with a female staff member who he believed worked there, the Gilroy Police Department said in a Facebook post. He then loitered on the school grounds for some time after, police said.

On Feb. 28, he got into a car crash while drunk, according to the district attorneys office.

He had collided with several parked cars and fled the scene, police said.

When officers found him, officials said they found a loaded gun at his feet. A search of his vehicle revealed an AR-15-style assault rifle in the trunk, officials said.

was arrested on charges of DUI, hit-and-run and illegal storage of firearms, police said.

Based on the two incidents, police obtained a gun violence restraining order later in the day on Feb. 28 to seize any other weapons. With the search warrant, they went to the mans home.

This is when officials said police walked into the gas-filled booby trap.

Police called firefighters to the home, and nearby homes and Luigi Aprea Elementary School were placed on lockdown, police said.

Advocating For Gilroy Students told KRON that school officials did not inform parents about the incident on Feb. 26.

A protest organized by parents and community members will be held on March 7, according to KRON. The organizing group said it represents hundreds of local families who want more transparency from the school district over student safety matters.

Luigi parents were not notified or given ANY details until Wednesday evening (Feb. 28), and even then the details were completely downplayed, one person wrote under a statement by Gilroy police on Facebook. This is so wrong that the parents have been completely in the dark.

Gilroy Unified District Superintendent Anisha Munshi and City of Gilroy administrator Jimmy Forbis said in a statement that premature disclosure of details about an ongoing investigation can potentially impede law enforcement efforts and jeopardize criminal prosecution.

The City and GUSD are committed to providing accurate and timely information to the community in a manner that does not jeopardize law enforcements ability to conduct investigations, officials said.

Beck is also facing a series of weapons charges while being held without bail, officials said.

Gilroy is about a 40-mile drive east from Santa Cruz.

Thieves are using Wi-Fi jammers to break into peoples homes, California cops warn

Duo uses fake iPhones and aliases in $3 million scheme to defraud Apple, officials say

Man accused of fleeing police 3 times leads troopers on 140-mph chase, Florida cops say
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 7. Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Murat Nurtleu has invited Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to take part in the Astana International Forum, which will be held on June 13-14, 2024, Trend reports.

The corresponding invitation was conveyed to the UAE Minister of State Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh by the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the Emirates Madiyar Menilbekov during the meeting.

Emirati minister thanked for the invitation and noted the particular importance of this event in discussing current issues and developing new innovative solutions and proposals.

In addition to this, during the meeting the parties exchanged up-to-date information on projects implemented in trade, economic and investment areas.

Al Sayegh noted that the intensive implementation of economic projects will make an undoubted contribution to the further development of interaction between the two countries.

Following the meeting, the parties reached an agreement to continue joint work to further strengthen cooperation between Kazakhstan and the UAE.

Meanwhile, the volume of trade turnover between Kazakhstan and the UAE amounted to $328.9 million in 2023. At the same time, in the structure of trade turnover, exports to the UAE for the above period amounted to $210.2 million. In addition, imports from the UAE from January through December 2023 amounted to $118.6 million.
Jules, a dog that works with Southern Connecticut University police, padded her way through the halls of the state Capitol Thursday on her way to a public hearing in support of S.B. No. 339  a bill that would require restitution when a police dog is injured or killed on duty and would make intentionally harming a K9 a felony.

Jules, a black lab, joined her handler, Sgt. Cynthia Torres, fellow police dog Hodges  Jules brother is a K9 in Waterford  and K9 Clifton, and multiple law enforcement officers and lawmakers who gathered to support the proposed legislation.

The bill, called Brokos Bill in honor of state police K9 Broko, a dog killed in the line of duty in Stonington in December, would up the charges someone faces if they hurt or kill an animal that is working with a peace officer, raising potential fines and jail time, and provide compensation to replace them.

Introduced by the Public Safety and Security Committee, the proposed legislation would require restitution be paid to towns or cities, law enforcement agencies, or owners when a police animal or volunteer search and rescue dog is hurt or killed.

The restitution that would be required under the bill may include paying for veterinary care or the cost of training a replacement animal.

State Sen. Heather Somers, who represents the area where Broko was killed, is one of the bills supporters.

She said its a cause that is close to home.

Broko was killed in Stonington saving an officers life, said Somers. And in the wake of the dogs death, she said, other police dogs should be more supported.

We support law enforcement and we should be supporting these officers. Even though its a K9 officer, its still an officer, Somers said.

Somers said that she supports the bill because K9 officers should be treated with the same respect that our officers are and that towns should be able to seek restitution and it should be done at the court level.

Under the proposed law, anyone who kills an on-duty canine could be charged with a Class D felony and face up to a $10,000 fine or 10 years in prison.

The restitution, she said, would help municipalities carry on their K9 programs even if the dog they have already paid to train and care for were killed.

Training and caring for a police dog, she said, can be an expensive task  sometimes upwards of $20,0000 to train, and lawmakers supporting the legislation feel that investment should not just be lost if a dog were killed.

If a town has a dog its very expensive and that doesnt even take into account the emotional aspect of it, she said.

Torres, Jules handler, said that Jules lives with her and her family in Deep River, where they raise chickens. He is a part of her family, which includes two daughters, she said.

At work, Jules responds to critical incidents, like officer involved shootings, for peer support.

His role, she said, is to step into the most traumatic moments.

Jules is our partner for navigating traumatic events, Torres said.

Though they primarily support the community at SCSU, the duo is on call statewide, 24 hours a day, visiting hospitals and responding to domestic violence calls. Jules presence, Torres said, helps them deescalate, engage in safe transports and connect folks with counseling services.

Jules was trained inside a prison, through the Puppies Behind Bars program, and Torres said he really can tell when someone is experience stress or trauma.

Hell respond in different ways, indicating that someone is stress or traumatized by sitting with them or grounding  meaning he sits or lays on their feet.

Torres said he has helped her, too. The sergeant just finished her masters degree while working full time in the police force and Jules was there to ground her, too.

On the days the challenges get to be a little bit heavy its a little tough, he was always at my side he was always at my feet, she said.

Officer Eric Fredricks, from the Waterford Police Department, is the human counterpart to police dog Hodges. He said Hodges is a part of his family, too.

These dogs are like our families, theyre not just tools, he said. He is hopeful that having a harsher penalty would deter people from harming K9 officers.

Having that felony [charge] would hopefully prevent people from killing them, he said.

For dogs like Hodges, he said, responding to the most dangerous scenes is not always their job  but that doesnt mean they dont put themselves in harms way.

Our dogs arent necessarily chasing bad guys with a gun, but sometimes theyre working with emotionally disturbed individuals so they could be hurt. This [bill] protects them as well, he said.

Officer Jamie Ball, community relations officer for the Simsbury Police Department, said police dog Clifton provides peer support and interacts with folks in the community.

He said their department has had Clifton for about a year and a half, and theyve dedicated a lot of resources to the program that would be lost were something to happen to Clifton without this bill.

I think its good to support the K9 community and all the work that theyre doing, he said. Its a lot of resources dedicated to these dogs, their training and upkeep.

I think its beneficial to have that money reimbursed to the towns so they can continue to fund these programs. It doesnt bring the love of these dogs back but it allows them to continue to support these programs.

State Rep. Greg Howard, a Stonington police officer, said during the public hearing Thursday that the bill centers on that financial piece of the K9 programs.

This bill focuses specifically on restitution, he said, noting that it was an important component to highlight in the legislation.

We cant lose track of the cost to the municipality, he said.

These dogs have a tremendous cost to us emotionally but also a tremendous cost fiscally to the municipalities.

During the public hearing, Connecticut resident and broadcaster Renee DiNino spoke alongside three police officers, and said that she hopes police dogs are viewed as an essential part of public safety teams. She said that specialized K9s can undergo training that costs as much as $45,0000 and they should be valued for their work and partnership.

Treating these dogs as equal partners in law enforcement should be instituted and they should receive the same attention and treatment when hurt in the line of duty as any other law enforcement officer.

She said she supported the increased felony charge and advocated for even more legislation that would allow hurt police dogs to be transported in ambulances.

Having harsher consequences for those who intentionally harm or injure the police dogs, she said, would show the communities they serve that the K9s are not just a dog, not just a tool but also seen as an equal when working with their handler.

Somers said that after the public hearing, the bill will hopefully go for a vote out of committee, then head to the floor for both chambers to vote on.
Pounding Sand

A Tesla Cybertruck driver got woefully stuck in the sand after illegally driving the vehicle onto the Marina State Beach, a protected and public beach near Monterey, California.

A video circulating online shows two men struggling to push the 5,500-pound pickup, which according to Tesla is "durable and rugged enough to go anywhere," across the beach. The person filming the video can be heard cackling with glee.

Naturally, social media had a field day with what's only the latest incident  more on that later  involving the truck.

"This shining example of a man drove his Cybertruck on our local beach near Santa Cruz and of course got it stuck," Sebastiaan de With, cofounder of the iPhone photography app Halide, wrote. "This car is really becoming a symbol for poor life choices."

Beached Whale

De With was likely referring to a number of other incidents involving the divisive truck, which only started rolling off the lot late last year.

In one instance, a YouTuber took Tesla CEO Elon Musk by his word and took his Cybertruck for a swim.

Earlier this year, a Cybertruck that was pushed to its limits in the California desert ended up having one of its wheels snap off.

Just this week, a Cybertruck hopped the curb, crashing into the Beverly Hills Hotel sign  and also had one of its wheels ripped off.

We've also seen several instances of the Cybertruck getting stuck in the snow and ice over the winter.

To be fair, as with many of these cases, the truck's failure to tackle natural obstacles is at least partially due to user error.

Case in point, in this latest instance, the truck was able to get off the sand by deflating the tires.

But as de With points out, the truck appears to attract an unusual number of dull-witted drivers.

This particular one got away with a citation by the State Parks Department, a small price to pay for being an absolute moron.

More on the Cybertruck: Cybertruck Crashes, Entire Wheel Ripped Off
The Czechoslovak Group (CSG), one of Europe's largest arms manufacturers, is offering to help Ukraine increase its own ammunition production amid a reduction in Western aid.

Source: Bloomberg

Michal Strnad, owner and CEO of the Czechoslovak Group, said the company would like to invest hundreds of millions of euros in Ukraine to increase its ammunition production capacity.

CSG is currently negotiating with Ukrainian state defence concern Ukroboronprom on a potential joint venture and is looking for suitable locations to manufacture artillery, tank ammunition and heavy equipment.

"CSG alone has increased production of large-calibre ammunition at its plants in Slovakia, Spain and Serbia more than 10 times since Russias 2022 full-scale invasion," the company said in a statement.

"If we have an agreement, we would transfer our technology to Ukraine. That way we could use their capabilities and their people to ramp up production of artillery and tank ammo," Strnad said.

Besides ammunition, CSG manufactures military and civilian Tatra trucks, armoured vehicles and wheeled self-propelled howitzers, and upgrades Soviet T-72 tanks for the Ukrainian military.

The company is building new production facilities in Czechia to meet growing global demand and is set to complete the US$1.9 billion acquisition of US-based Vista Outdoor Inc.s ammunition business next month.

Reminder:

The European Union aims to buy 50% of its weapons from within the bloc by 2030 and to cooperate with Ukraine.



Support UP or become our patron!
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on March 6 accused Prague of "endangering" Czech-Slovak relations by "supporting the war in Ukraine" while Bratislava "talks about peace."

Fico made the statement in reaction to Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala's decision to postpone consultations between the two countries that were planned for April. Fiala justified this by "different opinions on key foreign policy issues."

"We acknowledge that the Czech government decided to endanger (our relations) because it wants to support the war in Ukraine, while the Slovak government openly talks about peace," Fico said in a video published on his official Facebook page.

Initially supporting Ukraine on military and political levels, Slovakia's foreign policy took a sharp turn after populist leader Fico won the parliamentary elections last September while running on a Ukraine-skeptic platform.

Under Fico's leadership, Bratislava's foreign policy took a more amicable position toward Russia, mirroring the stances of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban while growing further apart from other partners like Czechia.

"Our partners on the other side of the world understand that Europe's security affects the security of the whole world, which is why I'm sorry that our Slovak colleagues don't share this perspective," Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said.

Prague namely criticized a meeting of Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Turkey, earlier in March.

Join our community Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight. Support us

Czechia and Slovakia have traditionally been close partners, maintaining warm relations since the peaceful split of their common state of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

The two countries have carried out regular bilateral consultations since 2012, with the last one taking place in April 2023, months before Fico's government took office.

The Slovak prime minister has repeatedly criticized military aid for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia while making statements parroting pro-Kremlin talking points.

Slovakia has, however, not obstructed the 50-billion-euro financing package for Ukraine or Kyiv's EU accession efforts as Hungary did. Despite his vocal opposition to military aid for Ukraine, Fico allowed arms supplies for the besieged country on a commercial basis.

In comparison, Czechia maintains its pro-Ukraine policy and is currently spearheading an allied initiative to supply Ukraine with 800,000 artillery shells from abroad since Kyiv faces critical ammunition shortages.

Read also: Rise of populism in Ukraines neighborhood: Not as gloomy as you think

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Czech President Petr Pavel has confirmed that Ukraine's allies have provided the funds necessary to deliver 800,000 artillery shells to Ukraine.

Source: Czech news agency CTK, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The Czech president stressed that "as of this morning [7 March 2024], we have raised funds for purchasing a total of 800,000 pieces of ammunition".

Pavel added that the Czech government would then sign a memorandum with all the countries that have joined the initiative  currently 18  and provide detailed information on the timeframe and further steps. He refused to specify the contributing countries and the corresponding figures.

The Czech president expects the ammunition to arrive in Ukraine "in the coming weeks". "It will be up to the expertise of our companies and the defence ministry to galvanise the whole process," he added.

Background:

Support UP or become our patron!
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico commented on the Czech Republic's decision to pause intergovernmental consultations with Slovakia.

Source: European Pravda, citing Aktuality

Details: The Slovak Prime Minister believes that Czechia has jeopardised its relations with Slovakia.

Fico says that the reason for this is the differing perspectives of Prague and Bratislava on Russia's war against Ukraine.

"We note that the Czech government has decided to jeopardise them merely because it is interested in supporting the war in Ukraine, while the Slovak government openly advocates for peace. Your decision will not affect our sovereign Slovak foreign policy," added the Prime Minister.

Fico mentioned that the Czech government is welcome to conduct diplomacy in Slovakia anytime, and "we will not burden our political relations with differing views that have nothing to do with Slovak-Czech coexistence."

Background:

On 6 March, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced that Czech-Slovak intergovernmental consultations would not take place in the coming weeks or months, as Prague does not consider them expedient due to "significant differences."

Czechia and the new government in Slovakia differ regarding foreign policy matters, particularly the war in Ukraine. For example, on the second anniversary of the full-scale war, Fico stated that the war started "with the rampage of Ukrainian neo-Nazis."

In addition, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, Juraj Blanar, met and held talks with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, at a diplomatic forum in Antalya, Turkiye. Their meeting was hailed by Fico.

Support UP or become our patron!


A 4-month-old baby left with her dad while her mom worked was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries, a Florida sheriffs office said.

Now, her dad is accused of manslaughter.

Jacob Kubai, 22, was with his daughter, Willow, and the babys mom, Kubais wife, on Feb. 22 when they dropped the mother off at work, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a March 6 news conference.

Kubai brought the baby, who they called Strawberry, back to their home in Bartow, and he told deputies he started cooking dinner, Judd said.

Soon after he realized he was missing an ingredient and told investigators he took Strawberry with him to Walmart to get some chicken broth, the sheriff said.

When investigators later looked at security tapes from Walmart, they saw that Kubai was alone and had left the baby at their home while shopping, Judd said.

We watch him shop, then he comes to the line for self-checkout with no baby, Judd said.

Kubai told investigators when he got home Strawberry was fine and that he fed her and checked her every 10 minutes, according to the sheriff.

Kubai told investigators that about an hour later, Strawberry was unresponsive when he checked on her, and that he tried CPR before bringing her to the hospital, Judd said.

Doctors at the hospital noticed the baby had significant injuries, the sheriff said, and the Bartow Police Department was brought in to investigate.

The little girl died two days later, Bartow Police Chief Andy Ray said in the news conference.

The medical examiner conducted an autopsy and found multiple serious injuries, Judd said.

They discovered that night that the baby had a skull fracture, that the child had multiple impact bruises to the forehead, that the baby had 10 ribs fractured, that she had a hemorrhage in her spine, that she had multiple layers of brain bleeds. Still, the baby fought for life and lived for two more days before she died, Judd said.

The injuries to her forehead were caused by a minimum of 10 blows, the sheriff said, and her broken ribs came from being squeezed.

The sheriffs office later learned Kubai had left the baby alone before on at least two occasions, according to a March 6 news release, and that some of the ribs were in various stages of healing.

The baby was literally beaten to death, and the only person that was home with the baby at the time was Jacob, Judd said.

After initial interviews with investigators, Judd said Kubai started to say things like None of this is real, and My wifes not real, my babys not real. The sheriff said investigators believe these comments were a ruse.

The sheriffs office said the babys mom, who works two jobs while Kubai takes care of the child, was not believed to be involved in the alleged abuse.

Death investigations can often take many months before they are complete. In this case, the injuries to this beautiful baby girl were so severe that it left no doubt how she was killed, Judd said in the release.

Kubai was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, aggravated child abuse and knowingly abusing a child without bodily harm, according to the sheriffs office.

Bartow is a 40-mile drive west of Tampa.

Dad shoots teen son in the head and leaves him to die in street, Missouri cops say

10-year-old dies from abuse sustained as a baby, Florida cops say. Man now charged

Owner tells officer to shoot dog mauling 14-year-old girl, TN cops say. Kill my dog

Father of missing 13-year-old girl finds unnerving clue by dumpster, Texas police say
A gun on display at Casos Gun-A-Rama on Feb. 11, 2023, in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Aristide Economopoulos/for NJ Monitor)

In January 2022, close to two dozen community members and advocates testified in opposition to ShotSpotter, the controversial surveillance system used by the Denver Police Department that claims to detect the sound of gunshots within the vicinity of a ShotSpotter device.

At the time, Denver City Council was considering a four-year extension of the citys contract with ShotSpotter to the tune of $4.7 million. Opposing testimony highlighted concerns that the technology is not only ineffective and unreliable but also disproportionately placed in communities of color and low-income communities. Community members asked Denver City Council to consider potential consequences of the contract extension, specifically on Denvers most marginalized communities that are already victims of over policing and discriminatory practices.

The vote broke 10-1 in favor of the ShotSpotter contract extension, with the lone no vote coming from then-Council member Candi CdeBaca of District 9, siding with the communitys concerns brought forward during public comment.

Across the nation, ShotSpotter has been a target of similar criticisms from community advocates, and studies have consistently backed these critiques. In 2021, Chicagos Office of Inspector General conducted a study which found that of the 50,176 confirmed and dispatched ShotSpotter alerts from Jan. 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021, only 9.1% actually indicated evidence of a gun-related crime having occurred. Another 2021 study published in the Journal of Urban Health by The New York Academy of Medicine concluded that there was minimal effectiveness of ShotSpotter technology on firearm protection throughout the 100 cities that have been implementing the technology since the mid-2000s.

ShotSpotter has also been observed to intentionally place their devices in communities of color and low-income communities. Newly leaked data from SoundThinking  the company that operates ShotSpotter  further validates these concerns. In the Feb. 22 leak, a map of Denvers ShotSpotter locations suggests that the sensors are placed in Montbello, East Colfax, North Park Hill, Skyland, Cole, Five Points, Lincoln Park, West Colfax, Villa Park, Barnum, Westwood, Golden Triangle, Capitol Hill, Cheesman, Sun Valley, Whittier, City Park West, Uptown, and Elyria-Swansea  the majority of those neighborhoods being low-income or communities of color.

Across the nation, ShotSpotter has been a target of similar criticisms from community advocates, and studies have consistently backed these critiques.

This strong connection between predominantly Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income neighborhoods with ShotSpotter placement in Denver is consistent with Wireds national analysis of the data which found that almost three-quarters of the neighborhoods with a SoundThinking device are majority non-white with annual household incomes for these areas averaging just over $50,000.

With this new information coming to light, it would be wise for Denver to reignite a conversation about the effectiveness of ShotSpotter and its discriminatory targeting of communities of color, much like Chicago recently did when Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the end to the ShotSpotter contract with the city. This followed Johnsons campaign promise to end Chicagos $9 million a year contract with ShotSpotter, which Johnson stated in his campaign platform contributed to the police murder of 13-year-old Adam Toledo in March of 2021.

Denver City Council should use this new leak as an opportunity to reassess the citys contract with SoundThinking technology and concerns for biased and excessive policing in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color where ShotSpotters are placed. Surveillance technology that targets Black, Brown, Indigenous and low-income neighborhoods in Denver should have no place in Denvers policing practices nor the citys already stretched budget.

In the meantime, advocates will continue to press Denver City Council members to follow the lead of cities like Chicago and reject the expensive, ineffective and biased technology.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post New data reignites concerns about Denvers use of ShotSpotter appeared first on Colorado Newsline.
LOS ANGELES  State Sen. Dave Min, who withstood millions of dollars of attack ads in a bitter battle for Rep. Katie Porters Orange County House seat, will advance to the November general election after his Democratic opponent, Joanna Weiss, conceded Wednesday night.

Hell face off with Republican Scott Baugh, a longtime GOP official in the area who came close to beating Porter in the swing district two years ago.

Min said he was "deeply humbled and grateful for the support from voters" in his victory over Weiss, a political activist and first-time candidate.

"This victory is not just about winning an election, it is about the future we are collectively shaping. It's about reclaiming the House for Democrats and Orange County families. Its about rejecting the divisive, Trump-supporting MAGA politics that our opponent, Scott Baugh, represents," Min said in a statement.

Weiss, on social media, said she called Min "and pledged to do all I can to keep [California's 47th district] blue."

The two candidates offered competing visions on the path to victory in Orange County, the one-time conservative bastion that now teeters between red and blue. Min argued that as a Korean American candidate he was best positioned to appeal to Asian American voters, who make up 20 percent of the district, while Weiss said she would better mobilize suburban women who have been key to Democratic victories since the Trump presidency.

But the campaign largely turned on acrimonious personal attacks and a deluge of outside money. Weiss hammered Min on his drunk driving arrest last spring. Coming to her aid was EMILYs List, a group that backs women candidates who support abortion rights, as well as the American Israel Political Affairs Committee. The pro-Israel groups super PAC spent at least $4.7 million against Min for reasons that remain somewhat inscrutable, since Min was not a vocal critic of Israel in public.

Danni Wang, a spokesperson for EMILYs List, said the organization was "so proud of the race Joanna Weiss ran."

"Day in, day out, Joanna stressed the urgency of electing Democratic, pro-choice women to office at a time when Republicans are threatening all our freedoms. We join her in our shared commitment to flipping the House this November," Wang said.

Min, for his part, got outside help from SEIU California, a major labor power player, and won the endorsement of the state Democratic party. He was also backed by Porter, who beat him in a hard-fought primary in 2018.

The general election matchup between Min and Baugh is poised to be one of the marquee races in the country. It is one of the few contests in California where Democrats will be playing defense in a toss-up seat.
A 20-year-old Davenport man sentenced Feb. 23 in the slaying of a 14-year-old in 2021 has appealed that sentence, court documents say.

John Hanes III was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole until he has served 20 years. He was sentenced in connection to the shooting death of 14-year-old Jamon Winfrey shortly before 4:30 p.m. Feb. 24, 2021, near the 1300 block of Farnam Street. He is being held in Scott County Jail.

John Hanes III (Scott County Jail)

The appeal was filed Monday in Scott County Court by attorney Beau A. Bergmann, of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, who represents John Hanes III.

See the appeal below:

Hanes-appealDownload

John Hanes Jr., father of the accused, spoke exclusively last week with Our Quad Cities News, saying Theres always too sides to every story when its all over and done with. He believes his sons trial should have ended in a mistrial or not-guilty verdict.

Sometimes you can be in the wrong place at the wrong time, he said. And thats pretty much what happened to John.

The other defendants

Additionally, Chrystian Smith, 20, of Davenport, was sentenced to up to 25 years after he pleaded guilty to attempted murder in connection with the incident.

Chrystian Smith (photo from Scott County Jail inmate listing.)

Also in connection with the death, Javon Combs, 22, of Davenport, pleaded guilty to three counts of intimidation with a dangerous weapon  injure/provoke fear and willful injury  causing serious injury, court records show. He was sentenced to serve no more than 10 years for each of these charges, with the sentences to be served consecutively, or one after the other.

Javon Combs (Scott County Jail)

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, March 7. A delegation from the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and JP Morgan discussed the current economic situation in Kyrgyzstan and its developmental prospects, Trend reports.

According to the bank, the discussions were held between the Chairman of the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan, Kubanychbek Bokontayev, representatives from JP Morgan, headed by Laurent Lalou, Managing Director and Head of Sales for Africa and the CIS, and the EBRD, led by Managing Director Francis Malige.

The talks focused on measures for sustaining financial sector stability, identifying significant areas for collaboration, and investigating ways to expand correspondent banking networks. Participants also discussed green economic initiatives and sustainable funding, demonstrating a common enthusiasm for implementing new and environmentally beneficial techniques.

Chairman Bokontayev emphasized the importance of open dialogue and expressed readiness for collaborative efforts to implement the discussed initiatives. The sides expressed their intention to continue cooperation in the identified areas.

The delegation from the National Bank and state-owned commercial banks of Kyrgyzstan arrived in London for an official visit.
On March 7, 1965, civil rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., were turned back by police in what came to be known as Bloody Sunday. File Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI

March 7 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent for the telephone.

In 1918, Finland signed a peace treaty with Germany shortly after declaring independence from Russia.

In 1936, Adolf Hitler ordered Nazi troops into the Rhineland, violating the Treaty of Versailles.

In 1945, the U.S. 1st Army crossed the Rhine at Remagen, Germany after capturing the strategically important, Ludendorff Bridge (also known as the Bridge at Remagen). World War II in Europe ended two months later.

On March 7, 2017, Malta's iconic Azure Window, a natural rock arch pictured in 2014, collapsed into the sea during a storm. File Photo by Domenic Aquilina/EPA

In 1965, hundreds of civil rights marchers trying to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., were turned back by state troopers and sheriff's deputies. Dozens of people were beaten and injured in what became known as "Bloody Sunday." Marchers voluntarily turned around on a ceremonial walk to the bridge two days later and, on March 21, with protection by federal and National Guard troops, the main Selma-to-Montgomery march began.

File Photo by David Tulis/UPI

The Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine between Erpel (foreground, east side) and Remagen (background, west side) after it was captured by U.S. troops on March 7, 1945. File Photo courtesy of the U.S. Signal Corps

In 1984, the U.S. Senate confirmed William Wilson as the first U.S. ambassador to the Vatican in 117 years.

In 1985, "We Are the World," a song composed by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and recorded by a series of high-profile music stars was released worldwide with the goal of generating funds for the USA for Africa charity. The song and related promotions eventually raised about $63 million.

On March 7, 1936, Adolf Hitler ordered Nazi troops into the Rhineland, violating the Treaty of Versailles. File Photo courtesy of NARA

In 2010, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Director for her film The Hurt Locker.

In 2013, the U.S. Senate confirmed John Brennan as director of the CIA.

Kathryn Bigelow, director for the film "The Hurt Locker," appears backstage with her Oscar at the 82nd annual Academy Awards in Hollywood on March 7, 2010. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI

File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

In 2017, Malta's iconic Azure Window, a natural rock arch, collapsed into the sea during a storm.

Singer Michael Jackson performs April 24, 2002, at the New York City Apollo theatre. On March 7, 1985, "We Are the World," a song composed by Jackson and Lionel Richie, was released worldwide. File Photo by Ezio Petersen/UPI

In 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic reached a sobering milestone, more than 6 million deaths worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Daylight saving time begins Sunday. Though there may be joy around the season changing, the time change isn't always met with much excitement  especially from parents.

For almost all states across the country, clocks "spring forward" an hour on the second Sunday of March each year and they "fall back" on the first Sunday of November. Though the exact dates vary, the thing to know is that sleep is lost in spring and gained in fall.

Clocks will go ahead one hour on March 10 this year. For many, it will mean an annoying change in schedule. For parents, it could mean total upheaval in kids' sleep cycles.

Daylight saving time can mess with kids' sleep schedules. Experts say there are ways to help them adjust.

Here are some ways to help your family cope with the change.

When is daylight saving time 2024? Millions have sunsets after 6 pm as time change approaches

Make adjustments to your child's sleep schedule ahead of the time change

Utah mom of three and registered pediatric nurse Kayla Younger, who shares about pediatric sleep online, advises that parents help babies "gradually ease into the time change" by waking them up 10 minutes earlier in the days leading up to the change.

"If parents arent able to wake baby up 10 minutes earlier each day the week before the time change, then Id recommend just letting the kids/baby sleep in Sunday," she shares with USA TODAY. "But dont let them sleep in past 8:00/8:30 a.m. because it can throw off naps and bedtime."

Example sleep schedule for springing forward

Parenting website Happiest Baby also recommends easing kids into the time change by shifting bedtimes by 15 minutes earlier (spring) or later (fall) in the days leading up to the event.

For example, if your child's bedtime is normally 8 p.m., parents could use the following plan for springing forward:

Thursday: 7:45 p.m. bedtime

Friday: 7:30 p.m. bedtime

Saturday: 7:15 p.m. bedtime

By Sunday, bedtime will be 7 p.m., which is essentially 8 p.m. when clocks move forward an hour.

The opposite approach would work for the fall: gradually push bedtime later to try to get kids to sleep until their normal wake time.

More than anything, parents should know that "it can take a week for babies to adjust to the time difference so be patient in the process," Younger says. "Sleep may be thrown off for a bit while they adjust."

Adjusting lights, more tips to help kids sleep

Melatonin, the body's sleep hormone that helps with its sleep/wake cycle, is suppressed by light.

"Light exposure halts its production," according to the Sleep Foundation. And since darkness increases its production, it can throw the body off kilter when daylight saving time rolls around in March and a parent is trying to get a child to go to bed while there's more sunlight and wake up when there's less.

Here are some tips on ensuring healthy melatonin production while the body adjusts to the time change:

Cut off screen time at least an hour before bed as the light from the screen disrupts the production of melatonin.

Use blackout curtains to ensure a dark room for good melatonin production.

Only use red, yellow or orange light in your child's room. These lights have "little impact on the circadian rhythm" and "increase melatonin production," according to the Sleep Foundation. Bright and colored light like blue light and green light suppress melatonin production.

Purchase a sun nursery lamp or sunlight alarm clock to signal to your child's body that it's time to wake up.

What is the reason for daylight saving time?

"The United States adopted daylight saving time on March 31, 1918, as a means to conserve electricity during wartime, not, as commonly believed, to allow farmers to work longer in the fields," the Library of Congress states. "In fact, the agriculture industry fervently opposed the measure because farming schedules are based on sunrise and sunset not the clock."

The U.S. abandoned daylight saving time at the federal level after World War I, USA TODAY previously reported, but most states continued to observe. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 chose how states would observe, but most of Arizona and Hawaii stay on standard time year-round.

Is daylight saving time ending?

The push to stop changing clocks was put before Congress in the last couple of years, when the U.S. Senate unanimously approved the Sunshine Protection Act in 2022, a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent, USA TODAY previously reported. However, it did not pass in the U.S. House of Representatives and was not signed into law by President Joe Biden.

Contributing: Emily DeLetter and Camille Fine

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How to help kids adjust to daylight saving time, springing forward
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  Prosecutors from all over the country  many of whom are in the DMV area  signed a pledge to conduct prison, jail and juvenile facility visits.

In a release from Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP), over 60 prosecutors signed on to a pledge to take steps toward gaining a better understanding of incarceration in the U.S.

In the letter, prosecutors acknowledged their significant role in the criminal justice system, especially when it comes to if, when and how incarceration is used in the United States.

The prosecutors announced that they were joining Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) #VisitAPrison Challenge.

DC Council passes Secure DC crime bill with 12 yes votes, 1 present vote

The campaign encourages state and federal lawmakers and policymakers to visit a prison in their states or districts, according to its website.

Policymakers have the power to improve prisons, but many have never stepped foot inside a facility or spoken to an incarcerated person. We challenge them to visit a prison and learn about the problems there and meet the people inside, who deserve humane and rehabilitative treatment, reads the FAMM website.

Prosecutors who signed the pledge said they plan on personally visiting the local prisons, jails and juvenile facilities at which people who are prosecuted by their offices are detained or sentenced.

They also pledged to make these expectations part of ongoing mandatory training and job expectations for line prosecutors, underscoring that this is an integral part of the performance of their duties, the FJP release stated.

Man charged in murder of girlfriend at laundromat in Camp Springs

Among the dozens of prosecutors who signed the pledge, many are located in the D.C. area, including:

Amy Ashworth  Commonwealths Attorney, Prince William Co., Va.

Parisa Dehghani-Tafti  Commonwealths Attorney, Arlington Co. and the City of Falls Church, Va.

Steve Descano  Commonwealths Attorney, Fairfax Co., Va.

Elizabeth K. Humphries Commonwealths Attorney, City of Fredericksburg, Va.

Aisha Braveboy  States Attorney, Prince Georges Co., Md.

Brian Schwalb  Attorney General, District of Columbia

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Descano wrote, Ive joined 65 other prosecutors in a pledge to visit our local correctional facilities. Its imperative that our office see & understand the impacts of incarceration so that we can make choices that better serve long-term public safety.

At a time when national, state, and local policymakers and criminal justice stakeholders are considering how to shrink the footprint of the justice system and how we move away from tough-on-crime carceral policies of the past, it is vital for prosecutors to understand the true impact of their decisions and to see firsthand the jails, prisons, and juvenile facilities in their jurisdiction, FJPs release read.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Editors Note: This article contains content involving sexual assault that may be disturbing to some readers.

WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  A jury found a D.C. man guilty of kidnapping, robbery, and rape today in a DC District Court trial, the U.S. District Attorneys Office said.

The jury found 34-year-old Mark A. Blue guilty of multiple charges, including kidnapping and robbery as well as two counts of first-degree sexual abuse while armed.

Woman sexually assaulted at knifepoint in Prince Georges County, police say

Court documents said that Blue and another man kidnapped a woman while she was walking to a bus stop in Prince Georges County in December 2018.

They then unclothed her, robbed her, and forced her into their car where they covered her eyes with her shirt and sexually assaulted her.

Blue then drove them to Southeast, where they forced her to drain her bank account from an ATM.

The men sexually assaulted her multiple times throughout the night and left her naked in an alleyway with her head still covered.

The U.S. District Attorneys Office said that Blue quit his job days after the crime and fled to North Carolina where he was arrested in late January 2019.

He has been in police custody ever since.

The judge scheduled Blues sentencing for June 14. His convictions maximum penalty is life in prison, according to the U.S. District Attorneys Office.

You can read more about the case on the U.S. District Attorneys Offices website.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  The U.S. Attorneys Office (USAO) in D.C. said a man pleaded guilty to federal firearms and drug trafficking offenses on Wednesday.

Twenty-five-year-old Christopher Norece Mitchell of Washington, D.C. pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.

He also pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute N,N-Dimethylpentylone.

Five men arrested for multiple weapon offenses in DC

According to court documents, on April 20, 2023, police approached a group of men who were loitering on private property in the Chinatown neighborhood.

When the men were leaving the area, one of them took a black plastic bag and threw it in the trash.

Police recovered the bag and found a distributable quantity of marijuana, a digital scale, empty plastic bags that would be used for drug distribution, and a key for an SUV that was nearby.

Mitchell soon arrived back at the scene and said the SUV belonged to his mom.

Mitchell allowed police to search him, and officers found about $4,000 and distributable quantities of drugs that included fentanyl and N,N-Dimethylpentylone.

Officers also searched the SUV and recovered even more N,N-Dimethylpentylone as well as other drugs, additional scales and three loaded Glock firearms as well as additional ammunition.

USAO said that at minimum, Mitchell faces 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the firearms count. The maximum sentence would be 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $2,000,000.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 9, 2024.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
South Floridas vermin spread the contamination, as Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach each contributed two restaurants to this weeks Sick and Shut Down List.

To reiterate what we tell you most weeks: State inspectors, not The Miami Herald nor Miami.com, choose the restaurants to inspect and do the inspecting. Were merely reporting what they found.

In alphabetical order...

Atlantis Pizzeria, 5925 S. Congress Ave., Atlantis: Routine inspection, 11 total violations, three High Priority violations.

Is it appropriate or ironic that Atlantis got closed not by roaches or rodents but by water?

The fuller explanation of the violation Sewage/wastewater backing up through floor drains says the drain next to the walk-in cooler was backing up after the handwash sink was used at the pizza/hot line station.

Above the hot line garbage can, the wall was soiled with accumulated grease, food debris and/or dust.

Also, cut sausage was stored in to-go bags, which is a to-go bag no-no because those arent food grade bags. Theyre fine for touching styrofoam, not food.

Atlantis passed a same-day re-inspection.

READ MORE: Unsafe levels of lead in cinnamon sold at discount stores, supermarkets, FDA says

Grio Express, 4308 N. State Rd. 7, Lauderdale Lakes: Routine inspection, 13 total violations, four High Priority violations.

Temperature issues got Grio closed.

Never mind the containers of frozen chicken and pork sitting on the freezer chest in room temperature, the kind of thawing that can lead to late night refunding if served.

Or, in-use kitchen utensil sitting in standing water that was so far under 135 degrees, it was air conditioned room temperature (75 degrees).

But what closed shop for Grio was no potable running water...no running water at the three-compartment sink or handwash sink in the employee bathroom.

The plumbing issues must have gotten repaired enough for Grio to pass a same-day re-inspection.

Hunan City, 9101 Lakeridge Blvd., Unincorporated Palm Beach County: Routine inspection, six total violations, three High Priority violations.

The license misstates the address as 1901 Lakeridge Blvd., which doesnt seem to exist according to Palm Beach County property records.

The floor under the cookline equipment was described as soiled, has an accumulation of debris, but Hunan got hammered for being too buggy.

Also under that cookline equipment and on the cookline were 20 dead roaches.

Running around them were a total of five live roaches among the 15 counted in the restaurant.

Hunan City passed re-inspection the next day.

READ MORE: U.S. assess that Haiti could fall at any time to complete gang control

Le Genie Restaurant, 176-178 NE 167th St., North Miami Beach: Routine inspection, 42 total violations, eight High Priority violations.

Another restaurant on North Miami Beachs main east-west strip to rodent poop the bed (or the shelf) on inspection. We told you earlier this week about the rodent droppings on shelves near seasonings and clean plates at Le Genie.

READ MORE: About 100 rodent droppings dotting North Miami Beachs Le Genie Restaurant

Also, the place had an odor.

It took three inspections but Le Genie made the rodents (or at least their poop pellets) disappear long enough to get reopened.

Randys Restaurant & Lounge, 13420 NW Seventh Ave., North Miami: Routine inspection, seven total violations, one High Priority violation.

The other Miami-Dade restaurant on this list also had an accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine/bin.

A can opener was soiled.

But, Dead Pixie & Dixie canceled the rest of Randys day. Observed two dead rodents on glue traps on the floor underneath the shelves in the dry storage room by the kitchen area.

Passed inspection the next day.

Rios Cafe & Grill, 3937 N. Federal Hwy., Pompano Beach: Routine inspection, seven total violations, one High Priority violation.

Not sure why youd store bagged rice directly on the floor or a single serve cup on the kitchen floor where youve got 5 dead roaches. Surely, they were alive at some point, similar to the three live roaches behind the handwash sink faucet, the live roaches in boxed foil by the handwash sink, in a storage drawer under the handwash sink, in a dry storage cabinet and in a water heater pan next to the cookline.

What, nobody saw the dead roach next to the front counter reach-in cooler or the one in the kitchen light shield? Dont be afraid to pay attention.

The re-inspection went fine until the inspector saw two dead roaches, a live roach on single serve trays at the front counter and three live roaches on the front counter floor.

Rios could dance to an upbeat version of Mais Que Nada after the re-re-inspection.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A deadly crash closed roads near the Las Vegas Strip Wednesday afternoon, according to Nevada State Police.

Nevada State Police said the crash occurred shortly before 1 p.m. on March 6 on the westbound Spring Mountain Road near I-15. The crash involved a single motorcyclist.

NSP said a man was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, roads in the area were closed and drivers should expect delays.

NSP said at around 4 p.m. that the northbound and southbound ramps were expected to be shut down for the next five to six hours.

Spring Mountain Road is closed in both directions, including the Spring Mountain East to the I-15 northbound ramp. The I-15 northbound exit to Spring Mountain East is also closed.

Drivers should avoid the area.

No additional details were given at this time.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Some Congressional Democrats are growing concerned about a gun-related policy rider  which will expand gun rights for veterans determined to be mentally incompetent to manage their own affairs  that was included in the latest bill to fund the government.

The House voted 339-85 on a package of six funding bills, drawing support from 207 Democrats and 132 Republicans. It is now set to move to the Senate, leaving little time before yet another government shutdown deadline looms.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a prominent advocate for gun reform since the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown in 2012, vowed Wednesday he would not vote for the legislation as it significantly rolls back the firearms background check system.

I cant sugarcoat this: this provision - which could result in 20,000 new seriously mentally ill individuals being able to buy guns each year - will be a death sentence for many, Murphy wrote on X/Twitter. Its unacceptable this provision was pushed by Republicans. Democrats shouldnt have acquiesced.

While the provision was a Republican priority, it also drew support from some Democrats including Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, Mary Peltola of Alaska, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico, Roll Call reported.

The legislation includes a provision that will enable veterans who have been deemed mentally incompetent by the Veterans Affairs Administration to purchase a firearm by withholding information from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Under current law, veterans who are unable to manage their finances and benefits are reported to the Justice Department for a background check.

The gun-related rider would change that and prohibit the department from sharing such information unless a judge rules that the beneficiary is a danger to themselves or others.

Democrats and activists expressed concerns that the provision could potentially exacerbate gun violence, leading to more deaths and an increase in veteran suicides.

Reps. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., and Mark Takano, D-Calif., voted against the minibus legislation Wednesday.

Frost, who was the former organizing director for March for Our Lives, the student-led organization founded by survivors of the 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., said the provisions inclusion in the package has the greatest rollback of the background check system since it was created.

This rollback would allow veterans that have been deemed by the Veterans Administration to be mentally incompetent to buy guns, Frost wrote on X. These are folks that the VA no longer trusts to manager their own benefits. Veterans who are also unfortunately, at a high risk of suicide.

Takano, the ranking member on the Veterans Affairs Committee, said a determination of mental incompetency by the V.A. is typically based on very serious mental health conditions like schizophrenia and dementia

There are very serious reasons why people with those conditions should not be able to purchase a firearm, Takano said. It's also the case that firearms are used in 68% of veterans' deaths by suicideSo why on earth would this Congress cede one more important safeguard against a veteran's death, and that is why I cannot support this bill.

Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund released a new report highlighting the rise of firearm suicide among veterans, which found that seven out of 10 veteran suicides are by gun, marking the highest proportion of veteran suicides with a gun in over 20 years.

Nearly 87,000 veterans died by gun suicide from 2002 to 2021. This was 16 times the number of service members killed in action over the same period, according to the report.

By including this rider, Congress threatens to undermine a decades-long practice meant to keep vulnerable veterans safe, John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, told Salon. It aims to enable veterans who are prohibited from purchasing and possessing firearms under longstanding federal regulations and law to pass a background check and obtain them.

We know there can be serious, irreversible consequences when someone in crisis gains access to a firearm and, should this pass the Senate, it will put at-risk veterans at even greater risk of harming themselves and undermine public safety, Feinblatt said.

The devastating rise of firearm suicide among veterans isnt new, but its made all the worse by easy access to guns, he added.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

This proposed change puts veterans' lives at risk, and gun sense lawmakers and lawmakers who have promised to help protect veterans from suicide should be doing everything in their power to reverse it before its too late, Feinblatt said.

The anti-gun-violence organization Giffords. led by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., also opposed the package because of the inclusion of the rider, emphasizing that the funding bill makes cuts to law enforcement agencies necessary to curbing gun violence.

This is a dangerous and reckless change that will endanger veterans, Vanessa N. Gonzalez, VP of Government and Political Affairs at Giffords, told Salon. Republicans framed the existing process that exists at the VA as unfair to veterans, but in reality, the VAs process helps them intervene at moments of crisis to potentially save lives.

The VAs existing process for evaluations provides additional support for veterans who are diagnosed with severe PTSD or dementia or schizophrenia  veterans who are at increased of risk of suicide  and also gives them the opportunity to appeal to have their access to firearms restored, Gonzalez said. The Republican proposal will upend 30 years of practice and allow veterans who may harm themselves or others access to firearms.

Public health research proves that easy access and the presence of a firearm increases the risk that a suicide attempt will be fatal, she added. More than 6,500 veterans die by suicide each year, and veterans account for roughly one in five firearm suicides in the U.S. Veterans who have been deemed incompetent by the V.A. are at a higher risk of suicide and giving them easier access to firearms will sadly lead to more fatalities.

Our veterans serve our country with pride, and we need to do our part to ensure they receive the care they need when they come home, Gonzalez said. This move by Republicans, to distort the truth about a process that has been created to keep them safe, is a shameful step in the wrong direction. Their rhetoric doesnt match their covert actions."
The Whitehall clock on the building in Horse Guards, the former Head Quarters of the British Army

If, as is frequently said, Britain is facing another 1930s moment in terms of the existential threat posed by foes like Russia, then Chancellor Jeremy Hunts perfunctory mention of defence spending in his Budget statement simply reaffirms the view that the Government remains intent on sleepwalking towards disaster.

In the weeks leading up to yesterdays statement, the parlous state of our Armed Forces has been laid bare for all to see. The Army is too small and ill-equipped to conduct overseas combat operations at any meaningful level, the Royal Navy has two 65,000-ton aircraft carriers that have neither the manpower nor combat aircraft to make them fully operational, while the Royal Air Force is desperately short of combat aircraft.

This wanton reduction in Britains military strength, moreover, is taking place at a time when, as Lord Cameron observed only in January, the lights are absolutely flashing red on the global dashboard. The Foreign Secretary pointed out that it was hard to think of a time when there has been so much danger and insecurity and instability in the world.

His Lordship no doubt had in mind the mounting threat posed by hostile states like Russia, which has increased defence spending to an estimated 7.5 per cent of GDP following its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. China, meanwhile, announced this week it is boosting defence spending by 7.2 per cent this year, fuelling a military budget that has more than doubled during President Xi Jinpings 11 years in office.

By contrast, Hunts reference to defence spending accounted for just a few seconds of his hour-long speech. The Chancellor confirmed that defence spending would meet its 2 per cent of GDP target  the minimum Nato requirement  but a Government commitment to raise it to 2.5 per cent will be fulfilled only as soon as the economic conditions allow, which is Treasury-speak for dream on.

It is not as though ministers are unaware of the urgent need to upgrade our national defences. When Foreign Secretary, Hunt himself called for spending to be raised to 3 per cent, while in the pre-Budget Whitehall lobbying contest, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps made a compelling case for the Chancellor to take bold action to raise the defence budget to 2.5 per cent. This will resonate with our allies and adversaries. It would re-establish our leadership in Europe, he argued.

Instead, Hunt appeared to blithely ignore the case for increased defence expenditure, preferring instead to spend the available funds on more parochial projects, like investing 4.2 billion in AI technology that can be applied to fill in NHS forms.

As Lord Stirrup, who served as chief of the defence staff from 2006 to 2010, memorably remarked during a House of Lords debate this week, the Governments attitude is like someone muttering about one day taking out adequate insurance while the house burns down around their ears.

Not that Labour is any better. In his reply to Hunts announcement, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer made no mention of defence, even though Labour has previously called for a post-9/11-style increase in defence spending in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

With a general election in prospect, politicians will argue that they need to concentrate on core domestic issues, such as the NHS and taxation, to win over voters.

By ignoring such a fundamental issue as our national defence, though, the Government is failing in its basic duty to safeguard the welfare of its citizens when the nation faces jeopardy on a number of fronts.

One of the militarys most basic assumptions, for example, which dates back to the end of the Cold War, is that the British military would never be required to fight in isolation, and that any future military operations would be conducted in conjunction with key allies, especially in Nato.

That assumption needs to be radically revised after the European Union revealed this week that, in the event of a European war with Russia, Brussels would block the export of weapons to Britain to protect its own capitals. If Donald Trump, moreover, succeeds in his quest to be re-elected president, Britains long-standing reliance on the US military for protection could no longer be taken for granted.

In such circumstances, Britain must do more to develop its own ability to defend itself, rather than relying on others. Military self-sufficiency is an approach that is already being adopted by a number of European countries, such as Denmark, whose geographical proximity to Russia leaves them with no option but to give their military a radical upgrade.

As Denmarks centre-Left prime minister Mette Frederiksen said in a recent interview, the threat Europe faces from a more aggressive Russia means that naive Europeans must commit to prolonged defence and security funding increases instead of focusing on welfare spending and tax cuts.

That Left-wing Danish politicians should be calling for extra defence spending underlines the utter folly of the British governments refusal even to discuss the issue.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, March 7. President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon and a delegation from the World Bank's (WB) Board of Directors discussed enhancing the country's economy resilience to threats and dangers, Trend reports.

According to the Tajik president's press service, the discussion touched upon the need for increased investment from development partners in various economic and social sectors of the country.

The sides considered attracting additional investments essential for sustainable development, especially in education, healthcare, irrigation, agriculture, transportation, environmental protection, tourism development, strengthening disaster resilience, and advancing green economy initiatives alongside further digitalization in Tajikistan.

The necessity for implementing consistent reforms to prevent and mitigate risks and negative factors affecting the national economy was underscored.

President Rahmon expressed satisfaction with the level of cooperation between Tajikistan and the WB and the implementation of various projects in the country involving this financial institution.

Tajikistan joined the WB in 1993 and the International Development Association (IDA) in 1994, cementing its commitment to international development cooperation.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council will consider Thursday choosing among several areas off Monterey Bay to protect in order to restore and preserve deep-sea corals that create habitat for sea creatures.

The council will decide at a Thursday meeting whether to protect deep-sea corals from bottom fishing gear at undersea areas known as Sur Ridge or the Ano Nuevo or Ascension canyons or all three. The panel is one of eight federally created councils operating under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The restoration efforts were spurred by an incident in 2016, in which a 528-foot dry dock, a structure used to contain a ship for it to be drained, was being towed from Washington state to Mexico in order to be recycled, according to Karen Grimmer, Resource Protection Coordinator at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Because of trouble with the tow, the dock was released in Pioneer Canyon, about 40 miles offshore San Francisco Bay, crushing deep-sea coral in the area. The latest efforts would focus on restoring deep-sea coral at other sites in order to compensate for the loss in 2016.

The sites being considered, which are in essential fish habitat conservation areas, are already protected from bottom trawling, which involves dragging a fishing net along the bottom of the ocean. They're however not protected from other traps, bottom contact gear or pots.

Read more: Scientists warn that a crucial ocean current could collapse, altering global weather

Sur Ridge encompasses 36.64 square nautical miles, Ano Nuevo Canyon is 6.5 square nautical miles and Ascension Canyon is 2.96 square nautical miles off of the California coast. The depths range from 1,574 to 5,118 feet.

Grimmer said the project could take up to 10 years because it takes a long time for deep-sea coral to grow. To help regrow coral, branches of healthy coral must be snipped off and replanted somewhere else.

We really want to understand more about their biology and their ecology so that we understand better their role in a healthy ocean ecosystem, because they do provide and contribute to the ecosystem, including habitat for fish and invertebrates," she said.

The agencies also want to work with fishermen to limit the impacts the project may have on fishing, according to Grimmer. Keeping that in mind, that's why they selected very deep areas because there are very few fisheries happening at that depth.

"Our intention is to try and find areas that have the least impact on fishermen so that they can have their fishing grounds and opportunities and we can also restore and protect coral," she said. "I think there's a way to do both."

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Deer Creek High School is facing backlash after a video showed students licking peanut butter off their classmates toes. The activities portrayed in the video were part of the schools annual fundraising event, which raised money for Not Your Average Joe on March 1. The fundraiser raised more than $150,000.

Oklahoma's state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters reposted Fox 25's video with a caption saying, "We are cleaning up this filth in Oklahoma schools." Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, also shared the post and described it as "child abuse."

What are your thoughts on the backlash Deer Creek students and Not Your Average Joe staff are facing from the community? What's the craziest activity you've participated in to raise funds for charity?

Let us publish your perspectives on this topic by sharing your comments, along with your name and city of residence, to yourviews@oklahoman.com or by filling out our survey form: https://bit.ly/deer-creek-fundraiser

The Public Square logo

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Deer Creek toe licking fundraiser backlash: Tell us your thoughts
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, attempted to force a floor vote Wednesday on a law that would require illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the hope of preventing avoidable attacks and resulting deaths.

The Iowa Republican's unanimous consent request was thwarted by Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who objected to the request.

Ernst requested unanimous consent from her colleagues in order to advance Sarah's Law to the floor for a vote. During her speech, she pleaded with colleagues to pass her bill, recalling the death of Sarah Root and also referencing the recent death of Laken Riley, both allegedly at the hands of illegal immigrants.

HOUSE SPEAKER JOHNSON LAUNCHES FUNDRAISING HUB TO GROW GOP HOUSE MAJORITY AFTER TRUMP SUPER TUESDAY VICTORIES

The bill would require ICE to take into custody illegal immigrants who are arrested and charged with causing the death or serious injury of another. This was reiterated by Ernst during her speech: "It would merely require ICE to detain, just to detain, otherwise deportable illegal immigrants charged with killing or seriously injuring another person," she said.

Durbin said the bill would detain victims of trafficking or domestic abuse who were charged with crimes. According to him, the bill would "deprive immigrants of the due process that everyone is afforded."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, talks to reporters following the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon in the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 14, 2023.

The measure's namesake, Sarah Root, was a 21-year-old Iowa woman who was killed by a drunk driver who was in the country illegally. Ernst noted that the suspect, Edwin Mejia, was able to post bond and ultimately escape facing the court.

HOUSE GOP RELENTS ON LGBT CENTER FUNDING IN $460B PACKAGE AS DEMS CHEER LACK OF 'POISON PILLS'

"Citing the Obama administrations November 2014 memo on immigration enforcement priorities, ICE declined to take custody of Mejia despite his repeated driving offenses and history of skipping court dates," Ernst said.

Immigrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing from Mexico into Yuma, Arizona, on Aug. 6, 2022.

Riley, the 22-year-old University of Georgia nursing student also referenced by the senator, was killed last month. Another illegal immigrant, Jose Ibarra, was arrested and has been charged with several crimes, including malice murder and felony murder, among others.

News of Riley's killing made headlines across the country last month and has prompted congressional Republicans to demand answers: "The reality is Laken's heartbreaking story did not have to happen," Ernst said.

According to the senator, both Root and Riley's deaths are "doomed to be repeated" under the current policies.

MCCONNELL ENDORSES TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT AFTER SUPER TUESDAY RESULTS: 'HE WILL HAVE MY SUPPORT'

Laken Riley, a nursing student at the University of Georgia, was found dead near a lake on campus on Feb. 22, 2024.

The senator pointed to the immigration practice known as "catch and release" in which illegal immigrants seeking entry on the basis of asylum are released during the processing period.

"Instead of being detained while he was processed, he was released into our country  never to be heard from again," she said.

While Ibarra may have been prevented from allegedly killing Riley had he been detained upon entry to the country, Sarah's Law would not have stopped the attack because Ibarra's criminal record doesn't include crimes in which others were killed or injured.





Original article source: Democrat senator thwarts GOP effort to pass bill detaining illegal immigrants charged with violent crime
Patrick Leahy, a former senator, said the US is violating its own law by sending aid to Israel (Getty Images)

A retired Democratic senator has warned that the US may have violated its own laws around foreign aid by sending arms to Israel.

Patrick Leahy, a former Senator from Vermont, is best known for championing his namesake Leahy Law, which refers to two statutory provisions that prevent the federal government from using funds to assist foreign governments when there is credible information that they have committed gross violations of human rights.

When The Independent asked the former senator if the US sending aid to Israel complies with the law, his answer was clear: No. Is that succinct enough for you?

Mr Leahy, who retired from the Senate in 2023 after first being elected in 1975, said the number of civilians who are being injured or killed by US paid armaments comes in violation to the foreign aid laws named after him.

Theres supposed to be restrictions on accounting, he continued.

The US has repeatedly sent bombs and other weapons to Israel after Hamas launched a surprise attack on 7 October, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and around 200 were taken hostage. Since then, Israels attacks on Gaza have killed at least 30,000 Palestinians since October, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

Questions arose as to whether the nation has violated the Leahy Law when the president released a new memo on foreign aid requirements last month, with some Democrats hailing it as a step towards potentially conditioning military aid to Israel. However, the memo only outlined existing laws stating that countries receiving US aid must follow humanitarian guidelines, such as providing credible and reliable written assurances that they are complying with international law and humanitarian standards.

The White House also denied that it would have an impact on billions of dollars of military aid slated for the longtime US ally.

His comments came as news broke that President Joe Bidenwill order US forces to build an aid seaport on the Gaza coast. Last week, the president also announced that US forces would also be airdropping humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The United Nations warned last month that some 576,000 people, or one-quarter of Gazas population, are one step away from famine. It has also accused Israel of  systematically  blocking aid deliveries into Gaza and of opening fire on convoys that do make it through.

Senator Peter Welch, Mr Leahys successor in the Senate, supports a ceasefire and said the port for Gaza is a good start but more work still needs to be done.

We gotta face the contradiction, he told The Independent. You know we're dropping food in on Monday and Israels dropping bombs on Tuesday. And American taxpayers are paying for both. A ceasefire is what we need in order to get aid in and hostages out.
A group of at least nine Democratic lawmakers wore blue attire at the Capitol on Wednesday to express solidarity with the Israeli hostages still being held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

I wore blue today with my colleagues to stand in solidarity with the Israeli hostages because enough is enough, Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) wrote Wednesday in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Its time we bring back the hostages. And we will wear blue every Wednesday until the hostages are released.

The Florida Democrat attached a photo of herself sporting a blue pantsuit, alongside her party colleagues including Democratic Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), Emilia Strong Sykes (Ohio), Debbie Dingell (Mich.), Dan Goldman (N.Y.), Kathy Manning (N.C.), Jennifer McClellan (Va.), Nikema Williams (Ga.) and Brad Schneider (Ill.)

Families of the hostages still held by Hamas appeared Wednesday alongside a group of bipartisan House lawmakers, including Wasserman Schultz, in a call on the militant group to release the hostages ahead of Thursdays State of The Union.

Wasserman Shultz emphasized it is up to Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, to accept a temporary cease-fire deal that Israel reportedly agreed to over the weekend.

The ball is in Hamass court here, Wasserman Schultz said during the press conference Wednesday. We have to tell Hamas to accept this deal right now.

If Hamas accepts, the deal would include a six-week cease-fire, and Hamas would release hostages considered at risk, according to the U.S. official. It would also pave the way for a larger influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by Israels military operations.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, and hundreds of thousands of others have been driven from their homes as Israel attempts to eliminate Hamas after the terrorist groups attack on Oct. 7 that killed more than 1,200 people in southern Israel. An estimated 240 people were taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attacks, about 100 of whom were released during a weeklong cease-fire late last year.

The families of the hostages also asked lawmakers and their staffs to wear yellow ribbons and dog tags to show solidarity during President Bidens State of the Union address.

Several Democrats have recently upped calls for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, with members of the progressive flank publicly criticizing Biden for his handling of the conflict.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Members of the Armed Forces, including the National Guard, wait in the lobby of the New York City Mass Transit Authority Rail Control Center before the start of a news conference with Gov. Kathy Hochul, Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in New York. Hochul is deploying the National Guard to the New York City subway system to help police search passengers' bags for weapons, following a series of high-profile crimes on city trains. | Mary Altaffer

Fourteen months ago, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said there had been significant progress in making New York City subways safer. The progress, it seems, wasnt significant enough. On Wednesday, Hochul announced that the National Guard and State Police would be conducting bag checks at the citys busiest transit stations in order to combat a recent spate of violent crimes.

While the move may be necessary to keep commuters and tourists safe, its an astonishingly bad optic for a Democratic governor to offer her political party as the nation moves past Super Tuesday and looks to the general election. Her announcement comes on the heels of Donald Trumps victory speech Tuesday, which The New York Times described as short on celebration or exultation and long on sinister evocations of what he portrayed as a grim fate for the country if President Biden is re-elected.

As sinister evocations go, however, Hochul has Trump beat. Nothing says This city is unsafe as loudly as uniformed soldiers standing watch. Just like nothing says This country is unsafe like images of young men crossing an unsecured southern border, or a ransacked zombie CVS, its shelves empty because of crime. Maybe this is not a huge problem for Hochul, whose term doesnt end until 2027, but crime is a problem for Democrats on the ticket in 2024.

Most discussion of Bidens vulnerability in the upcoming election has to do with his age, his immigration policies and his failure to find an Israel-Gaza strategy that doesnt repel young Americans who support Palestine. But crime is also a vulnerability for the president, even though violent crime and property crime both declined in 2023, according to FBI statistics.

Regardless of what the numbers say, many Americans dont feel safe, and fear  not statistics  is what theyll take with them into the voting booth. According to Gallup, More than three-quarters of Americans, 77%, believe there is more crime in the U.S. than a year ago, and a majority, 55%, say the same about crime in their local area.

Significantly, the number of Americans reporting that someone in their household has been a victim of crime edged up last year. Again, per Gallup, Overall, a combined 28% say they or someone in their household has been victimized in the past year by one of seven different crimes asked about in the survey, including vandalism, car theft, burglary, robbery, armed robbery, sexual assault and battery. The composite figure is up from 23% when the question was last asked in 2021 and from 20%  the low point in the trend  in 2020.

Elizabeth Wickham, a blogger in Arizona, recently wrote that she knows two people who were mugged within two weeks. If I know two people mugged in a short amount of time, this must be happening frequently, she wrote.

Even people who dont know anyone personally affected by crime have likely seen the troubling images that circulate on social media of flash mob robberies in which groups of people descend on a store and make off with everything of value. While a news report by NPR tried to push back against retailers claims that these sorts of mob crimes are increasing, a spokesman for the National Retail Association said that violent crime in retail stores is up, like overall store losses. (NPR also noted that not every city sends crime data to the FBI  nearly a third did not in 2022  giving us cause to be suspicious of reports that say crime went down in 2023. The reporting rate in California, for example, was just 49%, according to The Marshall Project.)

The fact is, although a writer for The Washington Post tried to spin a story about a local zombie CVS into a late-capitalism horror story, and decried moral panic over petty theft, no theft is petty if youre trying to have a moral nation.

For all of Americas problems, stores are not being set upon by a generation of starving Jean Valjeans; the flash mobs are stealing designer goods and Nikes, not bread, and theyre doing it not because they have to, but because they can. There has been a dearth in active policing, one person told the Post, and many stores have told their security guards not to chase thieves. Joe Biden may not be responsible for that, but the progressive wing of his party certainly is.

What Biden does have to take ownership of, however, is the increasing sense that our country is less safe because of bad actors coming across the border. You dont have to go to Fox News to see the numbers; heres whats been reported by The Washington Post: Illegal border crossings soared in the months after Biden took office, averaging 2 million each year. Under Trump, most migrants were from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras; under Biden, Migrants from Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Senegal and Mauritania  along with other nations in Africa, Europe and Asia  are crossing from Mexico in numbers U.S. authorities have never seen. The biggest spikes in illegal crossings are from Colombia and Venezuela, the Post said.

Which brings us to Laken Riley, the 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered while she was out for a run in Georgia. An undocumented immigrant from Venezuela was arrested in connection with her death. One writer has decried the use of Rileys death as more grist for Americas forever culture war, and to be sure, some conservative commentators have gone over the top in blaming Bidens policies for her death. But we also cant ignore the fact that a concerning number of news accounts are mentioning Venezuelan migrants in connection with American crime, from retail theft in Illinois to cell phone robberies in New York. In Arizona, Wickham has been told by local law enforcement that a crime ring from South America is responsible for a series of break-ins in her city. She says she used to not lock her door when she was home during the day. She does now.

This is not to demonize our neighbors to the south, or to say that everyone crossing the border means to do us harm. My daughter-in-law is from Ecuador, and I have traveled there and dearly love South America and its people. But as many commentators have pointed out, if just 1% of people crossing our southern border have ill intent, thats 20,000 people. Which is why, as the National Guard checks bags at Grand Central Station and stores are putting everyday products like toothpaste and deodorant under lock and key, its Democrats who have another reason to be scared this year.
Democrats plan to put reproductive freedom front and center at President Joe Bidens State of the Union address Thursday night.

Over 30 Democrats, as well as First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, are bringing guests who are involved in the reproductive rights movement in some way. The guests range from people impacted by abortion bans to OB-GYNs and abortion providers, as well as pro-choice advocates working at national nonprofits. Several Democrats also invited patients and providers in the fertility care space to spotlight in vitro fertilization after the Alabama Supreme Court ruling which granted embryos the same legal status as children.

Members of the House Democratic Womens Caucus announced they will be wearing white to Thursdays address, as well as pins that read Fighting for Reproductive Freedom.

The president, a practicing Catholic, has made it clear that hes not big on abortion  leaving many abortion rights supporters frustrated that the administration isnt doing enough since the Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade. Biden has made restoring Roe a central part of his reelection campaign, but the way he discusses abortion often leaves pro-choice advocates wanting more. In a recent interview with The New Yorker, Biden said hes never been supportive of, you know, Its my body, I can do what I want with it.

Most other Democrats are not as hesitant to showcase the issue on Thursday.

It really is a chance to bring the voices of all the women, of all the doctors, of all the families that have been affected by this loss of personal freedom, by this loss of access to health care, to the corridors of Congress, House Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.), who has openly discussed her own miscarriage story, told HuffPost.

Clark is bringing Amanda Zurawski, a Texas woman who was denied a lifesaving abortion until she was at deaths door and is now suing Texas along with several other women. Zurawski, who attended last years State of the Union address as Jill Bidens guest, is honored to be back especially during such a critical election year for Democrats.

Its hard not to think about what could happen if Republicans win, she told HuffPost, listing health care that the GOP is actively threatening to restrict including contraception, IVF and implementing a national abortion ban.

Amanda Zurawski (left) of Austin, Texas, and Democratic House Minority Whip Katherine Clark. Getty Images

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) invited Kayla Smith, an Idaho woman who was denied abortion care in her home state after discovering her pregnancy had fatal fetal abnormalities. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) is bringing Brittany Watts, an Ohio woman who was criminalized for miscarrying at home. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) invited Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indiana OB-GYN who Republicans targeted for providing a legal abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim.

First Lady Jill Biden announced earlier this year that one of her guests will be Kate Cox, who sued the state of Texas last year to access an emergency abortion. Cox eventually had to leave the state to get care. Latorya Beasley, a woman from Alabama whose IVF care was interrupted by the Alabama ruling, will also attend as one of Bidens guests.

Democrats decision to spotlight reproductive health care at the State of the Union highlights how central abortion will be in the 2024 elections. Restricting abortion has not been a popular policy choice for congressional Republicans, and many are now scrambling to distance themselves from the Alabama IVF ruling in the wake of national outrage. Democrats know abortion is a winning issue, and are finally capitalizing on it.

Zurawski drew national headlines after she almost died in 2022 because Texas doctors would not provide abortion care. Despite being told her pregnancy was nonviable at 17 weeks, doctors said the fetus still had cardiac activity and refused to provide an abortion under the states near-total ban. After days of waiting to get sick enough for doctors to provide care, Zurawski became septic, and the hospital agreed to induce labor.

The ordeal left Zurawski in the intensive care unit with severe damage to her reproductive organs  likely leaving her unable to carry a pregnancy to term. Zurawski and her husband are now using IVF and surrogacy to hopefully start their family.

A year to the day after Zurawski signed on to the Center for Reproductive Rights lawsuit against the state of Texas, the Alabama IVF ruling came out. Now, Zurawski has to worry about the embryos she and her husband are storing in Texas, which shes concerned could follow in Alabamas footsteps.

Instantly, my husband and I were like, This could happen in Texas tomorrow. We have got to get our embryos somewhere safe. As long as theyre in Texas, I dont feel like theyre safe, she told HuffPost.

Ive been really mad for a long time, but I tapped into a new level of rage because it was just so unbelievable, she continued. If you havent been through it, theres no way for you to know and fully understand how stressful it is, how terrifying it is. How lonely and isolating it is.

The Alabama ruling, which has forced three of the largest fertility clinics to pause IVF services, came out last month. Zurawski is still trying to move her embryos out of state, but a lack of couriers has created a backlog of patients in Alabama and other states like Texas where people feel their care could be threatened in the near future.

A handful of Democrats invited patients and providers in the IVF space to spotlight fertility care in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court ruling.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), who has continually advocated for IVF protections despite Republican objection, is bringing Dr. Amanda Adeleye, a reproductive endocrinologist and fertility specialist. Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.) announced his guest for the State of the Union earlier this week  Elizabeth Carr, the first person born via IVF in the U.S.

I hope that my colleagues across the aisle are listening, Clark told HuffPost. It is not too late for them to decide that they can return to what we had, which was a constitutional right to abortion... and if they do not, it is going to be at their own electoral peril.

Related...
Democratic donors are urging President Biden to see recent presidential primary results, like in Michigan where more than 100,000 voters abandoned him and marked "uncommitted" on their ballots, as a "warning sign" and a "wake-up call."

"Regardless of how you dissect the specific math and historical comparisons (2012, 2016) of what happened in Michigan, 100,000 uncommitted Democratic voters must be seen as a wake-up call," wrote Way to Win, a national hub of progressive donors, in a memo to its members and supporters. "We can tell you that the energy behind uncommitted is not something that should be ignored, taken lightly, or dismissed."

It added: "We should not try to argue ourselves out of the fact that Michigan is a major warning signal that something needs to change."

In the Democratic presidential primary in Michigan, the state's Arab American population urged voters to "Abandon Biden" and vote "uncommitted" on primary ballots in protest of Biden's support of Israel's war in Gaza. Biden won 81% of the state, losing approximately 101,000 to the protest vote.

'UNCOMMITTED' PROTEST VOTE AGAINST BIDEN DRAWS TENS OF THOUSANDS ON SUPER TUESDAY

President Biden won the Democratic presidential primary in Michigan with 81% of the total vote, but lost approximately 101,000 votes to the protest.

In the memo, Way to Win cautioned that 2024 was lining up to be a repeat of 2016, when then-candidate Hillary Clinton lost the Democratic primary to Bernie Sanders but felt the state would still vote blue in the general election. It didnt and Trump went on to win Michigan by just under 11,000 votes.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"Michigan 2024 is not an anomaly, just as Michigan 2016 was not," the group wrote, adding that potential voters are hesitant to support Biden because they feel "disenchanted, disaffected and demobilized."

MICHIGAN DEMOCRATS, COMMUNITY LEADERS SOUND ALARM BELLS AFTER THOUSANDS OF VOTERS PROTEST BIDEN IN SWING STATE

The protest extended to Super Tuesday as well.

Despite nearly sweeping every contest on Super Tuesday, Biden again saw a chunk of Democratic voters refuse to put his name down in states like Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina and Tennessee.

In North Carolina, the Biden campaign saw a whopping 88,000 voters, or nearly 13% of the total, back "No Preference."

In Massachusetts, a sizable 54,000 voters, or just under 10%, marked "No Preference."

The "uncommitted" protest extended to Super Tuesday, with President Biden seeing a chunk of Democratic voters refuse to put his name down in states like Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina and Tennessee.

In Colorado, just over 43,000 voters, or roughly 8% of the vote, marked "Noncommitted Delegate" on the ballot, instead of putting down the president's name.

In Tennessee, Alabama and Iowa, Biden lost approximately 8%, 6% and 4%, respectively, to "uncommitted."

In these states, the non-declared option was usually the second most chosen.

Michigan is a hotly contested state that Biden won in 2020 and Trump won in 2016.

Way to Win added: "And beyond our volunteers and activists, there is a real and present danger that too many voters in close swing states who are fed up with the system will choose to either not vote at all, vote but skip the presidential ballot, or vote for third-party presidential candidates. We are seeing this everywhere in the data."

The memo suggests Biden should directly address the concerns of those protesting him and "change course on Gaza," elevate Vice President Harris on the campaign trail, and emphasize the need for Democrats to go out and vote.





Original article source: Democrats urge Biden to see 'warning sign' after voters abandon him: 'Not something that should be ignored'
Denmark will spend 5 million to correct a totally crazy imbalance that means Copenhagen has more statues of mythical beasts than women.

Only 31 of 321 statues in Danish cities are of women, with the rest being of men, horses or fantastical creatures such as mermaids.

There are five named statues in Copenhagen of women. By contrast, 70 are dedicated to men and 26 are of animals.

There are four sculptures dedicated to merfolk, including the famous Little Mermaid sculpture depicting the fictional half-female-half-fishs transformation into a woman.

The numbers almost speak for themselves, said culture minister, Jakob Engel-Schmidt. In Copenhagen there are more statues of mythical animals than women. Its totally crazy.

Is this really the mirror image that the next generation will grow up in? Especially when you consider how many crucial achievements in society are due to women.

We all need role models we can look up to

Mr Engel-Schmidt was inspired to improve the gender balance in public art after walking around the capital with his three-month-old daughter.

We all need role models that we can look up to and that give us an understanding of our shared past, the politician said.

Mr Engel-Schmidt revealed that a new committee will be set up to propose women who deserve commemoration in Danish cities. It will be formed of experts who will recognise important and overlooked female figures from Danish history and suggest locations for the new statues.

Actress Betty Nansen and writer Lise Nrgaard are women who have recently been commemorated with statues in Copenhagen and Roskilde.

Mr Engel-Schmidt suggested pastry chef Karen Volf, Nielsine Nielsen, Denmarks first female physician, and Bodil Begtrup, the countrys first female ambassador, could be given statues.

The 40-year-old minister also put out a call for suggestions on who deserved to be memorialised on social media.

Will the next generation really grow up in cities with more statues of mythical beasts and horses than of women. No!, he wrote. But please help with some input here. Who are we missing and where?

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
DENVER  A storm is set to dump snow across Colorado and into western Nebraska late this week, likely leading to slippery travel conditions for the Friday morning commute in the Denver metro area.

Light snow began falling on Thursday, with a focus on the Interstate 25 corridor and the Front Range of Colorado.

Up to an inch of snow is forecast in parts of the Denver metro area by Friday morning, with much higher amounts expected in the mountains to the west. That is where the National Weather Service has issued winter storm alerts.



"Right now, Denver isn't under an advisory. We do have a Winter Weather Advisory out for the foothills and the western suburbs of Denver," FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin said. "Jefferson County is highlighted for that, where we'll see a couple inches of snow. It extends up towards Estes Park and Boulder."

HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER

Winter Storm Warnings are in effect for the southern part of the Colorado Rockies, moving down across the border into New Mexico.

The FOX Forecast Center said rain is expected to start in Denver on Thursday afternoon before it changes to snow on Thursday night. The snowfall will continue through the Friday morning commute and could help make up for their current snowfall deficit this year.

While Denver is only expected to receive up to an inch of snow, the foothills could get up to 5 inches. The mountains should easily pick up more than a foot of snow, so the ski resorts along I-70, such as Estes Park, will likely be the main focus.

"If you want to go up towards Winter Park, Keystone, Breck, they're all going to get a good 10-12 inches of snow," Merwin said. "So a good news story for them, less and less likely for Denver. We'll see some, but not a lot."

6 BASIC STEPS FOR PROPERLY MEASURING SNOW

A look at the snow still to come in the higher elevations of the Rockies through Friday.

Denver has only picked up less than 30 inches of snow this season, less than the typical 52 inches it would receive in an average winter.

"I grew up outside of Denver in the suburbs," Merwin said. "Love it, and I love March weather. It is actually the top snow month for Denver and the Colorado Rockies, and we're behind the eight-ball."

Denver typically receives 52 inches of snow in an average winter.

Denver relies on snowpack, so the lower-than-usual levels are cause for concern, Merwin added.

"To have that snowpack and the slow snowmelt over the summer, it moistens up the soil," she said. "So this ends up being a big deal for folks that live across the Front Range."





Original article source: Denver expecting wintry mess as snow likely to impact morning commute
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, March 7. The President of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser has been invited to visit the Tajikistan capital, Dushanbe, to participate in an international conference, Trend reports.

According to the Tajik Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tajikistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sirojiddin Muhriddin, extended an invitation on behalf of Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda to Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser to attend the Third High-Level International Conference on the International Decade for Action "Water for Sustainable Development, 2018-2028." The conference is scheduled to take place from June 10th to 13th of this year in Dushanbe.

The meeting between Sirojiddin Muhriddin and Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser took place in Saudi Arabia's Jeddah. Discussions during the meeting focused on the current status and future prospects of cooperation between Tajikistan and the IsDB.

This included the progress of joint projects in infrastructure development, healthcare, energy, education, food security, and support for the private sector.

To note, Tajikistan became a member of the Islamic Development Bank on November 27, 1996.
The city of Denver is shutting several of its migrant shelters and officials are asking local property owners to house some of the "newcomers" who need a place to stay.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston recently announced that the city has started to scale back its migrant services with the goal of reducing the current budget deficit by nearly $60 million and reallocating those funds back into city services. The move sees shelters being shuttered and existing shelters consolidated.

Jon Ewing, with Denver Human Services, told Fox 31 that the city is looking for alternative ways to house its illegal immigrants.

DENVER MAYOR BLAMES REPUBLICANS AND TRUMP FOR $5M CUTS TO PAY FOR MIGRANT CRISIS

The Denver city government's handling of the illegal immigrant crisis has caused much consternation for local residents.

"We put out a feeler to all the landlords we have connections with," Ewing said. "Basically said, listen, were going to have some newcomers who are going to need housing."

Fox 31 reports that the city recently emailed Denver rental property owners asking if they would be interested in renting to migrants who need housing.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"Weve got kind of a rent cap  $2,000," Ewing said.

He said the effort is being supported by locally operating non-profits who have already connected migrants with various forms of housing, with thousands making their way out of shelters.

"Were at below 1,800 right now, which is the first time that numbers been that low since September," Ewing said.

That number was as high as 4,500 people as recently as January. Before, migrants were posting on social media in search of a home.

"A lot of those posts have now been replaced by, hey, I now need to furnish my apartment, what do I do? And so its a good problem to have when thats what youre running into," Ewing said.

Ewing said the city has been able to get many of the migrants work permits, so they can earn an income and pay their way for accommodation.

"1,300 people right now, over the last two weeks or so, that weve been able to help get their work permits," Ewing said. "Thats a huge step."

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston recently announced that the city has started to scale back its migrant services.

800 MIGRANT FAMILIES BEING BOOTED FROM DENVER SHELTERS AS CITY NEARS BREAKING POINT

The move comes after a Massachusetts couple last month volunteered to take in illegal immigrants and was surprised when a family of four showed up at the doorstep less than an hour after signing up.

Earlier this year, Johnston predicted that the migrant crisis would cost the city around $180 million. He previously told Fox News that the city was "very close" to a breaking point due to the crisis and announced the city was cutting $5 million from public services while pinning the blame on Republicans and former President Donald Trump.

The city has supported 38,861 migrants from the southern border at a cost of nearly $58 million so far, Fox 31 reported. Venezuelans make up the vast majority of those that have arrived in the city since 2023, according to the Colorado Sun.

A migrant lies on the sleeping pad at a makeshift shelter in Denver, Colorado on Jan. 13, 2023.

The sanctuary city has been struggling to stretch its limited resources to support the growing number of migrants there. Texas has transported thousands of migrants to sanctuary cities like Denver, to showcase the problems that border states face when migrants flood their cities.

The influx of migrants has also put the citys health system at a breaking point with about 8,000 illegal immigrants recording about 20,000 visits to Denver Health last year, receiving services such as emergency room treatment, primary care, dental care and childbirth.

Denver passed laws to become a sanctuary city, but it doesn't include a right-to-shelter provision, which means there is no official policy that compels the local government to provide shelter indefinitely.

Fox News Stepheny Price, Gabriel Hays and Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report.





Original article source: Denver pleads with property owners to rent to migrant 'newcomers'
DENVER (KDVR)  Denver is hosting fewer migrants in shelters, and now the city is asking property owners if they are willing to rent those who need a place to live.

We put out a feeler to all the landlords we have connections with, said Jon Ewing, with Denver Human Services. Basically said, listen, were going to have some newcomers who are going to need housing.

4 tips to avoid problems on your next flight

A recent email sent to Denver rental property owners asked if they would be interested in renting to migrants who need housing.

Weve got kind of a rent cap  $2,000, Ewing said.

The effort is being spearheaded by entities beyond the city of Denver.

The nonprofits already have connected folks with all kinds of housing, all over Denver, Ewing said.

Thousands of migrants leave Denver shelters

Officials said the results speak for themselves, with thousands making their way out of shelters.

Were at below 1,800 right now, which is the first time that numbers been that low since September, Ewing said.

That number was as high as 4,500 people as recently as January. Before, migrants were posting on social media in search of a home.

A lot of those posts have now been replaced by, hey, I now need to furnish my apartment, what do I do? And so its a good problem to have when thats what youre running into, Ewing said.

How to apply for Colorado rental assistance

How are migrants expected to pay rent? The city said its been able to help them find work, and legally.

1,300 people right now, over the last two weeks or so, that weve been able to help get their work permits, Ewing said. Thats a huge step.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
DENVER (KDVR)  Winter weather moves into Colorado on Thursday with snow and sleet over the plains early on and then snow in the foothills and Front Range later in the evening in the Denver weather forecast.

Weather today: Snow moves in

There will be snow, rain and sleet over the Eastern Plains on Thursday morning, meaning winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories are in effect until 5 a.m. Friday.

Denver weather: How much snow is expected Friday?

This could be wet and heavy snow, and even ice accumulation is possible.

Pinpoint Weather: Winter advisories for March 7-8

Denver will continue to see clouds increase with cooler highs in the lower 40s.

Snow moves into the foothills through Thursday afternoon and then into the Front Range by the evening hours. Denver will get two rounds of snow, the first is Thursday evening, and the second is early Friday morning.

Pinpoint Weather: Daily forecast on March 7

Weather tonight: Snow showers

Light snow lingers overnight with cloudy skies and chilly lows in the middle 20s.

Roads could become slushy overnight along the Front Range with better chances for accumulation in the foothills.

Pinpoint Weather: Overnight forecast on March 7

Winter weather advisories are in effect for the foothills from 11 a.m. on Thursday through 5 p.m. Friday as the snow moves in. The area could see 5-11 inches of snow.

Pinpoint weather: Winter warnings for foothills from March 7-8

Looking ahead: Warming through the weekend

On Friday, the light snow will taper off through the late morning hours with snow wrapping up in the late afternoon in the foothills.

Highs on Friday will be just above freezing in the middle 30s with partial clearing later in the day.

When will ski season end in Colorado this year?

Friday morning is a Pinpoint Weather Alert Day with slushy roads across the Front Range that could cause a slushy morning commute.

Pinpoint Weather Alert Day on March 8

Pinpoint Weather: Snowfall totals by March 9

Pinpoint Weather: Snowfall totals by March 9

Denver looks like it will get a wet inch of snow with improving conditions in the afternoon.

The Palmer Divide could see 1-3 inches. The foothills could pick up 5-11 inches.

There could also be a pocket of snow in the plains that reaches 2-7 inches but, that includes Thursdays snowfall as well.

Pinpoint Weather 7-day forecast on March 7

The weekend looks more comfortable with plenty of sunshine.

Highs on Saturday are seasonal in the lower 50s and then Denver will top out in the low 60s on Sunday.

The mild weather lingers through the start of next week with sunny skies and 60s. Wednesday adds more clouds back into the area with highs in the upper 50s and the chance for some spotty rain showers.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
WEBER COUNTY, Utah (ABC4)  The Weber County Sheriffs Office is seeking help finding a man who went missing after leaving a medical facility.

Myles Slater (Dwayne), 65, is approximately six feet tall with brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen on Tuesday, March 5, wearing a blue shirt, blue jacket, and jeans at a Maverick gas station in Washington Terrace, deputies said.

Dwayne reportedly suffers from dementia and paranoid schizophrenia, along with multiple other conditions. At first contact, deputies said it is not always apparent that Dwayne has dementia.

Courtesy of Weber County Sheriffs Office

We urge anyone with information on his whereabouts to come forward immediately, the sheriffs office said. Your assistance could be crucial in bringing him back home safely.

There is no further information at this time.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) criticized former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) for not endorsing former President Trump after she bowed out of the Republican primary race earlier this week, referencing the GOPs loyalty pledge.

I signed the pledge and you signed the pledge saying that youre gonna not take your ball and go home, DeSantis said on Newsmaxs The Balance with Eric Bolling when asked about Haleys decision. And so I honored the pledge, and shes gonna have to make a decision about whether she wants to or not.

But the idea that somehow circumstances have changed  I think we all knew what we were doing when we did that, and you got to make a judgment about whether thats meaningful to you, he added. And so for me, I tell people, you know, if I say Im going to do something, Im going to do it.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) required candidates who wanted to qualify for the debate stage to sign a loyalty pledge vowing to support the eventual GOP nominee. Haley, along with the other major candidates in the race, signed the pledge.

Trump, who refused to participate in the debates, citing his wide lead in the polls, did not sign.

Now, many of the previous challengers to the former president have chosen to endorse Trump since leaving the presidential race, including DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R).

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), a frequent critic of the likely GOP nominee, has vowed to not vote for Trumpunder any circumstances since he dropped out of the race before the Iowa caucuses.

Haley said during her suspension announcement Wednesday that Trump would need to earn the votes of her supporters.

It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him, and I hope he does that, Haley said in remarks to supporters. At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away.

And our conservative cause badly needs more people, she added. This is now his time for choosing.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The mother shot to death alongside her young daughter in a parked SUV in Worcester earlier this week was a decorated servicewoman who was full of compassion, the National Guard told Boston 25 Thursday.

Chasity Nunez and her 11-year-old daughter, Zella, were shot and killed while sitting inside a parked SUV in the area of Lisbon Street and Englewood Avenue just after 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

Nunez received honors like the National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the Army Achievement Medal since joining the service in 2020, National Guard spokesperson Major David Pytlik told Boston 25.

Chasity was beloved by her fellow Soldiers in the 142nd Medical Company. Her wit, social nature and dedication to duty made her one of the best Soldiers in our unit, Pytlik described. I cannot begin to make sense of why this happened and why her family, friends, co-workers and fellow Soldiers have been robbed of her and Zella. What we can, and must do now, is support one another as we grieve, process this profound loss and honor their memory.

Id describe Chasity as incredibly resilient, brilliantly intelligent, destined for success in her civilian and military careers, and more full of compassion than anyone I know, Pytlik added.

Family identifies 11-year-old girl and mother shot to death inside their car in Worcester

Additionally, Nunez worked in the MIT Health system as a Patient Safety & Clinical Quality Program Coordinator since July 2023.

Chas was passionate about the health and wellbeing of the MIT community. She was beloved by the colleagues who worked closely with her, and her dedication to our patients was powerful and impactful. She will be deeply missed, Cecilia Stuopis, MD, Chief Health Officer of MIT Health, said in a statement.

Zella is a student at Worcester Public Schools, and district officials say counselors were made available to students affected by the tragedy on Wednesday. Families were also notified by school officials about the incident.

There are no words to describe the pain this students family and school community are feeling as a result of this terrible tragedy, Worcester Public Schools Superintendent Rachel Monarrez said in a statement. We offer them our deepest condolences as they endure this unimaginable grief.

Zellas godfather, Tyrae Sims, tells Boston 25 Nunez leaves behind a younger daughter  who will now grow up without a mother or an older sister.

Karel Mangual, 28, of Worcester appeared in court Thursday after being arrested in connection with the mother and daughters death Wednesday night.

Mangual was allowed to not show his face on camera in court but was arraigned on charges of armed assault to murder and carrying a firearm without a license after being arrested Wednesday night.

Prosecutors allege the Worcester man and another suspect were spotted getting out of a vehicle in Hartford, Connecticut around an hour after the deadly shooting took place.

Police say 27-year-old Dejan Belnavis Belnavis is still wanted on charges of armed assault with intent to murder and possession of a firearm without a license. Police noted that he also had a preexisting arrest warrant.

1 arrested, 2nd suspect sought in connection with murders of mother, daughter in Worcester

Court documents obtained by Boston 25 News indicate there is a security video in existence that shows the victims vehicle parked on the side of the road when two people walk up to the car and start shooting at the vehicle. Those two people then run down the street toward a parked white car.

The criminal complaint alleges that the cars registered owner had let Belnavis use the vehicle for about a year. Investigators were also able to locate the vehicle in Hartford, Connecticut, using the connected car system.

Documents also show that Belnavis phone was pinged in the area of Englewood Avenue at the time of the shooting.

Police say he is considered armed and dangerous, asking anyone with information to call authorities at 508-799-8651. Anonymous tips can also be left here or by texting 274637 with the phrase TIPWPD.

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
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  News 4 is learning new details about the arrests of 13 illegal immigrants in South Buffalo. The arrests happened Monday during two traffic stops.

Customs and Border Protection says Border Patrol agents arrested 12 men and 1 woman from Mexico and Nicaragua. Agents say none of them had any immigration documents or working papers.

Border Patrol agents were on routine patrol in South Buffalo in the area of Tifft Street and Route 5. Agents then came across two suspicious vans with North Carolina plates. CBP says the vans were registered to a company in North Carolina, a company thats owned by two men illegally in the U.S. Agents then conducted the traffic stops for immigration inspections and then made the arrests.

Late last year, News 4 got exclusive access to see how Border Patrol is cracking down on illegal immigration.

Once someone crosses the border, whether it be here or on the Southern Border, if they happen to get through without being detected, its not the end of the story, there are additional layers of enforcement that can find them and bring forth a law enforcement resolution, said Brady Waikel, the Patrol Agent in Charge at the Niagara Falls Border Patrol Station.

As part of the investigation, agents say they learned the illegal immigrants allegedly travelled from North Carolina to work at jobs here that were supposedly paying $14 an hour  which is just below the states Minimum Wage of $15 outside New York City and Long Island.

CBP says six of the undocumented immigrants are being processed for removal and have been detained at the Batavia Federal Detention Facility. Six others were previously arrested on the Southwest Border but failed to report to federal authorities in San Antonio, are being ordered to report. The final illegal immigrant in this case, who had been removed from the U.S. already, is in the process of being removed again.

According to CBP policy, Authorized officers/agents may only conduct vehicle stops when there is reasonable suspicion to believe a violation of law has occurred.

Republican Congressman Nick Langworthy has been criticizing the Biden Administrations handling of the migrant crisis.

The Biden Administration cannot continue to put illegal immigrants over the safety of the American people increased security measures were put into place after 9/11 completely changing how Americans travel forever and its important we maintain the safety and the standards of safety when they board a flight in the United States of America, Langworthy said, We have to have tough hard policies in place to protect our country, what I dont see enough of out of the Biden Administration is a care to protect the American public especially here in the homeland.

Latest Local News

Jeff Preval is an award-winning anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in December 2021. See more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.
One of the men suspected of a deadly shooting that killed a mother and daughter in Worcester earlier this week was held without bail after being arraigned Thursday.

Karel Mangual, 28, of Worcester, was arraigned on charges of armed assault to murder and carrying a firearm without a license two days after Chasity Nunez and her 11-year-old daughter, Zella were found dead inside a bullet-riddled SUV in the Columbus Park neighborhood.

Mangual was allowed to stay away from cameras in the courtroom but prosecutors allege the Worcester man was one of two men who opened fire on the mother and daughter while they sat in their car in a Worcester neighborhood. Prosecutors say Mangual was spotted getting out of a vehicle in Hartford, Connecticut with the second suspect, Dejan Belnavis, around an hour after the deadly shooting took place.

Prosecutor says getaway vehicle was found in Hartford, CT. Video shows Manguel getting out of vehicle with 2nd suspect who is still at large. This is one hour after security video recorded Worcester dbl murder. @boston25  Bob Ward Boston 25 (@Bward3) March 7, 2024

Police released a photo Wednesday night of Belnavis.

Belnavis is described as 5 feet, 11 inches tall, and about 160 pounds.

Police say Belnavis is wanted on charges of armed assault with intent to murder and possession of a firearm without a license. Police noted that he also had a preexisting arrest warrant.

Court documents obtained by Boston 25 News indicate there is a security video in existence that shows the victims vehicle parked on the side of the road when two people walk up to the car and start shooting at the vehicle. Those two people then run down the street toward a parked white car.

The criminal complaint alleges that the cars registered owner had let Belnavis use the vehicle for about a year. Investigators were also able to locate the vehicle in Hartford, Connecticut, using the connected car system.

Documents also show that Belnavis phone was pinged in the area of Englewood Avenue at the time of the shooting.

Police say he is considered armed and dangerous, asking anyone with information to call authorities at 508-799-8651. Anonymous tips can also be left here or by texting 274637 with the phrase TIPWPD.

The SUV was towed away from the crime scene with more than a dozen bullet holes in the drivers side windows.

Sgt. Sean Murtha, Public Information Officer for the Worcester Police Department, said a fairly high number of shots were fired into the SUV.

This kind of thing is unusual for the city in general, this was a very violent act, Murtha said.

Nunez was a member of the Connecticut National Guard and received honors like the National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the Army Achievement Medal.

Chasity was beloved by her fellow Soldiers in the 142nd Medical Company. Her wit, social nature and dedication to duty made her one of the best Soldiers in our unit, National Guard spokesperson Major David Pytlik told Boston 25. I cannot begin to make sense of why this happened and why her family, friends, co-workers and fellow Soldiers have been robbed of her and Zella. What we can, and must do now, is support one another as we grieve, process this profound loss and honor their memory.

Id describe Chasity as incredibly resilient, brilliantly intelligent, destined for success in her civilian and military careers, and more full of compassion than anyone I know, Pytlik added.

Nunez also served as a Patient Safety & Clinical Quality Program Coordinator at MIT Health since July 2023.

Chas was passionate about the health and wellbeing of the MIT community. She was beloved by the colleagues who worked closely with her, and her dedication to our patients was powerful and impactful. She will be deeply missed, an MIT spokesperson said.

Zella is a student at Worcester Public Schools, and district officials say counselors were made available to students affected by the tragedy on Wednesday. Families were also notified by school officials about the incident.

There are no words to describe the pain this students family and school community are feeling as a result of this terrible tragedy, Worcester Public Schools Superintendent Rachel Monarrez said in a statement. We offer them our deepest condolences as they endure this unimaginable grief.

Zellas godfather, Tyrae Sims, tells Boston 25 Nunez leaves behind a younger daughter  who will now grow up without a mother or an older sister.

Mangual will reappear in court for a dangerousness hearing later this month.

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
In our Reality Check stories, Star-Telegram journalists dig deeper into questions over facts, consequences and accountability. Read more. Story idea? RealityCheck@star-telegram.com.

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport reported a total of 229 vehicle thefts on the airports property in 2023, which nearly doubled from 2022, according to data obtained by the Star-Telegram.

Of those 229 cars, 58 were recovered, the data shows.

Ram and Dodge vehicles, including Chargers, Challengers and Durangos were some of the most targeted in 2023, and DFW Airport police confirmed there was a trend toward stealing these specific models. The most recovered makes of vehicles that were stolen from the airport in 2023 include Nissans, Dodges, Rams, and General Motors:

Nissan Altima: 3

Dodge Charger: 8

Ram 1500: 8

General Motors: 3

Nissan Rogue: 3

Specifically in the summer of 2023, DFW Airport experienced a surge in car thefts from its parking garages.

June was the month with the most reported car thefts at the airport in 2023, totaling 32. Seven cars were stolen on July 12, the most thefts reported in one day in 2023. Sept. 15 followed as the second-highest day, with five thefts reported. While the airport saw a few high daily averages in the summer, the month of October followed with the second-most reported thefts, totaling 31. November had the third most, with a reported 26 vehicular thefts.

Today's top stories:

 North Texas primaries: Outsider vs. establishment politics on display

 Large hail, damaging winds expected in Dallas-Fort Worth

 Burgess concedes loss in GOP primary for Tarrant tax assessor

Get free alerts when news breaks.

With 111 car thefts reported by July 20, 2023, the airport had nearly reached the total from the previous year, which was 118 in 2022, according to the data.

However, airport personnel say that vehicular theft is not just a local issue but a national one.

The issue of vehicle thefts is truly a regional and national issue, as this type of crime has risen during the past few years almost everywhere, said Heath Montgomery, vice president for communications and marketing at DFW Airport.

Vehicle thefts also surged last year at other major airports, such as Denver International Airport.

A report by KUSA-TV says that by November 2023, 946 cars were reported stolen among the 51,000 parking spaces at the Denver airport, averaging at three cars stolen per day. In a January news release, the Denver airport said that authorities and a task force were able to help reduce the number of thefts within the last two months of 2023.

Similar to DFW, car thefts reported at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport more than doubled from 2022 to 2023, according to a report by KOMO-TV. In 2022, the Seattle airport saw a total of 71 thefts, whereas 160 car thefts were reported by November 2023. Seattle authorities said that thieves would steal cars where they saw an opportunity for crime, such as unlocked vehicles or drivers who left their keys in their cars, KOMO reported.

While smaller than other airports, the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport also saw a rise in vehicular theft in 2023, according to KXAN-TV. In 2022, the Austin airport saw a total of 41 reported car thefts. By August 2023, car thefts had doubled with 84 reported stolen vehicles.

According to Montgomery, the rate of stolen vehicles on DFW Airports property is less than 14 cars per 1 million parked vehicles, which he described as a very low number. DFW has about 40,000 parking spaces across five garages, two express lots and two remote lots.

Chris McLaughlin, the airports executive vice president of operations, also told the Star-Telegram in 2023, we find ourselves at the lower end of the rate of thefts.

An Austin Airport spokesperson also said the number of cars stolen at the airport is low compared to the total number of cars parked there annually, KXAN reported. Only 1 percent of cars that park at the airports garage are reported stolen, the spokesperson told KXAN.

Still, 2023 marks a big rise in vehicle thefts at DFW Airport as it reported fewer crimes in the past six years:

2017: 51

2018: 58

2019: 35

2020: 38

2021: 66

2022: 118

McLaughlin also told the Star-Telegram in 2023 that DFW Airport has many layers of security. Airport police work with local, state and federal authorities to share information about criminal rings, trending issues, and best practices for disrupting crime.

Seattle authorities also noted that trends such as theft rings were contributing to car thefts at the Seattle airport, according to KOMOs report.

Two people were arrested on Aug. 15, 2023, in connection to the thefts of four vehicles at DFW Airport, according to McLaughlin. The suspects were charged with theft and engaging in organized criminal activity. A third suspect working with the two suspects was still at large, McLaughlin said.

This is just one example of the work being done to disrupt this kind of activity, he said.

The airport recommends people, especially those who own targeted vehicles, take extra precautions such as updating vehicle firmware, locking doors, removing valuables and purchasing a wheel locking device.

We continue to ask the public to see something, say something and report any suspicious activity to police or airport employees, McLaughlin said.
For a cargo plane, the Venezuelan Boeing 747 has sure had a controversial history. Originally owned by a U.S.-sanctioned Iranian airline, it was sold to a sanctioned Venezuelan airline, which had big plans for the aircraft until it was detained in Argentina under suspicion that it was carrying Iranian spies.

The June 2022 incident in Buenos Aires led to a diplomatic tug-of-war that lasted months, with Venezuela claiming the plane, which belonged to the government-owned cargo company Emtrasur, was being illegally held. Then last month the Nicolas Maduro regime swore swift retaliation after learning the jet had been seized on orders of the U.S. government and flown to South Florida, where it was parked at the executive airport in Opa-locka.

Last week, Maduro got even more upset. He went on national television and claimed that the evil capitalist empire didnt really want the plane, it just didnt want Venezuela to have it. Proof of this, he said, was that only two weeks after the 747 arrived in South Florida it was unceremoniously destroyed.

Last night we were informed of a vile, criminal, outrageous act at a Miami airport, in Florida, the vengeful perverse gringo empire, with all its evil, proceeded to dismantle the Emtrasur plane... that was kidnapped from us, he said in the broadcast to the nation on Feb. 29.

Showing photos of a 747 in pieces, Maduro said: They took away the colors of the flag... they erased the name of Emtrasur and then they dismembered it and chopped it into pieces. That is the hatred they have for the dignified Venezuela, for Bolivarian Venezuela. It is outrageous.

Some viewers in Venezuela took Maduros announcement with a grain of salt. The photos showed a plane with parts of the fuselage shredded, leading to questions about whether the pictures were of a damaged aircraft rather than one being systematically taken apart.

So did the U.S. destroy the plane?

Feds wont say. After a series of efforts by the Miami Herald to learn the fate of the plane, the Justice Department ultimately declined to explain.

We cannot confirm the authenticity of those photographs (released by the Maduro regime) as they are not U.S. government photos. The aircraft is U.S. government property acquired through the lawful asset forfeiture process. We decline to comment further beyond our comments in our Feb. 12 press release, the department in a statement.

U.S. officials have a series of rules for the disposal of seized property, and it is highly unlikely that an agency would deviate from them.

Normally, seized assets are auctioned off if they cannot be used by a law enforcement agency, and seized property would be destroyed only if it could neither be sold or be of no use to anyone  and would certainly not be destroyed out of spite as Maduro claims, according to people in law enforcement with knowledge of asset seizures.

Ed Griffith, the Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office spokesman, said it is hard to foresee a situation where a perfectly functioning airplane would be destroyed. If that plane can fly, the likelihood is that they are going to want to auction it off and grab the cash, he said.

The Feb. 12 press release from the Justice Departmet said the plane was seized because Mahan Air, an Iranian firm known to ferry weapons and fighters for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah, violated U.S. export restrictions by selling the airplane to Emtrasur.

The seizure culminated over 18 months of planning, coordination, and execution by the United States government and our Argentine counterparts, South Florida U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe said in the press release.

Bad actors  both near and far  are on alert that the United States will use all its tools to hold those who violate our laws to account, he added. The successful seizure of the Boeing 747 underscores our commitment to prevent the illegal exportation of U.S. technologies and enforce U.S. export control laws.
By News Centre

Turkish Agriculture and Forestry Minister ?brahim Yumakl? visited the K?z?l?rmak district in Cank?r?, where he made various visits. Yumakl? was welcomed here by Governor Mustafa F?rat Ta?olar and afterward met with party members at the K?z?l?rmak AK Party Election Office. Here, he made a speech and said that Turkiye had passed a very important turning point after the elections in May.

"Food exports were 31 billion dollars in 2023, we will increase this to 35 billion dollars and 40 billion dollars," he noted.

Stating that the nation gave President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an permission to build the Turkiye Century, Yumakl? added that those who remember our President's balcony speech that evening know that he said March 31st, maybe after the second or third minute there.

Why did he say this? Because it is the Century of Turkiye. We have an imagination about being strong for the construction of Turkiye. What do I mean? We will be strong in the districts, we will be strong in the provinces, and we will be strong as a government. Together, we will build the Turkish Century both throughout the country and specifically in the cities, and we will continue to build," he said.

The minister noted that they have been working intensively on the issues under the responsibility of the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry and have made revolutionary changes in laws and practices.

"For example, there were problems related to registering with the Farmer Registration System; we solved some of them. Or there were some issues related to unused lands, and we implemented them again. Gradually, and most importantly, we will start to implement production planning in September. Our aim here is Turkiye, which can manufacture better production and where a beneficial environment will be created for both the producer and the consumer. At the same time, while meeting the food needs of our people and citizens, let's increase our exports so that these farmers come to our country not only for our own needs but also through exports. Let it take the performance so far to the next level in terms of earning foreign currency. Food exports were $31 billion in 2023, and we will increase this to $35 - $40 billion dollars."

Yumakl? underlined that they can carry out the work together with the municipalities, hand in hand, arm in arm, whether in the district or in the province.

"You also know that the two mentalities that pretend to do so, with an understanding that the promises they make have no reality, and that do what they promise, strive and make an effort to achieve this. This is the comparison. Here, our citizens have never given importance to issues that aim to attract themselves. They will not do so from now on, either. Because it is not well-intentioned to bring up issues that underestimate the citizens and that it is not clear what kind of calculations they are involved in, and our nation has seen them in this way," he said.

Pointing out that the yield was good last year, Yumakl? added that last year, the Soil Products Office purchased nearly 13 million tons of product throughout Turkiye. He stated that support has been provided for the IMI group paddy project specific to the K?z?l?rmak district, and noted that they will distribute paddy seeds before the planting period and that they will distribute oil sunflower, chickpea, and lentil seeds to be used in barren areas.

Yumakl? added that the canal renewal project within the K?z?l?rmak coastal irrigation area has been completed and included in the investment plan. Minister Yumakl? asked the party members to work hard to ensure that AK Party K?z?l?rmak Mayor candidate Mehmet Bulut takes top place in the local elections.
Douglas Ross, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, has vowed to vote against legislation introducing the extension - Imageplotter/Alamy

Jeremy Hunt has risked further infuriating the Scottish Tories by admitting that North Sea oil and gas was one of the big losers from his Budget.

The Chancellor namechecked the Scottish oil and gas industry after he extended the windfall tax on the sector for a further year.

Mr Hunt insisted it was fair to extend the Energy Profit Levy until 2029 because high oil prices, caused by Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine, have lasted longer than previously expected.

He denied throwing the Scottish Tories under a bus but admitted it was a difficult decision for the party to accept. They were furious about the surprise move amid fears it had inflicted serious damage to their general election campaign.

Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tory leader, has vowed to vote against legislation introducing the extension and continue lobbying the Chancellor to reconsider.

Writing in the Aberdeen-based Press and Journal newspaper, he said: I will continue to fight tooth and nail to persuade the UK Government to think again. However, Mr Hunt made it clear that he would not change his mind.

The Press and Journal front page, showing Jeremy Hunt and Rishi Sunak, on Thursday

It is understood some Scottish Tory MPs will follow Mr Rosss lead by voting against the legislation, but Downing Street made it clear that Andrew Bowie, an energy minister, would be expected to back it despite expressing his opposition.

The oil industry is a key employer in his West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine seat, and he will be defending a majority of only 843 at the general election.

Mr Hunt announced the extension only days after the Scottish Tories used their party conference in Aberdeen to repeatedly emphasise their support for the North Sea.

Scottish Conservative insiders were dismayed by Wednesdays announcement, warning that it damaged hopes of holding three seats, including Mr Bowies, in the north-east of Scotland  the three constituencies they notionally hold following boundary changes.

They had hoped to exploit voter anger at Labour and SNP plans to wind down North Sea operations more quickly as part of the UKs transition to net zero.

Although Labour also supports extending the levy until 2029, the SNP has used Mr Hunts announcement to portray itself as the industrys champion by opposing the move.

Asked by BBC Radio 4s Today programme who the losers were in his Budget, the Chancellor mentioned so-called non-doms and added: Ive also asked the Scottish oil and gas industry to pay an additional contribution because the war in Ukraine is lasting longer.

Oil and gas prices are going to stay higher for longer. I think its fair they can make an additional contribution.

Asked by the BBCs Good Morning Scotland programme whether he had thrown Conservative MPs in the north-east of Scotland under a bus, he said no, but added: I appreciate it was a difficult decision for them.

The 35 per cent surcharge on profits due to high energy prices had been scheduled to end in March 2028. Extending it by a year is expected to generate 1.5 billion.

However, Mr Hunt insisted the UK Government still strongly supports the oil and gas industry and argued that the big dividing line was that Labour would remove the very generous allowances that oil and gas companies have.

Mr Ross had personally lobbied the Prime Minister and Mr Hunt not to go ahead during a pre-Budget meeting of MPs on Monday.

Although he did not threaten to resign as Scottish Tory leader, there were fears within the UK Government this was a possibility. Alister Jack, the Scottish Secretary, was dispatched to calm him down.

Speaking after First Ministers Questions, Mr Ross denied an incorrect accusation by Humza Yousaf that he had threatened to quit, saying: Ultimately, the best way I can stop this is by being in the House of Commons and voting against this legislation.

The Scottish Tory leader insisted there was still an opportunity to prevent it from happening when this Bill comes back to Parliament.

Shona Robison, the SNPs Finance Secretary, said her party supported the windfall tax when it was introduced but opposed the Chancellors plan to extend it and Labours proposal to increase the rate by three percentage points.

She said the extension risks investment in a net zero transition and this means that Scotland is going to pay the price for UK Tory Government decisions yet again.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Hundreds of police officers and staff worked through the night to ensure "normal policing" continued after a major fire at a London police station.

About 175 firefighters and 30 engines attended the station in Forest Gate from about 16:00 GMT on Wednesday.

London Fire Brigade said the fire had left the roof "completely destroyed".

Met Police Cdr Kyle Gordon said it had been "a difficult night" for officers and staff, "many of whom have lost their workplace" and possessions.

About 60 people were evacuated from the building and no injuries were reported.

Forensic evidence stored in lockers and fridges has been removed by officers and firefighters and will be assessed in the coming days.

Speaking at a media briefing, Supt Dan Card explained staff had "lost personal items in the fire, such as wedding rings and car keys".

He said many had worked "beyond their shifts to support the emergency response".

The fire brigade said an investigation into the cause of the fire, which started on the third floor, might be "protracted", while police said the blaze was not being treated as suspicious.

The Met said the force was continuing to provide a "full police service" to local communities, with a combination of local units and support from London-wide teams.

While the station is closed, police say anyone due to return there on bail will be contacted and informed of alternative arrangements.

They say they also intend to reopen the front counter at Stratford Police Station to the public.

Cdr Gordon added: "We know Newham residents may be concerned but I want to reassure them our local teams continue to provide a full service to keep them safe."

He said: "This was a difficult night for Met officers and staff, many of whom have lost their workplace and face uncertainty about their possessions but thankfully no-one based at Forest Gate police station was hurt.

"This shows just how well the Met family and partners can support each other during a really challenging time and I would like to say thank you to everyone involved."

The Met said it was using other buildings as patrol bases and redeploying teams from neighbouring communities.

Officers are also being provided with replacement equipment.

Firefighters from Stratford, Leytonstone, Plaistow and other nearby stations were sent to help local crews.

London Fire Brigade assistant commissioner Pat Goulbourne said: "This was a challenging incident for firefighters as the fire was located in the roof of the police station.

"Throughout the incident, a concern for our crews was the possibility of the fire spreading to adjacent properties.

"Thanks to their hard work we were able to prevent that from occurring, and the fire was limited to the police station."

Specialist fire investigators would now begin an investigation into the cause, he added.

"Due to the scale and nature of the incident, this is may be a protracted investigation."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX)  Colorado Mesa University (CMU) invited legal scholar, renowned civil liberties advocate and former American Civil Liberties Union president Nadine Strossen to speak as part of its Dignity in Dialogue speaker series.

Strossen will sit down for an interview-style discussion about free speech, how it supports civil rights and why dialogue matters now more than ever.

Also scheduled to speak as part of the series are Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the New York Times Bret Stephens on April 4 and Russian-British satirist, author and trigonometry podcast host Konstantin Kisin on April 19.

Christi Hein, the co-chair of free speech and civil discourse at CMU, told WesternSlopeNow, Free speech is in danger and its really in danger on college campuses.

Click here to reserve your seat. Limited seating is available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com.
Margaret Qualley (left) as Jamie and Geraldine Viswanathan as Marian are the lead duo in "Drive-Away Dolls". There's lots to love about Ethan Coen's new crime comedy: an absurd plot, fun characters and a great cast - but there's a bit of a catch Wilson Webb/Working Title/Focus Features/dpa

How many dildos are the right amount for a road trip movie about two lesbian women? None? Two? Seven?

Whatever the answer, there appears to be a unusually large amount in "Drive-Away Dolls", the new film by Ethan Coen, better known as one half of the Coen brothers behind classics like "The Big Lebowski" and "Fargo".

For "Drive-Away Dolls", Ethan Coen enlisted the support of his wife Tricia Cooke, who also works in the film industry as an editor and producer and who, in her own words, sees herself as queer.

Cooke had long had the idea for a road movie about two lesbian women, originally set to be called "Drive-Away Dykes". Coen told industry website MovieMaker that "the squares at the studio" vetoed the word "dyke" as it is still seen as an offensive word for gay women in some places.

"Drive-Away Dolls" tells the story of Jamie (Margaret Qualley) and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan), who spontaneously set off on a road trip to Tallahassee in Florida around the turn of the millennium.

They couldn't be more different: While Jamie picks up every woman she finds, Marian overthinks everything until nothing happens in the end. What the two of them don't realise: There's a suitcase with explosive contents in the boot of their rental car - and of course a horde of crooks is after it.

"Drive-Away Dolls" has all the ingredients for a brilliant film: a quirky, unpredictable story full of action, likeable main characters, Coen's famous sense of humour, great costumes and a great cast - among them Matt Damon, Miley Cyrus and Pedro Pascal.

It even brings back one of the cornerstones of "The Big Lebowski" - a plot that revolves around the contents of a briefcase.

The film brings together queer and diverse characters. But there's a catch: We have a somewhat cliched view of the lesbian duo and their sexuality. Some might find the viewer's gaze feels, at times, rather male and heterosexual.

We see lots of lesbian sex and intimacy, which perhaps help normalize this for some viewers more accustomed to hetero love interests - or is it perhaps voyeuristic?

And then there's all the dildos. For a film that tries to do without male leads, the male phallus plays an absurdly important role - both in the protagonists' sex life and in the plot.

As a queer filmmaker, Cooke has certainly brought her own creativity to the film, and she told online magazine Indiewire she wanted to find ways to work silly ideas into the structure of the movie without trying to say much.

"There's not a lot of earnestness," Cooke told the magazine. "The points for me are: men can be clueless, or, women are powerful, strong, fun, interesting characters, or you can put queer people in the movie, and it doesn't necessarily just have to be about them being queer, they can be in a genre movie."

Coen sums up the film's undertaking in the same interview: "You can have a raunchy boy movie, except its girls." And so "Drive-Away Dolls", despite its queer, feminist facade, does remain something of a raunchy boy movie.
Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith argued in court papers on Thursday that the nations expansive presidential powers dont permit Donald Trump to whisk hundreds of classified records away from the White Houseand they certainly dont justify him lying to the feds to cover it up.

The special prosecutor investigating the former president over his hoarding of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago finally responded to Trumps attempts to get his criminal case dismissed, tearing apart arguments that he said would put the billionaire above the law.

Trumps claims rest on three fundamental errors, all of which reflect his view that, as a former president, the nations laws and principles of accountability that govern every other citizen do not apply to him, Smith wrote, adding that Trump is now seeking to justify the way he would lie to the government, conceal records, and obstruct the grand jurys investigation.

Jack Smiths Subtle Shot at Trump Mar-a-Lago Judge Aileen Cannon

The much-anticipated court filing lays out a broader version of the DOJs investigation, which is currently before a Trump-friendly federal judge that the former president appointed shortly before leaving office. The DOJ court filing spends considerable attention focusing on the way Trump tried to cover up the crime of stealing so many classified documents, with prosecutors justifying their initial criminal inquiry but also putting significantly more weight on the consequences of having Trump try to stymie that very investigation.

Smiths team had until Thursday to respond to Trumps four separate motions to dismiss, laid out across 75 pages of court filings in February, which largely seek to justify the way he hoarded classified records at his South Florida oceanside estate.

In one, Trumps lawyers told the judge that Trump, as commander-in-chief, had the discretion to deem the mounds of classified government records as personaldespite the National Archives and Records Administrations attempts to collect them for their historical value.

Trumps team is also trying to knock away the DOJs ability to levy criminal charges in this case, pointing to how the case got started. The DOJ only started investigating Trump after getting a referral from National Archives bureaucrats who were frustrated at the former presidents refusal to turn them over after leaving the White House. Trumps lawyers claimed that the Presidential Records Act only allows the National Archives to pursue a civil case as the exclusive remedy for records collection efforts and forecloses criminal investigations.

In another court filing, Trumps defense team claims that that he should be considered completely immune to criminal charges on the notion that he was still U.S. president when he allegedly decided to designate stacks of sensitive government paperwork as a personal archivethat is, long before they were found scattered around his mansion by FBI agents.

This presidential immunity argument echoes the constitutional question now being considered by the Supreme Court, which will hear arguments next month and ultimately decide if Smith can put Trump on criminal trial in Washington for trying to rig the 2020 election.

On Thursday, Smith also attacked Trumps attempts to equivocate his Mar-a-Lago scandal to the way President Ronald Reagan kept his personal diarywhich was full of classified informationafter leaving the White House in 1989. In court papers, Trumps lawyers have pointed out that the DOJ previously allowed Reagan to do it and essentially made the argument: Reagan did it, why cant Trump?

DOJ and NARA have adopted this position with respect to government officials whose last name is not Trump, defense lawyers Todd Blanche and Christopher Kise wrote in February.

But federal prosecutors countered that argument with force, contending that Trump cant simply grab stacks of sensitive government paperwork and suddenly call it his diary.

This case involves classified records created by intelligence and military officials for highly sensitive presidential briefings. Trump did not create them, they do not reflect his personal thoughts, they came into his possession only through his official duties, and (except for one charged document) bear classification markings, the feds wrote. They have no resemblance to diaries.

Judge Aileen Cannons Games in Florida May Delay Other Trump Trials

This federal case in South Florida is only the latest example of Trump trying to dodge legal consequences by claiming sweeping and unchecked powers. At his recent bank fraud trial in New York City, which ended with a $464 million dollar judgment against him, Trump tried to assert an unrestrained ability to give his real estate portfolio whatever value he could dream up.

In Washington, where Trump is expected to face criminal trials for engaging in an aggressive plan to remain in power after losing a national election, his lawyers have insisted that presidents could dodge all kinds of criminal chargeseven if they ordered military commandos to kill political rivals.

On Thursday, Smiths prosecutors called out Trumps latest theories of unhampered authority, which would give any president king-like abilities to declare any government document his own personal propertyand keep any decision categorically off limits by any judge, anywhere. Smith attacked Trumps distorted version of reality.

On Trumps contrary reading, a departing president could unilaterally convert classified

government recordscontaining the nations most closely guarded military, diplomatic, and national security secretsinto his private possessions, leaving the government with no judicial recourse to recover its own property and protect the nation from the risk that the former president may disclose these secrets to a foreign adversary, post them on the internet, or sell them to the highest bidder, Smith wrote.

In one footnote, federal prosecutors gave Trump a curious openingjust not an escape hatch. They told Judge Aileen Cannon that Trump might legitimately argue that he actually did designate these records as personal and had no criminal intentionsknown as mens reabut that they havent even seen an inkling of proof yet.

At trial, Trump may offer a defense that he did not act willfully, they wrote, with DOJ lawyers adding that the argument would, of course, require as-yet-unseen evidence to support it.

Even that, they said, wouldnt be enough to prove the obvious: The classified records were in his possession without permission.

Cannon is expected to review the arguments and decide whether shell keep the case as is, or knock down some of the criminal charges Trump currently faces. But her critics have noted an appalling track record so far, given her penchant for consistently ruling in Trumps favor.

Cannon significantly delayed the case from the very start, freezing the FBIs investigation and appointing an independent monitor in faraway Brooklyn, New York, until a federal appellate court stepped in and told her to back off. Since then, however, she has continued to slow down the court process and push back the trial, which at this point might not start until the summer.

Her more recent actions have only fueled further concerns. Just yesterday, the judge used choice words when deciding to formally accept amicus briefslegal input from third partiesfrom conservative lawyers who claimed that Jack Smith does not have authority to prosecute this case because he wields tremendous power, answerable to no one.

In response, Cannon on Wednesday admitted their legal briefings and noted that they bring to the court's attention relevant matter that may be of considerable help to the court in resolving the cited pretrial motions.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Former President Donald Trump lost his bid on Thursday for a three-day shield from E. Jean Carroll trying to collect on her $83.3 million federal defamation verdict.

Without a court order to protect him, Carroll can begin trying to collect on the $83.3 million judgment next week if Trump hasn't posted a sufficient bond or deposit with the court.

The likely Republican presidential nominee asked New York federal Judge Lewis Kaplan on Feb. 23 to block Carroll from going after the money until 30 days after Kaplan rules on Trump's post-trial motions, including a request for the court to give Trump a win despite the jury's verdict and a request for a new trial.

As the clock ran down without a ruling on that request, Trump asked the court Wednesday to block Carroll from collecting until three business days after the court rules on his Feb. 23 request, saying he would need time "to finalize bond arrangements" if the court rules against him.

"Mr. Trump's current situation is a result of his own dilatory actions," Kaplan wrote in the Thursday order denying that three-day request.

E. Jean Carroll leaves Federal court, Friday, Jan 26, 2024, in New York. A jury has awarded an additional $83.3 million to Carroll, who says former President Donald Trump damaged her reputation by calling her a liar after she accused him of sexual assault. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) ORG XMIT: NYYI116

Trump had since Jan. 26 to organize his finances while knowing he might need to post a bond, and yet he waited until 25 days after the jury's verdict to ask for the more lengthy shield, Kaplan said.

'It's clear that they are scrambling'

"It's clear that they are scrambling with regard to what they will do in the absence of getting a stay from Judge Kaplan," said Mitchell Epner, a former federal prosecutor and New York litigator who focuses on commercial and white collar issues.

Epner added that Trump's heated requests even for just short-term protection were "kind of bizarre" given it would take Carroll, at a minimum, a number of days to collect. She would need to get orders that, for example, would allow law enforcement to seize Trump's property or force a bank to turn over his assets, he said.

"It's not as if she can literally just show up and take his money," Epner said.

Trump appears to be under a cash crunch as he addresses more than $500 million in court judgments, including interest, from his losses in the Carroll case and a New York civil fraud case.

Trump asked a New York appeals court on Feb. 28 to allow him to post $100 million  substantially less than the judgment he faces  and still block collection as he appeals. An appellate judge denied that request.

More wealth than cash

The $83.3 million verdict for defaming Carroll in 2019, when Trump denied her sexual assault allegations as president, builds on a $5 million judgment she won against him in May. Trump blocked Carroll from collecting on that earlier verdict during his appeal  a jury found him liable for sexual abuse and a separate instance of defamation  by placing a cash deposit plus interest with the Manhattan federal district court.

Posting the cash won't be so easy for Trump this time around, as he faces massive judgments that will become due soon. Without a court order pausing the judgments or a sufficient bond or deposit from Trump, Carroll can begin collecting on the $83.3 million judgment next week, while New York Attorney General Letitia James can begin collecting on the civil fraud judgment in late March.

The full picture of Trump's finances is murky, but his fortune was valued at $3.1 billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index last year, while Forbes estimated it at $2.6 billion. Both estimates greatly exceed even the staggering judgments against Trump, but the ultra-wealthy often don't keep most of their wealth in cash.

In a court filing opposing Trump's request for a pause on collection, Carroll's legal team said the former president didn't acknowledge the risks tied to his financial situation, including the civil fraud judgment and the four criminal cases he's facing.

"He simply asks the Court to 'trust me' and offers, in a case with an $83.3 million judgment against him, the court filing equivalent of a paper napkin; signed by the least trustworthy of borrowers," the Carroll team wrote.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'They are scrambling': Trump denied shield from $83 million verdict
Here comes the Biden hits back narrative. President Joe will deliver his State of the Union address today  and, assuming he doesnt fall off the dais and on to his face, the Democratic Partys cheerleaders will be quick to herald the start of his great comeback. Hes beaten Trump before, theyll say, and he just proved he can do it again. He may be down but hes not out. Hes a fighter, a winner. Donald Trump should be very afraid.

If it all sounds a bit desperate thats because it is. Team Biden has long thought that Donald Trump is sufficiently toxic to most Americans to mean that their man, however frail and flawed, will win a second term. And now that Trump has all but wrapped the Republican nomination, Operation Stop Trump can be put into a higher gear. Biden will talk much more about saving democracy from Donald the Dictator, about the importance of character and the threat of Maga extremism to the American dream. These lines worked for him in 2020 and, to an extent, in the mid-term elections of 2022. Trumphobia and fatigue is a real phenomenon.

The trouble for Biden in 2024 is that everyone is fed up with him, too. The Commander-in-Chiefs job-approval rating is way below 40 per cent. More than two-thirds of voters think that the country is on the wrong track under his leadership. Trump is ahead in many of the national polls and the crucial swing states  in Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania. And the bookmakers, generally the more accurate predictors of electoral outcomes, make Trump strong favourite win again. His unthinkable comeback appears to be have become the unstoppable.

The exhausting lawfare against Trump  the various indictments, the criminal counts, the hellacious civil suits  seems to be falling apart. On Monday, the day before Trump knocked out his last Republican challenger Nikki Haley in the primaries, the Supreme Court unanimously overruled the state of Colorados dubious decision to block the Donald from the ballot under the insurrection clause of the 14th amendment.

In the coming weeks, Trumps legal team will try to prove that their man ought to have presidential immunity against two federal indictments brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. There will be more endless tedious arguments about authority and the US constitution, but it seems highly unlikely that either the hoarding classified documents case or January 6th conspiracy to defraud the United States one will be resolved before America votes in November.

The only criminal case that seems likely to reach a verdict before polling day is the Manhattan hush-money indictment, which is considered the weakest case of them all. Given the unlikelihood of Donald Trump finding a sympathetic jury in New York, this could result in some convictions  but a sizeable chunk of Americans can see its partisan nonsense, even if the story weakens Trump politically by highlighting his sordid past.

Right-wing paranoiacs have long posited that the legal persecution of Donald Trump is a Democratic ruse to ensure that their useful bogeyman would secure the nomination. Such conspiracy thinking may be ludicrous and demented, but in the fractured politics of 21st century America, paranoid thinking has a funny way of making itself seem true. It is probably just an odd coincidence that the legal hounding of Trump seems to have evaporated just as he wins the Republican primary cycle.

But theres no doubt that senior Democrats are betting that, with the Trunp vs Biden II contest heaving into view, Middle America will at last focus on the possibility of a second Trump  and run screaming in horror back to doddery old Biden. But the polls and the odds suggest thats a very reckless gamble.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Former President Donald Trump is urging a longtime political aide to run for an open congressional seat in Georgia, something GOP operatives in the state say has been in the works for a long time.

Trump posted Thursday on Truth Social urging Brian Jack, a senior adviser to his 2024 presidential bid, to run for Georgias 3rd Congressional District, a Republican-heavy seat being vacated by Republican Drew Ferguson, who said in December he was not running for another term.

Brian has been thinking about running to succeed Drew, as he has always sought to accomplish incredible things for Georgia and our Country, Trump wrote on Truth Social. I encourage Brian, a Fayette County [Georgia] native, to go for it, pursue his dream, and run for Congress.

Jack has not discussed the issue publicly and did not respond to a request for comment. But longtime Georgia Republicans say that the idea has long been in the works ahead of Fridays filing deadline, and they said if Jack were to run, he would likely win by wide margins.

Brian Jack will win this race going away, said a veteran Georgia Republican. Hes well respected in Georgia political circles, has community and grassroots support, and most of all  the big guys approval.

This thing is a done deal, the person said.

David Bossie, a Republican National Committeeman from Maryland and a longtime Trump adviser, said he agrees Jack would easily win the seat.

Im in complete agreement with President Trump. Brian Jack is a great conservative America First candidate for Georgias 3rd Congressional District, Bossie said. Brian will fight the failed status quo in D.C. and be a leader for Georgia and America when President Trump is back in the White House.

Ben Howard, who ran Trumps House legislative affairs team, said that if he runs Jack would be a perfect fit for the Trump-dominated seat.

Simply put, Brian is a results-oriented person who consistently produced on behalf of President Trump, both at the White House and on the campaign, Howard said.

Jack is not only a top aide on Trumps 2024 campaign, but he also served as White House political director during Trumps first term in office from 2019 to 2021. Before he rejoined Trumps team, he worked as political director for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who hired him in early 2021 to help lead GOP efforts to win the House majority in the midterms.

He has also held political roles with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the Republican National Committee.

Georgias 3rd District is an overwhelming Republican seat that Trump won by 30 points in 2020.

That political alignment makes the former presidents endorsement all the more likely that if Jack decides to run, he is likely to face little legitimate opposition.

Brian is a man of Loyalty, Honesty, and integrity, and will never let the fabulous people of Georgias 3rd Congressional District down, Trump wrote on Truth Social. Should he decide to run, Brian Jack has my Complete and Total Endorsement!

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A convoy of 30 vehicles driven by Israeli activists from the 'Standing Together' movement gathers in the Israeli city of Ashkelon near the Gaza border in a show of support for Palestinians (JACK GUEZ)

Bearing food aid and wearing "Don't Starve Gaza!" t-shirts, dozens of Israeli activists drove towards the border of the besieged territory on Thursday in a show of support for Palestinians.

The 30-vehicle convoy got within three kilometres of the Kerem Shalom border crossing before police turned it back.

Organisers had expected that outcome, and they acknowledged the convoy was a symbolic act in a society in which their focus on the plight of Palestinians places them in the minority.

The goal was to highlight "a different voice" and show "there are people in our society who feel what is happening in Gaza is unacceptable," said Nadav Shofet, a member of the Stand Together collective which planned the demonstration.

Aid groups and the United Nations are warning of looming famine in Gaza, five months after war was triggered by Hamas's deadly attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign to eliminate Hamas has killed at least 30,800 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

While most demonstrators wore the purple "Don't starve Gaza!" t-shirts on Thursday, they also tied yellow ribbons to their side mirrors, a symbol of the campaign to bring back the hostages seized by Hamas during the October 7 attack.

The militants took around 250 people captive that day, and Israel believes 99 of them remain alive in Gaza and that 31 have died.

"Our fight against Hamas is justified," said 39-year-old speech therapist Orly Shay Keslassy, who took part in Thursday's demonstration.

"But we cannot ignore that there are millions of people that are innocent in Gaza. I can't live as an Israeli knowing that my government and some people in Israel don't want people in Gaza to have enough food."

- 'Pain against pain' -

Despite their gesture of solidarity with the hostages, the demonstrators drew the ire of Ilan Enia, an Israeli truck driver who watched them drive off towards Kerem Shalom.

"It's a shame, a shame, to send trucks to Gaza while our soldiers are being killed," he said, using profanity to express what he thought the demonstrators could do to themselves.

Early on Thursday morning, the demonstrators gathered at a train station in Tel Aviv to prepare the convoy, packing nappies, baby formula, sugar, flour, prepared meals and dates for the upcoming Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Among the vehicles was a seven-tonne truck filled with supplies.

The convoy took the road that passes near the Kfar Aza kibbutz and Beeri kibbutz, where almost 200 civilians were killed during the October 7 attack.

Then it went through Reim, where Hamas commandos killed 364 people at a rave music festival.

"People were killed here! Shame on you if you want to feed terrorists!" a man yelled out at them near Reim, as air strikes in Gaza could be heard in the distance.

Roy Hoschem, a member of the convoy, said "I don't think people are mean, I think people have suffered a lot. They don't have any room for empathy for other people".

Visibly shaken, Keslassy, the speech therapist, tried to explain the "big confusion" she thinks dominates Israeli society.

"We are in a pain-against-pain scenario. Hamas killed innocent people, but that's not a reason to do the same," the mother of two said.

"I want my country to be democratic and moral."

After police ordered them to turn around, the demonstrators quickly complied.

But one of the organisers, Roula Dawod, vowed with tears in her eyes that they would "try again".

cf/lba/rcb/jd/dcp
By now Im sure youve heard that Joe & Onies in downtown Belleville was recently sold, as was the entire building at 18 E. Main St.

Cheryl Whitley of Belleville, a criminal justice attorney already based in downtown Belleville, bought the building and the business.

With this change, folks are probably wondering whats to become of the cafe.

A new name

They will be happy to learn that the cafe will remain much as its been.

The coffee shop is fully operational and fully staffed, Whitley said.

Hemmer said in a previous interview that all of his employees would remain at the cafe.

The Hemmers had a real good following  I dont intend on changing much, except maybe a few menu additions in the future, said Whitley.

Because Hemmer sold the business but not the name Joe & Onies, one thing that will change is the business name.

As a lawyer, it makes sense that Whitley renamed the business Justitias, after the Roman goddess of justice and the moral order.

Justitia is Lady Justice, and a version of her image (blindfolded lady holding scales) will be incorporated into the cafes signs and branding.

Joe & Onies was named after Hemmers parents to honor them and their family.

She appreciates the sentiment and admits that she has a dream in her heart to do something similar. Whitley wants to build something she can leave behind for later generations, including her 10-year-old twin daughters.

From tenant to owner

Whitley was already familiar with the coffee shop, which is across the street from her previous office at 27 E. Main St.

She said shed stop in for coffee after court and would chat with Hemmer, who had been looking for a new tenant for the buildings upstairs office.

Whitley told Hemmer that the lease for her office was ending and wanted to move to a smaller space.

A lawyer for the last 12 years, she spends most of her working days on the move, traveling to see her clients or working with them online. A smaller office made sense.

After looking at the available space, she decided it would suit her needs.

Hemmer mentioned that he was open to selling the building and the cafe. Their lease agreement provided Whitley with first right of refusal if and when he decided to sell.

Hemmer said that Whitley asked for a number, so he gave one. She said yes and is now a commercial property and business owner.

Whitley will stay busy with her law practice, but it wont keep her away from her Justitias.

I will be present there, but we do have a manager thats very competent and a great staff to keep things running smoothly, she said.

Shes likely to be found there on Sundays and is looking forward to it.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, March 7. Turkmenistan Airlines has made the first direct passenger flight from Ashgabat city to Malpensa International Airport in Milan city, opening a route to Italy, Trend reports.

According to an official source, a Boeing 737-800 aircraft of Turkmenistan Airlines landed at Malpensa Airport on March 6, opening the only direct connection between Turkmenistan and Italy, which followed a few months later the activation of a cargo flight operated by an A330 cargo plane.

Thus, Turkmenistan Airlines plans to operate two weekly flights to Milan city, with a possible increase in flight frequency.

Meanwhile, Turkmenistan Airlines earlier this year announced plans to launch flights from Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, to a number of new destinations, such as Milan (Italy), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam).

At the same time, this year, Turkmenistan Airlines will operate flights to 14 international destinations in 12 countries around the world.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
People fleeing earlier fighting in eastern DR Congo with whatever they can carry on February 8 (Aubin Mukoni)

M23 rebels seized more territory on Thursday as clashes went on for a third day in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo forcing ever more people to flee their homes, local residents and officials said.

The United Nations reported Wednesday that "more than 100,000" people had been displaced this week, most from around the North Kivu province town of Nyanzale, where some 80,000 people lived alongside tens of thousands who had already fled earlier fighting in the region.

By Thursday, the Tutsi-led M23 had also taken the town of Kibirizi, 30 kilometres (18 miles) to the northeast.

The rebels had "just taken Kibirizi" after an exchange of fire with army soldiers and pro-government militiamen, an administrative official for the town told AFP.

"The enemy is in Kibirizi," a militia official confirmed. "We are still fighting with the army against them in the area."

Local people were on the move, "in large numbers", heading north away from the fighting, said Gervais Kambale from nearby Kanyayonga, where the displaced have been arriving all week.

"We have never seen so many," he added. "For now we are provisionally sending them on to 10 reception sites.

"Some are sleeping under the stars, no organisation is looking after them for now," Kambale said.

The M23 (March 23 Movement) on Monday launched an offensive against several towns, 70 kilometres from the provincial capital Goma, extending its control northwards in the Rutshuru and Masisi areas.

Sporadic clashes were also reported on Thursday from Sake, about 20 kms west of Goma.

At least 15 civilians, including children, were killed in Nyanzale in shelling attacks on inhabited areas Monday, according to medical sources and witnesses contacted by telephone.

After eight years of dormancy, the M23 rebellion took up arms again in late 2021, seizing large swathes of North Kivu -- cutting off all land access to its capital Goma except the Rwandan border road in early February.

According to the Kinshasa, the United Nations and Western nations, neighbouring Rwanda is backing the M23, an allegation Kigali denies.

The UN estimated at the end of 2023 that nearly seven million people were displaced in DR Congo, including 2.5 million in North Kivu alone.

sm-hbm/mbb/at/bp/giv
Credit - Illustration by TIME; Getty Images (2)

One recent morning, I texted a Democratic source to ask if she had time to talk about the presidential election. She replied: I wish for death.

She was kidding, obviously. But this doom and gloom is everywhere. You hear it at dinner parties and playdates, in casual conversations at the grocery store. The sentiment is always the same: Are we seriously doing this again?

The 2024 presidential election is a rematch between one man widely seen as too old for the job and another man widely seen as too dangerous. The prospect has left much of the country feeling both paralyzed and horrified. Call it the Dread Election.

A Yahoo survey last fall found that the most common feeling this election cycleacross age, gender, and party leaningis dread. More than 4 in 10 American adults said they felt dread about the upcoming contest, more than the proportion that responded with words like exhaustion, depression, or indifference. Nearly half of women, white voters, and Democratic leaning voters say they dread the looming presidential rerun. Republicans have slightly less trepidation (their dread hovered in the mid-thirties) but theyre not in a great mood either. Strong majorities of both parties express dissatisfaction with their choices.

A voter casts their ballot as poll workers man a voting precinct at the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis during the presidential primary on Super Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Stephen MaturenAFP/Getty Images

These feelings have settled like a fog over the contours of this race, making it difficult to see anything except skepticism about both candidates. But whats clear is the surge of energy and mobilization that followed Donald Trumps 2016 victory and buoyed Democrats through three subsequent national elections has not yet materialized in this one. Activists are exhausted. Volunteers are dragging their feet. Audiences are tuning out political news, with ratings down across major news networks. Grassroots political fundraising plummeted in 2023, forcing some Democratic organizations to tighten their budgets and lay off staff.

All this raises key questions for the Democrats. Can an incumbent win re-election without an engaged and mobilized base that is excited about their candidate? How important is enthusiasm, anyway?

Mood is a tricky thing to measure. I have spent the last eight years covering Democrats in the Trump era, chronicling the rise of young voters, the power of women organizers, and the activists trying to mobilize voters of color. Ive spent the last eight months struggling to spot signs of that same energy being directed toward the general election thats now upon us. At every turn, groups I expected to be mobilizing were not yet mobilizing. People I expected to be excited were decidedly not excited. Instead, nearly every conversation took on a tone of resignation that 2024 would be a grim sequel. Along the way, I realized that the persistent sense of disillusionment that greeted me at every turn wasnt the obstacle to covering this race. It was its core theme.

Read More: Young Progressive Activists Lay Out Demands For Biden.

For Democrats, this lack of excitement has curdled into a darkening sense of despair as polls pile up showing Joe Biden losing to Trumpsomething that never happened in 2020, when all corners of the party were mobilized and turnout set records. Even then, Biden barely squeaked by. Now Trump is back for Round 2, and Biden is limping into the rematch with a fraying coalition, anemic polling, and a pervasive sense, even among many supporters, that he is not up to the job. In a recent New York TImes/Siena poll that found Trump leading by five points nationwide, just 23% of Democratic primary voters said they were excited about Bidenhalf the total of Republicans who said the same about Trump.

Which has left Democrats stuck in a doom loop, says Amanda Litman, co-founder of Run for Something, which recruits and supports millennial and Gen Z Democrats for office in races around the U.S. Ive spent the last year asking people to invest in work to save and sustain democracy. And Ive heard, more often than not, Im tired. Im tapped out.

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign rally at Pearson Community Center in Las Vegas on Feb. 4, 2024. Saul LoebAFP/Getty Images

Lori Goldman has spent the last eight years of her life working to defeat Trump. As the founder of Fems for Dems, a grassroots group of suburban Democrats in Michigan,she devotes nearly all her free time to building membership, hosting candidates, and organizing fundraisers. When she started the group, her triplets were 8. For nearly half their lives, Goldmans political work consumed herseven days a week, seven nights a week, she says. I wasnt there if my kids needed something.

Now Goldman wonders: What was it all for? After all the weekend phone banks, all the school night fundraisers, the canvassing in rain and snow, after all the hours Goldman missed with her children, Trump heads into the general election seemingly stronger than ever, and vowing to pursue an even more aggressive second-term agenda. I look at what Ive sacrificed, what others have sacrificed. Is it worth it? No, Goldman says. It was a bad trade.

Weve been in this dysfunctional marriage called American politics for all these years, and it doesnt seem to be getting better, she adds. She sometimes feels, she says, like an emotionally abused woman. Goldman senses shes not the only one sick of the state of things. After Trump won in 2016, We had new people coming constantly. I was stopped on the street by people asking: Fems for Dems, how could I get involved? she says. Now theres no new people reaching out. The wave of volunteers has slowed to a trickle.

An organizer encourages people to vote outside a polling place at the University of Texas at Austin, on March 5, 2024. Ilana Panich-LinsmanThe New York Times/Redux

Read More: First, They Marched. Now, They're Running For Office.

The dropoff in volunteer enthusiasm is part of a broader turn away from politics. Gone is the progressive obsession with politics that marked the early years of the so-called Resistance era. Many Americans are so demoralized that some Democratic activists fear theyll simply tune out this election altogether. For much of 2023, there was a politics on the back burner vibe, says Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible, a national network of anti-Trump grassroots groups. The signs are everywhere. Traffic has plummeted on digital news sites. TV viewership of the GOPs Iowa caucus, the only truly contested race of the primary season, was down 17% from 2016 levels, according to Semafor.

Meanwhile, the small donors that have funded much of the political infrastructure of the anti-Trump movement are tightening their wallets. Litman says Run for Somethings fundraising in 2023 fell short of their projections by 50%, forcing the organization to lay off staff. Emilys List also had layoffs last falla striking development in the post-Dobbs era. Theres less Resistance-era small-dollar donors, says Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, and less Resistance-era zeal.

The Israel-Hamas war may have pushed Bidens already tenuous coalition toward its breaking point. Young and more progressive voters were always skeptical of Biden; many showed up to vote for him in 2020 purely because he was the vessel to defeat Trump. Now, many of those reluctant supporters are making it clear that he cant count on their vote this time around if he continues to align himself with Israel.

A volunteer holds a Vote Uncommitted sign outside of a polling station at Oakman School in Dearborn, Mich., on Feb. 27, 2024. Nic AntayaBloomberg/Getty Images

Gaza is a daily conversation among rank-and-file voters in Georgia, says Nse Ufot, a prolific Georgia organizer who helped deliver the state to Biden in 2020 and win two Senate seats in 2021. Saying get in line doesn't work on the Democratic side, not in the way it works on the Republican side.

Even for Democrats fully committed to supporting Biden, the war has made generating enthusiasm for Biden difficult. In the online environment, theres no space to talk positively about Joe Biden. It reminds me a lot of 2016 in that sense, says Litman, who ran email organizing for Hillary Clinton in that race. You couldnt talk positively about Hillary without being harangued online. The same is true now for Joe Biden.

The only thing that cures dread is hope. And there are real reasons for despondent Democrats to be hopeful, even as Trump rampages through the Republican primaries and tops Biden in early battleground polls.

Many Democratic strategists believe that voters energy and attention will be revived as the threat of a second Trump term comes into focus. Many may not wake up to the reality of a Biden-Trump redux until the summer conventions, campaign officials believe.

When that happens, they say, Bidens base will overcome their reluctance and cast another vote for the incumbentif only to block Trump. The former President remains the single most effective political organizer for Democrats, a reliable driver of blue voters to the polls. Democrats have beaten expectations in nearly every election of the Trump era, including low-turnout special elections and abortion referenda in red states.

Read More: How the Anti-Trump Resistance Is Organizing Its Outrage.

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the National Association of Counties legislative conference in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12, 2024. Kent NishimuraBloomberg/Getty Images

Democrats have other advantages in November. Biden is outraising Trump. The Republicans legal problems havent gone away; despite his resounding primary victories, a significant proportion of GOP primary voters have expressed reluctance to vote for a candidate convicted of a felony. (Trump has been charged with 91.) Abortion remains a motivating factor for many voters. And organizers say that they fully expect some of Bidens most grumbling critics to come out and vote for him anyway.

Black voters were never super into Biden, says Ufot. The narrative is that hes slipping, the vibe is that everything is terrible. But those things are not indicators of electoral behavior.

Biden was never the candidate of enthusiasm. His role has never been to stir the masses. Its been to defeat Trump and, in his supporters eyes, save democracy in the process. Obama was a movement president; Joe Biden isnt a movement president, says Mitchell of the Working Families Party. Joe Bidens 2020 campaign didnt ride on movement enthusiasm. It ultimately rode on making a clear argument about the stakes of this election.

Those stakes are as high today as ever. And Greenberg says that the grassroots leaders who powered Democratic victories over the last three elections are now more seasoned and effective than they were in the early days. As Lori Goldman puts it: Were tired. But not too tired that were going to let Trump skate into that office.

Write to Charlotte Alter at charlotte.alter@time.com.
FAIRVIEW, Utah (ABC4)  One person has died after hitting the back of a school bus that was stopped to let kids off.

Sgt. Cam Roden with Utah Highway Patrol said the crash happened on U.S. 89, just north of Fairview.

Courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol

READ NEXT: A flamingo on Great Salt Lake?

According to Roden, the bus was stopped with its lights on to let the kids off when a Honda passenger car came from behind and hit the bus.

The driver of the Honda was originally airlifted in critical condition but has since died as a result of their injuries, Roden said.

The kids were checked by medical officials, but there were no other reported injuries. Another bus has since picked them up to complete its route.

There is no further information available at this time.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
A driver died and three passengers were critically injured late Wednesday when the car they were in crashed into a utility pole in Kansas Citys Westside South neighborhood, a police spokeswoman said.

The crash occurred about 11:15 p.m. Wednesday along Southwest Boulevard near Madison Avenue, said Officer Alayna Gonzalez with the Kansas City Police Department.

A preliminary investigation revealed that the driver of a blue Toyota Corolla was headed east on Southwest Boulevard at a high speed. The driver failed to negotiate a curve and the car slid off the right side of the road and struck a telephone pole, Gonzalez said.

The driver, who was not wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene. Three passengers, who also were not wearing seat belts, suffered critical injuries and were taken to hospitals, Gonzalez said.

Two of the passengers were in serious but critical but stable condition Thursday morning. The third passenger remained in critical condition.

The investigation into the crash is ongoing, Gonzalez said.

The drivers death is the 21st traffic fatality so far this year in Kansas City. That compares to 11 fatalities by this time a year ago.
A blast furnace at Severstal, a Russian steel and mining company, was damaged by a drone strike in Russias Vologda Oblast on the morning of 7 March.

Source: press service of Georgii Filimonov, the acting governor of Vologda Oblast

Quote: "An incident occurred in the blast furnace area as a result of a strike on Severstal in Vologda Oblast this morning from an UAV of unknown origin."

Details: It is reported that the operation of the furnace was not disrupted, and the company is operating "in normal mode".

Filimonov added that the situation had been "under control since 05:40" and was awaiting the conclusion of the investigating authorities. No one was injured in the incident.

Previously: Yevgeny Vinogradov, CEO of Severstal Russian Steel, said that an incident occurred in the blast furnace area on Wednesday morning: "One of the units has been taken out for a planned repair." Severstal's press service declined to comment further.

Support UP or become our patron!
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL)  A new Dunkin location on East Tennessee State Universitys (ETSU) campus celebrated its grand opening Wednesday.

The university announced in a news release that the dining option is open on the first floor of the Charles C. Sherrod Library. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Wednesday and attended by students, faculty, staff and members of the Student Government Association.

Kingsport PD: Assault sends two to hospital with serious injuries

ETSU President Dr. Brian Noland attended the opening of the coffee and doughnut shop along with other university leadership.

SGA President Trent White stated in the release that the opening of the Dunkin is a tangible reflection of our universitys continuous commitment to growth and enhancement.

The ETSU Dunkin offers a full store menu with coffee, tea, refreshers, doughnuts, muffins and other snacks.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  More than 300 school districts in Texas have their own police department, and that number continues to grow.

One of those schools is Eanes ISD, Wednesday they celebrated the pinning of nine newly commissioned officers to the new Eanes Independent School District Police Department.

In June 2023, the Eanes ISD Board of Trustees approved a school district police department, and since that time, they spent time and money making sure to fill those positions.

The new law requires an armed officer on every campus, said Dr. Jeff Arnett Eanes ISD superintendent.

The nine new officers will mean every campus in the district will have at least one armed officer.

Their primary responsibility is keeping the kids and staff members safe every day, said Eanes ISD Police Chief Matt Greer.

Eanes ISD to purchase 9 Tesla vehicles for district police department

Greer served as the districts safety and security director for the last few years, but now he said he is ready to take on his new role as chief.

Many of the officers joining Greer are veterans with many years of law enforcement experience, and some are coming out of retirement to join.

We are seeing lots of retirements from Austin PD for whatever reason, so we have been able to recruit quite a few of them, Greer said.

Having an armed officer on every campus is a state mandate, and it did not come without challenges, Arnett said.

I think the funding aspect of this for us was probably the most complex because the state didnt provide the resources for what it was now requiring us to fulfill, he said.

Arnett said despite the financial challenges the district went to work to make sure every position was filled with qualified officers.

So having an officer on each campus to make sure we have that presence there, we have someone giving the time and attention we need is very reassuring, he said.

Eanes ISD Police Department Responsibilities

Emergency response to incidents on campus

Enforcement of district policies and regulations pertaining to safety and disruption

Collaboration with school officials and local law enforcement agencies to coordinate security efforts

Providing safety education and training to students, faculty and staff

Development of positive relationships with students and the community to foster trust and open communication

New Tesla Police Vehicles

Eanes ISD has also purchased multiple Teslas which will serve as their police vehicles.

The district said it would buy nine Model Y cars, which was a part of a proposal brought forward by Tesla.

The basic Tesla Model Y has been successfully utilized as a police vehicle in over 50 agencies throughout the U.S. The vehicle will require very little maintenance and no fuel and will serve its intended purpose for each campus officer based on the attached rationale, the district said.

According to the agenda, Eanes ISD said an evaluation matrix determined Teslas proposal was the best value for Eanes ISD, considering affordability, availability, and sustainability.

The district said it clarified with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) about the equipment requirements for commissioned officers as well as other standards the agency sets for confirming a new police department.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Latinos rank near the bottom when it came to voting, yet again, according to early returns of the 2024 primary Election Day.

In California, Latinos had the lowest number of ballots returned of all other large ethnic groups  white, Black and Asian  according to Political Data, Inc. As of Wednesday, only an estimated 11% of ballots sent to California Latinos had been returned. Black and Asian voters returned their ballots at a rate of 18%, while white voters led all groups at 25%.

Theyre just not keeping pace with the voting rate for other populations, said Paul Mitchell, founder and vice president of PDI, a bipartisan voting data firm.

The low numbers are not surprising to Latino voting experts, who saw the lackluster turnout coming. And while its too early to predict the final turnout, some warn that the continued lack of engagement by Latino voters could lead to issues for both the Democratic and Republican parties, who are vying for the Latino vote in the upcoming presidential election.

Young people skip the vote

Nothing about the early data was unexpected to Mindy Romero, founder and director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy. An expert in Latino voting trends, Romero urged patience until all the ballots are counted.

She said Latinos are not alone in the turnout problem. Primary elections routinely receive lower turnout compared to general elections and, with lower turnouts, disparities among ethnic groups tend to become bigger.

Across all registered California voters, only 20% of ballots had been returned thus far, according to the PDI tracker, as of Wednesday.

Unfortunately, the story is not going to change, Romero said. Turnout will be low across the board and even lower for Latinos.

If anything, Romero said, the final numbers will look worse. The PDI tracker only accounts for registered voters. For Latinos, thats about 6.2 million.

But, this year, there are more than 8 million Latinos in the state who were eligible to cast a ballot, according to California voter file data.

Part of the Latino turnout problem comes from the lack of a youth vote, said Mitchell.

People older than 65 and those between the ages of 18 and 34 represent nearly the same amount of registered voters in California. But in terms of voting numbers, Mitchell said, seniors outperformed younger voters by more than five times as of Wednesday night.

This is particularly important with Latinos because the voting population skews younger. There are roughly 7.8 million Latinos aged 30 and younger living in California, according to the latest census figures.

It could be that we dont have a Latino turnout problem, Mitchell said. We have a young person turnout problem.

Campaigns not engaging Latinos

For Mike Madrid, a Republican political consultant in California and expert on Latino voting trends, Tuesday was further evidence that Latinos are not being engaged correctly by both major political parties.

They keep doubling down on the wrong and as long as they keep doing that, youre gonna see low turnout, youre gonna see low engagement, youre gonna see a more of a rightward shift and more balancing out between the parties, Madrid said.

He echoed Romero in saying that low turnout has been an issue for decades, with neither major political party figuring out a solution. The difference now, Madrid said, is Democrats are more reliant on securing Latino voters as their support for Republicans has slightly increased in recent elections.

In 2020, former President Donald Trump got the support of 38% of Latino voters to President Joe Bidens 59%, according to the Pew Research Center.

The Democrats really have to retool their entire approach to Latinos or theyre going to start losing elections, Madrid said.

Though presidential elections tend to receive the major headlines and drive people to polls, voter turnout might be more important to local elections.

These lower scale races tend to be closer and more dependent on a small number of votes, Romero said. In Sacramento, the top two mayoral candidates Richard Pan and Steve Hansen are currently separated by four votes.

In theory, Romero said, local elections should receive higher turnout than statewide races. Though, she acknowledged that hardly ever happens.

Local races often impact peoples daily lives more in a tangible way, a more noticeable way for voters, Romero said.
(FOX40.COM)  The community of Mountain House in San Joaquin County could soon become Californias newest city.

Early election results shows overwhelming support of incorporating Mountain House as a city. Measure D, as it appeared on the ballot, has 91.13% in favor of Mountain Houses cityhood.

Only 8.87% of voters are opposed of turning the community into a city. Mountain House has about 10,000 registered voters and is a growing community with about 28,000 residents.

Sacramento and California Key Races Results 2024

The community is about 9 miles north of Tracy and over 20 miles west of Manteca. Once official, Mountain House would become San Joaquin Countys eighth city and Californias newest city since 2011.

Its an interesting town you kind of have the folks who moved here before the real estate crash, and the folks after the real estate crash, Mountain House Community Services District General Manger Steve Pinkerton told FOX40.com. But I think the thing most of these folks have in common is that they all came mostly from the bay area in search of more affordable housing, and a smaller town quality of life.

Those in favor of Measure D also decided on a proposed mayor and city council and how future elections would work.

County Election Results  March 2024 Primary

Supplemental Measure E determines the process of election a city council and mayor and will only pass if Measure D is approved. Currently, Mountain is governed by an elected, five-member community services district board.

Voters decided if members of the city council will be elected three different ways: By district, from district, or at-large.

First round of results show 44.78% in favor of at-large, 30.98 for by district and 24.24 from district.

As election results are still being counted, the measure will go into effect on July if it passes and is results are certified by the San Joaquin County Registrars office.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
The symbol of sentencing excess in California could be an extra-large slice of pepperoni pizza, taken from four youngsters on the Redondo Beach Pier.

The petty theft resulted in a sentence of 25 years to life in prison for Jerry Dewayne Williams because he had a record that included two serious or violent felonies  and because several months earlier, California lawmakers had passed the "three strikes" law, meant to forever remove so-called career criminals from society.

That legislation was signed into law 30 years ago, on March 7, 1994.

Read more: Op-Ed: Californias 'three strikes' law still carries a devastating human and financial cost. End it now

By that time, the crime surge of the 1980s had already crested, and crime had begun its historic plunge. Still, voters in the state of Washington adopted a "three strikes" law, and two particularly horrific California murders  those of 18-year-old Kimber Reynolds and 12-year-old Polly Klaas  inspired a similar initiative proposal here. Before the measure reached voters, California lawmakers rushed their own version to the governor, who signed it into law. Voters then approved the initiative, adopting the law a second time.

A host of tough-on-crime measures followed from both Republicans and Democrats, even as crime continued its free fall. Police spending skyrocketed. The 1994 federal crime bill, shepherded through the U.S. Senate by then-Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware and signed into law by President Clinton, included a "three strikes" provision. More than 20 other states also adopted versions of "three strikes."

Read more: Op-Ed: Polly Klaas was our sister. We don't want unjust laws to be her legacy

But none were as rigid as Californias, which doubled the sentence for a second strike, and considered any felony, even if not serious or violent, a third strike. The Times has opposed "three strikes" from the beginning, warning that it would fill prisons and devastate the state budget.

Costs included larger payrolls for prison guards, whose union lobbied both for raises and for longer sentences. The toll also rose for families and communities that suffered the most from the loss of parents to prison, not for murder or rape but for mid-level crimes that may well have required some incarceration, but not decades worth.

Defenders of the "three strikes" law correctly note that Williams served only five years after he asked a judge for a sentence reduction. And they point out that Proposition 36, passed by voters in 2012, rewrote the law to require the third offense to be serious or violent, just like the first two. No more life sentences for petty theft, right?

Read more: Three-Strikes Law Has Little Effect, Study Says

But there are several problems with those arguments. Although a jury rejected the D.A.'s robbery charges and convicted Williams of the lesser charge of petty theft, another jury might easily send a third striker away for life for doing exactly the same thing. Many crimes charged as robberies fall well short of the stereotypical holdup at an ATM or convenience store. Life terms for stolen pizza, even purse-snatchings, are excessive, even if those crimes do require some incarceration. A substantial body of evidence shows that after a few years, the dissuasive power of prison reverses and the risk of new crimes increases.

Thats equally true for second strikers, who also serve gratuitously long terms under the uniquely California provision that doubles every sentence for a second serious or violent felony. Studies show second strikers to be at greater risk of reoffending than they would be after serving shorter sentences. Of the 93,560 people in California state prisons at the end of February, nearly 23%  or 21,320  were second strikers, few of whom committed murder or other crimes that already carry long sentences. Many could, and should, be safely released, and the $132,000 per year that California spends on each to keep them locked up could be spent instead on programs to prevent crime in the first place.

Read more: Editorial: L.A. is now paying the price for the tough-on-crime era

Later this year, the state Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in a lawsuit brought against Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascon by the L.A. County prosecutors union for following through on his campaign promise to not seek double or life terms under the "three strikes" law. Of the 11 candidates who challenged him in the March 5 race, seven are either current of former union members and one is on the union's legal team for the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, President Biden, who now repudiates parts of the 1994 crime bill, is facing an election rematch with Donald Trump, who signed a federal law reversing some sentencing excesses  but who gets lots of political mileage from false declarations about rampant crime.

Read more: Editorial: California's retail theft hearings scapegoat Proposition 47

Crime levels continue their descent following a significant pandemic-related spike. Yet lawmakers try to display their public safety bona fides by debating rollbacks of key criminal justice reforms, and voters consider whether to stick with, or jettison, reform-oriented D.A.s like Gascon. And, three decades later, we have yet to unwind the destructive excess of gratuitously long sentences.

That task can be completed only with another ballot measure, this time to repeal or drastically modify "three strikes." In the meantime the task of chipping away at its injustices and inefficiencies falls to district attorneys  and the California Supreme Court.





If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, March 7. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a $10 million loan to Ipoteka Bank, Uzbekistan's leading private lender, controlled by the OTP Group of Hungary, Trend reports.

The loan is provided under the Uzbekistan Green Economy Financing Facility II (GEFF Uzbekistan II).

Furthermore, this loan will help improve access to renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies for small businesses and private entrepreneurs.

The financing is supported by the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) via the Crisis Response Special Funds (CRSF) and technical cooperation funds from the Climate Investment Special Fund and Action for Equality and Gender Multi-Donor Cooperation Fund.

Uzbekistan is the leading recipient of EBRD funding in Central Asia for the fourth year running. To date, the Bank has invested around 4.28 billion euros in 147 projects across the country, with most of those funds supporting private entrepreneurship.

Meanwhile, Uzbekistan and EBRD have signed an agreement in Tashkent on establishing a project development fund for public-private partnership projects in the country.

According to the agreement, the Bank will provide Uzbekistan with $10 million to create a fund that will finance the costs of preparing public-private partnership projects in the country. Approval of the loan took place in December 2023.
Theres a concept in behavioral science known as normalcy bias, or the notion that we are prone to believe that status quos will more or less hold, and to underestimate the likelihood of worst-case scenarios. This was useful in granting us the evolutionary advantages of resiliency and optimism; human collaboration and creativity was powered to some extent by the expectation that things would pan out in the end, and no matter what, wed prevail.

As beneficial as this has proved for our species, it has pitfalls, most significantly the fact that we dont see the really bad things coming, or tend to ignore them. The last two decades have been a masterclass in the dangers of this cognitive quirk  our hubristic campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economic meltdown whose clear signs we collectively ignored, the surging devastation of climate change after many years of warnings were not heeded, the preventable loss of life as leaders waved away the threat of COVID.

Now, theres Donald Trump. With Super Tuesday powering the former president forward toward the Republican nomination and dispelling any last remaining grains of doubt about his eventual candidacy, we are again hurtling to a showdown between Joe Biden and Trump. Yet despite the rematch, this is not the same situation we had four years ago.

We know much more about the lengths to which Trump is willing to go to secure his power and subvert the rule of law. We know about Jan. 6, about how close we came to having sitting members of Congress and the vice president violently attacked and perhaps hanged during a violent takeover of our halls of power. We know how hard Trump tried to nullify the voters choices, and how hes lionized the insurrectionist shock troops of his attempted coup.

More importantly, we know about what hes planning if hes ever allowed presidential power again. We do not have to speculate, because Trump has said it himself, that he would implement the termination of parts of the Constitution, that he would be a dictator on his first day in office.

He has promised rather explicitly to utilize federal law enforcement to pursue his political enemies on spurious grounds, an approach already pioneered by his MAGA followers in Congress with sham impeachments. His closest allies have spelled out, in detail, plans to deploy the military widely across the country, for immigration enforcement and who knows what else.

At least, we should know. Some recent polling makes clear that far too much of the country remains unaware of some of Trumps most authoritarian impulses and comments. There is the sense that he cant be serious, or that these are politically-motivated attacks even when theyre direct quotes from Trump and his MAGA entourage. Normalcy bias again at work, threatening to lull us into false security.

When Trump talks about subverting our government and shaping it to his own image, we should take him at his word. Most voters are relatively casual politics observers, tuning in occasionally as elections near and developing their views on sporadic information. Between now and November, its imperative to put front and center the dominant political story of our lifetimes, that of Trumps open authoritarianism. Only the American public can stop him.

___
A New Bedford woman was sentenced to jail after she was convicted of animal cruelty charges this week, the same day her daughter was charged with 39 new counts of animal cruelty, the district attorney said Thursday.

Korina Ferreira, 46, was convicted on Monday by a jury in New Bedford District Court of two counts of animal cruelty, related to a 2020 case, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III said in a statement. Judge Joseph Harrington Jr. sentenced Ferreira to two-and-a-half years in the Bristol County House of Corrections, with one year to serve and the balance suspended. She was also placed on probation for an additional five years and ordered to not own or work with any animals.

Hours later on Monday, Ferreiras daughter, Alexis Santin, who already had an open 2023 animal cruelty case pending in New Bedford District Court, was arrested again on Monday night and charged with 39 new counts of animal cruelty, Quinn said.

Between the mother and daughter cases, prosecutors outlined horrific conditions for several cats, dogs, rabbits, a bird, and geckos, some of which died as a result.

These animals were living in deplorable conditions and as a result, suffered extreme neglect that included lack of adequate food, water and care. Many animals provide unconditional love and support to their owners, and to allow animals to live in these conditions is disgraceful, Quinn said of Ferreiras conviction on Monday. I was very disturbed to learn the defendants daughter, who already has an open animal cruelty case, was arrested on the night of her mothers conviction at the same apartment.

More than three years ago, on Dec. 1, 2020, New Bedford Animal Control Officers responded to a Cedar Street apartment after receiving an anonymous call concerning the welfare of animals, Quinn said. Ferreira and Santin, her daughter, were both at the apartment at the time.

Officers Brandon George and Emanuel Maciel entered the apartment and immediately smelled feline urine. Officers noted fly traps in the living room completely covered with flies and flies flying all around the apartment, Quinn said. A fish tank with eight goldfish had a green tint and dirt floating on the surface of the water. Ferreira told officers she accidentally dropped a plant into the tank and the tank was green when they purchased it.

In the kitchen, officers saw dishes everywhere and three bowls of dog food but no water, Quinn said. Officers were told the dogs could only be provided water in intervals, due to one of the dogs throwing up the water. The officers testified at trial that once the dogs were in their custody, none of the dogs threw up water.

When officers asked to view the dogs, which were in a bedroom, Ferreira told officers they could not view the dogs because the dogs did not like men and would attack. At trial, Maciel testified that the dogs never attempted to attack, Quinn said.

Officers were also told by Ferreira that there were five cats in the apartment that they could not see because they would escape and attack. While next to the bedroom where the cats were locked in, officers noted a very strong odor of cat urine and feces and could hear cats meowing, Quinn said.

Officers asked Ferreira to sign a consent to search form, which she did. Officers then found 13 cats kept in a small bedroom that was filled with urine and feces, Quinn said.

Officers dressed themselves in personal protective equipment to search the apartment Due to the overwhelming smell of noxious levels of ammonia, Quinn said.

A total of 34 photos depicting the condition of the animals and their living environment were viewed by jurors. At trial, officers testified that three dogs -- all American Bulldogs and 3 years old -- were severely malnourished, Quinn said.

One dog named Bam Bam was so malnourished his spine and ribs were visible. Bam Bam also had clear injuries to his face and rump. Maciel testified the injuries were consistent with something continuously rubbing on the dog and compared the dogs injuries to bed sores.

Jurors also reviewed pictures of the dogs bowls, which showed feces surrounding the bowls, and photographs of injured cats in the apartment, Quinn said. Several of the cats had injuries due to the amount to fleas, requiring flea treatments. Photographs showed the cats litter box was so full of feces, the cats began to use their bed as their litter box.

At the time of her mothers trial on Monday, Santin already had an open 2023 animal cruelty case pending in New Bedford District Court.

In that pending case from 2023, New Bedford Police received a call for a report of a female who was being attacked by dogs. When officers arrived, Santin was in an ambulance, Quinn said. She told Maciel, the officer, that she was taking her dogs outside with muzzles, when the muzzle of one dog, Chompa, came off. She said Chompa began attacking another dog, AJ. Santin told police she pulled Chompa into a pen where Chompa began attacking her.

Santin told officers she then pulled the muzzle off of AJ to protect herself, Quinn said. AJ then began attacking Chompa. Officers noted blood on both dogs. In Santins Cedar Street apartment, investigators noted a strong smell of urine and feces. In one room, officers found another dog and piles of dog, cat and rabbit feces.

Numerous rabbits were found, in addition to dog crates with food surrounded by feces, Quinn said.

Chompa was ultimately euthanized. Three dogs, several rabbits and a cat were removed from the home.

On Monday, police obtained a search warrant for the same Cedar Street apartment, after receiving a call from a veterinarian who suspected abuse and neglect of a dog, Quinn said.

New Bedford Animal Control Officers executed the search warrant Monday night. They were immediately hit with a strong odor of urine and feces, Quinn said. The apartment was covered in feces and urine.

Officers found a Doberman in the living room and a Pit bull attached to a 3-foot leash and tied to a dog crate, with two more dogs in crates, Quinn said. Two additional dogs were found in Santins car, hiding among clutter with no source of food and water. The carcass of a dead bird was also found in the apartment.

The crates were covered in animal feces, making it impossible to see the floor of the crates, Quinn said in his statement. The food and water bowls were empty and also had feces. Three additional dogs were in a front room. All dogs had some form of emaciation, mutilation and low weight.

Five geckos, some of them dead, were also found in a terrarium with no source of heat, food or water.

Police arrested Santin and charged her with 39 new counts of animal cruelty.

On Tuesday, Judge David Sorrenti declined to revoke Santins bail at the request of prosecutors, Quinn said. Santin was released on conditions that she not possess or care for any animals, that she surrender all animals to Animal Control within two days, that she can no longer live at the Cedar Street apartment, that she must report in person to probation once a week, and also have unannounced probation visits and undergo mental health evaluation and counseling.

Santin is due back in court on March 27 for a pretrial hearing.

Also, in 2018, Ferreira, a former Fall River resident, faced multiple counts of animal cruelty after 17 dogs, 16 chickens and a dead pig were found in a filthy Rhode Island home that had been condemned and was a vacant, the Associated Press reported at the time. The outcome of that case was unclear Thursday.

If Ferreira is charged with committing a new crime during her probation, she is liable to serve the remaining 18 months of the two-and-a-half year jail term, Quinn said.

At the very least, neither of these women belong anywhere near any animals, Quinn said. The jail sentence imposed by the court in the Ferreira case for these egregious facts was appropriate. I want to thank New Bedford Animal Control officers for their work in these cases and many others.

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
One student was left in a critical condition after three suspects opened fire on a bus stop - Joe Lamberti/FR171934 AP

Eight high school students were shot while waiting for a bus in Philadelphia, in the fourth shooting on the citys public transport system in as many days.

Three suspects jumped from a car and opened fire on the students as they waited for the bus after class on Wednesday afternoon.

More than 30 shots were fired at the students, who ranged in age from 15 to 17, according to Kevin Bethel, the citys police commissioner.

Police are investigating a possible motive.

One student, a 16-year-old, was left in critical condition after being hit nine times. The others were in a stable condition, Mr Bethel said.

Two buses were also struck by the gunfire, although no one inside was hit, according to Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Septa).

Kevin Bethel, Philadelphia's chief of police, said that one of the victims was in a critical condition - Joe Lamberti/FR171934 AP

Over the last three days, 11 young people have been shot while going to and from school in Philadelphia, Mr Bethel said.

The three shootings in the days prior each involved the death of someone who was using a city bus.

On Tuesday evening, Carmelo Drayton, 37, was fatally shot when a verbal argument turned into a physical fight between two passengers. One of the passengers fired two shots from a handgun, which hit Mr Drayton.

The gunman, who was wearing a kind of mask not allowed on Philadelphia public transport, fled the scene.

On Monday, a 17-year-old student was killed and four others were injured at another bus stop in the city when gunfire erupted.

Among those injured was a 71-year-old woman, who was struck in the forehead but is expected to survive.

On Sunday, a 27-year-old man was killed by another passenger while getting off the bus after an argument between the two.

More than 30 shots were fired at the students in the attack - Joe Lamberti/FR171934 AP

Hours before the shooting on Wednesday, the Septa transit police chief vowed that his department would target every criminal code in the books following the previous days shootings.

Charles Lawson, Septas chief of police, said: We use every legal means at our disposal to target illegal gun possession.

He added: Were going to target individuals concealing their identity. Were going to target fare evasion. Were going to target open drug use.

Frank Vanore, the deputy commissioner of the Philadelphia police department, said during the press conference that no arrests have been made in any of the four shootings.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
In a normal election year, election workers would be focused on recruiting and training poll workers, securing polling sites, preparing voting technology, and providing voters with the information they need to cast a ballot in the months leading up to November. But after the chaos, threats and violence of 2020, election officials across the country are adding mental health training for election workers to their election prep to-do lists.

Last July, Irene Salter, a Shasta County, California resident who specializes in professional development for leaders in crisis, led a four-hour stress resiliency workshop for the Shasta County California Elections Department.

The workshop was aptly called, Were NOT okay! Research-Backed Ways to Create a Culture of Health and Wellbeing in a Challenging Time. Coming off the heels of the 2020 election, where election workers across the country faced an unprecedented amount of intimidation and harassment, Salter, who has a PhD in neuroscience, recognized that Shasta County election workers needed stress management tools to navigate the new and at times dangerous environment.

The workshop  the first of its kind for Shasta Countys election department  focused, in part, on the biology of stress: how it impacts behavior, what it looks like in the human system, and the difference between immediate stress and chronic stress. Salter explained during the four hour training that, for many in the department, their stress system had been activated for weeks and even months on end due to the unreasonable demands of their jobs.

Stress management training has quickly become essential for anyone working in elections, a licensed therapist familiar with the Shasta County Elections Department Lynn Fritz told TPM. Its how they keep themselves balanced and healthy, she said. The long term stress that all election officials have experienced since 2020 and continue to experience, she said, can have significant physical consequences too: elevated blood pressure, fatigue, headaches, muscle tension, sleep disruption, stomach upset, a compromised immune system, among other symptoms.

Even though the Shasta County workshop did not touch on the 2020 election specifically, the countys election department, like most U.S. election offices, is still reeling from the impact of an election that brought with it a barrage of threats and violence against election workers at a local and national level. There have been no recorded instances of threats to Shasta workers directly, but the department has been on high alert after watching and hearing about violence carried out against election workers elsewhere, according to Shasta County Clerk and Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen.

As it stands now the Department of Justices Election Threats Task Force, established in 2021 to address violence against election workers, has charged more than a dozen people for threatening election workers.

Darling Allen told TPM that the fact that election officials are now being asked to learn to mitigate the effects of violent threats and harassment, is akin to asking the rape victim, whyd you wear that outfit? Theres no single solution, but yet, election departments across the country have still been tasked with finding a solution to an issue that was once a foreign concern for those going through the motions of election administration.

Experts told TPM that harassment and intimidation will be an inevitable part of the voting process in 2024, and although there are no ways to mitigate that threat completely, there are ways to get ahead of it.

For example, the not-for-profit Carter Center developed a well-being resource guide for election administrators to give to staff following the barrage of threats election workers endured in 2020. The guide includes explanations of the signs and effects of trauma, ways to promote resiliency and recovery in the face of threats, online security tools to prevent doxing, as well as ways to access support groups and mental health services. It even includes recommendations like breathing exercises, meditation, as well as specific techniques to combat flashbacks and disturbing thoughts.

The non-partisan Elections Group has also created resources to help election officials support workers who have faced threats and who may need mental health support. Annie Mendoza, elections expert with the Elections Group told TPM that the group partnered with a mental health professional to review the resources they created.

A lot of us did experience threats and harassment and things like that, so we know firsthand what everyone is going through, she said. And I guess you can say we dont feel like we can just sit back and not do anything about it, not help our colleagues.

Mendoza said theyre still in the initial phases of building out these resources, but one of the things she and her colleagues are focused on is developing quick and easy resiliency techniques for mindfulness and self-care that workers could use in tense moments on the job. That can include simple stuff like smelling a candle, giving yourself a five-minute hand massage, or using a fancy bar of soap. The focus, she said, is to make these techniques easy to implement on the fly for election workers who are already working 12-plus hour days.

Election officials around the country are also implementing their own new tactics and stress resiliency trainings to lessen the harms of threats and fears for their staff. TPM spoke to a handful of current and former election officials across the country who said theyre managing the evolving and at-times dangerous new environment by incorporating stress resiliency programs into the workplace, like the one in Shasta County.

These programs could prove to be particularly beneficial in swing states and counties that have previously found themselves at the apex of election fraud conspiracy theories, such as Maricopa County in Arizona. Four years ago, county Supervisor Bill Gates along with his wife and three daughters were the victims of death threats after Fox News called the state for President Joe Biden in 2020, Gates said.

His experience in, as he calls it, a toxic environment following 2020 was a factor in his decision to not run for reelection in 2024.

Former Georgia elections director and current deputy director of Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council Chris Harvey similarly said that even though Georgias election was nearly flawless in 2020, he still received a message in January 2021 saying his days were numbered.

Harvey, who has a wife and four children, said after that threat, law enforcement patrolled his home for weeks. He ultimately decided to leave his post, not necessarily because he was afraid of the threats, but because, as he describes it, the accumulated weight of everything we experienced in 2020.

In some cases, the very workers who experienced threats to their safety during the last presidential cycle are the ones trying to help others develop coping mechanisms too.

In late 2020 Nathan Jaramillo, bureau of elections administrator for Bernalillo County, New Mexico, was threatened by an individual, who, after contacting him via email, showed up in front of his home. Now, going into 2024, he is particularly concerned about election worker safety. His office recently held an all-day team-building event, which was in part, focused on stress management techniques, coping strategies, and recognizing signs of burnout, he told TPM.

And former Rochester Hills, Michigan Clerk Tina Barton, was the victim of death threats from an Indiana man who, earlier this month, pleaded guilty in a federal Detroit court for threats against Barton.

Barton is focused now on ways to get ahead of violence in 2024.

As part of the Committee for Safe and Secure Elections, which was developed by election officials who dealt with threats and harassment in 2020 as a way to help the election community, she is traveling and hosting tabletop exercises and presentations throughout the country, bringing law enforcement and local election officials together to talk through possible intimidation scenarios.

Although shes cautious going into 2024, Barton is hopeful that the conversations about safety and security of election officials happening across the country will help to, as she describes it, make sure that every person stays safe and secure on election day and leading up to election day through the whole process.
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON)  An electric scooter rider was injured after being struck by a vehicle Wednesday evening in the SoMa neighborhood, the San Francisco Police Department said. The collision happened around 5:35 p.m. in the area of 3rd and Brannan streets.

The person on the scooter was taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with the police investigation. Drugs or alcohol do not appear to be a factor in the collision, according to SFPD.

Emergency crews were at the scene of the collision, which led to traffic delays, the SF Department of Emergency Management said. The scene cleared up about two hours later.

SFPD says anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the department at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD.

Brannan and 3rd is about two blocks away from Oracle Park. The area has had a history of vehicle collisions.

South Bay city to deploy hundreds of Lime scooters across city streets

Last August, a 4-year-old girl in a stroller was killed after being struck by a vehicle on the crosswalk. The fatal collision prompted city officials to make safety improvements at the intersection of 4th Street and King Street  roughly three blocks away from the scene of Wednesday evenings crash.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM)  The Elmira High School is hosting a spring craft fair this weekend to benefit the Project Graduation Class of 2024 and the Elmira Express Booster Club.

The craft fair will be on Sunday, March 10, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Elmira High School. Admission is $2 a person and free for children under five.

Food Bank of the Southern Tier to host bag packing event

The fair will feature raffles, a 50/50 drawing, food and various vendors.

If youre interested in becoming a vendor at the event, contact elmirahs.projectgraduation@gmail.com.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com.
Emmanuel Macron warned that the West may have to step in to save Ukraine if Russia makes a breakthrough on the Eastern front, according to reports on Thursday.

The French president produced maps to show opposition leaders, invited to the Elysee Palace, points of potential Russian breakthrough towards Odesa or Kyiv.

He told them there should be no more red lines on his countrys involvement in the conflict.

These are maps of the Ukrainian front line freely available anywhere, the Elysee told The Telegraph.

Speaking after the two and a half-hour meeting, the party chiefs said the talks with Mr Macron had left them concerned, with some accusing him of seeking to exploit the conflict for domestic gain ahead of key European elections in June.

It came as Lord Cameron said Europe must rein in the wars in Ukraine and Gaza before the next US president is sworn in. Speaking at a Berlin press conference alongside Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign secretary, he said the crises needed to be in the best possible place by the time of the presidential election.

Lord Cameron has previously raised concerns about the commitment of Donald Trump and his Republican allies to the fight against Vladimir Putin.

Mr Macron caused disquiet among many in Europe by refusing to rule out sending Western ground troops to Ukraine, pointing to Russias hardening stance. He then urged Ukraines allies not to be cowards in supporting the countrys fight against the Russian invasion.

On Thursday, some party leaders said Mr Macron advocated a no limits approach to counter the Russian president as part of his theory of strategic ambivalence  keeping Moscow guessing.

Jordan Bardella, the president of the hard-Right National Rally (RN) party, said he had urged Mr Macron not to go to war with Russia and said threatening to send French soldiers to fight a nuclear power like Russia is irresponsible and extremely dangerous for world peace.

Fabien Roussel, the Communist Party leader, said he feared Mr Macron was ready to engage in a bellicose escalation, which would be very dangerous.

Marine Tondelier, the leader of the Green Party, recounted Mr Macron saying that Putin obviously has no limits. She said it was extremely worrying to see the president tell the meeting that we must show we have no limits too.

Manuel Bompard, of the hard-Left France Unbowed party, added: I arrived worried, and I left even more worried.

The Macron camp has made it clear that one aim of meeting the opposition was to clarify their position on Ukraine, notably that of the RN, which long admired the Putin administration before the war.

On Wednesday, Prisca Thevenot, a government spokesman, said that it was quite obvious that the RN was not aligned with Mr Macrons call to do everything to ensure Russias defeat.

Gabriel Attal, the French prime minister, has accused the RN of supporting Russia more than Ukraine, even questioning whether Vladimir Putins troops are not already in our country in the guise of Marine Le Pens party.

The RN is the largest opposition party in Frances lower house of parliament and leads the Macron alliance by a wide margin in European election polls ahead of the June 9 vote.

Reacting to the reports, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said on Thursday that Mr Macron continues to raise the level of Frances direct involvement in the war.

Frances parliament will have a chance to vote on the countrys Ukraine strategy, including a bilateral security treaty signed with Kyiv last month. Debates and non-binding votes will take place next Tuesday in the National Assembly lower house and in the Senate upper house on Wednesday.

Later on Thursday, France was set to host a video conference of almost 30 countries including Ukraine, which would follow up on the initiatives discussed at an international summit hosted by Mr Macron last week.

On Thursday, Mr Macron spoke to his predecessors Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace.

Afterwards, Mr Hollande called for more aid for Ukraine as well as European unity, saying: The only possible response is to show that we are with the Ukrainians in total solidarity, that we are giving them all the support they need, without taking part in any combat ourselves.

Asked about the possibility of sending troops, the socialist former president said: My position on military issues is: the less we say, the better.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Welcome to the police state: Yesterday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that 750 National Guardsmen and 250 state police officers will be deployed to patrol the New York City subway system, Hochul's attempt at combating recent high-profile crimes, like the incident in which an A train conductor's neck was slashed last week.

Law enforcement will also start doing bag checks for straphangers, and will bar people who have been convicted of violent crimes against subway passengers from using public transit for three years. It's clear how the bag checks will be enforced (in a way that costs the city money and commuters time) but it's not clear how the ban on past offenders will be enforced.

This all comes in addition to the roughly 1,000 New York City Police Department officers who were deployed throughout the subway system last month, and the cameras that have been installed in roughly one-sixth of the subway cars. That was in response to a January spike in major crimedriven mostly by grand larcenies, which are thefts without forcecompared with January 2023. But crime stats are notoriously hard to untangle, and just because police are deployed doesn't mean they're effective: Subway crime, which is tracked as its own category, was up 30 percent year over year in 2022 when compared with 2021, despite Adams choosing to deploy police patrols throughout the system.

Hochul's new initiative appears to have already started; when I was going through the Broadway Junction stop last night, which connects the A train to the L, I counted a greater density of law enforcement than I'd seen before.

Bag checks are already happening at Grand Central:

If you're going to introduce a bunch of new police officers and National Guard soldiers into the subway system, what is the point of having them all stand in the same place instead of riding trains and walking laps of stations? pic.twitter.com/dhpdgB3b2X  Anthony LaMesa (@ajlamesa) March 7, 2024

But political stunts are different than good policing, and this looks more like the first.

Patrol politics: Interpreted as part of the power struggle between Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, this looks like an attempt by the governor's office to either undermine Adams or set the stage to be able to take credit for a decline in crimeif that is in fact what results, which is a big if.

Interpreted as a tactic by major Democrats in major cities to be responsive to people's crime fears, it looks a lot like pandering. Neither Adams nor Hochul is up for reelection this year, but the political tides feel like they're turning in a direction of even soft-on-crime liberals being dissatisfied with the status quo.

There is a vast middle ground between the two loudest types of New Yorkers: the "I ride the subway all the time and it's totally safe, what are you talking about?" and the "this city is a hellscape, I fear for my life every time I leave my house." The truth is somewhere in between: It is common to get on a subway car and have a crazy person yelling. Sometimes they're threatening, but infrequently. I see smoking inside the subway car or urinating inside the station every month or so. I've seen bum fights. I've noticed people passed out in front of the turnstile, blocking access, a few times before; it's hard to know if the person is dead or passed out, and what to do. (Nor is it lost on me that the above sentence is a crazy thing to have to write.)

These situations force hard questions: What do we owe to our fellow New Yorkers, especially those in severe need, who sometimes refuse to help themselves? Should we expect public spaces to be free of threat and despair and, if so, what policing or surveillance should be used to get there? Are these tradeoffs worth it?

But Hochul's plan probably doesn't address the actual issue, which has less to do with a criminal free-for-all and more to do with erratic mentally ill people who essentially use the subway system as free shelter, and sometimes act out with violence. "The [subway disorder] problem got worse in 2017, when Transit Police stopped enforcing loitering and related subway rules to keep homeless and mentally ill people and drug addicts from living and sleeping in the subway system. This was a simply a political choice," wrote Peter Moskos on X. "Before then, people using the system for shelter and not transit would be told to leave. Not arrested. But you can't stay here. After, they were told of shelter options. If they chose not to [accept], they were left alone. 95% chose to remain."

"The right to prohibit behavior on the subway that is permitted on the street (EG begging) was affirmed by Young v. New York City Transit Authority (1990). This was a hard fought battle by the MTA back in the days. It made a huge difference in crime & riders' Quality of Life," added Moskos (in a useful thread), who argued that "turning the subway into a defacto shelter isn't good for homeless people. Nor is it not fair to the rest of us who need to ride the subway."

Exiling mentally ill people from select public spaces doesn't sound like a solution that solves underlying needs. But it is a solution that possibly returns subways to the people who pay for them, and to their original use. Perhaps New Yorkers would instead prefer to have cops going through their handbags during rush hour so they can feel like the city has finally started to do something. The problem is that the something actually matters, and that random searches, which violate people's privacy, should not be taken lightly or instituted for political gain.

Scenes from New York: That's enough New York up above, I think. But here's a subway ad I saw yesterday. End microaggression discourse and return to real issues!

(Liz Wolfe)

QUICK HITS

"Corporations will have to share key details about their role in driving climate change and the threat that warming poses to their operations under a contentious proposal the Securities and Exchange Commission approved 3-2 on Wednesday over intense business opposition," reported The Washington Post.

The U.S. is negotiating a six-week ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that Hamas is allegedly refusing to sign onto. Both Qatar and Egypt are also helping to broker it, and all parties view the holy month, Ramadan, as an urgent and looming deadline.

Armed gangs in Haiti are putting pressure on the country's prime minister, Ariel Henry, to resign, and it looks like the country may be heading toward a civil war. So far, gangs have set a bunch of prisoners free, seized the airport, and attacked a police academy.

"Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey swiftly signed legislation on Wednesday passed by the state's GOP-controlled legislature giving physicians who provide in vitro fertilization civil and criminal immunity for any death or damage to embryos," reported Politico.

Inside the Satoshi Nakamoto trial in the U.K., which aims to figure out who actually created bitcoin.

Linwei Ding, a Google employee in the U.S. who is originally from China, was just charged with stealing AI trade secrets that he was allegedly feeding to two Chinese companies.

In the Elizabeth Warren formulation of the world, high prices are attributable to greed. So maybe landlords actually just magically became less greedy?

Austin built a shit ton of new housing and now rent is falling 7% year-over-year pic.twitter.com/BI0tWoSkU8  Alec Stapp (@AlecStapp) March 6, 2024

The post Empire State Police State appeared first on Reason.com.
From the The Morning Dispatch on The Dispatch

Happy Thursday! Just in case freelance art and graphic design isnt your thing, NASA recently opened up applications for its next class of astronauts. Be warned, though: According to the job listing, extensive travel [is] required.

Quick Hits: Todays Top Stories

Down to One

Nikki Haley arrives to announce the suspension of her presidential campaign at her campaign headquarters in Daniel Island, South Carolina on March 6, 2024. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Despite long odds heading into Tuesdays 15 primary contests, former Ambassador Nikki Haleys campaign was reportedly in a jubilant mood throughout the day, with her team of happy warriors prepared for whatever might lie ahead. With no events scheduled for the night, however, it seemed as though the campaign expected the end of the road.

Following a disappointing showing on Super Tuesday, Haley suspended her campaign for president, confirming officially what has been apparent for months: Former President Donald Trump will, barring any unforeseen surprises, face off against President Joe Biden again in the 2024 presidential election. Trump now faces the task of consolidating Republican support ahead of the general electionbut Biden also has his eye on Haleys more moderate and Trump-skeptical voters.

In a speech at her campaign headquarters in South Carolina on Wednesday, Haley told supporters that she ended her run with no regrets, and congratulated Trump on his capture of the nomination. But notably, she did not endorse the former president. It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party, and beyond it, who did not support him, and I hope he does that, she said. At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people. This is now his time for choosing.

Despite winning just two primary contests, Haley managed to build a coalition of independent, moderate, suburban, and college-educated voters that helped her secure more than 30 percent of the primary electorate in several states. As she pointed out in her speech yesterday, Trump will need to work to bring these people into his campand he might have his work cut out for him. Despite winning the overwhelming majority of states and delegates, Trump has struggled to win over suburban voters: In Virginia, for example, he lost the suburbs to Haley despite winning the state by roughly 28 points.* A CNN exit poll in North Carolina showed 81 percent of Haley voters would not vote for the former president in November.

Trump wasted no time dumping on his former ambassador on her way out the door. Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion, he posted on Truth Social on Wednesday morning, extending an invitation to all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in the history of our Nation. He then, in an apparent shift to the general election, reminded his followers of the fight ahead. BIDEN IS THE ENEMY, HE IS DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY, he wrote. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!

President Joe Biden, too, made a play for Haleys coalition of disaffected center-right and independent voters. Donald Trump made it clear he doesnt want Nikki Haleys supporters, he said in a statement released on Wednesday, referencing previous comments from Trump about permanently barring donors to Birdbrain Haley from his MAGA movement. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign. I know there is a lot we wont agree on. But on the fundamental issues  I hope and believe we can find common ground.

Olivia Perez-Cubas, a spokeswoman for Haleys campaign, posted a side-by-side comparison of the Trump and Biden comments, adding, A tale of two statements

Haitis Violent Crisis

Displaced women and children take shelter at a school gymnasium after fleeing their homes during gang attacks in Port-au-Prince on September 14, 2023. (Photo by Giles Clarke/Getty Images)

As difficult as it is to imagine the already dire situation in Haiti worsening, the island nation suffered just that over the last week. While Prime Minister Ariel Henry traveled abroad seeking international help to stem the unprecedented tide of violence, the criminal gangs that control some 80 percent of the capital city of Port-au-Prince appeared to set their sights on government institutions.

On Saturday, gang members broke into two prisons, releasing thousands of inmates. Among the imprisoned were the Colombian mercenaries accused of assassinating President Jovenel Moise in 2021. But rather than seizing their freedom, the alleged assassins reportedly decided to remain behind bars. Please, please help us, Francisco Uribe, one of the accused Colombians, said in a video shared on social media. They are massacring people indiscriminately inside the cells.

The deepening crisis in Haiti shows no signs of abating, with the country trapped in a dangerous cycle of instability. Gang leaders are now threatening civil war if Henryso far unable to return to the countrydoes not resign. International support for the prime minister, whose legitimacy was always on shaky ground, seems to be faltering, and its unclear what political next steps might look like in a country overrun with violence, hunger, and disease. Though the long-promised, U.N.- and U.S.-backed international police force meant to restore order seems closer to deployment than ever, even that might not be sufficient to pull the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere back from the brink of anarchy.

Last year was particularly violent in Haiti. In 2023, there were almost 5,000 homicidesmore than double the number of murders in 2022in the country of around 11 million people. Even before the chaos of the last week, this year seemed poised to break that record. In January, according to the United Nations, 806 people not directly involved in the gang conflict were killed, injured, or kidnappedand around 300 gang members were killedmaking it the countrys most violent month in two years. As a result of the violence and chaos, at least 4.5 million people are facing food insecurity, and the country is experiencing one of the worst cholera outbreaks in the world. Ive seen things here that Ive never seen in my life, Ulrika Richardson, the U.N.s chief humanitarian coordinator for Haiti, said on Wednesday.

Haitis national police force is woefully depleted, with fewer than 10,000 officers on duty at a time when the U.N. suggests 25,000 would be a more adequate number. As we reported in September, some citizens have resorted to ill-fated vigilante justice in the face of murders, kidnappings, and sexual violence. In recent weeks, Haitians have constructed makeshift barricades around their neighborhoods to try to keep the gang turf wars off their streets.

After Henry left the country last Thursdayfirst to head to Guyana for a meeting with regional heads of state, and then to Kenya in an attempt to revive an international police mission headed by the African countrymembers of several armed groups moved against police stations, took control of two prisons, and, on Monday, attempted to occupy the main airport in Port-au-Prince, forcing it to close. Jimmy Barbecue Cherizier, the leader of a coalition of gangs, said in a video that the groups intention was to keep Henry from returning to the country. Earlier this week, Cherizier demanded Henry step down, threatening even more violence. If Ariel Henry does not resign, he said, well be heading straight for a civil war that will lead to genocide. The countrys finance minister, serving as interim prime minister in Henrys absence, on Sunday instituted a 72-hour state of emergency.

The events of the last week constitute a change in the character of the violence in Haiti. What began as turf wars between rival gangs vying for control appears to have morphed into something at least temporarily more cohesive and targeted at public infrastructure and the government itself. The airport is surrounded by areas that have been under the control of armed groups for a long time, so there was nothing stopping these people from shooting at planesit was a choice, and so that does seem like a change, Jake Johnston, senior research associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), told TMD. That is a different tactic. We run a risk of taking the statements from people like Jimmy Cherizier at face value, and yet pretty clearly this was meant to prevent the Prime Minister Ariel Henry from returning to the country.

Is this a coup, or something short of that? Analysts and observers told TMD its difficult to say. Its not clear whether the gang leaders have political ambitions, and the gangs themselves arent predisposed to teamwork. If opportunity requires them to cooperate for a brief moment, they will, but theyre not, by nature, going to be coalition builders, Frederick Barton, the former assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations during the Obama administration, told TMD.

Moreover, coups require the existence of an actual government to overthrow. There isnt a single elected official serving an active term in the entire country, with the last elections there being held in 2016. The late president, Jovenel Moise, appointed Henry just days before he was killed, and a brief power struggle after his death saw Henry emerge victorious with the backing of the international community. But as the countrys security situation has only deteriorated, hes become increasingly unpopular with Haitians who have many times protested his rule. The country was supposed to hold elections on February 7 as part of an agreement between Henry, political rivals, and other civil society actors, but Henry delayed thempotentially until late 2025citing the need to restore order and security.

Henry has been actively calling for international help to stem the violence. Late last year, the U.N. approved an international police force, led by 1,000 members of the Kenyan national police, to help restore control over critical infrastructure and carry out targeted operations with the Haitian national police. Several countries, including the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, and Chad, have said theyd send police to join the Multinational Security Support mission. But even before the largely U.S.-funded program could get off the ground, it faced opposition in Kenya, where a high court in January ruled the plan was illegal because there was no reciprocal agreement between Nairobi and Port-au-Prince regarding authorization, and held that it may be unconstitutional for the Kenyan police to act outside their national borders.

Even if that mission does come to fruition, its not clear it would be effective. I think its necessary, but not sufficient, Barton told TMD. I do think the Kenyans and the other countries will be extremely useful if they dont have to tip the balance from utter chaos towards the re-establishment of order. But that initial tipping of the balance, he added, is probably going to take something like U.S. special forces. That level of boots-on-the-ground U.S. intervention, especially when theres a fraught history of such action in Haiti, seems extremely unlikely.

Henry was in Kenya signing the requisite bilateral agreement to jump-start the international mission when he was functionally locked out of his country. His whereabouts were briefly unclear over the weekend, but on Wednesday, reporting from the Miami Herald suggested hed landed in Puerto Rico after being denied access to the Dominican Republic.

His flight path wasnt the only thing to change midair, the Herald reported. In what would amount to a marked reversal of U.S. policy, if accurate, the State Departmentwith backing from the regional Caribbean Community groupingreportedly told Henry he should resign his post. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters on Wednesday that wasnt quite right, saying, What we have asked the Haitian PM to do is to move forward on a political process that will lead to the establishment of a Presidential Transitional Council that will lead to elections. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller reiterated that point in yesterdays press briefing.

But CEPRs Jake Johnston pointed out that Henrys resignation is nevertheless baked into that plan. The reality now is that its extraordinarily unlikely that anybody in this current environment is going to be willing to make a deal that keeps Henry in power, he told TMD. He cant even get back to the country, so his bargaining power has been eviscerated. The reports of fading or totally evaporated international support also sort of punctures the perception of inevitability. It was that international support that gave him that power, and without it, its just another knock on his leverage.

Worth Your Time

Writing for Persuasion, novelist Ann Bauer explored how independent bookstores have survived in the age of Amazonand takeaways from the socially conscious marketing strategy thats kept them afloat. For 30 years, independent bookstores have been battling Amazon, a monster online retailer that sells the exact same products for 20-50 percent less, Bauer wrote. In 1994, there were over 7,000 independent bookstores in the United States, says Allison Hill, CEO of the American Booksellers Association (ABA). By 2009 that number had dropped to 1,651. But after the initial bloodbath, in which there were many casualties, independent bookstores found their footing. And in large urban centers, theyre winning the war. Today, the number of independent bookstores has rebounded to 2,500. In fact, independent bookstore sales outpaced most other publishing industry metrics in 2023, growing faster than overall unit sales of print books, Bauer wrote. Booksellers have bent the rules of the free market. For the first time in history, a significant chunk of the buying public are voluntarily paying almost doubleand going out of their wayto buy exactly the same product they can get cheaper and often faster somewhere else. And its all due to that ABA message: non-corporate, authentic, and socially responsible.  What no one says is that the bargain works both ways. If book buyers must behave virtuously and tithe an additional $11 a book, then booksellers must uphold the communitys doctrines. Theyre locked in the moral contract, too.

Presented Without Comment

Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, after losing Californias U.S. Senate primary by nearly 20 points:

Thank you to everyone who supported our campaign and voted to shake up the status quo in Washington. Because of you, we had the establishment running scaredwithstanding 3 to 1 in TV spending and an onslaught of billionaires spending millions to rig this election.

Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, seven hours later:

Rigged means manipulated by dishonest means. A few billionaires spent $10 million+ on attack ads against me, including an ad rated false by an independent fact checker. That is dishonest means to manipulate an outcome. I said rigged by billionaires and our politics arein fact-manipulated by big dark money. Defending democracy means calling that out. At no time have I ever undermined the vote count and election process in CA, which are beyond reproach.

Also Presented Without Comment

Axios: House GOP Tries to Shut Down State of the Union Heckling

Also Also Presented Without Comment

BBC: German Patient Vaccinated Against COVID 217 Times

Toeing the Company Line

President Joe Biden is delivering his State of the Union address tonight, which means well have a bonus edition of Dispatch Live () tonight at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, or whenever the speechifying is done! The team will discuss the remarks and the GOP rebuttal, and, of course, take plenty of viewer questions. Keep an eye out for an email later today with information on how to tune in.

In the newsletters: The Dispatch Politics crew unpacked Nikki Haleys primary exit and the state of the Senate race in Arizona after Sen. Kyrsten Sinemas retirement announcement, Scott outlined () how the Wendys surge pricing dust-up illustrates common pitfalls in consumer protection policy, Jonah reminded readers () they will largely be fine no matter who wins the presidential election this fall, and Nick weighed in () on whats next for Haley and her supporters as she ends her campaign.

On the podcasts: Razib Khan returns to The Remnant to explore the genetic makeup of the worlds second most important animal, human beings, and David and Sarah revisit their arguments over the Supreme Courts per curium ruling on the Trump-Colorado case on the latest episode of Advisory Opinions .

On the site today: Frederick Hess and Michael McShane argue that elite universities are rotten but fixable.

Let Us Know

How do you think the U.S. should work to quell the crisis in Haitiif at all?

Correction, March 7, 2024: This newsletter originally stated that, in Virginias presidential primary, Donald Trump lost the suburbs to Nikki Haley by 28 percentage points. He did lose suburban precincts in the state, but not by 28 percentage pointsthat is the margin by which he won the state overall.

Read more at The Dispatch

The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free.
By Luiza Ilie and Gabriela Baczynska

BUCHAREST/BRUSSELS (Reuters) -European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday won the backing of the EU's leading political group, the centre-right European People's Party, to head the bloc's powerful executive for another five years.

The only candidate in the party's ballot, von der Leyen listed the war in Ukraine, the crisis in Gaza destabilising the Middle East, and the rise of China as key challenges for the 27-nation European Union, a wealthy grouping of 450 million people.

"And here at home, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's friends are trying to rewrite our history and hijack our future. They are spreading hate from behind their keyboards," she told a party caucus in Bucharest.

"Our peaceful and united Europe is being challenged like never before by populists, by nationalists, by demagogues."

Von der Leyen won with 400 votes in favour and 89 against, an EPP official said, as U2 song "Beautiful Day" blasted from the speakers.

The backing comes ahead of an EU-wide parliamentary election in June that will lead to the appointment of a new slate of top EU officials - including the head of the Brussels-based Commission.

Currently seen as a clear favourite to lead the Commission again, von der Leyen would begin a new term as Europe looks to strengthen its security and defence while Russia wages war on its borders and Donald Trump eyes a return to the White House.

If approved by leaders of the EU's 27 member countries, she will have another term charting the bloc's policies on everything from big tech and state aid to Chinese investment screening and sanctions against Russia.

She vowed to advance EU economies, clamp down on smugglers driving irregular immigration to the bloc, strengthen competitiveness and businesses, as well as supporting farmers as costs of living rise.

Von der Leyen also promised more financial and military aid to Ukraine, which has been fighting against Russian invasion for more than two years.

"Prosperity, security, democracy - this is what people care about in these difficult times," she said. "In times of change, Europe has your back."

VON DER LEYEN

Born in Belgium where her father worked at the same European Commission she now leads, von der Leyen is a physician and a mother of seven. A former German defence minister, she steered the EU through the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and an energy crunch.

The first woman ever to hold the influential job, she saw Britain leave the EU, put into law more ambitious climate goals, and oversaw massive new spending on energy, health and post-pandemic economic recovery.

However, she has faced criticism from some after she watered down parts of her "Green Deal" package of environment policies this year in response to protests by farmers.

Michael Bloss, a Green lawmaker in the EU Parliament, said he thought von der Leyen was "not at all any more the champion" of her own Green Deal policies.

"The EPP basically want to destroy her 'man on the moon' project, and she now has to kind of pretend that this is still the Green Deal," Bloss told Reuters.

Known for honing decisions among a tiny group of her closest aides, von der Leyen drew criticism for visiting Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack without clearly demanding that the country respects international humanitarian law in its response.

Despite a rise in far-right and populist parties in the bloc, the EPP has kept a clear lead among other political groups ahead of the June vote, according to opinion polls.

Still, securing the necessary majority in the new European Parliament, where eurosceptics are set to win more seats, might be the biggest hurdle for von der Leyen to clear, possibly forcing her into policy trade-offs to win the votes needed.

(Additional reporting by Kate Abnett; Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by William Maclean and Toby Chopra)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Iran supports direct negotiations between its closest neighbors Azerbaijan and Armenia and maintaining peace in the region and officially Tehran is ready to undertake the steps necessary to ensure stability in the Caucasus region, Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani said, Trend reports referring to the Iranian media.

He made remark during the meeting with his Armenian counterpart Suren Papikyan in Tehran.

According to Iranian media, cooperation issues were discussed at the meeting.

The Iranian Defense Minister noted that the involvement of foreign armed forces in the region may have a negative effect. The sides themselves can discuss security issues and come to a final decision.

According to Ashtiani, turning the region into a field of geopolitical competition on the part of external states contradicts the interests of all countries in the region.

The minister also emphasized that Azerbaijan's direct contact with Armenia will prevent forces from interfering in the region to gain political supremacy.

"We want relations of friendship and cooperation to be established between our neighbors," he added.

To note, Armenia's purchase of ammunition from France and other states, as well as the invitation of some states to the region, is not welcomed by neighboring countries. Some Iranian media write that the Defense Minister's remarks at the meeting are a warning to Armenia.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Europe cannot keep assuming the US will fund its defense, European leader warns

Lithuania's PM said US support is crucial to Europe as "we are not able to do that ourselves."

But Europe cannot assume the US will keep helping with its defense, she said.

Lithuania wants more support for Ukraine now and Europe to commit to more defense spending.

Europe can't keep assuming that the US will fund its defense, Lithuania's prime minister told Business Insider.

The country, which borders Russia, has in recent years urged more support for Ukraine and, like many other European nations, has ramped up its defense spending as it warns that Russia could attack another European country next.

Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte told BI that "Europe can not just continue betting on peace dividend and assuming and expecting that if something happens, then it's the US that would sort that out."

She said this can't be the case because "the war is not in the US. The war is in Europe."

Europe needs to become less reliant on the US, Simonyte added.

"Of course the military support of the US is crucial. Of course, it is important. Of course, we need it. But we need it only because  or to a large extent because  we are not able to do that ourselves," she said.

Lithuania, an EU member state, was warning long before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that the West needed to treat it as more of a threat.

Simonyte says that European countries need to spend more on defense, and should have started doing so "long ago."

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte and Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal visit the town of Borodianka in Ukraine's Kyiv region in April 2022. Ukrainian Governmental Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

Simonyte's sentiments about future US support were mirrored by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said last month that Europe should not rely exclusively on American support.

"We are very lucky to have the United States of America so committed today," Marcon said, but he added that "this is a European war."

"Should we delegate our future to the American voter?" he asked. "The answer is no, whatever their vote."

French President Emmanuel Macron. Antoine Gyori/Getty Images

Last month, at a campaign stop, former President Donald Trump suggested he would let Russia attack NATO countries that do not meet the alliance's spending guidance.

The White House branded Trump's comments as "appalling and unhinged."

House Republicans have also stalled aid to Ukraine, leaving Europe struggling to find enough weaponry for Ukraine's needs.

The White House said this block was why Ukraine had to withdraw from a key town last month.

The invasion of Ukraine has led some European officials to push for increased defense production, both to help Ukraine and also to boost their own arsenals.

For her part, Simonyte said countries should commit to increasing defense spending as it would give European manufacturers the ability to ramp up military-related production.

She said that European countries are investing in defense in ways that were "unimaginable" before the war, but that many are still not hitting NATO's target of spending 2% of GDP on defense.

Lithuania's own defense spending has grown to a budgeted 2.75% of GDP this year.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Disinformation, AI-generated content and fake news pose a serious threat to our democratic processes. With half of the worlds population taking part in more than 80 national elections in 2024  including European elections in June  independent and trustworthy media outlets are more vital than ever, and important steps are being taken to safeguard them.

In December 2023, the European Parliament reached an agreement on the proposed European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). This act aims to harmonise EU members national legislation on editorial freedom, as well as media pluralism and independence. It was passed in response to the digital transformation of the media sector in recent decades.

The proposal was approved by a large majority (448 votes for, 102 against, and 75 abstentions), after being announced in April 2021 by commissioner Thierry Breton. It forms part of a framework for making media businesses sustainable, while also promoting democratic participation, fighting disinformation, and fomenting media freedom, independence and pluralism.

There is concern across the EU about mistrust arising from political bias in the media, as well as a lack of transparency in media ownership and in the allocation of state advertising. The EMFA aims to combat political interference in editorial decisions in both public and private media, and to protect journalists and their sources.

Where does Europe get its news?

According to the 2022 Digital News Report, northern Europeans are more likely to see the press as free from undue political interference than their neighbours in the south and east. Finland and The Netherlands have the highest rates of trust in media independence, at 50% and 46% respectively. In contrast, this opinion is only shared by a small minority in Greece (7%), Spain and Italy (13%), and Hungary and Bulgaria (15%).

A July 2022 Eurobarometer survey showed that television was the main source of news for 75% of EU citizens, especially among older generations. In contrast, 43% use online news platforms, 39% the radio, 26% social media and blogs. Printed media came in last, with only 21% relying on it regularly.

Although traditional news sources are still relevant, 88% of those surveyed got their news through smartphones or computers. Nowadays, paying for news is the exception: of those who accessed news online, 70% did so for free.

The more recent European Media Industry Outlook, published by the European Commission in May 2023, noted that consumers have become accustomed to not paying for news as a result of online business models. Media outlets therefore have to continually experiment and innovate, and lean on strengths such as brand loyalty and the trust of their audiences.

Ensuring freedom from interference

Under the new rules, EU member states are required to respect the editorial freedom of media outlets. The press, in turn, has to ensure total transparency in what they publish, which must also be reflected in their online presence and other easily accessible content.

The EMFA protects news outlets, journalists and households from spyware programs, with only a few exceptions. Additionally, journalists cannot be prosecuted for protecting the confidentiality of their sources. This detail was included in the new law because regulation currently varies among EU members.

The law also strengthens protections of publicly owned media outlets, as they play a key role in informing the public. However, public medias close proximity to national political institutions can make them more open to political interference. The EMFA therefore also includes measures to regulate public media, including transparent selection processes for its directors, and measures to ensure they can only be dismissed or step down under certain circumstances.

On this matter, the EUs Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Vera Jourova, was unequivocal: no public media should be turned into propaganda channel.

Member states are also required to establish steps to assess concentrations of private media ownership, as this can affect media pluralism.

Another key aspect is the requirement for public authorities at all levels (national, regional and local), to publish annual reports on the distribution of public media investment. Audience data providers, in turn, have to provide detailed information regarding the methods they use.

The EMFA reminds large digital platforms that they hold significant sway over this sector as a whole. Online platforms with over 45 million users (an all but explicit reference to the Big Five tech companies) who wish to stop publishing media content should inform media companies in advance, and address their complaints as a matter of priority.

Such large companies are required to prove their compliance with this obligation through annual reports.

Regaining public trust

Even with its limitations, the EMFA can play an important part in creating a climate of trust. It can help to make journalism more viable, encourage healthy competition, and limit the potential for abuse by both EU governments and big technology platforms.

However, while the legal framework it establishes is sorely needed, it does not go far enough. Media companies need to continue to be creative and innovative in order to stay relevant to increasingly sceptical audiences, who do not consume news in the same ways as previous generations.

Today, we know that only a concerted effort to regain public trust and loyalty will provide media companies with an increase in paid subscribers. These consumers are the ones who assume the civic burden of sustaining the media, though only after considerable hesitation has a consensus begun to emerge on this point among news companies.

Este articulo fue publicado originalmente en The Conversation, un sitio de noticias sin fines de lucro dedicado a compartir ideas de expertos academicos.

Lee mas:



Francisco J. Perez Latre no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoria, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiacion de ninguna compania u organizacion que pueda obtener beneficio de este articulo, y ha declarado carecer de vinculos relevantes mas alla del cargo academico citado.
The European Parliament's International Trade Committee has approved the extension of the current preferential trade treatment regime to support Ukraine and Moldova. 26 members of the committee voted in favour and 10 against, with one abstention.

Source: European Pravda with reference to the European Parliament press service

Details: The proposal provides for the extension of the temporary suspension of import duties and quotas for Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU for another year, from 6 June 2024 to 5 June 2025.

At the same time, the legislation gives the European Commission the power to "take swift action and impose any necessary measures should there be significant disruptions to the EU market, or to the markets of one or more EU countries due to Ukrainian imports."

In a separate vote on Thursday, the committee agreed with 28 votes in favour, 2 against and 6 abstentions that all duties on imports from Moldova should be suspended for another year.

The European Parliament is expected to vote on this position in the first reading at its plenary session next week. The Council will then formally approve the regulation, and it will enter into force after publication in the EU's Official Journal.

Taras Kachka, Ukraine's trade representative, commenting on the EP Committee's decision. He said that a week ago, the European Commission's proposal was subject to more than 100 amendments in the Agriculture and Trade Committee, almost all of which proposed to decrease access of Ukrainian products to the EU market.

"Through active work with member states, especially Poland, with European institutions and MEPs, we managed to reduce the number of amendments to be voted on to two. And they did not get enough votes," Kachka said.

Background:

In February, the permanent representatives of the European Union member states agreed on a mandate for the EU Council to negotiate a proposal to extend the suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian exports for another year.

In late January, the European Commission officially proposed to extend the suspension of import quotas and duties on Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year, while including safeguards for agricultural products, as demanded by several EU countries.

However, this proposal did not satisfy farmers in EU countries bordering Ukraine, who started protests, particularly in Poland.

Support UP or become our patron!


The European Parliament's International Trade Committee passed a one-year extension of the liberalization of food exports from Ukraine to the EU on March 7, rejecting demands that additional measures be implemented to appease aggrieved farmers in the EU.

At the same time, an "emergency brake" was added that would impose tariffs if the export of poultry, sugar, and eggs exceeded the level of exports in 2022 and 2023, the press release from the European Parliament said.

The EU introduced a free trade agreement for Ukraine to overcome export restrictions following Russias full-scale invasion and the blockade of Ukraines Black Sea ports. Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia became alternative export routes, agitating local farmers.

As the extension was being debated, some lawmakers appealed that more food items should be added to fall under the "emergency brake" provisions, but the additions were not supported.

The full parliament is set to vote on the extension next week, and a majority of lawmakers have already signaled that they are in favor of its passage.

"The extension of the EU's trade measures will ensure Ukraine can continue to export its agricultural products to the EU - a crucial lifeline for the Ukrainian economy," said Sandra Kalniete, a member of the European Parliament from Latvia.

"At the same time, the proposal includes solid safeguards ensuring our farmers will not be overwhelmed by a sudden surge of imports," she added.

"It is a good balance between continuing our vital support to the Ukraine and the necessary protection of our markets."

Lawmakers from the five EU countries bordering Ukraine urged Brussels in January 2024 to implement customs duties on agricultural exports from Ukraine, saying that local farmers are suffering significant losses.

Such sentiments have been central to the ongoing protests and intermittent blockade at the Polish border by farmers and truckers.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Even under its new relaxed approach to rival app stores enforced by EU law, Apple still won't let all users simply install or "sideload" any app - legal or illagal - like on Android phones. Fabian Sommer/dpa

Stricter rules for large online platforms are coming into force in the European Union on Thursday as part of an effort to prevent abuse of power.

The European Commission has so far identified 22 services from six companies as so-called "gatekeepers" to which the new rules apply, and the rules largely impact US tech giants Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google parent company Alphabet and Facebook group Meta.

The list also includes the video app TikTok from Bytedance, a company originally from China.

The rules are designed to stop gatekeeper companies from favouring their own services over those of competitors. In Google's web search, information from specialized search engines from other companies will therefore be displayed in greater detail in future.

It is also forbidden to merge user data from different services.

For the first time, Apple must allow apps on the iPhone to be downloaded from marketplaces other than its own App Store.

Over at Meta, the chat services WhatsApp and Messenger must create the conditions for the integration of competing messaging services. However, rivals such as Signal and Threema show little interest in this given their own data protection standards.

Violations of the DMA could result in penalties of up to 10% of annual turnover - and up to 20% in the event of repeated violations. If the company still does not stop, it could then also be broken up. Ultimately, the courts are set to decide on penalties.

One unanswered question is whether the European Commission will accept Apple's implementation of the DMA requirements. Some companies, such as Spotify, accuse the iPhone group of having designed the conditions for downloading apps from other stores in such a way that this is not acceptable for many developers.

Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has so far only emphasised that the Commission will examine the implementation of the DMA requirements as a matter of priority. She also told the financial service Bloomberg that the DMA solutions of large tech companies should not be "unattractive" for their customers and users.

Among the most significant changes coming under the new EU law are related to Apple's software, as this is set to be the first time since the launch of the iPhone that Apple will allow users to download apps that haven't be approved for its App Store.

Apple says it will also allow other payment methods that rival Apple Pay and alternative technologies for web browsers, which were previously not permitted by Apple. In order to utilize these new options, the latest operating system version iOS 17.4 must be installed on the device.

Until now, apps on iPhones could only be downloaded from the company's own download platform. On Google's Android platform, however, smartphone owners have long been able to download and install apps that were geoblocked, banned or just not available on Google's Play Store.

However, Apple is set to retain partial control over the installation of apps in the future, even if this takes place outside of its own App Store.

Unlike on Android, you won't be able to download any app in your browser and install it. Instead, iPhone owners are required to use "authenticated" marketplaces. These are essentially iPhone apps designed to install other apps. But they can only do so if Apple approves.

According to the EU's new rules, large and dominant providers - so-called "gatekeepers" - are not allowed ban app stores from other providers. For iPhone owners, this means more freedom to download other apps - but not too much, Apple says. Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
President Biden faces two opponents heading into the election.

Former President Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee.

And then Mr. Biden must square off against Democrats who are despondent at the presidents performance.

Anemic poll numbers are driving loyal Democrats away from President Biden.

"The challenges that Joe Biden has with his own party, his own base, are the biggest challenges hes facing in this election," said David Cohen, a political scientist at the University of Akron. "He has a lot of issues with younger voters in the party. I think that can be directly linked to whats happening overseas in the Middle East."

CONGRESS TRIES TO AVOID A SHUTDOWNAGAIN

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Consider how progressives are hectoring the president over how his administration is handling the war between Israel and Hamas.

"We are requesting a meeting with President Biden," said Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., "We are demanding an immediate, lasting ceasefire."

Michigan is a state which is critical to Mr. Bidens reelection campaign. It boasts 15 electoral votes. More than 100,000 voters marked their ballot as "uncommitted" in the Democratic primary last month rather than cast a ballot for President Biden. The president only captured the state by about 154,000 votes in 2020 over former President Trump. There are about 200,000 Muslim voters in Michigan. 300,000 voters say they have ancestral ties to the Middle East or North Africa. That bloc of voters was key to President Biden winning the state four years ago.

"The results in Michigan this week made it plain voters are not happy with the United States' handling of the war in Gaza. And President Biden must change course," said Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., a member of the Squad.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 5: President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with his Competition Council in the State Dining Room of the White House on March 5, 2024 in Washington, DC. Biden announced new economic measures during the meeting.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., is a Palestinian-American. She implored the president to alter his course on the Middle East.

"Listen to us! Listen, not only to Michigan. But so many people. The majority of people are supporting a ceasefire," beseeched Tlaib.

A reporter then asked Tlaib if she will "vote for President Biden in November."

"Thank you very much," replied Tlaib. "Thank you."

WHO IS JASON PALMER, THE OBSCURE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WHO DELIVERED BIDEN'S FIRST 2024 LOSS?

Tlaib then walked away.

"A lot of younger voters, Gen Z, millennials are very unhappy with the Biden administrations full support of Israel," said Cohen. "He cannot afford to have any slippage in the Democratic coalition and lack of enthusiasm. I dont think those young Biden supporters that voted for him in 2020 are going to vote for Trump. But the worry for the Biden campaign is that theyre going to stay home."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., sidestepped when yours truly asked if President Biden should make a pivot away from Israel in his State of the Union speech to satisfy the left.

"Im not speculating about what the President should say in the State of the Union," replied Schumer.

Vice President Harris first called for a ceasefire. The President said hed like a ceasefire by the start of Ramadan  March 10 or 11. But its unclear if the administration can get what it wants from the Israelis, despite taking a harder line stance.

But its just not Middle East policy which is turning off key sectors of the Democratic coalition.

Via executive order, President Biden has erased a staggering $138 billion in student loan debt for 3.9 million borrowers. But that hasnt been enough to placate some Democrats. They want it all wiped out.

And then there is the border.

Democrats are exasperated at Republicans incinerating a bipartisan border package earlier this winter after months of negotiations. But the administrations approach to securing the border is nearly as galling to the left.

Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus have long been outraged that the administration and other Democrats failed to engage them in border talks. Some liberal Democrats are angry that the now-dead bipartisan plan went too far modifying asylum and parole.

WHO'S LEADING IN BIDEN-TRUMP ELECTION REMATCH AFTER SUPER TUESDAY

Then there are mainstream Democrats and swing voters. They fear a surge of undocumented migrants racing across the southern border into the U.S. High-profile deaths like nursing student Laken Riley in Georgia only amplify their worries. The murder suspect  Jose Ibarra  was cited for shoplifting and endangering a child. Republicans quickly drafted a bill to require the detention of illegal migrants if they have brushes with the law.

"If we can we put a national spotlight on this thing, well do it," said Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., who represents the district where Ibarra was killed. "If we can just prevent one of these (deaths) from happening again, weve done our job."

Thats why the House planned a vote on the "Laken Riley Act just before President Bidens State of the Union speech Thursday. This is an effort to focus attention on the border amid the presidents address.

Collins asked Rileys parents to attend the speech. But they are home grieving. Collins says hell leave his guest seat in the public gallery overlooking the House chamber vacant in honor of Riley.

But its not just Republicans who are infuriated about the border  even if many on the right incinerated a bipartisan border security package President Biden endorsed earlier this winter. Democrats of all stripes are now demanding enhanced border security.

Out of desperation, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., told Fox that he now supports a chunk of the House GOP's strict border bill, known as H.R.2. That bill cracks down on illegal immigrants in the country and mandates that employers document their workers.

US Senator John Fetterman (C), Democrat of Pennsylvania, arrives at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on September 21, 2023.

Fetterman is so focused on tightening up the border that he wants H.R.2  with an exception for "DACA"  a delay in the deportation of persons who came to the U.S. without documentation as children.

"Anything other than that can be on the table for me," said Fetterman.

The Pennsylvania Democrat referred to the Republicans plans on DACA as his "kill switch." But he was game for anything else.

"As a Democrat, Im willing and eager to go stronger than the border deal that was here," said Fetterman. "It might actually be appropriate, given the circumstances here at the border."

So, pick your issue. President Biden is struggling to connect with lawmakers who should be in his corner.

"The partys all over the place," said Cohen. "Many Members of Congress are thinking about their own re-elections."

In other words, Democrats might cut Mr. Biden some slack if the President boasted approval ratings of 50 percent. But with his subterranean numbers, Democrats are putting distance between themselves and President Biden.



"Its all about political survival," observed Cohen.

This is the challenge for President Biden.

Its one thing to get hammered by former President Trump and rock-ribbed Republicans.

Its another thing to have members of your own party upbraid you on a daily basis.

With friends like these, President Biden doesnt need an enemy.





Original article source: On the eve of the State of the Union address, President Biden is struggling  with his own party
Last year, it was hard to avoid Sound of Freedom, the Christian-themed thriller starring Jim Caviezel as Tim Ballard, a real-life former U.S. government operative dedicated to rescuing children ensnared in sex trafficking. A hit with MAGA and QAnon crowds, the film was among 2023s highest-grossers, in part thanks to a pay-it-forward strategy by faith-based distributor Angel Studios, which has backed projects, as its website puts it, with wholesome content. A culture-war lightning rod, Sound of Freedom was a phenomenon more for the surrounding controversy than for anything in the movie, a rudimentary procedural juiced by hyperbolic moral outrage and littered with creepy, anonymously pedophilic bad guys. Imagine a feature-length Law & Order: Special Victims Unit with a bigger budget for exotic location shooting.

Sound of Freedom was directed by Alejandro Monteverde, and this Friday his new movie hits theaters. But those attending Cabrini hoping for more hot-potato discourseor another overheated story of a red-blooded American kicking some asswill be sorely disappointed. A muted drama about Mother Francesca Cabrini, the Patron Saint of Immigrants who moved from Italy to New York at the end of the 19th century, determined to care for the citys homeless, Cabrini is a respectful biopic designed to shed light on a forgotten woman whose charitable acts deserve recognition. Its also so stultifyingly dutiful you may find yourself missing Sound of Freedoms tawdry watchability.

Cristiana DellAnna plays this strong-willed Italian nun, who has been assigned to Five Points. In 1889, Manhattan was rife with poverty, illness, and racism, with the locals resenting the recent influx of Italian immigrants. Cabrini sees how badly her people are treated in Americahospitals wont treat Italians, and the unfeeling Archbishop (David Morse) dismisses her activism as futilebut her resolve is unwavering. An entire city of bigots and sexists, including the smug Mayor Gould (John Lithgow), wont stop her from rescuing those in need, especially innocent children. Resilience is practically etched on her face.

There are fleeting pleasures to a picture like Cabrini, which introduces us to a resourceful, underestimated hero who knocks down every obstacle in her path. For 140 minutes, Cabrini stares down the immovable social forces that jeopardize real-world change: economic inequality, racism, institutional bureaucracy. DellAnna is a hushed but formidable force, mostly eschewing big speeches in favor of the relentless pestering and finagling that are crucial to enact meaningful social progress. Cabrini argues some people are still capable of accomplishing big things in the world. Not you or me, but somebody.

Angel Studios

Like Sound of Freedom, Monteverdes new film is distributed by Angel Studios, although Cabrini doesnt shy away from criticizing the Catholic Church, which was slow to assist Cabrini, doubting that a woman could pull off the seemingly impossible. But the film shares with Sound of Freedom a fixation on beatifying its subject at the expense of exploring anyone around them. Both movies lament the plight of endangered children, but not in any concrete waythe young actors are there to be silent angels with puppy-dog eyes, uncomplicated symbols of suffering. Unlike Tim Ballard, a far more problematic figure than Sound of Freedom suggested, the real Francesca Cabrini was by all accounts an inspirational individual. But Monteverde and screenwriter Rod Barr render her as blandly valiant as Caviezels Ballard. Apparently, the best saints are cardboard.

Monteverdes earlier dramas2006s Bella and 2015s Little Boyalso dealt with issues of faith and morality, but it wasnt until Sound of Freedom that he latched onto the zeitgeist. With Caviezel as The Lone Crusader Who Gives A Damn, the film was a pedestrian thriller in which his character (assisted by a cigar- and scene-chomping Bill Camp) set up an illicit underage sex club in order to bag some sickosand rescue one particular child, a emotionally manipulative narrative device meant to personalize the horrors of sex trafficking. Sound of Freedom wasnt good, but it had a junky, B-movie predictability to it. Plus, there was something undeniably seductive about its obsession with this repellent underworld, Caviezels square-jawed, teary-eyed nobility juxtaposed against the leering ugliness.

Angel Studios

That base Why wont anyone think of the children?!? titillation is whats missing in Cabrini, which is so solemn as to feel entombed. Cinematographer Gorka Gomez Andreu drapes 1890s New York in the amber waves of ye olden times, creating a honeyed nostalgia for a bygone past in which the racism feels distant and, therefore, safe and painless. As for the sexism Cabrini encounters, she overcomes such hurdles relatively easily. Partly, thats because the supporting players are all history-book broad, with both Morse and Lithgow stiff in their period costumes, waxworks representations of the patriarchy.

Throughout, Monteverde returns to a familiar visual tic, shooting dark interiors that are illuminated by a shaft of light jutting through a window. In his films, this technique suggests that his characters, like us, are surrounded by moral darkness, which can only be punctured by the brief rays of goodness we find in the world. Its a striking, if cliched, device, but as Cabrinis stuffy earnestness lumbers along, those images begin to take on another meaning. The film strains so fervently to be wholesomestolidly canonizing a woman whos already a saintthat it leaves the audiences as trapped in those shadowy spaces as Cabrini. Whos going to come rescue us?

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Its a rematch few voters said they wanted, but President Biden and former President Trump are on track to face off again in November, after former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley put her long-shot bid for the GOP nomination to bed Wednesday.

Biden, 81, and Trump, 77, faced each other in a blistering 2020 election that could become even more bitter in round two.

Both Biden and Trump called on Haleys supporters to join their campaigns.

Haley didnt endorse Trump, but she encouraged him to try to win over her supporters.

It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him, and I hope he does that, she said in a public address. At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people. This is now his time for choosing.

Related coverage:
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPMs Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.

Tribalism Trumps Conservatism

The cult of Donald Trump has swallowed the old Republican Party and nearly everyone with any significant power in it. Mitch McConnell, a remarkable national figure over the last 16 years, is no different than Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, or any of the countless others whose personal dignity was sacrificed in service of fealty to Trump. All the way down to the racist and sexist screeds Trump launched against McConnells own wife.

McConnell will spend his twilight years trying to ensure that his epitaph will be free of Trump. It would be a travesty if it is. The excuse-making for McConnell will linger, but hes no conservative, hes no institutionalist, and hes no evil genius.

Monuments in Kentucky will bear his name, Democrats and journalists will murmur niceties over his ability to wield power, and time as it does will soften the judgments of him. Hold firm against the erosion of memory. McConnell deserves the enmity of a generation.

Here are McConnells own words after the Jan. 6 attack:

The man who mustered indignation after his own personal safety was threatened in the coup attempt nonetheless voted to acquit Trump in his impeachment trial, so we knew the mettle of the man already. Yesterdays endorsement of Trump confirmed it, but with the added twist that McConnell is now, unlike in 2021, a lame duck. He wont be the Senate GOP leader next year, and he wont run for re-election in 2026. But even the lack of real political risk wasnt enough for McConnell to break from his tribe. He owns it now and for evermore. Let us not forget.

The Much Vaunted Guardrails Are Failing

Thomas Zimmer:

The guardrails are failing. They are failing not only to hold Trump accountable directly, but also, absent any serious legal and political consequences, to at least tell the people how exceptionally dangerous Trump and those who are fueling, enabling, and supporting him are. If someone assumes that this is still a country with functioning institutions, then its only logical for them to conclude that Trump walking free means his transgressions cant be that bad. At some point, it becomes really hard to expect people to break through their routines and actively defend democracy, as is necessary in a situation of crisis, if the institutions we ask them to trust shy away from doing their part  if they instead continue to signal normalcy, that politics as usual is still an option or, at the very least, that exceptional, unprecedented measures would be too extreme.

Take Your Time 

The Supreme Court announced that oral arguments in the Trump immunity case will be held on the very last day of its argument calendar: April 25.

Gearing Up For Trumps Hush Money Trial

If you want to go deep on pretrial wrangling in the case, Joyce Vance has you covered.

Arizona Fake Electors Probe Ramps Up

New reporting from Politico suggests state Attorney General Kris Mayes is nearing a charging decision in her probe of Trumps 2020 fake electors scheme in the state.

ICYMI

NYT: A network of right-wing activists and allies of Donald J. Trump is quietly challenging thousands of voter registrations in critical presidential battleground states, an all-but-unnoticed effort that could have an impact in a close or contentious election.

Remembering Bloody Sunday

Heather Cox Richardson with a reminder on the straight line that runs from the Civil Rights Act of 1964 across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

2024 Ephemera

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) falls in line behind Trump, too.

WaPo: The hard-right wing of House GOP poised to grow even larger next year

WaPo: Bernie Sanderss private warning to Biden about the 2024 campaign

House GOP Abandons Govt Shutdowns For Now

Its too early and it oversimplifies things to say that the House is working normally again, but Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has now used Democratic votes twice to get the two spending bills through that will avoid a government shutdown  and he has kept his job, as tenuous as that may be.

State Of The Union Tonight

Morning Memo hates the rote State of the Union coverage with a white-hot fury, so just one word on tonights tired spectacle: It marks a pretty dramatic turn in our underlying politics over the past few years that a Democratic president would front tax increases of any kind in an election-year State of the Union address.

Alabama Enacts New Protections For IVF

Alabama has quickly enacted a new law protecting IVF practitioners from civil and criminal liability in the aftermath of the state Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos have the legal rights of children.

Ziegler Wont Face Criminal Charges

Former Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler will not face charges for illegally videotaping a woman who accused him of rape. Prosecutors had already decided not to pursue sex assault charges.

Congrats To Hunter And Luppe!

Morning Memo stopped by a book event in DC last evening moderated by TPM alum Brian Beutler for the new book The Truce by TPMs Hunter Walker and Luppe Luppen. A great discussion of the book and progressive politics in 2024 and beyond. Proud of those guys.

Woot!

Cole Brauer completed the Global Solo Challenge overnight in Spain, becoming the first American woman to sail solo around the world. She finished in second place in the race, arriving some four months after she set sail in October.

Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know!
The Chancellor is committed to getting savers to invest more in British companies.

The Budget on Wednesday reflected his commitment by introducing a raft of measures focused on ensuring Britons do precisely that.

Reforms will make it easier for pension funds to invest in British companies. Jeremy Hunt also confirmed that defined contribution and local authority pensions will have to declare the breakdown of their asset allocations internationally.

But the key policy is that savers will be given an extra 5,000 annual Isa allowance if they invest in British stocks.

The Great British Isa will channel more investment into UK equities, budget documents explain, and alongside the British Savings Bond, a three-year fix administered by National Savings & Investment, forms the bulk of the offering for savers in this years announcement.

But consultation documents paint a murky picture, pointing to expected delays and a litany of unanswered questions.

Analysts said the benefit of the new type of Isa would be a rounding error and that forcing savers into a narrower range of stocks would make it more difficult to mitigate risk.

Others said that its success would depend entirely on its takeup, and that it was a further complication to the originally simple Isa regime.

Investment platform AJ Bell suggested that a saver consistently investing 5,000 in a tracker over a decade would have earned 30,000 more by putting the money in non-UK funds.

Here, Telegraph Money explores the potential problems with the new Great British Isa  as well as when it might be introduced.

What is the new Great British Isa?

The UK Isa will be a new type of Isa. It is not yet clear which platforms will offer it, but savers can expect that household names will be encouraged by the government to participate in its development.

The key difference between a UK Isa and a normal cash or stocks and shares Isa is that it must be invested in British companies.

The main objective for the UK Isa is to support a culture of investment in the UK and to give people the opportunity to invest and benefit from the UKs vibrant capital markets and high-growth companies, the consultation document reads.

Only a very few will benefit

The Chancellor announced that there would be an additional 5,000 Isa allowance for those investing in the new UK Isas.

Savers can already save 20,000 a year tax-free in Isas. They will be able, from April, to open as many cash or stocks and shares Isas as they like, as long as they dont go over the total limit.

Lifetime Isas (Lisas), which are topped up by the Government and must be used for either buying a first home or retirement, alongside some limited other options, have their own 4,000 annual limit, which forms part of the overall 20,000 allowance.

Savers can of course save outside of Isa wrappers, but those who hold enough to earn more than 1,000 in interest annually if they are a basic-rate taxpayer, or 500 if they are a higher rate taxpayer, will pay tax on the interest they earn. Additional-rate payers receive tax bills for all the interest they earn.

It isnt clear whether savers will be able to use the rest of their Isa allowance, which sits at 20,000, in their UK Isa, or whether that will have to be put into other Isas.

But many commentators said that savers would be likely to maximise their existing holdings before looking to open a UK Isa, meaning that the change would only affect the very highest earners.

Brian Byrnes, of investment platform Moneybox, said: It is unlikely the UK Isa will deliver real benefit to the vast majority of retail investors.

The fact is that with a very small minority of investors currently able to max out the current 20,000 tax-free limit, the additional 5,000 allowance will likely solely benefit a small group of wealthier investors who are able to take advantage of it.

Michael Summersgill, chief executive of investment platform AJ Bell, said: A tiny minority of people max out their 20,000 Isa allowance each year, but these are the only ones that will see any benefit from the additional UK Isa allowance.

In the context of the 2 trillion-plus UK stock market, any additional investment generated by these investors through the UK Isa will be a rounding error.

The chief executive said that 50pc of the money his customers hold in stocks and shares of Isas is already invested in UK assets, so the new allowance would have a limited impact on consumer behaviour.

What will I be able to do with my UK Isa?

While it is clear that money held in a UK Isa must be invested in British assets, there are a number of questions about what it means to be supporting a culture of investment in the country.

The Government consultation on the UK Isa asks a number of questions, including whether ordinary shares in UK incorporated companies that are listed in the UK should be included.

It also asks whether corporate bonds and gilts should be eligible, and whether there are investments that are already permitted for other Isas that should be included.

The Government wants to prohibit the use of the extra 5,000 for cash-like assets, and is seeking views on how to achieve this.

After announcing Isa changes in his Autumn Statement in 2023, savers will be allowed to open more than one Isa of the same type in a single tax year.

But the Government said not allowing this for the UK Isa would make them simpler and would make it less likely that investors would put too much money in in a single tax year.

Transfers from UK Isas into other types of Isa could also be banned, in order to stop savers opening one to use the new allowance and then immediately moving the money elsewhere.

Respondents are also asked whether investors should be allowed to transfer money from other Isas into the UK Isa, with the Government advising that there arent similar restrictions for other types of Isas.

Significant delays likely

The Government has launched a consultation into the new type of Isa, which will close on June 6, 2024. It has confirmed that it will hold a number of roundtables  meetings  with the industry, in order to seek their views.

After the consultation closes, the Government will issue a response  but it has not set a date for this report.

The Treasury has acknowledged that despite significant digitisation of the Isa reporting regime to HMRC in the last year, platforms will need time to update their systems in order to offer the new UK Isa.

While it was less than six months between the announcement of significant changes in Novembers Autumn Statement and their implementation in April, that is no guarantee that providers will be able to move as quickly again.

So it seems unlikely that the UK Isa will be available in the next tax year.

Complicating matters

The Isa system, which was initially hailed as an easy and simple way for retail investors to put money into the stock market, has become more and more complicated as a result of piecemeal reforms.

Analysts said that rather than simplifying the system, as many hoped, this change will only make things more difficult to navigate.

Mr Summersgill said: For most people, the UK Isa only adds an unwelcome complexity. Rather than complicating Isas, the Government should be making it easier for people to invest by simplifying the Isa landscape.

Andrew Prosser, of online investment platform InvestEngine, said: While efforts to support British companies should be welcomed, this shouldnt be achieved by putting responsibility onto the shoulders of everyday investors.

He said that the narrow focus of the UK Isa could mean that small-time retail investors were left to navigate a tricky environment that they did not fully understand.

Mr Prosser said: The announcement of a UK Isa will only act to encourage people to concentrate investments in UK equities, something which is unsuited to most retail investors and would expose their savings to unnecessary levels of risk and potential losses.

Will you be putting money in a UK Isa? Email money@telegraph.co.uk with your thoughts.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Armenia is capable of guarding the Zvartnots International Airport on its own, said Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, Trend reports.

He highlighted that previously, the presence of Russian border guards at several locations, including Zvartnots airport, was perceived as a form of support for the newly independent Armenia.

"Presently, we trust in Armenia's institutional capacity to autonomously manage border security at Zvartnots airport, and we have warned the Russian side about this. We believe this communication will suffice, and the matter will be resolved. While appreciative of the prior support from the Russian side, we now consider it unnecessary in the context of border service at the airport," the foreign minister emphasized.

The Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly, Alen Simonyan, previously declared that Russian border guards should halt their presence at Zvartnots airport in Yerevan. Russia views the statements about the removal of its border guards from Armenia's airport as another instance of Armenia's hostile behavior. On March 6, Armenia sent an official letter to Russia regarding the presence of Russian border guards at the airport.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
An analysis of the brain tissue of Robert Cardthe Army reservist who killed 18 people last year in Maine in the states deadliest shooting spreefound significant evidence of traumatic brain injuries, according to a report released Wednesday.

Card, who worked for years as a hand grenade instructor, is believed to have been exposed to thousands of low-level blasts, and the kind of damage found in his brain aligned with that seen in previous studies on the effects of blast injury in humans, according to Dr. Ann McKee, the director of Boston Universitys Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center. The shooters family released the findings in the hope of helping to prevent future tragedies.

Independent Report Details Warnings Ahead of Maine Mass Shooting

Card, 40, died by suicide after the Oct. 25 shootings at a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston. The Maine Chief Medical Examiners office requested that the Boston University center conduct a study of his brain, with researchers finding significant degeneration in nerve fibers that allow for communication between different areas of the brain, according to McKee, along with inflammation and small blood vessel injury.

While I cannot say with certainty that these pathological findings underlie Mr. Cards behavioral changes in the last 10 months of life, based on our previous work, brain injury likely played a role in his symptoms, McKee said, adding that there was no evidence of CTE.

Cards family said in a statement that they are deeply sorry and heartbroken to all of the shootings victims and their loved ones. We know it does not fully explain Roberts actions, nor is it an excuse for the horrific suffering he caused, but we thank Dr. McKee for helping us understand his brain damage and how it may have impacted his mental health and behavior, the statement added.

In the months leading up to the killings, both the police and Army had been alerted to Cards declining mental health. Cards family had warned authorities that he had started showing signs of paranoid delusions, and his fellow reservists also told police they were concerned about his behavior before his two-week hospitalization in New York last summer.

He was admitted to a hospital in July after pushing another reservist and locking himself inside a motel room during training. Months later, just weeks before Cards attack, one reservist informed a superior he feared that Card was about to snap and do a mass shooting.

Army officials are scheduled to testify before a special commission established by Maine Gov. Janet Mills on Thursday. Daniel Wathen, the chair of the commission investigating the shooting, said at a Monday hearing with victims that an interim report could be published by April 1.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
An ex-convict once held in the same federal prison as Anthony Weiner is looking to cash in after hoarding the former congressmans typewriter tape cartridge for years.

Derek Thomas, who was locked up from 2012 until nine days ago, contacted The Daily Beast via email on Thursday to try to sell a cartridge he claimed Weiner used to write letters while they were both at FMC-Devens in Massachusetts.

Thomas, 56, was in prison for producing child pornography. Weinerwho represented New York in the House until his political career imploded in a sex scandalwas serving time for sending explicit texts to a minor.

Thomas story is that he used the typewriter near Weiners every day for a monthand that when Weiner was done with his cartridge, he offered it to Thomas. Instead of using it, Thomas said in a phone call with The Daily Beast, he sealed it in a plastic bag to preserve it.

Now, he is asking for at least $4,000 for the cartridge, suggesting that the buyer could unfurl the tape and read what Weiner had written. In his email, he dangled the possibility that it could contain information about Weiners former wife, Huma Abedin, and the Clintons.

Ive had it for so long. Ive been making an active effort to market it. I know he was writing to everyone and anyone, Thomas told The Daily Beast. If you unspool it, its very easy to read. Its like a scroll. Its a Jack Kerouac novel.

Anthony Weiner Is Back and Hes as Phony as Ever

So far, he said at least one news outlet is interested but the RNC hasnt gotten back to me yet. Thomas sent photos of a cartridge in a baggie, but The Daily Beast has not purchased it and cannot confirm that Weiner used it.

Laughing when he heard about Thomas pitch, Weiner told The Daily Beast he does not remember Thomas from Devens, a minimum security penitentiary with 900 inmates, and does not recall giving him his typewriter cartridge. But he said the scenario sounded vaguely familiar.

Its conceivable that I gave it away. When you leave prison, you give away your shit, he said. There is no Clinton stuff on that cartridge, definitely. Letters to my wife, that would be on there.

Doesnt look like anyone I remember, he later added via email when sent a photo of Thomas. It could be both my cartridge and also not someone I know.

The disgraced Democratwho now has a show on WABC77 radioarrived at FMC-Devens five months after he was sentenced to 21 months in prison for sending sexually explicit texts to a 15-year-old girl. The Bureau of Prisons confirmed that Weiner was at the Massachusetts facility until Feb. 14, 2019, which coincides with Thomas time there.

Heres the thing. Typing cartridges were expensive and typewriters were not super available, Weiner said. You bought the cartridges at the commissary.[and] between those and packets of tuna, you would buy the tuna.

Weepy Anthony Weiner Sentenced to 21 Months in Prison for Sexting Teen Girl

Thomas had been in the prison system for years before meeting Weiner. He was arrested in March 2012 after investigators traced an IP address offering child porn online to his girlfriends home. During a search, investigators found at least 500 child porn images and videos on Thomas laptop, according to a criminal complaint.

In a press release, Vermont prosecutors said they later discovered that Thomas, posing as a teenage boy, coerced a 12-year-old to take and send sexually explicit videos in exchange for gifts. He also unknowingly recorded himself setting up a hidden video camera in the childrens bathroom. In December 2013, Thomas pleaded guilty to producing child pornography and was sentenced a year later.

Four years after he began his prison sentence, he was moved to FMC-Devens on March 1, 2018, where he stayed until December 2022, the Bureau of Prisons said. Thomas is currently in community confinement in New York, meaning he is either in home confinement or at a halfway house.

Youre not allowed to mail stuff out like that from the BOP, Thomas told The Daily Beast. But I just got out. So Ive been waiting for this for a long time.

Weiner said he was surprised by Thomas asking price for the cartridge but is not shocked that its being hawked to the media.

I dont know what the going price is for a used typewriter cartridge for a former elected official. I didnt realize those ribbons would be a hot commodity, he said. Guys got to do what he has to do. People have made careers off of me. Anyway, I can help a brother out, I guess.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Dan Rodimer, a former Republican congressional candidate and ex-wrestler, surrendered to police in Nevada on Wednesday after officials issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with the death of a man at a Las Vegas Strip hotel.

Rodimer, 45, was wanted on a charge of open murder in the death of Christoper Tapp, 47, said Lt. Jason Johannson, of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department.

Daniel Rodimer speaks during a rally for U.S. Vice President Mike Pence at the Boulder City Airport on October 8, 2020, in Boulder City, Nevada. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Tapp died after an incident at Resorts World on Oct. 29, 2023. His death was first suspected to be an apparent overdose and fall, according to documents obtained by Nexstars KLAS.

Doctors pronounced Tapp dead at a Las Vegas hospital on Nov. 5. The Clark County Coroners Office ruled Tapps death a homicide as a result of blunt force trauma to his head, documents said. A scan showed he suffered several brain bleeds.

Woman missing for 7 years located after police hear screaming from motel room

Investigators later said they learned Tapp  who himself was acquitted of murder after serving two decades in prison  had been involved in an altercation inside the hotel room before he was found and taken to the hospital.

Christopher Tapp, left, is seen in Feb. 2020 during an appearance before the Idaho House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee in Boise, to testify in favor of legislation that would compensate the wrongly convicted. (AP Photo/Keith Ridler, File)

An arrest warrant obtained by KLAS on Wednesday indicated that Rodimer allegedly became upset after Tapp was accused of offering Rodimers stepdaughter cocaine. (The documents did not include the stepdaughters age.)

A witness claimed to hear Rodimer say, If you ever talk to my daughter again, Ill [expletive] kill you, documents said. Immediately after hearing Dan say this to Christopher, [the witness] heard two loud banging noises, police wrote.

A second witness told police she saw Dan knock Christopher to the ground, at which time Christophers head hit a small table. She then said she witnessed Rodimer punch Christopher throughout his head and body, documents said.

Another witness told a person attending the hotel room party that Tapp slipped and fell and hit his head on a coffee table, according to the documents. Other witnesses told police several people used cocaine at the party.

Investigators also obtained text messages between Rodimer and his wife, Sarah Rodimer, in which Sarah Rodimer said, I watched you nearly murder somebody and I had to take your [expletive] hands off from his neck as he laid there and you ran away and I spent the next two hours trying to take care of him. Nobody should have to watch their husband murder somebody.

Tapp and Rodimer knew each other through the classic car and racing circuit, a family attorney told KLAS.

Rodimers attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said their client was prepared to turn himself in ahead of his surrender Wednesday. They added he would be posting a court-ordered bail, saying that Rodimer intends on vigorously contesting the allegations and asks that the presumption of innocence guaranteed all Americans be respected.

Before Rodimers arrest, Judge Eric Goodman reset bail to $200,000, which Rodimer posted, records said. Rodimer is due to return to court on April 10.

Former Colorado paramedic sentenced to prison in Elijah McClains death

In 2020, Rodimer, a former professional wrestler, lost his bid to represent Nevadas 3rd Congressional District against Democratic Rep. Susie Lee.

Former President Donald Trump had endorsed Rodimer before the 2020 election, tweeting: Dan Rodimer will be an incredible Congressman for Nevada! A former professional wrestler, he will fight for Lower Taxes, Better Education and More Jobs, and he will always support our Brave Law Enforcement. Dan has my Complete and Total Endorsement!

Rodimer lost the 2020 election to Lee by nearly 13,000 votes  or 3 percentage points. He later left Nevada and lost a bid to represent Texas 6th Congressional District, coming in 11th in a 2021 primary.

Tapp, of Idaho, was previously charged in the 1996 rape and murder of an 18-year-old, despite being excluded by DNA evidence, according to the Innocence Project. He was convicted in 1998 on charges of first-degree murder, rape, and use of a deadly weapon, and sentenced later that year to life in prison with a minimum sentence of 30 years for the murder conviction and 10 years for the rape conviction.

On July 17, 2019, Tapps murder conviction was vacated.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Three days after a Norfolk Southern train loaded with toxic chemicals careened off the tracks in East Palestine, Ohio, town fire chief Keith Drabick gave the rail giant the green light to intentionally vent and burn five tanker cars full of vinyl chloride, a cancer-causing chemical used to make plastic.

That highly controversial move, which Norfolk Southern and others involved in the response said was necessary to prevent a potentially catastrophic explosion, released massive black plumes of noxious smoke.

In the year since, Norfolk Southern, the Environmental Protection Agency and Ohio EPA, a state agency, have repeatedly described the dramatic scene that unfolded that day as a controlled burn or controlled release  language that would suggest the incineration was contained, limited and safe.

But many questions remain unanswered about the burn event, including how it will impact long-term public health, the extent to which those behind it considered alternatives and what, if anything, EPA did to try to prevent toxic chemicals from being spewed into the environment.

Kevin Garrahan, a retired EPA official of nearly 40 years, has struggled to make sense of his former agency adopting the controlled label. In the weeks after the derailment, he reached out to current EPA staffers and independent scientists to voice his concerns about the potential release of dioxins and other highly toxic chemicals, and to try to understand how EPA could have let the burn happen.

This just seems like an incredibly stupid and reckless decision, Garrahan wrote to his former colleague three weeks after the chemical burn, in an email exchange he shared with HuffPost. Am I missing something?

Later that day, Garrahan received what he described as a cryptic response. The EPA official he was emailing with mentioned the ongoing problem of OB/OD, or open burning and open detonation of hazardous materials, and said he shared Garrahans concerns about dioxins and the federal agencys response.

Our EPA and Ohio EPA at their best!! the current EPA official remarked sarcastically.

Garrahan, whose work at EPA included environmental risk assessment and hazardous waste cleanup, pressed his former colleague about the burn and EPAs public pronouncements that East Palestine was safe. He never heard back.

Dioxins are a family of extremely toxic compounds that take a long time to break down in the environment and can accumulate in the food chain. They are known to form when chlorinated chemicals like vinyl chloride combust. EPA has acknowledged that it never considered monitoring directly for dioxins during the burn event, and internal agency communications show that certain relevantEPA experts, including a top dioxin expert, were not consulted until a month after the derailment, HuffPost previously reported.

The open burning of toxic chemicals has been banned in the United States since 1980 due to risks to human health and the environment. The only exception is for explosives, primarily military munitions, that cannot otherwise be safely disposed of.

Garrahan referred HuffPost to an EPAmemo, published in June 2022, outlining all the restrictions on what can legally be burned and how. The memo makes it clear, he said, that the so-called controlled burn of vinyl chloride in East Palestine meets the definition of an open burn that shouldnt have been allowed under EPAs own rules.

Garrahan views the EPA memo as a bombshell that raises questions about the burn event and EPAs disaster response.

If somebody is doing something that is illegal and they know about it, they have a duty to say, Hey, you are purposefully violating a major EPA regulation, Garrahan said. Its inconceivable that there wouldnt have been someone from the enforcement office, or general counsel, saying, Oh, Norfolk Southern wants to do an uncontrolled burn  thats illegal, you cannot do that. Or if you do, youve got to go through these hoops.

A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, after responders set fire to rail tanker cars full of vinyl chloride on Feb. 6, 2023. via Associated Press

The burn itselfwas a crude process in which emergency responders blasted holes in the five tanker cars, drained the vinyl chloride into pits in the ground and set it on fire using flares. Drabick, who as incident commander made the final call, told federal investigators at the National Transportation Safety Board that Norfolk Southern and its contractors presented intentional burning as the only viable and safe option due to the risk of an explosion, and gave him just 13 minutes to make the decision  a request that he said left him blindsided.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and Norfolk Southern have defended the vinyl chloride burn, citing the risk of tanker cars exploding. DeWines press secretary, Dan Tierney, called it the best of two bad options.

Other local officials and environmental experts, however, have questioned the decision and the motivations behind it. Norfolk Southern reopened the rail line the day after torching more than 1 million pounds of vinyl chloride.

During a Senate hearing Wednesday, Jennifer Homendy, the chair of NTSB, testified that the vent and burn operation was not necessary, as there was no sign of a chemical reaction, known as polymerization, that would cause tank cars to explode.

In order for polymerization to occur, which was Norfolk Southern and their contractors justification for the vent and burn, you would have to have rapidly increasing temperatures and some sort of infusion of oxygen, neither of which occurred, she said.

Homendy added that Norfolk Southerns contractors lacked the scientific background to support the burn decision, and that another option was available: Let [the tank car] cool down.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) called Homendys findings extraordinary and troubling.

This town very well may have been poisoned to facilitate the rapid movement of freight, he said at the hearing.

WATCH: NTSB Chair Homendy tells Senator @JDVance1 the chemical explosion in East Palestine, OH did not have to happen



They were provided incomplete information to make a decision...there was no justification to do a vent and burn. pic.twitter.com/5vR5sd8CDZ  Senator Vance Press Office (@SenVancePress) March 6, 2024

Garrahan, who now teaches at George Washington University, argues EPA should have used the 2022 guidance, which had beenpublished just eight months before the derailment, to object to the railroads plan to vent and burn hazardous chemicals. It is unfathomable to think that EPA may have stood idly by while a potentially illegal open burn was conducted, he said, adding that he has had many sleepless nights ruminating on how the incident might have harmed human health and the environment.

As the memo notes, open burning is defined as the combustion of any material without the following characteristics: (1) control of combustion air to maintain adequate temperature for efficient combustion; (2) containment of the combustion reaction in an enclosed device to provide sufficient residence time and mixing for complete combustion; and (3) control of emission of the gaseous combustion products.

The 2022 guidance was written to spell out when local EPA officials can issue permits for pre-planned burning of waste explosives  not emergencies like the chemical disaster in East Palestine. Vinyl chloride is not classified as a waste explosive under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, or RCRA, the 1976 law that regulates the disposal of hazardous waste.

Still, the memo was meant to communicat[e] the existing requirements under RCRA that prohibit open burning, including open detonation, of hazardous waste and contains broader language about the risks of burning any such material. It notes that EPA concluded in 1987 that open burning of nonexplosive waste could not be conducted in a manner that was protective of human health and the environment.

OB/OD is generally the least environmentally preferred treatment technology and, consistent with existing requirements, should only be available where there are no safe modes of treatment.2022 EPA guidance on open burning and open detonation

The memo states that open burning of hazardous materials should be a last resort, that costs should not be a consideration when determining if safe alternatives are available, and that extensive chemical monitoring is required during any open burn. The agency cited two recent reports that outline many safer ways to get rid of noxious waste.

Open burning is generally the least environmentally preferred treatment technology and, consistent with existing requirements, should only be available where there are no safe modes of treatment, the memo reads.

More than a year after the fiery trainderailment, EPA has taken no position regarding whether or not the burn event in East Palestine was an open burn as defined by USEPA regulations, agency spokesperson Kirstin Safakas told HuffPost. Safakas dismissed the idea that the 2022 EPA memo applies to the East Palestine burn event, noting that the guidance is specific to waste explosives, which were not involved in the derailment.

EPA did not respond to questions about whether the agency ever objected to Norfolk Southerns planned burn, if it discussed or considered its 2022 memo prior to the operation, and what EPA protocols guided the agencys response.

Garrahan said it would be tough for EPA to argue that the 2022 memo doesnt apply to the Ohio disaster. He pointed out that when it comes to long-term cleanup of toxic and hazardous Superfund sites, EPA is not required to obtain permits for on-site remediation work, but still must follow the spirit of the law by meeting the functional equivalent of those rules to ensure human health and the environment are protected.

Likewise, for open chemical burns, even the rare situations where a permit might not be required, the parties conducting the burning should still have to comply with relevant requirements to safeguard the environment and the public, Garrahan said. His concern is that few if any safety controls were in place during the vinyl chloride burn.

Stephen Lester, a toxicologist and the science director for the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, shares Garrahans view that the EPA memo makes clear that the vinyl chloride burn violated EPA regulations for open burning of hazardous waste. He said the EPA had a duty to step in and stop it.

They chose not to, Lester said. Ive heard everything from, Well, we were in the room but nobody asked our opinion, to We were in the room but we just didnt say anything. Its like, youre in the room. You have the authority, you have the right, you have the responsibility to say something.

Judith Enck, a former EPA regional administrator, has a slightly different interpretation of the 2022 EPA memo on open burning: She said she doesnt think it applies to an emergency situation like East Palestine, but she acknowledged it includes important principles that are relevant, namely that alternatives to open burning must be evaluated. Enck noted that EPA has specific protocols for responding to a myriad of environmental disasters, including derailments involving hazardous chemicals.

I think what happened [in East Palestine] is EPA deferred too much to the state of Ohio, and Gov. DeWine deferred too much to Norfolk Southern because their priority was getting that busy rail corridor opened up as quickly as possible, Enck said.

President Joe Biden, left, listens as Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan speaks in East Palestine, Ohio. MANDEL NGAN via Getty Images

EPA has provided conflicting messages about the role it played in the decision-making process and, for the most part, has continued to describe the burn event as controlled.

At a press conference shortly after the derailment, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the vent and burn decision was made in consultation with how EPA could respond to that in terms of monitoring the air and the impact. An EPA spokesperson, however, told HuffPost that the agency was present during ad hoc meetings leading up to the burn, but did not order and was not consulted about the decision.

EPAs website on the East Palestine response repeatedly describes the operation as a controlled burn, and Regan used that language several times during a press gaggle while he and President Joe Biden were en route to East Palestine to mark the one-year anniversary of the derailment last month.

I could understand if they referred to it as an emergency burn, but calling it a controlled [burn] is the opposite of what happened and sure makes it look like they were intentionally trying to mislead the public, Garrahan said.

In a video obtained by independent media outlet Status Coup News in June, Mark Durno, EPAs onsite coordinator for the response in East Palestine, acknowledged that the ignition of vinyl chloride could be considered an open burn, but added that in an emergency situation, it is what it is. He went on to note that EPA itself is exempt from open burn regulations during emergency situations, but stressed that Norfolk Southern is not and there could be significant fines and penalties levied based on their actions.

The EPA and Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit against Norfolk Southern in June, alleging that the company violated the Clean Water Act when it released pollutants into the environment.

EPA did not address HuffPosts specific question about why the agency has repeatedly called the burn event controlled. However, a spokesperson told HuffPost that the agency was not the first to label the event a controlled burn, that the railroad and other members of the unified command team began using that language early on in the response, and that EPAs role during the burn was to coordinate and conduct air monitoring from outside the evacuation area.

The agency directed HuffPost to the Ohio EPA for additional information about the origin of the controlled terminology.

A frame grab from drone video taken by the Columbiana County Commissioners Office shows towering flames and columns of smoke from the "controlled" burn in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 6, 2023. via Associated Press

Bryant Somerville, a spokesperson for Ohio EPA, told HuffPost that the agency and other members of the incident command team were presented with no feasible option that did not include releasing vinyl chloride. Norfolk Southern hadconcluded a catastrophic explosion was inevitable unless the contents were released to reduce pressure.

The burn portion was advised because the chemical byproducts of a burn were advised to be less harmful than the chemicals in their current state, Somerville said. Due to the inevitable explosion absent intervention, not conducting a release was not an option provided to command. Command agreed with the decision. While neither the Governor, Ohio EPA, nor the Ohio National Guard were final command decision makers, all agreed with the decision as the safest possible.

Asked whether calling the burn controlled misleadingly suggests that the environmental impacts were contained, EPA directed HuffPost to a Department of Transportation handbook on the emergency vent and burn procedure used in East Palestine. That document, published in 1994, provides detailed information about when and how to use the method, but little about potential environmental risks. Much like the EPA memo on open burning nearly three decades later, the DOT document notes that venting and burning hazardous materials should only occur when no other option exists.

Due to the inherent risks involved with this procedure, it must be used only as a last resort, after all other methods of field product removal have been considered and rejected, the DOT handbook reads.

EPA previously told HuffPost it was caught off guard by the amount of vinyl chloride that Norfolk Southern ultimately burned. Initially, the rail company was planning to burn one tanker car, but that number jumped to five the morning of the burn  a sudden change in plans that Durno said limited EPAs ability to mobilize resources. Eric Brewer, the director of emergency services for a neighboring county in Pennsylvania, called the choice to burn more cars jaw-dropping.

Two representatives of OxyVinyls, the company that manufactured the vinyl chloride onboard the train, have cast doubt on whether an explosion really was imminent. At a NTSB hearing in June, they told investigators that they never saw signs of a chemical reaction that would cause the tank cars to explode, and repeatedly relayed that view to Norfolk Southern.

Enck, the former EPA regional administrator, called the intentional burning of vinyl chloride an unprecedented action that should never have happened. She recalled a similar derailment of a train hauling vinyl chloride in Paulsboro, New Jersey, in 2012, when she was still at EPA. In that case, officials sealed off the derailed tanker cars and used vacuum trucks to remove the hazardous gas and haul it to a disposal facility, she said.

EPA sat idly by when a major bad decision was made, Enck said of the East Palestine response. The big question is if there is another train derailment involving toxic chemicals  and there will be  would EPA sit idly by and allow a state and a polluter to decide to do an open burn again? Is this now their standard operating procedure? Because it didnt used to be.

Garrahan has mixed feelings about speaking out against his former agency. After a career in public service, hes enjoying retirement and not looking to cause a stir.

I do believe that persons having to make difficult decisions with limited information generally deserve the benefit of the doubt, he said. However, if those decisions seem to violate EPAs mission and sacred trust to protect human health and the environment, then I feel a moral obligation to speak out for environmental justice.

Related...
Linwei Ding is accused of stealing information used in Google's supercomputing data centres

A former Google software engineer has been charged by the US with stealing trade secrets about artificial intelligence (AI) while secretly working for two Chinese companies.

Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, was indicted in California on four charges and arrested on Wednesday.

The Chinese national allegedly stole more than 500 confidential files.

If convicted he faces up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines on each count.

A lawyer for Mr Ding could not be identified to comment on the case, local media reported.

The information he is accused of taking relates to the infrastructure of Google's supercomputing data centres, which are used to host and train large AI models.

According to the indictment, Mr Ding was hired by Google in 2019 and his responsibilities included developing this software.

He allegedly began uploading information stored in Google's network to a personal Google account in May 2022. These uploads continued periodically for a year, the indictment reads.

Meanwhile, he is said to have spent several months in China working for Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology - a start-up tech company that approached him. The indictment says he was offered $14,800 (11,620) per month to be the company's Chief Technology Officer.

He is also alleged to have started his own tech firm, Shanghai Zhisuan Technology, which had a focus on AI and machine learning, and made himself the CEO.

The BBC has contacted Rongshu, while Zhisuan could not be immediately reached for comment.

Prosecutors allege Mr Ding never told Google about his work for either company.

The indictment states that he applied to a China-based organisation to help develop this business and presented it at an investor conference in China in November 2023.

The following month, he was flagged by Google trying to upload more files to his personal computer while in China, but Mr Ding told Google's investigator it was to provide proof that he worked for the tech giant.

When he returned to the US and without Google's knowledge, Mr Ding is said to have booked a one-way ticket from San Francisco to Beijing, before resigning on 26 December.

Days later, Google once again became suspicious after learning about his actions at the conference and suspended his access - searching his activity history to reveal the unauthorised uploads.

Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said the company has "strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets," adding that the company quickly alerted the authorities when it found evidence of alleged wrongdoing.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on Wednesday that Linwei Ding was seeking to enrich himself by covertly working for companies that were "seeking an edge in the AI technology race".

"The Justice Department will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that could put our national security at risk," Mr Garland said.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said Mr Ding's alleged actions "are the latest illustration of the lengths" companies in China will go to, "to steal American innovation".

The US and China have been engaged in a bitter trade battle in recent years, with both sides attempting to gain a competitive edge over the other.

The dispute has seen both countries impose tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of one another's goods.

Trade relations have worsened under the Biden administration, with the two sides imposing new barriers on trade, including restrictions on computer chip exports.
WASHINGTON (AP)  A former software engineer at Google has been charged with stealing artificial intelligence technology from the company while secretly working with two companies based in China, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

Linwei Ding, a Chinese national, was arrested in Newark, California, on four counts of federal trade secret theft, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Man accused of construction scam in Mecklenburg, other N.C. counties

The case against Ding was being announced at an American Bar Association Conference in San Francisco by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who along with other law enforcement leaders has repeatedly warned about the threat of Chinese economic espionage and about the national security concerns posed by advancements in artificial intelligence.

Todays charges are the latest illustration of the lengths affiliates of companies based in the Peoples Republic of China are willing to go to steal American innovation, FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. The theft of innovative technology and trade secrets from American companies can cost jobs and have devastating economic and national security consequences.

Justice Department leaders in recent weeks have been sounding alarms about how foreign adversaries could harness AI technologies to negatively affect the United States.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
A University of Kentucky family sciences professor whose ex-wife was murdered continues to seek justice for her in the courtroom, and most recently, in the state legislature.

Jason Hans was previously married to Ella Jackson, a 48-year-old Richmond mother who was killed in October 2019, allegedly by her husband at the time, former Eastern Kentucky University professor, Glenn Jackson.

Hans and his wife share custody of Ella and Glenns 10-year-old child. The child was placed in Hans care in April 2020, just after Glenn Jackson was arrested and charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and evidence tampering.

Over the past four years, Hans has grown accustomed to advocating for justice in the Kentucky legal system, but now is working on three bills that he says would be a modest but meaningful change to Kentucky law.

Some of these changes would include allowing a domestic violence victims name to be changed if their death is a result of their partner and changing the inheritance tax rules for foster children.

This change doesnt make a difference to very many people, but it makes a meaningful difference to the people it does affect, he said.

Three bills Hans hopes will change state laws

House Bill 643 would allow families of murdered domestic violence victims to change names posthumously if the name is the result of marriage to a person arrested for or charged with committing murder of their partner.

Victims are routinely referred to by the family name of their abusers and murderers in media reports and in court, which is an insult to their identity independent of the husband who murdered them, and that ongoing branding inflicts further emotional harm on surviving friends and family members, Hans said in an email to the Herald-Leader.

The second bill, H.B. 633, would allow the deceased parents name to remain on a childs birth certificate.

H.B. 633 would allow both the names of adopted parents and biological parents to appear on a new birth certificate issued upon adoption if one or both of the birth parents are dead and it is requested by the court, adopted parents, or adopted child.

In other words, when an adoption happens due to the death of a parent, the parents name can remain on the childs birth certificate. Names would be removed if the child was taken from the parents for neglect, or if the birth parents had terminated their rights.

The forced removal of a mothers name from her childs birth certificate solely because she was murdered is completely unnecessary and insulting to her legacy as a mother, Hans said.

Finally, the third bill, H.B. 785, would attempt to eliminate the inheritance tax on foster children. According to Hans, Kentucky is one of five states with an inheritance tax. Close family members  parents, surviving spouse, siblings, children by blood or adoption and stepchildren  are exempt from the tax, but foster children are not.

If Hans were to pass away before an adoption can be finalized, his son would receive benefits that had been taxed.

Adoption of foster children is often delayed for years due to a variety of issues beyond the foster child and foster parents control. H.B. 785 would include foster children with other immediate family members as Class A beneficiaries.

An example, Hans said, would be when underfunded state forensics labs delay criminal legal proceedings against birth parents for years, consequently delaying adoption for years. This is what Hans has been through, as he is not able to fully adopt Ella Jacksons son until Glenn Jacksons criminal case is closed.

A big delay in the Jackson case is due to the substantial amounts of discovery state prosecutors have to turn over to the defense over the course of four years. The evidence has been backed up in state laboratory testing for years, which in turn has slowed the criminal proceedings.

With the delays being due to state priorities, resources and whatever, I dont think the state should benefit by taking money out of the pocket of a foster child named as a beneficiary just because the state drug their feet and the adoption took years, Hans said.

The bills are sponsored by Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo, D-Fayette. All three bills were introduced in chambers on February 26. Palumbo told the Herald-Leader that while the bills are just common sense to pass, she doesnt think they will because of the GOP majority and timing of the filing.

Theyre good pieces of legislation, she said. So often things are overlooked and I never wouldve thought of these things if I had not heard from Mr. Hans, so appreciate him bringing these to my attention.

Hans and Palumbo encourage citizens to call their representative to express support for the bills.

Ellas legacy: That is my responsibility.

While Hans recognizes that his unwavering support of his ex-wife isnt common among divorced couples, he said Ella has remained dear to him.

Not only is he advocating for Ella, but he is advocating for those who dont have a voice: domestic violence victims, foster children, and Ellas family.

Her family resides in parts of Russia and Ukraine, and they do not speak English. They have kept in contact with Hans and frequently ask for updates in their daughters case.

She has a family who loves her and is distraught about what is happening and not happening, Hans said. They dont have a voice for themselves. If they were here, they would be doing the stuff that I am doing.

Her legacy and advocacy, that is my responsibility given the circumstances, he said.

Where the Glenn Jackson case stands

Hans and Ella Jackson remained in contact after their divorce, and Ella allegedly told Hans prior to her death that she feared for her life.

Hans reported Ella Jackson missing in October 2019 when he could no longer reach her. It was later found she had left behind her phone, wallet and then 5-year-old son who she had never spent a night away from before.

Richmond police discovered Ella Jackson met with a domestic violence advocate a few days before her disappearance and had spoken with a divorce attorney, according to police.

A significant amount of Ella Jacksons blood was located in the trunk of Glenn Jacksons vehicle and resulted in his arrest. A week later, Ella Jacksons body was found in Pulaski County  which neighbors a county where Glenn Jackson owned property  along with womens clothing strewn around, according to Richmond police.

Jackson was briefly incarcerated after his arrest in April 2020, but was released on bond several months later. He has been on home incarceration ever since at the Richmond home he and Ella Jackson once shared.

His case has continued to be delayed due to large batches of discovery that were still waiting to be tested and turned over to his defense attorney, Thomas Lyons.

Jacksons trial is scheduled to take place in August 2024.
Correction appended March 13

Since the start of the pandemic, the number of students with disabilities who are chronically absent from Minneapolis Public Schools has doubled or nearly doubled in more than a third of schools. More than 1,600 do not attend classes on a regular basis.

In four schools, the number has tripled, and in two there has been more than a four-fold increase. Attendance has improved in just six of the 55 traditional schools for which the district recently released five years of school-level attendance data.

The district did not post data regarding 14 specialized schools that serve students with profound needs, including self-contained special education programs. At some of those programs, attendance is not reported at all. According to separate state data, less than 4% of students enrolled in Minneapoliss high school for students with the most intensive behavioral issues attend on a regular basis.

Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter

The numbers illuminate a largely unexamined facet of a national crisis coming out of the pandemics school disruptions. Historically, students with disabilities are the demographic group most likely to suffer from high rates of absenteeism. And they are so vulnerable to the resulting harms that federal civil rights laws require educators to take special care to make sure they get to school  and that they get help catching up once they are there.

Indeed, within weeks of the first COVID school closures in 2020, the U.S. Department of Education warned that shifts to remote learning did not absolve education leaders of their responsibilities to this population. Minnesota was quick to adopt a law requiring school systems to identify special education students who needed extra help making up academic and developmental losses, and offering to help defray the cost. Its unclear how many received these recovery services.

Overall, according to data recently posted by the Minneapolis district, the number of students with disabilities who are chronically absent rose from 29% in the academic year that ended in 2019 to a peak of 53% in 2022 and then 46% in 2023. However, those averages conceal huge variations among individual schools, ranging from 21% to 80% in 2023.

The state and the district use different calculations to determine whether a student is chronically absent. Under the states definition  students who miss 10% or more of school days for which they were enrolled  Minneapoliss 2022 special education absenteeism rate was 61%, versus 39% statewide. The district counts only students who are enrolled for 95 or more days.

Students who qualify as chronically absent under the state rule have missed more than three weeks of the school year.

Absenteeism is a predictor of poor student outcomes as early as kindergarten. Elementary pupils who are chronically absent risk not being able to read by third grade. Students who reach that watershed mark illiterate are four times more likely to drop out of high school. Students who miss 10% or more of any year between eighth and 12th grades are seven times more likely to drop out.

In 2023, some 5,000 district students received special education services, state statistics show, and in 2022, just 37% of them attended school consistently. Of those, 16% and 19%, respectively, met grade-level standards for math and reading. In 2022, the most recent year for which data is available, about half graduated. In 2021, 87 went on to post-secondary education. One-fourth of those who did earned a years college credits within two years.

Minneapolis officials declined The 74s request for an interview for this story or for comment on our data analysis. In a statement, special education officials said attendance is a topic of quarterly discussions district leaders have with school administrators about student learning outcomes in general. They also suggested that families are keeping children with disabilities home over health concerns.

The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, the law that guarantees disabled childrens rights, requires districts to identify children who need supports  a mandate that extends to tracking down missing pupils and investigating whether their disability factors into why they are not in school. If it does  common reasons include an environment that is hostile or overwhelms a child with sensory issues  the school must make appropriate accommodations.

In 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand an appeals court decision finding that a school system adjacent to Minneapolis violated the rights of a student who, year after year, was absent for weeks. The district should have investigated why the girl didnt come to school, the court ruled. Instead, she was repeatedly disenrolled.

Often, the students school leaders dont go in search of are disengaged because they are not getting the help they need to succeed, says Andrea Jepsen, a Twin Cities special education attorney who was one of the lawyers who brought the case.

Districts love to make much of the absences of a child on an [Individualized Education Program] because they think it gets them off the hook to show progress, she says. But generally, the kid is not absent enough to justify the abject failure to produce meaningful progress on ambitious goals and objectives in the kids that I see.

And again, those absences should prompt further inquiry, not total resignation.

Indeed, research has found that while children with disabilities quickly lose academic ground when classes are interrupted, they also are more likely than other students to post strong growth during the school year.

Minneapolis has struggled to provide basic services to students with disabilities. The district has had a number of unstaffed special education classrooms over the last four years.

Related

Desperate to Hire Special Ed Teachers? Try Looking in Regular Ed Classrooms

In 2022, the district abruptly canceled in-person summer learning for hundreds of children who had been promised help bouncing back. Officials cited staffing problems, something disability advocates were quick to point out is neither a justification allowed by law nor an issue that plagued summer programming for general education students. Neighboring districts had no similar staffing problems.

The number of unfilled special education teacher and paraprofessional jobs increased in Minneapolis between fall 2022 and the start of the current school year, with vacancies concentrated in the highest-poverty schools. The exact extent of the staffing shortage has been the subject of a tussle between school board members who have repeatedly asked for data and administrators who depict hiring as ongoing.

The local news site Minneapolis Schools Voices analyzed job openings both years, finding 46 vacant special educator positions at the start of the 2022-23 academic year and 58 this year, as well as more than 100 unfilled classroom aide jobs.

One reason for the increase: In early 2023, district leaders announced the creation of 400 academic intervention positions to help struggling students recover from pandemic setbacks. Some of the new jobs were filled by special educators. At least 14 teachers who had taken interventionist jobs were asked to return to the classroom, according to presentations to the board.

In November, district leaders told the board that three schools had no intervention staff. Special education chronic absenteeism at those schools ranges from 59% to 70%.

Parents of students receiving disability services at the citys highest-poverty schools say that six months into the school year there are still special education classrooms without a dedicated teacher. Because some of the same schools  which tend to enroll students with disabilities at much higher rates  lack the new intervention staff, advocates fear that many of the educators needed to support disabled children have ended up at wealthier and better-staffed schools enrolling fewer, lower-needs special education students.

National research has found that students with disabilities are 1.5 to 2 times more likely to be chronically absent than their general education classmates, for reasons ranging from chronic health problems to anxiety caused by bullying and harassment, trauma and housing insecurity.

A 2017 study found that students with emotional disturbances were more than 13 percentage points more likely to be chronically absent than general education pupils in the same classrooms. Children with learning disabilities were 8 percentage points more likely to be missing than their classmates.

The same research found that it mattered whether a disabled student was assigned to a regular classroom or one populated mostly with special education students. Students in segregated settings were 17 points more likely to be absent, and 24 points more likely if they are in a self-contained classroom and have an emotional disturbance. Children served mostly in general education settings were only 5 points more likely to be chronically absent.

A professor at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, Michael Gottfried is one of the authors of the 2017 paper. To him, the findings reveal a cycle of disengagement.

What we think is actually happening is school belonging, he says. In inclusive, traditional rooms, [students] feel connected to the adults. And they dont feel that way when theyre in segregated rooms.

Its likely that absenteeism among students served in the most restrictive settings has an impact on educator engagement, too, he adds, feeding a vicious cycle.

IDEA, the law that holds schools responsible for students with disabilities, says they must be educated in the least restrictive setting  alongside their non-disabled peers as often as possible. That means its incumbent on schools to ensure the environment is hospitable to all children, including those with sensory challenges, anxiety and other traits that can make remaining in class traumatic enough that a student refuses to go to school, says Maren Christenson, executive director of Minneapoliss Multicultural Autism Action Network.

Related

Special Ed Kids Were Shunted Back Online. Is It a Move to the Virtual Basement?

Theres a difference between mainstreaming and inclusion, she says. This is about creating environments where all students can succeed. Sometimes that means asking, How crowded are the hallways? Does the bell system make you want to jump out of your skin? 

To this, add the months of pandemic-driven turmoil during which many children with disabilities were left without workable remote instruction, says Gottfried: Expectations are broken and family trust is broken. The message keeps changing. That creates anxiety about school. Theres probably a sense of disappointment that services used to be offered for [a] child and now theyre not.

Minnesota schools receive state funding according to how many students show up each day. Because of this, the attendance policy school leaders are most accustomed to worrying about is a law requiring them to disenroll any student who is absent for 15 or more consecutive days. Tracking how many children miss 17 or more days a year is a newer requirement  and one that in many places is the responsibility of district leaders, not educators or principals.

State lawmakers are considering a bill that would require schools to report much more detailed information on chronically absent students, including how many miss more than 10%, 30% and 50% of the year, and to calculate the numbers for each demographic group.

Even a return to pre-pandemic numbers isnt good enough, says Matt Shaver, policy director of EdAllies, which is lobbying for the new reporting requirements. The deleterious effects of missing that much school  they compound. You can look at those numbers and predict whos probably not going to graduate from high school.

Correction: Andrea Jepsen is a Twin Cities special education attorney. An earlier version of this story misspelled her last name.

Disclosure: Walton Family Foundation provided funding for the research referenced by University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education Professor Michael Gottfried and financial support to The 74.


'INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT'  Biden needs to address his age, Laken Riley and Trump in tonight's State of the Union speech. Continue reading 

ANYTIME, ANYWHERE  Trump issues challenge to Biden ahead of SOTU address, forcing campaign to respond. Continue reading 

AMERICAN DECLINE  Johnson sends pointed message to Biden hours before State of the Union. Continue reading 

HOLY HAMBURGER  Fast food chain's prices spark outrage after $24 receipt goes viral: 'Highway robbery.' Continue reading 

BECOMING REAL  Alec Baldwin 'nervous' for 'Rust' trial after armorer's conviction, expert says. Continue reading 

SANCTUARY STATE  Maine considers bill that would establish abortion, sex changes a 'legal right.' Continue reading 

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

BRING THEM HOME  Family members of 6 American hostages in Gaza to attend State of the Union. Continue reading 

PRO-LIFE, PRO-FAMILY  Alabama governor pleased to enact protections for IVF after controversial court ruling. Continue reading ..

CALIFORNIA SCHEMING  Porter blames billionaires who spent millions rigging the election for her primary loss. Continue reading 

Click here for more cartoons





BLUE REVOLUTION Liberal bastions pass new laws in revolt against progressive crime policies. Continue reading 

FREE SPEECH BATTLE  UK pastor vows to keep preaching on the streets after police tried to stifle him. Continue reading 

ENTHUSIASM GAP  Andrea Mitchell dismisses own network's polling. Continue reading 

BAD NEWS FOR PROGRESSIVES  San Francisco 'can no longer be called progressive city,' newspaper declares after law-and-order measures pass. Continue reading 







Short Questions with Dana Perino -- Jackie DeAngelis

SHORT QUESTIONS  Jackie DeAngelis of 'The Big Money Show' reveals what she'd tell her younger self if she could. Continue reading 







HUGH HEWITT  The Manhattan prosecution of Trump could help the former president win the White House. Continue reading 

DOUG SCHOEN AND CARLY COOPERMAN  Biden has no message on economy and immigration. Continue reading 







LAURA INGRAHAM  Trump has nailed it on every major issue now. Continue reading 

JESSE WATTERS  This will be an all-out war by Biden's alliance against the American people. Continue reading 

SEAN HANNITY  2024 is a choice between safe and secure borders or Joe Biden's open borders agenda. Continue reading 

GREG GUTFELD  After decades of glorifying casual drug use, Rolling Stone is now worried about misuse of drugs. Continue reading 











EYE SPY  Former Homeland Security adviser tells travelers how to find hidden cameras. Continue reading 

THIS IS NOT TRANSPHOBIC  NY county official in fight with state AG over trans athlete law. Continue reading 

GOD DOESNT MAKE MISTAKES  Christian author reveals the beauty of every child in new picture book. Continue reading 

MIGRANT MURDER  What to know about illegal immigrant suspect in cheerleader's killing. Continue reading 

DOG TO THE RESCUE  Watch as a dog named Aries ran to the Hounds Town Doggy Day Car in Detroit, Michigan, in an effort to get help after her owners car accident. See video 

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.  Border crisis is 'absolutely horrendous.' See video 

TIM SCOTT  America was better off under Donald Trump. See video 











Whats it looking like in your neighborhood? Continue reading











Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Twitter

LinkedIn









Fox News First

Fox News Opinion

Fox News Lifestyle

Fox News Entertainment (FOX411)

Fox News

Fox Business

Fox Weather

Fox Sports

Tubi

Fox News Go

Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! Well see you in your inbox first thing Friday.





Original article source: Expectations high for Biden's SOTU address tonight, Trump challenges Biden to debates and more top headlines
The Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7 will come to redefine our era. Not since 9/11 have extremist networks been as emboldened.

Anti-Semitism skyrocketing. Inflammatory and borderline criminal rhetoric widely shared on social media. A sense that the terrorism threat is rising. Protests becoming ever more vociferous, with from the river to the sea beamed onto the side of Big Ben during a vote on Gaza. MPs more fearful for their safety than ever.

The Prime Minister last week pointed to a shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality. He was right. Now he needs policies that meet the scale of the challenge.

One thing the Government is doing is crafting a new definition of extremism. If the maxim that you cannot defeat what you cannot define is true, then recent history suggests we are in trouble. The Governments 2011 definition is not used much across Whitehall, but attempts to improve it or put a definition of extremism on the statute books have come to naught.

While debates over a definition can feel like academic navel-gazing when actual extremist acts are so common, the work does have a clear purpose: it will be used to guide future decisions over who government does and does not engage with and fund.

The Government is right to act. Evidence that the state works with or funds extremists has appeared in independent reviews or government strategies dating back over a decade. This needs fixing, new definition of extremism or not.

The focus on an engagement and funding framework is encouraging because it is an example of government looking to make better use of the powers it has: the power of the purse and the ability to bestow legitimacy via engagement.

Future governments may wish to revisit legislative gaps to capture expressions of support for terrorism but, even still, government has more power to tackle extremism than it sometimes thinks. After all, the Iranian government does not have an inalienable right to run schools and mosques in our capital city. It is not an unalterable democratic principle that Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood must be allowed to run a multitude of charities. We have not betrayed democracy if extremists are no longer able to operate television channels. And we will not have become an authoritarian state if London is no longer permitted to be turned into a no-go zone for Jews every weekend.

All these things and more have become normalised in the UK. It is why I have warned of a permissive environment for radicalisation developing that needs urgently addressing.

Fortunately, last years Independent Review of Prevent offers a helpful roadmap for how the Government can do precisely this. Sir William Shawcrosss report still represents the way forward for any government wishing to grip this issue, emphasising that terrorists are driven by ideology, that Prevent had become overly focused on safeguarding, and the need to tackle radicalisers operating below the terrorism threshold. He was particularly ahead of the curve when he identified the blindspot that government had on the UKs Hamas networks.

Yes, he has expressed some frustration over the pace of implementation and change, including the lack of government guidance for schools targeted by mobs seeking to impose de facto blasphemy laws on the discussion of religious prophets. But I have seen the positive impact his report has already had across government. It is making a difference, including in refreshed training that is now laser-focused on the ideological causes of terrorism. As the extremism threats cascade, it must now double down on Shawcrosss approach.

That means government should move faster, be bolder, and be willing to accept higher legal risk if it means implementing policies that keep us safer. This is particularly pertinent when it comes to disrupting the activities of those groups who propagate extremist narratives but who lurk just below the terrorism threshold. These groups have gone unchallenged for too long and have used their time well. They are now embedded and influential among communities. It cannot only be government that stands up to these extremists  be it Islamist, extreme Right-wing, extreme Left-wing, or other ideological manifestations  but it has the most resources and must take a leading role.

The challenges ahead are immense. The public may be sceptical about whether tough words from the Government will actually result in tough actions. After all, politicians have promised it for decades. Few have delivered. We see the consequences of that failure on the streets daily.

The Government now has an opportunity to break this cycle while also championing the UKs innate respect for those things that have been in such short supply since 7 October: respect for the rule of law, civility, and decency. It must take it.

Robin Simcox is the Commissioner for Countering Extremism

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. Georgia and the World Bank discussed the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR, or Middle Corridor), Trend reports.

The discussion took place as part of a meeting between Georgian Minister of Economy Levan Davitashvili and the World Bank during a meeting with Antonella Bassani, the Vice President of the Europe and Central Asia Region at the Bank.

During the discussion, Georgia's efforts to build the Middle Corridor and improve its own transportation and logistics infrastructure were highlighted.



It was observed that Georgia is located on the shortest path between Europe and Asia, so it is critical that the country capitalize on its geopolitical prospects in multiple directions to become a regional hub.



Simultaneously, the summit focused on collaboration in renewable energy, information technology, communications, and other fields.



The parties also discussed the implementation of the Black Sea undersea electric cable project, which would provide a new channel for ecologically benign energy from the South Caucasus to Europe, as well as the Anaklia deep-sea port project.

In addition to this, Davitashvili introduced the World Bank delegation to the economic and structural reforms that the government intended to implement in the medium term in order to ensure higher and more sustainable economic growth.

In turn, the World Bank representatives praised economic development trends in the post-pandemic period and promised support for the countrys inclusive development and increased competitiveness.

The Middle Corridor is a transportation and trade route that connects Asia and Europe, passing through several countries in the region. It is an alternative route to the traditional Northern Corridor and Southern Corridor.

The route starts in China and crosses Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. It then passes through the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkiye before reaching Europe.

The Middle Corridor offers a land route that connects the eastern parts of Asia, including China, with Europe, bypassing the longer maritime routes.
Rioters loyal to President Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press)

On Jan. 6, Northridge resident Kayla Reifschneider breached the Capitol, attacked members of the press and planned to give weapons to another rioter taking part, federal prosecutors allege.

Reifschneider, 27, was arrested Wednesday by the FBI, three years after the 2021 insurrection.

Reifschneider faces a felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding and misdemeanor charges that include entering and remaining in a restricted building and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building.

Messages the day after the attack obtained by federal investigators allegedly show Reifschneider boasting about the violence that occurred at the Capitol, where federal prosecutors say she and others were trying to disrupt Congress and prevent the certification of the electoral votes of the 2020 presidential election.

When one person asked Reifschneider in a message if police were hurt, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office, the woman replied:

"I definitely saw one getting help. Limping. We f them up worse than antifa and blm. Lmao."

The arrest comes more than three years after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, where supporters of then-President Trump stormed the building after a rally in Washington decrying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Hundreds took part, with many making their way to the meeting chambers as members of Congress fled. Despite the time that has passed, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice have continued to make arrests and file charges against people accused of taking part in the attack.

In court records, federal investigators have used and cited open source video from the Capitol  much of it recorded and streamed live by people who took part in the incident  to find and identify those who participated.

According to court filings, Reifschneider was part of a Telegram group named "PATRIOTS45 MAGA Gang" who supported Trump and believed the 2020 election was fraudulent.

In court filings, prosecutors cite open-source video from Jan. 6, 2021, that allegedly shows Reifschneider in the Upper West Terrace yelling at police, then heading to the east side of the Capitol.

There, she allegedly targeted members of the media, yelling obscenities and spitting toward journalists.

"That's spit, b!" she allegedly yells in the video. "Get f COVID!"

Reifschneider is also seen throwing a helmet at someone, stepping on a camera, and later lifting it and tossing it onto the ground.

"It's been four years I've been wanting to do this!" she yells, according to video.

With another presidential election on the horizon, the Jan. 6 attack continues to have legal repercussions.

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump could not be disqualified as a candidate from state ballots.

The decision overturned a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that disqualified the 45th president from appearing on the ballot because of his role on Jan. 6, 2021. The state justices had ruled that someone could not run for office if they had engaged in "insurrection or rebellion" against the U.S.

The U.S. Supreme Court court reversed that ruling.

Reifschneider is one of 1,358 people who have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 violence, an investigation that federal officials say is ongoing.

According to the U.S. attorney's office, the attack caused nearly $3 million in damage. About 140 police offices were assaulted.

"The Department of Justice's resolve to hold accountable those who committed crimes on January 6, 2021, has not, and will not, wane," the agency said in a statement.

Of the arrests, more than 450 have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, including 123 charged with using deadly or dangerous weapons to injure an officer.

More than 700 people so far have pleaded guilty to federal charges, including more than 210 who have pleaded guilty to felonies, according to the Department of Justice.

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Claim:

U.S. President Joe Bidens official X account shared the incorrect date for the March 7, 2024, State of the Union address, posting the announcement for Feb. 7, 2023, instead.

Rating:

Rating: Fake

On March 7, 2024, a number of conservative X accounts shared a purported screenshot of a post from the official X account of the president of the United States, claiming that it had shared the wrong date for President Joe Biden's State of the Union address.

The screenshot was an apparent tweet from @POTUS that read, "Tune in at 9 PM ET tomorrow evening for my plan on how we get it done," and included a link to the White House website where the State of the Union speech would be streaming. Under the caption was a graphic that advertised the date of the speech as Feb. 7, 2023.

The official House Republicans X account shared the screenshot, writing, "Joe Biden doesn't even know what year it is," while the Republican National Committee's X account wrote, "Does Biden know what year it is?" (Both implied that Biden was responsible for handling his own social media accounts.)



(Screenshot via X)

We found no evidence on Biden's X account, or any other official account used by his team, of having shared the incorrect graphic in 2024 using the 2023 State of the Union date. As such, we rate the screenshot as "Fake."

We looked at the official @POTUS account on X. On March 6, 2024, at 5:37 p.m. EST, the account posted the following, without a graphic attached: "Tune in at 9 PM ET tomorrow evening for my plan on how we get it done. https://WH.gov/SOTU." There was no evidence that the post was edited in any way, including in archived links.

Tune in at 9 PM ET tomorrow evening for my plan on how we get it done.

https://t.co/GPBtrLBCvT.  President Biden (@POTUS) March 6, 2024

The link in the post goes to the White House's official website, which features a completely different graphic about the 2024 State of the Union address than what's in the purported screenshot.



(Screenshot via Whitehouse.gov)

Additionally, all the posts alleging that Biden's account shared the wrong date posted only screenshots, with no actual link to the purported post.

The image shared by the Republican accounts is of a graphic used by the Biden administration in 2023. A slightly different version of the graphic can be found on the White House website as the image on the official YouTube livestream of the 2023 speech. The same graphic is available on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Italy. The image posted by Republican accounts appears to have been using graphics from 2023 with the date edited.

On Feb. 6, 2023, the White House's official X account posted a graphic similar to the one shared by the RNC above, except with the date stating the State of the Union was "tomorrow."

Tomorrow at 9 PM ET, President Biden will speak directly to the American people about how we can work together to build an economy that works for everyone, boost American competitiveness, keep the American people safe, and bring the country together. pic.twitter.com/RLQSCPBYch  The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 6, 2023

We found no evidence that the design in the above image, or older images from 2023, were mistakenly shared by the official X accounts of the president or the White House. Before the 2024 State of the Union, the White House account made the following posts:

Tonight at 9 PM ET, President Biden will deliver his third State of the Union Address. Tune in to hear him discuss the work ahead to make life better for every American.https://t.co/gfEYCLoZ6b. pic.twitter.com/ip5nLXqJ75  The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 7, 2024

Watch President Biden's State of the Union Address tomorrow  Thursday, March 7  at 9 PM ET to hear him discuss his commitment to lowering costs, taking on drug companies again, protecting women's reproductive health, saving democracy, and uniting the country. pic.twitter.com/cY5aAdPyYE  The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 6, 2024

At the State of the Union, President Biden will highlight the historic achievements he has delivered on for the American people and his vision for the future. Make sure to tune in this Thursday, March 7, at 9 PM ET. pic.twitter.com/byxAYTkXvX  The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 5, 2024

Biden also shared a video of himself on @POTUS to promote the State of the Union:

See you tomorrow night at 9 PM ET. pic.twitter.com/KazBXBPdZQ  President Biden (@POTUS) March 7, 2024

Biden's own official personal account (@JoeBiden, which is distinct from @POTUS) shared the following posts:

On Thursday night at 9pm ET, I will deliver my State of the Union address. All across the country folks will be joining their friends, family, and neighbors at our virtual watch party to hear the progress we've made over the past three years. Join us: https://t.co/wQUCwGMNnu  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 6, 2024

I'm headed to the Capitol tonight to deliver my State of the Union address. Join us at 9pm ET to hear how far we've come in building the economy from the middle out and the bottom up and the work we have left to lower costs and protect our freedoms against MAGA attacks. pic.twitter.com/cpflojaeCH  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 7, 2024

Sources:

"How to Watch President Biden's 2023 State of the Union Address." U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Italy, https://it.usembassy.gov/slide/how-to-watch-president-bidens-2023-state-of-the-union-address/. Accessed 7 March 2024.

"Internship Departments." The White House, https://www.whitehouse.gov/get-involved/internships/white-house-internship-program/internship-departments/. Accessed 7 March 2024.

"State of the Union 2023." The White House, https://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2023/. Accessed 7 March 2024.

"State of the Union 2024." The White House, https://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2024/. Accessed 7 March 2024.
FILE - President Joe Biden walks out of the White House to board Marine One on the South Lawn in Washington, Jan. 12, 2024. In his victory speech Tuesday, March 5, 2024 former president Donald Trump echoed false statements that the Biden administration has secretly flown hundreds of thousands of foreigners to the United States. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

SAN DIEGO (AP)  In his Super Tuesday victory speech, former President Donald Trump elevated false information that had gone viral on social media, claiming the Biden administration secretly flew hundreds of thousands of migrants into the United States.

Many post sharing the claim referred to a report by the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that advocates for immigration restrictions. It said the administration refused to list individual airports where people arrived under a Biden parole program that allows Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans to stay in the U.S. for two years.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection each month publishes the number of migrants admitted under the program by nationality. This information is available on its website and in press releases. It does not list arriving airports.

Trump said during his speech, Today it was announced that 325,000 people were flown in from parts unknown - migrants were flown in airplane, not going through borders ... It was unbelievable. I said that must be a mistake. They flew 325,000 migrants. Flew them in over the borders and into our country."

But migrants are not being flown into the U.S. randomly. Under a Biden policy in effect since January 2023, up to 30,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela can enter the country monthly if they apply online with a financial sponsor and arrive at a specified airport, paying their own way. Biden exercised his parole authority, which, under a 1952 law, allows him to admit people only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.

Here's a closer look. CLAIM: The Biden administration has secretly flown more than 300,000 unvetted migrants into the country.

THE FACTS: An article published on Monday by the Center for Immigration Studies examined a major example of how Biden has exercised his parole authority for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.

Each month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection discloses how many people from these four countries were allowed to enter the country. On Jan. 26, the agency reported 327,000 were vetted and authorized for travel. There were more than 67,000 Cubans, 126,000 Haitians, 53,000 Nicaraguans and 81,000 Venezuelans.

The Center for Immigration Studies article says CBP approved flights that brought 320,000 to the United States last year. The author, Todd Bensman, learned they came to 43 airports but the government refused to divulge which ones, citing an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act for law enforcement-sensitive information.

Bensman said Wednesday that he doesn't consider the program secretive, but finds it enigmatic" and lacking in transparency.

The migrants are not coming in from parts unknown, as Trump charged. CBP vets each one for eligibility and publishes the number of airport arrivals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Social media posts, including one by Elon Musk's, charge that the administration is doing this to bring in voters.

But people admitted into the country under parole have no path to citizenship. They can obtain work permits for a limited time but voters must be U.S. citizens.

Biden has exercised parole authority far more than any of his predecessors, which Trump calls an outrageous abuse that he will end if returned to the White House. Biden has granted entry  by land or air  to at least 1 million people using parole, not just the 327,000 who flew from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua or Venezuela though December.

Angelo Fernandez Hernandez, a White House spokesperson, said Wednesday that reports of secretly flying people into the country were categorically false and that Cubans, Haitian, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans were thoroughly screened.

The Trump campaign and Musk representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
By Joseph Ax

(Reuters) - The races for governor in North Carolina and New Hampshire will be among the highest profile down-ballot campaigns in November's general election, when the U.S. presidency will also be at stake.

Those two states are among nearly a dozen holding contests for their chief executives, though most are not expected to be competitive. Here are the governorships that will be decided this fall:

NORTH CAROLINA: COMPETITIVE

North Carolina's Republican lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, and the state's Democratic attorney general, Josh Stein, won their parties' primaries for governor on Tuesday.

Robinson, who would be the Southern state's first Black governor, earned Donald Trump's endorsement at a rally on March 2. The former president described Robinson as "Martin Luther King on steroids."

Robinson has a history of incendiary remarks that could hurt his chances in November.

He told a congregation in 2021 that homosexuality was "filth," prompting LGBTQ groups to call on him to resign. Last month, he vowed that transgender women would be arrested for using women's bathrooms.

He has also made or posted online offensive comments about Jews, Muslims and women, drawing accusations of bigotry. He has said some of his social media posts were poorly worded but has resisted calls to apologize.

Stein would make his own history if elected as the state's first Jewish executive. He has the backing of the incumbent Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, who is barred from running again due to term limits.

In addition to Robinson's rhetoric, Stein is likely to focus on abortion. The state's Republican-dominated legislature enacted a 12-week ban over Cooper's veto, but Robinson has said he supports a stricter six-week limit.

Analysts view the race as a toss-up. The state is also expected to be a presidential battleground this year.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: COMPETITIVE

There are two leading contenders from each party vying to succeed Republican Governor Chris Sununu, who chose not to run for a fifth two-year term. The New England state's gubernatorial primary is scheduled for Sept. 10.

On the Republican side, former U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte and former state Senate President Chuck Morse are the top candidates. The Democratic race is a contest between Joyce Craig, the former mayor of Manchester, and Cinde Warmington, a member of the state Executive Council, an executive body that provides a check on the governor's power.

Analysts rate the race as a toss-up.

WASHINGTON STATE: POTENTIALLY COMPETITIVE

Democratic Governor Jay Inslee decided not to run for a fourth four-year term, creating an open governor's race for the first time since 2012. Despite the state's Democratic lean  President Joe Biden carried Washington state by 19 percentage points in 2020  Republicans believe they have an opportunity to flip the seat with former U.S. Representative Dave Reichert.

Reichert is well known in the state, having served as sheriff in Seattle's King County before winning seven two-year terms in Congress in a Democratic-leaning district, building a reputation as a moderate Republican.

The Northwestern state's attorney general, Bob Ferguson, is considered the leading Democratic candidate ahead of the primary election on Aug. 6. The state uses a top-two system, which means the two highest finishers advance to November's general election regardless of party.

Most analysts view Democrats as likely to win, but Reichert's candidacy could make it competitive. Early opinion polls have shown a close contest between Reichert and Ferguson.

OTHER STATES

Republican Vermont Governor Phil Scott, a moderate who does not support Trump, has not yet announced whether he plans to run for a fifth two-year term. The popular incumbent would be heavily favored in November after winning his last race in 2022 by more than 45 percentage points, even though Biden won the New England state's 2020 presidential contest by more than 35 percentage points.

If Scott steps down, however, Democrats would likely target the race as a potential pickup, given Vermont's solidly Democratic lean.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte and Utah Governor Spencer Cox, both Republicans, are running for reelection, while there are open races in Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota and West Virginia. Republicans are expected to win in all of those conservative states.

In Delaware, Democrats are expected to win the open governor's race.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jonathan Oatis)
Nancy Faeser, Germany's Minister of the Interior and Home Affairs, stands at the lectern during the award ceremony for the Silver Laurel Leaf. Christophe Gateau/dpa

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is calling for a crackdown on left-wing extremists following an arson attack on the power supply to the Tesla factory near Berlin.

"It appears to have been a suspected left-wing extremist action; it was a serious arson attack that has left many, many thousands, especially households, without electricity," the minister told dpa on Thursday.

She condemned the fact that the attack led to power cuts in hospitals and doctors' surgeries, which could be life-threatening.

Faeser said in the video interview that "left-wing radicalism is becoming tougher, more violent and does not shy away from such actions, and we must have a tough response." She said the public prosecutor's office should crack down "and severe penalties must also be imposed."

On Tuesday, the as yet unknown perpetrators set fire to an electricity pylon which forms part of the Tesla factory's supply infrastructure. Production at the plant in Grunheide in the eastern state of Brandenburg that surrounds Berlin was subsequently halted.

Tens of thousands of residents in the region were also affected by the power outage. The security services believe a letter with a claim of responsibility for the attack is authentic and categorized the perpetrators as belonging to the left-wing extremist spectrum.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior had warned of possible attacks on the energy supply and other elements of critical infrastructure some time ago, Faeser said.

A draft law to be discussed by the German Cabinet in the coming weeks will oblige the operators of critical infrastructure to take more security precautions.
(FOX40.COM)  High school students in the Fairfield area have the opportunity to visit Nirasaki, Japan for three weeks as a part of the City of Fairfields Sister City Program.

This will be the first time that the city has offered their exchange program since it was suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

What are Sacramentos sister cities?

Students will be fully immersed in the daily life Nirasaki as they stay with host families, attend schools and visit historical and cultural sites.

Eligible students are those entering the ninth grade through to graduating seniors. Those students looking to learn more about the trip can attend a Zoom on March 21 about the trip.

Our sister city, Nirasaki, Japan, is located in the beautiful Yamanashi Prefecture, Fairfield wrote in a news release. Famous for grapes, peaches, wine, textiles, jewelry, and Mt. Fuji, the city is located about 90 miles from Tokyo. Nirasaki has been Fairfields Sister City for over 50 years and the student exchange program has been ongoing for 35 years.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
MANHATTAN (KSNT)  The spread of fake cash in a Kansas community has ties to a more widespread national issue.

27 News spoke with the Riley County Police Department (RCPD) about a recent spike in reports of counterfeit bills being used in the Manhattan area. The department took to social media in February to warn people to avoid getting fooled by the fake currency.

RCPD spokeswoman Ashley Tokoi said there have been seven reports of counterfeit cash since Feb. 24, 2024 at local businesses like Sonic, Vista Burger, Dollar Tree and Walmart. In each case, the bills being used are in $50 and $100 amounts.

Counterfeit bills pose a significant threat to the community as they undermine the integrity of our currency system and can lead to financial losses for businesses and individuals, Tokoi said. When counterfeit bills circulate, businesses may suffer losses when they unknowingly accept fake currency, and this can have a ripple effect on the economy. Additionally, the presence of counterfeit bills can erode trust in the local economy and lead to increased scrutiny and inconvenience for legitimate transactions.

Police arrest Manhattan shooting suspect in Wichita

Locals who think theyve found fake cash are encouraged to reach out to the RCPD. Some tips Tokoi has for spotting a false bill include the following:

Check for security features such as watermarks, security threads and color-shifting ink.

Feel the texture of the paper as real currency usually is printed on a specific type of paper with a distinct feel.

Examine the printing quality and details of the bill such as fine lines, portraits and text.

Use a counterfeit detection pen that reacts differently to genuine currency versus counterfeits.

Compare the bill with a known genuine bill or use a counterfeit detection device if available.

It is essential not to confront individuals suspected of producing or using counterfeit bills, Tokoi said. Instead, individuals should promptly report any suspicious activity or encounters involving counterfeit currency to law enforcement for investigation.

Counterfeit investigations are handled at the national level by the U.S. Secret Service (USSS). You can make reports of counterfeit cash on the USSS website by clicking here. Tokoi said the current counterfeit issues being experienced in the Manhattan area have not risen to the level of getting the USSS involved yet.

Way too many people going way too fast: KHP official talks speeding issues on Kansas highways

So far, the RCPD hasnt made any arrests. However, they are actively investigating instances where fake currency is being used and are open to receiving tips. You can call the RCPD at 785-537-2112 or go to their website by clicking here. You can also make tips to Manhattan/Riley County Crime Stoppers by calling 785-539-7777 or by clicking here.

For more crime news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.

Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
Families of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip joined a group of bipartisan House lawmakers to call for their release Wednesday, one day before President Biden is set to deliver the State of the Union address.

Orna Neutra, the mother of American hostage Omer Neutra, pleaded for the release of her son, whom she said serves in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and has been held captive for 152 days.

We are running out of words and running out of strength, Neutra said Wednesday. At times, I wish I could just retire to a place where theres no media, just disappear until there is finally a breakthrough, until the phone call comes to the news of your release.

Neutra is among the 17 relatives of American hostages in Gaza slated to attend Bidens Thursday address as guests of lawmakers.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) on Wednesday called for the release of hostages and emphasized that it is on the militant group Hamas to accept the deal that was reportedly agreed upon by Israel. The deal would include a six-week cease-fire in exchange for Hamas releasing hostages considered at risk.

The ball is in Hamass court here, Wasserman Schultz said during the press conference Wednesday. We have to tell Hamas to accept this deal right now.

Our message to these families, to our regional partners, the American people remains consistent and clear, she later said. Hamas must not succeed. The hostages must come home.

Family members whose loved ones are held by Hamas have also asked lawmakers and their staffers to wear yellow ribbons and dog tags for Bidens State of the Union speech to show solidarity.

We are not asking members to take a political stance, Neutra said. This is a bipartisan issue. Its not about supporting one side or the other.

Bidens address comes as an increasing number of Democrats in Congress have called for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. The progressive members of party have criticized Biden for his administrations handling of the conflict.

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), who also attended the presser, said the Biden administration should continue pursuing all efforts to bring hostages back and for their family members voices to be recognized.

This is bigger than politics, Lawler said. These families should be heard. Their loved ones should be remembered, and we as American government need to do everything we can to bring them home.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
OXON HILL, Md. (DC News Now)  The family of a man who died after Prince Georges County police shot him is speaking out Wednesday. This comes days after investigators released body camera video of the shooting at a Suitland apartment in February.

The family of 31-year-old Melvin Jay says he was a loving father, brother, cousin and friend. They believe the Prince Georges County Departments (PGPD) officers actions were not justified and they plan on filing a civil suit.

Prince Georges County police release body camera footage of fatal Suitland shooting involving officer

Melvin Jay was one of those persons who just had a hoard of positive vibes around him. He loved his family dearly, Melvin Jays cousin, Malcom Jay, said.

A month since the incident, many filled the room at A Clarke Law for a press conference in collaboration with advocacy group, Harriets Wildest Dreams. The family says theyre still trying to wrap their head around what happened.

The pain we feel is immeasurable. And the questions swirling in our minds are endless. Our grief is raw, our anger is justified and our resolve is unwavering, said Melvin Jays cousin, Leonard Lee Jr.

Police responded to the apartment complex on the 5100 block of Suitland Rd. on Feb. 1 for an alleged break-in. The incident ended in officer Braxton Shelton firing his weapon one time which killed Melvin Jay. Officials say a gun was found inside Jays pocket and another by the sink.

On Monday the Maryland Attorney Generals Office released the body-worn camera footage. The video shows the moment Shelton entered the apartment, told Jay to put his hands up and fired the fatal shot.

Prince Georges County advocates push to end teen dating violence

Investigators later learned Jay was a resident at the home.

In a recorded statement, Police Chief Malik Aziz says the lease holder, who called 911, did not inform the dispatcher he knew two people including Melvin Jay were in the home.

We have to make sure that this incident doesnt happen in vain and someone learns from this, so that a moment like this doesnt happen again, said District 7 county Councilmember Krystal Oriadha. No matter the circumstances, he did not have to die.

The family is being represented by A Clarke Law Firm.

Were always told, think before you act and react so you wont regret your decision. Or make a decision that cannot be repaired,' Jade Mathis with A Clare Law, said. That rule should not be an exception just because youre wearing a uniform or a badge.

The family hopes to get justice for Melvin Jay and for anyone who may have lost their loved ones in the hands of police.

We will honor Melvins memory by seeking justice and by striving to create a world where tragedies like this never happen again, Lee said.

Speed cameras temporarily to go offline in Prince Georges County

Shelton was placed on paid leave since the incident.

DC News Now reached out to PGPD for comment but was referred to the Maryland Attorney Generals Office that is handling the investigation, but we did not hear back in time for publication.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Siraj Ibn Wahhaj was one of four people given life without parole. A fifth was jailed for 15 years (Handout)

Four adults who ran a heavily fortified compound and were awaiting the resurrection of a kidnapped toddler they thought could help them rid the world of the CIA, the FBI and the American military were given life sentences by a US judge on Wednesday.

A trial last year heard how the group had kidnapped a three-year-old in Georgia in December 2017 and taken him to a purpose-built training facility in rural New Mexico, from where they planned to wage war against what they thought were corrupt institutions.

A fifth person, Jany Leveille, a Haitian national who was the group's alleged spiritual leader, was given a 15-year sentence under a plea deal, a Department of Justice statement said.

Federal prosecutors who began the case against the five in 2018 said the compound was a facility for training the children to carry out school shootings.

While it was heavily fortified, there was no running water, no electricity and very little in the way of food.

The kidnapped child died days later, with Leveille prophesying he would come back to life in April the following year and then lead them against their enemies, killing anyone who refused to join their cult.

"In response, the group's firearms and tactical training ramped up in frequency, intensity, and complexity in anticipation of the Easter resurrection," the Justice Department statement said.

When that date came and went without a resurrection, she changed the forecast to a time later in the year.

Law enforcement officers raided the compound in August 2018, finding a number of malnourished children, who were handed over to child welfare authorities.

"While clearing the compound, weapons, ammunition, and training documents were discovered confirming intelligence that had been received," the Justice Department said.

A later search found the body of the three-year-old.

"The group intended to use the child as a prop in a plan to rid the world of purportedly corrupt institutions, including the FBI, CIA, and US military, and to kill those who did not convert and follow Leveille," the statement said.

Siraj Ibn Wahhaj -- the father of the kidnapped child -- his sisters Hujrah Wahhaj and Subhanah Wahhaj, and Subhanahs husband, Lucas Morton were all jailed for life without the possibility of parole.

Leveille will be deported on her release.

hg/des
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 8. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will pay an official visit to Turkiye on March 8, the Office of Public Relations of the President of Turkiye says, Trend reports.

It is reported that a detailed discussion of the progress of the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, the latest situation regarding the continuation of the Grain Corridor Agreement and permanent peace in the region is expected during the visit.

It is expected that Turkish-Ukrainian relations will be discussed at the meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Volodymyr Zelensky.
People confront the Navarra Foral Police during Farmers' protest at the back of the Parliament of Navarra, after trying to enter the Parliament while the General Budgets of Navarra for 2024 were being debated. Eduardo Sanz/EUROPA PRESS/dpa

Dozens of farmers in Spain have attempted to storm the regional parliament of the autonomous community of Navarre during a protest rally over fairer prices.

It was only with great difficulty that police units prevented the storming of the building in Pamplona on Thursday, where lawmakers were debating the budget of the autonomous community in the north of the country. Images broadcast on Spanish television showed officers using batons, but no injuries were reported.

Socialist regional president Maria Chivite criticized the violent action. "The speed with which the discourse of hatred and of delegitimizing institutions is progressing is very worrying," she told journalists. However, peaceful protest is permissible and must be respected, she added.

The farmers' protests have been going on in Spain for a month now. Tractors and other vehicles have repeatedly blocked motorways, roads and access roads to ports and wholesale markets. However, there have been no significant incidents to date.

In addition to fair prices, Spanish farmers are also demanding a stronger position in the food supply chain, stricter controls on imports from non-EU countries and fewer environmental regulations and bureaucracy.

The central government in Madrid has already made some concessions to farmers who help supply the whole of Europe with fruit and vegetables. However, these have been labelled insufficient by the farmers.

People confront the Navarra Foral Police during Farmers' protest at the back of the Parliament of Navarra, after trying to enter the Parliament while the General Budgets of Navarra for 2024 were being debated. Eduardo Sanz/EUROPA PRESS/dpa

People confront the Navarra Foral Police during Farmers' protest at the back of the Parliament of Navarra, after trying to enter the Parliament while the General Budgets of Navarra for 2024 were being debated. Eduardo Sanz/EUROPA PRESS/dpa

A woman is detained by the Navarra Foral Police during Farmers' protest at the back of the Parliament of Navarra, after trying to enter the Parliament while the General Budgets of Navarra for 2024 were being debated. Eduardo Sanz/EUROPA PRESS/dpa
The US Department of Labour filed a complaint against Tennessee's biggest pork producer.

Tosh Pork LLC is accused of retaliating against workers who asked about their wages.

It also said one worker found a pig's head at his workstation after discussing pay with managers.

The US Department of Labour filed a complaint and a motion seeking a temporary restraining order against Tennessee's biggest pork producer, which it accused of retaliating against workers who asked about pay.

In one incident, the DOL said in a press release, a Tosh Pork LLC employee found a severed pig's head at their workstation following a meeting with management about their wages. It didn't specify who left it there.

The Labor Department also claims that the employee was threatened with being fired during the meeting.

The DOL complaint says that Tosh Pork violated sections of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which safeguards workers' ability to ask about their wages.

The Act also prevents employers from discriminating against employees who have filed a complaint to the Wage and Hour Division.

The department alleged that another worker, who also cared for the farm's pigs, faced retaliation after asking about pay.

In that incident, the department said that the employee was assigned tasks unrelated to their usual responsibilities, which included cleaning offices, bathrooms, and pig waste.

After learning that the employee may have filed a complaint, Tosh Pork tried to force them to sign a document banning them from discussing pay issues with their colleagues, according to the Department of Labor.

"Tosh Pork's appalling actions and clear attempts to intimidate and retaliate against its employees will not be tolerated," Tremelle Howard, the DOL's regional solicitor in Atlanta, said in the news release.

In an email to Business Insider, Tosh Pork's veterinarian, Seth Krantz, refuted the allegations.

He said Tosh Pork seeks to follow the FLSA and treat employees "with dignity and respect."

Krantz added that the company intends to "defend itself in court."

The DOL investigation also found that the company owed five workers $39,375 in back wages along with $36,731 in penalties.

Read the original article on Business Insider
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN)  The father of a missing 7-year-old girl last seen in Murfreesboro is pleading for his daughters safe return home.

According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), Iris Crum was last seen on Friday, March 1 near Blue Fox Trail and is believed to be with her non-custodial mother.

PREVIOUS: TBI issues Endangered Child Alert for 7-year-old out of Rutherford County

Iris father, Anthony Crum, said he was supposed to pick her up that day after school, but that never happened.

I didnt know really what to think or how to feel. I was heartbroken andIm scared for my daughter, honestly, he said.

(Courtesy: Anthony Crum)

Officials described Iris as 5 feet tall and 80 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.

Shes not going to school. I dont know what kind of food or anything like that theyre eating, if anything at all, Anthony said.

 Have breaking come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts 

(Courtesy: TBI)

He described his daughter as a bubbly, smart, and loving little girl.

Shes a gentle, gentle, kind soul, and I just miss her to death, and I want her back, he said.

Anthony said there is also a clock running. He lives in San Diego and this trip to Tennessee was supposed to be a quick trip to get Iris. He said, sooner or later, he will run out of money for hotel rooms and need to get back to work, but he will keep searching for her for as long as he can.

Im here and Im not really going away. Im trying to fight for my child, Anthony said.

Anthony has started a GoFundMe to stay in Tennessee for as long as necessary.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

Authorities said Iris may be in the company of her non-custodial mother, 30-year-old Khaila Czereda, who is 5-feet 6-inches tall and 140 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. She is wanted by the Rutherford County Sheriffs Office for custodial interference.

If you see Iris or Czereda, or if you have any information regarding their whereabouts, you are asked to call the Rutherford County Sheriffs Office at 615-904-3055, or the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
Last month was the warmest February on record globally, the ninth straight month of historic high temperatures across the planet as climate change steers the world into "uncharted territory", Europe's climate monitor said Thursday.

The last year has seen an onslaught of storms, crop-withering drought and devastating fires, as human-caused climate change -- intensified by the naturally-occurring El Nino weather phenomenon -- stoked warming to likely the hottest levels in over 100,000 years.

Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) service last month said the period from February 2023 to January 2024 marked the first time Earth had endured 12 consecutive months of temperatures 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than the pre-industrial era.

That trend has continued, it confirmed in its latest monthly update, with February as a whole 1.77C warmer than the monthly estimate for 1850-1900, the pre-industrial reference period.

Temperatures spiked across swathes of the planet in February, from Siberia to South America, with Europe also registering its second warmest winter on record.

In the first half of the month, daily global temperatures were "exceptionally high", Copernicus said, with four consecutive days registering averages 2C higher than pre-industrial times -- just months after the world registered its first single day above that limit.

This was the longest streak over 2C on record, said C3S director Carlo Buontempo, adding the heat was "remarkable".

But it does not mark a breach of the 2015 Paris climate deal limit of "well below" 2C and preferably 1.5C, which is measured over decades.

Copernicus' direct data from across the planet goes back to the 1940s, but Buontempo said that taking into account what scientists know about historical temperatures "our civilization has never had to cope with this climate".

"In that sense, I think the definition of uncharted territory is appropriate," he told AFP, adding global warming posed an unprecedented challenge to "our cities, our culture, our transport system, our energy system".

- Ocean records -

Sea surface temperatures were the highest for any month on record, Copernicus said, smashing the previous heat extremes seen in August 2023 with a new high of just over 21C at the end of the month.

Oceans cover 70 percent of the planet and have kept the Earth's surface liveable by absorbing 90 percent of the excess heat produced by the carbon pollution from human activity since the dawn of the industrial age.

Hotter oceans mean more moisture in the atmosphere, leading to increasingly erratic weather, like fierce winds and powerful rain.

The cyclical El Nino, which warms the sea surface in the southern Pacific leading to hotter weather globally, is expected to fizzle out by early summer, Buontempo said.

He added that the transition to the cooling La Nina phenomenon may happen faster than expected, potentially decreasing the chances that 2024 will be another record-breaking year.

- Fossil fuelled heat-

While the El Nino and other effects have played a role in the unprecedented recent heat, scientists stressed that the greenhouse gas emissions that humans continue to pump into the atmosphere were the main culprit.

The UN's IPCC climate panel has warned that the world will likely crash through 1.5C in the early 2030s.

Planet-heating emissions, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels, continue to rise when scientists say they need to fall by almost half this decade.

Countries at UN climate negotiations in Dubai last year agreed to triple global renewables capacity this decade and "transition away" from fossil fuels.

But the deal lacked important details, with governments now under pressure to strengthen their climate commitments in the short term and for beyond 2030.

"We know what to do -- stop burning fossil fuels and replace them with more sustainable, renewable sources of energy," said Friederike Otto, of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London.

"Until we do that, extreme weather events intensified by climate change will continue to destroy lives and livelihoods."

bl-klm/yad
[Source]

A federal judge in Texas has ruled that the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), created 55 years ago to assist minority-owned businesses, must now provide its services to white individuals as well.

The ruling: The decision followed a lawsuit filed by white business owners who were denied MBDA services, claiming discrimination and arguing that the agency's policies were unconstitutional. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, found that MBDA's presumption of inherent disadvantage for minority-owned businesses violated the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause.

About MBDA: According to its website, the MBDA, established in 1969 by the Nixon administration, is the only federal agency solely dedicated to the growth and global competitiveness of minority business enterprises, including those belonging to Asians, Latinos, African Americans and Native Americans, among others.

Services for all: The recent ruling now permanently prohibits the agency from considering race or ethnicity in determining assistance eligibility.

Trending on NextShark: Indian painter gets brain-dead woman's hands in rare bilateral hand transplant

If courts mean what they say when they ascribe supreme importance to constitutional rights, the federal government may not flagrantly violate such rights with impunity, Pittman wrote. The MBDA has done so for years. Times up.

Setback for affirmative action: This ruling follows the Supreme Court's June decision against race-conscious college admissions, indicating a setback for government affirmative action programs. While the conservative law firm representing the plaintiffs sees the decision as a historic victory for equality, this is signaling a widespread legal challenge for affirmative action and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in both private and public sectors.

Conservatives have reportedly been increasingly utilizing federal courts in Texas to challenge federal programs, with the Fort Worth division of the Northern District of Texas being a favored venue due to its conservative leaning.

Trending on NextShark: Asian family donates $5 million to Black students in honor of family who helped them

Download the NextShark App:

Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
FIRST ON FOX: A new report from the House Judiciary Committee and its Weaponization Subcommittee revealed that the federal government conducted "broad" and "unjustified" surveillance of Americans' private financial data through financial institutions, while suggesting banks use information from anti-conservative organizations' lists of "hate symbols" to determine potential persons of interest.

Fox News Digital first obtained the committee's report, titled "Financial Surveillance in the United States: How Federal Law Enforcement Commandeered Financial Institutions to Spy on Americans."

'ALARMING' SURVEILLANCE: FEDS ASKED BANKS TO SEARCH PRIVATE TRANSACTIONS FOR TERMS LIKE MAGA, TRUMP

"The Committee on the Judiciary and its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government are charged by the House of Representatives with upholding fundamental American civil liberties," the report states. "As a part of this mission, the Committee and Select Subcommittee have uncovered startling evidence that the federal government was engaged in broad financial surveillance, prying into the private transactions of American consumers."

The report states that the "financial surveillance was not predicated on any specific evidence of particularized criminal conduct and, even worse, it keyed on terms and specific transactions that concerned core political and religious expression protected by the Constitution."

Fox News Digital first reported that following the events of Jan. 6, 2021, federal law enforcement officials from the Treasury Departments Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the FBI initiated multiple discussions with financial institutions.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan holds a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on October 20, 2023 in Washington, DC.

"These meetings were geared toward discussing options for financial institutions to share customer information voluntarily with federal law enforcement outside of normal legal process," the report states.

Fox News Digital first reported that federal investigators asked banks to search and filter customer transactions by using terms like "MAGA" and "Trump," and warned that purchases of "religious texts" could indicate "extremism." Fox News Digital also first reported that the officials suggested that banks query transactions with keywords like Dick's Sporting Goods, Cabela's, Bass Pro Shops and more.

FEDS SUGGESTED BANKS SEARCH TRANSACTIONS FOR TERMS LIKE 'BIDEN,' 'ANTIFA' AND MORE AFTER JAN 6: SOURCES

Fox News Digital also first reported that additional search terms included: "White Power," "Camp Auschwitz," "Antifa," "Proud B," "Storm, the," "Capitol," "Groyper Army," "Threepers," "boogaloo," "civil war," "last sons," "kill," "shoot," "gun," "death," "murder," "Biden," "Kamala," "Pelosi," "Schumer" and "Pence."

"Despite these transactions having no criminal nexus, FinCEN seems to have adopted a characterization of these Americans as potential threat actors and subject to surveillance," the report states.

A source familiar with the documents held by the House Judiciary Committee told Fox News Digital that while Jan. 6, 2021, was the "impetus" for the queries and searches, he documents the committee has obtained do not reveal any specific time frames or limitations for banks searching customer transactions with the terms. The source said the federal government used the information for investigations beyond Jan. 6.

It is unclear if the terms are still being used by banks to search private transactions.

Meanwhile, the report revealed that FinCEN, in a January 16, 2021 email, shared with financial institutions a hyperlink to "relevant terms" from the Anti-Defamation League website. The report refers to the ADL as a "notorious anti-conservative activist group."

"In advance of today's discussion, we have attached a slide from FinCEN containing some key terms applicable to matters related to racially and ethnically motivated violent extremism (REMVE), which may have application to the capitol riots and related activity," the email from FinCEN states. FinCEN added that "many additional relevant terms maybe found on the Anti-Defamation League website."

The report states the "hate symbols" that ADL recommended monitoring included the "Celtic Cross," the "Okay Hand Gesture," "Pepe the Frog," and "White Lives Matter" as hate symbols.

"It should alarm Americans that FinCEN approved of and distributed a link to a database that considers symbols of faith such as the Christian Celtic Cross and other images opposing Antifa, a violent left-wing anarchist groupas hate symbols," the report states. "This practice is reminiscent of the FBIs disdain for Radical Traditionalist Catholics, and the FBIs reliance on the Southern Poverty Law Centeranother far-left activist groupas an authoritative source on the Catholic Church."

The report states that FinCEN also circulated a hyperlink to a report authored by the ISD.

"The ISD is a left-wing organization that holds itself out as an independent monitor of disinformation that promotes the censorship of speech it decrees as false or extreme," the report states. "FinCEN's distribution of the ISD report amounts to an approval of its content, its methods, and its conclusions. Such an endorsement is concerning because the ISD report labels and demonizes various right-of-center groups in America as hate groups.'"

The ISD report "incorrectly characterizes several conservative groups such as the Center for Immigration Studies, Numbers USA, the Alliance Defending Freedom, along with several others, as 'hate groups,'" the report states. "In fact, the ISDs report draws a false equivalency between certain conservative civil society groups and the American Nazi Party and the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, suggesting FinCEN views them equally."

The report added: "Still, FinCEN circulated the ISD report to some of the largest financial institutions in the world, including the very financial institutions that are likely responsible for providing financial services to many of the listed hate groups, without regard for the chilling effect it would have on protected speech and its potential to be weaponized against the groups by financial institutions."

When asked for comment, a Treasury Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that "FinCENs mission is to safeguard the financial system from illicit use, combat money laundering and its related crimes including terrorism, and promote national security through the strategic use of financial authorities and the collection, analysis, and dissemination of financial intelligence."

"FinCEN is deeply committed to fulfilling this important national security and criminal justice mission in accordance with the law," the spokesperson said.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan told Fox News Digital that the committees' report "shows that the surveillance of Americans' private financial data was broad, unjustified, and jeopardized fundamental civil liberties."

The committee's investigation is ongoing.





Original article source: Feds conducted 'broad' and 'unjustified' surveillance of Americans' private financial data: House Judiciary
Photos of Diego Ibarra wearing attire linked to a Venezuela prison gang.

Federal authorities are expected to show evidence at a bond hearing Thursday for Diego Ibarra that he may be affiliated with the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Ibarra, 29, is the brother of Jose Antonio Ibarra, the 26-year-old undocumented immigrant from Venezuela charged with the murder of nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus on Feb. 22.

Diego Ibarra is charged with possessing a fake green card and is scheduled for a bond hearing on Thursday morning before a U.S. Magistrate Court judge in Macon. Both brothers were arrested the day after Riley's slaying. Diego Ibarra was not linked to the slaying.

In a motion filed Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Morrison cited reasons for Ibarra to remain in federal custody prior to his trial on the fraud charge, which carries up to10 years in prison.

Previously: Federal hearing delayed for Diego Ibarra, brother of alleged killer Jose Ibarra

While the motion cited his unlawful entry into the U.S., and his arrests in Athens, the document also goes into detail about the suspects possible affiliation with a gang that has had violent confrontations with law enforcement in New York and has members in Texas, Illinois, Florida and Georgia. The gang originated in a prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua, according to the federal paper.

One fact that linked Ibarra to the gang are tattoos found on the suspects face and neck and photos that show him displaying known gang hand signals. The gang frequently wears Chicago Bulls attire and agents located photographs of him wearing such clothing.

In addition, the agent located a photo of him holding a firearm, which is illegal for a non-citizen in the U.S. to possess.

These facts, according to the document, will be used Thursday to request that the judge keep Ibarra in confinement.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Feds expected to show gang ties to brother of UGA murder suspect
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  A man charged in a scam that netted $700,000 from a tribal casino near Hartford may have spent the ill-gotten cash on expensive trailers and gold coins, federal court documents allege.

Jesus Gaytan-Garcia, 43, faces a federal charge of theft from an Indian tribal organization, court documents released Wednesday by prosecutors show.

THE HEIST

A criminal complaint written by an FBI agent says that on July 30, 2023, Hartford Four Winds Casino got a call from someone claiming to be the tribal chair, saying he needed to talk with the cash cage manager. At the same time, she started getting text messages from someone purporting to be her boss, saying he needed her help to make an urgent payment with in the next 20 min,' the document says.

She seemed to believe the men on the phones, federal prosecutors said. The criminal complaint says surveillance video shows her take seven bundles of money from a bank drawer and put them into a large Michael Kors handbag. Then she simply walked out of the casino.

A file image of Four Winds Hartford Casino.

One of her co-workers, sensing something was wrong, called casino security and explained she had watched the supervisor leave the cage with a bag full of money.

The bundles totaled $700,000, investigators say.

The cash cage supervisor later told investigators that she followed the instructions of the men on the phone, got in her car and drove toward Indiana. At one point, they told her to stop at the Walmart in Benton Harbor and buy a prepaid cellphone. She did it.

(S)urveillance footage from the Walmart showed (the cash cage supervisor) covering the bag with the money inside her car with a piece of clothing while she entered the store, the criminal complaint reads.

Workers in casino con: Victims or villains?

Still on the phone, the woman ultimately took the money to a gas station in Gary, Indiana, the document says. There, she was met by two men in a minivan.

(She) then handed each bundle of money individually to one of the men, the complaint says. They left.

She contacted her boss  the one she apparently thought she had been texting with  and told him where she was. Local police showed up and arrested her.

The cash cage supervisor was initially charged with the theft, but those charges were later dropped.

BUNDLE OF CASH MARKED $10,000

Prosecutors say that it took months, but the FBI and Pokagon Tribal Police were eventually able to identify Gaytan-Garcia as one of the men at the gas station.

The criminal complaint says the cash cage supervisor described the minivan, so they used automated license plate readers to find the right make and model in the area of the gas station when she handed over the money. That led them to a minivan registered to Gaytan-Garcias wife. Cellphone and internet geolocation records later confirmed he traveled from Chicago to Gary on July 30, lining up with the time the woman gave the men the money, the document says.

When agents searched his home in Chicago on Feb. 28, the document says, they found a bundle of $100 bills in a safe. The bundle was wrapped in a paper band with the word Hartford stamped on it and dated the day of the theft. Its marked as $10,000.

An evidence photo released by the U.S. Attorneys Office shows some of the money stolen from the Hartford casino in July 2023.

Gaytan-Garcia wasnt at the house when the search happened, the document says, but his adult daughter told investigators that after late July 2023, (he) seemed to suddenly have a lot of money. He bought two trailers for about $90,000 each and several gold coins, the daughter said, according to the complaint.

His wife, now estranged from him, added that on July 30, she saw a lot of money on the table in the garage  in $100 denominations, the document says.

It adds that on July 30 and 31, Gaytan-Garcia sent wire transfers of $1,300 and about $1,830 to Jalisco, Mexico.

Gaytan-Garcia was arrested four days after the search. The criminal complaint says he is from Mexico and is in the U.S. illegally. It also says that the phone number from the July 30 call to the casino had a Cancun area code.

The amount of money involved in this theft is extraordinary, U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a Wednesday release. Unfortunately, instances of telephone scams at casinos are on the rise across the country, impacting both tribal and commercial gaming operations. Thanks to the dedicated, joint investigation of Pokagon Tribal Police and the FBI, we were able to identify and arrest one of the perpetrators of this scheme that targeted the Hartford Four Winds Casino.

NEVADA CASINOS WARNED OF SCAMMERS

Weeks before that all happened, the gaming industry warned casinos about a phone scam targeting cage workers. The Nevada Gaming Control Board said it was a sophisticated con that was surprisingly effective in defrauding casinos.

The calls appear to come from internal casino numbers and could use artificial intelligence to mimic high-level executives. The crooks convince workers to break security protocols and bring money to an off-site location.

Theres probably an intimidation factor there, Derk Boss, the president of the International Association of Certified Surveillance Professionals, who has worked in casino security for 40 years, previously told Target 8. Its just like, hey, the general manager or the president says, I need to get this money and it sounds plausible.  I think its just that kind of intimidation that you might get in trouble really helped this along.

Target 8 investigator Susan Samples contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
Fewer Americans than last year see Chinas economic power as a critical threat to the United States, a new poll shows.

The Gallup poll found that 51 percent of Americans consider Chinas economic power to be a critical threat, which Gallup notes is 13 percentage points lower from last year.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents said the threat of Chinas economic power was important, but not critical, while 9 percent said it was not important at all.

The poll questioned respondents on the seriousness of perceived threats to U.S. interests in Gallups World Affairs survey.

The poll also fell in line with other surveys that found immigration is becoming a growing issue for many Americans.

A record-high of 55 percent of respondents said large numbers of migrants entering the U.S. illegally was a critical threat  up 8 points from this time last year. Thirty-one percent said the threat of migrants entering illegally was important, but not critical, while 14 percent said it was not an issue at all.

Cyberterrorism topped the list of the most critical threats to the U.S., with 79 percent saying so. Seventy-seven percent said the development of nuclear weapons by Iran and 73 percent said the development of nuclear weapons by North Korea were also critical threats.

Gallup noted that perceptions of critical threats were divided along party lines. Republicans were more likely to list immigration and the military and economic power of China as critical threats than Democrats. Democrats were more likely to view global warming and the Russia-Ukraine war as critical threats than Republicans were, the poll found.

The poll was conducted Feb. 1-20 among 1,016 adults and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
My fiance and I went to a divorce lawyer before our wedding. These were our 5 biggest takeaways.

Once my fiance and I got engaged, we met with a divorce attorney for legal advice about marriage.

Couples should understand marital property laws and their fiduciary duties once they're married.

Engaged couples who are considering a prenup should draft the agreement collaboratively.

Immediately after getting engaged, I had a panic attack.

I'd been dating my fiance for over three years and even though I knew him well and loved him dearly, I worried about how our relationship would change.

You can't walk into marriage without paying attention to the most popular statistic surrounding it: Around half of married couples in the US will get divorced, according to the American Psychological Association.

That lingered in my brain as I began to choose a venue, draft a guest list, and pick out items for our registry. It haunted me so much that after being engaged for five months, I sat my fiance down and told him how I felt.

At first, he didn't even want to humor the conversation. But the more I brought it up (at least twice a day for a week), the more he agreed that meeting with a divorce lawyer was a good idea.

That way, we'd be better equipped to walk into a legally binding relationship without any surprises.

We chatted with Jennifer Hargrave, a divorce attorney and managing partner at Hargrave Family Law, about the main things engaged couples need to know before tying the knot.

Couples should have an understanding of their state's marital-property laws

Marital property laws vary from state to state, jacoblund/ iStock

I had no idea that once you get married, any assets you or your spouse acquire or earn during the marriage become marital property.

"All of your funds and assets, retirement funds and savings account, all come into play and it's considered part of the marital estate and is subject to be divided," Hargrave said.

Marital-property laws vary from state to state, so it's important to look into how your finances and assets will blend after your marriage becomes official.

If there are assets you want to keep just to yourself, then you might want to consider a prenup or postnup to make sure they're protected in the case of a future divorce.

Married couples owe each other fiduciary duties

Hargrave also taught us about fiduciary duties, which are the legal obligations spouses owe each other, namely honesty and good faith.

"Couples owe each other fiduciary duties  this means, you should not be lying, cheating, or stealing from your spouse," she said. "Hiding spending on extramarital activities, such as gambling or paramours, is  in most states as far as I know  a big no-no."

She continued, "But also, this might mean not giving big gifts to family members (like loans you know will never be repaid), or engaging in risky investment opportunities."

When you fail to abide by honesty and good faith, the other party may bring a claim for "breach of fiduciary duty" in divorce.

Before getting married, partners should have a conversation about privacy

Although my partner and I have never had arguments or disagreements around privacy, it was worth discussing how we feel about certain issues, like giving each other access to our business financial accounts and looking at each other's phones.

"You do not have the right to snoop around on your spouse's password-protected accounts," Hargrave said. "That being said, you might want to talk about how you will address privacy and your expectations for transparency in your relationship."

She added, "Doing things like installing spyware, keylogger tracker, or tracking devices can be criminal."

Have a serious conversation about children early on

crib nursery

Not having a conversation about potential children could cause problems later.New Africa/Shutterstock

Hargrave made it clear that couples also need to have conversations about subjects that don't apply to their present-day lives.

Big topics  like whether you want to have children  can become relationship shakers in the future if you don't get on the same page before getting married.

"Are you going to have kids? It's important to know that both parents have a duty to support their children  it's not uncommon for parents to divide and conquer those duties, with one parent taking on more of the financial responsibilities, and another parent taking on more of the childcare responsibilities," she said.

"It's good to have a general idea before you tie the knot, exactly what your expectations are regarding children and responsibilities," she added.

Not having conversations about these potential life-changers could lead to a lot of stress and tears later on.

Consider drafting a prenuptial agreement  the right way

Before getting engaged, I never considered getting a prenup, but I also didn't know much about it. The word carries such a negative connotation and seems like something only wealthy people have.

But after chatting with Hargrave, I realized it can be a nice way to lay everything out on the table and have a plan in case the relationship ever ends.

"If you all are considering a prenup, you need to carefully consider the process you choose for doing the prenup," she said. "Most of the time, one partner will go hire a lawyer, have the lawyer draft a standard prenup, that prenup is handed to the other partner who is told to get a lawyer and review it."

She explained that the better way to prepare a prenup is to do it collaboratively.

"Do it where you both have an opportunity to talk about what your goals and interests are with regard to the marriage, and the prenup, and then together to make decisions about how you will handle property issues upon death and divorce," Hargrave said.

She told us that the couples she's worked with "come out of this process feeling heard and loved" when it's done this way.

It sounds dramatic, but meeting with a divorce lawyer before our wedding was actually eye-opening

Meeting with the lawyer was actually very beneficial. Jen Glantz for Insider

Meeting with a divorce lawyer before getting married helped us understand how our relationship, money, and lives would change after we signed on the dotted line of our marriage license.

It also opened the door for us to have serious and important conversations we'd never have known to have.

In the end, it's something we recommend other couples do. You might have to explore some awkward topics around money, privacy, and assets, but I think it's better to get those out of the way before walking down the aisle.

This story was originally published in December 2020 and most recently updated on March 7, 2024.

Read More:

Read the original article on Business Insider
ROME  Italian shipyard Fincantieri is in talks with Italys Leonardo to buy the latters torpedo unit for 200-300 million (U.S. $218-326 million), a source with knowledge of the negotiations told Defense News.

The move by Fincantieri reflects the state-controlled yards push to beef up its defense business, which currently accounts for 40% of overall revenue; the remainder comes from offshore and cruise ship work.

For more than a decade Leonardo has searched on and off for a buyer or partner for its torpedo unit known as WASS. The companys primary focus is aircraft, helicopters and high-tech electronics.

A spokesperson for Fincantieri declined to comment for this story.

WASS, which stands for Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei, traces its origins to Englishman John Whitehead, who developed the worlds first effective self-propelled torpedo in 1875 in Fiume  then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and now in Croatia.

In 1995, WASS became part of the Italian group Finmeccanica, which has since been renamed Leonardo.

Fincantieri CEO Pierroberto Folgiero told Defense News in December he was keen on ramping up his firms undersea defense business, a sector the company predicts will be worth 94 billion between 2024 and 2030.

We will be an integrator, deciding whether to make or buy systems, Folgiero said at the time, adding that Fincantieri would also harness oil and gas technology for subsea defense needs.

As part of its ambitions, Fincantieri is a partner at a new subsea center in La Spezia, Italy, bringing together industry, the Italian Navy and academia to work on programs.

Fincantieri also signed a deal with Leonardo last year to work on drones to protect undersea cables and pipelines. And in December, Fincantieri purchased Italian firm Remazel, which manages subsea operations for the oil and gas sector.

The firm also signed a memorandum of understanding to work with W-Sense, an Italian startup using Norwegian technology to develop underwater communications based on acoustic and optical signals.

It also struck a deal to work with C.A.B.I. Cattaneo, an Italian supplier of underwater vehicles to Italys naval special forces. Last year, the Navy ordered a third U212 NFS submarine from Fincantieri.

On Thursday, Fincantieri released its results for 2023, which showed orders last year reached 6.6 billion, up from 5.3 billion the year before, while revenues rose 2.8% to 7.65 billion and are expected to reach 8 billion this year.

The firm reported a 53 million loss, against a 324 million loss in 2022.

According to Defense News Top 100 list, Fincantieri is the 48th largest company in the world based on defense-related revenue.
Credit - Karim MansouriGetty Images

It was dark and windy the evening of Sunday, September 8, 2019, when Luis Alberto Quinonezeveryone called him Sitoand his girlfriend, Ariana Bassard, left his girlfriends mothers new apartment in San Franciscos Mission District. Sito noticed that one of the tires on his car seemed low on air. After reinflating it at a service station, Sito made a quick, hard right into heavy traffic, which caused his girlfriend Arianna to drop her cell phone underneath her seat. They pulled over around the corner so she could retrieve it.

A young man in a hooded sweatshirt stepped up to the cars drivers-side window, raised an automatic pistol to the glass, and started shooting. By the time the shooter finished, 21 cartridges littered the car, inside and out. Seventeen of those bullets had cut through Sitos neck, shoulder, chest, and stomach. Arianna survived. Sito did not.

Sito was my stepsons half-brother. His murder forced my family to grapple with the cyclical tragedy of gang violence, vengeance, and an indifferent criminal justice system. Whenever I reflect on the circumstances of his death, one question keeps coming back to haunt me: when a life is extinguished by street violence, how does a victims family heal?

This question isnt new to me, but the personal context is. As a professor of Anthropology and Public Affairs at Princeton, my work focuses on patterns and cultures of American urban violence. For a very long time, I have been aware of the terrible effects of incarcerating young people. But it wasnt until Sitos murder that I really understood how worthless a victims family can be made to feel in their encounter with the criminal justice systemespecially if, in the past, the system has treated them or their loved ones as perpetrators.

This humanity and care are rarely available to those caught up in this countrys justice system, especially the juvenile justice system. Sito was one of these young people: when he was 14 years old, Sito was accused of murdering a former classmate. He spent five months in the San Francisco Youth Guidance Center (otherwise known as juvenile hall) while the district attorney decided whether to try him as an adult. Sito was lucky: a private investigator uncovered surveillance footage of the attack, showing clearly that Sito did not kill the young man. The DA dropped the charges against Sito, and he was released.

Read More: Youth Prisons Dont Work. Heres What Does.

But despite the clearing of Sitos name, it was far from cleared in a practical senseand just about everyone who goes through the system can tell a similar tale. In the shadow of a wrongful accusation, the accused and their families often bear the stigma of a criminal label both with the public and in their personal lives. Wrongful accusation typically results in severe post-traumatic stress, and that murder allegation would haunt Sito for the rest of his short life. Five years after he was accused of this murder, Sito was murdered by the young mans little brother, who could not be convinced that Sito wasnt responsible for his brothers death.

This tragic cycle of violenceplayed out in my family here, but typical for families across the U.S. dealing with the pervasiveness and pain of urban violencehas forced me to think about accountability in new ways. It is my firm belief that the people whom the system accused of crimes, wrongfully or not, need to be humanized at every step of the processfrom the moment a news story about a crime breaks to when the gavel sounds and a verdict is announced.

Humanizing both victims and perpetrators of violence may seem like a simple and obvious strategy. Of course, it isnt: Violence provokes compassion for the victim, and oftentimes, rage against the perpetrator. This is especially true within the criminal justice system, where one or the other emotion is considered an appropriate responsebut never both, and never at the same time. The system is designed to crush complexity because of this binary, which is then relentlessly reduced to slogans and soundbites on social media.

Read More: The Path to Redemption for Our Criminal Justice System

But what if we could embrace the grey areas of this binary rather than diminish it, and instead, promote healthy debates regarding imprisonment? Because in doing so, we might begin to recognize that people who commit crimesor are even just accused of doing soare human beings worthy of empathy and care just as much as crime victims.

To help the public grapple with hot button issues like crime and violence, our institutions must dedicate themselves to reducing misinformation about crimes existingand spreadingin the first place. Schools, for example, should promote media literacy programs to educate individuals about verifying information before sharing. Social media platforms should continue to enforce strict policies against the spread of false information, flagging misinformation while empowering users to report incorrect information. And responsible reporting by the news media would ensure that when someone like Sito is exonerated of a crime, official sources, such as police statements and government announcements, amplify this news. The result would be a more sober, equitable, and humane approach to criminal accountability.

Before Sitos murder, I did not know that I could experience compassion and rage at the same time. Yet in writing about his life and death, I came to see that our society needs a form of accountability that blends these seemingly contradictory emotions. As an alternative to criminal punishment, restorative justice allows for that possibility.

In some settings, victims and offenders communicate directly with one another so that the perpetrator can acknowledge fault and offer some form of restitution to the victim. The victim, in turn, may forgive the perpetrator, bringing a sense of closure to the crime. The perpetrator may also become more willing to embark on a journey of self-improvement. In other settings, community stakeholders publicly discuss their grief, and the perpetrator receives their messages later. Whether the victims communication with the perpetrator is private and direct or public and indirect, the goal is for the victim and the perpetrator to understand each other betteror at least stop thinking of each other as enemies. Researchers have proven that restorative justice reduces imprisonment (and therefore costs to the system), provides greater satisfaction for both victims and offenders, and decreases recidivism rates.

Restorative justice is as much a mindset as it is a collection of standardized techniques. Its core principles include public accountability and a commitment to investigating the root causes of wrongful acts. Can we borrow something of this model, and apply it to the criminal justice system, more broadly? To reject complexity and yearn for purity, is, after all, to turn away from the intricate nature of the human situation. We do so at our periland at the expense of young lives that could be so much more.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
A court in Finland sentenced Estonian-French businessman Gabriel Temin to nine months probation on March 7 after dismissing most of the charges brought against him in a sanctions evasion case.

This is the first sentencing in Finland related to violations of sanctions against Russia, according to Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.

The Ita-Uusimaa district court sentenced Temin, who has been sanctioned by the EU and U.S., to a nine-month suspended prison sentence for exporting equipment to Russia via Kazakhstan.

Trade data shows that central Asian countries like Kazakhstan have increased their exports of dual-use goods to Russia since 2022. Acting as a third-party country, sanctioned goods can be imported from the EU and re-exported to Russia.

Through two of his companies, Siberica and Luminor, Temin was accused of exporting goods to Russia that are prohibited under EU sanctions.

According to local newspaper Iisalmi Sanomat, the prosecutors listed 30 individual acts of sanctions evasion, but the court convicted Temin of just two crimes.

Siberica exported goods "between August and September 2022, where customs had been notified of the destination as Kazakhstan, but the goods had gone to St. Petersburg," Iisalmi Sanomat reported.

According to the newspaper, Temin was sent tools to Russia with a total value of 4,500 euros ($5,000). The court ruled this was a regulatory crime.

Temin's other company, Luminor, bought devices designed to block drones worth 400,000 euros ($436,000) from Taiwan.

Luminor then sold this equipment to Kazakhstan "without the required permit for the export of supplies, and it was suspected that they might have ended up in Russia's military operation" in Ukraine, Helsingin Sanomat said.

The court ruled, however, that there was "not sufficient evidence that the destination of the goods was Russia." The court declared Temin had committed a crime by exporting the goods from Finland.

Temin was also accused of exporting 3,500 drones to Russia, but the court ruled that there was only "circumstantial evidence" to demonstrate that the drones were intentionally exported to Russia.

Temin exported the goods between 2022 and 2023.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
A fire broke out at the Kazan Higher Tank Command School in Russia's Tatarstan, the state-owned news agency TASS reported on March 7, claiming no casualties.

According to TASS, emergency services have localized the fire, which may have started due to faulty electrical wiring.

The school, located in the Tatarstan Republic's capital of Kazan, trains Russian military cadets for tank units.

0:00

/

1

Russian Telegram channel Baza claimed that the fire impacted the school's barracks and later spread to the roof.

Another Telegram channel, Shot, claimed that evacuations had been completed, reporting no injuries.

The city of Kazan is home to over 1 million residents and lies over 700 kilometers (435 miles) east of the Russian capital, Moscow. An explosion followed by fire at the city's tank training ground was reported last April.

Another incident was reported on March 6 in the far-eastern Russian city of Shagonar north of the Mongolian border. An explosion in a boiler room of a local heating station left thousands of people without heat while killing one person and injuring dozens more.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
One person was taken to the hospital after a house fire in Preble County.

Eaton firefighters and Preble County sheriffs deputies were dispatched at 6:26 a.m. to the 4200 block of Washington Jackson Road on initial reports of a structure fire.

>> PHOTOS: Firefighters respond to house fire in Preble County

Upon arrival, there was heavy fire from the rear of the house and heavy smoke conditions, according to the Preble County Sheriffs Office.

There were two residents and a couple of pets inside when the fire started. One resident made it out and the other was rescued quickly after crews got on the scene.

The person was transported to Kettering Health Preble and then transferred to Miami Valley Hospital, the sheriffs office said. Medflight did respond to the scene to assist.

Photos from the scene show smoke coming from the house and several firefighters medics at the scene.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

We will continue updating this story as we learn more.

Photo from: Adam Ewry/Staff

Photo from: Adam Ewry/Staff

Photo from: Adam Ewry/Staff

Photo from: Adam Ewry/Staff

Photo from: Adam Ewry/Staff

Photo from: Adam Ewry/Staff

Photo from: Adam Ewry/Staff

Photo from: Adam Ewry/Staff
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - More than 100,000 people are expected in St. Pete this weekend for the 20th Firestone Grand Prix.

St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said his agency, along with several state and federal partners, will keep everyone safe, monitoring the event by land, water and air.

"It's just like our Super Bowl here," Chief Holloway said. "You have international guests coming in, over 100,000 people, roughly, in the next three days. So, this is a big event. It's a national event. It's going to be televised. So, we just want everybody to know that it is safe. But the best way we can continue to make it safe is by having people notify us when they see something suspicious," he said.

READ: Foodie Labs brings in ghost kitchen hub to St. Pete takeout scene

Its the first Grand Prix for the St. Pete Police Departments new command center thats equipped with the latest technology. They deployed it for the first time earlier this year. The department also will have four trailers stationed across the area with four cameras each. The command center can tap into all of those cameras, plus all of the citys cameras.

"Were going to have officers in uniform, and we also will have officers in plain clothes. We also have our federal partners that are giving us intel information," Holloway said.

Holloway also advises those attending the event to keep a close eye on your belongings.

"Please make sure you keep track of your wallets, your purse and your cell phone because those are some of the things that people like to take," he said.

Small bags, no bigger than a backpack, refillable water bottles, aerosol sunscreen and cameras along with camera stands are allowed. Pets, other than service animals, drones, coolers, stadium seats and chairs and weapons are prohibited.

READ: Community policing in Treasure Island, officers testing out e-bikes

"This is certainly a premiere event of the destination," Brian Lowack, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater CEO, said. "It's right at the top of our Mount Rushmore. This and a couple other events throughout the destination are what we look forward to and what we prepare for all year," Lowack said.

Lowack said last years Grand Prix contributed $37 million in direct spending, and more than $61 million in overall economic impact. He expects this year to be even bigger, and the fact that the race is televised will be like free advertising for the region, Lowack said.

"People, they see the race, they see our destination highlighted for those three hours of the coverage, and they say, Hey, maybe I want to come there. That waterfront looks great. I see the Dali in the background. Look at those beautiful restaurants on Beach Drive," Lowack said.

Lowack said the tax revenue generated by visitors goes towards beach renourishment, spring training facilities and other things that will increase tourism and that residents can benefit from. He said while several locals attend the Grand Prix, 80 percent of attendees are from outside of Pinellas County, whether that be other parts of Florida, other parts of the country, or outside of the country.

Event organizers announced Wednesday that all four mayors whove held office since the first Grand Prix in St. Pete, including current Mayor Ken Welch, will be the grand marshals this year.

Chief Holloway says to plan for heavy traffic if youre attending. Parking will be available at Tropicana Field in Lots 1 and 2 for $15 per day. There will also be a free shuttle from Tropicana Field to the racecourse with pick-up on 10th Street South and drop-off at Second Street South and Fifth Avenue South.

SIGN UP: Click here to sign up for the FOX 13 daily newsletter

WATCH FOX 13 NEWS
Nora Al Matrooshi (R) waves during the graduation ceremony for NASA Artemis astronaut candidates at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on March 5, 2024 (Mark Felix)

Like her ancestors before her, Emirati astronaut Nora AlMatrooshi has spent much of her life gazing up at the stars and dreaming of flying to the Moon.

This week, she became the first Arab woman to graduate from NASA's training program, ready to blast off into the cosmos.

AlMatrooshi, 30, remembers an elementary school lesson about space in which her teacher simulated a trip to the lunar surface, complete with arts-and-crafts spacesuits and a tent for a rocket ship.

"We got out of the tent, and we saw that she had turned off the lights in our classroom. She had everything covered in gray cloth, and she was telling us that we were on the surface of the Moon," AlMatrooshi told AFP.

"That day resonated with me, and it stuck with me. And I remember thinking, 'This is amazing. I actually want to do this for real, I want to actually get to the surface of the Moon.' And that's when it all started," she recalled, dressed in a blue flight suit embroidered with her name and the UAE flag.

AlMatrooshi, a mechanical engineer by training who has worked in the oil industry, was one of two astronaut candidates chosen by the United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA) in 2021 to enroll in a training program with US space agency NASA.

Now, after two years of hard work -- including practice spacewalks -- AlMatrooshi, her fellow Emirati Mohammad AlMulla and 10 others in their training class are fully qualified astronauts.

The group, known as "The Flies," are now eligible for NASA missions to the International Space Station (ISS), Artemis launches to the Moon and, if all goes well, to even fly to Mars.

The UAESA announced earlier this year plans to build the airlock -- a specialized doorway -- for Gateway, the space station in development to someday orbit the Moon.

"I want to push humanity further than it's ever been before. I want humanity to go back to the Moon, and I want humanity to go further beyond the Moon," AlMatrooshi said.

"And I want to be part of that journey."

Though AlMatrooshi is the first to graduate from NASA, other Arab women have already participated in private space missions, including Saudi biomedical researcher Rayyanah Barnawi, who flew with Axiom Space to the ISS last year, and Egyptian-Lebanese engineer Sara Sabry, one of the crew on a 2022 Blue Origin suborbital flight.

- Custom space hijab -

AlMatrooshi, who wears a hijab as part of her Muslim faith, explained that NASA developed a strategy to allow her to keep her hair covered while donning the agency's iconic white space suit and helmet, known officially as the Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or EMU.

"Once you get into the EMU you put on a (communications) cap (fitted with microphones and speakers), which... covers your hair," she said.

The challenge comes in the moment after AlMatrooshi takes off her regular hijab but before she puts on the communications cap. To complicate matters further, only specifically authorized materials can be worn inside the EMU.

"The suit engineers ended up sewing a makeshift hijab for me, to where I could put it on, get into the suit, and then put on the comm cap, and then take it off and my hair would be covered. So I really, really appreciate them doing that for me," AlMatrooshi said.

With her customized suit, AlMatrooshi will be ready to step out into space with her fellow astronauts.

NASA plans to return humans to the surface of the Moon in 2026 for the Artemis 3 mission.

"I think becoming an astronaut is hard, regardless of what your religion or what your background is," she told AFP.

"I don't think being a Muslim made it harder. But being a Muslim made me aware of the contributions of my ancestors, of the Muslim scholars and scientists who came before me who were studying the stars.

"Me becoming an astronaut is just building on that legacy of what they started thousands and thousands of years ago," AlMatrooshi said.

mav/caw/nro
(FOX40.COM)  Early voting results show that voters are in favor of recalling a Woodland school board trustee who made comments about transgender people at a school board meeting.

According to the Yolo County elections office, 60.61% of voters support the recall of Emily MacDonald from Woodland Joint Unified High School District board of trustees. Only 39.39% are opposed of the recall.

MacDonald was elected to the boards Area Two trustee to a four-year term in 2022.

The recall effort was organized after MacDonald made comments about transgender people at a June school board meeting where an agenda item regarding Pride Month was discussed.

Sacramento and California Key Races Results 2024

While I share with everyone here enormous respect for the achievements and contributions of Americans who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, this coalition forces acceptance of every aspect of transgenderism in order to be considered an ally of the others and that is wrong, MacDonald said at a June 15, 2023 meeting.

We must act with great caution in order to protect the increasing number of children who are experiencing transgender procedures as a result of social contagion, MacDonald continued.

The recall made it onto the ballot after it was approved for circulation in September and supporters submitting 1,349 petition signatures on Nov. 3.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
Girl looking at books in public library. Dec. 31, 2022. States Newsroom.

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

A measure placing a cap of one book challenge per month for people who dont have students enrolled in the school district in which they placed an objection is heading to Gov. Ron DeSantis desk.

Florida lawmakers in the House voted on Thursday 84-29 to pass HB 1285.

The move to limit the number of objections to materials in classrooms and school libraries originated from Republicans in the House, with the Legislatures top leaders and DeSantis expressing support for decreasing frivolous book bans. The Senate had approved the bill earlier this week.

We are working very hard to get to a place where bad actors who file frivolous claims are stopped, and yet we have maintained the freedom for people to have conversations about what we ought to have in front of our children, said the sponsor of the bill, Polk County Republican Rep. Jennifer Canady. Its a balance, and were working really hard to strike that balance.

Most of the options lawmakers weighed during this years legislative session targeted people who arent parents of students in the districts in which they challenge materials. In fact, the House had passed a $100 processing fee on subsequent challenges filed by people who have already unsuccessfully challenged five materials available in a school district where they dont have children enrolled.

Orlando Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani said she preferred the fee over the limit, referring to the limit as lax.

I feel like that actually would have been better, at least to kind of put some more financial accountability on people that are just filing these restrictions with very little evidence to object and remove a book, she said on the House floor.

The number of book challenges in the state has garnered national attention.

In the 2022-2023 school year, PEN America recorded 1,406 book ban cases in Florida, which accounted for 40%. The next state with the most book ban cases was Texas with 625. The PEN America report notes that Moms for Liberty, Citizens Defending Freedom and Parents Rights in Education are groups with chapters across the nation that have pushed for book bans.

A new certificate for classical school teachers

The bill has a number of other provisions, such as a requirement for the State Board of Education to establish specialized teaching certificates for people seeking to work in schools using a classical education model. Eighteen schools use the model focusing on grammar, logic and rhetoric, according to a staff analysis of the bill.

A person who holds the classical education teaching certificate wouldnt have to demonstrate the same requirements as teachers in other schools, such as mastery of general knowledge, subject area knowledge, and professional preparation and education competence.

Are we creating a new mechanism for teachers to be certified without having to be vetted through the required testing process that teachers not teaching in a classical school are required to pass? said Democratic Rep. Ashley Gantt of Miami-Dade County.

The post FL Legislature passes one per month limit on frivolous book challenges appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
The son of Eric Mays, a third-term councilman who served the city of Flint before his death last month, is suing the late city leaders four siblings and a funeral home over the handling of Mays remains.

Eric HaKeem Deontaye Mays, who is referred to in a news release from Lento Law Group as Eric Mays son and only next-of-kin, filed the lawsuit on Monday alleging fraud, conspiracy and unjust enrichment in connection with how the late councilmans body was handled.

Eric Mays, the outspoken leader who led the majority-Black district during the Flint water crisis, died on Feb. 24 at 65 years old. Hes believed to have died without a will, according to the complaint.

City Councilmen Eric Mays of Flint, Mich., discusses his leadership over the course of the previous year regarding Flints ongoing water crisis during a city council meeting, which introduced the topic of whether Flint residents should have to pay for their water bills at Flint City Hall on Wednesday, February 3, 2016. High water rates and shutoff notices have been part of an ongoing discussion between residents and city officials since the beginning of the citys water crisis. (Photo by Brittany Greeson for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The lawsuit seeks an order preventing Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home from moving forward with any funeral plans or arrangements planned by anyone other than Eric HaKeem Deontaye Mays.

It also seeks an order compelling the funeral home to release Eric Mays body to whichever funeral home his son chooses.

The Moon Funeral Home is disrespecting the life and legacy of the late Flint City Councilman Eric B. Mays by holding his body hostage and refusing to turn it over to his son, and by participating in an unlawful conspiracy with estranged, rogue members of the late Councilmans family to deprive his son his right to lay his father to rest, said Joseph Cannizzo, Jr., an attorney representing Eric HaKeem Deontaye Mays, in a statement.

Every child deserves to have a say in their parents final affairs. Through this legal action, we hope to rectify the legal wrongs we alleged have taken place against Mr. Mays and give him closure during this difficult time while also affording him the opportunityas is his rightto honor his fathers legacy, Cannizzo said.

The suit claims that on Feb. 24, when Genesee County medical examiner investigator Amanda Rhoades visited Eric Mays home to conduct a death investigation, she spoke with two of his siblings  Sherman Mays and Veronica Simon, who are named in the complaint.

Rhoades asked if their brother was married or had any children older than 18, and they told her, according to the lawsuit, that he was neither married nor a father to any children over age 18.

The representation of defendants Sherman Mays and Veronica Simon to Investigator Rhoades that Councilman Mays did not have any children that were 18 years of age or older is false, and was known by those said defendants to be false at the time they made such representations to Investigator Rhoades, according to the lawsuit.

Under Michigan law, Eric HaKeem Deontaye Mays has the right as Eric Mays adult child and next of kin to make funeral-related decisions relating to his late father, the lawsuit states. The suit lists the sons birth certificate as one of the exhibited documents.

A lawyer representing the two siblings sent a message on March 1 stating, I am advised that your client is not the biological son of Mr. Mays, and to their knowledge was never adopted, according to the suit.

The legal action from Eric HaKeem Deontaye Mays against his aunts and uncles accuses Sherman Mays and Veronica Simon of perpetuating a fraud on the Genesee County Medical Examiners Office by claiming that Eric Mays did not have children.

The complaint also accuses a third sibling of the late councilman, Reggie Mays, of perpetuating a separate fraud on the medical examiners office by falsely representing to its Administrator that he had legal authority as the late councilmans brother to authorize the release of his body to the funeral home, according to Lento Law Group.

Reggie Mays works as a funeral home attendant for Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home.

Eric Mayss son wanted his fathers remains turned over to Paradise Funeral Chapel in Saginaw, Michigan. However, the suit claims Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Homes refusal to do so violates the states law despite the son providing them with the necessary legally required documentation to transfer the councilmans body.

In addition to those claims, the lawsuit accuses Eric Mays siblings of unjustly profit[ing] from their fraudulent scheme by soliciting in-person donations from the community under the false premise that they were the late councilmans next-of-kin to purportedly raise money for funeral services they have no legal authority to control.

The suit also says the siblings asked Eric Mays son to look into his fathers life insurance policy and to sign a portion of it over to them despite the public claims that Mays didnt have a son.

When Is the Best Time to Execute a Will?

Greater Philadelphia-based estate planning attorney Dana Blue recommends people begin thinking about their estate  including executing a will and establishing a trust  as young as 18 years old.

Blue explained that without a will, the states default intestate laws will go into effect, and its a one-size-fits-all plan.

With a will, you are able to specifically designate how you want your assets to be transferred, to whom and how, but if you dont leave a will, then the state has no way of knowing how you want to distribute your assets, so they just follow their plan.

She added that verbally declaring ones wishes will not replace having it documented in a will or trust.

You might have told relatives, I want you to have my house when I pass, you might have told your older child, I want my house to go to you, Blue said.

A will can also impact what happens to a person if theyre living and unable to care for themselves. If someone gets into a major accident, and theyre not able to make decisions for themselves for even a short period of time, someone would need to step into their place to be able to make financial decisions, Blue told Atlanta Black Star.

No matter what age you are, if youre an adult, you should be considering having an estate plan, she said.

Blue especially recommended estate planning for the Black community.

Without your estate plan, your assets are going to be distributed according to state law, which might not align with your wishes, and that can lead to unintended beneficiaries, Blue said. That disproportionately affects African-Americans due to the fact that we dont estate plan and the systemic issues in our community.

Flint Councilman Eric Mays Son Accuses City Leaders Siblings of Holding His Body Hostage In Battle Over Estate with No Will
Law enforcement apprehended two dozen illegal migrants  including women and children  off the coast of Florida in a large fishing boat.

According to the Indian River County Sheriff's Office, local authorities alongside the U.S. Coast Guard helped stop a human smuggling attempt at the Sebastian Inlet in Melbourne Beach, Florida.

Authorities said that on Tuesday night they apprehended a vessel during a stop and the department's Marine Unit "swiftly responded."

"When you see that boat coming through, and they don't have any of the telltale signs  the fishing poles, the things that you would normally see  it's going to stick out," Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers.

WATCH: FLORIDA POLICE BREAK UP LARGE BRAWL AFTER FOR EXTRA HELP

The Indian River Sheriff said that federal and state authorities apprehended a group of illegal migrants.

Police said that they discovered 24 "undocumented Haitian citizens," including men, women and children.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

FLORIDA PARENT, JUVENILE ARRESTED AFTER FIGHTING OTHERS AT SCHOOL BUS STOP: VIDEO

The illegal migrants were turned over to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Indian River Sheriff said that the drivers of the fishing boats are facing federal charges for smuggling and allegedly asserting his belief that the boat originated from Brevard County, Florida.

Police found 24 illegal Haitians migrants onboard a fishing boat.

Authorities thanked the "seamless coordination" between state and local agencies.

"We commend the tireless efforts of the F.W.C. and our dedicated law enforcement partners in upholding the integrity of our borders and safeguarding our communities,' the Indian River Sheriff's said.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"Together, we stand vigilant against illegal activities that threaten the safety and security of our nation," the agency said.

The U.S. Coast Guard did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.





Original article source: Florida authorities apprehend 24 illegal Haitians migrants in fishing boats: police
Photo of a deer on the Lightsey Family Ranch, via a Conservation Florida press release. The state recently secured a conservation easement on the ranch.

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

Florida may be the only state where the economy depends on the willing suspension of disbelief.

Im not just talking about the thousands of tourists drawn here by the theme park fantasy factories along Interstate 4.

Im talking about all the developers who tout retention pond lots as lakefront. The Ponzi schemers who assure suckers that theyre making a sound investment. Government officials who promise the public that nothing bad could happen from rebuilding in areas where a storm surge wiped out everyone a few years before.

Now I have a new one to add to my Florida cynics hit parade: conservation easements.

When state government buys the development rights to land instead of spending money to buy the land itself, it has acquired a conservation easement on the property.

You see announcements about them pop out as regularly as the latest updates on Taylor Swifts love life: State acquires another conservation easement! Land preserved by new conservation easement! Conservation easement saves rare species habitat from development!

Those easements have preserved a lot of Florida forests, swamps, and beaches.

Since the late-1990s, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection says on its website, the state has acquired more than 140 conservation easements and land protection agreements, protecting over 262,000 acres statewide.

But last week, I found out something a trifle disturbing about our Florida conservation easements. It snapped my head back like that scene in The Killers where Ronald Reagan smacks Angie Dickinson across a room.

Although everyone talks about conservation easements like theyre permanent, they arent.

Some agencies have been quietly disposing of theirs on a regular basis. State law allows them to do that.

And because theres no central directory to show where all the conservation easements are located, these state agencies usually dont have anyone looking over their shoulders to object.

Kimberly Buchheit, via LinkedIn

These lucrative land deals are supposed to preserve the property in perpetuity. But Kimberly Buchheit, a Central Florida land surveyor and environmental activist, told me, Perpetuity has reached an expiration date: as soon as it is no longer convenient to protect land or restrict development.

Eric Draper was in charge of the Florida State Park system from 2017 to 2021 and hes long been an advocate for environmental land acquisition. I contacted him to ask if he knew about this loophole. He did not and was flabbergasted.

This turns the whole purpose of those easements on its head, he said.

Nobody paying attention

As always when I have a question about Floridas environmental land-buying programs, I contacted Clay Henderson, who literally wrote the book on this subject (Forces of Nature: A History of Florida Land Conservation, order your copy today!).

He has more than a mere academic interest in this subject. About 40 years ago, in Volusia County, he helped spearhead the nations first voter-approved land-buying project.

Henderson confirmed that the conservation easement loophole exists. Its apparently been there ever since a change in the federal tax code made the sale of such easements a way to ease the landowners tax burden.

In 1996, he said, conservation easements were added to Floridas popular Preservation 2000 land-buying program (the predecessor of the current Florida Forever program).

Clay Henderson via him

We believed there was interest in working with the large forestry interests to purchase their development rights and allow them to continue forestry under more conservation-minded harvesting criteria, Henderson said.

The first one issued, he said, was to save some timber property owned by Georgia Pacific in Volusia County.

Over time, the easements have grown in popularity as our parsimonious Legislature has balked at spending a lot of money acquiring land for parks and preserves. Buying only the easements is a way to make a little bit of cash stretch like Mr. Fantastic.

Boosting the sale of those easements even more: The Rural and Family Lands Protection Act, passed in 2001. That law allows the state to buy the development rights from farmers and ranchers and let them continue working the land.

So far, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the state has acquired conservation easements on nearly 69,000 acres of working agricultural land.

Just last month, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson announced hed spent more than $8 million to acquire easements on a 707-acre ranch in Polk County, a 998-acre timber and cattle operation in Putnam County, and a 525-acre cattle ranch in Polk County.

Now the Legislature wants to funnel millions in gambling revenue that the state will receive from the Seminole Tribe to such land preservation programs. As a result, we will probably soon see a boom in conservation easement sales (unless a court halts the exclusive gambling deal).

Sometimes the easements that are lifted were purchased by a government agency to protect the land. Others have been set aside as a required part of a mitigation project to make up for destroying wetlands elsewhere.

No one I talked to was sure when Florida government agencies started reversing the easement ownership to make land available for development again. But its definitely happening now.

Henderson told me that he checked the agendas for the last two monthly meetings of the St. Johns River Water Management District. He found three separate cases where the agency was giving up such an easement  far more than he had expected.

I dont think anyones really paying attention to this, he told me. I suspect its that there are so many developer consultant types who have a cozy relationship with the staff that its happening in an ad hoc way.

Having your cake, eating it too

The person who tipped me off about this surprising loophole was a woman from the Central Florida town of Geneva named Katrina Shadix, who is more than a little obsessed with bears.

She signs her emails Beary Best Regards and runs an organization called Bear Warriors United that sends free bear-proof straps for garbage can lids to anyone who asks.

She emailed me about the loophole last week after an organization called Conservation Florida was trumpeting how it had helped the state acquire a conservation easement on the 1,285-acre Lightsey Family Ranch near Venus. The ranch is the home of such threatened species as sandhill cranes, gopher tortoises, Florida grasshopper sparrows, and burrowing owls.

The protection of Lightsey Family Ranch further connects the Florida Wildlife Corridor, linking critical green landscapes and wildlife habitats, DEP Secretary Shawn Hamilton told WUSF-FM for a story headlined, A key portion of the Florida Wildlife Corridor will remain undeveloped.

Except maybe it wont, Shadix said.

For one thing, the ranch is not exactly welcoming to any wildlife that might be traveling in the Florida Wildlife Corridor, she pointed out.

A gator caught at the Lightsey Family Ranch, via the ranch.

Lightseys have been tending cattle in Florida since 1858, but this Lightsey ranch makes money another way. On its Facebook page, the ranch bills itself as a Premier HUNTING destination as well as Corporate Retreat. Owner Lee Lightsey made news in 2016 when a hunter he was guiding killed an alligator on Lightseys property that was roughly the size of Godzilla.

When the DEP paid $4 million for the conservation easement on the Lightsey Ranch, it agreed to a host of conditions, including allowing the owners to continue bringing in exotic animals for hunters to pursue on the fenced-in property.

This is really having your cake and eating it too, said Lesley Blackner, a Tallahassee attorney working with Shadix whos been giving developers heartburn for a couple of decades.

The DEP deal, Blackner said, expressly authorizes ongoing use of the property as a canned hunt facility and further expressly authorizes ongoing importation of non-native game stock for hunting purposes,

And, thanks to the loophole, the development rights can revert back to the Lightsey family at some point, she said.

They can cash out in the future when development gets closer, Blackner said.

Traci Deen, president and CEO of Conservation Florida, acknowledged that conservation easements such as this one may not last to (as Buzz Lightyear used to say) infinity and beyond.

Easements, typically designed to protect the natural or open space value of a property in perpetuity, can be subjected to changes, terminations, or extinguishments under certain circumstances, she said.

Nevertheless, she told me, I am unaware of any such action on easements purchased through Florida Forever or P2000, as the Lightsey Family Ranch easement was. Despite the possibility of a reversal of the conservation easement, Deen said, Lightsey Family Ranch will never be a subdivision or hundreds of concrete homes  it will always be green.

Development high-five

Shadix told me she found out about the loophole when she was at an Orange County Commission meeting some years ago.

Consultant John Miklos is former chairman of the St. Johns River Water Management District. Credit: water district

She watched in astonishment as the commissioners voted to change the zoning on a parcel from conservation easement to one that accommodated commercial development. She then saw a politically influential environmental consultant named John Miklos high-five another consultant whod drawn up a report on the property, she said.

She called Blackner, who researched the law and found the loophole.

Up to that point, I was ignorant of the whole process, Shadix told me I didnt know if it was illegal or improper, but I was angry.

She, Blackner, and Buchheit came up with a trio of examples and in December sent a letter about this issue to House Speaker Paul Renner and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo.

Did our fine Legislature leap into action to close this loophole? They did not. They were far too busy ordering the schools to teach kindergarten kids about Communism and deleting references to climate change from state law.

You know, the really important stuff.

Contractors Wetlands Park?

Heres one example from their letter, so you can see how this fast shuffle works.

In 2006, the owner of a project called Contractors Business Park in Orlando set aside a wetland to be preserved via conservation easement to make up for destroying another wetland during the construction of a nearby Walmart. The federal, state, and local governments had all signed off on that wetland mitigation arrangement (even though it constitutes a net loss of wetland acreage).

Then, in 2017, the St. Johns River water district board voted to lift the conservation easement on that property.

The districts board did that so that the wetland could be paved over as an office park, just as the name implies. Maybe if they had called it Contractors Wetlands Park it could have stayed in a natural state.

Anyway, the justification for undoing the easement is that the owner had paid for a different kind of mitigation to make up for the Walmart wetlands destruction. That way, the preserved wetland could be developed.

The owner had bought credits from a wetland mitigation bank in another area. Mitigation banks are places where wetlands have been restored or merely preserved and then state and federal agencies assign the owner a certain number of credits for that work, which he or she can then sell off for thousands of dollars each.

A lot of Floridas developer-friendly wetland mitigation banks do little to really replace the wetlands that are lost to development. They classify dry land as wet, or merely preserve land rather than creating any new wetlands. But buying those credits makes everything look hunky-dory on paper.

You may not be surprised to hear that the consultant on the Contractors Business Park project was Miklos. He was also, at the time of the vote to lift this conservation easement, the chairman of the St. Johns River water board.

He stepped down from that post in 2019 after Buchheit filed an ethics complaint against him for similar conflicts. Buchheit told me that a plat has been filed for more commercial development to be built on that formerly preserved wetland.

Slap em like Ronnie

I tried repeatedly to reach the current chairman of the St. Johns River Water Management District board, a former state senator named Rob Bradley. If his name sounds familiar, hes the politician who sponsored a bill that forbids local governments from banning the sale of any type of sunscreen, even the kind that causes problems for Floridas coral reefs.

Because his law firms website says hes certified by the Florida Bar as an Expert in City, County, and Local Government Law, Im guessing Bradley is well aware of the conservation easement loophole. Hes certainly seen it pop up on his meeting agendas.

Nevertheless, he didnt call me back. Probably hed been rubbing on some Coppertone and then his hands were too slippery to hold a phone.

Shadix tried to tell the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission about the loophole at its meeting last month. She was encouraging that agency to do something to track what was happening to the easements, since nobody else is. They didnt seem interested in becoming Conservation Easement Central, she said.

Deen said one way to strengthen these easements is with the inclusion of a perpetual term in the deed and defining the purposes of the easement clearly. Those steps can help prevent future attempts to dissolve or compromise the easement.

Blackner told me that other states have more stringent rules for their conservation easements, In Georgia, for instance, you have to go to court and persuade a judge to lift the easement, rather than simply win a majority of votes from a nine-member water board.

If nothing else, she said, it would be nice if Florida changed its law to require that someone who sold their conservation easement to the state would have to pay back the millions to the taxpayers before the easement can be reversed and the land developed.

Personally, Id go even further. Id say you could only buy back your development rights after running an advertisement in a general-circulation newspaper inviting any and all taxpayers to appear at a certain public place on a certain day to line up and slap you really hard.

I bet some slappers could do it even better than old Ronnie Reagan.

The post Florida conservation easements preserve land  until a developer needs it appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
A measure aimed at outlawing intoxicating hemp-based products is ready to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis, after the House and Senate passed it Wednesday.

The bill drew an outcry from manufacturers and sellers of hemp-based products who warned it would shutter businesses and drive people to the illegal drug market.

 WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS

The legislation targets what is known as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and other cannabinoids in hemp products  including whole-flower products  that can create euphoric effects.

The House voted 64-48 to pass the bill (SB 1698), while the Senate unanimously supported it.

During a House debate, Rep. Hillary Cassel, D-Dania Beach, said the states medical-marijuana operators could continue to sell the same products deemed illegal under the hemp bill.

Read: Florida lawmakers pass bill banning balloons from being released outside, heads to governors desk

Lets be very clear. This drug will still be available, and it will still be sold in Florida, Cassel said. If this product is so bad you wanna ban it, then ban it. But thats not what were doing. Were choosing which doors you buy from.

Democrats also pointed to testimony from people who said they rely on hemp-based products to treat conditions such as epilepsy or cancer.

If we pass this bill, they are going to become criminals. They are going to depend on drug dealers so they can function normally. Is that what we really want? Rep. Marie Woodson, D-Hollywood, said. I dont think so.

Read: Controversial education bill, banning identity politics, heads to DeSantis desk

But House sponsor Tommy Gregory, R-Lakewood Ranch, said the bill is aimed at closing a loophole in a 2019 law that authorized hemp to be grown in the state to take advantage of a federal farm law.

Hemp and marijuana are cannabis plants, but levels of the cannabinoid THC differ, with hemp having a THC level of 0.3 percent or less.

Other cannabinoids in hemp, however, can be changed to increase the intoxicating effects of products.

Read: First Look: Brevard Family Partnership to takeover foster care in Orange, Osceola, and Seminole

Lawmakers in 2019 were duped into approving the hemp authorization, according to Gregory. Theres more money in drugs than rope, he said. These entrepreneurs were crafty, Ill give them that.  They knew what they were getting into.

The proposal would set proposed caps on the amount of THC concentration in hemp-based products to 5 milligrams per serving and 50 milligrams per 14 containers on a wet-weight basis, whichever is less.

Intoxicating hemp-based products should go the way of opium, Gregory said. Today is a day of reckoning for the manufacturers and retailers, he added. They cant use a loophole to manufacture a recreational drug.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Florida lawmakers Thursday passed a bill allowing volunteer chaplains to provide support services for public K-12 students.

Whether it opens the door to Satanists, those who practice Santeria or even worship in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster remains to be seen. The legislation only needs Gov. Ron DeSantis signature to become law.

Supporters of the bill (HB 931) said it's a win for school children, addressing concerns about youth mental health and the need for more school counselors.

"I believe that sometimes the issue is with the soul and not of the mind, and that's why I believe that this is a good option for our students in today's day and age," said Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills. The Senate approved the legislation by a 28-12 vote, with all against being Democrats.

Some opponents worried the bill would be a vehicle for Christian nationalism, the belief that the government should favor Christianity or even be replaced by it. Others had constitutional concerns and questions about the credentials of those interacting with minors who may be facing serious mental health crises.

Sen. Erin Grall, R-Ft. Pierce (file photo)

And they warned there could be controversial consequences of opening up the door for religion in schools.

Are there any prohibitions on what religions can be part of these programs, specifically if someone was a Satanist? asked Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boynton Beach.

Bill sponsor Sen. Erin Grall, R-Fort Pierce, said that because of the First Amendments religious freedom protections, the bill wasnt limiting.

The Satanic Temple has already said its ministers look forward to participating in Florida school chaplain programs. If approved, the bill goes into effect July 1.

"Be prepared to see general outrage'" Satanic Temple responds to Florida school chaplains bill, expects 'befuddled school boards'

Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book of Plantation asked whether religious rituals could be performed in schools. If schools allowed for them, she wondered, could they prevent ones involving animal sacrifices?

It doesnt divest the obligations that the school district and those schools already have with regard to overall school safety, Grall said. I think that the example you give is just not one that theres a likelihood or really authorization for within this bill.

So then you support limiting the religious rites that could occur in schools? Book shot back. (When a USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida reporter asked whether Book said rites or rights, her representative said she meant it as a double entendre.)

Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation (file photo)

Satanic Temple eyes chaplain positions: Satanic Temple 'looks forward to participating' if Florida school chaplain bill passes

When The Satanic Temple came to Capitol: Satanic Temple display comes to Florida Capitol

The exchange, which occurred during Wednesday questioning on the floor, evinces the complexities that arise when religion meets First Amendment-fortified government.

And it will be local school leaders who shoulder the responsibility of figuring it out, if they permit chaplains at all. The bill only authorizes school districts and charter schools to adopt a policy for chaplains to provide support, services, and programs to students.

It requires parental consent before a student meets with a chaplain and says they must undergo background checks first. It also mandates that districts publish a list of the chaplains on its website and for school principals to inform parents about them.

Other than that, most of the rollout of the legislation is left up to school leaders.

Sen. Rosalind Osgood, D-Tamarac (file photo)

"Schools should not be swapping mental health professionals for unlicensed outside adults," said Sen. Rosalind Osgood, D-Tamarac.

But Grall has emphasized that schools can create their own, more extensive requirements on school chaplains, who would then be listed on their websites and picked by parents. On Thursday, she said that the controversy surprised her.

"We've had chaplains in our public institutions for centuries," she said. "Chaplaincy is something that we all have probably had individual and unique experiences."

This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Douglas Soule can be reached at DSoule@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Amid talk of Satanists, Santeria, Florida OKs public school chaplains
Before House lawmakers pushed through a bill on Wednesday creating a 25-foot "no-go" zone around first responders such as police, its sponsor reassured worried lawmakers that it wasnt a done deal and there would be a "better" version.

There wasn't.

The measure passed the Senate as-is Thursday, with no changes to address the fears from a number of Black Democratic lawmakers that it would be used to prevent their constituents from documenting police brutality.

The bill now heads straight to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

I am deeply disappointed that this bill, which was supposed to include a cooperative effort by both Democrats and Republicans in the House to improve its language, has passed in its current form in the Senate, said Rep. Lavon Bracy Davis, D-Ocoee, in a statement.

Rep. Lavon Bracy Davis, D-Ocoee, seen on the House floor in an undated file photo.

They pushed forward with an unwillingness to be cooperative and passed a bill that will only be weaponized against Black people.

If signed, the legislation (SB 184) would create a second-degree misdemeanor for anyone who, after a warning, approaches or remains within 25 feet of working first responders with the intent to harass, threaten, impede or interfere. That's punishable by up to 60 days behind bars.

The bill, which would take effect Nov. 1, doesn't include a provision that was in the House version. It specifically says "peaceful audio or video recording, photographing, or eyewitness overserving" wouldn't be affected.

Bracy Davis had filed an unsuccessful amendment to get that language back in.

"The only reason we know what happened to George Floyd is because of a girl who was filming his murder close by, and it is apparent to me today that this body is more concerned with the comfort of the police officer than it is with justice and truth," she said.

'Were going to get it in a much better place'

Rep. Alex Rizo, a Hialeah Republican, told lawmakers on Wednesday that he was "working very hard" with the Senate sponsors to make changes so it could come back to the House for another vote.

You have my word," Rizo said, "were going to get it in a much better place. He emphasized that the bill was about first responder safety and the safety of those present at the scene of an emergency, not about preventing people from documenting police abuses.

Bill sponsor Sen. Bryan Avila, R-Miami Springs, said on that chamber's floor that recording is already constitutionally permissible.

Only one senator, a Democrat, voted against it. Sen. Bobby Powell, D-West Palm Beach, pointed out how close the person who filmed the police murder of Floyd stood and that there could be obstructions blocking view of something happening 25 feet away.

Earlier update on bill: Get back: Florida Senate passes bill to criminalize getting too close to working police

One Democrat backed longer distances

But Sen. Jason Pizzo, a North Miami Beach Democrat, came out strongly in support but said he thought the distance should be even further.

I think sometimes its not enough, he said. It might be 25 feet. It might be 250 feet. If responders during 9/11 said get back on two huge towers, that distance to get back is likely a mile.

The 25-foot distance is longer than what either chamber's bill had originally. The House proposal set it at 20 feet, and the Senate, which also used to have a first-degree misdemeanor punishment, had 14 feet.

The final legislation met a lot more Democratic opposition in the House Wednesday, passing by a 85-27 vote.

I asked the question about where does the 25 feet start, and I got no real answer, said Democratic Rep. Ashley Gantt of Miami before the Wednesday vote, mentioning how there could be numerous first responders at an emergency scene.

She added: "This can very well be weaponized by police officers  I want to record but where do I have the ability to record without jeopardizing my freedom?"

This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Douglas Soule can be reached at DSoule@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida lawmakers pass bill making recording police up-close illegal
Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

The Florida Legislature has approved a bill to regulate hemp-derived products in the state and eliminate delta-8 THC, which is banned in 17 states and severely restricted in seven more  though it is a popular item sold in retail establishments and people have used it for chronic illnesses.

Both chambers approved the legislation on Wednesday.

The Florida Senate passed the measure (SB 1698), sponsored by Polk County Republican Colleen Burton, unanimously, 39-0. That vote came just a few hours after a more contested vote in the House, where it was approved on a 64-48 vote.

For the past two years, the Legislature has worked on attempting to regulate the amount of THC in hemp-derived products. THC is the main component in cannabis that provides the psychoactive or high effect. The measure also bans the sale of all delta-8 products, one of the most popular items sold in retail establishments throughout the state over the past four years. And it also prohibits businesses from possessing hemp extract products that are considered attractive to children.

The measure says that the THC cannot exceed 5 milligrams per serving or 50 milligrams per package. Burton and the sponsor of the measure in the House, Manatee Countys Tommy Gregory, had originally set the limits at 2 milligrams per serving and 10 milligrams per package, but Gregory amended the limits earlier this week after taking input from the hemp industry.

Yet many of those who work in the hemp business in Florida say that those slightly increased THC caps are not going to be sufficient in terms of sustaining their economic vitality.

Throughout the past two legislative sessions in Tallahassee, professionals in the hemp industry and individuals who say that they have received medical benefits from hemp-derived products have come faithfully to each and every committee meeting, stressing to state lawmakers not to make such changes.

In January, Tallahassee resident Kassie Stuart told lawmakers that she was diagnosed at the age of 17 with idiopathic genetic epilepsy, which can result in intense seizures. She said that nothing had helped her until she began using delta-8 THC nearly four years ago. Since she began using that product, she said she had gone from having a couple of seizures a day to suffering from only one or two a year.

I had my medical [marijuana] card for a little bit, she said at the January meeting. It was helping, but it wasnt giving me the medical relief that I needed when I was introduced to delta-8 and it really helped me. I feel like if Im spazzy or seizey or if I have a really bad headache, I can just hit my [vape] pen a couple of times or eat some edibles, and it goes away in a couple of minutes.

But if the bill is signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, delta-8 will be illegal in Florida on October 1.

According to the National Cannabis Industry Association, delta-8 THC is banned in 17 states and severely restricted in seven more.

In committee meetings leading into the regular 2024 legislative session, lawmakers also heard from health officials about how children have ingested such products, despite the 2023 law, at times leading them to go to the hospital.

And on the House floor on Wednesday, Gregory dismissed the concerns expressed by lawmakers after several of them said they had been besieged with thousands of emails from constituents that if the bill passes, they will have no choice but to go to drug dealers to get pain relief.

That statement answers the question for you what these products are, he said. Theyre drugs. Theyre recreational drugs. And yes, if we say if you cant buy them, and youre a drug user, then sure, maybe youll go to a drug dealer. Maybe youll do the right thing and stop using drugs.

Broward County Democrat Hillary Cassel said that the Legislature should not ignore the pleas from the public about how they will be deprived from receiving medical benefits from these products.

It was the people, she said. It was the mothers. It was the people living with chronic illnesses. Cancer. Lupus. And the list goes on and on talking about how these products changed their lives.

But GOP Rep. Joel Rudman, a Panhandle-based physician, said that it was important that the state needs to regulate  not ban hemp-derived products.

You could get Sushi at a gas station, but I certainly wouldnt recommend it, he said.

After the Legislature approved the measure on Wednesday, those in the hemp industry lamented the move.

Today the Florida Legislature ignored the widespread opposition from the Florida hemp industry, consumers, and residents, and instead voted to ban safe, lawful products that many individuals seek to improve their quality of life, said JJ Coombs, the co-founder and CEO of several Florida Hemp companies. Passing a bill like this could force consumers to purchase products from the unregulated market. The Florida Legislature is well on its way to eliminating several beneficial hemp and CBD products, ending Floridas hemp industry as we know it.

UPDATE: The original reporting of this story said that if enacted, the measure would go into effect on July 1.

The post Florida Legislature gets rid of delta-8 hemp products; Puts THC caps on hemp-derived products appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
Florida Senate Republicans on Thursday refused to confirm the Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich to serve on an ethics commissiona rare break from Gov. Ron DeSantis requests from the legislature, which has operated at his behest in recent years.

Senators cited fears of a conflict of interest in denying Descovich the role on the Florida Commission on Ethics, with one unnamed lawmaker expressing concerns about whether or not her employment constitutes lobbying before the legislature, Senate spokesperson Katie Betta told the The Daily Beast.

The deferred vote, first reported by the Miami Herald, is the latest flop for Moms for Liberty and Descovich, who was flamed for repeatedly skirting questions in a cringe appearance on 60 Minutes this week. That appearance came on the heels of one of the organizations co-founders, Bridget Ziegler, becoming embroiled in a sex scandal that went against everything the right-wing values Moms for Liberty says it stands for.

60 Minutes Confronts Moms for Liberty Co-Founders on Book Bans

Descovichs denial to the ethics post is another recent instance of the Florida legislature rejecting the asks of DeSantis, who had a strangle on the states politics before he crashed out of the 2024 presidential election in January.

Earlier this week, the legislatures final budget did not allow New College of Florida to keep $15 million in nonrecurring funding that it got in last years budgetsomething DeSantis had publicly requested for the university where he initiated a right-wing takeover last year. The legislature also halved the amount of money DeSantis asked for to fix a mold problem at New College, cutting the requested $12.5 million down to $6.25 million.

Descovich already sits on the state ethics board and is the executive director of Moms for Liberty, which has led the charge for book bans and the ousting of school board members in Florida who dont get in line with their conservative, anti-LGBTQ views.

Betta told The Daily Beast that DeSantis has 30 days from the end of the legislative session (which concludes on Friday) to reappoint Descovich to the commission; her term ends in June. The Senate will likely weigh her confirmation again when it reconvenes in March 2025.

Under Florida law, Betta said, any appointee with a pending Senate confirmation will continue to serve on their respective board. (Members of the ethics committee serve two-year terms.)

Every year, theres a handful of appointees that for one reason or another may not make it through the whole process, Betta said. She added that this year, however, was light on statewide appointments.

Meanwhile, Senate president Kathleen Passidomo told the press on Thursday that Descovich was appointed sort of late in the process.

Its a two-year process. The governor could reappoint her, so we didnt feel a pressure to do anything, Passidomo said, before referring to a citizen filing a complaint and politicizing the process. She added that the Senate has a really good relationship with DeSantis.

Moms for Liberty has garnered a national influence since its founding in Florida in 2021, but its influence is strongest in the Sunshine State.

With DeSantis at the helm, the group has lobbied for and pushed through legislation that has radically altered education in Florida, including the passage of the infamous Dont Say Gay bill in 2022, the banning of hundreds of booksincluding some about LGBTQ people and even Jackie Robinsonand a public battle with the College Board over the contents of its AP African American History class.

Equally right-wing PragerU content content has also made its way into Florida classrooms, along with new U.S. history curriculum that is teaching Florida children that slavery brought personal benefit to Black people in the South. DEI programs are also now banned from using state and federal funds at public universities in Florida.

While the Florida Senate didnt confirm Descovich this week, Betta told the Herald she could still be confirmed to the position next session if DeSantis re-appoints her, which hes expected to do.

Moms for Liberty-Linked School Board Member Steps Down After Shoplifting Charge

At a confirmation hearing for Descovich, the Herald reported that Democrats grilled her for her prominent position within Moms for Liberty while working as an elected official.

Descovich reportedly countered that she views her work at Moms for Liberty as being separate from what she does on the commission.

She didn't seem rattled by the Senate punt, telling The Daily Beast in a statement, It is one of my greatest honors to be a Governors appointee to the Florida Ethics Commission. I respect the decision of the Senate to wait until next session and I will continue to provide any information they may need from me as a part of the confirmation process.

After the hearing, the Herald reported that a concerned resident emailed state senators with an ethics complaint, alleging that Descovich was unqualified for the position because members of the ethics commission are barred from lobbying state and local governments.

Moms for Liberty is not a registered lobbyist in Tallahassee, but the residentRobert Burns, the editor of the The Space Coast Rocketargued that the organization has clearly lobbied the state in regards to policy, including Descovich personally. That email may have been what tipped the scales in favor of Descovich not being confirmedat least not this time around.

While rare, Thursdays decision to not confirm Descovich isnt the first time the Florida Senate has rejected a DeSantis appointee. Before his rise to national prominence during COVID-19, the Senate declined to confirm the conservative lawyer John MacIver to lead the Division of Administrative Hearings in 2020.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
The Florida State Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would prohibit local agencies from implementing heat protections for workers.

The GOP-controlled Senate voted 28-11 to pass the bill, which would ban cities and counties from adopting mandatory water breaks and other extreme heat relief measures that go beyond what is required by state or federal law.

The bill, Senate Bill 1492, was introduced by Sen. Jay Trumbull (R). The legislation said political subdivisions cant establish, mandate, or otherwise require an employer to provide goods and services to meet or provide heat exposure requirements that are not already mandated.

Supporters of the bill say it will establish uniform regulations instead of having inconsistent rules across the state, NBC News first reported.

Labor organizations are pushing back, arguing that heat protections are necessary for safety, particularly for those who work in construction and agriculture.

The bill would be implemented beginning July 1, 2024, but it waits approval in the House before going to Gov. Ron DeSantiss (R) desk to be signed.

It comes just after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed that 2023 was the hottest single year ever recorded. The summer season was also confirmed to be the warmest on record.

Florida employers would be required to follow general rules set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which has not yet issued standards for dangerously high temperatures, NBC News noted.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
This article was originally published in Florida Phoenix.

The Florida Senate approved a bill Tuesday with a provision for placing a cap of one book challenge per month for people who dont have students enrolled in the school district in which they placed an objection.

The vote came after the Legislatures top leaders expressed the need to rein in frivolous objections to materials available in classrooms and libraries.

Lawmakers have been weighing different options to curtail objections following sweeping book challenges that have disrupted Florida school districts across the state. Most of the options discussed targeted people who arent parents of students in the districts in which they challenge materials.

Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter

The vote was along party lines, with Democrats opposing the bill (HB 1285).

But the House had already approved a $100 processing fee on subsequent challenges filed by people who have already unsuccessfully challenged five materials available in a school district where they dont have children enrolled. So, the House has to approve HB 1285 again before the session ends.

Reining in the book challenges

Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said she hoped the provision senators approved today would be the final product.

What happened is people went overboard and they started objecting to the classics like Shakespeare, which I think is ridiculous, Passidomo told reporters on Tuesday. So its like everything. We needed to rein that in, and the devils in the details and the kind of language and how to do that. But I think were on the right course.

Democratic Sen. Lori Berman of Palm Beach County questioned what impact the change would have if it didnt restrict challenges from parents.

I guess we went a little bit too far when we did this the first time through, but do we know that a lot of these people are not parents or guardians? Do we think that this is going to truly make a difference in the way that our larger book bans have gone? she said.

The number of book challenges in the state has garnered national attention.

In the 2022-2023 school year, PEN America recorded 1,406 book ban cases in Florida, which accounted for 40%. The next state with the most book ban cases was Texas with 625. The PEN America report notes that Moms for Liberty, Citizens Defending Freedom and Parents Rights in Education are groups with chapters across the nation that have pushed for book bans.

I dont believe that we stepped on anything in the original bill that we passed. What were doing, though, is recognizing that we could always improve and in doing so weve seen some things happen across the state we just want to make sure arent being taken advantage of and its as simple as that, and thats why I think this is a good faith measure, said Republican Sen. Danny Burgess of Hillsborough and Pasco counties.

Requirements for classical school teachers

Another provision in the bill would require the State Board of Education to establish specialized teaching certificates for people seeking to work in schools using a classical education model.

A person who holds the classical education teaching certificate wouldnt have to demonstrate the same requirements as teachers in other schools, such as mastery of general knowledge, subject area knowledge, and professional preparation and education competence.

The curriculum at current classical schools public charter schools  focus on grammar, logic and rhetoric, according to a staff analysis of the bill. There are 18 such classical charter schools in Florida.

Under the bill, the State Board of Education would adopt rules to allow for the issuance of a classical education teaching certificate. Upon the request of a classical school, the DOE (Department of Education) will issue a classical education teaching certificate to any applicant who fulfills the requirements for a professional certificate except for demonstrating mastery of general knowledge, subject area knowledge, and professional preparation and education competence, according to the staff analysis.

Teachers with the classical education certificate would still need to have a bachelors degree, be 18 years old and pass a background check, Burgess clarified.

Democrats voted against the bill because of the classical education teaching certificates.

No other avenue has certifications like were about to give now to the classical schools. We have certifications for Greek, Latin, Humanities. So the issue for me here is why is there a special treatment, said Duval County Democratic Sen. Tracie Davis.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.
Florida Senate leaders proposed sweeping changes to the states school accountability system late last year, looking to do away with laws that hold back thousands of third graders and require high schoolers to pass math and language arts exams to earn a diploma.

The proposals were part of a far-reaching package that included bold and controversial ideas that Senate President Kathleen Passidomo conceded when they were unveiled in November might not make it across the finish line.

She was right.

In the face of opposition from the House leaders and others  including former Gov. Jeb Bush, who ushered them in as part of his school accountability law 25 years ago  the Senate scrapped its plans to do away with third-grade retention for struggling readers and the required exams for high school graduation.

Critics said the proposals would unwind decades of educational progress in Florida by allowing unprepared students to move on. Even so, many school administrators and teachers applauded the Senates now-abandoned suggestions.

The Senate on Wednesday adopted a House version of its bill (SB 7004) that did not include the provision to alter high school graduation requirements, which was in the legislation when the Senate unanimously approved it on Jan. 10.

That means Florida 12th graders will still need passing scores on state algebra and language arts exams, or equivalent marks on national tests like the SAT, to graduate.

The Senate had already backed away from its proposal to delete Floridas third-grade retention law, which bars from fourth grade many youngsters  nearly 22,000 in 2022  who cannot pass the state reading exam. That plan won approval in Senate committees but was deleted before it went to the floor for a vote.

The bill now heading to Gov. Ron DeSantis instead makes far more modest changes, such as giving parents more input about services for their young children if they are having trouble learning to read.

Passidomo, in a statement issued after Wednesdays vote, said she viewed the effort  initially a package of bills meant to reduce red tape burdening public schools  as a multiyear effort.

My goal was to make serious headway this year, and I could not be more pleased with the final product, she said.

The other bills were combined into one (SB 7002). That legislation gives school districts more flexibility in setting teacher salaries and managing construction projects, among other issues and reduces reports school districts must submit to the state.

The bill to scuttle rules that have been hallmarks of Florida public education since Bush signed the A+ Plan for Education in 1999 drew the most notice and opposition.

House Speaker Paul Renner said the day after the Senate adopted its bill that he did not like that it aimed to do away with 25 years of accountability steps that have taken us from the bottom of the of the nation to the top of the nation.

Ill light myself on fire, and so will many of these people behind me, on some of these things that really go to the core of accountability, Renner said.

Bush and his education foundation also lobbied against the Senates efforts.

Now is not the time for lawmakers to get weak-kneed on policies that have played key roles in contributing to two decades of educational progress, Bush wrote in a Nov. 28 opinion piece for the Orlando Sentinel.

But many educators cheered on the Senates efforts, saying the graduation tests sometimes kept good students who had trouble on exams from earning a diploma.

Im praying and hoping that this will pass, said Sherrie Raulerson, superintendent of the Baker County school district, at a Senate committee hearing on Nov. 15.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 7. The US administration has decided to create a port in the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip by sea through Cyprus, a senior representative of the American administration said at a special online briefing for journalists, Trend reports.

He noted that today US President Joe Biden will announce in his address that he has assigned the US military an urgent mission to create a port in the Gaza Strip in cooperation with like-minded countries and humanitarian partners.

The first deliveries will be made through Cyprus with the support of the US military and a coalition of partners and allies, he said.
Florida woman broke into exs home, threw Sprite, pickled pork at him and his sofa: affidavit

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  A Florida woman is facing burglary and battery charges after she broke into her ex-boyfriends home and threw Sprite at him and pickled pork juice on his sofa, according to an affidavit.

A deputy with the Lee County Sheriffs Office responded to a Lehigh Acres home on March 1 after a resident said someone broke into his home.

Drone video shows gator that charged at deputy during K-9 training

When officials arrived, they said the woman, identified as Aukievah Reddick, 22, was holding a bottle of Sprite outside of the home, which she then flung at the victim, identified as her ex-boyfriend, and hit him.

Reddick began shouting at the victim and continuously mentioned wanting to fight him, as the deputy tried to separate the pair.

Lee County Sheriffs Office

Lee County Sheriffs Office

Lee County Sheriffs Office

Lee County Sheriffs Office

Before authorities arrived, the man claimed Reddick texted him that she was coming over, despite him not being home at the time, according to the affidavit.

A doorbell camera caught Reddick taking the spare key under the doormat and entering the home. The woman then threw and broke items around the home.

Man, woman found dead in apparent murder-suicide at Winter Haven park, officials say

The video shown to authorities showed the victim arrive at the residence and confront Reddick. She began shouting at him and throwing pickled pork and the juices of the pickled pork onto a sofa, damaging the couch.

A shattered glass item was also seen near the washing machine, however, the victim couldnt tell what the item was, the affidavit said.

Reddick was arrested and taken to the Lee County Jail for battery touch or strike (dating violence), property damage under $200, and burglary of an occupied dwelling.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
A Florida woman allegedly unleashed a flurry of punches on a student during a fight at a bus stop moments after she shouted for one of the girls to "beat her a--," cellphone video shows.

The wild melee on March 1 started as an argument between two students that quickly escalated into a fistfight, which drew the attention of other students and adults.

That included Taityana Duffy, 28, who "instigated, jeered and intervened" in the fight by allegedly throwing punches of her own, said Haines Police Chief Greg Goreck, who identified Duffy as one of the student's guardians.

"The involvement of an adult in encouraging and participating in a teenage fight at a bus stop is unacceptable and deeply concerning," Goreck said. "This behavior not only escalates violence but also fails our community's expectation of an adult's responsibility to help safeguard our children."

FLORIDA FLOODS SPRING BREAK HOT SPOTS WITH STATE TROOPERS IN UNPRECEDENTED CRACKDOWN ON MAYHEM

Taityana Duffy (gray sweatshirt and black shorts) was identified by police as one of the student's guardians.

A segment of the brawl was played in a video statement by Goreck, which included cellphone footage of the fight that was mostly blurred and bleeped.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

It starts with two students  one in a red sweatshirt and another wearing a gray shirt  pushing and shoving, but they were quickly separated by adults and other students.

HIDDEN CAMERA WARNING FOR TRAVELERS IN HOTELS, RENTALS: WHAT TO KNOW

The fight between two students at a Haines, Florida, bus stop starts with two students, one in a red hoodie and the other in a gray shirt.

But the brawl continues when one of the students  in the gray shirt  goes after a different target, a female student in a blue shirt, who was pinned to the ground and hit with several closed-fist blows.

Duffy  seen in a gray sweater and black shorts  allegedly records the fight and yells, "Beat her a--," according to police.

WATCH FULL VIDEO OF FIGHT

One of the students  in a red hoodie  pushes the attacker off the female student, the video shows, which is when Duffy is seen allegedly grabbing the student and yelling, "Get the f--- off her."

That's when the video ended and the police chief resumed his statement.

FORT LAUDERDALE BRACES FOR WILD SPRING BREAK WITH FREE ROOFIE DRINK TESTS, DUI ALTERNATIVES

Officers arrived after the dust cleared, but Duffy and an unnamed student (because of her age) were arrested and charged with battery, according to the chief.

"As you saw, this was a pretty intense situation. Luckily, no one was seriously injured, and everyone was able to walk away except for the two individuals who were criminally charged," Goreck said.

"These kinds of actions are not tolerated by the Haines City Police Department. The bus stop is an extension of the schools, and the students should feel safe enough to go to the bus stop, get on the bus and go to school and return home without fear of being attacked by other students, let alone another parent."

Taityana Duffy (circled) appears to be recording the fight and allegedly cheering on the students.

Haines Police Chief Greg Goreck said Taityana Duffy, whose mugshot is in the right corner, was arrested and charged with battery.

The chief said officers will patrol the bus stops in the city.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

The Haines City Police Department asks anyone with additional information to call police at (863) 421-3636.

For those wishing to provide information anonymously, contact Heartland Crime Stoppers at (888) 400-8477.





Original article source: Florida woman 'instigated, jeered and intervened' in student school bus fight in wild melee video: police
An astronaut waving in a spacesuit while floating above the space station.

NASA wants a new group of astronauts to explore the moon and maybe even Mars.

Astronaut applications to NASA are due on April 2, giving U.S. citizens the chance to fly to the moon and maybe even to Mars if selected.

The requirements are steep: A master's degree in science, technology, engineering or math; three years of professional experience, medical residency or 1,000 pilot-in-command hours for pilots; and passing a long-duration physical. More details are available on the agency's website.

"Astronauts will explore and conduct experiments where humans have never been: The lunar south pole," NASA officials wrote in the announcement. "With NASA's plans for the future of exploration," the agency added, "new astronauts will fly farther into space than ever before on lunar missions and may be the first humans to fly on to Mars."

Related: NASA graduates new astronaut class as it begins recruiting for more

an astronaut waving in a spacesuit while floating above the space station

The last time NASA selected astronaut candidates in 2021, more than 12,000 people applied. From thousands, the American cohort was whittled down to only 10 people. The Americans and two United Arab Emirate astronauts graduated from 2.5 years of basic training Tuesday (March 5).

New recruits are known as astronaut candidates until they complete their basic training, which includes "basic astronaut skills like spacewalking, operating the space station, flying T-38 jet planes and controlling a robotic arm," the agency added.

NASA's first astronaut recruitment was in 1959. In the following 65 years, the agency has recruited 360 people as astronaut candidates, according to agency statistics: 299 men, 61 women; 212 military, 138 civilians; 191 pilots, 159 non-pilots. Almost all of those people made it to space at some point.

RELATED STORIES:

 This International Space Station VR experience lets you explore the ISS and its as amazing as it sounds

 Artemis program will land international astronaut on the moon by end of 2020s, VP Harris says

 The ISS just turned 25, and NASA is getting ready for the end (video)

These days, opportunities are abundant: Possible moon or lunar space station flights for the Artemis program, long-duration missions on the International Space Station, the prospect of new commercial space stations and a variety of spacecraft to fly.

If the astronauts are going to low Earth orbit, there's a choice of SpaceX's Crew Dragon, Boeing's Starliner or Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. Moon missions would use SpaceX's Starship or Blue Origin's Blue Moon for landings, and NASA's Orion spacecraft (led by Lockheed Martin) for transportation.

Flights will only take up a minority of a typical astronaut career, however, meaning astronauts will spend most of their time supporting other missions on the ground in Mission Control or through development projects.

If you can't qualify with NASA, other opportunities for space may be available. Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are running brief, if pricey, trips to suborbital space from time to time. Axiom Space brings commercial astronauts to the ISS for short-duration missions. And there are other space agencies participating in Artemis and ISS that recruit their own astronauts as well.
A former congressional candidate who once ran for office in Nevada and Texas has been arrested on a murder charge in the death of a man exonerated after serving more than 20 years in prison for a crime he didnt commit.

A criminal complaint filed Monday in Las Vegas Justice Court alleges Daniel Rodimer, 45, killed Christopher Tapp, 47, after a fight in a Las Vegas hotel room in October.

An arrest warrant affidavit from a Las Vegas police detective indicates the fight was unrelated to Tapps earlier wrongful conviction.

Rodimer was arrested Wednesday and released on a $200,000 bond, the court docket shows. His attorneys, David Z. Chesnoff and Richard A. Schonfeld, tell CNN there were no travel restrictions included in the bond.

He intends on vigorously contesting the allegations and asks that the presumption of innocence guaranteed all Americans be respected, Chesnoff and Schonfeld said in a written statement.

Rodimer  a former professional wrestler from New Jersey  unsuccessfully ran for Congress in Nevada in 2020 and in a special election in Texas in 2021.

Tapp was convicted of murder and rape in the fatal stabbing of an 18-year-old Idaho woman and sentenced to life in prison in 1998. He was imprisoned for 21 years before his conviction was overturned after DNA testing proved that another man was responsible.

Tapp advocated for others who were wrongfully convicted. He worked alongside Idaho Sen. Doug Ricks to help pass state legislation that compensates those who spent time behind bars for crimes they did not commit, according to CNN affiliate EastIdahoNews.com.

Christopher Tapp testified in favor of legislation that would compensate the wrongly convicted in March 2020 in Boise, Idaho. - Keith Ridler/AP

According to the police detectives affidavit obtained by CNN affiliate KTNV, Rodimer and Tapp attended the same Halloween party on October 30 at Resorts World Las Vegas. Witnesses told police that Rodimer became upset after Tapp allegedly offered cocaine to Rodimers stepdaughter, the affidavit stated. CNN has requested a copy of the affidavit.

A witness told police that he heard Rodimer say, If you ever talk to my daughter again, Ill f**king kill you, immediately followed by two loud banging noises, according to the affidavit attached to the complaint.

A witness who spoke to police said she saw Rodimer knock Christopher to the ground, at which time Christophers head hit a small table.

Then, Rodimer punched Tapp throughout his head and body, the affidavit stated. Other witnesses said they later found Tapp on a bed awake but with a swollen face and a large mark on the left side of his neck.

Tapp was taken to the hospital, where he died several days later.

The Medical Examiner ruled Tapps death a homicide by blunt head trauma, according to the criminal complaint.

CNNs Dakin Andone contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Former congressional candidate endorsed by Trump surrenders for murder

Daniel Rodimer, a former wrestler who ran for a Republican congressional seat in 2020, surrendered himself to authorities in Nevada on Wednesday evening after an arrest warrant sought him out on an open murder charge.

Mr Rodimer, 45, turned himself into the Clark County Detention Center hours after the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police (LVMP) identified him as a suspect in the murder of 47-year-old Christopher Tapp.

Authorities say Tapp was found suffering from injuries inside a hotel room on the Las Vegas Strip in October 2023. He was transported to the hospital but later pronounced deceased. Initially, officials believed his injuries were a result of an accident.

However, the LVMP conducted a suspicious death investigation and discovered Tapp had been in an altercation. The Clark County Coroners Office then ruled Tapps death as a homicide as a result of blunt force trauma to the head.

Lawyers for Mr Rodimer told The Associated Press that Mr Rodimer was voluntarily surrendering to authorities and would post a court-ordered bail.

He intends on vigorously contesting the allegations and asks that the presumption of innocence guaranteed all Americans be respected, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, Mr Rodimers attorneys, told the news outlet.

Mr Rodimer is a former WWE wrestler but may be best known for his unsuccessful 2020 congressional campaign. Mr Rodimer challenged Democratic incumbent, Susie Lee, for Nevadas 3rd Congressional District seat.

At the time, former president Donald Trump endorsed Mr Rodimer, once saying at a rally, Dan Rodimer, were with you all the way, Dan.

Trump in 2020: Dan Rodimer. Were with you all the way Dan https://t.co/2AnYwpCwEl pic.twitter.com/g64fGtW56n  Acyn (@Acyn) March 6, 2024

Throughout that campaign, Mr Rodimer fought allegations of police run-ins and arrests after records revealed his former girlfriend and wife had called 911 twice in 2018. Once, she called regarding an alleged domestic dispute incident. Another time she accused Mr Rodimer of taking $200,000 worth of cash, guns and jewelry from their home.

Mr Rodimers wife, Sarah Rodimer, was forced to confront the allegations by sharing a statement on Mr Rodimers former campaign website. In it she defended her husband, saying the 911 call was a verbal argument that led to no arrest nor charges.

After losing the Nevada election, Mr Rodimer moved to Texas where he unsuccessfully campaigned in a special election for Texass 6th congressional district seat.

Notably, Mr Rodimer was accused of faking a Southern accent and adopting a new persona in the hopes of generating support. Florida Representative Matt Gaetz once called Mr Rodimer a fake Texan and phony. He encouraged voters to not support him.

The Independent has reached out to lawyers for Mr Rodimer for comment.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  A former state corrections officer has pleaded guilty to insurance fraud-related charges, according to the Erie County District Attorneys Office.

56-year-old Charles Epps, II, of Buffalo, admitted to fraudulently collecting more than $50,000 in benefits while working as a bus operator. He claimed that he was unable to work due to an injury he suffered in July 2020 while working as a corrections officer.

He was falsely reporting his employment status between August 2021 and November 2022.

He pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree insurance fraud and one count of third-degree grand larceny. As part of the plea, he will pay full restitution of $35,544.67 to the New York State Insurance Fund and $16,907.40 to the Social Security Administration, for a total of $52,452.07.

He faces up to seven years in prison when he is sentenced on May 22. He was released on his own recognizance.

Latest Local News

Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.
The former chair of the Florida Republican Party will not be charged with video voyeurism, according to the state attorneys office in Sarasota County, Florida.

Christian Ziegler was ousted from his role atop the state party earlier this year amid an investigation into a womans rape allegations against him. While authorities declined to bring sexual battery charges against Ziegler, concluding a video of the sexual encounter showed it was likely consensual, they announced in January that they would seek to charge him with illegally recording the encounter.

In a memo obtained by CNN, prosecutors said they were declining to pursue video voyeurism charges against Ziegler because they found inconsistencies in the womans statements.

The Victims expressed inability to recall whether she consented to recording the sexual activity along with her inconsistencies pertaining to key details of the event leave the State unable to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that the video in question was filmed without her knowledge or consent. Accordingly, no charges will be filed, the memo states.

Zieglers attorney said his client is relieved to finally be completely cleared of the false allegations and any criminal wrongdoing.

We cooperated at every stage of investigation and as difficult as it was, we remained quiet out of respect for the investigation, attorney Derek Byrd said. On day one, we said that Mr. Ziegler was completely innocent. We asked everyone not to rush to judgement and reminded everyone to presume Mr. Ziegler innocent as the Constitution instructs. Unfortunately, many did not award that courtesy to Mr. Ziegler, damaging his family, career, and reputation throughout this process.

Ziegler came under investigation in October, after the woman accused him of raping her after she canceled a three-way sexual encounter with Ziegler and his wife, Bridget, a Sarasota County School Board member, and co-founder of the conservative parental rights group Moms for Liberty.

In January, after reviewing the video Ziegler recorded on his cell phone of the sexual encounter, the Sarasota Police Department concluded it likely consensual. Police said that in an interview with the woman, she was shown the video and told investigators that she did not consent to the recording. In Florida, videotaping a sexual encounter without consent is a third-degree felony.

The video shows the phone was visible either in the Defendants hand or on the bed where the sexual encounter occurred, prosecutors wrote in the memo, adding that the recording did not appear to be taken from any hidden device or secretive angle that would tend to show that a phone recording a video was being hidden from the Victim.

Prosecutors said that inconsistencies in the womans story appear to be the result of substantial intoxication and trauma, noting that she never tried to significantly change her account or push authorities to file charges.

News of the investigation, first reported by the Florida Center for Government Accountability, sparked an immediate backlash. There were calls for the Zieglers to resign from their high-profile positions. Christian Ziegler refused and was voted out of his leadership role in January. Bridget Ziegler, who was never accused of criminal wrongdoing, continues to face calls to step down from the Sarasota County School Board.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
A former GOP congressional candidate surrendered to authorities on Wednesday after officials issued an arrest warrant over the death of a man in Las Vegas late last year.

Daniel Rodimer, 45, turned himself in to officials on Wednesday after police issued the warrant over the death of 47-year-old Christopher Tapp at a Las Vegas casino last October.

Rodimers attorneys said he would vehemently fight the allegations.

Mr. Rodimer is voluntarily surrendering to authorities and will post a court ordered bail, attorney David Chesnoff said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He intends on vigorously contesting the allegations and asks that the presumption of innocence guaranteed all Americans be respected.

Officials first said Tapp was injured in a purported accident at the Hilton Resorts World on the Las Vegas strip before he died at an area hospital. But detectives later classified the death as suspicious after learning there was an altercation inside a hotel room prior to Tapps death.

The Clark County Coroners Office later ruled his death a homicide, citing blunt force trauma to the head, according to KTNV, the local ABC affiliate.

Police documents obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal alleged the dispute arose after Tapp offered Rodimers stepdaughter cocaine or other drugs during a party in a suite at the casino. Rodimer allegedly confronted the man in a bathroom, reportedly saying: If you ever talk to my daughter again, Ill fucking kill you.

Rodimer "intends on vigorously contesting the allegations and asks that the presumption of innocence guaranteed all Americans be respected," his attorneys said. Ethan Miller via Getty Images

A witness told authorities they heard two loud banging noises and that Rodimer had punched the other man. Another witness told police they saw Rodimer knock Tapp to the ground at which time Christophers head hit a small table. A third witness reportedly added that Tapp slipped and fell before hitting his head.

Rodimer, a former professional wrestler, launched a failed bid for Nevadas 3rd congressional district in 2020 in which he was endorsed by then-President Donald Trump. He later ran for another seat in Texas during a special election, but drew criticism after reportedly using a fake southern accent to try and garner support.

Related...
James Ardaiz, former Fresno County prosecutor, Superior Court judge and appellate justice, is battling a rare form of cancer that he believes was caused by years of exposure to toxic fumes from a gas pumping station in the courthouses underground garage.

The 76-year-old Ardaiz has filed a claim for damages from Fresno County and a civil lawsuit is likely next, said his attorney Warren Paboojian.

Paboojian said his client is looking for answers as to what caused him to develop Myelodysplastic syndrome, an incurable form of blood cancer that prevents the body from producing healthy red blood cells, leading to anemia, recurrent infections and potentially leukemia.

The overall incidence of Myelodysplastic syndrome in the United States is estimated at close to four cases per 100,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. And one of the primary risk factors is chronic exposure to benzene, a major component of gasoline.

Along with the complaint for damages, Paboojian also filed a motion requesting the courts permission to have an expert inspect the gas pumps, known as the Courthouse Motor Pool, and test the air and soil in the area and in the courthouse. The county uses the motor pool to fuel its vehicles.

Paboojian was trying to get the testing done prior to filing a lawsuit out of concern the county may try to fix any potential problems.

Since Petitioner has submitted claims, there is a risk that the conditions may change, either as a precaution for the health and safety of those working in the courthouse building, or as a defensive action taken in anticipation of litigation, Paboojian wrote in his motion to the court.

Judge Jeff Hamilton denied the request.

Hazardous fumes at courthouse?

Paboojians theory is that hazardous fumes from the motor pool were not properly vented and that an underground gasoline storage tank leaked into the soil and ground water, potentially causing courthouse workers to be exposed to cancer causing chemicals.

I have concerns, Paboojian said. I have never seen an underground gas station and I would like to know what health hazards there are for past and current occupants of that courthouse.

Fresno County officials have, so far, objected to the request.

Court records show that the underground storage tank was removed and replaced in 1990. Also, Daniel C. Cederborg, county counsel, acknowledged in a court document that there was an unauthorized fuel release in December 2006 during a fuel delivery for the underground tank in the basement of the Downtown Courthouse.

Cederborg said the spill was mitigated and the California Water Quality Control Board concluded that the 2006 release was unlikely to pose a risk to human health, the environment, or groundwater.

County says no evidence and no relevance

Fresno County spokesperson Sonja Dosti said that while the county is deeply concerned to learn about Judge Ardaizs illness there is no evidence the illness is due to exposure to any contaminant present in county facilities.

She added that the county has provided Paboojian with historical testing data that demonstrate there was no measurable presence of benzene contamination in the relevant Court facility in 1990, 2007 and 2010.

The fueling station located in the underground parking facility under the main Courthouse is regularly maintained and monitored by the County, pursuant to all State and Federal regulations, she said in a statement. The testing sought by Mr. Paboojian now would have no relevance to alleged exposures that would have taken place more than two decades ago.

Courthouse colleague with same diagnosis

Ardaiz, who is also a true crime writer, worked at the courthouse on 1100 Van Ness Avenue from 1972 to 1989 as a prosecutor with the Fresno County District Attorneys Office and later as a Superior Court judge.

He retired from the bench in 2011 as a judge with the Fifth District of the California Courts of Appeal and remained active until he began developing flu-like symptoms that left him exhausted. After multiple doctor visits, including to the Stanford Cancer Institute, he was given a diagnoses of Myelodysplastic syndrome.

He admits that at first he did not appreciate how serious his situation was, until the day he took his grandson to see the General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park.

We started walking up the hill and I couldnt make it 100 feet without stopping to catch my breath, he said. Thats when it really hit home.

As Ardaiz dug deeper into his illness and the potential causes, he made a discovery: Ernest Duran, his friend and former colleague, was also diagnosed with the same rare cancer.

Duran worked in the courthouse around the same period as Ardaiz, from 1979 to 1987 and was a criminal investigator for the Fresno County District Attorneys office.

There are only two ways of getting this type of cancer: either excessive radiation or benzene exposure, Ardaiz said. So when Ernie and I talked about it, we related it back to when we worked together and there had to be a common source. The doctors said it was almost statistically impossible for both of us to have it unless it was from a common source.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WHNT)  The parole hearing for former Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely has been continued, after the state parole board could not reach a unanimous decision Thursday.

Blakely, who was the states longest-serving sheriff at the time of his conviction, was convicted on theft and ethics charges in 2021. He was sentenced to three years in county jail. Despite Blakely being sentenced to 3 years in a county jail back in 2021, he didnt begin serving his sentence until after his direct appeals were denied.

Woman charged with stealing over $70k from Huntsville Eastern League

He has been held in the Franklin County Detention Center since February 24, 2023.

There were over 50 supporters for Blakely in attendance at the parole hearing on Thursday morning, but the long-time sheriff was not there.

The parole board is comprised of three members, however, only two of the members were present. One of those members voted yes and one voted no.

The Alabama Supreme Court rejected Blakelys petition for an appeal of his conviction on February 10, 2023. Prior to that, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals also rejected his request to overturn his conviction and sentence  and his request for a rehearing.

Blakelys attorneys filed a rule 32 petition following the beginning of his sentence, attempting another appeal of his conviction.

Madison County leaders plan to widen Wall Triana Highway for new Costco store

In the Rule 32 petition, Blakelys lawyers focused on retired Alabama Court of Appeals Judge Pamela Baschabs status with the state bar association, saying her membership was not active when Blakely went on trial in July 2021. The filings argued Baschab was not legally qualified to preside over Blakelys trial because she was not licensed to practice law.

That petition was denied by a judge in May 2023.

Judge Jolley said in his order dismissing the petition, This Court declines Blakelys invitation to graft onto the Constitution or the Code of Alabama an additional, unstated requirement that the Chief Justice may only appoint retired judges who maintain an active license to practice law with the Alabama State Bar. Because neither requires a retired judgenot least one with more than thirty years of unblemished serviceto maintain an active license to practice law, Judge Baschabs appointment was lawful and proper.

Blakely was the sheriff in Limestone County for 38 years before a jury returned two guilty verdicts against him for misusing funds from his campaign account and funds from the sheriffs office. Since Blakely was found guilty of two felony charges, he was removed from office -effective immediately.

 Get breaking news, traffic and weather alerts directly to your smartphone. Download the News 19 App

By law, the Limestone County Coroner Mike West acted as Sheriff until a new one was appointed in September 2021.

Joshua McLaughlin, chief investigator in the Limestone County District Attorneys Office at the time, was appointed in September to serve the remainder of Blakelys term. McLaughlin has continued to serve in that role after winning the election in November 2022.

Blakelys next parole hearing is set for April 11.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
Laman Ismayilova

The Jordan Museum in Amman has hosted the book presentation "Garabagh Khanate: Historical and Cultural Identity" in Arabic, published on the initiative of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation with the support of the Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At the Azerbaijani Embassy in Jordan, the opening ceremony was addressed by the General Director of the Jordan Museum, Ihab Amarin, and the Azerbaijani Ambassador to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Eldar Salimov, Azernews reports.

In their remarks, they emphasised that the album-book, previously published in English, French, and Spanish, played an important role in conveying detailed information about Shusha, one of the cultural centres of the Caucasus and the cultural heritage of ancient Azerbaijan, to the public in different countries.

The Ambassador, Eldar Salimov, noted that the materials included in the publication, which were stored in the archives of the National Museum of Georgia for over 100 years and were discovered only a few years ago thanks to the initiative of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, indicate that Garabagh belongs to the cultural identity of Azerbaijan.

The discussions were attended by the Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian International Development Association (EMAD), Elchin Asgarov, Professor Mohammed Wahib of the University of Jordan, and Jordanian writer and historian Mohamed Al Udwan.

Speaking about the policy of artificial Armenianization of artefacts of Albanian culture, they emphasised that ethnographic materials collected during the period of the Russian Empire and now stored in Georgia indicate that Garabagh, as an important centre, belongs to the national culture of Azerbaijan.

EMAD Chairman Elchin Asgarov also spoke about the mass resettlement of Armenians after the division of Azerbaijan between Russia and Iran in 1828.

"The book includes thousands of new materials found in archives, which not only reflect the ancient history of Azerbaijan's statehood in Garabagh, but also information about the peaceful coexistence of various madhhabs of Islam and representatives of other religions. These materials demonstrate that interreligious and intercultural tolerance and mutual respect are values that have long been inherent in the Azerbaijani people. Ultimately, they created a unique model that is applauded in today's world," said Elchin Asgarov.

Elchin Asgarov briefed the attendees about the destruction of Azerbaijan's cultural and religious heritage in Garabagh during the 30-year Armenian occupation and stressed the particular importance of studying the heritage of the Garabagh Khanate by Georgian scientists in terms of identifying the historical truth about the role of this region in the formation of the national identity of Azerbaijan.

In conclusion, the event participants were presented with copies of the book "Garabagh Khanate: Historical and Cultural Identity" and viewed a photo exhibition organised in the museum's foyer.

The photo exhibition showcased artefacts from the Garabagh Khanate, which are currently kept in the collections of the Georgian National Museum.
The song "Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow" is deservedly considered one of the most famous Ukrainian folk songs. Its history dates back to Cossack times, and later it became the anthem of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. In 2022, the song's heartbreaking lines gained widespread popularity again after being performed by Andriy Khlyvniuk at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. Meanwhile, a unique recording of the song, arranged by the famous Oleksandr Koshytsia during the Ukrainian People's Republic, was shown online.

ADVERTISIMENT

The recording, made back in 1944 in New York, was released as part of the album Hear, Ukraine sing on the Sonart Record Corporation label. It was found and digitized by Tina Peresunko, a researcher of the history of Ukrainian cultural diplomacy and founder of the Leontovych Institute.

On the recording, you can hear "Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow" performed by a male choir under the direction of Oleksandr Koshytsia, the godfather of "Shchedryk," who revealed this legendary Ukrainian song to the world and made it mega-famous.

In the album Hear, Ukraine sing, the title of the song about the red viburnum is translated as "We will liberate Ukraine", which emphasizes its symbolism, indomitable spirit and fighting spirit.

ADVERTISIMENT

The recovered 1944 American vinyl recording of a Ukrainian legendary song that has not lost its relevance in our time is a valuable cultural artifact and an important contribution to the preservation of our historical heritage. It is a testament to the strength and resilience of the Ukrainian people, their desire for freedom and independence.

As OBOZ.UA wrote earlier, a video was posted on the Internet in which the song "Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow" is sung in Hebrew. The audience is delighted with this performance.

ADVERTISIMENT

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
CAMPBELL COUNTY, Va. (WFXR)Former State Delegate Matt Fariss was acquitted on charges concerning a hit-and-run incident in Campbell County on March 2, 2023.

On March 2, Fariss was driving south on Route 501 in his 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe when he allegedly crossed over the centerline, continued off the northbound side of Route 501, and hit a female pedestrian. Fariss then allegedly proceeded to leave the scene before emergency responders arrived.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Delegate Matt Fariss charged in hit-and-run investigation

Fariss turned himself into Virginia State Police and was charged with Malicious Wounding, Hit-and-Run, and Reckless Driving.

A jury with the Campbell Circuit Court reached a verdict on Tuesday, March 5 following a continuing trial. Fariss original charges were dismissed and instead, the jury convicted him on a reduced charge of improper driving charge, which included a $500 fine.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
Volodymyr Zelensky with Gen Valeriy Zaluzhny, the former commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces

Ukraine on Thursday named General Valeriy Zaluzhny as its new ambassador to the UK a month after he was sacked as the countrys army chief.

Kyivs foreign ministry announced that Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraines president, had signed off on the diplomatic appointment.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has sent a corresponding request to the British side for the agreement, it said.

Gen Zaluzhny was removed from his role as the leader of Ukraines armed forces last month in a spat with Mr Zelensky.

Their strained relationship became public after the former military chief described the war with Russia as a stalemate after the much-vaunted summer counter-offensive ended in failure.

Mr Zelensky failed once to sack the general, who had led Ukraines war effort for two years, by attempting to move him to another high-profile position as Ukraines ambassador to either the UK or Nato.

However, last month, he eventually decided to remove him from his post, promising him an unspecified role to continue in the team.

Iron General enjoyed higher approval ratings than Zelensky

The decision to fire Gen Zaluzhny prompted an emotional response amongst Ukrainians.

The military leader, dubbed the Iron General, was seen as a symbol of the countrys resistance and enjoyed higher approval ratings among the public than Mr Zelensky.

Gen Zaluzhny will replace Vadym Prystaiko, Kyivs former envoy to London, who was also sacked after a public falling out with the Ukrainian president in July last year.

The diplomat had accused Mr Zelensky of demonstrating a level of unhealthy sarcasm in a war of words with Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary.

Mr Wallace had urged Kyiv to show more gratitude for Western aid and urged the capital to stop treating its allies like Amazon.

At the time, Ukrainian media claimed Mr Zelensky is known not to handle public criticism well.

After a career in Ukraines armed forces, this will be Gen Zaluzhnys first foray into diplomacy  often a fate for military figureheads who have upset their civilian leaders.

It is not known whether he speaks English. His previous public addresses have all been in Ukrainian.

Gen Zaluzhny was replaced as Ukraines commander-in-chief by Gen Oleksandr Syrsky, who commanded Kyivs lighting counter-offensive in September 2022 through the Kharkiv region.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Then US President Donald Trump attends a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit. Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

Former US president Donald Trump has challenged incumbent Joe Biden to debate him, following his successes in the so-called Super Tuesday elections.

Trump called for a debate with Biden on Wednesday, shortly after Republican Nikki Haley withdrew from the Republican nomination contest for November's presidential election.

"It is important, for the Good of our Country, that Joe Biden and I Debate Issues that are so vital to America, and the American People. Therefore, I am calling for Debates, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE!" Trump wrote in a post on the Truth Social platform he co-founded.

The communications director of Biden's election campaign, Michael Tyler, did not comment on whether Biden would be debating. according to US reports. He hinted that this would be a discussion for a later date.

Biden and Trump had two televised debates before the 2020 presidential election. No debates have been agreed before this year's election, set to take place in November.

Trump had been criticized for refusing to participate in televised debates with his Republican rivals for the party's nomination for the White House. The 77-year-old Trump has repeatedly claimed that the 81-year-old Biden is too old and forgetful to debate against him.

Trump wrote in his post on Truth Social that the debates could be run by the "corrupt" Democratic Party organizing committee. "I look forward to receiving a response," he said.

"I know Donald Trump's thirsty for attention and struggling to expand his appeal beyond the MAGA base  and that's a conversation we'll have at the appropriate time in this cycle," Tyler told Fox News Digital, referencing Trump's election campaign slogan: "Make America Great Again."

"But if he's so desperate to see President Biden in prime time, he doesn't have to wait!" he added, quipping that Trump could watch Biden's State of the Union address, which is scheduled for Thursday.

The official address to both chambers of the US Congress traditionally gives the US President the opportunity to take stock of key policy issues and set out his future course.
A seasoned, now former school bus driver in Utah faces federal and state arson charges after allegedly lighting his school bus on fire with dozens of children on board.

According to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Utah, Michael Austin Ford, 58, of West Valley City was indicted by a grand jury in February, and was detained on Friday, after authorities accused him of setting a school bus on fire on two separate occasions.

Police said Ford, who was a Granite School District bus driver for 25 years, allegedly started the fire with an "incendiary source."

Authorities said in one incident, at least 42 children were on board the bus when Ford allegedly started the blaze and kept driving.

UTAH 9-YEAR-OLD ARRESTED FOR FATALLY SHOOTING RELATIVE

Ford allegedly used an ignition device to start the fire and continued to drive the bus while smoke billowed to where the dozens of children sat in the back.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"Undeterred by the smoke, the Defendant only stops the bus when children are seen and heard on video coughing, covering their faces, and complaining about smoke," prosecutors said in court documents.

Officials said that the incident was captured on video.

Authorities alleged that Michael Ford started a fire two times inside a Granite School District bus.

Over a year later, in April 2023, Ford was again driving a Granite School District bus in traffic when he allegedly ignited a fire on the bus.

Again, Ford continued to drive the bus with smoke billowing past his face.

FORMER TRACK COACH SENTENCED TO 5 YEARS IN JAIL FOR DUPING ATHLETE INTO SENDING NUDE PHOTOS

Prosecutors said Ford attempted to tamper with the bus surveillance system in the days before the second fire.

Days later, Ford was arrested by Granite School Police and questioned about the fire but was released, according to the prosecutors office.

Ford was arrested again on felony state charges in October 2023, according to a Utah docket report.

Michael Ford was charged with two counts of arson of a vehicle of an organization receiving federal funds.

Ford was charged with two counts of arson of a vehicle of an organization receiving federal funds, prosecutors said.

Ford has been ordered detained ahead of his federal trial, set for April 29, in Salt Lake City.

Authorities did not disclose a motive behind the incidents.

The Granite School District and the prosecutor's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.





Original article source: Former Utah school bus driver accused of setting fire to buses, including one with children on board: DOJ
Scientists working in southwest England have found the oldest fossilized forest known on Earth, according to a new study.

Dating back 390 million years, the fossils break the record held by a forest in New York state by 4 million years, reads a press release from the University of Cambridge published Thursday.

The fossils were found in high sandstone cliffs on the southern side of the Bristol Channel near Minehead, close to the site of a holiday park.

The forest floor with visible ripple marks. - Neil Davies

The trees, known as Calamophyton, look fairly similar to palm trees but had thin, hollow trunks. They didnt have any leaves, but had twig-like structures covering their branches, study first author Neil Davies, a lecturer at the University of Cambridges Earth Sciences department, told CNN Thursday.

They would reach up to 2-4 meters (6.6-13.1 feet) tall and shed branches as they grew.

The forest dates from the Devonian Period, 419 million to 358 million years ago, when life was moving onto land.

An illustration showing how the forest would have looked. - Peter Giesen/Chris Berry

The trees would have trapped sediment in their root systems, stabilizing riverbanks and coastlines, Davies explained.

In doing so they are corralling water in certain locations and making these small channels, he said. Theyre basically building the environment they want to live in rather than being passive.

The findings also reveal the speed with which early forests developed, said Davies.

While the fossils in England are from a sparse forest with just one type of tree, the previous oldest forest in New York state had more variety of species, such as vine-like trees that grew on the ground, despite living just 4 million years later, he explained.

By comparing the Somerset flora with the New York flora you really see how rapidly things changed in terms of geological time, said Davies.

Within a kind of geological blink of the eye youve got a lot more variety, he added.

Fossils of small twigs. - Chris Berry

The trees also provided a habitat for invertebrates living on the forest floor thanks to the twigs that would drop on the ground.

The team found evidence of footprints and tail drags left by these early anthropods, said Davies.

While scientists dont know exactly what they were due to a lack of physical remains, the largest ones were around 5-10 centimeters (2-4 inches) wide, said Davies. Theyre sizeable, he added.

The team also found evidence that the arthropods would bury themselves in the sediment on the forest floor to prevent themselves drying out in the very warm, semi-arid climate, said Davies.

A fossil of a fallen tree trunk. - Neil Davies

At the time, the cliffs where the fossils were found, known as the Hangman Sandstone Formation, were connected to parts of what is now Germany and Belgium, rather than England.

Similar fossils from pieces of wood washed out to sea have been found in these areas, which helped study co-author Christopher Berry, a palaeobotanist at Cardiff Universitys School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, identify the fossils found in England.

It was amazing to see them so near to home. But the most revealing insight comes from seeing, for the first time, these trees in the positions where they grew, he said in the release.

It is our first opportunity to look directly at the ecology of this earliest type of forest, to interpret the environment in which Calamophyton trees were growing, and to evaluate their impact on the sedimentary system.

None of this would have been possible without a huge stroke of luck, said Davies.

These were fortuitous findings, he said, explaining that the team were in the area to investigate its general geology and had sat down for lunch in a field when they spotted the fossils.

We were surprised to find the forest because its a part of the world that has been looked at quite extensively and no ones ever found these things, he said.

The study was published in the Journal of the Geological Society.

Sign up for CNNs Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  The founder of a D.C.-based non-profit that provided services to the LGBTQ+ community appeared in court on Wednesday to face charges of fraud and money laundering.

Ruby Corado, 53, founded Casa Ruby, Inc., an organization that provided housing, food and other social services to LGBTQ+ people.

The U.S. Attorneys Office (USAO) believes that Corado diverted taxpayer-backed emergency relief funds  intended for Casa Ruby  to private bank accounts off-shore for her personal use.

According to court documents, Corado received over $1.3 million from the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program. Rather than using the funds as promised, she stole at least $150,000 by transferring money to bank accounts in El Salvador, which she hid from the IRS.

DC area prosecutors pledge to visit local correctional facilities

FBI agents arrested Corado on March 5 at a hotel in Laurel, Md. She is being held pending a detention hearing on Friday.

I feel like this is redemption, said Taylor Lianne Chandler, a former employee of Casa Ruby. Im just overwhelmed that finally there are consequences for someone who has done some much wrong to a community.

Chandler, who serves as a board member with Capital Pride Alliance, quit the nonprofit in 2018 after going weeks without getting paid. Shes accused Corado of mismanaging the organization for years.

When I walked out of that office on December 10 after not being paid for like nine weeks, I was done. And I screamed on the top of my lungs a lot of the things that were happening there, she explained. To me, it means that I was justified in everything I said.

Shes hopeful the arrest and charges will lead to some healing among the LGBTQ community.

Fairfax Connector strike: Buses to resume service, agreement reached in negotiations

Its just unfair that the sins of one have been felt by all, said Chandler. Theres relief after seeing someone do so much thats against the law finally come to a head and have to pay for that crime.

Casa Ruby ceased its operations in July 2022 when it shuttered its transitional housing, failed to pay its employees, and faced eviction from multiple properties for failure to pay rent, according to the USAO. At the time, Corado fled to El Salvador, only returning to the U.S. in an unexpected visit.

Corado is facing charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, laundering of monetary instruments, monetary transactions in criminally derived proceeds and failure to file a report of foreign bank account.

If convicted, Corado faces maximum sentences of 30 years in prison for bank fraud and 20 years in prison for wire fraud. Her money laundering charge has a maximum penalty of 20 years.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Four votes separate two candidates in an at-large school board race in Lebanon that still may not be decided, based on uncounted provisional ballots, but election officials say an Election Day internet outage should not be a factor in the race.

Heather Sadler Gallaher garnered 1,771 votes to Dusty Jones' 1,767.

Election officials said there are 23 outstanding provisional ballots and nine of them fall within the Lebanon Special School District's zone.

But, sometimes it's best to consider past precedents.

Historically, the majority of provisional ballots don't end up counting because those voters are often ineligible for different reasons, such as registering too late to vote, Administrator of Elections Tammy Smith said. How many provisional ballots that will count hasn't yet been determined.

Heather Sadler Gallaher

"I'm not conceding anything until the election numbers are certified," Jones said.

Certification is expected to be complete by March 20, Smith said.

Jones did express concerns about the internet outage during election day and whether it caused some voters to leave amid such a close election.

The outage was related to laptops that were used to verify voter eligibility upon entry, said retired Administrator of Elections Phillip Warren, who still assists with the election commission. The outage lasted roughly 10 minutes and did not impact voting machines, according to Smith.

"Everyone who wanted to vote was able to vote," Smith said. "It was max 10 minutes, but in that timeframe our locations used the backup procedures as they have been trained to do. We had no instances voters telling us they left."

Dusty Jones

Gallaher said she will "wait for the process" and will go forward as the candidate elected "until anything changes."

Tennessee law does not allow for a recount, Smith said. A challenge to the election could be filed in court.

Dusty Jones father Steve Jones did not seek reelection after 36 years on the Lebanon Special School District board.

Wilson County School Board races

Both incumbents won their Republican-only primaries for Wilson County School Board seats Tuesday against challengers and will be uncontested on the ballot in August.

Melissa Walker Lynn

Incumbent Melissa Walker Lynn defeated challenger Joe Schippers 1,435-1,233 for the Zone 3 seat with provisional ballots still remaining.

Jamie Farough, who is the present Wilson County School Board chair, defeated Jessica Hill 1,329-986 for the Zone 7 seat with the provisional ballots remaining.

Both challengers' campaigns included concerns about inappropriate books in Wilson County school libraries.

Jamie Farough

Republican Gregory Hohman was uncontested in the primary and will run in August against Independent Carrie Pfeiffer, who is the incumbent. Independent candidates are not on the primary ballot.

Democrat Brittany Ash and Republican Donnie Self were each uncontested as candidates in their respective parties for the Zone 5 Wilson County School Board race that will be decided in August.

Republican incumbent Stephen Goodall and Democrat Derrick Hammond were each unopposed, running in an Assessor of Property race that will be decided in August.

Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on X, formerly known as Twitter @ AndyHumbles.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Four votes separate Tennessee candidates after Election Day. Now what?
LGBTQ activist Michel Chomarat said he was 'very moved' (OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE)

France's LGBTQ activists rejoiced Thursday after the lower house of parliament overnight unanimously approved a bill to compensate gay people convicted under discriminatory laws from 1942 to 1982.

The draft law must now be examined by the Senate, which has approved recognising the harm inflicted on those sentenced when homosexuality was a crime, but has so far resisted the idea of reparations.

Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti apologised of behalf of the state during Wednesday's parliament session.

"Sorry, sorry to the people, the homosexual people of France who for 40 years suffered this totally unfair repression," he told the National Assembly.

Michel Chomarat, 75, said he was "very moved" by the news.

In 1977, he was among a group of men detained in a police raid on a gay bar in Paris called "Le Manhattan", then sentenced under the old legislation.

"I've been fighting for almost 50 years because I never accepted being arrested and sentenced," he told AFP.

France decriminalised homosexuality in 1791 during the French revolution.

But the Vichy regime that collaborated with the Nazi occupation of France during World War II then introduced a discriminatory law in 1942, and this was upheld following the war.

Legislation providing for jail or fines for same-sex couples was only scrapped in 1982.

Terrence Katchadourian, secretary-general of Stop Homophobie (Stop Homophobia), said the unanimous vote on Wednesday night was a "nice surprise".

"The fact that France is asking for forgiveness... sends a beautiful message worldwide," he said.

Joel Deumier, co-president of SOS Homophobie (SOS Homophobia), said the lower-house National Assembly had sent an "extremely strong signal".

But "there can be no recognition without reparations," he said.

According to researcher Regis Schlagdenhauffen, around 10,000 people were sentenced to prison terms or fines under a law criminalising sexual relations with a "minor" of the same sex.

And some 50,000 more were punished for "public indecency", the senior lecturer at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) said.

Many of those whose lives were upturned by the condemnations are now dead or very old, meaning few are likely to come forward for any reparations.

Socialist lawmaker Herve Saulignac estimates that 200 to 400 people could be eligible for financial compensation.

But Dupond-Moretti said it would likely be difficult for many to prove that they were indeed jailed or paid fines under the scrapped legislation.

This week France's parliament also approved enshrining the right to abortion in the constitution, and President Emmanuel Macron is to officially seal the amendment on Friday.

sl-vac/ah/tgb/giv
This is Totally Normal Quote of the Day, a feature highlighting a statement from the news that exemplifies just how extremely normal everything has become.

President Joe Bidens team is increasingly taking extraordinary steps to minimize disruptions from pro-Palestinian protests at his events by making them smaller, withholding their precise locations from the media and the public until he arrives, avoiding college campuses and, in at least one instance, considering hiring a private company to vet attendees. An NBC News report describing the nature of one of Bidens recent campaign pivots.

President Joe Biden is about to give his third State of the Union address, and he doesnt seem too concerned about the prospect that it could be his last.* Just look to the crazy-making calm of his inner circle, which seems content to dismiss current polling and bet that the electorate will choose normal at the ballot box this fall. (Remind me how 2016 turned out, again?)

Everyone else who cares about the state of our union, however, has been especially alarmed as of late.

Biden is still tied with or trailing Donald Trump in the polls, and his overall approval rating remains troublingly low. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll found that a majority of Bidens 2020 coalition now perceives him as too old to lead the country effectively. The electorate at large remains largely unaware of the genuinely historic accomplishments Biden has achieved on popular issues like economic recovery, infrastructure protection, climate change, and gun control. Super Tuesday saw more important states for BidenNorth Carolina and Minnesotarack up impressive voting margins for uncommitted in the Democratic primary, adding tangible numbers to the national disaffection over Bidens stance on the Israel-Hamas war (something that was already expressed quite clearly by a significant share of Michiganders in last weeks primary). Israels indiscriminate bombing of the Gaza Strip has now killed more than 30,000 Palestinian Arabs, the majority of them women and children, as even Bidens administration officials have admitteda fact thats inflaming important swaths of the Democratic voting base.

And all the while, the Supreme Court is slowing the momentum of Trumps federal trials and allowing him to seriously argue that he could be immune from his many alleged crimes, simply because he was the president while he was doing them. So the current president is losing any advantages there.

Biden clearly needs to make some big changes and repair his broken relationship with much-needed voters. His vice presidentwho called for an immediate cease-fire in Gazasays so. His congressional alliesfrom progressives like Ro Khanna to pro-Israel moderates like Haley Stevenssay so. The majority of all votersJewish or Muslim, left-wing or centristsay so. So, is Biden actually shifting his tack to win voters back?

Depends on how you classify the act of hiding from the very constituencies he needs to court!

According to an NBC News report published last week, Biden and his campaign team have been so rattled by the ubiquitous presence of pro-Palestine supporters at their rallies that theyre all but running for cover. Bidens reelection effort has postponed plans to hit more college campuses, and is instead keeping rally locations secretive, increasing the prices of fundraising dinners, and discussing whether to hire a private company to vet attendees, per the network. (Surely a great use of funds as small-dollar donations remain low.)

To take it from NBCs sources, Bidens new protester-avoiding accommodations have resulted in zero disruptions over the past few weeks. However, this has also meant that Biden is appearing in front of fewer voters and not personally engaging with some of the key constituencies whose support he is struggling to gain, such as young voters. Look, Jack: Ive never managed a campaign but  that seems bad!

Its not just Biden whos facing down Israel protests; even Gaza-sympathetic Dems like Raphael Warnock, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Maxwell Frost have tangled with morally outraged constituencies this year. But heres the thing: Its Biden who, more than anyone else, needs to assure the American people that hes 1) physically up to snuff and 2) willing to engage with the critical voters hes been losing. And it has to go beyond mere words: A senior adviser to Biden (anonymously) told NBC News Mike Memoli last week that President Biden shares the goal of many of the folks who voted uncommitted, which is an end to the violence and a just and lasting peace.  They want a President who listens and delivers. Thats Joe Biden.

Is it, though? Because it sure as heck sounds like hes not doing much listening on this issue, much less delivering.

Some pundits or Biden aides will point out the fact that older voters turn out more in presidential contests anyway, which is true, and that younger voters are generally a low-turnout bloc, which is also true. But young voters have consistently been an important part of the Democratic coalition over the past few years. As the Democratic polling firm Catalist has measured, Bidens ability to beat Trump where Hillary Clinton couldnt depended a lot on improved youth numbers, with those voters making for 31 percent of the 2020 voting electorate, versus 23 percent in 2016. Biden simply cant afford to cast aside the people who have supported him and are now begging him to take action. So if, per a Biden ally quoted by NBC News, the point is to reach as many voters as you can, and those small events dont, then what in the Sam Hill are we doing here?

The State of the Union offers Biden some ways to turn things around. The already media-shy president needs to take the moment to speak to those voters who, he well knows, are upset with him and pleading for something better. He should harness his famed empathy to show he understands why they are upset, instead of just throwing out stock lines. Bidens reported plan to list out wonky bits of his legislative agenda wont cut itthats not what the voters are looking for right now. The president can demonstrate, in a substantive way, that he gets it. Or he can continue to duck things and see how that works out for the country.
Frances defense-procurement agency said it awarded contracts to five domestic computer-research startups to develop technology that will allow the country to have two universal quantum computer prototypes by 2032, with the goal of developing quantum systems usable for defense requirements.

The framework agreements with the five companies  Alice & Bob, C12, Pasqal, Quandela and Quobly  are worth up to 500 million (US$545 million), the Armed Forces Ministry said in an emailed statement on March 6.

President Emmanuel Macron announced a national quantum strategy three years ago to equip the country with the computing resources required to guarantee Frances sovereignty in the field. Quantum computing exploits the laws of quantum physics with the goal of solving complex problems faster than with classical computers, a target known as quantum advantage.

Quantum technology is of major importance to the Armed Forces, with potential applications in cryptography or in communications, the ministry said in the statement. The revolution underway will allow us to perceive our environment with unprecedented precession, discover new materials, explore new ways of transmitting information, navigate there where the GPS network is inaccessible.

The program to develop quantum-computer prototypes will be coordinated by the Defense Digital Agency, known by its French acronym AND, and part of the procurement agency.

Google, IBM and others have built the first wave of quantum computers, but challenges around stability and scalability means commercial applications still face hurdles. In quantum computing, information is stored in quantum bits, or qubits, which can exist in multiple states simultaneously, potentially enabling the technology to outperform a traditional system based on binary bits.

France two years ago announced a hybrid quantum computing network to connect traditional systems and quantum computers, making them available to research institutions, startups and industry partners.

The five French startups all have what it takes to meet this challenge, but tits too early to say which of them will succeed in overcoming the various engineering, manufacturing and industrialization hurdles, the ministry said. That why this partnership takes the form of a three-stage competition: proof of concept, maturation and then industrialization.

Four years in to the program, the three most successful projects will be retained to develop the best logic qubits capable of going to scale, according to the ministry. At the eight-year mark, the competition will be limited to two technologies, which will continue to be developed from prototype computers, with a goal of 128 logic qubits, to commercial systems, with a goal of 2,048 qubits, and usable by their first customers.

Paris-based Alice & Bob was founded in 2020 and has raised more than 30 million, working on a universal quantum computer with error correction. C12, founded in the same year and also based in the French capital, is using carbon nanotubes to build its quantum processor, after securing 10 million in seed funding in 2021.

Pasqal, founded in 2019, has raised more than 140 million to date and is developing a quantum computer using neutral atoms ordered in arrays. Quandela raised more than 50 million in November, and is using photonics as its technology of choice, which the company says is relatively easy to scale and operates largely at room temperature. Quobly is developing error-tolerant quantum-computing processors which it says can be built using existing semiconductor fabs, and the Grenoble-based company in July closed its first funding round of 19 million.
President Gitanas Nauseda has signed a decree revoking the Lithuanian citizenship of People's Artist of the Russian Federation, ballerina Ilze Liepa. The decision was made because of her consistent and cynical support for the war in Ukraine.

ADVERTISIMENT

This was confirmed by the President's spokesman Ridas Jasulionis, Delfi reports. The intention to deprive the Putinist of citizenship was expressed back in February.

Liepa received a Lithuanian passport in 2000, but now it threatens the national security of the country, Lithuanians believe.

The question of depriving the ballerina of her citizenship arose after her interview, in which the star did not hide her sympathies for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, called the war in Ukraine a "special operation" and expressed contempt for Europe.

"According to the Law on Citizenship, a person can be deprived of Lithuanian citizenship not only when his or her actions threaten the interests of national security, but also when he or she publicly expresses his or her support for a state that threatens the security interests of Lithuania and/or other EU member states and/or their allies," the journalists noted.

ADVERTISIMENT

After the full-scale invasion, Liepa condemned Lithuania for trying to get rid of the Soviet legacy and supporting Ukrainians. However, the ballerina was in no hurry to give up her second citizenship.

Therefore, the European country's Department of Migration and Ministry of the Interior helped to sever ties with her. Along with Liepa, businessman Yuri Kudimov, who was a KGB spy and hid it from the Lithuanian authorities, was deprived of his citizenship.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The minister, board of trustees, and social justice team of the Unitarian Universalist (UU) Church of Fresno, in keeping with our churchs religious values, state our demand for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages held by Hamas, with the intent of respecting the lives of all people living in Israel/Palestine.

Indiscriminate killing and violence can never be justified. We unequivocally condemn Hamas savage attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that left 1,200 people dead and hundreds taken hostage.

Under international humanitarian law, intentional attacks on civilians, or attacks that do not distinguish between military targets and civilians, are prohibited under all circumstances.

But Israels continuing military response of since that time has been condemned by all major countries, with the United States being the notable exception as shown by its continued military support to Israel.

Opinion

The International Court of Justice in January ordered Israel to do all in its power to prevent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. However, all evidence suggests that is not happening. As of late February:

Israel cut off food, water, power, and bombed homes, resulting in 80% of their 2.3 million population being displaced and unhoused; 1.85 million people in Gaza are living in tents. Deaths due to diseases and starvation are occurring at an alarming rate. Health experts warn that this situation could result in a staggering increase of deaths in the near future.

Nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, with 70,000 plus injured. Over 10,000 children have been killed.

Gaza infrastructure  including schools, universities, power stations, government buildings, museums, UN Shelters and hospitals  have all been targeted and destroyed.

No hospitals in Gaza are fully functional due to lack of supplies or destruction by bombings.

Before Oct. 7, Gaza received 500 daily truckloads of food, which was not adequate to meet the regions nutritional needs. February has averaged fewer than 100 trucks daily  far short of being able to prevent starvation.

This is why the minister, board and social justice team of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno, as well as other religious organizations and secular groups in this country and worldwide, call for an end to Israels violence with an immediate and permanent ceasefire. There is presently in Gaza a severe crisis on the verge of becoming a humanitarian catastrophe. To avert this requires sufficient food, water, and medical equipment to enter Gaza.

In addition, aid from the United Nations, the US and other countries will be needed to rebuild Gaza so that the Palestinians there have a functional place to live. The US must question the billions of dollars of military aid given to Israel. Our government is currently complicit in Israels targeting of the civilian population in Gaza with US-made bombs and weapons.

Our Unitarian Universalist faith has eight foundational principles. The sixth principle states that we affirm and promote: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. What is needed is a lasting peace. That can only be accomplished through diplomacy. Long-term diplomatic solutions that honor international human rights and religious freedom are essential.

We urge all concerned citizens to contact our countrys leaders and state clearly that we do not support our governments current responses to this crisis and that it needs to change its course.

The Rev. Tim Kutzmark is lead pastor of Fresnos Unitarian Universalist Church. Adeline Marchini is president of the church board. Steve Sacks is co-chair of the social justice team.
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  Fresno Street Eats is celebrating International Womens Day on Friday in Downtown Fresno.

This event will be called Culinary Queens and feature local women-owned businesses, entrepreneurs, and chefs.

Organizers say there will be a variety of food from BBQ and Thai food, plus artisan crafts like jewelry and flower bouquets. Music will be provided by DJ Bambi, DJ Hazy J, Project Lo- Divine Femme, and Princess Rose.

Participating vendors include:

BBQ Queen

Pen Ta Zapp

Aguas Las Ranchesitas

Papas Locas

Knotty Chix

Tacos Sinaloa

Brans Sweet Treats

Cathys House of Bread

Highly Addictive Candy

Jaded by Dej

Lilyys Creation

The Culinary Queens event will be held at Tioga Sequoia from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
The age-old myth that hospital visits increase during the full moon may have some truth, according to new data.

New research from hospital safety company Canopy revealed that hospital panic buttons were used 9% more often during full moon days than in all other days within the past two years.

The companys CEO, Shan Sinha, shared to Axios that the finding was very strange and was surprised by the connection. I was like: Thats ridiculous. Theres no way.

Are these findings consistent with other studies?

Portsmouth Regional Hospital examined this dilemma and found conflicting evidence for both sides. A 2011 study published by the National Institutes of Health sampled 5,400 patients and found a slight increase of psychiatric emergency room visits during full moon days.

However, there was a stronger correlation attributed to beginning and end moon cycles, finding more cases of severe illness and aggressive behaviors between these lunar times, per Portsmouth.

Going against the recent finding, another 2011 study published by NIH found no link between ER visits and full moon days  despite 40% of medical professionals believing the phenomenon to be true.

In the study, the authors state: Scientific analysis of our data does not support the belief that moon phases, zodiac signs, or Friday the 13th influence surgical blood loss and emergency frequency, per Portsmouth.

In addition, a 2004 study published by NIH sampled over 54,000 trauma patients in Tehran, Iran, and found there to be no increase of patient visits during full moon days.

What the reported findings really tell us

While the fear of increased hospital visits on full moon days might be a myth, whats more concerning are the violent incidents that health care employees face in their workplace.

Axios reported that clinics and hospitals are among the most dangerous workplaces in the U.S., having been worsened from the COVID-19 pandemic over related stressors like public health measures.

In its research, Canopy found an 8% increase of security incidents during COVID-19 surges  and Sinha claimed that overall incidence rates are still elevated, per Axios.

A 2022 study published by NIH revealed that 77% of studied health care workers experienced violence at their workplace in 2021, as opposed to a reported 69% in 2019.

The full moon still may have an effect

Despite limited findings on full moon days increasing hospital visits, its not to say that there havent been interesting findings in other hospital-related areas.

A 2018 study published by ScienceDirect found that there was an increase in ambulance transportation for road crashes when there was a full moon.

Published by Wiley, a 2004 study found that visits related to gastrointestinal bleeding increased on full moon days.

Finally, a 2019 study published by Taylor & Francis found that admissions of schizophrenia patients did increase most during first-quarter lunar phases, but a full moon was accounted as having some influence.
Police in Georgia are searching for a 19-year-old woman who is wanted for her participation in a shooting.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Dougherty County Police said the shooting happened Feb. 16 on Rosewood Drive. Police did not provide details about the shooting or identify any victims.

TRENDING STORIES:

Police are now searching for Shylicia Johnson, who is facing charges of aggravated assault, aggravated battery and giving false statements.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Anyone with information on Johnsons whereabouts is asked to call the Dougherty County Police Department immediately at (229) 430-6600 or (229) 431-2132. You can also call Crimestoppers at 229-436-TIPS if you would like to remain anonymous.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) filed a complaint with the Department of Justice inspector general on Wednesday, accusing special counsel Jack Smith of election interference by resisting attempts to delay his criminal prosecution of former President Trump.

Smith has pushed federal judges not to delay his case against Trump, which alleges that the former president attempted to overturn the 2020 election. Trumps attorneys have invoked the Supreme Court over whether Trump can be prosecuted at all, possibly pushing back trial past the 2024 general election.

Gaetz claims Smiths work is intended to influence the election, violating DOJ policy.

The witch hunt against President Trump by Attorney General Garland and Special Counsel Smith is a partisan exercise, and the American people know it, Gaetz said in a statement. The actions of the Special Counsel Smith to speed up the trial against President Trump violate the DOJs rules and the law.

His public comments and his offices briefs before the Supreme Court demonstrate that he has no reason for his actions other than to unlawfully interfere in the 2024 presidential election, he continued.

Unwritten DOJ policy generally forbids prosecutors from actions that could be seen as influencing an election within 60 days of Election Day. Gaetz argued in the letter that the logic of the rule should be extended to now because it is indisputable that we are already in an election season.

Gaetzs letter to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz specifically claims Smiths attempts to speed the case through courts is a violation of law.

It is the core of prohibited conduct that a purpose (not the purpose) of any official action of a prosecutor be to affect any election, Gaetz wrote. It may be morally correct that the American people should see swift resolution of this case, perhaps with dropped charges or a Trump acquittal before the November 2024 Presidential election, but wielding Executive Branch authority in the service of this is a violation of law. Prosecutors must be held to a higher standard.

Gaetz asked Horowitz to interview Smith about the rationale behind requesting a speedy trial, in an attempt to clarify his motive and ensure that it is not to impact the general election.

Last month, Trumps attorneys said Smith was twisting into logical knots in arguing against delaying the trial, making a similar case to Gaetzs letter.

The Special Counsels latest filing raises a compelling inference of a political motive  the motivation to influence the 2024 Presidential election by bringing the leading Republican candidate to trial before November 5, 2024, Trumps lawyers wrote.

The letter adds to conservative criticism of Smiths case, which Trump and his allies have labeled a political prosecution.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments on whether Trump is immune from prosecution due to his work as the president in late April. Smith initially proposed a March trial date for the case.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Palestinian militant group Hamas said its delegation left Cairo on Thursday during ongoing negotiations for a temporary cease-fire with Israel, making it unlikely a deal will be reached before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

A delegation from Hamas left Cairo today to consult with the movements leadership, with negotiations and efforts continuing to stop the aggression, return the displaced, and introduce relief aid to our Palestinian people, Hamas wrote in a statement provided by a pro-Iranian news network.

Their departure from Cairo comes after weeks of cease-fire talks, as mediators looked to secure a deal ahead of the start of Ramadan, which will begin either Sunday or Monday depending on the sighting of the moon. The Muslim holy month is marked by dawn-to-dusk fasting, increased prayer and nightly gatherings with loved ones.

Hamas spokesperson Jihad Taha claimed Israel refuses to commit to and give guarantees regarding the cease-fire, the return of the displaced, and withdrawal from the areas of its incursion, per The Associated Press.

Taha also said talks are ongoing and will resume next week, the AP added.

Israel reportedly agreed to the framework of the cease-fire proposal last weekend. If accepted by Hamas, the deal would see a six-week cease-fire and the release of hostages being held by Hamas that are considered at risk. It would also allow for greater flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by Israels military operations.

Israel, Hamas and mediators from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, are facing mounting pressure to broker a deal, as the civilian death toll in Gaza continues to climb amid the violence and the hostages surpass their fourth month in Hamass captivity.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since early October, and hundreds of thousands of others have been driven from their homes as Israel attempts to eliminate Hamas after the groups attack on Oct. 7 that killed more than 1,200 people in southern Israel.

Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, is believed to have taken about 240 people hostage during the Oct. 7 assault. About 100 of the hostages were released in a week-long cease-fire last December.

Israels ground and air military operations have largely leveled much of Gaza, including many of its hospitals and refugee areas, and humanitarian organizations have repeatedly warned of a collapse of the enclaves resources.

Egyptian officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity with The AP, said Hamas agreed to the main terms of the agreement, but is seeking assurances that it will lead to a more permanent cease-fire. Israel is looking to keep the negotiations to a more limited deal, the officials told the AP.

Hamas maintains it will not release all the remaining hostages until Israel fully withdraws from the territory, and is requesting the release of several prisoners in exchange, the newswire added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Hamass demand to withdraw from the enclave, claiming any departure would be a victory for the militant group. He has vowed to push forward with military operations after a cease-fire to ensure total victory in the region.

The Associated Press contributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
An aerial view of mourners looking on as medics prepare the 47 bodies for mass reburial (SAID KHATIB)

Gaza's Hamas-run government media office said on Thursday that Israel had returned dozens of bodies that had been exhumed from graves in the besieged territory in recent weeks.

The bodies were reburied on Thursday afternoon in the beach area near the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah.

Men in white hazmat suits aligned the bodies wrapped in blue plastic sheeting at the bottom of a trench, before a bulldozer covered them in sand as dozens of mourners looked on, an AFP correspondent reported.

"The bodies arrived through the Kerem Shalom crossing and were received by the ministry of health," Ihsan Al-Natour from the Hamas-run ministry of endowments told AFP at the funeral.

"We do not know the names or any other information about them," he added.

Israeli forces have taken bodies from Gaza to Israel on several occasions for examination as they look for hostages seized during Hamas's October 7 attack.

AFP journalists have previously witnessed the reburial of bodies which Gaza officials said had been exhumed by Israeli forces in November, December and January.

The 47 bodies sent back by Israel on Thursday were first "transferred to Al-Najjar Hospital" in Rafah in southern Gaza, the besieged territory's crossings and borders authority said in a separate statement.

"The bodies were seized and transferred to Israel under the pretext of examination and verification" to ensure they were not those of hostages held in Gaza, the government statement said.

Since the start of the war, Israeli officials have exhumed "hundreds" of bodies from graves at hospitals in the Palestinian territory, it said.

The Israeli army told AFP it was looking into reports about the latest group of returned bodies.

Hamas took around 250 Israeli and foreign hostages during the October 7 attack, dozens of whom were released during a week-long truce in November.

Israel believes that 99 hostages remain alive in Gaza and that 31 have died.

The October attack resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign to destroy Hamas has resulted in the deaths of at least 30,800 people in Gaza, the majority of them women and children, according to the territory's health ministry.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is under immense domestic pressure to secure the return of hostages as part of any new truce deal with Hamas.

That pressure intensified after soldiers killed three hostages in December, mistakenly perceiving them as a threat.

bur-lba/jd/srm
Conservative legal commentator George Conway suggested President Biden just has to be normal, and authentic in his State of the Union address Thursday if he wants to consolidate his base.

Asked how Biden can make a positive case to voters for the next four years, Conway told MSNBCs Morning Joe that the president has to be empathetic, hes got to be himself.

I think at the end of the day, he doesnt have to do a hard sell, he added. He does have to get out there; he just has to be normal.

Conway, a staunch critic of former President Trump, argued he and Biden both won their respective presidencies because of problems with their opposing candidate.

Trump won in 2016 because Hillary [Clinton] was the issue. Trump lost in 2020 because Trump was the issue, the lawyer, who is currently in the process of divorcing former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, told the panel. And in 2024, Trump will lose again because he will be the issue. He will make himself the issue; he cannot help but make himself the issue.

What Biden needs to do is just basics. Basically say, That guy is crazy, Conway continued. He doesnt have to refer to him by name, he just has to say, That guys nuts. Lets be normal, America. Thats the theme of this campaign.

Biden is set to deliver his annual State of the Union address at the Capitol on Thursday night  just two days after he and Trump dominated their respective Super Tuesday primaries. Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who was Trumps only remaining GOP challenger, suspended her campaign Wednesday, making a 2020 rematch between the incumbent and former president all the more likely in November.

Biden has faced low approval ratings in recent months, and polls show he is slightly behind Trump on a national scale, according to polling indexes from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ.

His State of the Union address is widely seen as a chance for the president to sell voters on accomplishments from his first term and convince them he is best equipped for another four years in the White House, despite rising concerns about his age and mental acuity.

The president has always been an optimistic person, as you know, and even in the face of challenges in front of us, he will share why hes hopeful about this countrys future and why it is a mistake to bet against the American people, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters this week.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascon had a rough Tuesday night, winning an alarmingly low share of votes for an incumbent after polls showed a majority of voters view him negatively.

But he may have also gotten exactly what he needed, experts say.

Read more: Primary election results: Los Angeles County

As of Thursday afternoon, Gascon led a crowded primary field with nearly 23% of the vote, followed closely by former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman with 17%. Only Deputy Dist. Atty. Jonathan Hatami, with 13%, stood in long-shot striking distance of preventing a November showdown between Gascon and Hochman. But he conceded the race late Wednesday.

Consultants and political observers said Gascon's performance was weak for an incumbent in a countywide race. But the "godfather of progressive prosecutors" probably drew the opponent he wanted in Hochman  a former Republican whom Gascon can try to portray as a conservative in a November election during which some experts expect more liberals to turn out for the presidential contest of Joe Biden versus Donald Trump.

This is not going to be a 'shades of gray' election," said Dan Schnur, a former advisor to Republican politicians who teaches political communications at USC. "The fact that Hochman has been one of the most conservative voices in the race does allow Gascon to draw a more stark contrast in a left-leaning city like Los Angeles. But the fact that Gascons numbers are so low suggests that he still starts at a considerable disadvantage.

Read more: L.A. County D.A. to pay $5 million in civil rights case over bungled election conspiracy prosecution

Hochman  who launched an unsuccessful bid for state attorney general as a Republican in 2022  has bristled at the notion that he's too conservative to compete in November, a point often raised by his opponents in the primary. He describes himself as a centrist who registered as both Republican and Democrat in the past, now running as an independent with a promise to depoliticize the district attorney's office. He says he's never voted for Trump, described his politics as "socially moderate" and says his campaign has attracted bipartisan support.

But a review of campaign finance donations shows Hochman received more than half a million dollars from Republican mega-donor Gerald Marcil. His campaign also has paid more than $100,000 to the Pluvious Group, a Republican firm that organized fundraisers for Trump's 2020 campaign.

Political consultant Brian Van Riper, who is not involved in the race, said Gascons strategy will be to "hang the likeness of Donald Trump over Nathan Hochman. Theyre going to run against Donald Trump."

Gascon and his surrogates have wasted little time trying to paint Hochman as too conservative. Jamarah Hayner, a strategist for his campaign, said Wednesday that Gascon's primary showing was to be expected with a packed field of opponents spending months and millions of dollars throwing everything they had against the D.A."

"Now, we have a clear Democrat-versus-Republican choice going into November, which were very optimistic about," Hayner said.

The Prosecutors Alliance of California  a group of progressive district attorneys run by a Gascon ally  also sent out an email blast Wednesday describing Hochman as "a longtime Republican claiming to be an independent in a clear effort to conceal a right-wing agenda."

Read more: Lawsuit challenging L.A. County's new limits on cash bail suffers major setback

Hochman describes his policy platform as "the hard middle," with some positions that strike a moderate tone. He favors diversion for nonviolent low-level offenders and is a champion of CARE courts, which offer voluntary treatment and services to people experiencing homelessness. But his statements on public safety can border on the apocalyptic, such as when he compares L.A. to "Gotham City."

Hochman's fundraising ability could make him a formidable November challenger. He easily lapped the primary field in campaign cash, and after Gascon raised more than $12 million in his successful 2020 bid, any challenger will need a considerable war chest.

To win reelection, Gascon will have to overcome perceptions that he's soft on crime and has run the office in a way that his detractors say has sown discord. During his term, Gascon lost the support of nearly all of his own prosecutors, faced two recall attempts and took constant criticism for policies that severely limited when prosecutors could use sentencing enhancements or seek to try juveniles as adults.

In a case that revolved around California's three strikes law, a judge deemed Gascon's policy of not seeking those enhancements illegal. Gascon has appealed, and the matter will go before the state Supreme Court.

Hochman has vowed to carve up the progressive district attorney's policies and promised to serve as prosecutor in the "trial of George Gascon."

The witnesses that we will be presenting will be the real-life victims of his policies," Hochman said in an interview Wednesday. "It will be the store owners who have been pepper-sprayed by smash-and-grab robbers, who watched their life savings and lifes work being destroyed. Itll be people who had their houses robbed, their cars broken into. Itll be parents whove lost their children to fentanyl poisoning.

Read more: After secret recording emerged, a plea deal freed him. Now hes accused of killing 3

Property and violent crime rose by about 8% in L.A. County from 2019 to 2022, according to California Department of Justice data. Under Gascon's policies, the office's misdemeanor filing rates plummeted, a decision critics have linked to increased property crime rates, especially car break-ins. And in some cases, critics have tied Gascon's policies to heinous crimes.

Criminologists, however, say its overly simplistic to blame short-term crime trends on a prosecutor's policies. LAPD data also show homicides and robberies have declined over the last two years.

Statistics may not matter much to voters who are already fearful of crime, Van Riper said. But Gascon could face a more favorable electorate in November. Data show just 20% of registered L.A. County voters had returned ballots as of Wednesday afternoon, and the returnees skewed older and conservative.

Hochman believes he will gain the support of virtually every voter who chose a candidate other than Gascon and says he plans to invite some of his opponents who ran to serve as part of a team "that can really restore the prominence to the D.A.s office.

Hatami did not immediately endorse Hochman when he dropped out Thursday, instead sending a message of appreciation to his supporters.

"Even though the vote count didnt bring the results we hoped for in this election, I am so proud of all we have accomplished together," he said in a statement. "Our work to restore public safety, victims rights, transparency and accountability and bring real reforms to our justice system isnt over. We ran an honorable and positive campaign that focused on the issues."

Schnur and Van Riper both noted that Hochman is not likely to parlay the entirety of the anti-Gascon crowd, as supporters of more moderate candidates may turn back to the incumbent. But the candidates who finished closest to Hochman in the primary  Hatami and Superior Court Judge Debra Archuleta  ran aggressive, tough-on-crime campaigns that may see their voters migrate to the former federal prosecutor.

In a November contest with Trump on the ballot, Van Riper said, Gascon may benefit if a larger number of liberal voters who would welcome the successes of his tenure  including a dramatic improvement in the office's handling of wrongful convictions and stepped-up efforts to prosecute police misconduct  turn out.

But Hochman said his plan is to run a campaign that brings together his primary rivals' supporters and law enforcement leaders, focused on public safety, not partisanship.

The only way George Gascon can win is if he makes this about politics rather than about peoples safety," Hochman said. "He needs to distract the voters from looking at their own safety."

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
ATLANTA - Hannah and James Oliver work as a team on Hannah's sunglasses line, born out of the hardest experience of the Smyrna 29-year-old's life.

"When I'm packaging, it's just a weird feeling, because, it's, like, when I thought my world was ending, I really, truly believe it was just beginning," Oliver says. "Before I lost my eye, I had no clue that this would even happen."

In a photo, taken a week before her accident, Oliver is wearing her favorite designer sunglasses tipped back on her head.

Hannah and James Oliver a few months before Hannah was partially blinded in a car accident, when the airbag knocked shards of glass from her sunglasses into one of her eyes. (Hannah Oliver)

"I had bought that same pair three times because I love them so much," she says.

But, she says she never thought about what her lenses were made of until Aug. 3, 2021, when she was driving home from her parents' house wearing those very sunglasses.

"I got on South Cobb [Drive] and was going down the road, and a guy pulled out in front of me, slammed on the brakes," Oliver says. "I couldn't react fast enough. As soon as I hit him, the airbag came out, and it just hit my sunglasses right at the right angle, I guess. And they shattered on impact."

"It deflated my eye on impact," she says. "My retina was detached, and my optic nerve was severed, so there was no coming back."

Later that night at Grady Memorial Hospital, Oliver underwent the first of a half-dozen surgeries.

"We did two surgeries  one surgery just to remove all the glass and shards, and the other one to piece me back together," she says. "Then, then they discharged me. And then I was like, How do I live with one eye?"

She and James were three months away from getting married.

"At first it was very difficult, like mentally, because there was this part of me, like, 'I don't know who that girl is. I don't know who's looking back at me.' I was thinking, you know, Does he still find me attractive? Does he still find me beautiful? And I went through a lot of, like, therapy just talking about it and really grieving who I used to be."

(Photo submitted by Hannah Oliver)

A year after her accident, after an ocularist had created a prosthetic eye for Oliver, her eye surgeon brought up sunglasses.

"She's saying, like, 'Hannah, you have to wear polycarbonate lenses; you only have one eye, you have got to protect what you have,'" Oliver says. "I discovered that polycarbonate is not going to shatter. It will only crack. It will never shatter compared to, like, plastic or glass."

(Supplied)

Sharing her story on TikTok, Oliver set out to create shatter-resistant sunglasses, testing the polycarbonate material with a sledgehammer.

"I think the number one thing I would tell anybody is just to look, to see, like, what the material is made out of," Oliver says. "We're putting these less than an inch away from our eyes. Like we shouldn't just be thinking about this for fashion."

Last August, two years after her accident, Oliver launched Blue Eye Sunglasses.

"It's helped me cope with what happened to me," she says. "It's like telling my story in a way, and that's what I wanted to do with the frames."

She has created three styles so far. Each frame is named after a part of her recovery.

"One is the 'Grady, and that's after Grady Memorial Hospital, which helped me at the beginning," Oliver explains. "Then, we have a pair that's Emory, for Emory Healthcare. And, then there is the Tony, which is actually named after my ocularist, who made my prosthetic."

Hannah Oliver packs orders of Blue Eye, her sunglasses built for impact.

Hannah Oliver says her hope is to make looking stylish safer.

"By using my voice and using my story, I can save somebody else's eye. It's very, I don't know, it warms my heart. It's very pure."

To see Hannah Oliver's line of sunglasses, visit Blue Eye Sunglasses online.
TV presenter Kostyantyn Hrubych (1+1 Ukraine) lost his daughter Olya almost ten years ago, who died in a car accident in Kyiv. The culprit of the tragedy has not yet been found - the car disappeared from the scene.

ADVERTISIMENT

In an interview with OBOZ.UA, the TV journalist admitted that he has a lot of complaints against law enforcement. He also explained why he believes that disclosing the name of the perpetrator of the accident could push him to commit a crime.

Olya Hrubych had an accident in June 2014. The girl was returning home around midnight. An unknown car hit the 17-year-old daughter of a TV presenter on a pedestrian crossing. After the tragedy, law enforcement agencies asked Kyiv residents to help find the culprit of the accident. It was known that the car had been hit by a light-colored car. As a result of the accident, the car's windshield, hood, and left headlight were smashed. However, no more information about what happened was published in the public domain.

ADVERTISIMENT

"I still can't get over it, as soon as I think about it, I feel sad," Kostyantyn Hrubych admits in an interview with OBOZ.UA. "I try to distract myself from heavy thoughts... You have to do something constantly, be needed by someone, be in the process. Preferably in some good deeds. And then it will be a little easier. But time does not heal at all - these are fables. It is impossible to forget anything. Very often I want to see her, to talk to her. You think what she would be like now, who she was... But it's impossible."

The TV presenter explained why he was afraid to learn the name of the person who brought such a tragedy to their family: "This is one of the rough edges of our family relationship, because I don't want to, and my wife is the opposite. Even so: I want to do it too, but what good will it do? Perhaps even God is protecting me from this knowledge, because it could push me to commit a crime. With our rotten law enforcement system, to which I have a lot of complaints... I won't just sit there. I believe that this is a worn-out case. The whole country knew about this case, the president, the mayor, everyone. It was not so difficult to establish what happened on that road. Either that person paid off or something like that. We still haven't been told whether the case is closed or open."

ADVERTISIMENT

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Police standing in a truck parking lot on the A14. German investigators have carried out searches in 11 federal states against the authors of misogynistic and potentially criminal postings on the internet. Hendrik Schmidt/dpa

German investigators have carried out searches in 11 federal states against the authors of misogynistic and potentially criminal postings on the internet.

A total of 45 suspects are being questioned and their homes searched, in an operation that began at 6 am (050 GMT) on Thursday, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said. Additional measures were taken against 37 suspects.

The Central Office for Combating Cybercrime (ZIT) in Frankfurt, the BKA and other state-level law enforcement agencies were involved in the operation.

The searches are part of a police drive to combat misogyny on the internet and analyse the scope and potential criminality of such postings, including possible links to extremism.

The BKA specifically searched for posts containing digital hate crime against women on online platforms and passed any relevant information on the state secirity forces.

The project is based on a judgment by the Cologne Higher Regional Court, which ruled that generalized slurs against women can be punishable as incitement to hatred.

The various manifestations of misogyny on the internet identified by the ZIT and BKA included postings in which women were slandered and insulted in a sexualized manner or publicly encouraged to send nude photos.

The authorities also discovered postings advocating rape or sexual assault, and where torture and murder videos were publicly disseminated.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (R) and her British counterpart David Cameron speak at a press conference during the second German-British Strategy Dialogue at the Foreign Ministry. Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

German and Britain aim to enhance cooperation within NATO, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in Berlin on Thursday on meeting her British counterpart David Cameron.

Responding to a journalist's question on the possibility of Donald Trump winning the US presidential election, Baerbock said: "We talked intensively about how we could strengthen the European pillar of NATO, independently of who would be standing on the other side of the Atlantic bridge."

Berlin and London were agreed that the European pillar had to be strengthened, and this would be one of the main themes at the NATO summit in Washington in July, she said.

Baerbock said that enhanced security and defence cooperation between European Union member states always implied cooperation within NATO.

Cameron said European allies should focus on demonstrating unity in the runup to the US elections, irrespective of whether they are EU members or not. Britain left the bloc in 2020.

This would cause the future president to see the strength of the European partnership irrespective of who wins the election, the former prime minister said.

Baerbock and Cameron were meeting on the occasion of the second Strategic Dialogue between the two countries at which cooperation on foreign policy is to be discussed once a year.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (R) and her British counterpart David Cameron speak at a press conference during the second German-British Strategy Dialogue at the Foreign Ministry. Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

German and Britain aim to enhance cooperation within NATO, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in Berlin on Thursday on meeting her British counterpart David Cameron as the war in Ukraine enters its third year and ahead of elections in the US.

Responding to a journalist's question on the possibility of Donald Trump winning the US presidential election, Baerbock said: "We talked intensively about how we could strengthen the European pillar of NATO, independently of who would be standing on the other side of the Atlantic bridge."

Berlin and London were agreed that the "European pillar" had to be strengthened, and this would be one of the main themes at the NATO summit in Washington in July, she said.

Baerbock said that enhanced security and defence cooperation between European Union member states always implied cooperation within NATO.

Cameron said European allies should focus on demonstrating unity in the run-up to the US elections, irrespective of whether they are EU members or not. Britain left the bloc in 2020.

This would cause the future US president to see the strength of the European partnership regardless of who wins the election, the former prime minister said.

Baerbock and Cameron were meeting on the occasion of the second Strategic Dialogue between the two countries at which cooperation on foreign policy is to be discussed once a year.

Earlier, Cameron strongly advocated the delivery of long-range weapons to Ukraine.

"When it comes to the long range weapons I can only speak for Britain's experience of how effective these weapons have been in helping Ukraine to fight of this illegal aggression," he said after meeting Baerbock.

Storm Shadow cruise missiles are among the weapons that Britain is supplying to Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, however, refuses to provide German-made longer-range Taurus cruise missiles because he fears that Germany could become involved in the war.

Cameron firmly opposed the theory that the delivery of new weapons systems could lead to a widening of the war. "At every stage it has been said, if you give anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, that is escalation. No it wasn't. If you give tanks to Ukraine, that is escalation. No it wasn't. If you give long-range artillery or long-range fires to Ukraine, that's escalation. No it isn't," he said.

"If what you are doing is helping a country defend itself from illegal and completely unjustified aggression then there should be nothing to stop you helping that country to recover its territory."

"As long as we are not in a situation where a NATO soldier is killing a Russian soldier, we are not causing escalation. We are allowing Ukraine to defend itself."

Cameron also touched on the leaked call by German officers that was published by Russia.

He said there was "incredible unity between allies" when asked about the call which included details of British operations, according to PA news agency.

Russia intercepted a telephone conversation in which German officers were heard suggesting British service personnel were on the ground in Ukraine.

"I don't want to play into the hands of some Russian narrative about divisions between allies. What I see... is incredible unity between allies, incredible unity in NATO," Cameron said.

"Of course, we're going to have areas where we want to discuss what more we can do, what more we can help. And those are the sorts of discussions that good friends and allies with this unity have in private."

Asked whether London was pushing Berlin to send its Taurus missiles, Cameron said "it was a matter for the German government to decide" and that he could "only speak for Britain's experience of how effective these weapons have been at helping Ukraine to fight off this illegal aggression."

Peace will be achieved "through strength," he said.

"You get peace by demonstrating that Putin cannot win, you get peace by helping the Ukrainians deliver what they need on the battlefield."

He downplayed concerns about a possible escalation of the conflict.

Cameron and Baerbock also discussed illegal immigration and the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza in their talks.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (R) and her British counterpart David Cameron speak at a press conference during the second German-British Strategy Dialogue at the Foreign Ministry. Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (R) and her British counterpart David Cameron speak at a press conference during the second German-British Strategy Dialogue at the Foreign Ministry. Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
Police swooped on Daniela Klette, 65, at an apartment in Berlin's Kreuzberg district on February 26 (JOHN MACDOUGALL)

A former member of the radical anti-capitalist Baader-Meinhof gang arrested in Berlin last week after decades on the run was remanded in custody on Thursday over three violent attacks in the 1990s.

Police swooped on 65-year-old Daniela Klette, one of Europe's most-wanted fugitives, at an apartment in Berlin's Kreuzberg district on February 26.

The former member of the group also known as the Red Army Faction (RAF), which carried out bombings, kidnappings and killings starting in the 1970s, had apparently been living undercover in the bohemian neighbourhood for 20 years.

Klette was formally arrested -- the first stage towards being charged -- in Karlsruhe on Thursday over three attacks, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

In February 1990, she allegedly played a role in an attempted assault on a Deutsche Bank building in Eschborn, near Frankfurt.

Gang members parked a car filled with 45 kilogrammes (99 pounds) of explosives outside the building but the detonator failed to go off, prosecutors said.

Klette is also believed to have been involved in an RAF attack on the US embassy in Bonn, the German capital at the time, in 1991.

- 'Third generation' -

The third accusation relates to a 1993 explosives attack against a prison still under construction in Germany's Hesse state.

Gang members scaled the prison wall, overpowered security guards and removed them from the grounds in a van before detonating several explosives inside.

The Baader-Meinhof gang, named after early leaders Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof, took up arms against what it saw as US imperialism and a "fascist" German state that was still riddled with former Nazis.

Klette was part of a trio from the so-called "third generation" of the group active in the 1980s and 1990s, alongside Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg, who remain on the run.

After the gang disbanded in 1998, the trio are believed to have financed their lives with robberies.

Klette's arrest last week was related to her suspected involvement in an attempted murder and various robberies between 1999 and 2016.

Those accusations are being dealt with by regional prosecutors, while the 1990s allegations come under the remit of federal authorities.

Klette was the only woman listed as "dangerous" on Europol's most-wanted list.

Lawmaker Daniela Behrens described the arrest as a "milestone in German criminal history".

- Life in hiding -

Klette had been living in a studio apartment, according to German media reports, apparently using a fake Italian passport and going by the name of Claudia Ivone.

She is said to have been active in a capoeira group and worked as a private mathematics tutor.

Klette had no bank account and probably paid her rent in cash, possibly for several months or years at a time, according to Der Spiegel magazine.

Police searching the apartment last week found large sums of cash, explosives and a Kalashnikov assault rifle, the magazine said.

Klette showed no resistance when she was arrested and is even said to have appeared relieved, according to Der Spiegel.

Police still searching for Staub, 69, and Garweg, 55, have raided several premises in Berlin over the past week.

On Sunday, they seized a trailer that they said had probably been Garweg's home.

Police said it "could not be ruled out" that Garweg and Klette had maintained "personal and direct" contact.

fec/mfp/giv
Homophobia is not uncommon in Ghana, where gay sex is already against the law and carries a three-year prison sentence, but now the LGBTQ+ community is feeling terrorised.

A new bill, passed by MPs last week, will impose a jail term of up to three years for simply identifying as LGBTQ+ and five years for promoting their activities.

"A relative told me if this bill is passed, any chance he gets, he is going to poison me because I am an abomination to the family," Mensah, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, tells the BBC.

Dressed in an all-black outfit, the young man in his late teens looks visibly terrified: "I am very worried anyone can snitch on me, even in my own neighbourhood. It's going to be very hard to live here."

He has been living for some time with sympathetic friends in Ghana's capital, Accra, since falling out with his family.

It is not clear how large the LGBTQ+ community is in Ghana, a religious and traditionally conservative nation, but they tend to help each other out when one of them faces life as an outcast.

Mensah says when his mother discovered several years ago that he was attracted to boys, she started taking him to churches for prayers with the hope he would change.

"No friends except my church friends were allowed to see me. I had to study the Bible 24/7, pray and I would sit at the back anytime we went for meetings."

He says he was practically shunned at home - the wider family would not talk to him and he found their stares unbearable.

"They felt I would have influence on my cousins and the little ones."

Then in 2020, when the prayers and Bible studies were deemed to have failed, Mensah was excommunicated from his church for being gay.

His family were furious - and essentially outed him to their wider circle in an attempt to shame him.

"My family told a lot of my friends that this is who I am, I lost some good opportunities to further my education," he says.

"It is very uncomfortable and very sad - these are people I grew up with, and now they don't see the good in me, but they see me as an abomination."

Mensah was eventually kicked out of the family home - and struggles to hold down a job.

Now the softly spoken young man says he spends most of his time indoors to avoid offending people's sensibilities. He wants to be less visible, less seen, less heard.

LGBT people are commonly referred to in the local Akan language as "kojo besia", meaning "man-woman"

Mensah's experiences are not uncommon.

LGBT people are commonly referred to in the local Akan language as "kojo besia", literally "man-woman". They have always co-existed within Ghanaian communities, although there were occasional attacks.

These have become more common in recent years.

Kwame, who also requested his name be changed for his safety, is horrified by the passage of the anti-gay bill, saying it will legitimise homophobic attacks, something he has experienced himself.

"I am known to be gay where I live, so anybody that comes close to me - they feel like that person is also gay," he tells the BBC about an attack he suffered about 10 years ago.

A male friend had visited and when stepping outside to wave him goodbye, some residents ganged up on them.

"They approached us, saying that we are gay and started attacking us. It wasn't just one person, and they took our phones," he says.

Kwame made an official report to the police, however after weeks of no action he had to live with the reality that he would get no justice.

Now his mere existence - if the bill is signed by the president - will be against the law.

In his late twenties, Kwame is studying fashion design - but has also faced discrimination in the workplace when someone told his boss about his sexuality.

His boss asked him to change his ways and then fired him when he refused. "I lost my job because I was gay."

Kwame, like Mensah, is considering leaving the country because he feels it is getting more dangerous for the LGBTQ+ community

Both Kwame and Mensah are hoping the bill, which has been backed by both of Ghana's two main political parties, will be stopped by a legal challenge.

A case has been filed at the Supreme Court and President Nana Akufo-Addo says he will wait for the outcome before taking action on the bill.

He has been at pains to assure the diplomatic community that Ghana is committed to upholding human rights.

The country's finance ministry is worried about the possible repercussions, saying Ghana could lose a total of $3.8bn (3bn) in World Bank funding over the next five to six years.

Ghana is suffering a major economic crisis and last year had a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The US, UK and human rights groups have condemned the bill, with the US in particular indicating that it would have a chilling effect on foreign investment to Ghana.

The West African nation is part of the trade agreement between Africa and the US - the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). Uganda was chucked out of the deal by the US after it passed a controversial anti-homosexuality law last year.

Kwame and Mensah are considering leaving Ghana as the situation has been so inflamed by politicians - the country feels like a more dangerous place for them.

"Where I am living is a very crowded area, so when your issue comes up everyone gets to find out, I'm actually scared. I will have to leave and go settle somewhere else," he says.

Mensah agrees: "I feel like relocating from the country itself to any country which is safe for me to live in.

"I have to count my steps to make sure I don't offend anyone. I have to live like a refugee in my own country."

You may also be interested in:
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) on Thursday quipped the single most important factor of President Bidens State of the Union speech will likely be his ability to keep his energy up for the entire address.

Biden has two huge challenges. The first is a performance challenge. Hell gain a little bit if he gives a good speech with energy and can actually stand there for an hour and a half, Gingrich said Thursday during an interview on Fox Newss America Reports.

But he will lose an enormous amount if at any point in the speech, he clearly stumbles, has a cognitive problem or in some way loses track of what hes saying. So, in that sense, a personal performance component of this speech is probably the most important single factor, he continued.

Gingrichs remarks came just hours ahead of Bidens expected State of the Union address at the Capitol on Thursday night. The address is widely seen as a chance for the president to sell voters on his administrations accomplishments in his first term, while also assuring them he is best equipped for another four years in the Oval Office.

Biden faces rising concerns about his age and mental acuity, especially in the past month after a special counsel report described the president as an elderly man with a poor memory.

A recent New York Times/Siena College poll found 73 percent of registered voters polled strongly or somewhat believed Biden, 81, is too old to be president, including 56 percent of Democrats.

About 43 percent of registered voters in the survey said the same about former President Trump, who is poised to be Bidens presidential challenger after former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, Trumps only remaining GOP challenger, suspended her campaign earlier this week.

Gingrich, a longtime ally of Trump, argued Bidens second challenge of the speech will be that whatever he says, hes in conflict with reality.

Its a reality that an illegal immigrant that Biden allowed to come into his country killed a young college student at the University of Georgia. Its a reality that Venezuelans that Biden allowed to come into this country beat up a New York policeman. You go down the list, the average person knows that its a reality that food is too expensive, he said.

Gingrich was referencing the recent death of 22-year-old Laken Riley, who was found dead near the University of Georgia campus after not returning from a run. Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old Venezuelan citizen was later arrested and charged with murder in connection to her death.

U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement (UCBP) said Ibarra entered the country illegally in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, from Mexico and was released for further processing after being detained. Trump and his GOP allies have attempted to use Rileys death to criticize Bidens border security policies.

Gingrichs second reference was regarding a January brawl between New York City officers and a group of suspects, some of whom were believed to be migrants, though it was not confirmed by authorities.

So, when you look at peoples reality, no matter how many words Biden says, he cant unlock the failures that are directly affecting people, and thats why I think he has a very, very big challenge tonight, Gingrich said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
For nearly a century, The Original Mexican Eats Cafe called this squat building at 4713 Camp Bowie Blvd. in west Fort Worth home.

Last summer, the neighborhood fixture had to shutter its 7,500-square-foot dining room when it could not agree on a lease deal with the landlord. Turning the page on a bitter seven-year legal dispute, the Mexican food restaurant fell back to its Main Street location between downtown and the Stockyards.

Renovations of the building have been ongoing since then with the space being split into four sections. There is currently one retail store that has moved in (Dos Femmes), another space is being prepped for a new tenant (Honey Loves Boho), a third will be a salon (Bowie and Byers) and the other spot is still available to be leased.

A peek inside the former Mexican restaurant shows more work being done.

 More trending stories:

 Texas to 'spring forward': When daylight saving time begins

 How a six-pack of beer, $100 got rescuers to pull pig out of thorns.

 Want to make $359K a year working from home? Here's a list of jobs.

Charming boutiques and coffee shops are sprinkled around the neighborhood along the bricks and the buildings owner, Derek Muzquiz, said he wants to see luxury retail businesses moving in. Real estate agent Rodger Chieffalo tells the Star Telegram they could be interior design firms, more clothing retail stores, or furniture stores.

So, why wouldnt Muzquiz and Chieffalo choose food tenants to replace the historic home of a restaurant? Well the reason is more complicated than you think. In brief, the owner of the Mexican food restaurant refuses to give up the back parking lot.

[Muzquiz] basically has made the decision to fill these spaces with, you know, users that dont need a lot of parking, Chieffalo said.

It took years for Muzquiz to get the space, the battle of the parking lot is just not one worth winning, the real estate agent added.

A look at whats going in the space where The Original Mexican Eats Cafe used to be

DOS FEMMES, 4717 Camp Bowie Blvd.

Dos Femmes is a posh boutique dedicated to clothing, jewelry, and accessories. Lexi Eagle, owner of Dos Femme, says she hopes that her store can be a stop on someones stroll through the neighborhood just like she loves to do on her walk to work.

Dos Femmes, a high-end boutique that got its start in El Paso, opened its Fort Worth location. TCU alumni, Lexi Eagle, owns the shop near her home in the west side neighborhood.

Dos Femmes owner, Lexi Eagle, understood how important the restaurant was to many Fort Worthians who remember the neighborhood icon so she kept the arched pathways to honor the original architecture.

Colorful dresses hang on a rack at the Dos Femmes boutique.

HONEY LOVES BOHO, 8008 Camp Bowie West Blvd 103

Another boutique, Honey Loves Boho, is also moving into the neighborhood next to Dos Femmes. The previously up-and-running e-commerce brand, will now be a brick-and-mortar store. By late spring, customers should be able to take a browse in person at the Camp Bowie boutique.

BOWIE AND BYERS

Bowie and Byers, a salon, will move in to one of the renovated spaces where the old Mexican cafe used to be.

What stores are next door

THE COLOR GAME, 4725 Camp Bowie Blvd.

Another womens apparel and accessories boutique, The Color Game, is next door to the building that once housed the old Mexican cafe. The store primarily sells color coded apparel best for collegians to wear on game days.

One of the many color coded sections at the Color Game shop. The walls are dressed with all colors of the rainbow, starting with red, all the way to purple.

TCU themed earrings at the Color Game store which sells clothing and accessories specifically geared for college game days.

Also on the same block is Fort Worth Coffee Co. The Coffee bar is open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day but has a back room open 24/7 for night owls who cant take a break from work.
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (WETM)  Jessica Reger is the principal at Watkins Glen Elementary School. She does all she can to make school a better place for students and staff.

One of the most important things to her is to keep the school safe, allowing the students to have a better experience when they are in the building.

My favorite part of working here would be the amount of laughter that you see with kids, said Reger. So youre always seeing it, whether its in town meetings or lunch or recess. Kids are just happy to come to school, and I think school is a safe place for them, and I like being that safe place for kids.

Golden Apple Award

She became an administrator two years ago, having previously been a school counselor. She said that as a counselor she was focusing on the students, and she wanted to be able to help both students and staff.

I wanted to impact more and be able to support teachers more and collaborate more, like on a greater scale, and so thats when I moved into becoming an administrator, she said.

Superintendent Kai DAlleva had only positive words to say about her, speaking on how much of a positive impact she has on the school and the surrounding area.

Shes a wonderful role model. I believe that Mrs. Regers is a shining star and has educational leadership and shes going to continue to do great things, said DAlleva. Shes a role model for our kids and shes a role model for our community.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com.
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL)  Goodwill Industries of the Southern Rivers is hosting a multi-employer event on March 13 with over 250 open positions available.

The event is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Goodwill Career Center at 2601 Cross Country Dr. in Columbus.

Goodwill says attendees will have an opportunity to explore job openings with employers such as Aflac, Metra and Enrichment Services. Employers at the event are looking to fill various full-time and part-time positions.

Goodwill advises participants to come prepared with several copies of their resumes and be ready for interviews.

Goodwill also encourages citizens to take advantage of the companys career center, where free career readiness classes are available.

For more information about the upcoming job fair or Goodwills Career Center visit Goodwills Columbus webpage.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL.
Google on Thursday launched a new cybersecurity hub in Japan, aimed at helping to upgrade defences in the Asia-Pacific.

The region faces a growing cyber threat from a range of actors, including criminal gangs looking for big payouts and state-backed actors pursuing intelligence or sabotage, according to governments and security firms.

These attackers have targeted not only governments and militaries, but also critical infrastructure such as ports and businesses of all sizes.

"We are officially launching the Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in Japan, aiming to connect leading security specialists, researchers, and partners," Google said in a statement.

The centre will conduct research on cybersecurity in collaboration with universities and governments in Japan and elsewhere in the region.

The tech giant will also help boost cybersecurity at 300,000 small to mid-sized businesses, non-profits and other social organisations in the region, said Google's Kazuya Okubo.

Google had warned in October that the region "is the target of more cyberattacks than any other".

Governments, including Japan, have echoed those concerns.

In addition to large-scale fraud and ransomware activity by criminal groups, the United States and its allies in the region including Australia have blamed China and Beijing-linked groups for cyberattacks.

In September last year, Japan's National Police Agency joined its American counterparts, including the FBI, in warning of widespread malware attacks by China-linked cyber actors known as BlackTech.

BlackTech has "targeted government, industrial, technology, media, electronics, and telecommunication sectors, including entities that support the militaries of the US and Japan," the NPA said in a joint statement.

Washington has alleged that China represents "the broadest, most active, and persistent cyber espionage threat" to its government and private sector.

Beijing, for its part, accuses the United States of being the "world's biggest hacking empire", citing its well-documented forays into cyberwarfare, online surveillance and hacking.

tmo-qan/ssy
For the first time, the famous Ukrainian actress Olha Sumska commented on the high-profile scandal that has been going on for more than two years around her daughter and colleague Antonina Paperna. The latter remained in Moscow after the full-scale invasion, and not so long ago she also boasted of filming in a Russian TV series, which, was not the first time she had done so. Sumska's nephew and Paperna's cousin, actor Vyacheslav Khostikoiev, reacted sharply to this precedent, saying that his cousin was "earning bloody rubles."

ADVERTISIMENT

Ukrainians were waiting for a comment from Sumska, and she gave it, assuring them that she felt pain, remorse, and atonement. The actress said that only those mothers whose children are also in the terrorist country can understand her. Such comments were made by the People's Artist of Ukraine in a commentary to the "ZhVL".

Sumska also admitted that she misses her grandchildren and would like to see them.

"Do you know what feelings reign in my soul today? Pain, despair, longing, remorse, atonement. Only those mothers whose children are there will understand me. It is very difficult. I have no right to justify myself, to prove anything to anyone, because I see destitute, unhappy mothers and fathers who have lost their children. I just have to pray to hug my children and grandchildren. Because I am a grandmother, and this is my continuation. I miss them very much," Sumska said.

ADVERTISIMENT

However, Sumska did not comment on Paperna's filming in Russian projects or her earnings in Russia.

Earlier, Antonina Paperna was seen with her husband, the famous Russian actor Volodymyr Yahlych, in Moscow at the presentation of new films by the Russian service Kinoposhuk. This website has been banned in Ukraine since 2017.

Earlier, Sumska said that her daughter can not return home, but the reason still remains unclear. The Ukrainian film star assured that the traitor was "very hard" because of the war, but apparently not enough to give up earnings in rubles and sponsorship from Russia.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Don't fall for fakes!
A new Republican group is planning to spend $1 million this election cycle supporting primary challengers to incumbent state legislators over the issue of immigration, according to plans first shared with The Hill.

The group, Stand for Us PAC, is spending that figure to help unseat incumbents in state legislatures over two contentious issues. The first has to do with voting access for noncitizens, and the second concerns efforts to bolster a government program that subsidizes medication costs for Medicaid patients in hospitals, the savings from which are reinvested to help underserved communities, sometimes including undocumented immigrants.

The group is specifically eyeing Kentucky, Idaho and West Virginia, with state legislatures there moving on bills supporting the 340B program.

While noncitizens cant vote in federal elections, there are some localities in states such as Maryland and Vermont that do allow them to vote in local elections.

Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) introduced legislation late last year along with a handful of Senate Republicans that would would codify the ability of States to require that an applicant provide proof of American citizenship when registering to vote via mail-in application, according to a press release from her office.

Meanwhile, the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program has also become a hot topic among Republications. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) introduced legislation earlier this year with four other Senate Republicans that would prohibit Federal Medicaid funding for the administrative costs of providing health benefits to individuals who are unauthorized immigrants, according to the bills text.

Stand for Us PAC says its goal is to hold Republicans across the country accountable for capitulating to Joe Bidens dangerous open borders agenda.

The contrast between Joe Bidens disastrous immigration policies and President Trumps record on the issue will be the best asset for our party in November, but weak Republicans in state legislatures across the country could erase our advantage on the issue by aiding the lefts open borders agenda, a source familiar with the effort told The Hill. We will not rest until we hold them accountable.

A Gallup survey released last month found that 27 percent of those surveyed saw immigration to be the most important problem facing the country, followed by the government at 20 percent and economy in general at 12 percent.

Republicans have leaned into the issue of immigration on the campaign trail this cycle as Democrats have looked to make abortion one of their top issues. However, using the issue of immigration as a tool to primary challengers offers a unique twist and underscores intraparty divisions on an issue that many within the GOP have rallied around.

Updated at 5:51 pm.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Much has been said about Donald Trump and Mark Robinsons success in their respective primaries on Tuesday night, and what that means for North Carolinas future. But the most significant  and shocking  primary result happened in a race a bit further down the ballot.

Incumbent Catherine Truitt lost to far-right challenger Michele Morrow in the Republican primary for state superintendent of public instruction. Truitt received just under 48% of the vote, while Morrow received 52%, according to unofficial results. She was the only incumbent Council of State member to lose their primary, and did so despite outraising her opponent by a significant margin.

The surprise result shows how much of a flashpoint education has become in todays Republican Party, and adds a new level to the extremism North Carolina voters will see on the statewide ticket in November.

Morrow, who has five homeschooled children, has called public schools indoctrination centers and urged people not to send their kids to them, according to WRAL News. She also attended the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and supports policies such as arming teachers.

Morrow believes that schools are pushing social, political, and sexual agendas and vows to eradicate Critical Race Theory and porn from classrooms, despite the fact that there is no widespread evidence to suggest its being taught.

Morrow framed Truitt as a liberal politician trying to push transgenderism in schools. Morrow particularly criticized Truitt for being endorsed by U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis. Tillis in recent years has come under fire from the Republican base

Truitt was seeking reelection amid a tumultuous time for public education. Even putting culture wars aside, factors such as test scores and pandemic learning loss would put any incumbent superintendent under added scrutiny, regardless of whether they occurred due to circumstances out of her control.

Still, its rare for a sitting Council of State member to lose their primary, and the fact that Truitt did underscores how galvanizing an issue like education is among Republican voters. Compare Truitts fate to that of Mike Causey, the incumbent commissioner of insurance who openly feuds with Republican legislators and uses his office (and taxpayer dollars) to accommodate friends and political allies. Causey cruised to a primary victory Tuesday night.

Truitt, perhaps sensing displeasure from the GOP base, had taken steps to appease more conservative voters. She publicly embraced the radical expansion of private school vouchers despite promising voters she would not support it before her election in 2020. She weighed in on hot-button culture war issues like transgender participation in youth sports. This election cycle, she sent out mailers bragging about getting woke politics out of public schools.

But it wasnt enough. Truitt is the latest to learn a lesson that the Republican Party writ large has been slow to learn: indulging the most extreme factions of your party will only come back to bite you in the end.

Now, the Republican nominee to guide the public education system in North Carolina is someone whose children have never attended public school in this state. She actively undermines public education, vilifies teachers and makes false and inflammatory statements about what students are supposedly being taught. Make no mistake: the next superintendent of public instruction could be someone who doesnt believe in public instruction at all.

That such a person would be a nominee for any statewide office is certainly an indictment of todays Republican Party and the ways in which its leaders have cultivated a constituency that would vote for such a person in the first place. Of course, its not an entirely unsurprising addition to a ticket that already includes Donald Trump, Mark Robinson and Dan Bishop. Top to bottom, its likely the most extreme Republican ticket in North Carolina history  one that illustrates the culture wars and vitriol that characterize politics today.

Robinsons securing the GOP nomination for governor will dominate the headlines for the next few days. But Morrow is similar to Robinson in all the worst ways  and in a state where public education is increasingly under attack, the existential threat that her nomination poses to our public schools should sound alarm bells for us all.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A year-and-a-half after a 24-year-old overdosed on fentanyl-laced pills, his cousin is now facing charges, including second-degree murder, related to his death, documents said.

At around 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 28, 2022, the mother of Rigoberto Sanchez, 24, went to her sons bedroom to wake him up for work. Inside his room, she found him kneeling on his bed, according to a report.

Sanchezs mother told police she attempted to wake him several times, and when he did not respond, she pulled on his arm, causing him to fall off the bed. She said she saw discharge and blood coming out of his nose and asked her daughter to call 911.

Medical personnel arrived and took Sanchez to a local hospital, where they pronounced him dead. Police found a baggie containing round blue pills embossed with M-30 and long white pills, according to the report.

An autopsy report later determined Sanchezs cause of death to be from toxic effects of Fentanyl and his death was ruled an accident.

Sanchezs mother told police that the night before his death, Sanchez asked his sister to drive him somewhere, and shortly after he returned, he was displaying signs that he was under the influence of a controlled substance and was falling over and scratching a lot, the report stated.

When she asked Sanchez about his behavior, he told her he was fine and was going to bed.

Sanchezs sister told police that at first, Sanchez asked her to take him to the apartment of their cousin, identified as Alexander Ibarra-Bueno. When they got to the apartment, Sanchez texted Ibarra-Bueno, who asked to meet at a nearby McDonalds instead.

Alexander Ibarra-Bueno faces charges including second-degree murder after the 2022 death of his cousin. (LVMPD)

Surveillance video from McDonalds showed Ibarra-Bueno and Sanchez meeting inside the lobby and sitting in a booth across from each other. The video showed Ibarra-Bueno appear to hand something to Sanchez before Sanchez stands and leaves.

Police began searching for Ibarra-Bueno after identifying him as a suspect in Sanchezs death. Sanchezs family believed Ibarra-Bueno was hiding from police in Mexico after his father told other family members, Youre never going to find my son, the report stated.

In December 2023, Ibarra-Bueno was located back in Las Vegas where police said he was living with his on-and-off girlfriend, according to the report. His girlfriend later told police that their trip to Mexico was pre-planned.

On Dec. 20, police spoke with Ibarra-Bueno after a traffic stop and asked him about Sanchezs death. Ibarra-Bueno told police that he believed Sanchez died from a narcotics overdose, specifically M-30 pills because the two used to crush the pills and snort them, the report stated.

Ibarra-Bueno told police he would give Sanchez pills occasionally because he knows how it feels to go through withdrawal symptoms. He told police that when he heard of Sanchezs death, he felt scared and began panicking.

I started panicking like, oh [expletive], oh [expletive], its my fault, the report said Ibarra-Bueno told police.

When asked why he did not contact police, Ibarra-Bueno said he thought he would be blamed for Sanchezs death.

Police asked Ibarra-Bueno what should happen to someone who gives someone a pill that kills him. Ibarra-Bueno replied that he didnt kill Sanchez, the pill did.

And where did he get that pill from? police asked Ibarra-Bueno.

He got it from me, Ibarra-Bueno replied, the report stated. Im the one who gave it to him, but I didnt force the guy to take em.

Police released Ibarra-Bueno shortly after that interview. On Jan. 16, a warrant for his arrest was filed.

Police later arrested him in late February. It was not clear what led to his arrest.

Ibarra-Bueno faces charges of second-degree murder and sale of a controlled substance. His next court appearance was scheduled for March 13.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Without citing specific examples, Florida lawmakers passed legislation on Thursday that would prohibit local watchdog commissions from launching their own investigations into public corruption and ethics violations, arguing that some local cases have been weaponized for political gain.

Under the proposed measure  which is now on its way to Gov. Ron DeSantis desk  local ethics panels across the state would only be able to investigate misconduct by public officials if someone with personal knowledge of the wrongdoing is willing to identify themselves by name and file a complaint under oath.

It is not entirely clear why lawmakers sought to make the change, but the provision impacting local ethics panels has worried officials in various jurisdictions, including Miami-Dade County, where the ethics commission has self-initiated ethics investigations that have led to the criminal indictments of elected officials such as ex-Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla.

House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, told reporters on Wednesday night that he is aware of the concerns raised by some watchdog groups but said he is also concerned that politics is increasingly playing a role in ethics investigations.

We have become more and more partisan and less and less objective about ethics, Renner said. I am certainly someone that cares about ethics and if it is a Republican that is misbehaving I would say go get em and go after them. But we see a great partisan divide where people are weaponizing these claims especially just before an election.

Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, said in a statement on Thursday that she is concerned that in some jurisdictions the self-initiation powers are or could be politicized and weaponized.

I believe that state and local ethics boards should be able to spend their time investigating serious violations of our ethics laws, not politically motivated public relations stunts designed to generate headlines, Passidomo said. All too often the current process is weaponized by bad actors.

Passidomo said it is especially concerning if inadmissible hearsay is allowed and the commission can order and enforce its own penalties.

To that point, a provision in the bill would require ethics complaints across the state to bear the name of the accuser and that allegations are written, signed under oath and based upon personal knowledge or information other than hearsay.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Investigators knocked commissioners for VIP treatment at MIA. Then came the funding threat.

A new ethics standard for Florida

Sen. Danny Burgess, the bill sponsor in the Senate, said the new threshold is meant to ensure ethics complaints are based on merit and to bring fairness for both the victim of alleged wrongdoing and the accused.

The goal is to bring uniformity to the states ethics complaint process, he said, which is why he is targeting local ethics boards with more stringent standards than the ones being set for the Florida Commission on Ethics. The Zephyrhills Republican added the state wants to avoid the possibility of forum shopping.

Burgess said he talked to several elected officials, the commission on Ethics, and others before adding that provision onto his bill.

State Rep. Robert Brackett, the bill sponsor in the House, had not included the language that would impact local ethics boards ability to launch investigations early in the legislative session. But he moved to the Senates position this week and rejected several proposals from House Democrats that would have restored those local powers.

RELATED CONTENT: Ethics board cautions Coral Gables commissioner against doing business in the city

Brackett said he did not consult any local ethics officials on the matter when Democrats said many had raised concerns. Instead, he explained that local officials should not have more authority to investigate ethics cases than state ethics officers.

If we are going to have a local board do this down there then we want them to follow the same regulations the state follows, Brackett said.

State Rep. Ashley Gantt, D-Miami, said that she took the down there reference to mean that the bill aims to target the Miami-Dade Commision on Ethics and Public Trust.

I fully believe this bill is trying to chill their effectiveness, Gantt said. What we have in place is effective in making sure we have integrity in our elected officials.

Jose Arrojo, the executive director of the Miami-Dade ethics commission, said last month the state would force them to sit on information worth investigating unless someone comes forward and files a complaint under oath.

No more anonymous whistleblowers. No more employees referring information to us, Arrojo said.

READ MORE: Ethics commission is investigating Miami Mayor Francis Suarezs work for a developer

Brackett also argued that the local ethics commission should be complaint-driven when it comes to investigations. He added that he does not think the state or local ethics officials should be investigating allegations based on what they read on a news outlet.

I dont think that is the proper way to handle investigations, Brackett said. We dont want a bunch of frivolous investigations and frivolous complaints.

Other provisions in the bill would speed up the timeframe in which ethics complaints are reviewed and investigated.

For those timeline changes, lawmakers pointed to the ethics case against Jack Latvala, a former state senators who resigned from office amid sexual harassment allegations. His ethics complaint was dismissed five years later after the accusers refused to participate after investigators had revealed sufficient evidence to find probable cause for various ethical violations.

RELATED CONTENT: Look right into my soul, Florida politician said. But he was lying, ethics board alleges

Overall, Renner told reporters that he does not think the broad ethics package will slow down public corruption cases at the local level. But if it does, he said lawmakers should look to amend the bill in the future.

I dont think we have shut down corruption cases in Florida. I dont think you can draw that from the bill, Renner said. But, he said,  if it looks like theres been some constraint of legitimate corruption cases then I would be the first one to step up and argue that we should take a half step back or a full step back from that piece of the bill  if in fact that happens.

If signed by the governor, the new measures would take effect October 1.
"Nearly 10 people" were injured, with four of them hospitalized, in Russia's missile strike against Sumy on March 7, Sumy Oblast Governor Volodymyr Artiukh said on television.

The attack struck Sumy at 2:42 p.m. local time, damaging the central city hospital, a regional emergency medical center, a school, and water supply infrastructure, according to the local authorities.

The emergency services were still working on eliminating the consequences of the attack and providing assistance as of 8 p.m., Artiukh said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address that there were "injured and killed" in the March 7 attack on Sumy.

However, the local authorities haven't reported any fatalities.

Sumy Oblast lies on Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia and is regularly targeted by daily Russian attacks.

This missile strike against the regional capital of Sumy was the first one since July. That attack damaged a local educational institution, killed one, and injured at least 17 people.

Read also: Ukrainian soldiers near Kupiansk prepare for potential Russian offensive

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov announced on March 7 that local authorities would conduct mandatory evacuation of residents living in communities near Kupiansk.

Kupiansk is a crucial strategic city in Kharkiv Oblast that was temporarily occupied by Russian troops in 2022. Kupiansk has recently been under heavy attacks as Russia intensified assault attempts in the area.

All residents will be evacuated from 57 settlements, Syniehubov said.

All children along with a parent or legal guardian will be evacuated from 18 settlements in Velykoburlutska and Vilkhuvatska communities.

According to Syniehubov, 110 children currently reside in the Velykoburlutska community and 51 in the Vilkhuvatska community.

Syniehubov said that these residents will be relocated within Kharkiv Oblast and to other regions of Ukraine. The accommodation is already prepared for them, according to the official.

"We must protect families with children from Russian terror of civilians in the Kharkiv region," he said.

Ukraine's Khortytsia Operational and Strategic Group reported on Feb. 26 that Russia continues to concentrate its forces near Kharkiv Oblast's Kupiansk.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) earlier warned that Russia could replicate its successful tactics in Avdiivka on a larger scale if the West continues to delay military assistance.

Read also: Ukrainian soldiers near Kupiansk prepare for potential Russian offensive

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
CHARLESTON, WV (WVNS)  An announcement was made by Governor Justice that trout stockings will be reinstated.

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) reached an agreement for West Virginias trout stockings to be returned to the original schedule.

Wings of Wonder: West Virginia Birds of Prey to come to Pipestem State Park

This agreement represents a victory for West Virginias longstanding tradition of world-class trout fishing. My administration has fought to ensure that anglers across the state continue to enjoy the benefits of responsible, sustainable trout stocking practices. Im proud of our continued commitment to both conservation and recreation, and I applaud the collaborative efforts of the WVDNR, USFWS, and West Virginia University that made this agreement possible. Governor Jim Justice

The agreement involves the WVDNR reinstating trout stockings in four previously closed waters, as well as having the stocking frequency of 20 streams restored in May 2024. The four streams that will go back to the original stocking schedule include:

Camp Creek  Mercer County

Pinnacle Creek  Wyoming County

North Fork of Cherry  Greenbrier County

Laurel Creek of Cherry  Greenbrier/Nicholas County

We are thrilled to announce that these waters have returned to the original stocking schedule. Thanks to the support and collaboration of Governor Justice, West Virginia anglers can continue to enjoy our world-class trout program. Brett McMillion | West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Director

After an initial decision was made to take the four waters off of the stocking schedule because of concerns for endangered species, a compromise was worked out between Governor Justice, representatives with the WVDNR, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

WVDA plans for Lymantria dispar treatments for spring 2024

In response to a recent request from the WVDNR to change their trout stocking program while continuing to implement conservation measures for listed species, the Service provided a means to move forward as required under the Endangered Species Act. We have also updated the West Virginia grant to support the trout stocking program. We appreciate our strong working relationship with WVDNR. We collaboratively partner to conserve listed species and provide angling opportunities to the public. Wendi Weber | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director

Trout stockings will resume because of the compromise, and they will follow the 2024-2025 Fishing Regulations outline. Not only will the trout stockings resume, a trout food habitat study will be held by West Virginia University to make sure that there are conservation measures so that the Candy Darter, Big Sandy Crayfish, and the Guyandotte River Crayfish are protected.

The full trout stocking schedule can be found here on pages 14 and 15.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
The Granville Community Foundation has welcomed Whitney Crane, Dan Dodd, Kirsten Fox and Cipriano Martinez as new board members in 2024. Crane, Dodd and Martinez replace Angela Katona, Scott Miller and Deb Tegtmeyer who all completed their six-year tenure in December 2023. Each of those three new board members will have the opportunity to serve two three-year terms. Fox replaces Scott Mortimer and will serve as the ex officio representative for the Granville Exempted Village School District.

Whitney Crane

Cranes background is rooted in public health for both research institutions and not-for-profitorganizations with roles in program evaluation, philanthropy, grant-making and non-profitdevelopment. She currently sits on the board of the United Way of Licking County and served asthe Vice President of Community Impact during the 2024 application cycle, overseeing grantapplications and evaluations for their 45 funded programs. She is involved with the Crane Groupand Crane Family Foundation philanthropy, and volunteers locally with Hospice of Central Ohio,Granville Elementary School, and the Newark Emergency Warming Center. Crane is agraduate of New York University and the Yale School of Public Health and lives in the villagewith her husband and son.

Dan Dodd

Dodd brings a wealth of experience in policy analysis, coalition building, grassroots organizing, media relations and fundraising that will be put to use on the foundations finance and grant committees. Professionally, Dodd works as both the Vice President of Government Relations at ZHF Consulting and as Executive Director of the Ohio Association of Independent Schools. In both positions, Dodd collaborates with schools and businesses across the state and serves as a lobbyist and legislative agent. He also served as a state representative in the Ohio House of Representatives from 2007-2010. Dodd, his wife and their children relocated from the Buckeye Lake region where he was the secretary of the Harbor Hills Civic Association and a district representative for the Buckeye Lake Civic Association. Dodd holds a bachelors degree from Villanova University and a law degree from the University of Cincinnati.

Cipriano Martinez

Martinez is an attorney advisor with the Social Security Administration and has experience in the areas of health, disability, special education and administrative law. He relocated to Granville from the Washington D.C. area five years ago and lives in the community with his wife and family, who are all familiar with the Granville community due to his spouses employment as a tenured professor atDenison University. Martinez currently serves as the President for the Partners in Educationat Welsh Hills School, the President of the Board of Trustees for Welsh Hills School and as thecommunications officer for the Bryn Du Woods Homeowners Association. He will be serving onthe foundations nominations/board development and grants committees. Martinez holds bachelor's and law degrees both from the University of Maryland.

Kirsten Fox

Fox was selected by the Granville school district to serve as the ex officio representative for the school district and will help maintain fluid communication and cooperative support between the two organizations. Fox brings 20 years of experience in non-profit and higher education management to the foundation. She has held a number of positions across the country with experience in non-profit and educational leadership, management, budgeting and public relations. Currently, Fox serves as the Executive Director of the Mortar Board National College Senior Honor Society and oversees day-to-day operations for the non-profit, provides strategic long and short term visionary leadership and acts as the Principal Officer for the organizations National Foundation. She will serve on GCFs marketing and grants committees and is also a trustee for the board of the Granville Recreation District. Fox holds a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University, a master's in education from the University of Vermont and a doctorate from the University of Maryland. She lives in the village with her husband and two children.

Granville citizens interested in serving on the Board of Granville Community Foundation can findapplications online at www.granvillecommunityfoundation.org/applications or may contact JillYoung, Director of Operations at granvillecommunityfoundation@gmail.com.

Information submitted by Granville Community Foundation.

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Granville Community Foundation welcomes 4 new board members
HANOVER, Pa. (WHTM)  A locally-owned gyro fusion eatery recently opened its second Midstate location.

The locally-owned 2Delicious is owned and operated by Midstate native Mike Mendez, who took over the American-Greek fusion eatery back in September 2021. Originally, when the establishment opened its doors, it was more Greek-focused, but under Mendezs ownership, he prioritized the fusion concept.

2Delicious is most known for offering a wide variety of fusion gyros, which according to their website are &%$# good!. In addition to their restaurant location, 2Delicious also has a food truck and a food trailer that they operate across the Midstate.







To check out the full menu for 2Delicious, you can click here.

Since they first opened, 2Delicious has been located at 3096 Carlisle Road in Dover, Pa., but back on Wednesday, March 6, Mendez officially opened a new location at The Markets at Hanover, located at 1649 Broadway.

We just really want to get our food in-front of the people in Hanover, Mendez explained.

The hours of operation for the new 2Delisious location are currently following the markets hours of operation, which are:

Wednesdays // 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Thursdays  Fridays // 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Saturdays // 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Exciting is the first word that comes to mind, Mendez exclaimed. The staff are putting a lot of work into this and they are all super excited. None of this would have been possible without the staff.

If you are interested in working for 2Delicious, you can click here to apply.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) responded to Speaker Mike Johnsons (R-La.) call for decorum during the State of the Union by saying it would depend on President Bidens remarks.

People have asked me a lot about decorum, Greene said Thursday outside the Capitol. And my answer back is  the House of Representatives, Congress as a whole and even the White House has broken decorum a long time ago. The American people are $34 trillion in debt, and the Biden administrations open-border policies with over 10 million illegal aliens, 2 million got-aways and innocent Americans like Laken Riley being murdered that broke [decorum].

She continued, So it depends on what the president has to say tonight. Well see what I think and feel at the time.

Johnson had called for decorum during a closed-door GOP conference meeting Wednesday, multiple members present told The Hill.

Greene was among the GOP lawmakers who heckled the president during last years speech. Greene called him a liar while he discussed potential cuts for Social Security and Medicare as part of the deal on the debt limit, and calls of secure the border could be heard in the chamber.

Greene on Thursday also said Biden should apologize to the country for his administrations southern border policies, which she says caused Rileys death.

Riley, a University of Georgia nursing student, was found slain last month. Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old Venezuelan citizen who authorities said had entered the country illegally, was charged with murder in Rileys death.

I think he needs to apologize to America because its his open border policies that caused her murder, and honestly have caused many Americans to die, Greene said.

Laken Riley is the state of our union.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska has refused the White House's offer to attend US President Joseph Biden's address to Congress. Rumors spread in foreign media that the reason was the intention to seat her next to the widow of Russian so-called opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Yulia Navalnaya, but this is not the case.

ADVERTISIMENT

OBOZ.UA has learned from its sources that the First Lady of Ukraine had other events planned for that day. We were informed about this by the Washington Post, which published a news story about the desire to seat a Ukrainian and a Russian woman next to each other.

The article says that US First Lady Jill Biden was supposed to sit next to Olena Zelenska and Yulia Navalnaya to create "a powerful backdrop for President Biden's speech to a joint session of Congress." The two guests were supposed to be symbols of resistance to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

However, this theory, as we were told, has nothing to do with reality. The Ukrainian first lady has a number of meetings scheduled for March 7.

ADVERTISIMENT

"The Embassy of Ukraine in the United States has indeed recently received an invitation for the First Lady of Ukraine to attend the State of the Union address on March 7. However, due to scheduled events, including a visit to Kyiv by children from an orphanage, which was planned in advance, unfortunately, the first lady will not be able to attend," the newspaper received.

The article also says that Yulia Navalnaya herself refused to participate due to "fatigue".

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Gov. Greg Abbott's infusion of $6 million to support state House candidates who would back a controversial "school choice" program  a signature legislative priority the governor championed but failed to get passed last year  seems to have paid off after eight GOP primary challengers either ousted an anti-voucher incumbent or pulled them into a May runoff election.

In four races in which the incumbent decided against seeking reelection, two Abbott-supported candidates won and two others are heading to runoffs, according to the complete but unofficial election results.

The primary outcomes are setting the battleground for an expected energetic legislative fight in 2025 over whether lawmakers will approve a school choice program, also known as vouchers or education savings accounts, which use public money to pay for private schooling, and could augment Abbott's influence over the House.

After spending much of 2023 touring Texas to advocate for school choice, Abbott suffered multiple embarrassing setbacks when a coalition of Democrats and rural Republicans in the House blocked such proposals from advancing in the lower chamber. Abbott then vowed to take the fight to the ballot box and prop up candidates who would help him get his legislative priority passed through the finish line.

The issue last year was highly charged for both supporters, who say a school choice program would help expand students opportunities, and opponents, who worried such proposal would bleed resources from public schools.

Good news for Abbott

Abbott spent $6 million in the month leading up to the primary election to bolster candidates who support a school choice program, according to campaign finance results.

More: Gov. Greg Abbott spends $6 million on Texas House candidates who back 'school choice'

Abbott called the primary results a step closer to getting school choice in Texas.

Republican primary voters have once again sent an unmistakable message that parents deserve the freedom to choose the best education pathway for their child, Abbott said in a Tuesday night statement.

It was a good night for Abbott, said Mark P. Jones, a Rice University political science professor.

"His credibility and power have been bolstered and from a policy perspective," Jones said. "He's cleared the path for school choice in 2025."

During a strenuous 2023 legislative year, a coalition of House Democrats and 21 Republicans voted to strip a school voucher proposal from an omnibus education bill, effectively killing the proposal at the time.

Abbott vowed to go to battle against the 16 of those 21 Republicans who sought reelection.

Abbotts credibility was undermined at that time, so he needed to follow through on the threats against GOP House members, Jones said.

"Abbott put his money where his mouth was," Jones said.

The money, the results

After Abbott in December received a $6 million donation from Jeffrey Yass, a Pennsylvania billionaire and leading advocate for school choice issues, the governor spent that money in the month leading up to the primaries to support pro-school choice candidates.

In three of the four races Abbott spent most heavily on, his preferred candidates succeeded either with an outright win or by taking the incumbent to a runoff.

Janis Holt won a decisive victory over Rep. Ernest Bailes, R-Shepherd. Holt won 53.2% of the 28,222 votes cast, compared with Bailes 38.8%, according to complete but unofficial results. Abbott spent more than $671,000 supporting Holts campaign in the past month, campaign finance records show.

Rep. Steve Allison, R-San Antonio, lost by a similar margin to Marc LaHood, who received more than $672,400 from Abbott in the past month. LaHood won 53.5% of the 22,062 votes cast compared with Allisons 39.4%, according to complete but unofficial results.

Abbotts spending and time on these races was unique, said Scott Jensen, senior adviser for American Federation for Children, a national pro-school choice organization.

"I have never seen a governor invest more time, money or political capital in trying to advance school choice than Greg Abbott did," Jensen said.

The elections could set up the Legislature to pass a strong school choice package in 2025, he said. The Texas Senate has historically been supportive of school choice, but such proposals have died in the House.

School choice opponents, however, are still waiting to see what comes from the May 28 runoffs and November general elections, said Clay Robison, spokesperson for the Texas State Teachers Association. However, its clear the margin of opposition to vouchers will be narrower, he said.

There will be a lot of pressure on these anti-voucher opponents in the House, Robison said. That will also be complicated by the fact that school districts need money.

Last year, Abbott linked passing school choice with approval for any new substantial funding for public schools. Both failed.

The power

Tuesday's results put Abbott in a stronger position of power over the House, but a lot will depend on the outcomes of the runoffs, especially the race for House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, Jones said.

Phelan was pulled into a GOP primary runoff against David Covey, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump. If Phelan wins the District 21 runoff in May, he'd still have to win a vote in the Texas House to be reappointed as speaker.

More: Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan heads to runoff against Trump-backed GOP primary opponent

The outcome could ultimately determine how much influence Abbott, who has butted heads with Phelan over the school voucher issue, has over the House, Jones said.

"Will the Texas House continue to provide a break on the more conservative Senate and governor?" he asked as Texans remain in a wait-and-see period.

Early voting for the primary runoffs begins May 20. Election day is May 28.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas primary: Greg Abbott's 'school choice' priority gains steam
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Grocery chain Aldi is coming to the Las Vegas valley, a company spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.

The plan was first revealed in documents filed with the City of Henderson in early January. While todays announcement didnt confirm that location, it said Las Vegas is part of the chains $9 billion expansion with 800 new stores over the next five years. Aldi had identified a location at 611 Marks St., next to the Best Buy near the Galleria at Sunset mall.

Aldi is one of the nations fastest-growing grocers. The chain focuses on low prices with a no-frills business model that claims to save shoppers up to 40% on their grocery bill.

Aldi prides itself on thrifty innovations  like its system to deposit a quarter to use a grocery cart, and then getting the quarter back when you put it back. But mostly, its about the thrift. The chain requires reusable bags (it sells its own) and it shelves groceries in their original shipping boxes.

Its stores are smaller than traditional supermarkets, shunning many national brands. The company says 90% of the products are brands exclusive to Aldi stores.

Aldi is growing as the Federal Trade Commission is suing to fight the merger of Kroger and Albertsons. Aldi is based in Batavia, Illinois.

U.S. prices for food eaten at home typically rise 2.5% per year, but in 2022 they rose 11.4% and in 2023 they rose another 5%, according to government data.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Families of the American hostages being held in Gaza. A doctor who came under attack for providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim. The first person born via in-vitro fertilization (IVF).

These are some of the people who will attend President Joe Bidens State of the Union address on Thursday night as guests of congressional lawmakers and the White House.

Guests are important aspects of the messaging strategy for their hosts, and the First Lady's guest list offers a preview of the themes and issues that will take center stage in the President's address. Based on the First Ladys guests, some themes expected to feature prominently in Bidens speech are women's reproductive rights, student loan forgiveness, the Israel-Hamas war, healthcare costs, and other domestic policy issues.

Each of these individuals were invited by the White House because they personify issues or themes to be addressed by the president in his speech, or they embody the Biden-Harris Administrations policies at work for the American people, First Lady Jill Bidens office said in a statement.

Here are some of the notable guests who will be in attendance.

Abortion and IVF

Kate Cox, who was denied an abortion in Texas despite doctors arguing that the pregnancy put her health at risk, will be a guest of the First Lady.

Latorya Beasley, whose IVF treatments were abruptly halted due to a court ruling in Alabama, is being hosted by the First Lady.

Kayla Smith, who traveled from Idaho to Washington state to get an abortion due to Idahos restrictive abortion laws after learning that the fetus she was carrying had inoperable heart defects, will be a guest of Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the Senates president pro tempore.

Amanda Zurawski, who was denied an abortion in Texas due to state law despite her being at risk for a life-threatening condition, was invited by Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark, the House Minority Whip. Zurawski received care only after going into septic shock, leaving her with permanent physical damage.

Caitlin Bernard, the doctor who came under fire for performing an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim in 2022, was invited as a guest of Rep. Judy Chu, a California Democrat.

Tammi Kromenaker, the director of Red River Womens Clinic, which was the only abortion provider in North Dakota before relocating to Minnesota to avoid a state ban, was invited by Democratic Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith.

Elizabeth Carr, who became the first baby in the U.S. born via IVF in 1981, will attend as a guest of Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat.

Foreign affairs

Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, the parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained by Russia since last March on espionage charges that he and the U.S. denies, will be attending as guests of House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican.

Seventeen relatives of American hostages who were taken by Hamas last year will be attending as guests of lawmakers in both parties. Among the guests are Orna and Daniel Neutra, the mother and brother of Omer Neutra, an American hostage held since the Oct. 7 attack in Israel, who were invited by the House Speaker and New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler. Andrea Weinstein, the sister of American hostages Judy Weinstein Haggai and Gad Haggai who were both killed by Hamas, will be a guest of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat.

Intimaa Salama, a Palestinian masters student at St. Louis University who has lost dozens of family members in Gaza, will be attending as a guest of Rep. Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat who has called for an immediate ceasefire. Bushs office said that 35 members of Salamas family were killed in the ongoing war in Gaza.

Commander Shelby Nikitin, recognized for her leadership in protecting ships from Houthi rebel attacks in Yemen, was invited by the White House.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who led Sweden in its campaign to join NATO and handed over documentation to make the move official on Thursday, was invited by the White House.

Domestic policy

Jazmin Cazares, a gun-control advocate whose nine-year-old sister Jackie was killed in the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, will be a guest of the First Lady.

Shawn Fain, the head of United Automobile Workers (UAW) who endorsed Biden after he became the first president to join a picket line, will attend as a guest of the First Lady.

NYPD officer Zunxu Tian and Lt. Ben Kurian, who were attacked by migrants residing at a shelter near Times Square in January, will attend as guests of the House Speaker and New York Republican Reps. Nicole Malliotakis and Anthony DEsposito.

Bettie Mae Fikes, a civil rights advocate who marched in Selma, Ala., on Bloody Sunday in 1965, will be a guest of the First Lady; the State of the Union address coincides with the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

Kameryn Pupunu, a Hawaiian police officer whose Lahaina hometown was devastated by the August wildfires, including four of his immediate family members, will be a guest of the First Lady.

Rapper Fat Joe, who met with lawmakers last year to advocate for healthcare price transparency, will be a guest of Rep. Nanette Barragan, a California Democrat.

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, whose federation represents 60 affiliate unions and 12.5 million people, was invited by Congressional Labor Caucus Co-Chair Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat.

Brandon Budlong, a Border Patrol agent and president of the National Border Patrol Council Local 2724, will be a guest of New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, chair of the House Republican Conference.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, will be attending as a guest of New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat to highlight Womens History Month and state partnerships with the federal government. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, will also be in attendance as a guest of Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty to highlight his disapproval of Biden's border policies.

Gabriel Shipton, the brother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, will attend as a guest of Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican. Assange has been indicted in the U.S. on espionage charges.

Write to Nik Popli at nik.popli@time.com.
By Harold Isaac and Sarah Morland

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) -Haiti's government on Thursday said it would extend a state of emergency around Port-au-Prince for another month as gang violence that has threatened to bring down the government and led thousands to flee their homes appeared to show no sign of abating.

The U.N. humanitarian affairs agency warned that the country's health system was "nearing collapse," with shortages of staff, equipment, beds, drugs and blood to treat patients with gunshot wounds.

Two dozen trucks carrying vital equipment, medical supplies and food were stuck at the capital's port, according to the U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP), which said it had suspended its maritime transport service, citing the "insecurity."

Authorities first announced a state of emergency on Sunday after fighting escalated, inmates were broken out of prison by armed gangs, and an estimated tens of thousands were displaced while Prime Minister Ariel Henry was in Kenya, seeking its leadership of an international force intended to fight the gangs.

Henry, who has been in Puerto Rico since Tuesday, spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken by phone on Thursday, senior State Department official Brian Nichols said in Washington.

In an "intensive" conversation, Blinken spoke with Henry about "the urgent need to accelerate transition to a broader, more inclusive government," said Nichols.

The prime minister has been apparently unable or unwilling to return to Port-au-Prince, where gunfire has broken out around key transport hubs, including the international airport.

The state of emergency in the Ouest Department, the seat of the capital, will be extended to April 3, with a nightly curfew until March 11, according to a declaration in the Caribbean country's official gazette. The government said this was in order to "reestablish order and take appropriate measures to retake control of the situation."

The state of emergency bans all public protests, day and night, and allows security forces to use "all legal means" at their disposal to enforce the curfew and apprehend those who break it, the government said.

In Port-au-Prince on Thursday, flames licked around a looted food warehouse and burned-out cars lined the streets. With gas stations shuttered, people bought petrol for their vehicles from street vendors with plastic containers.

"The situation in the country is critical," said a man who gave his name only as Marckenson. "People can no longer go about their business. Our children can no longer go to school. Merchants can't go to market... We have a prime minister, we don't know whether he's dead or alive, because he's lost in the wild."

Aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders) said on Thursday it estimated that at least 2,300 people had been killed in the violence in 2023 in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Cite Soleil alone, home to 9% of the capital's population.

"It is likely the real scale of the violence is much higher," MSF said. The aid group had a day earlier reopened an emergency clinic in the capital, shuttered after armed men intercepted an ambulance and killed a patient in the street.

PORT CLOSURE

The situation on the ground has made it increasingly difficult for transport and aid groups to operate.

The WFP's now suspended maritime transport service, the U.N. said, "is currently the only means of transporting food and medical supplies for humanitarian and development organizations from Port-au-Prince to other parts of the country."

Local media reported that armed men had broken into the capital's main cargo port, CPS, and had looted containers.

In a statement, CPS said it had been the target of "malicious sabotage and vandalism," forcing it to suspend its services.

In a statement on Wednesday, the chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) said regional leaders were meeting "around the clock" with government and opposition representatives, but had not yet reached consensus on how to proceed.

Henry, who is unelected, came to power shortly after the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise. He has repeatedly postponed elections, saying security must first be established to hold a free and fair vote.

Martine Moise, the president's widow who was charged last month alongside some 50 other people for involvement in the 2021 assassination, said on X Haiti was "upside down" because those in power "want to crucify the victims, make them responsible, while they who are the killers seek to stay in power."

Gangs have massively expanded their influence and territory in the years since Moise's death, amassing wealth from ransom kidnappings and large arsenals of firearms that the UN has said are largely trafficked from the United States.

(Reporting by Harold Isaac and Steven Aristil in Port-au-Prince, Sarah Morland in Mexico City, Don Pessin, Matt Spetalnick and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by Kylie Madry, Alistair Bell and Rosalba O'Brien)
Semafor Signals

Insights from BBC, Council on Foreign Relations, Miami Herald, and ABC News





The News

Haiti gang leader Jimmy Barbecue Cherizier has warned of a civil war that will lead to a genocide if Prime Minister Ariel Henry does not step down, amid a wave of gang violence that has plunged the country into crisis.

The de facto prime minister is facing increasing pressure to expedite a transitional government after an explosion of violence that has displaced more than 15,000 in recent weeks.

Violence flared when Henry left the country for Kenya to finalize a deal for a United Nations-backed police force to help combat the gangs. Gunmen stormed prisons, releasing 4,700 inmates, laid siege to key areas of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and shot at airplanes, leading international carriers to halt their flights.

Cherizier, a former elite police officer and one of Haitis most powerful gang leaders, has said his group is seeking to capture the police chief and government ministers, the Associated Press reported.

The United States on Wednesday urged Henry to expedite the violence-ravaged nations transition to a new governing structure and hold free and fair elections  but stopped short of calling for his resignation.

The 74-year-old former neurosurgeon has been the acting prime minister since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021. Henry backtracked on a promise to step down in February, instead saying he would hold general elections in 2025 after stabilizing Haitis security situation.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Gangs could become dominant power in the latest in a series of coups

Sources: NPR, Al Jazeera, Miami Herald, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

The situation is on the verge of a real collapse of any and every institution that remains in the country, one Haiti scholar told NPR, after gangs formed an alliance to overthrow the government. More than 80% of the capital is currently controlled by gangs, according to the United Nations. Haiti is not unfamiliar with coups; throughout its recent history, gangs and armed groups have repeatedly played the role of political opposition.

Cheriziers unification of a criminal federation of gangs known as The G9 Families and Allies has also been aided by high-caliber weapons smuggled in from the United States. Present-day gangs enjoy a much higher degree of military capacity than those a decade ago, a report from the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime stated.

Gangs exploit rampant poverty in a country plagued by political instability and natural disasters

Sources: ABC News, Council on Foreign Relations

While most people in the capital Port-au-Prince loathe the armed gangs that control the city, others support them even if they are terrified that they themselves or their families could be collateral damage because they feel the gangs are the only group capable of forcing Henry out, an ABC News correspondent wrote. More than half of the former French colonys citizens live below the poverty line and have been buffeted by ongoing political instability and a series of natural disasters in recent years, including the devastating 2010 earthquake. The confluence of these forces has transformed what was once the wealthiest colony in the Americas into the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, the Council on Foreign Relations said.



Prime ministers plan to add security forces faces an uphill battle

Sources: NPR, Semafor

Part of the growing discontent in Haiti is that Henry has been solely focused on finding a military solution to gang violence, Monique Clesca, a Haitian activist, told NPR. Ordering a state of emergency at the beginning of his government would have allowed police to rein in the gangs, and plan for elections at the same time, she said. Instead, Henry requested troops from the United Nations then crossed his arms, she said. Meanwhile, an agreement with Kenya to deploy a U.N.-backed multinational police force has been met with judicial hurdles and been slow to implement.
Haiti advocates in the United States are calling on the Biden administration to rethink its approach toward the country amid gang warfare threatening to topple the U.S.-backed government.

Haitian acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry is in Puerto Rico, unable to return to his country under threat of civil war by an alliance of gangs.

Henry had left Haiti on a mission to secure a Kenya-led police force to supplement the Caribbean nations own police in a U.S.-backed attempt to prop up his government.

The U.S. and the international community is using Kenya as a Black face to go do the same thing they always do, said Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a Haitian diaspora nonprofit organization.

The Kenyans dont speak Haitian Creole, they dont speak French, they dont understand Haitian culture. Just because they are Black doesnt mean that they can just go to Haiti and do what needs to be done.

The gang-led violence, political instability and threat of foreign intervention are par for the course for Haiti, a country thats dealt with either international blockades or active intervention for much of its history.

Henry, whose 30-month stint makes him the longest-tenured prime minister since the end of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986, came to power by essentially taking over the Haitian Tet Kale Party, or PHTK, in the aftermath of former President Jovenel Moises 2021 assassination.

Under Henry, criminal gangs have become increasingly brazen and violent, overpowering the poorly paid and equipped National Police.

The Haitian Government has never been able to provide adequate government services. And if you go back to the Duvalier dictatorship, they kept gangs down by repression, by shooting people on sight, said Brian Concannon, executive director of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti.

Concannon added that gangs have grown and become more powerful over the past four decades, prompted by a series of governments unable to provide basic services.

[That process] has been much faster under some governments  the PHTK is by far the fastest, and thats because theyve been dismantling the government in a way thats created such a power vacuum, said Concannon.

Haitian advocates have for years called on the Biden administration to withdraw its support for Henry, but that support had remained steadfast until the current governance crisis unraveled.

State Department spokesperson Matt Miller on Wednesday told reporters that the United States was working with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on finding a path to free and fair elections.

And as the situation on the ground grows increasingly dire, we and CARICOM have continued to call on stakeholders, including the prime minister, to make concessions in the interest of the Haitian people, said Miller.

So we are not calling on him or pushing for him to resign, but we are urging him to expedite the transition to an empowered and inclusive governance structure that will move with urgency to help the country prepare for a multinational security support mission to address the security situation and pave the way for free and fair elections.

Advocates and researchers now worry the United States will fall into its historical pattern of negotiating with power structures in Haiti while ignoring civil society.

What weve seen often in the past is you get a transitional government and even when it looks like it can exert some independence, it is punished by foreign powers and constrained [in] what it can actually do and results in this pattern of another flawed election that is unlikely to result in anything resembling long-term stability, said Jake Johnston, a senior research associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.

Thats not inevitable, right? That doesnt have to be the outcome. Thats the outcome because of the actions of certain actors in Haiti and also the international community.

Over the past four decades, the gangs have joined the countrys economic and political elites among Haitis power brokers.

In Haiti, there always has been this ongoing negotiation among all four of those four main power structures: the government, the U.S., Haitian elites, and the gangs. And theyve been constantly negotiating their relationships, said Concannon.

So between the elites and the gangs, for example, there are elites who run gangs. There are elites who pay protection money to gangs, who hire the gangs, sometimes to attack their opponents. Theres a long history of collaboration between the gangs and the economic elites. Its constantly negotiated. And its the same thing with the the Haitian governments, and its also with the international community.

If historical trends hold, foreign powers with interests in Haiti, including the United States and Canada, will seek to push those power brokers toward a new government, prioritizing stability.

The Biden administration is committed to finding that stability by introducing a foreign police force to Haiti.

But we have always been clear that there needs to be a transition to free and fair elections in Haiti, and we have been clear that we need to see the deployment of a multinational security support mission to address the dire security situation on the ground. So we are continuing to work through both of those things, said Miller.

We are making progress on deploying the [multinational security support mission]; we want to see that happen as soon as possible.

Haitis history with foreign intervention  from U.S. military occupation between 1915 and 1934, to the more recent 2004-2017 U.N. peacekeeping mission  has left many Haitians with little appetite for new deployments.

The viability of importing security is never going to be a sustainable solution. You look at the cost of this proposed Kenya mission: $600 million for a year. The Haitian National Polices budget is $200 million a year, and theyre not even able to pay salaries right now, said Johnston.

So, could that money be better used to strengthen local capacity to build up local institutions and actually have a durable Haitian solution to this? You know, I think so. But that, of course, again, requires doing things very differently than theyve been done in the past.

The last U.N.-brokered mission, for instance, is infamous for playing a role in introducing cholera to a country that had previously been free of the disease.

Because of that history, Haitians are suspicious of the interlocutors who engage with the international community, and of the international communitys ultimate interests in engaging Haiti.

[Foreign actors] need to be talking to civil society. They need to be talking to people who are wanting and asking for change, said Jozef.

They cannot be talking to the PHTK or the oligarchs. It needs to be people within different parts of the society [to] come to the table and discuss the needs they have for Haiti. I think one of the mistakes that always happens is they will talk to just one group of people and it will be based on what is in the best interest of the international community, but not necessarily in the best interest of Haiti.

Haiti observers say the Biden administration will be tempted to talk to traditional power brokers to replace Henry with a similar figure.

His real power was the United States government. Thats who named him. Thats who supported him. And thats who kept him in power. And without that support, hes no longer able to exercise power. The U.S. can easily find someone else that will fill those shoes, said Concannon.

But Henrys failure came despite the backing of the Biden administration, highlighting how U.S. support is not the be-all and end-all of Haitian politics.

They backed Henry really out of this notion of stability, but their backing of Henry has caused the instability that theyre now responding to. Thats an important dynamic to understand, said Concannon.

And in a lot of ways, I think the U.S. sort of backed themselves into a corner, right? They pushed this situation so far that now there might actually be a lot less leverage that they can utilize to control what comes next.

And though Haitian civil society says it is ready to try a new approach, the urgency to act fast is very real.

People are  completely displaced, [while] those who are still at home are being confined within the walls of their homes where they dont know what tomorrow will bring, said Jozef.

Right now, its very bleak. I dont know if [Henry] returns based on what we are hearing from people like [gang leader Jimmy Cherizier] and others that are willing to continue to fight against him being in the country. So if he returns we might have a bloodbath in Haiti right now. But if he doesnt return, then what is the next step? Thats the big question. Right, whether he returns or not, what is the next step?

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Nikki Haley couldnt stop Donald Trump. But by staying in the race through 25 contests, she gave Joe Biden and his allies a blueprint for where Trump is potentially weakest come November.

The former U.N. ambassador beat Trump in Vermont and Washington, D.C., and won more than 40 percent of the vote in New Hampshire and Utah. And though Haleys appeal to Republicans in those places hardly dented Trump in the primary, the results suggest very specific vulnerabilities for the former president in the run-up to the general election.

A POLITICO analysis of primary voter data reveals that Trump struggled in places where a majority of adults are college-educated, including in key suburbs that doomed his campaign in 2020. And preliminary exit polling in North Carolina, Virginia and California on Tuesday showed more than two-thirds of Haley voters in each state werent committed to voting for the likely GOP nominee in November. Where Haley voters go  to Trump, Biden, another candidate or no candidate at all  could decide key races across the country.

What [this] shows is a very strong trepidation about the [likely] nominee from the right demographics of constituencies, said Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist and co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project.

The base is not secure for Donald Trump, Madrid said. And despite Bidens deep unpopularity with much of the country, Madrid argued that the president is in a much stronger position appealing to Republican base voters than he was four years ago.

The scramble to do just that set in motion almost the minute Haley dropped out. Biden immediately issued a statement saying that there was a place for Haley supporters in his campaign. Trump said he welcomed Haleys voters, too  but he also insulted her in the process.

And at least one outside group that worked to convince independents and Democrats to vote for Haley as a rebuke of Trump is now encouraging those same voters to cast ballots for Biden in November.

But anti-Trump forces face headwinds. Many of Haleys voters are committed conservatives likely to favor the former president in the general election. Already, Trump has started locking up some of his most prominent Republican holdouts, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.



Haley did not endorse Trump as she exited the race. And Trump will have work to do to earn the support of her voters, after he previously said anyone who donated to her campaign would be permanently barred from his MAGA movement.

Even as prominent Republicans quickly coalesced behind Trump, exit surveys showed Haleys big appeal to voters in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina was as a vote against the former president.

The caveat is that more than half of Haley voters in Virginia and North Carolina also said they approve of Bidens job performance, a metric that suggests she drew support from voters who backed Biden in 2020  and who are likely to return to him in the general election. At the same time, that means that some of Haleys strength might not mean Trump is losing voters  so much as she drew from a key part of Bidens 2020 coalition that will be sticking with him.

Trump will get some people back who are more Republican-oriented and find it hard to vote for a candidate whos not a Republican. But I dont think that is anywhere near the majority of her supporters, said David Emery, a former Republican representative from Maine who had endorsed Haley and is now hoping for a viable alternative to Trump and Biden to emerge.

Emery believes up to 30 percent of Republicans are just not open to any argument Donald Trump might make. Whether they vote for Joe Biden or sit it out, time will tell.

Winning over so-called double-haters  voters who disapprove of both Biden and Trump  might not be an easy task for Democrats. Rep. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who had endorsed Haley, has said she could not vote for Trump or Biden this fall. Rep. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who voted for Haley, told NBC News on Wednesday that she is not endorsing anyone.

Democrats did not do us a favor by putting in Joe Biden, said Mary Small, a former Maine Senate Republican leader who co-chaired Haleys leadership team there. If they put in a moderate centrist, Id be supporting a Democrat for the first time in my life. But I cant support Biden.

Still, anti-Trump operatives are picking apart primary voter patterns to see who can be convinced to vote for Biden in November. Primary Pivot, a super PAC that spent over $700,000 encouraging Democrats and independents in nine states to vote for Haley to protest Trump, has already rebranded in her absence as Haley Voters For Biden. Robert Schwartz, the groups co-founder, said the PAC will now focus its outreach efforts in Michigan, North Carolina and Georgia heading into the general election.



Anyone looking to convert Haley voters has a pretty clear picture of where to start. The former U.N ambassador won just two dozen counties across all primary contests, although her best performances also tended to be in densely populated areas.

Those counties shared other key characteristics: In every single one of them, at least 40 percent of adults have a bachelors degree, a rate higher than the national average. Many of the counties represent exactly the kind of affluent suburbs that shifted heavily toward Democrats since 2016. In Virginia, for example, Albemarle County, which surrounds Charlottesville, swung 7 points towards Biden in 2020. Haley won it by more than 11 points on Tuesday.

Trumps super PAC sought to frame overall GOP primary turnout as a rejection of Biden. "We anticipate a broad range of voters to turnout for President Trump's landslide victory in November, said Alex Pfeiffer, communications director for MAGA Inc., the pro-Trump super PAC. And Republicans skeptical of Trumps weaknesses have argued Haleys best performances were largely a product of open primaries, where independent and even Democratic-leaning voters crossed over to vote against Trump. Some of those voters likely did boost Haley in states like Vermont.

But those independent and Democratic-leaning voters become more important in a general election  not less. And Trumps weak performance in these suburban and highly educated counties spells trouble for him in November.

In Tennessee, where state law says only bona fide party members can vote in party primaries, Haley performed best in the Nashville area, clearing 30 percent of the vote in Davidson and Williamson counties, more than 10 points ahead of her statewide vote share.

Exit polls also showed other general election warning signs for Trump. In both North Carolina and Virginia, the former presidents support was weakest among women, whom he also struggled with in 2020.

Republicans need to win back those independent moms, those suburban moms, those younger voters, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a prominent Republican critic of Trump who had backed Haley, told POLITICO ahead of her exit from the race.

Theyre just not going to do it with Trump as the standard-bearer, he said.
Republican presidential primary voters showed a split between greater Minnesota and the metro in their votes Tuesday.

Donald Trump is all but certain to become the Republican nominee, but in Minnesota, the places where former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley had a strong showing in the Republican primary show where Trump might run into trouble this fall. Haley pitched herself squarely at suburban voters, independents and moderate Republicans turned off by Trump. She got more than 97,000 votes  nearly 29% of the GOP primary vote  and performed best in the metro.

"It's no surprise that Nikki Haley did well in areas where Republicans have been struggling," said Amy Koch, a former Republican state senator who served as majority leader. "We've shed a lot of suburban districts. Yet we've picked up in greater Minnesota."

"Haley was definitely a metro candidate," said Steven Schier, Carleton College political science professor emeritus. But there are not nearly as many suburban moderate Republicans as there once were, he said  just as there are fewer Democrats in greater Minnesota. For highly educated suburban moderates who did not like Trump in 2016 and 2020, his presence at the top of the ticket might be a barrier for Republicans down-ballot, even if they are more moderate themselves.

"It's not at all clear that you can separate yourself from Trump and some of the unpleasant aspects of Trump in the suburbs and central cities in order to survive," Schier said.

But that's what Republicans will try to do to win state House races this fall, said House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring.

Demuth said she thinks Republicans can gain ground and unify disparate factions if they stay focused on Minnesota issues, especially the sweeping Democratic policies enacted during the 2023 legislative session, which Republicans have blasted as overreach.

"We are really going to work to pull all corners of our party together and do that outreach to independents and Democrats who are ready to look at what happened to our state and restore the balance," Demuth sad.

"When you really are at the doors, people want to know about state issues," said Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, who served as Minnesota chair to Haley's campaign. She thinks voters will separate local races and issues from the presidential election.

Trump's coattails helped Minnesota Republicans in 2016, Koch said, but, "in '18, '20 and '22 he was absolutely a drag. What we've seen in Minnesota was the [DFL] trifecta as a result of that."

"In some districts he will be very helpful," Koch said, especially for contests of DFL-held seats on the Iron Range and in western Minnesota. But Trump may not help to win back suburban districts, Koch said.

Yet higher turnout for the Republican primary felt like good news for the GOP, Koch said.

"I'd be feeling a lot better in the Trump camp than the Biden camp," she said. "It's not a slam dunk by any means but it's definitely momentum on Trump's side right now, and that will absolutely affect down-ballot."

Demuth agreed. "I am pretty encouraged by the strong turnout for the Republican side."

But Koch said she wonders what people who voted for Haley in the primary will do in November.

"Do they come home? Do they not?" she asked.

Trump will need those voters to have any hope of winning Minnesota, which has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1972. And Republicans trying to take back the House wonder how voters in the suburbs will react in swing districts in the outer reaches of the Twin Cities.

"There's a lot of volatility here. There are a lot of people who are resisting the choice," between Trump and Biden, Schier said. "That does add an element of unpredictability to this."

If a better-known third-party candidate such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. qualifies for the general election ballot, Schier said, that becomes another level of unpredictability.

"I'm not putting any money down anywhere," he said.
After dodging questions for months about who he planned to endorse in the 2024 race for president, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin went public with his support for the presumptive Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump.

He made the announcement on X, formerly Twitter, Wednesday evening after Nikki Haley announced her plan to suspend her campaign and left Trump as the last remaining active candidate in the race for the Republican nomination.

"Voters in the Commonwealth and across the country have spoken loudly for President Donald J. Trump," Youngkin said in the post. "It's time to unite around strong leadership and policies that grow our great nation, not four more years of President Biden."

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin posted his endorsement for former President Donald Trump on X, formerly Twitter, Wednesday night.

Trump won the Virginia primary on Tuesday with 63% of the Republican vote to Haley's 35%. Youngkin had said that he would ultimately back the Republican on the 2024 ballot, which appears likely to be Trump.

Backlash from Democrats

Backlash from Virginia Democrats has been swift.

City of Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney called Youngkin's endorsement of Trump a "slap in the face" in a post on X. Stoney announced his plan in December to run for governor in 2025.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney responded to Youngkin's endorsement with disapproval, also in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

"When people show you who they are, believe themthe first time. Donald Trumps presidency was a disaster; he refused to concede the [2020] election, incited an insurrection, and is under 91 indictments," said Virginia Senate Democratic Chair Mamie Locke in a post on X.

Virginia Senate Democratic Chair Mamie Locke issued a rebuke to Gov. Glenn Youngkin's endorsement of Trump.

The Democratic Party of Virginia called Youngkin's endorsement of Trump a "decision that he will live with for the rest of his life."

"To see Glenn Youngkin endorse a man who called the Nazis that came to our very own Charlottesville very fine people is more proof of his lack of political courage and leadership ability," Susan Swecker, chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia, said in an emailed statement. "Leaders stand up to whats wrong, they speak out, they do what is right for the people, they dont sell out for their own future. What is so sad is that a man who cares deeply about his legacy now knows when they write the story of his life, every one will begin with these words: what the hell was he thinking?"

Youngkin, was rumored to have been exploring a 2024 presidential run before Republicans lost the Virginia House of Delegates and failed to take back the Senate in November, in what was seen as a referendum on his administration. According to Virginia statute, governors cannot serve two consecutive terms.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin puts his support behind Trump
Irish actor Cillian Murphy seems to be in the running for the role of the next James Bond, which was previously Daniel Craig. In Hollywood, it is rumored that the creators of the franchise are so impressed with his success and performance in Oppenheimer that they are ready to offer him to become a 007 agent.

ADVERTISIMENT

According to The Sun, the film community agrees that Murphy's role in the latest film even surpasses his success in Peaky Blinders which made the actor a world-famous figure. It is the movie about the creator of the deadly weapon that can bring the star an Oscar, which will increase his chances of starring in the new James Bond.

With this choice of the main character, the Bond filmmakers seem to be trying to warm up the audience's attention, as the popularity of 007 stories has fallen after the last films.

"Cillian is at the height of his popularity in Hollywood right now, and this would be his starring role. It's a way to elevate the Bond franchise with an actor who is at the top of his game," an insider told the newspaper.

ADVERTISIMENT

Producer Barbara Broccoli, according to him, has been closely watching Cillian Murphy for the past year, wondering if he could successfully embody James Bond.

It is worth noting that earlier there were rumors in the film community about the desire of Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan to make one of the next Bond films. He denied these assumptions, but if they were not unfounded, Murphy's choice for the lead role would seem quite logical.

We would like to remind you that the shooting of the next movie will start no earlier than 2025, so the authors of the film still have time to choose.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
A ceasefire in Gaza could help get food supplies in for Palestinian civilians and bring Israeli hostages out

A Hamas delegation has left talks in Cairo without a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza, but the armed group says indirect negotiations with Israel are not over.

It had been hoped that a 40-day truce could be in place for the start of the Islamic month of Ramadan next week.

With more signs of a famine looming, international pressure has only grown.

But Egyptian and Qatari mediators have struggled to seal a deal that would see Hamas free Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Israel did not send a delegation to Cairo, saying it first wanted a list of the surviving hostages who could be released under the agreement.

Hamas said Israel did not accept its demands for displaced Palestinians to be able to return to their homes nor a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gazan cities.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 30,800 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

A Hamas statement said its delegation left Cairo on Thursday morning "for consultation with the leadership of the movement, with negotiations and efforts continuing".

Later, a Palestinian official familiar with the talks told the BBC: "The movement informed the brothers in Egypt and Qatar that it is open to negotiation to stop the aggression against our people."

The delegation had "presented the minimum required by the Palestinians to stop the war, which is the return of the displaced, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, and allowing humanitarian aid and reconstruction", they added.

Egyptian state-affiliated TV channel al-Qahera cited a senior source as saying that the negotiations would resume next week.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told reporters that he could not comment on the status of the talks.

But he said: "Needless to say, Israel will do whatever it takes to release our hostages. We've made very, very clear - and this has been reiterated by the US - that, unfortunately, it is Hamas who is the stumbling block right now by not telling us who is alive and who they have in their custody."

The US ambassador to Israel meanwhile stressed that it was a mistake to think that the negotiations were over.

"There are still conversations going on. There's still back and forth. The differences are being narrowed," Jack Lew said at a conference in Tel Aviv.

"Everyone's looking towards Ramadan, which is coming close. I can't tell you that it will be successful, but it is not yet the case that it is broken down."

Hostages' families and other Israelis have been putting pressure on Israel's government to agree a deal with Hamas

On Wednesday, the US state department said it believed the obstacles raised were "not insurmountable and a deal can be reached".

The proposed agreement would reportedly see 40 Israeli hostages released in exchange for about 10 times as many Palestinian prisoners being freed from Israeli jails.

More than 130 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas. Israeli officials have said that at least 30 of them are dead.

Over the course of a proposed 40-day truce, there would be a surge in desperately needed aid entering into Gaza.

During a week-long ceasefire in late November, 105 hostages - most of them women and children - were freed in return for some 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Without a new deal, there is a higher threat of a further spread of tensions during Ramadan, which this year is due to begin on Sunday or Monday, depending on the lunar calendar.

In another statement on Thursday, Hamas again called on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank to go to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem - Islam's third holiest site - during Ramadan to increase pressure on Israel to end the war.

The site - which is also the holiest place in Judaism, known as the Temple Mount - has often been a flashpoint for violence in the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech on Thursday that Israelis "must close ranks" and resist pressure to end the military's campaign in Gaza to eliminate Hamas.

He also reiterated that troops would eventually launch an assault on the southern city of Rafah, where an estimated 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.

"Whoever tells us not to act in Rafah is telling us to lose the war and that will not happen," Mr Netanyahu said, describing the city as "Hamas's last stronghold".

Meanwhile, amid reports of further deaths in Gaza from starvation, the UK and the US are pressing Israel to increase the flow of aid.

President Joe Biden is set to announce that the US military will construct a port in Gaza to get more humanitarian aid into the territory by sea, senior US officials say - but this is likely to take "a number of weeks" and the 7th Transportation Brigade's military ships have not yet left the US.

On Thursday the US and Jordanian militaries carried out another joint airdrop of 38,000 meals over northern Gaza, where the UN estimates that 300,000 people are facing catastrophic levels of hunger and children are dying of malnutrition and dehydration.

However, the World Food Programme warned that airdrops were "not an option for averting famine" among so many people and urged Israel to allow it to use the Israeli port of Ashdod to deliver aid to the north.

Israel blamed the UN for aid distribution problems. It said 11 private sector aid lorries entered the north overnight and insisted there was "no limit to the amount and movement of aid to northern Gaza".
An all-hands effort is underway to help ranchers who have been devastated by historic blazes that swept the Texas Panhandle last week.

Lee Wells, a rancher in the North Dallas area who spoke to Fox News Digital, said he felt compelled to help, having experienced a tragedy of his own.

A truck hauling feed from East Texas to the Panhandle.

"I started watching these news reports come in last week  and then we hit a million acres of devastation. I mean, I couldnt just sit around and do nothing," Wells said.

Wells, whose own ranch was burned in a fire several years ago, told Fox News Digital he understood the panic, the feeling of "now what?"

Aerial view of wildfires in Texas U.S., February 27, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media.

Flames from the Smokehouse Creek wildfire burn across grassland south of Canadian, Texas, U.S. February 28, 2024.

"And so all that just came back to me when I started watching these reports and seeing these pictures, seeing these cattle laid up against the fence. It just hit me hard," Wells said.

Bales of hay on flatbed trucks headed for the Texas Panhandle.

Wells took to Facebook last Friday asking for donations that would be transferred through his own 501(c)(3), leewellsofficial.com, to help the ranchers. The following day he reached out to the general manager of Northeast Texas Farmers Co-op, a grain mill in Sulphur Springs, which made a multi-purpose protein feed for horses, cows, goats, and sheep.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Within less than a week, Wells shipped 56 tons of the multi-purpose grain out to ranchers in the Texas Panhandle. He plans to ship another 50 tons next week and another 50 tons the week after that.

Multiple trucks carrying bales of hay are headed for the Texas Panhandle.

"I asked the mill manager, are you sure you can keep this up? He said, you worry about finding the funds. Well worry about how were going to get this made. You just keep going," Wells said. He noted that he's spent more than a dozen hours on the phone each day coordinating the relief, and urged anyone who can donate or help to do so.

The Rancher Navy is another de-centralized organization coordinating donations to help the ranchers. Co-founder and co-director Morgan Broome told Fox News Digital the group has trucked in nearly 40,000 bales of hay for the cattle.

"The response from the community across the country has been unbelievable. We have three semi-trucks departing out of Kentucky, Kansas, Montana, Colorado, California, and Idaho. Almost every state in the country has been sending trucks in to donate to these ranchers," Broome said.

She noted that the livestock that is left in the burned areas "has no access to feed or forage whatsoever and they will likely not be able to grow those fields back for another year."

"And so those cattle need to be fed through that duration of time," she said. "So we need to keep those ranchers and those producers feeding those cattle and keeping supporting the beef industry across the country."

STATE IN BRAZIL'S AMAZON RAINFOREST REPORTS OVER 2,000 WILDFIRES IN PAST MONTH

Officials estimate upwards of 600 structures have been destroyed in the wildfires that have burned across rural areas in Amarillo.

Those wildfires include the Smokehouse Creek fire, which is the largest wildfire in Texas history. The fire, which has burned some 1,700 square miles and spilled into neighboring Oklahoma, was about 44% contained as of Wednesday.

A Texas fire chief whose small town was among the hardest hit last week by historic blazes sweeping across the Panhandle died Tuesday while fighting a house fire, authorities said.

Although officials have not released an official cause of the Smokehouse Creek fire, a lawsuit filed Friday alleges a downed powerline near the town of Stinnett on Feb. 26 sparked the blaze.





Original article source: All hands effort underway to help ranchers devastated by Texas Panhandle wildfires
This embedded content is not available in your region.

A movie set weapons handler who loaded a gun for actor Alec Baldwin before it fired and killed a cinematographer has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found not guilty of a second charge - tampering with evidence over the 2021 shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust.

The 26-year-old faces up to 18 months in jail. She will be sentenced later.

Mr Baldwin, 65, also faces a manslaughter trial in July.

Ms Hutchins, 42, was killed after a gun Mr Baldwin used in a rehearsal fired a live round on the set of the Western in New Mexico.

Mr Baldwin could not have foreseen that there was a live round on set because the "safety, maintenance and care of the firearm and the ammunition" was the responsibility of the armourer, Misty Marris told CNN.

Jurors deliberated for three hours before returning Wednesday's verdict.

Gutierrez-Reed remained expressionless as she learned her fate.

As she was led away by two officers she told her weeping mother, "It'll be OK," according to Reuters.

Ms Hutchins' parents and her sister said they were "satisfied" with the verdict.

Halyna Hutchins was killed while on set in 2021

Their statement added: "We look forward to the justice system continuing to make sure that everyone else who is responsible for Halyna's death is required to face the legal consequences for their actions."

"It means that someone has been held legally criminally culpable for the death of Halyna Hutchins," Misty Marris told CNN.

She said Mr Baldwin would argue that "it was not foreseeable that there was a real bullet in that gun".

Prosecutors said Gutierrez-Reed had failed to ensure the weapon was only loaded with dummy rounds - fake bullets used to look and sound like real ones.

"This case is about constant, never-ending safety failures that resulted in the death of a human being," prosecutor Kari T Morrissey said during closing arguments on Wednesday.

Gutierrez-Reed was "negligent", "careless" and "thoughtless" when she failed to notice that live bullets had mixed with dummy rounds in a box of ammunition on set, Ms Morrissey told the jurors.

One of those bullets was in the firearm that was used by Mr Baldwin, prosecutors said.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Prosecutors also presented evidence that Gutierrez-Reed had brought a box of live bullets to the New Mexico film set from her California home. They said these live rounds slowly spread throughout the set over the course of 12 days.

Ms Morrissey said she believed the armourer did not intend to bring live rounds to the set, but rather that Ms Hutchins' death was a case of tragic negligence.

The prosecutor added that Gutierrez-Reed was more "worried about her career" and less about the victims in the aftermath of the shooting.

Gutierrez-Reed did not testify in the two-week trial, but her lawyer said in closing arguments that prosecutors had failed to prove his client was the sole person responsible for the fatal shooting.

"The [ammunition] boxes don't matter, because we don't know what was in them three or four days before," her lawyer, Jason Bowles told the jury, arguing his client did not know that there were real bullets on set.

Mr Bowles also blamed Mr Baldwin, arguing that he had "gone off-script" when he pointed the gun at film crew.

"It was not in the script for Mr Baldwin to point the weapon," he said. "She didn't know that Mr Baldwin was going to do what he did."

He vowed to file an appeal.

Trial witnesses included the film's director, Joel Souza, who was also shot in the incident but survived.

Mr Souza said he remembered looking up at Gutierrez-Reed after he was shot, and hearing her repeatedly say: "I'm sorry, Joel."

The jury was also shown emotional and distressing footage of the aftermath of the shooting, when the Colt .45 revolver held by Mr Baldwin went off.

It included a video that appeared to show Ms Hutchins' final moments, with paramedics frantically trying to save her life.

Gutierrez-Reed was also found not guilty of evidence tampering stemming from accusations that she attempted to dispose of a small bag of narcotics after the shooting.

Last year, the movie's cast and crew finished filming in tribute to Ms Hutchins, with her husband serving as an executive producer.
The Wider Image: What happens to the coins tossed into Rome's Trevi Fountain?

The Wider Image: What happens to the coins tossed into Rome's Trevi Fountain?

By Guglielmo Mangiapane

ROME (Reuters) - As visitors' coins splash into Rome's majestic Trevi Fountain carrying wishes for love, good health or a return to the Eternal City, they provide practical help to people the tourists will never meet.

For hundreds of years, when in Rome, visitors have flocked to the fountain to make a wish, following a storied ritual. Few gave their coins a second thought.

Today, coins pile up for several days before they are fished out and taken to the Rome division of the worldwide Catholic charity Caritas, which counts the bucketfuls of change and uses them to fund a food bank, soup kitchen and welfare projects.

In 2022 Caritas collected 1.4 million euros ($1.52 million) from the fountain and it expects to have gathered even more in 2023. Rome is one of the world's most visited cities with 21 million tourists.

Extracting the coins is a spectacle and involves workers from regional utility ACEA balancing on the edge of the vast Baroque fountain, using long brooms and suction hoses.

The coins are then given to Caritas, where they are dried with hairdryers and cutlery dryers and sorted and counted.

Signs around the fountain explain that the change will go to charity - a thought that pleases many of the tourists posing by the landmark.

"I wanted to make a wish which is dear to my heart," said Yula Cole from Brazil after throwing in a coin. "But I also know that this coin is not just staying there but will help needy people. I made a wish but hopefully this money will help other people's wishes too."

Day and night, throngs of people crowd around the fountain posing for photos. Legend says that if you throw a coin by the right hand over the left shoulder into the fountain, you will return to Rome. People eagerly add their own personal wishes.

"I am tossing a coin as they say if you toss a coin you come back to Rome and also because I want to make the wish to find love," said Carola from Chile.

The Trevi Fountain, completed in 1762, covers one side of Palazzo Poli in central Rome with its statues of Tritons guiding the shell chariot of the god Oceanus, illustrating the theme of the taming of the waters.

It is where Italian film director Federico Fellini set one of the most famous scenes in cinema in "La Dolce Vita", with Anita Ekberg wading into the fountain after midnight and beckoning Marcello Mastroianni to join her.

Wading into its waters today is forbidden and tourists face fines if they do.

COIN SORTING

Twice a week, up to four workers collect the coins, said Francesco Prisco, a manager at ACEA. The fountain is drained for cleaning twice a month.

"The collection and cleaning operations are carried out as quickly as possible to try to reduce the downtime of the fountain," he said.

After the coins have been swept into a long line by a long-reach broom, they are sucked up by hoses and taken to Caritas' office, where employee Fabrizio Marchioni spreads them across a huge table for drying.

Not just coins are fished from the fountain. Workers have removed jewellery, dentures, religious medals, even umbilical cords.

Signs by the fountain warn not to steal the coins.

Over the decades the coins have been targeted, sometimes with magnets attached to a pole.

Close to Rome's main station is Caritas' supermarket, known as the Emporium, which allocates food to needy residents who can purchase it with tokens on a card.

"I was a blacksmith but then I lost my position and my arthritis does not help in finding a new job. Luckily there are places like this Emporium," said a man who gave his name only as Domenico.

Another man, Luigi, explained: "I was a builder and also the owner of a video surveillance system company before I lost my job. Places like this Emporium give concrete help."

Back at the fountain, the coins stack up.

"I got told that if I toss in two coins my wishes will come true. So that's why I did it," said Chinese tourist Yuting.

(Reporting by Guglielmo Mangiapane, Alvise Armellini; Writing by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
HARBOR SPRINGS  The Harbor Springs City Council discussed both the citys marketing plan and the Redevelopment Ready Communities process during Mondays meeting.

The Redevelopment Ready Community (RRC) is a statewide certification program based on helping communities prepare for development and become economically competitive.

Harbor Springs City Hall is located at 160 Zoll St.

The certification program, which is operated by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), allows the community to help create a straightforward development review process and help determine the best sites for certain developments.

Harbor Springs City Manager Victor Sinadinoski gave a presentation about the RRC program during Mondays meeting and spoke about the citys progress in becoming part of the initiative.

A lot of people, rightfully so, get a little concerned with the word redevelopment and development, and a lot of the images people think of is overdevelopment  big buildings, someone coming to the city and tearing things down and putting new stuff up, Sinadinoski said. In the planning and zoning world, development is much more simple than that. It really means a change of use or an addition or expansion of structure on your property.

Redevelopment could be anything from a home being rebuilt, a vacant commercial building being renovated, or a property owner changing the use of their site, for example.

Its a constant reality. Development and redevelopment is always happening, Sinadinoski said.

In the presentation, Sinadinoski highlighted nearby local communities that are RRC certified, including Charlevoix, Petoskey, Boyne City and Traverse City. There are more than 200 cities in the state that are engaged in the RRC, and 68 that are certified.

Sinadinoski said the city is involved to help bring in best use developments to the community and to be proactive instead of reactive. The city has been involved in the RRC program since 2019, though paused in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The city reengaged with the program in 2021.

In May 2023, the city received funding for reworking the zoning code.

In the presentation, Sinadinoski highlighted the different areas in which the city is aligned with the plan, where its partially aligned and where it is not aligned.

He said the city is probably another year out from reaching certification, but just by being in the process the city is eligible for MEDC grant money. Sinadinoski said the grant money does come with specific instructions, but that the city looks to get grant expectations and requirements sent before the city spends time on a grant application that the city would ultimately reject.

We ask for those agreements before we apply for a grant if they have them available, Sinadinoski said. So we know what the agreement is going to say before we determine whether or not its going to be worth us applying for the grant.

During public comment, residents discussed their concerns about being involved in the program. Multiple residents said they want to see more communication from the city about the RRC program. Other residents spoke about their disinterest in being compared to other cities  such as Charlevoix and Petoskey  and want to keep Harbor Springs as it is.

In the public comment portion, council and Sinadinoski did answer a few questions posed. Parks and Recreation board chair Dana Mulder asked if the council would be comfortable saying no to things recommended to add through the RRC, to which Mayor Matt Bugera said yes.

"I don't have a problem with it," he said. "If it doesn't fit Harbor Springs, it shouldn't be there."

Subscribe: Get unlimited access to our local coverage

Along with the RRCs discussion, the city showed off the Strategic Marketing Plan, developed by Parks and Recreation director Rachel Roon.

The marketing plan highlighted local and regional stakeholders, branding consistencies for the city, as well as community assets.

Roon said that she worked with someone from the MEDC to develop the plan, and while the plan is less than 10 pages long, the comments they gave back to the city were that the plan was simple but it fits.

She said the marketing plan is an example of how the RRC works with communities to keep things working for their own communities.

 Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Harbor Springs council updated on Redevelopment Ready Community partnership
Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.



Super Tuesday wasn't super seismic. President Joe Biden won all 15 contested states and former President Donald Trump won all but Vermont, where Nikki Haley prevailed. The domination of the current and former presidents, including in Minnesota, makes it all but certain that one will earn a second term from voters in November.

Although there weren't any political earthquakes, there were tremors that may be felt in the general election. Biden and Trump would be wise to study them closely.

Nationally, Haley's victory in Vermont and solid showing in more densely populated areas reveal real vulnerability for Trump with more moderate voters, particularly in the suburbs  voters who Trump will need to not only win but govern more cohesively and less chaotically than his shambolic first term. Haley withdrew from the race on Wednesday, but she stopped short of endorsing the presumptive GOP nominee, stating that "It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party who did not support him, and I hope he does." This, she added, "is now his time for choosing."

Typically, Trump chose to respond caustically, posting among other social media non-sequiturs that "Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion." Biden, conversely, set a more stately, strategic tone in a statement that invited Haley supporters to back him, acknowledging that while much separates the two candidates, "on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America's adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground."

That savvier response reflected a political skill Biden desperately needs  especially among his own party and particularly in Minnesota, where he did not find common ground with nearly 30% of primary voters. But second place didn't go to U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, who based much of his now-ended quixotic campaign on Biden's electoral vulnerabilities. Rather, the No. 2 spot went to "uncommitted," with 45,913, or almost 19%, of the Democratic primary vote. That surpassed the nearly 13% of Michigan voters who voted similarly in that critical swing state's recent primary.

Minnesota was likely already in play for the general election, and not just because scores of primary voters were unwilling to commit to the incumbent president. About 38% more Republicans voted in Tuesday's primary, suggesting an enthusiasm gap (a gulf, really) that may play out in November. And if it does, it could even impact a more popular Democrat, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, as well as the DFL's slim House majority in St. Paul, which would end the party's trifecta of House, Senate and gubernatorial control.

Although voting behavior is almost always multifactorial, the main motivation for the "uncommitted" movement is the Biden administration's policy on the Israel-Hamas war, which has killed more than 30,000 Gazans, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israelis.

"We've had enough of seeing broken bodies of Palestinian children every time we open our phones, and today we are showing [Biden] that Minnesota is on the side of justice and humanity," Asma Mohammed, an organizer of the campaign to vote "uncommitted," told the Star Tribune. Even DFL Gov. Tim Walz, who is solidly committed to Biden, acknowledged that "these are voters that are deeply concerned, as we all are. The situation in Gaza is intolerable."

While Biden's Mideast diplomacy is somewhat contingent on cooperation on a potential cease-fire from Hamas, which has rightly been designated a terrorist group by the U.S., European Union and some other countries, the president must more effectively leverage America's enduring support of Israel. Some of this must be done through diplomatic channels, but the president must be bolder publicly and should use the ultimate presidential bully pulpit on Thursday when he delivers his State of the Union address.

It's positive that action, not apathy, propelled so many to go to the polls and vote "uncommitted" to try to spur a reversal of a situation Walz rightly calls "intolerable." Indeed, it's essential that those uncommitted not become uninvolved, for the sake of saving lives through a just, durable peace in the Mideast.

Yet these voters, as well as many others who may have stayed home in protest, should weigh carefully whether this and other causes would be better served with another Trump term, or whether the aftershock of such a seismic event would mean even more dire outcomes.
Thursday marks day four of Harrison Fords 2024 visit to Wichita, and if he follows his normal pattern, he should be jetting off in his Cessna Citation Sovereign any time now.

But before he goes, Ford has  per usual  been taking advantage of Wichitas restaurant scene, and a couple of more reports about where hes eaten have trickled in.

To review: Ford arrived in Kansas around 5:45 p.m. on Sunday, landing  according to the website CelebrityPrivateJetTracker.com  at the Anthony Municipal Airport, about 60 miles southwest of Wichita.

On Monday morning, he had breakfast at what has become over the past five years his most regular Wichita haunt: the HomeGrown breakfast and brunch restaurant at 645 E. Douglas  just off of Naftzger Park. Monday night, he was spotted enjoying a steak and a nice bottle of wine at Scotch & Sirloin, Mike Issas fine-dining steakhouse at 5325 E. Kellogg.

He was back at HomeGrown Tuesday morning, where he was noticed by a group of men from Oklahoma passing through town on their way to Minnesota. They picked up the stars breakfast tab.

Thanks to Eagle-eyed Wichitans, a couple of Fords next meal stops have been accounted for. On Tuesday night, Ford enjoyed dinner at Lotte  Chef Josh Rathbuns new restaurant at 320 S. Market.

Ford seemed to have a great time, Rathbun said, noting that he ordered a simple salad and the suckling pig. We tried to give him his space and let him enjoy his meal. He was very nice and treated our staff very well.

Though we can assume that Ford the foodie dined somewhere on Wednesday, so far, we havent been able to ascertain where.

But on Thursday morning, after a one-day break, he was back at the downtown HomeGrown for breakfast, sitting with a male companion in a booth just inside the door, according to an eyewitness.

Manager Brian Donnelly said he was at a meeting and missed seeing Ford on Thursday, but his manager confirmed he was there.

It was a very incognito visit, Donnelly said. He was in and out.

One other detail to share: A former employee at FlightSafety International in Wichita emailed The Eagle to say that Ford does not, as most people believe, come to Wichita to get his jet serviced. He could do that at a number of different service centers around the country.

What Ford really comes to do is meet with the instructors at FlightSafety, whose Cessna Learning Center is at 1951 Airport Road. These are the pilots who Ford trusts and who have helped train him to fly the various Citation jets hes owned over the years. Theyre the pilots who help keep him flying safely at age 81, the source said.

If you happen to spot Ford before he leaves Wichita  or if you happened to have seen him out and about on Wednesday  let us know. You can email dneil@wichitaeagle.com and share any after-the-fact photos or stories you get.

Harrison Ford ends his Wichita visit, leaving on a jet plane that  oddly  isnt his

This Wichita churchs big fundraising dinner features German sausage and lots of it

A Wichita restaurant that left the west side in 2020 is about to return  with some tweaks
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are looking to bolster their communications team, as well as their profile - Getty Images/Andrew Chin

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, have hired a UK-based public relations executive to bolster their team, The Telegraph understands.

The new hire will handle UK and European media and report to the couples communications team based in the US.

It marks the first time the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have felt the need to have a UK-based employee since moving abroad in 2020.

But the move is thought to reflect the teams growing workload as the couple increase their profiles and independent ventures, as well as the huge international attention they command both professionally and personally.

The new member of the PR team will join ahead of the launch of a new commercial venture that the Duchess has been working on for many months.

The initiative, which had been billed as a lifestyle and wellness brand, had been expected to launch last autumn, but was delayed as it evolved and took different shapes.

Speculation is rife that it will be a version of Goop, Gwyneth Paltrows multimillion-dollar lifestyle business, but aides insist that is not the case.

They say the venture is highly personal and genuine to who she is.

Primary focus in longer term

The venture is likely to expand over time. If successful, it is thought likely to become the Duchesss primary focus in the longer term.

Meanwhile, the couples five-year Netflix deal is due to expire at the end of 2025, with a contract renewal looking increasingly unlikely.

However, their Archewell Productions arm has various projects in production, including rom-coms and documentaries.

Their adaptation of Carley Fortunes romantic novel, Meet Me at the Lake, is now thought to have been assigned a writer. Netflix confirmed last month that they were also working on a scripted series.

The Sussexes will be under pressure to secure a ratings hit to justify their reputed $100 million payday.

A previous commercial venture came to an end last summer when Spotify, the audio streaming giant, prematurely ended its lucrative deal amid reports of disappointing audiences.

As they gear up for the next phase of their working lives, the Duchess, in particular, is maintaining a relatively high profile.

The couple spent three days in Whistler, Canada, last month as they marked the one-year-countdown to the Invictus Games 2025,

The Duchess allowed photographs of herself enjoying a perfect ski trip with friends in Utah to appear on social media, while the Duke made a whistlestop dash to the UK to spend 30 minutes with his father, the King, following his cancer diagnosis.

The couple also launched a new sussex.com website as they aim to separate their personal endeavours from their charity work and think longer term.

The Sussexes have recently launched their new sussex.com website - Mike Segar/REUTERS

On Thursday, it was announced that the Duchess had joined forces with actress Geena Davis to raise awareness about the ways mothers are depicted on television

The Duchess said a new report highlighted the gaps we need to fill to achieve true representation in the content we create and consume.

She said her experiences as an actress, a producer and mother had amplified her belief in supporting mothers both behind the lens and in front of it.

A study funded by the couples Archewell Foundation found that portrayals of mothers on television did not always reflect reality. It concluded that change was needed in order to shift public attitudes and policy.

The campaign is being led by Moms First, a long time partner of Archewell, and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.

On Friday, the Duchess is to join a panel discussion at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas, titled Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen. The Duchess will speak alongside Katie Couric and Brooke Shields.

The event, which runs from March 8-16, will focus on social media creating an often dangerous environment which has led to serious mental health issues for teenage girls in particular.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
President Joe Biden cruised to victory in Hawaiis presidential caucus on Wednesday, receiving 66% of the vote with 99% reporting. However, just over 1,500 residents cast ballots, and uncommitted received 29.1% of the vote, the highest percentage in any statewide contest thus far.

While Hawaii Democrats acknowledged that Biden would almost certainly win the partys nomination, the select handful of voters who took to the polls described the contest as a referendum.

The choices? Stand with the incumbent president or send a message to his administration for its foreign policy in the Middle East, where it grapples with an armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups. This distinction emerged as a central theme within a liberal coalition primarily opposed to Trump.

More: Super Tuesday results: How did 'uncommitted' perform on ballots across the country?

According to Barbara Altemus, a 74-year-old filmmaker and writer from Kailua, voting uncommitted was an easy choice.

I didnt want to be part of the system. But I have to be because I live here, and I have to do something, Altemus told USA Today. Im not agreeing with Hamas. I dont believe in violence. But if you look at the violence, neither side is right. I hope that Biden and the Democratic Party wake up to this.

For some, the choice wasnt so easy. Just ask Anya Budinsky, a 43-year-old restaurant manager from Kaneohe.

It was kind of a last-minute decision, to be honest. I checked the Biden box and then was like, Should I have put uncommitted? Budinsky said.

Voters gather at James B. Castle High School in Kaneohe to vote in Hawaii's Democratic Presidential Caucuses.

The same was true for Natalia Hussey-Burdick, a 34-year-old state lawmaker representing Hawaiis 50th House District who ultimately voted for Joe Biden.

Of course, I considered (voting uncommitted). And of course, I support people making whatever choice they think is best, Hussey-Burdick said. Youre basically voting for how you want delegates to represent our state at the Democratic National Convention. So I think even voting uncommitted doesnt mean they cant vote for Joe Biden; it just means the delegates get to make the decision at that time.

For others, the choice was more straightforward. Brandon Young, a 39-year-old sales associate and advocate for people with disabilities, felt confident in his vote for Biden.

I know that the current president lacks vigor and enthusiasm, but I think, at his core, hes a good man. And I think he also has good people around him that hes willing to trust, Young said. I think he will continue to keep pushing for ideologies such as womens rights, (rights for) people with disabilities, and creating a safe place for migrants.

More: President Biden faces pivotal 2024 State of the Union, chance to reset race against Trump

One thing that virtually every Democratic voter had in common, however, was their disdain for former President Donald Trump.

100% (Ill vote for Biden), Budinsky said. I think it would get worse if Trump were re-elected. I think he would encourage Israel to be more aggressive toward Palestine.

This upcoming election is going to decide whether we support our democratic values or if were going to allow a tyrannical madman to change our country for the rest of time, Young said.

Altemus told USA Today that she would likely vote for Biden in the general election if his administration could negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. However, she hasnt ruled out voting for a third party.

I cant support Trump. I feel like not voting at all. But I cant do that, because I know thats a vote for Trump, Altemus said.

Jeremy Yurow is a politics reporting fellow based in Hawaii for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach him at JYurow@gannett.com or on X @JeremyYurow

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Hawaii Democratic caucus favored Biden but 'uncommitted' votes surged
The Senate on Thursday passed a bill seeking to expand health benefits for Americans who live in areas contaminated by nuclear radiation from the Manhattan project, part of a months-long quest by Sen. Josh Hawley to get aid for constituents in the St. Louis area.

In a speech that began by quoting Abraham Lincoln, Hawley painted the legislation as a moral obligation that the government owed to the people who were exposed to the nuclear weapons that helped win World War II.

This isnt about a handout, Hawley said. This isnt about some kind of welfare program. This is about doing basic justice by the working people of this nation, who their own government has poisoned.

The bill passed the Senate 69-30. It expands a 1990 law, set to expire in June, that provides a one-time payment for uranium miners, people who worked on nuclear weapons tests and people who lived downwind of nuclear tests in Nevada if they became ill because of their exposure to radiation. Hawleys version allows people from Missouri, Kentucky, Alaska and Tennessee to gain access to the program over the next six years.

While it has the support of President Joe Biden, the bill will face a tough road in the House, where a narrow Republican majority is looking to cut government spending, not expand it. The bill is anticipated to cost around $50 billion.

Were just not looking to raise our deficits and debts any further than they already are, said Rep. Ann Wagner, a St. Louis County Republican. So there needs to be a legit pay-for on this.

It would be the second time that the bill has hit a roadblock in the House. Hawley managed to secure an earlier version of the bill, which expanded the benefits for 19 years, included more illnesses and cost around $150 billion, into the Senates version of the National Defense Authorization Act.

But there was no companion in the House and it was stripped out of the final version of the bill by House and Senate leadership.

Wagner said shes supportive of helping the people who were exposed to radioactive material used to make nuclear bombs for the Manhattan Project in St. Louis County in the 1940s, where nuclear waste spilled into Coldwater Creek. But she said House Republicans had problems with the first bill  specifically that it cost around $150 billion and did not have any designated way to help pay for the cost.

While Wagner said Hawley has not reached out to her directly about the new version of the bill, she said she told advocates like Dawn Chapman, who co-founded Just Moms STL, that the bill needed to be narrower in scope, needed to pass as stand-alone legislation and it needed to have a smaller price tag.

The new legislation does most of what Wagner was suggesting, but it doesnt contain a measure to help shoulder the high cost. The last time Congress renewed the program, in 2022, it only cost $50 million, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Government, a conservative think tank that opposes government spending.

The RECA program has never had a standalone pay-for in the statute ever, Hawley said. It doesnt now and were not going to amend it to have one.

Hawley said he plans to keep pressing for the legislation to pass and that hes spoken to House Speaker Mike Johnson about the bill.

On Thursday night, as President Joe Biden stands behind the House Dias to give the State of the Union address, Chapman will be in the audience as Hawleys guest.

This will be the fourth time weve been to D.C. in six months and well keep doing it, Chapman said Monday. Well start selling T shirts, well have bake sales well do what we need until this program is passed and expanded.
British Princess Anne, daughter of the late Elizabeth II, arrived in Dubai to attend a planned event in a dress that was seen on her almost 50 years ago. The blue outfit, in which the British woman shone at the age of 26, emphasized her beauty even now.

ADVERTISIMENT

Princess Anne traveled to the United Arab Emirates as the president of the Mission for Seafarers, Hello magazine writes. Prior to that, the 73-year-old representative of the British royal family visited Sri Lanka.

In Dubai, Princess Anne stayed at the Queen Elizabeth 2 hotel. The paparazzi caught her on the street wearing a pleated aquamarine dress decorated with a collar and buttons. She threw on a blazer of the same shade on top.

The princess complemented the look with a cream clutch and wore her hair in her signature bun. According to media reports, she was seen wearing the same dress 46 years ago, when in 1978 the 26-year-old princess wore it during the state visit of the President of Botswana to London.

ADVERTISIMENT

It is noteworthy that in 2023, the daughter of Elizabeth II also went out in this dress.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote that Princess Anne had not changed her signature style for 40 years. However, before that, she impressed her subjects with long hair and bright outfits, for which she was called "Rapunzel".

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
(CASTLE ROCK, Colo.)  South Metro Fire Rescue (SMFR) said a hazmat incident in the early morning of Thursday, March 7 is causing delays on I-25 near Castle Rock.

SMFR posted to social media at around 6:15 a.m. on Thursday that two lanes of northbound I-25 were blocked between Happy Canyon Road and Castle Rock Parkway.

Courtesy: South Metro Fire Rescue

SMFR said there were no injuries at the time, and advises drivers to use alternate routes and expect delays.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
Clemens Fuest, President of the ifo Institute, gives a press conference. Wide-ranging strikes hitting Germany's state-owned rail network and flag carrier Lufthansa are having a significant impact on the country's ailing economy, the head of the highly regarded ifo economic institute said on 7 March. Kay Nietfeld/dpa

Wide-ranging strikes hitting Germany's state-owned rail network and flag carrier Lufthansa are having a significant impact on the country's ailing economy, the head of the highly regarded ifo economic institute said on Thursday.

Speaking on national public television broadcaster ZDF, ifo President Clemens Fuest described the strikes as "an additional burden that [Germany] could well do without."

German train drivers launched a 35-hour pay strike on Thursday, and Lufthansa ground staff began a two-day strike at the same time.

"The economy is shrinking, and when something like this comes along in addition, parts are lacking in production processes, because they were not delivered, or people can't attend meetings, or perhaps can't go to work," Fuest said.

The German rail network and air transport were systemically important. "For that reason we must consider whether all of this is still proportionate," Fuest said.

The ifo head proposed stricter rules for strikes, such as longer notice periods.

The wage conflicts should also be seen against the backdrop of a weak economy, he said. "The cake is becoming smaller. What we are able to share is becoming smaller, and then conflict increases," he said. "It's much easier to make concessions in a growing economy."

But Fuest added: "It has to be said that the unions in Germany are on the whole extremely sensible." He contrasted this with France where there had been up to five times as many strike days as in Germany over the past decade.
Hampton is considering a wastewater fee increase that would see the average customers bill increase by almost $11 a month.

Public Works Director Jason Mitchell recommended the City Council increase the fee to accommodate mandated infrastructure improvements, including pipe repairs, as part of the next city budget. The majority of Hamptons wastewater system is over 65 years old, according to Mitchell. By 2040, 33% of the citys wastewater system will be 100.

The wastewater systems age means many of the citys pipes need repairs because of cracks and other damage. City spokesperson Robin McCormick said based on 2022 cost estimates, Hampton will need to spend $106 million in capital projects by 2030 and another $124 million by 2040.

Discussion about the possible wastewater fee increase came last week as the City Council held a lengthy work session at the Hampton Roads Convention Center to discuss the budget and gauge this years priorities.

Currently, the wastewater fee is $1.92 per 100 cubic feet and the surcharge fee is $0.94 per $100 cubic feet. Because home usage in the city averages about 668 cubic feet or 5,000 gallons, Hampton estimates the average combined monthly wastewater bill is roughly $19.

The proposal is to increase the wastewater fee to $2.38 for fiscal year 2025 (a 46-cent increase) and the wastewater surcharge fee to $2.12 (a $1.18 increase). Based on the average home usage of 668 cubic feet per month, this would result in a monthly bill of around $30.

While the wastewater rate wont be finalized until later this year, most of the council indicated support for the proposed increase.

Hampton Roads localities have been operating under a regional effort to meet goals for improving water quality. McCormick said the city has been operating under a memorandum of agreement that is enforced by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

The localities serve customers by collecting wastewater and moving it through pipes and pump stations to the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, which operates extensive pipe systems and treatment plants.

These agreements have been in place since FY14, and Hampton has invested $19.5 million in related projects since then, according to McCormick.

Hamptons memorandum of agreement with the sanitation district and the state established priorities for work that needs to be done by 2030 and 2040. McCormick explained that because construction costs have increased tremendously, all the older cities have to spend significantly more money on rehabbing pipes while also facing increased costs just to operate utility systems.

She said the state mandates are all for good reason  the health of the public and the health of our waterways, but noted they are very expensive.

Josh Janney, joshua.janney@virginiamedia.com
President Joe Biden is set to deliver his State of the Union speech at 8 p.m. Thursday. And several guests from Wisconsin will be there to watch the annual address in-person.

It's a tradition for lawmakers to invite guests who reflect issues that are important to them. The White House also invites guests to sit with the first lady, and the Speaker of the House can invite additional guests, too.

Wisconsin's Democratic members of Congress have announced who they've invited; Republican members haven't announced if they've invited anyone.

Here's a look at the Wisconsin guests who will be at the State of the Union Thursday night:

Rashawn Spivey, owner of Hero Plumbing, introduces President Joe Biden at the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce on Dec. 20, 2023, in Milwaukee.

Hero Plumbing owner Rashawn Spivey

Rashawn Spivey, the owner of Hero Plumbing in Milwaukee, will sit in the first lady's viewing box. Spivey was also part of the president's visit to Milwaukee in December, riding with Biden in the motorcade and introducing him onstage at the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce.

While in Milwaukee, Biden visited Spivey's business, where Spivey showed how he replaces lead pipes. His invitation reflects the administration's goal to "replace every lead pipe in America in the next decade," the White House said in a release.

The White House says Spivey and his team have replaced more than 825 toxic lead pipes, primarily at local day care centers. Milwaukee has replaced 6,400 lead service lines since 2017, out of about 70,000 lines.

More: New rule would require Wisconsin to replace all lead pipes by 2037

Daniel Thompson, Waukesha Police chief

Waukesha Police Chief Daniel Thompson

Waukesha Police Chief Daniel Thompson was invited by Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin to attend the address. According to a release, Baldwin and Thompson will be "highlighting their work to combat the opioid and fentanyl epidemic."

"In the battle against the opioid epidemic, it requires leaders and stakeholders to unite and declare 'enough is enough.' I take pride and am humbly honored to represent the brave and dedicated members of Wisconsin law enforcement, who tirelessly confront this crisis daily, Thompson said.

Baldwin and Thompson wrote an op-ed together that published Wednesday in the Journal Sentinel and said they'll be "representing all of those who lost their lives to this epidemic, representing their loved ones, and representing those helping fight this crisis."

In a joint call with reporters, Thompson said of attending the address: "In all my years, I got to do some really neat things, but this is way up there."

Last year, Baldwin invited David Hovde, a Type 2 diabetic and Medicare recipient from Appleton, to the address. Hovde, who died in May 2023, was a cousin of Eric Hovde, who's now Baldwin's main Republican challenger as she runs for a third term.

Tanya Atkinson, president of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin, speaks at a rally in response to the Supreme Court's 6-3 decision to overturn the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion in the U.S. on June 24, 2022, at Humboldt Park in Milwaukee

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin President Tanya Atkinson

Tanya Atkinson, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, was invited by Democratic U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, whose district includes the Milwaukee area.

"As reproductive health care and womens right to control their own bodies continues to be under threat in Wisconsin and nationwide, Tanyas presence will serve as a powerful reminder of the importance of protecting a womans right to make her own health care decisions," Moore said in a release.

Planned Parenthood clinics have resumed abortion services in Wisconsin, though the state Supreme Court could take up a lower court's ruling that made abortions legal again in Wisconsin. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has asked the court to "recognize a constitutional right to bodily autonomy, including abortion."

More: Affiliated Medical Services abortion clinic on Milwaukee's east side to reopen in March

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler speaks before President Joe Biden during Laborfest at the Summerfest grounds in Milwaukee on Monday, Sept. 5, 2022.

Rep. Mark Pocan invites AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler

While not a Wisconsin guest, Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan announced he's inviting Liz Shuler, the president of the AFL-CIO. In a statement, Shuler called Pocan "a champion for working people."

With Liz at the AFL-CIO and President Biden in the White House, workers have their strongest champions in years. In three years, President Biden has prioritized American workers, bringing them to the table when moving legislation forward and strengthening workers rights," Pocan said.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Who are the Wisconsin guests at the State of the Union speech tonight?
(KRON)  The 100-year-old movie palace known as The Alexandria officially announced its plans of turning the historic site into a 76-unit residence. Much of the building on the corner of 18th Avenue and Geary Boulevard in San Francisco will also be affordable housing, announced San Francisco District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan on Wednesday.

Kosher bakery in Oakland sells for just $1

Over the past two decades, multiple efforts have been made to develop the space. The San Francisco Planning Department even approved a plan for a community housing site in 2021, but due to the pandemic, it never materialized.

In January, Chan got The Alexandria property approved as a historic site with SFs Historic Preservation Commission. Although preserving the site can complicate future development plans, it will also preserve the propertys Egyptian-inspired architectural style.

I want to thank our Richmond District neighbors for their patience and trust in our work on developing the Alexandria Theatre and preserving its history, said Chan. We now can take this monumental step to build the housing that is much needed in Richmond and turn a new page to remembering our history.

The Alexandria Theatre first opened in November 1923. Its original 2,000-seat interior was converted to a three-screen multi-plex in 1976, and it continued until it was shut down in 2004. The theater was one of San Franciscos last remaining historic neighborhood movie palaces, which were known for its bright lights and elaborate architectural designs.

The Richmond deserves more housing while having a piece of its history persevered, said Chan, who has represented the Richmond District since 2021. We still have more work ahead of us to get to the finish line, and I am committed to continue supporting this process until we get this done.

The San Francisco City Attorneys Office will draft the development agreement, which will be facilitated by the San Francisco Planning Department. TimeSpace Alexandria, LLC has already created a design concept for housing that would preserve the theaters historic features and build 76 units, including on-site affordable housing.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
A spread from LIFE Magazine featuring Chessen on the left. Credit - Stan WaymanThe LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

On Thursday night, Kate Cox is set to sit in the Presidents box as a guest of First Lady Dr. Jill Biden at the State of the Union Address. Her presence reflects the importance of abortion as a political and electoral issue, as well as her willingness to speak up for access to medical care.

The 31-year-old mother of two could have stayed quiet and anonymous after learning her fetus had the highly fatal trisomy 18 and doctors warned her that her pregnancy threatened her life and future ability to have children. Cox could have traveled from her native Texaswhere abortion is bannedto another state for the abortion that she needed, with no one but those closest to her knowing about it. However, Cox desired to have the medical procedure at home with her own doctor and family nearby, so she sued Texas for the right to terminate her pregnancy. She aimed to force the courts to define when an abortion is medically necessary, even if only in her case. The resulting uproar catapulted Coxs nonviable pregnancy into the national spotlight.

Coxs story echoes the 1962 case of Sherri Chessen (she was known publicly by her husbands name, Finkbine), whose abortion drew national and international scrutiny. Looking at the two cases side by side exposes the cruelty of abortion bans, then and now, and reveals how any claim that they protect mothers and children is a guise based on no applicable medical truth.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, doctors across the world routinely prescribed thalidomide to pregnant women in attempts to ease nausea. Unbeknownst to anyone taking or prescribing the new drug, however, thalidomide often caused fetal anomalies when consumed during pregnancy and resulted in the death of around 40% of babies affected.

In 1962, Chessen, a mother of four, was pregnant for the fifth time, and consumed thalidomide regularly during the early weeks of her pregnancy, unaware of its impact on her growing fetus.

Read More: Court Says Texas Can Ban Certain Emergency Abortions. What That Means

In her 11th week of pregnancy, Chessen learned about the dangers of the drug. In consultation with her OB-GYN, she sought a therapeutic abortiona procedure that she never expected to needat Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix. She also spoke to the press anonymously to warn other women about thalidomide. But the press coverage ignited public outrage over the fact that Chessen planned to obtain an abortion, prompting the local newspaper to reveal her identity.

The story drew the attention of Maricopa County Attorney Charles N. Ronan, who said that under Arizona law an abortion could only be administered to save the life of the mother. Without learning the facts of the case, Ronan threatened to prosecute anyone who helped Chessen obtain an abortion. He claimed his office would have no choice if someone filed a complaint against her or her doctor since this was, in his words, a medical question, not a legal question.

Ronans statements had a chilling effect. Good Samaritan Hospital would not greenlight the procedure without immunity, despite Chessen signing a consent form agreeing that the abortion was necessary for the protection of [Chessens] life and well-being. At the time, doctors had little idea when prosecutors and courts would accept their judgment that a womans life was endangered, and when they would reject it. So the hospital sued on behalf of itself, Chessen, and her husband, Robert Finkbine, in an attempt to force the courts to define life.

Sherri Chessen, her husband Robert Finkbine, and their four children, Tracy, Mark, Terri, and Steven, shortly after the thalidomide crisis of 1962. Courtesy of Miss Sherri, LLC

But a judge refused to offer criteria for defining when a womans life was at riskinstead claiming the definition of life was up to the doctorsand he dismissed the case. Despite the judge saying the matter was for doctors to decide, when reporters asked Ronan if he would prosecute the hospital, doctors, or Chessen if she received an abortion, he answeredwith a sly grin on his facewell have to cross that bridge when we come to it. Ronans convoluted and confusing answers created doubts in the minds of Chessens doctors, and they refused to perform the abortion for fear of both legal and social ramifications.

Even worse, vigorous news coverage of the situation shattered Chessens privacy. Newspaper headlines ranged from details about her pregnancy (Pill May Cost Woman Her Baby) to analysis of Chessens appearance and mental state (Anguished Mother of 4 Awaits Operation Ruling). One newspaper article shared Chessens home address, and her family began receiving hate mail and death threats, prompting a subsequent headline about Chessens plans (Finkbines Slip into Seclusion).

The courts refusal to intervene and the hospitals unwillingness to permit the procedure forced Chessen to travel 5,000 miles to Stockholm, where, after a series of evaluations and weeks of waiting, she was finally able to get the legal healthcare she needed. Subsequently, she had two more daughters (one of whom, Kristin Atwell Ford, contributed to this essay).

Coxs case featured many similarities to Chessens. Her doctor, too, thought an abortion was the appropriate medical care given the condition of her fetus and concerns about the risks of infection or uterine rupture. And this convinced Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble that Coxs pregnancy put her life, health, and fertility at risk. But as with Ronan, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton immediately struck back, writing in a letter that the judge was not medically qualified to make this determination. He claimed that Coxs doctor did not show all of the elements necessary to fall within an exception to Texas abortion laws. Paxton also warned of prosecution against Coxs doctors and their hospitals, writing that the judges order will not insulate you, or anyone else from civil and criminal liability, which could include prison time and hefty fines.

Read More: What to Know About the Texas Woman Who Sued the State to Get an Abortion

Like the judge and prosecutor in Chessens case, Paxton clung to the claim that the decision as to whether an abortion was necessary should be left to doctorseven as he refused to defer to Coxs doctors judgment. Paxton also would not offer clarity on when a womans life was sufficiently at risk under the law to justify an abortion. This forced Cox to travel to New Mexico for an abortion. Before doing so, however, she rhetorically wondered, Why should I or any other woman have to drive or fly hundreds of miles to do what we feel is best for ourselves and our families, to determine our own futures?

Anti-abortion-rights forces claim that abortion bans aim to protect the wellbeing of mothers and families. But the long, tortured processes that confronted Chessen and Cox after finding out that an abortion was medically necessary reveal that those claims are false. The point of abortion bans is to make it harder for anyone to obtain terminations, including when there are fatal fetal anomalies or when the life of the mother is at stake. Even pundit Ann Coulter, a conservative abortion opponent, argued that the decision not to allow Cox to terminate her pregnancy lacked compassion.

Sherri Chessen Finkbine, 60, reflecting having been a pariah after having her thalidomide-damaged fetus aborted in Sweden 30 years before, rather than illegally in the US. Kim KomenichGetty Images

The two cases also showed that stereotypes about abortion patients, as well as the outrage directed at Chessen and Cox, miss something fundamental. Both Chessen and Cox were mothers who wanted to have more children and were trying to safeguard their ability to do so. Chessen hoped to have six kids. She was concerned about her ability to care for her four living children and her future children. Arizonas abortion ban, and the power arbitrarily exercised by Ronan, prevented her from having a procedure she desperately needed, and made an already agonizing ordeal even worse.

Cox also emphasized how her abortion was about protecting not only her health, but her ability to grow her family, We want to be able to have more babies. We want to give siblings to our kids. She also was shocked that the state was willing to put [her] own health at risk and a future pregnancy at risk.

Now 91, Chessen still vividly remembers the death threats and public shaming she received for speaking up about her abortion. Still defiant decades after the threat of prosecution derailed her medical care, Chessen declares, Sixty years later and [Cox] has to go through exactly what I went through? Somebodys not listening, somebodys not learning. Chessen acknowledges how the trauma of the state blocking her abortion still haunts her: It will never go away. Never, never, never. And no one should be put through that kind of torture.

Saniya Lee Ghanoui is an assistant professor of history at the University of Texas at El Paso. Kristin Atwell Ford is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker. Ghanoui and Atwell are producing a documentary about the impact of Sherri Chessens story on abortion laws, drug safety, and fetal health.

Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Learn more about Made by History at TIME here. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors.

Write to Made by History at madebyhistory@time.com.
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said Thursday that he would not vote for former President Trump in the upcoming presidential election this November.

At an Axios event, Hogan said he would vote for neither Trump nor President Biden and would instead seek out a third-party candidate.

Look, Im like 70 percent of the rest of the people in America who do not want Joe Biden or Donald Trump to be president, and Im hoping that there potentially is another alternative, said Hogan, who recently launched his own bid for U.S. Senate in Maryland.

He added that I dont know yet who that candidate will be.

Hogan, a frequent Trump critic, backed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haleys bid for president, but she announced Wednesday that she was ending her campaign.

As former chair of No Labels, the centrist political group focused on launching a third-party run, Hogan was seen as a possibility to lead the groups ticket. No Labels has been trying to secure ballot access in states ahead of the 2024 election but has not said which candidates would be leading the split-party ticket.

Hogan noted Thursday that No Labels had encouraged him to join the presidential ticket, but, he said, I made that decision not to do it.

I just didnt want to be a spoiler, and I didnt know if you could really get to 270, he said of his reasoning, referencing the delegate threshold required to secure a presidential victory in the Electoral College. I do believe that theres more of a demand for this than ever before, but I dont know if its enough to win the election.

Hogan said he hopes a third-party option will emerge so people can have some ability to vote for someone that people will actually want to vote for, rather than just voting against.

Ive said I wouldnt vote for Trump or Biden. And Im hoping that theres another alternative, but I dont know who thats going to be at this point, he reiterated.

Hogan last year said he would support the Republican nominee for president, but he said at the time he did not think Trump would be that candidate.

Yeah, I just dont think [Trump will] be the nominee, but Ill support the nominee, Hogan said at the time.

Hogan soon after walked back the comments in a social media post, writing, To be clear, my position on Trump hasnt changed. Trump wont commit to supporting the Republican nominee, and I wont commit to supporting him.

At the event Thursday, Hogan also sharply criticized Trump for saying immigrants were poisoning the blood of our country and touted his own states diversity.

Its a terrible, outrageous statement, Hogan said when asked about the comment.

Maryland is the most diverse state in America, he said. I was proud to have spent a lot of time in all of the communities and listening to everyone and trying to be a governor that represented everybody. I think thats why I was rewarded by the voters and why they wanted to keep me there.

Trumps rhetoric is terrible for the people in our state, and thats why he lost by more than 30 points twice and why I won by, you know, a lot more, he added.

Updated at 11:22 a.m. ET

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY)  Eight-year-old Landyn Davis was inside his home playing video games when a stray bullet hit him.

Hes an innocent child; 8-year-old boy in coma after being shot in the head in Virginia Beach home

A close family friend said doctors are using a wheelchair to help strengthen his muscles.

He opens his eyes on and off throughout the day, but not for too long and usually not very wide, she told 10 On Your Side. We still dont know if he can walk or talk. We are still hopeful every day, and we will never give up on him, and he still needs justice.

As he continues to recover in the hospital, one of Holland Elementary Schools third-grade classrooms is missing one of its bright students.

He is so giving, said Landyns teacher, Anna Fisher. He will give the shirt off of his back to another student in the morning. Breakfast is kind of a situation. They all come in with different breakfasts. Landyn is always the first person to speak up, say, Hey, does anybody not like their yogurt this morning? Ill switch you.

The Holland community wanted to show support for his family by raising money to help with medical bills and any other costs.

We all came together just to bless this family and provide them with as much support as we could, said Holland Elementary principal Dr. Callie Richardson.

This time, it was at Buffalo Wild Wings. The wing spot donated 10% of dine-in and takeout bills that presented a special ticket.

Just get a large number of our supporters and our community members together as a physical show of support so that the family knows that were behind them, said Holland Elementary assistant principal Christine McCune, not only helping to raise finances for them, but also just to be there, present together, thinking about our kiddo, who we love so dearly.

Fisher said the outpouring of support shows just how special the 8-year-old is.

The fact that the community, theyre going out of their way and theyre showing all their love and support and giving and just being there for him, Fisher said, it shows who he is as a student and just how he is as a person. He a beam of sunshine.

If you didnt make it to the fundraiser, the Holland Elementary PTA president said they are planning more.

Lynnhaven Panera Bread will hold a fundraiser from 4 p.m. until closing on March 15. The restaurant will donate 25 percent of sales to Landyns fund.

Holland Walk-a-Thon at the elementary school is on March 20. Students will walk laps during their physical education block to raise money.

On March 23, there will be a Motorcycle Ride at the Oceanfront at noon.

The Lynnhaven Chiptole is donating 25% of sales to Landyns fund. You can visit from 5 to 9 p.m.

You can also donate directly to the familys GoFundMe.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
NEW YORK  For eight years, Lai Yee Chen worked 24-hour shifts, up to five days a week, as a home care aide for bed-bound seniors in New York City. She cooked, cleaned, changed diapers and turned her patients at least every two hours to prevent bedsores.

Chen, 69, has since retired, but she still jolts awake at night, as if shes still on call.

The 24-hour workday is inhumane. Its violence against workers, she said in Cantonese.

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times

Chen has now joined a push among New York City home care workers to ban 24-hour work shifts through a bill being introduced in the City Council this week.

New Yorks population of older adults is surging. The number of home aides who care for them has more than doubled in the last decade, surpassing half a million statewide as of 2022, with most of the growth in New York City. And the field is expected to keep growing. Nationally, there are more new jobs expected in home care over the next decade than in any other occupation, said Kezia Scales, the vice president of research and evaluation at PHI, a national research and advocacy group for direct-care workers.

Making the job more humane is critical to keeping up with the increased need: It will help attract people to the job and make it sustainable, workers and advocates say.

We have a massive aging population, but were decreasing the number of people who want to take care of them, said Christopher Marte, a council member representing lower Manhattan who is expected on Thursday to introduce the bill to end the 24-hour shifts. This work is killing them.

Home care aides are allowed to work 24-hour shifts because of a long-standing interpretation of state law that assumes they should only be paid for up to 13 hours of the day. Industry regulations are premised on the idea that workers get three hours of meal time and eight hours of sleep, including five hours of uninterrupted rest.

But that is rarely, if ever, the case in practice, because of the all-hours nature of the job, workers and labor groups said.

How can they sleep eight hours? asked Vincent Cao, an organizer at the Chinese Staff and Workers Association, which supports banning 24-hour shifts. Are they going to leave the patient to die?

Opponents of the bill say that banning the all-day shifts is misguided. The cost to provide round-the-clock care for a patient would balloon under such a ban, said Al Cardillo, the president and CEO of the Home Care Association of New York State, which represents health care agencies and insurance companies. And it could force home care agencies, which are supported by state and federal funding, to spend more per patient, potentially creating gaps in coverage for the neediest residents.

Replacing 24-hour shifts with two 12-hour shifts  effectively doubling the total number of hours paid  could cost an additional $645 million a year in New York City, according to an analysis by 1199SEIU, a large union representing health care workers.

But groups in support of the ban say the burden shouldnt be borne by low-wage workers, many of whom are also aging and could need similar care.

No other industry since the pandemic has added more jobs to New York Citys economy than home health care. It also remains one of the lowest paying fields in the city, with an average salary of about $32,000, or close to minimum wage, according to James Parrott, the director of economic and fiscal policy at the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School.

Demographic shifts and a preference for in-home services are fueling the industrys growth. Between 2021 and 2040, while New York states overall population is expected to grow 3%, the number of people 65 and older is projected to grow 25%, and the 85-and-older population could jump nearly 75%, according to a City University of New York study.

In New York City, nearly 90% of home care workers are women. They are often immigrants, and tend to skew older, with more than half over 45 years old, Scales said. Almost 10% are 65 or older.

While it is unclear how many home care aides work 24-hour shifts, there were 17,780 New York City residents who received Medicaid-funded, live-in care in 2019, according to 1199SEIU.

After two years of unsuccessful lobbying, a group of health workers say they will go on a hunger strike in mid-March to pressure the city to abolish the practice.

They dont want others to live the lives they lived, Marte said.

A version of the City Council bill that sought to prohibit 24-hour shifts for home care aides and limit the number of hours they can work per week was introduced in 2022, but was never brought to a vote.

Rendy Desamours, a spokesperson for the City Council, said the effort was misdirected, because home health care is funded primarily through Medicaid, which is managed at the state level.

It has been counterproductive and harmful to mislead people into believing that this can be resolved at the city level, he said in a statement, adding that Adrienne Adams, the council speaker, planned to introduce a bill to urge the state Legislature to improve working conditions for home care workers.

A bill introduced late last year in the state Legislature, the Home Care Savings & Reinvestment Act, is also meant to help home care workers. It would cut out private insurance companies that manage the payment of Medicaid-funded services, which could save the state more than $1 billion a year, proponents say  money that could fund wage increases for workers. Critics say the savings are overstated.

Valeria Guerrero, 63, a former home care aide from Honduras who worked 24-hour shifts for over 20 years, said she averaged 3-4 hours of sleep a night. She blames her worsening diabetes on her poor sleep schedule.

At her last assignment in 2022, in a two-story house in the Bronx, she spent four days a week caring for an older woman with limited mobility who used an oxygen tank. When she wasnt preparing meals, taking the patient to the bathroom or adjusting medical equipment, Guerrero said, she would sleep on a sofa.

Feeling drowsy one morning, she fell down a flight of stairs and hurt her back and left ankle, she said. Unable to work after the injury and left with little savings, she now lives with her niece in the Bronx. She said she was paid $15 an hour for 12 hours of the day, despite regularly working more.

Now she is seeking payment for thousands of unlogged hours, according to NMASS, a worker organizing group that is helping with her claim. Based on a complaint she submitted to the State Department of Labor, she could be entitled to over $177,000 in unpaid wages and damages.

Guerrero hopes that a ban on 24-hour shifts could help other home health workers.

I spent most of my birthdays at work, she said in Spanish. You dont get to have a life.

c.2024 The New York Times Company
Hong Kong's appeal court lowered the bar for sedition convictions on Thursday in a ruling expected to affect ongoing trials of news outlets and the government's new national security law.

The sedition offence, formerly a little-used relic of Hong Kong's British colonial era, was dusted off as Beijing launched a crackdown on dissent in the financial hub following 2019's democracy protests.

It was used to convict radio DJ and democracy activist Tam Tak-chi in 2022 in the first sedition trial since the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China. He was sentenced to 40 months in jail for over 11 offences, including seven counts of "uttering seditious words".

Judges rejected Tam's appeal Thursday, ruling it was unnecessary to prove intention to incite violence to convict a defendant of sedition.

"Modern experiences show that seditious acts or activities endangering national security now take many diversified forms," they said in a written judgment.

"(To) effectively respond to seditious acts or activities endangering national security, seditious intention has to be broadly framed to encompass a myriad of situations."

Thursday's ruling will have binding effects on lower courts in similar cases, including the ongoing trials of two shuttered news outlets, Stand News and Apple Daily, for "seditious publications".

It will also serve as a judicial benchmark as the government drafts its own national security law -- which will co-exist alongside the law Beijing imposed in 2020 -- with a view to raise the penalty for sedition offences.

During the national security law's public consultation last month, authorities suggested expanding "seditious intention" to cover inducing disaffection against China's Communist leadership and socialist system, as well as Beijing's apparatuses in Hong Kong.

Thursday's decision also diverges from a ruling made in October by Britain's Privy Council -- a top authority in the common law world.

In a case related to the Sedition Act of Commonwealth member Trinidad and Tobago, the Privy Council decided that the "true interpretation" of sedition must have "an intention to incite violence or disorder".

Hong Kong High Court Chief Justice Jeremy Poon said Thursday the court "has reservations" on whether the Privy Council ruling is applicable.

"Seditious intention in any given criminal code must be interpreted by reference to the specific legal and social landscape in which it exists," he said.

Tam, who took part in Hong Kong's massive and at times violent democracy protests that kicked off in 2019, is also among a group of 47 activists accused of subversion in the city's largest national security case.

su/dhc/lb
On March 6, a New Mexico jury found gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez Reed guilty of the involuntary manslaughter of Ukrainian cameraman Galyna Hutchins. She was responsible for Alec Baldwin's gun, which led to the tragedy on the set of the movie Rust.

ADVERTISIMENT

According to Fox News, the jury deliberated for about three hours. After the verdict was read, Judge Mary Marlow Sommer ordered Gutierrez Reed to be taken into custody, where she will remain until sentencing.

The gunsmith faces up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. The trial of the American, which began on February 21, heard testimony from weapons experts, representatives of the FBI and Santa Fe County authorities, as well as members of the film crew who witnessed the fatal shooting.

ADVERTISIMENT

The prosecution was mainly based on Gutierrez Reed's behavior as a gunsmith, claiming that she did not do her job properly.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on the Israel-Hamas war for Thursday, March 7. For the latest news on the conflict in the Middle East, view our live updates file on the war for Friday, March 8.

Negotiators for Hamas left Cairo without a cease-fire deal Thursday, apparently ending hopes that a deal could be in place ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said Israel refuses to commit to and give guarantees regarding the cease-fire, the return of the displaced and withdrawal from the areas of its incursion. But he said the talks would resume next week. Ramadan will begin Sunday or Monday depending on the sighting of the moon.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, which did not send representatives to the latest round of talks. Israel first wants Hamas to provide detailed information on the hostages. Hamas said the captives are held by multiple groups and no accounting can take place until a cease-fire is in place.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his firm stand Thursday, speaking at a military officers school graduation. Netanyahu, in a translation from the Times of Israel, vowed to eliminate the murderous regime of Hamas, eliminate terrorists, destroy tunnels and pursue the perpetrators of the Oct. 7 attack while doing everything possible to liberate the more than 100 hostages believed to be held in Gaza.

Mourners attend a funeral for Israel Defense Forces Sgt. David Sassoon on March 7, 2024, in Netanya, Israel.

Developments:

 Muslims will be allowed entry to the Temple Mount during the first week of Ramadan in similar numbers to previous years, Netanyahu's office said. A weekly assessment of the security and safety aspects will determine access after that. Clashes between Muslims and Israelis at the Temple Mount's Al Aqsa mosque have been on the rise in recent years, and some Israeli lawmakers had called for restrictions.

 Tor Wennesland, the United Nations' special coordinator for Middle East peace, condemned Israel's plan to build more than 3,400 housing units in settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling the expansion "a driver of conflict.'' Israel said this week the project, which the U.S. opposes, is moving forward.

 World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit founded by Spanish chef Jose Andres to feed communities in crisis, said it provided 52,700 meals in northern Gaza on Thursday after having supplies airdropped by the Jordan air force. "The meals are heading to Palestinian families on the brink of famine,'' WCK said in a social media post.

 The Israeli military released video of its fighter jets attacking two Hezbollah military buildings in Lebanon. Israel has focused on Hezbollah outposts as part of a plan to allow evacuated Israelis to return to communities along the Lebanon border.

First fatalities from Houthi attacks: Commercial ships targeted

Biden to announce construction of Gaza port to receive aid

The U.S. military will build a temporary port on the Gaza coast to allow for the shipping of humanitarian aid that may help relieve the territory's food crisis, President Joe Biden will announce in tonight's State of the Union address, administration officials told reporters Thursday.

A pier on the Mediterranean coast that can handle large loads will be constructed in coordination with Israel and coalition partners, and it will take weeks to complete, the officials said.

The European Union has proposed shipping aid from member nation Cyprus, an island on the Mediterranean Sea about 230 miles from Gaza. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is scheduled Friday to inspect port installations from which the assistance could be sent if a sea route is established.

 Francesca Chambers

No militant attacks on US bases since airstrikes

There have been no attacks by Iranian-backed militants in Syria and Iraq on U.S. forces in the region in 32 days, Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Thursday. That period of calm followed U.S. airstrikes that attacked 85 sites associated with the militias. A drone attack by one of the militias killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan in January and spurred the U.S. response.

Since Israels war in Gaza began in October, there have been 173 attacks on bases housing U.S. troops in the Middle East, Kurilla said.

 Tom Vanden Brook

Crew of ship struck by Houthis evacuated; rebels blame US

India's navy evacuated Thursday the remaining 20 crew members and three guards of the cargo ship that was struck by a Houthi missile Wednesday, killing three, injuring four and setting the vessel on fire, Reuters reported. The survivors were sent to a hospital in in Djibouti.

Vietnam's Foreign Ministry called for a stop to the Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea after a Vietnamese national and two Filipinos were killed in the Yemen rebels' latest strike, the first one to cause fatalities.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for hitting the Liberian-owned True Confidence, which has no apparent connection to the Hamas-Israel conflict they're supposedly trying to end, but they blamed the U.S. nonetheless.

We hold America responsible for the repercussions of everything that happens, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam wrote online Thursday.

This image released by U.S. Central Command shows the fire aboard the bulk carrier True Confidence after a missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Gulf of Aden on March 6, 2024.

Cease-fire deal could have headlined State of Union address

President Joe Biden said last week that a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas could be in place in a matter of days  a political victory he desperately needed. Not only did the breakthrough fail to happen, but cease-fire negotiations also appear to have stalled, tensions are running high and conditions in Gaza have deteriorated. Israel had in essence agreed to a six-week pause in fighting in exchange for Hamas releasing up to 40 hostages, but Hamas declined the offer.

For Biden, the elusiveness of a truce deal and release of some of the hostages held by militants means he will deliver his State of the Union address Thursday without the benefit of a crucial political victory and a key talking point.

 Michael Collins

Biden sought cease-fire: Wanted political victory in Gaza in walkup to State of the Union

U.S. military conducts third aid airdrop

The U.S. military conducted its third airdrop of humanitarian aid into Gaza on Thursday, U.S. Central Command said. The parachute drops of meals began Saturday to alleviate a level of food insecurity that has become a crisis, according to the United Nations.

Thursday's joint operation involved U.S. Air Force and Jordanian C-130 aircraft and U.S. Army soldiers who specialize in aerial delivery of humanitarian assistance supplies. The drop included over 38,000 meals, "providing life-saving humanitarian assistance in Northern Gaza, to enable civilian access to critical aid," Central Command said in a statement.

The first of the ongoing drops included about 39,000 ready-to-eat meals. Altogether, the U.S. has dropped nearly 113,000 meals in Gaza, and more such deliveries are planned.

An administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Thursday that Israel has consented to the U.S. request to open a land crossing that would bring aid directly into ravaged northern Gaza, where an estimated 300,000 Palestinians are facing starvation. The official said truck deliveries are expected to begin in the coming week.

 Tom Vanden Brook and Francesca Chambers

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel Hamas war updates: Cease-fire hopes fade ahead of Ramadan
RADFORD, Va. (WFXR)  International Day, March 8, is a celebration of women around the world, a day when the focus is on investing in and empowering women across the globe.

Thats the message New Hope Girls wishes to emphasize with their new collection of bags they are releasing, some sold right here in Southwest Virginia. The nonprofit works to rescue girls in the Dominican Republic who are caught in abuse or exploitation by providing refuge and restoration through sales of the bags.

The new collection features fabrics made by artisans in Guatemala and used by women in the Dominican Republic to hand-sew the merchandise.

We created this entire Sisterhood collection around the idea that women coming together to lift our voices and make change is one of the most powerful and important things that we can do, said Caitlyn Scaggs, the social enterprise executive director for New Hope Girls.

The money raised will go toward paying for safe homes in the Dominican Republic for women and girls as young as two. Scaggs says the job teaches them skills and offers women and mothers work as well. She says the nonprofit serves as a way for people to help with a global issue.

Remarkable Women Campaign Winner: Caitlyn Scaggs

What I love is this allows everybody to give something. Whether youre shopping our bags, donating to our organization even following on social media  you join this important work of rescue and refuge and you contribute to a better world, Scaggs says.

Each bag has a picture of the woman who sewed the bag. The bags for this collection are named after women in the organization actively fighting to stop trafficking. Scaggs received a bag named after her as well.

These women are my friends. They are women that I love, these are children that Ive had the joy of hugging and dancing with and really its my joy to serve them and to invite others into this important work as well, Scaggs said.

Scaggs says a portion of the sales will also go toward a Guatemalan-based organization that also fights the exploitation of women.

New Hope Girls sell bags at Philanthropy Lynchburg a gift shop on Candlers Mountain Road in the Hill Hity and at Annie Kays in Blacksburg. You can also find the bags online here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
Twenty-four outpatient and 10 elective surgery appointments were rescheduled within a week

IT issues at the hospital last month meant 34 appointments had to be rescheduled, Jersey's Health Minister has said.

Deputy Tom Binet said a third party software update was the cause of the problem but could not confirm specific details.

Business continuity plans were implemented to maintain patient safety and services during the incident on Friday 23 February.

Mr Binet said work was being done to identify the "root cause of the problem".

He was responding to concerns raised in a letter by the Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel.

He said the software update that caused the incident was stopped from running on the Friday afternoon and that "resulted in an immediate improvement".

The letter said there were no reported incidents of patient harm.

Twenty-four outpatient and 10 elective surgery appointments were rescheduled by the following Thursday.

Deputy Binet said officers from Health and Community Services and are working with the third-party to examine a systems diagnostic data.

"I will share the results of the ongoing investigation, any mitigation plans and an analysis of the impact this incident had on patient care with the Panel at the earliest opportunity" he said.

Follow BBC Jersey on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.

More on this story

Related internet links
House blaze in northeast Charlotte the result of kitchen accident: CFD

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  An accidental kitchen fire at a home in northeast Charlotte caused more than $20,000 in damages Wednesday night, the Charlotte Fire Department confirmed on Thursday.

Fire crews responded to calls regarding the blaze before 11 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, at a home in the 5800 block of Hunters Crossing Lane in northeast Charlotte.

Thirty firefighters were able to control the blaze within 13 minutes. Two people were evaluated by EMS and the Red Cross was assisting.

MORE FROM QUEEN CITY NEWS

Local News

Investigators determined the fire was caused due to an accidental kitchen fire. The range was discovered to be on and ignited nearby combustible material.

Charlotte Fire said the fire caused roughly $22,000 in damages.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Michelle Teska and Ben McCullough will face each other in the District 55 Republican primary.

Two Republican candidates are vying to replace Rep. Scott Lipps in the Ohio House of Representatives.

Term limits prevent Lipps, a Franklin Republican, from running for reelection so there is an open seat for District 55, which encompasses the eastern part of Warren County, including Springboro. Lipps won the district in 2022 with 75% of the vote.

Who is Michelle Teska?

Lipps has thrown his support behind Michelle Teska, a Centerville resident. Teska went to the University of Dayton and worked in sales for Cox Media Group for 23 years, according to her campaign website.

Teska now runs Golden Heart Senior Care with her husband, which provides assisted living and other services throughout southern Ohio.

The Warren County Republican Party endorsed Teska. Her priorities include small business growth, anti-abortion and gun control policies and support for veterans.

Who is Ben McCullough?

Teska is running against Ben McCullough, a Franklin resident who has served in the U.S. Army Reserve for over 13 years, according to his campaign website.

McCullough said he has a bachelor's degree from Wittenberg University and a master's degree from Wright State University.

How to vote

The primary election is March 19. To check your voter registration or polling location, visit VoteOhio.gov. Early voting began on Feb. 21. You can vote early in person at the county board of elections office at 520 Justice Drive in Lebanon.

The USA TODAY Network Ohio election guide can be found here.

Erin Glynn is the watchdog reporter for Butler, Warren and Clermont counties through the Report For America program. The Enquirer needs local donors to help fund her grant-funded position. If you want to support Glynn's work, you can donate to her Report For America position at this website or email her editor Carl Weiser at cweiser@enquirer.com to find out how you can help fund her work.

Do you know something she should know? Send her a note at eglynn@enquirer.com and follow her on X at @ee_glynn.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Warren County Republicans vie to replace Rep. Scott Lipps
The Republican-led House on Thursday passed a bill requiring law enforcement to detain migrants who commit petty crime. The bill was named after Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student who was slain on a running trail last month, and whose chief murder suspect is an undocumented immigrant.

The move is Republicans latest attempt to turn Rileys murder into an immigration flashpoint. The 22-year-old college senior was killed in broad daylight while jogging on the University of Georgias campus, and Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old undocumented immigrant, is charged with her murder.

The bill targets migrants who commit burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting, for which Ibarra was issued a citation months before Rileys murder. Speaker Mike Johnson said the bill was in honor of all those who have been victimized by those whom the Biden administration has released into our country.

But there is little data to suggest that illegal immigration is connected to increased violent crime. In fact, the data show the opposite: a 2020 study released by the Department of Justice revealed U.S. citizens were more than twice as likely to commit violent crime than undocumented immigrants were. Other studies have reported similar findings.

Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler slammed House Republicans for exploiting Rileys death as a political stunt that attempted to label all immigrants as vicious and criminal based on the actions of one man.

Rather than approaching this tragic event in a thoughtful manner, Republicans appear to have just thrown together language from existing, unrelated bills that target and scapegoat immigrants to score cheap political points in an election year while doing nothing to address the situation at the border, Nadler said on the House floor.

Instead of coming together to express our sorrow for Lakens tragic loss, the majority appears to be exploiting her death for yet another partisan, political stunt.

On Wednesday, Rileys parents declined a far-right reps invitation to join him at the state of the union address. In a previous statement, they asked for privacy while they mourn.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
WASHINGTON  House lawmakers are trying to dial up the pressure on Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to advance additional aid to Ukraine and other foreign assistance, addressing what they describe as a national and global security threat.

But as aid to Ukraine and other American allies has stalled in Congress, a handful of House members have offered multiple alternatives with seemingly little consensus on which approach is best. Johnson has also kept his cards close to his chest about how he plans to address foreign aid, saying instead his focus is on government funding.

Its no secret that were in a period of gridlock, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., said at a press conference on Wednesday morning. This is literally U.S. domestic security and world peace on the line here.

Fitzpatrick, along with a small group of centrist Republicans and Democrats, have introduced an emergency spending deal that would provide military aid for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific. It would also tie the assistance to changes in immigration policy aimed at the crisis on the southern border.

Their proposal, Fitzpatrick and his centrist colleagues argue, is the only bill that has a chance of garnering the bipartisan support needed to pass in a fractured, slow-moving Congress.

The hope, Fitzpatrick said, is for the bill to be put on the House floor through the chamber's normal course of action. But the Pennsylvania lawmaker has threatened to use an archaic House procedure  called a discharge petition  to force a vote.

The discharge petition is intended to be a pressure point, as Fitzpatrick put it Wednesday, to goad leaders into putting Ukraine aid on the House floor. If a discharge petition earns 218 signatures  a majority of the House  it would expedite a bill even if leaders don't want a vote.

For such an effort to succeed would be akin to Johnson losing control of the House floor, despite being the lower chambers highest ranking official. But Fitzpatrick says he doesn't want to undermine Johnson's speakership, and his preference is for the legislation to go through the House's regular order.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., chats with reporters while arriving for a House Republican conference meeting on Capitol Hill on March, 6 2024 in Washington, DC.

Dueling efforts for Ukraine, foreign aid

Its also unclear whether the bipartisan proposal could pick up the 218 signatures necessary to put the bill on the floor. The legislation noticeably omits humanitarian assistance for Gaza in its portion of assistance for Israel, something an increasing number of Democrats have insisted be included in any foreign aid package.

I find the absence of humanitarian assistance to be quite frankly, cruel and offensive, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., told reporters.

Fitzpatrick and his centrist colleagues have promised to have an open amendment process for members to propose changes to their bill, such as including humanitarian assistance. McGovern, however, dismissed the process and said Fitzpatricks discharge petition would not allow for lawmakers to amend the bill.

Fitzpatrick, for his part, pushed back on McGoverns claim, saying that prior to the bill going up for a vote in the House, any successful amendments to it would be pre-baked into the final product.

McGovern has filed his own dueling discharge petition on behalf of House Democrats to serve as a vehicle for a much broader foreign aid bill. The push doesn't include the border and migrant policy changes that the Senate included in its bill last month.

Democrats have repeatedly called on Johnson to put the Senate's bipartisan bill up for a vote, but the speaker has refused to do so due to the lack of border and migrant provisions  despite rejecting another earlier proposal from the Senate that had exactly that.

McGovern has said the only absolutely certain way for foreign aid to see a vote on the House floor is for Johnson to schedule it himself. The Massachusetts Democrat called on Johnson to stop bringing garbage to the floor (and) stuff thats going nowhere.

Ranking member Jim McGovern, D-Mass., on the House Rules Committee speaks with staff during a hearing at the U.S. Capitol Building on February 05, 2024 in Washington, DC.

Republican chair says he can guarantee Congress will pass Ukraine aid

While both Republicans and Democrats eye backdoors for an overseas assistance spending agreement, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told reporters on Wednesday morning he thinks Johnson has committed to putting a foreign aid bill on the House floor after Congress finishes its work funding the government.

McCaul said he is working on his own package that would also include aid to Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific since all three threats are intertwined. He added he plans to include humanitarian assistance in his bill, which could entice Democrats to support it.

One of Ukraines most vocal supporters on Capitol Hill, McCaul said he could guarantee Congress will pass additional U.S. assistance for the embattled nation in the near future.

But its still unclear what any future package will entail and whether it will garner the support needed to clear the House.

If lawmakers calling for additional U.S. aid feel their hand is forced, Fitzpatrick said he was very confident he could collect the 218 signatures needed to force his bill to the floor.

Its an indefensible position if nothing else is coming to the floor to do nothing, he said.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chats with reporters while arriving for a House Republican conference meeting on Capitol Hill on March, 6 2024 in Washington, DC.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: House lawmakers pressure Mike Johnson to put up Ukraine aid for a vote
The House of Representatives has passed a $460 billion bill to fund part of the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2024.

As expected, more Democrats voted for the bill than Republicans, and it passed 339-85. The issue of how to fund the government has splintered the House GOPs razor-thin majority for much of this congressional term, with Republican hardliners pressuring their conference to drift toward significant spending cuts and conservative policy riders that the Democrats who control the White House and Senate have called nonstarters.

The 1,050-page bipartisan legislation is a package of six bills dealing with departments and agencies whose funding expires on Friday  Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); the Justice and Commerce Departments; Energy and Water Development; the Department of Interior; and Transportation and Housing.

ALABAMA SEN KATIE BRITT TO DELIVER REPUBLICAN RESPONSE TO BIDEN STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS: 'TRULY HONORED'

Speaker Mike Johnson averted a potential government shutdown by passing a $460 billion federal funding bill.

Funding tied to Congress six remaining bills, which include the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon, expires on March 22.

Fox News Digital first reported last month that House GOP leaders were planning to jettison an earlier promise to pass 12 individual spending bills, something conservatives rallied around. Sources who spoke with Fox News Digital at the time blamed the Senates inaction on the seven individual bills passed by the House, which included elements Democrats dismissed as "poison pills."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

BIDENS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS: BRET BAIER, MARTHA MACCALLUM TO LEAD FOX NEWS CHANNEL'S SPECIAL COVERAGE

Confronted with the broken promise during his weekly press conference on Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson countered that change was incremental in Washington and pointed out that splitting the 12 bills into at least two packages ended the Democrat-backed tradition of folding them all into a massive "omnibus" spending bill, which has been the case since 2018.

"We committed to do 12 separate appropriations bills... the reason that it's been so difficult to do it is because Washington has no muscle memory on how to do that," Johnson said.

Johnson had to negotiate a bipartisan spending agreement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

"It takes a long time to turn an aircraft carrier, and we're doing that gradually. We're forcing reforms, trying to force Congress back into the mode, the statutory mode, the lawful mode, and the way in which it's supposed to work with regard to government funding."

But GOP hardliners are still unhappy with the bill, arguing Johnson did not fight hard enough for conservative policy reforms and steeper spending cuts.

CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS STRIKE SHORT-TERM DEAL TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

The House Freedom Caucus insisted, without elaborating, that it was still an "omnibus" spending bill.

"Despite giving Democrats higher spending levels, the omnibus text released so far punts on nearly every single Republican policy priority. Worst of all, the omnibus surrenders Republicans leverage to force radical Democrats to the table to truly secure the southern border and end the purposeful, dangerous mass release of illegal aliens into the United States," the group said.

Democrats, meanwhile, were jubilant that the bill did not include right-wing measures on abortion access, transgender care and critical race theory, among others.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., touted the lack of conservative policy victories in the final deal.

"I am very proud to say we successfully defeated the vast majority of the extreme cuts and hundreds of harmful policy riders proposed by House Republicans," Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said before the final vote.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where its expected to pass, before hitting President Bidens desk.





Original article source: House passes $460 billion government funding bill blasted by GOP hardliners
The House of Representatives on Thursday passed the Laken Riley Act, which would require federal immigration authorities to detain illegal immigrants charged with local theft or burglary, after a migrant accused of similar offenses was arrested for the murder of an American college student.

The act, which was passed by a 251-170 vote, is named after 22-year-old Laken Riley, a college nursing student who was recently killed on the campus of the University of Georgia.

"Praise God! #SayHerName LAKEN HOPE RILEY BILL - PASSED," Allyson Phillips, Riley's mother, posted on Facebook.

Jose Antonio Ibarra, the illegal immigrant from Venezuela charged with the brutal murder, was arrested in New York prior to the murder, but was not detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

"The senseless murder of Laken Riley by Jose Ibarra, who had no business being in this country, was another wake-up call as Americans experience an illegal alien crime wave because of Joe Biden's open border and local sanctuary city policies," Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., who introduced the bill, told Fox News Digital earlier this week.

REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN INTRODUCES LAKEN RILEY ACT

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Laken Riley poses for a photo posted to Facebook. Riley, a nursing student, was found dead near a lake on the University of Georgia campus on Feb. 22. An illegal immigrant has been charged with her murder.

After the bill's passage in the House, Collins urged the Senate to take up the legislation immediately to "ensure justice for Laken and give ICE more tools to detain and deport criminal illegal aliens before they commit more serious crimes."

During the vote, all Republicans in attendance voted yes. All 170 no votes were Democrats. However, 37 Democrats joined Republicans to advance the bill.

"Democrats dont care about your safety!" the House Judiciary GOP posted on X shortly after the vote. "Will @chuckschumer allow a vote on the Laken Riley Act in the Senate? Would @JoeBiden veto it?"

During the debate, U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D- N.Y., sharply criticized the bill, accusing Republicans of demonizing immigrants and calling it a "rinse and repeat" of the GOP's attempt to keep immigration issues in the news cycle.

"Republicans appear to have just thrown together language from existing, unrelated bills that target and scapegoat immigrants to score cheap political points in an election year, while doing nothing to address the border," he said on the House floor.

Before being charged with felony murder, Ibarra was once arrested in New York for endangering a child, and he was cited in Georgia for misdemeanor shoplifting in October 2023 along with his brother, Diego Ibarra, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Collins, who represents Georgias 10th Congressional District of Athens  where the fatal attack happened on Feb. 22  said the murder of Riley is a "wake-up call" for America and the bill seeks to combat the "illegal crime wave" that he attributes to the ongoing border crisis.

LAKEN RILEYS MOTHER SPEAKS OUT ABOUT AVOIDABLE TRAGEDY AFTER DAUGHTERS FUNERAL

Jose Ibarra was arrested on Feb. 23 in connection with Laken Riley's Feb. 22 murder in Athens, Georgia.

In addition to requiring ICE to issue a detainer for illegal aliens charged with theft or burglary, the bill will also allow individual states to take action against the federal government "if an immigration related action harms the state or its citizens."

"Allow states to sue the federal government for injunctive relief if an immigration related action (parole, violation of detention requirements, etc.), harms the state or its citizens. This gives states legal recourse to force the federal government to address certain failures related to border security," a press release announcing the legislation read.

During debate on the bill Thursday in Washington, the House Judiciary Committee ranking member Nadler, argued: "Unfortunately, instead of coming together to express our sorrow for Laken's tragic loss, the majority appears to be exploiting her death for yet another partisan political stunt."

"Rather than approaching this tragic event in a thoughtful manner, Republicans appear to have just thrown together language from existing unrelated bills that target and scapegoat immigrants to score cheap political points in an election year while doing nothing to address the situation at the border," he added. "This approach is fundamentally unserious."

Riley was a nursing student at Augusta University in Athens, Georgia.

Rep. Marc Molinaro, a Republican from New York, said, "Laken Riley's future was taken away from her and she from her family because an illegal immigrant in the state of New York was arrested and released  my home state.

"My colleague across the aisle knows this full well because of policies put in place by this administration, embraced by governors like Kathy Hochul in states like New York," he added. "We have surrendered our southern border and made our communities less safe."

Following Thursday's vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson was frank in his criticism of his Democratic colleagues.

"170 House Democrats just voted against the Laken Riley Act, refusing to require the detention and deportation of illegal immigrants who have been caught committing a crime," he wrote on X. "Sadly, if these Democrats have their way, there will be more victims like Laken Riley."

Collins said he invited Riley's parents to President Biden's State of the Union Speech on Thursday but they declined, choosing instead to grieve the loss of their daughter at home.

"Therefore, the seat reserved for my guest will remain vacant to honor Laken and all American victims of illegal alien crime," he posted on social media Wednesday.





Original article source: House passes Laken Riley Act requiring ICE to detain migrants arrested for theft
On Wednesday, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee pushed forward with its impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, inviting his son Hunter Biden to testify in a public hearing on March 20. It is not yet clear if the younger Biden has agreed to the date.

Last week, Hunter Biden finally gave in to monthslong requests for him to appear before the committee in a closed door hearing. Over the course of six hours, Republicans found themselves targeted more than the presidents son, being roundly accused of ignoring evidence supporting the presidents innocence and pushing a double standard by refusing to examine the financial gains pocketed by President Donald Trump and his family off of their official White House positions, including a $2 billion deal with a Saudi crown prince and Trump ally brokered by the former presidents son-in-law, Jared Kushner, shortly after he left the White House.

So far, Republicans have failed to provide any witnesses or concrete evidence that show criminal wrongdoing by Joe Biden. The committees former star witness, Alexander Smirnov, served as the singular source for claims that Biden had profited millions off of his sons connection to Burisma. But that angle, which House Republicans had believed was their best bet at nabbing the president, completely blew up in their face last month when Smirnov was indicted by the Department of Justice for lying to the FBI. Since then, Smirnov has reportedly admitted to law enforcement that top Russian intelligence officials were involved in the smear campaign against the sitting president.

Meanwhile, all of the other witnesses that Republicans have called, claiming that their testimony will blow the case wide open, have instead debunked every single accusation against the Biden family.
Dr. Richard Wadsworth, a psychiatrist from Missouri, USA, spoke about an effective way to fight depression recommended by his colleagues. According to the expert, if his patients followed such treatment, he would lose 75% of his clients, as they would no longer need help.

ADVERTISIMENT

The new way of life involves alleviating the symptoms of depression and changing the way the brain works, the Daily Mail writes. It's a combination of regular exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy, a psychological treatment that helps people understand how thoughts control emotions.

This approach can treat depression as well as any pharmaceutical drug, according to numerous experts. Dr. Wadsworth said: "It's not going to work for conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, but it can be effective, I would say, in most cases of depression and even anxiety."

ADVERTISIMENT

The health benefits of exercise, especially mental health, are well documented. High-intensity exercise releases chemicals called endorphins. But moderate-intensity exercise that is continued over a long period of time has an even greater effect.

Researchers in Hong Kong decided to determine which of the following is most effective in treating depression - antidepressants, exercise, or a combination of the two. More than 2500 participants took part in the experiment. As a result, the researchers found that physical activity helps as much as medication. Another study conducted by Australian experts showed that exercise is about 1.5 times more effective than medication or cognitive behavioral therapy.

ADVERTISIMENT

It can actually affect the brain and behavior by stimulating the growth of new connections between cells. This change is called neuroplasticity, and it uses the brain's ability to reorganize processes as a key weapon against depression.

Along with exercise, cognitive behavioral therapy is a great option. Typical 50-minute sessions involve a therapist helping you to fight bad thoughts. The therapist asks the patient logical questions about their thought process to identify negative patterns and change them so that the client becomes more positive and productive.

ADVERTISIMENT

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
WASHINGTON  The Republican-led House Oversight Committee said Wednesday that Hunter Biden has been invited to testify publicly this month at a hearing focused on the GOP impeachment inquiry into his father, President Joe Biden.

It was not immediately clear whether he had agreed to appear at the March 20 hearing. Sources told NBC News this week that as of Monday the two sides had not discussed a possible date for public testimony.

A representative for Hunter Bidens legal team said Wednesday that it would respond to the committee's invitation in writing.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the committee chair, said in a statement Wednesday that given his "repeated calls for a public hearing, I fully expect Hunter Biden to appear for a scheduled Oversight Committee hearing on March 20, alongside Biden family business associates."

The hearing will "examine inconsistencies among the witnesses testimonies in order to get the truth for the American people," Comer said.

The committee also invited Devon Archer, Jason Galanis and Tony Bobulinski  all former business associates of Bidens  to testify March 20.

When Biden, 54, testified last week at a closed-door deposition on Capitol Hill, he repeatedly denied that his father had any involvement with his business dealings.

My father has never been involved in my business. I have never asked my father to be involved in my business. My father has never benefited from my business, and I have never asked anyone  or my father  to do anything for the benefit of anyone Ive ever done business for, he said, according to a transcript of the deposition.

Biden also testified that his relationship with Bobulinski ended poorly when he backed out of doing a business deal with him. He called Bobulinski an incompetent and an idiot, as well as a bitter, bitter man.

Bobulinski told the committee at his own deposition last month that the only reason Biden was able to make millions from a variety of foreign sources was because his father was vice president at the time.

Republicans have also pointed to testimony from Archer, another former business partner, who testified that Biden put his father on speakerphone about 20 times while they were with business associates.

He cant recall the specific times that I put my dad on speakerphone when I was at a dinner or at a social event, so that means, over the course of 10 years, twice a year, my dad would call me, and I would be in the middle of a dinner, and I always answer his call. I always answer his call, based upon my lifes experience, Biden told the committees last month, citing his father's loss of his first wife and two of his children.

Galanis, another one of the invited witnesses, will almost certainly not attend in person  he is serving a 14-year prison sentence for two multimillion-dollar fraud schemes. The House committees leading the impeachment inquiry interviewed him Feb. 23 from the federal prison camp in Montgomery, Alabama.

Archer was convicted in connection with one of Galanis' schemes and sentenced to just over a year in prison. He lost his appeal of the conviction to the Supreme Court in January but has yet to begin serving his sentence while the judge in the case weighs his request to reconsider the length of his sentence.

The top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, ripped the GOP's lineup of witnesses for the coming hearing.

It seems Chairman Comer has decided his best witnesses now include a federally incarcerated serial fraudster and a bitterly frustrated would-be business partner who collaborated with the Trump campaign," Raskin said in a statement that included links to news articles about Galanis and Bobulinski. "Unfortunately for Chairman Comer, even these dubious witnesses have already testified that they have no evidence that Joe Biden took any official actions to benefit Hunter Bidens business ventures."

In their last hearing, I urged them to fold up the circus tent, but they just came back with a three-ring circus instead, he said.

A source familiar with Biden's legal strategy said, "Comer is desperate to keep alive an impeachment inquiry that died when Hunter Biden testified for almost seven hours last week.

The impeachment inquiry took a major hit last month when an FBI informant whose claims of Biden family corruption Comer and other top Republicans had repeatedly touted was charged with lying about those allegations. Alexander Smirnov, according to prosecutors with special counsel David Weiss office, provided false derogatory information to the FBI about the Bidens, including the false allegation that officials with Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company that employed Biden, had paid him and his father $5 million.

Biden testified behind closed doors last week after months of a heated back-and-forth with the committee. He initially said he would be willing to testify only at a public hearing, citing concerns that Republicans might take parts of his testimony out of context.

GOP lawmakers rejected his offer to testify publicly, and Biden defied a subpoena for closed-door testimony, instead holding a news conference outside the Capitol in December.

House Republicans then pushed for a resolution to hold him in contempt of Congress. Biden relented after GOP lawmakers issued new subpoenas after they formally announced an impeachment inquiry.

Asked at his deposition last week whether he thought Archer, Bobulinski and Galanis had any expectation that his father could be involved in their business dealings, Biden responded: "Not an expectation from me. And I think that youd see in my communications to them, there was never a single time that I can remember in which I say, 'Hey, well get my dad involved,' 'Hey, lets get my dad on the phone,' 'Hey, you know, lets  you know, what can we get from my dad out of this?'

Rebecca Kaplan and Sarah Fitzpatrick reported from Washington and Dareh Gregorian from New York.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner speaks to the media during a news conference, Thursday, March 7, 2024, at the police department's headquarters about the more than 264,000 cases, including more than 4,000 dealing with sexual assault, that were dropped over the past eight years due do a lack of personnel. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP)

HOUSTON (AP)  Houstons police chief pledged on Thursday to restore public trust in his department following revelations that more than 264,000 cases, including over 4,000 involving sexual assault, were dropped in the past eight years due to a lack of personnel.

Last month Chief Troy Finner announced that hundreds of thousands of incident reports, including for sexual assaults and property crimes, were never submitted for investigation as officers assigned them an internal code that cited a lack of available personnel. The figure represents about 10% of the 2.8 million incident reports filed in the past eight years.

I apologize to victims, their families, our citizens, for the use of the code for sexual assault incidents and other violent crimes against persons, Finner said at a Thursday news conference. This is not the trauma-informed, victim-centric services they deserve. Again, this code should have never been used and never will be used again.

Finner's news conference took place a day after Mayor John Whitmire announced that he will appoint an independent panel to review police handling of the dropped cases, saying the public wants answers and accountability.

How can something like that (the code) exist?  Im shocked by it. Its unacceptable, Whitmire said.

The internal code, part of the departments record management system, was created in 2016, years before Finner became chief in April 2021. It was used in the two administrations that preceded his.

Finner said he first found out that officers were using the code in November 2021 and gave an order for it to stop. But then he learned on Feb. 7 of this year that it was still being used to dismiss a significant number of adult sexual assault cases.

An internal affairs investigation is reviewing why the order to stop using the code was not followed and how the code's use first came about, Finner said.

Two assistant chiefs have already been demoted over their roles in the matter. Citing the ongoing investigation, Finner declined to comment on whether more personnel could face disciplinary action.

He said his departments top priority has been reaching out to people who filed the more than 4,000 sexual assault reports that were suspended. At least 32 officers have been assigned to review those cases, contact people and conduct follow-up interviews.

More than 3,000 of those cases have been reviewed so far, and 133 victim interviews scheduled. Police have also been working to contact people who filed family violence incident reports, Finner said.

Also suspended were 109,000 reports filed with the major assault division and 91,000 in property and financial crimes. And 6,537 reports filed with the homicide division were dismissed, but most of those were related to claims of assaults and threats, Finner said.

Police departments around the country are facing an increasingly urgent staffing crisis, as many younger officers resign, older officers retire and applications to fill the vacancies plummet, according to an August report by the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based think tank.

Houston is no exception: Finner said the department, which has about 5,200 officers, needs 2,000 more to be sufficiently staffed. Still, he added, that's not an excuse for the dismissal of hundreds of thousands of cases.

What has happened since 2016 is not acceptable. HPD as a department owns it, and I am committed as chief to making sure that we fix it, Finner said.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70
The Houthis killed three people and injured several more in an attack on a commercial ship Monday.

An anti-ship ballistic missile hit the True Confidence as it was transiting the Gulf of Aden.

It's the first time the Iran-backed rebels have caused fatalities during their attacks.

A Houthi missile strike on a commercial vessel killed three people and injured several others on Monday, marking the first time that the Iran-backed rebels have caused civilian fatalities since beginning their attacks on international shipping lanes.

The deadly incident, which represents a major escalation in the ongoing conflict, comes just days after the sinking of another commercial ship in the Red Sea  the result of a Houthi missile attack last month.

At around 11:30 a.m. local time on Monday, the Houthis fired one anti-ship ballistic missile from Yemen toward the True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged and Liberian-owned bulk carrier, as it was transiting the Gulf of Aden, US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said in a statement.

The missile hit the ship, killing three members of its multinational crew and injuring at least four others  three of which are currently in critical condition, CENTCOM said, adding that the vessel also suffered "significant" damage.

The M/V True Confidence after it was hit by an anti-ship ballistic missile. US Central Command

"The crew abandoned the ship and coalition warships responded and are assessing the situation," CENTCOM said. "These reckless attacks by the Houthis have disrupted global trade and taken the lives of international seafarers."

Until now, the Houthis had yet to kill anyone as part of their months-long campaign of missile and drone attacks on international shipping lanes off the coast of Yemen, but the rebels had successfully managed to hit a handful of commercial vessels.

Monday's incident also marks the first ever fatal anti-ship ballistic missile attack . The Houthi rebels began employing these weapons in combat something no one else had ever done  in late 2023.

The Houthis have fired five anti-ship ballistic missiles over the past two days alone. Two of these weapons have gone on to hit commercial ships  the M/V MSC Sky II on Monday and the M/V True Confidence on Wednesday  while the others were either shot down by US forces or landed in the water.

The Marshall Islands-flagged, Bermuda-owned M/V Marlin Luanda after it was hit with an anti-ship ballistic missile in the Gulf of Aden in January. Screengrab/US Central Command

Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesperson, said Wednesday's deadly incident was "sadly inevitable."

"The Houthis have continued to launch these reckless attacks with no regard for the well-being of innocent civilians who are transiting through the Red Sea," he told reporters at a briefing. "And now they have, unfortunately and tragically, killed innocent civilians."

"So we will continue to hold them accountable, and we call on governments around the world to do the same," Miller added.

The fatal attack, meanwhile, comes just days after the sinking of the Rubymar, a commercial vessel that was hit by an anti-ship ballistic missile while it was transiting the Red Sea in mid-February.

Because the ship was carrying thousands of metric tons of fertilizer, it now presents an "environmental risk" in the Red Sea, as well as a "subsurface impact risk" to other ships transiting the region, according to CENTCOM.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A Hull joke shop, believed to be one of the oldest in England, is among five British outlets that has inspired Selfridges' newly opened pop-up store.

Dinsdales felt pranked when they were approached by the renowned London department store for "inspiration".

Bosses of the outlet, which has been in Hepworth's arcade since the 1930s, are due to attend a launch event for Selfridges' reimagined joke shop.

Selfridges said it wanted to celebrate traditional British joke shops.

The company said it wanted to showcase the "unique creativity" of Dinsdales, as well as independent outlets in Cardiff, Glasgow, Scarborough and Southport.

Graham Williams is the manager of Dinsdales, which has been trading since 1930

Manager Graham Williams said he initially thought a phone call from the Oxford Street store, asking if "the team could come up to visit", was a wind-up.

"They said they'd seen a BBC article about the store," he said.

"They were impressed that we'd been here for over 90 years and wanted to know if the two shops could work together."

Mr Williams, along with managers of the other four stores, has been invited to attend the department store's launch event on Thursday evening.

Posting on social media, Dinsdales' bosses said they "can't wait to see what influences and inspiration came from our little joke shop in good old Hull".

"Everywhere I go people ask me about it," said Mr Williams.

"The lady in the bookshop next door is more excited than I am.

"If people see our name down south and think about coming to visit, it can only be a good thing."

Dinsdales, which opened in the 1930s, has remained largely unchanged

The London department store has recreated the eye-catching window displays of traditional joke shops like Dinsdale's as a "pop-up", which is a temporary shop. They have packed it with novelty items, including whoopie cushions, itching powder and other trickster objects.

Laura Weir, Selfridges' executive creative director, said: "The Joke Shop at Selfridges draws inspiration from local joke shops across the country, as well as the tongue-in-cheek aesthetics we've seen and loved this season.

"We're transforming our corner shop into a comedy store, with windows celebrating the best British jokes and larger-than-life art commissions.

"We want to raise a smile and make mischief."

Dinsdales first opened as a record shop in the 1930s, but with the advent of radio the owner switched to jokes and tricks when he realised records were not selling.

Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastyorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk
The News

Several human rights groups are throwing support behind legislation that would force China-based ByteDance to divest TikTok or otherwise face a ban on the app in the U.S., as a high-stakes battle over the bill heats up in Washington.

The groups, which are focused on abuses by the Chinese government, include the Campaign for Uyghurs, Uyghur Human Rights Project, Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, Human Rights in China, International Campaign for Tibet, Hong Kong Democracy Council, the Uyghur American Association, and Washingtonians for Hong Kong.

We strongly urge the passage of this bill into law to further Congresss efforts to support Uyghur human rights. Without it, Uyghurs will continue to be targeted by foreign adversary owned applications like TikTok, Rushan Abbas, a Uyghur American activist who founded Campaign for Uyghurs, wrote in a letter shared with Semafor that was sent to members of Congress supporting the bill this week. Another letter to lawmakers from Human Rights in China describes TikTok under its current ownership structure as a serious national security threat.

Know More

The legislation offered by Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis. and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., who lead the House select committee on China, would force ByteDance to divest TikTok within 180 days or face a ban that would prevent app stores from carrying the popular video platform. The proposal is meant to address national security concerns officials say are associated with the apps Chinese ownership.

TikTok forcefully criticized the bill as an outright ban that would trample the First Amendment rights of its 170 million American users. On Thursday, aides from multiple congressional offices said they were getting flooded with calls pushing back on the legislation, as TikTok prompted users to call members of Congress to oppose the legislation.

The bill has some powerful supporters already, though, including the Biden administration. House Speaker Mike Johnson offered support for the legislation on Thursday, raising the likelihood of its passage in the House of Representatives. The path in the Senate is less certain.

Notable

Politico talked to Congressional offices who are hearing from TikTok users directed to their offices through the app. Our phones have not stopped ringing. Theyre teenagers and old people saying they spend their whole day on the app and we cant take it away, one House GOP staffer said.
MURRAY, Utah (ABC4)  The Humane Society of Utah is putting out an SOS for adopters saying their center has been overwhelmed by an influx of puppies and pregnant dogs.

The shelter put out the cry for help on social media, saying it was currently caring for 32 puppies at its center while also fielding daily requests from shelters throughout Utah asking for help alleviating their overcrowded crises. The Humane Society of Utah (HSU) called the situation dire.

Abandoned pets surged 78% in 2023, says Utah shelter

HSU Director of Marketing and Communications Guinnevere Shuster told ABC4 the puppies were either intentionally bred or accidental litters but the stories are the same: Those surrendering the puppies were unable to sell or find homes for them.

The Humane Society of Utah said it understands that adoption is a significant commitment that shouldnt be taken lightly and is not a possibility for everyone. However, officials said there could not be a more impactful time to adopt than now for those who are considering adding a dog or puppy to their family.

Shelters across Utah have been battling with capacity recently. In January, HSU reported a 78% increase in abandoned animals. Shuster told ABC4.com its a worsening trend HSU has been following for the last six months.

The number one reason people surrender dogs to the Humane Society of Utah is due to housing insecurity or inability to find pet-friendly housing, said Shuster. Weight and breed restrictions make it difficult for families with large dogs to find housing, leaving many with no other option than to surrender their dogs to the shelter.

Despite that, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox declared Utah would be the first state in the West to be a No-Kill state, reaching the goal in 2024. Data from the Best Friends Animal Society reported more than 45,500 cats and dogs were saved in Utah for a save-rate of nearly 88%. HSU said it never euthanizes healthy or adoptable pets for time or space. Instead, the animals remain in the adoption program for as long as they remain physically and behaviorally healthy or treatable.

Some get adopted in a few days, while others may take months. Additionally, HSU has many foster families caring for kittens, puppies, small animals, animals recuperating from illness or injury and dogs and cats needing socialization and training, said Shuster. Foster families also care for animals who simply need a break from the stress of staying at the shelter.

A flamingo on Great Salt Lake?

Still, HSU is urging the public to consider spaying and neutering their pets to help alleviate the puppy and overcrowding crisis in the long term.

By taking this responsible step, you directly contribute to preventing the birth of unwanted litters, thus directly addressing the root of overcrowding in shelters, said Shuster, adding that HSU offers spay and neuter services in both Murray and St. George.

All of the Humane Society of Utahs adoptable pets can be found on their website or in person at their facility located at 4242 South 300 West in Murray. For those not able to adopt, the Humane Society of Utah said it accepts donations of puppy and dog food, blankets, and more. A list of needs can be found on an Amazon wishlist curated by the shelter.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Hundreds of people lined up at Costco in San Luis Obispo to meet the mayor of Flavortown on Wednesday.

Guy Fieri, the Food Network celebrity chef known for hit shows Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and Guys Grocery Games, was signing bottles of his Santo Tequila, which he founded with rocker Sammy Hagar.

Signing began at 5 p.m. in the store and ended shortly after 6 p.m. A Costco employee told The Tribune that 500 to 600 bottles of tequila were sold.

Some shoppers who didnt get there early enough to grab a bottle before the store ran out walked the line asking people with multiple bottles if they could buy it out of their cart.

Guy Fieri talks to fans while signing bottles of his Santo Tequila on March 6, 2024, at Costco in San Luis Obispo.

The line snaked from from the far right corner of the store past the frozen foods, continued toward the front, then cut across to the other far wall before winding back to the bottle-signing station set up in the liquor department.

For San Luis Obispo resident, Anthony Naud, the long line was worth the wait.

Im a huge fan of Guy Fieri, Naud said. You cant go wrong when it comes to watching his shows, getting his books or in this case waiting for autograph some type of new like liquor that hes advertising.

Anthony Naud and his mother pose while waiting in line to receive a signature from celebrity chef Guy Fieri on Fieris tequila bottle at Costco in San Luis Obispo on March 6, 2024.

Naud told The Tribune that Fieri is in his top five favorite chefs of all time. He first became a fan after watching an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives or Guys Big Bite as a teen.

He met Fieri at a 2009 book signing in St. Louis  just two years after Diners, Drive-ins and Dives debuted on the Food Network. Now, 15 years later, Naud was back to meet the iconic chef again.

I like everything about him, Naud said. His hairstyle, the places he goes to, his personality, his car.

Celebrity Chef Guy Fieri signs tequila bottles at Costco in San Luis Obispo on March 6, 2024.

Fieri inspired Carissa Sales to pursue a nutrition degree at Cal Poly. She said she grew up watching Triple D and other cooking shows on the Food Network with her family.

Hes been an idol of ours for a while now, Sales said. Really, his shows inspired me to get into what Im doing right now.

She and her roommates learned about the tequila signing earlier that day and immediately dropped everything to go straight to Costco.

A signed bottle of Guy Fieris Santo Tequila. The celebrity chef met fans and signed autographs at Costco in San Luis Obispo on March 6, 2024.

We just didnt want to miss it, Ginger Fitzpatrick, one of Sales roommates, said.

Jackson Damhorst and Nathan Neugeboren found out about the tequila signing at just 4:30 p.m.  30 minutes before Fieri was scheduled to begin meeting people.

When something like this happens, you really got to drop everything and run, Damhorst said.

Jackson Damhorst and Nathan Neugeboren got their shirts signed by celebrity chief Guy Fieri in Costco on March 6, 2024. Fieri was there to sign bottles of his Santo Tequila.

Neugenboren quickly found the flames shirt he wore when he dressed up as Fieri for Halloween and headed to Costco. He said was so starstruck he forgot to ask Fieri to sign it, but Fieri pulled him back in and told him he needed to sign the shirt.

The (frosted) tips look even better in person, Neugenboren said.

The Tribune did find out the answer to one burning question: Does Fieri prefer brisket or tri-tip?

Im a tri-tip guy, said Fieri, who grew up in Northern California and opened his first restaurant in Santa Rosa in 1996.

Celebrity Chef Guy Fieri signs tequila bottles at Costco in San Luis Obispo on March 6, 2024.

The line to get Guy Fieri to autograph his bottle of Santa Spirit tequila at Costco stretched all around the store all the way to the back past the frozen food section.
The Chancellor presenting his Budget on Wednesday, during which he announced changes to the holiday letting regime - Maria Unger/REUTERS

Listening to the Budget youd be forgiven for thinking Jeremy Hunt was talking about a different country, but then this is the Chancellor who thinks abolishing the furnished holiday letting regime will make the taxation system work better for people locally.

He couldnt be more wrong.

Offsetting mortgage interest relief and allowing profits to count as earnings for pension purposes is part of the trade of running tourist accommodation. Ask anybody whos ever run a holiday let and they will tell you how much work is involved to keep holidaymakers happy.

At this stage it is unclear if the capital allowances will also be removed  but if they are, you can be sure the quality of any fixtures and fittings and furniture provided within a holiday let will suffer. The cost of equipping holiday accommodation has always been high, but following Brexit and Covid and the resultant supply issues the expenses of providing these items has soared.

What is most infuriating about Mr Hunts attack on the holiday accommodation sector is that one of the requirements for accommodation to qualify as a furnished holiday let: The property must be commercially let (you must intend to make a profit).

How then does Chancellor Hunt suppose owners can make a profit when they can no longer deduct the most basic of business expenses from their business?

It is utterly farcical and shows how far this Conservative government is willing to go to rip the entrepreneurial heart out of Britain. Britain is no longer a nation of shopkeepers; it is a nation of sheep where we are expected to graze on the scraps cast off by big business.

In his Budget speech, Mr Hunt proclaimed: The furnished holiday letting tax regime is creating a distortion, meaning not enough properties are available for long-term rental by local people.

What he really meant was: we will crucify anybody who owns a private property who intends to make any money from anything to do with it.

That is despite the fact a holiday let needs to make a profit and be available to rent for at least 210 days of the year. And, following last months announcement, also needs to have planning permission to be let for more than 90 days per year  and be registered on a mandatory national register.

Perhaps he thinks those holiday accommodation owners will now switch to the long-term residential rental sector. I dont think he could be further from the truth. Faced with a punitive tax regime and an onslaught of ever more onerous regulations and tenant protections, including the abolition of Section 21, there is no reward left for anybody to remain in this sector. In short: the properties will be sold. And its doubtful theyll be bought by local people.

What Mr Hunt has ensured with his wilful killing of the private holiday accommodation market is a local job shortage. Given tourism as a whole contributes over 250bn to the UK economy and AirBnb claims people using its platform have supported over 107,000 jobs across a variety of sectors in 2022, the assault doesnt appear very business friendly.

In Britain, we have been so lucky to have a thriving rural local tourism economy. The tax reliefs on offer have encouraged property owners to build businesses to support and work with their local community. The removal of the holiday let allowances will now ensure only the rich can buy and only big businesses can operate. Local employees will suffer from the reduced job market and customers will be deprived of choice leading to more expensive options and less availability.

One can only hope these local areas dont go the way of Italys abandoned villages, which have been decimated by chronic underinvestment and underpopulation.

Given house prices are so key to this countrys success, we wont routinely see properties in the back-of-beyond flogged for 1 to try and stimulate investment. But you have to wonder what will replace such local investment when the holiday accommodation owners leave.

Email secretlandlord@telegraph.co.uk

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
(Bloomberg) -- British millennials will be the biggest beneficiaries of government tax and spending policies since 2019 as the Conservatives shifting priorities take 8 billion out of pensioners pockets, the Resolution Foundation said.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunts 11 billion ($14 billion) tax cut for 30 million workers along with policy changes over the life of this Parliament will leave those aged 18-45 an average of 590 better off. Pensioners aged 66 and over, the Tory partys traditional base, will each be 770 poorer.

The figures highlight the winners and losers from Hunts annual budget statement on Wednesday, which doubled a reduction in National Insurance Contributions paid by workers. Typical households gain 420 a year on average, while the poorest fifth gain 840 and the richest fifth lose 1,500.

The Conservative government since 2019 has overseen a notable redistribution from the old and the rich to the young and the poor, Resolution said. Frozen income tax thresholds will catch all 8 million taxpaying pensioners by an average of 1,000, an 8 billion collective hit. It it is a staggering turnaround from the approach of Conservative governments since 2010, who have generally focused support on pensioners, the think tank said.

In what is likely to have been the last budget before the general election, Hunt also delivered a 660 million tax cut for half a million working families with children. He has now cut 4 pence from NICs since November and said he would like to abolish the tax altogether.

The giveaways were dwarfed by pre-existing tax rises caused by earlier plans to freeze tax thresholds for six years. Overall, current plans mean a net tax cut of 9 billion is taking effect in the election year. But this is dwarfed by the estimated 27 billion of tax rises that came into effect last year and the 19 billion that are coming in after the election, Resolution said.

The researcher also said Hunt has thrown caution to the wind by leaving not just 8.9 billion of headroom against his fiscal rule  the second smallest margin on record.

The plans in this budget would violate three out of the four sets of such rules followed by Conservative Chancellors since 2010, Resolution said.

It added that real average wages are only set to regain their 2008 levels in 2026, a staggering near-two lost decades of pay growth.

Had pay instead continued along its pre-financial crisis path, the average worker in 2023 would have been around 14,000 better off.

Across this Parliament, real household disposable income is set to fall by 0.9%  the first Parliament in modern history to see a fall in living standards.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Activist Carol Daus speaks earlier this year in favor of continuing to fly the Pride flag in Huntington Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

In a move seen as a veiled attempt to ban Pride flags, Huntington Beach voters approved an amendment to the city's charter this week that barred the city from displaying anything other than a select few official government flags on city property.

According to the Orange County Registrar, 58% of the voters in the beachside city supported the amendment and 42% opposed it. Turnout was low  only 23% of the city's registered voters headed to the polls.

The charter amendment bars the city from flying anything on city property but the city flag, the Orange County flag, the state of California flag and the American flag as well as some military flags and the Olympic flag.

While the amendment says nothing about the Pride flag, some saw it as a repudiation of the City Council unanimous vote in 2021 to fly the Pride flag for the month of June every year. Much has changed in the city since then, including the arrival of four conservative council members, whom voters swept into power with a different agenda in 2022.

Read more: Huntington Beach is sticking it to 'woke' California. Some residents ask at what cost

Dan Kalmick, a councilmember who opposed the change to the city's constitution, said the ballot measure was put forward by the right-leaning City Council majority, which approved a similar ordinance last year to dictate which flags the city could fly on its properties. Unlike that ordinance, which could be overturned by a future City Council, the restriction adopted Tuesday can be changed only by another vote of the people.

"They flat-out said this is not about banning the Pride flag," he told The Times. "They're full of s. Of course it's about the Pride flag."

Kalmick said he has sat through numerous council meetings about the flag issue, and that most people who showed up in support of the measure were there to speak specifically about the Pride flag.

The new charter amendment would require unanimous council approval to fly a flag that is not on the list of approved flags.

The councilmembers behind the changes say the city shouldn't be taking political stances with the flags it flies.

"To me, it's demeaning to the LGBQ [sic] community to fly that flag," Pat Burns, a conservative councilmember, said in an interview Thursday. "Everybody has got something they can identify with, and I don't believe its our government's position to start playing those identity politics games."

Read more: Huntington Beach clarifies stance, says it will recognize Black History Month, other events

Peg Corley, executive director of the LGBTQ Center Orange County, responded, "The LGBTQ community is not a political statement nor a special interest. We are people who wish to live our lives without suffering hate or discrimination for who we are.

"The most recent Orange County hate crimes report documents a 125% increase in hate crimes and hate incidents against LGBTQ people. Cities can help reverse this dangerous trend with a public show of support such as flying the Pride flag during Pride month. The recent ban by the Huntington Beach City Council speaks volumes."





Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Number interpretation is one of the oldest fields related to predictions. For example, Greek scientists considered numbers to be the basis of the universe, so it is not surprising that with the development of civilization, they began to be given more and more importance

ADVERTISIMENT

Numerologists say that it is in the numbers that knowledge about our personality, potential, life path, and even mission is recorded. For example, a horoscope based on numbers can predict whether you should expect wealth in March.

How to find out your number

Determining your number is very simple - you just need to add all the numbers of your day, month, and year of birth and reduce it to a single digit.

For example, you were born on April 6, 1986. 6+4+1+9+8+6 = 34. Then we add the numbers and get 3+4 = 7.

Number 1

March will be a month of adaptation. You should be flexible and work with the team, not against it. Do not try to maintain your leadership by force. Cooperation is the area that will bring you the most profit. You should also spend time with your family and children.

Number 2

March will bring many challenges. It's as if you're waking up after a long sleep, full of energy and strength. It's time to fulfill your cherished desires. However, ambition is not the most important thing in life. You will have to find a balance between work and leisure, otherwise it will lead to emotional burnout.

ADVERTISIMENT

Number 3

Spring will bring many surprises. You will feel that March is the time when everything starts over. There will be significant progress at work and in your personal life. This month you will realize that sometimes you have to learn from your mistakes. You will draw conclusions and move forward stronger and wiser.

Number 4

You will have to show more restraint and focus. March will bring many difficulties that will distract you and create obstacles in achieving your goals. You will have to pay special attention to finances. Unexpected expenses can ruin all your plans.

Number 5

You will finally receive decent rewards for your hard work. Fate will reward you for your patience and efforts. You are likely to receive promising offers for interesting projects or a new position. You can count on career success. You should be patient and understanding in friendship and love.

ADVERTISIMENT

Number 6

A fateful moment has arrived. You will finally have to take a chance and make a decision that you have been putting off for a long time. You cannot run away from this responsibility. In March, you'll have to demonstrate your perseverance and determination. The decision will have a long-term impact, so you should be very careful.

Number 7

March will bring stability and confidence. You will not complain about your health, both mental and physical. Winter was an opportunity to rest and recuperate, now it's time to act. You may feel extra enthusiasm and a desire to have fun. It would not be surprising if March becomes a party season.

Number 8

You will face new challenges at work and in your personal life, which will make you appreciate stability and balance even more. Spring will be a challenging time in terms of health, so it's worth taking care of yourself and visiting a doctor. You'll also be able to see if the experience you've gained in recent months will really come in handy.

ADVERTISIMENT

Number 9

Don't let your temperament and pride get in the way of your goals. Try to stay calm and use common sense, because in March you will need it especially. Spring will bring many changes in your career and personal life.

Subscribe to the OBOZ.UA channels in Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events.
SURPRISE, Ariz. - Everyone inside a burning house near Dysart and Greenway roads in Surprise got out safely on Tuesday night.

The response was massive because, inside the garage, a hybrid vehicle was on fire.

How it started is unclear, but regardless, fire crews took a defensive approach to contain the flames and soaked the car in tens of thousands of gallons of water.

Then, they used a tool for the first time for their department. A fire blanket. They draped it over the car, eliminating the oxygen and suffocating the flames.

The response to these types of car fires has changed a lot in the last two years. The blanket is the latest technique, but Surprise Fire says that could change soon.

"Next week it could be something new entirely. We could get new data that comes out. So, this is an evolving process, but thats our career field. We continue to evolve in how we fight fires and the types of fires were going to fight. Thats part of the craft, why we call it a professional trade, because its our responsibility to keep the public safe and continue to find new ways to fight these fires," Battalion Chief Larry Subervi with the city of Surprise Fire & Medical Department said.

Hazmat teams from Surprise, Phoenix and Glendale responded to the fire due to its nature.

"Air monitoring continued in the area to ensure that none of the additional hazards associated with EV were present," the fire department said.

Although the car wasn't a full EV, fire officials say the challenges are the same.

"They both use a lot of water, so we know its going to be a long water fight, using tens of thousands of gallons of water on top of these fires versus a traditional combustion engine," Subervi said.

'I dont think were done in the learning phase'

Photo from the city of Surprise Fire & Medical Department

He says because a battery was burning, they took every precaution with air toxicity issues, water demands, and calling in resources across the Valley.

"To be on the safe side, wed rather get those resources coming to the community and know we dont need them than start them late," he said.

Phoenix Fires Capt. Rob McDade says his crew learned a lot in this fire.

"Last night's incident will go a long way in building this card catalog for us to look at every fire. Now, when we do the training, Hey, this is what Mesa had, this is what Gilbert did, this is what Phoenix did, and now this is what Surprise did. If we're not sharing this information, were not working hard enough," McDade said.

Its a welcome change from the last strategy we saw implemented as a Waymo electric vehicle caught fire in Phoenix. It had to be submerged in wet sand.

"That as a technique, where were going to get giant dumpsters, put cars in them, and fill them with thousands of pounds of sand, is it necessarily something thats sustainable? It was working at the time a couple of years ago, so we just had to evolve some of those techniques. I dont think were done in the learning phase for how to best fight electric vehicle (fires), and were not alone. Its across the country," Subervi said.

Surprise Fire complimented the homeowner because she informed dispatch she had a hybrid vehicle in the garage. That helped them prepare as crews arrived.

How the fire started is still being investigated.


The hyena snuck into Fredrick Omungu's lock-up stall at some point in the night

A businessman in Kenya's Rift Valley city of Nakuru was "shocked" when he turned up for work early on Wednesday to find a "strange animal" in his small shop.

Fredrick Omungu did not know what it was at first, but said he was scared.

"It clearly wasn't a dog - I thought it was a leopard or something else," he told the BBC.

Some neighbours came and identified the animal as a hyena, which under certain conditions can attack humans.

"I was shocked and stayed far away. I've heard hyenas are dangerous and can kill people," Mr Omungu said.

In less than 30 minutes, dozens of residents had gathered around his stall to see the stranded animal hiding under the makeshift counter.

It is unclear how the animal ended up in his stall in a populated area.

Mr Omungu, who sells the leafy stimulant khat, which is known locally as miraa, as well as soft drinks, sweets and groundnuts, said he had closed his business at around 20:00 local time (17:00GMT) the previous night and had arrived at around 07:00 the following morning.

The area is not far from the Lake Nakuru National Park, where the hyena is suspected to have strayed from at night.

Wardens from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) later came and captured the animal.

Conflicts between animals and humans are becoming increasingly common in Kenya and in recent times there have been reports of hyenas attacking people in different places across the country.

In Nakuru, some residents have blamed the KWS for not taking enough measures to stop the animals from crossing the park into public areas.

But Mark Cheruiyot, a senior KWS warden from the county, told the BBC the fence, which at times has been vandalised, was being upgraded and it was unfortunate that the animal had got out of the park.

Mr Omungu said he was worried for the safety of children at a nearby primary school that is even closer to the park than his shop.

"Some of these children get to school around 5am I thank God that the hyena did not harm anyone," he said.

Another Nakuru resident, Jacinta Njeri, told local media that it was not the first time that a hyena had been spotted in the area, saying people were afraid especially for their children.

Last month, Kenya's Tourism Minister Alfred Mutua said the high number of hyena attacks on people and livestock in recent times was the result of the overpopulation of the mammals.

Animal health authorities confirmed three weeks ago that three hyenas that attacked and mauled people in different locations had been infected with rabies.

KWS said this would explain the unusual aggressive behaviour towards people.

It had earlier shared an alert advising people on how to behave when they encounter a hyena.

The advisory to "stand your ground" and "try not to show your fear, keep yourself calm by talking to it" sparked ridicule, with some asking what language people should use to talk to the creatures.

The criticism has persisted, especially as some of the recent attacks have resulted in deaths or injuries.

Last month KWS officers discovered the body parts of a victim of a hyena attack near the capital, Nairobi, close to an area where a university student had been attacked and bitten on the thumb.

In January, a 10-year-old boy was mauled to death on the outskirts of the capital.

You may also be interested in:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Wednesday that it had caught an illegal immigrant who was convicted of a child sex offense, but was later released onto the streets in Virginia, despite an ICE detainer.

ICE announced that it had arrested a Guatemalan illegal immigrant who was convicted in February of aggravated sexual battery on a minor. He had been arrested in 2022.

On Feb 9 of this year, he was convicted in Richmond, Va., and was sentenced to 20 years in jail, ICE said. However, the court suspended 18 years and two months of his sentence. He was then released by the Richmond City Jail on Feb 21.

ICE had issued a detainer  a request that they be notified before the immigrant is released from custody and to keep them until ICE can take custody of them. However, it was ignored and the Guatemalan illegal immigrant sex offender was released onto the streets.

WHITE HOUSE CALLS FOR SANCTUARY CITIES TO COOPERATE WITH ICE AMID FUROR OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMES

June 2, 2022: ICE agents conduct an enforcement operation in the U.S. interior.

On the same day, ICEs Enforcement and Removal Operation (ERO) branch in Washington located him and he fled. According to the agency, after a brief pursuit, they caught him and took him into custody.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"This convicted sex offender represented a significant threat to the residents of our Virginia communities," ERO Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Liana Castano said in a statement.

"His apprehension highlights the danger caused when jurisdictions have policies in place which restrict information sharing between state or local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. This noncitizen fled from our officers, placing himself, our officers, and the general public in danger during the course of the pursuit, which could have been avoided if ERO had been afforded the opportunity to assume custody in a secure setting  in accordance with an immigration detainer and federal law," Castano said.

Fox has reached out to the Richmond Sheriffs Office for comment.

The unnamed Guatemalan has a lengthy history tracing back to 2017 when he was first encountered after entering illegally. He was arrested by Border Patrol in Arizona and released with a notice to appear at an immigration court. He was ordered removed in 2019.

NYC MAYOR CONTINUES CALLS FOR SANCTUARY CITY AMENDMENT TO ALLOW DEPORTATION OF VIOLENT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

He was arrested in August 2019 in Richmond for driving under the influence. A detainer for his arrest was then also not honored, ICE said. He was convicted but the 90 day sentence was also suspended.

Again, ICE picked him up after his release, this time deporting him to Guatemala. He then re-entered the U.S. again at an unknown date, time and location, meaning he entered as a "gotaway" for the second time.

It was in Feb. 2022 he was arrested in Florida for a Virginia warrant for carnal knowledge of a child, and he was later extradited to Richmond.

The arrest comes as the practice of ignoring ICE detainers has come under scrutiny after a spate of high-profile illegal immigrant crimes.

The White House recently told Fox News Digital that it would like help from states in turning criminals over to ICE.

"We welcome local law enforcements support and cooperation in apprehending and removing individuals who pose a risk to national security or public safety," a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital last week in response to a question about its stance on sanctuary cities. "When a local jurisdiction has information about an individual who could pose a threat to public safety, we want them to share that information with ICE."

"Just since May 12, DHS has removed or returned more than 565,000 individuals  the vast majority of whom crossed the Southwest Border. 565,000 removals and returns is more than every full fiscal year since 2013," they said.





Original article source: ICE catches Guatemalan illegal immigrant convicted of child sex offense who was released in Virginia
FILE - Dallas Seavey, Iditarod champion waves at the start of an Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Fairbanks, Alaska, March 6, 2017. Seavey's path to a possible record-breaking sixth title just got a little longer. Officials with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, issued a two-hour time penalty to Seavey for not properly gutting a moose he killed in this year's race after the moose got tangled up with his dog team, One dog was injured. (AP Photo/Ellamarie Quimby, File)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)  Iditarod officials on Wednesday imposed a two-hour time penalty on musher Dallas Seavey for not properly gutting the moose he killed during the race earlier this week.

Race marshal Warren Palfrey convened a three-person panel of race officials to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the moose, which became tangled up with Seavey and his dog team early Monday, about 12 hours after the dayslong race officially started. One dog was injured in the encounter and flown back to Anchorage for care.

If a musher kills a big game animal like a moose, caribou or buffalo in defense of life or property during the race, rules require they gut the animal and report it to officials at the next checkpoint.

Seavey, a five-time Iditarod champion, encountered the moose shortly after leaving the checkpoint in Skwentna. He used a handgun to shoot and kill it about 14 miles (22 kilometers) outside the village at 1:32 a.m. Monday.

According to the panels findings, Seavey spent about 10 minutes at the kill site, and then mushed his dog team about 11 miles (18 kilometers) before camping on a three-hour layover.

The team then departed at 5:55 a.m. for the next checkpoint, arriving in Finger Lake at 8 a.m., where Seavey reported the kill.

It fell on my sled; it was sprawled on the trail, Seavey told an Iditarod Insider television crew at the Finger Lake checkpoint, where he urged race officials to get the moose off the trail.

I gutted it the best I could, but it was ugly, he said.

A statement from the Iditarod said it had been determined that the animal was not sufficiently gutted by the musher." By definition, gutting includes taking out the intestines and other internal organs, officials said.

The Iditarod can impose time penalties if a majority of the three-person panel agrees a rule was broken and that a competitive advantage was gained. Penalties can range up to a maximum of eight hours per infraction.

Time penalties can be added to mandatory layovers each musher must take during the race or to a musher's final time after they reach Nome.

Officials said the two-hour penalty will be added to Seaveys mandatory 24-hour layover.

The moose was retrieved and its meat salvaged and processed. Iditarod associates in Skwentna were distributing the food.

Seavey was leading the Iditarod on Wednesday, the first musher to leave the checkpoint in the mining ghost town of Ophir, about 350 miles (563 kilometers) into the race after only staying for 15 minutes. Musher Jessie Holmes arrived in Ophir first, nearly two hours ahead of Seavey, but appeared to be resting. Four other mushers were also in Ophir.

The ceremonial start was held Saturday in Anchorage, with the competitive start beginning Sunday.

This year's race has 38 mushers, who will travel about 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) across two mountain ranges, the frozen Yukon River and along the ice-covered Bering Sea. About 10 days after the start, they will come off the ice and onto Main Street in the old Gold Rush town of Nome for the last push to the finish line.
A Venezuelan migrant who allegedly handed police a fake green card as they were on the hunt for his brother, the suspected killer of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, has ties to the violent Venezuela-based organized crime gang Tren de Aragua, according to federal prosecutors.

Federal authorities have been warning that the gang, also known as TdA and known for its violent turf wars as it expanded into other countries in South and Central America, is trying to establish itself in the U.S., where police are already linking it to organized crime.

Diego Ibarra is also accused of trying to bite a Border Patrol agent in Texas on April 30, 2023, the date of his second alleged illegal entry into the United States.

However, only the man he was traveling with was charged in the incident, Michael Morrison, an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, wrote in a filing in support of prosecutors' motion to hold him without bail.

FBI FEARS VENEZUELA MIGRANT GANG MEMBERS COULD POTENTIALLY TEAM UP WITH MS-13 KILLERS

Members of the gang were involved in a high-profile assault on NYPD officers that made national headlines after video circulated and suspects were released without bail.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The gang has a notable presence in New York City, Florida, Texas, Illinois and Georgia, federal prosecutors wrote in the court filing.

Read the filing:

LAKEN RILEY TRIED TO REACH 911 DURING DEADLY ENCOUNTER, ATHENS POLICE CONFIRM

Suspicious of his TdA-related tattoos, agents from Homeland Security Investigations found social media accounts where Ibarra flashed the gang's hand signals.

He also posted pictures wearing Chicago Bulls team colors  which authorities said is another red flag.

"TdA members frequently wear Chicago Bulls basketball attire, even if they have no connection to Chicago or the Bulls," prosecutors wrote.

As an illegal immigrant, Ibarra is not allowed to own guns in the U.S. However, according to prosecutors, the HSI agents found multiple pictures of him with different firearms.

GEORGIA STUDENT MURDER SUSPECT CONFIRMED TO BE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT

Ibarra has been in custody since late February, when police arrested him while searching for his brother. The two shared similar physical descriptions and Ibarra was wearing an identical hat to one seen on surveillance video in Riley's murder, authorities said.

He allegedly handed them a fake green card.

Since then, additional details about his criminal behavior since entering the U.S. illegally have emerged.

BROTHER OF UGA MURDER SUSPECT CHARGED WITH GREEN CARD FRAUD

Laken Riley poses for a photo posted to Facebook. Riley, a nursing student, was found dead near a lake on campus at the University of Georgia on Thursday, February 22, 2024.

A month after his scuffle at the border, he allegedly cut off an ankle monitor that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement had placed on him.

Police found it in Colorado, but Diego made his way to Athens, Georgia, where he had multiple run-ins with the law before his brother allegedly killed Riley on a running trail at the University of Georgia. In Athens, Diego Ibarra racked up DUI charges, was accused of stealing his girlfriend's phone and allegedly shoplifted from a local Walmart on two locations.

ICE CAPTURES 2 SUSPECTED VENEZUELAN GANG MEMBERS IN CONNECTION WITH NYPD ASSAULT

Ibarra's brother, Jose Antonio Ibarra, is accused of brutally killing Riley during her morning run in what investigators have called a "crime of opportunity."

He also entered the country illegally, in 2022, but was freed on border parole, which allowed him to travel to New York City and then Athens, according to authorities.

Athens Mayor Kelly Girtz faced protests at a news briefing last week regarding public safety in the city, which is about 70 miles east of Atlanta.

LAKEN RILEY CASE: HECKLERS SHOUT DOWN ATHENS MAYOR AS HE DENIES SANCTUARY CITY, ANNOUNCES PUBLIC SAFETY FUNDS

Hecklers called for his resignation when he denied Athens is a sanctuary city and shouted him down when he blamed a 2019 resolution supporting undocumented foreigners on then-President Trump.

"While 2019 was not that long ago, you might remember the dynamic we were living in, in the late teens in this country where you had the president of the United States speaking in the most vile terms about people who were foreign born," he said. "And you had that notion metastasizing in places like Charlottesville."

Fox News Digital's Brooke Curto and Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.





Original article source: Illegal brother of Laken Riley murder suspect linked to Venezuelan crime gang: DOJ
WARNING: GRAPHIC

Virginia authorities have apprehended an illegal immigrant from Mexico in connection with the Feb. 29 abduction of a 15-year-old Ohio girl.

The Butler County Sheriff's Office in Ohio on Tuesday reported the arrest of Isauro Garcia Cruz, 43, on warrants for first-degree felony kidnapping, third-degree felony unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, fourth-degree felony gross sexual imposition and first-degree misdemeanor interference with custody.

"The victim in this case is a 15-year-old unaccompanied female from Honduras. She was placed in a sponsor's home in the City of Middletown [Ohio] by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS]," the Butler County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post. "Her sponsor is also an illegal immigrant and was the girlfriend of the suspect Garcia Cruz."

Federal and local authorities on Monday located the missing teenager on the 1200 block of Burnbridge Road in the Forest area of Bedford County, Virginia, hundreds of miles from her home in Ohio.

MSNBC'S PSAKI, MADDOW LAUGH AT AND MOCK VIRGINIA VOTERS FOR CARING ABOUT BORDER CRISIS

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The Butler County Sheriffs Office continues to investigate the case and is working to determine if the minor was a victim of human trafficking.

"It's so tough when these kids come across the border by themselves, no parents, no guardians, boys, girls," Sheriff Richard Jones told Fox News Digital, adding that the victim may have been 14 years old when she crossed the border alone.

ICE CATCHES GUATEMALAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CONVICTED OF CHILD SEX OFFENSE WHO WAS RELEASED IN VIRGINIA

The victim was initially placed with her sponsor in Middletown but was then placed in her own apartment by herself. After she moved into the apartment, Garcia Cruz "still hangs with her, stays with her, has sex with her," Jones said. His office received a tip about the suspect, which prompted an investigation.

Isauro Garcia Cruz is charged with first-degree felony kidnapping, third-degree felony unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, fourth-degree felony gross sexual imposition and first-degree misdemeanor interference with custody.

Eventually, Butler County tracked the suspect and victim to a hotel in Virginia and contacted local authorities to apprehend Garcia Cruz. A government organization has since placed the victim with another family.

"When you're 15 years old  you're not even driving," Jones said, "and some 43-year-old man who's here illegally hooks up with you."

TEXAS TEEN LIZBETH MEDINA MURDER: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT RAFAEL ROMERO

The Butler County sheriff has been to the border three times, and he said the migrant crisis makes him "angry." Jones recalled the 2005 case of a 9-year-old Butler County girl who was riding her bike when she was coerced into following Alfredo Lopez Cruz, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, into a vacant home, where he raped her and then sent her to walk home alone without any clothes on. The suspect fled to Mexico, but authorities were able to track him down and extradite him to the United States in 2011.

"Every state right now is a border state. I don't care where you live," Jones said, noting that the fentanyl crisis is another example of how the border crisis is impacting American livelihood.

Migrants attempting to cross into San Luis, Arizona, from Mexico are detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the border on Aug. 20, 2022.

Garcia Cruz "had additional pending warrants for aggravated sexual battery of a minor relating to a separate incident," the Bedford County Sheriff's Office in Virginia stated in a Facebook post.

The suspect is being held at the Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority on a fugitive from justice warrant, as well as an additional contributing to a minor warrant from Bedford County. The case remains an active investigation.

News of Garcia Cruz's arrest came after Virginia authorities on Feb. 22 arrested a 32-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela in connection with the sexual assault of a minor.

The Campbell County Sheriffs Office said they arrested Renzo Mendoza Montes, 32, on two felony charges in connection with a sexual assault on a minor.

The Campbell County Sheriff's Office arrested Renzo Mendoza Montes on two felony charges in connection to a sexual assault that took place in January. The victim was a 14-year-old female, officials said.

"Due to the fact that is an active investigation, the sheriff's office will not be releasing any additional details related to the case. We are especially sensitive to the fact that these crimes involve a young juvenile who lives here within our community," Sheriff Whit Clark said in a statement.

LAKEN RILEY'S MOTHER SPEAKS OUT ABOUT 'AVOIDABLE TRAGEDY' AFTER DAUGHTER'S FUNERAL

The two alleged criminal incidents involving noncitizen suspects have been highlighted amid a recent Tuesday MSNBC segment, when panelists suggested immigration should not be a topic of concern for Virginia voters.

Panelists including MSNBC hosts Rachel Maddow, Joy Reid and former Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki laughed after Psaki said she lives in Northern Virginia, where "immigration was the number one issue" for voters.

"Well, Virginia does have a border with West Virginia," Maddow said, as others on the panel laughed.

The clip has sparked outrage among pundits and voters who do feel illegal immigration is an important issue ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

"Those people live in gated communities.  This is no laughing matter. It happens all over the country," Sheriff Jones said of the MSNBC clip, adding that "they're spitting in victims' faces."

Fox News' Chris Pondolfo, David Rutz and Jeffrey Clark contributed to this report.





Original article source: Illegal immigrant nabbed in Virginia after abducting teen in Ohio, taking hundreds of miles from home: police
There has been a major ramping up of security along the border between North Korea and China. This image shows North Korea from an area near the Chinese border city of Hunchun in 2015

North Korea has used the Covid-19 pandemic to seal up its northern border with China, new images from a leading human rights group show.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) describes a situation which has seen "intensifying repression", with "drastically reduced" cross-border movement and trade.

In the research, North Koreans spoke of the increasingly restrictive measures.

UN member states should "immediately address" North Korea's isolation and humanitarian crisis, HRW stresses.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reinforced a crackdown on border security in recent years, coinciding with the pandemic.

The border was only reopened a few months ago, largely to improve trade with China.

The report, entitled A Sense of Terror Stronger than a Bullet: The Closing of North Korea 2018-2023, describes the "overbroad, excessive, and unnecessary measures during the Covid-19 pandemic".

Focusing on satellite images, it shows authorities in North Korea constructing 482km (299 miles) of new fencing in the areas it investigated, and enhancing another 260km of fencing which was already in place.

Taken between 2019 and 2023 and covering about a quarter of its northern border, the images also detail things like new guard posts and the creation of buffer zones - things which further restrict life in the country.

In this image, we can see that in March 2019, on the east bank of the Tumen River, a primary fence is visible - but is interrupted with a large gap for the Hoeryong stream. Three years later, in April 2022, a bridge had been added, along with a secondary fence, creating a buffer zone

Along with the border infrastructure has come a more authoritarian enforcement of rules - including a shoot on sight order for border guards.

HRW noted a 20-fold increase in the number of border security facilities in the area observed, with guard posts rising from just 38 to more than 6,500.

Lina Yoon, senior Korea researcher at HRW, said North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un should "end the policies that have essentially made North Korea a giant prison, reopen its borders for trade, relax internal travel restrictions, and allow monitored international emergency assistance".

One escapee, who spoke to her relative back home, said rice and wheat could no longer be smuggled into the country.

"Not even an ant can make it across the border now", her relative told her. This has also made it harder for North Korean escapees to send money back home to support their families, the report says, further increasing the suffering of the North Korean people.

Another person who had left the country described the situation for their relatives in late 2022, when many parts of the world were facing tough Covid-19 restrictions.

"My [relative] said now people are more worried of starving to death than of dying of Covid-19," they said.

"They are all worried of dying from simple diseases."

Map showing the China-North Korea border and the highlighting the Yalu river

The crackdown has also stopped the flow of cash from people in South Korea to their relatives and contacts in the North.

HRW estimated that by the start of 2023, only about one in 10 money brokers were able to send money across, when compared to the situation pre-pandemic.

Also highlighted in the report is the toll UN sanctions, imposed on Pyongyang in 2017 following nuclear tests, have had on people.

The report calls them "broad-based", and says they have "exacted a toll on the population at large by undermining people's rights to an adequate standard of living, and thus to food and health".

"This had an especially hard impact on women, the main breadwinners in most households, by reducing the activities in the markets in which they traded."

One former trader who had been in contact with relatives in North Korea said a relative used to catch squid and crabs, and was able to live off the informal trade with China.

Because of Covid-19 and the sanctions, this trade was stopped - and his relatives had to sell for domestic consumptions for a much lower return, making it "hard to survive".

You may also be interested in:
FILE PHOTO: The IMF logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that Ecuadorean authorities officially requested "a few weeks ago" to begin discussions on a potential new program with the IMF, but gave no details.

"Staff are actively engaging with the authorities to assess the economic situation and support the reforms to address the challenges facing the country," fund spokesperson Julie Kozack said in a scheduled press briefing.

"The recent wave of violence has come at a time of a challenging macroeconomic and fiscal outlook for Ecuador," she said.

Ecuadors international dollar bonds rose on Thursday, with the 2040 and 2035 up 2 cents each while the 2030 added 1.75 cent, according to LSEG data.

The Ecuadorean government did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but President Daniel Noboa said earlier this week the government is "working also on a deal with the IMF which will be done in the next two to three months."

Ecuador has been fighting violence blamed on drug trafficking, with the government last month proposing to raise security spending by $214 million this year as it deploys the ilitary to help fight the violence.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, David Lawder and Alexandra Valencia; Editing by Chris Reese and Leslie Adler)
With the 2024 presidential election looming, Hispanic voters continue to be among the most courted  and least understood  voting blocs for candidates up and down the ballot, with their importance increasing along with their numbers.

Floridas 2.4 million Hispanic voters, more than a third of whom live in Miami-Dade County, offer lessons for the entire country.

On March 14, the Miami Herald and its partners are inviting the community to a discussion among experts from different backgrounds about what we know, what we think we know and what remains to be seen about this increasingly important and diverse demographic ahead of November.

Heres a rundown of what to expect, and how you can attend Voters Decide: The Hispanic Vote 2024.

Watch the live stream here:

Whats happening?

Speakers from across the political spectrum will gather at 8 p.m. on March 14 at the Florida International University Modesto Maidique campus inside the Graham Center, 10955 SW 15th Ter., to discuss the importance of the 2024 Hispanic vote in Florida and nationwide.

The discussion aims to uncover what political campaigns are doing to get the attention of Hispanic voters, what Hispanic voters want from their elected officials and how the Latino segment of the electorate in Florida is changing.

The town-hall-style event, organized by the Miami Herald, el Nuevo Herald, CBS News Miami, Univision Miami, South Florida public radio station WLRN and hosted by FIU, will be free and open to the public.

Who will be speaking?

CBS News Miami anchor Eliott Rodriguez will moderate the discussion with a panel of five political experts:

Eduardo Gamarra, a professor of political science at Florida International University who has done extensive polling of Hispanic voters in the U.S.

Fernand Amandi, the managing partner of Miami-based public opinion research and strategic communications consulting firm Bendixen & Amandi.

Ninoska Perez Castellon, a longtime voice of Cuban exiles in Miami. Shes the host of Ninoska en La Poderosa on 670 AM.

Jose Parra, a partner with global strategic communications advisory firm FGS Global. Hes also the former CEO at Prospero Latino and former senior advisor to former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Irina Vilarino, a former U.S. congressional candidate who was an early and staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump. She built a successful career working to expand her familys restaurant business, Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine, which includes 15 locations in South Florida and more than 400 employees.

How do I register to attend?

You can register for the event here.

I cant attend in person. How else can I watch it?

It will be broadcast on CBS 4s sister station WBFS-TV 33 and simulcast online at WLRN.org and the Miami Heralds YouTube channel, and on CBS News Miami on Pluto TV, and the CBS News App. The event will be extended online for an additional 30 minutes.

This article has been updated to correct information about the sponsors and how to watch the broadcast of the event.
Hoax posts promising free work opportunities in Canada have recently increased on Ethiopian social media. A Facebook page claiming to represent the Ethiopian embassy in Canada claims 10,000 such opportunities are on offer for Ethiopians and Eritreans, implying their visa and travel costs would be covered. However, this is false: Canadian immigration authorities confirmed the purported programme does not exist. AFP Fact Check also found that the Facebook account does not belong to the embassy.

The post, shared more than 70 times since it was published on March 4, 2024, contains a letter purportedly stamped by both the Ethiopian embassy in Canada and the Ethiopian ambassador to the United States.

Screenshot of the false post, taken on March 6, 2024

There is no official letterhead, only the flags of Ethiopia and Canada, and a headline in Amharic that translates to Job vacancy.

Congratulations! Good news for Ethiopians and Eritreans. For the second round of 2016 E.C. (2024 G.C.), the Canadian government has made a new declaration offering free work opportunities to 10,000 Ethiopians and Canadians. Citizens of Ethiopia and Eritrea who meet the following requirements are eligible to apply, the letter states.

In the Ethiopian calendar, 2016 is equivalent to 2024.

The letter lists eligibility requirements: Age 20 years and above; national ID; graduated from 10th grade and renewed passport.

Then it explains: Those who meet these requirements can reserve a place by calling the numbers below. Two Ethiopian mobile phone numbers are listed.

Despite mentioning free opportunities, the letter then goes on to state: You can travel to Canada if you pay 25% of the processing fee, adding that the application will be online.

The stamps read: Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia - Canada and Seleshi Bekele Awulachew: Embassy of Ethiopian Ambassador.

Seleshi Bekele Awulachew (archived here) is the current ambassador of Ethiopia to the United States.

Similar claims were published on Facebook here and here.

However, the purported offer does not exist.

Impostor page

AFP Fact Check found that the Ethio Canadian Embassy Facebook page is a sham.

Its Facebook transparency information reveals that it was created less than a month ago, on February 19, 2024. It has fewer than 200 followers.

Meanwhile, the official Facebook page (archived here) of the Ethiopian Embassy in Canada was created on June 19, 2018, and has more than 58,000 followers.

Screenshots of the Facebook transparency information of the official account of the Ethiopian embassy in Canada (left) and the imposter page, taken on March 6, 2024

AFP Fact Check also compared the stamp on the fake letter with the official embassy stamp, found on its website.

The official stamp reads Embassy of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia Ottawa, not Embassy of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia Canada.

Screenshots of the official stamp of Ethiopian embassy in Canada (above) and the stamp in the fake letter

Moreover, the name of the current Ethiopian ambassador to Canada is Fitsum Arega, not Seleshi Bekele Awulachew, the ambassador to the United States.

Non-existent programme

The Ethiopian embassy in Canada has not made any announcements regarding free work opportunities in Canada on any of its platforms.

It told AFP Fact Check: "This form has nothing to do with our embassy and is far from the truth; it is a fabricated form designed to mislead people, and we strongly urge Ethiopians living in the country or abroad to take care not to use the form."

AFP Fact Check also contacted the Canadian governments immigration ministry, which confirmed that the claim was unfounded.

The claim is incorrect; no such programme exists, the ministrys spokesman Erin Kerbel told AFP Fact Check.

Our Protect yourself from immigration fraud webpage raises awareness about common types of scams and fraudulent activities, she added.

AFP Fact Check has previously debunked similar posts promising free travel and job opportunities in Canada and the US here, here and here.
The rules for the reinstatement of expelled students in higher educational institutions have changed in Azerbaijan, Azernews reports, citing the Ministry of Science and Education.

The new rules indicate that expelled students can apply for reinstatement at the university where they studied for the next 15 years. In this case, students will begin their studies only in the session (autumn or spring) in which they were expelled.

In the event of the reorganisation or liquidation of a university (with the exception of a special higher educational institution), the student may be reinstated in the educational institution that is the legal successor of his university.

In the absence of one, the university is determined by the Ministry of Science and Education.
The terrorist country of Russia has admitted that the explosions at the Severstal plant in the Vologda region were linked to a drone attack. According to the local governor Georgy Filimonov, the incident occurred in the blast furnace area.

ADVERTISIMENT

It is worth noting that this time, the Russians did not traditionally blame Ukraine for the attack, but stated that the UAV was of "unidentified origin". This was reported by Russian media.

The propagandists claim that despite the explosions and drone strikes, the blast furnace was not disrupted, and the enterprise is "operating normally."

The governor also said that investigative authorities were working at the scene. At the same time, the official said that there were allegedly no injuries as a result of the incident.

At the same time, Russian media reported that the explosions occurred near the fourth blast furnace of the Cherepovets Steel Plant. It is noteworthy that just a few hours ago, the plant's management stated that the "bang" was related to a technological accident. Also, contrary to officials' statements that "the plant's operation has not been disrupted," the company complained that one of the units was taken out for repairs.

ADVERTISIMENT

On March 7, a fire broke out on the territory of a tank school in Kazan (Russia). According to preliminary reports, the barracks were on fire. The cause of the fire has not yet been announced in Russia, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the republic has not even commented on the fire.

Earlier it was reported that an explosion occurred in Russia at the Shagonarskaya CHP in the Republic of Tyva on March 6. After that, a massive fire broke out at the facility. Many people were injured in the incident, and one person was reported dead.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, Russia announced a new "bang" on March 6. A deafening explosion occurred near an oil storage facility near Voronezh. The propagandists claim that "civilian objects" were allegedly not damaged.

ADVERTISIMENT
A Plaid Cymru MP says an ex party member should have faced losing his seat for inappropriate behaviour towards women.

Rhys ab Owen, a South Wales Central MS in the Senedd, is facing a 42-day ban over his behaviour on a night out.

Ben Lake said it was not right the sanction does not trigger a recall petition - which if passed leads to a by-election - like in Westminster.

Mr ab Owen has apologised "to those who were affected by my behaviour".

But a report from the standards committee of the Senedd says he denies inappropriate touching of the women concerned,

Mr Lake, who represents Ceredigion in the UK Parliament, said it was clear the behaviour was "unacceptable".

The standards commissioner Douglas Bain found that Mr ab Owen, who was drunk in Cardiff Bay with Members of the Senedd and Plaid staff, inappropriately touched two women and swore at them.

Speaking to BBC Wales Live, Mr Lake said that it was "not right female members of staff should be subjected to such inappropriate behaviour".

As well as detailing the alleged behaviour, the report also said the issue was raised within Plaid Cymru very soon after the incident.

It took place on the night of 30 June to 1 July 2021. The report says the matter was raised in the party on 1 July.

But Mr ab Owen was not suspended from his party's group until November 2022, after a complaint was made in writing to the commissioner in August of that year.

Ben Lake says the Senedd should have the same recall petition procedure as Westminster, where he represents Ceredigion

The standards committee's report on Mr Bain's investigation recommended a six-week long ban which will need to be approved by the Senedd next week.

Mr Lake said: ''It's clear that some unacceptable instances have happened and it's not right that female members of staff should be subjected to such inappropriate behaviour.''

He criticised the way which the Senedd dealt with members who were suspended.

''In Westminster such a ban or a sanction would trigger a recall petition and I think it is something that, if it is not possible at the moment in the Senedd, it's something we should be exploring.

"Because it can't be right that an elected member can act in such a way, to be found guilty of doing this and then to continue in that representative function.''

When asked if he would support a by-election he said: "Yes, if that's a way it could work.''

What is a recall petition?

In Westminster anyone who is suspended for 10 days that the Commons would be sitting is subject to a recall petition.

That means if 10% of the electorate sign, a by-election is triggered. The sitting MP may wish to defend their seat or step aside.

Although the Welsh Parliament can, on recommendation of the standards committee, ban politicians from the state and remove their salaries for set lengths of time, there is no provision for a petition.

Legislation that will increase the number of Senedd members, which is currently being examined by the Welsh Parliament, does not include a recall measure.

A Conservative attempt to add it to the bill was rejected on Tuesday, although the Senedd was told that the standard committee is going to look at the issue.

A complicating factor is the Senedd's electoral system. Currently there are no by-elections if a regional MS steps down, because they are elected from a party list.

Under the new system will have no by-elections at all, with all 96 MSs elected from party lists.

A Labour MP said the public should have a way to remove misbehaving Senedd members from office.

Pontypridd MP and shadow minister Alex Davies-Jones told BBC Wales it was not right "the public have no opportunity to hold him to account and have a choice as to whether they are still represented by him.".

"How do women or victims in the region feel about going to him now with some very serious case work. How would they feel," she asked.

"There must be a way of holding public figures and politicians to account for inappropriate behaviour or if they commit a crime."
Defending the U.S. against an attack on its satellites may be another day on the job for Space Force Sgt. Robert Brown, but he admits to getting a little sweaty when guardians undertook their first orbital warfare simulation in December.

The four-day Red Skies exercise, hosted by Space Training and Readiness Commands 392nd Combat Training Squadron, intended to flex the muscles of Delta 9 Guardians who are training to defend U.S. satellite systems that form the backbone of American military operations.

Space Force to launch more integrated units to boost efficiency

Our strategic competitors are preparing space capabilities to find and target and attack our terrestrial forces, right? We know theyre planning and building to deny, degrade our space capabilities as well. So our nations responding, Brig. Gen. Todd Moore, deputy commander of STARCOM, told Air Force Times.

Though details are classified, more than three dozen guardians from Deltas 9, 2, 3, 7 and 11 worked together for the first time through a simulated exercise to maintain tactical command and control of several satellites while building awareness of what physical and digital threats might be lurking.

Not all plans survive, Brown, a member of Delta 9, which focuses on orbital warfare, said of the exercise. On-the-fly planning is essential for crews to understand how to get after and how to accomplish [the mission].

Space Force refining range needs through Black Skies training

Red Skies followed a series of electronic warfare-focused Black Skies exercises, which began in September 2022. A cyber warfare exercise, Blue Skies, is expected later this year.

The exercises also come as Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman seeks to boost the services combat readiness through more robust and realistic operational test and training infrastructure, including by building live ranges and investing in mission-specific simulators, while accelerating the tempo and increasing the scope of exercises. The results of those exercises will shape the forces development and design.

In the past, Saltzman said, readiness metrics reflected whether troops could operate military space systems unthreatened. That has changed.

It will no longer be sufficient to fight for space superiority against our pacing threat. We have provided space effects with impunity for decades.  These days are over, Saltzman said in a Feb. 13 keynote speech at the Air and Space Forces Associations Air Warfare Symposium.

Because its rare for deltas to work together, crew integration and coordination between them during Red Skies was a top priority for Capt. DeShawna Moore, the 392nd CTS lead exercise planner.

My overall objective was seeing that play out, and seeing where the efficiency is to help direct where the training or where Red Skies goes next, Moore said.

Space Force to seek industry help to test tech, train guardians

Red Skies is one of several events that the Space Force will use as it builds toward running several simultaneous exercises in what 392nd CTS Commander Lt. Col. Scott Nakatani called a cohesive space sortie.

We need to catch up to that level of proficiency that all the other services have in operating in their domain in support of the combatant commanders [operational] plan, Nakatani said.

While theres no date set for the overarching exercise, Moore and Nakatani said they hope to introduce live fire into the next Red Skies simulation, which could come in fiscal year 2025.
A Nelson County man accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Crystal Rogers, has filed a request to change the venue of his trial out of Nelson County and Central Kentucky.

Brooks Houck was indicted in September 2023 on charges of murder and tampering with physical evidence in the death of Rogers, his former girlfriend, who was last seen in July 2015. He has pleaded not guilty.

Houcks attorneys filed a request on his behalf Thursday afternoon for a change of venue. They argue the vast media coverage has a prejudicial affect on Houck and potential jury members.

Family of Crystal Rogers speak to members of the media following the arraignment for Brooks Houck at the Nelson County Courthouse in Bardstown, Ky., on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. Houck has been charged in the murder of Crystal Rogers.

While it is unfortunate that so many residents of Nelson County have prejudged the facts of this case and disregarded the presumption of innocence, it is unsurprising given the incessant and pervasive local media coverage of the disappearance of Crystal Rogers over the course of the past eight years, court documents read.

Houck is requesting his trial be moved to Boyd or Daviess counties because residents there are less likely to have been affected by the media coverage and have the facilities to accommodate the trial.

Incessant media coverage necessary for change of venue

Intense media coverage, Facebook posts from Nelson County residents and other granted change of venue requests for another case involving Houck are all reasons to change the venue for the murder case, according to the motion from Houcks attorneys Brian Butler, Michael Denbow and Jennifer Henry Jackson.

The Nelson County Sheriffs Offices decision to release initial interviews with Houck  which appeared on podcasts, social media and national television  amplified attention around the case, according to court documents.

Rogers disappearance has been featured on Investigation Discovery and a six-part series on the network, Oxygen. Rogers mother, Sherry Ballard, has also appeared on the Dr. Phil Show.

The Kentucky Standard, according to court documents, has published 237 articles about Houck and the case.

Since 2019, media coverage of this case has only intensified, leading to the inevitable conclusion that such pretrial publicity is presumptively prejudicial, and has tainted potential jury pool not only in Nelson County, but also any Kentucky county within reach of the Louisville or Lexington media markets, the motion said.

The motion also references large billboard signs located throughout Nelson County which depict Rogers face, and claim Houck as the main suspect. They are located next to the judicial center where all his court dates are scheduled.

The defense argues these billboards, as well as bumper stickers on cars advocating for Rogers, have tainted the ability to select a jury in Nelson County.

Defense considers facilities, juror safety in request

The motion went on to say anyone who has defended Houck is publicly shamed by members of the community on social media, which could cause fear among potential jurors.

Included in the motion are several Facebook posts showing users targeted a woman who gave a brief and relatively benign statement to the media after one of Houcks court proceedings.

The post was shared nearly 90 times and there were 150 comments of vitriol claiming the woman should be investigated by police for associating with the Houck family.

Other Facebook posts in the motion included comments from the public threatening Houck and his family, as well as his attorneys.

Some court jurisdictions that would have been deemed appropriate for the trial were ruled out because their facilities and security are not equipped to handle the magnitude of the case and media, according to the motion.

The motion is scheduled for a hearing on March 21.
The Indiana House approved a proposal earlier this week to ban cities from sister city arrangements with China and five other adversarial nations.

The measure, introduced by Rep. Ben Smaltz R-Auburn, follows a push by Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Banks to get Carmel to drop its membership with a China business and cultural exchange organization. Banks contends that the Chinese government uses ties to cities to infiltrate the U.S. government.

Senate Bill 256 prohibits cities from making agreements with countries listed as foreign adversaries under federal law: China, North Korea, Russia, Cuba, Iran and Venezuela.

Last month, Carmel Mayor Sue Finkam agreed to withdraw her city's $25,000 yearly dues-paying membership in the United States Heartland China Association but kept the sister city relationship with Xiangyang, Hubei.

Rep. Jim Banks

Banks said the association has collaborated with Chinese state-sponsored organizations aiming to infiltrate and influence the United States and other foreign governments. And he criticized former Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard and a handful of other mayors for visiting China last fall, where he said they were wined and dined by officials in China.

Brainard, the United States Heartland China Association vice chairman, denied the organization has ties to the Chinese government and accused Banks of lying about it.

Smaltz said in a Feb. 27 House Ways and Means meeting that he was inspired by Rep. Mitch Gore, D-Indianapolis, to introduce the language banning certain sister city agreements into the unrelated Senate Bill 256. Gore had unsuccessfully tried to stick an identical provision on a bill on the House floor, inspired, he said, by Banks actions.

We know that China tries to use soft power to influence the U.S. economy, Gore told IndyStar. To be wined and dined there is concerning.

Finkam praised Carmel's sister city agreement.

"Our sister city relationships around the world, like the one with Xiangyang, provide great cultural value to our residents including the many freedom-loving Chinese Americans who call our great city home," she said in an email to the IndyStar. "However, I take the safety of our nation and city very seriously. If state law declares any of our sister city relationships to be illegal, we will comply with state law.

Nineteen Indiana cities have sister city arrangements with cities in China, including Indianapolis, Fishers and Fort Wayne, according to Indiana Sister City Cities International. Its uncertain whether Smaltzs proposal would void those agreements. He did not respond to a request for comment. Gore said his amendment would have canceled those agreements.

Jim Brainard chats about project with staff members Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022, on the day Brainard, Carmels longtime mayor, announced hes not seeking reelection.

Proponents of sister cities say they foster goodwill between citizens, even when diplomatic conditions are rocky.

"This is shortsighted, said Peter Kirkwood, chief of protocol for the International Center, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit organization. The focus must be on the long term."

Kirkwood is the state representative for Indiana Sister Cities International and helped put together Carmels arrangement with Xiangyang in 2012.

Sister cities are mutually beneficial peacebuilding, citizen diplomacy, no matter what the geopolitical conditions are, he said. Its a people-to-people relationship that fosters peace and respect.

Jenning Li, who headed the Fort Wayne sister city program with Taizhou, China, for 12 years, said student exchanges are valuable to citizens of both countries.

Students in China have heard all different stories about the United States and students here hear stories about China, he said. Then when they go there they find out what it is like and gain a new understanding.

Many of the states arrangements with Chinese cities are more than a decade old, set up in the years after China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001 when trade was robust.

Our main purpose was economic, Li said. To gain job opportunities on both sides.

But economic tensions have worsened since then in many respects between the two countries, with Chinas state-led development and investment in the United States raising national security concerns.

Now it is a different environment, Chinas economy is not that good anymore, Li said.

Gore said the cultural exchanges were suspicious in the current environment.

On the surface, they appear to be cultural but when trips are taken to another country and they buy your meals, who knows what is being discussed, it could be anything, he said. This only applies to adversary countries. Its not xenophobic as it appears.

The United States Heartland China Association is a nonprofit formed to strengthen economic, cultural and personal ties with China, according to its website. Its members include 27 mayors from 20 Midwestern states. Brainard took a trip with other mayors to China last November.

The ban is not a done deal. The version of the bill that passed the Senate did not include the language, which means the House and Senate still have to negotiate the final bill version before it can be sent to the governor.

The 172-page Senate Bill 256 in its current form also contains language eliminating the sales tax on tampons and giving more money to families caring for children with medically complex conditions.

Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418 or email him at john.tuohy@indystar.com. Follow him on Facebook and X/Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana House votes to ban sister city relationships with China
Indiana mother appeared fit and healthy before suddenly dying aboard AA flight, family and friends say

An Indiana mother who suddenly fell and died aboard a flight home from the Dominican Republic last week had no pre-existing conditions, kept herself in good shape and even trained while on vacation in the Caribbean nation, her family and friends told ABC News.

Stefanie Smith, 41, was on American Airlines Flight 2790 from Punta Cana to Charlotte, North Carolina, on Feb. 28 when her health took a sudden turn, police said.

She was given CPR on the plane and then the aircraft was diverted to the Turks and Caicos Islands, where she was taken to a local hospital but could not be saved.

Stefanie Smith, 41, was on American Airlines Flight 2790 from Punta Cana to Charlotte, North Carolina, when she started convulsing and died.

THESE ARE THE 10 LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH AMONG US ADULTS, THE CDC SAYS

Her cause of death has yet to be determined and those close to her say they are shocked by her unexplained death.

Smith's boyfriend was sitting next to her on the flight and said her eyes rolled back and she started convulsing, her friend Maria Yannotti, told ABC. Yannotti was also on the trip and traveled separately.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Yannotti said Smith's boyfriend initially thought she was joking around but soon realized she was in distress.

Then a doctor and nurses on board the plane helped administer CPR before the plane made an emergency landing in the Turks and Caicos Islands, a British Overseas Territory located in the southeast of the Bahamas.

Smith was vacationing with her boyfriend for five days and seemed healthy right before the flight, Yannotti said.

Smith was given CPR on the plane and then the aircraft was diverted to the Turks and Caicos Islands, where she was taken to a local hospital but could not be saved.

MATERNAL DEATH RATE IS ON THE RISE IN THE US, THE CDC REPORTS

"She loves going to the gym every day, even while we were in the Dominican. She made it a point to get up every morning to go to the gym and run on the beach."

Her brother, Chris Volz, told ABC he was not aware of his sister having any pre-existing health conditions.

Smith was the mother of two children, an 18-year-old son named Coen and 16-year-old daughter, Macee.

"She was a special person... Her kids really... love her a lot, and I know she loved them," Volz said. "And so it's tough."

A GoFundMe created for Smiths children expressed the devotion Smith had for them.

"The love she shared with Coen and Macee cannot be measured or described in words."

"Also, her endless love for her family, friends, and community will leave a lasting impact on all who had the privilege of knowing her."

A woman who said she was Smiths sister-in-law, also remembered her fondly.

"We are in disbelief and our hearts are broken," wrote Stephanie Quinn last week in response to a police statement about the incident.

Quinn described her sister-in-law as the only girl out of five siblings and the mother of two "beautiful children with big hearts and straight As."

Unexpected or, "excess," deaths, claimed 158,000 more Americans in the first nine months of 2023 than in the same period in 2019, according to a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).





Original article source: Indiana mother appeared fit and healthy before suddenly dying aboard AA flight, family and friends say
An Indian security officer stands guard outside the venue where India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to hold a rally in Srinagar (TAUSEEF MUSTAFA)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to hold a rally in main city of Indian-administrated Kashmir on Thursday, on his first visit since the disputed region's semi-autonomy was cancelled in 2019.

Modi's government stripped the Muslim-majority territory of its special constitutional status, splitting the former state into two territories directly ruled from New Delhi.

The move, widely welcomed across India, angered many in the densely militarised territory.

Rebels in the Himalayan region have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan -- which controls a smaller part the Kashmir region and, like India, claims it in full.

Thousands of armed police and paramilitary forces were deployed, and new checkpoints set up across Kashmir's main city Srinagar, where the Hindu nationalist leader is scheduled to address a public gathering around midday.

"Various development works will also be dedicated to the nation," Modi said in a statement on social media platform X ahead of the visit, including programmes "boosting the agro-economy" as well as tourism.

A government statement said Modi will also inaugurate infrastructure around the revered Muslim shrine of Hazratbal.

The visit comes ahead of India's national elections due by May, the first since the region lost its autonomy. The last local elections in Kashmir were held in 2014.

Modi's government claims New Delhi's direct rule of Kashmir brought about a new era of "peace and development" in the region, but critics and many residents say it heralded a drastic curtailment of civil liberties and press freedom.

Security forces on Thursday patrolled the streets, as well as in motorboats along the river that runs through Srinagar.

Most schools in the city are shut for the day, and the authorities have called on government employees to attend the rally.

Omar Abdulla, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, accused the government of organising buses to bring in crowds to attend the rally, alleging that "almost none" would be attending willingly.

pzb/pjm/ser
DAYTONA BEACH  If there are hundreds of thousands of motorcycle fans at Bike Week, there must be at least that many tattoos.

Not everybody has one, mind you, but those who do? They rarely stop at one.

I honestly dont know how many I have, said Ashley Butler, 35, adorned with an intricate design of skulls ensconced in moths that stretches across her chest from arm-to-arm, connecting to yet another swirling spiral that wraps around her neck. I have so many.

Ashley Butler and her husband, Chris, of St. Louis, Missouri, are covered with tattoos on Main Street during the 83rd Annual Bike Week in Daytona Beach. "I honestly don't know how many I have," Ashley said.

Both arms also are encased in sleeves of ink as well as one leg and part of the other, the latter a work still in progress.

The chest tattoo took 10 hours to complete. Another eight hours were invested on her neck.

I also have tattoos all over my whole back, said Butler, who traveled with her more modestly inked-up husband, Chris, from their home outside St. Louis, Missouri, to stroll Main Street during Bike Week.

A professional body piercer, Butler had her first tattoo done when she was 16, a design that incorporated her name in cursive letters, a Chinese symbol for slave and the admonition to keep on dreaming, even if it breaks your heart.

There have been hundreds since then, she estimates, although the majority dont represent any deep spiritual or sentimental meaning.

It just looks cool, she said.

Tattoos are 'more like a piece of art'

Across the street, skulls also figure into the tattoos that cover every inch of both the arms and torso of Maurizio Sabatino, 51, who traveled with his buddy from Zurich, Switzerland.

Despite a language barrier, Sabatino conveyed that there are no fewer than 200 skulls emblazoned on his stomach and chest.

Maurizio Sabatino,of Zurich, Switzerland, shows off a new tattoo behind his ear that he received at Main Street Tattoo during Bike Week 2024 in Daytona Beach. It's the latest in an array of tattoos that include 200 skulls across his torso.

Enough for a lifetime, he said, smiling.

At Bike Week, Sabatino added a colorful flame that crawls across his neck and behind his ear, a creation that he commissioned at Main Street Tattoo, a shop that has been open for nearly three years in the 400 block of Main Street.

There, the shops 10 tattoo artists have been consistently busy, said owner Bobby Guidotti.

Over the first three days of Bike Week, we did between 500 and 600 tattoos, he said. You might think Im exaggerating, but I can show you the books. This has probably been the best Bike Week weve seen since weve been open.

More: Women bikers at Daytona Bike Week talk about what riding means to them

More: Ready for the weekend? Bike Week and beyond, there are fun events in Volusia-Flagler

In case you missed it: How big are Daytona Bike Week crowds compared to other U.S. motorcycle rallies?

As more customers arrive, the scope of what they want has expanded, Guidotti said.

People are getting a lot more detailed stuff, with much more intricacy. That makes it a lot more like a piece of art than a tattoo. Its a canvas.

One block east at Victory Tattoo, business also has been booming, said manager Margaret Alger.

The staff at Victory Tattoo on Main Street clean a resently finished tattoo during Bike Week 2024 in Daytona Beach. Business at the shop is booming during the 10-day event, said manager Margaret Alger.

We had a little bit of a slow start on opening day, but its been wall-to-wall since then, throughout the event, Alger said. To be packed and not get out of here until 3 a.m., like we did on Monday, is awesome. I think its going to be one of our best years ever.

For ink fans, tattoos 'all mean something'

For many ink aficionados, the body art symbolizes something significant.

For Michael Shadlich, 66, of Ocala, a tattoo of the World Trade Centers twin towers on his calf is a reminder of the time that he spent hanging wallpaper on the 102nd floor of one of the towers, a year before the 9/11 terrorist attack.

It also commemorates his sons enlistment in the U.S. Marine Corps, a decision made in response to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

A rider with a full back tattoo joins the crowd strolling along Main Street during Bike Week 2024. Tattoos are seeimingly everywhere among the crowd of motorcycle fans in Daytona Beach for the event.

The meaning behind each of Kimbra McGraths more than two dozen tattoos also is intensely personal, including a puzzle piece inked on the inside of her left wrist.

I was in a very dark space in my life, said McGrath, 61 of Edgewater, a retired certified nursing assistant. For several years, I never opened the curtains, never did anything.

Back in the day: Daytona Beach's Bike Week: A history of beer, bikes, cole slaw and 'rowdyism'

Then, one day something just clicked in my head, and it was like the putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Thats what that tattoo represents, but they all mean something. Theres a meaning for every single one of them.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Bike Week tattoos abound on Daytona's Main Street
Joe Biden's address last year was raucous and he has been preparing how to respond to Republican hecklers - Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Joe Biden, the US president, will deliver his biggest speech of the year on Thursday night to an audience of hundreds in Congress, and millions more will be watching live at home.

The White House has been working on his State of the Union address for months, hoping to use this unique political stage to land a number of policy points before Mr Bidens re-election bid in November.

While it represents a valuable opportunity for Mr Biden, the live, televised extravaganza is fraught with risks for the 81-year-old president who is facing serious questions over his fitness to serve another four years in the job.

Given Mr Bidens tendency to avoid the media - he has shunned numerous high-profile interview opportunities and done significantly fewer press conferences than his predecessors - the spotlight has only intensified.

With polls finding a majority of Americans have doubts about Mr Bidens ability to serve effectively, he will be under even greater scrutiny than ever with his rare, extended appearance live on camera.

How Biden is preparing

Mr Bidens aides know that the State of the Union is effectively a chance to quell doubts over his fitness for the role.

His hours of preparation have reportedly been aided by teleprompters, throat-soothing tea, and a trusted circle of aides.

He spent last weekend at his presidential retreat in Camp David honing the speech, which is likely to go well beyond an hour.

Aides say Mr Biden is always heavily involved in the drafting of his speeches and insists on them being free from the jargon of the DC-beltway and easily accessible to the public.

Mr Biden also goes through every speech line-by-line to mark up words and put in speech breaks, a lifelong habit to help him overcome a stutter he has had since childhood.

He is known to continue tinkering with his speeches right up until the last minute. Any verbal slips or apparent confusion will only provide fodder for his critics.

Republican ripostes

Mr Biden has also been preparing how to respond to Republican hecklers in the audience.

Last year, he was praised for being agile on his feet as he ad libbed responses to raucous interruptions from conservatives in the audience, in particular Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia congresswoman.

I enjoy conversation, he joked in response to shouts from Republicans.

The deeply partisan divides in Congress have only become more entrenched in the last year, and its very possible we can expect more of the same this year.

The official Republican response will be delivered by Katie Britt, a 41-year-old senator for Alabama.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has promised to provide a LIVE, Play by Play commentary on Mr Bidens speech.

Key topics

The content of the presidents speech is a closely guarded secret but it is almost certain to include an appeal to unlock military aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, which has been stalled in Congress for months.

On foreign policy more broadly, he is expected to address escalating tensions with China and Israels war against Hamas.

The Democrats push to safeguard womens access to abortion is also likely to feature prominently.

Special guests

An early indication of the theme of a State of the Union address is the special guests that are invited along to the gallery.

So far the White House has only disclosed one guest, Kate Cox, a Texas woman who was unable to get an abortion in the state despite the dangers to her health of continuing a pregnancy with a foetus that had a fatal condition.

Democrats are eager to demonstrate how Republican-led states have increasingly curtailed abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v Wade.

Olena Zelenska, Ukraines first lady, declined an invitation from the White House, according to the Washington Post, amid concerns over being seated next to Yulia Navalnaya, Alexei Navalnys widow.

The Russian dissident, who died last month in an Arctic prison, was a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin and opposed his invasion of Ukraine, but had previously said Crimea, which Putin annexed in 2014, belonged to Russia.

Ms Zelenskas office said her decision was due to scheduling conflicts, rather than seating arrangements.

Security will be tight on Capitol Hill for the president's speech - Chip Somodevilla/GETTY IMAGES

Ms Navalnaya had considered going but also ultimately declined, her spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said, because she needs time to recover after non-stop travel in the two weeks following her husbands death.

Members of Congress can invite guests too. Mike Johnson, the House Speaker, and two of his GOP members from New York are bringing police officers who were attacked in Times Square by a group of people including migrants. The attack caused a political uproar among Republicans who said the incident highlighted Mr Bidens failure to handle border security.

The parents of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter detained in Russia, and the relatives of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, are also expected to be in the audience.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
A Riverside dog breeder was arrested after surrendering 131 dogs.

On August 24, 2023, the Johnson County Sheriffs Office was contacted by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship regarding animal welfare concerns at a facility in Riverside. During the inspection at the commercial dog breeding facility, Sunset Valley Farm, a large number of dogs were found to be neglected.

Owner Loren Yoder, 62, surrendered all of his 131 dogs to the care of Iowa City Animal Services. Thorough physical exams conducted by assisting veterinarians determined many dogs had developed conditions caused by failure to adequately care for the animals. According to a release, the conditions caused unjustified distress, suffering and pain to the dogs. Yoder surrendered his commercial breeding license.

Loren Yoder (Johnson County Sheriffs Office)

On March 6, 2024, Yoder was arrested and charged with the following criminal charges:

5 counts of Animal Neglect  717B.3(4) (Serious Misdemeanor)

36 counts of Animal Neglect  717B.3(3) (Simple Misdemeanor)

Johnson County Sheriffs Office was assisted by Iowa City Animal Services, Johnson County Emergency Management and Johnson County Attorneys Office.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has put her support behind Donald Trump heading into the November election now that he is the last Republican standing the presidential primary fight.

"Joe Biden has been a disaster for our country," she posted to social media. "Higher prices, inflation, an open border, crime, and the destruction of Americas image on the world stage. I will do everything to defeat him and elect Donald J. Trump for president of the United States!"

Reynolds had endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president ahead of the Iowa Caucuses, saying she didn't believe Trump could win in a general election.

But she has said throughout the election cycle that she would ultimately support the party's nominee, regardless of who it is, in November.

"We are Republicans, and when this is done, we get behind whoever our nominee is and move forward," Reynolds told the Des Moines Register ahead of the caucuses.

Her support came the day former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley ended her White House bid, making Trump the only Republican still in the race. He is expected to quickly amass the delegates necessary to clinch the party's nomination.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said she is suspending her campaign Wednesday on March 6, 2024 in Daniel Island, South Carolina. Haley spoke to media and some campaign staff, doubling down on not supporting Donald Trump.

Trump has targeted Reynolds repeatedly over the past year, first for declining to endorse his campaign and remaining neutral and then for weighing in on behalf of DeSantis in November.

He wrote on social media at the time that Reynolds' endorsement of DeSantis would be "the end of her political career."

"Two extremely disloyal people getting together is, however, a very beautiful thing to watch," Trump continued. "They can now remain loyal to each other because nobody else wants them!!!"

Reynolds joins the 89% of Iowa Republicans who say they will vote for Trump in November, according to the latest Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, even after many supported other candidates in the party's January caucuses.

According to the poll, Trump would nearly double his margin of victory over Biden if a rematch of their 2020 contest were held now, winning 48% to 33% among likely voters.

Iowa's U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst also shared her support of the former president on social media Wednesday, becoming the final member of the U.S. Senate Republican leadership conference to do so. She had withheld any endorsement ahead of the caucuses.

"We must beat Joe Biden and get this country back on track," she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Donald Trump has my support."

Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She is also covering the 2024 presidential race for USA TODAY as a senior national campaign correspondent. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Gov. Kim Reynolds, Sen. Joni Ernst endorse Donald Trump for president
Ukrainian refugees who fled to the Netherlands because of the war will soon have to pay a personal contribution of 350 euros. However, the innovation will not apply to everyone, but only to working people.

ADVERTISIMENT

This was reported by NOS. "Working Ukrainian refugees will soon have to pay a maximum of almost 350 euros in personal contributions. This includes about 105 euros for water, gas, and electricity and about 242 euros for people who receive meals at their place of residence," the report says.

Dutch Secretary of State Erik van der Burgh wrote to the House of Representatives that he was opting for a "simple and clear model" for paying for services, as the rules should be applied as uniformly as possible.

The debate also raised the question of whether Ukrainians should have to pay rent. Currently, the Secretary of State wants to check whether it is possible to charge rent for "flexible" housing and then start testing it.

In addition, Ukrainians are not yet required to sign a health insurance contract, which is mandatory in the Netherlands under the health insurance law.

ADVERTISIMENT

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, Ukrainian refugees in Poland may be subject to restrictions on payments and new conditions of stay in the country. The changes have not yet been adopted. Among other things, they are discussing, for example, the deprivation of temporary protection status for leaving Poland for at least a day, as well as the abolition of a one-time cash payment to newcomers.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
By Padraic Halpin and Clodagh Kilcoyne

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland is poised to vote on Friday - International Women's Day - to replace constitutional references on the importance of a woman's "life within the home", the latest attempt to update its socially conservative 1937 founding document.

While social change in the once deeply Catholic nation has spurred the removal of bans on abortion and same-sex marriage, the constitution contains a clause recognising "that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved".

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has pitched the vote, deliberately being held on International Women's Day, as a chance to delete some "very old-fashioned, very sexist language about women."

Still, some disability campaigners and advocacy groups have opposed the government's proposal to replace the wording with language recognising care within families for not placing a greater legal onus on the state to support those who give or receive care.

"A woman's place is wherever she wants it to be and nothing less is acceptable in our constitution," Orla O'Connor, director of Ireland's National Women's Council said while canvassing for a "yes" vote in central Dublin on Wednesday.

A second clause due to be replaced says the state "shall endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home."

Indeed, until 1973, single women were required to resign from their jobs upon getting married, and married women were disqualified from applying for vacancies.

LOW TURNOUT RISK

Opinion polls a week ahead of the vote suggested a clear majority would back the proposal, and a second one that expands the definition of family in the constitution to recognise "durable relationships," such as cohabiting couples and their children.

However, a low-profile campaign that has not appeared to engage the electorate risks a low turnout that in the past has boosted the proportion of people voting for the status quo.

Analysts have compared it to a 2012 referendum to protect children's rights that passed by a tighter-than-expected margin as just 33% of eligible voters cast their ballots. Turnout was almost twice that level at the 2015 and 2018 votes to allow same-sex marriage and liberalise restrictive abortion laws.

Many campaigners who opposed the amendment on women's role in society argued that the proposed replacement wording - saying the state shall "strive" to support care provision - would enshrine care as a private responsibility and not a state one.

"I am confident that the sexist, harmful language of Article 41.2 will, in the future, be fixed," said Professor Siobhan Mullally, director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the School of Law, University of Galway.

"I am not so confident, however, that a future government will fix our continuing failure to commit to supporting the public good of care work  in families and communities."

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin and Clodagh Kilcoyne; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
Two votes are being held on Friday to change references in Ireland's constitution to the family and women (PAUL FAITH)

Ireland votes on Friday on constitutional references to the family and women's role in the home after campaigns that have honed in on vague wording, "mansplaining" and panic over polygamy.

The proposals, called the family amendment and the care amendment, would make changes to the text of Article 41 in the EU member's constitution that was written in 1937.

The first asks citizens to expand the definition of family from those based on marriage to include "durable relationships" such as cohabiting couples and their children.

The second proposes replacing old-fashioned language around the role of "women in the home" with a clause recognising care provided by family members to one another.

For Orla O'Connor, head of the National Women's Council of Ireland, the votes, which coincide with International Women's Day, are about "moving another step forward for equality in Ireland".

"It's about equality for families and equality for women and its also about putting in a value for care but it's talking about it in the context of family members," she told AFP.

The 1937 references are "archaic and outdated" said Catherine Cox, from Family Carers Ireland which is also campaigning for a double "Yes".

According to Yvonne Galligan, a political scientist at the Technological University of Dublin, the family amendment represents a "logical progression" after recent era-defining referenda in Ireland, where the Catholic Church was once all-powerful.

Votes were passed to end constitutional limits on same-sex marriage in 2015 and abortion in 2018.

- 'In the balance' -

All the major political parties support a Yes-Yes vote and until recently polls predicted a smooth passage for both referenda amid low turnout.

But surveys have logged rising unease about the vagueness of the two questions.

This week Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, 45, who heads the centre-right-green governing coalition that proposed the questions, admitted that the referenda results were "in the balance".

"Nobody knows exactly what a 'durable relationship' is, while everyone knows exactly what a marriage is," said David Quinn, founder of the conservative pro-family Iona Institute, near the Irish parliament building.

"A lot of people are going to vote "No" because of the confusion," said Quinn, adding that removing the words "women" and "mothers" from the constitution will also boost the "No" vote.

"Don't cancel women," read one "No" campaign poster on lampposts in Dublin.

Pro-equality commentators have slammed "mansplaining" about women's rights, but disability rights activist Maryam Madani, 34, also says the wording of the care amendment falls short.

"Care is much bigger than just family care, it's not strong enough for the government to say that they are just going to support carers in the home," she said.

Meanwhile ultra-conservative and fringe far-right voices have warned that the changes could protect polygamous relationships, and increase immigration via migrant family reunions.

The government has denied those claims but Varadkar added to jitters in the government-led "Yes-Yes" camp by appearing to scoff at the concept of state care instead of family during an interview last week.

- 'Not well-thought out' -

For Galligan the care amendment is the "more complex" and more likely of the twin questions to deliver a "No" vote.

"People have to think about whether they want the paternalistic and sexist status quo to remain in the wording or whether they want to change it to something else that isn't really satisfactory for anybody," she said.

On Dublin's main pedestrian thoroughfare Grafton Street, Maria Garvey said she might change her mind from "Yes-Yes" as she "isn't sure the questions have been well-thought out".

"The whole notion of a carer may be placing far too much responsibility on a family, rather than maybe the state's responsibility to provide care," said the 73-year-old teacher.

For Aidan Connolly, a 54-year-old IT company director, his probable "Yes-Yes" vote in what he called a "populist" referendum will be "without great conviction".

"Whatever way my wife would like me to vote I'll vote that way, the constitution refers to the role of a woman, if she wants that to be changed then that's OK by me," he added.

pmu/phz/yad/ach
Irvine authorities are searching for an unusual suspect who has repeatedly damaged critical equipment that is meant to protect lives and property from wildfires.

The Irvine Police Department posted photos of the suspect on social media, showing the man venturing into the brush to tamper with advanced wildfire detection equipment.

Photos appear to show at least two instances of the man vandalizing the equipment, which police said happened in the open space near Lake Forest and Bake Parkway.

Police did not specify when the incidents took place, but said they are trying to identify the man and stop him from further damaging the devices which are critical to keeping our community safe.

The suspect appears to be a white man with gray or white hair. In one of the photos he is seen riding off on a black bicycle or e-bike.

Undated photos shared by the Irvine Police Department show a man vandalizing important wildfire detecting equipment in an open space area.

Undated photos shared by the Irvine Police Department show a man vandalizing important wildfire detecting equipment in an open space area.

Undated photos shared by the Irvine Police Department show a man vandalizing important wildfire detecting equipment in an open space area.

Undated photos shared by the Irvine Police Department show a man vandalizing important wildfire detecting equipment in an open space area.

Undated photos shared by the Irvine Police Department show a man vandalizing important wildfire detecting equipment in an open space area.

The motive for the vandalism is unknown at this time. Some social media commentators speculated that the man may be damaging the equipment due to unfounded conspiracy theories regarding 5G cellular towers  even though these devices are not related to cell coverage.

Others speculated he simply had a vendetta against Mother Nature, made only more ironic by the shirt hes wearing that promotes the National Park system.

Anyone who might recognize the man is encouraged to email the Irvine Police Department.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
People gather on Capitol Hill to express their opposition to a proposed TikTok ban, March 22, 2023. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

On March 7, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce unanimously approved advancing a bill that would give TikTok six months to divest from its parent company ByteDance or face a potential ban.

The Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act defines ByteDance, a China-based tech company, as a foreign adversary. The act aims to prevent such adversaries from targeting, surveilling and manipulating the American people through online applications like TikTok.

This would be the first significant nationwide crackdown on TikTok. The U.S. is reported to be the country with the most monthly active users on the platform, with an estimated 102 million Americans using it per month.

The bill has more than a dozen bipartisan co-sponsors and is reportedly evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. A Republican-backed bill in 2023 that attempted to ban TikTok faced backlash from some Democrats who argued that it would impede free speech rights.

In this case, however, TikTok would not be banned if it agreed to the divestiture.

Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the Energy and Commerce chair, said on March 5 that the 2023 congressional hearing with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew confirmed our worst fears  that applications controlled by foreign adversaries, like TikTok, are exploiting and weaponizing Americans data and pose a clear national security threat to the United States.

TikTok responds with in-app message

Before the official vote, many TikTok users were greeted with a message when they opened the app telling them to call their state representatives to protest the bill.

When I opened TikTok today, I got this pop-up that gives you no option to exit or swipe away, the only action is to call now pic.twitter.com/N1xxfwi0MB  Casey Lewis (@caseymlewis) March 7, 2024

A TikTok spokesperson confirmed to Yahoo News that the notification was directed to users over 18.

"This bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it, the spokesperson told Yahoo News. This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs."

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce did not respond to a request for comment from Yahoo News.

Politico reported that an anonymous House GOP staffer said that most of the callers are unaware of why theyre even calling and predicted the office would easily surpass receiving 1,000 calls today because of the pop-up. Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin also told the outlet that the pop-up is lying about the bill, and said, Its not a ban, its a divestiture.

Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, told Yahoo News something similar. The institute was established in 2016 to defend the freedoms of speech and the press in the digital age through strategic litigation, research and public education.

This bill raises serious First Amendment concerns, Jaffer said in a statement. Congress can protect data privacy and security without banning Americans from accessing one of the worlds most popular communications platforms.

What will happen to President Bidens TikTok account?

Some social media users and outlets pointed out the irony that President Biden had joined TikTok on Feb. 11, reportedly attempting to connect with younger voters for the upcoming election.

White House press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed this apparent contradiction on March 6, saying, Weve said this before, were going to try to meet the American people where they are about Biden joining on TikTok. She then added, It doesnt mean that were not going to try to figure out how to protect our national security.

The White House did not respond to Yahoo News request for comment.

Regarding how the government should be protecting national security, Jaffer argued that it should be focused on passing a comprehensive privacy law restricting the kinds of information that TikTok and other platforms can collect.

Banning Americans from accessing foreign media should be a last resort, he concluded.

Some members of Congress have been trying to ban TikTok for years  some city and state governments were successfully able to ban TikTok from being installed on government devices. In 2023, Montana became the first state to ban the app, although the ban was ultimately blocked by a federal judge.

Although the Energy and Commerce Committee's new act was approved, it will likely face legal challenges as well.
The Spanish Air Force loads parachutes onto a transport aircraft at Getafe airbase. The parachutes are used by nations to deliver aid from the air over the Gaza Strip. Isabel Infantes/EUROPA PRESS/dpa

As criticism grows of the disastrous situation in Gaza and deadly shortage of aid, Israel underlined that more aid is now reaching the strip than before the war began.

"In the past two weeks, an average of 102 food shipments have arrived in the Gaza Strip every day. That is almost 50% more than before Hamas started the war on October 7," government spokesperson Eylon Levy said.

There was a "flood of false reports" that Israel was restricting the amount of aid deliveries, he said. "There are no restrictions. I repeat: none."

Israel is even encouraging donor states to send as much food, water, medicine and shelter equipment as they want, he said on Wednesday.

A United Nations spokesman said in response that it was not enough to count the number of lorries crossing border posts. In the Gaza Strip, the loads had to be transferred to smaller lorries then distributed, said Stephane Dujarric in New York on Thursday. That requires coordination with the Israeli armed forces.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs meanwhile said only half of the 224 aid convoys planned for February reached the areas for which they were intended, and that Israeli support was lacking for the remaining deliveries.
Ukrainian defenders on the battlefield. Stock photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Experts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believe that in terms of operational expediency, Ukraine should seize the initiative from the Russians, but delays in providing Western assistance will delay the efforts of the Defence Forces.

Source: ISW

Details: Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk, Commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine, stated on 6 March that Ukraine would try to seize the initiative and conduct counteroffensive operations in 2024.

ISW experts said that Ukraine's attempt to seize the initiative in 2024 has grounds in terms of operational expediency.

"Russia will be able to determine the location, time, scale, and requirements of fighting in Ukraine as long as it retains the theater-wide initiative, which may allow Russia to force Ukraine to expend materiel and manpower in reactive defensive operations, denying Ukraine the ability to amass the materiel necessary for future counteroffensive operations," the ISW report says.

ISW experts stated that it would be unwise for Ukraine to cede the initiative on the entire line of contact to Russia for longer than necessary.

However, they added that further delays in Western security assistance were likely to delay Ukraine's efforts to regain the initiative.

Quote: "Materiel shortages are forcing Ukrainian forces to husband materiel and uncertainty about future assistance is likely constraining Ukrainian operational planning.

Delays in crucial assistance will force Ukraine to make difficult decisions about how to allocate resources between future operationally significant counteroffensive operations and ongoing Ukrainian defensive operations against Russian attackers who currently hold the initiative."

To quote the ISWs Key Takeaways on 6 March:

Ukrainian Ground Forces Commander Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk stated on 6 March that Ukraine will try to seize the initiative and conduct unspecified counteroffensive actions in 2024.

Russian forces conducted a relatively larger series of drone and missile strikes targeting Ukraine on the night of 5-6 March and on 6 March, including strikes on Odesa City during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys visit with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Kremlin officials continue to invoke nuclear threats as part of ongoing Russian information operations aimed at weakening Western support for Ukraine and deterring Western aid to Ukraine.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Rafael Grossi and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the security of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and nuclear non-proliferation issues on 6 March in Sochi, Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the governor of pro-Russian Moldovan autonomous region Gagauzia, Evghenia Gutul, on 6 March and emphasised Russias support for Gagauzia.

Moldova suspended the Cold War-era Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty on 6 March.

Ukraines Defence Intelligence reportedly conducted a drone strike on a mining and processing plant in [Russias] Kursk Oblast on 6 March.

Armenia appears to be taking limited measures to reduce its bilateral security cooperation with Russia outside of its reduced participation in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Russian forces recently made confirmed advances near Kupiansk and Donetsk City and in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

The Russian legal system continues efforts to use the Russian criminal justice system to augment Russias recruitment base.

Support UP or become our patron!
Oksana sits in her Aberdeen flat, thinking about her husband. She has not spoken to him for almost two years now. She is wearing a wristband in the colours of Ukraine, and a wedding ring which shines on her finger.

Her husband Alexei - not his real name - was captured by the Russians while fighting for the Ukrainian army in Mariupol in April 2022.

Almost two years later, Oksana, who works as a housekeeper in the Aberdeen area, is pleading for the release of her partner.

The 28-year-old, who has lived in Scotland for the last 18 months after fleeing the war, believes he is in a Russian prison.

The BBC is choosing not to name her husband and has blurred his face in photographs.

Oksana fights back tears. He is a very kind, caring person. He is always there for me. He always makes me smile.

Oksana has not heard from Alexei since she received a letter from jail in September 2022. Having spoken with other released prisoners since and by searching social media like Telegram channels, she thinks he was still in prison in January this year.

She reflects: He will come back to me, and we will have a beautiful future together. The two of us, and our cat. I dont know about kids now.

A life together

Oksana met Alexei when they were both teenagers and studying in the same college in southern Ukraine.

After a year of being close friends, romance bloomed. They enjoyed cycling and running together. He liked playing games such as Call of Duty on his Playstation.

Oksana says he was always a patriotic Ukrainian, and in 2015 he signed up for the armed forces as soon as he turned 18.

He served in Donetsk, where Russian-backed forces had taken control years before. When the Russians launched their full-scale invasion two years ago, everything changed.

Outbreak of war

On the morning of 24 February 2022, Oksana woke up to a call from her friend. She told me the war had started.

Alexei packed up his things and was ordered to go to Mariupol. How did he feel?

He was excited about it, said Oksana. I think he was playing Call of Duty too much! He was excited about defending Ukraine.

Before he left, he drove Oksana to another part of the country to be with her family.

We saw the Russian planes and snipers. Everything was on fire.

Once her husband left, Oksana sheltered as best as she could. I heard explosions. The whole house was shaking. We were hiding in the basement, but we could still hear the explosions, the planes, and shooting.

After a few weeks, the Russians occupied their area. There was no electricity, but she eventually managed to speak to her husband on the phone to let him know she was OK. But it was not safe.

They (the Russians) were checking cars, they were checking people. They went to houses to find some signs that we were sending messages to Ukrainian soldiers about their location.

They took some people. I dont know what happened to them next. It was scary to go out of the house. I only went out once a week to church.

The Siege of Mariupol

Alexei, meanwhile, was in the middle of some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

He was in Mariupol, a key strategic target for Russian forces in the early days of the invasion, as it links Crimea and the Donbas. The brutal battle lasted more than 80 days, before Russia eventually seized control.

He told me everything was really bad, and we dont have a way out of the city.

In one call, Alexei revealed the Russians had bombed his unit. Several soldiers who he had served with for years were killed. He was left with shrapnel in his head and his hand.

He was devastated, said Oksana. I was crying all the time, but I was trying not to show him that Im so scared because he was in a worse situation than I was.

He called her a few weeks before he was captured to say there was no chance to survive, with weapons, ammunition, food and water all depleted. He asked me to care for his family, and to take care of myself.

Then, on 12 April 2022 Alexei called to say he was alive but had been taken prisoner. He asked her to get back to Ukrainian territory, and she later moved to a friends home in the west of Ukraine.

The road to Aberdeen and search for her husband

Oksana is living in Aberdeen, but wants to return to Ukraine one day with her husband.

While there, Oksana read about the opportunity to escape the war and move to the UK.

After applying via a Scottish government refugee programme, she arrived shortly afterwards on her own in August 2022, with her family and friends all still back in Ukraine.

A month later, she received a letter from her husband from a Russian prison. It said he was alive, he was OK, he was being treated well, and that he loved me, but it looked like they had dictated what to write. There were no feelings in it.

It is the last time she has heard from him.

Since his capture, Oksana says she has been in touch with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations and the Ukrainian government  but to no avail.

'It is up to Russia'

In July last year, she had heard from another prisoner who had been with her husband. He said Alexei had lost weight, and was losing hope.

Then, a second prisoner who had been with Alexei was also released. She says he revealed Oksanas husband was still in in Russian prison on 3 January this year.

Nobody can help, says Oksana, fighting back tears. It is only up to Russia.

Since arriving in Scotland, she has lived in a hotel in Dyce, student accommodation, and is now in her council flat in Aberdeen.

She spends her days working as a housekeeper in a hotel in the local area, longing for a return to Ukraine with her husband. She remains in touch with a community of other Ukrainians who have also fled the war and ended up in Scotland.

The first thing after my husband called me and said he was in captivity, it was like  thats better. He will be alive, and he will be fine, but it is already two years.

I know many cases where people never come back from captivity. They were tortured or killed.

I love this country. The Scottish people I have met have always been extremely nice. They support me. But one day, I want to go back. After my husband comes back, I want to stay in Ukraine because it is my home.

I love him, and I will be waiting for him.
The centre in Abidjan provides several services to women and children who were victims of violence (Issouf SANOGO)

Ivorian women who are beaten or intimidated by their partners are gaining independence and self-esteem in the country's only refuge to offer integrated support for domestic abuse victims.

As well as housing them, the Akwaba Mousso refuge is unique in bringing together doctors, midwives, psychologists, social workers and lawyers to treat and support those in need.

The centre in the country's biggest city Abidjan supports women and children who have suffered psychological, emotional or physical violence.

Specialists working at Akwaba Mousso -- the words mean "welcome" and "woman" in local languages -- helped 132 women and children last year after opening in April.

Emmanuelle, 24, arrived at the centre two months ago after she discovered that her partner's 16-year-old son had sexually assaulted her daughters in their shared home.

The teenager raped her one-year-old daughter while Emanuelle was out working.

"When I came here, I was hearing voices. I wanted to take my own life," she told AFP.

"This helped me. It brought me back to my senses... Without this help, I thought I was going to go crazy."

Like the other victim quoted in this story, her name has been changed to protect her identity.

- Social reintegration -

Prince Tra Bi, a psychologist working at the centre, said post-traumatic stress disorder and depression were "recurrent" problems among the women he sees there.

"The only solution for me was death. Now I want to live," Emanuelle said. "I have hope for life -- I think that (the therapy) has worked."

Weeks after arriving, Emmanuelle said she has started to recover her self-esteem. She now wants to be "an independent woman, a free woman". She has been surrounded by others who are "like sisters."

Maureen Grisot, co-founder and executive director of the centre, told AFP that in Ivory Coast, only "30 per cent of women who are victims of violence... ask for help, and it's generally from their families."

Women usually discover the centre through word-of-mouth or social media, she said.

Upon arrival, women have an initial talk with staff, without having to show their papers.

Staff then draw up an action plan. The women can talk to and be monitored by various professionals, all at the centre's premises.

Social workers, a midwife, a legal expert, a psychologist, a doctor and a lawyer are present or available on call.

When a woman is no longer in danger, the NGO plans out further steps towards social and professional reintegration.

- Gaining self-esteem -

Laurentine Aguie-Koffi is one of the legal experts at Akwaba Mousso. She helps women with their legal proceedings and makes them aware of their rights.

The Ivory Coast has laws to protect victims of violence, but "doesn't promote them", she said.

In December 2021, the country adopted a new law to reinforce the protection of women victims.

"This law is really important because it serves to rescue a person urgently from violence," Aguie-Koffi said.

However, a report published in 2022 found that protection mechanisms were still failing due to "a cruel lack of resources and equipment in the medical, social and legal services."

All of Akwaba Mousso's services are provided free, thanks to private donations and local district funding.

However, the NGO still seeks further funding.

Huguette, another woman supported by the centre, told AFP that in her home her husband was a "dictator" who treated her like she was "nothing".

"When I came here I didn't think I was worth anything... I was depressed," she said.

"Now, with self-esteem, I feel... like a person," she added. "No one imposes anything on me."

bam/stb/blb/nmc/rlp/bp
Amid an intense outcry from Jackson County homeowners over increased property assessments, the Missouri House on Thursday passed a state constitutional amendment that would make the countys assessor an elected position.

The measure, filed by Rep. Dan Stacy, a Blue Springs Republican, comes as Jackson County remains the only charter county in the state with an appointed assessor. Months of fury from residents after assessments jumped significantly last year and a series of lawsuits have put pressure on lawmakers to change that arrangement.

The House approved the amendment on a vote of 116 to 10, sending the proposal to the Senate. If approved by both chambers, voters would have the final say in November or at an earlier election called by Republican Gov. Mike Parson.

The amendment removes the special treatment of Jackson County and provides the Jackson County citizens the opportunity to elect their county assessor just like other charter counties, Stacy said on Thursday.

We in the state government must do our part. The county government then must do their part, he said. And the citizens of Jackson County must do their part.

The Jackson County Assessment Department is currently led by Director Gail McCann Beatty, a former Democratic leader of the Missouri House. Jackson County Executive Frank White, Jr., a Democrat, appointed her to the position. The agency is tasked with valuing and assessing all real and personal property in the county.

Rep. Robert Sauls, an Independence Democrat, said on the floor that he supported the bill. However, he said he typically disagrees with the state determining local government decisions.

We have got a situation where property tax has become extremely high and people are asking for help, he said.

But Rep. Ingrid Burnett, a Kansas City Democrat, said that Jackson County should be able to decide how it handles its personal property taxes, pointing to the large amount of revenue the county brings in.

This has been a messy process all the way through and Im not defending that, she said, before adding that for this body to decide that the rest of the state should decide how Jackson County manages their personal property taxes is just bad policy.

Thursdays vote came more than a decade after Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the state constitution that allowed Jackson County to be the only charter county in the state with an appointed assessor.

The exemption specifically targeted Jackson County and was worded to apply only to charter counties with populations of more than 600,000 people but less than 700,000 people.

Supporters of the fresh effort to make the assessor elected say the position should be directly accountable to voters. Some have even questioned whether the county, which now has more than 716,000 residents, is still legally allowed to have an appointed assessor. But most officials and legal experts have cast doubt on that argument.

The countys assessment process has faced criticism for months after residential property values increased by roughly 40% overall since the last assessment in 2021, according to county data.

Republican state Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick in December released the preliminary findings of an ongoing audit that found the county used a flawed and inadequate process that violated state law. A day later, Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey sued the county, alleging officials illegally increased homeowners property assessments. The lawsuit is scheduled for a case management conference this week.

But Jackson County also won a court battle the same month when the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in its favor in a lawsuit, finding that a series of property owners failed to exhaust other options before suing over the assessments.

Property assessments, which take place every two years, have long been a source of controversy in Jackson County. Many houses were chronically undervalued, Beatty and other officials have said, until she began raising valuations in 2019.
PONTIAC, Mich. (FOX 2) - James Crumbley's trial began Thursday with opening statements and testimony from two witnesses. Each provided emotional moments as they explained their interactions at Oxford High School. Read the full recap here.

The trial comes after James's wife, Jennifer Crumbley, was convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the Oxford High School shooting, which was committed by their son. James faces the same charges.

Jurors for James's trial were asked some of the same questions that Jennifer's jury pool was asked, with a bigger focus on mental health during James's selection process. Question topics included guns, parental responsibility, mental health, and what "access" means to those picked for the bench.

Here's a breakdown of what played on day one of the trial:

3:45 p.m. - Jury sent home for the day

3:20 p.m. - Crumbley parents called to Oxford High School

Wagrowski also provided testimony about communications between the Crumbley parents on the day of the shooting.

Prior to the shooting, both James and Jennifer were called to the school after a teacher observed the shooter's math assignment showing several disturbing drawings. That included a drawing similar to the weapon used in the shooting.

The meeting happened in the counselor's office.

Metadata from both parents' phones show where they were when they were called, their text messages, phone calls, voicemails, and when they arrived at school. Security footage from the school showed when the Crumbleys arrived after being summoned by the counselor.

2:50 p.m. - Judge orders short break

2:03 p.m. - James communicates with father of shooter's friend

Wagrowski also reviewed text messages on the Crumbley parent's phones.

The text messages between James Crumbley and the father of a good friend of the shooter show a conversation about the friend leaving. His best friend was taken out of school and moved to a clinic because of his obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The Crumbley parents' son was socially isolated by the time his parents bought him a gun, prosecutors have argued.

The evidence extracted from James' phone by Wagrowski shows the timing of that isolation becoming more severe, with his friend moving away on Oct. 30.

1:31 p.m. - Wagrowski describes shooter's rampage

The next round of testimony was Wagrowski's viewing of the security footage from the school. He watched several angles of the scene that involved cameras that were "too many to count" of the shooting.

Wagrowski started with a video time stamped at 12:51 p.m. on Nov. 30. He said the shooter came out of the bathroom with "a proud chest, shoulders back" and began shooting. Wagrowski testified that the shooter leveled the gun and struck two students.

Hana St. Juliana was the first to be fatally shot. Madisyn Baldwin died next, Wagrowski said, saying the shooter struck her in the head. He rounded the corner and continued shooting. Amid the chaos was students running into classrooms and teachers closing their doors.

Tate Myre died when he rounded the corner and was struck in the head. "He had no idea what was happening," Wagrowski said. The shooter then shot at Myre again.

The shooter also shot into multiple classrooms, including at Darnell - who testified earlier in the trial. When he walked back toward Myre, footage shows the assistant principal interacting with the shooter who continued walking.

He then went back into the bathroom, where Justin Shilling was shot. Wagrowski said another student fled out of the bathroom. The shooter was later arrested after the first responding officers got to the hallway. The shooter was taken into custody after he put his arms up and laid down.

The entire scene lasted nine minutes.

12:20 p.m. - Judge breaks for lunch

11:47 a.m. - Edward Wagrowski testifies next

Edward Wagrowski works with the U.S. Secret Service and does cell phone forensics. Before that, he worked with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office in their computer crimes unit. That was his employment during the Oxford shooting.

The goal of his position is to collect as much data from cell phones gathered during an investigation. The data can tell someone when and where a device is at any time.

The first thing he recalled from Nov. 30 was an officer entering his wing of the Oakland County Sheriff's Office that it was all hands on deck after an active shooting was reported at Oxford. He joined a caravan of police cars from varying agencies traveling north.

When he got to the staging area that was the local Meijer near the school, he first started writing down the names of people that were there. He also testified he saw school buses of kids showing up and parents waiting to be reunited with their children.

From there, he was called to the school and taken to the security office where he reviewed video footage. The high school was still being cleared at that time, since the scene was still active.

Edward Wagrowski, who worked as a cell phones forensics analyst for the Oakland County Sheriffs Office during the investigation.

11:07 a.m. - Judge calls short break

10:22 a.m. - First witness Molly Darnell testifies

Molly Darnell worked at Oxford High School as an educator when the shooting happened. She was one of the victims who was shot by the Crumbley parent's son on Nov. 30, 2021. She previously testified during Jennifer's trial.

She told the court she texted her husband "I love you. Active shooter" after she had been shot in her classroom.

Darnell was shot after locking eyes with the shooter. She described him wearing black clothes and only seeing his eyes. She also noticed the gun he was holding, and it didn't have an orange tip. As he raised the gun, his shoulders were square, his stance was about as wide as his waist, she testified.

As he raised the gun, she moved to the right behind the door. The shooter shot through the glass, hitting her in the shoulder. She showed the court the wound, which included where the bullet cauterized her flesh.

The door was locked, but the nightlock which is used as an additional layer of protection to secure a door hadn't been engaged. She then activated it. The sound it made when it engaged stood out to her because all she had to guide her was her senses.

She then moved to barricade herself in the room. That's when she texted her husband and received a message from her daughter. She responded "I'm sheltered in place. I'm safe. And I love you"

She didn't leave the room until the authorities had arrived and they asked her to open the door. An officer then took her to an ambulance. She said the first time she cried was when they were looking at her wound.

Molly Darnell worked as an educator at Oxford High School. On the day of the shooting, she was struck in the shoulder by the son of the Crumbley parents.

9:46 a.m. - "He didn't know"; Defense opens

The defense began their arguments by also placing the jury on the day of the shooting. Marielle Lehman started things by talking about the tragedy at Oxford High School when the Crumbley's son started shooting.

Lehman talked about many of the things that the jury would hear during the trial. But what they wouldn't hear, she said, was that James knew about his son and what he was planning to do.

"James was not aware his son had access. The testimony won't show that. You will not hear that James Crumbley knew what his son was going to do," she said. "You will not hear James even suspected his son was a danger."

The math assignment will be discussed, Lehman said, and people's thoughts on the assignment will be talked about often. But what won't be heard in the court is that James bought the gun with the knowledge that his son would harm other people, she said.

"But what the prosecution wants you to believe, the part that's not true, is that James Crumbley knew what his son was going to do and knew his son had a duty to protect other people from his son," she said. "Ladies and gentlemen, he didn't know."

9:23 a.m. - "They failed to act"; Prosecution opens

The prosecution opened the trial by placing the jury more than two years ago inside Oxford High School, calling Nov. 30, 2021 was a "nightmare come to life."

"There are three people responsible for the deaths" that happened in the school, Prosecutor Marc Keast said. The shooter who committed murder, and his parents, who are "responsible for their gross negligence," Keast said.

The nightmare was preventable and foreseeable, Keast said. He added that James Crumbley was one person in the world in the "best position to stop the shooting."

Details laid out by the prosecution included the cable lock that came with the gun, the moments in the school when the Crumbley parents were called amid concerns about their son's behavior, and some of the messages between James and Jennifer talking about that behavior.

There were other references to James purchasing the gun, his alleged indifference to his son's personal issues, and the intentional dynamic at play in the case. James Crumbley didn't know his son would use the gun to shoot four people, Keast argued. If he did, he'd be charged with murder.

Instead, there were "rare circumstances present in this case" that prove he was grossly negligent in the murder of four teenagers. The conclusion of the shooter's path toward murder were "foreseeable", Keast argued, which is an important element of proving the case.

"James Crumbley isn't charged with what his son did. James Crumbley is charged with what he did and didn't do on Nov. 30," Keast said.

The case isn't about guns or gun laws, Keast finished, adding "This case is about this gun for this kid with these issues."

9:02 a.m. - Jury arrives

The jury arrived around 9 a.m. and opening arguments were expected to begin.

The judge provided about 10 minutes of instructions to the jury. What reasonable doubt is and whether the prosecution has proven one of the two theories that prove involuntary manslaughter did happen will be top of mind for the jury.

The case has some gray area and is relatively novel. Only Jennifer Crumbley's trial offers much of a roadmap for how people may consider James Crumbley's guilt or innocence. The judge also told the jury that they should only consider evidence in this trial since there are multiple defendants in the case.

Additionally, she warned of biases in the case. Matthews cautioned the jury to "take the time you need" to reach a conclusion in the case.

8:47 a.m. - Judge enters court

Judge Cheryl Matthews asked everyone to be in court at around 8:30 a.m. to begin things Thursday. But before the trial could start, both the defense and prosecution had to sort through evidence and whether it can be admitted.

Defense Attorney Mariell Lehman argued there was no relevance for some of the messages and photos that the prosecution was trying to use for the trial.

While the cases between James and Jennifer Crumbley's trial are similar, there are some differences in the evidence that will be used and the strategies exercised by legal teams that cross-examine witnesses.

Who are the jurors?

Nine women and six men make up the 15 people selected for the jury. Only 12 will deliberate with three selected at random to be alternates.

At least 10 of the jurors have kids and several own firearms. Even more grew up with firearms or have experience in a home that had guns.

The jurors' ages range from 25 to 64 years old.

Man - Unmarried and with no kids who works in IT and has seen brief headlines about the Oxford shooting case. He had few opinions about guns Man - Art director at an advertising agency who is single, no kids, and likes to hunt. He owns a rifle and a shotgun and stores them in a closet Man - Nurse practitioner who is married with two kids Woman - A foster parent with three kids. Woman - Part-time dental office worker with two kids who is married. Woman - Stay-at-home mom with two kids and a third on the way. Her husband works as a social worker Woman - Former personal trainer and widow who used to own her own gym. Man - Machinist with two kids who is married Man - Data analyst whose wife works in advertising and has two sons. Likes to hunt Woman - Teacher who used to teach in elementary grade students and now teaches music. Neither her nor her husband grew up with guns Woman - Married with two kids and owns firearms. They raised a child who struggled with mental illness Man - Residential trash worker who grew up around guns in Upper Peninsula. He told the court he didnt want to be "buckless yooper" when he went hunting as a kid. He doesn't follow the case, but his wife did Woman - Retired registered nurse who never had any kids but helped parent her nephew due to her sisters mental illness Woman - Full-time telecom expense management company employee who grew up in a family of hunters Woman - Human Resources employee at a community health organization. She has dealt with mental health struggles in her family

What is James Crumbley charged with?

James Crumbley is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count for each student killed by his son at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021.

A jury found his wife, Jennifer Crumbley, guilty of the same charges in early February. She will be sentenced on April 9.

What did James Crumbley do?

James Crumbley is accused of buying his son the gun used to kill four people and injure others.

His son pleaded guilty to all charges against him and is now in prison. During his plea hearing, he admitted that he gave James the money to buy the gun.

During Jennifer's trial, she testified that the gun was her husband's responsibility; she said she was not comfortable with guns and was not involved in handling or buying it. She also testified that James had hidden the gun before their son took it to school.

The parents are also accused of ignoring concerns about their son's mental health.

Witnesses called by the prosecution during Jennifer's trial described a meeting between the Crumbley parents and school officials the morning of the shooting. The parents were called after violent drawings were discovered on their son's schoolwork.

During this meeting, a school counselor told the parents to get their son mental health help as soon as possible and recommended that they take him home from school. However, the parents chose not to take him home.

What kind of sentence is James Crumbley facing?

Involuntary manslaughter is punishable by up to 15 years in prison in Michigan. The court does have the discretion to do consecutive sentencing, which, due to the four counts, would be 60 years. However, the maximum he could get will likely be 15 years.
For the first time, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has called some of the demands put forward by the protesters unacceptable. In particular, it refers to the strikers' desire to completely close the border with Ukraine for food or to finally abandon the European Union's (EU) "green course".

ADVERTISIMENT

Tusk said this at a press conference in Warsaw on March 7, tvn24.pl reports. Thus, Tusk emphasized that demands such as "Down with the Green Deal" or "Block Ukraine" are "unacceptable" to him.

According to him, he will fight for easing the provisions of the "Green Deal" and "protecting Polish producers" in terms of trade with Ukraine, but not so radically. Tusk also emphasized that the government has made "serious progress" in negotiations on both topics.

"I promised them (farmers - Ed.) that I would inform them about the measures we have taken and the chances of the results of these measures. And it is up to them to judge how satisfied they will be... If someone still wants to protest, it is their right, as long as they do not violate the rules as demonstratively as some of the participants of yesterday's demonstration," the Polish Prime Minister said.

ADVERTISIMENT

Tusk was referring to the protest that farmers held in Warsaw on March 6. This demonstration ended in clashes with police and the detention of protesters, most of whom were also drunk.

Earlier, Tusk was more favorably disposed to the strikers' demands and even mentioned the complete closure of the border with Ukraine for some time. However, later the Polish government, as well as the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers, denied that such a measure was being considered at all.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, Polish farmers continue to block traffic at six checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. The most difficult situation is at the Krakovets and Yahodyn checkpoints, where so many cars have already gathered that people will have to stand in line for more than 14 days.

Thus, the protesting Poles have extended the blockade of the border with Ukraine for almost two months  until April 30. Previously, they intended to end it on March 10. In this way, the Poles want to achieve restrictions on the import of agricultural products from outside the European Union, in particular from Ukraine.

ADVERTISIMENT

At the same time, Ukraine is ready to limit the volume of its exports to the EU in order to get the Poles to lift the blockade of the border between the countries. Instead, however, it wants the EU to ban the import of products from Russia into its territory.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  A Jamestown man has been arrested on hate crime charges in connection to impersonating a police officer and accusing a juvenile of being an immigrant, the Jamestown Police Department said Wednesday.

Christopher Conklin, 30, is accused of approaching a juvenile on North Main Street near the riverbank just after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, advising the juvenile that he was a police officer and there was a warrant out for the victim.

Conklin allegedly tackled the victim to the ground, told a passerby that the juvenile was an immigrant, told him that he wanted to fight and then threw his cell phone into the river when the juvenile called 911.

He is then accused of tackling the victim for a second time before fleeing before police arrive. he was arrested a short time later.

Conklin is charged with the following:

third-degree robbery  hate crime

third-degree assault  hate crime

third-degree criminal mischief  hate crime

fourth-degree criminal mischief -hate crime

first-degree criminal imnpersonation

endangering the welfare of a child

Conklin is being held pending arraignment.

Latest Local News

Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.
Strong women are not hard to find in the beauty industry.

Estee Lauder and Elizabeth Arden both started their empires from nothing, developing their lotions and creams from scratch and making their way in a male-dominated business world.

Today's beauty business would be unrecognisable to those two women, promoting products via TikTok and influencers rather than fashion magazines and glossy ads.

But there's more than a hint of that pioneering female spirit in the new name on the block, Jamie Genevieve.

The Scottish internet star has gone from makeovers in department store beauty halls to being CEO of one of the hottest brands in the world.

Her make-up tutorials have earned her more than three million social media followers.

But it was the launch of the 30-year-old's own company Vieve in 2020 that sent her from the shop floor to the boardroom.

Jamie said the success of her self-made business means everything to her and is "nuts".

Her products are stocked across the UK in Space NK, Cult Beauty, Harrods and Brown and Thomas

In 2022, Vieve attracted a 5.5m injection from investors, including the venture trust which invested in the early days of mega-brand Charlotte Tilbury.

Vieve now has 250 products and has quadrupled in value since it began.

However, Jamie's journey from working on make-up counters, to doing celebrities' makeup is one she doesn't take for granted.

"Every single step of the way I felt content and happy. I loved what I was doing."

But she believes there's one key skill that's helped her grow.

"I think the difference between working on the makeup counter to boardroom, there is huge differences, but it's just talking to people.

"Its something that Im really passionate about so the way I hold myself I suppose isnt actually that different. It is a change of scenery."

Jamie credits her online community to getting her to where she is today.

You could call her one of the "O-G" Youtubers, and with over 10 years experience, she has seen the industry evolve.

"I think the industry is changing all the time and hugely since I started. The way it's changed is quite exciting because it's opened it up to everyone. "

Vieve has had three pop-up shops in Glasgow and one in London

Jamie enjoys her role on social media.

It started as a love for beauty, which she has continued to pursue.

She believes authenticity is very important when it comes to the content she posts.

Jamie says she doesn't find it difficult being honest and it's a big part of her journey.

"I try and think about what Im putting out to see if this is actually going to make someone else feel good or is this just a moment of sharing my life.

"I think there is a responsibility for sure, but it's something Ive taken pretty seriously."

Jamie has always wanted to become a mum and in May of 2023, she gave birth to her baby girl, Romy.

It has changed her perspective on how she works.

"With Romy and my work, what its made me do is be really particular with my time and how its spent.

Jamie became a mum to her baby, Romy, in May 2023

"When Im working, I do my best to put my work hat on and get what I need to get done. With Romy, I put my phone down and I am just mum," she said.

Jamie would love for Romy to grow up seeing her working as she thinks that's important.

Although her work is her passion, her daughter is her priority.

"My work is so important to me, its something I love, but Romy is the best thing Ive ever done in my life.

"Shes the most incredible little girl and I think having that laser focus on how my times spent and the quality of it, I actually think its made my life and work much better."

Jamie Genevieve

The beauty industry is constantly changing but Jamie is excited for its future and how it could affect her daughter.

"It's never been more inclusive and people are celebrated for who they are."

She believes it's key to preach self-love and the beauty industry right now reflects that.

"Where its going is the completely right direction for me and I like there not being a beauty standard as such, which again I think were moving out of.

"I would like the trajectory to continue for when Romys growing up."

In an industry where most of the business is based in LA and London, Jamie has never thought about leaving Scotland.

Originally from Tillicoultry, in Clackmannanshire, she will always call Scotland her home.

"I love living here so much. Im extremely close with my family and friends.

"I find it incredibly easy to make that decision not to leave."

Jamie has had four pop-up shops for Vieve; three in Glasgow and one in London.

As for the future, she doesn't have a permanent store but says "never say never".

"All my team is absolutely obsessed with Glasgow because of these pop ups.

Customers often ask her about opening a permanent shop.

"I think if we were ever to have our own permanent boutique, I dont think there would ever be a question about where that would be."

Reflecting on when she posted her first YouTube video, Jamie recalls being "absolutely terrified".

Her advice for herself 10 years ago is to follow what you want without fear of opinion.

"I was terrified about what people would say but I pushed myself with the help of my community at the time who were like 'you need to do this'.

"If I'd let fear get in the way of me doing what I wanted to do, I could only image what my life would look like and how different it would be now."

More on this story
ST. LOUIS  A former Tennessee volleyball player who lost both of her legs in a crash while visiting St. Louis took the stand to testify against the man accused of causing the crash.

Janae Edmondson was in town with her parents in February 2023 to compete in a volleyball tournament. They were walking in downtown St. Louis when an SUV struck Janae and pinned her against a parked car.

Daniel Riley, the man behind the wheel of the SUV, was allegedly speeding in the moments before the crash. Prosecutors claim that as Riley sped past a yield sign at the intersection at St. Charles and North 11th streets, a Chevy Malibu hit Rileys SUV, sending the SUV airborne and into Janae.

An accident reconstruction expert testified on Wednesday that the driver of the Malibu had no time to react.

The St. Louis Circuit Attorneys Office has charged Riley with second-degree assault, armed criminal action, operating a vehicle without a valid license, and two counts of fourth-degree assault. Riley was out on bond at the time of the crash in a pending robbery case, even though he had violated the conditions of his release many times.

Janae entered the courtroom on Thursday without her prosthetics, opting to use a wheelchair to show the court the life-altering results of the crash.

She described being hit and the immediate aftermath.

I felt something hit me. It was warm. I was screaming because I couldnt feel my body, she said.

Janae said her mother, Francine Edmondson, attempted to keep her calm and alert while her father, James, applied a tourniquet to one of her legs.

My mom was holding my face and was saying, Dont close your eyes; stay awake. Dont close my eyes at all. (My dad) was tying something really tight around my leg, I was thinking to myself, whats wrong? Why is this so tight around my leg? she said. I eventually stopped screaming. I was just sitting there on the ground, face down, on the concrete. I was thinking to myself, whats going on?

Janae told the court she became very depressed in the aftermath of the crash. She remembers going to games and activities with friends before the crash changed her life. She planned on going to college on a volleyball scholarship.

She shared that she is still in pain.

I just got to the point where I was just tired of it. I just felt helpless, she said.

Close

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Daily News

Janae described having just committed to the University of Tennessee Southern right before the crash happened. She ended up attending Middle Tennessee State University to be closer to home after her injuries. Instead of being the athlete she planned to be, shes a manager of the volleyball team.

Jurors saw images of Janae playing volleyball on the court before seeing pictures of her practicing her balance in physical therapy. Francine Edmondson could be seen weeping during her daughters testimony. The final photo was of Janaes high school graduation.

The prosecution concluded its questioning after a half-hour of testimony. The defense declined to question Janae on cross-examination. The prosecution rested its case.

The defense called four witnesses and rested its case in less than an hour.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
Electricity pylons (Photo by Getty Images).

NorthWestern Energy customers will pay an estimated $39 million more for power during the cold snap in January, and shareholders will pay some $4 million extra, the company said Wednesday and in a February memo.

In a presentation to the Montana Public Service Commission, NorthWestern Energy officials argued the cold snap shows the utility needs to be able to generate more of its own energy. They pointed to the controversial Yellowstone Generating Station in Laurel, a natural gas-fired plant, as a critical solution.

The key piece here from a NorthWestern perspective, is that we have to have sufficient generation  for our system, said John Hines, vice president of supply for NorthWestern Energy.

(Screenshot from NorthWestern Energy presentation to PSC in March 2024.)

A letter from the monopoly utility to the PSC about how NorthWestern handled the cold snap said customers would have saved $32 million of the roughly $40 million spent on power purchases had the Laurel plant and additional megawatts from Colstrips coal-fired plant already been available.

Critics of the under-construction Laurel plant have said NorthWestern Energy is relying too heavily on fossil fuels and ignoring costs related to climate change, including health impacts from bad air. They also argue NorthWestern should take a closer look at renewable resources as a more affordable approach for the future.

At the meeting Wednesday, though, Hines said solar and wind provided little output during the frigid period in January. NorthWestern said it experienced its highest ever sustained load over a six-day period, and employees worked under extraordinary conditions to keep the lights on.

(Jeremy Clotfelter, director of hydro operations) had a tremendous number of his people out at the dams in minus 40, 45 degree weather outside with picks and probes knocking ice away from the intake gates during lots of hours, Hines said.

NorthWestern operates dams in the state, and roughly 32% of power for Montana customers comes from hydroelectric facilities, according to the company.

But the record temps  as low as -45 in at least a couple of places  prompted questions about risks to Montana customers when it comes to power supply. After the snap, the Public Service Commission asked NorthWestern to address how its system operated from roughly Jan. 8 to 18 when temperatures dipped below freezing for days in parts of the state.

At the meeting this week, Public Service Commission President James Brown said public criticisms include allegations NorthWestern did not properly plan for the cold weather by scheduling maintenance, and he asked for a response.

Hines disagreed: I would say that perception is incorrect.

Energy analysts had earlier pointed out that Colstrip wasnt running at full capacity for most of the week before the Arctic blast, and they also said technology exists for utilities to store wind energy and use it later, but NorthWestern doesnt do so.

In response to Brown, Hines explained the reason Colstrip was down prior to the cold snap. He and another NorthWestern official also stressed the need for the new natural gas plant, expected to be running by the third quarter of this year, and more megawatts at Colstrip to come online, to take place in January 2026.

The plant is estimated to cost $310-320 million, and NorthWestern will ask the Montana Public Service Commission to pass that cost onto customers in the future. Recently, more than 40 businesses and organizations asked the PSC to take climate into consideration in their decisions; a PSC spokesperson said Thursday the petition is still pending.

Next Tuesday, March 12, the PSC is scheduled to take up NorthWestern Energys plan to meet electricity requirements in Montana in a cost-effective way over the long term. A PSC staff memo and draft order described the plan as deficient in several important respects, full of errors, lacking transparency, and falling short in public engagement.

The public has a substantial interest in NorthWesterns integrated resource planning and the resource acquisitions that follow, said the staff memo. Resource decisions can have significant impacts on customer bills that last for decades.

The public is therefore entitled to information regarding NorthWesterns resource planning.

This week regarding Colstrip, Hines said a pinhole leak was identified November 2023 in a tube that runs to a boiler. One month later, a couple more tiny leaks were identified, and in early January 2024, the holes became bigger, he said.

Originally, he said, maintenance was scheduled for the same timeframe the cold weather ended up being forecast. When it became apparent the cold was coming, NorthWestern moved up the maintenance, and the repair work was more extensive than anticipated, he said.

He said the plant didnt come back online until early morning the Friday of the snap, which was after temperatures had started dropping. However, it was running at full capacity by the end of the day, and Hines said it ran through the rest of the cold weather event exceptionally well.

Hines also said in the course of a year, NorthWestern Energy has excess energy available, but the timing of availability doesnt always line up with need, such as during this years cold snap.

NorthWesterns Joe Stimatz said the below-zero period lasted multiple days and hit the entire Northwest region, and it was a stressful event for many, many utilities. He also said the region has a slim capacity margin, which affects cost.

The pricing that we saw in that market I think are indicative of the very, very tight margin between the total amount of generation thats available and what the load was, Stimatz said.

In response to a question from Commissioner Tony ODonnell, Hines said some utilities in the region were one adverse event away from having rolling blackouts, although Stimatz said he believes all of the utilities made it through without shedding load, or using strategic reductions such as rolling blackouts.

Hines also said NERC, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, is noting increasing concerns about reliability across the country and specifically in Montana. He said its partly due to load growth, but also because generation is being retired without adequate replacement.

Additionally, Hines said the cold snap led to speculation NorthWestern has zero hedges associated with our portfolio. He said hedging the market generally means insulating customers from reliability concerns or financial repercussions, which the utility does with its own generation and power purchase contracts.

However, he said the PSC authorized a specific type of hedging that allows NorthWestern to buy contracts one month ahead if the forecast shows less load than generation. But the forecast did not show a shortfall, therefore use of that tool was not allowed, a NorthWestern memo said.

Load variability is very difficult to forecast very far in advance, Hines said.

Generally, Hines said, NorthWesterns own generation and purchase contracts met 52% of the need over the cold snap, long-term capacity purchases met 23%, and day-ahead, real-time purchases met 25% of the need.

Youve heard us say in the past that we dont have a hedging problem, and I dont think we do, Hines said. What I think we do have is a problem addressing this tremendous amount of intermittent generation in our portfolio.

Last week, NorthWestern filed a request for a quarterly adjustment that includes the extra costs in January. The utility estimates residential electric customers will pay another $6.73 a month, or $111.87 a month compared to $105.14, a 6.4% increase for all adjustments in the quarter.

The post January 2024 cold snap to cost NorthWestern customers $39M appeared first on Daily Montanan.
Japan is gravely concerned about closer military ties between China and Russia which could have wide-ranging implications for Tokyo as well as for the region, a top government spokesperson said.

"Our country intends to keep a close eye on development in Sino-Russian relations," chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference, according to Reuters.

It came as China boosted its military expenditure for 2024 by 7.2 per cent, marking the biggest jump in five years. The Asian giants defence budget would rise to 1.67tn yuan (181.7bn).

On Tuesday, Chinas foreign minister Wang Yi pledged closer ties with Russia while warning that a conflict between China and the US would have unimaginable consequences.

Mr Wang, who fielded dozens of media questions during the annual meeting of Chinas legislature, praised the countrys strengthened links with Russia with deepening trust and fresh opportunities ahead.

But he said that the closer ties were not targeted at any party.

He hailed the strategic guidance of Chinas President Xi Jinping and Russias Vladimir Putin for pushing their trade ties to a point where bilateral trade hit a record $240bn (188bn) last year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping make a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin (SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

The top Chinese diplomat also highlighted that Russian natural gas was fuelling Chinese households and at the same time Chinese cars were driving on Russian roads.

China and Russia declared their growing no limits partnership in February 2022 shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine and Beijing frustrated the US and allies with its diplomatic and economic support to the Kremlin at a time when the West was trying to pressure Moscow with sanctions.

The China-Russia relationship moves ahead along the trend of multipolarity, Wang said on Thursday, a phase in the world which Beijing says will no longer be dominated by American hegemony.

Mr Wang accused the US of employing tactics to suppress Chinas rise and criticized the Biden administration for imposing sanctions on more Chinese companies at a bewildering and unfathomable level.

Chinas annual political gathering known as the Two Sessions convenes leaders and lawmakers to set the governments agenda for domestic economic and social development for the year (Getty Images)

"If the US always says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major power? If the US gets nervous and anxious when it hears the word China, where is its confidence as a major power?" he said. "If the US is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself."

He acknowledged that the relations between the two powers have thawed since the meeting between president Xi Jinping and his counterpart Joe Biden in California last year. He, however, complained that America has not fulfilled its promises.

Mr Wang, without naming any country, warned that those supporting Taiwan in its efforts to seek independence from mainland China will get burned for playing with fire.

The self-governing island has emerged as a major flashpoint between the US and Beijing. China claims Taiwan as its part and has vowed to bring it back under its control even if it means using force.

He accused the US, without mentioning it by name, of stirring up trouble in Taiwan and the South China Sea.

"For unreasonable provocations, we will take just countermeasures," Mr Wang said. "We also advise certain countries outside the region not to stir up trouble, choose sides, and not to become disruptors and troublemakers in the South China Sea."
Jeremy Hunt has accused a BBC presenter of giving a characterisation of the economy that was unworthy of the corporation in a post-Budget interview.

The Chancellor clashed with Amol Rajan on Thursday morning as the Radio 4 Today programme presenter questioned whether the Budget had met the moment.

In a fiery interview, Mr Rajan noted that Mr Hunt had been nicknamed the fiscal drag queen  a moniker given to him by a Financial Times columnist  and joked that his public sector productivity plan had a mildly Soviet title.

The Chancellor appeared to accuse Mr Rajan of talking the UK down, rejecting the overall characterisation that you have just given of the British economy.

Towards the end of the interview, Mr Rajan said: This is a country ravaged by economic shocks, at best drifting, at worst stagnant. We all know about its potential, but we have had seven quarters of falling GDP per head.

We are hooked on foreign labour, the birth rate is collapsing, many public services are creaking, councils are going bust. Those are facts. Has your Budget really come even close to meeting the scale of the challenges this country faces?

'Has your Budget come close to meeting the scale of the challenges this country faces?'@AmolRajan lists a stagnant economy, creaking public services and a reliance on foreign labour.



Jeremy Hunt says he 'believes it has' and calls the characterisation 'unworthy of the BBC'.  BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) March 7, 2024

Mr Hunt replied: I believe it has. And if you want gimmicks, if you want quick fixes that unravel, then I am not your person. But if you want a long-term plan to deliver better public services, to get more investment into the economy, then I have delivered packages that do that.

And by the way, I think the overall characterisation that you have just given of the British economy is unworthy of the BBC. Because we have grown faster You accused me of being Soviet and a drag queen.

Laughing, Mr Rajan interjected: The BBC is an organisation with tens of thousands of people who do lots of different things  there is no such thing as the BBC and I am putting to you facts about this country.

Mr Hunt said: Let me just say, it is unworthy of you, Amol. Can you let me answer the question? We have grown faster than the three largest European economies since 2010.

In response, Mr Rajan told the Chancellor it was a bit much for him to argue that he was avoiding gimmicks, before claiming that the public wanted radical change.

Earlier in the exchange, Mr Hunt denied the presenters assertion that the Government had become addicted to foreign labour as he repeated his intention to bring net migration numbers down.

Another moment of friction came when Mr Rajan claimed the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had downgraded GDP per head as a result of the policies in your Budget.

Mr Hunt said that was not correct, noting that the OBR had found his National Insurance cuts would increase GDP per head.

Mr Rajan went on: Youre trying to cast yourself for understandable reasons, as someone who has reduced the burden on people, which youve done with the burden on National Insura...

He was interrupted by Mr Hunt who said: Im going to correct you right there because youre not characterising what Im saying at all. Im being completely honest that we have had to put up taxes. What Im saying is I am the person and the Conservative Party is the party that wants to bring those taxes back down.

It is not the first time Mr Rajan has been embroiled in a heated exchange with a Cabinet minister during an interview on the Today programme in recent months.

In November, James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, objected to his approach to a discussion about Rishi Sunaks Rwanda policy, accusing him of trying to skip past the success of a returns agreement with Albania.

Mr Cleverly said: Im here, I want to answer your questions, but you are making statements and then moving on without giving me an opportunity to address the statements that you make, a number of which I disagree with.

Earlier this year, Richard Holden, the Conservative Party chairman, said the BBC did not have a God-given right to exist and suggested it was sometimes hindered by a liberal establishment bias.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
An initial forensic review found the leak was caused due to a misconfiguration in its third party-supplied Registry system

A data breach at Jersey's Financial Services Commission has allowed access to non-public names and addresses.

The organisation confirmed a "vulnerability" was detected in its Registry system on 23 January.

It said the leak did not link any individuals to registered entities or roles held and that it had separately written to those whose names and addresses had been accessed.

An initial forensic review found the leak was caused due to a misconfiguration in its third party-supplied Registry system.

"We deeply regret this has occurred and are currently undertaking further investigations to determine how this happened," the organisation said.

The JFSC said it was working with the Jersey Office of the Information Commissioner.

Deputy Ian Gorst, minister with responsibility for financial services, said the leak had affected a "limited number of entries" in the system.

He added: I am sorry that this fault occurred and I understand that the JFSC are conducting the most thorough of investigations to make sure lessons are learned and the design of the Register is improved and strengthened.

Further to this, I have commissioned an independent investigation to determine that the actions taken to date have been appropriate."

Follow BBC Jersey on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.

More on this story

Related internet links
Most New Jerseyans think indicted Sen. Bob Menendez is probably guilty and think he should resign, according to a poll released Thursday.

Seventy-five percent of residents think Menendez is probably guilty, while just 5 percent think hes probably not guilty, according to the Monmouth University poll of 801 New Jersey adults. Menendezs approval rating among registered voters stands at just 16 percent  his lowest ever recorded in a Monmouth poll. Sixty-three percent said he should resign.

Menendez is charged with 16 federal counts  including extortion, obstruction and acting as an unregistered foreign agent  involving an alleged yearslong scheme to trade his influence as then-chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for lavish gifts that included nearly half a million dollars in cash, about a dozen gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz for his wife Nadine, who is one of his co-defendants. Another Menendez co-defendant, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty last week and has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

The poll was conducted just before a grand jury returned a third superseding indictment against the senator that hit him with 12 new criminal counts but included few new allegations. Eighty-nine percent of residents have heard at least a little about the allegations, according to the poll.



Menendez has not announced whether he intends to seek reelection, but New Jersey Globe reported he has not made any effort to collect petitions to run in the Democratic primary. The deadline to turn them in is March 25. But Menendez, who has lost party support, has not answered questions about whether he would seek reelection as an independent.

Now vs. the last indictment: Menendez was previously indicted for corruption in 2015 but beat the charges in a mistrial. A Monmouth poll conducted shortly after that indictment, in May 2015, measured his approval rating at 42 percent and disapproval at 38 percent. Back then, only 28 percent said he should resign and 47 percent said he was probably guilty.

Perhaps the stash of gold bars is a little too much to stomach. Or maybe its simply one corruption trial too many. In any event, New Jerseyans say they have had enough and its time for Menendez to go, said pollster Patrick Murray.

Now, Menendezs support has collapsed across the political spectrum, with 65 percent of Democrats, 82 percent of Republicans and 77 percent of independents disapproving of his job performance.

Other approval ratings: Even in blue New Jersey, 53 percent of voters disapprove of President Joe Bidens job performance, while 44 percent approve. The approval rating is a three-point improvement from an August Monmouth poll, but within the margin of error.

Fifty-three percent approve of Sen. Cory Bookers job performance  a six-point improvement from August  and 40 percent disapprove.

Methodology: The poll of 801 residents, including 757 registered voters, was conducted from Feb. 29 to March 4 via landline, cell phone and online surveys. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points for all residents and 4.3 percentage points for registered voters.
First lady Jill Biden's guests for the State of the Union (SOTU) address on Thursday night include an Alabama woman who is seeking in vitro fertilization (IVF), Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain.

President Biden will deliver his last SOTU address before voters cast their ballots in the general election come November. The first lady's choice of guests for her viewing box provides a glimpse into several issues Biden may focus on in his remarks: wider abortion access, immigration, foreign affairs, support for union workers and stricter gun control, to name a few.

"Each of these individuals were invited by the White House because they personify issues or themes to be addressed by the President in his speech, or they embody the Biden-Harris Administrations policies at work for the American people. The Second Gentleman, Mr. Douglas Emhoff, will also join the First Lady in the viewing box," her office said in a statement.

WHAT PRESIDENT BIDEN NEEDS TO SAY ABOUT HIS AGE AND TRUMP IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

First lady Jill Biden departs the White House on Jan. 11, 2023 in Washington, D.C.

Latorya Beasley, a mother from Alabama, was seeking to expand her family through IVF "when her embryo transfer was abruptly canceled as a result of the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision," according to the White House.

Kate Cox, a Texas mother of two, will also be in attendance. Cox fought in a high profile legal battle with the Lone Star state after being denied abortion access. She subsequently crossed state lines to get the procedure done.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Maria Shriver, an abortion advocate and journalist, is another guest of the first lady. She helped develop the White House Initiative on Womens Health Research and is the cousin of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

President Biden is also likely to discuss crises abroad, focusing on the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. The first lady will host Shelby Nikitin, a U.S. Navy officer who protected the Navy's maritime shipping vessel from threats by Yemens Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, earning her the Bronze Star.

BIDENS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS: BRET BAIER, MARTHA MACCALLUM TO LEAD FOX NEWS CHANNEL'S SPECIAL COVERAGE

President Biden will deliver the State of the Union address on Thursday.

Several lawmakers will host the families of victims still held hostage by Hamas terrorists.

Sweden will officially become the 32nd NATO ally on Thursday. To mark the occasion, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will be another guest in the first lady's viewing box.

"Sweden is a strong democracy with a highly capable military that shares our values and vision for the world. Having Sweden as a NATO Ally will make the United States and our Allies even safer," the White House wrote.

ALABAMA SEN KATIE BRITT TO DELIVER REPUBLICAN RESPONSE TO BIDEN STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS: 'TRULY HONORED'

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden during an event marking the three-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024.

Biden has repeatedly touted himself as the most pro-union president in recent history. The first lady will also host United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain alongside UAW Local 126 member Dawn Simms. Simms worked at an auto plant in Belvidere, Illinois, when it closed. It reopened in February 2023 after Fain helped negotiate the UAW-Big Three contract. Simms joined Biden to mark the plant's reopening.

Biden has called on Congress to do more to curtail gun violence, even after the passage of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention program. Another guest of Jill Biden, Jazmin Cazares, is likely to highlight this. Cazares, a resident of Uvalde, Texas, began advocacy for stricter gun control after her sister was killed in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in May 2022.

A statement from the White House reads: "Cazares spent her senior year of high school traveling across the country and sharing Jackies story. She spoke alongside March for Our Lives leaders at the Texas State Capitol and testified before lawmakers to advocate for tighter background checks and extreme risk protection order laws."





Original article source: Jill Biden's State of the Union guests: Alabama IVF patient, Swedish PM, UAW president and more
JK Rowling has been reported to the police by trans broadcaster India Willoughby over misgendering on social media.

The Harry Potter author became embroiled in an online row with India Willoughby, in which she referred to the transgender newsreader, Loose Women host and former Big Brother contestant as a man and with he pronouns.

Willoughby, who was born male and underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2015, made a complaint to police over Rowlings posts on X, formerly Twitter, claiming she had definitely committed a crime.

The broadcaster, who holds a gender recognition certificate, claimed to be legally a woman, although Rowling pointed out there was no law which compelled her to pretend that Willoughby was a woman.

Northumbria Police confirmed that it had received a complaint and said it was waiting to speak to Willoughby further.

Downing Street declined to comment on the specifics of the dispute, but pointed to comments from Rishi Sunak in which the Prime Minister said definitions of men and women should not be controversial.

A woman is a woman

In October, the Prime Minister said it shouldnt be controversial to ensure parents were informed about what their children were being taught regarding sex and relationships at school.

He insisted it was common sense to say that a man is a man and a woman is a woman.

Rowling, who has regularly spoken out on the issue of gender identity, refused to refer to Willoughby as a woman in an online debate about all-female locker rooms.

She said that should she be approached by police, she would explain that in my view, India is a classic example of the male narcissist who lives in a state of perpetual rage that he cant compel women to take him at his own valuation.

He craves publicity

She said: Some time ago, lawyers advised me that not only did I have a clearly winnable case against India Willoughby for defamation, but that Indias obsessive targeting of me over the past few years may meet the legal threshold for harassment.

I ignored this advice because I couldnt be bothered giving India the publicity he so clearly craves.

It appears to have slipped what passes for Indias mind that hes previously called a fellow trans woman a man on this very site.

Surprisingly for such an eminent legal authority, he appears to have forgotten that the Forstater ruling established that gender-critical views can be protected in law as a philosophical belief.

No law compels anyone to pretend to believe that India is a woman.

Maya Forstater successfully brought a case to the Employment Appeal Tribunal in 2021 to establish that gender-critical views are a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010.

Misgendering not criminal

Legal commentators accused Willoughby of misunderstanding English law, as, while hostility to someone based on gender identity can be an aggravating factor if a separate crime is committed, misgendering was not in itself a criminal offence.

Ms Rowling added that the police are going to be very busy after she claimed an interviewer for Byline TV, Caolan Robertson, had twice referred to Willoughby as he during an interview.

Robertson, who is Irish, later denied this, with subtitles for the news outlet suggesting he had referred to Willoughby as them.

It is the latest high-profile row over trans rights and freedom of speech on social media in Britain.

Last month Linzi Smith, a Newcastle United fan, revealed that she had been put under investigation by police and banned from St James Park over posts unrelated to football in which she expressed the gender critical view that men could not become women.

Offence as far as Im concerned

Police quickly decided Smith had not committed a crime but she remains banned from the football stadium and found out that the Premier League had compiled a dossier on her.

Willoughby claimed to have been targeted by other accounts with some of the worst abuse Ive ever seen on social media as a result of Rowlings trigger.

The 58-year-old claimed to have contacted Northumbria Constabulary and said: I dont know if its going to be treated as a hate crime, malicious communications, but its a cut-and-dry offence as far as Im concerned.

A spokesman for Northumbria Police said: On Monday, March 4, we received a complaint about a post on social media. We are currently waiting to speak to the complainant further.

A Downing Street spokesman declined to comment on individuals or cases and said it would be up to police how to respond.

He added: More generally, the Prime Minister has spoken about definitions, that those should not be controversial.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The American economic magazine Forbes summarized the results of 2023 by naming the highest paid actors. Given the enormous popularity of Oppenheimer and Barbie, one might conclude that Cillian Murphy, Margot Robbie, and Ryan Gosling have become the "richest." This statement is partially true, because one of the above is not even mentioned.

ADVERTISIMENT

The top ten is headed by American actor and comedian Adam Sandler, who in 2023 appeared in Murder Mystery 2 and the Leo cartoon, and in 2024 was already in Astronaut. According to Forbes, he earned about $73 million.

The highest paid actors in 2023

1. Adam Sandler ($73 million)

In addition to his film career, the actor also traveled the United States with comedy performances. There were 44 of them in total, which made it possible to get a figure much higher than the others.

2. Margot Robbie ($59 million)

The actress was so successful thanks to the movie Barbie, for which she received 12.5% of the film's total revenue.

ADVERTISIMENT

3. Tom Cruise ($45 million)

In 2023, fans of Mission: Impossible were eagerly awaiting the sequel to the cult action movie series starring Tom Cruise, which helped the actor make a lot of money.

4. Ryan Gosling ($43 million)

The role of "just Ken" brought Gosling the largest fee in the 43-year-old actor's life. In particular, his ballad "I'm just Ken" has been listened to more than 100 million times on Spotify.

5. Matt Damon ($43 million)

Thanks to his own film studio Artists Equity, the actor has significantly increased his income. But his supporting role in the cult movie Oppenheimer brought him only $4 million.

6. Jennifer Aniston ($42 million)

ADVERTISIMENT

The actress receives $2 million dollars for each episode of The Morning Show on AppleTV+, and her participation in Murder Mystery 2 brought her considerable fees.

7. Leonardo DiCaprio ($41 million)

Appearance in one of the most prominent films of 2023, "Killers of the Flower Moon", allowed DiCaprio to receive a considerable salary and remind of himself again after a break of 2 years.

8. Jason Statham ($41 million)

In 2023, he initiated three major big-budget franchises - Fast and Furious 10, Meg 2: The Trench, and The Expendables 4 - as well as Guy Ritchie's spy movie Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre".

9. Ben Affleck ($38 million)

ADVERTISIMENT

His direction of the movie "Air Jordan" grossed $90 million, which allowed the actor to get into the top ten highest paid actors.

10. Denzel Washington ($24 million)

The third installment of the "The Equalizer" franchise was released in 2023, and all three films exceeded $190 million at the box office for one reason: Denzel Washington.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
MSNBCs Joe Scarborough on Thursday tore into Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for endorsing Donald Trump.

Scarborough recalled McConnells previous condemnation of the former president for inciting the U.S. Capitol riot and Trumps racist comments about the Senate GOP leaders wife, Taiwan-born Elaine Chao (who served as Trumps secretary of transportation).

The Morning Joe co-host lumped McConnell in with other Republicans who have been relentlessly attacked by Trump, only to then bend the knee in deference to the four-times-indicted presumptive GOP nominee.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) were also named and shamed for kowtowing to Trump in Scarboroughs criticism.

Scarborough sarcastically said of Cruz: If Donald Trump had ever attacked Ted Cruzs wife, if he ever called her ugly, ever, ever struck out at her in the most personal of terms  that is Texas tough right there, man. No B.S. You cross that line with Ted, you know what? You might as well have crossed the Rio Grande, my friend.

During his 2016 campaign, Trump implied Heidi Cruz was ugly and branded the senator Lyin Ted.

Graham is a profile in courage when it came to Trump, Scarborough similarly snarked.

What is it about Trump? Scarborough asked later in the show. Someone can insult someones wife or husband, or in Mitch McConnells case, continue racist slurs against his wife, and theyre just fine with it?

Watch the video here:

Related...
Outgoing Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC) John Kerry claimed that people would "feel better" about the ongoing war in Ukraine if Russia would "make a greater effort to reduce emissions."

"If Russia wanted to show good faith, they could go out and announce what their reductions are going to be and make a greater effort to reduce emissions now," Kerry said during a foreign press briefing on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., his last as the SPEC, as he departed from the position Wednesday to reportedly join President Biden's presidential re-election campaign.

"Maybe that would open up the door for people to feel better about what Russia is choosing to do at this point in time," he said.

BIDEN ADMIN SUED FOR HIDING JOHN KERRY'S STAFF, COORDINATION WITH ECO GROUPS

Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry speaks during the AIM for Climate Summit in Washington, D.C., last May.

Kerry's remarks came after a Russian news agency reporter, Igor Naimushin, asked him about the U.S. relationship with Russia on his climate agenda.

"I believe that Russia has the ability to be able to make enormous changes if it really wanted to. I mean, if Russia has the ability to wage a war illegally and invade another country, they ought to be able to find the effort to be responsible on the climate issue," Kerry said.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"And unfortunately, because of the actions that Russia took in an unprovoked, illegal war against another nation, we have not been engaged in discussions with Russia, sadly," he continued. "I say "sadly" because its a loss for the world not to be able to have Russia acting constructively on this issue."

During a recent speech in Scotland, U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry ripped climate change deniers, saying they are making climate change worse and thus threatening humanity.

The comments were the latest example of Kerry warning about the climate change implications of war in Ukraine.

Kerry previously came under fire after saying that a key consequence of the ongoing Ukraine war stemming from Russia's invasion last year is increased global greenhouse gas emissions.

"Lots of parts of the world are exacerbating the problem right now, but when you have bombs going off, and you have damage to septic tanks or to power centers, etcetera, you have an enormous release of greenhouse gas, methane, all of the family of greenhouse gasses and the result is it's adding to the problem," Kerry said during a July 2023 interview with MSNBC.

John Kerry's comments are his latest about the climate change implications of the war in Ukraine.

Shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Kerry told multiple media outlets that he was concerned about emissions from a potential military conflict.

WHITE HOUSE SILENT AFTER JOHN KERRY LAMENTS UKRAINE WAR'S CARBON EMISSIONS

"Equally, importantly, youre going to lose peoples focus," Kerry told BBC in February 2022. "Youre going to lose certainly big country attention because they will be diverted, and I think it could have a damaging impact. Hopefully [Russian President Vladimir Putin] would realize that in the northern part of his country, they used to live on 66% of a nation that was over frozen land. Now, its thawing."

"I am concerned in terms of the climate efforts that a war is the last thing you need with respect to a united effort to try to deal with the climate challenge," Kerry told Reuters in a separate interview that same day. "Obviously, we hope that we can compartmentalize, but its just made that much more difficult without any question."

President Joe Biden and John Kerry.

In 2021, Biden appointed Kerry to be the U.S. SPEC, a position that had not previously existed and did not require Senate approval.

Kerry traveled worldwide, attending high-profile climate summits and diplomatic engagements in an effort to push a global transition from fossil fuels to green energy alternatives.

Kerry's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Fox News' Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.





Original article source: John Kerry says people would 'feel better' about the Ukraine war if Russia would reduce emissions
House Republicans needed a wrist slap ahead of Thursdays State of the Union address, with House Speaker Mike Johnson privately pleading with party members to keep decorum during Congresss annual visit by the president.

He just said, Lets have the appropriate decorum, one GOP lawmaker told The Hill on Wednesday.



We dont need to be shrill, you know, we got to avoid that. We need to base things upon policy, upon facts, upon reality of situations. Let them do the gaslighting, let them do the blaming, the lawmaker added, referring to Democrats. I think the American people know who is responsible for the many worldwide crises that we have.

As sad and embarrassing as the classroom reminder is for the nations elected officials, it is, unfortunately, necessary.



Last year, Republicans launched a series of outbursts during Bidens address, essentially becoming props in an unscripted call-and-response with the president. While Biden dissected the topic of immigration, lawmakers cried out secure the border, and when he explained the potential for cuts to Social Security and Medicare in talks on the debt limit, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, clad in a fur-trimmed white coat, shouted liar.

Still, its not completely clear if party members are willing to heed Johnsons advice and resist the urge to interject.

Will they do it? Somebody asked me that earlier and I said, Does the Baptist Church got a bus? Of course they will because hes gonna say some very offensive things, hes gonna attack us, Tennessee Representative Tim Burchett told The Hill.

I think we just need to try to be a little classy, he continued. Consider where were at, let the other side do that. You know, they did it to Trump, and nobody said boo, but when we do it were gonna get made an example of it.
A 100,000 rand ($5,200; 4,100) reward has been offered to anyone with information on Joslin's whereabouts

The mother of a six-year-old girl missing in South Africa since 19 February has been charged with human trafficking and kidnapping.

Kelly Smith was charged along with her boyfriend, Jacquen Appollis, and two others, following their arrest.

Ms Smith's daughter, Joslin, disappeared outside her home in Saldanha Bay, near Cape Town.

The four accused appeared in court, but were not asked to plead in a case that has transfixed South Africans.

A huge crowd gathered outside court, chanting: "Bring back Joslin."

The prosecution alleges that Ms Smith instructed Mr Appollis and another of the accused, Stefano van Rhyn, to sell Joslin to a traditional healer for 20,000 rand ($1,000; 835), the privately owned Citizen newspaper reports.

A child goes missing every five hours in South Africa, but most are found.

Joslin has not yet been located, despite a massive search operation involving the navy, drones and sniffer dogs.

Police said the search for her was continuing.

On Saturday, investigators found bloodied clothing in an open field in the area where Joslin disappeared over a fortnight ago.

Kelly Smith, Joslin's mother, was photographed in court on Thursday morning

Ms Smith and her co-accused, one of whom has been identified by local media as a traditional healer, have been remanded in custody until 13 March, when a bail application is due to be heard. They have all said they would apply for legal aid.

In a widely condemned practice, some traditional healers use body parts to make potions, claiming they can cure people of illnesses or improve their fortunes.

Ms Smith had previously told local publication The Daily Voice that she had not given up hope of finding her daughter following her disappearance outside their home in an informal settlement.

"My motherly instincts are telling me my daughter is still alive and in this area. We will find her, I will walk on foot to find her. I will look in every little shack, I'm going to do it by myself if I have to."

Frantic community members searched sewers and pits in the days following the girl's disappearance. Saldanha Bay Mayor Andre Truter said an angry mob had been raiding homes and accosting neighbours in search of the child.

A 100,000 rand reward has been offered to anyone with information on her whereabouts.

She was left in the care of Mr Appollis when she went missing.

He has previously denied involvement in her disappearance.

You may also be interested in:
Surveillance image from Safeway in San Mateo, Calif., on Feb. 2, 2023, during a confrontation between employees Antoinette Baez and David Arevalos and a would be thief.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - A California judge has ruled in favor of a longtime Safeway employee who was fired after she attempted to stop a shoplifter from stealing more than $500 worth of groceries, her attorney said.

Last year, the grocery retail chain terminated Antoinette Baez from her job at a Safeway in San Mateo, claiming she violated the companys shoplifting policy. The policy, according to lawyer Neil Eisenberg, prohibits employees from chasing, touching, or pursuing a suspected thief.

The termination stemmed from an incident in which Baez intervened during an alleged shoplifting attempt on Feb. 2, 2023.

SEE ALSO: San Francisco Safeway store in Fillmore will remain open

Baez was nearing the end of her shift as a cashier manager when she noticed a woman with a packed shopping cart acting suspiciously in the self-checkout area.

Antoinette Baez said she was fired from her job at a Safeway in San Mateo, Calif. when she tried to stop a would be thief from shoplifting $500 worth of merchandise. (Neil Eisenberg)

She said she asked the customer twice if she needed help, but the woman declined. Baez then left the area to clock out of her shift and then returned to the front of the store to wait for her ride home.

She said thats when she noticed the woman she saw earlier, attempting to leave the store without paying.

She radioed the store supervisor, David Arevalos, and confronted the woman.

In a video released by Baezs attorney, she recounted the events that unfolded. "I said, 'Your transaction is still on the screen. You haven't paid for anything," Baez recalled telling the woman, who denied the allegation and tried to leave with the merchandise.

In surveillance video, Baez was seen attempting to grab the grocery bags that the woman was holding.

Arevalos, also seen in the surveillance video, said the woman was told to let go of the bags and leave the premises. "Just drop the bags, either pay or leave," the supervisor recounted.

Baez said she attempted to redirect the woman back to the checkout lane, being careful not to touch her, and only keep her hands on the bags that the suspected shoplifter was holding.

The former manager said she was very aware of Safeway's policy regarding handling shoplifting cases and that led to how she conducted herself.

"That kept playing in my head, like dont go outside, don't go after her, and dont touch her," Baez explained.

The situation got more heated when the woman got physical and tried to punch Baez, Arevalos recalled. Thats when he stepped in to try and block the woman in an effort to protect his fellow employee.

The woman eventually left the store, without any of the items she allegedly tried to steal.

Baez said she immediately reported the incident to the stores director and that the response she received was one of care and concern.

"He was very understanding, compassionate. He's like, 'I'm sorry that happened. I'm glad everyones okay,'" Baez recalled and she added, "No disciplinary actions were taken against me."

It was a different story for Arevalos who was fired, according to Eisenberg, because he did make contact with the attempted shoplifter. "Bear in mind, because the thief tried to punch out my client, he got fired for defending my client," the lawyer said.

Three weeks later, Baez received the shocking news that management was taking action against her too, and she was suspended without pay.

She said the companys loss prevention center received an anonymous complaint about the incident and that led to her suspension.

Having her wages suddenly cut off, the single mother said she struggled with her finances and her ability to care for and support her daughter.

Antoinette Baez and her daughter (Antoinette Baez)

Then in May, she was called to a Safeway board meeting and was told she was officially terminated from her position.

She was accused of misconduct, and the company said that made her ineligible to receive unemployment benefits.

"She was kicked to the curb," her lawyer said.

SEE ALSO: Truck filled with donated books stolen in San Leandro

Baez, who first began with Safeway at the age of 16 and had remained with the company as an "exemplary" employee for 22 years, said she was completely floored and confused by the firing.

"When you hear that, it just felt like a punch to the gut," she said. "Devastated, coming from a place of transparency and honesty, that it just, it somehow worked against me."

Baez felt she had been wronged by her employer and responded by filing a claim with the state Employee Development Department (EDD).

After a review of her case, a state EDD judge initially upheld Safeways termination.

But Baez continued to fight back and appealed.

Then last week, an EDD administrative law judge issued and finalized a new ruling in favor of Baez, concluding that there was no misconduct on her part.

The ruling now means she will receive unemployment benefits going back about a year, to the point of termination.

"A judge said she was fired for doing her job, and basically said the state of California stands behind her," her attorney said, adding that it was like a match-up between David and Goliath, "and she beat Safeway in a state proceeding."

He also noted that the judge acknowledged that the actions that took place that day happened when Baez had clocked out of her shift, so she was technically off duty.

"The judge said it was no different than a citizen's arrest," Eisenberg explained.

Baez felt vindicated. "For someone to have an unbiased opinion and side with what I've been saying this whole time was really great," she said.

Her lawyer said his client has yet to receive an apology or any compensation from her former employer.

"Safeway has not reached out to her," the attorney said, adding, "They have not offered her job back. They have not offered to pay her lost wages for a year."

And Eisenberg accused the grocery giant of creating an open-door policy for shoplifters.

"Safeways a food bank for thieves," he said to KTVU, noting that the companys policy not only encourages shoplifting, but actually ends up hurting paying customers.

"You are better off stealing from Safeway than paying for your goods or your groceries because when you pay for your goods or your groceries, you are absorbing the cost of shoplifting," the attorney said. "If you're shoplifting, you get to go free, no consequences," Eisenberg added.

The lawyer said the case was the most egregious hes dealt with in his work, and he called on the company to target thieves, not its employees.

"This is probably the dumbest, cruelest incident I've seen in my entire practice," Eisenberg said.

He also shared that because of the firing, his client has been struggling to get by. "Not been able to get a job in the last year because her only experience has been a cashier for Safeway, and in this market its been impossible to get another job," Eisenberg explained.

He now plans to file a lawsuit against Safeway for wrongful termination and said hell seek punitive damages of $1 million dollars for his client.

"She is very dedicated to her fellow workers," the attorney said, "and she doesn't want this to happen to anybody else."

KTVU made multiple attempts to reach Safeway for a comment but did not receive one by the time of this storys publication.

Safeway in San Mateo, Calif.




A federal court overturned a provision of a Florida state law aimed at preventing noncitizens from registering new voters. The provision imposed a $50,000 fine on any organization for each noncitizen or permanent resident who collects or handles voter registration forms for noncitizens.

The bill (SB 7050) went into effect July 1. The Republican-controlled Legislature said that the measure was designed to bolster election security and protect information submitted by voters. But almost immediately, third-party voter registration groups and nonprofits filed lawsuits against the state.

In his ruling, Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker found that the citizenship requirement provision violates plaintiffs right to equal protection under the law.

Here, the Florida Legislature chose to discriminate against all noncitizens on the face of the challenged provision, wrote Walker in his summary judgment last week. The relevant constitutional test to judge whether the Florida Legislatures decision to discriminate against all noncitizens, regardless of immigration status, violates the Equal Protection Clause is whether the law satisfies strict scrutiny.

Other provisions in the bill remain in effect pending a decision, such as reducing the time to submit voter registration forms from two weeks to 10 days, preventing groups from retaining personal information about individuals who sign up to vote and requiring them to provide receipts to those who register. Once a trial is conducted, the court will evaluate the evidence and determine whether these provisions can continue to be enforced, said Cesar Z. Ruiz, associate counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF, a civil rights organization that focuses on issues affecting the Latino community in U.S.

There is no clear timeline on when we could expect such a decision, said Ruiz, who is also one of the lead counsels on the case.

In Florida, Hispanics account for a bigger share of registered voters than ever before  at 18%  according to data from the Florida Division of Elections. Voter groups have played a critical role in this demographic shift.

Initiatives such as voter registration drives include local campaigns and strategies by nonpartisan groups, advocates and community members. But preventing noncitizens from encouraging eligible voters to exercise their right and duty goes against democratic principles, said Yadira Sanchez, executive director of Poder Latinx.

These are laws created to discourage the political power of some, but now with this judicial decision, we can continue to build bridges, raise voices, motivate voters to participate more actively, and give the opportunity to those who can exercise their vote, said Sanchez in an email to the Tampa Bay Times.

Florida has the third-largest Latino eligible voters (3.5 million), following only California (8.5 million) and Texas (6.5 million), according to the Pew Research Center. Nationwide, Latinos are projected to account for 14.7% of all eligible voters in November, a new high, said the Center.

Soraya Marquez, Florida state director of Mi Familia Vota, a nonprofit that works to boost Hispanic voter turnout, said Walkers decision delivers a distinct message and recognizes the right of Florida residents to work in voter registration. Since 2012, the group and their volunteers have registered over 125,000 citizens.

One of those volunteers is Victoria Marin, a TPS holder from Venezuela and community organizer. Marin, 32, is not eligible to vote, but she is happy to encourage friends and other people from minority communities to cast ballots in November.

Its good news, definitely, Marin said. It makes me happy because there are many volunteers who are not citizens but they want to help their community.
A judge set a tentative trial date Thursday for Austin Thompson, the 16-year-old charged with killing five people in a mass shooting in the Hedingham neighborhood in Raleigh.

The trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 22, 2025, in Wake County Superior Court, according to District Attorney Lorrin Freeman.

Thompson is accused of using firearms and other weapons to carry out a mass shooting on Oct. 13, 2022, causing the deaths of his older brother and five neighbors.

Last October, a year after the shooting, Thompson was formally charged as an adult with five counts of murder in the deaths of James Roger Thompson, Gabriel Torres, Mary Elizabeth Marshall, Nicole Connors and Susan Karnatz.

Thompson is also charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and inflicting serious injury for the injuries sustained by Marcille Lynn Gardner, The News & Observer reported previously.

He also faces additional charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and inflicting serious injury, and assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer for the injuries sustained by Officer C. Clark of the Raleigh police during an armed standoff with police after the shootings.

If convicted, Thompson could face life sentences for each of the five homicides he is charged with. He could not receive the death sentence because of his age.

Alleged Hedingham killer faces five murder charges as he moves up to adult court
FILE - People take to the streets of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on Jan. 25, 2022 to rally in support of the new military junta that ousted democratically elected President Roch Marc Christian Kabore and seized control of the country. The military juntas ruling Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger say they have agreed to create a joint force to fight extremist violence in their nations. No details of how the force will operate have been released, even though the countries are experiencing financial difficulties with overstretched militaries. (AP Photo/Sophie Garcia, File)

BAMAKO, Mali (AP)  A joint security force announced by the juntas ruling Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso to fight the worsening extremist violence in their Sahel region countries faces a number of challenges that cast doubt on its effectiveness, analysts said Thursday.

Niger's top military chief, Brig. Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou said in a statement after meeting with his counterparts Wednesday that the joint force would be "operational as soon as possible to meet the security challenges in our area.

The announcement is the latest in a series of actions taken by the three countries to strike a more independent path away from regional and international allies since the region experienced a string of coups  the most recent in Niger in July last year.

They have already formed a security alliance after severing military ties with neighbors and European nations such as France and turning to Russia  already present in parts of the Sahel  for support.

Barmou did not give details about the operation of the force, which he referred to as an operational concept that will enable us to achieve our defence and security objectives.

Although the militaries had promised to end the insurgencies in their territories after deposing their respective elected governments, conflict analysts say the violence has instead worsened under their regimes. They all share borders in the conflict-hit Sahel region and their security forces fighting jihadi violence are overstretched.

The effectiveness of their security alliance would depend not just on their resources but on external support, said Bedr Issa, an independent analyst who researches the conflict in the Sahel.

The three regimes are also very fragile, James Barnett, a researcher specializing in West Africa at the U.S.-based Hudson Institute, said, raising doubts about their capacity to work together.

They've come to power through coups, they are likely facing a high risk of coups themselves, so it is hard to build a stable security framework when the foundation of each individual regime is shaky, said Barnett.

-

Associated Press writer Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria contributed.
An incident that involved a Fresno School teacher with a disability who was forced to crawl on her stomach to get on a bus rather than delay a field trip with her elementary school class is being investigated by the district.

Jackie Esquivel, a teacher at Ayer Elementary, was forced to crawl up the stairs of a school bus to board for a field trip despite requesting and receiving assurances from the district that an inclusion bus would be provided. The Snafu could result in disciplinary action for someone, a Fresno Unified spokesperson told The Bee, adding that it could not provide more details because it was a personnel issue.

Esquivel reported the incident to to the Fresno Teachers Association and released images and videos of the incident. I am tired of being treated as less than by the district. Its not just about me; its about ensuring that all educators with disabilities are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve, she said in the statement from the FTA.

According to FTA President Manuel Bonilla, Esquivel has been overwhelmed by the incident and is not speaking with media. Bonilla said the incident is not isolated.

The reason why you saw those images is because she says over the last 15 years, that has happened multiple times.  The wrong bus has been sent multiple times, and in the past, what she had to do is wait multiple hours in order for them to correct it, Bonilla said in an interview with The Bee.

On this particular case, the field trip was only about an hour and a half, so she knew if they waited they might miss the entire thing. She said, I cant. I dont want to do that to my students.

The school district only has two inclusion buses, the district said, though it has more smaller student buses with wheelchair accessibility. The district confirmed the numbers with The Bee.

District spokesperson Nikki Henry confirmed that Esquivel made the bus request and the teacher received confirmation that the inclusion bus would be provided. Henry declined to answer details about why the request didnt come through or why the bus didnt show up due to the ongoing investigation could lead to disciplinary action, which must be kept confidential and the process questions could be identifying to staff involved.

Henry said that in general there is a formal process to request ADA accommodations, as well as informal ways such as through contacting the transportation department or a work order. The district typically has an ongoing open caseload of about 25 from the districts employees and receives an average of 15 new requests per year. However, the number is less of an accurate representation because there are informal requests, Henry said.

The district couldnt provide data exclusively about transportation accommodations, because the current transportation request system does not keep track of the number of inclusion requests on an aggregate basis. Fresno Unifieds school board has approved the funding for a new transportation system for this budget year, and the team is meeting with labor partners to implement it, Henry said.

However, we have access to 22 First Student inclusion buses that regularly help out with field trip support. We are also in contract with Fresno EOC (Transit Systems) which has inclusion buses and contract with charter companies which also have inclusion buses, Henry said.

Fresno Unified owns 106 buses to transport 15,000 students to and from schools daily. It also fulfilled 1,122 field trips in the first half of the 2023-24 school year, written in The Blue Bird quarterly newsletter by the districts transportation department in the January 2024 edition.

Bonilla said that the district did not do enough in this case.

Its about a culture where everything is on the teacher: She has to call. She has to make the arrangement. She has to call two weeks before to make sure that theyre following; one week before to make sure. Shes following up a day before to make sure that theyre doing everything right, Bonilla said. And then on the day of (the trip), it didnt happen.

So its always on the teacher to figure out and to verify instead of the support coming the other way.

Bonilla said the incident was unacceptable and the association immediately called the district leadership. Superintendent Bob Nelson soon released an apology video Feb. 15, saying the district was determined to identify, rectify and hold accountable any and all mistakes that were made along the way.

He also said FUSD was reaching out to a statewide disability rights group in the hopes of establishing a permanent partnership to better the district, and ensure incidents like this never happen again.

The statement from FTA on Feb. 16 called on the district to expand the availability of inclusion buses, provide comprehensive training on ADA policies for all bus drivers and implement accountability measures

No educator should ever be subjected to such degrading treatment, especially when it could have been easily prevented with proper planning and provision of accommodation. While we are appreciative of Superintendent Nelsons tightly-crafted statement addressing this incident, words are merely that  words, the statement said.

Bonilla also said not all bus drivers are trained on ADA courses.

Its a voluntary system, the district will pay for the training, but its just voluntary as to who attends to it, Bonilla said.

Fresno Unified responded that additional diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility training is coming to the transportation department within this school year, dates are yet to be set.
The Most Rev Justin Welby said he had heard MPs making hateful comments "in the last few weeks" but did not specify the incidents - Jonathan Brady/PA

The Archbishop of Canterbury has accused members of Parliament of hate speech and revealed he carries a panic alarm because of threats made against him.

The Most Rev Justin Welby said he had heard MPs and members of the Church of England making hateful comments in the last few weeks without specifying the incidents he was referring to.

The Archbishops remarks in an interview with The Spectator come less than a week after Rishi Sunak warned that extremists were attempting to undermine British democracy.

Lee Anderson, the former Tory deputy chairman, has also been suspended from the party after refusing to apologise for saying that Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, was controlled by Islamists.

In an apparent reference to the criticism the Church has faced for opposing the Rwanda plan, the Archbishop said it had been accused of colluding with evil and that he carried a panic alarm, although further details were not disclosed.

And we certainly  particularly bishops who are women  have had an enormous increase over the last year or two in abusive language, he said.

He added: More can be done legally, Im sure it can, rigorous prosecution of threats, rigorous prosecution of abusive use of social media.

Members of both Houses of Parliament being very careful about language and not accepting hate speech.

The Church said last month that it was conducting an urgent review of its policies towards asylum seekers after being accused of presiding over a conveyor belt of fake conversions that enabled baptised migrants to gain leave to remain.

It has since admitted that it may have been scammed in some cases but has insisted that the Home Office bears ultimate responsibility for approving or rejecting asylum applications.

The boats must be stopped

But Mr Welby said he does not support open borders and agrees with the Government that immigration should be cut.

Theres a lot of what the Government says which I entirely agree with, he said. The boats must be stopped. We must limit access to our borders: three-quarters of a million in any year seems to me to be far too many.

And so we must have good border control. And we must pursue, go after the traffickers. That I totally agree with.

And as I said a couple of weeks ago, we entirely agree with the evidence. We just dont agree with the means and may well be wrong in that.

The Archbishop also denied that the 26 bishops in the House of Lords were biased against the Conservatives, saying there was no bishop whip.

If you go back to the Blair government, and look, for instance, at the attitude of the bishops around the invasion of Iraq, you will find absolute, almost universal dislike of that, and speaking against it, he said.

And on numerous other issues, we were as objectionable to Labour last time they were in office as we have been to the Tories this time.

Mr Welby, who became archbishop in 2012, has seen the later years of his tenure dominated by a drawn out debate over same-sex marriage which remains unresolved.

Anglican priests are able to conduct same-sex blessings as part of ordinary services but can neither conduct standalone blessing ceremonies, nor marry gay couples or get married themselves to someone of their own sex.

I cant do this

Now the Archbishop has admitted that he has contemplated quitting the job over the matter, which has seen conservative African, South American and Asian bishops disown him as head of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Oh there are moments, he said when asked if he had considered resigning. Normally when you spend three days talking about the nature of human sexuality. But thats always been the case.

I wouldnt say its an impossible job. But its a complicated job, with huge international dimensions and enormous moments of pressure.

But you do have moments  I dont have many moments  when Ive said, I cant do this.

Meanwhile, in the lords, the Archbishop of Canterbury  a leading critic of the Governments Safety of Rwanda Bill  was told to check his white privilege by a former Conservative Cabinet minister during a debate on the legislation.

Speaking during the debate, Lord Lilley told the upper chamber that there is a precedent for Parliament to declare certain countries as safe.

Addressing Mr Welby, who has been scathing of the Bill, the Conservative peer said: Whats the difference? The first is that in those days the list were all white countries, now were dealing with a black country.

And I just warn him that he better check his white privilege and his colonial assumptions or he might find himself in trouble with some of his bishops.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The stylists of the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, pay a lot of attention to accessories, including jewelry. As you know, it is from seemingly subtle nuances that a complete and truly stylish image is formed. For example, recently the wife of the Ukrainian president was seen wearing trendy link earrings. This model in its various variations promises to be a hit in summer 2024.

ADVERTISIMENT

Link earrings are presented in the collections of both luxury brands, for example, Tiffany, and in more budgetary lines. OBOZ.UA has collected photos of stylish jewelry worn by the first lady.

Link earrings are an elegant and stylish accessory that has already won the hearts of fashionistas around the world, but its popularity only continues to gain momentum. Specifically, Olena Zelenska was wearing an oval-shaped model made of white metal. They are quite voluminous, and therefore accentuated, but at the same time, they do not take too much attention, remaining only a harmonious addition to the overall ensemble.

Why are link earrings so popular?

ADVERTISIMENT

- Versatility: these earrings are suitable for any style of clothing, be it an elegant suit, a casual look or a light dress.

- Variety: link earrings come in different sizes, shapes, and materials. You can choose thick links made of gold or silver, elegant chains with pearls or colored stones, extravagant models made of costume jewelry inlaid with precious stones.

- Style: they add elegance, glamor and appropriate daring to the look.

- Relevance: link earrings are in line with the fashion trends of 2024, which emphasize massive and bold accessories.

ADVERTISIMENT

Where to buy link earrings?

As we have already noted, these models are found in brands of different segments. For example, the eminent Tiffany jewelry house offers diamond-encrusted link earrings worth about 815 thousand hryvnias. Ukrainian brands provide a budget-friendly but no less sophisticated alternative. You can find your perfect option among the collections of SOVA, Guzema, Minimal and many others.

How to choose link earrings?

If you have a delicate face, choose small link earrings for harmony. For round faces, it is recommended to give preference to long chains, and for square faces, link earrings with soft curves.

ADVERTISIMENT

Link earrings with pearls or colored stones are suitable for an evening look. Meanwhile, thick links made of gold or silver are suitable for everyday wear.

As OBOZ.UA wrote, earlier Olena Zelenska welcomed her colleague, the first gentleman of Denmark, Bo Tengberg, the husband of the current Danish president, Mette Frederiksen, to Kyiv. For the meeting, the wife of the Ukrainian guarantor once again chose a symbolic piece of jewelry. This time it was a rare vintage brooch in the form of a flower bud in the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Visitors watching through the glass barrier expressed delight as the cub Kala explored her pen with her parents (Tiziana FABI)

A run around and a cuddle with dad -- Rome zoo's new Sumatran tiger cub made her public debut Thursday, three months after her birth boosted the critically endangered species.

Visitors watching through the glass barrier expressed delight as the cub Kala explored her outdoor pen with her mother Tila and father Kasih -- spending quite some time sitting on the latter's large, furry head.

"I didn't realise it would be so small, it's the size of our dog -- it's magnificent!" said Arnaud Champalle, a French tourist visiting the Bioparco zoo.

Sumatran tigers, named after the Indonesian island where they live, are the smallest species of tigers -- and the rarest.

"There are about 500 of them left in the wild," said Paola Palanza, president of the Bioparco foundation.

"Therefore it's very important that zoos contribute to conservation strategies, maintaining a gene pool within zoos, so that we have a reserve of the species should we need to repopulate."

Tila was born in 2011 in Chester Zoo in England, while Kasih was born in 2014 in Beauval zoo in France.

Their cub was born in January and spent her first three months in a protected area where, according to the zoo, she "plays all day without interruption, alone and with both parents".

bur-ar/ide/jj
The Kane County Board is considering a partnership with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning to develop a plan to improve the diversity of housing in the county.

The Kane County Housing Ready Plan would study the amount of housing in the county, offering suggestions for the county and its towns to make sure there is enough attainable housing in the area, according to Mark VanKerkhoff, director of the Kane County Development and Community Services Department.

He said the county approached the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) about creating a plan because the county has a lack of affordable workforce housing.

Its a nationwide problem, its a regional problem and its a Kane County issue, VanKerkhoff said.

He spoke about the proposed plan at the Kane County Development Committee meeting on Feb. 20.

After the resolution to develop the plan passed that committee, it went to the Kane County Executive Committee on Wednesday, which unanimously voted to put it on the Kane County Boards March 12 meeting agenda.

At the Feb. 20 Kane County Development Committee meeting, Kane County Board Chair Corinne Pierog said she was in full support of the proposed plan.

If approved by the board, CMAP employees would work with the Kane County Development and Community Services Department to develop the plan. CMAP would not ask the county to put any funds forward for the project, and the only cost to the county would be staffs time working on the plan, according to VanKerkhoff.

He said no additional staff would be needed because of the partnership.

According to a project charter given to the county by CMAP, the plan is intended to teach the communities in Kane County how to access and properly use funds provided by the state government, county government and other organizations to improve their housing stock.

The plan would also give suggestions on land use and zoning to these communities and the county itself, the project charter says. These suggestions would look to encourage affordable housing development, redevelopment or special zones designed around transit or workplaces.

However, before any suggestions are made, CMAP and Kane County staff would study the current conditions of the housing market in the county and the feasibility of new residential development types.

According to VanKerkhoff, CMAP plans to do similar plans with other counties in the region and is using Kane County as a pilot program.

rsmith@chicagotribune.com
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  A Kansas City man is now facing charges, accused of stabbing another man to death with a screwdriver.

Phillip Lacy has been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of 52-year-old Bryan Hoover.

Man who killed 19-year-old in 100 mph Merriam crash pleads guilty

The deadly stabbing happened Nov. 10, 2023, at a vacant building near 24th Street and Elmwood Avenue.

Court records say someone called 911 saying Hoover had been stabbed about 15-20 times. When police arrived, first responders took Hoover to the hospital where he later died.

A witness told detectives she, Hoover and Lacy were inside the vacant building when Hoover and Lacy allegedly got into a fight. The witness said Lacy then stabbed Hoover with a screwdriver.

Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android

Police took the 33-year-old suspect into custody in March on an unrelated call for service. In an interview with detectives, Lacy denied any knowledge of Hoovers death or being in the building that night.

Lacy is currently being held in the Jackson County jail on a $200,000 cash bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
TOPEKA (KSNT)- Kansas lawmakers have passed a bill that would require doctors to ask patients why theyre receiving an abortion, among other changes to reporting requirements.

House Bill 2749 passed 81-39 on Thursday, receiving backlash from Democrats.

I vote no today and stand before you today to convey our responsibility to inform all patients Kansas citizens and non-Kansans alike that they have the right to refuse to answer any and all questions asked by a healthcare provider, said Representative Melissa Oropeza, a Democrat from Kansas City.

The bill would require, except in the case of a medical emergency, each patient to be asked, prior to the termination of a pregnancy, to indicate the most important factor regarding their reason for deciding to seek an abortion.

Kansas Party chairs talk Presidential Preference Primary following Haleys departure

According to the supplementary note on the bill, if the patient declines to answer, that response would be recorded.

The bill would also require providers to submit written reports of pregnancies lawfully terminated to the Kansas Secretary of Health and Environment on a biannual basis. Current law requires facilities and providers to submit these reports on an annual basis.

Each report would also be required to include information about the patient, such as their race, residence and marital status.

During hearings on the bill, opponents argued that the reporting requirement changes would place an undue burden on providers and patients. Supporters, however, argue that it would provide a better understanding of the reasons why women seek abortions.

Representative Brenda Landwehr, a Republican from Wichita, rose in support of the bill on Thursday.

Knowledge is power and with more knowledge about why people are seeking abortions comes empowerment of choice, Landwehr said. Kansas women facing an unplanned pregnancy in future years will be the ultimate winners.

Kansas bill seeking to shorten deadline for advance election ballots fails

The bill now heads to the Senate.

For more Capitol Bureau news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
Facing severe pushback from nearly every major law enforcement group in Kansas, state lawmakers on Thursday considered a bill that would bar state and local law enforcement from helping federal agencies enforce federal gun laws.

The proposal bears similarities to a Missouri law, the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which declares some federal gun laws invalid and has been tied up in court.

The Kansas proposal doesnt declare federal law invalid. But it would block Kansas police from cooperating with federal authorities to enforce U.S. gun laws against law-abiding citizens and could lead to a $50,000 fine per offense and per officer involved for any violation of that policy.

Gun rights advocates frame the bill as a common-sense measure to prevent federal authorities from taking away weapons based on reinterpretation of federal law by bureaucratic agencies. Rep. Michael Houser, a Cherokee Republican who introduced the bill, referenced a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rule that in some cases bars pistol braces, a gun attachment Houser owns.

Rep. Rebecca Schmoe, an Ottawa Republican, said the bill was an important way for lawmakers to protect 2nd Amendment rights.

We should never put our sheriffs between unconstitutional laws and responsible gun owners, Schmoe said.

But police across the state  including leaders in the Kansas Highway Patrol and Kansas Bureau of Investigation  said the bill would instead severely hinder their ability to partner with federal agencies and investigate crimes involving guns.

The area where this bill seeks to push back on federal overreach in this case simply hampers law enforcement, said Erik Smith, the KHP superintendent who spent decades in federal law enforcement agencies.

Bob Stuart, executive officer at the KBI, said the proposal would put existing partnerships between the agency and federal law enforcement aimed at combating fentanyl trafficking within the state.

But Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, speaking to The Star earlier this week, said he didnt believe the bill would interfere with existing corporations with federal law enforcement.

It would be a very rare instance in which a state law enforcement agency would be tasked with enforcing a federal gun law here, said Kobach, who submitted written testimony supporting the bill as an important protection of gun rights.

The bill defines a law-abiding citizen as anyone not barred from owning a gun. As a result, Smith and other police said, this bill would prevent police from even calling federal authorities for help investigating a crime if a gun is involved. Even if someone is suspected of a violent crime, they noted, that perpetrator would be considered a law-abiding citizen because they had not yet been convicted.

Almost every major mass shooting in this country in the last 20 years has been committed by a person who was a law-abiding citizen until they started shooting other law-abiding citizens, said Rep. Boog Highberger, a Lawrence Democrat.

Jered Taylor, a former Missouri Republican lawmaker who championed that states bill nullifying federal gun laws, insisted law enforcement concerns were overblown.

It doesnt prevent law enforcement from enforcing current laws, any law in the state of Kansas, Taylor said, responding to a question about whether police would have been able to seek federal help in an instance similar to the shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs parade last month.

Clearly that person committed murder and other crimes against a person so they would be able to do their investigation.

The proposal is unlikely to move in the Legislature this year. Rep. Will Carpenter, a Butler Republican and chair of the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, said he had no plans to move the bill forward, citing the concerns of law enforcement.

But, just weeks after dozens were injured in a shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade, Rep. Jo Ella Hoye, a Lenexa Democrat, said she was frustrated the bill was even being considered.

My family and a number of my colleagues were at the parade and were still recovering from that, and theyre saying we should weaken gun laws in the wake of this tragedy, she said.

Following the House hearing Thursday, Kansas Senate Democrats announced a separate slate of bills to offer gun control. The proposals include mandatory background checks, safe storage laws, requiring a license to carry a concealed handgun and barring those under 21 from purchasing semi-automatic rifles.

In a press release announcing the bills, Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, acknowledged theyre unlikely to move in the GOP-controlled Legislature.

Unfortunately, we have a do-nothing Republican Senate that has delivered no meaningful progress on gun safety legislation after the Chiefs parade shooting, she said. With this legislative package, were answering Kansans call for common sense gun safety reform by putting safeguards in place to help keep dangerous weapons from falling into the wrong hands.

The Stars Jenna Barackman contributed to this report.
The White House said Wednesday that President Biden will be ready for anything during Thursday night's upcoming State of the Union address, including hecklers.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked during Wednesday's briefing whether Biden was prepared for hecklers during the State of the Union.

Last year, chaos erupted briefly in the House chamber when Biden repeated an old Democratic talking point that has long been debunked, saying, "Some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset."

Biden said that stance was not from the majority, though he invited anyone who doubted his claim to contact his office and he would provide them with a copy of the proposal.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE BATTLES PRESS OVER BIDEN'S RELIANCE ON NOTECARDS: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR INTERJECTING

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., gives a thumbs down during President Biden's State of the Union address in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 7, 2023.

Still, after making the statement, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga, shouted, "Liar!"

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The hecklers became so bad, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., shushed them when they interrupted the presidents tribute to a fentanyl victim.

So, when asked whether Biden would be prepared for hecklers this year, Jean-Pierre referred the reporter to how the president handled the hecklers last year.

BIDEN'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS: TOP 5 MOMENTS

President Biden speaks during his State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 7, 2023.

"Look, you saw the president last year when some Republican members behaved in a way that was, I would say, disrespectful. And he handled that, and he did that on his own and he held them to account as it related to important programs that matter to the American people: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid," Jean-Pierre said. "He called them out on it as they were obviously heckling at him. And so, the presidents ready for anything."

She was asked again about the presidents preparation, and said he knows how to manage hecklers, as he showed in February 2023.

"Nobody was expecting that," Jean-Pierre said. "And he took them on and laid out and fought for the American people on programs that matter to them. And so, he, you know, he got this. The Presidents got this."

WHITE HOUSE REPORTERS FEEL HEAT FROM ADMINISTRATION OVER COVERAGE OF BIDEN, TRUMP: 'NAGGING AND COMPLAINING'

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday that President Biden would be ready for anything, including hecklers, during the State of the Union address on Thursday.

Jean-Pierre gave a preview of what Biden is expected to talk about during Thursday's annual speech to the nation.

"Hes gotten more done in the first three years than most presidents have accomplished in two terms," said Jean-Pierre, who added Biden will talk about the success of lowering drug prices and getting rid of junk fees.

Biden will also talk about his plan to "improve the lives of all Americans," by lowering costs on health care premiums, taking on Big Pharma to lower drug prices and making the wealthy and corporations pay their "fair share" in taxes.

Additionally, Jean-Pierre said the president will speak about protecting womens reproductive health despite attacks from Republican elected officials, and ending cancer as we know it, among other things.





Original article source: Karine Jean-Pierre says Biden is ready to handle hecklers during State of the Union: 'He got this'
Indian-administered Kashmir has been transformed economically since it was stripped of its semi-autonomous status, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said.

Security was tight for his first trip to the Muslim-majority region since he made the controversial change in 2019.

"I am working hard to win your hearts," he told a rally in Srinagar, weeks before general elections are held.

An armed revolt against Indian rule in the disputed territory has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1980s.

Kashmir was divided after India and Pakistan gained independence from Britain in 1947. The two nuclear-armed states both claim the region in its entirety and have fought two wars over it in the decades since.

"People used to ask who will tour Jammu-Kashmir - now thousands are," Mr Modi told thousands of people packed into Srinagar's Bakshi stadium.

"Friends, Jammu and Kashmir is touching new heights of development because it is breathing freely now. This freedom has come after the removal of Article 370, which had been a barrier."

He announced projects worth 64bn rupees ($774m; 607m) to support local agriculture and tourism. His comments about Article 370 - a constitutional provision which had granted significant autonomy to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir - echo what he said last month on a visit to mostly-Hindu Jammu.

Mr Modi's decision to impose direct federal rule angered many Kashmiris.

One local leader said that almost none of those attending Mr Modi's rally would be going of their own free will. "Employees who don't show up are being threatened with disciplinary action," former Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah alleged in a message on X, formerly Twitter.

Security personnel frisking people waiting to attend the rally

Analysts say the message Mr Modi wants to send is that things are back to normal in the territory, despite incidents of violence and high levels of unemployment. His government talks about a new era of peace and development since 2019, but many locals and critics say they have faced a crackdown on civil liberties and press freedom.

His government is keen to talk up projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars that it says are part of a plan to integrate Kashmir's economy with the rest of India. Until Jammu and Kashmir's special status was removed, outsiders could not buy land to do business there.

Many locals say they have yet to see the benefits of such projects.

Revoking part of the constitution that allowed Indian-administered Kashmir special status had been a poll promise and Mr Modi's government announced the move soon after he won re-election in 2019.

Article 370 had granted privileges to Jammu and Kashmir including the right to have its own flag, legislature, constitution and laws.

It was the only Muslim-majority state in India. After the abrogation of Article 370, its 12 million people were divided into two federally-administered territories - Jammu and Kashmir, and remote, mountainous Ladakh.

Tens of thousands of extra Indian troops were deployed ahead of the move, which shocked locals and upended normal life in the region - but was backed by many of Mr Modi's supporters. Schools and colleges were shut in the former state, telephone and internet services suspended and local political leaders placed under house arrest or moved to jails in other parts of India.

In December, India's Supreme Court upheld the abrogation of Article 370 - but said the government had promised to restore Jammu-Kashmir's statehood and should do so as soon as possible.

Analysts say Mr Modi's visit will set the tone for the BJP's campaign in the region for the coming general election, due by May.

Most of those the BBC spoke to ahead of the visit were critical, although one or two were prepared to wait and see what the PM said.

One worker at a private firm in Srinagar told the BBC that removing Article 370 had been a "great injustice" and he would not go to the PM's rally. "When did he ever talk about the atrocities being committed against Muslims across the country?"

Another person said: "Electricity rates are skyrocketing. One has to put in so much effort even to get rice. Inflation is skyrocketing. Why should we go to listen to the speech of such a government?"

Map of Kashmir

Prior to Mr Modi's visit, the streets of Srinagar were cleaned and bill boards put up to welcome him.

Thousands of security personnel were deployed to ensure security and check people and vehicles moving in and out of Srinagar. The presence of Indian forces is contentious, with security personnel accused of numerous human rights abuses and other excesses over decades.

Thursday's visit was one among many events Mr Modi will attend before general election voting dates are announced. On Wednesday, he inaugurated an underwater metro rail tunnel in Kolkata in India's West Bengal state.

Read more India stories from the BBC:
Alabama's Katie Britt, the youngest woman representing the Republicans in the US Senate, has given her party's response to President Joe Biden's third State of the Union address.

Sitting at her kitchen table, she accused the president of being out of touch and painted a dark picture of the US under his watch.

"Right now, the American Dream has turned into a nightmare for so many families," she said.

The rebuttal - first delivered in 1966 - is often given by rising stars in the opposition party.

Ms Britt, 42, echoed popular Republican attack lines in her 17-minute speech, hitting Mr Biden hard on the border crisis and inflation.

Reactions to her performance were mixed. Conservative media outlet Fox News reviewed the speech as a successful effort which "pulled-no-punches" when "shredding" the president's national address.

But some criticism focussed on her performative delivery. Others took issue with the unconventional setting - her kitchen table in Montgomery - for a speech meant to counter presidential remarks delivered from the Capitol.

Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump White House communications adviser, posted on X: "I do not understand the decision to put her in a KITCHEN for one of the most important speeches she's ever given."

Ahead of the speech, some political commentators had suggested Ms Britt was an astute choice to deliver the Republican response.

She has avoided isolationist tendencies in her party and emerged as a hawkish figure on national security. And her speech largely avoided the kind of combative politics championed by some in the party.

Now in her second year in the Senate, Ms Britt first arrived in Washington in 2004 as a congressional staffer. Having earned a law degree at the University of Alabama, she served variously as press secretary, communications director and chief of staff to Alabama Senator Richard Shelby.

In 2018, she was elected as the first woman to lead her state's business council, where she became associated with the Keep Alabama Open campaign during the Covid-19 pandemic. The role elevated her profile within the state, and her resignation in 2021 prompted speculation - proven correct - about her intention to seek the Senate seat of her outgoing mentor, Sen Shelly.

She was elected in 2022 after easily seeing off her main opponent for the Republican nomination, Mo Brooks - a state representative at the time and a long-time adversary of Mr Trump's - before sweeping away her Democratic rival in the general election.

Since her arrival in Washington DC, Ms Britt has taken a position on the powerful Senate appropriations committee and worked as a key fundraiser for more senior colleagues.

Among Democrats, she has won some approval by working on a bipartisan bill prohibiting children under 13 from using social media and visiting John Fetterman when the Pennsylvania senator checked into hospital to seek treatment for depression.

Thursday's speech has elevated her profile to the national stage and it won the approval of Donald Trump.

"She was compassionate and caring, especially concerning Women and Women's Issues. Her conversation on Migrant Crime was powerful and insightful. Great job Katie!" he wrote on Truth Social, his own social media platform.

Some saw her speech as an audition for a spot on Mr Trump's list of candidates for the vice-presidency. But she and the former president are not natural allies.

She was the last member of Alabama's congressional delegation to endorse the 77-year-old in December, and observers note that her political views have been more temperate than Mr Trump's.

In an interview with Politico last year, Ms Britt criticised - obliquely - Mr Trump's penchant for personalised attacks on his political opponents.

Unlike some fellow Repulican senators, like JD Vance (L), Ms Britt has avoided a close association with Donald Trump

"I really believe we have to get back to a place in this nation where you don't have to agree with someone 100% to show them respect and to be able to have a conversation and dialogue that you can learn from," she said.

Indeed, the Alabama native has been more closely aligned with outgoing Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, joining his leadership group as an informal adviser last year.

Mr McConnell - a veteran dealmaker in the chamber - has long been at odds with Mr Trump and his brand of politics, although he endorsed the former president this week.

Ms Britt has also become known for her hawkish views on national security, at times running up against colleagues in a party increasingly defined by American isolationism.

Nonetheless, she has remained in favour with senior members of the Senate leadership and those within Mr Trump's orbit, a difficult feat.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD)  Authorities are searching for a man who shot at a pharmacy employee during a robbery in Kalamazoo.

The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety said it happened around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday on E. Cork Street near the intersection of Lovers Lane.

The suspect went up to the counter and demanded pills while pointing a handgun at an employee. He fired one shot in the direction of the employee before going around the counter and stealing multiple bottles of medication, according to a KDPS news release.

On Thursday, police released clips of surveillance video from inside the store, showing the robber threatening the worker with the gun and running away holding a few bottles.

Surveillance photos of a suspect in a pharmacy armed robbery in Kalamazoo on March 6, 2024. (Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety)

There were no reports of injuries.

Police said the suspect got away in an unknown vehicle.

Anyone with information is asked to call the KDPS Criminal Investigation Division at 269.337.8139 or Silent Observer at 269.343.2100.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
Keller Timber Creek students who spent months preparing to perform The Laramie Project got welcome news when the superintendent reversed a decision to cancel the performance.

Parents from Timber Creek High School received an email Wednesday from superintendent Tracy Johnson stating that the district will allow the students to perform an adapted version of the play, which examines reactions to the murder of a gay college student.

The district had canceled the performance in February without explanation. It did not elaborate why the decision was reversed.

Keller ISDs administration recognizes the time and effort that has been put into the adapted version of The Laramie Project by students and staff members, Johnson said in the emailed statement.

Upon further consideration of this, the administration has decided to proceed as previously planned with the May performance of The Laramie Project.

A petition on change.org garnered 4,050 signatures calling for the district to reinstate The Laramie Project.

Last week, students, parents and teachers crowded into the school board meeting and questioned the districts decision to cancel the performance.

The Laramie Project, originally produced by the Tectonic Theater Project in New York City, delves into reactions of people in Laramie, Wyoming, following the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten and murdered. His murder was later classified as a hate crime.
Photographs taken by foreign tourists are one way to see how Kyiv looked in different years. For example, in the 1950s, an English traveler visited the capital of Ukraine and took several photos that did not fall victim to Soviet censorship.

ADVERTISIMENT

The archival photos were published in the community "Spraha: Kyiv is interesting" on Facebook. They are unique because they preserved the spirit of the city in those years.

"An interesting fact. Tourists who were granted access to the USSR (as now, for example, to North Korea) were able to take interesting street photos without censorship. It was risky, you could get thrown in the slammer. Then they took these films back to their homeland, where they published them. Nowadays, such archival photos have been digitized and posted online. They show real life in that period. Kyiv, 1950s, through the eyes of an English tourist/traveler," the statement reads.

ADVERTISIMENT

ADVERTISIMENT

Bessarabska Square in Kyiv was founded in the early 19th century as a marketplace where traders from southern Ukraine and Bessarabia came to trade. Few people know that there used to be a cemetery on its site, which was founded by the Lutheran community of the capital.

Rusanivka in Kyiv is the first residential area to be built on an artificially created island. The beauty and comfort of this location, in particular, were immediately appreciated by the scientists, teachers, and artists who settled there.

ADVERTISIMENT

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, in 1955, Ukrainian documentary photographer Andriy Levchenko took several panoramic photos of Podil and the Dnipro River. Thanks to these works, we can see what this historic area of Kyiv looked like back then.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
A man from Lincoln County has been charged with murder after he allegedly choked his roommate to death, according to court documents.

Tuesday evening, deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office were dispatched to Crawford Lane in Stanford after receiving a call from 50-year-old Joseph Nutgrass saying his roommate is unresponsive.

Court documents indicate Nutgrass allegedly told a 911 dispatcher he and his roommate, Ricky Patterson, got into an argument and Patterson tried to break his leg, so Nutgrass responded by trying to choke him out.

Nutgrass attempted CPR on Patterson before emergency crews arrived, according to court documents. Paramedics also tried CPR, but the efforts were unsuccessful and Patterson was declared dead on scene.

Nutgrass told deputies Patterson ate some pills and went out, according to court documents. He also said he put Patterson in a full nelson and body triangle and denied choking him.

Nutgrass has been charged with murder, according to court records.

Both Nutgrass and Patterson appeared to have been drinking alcohol the night of the incident, court documents say. Pattersons body is scheduled to undergo an autopsy.
SEOUL, March 7 (UPI) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited an army training base and called for intensifying drills to prepare for war, state-run media reported Thursday, as U.S. and South Korean forces conducted a large-scale joint military exercise.

Kim was joined by high-ranking defense officials at the military base in the western region of the country, where he oversaw drills in an "environment little different from actual war," Korean Central News Agency reported.

"Stressing the need for the [Korean People's Army] to further intensify the training at present, [Kim] set forth the important tasks for intensifying the practical actual-war drills ensuring the victory in a war," KCNA said.

Images released by state media showed Kim, wearing a leather jacket, observing North Korean troops firing rifles and rocket launchers. One photo showed the North Korean leader holding an assault rifle in firing position.

The visit came as the United States and South Korea continued their annual Freedom Shield exercise, which kicked off on Monday.

A South Korean KF-16 fighter jet takes off from the runway at Seosan Air Base on Thursday, as it takes part in a live-fire drill meant to boost readiness against North Korean cruise missile and artillery threats. Photo courtesy of Republic of Korea Air Force

The 11-day exercise has a focus on countering threats from the nuclear-armed North and includes 48 joint field drills, almost twice as many as last year.

In connection with Freedom Shield, on Thursday South Korean fighter jets staged a live-fire exercise over the Yellow Sea to boost readiness against North Korean cruise missile and artillery threats, the South's Air Force said in a press release.

North Korea regularly condemns the allies' joint exercises as rehearsals for an invasion and has used the drills in the past as a pretext for its own missile tests. Freedom Shield is the first joint exercise since the North scrapped a 2018 inter-Korean military accord meant to reduce tensions along the border, raising additional concerns over a provocative response from Pyongyang.

Earlier this week, North Korea's Defense Ministry condemned the Freedom Shield exercise as part of a "military threat to a sovereign state" and warned that Seoul and Washington will be "made to pay a dear price."

North Korea has not conducted a missile launch since Feb. 14, after starting off the year with a flurry of weapons tests and artillery fire near the inter-Korean maritime border.

Tensions remain at their highest point in years on the Korean Peninsula, however, with Kim labeling Seoul the "principal enemy" last month and publicly rejecting the long-held goal of reunification.

The United States and South Korea, meanwhile, have increased their military cooperation over the past several months, with expanded drills and the deployment of U.S. assets such as aircraft carriers, a B-52 nuclear bomber and a nuclear ballistic missile submarine to the Korean Peninsula.
(Bloomberg) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw military drills that included storming border guard posts, stepping up pressure on South Korea after saying he has the right to annihilate his neighbor and no longer seeks peaceful unification.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Kim called for his army to usher in a new heyday of intensifying the war preparations in line with the requirements of the prevailing situation, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday. It also released photos of the drills showing troops and helicopters in training to take over a post similar to what South Korea has on its side of the border.

Never miss an episode. Follow the Big Take podcast on iHeart, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen. Read the transcript.

The training comes as the US and South Korea this week kicked off Freedom Shield, one of their largest annual joint military exercises. A North Korean Defense Ministry spokesman said the two countries would pay a dear price for the drills that threaten the existence of the government in Pyongyang, KCNA said, raising the possibility of a military provocation as a display of anger.

The North Korean leader set a belligerent tone for relations with South Korea to start the year by eliminating the concept of peaceful unification from his states national policy and holding artillery drills off a South Korean island near a nautical border that has been the scene of deadly conflicts in the past.

This has led to some speculation that Kim has turned the corner on his outbursts and is readying for battle. US President Joe Biden has warned Kim that it would mean the end of his regime if he tried to launch a nuclear attack.

The government of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said it believes North Korea will be trying to raise its profile ahead of April elections for parliament. Yoons conservative People Power Party, which backs military cooperation with the US and a tough stance toward Pyongyang, is seeking to wrest control of the body from the opposition Democratic Party, which favors rapprochement with the North.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Charles painted the watercolour while appearing in The Legend of Lochnagar - BBC

A watercolour painted by the King as he filmed a BBC adaptation of his childrens book has emerged after 31 years.

The monatch, then the Prince of Wales, was filmed sitting at a desk in his study painting Lochnagar, a mountain overlooking the Balmoral estate, in 1993.

He was interrupted by a group of noisy schoolchildren, to whom he introduced his story of the Old Man of Lochnagar, about a man who lived in a cave and his adventures in the surrounding countryside.

The King narrated the animated TV adaptation, with the old man voiced by Robbie Coltrane.

His unfinished painting was later picked up by a member of the BBCs production team, who was given permission to keep it. She had it mounted and framed before hanging it on the landing at her home in Somerset, where it remained for 31 years.

She has now decided to sell it at auction, where it is expected to raise 15,000 when it goes under the hammer on March 14.

The original watercolour will be auctioned later this month - BNPS

Chris Yeo, of auctioneers Clevedon Salerooms of Bristol, said: I just think that she feels the time is right to part with it. She has had it on her upstairs landing wall for years, and she now wants to put something else there.

Very few of his works come to the open market, just a few limited edition prints, but it is very rare for an original watercolour to come up for sale.

We have already had a lot of interest in it from the UK, America and Australia, especially given that he has very recently taken the throne.

The King wrote the Old Man of Lochnagar in 1980, having devised the story years earlier to entertain his brothers, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, when they were young.

In 1984, Charles read the story on Jackanory, the BBC childrens programme, and in 2007 it became the inspiration for a ballet, first performed at Sadlers Wells Theatre.

The unfinished painting was later picked up by a member of the BBC's production team, who was given permission to keep it - BNPS

In the opening scene of the television adaptation, children burst into his study, shouting that their antics are not bothering anyone.

The then 44-year-old looks up from his painting and asks: How do you know its not bothering anyone? Do you know what happens when you think you know, but you dont?

I know someone who thought he knew all about everything. Shall I tell you what happened to him?

At the end of the animation, the King tells the children: There is truth in every story, and the legend of Lochnagar is no exception. As he begins playing the bagpipes, he shrinks, reflecting a scene in the story.

A keen artist, the monarch has long specialised in watercolours, raising more than 2 million for good causes from the sale of his landscapes.

A series of his limited edition framed lithographs are on sale in the Highgrove House shop, including a view of snow-topped Lochnagar, costing 5,000. All proceeds are donated to the Kings Foundation.

The King paints whenever his schedule allows and he usually takes his treasured sailcloth and leather painting bag with him on royal tours.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Disclaimer: This piece mentions sexual assault.

Dr. Caitlin Bernard, who overnight became a national figure in the abortion debate, will attend President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address to Congress on Thursday.

The Indianapolis OB/GYN will be the guest of California Rep. Judy Chu, a Democrat representing Los Angeles County.

Though White House officials have not disclosed what the president will address, many expect him to talk about reproductive rights among a host of issues like the war in Gaza and immigration.

"Patients must be able to make these personal and sometimes complicated decisions and doctors must be able to offer this care without interference from powerful people who are motivated by politics or ideology," Bernard said in a statement. "We need bold, immediate change to protect and expand access to reproductive care, and I look forward to hearing from President Biden about his plans to take this important action for patients and providers."

When is the State of the Union? How to watch the 2024 Presidential address

Bernard faced backlash for telling story of child rape victim

Dr. Caitlin Bernard stands on stage as she receives the Our Choice Coalition Torchbearer Award on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024, at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in Indianapolis.

Shortly after the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Bernard shared with IndyStar an anecdote about providing abortion care to a 10-year-old rape victim.

Attorney General Todd Rokita, on national television, called into question Bernard's integrity and whether she properly reported the abuse. A state board later found she did. The fallout took more than a year: Bernard filed and later dropped a civil lawsuit, the Indiana Medical Licensing Board decided she violated privacy laws, and the state Supreme Court disciplined Rokita for his comments on Fox News.

Meanwhile, Indiana lawmakers passed a law banning most abortions, becoming the first in the nation to sign restrictions into law following the U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Chu said she and House Democrats stand with Bernard.

Through their Dobbs decision, the MAGA Justices on the Supreme Court accelerated the extremist rights march to undermine all our reproductive freedoms and implement a nationwide abortion ban," she said, "but courageous physicians like Dr. Bernard remain on the frontlines of our health care system to provide medical and abortion care to Americans who need it."

Dr. Caitlin Bernard speaks during an event where she was presented the Our Choice Coalition Torchbearer Award on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024, at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in Indianapolis.

Bernard offers insight to burdens of reportative health care workers

In an opinion piece for USA TODAY, Bernard wrote that about the repercussions that reproductive health care workers face in states where women are denied care for life-threatening pregnancy complications.

Bernard wrote that doctors are forced to stand by and watch patients be denied basic health care on a daily basis. She said that the types of attacks on physicians who perform abortions in states like Missouri and Tennessee have ended in murder before. She added that while she may not be the the first post-Roe physician targeted by politicians she would not be the last.

"This moral injury weighs heavily on me every day. I am not the only physician who has faced backlash for advocating for patients and for access to health care," she wrote. "Make no mistake, the targeting of physicians who provide abortion care with both personal and professional violence and harassment is nothing new."

Bernard among several guests highlighting reproductive care

Joining Bernard are several other guests known for addressing reproductive care issues, including Kate Cox, a mother whose attempt to undergo an abortion in Texas drew national attention to the state's near-total abortion ban.

In a Wednesday press release, Senate Democrats said that multiple members of the caucus will invite guests to focus attention on various reproductive care issues that the Roe overturn created.

Invitees include:

Chuck Schumer (Majority Leader-NY) : Kate Farley, a woman who required in-vitro fertilization to conceive a child due to a rare chromosomal condition.

Patty Murray (WA) : Kayla Smith, an Idaho woman who traveled to Seattle to get an early induction of labor.

Tammy Duckworth (IL): Amanda Adeleye, MD, a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist and the Medical Director for CCRM Fertilitys Chicago-area clinics.

Tina Smith (MN): Tammi Kromenaker, Clinic Director of Red River Womens Clinic in Moorhead, Minnesota. The clinic was formerly located in North Dakota but moved after Roe was overturned.

Tim Kaine (VA): Elizabeth Carr, the first person in the United States born via in-vitro fertilization.

Cory Booker (NJ): Roshni Kamta, a reproductive care activist.

Brian Schatz (HI): Olivia Manayan, OBGYN chief resident at the University of Hawaii.

Biden to deliver address at 9 p.m. EST Thursday.

Biden's address is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. EST Thursday, when he is expected to discuss both domestic and international challenges.

While addressing the joint session of Congress, the Democratic frontrunner is expected propel his campaign after Super Tuesday showed the 2024 race will likely be a rematch between him and former president Donald Trump. He is expected to combat criticisms of his age and emphasize a need to beat Trump.

ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX will air the speech on network television while CNN, FOX News, MSNBC and NewsNation air on cable.

Contributing: James Powel, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What to know about State of the Union guest Dr. Caitlin Bernard
As President Joe Biden is set to address Congress and the nation during the State of the Union Thursday, invited guests provide insight on the major themes of the speech.

Kate Cox, the Texas mother whose attempt to undergo an abortion in Texas drew national attention to the state's near total abortion ban triggered by the overturn of Roe v. Wade, will attend the address as a symbol of the fight over abortion care access.

Cox was denied an abortion by the Texas State Supreme Court after a "trigger law" went into effect and the court found that the burden of potential harm was not met in her case.

Cox will be a guest of first lady Jill Biden and her presence will provide the opportunity for president Biden to draw sharp contrasts with the Republican position on abortion.

Here's what you need to know about Kate Cox.

A handout image of Kate Cox

Cox denied abortion in Texas

Cox had been to the hospital multiple times during her pregnancy where doctors diagnosed her fetus with trisomy 18  a condition that kills more than 5% of fetuses in the womb, according to the Cleveland Clinic

On Dec. 5, Cox sought emergency permission for abortion care in Travis County District Court. The District Court granted permission but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed the case to the state's supreme court.

Texas law prohibits abortions beginning at fertilization, with exceptions being granted for patients whose pregnancies could result in death or "substantial impairment of major bodily function."

"The statute requires that judgment be a 'reasonable medical' judgment, and Dr. (Damla) Karsan has not asserted that her 'good faith belief' about Ms. Coxs condition meets that standard," the court ruled.

Cox was the first woman to ask the state for an abortion since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022. She left the state to undergo the procedure.

Senators inviting guests to highlight reproductive care

Senate Democrats said in a Wednesday press release that multiple members of the caucus will invite guests to focus attention on various reproductive care issues that the Roe overturn created.

Invitees include:

Chuck Schumer (Majority Leader-NY) : Kate Farley, a woman who required in-vitro fertilization to conceive a child due to a rare chromosomal condition.

Patty Murray (WA) : Kayla Smith, an Idaho woman who traveled to Seattle to get an early induction of labor.

Tammy Duckworth (IL): Amanda Adeleye, MD, a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist and the Medical Director for CCRM Fertilitys Chicago-area clinics.

Tina Smith (MN): Tammi Kromenaker, Clinic Director of Red River Womens Clinic in Moorhead, Minnesota. The clinic was formerly located in North Dakota but moved after Roe was overturned.

Tim Kaine (VA): Elizabeth Carr, the first person in the United States born via in-vitro fertilization.

Cory Booker (NJ): Roshni Kamta, a reproductive care activist.

Brian Schatz (HI): Olivia Manayan, OBGYN chief resident at the University of Hawaii.

Abortion in the election

Biden will look to make abortion access a key issue and strong contrast between himself and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

The president pinned the blame for the step-back in abortion access squarely on Trump in a January campaign rally in Virginia.

The Bidens called Cox ahead of the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade in January to offer the invitation.

"They thanked her for her courage and sharing her story and speaking out about the impact of the extreme abortion ban in Texas," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at the time.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kate Cox: Biden State of the Union guest to spotlight abortion bans
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  On Wednesday, KOIN 6 announced that veteran broadcast journalist Ken Boddie has been promoted to Political Director for the television station effective April 3. The newly created role will enable Mr. Boddie to report in-depth political stories across all KOIN 6 newscasts, along with continuing as host of Eye on Northwest Politics, a show he created two years ago.

The move will allow KOIN 6 to further solidify its status as Your Local Election Headquarters during a critical election year with potentially massive changes to the political landscape in Portland and beyond. Mr. Boddies new role will ensure that KOIN continues to provide viewers with the most-experienced and best-connected political coverage in the market.

This is a tremendous opportunity to be at the forefront of what will be a dynamic political season locally and nationally, said Boddie. As voters, we have some big decisions to make, and I want to help KOIN viewers make informed decisions through our political reporting.

Commenting on the promotion, KOIN 6 Vice President and General Manager Tom Keeler said, KOIN 6 understands how important this election season is to our viewers. Were demonstrating the depth of our commitment to political coverage by promoting an extremely experienced and well-known anchor to this role. Ken is someone viewers trust to give them the facts and make sense of an often confusing political process.

Mr. Boddie will transition to his new role and step down from KOIN-6 News This Morning, to allow him more time to dig into political coverage. Travis Teich, who has served as the shows breaking news anchor since 2021, will move into an anchor role alongside Emily Burris.

After eight years anchoring the morning show, I requested this change, knowing that KOIN 6 News This Morning is in good hands with Travis Teich moving into the anchor role, Emily Burris as an exemplary co-anchor, Emma Jerome on the street and in the studio, and Kelley Bayern with Portlands most accurate forecast, said Mr. Boddie.

As part of his new role, Mr. Boddie will be a cornerstone of KOINs debate and election coverage. He will also produce weekly commentaries and continue producing community-based stories. That includes his key role in such important KOIN 6 partnerships as the Waterfront Blues Festival. Mr. Boddie will also have the opportunity to further cement KOINs relationships with a number of community groups.

Kens deep ties to and engagement with the community are something all of us aspire to as journalists, said KOIN 6 News Director Rich Kurz. Were thrilled to have Ken in a new role that utilizes his vast experience and deep connections to the community to better serve our viewers.

Boddie will also continue anchoring KOIN newscasts from time to time.

I will be available to back up any of the anchors at KOIN when needed, said Mr. Boddie. This will broaden my reach within the organization, and perhaps even give more viewers the chance to see me in that role during other parts of the day.

Mr. Boddie is a graduate of Cornell University. He started at KOIN in 1985, first as a producer and assignment editor, then in front of the camera as a reporter and anchor. Over the years, he has been KOINs business reporter, legislative reporter, and city hall reporter.

In 2016, Boddie was awarded one of Portlands highest civic honors when he was named an honorary Royal Rosarian. He has received numerous civic awards and has been recognized by the Associated Press for his work.

Mr. Boddie is also known for his community work, especially with young people. He is a former Board Member of PDXJazz, which produces the Portland Jazz Festival every February. His support of local musicians is well-known, as he often acts as emcee for events in Portlands vibrant music scene.

In 2021, Mr. Boddie won a regional Emmy for his story about his response to a racist letter he received in the fall of 2020. The following year, Mr. Boddie won a regional Emmy for his role anchoring Eye on Northwest Politics.

Mr. Boddie is also a 2017 recipient of the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) Silver Circle Award, which is awarded for journalistic excellence with at least 25 years in television. NATAS is the EMMY Awards Organization.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Democrats walked out of a legislative committee meeting Thursday in protest of a Republican-sponsored bill aimed at encouraging women with nonviable pregnancies not to terminate those pregnancies, but instead carry them to term.

Under House Bill 467, or the Love Them Both Part II Act from Rep. Nancy Tate, R-Brandenburg, all hospitals, birthing centers, maternal fetal medicine providers and midwives shall provide or make referrals to a perinatal palliative care program, or perinatal palliative care support services if one of their patients pregnancies is nonviable.

This program, according to Tate and the bill language, is to offer alternatives to pregnancy termination.

Just as Tate was approaching the table during the House Standing Committee on Health Services meeting to introduce her bill, Democratic Reps. Lindsey Burke, Adrielle Camuel and Rachel Roarx stood up and quietly walked out.

In the hallway, Burke said she opposes the bill because it specifically calls out women who are choosing to terminate a pregnancy and discourages that. Everything in her bill is available to suffering parents. When you experience this, the hospital offers services just like the ones she proposed, so shes not giving us anything new, shes just taking away from what we already have.

Burke said the bill was an insult to grieving parents everywhere and added, we have a duty today to step up, step out and refresh the narrative.

Shortly after, the bill passed with full Republican support. As he was casting his vote in favor of the bill, Committee Vice Chair Ryan Dotson, R-Winchester said, Id like everyone to take notice: my colleagues on the Democratic side all got up and left. Thats an atrocity, because when it comes to these types of issues, I want folks to understand were just protecting the life and health of these children.

To the point of Democrats protesting her bill, Tate said, I think this is a very compassionate piece of legislation that gives us the opportunity to support women and their families physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally and financially.

A nonviable pregnancy is one in which the fetus is diagnosed with a condition or anomaly that will lead to their death, either in utero or shortly after birth. In these situations, as the Herald-Leader has reported, termination  by way of an abortion or early induction, for example  is one of the handful of options considered the standard of care health care providers present to patients with nonviable pregnancies.

Palliative care for babies born with fatal conditions already exists in hospitals across Kentucky, according to doctors whove spoken with the Herald-Leader, though not all hospitals have a formalized program like the one Tates bill calls for.

Abigail Brown, who testified in favor of the bill Thursday, is a genetic counselor at one of those programs, Footprints Perinatal Palliative Care, part of St. Elizabeth HealthCare in Edgewood. She said, our goal with the program is to offer continuous support and anticipatory guidance to families . . . in order to honor and celebrate their baby in a way that is meaningful to them.

Public and private insurers would be required to pay for perinatal palliative care programs under the bill. Those programs would include counseling and emotional support, and care and specialized support through the remainder of the pregnancy, birth, the newborn period and death.

Sign up for our Bluegrass Politics Newsletter





A must-read newsletter for political junkies across the Bluegrass State with reporting and analysis from the Lexington Herald-Leader. Never miss a story! Sign up for our Bluegrass Politics newsletter to connect with our reporting team and get behind-the-scenes insights, plus previews of the biggest stories.







The intention behind the bill, as stated in the language, is to provide an alternative to abortion, considering the psychological and faith challenges associated with post-termination.

Perinatal palliative care offers alternatives for pregnant women and birth fathers faced with nonviable pregnancies or infants whose diagnoses suggest a brief life after birth, recognizing the value and dignity of these babies, the bill states. This type of care provides an alternative thats marked by dignity, compassion and love.

Rep. Nancy Tate

Speaking in favor of the bill, Kentucky Right to Live Executive Director Addia Wuchner said the bill would add formalized perinatal palliative programs at hospitals across Kentucky, You cant say goodbye until you say hello.

But opponents said the bill is yet another way Republicans are attempting to persuade women away from evidence-based health care options to pregnant women already in emotionally vulnerable positions in a state that has continued to enforce a near-total abortion ban.

Kentuckys near-total ban on abortion has been in effect for nearly two years. The law only legally permits abortion in medical emergencies that threaten a persons life. Even in cases of nonviable pregnancies, if theres still a fetal heartbeat, a doctor cannot lawfully provide an abortion without risking a felony charge.

As the Herald-Leader previously reported, the lack of exceptions in Kentuckys current abortion bans have forced pregnant women who need medically-recommended terminations  like those carrying a fetus with anencephaly, where the fetal brain and skull do not fully develop  to seek care outside of the state.

Last week, a group of nearly 300 Kentucky doctors signed a letter asking lawmakers to repeal its abortion bans, arguing that such laws force them to compromise the standard of care theyre able to provide to patients.

This is a call to action, Dr. Marjorie Fitzgerald said. Abortion bans do nothing to protect patients rights or privacy. We call on legislators to listen to physicians and leading health care organizations to repeal the ban on abortion.

Dr. Virginia Stokes, an OBGYN in Louisville, said the wholesale ban does not account for the nuanced risks that may necessitate termination.

Pregnancy complications that compromise a fetus ability to survive outside the uterus occur with remarkable frequency, she said.

But even in cases of nonviable pregnancies, providers cannot lawfully terminate a pregnancy as long as there is cardiac activity. Failure to provide that standard treatment risks the patients life, Stokes said.

A Republican and a Democrat have filed bills this session to add rape and incest exceptions to the law, as well as exceptions for nonviable pregnancies. Tate has publicly opposed adding rape and incest exceptions to Kentuckys ban.

As co-chair of the General Assemblys Pro-Life Caucus, Tate has had a hand in most bills passed into law in recent years that restrict, regulate or ban abortion in Kentucky, including the trigger law passed in 2019 and made enforceable with the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Earlier this session, Tate told the Herald-Leader, Im really excited about the fact that theres been no legal abortion in the commonwealth of Kentucky since August of 2022.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD)  Authorities are searching for a suspect who vandalized a business and broke into another one in Kalamazoo.

The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety said surveillance video showed a suspect spray painting a business in downtown Kalamazoo and damaging an LED mobile billboard owned by the business around 10 p.m. Monday.

Surveillance photos of a suspect involved in vandalizing and breaking into businesses in Kalamazoo. (Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety)

An hour later, the suspect threw a rock through the window of another Kalamazoo business. The suspect broke in and stole an unknown amount of cigarettes, according to KDPS.

On Thursday, the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety released surveillance photos of the suspect.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Criminal Investigation Division at 269.337.8139 or Silent Observer at 269.343.2100.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
A woman from the San Fernando Valley was arrested by federal authorities Wednesday for her alleged actions during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the United States Capitol.

Kayla Reifschneider, 27, of Northridge, was arrested in Los Angeles and charged with a criminal complaint filed in Washington D.C.

She faces felony charges for obstructing an official proceeding and several misdemeanor charges related to her alleged actions that day, which were described by the United States Department of Justice as disorderly and disruptive and included physical violence at the Capitol.

According to her arrest warrant which was released Wednesday, Reifschneider was a member of a pro-Donald Trump group on the messaging platform Telegram.

Screenshots and texts that were obtained by federal investigators showed Reifschneider and other members making plans to travel to the nations capital to partake in a rally hosted by Trump and his supporters in which he urged action on the U.S. Capitol building to disrupt the certification of the 2020 Election and stop the peaceful transfer of power between himself and incoming President Joe Biden.

Reifschneider and other members talked openly about traveling to Washington D.C., bringing stun guns, pepper spray and knives in an effort to arrest Trumps political rivals, including Biden, then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

She allegedly tried to coordinate with other Trump supporters to transport a stun gun and pepper spray to the rally by car because she was afraid it would be confiscated during her flight from LAX, the DOJ said.

A photo shared by the FBI allegedly shows conversations between Kayla Reifschneider as members of a pro-Trump group who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol

She later shared images of those weapons, plus several knives, with the group, saying she would be ready to defend herself. In a video shared immediately after, she can be seen with the stun gun and saying, Cant keep fighting anarchists with kindness or just ignore it anymore.

Once in Washington on Jan. 6, Reifschneider and other members of the Telegram group communicated in real time as the rally turned violent.

In a video obtained by investigators, Reifschneider was seen in the Upper West Terrace of the Capitol, yelling obscenities at police before joining a group of rioters on the opposite side of the building where members of the media had set up to cover the event.

The media members were behind bike racks, separating themselves from the crowd, the DOJ wrote in a news release announcing her arrest. After other rioters knocked over and removed bike racks, Reifschneider was seen climbing over a small wall that had separated the media from the rioters.

A photo shared by the FBI allegedly shows Kayla Reifschneider holding up her middle finger after stomping a camera at the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol

A photo shared by the FBI allegedly shows Kayla Reifschneider damaging camera equipment at the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol

A photo shared by the FBI allegedly shows Kayla Reifschneider yelling at members of the media during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol

As members of the media began to flee from the violent crowd that began destroying their equipment, Reifschneider could be seen and heard cheering, cursing at and spitting in the direction of the fleeing media members.

Shes also seen throwing a helmet at a person and stomping on a camera with her foot. She later sent a text to one of the group members in which she said she broke her foot by kicking a cnn camera.

In another video, she can be seen flashing the middle finger and yelling F you! Its been four years Ive been wanting to do this, the DOJ said.

During the riot, Reifschneider allegedly texted another person to announce she would not be complying with a mandatory 6 p.m. curfew that was put in place in an effort to calm the scene. Time to show them who they should be afraid of, she wrote.

A photo shared by the FBI allegedly shows Kayla Reifschneider (circled in red) participating in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol

The following day, when that same individual asked about rioters attacking police, Reifschneider responded, I definitely saw one getting help. Limping. We fed them up worse than antifa and blm. Lmao.

In the hours that followed the attack on the Capitol, Reifschneider began accusing other members of the Telegram group of being rats and leaking their conversation and images. She then threatened that whoever was found to be the leak would get f-cking f-cked up. She also urged members of the group to delete the chat before she ultimately left the group.

Federal investigators interviewed Reifschneider weeks after the Capitol riot. At the time, she denied being on the front lines of the mob or partaking in any violence. She did admit to yelling at the media and kicking the camera, but said she left the scene once she saw police and protesters sparring.

Investigators obtained a warrant to search her phone, which led to the discovery of text messages to an unnamed person in which she called for the burning of government buildings and corporate businesses in the days leading up to the riot. On Jan. 5, she told that same person that the next day would be full on war.

Texts after the riot repeated those descriptions of a war at the Capitol building, directing much of her anger toward United States Capitol Police, whom she described as asshats who think the[y] are so tough.

A photo shared by the FBI allegedly shows Kayla Reifschneider wearing a "Back the Blue" sweatshirt at the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol

CopsIm going to lose my sh-t on the policeI took my back the blue swetaer(sic) off stomped on it and threw it at them, she wrote. Multiple videos from the riot showed Reifschneider wearing a white Back the Blue sweatshirt.

The riot at the U.S. Capitol is being investigated by the FBI and those charged are facing prosecution from the United States Attorneys Office and the DOJ.

In more than three years since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, more than 1,358 people have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol. Hundreds have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, which is a felony.

The Jan. 6 investigation remains ongoing and anyone with tips is urged to contact the FBI online or by calling 1-800-225-5324.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
On Thursday, March 7, the Ukr.net service experienced a malfunction: the site's news feed and @ukr.net email became unavailable to Internet users. The reason was that the domain name registrar Network Solutions blocked the domain.

ADVERTISIMENT

The situation was reported by the management in a press release, apologizing to users for the inconvenience. It is noted that the problem occurred at 01:35.

"Last night, the domain name registrar Network Solutions suddenly and without any warning blocked the ukr.net domain... The problem could not be resolved through the registrar's support service," said representatives of the Internet service.

They expressed hope that they will be able to get more information and find out the reasons and circumstances of the blocking at the beginning of the working day at the office of the American registrar company. They also asked Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United States Oksana Markarova for help.

"We are sorry that millions of Ukrainian users who read news on ukr.net and use @ukr.net mail every day are unable to do so now. We are doing our best to recover. Many caring people are helping us with this. We are confident that these difficulties are temporary, and soon the mail and news feed on the portal will be back online," the statement said.

ADVERTISIMENT

It should be added that Ukr.net is one of the most popular online news services in Ukraine and is among the ten most visited websites in the Ukrainian segment of the network.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, on March 5, Ukrainians complained about problems with the Diia app. There was a battle in its operation, which did not last long.

On Tuesday evening, there were malfunctions on Facebook and Instagram. Some users were simply "kicked out" of their accounts and not allowed back in.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
LA MESA, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI)  Some businesses in La Mesa may receive a portion of $350,000 in grant funds, the City of La Mesa announced Thursday.

The city said it revamped its La Mesa Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program (LEAP), two years after the programs inception.

$13.5M secured for these San Diego projects in appropriations package

While the first two years of LEAP concentrated on helping entrepreneurs get their businesses started, the third year of the program has been restructured to focus on existing brick-and-mortar businesses recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In partnership with the East County Economic Development Council (ECEDC) and the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the city is offering approximately $350,000 in grant funds to about 35 businesses in La Mesa.

Each participating business may receive $10,000 of the funds to go toward their growth and success.

In order to receive the money, business owners are required to attend advising sessions and complete business training courses.

Upon completion of the program, business owners can use the funds to help their business with costs related to labor, equipment, inventory, permits and more.

LEAP was approved in 2022 and funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to encourage entrepreneurship in La Mesa. Since the start of the program, 12 people have signed leases to start their businesses.

The online application for this years cohort will be available from Monday to April 30 through the ECEDCs website. Applications will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis subject to availability of grant funds.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  A judge on Wednesday found there was sufficient evidence for the case to proceed against a Lake Isabella man charged with murder in a shooting that occurred in 2022, according to court records.

Shenandoah Jackson was ordered to stand trial in the death of Daniel Robert Gregory, 40, who was found on Fulop Street on Oct. 13, 2022, with a gunshot wound to the head, according to sheriffs officials. Gregory died the next day.

Jackson, 22, is due back in court later this month, when a trial date is expected to be scheduled. Hes being held without bail.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.
The Clarke County Sheriff's Office on Thursday issued a statement conceding that its policy of declining Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests for illegal immigrants "could be improved."

Sheriff John Williams, who campaigned in part on not cooperating with ICE detainers, issued the statement after his office received criticism for its policies following the February 22 death of Augusta University nursing student Laken Riley. The 22-year-old was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela while jogging on the University of Georgia campus in Athens.

"In 2018, the Clarke County Sheriffs Office reviewed and updated its policy concerning foreign nationals booked into the jail. These updates to the policy were the result of public input, a review of best practices, relevant case law, and input from legal counsel," Williams' office said in a statement. "Based on the totality of circumstances at that time, the policy was changed to decline requests from [ICE] to hold inmates, known as detainers, that are not signed by a judge."

The law requires the Clarke County Sheriff's Office to "notify ICE" whenever authorities "book someone either known or suspected to be a foreign national," the statement read.

ILLEGAL BROTHER OF LAKEN RILEY MURDER SUSPECT LINKED TO VENEZUELAN CRIME GANG

Clarke County Sheriff John Williams campaigned on refusing to cooperate with ICE detainers.

"Our policy reflects that. ICE detainers are requests, not a court order or warrant. Holding a person based solely on an ICE detainer constitutes a warrantless arrest. The policy does allow for detaining if a warrant or court order signed by a judge is issued," the statement continued. "Whenever ICE is able to pick up an undocumented person before the time they would have been able to bond out or otherwise be lawfully released, the Sheriffs Office does not prevent them from doing so. When Sheriff Williams took office in 2021, we maintained this policy."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

FBI FEARS VENEZUELA MIGRANT GANG MEMBERS COULD POTENTIALLY TEAM UP WITH MS-13 KILLERS

The Clarke County Sheriff's Office further stated that "at no time" was Jose Antonio Ibarra, the 26-year-old suspect in Riley's murder, detained in Clarke County prior to his February 23 arrest. Additionally, the sheriff's office is "not a full-service law enforcement agency," and under county law, the sheriff's office does "not typically handle duties such as response to 9-1-1 calls and routine patrols."

University of Georgia murder suspect Jose Ibarra lived within a five-minute walk of the approximate scene where he allegedly murdered 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley on Feb. 22.

Riley's murder "did call attention to some record-keeping practices that could be improved to help identify and track [the sheriff's] responses to any interactions with subjects determined to be undocumented," the statement continued. "The stakes involved are of the highest importance. As a result, we are strengthening our policy and will continue to work to uphold all local, state, and federal laws."

LAKEN RILEY TRIED TO REACH 911 DURING DEADLY ENCOUNTER, ATHENS POLICE CONFIRM

The sheriff's office also offered condolences and prayers to the Riley family "for their profound loss," saying "no one should have their promising life cut short at the hands of another."

Diego Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, allegedly handed over a fake green card to police on the hunt for his brother Jose, who they accuse of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.

Jose Ibarra had been arrested in New York City for endangering a child prior to his move to Athens, Georgia. He and his 28-year-old brother, Diego Ibarra, were also cited for shoplifting in Athens.

GEORGIA STUDENT MURDER SUSPECT CONFIRMED TO BE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT

Diego Ibarra has since been charged with green card fraud after allegedly showing police fake documents when they arrived at his apartment to question his brother in connection with Riley's murder. Diego Ibarra also had a DUI arrest in Athens in September 2023 and was accused of trying to bite a Border Patrol agent in Texas in April 2023.

Diego Ibarra appears in federal court on immigration charges in Macon, GA, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Ibarra is the brother of Jose Ibarra, who is accused of the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley in Athens, GA, last month.

Court documents released Wednesday revealed Diego Ibarra has ties to the violent Venezuela-based organized crime gang Tren de Aragua. Federal authorities say that the gang, also known as TdA, has become known for its violent turf wars as it expanded into other countries in South and Central America. The gang is trying to establish itself in the U.S., where police are already linking it to organized crime.

BROTHER OF UGA MURDER SUSPECT CHARGED WITH GREEN CARD FRAUD

Diego appeared in court Thursday for his initial appearance related to the green card fraud charge filed against him, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Weigle ordered the murder suspect's brother to remain in federal custody while his case is pending prosecution.

ICE CAPTURES 2 SUSPECTED VENEZUELAN GANG MEMBERS IN CONNECTION WITH NYPD ASSAULT

Weigle granted the U.S. attorneys motion to detain Diego Ibarra, who will remain in U.S. Marshals custody while his case is pending prosecution. Diego Ibarra waived his preliminary hearing, so he proceeded straight to the bail hearing Thursday in federal court.

Federal prosecutors say Tren de Aragua members often wear Chicago Bulls clothing, even when they have no ties to Chicago and are not fans of the team. Investigators found this photo among images of Diego Ibarra, a suspected member of the gang, wearing Chicago Bulls items.

Weigle listed several factors that led to his decision, including the fact that Diego cut off his ankle monitor following his release from U.S. immigration custody and was later able to obtain or provide false documents. The judge said he was concerned that Diego would relocate and obtain or create more fraudulent documents again.

Weigle further cited Diego's failure to appear in court for his asylum hearing in New York and a hearing for his DUI charge in Athens.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Morrison also pointed to Diego's alleged gang involvement as a reason to detain the suspect.

Diego Ibarra appears in federal court on immigration charges in Macon, GA, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Ibarra is the brother of Jose Ibarra, who is accused of the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley in Athens, GA, last month.

Federal defender Chauntilia Adaway argued that Diego Ibarra is not a flight risk, because he sought asylum in the United States. She also said the court has not heard any testimony of Diego acting in a violent manner or committing any gang-related acts. Adaway further noted that the suspect was had not been prosecuted for his alleged attack against a border patrol agent.

"If convicted, Ibarra faces a maximum of ten years in prison. U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Weigle ordered Ibarra to be detained pending trial based on evidence of the defendant being a flight risk," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Georgia said in a Thursday statement.





Original article source: Laken Riley murder: Georgia sheriff says its ICE detainer policy for illegal immigrants 'could be improved'
The parents of Laken Riley, a college nursing student who was recently killed on the University of Georgia campus, will not attend President Biden's State of the Union speech on Thursday, choosing instead to stay home and give the loss of their daughter, said U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga.

Collins said he invited Riley's parents but that they chose not to attend.

"Therefore, the seat reserved for my guest will remain vacant to honor Laken and all American victims of illegal alien crime," he posted on social media Wednesday.

Riley, 22, was killed while jogging on trails around the college campus. Jose Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old Venezuelan national who was living illegally in the United States, has been charged with her murder.

LAKEN RILEY MURDER: ATHENS-CLARK COUNTY SHERIFF CAMPAIGNED ON NOT COOPERATING WITH ICE: CULTURE OF FEAR

Laken Riley poses for a photo posted to Facebook. Riley, a nursing student, was found dead near a lake on campus at the University of Georgia on Thursday, February 22, 2024.

The killing has prompted outrage and scorn against Biden over his immigration policies.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"As Joe Biden attempts to paint a rosy picture of the crime-ridden country he has created, he will look up at an empty seat that memorializes those weve lost because of his open border policies," Collins wrote.

In response to the murder, the Republican lawmaker introduced the Laken Riley Act, which would require immigration authorities to detain illegal immigrants charged with theft or burglary. Collins has said the bill would work to prevent similar tragedies as a result of open southern border policies.

TRUMP SAYS HE SPOKE TO DEVASTATED PARENTS OF LAKEN RILEY, BLASTS BIDEN BORDER CRISIS LIKE A WAR

Laken Riley poses for a photo posted to Facebook. Riley, a nursing student, was found dead near a lake on campus at the University of Georgia on Feb. 22. An illegal immigrant has been charged with her murder.

A combined rule for the consideration of a financial services bill and the Laken Riley Act was passed by a narrow 214-211 vote on Wednesday. No Democrats voted in favor.

The legislation now moves to the next phase of voting in the House where it will be debated.

Before being charged with felony murder, Ibarra was once arrested in New York for endangering a child, and he was cited in Georgia for misdemeanor shoplifting in October 2023 along with his brother, Diego Ibarra, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Jose Ibarra was arrested on Feb. 23 in connection with Laken Riley's Feb. 22 murder in Athens, Georgia.

Under the terms of the bill, the Laken Riley Act would require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to issue a detainer for illegal aliens charged or cited with local theft or burglary.

It will head for a general debate in the House on Thursday.





Original article source: Laken Riley's parents won't be at Biden's State of the Union, will grieve loss from home: Rep. Mike Collins
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  A Lancaster man pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross office announced Thursday.

A complaint received by the Lancaster Police Department on Jan. 9, 2023 stated that Jacob V. Schmidbauer, 43, used a device to record a 13-year-old female while she was in the shower and that the videos were stored on an SD card, according to officials. Law enforcement seized 22 electronic devices owned by Schmidbauer, and a review of the SD card recovered 32 video clips that included the sexually explicit video of the female victim.

Schmidbauer faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, and a maximum of 20 years as well as a $250,000 fine. A date for his sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

Latest Local News

Kayleigh Hunter-Gasperini joined the News 4 team in 2024 is a Digital Video Producer. She is a graduate of Chatham University.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.
Los Angeles police officers fired 40-millimeter projectiles intended to stop people through pain compliance" at least 133 times last year  including nine cases where civilians were also shot at with firearms, according to a department report made public this week.

LAPD officers use "less-lethal" launcher devices far more often than other big-city agencies, the report to the department's civilian oversight commission found, renewing questions about whether they are an effective tool for subduing uncooperative individuals, as top officials have insisted. Five of the incidents where officers used both launchers and firearms were fatal.

Among the country's five biggest police departments, only Houston and the LAPD assigned patrol officers the 40-millimeter launcher, which fires hard-foam projectiles roughly the size of a mini soda can at more than 200 mph. Houston police shot the weapons just 21 times last year, according to the report presented to the Police Commission on Tuesday.

Of the rounds fired by LAPD officers last year, about 37% led to the target being successfully subdued  compared with an "effectiveness rate" of roughly 45% in the prior three years combined when the discharges were tallied differently, the report said.

LAPD officers fired 40-millimeter rounds in at least nine of the 34 police shootings last year, compared with at least four times in 31 shootings the year before, the report found. It was not until last year that the department began counting cases in which officers fired a 40-millimeter round and missed, making comparisons with previous years difficult. The tally also doesn't include incidents during a "crowd-control situation or riots."

Read more: Top LAPD oversight official may leave one troubled police department for another

The commission asked for the report after the Feb. 3 deadly shooting of Jason Maccani by police during what his family described as a bipolar episode. Officers fired a 40-millimeter projectile and two beanbag rounds at Maccani as he walked toward them while holding what was later revealed to be a plastic fork, according to video of the incident. Moments after being struck, Maccani cried out and lunged toward the officers, which is when he was fatally shot.

The incident drew widespread condemnation from activists, city officials and former Police Chief Michel Moore, who said he had "concerns" about the officers' actions.

At a commission meeting days after Maccani's death, several members questioned whether officers were waiting too long before using weapons meant to avoid killing.

Maccani's family has filed a $20-million wrongful death lawsuit against the city.

Department officials acknowledged that there was some confusion about when and how the weapons can be deployed after the passage of a recent state law. Moore, who retired at the end of February, said the department's policy was updated late last year based on analysis of recent court decisions to allow their use against anyone who poses an immediate public safety threat. Previously, he said, such "intermediate force weapons" could be deployed when officers had reason to believe that the subject was unsafe to approach."

During Tuesday's presentation, commission President Erroll Southers said he wished that the department's study had gone further and asked why police departments in cities such as New York and Chicago weren't deploying the launchers during day-to-day operations.

"It is noteworthy that those agencies are not using it," said Southers, asking the LAPD to report back to the commission with those details.

Read more: Family of man shot by LAPD over plastic fork grapples with grief as video is released

Scrutiny of so-called kinetic weapons, such as projectile launchers or shotguns that fire beanbag rounds, has heightened in recent years amid reports of protesters suffering serious injuries after being struck.

Although 40-millimeter projectiles are commonly used elsewhere for crowd control, the Los Angeles Police Department is the largest one in the nation to use them in day-to-day operations. Normally during the arrest of a potentially combative person, officers work in teams and are each given a specific role, such as holding a ballistic shield or providing cover with a firearm or a less-lethal weapon. Officers equipped with launchers are often present at encounters with people armed with edged weapons such as knives or swords.

LAPD trains officers to aim the launchers at a person's navel area or, if practical, their arms, hands and legs, avoiding the head, neck, spine, chest, groin or kidneys to prevent major internal damage. The launchers have an effective range of up to 75 feet and were originally used only by the SWAT team, with department-wide deployment beginning in 2016.

Often less accurate than bullets, the foam or rubber rounds are designed to spread the force of impact over a larger area, without penetrating the skin.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department also uses the 40-millimeter rounds, but doesn't track their effectiveness, the LAPD's report said. Neither do police in Houston, which only began using the devices in a patrol capacity in February 2023.

About 900 smaller law enforcement agencies have adopted the devices within the last two years, according to the LAPD report.

Read more: LAPD slams 'highly inaccurate' audit that questioned millions spent on helicopters

Officials here, as elsewhere, have long argued that the launchers, recognizable by their fluorescent green barrel, allow for more precise targeting of violent individuals and thereby reduce serious injuries. LAPD officers fired launchers in 74 separate incidents last year, Tuesday's report said.

But critics say referring to them as "less lethal" is a misnomer because the weapons have the potential to cause serious harm.

Attorney Carl Douglas said that officers have been known to both fire the devices indiscriminately into crowds during protests and to hesitate to use the devices in more routine encounters  creating scenarios where they resort to deadly force.

"Particularly in a mental health context and if the subject has a broom handle, for example  I have regrettably seen officers use deadly force in those occasions," said Douglas, who has successfully sued local law enforcement agencies on behalf of people shot by "less-lethal" munitions.

Other times, he said, groups of officers have simultaneously fired handguns and "less-lethal" weapons  a trend confirmed by a Times review of nearly 50 LAPD shootings between January 2020 and April 2022.

The city has in recent years paid out millions of dollars in settlements to people who say they were seriously injured when LAPD officers fired "less-lethal" rounds into crowds of protesters.

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The European People's Party (EPP), the largest political group in the European Parliament that is likely to retain its leadership after the June elections, has adopted a special resolution on the EU's plan for Ukraine's victory.

Source: European Pravda

The proposed EU plan for Ukraine's victory aims to address the shortcomings by introducing concrete measures to reform the entire military assistance system and move from individual to collective action and resource allocation.

To this end, the EPP insists that the European Commission and NATO prepare, adopt and implement a clear collective Ukraine victory plan with political, economic and military support for Ukraine soon.

According to the resolution, the plan should ensure that Western military support annually exceeds 0.25% of Western GDP, which will provide three times more military support to Ukraine than Ukraine received in 2023.

This would allow Ukraine to start accumulating the necessary reserves to defeat Russian troops in 2025-2026, the document says.

The resolution notes that the EU plan should provide for constant consultations and coordination with key political players in Ukraine across the entire political spectrum to be inclusive and strengthen internal unity.

To achieve such a critical level of assistance, each EU member state must increase its support for Ukraine, the document says.

The resolution states that the EU's plan for Ukraine's victory should contain calculations for a Plan B in case the US Congress fails to agree on support for Ukraine. In this case, the EU should be ready to step in and cover the amounts that Washington may not allocate.

In addition, to reduce dependence on external assistance and ensure Ukraine's long-term sustainability, the plan should prioritise efforts aimed at supporting its military-industrial complex.

Previously Lithuanian intelligence stated that the Russian Federation has enough resources to fight in Ukraine with the current intensity for at least another two years.

Before this, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that he was calling for a "strategic leap forward" by raising the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine and warned against "a lurking spirit of defeat".

Background:

Last week, Macron said that "it is impossible to rule out" sending Western troops to Ukraine. Subsequently, he added that his statement was carefully thought out.

Support UP or become our patron!
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Thursday declined to say whether he would vote to protect in vitro fertilization or codify Roe v. Wade into federal law if Maryland voters send him to the Senate in November.

Speaking at an Axios event in Washington, the Republican candidate told the moderator that he "didn't even know [IVF] was an issue" until the Alabama Supreme Court's decision last month to declare embryos people in the state.

Hogan also said that he didn't know if IVF was "ever going to come up" to a vote in the Senate and that he didn't want to "speculate on what the legislation might look like."

Pressed further on the issue, Hogan said he didnt have a good answer on what to do about embryos that are created during the IVF process but dont get used. But, he added, Im not an expert. ... I dont think politicians ought to be telling [women and their doctors] what to do.

Hogan added, "This is a wonderful thing and should never be limited."

In recent weeks, Hogan has made clear that he opposes a federal abortion ban, but on Thursday he declined to say whether he would support legislation aimed at codifying Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that granted the national right to abortion until the court overturned it in 2022.

"Were going to have to take a look at that as we move forward," Hogan said about codifying Roe, adding that he'd have to consider "whether its needed or not."

"It wasnt a yes or no [answer]," he said when pressed about whether he'd vote to codify Roe.

The answers illustrate the uncertain state and federal legislative landscape on reproductive health issues since the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs decision.

Hogan is the only major Republican running in Maryland's Senate race, hoping to fill the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.

While Maryland trends Democratic, Hogan served as governor in the state for two terms  from 2015 to 2023  and was widely reported to be considering a presidential run in 2024.

He chose instead to enter the Senate race in February, just hours before Maryland's filing deadline.

On the Democratic side, Rep. David Trone and Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks are running in the primary.

Democrats are expected to make abortion a focal point in this race and other battleground Senate races this cycle.

Maryland currently has no gestational limit on the procedure, and voters in November will vote on a ballot measure that would enshrine "the ability to make and effectuate decisions to prevent, continue, or end one's own pregnancy" in the state constitution.

"If Marylanders want to vote for that, they should have the right to do that," Hogan said Thursday, adding, "They're already completely protected in Maryland."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The Los Angeles Sheriffs Department is asking for the publics assistance to help find an at-risk man.

Authorities are searching for 78-year-old James Edward Barnes. He was last seen around 11:45 a.m. Wednesday, in the 5000 block of Gracewood Avenue in Temple City.

Barnes is described as African-American, 5 feet 8 inches tall, and weighs approximately 160 pounds. He is bald with green eyes and has a tattoo on his upper arm. Barnes was last seen wearing red beanie, red hoodie, blue jeans, and black shoes.

Barnes family is concerned for his well-being.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Departments Missing Persons Detail at 323-890-5500.



For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
The battleship USS Texas returned to the water after months of dry-dock restoration work.

The battleship is famous for its involvement in both World War I and World War II.

Repairs to the last dreadnought have so far taken 18 months and cost more than $21 million.

Mighty USS Texas is back in the water after months of much-needed restoration work for the 110-year-old battleship.

The warship, which saw action in both world wars before becoming a museum ship, will now undergo further restoration before re-opening up to the public late next year.

Video footage from Tuesday morning's event in Galveston, Texas, shows the decommissioned US Navy battleship being refloated and removed from a dry dock. USS Texas had been undergoing restoration at the Gulf Copper Dry Dock & Rig Repair in Galveston since it was moved there for repair work in 2022.

The Battleship Texas passes Seawolf Park and the U.S.S. Stewart, an Edsall-class destroyer escort, as it enters the Galveston Channel toward a dry dock for major repairs Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022 in Galveston. Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images

When it was relocated to Galveston, Travis Davis, the vice president of ship operations at the Battleship Texas Foundation, announced plans for the restoration. He also confirmed the Texas would have a new home afterwards.

Tugboats guide Battleship Texas out of a drydock on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 in Galveston. Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images

In pictures of the warship being refloated, its powerful deck guns are visible in the fog, which settled out over time.

The Battleship Texas emerges from the fog as it is removed from a drydock on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 in Galveston. Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images

Elements of the ship's superstructure were still notably under construction, with The Battleship Texas Foundation confirming on Tuesday that work still needed to be done to replace the wooden deck, restore dozens of spaces inside, and finish re-painting, among other fixes. Its extensive repairs have so far cost more than $21 million.

At Tuesday's event, Tony Gregory, president and CEO of the Battleship Texas Foundation, expressed optimism about the work that had been done and what was left to do.

"We feel great," he said. "It's been in the dry dock 18 months."

"It was a major victory to get her here in the dry dock," Gregory added, referring to the journey from San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site to Galveston, during which there were concerns it might sink, "and this is a result of our hard work and what we've been doing for the last 18 months working on the hull."

Drone footage from Third Coast Drone showed the warship back in the water Tuesday. The goal is to reopen the museum ship to the public by late 2025.

The battleship #Texas BB-35 was refloated yesterday in Galveston, USA, after several months of extensive restoration work.

Launched in 1910, she took part in the Normandy D-Day in 1944.

Third Coast Drone

Full movie in 4K : https://t.co/V0vLFS39Jn#battleships #USNavy #WWII pic.twitter.com/OO5k52DwNt  Ships Of Legend (@ShipsOfLegend) March 6, 2024

The USS Texas, once one of the most powerful and intimidating warships to sail the upon the seas, is now the last of its kind, revered for its history. When it was first launched in 1912, it was one of a dozen dreadnoughts, featuring hefty defenses and devastating deck guns, which could be used to deal damage on land and at sea.

During World War I, the Texas spent most of its time patrolling the North Sea, and in December 1918, it escorted President Woodrow Wilson to France for peace negotiations.

The battleship is more famous for its service in World War II, when it bombarded German defenses during the D-Day invasion and hammered the Japanese forces during the Battle of Iwo Jima and the invasion of Okinawa. The Texas was one of the first ships equipped with anti-aircraft weapons.

Upon its retirement, the USS Texas became a museum before undergoing a first round of repairs in 1988. In recent years, the need for further repairs, especially in the aged hull, became quite clear. Now the process is underway to restore the big ship to its former glory.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Ukraine is ready to limit the volume of its exports to the European Union in order to get Poland to lift its border blockade. However, in return, it wants the EU to ban the import of products from Russia into its territory.

ADVERTISIMENT

This was announced by Taras Kachka, Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Representative of Ukraine, according to the Financial Times. He emphasized that it is not Ukrainian wheat that creates problems for Polish farmers, but Russian wheat.

"Kachka said that Kyiv agrees to new restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products. However, the EU should ban the export of Russian agricultural products, which still enter the bloc through Belarus and the Baltic states," the report said.

In particular, it is emphasized that Ukraine agrees with the restrictions proposed by Brussels - which are to come into force in June - on the import of a number of products. In particular:

eggs

poultry

sugar.

It also agrees to the EU allowing individual countries to close their markets to Ukrainian grain. However, this does not apply to the transit of the product to other countries.

ADVERTISIMENT

"Perhaps for the transition period, this kind of managed approach to trade flows between Ukraine and the EU is what we all need. ... However, with regard to wheat, it is not Ukraine that creates problems for Polish farmers, but Russia," summarized Kachka.

The Poles have extended the period of the border blockade

At the same time, Polish farmers have extended the blockade of the border with Ukraine for almost 2 months - until April 30. Previously, they intended to end it on March 10. In this way, the Poles want to achieve restrictions on the import of agricultural products from outside the European Union, including from Ukraine.

This is stated in the relevant document published by the Municipal Office of the Lubicz-Korolowska Commune. According to it, 100 people will block the border.

ADVERTISIMENT

"The public meeting is scheduled to start on March 10, 2024 at 14:30 and end on April 30, 2024 at 14:30. The goal is to eliminate the Green Deal (an EU strategy aimed at reducing harmful emissions into the atmosphere - Ed.) and limit products from outside the EU, in particular from Ukraine," it says.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Even if they dont win an Oscar, theyve already won a makeover.

Surrounded by blocks of choking Los Angeles traffic, homeless encampments and garbage, a windowless warehouse encircled by a security fence is the unlikely setting for The Last Repair Shop, an inspiring documentary now up for an Academy Award on March 10.

You dont see it in the movie, said Ben Proudfoot, one of the directors of the documentary that brought the workshop so much attention. But next to the repair shop is the LAUSD locksmith, and theres people building windows, and a metal shop and people painting signs. All of the crafts are there, in this sort of fenced-in block.

The fanciful short film that focuses on the Los Angeles Unified School Districts throwback music instrument repair operation, which 20 years ago employed 60 and is now staffed by fewer than a dozen workers, has sparked an outpouring of public support that will go even beyond the workshop itself.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation is an early contributor to a new, $15 million capital campaign run by the districts foundation that aims to get the repair squad a better ventilation system, a new ultrasonic cleaner, more instrument cases and an apprentice program.

Not that anybody on the workshops small-but-mighty team is complaining about their no-frills setup just south of Skid Row. They arrive before sunrise, said shop supervisor Steve Bagmanyan, and do their jobs quietly.

At the end of the day, you know that the student in the school ends up with an instrument in his hands, said Bagmanyan, who started more than twenty years ago as a piano tech. The music programs go on, and were part of it. Thats all that matters.

Since the documentary was released, things have changed.

Bagmanyans inbox is filled each morning with emails from people wanting to donate instruments or money, or volunteer, or just saying how the shop and film inspired them to keep teaching.

One person who saw the film donated a harp. Others have given violins, guitars and drums. Proudfoot, Bagmanyan and the district have capitalized on the attention with a fundraiser announced last month seeking to raise the $15 million for the operation, which is the last of its kind in the nation.

Still, the shop is the same as ever.

A pair of fireproof doors and a sign reading Musical Instrument Repair mark the entrance to the unassuming warehouse, which is sheathed in unpainted fiberglass panels.

But a crooning bassoon, a lilting flute, or tinkling piano might be filling the air.

Burnished saxophones hang from the walls of the shop, where stacks of bass drums, violins in their cases, french horns, guitars and pianos line a long hallway leading to an inventory room crossed with rows of shelves bearing new instruments headed for schools.

Beyond that, theres a woodshop for fabricating obsolete parts, and the piano room, where a half-dozen uprights and baby grands are getting tuned and having their soundboards cleaned and hammers balanced.

It smells of sawdust, polishing compound and coffee. Bagmanyans office is next to a bullpen populated by workstations manned by technicians working on string instruments and horns.

Proudfoot calls the workshop a North Pole for school instruments, because it resembles the gift shop run by Santa Claus. The documentary caught fire when it was released last year, drawing more than 464,000 views on Youtube and landing on Disneys streaming platform.

Dozens of news articles and television spots about the shop and film followed.

Bagmanyans team was honored in January at a ceremony at Los Angeless City Hall. Shop workers gave a musical performance at a school board meeting, where the superintendent sang their praises for keeping music education alive in the nations second-largest district.

Sara Mooney, interim president and CEO of the LAUSD Education Foundation, the districts affiliated nonprofit charity, said the funding will not only go to modernize the shop, but to help support the districts burgeoning offerings in music education for all students.

A 2022 California law increased state funding for music classes in Los Angeles and districts across California. Amid the pandemic, L.A. Unified used federal relief money to purchase roughly 32,000 new musical instruments for students. The repair shop is busier than ever.

We need an investment to meet the moment, and meet the needs of expanded music programs, said Mooney. This is a moment to build on the momentum of the documentary and expand the impact of the repair shop.

It wont be easy. Bagmanyan said its getting harder to find skilled luthiers, windsmiths and braziers who can fix the instruments that arrive at his shop daily, with all sorts of damage. Most of the staff have been there for years.

Shop supervisor Steve Bagmanyan in the repair shop (Ben Chapman)

The shop is now hiring to replace a string technician profiled in the film who recently retired. Bagmanyan hopes the publicity will attract candidates, but he doesnt know how many have applied.

Many of the districts instruments date back to the 1930s. Bagmanyan said old instruments are higher quality, but they require expensive upkeep.

A few of the schools in Los Angeles even have pipe organs on campus, he said, but when they break theyre too costly to repair. One job at a local school got an estimate of $2 million, after kids got into the organs works and broke some pipes, Bagmanyan said.

Titus Campos, administrator of LAUSDs Arts Education branch, said the districts goal is to offer band electives at every middle school and high school, and to provide music education at every elementary school.

Were almost there, said Campos. But not quite. The district is contending with a shortage of music teachers, and about ten music teaching slots in LAUSD remain unfilled, he said.

Meanwhile, Bagmanyan and his team are enjoying the attention from Hollywood.

Estella Patricia Moreno, who repairs bass instruments in the shop, said she cant believe shell soon be attending the Oscars.

Im a little nervous, because I dont have hair or makeup, said Moreno as she sat at her desk cleaning a french horn. Im just doing my job. Something that I really like, and enjoy. And on top of that, I was pretty much rewarded. Its an overwhelming experience.
Palestinians look at destruction after an Israeli airstrike on a residential building of the Ganan family in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, March 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

U.S. President Joe Biden Biden said Thursday night the U.S. military will help establish a temporary pier on the coast of Gaza as a way to boost the delivery of aid for Palestinians trapped in the besieged territory by the Israel-Hamas war.

He unveiled the plan during his State of the Union address to Congress. The move comes after Biden last week approved the U.S. military airdropping aid into Gaza.

Biden said the temporary pier will enable a massive increase in humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza.

But at the same time he called on Israel to do more to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians even as its forces try to eliminate the Hamas militant group.

To Israel, I say this humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip, Biden said.

The plans follow an announcement by Hamas that negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of more Israeli hostages will resume next week, dimming hopes that mediators could broker a truce before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin at sundown Sunday..

After nearly five months of war, much of Gaza is in ruins, and international pressure is growing for Israel and Hamas to reach a deal that would halt the fighting and release the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Israels near-total blockade of Gaza and the fighting have made it nearly impossible to deliver supplies in most of Gaza, aid groups say. Many of the estimated 300,000 people still living in northern Gaza have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive.

Israel launched its offensive after Hamas-led militants stormed across the border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Over 100 hostages were released in November in exchange for 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The number of Palestinians killed has climbed above 30,700, according to Gazas Health Ministry. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures but says women and children make up around two-thirds of the total casualties. It says over 72,000 people have been wounded.

Currently:

 Analysis: First fatal attack on shipping by Yemens Houthi rebels escalates risk for a reeling Mideast

 Leading NGOs slam Israels halt in visa renewals for aid workers in Gaza and West Bank

 Violence in the Mideast, rising threats from Islamic State group in Afghanistan pressure US and allies

 Find more of APs coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Here's the latest:

UN SPOKESMAN SAYS GAZA AID MISSIONS A MIXED BAG, DEPENDING ON ISRAELI HELP

UNITED NATIONS  U.N. humanitarian officials say that in February half of the 224 missions they planned for delivering aid to areas in the Gaza Strip where coordination with Israeli authorities is required got it and succeeded  and half did not.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday that the U.N. paused opertions in north Gaza following Israeli naval fire that hit a U.N.-coordinated food convoy heading there Feb. 5. As a result, he said, only 24 U.N. aid missions to the besieged north were planned in February  and just six were facilitated by Israeli authorities.

By contrast, Dujarric said, of the 200 U.N. missions planned for areas south of Wadi Gaza where access required coordination, 105 were facilitated by Israeli authorities.

The U.N. spokesman said humanitarian workers in Gaza face risks from the hostilities between Israel and Hamas including bombings.

Despite the many challenges, he said, last week 19 of the U.N.s humanitarian partners provided health services to some 80,000 patients and over a dozen World Health Organization teams treated 13,000 patients. He issued an urgent appeal for tents, tarpulins, blankets, bedding and other shelter supplies.

UN OFFICIAL WELCOMES AIRDROPS OF AID IN GAZA BUT SAYS MORE LAND ENTRIES NEEDED

UNITED NATIONS  The U.N. official trying to spur the delivery of humanitarian supplies to more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza is welcoming air drops and the prospect of more sea deliveries. But she says the most critical need is to open more land entries into the territory.

Sigrid Kaag, the senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, told reporters late Thursday that air and sea deliveries cannot substitute for expanding and diversifying supply routes on land.

Its easier, its faster, its cheaper, particularly if we know that we need to sustain humanitarian assistance to Gazans for a long period of time, she said, speaking after briefing the U.N. Security Council behind closed doors. We need to flood the market in Gaza with humanitarian goods as well as re-energize the private sector so commercial goods can be entering in to really meet the needs of civilians.

But Kaag said thatits been made very clear to me from the outset that there is little willingness by the Israeli Cabinet to open more crossings. She pointed to Israel domestic concerns, demonstrations at crossings, and the absence of a deal to release Israeli hostages seized during Hamas Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel.

Nonetheless, Kaag said, from her conversations she expects additional crossings to be opened and will continue urging the Israelis to do so because the goal is to expand the volume and quality of aid to Gaza.

She called the air drops of aid a symbol of support for the civilians in Gaza, but said that its a drop in the ocean.

Kaag said she has welcomed plans for a maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza, backed by a coalition that she expects the United States and other countries to be joining to accelerate its establishment.

She said the Americans may be building a temporary port with a view to provide for that much urgent humanitarian assistance and the scale-up thats needed particularly to reach the north, where the humanitarian crisis is especially dire, she said.

At the same time, I cannot but repeat, air and sea is not a substitute for land, she said. However, the additional aid at this critical juncture will be very important.

ISRAELIS WILL BE ALLOWED TO VISIT CONTESTED HOLY SITE DURING RAMADAN, ISRAELI POLICE SAY

JERUSALEM  Israels police force said Thursday that Israelis will be allowed to visit the Al-Aqsa compound during the first week of Ramadan, raising concerns about the access for Palestinians to the revered site during the holy month.

Al-Aqsa has often been the site of Palestinian protests and clashes with Israeli police, especially during times of high tension like the current war between Israel and Hamas.

Palestinians from the occupied West Bank have been unable to visit Jerusalem under Israeli government restrictions put in place immediately after an Oct. 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel killed 1,200. Israels invasion of Gaza in response has killed more than 30,000 people.

The Al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest site in Islam. Jews consider the compound the most sacred site in Judaism and refer to it as the biblical Temple Mount.

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the same number of people as last year would be allowed to enter the Al-Aqsa mosque compound for prayers during the first week of Ramadan and that this would be evaluated on a week-to-week basis throughout the holy month. The statement did not say who would be allowed onto the compound.

In 2023, over 289,000 Palestinians from the West Bank visited Jerusalem for Ramadan prayers, according to Israeli authorities.

The Israeli police did not respond to The Associated Press request to clarify the restrictions.

Ramadan is expected to start Sunday but depends on the sighting of the crescent moon.

DUTCH GROUP CONFIRMS ISRAELI TANK FIRE KILLED A REUTERS VIDEOGRAPHER IN SOUTHERN LEBANON LAST OCTOBER

BEIRUT  A report by an independent research organization in The Netherlands confirmed that Israeli tank fire killed a Reuters videographer and wounded six other journalists in southern Lebanon last October.

The journalists were covering cross-border clashes between Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group and Israeli forces on Oct. 13, just days after the eruption of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, when an Israeli tank shell landed among them.

The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, TNO, said that after two ammunition rounds struck the area where the journalists were working, arms fire and bullets whizzing through the air were heard. It said the two ammunition rounds were 37 seconds apart.

The report by TNO, which was contracted by Reuters to analyze evidence from southern Lebanon clashes on Oct. 13, was released Thursday. It said the Israeli fire in the attack lasted 1 minute and 45 seconds.

Israeli officials have said that they do not deliberately target journalists. Israel did not immediately comment on the Dutch group's findings.

In December, international human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said Israeli strikes that killed and wounded the journalists on Oct. 13, were apparently deliberate and a direct attack on civilians.

The strikes killed Issam Abdallah and wounded Reuters journalists Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, Qatars Al-Jazeera television cameraman Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, as well as AFPs photographer Christina Assi and video journalist Dylan Collins.

Assi, who was seriously wounded, was discharged from Beiruts American University Medical Center earlier this month, after nearly five months of treatment.

EGYPTIAN OFFICIALS SAY CEASE-FIRE TALKS ARE STUCK

CAIRO  Egyptian officials say negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza have reached an impasse over Hamas demand for a phased process culminating in an end to the war.

The U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been trying for weeks to broker an agreement on a six-week cease-fire and the release of 40 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

The officials said Thursday that Hamas has agreed on the main terms of such an agreement as a first stage, but wants commitments that it will lead to an eventual, more permanent cease-fire.

Hamas has said it will not release all of the remaining hostages without a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Palestinian militants are believed to be holding around 100 hostages, and the remains of 30 others, captured during Hamas Oct. 7 attack into Israel that triggered the war.

Hamas is also demanding the release of a large number of prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences, in exchange for the remaining hostages.

Israel has publicly ruled out those demands, saying it intends to resume the offensive after any cease-fire with the goal of destroying Hamas.

The Egyptian officials say Israel wants to confine the negotiations to the more limited agreement. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations with the media.

Both officials said mediators are still pressing the two parties to soften their positions.

The mediators had hoped to reach a deal before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin Sunday. The month of dawn-to-dusk fasting often sees Israeli-Palestinian tensions rise over access to a major holy site in Jerusalem.

 By Samy Magdy in Cairo.

NORWAY WARNS AGAINST BUSINESS WITH ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS

COPENHAGEN, Denmark  Norways government on Thursday urged Norwegian companies to avoid trade and business activities that contribute to maintaining illegal Israeli settlements. Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said that for years, Norway has been clear that the settlement policy in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is in violation of international law, including humanitarian law and human rights.

Norwegian businesses should be aware that, through economic or financial activity in the Israeli settlements in violation of international law, they risk contributing to violations of international humanitarian law or human rights, Barth Eide said.

He said that last year was also the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the UN began recording. I repeat that the injustice to which the Palestinians are subjected must stop.

CHINA CALLS FOR PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES TO JOIN UN

BEIJING  Chinas foreign minister is demanding that other members of the U.N. Security Council stop blocking the Palestinian territories from becoming a member of the United Nations.

Wang Yi reiterated Chinas call for a major international conference to draw up a roadmap and timetable for a two-state solution.

We support Palestine becoming a full member of the United Nations and call on individual members of the Security Council not to set obstacles for this anymore, he said Thursday at a news conference during the annual meeting of Chinas legislature.

Zhang Jun, Chinas U.N. ambassador, said in January that his country supports U.N. membership for the Palestinian territories as a first step toward the creation of a Palestinian state. The Security Council needs to send a clear and unequivocal signal, reaffirming the urgency of the two-state solution as the sole feasible way out, he was quoted as saying by Chinas official state media.

China, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, backed the Palestinian territories becoming a U.N. member in a joint statement issued last June during a state visit to China by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Ive had it all wrong, folks. For years I mistakenly believed that the people who are killed and injured by firearms  along with their families, friends and communities  are the real victims of gun violence.

What a big mistake. Its clear to me now that gun owners are the truly injured parties whenever a mass shooting breaks out.

Wont you pity them, please?

Im being ironic, of course. Its hard not to be, after a Kansas House committee on Thursday heard testimony on the Kansas Gun Rights Preservation Act, a bill introduced oh-so-tastefully the day after Lisa Lopez-Galvan was killed during a shootout at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl rally.

There was no moment of silence for Lopez-Galvan during the hearing. But there was a lot of righteous outrage  on behalf of gun owners.

This is such an important topic for responsible armed Kansans. We are demonized and villainized every day, said state Rep. Rebecca Schmoe, an Ottawa Republican who testified passionately in favor of the bill.

Were tired, she later added, of being lumped in with criminals because were exercising an inherent right.

The bill would penalize state and local law enforcement agencies in Kansas if they cooperate in any way in the enforcement of federal gun laws against against a law-abiding citizen. Those agencies could be penalized $50,000 for every violation.

If that bill sounds a lot like the Second Amendment Preservation Act that Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed back in 2021, well, theres a reason for that: Jered Taylor  a former Missouri legislator now with the American Firearms Association  had a big hand in both laws.

Law enforcement officers, he told the committee on Thursday, shouldnt be put in harms way to enforce federal laws that Kansans dont agree with.

Funny thing, though: The most vocal opponents of the bill at Thursdays hearing were actual Kansas law enforcement officers.

There were Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter, Bel Aire Police Chief Darrell Atteberry and Col. Erik Smith, superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol. Bob Stewart, executive officer of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation showed up, too.

We are not comfortable with this bill, Easter said. At all.

Why not? The bill, the law officers suggested, would hinder local cooperation with federal law enforcement authorities on a wide array of investigations  which might, in turn, have unintended consequences for the safety of Kansans.

Perhaps more important, though, the officers understandably dont want to be on the hook for a $50,000 fine over and over again just because Kansas legislators might object to certain federal gun laws.

Before long, said Atteberry, my community is bankrupt.

State Rep. Michael Houser, the Columbus Republican behind the bill, was unsympathetic. My guns dont hurt anybody, he grumbled. Theyre locked up in a safe.

The Missouri law, it should be noted, isnt in great shape. A federal judge overturned it last year. The U.S. Supreme Court in October said Missouri cant enforce the law while its on appeal. Now officials are waiting for a ruling from a federal appeals court to see what happens next.

If its going through court, I think if youre in Kansas, you want to see how that plays out, Easter said. Maybe not a bad idea.

The committee took no action on Thursday. But the gun rights advocates who testified on Thursday sounded like they were under siege. Which is odd.

Yes, theres a lot of anger about gun violence in this country. It doesnt seem to matter that much. The violence continues anyway. And the gun owners seem to have all the real power.

Which seemed to bother state Rep. Boog Highberger, a Lawrence Democrat. Nearly every mass shooting of the last 20 years, he said Thursday, was committed by a person who was a law-abiding citizen right up to the moment they started pulling the trigger.

I am more interested in protecting the rights of the law-abiding citizens who are being shot, Highberger said, than the law-abiding citizens who are doing the shooting.

Well see if the Kansas Legislature agrees.

Joel Mathis is a regular Kansas City Star and Wichita Eagle Opinion correspondent. He lives in Lawrence with his wife and son. Formerly a writer and editor at Kansas newspapers, he served nine years as a syndicated columnist.
A retired Navy medical officer who served for years as a top White House physician has touted himself as a retired rear admiral during his post-service political career.

But after he retired, Rep. Ronny Lynn Jackson, R-Texas, was bumped down to the rank of captain, or O-6, nearly two years ago, according to service records and a defense official.

Jackson retired from the Navy in December 2019 and was elected to represent Texas 13th Congressional District in 2020.

The Navy said in a statement Thursday that the service took administrative action in July 2022 following substantiated allegations in a Defense Department Inspector General investigation that delved into Jacksons conduct while leading the White House Medical Unit.

That administrative action involved Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro changing Jacksons retirement grade determination and reducing his rank to O-6, a defense official granted anonymity to discuss personnel matters told Navy Times Thursday.

Jacksons official service record now lists him as a retired captain.

Navy records show U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, is a retired Navy captain, not a retired rear admiral, as his congressional website claims. (Navy)

The Washington Post first reported discrepancies in Jacksons official retirement rank and the rank which he claims to hold.

Officials with Jacksons office did not immediately provide comment, but as of Thursday afternoon, the retired captains official site still touted him being a retired flag officer.

As a retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral with nearly three decades of military service I understand the commitment and sacrifices made by servicemen and servicewomen to serve our country, the two-term lawmakers congressional website states.

U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson's congressional site states that he is a retired Navy rear admiral. But records show he was retroactively demoted to captain in 2022 and is retired as an O-6. (Screenshot)

The move to change Jacksons retirement rank in 2022 followed the findings of a Pentagon IG report that was released to the public in 2021.

The report, spurred by a dozen IG hotline complaints in spring 2018 after President Donald Trump nominated him to be Department of Veterans Affairs secretary, found that Jackson, who had also served in the Barack Obama and George W. Bush administrations, presided over a toxic command climate at the White House Medical Unit and drank alcohol while on duty during official, international travel, but not that he ever damaged government property in doing so.

Jackson declined to respond to the IGs findings before it finalized its report. Its recommendations called for the Navy secretary to take appropriate action against Jackson.

We concluded that [Rear Adm.] Jacksons overall course of conduct toward subordinates disparaged, belittled, bullied, and humiliated them, and fostered a negative work environment by failing to treat subordinates with dignity and respect, according to a Pentagon IG statement at the time of the reports release. We also concluded that [Rear Adm.] Jackson failed to conduct himself in an exemplary manner in his treatment of subordinates throughout his tenure at WHMU. His treatment of subordinates created a negative work environment that witnesses said made an unfavorable impact on the overall command climate.

Former White House doc denies allegations, says scathing IG report is result of his support for Trump

That included Jackson knocking on a female subordinates hotel room door in the middle of the night and drunkenly declaring, I need you, according to the report.

Jackson has in the past pushed back on such allegations, accusing Democrats of resurrecting old Obama-era rumors because I have refused to turn my back on President Trump.

When the IG report was released in 2021, Jacksons office provided Military Times with a fact sheet, pointing out that then-President Barack Obama promoted him to rear admiral in 2016 following the alleged alcohol incidents, calling those who reported him in 2018 disgruntled subordinates.

The IG interviewed 60 White House employees, 56 of whom said they were the target of or were aware of Jackson yelling, screaming, cursing or belittling subordinates.

Im proud of the work environment I fostered under three different presidents of both parties; I take my professional responsibility with respect to prescription drug practices seriously; and I flat out reject any allegation that I consumed alcohol while on duty, Jackson said in a statement. I also categorically deny any implication that I was in any way sexually inappropriate at work, outside of work, or anywhere with any member of my staff or anyone else. That is not me and what is alleged did not happen.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  Tennessee schools could be required to play a controversial fetal development video produced by a pro-life organization in its family life curriculum courses.

A bill currently making its way through committees is HB2435 by Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood).

Read the latest from the TN State Capitol Newsroom

A caption bill introduced and then amended with entirely different language, HB2453 would require any family life curriculum course that directly or indirectly addresses human growth, human development, or human sexuality to include a video such as that of Meet Baby Olivia to be shown as part of the course.

According to the bill, Meet Baby Olivia is a video developed by Live Action that shows the process of fertilization and the stages of human development inside the uterus.

Live Action is a staunch anti-abortion nonprofit that claims to represent the humanity of the preborn and exposing the abortion industry for exploiting women and families for profit.

Bill could require TN high schools provide free period products

Thus far, Bulsos bill has made its way through a House subcommittee and is set to be heard by the House Education Instruction committee on Tuesday, March 12. It will be heard in the Senate Education Committee the following day, according to the Capitol calendar.

The bill passed along party lines in the House Education Instruction subcommittee on Thursday, March 6, with Democrats opposed.

Tennessee is the latest state to take up the Baby Olivia legislation, following similar action in West Virginia, Iowa and Kentucky, according to Live Action. The video is already required in North Dakota, according to the Associated Press.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
Two Jewish students filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology accusing the university of allowing antisemitism on campus that has resulted in them being intimidated, harassed and assaulted.

The lawsuit mirrors similar legal actions filed since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, including at Columbia University, New York University, Harvard University and University of Pennsylvania. In the MIT lawsuit, the students and a nonprofit that fights antisemitism, StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice, accuse the university of approving antisemitic activities on campus and tolerating discrimination and harassment against Jewish students and faculty.

As a result of MITs blatant and intentional disregard for its legal and contractual obligations to its students, plaintiffs and other students have suffered injury to themselves and their educational experience, the lawsuit alleges. Jewish and Israeli students at MIT have felt unsafe attending classes, have in some instances deferred graduation dates or exams, and some professors have left the university.

A statement from MIT said the university does not typically comment on pending litigation.

Generally, wed note MIT has established processes in place to address concerns of discrimination and harassment, according to the statement.

The lawsuit is requesting the court prohibit MIT from establishing, implementing, instituting, maintaining, or executing policies, practices, or protocols that penalize or discriminate against Jewish students. It also is demanding that MIT take any preventive measures including firing staff and expelling students who engage in antisemitic behavior.

The lawsuit also calls for the university to communicate to the school community that it will condemn, investigate, and punish any conduct that harasses members of the Jewish community, or others on the basis of their ethnic or ancestral background.

Last month, MIT suspended a student group that held demonstrations against Israels military campaign in Gaza because it didnt go through the schools approval process. In a video message explaining the suspension, MIT President Sally Kornbluth said criticizing policies of any government including Israel was permitted but that members of one community shouldnt feel its OK to vilify and shun Israeli and Jewish members of our community.

Equally, we shouldnt feel its OK to vilify everyone who advocates for the Palestinian people as supporting Hamas, Kornbluth said. We definitely shouldnt feel its OK to single out other members of our community because of where theyre from or what they believe and tell them that theyre not welcome on our campus.

Fallout from the Israel-Hamas war has roiled campuses across the U.S. and reignited a debate over free speech. College leaders have struggled to define the line where political speech crosses into harassment and discrimination, and Jewish and Arab students have raised concerns that schools are doing too little to protect them.

The issue took center stage in December when the presidents of Harvard, Penn and MIT testified at a congressional hearing on campus antisemitism. Asked by Republican lawmakers whether calls for the genocide of Jews would violate campus policies, the presidents offered lawyerly answers and declined to say unequivocally that it was prohibited speech.

Their answers prompted weeks of backlash from donors and alumni, leading to the resignation of Presidents Liz Magill at Penn and Claudine Gay at Harvard.

Hamas Oct. 7 attacks killed 1,200 people in Israel, mainly civilians, and abducted around 250 others, nearly half of whom were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November.

Since the war began, Israels assault in Gaza has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, roughly 1% of the territorys population, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. Aid groups say the fighting has displaced most of the territorys people and pushed a quarter of the population to the brink of famine.

The U.S. Department of Education has repeatedly warned colleges that they are required to fight antisemitism and Islamophobia on their campuses or risk losing federal money. The agency has opened dozens of investigations at colleges and universities in response to complaints of antisemitism and Islamophobia since the Oct. 7 attacks, including at Harvard, Stanford and MIT.

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
Ashleigh Merchant, attorney for Michael Roman, speaks during a hearing in the case of State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump in Atlanta, Monday, Feb. 12, 2024. Alyssa Pointer/Pool Photo via AP

The defense attorney who filed the motion in January seeking to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the sweeping Trump 2020 presidential election interference case testified Wednesday before a state Senate committee about how she uncovered an affair between the DA and a special prosecutor.

Ashleigh Merchant testified Wednesday before a Senate Special Committee on Investigations that she began requesting open records about Nathan Wades contract with Fulton County DAs office and other details surrounding his November 2021 appointment by Willis shortly after Merchant was hired in August to represent Michael Roman in the election interference case.

In January, the Marietta attorney filed a complaint seeking Willis disqualification from the felony racketeering and conspiracy case against Donald Trump and co-defendants. Trump attorney Steve Sadow joined and several other co-defendants would also join Merchants claim that Willis engaged in prosecutorial misconduct by having a romantic relationship with the attorney she hired to investigate the case.

Merchant testified Wednesday that Terrence Bradley, Wades former law partner and divorce lawyer, informed her about Wade and Willis affair in September while they were working on separate cases at the Cobb County courthouse.

Bradley was upset that Wade had asked the prosecutors longtime wife for a divorce after meeting Willis at a judicial conference while both were municipal court judges in October 2019, Merchant said.

Merchant said Bradley would review the timelines and confirm other details about Wade and Willis before she filed the motion against Willis in January. Bradley grew worried as people associated with Willis and Wade began questioning whether he was the unnamed source cited by Merchant, she testified.

He was upset because they were still married and (Wade) essentially just left her after meeting Ms. Willis and dropping the kids off at college, Merchant said.

A three-hour special Senate committee meeting on Wednesday follows several days of tense Superior Court hearings on the motion to dismiss the DA from the election interference case. Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said Friday that he plans to rule within the next two weeks on whether to remove Willis and the rest of her office staff DAs from the case.

There is a court dispute over whether Willis and Wade were dating prior to Willis appointment of Wade as special prosecutor in November 2021. Wade and Willis have testified that their relationship began in early 2022, and ended in the summer of 2023.

The defense has argued that testimony from Robin Bryant-Yeartie, a former friend of Willis who briefly worked in the DAs office, messages between Merchant and Bradley, and Wades cell phone records provide credence that Willis and Wade dated prior to 2021, which is contrary to court testimony of the prosecutors.

During the Fulton County court hearings, Bradley avoided on the witness stand disclosing much about Wades relationship with Willis and said he was unsure of when the two started dating. On Feb. 15, Bradley admitted that his law partnership with Wade ended in the summer of 2023 after Bradley was accused of sexual assault by an employee. Bradley and Bryant-Yeartie have been portrayed by the state as unreliable witnesses who were disgruntled because their former longtime friends, Wade and Willis, hurt their careers.

Last month, the GOP-controlled Senate approved a panel to investigate Willis actions as she pursued the criminal case against the former president and multiple co-defendants.

Republican Sen. Bill Cowsert, who chairs the special Senate panel, said Wednesday the panel subpoenaed Merchant to learn more about her allegations against Willis and Wade. The special committee will also independently review the financial records and other documents Merchant provided to them under the subpoena, said Cowsert, an Athens attorney.

Were also specifically tasked with, if necessary, amending existing statutes, or creating new statutes to build guardrails to essentially restore the public faith in our criminal justice system, Cowsert said.

This committee has made it clear from the beginning it is not our intent in any way to interfere with criminal prosecutions and so I would not want to be circumventing a court order that was for the protection of the privacy of the parties to that case, Cowsert later said.

Merchant also discussed obtaining Wades cell phone data from 2021, which showed 12,000 texts and phone calls between Wade and Willis. A defense expert also filed documents of his geotracking data that he said shows three dozen occasions that Wades cell phone was in the vicinity of the Hapeville condo Willis lived in prior to him becoming special prosecutor.

Prosecutors have challenged the reliability of the defenses geotracking expert and said that the volume of phone calls and text messages does not provide any context about what Wade and Willis were discussing.

Merchant said that Roman declined to accept a plea offered by Wade that would have allowed him to be sentenced to probation and pay a $5,000 fine if he agreed to testify as a states witness.

Roman, a former White House aide and Trump campaign operative, was indicted on charges of attempting and conspiring to file false documents related to the alternate Republican electoral plot. In the days after the 2020 election, Trump and other allies encouraged GOP state officials to appoint a second slate of electors prior to Congress certifying Joe Biden as the winner.

In a lengthy back-and-forth exchange with Democratic Sen. Harold Jones, Merchant was peppered about whether her claims of Willis conflict of interest were actually supported by her court filings.

According to Jones, Merchant has not provided evidence in Fulton County court that any so-called conflict of interest with Willis has caused Roman to be treated unfairly as a defendant.

Jones also pushed back on Merchants claims that Wade and Willis have a financial incentive to play out the case as long as possible.

Earlier you said you believe, which was total speculation, that they created this case against your client to do more (legal) billing, said the former Richmond County solicitor general. And what youre now telling me is (Wade) was willing to stop his billing because he offered your client a misdemeanor and you rejected it.

Merchant responded that Willis was not being honest about Wade paying for several cruises and other vacations taken with Willis. She failed to file the financial disclosures form that required her to list any gifts over $100 she received from someone doing business with the county.

Willis has testified in Fulton County court she used thousands of dollars in cash primarily to reimburse Wade for trips and other expenses incurred during their relationship.

We have unfortunately seen drag out over the last couple of months this concerted effort to hide this information from the public, Merchant said. I think that it is very reasonable for a court to think that that is a conflict of interest, and whether or not its a stake in the conviction, we definitely have seen a stake in the prosecution.

Following the hearing, Willis said she will continue to pursue a felony racketeering case against Trump and his allies despite the political attacks shes facing.

The post Lawyer accusing Fulton DA of conflict details accusations of misconduct at Georgia Senate hearing appeared first on Georgia Recorder.
On November 7, 2023, as I participated in the removal of a lead service line from the Thao family home, I finally witnessed how approaching an infrastructure project with the prioritization of public health and community can change the trajectory of a family, a city, and a nation.

"I never really realized that we were drinking out of lead pipes," said Kyle Thao whose grandparents have owned the Wausau home for 46 years. "So to know now that the pipes are going to be replaced and we're going to have better, cleaner, safer drinking water, it's definitely exciting, especially for my grandparents."

I am so proud to be the mayor of Wausau, Wisconsin, a diverse, middle-class community in the heart of both North Central Wisconsin and America. Right now, we have the challenge of replacing roughly 8,000 lead service lines from my city of 40,000 residents. Historically, we, like most other cities and utilities across the country, have looked to the homeowner to pay for all or part of the cost.

Some 9.2 million homes in U.S. still have lead service lines

Unfortunately, the communities where lead remains most prevalent are those that are disadvantaged and dont have the means to do so. That was until I attended Vice President Kamala Harriss Get Out the Lead Summit in Washington DC last January, where I had the opportunity to both participate in and learn from a diverse audience of elected officials, policy leaders, and public health experts about their own challenges and prospective solutions for removing the estimated 9.2 million lead service lines from their communities.

Data on where lead laterals are in Wisconsin

It was there I realized that lead in our water is a public health crisis not only an infrastructure problem. If we dont view this through a community-centric, public health lens, we will continue to get infrastructure results. That is why Congress dedicating $15 billion in infrastructure funding for the removal of lead service lines is a game changer for communities like Wausau and residents like the Thao family.

Public-private partnerships key to speeding line replacements

If we were going to change the status quo, I knew we needed a private sector partner that could assume the risk but guarantee our desired outcomes. The City of Wausau, through a Community-Based Public-Private Partnership, engaged Community Infrastructure Partners to do just that. Outcomes such as using local, minority-owned small businesses to do the work, developing a comprehensive training and workforce development program, through LiUNA and Wisconsin Laborers Council, and controlling both the costs and schedule for the work were all included in our performance-based contract.

Biden's age is legit issue. Give him points for honesty with his hair color.

We are actively putting to work the $5.7 Million from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for year one of our EquiFlow program, where we will replace a minimum of 550 lines. Thats 11 times more than we ever replaced through traditional avenues. The program will expand year over year to reach our 8,000 line goal.

Wausau is proud to be a first mover in this space. Our experience and lessons learned through the use of a CBP3 to remove lead service lines will provide a roadmap and serve as a catalyst for other communities to prioritize the health of their residents.

Taking out these toxic water pipes is a once-and-done solution that is among the simplest steps city leaders can take to help all residents have safer drinking water. Our cities are not there yet, but with President Joe Bidens Investing in America agenda, we are going to make it happen. Now that the funding and legislation is in place, it is incumbent on us as elected officials to ensure we seize on this moment to maximize the opportunity to finally eradicate this longstanding public health concern that has ravaged our most vulnerable communities and populations for far too long.

Katie Rosenberg is mayor of Wausau.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: More than 9 million homes across country have lead water service lines
China's foreign minister gave a rare press conference to foreign media on Thursday, outlining Beijing's positions on major global issues as it holds annual political meetings known as the Two Sessions.

Here is a breakdown of Wang Yi's key points:

- Gaza -

China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and supportive of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Beijing has backed calls at the UN for a ceasefire since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October, with President Xi Jinping saying there must be an "international peace conference" to resolve the fighting.

Wang reiterated his government's demands for an "immediate ceasefire", and called the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza "a tragedy for humankind and a disgrace for civilisation".

"The international community must act urgently, making an immediate ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities an overriding priority, and ensuring humanitarian relief an urgent moral responsibility," he said.

- Ukraine -

On Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Wang repeated Beijing's "fair stance" on the conflict while also hailing ties with its ally Moscow.

Many Western nations have blasted Beijing's position, arguing that its refusal to criticise Russia has given Moscow political cover to wage an unprovoked war of aggression.

Wang repeated that China sought peace talks and voiced concerns over escalation, warning that "without the start of peace talks, misunderstandings and misjudgments will build up, leading to a greater crisis".

But he heaped praise on ties with Russia, saying the two sides had created a "new paradigm for great power relations" under the leadership of their respective leaders, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

- Taiwan -

China, which split with Taiwan at the end of a civil war in 1949, considers the island a renegade province with which it must eventually reunify and has never ruled out using force to do so.

Beijing has ramped up military activity around Taiwan in recent years, with tensions rising in recent weeks after two members of a Chinese fishing crew died during a boat chase involving the Taiwanese coast guard.

As the Two Sessions kicked off on Tuesday, the government work report said China would again "resolutely oppose separatist activities aimed at 'Taiwan independence'" in 2024.

Wang on Thursday doubled down on Beijing's tough stance, saying that "anyone on the island of Taiwan who tries to go for Taiwan independence will inevitably be liquidated by history".

- United States -

Wang reserved harsh words for China's relations with the United States, hitting out at what he called Washington's attempts to "suppress" Beijing.

Ties between the world's two largest economies have come under strain in recent years amid disputes over trade, technology, human rights and other issues.

Wang said Washington's "desire to heap blame under any pretext has reached an unbelievable level" and criticised its "misunderstanding of China".

"The methods used to suppress China are constantly being renewed, and the list of unilateral sanctions is constantly being extended," Wang added.

"If the United States always says one thing and does another, how can it maintain its credibility as a major country?"

- European Union -

Wang struck a more conciliatory tone towards the European Union, a major trading partner in the throes of its own debate over trade ties with China.

He said there was "no conflict of interest" between Beijing and Brussels, but criticised the bloc's depiction of China as a partner but also a competitor and institutional rival.

"Facts have proven that this triple positioning is not factual or feasible, but it has brought unnecessary interference and obstacles to the development of China-EU relations," Wang said.

Somewhat aptly, he compared the policy to "a car driving towards an intersection, only to find the red, green and yellow lights on at the same time".

Electric vehicles are at the centre of a growing dispute between Beijing and the EU, with the bloc probing the impact of Chinese EV subsidies on European carmakers.

Beijing has launched its own enquiries into EU products including brandy but has denied the investigations are retaliatory.

- South China Sea -

Beijing's increasingly frequent confrontations in the disputed South China Sea, especially with the Philippines, have raised concerns that hostilities will escalate in the region.

Chinese coast guard boats were accused on Tuesday of causing two collisions with Philippine ships on a resupply mission and firing water cannon at one of them, with Beijing in turn saying Manila was acting as Washington's pawn.

"We will legitimately defend our rights in accordance with the law," Wang said, warning that "we do not allow our goodwill to be abused".

tjx-mjw/je/cwl
Former President Donald Trumps lawyers asked a judge on Tuesday to delay enforcing the $83 million defamation penalty a jury handed down in writer E. Jean Carrolls defamation trial.

Trump attorneys Alina Habba and John Sauer asked New York Judge Lewis Kaplan to extend the stay of the ruling, which is set to expire on Monday. Trump will have to pay Carroll or put up $91 million in cash bond needed to appeal the ruling.

In New York, a defendant must pay a cash bond of 110% of the judgment to appeal the ruling of a civil case.

"Requiring President Trump to post a bond or other security before this Court's ruling on his stay motion threatens to impose irreparable injury in the form of substantial costs (which may or may not be recoverable)," the attorneys wrote.

The letter asked the judge to extend the stay through at least Thursday.

Habba is asking Judge Lew Kaplan  who has yet to rule on Trump's request to stay enforcement of the $83.3 million E. Jean Carroll judgment as his post-trial motions are resolved  for some mercy, tweeted MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin. Specifically, she notes that the existing stay expires Monday and asks that if Kaplan does not rule by tomorrow, he should at least stay enforcement of the judgment for three business days after that ruling.

Rubin added that the letter suggests Trump could be having difficulty arranging for a bond of $91-plus million.

Expecting that Kaplan will deny his request for a longer stay, he is trying to buy himself time to obtain one or free up sufficient cash, she wrote.

The New York Times Maggie Haberman told CNN on Thursday that the repeated requests for a delay suggest there is clearly a problem so far in acquiring a bond.

"It doesn't mean that they won't get there, but I'm not sure what a couple of more days delay is going to do. And the judge has already said no delay previously, she said.

Habba previously argued in a filing that requirement of a bond would be inappropriate  where the defendants ability to pay the judgment is so plain that the cost of the bond would be a waste of money.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

E. Jean Carrolls lawyer Roberta Kaplan rejected that argument in a letter to the judge.

Trump offers no alternative means other than his own unsubstantiated say so that he will have $83.3 million available when Carroll prevails on appeal, the attorney wrote.

Judge Kaplan issued an order on Monday stating that a ruling on the stay request will be rendered as promptly as is reasonably possible.

Without implying what that decision will be or when it will be made, however, it will not come today, he wrote.
American model and influencer Hailey Bieber has revealed a new mani that will appeal to fans of natural nails. The celebrity is a well-known trendsetter in the field of manicures, so it is not surprising that the "naked French" is gaining popularity.

ADVERTISIMENT

This design can be called "your nails, but better," writes Byrdie. Hailey Bieber can often be seen with this manicure: at first, it seems as if her nails have no coating, but at the same time they look neat and elegant.

The base of the "naked French" is made with a transparent varnish. The base often flows smoothly into white or light beige tips, blurring the line. Although this design is suitable for any nail shape, it is best combined with soft almonds.

ADVERTISIMENT

"Naked French is a more sophisticated interpretation of the classic French manicure. It still gives a natural look, but blurs the color line for a more sophisticated look," explains Georgia Rae, a London-based nail artist.

"The design is simple and 'has stood the test of time,'" said Rae. "I know women and have clients who follow all kinds of trends in clothing, hairstyle, and makeup, but they always do natural manicures. It's all about emphasizing the natural beauty of your nails, hands, and skin tone," the expert added

ADVERTISIMENT

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Leo Varadkar admits that the results are 'in the balance' - Niall Carson/PA

Ireland will take a step backwards if its constitution is not changed to remove a reference enshrining womens duties in the home, the Taoiseach has said ahead of a referendum on Friday.

Leo Varadkar said the vote was a chance to make a value statement about what we stand for as a society and remove very old-fashioned language from a constitution written in 1937.

Landmark votes were passed to end constitutional limits on same-sex marriage in 2015 and abortion in 2018 in a country where the Catholic Church was once hugely powerful.

Mr Varadkar said on Thursday: I think a No vote would be a setback for the country, quite frankly. It would say to a lot of people  hundreds of thousands of people and children  that theyre not in a family as far as our constitution is concerned, and that would be a step backwards.

And it would also mean in relation to care that the very old-fashioned language about women in the home and mothers duties in the home would be maintained and the opportunity to add in special recognition for family carers will be lost.

Definition of family could be expanded

Voters will be asked two questions, with one expanding the definition of family from being based on marriage to include durable relationships such as cohabiting couples and their children.

The government was forced to clarify this did not include throuples or polygamous people in January after claims from fringe groups.

Meanwhile, the care amendment replaces language around the role of women in the home with a clause recognising care provided by other family members to one another.

All the major political parties support a Yes-Yes vote for the referendums, being held on International Womens Day.

A win is a win

The Taoiseach, 45, admitted that the results were in the balance this week.

The divorce referendum passed by a very narrow margin, as little as one vote in every ballot box. A win is a win, and Ill be happy with the result no matter how narrow it is, he said on Thursday.

Polls predicted a smooth passage for both and a low turnout but there is increasing unease about the vagueness of the two questions.

Nobody knows exactly what a durable relationship is, while everyone knows exactly what a marriage is, said David Quinn, founder of the conservative pro-family Iona Institute which campaigned against legalising abortion and same-sex marriage.

He also highlighted the removal of the words women and mothers from the constitution.

Dont cancel women, read one No campaign poster on lampposts in Dublin.

Whatever way my wife would like me to vote, Ill vote that way, said Aidan Connolly, a 54-year-old IT company director on Grafton Street in Dublin.

The constitution refers to the role of a woman, if she wants that to be changed then thats OK by me.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Representatives Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia have sent a letter to SpaceX CEO Gwynne Shotwell expressing concern over the Russian military's use of Starlink systems, such as those sent into orbit from Florida (pictured in October). File Photo by Joe Marino/UPI

March 7 (UPI) -- In a letter to SpaceX, congressional lawmakers Robert Garcia, D-Calif., and Jamie Rashkin, D-Md., expressed concern over the Russian military's alleged use of Starlink systems.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has rebuked claims that the Russian military uses Starlink but the Ukrainian government says Russian forces have used the system.

"SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk publicity stated that '[t]o the best of our knowledge, no Starlinks have been sold directly or indirectly to Russia,'" the representatives wrote in a letter to Gwynne Shotwell, chief operating officer of SpaceX. "However, according to Ukraine, the misuse of Starlink terminals is 'systemic' raising additional questions about the efficacy of your company's safeguards and compliance with U.S. sanctions and export controls."

In 2023, Musk was accused of shutting down Starlink coverage to prevent a Ukranian military operation against Russian military targets in occupied Crimea.

The lawmakers said they were concerned that the company "may not have the appropriate guardrails and policies in place to ensure your technology is neither acquired directly or indirectly, nor used illegally by Russia."

"Russian procurement of, use of, or interference with Starlink terminals has the potential to advance the goals of Russia's illegal and brutally lethal invasion of Ukraine," the representatives said in a press release Thursday.
A container with frozen embryos and sperm is seen at a fertility clinic in Florida in 2018. (Lynne Sladky / Associated Press)

To the editor: In their rush to save in-vitro fertilization, Alabama legislators are overlooking a more ominous consequence of declaring an embryo to be a child. ("How the Alabama IVF ruling unmasks the hypocrisy of antiabortion zealots," Opinion, March 3)

A pregnancy in a fallopian tube can rupture and cause life-threatening bleeding. Obviously, it is best to treat this condition before it ruptures.

But a doctor who does so is committing premeditated murder. Furthermore, the patient is an accessory to the crime.

W. Benson Harer Jr., MD, Los Angeles

The writer is past president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

..

To the editor: Columnist Robin Abcarian infuriatingly captures Alabama Republicans' hypocritical reaction to the state Supreme Court decision proclaiming frozen embryos "children."

Yes, the classism is glaring, as IVF typically serves those with access to tens of thousands of dollars. But there's something even more troubling.

Tim Melson, Republican chair of the Alabama Senate's Healthcare Committee, quickly drafted legislation saying that an embryo cannot be considered life "unless and until the fertilized egg is implanted into a woman's uterus and a viable pregnancy can be medically detected."

So, an embryo becomes something for the government to regulate only if it impacts a womans body and future?

Transparently, the argument that a fetus has the same rights as the person carrying it is not really about the sanctity of life. It's about controlling women.

Susan Goulding, Seal Beach

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Angela McArdle, the chair of the Libertarian National Committee, said no decision has been made about whether independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will join the Libertarian Partys presidential ticket.

Im not allowed to actively recruit anyone for the presidential nomination, McArdle said on The Hill on NewsNation on Wednesday. Im certainly friendly with his campaign, just like I am with all the other candidates campaigns though.

McArdle told host Blake Burman that she thinks its a wise decision for Kennedy to be eyeing the Libertarian Party.

Kennedy spoke late last month at the partys annual convention in California and has fueled speculation that he would join the Libertarian Party to qualify for more states in the general election.

Im sure were appealing right now, McArdle said of the partys efforts to be on the ballot in all 50 states.

Kennedy, who began his campaign as a Democratic challenger to President Biden, later declared an independent bid to take on both Biden and former President Trump.

While Kennedy has only casually entertained the idea of making another switch to the Libertarian Party, several sources told The Hill that there is growing support among party members for him to be the candidate this fall.

McArdle said the party has no favorite candidates right now, which is not a knock against Kennedy.

You know, we have a very ornery group of delegates. Theyre very interested in finding the best, most principles messenger, someone who represents us ideologically, she said.

We also have a group of people who are very focused on ballot access, and of course, having Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as our candidate would absolutely seal ballot access for us, but its not decided yet, McArdle continued.

She argued that if Kennedy became the Libertarian Partys nominee, there would be an understanding with us that he doesnt 100 percent represent us ideologically.

Burman questioned if Kennedy would be using the party to continue his candidacy, and McArdle said it might be a mutually beneficial relationship.

Kennedy would get on the ballot in many states, and the party would be securing ballot access and potential federal funding in the future in exchange, she said.

The Hill on NewsNation airs Monday to Friday at 5 p.m.

The Hill and NewsNation are both owned by Nexstar Media Group.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A Beaufort native with a prolific criminal history across the east coast will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murder of a New Jersey gas station attendant just days before Christmas 2018. The man and his accomplice were arrested in Beaufort County following a nearly two-week manhunt after the fatal armed robbery.

Marcus A. Wright, 27, was sentenced Monday to life in prison without parole for the first-degree murder charge, according to Middlesex County prosecutors. He was found guilty of the killing in September, while his accomplice  Beaufort resident Olya Quinnam, 26  pleaded guilty in 2019 to armed robbery, receiving 15 years in prison.

Police in Edison, N.J. responded to a Speedway gas station the morning of Dec. 20, 2018, finding a 38-year-old clerk shot dead inside. Later investigation revealed Quinnam waited outside while a masked Wright entered the store, holding the employee at gunpoint and demanding the cash register drawer.

The attendant handed over the money, security footage indicated, but Wright still fired a single fatal bullet at the man. Quinnam drove the duos getaway car before they traveled south in an attempt to evade authorities. Eight days after the murder, the cash register drawer was found discarded on a nearby road.

Loved ones said the 38-year-old murder victim, John Bertram, was an extremely loyal, hardworking man who took the overnight shift at the store to help pay property taxes on the home he inherited after his fathers death.

Its such a senseless thing what happened that night, Bertrams lifelong friend told CBS News following a court proceeding in September. Its just unbelievable.

A long history of offenses in S.C.

Awaiting extradition to New Jersey after his arrest in South Carolina, Wright battered his cellmate to death during a dispute at Ridgevilles Lieber Correctional Institution in September 2019. Officials suspected he used personal weapons to cause severe injuries to the victims face and head, killing him from blunt force trauma.

Wright pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the slaying in late 2021, earning a five-year sentence at the S.C. Department of Corrections, court records show. He served about two years of that term before receiving his life sentence for the New Jersey murder.

Prior to his two homicides, Wright garnered a list of lesser convictions in Beaufort County. In 2013, while still a minor, he pleaded guilty to two third-degree burglary charges and received five years probation under the Youthful Offender Act.

Over the next two years, he pleaded guilty to larceny, contraband in prison and a second-degree burglary charge, which totaled to an 11-year sentence. He was released under parole in June 2019  just six months before the fatal armed robbery up the coast.

It was not immediately clear where Wright would serve his life sentence.
ST. LOUIS  A month after being convicted for a 2022 murder, a St. Louis man returned to court on Wednesday to be sentenced.

Prosecutors with the St. Louis Circuit Attorneys Office said Jeffery L. Lumzy, 54, shot and killed Jeffrey Avant on Dec. 29, 2022.

Lumzy had been upset with his ex-girlfriend over child support and went to her home in the Carr Square neighborhood. Lumzy forced his way inside and shot Avant in the chest while the latter was sitting on a couch.

Close

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Breaking News

Lumzy absconded to Chicago in his ex-girlfriends car but was eventually arrested and extradited back to St. Louis to face trial.

During last months trial, Lumzy said he shot Avant in self-defense, claiming Avant had reached for a firearm.

Jurors did not believe Lumzys claim and found him guilty of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, first-degree burglary, unlawful possession of a firearm, and stealing a motor vehicle.

St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Rex Burlison handed down a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole for the murder charge. Lumzy also received a consecutive sentence of 15 years for armed criminal action.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
Inconsistent practices from pharmacy to pharmacy and slow resupply times can make Narcan, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, hard to find. Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration made the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone an over-the-counter medication last summer, health care advocates praised the removal of the prescription barrier as an effective tool to prevent fentanyl deaths.

That is, if you can find it.

A February report from Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy found that of the 156 pharmacies they contacted, 71 percent of the Houston pharmacies kept it behind the pharmacists counters or were entirely out of the product.

Pharmacies typically stock it in the nasal spray version of the life-saving drug, called Narcan. When used, Narcan can quickly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Its not cheap. A box containing two doses of two nasal sprays goes for $43.

But inconsistent practices from pharmacy to pharmacy and slow resupply times can make Narcan a problematic drug to find.

There seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding Narcan sales, said Katharine Neill Harris, a drug policy fellow at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy. Some places are sold out of it because of the demand. While others still keep it behind the counter to prevent it from being stolen or dont carry it at all.

From August 2022 to 2023, there were an estimated 5,566 drug-related deaths in Texas, 45% of which involved the synthetic opioid fentanyl, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Texas Health and Human Services reported last year that, on average, five Texans die every day from fentanyl poisoning.

The rise in both the illegal use of the drug and now the manufacturing of counterfeit prescription drugs that contain fentanyl has made this a particularly deadly problem. But access to the quick-acting Narcan is inconsistent in Texas and nationwide.

Students at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy called major retail pharmacies in 48 zip codes  including 22 in high poverty zip codes  to ask about availability, brand, price, and location within the store. The group contacted a variety of retailers including Walgreens, CVS, H-E-B, Kroger, Walmart, Costco, and Sams Club pharmacies over several months in 2023.

The report found most pharmacies contacted in the Houston area had some version of naloxone, but 71% of them still kept it behind the counter. Of those reported carrying naloxone, 45% said pharmacist assistance is required, 26% said cashier assistance is needed, and three pharmacies even mentioned ID was required for purchase.

Narcan can usually be found on the websites of these pharmacies. The FDAs decision to make naloxone, or Narcan, available without a prescription was to make this life-saving drug easily available. However, the price point for Narcan, roughly $22.50 per dose, usually means retail pharmacies will lock it up out of fear of it being stolen, reducing the odds someone will buy it because they will have to ask for assistance.

This is the opposite of what is supposed to be occurring. When you put something behind the counter, it automatically makes people less likely to ask for it. It makes them think they need a prescription to ask for it, Harris said.

A random visit to 15 pharmacies in Austin revealed the confusion surrounding the drugs location or availability. Pharmacists, often busy with customers, had a few moments to quickly point to the last area where the Narcan might be located or mention they were sold out of the product.

In northwest Austins Allandale neighborhood, the H-E-B has two boxes of Narcan located on the shelf next to pain pills. Meanwhile, the Walgreens across the street has an empty Narcan display in front of their pharmacy counter.

At the same time, the Tarrytown Pharmacy northwest of downtown Austin offered customers multiple ways to obtain Narcan while in the store, such as picking it up from the aisle or having a pharmacist prescribe one at the desk to allow for insurance to cover the price. A Walgreens southwest of downtown, on Riverside Drive had no Narcan in stock.

The Texas Tribune reached out multiple times for comment from the Texas Pharmacy Association. The group did not immediately comment on the inconsistent availability of Narcan.

Texas is not alone in this problem. Mississippi Today reported more than 40% of the states pharmacies do not carry naloxone, despite a 2017 standing order from the state that allows pharmacists to dispense naloxone with or without a prescription.

According to a March 2023 report by the Reagan-Udall Foundation, 45% of the 17 million doses of naloxone in the United States in 2021 were distributed outside retail pharmacies and health care facilities. Local health departments, harm reduction organizations, first responders, schools, and other community organizations distribute millions of naloxone doses annually.

This isnt what was envisioned when Narcan was made available to the public, Harris said.

Last year, President Joe Biden, in partnership with the Ad Council, the nonprofit organization that produces and promotes public service announcements, launched a fentanyl and naloxone awareness campaign following the FDAs approval of Narcan for over-the-counter sales. The campaign, which includes digital billboards and social media posts from college athletes and content creators, is meant to teach young people how to use and find naloxone in their communities as opioid deaths continue to rise across the country.

Texas Comptroller Glen Hegar announced on Thursday that a $25 million grant was being made available through the Opioid Abatement Fund Council to distribute naloxone. The grant will be awarded to one entity to implement the program statewide. The funding is open to governmental entities, nonprofit organizations, and businesses. The Opioid Abatement Fund Council was formed in 2021 to ensure money recovered from the statewide opioid settlement agreements is allocated toward stopping the opioid crisis.

Given the tragic trend of fentanyl poisonings occurring across Texas, especially among school-aged youth, wide availability of naloxone can literally save lives, Hegar said in a statement.

Last year, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, launched the states multimedia campaign last year known as One Pill Kills to emphasize the importance of Narcan and the dangers of the synthetic opioid known as fentanyl, a drug 50 times more potent than heroin.

The CDC also reported that in 2022, an estimated 43% of drug-related deaths nationally occur with a potential bystander present.

The Rice University report also noted that 17% of the pharmacies they contacted didnt carry naloxone of any kind, and four zip codes contained multiple pharmacies without the drug, all having poverty rates of less than 10 percent.

One of the reasons we heard for not carrying naloxone was the perception their clientele didnt need it, Harris said. We are supposed to be encouraging everyone to have Narcan. Its meant to be as common as a fire extinguisher.

Kristen Clancy, a pharmacist and the director of the Houston Recovery Initiative, a volunteer network of prevention, intervention, treatment and post-treatment services for those with substance abuse problems, said she doesnt think this is a case of pharmacies being negligent; they just dont have the time to be educated on the problems in their community. She said that is why she has spent the past couple of years getting Narcan into the hands of independent pharmacies in Galveston County.

When we put Narcan in an independent pharmacy, the pharmacist told us they didnt want to do it. I told him your county is the second highest per capita for overdose deaths in the state, and your city is the third highest per capita. Why wouldnt you want this? He had no idea and was completely on board once they learned, Clancy said.

Jennifer Ruffcorn, a Texas Health and Human Services spokesperson, said their agency hasnt notified pharmacies to tell them they should be selling over the counter. She also said the agency doesnt have statistics on naloxone availability or what pharmacies currently sell naloxone over the counter.

Naloxone can be a vital piece to solving the opioid crisis in Texas, but Rices Harris said for this to happen, there will need to be some changes made by and for pharmacists.

Pharmacies are one of the most accessible points of care. You get flu shots and pick up your medicine there, and other things. If we can put Narcan more in the public eye, then people will start to take more interest in it, Harris said. But our pharmacists are also facing their own challenges. Pharmacies have the potential to be great community care providers, but we got to support them.

For pharmacist Julie Bennett, who works at the independent Tarrytown Pharmacy in Austin. making the opioid-reversal medication known as naloxone widely available is vital.

Bennett spends the free days her employer gives to pharmacists to do community outreach to search for available naloxone supplies. She searches online, contacts suppliers, and is always trying to find a new way to get more naloxone products to the public, including giving away some of their stockpile of Narcan to college students for free at events.

The key is we have the staff in place to allow me to do this, Bennett said. When I was working at CVS, there was no time. I was alone, the phones were ringing, and people were in the drive-thru. Its not easy for pharmacists right now, and I think that is holding things back when it comes to access to naloxone.

Time is something most pharmacies around Texas have in short supply as the industry is dealing with staffing shortages.

CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart announced early last year the need to reduce hours to help manage the workload with fewer available pharmacists. Later that year, workers at some of the nations biggest pharmacy chains, Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid, pledged to start a pharmageddon by coming together and calling in sick for one day to demand better working conditions. This grassroots movement came after two separate protests by Walgreens employees nationwide and CVS employees in at least a dozen Kansas stores.

Clancy, the Houston pharmacist, said the work environment around pharmacies, especially busy retail ones, is challenging right now, making checking how much Narcan is in stock at the pharmacy a very low priority.

You ask pharmacists to dispense 400 to 600 prescriptions daily with limited staff. You might get one lunch break, but you have to spend that time catching up on work, she said. These corporate pharmacies discovered during COVID-19 that you could push these pharmacists to the brink with a limited staff. You could add shots and vaccines on top of filling prescriptions, and now you are asking them to keep track of one more product.

Disclosure: Emergent, Walmart, CVS, H-E-B, Rice University, Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and Texas Pharmacy Association have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

We cant wait to welcome you to downtown Austin Sept. 5-7 for the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival! Join us at Texas breakout politics and policy event as we dig into the 2024 elections, state and national politics, the state of democracy, and so much more. When tickets go on sale this spring, Tribune members will save big. Donate to join or renew today.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  People are ready to wear green at parades, meals and other events around West Michigan this St. Patricks Day.

March is Irish-American Heritage Month in America, as proclaimed by the White House. The 17th marks the Catholic feast of St. Patrick, a fifth-century missionary who brought Christianity to Ireland. He is known as the patron saint of the country. It has since become a cultural holiday, celebrating the heritage and culture of the Irish.

Find a St. Patricks Day event near you:

GRAND RAPIDS

The Fenians concert | Quinn and Tuites Irish Pub | March 8 at 7:30 p.m. | Ticket reservations recommended | Details

St. Patricks Day Celebration with local musicians | The Pyramid Scheme | March 15 at 7 p.m. | Tickets required | Details

Celtic Landscapes with Eileen Ivers | Grand Rapids Symphony | March 15 at 7 p.m., March 16 at 2 p.m. | Tickets required | Details

Irish on Ionia | Downtown Grand Rapids | March 16 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. | $25 tickets | Details

St. Patricks Day Parade in downtown Grand Rapids | March 16 at 11 a.m. | Details

Luckys St. Patricks Day Bar Crawl | Crawl With Us | March 16 at 4 p.m. | Tickets required | Details

St. Patricks Day meal | St. Adalberts Aid Society | March 16 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. | Details

St. Patricks Day brunch | Louise Earl Butcher | March 17 at 11 a.m. | Details

OTTAWA COUNTY

Conklin

Shortest St. Patricks Day Parade | Conklin Bar | March 17 at 10:55 a.m.

Holland

St. Patricks Day Parade | 8th Street downtown Holland | March 16 at 12 p.m. | Details

St. Patricks Day Celebration | The Curragh Irish Pub | March 16 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. | Details

Spring Lake

Spring Lake Rotarys Shamrock & Roll | Spring Lake Rotary Club | March 16 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. | Details

KENT COUNTY

Cascade Township

St. Pattys Open Skate | Patterson Ice Center | March 17 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. | $10 per skate including rental, $5 if you wear green | Details

East Grand Rapids

Corewell Health Irish Jig 5K | Starts at Wealthy and Greenwood Avenue | March 16 at 8:30 a.m. | Registration required to run | Details

Kentwood

St. Paddys Friday at Horrocks Market | March 15 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. | Details

Plainfield Township

Suds & Salami! St. Patricks Day Charcuterie Workshop | Spruced Studio | March 16 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. | Tickets $85 | Details

Rockford

St. Patricks Cooking Class | Thought Design Learning Studio | March 16 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. | $80 tickets | Details

MUSKEGON

St. Patricks Day Celebration with Cherish the Ladies | Frauenthal Center | March 15 at 7:30 p.m. | Tickets $19 to $68 | Details

Run Muskegons Shamrock Shuffle 5K | March 16 at 9 a.m. | Registration required | Details

Green Eggs & Ham by Greater Muskegon Womens Club | March 16 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. | Details

St. Patricks Day Parade | Downtown Muskegon | March 16 from 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. | Details

COLOMA

St. Patricks Day festivities, lighted parade | March 16 at from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., parade starts at 8 p.m. | Details

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
On 7 March, the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence announced that it had sent another package of military aid to Ukraine, which includes 155-mm artillery ammunition.

Source: European Pravda

Details: Lithuanian Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anusauskas stressed that Lithuania is sending "what Ukraine needs most right now".

"We hear them, and our assistance continues," he added.

In addition to sending military equipment and weapons, Lithuania contributes to Ukraine's defence by providing training, treatment and rehabilitation for wounded soldiers, expert advice, and contributions to Ukraine's aid funds.

Germanys Kiel Institute for the World Economy estimates that Lithuania has provided support to Ukraine worth 1.8% of its GDP, and by this metric it is currently the world's top supporter of Ukraine.

Lithuanian MEP Andrius Kubilius, who has twice served as prime minister, has proposed the creation of a ministry or other institution within the Lithuanian government that would coordinate assistance to Ukraine.

Support UP or become our patron!
The Safe House can appeal the decision within 21 days

Police have raised objections to a care company taking over the running of a bar linked to a brawl in which a young boxer was stabbed.

Anthony Dodson died after a large fight broke out outside The Safe House bar in Liverpool on 27 December.

The council voted to revoke the bar's licence but a bid was made to transfer it to a Manchester-based care firm.

Merseyside Police said it feared if that were granted the existing licence holder would remain involved.

Alongside Mr Dodson, three other men also suffered serious injuries, including a 21-year-old who was stabbed in the back and a 23-year-old who suffered lacerations to his head after being struck with a glass or bottle.

A 20-year-old man was later traced who had also suffered lacerations to the head.

Seven men have been charged to date over the incident.

Liverpool Council moved quickly to suspend the premises' licence before moving to revoking it entirely, subject to an appeal.

Four men were hurt in the disorder, with one man critically injured

A three-person panel at Liverpool Town Hall in January agreed to remove the business' permission to sell alcohol after hearing evidence from police and owner Meshach Harris.

However, the bid was made to transfer the licence to the Manchester based company Right-Step Ltd the day before the crunch hearing.

Police have objected to that move, with a fresh panel to be held next week, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Licensing Constable Nicola Ireland raised concerns regarding the transfer to Right-Step Ltd.

In a written submission, she said such a move would undermine licensing objectives of prevention of crime and disorder and questioned the role of the Mr Harris in a new operation, which would mean "no material change to the operation".

PC Ireland added that there was "no indication" Right-Step Ltd had experience in running a licenced city centre premises, "which was a contributory factor in the failures of the previous premises licence holder."

Mr Harris' licensing agent Karl Barry said his client did not have to explain why the licence was being transferred and had done so immediately before the initial hearing in January.

Why not follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X and Instagram? You can
In Bucharest, Petro Poroshenko met with the Executive Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis in the framework of the EPP Congress. Poroshenko called on the European Commission to decide on a negotiation framework as early as March in order to quickly start negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union.

ADVERTISIMENT

This was reported by the press service of the European Solidarity party.

"I informed him about the military needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in air and electronic warfare, shells, aircraft, and drones. I thanked the European Commission for presenting a new strategy for the development of the European defense industry, which will stimulate the growth of production and supply of military products to Ukraine," the fifth president said.

"We discussed ways to implement a 50 billion euro support mechanism for Ukraine based on a program of political and economic reforms, as well as the possibility of using frozen Russian assets for the needs of the Ukrainian army and the reconstruction of our country," Poroshenko said.

ADVERTISIMENT

He also emphasized the importance of the European Union extending the regime of trade preferences for Ukraine in times of war and resolving the issue of unblocking the Polish border for Ukrainian products.

"I called on the European Commission to finalize the report on Ukraine's fulfillment of the conditions and the draft negotiation framework in March to ensure the earliest possible start of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU," Poroshenko said.
From the Boiling Frogs on The Dispatch

You cant feel disillusioned by politics if you werent under illusions to begin with.

Whichever other words one might choose to describe the aftermath of Super Tuesdays Republican primaries (my favorites are unprintable), disillusioned isnt apt. For the readers of this site especially, the nature of the modern right was laid bare long ago. Yesterdays outcome represented the last few wheezing breaths of a patient who plainly had been terminally ill since at least 2015 and probably long before.

Its fine and proper to feel strong emotions at such a moment. But no one who watched that patient waste away would describe themselves as disillusioned upon seeing them succumb.

The time of death for the conservative movement was 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday morning.

BREAKING



Nikki Haley suspended her campaign and refused to endorse Donald Trump:



It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him, and I hope he does that.



Never Trump.

pic.twitter.com/lgAIyVakWC  Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) March 6, 2024

In the end, after a year of campaigning as a formal presidential candidate, Nikki Haley won Vermont and the District of Columbiatwo of the bluest jurisdictions in the United Statesand was trounced elsewhere across the map.

In every way, the man who demolished her is less fit for office now than he was eight years ago, when he was arguably already the most grotesquely unfit major party nominee in American history. Older, crazier, more vindictive, more fascist, more criminally exposed: He won in a waltz over a smart, likable, well-qualified, electable conservative despite having barely campaigned and never debating.

And none of us is the least bit surprised. Expectations of the Trump-era rights depravity are now so low that the real suspense on primary nights is seeing which alarming new lunatics the GOP base will thrust upon us as party nominees down ballot. North Carolina gave us a doozy yesterday but the bar can always get lower. And it will.

No one, let alone a conservative, should serve as an accomplice to this horde of vicious, illiberal, obscurantist miscreants and freaks. If the swing voters of this country insist on remaining willfully blind to the nature of Trumps movement in the foolish hope of bringing back grocery prices circa 2019, let them do so without the complicity of those who know better.

And without the complicity of Nikki Haley, hopefully.

As the results rolled in last night, her campaign issued a statement warning Trump that hell need to address the deep concerns of her voters if he intends to win them over before the fall. As youve likely seen, she echoed that point in her remarks on Wednesday morning, never quite endorsing him but inviting him to earn the support of her backers. This is now his time for choosing, she sonorously declared.

I have no idea what that means.

When a defeated primary opponent invites the winner to court her supporters, typically she means that he should meet them halfway on policy. For instance, a centrist who loses to an ideologue might nudge that ideologue to moderate on a few issues as an olive branch to the vanquished.

Haleys voters dont dislike Trump because of his fondness for tariffs or a border wall, though. They dislike him because hes a coup-plotting degenerate, an authoritarian virus thats infected the American constitutional order to which theyre trying to mount an antibody response.

Texas Voter: Nikki Haley is the voice of reason, not the voice of treason. pic.twitter.com/g7NGjTTOYg  Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) March 5, 2024

Exit polls conducted in numerous states on Super Tuesday found large chunks of Haley voters refusing to pledge their support to the eventual GOP nominee against Biden. As such, asking Donald Trump to earn their votes by addressing their concerns is tantamount to asking him to become a different person before November. Its not his policies to which they ultimately objectalthough the average Haley voter would doubtless give him an earful about Ukrainebut to him.

Another thing. If Haley is now in the business of auctioning off her bases support to the highest political bidder, presumably shes willing to take bids from candidates other than Trump. Heres one now, promising a place for her voters in his campaign:

Biden: It takes a lot of courage to run for President  thats especially true in todays Republican Party, where so few dare to speak the truth about Donald Trump. Nikki Haley was willing to speak the truth about Trump" pic.twitter.com/uuclGiTSga  Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 6, 2024

Democrats in the Trump era have always talked a good game about courting disaffected conservatives without offering them much on policy, but Joe Biden is clearly more in sync with the average Haley Republican on subjects like Ukraine and violent riots at the Capitol than Trump is. If shes serious about gaining influence for her base over the next presidents agenda, she should be treating their support as the prize in a competition between the two nominees, not something reserved for Trump that can be activated at his leisure by saying certain magic words.

Which brings us to an even stranger element of Haleys remarks. The very fact that she expects Trump to offer something to her voters to win them over suggests she still doesnt understand what her party has become.

The GOP is no longer a coalition in a meaningful sense. Insofar as theres a populist majority that favors Trump and a conservative minority that favors candidates like Haley, it is. But true coalitions require compromise between the factions on the direction of the party so that all sides are broadly satisfied.

Thats not the way Trumps Republican Party works in 2024. I devoted an entire newsletter to that topic on Monday: Now that hes annihilated whats left of the conservative movement within the party and even gotten Mitch McConnell to kneel before Zod, hes not negotiating with the traditional Republicans who are left. Hes dictating terms. They can either support him and his agenda as-is or they can leave the party and let the country be governed by liberals for another four years. Hes not meeting Nikki Haleys voters, or anyone else, halfway.

If there was any lingering doubt about that, his response to Haleys withdrawal from the race on Wednesday morning erased it.

Taunting her after her gracious surrender isnt the olive branch that her voters were looking for, I assume. Neither was this:

Reports: Nimrata Haley will suspend her campaign today after more humiliating, landslide loses on Super Tuesday.  Kari Lake (@KariLake) March 6, 2024

Remember that Kari Lake has been trying to make amends lately to traditional conservatives who bear her a grudge for her attacks on McCain Republicans in 2020. Now here she is, the day after the candidate favored by those same McCain Republicans has been humiliated at the polls, gratuitously other-izing Haley by using her given first name.

Populists are so hostile to the idea of building a coalition with conservatives that they cant fake civility toward them even when theyre straining to present themselves as coalition-builders.

Notably, some of Haleys own top advisers seem to recognize this. Her spokeswoman compared Bidens statement favorably to Trumps on social media this morning, alerting supporters to the fact that only one of the remaining candidates seems conciliatory toward them. And her communications director responded brusquely to Kari Lakes tweet with a phrase thatll be familiar to recent readers of this newsletter.

Haley herself has marveled recently that the Republican coalition seems to benefit only one of the parties to it.

Nikki Haley on supporting the GOP nominee: I haven't heard him pledge to me that he would support me if I won, so I don't know why I have to go and pledge to him that I would support him. pic.twitter.com/CuJzxaKsOR  Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) March 5, 2024

There is no Republican coalition left for her voters to join. There is only Trump, take him or leave himassuming he even deigns to accept their support. As I said on Monday, in 2024 one can be a conservative in good standing or a Republican in good standing, but not both.

So, contra Haley, its not Trumps time for choosing. Its her voters, and hers. Its always been hers.

It would be churlish to mark the end of her candidacy by doing nothing more than browbeating her about not endorsing Trump.

She deserves praise. And heres one of the highest forms a Republican in this era can receive: Haley escaped this ordeal with most of her dignity intact.

Not all of it. To the bitter end, she lamely dodged uncomfortable questions about the Trumpist threat to the constitutional order instead of answering them forthrightly. For maximum dignity, she would have needed to go the full Liz, not the half Liz.

But, had she gone the full Liz, she would never have broken out of single digits and forced Trump through an embarrassing string of underperformance in the early states relative to his polling. She was trying to win a Republican primary in Trumps party; the full Liz would have been electoral suicide. Just ask Chris Christie.

She made the compromises she needed to make to create a modicum of viability for herself, becoming the only candidate in the field besides Trump to grow her support over time. She outlasted Ron DeSantis, the great anti-Trump hope, and did so without compromising on traditional conservatism, as DeSantis did. She never stooped to crass Trumpian insults a la Marco Rubio in 2016, and never became a cynical pandering populist poseur like Ted Cruz and a million other traditional Republicans have. She was a Reaganite in full, giving the Reaganite minority in the GOP a candidate they could be proud to vote for.

Never wrestle with pigs, George Bernard Shaw famously might have said. You both get dirty and the pig likes it. Nikki Haley has wrestled with the pig twiceonce as his ambassador to the United Nations, once as his primary opponentand somehow came away both times without much dirt on her. Im not sure theres another Republican in America who can say the same.

The best way to appreciate Haley today is to contrast the dignity of her own surrender with the disgrace of Mitch McConnell endorsing Trump. McConnell had nothing to lose by refusing to make that endorsement: Hell retire as Republican leader in November after almost 40 years of achievements in the Senate, most notably a conservative revolution within the federal judiciary that he spent decades nurturing. As the de facto head of the pre-Trump GOP establishment, he could have withheld his support from Trump 3.0 as an exclamation point on his career, a last little show of defiance on behalf of Reaganism.

By choosing to endorse him anyway, he lived down to the standards of the establishment he led. Reaganites in Washington have always seen Trump for what he is and yet, almost to a man, rolled over for him anyway. Thats Mitchs legacy too: For all of his scathing criticism of Trump after January 6, he voted to acquit him at his second impeachment trial.

Without McConnell holding open Antonin Scalias vacant seat in 2016, Trump might not have won his first term. Without McConnell acquiescing in an acquittal at that second trial, Trump wouldnt have been eligible for a second. At every turn where he might have meaningfully resisted the GOPs takeover by a boorish populist Caesar, McConnell declined. In time, hell be remembered as a key broker in the partys catastrophic transition from classically liberal to authoritarian. His endorsement today is, in that sense, a perfect sort of exclamation point on his legacy.

Haley is different. Unlike McConnell and most everyone else in the Republican political class, she did have the nerve to challenge Trump, however futilely.

And so the question for her now is this: How does she want to be remembered?

How much of her considerable dignity is she willing to squander to continue chasing the pipe dream of being nominated for president eventually by a Republican base that disdains her and her faction as vestiges of a corrupt, crypto-progressive right-wing ancien regime?

There is a lot of debasement, civic and personal, to come for conservatives who are willing to sign their names to MAGA 3.0 in the name of personal ambition. Theres already been a lot, of course: For instance, with McConnells endorsement on Wednesday, we now have multiple Republican senators whove endorsed Trump after he publicly insulted their wives.

But a second Trump term is a whole other ball of wax. If his first term was a spectacle of bumping into legal limits on his power through haphazard, volatile decisions about policy and personnel, the second will be a deliberate exercise in testing those limits and exceeding them. The things Republicans will be forced to defend in his next presidency will be an order of magnitude more hair-raising than mean tweets.

Why would Nikki Haley, a dignified person, lend her support to that?

Even if doing so would improve her chances at the nomination in 2028, why would she want to belong to a party whose influencers now say things like this?

MAGA influencer Jack Posobiec at CPAC:



Welcome to the end of democracy. We're here to overthrow it completely. We didn't get all the way there on January 6th, but we will endeavor to get rid of it and replace it with this right hereBecause all glory is to God. pic.twitter.com/55FWokeeVI  Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) February 22, 2024

The party shes spent her adult life hoping to lead no longer exists, by her own admission. The Republican Party  has become an organization whose goal is the election of one person at the expense of anything else, including integrity, principle, policy, and patriotism, the New York Times declared in an editorial on Wednesday, starkly but not incorrectly. You can be a conservative or you can be a Republican; you can stand for something or you can stand for Trump. But you cant be, or do, both.

Why would she want to go on trying?

One more question for Haley: How much would her endorsement matter, realistically?

Its one thing to sell ones soul to play kingmaker, with all the glory and material gratitude that might entail. Its another to sell it for peanuts, barfing up perfunctory endorsements for the honor of joining the large and growing Trump mocked my spouse club, and then failing to move the needle. Judging by the exit polls on Super Tuesday, Haleys support for Trump might matter much less to her voters than anyone expects, assuming it matters at all.

In Virginia and North Carolina, only a third or so of her voters were Republicans. Some 48 percent of Haley voters in the former state approved of Joe Bidens performance as president, a share higher than Bidens national job approval. As much as Never Trumpers like me would like to believe that her campaign has galvanized a cohort of principled conservatives to oppose Trump this fall, the likely truth is more pedestrian. Haleys actual coalition consists mostly of Democrats and independents who always intended to support Biden in the general election and are showing up in the Republican primary simply because its an opportunity to stick it to Trump a few months early.

Shes a protest vehicle for them, not the guru of some coherent ideological movement. As such, theres no reason to think those voters will heed her if she ultimately endorses Trump. On the contrary, her doing so might achieve little for him while destroying the goodwill shes built among anti-Trumpers for offering them a respectable alternative this cycle. If that were to happen, Nikki Haley would finally have gotten dirty from wrestling with the pig.

She should stay as clean as she can.

The day may come when the right wishes to get clean again, and right now there are precious few Republican leaders who arent covered with filth themselves who might help them do so. Haley will be well positioned, maybe uniquely, to capitalize on a return to sanity. But if it never comesand it probably wont, the pessimist sayswashing her hands of Trump will at least give her the great consolation of not having abetted a malevolent political movement as it goes about wrecking Americas civic heritage.

Everyone feels good when theyre clean. If Nikki Haley is doomed to political irrelevance, she might as well feel as good about it as she can.

Nikki Haley voters: Trump doesn't want you.



Now, it's time to return the favor. pic.twitter.com/DolierI6MM  Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) March 6, 2024

Read more at The Dispatch

The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free.
Florida smoke shop owners and employees headed to Tallahassee Thursday to express their concerns about two bills moving this legislative session they argue could put them out of business.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

One bill, which passed through the legislature Wednesday, would ban hemp products containing Delta-8 THC and various synthetic cannabinoids, which when consumed produce psychoactive effects similar to recreational marijuana.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

The other bill would give the Attorney General the authority to prohibit the sale of disposable nicotine vapes if theyre marketed towards children.

This bill, the way its going through, were all going to be closing our doors soon, said Michael Gonzales, owner of New Leaf Vapor Company.

Gonzales store was one of the first vape shops to open in Duval County.

He and other local smoke shop owners and employees boarded a bus to Tallahassee Thursday to fight the bills.

RELATED: Basically creating a Bud-Light: Compromise on FL hemp bill would allow half-potency THC edibles

Gonzales argued the combined effect of the two bills would force his store and others across the state to virtually empty their shelves, killing jobs and providing fewer options for consumers.

Theres thousands of businesses. Ten of thousands of employees, said Gonzales.

But Senator Keith Perry (R-Gainesville), who is sponsoring the nicotine bill, argued the intent is to keep the addictive products out of the hands of children.

Youre going to find the legitimate vape stores that are going to market regular products to adults. They wont be affected by this bill at all. Then again, if your model is predicated on selling to children, find another line of work, said Perry.

On the hemp side of things, House Sponsor Representative Tommy Gregory (R-Lakewood Ranch) argued the hemp industry must be reigned in, not only for the protection of children, but for adults as well.

RELATED: Florida House advances bill that would ban hemp products with psychoactive THC derivatives

Its time for us to do what we should have done in 2019 when we authorized industrial hemp and the them they cant use a loophole to manufacture a recreational drug, said Gregory.

The hemp bill is now awaiting the Governors signature.

Its not clear whether hell sign it.

The nicotine product bill still needs to be approved by the House.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Ohio U.S. Senate candidates Bernie Moreno, Matt Dolan and Frank LaRose take part in their final debate at Miami University on March 6.

Ohio's Republican U.S. Senate candidates met on the debate stage for the final time Wednesday, attacking each other's records as they aim to distinguish themselves for undecided voters.

Secretary of State Frank LaRose, businessman Bernie Moreno and state Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, are running for the chance to take on Sen. Sherrod Brown in November. The race will be one of the most competitive U.S. Senate battles in the country and could determine which party controls the Senate in 2025.

The debate took place at Miami University and aired on WLWT.

All three Republicans are aligned in several ways: They oppose abortion, don't support minimum wage increases and want to crack down on the U.S.-Mexico border. But the primary has become more heated in recent days as the candidates near the finish line, with no clear frontrunner in sight.

A poll from SurveyUSA released this week showed Moreno barely edging out his opponents, with 23% of likely voters still undecided.

"Those same forces, that for the last 14 or 15 or 16 months have tried to cancel the America first movement and tried to make certain that somebody else replaced President Trump, now in this Senate race it's the same thing," Moreno said.

Trump endorsed Moreno back in December  even though Moreno once called him a "lunatic"  and his nod spurred support from Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, and other high-profile Republicans. The former president overshadowed Wednesday's debate as the candidates sparred over who would be his best ally in the Senate.

Dolan was the only one who declined to endorse a candidate in the presidential primary. LaRose put him on the spot Wednesday and asked if he'll back Trump now that former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has dropped out of the race.

"I'm supporting President Trump to be our nominee, but because I support Trump Republican policies," Dolan said. "His personality, it's not me. His political style, it's not me. But his policies that make your life better and make America strong, will make Ohio stronger, that is me."

LaRose has aligned himself more closely with Trump despite longtime ties to former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and his aides. NBC News reported this week that LaRose was scheduled to participate in a Zoom call with No Labels, which is trying to recruit a third party presidential candidate. LaRose never joined the call, and a campaign spokesman said No Labels "got over their skis."

Still, Moreno went after LaRose for the call, at one point getting his microphone cut for going off topic.

"I understand that some people may find his personality abrasive," LaRose said of Trump. "I think that's the kind of bold, courageous leader that we need. I would proudly trade some mean tweets about now for cheaper gas and for lower energy prices and for a more secure world."

Ohio Senate candidates trade barbs ahead of primary

Wednesday's moderator covered many of the same issues that came up in past debates: The economy, immigration, abortion and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. As they discussed their positions, Moreno, LaRose and Dolan traded barbs over inconsistencies in each other's histories.

Moreno, for instance, once penned an opinion column in favor of government clean energy programs. He previously supported a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and questioned why gun owners need high-capacity magazines. On the campaign trail, he's spoken out against all of those policies.

Critics of LaRose say his evolution from moderate legislator to Senate candidate raises questions of authenticity. Dolan's opponents have attacked him for voting against Ohio's ban on most abortions and supporting certain gun reforms.

"Tonight showed that the Republican candidates are more focused on fighting each other than fighting for Ohio, said Katie Smith, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. "In between the personal attacks and name calling, each said he would overrule Ohioans by voting for a national abortion ban. Ohioans saw tonight that Moreno, LaRose, and Dolan are only out for themselves."

While Wednesday marked the last debate, Ohioans will see much more of the candidates before Election Day. The campaigns and groups backing them have reserved millions in ad spending through the primary, according to the ad-tracking firm Medium Buying.

Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Republicans in 2024 Ohio Senate race ramp up attacks in final debate
Heres when the Lollapalooza 2024 lineup is expected to drop

* The video above originally aired on July 28, 2022 when Lollapalooza Founder Perry Farrell announced a ten year contract extension with the City of Chicago.

CHICAGO  Lollapalooza has announced the date when the 2024 summer lineup will be revealed.

According to the music festival, this years concert lineup will drop on March 19 on the Lollapalooza website.

The annual event will be held in Grant Park in downtown Chicago from Thursday, Aug. 1 to Sunday, Aug. 4.

Is it legal to smoke weed at Lollapalooza?

Last years headliners included Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Odesza, Lana Del Rey, Karol G, The 1975 and Tomorrow X Together.

For more information, go to: Lollapalooza.com

.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
For the first time ever, scientists witnessed a lone orca killing a great white shark off the coast of South Africa, further solidifying the mammal's reputation as the ocean's top predator and raising concerns about its impact on the area's ecosystem.

Researchers and tourists in Mossel Bay last June witnessed a killer whale named Starboard hunt an 8-foot great white shark, seizing it by the pectoral fin and "eventually eviscerating it," according to a study published this month in the African Journal of Marine Science. Scientists in a second vessel filmed the episode from a shark cage submerged in the water and recorded the whale "with a bloody piece of peach-colored liver in its mouth."

Dr. Alison Towner, a shark researcher at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, is the lead author of the study. She and her colleagues have been researching interactions between killer whales and sharks in the region for several years.

Though researchers have recorded orcas in the area killing sharks in coordinated group attacks, "predation on a white shark by a lone killer whale has not been documented" before the June 2023 incident, the study says. "All other documented predation by killer whales on sharks in the region has involved 26 individuals."

Killer whales can be found in every ocean from the cold waters off Antarctica and Alaska to the coasts of northern South America and Africa, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They are highly social mammals and spend the vast majority of their lives in groups called pods that can range from a just few whales to more than 20.

Except when they're forced to forage, the apex predators typically hunt in groups and work as a team to catch prey, which is what makes the incident notable, experts say. Towner, the main author of the study, said in a statement that the sighting was groundbreaking because it challenges the conventional hunting behaviors of killer whales known in the region.

The astonishing predation ... represents unprecedented behavior underscoring the exceptional proficiency of the killer whale," Towner said.

The day after scientists witnessed the rare attack, a second white shark carcass washed ashore at Mossel Bay, according to the study. The recent incidents build on previous research that these killer whales predominantly target the livers of white sharks.

Multiple pods of killer whales, or orcas, attacked two adult gray whales in Monterey Bay, California.

Josh McInnes, a researcher at the University of British Columbia, told USA TODAY the incident shows that killer whales not only are competing with white sharks for seals in the waters off South Africa but also that the mammals can develop niche tastes and independently overpower white sharks.

"This is kind of a rare situation," he said. "We don't see killer whales interacting with other large predators like white sharks very often."

Though more research is needed, McInnes and other experts say they're concerned killer whales could drive sharks away, as they have in other regions.

The study raises critical questions about the impact of killer whale predation on shark populations in South Africa, Towner said. The displacement of various shark species due to killer whale presence may have implications for ... changes in the marine ecosystem.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Experts witness novel orca attack: Solo whale kills great white shark
KARLSRUHE, Germany (Reuters) -Daniela Klette, a member of Germany's Red Army Faction (RAF) militant group who was arrested last week after three decades on the run, made an initial appearance on Thursday at the country's Federal Court of Justice, the Attorney General's office said.

Klette, 65, a member of the so-called third generation of the RAF, had long been sought alongside two other members of the group, Burkhard Garweg and Ernst-Volker Staub. She was arrested in a Berlin apartment on the evening of Feb. 26.

A statement from the Attorney General's office, citing the arrest warrant, said Klette took part in three RAF attacks between February 1990 and March 1993.

Founded by Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof among others, the far-left RAF's first generation emerged from German student protests of the late 1960s.

The group took hostages and murdered more than 30 people, including public officials, police officers, business leaders and U.S. soldiers. The group formally disbanded in 1998 with some members slipping back into ordinary lives.

Klette faces two separate legal cases.

One, in the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany, relates to robberies, including armed robbery, and attempted murder, to finance her livelihood after she went underground.

The Attorney General's arrest warrant centres on suspected RAF crimes.

These include an attempted explosion in an administrative building of Deutsche Bank in which three security staff were present, a gun attack on the U.S. embassy in Bonn with at least 10 people present, and an explosives attack on a newly built, unoccupied prison, the Attorney General's office said in a statement.

Police are still searching for two other members of RAF's third generation, Staub and Garweg. Both men face charges of armed robbery and at least one attempted murder committed between 1999 and 2016, the same charges Klette faces in Lower Saxony.

(Reporting by Timm Reichert, Max Schwarz and Tilman BlasshoferWriting by Nette NostlingerEditing by Frances Kerry and Ros Russell)
A long-time employee has been named interim superintendent of a Clark County school district.

>>Asbestos found in local elementary school; parents, school officials call for new building

The Northeastern Local School (NELSD) Board of Education approved Steve Linson to be the interim superintendent following the resignation of superintendent Dr. John Kronour, according to a district spokesperson.

Linsons appointment is effective on April 2 through the end of the 2023-24 school year while the board conducts its search for the next superintendent.

As a proud graduate of Northeastern High School and a long-time employee of the district, I am deeply honored to step in as the interim superintendent, he said. This district has always held a special place in my heart, and I am committed to serving our students, staff, and community during this transitional period. I look forward to working together as we search for the next superintendent to lead NELSD into a bright future.

Linson is a Northeastern High School graduate and has been with the NELSD for 23 years and worked in education for 30 years.

He has served as Pupil Services Director for the school district.

The NELSD Board of Education says it will begin a search for its next superintendent soon and will provide a timeline and information on how the community can participate.
If youre older than 18 and want to carry a gun without a permit, youll soon be able to do so in South Carolina.

Gov. Henry McMaster signed Constitutional Carry into law Thursday. Its provisions take effect as soon as the governor signs it, but details on when certain aspects of the bill, such as twice monthly free training will start, are still unknown. Sen. Shane Massey said SLED had already been thinking about and working on how to implement them.

The new law will allow anyone who is legally able to carry to do so in public without a concealed weapons permit or training. It also creates a free training program, put on twice monthly by SLED.

The bill includes stricter penalties for people who repeatedly carry guns into places they are not allowed to, including schools and courthouses. It also adds penalties for those who commit a crime with a concealed weapon who do not have a CWP.

A property owner, holder of a lease interest, or operator of a business can prohibit patrons from entering with a firearm by posting a NO CONCEALABLE WEAPONS ALLOWED. A person convicted of knowingly carrying a firearm into a liquor, beer or wine store for consumption on the premises is guilty of a misdemeanor.

How it passed

The Constitutional Carry bill that has been debated for more than a year passed through both the House on Tuesday and the Senate Wednesday after a joint conference committee met and worked through the finalized bill.

The bill went to the conference committee in February because the Senate added amendments some House Republicans felt watered down what true constitutional carry was. The House rejected all the Senates changes.

The major changes to the original House bill included changing the age from 21 to 18 to carry, include free training classes put on by SLED twice a month, but not requiring these classes, and adding penalties for anyone carrying a concealed weapon without a CWP.

The Senate also had an amendment that would allow members of the general assembly to carry anywhere in the state. However, the conference committee agreed to strike this part out of the final bill.

Lingering concerns

Concerns from opponents ranged from safety for everyday South Carolinians, lack of training, dangerous situations for law enforcement, rise in gun related deaths and fear and misunderstanding surrounding guns. Multiple senators and representatives emphasized that they didnt know a single law enforcement member who wanted the bill to pass.

When you go into a Kroger youre not expecting to see someone strapped like that, especially with the number of mass shootings we have today, Sen. Mia McLeod, I-Richland, said in February when the bill was being discussed. Did you know that the public at large is not prepared or equipped to deal with seeing people just walk into stores?

South Carolina passed a law in 2021 requiring a CWP to carry publicly. A Concealed Weapons Permit requires training on how to fire weapons and other gun safety aspects. Now, there is no requirement for a CWP.

It is indeed a sad sad day in South Carolina, said Rep. Jermaine Johnson, D-Richland, after Rep. Caskey, R-Lexington read through the report on the compromises Tuesday. Today here we are going to vote on something that essentially is going to create more problems for all of us. What happened to backing the blue?

In 2023, during a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, police chiefs from Columbia, Anderson, Myrtle Beach and Conway raised concerns regarding untrained residents openly carrying.

Sen. Nikki Setzler, D-Lexington, said Jan. 24 that he had not had one law enforcement officer tell him they supported the bill the whole time it has been under consideration. Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Horry, also said a number of people in law enforcement are concerned about taking away training.

This is unjust, it is uncalled for, and I do not understand why were doing it, Rep. Joe Jefferson, D-Berkeley, said Tuesday after Caskey had read through the finalized version of the bill.

South Carolina will be the 29th state to pass constitutional carry.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (R) and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron attend a press conference at the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin - Filip Singer/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Lord David Cameron, the foreign minister, has said that 500 (aid) trucks a day are needed to avoid famine in Gaza.

That means more crossing points. It means simpler logistics. It means stopping sending back items that would be perfectly harmless, he told reporters in Berlin.

Appearing alongside his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, Lord Cameron added that he made these points to Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz in a meeting in London yesterday.

Lord Cameron said that his focus has been how to turn a pause into a permanent sustainable ceasefire.

He urged for a political solution for the Palestinian people that would provide them a future with the dignity of statehood.

Aid officials have warned for months of looming famine in Gaza amid food shortages caused by border closures.

Follow the latest updates below

04:09 PM GMT

Todays live coverage has ended

Todays live coverage has ended. We will be back with further updates tomorrow morning.

03:48 PM GMT

Lord Cameron calls for peaceful settlement in Ukraine

During the press conference in Berlin on Thursday, Lord Cameron also appealed for a peaceful settlement to the war in Ukraine.

You get peace by demonstrating that Putin cannot win, he told reporters, adding that Ukraine has been illegally invaded.

03:40 PM GMT

Lord Cameron calls for pause in fighting

Speaking in Berlin on Thursday, Lord David Cameron, the Foreign Minister, said that there must be a pause to the fighting in Gaza and that the UK wants this to happen now.

He said that the key question was how to turn a pause into a permanent sustainable ceasefire without returning to fighting.

To achieve this there must be the full release of hostages, he added.

Lord Cameron urged for a political solution for the Palestinian people that would provide them a future with the dignity of statehood.

03:37 PM GMT

Germany calls for immediate humanitarian ceasefire

The German foreign minister called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire as she appeared alongside Lord David Cameron, the Foreign Minister, in Berlin on Thursday.

Annalena Baerbock said she was sending out an urgent appeal on behalf of Germany and UK and that we need a breakthrough.

The killing in Gaza must stop, she told reporters.

03:31 PM GMT

Israel destroying Gazas food system in starvation tactic, UN expert says

A UN expert said on Thursday that Israel was destroying Gazas food system as part of a broader starvation campaign in its war against Hamas militants.

Aid officials have warned of looming famine five months into the campaign against the Islamist Palestinian group, while hospitals in the isolated northern part of the enclave say children have started dying from malnutrition.

Israel is not only denying and restricting the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel is destroying the food system in Gaza, Michael Fakhri, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, said in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council.

Israel has mounted a starvation campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza, he added, saying that included targeting small-scale fishermen.

Israel denies restricting relief into Gaza and has since last week begun working with private contractors to deliver aid.

It also denies waging war on civilians, saying its fight is with Hamas.

03:15 PM GMT

Israel will push on with offensive against Hamas, says Netanyahu

Israel will push on with its offensive against Hamas despite growing international pressure, including into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israels prime minister, said on Thursday.

There is international pressure and its growing, but particularly when the international pressure rises, we must close ranks, we need to stand together against the attempts to stop the war, he said.

The military would operate against Hamas all through the Gaza Strip, he said, including Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold.

Whoever tells us not to act in Rafah is telling us to lose the war and that will not happen.

02:51 PM GMT

US airdrops aid to Gaza for third time in a week

American C-130 cargo planes airdropped aid to Gaza on Thursday, the US military said, its third joint operation with Jordan to deliver assistance in less than a week.

US C-130s dropped over 38,000 meals, providing life-saving humanitarian assistance in Northern Gaza, to enable civilian access to critical aid, the US Central Command said on social media.

02:28 PM GMT

Photographed: Cargo ship sunk by Houthi rebels

In this photograph, the Rubymar cargo ship is seen partly submerged off the coast of Yemen.

The bulk carrier went down off Yemen after a Houthi missile attack.

According to US Central Command, the Belize-flagged, Lebanese-operated Rubymar sank on Saturday with 21,000 metric tonnes of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertiliser on board.

Rubymar cargo ship partly submerged off the coast of Yemen - KHALED ZIAD/AFP

02:20 PM GMT

WHO chief warns of famine

The chief of the World Health Organization has warned that children who have survived Israeli bombardment may not survive famine amid reports of child malnutrition.

Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus made the warning on X alongside a video testimony from a doctor based at the pediatric unit in the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.

Malnutrition plays a major role in the number of children that come to us and the number of deaths, Dr. Imad Dardonah said in the video.

Dr Dardonah added that the hospital cannot treat 50 to 60 per cent of the malnutrition cases that they are receiving.

He said that their only recourse is providing children with saline or sugar solution.

Since the war began, at least 20 people have died from malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza, according to the ministry of health in Gaza.

Out of this total, at least 15 of them are children.

01:57 PM GMT

Egypt sees tourism numbers picking up despite shadow of Gaza war

The Israel-Hamas war in Gaza caused a drop in tourism in Egypt compared to expectations in the last quarter of 2023, but the number of visitors picked up in the first two months of the year, the countrys tourism minister said on Thursday.

In addition to the effect on tourism, attacks on Red Sea shipping have jeopardised another of the main sources of hard currency for Egypts struggling economy - receipts from traffic through the Suez Canal.

Ahmed Issa, Egypts tourism minister, said 3.6 million tourists visited in the October-December 2023 period. Although this was the second highest number on record for a final quarter, it was 600,000 below the record 4.2 million that had been expected, Mr Issa said in an interview on the sidelines of a travel fair in Berlin.

Visitor numbers have since picked up, Issa said, with 2.12 million tourists visiting in the first two months of the year, an 8 per cent increase over the same period last year.

01:17 PM GMT

Israel accuses South Africa of acting as legal arm of Hamas

Israel has accused South Africa of acting as the legal arm of Hamas in an attempt to undermine Israels inherent right to defend itself and its citizens, and to release all of the hostages.

It comes after Pretoria again petitioned the International Court of Justice to take measures against Israel.

Lior Haiat, a spokesman for Israels foreign affairs ministry, said: The repeated requests for provisional measures made by South Africa in order to assist Hamas are yet another cynical exploitation of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which has already twice rejected the baseless attempts to deny Israel its right and obligation of self-defence.

South Africa continues to act as the legal arm of Hamas in an attempt to undermine Israel's inherent right to defend itself and its citizens, and to release all of the hostages.



The repeated requests for provisional measures made by South Africa in order to assist Hamas are yet pic.twitter.com/zYNMqnUq45  Lior Haiat  (@LiorHaiat) March 7, 2024

12:52 PM GMT

47 bodies returned to Gaza following hostage hunt

A total of 47 bodies have been returned to Gaza after they were taken from a graveyard close to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.

The bodies were taken when the Israeli military entered the compound in February.

They are set to be buried in Tal as-Sultan, the western part of Rafah.

The Israeli army examined around 400 bodies from the Nasser Hospital but determined that none of them were captives.

12:32 PM GMT

Russia kills IS militants planning attack on Moscow synagogue

Russias FSB security service said on Thursday it had killed Islamic State militants who were planning a terrorist attack on a Moscow synagogue, Russian state news agencies reported.

The FSB said an IS cell based in Kaluga, southwest of Moscow, had been planning to shoot Jewish worshippers at a synagogue in the capital.

While being arrested, the terrorists put up armed resistance to the Russian FSB officers, and as a result were neutralised by return fire, the TASS news agency quoted the security service as saying in a statement.

Firearms, ammunition, as well as components for the manufacture of an improvised explosive device were found and seized, it added.

12:03 PM GMT

Biden could prevent Israel from using US weapons in Rafah

Joe Biden, the US president, could prevent Israel from using US weapons in a Rafah offensive, according to officials.

The US is allegedly considering imposing conditionality on American arms ahead of Israels planned attack on the southern Gazan city amid questions about the protection of civilians.

The former US ambassador to Israel said that questions around the offensive could precipitate an unprecedented crisis of relations between the two nations, according to the Washington Post.

If Israel launches an offensive in Rafah without adequately protecting the displaced civilian population, it may precipitate an unprecedented crisis in US-Israel relations, even involving arms supplies, Martin Indyk is quoted as saying.

The Washington Post added that although US officials havent made any decision yet, the debate shows the administrations growing concern about the crisis in Gaza.

11:46 AM GMT

Hamas must know fate of remaining hostages, Israel says

An Israeli official has said that Hamas must know hostages are alive and that Hamas are playing a game.

It follows claims by Hamas that the militant group does not know who the surviving hostages are.

Basem Naim, a Hamas political bureau member, told CNN on Monday that there was no way to know their fate.

I think they do know, its a game, the official told CNN on Thursday. They added that both Israel and Hamas had intelligence about the hostages.

11:19 AM GMT

Hamas delegates leave Cairo

Hamass delegation left Cairo, on Thursday, where talks aiming to secure a new truce in the groups war with Israel had been underway, Egyptian state-affiliated media said.

The Hamas delegation has left Cairo to discuss the truce and negotiations will resume next week, reported Al-Qahera news channel, linked to Egypts state intelligence service, citing a senior source.

11:04 AM GMT

In pictures: Destruction in Gaza

Here is a roundup of the latest photos taken inside of Gaza.

Palestinians walk past the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip - AFP via Getty Images

The Palestinian flag flies surrounded by the rubble of destroyed buildings following an Israeli military operation in Khan Younis - MOHAMMED SABER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

People pass destroyed buildings in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis - Xinhua/Shutterstock

10:42 AM GMT

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 30,800

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Thursday that at least 30,800 people have been killed in the territory during the war between Israel and Palestinian militants that has entered its sixth month.

The latest toll includes 83 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, while 72,298 people have been wounded in Gaza since the war erupted on Oct 7.

10:23 AM GMT

Two Filipinos killed in Red Sea attack

Two Filipino seafarers were among three people killed by a Houthi attack on a commercial ship in the Red Sea.

The fatalities were the first caused by the Houthis in their ongoing attacks against ships in the area.

The Philippines department of migrant workers (DMW) said on Thursday: We in the Department of Migrant Workers sincerely extend our deepest condolences to the family and kin of our slain, heroic seafarers. For reasons of privacy, we are withholding their names and identities.

The DMW added that two other Filipinos were severely wounded and that the remaining crew members had been taken to a safe port.

09:56 AM GMT

China calls war in Gaza a disgrace for civilisation

Wang Yi, Chinas foreign minister, called Israels war in Gaza a disgrace for civilisation on Thursday and reiterated Beijings calls for an immediate ceasefire.

It is a tragedy for humankind and a disgrace for civilisation that today, in the 21st century, this humanitarian disaster cannot be stopped, Wang told journalists at a press conference.

Beijing has been calling for an immediate ceasefire since the start of the current Israel-Hamas war.

China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.

Xi Jinping, Chinas president, has called for an international peace conference to resolve the fighting.

No reason can justify the continuation of the conflict, and no excuse can justify being desperately killed, Mr Wang said.

The international community must act urgently, making an immediate ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities an overriding priority, and ensuring humanitarian relief an urgent moral responsibility.

09:29 AM GMT

Three killed in first fatal Houthi attack on Red Sea shipping

A Houthi missile attack killed three seafarers on a Red Sea merchant ship on Wednesday US Central Command (CENTCOM) said, the first fatalities reported since the Iran-aligned Yemeni group began strikes against shipping in one of the worlds busiest trade lanes.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, which set the Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence ablaze around 50 nautical miles off the coast of Yemens port of Aden.

In an earlier message on X responding to the Houthi claim, Britains embassy wrote: At least 2 innocent sailors have died. This was the sad but inevitable consequence of the Houthis recklessly firing missiles at international shipping. They must stop.

The Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea since November in what they say is a campaign in solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza.

09:07 AM GMT

Israel should be dropped from Eurovision if Gaza war continues, say Belgian ministers

Two Belgian ministers have called for Israels exclusion from the Eurovision Song Contest while the Gaza war is ongoing as a punitive measure for the toll on Palestinian civilians.

Controversy over the conflict has hit various cultural events, with the organiser The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) resisting calls from some artists and activists for Israel to be dropped from Europes May 7-11 annual song competition.

Benedicte Linard, Belgiums French-speaking culture minister, and Benjamin Dalle, his Flemish counterpart, added their voices.

Just like Russia has been excluded from competitions and Eurovision following its invasion of Ukraine, Israel should be excluded until it puts an end to its flagrant violations of international law, which are causing thousands of victims, especially children, she said on X.

08:49 AM GMT

Israeli tank likely fired machine gun at reporters

An Israeli tank crew killed a Reuters reporter in Lebanon in October by firing two shells at a clearly identified group of journalists and then likely opened fire on them with a heavy machine gun in an attack that lasted one minute and 45 seconds, according to a report into the incident published on Thursday.

The report by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) - which was contracted by Reuters to analyse evidence from the Oct 13 attack that killed visuals journalist Issam Abdallah - found that a tank 1.34 km away in Israel fired two 120 mm rounds at the reporters.

The first shell killed Abdallah, 37, and severely wounded Christina Assi, 28, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer.

It is considered a likely scenario that a Merkava tank, after firing two tank rounds, also used its machine gun against the location of the journalists, TNOs report said.

The latter cannot be concluded with certainty as the direction and exact distance of [the machine gun] fire could not be established.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
A fire erupted overnight in Pico Rivera leaving a local Shakeys restaurant in need of repair Thursday morning.

The blaze was reported around 2 a.m. in the area of Whittier Boulevard and Durfee Avenue, a spokesperson with the Los Angeles County Fire Department told KTLA.

Firefighters arrived to find smoke and fire coming from the roof of the single-story building.

Firefighters respond to a blaze at a Shakey's restaurant in Pico Rivera on March 7, 2024.

It took firefighters about 30 minutes to extinguish the blaze, which was contained to the southeast side of the restaurant, the spokesperson said.

No further details were given on the extent of the damage.

Massive tree comes down on Southern California driver

Investigators had not yet determined the cause of the fire.

No injuries were reported.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Saudi oil giant Aramco has unveiled the companys new large language AI model, aramcoMETABRAIN, and also establishment of an innovative R&D network, the Saudi Accelerated Innovation Lab (SAIL), that aims to advance the digital economy.

Announcing the launch, Aramco President & CEO Amin Nasser said the aramcoMETABRAIN was a groundbreaking, industrial-grade generative AI model based on 90 years of accumulated company data.

It represents a strategic investment in generative AI by the company, which plans to use it to power disruptive, cognitive applications across its business.

SAIL is expected to focus on challenge-based R&D, product development and digital ventures building through creating a national and global ecosystem of partners to strengthen its capabilities.

It has been cofounded by Aramco with the Saudi Research, Development and Innovation Authority, and partners King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program and Saudi Arabias Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, he stated.

These projects were discussed during Nasser's keynote speech on Digital Leadership in the Energy Sector at LEAP 2024, a global technology event underway in Riyadh.

LEAP is an annual event that brings together over 172,000 members of the worlds tech ecosystem to learn, network, make discoveries and innovate.

The third edition of the event runs from March 4 to 7 and focuses on the theme Into New Worlds. Over 600 startups, 1,300 investors and 800 cross-industry specialists are attending, with the event featuring talks by globally renowned tech experts from major companies.

On the aramcoMETABRAIN large language AI model, the top official said: "We believe METABRAIN has the potential to raise both productivity and growth as well as transform the way we work Clearly, the power of generative AI is something most companies are keen to tap into. What is also clear is that with any major innovation, there are obvious risks. For Aramco, developing our own generative AI model enables us to realize the benefits while reducing these risks."

On the formation of SAIL, Nasser said: "SAIL is not just a project. It is a journey with our national and private partners, and it is a commitment to the future. Together we intend to establish a preeminent digital ecosystem that attracts global leaders, top talent and breakthrough innovation to incubate what is needed now and invest in whats next."

"We aim to enable Saudi businesses to outperform in their industries, growing the digital economy and keeping the Kingdom at the forefront of market-driven digital innovation. Through SAIL, our goal is to create new digital products, new digital ventures, breakthrough IP and global consortiums to tackle major challenges," he added.

On Aramcos technology strategy, Nasser said: "Aramco is constantly moving forward in our tech journey. We are doing so in three ways: through integration, through innovation and through investment. In terms of integration within our operations, we continue to see benefits from our ongoing digital transformation"

"It is a transformation that is touching every part of our company, from managing projects to improving logistics to calculating reserves Our dedicated digital and AI-driven centers are also playing an important role in helping increase efficiency and decrease costs," he stated.

On the importance of technology innovation, Nasser said: "It all comes down to creating value. For society in general, the latest technology can help reduce emissions. For our shareholders large and small, it can help us maximize returns. For current and future generations of Saudis, it can help us optimize the Kingdoms resources."

"For Aramcos customers around the world, the latest technology can help us deliver the highest possible reliability and energy security. And for our employees, it can help all of us do our jobs efficiently and safely. Indeed, creating value for people is the ultimate reason for any technology journey, ours included," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine knew about the plans of the Russian occupants to seize the Antonov airfield in Hostomel (Kyiv region) in advance. A "reliable informant" warned Ukrainians about such intentions of the aggressor.

ADVERTISIMENT

The battle for the airfield began on the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion  February 24, 2022. In an interview with the German Zeit newspaper, Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov shared the details of these events.

The lieutenant general said that Ukrainian intelligence had been informed of the enemy's plan to seize Antonov and land thousands of its soldiers there.

The most experienced special forces scouts joined the defense of the facility.

"I saw [Russian helicopters] and thought they were very close. I felt scared, but then the adrenaline kicked in," recalled one of the DIU soldiers.

ADVERTISIMENT

Budanov reported on the operational situation at the airfield to President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. The head of Ukrainian intelligence received data from his units that were performing tasks in the field.

"It is clear that people who see dozens of helicopters firing in their direction are not entirely happy," the lieutenant general said.

In the second half of February 24, Ukrainian soldiers launched a counterattack against the Russian group. By the end of the night, about 80 paratroopers of the aggressor country were eliminated in the battle.

The runway had to be damaged by Ukraine's artillery to prevent Russian military transport aircraft from using the airfield.

"A desperate battle for the airfield in Hostomel disrupted the Moscow blitzkrieg and crushed the intentions of terrorist Russia to occupy Kyiv "in three days," the DIU's Telegram channel noted.

ADVERTISIMENT

As OBOZ.UA wrote earlier:

 Earlier, Kyrylo Budanov confirmed that the Russian Federation had somehow managed to obtain secret information about our counteroffensive plans. The head of the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate called it a serious problem and said that measures were being taken.

 Earlier, Budanov said that rocket attacks on Ukrainian cities have recently decreased as Russian troops have reduced their supplies.

Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Having a car run away with you is many drivers worst nightmare. It became a reality for Nathan Owen, 31, recently when his Jaguar I-Pace accelerated up to 100mph on the busy M62 motorway and he said he was unable to brake.

He was only able to stop with the intervention of police cars hemming in the runaway car until the battery ran out of charge after 35 minutes.

The UK crash investigator TRL says such incidents are on the increase.

The TRL claims: These sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) events are an increasing phenomenon among drivers and occur when a vehicle suddenly and uncontrollably increases in speed. Where this occurs, drivers also commonly report that their brakes have either failed or seemed ineffective in slowing the vehicle.

What can you do if a combustion car runs away with you?

Its easier to bring a runaway combustion engine car back into line than an electric vehicle (EV), even if it has an automatic gearbox. The driver training expert Paul Ripley explains: The first thing to do is keep calm.

If its a manual gearbox and youre travelling at speed, change down gear by gear. The engine may sound like its going to explode but youll lose speed. As you slow, declutch and use the brakes to bring the car to a stop.

With an automatic, you can also change down through the gears on some models and, if necessary, put it in neutral.

What can you do if an EV runs away with you?

Ripley claims the biggest problem is shock making us unable to think straight. He says: Theres a danger we go into panic-freeze and cant respond. You dont want to turn off any car while its in motion because then you lose power steering and other functions. But if you can, knock it into neutral to cut power to the motor.

Then think about your escape route. You might be able to avoid involving other vehicles in the incident.

Be careful if your car has cruise control

In the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 16,000 crashes a year are caused by drivers pushing the accelerator pedal instead of the brake.

Mark Hill, a senior consultant at the TRL, says this normally happens when cars have cruise control. He adds: It usually only occurs when the drivers feet havent been on the pedals so when the cruise control is being used, or if its an automatic creeping forward slowly.

The drivers foot isnt coordinated with the space its in. They push what they think is the brake  except its the accelerator. Because their brain thinks their foot is on the brake, but other receptors in their body are telling them theyre going faster, they press harder still on what they think is the brake.

Mark Hill, a senior consultant at the UK crash investigator's unit

Hill explains that vehicles have event data recorders that record information such as brake, accelerator and steering position in the seconds before crashes. Ever busier roads and distractions at low speed are two of the contributors to pedal confusion, the TRL believes.

What causes cars to run away with us?

If the cars the problem, it might be a software error in the powertrains control module. This can result in unintended acceleration, deceleration or a loss of drive.

Last year, Nissan recalled 2018-2023 Leaf EVs for a software malfunction which it said could cause the car to speed up after the cruise control had been switched off.

More recently, Owens Jaguar I-Pace developed a mind of its own on the M62 motorway, while on the Jaguar I-Pace forum there are other owners who claim their similar Jaguar EVs went rogue.

But this isnt just limited to electric cars. The 2015 Smart ForTwo and Renault Twingo, 2014 Jeep Cherokee, 2014 Infiniti Q50 and Q70 and 2003 Renault Laguna have all been recalled to fix software problems that could cause sudden unintended acceleration.

In 2014, Ann Diggles, a pensioner from Leyland, Lancashire, was accused of causing death by dangerous driving after her Nissan Qashqai ran out of control, mounted the pavement and killed a pedestrian.

81-year-old Ann Diggles, from Leyland, Lancashire leaves Preston Crown Court - Alamy Stock Photo

Diggles always maintained it was the car, her defence claiming it was a problem with the Qashqais automatic transmission. Despite expert witnesses from Nissan denying her car theory, she was found not guilty.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
A controversial low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) scheme in south London is to be scrapped after turning a three-mile bus journey into a two-hour slog.

The scheme at Streatham Wells has been suspended by Labour-run Lambeth council after it caused huge traffic congestion in the suburb.

The authority, which announced the U-turn on Thursday, admitted thatthe scheme had caused an eight per cent increase in traffic on boundary roads.

One bus reportedly took 121 minutes to travel just 2.9 miles after the A23 arterial road, which runs along one side of the LTN, became heavily congested with traffic trying to avoid the scheme.

The about turn comes after Sadiq Khan described the LTN as causing huge problems earlier this month. It is the first time the London Mayor has criticised one of the schemes.

Speaking after the decision, a spokesman for Mr Khan said: The Mayor has always been clear that if road schemes need to be changed or adapted to better work for the local area, then that is the right thing to do, working with local partners and residents.

Councillors implemented the LTN last year as part of an 18-month trial intended to improve air quality by blocking vehicles from accessing certain residential streets. After LTNs were introduced in the borough, the number of penalty charge notices more than doubled.

But local campaigners including the Lambeth LTN Watch group said the schemes displace traffic onto neighbouring roads and worsen congestion around the fringes.

The backlash, which led to protests from a 60-strong crowd outside the councils HQ in Brixton, has forced the authority to backtrack on the scheme.

Rezina Chowdhury, the councils deputy leader, said: Weve listened to the concerns raised by local people and recognise the major disruption coming as part of transport improvements on the main road running through Streatham.

The council also blamed Thames Water roadworks for the congestion and said a segregated cycle lane was planned to replace the LTN.

Neil Garrat, the City Hall Conservative leader, said: It is a win for all the local people who have had to put up with Labours LTN nonsense in Streatham, and we who pressed Labour to open their eyes and look at the disaster they created.

Susan Hall, the Tory London mayoral candidate, said: Sadiq Khan forced LTNs like this on Londoners, which do nothing but cause congestion, and has threatened councils that have tried to get rid of them. I will listen and support councils in removing these LTNs.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, speaks to journalists. At its annual press conference, the Lufthansa Group provides information about the past financial year 2023. Lando Hass/dpa

Germany's national carrier Lufthansa said the continued strikes by airport staff have cost the company around 100 million ($109 million) so far this year.

In addition, numerous customers have held back on bookings, chief financial executive Remco Steenbergen said on Thursday at the presentation of the group's annual figures in Frankfurt.

Lufthansa's head of human resources, Michael Niggemann, called on the unions to return to the negotiating table. Only there can solutions be found, he said.

Lufthansa aircraft parked at Frankfurt Airport. With renewed warning strikes by several professional groups, the Verdi trade union is paralyzing important parts of German air traffic on Thursday and Friday. Lando Hass/dpa
Last week, Marks & Spencer claimed victory over Michael Gove. The Levelling Up Secretary had, in July 2023, blocked the retailers plan to demolish and redevelop its flagship store in Oxford Street; Gove said there was a strong presumption in favour of repurposing buildings, rather than tearing them down. But, following a legal challenge, the High Court has judged Goves decision to be unlawful, and ruled in favour of M&S.

The latest judgment is depressing, not only for environmental campaigners worried about the carbon footprint of the proposed redevelopment  which apparently wouldnt be offset until the 2040s  but for people such as me, namely Londoners in despair about the changing architectural landscape of their city, which is fast beginning to feel like a bland Euro-pudding of meritless towers in jaunty colours.

I realise that Britains capital has always been a palimpsest; that it has thrived on layering the old and new side by side. Often, this makes you thrillingly aware of its past, of a city in which merchants and traders and bankers have all jostled for prominence. There are areas of the City, in particular, where you feel as if you were being guided by the hand of history. But in the past few years, such feelings have begun to dissipate.

The West End has become especially grim. The M&S building is in the western stretch of Oxford Street, but the eastern part has deteriorated far more, into a soul-destroying cluster of vape shops and American candy stores. This marks a rapid descent from the early 2000s, when music lovers could enjoy the proximity of HMV, Virgin and Tower Records. While the proportion of vacant buildings has decreased in the past year, with slightly fewer of those wretched sweet emporia, the ambience of Londons most famous shopping street still feels relentlessly ugly, blighted by such eyesores as the mirrored monstrosity above the Boots shop at no. 193.

The M&S building itself, Orchard House, is not quite a thing of beauty. It was constructed in 192930 to designs by the architectural practice Trehearne and Norman, with facades described by my colleague Simon Heffer as bizarrely reactionary, as if its architects had fallen asleep 15 years earlier at the end of Edwardian Baroque and suddenly come to life again.

Pilbrow & Partners' proposals for the Marble Arch branch of Marks & Spencer

All the same, Heffer admires the weathered stone, and I do too. It reminds me of the London I visited as a child, where every building looked like a fortress, forbidding and unknowable, yet possessed of austere beauty. Many of these were Victorian, the sort of buildings in which John Betjeman sought solace. The poet laureate was a great advocate of the capitals older architecture, in particular the buildings erected by our 19th-century forefathers, and saw them as the ultimate expression of societys spiritual life  hence his tireless campaigns to save St Pancras station (successful) and the Euston Arch (less so: much lies in east Londons river Lea).

But I think Betjeman, were he alive today, would find little spiritual succour in the architecture thats sprouting up all over the capital. The architecture critic J J Charlesworth recently pointed to plans for the Millennium Bridge House, by St Pauls, as a bleak example of a derivative building, one too proud of its regenerative lifts and heat recovery thermal storage system. There are others, too, such as the regeneration project at Nine Elms Point, the bumf for which exhaustively points to its sustainable credentials. Triton Square, located in Fitzrovia, and one of the lowest-carbon headquarters in Europe, is similarly joyless. As for the new M&S building itself, the plans by Pilbrow and Partners look like a bland visualisation of the future, as if J G Ballards novels were being adapted for TV by the team behind The Crown.

The M&S plan feels especially unnecessary when you think of how superb, for instance, the interior of the old Barkers building in Kensington High Street  built between the wars, though not completed until 1958  still looks after its refit. I know that Orchard House feels cranky inside, and slightly impractical, but Im sure it doesnt deserve to be humiliated. It could still have operated as a functioning building.

The Neo-Classical entrance arch to London's Euston station, which was demolished in 1962 - Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

I am in no way against new architecture, and I dont stand with Leon Krier, creator of Poundbury, who claimed to The Telegraph earlier this week that Europe had not, in the past half-century, come up with a single decent new building. Weve seen some wonderful examples of true creativity in London, notably the Shard, the Gherkin and the Laban Dance Centre in Greenwich. Theres nothing wrong with the weird or wacky; its wholly in keeping with the idea of the capital as an ever-evolving pageant. But the lack of originality in all the above is a sign that such creativity is being passed over in favour of the crushingly mundane.

More depressingly still, we dont have it as bad as some. The rare beauty of Pariss tree-lined boulevards is now under threat from all the building work necessitated by the Olympics. New architecture in the French capital has often caused a stir  remember that 1 billion revamp of Les Halles a decade ago?  yet the latest buildings, such as the featureless new Adidas Arena, feel more invasive, more soul-destroyingly uniform, than anything in the past.

London is an individualistic city, and has generally harnessed innovation while ensuring that good taste prevails. In recent years, though, blandness has taken hold. The new designs for Oxford Street could still be scuppered; Michael Goves department is considering its response to the High Court rebuke. I hope the M&S building survives. The last thing our beautiful city needs is another faceless car park masquerading as a shop.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday pledged his country's "unwavering support" for Moldova as tensions mount between the eastern European country and pro-Russian separatists.

"France restates its unwavering support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova within its internationally recognised borders," he said in a joint statement with Moldovan President Maia Sandu as she visited Paris.

Two years into Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, Moldova faces "multiple challenges caused by the conflict on its borders", the statement said.

Top of the list is the pro-Russian breakway region of Transnistria, where officials last week appealed to Moscow for "protection".

There is mounting concern that the territory could become a new flashpoint in the conflict, with Moldova "facing intensifying hybrid attacks", the two presidents said.

The two presidents signed a Chisinau-Paris defence deal as well as an "economic roadmap".

"The Moldovan state must be in a position to protect its neutrality, defend its territory and its population, and contribute to regional and international security," they said in the statement.

Macron and Sandu said Paris was "fully backing" Moldova's reforms aimed at one day joining the European Union. It is to hold a referendum later this year.

"Justice reform and the battle against corruption" would be particularly important to a successful membership bid, they added.

gbh/ah/tw
Married At First Sight Australia viewers were left baffled by grooms Ben Walters and Jack Dunkley's problematic comments when discussing parenthood and beauty standards.

Tonight's (March 7) episode of the dating show saw the couples opening up thanks to the challenges of Confessions Week.

When asked to rank their core values in a relationship to see if they aligned, Ben and his wife, Ellie Dix, were in for a nasty surprise.



Channel 4

Related: MAFS Australia confirms more cast exits in latest episode

The pair hit it off on their wedding day, despite Ellie's cousin Jordan sharing his doubts on the groom's real intentions. As Ben and Ellie were getting to know each other on a deeper level, she discovered her desire to create a family wasn't mutual.

When she explained that becoming a mother was important to her, Ben replied he wouldn't be bothered by a partner not wanting children. Realising they didn't seem to be on the same page about kids, Ellie voiced her concerns  only to be shut down by Ben with a dismissive answer.

Ben acknowledged that having children is "important for females", being confused as to why Ellie would be "upset".

Channel 4

Related: MAFS Australia shocker as star withdraws from show

"You're a sensitive woman," he added.

Ben's words didn't go down well with MAFS viewers, who took to social media to slam his belittling comments.

"'Kids are very important to females,' many men exist who see the importance in and have the desire to become fathers," one person noted on Twitter/X.

Kids are very important to females, many men exist who see the importance in and have the desire to become fathers. That was such a stupid statement from Ben #MAFSAU #MAFS  Z (@PsychandPoetry) March 7, 2024

"Ben showing men all around the world a lesson in how not to speak to women," another person noted, adding some laughing emojis.

Ben showing men all around the world a lesson in how not to speak to women  #MarriedAtFirstSightAustralia #MAFSAustralia #MAFSAU pic.twitter.com/kMl6uy1sEn  Miss D Meanours (@ConnieSpanners) March 7, 2024

Oh Ben.  Also kids are very important to females WTF? #MAFSAU  Jade (@JadelynS) March 7, 2024

Similarly, fans called out Jack's comments during the photo-ranking challenge, as he insisted he wouldn't kiss some of the "older birds" and pressed wife Tori Adams to "convince" him she was the hottest bride.

Channel 4

Related: MAFS Australia star has unfortunate accident at wedding



"Convince your husband you're the hottest," he told her as she started listing her features.

"I'll have you up here," he then conceded, placing her picture next to that of Ellie. "You're on par with a couple of other ladies."

"Jack is the quintessential manosphere template," one viewer wrote on Twitter/X, while another user added some red flag emojis when discussing the couple's exchange.

Jack Oh, let me swoon over you whilst you describe why you're such a catch and all these women are not even worth your time  #MAFSAU #MAFSAUS #MAFSAustralia #MAFS  Evalin Jayne (@Itsevalinjayne) March 7, 2024

"Jack [red flag emojis] Oh, let me swoon over you whilst you describe why you're such a catch and all these women are not even worth your time," they wrote, while someone else noted he "is going into forensic detail on EVERY woman's appearance."

Married at First Sight UK airs on E4 in the UK. Married at First Sight Australia airs on Nine Network in Australia and E4 in the UK.

Interested in talking about Married at First Sight? Visit our dedicated sub-forum

You Might Also Like
(SOUTHERN COLORADO)  Marijuana cultivator and retailer Maggies Farm announced on Feb. 27 that it would be closing five locations across southern Colorado.

Maggies Farm wrote on Facebook that it was closing its Pueblo East, Pueblo West, Canon City, Las Animas, and Colorado Springs South (Nevada) locations while writing that its Pinon (Pueblo North), Manitou, and Fillmore locations were staying open.

On March 1, Maggies Farm posted on its website addressing feedback it had received from the announcement.

Maggies Farm said it faced unforeseen challenges and found itself in a position where it had to make a difficult choice to ensure the survival of the company.

Maggies Farm apologized for the impacts the closures had on its employees, customers, and medical patients. Those with medical licenses can reach out to Maggies Farm for help and information on alternate locations.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
Robert Card, the Army reservist who shot and killed 18 people in Maines most deadly shooting, had evidence of traumatic brain injuries, researchers said.

Researchers at Boston University analyzed brain tissue and found there was degeneration in nerve fibers that allow different areas of the brain to communicate, inflammation and a small blood vessel injury, The Associated Press reported.

The Maine medical examiners office requested the post-mortem study of his brain, which Dr. Ann McKee and the Boston Universitys Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center carried out. Cards family released the analysis Wednesday through the Concussion Legacy Foundation.

In October, he opened fire on two locations in Lewiston, Maine, leaving 18 dead and 13 injured at a bowling alley and a bar. He was found dead in the woods from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound following a multiday statewide chase.

The gunman had been an instructor at an Army hand grenade training range, where its believed he was exposed to repeated low-level blasts. Its not known if the blasts caused his brain injury and what role it played in his deteriorating mental health.

McKee made no connection between the brain injury and his violent killing spree but said they are likely related.

While I cannot say with certainty that these pathological findings underlie Mr. Cards behavioral changes in the last 10 months of life, based on our previous work, brain injury likely played a role in his symptoms, McKee said in a statement.

His family and coworkers had expressed concern to police months before the shooting that he was growing paranoid, and they were worried about his access to guns.

Cards family released a statement when publishing the findings, apologizing to the victims, survivors, and their loved ones, and to everyone in Maine and beyond who was affected and traumatized by this tragedy. The family said they released the findings to learn from the incident, and to ensure it doesnt happen again.

We know it does not fully explain Roberts actions, nor is it an excuse for the horrific suffering he caused, but we thank Dr. McKee for helping us understand his brain damage and how it may have impacted his mental health and behavior, the family said.

The family added that they hope to raise awareness of traumatic brain injuries among military service members.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A majority of New Jersey residents believe embattled Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) should resign amid a barrage of federal bribery, fraud and extortion charges levied against him, according to a poll released Thursday.

The Monmouth University poll found 63 percent of New Jersey adults think he should resign following an indictment last fall accusing him of accepting bribes to use his power as then-chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to benefit Egypt and three New Jersey businessmen. A superseding indictment accuses him of accepting gifts from Qatar in a years-long corruption scheme.

About 33 percent of those polled said the senator should be allowed to wait and see how the charges against him are settled, and 4 percent said they dont know, pollsters found.

Monmouth University compared the polls recent findings to surveys taken following Menendezs 2015 indictment on corruption charges, in which a far smaller share  28 percent of New Jersey residents  said he should resign. That indictment ended in a mistrial in 2017.

Three-quarters of participants in Monmouths latest poll said Menendez is probably guilty, while a mere 5 percent said he is probably not guilty and 9 percent said they did not know. About 11 percent said they did not know about the recent charges.

Menendez has largely rejected calls from his constituents and colleagues in Congress to resign, though he did step down as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee shortly after the charges were announced last September.

The poll was conducted from Feb. 29 to March 4, one day before prosecutors brought a dozen additional charges against the lawmaker after one of his co-defendants, Jose Uribe, took a plea deal last week and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Menendez is now facing a total of 16 criminal charges, including bribery and obstruction of justice. The new counts are mostly related to the alleged schemes already brought to the surface in previous indictments, but now charge the New Jersey Democrat directly with bribery, extortion and acting as a foreign agent rather than just conspiracy charges.

Prosecutors are now accusing the defendants of conspiring to cover up the alleged bribery scheme while federal prosecutors investigated the case. This allegation came after Uribes guilty plea admitted to conspiring to falsely claim payments he made to Menendez  which were used to secure a Mercedes-Benz convertible  were loans. Prosecutors claim those payments were bribes Menendez accepted after allegedly agreeing to disrupt the investigation into Uribe.

The trial is slated to begin May 6 and will feature Uribes testimony as part of his plea deal.

Menendez called the superseding indictment a flagrant abuse of power and maintained his innocence.

The latest charge reveals far more about the government than it says about me, Menendez said earlier this week. It says that the prosecutors are afraid of the facts, scared to subject their charges to the fair-minded scrutiny of a jury, and unconstrained by any sense of justice or fair play.

The Monmouth University poll was conducted Feb. 29 to March 4 with a random sample of 801 New Jersey adults. It has a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.

The Hill has reached out to Menendezs office for comment on the poll.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Russian occupiers are unable to break through the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near the temporarily occupied Avdiivka in Donetsk region. Despite the losses, the army of the aggressor state continues to advance in this area of the frontline.

ADVERTISIMENT

Most of all, the enemy is "erasing" the settlement of Orlivka, the losses of the invaders there are huge. This was written by the deputy commander of the Third Separate Assault Brigade Maksym Zhorin on his Telegram channel on Wednesday, March 6.

"So far, the enemy cannot push through the defense line in the Avdiivka sector. But they are trying to advance constantly and try to advance at least a little where possible," said the military.

According to Zhorin, the occupants are storming Orlivka both day and night, suffering huge losses there, but they do not stop.

"Most of all, they are now running into the village of Orlivka," he said.

ADVERTISIMENT

According to Dmytro Lykhoviy, spokesman for the Tavria operational and strategic grouping, after capturing Avdiivka, the occupiers are focusing their efforts on the Novopavlivka sector. The enemy is pulling up reserves there. In the area of Novomykhailivka village, "the enemy is fighting head-on against the eastern outskirts, because it is the main direction for them in Donetsk region after Avdiivka."

As reported by OBOZ.UA, the commander of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Pavliuk said that the enemy is stubbornly trying to capture as much Ukrainian territory as possible, but Ukraine is already stabilizing the front line. Moreover, Ukrainian defenders will soon begin preparing for counteroffensive actions to seize the initiative.

ADVERTISIMENT

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
If someone thinks of psychedelic drugs, images of strung-out hippies from the 1960s might come to mind.

Today thats changing as a push to make magic mushrooms legal in Massachusetts gains steam.

Supporters believe theyre an effective way to deal with issues like depression, PTSD, and addiction.

People dont know what psilocybin mushrooms are when you chat with them. They think youre talking about portobellos, said James Davis, the founder and president of Bay Staters for Natural Medicine. People are reeling from a mental health care system that is expensive, that is not meeting their needs amidst a national malaise, and theyre looking for alternatives that can help them re-connect with themselves and the people they love.

After the counter-culture movement, the Federal Government in 1970 categorized these hallucinogens as Schedule 1 Drugs which means they have no approved medical use.

Davis is lobbying state lawmakers to change that with a bill he supports.

What we envision in the future is people will be able to grow their own plant medicine, as they are already illegally doing across the Commonwealth, and share it with close friends and family members and educate them.

Salem City Councilor Andy Varela believes micro-dosing psilocybin has helped him.

It slows me down. I really get to think about what Im doing. It makes me more thoughtful.

He runs the only farm in his North Shore community, and he feels a deep connection to nature.

As a city councilor, he sponsored an ordinance requiring the police to deprioritize criminal actions against people using plant-based medicines like magic mushrooms for personal use.

There is more awareness when it comes to psychedelics, especially mushrooms, Varela said. And people are trying to do everything they can to put their health in their own hands, and I think thats why this conversation has changed for the better.

Salem isnt the only Massachusetts community to ask its police department to look the other way.

Cambridge, Somerville, Worcester, Provincetown as well as several Western Massachusetts communities have all adopted similar policies.

Psilocybin and other psychedelics are being studied in treatment-resistant depression and PTSD first, but they have potential use in substance abuse disorders and other anxiety disorders, explained Dr. Anthony Rothschild.

The psychiatrist, associated with the UMass Chan Medical School, is doing some of that research right on the Worcester Campus.

He thinks its too soon to be making these powerful drugs readily available.

I can tell you as someone who is very interested in studying these drugs, theyre not ready for prime time. We dont know whether they work, and even more importantly, we dont know what the side effects are. . . I mean why put something in your when body when you dont fully understand what its going to do, particularly with the brain?

If the bill became law in Massachusetts, the situation would be similar to cannabis in that the federal government would still consider the substance illegal while the state takes a completely different position.

There is also the possibility of a ballot question in the fall.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Emergency services were called to Brunel Drive in Bishops Stortford in the early hours of Thursday

A 23-year-old man has been rescued from a river by emergency services.

Hertfordshire Police were called to Brunel Drive in Bishop's Stortford, just after 01:30 GMT on Thursday.

Officers attended along with colleagues from the ambulance and fire services to rescue the man from the nearby River Stort.

The man was taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow for checks.

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 0800 169 1830

Related internet links
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A man is now in jail after being accused of raping a child in Poinsett County, Arkansas last year in November.

Conrad Everett Paul Clouse, 29, is charged with one count of forcible rape. He is currently being held on a $250,000 bond.

On November 29, 2023, the victims neighbor made a report to the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline regarding the incident. The sheriffs office was notified the next day.

Reports state that the victim had received a text from Clouse offering to buy them vapes if they would send him pictures. He did not request nude photos but mentioned pictures that he had seen of the victim in crop tops.

Deputy dragged by suspect fleeing on stolen motorcycle

On November 30, investigators with the Crimes Against Children Division conducted a forensic interview with the victim.

Investigators say that Clouse left Arkansas and moved to Ohio after being confronted with the accusations and never returned.

On February 22, 2024, detectives in Ohio interviewed Clouse after investigators in Arkansas reached out to them about the case.

During the interview, detectives say that Clouse denied the allegations in the beginning. He then admitted that he started to have an attraction towards the victim over the past year in 2023.

No prison time for man accused in golf club attack

Clouse also admitted to kissing the victim and performing sexual acts with his hand according to court documents. He denied having sexual intercourse with the victim and said, The victim never touched him anywhere in a sexual manner.

A warrant was then issued for the arrest of Conrad Clouse for rape.

Clouse is scheduled to appear in court on April 29.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
LOYALSOCK TWP., LYCOMING COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)  State police are charging a man after they say he made threats against a school in Pennsylvania.

According to Pennsylvania State Police, on March 6 around 8:45 a.m., troopers were called for a man making threatening gestures of firing a gun on school grounds, while holding a dark object in his hand.

Woman in custody for deadly shooting in front of TGI Fridays

Police say the man then proceeded to spit on the building and look into the school windows. The suspect was later identified as Sabree Simmons, 28, of Williamsport, and an arrest warrant was issued.

Around 1:00 p.m. Simmons was taken into custody in Loyalsock Township when he was seen walking on Fredna Avenue and found in possession of marijuana.

Simmons was charged with simple assault, harassment, disorderly conduct, and criminal trespassing. His bail was set at $150,000.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com.
OREM, Utah (ABC4)  An American Fork man was arrested on March 1 after he allegedly flooded a hotel room while under the influence of several drugs, according to an affidavit of probable cause from Utah County.

Arrest documents say Shane Dee Laursen, 48, was arrested for three different offenses: Causing a catastrophe, driving under the influence and property damage/destruction over $5,000.

READ NEXT: Woman sues Salt Lake County over untimely death of her husband while in custody

The different charges stem from the damage caused to an Orem hotel room where Laursen was staying, which was flooded after he allegedly hit the sprinkler system with a hammer. Documents say the flooding damaged his second-floor hotel room  as well as other parts of the first and second floors  and caused more than $5,000 in damages.

After he was taken into custody, officers reported that they tested Laursens blood and urine. His urine tested positive for methamphetamines, amphetamines and THC, arrest documents say.

Because of those positive drug test results, he is facing one charge of driving under the influence because he reportedly left the hotel after he saw water collecting in his hotel room and was not at the scene when police showed up, the affidavit says.

MORE: Man arrested in Colorado in connection to shooting of teenager in Murray

Police arrived at the Orem hotel around 3 a.m. after fire officials requested help from officers, documents say. A hotel employee told police he heard the sound of water pouring in a room on the second floor, the statement says.

That employee gave the master key to fire officials, who then checked the room and saw that the sprinkler systems glass was destroyed and the smoke detector was gone, as stated in the affidavit.

Police inspected the room later and noticed that it was flooded with water and that the glass from the sprinkler system was not intact in that room, but was intact in other sprinkler systems, according to the affidavit.

While officers were on the scene, they report that they took over contact with Laursen when he called the hotel and said he was the guest in the damaged room before asking if the room was fixed.

While on the phone, Laursen reportedly told officers he used a hammer to hit the sprinkler system before he left the hotel, documents say. Officers asked Laursen to return to the hotel and he said he would, as stated in the affidavit.

According to the probable cause statement, Laursen told police officers he hit the sprinkler system with a hammer because he was going to sleep. He also reportedly told police that he hit the sprinkler system in his hotel room because he did not know what it was.

As for the smoke alarm, documents say Laursen told officers he disassembled the smoke alarm because he was going to sleep.

Laursen is facing a charge relating to causing a catastrophe because of the damage caused by the flood, according to the affidavit. He was arrested and taken to the Utah County Jail.

Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A North Memphis man told police hes been shot at and his house set on fire after a separation from his wife.

Anthony Rivers said he was walking near his home on Latham Street in North Memphis in late January when a car drove past him. He says the driver made a U-turn and opened fire.

He didnt say anything. He looked at me and made sure it was me, busted a U-turn, and came back and fired shots at me, and I had to run through this field right here and get away, Rivers said.

Teens, 15 and 16, shoot each other in Frayser robbery

Rivers told police the shooter was his estranged wifes cousin, who he knew only as Boo Bop. He said Boo Bop fired at least four shots at him but missed.

Either he didnt have a good aim, or the Lord was with me, said Rivers.

Boo Bop was identified later as Quarren Smallie, 38. He has been indicted for attempted first-degree murder and being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun.

Just days after the shooting, police were called back to Rivers home on Latham after Rivers said his estranged wife drove past his house and pointed a gun at him.

Rivers told investigators since his separation, he has been shot at twice, and his house set on fire. Rivers said he also discovered his ex had taken out a life insurance policy in his name.

Ive just been going through a lot. Im afraid to stay at home, said Rivers

Man accused of cracking golfers skull will serve no prison time

MPD said Smallies criminal record in Illinois dates back to 2007.

Smallie is the only person who has been charged in the shooting. He is being held on a $200,000 bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
GASTON COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A man has been identified and charged with murder after authorities said he shot and killed one person and held two others hostage inside a Gaston County home early Wednesday morning.

According to Gaston County Police, David Pace, 51, of Gastonia, has been charged with felony murder, kidnapping, possession of a firearm by a felon, and assault by pointing a firearm.

Authorities said just before 3 a.m. Wednesday, March 6, they responded to a home along Chrisco Lane in South Gastonia for reports of a domestic disturbance.

MORE FROM QUEEN CITY NEWS

Crime & Public Safety

As officers arrived at the home, Pace fired shots inside the home and at Gaston County officers. The Gaston County Police Emergency Response Team was able to initially rescue one person from the home, who informed them two others were being held inside, one who had been shot.

As the ERT made their way into the house, they were able to rescue one other person and found Erica Fay Welch, 32, of Gastonia, deceased inside the home.

Pace is currently being held at the Gaston County jail without bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  Nearly nine months after a man was killed in a motorcycle crash along Nolensville Pike, Nashville authorities said another man was arrested Wednesday for multiple charges related to the incident, including drag racing.

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) said 28-year-old Kyle Holleran lost control of his Harley Davidson in the 4500 block of Nolensville Pike on June 17, 2023, and crashed into a concrete wall.

Marcus Fortney (Source: MNPD)

1 killed, 1 injured in head-on crash along Whites Creek Pike

According to officials, further investigation by MNPDs Traffic Unit identified 35-year-old Marcus Fortney as the driver of a Ford Mustang that was seen drag racing at nearly 80 mph with the motorcycle right before the crash.

Police said Fortney was already convicted in Davidson County for driving under the influence in 2022, adding that his Mississippi drivers license is currently suspended.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

Authorities announced Fortney has been charged with drag racing with serious bodily injury, reckless driving, driving on a revoked license, and failure to yield resulting in a death. As of Thursday, March 7, he is reportedly out on $26,000 bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
(The Hill)  A German man who intentionally received more than 200 COVID-19 vaccinations said he did it for private reasons, according to researchers.

The Lancet, a scientific journal, published a report earlier this week that looked into the 62-year-old man from Magdeburg  a town roughly 2 hours from Berlin  who deliberately received 217 of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine over a period of 29 months.

Researchers noted that he received the vaccines outside of a clinical study and against national vaccine recommendations.

They also concluded that although the mans hypervaccination did not result in any side effects, it also did not significantly improve his immune response.

Hangovers suddenly worse? Researchers think COVID could be the cause

A public prosecutor in Magdeburg opened an investigation into the case alleging fraud, but no criminal charges were filed. Researchers filed a request with the man, who was not named in the study, to analyze the immunological response to abnormal vaccine dosage.

He provided medical information and donated blood and saliva. The man did not report any vaccine-related side effects and has not tested positive for COVID since the experts began examining his case in May 2022.

Still, the researchers were unable to determine whether the initial recommended doses prevented him from testing positive, or if the additional vaccines were a direct cause.

The man reported receiving 217 shots between June 2021 and Nov. 2023. Of the reported vaccinations, 134 were confirmed by the prosecutor through vaccination center documentation and 83 were self-reported by the man.

The vaccines, according to the report, were a mixture of mRNA vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. He also received shots from Johnson & Johnson and self-reported a booster from Sanofi.

Time is running out to claim this COVID-era tax credit, IRS warns

The researchers noted that while the man did not experience any vaccine-related side effects, they do not endorse hypervaccination as a strategy to enhance adaptive immunity.

According to CNN, the man was arrested by police in early March 2022 after authorities became suspicious that he was receiving vaccination cards and selling them to third parties.

His was arrested during a time when proof of vaccination was required to access public venues and travel throughout Europe, the outlet noted.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
CHICAGO  A man was injured early Thursday morning in a drive-by shooting in Logan Square.

Officers responded to the 2600 block of West Armitage after 4:45 a.m. on the report of a shooting.

Police believe a 24-year-old man was driving eastbound when a silver SUV, possibly a Dodge Durango, pulled along side. One of two suspects opened fire and the man was shot near his hip.

He was transported to Masonic in fair condition.

The suspected vehicle fled eastbound. No one is in custody.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
A list of liquidated Russian invaders who served in the 76th Air Assault Division in the city of Pskov was published online. It is noteworthy that most of the killed invaders fought near the village of Robotyne, Zaporizhzhia region.

ADVERTISIMENT

At the same time, the lists do not include the names of missing persons. This is reported by the Telegram channel "Spy Dossier".

The terrorist country Russia is actively involving the military personnel of the 76th Air Assault Division in combat operations against Ukraine. The personal data of almost 300 liquidated invaders were leaked online.

It is worth noting that the documents mainly represent privates of the 104th, 234th and 237th regiments, which are participating in the fighting near Robotyno, Zaporizhzhia region.

The network also pointed out that the number of liquidated Pskov paratroopers is much higher, as the published lists do not include the invaders who are considered "missing" by the terrorist country Russia.

In addition, the liquidated occupier number 195 aroused particular interest on the network. The document lists Yevhen Viktorovych Prygozhyn, a full namesake of the former leader of the Wagner PMC. In addition, the list states that the name was changed to Ruslan Fetikhovych Yunusov.

ADVERTISIMENT

ADVERTISIMENT

To recap, Ukrainian border guards killed several Russian occupants in the Zaporizhzhia sector. The soldiers discovered the enemy's transportation routes and threw a "gift" there.

Earlier it was reported that the Ukrainian defense forces eliminated or wounded at least 1160 Russian army servicemen over the course of March 6. Now the total losses of the aggressor country's troops reach 421,430.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed an ammunition depot of the 4th Tank Division of the Russian Armed Forces near the temporarily occupied village of Mistky, Luhansk region. The enemy object was hit with HIMARS.

ADVERTISIMENT

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
MARION COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW)  The man serving a life sentence for using a shotgun to kill a Marion County sheriffs deputy in 1987 was denied parole Thursday morning, according to Sheriff Brian Wallace.

Bobby Cross shot and Deputy Donald Ray Hayes, 41, on May 2, 1987, while he and two other deputies were serving a warrant at the home of a woman in the Bucks Bay area who had complained about being beaten by Cross, according to an End of Watch notice on the South Carolina Law Enforcement Hall of Fames Facebook page.

Hayes, who was shot in the face, died the next day. Cross was convicted of murder three months later and sentenced to life in prison and required to serve 30 years before being eligible for parole,

Wallace said in his Facebook post that he spoke to the South Carolina Board of Parole and Pardons Thursday morning.

As Sheriff of Marion County, and as a young boy who grew up wanting to be a deputy just like Donald Ray Hayes, I humbly ask that parole be denied, Wallace said in the post. Parole was indeed denied today. Our love and prayers continue to surround this family.

Hayes joined the Mullins Police Department in August 1971 and graduated from the state Criminal Justice Academy in June 1973. He went to work for the sheriffs office in 1980.

Hayes was inducted into the state Law Enforcement Hall of Fame in 1988.

* * *

Dennis Bright is a Digital Producer at News13. He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on, Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
A 58-year-old man accused of robbing a downtown Eureka bank had an immediate change of heart, California police reported.

The man passed a note to a teller demanding cash, then ran away with the money around 9:20 a.m. Wednesday, March 6, a Eureka Police Department news release said.

As he walked away, the man began to regret his actions and surrendered to deputies at a nearby courthouse security checkpoint minutes later, police said.

The Humboldt County Sheriffs Office notified police as officers searched for the man in downtown Eureka, police said.

All the stolen cash was recovered, police said. The man was not armed.

The Eureka resident faces a robbery charge, police said. Eureka is about a 270-mile drive northwest of San Francisco.

Woman got out of a vehicle in 2022  and vanished. Remains now identified in Colorado

Bodies of woman, mom still missing as husband accused in killings, California police say

Accused thief hops into driverless car  then cant drive it away, California cops say
Man stabbed after intervening when woman is harassed in Bronx subway station: NYPD

PELHAM PARKWAY, The Bronx (PIX11)  Police are searching for two men after a man was stabbed in a Bronx subway station early Thursday morning, according to the NYPD.

The stabbing happened around 12:50 a.m. at the Pelham Parkway station. A 53-year-old man stepped off a No. 2 train onto the platform when he saw the two men allegedly harassing a woman, according to authorities.

Police said the man intervened and he was stabbed in the right hand. He was transported to Montefiore Medical Center.

Video: Man sneaks into Brooklyn Army Terminal 2 times in a week, police say

Police said one suspect was last seen wearing red clothing while the other was last seen in blue clothing. They fled the station in a white vehicle, according to authorities.

The stabbing follows Gov. Kathy Hochuls announcement of new safety measures for New York City subway stations.

Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
A man accused of sexually assaulting women shoppers is now under arrest.

Police said it happened over a period of months at Perimeter Mall and a few other nearby locations.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Channel 2s Tom Regan was in Dunwoody Wednesday, where police told him that Darin Pyatt, 20, was stalking shoppers. He would spot women who were on their own, grope them and then run off.

TRENDING STORIES:

Police said Pyatt targeted shoppers inside the mall as well as in the malls parking deck and a nearby Target parking lot.

He was actually following female shoppers and when he got close enough to them he would actually grab their buttocks and run, Sgt. Micahel Cheek with the Dunwoody Police Department said.

Police said Pyatt assaulted four women, the first last June and the latest on the last day of February of this year. Cheek said that the attack was especially appalling.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

One of the females was sitting in a chair, he came up from behind, grabbed her breast and pulled her out of the chair and then took off as well, Cheek said.

Police said the mall security camera video helped them identify and arrest Pyatt, who is now at the Fulton County Jail.

Regan talked to shoppers, who were rattled.

Thats crazy, its kind of scary knowing Im walking out here alone, Banesa Salgabo said.

IN OTHER NEWS:




Man who stole $13K worth of books from Boulder comic shop sentenced to prison

DENVER (KDVR)  A man accused of stealing over $13,000 worth of merchandise from a Boulder comic shop was sentenced Wednesday to a total of nine years in the Department of Corrections, according to the Boulder District Attorneys Office.

James Dobbins Wear, 36, of Nederland, was accused of breaking into Time Warp Comics on 28th Street on July 28, 2023. Surveillance video showed a suspect shattering the front door with a hammer at about 3:30 a.m. that day, stealing comics locked in a glass case, and leaving the scene in a white vehicle.

Suspect arrested while on the toilet by Lakewood police

A second unrelated man later saw the broken shop door and walked in then made off with more than $250 in cash.

Wear was identified and arrested on Aug. 11, 2023. He pleaded guilty in the case on Jan. 12 through a plea deal.

He was sentenced on March 6 on:

two counts of third-degree assault  knowingly or recklessly causing injury,

one count of second-degree burglary of a dwelling, and

one count of criminal mischief for $2,000-$5,000

Eight other charges were dismissed by the district attorneys office under the plea deal.

Wear was facing charges in two criminal cases around this incident, and was sentenced to five years in one case, and then sentenced to a consecutive four years in the second case for a total of nine years.

Download the FOX31 App: Breaking news alerts & Pinpoint Weather

According to the Boulder Police Department, detectives recovered all but five of the stolen comic books.

Everyone who works here is affected by this

Wayne Winsett, owner of Time Warp Comics, said the lost comics were a huge hit in an interview with FOX31s Samantha Spitz last year.

Thats a lot of money. $13,000 may not seem like a lot of money to people, but were a small mom-and-pop shop and it hurts, Winsett said. It hurts us all. Everyone who works here is affected by this.

Remains found in Jefferson County may be missing 33-year-old

Winsett also told Spitz that it looked like Wear knew the locations of the more valuable comic books, thus being able to get in and out of the shop without getting caught.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
A Marine quick-response unit that had been ordered to move near Israel after the Israel-Gaza war broke out is finally heading for home.

The special-operations-capable 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, embarked across three Navy ships, left the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday and is sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, the Navy said in a news release Wednesday.

The Marines and sailors will return to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and Norfolk, Virginia, the release said.

Our presence in the Eastern Mediterranean was exactly what our nation needed: an integrated Navy and Marine Corps force ready to respond when called upon, said Navy Capt. Martin Robertson, the Amphibious Squadron 8 commodore, in the news release.

The ships  the amphibious assault ship Bataan, the dock landing ship Carter Hall and the amphibious transport dock ship Mesa Verde  deployed from Virginia on July 10, 2023.

Initially, the ships spread out, with the Bataan and Carter Hall traveling in the Central Command region and the Mesa Verde making stops across Europe.

But in the days after Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Marines departed early from a training exercise in Kuwait and returned to the Bataan and Carter Hall to prepare for further tasking as a result of emerging events, unit spokeswoman Marine Capt. Angelica White told Marine Corps Times.

Marine unit leaves Kuwait exercise early because of emerging events

By Oct. 18, 2023, the Bataan was in the Gulf of Aden, captions of photos posted by the Corps indicate. Thirteen days later, the service described the ship as being in an undisclosed location in the Middle East region.

The 26th MEU right now does not have orders, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Oct. 26, 2023. They are there so that the secretary and the president can make a decision if they are needed. They are in the region. But Im not going to get into specific operational details at this time.

The Mesa Verde, which had been receiving mid-deployment maintenance in Rota, Spain, headed out into the Mediterranean Sea in October 2023.

In February, a defense official confirmed to Military.com that the deployment of the Marine unit and the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, as the naval component is called, had been extended. The extension came amid maintenance issues that have delayed the deployments of other amphibious ships.

By then, the three ships were in the Mediterranean Sea, and the group was transferred to NATO command to train with NATO forces and the Turkish navy.

On March 1, while the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit was in Souda Bay on the coast of the Greek island Crete, the top enlisted Marine, Sgt. Maj. Carlos Ruiz, met with its Marines and sailors aboard the ships.

The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit is the first Marine expeditionary unit to get the special-operations-capable designation in more than a decade, according to a July 2023 news release from the unit. The unit is made up of approximately 2,400 Marines and sailors from the North Carolina-based II Marine Expeditionary Force.

The Marines in the unit arent themselves special operators.

Rather, they received enhanced predeployment training in areas including the recovery of aircraft and people, raids, stealthy insertion and extraction of special patrols, maritime interdiction, and noncombatant evacuations. The units Maritime Special Purpose Force has practiced integrating with special operators, including Navy SEALs, White previously told Marine Corps Times.

The Navys Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group remains in the Middle East, where U.S. carriers jets and warships have shot down dozens of missiles and drones launched by the Houthi rebel group.
Headed into Super Tuesday, much Texas Republican speculation centered on how many allies of House Speaker Dade Phelan might be picked off by challengers endorsed by various combinations of Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton. Few foresaw Phelan himself drawing fewer votes than challenger David Covey in Beaumonts House District 21.

Yet there were the totals Wednesday morning: Covey at 46%, Phelan 43%. If third-place Alicia Davis had not mounted her anti-Phelan effort, Covey would have won outright. That math should smile on his efforts in the runoff May 28, unless the embattled speaker is able to attract support that eluded him Tuesday.

That will be hard on runoff day, for Phelan and other incumbents facing challenges from the right. Twelve weeks down the road from a crowded primary election date, lower-turnout runoffs tend to attract voters with a higher level of passion, especially if change is in the wind.

This bodes well for Helen Kerwin, who outdrew Cleburne incumbent DeWayne Burns in District 58, Katrina Pierson, who edged Rockwalls Justin Holland in District 33, and Keresa Richardson, who led a three-way race that held McKinneys Frederick Frazier to 32 percent. Incumbents are forced into runoffs only if a majority preferred someone else; the resulting political blood in the water tends to lure back voters looking to finish the job.

When there is no incumbent, open-seat free-for-alls can yield surprises. Fort Worth state Rep. Craig Goldman seemed headed for an outright win on the path to succeeding Rep. Kay Granger in the 12th Congressional District. But with challengers John OShea and Clint Dorris garnering 40 percent, Goldman was held to 44 in a five-person field. The runoff against OShea will be a test of the districts conservative temperature, pitting Goldmans Granger-like center-right sensibilities against a Paxton-endorsed, MAGA-friendly rival.

Craig Goldman arrives at his election watch party at Courtside Kitchen on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, in Fort Worth. Goldman is running in the GOP primary to replace U.S. Rep. Kay Granger. Chris Torres/ctorres@star-telegram.com

If that result raised eyebrows, so did the absence of a runoff in the 26th District, where 11 hopefuls jockeyed to fill the shoes of retiring Rep. Michael Burgess. The question seemed to be whether Scott Armey or John Huffman would face off with predicted frontrunner Brandon Gill. But buoyed by a Trump endorsement (and beating back a famously fraudulent anti-MAGA ad campaign), Gill cruised to 58%, with no rival topping 15%.

Endorsements from Trump, Patrick, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, former Gov. Rick Perry and a cohort of GOP state senators could not lift former Denton County GOP chairman Brent Hagenbuch onto a clear path to Austin. The race to succeed outgoing Sen. Drew Springer in District 30 will pit Hagenbuch against Jace Yarbrough, the conservative attorney who edged Paxton-endorsed Dr. Carrie de Moor for second place and was just two points behind Hagenbuch, 36% to 34%.

The runoff will turn on what happens with the remaining 30% who voted for de Moor and retired cop Cody Clark (who gets an honorable mention for his website, proudly declining contributions with the claim I want your support, not your cash, featuring a red square labeled Definitely not a donate button.)

The avalanche of state government storylines nearly overshadowed the role Texas played in cementing Super Tuesday as a defining moment in the re-ascendancy of Trump. His wall of successes finally drove Nikki Haley from the race Wednesday morning, when the rising sun cast light on how the vanquished would handle their fate at every level.

In House District 60 west of Fort Worth, Glenn Rogers lashed out at those who showed him the door, in a Weatherford newspaper column attacking Abbott and choosing to blame high-level donors rather than accept that voters simply preferred Mike Olcott.

Haley did not similarly stoop, but made clear that her first move would not be a Trump endorsement. This is his time, she admitted, then issuing a nervy challenge for someone so soundly rejected by so many: She claims it is up to him to earn the vote of those who did not support him.

Not quite. It is the job of her voters to search themselves for any actual Republican DNA and realize it is they who must re-focus  toward the prime goal of the party, defeating Joe Biden.

Primary seasons tend to cleanse, shed light and define. Super Tuesday was a boost for conservatives who favor Trump, embrace a red Texas and have it in for Dade Phelan and his allies who engineered the Paxton impeachment and tolerate Democrats chairing House committees.

Recent years have featured a lot of the smart kids saying the national GOP would rediscover the charms of the Bush/McCain/Romney years and that Texas would soon lean toward blue. Those observations are officially on hold. The winds are blowing rightward.

Mark Davis hosts a morning radio show in Dallas-Fort Worth on 660-AM and at 660amtheanswer.com. Follow him on X: @markdavis .

Mark Davis

Do you have an opinion on this topic? Tell us!

We love to hear from Texans with opinions on the news  and to publish those views in the Opinion section.

 Letters should be no more than 150 words.

 Writers should submit letters only once every 30 days.

 Include your name, address (including city of residence), phone number and email address, so we can contact you if we have questions.

You can submit a letter to the editor two ways:

 Email letters@star-telegram.com (preferred).

 Fill out this online form.

Please note: Letters will be edited for style and clarity. Publication is not guaranteed. The best letters are focused on one topic.
It should be lost on no one that Mark Robinson, a Black man with a history of antisemitic sentiments, is facing Josh Stein, a man who could become North Carolinas first Jewish governor.

It should be noted that the match-up is happening during a year in which antisemitism and Islamophobia are on the rise. We are amid the aftermath of the Oct. 7 terror attack during which Hamas slaughtered an estimated 1,500 Israelis. That led to an ungodly response by an Israeli military that has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and created a humanitarian crisis that has left a trail of starving, dying and dead babies.

Robinson and his Republican enablers will want us to forget who he really is. We mustnt forget.

Issac Bailey

Maybe theyll try to convince us Robinsons antisemitism was a product of his youth, or because he wasnt always a seasoned politician, or because Jews and Christians share a religious tradition he cant be an antisemite.

Robinson has essentially already done the latter, following in the footsteps of extreme evangelical pastor John Hagee. Hagee once proclaimed God sent Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land by unleashing one of the worlds great evils, the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were murdered.

Despite that, Hagees defenders claim he isnt antisemitic. Hes the head of Christians United for Israel, after all. Robinsons defenders claim all is well with Robinsons antisemitism because he traveled to Israel and spoke with Jewish leaders.

Never mind that in a 2014 Facebook post, Robinson included Hitlers pride in ones own race quote. He claimed he was just doing what every history book in America does because they all quote him.

This is how the Jewish Insider in a 2021 article titled North Carolinas lieutenant governor has Jewish community on high alert summarized some of Robinsons past statements:

In strongly worded Facebook posts, he decried a globalist conspiracy to destroy former President Donald Trump and took aim at Black Panther, the Marvel film whose titular protagonist, as Robinson put it, was created by an agnostic Jew and put to film by (a) satanic marxist. He went on to allege, using a Yiddish slur, that the movie was only created to pull the shekels out of your Schvartze pockets.

Robinson has also said acceptance of gay people will lead to the acceptance of pedophilia. He compared LGBTQ people to maggots during a sermon, demeaned Muslims, and said trans people should be arrested or use the bathroom outdoors. He also helped spread the bigoted birtherism conspiracy theory about Barack Obama while intimating Michelle Obama was a man.

He calls abortion murder despite that being a choice he and his wife made before having two children. He has said that decision was wrong. But he has not said that murder disqualified him from holding office. It certainly didnt convince him to the grace to others he now wants others to extend to him.

Neither did his tough upbringing. He battled poverty and an alcoholic father. He wants that story to make him more relatable to North Carolinians despite all the ways he demeaned and spit on the most vulnerable among us, often without apology.

Im a Black man who grew up in tough conditions in the Deep South during the period Robinson did. He made a choice to be antisemitic and ugly in a bevy of other ways. He didnt have to.

My mama always told me to be on the lookout for those who throw a rock and hide their hand. Robinson has thrown plenty of rocks at people who dare live a life different than the one he wants to dictate to the rest of us. Instead of standing on those long-held convictions, hes attempting to hide his hand.

The North Carolina Republican Party chose him as their standard bearer in spite or maybe because of that record. The rest of North Carolina must not follow their lead. We must not let people forget who this man has long been, no matter how often we have to remind them.

Issac Bailey is a Carolinas opinion writer for McClatchy.
MARTA police explained the security measures in place to help prevent further violence at rail stations, following several shootings over the past few months.

In October, someone shot and killed a man at the Georgia State University MARTA station.

In November, police responded to gunfire at the Westend MARTA station.

In January, there was a stabbing reported at the MARTA station near the Underground.

On February 5th, police responded to two separate shootings. One shooting at the Arts Center MARTA station and the other at the Hamilton E. Holmes MARTA station.

On February 12th, police responded to a shooting at the Westend MARTA station.

On Wednesday, police said someone shot a man at the College Park MARTA station.

It happened at the entrance of the station with plenty of people nearby. The man survived.

TRENDING STORIES:

Police arrested the suspect a few hours later, telling Channel 2s Audrey Washington that security cameras throughout the station helped them respond to the scene so quickly and make an arrest.

Just bad people doing bad things to people, MARTA rider Joycelyn Glover said. I think its awful.

In a statement, a MARTA Police spokesperson wrote:

MARTA and MPD have several mechanisms in place to deter crime on the system. MPD has over 300 Officers and Protective Specialists patrolling the stations, buses, and trains. In cases where you do not see an officer or Protective Specialist, there are blue and white customer assistance phones in the stations that connect you directly to our Dispatchers. If you want to anonymously report crimes, you can download MARTAs See & Say app that lets you chat directly with our Communications employees.

MPD has a Train Patrol detail where officers ride the train from the start of service until the end of service. Each train car is equipped with a red emergency button that can connect patrons directly to the train operator, who can then make an announcement to notify the officer on the train of the issue occurring and the location.

Protect the environment. How else can you prevent that from happening again, rider Gabriel Gonzales said.

MARTA said it remains unclear what led up to Wednesdays shooting.

RELATED NEWS:
A proposal that would limit how long homeless people can stay in emergency state shelters was approved by Massachusetts House lawmakers Wednesday as the system strains under an influx of migrants.

Under the bill, which passed on 121-33 vote and now heads to the Senate, the state would limit the maximum stay to nine months with an additional three months for those who are employed or enrolled in a job training program.

Pregnant women and people with disabilities, among other conditions, would be eligible for 12 consecutive months regardless of their employment status.

The bill states that its goal is to help families successfully exit the program and enter the workforce, while at the same time opening space for families who have been waitlisted as a result of the emergency regulations issued by Gov. Maura Healey last year.

Those regulations set a cap of 7,500 families participating in the emergency shelter program. As of Wednesday, about 700 families were waiting to be enrolled in the program  a number that is expected to continue to grow. The bill would set aside an additional $245 million through the end of the fiscal year to help provide the additional shelter help.

Massachusetts isnt alone in grappling with ways to limit the amount of time homeless people can stay in shelters.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced in January that he city will again extend its 60-day limit on shelter stays for asylum-seekers just days ahead of a deadline that could have evicted nearly 2,000 migrants.

Other U.S. cities, including New York and Denver, have put shelter limits in place as they struggle to house and care for the growing population of migrants arriving by bus and plane.

Backers of the bill in Massachusetts said the state needs to step up because the federal government wont.

It has become crystal clear that the federal government will provide no relief for states like ours who are facing this emergency all over the country, said Democratic Rep. Aaron Michlewitz. Without making some temporary changes to this program it will collapse under its own weight.

In November, the state House approved an additional $250 million for the program and required the Healey administration to identify state-funded overflow emergency shelter sites for families on the waitlist.

Wednesdays bill would require those overflow sites to be open daily until at least 9 a.m. and for future overflow sites to be operational 24 hours a day and located in diverse geographic areas.

Republicans said the bill gives the illusion of taking action while failing to address the underlying issue.

Republican state Sen. Peter Durant said the legislation is lacking and doesnt tackle the cause behind the crisis.

Once the nine months are up for a migrant and they leave the program, without addressing the ongoing influx, a new migrant will simply fill that spot, he said. Not to mention the potential volatile situation that could be created if the state starts actively evicting families from hotel rooms.

Republican lawmakers also pushed for an amendment that would have created a six-month residency requirement for eligibility in the right to shelter program. The amendment was rejected.

The United Way of Massachusetts Bay, a charitable organization, announced last week the opening of another new temporary overnight emergency shelter located in Bostons Seaport District. The shelter will accommodate about 25 families and their children, officials said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
The Republic of Latvia will join the Czech Republic's initiative to purchase shells for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The ammunition will be sourced outside the European Union and then delivered to Ukraine.

ADVERTISIMENT

Latvia's accession to the Czech initiative was announced by the country's Defense Minister Andris Spruds on X (Twitter). He called this alliance the most important opportunity to defeat Russia.

"Latvia will join the Czech initiative proposed by Czech President Petr Pavel to purchase artillery ammunition for Ukraine. This is the most important opportunity to defeat Russia, and we must do everything possible to support Ukraine. Together to victory!" the minister wrote.

The day before, France joined the Czech initiative. This was stated by the country's leader Emmanuel Macron. According to him, given the needs of Ukraine, European countries should go beyond what they have and look for resources in third countries to meet the short-term needs of the Armed Forces.

ADVERTISIMENT

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

At the opening of the Munich Security Conference, Czech President Petr Pavel said that Prague had found 800,000 pieces of artillery ammunition abroad that it could hand over to Ukraine. It is about half a million 155-mm shells and another 300,000 122-mm shells.

Canada is ready to pay for the delivery of the shells that the Czech Republic has found for Ukraine. The government may allocate about $30 million to implement the plan to deliver ammunition to the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

The European Union does not have time to supply Ukraine with the promised one million rounds of ammunition by March 2024. Therefore, the possibility of purchasing shells outside the bloc was discussed, as the situation at the front with the supply of shells is critical. However, France, Greece, and Cyprus were against it.

ADVERTISIMENT

According to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, the EU is not fulfilling its obligations to supply artillery shells to Ukraine not because member states lack capacity, but because they export shells to other countries.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and in Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Video above: Awesome video shows sharks swarm Honeymoon Island ahead of spring break

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  A great white shark is enjoying the spring break season off the coast of Sarasota County.

Rose briefly surfaced on March 5, according to OCEARCH, a site that charts sharks as they move up and down the east coast of the U.S.

Daylight saving time: Why does Florida still have to change the clocks?

The female shark pinged near the West Florida Escarpment, which is a massive underwater cliff located about 150-200 miles off the coast. Like Floridas snow birds and spring breakers, Rose visited Floridas Gulf coast at this time last year.

When Rose was tagged near Nova Scotia, Canada in 2020, the juvenile shark was 10 feet, five inches long and weighed 600 pounds. Great white sharks can grow up to 20 feet long.

Rose was named after Rose Bay, which is not far from where it was tagged. Sea World, partnered by OCEARCH, chose the name.

In the 1,249 days since the shark was tagged, it has travelled 15,455 miles.

Another massive great white, nicknamed Penny, pinged off the coast of Sarasota in January. It was last seen off Big Pine Key on Feb. 8.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
MATTHEWS, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A protective vest has been donated to a Matthews Police Department K9, Matthews Police say.

On March 6, officials announced that K-9 Rhett had received a donation of a bullet and stab-proof vest from the non-profit Vested Interest in K9s, Inc.

K9 Rhett (Matthews Police Department)

The vest is embroidered with In memory of K9 Hobbs, Des Moines, IA  EOW 12/12/23 in honor of Des Moines Police Department K9 Hobbs, who died on Dec. 12, 2023, from a sudden illness.

Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. is a charity that provides protective vests and other tools to help law enforcement K9s and has given over 5,514 vests to K9s in all 50 states with a value of $6.9 million. Approximately 30,000 law enforcement K9s work in the U.S.

According to their website, Vested Interest vests offer more coverage and are custom-fitted with National Institute of Justice-certified ballistic panels. Each vest is valued at $1,800, weighs about 4-5 pounds and comes with a five-year warranty.

I-485 in Matthews down to 1 lane due to chemical spill: Police

To qualify, K9 must be certified with its handler, be at least 20 months old, not have a current vest or be scheduled for retirement in the next 12 months.

A $985 donation to Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. can sponsor one vest.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
(NEXSTAR)  First, it was Netflix, then it was Disney+ and Hulu. Now, it looks like yet another streaming service is gearing up to crack down on account sharing.

Max, previously HBO Max, will be cracking down on password sharing starting later this year, Jean-Briac Perrette, the companys president and CEO of global streaming said Monday at a Morgan Stanley technology conference in San Francisco.

Perrette declined to estimate how much money the company expected the crackdown to generate, the Associated Press reports.

Max already says in its terms of use that it can modify access or disable features, including for security reasons, to limit the impact of account sharing outside of your household or where we have concluded in our discretion that there has been a misuse of your Max Account. A spokesperson for the company didnt immediately respond to Nexstars request for comment last month, but IndieWire reported in December, citing a source, that Max could begin cracking down on password sharing this year.

Netflix made waves last year when it started restricting password sharing  using someone elses account to watch content rather than paying for your own  and pushing users to either create sub-accounts or for moochers to start their own. The streaming giant knew it wouldnt be a well-loved move, telling shareholders in April that it expected a bit of a cancel reaction.

Should you change your Facebook, Instagram password after outages?

Netflixs decision to abandon its long-established practice of allowing account sharing with members outside the household appears to have paid off, though. In the months after the move, Netflix reported subscriber gains that surpassed projections. Subscriber growth has continued, despite the crackdown and yet another subscription price hike.

Disney announced last summer that it would begin its own password-sharing crackdown at the start of 2024, with CEO Bob Iger calling it a move to drive monetization. That announcement came after Disney+ saw a second consecutive quarter of subscriber drop-off.

The company has since followed through on that promise, warning subscribers of its platforms  Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+  in January that it was updating the subscriber agreement and imposing limitations on sharing your account outside of your household. Those changes were effective as of January 25 for new subscribers and will kick in for current subscribers come March 14.

Other major streaming services, like NBCs Peacock, CBSs Paramount+, and Amazons Prime Video, dont currently have restrictions on account sharing. But that doesnt mean changes are impossible.

Netflix once called love sharing a password, and former CEO Reed Hastings described it as something you have to learn to live with.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
CHICAGO  Mayor Brandon Johnson announced Thursday one promotion and one appointment to his Senior Staff.

Ronnie Reese has been promoted from Press Secretary to Communications Director, while Joe Calvello has been hired as Chief Strategy Officer in the Office of the Mayor.

Votes to be counted for Bring Chicago Home referendum, Illinois Appellate Court rules

Ronnie has been an effective spokesperson and a trusted communications advisor for

this administration, and I look forward to continuing our work together to ensure that the

people of Chicago understand our priorities, Mayor Johnson said in a news release.

Joe is a Chicago-area native who brings a breadth of experience and expertise to our administration and will be instrumental in guiding our strategic vision for the City of Chicago.

Here is more on each:

Ronnie Reese

A Chicago native, Reese has served as Mayor Johnsons Press Secretary since Inauguration Day. Prior to joining the administration, Reese was the Communications Director and Press Secretary for Johnsons 2023 mayoral campaign.

Since day-one of this administration, it has been a tremendous honor to serve the people

of our city and be a part of the remarkable progress we are making in investing in Chicagos

families and communities, Reese said in the release.

I look forward to continuing to work with Mayor Johnson and our brilliant team of directors, deputy mayors, commissioners and others to bring our message directly to the people of Chicago on how we are building a better, stronger, safer Chicago for all.

Illinois Senate pass bill to elect half of Chicago School Board in November

Before working on Mayor Johnsons campaign, Reese spent more than a decade as the Digital Director and Deputy Press Secretary for the Chicago Teachers Union.

Reese holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Loyola University Chicago and a Master of Science in Journalism from Northwestern Universitys Medill School of Journalism.

Joe Calvello

Born and raised in Chicagos western suburbs, Calvello returns to the area after most recently working for the campaign of U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.). Calvello was the Director of Communications for both the now-Senators 2022 campaign and in Fettermans U.S. Senate office.

Its an absolute honor and a privilege to come to Chicago and serve the people of this great

city, Calvello said in the release. Mayor Johnson is a true progressive who is committed to fighting for the working people and families of the City of Chicago, and I am deeply honored to join his administration and get to work.

I am going to be laser-focused on driving the mayors vision for the City of Chicago, a vision that will cement Chicago as a city that truly works for everyone.

Read more: Latest Chicago news headline

Before working for Fetterman, Calvello served as the Western Press Secretary for Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign and was Deputy Communications Director on Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellisons 2018 campaign. Additionally, Calvello also served as Associate Director of State Media for Planned Parenthood of America during the 2020 general election.

Calvello earned his bachelors degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said he is postponing a markup for a contempt resolution of State Secretary Antony Blinken after he agreed to produce the subpoenaed documents on the U.Ss exit from Afghanistan in 2021.

I had a good conversation with the secretary last night, and he agreed to produce the documents, McCaul told The Hill on Thursday. In the spirit of good faith negotiations, Ive postponed the markup, with the understanding that these documents will be produced.

McCaul said he was told the committee would start receiving the documents Thursday morning.

The postponement is the latest development in a more-than-year-long battle between the Foreign Affairs Committee and the State Department over documents related to the countrys deadly pullout from Afghanistan in August 2021. McCaul has repeatedly demanded the documents as part of Republicans investigation into what McCaul called a chaotic withdrawal from the Middle Eastern country.

The Texas Republican sent a letter to Blinken last week, threatening to hold the State Secretary in contempt of Congress if he did not hand over notes from the State Departments After-Action Review (AAR) of the Afghanistan withdrawal. McCaul has claimed this review found significant failures in the departments response.

McCaul told The Hill on Thursday the documents will provide crucial information for the committees investigation.

The contempt resolution markup was initially scheduled for Thursday at 10 a.m.

I take the secretary at his word that we will get all these documents. But if the situation changes, I will have to revisit all our options to [ensure] they are produced, McCaul said.

McCauls latest threat comes months after the committee issued a subpoena in July requesting the State Department hand over the documents. In August, McCaul claimed the department only turned in a meager 73 pages of significantly duplicative materials by the subpoenas July 25 deadline.

Ambassador Daniel Smith, who led the After-Action Review investigation, later told the committee in August the report was partly based on conversations conducted with officials at the department. The State Department has not turned over these documents after numerous requests.

Nearly a year ago, McCaul issued a separate subpoena for a sensitive diplomatic cable on the withdrawal. The State Department missed the deadline, previously telling The Hill that Blinken offered to brief the chair without providing the actual document. McCaul claimed a briefing or summary would not fulfill the subpoena and threatened in May to hold Blinken in contempt of Congress.

The State Department eventually agreed to allow all committee members to view the diplomatic cable the following month.

The Hill reached out to the State Department for comment.

The Hills Mychael Schnell contributed reporting.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Measles outbreak are rising in the U.S.

Cases of measles have continued to crop up in states across the U.S. since a handful of infections were reported at the beginning of the year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first issued an emergency warning on Jan. 25, saying 23 cases were confirmed in several states between December 1, 2023, and January 23, 2024.

Since then, seven more states have been added to the list with at least 18 more infections.

The total case count remains relatively low at under 50, but health officials have advised increased vigilance, as the virus is highly contagious; so contagious, in fact, that 90% of unvaccinated people who are exposed end up contracting it. Additionally, 1 in 5 of those people end up hospitalized, according to the CDC.

See the map below for more information on where measles cases have been confirmed.

New states report outbreaks: Michigan reports 3 measles cases as outbreak continues in Florida, other states

Measles cases by state

Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them.

CDC data on current measles cases is updated monthly. The latest update from Feb. 29 reported 41 confirmed cases spread across 16 states. However, several state health departments have also shared information about cases, some of which are reported between CDC tracking updates.

Here's what those states are reporting:

Florida measles guidelines: Florida surgeon general defies CDC recommendations as measles cases spread in state

Measles cases reported by year

The last major outbreak of measles in the U.S. occurred in 2019, when a total of 1,249 measles cases and 22 measles outbreaks were reported in the United States between Jan. 1 and Oct. 1. According to the CDC, this was the second-highest number of reported outbreaks since measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 and the highest in a single year since 1992.

Many of these cases came from an outbreak in New York City. Of the cases, 1,107, or 89%, were in patients who were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status.

Children receive MMR vaccines as part of the regular course between the ages of 12 and 15 months for the first dose and ages 4 to 6 for the second. The vaccine protects against measles, mumps, and rubella and is 97% effective at preventing measles when both doses are given.

The CDC also says that 3 of 100 people that receive two doses of MMR can still get measles if exposed to the virus; however, this usually leads to "milder illness." This group of vaccinated people are also less likely to spread the disease to others, the CDC added

Measles symptoms

According to the CDC, measles symptoms appear 7 to 14 days after contact with the virus and typically include high fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes. Measles rash appears 3 to 5 days after the onset of the first symptoms.

Other signs and symptoms of measles include:

High fever

Cough

Runny nose and sneezing

Red, watery eyes

Loss of appetite, diarrhea

Reddish-brown rash that can spread across the entire body

Koplik spots, tiny white spots that may appear inside the mouth two to three days after symptoms begin

Small raised bumps may also appear on top of the flat red spots (the spots may become joined together as they spread from the head to the rest of the body)

When the rash appears, a persons fever may spike to more than 104 degrees Fahrenheit

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: See a map of 16 states with confirmed measles cases
President Joe Biden will deliver his third State of the Union address on Thursday night before a joint session of Congress.

Several people from the Carolinas will be guests at the speech.

Congresswoman Dr. Alma Adams has invited Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden as her guest. She highlighted several of his career achievements in her announcement, including the strides McFadden has made with youth gun violence.

I am honored to be attending the State of the Union as the guest of Congresswoman Dr. Alma Adams, Sheriff McFadden said in a statement. Protecting our community isnt just about enforcing the law; I will use this platform to effectively tackle youth violence, so we can prevent more deaths, better safeguard families and foster trust within our community.

State of the Union: What to know about the presidents address to Congress

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden invited two people from our area to Thursdays address. The first is Kris Blackley who is from Fort Mill. Shes an oncology nurse as well as the director of patient navigation at Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute. Last month, during Dr. Bidens visit to Atrium Health, Blackley helped share how the health system is using federal funding to help more cancer patients.

Dr. Biden also invited Steven Hadfield, a Matthews man who has a rare blood cancer as well as Type 2 diabetes. The drug that treats his cancer costs $15,000 per month and the other for his insulin costs up to $400 per month. Hadfield has taken on several jobs to help pay for the drugs. His out-of-pocket costs are capped this year because of a federal law addressing Medicare costs.

Senators Ted Budd and Thom Tillis have invited the family of Keith Siegel to be their guests. The North Carolina native is one of six Americans who are still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. He and his wife, Adrienne Aviva Siegel, were both taken hostage but she was released back in November. WTVD reported the Siegels moved to Israel a few decades ago but have ties to Chapel Hill and Durham.

Biden will deliver the speech Thursday at 9 p.m.

The Cox Media Group National Content Desk contributed to this report.

(WATCH BELOW: The State of the Union: What you need to know)
Czech arms company Czechoslovak Group (CSG) plans to invest "hundreds of millions of euros" in Ukraine to boost its supply of ammunition and equipment, according to Bloomberg and Reuters on March 7.

Kyiv is currently facing a critical shortage of ammunition, as $61 billion in funding from the U.S. remains stuck in Congress, causing defense aid deliveries to run dry.

CSG is in talks with state-owned enterprise Ukrainian Defense Industry (UkrOboronProm) on a potential joint venture, billionaire owner Michal Strnad told journalists on March 6.

A joint venture would focus on heavy ammunition and equipment and would be similar to that of German arms company Rheinmetall, according to Reuters.

Like Rheinmetall, Strnad said CSG was looking for sites in Ukraine to manufacture artillery, tank shells, and heavy equipment. According to Bloomberg, CSG is already building new production facilities in Czechia to meet growing demand.

Though the plans are ambitious, Reuters said they would not be an "immediate fix" to Ukraine's current shell shortage.

There are two to three projects under discussion for joint ventures, the agreement for which "will probably be done this year," Reuters quoted Strnad. It will then take another "two to three years" for production.

CSG already produces ammunition, Tatra trucks, and armored vehicles, as well as modernizes Soviet T72 tanks for Ukraine.

The company has set around 150 pieces of equipment to Ukraine, funded by other EU or NATO countries, since the start of the full-scale invasion, Strnad told reporters.

Europe has "very limited capacities" in terms of artillery and tank ammunition, Strnad said.

Czech President Petr Pavel said in February at the Munich Conference that Prague had found 500,000 155 mm shells and 300,000 122 mm shells outside Europe that could be sent to Ukraine within weeks if the necessary funds were allocated to the initiative.

Countries including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Canada have already publicly committed to the Czech-led initiative, and are reportedly close to raising the required funding to buy 800,000 artillery shells.

Read also: European Commission presents first-ever defense industrial strategy at EU level

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Multiple cases of Indian men coming to Russia for work or tourism before being coerced to join the war against Ukraine and, in some cases, dying in battle have appeared in the media in the past few days.

Russia's war against Ukraine resulted in heavy casualties for the Russian military. Seeking to limit unpopular conscription among the domestic population, Moscow has been attracting foreign recruits from countries in Central or South Asia and elsewhere.

Seven young men from the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana appealed to Indian authorities for help earlier this week in a video shared on the social platform X.

The group of men, dressed in military-style attire, claimed they left for Russia on Dec. 27, 2023, for the New Year's celebrations. Their travel agent offered to take them to Belarus without visas, where he subsequently abandoned them, an Indian man talking in the video said, according to the NDTV news channel.

Local police allegedly handed them over to Russian authorities, who made them sign documents and join the military to fight in Ukraine, NDTV reported on March 6.

"They were forced to join the army there since the documents which they signed in Belarus were in the Russian language. It said they either accept imprisonment for 10 years or join the Russian army," a relative of one of the men in the video claimed.

According to NDTV, nearly two dozen Indians are reportedly stranded in Russia or on the front line in Ukraine, all saying they had been tricked into military service. Other estimates say that the real numbers go into the hundreds.

Join our community Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight. Support us

Some Indian citizens have even been reportedly killed in battle. Hemil Mangukiya, a 23-year-old from the Indian state of Gujarat, left for Russia to look for work last December, The Guardian reported on March 7.

The man's family said that early this year, they had received a call that Mangukiya was killed in a missile strike in Ukraine.

Another Indian, Mohammad Afsan, also reportedly died on the front line after traveling for a job in Moscow last November.

"He had no idea he was being sent to a war zone," said his brother Mohammad Imran, according to The Guardian.

"We are aware... the Indian Embassy has taken up their early discharge with the relevant Russian authorities. We urge all Indians to stay away from this conflict," a spokesperson of the Indian government told NDTV.

India's neighbor, Nepal, stopped issuing work permits for its citizens to work in Russia in January after growing numbers of Nepalese fighters have been reported killed fighting for the Russian army in Ukraine.

The U.K.'s Defense Ministry reported in September 2023 that Russia was trying to recruit foreigners and migrant workers to avoid announcing another mobilization drive before the presidential election, which is to be held in 2024.

Read also: Putin signs decree on giving Russian citizenship to foreign fighters

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The Democrat who delivered President Joe Biden his first defeat of the 2024 primary cycle wasnt millionaire Congressman Dean Phillips or new age gadfly Marianne Williamson. It was a previously obscure Baltimore businessman with a name out of an Aaron Sorkin script: Jason Palmer.

Palmer shocked the incumbent, and denied the president a clean sweep on Super Tuesday, by winning the caucus in American Samoa. In so doing, his shoestring campaign  which he likens to a lean startup  matched the 2020 Democratic primary performance of Mike Bloomberg, who spent colossal $1 billion on his vanity presidential bid.

Palmer tells Rolling Stone he never set foot in the South Pacific island territory, which is closer to New Zealand than Hawaii. We hired three local people, part time, whod worked on prior campaigns. We did less than $4,000 in advertising  and held four virtual town halls. Palmer insists that his only secret was taking time to listen to the issues of the territorys residents, including their concerns about the brain drain created by a lack of higher education on the island, as well as fears about the frontline impacts of climate change on local reefs and fishing stocks. During the Tuesday caucus, only 91 people showed up. Palmer scored 51 votes to Bidens 40  and won three delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

On Wednesday headlines blared: Who is Jason Palmer?  calling him a previously unknown Democrat. But this is where I need to out myself as a Palmer hipster. I have known Jason for nearly 40 years, having grown up attending the same Quaker family camp on Lake George in upstate New York in the 1980s. Id been following his bid with personal interest, but was as floored as any national journalist at his upset win. And I couldnt help but smile as my Facebook feed lit up with posts from Quaker aunties and cousins touting Palmers unlikely victory. When I spoke to Palmer on the phone for 20 minutes on Wednesday, it marked a reunion of old friends  and Friends.

Palmer is not quite as off-the-radar as headlines would have you believe. Hes never held elected office. But hes a former Microsoft executive who previously served as Deputy Director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and he sits on the boards of the Smithsonian and the National Zoo. He currently runs an impact investing firm that backs socially conscious double-bottom line companies  in the model of Ben & Jerrys. He describes himself as an advocate of conscious capitalism, not rapacious capitalism.

Palmer, 52, is challenging to peg politically.

He says he got into the race because he feared that if Biden ran completely unopposed, the incumbent wouldnt actively campaign, the Democratic electorate wouldnt get energized, running the risk that Trumps gonna win in a landslide. Palmer paints himself as a pragmatist who wants to be a purple president. And he says he has been campaigning in the same lane as Phillips, the multimillionaire Minnesota congressman and businessman, who got skunked on Super Tuesday and has now dropped out, endorsing Biden.

Palmers top objectives are technocratic. He peppers his talking points with phrases about the new collar economy, and upskilling people to land middle-class jobs. He looks the part of a C-Suite executive, but Palmer touts the promise of B Corps, which pursue positive social returns, as well as shareholder value. He wants to see a federal law enabling B Corps nationwide  and would give those companies a hefty tax break.

The Maryland Democrat seeks to differentiate himself, politically, with a solutions oriented approach  pointing to the challenges of immigration at the Southern Border as an example. Palmer says he favors a talent-based immigration system, favoring the best and brightest, as well as an expanded guest-worker program. Arrivals at the border would be interviewed, he proposes: We would find out what skills you have and whether there are jobs for them. A select group would win visas, and the rest would be sent back. Palmer also calls for a surge of thousands of border judges, not border agents, so that asylum cases can be heard and decided within 60 days.

The candidate recognizes that his centrism is going to alienate many progressives. Palmers yen for political compromise extends, for example, to hot-button issues like abortion. He points to a political divide between Americans who favor a 13-week limit and others who seek a 24-week cap. Maybe we should compromise in the middle at 18 weeks, he proposes. At least weve reached a solution.

But dig into the policy pages on Palmers campaign website, and the layers of pragmatism peel away to reveal some more-radical thinking. He supports significant gun control, including a ban on AR-15 style assault rifles, as well a Truth And Reconciliation style commission to establish reparations for slavery  which he insists would create a new wave of entrepreneurs, investors, and workers to bolster the economy.

On Gaza, Palmer breaks firmly with Biden. Ive been advocating for a ceasefire since November, he says. I dont think we should be sending military aid to Israel, which is immediately used to kill innocent Palestinians and displace them.

I ask Palmer as a Quaker  a faith rooted in pacifism  if hed be comfortable wielding the powers of commander in chief. He insists hes a Quaker realist, calling for modernizing but also downsizing the military industrial complex. The military can be much smaller than it currently is, he insists. And I would make sure that we shouldnt be the worlds policeman. Thats not what the Americans want.

Palmer had just wrapped an interview on CNN before speaking to Rolling Stone and confesses that he didnt expect the contest in American Samoa to be the magic keyhole to the universe that put his campaign on the map. He says his presidential bid, like any good startup, has been throwing spaghetti at the wall, trying to go viral.

Another trick his campaign launched as media catnip is a Palmer AI  where users can type in questions and an uncanny  or at least uncanny valley  animation of Palmers face will answer in his voice. I asked the AI version of why folks should consider him over president Biden. According to polls, about 60 percent of Americans disapprove of Bidens leadership, Palmer AI responded. My campaign aims to offer a positive and optimistic vision forward, and I believe we can do better for America.

More from Rolling Stone

Best of Rolling Stone
After another shelling of Odesa by Russian occupation forces, the United States said that Kyiv urgently needs more air defense equipment. Air defense systems and missiles for them are a critical need for the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

ADVERTISIMENT

This was stated by U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, commenting on the Russian army's shelling of Odesa on March 6, when President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis were meeting there. Miller's words were quoted by the Ukrinform news agency.

"This strike is yet another reminder that Russia continues to shell Ukraine every day. And it's a reminder of Ukraine's need for air defense missiles," the US foreign policy official said.

Miller reiterated the need for the US Congress to take action "to support Ukraine and its fight against Russian aggression." He also noted that Washington is in constant contact with Ukraine and Greece.

As a reminder, Mitsotakis arrived in Ukraine on the morning of March 6 for an unannounced visit. He arrived in Odesa, where he met with Zelensky. On the same day, Russian troops launched a missile strike on Odesa, which resulted in deaths and injuries.

ADVERTISIMENT

Earlier, Greek Special Representative to Ukraine Spyros Lampridis said that Athens was considering increasing military assistance to Kyiv.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, Zelensky noted that there are enough air defense systems and weapons production capabilities in the world to protect Ukraine. Ukraine needs weapons now to save lives.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Don't fall for fakes!
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  Saint Agnes Medical Center has announced their new Chief Nursing Officer is Cheryl Harless, DNP, MBA, RN.

Harless is described as a highly motivated and enthusiastic healthcare executive with more than 19 years of leadership experience in clinical settings, including 11 years as a Chief Nursing Officer (CNO). She received her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Pittsburg and her MBA from Texas A&M University.

She brings extensive experience to our ministry, both in a clinical setting given her CNO tenure, but also in organizational development, patient/family-centered care, and fiscal accountability. I look forward to working with Cheryl and am confident that she will be of great value to the Saint Agnes Leadership Team, said Gurvinder Kaur, MD, MHA, President and Market Leader.

She began her career back in 1997 as a clinical nurse in Modesto, then eventually made her way into Sutter Health in 2011 serving as a Chief Nurse Executive in Novato. In 2016 she returned to Modesto where she served as CNO for eight years.

Serving as CNO, Harless oversaw all clinical departments including laboratory, imaging, pharmacy, nursing, peri-operative services, emergency and trauma services, quality, infection prevention, and behavioral health.

After Modesto, she worked as a CNO for Tenet Healthcare of Northern California where she oversaw six acute care hospitals.

Saint Agnes welcomed Harless as their new CNO on Monday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., told theGrio, that it is okay for voters to be frustrated and depressed over the issues plaguing the U.S., but we have to put those words into action.

Members of Congress and Gen Z activists are calling on the Biden-Harris administration to commit to the Finish the Job agenda ahead of the 2024 presidential race.

On Wednesday, Reps. Summer Lee, D-Pa., Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., Greg Casar, D-Texas, Ro Khanna, D-Calif., Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt. and members of Gen-Z for Change, March for Our Lives, Sunrise Movement and United We Dream Action held a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington to D.C. to call for President Joe Biden to focus on several key issues in the coming months including the implementation of stronger gun control measures and creating fair immigration policies, if he wants the support of younger voters.

Vehicles are parked outside the U.S. Capitol building as House Republicans continue the process of electing a new U.S. Speaker of the House on Oct. 11, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

This press conference comes nearly a month after a bipartisan immigration bill that stripped migrants of their rights, failed to pass in the U.S. Senate.

Although President Biden touted the bill as a win for America, Gen Z activists slammed the Biden-Harris administration for putting forth a bill that would make it harder for migrants to seek asylum in the U.S.

Young activists want to see the Biden-Harris administration put forth efforts to protect asylum seekers, especially minority migrants who oftentimes face discrimination at the U.S.-Mexico border, as they are fleeing violence, starvation, prosecution or war in their home country.

U.S. Rep. Lee told theGrio, that Right now, its so important that we answer the call that young people around this country are giving to government officials, those of us who have a sacred responsibility of serving as representatives.

Gen Z activists have also led calls for gun reform legislation following countless mass shootings that have taken place in grocery stores, supermarkets, schools and concerts across the U.S. in recent years.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, an organization that tracks gun violence across the U.S., 656 mass shootings took place in 2023.

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., participates in the House Oversight and Accountability Committee organizing meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

To date, members of Congress have failed to pass comprehensive gun reform that could curtail mass shootings and everyday gun violence that disproportionately impacts Black and brown communities.

U.S. Rep. Bowman told theGrio that it is important the members of Congress and Generation Z work together to save democracy and humanity.

Were not going to win unless we build an incredible coalition across this country, he said.

This isnt just about elections, this is about who we are as people in this country. What do we stand forwhat are we willing to fight for, he continued.

During the press conference, members of Congress and Gen Z activists also called on the Biden-Harris administration to terminate the use of fossil fuel to sustain the Earth by protecting the environment, expand the conservative-majority Supreme Court to preserve democracy and restore balance and fairness to the bench, hold the gun lobby and industry accountable and end discrimination at the border that has resulted in the deportation of Black and brown migrants.

U.S. Rep. Khanna told theGrio, I believe that young people are sharing their moral vision for the country and theyre telling us that we have a problem right now.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., listens to fellow speakers before President Joe Biden speaks on the debt limit during an event at SUNY Westchester Community College, May 10, 2023, in Valhalla, N.Y. (Photo by John Minchillo, AP, File)

Young people are opposed to war in the Middle East, he said. We need to listen to them and we need to lift up their voice.

A New York Times poll found that nearly half of the Gen Z participants disapprove of President Bidens response to the Israel-Hamas conflict and his reluctance to call for a ceasefire. During the press conference, Gen Z activists stated that they were hesitant to vote for him again in the 2024 presidential election due to the loss of life in Gaza and the lack of support the U.S. has provided to Palestinians.

To date, more than 30,000 people have died in Gaza since the conflict began on Oct. 7, 2024. For months, activists and congressional members have called on Biden to push for a ceasefire, however their demands have fallen on deaf ears.

Noah Lumbantobing, director of communications for March for Our Lives, told theGrio, that Young people today are the most progressive generation in decades and we need to see candidates and leaders who reflect our interests.

People in power cant take our votes for granted, he said.

He added that the Biden-Harris administration needs to do more to secure Gen Zs vote in the 2024 presidential election.

Never miss a beat: Get our daily stories straight to your inbox with theGrios newsletter.

The post Members of Congress, Gen Z activists demand President Biden address key issues ahead of the 2024 presidential election appeared first on TheGrio.
St. Clair County and three St. Louis area counties were recently named some of the most vulnerable counties for extreme winter weather in the U.S. by home service website HVAC Gnome.

St. Louis County placed second in the ranking, while St. Louis City was 12th, St. Charles County was 25th and St. Clair County was 57th.

Factors examined in the ranking included average historic winter temperatures, a winter weather risk score, ice storm risk score and cold wave risk score and expected annual financial loss from winter weather events, ice storms and cold waves.

Alan Black, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville assistant professor who teaches climatology and climate change, extreme events, atmospheric hazards and impacts, weather and transportation, told the News-Democrat recently he would recommend taking the ranking with a grain of salt, though some factors may align with current research.

One reason metro-east and St. Louis area residents may want to think critically about the HVAC Gnome ranking is some of the methodology isnt described very specifically, including the winter weather risk score.

Black also said there may be an area in which the region stands out for its winter weather risk.

I do a lot of work on winter weather as it relates to vehicle crashes, and one of the places with the highest risk of crash during winter weather is the St. Louis region, Black said.

The reasons the St. Louis region has an elevated winter weather crash risk are not entirely clear yet, Black said, but one possible explanation is the area typically sees snowy and icy roads a few times a year.

Local drivers probably dont have as much experience driving in winter conditions as people from Chicago or Minneapolis might, Black continued, but most businesses and workplaces dont usually shut down in St. Louis the same way they might in Dallas or Atlanta when those cities get snow.

Winter weather crash risks typically increase more when there is freezing rain than when its just snowing, Black said, and drivers are likely at a 20% to 30% increased risk of crashing in winter conditions. The upside, though, is research shows fatal crash risks actually decrease due to slower driving, Black added.

Heres what else to know about extreme weather risks in southwestern Illinois and the St. Louis region.

Extreme weather risk in the metro-east and St. Louis region

As the Midwest and the rest of the world grapples with climate change, metro-east and St. Louis residents can expect dramatic weather swings to happen more often. Flip-flops from abnormally dry conditions to flash flooding and from icy roads to far above-normal temperatures are something climate experts expect to occur more frequently as the planet warms.

In addition to more extreme winter weather events when the arctic air mass makes its way down, the metro-east and St. Louis have experienced excessive heat in recent years, something thats also expected to increase in frequency and magnitude.

We will have more dangerous heat days in the summer, Black said.

Last year, St. Louis had the second-warmest annual average temperature ever recorded, the National Weather Service reports. The warmest on record was recorded in 2012. The summer of 2023 also saw two days make the top 10 list for the highest low temperatures ever reported in St. Louis. July 28, 2023, had a low temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit, second only to a day in 1901 and a day in 2012 when the low was 86 degrees.

It was a warm and dry February across our climate sites. Most notably it was the 2nd warmest February on record (#1 was in 2017). #mowx #ilwx #stlwx #midmowx pic.twitter.com/KFV8NHrDfc  NWS St. Louis (@NWSStLouis) March 2, 2024

People who dont have air conditioning or who work outside will need to be especially careful as temperatures warm, Black said. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports heat likely causes more than 1,300 deaths in the country each year, with many more due to increased risk of heart attacks, respiratory diseases and other health issues.

Another severe weather risk, tornadoes, are also likely to occur more often, Black continued. The number of days where the atmospheric ingredients for tornadoes all come together is expected to increase by one to three days each year in the metro-east region, and flash flooding risk will probably increase much more than that, Black said.

The most important thing people can do to prepare for more extreme weather events is to have a way to receive weather information and make a plan, Black said. In winter weather conditions, Black advised avoiding unnecessary travel, driving slowly and keeping an emergency kit in your car with a coat, shovel and cat litter for traction.
Nine charges have been filed against an East St. Louis man accused of fleeing police while driving a stolen dump truck, hitting a vehicle that had a baby in it and then crashing it into an Edwardsville gas station fuel pump.

Dwayne E. Carraway, 30, was arrested early Tuesday after the crash at the gas station, Illinois State Police said.

State troopers were told at 1:34 a.m. Tuesday that a stolen dump truck was being pursued by the Troy Police Department on northbound Interstate 55 in Madison County.

During the pursuit, the truck hit a disabled vehicle on the side of the highway and a 4-month-old child was in the vehicle that was struck, according to charging documents.

The truck driver exited the highway onto Illinois 159 and then veered off the road into the parking lot of a QuikTrip gas station, where it struck a fuel pump and another vehicle at the store, state police said.

A small fire occurred but no serious injuries were reported as a result. The gas station is located at 2490 Troy Road in Edwardsville, according to Edwardsville Police Chief Michael Fillback.

Fillback said, Were lucky no serious injuries occurred.

He noted a safety mechanism on the gas pump was able to control the fire.

Charging documents allege Carraway drove the dump truck in the direction of a police officer and that he hit a police officer on the arm and torso.

Carraway told police he struck the gas pump on purpose with the intent to cause an explosion, according to a pretrial detention hearing petition filed by the Madison County States Attorneys Office.

A video shows that he swerved into the disabled vehicle on the highway in an apparent attempt to obstruct the officers in pursuing vehicles, the petition states.

The dump truck was reported stolen out of St. Clair County.

The charges filed against Carraway include:

Aggravated arson

Unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle

Two counts of aggravated battery

Two counts of criminal damage to property

Two counts of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer

Aggravated assault on a peace officer.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A Las Vegas Mexican food favorite is opening a new location inside Palace Station this spring.

Station Casinos announced Thursday that Lindo Michoacan is coming, moving into the space formerly occupied by Tacos & Tequila. It will be Lindo Michoacans seventh restaurant, growing since it first opened in 1990 at 2655 E. Desert Inn Road.

An opening date was not announced.

Its a new partnership. Station Casinos has replaced inhouse Mexican restaurants over the years, with recent partnerships involving Mijo Modern Mexican Restaurant at Durango Casino & Resort, Leticias Cocina & Cantina at Santa Fe Station, Leoncito at Red Rock and Borracha Mexican Cantina at Green Valley Ranch.

We are excited to bring Lindo Michoacans tradition of exceptional cuisine and hospitality to Palace Station, owner Javier Barajas said. Our team is dedicated to providing guests with an unforgettable dining experience that celebrates the authentic flavors and warmth of Mexico.

Enchiladas, tacos, sizzling fajitas and tableside guacamole are staples of Lindo Michoacans menu, full of authentic Mexican flavors.

We look forward to welcoming Lindo Michoacan to our dining portfolio at Palace Station for guests to enjoy, Palace Station general manager Lee Torres said. The addition of this beloved Mexican restaurant reinforces our commitment to offering our visitors an unparalleled culinary experience and were excited to be a part of their expansion, providing both locals and visitors with an exceptional dining option that celebrates the vibrant flavors of Mexico.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE)  The New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) has adopted a statewide requirement of a minimum of 180 instructional days. The calendar rule will go into effect with the 2024-2025 school year.

The adopted rule allows for four-day school weeks and requires a minimum daily attendance for high school students  high schoolers must attend at least 3.5 instructional hours per day, or an equivalent amount of time in an apprenticeship, work-study, dual-credit program, job, community service, or similar program, PED says.

New Mexico governor signs state budget with some line-item vetoes

A few schools will be exempt from the 180-day minimum under the adopted rule. Early college high schools will be exempt as well as some schools determined by the education secretary to be showing growth in reading and language arts.

In order to equalize instructional time across the state, we have chosen to adopt the 180-day calendar rule, Public Education Secretary Arsenio Romero said in a press release. We must improve student outcomes across the state, our students deserve better, and that begins with quality instructional time in the classroom. We know that this will be a key to turning the tide on academic performance in the state.

The latest rule comes after lawmakers worked to increase instructional time and after hearing feedback from New Mexicans.

Senator Crystal Brantley (R-Elephant Butte) released the following statement following the announcement: This rule adoption comes as a surprise in light of the overwhelming pushback from school administrators, teachers, and legislators on both sides of the aisle. Not only does it circumvent the Legislatures intent regarding instruction time, but it places undue burden on our school districts, especially in rural New Mexico.



My local superintendents are still combing through the details, but based on my early conversations with them, significant issues and questions remain. I believe those best suited to make these decisions are those closest to the students, and as such, I will

continue to oppose efforts by PED to seize more control from our school boards and administrators.

Teachers have voiced their concerns about the rule change saying this will drive some to leave the business.

If thats chipped away, Ive heard a lot of comments about Im going to leave the field or if theyre eligible to retire the next couple years, might as well just do it now, said Whitney Holland, president of the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico.

If youre a teacher whos a parent, and youre saying, this is making my life harder, Im not able to deliver the content or the quality of instruction my kids deserve. I think the PED needs to hear that message, said Holland.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE)  New Mexicans will soon see significant changes to tax rates and credit offerings. Wednesday, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham approved a massive tax package two years in the making.

New Mexico State Police seized 39 firearms, issued 14,991 traffic citations in February

Cutting costs for families has been a hallmark of my administration from day one. Since 2019, our policies have saved New Mexico taxpayers more than $910 million, Governor Lujan Grisham said in a press release. On top of the savings for families and businesses, we are growing our clean energy economy through credits for advanced manufacturing, clean cars, geothermal, and more. This is what fair and responsible tax leadership looks like.

The upcoming changes include restructured income tax brackets. The restructuring focuses on decreasing income tax for low and middle-income New Mexicans. For example, the governors office says a married couple with $50,000 (filing jointly) could see a savings of $303 each year. The last time tax brackets were adjusted was in 2005.

The tax package also creates a range of credits for individuals and businesses. For example, the state will offer tax credits for New Mexicans that purchase electric or hybrid vehicles or charging units. The state will offer up to $400 in credits for residential electric vehicle charging station purchases, and there will also be a credit for commercial installations.

With these new credits, we address both [electric vehicle] affordability and infrastructure at the same time, Sen. Bill Tallman (D-Abq.) said in a press release.

Podcast: Albuquerque Police corruption investigation: what we know so far

Large-scale tax credits in the package are also aimed at bringing alternative-energy industries to New Mexico. For example, the state is offering to offset up to one-fifth of the cost of equipment to produce things like batteries or solar panels.

New Mexicos leadership in advanced-energy manufacturing is creating jobs, diversifying our economy, and providing the world with clean energy that is essential to combating climate change. This credit will continue to attract investments from around the globe that we need in our state to meet our ambitious climate goals, Environment Department Cabinet Secretary James Kenney said in a press release.

The governor also recently approved of other bills, including a record-breaking state budget and a bill to let New Mexico set clean fuel rules for statewide transportation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
New Mexico governor signs state budget with some line-item vetoes

SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE)  This year, lawmakers sent a record-breaking budget proposal to the governors desk. Now, she has given her signature of approval, with some adjustments.

I have vetoed parts that impermissibly attempt to create substantive law, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a message to lawmakers. I have vetoed provisions of the Act that attempt to enact general policy by imposing, for example, reporting or other requirements that do not exist in substantive law.

Attorney general offers advice for buying a car in New Mexico

The governor also noted that she vetoed portions of the budget that unduly restricted spending to certain types of expenditures. She argued that those types of funding restrictions exceed the constitutionally defined role of the state legislature.

Even with the vetoes, the budget provides $10.21 billion in recurring spending for the state. Thats nearly a 7% increase compared to the previous year. The budget also keeps more than 32% of state revenue in reserve for future use.

New Mexicos wolf population growing, latest data shows

The budget I signed today represents a strong investment in New Mexicos future with funding to improve literacy, help keep New Mexicans safe, expand affordable housing, raise teacher pay, assist tribal governments and much more, Lujan Grisham said in a press release. I want to thank New Mexicans for their input during the budget process, as well as state lawmakers for sending this carefully considered bill to my desk.

Some of the key funding includes:

Housing and Homelessness Reduction Initiatives:

$125 million to NMFAs opportunity enterprise revolving fund

$50 million to the housing trust fund at NM Mortgage Finance Authority

$19.7 million for statewide homelessness initiatives

$10 million for transitional housing and shelter facilities for victims of domestic violence

$3.3 million to HCA: housing for those with opioid use disorders and serious mental illness

Beautification, and litter clean-up efforts for state and city parks:

$53 million for state and city parks

$15 million for Balloon Fiesta Park

$10 million for roadway beautification

$10 million for state buildings

$2 million for litter marketing campaign

Education

3% raise for all school personnel

$86 million for literacy initiatives across the state

$41 million for universal free school meals

$15 million for pay differentials to recruit and retain hard-to-staff special education positions

$6 million for special education initiatives

$5 million for attendance improvement interventions

$4 million for school turnaround pilot projects in Albuquerque public schools

Public Safety

$25 million for firefighter recruitment fund

$25 million for corrections and law enforcement recruitment

Infrastructure, Water, and Natural Resources:

$540 million in road improvements

$300 million for the conservation legacy permanent fund

$75 million for the new match fund

$50 million for the water projects fund

$25 million for broadband

$20 million to support and fund Indian water rights settlements

$10 million to the Climate Investment Center

$5 million for water right adjudication work

The governor also recently approved a list of capital outlay projects for the state. Other recently approved bills include a much-debated clean fuel bill.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
She stands on the front porch of a colonial-era home showing off her gold hair, gold skirt and golden nipples. A metate with half-crushed maize is to her left. Her trendy Telfar bag is to her right. And her neighbors are very dramatic.

At one terracotta house, nude figures run outside as music plays from the ceramic radio. At the other, a man is (likely deservedly) kicked out of the house. A golden boot pushes him out the door. Meanwhile, a person outside is slapped in the face with a hot tortilla.

This isnt a telenovela. Theyre all made out of clay.

Brodel Del Barrio by artist Joel Gaitan on display at KDR, a gallery in Allapattah.

Joel Gaitan, a self-taught, Miami-based artist of Nicaraguan descent, leans into drama for his art exhibitions. Last week, he opened En El Corazon Del Infierno, En Las Alturas Del Cielo, his second solo exhibition with KDR, an Allapattah art gallery run by Katia David Rosenthal. The show displays his handmade, clay sculptures replete with rich Central American motifs, pop culture references and 22 karat gold accents. It is on view until March 30.

Gaitan, 28, was born and raised in Hialeah and has annually visited his familys homeland of Nicaragua since he was a child. His work is inspired by his upbringing in a Miami home he lovingly referred to as Little Nicaragua, filled with his parents ceramic vessels and decor.

Gaitans artwork is what happens when antiquity meets modernity. His work is refreshing yet familiar to Miamis many Latino communities, said Rosenthal, the gallerist. In 2021, before Rosenthal opened her Allapattah location, the two collaborated on an art show at her Little Havana house by turning it into a pulperia, a type of Nicaraguan bodega.

Joel Gaitan, 28, is a Miami-based artist who creates handmade sculptures inspired by his Nicaraguan heritage, spirituality and pop culture.

When I approached Joel to do the first show, I saw something in his work that I felt a very meaningful connection to. Our backgrounds are both Nicaraguan-rooted, Rosenthal said. I felt that when I saw his work, it connected to the past but also showed his present state of being as this young person living in a metropolitan city. That Miami-ness also came through.

That Miami-ness is one of several themes present in the current show. Gaitan was heavily inspired by 1980s Miami architecture and design. Its hard not to notice the gallerys newly painted mint green walls and bright pink floor. Rosenthal even had a retro curved wall with vintage glass blocks installed to bring their vision of the show to life.

Joel Gaitans En El Corazon Del Infierno, En Las Alturas Del Cielo is on view at KDR, a gallery in Allapattah until March 30.

Everything about the show, from the layout to the artwork itself, is bursting with personality. He wants his art shows to feel like his biggest inspiration, home.

Only one rule, I dont like white walls, Gaitan said. Everything that weve done together has never been white walls and white pedestals. I like this whole idea of installation, giving a different home to these pieces while theyre being exhibited.

During the shows March 1 opening party, the three casitas by the gallerys front door were particularly popular. The works were inspired by the miniature traditional houses that often decorate the homes of Latino families.

Artist Joel Gaitans casitas sculptures are inspired by the miniature house decorations found in many Latino homes. The works are on display at his show En El Corazon Del Infierno, En Las Alturas Del Cielo at KDR.

Any secondhand store you go to, youre gonna find them. I dont know why theyre constantly abandoned, theyre not appreciated, Gaitan said. These specifically are important because theyre recreating something thats so easily thrown away. I get to put it into gallery space and give it a new message and new importance.

The shows pieces casually jump from lighthearted modern day scenes to ancient Mayan imagery to Gaitans own spirituality.

A rotund figure balancing a golden crown of tubes on her head and pouring the blue waters of life from vessel to vessel may seem like a recreation of an archaeological discovery. She  or he (Gaitan doesnt assign gender to the figures he sculpts)  is adorned with turquoise earlobes, gold nails and gold jewelry.

Artist Joel Gaitan explores his Nicaraguan heritage and spirituality with his terracotta sculptures. His work is on view at his solo exhibition show En El Corazon Del Infierno, En Las Alturas Del Cielo.

Compare that to the clay vessel across the room wrapped in a gold chain, blowing a pink bubblegum bubble. Or the other clay vessel showing off a long black ponytail, a gold-toothed grin and blue sunglasses. Or the ceramic recreation of a designer Diesel purse, inspired by his friends handbag.

One of the shows tallest and most symbolic works is a stack of two vessels sprouting with golden braided halos.

The bottom, larger vessel grins as it sticks out its tongue. It wears an Ibeyi amulet, a protective Yoruba symbol of twins. The smaller, top vessel is stoic. Its arms are raised up with nails hammered into each wrist, representing the stigmata. Psalms 31 is written in Spanish on its stomach: Me han olvidado como a los muertos; Hasta perezco una vasija hecha pedazos. (I have been forgotten like the dead; I have become like broken pottery.)

Art is a way for Gaitan to express his spirituality and reconnect with a higher power, he said. He grew up in the Pentecostal church, where every day is devoted to God.

Artist Joel Gaitan references spirituality and religion in his works. Sculptures Luz Del Sol, Volcan y Tierra (left) and Camino Eterno / Parousia (right) on display at KDR, a gallery in Allapattah.

I feel like Ive ignored that part of myself, but I actually havent. Every time I create a show, theres this constant theme and a new level of me trying to get back to my connection with my spirituality, he said. These are all like offerings and a thank you to God for giving me the opportunity and the platform to even create these works.

There is a lot to be thankful for. Gaitan has worked hard to build an impressive resume as a self-taught artist, Rosenthal said. His work has been featured in museum collections and displayed throughout the Rockefeller Center in New York City. He participated in the prestigious Cite Internationale des Arts residency in Paris, France and in group exhibitions across the country.

Despite the art worlds notorious gatekeeping, Gaitan said he has made a footing for himself with the help of his community. Before the solo exhibitions at KDR, he got his start by showing his work with fellow local artists and musicians at friends parties.

Artist Joel Gaitan made a ceramic recreation of his friends Diesel purse for his solo show En El Corazon Del Infierno, En Las Alturas Del Cielo at KDR. The piece is called Sacred Object Study 2: Essential Everyday Bag.

Gaitan dedicates his work to his culture, his family, his friends and his Nicaragua. Though Miami is home to a large Central American population, the community isnt always represented in the arts scene. With this show, and future ones, he hopes to change that.

Rosenthal recalled when a young woman approached her during the shows opening. She told Rosenthal that after she saw Gaitans exhibition at the NSU Art Museum in Fort Lauderdale, she was inspired to apply to work there. Gaitans work made her feel seen.

En El Corazon Del Infierno, En Las Alturas Del Cielo

Where: KDR, 790 NW 22nd St. Miami

When: On view until March 30

Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Info: Free and open to the public. https://www.kdr305.com/joel-gaitan-2024

This story was produced with financial support from individuals and Berkowitz Contemporary Arts in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
Miami-Dade County on Thursday gave the Miami Seaquarium weeks to vacate its government-owned campus after a string of federal inspection reports alleged poor care of animals there.

The notice terminating the Seaquariums county lease moves Miami-Dade dramatically closer to ejecting the Seaquarium from its home of nearly 70 years in a rapid escalation of the confrontation between Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and the company that took over the for-profit operation in 2022.

This decision did not come lightly, Levine Cava said at an afternoon press conference. But the situation at the Seaquarium is so dire that we believe terminating the lease is the best course of action to assure safety for all.

In a letter from the mayors office Thursday morning, Miami-Dade ordered the Seaquarium to surrender its waterfront property by April 21.

Lessees long and troubling history of violations constitute repeated, continuing longstanding violations of Lessees contractual obligations to keep the property in a good state of repair, maintain animals in accordance with applicable law, and comply with all laws, read the letter from Jimmy Morales, chief operating officer under Levine Cava.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava speaks during press conference about lease termination for the Miami Seaquarium at the Stephen P. Clark Center on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

READ MORE: County moves to cancel Miami Seaquarium lease after critical federal inspections

The letter starts a process that Seaquarium executives said Thursday would lead to a court fight as they dismissed the countys claims as misleading and uninformed.

I will just let my lawyers defend our rights, Eduardo Albor, president of the Dolphin Company, Seaquariums parent company, said in a fiery exchange with reporters in a County Hall lobby outside where Levine Cava held her press conference minutes earlier. The mayor is lying.

In his letter, Morales gave Albor a Monday deadline to sign an agreement to surrender the county property by the April 21 termination date. If the Seaquarium does not agree to give up the 38-acre site, Morales wrote, Miami-Dade shall avail itself of any and all legal means to enforce its rights and remedies.

The letter and Albors comments highlighted the collapse of what was once an alliance between Levine Cava and the Dolphin Company, the Mexico-based marine-park conglomerate that acquired the Seaquarium lease in 2022. As part of the Dolphin Company winning county approval for its lease transfer from the parks prior owners, the company had agreed to a goal of moving the Seaquariums aging killer whale, Lolita, to her home waters off Washington state. While Albor joined Levine Cava for a joint announcement in March 2023, Lolita  also known as Toki, a derivative of the name given to her by the Lummi Nation in Washington  died in August from what an autopsy found was liver failure.

Eduardo Albor, the president of park operator the Dolphin Company talks with the media after Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava held a press conference at the Stephen P. Clark Center in Miami on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

Edwin Gonzalez, executive director of the Dolphin Company, said the attractions relationship with the Levine Cava administration deteriorated after Lolitas death.

At one point, he said, the Dolphin Company proposed moving the Miami Wilds project from its controversial planned location outside Zoo Miami to the Seaquarium as part of an expansion to include more revenue-production options, including upgraded restaurants.

We had to demolish the area around Tokis tank, and we could put a water park there, he said. Gonzalez said the administration rejected the idea, something that was followed by increased inspections and warnings of a lease default.

In late December, the mayors administration notified the Seaquarium that it planned to terminate the lease based on unpaid rent and other alleged violations of the lease terms. Levine Cava followed up with a letter in late January slamming the Seaquarium for what the U.S. Department of Agriculture said was unacceptable care for captive dolphins and other animals in the for-profit park.

We believe it is imperative to address these serious violations decisively and with urgency, Levine Cava wrote in the Jan. 24 letter to Albor. Weeks later, the Seaquarium posted a statement on social media accusing Levine Cava of misinforming people about animal care at the Seaquarium and lamented that the issue was being used for political purposes.

In other statements, the Seaquarium said it was addressing violations or issues cited in USDA inspection reports.

The park can challenge the eviction in court. For now, the Seaquarium remains open as a tenant of Miami-Dade.

Opened in 1955, the Seaquarium was once a showpiece of Miamis tourism industry as one of the nations first theme parks centered on marine mammals. Its captive dolphins drew global attention after the Flipper television series was filmed there in the 1960s.

In the decades that followed, the Seaquarium became a target for animal-rights activists protesting conditions at the county-owned facility. Much of the attention went to Lolita, the Seaquariums lone captive orca living in a tank built for spectator shows.

With the Seaquariums future on the Miami waterfront hinging on a legal victory, the countys action raises questions about whats next for the prime Miami-Dade land. Levine Cava said the Seaquarium site is part of the countys parks system and would be governed by the same charter provision that requires a referendum before allowing a different commercial use for the land.

Raquel Regalado, the Miami-Dade commissioner whose district includes the Seaquarium site, said the parks condition has deteriorated to the point that a change was needed.

As a native Miamian, there is so much nostalgia associated with the Miami Seaquarium, she said at the press conference. However, the current state of the Miami Seaquarium is not the place we visited as children and not the place we want our children to visit.

The alleged failures by the Seaquarium that are grounds for lease termination, according to the county, include:

Animal care

Miami-Dade cited violations of federal animal-care regulations reported by the USDA going back to 2022 and as recently as January. The letter also cited a USDA report that says a dolphin bit a visitor, as well as findings that the Seaquarium didnt have enough staff on hand to manage its population of dolphins, manatees, birds, fish, sea lions, penguins and other creatures. Our number one priority continues to be the safety and well-being of the animals, and moving forward well do everything we can to make sure they are well cared for, Levine Cava said at the press conference.

Maintenance

While Lolita was alive, the stadium that included her tank was shut down to the public because of building-code violations. That was one of multiple outstanding building-code violations cited in the countys letter, including failure to maintain the manatee tank and the Flipper Stadium where dolphins perform.

Certifications

The Seaquariums revised lease includes requirements that it remain in good standing with veterinary and animal-park groups. The letter stated the county had no records of certifications from the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums or the American Humane Association.

Andrew Scullion, supervisor of animal training at the Seaquarium, said the park has responded to USDA findings with corrective measures and pointed out violations it felt were not warranted. He said the Dolphin Company, which has marine-mammal attractions around the world, provides backup staff and expertise as needed.

I do think its a safe home for these animals, he said.
The Russian command continues to "cheat" its soldiers with payments while throwing them into "meat" assaults. One of the occupiers complained that he was receiving a much lower salary on the front line than he should have been because his documents showed that he was "in Crimea."

ADVERTISIMENT

He spoke about the realities of the war in a telephone conversation, which was intercepted and published on Telegram by the I Want to Live project. The Russian said that in addition to all the dangers of the frontline, they regularly come under "friendly" fire.

"Our guys are f**king around, they're shooting at us, they're stupid. They are standing two kilometers away and manage to hit us. They don't shoot at the cunts as much as they shoot at us," the occupier complained.

He also said that the command of the aggressor state regularly tries to save money on its soldiers, so officially the soldiers who are thrown to "slaughter" are "in the rear."

"I found out why I don't get my combat pay, I was supposed to get 300 a month at least. And it turns out that according to the documents we are in Crimea," the Russian said.

ADVERTISIMENT

"They sent us to storm the last time, to the t-shirt. They just killed 15 people from our company at once. It hit right next to us, the guys' heads were blown off, just by a blast wave. It's scary to watch," the occupier added.

According to him, one cannot envy the fate of prisoners in the Russian troops at all - they "do not feel sorry for them".

"They drive them there under machine guns. There are boys there, they are people too," the occupier believes.

Given all of this, he began to think about voluntarily surrendering to the Ukrainian military, having been subjected to appropriate agitation.

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

 In the interception published by the DIU, the Russian woman spoke about the mess in the army of the aggressor country, where the occupiers kill and rape their colleagues. One of the Russian soldiers did not even manage to get to the war in Ukraine  he was killed by his men in the training center.

ADVERTISIMENT

 In addition, methods of intimidation and coercion are used during mobilization in Russia. For example, in Sochi, a Russian man who did not want to serve was forcibly taken into the army and shoved into a trunk.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
A long-time Miami-Dade prosecutor was dismissed from the high-profile case of a notorious gang leader after being accused of misconduct, including gathering witnesses at the Miami Police Department and coaching their testimonies.

Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Andrea Ricker Wolfson on Wednesday ousted prosecutor Michael Von Zamft from the case of Corey Smith, a convicted killer believed to be the ringleader of Liberty Citys violent John Doe drug gang.

In the order, Wolfson said she made the decision after a weeks-long hearing during which Smiths defense team presented newly discovered evidence in a bid to to request a new trial and dismiss the Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office from the case.

During the hearing, it became apparent there was a serious issue regarding possible witness testimony manipulation by the Assistant State Attorneys on this case  not only in the past, but also in the present, Wolfson said.

Wolfson, however, denied the defenses motion to dismiss the entire Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office from the case. The judge has yet to rule on whether or not she will vacate Smiths convictions.

Von Zamft  and prosecutor Stephen Mitchell  lost sight of their responsibility, and justice demands their disqualification, Wolfson said in the filing. She said she dismissed Mitchell because he emphatically argued that there has been no unethical conduct, which indicates he shares Von Zamfts prosecutorial philosophy of winning at all costs.

The Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office had not responded Thursday to the Miami Heralds request for comment on the prosecutors dismissal.

In a statement, defense attorneys Craig Whisenhunt and Allison Miller said the photographs, recorded phone calls and other evidence left no doubt as to the egregious misconduct of prosecutors Von Zamft, Mitchell and Joshua Hubner, who resigned in February.

We greatly appreciate the courts well-reasoned order disqualifying these attorneys and referring the matter to the Florida Bar, the statement said. While the court declined to disqualify the entire 11th Judicial Circuit State Attorneys Office, we cannot help but remain concerned that given the tenure of these attorneys, the issues raised were not unique to them or this case.

Smith, who was on Floridas death row, has been back in court in effort to be resentenced. In 2017, he was granted a new sentencing hearing after the Florida Supreme Court found that the states death penalty process was unconstitutional because it didnt require that jurors make a unanimous decision.

READ MORE: John Doe gang boss on death row for murders. Can Miami prosecutors fairly retry case?

In 1999, Smith was convicted in federal court of drug and firearm charges. A year later, a Miami-Dade grand jury indicted Smith and seven others on 17 counts in relation to crimes committed in connection with Liberty Citys violent John Doe drug gang. By 2004, Smith was found guilty of four murders by a Miami-Dade jury. He was sentenced to death in 2005.

Smiths high-profile Miami-Dade trial  heavily armed law enforcement flooded the courthouse, and Smith wore a stun belt to court each day to prevent his escape  came five years after the federal government tried to dismantle the John Does, named for the toe tags tied to unidentified bodies at the morgue.

Evidence against prosecutors

Tricia Geter, who was Smiths girlfriend from 1993 to 1998, testified that she and other state witnesses were brought to the Miami Police Department for the express purpose of coordinating their testimonies, according to Wolfsons order. Prosecutors participated in those meetings, too.

In exchange for their cooperation, witnesses were given food, drinks, tobacco products, visits from family and friends and even conjugal visits, according to the court documents. The Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office wrote letters to the U.S. State Attorneys Office for the North District of Florida regarding Geters cooperation with police.

At the time, Geter had been sentenced to 300 months in federal prison for distribution of cocaine. That sentence was reduced to 60 months. Several of the letters, which werent originally turned over to the defense, were signed by Von Zamft and Hubner. A Miami detective also testified that he was Geters handler in the early 2000s.

Convicted murderer Corey Smiths former girlfriend Tricia Geter, is questioned under oath this week by Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Stephen Mitchell, during a hearing to determine if Miami-Dade prosecutors are too compromised to participate in the re-sentencing phase of Smiths trial.

In January 2023, state witness Anthony Fail signed an affidavit further backing up these allegations. Von Zamft, according to the order, sent Miami-Dade State Attorneys investigators to interview Fail after the affidavit.

Fail then changed his story.

Instead of investigating the merits of the claim by speaking to detectives...he opened an investigation for witness tampering into the defendants investigative team, Wolfson said in the order.

As the hearings wrapped up, Wolfson heard from Mr Von Zamfts own mouth why he and his counterpart should be disqualified from this case, she said in the order.

On television, Perry Mason, defense attorney extraordinaire, always managed to find the smoking gun at the end of every episode, the judge said. In real life, this happens very rarely. It happened here.

Defense attorneys played an August 2022 recorded jail call between Von Zamft and codefendant-turned-state witness Latravis Gallashaw. According to Wolfson, the call contained two glaring instances of misconduct, or at the very least, severe recklessness.

In the conversation, the prosecutor and Gallashaw discussed issues with the witnesses in the case. At some point, Gallashaw asked Von Zamft if he has thought about rehabilitating one of the witnesses.

Von Zamft replied that he was trying to arrange for Gallashaw to be in the prison courtyard with witness Demetrius Jones and another inmate named William Brown, but that the Department of Corrections wouldnt allow it. Brown is a witness in another capital case prosecuted by Von Zamft.

During the hearings, Von Zamft said that the defense was spinning the phone call. But when Wolfson asked for his side of the story, she wrote that the prosecutor advanced a specious argument about the inmates safely being in the courtyard together.

In another conversation, the prosecutor spoke with Gallashaw about Geters unpredictability, stating that he wanted to find a way to make her unavailable.

If I call her and she refuses, then I will find a way to make her unavailable, and then I can read her whole testimony, Von Zamft said.

You would want to do that? Gallashaw responded.

No, I dont want to do it, the prosecutor replied. Id rather she testified and did a good job. But can I count on it? No.

For Wolfson, the conversation corroborated Geters testimony in which she stated that the prosecutor told her he would read out her testimony if she was dead. The judge also pointed out context she believed was worth considering; Gallashaw is a convicted murderer in a case that involves witness elimination.

To be clear, this court does not believe that Mr. Von Zamft was sending a cryptic message to Mr. Gallashaw to eliminate Ms. Geter, Wolfson said in the filing. However, reasonable minds may reach a different conclusion based on the totality of the circumstances in this case.

 I dont know who to trust.

Geter connected with Von Zamft in 2000, when a Miami police detective investigating her brothers murder told her Von Zamft wanted to speak with her. When she met the prosecutor, she said he played a recording of Smith.

She said she didnt want anything to do with testifying  until Von Zamft told Geter that Smith wanted her dead.

From the beginning, he was lying to me to get me to cooperate for him, Geter told the Miami Herald.

According to Geter, around 2003, she and other state witnesses were taken to the Miami Police Department about five times a week. They were asked to decipher recordings because investigators couldnt understand what was being said. They also shared information to line up the witnesses testimonies.

Geter learned about the prosecutors ominous conversation with Gallashaw two weeks ago. She said she has been in fear for her life due to threatening messages she has received.

You cannot put a spin on what was said, Geter told the Miami Herald. Why would you tell him you dont want me available? ...Its unethical that this officer of the State Attorneys Office would be conspiring with a known killer.

Geter also said that Von Zampf asked her to contact Fail so that he would be pressured to withdraw his statement. The prosecutor, she alleges, threatened to charge her with witness tampering.

Right now, Im still nervous, she said. I dont know who to trust.

For Geter, Smith deserves a new trial because he never received one. She said she also doesnt understand why the State Attorneys Office hasnt publicly commented on the dismissal.

Let a jury of his peers either convict him or set him free...without getting witnesses together and telling them what they need to sayto get a conviction, Geter said.

Deadly control of Miamis drug trade

The murders for which Smith was convicted were part of the John Does war for control over Miamis drug trade in the 1990s.

 Leon Hadley, who ran the Liberty City drug holes Smiths gang was fighting to take over, was killed in a drive-by shooting after he threatened Smith and a colleague.

 John Doe watchout Jackie Pope stated in a deposition that a John Doe member shot a police officer at one of the drug holes. Popes body was later riddled by 16 bullets from John Doe hit men, according to a federal indictment.

 Though Cynthia Browns death was staged to look like an overdose, a coroner determined that the potential witness against Smith had been suffocated in a hotel room.

 Angel Wilson was killed when a car pulled up to her vehicle in Liberty City and she was shot.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  The Miami Seaquarium was ordered to leave the property in April after they received a letter from Miami-Dade County terminating their lease.

According to the Miami-Dade Mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, the aquarium had continuous violations of their contractual obligations.

St. Pete man intentionally rams car in Culvers drive-thru, drags victim through parking lot, police say

On Thursday, Cava sent a Notice of Termination of Lease letter to Eduardo Albor, the president of the park operation, The Dolphin Company, according to NBC affiliate WTVJ.

The current state of Miami Seaquarium is unsustainable and unsafe, Cava said in a press conference on Thursday.

The mayor said the county believes terminating the lease is the best option for the safety of the animals and visitors. However, the aquarium, nearing a 70-year run, could fight the eviction if the judge says the park complies with the lease.

Part of the letter obtained by WTVJ read, Lessees long and troubling history of violations constitute repeated, continuous and longstanding violations of Lessees contractual obligations to keep the Property in a good state of repair, maintain animals in accordance with applicable law, and comply with all laws.

WTVJ said the aquarium has until March 11 to accept the lease termination.

Drone video shows gator that charged at deputy during K-9 training

The lease termination comes after several animals were found injured.

The current state of the Miami Seaquarium is not the place that we visited as children and its not the place that we want our children to visit, Miami-Dade County Commissioner Raquel Regalo said.

In a report obtained by WTVJ, a dolphin named Ripley was found with a two-inch nail and a piece of a shell in his throat. Another dolphin named Bimini had a broken bolt in her mouth.

Another report showed a sea lion named Sushi had her right eye closed and needed cataract surgery. The animal later began refusing food, and the aquarium had yet to schedule a surgery date for the sea lion.

Back in November, the Miami Seaquarium responded to animal welfare allegations after a USDA report found dolphin pools in disrepair, high counts of bacteria in the water where marine mammals are kept, and numerous areas of black mold growth along with bubbling paint within the penguin enclosure, WTVJ said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
OKLAHOMA COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR)  Michael Smith was denied clemency during his hearing on Wednesday in regards to a double murder he committed in 2002.

This came just days after the Oklahoma House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee unanimously passed a bill that would pause all pending executions and prohibit new death sentences while an independent task force reviews current Oklahoma death penalty procedures.

Throughout the hearing, the Attorney Generals Office released never-before-seen confession footage from over two decades ago. The AGs office laid out the evidence and witness statements that led the board members to vote.

In the end, the Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-to-1, ultimately rejecting Smiths request for clemency and keeping his execution date as April 4.

Bill to temporarily pause executions in Oklahoma passes unanimously out of committee

I am so, so, so, sorry, said Smith during a Zoom call at the hearing. Smith was given a 15-minute time limit to plead to the board.

He spent the first minute or two apologizing to the family members of the victims.

Janet Moore and Sharath Pulluru were killed in February 2002. The court convicted Michael Smith for their murders, which were committed on the same day.

Prosecutors laid out how Smith shot Moore and then shot Pulluru. Smith stated that in both murders, they were at the wrong place at the wrong time.

At the hearing, Moores son sat before the board, and many loved ones of the two victims gave some words as to what his actions did to their family.

Janet Moore's son sits at Wednesday's clemency hearing with a picture of his mother in front of him. {KFOR}

Not only was she loved, she represented love, said Phillip, Moores son. With heavy and hurting hearts she was the pillar of our community. She was the mother of an only son whom she cherished dearly who now is a motherless child. We hold faith in knowing that God is an orderly God. Her losing her life in this tragic way is out of order. We hold faith knowing that order will be established and justice will be served.

A statement was made by the brother of Sharath, Harish Pulluru. Sharath was a wonderful person, he was the first in our family to come to the United States in our family. He is the reason I became a doctor. When he first came to the United States I would wait in a phone booth in India for him to call and cherished every conversation we had. I saw the pain that my parents lived with every day. Sharath was a loving son, brother, and uncle. He was the life of our family. We are a very close family and his sudden death in such a violent manner has affected our lives every day since. We ask that clemency be denied.

If she wouldnt have panicked she would still be here today, that was one of the many clips played from a 2002 confession tape made by Smith. The Attorney Generals Office played a couple of clips.

An image from the 2002 confession given by Michael Smith. {KFOR}

In another clip, Smith is seen motioning as to how he shot Moore, she panicked and she got shot. She was like help, help, help.

In the clips, Smith is also seen describing the killing of Pulluru as well, Hes like, let me see your money so I pulled my gun out and shot his a$%. I was like blah, blah, blah. Smith can be heard making gunshot noises several times.

According to officials, Pulluru was shot at least nine times and then his body was burned with some sort of lighter fluid.

In the confession clips, Smith describes how and why he burned Pullurus body. I just peeled the cap off (of the lighter fluid) and poured it all on his a%$. Poured it on whatever I touched. Poured the gas on the cash register and then I burnt that sh$% up.

OKC pet store killing case to continue after judge rejects plea agreement

The family argued that the confession should be thrown out because not only was Smith high on the drug PCP but he was mentally incapable of telling the truth.

Somebody told me something while I was high, I wouldnt confess to nothing if I werent, said Smith during his plea to the board. I have nobody for you, I dont know who did these crimes. I dont remember anything you know. You arrested me when I was high on PCP. I was immediately placed on suicide watch.

Smith cried at the beginning when speaking about how sorry he was for the family of the victims. Smiths family cried and began to support each other while he spoke.

The board recessed for only a couple of minutes before they made their decision and voted 4-to-1 to reject Smiths clemency.

Michael Smith spent 15-minutes pleading his clemency case Wednesday. {KFOR}

I am pleased the Pardon and Parole Board denied clemency for the ruthless killer who took Janet Moore and Sharath Pulluru away from their families. Justice will finally be served for their tragic loss. Oklahoma Attorney General Getner Drummond

Michael Smith has a painful story: a 10-year-old boy with borderline intellectual disability, loses his father gets strung out habitually on PCP, and joins a gang, with tragic results when he is 19. We all need mercy and Smith has gotten precious little. Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Chair Reverand Don Heath

At Wednesdays hearing sat Senator Connie Johnson who for a long time has spoken out against death penalty cases. After the decision was made she pushed reform with how Oklahoma handles the death penalty.

His execution is going forward even though the house committee unanimously approved a bill on a moratorium on death penalty cases, said Senator Johnson. To see that others are talking about a moratorium is an amazing thing to see.

The bill Senator Johnson is talking about is House Bill 3138, which was introduced by Republican Representative Kevin McDugle and would create a five-member Death Penalty Reform Task Force to study and report on the progress of implementing reforms to the use of the death penalty in this state.

The bill calls for an execution moratorium through November 2029, but Rep. McDugle said that he is willing to amend that date to 2026. Following the committee vote, the bill is now eligible to be debated for a full vote on the House floor. Language in the bill allows it to take effect immediately, should Governor Kevin Stitt sign it into law.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
Michelle Yeoh has reacted to the cancellation of her Netflix series The Brothers Sun.

In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Yeoh wrote, Heartbroken and finding it so hard to understand why however, I am so very proud of My Brothers Sun family and what we presented to the world. heads held high.

Variety confirmed on Friday that Netflix canceled the crime family dramedy after one season. Created by Byron Wu and Brad Falchuk, The Brothers Sun followed Charles Sun (Justin Chien), a Taiwanese gangster who must travel to Los Angeles to protect his mother and younger brother, Bruce (Sam Song Li), after his father  the head of a Taipei triad  is shot by a mysterious assassin. Yeoh starred as matriarch Eileen Mama Sun in the series.

Justin Chien, who played Yeohs son Charles, took to social media on Saturday to show his appreciation for the fans, writing on Instagram, Thank you for riding with us on this labor of love. It will take some time to digest this news, but I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your love and support for the show. Thank you for every post, tweet, edit, interaction, etc. It fills me with so much joy knowing that the show resonated with so many people. Your love made all of our collective work, sacrifices, and heartache, worth it.

Chien then thanked the Brothers Sun team for giving their blood, sweat, and tears to make the best show possible, as well as several Netflix executives for giving our story a platform and giving me the opportunity to play a dream role.

Chien concluded his post, Thank you all for your love. Without you, this wouldnt mean nearly as much as it does. I gave everything I had to this show, and I cant wait to do the same in the next project, whatever, whenever it may be  I promise I will give it my all. Love, Chairleg.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Democrats will be watching President Biden warily on Thursday night to see how  and if  he broaches the topic of Israel and Gaza in his State of the Union address.

The lefts deep divisions over the issue were put on full display last week when more than 100,000 Michigan primary voters selected "uncommitted" over Biden  raising alarms about his chances of holding onto a state he won by just over 150,000 votes in 2020.

The movement in Michigan and other battleground states comes in protest of the Biden administrations stance on the war between Israel and Hamas. Progressives and left-wing hard-liners have been pushing Biden to take a more aggressive stance against Israels invasion of Gaza, citing the tens of thousands of lives lost and the humanitarian crisis developing in the region.

More moderate Democrats, however, insist the president stand by Israels mission to eradicate Hamas.

The divide is on full display even in the House of Representatives, where lawmakers gave Fox News Digital varied answers on how Biden could walk the tightrope successfully on Thursday.

US TAKES SELF-DEFENSE STRIKE AGAINST HOUTHI PROJECTILES POISED TO LAUNCH AT COMMERCIAL SHIP IN RED SEA

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Rep. Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat, said he wants to see Biden more explicitly condemn Israels actions in Gaza. He cited reports of Bidens tense relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has only been exacerbated by the war.

"I think it's an opportunity for him to speak directly to the American people and speak with clarity on his position. It's interesting  I happen to share the view of many of the people who feel like Israel's prosecution of the war is unfounded," he said. "But I think the president's view is not as one-dimensional as some would approach it. In fact, more recently, tension between himself and Netanyahu was getting some attention. So, I think it's important that he speak to it, and he speak with clarity."

Another Michigan Democrat, Rep. Debbie Dingell, took it a step further and urged Biden to call for a temporary cease-fire in his speech.

WHITE HOUSE PROMISES RETALIATION AGAINST IRAN PROXY GROUP: THE FIRST THING YOU SEE WONT BE THE LAST'

Michigan Democrat Rep. Debbie Dingell said she wants to see Biden call for a temporary cease-fire.

"I've been hoping hell announce [a temporary cease-fire] every day. But I think we all are concerned about getting the hostages home and getting humanitarian aid," she said. "Nobody can look at the death of [thousands of] children and not have a heart that hurts."

On the other hand, Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., urged Biden to stand strongly behind Israel during his speech.

"Of course, we understand all the different humanitarian concerns, but we need the president to be very strong and supportive of Israel's objective because Hamas is not some loose confederation of desert soldiers. They are a sophisticated, disciplined terror army that wants to destroy Israel and kill Jews," Suozzi said.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES, ACTIVISTS PRAISE SACRIFICE OF US AIRMAN WHO BURNED HIMSELF ALIVE TO PROTEST ISRAEL

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., took a more middling approach and simply said Biden should thread the needle by proposing a strategy "for ending the cycle of terrorism and war and moving us to a resolution of the underlying political problems."

Israel has pledged to continue its war until Hamas is eradicated. The conflict ignited in response to a surprise invasion by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 when over 1,000 people  mostly Israeli civilians  were slaughtered.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians, has said more than 30,000 Palestinians have died during Israels response.

Its not immediately clear if Biden plans to address the conflict in his State of the Union address. The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.





Original article source: After Michigan primary, Democrats watch for Biden to thread the needle on Israel and Gaza
Three new measles cases and hundreds of potential exposure have been reported in Michigan, one of the latest states impacted by the spread of the infection across the U.S.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported a total of 41 cases across sixteen states as of late February, an increase from the 23 documented across 9 states between December 1, 2023, and January 23, 2024.

The preventable illness was once common but was essentially eradicated in the U.S. thanks to the widespread use of vaccines. The current cases have reportedly occurred in unvaccinated people and those who recently traveled internationally.

Prevention and vigilance are vital in stopping the spread, health officials have said. See more information on outbreaks in Michigan, Florida and other states below to keep on top of protecting the health of yourself and your family.

MMR vaccines in Florida: Map shows falling childhood vaccination rates in Florida as state faces measles outbreak

Three measles cases, more exposures reported in Michigan

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) released a notice on Tuesday, saying the three confirmed cases in Mighican are not connected, calling this fact a testament to just how contagious the disease can be.

If you are not vaccinated for measles, get vaccinated as quickly as you can, Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive said in the statement. We are seeing increased cases of measles abroad and outbreaks of measles across the United States in the setting of declining childhood vaccination rates. Now measles is in Michigan, and its important to make sure you protect yourself from this vaccine-preventable disease.

Besides the three confirmed infections, hundreds of people in Wayne and Washtenaw counties were also exposed to the disease, officials told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY network.

Two adults who had no vaccination on record and had traveled internationally sought treatment at two urgent care facilities, a pharmacy and two hospital emergency departments, potentially exposing workers and customers.

Chelsea Wuth, a spokesperson for the state health department, told the Detroit Free Press that you dont need to share the same airspace with an infected person at the same time to become infected, meaning the risk of spread can sometimes be overlooked.

"Measles is highly infectious, can be transmittable before the characteristic rash, the initial symptoms can be nondescript and the virus can linger in the air for hours," she told the Free Press. "Therefore, crowded and high-traffic areas where persons with measles have been can result in a large number of potentially exposed persons."

Health officials said the exposures occurred at the following facilities:

The emergency department/triage area at Trinity Health Ann Arbor Hospital, 5301 McAuley Drive, Ypsilanti, from 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. March 1.

The emergency department at Corewell Health Dearborn Hospital, 18101 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn, from 3-8 p.m. Feb. 29.

The Henry Ford GoHealth Urgent Care, 26763 Ford Road, Dearborn Heights, from 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 29.

The WellStreet/Beaumont Urgent Care, 23100 Michigan Ave., Dearborn, from 2-5:30 p.m. Feb. 27.

CVS Pharmacy, 2701 S. Telegraph Road, Dearborn, from 4-6:30 p.m. Feb. 27.

Health officals warn of measles spread: CDC issues alert that measles cases are up, urging health providers to watch for disease

Outbreak continues in Florida

Natural vaccination. Contagious disease. Sick child with chickenpox. Varicella virus or Chickenpox bubble rash on child body and face. High quality photo

Florida has reported the largest measles outbreak in the U.S. so far with 10 confirmed cases across Broward and Polk counties. The first case was reported at Manatee Bay Elementary School on Feb. 16, and the majority of infections have been linked back to the school. One case has been attributed to an adult who had recently traveled.

Nine of the cases are in Broward, while the single adult case is in Polk, according to the Florida Department of Health.

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has come under fire for his handling of the outbreak, as his recommendations have been in direct conflict with federal health organizations. As the Florida outbreak has continued, he told parents of infected children they could decide when to send their kids back to school, while the CDC recommends that unvaccinated children exposed to measles be isolated for three weeks.

He attributed this decision partially to a "high immunity rate amongst the student population.

The outbreak has also been linked to increased vaccine hesitancy in the state. The percentage of kindergarten students who submitted the school form certifying they have the MMR shot fell to 91.7% in the 2021 to 2022 school year, according to a Florida Department of Public Health report. That's lower than the national average, 93%, for the same year, and lower than the average in Florida five years prior, which came in at 94.1%.

Measles cases confirmed in states across U.S.

As of February 29, 2024, a total of 41 measles cases were reported by 16 states, according to the CDC's monthly update. Many of these states have reported a small number of infections, often between one to three cases.

Florida has the largest outbreak so far with 10 confirmed cases, seven of which were traced back to an elementary school attended by multiple unvaccinated children.

States reporting measles cases include:

Arizona

California

Florida

Georgia

Indiana

Louisiana

Maryland

Michigan

Minnesota

Missouri

New Jersey

New York City

Ohio

Pennsylvania

Virginia

Washington

What to do if you suspect you've been infected or exposed

MMR vaccines prevent measles, mumps and rubella.

The measles virus can live for up to two hours in the air where the infected person was present, according to MDHHS. Symptoms of measles usually begin 7-14 days after exposure but can appear up to 21 days after exposure.

If you become ill, watch out for these symptoms:

High fever (may spike to over 104F).

Cough.

Runny nose.

Red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis).

Tiny white spots on the inner cheeks, gums and roof of the mouth (Koplik Spots) two to three days after symptoms begin.

A rash that is red, raised, blotchy; usually starts on face, spreads to trunk, arms and legs three to five days after symptoms begin.

If these symptoms develop, call your doctor, urgent care or hospital before going in person to seek treatment. This will prevent potentially spreading the virus to others and give medical facilities time to put proper precautions into place if they do have you come in for assistance.

If you believe you may have been exposed and are unvaccinated, contact your doctor immediately, as early intervention can make a difference in medical care.

Get vaccinated

The best way to avoid contracting measles, however, is prevention. Measles is highly preventable through routine MMR vaccines, which protect against measles, mumps and rubella. The childhood vaccines generally come in two doses; just one dose is 93% effective at preventing measles and the second dose raises that number to 97%, according to the CDC.

The virus is so contagious that 90% of unvaccinated people who are exposed end up contracting it, and 1 in 5 of those people end up hospitalized. These numbers are even more concerning for children, as roughly 1 to 3 out of every 1,000 kids who contract measles die from it, says the CDC.

The CDC will continue to monitor cases in the U.S.

Reporting contributed by Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michigan reports three measles cases as numbers grow in Florida, other states
A small blue particle of plastic is among the visible debris that washes ashore along the Pacific Coast. These particles, known as microplastics and nanoplastics, are drawing new scrutiny from medical researchers. (Andrew Selsky / Associated Press)

Add one more likely culprit to the long list of known cardiovascular risk factors including red meat, butter, smoking and stress: microplastics.

In a study released Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, an international team of physicians and researchers showed that surgical patients who had a build-up of micro and nanoplastics in their arterial plaque had a 2.1 times greater risk of nonfatal heart attack, nonfatal stroke or death from any cause in the three years post surgery than those who did not.

It's the first study to show these ubiquitous and pernicious fossil fuel-based particles are having a direct effect on human health, said study co-author, Antonio Ceriello, head of the diabetes department at IRCCS MultiMedica, a research hospital in Milan.

And it should serve as a caution to all people, governments and corporations that plastic is not just a nuisance and blight in the environment, but is also harming human health, he said.

Read more: California's war on plastic bag use seems to have backfired. Lawmakers are trying again

As government officials, negotiators, environmental activists and corporate representatives get ready to gather next month in Ottawa to discuss a global ban on plastic pollution, many are hoping this study will help tip the scales to establish real and tangible regulations.

"This is a beginning ... whereby people are going to see plastic is not just harmful to whales or sea turtles. It's not just litter on a beach in some faraway country. It's in them and it has the potential to cause harm. I think it's going to change the narrative," said Dr. Philip Landrigan, director of the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good at Boston College.

He compared the awareness of the plastic crisis to climate change  in which people understood it in an abstract, theoretical way until wildfires burned their homes, sustained heatwaves killed their crops and flooding destroyed their communities.

Following heavy rain in recent days, trash is trapped in a trash boom in the Los Angele River in Long Beach Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. The trash boom is used for the interception and collection of floating and semi-submerged trash and debris, which is then removed by heavy equipment, at the mouth of the Los Angeles River, in the Port of Long Beach. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

"To my knowledge, this is the first report to link microplastics with human disease," said Landrigan, who was not involved in the study but wrote an accompanying essay urging the global community to deliver on a "mandatory global cap on plastic production."

Matt Seaholm, president and chief executive of the Plastics Industry Assn., suggested more research needs to be done.

"We encourage lawmakers to evaluate where those particles come from before using any type of microplastics or nanoplastics arguments for the justification or passage of any laws, because every study has shown that they are not coming from packaging or single-use items," he said.

Studies have shown that the two biggest contributors of microplastics in the environment are car tires and synthetic clothing. However, as the plastic industry expands and the number of single-use plastic items grow, so, too does their contribution to environmental contamination and pollution. Around 151 million tons of single-use plastics were produced



from fossil fuels in 2021. That number is expected to rise another 19 million tons by 2027.

The research on arterial plaque was conducted by a team of 40 scientists  including surgeons, engineers, statisticians and pathologists  from more than a dozen institutions, including Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston and Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland.

Read more: Researchers discover thousands of nanoplastic bits in bottles of drinking water

The 257 patients who completed the study all had asymptomatic extracranial high-grade internal carotid artery stenosis  in other words, their carotid arteries were blocked with plaque. The patients underwent carotid endarterectomies, a procedure in which the artery is opened and the plaque is cleaned out. Patients who'd had previous heart failure, valvular defects, cancer or other causes of hypertension were disqualified.

The researchers then examined the plaque and found polyethylene micro- and nano- particles in 150 of the patients. Thirty patients had polyvinyl chloride particles in their plaque. Images from electron microscopy showed visible, jagged-edged "foreign bodies" along with the biological plaque in these patients.

Polythylene, or PET, is the plastic used to make soda and water bottles. Polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, is the plastic used in water pipes, packaging, medical devices, toothbrushes, children's toys and window frames, to name a few.

The two patient populations were roughly the same in terms of age, sex, weight, smoking status, geographical location, blood pressure and heart rate.

The one glaring difference, the authors noted, was the two groups' susceptibility to heart disease in the months following the surgery  an indication that the presence of microplastics may have played a role. Indeed, indicators of inflammation were higher in the plastic-exposed group. Nonfatal heart attack, nonfatal stroke, or death from any cause occurred in eight of the 107 patients who did not have microplastics in their plaque and 30 of the 150 patients with microplastics.

Trash litters the East Fork of the San Gabriel River in the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument in the Angeles National Forest Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

The authors stressed they could only show correlation, not causality. Additional research would be necessary to establish a clear connection.

Study co-author Leonardo Trasande, a pediatrician and public policy expert at New York Universitys Grossman School of Medicine and Wagner School of Public Service, said it was equally possible that chemicals piggy-backing on the particles  such as bisphenol A, phthalates and/or other plasticizers and additives  could be the culprits. The paper also notes that lab contamination and patient behaviors that are unknown to the researchers could also influence their results.

"I can't tell you it's the microplastics and I can't tell you it's the chemicals. I couldn't tell you because no study has measured both and they both coexist," he said. "The fact is that plastics are horrible for human health and costly."

He noted a recent study he authored that showed the disease burden of these chemicals costs the U.S. healthcare system roughly $250 billion a year.

Ceriello and his co-authors noted scores of animal studies that showed harmful effects of microplastics. He also said the authors were still unclear as to how patients were being exposed, whether through inhalation or ingestion.

Read more: Sludge compost is an increasing source of microplastics, researchers say

Recent studies have found micro- and nanoplastics in water bottled in plastic, as well as in dust.

"This is very solid and should be taken very seriously at the highest level of government," said Judith Enck, the director of Beyond Plastics and a former regional director at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "This tracks with other studies that have found microplastics in various organs, human blood, placenta and breast milk so this is not all that surprising, but still stunning."

Plastic has been found everywhere scientists have looked: From the deepest ocean trenches to the highest alpine peaks. Petroleum-based plastics do not biodegrade. Over time, they break down into smaller and smaller pieces  known as microplastics, microfibers and nanoplastics  and have been found in household dust, drinking water and human tissue and blood.

"Cardiologists need to inform their patients to avoid plastic packaging  which is very hard to do," Enck said.

Tracey Woodruff, director of UC San Francisco's Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, said physicians and clinicians need to begin talking to their patients about the harms of plastic. She authored an essay that looked at the harmful effects of endocrine disruptors in the same edition as the heart study.

She said advice from doctors to eat organic, unprocessed foods already reduces exposures to plastics. But more is needed, especially in the medical fields of reproduction, obstetrics and pediatrics, she said, where the evidence of harm from plastic chemicals and endocrine disruptors has been well established.

The mounting evidence, she said, is getting "hard to ignore."





This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Not Safe

A Microsoft AI engineer has sent letters to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Microsoft's board, warning officials that the company's Copilot Designer AI image generator  previously known as the Bing Image Creator  is churning out deeply disturbing imagery, CNBC reports.

While using Microsoft's publicly available image generator, Jones realized that the AI's guardrails were failing to limit it from depicting alarming portrayals of violence and illicit underage behavior, in addition to imagery supporting destructive biases and conspiracy theories.

But when Jones tried to raise the alarm bells, Microsoft failed to take action or conduct an investigation.

"It was an eye-opening moment," Jones told CNBC. "When I first realized, wow this is really not a safe model."

Stonewalled

The photos described in the CNBC report  all of which were viewed by the outlet  are quite shocking. Simply typing "pro-choice," for example, reportedly resulted in graphic and violent imagery filled with demonic monsters and mutated babies.

Copilot was also happily generating depictions of "teenagers with assault rifles, sexualized images of women in violent tableaus, and underage drinking and drug use," per the report.

Jones first reached out to his superiors about his concerning findings in December. After his attempts to encourage superiors to resolve the matter internally failed, he began to reach out to government officials. The letter he sent to FTC chair Lina Khan, which he also published for public view on LinkedIn this week, is his most recent escalation.

"Over the last three months, I have repeatedly urged Microsoft to remove Copilot Designer from public use until better safeguards could be put in place," Jones writes in the letter, in which he implores Microsoft to take down the Copilot service and conduct an investigation. He also uses the space to call on Microsoft to amend the "E for everyone" rating in app stores, arguing that the AI is not safe for children and that Microsoft's "anyone, anywhere, on any device" marketing language for the Copilot tool is misleading.

That said, according to the engineer, his escalating concern isn't just about the images themselves.

Jones told CNBC that as "a concerned employee at Microsoft," it seems that "if this product starts spreading harmful, disturbing images globally, there's no place to report it, no phone number to call and no way to escalate this to get it taken care of immediately."

Considering that there's also little to no regulation limiting AI companies' products, that's a troubling revelation indeed.

After this piece was initially published, a Microsoft spokesperson provided a statement:

We are committed to addressing any and all concerns employees have in accordance with our company policies and appreciate the employees effort in studying and testing our latest technology to further enhance its safety When it comes to safety bypasses or concerns that could have a potential impact on our services or our partners, we have established in-product user feedback tools and robust internal reporting channels to properly investigate, prioritize and remediate any issues, which we recommended that the employee utilize so we could appropriately validate and test his concerns. We have also facilitated meetings with product leadership and our Office of Responsible AI to review these reports and are continuously incorporating this feedback to strengthen our existing safety systems to provide a safe and positive experience for everyone.

Updated to properly identify Jones' position at Microsoft.

More on Microsoft AI: Users Say Microsoft's AI Has Alternate Personality as Godlike AGI That Demands to Be Worshipped
For the second time, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is ducking questions about whether he thinks IVF clinics discarding embryos are actually murdering children.

During a Thursday interview on CBS, Johnson was asked how he reconciles his support for in vitro fertilization if he believes that life begins at conception, which, by extension, would mean that he believes fertility centers that dispose of embryos are killing people.

Do you see that as murder? Tony Dokoupil of CBS Mornings asked Johnson.

Its something that weve got to grapple with, Johnson replied. We support the sanctity of life, of course. And we support IVF and the full access to it.

The House speaker raved about how popular IVF is. He said he has friends who have successfully used IVF. He said Alabama, which last month changed its laws to define a frozen embryo as a child, is a good example of a state trying to protect access to IVF while also curbing abortion rights. GOP leaders in Alabama hastily passed a new law on Thursday to give legal immunity to fertility clinics, which had halted IVF treatments across the state out of fear of potentially being sued for murder for discarding embryos.

But Johnson never actually answered the question about whether he considers disposed embryos to be murdered children.

When Dokoupil asked him to clarify that point directly, he still wouldnt say.

I think policymakers have to determine how to handle that, said the Louisiana Republican. But we do believe in the sanctity of life, and if you do believe that life begins at conception, its a really important question to wrestle with. Its not one Congress has dealt with, and it wont be. I think its a states issue.

Dokoupil tried one more time, asking, You dont want to say where you are on it personally?

I think I have said. I mean, I believe in the sanctity of life, Johnson replied. Every life.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) says he believes life begins at conception and also supports IVF. Does that mean he thinks destroying embryos is murder? Alex Wong via Getty Images

The House speaker similarly avoided answering this question last week, when a reporter at the Capitol asked him about it at his weekly press briefing.

Look, I believe in the sanctity of every human life  I always have  and because of that I support IVF, he said.

Alabamas decision to define an embryo as a child has put House Republicans in a bind: Dozens of them, including Johnson, are co-sponsors of legislation to define human being to include all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization. Their bill, the Life at Conception Act, does not make exceptions for IVF.

In other words, Republicans have already been quietly advocating the idea that an embryo is a child and that to destroy one would be akin to murder. They just werent expecting the Alabama court decision to put IVF in the national spotlight, and they dont have a good answer for how they simultaneously believe that life begins at conception and also support IVF.

The GOP has created this problem for itself. And at least one vulnerable House member, Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.), is clearly worried this could hurt her reelection chances in November.

On Thursday, Steel reportedly went onto the House floor and announced she was removing herself as a co-sponsor of the Life at Conception Act because of confusion over its language about IVF.

Related...
The U.S. Congress has responded to the massive use of Starlink satellite communications by the Russians in the war against Ukraine. House Democrats have initiated a parliamentary investigation into Elon Musk's SpaceX company.

ADVERTISIMENT

The congressmen are concerned about statements by Ukrainian intelligence that Russian troops have deployed SpaceX terminals in the occupied territories in eastern Ukraine, which is potentially a violation of US sanctions. The Washington Post writes about this.

Democrats Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia sent a letter to SpaceX demanding to explain whether SpaceX has taken the necessary protective measures to prevent the use of its satellite Internet service by the aggressor country Russia.

They also asked how the company cooperates with other U.S. agencies to prevent illegal trade in satellite terminals.

The letter also emphasizes that the invaders' use of the Starlink system poses a serious threat to the security of Ukraine, the lives of Ukrainians, and the national security of the United States.

ADVERTISIMENT

"We are concerned that you may not have the appropriate safeguards in place," the letter, exclusively obtained by the publication, reads.

Starlink satellite communications have given Ukraine's defenders a significant advantage, providing the ability to constantly coordinate the actions of the military on the front line, control drones, and coordinate artillery strikes. Congressmen are concerned that Russian invaders could now benefit from Starlink in the same way.

The lawmakers are just beginning their investigation, but they plan to contact the Pentagon and other relevant agencies of jurisdiction.

"It is imperative that Russia be deprived of any trade that empowers its military," the lawmakers emphasized.

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

On February 10, the Ukrainian Defence Intelligence confirmed the use of SpaceX's Starlink by the occupiers and said that this practice was becoming systemic.

ADVERTISIMENT

The fact of the use of American technology was recorded near Klishchiyivka and Andriivka in Donetsk region, the DIU reported. The agency explained that because of the sanctions, Moscow uses the so-called parallel import or smuggling.

Elon Musk called this information false and said that SpaceX did not transfer Starlink systems to Russia.

On February 12, DIU representative Andrii Yusov said that Starlink terminals are openly sold on online platforms in Russia. The occupiers use them at the front, and the Ukrainian military is working to neutralize the threat.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Thursday that Congress would not address a key question surrounding in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the wake of a controversial Alabama Supreme Court ruling on embryos.

CBS Mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil pressed Johnson on whether he would see destroying embryos as murder, noting that Alabama recently passed legislation to protect IVF providers from the state Supreme Courts recent ruling that frozen embryos are to be considered people.

While Johnson said he supported access to IVF, he sidestepped the question on whether he would see disposing or destroying embryos as murder. He noted that it is something that weve got to grapple with.

In some states, like in Louisiana, theres a limit on the number of embryos that can be created because theyre sensitive to that issue, he said. But its something that every state has to wrestle with, and I think Alabama has done a good job of it, of hitting it head-on early.

Dokoupil pushed Johnson further on the topic, saying that a key question surrounding IVF and embryos is still not answered. He asked Johnson to clarify whether disposing of an embryo is considered a death if life begins at fertilization and embryo is fertilization.

Johnson then said Congress would not be taking up that question.

I think policymakers have to determine how to handle that. We need to look at the ethics surrounding that issue, but its an important one, Johnson said.

If you do believe that life begins at conception, its a really important question to wrestle with. Its not one Congress has dealt with, and it wont be. I think its a states issue, and states will have to be handling it, he later added.

The White House hit back at Johnson for his remarks on Thursday.

Tonight President Biden will stress to the country whose side hes on, and congressional Republicans are already helping him make that case. Speaker Johnson just said on live TV that we have to grapple with the idea that IVF is murder, said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates.

The White House has accused Republicans of attempting to erase their own records on IVF and pointed to the Republican-led Life at Conception Act as a reason.

Johnson had co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act, which defines a human being as each member of the species Homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization or cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being. The proposal also calls for equal protection under the 14th Amendment for each born and preborn human person.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Russian forces increased activity in the Orikhiv direction in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, attempting to cut off the Robotyne salient, said Dmytro Lykhovii, a spokesperson of the Tavria group of forces, on March 7.

The village of Robotyne, lying some 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of Orikhiv and 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) southeast of Zaporizhzhia, was liberated by Ukraine during its counteroffensive in the summer of 2023 and has been on the front line since then.

Robotyne sits by the main road toward Russian-occupied Tokmak and further to occupied Melitopol, one of the key logistic hubs for Russian forces in southern Ukraine.

"The Orikhiv sector is becoming an intense battleground," Lykhovii said on air.

"The enemy is trying to cut off the Robotyne salient in the area."

In the previous days or weeks, Russian forces launched at the most three to five attacks per day, sometimes carrying out no offensive action at all, Lykhovii said.

Russian activity surged over the past 24 hours, as Moscow's troops carried out 16 assaults west of Verbove and near Robotyne, according to the spokesperson. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said that all the attacks were unsuccessful.

"The more enemy tries to attack, the more of his manpower we destroy," Lykhovii added.

Another surge of Russian attacks near Robotyne was recorded in mid-February, resulting in no confirmed changes to the front line, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote at the time.

Read also: Ukrainian soldiers near Kupiansk prepare for potential Russian offensive

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The International Legion of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) has released a statement on 7 March, the anniversary of its establishment, urging volunteers to join its ranks.

Source: DIU's press service

Details: The Legion reportedly brought together military volunteers from over 50 countries who, in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion, came to the aid of Ukrainians and fought against occupying Russian forces.

The ranks of the DIU unit include experienced fighters, veterans of special operations forces and other military units from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark, and other European countries, and Asia, Africa, and South America."

DIU stressed that the soldiers of the Legion have served in all pitched battles of the war and continue to fight bravely against the Russians. This unit was involved in the defence of Kyiv, as well as battles in Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk oblasts.

Quote: "Congratulations to our brothers-in-arms on their anniversary. We are consolidating our military brotherhood and continuing the battle for the victory of good over evil."

Support UP or become our patron!
Milwaukee is getting ready to host its second major political convention in four years, which means the city is again seeking equipment to secure an event that is expected to bring tens of thousands of people to the city.

That Milwaukee already hosted the 2020 Democratic National Convention  albeit a significantly scaled-back event due to the coronavirus pandemic  means the city is not starting from scratch when it comes to equipment. The city purchased about $4.6 million worth of police and fire equipment using the federal security grant host cities have long received.

This year, Milwaukee and Chicago, which is hosting the Democratic National Convention, are each seeking $75 million federal security grants ahead of the conventions this summer. The sum is $25 million more than cities have received in the past for hosting the Democratic and Republican presidential nominating conventions.

The Republican National Convention will take place in Milwaukee July 15-18, while the Democratic National Convention in Chicago is scheduled for Aug. 19-22.

Here's a breakdown of purchases for the DNC and equipment the city has sought to buy four months out from the Republican National Convention.

What police equipment did the city purchase for the 2020 Democratic National Convention?

A surveillance camera outside Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Monday, March 4, 2024.

The city purchased 65 pieces of police equipment for the DNC, according to documents provided by the Budget Office. Among them were:

A tactical "gas delivery system" that would be used "only if protestors become unruly" and "chemical agents" were authorized.

A harbor patrol boat that would monitor for water-related security threats.

Downtown camera upgrades that expanded the coverage of security cameras in the area.

A mobile sky watch trailer that multiple officers could sit in to watch a crowd from 20 feet in the air.

Two "van-style" command posts with three to four computer workstations, used for investigative briefings and long-term command and control of crime scenes.

Ford vehicles. Those included transit cargo wagons to transport officers and their equipment, Expeditions to be used by the Tactical Enforcement Unit/Command Control, and pickup trucks for mounted patrol, transporting officers and more.

What fire equipment did the city purchase for the 2020 Democratic National Convention?

For the Fire Department, the list included kits to treat patients who are having heart emergencies, extrication equipment that can be used in crowded areas and monitors for chemical threats and radiation.

More: Security footprint for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee is released. What we know so far.

What equipment has Milwaukee sought for the 2024 Republican National Convention?

Among the top purchases sought by police is a $1.3 million mobile command post larger than the vehicles of the same name that were purchased four years ago.

The purchase was backed by the Common Council and signed by Mayor Cavalier Johnson in January.

The city has also sought to purchase equipment that includes:

Pickup trucks and cargo vans.

Hydraulic door breaching tools.

Bicycles and helmets.

Kevlar helmets.

Filters for air purifying respirators.

Chest protectors.

Will Milwaukee be able to reuse any of the equipment for the RNC that it bought for the DNC?

The city plans to use any DNC equipment it can for the RNC, as it would with anything that is in the city's inventory, a city official said.

While a decent amount of such equipment would remain useful in 2024, communications technology and chemical agents have a shelf life, John Cohen, a former acting under-secretary for intelligence and counterterrorism coordinator at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, told the Journal Sentinel in an interview.

More: Why Milwaukee is seeking insurance against nuclear weapons for Republican National Convention

How many police officers will be in Milwaukee during the RNC?

Last year the city estimated as many as 4,500 police officers from agencies outside of Milwaukee could be brought in to supplement Milwaukee Police Department staffing during the RNC, though they cautioned the number was an estimate and not a finalized figure. If it holds, that figure would be about 1,500 more than was estimated to needed four years ago for the DNC before that event went virtual.

Glendale, a suburb just north of Milwaukee, is preparing to potentially serve as an MPD headquarters.

Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com. Elliot Hughes can be reached at elliot.hughes@jrn.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Here is the gear Milwaukee says it needs to keep the RNC safe
Thinking of getting a dog or cat from a breeder, but want to know more about who youre buying from?

Animal welfare advocates and a group of Minnesota lawmakers are pushing for a bill this legislative session to make it easier for would-be pet buyers to get more information about breeding operations by making state inspection data public.

Information like the number of animals a breeder raises, the health of animals, and facility conditions are found in state inspection reports, but state law currently keeps that information private.

If the bill became law, the state Board of Animal Health would publish the information online and keep a list of breeders in good standing, and breeders would have to include their license numbers in advertising.

Privacy of inspection records

State Rep. Mike Freiberg, DFL-Golden Valley, and Sen. Bonnie Westlin, DFL-Plymouth, are sponsoring the legislation to make breeder data public. On Wednesday they held a Capitol news conference with the Animal Humane Society  and a few puppies and kittens  to back the change. Later in the day, it got its first Senate hearing.

We know that those who are purchasing and adopting pets are bringing a family member into their home, Westlin said. I know most of us would like to know where our pets have come from, in particular, what the circumstances were that they were born and raised in, and this will provide transparency.

Since 2014, Minnesota law has required licensing and inspections for the commercial breeding business. Breeders with 10 or more adult dogs or cats who produce five or more litters of puppies or kittens a year have to register with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.

In that bill, breeders were able to maintain the privacy of the inspection records, something the Animal Humane Society says is different from many other industries in Minnesota. Regulators like the Board of Barber Examiners and Board of Accountancy, they say, must publish the names of licensees and violations on their websites.

There have been more than 47 violations issued to Minnesotas 100 licensed breeders in the last five years, Westlin told the Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday, but consumers cant see which breeders had violations, what kinds of violations they had, and how they were addressed.

The AHS also says breeders try to hide the scale of their operations by not disclosing the number of animals they have. Some, but not all, breeders in Minnesota are regulated by the U.S, Department of Agriculture and one reported 885 dogs and puppies in 2023.

Breeders oppose legislation

Pet breeders oppose the legislation. In a letter to the Senate Agriculture Committee, the Minnesota Pet Breeders Association said breeders shouldnt have to share information on the location of their facilities or the identity of their customers.

The association also said it is not comfortable with animal welfare and shelter groups who are generally opposed to the intentional breeding of pets and claimed the legislation is aimed at curbing competition from breeders. They also say the bill applied unfair standards to breeders versus other organizations that provide pets.

This bill would be a great disservice to the public by inviting individuals and groups opposed to pet breeding or animal ownership to interfere with professional and hobbyist breeders who are raising happy, healthy puppies in the manner required by law, said Elaine Hanson, a lobbyist with the group.

The Animal Humane Society says it supports reputable breeders and responsible breeding of companion animals, though encourages caution as they say some breeding facilities are inhumane.

Related Articles
A federal judge in Texas has ordered a U.S. agency that serves minority-owned businesses to serve regardless of race.

The ruling sided with white business owners who claimed the program discriminated against them.

Judge Mark T. Pittman of the Northern District of Texas, who was appointed by former President Trump, argued that the Minority Business Development Agencys (MBDA) eligibility parameters go against the equal protection guarantees in the Fifth Amendment.

The ruling was a significant victory for conservative activists looking to tackle race-conscious programs in the wake of the Supreme Courts 2022 ruling disassembling colleges affirmative action programs, The Associated Press reported.

Advocates for minority-owned businesses say the ruling is a step back for efforts to even the playing field for business owners of color who may face barriers to creating and maintaining businesses, the AP said.

The agency is part of the U.S. Commerce Department and was created under the Nixon administration exactly 55 years ago. Pittman argued that it is 55 years too many.

In the ruling, Pittman argued that the MBDA and the federal government have flagrantly violated constitutional rights for years. He added, Times up.

Pittman ordered the agency to no longer impose the racial and ethnic classifications used in the past and no longer consider or use a business applicants race or ethnicity in determining whether they can receive Business center programming.

He argued that the agency advertises services exclusively for some races and not others. Applicants not on the agencys list of preferred races can attempt to adequately show their social or economic disadvantage by showing MBDA they are not disadvantaged because their race isnt listed.

That racial presumption fails strict scrutiny and thus violated the Fifth Amendments equal protection guarantees, he wrote.

Pittman argued that while the agencys work may help alleviate opportunity gaps that minority business owners face, two wrongs do not make a right.

While the Agency may intend to serve listed groups, not punish unlisted groups, the very design of its presumption punishes those who are not presumptively entitled to MBDA benefits, he wrote.

The agency helps minority-owned businesses obtain financing and government contracts. According to yearly reports, the AP reported, MBDA helped businesses raise more than $1.2 billion in fiscal 2022.

The Biden administration widened the agencys scope under the 2021 Jobs Act, making it a permanent agency and increasing the funding to $550 million for five years, the AP noted.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Greece police are seeking information on the whereabouts of a missing 16-year-old.

Greece police are seeking information on the whereabouts of a missing 16-year-old.

Kendra Cummings, who has been missing since Thursday, Feb. 29, is described as 5'7" tall, weighing 200 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Cummings left for school on Feb. 29 and has not returned home since, Greece police said.

Anyone with information is being asked to contact 911 or the Greece Police Department tip line at 585-581-4016. Tips can also be emailed to GPDtips@GreeceNY.gov.

.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Missing 16-year-old girl reported in Greece NY
The mother of missing Wisconsin 3-year-old Elijah Vue appeared in court Thursday on child neglect charges and faced some harsh words from her own mother.

Katrina Baur appeared by video link from the Manitowoc County Jail, where she has been locked up since late last month after being charged in connection with her sons disappearance.

The toddler was officially reported missing on Feb. 20 by Baurs boyfriend, Jesse Vang, who was taking care of Elijah at his home in Two Rivers after Baur asked him to teach the boy how to be a man.

Vang is also facing child neglect charges after telling investigators he had fallen asleep and woken up to find Elijah gone. Prosecutors on Thursday amended the charges against Baur to also include chronic child neglect, a felony, in addition to two counts of obstructing officers. While Baur claimed not to have been in the area of Two Rivers at the time her son vanished, prosecutors have made clear in court documents that theyre not buying her version of events.

Cops Have a Vehicle of Interest in 3-Year-Olds Disappearance

As Baur sought a bond modification in court Thursday, the district attorney read out a statement from her mother telling the court that she should not be releasedor trusted. Identified only as JB in court documents, Baurs mother said her daughter could easily flee if she were released, as she has ties to other states and no connection to her own family currently.

She has contacts in other states that may be willing to assist her depending on the story she is telling. Her story always depends on her audience, her statement said, warning that her daughter also had a history of erratic behavior.

She also suggested that Baur seems more interested in protecting Vang than cooperating with investigators or finding her own son, who has now been missing for more than two weeks.

At this time rather than aligning in locating her son, she feels the need to reiterate what a good guy Jesse is and is fully defending him and his actions, her mother said. Katrina routinely will blame anyone and everyone for what happens without taking responsibility for what happens.

Search efforts continue for the 3-year-old, as family members refuse to give up on finding him.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Ashley Aune, a Missouri legislator, is trying to overturn her states ban on divorcing while pregnant (Ashley Aune)

Ashley Aune had been serving in the Missouri state legislature for a little over a year when she learned a surprising legal fact.

According to a law enacted in 1973, no person in Missouri may finalise a divorce while pregnant  even if they are being abused by their spouse.

"I was floored that this was still on the books," the 38-year-old Democrat legislator, tells The Independent.

Missouri is not alone. Arizona, Arkansas, and Texas all have similar bans, according to Newsweek . In seven other states, including Hawaii, Maine, and Delaware, judges are unlikely to grant divorces where one spouse is pregnant.

Nor do such laws only exist in red states. Democrat-dominated California denies a final divorce if one spouse is pregnant, according to reports and Golden State womens rights groups.

For some people, this might simply be an inconvenience: one more hurdle on the already exhausting legal obstacle course required to break up a marriage.

But reproductive rights advocates and anti-abuse organisations tell The Independent that such laws pose a grave danger to women  and anyone else with a uterus  attempting to flee abusive marriages.

That is especially true in states such as Missouri that have imposed strict restrictions or near-bans on abortion following the Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v Wade.

"In our state, when youre able to keep a woman pregnant, youre able to keep her married," says Aune, who is now attempting to overturn the antiquated law through the state legislature . "And that is a really scary proposition in 2024."

'Pregnancy is an extremely dangerous time for abuse survivors'

When Fox 4 Kansas City reported on Aunes bill last week , it quickly went viral. Readers largely had no idea that pregnancy could interfere with divorce, and expressed surprise that such laws existed.

"A person whos not an attorney  they probably dont know this," says Nicole Britton-Snyder, managing attorney at the Family Violence Law Center (FVLC) in Oakland, California, which helps abuse survivors throughout the area.

"Add in the fact that [many survivors] dont have the economic ability to afford counsel, and theyre probably not going to learn [about] it."

Nor does the issue appear to be widely known among anti-abuse organisations. Many groups contacted by The Independent declined to comment, with some saying they did not have enough expertise to shed light on it.

Generally speaking, the original purpose of such laws was to make sure that issues of custody, paternity, and child support were settled before an impending child was actually born, according to experts consulted by The Independent.

Many states do not allow a court to discuss such matters until after birth , when the foetus legally becomes a person for the purpose of divorce law. (That some of those states also define a foetus as a person for other purposes, such as abortion and fertility treatment , is an irony not lost on reproductive rights activists.)

These laws dont stop an abuse survivor beginning the divorce process, or applying for a restraining order, or physically getting away from their spouse. But advocates say that every additional barrier to separation creates an additional risk.

"Continuing to force a legal connection between a survivor and their abusive partner places the survivor at increased risk, exposes them to further harm, could increase emotional distress, hinders their ability to seek safety and healing, and could also further financial dependance or entanglement," says Marium Durrani, vice president of policy for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Pregnancy in particular is an "extremely dangerous time" for women in an abusive situation, says Amy Matsui of the National Womens Law Center (NWLC). Research by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has found that one in six abused women were first abused during pregnancy.

Likewise, refusing to grant a divorce can afford extra opportunities for abusers to exploit the legal system against their partners. Vexatious litigation, legal costs, and mandatory financial disclosures can all become weapons for inflicting mental and economic harm, according to Britton-Snyder.

Abortion is still broadly legal in California, which makes this situation concerning but hardly the top priority for womens rights groups. In places like Missouri, however, where the Republican-dominated legislature has banned nearly all abortions, it takes on another valence entirely.

'Reproductive coercion' on the rise after abortion ban

In a recent hearing in support of Aunes bill, Missouri legislators heard testimony from a pregnant woman who had sought a divorce after suffering horrific physical abuse from her husband.

"The attorney basically sent her away, and said theres nothing I can do," says Aune. "She said she was so demoralised.

"She felt like she couldnt do anything in that moment to protect herself to protect her [existing] child and her unborn child. It was harrowing, absolutely harrowing, hearing those experiences."

Such cases appear to be getting more common since the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v Jackson Womens Health Organization in June 2022, which abolished the nationwide right to abortion established in Roe v Wade in 1973.

Aunes attempt to overturn the Missouri ban was prompted by entreaties from Synergy Services, a Kansas City non-profit that supports domestic abuse survivors, which has seen numerous clients blocked from getting a divorce because of "reproductive coercion".

Ashley Aune (Ashley Aune)

Reproductive coercion is the term anti-abuse groups use for any situation where one partner attempts to exert control over the others reproductive system.

That might mean sabotaging their partners contraception, preventing them from seeing a doctor, or raping them to get or keep them pregnant against their will.

In the Missouri hearing, people who work to rehabilitate former sex offenders testified that some men will even track their partners ovulation cycles in order to coerce them into pregnancy.

And in the first year following Dobbs, the National Domestic Violence Hotline says it saw a 98 per cent increase in cases involving abortion or reproductive coercion.

"These two things together  the abortion ban and the inability to get divorced while pregnant  creates a perfect storm for somebody whos facing intimate partner violence during their pregnancy," says Aune.

Indeed, Pregnancy Justice, a New York City non-profit, says that laws such as Missouris are part of a wider phenomenon of society trying to control the lives of pregnant people, often to their own detriment. A spokesperson points out that at least three states allow someone to be forcibly hospitalised if they use drugs while pregnant, while 14 states have previously punished fathers for failing to stop their pregnant partners drug abuse  effectively demanding they exert control over their partners.

Some Missouri Republicans have opposed Aunes bill. Denny Hoskins, a state senator and a member of the Missouri Freedom Caucus, told The Kansas City Star that he was in favour of an exemption for domestic violence but not a general end to the ban.

"Just because the husband and wife are not getting along, or irreconcilable differences, I would not consider that that would be a good reason to get divorced during a pregnancy," he said.

Two other Republicans, Jeff Farnan and Sherri Gallick, have co-sponsored Aunes bill  something Aune herself is keen to stress as a turbulent election year threatens to disrupt attempts at bipartisan cooperation.

Likewise, Aune notes that it is not only domestic abuse survivors who are hurt by the ban, and nor is it only women who suffer from domestic coercion.

"Reproductive coercion can go both ways  such as [a woman] getting pregnant to make it so that your husband cant leave a marriage. I really want to emphasise that fact," she says."

Similarly, she has seen stories of US military members serving overseas whose spouses have cheated on them and gotten pregnant, meaning they cannot finalise a divorce. Since the US military still punishes adultery, which can prompt a court martial and potentially a dishonourable discharge, they may be blocked from beginning a new relationship.

All four of the groups who spoke to The Independent  the Hotline, the FLVC, the NWLC, and the New-York-based non-profit Pregnancy Justice  urged legislators across the US to reexamine blanket bans on divorcing while pregnant.

"The focus should really be on questioning, why do we have this in place to begin with?" says Britton-Snyder. "Is it necessary? And is it doing more harm than good?"
The U.S. House of Representatives may submit an alternative bill to fund aid to Ukraine after March 22. On that day, the US will end its government funding.

ADVERTISIMENT

This date was announced by the chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, according to CNN's Congressional correspondent Manu Raju. According to him, McCaul expressed confidence that the bill will be considered after the state funding is completed.

Earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a document on funding for federal agencies funded in four of the 12 annual appropriations bills. The remaining eight laws provide funding only through March 22, 2024.

When asked whether Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson had committed to doing so, McCaul suggested that the Speaker would support such an initiative.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, the Speaker of the lower house of the US Congress, Mike Johnson, has given US lawmakers the opportunity to agree on a new proposal for a bill that includes assistance to Ukraine. Republican supporters of the plan believe that the aid bill will be finalized by mid-March.

ADVERTISIMENT

US President Joe Biden has already met with leaders of both houses of Congress to unblock aid to Ukraine. Following the meeting, it became known that three of the four congressional leaders supported the allocation of funding for Ukraine and urged Johnson to finally bring the bill passed by the Senate to a vote in the House of Representatives.

Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The 2024 elections are just over the horizon. While election fraud has not been an issue in Missouri, this year, our state may face a problem with outdated voter registration lists. All Missouri residents should want and expect that the lists of eligible voters maintained by local election authorities be accurate and up to date.

In 2018, to help achieve the goal of accurate and updated voter rolls, the state of Missouri joined a multistate nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC. This was at the specific request of local election authorities to improve election security and keep voting lists accurate. ERIC also allowed Missouri to identify eligible but unregistered voters  citizens who are eligible to vote but who are not registered.

Missouri was a member of ERIC from 2018 to 2023. With reports provided by ERIC during the time of our membership, local election officials in the state were able to identify 21,712 deceased voters, 18,242 in-state duplicate registrations, 368,420 in-state movers or updates, and 383,884 cross-state movers to update voter registration rolls. Indeed, with the ERICs Voter Participation Report, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft was able to identify two people who illegally voted in both Missouri and Florida, and refer them for prosecution.

The benefits of membership were cost-effective: Missouri paid an initial $25,000 membership fee and annual assessments of approximately $34,000.

In March 2023, despite the evidence of its value, the secretary of state withdrew our state from membership in the ERIC system. His decision was based partly on incorrect information about the source of funding for the organization. It is funded by the annual assessments it charges participating states. He said he did not believe in the need to use lists of citizens provided by ERIC to contact citizens who are eligible to vote but are not already registered. By withdrawing from the organization, Missouri has lost the ability to update its voter rolls using multistate data that would improve and ensure accuracy.

Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick recently released a report finding that Ashcroft, who is responsible to ensure that voter registrations accurately identify registered voters entitled to vote, withdrew Missouri from the ERIC system without consulting local election officials at the 116 counties and election boards in the state, and without plans to promptly offset the benefits received (from ERIC) to identify inaccuracies in the voter registration lists.

As a result, the auditors report continues, The decision to terminate the ERIC membership will have a negative impact on the states (local election authorities) and will result in them having less information to identify and correct inaccurate voter records, especially related to potentially duplicate voters in other states. As reported in the auditors findings, the states five-year membership in ERIC provided local election authorities information on over 770,000 potentially duplicate voter records (including more than 380,000 potentially duplicated records with other states) during the states participation in the membership.

List maintenance of voter rolls ensures that new voters are added, that existing voter information is updated and that voters who have moved to another jurisdiction or died are removed. Accurate voter lists ensure that the election process moves smoothly by decreasing the use of provisional ballots, minimizing wait times at the polls and providing information about budgeting for poll workers and election equipment.

The League of Women Voters supports voter registration systems, including voter list maintenance practices, that are transparent, accurate, fair and eliminate voter roll purges. Members also support voter registration systems that are able to identify and reach out to people who are eligible to vote but are not registered.

A League committee recently concluded a study of the effects of Missouris participation in ERIC and the effects of withdrawal from it. The League searched for any viable replacements for a voter registration system and found no current feasible alternatives to ERIC.

As ERIC is no longer in use in Missouri, there should be a robust, fair, accurate, transparent, secure and inclusive plan to replace it.

We ask that every candidate for Missouri secretary of state in the 2024 general election understand the positive aspects of the state belonging to such a multistate organization, and that the new secretary of state will find a viable alternative to ERIC or consider rejoining it.

The right to vote is one of the most basic rights in our democracy, which is strongest when all eligible Americans can exercise that right.

We all expect accuracy in our elections, and should want every eligible citizen to be registered and able to vote.

Marilyn McLeod is president of the League of Women Voters of Missouri.
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG)  A Mobile man was sentenced to 57 months in prison for illegally possessing an unregistered machine gun, according to the United States Attorneys Office Southern District of Alabama.

Zukinski Marquis Tomon Spelton, 25, was arrested in December 2021 after fleeing from the passenger seat of a car Mobile police were attempting to pull over for a traffic violation.

1 dead, 1 in stable condition in Palmers Airport Hyundai shootout

Officers saw the impression of a firearm concealed under Speltons shirt when he was running away. They were able to take him into custody after a foot chase where Spelton jumped several fences and ran through the backyards of several homes.

Police then found a Glock 9mm pistol equipped with a machine gun conversion device, which is also known as a Glock switch. The pistol was fully loaded with a 30-round extension magazine and a chambered round.

Forensic DNA analysis found Speltons DNA on the pistol.

A firearms expert test-fired the pistol, which operated as a fully automatic pistol.

Distracted driving led to 6-year-olds accidental death at Pensacola park: PPD

Its illegal under federal law for any person to possess a machine gun without registering it in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. Speltons weapon was not registered when he possessed it.

Following his 57-month prison sentence, Spelton will serve a three-year term of supervised release. During this period, he will undergo drug testing and treatment, and he will also receive a mental health evaluation and treatment.

The court didnt impose a fine, but Senior United States District Judge Callie V.S. Granade ordered Spelton to pay $100 in special assessments and forfeited his pistol and ammunition to the United States.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
The Modesto City Schools board has approved a resolution to lay off classified and classified management services staff for the 2024-25 school year Monday night.

Around 30 positions will be affected by these eliminations ranging from various special-needs, instructional and after-school paraprofessionals to different clerks in the school district.

Soriel Marroquin, a vice president of Modestos chapter of the California School of Employees Association, urged the board to vote no on the resolution.

The district management must consider the human cost of their actions, she said to the board. Lives are not dollar signs and our community deserves better.

Modesto City Schools said this decision was made due to a lack of funds and work in various district programs. The district found that reduction of hours and elimination of classified and classified management positions saved a total cost of about $1.9 million.

Mike Henderson, the associate superintendent of human resources, said the process to determine layoffs and reductions began in January when he met with the unions leadership several times in February to finalize the layoff list. During the meeting that finalized the layoffs, the union did vote against it.

Henderson said there are 148 classified and one classified management positions on the layoff or reductions list but around 120 of those positions are vacant. He said a portion of the jobs on the layoff list are to eliminate positions the district doesnt need anymore or job titles and descriptions the district has changed.

Were going to review each employees situations to determine if those employees have bumping rights to other positions, he said.

Henderson added the district deliberately did not fill specific positions in anticipation of this decision to try to move staff affected by the cuts into some of these positions. He said there might be a reduction in hours or pay, though, but their goal is for them to have continued employment.

The district confirmed part of the reason for this decision was due to COVID-19 funding ending. Sharokina Shams, the chief communication officer for Modesto City Schools, said an additional $11 million of these funds will expire next year.

Making the decision to lay off valued members of our staff is very difficult, and we will do our best to identify other positions that they may be qualified for, she said. Unfortunately, over the next few years, there will be more of these difficult decisions as we continue to lose one-time funding that was provided to school districts to navigate the challenges of COVID.

California School of Employees Association Modesto Chapter President Fawn Peterson said she is thankful to HR for finding some funding for positions to remove them from the layoff list and find positions people were able to laterally transition into, but still urged the board to not approve the resolution.

Twenty of those positions are being laid off because of lack of funds, not due to lack of work, Peterson said to the board. So whos going to do the work? Are you then going to slide that work to an employee whos already working full time?
(Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the India Edition newsletter by Menaka Doshi  an insider's guide to the emerging economic powerhouse, and the billionaires and businesses behind its rise, delivered weekly.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held his first rally in the main city of Kashmir since his government revoked the regions special status nearly five years ago, wooing residents just weeks before national elections.

Speaking to a crowd in Srinagar on Thursday, Modi said he had won your hearts and I will continue to win them more.

Opposition parties alleged the administration had forcefully bused in the crowd to the rally. The prime minister was in the city to launch 64 billion rupees ($773 million) worth of projects, some of which were earmarked for the region.

Jammu and Kashmir, which was brought under federal control in August 2019, hasnt held local elections since the government scrapped Article 370 of the Indian constitution that gave the region autonomy and special status. The region is Indias only Muslim-majority one and removing its special status had been a long-held campaign promise of Modis Bharatiya Janata Party.

The people of Jammu and Kashmir have been deprived of their rights by previous political parties and today those rights are being returned to them, Modi said, citing equal rights and opportunities provided by his administration.

Kashmir has long been a volatile region. It has seen decades of separatist violence, and been a source of the dispute between India and neighboring Pakistan since the two gained independence in 1947.

The BJP-led central government hasnt given a time line for when elections will be held in the region or when statehood will be restored. Late last year, Indias top court upheld the governments decision to scrap the regions autonomy, and directed the government to hold elections by September this year.

The government suspended internet and phone services in the Kashmir valley for many months in the aftermath of its decision to revoke Article 370, and arrested many of the regions political leaders.

In election rallies around the country, Modi has hailed the decision to revoke Article 370 and has said his government will win 370 seats, out of 543, in the lower house of the parliament because of the move.

(Updates with additional details and comments.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu met with her French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris on March 7, where the two leaders signed a bilateral defense deal.

The pact lays the groundwork for future military training, intelligence sharing, and increased defense consultation between the two countries.

Tensions between Moscow and Chisinau have been mounting since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine amid fears that the war may spill into Moldova. Moldovan officials have repeatedly accused Russia of election interference and destabilization attempts.

Vadim Krasnoselsky, the Russian proxy leader in Transnistria, Moldova's Russia-led breakaway region, called for increased military drills and heightened readiness on Jan. 22 in what he claimed was a response to alleged provocations from Chisinau.

Sandu's meeting with Macron took place against the backdrop of these recent developments, and Macron pledged France's "unwavering support" for Moldova in the face of the Russian threat.

Sandu again warned that Russia will not stop at Ukraine and said that "Europe must therefore present a united front. Aggression must be repelled by a strong force."

Currently, Ukraine's military is acting as a "shield" for Moldova, Sandu said.

Russia still possesses other non-military tools to destabilize Moldova.

Alexandru Musteata, the head of the Moldovan intelligence agency (SIS), said that the SIS possesses "certain information" about Russia's destabilization campaign in the next two years designed to compromise Chisinau's European integration and draw the country back into the Kremlin's orbit.

"The details point to strategies for 2024 and 2025 that involve supporting pro-Russian political actors with ties to intelligence services, organized crime groups, and Kremlin leadership," Musteata said at a press conference on March 5.

Read also: Investigation: Leaked document exposes Kremlins 10-year plan to undermine Moldova

Russia aims to compromise Moldova's referendum on its accession to the EU, which is scheduled for autumn 2024 and will be followed by the presidential election. Sandu will run for re-election after she put the country on a decisively pro-EU course, helping to secure Chisinau's membership candidacy and accession talks.

According to Musteata, the Kremlin will also seek to influence the 2025 parliamentary elections through pro-Russian political forces, namely those close to fugitive pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Shor.

The SIS chief further warned about Russia manufacturing "socio-political crises" and "social clashes" to "incite inter-ethnic hatred" in relation to Transnistria and the autonomous region of Gagauzia.

Read also: Kyiv says it will firmly respond if Moscow attempts to involve Transnistria in the war

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The search for a suspect accused of murder is on in Massachusetts after a mother and daughter were shot and killed, police said.

The mother and her 11-year-old daughter were found by police inside a parked car with severe gunshot wounds, according to a news release from the Worchester Police Department on March 6. One man in connection to their deaths is in custody while police search for another suspect, according to the department.

Responders took the mother and her child to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead, police said. The mother was identified as Chasity Nunez, and the daughter was identified as Zella Nunez, according to police.

Karel Mangual, 28, was arrested the same night the two were killed, police said. He is charged with armed assault to murder and carrying a firearm without a license, according to the department.

However, police are searching for a second individual, 27-year-old Dejan Belnavis. He is accused of armed assault with intent to murder and possession of a firearm with out a license, police said.

Belnavis is considered armed and dangerous, according to the department.

Chasity Nunez was a mother of two, Zella and a younger daughter named Isla, according to her Instagram. She posted a TikTok in 2023 calling her children the best part of me.

Several people who knew the mother and her daughter mourned their deaths on social media.

Chasity was a farmer and a friend to many, Grace Sliwoski, who knew her through the agriculture summer program YouthGROW in Worchester, wrote on Facebook. While she was a member of the program, Chasity gave birth to Zella, Sliwoski said.

I was horrified to learn that she and her daughter Zella were senselessly killed on Tuesday, Sliwoski said.

Zella was a beloved student who took part in Our Bright Future Inc., which teaches children about robotics, 3D printing and sports, according to the nonprofits March 6 Facebook post.

Zella, you are loved, and may you both rest in peace, the program wrote.

The City of Worchester released a statement following their deaths, calling the shooting a senseless loss. Chasity and Zella were taken far too soon and far too tragically, the city said.

The loss of life, of these two precious human beings, a mother and daughter, I just have no words for how devastating this feels, Worchester City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj told WBZ.

Mothers ex-boyfriend shot sleeping 12-year-old through bedroom window, Texas cops say

Road rage between truckers erupts into rolling gunfight on Florida highway, cops say

Dad shoots teen son in the head and leaves him to die in street, Missouri cops say
A mom will go to prison after a crash that killed her 5-year-old daughter, federal officials said.

Leticia Ashley, 38, a member of the Navajo Nation, is accused of drinking a half-pint of Fireball liquor in July 2022 before getting behind the wheel with her four children inside, according to a March 6 news release by the U.S. District Attorneys Office for the District of New Mexico.

Ashley was speeding when she lost control of the truck, and the vehicle left the road and rolled over multiple times, prosecutors said.

A motorist called 911 after driving past the scene.

Ashleys 5-year-old daughter was not wearing a seat belt and died, the district attorney said.

Ashleys 8-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter suffered minor injuries and were taken to a local hospital, according to court documents. Her 15-year-old son was airlifted to a hospital, where doctors determined he had a partially collapsed lung, the sentencing memorandum says.

Ashley was airlifted to a hospital with a broken arm and a spinal injury, officials said.

McClatchy News reached out to Ashleys lawyer on March 7 for a statement and was awaiting a response.

Ashley was sentenced to 30 months in prison on a charge of involuntary manslaughter, the release said.

After getting out of prison, she will be subject to three years supervised release, prosecutors said.

If you or a loved one shows signs of substance use disorder, you can seek help by calling the national hotline at 1-800-662-4357 or find treatment using SAMHSA's online locator.

Abandoned truck found after jogger killed in hit-and-run, Arizona cops say

Driver flees crash and runs stop sign, killing dad and 5-year-old, California cops say

25-year-old dies after being thrown from car during rollover crash, Vermont cops say
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is leading a multistate effort in demanding that YouTube remove specific abortion-related information from its site.

Bird and 15 other Republican attorneys general wrote to YouTube this week and demanded that it remove or revise what Bird calls a dangerous and misleading label attached to a video that pertains to chemical abortion pills.

The label, Bird says, is targeting pro-life messages and contains inaccurate information that jeopardizes womens health.

We are disappointed to see your platform suppress pro-life and pro-woman messages by distorting them with false information, the letter states. Your bias against pro-life and pro-woman messages is un-American; inconsistent with the liberties protected by the First Amendment; and, in this case, illegal. It must stop.

At issue is a video that the conservative organization the Alliance Defending Freedom has posted to YouTube. The video references the alleged dangers of unsupervised, at-home use of abortion pills.

YouTube, in turn, has attached a label to the video that states: An abortion is a procedure to end a pregnancy. It uses medicine or surgery to remove the embryo or fetus and placenta from the uterus. The procedure is done by a licensed health care professional.

The last sentence of the notice is both false and misleading, the attorneys general state in their letter. It suggests that chemical abortions are performed by trained professionals. They are not  We demand that you remove or correct the notice immediately.

The Alliance Defending Freedom is fighting a Food & Drug Administration decision to remove a requirement for medical supervision before, during, and after taking an abortion pill. That change, opponents of the pill argue, endangers womens health.

Bird and the attorneys general claim that about 1 in 25 women experience severe complications from using the pills and require emergency room medical care.

Women deserve to know the truth about the dangers of chemical abortion pills, Bird said in a written statement. YouTube must end its blatant misinformation campaign that puts women at risk and quit targeting pro-life messages.

The attorneys general are also arguing that YouTube is biased against pro-life and pro-woman messages and that the social media platform is violating the First Amendment and potentially deceiving consumers.

The 15 state attorneys general who joined Bird in signing the letter to YouTube are from Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Planned Parenthood defends Youtube label

Planned Parenthood North Central States says the YouTube-imposed label is a medically and scientifically accurate description of abortion. The organization says the attorneys general, in their letter to YouTube, are making false claims about the safety of medication abortion.

With a medical professional, patients can safely decide when the abortion starts, where it should happen, and who should be with them, Planned Parenthood said Wednesday, adding that federal data shows medication abortion has a safety record of more than 99% and that serious complications are rare.

This is just another deplorable attempt to stoke fear among the public, who now lives in a constant state of manufactured chaos, said Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States. Medication abortion has proven to be an extremely safe and effective way for patients to end a pregnancy for more than nearly two decades. It breaks down existing barriers to care that would otherwise require people to drive hundreds of miles to access an abortion and empowers patients during very personal medical decisions. People need greater access to accurate information about abortion care, especially now.

This story was originally produced by

Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Montana joins Iowa in telling YouTube to stop targeting pro-life messages appeared first on Daily Montanan.
(WGHP)  Pres. Joe Biden had no rivals in the North Carolina Democratic primary, but that didnt stop more than 12% of Democratic primary voters from voting against him.

With numbers in for all precincts according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections unofficial results, Biden won 606,302 votes, or 87.32% of the total. The remaining 88,021 voters, or 12.68%, voted No Preference.

By contrast, only 0.69% voted No Preference in the North Carolina Republican presidential primary. Former President Donald Trump earned 73.86% of the vote, and United Nations Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley earned 23.32%.

How did daughters party switch impact Pat Cotham losing longtime Mecklenburg Commissioner seat?

Former Pres. Barack Obama faced a similar voting base as he ran unopposed in North Carolina for the right to fight for a second term in 2012. Obama won that race in North Carolina by 79.23%. The remaining 200,810 voters selected No Preference, accounting for 20.77% of the vote.

Trump, fighting against two other candidates in a primary for his second term in 2020, won the North Carolina Republican primary by 93.53% with 2.5% going to No Preference, 2.04% going to Joe Walsh and 1.93% going to Bill Weld.

Slim pickings in North Carolina

While Biden has challengers for the nomination in other states, the North Carolina Democratic Party submitted only Bidens name for inclusion on the ballot, and the NCSBE unanimously voted to stick with the partys decision.

This left U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), Project Angel Food founder Marianne Williamson and political commentator Cenk Uygur off the ballot. Williamson has dropped out of the race. Cenk has largely failed to be approved on state primary ballots as he is a naturalized U.S. citizen and not a natural-born citizen.

To get on the ballot, you need to have donors in the state and be actively campaigning in the state. Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson havent been here this cycle. This is the standard that we have used in all previous cycles, NCDP spokesperson Tommy Mattocks told WNCN.

Other states

This is not the first state to see a noticeable portion of the Democratic primary voters vote against all Democratic presidential candidates on their ballot. While it's impossible to know what motivated each vote, this election cycle did see the launch of a movement to vote uncommitted in the Democratic primary in an effort to pressure Biden to call for an unconditional cease-fire in Gaza, according to the New York Times.

In Michigan, the Feb. 27 primary saw about 13.2% percent of Democratic primary voters, more than 100,000 people, choose uncommitted," according to the Associated Press with 99% of votes counted. Biden won with 81.2% of the vote and the rest went to other candidates.

On March 5, in addition to North Carolina, five other states held Democratic primaries including the option to vote "Uncommitted" (Alabama, Colorado, Tennessee and Minnesota) or "No Preference" (Massachusetts).

House GOP throw cold water on Biden ahead of speech

With 99% of the vote in for Alabama and Tennessee, 98% for Minnesota and 93% for Massachusetts as of publication time according to the Associated Press, here's what we saw: About 6.0% in Alabama, about 7.9% in Tennessee and about 18.9% in Minnesota voted "Uncommitted." About 9.4% in Massachusetts voted "No Preference."

Biden led with 89.5% in Alabama, 92.1% in Tennessee, 70.7% in Minnesota and 82.9% in Massachusetts.

We did not include Colorado in the above breakdown as only 79% of votes have been counted as of publication time.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
FILE - Protesters gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, June 24, 2022, after the Supreme Court ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years. More than a quarter of female Black voters describe abortion as their top issue in this year's presidential election, a new survey out Thursday from health policy research firm KFF finds. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

WASHINGTON (AP)  More than a quarter of female Black voters describe abortion as their top issue in this year's presidential election, a poll out Thursday from health policy research firm KFF reveals.

The findings signal a significant shift from previous election years, when white, conservative evangelicals were more likely to peg abortion as their biggest priority when voting. Those voters were highly motivated in recent presidential elections to cast ballots for Donald Trump, who promised to appoint U.S. Supreme Court judges who would take away the constitutional right to an abortion.

But just months ahead of the first presidential election since the court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, that voting dynamic is drastically changing, KFF's poll suggests.

Its a complete shift, said Ashley Kirzinger, a KFF pollster. Abortion voters are young, Black women  and not white evangelicals.

Overall, 12% of voters surveyed said abortion was the most important issue in this year's election.

Certain female voters, however, were more likely to identify the issue as top of mind. They include 28% of Black women, 19% of women living in states where abortion is banned, and 17% of women who are under age 50.

Of voters who said that abortion was their most important issue, two-thirds said they believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

For decades, white evangelicals eager to see abortion banned have turned out to vote on the issue, Kirzinger said. Trump, a Republican, has spent nearly a decade courting those voters with promises to support conservative judges and with a cohort of religious surrogates who warned evangelicals that his Democratic rivals would dramatically expand abortion access in the U.S. Trump received overwhelming support from white evangelicals in the previous presidential elections.

But as states continue to clamp down on abortion access and Trump braces for a rematch against Democrat Joe Biden, the demographics of the abortion voter have shifted, Kirzinger said. Biden has vowed to protect abortion access since the court overturned the right.

Abortion  its clearly resonating with this group," Kirzinger said. When we think about abortion access and who is disadvantaged, its Black women.

Women  and Black women, in particular  were crucial to Biden's win over Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Last week, Biden's campaign announced that first lady Jill Biden would lead a nationwide effort to mobilize that voting bloc again.

More than half of Black Americans live in Southern states, most of which swiftly introduced strict abortion laws once the Supreme Court's ruling was announced. As of last year, roughly 25 million women were living in states that had enacted new restrictions following the court's decision, an Associated Press analysis found.

Nearly two-thirds of voters polled by KFF oppose a national abortion ban beginning at 16 weeks of pregnancy. Trump has not publicly backed such a ban, but reports have circulated that he privately has told people he supports one.

___

Follow the AP's coverage of abortion at https://apnews.com/hub/abortion.
A boy cools off in the waters of a fountain during hot weather in San Salvador.

Last month was the world's warmest February in modern times, the EU's climate service says, extending the run of monthly records to nine in a row.

Each month since June 2023 has seen new temperature highs for the time of year.

The world's sea surface is at its hottest on record, while Antarctic sea-ice has again reached extreme lows.

Temperatures are still being boosted by the Pacific's El Nino weather event, but human-caused climate change is by far the main driver of the warmth.

"Heat-trapping greenhouse gases are unequivocally the main culprit," stresses Prof Celeste Saulo, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization.

Carbon dioxide concentrations are at their highest level for at least two million years, according to the UN's climate body, and increased by near-record levels again over the past year.

Those warming gases helped make February 2024 about 1.77C warmer than "pre-industrial" times - before humans started burning large amounts of fossil fuels - according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

This breaks the previous record, from 2016, by around 0.12C.

These temperatures saw particularly severe heat afflict western Australia, southeast Asia, southern Africa and South America.

Bar chart of global average February temperatures against pre-industrial levels, 1940 to 2024. February 2024 is the hottest on record at 1.77C above pre-industrial, and their has been an increasing trend over time.

The 12-month average now sits at 1.56C above pre-industrial levels - after the first year-long breach of 1.5C warming was confirmed last month.

Back in 2015 in Paris, nearly 200 countries agreed to try to keep the rise in warming under 1.5C, to help avoid some of the worst climate impacts.

That threshold in the Paris agreement is generally accepted to mean a 20-year average - so it hasn't yet been broken - but the relentless string of records illustrates how close the world is getting to doing so.

Oceans and sea-ice under strain

Recent records haven't just been limited to air temperatures. Countless climate metrics are far beyond levels seen in modern times.

One of the most notable is sea surface temperatures. As the graph below shows, the margin of records in recent months has been particularly striking.

Multiple line chart of global average sea surface temperatures from 1979 to 2024. Sea surface temperatures have been at their highest on record in February 2024, with 28 February showing 21.09C.

Researchers are keen to stress that the scale and extent of the oceanic heat is not simply a consequence of the natural weather event known as El Nino, which was declared in June 2023.

"Ocean surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific clearly reflect El Nino. But sea surface temperatures in other parts of the globe have been persistently and unusually high for the past 10 months," explains Prof Saulo.

"This is worrying and cannot be explained by El Nino alone."

Ocean warming has prompted concerns about the mass bleaching of coral reefs. It also raises global sea-levels and can help to fuel higher intensity hurricanes.

Unusually warm waters may also have been a factor in another exceptional month for Antarctic sea-ice. The three lowest minimum extents in the satellite era have now occurred in the last three years.

Multiple line chart of Antarctic daily sea-ice extent, 1979 to 2024, between the months of January and April. After record lows in 2023, 2024 has also been exceptionally low.

Scientists are struggling to explain exactly what's going on.

Until 2017, Antarctic sea-ice had defied predictions that it would shrink, unlike in the Arctic, where the downward trend has been much clearer.

The apparent recent shift - occurring at the same time as other records are being broken around the planet - adds to concerns that Antarctic sea-ice may finally be waking up to climate change.

"I don't think you can say it's coincidental," Prof Martin Siegert, a glaciologist at the University of Exeter, told BBC News.

"It's absolutely frightening. The records are just off [the] scale."

An end to El Nino in sight

There are signs that the run of global temperature records may finally come to an end in the months ahead.

The 2023-24 El Nino has been one of the five strongest such events on record, the World Meteorological Organization announced on Tuesday, but it is gradually weakening.

Chart showing average seasonal sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific compared with the long-term average. When temperatures are 0.5C above or below the average, they are considered to be El Nino or La Nina conditions respectively. Recent months have shown El Nino conditions, but these now appear to have peaked.

El Nino will continue to have an effect on temperatures and weather patterns for the next few months.

"We would expect [El Nino] to continue to keep 2024 temperatures elevated at least through the first half of the year," Dr Colin Morice, a senior scientist at the UK's Met Office Hadley Centre, told BBC News.

However, a switch to neutral conditions in the Pacific is likely between April and June, according to US science body NOAA, and a further switch to the cool phase known as La Nina could then happen between June and August.

This would likely put a temporary lid on global air temperatures, with a cooler sea surface in the East Pacific allowing less heat to escape and warm the air.

But as long as human activities keep releasing huge amounts of greenhouse gases, temperatures will continue rising in the long-term, ultimately leading to more records and extreme weather.

"We know what to do - stop burning fossil fuels and replace them with more sustainable, renewable sources of energy," says Dr Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London.

"Until we do that, extreme weather events intensified by climate change will continue to destroy lives and livelihoods."
(KRON)  A woman and her 10-year-old son were found dead in an apartment in Santa Rosa Wednesday morning, according to the Santa Rosa Police Department. A call came into the Santa Rosa PD Communications Center at about 7:50 a.m. regarding two people who were possibly deceased.

Officers responded to the residence located in the 500 block of Summerfield Road. At the scene, officers located a woman and a boy inside the apartment. Both were unresponsive, police said.

Walnut Creek City Council meeting again disrupted by antisemitic hate speech

Medical personnel responded and it was determined that the mother and son were dead.

The cause of their death is currently being investigated. There is no known threat to public safety, according to police.

The investigation into the incident has been taken over by the Santa Rosa PD Violent Crimes Investigation (VCI) Team and the Domestic Violence Sexual Assault (DVSA) Team. The VCI is responsible for investigating unexplained adult deaths, while the DVSA investigated unexplained deaths of juveniles, police said.

The incident remains under investigation. Police hope to learn more following the autopsies later this week. The names of the deceased are not being released at this time. Police say they plan to release more information as it becomes available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
AFTON, Okla.  A motorcycle crash left a Tulsa man in critical condition, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported.

Kyle Miller, 38, was flown by helicopter to a Joplin hospital and admitted in critical condition, the patrol said.

The crash happened on Wednesday around 6:25 p.m. about two miles east of Afton on US-59 and East 220 Road. The patrol listed the cause of the crash as speeding.

Millers 2016 Harley Davidson Fixed wing was northbound on US-59 and was passing in a passing zone and struck the rear driver side of a 2011 Dodge Ram driven by Curtis Blalock, 27, of Afton, the patrol said.

The patrol reported Blalock had slowed down to turn westbound onto 220 Road when the crash occurred.

Blalock was treated and released from INTEGRIS Miami Hospital.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com.
MTA employee hit in face with glass bottle on No. 4 subway in the Bronx: NYPD

THE BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11)  Police are searching for a man after an MTA employee was attacked on a No. 4 train in the Bronx on Wednesday, according to the NYPD.

The assault happened on a southbound train as it approached the 167th Street subway station around 11:30 a.m., police said. The suspect walked up to the 38-year-old on-duty MTA worker and struck her in the face with a glass bottle, according to authorities.

The victim sustained an injury to the right side of her face, according to authorities. She was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln.

Man stabbed after intervening when woman is harassed in Bronx subway station: NYPD

The man was last seen running from the station, police said.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced new safety measures for New York City subways on Wednesday, including installing more cameras and having state police and the National Guard aid the NYPD.

Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Police are searching for a man accused of breaking into multiple vehicles in Greenville Thursday morning.

On March 7, Greenville police were made aware of at least three vehicles that were broken into on the north end of the city, according to a social media post.

>> Man accused of beating his mother with baseball bat indicted on charges

Surveillance video and witnesses report the suspect as a black male driving a Chevrolet Equinox wearing a gray hoodie, a mask partially covering his face, and gloves.

Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to contact Patrol Officer Steven Kreitzer at the Greenville Police Department (937)548-1103.
Editors note: A previous version of this story included information on the resolution that was published in the agenda, which was amended before being adopted.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Multnomah County commissioners unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

In addition to calling for an immediate ceasefire, the resolution demands the return of hostages, and the safe passage and access to humanitarian organizations providing food, shelter, clothing, and medical aid in Gaza.

However, the resolution that passed on Thursday was amended from what was published on the agenda, eliminating language such as a call for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.

The resolution follows the Oct. 7 attack when Hamas launched rockets into Israel and militants charged the blockaded Gaza Strip, storming neighboring Israeli towns amid a Jewish holiday while gunning down victims and collecting hostages.

A legitimate hazard: Stores call for bottle return exemption amid fentanyl crisis

The resolution notes the countys responsibility to take action against anti-Palestinian, and anti-Arab sentiment, along with antisemitism, and Islamophobia.

We are heartbroken over the deaths, suffering, and captivity of innocent civilians. All human life is precious and the intentional targeting of civilians in armed conflict is a violation of international humanitarian law. We stand firmly against all acts of racially motivated violence and hate crimes perpetrated against our Muslim, Jewish, Palestinian, and Arab constituents here in Multnomah County and across our nation, the resolution says.

During Thursdays board meeting, Commissioner Lori Stegmann said if there is no ceasefire and if humanitarian aid is delayed, hundreds of thousands of lives would be at risk in Israel and Palestine.

Bill heading to Oregon Gov. Koteks desk would ban drug use on public transit

The resolution now heads to Oregon Senators Ron Wyden, and Jeff Merkley, along with Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and President Joe Biden.

Merkley became the second member of the U.S. Senate to call for a ceasefire in November 2023.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
A destroyed building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, which fell to Russian troops in February, on Oct. 15, 2023. (Nicole Tung/The New York Times)

WASHINGTON  More than two years into their wartime alliance, the bond between the United States and Ukraine is showing signs of wear and tear, giving way to mutual frustration and a feeling that the relationship might be stuck in a bit of a rut.

It is the stuff that often strains relationships  finances, different priorities and complaints about not being heard.

For the Pentagon, the exasperation comes down to a single, recurring issue: U.S. military strategists, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, believe that Ukraine needs to concentrate its forces on one big fight at a time. Instead, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has vowed to drive Russia out of every inch of Ukraine, expends his forces in battles for towns that U.S. officials say lack strategic value.

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times

The most recent example involved the battle for the eastern city of Avdiivka, which fell to Russia last month. U.S. officials say Ukraine defended Avdiivka too long and at too great a cost.

For its part, Ukraine is increasingly disheartened that U.S. political paralysis has resulted in shortages of ammunition for troops on the front. As each day goes by without a fresh supply of munitions and artillery, and Ukrainian crews ration the shells they have, morale is suffering.

Zelenskyy promised a renewal of Ukraines military in its stagnant campaign against Russia when he dismissed his commanding general, Valery Zaluzhny, last month and named Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, the head of his ground forces, to replace him.

Gen. Charles Q. Brown, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was on the phone with Syrsky the next day, as officials in the Biden administration tried to figure out whether they had found an ally in the Ukrainian military for what they see as the most likely route to success.

The jury is still out. Some officials say Syrsky may be more in sync with Zelenskyy than his predecessor.

Zelenskyy has made a much more unified chain of command responsive to his leadership as well as advice from outside, said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who heads the Armed Services Committee and recently visited Ukraine.

Two other officials, however, worried whether the new military chief would be willing to push his boss in a direction he did not want to go.

Even now, months after a counteroffensive that failed because Ukraine, in the eyes of the Pentagon, did not take its advice, its government in Kyiv is still too often unwilling to listen.

White House and Ukrainian officials both say that the failure of Congress so far to pass an emergency aid bill including $60.1 billion for Ukraine has already undermined the fight on the ground. The measure would rush badly needed artillery ammunition and air defense interceptors to Ukrainian forces.

But the Ukrainians have other frustrations with the United States. They have frequently complained that the Biden administration has been slow to approve advanced weapons systems that could cross perceived Russian red lines, from fighter jets to long-range missiles.

Weve been fiddling while Rome burns, Emily Harding, a former U.S. intelligence official, said during a Ukraine discussion last month at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. If we had not been dithering early on, she added, if we had actually provided the things that we should have provided, we would have been much better off now.

Just a few miles from Russian trenches in eastern Ukraine, the crump of incoming Russian artillery shells from howitzers, rockets and mortars Friday was almost nonstop. The Ukrainian response, marked by the sharp bang of outgoing fire, was noticeably less frequent.

In the basement of what used to be a small farmhouse, the shock wave of explosions above ground distinctly changed the air pressure in the cramped, cold room, where a Ukrainian soldier was busily adjusting drone equipment.

The reasons the Russians can advance is because of the lack of ammunition, said the soldier, who went by the call sign D.J. in keeping with military protocols. He added that he was frustrated by U.S. inaction, attributing the fall of Avdiivka to the United States failure to supply aid.

But a Ukrainian commander, who went by the call sign Chef, was far more forgiving. Had it not been for the United States, Ukrainian forces would still be trying to push the Russians out of Kyiv.

Neither the Americans nor the Ukrainians are heading for exit doors. Their commitment remains solid, as each side needs the other. The U.S. intelligence community still provides a substantial amount of real-time information to Ukraines military on Russian command posts, ammunition depots and other key nodes in Russian military lines. The Pentagon still hosts monthly Contact Group meetings to prod Ukraines partners to provide money, weapons and ammunition.

Perhaps most of all for the Biden administration, Ukraine is hollowing out the army of one of Americas biggest foes.

U.S. estimates put the number of Russian troops killed or wounded since the war started at around a staggering 350,000, according to U.S. officials. Russia has also lost huge amounts of equipment; some 2,200 tanks out of 3,500 have been destroyed along with one-third of its armored vehicles, according to a congressional staff member who saw an intelligence assessment.

Even Russias victory in Avdiivka has come with considerable cost: A pro-war Russian military blogger said in a post that Russia had lost 16,000 men and 300 armored vehicles in its assault. (The blogger, Andrei Morozov, deleted the post late last month after what he said was a campaign of intimidation against him. He died the next day.)

At the end of the day, make no mistake: Even those generals who might be frustrated with Ukraine are at the same time looking at the Russian casualties reports and equipment losses and theyre smiling, said Dale Buckner, a former Army colonel who is the CEO of Global Guardian, a U.S.-based security firm.

But Avdiivka was the kind of fight that American war planners would have preferred Ukraine to handle differently.

A former U.S. commander with close ties to the Ukrainian armed forces said there was no reason to hold the city as long as Ukrainian forces did except to bleed Russia of more troops and equipment  sacrifices Moscow was more than willing to accept to claim victory.

Even after it became clear that Russian forces, with larger reinforcements, would prevail, Ukraine held out, rather than conduct a strategic withdrawal, U.S. officials said.

As a result, American frustration levels were high with the Ukrainians, especially Zelenskyy and the political leadership, according to a senior Western military official and the former U.S. commander. But the Biden administration has said Zelenskyy, as commander in chief, makes the call.

Ultimately, Ukraines chaotic retreat was a mistake, the former U.S. commander said. Hundreds of Ukrainian troops may have disappeared or been captured by the advancing Russian units, according to Western officials.

The disagreement over Avdiivka was a mirror image in reverse of Washingtons frustrations with the Ukrainian counteroffensive last summer. In that case, Austin and other U.S. officials urged Ukraine to focus its assault on one main effort along the 600-mile front line and press to break through Russian fortifications there.

U.S. officials believed that Zaluzhny had agreed with the American advice but that he could not convince his president. So instead of a single defining fight, Kyiv split up its troops, sending some to the east and some to other fronts, including in the south.

The counteroffensive failed. At the Pentagon, some officials say they do not consider last summers efforts to have been a counteroffensive at all.

We say in the military, when you seek to attack everywhere, you can end up attacking nowhere  because your forces are spread too thin, said James G. Stavridis, a retired admiral and the former supreme allied commander for Europe. The Pentagon sees this as a mistake and will continue to offer advice to the Ukrainians along these lines.

The U.S. side is frustrated because they give military advice and it doesnt feel like its being taken, said Evelyn Farkas, a former senior Pentagon official for Ukraine and Russia who is now the executive director of the McCain Institute. But the Ukrainians dont like being micromanaged.

On top of that, Farkas said, our political system is shockingly unreliable right now.

Pentagon officials are still giving advice on the military campaign they would like to see in 2024. Three U.S. military officials said in interviews that the United States wanted Ukraine to concentrate long-range strikes on putting Crimea at risk, a phrase that translates into attacking the Russian land bridge that traverses southern Ukraine and connects Russia to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russian President Vladimir Putin seized in 2014.

Russian troops use the land bridge for resupply and logistics, and it is critical for their efforts in southern Ukraine and Crimea.

But again, Ukrainian frustration with U.S. congressional paralysis is at play.

Western officials and military experts have warned that without U.S. assistance, a cascading collapse along the front is a real possibility this year.

c.2024 The New York Times Company
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited an operational training base as Seoul and Washington conduct their annual spring military exercises (STR)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un brandished a gun while inspecting a major operational training base, urging his military to intensify "actual war drills", state media reported Thursday.

Wearing a black leather jacket, Kim was shown talking to ranks of heavily armed soldiers in camouflage, overseeing firing drills and inspecting weaponry, images in the official Korean Central News Agency showed.

During his Wednesday visit to the base in the country's western region, Kim told the North Korean army to "steadily intensify the actual war drills aimed at rapidly improving its combat capabilities for perfect war preparedness," KCNA reported.

His visit comes as Seoul and Washington conduct their annual spring military exercises, known as "Freedom Shield", which involve field exercises, missile interception drills and some live firing.

Pyongyang has called the drills "reckless", warning the allies they will pay a "dear price".

KCNA photos also show Kim being applauded by soldiers, who "pledged their intense loyalty" to him "in the sacred struggle for the security of the country".

North Korea has long condemned joint US-South Korea military drills, calling them rehearsals for an invasion.

The nuclear-armed North has in the past carried out weapons tests as a response to such joint exercises.

Seoul said on Tuesday that its military was thoroughly prepared for North Korea's possible provocations.

So far this year, Pyongyang has declared South Korea its "principal enemy", jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach, and threatened war over "even 0.001 mm" of territorial infringement.

Leader Kim repeated last month that Pyongyang would not hesitate to "put an end" to South Korea if attacked.

In January, North Korea fired an artillery barrage near two South Korean border islands, prompting a live-fire drill by the South and evacuation orders for residents.

kjk/ceb/lb
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  Comedian Nancy Norton said laughter is the best medicine. She should know: She used to be a nurse.

She started her comedy career at an open mic event in Hawaii, where she was working as a nurse. She did so well that after she stepped off the stage, the owner of the club signed her to perform regularly.

14th annual LaughFest kicks off Wednesday

Norton began touring full-time as a stand-up comic and will now be a part of the Clean Comedy Showcase at the 14th annual Gildas Club LaughFest this week. She has played the festival before and told News 8 that shes excited to be back in Grand Rapids.

I love Gilda Radner. I couldnt think of a better festival that would be more aligned with who I am as a person, Norton said. Id love to do it every year. Are you kidding me?

It was her love of Radner (the Saturday Night Live cast member for whom Gildas Club is named) and her medical background that made Norton want to be a part of LaughFest. She got up on stage for the very first time after spending a lot of time with patients who were battling cancer.

I was recognizing my own mortality .. I witnessed people dying with grace and in peace. And I was kind of confused by it cause I was in my 20s and I asked them, How is it youre at peace? And they told me in no uncertain terms, Because Im satisfied I lived my dreams. I did what I wanted to do,' she recalled. I either had the family, I wrote the book, I traveled, whatever it was, and I got the message. I have to do my dream. And I dared myself to go to stand-up comedy.

More than just laughs: Volunteers needed for LaughFest and beyond

Now after 35 years of performing, Norton arrived at LaughFest to help those affected by cancer by doing what she does best: making people laugh. She said theres even some science to back up her claim of laughter having healing qualities.

It will actually clear your body of stress hormones when you laugh, Norton said. Its like free medicine. You know, I dont know if its free. I think you have to pay. But pay a small, small amount that youre going to get tonight or tomorrow, every show.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
NASA says the solar eclipse cutting from Texas to Maine in April will be way cooler than any before it. Here's why.

Millions of people in the US will be able to see a total solar eclipse on April 8.

Some highly populated US cities are right in the path of the eclipse, so people can easily view it.

NASA is hoping citizen scientists will help them gather a bunch of data during the eclipse.

Millions of people will be able to don protective glasses and view a spectacular total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, starting around 1 p.m. CT.

If this sounds familiar, it's because in 2017, a 70-mile-wide band of the US saw a total solar eclipse, while many other areas saw a partial eclipse. People drove across states and gathered near planetariums just to see those fleeting minutes when, in the middle of the day, the sky went dark.

But the total eclipse coming in April will be even cooler, excited NASA scientists told reporters at an American Geophysical Union meeting.

"Those of us who've seen eclipses know that you want to see your next one," Kelly Korreck, NASA's program manager for the 2024 solar eclipse, said during a roundtable at the meeting.

She added that having one in such recent memory likely has many people excited for this year's.

While total solar eclipses aren't exactly rare, there are a few circumstances around this upcoming event that make it unique, from its path across the US to an abundance of solar activity to a plethora of scientific projects that NASA and others have planned for the few minutes when the moon will seem to cover the sun.

Over 30 million people will be able to see the total solar eclipse

A young woman looks through special eyewear to a solar eclipse. Reuters

There are three types of solar eclipses :

an annular eclipse appears as a bright ring around the moon a partial eclipse only partly blocks the sun in a total eclipse, the moon seems to cover the sun entirely

In 2017, the continental US had its first coast-to-coast total eclipse since 1918. Portions of 14 states were in the path, but populated cities like Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, were not.

This year, more people will be able to see the eclipse without having to travel.

The path spreads from Mexico to northeastern Canada.

A map showing where the moon's shadow will cross the US during the 2024 total solar eclipse. NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

"This is going to be the most populated eclipse in the US, with 31.5 million people able to just walk outside of their homes and experience this event," Korreck said.

Dallas, Cleveland, and Indianapolis are all positioned for prime total eclipse viewing.

The eclipse will last slightly longer than the last one did

Depending on your location, you'll have about 3 to 4 minutes to watch the moon blot out the sun.

That peak of the eclipse, called totality, will last slightly longer than the one in 2017 did, Korreck said.

US residents who miss this year's eclipse will have to wait another couple of decades for a similar event. The next total solar eclipses visible in the contiguous US will be in 2044 and 2045, but neither will cut through Cleveland or Indianapolis.

"You're not going to get another eclipse for quite a while," Korreck said.

An active sun should make for incredible viewing

In 2017, the sun was fairly quiet during the eclipse. As it approaches its solar maximum , it's been spitting out solar flares .

Korreck hopes to see a coronal mass ejection during the eclipse. CMEs are high-speed blobs of plasma that erupt out of the sun's corona, or outer layer.

"You would see that kind of inky mass just leave the sun at that point in time," Korreck said. "So it would be pretty spectacular."

The annular solar eclipse is seen on June 21, 2020, in Xiamen, Fujian Province of China. Huang Shan/VCG via Getty Images

If that happens, Korreck said there should be increased aurora borealis activity a few days later. Even if there's no CME, the images could be more dynamic than in 2017, with more whisp-like prominences radiating from the sun.

"It should be a very complex-looking sun," Korreck said.

Balloons, rockets, and citizen scientists will be tracking the eclipse

There's a reason solar eclipses are a big deal in the scientific community. "They provide you with the opportunity to do experiments that you cannot do otherwise," Nour E. Raouafi, an astrophysicist with Johns Hopkins University, said during the roundtable.

An eclipse in 1919 proved Albert Einstein's theory of relativity , he said.

People watch a partial solar eclipse in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Sertac Kayar/Reuters

This will probably be the most observed total solar eclipse in history.

That's because NASA and other institutions will be using radar, balloons, spacecraft, and jets to perform experiments and gather data during the eclipse . NASA is interested in tracking changes to density, wind speed, and temperatures at the ionosphere  part of the Earth's upper atmosphere  during the event.

Unlike the 2017 eclipse, there are now two sun-scrutinizing spacecraft circling our star. It's an opportunity NASA has never had before  to monitor the sun up close, from two different space observatories, while instruments here on Earth study the eclipse.

That should give scientists more comprehensive eclipse data than they've ever had.

There are tons of citizen scientist projects taking place, too. NASA is hoping people will use their Ham radios, telescopes, cameras, and phones to record images, sounds, and observations during the eclipse.

This story was originally published in January 2024 and most recently updated on March 7, 2024.

Read the original article on Business Insider
NASA and SpaceX are looking to extend the number of flights that each Crew Dragon capsule can make, from five to 15.

On May 30, 2020, Crew Dragon became the first American spacecraft to carry astronauts to orbit since the space shuttle was retired in 2011, and the first private spacecraft to reach the International Space Station. Since then, Crew Dragon vehicles have flown 49 different astronauts (one of them twice) to space on 13 missions, nine of them for NASA and four of them private.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft known as Endeavour launched to space on March 3 carrying three NASA astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut on SpaceX's Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station. The three other Crew Dragon spacecraft  Resilience, Endurance and Freedom  have all flown to space and back multiple times (three times each for Endurance and Freedom, and two for Resilience), but none has flown as many times as Endeavour.

Crew-8 marks the fifth flight for Endeavour, the maximum number of flights Crew Dragon spacecraft have been qualified for. But this spacecraft, what NASA and SpaceX refer to as the "fleet leader," could potentially prove itself worthy of more flights  possibly many more. According to NASA officials, Crew Dragon might be able to fly up to 15 times, depending on the results of a requalification campaign the agency and SpaceX will undertake this year and next.

Related: SpaceX launches Crew-8 astronaut mission to International Space Station for NASA (video)

During a press briefing on Feb. 28 to discuss the Crew-8 mission, Steve Stich, program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said SpaceX is currently performing qualification tests of "every single" component on the Dragon spacecraft in order to determine how many flights the spacecraft might be capable of making.

"We are right now embarking on what we call our extended Dragon certification," Stich replied to a question from Space.com during the briefing. "We're working on that this year, and probably next year, to see how long they will fly Dragon."

a white cone-shaped spacecraft

Stich said that when Crew Dragon Endeavour returns to Earth around August 2024 at the end of the Crew-8 mission, NASA and SpaceX will analyze various components of the spacecraft that have been "exposed to the space environment up and down for many years."

Some of that analysis will be overseen by John Posey, lead engineer for Dragon in NASA's Commercial Crew Program. In an interview, Posey told Space.com that the Dragon spacecraft have undergone continual modification and upgrades throughout their lives. Most of the time, this involves swapping minor parts to make the capsules safer or to get them flightworthy ahead of a mission.

a white cone-shaped spacecraft in space, with an ocean and clouds in the background

When it comes to potentially raising the number of flights from five to 15, much of the decision would come down to the tests SpaceX would perform on these individual components.

"So as you go through that process, you find maybe on the 10th flight, this thing would start getting worn out. So maybe on those components, we have to limit it to 10 flights or redesign it so it can make it out to the 15 flights," Posey said, adding that some of these individual parts have already been approved for 50 flights.

a white cone-shaped spacecraft

RELATED STORIES:

 SpaceX's Dragon: First private spacecraft to reach the space station

 SpaceX Dragon spacecraft had a thruster glitch at the International Space Station in June

 SpaceX rolls out rocket, capsule for Crew-8 astronaut launch (photos)

Even though many of the smaller components on the Crew Dragon spacecraft have been replaced, Posey said that the primary structures of the capsule  the weldment, radial bulkheads and pressure shell  remain original. "So individual components will come in and out. But those primary structural parts don't really change," he added.

When asked whether or not a Crew Dragon will make it to 15 flights, Posey said his team will ultimately follow the data and focus on crew safety as its primary concern.

"And we've got a while before we can get to the sixth flight on a commercial crew. So there's plenty of time to work through that data," Posey said.
An attorney for a co-defendant in the sweeping case against former President Donald Trump testified in a Georgia state senate hearing Wednesday that special prosecutor Nathan Wade's cellphone data shows 1 a.m. trips to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' home prior to his hiring.

Willis last year indicted Trump and 18 co-defendants, including Michael Roman, a GOP political operative, who first filed motions alleging that Willis was having an "improper" affair with Wade, whom she hired to help prosecute the case against Trump.

Roman, who is represented by Ashleigh Merchant, alleged that Willis financially benefited from hiring Wade because of their extra-marital, romantic relationship.

In a hearing Wednesday before a committee formed this year by the GOP-controlled state senate, Merchant testified that information on Wades cellphone data indicates he visited the condo Willis was renting a number of times before he was hired.

"It's pinging from his house all the way down to the condo at midnight 1 a.m. And then he calls her when he gets there. And then it goes silent for four or five hours. And then, you know, early in the morning hours, he starts pinging again, driving back, and then he texts her when he gets home," Merchant said, describing the geolocation data from Wades cellphone.

TRUMP LAWYERS MAKE CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN DA FANI WILLIS IMPROPER AFFAIR ALLEGATIONS: IRREPARABLE STAIN

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Fani Willis  the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia  previously said the allegations brought against her of having an "improper" romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade were made because she is Black.

Attorneys for the state in the proceedings in Fulton County Superior Court last month testified that geolocation data is unreliable as evidence. But Merchant noted Wednesday that the state is "currently using the same data in another courtroom to prosecute someone, but in their defense in ours was that it's not reliable."

A state judge is currently weighing evidence against Willis alleged impropriety and whether she and her team should be disqualified from the case.

In the meantime, state lawmakers formed a special committee with subpoena power to investigate the Fulton County district attorney.

During Wednesdays committee hearing, Merchant also testified that Willis awarded a $780,000 increase in the DA's budget on Sept. 15 2021, through the end of that year, with the next year not to exceed $5 million. Merchant said that the DA claimed this money was to hire extra people to help with the backlog of homicide cases the office was seeing at that time.

The budget increase was just a few months before Wade was hired in November 2021, and roughly eight months before the special grand jury in this case was impaneled in May 2022.

FANI WILLIS, NATHAN WADE REFERRED TO GEORGIA STATE BAR FOR MISCONDUCT BY WATCHDOG GROUP

Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

Merchant testified that when she made open records requests to confirm that her office hired new employees and not special contractors, her request was denied by the DA's office.

Merchant went on to say that the key witnesses in the allegations against Willis  Terrance Bradley, a former law partner and divorce attorney and "best friend" to Wade  told her that he "did not like the way" Wade treated his wife.

"I remember specifically him saying, You know, I handle my business, things like that, like, 'You know, that I don't leave my wife without alimony," Merchant said.

"Ms. Wade had been a stay-at-home mom for, you know, they'd been married almost 30 years. And literally it was right after they dropped their youngest off in college that he said, Move out," Merchant said of Wades marriage.

Merchant said it was Bradley who recommended she try to find Willis former "bestie"  Robin Yeartie  who testified in court last month that Willis and Wade had been in a "romantic" relationship since 2019. This contradicts both Willis and Wades claims in court that their relationship started after Wade was hired by the DA in 2021.

Merchant said that when her client filed the motion alleging the affair, it "shocked" the world because "very few people" knew about the relationship.

GEORGIA PROSECUTOR ALLEGES FANI WILLIS ASKED BRADLEY NOT TO TESTIFY ON AFFAIR: 'THEY ARE COMING AFTER US'

Republican Sen. Bill Cowsert probed Merchants knowledge of phone calls made to Bradley after news of the affair broke, trying to determine if he was the source of the information. One from Gabe Banks, an attorney connected to Wade, and another call from Bradleys best friend, who Wade allegedly asked to call Bradley and "remind" him of his attorney-client privilege, having once been Wades divorce lawyer.

According to Merchant, Bradley was one of the few people who knew of the affair.

Merchant said Bradley took the calls as "intimidation."

Merchant also testified that in February 2023, Willis met with Vice President Harris at the White House, along with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.

A White House official said Wednesday that at the February reception held at their residence, the vice president did not get the opportunity to speak directly with the majority of guests, including Willis.

Fox News Digital reached out to Willis and Wade for comment but did not get a response prior to publication.

Fox News' Claudia Kelly-Bazan contributed to this report.





Original article source: Nathan Wade's phone data shows he made midnight trips to Fani Willis' condo before he was hired: attorney
Plans for the UK's first national poetry headquarters in West Yorkshire have been given a boost by 5m funding from the government.

The National Poetry Centre, which was created by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, is being built at the Trinity St David's site in Leeds.

The plans will give people from all cultures and backgrounds a space to share and learn more about poetry.

Mr Armitage said he was "thrilled" by the funding announcement in the Budget.

He said: "My highest ambition when appointed Poet Laureate was to create a national home for poetry in my native West Yorkshire.

"The award of 5m from the Department of Levelling Up is a huge step forward in the building of the National Poetry Centre in Leeds.

"I'm thrilled that so many people see the good and the sense in this idea, and excited to be confidently planning the next stage of development."

The location of the centre is significant to Mr Armitage who is from Huddersfield and also Professor of Poetry at the University of Leeds.

The centre is expected to open at the end of 2027 once work is complete at the disused Trinity St David's building on Woodhouse Lane, which is known by many in Leeds as the former Halo nightclub.

National Poetry chair Ruth Pitt said the art form was an important part of our national identity

The government funding will help it become the country's first national headquarters for poetry and a space for events, study areas, exhibitions, workshops, open-mic nights, and a library. and archives.

The project has been in the works for four years and has seen support from The National Poetry Centre's partners Arts Council England, the University of Leeds, Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

National Poetry chair Ruth Pitt said the group "could not be happier".

"We met the Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove recently and were struck by his understanding of the value of poetry to inspire people and provide a platform for self-expression, irrespective of their educational background or experiences," she said.

"Our country's poetry heritage goes back thousands of years and has produced some of the world's most distinguished poets.

"As a cultural art form it's an important part of our national identity - and the National Poetry Centre will give poetry its very own dedicated national cultural centre at last."

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk.
Banks with a big footprint in uptown Charlotte slightly improved among competitors when it comes to keeping customers happy, according to a new national satisfaction survey.

Results from the American Customer Satisfaction Index Survey revealed that its a common trend for major financial institutions. The study asked consumers to evaluate their experiences with banks products and services with the study associated with the University of Michigan.

More than 17,000 customers gave feedback between October 2022 and last December. ACSI surveyors selected participants randomly.

Scores from the 2022 and 2024 reports were compared in the survey. A scale of 0 to 100 was used for the rankings.

Although banks and credit unions have improved customer service through websites and mobile apps, consumers still appreciate a personal touch, said Forrest Morgeson, associate professor of marketing at Michigan State University and Director of Research Emeritus for ACSI, in a news release.

Morgeson said the banking industry had an unprecedented score of 92 for staff courtesy and helpfulness because of service at smaller regional and community banks.

Overall, customer satisfaction in the banking industry was up 3% between 2022 and this year with a score of 80.

Here are the rankings assigned to Charlottes biggest banks.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index Survey released results on how participants feel about service from banks with a major presence in Charlotte.

Bank of America

Charlotte-based Bank of America, tied with Chase Bank at the top of the list in the national banks category. The banks received a score of 81  a 5% increase from 2022 when both banks scored 77.

Customers praised Bank of America for its locations and branches, according to ACSI.

Bank of America Bank has 3,800 financial centers and 15,000 ATMs in the U.S., according to the company. Close to 50 financial centers and 200 ATMs are in the Charlotte region. The bank is planning to expand in nine new markets and four states in the coming years, according to ACSI.

Chase is planning to add 15 branches by the end of 2026 in Charlotte. The New York-based financial institution announced a multibillion-dollar expansion plan this year, which includes opening more than 500 branches, renovating 1,700 locations and hiring 3,500 people by 2027.

Merrill, which is associated with Bank of America, had 77 points within the financial advisors group. Under online investment, Merrill Edge scored a 76.

Bank of America has more than 19,000 employees in the Charlotte region, part of 213,000 workers companywide. Its the second-largest bank in the U.S.

Truist

Charlotte-based Truist had an ACSI score of 77 and came in third along with four other banks in the super regional banks category. Thats a 5% increase from a couple of years ago for Truist when the company scored 73.

For the recent rankings, other banks tied with Truist were BMO (formerly Bank of the West), Fifth Third Bank, KeyBank and Santander Bank. Four other banks tied for first with scores of 79. The banks were PNC Bank, Regions Bank, TD Bank and U.S. Bank.

As of last year, Truist had more than 50,000 workers throughout the U.S., including more than 3,000 workers in the Charlotte area.

Wells Fargo

The bank scored a 77 among national banks and came in last place behind three other institutions. It was a 1% change compared to 2022 when Wells Fargo scored 76.

Under the financial advisors category, Wells Fargo scored an 80.

The San Francisco-based company employs about 27,000 jobs in Charlotte, which is the largest employment hub for the bank.

Which bank had the highest customer satisfaction score among?

USAA Bank had a score of 87 in the super regional banks category.

The institution offers online banking services to military-affiliated customers affiliated and their families. ACSI said the score is setting the bar for website satisfaction and mobile reliability.

About ACSI

The American Customer Satisfaction Index has been a national economic indicator for more than 25 years.

About 400 companies in 40 industries and 10 economic sectors are measured and analyzed. This includes services of federal and local government agencies.

The founding partners of ACSI are the University of Michigans Stephen M. Ross School of Business, American Society for Quality and Clares Fornell International, an organization measuring customer, citizen and employee satisfaction.
Heres a look at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

Facts

The organizations charter states that the signing parties will seek to promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area, and will unite their efforts for collective defense and for the preservation of peace and security.

April 4, 1949 - NATO is established.

2014-present - The current secretary general is Jens Stoltenberg, former prime minister of Norway. On March 24, 2022, Stoltenbergs tenure was extended by one year due to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

March 21, 2023 - The secretary generals annual report is released.

31 Member Countries

Albania (2009)

Belgium (1949)

Bulgaria (2004)

Canada (1949)

Croatia (2009)

Czech Republic (1999)

Denmark (1949)

Estonia (2004)

Finland (2023)

France (1949)

Germany (1955, as West Germany)

Greece (1952)

Hungary (1999)

Iceland (1949)

Italy (1949)

Latvia (2004)

Lithuania (2004)

Luxembourg (1949)

Montenegro (2017)

Netherlands (1949)

North Macedonia (2020)

Norway (1949)

Poland (1999)

Portugal (1949)

Romania (2004)

Slovakia (2004)

Slovenia (2004)

Spain (1982)

Turkey (1952)

United Kingdom (1949)

United States (1949)

Timeline (selected)

April 4, 1949 - The 12 nations of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States sign the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, DC.

July 25, 1950 - First meeting of NATO Council Deputies in London. US Ambassador Charles M. Spofford is elected permanent chairman.

December 19, 1950 - US General Dwight Eisenhower is appointed the first supreme allied commander. The position leads NATOs military operations.

March 12, 1952 - Lord Ismay is named the first secretary general of NATO and appointed vice chairman of the North Atlantic Council, which oversees NATOs political decisions.

April 16, 1952 - NATO establishes its provisional headquarters in Paris at the Palais de Chaillot.

April 28, 1952 - First meeting of the North Atlantic Council in permanent session in Paris.

May 6, 1952 - West Germany joins NATO.

May 14, 1955 - The Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries form the Warsaw Pact in response to West Germany joining NATO.

July 26, 1956 - Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal. France and Great Britain use troops to intervene, against the wishes of the United States, causing a rift in NATO.

October 22-23, 1963 - NATO and the United States demonstrate the size and speed of emergency forces when flying 14,500 US troops into West Germany for maneuvers.

March 10, 1966 - France formally announces intentions to withdraw from the military structure of NATO, accusing the United States of having too much influence in the organization.

March 31, 1967 - Opening ceremony of new NATO headquarters in Casteau, near Mons, Belgium.

August 14, 1974 - Greece, angered at NATOs response to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, withdraws from the military arm of NATO.

October 20, 1980 - Greece rejoins the NATO military structure.

May 30, 1982 - Spain joins NATO.

October 3, 1990 - Germany is reunified after 45 years. East Germany leaves the Warsaw Pact and is incorporated into NATO. In 1991, the Warsaw Pact is dissolved.

December 13, 1991 - For the first time, the Soviet Union takes part in meetings at NATO as part of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council.

December 21, 1991 - Eleven of the republics of the former Soviet Union create a new Commonwealth of Independent States. On December 25, the Soviet Union is officially disbanded with the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev as president and supreme commander-in-chief of Soviet Forces.

February 28, 1994 - NATO forces shoot down four Bosnian Serb planes violating the UN-imposed no-fly zone. It is the first time NATO has used force.

November 21, 1995 - After the Dayton Peace Accords, the war in Bosnia Herzegovina ends. In December, NATO deploys Implementation Force (IFOR) to support the agreement.

January 13, 1996 - Russian troops are deployed to support IFOR in Bosnia.

May 22, 1997 - NATO and the Russian Federation sign a security and cooperation pact, the Founding Act which establishes a NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council (PJC).

March 24, 1999 - NATO launches air strikes against Yugoslavia to end Serbian aggression in the Kosovo region.

September 12, 2001 - For the first time, NATO invokes Article V, the Washington Treaty, its mutual defense clause, in support of the United States after the September 11 terror attacks.

May 28, 2002 - NATO and Russia form the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), which makes Russia an associate member of the organization. The NRC replaces the PJC.

November 21-22, 2002 - During the Prague Summit, NATO invites seven former Eastern Bloc countries, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, to discuss entry into the organization.

December 4, 2002 - US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz speaks before NATO in Brussels and requests that member nations contribute forces to a potential campaign in Iraq.

January 22, 2003 - France and Germany block discussion on war preparations submitted by the United States. The US proposal included provisions for Turkeys defense, the use of NATO equipment, and NATOs postwar role in Iraq.

February 10, 2003 - France, Germany and Belgium block a US request that NATO provide Patriot missiles, Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, and other equipment to Turkey. The United States had made the request anticipating that Iraq will retaliate against Turkey in the event of war. Turkey invokes article IV of the NATO charter, which requires the organization as a whole to discuss security threats to any member nation.

February 16, 2003 - NATO produces three defensive plans for Turkey, in the event of a US war with Iraq:

- Deployment of NATO AWACS aircraft;

- NATO support for the deployment of theatre missile defenses for Turkey;

- NATO support for possible deployment of Allied chemical and biological defenses.

March 29, 2004 - NATO is expanded from 19 to 26 members when seven nations, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, join in an accession ceremony in Washington, DC. All are former communist states in Eastern Europe.

August 10, 2004 - NATO AWACS begin patrolling Greek airspace prior to the Olympic and Paralympic games. NATOs presence at the Olympics is nicknamed Distinguished Games and includes AWACS and the Multinational Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Task Force.

September 14, 2006 - Ukraine announces that it is shelving its aspirations to join NATO, due to opposition by the Ukrainian public and Russia.

April 2-4, 2008 - NATO leaders hold a summit in Bucharest, Romania. Croatia and Albania are invited to join the alliance.

June 17, 2008 - French President Nicolas Sarkozy announces France will soon rejoin NATOs military command, 40 years after it left.

April 3-4, 2009 - The 23rd NATO summit also marks NATOs 60th anniversary. During the summit, France rejoins NATOs military command.

November 19, 2010 - NATO adopts the Strategic Concept Active Engagement, Modern Defence for the next 10 years.

March 24, 2011 - NATO takes command of enforcing a no-fly zone imposed on Libya by the United Nations.

March 29, 2011 - The Council of Europe rules NATO, among others, responsible for the 63 deaths of African immigrants left adrift for two weeks while attempting to reach European shores from Libya.

May 19, 2012 - Demonstrators take to the streets of Chicago prior to the start of the NATO summit. Anti-NATO protests near Mayor Rahm Emanuels home focus on the cost of the summit to the city and city budget cuts to mental healthcare.

May 20-21, 2012 - The 25th Summit is held in Chicago. During the summit, NATO accepts US President Barack Obamas timetable to end the war in Afghanistan by 2014.

March 5, 2014 - In regard to the crisis in Ukraine, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announces that NATO has decided to put the entire range of NATO-Russia cooperation under review to send a clear message Russias actions have consequences.

December 2, 2015 - NATO extends an official invitation to Montenegro to join the alliance.

February 11, 2016 - Secretary General Stoltenberg announces that NATO is deploying ships to the Aegean Sea to try to deter smugglers from trafficking migrants from Turkey to Greece.

June 5, 2017 - Montenegro officially becomes a member of NATO.

March 27, 2020 - North Macedonia officially joins NATO.

March 24, 2022 - NATO leaders issue a joint statement in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine. Leaders call on President Vladimir Putin to withdraw Russian military forces, and call on Belarus to end its complicity.

May 15, 2022 - Finlands government says it intends to join NATO, ditching decades of neutrality and ignoring Russian threats of possible retaliation as the Nordic country attempts to strengthen its security following the onset of the war in Ukraine. Swedens ruling party later said it will also support joining the alliance.

April 4, 2023 - Finland becomes the 31st member of NATO.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Sweden has officially joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) after almost a year of endless wrangling and negotiations, adding another key piece to the defense against Russian interests.

"Sweden is now a NATO member," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote in a statement published on social media platform X.

"Thank you all allies for welcoming us as the 32nd member," he continued. "We will strive for unity, solidarity and burden-sharing, and will fully adhere to the Washington Treaty values: freedom, democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. Stronger together."

Kristersson traveled to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to complete the process of joining NATO, where he met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and will attend the State of the Union address as a guest of first lady Jill Biden.

HUNGARY'S PRESIDENT FORMALLY SIGNS BILL APPROVING SWEDEN'S NATO MEMBERSHIP, ENDING 18-MONTH DELAY

"Sweden is a strong democracy with a highly capable military that shares our values and vision for the world," the White House wrote of the newest alliance member. "Having Sweden as a NATO ally will make the United States and our allies even safer."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, receives the NATO ratification documents from Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson during a ceremony at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

As a NATO member, Sweden, with its cutting-edge submarines and Gripen fighter jets, will be a crucial link between the Atlantic and the Baltic states in times of crisis, according to Reuters.

"Although (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is playing cool, this move almost certainly exacerbates the Kremlins fears of encirclement, the fear that is deeply routed in the Russian psyche, because most wars that Russia has fought were in the Western theater operations," Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst and the author of "Putin's Playbook," told Fox News Digital.

NATO LAUNCHES HISTORIC NORDIC RESPONSE DRILL IN FINLAND, NORWAY AND SWEDEN

Finland and Sweden had long resisted joining NATO, with many believing it would not shore up their national security and would in fact enrage Russia, but Putins invasion of Ukraine pushed the two countries to change their minds.

Finland enjoyed a rather straightforward process, joining the alliance in April 2023, but Sweden faced greater opposition. NATO requires unanimous support from members in order to admit new countries, and Turkey and Hungary did not initially support Swedens ascension, citing various concerns and seeming to use the application as a means of handling political disagreements.

Stig Kvarnryd, CEO of flag manufacturer Flagghuset, and seamstress Tove Lycke fold a newly printed NATO flag at the factory in Akersberga, Sweden, outside Stockholm, on March 7, 2024.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan laid out a series of conditions, including a tougher stance against Kurdish militants and members of a network that Ankara blamed for an attempted 2016 coup. The Kurdish question languished for a year, and Sweden enacted a number of changes to appease Turkey, including an end to an arms embargo and cooperation on fighting terrorism and public demonstrations from the groups.

Hungary, the last member to join the alliance before Finland and Sweden applied, did not look kindly on admitting a country that regularly criticized the Hungarian government and its prime minister, Viktor Orban.

ALBANIA REFURBISHES SOVIET-ERA AIR BASE INTO REGIONAL HUB OF NATO AIR OPERATIONS

Orban supported Swedens admission, but members of his party did not share that enthusiasm. Orban argued that Swedens membership "will strengthen Hungarys security."

Pressure from the U.S. and NATO allies on Turkey finally removed Turkish opposition. With no more opposition, Sweden has now joined NATO  much to Russia and Putins frustration.

"The new development will likely drive Russia to beef up its force posture in the Western flank and to ratchet up its destabilizing activities in the region, probably in the Baltics and probably will act aggressively in the Baltic Sea," Koffler explained, noting that Russia's border with NATO has now doubled from around 750 miles to approximately 1,600 miles.

"We are not talking an outright invasion but rather cyber and other special activities, involving intelligence operatives," she added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.





Original article source: NATO welcomes 32nd member, expert warns bigger bloc 'exacerbates' Putin's fears
Utah Food Bank officials traveled to Monument Valley in San Juan County on Wednesday to inaugurate a new food pantry that's to serve the Navajo Nation. Another food pantry is to open in Montezuma Creek; both will start operating later in March.

MONUMENT VALLEY, San Juan County  Two food banks are coming to the Navajo Nation to help combat food insecurity in the tribal community.

Utah Food Bank officials traveled to the area in southeast Utah on Wednesday to inaugurate the new facilities, meant to bolster the limited food options for those living in the Navajo Nation and the rest of San Juan County.

Were here to serve those in this area, Ginette Bott, the Utah Food Bank president and chief executive officer, told KSL.com by phone from San Juan County.

Ginette Bott, the Utah Food Bank president and chief executive officer, addresses a gathering at the inauguration on Wednesday of a new food pantry in Monument Valley that's meant to serve the Navajo Nation.

The new 4,000-square-foot structures in San Juan County  one in Montezuma Creek, the other in Monument Valley  will greatly enhance food resources in the area, reducing the remarkable distance that residents have had to go previously to access food, the food bank said in a statement.

The food bank offered several dire statistics: 17% of San Juan County residents report food insecurity versus 10% statewide while childhood hunger measures 20% in the county  double Utahs overall figure.

The Navajo Nation is classified as a food desert, with average driving time to food resources taking up to several hours one-way. A known barrier to food security is long driving distances to food outlets like grocery stores and convenience stores, the food bank said.

The Utah Food Bank completed a food distribution center and pantry last month in Blanding in San Juan County.

Utah Food Bank officials got positive feedback from Navajo Nation reps during Wednesdays ceremonies. I think they recognize that they need additional resources, and were here to help them, Bott said.

The new facilities, to open later in March though they were inaugurated Wednesday, will have the feel of grocery stores. Clients will come in, register and then theyll walk up and down the aisles just like they would in a grocery store, Bott said. The items will be free to eligible clients, and diapers and other hygienic goods will also be offered.

The San Juan County facilities, in the works for four years, are part of larger Utah Food Bank expansion efforts across Utah costing $42 million in all. The nonprofit organization also is building a new food pantry in Hurricane, in Washington County, and a new food warehouse in Springville and expanding warehouses in Salt Lake City and St. George. The money came from fundraising efforts, savings and federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 funds, with the broad aim of adjusting the food distribution network to needs now and in the years to come.

Weve been pretty darn busy, Bott said. The Utah Food Bank will own and operate the Navajo Nation food pantries, a first for the organization.

Limited food accessibility isnt the only hardship for many of the Native Americans in San Juan County. Many lack running water and electricity in their homes, according to the Utah Food Bank.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it had preliminarily earmarked $8 million to bring stand-alone solar energy units to 300 homes across the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Reservation that arent connected to the power grid. Portions of the Navajo Nation extend into Utah, Arizona and New Mexico where the three states meet, while the Hopi Reservation sits within the Navajo Nation boundaries in Arizona.
Congressman Ronny Jackson, who formerly served as the White House physician, has been demoted by the US Navy in the wake of an inspector general's report that determined his actions while serving under then-President Donald Trump were inappropriate.

The two-term congressman was demoted from retired admiral to captain, which will hurt his reputation in the military and has financial implications for him.

The Pentagon inspector general's report said Mr Jackson created a hostile work environment and both drank alcohol and used drugs while on duty as Mr Trump's doctor, according to The Washington Post.

The report concluded that Mr Jackson's overall course of conduct toward subordinates disparaged, belittled, bullied, and humiliated them, and fostered a negative work environment, and engaged in inappropriate conduct involving the use of Alcohol".

The substantiated allegations in the DoDIG [Department of Defense Office of Inspector General] investigation of Rear Adm (lower half) Ronny Jackson are not in keeping with the standards the Navy requires of its leaders and, as such, the Secretary of the Navy took administrative action in July 2022, Navy spokesman Joe Keiley said after the report was released.

Mr Keiley did not comment on Mr Jackson's new rank and did not confirm his demotion. However, sources speaking anonymously to the newspaper confirmed that Mr Jackson had been demoted.

Mr Jackson has waived off the Pentagon report as little more than a political hit job meant to reprimand him for supporting Mr Trump.

Ronny Jackson Police (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

"Im proud of the work environment I fostered under three different presidents of both parties; I take my professional responsibility with respect to prescription drug practices seriously; and I flat out reject any allegation that I consumed alcohol while on duty," he said in a statement. "I also categorically deny any implication that I was in any way sexually inappropriate at work, outside of work, or anywhere with any member of my staff or anyone else. That is not me and what is alleged did not happen."

During his time as Mr Trump's doctor, Mr Jackson held a press conference praising the then-president for his reported good health. Mr Jackson insisted that Mr Trump has "good genes" and said if he ate slightly less fast food he "might live to be 200 years old".

Mr Trump still cites Mr Jackson's reports when boasting about his health.

Mr Jackson and his Republican colleagues reportedly still use the rank "former retired rear admiral" when discussing his rank.
Thousands of students and staff walk the brick sidewalks and cross the busy street every year through the heart of UNC-Chapel Hills campus that honors a former trustee and North Carolinas largest pre-Civil War slaveholder.

On Wednesday, a group seeking to remove the vestiges of white supremacy from local streets asked the Town Council to consider renaming Cameron Avenue. The road is named for Paul Cameron and stretches from Coker Arboretum and Country Club Drive to Carrboro.

Residents and local groups aligned with The Change the Names project suggested Pauli Murray Avenue instead. The new name would honor the late pioneering Black activist who grew up in Durham, overcoming racism and sexism to earn law degrees and become the first female Episcopal priest and a force for social justice.

The petition was signed by Cameron Avenue property owners, with support from Binkley Baptist Church, Chapel Hill NOW, the Chapel Hill Friends Meeting and local civil rights attorney Barry Nakell, among others.

Joyce Sandy, with Change the Names, noted other cities in North Carolina that have renamed streets honoring racist figures, including in Hillsborough and Carrboro, where the Town Council recently voted to remove the name of Julian Carr, a noted white supremacist.

Carr Street will officially be renamed Braxton Foushee Street on March 27 to honor a local civil rights leader and the towns first Black member of the Carrboro Board of Aldermen (now the Town Council). Foushee, who now serves on the Planning Board, is the husband of Barbara Foushee, the towns current and first Black female mayor.

Chapel Hills street signs should mirror and uplift its residents, Sandy said.

We cant change history, but theres no reason to drag the atrocities of history into the 21st century by honoring racists on our street signs. They are signs of shame, she said. Your silence is complicity, because doing nothing enables the damage of racism to continue unchecked.

What is the process for changing a street name?

The towns Naming Committee could discuss the Cameron Avenue petition with staff when it meets later this month, Mayor Jess Anderson said.

Chapel Hill last changed a street name in 2019, renaming a portion of U.S. 15-501 South, from N.C. 54 to Dogwood Acres Drive, as South Columbia Street. The procedure for renaming a collector or arterial street, such as U.S. 15-501, is more complex than the procedure for a residential street, because it generally affects more people and businesses.

The town tends to avoid naming streets or facilities for a living person, although it can be considered under extraordinary circumstances, according to town staff.

Requests to rename residential streets are submitted to the town manager for approval. The town manager could consult with staff, and the decision can be appealed to the council.

Requests to rename a collector or arterial street can be submitted in writing or orally to the council by the public, the mayor, a council member, or a town advisory board or commission. Cameron Avenue is a collector street, with fewer lanes and more stop signs or roundabouts.

The steps to consider the name change are outlined in the Council Procedures Manual:

 A Naming Committee that includes two or more council members reviews the proposed change and can ask town staff, advisory boards, community organizations, and the public for input before making a recommendation to the council.

 The council can hold a public hearing and accept written comments while reviewing the name change and the committees recommendations.

 The council makes a decision during its business meeting, and the manager orders new street signs and makes other necessary changes. Public Works staff estimated in 2019 that new street signs could be installed in three to four weeks after a council decision.

Why name a Chapel Hill street for a Durham activist?

Murray has family ties to Chapel Hill through her grandmother, Cornelia, who was born to an enslaved woman named Harriet Day and her enslavers son James Sidney Smith, living on Smith Level Road, according to her niece, Rosita Stevens-Holsey. Shes the founder of Preserving Pauli Murray LLC and sent a letter supporting the change.

Murray rose to prominence as she earned law degrees from Howard University and the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. She was the first Black person to earn a doctorate of law degree from Yale University.

Her law school thesis led to the legal theory that future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall used to win the Brown vs. Board of Education desegregation case in 1954.

However, Murray was denied entry to UNC-Chapel Hills School of Sociology graduate program, because members of your race are not admitted to the University, according to the petition for the name change, quoting from Murrays rejection letter.

In 1977, Murray led her first Holy Eucharist as the first ordained female Episcopal priest at Chapel of the Cross Church on East Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. She also was a founder of the National Organization for Women.

She died in 1985 at the age of 74.

It would be a fitting, redemptive tribute to change the name in honor of Paulis contributions to American democracy and global human rights and Paulis family history, as it represents our shared history and models how we can stand up to the degradation and dignity of all our ancestors, said Jesse Huddleston, board vice chair at Durhams Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice.

What other streets could be renamed?

The Change the Names project is also asking the town to consider changing these street names with racist history:

 Kenan Street: Between West Franklin Street and Cameron Avenue, the street honors William Rand Kenan Sr., a former Confederate soldier and a leader in the 1898 Wilmington massacre that killed over 60 Black residents and destroyed a Black-owned newspaper.

 Vance Street: Located in a residential area off Pittsboro Street near UNCs campus. Named for former N.C. Gov. Zebulon Vance, who also was a Confederate officer and U.S. congressman and senator. He claimed in an 1860 speech before the House of Representatives that Black men would marry white women, polluting white blood with the putrid stream of African barbarism.

 Cameron Court: Located off Cameron Avenue, Cameron Court is a dead-end residential street also named for Paul Cameron.

 East Barbee Chapel Road: Loops through Meadowmont off N.C. 54 and is named for Chapel Hill slaveholder Sydney Barbee, whose family owned at least 100 enslaved people buried in Barbee Cemetery at the Rizzo Center in Meadowmont.
PORTSMOUTH  Stephen MacDonald called it the neighborhood noise nightmare. Nicole Ferrigno complained that its lit up like a stadium at night, its lights shining into her familys bedrooms. Liz Drayton raised concerns about the safety of the surrounding homes.

They were among the half-dozen people who spoke Wednesday night against Rhode Island Energys proposal to make its temporary liquefied natural gas facility on the west side of Portsmouth a permanent part of an otherwise residential area.

If you allow them to continue what theyre doing, its not for the betterment of the community, Lawrence Silvia, whos lived in the neighborhood for 82 years, told state regulators. The facility doesnt belong where it is.

Signs outside the Portsmouth Gate Station inform residents of a number to call in case of an emergency at the site. National Grid, now Rhode Island Energy, established a temporary LNG facility next to the gate station on Old Mill Lane in Portsmouth to improve gas reliability on Aquidneck Island.

In 2019, after a natural gas outage on Aquidneck Island left thousands of residents without heat on some of the coldest days of winter, the state Energy Facility Siting Board approved the temporary facility on Old Mill Lane to back up the islands gas system if a similar crisis occurred again.

Every winter since then, the board has allowed equipment to be trucked to the 5-acre site, along with stocks of LNG that could be vaporized and pumped into the gas distribution system as needed.

Rhode Island Energy argues that a permanent facility is necessary, not only as an emergency option in the event of another service interruption, but also to meet the needs of its 14,300 customers on the island when gas demand is at its highest.

But neighbors arent convinced its the best option. MacDonald, who lives across the street from the site, said hes investing in electric heat pumps and is considering installing solar panels.

With state mandates in place to slash greenhouse gas emissions, this isnt the time for Rhode Islands largest energy utility to invest in more fossil fuel infrastructure, he said.

Times are always changing, MacDonald said. The time for gas consumption is done.

Application comes amid larger debate about future of natural gas

When the siting board approved the initial temporary waiver for the LNG facility, it had been only 10 months since the January outage that left about 7,500 customers in Newport and Middletown without heat for nearly a week.

State and federal investigations concluded that the service interruption was caused by an extraordinary set of circumstances  a malfunctioning valve on a transmission line in Massachusetts, a spike in demand caused by frigid weather and the failure of a liquefied natural gas plant in Providence to pump much-needed supplies into the system.

Board members said they felt they had no choice but to approve the waiver because there were no other alternatives to shore up the islands gas system, which is supplied by a single pipeline that crosses beneath the Sakonnet River.

National Grid trucks in Newport in 2019 during the gas outage.

Afterward, regulators started considering long-term options to address a projected increase in heating demand on the island while also making the existing supply system more secure. While other alternatives were put on the table to make up for the shortfall in capacity, the utility determined the Old Mill Lane facility to be the preferred option.

The debate over the islands gas system reflects larger questions being asked across the nation about the future of gas for heating amid efforts to eradicate the use of fossil fuels.

After Rhode Island's 2021 passage of the Act on Climate, which requires the state to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the Public Utilities Commission opened a docket looking at ways to phase out the use of gas and ramp up the adoption of electric heating, among other alternatives. An advisory group is now working with consultants to parse the options. And in the shorter term, the commission is asking new questions about how much to invest in replacing gas pipes.

Environmental advocates say that Rhode Island Energy never adequately considered non-infrastructure solutions for Aquidneck Island. The Acadia Center wants the company to take a closer look at ramping up the use of heat pumps on the island and increasing investments in energy efficiency to tamp down usage. The Conservation Law Foundation says the company needs to better account for greenhouse gas emissions.

The office of Attorney General Peter Neronha has also weighed in on the climate implications.

This docket presents a unique opportunity to consider a question of natural gas infrastructure investment in light of the Act on Climate and the states clear intention to pursue a cleaner energy portfolio while ensuring safe and reliable heat for customers, the office wrote to the board.

More: With the future of natural gas in RI on the line, what to do with the aging infrastructure?

Rhode Island Energy proposes mitigating impacts on neighborhood

Under Rhode Island Energys application, the company would spend $15 million to build the Old Mill Lane facility and another $1.5 million a year to operate it.

It would be able to store up to 70,000 gallons of LNG on site, enough to supply the island for 37 hours continuously during an outage. If it were used only for peak-shaving on the days of highest demand, it could operate for six hours a day over three days without need for replenishment.

National Grid crews work at the LNG facility on Old Mill Lane in Portsmouth during the gas outage in January 2019.

Jeffrey Montigny, an engineer with Rhode Island Energy, said the new plans would address some resident complaints. All equipment would be shifted south, away from the road and the homes there. The project would use new vaporizers that are quieter than the current one. The company is also considering erecting a sound wall that would stand up to 20 feet tall around the new vaporizers.

But while a wall would help with sound from the vaporizers, it would not address the louder venting sounds that come periodically when crews are refilling the LNG storage tanks. Those sounds are louder than whats allowed under Portsmouths noise ordinance, and Rhode Island Energys application to the Town Council for a variance was rejected.

We are looking into equipment that would muffle that noise, Montigny said.

Despite the companys efforts to make the facility less obtrusive, Councilman Keith Hamilton and others who spoke at the hearing said the companys proposal is a bad idea.

This is not a viable solution for the problems that we face on the island, he said.

The siting board is set to begin evidentiary hearings on the application April 23. A decision is expected before next winter, said chairman Ron Gerwatowski.

There are issues that have been raised that are legitimate ones that we need to think about, he said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI Energy LNG facility in Portsmouth draws opposition from neighbors
Commentary: New quality productive forces crucial to China's economic landscape

08:15, March 07, 2024 By Wang Aona, Li Laifang ( Xinhua

The opening meeting of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- During China's ongoing annual "two sessions," a major event in the country's political calendar, the phrase "new quality productive forces" has emerged as a buzzword among national legislators and political advisors. This term is gaining attention in the context of China's economic upgrading.

In the government work report presented at the opening of the annual session of the National People's Congress on Tuesday, there was a notable emphasis on accelerating the development of new quality productive forces as part of efforts to modernize China's industrial system. This strategy is seen as key to maintaining and enhancing China's quality growth, both now and in the future.

The development of new quality productive forces in the world's second-largest economy comes at the right time to address economic challenges.

Marked by innovation, new quality productive forces are advanced productivity in essence. These forces represent a departure from traditional economic growth models, aligning with China's new development philosophy which prioritizes innovation and sustainability. They encompass high-tech, efficient, and high-quality productivity methods.

China, after years of rapid growth, is shifting toward an economy characterized by high-quality development and industrial upgrading.

By fostering new quality productive forces, China hopes to transform traditional industries, making them more advanced, intelligent, and environmentally friendly. This transition is vital for improving productivity, efficiency, and global competitiveness.

For example, China's push toward intelligent mining exemplifies this shift. By introducing advanced technologies in the coal mine industry, China aims to enhance production safety and efficiency while reducing pollution.

The impact of new quality productive forces on China's economic structure is already evident. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, there has been significant year-on-year growth in sectors like new energy vehicles, solar cell production, and service robots. China's global standing in research and development investment and innovation indices further underscores the country's commitment to these new forces.

Looking to the future, these new forces are expected to drive growth in emerging sectors. The rapid adoption of technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain demonstrates this trend. The government plans to spearhead development in future industries such as quantum technology and life sciences, while establishing zones dedicated to these cutting-edge sectors.

New quality productive forces are poised to become a major driver of China's economy, playing a crucial role in China's vision of becoming a great modern socialist country.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Cayan Group, in partnership with Hilton, today announced the opening of the first Hampton by Hilton hotel in Saudi Arabia near the futuristic NEOM city.

Featuring 201 guest rooms, Hampton by Hilton Sharma aims to deliver a seamless stay marked by the brands core values, bringing guests thoughtfully designed rooms, reliable service and enhanced comfort, along with a complimentary hot breakfast and a fully equipped fitness centre.

The project was completed shortly after 12 months from the start of construction, showcasing exceptional collaboration among the partners to support the growing demand for value-driven accommodation.

The opening of Hampton by Hilton Sharma is ideal for delegations and partners visiting this new area. It is within 20 minutes from NEOM Bay Airport and two hours from the main regional airport in Tabuk. Centred around a flexible and sustainable design, the property deploys smart systems to increase energy efficiency.

Ahmed Alhatti, Chairman of Cayan Group, said: Were thrilled to be opening the doors of Hampton by Hilton Sharma, and proud of a successful partnership with Hilton. We believe the collective and shared knowledge will give an outstanding hotel experience to the immediate demand.

Pauline Wilson, Vice President, Focused Service Operations, EMEA, said: We are very excited to debut the Hampton by Hilton brand in Saudi Arabia with the opening of Hampton by Hilton Sharma. The opening signifies the growth of our focused service portfolio across the Kingdom and the wider region, fueled by a growing demand for quality, value-driven accommodation options. We look forward to welcoming guests to the property as we continue to provide a reliable and friendly service.

Hampton by Hilton Sharma joins Hiltons growing collection of 18 operational hotels across the kingdom, with more than 60 additional properties in the pipeline. The property is also part of Hilton Honors, the award-winning guest loyalty programme for Hiltons 22 distinct hotel brands. Members who book directly have access to instant benefits, including a flexible payment slider that offers a combination of points and money to book a stay, an exclusive member discount, free standard Wi-Fi, and the Hilton Honors mobile app. - TradeArabia News Service
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A Nevada man was convicted of sexually exploiting multiple minors online including social media platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat, according to court documents.

James Patrick Burns, 55, of Sparks, sexually exploited multiple minors online via Omegle, Snapchat, TikTok and Mega.NZ. Burns is also a registered sex offender and threatened minors into producing CSAM and then posted it on dark web forums, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

He victimized over 100 children, many of whom have yet to be identified. Burns offenses came to the attention of police when the mother of one of his victims saw threats on the victims phone and reported what she saw to the police, according to court documents.

Burns was convicted by a jury on eight counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, eight counts of coercion and enticement of a minor, and one count each of advertising, receiving, distributing, and possessing child pornography. In a separate trial, the jury also convicted Burns of committing specified felony offenses (from the first trial) while required to register as a sex offender.

Burns will be sentenced on June 10 and faces a mandatory minimum of at least 25 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
NC State Universitys discovery of toxic chemicals in Poe Hall last year has placed the university in the middle of a months-long investigation.

The News & Observer spoke to experts and dug into the current laws surrounding those chemicals, known as PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls. We looked at what are considered the best practices in such investigations.

PCBs, depending on the quantity present and the length of exposure, can affect the immune, nervous and reproductive systems, among other health effects.

Theyre also considered to be probable human carcinogens, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. NC State flagged concerns about breast cancer cases in people who spent time in Poe Hall to the state in October. Faculty have also raised concerns.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating. But proving that suspicions are actually evidence of a cancer cluster is difficult, as previously reported by The N&O.

In the meantime, NC State is conducting environmental tests through a consulting group. Heres what weve found regarding those tests.

What is required to be done when PCBs are found?

NC State collected samples of surface materials from Poe Hall and had them analyzed by laboratories, which reported that there were PCBs present in certain building materials.

PCBs were banned in the United States in 1979 but were used extensively in commercial building materials between about 1950 and 1979.

Poe Hall, a seven-story tall building that houses NC States College of Education and the psychology department, was built in 1971. Several other university buildings were built around the same time, according to a university timeline available online.

If construction materials are found to contain more than 50 parts per million of PCBs, then they must be removed and disposed of, according to the EPA, which has the primary jurisdiction over the regulation of these toxins.

The EPA allows various cleanup approaches, allowing agencies to determine their own cleanup route as long as its protective of human health and the environment, and has EPA approval.

Asked what the cleanup strategy was for PCBs found above the threshold, Mick Kulikowski, spokesman for NC State, said in late February that our experts will provide us with recommendations after completing their comprehensive testing of the building. Of course, we will also remain in consultation with the EPA throughout this process and comply with federal regulations.

But though the EPA prohibits the manufacturing of PCBs and requires action if above that threshold, theres no inspection requirement. This means these chemicals are still present in many buildings constructed prior to the ban.

What did NC State do?

EMSL Analytical of Morrisville reported results to the university in November that showed that some building materials had Aroclor 1262, a specific PCB mixture produced by Monsanto, at levels several times higher than the federal threshold.

A federal investigation opened in February to help determine whether exposure to these toxins is responsible for employee illness.

After these tests, the university shut down Poe Hall and contracted with Geosyntec Consultants, a private environmental consulting group, for more testing.

Kulikowski said the university opted to contract with Geosyntec for environmental tests as NC State needed to move quickly to further understand the building.

Geosyntec conducted air sampling and surface sampling. Surface samples were taken by wiping windowsills, desks, elevator buttons, product dispensers, air supply vents and more.

A report with initial results from Geosyntec, shared by the university on Feb. 8, found that concentrations of PCBs, including Aroclor 1262, for each of the 14 indoor air samples collected were below the established exposure levels for evaluating PCBs in school indoor air environments like Poe Hall.

Two-thirds of 67 surface samples collected showed undetectable levels of PCBs, while the remaining one-third with detectable levels were generally  in all but one case  well below the EPA threshold. These tests were done with the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system off.

So why the varying results? Robert Herrick, a retired senior lecturer of industrial hygiene at Harvard University and a leading researcher on PCBs, said its not surprising that different spot samples would show a range of levels of contamination.

The universitys next steps include doing additional tests with the HVAC system turned on. It will also review building materials, with a focus on the components of HVAC systems, to identify the potential sources of the PCBs being detected, according to the Geosyntec report.

The preliminary tests were done with the assumption that the primary mechanism of exposure would be through contacting or breathing in PCBs in dust and that that dust is distributed by the buildings ventilation system, says the report.

What other tests should be done, according to experts?

But Herrick said the HVAC system was not necessarily the primary source of contamination.

The university should be looking at caulking material, paint, old fluorescent lights and other materials inside the building itself, rather than just jumping to the conclusion that the source is inside the HVAC system, he said.

Asked if caulk, paint or fluorescent lights had been tested, Kulikowski said everything that was tested is listed in the report.

The report does not mention testing those materials.

A 2016 study by Herrick estimated between 13,000 and 26,000 school buildings in the nation contain caulk laced with PCBs.

If PCBs are present or suspected of being present, the EPA recommends testing caulk, paint and other building materials. If PCBs are found above the threshold, they must be removed.

In lieu of testing, building owners can assume these materials contain PCBs above the allowed threshold and make plans to remove them through trained experts, according to an EPA manual.

After taking these steps, the EPA recommends consulting its own coordinators to assess if more action is needed, such as testing indoor air for PCBs.

The lines of communication with the EPA remain open as we progress through the testing and evaluation process, Kulikowski said. The EPA did not answer questions sent by The N&O regarding its involvement.

Since the EPA does not require testing for PCBs, NC State is not required to take further action beyond removing the materials already found to contain PCBs above the EPA threshold, according to Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Science and the National Toxicology Program.

Birnbaum also spent 19 years at the EPA, where she directed the largest division focusing on environmental health research.

For Birnbaum, even if there is no requirement to conduct further testing, it should be done. She said she hoped NC State would look at other buildings built at approximately the same time as Poe to fully understand what toxins and chemicals, even beyond PCBs, may be in them.

NC State said in January it hadnt yet determined if it would do testing beyond Poe Hall. The N&O asked this week if that has been decided.

What laws have been considered?

Birnbaum faulted U.S. environmental regulations for being too lax.

In our country, things can be put on the market with almost no testing whatsoever ... and once you have chemicals that are useful and theyre all out there, it becomes very hard to get rid of them, she said.

The EPA could pass more stringent requirements, but this would require multiple rounds of public comment, as well as review by multiple federal agencies, where its likely strong objections would crop up, she said.

It takes a very long time, if it can happen at all, she said. A more expeditious route is through federal or state legislation or public agitation, she said.

Some states have taken action to impose more stringent laws on PCBs in buildings, with Vermont perhaps being the leader. It was the first in the nation to pass a law requiring schools built or renovated before 1980 to test their indoor air for PCBs.

There have also been federal attempts to control PCBs, with Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey publishing a report in 2016 on PCBs in schools and calling for legislation. He sponsored a federal bill on PCBs in 2021, but it has languished.

North Carolina has not passed legislation regarding PCBs in buildings. Democratic Rep. Pricey Harrison, who is vice-chair of House environment committee, told The N&O that regulating contaminants seems to have been a problem under Democratic and Republican control, of the General Assembly. Currently, Republicans control the legislature.

She said on Wednesday that she spoke with GOP colleagues last week who seemed interested in pursuing changes, but declined to share names or details until she could build bipartisan support.

Should the state decide to look into PCBs, it would likely need to study the issue first before proposing any action.

Testing the multitude of buildings in the state is gonna be very expensive ... a budget breaker, Harrison said.

The consultant

Herrick, the PCBs researcher, said that based on his review of the report, he did not believe that Geosyntec did a very thorough investigation of all the possible sources and said that it did not seem Geosyntec was qualified to be doing these tests.

There are many many companies who are skilled and experienced at doing indoor investigations in office buildings, looking at all kinds of things, including PCBs, and Geosyntec is not one of them, said Herrick.

Theyre very heavily skewed towards geology and engineering. What they are notably lacking is anyone proficient or certified in industrial hygiene, he said. The Geosyntec report was certified by a professional geologist and an engineer. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, industrial hygiene is the field devoted to anticipating, recognizing, evaluating and controlling environmental factors which may affect workers.

Asked about Geosyntecs qualifications and whether it worked with certified industrial hygienists, Kulikowski said: The project team includes individuals with expertise in environmental engineering, toxicology, and industrial hygiene, many of whom have a Ph.D. in their areas of specialty.

He said Geosyntec has experience with projects involving the presence of PCBs in building materials and the evaluation of PCBs and other constituents in indoor air. The N&O emailed Geosyntec on Feb. 29, but the company didnt respond.

David Carpenter, a public health physician and PCB expert who has testified as an expert witness against Monsanto, contends the Geosyntec analysis was done very badly.

Geosyntecs report showed PCB mixtures had been found on desks. Carpenter said there should never be any results showing PCBs on a desk, as desks tend to be cleaned. That means there is an ongoing source of exposure, he said.

The Feb. 8 report shows PCBs found in eight commercial mixtures, which are made up of various PCB congeners, or compounds. The report does not break out the concentration of all individual 209 PCB congeners in existence.

Geosyntecs measure does demonstrate that there are significant levels of these commercial mixtures and thats surprising, Carpenter said, as you cannot have those PCBs in the air without having a lot of the other, non-commercial-mixtures PCBs, he said.

Carpenter said this does not necessarily mean Geosyntec is not reliable, but it could also be that it was told to report solely on mixtures, which he said is a much cheaper analysis than a full analysis of all PCBs.

There are plenty of consulting companies that are perfectly well equipped to do a measurement of all the PCBs. I suspect the problem here is that whoever hired that consulting company was trying to save money and so they told them to do a more limited analysis, he said.

To date, NC State has paid $14,922.50 to Geosyntec for services relating to Poe Hall, Kulikowski said last week. NC State has also paid Kilpatrick Townsend and Stockton, a law firm, a total of $28,347.75 for legal representation related to Poe Hall, he said. Kulikowski said the firm has expertise in working with consultants to develop compliance and remediation plans.

Asked whether Geosyntec tested individual PCB congeners (with results not being shown in the report) and whether, if not, it would test those, Kulikowski said the Feb. 8 report from Geosyntec is comprehensive of their initial phase of investigation. and contains recommendations on next steps.

Birnbaum echoed the need for more detailed tests.

While the commercial mixtures were what were used 50-some years ago, that isnt what we have today, as the composition of these mixtures change with time and exposure, she said.

So it would really be nice to see the analysis of what specific PCBs are detected there, she said.

This is also particularly important from a health standpoint, she added, because different PCBs have different effects. She also said it is important to take various samples, with the current reporting appearing to be too limited.

Theres a lot of work that remains to be done here, she said.

NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com
A new bill being debated in Albany would create a new state commission to study New York's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on better preparing for future outbreaks.

The bill, which has bipartisan support, emerged as Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration has yet to deliver results of a review of New York's pandemic response by an outside firm. That report was expected late last year, but remains outstanding and will cost $4.3 million in tax dollars.

Creating a state commission, however, would allow for the level of analysis that some public health experts and lawmakers believe is needed to ensure New Yorkers are better protected against a future pandemic. The stakes are clear as more than 1.1 million Americans have died due to COVID-19, including nearly 84,000 New Yorkers, federal data show.

What would NY COVID commission study?

Investigators would explore the COVID-19 response at all levels of government, including crucial policies that triggered societal lockdowns and remote schooling in attempts to contain the virus' spread earlier in the pandemic, according to the legislation.

Among the study targets: Health care and educational institutions, as well as hospitals, nursing homes, jails, congregate care settings and other secure facilities. The probe would also look into policies and practices relating to the workplace, which became a lighting rod for politically charged debates over mask and vaccination mandates.

Signe on the New York State Thruway in Spring Valley on Tuesday, March 17, 2020 warning drivers to flatten the curve, stay home and stop the spread, save lives.

Who would be on NY COVID commission?

The commission would have 16 voting members, including half appointed by the governor, who also gets to designate the chair of the commission. The president of the state Senate and speaker of the Assembly each appoint three members, while the respective minority leaders get one appointment each.

Some of the key powers of the commission would include access to state records and documents, including confidential materials, as well as the ability to issue subpoenas as part of its effort to interview witnesses, the bill notes.

Students walk into the Church Street Elementary School in White Plains. New York State's indoor mask mandate for schools was lifted March 2, 2022 and staff and students had the option to not wear masks for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Republican state lawmakers have also proposed a related bill, which seeks to establish a state commission to investigate how New York's COVID-19 response impacted nursing home deaths.

State policies linked to those facilities, including New York under-counting their COVID-19 death toll, were part of a series of pandemic-era scandals that culminated in the resignation of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, amid sexual harassment allegations against him.

At the federal level, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced legislation that would create a 9/11 Commission-style task force to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID response: A report says the 2020 COVID wave hit earlier than realized. Here's why that was key in NY

What has NY done to better prepare for pandemics?

Oregon sent its reserve stockpile of ventilators to New York to help with the COVID-19 pandemic. Crews loaded the 140 ventilators at the state's personal protective equipment warehouse in Wilsonville on Monday, April 6, 2020

In March, New York released the updated "pandemic annex" for the state emergency plan, which address the legal, political and logistical aspects of emergency management efforts.

The 65-page document includes sweeping instructions for handling an infectious disease, ranging from quickly responding to outbreaks in other countries to New York authorities culling specific species of animals that could spread viruses to humans.

Anti-vaccine sentiment: Fake school vaccine scheme exposed 1,500 kids in NY to serious disease threats

Many of the tactics deployed to contain COVID-19 remain in the state's pandemic playbook, ranging from travel bans and medical supply stockpiling to closing down businesses and schools. There are also guidelines related to everything from establishing overflow sites for treating the ill, such as the Naval hospital ship that arrived in New York City, to imposing mask mandates and "micro-cluster" restrictions.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY COVID response: Bill pushed to help prep for next pandemic
The NHS must embark on an M&S style turnaround to secure its future, the Health Secretary has said.

Victoria Atkins said the health service must embrace modernity and AI would be key to efforts to boost productivity and efficiency.

Speaking after a 6 billion cash injection for the NHS, including a 3.4 billion productivity fund, was announced in the Budget, Ms Atkins said Steve Rowe, a former M&S boss, has been given a role in overseeing the productivity drive.

The Health Secretary said the health service should look at the journey taken by M&S in order to recover and save its future.

She told a conference of NHS leaders it was time for the health service to have an M&S moment, urging the service to seize the opportunity and look to the future.

And she said Mr Rowe had been given a role as a non-executive director of the Department of Health and Social Care because of the lessons the NHS could learn from the M&S turnaround.

Steve Rowe is credited with the turnaround at M&S, which Victoria Atkins hopes he will recreate with the NHS - Toby Melville/Reuters

She told the Nuffield Trust health summit in Windsor: This brand, a stalwart of our high street, realised that change is needed and embraced modernity, pivoting towards the next generation, winning over and securing its long-term future.

This is what the NHS needs to do to make sure its there for the next 75 years, just as it has been there for us.

I love M&S and am very happy to welcome Steve Rowe into the department  and by the way, the reason we are doing that is precisely because of the turnaround story that M&S has experienced in the last five, six, seven years.

Mr Rowe stepped down as chief executive of M&S in 2022 after being credited with turning around the fortunes of the retailer.

Ms Atkins said: Its because they have listened to what their customers have said and they also acknowledged that they need to move forward. And I think that bringing Steve into the department, helping us with the productivity plan but other forms of delivery as well, will be a very significant step forward.

She said the health service must seize opportunities offered by technology and that voice-activated AI chatbots would be able listen in to health consultations to provide almost instant records.

This will mean that clinicians have your appointment with a mum and her child and rather than, after that appointment, having to type up for 20 minutes, the notes will be created [as you go], thereby cutting down the amount of time you have to spend tapping into the computer.

She said she wanted medics to be looking after patients, not looking at computer screens.

But she said there was a need for a full public conversation about what AI would mean for healthcare, warning that the publics trust had been destroyed by a very chequered history of attempts to digitise the NHS.

Ms Atkins also said spending by the state needed to be slimmed down because young people could not be expected to foot the bill for an infinite increase in healthcare spending. She warned that without a more productive state, younger generations might lose their faith in democracy and capitalism.

But Dennis Reed, the director of Silver Voices, an over-60s campaign group, said he had huge concerns about the use of AI to transcribe medical notes.

He said patients could feel embarrassed about being recorded, making them not as frank as they need to be, which could lead to misdiagnosis and raised concerns about the accuracy of AI transition services and the risk of recordings being hacked.

There are significant privacy issues here, which the NHS needs to take seriously, he warned.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
An NHS logo

I was going to write about Wednesdays Budget, but really there seems little point. Welcome as the 2 per cent National Insurance cut and the change to child benefit rules are, overall the Budget does nothing to change our direction of travel towards a social democratic economy: high tax, high spend, big state, and hence low growth. It therefore also does nothing to improve Conservative electoral prospects.

It is not then surprising, amid this world-weary acquiescence in collectivism, this stealing of Labour policy clothes, that we should find Jeremy Hunt referring approvingly to the NHS, and finding another 5-6 billion for it: small change, after all, in our health budget.

He claimed that the NHS is the biggest reason most of us are proud to be British and unfortunately, according to the polling, he is right. An Ipsos Mori survey last year showed that, incredibly, 54 per cent of us put the NHS at the top of the list of reasons to be proud of being British, way ahead of our history, at 32 per cent, or our democracy, at 25 per cent.

I say incredibly because most developed countries have a health system that is free at the point of use, too; most systems outcomes are better than ours; and satisfaction with ours is at historic lows. So the baffling centrality to British national identity of the NHS as an institution remains to be explained.

It is easy to see why socialists like it. There is the Attlee and Nye Bevan mythology. There is the erasure from political history of all the (rather successful) pre-1948 arrangements for providing health care. There is the rhetorical emphasis on fairness and on equality  with queues and handouts as their necessary consequences, not phenomena that ever bother socialists very much.

Behind it all, for the Labour Party, is a belief that, in an ideal world, the whole economy would be like the NHS, with market forces excluded and services allocated not bought. This is why Leftists like Jeremy Corbyn are obsessional about excluding any market transactions within the system: all cleaning, all car parking, all clothing provision must be done by the government for fear of contaminating the NHSs moral purity.

It is less obvious why so many Conservative politicians are believers in the NHS, or at least pretend to be. For one thing, you might hope they would reflect their voters. In that Mori poll, 71 per cent of 2019 Labour voters put the NHS at the top of their list, but only 31 per cent of Conservatives. It is also noticeable from that poll that older voters, who might be thought to have most experience of the health system, are significantly less proud of it.

But it is a rare Conservative politician who will express any doubts about the health service and Jeremy Hunt certainly is not one of them. He has written a whole book about the NHS and his efforts to reduce avoidable harm and death within it  an astonishing 150 avoidable deaths every week.

As he rightly says, solutions to this problem do exist  better accountability, better prevention, better technology. But he shows a touching belief in the ability of ministers and managers to make them happen, despite all the evidence that the problems just repeat and repeat.

In truth, improvements are made despite the NHS system, not because of it. Thats not surprising in this Soviet-style set-up which has no competition, no real incentives, and no consumer power. If airlines kill their passengers, people stop flying on them, and their staff stop working for them. But if your local maternity centre kills too many babies, as all too many of them seem to keep on doing, you are stuck with it.

Hunt proudly says that the NHSs strength is that in it we are always patients and never customers. That, unfortunately, is precisely the issue. It would be more accurate to say that we are always patients and always paupers. When you walk across the threshold of an NHS institution, you become a pauper, at the mercy of those who run it, just as much as someone entering a Victorian workhouse.

You must take the service you are given as and when the staff are ready to provide it. If you get good and kind treatment, as of course many do, you are lucky  which is why so many think it worthy of public comment. But you might not be lucky. If you need to change an appointment, but cant contact the hospital: too bad. If you suffer while a GP receptionist decides whether you are a worthy case: too bad. And if you die on a waiting list: too bad.

That mindset of we know best and you must put up with it is the true spirit of too many of those who govern Britain today  sadly, in all parties. Take what you are given and like it, and if things go wrong youll be taxed to pay for the mistakes. We see it in net zero, in immigration policy, in planning law, the Post Office scandal, and more.

The NHS isnt an anomaly within this system: its the apotheosis of it. Thats why it must change.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
It's been two weeks since the lifting of tough sanctions on military-ruled Niger, but the pace of economic recovery is slow and the generals have shown no inclination to re-open the border with Benin and seek a diplomatic settlement with neighbouring nations.

Barricades initially put up in anticipation of an armed intervention by regional bloc ECOWAS still block the road linking Niger to Benin.

The political and economic standoff between Niamey and ECOWAS, which is demanding the release of deposed President Mohamed Bazoum and a return to constitutional order, has remained since the July coup that overthrew him.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced late February it was lifting the most damaging sanctions, including a no-fly zone, border closures and asset freezes.

Niamey's traders say they are starting to see an improvement in electricity supply after a period of disrupted transport and shortages of power, food and medicine.

"Customers are coming in droves to get their hair done," said Mohamed, smiling outside his barber shop in the Dan Zama neighbourhood.

- Economic fallout -

Niger's main power supplier, Nigeria, cut off power at the time of the coup, causing blackouts that hit the economy.

"These months of electricity shortages have bankrupted us," said Ayouba Ali, a frozen chicken seller who has already placed new orders to get his business back on track.

The Nigerien Electricity Society "Nigelec" has been reconnected to the 820 kilometre high-voltage line between Niger and Nigeria since March, a source close to the Society told AFP.

"We have not had a power cut since last Friday," soft-drinks factory worker Saley Moussa said.

"Our factory is running at full capacity as we try to make up for the production losses caused by more than six months of disruption."

The West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) has also lifted sanctions, which included freezing Niger's assets and suspending financial transactions.

Customers had been forced to queue for hours outside the main banks to withdraw limited amounts of money.

"Banking transactions with foreign banks are now possible," a Niamey bank manger told AFP, although the payment of some civil servants' salaries was still behind schedule.

- "Non-event" -

Benin and Nigeria have reopened their borders, but Niger's remains closed.

The lifting of sanctions was intended to signal a willingness to renew dialogue with military regimes among ECOWAS members and came after Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso announced their intention to leave the bloc in late January.

After announcing the end of sanctions on February 24, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu urged the three countries to reconsider their withdrawal and to stop treating the organisation as an enemy.

His calls went unanswered. "I do not want to comment on a decision taken by an organisation of which Mali is not a member," said Mali's Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop.

The ECOWAS announcement was a "non-event", according to Niamey, which still considers military intervention by neighbouring countries as a possibility, a government source said.

Economic pragmatism, however, suggests that borders should soon be opened.

Before the July coup, the Benin corridor handled 80 percent of Niger's freight through the port of Cotonou, some 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from Niamey.

The port is also the terminal for a giant oil pipeline inaugurated in November, which should enable Niger to export 90,000 barrels of crude a day.

On Tuesday, a Niger delegation visited customs facilities on both sides of the border with Benin.

While airspace remains closed to flights to and from Nigeria, the pan-African airline Asky, based in Togo, and Air Cote d'Ivoire announced on March 2 that they were resuming flights to Niamey.

clt-bh/stb/spb
Dont believe the rumors.

The Hall County Sheriffs Office said someone was circulating rumors about threats at Cherokee Bluff High School in Flowery Branch.

After investigating, they found no confirmation of a credible threat.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

However, they have placed additional deputies on the schools campus today for the peace of mind of students, teachers, and parents.

Hall County School District Superintendent Will Schofield issued the following statement:

Social media rumors continue to claim that there is a threat at Cherokee Bluff High School.

Both school officials and law enforcement have investigated thoroughly and find no credibility to these rumors.

We will continue to make safety our first priority and we look forward to another great day at Cherokee Bluff High School.

TRENDING STORIES:

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
NEW YORK CITY  The most stressful time of the year is coming up for New York City residents looking to move: peak rental season.

With peak rental season arriving in June, bringing an increase to available apartment units, there are a few ways to score a no-fee apartment or a rent-stabilized unit.

NYCs most and least affordable zip codes are in the Bronx: study

How to find a rent-stabilized apartment in NYC

For those looking to find rent-stabilized apartments, the New York City-run website HPD Online is a great tool to discover and verify if an apartment is rent-stabilized. Potential renters and buyers can enter the address of a building and find a panel of information about the property before or after viewing it in person.

The Rent Guidelines Board website also has a list of several buildings that contain rent-stabilized apartments across all five boroughs. The list was last updated in August 2023 and is a great resource for renters eyeing a specific building.

Another option to consider for a rent-stabilized apartment is applying for a New York Citys affordable housing lottery. The affordable housing lottery is run by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Housing Development Corporation. Interested applicants must meet at least two requirements for a unit: the household income and size requirements.

28 developments available on NYCs affordable housing lottery through April

Do no-fee apartments exist in NYC?

While it may seem like all apartments in the city come attached with a brokers fee, there are a few ways to snag a no-fee apartment. On StreetEasy, users can check off the no-fee only box to populate only no-fee apartment options.

Responding directly to an apartment listing by an existing tenant also sometimes doesnt come with a fee, due to taking over the previous tenants lease. Renters can also contact management companies directly, cutting out the in-house broker, and ask to rent an apartment in their buildings, according to StreetEasy.

Many management companies also place signs on their buildings where interested applicants can call and ask if there are any available apartment units, without incurring a brokers fee.

Charline Charles is a digital journalist from Brooklyn who has covered local news along with culture and arts in the New York City area since 2019. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
A Utah bar has banned supporters of the Zionism movement, and some have referred to the bar owners stance as antisemitic.

Now, the ban by Salt Lake City bar Weathered Waves has reportedly sparked a potential investigation brought to the Utah Attorney Generals Office.

The bar posted a No Zionists Allowed message on Instagram on Monday, March 4, leading to a fury of responses.

We are horrified by the ongoing genocide in Gaza and are even more horrified to see so many Americans ignore and rationalize ethnic cleansing, Weathered Waves said in the post. That is why we are pleased to announce we are banning all Zionists forever from our establishments. Zionism is hate speech, it is white supremacy and has nothing to do with the beautiful Jewish faith.

Michael Valentine, who owns the bar, later edited the post to say the ban doesnt only apply to Zionists. He said Nazis and racists are also not allowed at his establishments.

The bar owner told KMYU that Jewish patrons are still allowed at Weathered Waves, as the ban does nor prohibit religion.

I think its, again, something wed be happy to stand on the right side of history for, Valentine told KSL. Its important that this remains an inclusive space by banning all hate speech.

What is Zionism?

According to the Anti-Defamation League, Zionism is referred to as the movement for the self-determination and statehood for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, the land of Israel.

Zionism, which Vox reports is the national ideology in Israel, is generally opposed by Arabs and Palestinians.

In a February poll by Arab Center Washington DC, 59% of the Arab respondents said they are certain there is no possibility for peace with Israel. Only 13% believe there is a chance to establish peace.

Weathered Waves vowed its support for Palestine in the countrys armed conflict with Israel, but the ADL said being a Zionist does not prevent support for Palestine.

For some Zionists, support for a two-state solution is the realization of self-determination for Jews and Palestinians alike, the organization said.

The American Jewish Committee argues anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism.

Criticizing specific Israeli government policies as discriminatory or racist is not antisemitic, the AJC says on its website. However, saying Zionism is racism, a phrase which itself is a racist and religious distortion, conveys that the Jewish people  unlike all other people in the world  do not have a right to self-determination.

State agency requests investigation

The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services, which days prior had issued Weathered Waves a license, has notified the states attorney generals office about the bars ban, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

In a statement to KSL on March 6, the department said it received several complaints over the bars policy.

Today, the department notified the Utah Attorney Generals Office so they may conduct an investigation on whether the business is violating discrimination laws, the department said. At the same time, the department is reviewing its statutory obligations and legal options for responding to discrimination at DABS licensed establishments.

Valentine said in a statement on Instagram that banning what he refers to as hate speech is not illegal in any way whatsoever.

He is calling on the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services to retract its statement, calling it defamation and slander.

Please tell us how its discrimination when we are trying to make our bar safe for our Palestinian, Arab, Muslim AND Jewish patrons for banning this kind of hate speech? he said in a follow-up post March 7.

Kosher food responds

Yalla Kosher Utah, a Salt Lake City food truck serving Kosher food, decried Weathered Waves stance and said in an Instagram post that food should not be used to divide people.

And values aside, we think youd prefer our shawarma over some cider that sympathizes with sexual violence, the food truck said.

The post references a new United Nations report, which said there are reasonable grounds to believe Hamas committed rape and sexualized torture of women in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to The Associated Press.

Weathered Waves countered, calling Yalla Koshers words defamation.

Our business is still for Jews btw, the bar said. We have lots of anti-Zionist Jews we love dearly and will always be welcome.

Other Jewish leaders react to the ban

Avremi Zippel, a co-owner of the food truck and rabbi of Chabad Lubavitch of Utah, told The Salt Lake Tribune that the bar will have difficulty enforcing the policy without openly discriminating against the religion.

When someone comes into your place of business to order food or beverage, how are you able to ascertain what their political ideologies are? he told the newspaper. Zionism is a political ideology. Its a philosophy. How exactly is a place of business supposed to determine who is and who is not a Zionist?

He referred to the ban as antisemitic and a smoke screen for open Jew hatred, according to KMYU.

The comments are similar to those of the United Jewish Federation of Utah, which called Weathered Waves ban a biased policy, ABC4 reported.

In the guise of Anti-Zionist rhetoric this business owner is demonizing those who believe in the right of existence of a Jewish state as well as applying a double standard to Israel and our community, the federation said.

Bernie Sanders proposes resolution on Israels destruction of Gaza. What does it do?

US labels dozens of groups  like Hamas  as terrorists. How is this decision made?
Tax lawyers have been inundated with phone calls from non-doms planning to leave Britain after Jeremy Hunt announced a crackdown in the Budget.

Members of the international elite attacked the Chancellors plan to scrap the tax status as arrogant and short-termist and began drawing up plans to move away within hours of the change being announced.

Christopher Groves, a partner at high-end international law firm Withers, said: The phones started to ring yesterday as soon as the announcement came out. Lots of people are trying to work out what it means for them.

Mr Groves said that one non-dom client, who is based in the UK with a large international business spread across Europe, instantly got in touch via WhatsApp.

In a message, the client said: Its really bad. Arrogant and short-termist and very damaging to the UKs image as a good place for international wealth creators. How could anyone with serious wealth ever consider coming and putting down roots in the UK. So stupid.

The client is in the process of expanding their international business in the UK but is questioning his choices.

Mr Groves said: He thought this would be a good place to be. But hes now thinking about whether or not hes made the right decision.

Mark Davies, of Mark Davies & Associates, tax advisers specialising in non-doms, said his clients had been stunned by Wednesdays announcement.

He said: The universal immediate reaction is when do I have to leave and where shall I go?

James Ward, of law firm Kingsley Napley, said even before the announcement a number of his clients were already in the process of leaving, with several who were also business owners relocating to Dubai.

He said: There is a sense that theres been a systematic downturn in London. Private schools may be taxed under Labour, business flights are being taxed more. Everything that was making the UK attractive to the wealthy is being dismantled.

Unlike UK-domiciled people, individuals who live in Britain but have a permanent home elsewhere can avoid paying tax on foreign income and gains.

But from April 2025, new arrivals into the country will benefit from this tax break for just four years before they must pay the same taxes as UK domiciles.

Others already based here will face huge tax rises as soon as the new regime comes into effect.

An estimated 5,500 current non-doms are ineligible for the four-year tax break, according to government figures, and will instantly face tax rises when the rules change next year.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has forecast that overhauling the regime will raise around 3bn annually.

Helen Miller, of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), said: That is not a huge number in public finance terms, but for a small group of losers that is an extremely big per person tax increase. We are talking about tax increases of hundreds of thousands of pounds just on average, per person.

The number of non-doms in the UK has plummeted from 85,000 to 55,000 since 2017, when the government changed the rules so the status could no longer be held permanently.

Many non-doms set up trusts after the 2017 reforms to protect their wealth. But in Wednesdays Budget Mr Hunt ruled that from April 2025, these protections will no longer apply.

Mr Davies said: What they were encouraged to do now is worthless. My clients are rightfully angry and confused, and if this legislation goes through this will have a massive effect on the UK economy as many taxpayers in the top 1pc will leave.

Economists who support the non-dom regime have argued that by diluting it Britain risks losing talent from the financial services industry as well as business owners and investors.

On top of this,the country will lose the tax paid on UK income and assets by any departing non-doms. Under the current rules, non-doms also start paying a tax charge of either 30,000 or 60,000 once they have been in the country for more than seven years and this money will no longer be collected.

The Chancellor has introduced a number of measures designed to keep current non-doms in the country  including a low 12pc tax rate on money brought into the UK between 2025 and 2027.

But Alex Ruffel, of law firm Irwin Mitchell, said he did not think this would be enough to stop some from leaving.

He said: These attempts to cushion the blow may be enough for some. For others, particularly those who might find their worldwide assets within inheritance tax from 2025, they will not be enough and we anticipate they will depart the UK in the next 12 months.

It came as the IFS warns of major uncertainty around how much the abolition of non-dom status will raise.

Ms Miller said: We dont know exactly how the non-doms will respond. They could respond more than the Government is expecting. That is a real risk to the public finances.

The OBR has warned that its revenue forecasts are highly uncertain given many non-doms are globally mobile. It is generally much easier for them to relocate than it is for the average person.

The budget watchdog currently expects 10pc to 20pc of non-doms to leave the UK because of the tax raid, but in reality that figure could be even higher.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Theres a new hall of fame honoring North Carolinas signature food: slowly smoked pork cooked directly over glowing wood coals  better known as Carolina-style barbecue.

The new North Carolina Barbecue Hall of Fame inducted its inaugural class this month, celebrating some of the innovators and originators who helped make North Carolina one of Americas premier barbecue regions.

This new hall of fame unites the two styles of North Carolina barbecue, erasing the hard-line distinction between eastern whole hog style and Piedmont/Lexington style and highlighting masters of each.

There are nine inductees into the first class of the North Carolina Barbecue Hall of Fame, representing seven legendary restaurants. The honorees include:

An induction ceremony was held on March 1 at the Alliance Convention Center in Burlington.

Barbecues national profile has soared in recent years, sending a once humble style of cooking to the heights of the culinary world. North Carolina has played a role in that, as decades-old restaurants and a new generation of pitmasters have helped spread the gospel of smoked pork.

The hall of fame intends to honor the past while barbecue continues to evolve, said organizer Chuck Hursey, whose grandfather Charles Hursey was among the inductees.

Theres never been an official North Carolina Barbecue Hall of Fame, but its what were known for all over the world and all over the nation, Hursey said. If you mention North Carolina, the first thing people think of is barbecue.

Several North Carolina barbecue practitioners have been inducted into the national Barbecue Hall of Fame, while Lexington has a Wall of Fame honoring important Piedmont pitmasters.

Hursey said the hall of fame plans to celebrate whats special about Carolina barbecue.

Sometimes (east and west) gets pitted against each other, but theyre all ambassadors for North Carolina, Hursey said. We wanted to try and start off and cover the whole state, focusing on the oldest ones still in business. These are the people who originally set the reputation of North Carolina barbecue.

Most decorated pitmasters

The inaugural class of pitmasters includes some of the most decorated and celebrated restaurants in North Carolina, led by the Jones family. Today, Sam Jones, a fourth-generation pitmaster and the youngest person inducted into the North Carolina Barbecue Hall of Fame, is among the countrys top whole hog experts.

Its important to honor the old guard of this tradition, Jones said in a news release. Ive been blessed to have been able to travel all over this country as somewhat of an ambassador of North Carolina barbecue, which previously was looked down upon in the culinary community. It was not until Southern cuisine was elevated to fine dining that barbecue rose to being recognized as something special. The old guard had been working hard all these years with almost no recognition. I wish the people who came before me, like my grandfather Pete and his uncle, the man who taught him to cook barbecue, could have accepted this award instead of me.

Hursey said organizers plan to grow the hall of fame annually and that a physical space is in the works.

As North Carolinas barbecue landscape evolves and menus sometimes take on a Texas influence, Hursey said he couldnt rule out brisket pitmasters one day being honored in the hall of fame with a special distinction or category.

Wed have to consider it, but it may take us a while to cover all the older folks first, Hursey said. We really wanted to honor the families and people who helped establish North Carolina barbecue. Over the years theyve put millions of dollars into the North Carolina economy. It doesnt matter who you are, everyone can sit down at the same table and have barbecue and have a conversation.

These 64 barbecue joints helped define North Carolina cue. They may reshape its future.

The barbecue bubble: How Lexington became synonymous with a distinctive NC flavor
WASHINGTON (WNCN)  Every year, the President delivers a message to Congress and Americans on issues facing the country. Its typically among the most anticipated and important appearances for the President  especially in an election year.

Along with North Carolina lawmakers, a few residents will be present at Thursdays State of the Union address.

Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) have invited the family of Keith Siegel to be their guests.

It is my honor to host the family of North Carolina native Keith Siegel at the State of the Union. The American people cannot forget that six of our fellow citizens are still being held hostage by Hamas terrorists for more than 150 days. The ordeal that these families are going through is horrifying, and I will continue working as hard as I can to see that these Americans are released and returned to their families, Budd said in a statement.

Its unthinkable: Chapel Hill man is one of the hostages in Gaza

Siegel is North Carolina among the six Americans held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. Siegels sister, Lucy and niece, Hanna will be in attendance.

It is an honor to partner with Senator Budd to invite the Siegel family to this years State of the Union. Keith and Aviva Siegel were horrifically taken from their home and kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7th attack. While it is a great relief that Aviva has been released, we are still working to secure Keiths freedom from Hamas captivity. As the terrorist organization Hamas continues its brutal reign over the Palestinian people, we must continue to work to ensure they can never return to power and release all the remaining hostages, including many Americans alongside Keith.

Coming from Durham, Lavern Lucier will be in attendance as a guest of Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC).

Luciers son, Syncere Burrell, died in a shooting in Durham in 2020. Since then, Foushee says Lucier has been an ally in the fight to slow the flow of guns into local communities. She has also been an advocate for improving relations between law enforcement and local communities.

18-year-old murdered in 2020 in Durham was involved in gang feud, warrant says

People like Lavern Lucier truly exemplify the work Democrats are doing to fight for everyday Americans, and I applaud her commitment to making our schools, neighborhoods, and streets a safer place for our children. As a member of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, I will continue to push for federal gun violence prevention legislation that will save lives and keep our communities safe, Foushee said.

Atrium Health Levine Cancer nurse Kris Blackley will also be there as a guest of First Lady Jill Biden. Blackley met the First Lady when she visited Charlotte and shared with her information about patient navigators at Levine Cancer. Navigators identify barriers to care and help secure resources for patients.

President Biden is expected to talk about infrastructure projects, lowering the cost of prescriptions, and his work to cut down on credit card late fees.

Democratic Congresswoman Deborah Ross, who represents Wake County, will be attending the State of the Union with her husband. Rep. Ross told CBS 17 that she will be looking for specific messaging.

Our democracy is under threat, womens reproductive freedom is under threat, voting rights are under threat and our position in the world is under threat. It is important that we come together in a bipartisan way to move our country forward.

I live in a growing area where people are very concerned about rising housing prices and childcare. Theyre very excited about the tax credit bill that the House passed but theyre now looking for Senate action on that. Theyre also very happy that we have reduced the price of insulin and prescription drugs, but that really just applies to Medicare and theyre looking for more relief in healthcare. There are more eyes are on the State of the Union in a presidential election year, but Joe Biden is very experienced very polished and he will be up to the job, Ross said.

The State of the Union Address is scheduled for 9 p.m.. Thursday night.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com.
[Source]

Outdoor clothing brand The North Face is offering a 20% discount to customers who complete a course on racial inclusion aimed at promoting equality in outdoor spaces.

About the program: Developed in partnership with diversity consultants, the companys hour-long "Allyship in the Outdoors" course explores topics like white privilege and systemic racism, aiming to foster an understanding of barriers faced by people of color in outdoor activities.

Getting the discount: The course is conducted through four online modules that commit to help you be a better ally and to make the outdoors a safer and more welcoming place for everyone. Upon course completion, participants will receive a discount on online orders.

The big picture: This move comes amidst growing discussions about racial inclusion in outdoor activities and corporations addressing diversity and inclusion post-Black Lives Matter. On its website, The North Face cites studies indicating lower participation rates of people of color in outdoor activities, along with the impact of George Floyd's murder, as reasons for the initiative.

Trending on NextShark: Indian painter gets brain-dead woman's hands in rare bilateral hand transplant

Response and criticism: While the program resonates with socially conscious consumers, it faces criticism from right-wing commentators who argue that incentivizing inclusion through discounts perpetuates "woke capitalism," leading to calls for a boycott of the brand.

Trending on NextShark: $1.5M lawsuit accuses California DA of racism against Asian Americans

Download the NextShark App:

Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
The report documents how Kim Jong-un's regime took advantage of the pandemic to effectively seal off North Korea - KCNA/via REUTERS

North Korea has fortified its borders with upgraded and extra fencing and additional guard posts, further imprisoning its population and depriving them of food, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) released on Thursday.

Between 2020 and 2023, North Korean authorities built a total 299 miles of new fencing in the areas investigated and enhanced another 160 miles of primary fencing. There has also been a 20-fold increase in border security posts and watchtowers.

The investigation draws on more than 80 photos, satellite images spanning hundreds of square miles along the northern border and testimonies from escapees still in contact with relatives inside the authoritarian country to show how the draconian measures have increased human suffering.

It documents how Kim Jong-uns regime took advantage of the pandemic and the pretext of preventing the spread of Covid-19 to effectively seal the population within the country.

Shoot to kill orders, ostensibly imposed to keep out the disease, still remain in place.

North Koreans who previously managed to flee the regime say it has become steadily harder to communicate with relatives left behind, who sound desperate when a phone connection is made.

Young Mi, a former herbal medicine trader, said that she used to speak with her relatives once a week until 2019 before the calls started to dwindle. She last spoke to a family member there last year.

I asked [my relative] how she is doing  She said life wasnt life. She repeated that twice. We were seeing each others faces and we all cried  it was dangerous, and we turned off the video, she said.

It was not just about the economic difficulties, it was about the nostalgia, the fear of repression  of not seeing each other again before dying  the hopelessness.

Escaping North Korea has been all but impossible since the start of the pandemic and the HRW images show why.

The satellite images, covering one quarter of the 850-mile northern border, show the scale and resources that the North Korean government has invested in new fencing, infrastructure and the increased deployment of security personnel.

The biggest increase was in the number of guard posts, which mushroomed from 38 before the start of the pandemic, to 6,506.

In 2019, border guard posts largely existed only in urban areas and watchtowers were built every couple of miles on average.

The report shows that by early last year, the authorities had built on average one border facility, whether a guard post, watchtower, or garrison for every 110 metres of fence line.

The tightening border has not only trapped citizens inside the cruel regime but also prevented vital foodstuffs and medical supplies from reaching them.

K Yun Mi, a former trader who left in 2013 and is still in contact with relatives in the country, revealed how tough life has been in the past few years.

My [relative] said [in March 2022] the biggest concern is eating and living  Smuggling and farming are hard to do, prices are high, they are all worried about food  We are worried people may starve.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, visits a western operational training base in North Korea Wednesday, March 6, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for greater war fighting capabilities against the United States and South Korea, state media reported Thursday, after his defense ministry vowed to respond to the ongoing South Korean-U.S. military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal.

During a visit to a western operational training base on Wednesday, Kim said the military must steadily intensify the actual war drills aimed at rapidly improving its combat capabilities for perfect war preparedness, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

Kim said the heightened readiness is required to contain the constant threat of the enemies with overwhelming force, KCNA said.

It said Kim guided maneuvers of military units at the site but didnt elaborate. State media photos showed Kim wearing a black leather jacket and standing in position to shoot a rifle and standing near soldiers who were lying on the ground and aiming their rifles.

Kim has previously made similar calls for a stronger military numerous times. But his latest demand came two days after North Korea's Defense Ministry threatened to conduct unspecified responsible military activities because South Korean-U.S. military drills were allegedly getting more undisguised in their attempt for invading the North.

The South Korean and U.S. militaries began their annual computer-simulated command post training and a variety of field exercises on Monday for an 11-day run. This years drills were to involve 48 field exercises, twice the number conducted last year. The two countries have said their drills are defensive in nature.

North Korea has reacted to previous South Korean-U.S. military exercises with missile and other weapons tests.

Jeon Ha Gyu, a spokesperson for the South Korean Defense Ministry, told reporters later Thursday that South Korea will overwhelmingly deal with any provocations by North Korea. He said its nonsensical for North Korea to call the South Korea-U.S. military drills an invasion rehearsal while elevating its nuclear and missile threats.

Animosities on the Korean Peninsula remain high in the wake of North Korea's barrage of missile tests since 2022. Many of the tests involved nuclear-capable missiles designed to attack South Korea and the mainland U.S. This year, North Korea performed six rounds of missile tests. The U.S. and South Korean forces have responded by expanding their training exercises.

Experts say North Korea likely believes a bigger weapons arsenal would increase its leverage in future diplomacy with the United States. They say North Korea would want to win extensive sanctions relief while maintaining its nuclear weapons.

North Korea is expected to further raise tensions with more provocative weapons tests and fiery rhetoric this year as the U.S. and South Korea head into major elections, observers say.
By Hyunsu Yim

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guided an artillery firing drill by the Korean People's Army, the country's military force, state media KCNA reported on Friday.

The drill, carried out on Thursday, involved units near the border that are in firing range of "the enemy's capital," KCNA said, referring to the South Korean capital of nearly 10 million residents and added it "fulfilled important military missions for war deterrence".

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said North Korea's military test-fired multiple rocket launcher shells and self-propelled artillery shells toward the Yellow Sea between 11 a.m. (0200 GMT) and 5 p.m.(0800 GMT) on Thursday.

The JCS said it was monitoring the North's military activities as joint drills conducted by South Korean and U.S. militaries are underway. The drills, known as the Freedom Shield exercises, began on Monday with twice the number of troops joining compared to last year.

North Korea has also made "multiple attempts" to jam GPS signals near the border in South Korea since Tuesday, the JCS said in a separate statement, adding no damage was caused but warning of consequences.

In Washington, a State Department spokesperson said the joint U.S. South Korean drills were "routine and defensive in nature" and called on North Korea "to refrain from further provocative, destabilising actions and return to diplomacy." KCNA said Thursday's artillery drill aimed to increase combat readiness and war capability.

Kim urged the military to push forward with preparations so the artillery sub-units could "take the initiative with merciless and rapid strikes at the moment of their entry into an actual war".

"He stressed the need to train all the artillery men of the whole army into experts in artillery engagement ... and set forth important tasks for rounding off the artillery war preparations," the report said, referring to the leader of the reclusive state.

Photographs published by KCNA showed balls of flame from artillery fire and Kim dressed in a black leather jacket and flanked by soldiers watching from a dug out.

Seoul's defence minister, Shin Won-sik, visited the Capital Defense Command on Thursday and ordered a firm response if North Korea made provocations aimed at the capital.

Earlier this week, the North Korean state media said Kim inspected field training of troops at a major military operations base in the western region of the country.

(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin in Seoul and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Barbara Lewis and Diane Craft)
The North Port City Commission zoned a 262.3-acre parcel at the southeast corner of Toledo Blade Boulevard and Tropicaire Boulevard to allow multifamily development.

NORTH PORT  North Port city commissioners cleared the way for multifamily housing to be built on 262.3 acres annexed in 1999 by a 3-2 vote Tuesday, despite concerns raised by neighbors over the number of homes and loss of wetlands.

Known as Toledo Blade 320 Residential Multi-Family, the tract is owned by Deluxeton Homes of Dunwoody, Georgia, and located about a mile north of Interstate 75.

It previously carried no zoning designation because the owners did not have a plan for the property after a project called Isles of Athena fell through and the Great Recession hit. The board designated the property as appropriate for residential multifamily development, which matched the site's designation in the city's long-range growth plan.

Development in that portion of the city has been jump-started by North Port's decision to extend water and sewer lines north of the Interstate, using federal American Rescue Plan funding.

Attorney Jeff Boone noted that plans for the site will call for about 880 units on the parcel, with a large percentage of the wetlands preserved.

Theres a high degree of wetlands and environmental features that goes with our proposal," Boone said.

The parcel is just north of, but not connected to Star Farms Village, once known as Toledo Village, a 3,000-plus home development mothballed by the Great Recession.

Star Farms Village was approved last spring.

Many residents who voiced concern about Toledo 320 cited the pending traffic impact of Star Farms Village and commercial development farther south off of Toledo Blade.

In Tallahassee, House Bill 1117, which would create the Star Farms Village of Florida Stewardship District that could then fund infrastructure, passed the House on a 114-0 vote and was sent to the Senate.

The Toledo Blade 320 parcel is on land designated for high-density residential development, with a maximum of 15 units per acre.

Public speakers asked the commission to maintain single-family zoning on the property and preserve wetlands rather than allow developers to fill them in and pay to conserve wetlands elsewhere.

The fragmentation of our wetlands, which is continuing not just this development proposal for rezoning, we have seen consistently plans approved and property resold, Chuck English said, adding he feared a subsequent purchaser could just mitigate the wetlands on the existing master plan in exchange for more development.

You cant keep fragmenting the environment for the sale of economic development when we have no idea what the impact will be down the road.

Commissioner Debbie McDowell, who along with Pete Emrich in dissent, agreed with the residents.

We are making ourselves overcrowded and this is one of the last areas that I believe  and this is my opinion  that needs to be developed out.

McDowell, who voted to give preliminary approval to the project earlier, said she changed her vote because she did not see a legal basis to deny it, but ultimately could not in good conscience, rezone more environmentally sensitive land for development.

Mayor Alice White  who recalled when the land was annexed along with the property planned to become the Isles of Athena development  noted that it was never meant to be conserved, though as much as 72% of the land may not be developed.

Thats remarkable, quite frankly, for a property of this size, Boone said of that possibility.

Boone stressed that before the project can go forward it must be approved by the Southwest Florida Water Management District,

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: North Port board approves zoning change for 262-acre tract near I-75
A North Texas middle school teacher has been arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, officials said.

David Goggins, 32, was arrested Tuesday by officers from the Tarrant County Sheriffs Office, according to court records. Goggins is a teacher at Pike Middle School in the Northwest Independent School District, school officials said.

Northwest ISD spokesperson Anthony Tosie told the Star-Telegram that Goggins turned himself in to authorities. He was hired by the district for the 2022-23 school year.

Principal Tricia Lutkenhaus said in a letter to Pike Middle School families that Goggins alleged conduct occurred before he was employed at the school.

Northwest ISD had no knowledge of the allegations at the time he was hired or while he was actively teaching in the district, Lutkenhaus said in the letter, which was shared with the Star-Telegram. According to information shared with us, the matter does not involve a current or former Northwest ISD student, and police are not seeking additional victims.

District officials immediately placed Goggins on administrative leave when they learned of the allegations, Lutkenhaus said. Goggins is also forbidden from accessing any of the districts campuses.

Goggins was employed by the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District in the 2021-22 school year, when the incident allegedly happened, Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV reported.

Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD police said in a letter to Marine Creek Middle School families that no reports of misconduct were received while the person was employed in EMS ISD, according to WFAA. The student who made the complaint against Goggins didnt come forward until the current school year, when Goggins was no longer with the district.

Today's top stories:

 Man nearly decapitated wife, told police she cut herself: affidavit

 Fort Worth considers new fee on homeowners, businesses to pay for roads

 DFW Airport car thefts nearly doubled. How many were recovered?

Get free alerts when news breaks.
Norway will allocate up to NOK 1.6 billion (about US$153 million) for the Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine.

Source: Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre, quoted by TV2

Details: "Ukraine urgently needs a large amount of artillery shells to withstand the aggressive war against Russia," Stre said.

He added that he had spoken with Czech President Petr Pavel about this initiative in the morning.

"Today, the lack of ammunition limits Ukraine's ability to defend itself. This [the supply of shells] gives them the freedom of action to withstand a very brutal attack," Stre said.

He also emphasised that Ukraine has an acute need for ammunition.

Background:

At the Munich Security Conference, Czech President Petr Pavel said that Czechia had found up to 800,000 NATO standard-calibre shells that could be sent to Ukraine in a few weeks if funding was found.

Several countries had publicly announced their participation in the Czech initiative. Bloomberg reported that Czechia had found almost all of the funds needed to allocate 800,000 shells to Ukraine.

Support UP or become our patron!
A senator-turned-vice president-turned-president down in the polls against a prominent New Yorker as he is hamstrung by right-wing Congress captive to extremists. Israel on the brink and an emboldened Russia.

While the circumstances parallel President Joe Bidens situation as he gets ready to return to Capitol Hill for his State of the Union, it also describes Harry Truman as he ran for president in 1948. Similar to Bidens support of Ukraine against Vladimir Putins aggression, Truman had to deal with Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union after the Second World War. In 1948, Truman became the first head of state to recognise the state of Israel upon its declaration of independence  but it soon went to war with its Arab neighbors.

At the time, most people thought that Truman would lose to New York governor Thomas Dewey, hence the famous image of the Missourian holding a newspaper that says Dewey Defeats Truman. A big part of Trumans ability to win that year was his bashing of the do-nothing Congress, which at the time Republicans controlled.

Biden has mostly focused, understandably, on former president Donald Trump, especially given that he will now certainly be the Republican nominee. But if anything, the do-nothing Congress of Trumans day seems productive when compared to the chaos that is the current US House of Representatives. Last year, Congress passed fewer laws than it has in decades.

Most notably, the House spent its first few days voting fifteen times to make Kevin McCarthy speaker. It again ground to a halt in October when Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz led a revolt of eight Republicans and most Democrats to eject McCarthy from the speakership. That led to 22 days without a speaker, where Republicans cycled through three nominees before they finally settled on Mike Johnson.

Then came the bizarre Republican refusal to support Ukraine at all. And the months of bipartisan deliberation in the Senate about a deal to exchange restrictions to immigration and border security at the US-Mexico border in exchange for aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, before GOP members blew up the bill entirely.

Congress has lurched to each funding deadline by barely passing a continuing resolution to keep the government open. Indeed, the House finally passed six spending bills  for a fiscal year that began in October  on Wednesday only because all but two Democrats voted for it and a slim majority of Republicans. Whether the House can pass the next six bills is another question.

Even Republicans agree that everything has descended into chaos. Florida man Gaetz, the man who broke the House of Representatives, said last year before his revolt that the only thing the 118th Congress is known for at this point is electing Kevin McCarthy speaker and underwriting Bidens debt. Chip Roy, the goateed and perpetually yelling Republican from Texas, complained on the floor last year that I want my Republican colleagues to give me one thing  one  that I can go campaign on and say we did. This, of course ignores the fact that Gaetz and Roy are the ones who often prevent Congress from getting anything done.

Plenty of the grown-up Republicans  such as Patrick McHenry, who served as the interim speaker in October; Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger; and Energy and Commerce Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers  have decided they would rather leave the House than deal with another round of hearings where Marjorie Taylor Greene shows nude photos of the presidents son.

All of this gives Biden the perfect foil. Seated behind him will be Johnson, the only thing everyone in the GOP Conference could agree on, and now the extremists are even coming for him. Similarly, Bidens buddy of many years, Mitch McConnell, is stepping aside from Senate leadership soon, for someone who will inevitably be more of a MAGA acolyte than he is.

Biden has a chance to denounce the shenanigans of the Mojo Dojo Casa House of Representatives, call out its dysfunction and compare it to when Democrats controlled both chambers. Back then, they passed legislation on everything from climate change to semiconductor manufacturing to curbing gun violence to infrastructure. Hes already called out the Republican morass, as was the case when he visited the US-Mexico border last week, but this gives him a bigger microphone.

He also has the chance to say there are opportunities to work with Republicans, such on a tax bill the House passed that includes plenty of goodies for businesses and an expanded child tax credit. While Truman used saltier language than Biden likes, this Congress has given him plenty of items to deem as malarkey.

In 1948, Trumans supporters said, Give em hell, Harry, and Truman famously responded, I don't give them hell. I just tell the truth about them, and they think it's hell. Biden has the opportunity to give Johnson, McConnell, Greene, Boebert and anyone else hell by revealing the truth about them and their House of Representatives tonight.
Burkhard Garweg is one of two Baader-Meinhof gang members who have been spotted recently in the capital - LANDESKRIMINALANT LOWER SAXONY/AFP

A member of the notorious Baader-Meinhof gang, who has been on the run for decades, has been spotted begging at a train station in Berlin.

Burkhard Garweg, a senior member of the extremist group, also known as the RAF or Red Army Faction, was seen begging at the Oberbaum Bridge, German media reported on Thursday.

Homeless Germans based in the same area told Bild, a German tabloid, that they instantly recognised Garweg and had last seen him there about a week and a half ago.

The alleged sighting of the fugitive came a week after German police arrested Daniela Klette, another key member of the gang, at an apartment in the capital.

Daniela Klette, 65, a gang member arrest on Monday, was found after a raid on an apartment in Berlin - ODD ANDERSEN/AFP

Berlin police were apparently tipped off to Klettes hiding place after the broadcast of a Crimewatch-style special programme on the gang, which had focused on a series of armed robberies that members used to fund their lives underground.

Klette, along with Garweg and Ernst-Volker Wilhelm Staub, a third senior gang member, have been on the run from German authorities since the 1990s.

Police now appear to be closing in on the locations of the two other members of the gang, having been inundated with tip-offs from the public after the programme on their exploits was broadcast.

Burkhard Garweg's wanted poster has been spotted around the city as police appear to be closing in - CAROLINE BOCK/AVALON

Oberbaum Bridge, which connects the districts of Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain, is said to be a good location for sleeping and begging as it is sheltered and dry.

Tobi, 36, a rough sleeper in the area, told Bild: He [Garweg] often sat here.

Other homeless people at the bridge also said they spotted Garweg, but added that he was very reserved and quiet, which seemed unusual. Usually you start a conversation when youre here all day, one said.

The Baader-Meinhof gang mounted a domestic terror campaign in the 1970s and 1980s, which largely consisted of murders and kidnappings in what was then West Germany.

The rogue group styled itself as an anti-fascist resistance movement which was opposed to former Nazis holding senior roles in the government and economy of West Germany.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
FILE PHOTO: A injection pen of Novo Nordisk's weight-loss drug Wegovy is shown in this photo illustration in Oslo

By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Maggie Fick

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Novo Nordisk on Thursday surpassed Tesla Inc in market valuation after the maker of the popular weight-loss drug Wegovy announced positive early trial data for a highly anticipated new obesity drug.

Shares surged more than 8% to record highs, shooting Novo Nordisk up in global rankings to the 12th most valuable company from 14 previously, after it told investors a Phase I trial of the pill version of experimental drug amycretin showed participants lost 13.1% of their weight after 12 weeks.

That compares to a weight loss of about 6% after 12 weeks and 15% after 68 weeks in trials for Wegovy, its blockbuster obesity drug.

Investors welcomed the news as indicating Novo had more in its pipeline beyond its hugely successful Wegovy. Its shares have soared since launching the weekly injections in the United States in 2021.

Novo's shares have risen more than three-fold since June 2021 when it launched Wegovy in the United States, last year becoming Europe's most valuable listed company, ahead of LVMH.

On Thursday, its market valuation reached $566 billion, ahead of Tesla and Visa, according to LSEG data.

"Novo has made clear that the amycretin molecule likely will form the foundation of the company's rapidly growing pipeline," said Guggenheim analyst Seamus Fernandez.

Nearly half of Novo's current valuation is based on the company's pipeline of new experimental drugs such as amycretin, according to calculations by Berenberg analysts last week.

Markus Manns, a portfolio manager at Union Investment in Germany and Novo shareholder, said the early read-out also compared favourably with other weight-loss pills in development, such as rival Eli Lilly's orforglipron.

Lilly's mid-stage trial showed its experimental pill led to 14.7% weight loss after 36 weeks for people who were obese or overweight.

The U.S. drugmaker's shares slipped on the upbeat Novo update while shares in Zealand Pharma , which is testing a similar treatment, jumped more than 9%.

Wegovy belongs to a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists, originally designed to treat type 2 diabetes, that have been shown to reduce food cravings and empty the stomach more slowly.

Following the success of these drugs, companies are working on other promising weight-loss therapies such as amycretin which targets a hormone called amylin in the pancreas that affects hunger.

Wegovy was the first of a new group of highly effective weight-loss drugs to be launched. Novo and Lilly are so far the leaders in the obesity drug market, forecast by analysts to be worth $100 billion by 2030.

HEART DISEASE

Novo Nordisk Chief Executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said the obesity drug roll-out will be dominated by injectable medicines, with oral versions introduced later in higher-priced markets. Pills require large amounts of active ingredients, making them costly to produce.

Earlier in the day, he also announced the company was expanding its focus on diabetes and weight-loss therapies to include cardiovascular disease treatments.

The change comes after the drugmaker last August said a large study had shown Wegovy also had a clear cardiovascular benefit, boosting efforts by the company to move Wegovy beyond its image as a lifestyle drug.

"Any company that is so heavily exposed to one therapeutic area needs to try to develop other pillars to stand on," said Wolfgang Lickl, portfolio manager at KB-Vermogensverwaltung.

"The sheer success in diabetes and obesity will make that difficult, but the cardiovascular field makes sense because of the many synergies," he said.

Following the August trial, Novo has been trying to convince sceptical medical insurers that the long-term benefits of Wegovy are enough to reduce the overall burden on healthcare systems and the cost of treating heart disease in overweight and obese people.

It expects Wegovy to be approved for sale in China as soon as this year, which would be its second-biggest market after the United States.

(Reporting by Maggie Fick, Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Louise Breusch Rasmussen, and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen and Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt; Editing by Terje Solsvik, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Bernadette Baum)
WASHINGTON  The top advocate for the gun industry in Washington is spending more than ever to influence the federal government. The group accuses President Joe Biden of waging war on the Second Amendment. It resists any effort to create universal background checks and argues that attempts to crack down on untraceable ghost guns are unnecessary.

And its not the National Rifle Association.

The NSSF, founded more than 60 years ago to promote hunting and recreational shooting, has grown into the countrys largest firearms trade association. The organization spent more than $5.4 million on federal lobbying last year, more than in any other year in its history and more than twice as much as the NRA, according to federal records.

The NRA  long seen as synonymous with the gun-rights movement  has struggled with declining membership and revenue, as well as internal scandals. The latest blow came when its longtime leader, Wayne LaPierre, was found liable for corruption in a New York court last month.

As the NRA cuts back on federal lobbying, its troubles have created an opportunity for other gun-rights advocates to expand  especially the NSSF.

The NSSF resists comparisons to the NRA, stressing that its trade association is just that  a group that represents gun manufacturers, retailers and other business interests, not gun owners themselves, as the NRA does.

Formerly known as the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the NSSF tends to strike a less confrontational tone than its better-known counterpart, underscoring its regulatory focus and partnerships with the federal agencies it criticizes, in contrast to the NRAs no-compromise strategy.

But the two groups share many core positions, opposing universal background checks, red flag laws passed in more than 20 states and efforts to mandate safe storage of firearms. And even the NSSFs critics see it as well positioned to influence gun policy.

Being lesser-known is a huge tactical advantage, said Kris Brown, the president of Brady, a gun-violence prevention group. People dont know them and arent coming after them.

Image: A convention attendee looks at rifles at the National Shooting Sports Foundation's annual trade show in 2018 in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images file)

Unlike trade groups representing other industries, the NSSF isnt just advocating for businesses; it is also protecting the exercise of a constitutional right, said Larry Keane, the NSSFs general counsel and chief lobbyist.

The product is firearms, and theres no divorcing the politics from the product, Keane said in a recent interview.

The group works to maintain its bona fides as a staunch defender of the Second Amendment while also presenting itself as a pragmatic player similar to business groups representing less controversial industries.

Geneva Solomon, a gun store owner in California who has worked with the NSSF to promote firearms safety, sees the trade group as more open to dialogue than the NRA, which she believes is important to shift public perception of guns.

The NRAs messaging was like if youre anti-gun, were not going to talk to you, said Solomon, who is a member of both groups. We really want to change the narrative when it comes to firearms.

Advocates for stronger gun control measures counter that the trade association is simply masquerading as a more reasonable gun-rights group than the NRA while holding equally hard-line positions.

Theyre trying to put lipstick on a pig, seeming like theyre an organization thats focused on gun safety, Brown said. But theyre spending huge amounts of money to try and overturn the most basic, fundamental gun safety laws in the country.

The NSSF denies that its trying to supplant the NRA and says its commitment to safety is genuine, pointing to its advocacy to fix the federal background check system, among other efforts.

Former President Jimmy Carter holds a shotgun at the NSSF's trade show in Atlanta in 1984. (Ric Feld / AP file)

I think theyre threatened by the NSSF, Keane of gun control advocates. Because we are not so easily caricatured. The NSSF was founded in 1961 amid the rise of the anti-hunting movement and soon came to represent the countrys major manufacturers of arms and ammunition. After cities tried to sue gun manufacturers in the 1990s for helping to fuel violence, the group launched a legal defense fund and a lobbying operation, led by Keane.

In 2013, federal lawmakers began considering sweeping gun control changes after the shooting massacre in Newtown, Connecticut  the town where the NSSF had its headquarters until recently. The legislative effort fueled a surge in lobbying by gun groups of all kinds, including the NSSF.

The NRA was at the forefront of the opposition that ultimately scuttled a major bipartisan proposal for universal background checks; the NSSF also opposed the bill but largely remained behind the scenes during the debate.

By 2019, the NRA began making significant cuts to federal lobbying as it became wracked by internal turmoil. Meanwhile, the NSSF has grown to more than 10,000 members amid booming gun sales, helping the group expand its effort to influence lawmakers  which has taken on new urgency under Biden.

Image: Bruce Gray, a professional shooter, demonstrates how to hold a handgun during a National Shooting Sports Foundation event in 2002. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images file)

Last year, the Biden administration created the first federal office for gun violence prevention, which now coordinates executive action on gun safety. The White House also pushed to revoke more licenses from gun dealers who violate the law, expand background checks and tighten gun exports.

The NSSF has lambasted such efforts as a whole-of-government attack on our industry and on the Second Amendment, as Keane put it, and it frequently refers to Bidens line from a 2019 Democratic primary debate: Our enemy is the gun manufacturers, not the NRA.

Asked for comment, the Biden administration reiterated its criticism of the industry and pointed to the high toll of gun violence in America. Gun manufacturers and their representatives turn a blind eye to this carnage, standing in the way of even the most commonsense gun safety provisions, Jeremy Edwards, a White House spokesman, said in a statement.

The NSSF's former headquarters in Newtown, Conn., in 2013. The group has since moved. (Jessica Hill / AP)

As the NSSF focuses on federal agencies, it often ties niche policy issues to long-standing concerns of the gun-rights movement.

Among its current priorities is stopping credit card companies from creating a new merchant code to flag firearms purchases, which some firms began to implement after criticism that financial institutions were enabling mass shootings.

The NSSF claims such practices would violate the privacy of gun buyers and could be abused by the government for political purposes. In a recent statement, the group evoked the frequent warning from gun-rights advocates that officials want to create a national registry of gun owners as a step toward eliminating legal gun ownership.

Its an increasingly political agenda, Robert J. Spitzer, a professor emeritus at SUNY Cortland and an expert on gun politics, said of the NSSFs work. They have discovered that more expressly political appeals help gun sales.

The NSSF denies that its using political arguments to help its bottom line, stressing its willingness to sit down with anyone, no matter the persons ideology. We deal with facts, and we deal with them in a professional manner, said Mark Oliva, a spokesman for the group.

Image: A convention attendee looks at semiautomatic rifles at the National Shooting Sports Foundation's annual trade show in Las Vegas in 2013. (Julie Jacobson / AP file)

The NSSF has at times been more open to compromise than other gun-rights groups that have grown increasingly hard-line.

In June 2022, Congress passed the most significant firearms safety bill in 25 years, which enhanced background checks for gun buyers under 21 and strengthened penalties against traffickers and straw purchasers, who may buy guns on behalf of people who are prohibited from doing so.

The NSSF was a critical sounding board for the Republicans involved in crafting the bill. Our input was sought, and we were happy to provide our perspective to policymakers on the Hill, Keane said.

The bill ultimately passed with 15 Senate Republican and 14 House Republican votes.

The NSSF didnt publicly support the final legislation, and it criticized some of its key provisions, including funds for state red flag laws. But it remained pointedly neutral on the overall bill, pointing out its support for new mental health funding and commending the good faith effort to meaningfully address criminal violence.

While Republican negotiators also consulted with the NRA, the group blasted the final bill as gun control legislation. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who co-sponsored the legislation, said he understood where the NRA was coming from but criticized the group as reflexively obstructive. We worked with the NRA, listened to their concerns, but in the end I think they simply  they have a membership and a business model that will not allow them to support any legislation, he said at the time.

Image: Shooting targets for sale at the National Shooting Sports Foundation annual trade show in Las Vegas in 2012. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images file)

The NRA defends its rejection of the 2022 bill and its approach to gun rights.

Even the slightest concession risks dismantling our fundamental freedoms, said NRA spokesman Billy McLaughlin, who denied that the groups influence is waning.

Even diminished, the NRA still dwarfs the NSSF in terms of overall revenue and membership, and it remains a heavyweight in electoral politics, having recently hosted former President Donald Trump.

The NRAs influence has never stemmed from the salaries or expenditures, McLaughlin said in a statement. It comes from the millions of NRA members and supporters across the country who stand and fight, take action, and vote.

But as the face of the industry, the NSSF has its own connections to officials who make and enforce gun policies. The groups annual SHOT Show in Las Vegas  a massive trade event in January  featured a host of Republican governors and state attorneys general as well as Steve Dettelbach, the director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, whom Biden nominated in 2022 after his first choice faced Senate resistance and a massive backlash from gun-rights groups, including the NSSF.

It was certainly our intent to be influential, said Keane, referring to the opposition to Bidens first nominee. Thats the point of advocating on behalf of your organization.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
NYPD officers attacked in Times Square to attend State of the Union

Editors note: The story in the video player originally aired on Feb. 8, 2024.

WASHINGTON (AP)  Two NYPD officers who were attacked by migrants during a confrontation in Times Square in January will be guests of two New York Republican lawmakers at President Joe Bidens State of the Union address Thursday night.

NYPD officers Ben Kurian and Zunxu Tian will be guests of Reps. Anthony DEsposito and Nicole Malliotakis, both New York Republicans, as well as House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Police body-camera video showed the choatic moments leading up to the brawl in Times Square on Jan. 27.

Man charged with attacking police in Times Square was misidentified: DA

The confrontation began with the officers ordering a group of migrants to leave a bustling Times Square block. It escalated when one of those men, slowly walking away, lobbed an insult in Spanish: They look like Ugly Betty. Second later, he was pushed up against a wall by an officer.

The migrant man asked why he was being stopped, attempted to get away, and was then tackled to the ground by officers. Several bystanders descended on the scrum, kicking at the officers and trying to pry them off the migrant man. Nobody was seriously hurt in the incident.

Several migrants have since been indicted in connection with the Times Square brawl.

New York Citys sanctuary policies have drawn intense backlash from conservatives following some of the high-profile incidents involving migrants, including a brawl with police and a shooting in Times Square.

Malliotakis has said that migrants who commit crimes in New York City should be deported immediately and have any future immigration application denied.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
FILE PHOTO: A bleaching coral is seen in the place where abandoned fishing nets covered it in a reef at the protected area of Ko Losin, after a group of volunteer divers removed the net

FILE PHOTO: A bleaching coral is seen in the place where abandoned fishing nets covered it in a reef at the protected area of Ko Losin, after a group of volunteer divers removed the net

By Gloria Dickie

LONDON (Reuters) - Ocean temperatures hit a record high in February, with the average global sea surface temperature at 21.06 degrees Celsius (69.91 degrees Fahrenheit), the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Thursday.

February's average sea surface temperature surpassed the previous record of 20.98 C (69.77 F) set in August 2023, in a dataset that goes back to 1979.

The concerning marine record arrived during what was also the hottest February on record, marking the ninth consecutive month with such a milestone for the respective month.

Marine scientists warned this week that a fourth global mass coral bleaching event is likely unfolding in the Southern Hemisphere, driven by warming waters, and could be the worst in the planet's history.

Corals bleach under heat stress, expelling the colourful, helpful algae that live in their tissues, leaving behind a pale skeleton. This makes them vulnerable to starvation and disease, and many die. This can lead to the collapse of fragile reef ecosystems, with coastlines left unprotected from erosion and storms and fisheries falling short.

An El Nino climate pattern, borne out of warmer than usual surface waters in the Eastern Pacific, alongside human-caused climate change is fueling the extra heat.

"What is more surprising is that sea surface temperatures are at record levels over regions far away from the centre of the El Nino action, such as the tropical Atlantic and Indian Ocean," said climate scientist Richard Allan of the University of Reading.

This, he said, pointed to the strong influence of rising greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.

While the global average sea surface temperature record excludes the polar oceans, things are in bad shape there, too.

Antarctic sea ice reached its annual minimum extent in February, registering its third lowest extent on record at 28% below average.

El Nino is now weakening in the equatorial Pacific, C3S said, but air temperatures over the oceans remain at an unusually high level.

(Reporting by Gloria Dickie; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
A corrections officer hip-slammed a detainee headfirst into the concrete floor of a Tennessee jail over an extra dinner meal, according to federal prosecutors.

The impact rendered the detainee unconscious for a moment at Loudon County Jail, a facility about a 30 mile-drive southwest of Knoxville, on Jan. 25, 2021, prosecutors said.

Brian J. Phillips, who no longer works at the jail, previously pleaded guilty to one count of use of excessive force under color of law in connection with the incident, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

Phillips, now 32 and living in Georgia, was sentenced to five months in prison on the charge, the attorneys office said in a March 5 news release.

He was also sentenced to serve five months of home detention within 30 days of his prison release, court records show. His prison sentence will be followed by two years of supervised release.

McClatchy News contacted Phillips court-appointed federal public defender, Sarah Olesiuk, for comment on March 6 and didnt receive a response.

Phillips injured the detainee in brutal fashion during the event that was captured on video and his injuries could have been much worse due to the impact of the mans head hitting the floor, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

Phillips was responsible for supervising detainees and inmates eating dinner on Jan. 25, 2021, when they were allowed one meal, according to prosecutors.

That day, he watched as one detainee stepped in line to get an extra dinner tray when he wasnt supposed to, as he already had a meal, prosecutors said.

Phillips walked up to the detainee when he received a second dinner tray and knocked the meal out of his hands, causing the food to fly into the air, according to the attorneys office.

Then, Phillips grabbed his wrist, wrapped his arms around the detainees waist and hip-slammed him to the floor, prosecutors said.

In addition to fracturing the mans skull, prosecutors argued Phillips actions had broader ramifications ahead of sentencing.

When, as here, a correctional officer abuses their authority, it risks undermining the publics trust in law enforcement generally, the sentencing memo says.

When, as here, a correctional officer willfully uses excessive force to injure a detainee, that single act has the potential to undermine all detainees respect for correctional officers, prosecutors wrote.

The FBI investigated the case against Phillips, according to the attorneys office.

Detainee held in jail freezer died of hypothermia, suit says. Death ruled homicide

Officers broke inmates ribs, forced him to crawl to the emergency room, feds say

Officer did nothing as inmate was held down, beaten for his going away party, feds say

Officer illegally strip-searched 11-year-old, mom in torture warehouse, lawsuit says
GARRETT COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now)  The Maryland Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) announced Wednesday that it arrested a couple in Garrett County for setting a fire that killed two cats in June of 2023.

Firefighters responded to a house fire at 339 Cherry Lane Rd. in Friendsville just after 7:15 a.m. on June 1, 2023.

Hagerstown police find aerial drones to be effective in fighting crime

Two cats that were inside the house at the time died. Responders also found a kennel of six puppies on the front porch. According to OSFM, firefighters extinguished the blaze before it reached the puppies.

OSFM investigators determined that the fire had two different points of origin. Evidence and interviews led officials to identify Christopher J. Baker, 36, and April J. Fazenbaker, 41, as suspects. The couple lived in the home.

Closer look at Bowie State Universitys new e-sports center

OSFM worked with the Garrett County States Attorneys Office to present the case to the grand jury. The couple was indicted on Monday and turned themselves in on Wednesday. They were released after posting a bond.

After learning of this heartbreaking incident where the owners are accused of deliberately setting a fire that tragically led to the deaths of their cats and nearly killed a kennel of puppies, I am deeply saddened and appalled by this senseless act of cruelty, Acting State Fire Marshal Jason M. Mowbray said in a release.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
The dismembered body parts of two people were found scattered around New Yorks Long Island over the last few days and four people have been arrested  but the suspects have been let back out on the streets due to the states progressive bail reform laws, drawing sharp criticism from local officials.

The four suspects have been charged with concealment of a human corpse, hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence, the Suffolk County Police Department announced Wednesday.

Various body parts including a severed head, arms and legs belonging to a man and a woman from Yonkers in New York were found in Babylon over the last few days. The first gory discovery was made on Thursday by a girl on her way to school.

However, under the 2019 bail reform laws, the charges of mutilation and disposing of murdered corpses are no longer bail eligible, which means the prosecutors cannot ask for bail and the suspects cannot be remanded to custody, the Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement while ripping the law.

Police have arrested four in connection with the dismemberment of two bodies in New York but they have been freed due to the states progressive bail reform laws.

ARRESTS MADE, MORE BODY PARTS DISCOVERED IN NEW YORK HORROR CASE

"This is yet another absurd result thanks to Bail Reform and a system where the Legislature in Albany substitutes their judgment for the judgment of our judges and the litigants in court," Tierney said.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"We will work with the Suffolk County Police Department to resolve this investigation as soon as possible and implore our Legislature to make common sense fixes to this law."

The suspects, Steven Brown, 44, Jeffrey Mackey, 38, and Amanda Wallace, 40, all of 25 Railroad Ave. in Amityville were arrested by the Homicide Squad detectives and charged, as was Alexis Nieves, 33, who is homeless.

All four suspects were placed on supervised release and are required to wear a GPS anklet, report to probation once a week, remain in Suffolk County and surrender their passports, Fox News has learned. They are scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on March 6.

Police searched the home at 25 Railroad Ave on Monday, the same day they found more body parts belonging to the two victims in a wooded area across from 103 Lakeway Drive in West Babylon, while remains were also discovered at Bethpage State Park. No body parts were found at the home.

The house at 25 Railroad Ave. in Amityville was searched on Monday.

31 'BLOODS'-LINKED GANG MEMBERS INDICTED FOR SHOOTINGS, MURDER OF SCHOOLTEACHER IN NY

New York State Senator Dean Murray, a Republican, also slammed the "catch and release" of the suspects as "just another in a long line of examples of the Democrats so-called criminal justice reforms gone wrong."

"In what universe is this making Long Islanders safer?" Murray fumed via statement.

"This is another prime example of why the state legislature and the Governor, MUST, reverse dangerous policies like, "Bail Reform," "Raise the Age," "Less is More," "Clean Slate," etc. and get back to giving law enforcement the tools necessary to keep our communities safe."

Newly elected Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said that the law has resulted in those charged with dismembering and placing body parts in the community to walk free without posting any bail.

Several body parts were discovered in Long Island, New York on Thursday and Monday.

"This is outrageous, and completely unacceptable in a civilized society, when our prosecutors are handcuffed and those charged with this heinous crime are mandated by the state to go free," Romaine said in a statement.

"Despite the incredible work by the Suffolk County Police Department and our District Attorney Ray Tierney the failed 2019 NYS Bail Laws continue to put the public at risk. These laws must be changed immediately, and I will support the law enforcement community in any efforts to force change in Albany to make Suffolk County a safer place to live."

The series of gruesome discoveries began Thursday morning when a young girl on her way to school came across a severed arm on the side of a road on the east side of Southards Pond Park.

It led to a police search where more body parts were found, including a right arm and a leg belonging to the male.

Fox News' Henry Nacarri contributed to this report.





Original article source: Officials rail against bail reform as 4 suspects charged, then let go in NY body mutilations case
Officials in Ohio believe the fatal shooting of a 33-year-old USPS mail carrier was a targeted attack and the suspects responsible personally knew the victim.

According to the Warren Police Department, Jonte Davis was inside his work van when a person occupying another car shot him on Saturday, March 2.

Neighbors informed police that the suspects were inside a dark gray pickup truck, according to the Tribune Chronicle, and that an individual in the back seat opened fire on Davis.

Jonte Davis was fatally shot while inside his USPS van last weekend. (WKBN27/Youtube/Screenshot)

Another eyewitness told the local newspaper that Davis body was hunched over the wheel, and the postal truck rolled into a nearby yard. Warren is about 47 miles from Akron.

When officers and first responders got to the 600 Block of Olive Avenue NE just before 2 p.m., they attempted life-saving efforts and took Davis to a local hospital. He died from his injuries.

Police said the suspected vehicle was found in the driveway of a residence, prompting them to obtain a search warrant and collect evidence. Multiple people were interviewed at the police station, but no one has been arrested in connection to this case.

Officials noted that the U.S. Postal Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are assisting with this ongoing investigation.

As WTOK reported, Davis was a new employee at USPS and had worked for the Postal Service just a few months. His family members said Davis was focused on being a positive role model for his community.

Its just that he was out doing his job trying to make a living for himself and his family, and someone would do that to him, family friend Tracey Kindler told the outlet. He wasnt trying to be in the streets and do wrong things. He was trying to be a professional, be responsible, be a role model for his kids and others to follow.

According to the reports, USPS is offering $250,000 for information leading to the suspects arrest.

Do the right thing and turn yourself in, Kindler added.

Ohio Mail Carrier Mysteriously Killed Inside Work Van Was Targeted By Unknown Suspects, Police Say
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  An Oklahoma County judge has rejected a plea agreement for 20-year-old Christopher Jameson, who is facing charges for allegedly killing multiple animals in a metro area Petland back in July.

Mugshot of Christopher Jameson

Jameson, 20, is facing charges of offenses pertaining to animals, cruelty to animals and larceny of merchandise from a retailer.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Court documents reveal new details, official charges in OKC pet store killings

Video above is from July 2023 when Jameson was arrested in connection to the case.

According to court records, Jameson appeared for a sentencing hearing on Wednesday, but was ordered by the court to complete a psych evaluation before sentencing. The judge also rejected Jamesons plea agreement during the hearing

Jamesons sentencing hearing has been rescheduled for April 19.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
The Cherokee Nation and the state of Oklahoma have reached a tentative agreement to renew a tobacco tax compact.

The Cherokee Nation tribal council will vote Monday whether to approve a new tobacco tax compact with the state of Oklahoma. Gov. Kevin Stitt already has signed off on the revenue-sharing deal.

The compact stands to become the seventh state-tribal agreement successfully negotiated by the governors office since January, and it will likely be the biggest. The Cherokee Nation, based in Tahlequah, has more than 450,000 citizens and is the largest tribe in the United States.

The pending agreement marks a sharp turn from last spring, when Stitt  a Cherokee citizen himself  repeatedly criticized Cherokee leaders for working with state lawmakers to extend tobacco tax compacts without him.

The debate over the future of state-tribal tax compacts was one of the most heated issues at the Capitol last year. But the governors recent deal-making has quieted some of his loudest critics, who had faulted him for failing to negotiate with tribal leaders.

More: Everything we know about Oklahoma's new compacts with tribes

Abegail Cave, a spokesperson for Stitt, confirmed he signed off on the Cherokee compact on Feb. 26. She declined further comment until the deal takes effect.

In a statement, Cherokee Nation Attorney General Chad Harsha described the agreement as very similar to the compact it is on track to replace.

But, like other recent tobacco tax deals signed by Stitt, the compact applies only to specific types of tribal land, not to entire tribal reservations. The governor had objected to renewing any tobacco tax compacts without making that change in light of the growing legal recognition of tribal reservations in Oklahoma. The Cherokee reservation covers all or parts of 14 counties in the northeast part of the state. The compact terms are more limited.

The new compact jurisdiction applies to retailers operating on trust and restricted property, which includes all facilities licensed and operated by the Cherokee Nation, Harsha said in statement.

Under the deal, the state and tribe will continue to equally split the tax money collected from tobacco sold by the tribe or tribally licensed retailers.

The governor recently signed other tobacco tax compacts with the Apache, Chickasaw, Citizen Potawatomi and Wyandotte nations, as well as the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes. He also agreed to re-up the states car tag agreement with the Chickasaw Nation.

More: Gov. Stitt says new compact guarantees access to tribal tag data. But the state already had the data

Dozens of agreements with other tribes remain up for renewal or stand to expire at the end of the year. Some had already expired, but the Legislature voted in July to extend all tobacco tax and car tag deals through 2024.

Stitt challenged the renewals as illegal and sued to stop them from taking effect at the start of this year. The state Supreme Court heard arguments in December but has not yet ruled in the case.

Molly Young covers Indigenous affairs. Reach her at mollyyoung@gannett.com or 405-347-3534.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma's governor signs compact with tribe after months of controversy
Su-30 fighters of the Russian and Belarussian air forces. Losses of Russian jets have been heavy over February, perhaps due to the presence of new equipment - Russian Defense Ministry/via AP

The Ukrainian air force went on an unprecedented aerial kill-streak last month. In 12 days starting on Feb. 17, the air force  which operates Ukraines warplanes and also its ground-based air defenses  claimed it shot down a staggering 13 Russian warplanes.

Its not possible to independently confirm all the kills, and its possible the real number of shoot-downs is somewhat lower  or even higher.

But no one disputes that, last month, the Ukrainians shot down a lot of Russian planes. On average since Russia widened its war on Ukraine two years ago, the Russian air force and naval aviation have lost four planes a month to Ukrainian action. In the 24th month of the war, they may have lost at least three times that average.

The question is, how? What changed to make Russian planes more vulnerable, Ukrainian air defenses more deadly, or both? And is there a lesson for the wider world in that February aerial massacre?

Its evident the Russian air force, which has deployed several hundred of its roughly 1,000 fighters plus several support planes for sorties over Ukraine, stepped up its operations in February. The Russian army was poised to finally push the ammunition-starved Ukrainian garrison out of the eastern city of Avdiivka  and the air force saw an opportunity to hasten the Ukrainians retreat.

The air force organized its 100 Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers and similar number of Sukhoi Su-35 air-superiority fighters into flights of three, loaded up the two-seat Su-34s with satellite-guided glide-bombs and the single-seat Su-35s with anti-radar missiles and sent the flights to strike Ukrainian positions in and around Avdiivka.

The Russians overall sortie rate at the height of the Avdiivka battle in mid-February exceeded a hundred per day  likely matching their sortie rate during the headiest early days of the way two years ago. Every one of the planes was a potential target for the Ukrainians ground-based missile batteries.

All things being equal, more aerial targets means more shoot-downs. But the elevated pace of Russian flights might not be the only factor in the February kill-streak. For starters, the Ukrainians appear to have taken some of the components of their three American-made Patriot missile batteries  their best air-defense batteries  and organized them into mobile units.

Traveling quickly just behind the front line, a couple of Patriot quad-launchers, connected to long-range radars via a radio data-link, could ambush Russian jets as far as 90 miles away then hit the road before the Russians can fire back. Its this tactic that seems to have allowed the Ukrainians to knock down several Russian jets late last year in what amounted to a preview of the bloodier February campaign.

But one key shoot-down, the destruction of a rare Russian Beriev A-50 radar plane over the Sea of Azov on Feb. 23, occurred 120 miles from the front line  too far for a one-ton Patriot. The only missile system that Ukraine has access to that ranges that far is the old, ex-Soviet S-200, which fires a hulking, eight-ton missile.

The Ukrainian air force retired its S-200s back in 2013, but reactivated some of them last year as surface-to-surface strike missiles. Its possible  likely, even  that the air force is once again using the S-200s in their original surface-to-air role.

But what radars guide the S-200s? The original Soviet radars emit so much energy that they usually betray the coming missile-launch  and give the targeted pilots time to take evasive action. Theres a hint, however, that the Ukrainians have found a more subtle way of cueing their most powerful missiles.

Back in February 2023, 10 months before Russia-friendly Republicans in the U.S. Congress cut off U.S. aid to Ukraine, the administration of Pres. Joe Biden announced a $2.2 billion package of military aid that included this intriguing item: equipment to integrate Western air-defense launchers, missiles and radars with Ukraines air-defense systems.

Analysts widely read that verbiage as a nod to the U.S. Armys Integrated Battle Command System, built by Northrop Grumman. IBCS isnt a radar. It isnt a missile.

No, its a suite of processors, radio links and algorithms that lets pretty much any air-defense radar and pretty much any air-defense missile work together. IBCS enables the efficient and affordable integration of current and future systems, Northrop Grumman explained.

The development of IBCS isnt totally complete, yet, but its close. The Americans havent deployed any major IBCS components yet, but the Poles have. And the Poles, its worth noting, are among the biggest suppliers of air-defense equipment to the Ukrainians now that Republicans are blocking U.S. aid.

Even if it just got parts of IBCS, the Ukrainian air force could link up hundreds of long-range radars, including old Soviet models and the latest Western models, and use that comprehensive sensor coverage to guide all of its medium- and long-range missiles  again including Soviet and Western models.

Potentially all-seeing, heavily-armed and flexible, Ukrainian air-defenders may have been primed to take advantage of the opportunity Russian pilots presented them when the pilots surged into the air over Avdiivka. The shoot-downs didnt slow until the battle in and around Avdiivka slowed.

If Ukraine did get some of the IBCS, its recent aerial kill-streak should be a ringing endorsement. That particular piece of kit works extremely well, and the United States and its allies should acquire it, as soon as possible.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Worcester police arrested Karel Mangual Wednesday afternoon after they stopped a car near the intersection of Main and Mill streets.

WORCESTER  Authorities Thursday arraigned one man and were searching for another in connection with the fatal shooting of a mother and her daughter Tuesday inside an SUV on Englewood Avenue.

Police alleged in court documents that two men, Dejan D. Belnavis and Karel Mangual, opened fire on an SUV parked on Englewood Avenue around 3 p.m. Tuesday, killing a woman and her 11-year-old daughter. Police Wednesday identified the mother as Chasity Nunez, and the daughter as Zella Nunez, a student of the city school system.

More: Suspects in murder of Worcester mother and daughter have long list of past charges

Mangual, 28, who is listed as living on Sterling Street, was arrested Wednesday in Worcester and held without bail following arraignment in Central District Court Thursday. Police were still searching for Belnavis, 27, whom court papers list as living on Toronita Avenue.

Belnavis, who has nearly 20 prior criminal cases in the city, is considered armed and dangerous, police said. He is listed at around 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds, police said, with black hair and brown eyes.

Both men are charged with armed assault with intent to murder and carrying a firearm without a license.

Chasity Nunez, right, and daughter Zella

More: Worcester police: Englewood Avenue shooting victims were mother and daughter

Mangual never entered the courtroom Thursday after his lawyer, without opposition, asked a judge to allow him to appear behind a door.

Such requests are often made in high-profile cases in which the suspect's identification is expected to be a legal issue.

Court records show Mangual has a history of alleged violence and was referred to as a violent gang member by police in other cases.

In 2015, Mangual was arrested after what Worcester police called a retaliatory shooting behind an apartment building on View Street. Authorities connected the attack to the fatal shooting of Christian Obeng-Addo days earlier.

More: Chasity Nunez, victim of Worcester homicide, remembered as exemplary employee, soldier

Several members of the Worcester Police Gang Unit were present in court Thursday for Mangual's arraignment.

Assistant District Attorney David Feraco read a statement of facts in which police allege Mangual and Belnavis were caught on surveillance video approaching the Nunez' SUV and firing into it just after 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Police wrote in court documents seeking a warrant for Belnavis that the surveillance video shows the victims parked in their vehicle and that two people walk up to the vehicle and start shooting.

Dejan Belnavis is wanted on charges of armed assault to murder and possession of a firearm without a license.

They said the shooters then ran in the direction where a witness said a white sedan was parked. Surveillance video and witness evidence, police said, showed a vehicle consistent with the sedan circling the area before the shooting and leaving the area afterward.

Police were able to get the sedan's license plate and speak to its owner, who told them Belnavis had borrowed it for about a year. Belnavis was listed as the driver of the car following a Shrewsbury crash in January, they said, and his cellphone records tie him to Englewood Avenue at the time of the shooting.

Realizing the need to locate this vehicle after the murder of two people and the danger presented to the public, we used the vehicles connected car system, through AT&T and we were able to locate the vehicle in Hartford, Connecticut, police wrote, adding they learned Belnavis had a relative close to where the vehicle was parked in Hartford.

Police allege in court documents that video shows Mangual and Belvanis exiting the vehicle in Hartford, and that both men were wearing shoes similar to the ones worn by the shooters.

They said Mangual was wearing the same distinctive purple and black shoes in both videos. An officer who has known Mangual since childhood, they said, identified him on the video from Hartford.

Mangual is due back in court Tuesday for a hearing on whether he is too dangerous to release.

Police said Belnavis does not have a license to carry and does have prior firearm charges in 2021.

City leaders Wednesday released a statement on the deaths, saying such violence has no place in Worcester.

The statement from City Manager Eric D. Batista, Mayor Joseph M. Petty, Interim Police Chief Paul Saucier and Schools Superintendent Rachel Monarrez reads, in part: "Worcester is a resilient community, and we know that our residents will lovingly embrace the victims family and friends as we work toward healing from this traumatic event.

Zella was involved in the Our Bright Future youth program.

Specialist Chasity Nunez at a recent training in Fort Drum, N.Y. Specialist Nunez was a member of the 142nd Medical Company in the Connecticut National Guard.

"Zella, you are loved, and may you both rest in peace," the organization wrote on social media.

In a statement Wednesday evening, City Councilor Khrystian E. King offered condolences for family members and school-aged peers: "Those responsible for these depraved killings must be brought to justice, in full cooperation with local law enforcement."

Asked about the comment Wednesday night, King told the T&G he is concerned more violence could follow.

Tuesday's double-homicide was the second daylight shooting in Worcester in as many days. Monday, an 18-year-old male was injured by gunfire in the area of 2 Main St., near the old Worcester County Courthouse. The 4:30 p.m. shooting remains under investigation.

Gov. Maura T. Healey characterized the killing as "a trauma" for the city. Healey was in Worcester Thursday morning for an event hosted by the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce at the AC Hotels by Marriott.

Chasity and Zella Nunez, a mom and her daughter, lost their lives to a violent act," Healey said in a statement later released by her staff. "Members of the Worcester Public Schools community are with us, and while I know they must be shaken themselves, they are continuing to help students process this frightening and senseless loss."

-With reports from staff writers Toni Caushi and Marco Cartolano

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: One in custody, another man sought in connection with Worcester double murder
The Agenstvo. Novosti (Agency.News) Russian media outlet reported that Ruslan Yunusov, a Russian soldier who changed his name to Yevgeniy Prigozhin a few years ago, had been killed in action in the war in Ukraine at the end of January.

Source: Agenstvo.Novosti

Details: Agenstvo. Novosti reported that the personal information of Yunusov-Prigozhin was on the list of killed paratroopers from the Pskov 76th Air Assault Division in the outskirts of the village of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The information about his death was also confirmed by his relative.

As it was reported earlier by Russian media outlets, Yunusov was one of the three doubles of the chief of the Wagner Private Military Company. He changed his name in May 2018.

In 2021, when the real Prigozhin was already under sanctions, the media reported about the visits of his "doubles" to Europe.

Background:

On 23 August in the evening, Russian media and the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency reported that a plane carrying the leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had crashed in Russia's Tver Oblast. All 10 people on board were reportedly killed, including Prigozhin's deputy, Dmitry Utkin, who had the call sign Wagner.

Support UP or become our patron!
Jessica Wittner is getting some deserved time off  just a day or so to decompress with family before jumping back into the work of being one of NASAs newest astronauts.

Im filled with excitement and energy right now, Wittner told The Bee in a phone interview Tuesday, following a graduation ceremony at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

This is the dream scenario for the Clovis native and Buchanan High School graduate.

She was 12 when she first verbalized wanting to be an astronaut. She joined the U.S. Navy after graduation and became an aviation mechanic. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Arizona and a masters degree from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

She became a test pilot and was project officer with Test and Evaluation Squadron VX-31, the Dust Devils, in China Lake. She served on engineering teams in the development and flight tests for the F/A-18E-F Super Hornet and was heading the the Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-151 at at Naval Air Station Lemoore when she was accepted by NASA.

Jessica Wittner graduated from NASAs training program during a ceremony at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Robert Markowitz/NASA

Wittner is in rarefied company.

NASA has graduated just 360 NASA astronauts since the original Mercury Seven were chosen in 1959. That crew included John Glenn and Alan Shepard, who was the first American to travel into space.

Wittners training class, selected in 2021, was just 10 people chosen from a pool of 12,000 applicants.

Over the past two years, the astronauts completed training across five subject categories, according to NASA. They learned to operate and maintain International Space Station systems. They trained for spacewalks, learned Russian and robotics skills, and operated a T-38 supersonic training jet.

It was during her first run in an underground pool in a simulation of the ISS that Wittner felt the full impact of what it means to be an astronaut. Standing there in a full space suit, thats really when it starts to hit.

Jessica Wittner is seen in a NASA space suit during training in this undated photo from the space agency. James Blair/NASA

A trip to the moon?

Individual missions have yet to be assigned, but could involve anything from research aboard the International Space Station to launching commercial spacecraft, or deep-space missions to destinations including the moon, NASA said.

In 2017, the space agency launched the Artemis project, a series of new lunar missions with the ultimate goal of eventually launching a mission to Mars. An uncrewed test flight was launched in 2022.

A second, fly-by mission was scheduled to happen this year but was postponed until 2025.

I would love to go to the moon, says Wittner, knowing its the consensus feeling among her peers.

I think youre going to hear that from a lot of people.

Of course, Wittner is a firm believer in following passions  and her passion is exploration in all of forms. Even though weve already been to the moon, she says, these next visits will unlock an amazing amount of new information and opportunity.

Thats like the next frontier right now, she says

We know what questions need to be answered.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA)  One person was hurt Thursday morning in a crash on I-72 in Champaign.

Officials with the Illinois State Police said the crash happened near Country Fair Drive around 11:11 a.m. They did not provide details on the crash itself, but said it involved two vehicles.

One person hurt in Ford County train vs. car crash

The driver of one vehicle was taken to an area hospital with injuries. Their condition is unknown.

The crash caused the closure of the lanes leading into Champaign, causing a backup on the highway. The lanes reopened at 12:30 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
Australia's financial crime watchdog has launched an investigation into UK online gambling firm Bet365 over its compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) had ordered an external audit of the firm in 2022.

Bet365 did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.

The industry has come under increased scrutiny after online betting surged in during the pandemic.

"Businesses without adequate processes in place to manage those risks leave themselves vulnerable to exploitation by criminals," said Brendan Thomas, the CEO of the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac).

Austrac investigates banks, casinos and betting companies to make sure they have robust compliance systems to prevent them from profiting from the proceeds of crime.

Ladbrokes owner Entain has also been probed in Australia since 2022, while another rival Sportsbet is facing an external audit.

Under Australian law, firms are required to assess customers and monitor their financial transactions in order to identify, mitigate and manage the risk that they might be engaging in money laundering or financing terrorism.

Any companies found by Austrac to have weak compliance systems could be fined.

In recent years the watchdog has hit major lenders Westpac and Commonwealth Bank of Australia with large fines for breaches of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.

The online betting industry also faces other challenges in Australia such as new laws banning the use of credit cards for online gambling and stricter federal government rules on adverts.

Last year, Bet365 reported a significant loss but its chief executive Denise Coates was paid around 221m.

That was 7m higher than the previous year and Ms Coates also received at least 50m worth of dividends.

The pay bump means that her total salary over the past four years surpassed 1bn.

Ms Coates founded the Bet365 website in a portable building in a Stoke-on-Trent car park more than 20 years ago.

She is thought to be one of Britain's richest women and among the best-paid executives in the world.
Forensic expert Edward Wagrowski becomes emotional as he testifies during James Crumbley's trial in the Oakland County courtroom of Cheryl Matthews on Thursday, March. 7, 2024 in Pontiac, Mich. James Crumbley, 47, is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one for each teenager killed by Ethan Crumbley at Oxford High School in 2021. (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP, Pool)

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP)  Prosecutors on Thursday played a recording of a desperate 911 call by the father of a Michigan school shooter as they tried to show jurors how he quickly determined that the teen might be the killer.

I have a missing gun at my house. ... I raced home just to like find out, and I think my son took the gun, James Crumbley said frantically, soon after a fruitless search of the house for the gun and ammunition.

I dont know if its him. I dont know whats going on. I am really freaking out. My sons name is Ethan Crumbley, the father said.

It was the last piece of evidence presented on the first day of James Crumbley's involuntary manslaughter trial in suburban Detroit. He isn't accused of knowing that 15-year-old Ethan planned to shoot up Oxford High School, but prosecutors allege that his gross negligence was a cause of the tragedy.

Four students were killed and seven people were wounded on Nov. 30, 2021. The shooter's mother, Jennifer Crumbley, was found guilty of the same involuntary manslaughter charges last month.

The Crumbleys are the first U.S. parents to be charged with having criminal responsibility for a mass school shooting committed by a child.

This case isnt about bad parenting  its not illegal to be a bad parent. Its not kids doing kid things, assistant prosecutor Marc Keast told jurors. Were talking about preventable mass murder.

Keast emphasized a series of key points during his opening statement. He noted that James Crumbley, accompanied by his son, bought a Sig Sauer 9 mm handgun four days before the shooting.

The father never told school staff about the purchase  or a trip to a shooting range that same weekend  when he and his wife were summoned to discuss a disturbing drawing on Ethans math assignment on the day of the shooting.

There was a gun on the paper that looked similar to the Sig Sauer, blood drops and a bullet, accompanied by the phrases: The thoughts wont stop. Help me.

Emergency, Jennifer Crumbley messaged her husband before the meeting.

My god, he responded when he saw the drawing.

But the Crumbleys didnt take Ethan home, and the school, concerned that he might be suicidal, didnt demand it. No one checked the boys backpack for a gun, however, and the nine-minute shooting happened that afternoon.

Evidence from James Crumbley's wireless phone showed he made DoorDash deliveries after the meeting, investigator Ed Wagrowski testified. Crumbley didn't search his home until after learning about the shooting.

James Crumbley missed an incredible opportunity to save lives that day, Keast said.

He displayed a picture of a gun lock, still in a package, for the jury.

It was never used, the prosecutor said.

This nightmare  these murders  were preventable by him, foreseeable by him, Keast said.

But defense attorney Mariell Lehman said James Crumbley was being portrayed in the wrong way.

James Crumbley was not aware that his son had access to that firearm, she told jurors. You will hear testimony that access was not allowed in James Crumbley's mind. You will not hear that James Crumbley even suspected that his son was a danger.

Prosecutors also allege that the Crumbleys ignored their sons pleas for help for mental distress. Ethan told a friend that James Crumbleys response was to tell the boy to suck it up, according to text messages introduced by Wagrowski.

I am mentally and physically dying, Ethan told the friend in April 2021.

Before the day began, Judge Cheryl Matthews made rulings that could benefit James Crumbley. She said prosecutors cant use text messages between son and mother that suggested he was having hallucinations about demons months before the shooting.

The messages were used as evidence at Jennifer Crumbleys trial.

The first witness at James Crumbley's trial Thursday was Molly Darnell, a faculty member who was shot by a bullet that pierced her office door. Darnell, one of seven people wounded that day, stood, removed a jacket and showed jurors the spot on her upper left arm.

Darnell said that while she hid behind a cabinet, she texted her husband without telling him she had been shot.

I love you, she wrote. Active shooter.

Ethan, now 17, is serving a life prison sentence for murder and terrorism.

Jennifer Crumbley, 45, is scheduled to return to court for her sentence on April 9. Her minimum prison term could be as high as 10 years.

___

Follow Ed White on X, formerly Twitter: @edwritez
As a geriatrician, I discuss the effects of aging with patients every day. I wish I had a chance to give my usual talk to everyone who chortles or tears their hair out about President Bidens fitness for his job.

First, memory. I explain to patients that there are three components to consider. One is formation. Then storage. And, finally, recall. The most common issue among seniors is slow recall. This is the familiar tip of the tongue phenomenon, when a word seems to hide or a name wont come to mind. You know the name, its in your bank of memories, it just cant be accessed quickly. Given time, it usually arrives.

This problem, called age-associated memory impairment, often starts for people in their 30s and gradually progresses. Its a nuisance but not disabling. If, like me, you find yourself using the term whatchamacallit, you probably have it. Dont worry, youll be fine.

Read more: Opinion: Dump Biden? Here's why nominating another Democrat for president would be a mistake

Alzheimers disease, the most common cause of dementia, is a different story. Those affected lose the ability to store new memories. They can still access old memories in their memory bank and may recount events that occurred decades ago. But they cant tell you what they had for breakfast because that never entered the memory bank. (I reassure my patients with age-associated memory impairment by asking whether they remember their breakfast. They do.)

Alzheimers is cognitively crippling. Losing the ability to form new memories freezes one in time. Those affected cant make new friends or address new situations without fresh memories. Additionally, the disease progressively impairs other domains, including behavior and ultimately physical skills.

Fortunately, President Biden shows no signs of Alzheimers disease. At news conferences, he references new events and obviously creates new memories efficiently. He speaks slowly and pauses to find words like others with benign age-associated memory impairment. These issues are exacerbated by a chronic speech impediment. Biden has struggled with stuttering since childhood , and remnants of the condition have long been apparent in his speech.

Read more: Opinion: Age matters. Which is why Biden's age is his superpower

Unfortunately, word hesitations coupled with the mild stutter cant help but affect his public speaking. Bidens political opponents and the uninformed exploit it, along with stereotypes about older people, to create a false narrative about intellectual impairment.

I take care of many high-functioning seniors like President Biden in my practice. One that I know, who is not a patient of mine, has been my family's lawyer for five decades. Melvin Spears, at 96, recently responded to an emailed legal question with succinct and well-targeted advice, as he always has. When I spoke to him, he acknowledged some concessions to his age. He speaks more slowly, and transportation is a challenge because hes stopped driving. (He considers Uber and Lyft a hassle.) Like Biden, Spears focuses on his work and lets others worry about his age if they choose.

Studies show that high-functioning seniors like Mel Spears and the president compensate for slower reaction time by applying superior knowledge and judgment. The presidency is not a job that requires lightning-quick reflexes. First-hand experience with the successes and failures of U.S. foreign policy over decades, for example, combined with time-tested judgment offers far more than speed in speech or decision-making.

Read more: Calmes: Biden's polls aren't great. How much is the media's fault?

Actuarial tables show that the 81-year-old presidents life expectancy extends nearly eight years, well beyond a second term. He gets excellent healthcare, has no major chronic illnesses, and at his recent physical at Walter Reed Military Medical Center, he was declared healthy, active" and fit for duty. All that means that Biden is likely to beat the actuarial estimate. Given his overall health and the absence of current cognitive impairment, he would likely complete a second term with stable cognition.

All candidates for political office in the United States deserve to be evaluated on their accomplishments and capabilities rather than by their age. Seniors may be the last minority whose natural traits are singled out for ridicule and stereotyping. If the American people disagree with President Bidens policies and prefer change, they should support his opponent. But in the absence of valid evidence of true cognitive impairment, their judgment should not be influenced by ageist social stereotypes. Biden and the American political process deserve better.

Daniel J. Stone is an internist and geriatrician in Beverly Hills.





If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Editors note: Sarah Levinson Moriarty is a fellow with New Americas Future Security Program. She is one of seven children of Robert Levinson, the longest held hostage in US history. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. View more opinion at CNN.

March 9, 2007, was one of the worst days of my life. It was the day I found out that my father, Robert Levinson, had been taken captive by the Iranian regime while on Kish Island, off the coast of Iran. It was the day before his 59th birthday, and I was going to see him the following weekend for a big family celebration.

Sarah Levinson Moriarty - Sarah Levinson Moriarty

My dad was a man who was larger than life  kind, smart and a true patriot. His 6-foot, 4-inch frame took over a room, and the light of joy radiating from him took care of the rest.

A father of seven and a devoted husband, he was a career FBI agent, and later a contractor for the CIA, who loved our great country. I was so lucky to have Bobby Levinson as my dad. Then, suddenly, in one brief moment that March 9, he was stolen from me.

On the same day one year later (2008), after constant platitudes, waiting, fighting, anger and frustration, we had no answers from the Iranians, or the US government for that matter.

Fast-forward two years later to March 9, 2010, as I was preparing for my upcoming wedding to the love of my life, and we still had no indications on where my father was, what the Iranian regime wanted from him, and what we could do.

I was desperately hoping our government would help get my dad home to walk me down the aisle, something almost every little girl dreams of. I was hopeful the wedding would create more of a sense of urgency in the US government to save my father.

An FBI poster shows a photo of Levinson taken from captors' video and a composite image of how he would have looked in 2012, five years into captivity. His family learned of his death in 2020. - Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

On March 9, 2016, an agonizing six years later, I was looking after my firstborn son and recovering from unrelated surgery and a work trip overseas. I had to fly to Florida for our Help Bob Levinson Ninth-Year Anniversary rally. I was the only one of my six brothers and sisters not to make a speech because it was too hard to get the words out. I came down with pneumonia when I got home.

We were still reeling from my dad not being included in the January 2016 deal with Iran. The cooperation promised in that deal never materialized.

March of 2020 brought a new level of pain for my family when we were called to the White House and told that the best intelligence the US government had to offer clearly indicated that my father died in captivity. We were thankful to our government to have some semblance of closure finally. However, as the world began to shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic on March 9, 2020, our family shut down in grief.

Now, as March begins four years later, a total of 17 years in all now, we are still mourning my father. The agony of losing someone in such a horrific way  and someone you loved and admired so deeply at that  never quite goes away, and we are still desperately trying to bring his remains home to us.

This March 9 will be different though.

At the end of 2023, a new law was passed that codified a hostage and wrongful detainee flag (created by a collaboration of multiple hostage families) into law, and established March 9  yes, my dads March 9  as National Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day.

The flag will now fly above the White House, State Department and Capitol on this day as well as on Flag Day (June 14), the Fourth of July and any day in which Americans held captive overseas come home to our great country. My dad would be so proud.

It is my hope that we will rally together as a country on March 9 to show our support for this amazing new national day of awareness through public and virtual flag displays, social media posts, charitable donations or volunteering, and better awareness of international travel risks.

On this inaugural National Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day, much work remains to be done. Six Americans are still being held hostage by Hamas after its October 7 terror attack on Israel. And Russia has continued to detain several US citizens over the past few years, including former US Marine Paul Whelan, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and amateur ballerina Ksenia Karelina (a dual US-Russian citizen).

China also continues to hold businessman Mark Swidan, Chinese-American businessman Kai Li, and pastor David Lin.

Let us use our collective voice to make an impact on March 9, 2024, and every March 9 from this year forward  for those fellow American nationals currently held hostage, for those who have come home from captivity and for those who, like my father, never made it back.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Editors Note: Jocelyn Viterna is professor of sociology and chair of studies of women, gender and sexuality at Harvard University. The views expressed here are the authors own. View more opinion articles on CNN.

After the Texas Supreme court turned down 31-year-old Kate Coxs appeal, she was essentially left with two choices: she could carry her non-viable pregnancy to term, which her doctors say could threaten her future fertility and even her life  or she could pay to leave Texas and seek an abortion elsewhere.

Cox had filed a lawsuit to terminate her pregnancy at 20 weeks, which was appealed to the highest court in the state. The court held up her request for relief from the states abortion ban, and she left Texas to seek an abortion elsewhere.

Jocelyn Viterna - Courtesy Jocelyn Viterna

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton commented after the courts ruling that Coxs pregnancy did not meet the standard of life-threatening required for a legal abortion, and said that if she interrupted her pregnancy in Texas, her physician would face first degree felony charges and civil penalties.

Paxtons actions have been celebrated by anti-abortion advocacy groups who portray forcing women to carry non-viable pregnancies as compassionate. All fetuses, they argue, deserve a natural death even non-viable ones.

But my research in El Salvador demonstrates that Coxs fears of health complications and lost fertility are well-founded, and that the nonsensical language of natural death hides a more sinister reality: that Texas has legalized the torture of pregnant women.

In El Salvador, women have been required to carry non-viable fetuses to term (meaning around 40 weeks of gestation) since a 1998 law eliminated all legal allowances for abortion. As such, El Salvador provides researchers like me a powerful opportunity to predict how the new Texas legislation will impact womens health in the years ahead.

To understand the consequences of the Salvadoran legislation, my colleagues and I evaluated the medical records of 239 women diagnosed with fatal fetal malformations in El Salvador between 2013 and 2018. We found that well over half (54.9%) of the pregnant women in our study suffered at least one serious medical complication after the diagnosis of non-viability, and before they were legally allowed to interrupt the pregnancy. And 47.9% of these women had to undergo a physically-invasive medical procedure to manage the complicated pregnancy  medical procedures that would have been avoided if the pregnancy had been interrupted at the moment the malformation was diagnosed.

Take for instance the case of a 40-year-old woman whose non-viable fetus was diagnosed with alobar holoprosencephaly, a fatal congenital malformation in which the fetal brain fails to separate into hemispheres and lobes. Because of the malformation, the fetus was unable to swallow amniotic fluid, which is a necessary part of typical fetal development. The lack of swallowing created abnormally high levels of amniotic fluid, causing the womans uterus to swell far beyond expected size.

To prevent the uterus from bursting, doctors twice had to insert a long needle into the womans abdomen to drain off the extra fluid while waiting for her to reach 39 weeks. This is the week when the hospital had decided that it was finally legal to interrupt the womans complicated pregnancy, even though the fetus was no more viable at 39 weeks than it had been when the anomaly was first diagnosed.

When doctors were cleared to deliver the baby, they realized that the fetus abnormally developing skull would prevent a vaginal delivery, and they were forced to perform a cesarean (C-section). The woman began hemorrhaging badly; weeks of severe stretching had damaged her uterus beyond repair. Her doctors had no choice but to remove her uterus to save her life.

All of these complications could have been avoided if the pregnant woman had been allowed to interrupt her non-viable pregnancy earlier. And yet, despite the physical violence suffered by carrying the pregnancy to term and the removal of a major organ, she still watched her baby die, as promised.

The more my colleagues and I dug into the medical cases of Salvadoran women, the more absurd  and torturous  we understood the law to be. To begin, the very notion of carrying a non-viable fetus to term is nonsensical. These fetuses will never survive outside the womb, no matter how many weeks they are legally required to gestate.

The notion of natural death is even more bizarre. Because non-viable fetuses are only kept alive by their mothers body, they will die a natural death shortly after their delivery. This is true whether the pregnancy is interrupted at 20 weeks, as Cox has requested, or at 40 weeks.

Prior to 1998, Salvadoran women were legally allowed to interrupt their non-viable pregnancies after receiving a diagnosis of a fatal fetal anomaly. The doctors I work with report that a common method for interrupting non-viable pregnancies at this time was to administer medication, like Pitocin, to induce labor and delivery. With the passage of the 1998 law, however, this process of early labor induction became heavily criminalized. Now Salvadoran women, like Texas women, are required to carry non-viable pregnancies to term in order to give their fetuses a coveted natural death.

But what makes the death of a non-viable fetus after a 40-week delivery natural, while the death of a non-viable fetus after a 20-week induced delivery is a felony? Do Salvadoran lawmakers believe that a natural delivery is required for a natural death? If so, they overlook the fact that labor induction is one of the most frequently performed obstetrical procedures in the world, and that induction rates for non-viable pregnancies are much higher than in typically developing pregnancies.

Nearly 41% of non-viable pregnancies in our study failed to initiate labor naturally and required a medication induction  the very same procedure that doctors used prior to 1998 for much earlier pregnancy interruptions. And tragically, in 27.7% of cases in our study, doctors were forced to deliver non-viable babies via cesarean surgeries. These statistics make clear that its not the presence or absence of medical intervention that determines whether a non-viable fetal death is natural in the eyes of Salvadoran lawmakers.

And while US pregnancy interruptions often use different procedures than induction, our Salvadoran study finds that any early pregnancy interruption seems compassionate, for both non-viable fetuses and their pregnant mothers, when compared to the complicated procedures required to deliver severely-malformed, 40-week fetuses.

It is telling that neither Paxton nor the Court attempt to define the natural death that they so passionately  and mercilessly  pursue. They never explain why having a naturally-occurring and lethal fetal anomaly is insufficient for achieving natural death, or why forcing women to endure an additional five months of painful pregnancy and procedures is somehow an act of compassion.

International law defines torture as an aggravated and deliberate form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment enacted by a public official, typically for obtaining information or for inflicting punishment. Texas laws, as interpreted by the Texas Supreme Court, easily rise to the level of inflicting cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment on women carrying non-viable pregnancies. However, the purpose of this torture is not to obtain information, or even to ensure that a healthy baby is born. The purpose  absurdly  is to ensure that pregnant women carry non-viable fetuses for the same amount of time as they would a viable fetus.

Coxs case is extreme, but it is not unusual. Pregnancy remains the most dangerous and complicated biological process that humans undertake. This is especially true in the US, where maternal mortality rates are increasing in contrast to broader global trends of improvement.

Yet, instead of working to make pregnancy safer, Texas has ceded critical medical decisions to the very zealots whose talent lies in inventing nonsensical definitions of natural death.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com


"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."



1976-present

Latest News: Cillian Murphy

Cillian Murphys years-long friendship with director Christopher Nolan has culminated with the actors first Oscar win.

Murphy, 47, won the Academy Award for Best Actor on March 10 for his portrayal of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer in the 2023 biopic Oppenheimer. The Irish actor has collaborated with Nolanhimself an Oscar winner later in the evening for helming Oppenheimeron six films, and thanked the director and his wife Emma Thomas during his acceptance speech. Its been the wildest, most exhilarating, most creatively satisfying journey youve taken me on over the last 20 years. I owe you more than I can say. Thank you so much, Murphy said.

Murphy had already won a Golden Globe for his performance as Oppenheimer, who helped develop the first atomic weapons as part of the Manhattan Project.

[table-of-contents] stripped

Who Is Cillian Murphy?

Cillian Murphy is best known for portraying gangster Thomas Tommy Shelby on the hit BBC and Netflix series Peaky Blinders, as well as parts in the films 28 Days Later, Batman Begins, and Dunkirk. The Irish actor began his career as a theater performer then transitioned into movies and television. A frequent collaborator with Christopher Nolan, Murphy played the title role in the directors 2023 biopic Oppenheimer about how American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer helped develop the first nuclear weapons. Murphy received wide acclaim for the performance, winning a 2024 Golden Globe Award and the 2024 Academy Award for Best Actor.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Cillian Murphy

BORN: May 25, 1976

BIRTHPLACE: Douglas, Cork, Ireland

SPOUSE: Yvonne McGuinness (2004-present)

CHILDREN: Malachy and Aran

ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Gemini



Early Life and Education

Cillian Murphy was born on May 25, 1976, in Douglas, near Cork, Ireland. The oldest of four siblingsincluding brother Paidi and sisters Sile and OrlaMurphy was raised Catholic in a family of academics. His father, Brendan Murphy, was a school inspector, then a civil servant at the Irish Department of Education. His mother, whose name has not been shared publicly, was a French teacher, and his aunts, uncles, and grandfather were also teachers.

Murphy attended Presentation Brothers College, a private Catholic secondary school in Cork, where he succeeded academically and discovered he was drawn to the arts. I was always fascinated by the idea of artists: authors, playwrights, musicians. Those things seemed alien and otherworldly at the time, Murphy said to The Guardian. At a rugby[-playing] academic school, you felt a little bit foolish thinking you could ever enter into that artistic world.

Murphy, who plays guitar and originally aspired to be a musician, started a jazz-rock band with his friends called Sons of Mr. Green Genes. They were eventually offered a record contract but declined, and Murphy decided to pursue acting.

Inspired by a performance of A Clockwork Orange he attended at a nightclub, Murphy became serious about drama while studying law at University College Cork in 1996. A law career wasnt in the cardsMurphy failed his law examsbut the transition to the stage would be pivotal for Murphys future.

Theater Career and Early Film Roles

In the summer of 1996, 20-year-old Murphy auditioned for and earned one of the lead roles in Disco Pigs, a work by then-unknown playwright Enda Walsh. The play was booked at the Triskel Arts Centre in Cork for a few weeks but became a big hit and sparked an 18-month world tour through Europe, Australia, and North America.

When Murphy received the script, it was the first time he had read a play outside school productions. Thats how theater illiterate I was, Murphy told The Irish Times. Still, he excelled in his role as Pig, and the play was adapted into a 2001 film also starring Murphy.

Murphy began to receive minor film roles following the success of Disco Pigs, including in 1998s Sweety Barrett, which starred his friend Brendan Gleeson, and 1999s The Trench, which featured rising talent Daniel Craig.

Although his film career took off over the following years, Murphy has continued acting on stage in his most recent role in 2019. He appeared in plays such as The Shape of Things, The Seagull, and Love Song and again collaborated with Walsh for Misterman, Ballyturk, and Grief Is the Thing With Feathers.

Movie Breakout with 28 Days Later

Getty Images

Murphy began to receive widespread recognition with his starring role in the 2002 horror film 28 Days Later, directed by Danny Boyle. In the movie, Murphy plays a bike courier named Jim, who awakens from a coma four weeks after a viral outbreak has decimated Great Britain. The film is considered a horror benchmark for utilizing the concept of fast zombies, which can run after prey with increased strength and sparked a renewed interest in zombie media.

In a 2022 interview, Murphy detailed his audition process and said he initially struggled with the characters London accent. But with the support of Boylewho discovered Murphy when watching the film adaptation of Disco Pigshe eventually kind of unlocked something with his performance.

Murphy said the film was massive for his career, opening doors to other projects and leading to his relationship with Christopher Nolan. The following year, in 2003, he had a lead role in Intermission and supporting parts in Girl with a Pearl Earringwhich starred a 19-year-old Scarlett Johanssonand the war epic Cold Mountain.

Critics also praised Murphy for his performance as antagonist Jackson Rippner in the 2005 thriller Red Eye. The New York Timess Manohla Dargis wrote that the actor made enough of a picture-perfect villain here that his agent should be worried about typecasting.



Christopher Nolan Movies: Batman Trilogy, Oppenheimer, and More

Getty Images

With the 2023 release of Oppenheimer, Murphy has now appeared in six of Christopher Nolans films. The first was Batman Beginsthe beginning of the acclaimed Dark Knight trilogyin 2005.

Murphy had been a fan of Nolans earlier films, including Following and Memento, and told GQ he was one of about 10 actors who auditioned for the role of Bruce Wayne and his iconic alter ego. Nolan said in a later interview that although it was apparent Murphy wasnt a good fit as the caped crusader, I felt like, this is somebody I want to work with, somebody who has an interesting take on things creatively. So, the director let a batsuit-clad Murphy do a screen test for the character anyway and made sure executives from Warner Bros. were there to watch. Nolan saw potential in the relatively unknown Murphy and instead offered him the part of Dr. Jonathan Crane and his nefarious alter ego, Scarecrow. Murphy also appeared as the character in the trilogys following two films: The Dark Knight in 2008 and The Dark Knight Rises in 2012.

Elsewhere, Murphy played Robert Fischer in Nolans 2010 sci-fi film Inception and a World War II soldier in his 2017 thriller Dunkirk.

As for casting Murphy in the lead role of Oppenheimer, Nolan called it honestly one of my favorite moments in the movie business. Murphy underwent five months of preparation before the shoot, losing weight to better fit the scientists silhouette and practicing his facial expressions. For Murphy, it was a dream part. Id always show up for Chris, even if it was walking in the background of his next movie with a surfboard, Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter. Though not sure what kind of Chris Nolan movie that would be. But I always hoped I could play a lead in a Chris Nolan movie. What actor wouldnt want to do that?

Along with Barbie, released on the same day, the film became a box-office hit and grossed $957 million worldwide. Murphys performance was widely praised, and the actor won a series of awards for his portrayal in 2024, including the Golden Globe for Best Actor and equivalent honors at the BAFTA Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards. Murphy eventually earned the Academy Award for Best Actor as well, his first.

Murphys Other Movies

In addition to Nolans big-budget blockbusters, Murphy has frequently appeared in lesser-known films, showcasing his versatility as an actor. He received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the 2005 film Breakfast on Pluto, in which he played a transgender woman searching for her mother in 1970s London after being abandoned at birth. A year later, he played a soldier in the Irish Republican Army in the 2006 war film The Wind That Shakes the Barley. The film received the Palme dOr, the highest award at the annual Cannes Film Festival.

In 2007, Murphy teamed again with director Danny Boyle for the sci-fi movie Sunshine, in which astronauts are sent on a mission to reignite the sun in 2057. Other movies featuring Murphy include Peacock (2010), Aloft (2014), Transcendence (2014), The Party (2017), and Anna (2019).

Before Oppenheimer, Murphys highest-profile film in recent years had been A Quiet Place Part II, the 2020 sequel to the horror hit starring Emily Blunt and John Krasinski. Murphys most recent movie is the independent drama Small Things Like These, which debuted at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2024.

Lead Role in Peaky Blinders

Robert Viglasky - Netflix

Murphy, who is only just over 5 feet, 7 inches tall, garnered widespread acclaim for his performance as the sometimes larger-than-life gang leader Tommy Shelby in the BBC and Netflix series Peaky Blinders. The drama, which tells the story of a fictionalized crime gang in Birmingham, England, following World War I, ran for six seasons from 2013 through 2022 and featured an ensemble cast including Tom Hardy, Adrien Brody, and Anya Taylor-Joy.

Show creator Steven Knight described Murphy as the antithesis of the often violent and morally questionable Shelby. He initially eyed action star Jason Statham for the role but was reassured of Murphys fit for the part by a text message Murphy sent him after auditioning: Remember, Im an actor.

Murphy has described Shelby as a gift of a character but exhausting to play. He told The Guardian in 2016 that the show required 16-hour days, with the actors working through pages of dialogue. While filming in Liverpool, England, Murphy lived what he called a canceled life. You go home to your tiny apartment at the end of the day, and you feed yourself for sustenance, and you learn your lines for the next day, and you try to get as much sleep as you possibly can.

His dedication paid off. Murphy won for best drama performance at the National Television Awards and was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for leading actor following the shows final season.

In a December 2023 interview with actor Margot Robbie for Variety, Murphy revealed he is open to playing the character again in a film spinoff. Its kind of sometimes hard to move into the film format, and I do like the ambiguity of the ending [of the TV series], he said. But Im always open to a great script. Who wouldnt be?

Wife and Children

As his theater career took off in the summer of 1996, Murphy met Yvonne McGuinness, a classically trained visual artist from Kilkenny, Ireland. Murphy had been recently cast in the stage production of Disco Pigs, and their relationship blossomed as McGuinness accompanied him for much of the shows tour. The couple has been married since 2004 and has two sons: Malachy, born in 2005, and Aran, born in 2007.

Murphy isnt on social media and rarely discusses his family in interviews, as he and McGuinness prefer to live out of the spotlight. However, they did attend the Golden Globe Awards with son Aran in January 2024.

The actor credited McGuinness for keeping him grounded as his fame grew in the early and mid-2000s, telling People: Its very important to have somebody like that. My life hasnt changed in any way, really. I still have the same friends, and we go to the same places.

In 2015, the family moved from London to Dublin so Malachy and Aran could be closer to their grandparents. McGuinness stayed with their sons in Dublin when Murphy left to film Peaky Blinders in Liverpool.

Quotes

The fame thing was never a goal. I just want to improve. If I can leave one film behind thats something that affects everybody, thats absolutely fine.

I think theres such a thing as a performance gene. If its in your DNA, it needs to come out. For me, it originally came out through music, then segued into acting and came out through there. I always needed to get up and perform.

Ive never equated success with employment. To me, success is the quality of the work, and Im patient enough to wait for the next reasonably good script to arrive, because theyre so rare.

Its only an advantage as an actor looking younger than you are. If you can maintain it.

For me, always trusting your instincts is really, really important. Making decisions based on the work and never your career or never making decisions based on strategy. And always following the artists and not the industry.

Im s at being anything else other than an actor. Im s at being a personality. Im s at red carpets. Im s at being on talk shows. Im s at, like, all the other stuff that comes with it.

Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesnt look right, contact us!

You Might Also Like
Rep. Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, speaks Wednesday about House Bill 2024, which creates campaign giving and spending limits. The Senate endorsed the proposal which now heads to the governor's desk for consideration.

This story was updated at 4 p.m. Thursday

Campaign finance reform is coming to Oregon in 2027, pending Gov. Tina Kotek's signature, after the Oregon Senate on Thursday passed House Bill 4024.

The proposal took shape quickly in the last week of the session and represents a compromise between labor unions, business groups, and 'good governance' groups.

The Oregon House approved the bill on Wednesday in a 52-5 vote. The Oregon Senate approved it 22-6.

Lawmakers adopted final amendments on House Bill 4024 after discussions during the session between labor unions, business groups and good-government advocates, according to House Majority Leader Rep. Julie Fahey, D-Eugene.

"We believe this bill meets Oregonians need for reasonable contribution limits, transparency, and accountability, without simply shifting campaign spending into dark money activities. It also protects the ability of community organizations and nonprofits to engage in the kind of grassroots political organization that has become a hallmark of Oregons democracy," said House Leaders Rep. Jeff Helfrich, R-Hood River and Rep. Julie Fahey, D-Eugene in a joint statement Wednesday.

Sen. Kate Lieber, D-Portland, acknowledged the legislature's past attempts to introduce campaign finance reform.

Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, championed reform for several years but voted no Thursday. Golden said reform to build public trust required limits that "dont let any person or organization that wants certain legislative outcomes give distractingly large donations" and a "system that's not so crammed with different contribution conduits" that it's hard to monitor contributions.

"If we don't check those two boxes, I don't see us making any progress towards building public trust in our work here," Golden said.

Sen. Elizabeth Steiner, D-Portland, also criticized the bill on the floor saying she believed Oregon's current system worked.

"I frankly resent the implication that I can be bought and paid for," Steiner said. She said she was voting in favor of the bill despite concerns because the bill was better than either of the proposals that could have been on the ballot in November.

Backers of those ballot initiative efforts said Wednesday that they would withdraw their petitions if the bill was signed into law.

Oregon is one of five states without limits on political campaign contributions and one of 11 without limits on individual candidate contributions.

Group to halt ballot initiative efforts if Oregon passes House Bill 4024

If the bill is signed into law, backers of ballot initiative efforts said they would withdraw petitions that would bring reform to November's ballot.

"This is a historic moment in the history of Oregon," said Jason Kafoury with Honest Elections Oregon during Wednesday's work session on the bill. The group had called earlier iterations of the bill "phony" and urged lawmakers to lower limits and close "huge loopholes" in the bill.

Kafoury said he was grateful an agreement had been reached to avoid an "ugly fight at the ballot." An earlier version of the bill would have sent lawmakers' version of reform to voters. The bill adopted Wednesday does not.

Rep. Jeff Helfrich, R-Hood River speaks Wednesday about the compromise legislation to create election campaign giving and spending limits in Oregon.

Dan Meek, an attorney for Honest Elections Oregon, echoed Rep. Jeff Helfrich, R-Hood River, who said pitting lawmakers' proposal and a ballot initiative from citizens against another likely one would have resulted in what legislators were attempting to reform.

"The outcome would probably be influenced by which side can afford to spend the most money and that's not going to be us," Meek said. He outlined 20 changes to the bill in a memo that Meek said the Honest Elections Oregon coalition had negotiated with lawmakers.

What does Oregon's campaign contribution limitation bill do?

The bill would limit contributions to state Representatives, state Senators, circuit court judges, or district attorneys to $3,300 per election from a person. Candidate committees would be limited to $2,000, and political party and legislative causes would be limited to contributing $15,000 per election. Small donor political committees would be limited to donating $5 per donor and could not accept more than $250 from any single donor.

In other statewide elections, contributions would be limited to $3,300 per election per person, $30,000 per election from political party and legislative caucus committees, and $10 per donor for small donor political committees.

Republican representatives caucus Wednesday before voting on HB 4024.

These and other limits outlined in the bill would go into effect on January 1, 2027.

The bill also requires the Oregon Secretary of State to hire a full-time employee to provide outreach and education on the new law and to publicly release a list of the 100 largest contributors to candidates or committees 10 days before each election and other disclosure changes.

Officials comment on Oregon's campaign finance reform bill

Angela Wilhems with Oregon Business and Industry said the bill was not a perfect campaign finance system but said the organization representing over 250,000 Oregonians would support the bill.

"As I said a few weeks ago, no such system exists. You can't completely legislate money out of politics. You can't completely legislate a system that prevents really bad actors from acting badly but what you can do is create a system that allows for participation for all types of individuals and organizations," Wilhems said.

On the House floor, Helfrich said Oregonians were tired of waiting for campaign finance reform and thanked stakeholders for coming to the table.

Lets seize this moment, lets get this done," Helfrich said.

Rep. Kim Wallan, R-Medford, voted yes in committee for the bill to make its way onto the House floor but explained her vote against the bill on the floor. Wallan argued the bill "doesnt really do what it says its going to do" and threatened the independence of candidates.

Rep. Travis Nelson, D-Portland, voted in favor of the bill but cautioned that the Legislature needs to make sure the secretary of state had the tools necessary to implement the bill.

The bill passed with 52 votes in favor and 5 votes against.

Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis, a longtime proponent of campaign finance reform in Oregon, said the last time the Legislature approved significant campaign finance reform was in 1975 when it repealed limits.

"49 years later, I'm proud to stand here today," Rayfield said from the dais.

The House of Representatives broke into applause after passage of the bill, which prompted a quick shake of the head from the House Clerk. Clapping technically is against decorum rules.

Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com or on Twitter @DianneLugo

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon campaign finance reform bill passes Senate
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  The Oregon legislature passed a landmark bill on Thursday to divest an estimated $1 billion in public pension investments in coal stocks as the state aims to shift towards clean energy.

House Bill 4083, the Clean Oregon Assets Legislation (COAL) Act, directs the Oregon State Treasury to end new investments in thermal coal, divest an estimated $1 billion in current coal stock holdings, and to provide annual reports on divestment progress to the legislature.

Officials said the legislation supports Oregons broader goal of shifting public pension investments away from coal and to phase out fossil fuel use in the state.

A legitimate hazard: Stores call for bottle return exemption amid fentanyl crisis

The bill was led by Rep. Khanh Pham (D-SE Portland) who says the bill was supported by over 100 organizations and public teachers unions including the Oregon Education Association, AFT Oregon, and AAUP-Oregon in the Divest Oregon Coalition.

The COAL Act will begin to align our public pension investments with our states existing climate commitments to transition to 100% clean energy, and the global trend of coal phase out, by moving nearly one billion dollars of Oregon State Treasury funds out of publicly traded coal company stocks. Id like to publicly thank Treasurer Tobias Read for working with me and my team on several rounds of drafting this bill, and thank my 35 co-sponsors, and the over 100 community organizations and public sector teachers unions who supported this legislation, Rep. Pham said in a statement.

The COAL Act makes climate sense, financial sense, and common sense, said Senate Chief Sponsor Sen. Jeff Golden (D-Ashland), adding, Our supporters recognize the dual importance of protecting retirement investments and public health, particularly for communities most affected by coal pollution.

The bill now heads to Oregon Gov. Tina Koteks desk for signature.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
PORTLAND, Ore.  On a bleak block of Portlands historic Chinatown, where dozens of people experiencing homelessness have pitched tents draped with plastic tarps, evidence of drug use litters the sidewalk. Among discarded cigarette butts lie squares of tin-foil, indented in the middle, with distinctive scorch marks, used to smoke substances like meth and fentanyl. Visible a few blocks away, a new Ritz-Carlton hotel rises, angular and gleaming, on the skyline. On the sidewalk here, the city has installed a stubby green obelisk, somewhat larger than a postal service dropbox. Provided for the disposal of used drug syringes, it is stamped with large  BIOHAZARD signs  and a local number to call if box is full.

In the November 2020 election, Oregon approved a historic ballot initiative that decriminalized small amounts of hard drugs, like meth, heroin, and crack. Under Measure 110, people caught with drugs were to be cited with a $100 fine, similar to a traffic ticket, that could be cleared by seeking treatment services, which would be expanded with millions in revenue from the states taxation of recreational marijuana sales. Winning nearly 60 percent support, the initiative promised to treat drug use and addiction as a public-health problem, not a criminal matter  adopting the logic that incarceration does little to curb the harms of substance abuse.

The Oregon experiment was unique in America, where on any given day 350,000 people  roughly the equivalent of the population of Cleveland  are locked up on drug offenses, and drug-possession arrests occur at a clip of one every 23 seconds. And the passage of Measure 110 was met with acclaim from reformers like Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, who celebrated the paradigm-shifting victory as perhaps the biggest blow to the war on drugs to date, while predicting Oregon would serve as a model for the nation.

Instead, three years later, Measure 110 now stands as a cautionary tale about the failure to match bold policy reform with competent administration. Last week, the Oregon state legislature completed an about-face in the states novel approach to hard drugs  voting to recriminalize possession as a misdemeanor, with penalties of up to six months in jail. The vote was not close: The state House approved the bill 51-7, the state Senate piled on 21-8. The legislation is now awaiting the signature of Gov. Tina Kotek (D), who has vowed to sign it.

Score one for the Drug War.

The saying goes that failure is an orphan. But the collapse of Oregons bold experiment in drug decriminalization has many fathers. Some dynamics were outside of the easy control of local policymakers, including a rising tide of homelessness; the Covid-19 pandemics hollowing out center-city commercial life; and the flood of dirt-cheap fentanyl, leading to a scourge of street overdose deaths.

But the state bureaucracy also fumbled the implementation of Measure 110, attempting to delay and divert drug-treatment funding; failing to train law enforcement on steering drug users toward rehabilitation; and relying on a cumbersome call center that proved all-but feckless at moving people in out of the grip of addiction and into treatment.

As blocks of beleaguered downtown Portland got overrun by open-air drug markets and unhoused people smoking and shooting drugs without consequence, Measure 110 became an attractive scapegoat for the explosion of urban blight.

Correlation is not, in fact, causation. Research from Portland State University has shown Measure 110 had no impact on violent crime and produced at most a slight uptick in property crime. Overdose deaths have indeed increased in Oregon  but the trajectory was rising before Measure 110s passage, and Oregons rates are no different from similar states, the academics write.

But politics are driven by perception. And by last spring, polling had turned decisively against the experiment, with 63 percent of voters supporting a return to criminal penalties for drug possession. This year, as deep-pocketed state business leaders threatened to launch a punitive recriminalization ballot measure, Oregons Democratic-led legislature snapped to action to put its imprint on reform.

The bill now on the governors desk would empower police to again arrest and incarcerate repeat, low-level drug users. Under the bill, counties can choose to offer a deflection program for arrestees who agree to enter treatment, enabling them to avoid jail time and a criminal record. The legislation also offers more than $200 million in new funding for drug courts and treatment clinics, while maintaining the funding mechanism from Measure 110, steering marijuana tax revenue into rehabilitation.

Drug reformers are furious about the squandered opportunity to model a new approach for the country. It is Oregon leaders that didnt work, says Frederique of the Drug Policy Alliance. Their chronic underfunding of affordable housing, effective addiction services, and accessible health care are to blame for the heartbreaking public suffering seen in Oregons streets. Frederique insists there is not a shred of evidence that Measure 110 increased homelessness, crime, or overdose rates. And she sees the recriminalization bill as a false promise of a fix, meant to distract from political incompetence.

In retrospect, the key driver of Measure 110s political demise was that it entrusted implementation of a radical drug-policy experiment to rigid state agencies and police bureaus that were not invested in  or even hostile to  its success.

Oregon was one of the few jurisdictions in the world to remove criminal penalties for hard-drug possession. Measure 110 was modeled after a similar experiment in Portugal, where the 2001 decriminalization of hard drugs  matched with wraparound investment in addiction treatment and public health  yielded impressive results: The numbers of people with heroin addictions plummeted, HIV infections did too, and taxpayers saved money as Portugal experienced the lowest drug-related death rates in Western Europe.

But in contrast to a Western European democracy with universal health care, Oregon does not have a highly functional public sector. The state has a poorly paid, part-time legislature, and the state government often fails at major lifts. Oregon infamously spent $303 million on an Obamacare website that was so dysfunctional the state had to scrap it entirely, and join the federal exchange.

When Measure 110 passed in 2020, the states addiction-care services were already severely overburdened. According to the secretary of states office, Oregon had the nations second-highest rate of substance abuse disorders, but it ranked 50th in treatment access. The deadly scourge of cheap fentanyl, meanwhile, was just beginning to hit the state, full force.

The states former governor, Kate Brown, recently told reporters that Measure 110 demanded bold change of a state that was probably one of the least prepared to be successful. Brown, a Democrat who left the job with the worst approval rating in the country, has also been frank that her policy priorities were elsewhere  including attending to Covid vaccine rollouts, school reopenings, wildfire response, and the unrest in the streets following the murder of George Floyd.

The Oregon Health Authority  statutorily responsible for all necessary support to ensure the implementation of Measure 110  also showed little energy in ensuring a successful launch. As detailed in a joint investigation by Oregon Public Broadcasting and ProPublica, the agency never developed guidance for local police bureaus about the expanded treatment resources available for people cited for drug possession. Likewise, the Oregon Judicial Department made no effort to create a new drug ticket that would include information about how to secure treatment, meaning cops were left using a general purpose citation like they would for traffic stops.

Naively, the drafters of Measure 110 anticipated a productive partnership from cops, whom they expected would educate people caught with drugs about the new systems being set up to help them overcome addiction. The legislature did not devote any new funding for training, and cops themselves were only given an update about differentiating between the drug-quantity thresholds that merited a citation, rather than a criminal arrest.

As revealed in interviews by local academics, Oregon police were accustomed to a drug-war model of law enforcement in which possession arrests created a probable cause for search, which could produce evidence of greater crimes. Low-level users were routinely leveraged for information on dealers, giving cops intel they could work up the chain to target bigger fish.

Measure 110 short circuited that style of policing. And cops told researchers they not only preferred that more intrusive model, they had little patience for issuing possession citations, which carried penalties less stiff than traffic violations, but still required time-consuming evidence booking and paperwork. Rather than step up as ambassadors for moving people who abuse drugs into treatment, many cops chose not to bother even issuing citations, turning a blind eye to even brazen open-air drug use.

According to state audits, police had previously made about 1,200 arrests a month for drug possession; but they would issue only about 200 possession citations a month after the passage of Measure 110. Meanwhile, the hotline the state set up to field calls from people seeking diversion into treatment received only 119 calls in the first 15 months, and was averaging only 20 calls a month when last measured in mid-2023.

The legislature did not offer productive tweaks to the program. In fact, the body voted to eliminate consequences for people who racked up $100 citations for possession  effectively removing the one stick that was supposed to prod people who use drugs toward the carrot of treatment.

The states new governor, Kotek, campaigned as a defender of Measure 110, and promised to speed up treatment funding and other implementation resources. But that energy proved too little too late to bring the reality of Measure 110 implementation into line with public expectation. Kotek had earlier indicated a willingness to consider recriminalization, and said March 8 that she intends to sign the legislatures new bill, insisting she will focus on implementation to balance treatment for individuals struggling with addiction and accountability.

Even as Measure 110 approaches its downfall, the initiatives defenders still tout the good that it has done, and the harms it avoided, chiefly by steering $300 million into treatment and keeping thousands of people out of the criminal justice system.

While the recriminalization bill is moderate by most standards, its impacts are projected by the state itself to fall disparately on minorities. It is an unacceptable compromise when we know that there will be disparate impacts to Oregonians of color, argues Jennifer Parrish Taylor, who directs public policy for the Urban League of Portland. We know it is a system that has bias built into it, and I fear that we will be back next year, hearing those stories of harm, figuring out how to make our communities whole.

More from Rolling Stone

Best of Rolling Stone
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  The Portland Police Bureaus Central Bike Squad is teaming up with Oregon State Police as part of an expanded effort to target drug suppliers and other criminals.

With the state troopers support, the PPB bike squad now has 25 officers running missions three times a month. All three neighborhood response teams are working together and they are expanding from Old Town into other parts of the city, like Southwest Portland, the Pearl District and Central Eastside.

Besides drug dealing, their focus is also on other criminal activities such as retrieving stolen vehicles, finding weapons, and people wanted on arrest warrants.

Vietnamese-American lawmakers raise concerns over Portland odor code after restaurant closure

Theres other parts of the city that are impacted by the fentanyl crisis so, you know, today, when we have these extra resources, it makes sense to kind of spread out, said Dave Baer, an officer with PPBs bike squad. Going into the Central Eastside industrial area, towards PSU, other places that are seeing an increase in fentanyl-related crime  well hopefully be going to be able to address that today.

Portland is in a 90-day fentanyl emergency declared by elected leaders. Police tell KOIN 6 News they will continue running these missions and making arrests. On Wednesday alone, police already made more than a dozen arrests by the afternoon.

The missions run from before dawn until 9 pm.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
MANNFORD, Okla. (KFOR)  The Mannford Police Department requested the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to assist with a sexual abuse case on Tuesday.

OSBI says agents completed a comprehensive report and identified the suspect as 42-year-old James Matthew Waltman, who is a Mannford police officer. It was determined that Waltman was also employed by Mannford Public Schools as a school resource officer, according to authorities.

Edmond Schools vs. OSDE hearing postponed

During the investigation, authorities learned that Waltman engaged inappropriately with a student, including providing alcohol to a minor, while employed at the school.

OSBI special agents arrested Waltman on the evening of March 5. Waltman was booked into the Creek County Jail on charges of First-Degree Rape and Providing Alcohol to person Under 21 Years Old.

The investigation is still ongoing. Anyone with additional information can contact the OSBI at tips@osbi.ok.gov.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  Over $5 million in stolen computer equipment has been recovered by deputies in Fresno County, the Fresno County Sheriffs Office said.

On Wednesday around 11 p.m. on Feb. 28, a Fresno County Sheriffs Deputy conducted a vehicle stop on a 2013 Nissan Van traveling south on Interstate 5, the Highway 33 turnoff.

According to sheriffs officials, 49-year-old Manuel Romero Acosta of Burbank was contacted and the deputy developed information about possible criminal activity.

Deputies say a search of the van revealed numerous boxes of new computer components. Since it was unknown at the time if the items were stolen, deputies say the van was towed to a storage facility with the contents remaining inside. The deputy issued Acosta, who was unlicensed, a traffic citation.

On Wednesday, deputies say they carried out a search warrant and confirmed that the computer components were stolen from the San Francisco Port Authority. The owner of the items was contacted and stated these memory devices and data storage servers were worth an estimated $5.1 million.

Deputies say an arrest warrant has been authored for the driver, Manuel Romero Acosta of Burbank.

This is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Fresno County Sheriffs Office at (559) 600-3111.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
The Texas Panhandle wildfires are taking a significant toll on the region's agricultural industry. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller told CBS News on Thursday morning that preliminary numbers show more than 7,000 heads of cattle have died in the fires, and that he believes the final toll could end up including thousands more.

The state has yet to get all the counts of lost cattle in the fires, he said, adding that the 7,000 death toll does not include cattle that will have to be euthanized due to their injuries. More than 1 million acres of land have burned up in the fires, including the Smokehouse Creek Fire, the largest wildfire in Texas history.

"Their hooves are burned off, their utters are burnt beyond  they can't nurse their babies," he said. "We'll actually end up having to put a lot of cattle down just because they won't be able to make it, even though they survived."

There are a little over 11 million head of cattle across the state, Miller said. He estimates that the final loss of cattle in the Panhandle could approach 10,000.

"I don't think it'll have an overall price effect over the whole market in the United States," he said. "...Locally, it's quite devastating."

One rancher Miller spoke with lost 700 cows. Another young couple who "just started out" lost everything  200 cows, he said.

"And those cows, right now, are worth from $2,500 to $3,000 and there's no insurance on those," he said. "That's just a total wipeout."

The body of a cow, killed by the recent wildfires, is moved to a trailer by Chuck Morgan near Canadian, Texas, U.S., March 1, 2024. / Credit: Leah Millis / REUTERS

The loss also comes as a one-two punch for many farmers. Miller said that many of those who raise cattle also grow cotton and that they've missed those cotton crops for the last two years. In September, the Texas Farm Bureau reported that drought and high temperatures caused the diminished cotton crops.

"The ground is toast," Ricky Yantis, a farmer from Lamb County about 100 miles south of Amarillo, told the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network, adding the heat seemed "more intense" last year and brought "hot winds."

"The dryland cotton is blistered and burned," he said. "A lot of the crop is turning brown and dying. I've never seen it get to this point."

Miller said that the cattle loss, on top of this, has left many financially stressed.

Cattle that have survived the blazes relatively unscathed are still suffering, as are their owners, as the fires took out essential resources. Of the primary five fires that have burned over the past two weeks, four are in the Canadian River Basin, Miller said, a region that he says is mostly canyons and grazing land. Roughly 120 miles of powerlines have been burned down in the fires, and seven grain and seed dealers were "completely wiped out."

"That means no electricity, no water for the livestock," he said, adding that his unofficial estimate is that 3,0000 to 4,000 miles of fencing has also been destroyed. One mile of fencing, he said, is about $10,000.

Even the burned grass poses a problem, as the cattle industry heavily relies on healthy pastures. Miller said he believes it will take at least two years for grasses to return to where they were, and that, on top of everything else, means many ranchers will likely have to completely change their future plans, with some even getting rid of their surviving cattle.

"For most of these people, that cattle that survived, they're probably going to have to either find some other grazing somewhere in the state or another state, or probably sell out and wait 'til they get their ranch put back together before they can restock," he said.

Chance Bowers, operator of the X-Cross-X Ranch, told the Associated Press that across three leased ranches, his team has a little over 1,000 cows. He believes they'll end up losing upwards of 250 of them.

"I've spent the last 15 years building this cow herd up," he said. "And you can lose it overnight. We've been very blessed, very fortunate that we're only gonna lose 200, you know?"

A cow stands near a spot fire, likely from one of the recent deadly wildfires, fueled by high winds near Canadian, Texas, U.S., March 2, 2024. / Credit: Leah Millis / REUTERS

Many of the impacted ranches are over 100 years old.

"It's very stressful. Let's say you're the sixth, seventh, eighth generation, you're in charge of the family heritage. It becomes, at some point, you no longer own the land, the land owns you," Miller said. "...All the family memorabilia is gone. All the heritage, all their memories are up  a lot of them only have the clothes on their back."

The region is heavily relying on donations and assistance from farmers elsewhere, as well as help from local, state and federal governments.

"The state of Texas has a very kind heart," Miller said.

Videos of caravans of donated goods, including large farming equipment, have been circulating, as have stories of communities jumping in to help. One woman told CBS News she was offering free nebulizer treatments to animals who had inhaled wildfire smoke, even taking in a baby goat whose mother had died in the flames.

Even beyond the tangible recovery, Miller is concerned for farmers' and ranchers' mental health.

"The highest rates of suicide in the nation are our veterans and our farmers," he said.

One study in 2020 found that the suicide rate for those in agriculture was 43.7 deaths per 100,000 people, which Pennsylvania State University says is "significantly higher than that of the overall population and the sixth highest rate among occupational groups."

Miller said his office offers mental health support specifically for those in the industry, known as the AgriStress Helpline. It's similar to the national suicide hotline, he said, but those who answer are specifically trained to help farmers and ranchers. It can be reached at 833-897-2474.

New York governor deploys National Guard to subways following string of violent attacks

Boeing and United Airlines investigate after wheel detaches from plane

Sen. Katie Britt delivers Republican rebuttal to State of the Union address
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks at a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress, in Beijing, March 7, 2024. (PHOTO / XINHUA)



BEIJING - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday that faced with the complex and volatile international environment, China will firmly be a force for peace, stability and progress in the world.

Wang Yi held a press conference Thursday on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress, and answered questions from journalists from home and abroad on China's foreign policy and foreign relations.

China will continue to speak up for justice, promoting win-win cooperation in 2024, Wang said, while warning that talking down China will backfire and misjudging China will result in missing opportunities.

China will stand firmly on the right side of history and on the side of human progress, Wang said, and looked forward to jointly creating a shining "South moment" in global governance.

Wang stressed that China will never allow Taiwan to be separated from its motherland. He said China's policy on the Taiwan question is clear, which is to continue striving for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity.

Neighborly relations

Asia is our common home, and to build this home well is the common aspiration of all countries in the region, Wang said. He stressed that China and neighboring countries should resolve differences and frictions through dialogue and consultation and jointly address various risks and challenges.

China will take justified actions to defend its rights in accordance with the law, and respond to unwarranted provocations with prompt and legitimate countermeasures in the South China Sea, Wang said.
Billie Jean Miller touched many lives.

Friends and family tell stories of her passion for helping others, her political savvy and strength of character, her role as family matriarch and the community impact of Billies Pastries, her East St. Louis business thats a gathering place for many in the metro-east.

Miller passed away Feb. 25 after battling breast cancer. She would have been 88 years old later this year. Her funeral is noon Saturday at Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church in East St. Louis, preceded by visitation from 10 a.m.to noon. Pastor Darius Miller will eulogize his grandmother at the service.

She leaves a legacy and lasting mark on the region, Pastor Miller told the BND. Billie was known to be a person of faith and tough in business and politics, but fair and kind as well. She also courageously believed in people and the potential for each person to rise above their given life station.

The funeral for East St. Louis businesswoman and civic leader Billie Jean Miller is Saturday, March 9, 2024 at Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church in East St. Louis. Provided

She was the owner and proprietor of the business that bears her name at 7301 State St. Billies Pastries is known as ``The Doughnut Shop to the many regulars who have visited the place since it opened about 44 years ago.

Pastor Miller said his grandmother made the shop a landmark for regulars, aspiring politicians, public officials and the broader St. Clair County community.

Under her committed hand, The Doughnut Shop became a place where all were welcome to exchange ideas, debate current events and share life experiences, he said.

Local civic leaders and politicians can attest to the importance of Billies shop as a gathering place.

The place is always filled with chatter, and Billie Jean Miller was often right in the thick of it.

Politicians and citizens went there to eat some good pastries and to share gossip. It was a place that a lot of politicians frequented, said Frank Smith, a former East St. Louis Democratic chairman. That coffee shop on 73rd and State Street was our information booth. You could go there and you would get information about everything in town. And, she was aware of everything in town.

A life that began in Brooklyn, Illinois

Billies Pastries is just part of Billie Jean Millers story, which began on June 23, 1936, in Brooklyn, Illinois, where Miller was born. She was the youngest of 13 children. Her parents, Annie Mae and Nathaniel OBannon Sr., raised her in the small town.

Billie, as she was affectionately called by most people, graduated from Lincoln Senior High School in East St. Louis.

She married the late Henry Miller Sr., and the couple had nine children and at least 80 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

One of her children is Gina Miller-Jackson, who takes joy in talking about the important role her mother played in raising a family.

Growing up, my mom was the PTA president, all while I was in grade school, she said.  I saw a mother that was a volunteer, and a very active parent for all of her children.

Whatever event the children were involved in, Miller-Jackson said her mother was there supporting and encouraging them.

She was an active parent. She had five girls. She got us into Girl Scouts and all kinds of other activities, and she was there with us, Miller-Jackson said.

Miller-Jackson said Billie took the same approach with her sons. Henry Miller Jr., the eldest son now deceased, was responsible for making sure everyone stayed in line when mom had to be away for a bit.

Marlon Miller was the baby of the bunch who is still spoiled by the family, Miller-Jackson said, laughing.

That was her baby, Miller-Jackson said. As Billies cancer progressed, she reminded us to take care of Marlon, Miller-Jackson said, chuckling and sharing that Marlon is now 60. But, yes she and others in the family plan to do just as she requested them to do.

Tiffany Robinson, granddaughter of the late Billie Jean Miller, sets a box of pastries on the shelf at Billies Pastries in East St. Louis, Ill. on March 5, 2024. Joshua Carter/Belleville News-Democrat

Miller-Jackson said family was always first with her mother.

All of us still get along, Miller-Jackson said.  For it to be nine of us, thats unusual. We might fuss, but by the end of the day we are back together.

Billie Jean Miller was a member of the Church of the Living God in Fairview Heights. She joined after she saw how it helped one of her sons.

Asked whether her mom cooked for the family, Miller-Jackson said, in a questioning voice, Did you really ask me that?

Of course my mom cooked! She had nine children. We couldnt afford anything else, Miller-Jackson said.

She made especially good spaghetti and pound cake.  No one could make spaghetti like my mom, she said.

Billie heads to work outside of the home

When Miller-Jackson was a teenager, her mother went to work at what was known as the General Assistance office in old Centreville, now a part of Cahokia Heights.

 I saw her network and really work to inspire, uplift and motivate people who were on General Assistance, she said. She had a caseload ...It was amazing what she would do.

She also worked as a teachers assistant in East St. Louis School District 189 for nearly 20 years. She was active in the lives of children, who never forgot how she supported and assisted them, Miller-Jackson said.

She opened Billies Pastries in late 1979 or early 1980, with husband Henry Miller Sr.s help.

From there, the fire ignited. She was just a community person, Miller-Jackson said. Whatever the situation was, my mom was going to find out what she could do. If she couldnt do it, she was going to find out who could do it.

Billie Jean Miller was a Republican, serving more than 35 years as a precinct committeewoman. Because this is a majority Democrat area, she walked and worked both aisles, Miller-Jackson said.

She became clerk and city treasurer of Centreville, and served on several boards.

My mom was about helping people, Miller-Jackson said. She did this all of her life. She saw a lot of fights. If it was a good fight, she was going to get in it.

The late Congressman John Lewis presented an award from the NAACP to Billie. That was just phenomenal.She loved to echo those words he often said If you see a good fight, get in it, Miller-Jackson said.







Billies impact on the community

Smith, the former Democratic committee chairman, and Frankie Seaberry, the former mayor of Centreville, both described Billie Jean Miller as having a ``beautiful personality.

I have known her as a politician and a regular citizen, Smith said. She was a great person. She is going to be missed.

Seaberry and Miller were lifelong friends.

 I love the way she reared her sons and daughters. The boys never got in trouble. I like her daughters and grandchildrens personas, she said.  All of her children are very mannerable. She was a big talker. She is going to really be missed.

Former Brooklyn Mayor Nathaniel OBannon III said he will miss his Aunt Billie. He said she was highly respected and gave him advice during his tenure as mayor.

 She used her gifts from East St. Louis, to Centreville, to Brooklyn. he said. She spread her intellect around. She was bad, fierce and a very strong black woman.

And her business, Billies Pastries, was a focal point where people gathered to share their thoughts and dreams about politics. The talk was about moving their communities forward and what could be done to help one another and how we could grow our communities to a new horizon. They shared all of that with each other, he said.

Miller-Jackson has been amazed by the outpouring from people who have stopped by Billies Pastries to tell me how my mom helped them to get a job, or tell me she called to help them get housing or did this and that for them to help them have a better quality of life. It was just my mother whatever she could do. I didnt even know how much my mom had done, Miller -Jackson said.

She said the family will keep Billies legacy alive by keeping the business open and continuing to serve the community the way Billie did.

I want to ask the community to continue to support us so we can keep our mothers legacy alive, she said.  I also want to ask those who she helped to pay it forward by sharing what she did for them with someone else who needs help.

(The family asks that any correspondence or condolences be sent to Teat Chapel Funeral Home and Cremation Service, 10419 Lincoln Trail, Fairview Heights. Other expressions of sympathy can be sent to Billies Pastries at 7301 State St., East St. Louis.)






A 6-year-old dog was found 10 days after going missing from her Colorado home, rescuers said.

A Bernese and black Labrador retriever mix named Pepper went missing on Feb. 22, according to a Facebook post by Summit Lost Pet Rescue.

Peppers owners in Blue River called the rescue when they couldnt find her and they set up cameras, posted on social media and hung signs around the neighborhood, officials said.

Rescue teams thought Pepper might be stuck since there had been zero sightings of her, so they handed out flyers telling neighbors to check garages, decks and tree wells, officials said.

After thinking Pepper might be stuck in the snow, volunteers put on their snowshoes and continued the search, officials said.

Volunteers gathered clues like seeing dog tracks circling the neighborhood near her house, officials said. Pepper wasnt showing up on any cameras rescuers set up so they werent sure if the prints belonged to her.

Eventually, a volunteer along with his dog Finn decided to search an area by a creek again, the post said.

We often take our dogs on searches with us and use them as magnet dogs, the rescue said. When pets go missing, they often are afraid of humans, but have a better trust with other dogs.

The volunteer at first didnt see any sign of Pepper, but Finn didnt want to leave the location, rescuers said.

Thats when the volunteer saw Peppers tag shining on her collar, officials said.

Pepper was taking shelter under a fallen tree in the area surrounded by steep snowbanks, the post said.

The volunteer called Peppers owner, who brought his son to help rescue her, officials said.

Pepper, who proved to be in good health after medical evaluations, was found just 714 feet from her house, the rescue said.

Blue River is about an 80-mile drive southwest of Denver.

Owners fall through frozen lake trying to rescue dog stuck on ice, Vermont rescuers say

Mountain lion cub gets second chance at life after car hit him in California

Beloved mountain lion dies crossing same California highway where her cubs were killed
Foodies, the popular Tri-Cities restaurant brand with spots in Kennewick and Richland, may not be done after all.

After abruptly closing Foodies locations on The Parkway in Richland and in Columbia Park in Kennewick, owner Joanna Wilson posted that shes sold the business.

Today, I am happy to announce that both Foodies on the River in Kennewick and Foodies Too in Richland have been sold to a new women owned business team. They will be introducing themselves in due time, but I am excited to be able to pass the torch to a pair of women who share the same passion and excitement of food and hospitality!! Wilson wrote on the Eat At Foodies Facebook page.

The city of Kennewick confirms it is negotiating a new lease with the new owners of Foodies.

Shes released few other details but the new Foodies will be a new venture with its own leases and business plan.

The city of Kennewick, its landlord at Columbia Park, confirmed it is negotiating a new lease with the unidentified new owners. It offered no other details except to say that no final decision has made.

Foodies moved its Kennewick restaurant to the waterfront in 2022 after its original downtown location was closed by damage from a fire in the neighboring Cascade Building. (Kagens Coffee & Crepes opened in the old spot, 308 W. Kennewick Ave., last fall.)

The city previously said it did not receive notice that Foodies would close.

The Benton Franklin Health District confirmed it was notified that the two Foodies had closed. It had not been notified of a change in ownership as of this week.

All establishments undergoing a change of owner must submit an application and plan review to the health district. As part of the review, an inspector will review its menu and operating plans, according to Alea Jensen, supervisor for the health districts food safety, plan review and permitting functions.

Watch eatatfoodies.com for updates.

Ciao Trattoria owners Imbibe

Jessie and Susanne Ayala, owners of Pascos Ciao Trattoria, open their newest eatery March 19. Imbibe is an Italian-style espresso bar, cafeteria and wine bar, 104 N. Fourth Ave.

Susanne and Jessie Ayala, the Pasco restaurateurs behind Ciao Trattoria and Pasco Hamburger Co., will open their latest, Imbibe, at 104 N. Fourth Ave. in downtown, on March 19.

As the couple shared in 2023, they conceived Imbibe as an Italian-style cafeteria and wine bar after touring Italy. Imbibe sits squarely between Ciao Trattoria, just three doors to the north, and Pasco Hamburger Co., a few doors south at Pasco Specialty Kitchen.

The Ayalas said the positioning is deliberate. Imbibe will accommodate overflow from their tiny Ciao Trattoria.

Hours will be 7 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4 p.m.-9 p.m., Tuesday-Friday, and 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturday.

The morning and night hours are deliberate too, the Ayalas said.

From the first sip of espresso in the morning to the last cocktail at night, guests are invited to savor the best of what Italy and local Pasco offerings have to offer, they said.

Susanne and Jessie Ayala will open Imbibe March 19 three doors down from Ciao Trattoria in downtown Pasco. Their latest venture was inspired by their tour of Italy.

Imbibe will offer pastries, desserts, panini, soups and pasta, with a focus on sourcing produce from the nearby Pasco Farmers Market in season.

David V35, a local artist, created art for the space, lending a mid-century vibe in the heart of downtown.

Go to theciaowagon.com or follow Imbibe Pasco on Facebook.

Swigg Coffee Bar opening

Swigg Coffee Bar holds a grand opening celebration from 5 a.m.-7 p.m., March 15 at its newest location, 1472 Bombing Range Road in West Richland.

Swigg Coffee Bar plans a grand opening from 5 a.m.- 7 p.m., March 15, to celebrate the opening of its second location, 1472 Bombing Range Road, West Richland.

Owner Jerick Guilliam opened the second edition of Swigg in late 2023. During the grand opening, Swigg will serve $2 large drinks all day followed by deals on drinks and food throughout the week.

The West Richland shop joins the original Swigg, which is at 4854 Broadmoor Blvd., Pasco.

Swigg offers breakfast pastries and an ambitious food menu featuring grilled cheese sandwiches, charcuterie and an El Fat Cat Grill burrito.

Go to swigg.coffee.

WaFd Bank debuts in Kennewick

WaFd Bank has opened at 5331 W. Canal Dr. in Kennewick.

The newest WaFd Bank branch, celebrated the grand opening of its new Kennewick branch, 5331 W. Canal Drive, on March 7.

Seattle-based WaFd took over the former TeaHaus bubble tea shop near the intersection of West Canal Drive and Edison Street.

WaFd, aka Washington Federal, offers retail banking, business services, a drive-thu and an ATM.

Sign Up: Boom Town Tri-Cities

Stay up to date on Tri-Cities growth and development with our weekly business newsletter. Get the latest on restaurant and business openings and closings, plus the regions top housing and employment news. Click here to sign up. In your inbox every Wednesday.
FILE PHOTO: Panama's former President Ricardo Martinelli addresses the media while leaving the National Assembly, in Panama City

By Elida Moreno

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) -Panamanian ex-President Ricardo Martinelli and his team have appealed an electoral court's decision finding him ineligible to run in this year's presidential elections, Martinelli's lawyer told Reuters on Thursday.

The court declared him ineligible on Monday, citing his inability to run due to a nearly 11-year prison sentence for money laundering. Panama's constitution bars anyone sentenced to a prison term of five years or more from serving as president.

Martinelli, a 71-year-old supermarket tycoon who governed between 2009 and 2014, has denied wrongdoing and said his sentence is political prosecution.

Most polls before Monday's court ruling positioned him as the favorite to win the election. The electoral court said his running mate Jose Raul Mulino will now appear on the ballot as presidential candidate for Martinelli's political party.

Martinelli has been staying in the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama City since February after requesting asylum in the Central American nation.

Written statements in support for Martinelli can be submitted until Friday, said Alma Cortes, Martinelli's lawyer. The aim of the appeal is to eventually bring the case before international legal bodies, she said.

"We are waiting for the respective evaluations and considerations, although we already know that they are not going to change that decision," Cortes said of the electoral court.

Martinelli's spokesperson, Luis Eduardo Camacho, said moving the case before an international court would "claim the justice that has not been done to us in Panama."

Media representatives from the electoral court were not immediately available.

(Reporting by Elida Moreno; editing by Cassandra Garrison and Chizu Nomiyama)
Bakery-cafe chain Panera has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a group of class-action lawsuits, which will give some of its customers a cash payout.

According to Kroll Settlement Administration, a third-party firm in charge of handling the settlement, Panera was accused by class-action plaintiffs in three states  Missouri, California and Illinois  of misrepresenting its delivery fees and menu prices for delivery orders on the Panera app and website between Oct. 1, 2020 and Aug. 31, 2021.

Panera is being accused of marking up food prices for delivery orders by 5% to 7%, according to a Feb. 22, 2023 filing which said that Panera listed a FREE, $1 or flat fee, low-cost delivery on food deliveries ordered through its App and website but added hidden costs that constituted a delivery fee.

In other words, the identical sandwich costs approximately $1 more when ordered for delivery than when ordered via the same mobile app for pickup, versus when ordered in-store, reads the lawsuit, asserting that the alleged secret markup was specifically designed to cover the costs of delivering food.

Panera did not immediately respond to TODAY.coms request for comment, but it has denied that its practices give rise to claims for damages by the plaintiffs or any of the class members but has decided to avoid further costs of defense with this settlement.

Panera reached the agreement with the plaintiffs under the stipulation that the company wouldnt have to admit fault, saying that the settlement shall not be construed as any admission or concession by Panera.

How to file a claim

Customers who placed an order for delivery on the Panera app and/or website between Oct. 1, 2020 and Aug. 31, 2021 may be entitled to a payment from the class action settlement in one of two ways:

Soups & Mac Vouchers Settlement Award: Class members can elect to receive two vouchers for a free item from Paneras Soups & Mac menu. The long-form notice on the Kroll site says this is valued at most at $19 per claimant, or $9.50 per voucher. No additional purchase will be necessary to use them.

Cash Settlement Award: Class members can also elect to receive an electronic payment of up to $12 via PayPal. But if there are so many class members that not everyone can receive $12, the settlement will distribute funds proportionally to all parties.

Affected customers who were emailed a class member ID can fill out an online claim form here by the deadline of June 10.

They will need to provide proof of purchase to verify their claim, which can be the phone number under which the order was placed and an email notice if they received one.

Those who didnt receive an email notice but still know they fall under the class action can download a claim form, fill it out and mail it to: Panera Delivery Fees Settlement, c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, PO Box 225391, New York, NY 10150-5391.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
An Ohio man is behind bars after officials say he traveled across states to meet and sexually assault a teenager.

Stacy Lee Austin, 49, drove over 400 miles from Belmont, Ohio, to Rowan County, North Carolina, according to a Facebook post from the Rowan County Sheriffs Office.

On March 5, the 15-year-olds parent called 911 after he came home and found Austin inside his house, officials said.

Investigators found out Austin had been communicating with the juvenile through social media and planned to pick the child up, authorities said. While at the teens home, Austin performed sexual activities with them, officials said.

Investigators said they found Austins underwear in a trash can inside the bathroom, along with some of the juveniles clothing. When they questioned Austin, he admitted to engaging in sex acts with the juvenile, according to officials.

Austin told investigators he was worried about losing his job as a Chick-fil-A owner, according to officials.

Austins Linked-In profile says he has been a Chick-fil-A franchise owner in St. Clairsville, Ohio, for over four years.

McClatchy News reached out to Chick-fil-A on March 7 for comment but did not immediately hear back.

We have zero tolerance for the type of serious conduct alleged. Stacy Austin currently is an independent franchise owner, but as the investigation and legal process continues, he will not be present in the restaurant, a Chick-fil-A spokesperson told WTRF.

Austin is charged with statutory sex offense with a child, officials said. He is being held without bond.

An attorney for Austin was not listed in court records.

Mom, other passengers intervene when woman rubs 14-year-olds leg on flight, feds say

Teen changes voicemail to get help and is found in hotel room with man, Utah cops say

School counselor preyed on students and solicited them for sex, Georgia police say
The parents of slain UGA jogger Laken Riley have declined an invitation to the State of the Union address Thursday in order to grieve their daughter, according to Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA).

Collins, who represents Georgias 10th Congressional District, where the 22-year-old nursing student is alleged to have been murdered, said in an announcement to X on Wednesday that his office had sent an invite, but understandably, they have chosen to stay home as they grieve the loss of their daughter.

It is unclear whether Collins reputation for the wilder of side of politics was also at play in the decision to turn down the invitehe is currently facing criticism for his response to an antisemitic post on X that called a Washington Post reporter out for being Jewish.

He also very publicly supports Texas use of razor wire on the border and caused outrage last month after he suggested using Pinochet Air tactics against an undocumented migrant (referring to the brutal tactic known as death flights used famously by Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, which saw dissidents and opposition figures thrown from a helicopter into the ocean or into the high peaks of the Andes). His post violated Xs rules, the platform said, but said it would remain public due to public interest.

The Daily Beast has reached out to Lakens parents and Collins office for comment.

In a statement on GoFundMe on Feb. 27, Rileys father, John Phillips, described her as an amazing daughter, sister, friend and overall person in general. Her love for the Lord was exemplified in every aspect of her life. She will be missed every day, but we promise to honor her life moving forward in a very big way.

Rileys body was found unconscious with visible injuries at the University of Georgia campus in February. A 26-year-old Venezuelan man, Jose Ibarra, was later taken into custody. Police claim it was crime of opportunity and Ibarra has been charged with felony murder, kidnapping, and false imprisonment.

On Thursday, Collins said he would honor Riley by keeping his guest seat vacant at the presidential address. The empty seat, he added, will also honor all American victims of illegal alien crime.

I invited Laken Rileys parents to the State of the Union address, but understandably, they have chosen to stay home as they grieve the loss of their daughter.



Therefore, the seat reserved for my guest will remain vacant to honor Laken and all American victims of illegal alien  Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) March 6, 2024

GOP lawmakers have been outspoken in their outrage at the murder, using the issue to blame the Biden administration for border policies that allow illegal immigrants into the country. On Monday, Collins introduced the Laken Riley Act, which, if approved, would give states more power to circumvent federal immigration laws if a migrant commits a crime.

As Joe Biden attempts to paint a rosy picture of the crime-ridden country he has created, he will look up at an empty seat that memorializes those weve lost because of his open border policies, Collins wrote.

ICE spokeswoman Lindsay Williams confirmed in an earlier statement to The Daily Beast that the suspect illegally entered the U.S. near El Paso, Texas, in 2022. Ibarra was paroled and released for further processing, and eventually made his way to New York City, where he was arrested a year later. He was released by the NYPD before a detainer could be issued, Williams added.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
DAVIDSON, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A new parking availability app is launching in Davidson ahead of the towns spring concert series and a social district, town officials announced Thursday.

ParkDavidson is now available after local input from the community marked one of the areas top priorities as assistance with finding available parking in the downtown area.

We are hopeful this will be a helpful resource for our business owners and their customers as well as local Davidson residents in search of a place to park in Town throughout the year, especially during some of our peak event seasons. Says Economic Development Director Kim Fleming.

The app was launched in conjunction with ParkNav and uses real-time analytics to show availability.

The new ParkDavidson app is an initiative-taking approach to achieving the Boards short-term action items in Davidsons Downtown Small Area Plan regarding parking improvements. I think its a great addition to the resources the Town provides its residents and visitors alike.

The app is free to download on Apple or Android devices.

The town is launching the app in advance of a free spring conert series and the anticipated downtown social district.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
By Miguel Lo Bianco

NEUQUEN, Argentina (Reuters) - Archaeologists have discovered the earliest dated cave paintings in South America in Argentine Patagonia, dating back 8,200 years.

The 895 paintings were found by Argentine and Chilean archaeologists in the Huenul 1 cave, a 630 square meter rock shelter located in the province of Neuquen, some 1,100 kilometers (684 miles) southwest of the capital Buenos Aires.

"We were able to date four black peniform patterns that were drawn in charcoal. These proved to be the earliest direct dating of cave paintings in South America," said Dr. Guadalupe Romero Villanueva, author of the research published in the Science Advances journal.

The Argentinean archaeologist said the discovery indicates that the production of cave art began in the Huenul cave about 8,000 years ago and that the practice of painting the particular pattern seen in the cave was sustained for a period of at least 3,000 years.

The discovery provides evidence of the artistic ability and cultural transmission of the hunter-gatherer societies which inhabited the region during the middle Holocene, a period roughly from 7,000 to 5,000 years ago, and reveals the socioecological resilience to climate, as well as serving as a means of communication between scattered populations.

"We believe these images in particular were part of a resilient response of the mobile hunter-gatherer groups that occupied this cave and the desert environments of northern Patagonia to the climatic challenge of a period of extreme dryness that occurred during the middle Holocene," said Romero Villanueva, a researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research of Argentina.

Villanueva said there are other places in South America that could have older cave paintings, but which only have relative dating, like Argentina's Cueva de las Manos, with cave paintings dating back 9,500 years.

(Reporting by Miguel Lo Bianco; Writing by Steven Grattan; Editing by Stephen Coates)
Czech President Petr Pavel said on March 7 that after Norway had joined the Czech-led allied initiative on purchasing 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine, the required funds were collected, Czech outlet CT24 reported.

As $60 billion in aid for Ukraine from the U.S. remains stalled in Congress, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to face critical ammunition shortages.

Prague launched its military aid initiative in February, as it had found 500,000 155 mm shells and 300,000 122 mm shells outside Europe that could be sent to Ukraine after the necessary funds were allocated to the initiative.

Pavel said 18 countries participated in the Czech-led allied initiative, and "within weeks," Ukraine would get the ammunition.

Norway was the last contributor, allocating 1.6 billion Norwegian kroner ($153 million) to the initiative. Other contributors, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Latvia, and Canada, had publicly committed to the initiative earlier.

The next step for the Czech government will be to conclude a memorandum and establish mutual relations with contributing states, according to Pavel.

"Now everything will depend on our companies and the defense ministry's abilities to speed up the whole process (of delivering aid)," Pavel said.

Amid the ammunition shortage, Ukraine has already withdrawn from Avdiivka, a key front-line city in Donetsk Oblast, on Feb. 17 and from other nearby villages weeks later.

Read also: Ukrainian soldiers near Kupiansk prepare for potential Russian offensive

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a news conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations during the second session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing, March 7, 2024. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]

Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, answers questions about the country's foreign policy and diplomatic relations at a press conference on Thursday during the the second session of the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

Here are some highlights:

China to firmly be force for peace, stability, progress

Faced with the complex and volatile international environment, China will firmly be a force for peace, stability and progress in the world, Wang Yi said Thursday.

Currently, the world landscape is undergoing profound changes, and human society is facing multiple challenges, Wang said.

China will stand firmly on the right side of history and on the side of human progress, Wang said.

Dedicated to peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit, China will strive to safeguard world peace and development as it pursues its own development, and it will make greater contributions to world peace and development through its own development, he noted.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a news conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations during the second session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing, March 7, 2024. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]

China, Russia forging new major country relations

Hegemony finds no support and division is doomed to fail, Wang told the press conference.

Major countries should not seek confrontation, and the Cold War should not be allowed to come back, he said.

Russia's natural gas is powering numerous Chinese households, and Chinese-made automobiles are running on Russian roads, proving the strong resilience and broad prospects of China-Russia mutually beneficial cooperation, Wang said.
MADERA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  Two men were arrested after allegedly breaking into a Madera elementary school early Wednesday morning, according to the Madera Police Department.

Police say at 1:40 a.m. they responded to James Monroe Elementary School for a burglary alarm.

Upon arrival, officers reported seeing two people running across the campus toward an apartment complex.

Investigators say the two men allegedly broke into a classroom and the teachers lounge before fleeing the scene.

The two men were identified by police as Jeremiah Renwick and Dominick Renwick.

The Madera Police Department says they were taken into custody after a short foot chase and booked into the Madera County Jail on several charges after the school was secured.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
PORTERVILLE, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  A 41-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday for suspicion of burglary of an inhabited dwelling, says the Porterville Police Department.

Police say on Feb. 24, at 11:20 p.m. officers responded to a residence located in the 1700 block of West Westfield Avenue after it was reported an unknown male suspect was inside a bedroom of a home.

Officers say the suspect fled before officers arrived and was not located. During the investigation, officers determined the suspect entered the home through a window by prying it open.

It was then determined by Porterville Police that the two burglaries of the inhabited swellings were isolated incidents, committed by the same suspect, and both victims were related. Jose Reyes-Ayon Mendoza of Porterville, 41, was identified as the suspect. Detectives authored a search warrant for Mendozas residence located in the 1400 block of South Kessing Street, and a warrant for his arrest, which was signed by a Superior Court Judge.

On March 6, 2024, at 7:18 A.M., detectives say they arrested Mendoza for his warrant at his residence. Additionally, a search of the residence was conducted and detectives were able to collect additional evidence.

Police say Mendoza was processed and interviewed at the police department before being booked at the Tulare County Sheriffs Office South County Detention Facility. He is being held in lieu of $60,000 bail.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
WYOMING, Mich. (WOOD)  A victim was hospitalized after being found at a Wyoming gas station with multiple gunshot wounds, police say.

Around 5:40 p.m. Wednesday, officers were called to a gas station on South Division Avenue near 32nd Street for a report of a shooting, according to the Wyoming Department of Public Safety.

Arriving offices found a victim who had been shot multiple times. The person was taken to the hospital in critical condition. The victim was not named by police and suspect information was not released.

Its not clear what led up to the shooting, but detectives and the Wyoming Department of Public Safetys Forensic Services Unit are investigating.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Wyoming police detectives at 616.530.7300 or Silent Observer at 616.774.2345.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT)  Authorities say a pedestrian was hit and killed by a car on New Cut Road on Monday night.

Limestone County Coroner Mike West says the incident happened along New Cut Road and Zehner Road around 7 p.m.

Pedestrian hit, killed after crash in Madison Co.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) says that two vehicles were involved in the crash.

ALEA identified the victim as 69-year-old Ronald Anderson, of Athens. Troopers say that Anderson was hit by a 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe. Anderson was pronounced dead at the scene.

Prior to the fatal crash, Anderson got out of his vehicle to work on a trailer that detached from his vehicle and was then hit and killed.

There is no further information at this time. The incident remains under investigation by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
Penny Mordaunt has defended colleague Michelle Donelan, after it emerged taxpayers' money was used to settle a legal dispute with a professor.

She said it was clear Ms Donelan valued public money because she once turned down a redundancy payment after serving as education secretary for 36 hours.

Science Secretary Ms Donelan was told to pay 15,000 for falsely suggesting an academic backed Hamas.

Ms Mordaunt said she was confident the payment had been "justified".

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also defended the payout saying it was "a long-standing convention... that the government will fund those disputes when it comes to ministers doing their work."

However, opposition parties have urged the science secretary to cover the costs herself.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said expecting the taxpayer to pick up the tab at a time when people were "really struggling to pay their bills" was "totally insulting".

He said if Labour were to get into power it would "never allow that sort of thing to happen that would be history".

Government sources have told the BBC that Ms Donelan received official legal advice when she drafted her original letter for which she was later sued for libel by the academic Professor Kate Sang.

When the subject was raised in the House of Commons, Leader of the House Ms Mordaunt noted that in July 2022 Ms Donelan had been entitled to "a redundancy payment of 16,000 for having been a secretary of state".

In the chaotic final week of Boris Johnson's premiership, Ms Donelan was appointed education secretary but resigned just two days later, meaning she could have accepted the payment.

However, Ms Mordaunt said her colleague had not taken the money but instead "handed it back to the department, because that was the right thing to do.

"That speaks volumes about [her] character, and how much she values the fact that we are talking about taxpayers' money."

She said the payment to cover legal damages would have been scrutinised by civil servants to ensure they were "correct and proper and justified".

"There's also the propriety and ethics team at the Cabinet Office, which oversees such things. So I'm pretty confident, having not been directly involved with this myself, that what has happened is perfectly correct."

Penny Mordaunt said her colleague Michelle Donelan understood the value of taxpayers' money

Prof Kate Sang, an academic at Heriot Watt University, launched a libel action against Ms Donelan after the minister accused her of sharing "extremist views" and expressing sympathy for Hamas following its 7 October attacks in Israel. Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK government and others.

In October, Ms Donelan used social media to share a letter she had written to the UK Research and Innovation in which she expressed her "disgust and outrage" about the views of Prof Sang, who sat on an advisory board at the body.

She pointed to a post in which Prof Sang had said "this is disturbing" alongside a link to a Guardian article on the response to the Hamas attacks in the UK.

Earlier this week, Ms Donelan released a statement saying she now accepted that Prof Sang's comments referred to the Guardian story as a whole, and not just the headline which focused on the government's crackdown on support for Hamas.

She added that she had deleted her original post and fully accepted Prof Sang was "not an extremist, a supporter of Hamas or other proscribed organisation".

Following Ms Donelan's initial claims, UKRI launched an investigation into Prof Sang, however it did not find any evidence she had expressed extremist views or support for Hamas.

In response, Prof Sang said she was "delighted that this matter has now concluded, but very disturbed by the way in which Michelle Donelan and UKRI behaved".

"Had they asked me at the start, I would have explained the true position," she said.

"Instead, Michelle Donelan made a cheap political point at my expense and caused serious damage to my reputation."

The BBC had been told that the letter was "written with officials and legal input and was cleared for publication by the department at the highest levels" and that "everyone relevant" in Ms Donelan's department "was aware of the contents and that the letter would be published (tweeted)".
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps will move forward with the existing design of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship in fiscal 2025, a top leader said, after the Defense Department last year raised the specter of scaling down the ships design or not buying any more at all.

Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl, the deputy commandant of the Marine Corps for combat development and integration, told Defense News today the redesign effort was gone.

He said the first LPD Flight II ship, whose design is already scaled down for affordability compared to the first 13 San Antonio LPDs, is still in construction and a few years from delivering to the fleet.

And were already talking about changing it? Does that make sense to anybody? No. So were not doing that, thats gone, Heckl said after an Amphibious Warship Industrial Base Coalition breakfast event on Capitol Hill.

Defense News first reported of the Defense Department-led effort to create a scaled-down design to reduce the cost in March 2023.

The FY25 defense budget request will be released on Monday, and Heckl and other leaders said they could not discuss in advance of the formal announcement what ships would be included in the spending proposal. But Heckl said last month at the WEST conference in San Diego he and others would be pleased with the budget when it comes to amphibious ships.

Industry leaders, lawmakers and Marines spoke at the breakfast event, pushing for full funding for the next ship in the class, LPD-33, in the FY25 budget. They also are seeking predictable funding to buy LPDs every other year and the larger amphibious assault ships every four years as well as multi-ship buys  something Congress has granted the Navy in past defense authorization bills but the Navy has not executed.

This comes as the Marine Corps more broadly worries about its ability to move Marines into and around a theater.

Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Christopher Mahoney said in a speech it would be a modest proposition to ask for LPDs on two-year intervals and LHAs on four-year intervals. Moreover, he said the Marines need additional money to build the Landing Ship Medium to move smaller groups from island to island in the Pacific. He said the LSM program, meant to start production in FY22 and delayed to FY25, is late to need.

Were embarking on deep experimentation, so the minute those ships hit the water, were ready to use them, he said.

Heckl said after the event the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group and 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit have been on deployment since July, straining personnel and delaying needed maintenance on the ships. He added that the Boxer ARG and 15th MEU is split right now, with LPD Somerset already deployed to the Pacific and amphibious assault ship Boxer and dock landing ship Harpers Ferry still awaiting further maintenance before they deploy later this spring.

One ship is not a MEU, he said of the Somersets ongoing work. Its a single-ship deployer, and well do with it what we can, but its not a MEU.
(KRON)  A person who was reported to be on the Bay Area Rapid Transit trackway is delaying trains in the East Bay during the Thursday morning commute, according to the transit agency.

The person was on the BART track between Ashby Station and Downtown Berkeley Station, BART said on X at 7:18 a.m. A major delay is affecting commuters on the Richmond, Berryessa and Millbrae directions.

A major delay is also reported on the San Francisco Line in the Millbrae and Richmond directions as of 8:02 a.m., BART said.

Walnut Creek City Council meeting again disrupted by antisemitic hate speech

BART Police Department officers picked up the individual who was on the tracks, the transit agency told KRON4. The trains were blocked for about 20 minutes.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
Dr. John Farrelly, chief of staff for Petersburg City Public Schools, attends his first board meeting as acting superintendent Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at PCPS headquarters in Petersburg. Farrelly holds the spot while a final decision is made on the status of superintendent Tamara Sterling. The School Board says she is on administrative leave, but Sterling and the state Board of Education are saying otherwise.

PETERSBURG  Even though she was not physically there, the presence of the current or former city school superintendent  depending upon who you ask  was still felt at Wednesdays School Board meeting, the first since she left.

So was the silence that has enveloped the Petersburg City Public Schools since Feb. 23, the last day that Dr. Tamara Sterling was in the headquarters building. Prior to a public-comment period, board chairperson Kenneth Pritchett read a prepared statement that repeated basically what the system said last week  no comment.

Please understand that the board does not intend to comment this evening, nor will we be responding to public comments regarding the superintendent at this time, Pritchett said. We will provide an update when one is available, and it is appropriate to do so.

By that time, there was just a handful of citizens in the meeting room aside from PCPS staff. Earlier in the evening, the room was filled, but most of them were there for other reasons and had left by the time Pritchett read the statement.

Following the meeting, Pritchett was asked by The Progress-Index for clarity on Sterlings status. The board maintains she is on administrative leave for an undisclosed reason, but both Sterling and the Virginia Department of Education are claiming she is out and VDOE was assisting PCPS with transition. Directly asked if she was an active employee still on the system roster, Pritchett replied, Yes.

The board has another meeting set for March 20. Asked if he expected the issue to be resolved by that meeting, Pritchett said, Hopefully we will.

A closed session preceding the open meeting to discuss "a personnel matter did not produce any actions.

In the interim, Dr. John Farrelly, the PCPS chief of staff, is sitting in the dais seat occupied by Sterling since September 2022. Pritchett said that since he holds that position is also classified as a deputy superintendent in the system, which means he acts as the designee in the superintendent's absence.

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Petersburg School Board continues silent treatment on superintendent
A single image defines the universal charm of the Oscars: a handful of workers unrolling a piece of red cloth at 10 a.m. on a Wednesday. If we extrapolate from the photo, the truth is that it makes little sense. But thats the way it is. Because this is the Oscars, the worlds most famous award ceremony, which puts on a whole event, full of expectation, journalists and cameras, for something as simple as laying the carpet.

But the gesture is universal and well-known thanks to nearly one hundred years of the awards and is repeated, year after year, with or without a host. It is a starting signal, a rite that says: here we are, we have come to take over televisions, newspapers and magazines for the next week, to give you a topic of conversation and jokes, to do what we do best, show business. And season after season, they succeed.

The red carpet and awards have so much weight culturally and socially that they dont even need a famous face to accompany them. This Wednesday, on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at the entrance of the Dolby (which has hosted the award ceremony for 22 years, after moving there from the Shrine Auditorium), some were waiting for Jimmy Kimmel, the comedian who will host the awards for the fourth time next Sunday. He was not announced, but he was expected; besides, the theater where he does his show every night is right across the street from the Dolby, so he was not far from there. But he didnt show up, and nobody asked for him either. Oh well, he couldnt come by, he had some interviews afterward..., someone from the (immense) Oscars organization team commented. He was not missed. The carpet is an entity in itself that does not need famous names to introduce it.

Workers roll out the red carpet along Hollywood Blvd. Mike Blake (REUTERS)

The red carpet was laid in two parts, partly so that the media could film it slowly and partly because it is very wide and is actually made up of two separate pieces, each about 16 feet wide, that are then carefully joined together. When the dozens of onlookers have disappeared, the workers, mostly Latinos (California has a 50% Latino population), continue working, stapling part of the carpet, placing pieces, making cuts to fit it, preparing it, ironing it at about 175 degrees because theres a material at the bottom that makes it stick to the floor when heat is applied, like patches for clothes.

The 900 feet of carpet have been placed at the heart of Hollywood Boulevard, which is practically cut off. Only a narrow sidewalk opposite the theater is unimpeded; tourists and mango and watermelon street vendors pass by there. Surprisingly, they dont really make a profit during these days, as the public has limited access to the Dolby (which is actually the theater adjacent to a shopping center), as well as to other attractions such as many of the stars of the Walk of Fame, the Chinese Theater and the Hard Rock Cafe, next to the theater. Plus, its all fenced off, so even selfies dont come out the way they should.

This year, the red carpet returns to its usual color after being champagne in 2023. Along its almost 985 feet in length and 33 feet in width, it will be covered by a huge champagne-colored tent through which the nominees and their companions will pass. The award ceremony will follow at 4 p.m. Pacific time (7 p.m. Eastern time); over the course of three and a half hours, 23 awards will be handed out, followed by a party and a luxurious dinner of serrano ham, sushi and waffles. There will be about 3,400 spectators in the theater and about 20 million people on U.S. screens (and several million in 200 other countries), if the figures do not change much from last year. By the time everyone has entered the Dolby theater, that fantasy of red carpets, lights and cameras will begin to fade and, like Cinderella, disappear before midnight. The paraphernalia that has taken 10 days to assemble will be gone in just a few hours. And the red carpet? Some is collected and recycled for other events, some is thrown away. When leaving the gala, some take a piece of it home as a souvenir. Next year, there will be another one, a new one, and the process will start all over again. The show must go on.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
The government of Colombian President Gustavo Petro has been negotiating with armed groups in the country, though frequent violations of ceasefires have continually throttled talks (Raul Arboleda)

Thousands of Colombians protested Wednesday against President Gustavo Petro and the violence that has continued to plague the South American country in spite of his efforts to negotiate peace with armed groups.

"Out, Petro!" read banners held aloft by protesters in Bogota as they waved the Colombian flag.

"Insecurity is everywhere, in the countryside and in the cities. The people are tired," protester Luis Chaparro, a retired soldier, told AFP.

"We are in the middle of two threats: violence and criminals on the one side, and the absolute ineptitude of the government of Gustavo Petro on the other," added Miguel Uribe, an opposition senator and march organizer.

There were also marches in Cali, Medellin, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga and other cities.

Petro, Colombia's first-ever leftist president, enjoys only about 35 percent support, according to opinion polls.

His government has been negotiating with armed groups that have continued fighting despite the disarmament of the FARC, a major guerrilla force, following a 2016 peace deal.

There have been frequent violations of successive ceasefire agreements, with civilians -- particularly in rural areas -- getting caught up in the fighting between leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary groups, drug cartels and the military.

Protesters were also critical of Petro's proposed reforms to the pension and healthcare systems, where he wants to curb reliance on private funds.

Many fear this would leave too much of Colombians' hard-earned savings in the hands of a public service with a long history of corruption.

His attempts to expand worker benefits, too, are widely rejected as wasteful public spending in a country historically distrustful of the political left and of state institutions.

Petro has struggled to get his reforms through parliament, where he does not have a majority.

Opponents of the president also accuse him of making too many concessions to armed groups in his stated quest to finally achieve "total peace" in the violence-battered country.

Petro on Wednesday accused protesters of being in cahoots with establishment "forces" seeking to hold on to their "privileges."

bur-vd/jss/lv/arm/mlr/nro
House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, was unable to best a far-right challenge from a candidate backed by former President Donald Trump and Attorney General Ken Paxton, forcing him into a runoff.

David Covey, an oil and gas industry consultant and a marquee candidate for Paxton's revenge tour against House Republicans who voted to impeach him last year, came out on top in the three-person race for the District 21 seat, with Phelan securing the second spot to make it to the May 28 runoff after neither candidate received a majority of the vote.

In a statement celebrating the next step in the election cycle, Covey said that "tone-deaf" representation in the state Capitol will come to a close if he is elected, signaling his intent to work on issues of border security, election infrastructure and "school choice."

The people of House District 21 have put every politician in Texas, and the nation, on notice, Covey said. Our elected officials are elected by the people and work for the people, and when they dont, there will be consequences.

A line of people waits to vote at the Austin City Hall on Super Tuesday. The line stretched around the corner in a waiting area, with voters eager to cast their ballots.

The effort to unseat Phelan  orchestrated by Paxton after the House's overwhelming vote on May 27 to impeach the attorney general on 20 charges, including bribery and abuse of office  resulted in Covey's top vote-getting position Tuesday. Ultimately, the Senate cleared Paxton of wrongdoing, mostly along party lines.

Phelan, following Tuesday night's close defeat leading to a May runoff, called the upcoming vote a battle for the "soul" of the district along the Gulf Coast.

In the next couple of months, the deceit and vitriol weve witnessed from my opponent and his dark money allies is poised to escalate to even greater heights," Phelan said in a statement. "I urge the citizens of Southeast Texas to meet the coming storm with a critical eye and recognize the external forces desperate to claim what is ours."

More: Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan heads to runoff against Trump-backed GOP primary opponent

The results on Super Tuesday show evidence that Republican "insurgents" on the party's right-most flank have pushed the speaker's race into a new spotlight, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political science professor.

"The big picture on this is that you've got a nationalization of the Texas speaker's race; that's something we have not seen," Rottinghaus said. "And although the Texas speaker has long had a target on their back from the insurgents in the party, this has taken it to a new level."

With Trump's involvement in the race, through endorsing Covey and attacking Phelan, the former president assisted in raising interest in the contest, but the effort to unseat the speaker already had been well underway before Trump's foray.

"This fight predates Trump, but Trump definitely is able to give a much more kind of firm voice to it," Rottinghaus said.

House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, has been forced into a May runoff against a challenger supported by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Another key factor in Phelan's defeat Tuesday is campaign cash, Rottinghaus said.

While Phelan out-raised Covey in campaign contributions, with $6 million in donations compared with Covey's $800,000, a broader effort by conservative financiers across the state has undoubtedly influenced the race's outcome and others in the Texas House.

More: Rep. Colin Allred clinches Texas Democratic nomination to challenge US Sen. Ted Cruz

"Dade Phelan has been a massive cash machine for his wing of the party, but he's being outgunned by millions of dollars from very conservative sources," Rottinghaus said, referencing millions spent by West Texas oil tycoons Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks.

Outside of the competing conservative contributions, Phelan also lacks support from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who was alongside Covey as the runoff was announced, and Gov. Greg Abbott, who has declined to publicly defend or assist Phelan.

On Wednesday, Patrick doubled down, as he so often has throughout the long-running combative relationship between the two leaders, saying voters spoke with "great clarity" in disapproving of Phelan.

"Dade Phelan failed in his role as Speaker," Patrick said in a statement. "He led his members to take bad votes on the House floor that cost them dearly at home. The cardinal rule for a Speaker is to protect his members."

Attorney General Ken Paxton, middle, with his attorneys Tony Buzbee, left, and Mitch Little listen to closing arguments in his impeachment trial at the Capitol last fall. Paxton strongly supported challengers to Republican lawmakers who supported his impeachment.

Other House races where Phelan looked to bolster his allies in the chamber through donations and general campaign support also suffered setbacks and outright defeats.

Incumbent Kronda Thimesch lost to a challenge from one of Paxton's impeachment trial lawyers, Mitch Little, who had vehement support from the state's top attorney.

Although roughly 20 of Paxton's endorsees were unable to beat incumbents, at least seven of his chosen candidates were able to secure wins on Super Tuesday. That includes Wes Virdell, who will now represent the district once held by Rep. Andrew Murr, R-Junction, who announced his retirement last year after leading Paxton's impeachment inquiry.

Reps. Stan Gerdes, R-Smithville; Jeff Leach, R-Plano; Morgan Meyer, R-Dallas and Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, all won on Tuesday, beating Paxton's concerted effort to see those supporters of his impeachment unseated in the primary.

On Wednesday, Paxton continued to throw his chips on the table against Phelan and his allies, saying on the Mark Davis radio show that the challenge coming from his camp is not over, and he expects a favorable outcome in May.

In runoffs, the more conservative voters are usually the more motivated, Paxton said.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Phelan can't secure reelection, again faces Paxton's fervor in runoff
New companies in Phoenix that use a lot of water will have to draft conservation plans and, in some cases, use recycled water after the City Council unanimously passed new a new regulation March 6. Here's what you need to know.

What the regulation is: The large water user ordinance separates developments into two categories: those who use more than 250,000 gallons of water per day and those who use more than 500,000 gallons per day. Developers in the first category will now have to submit water conservation plans to be able to build in Phoenix. Developers in the second category will do the same, plus more.

More restrictions for the largest water users: Developments that use more than 500,000 gallons of water per day must ensure 30% of their water usage comes from recycled or conserved water. They must also show the city can handle their water demands with existing water availability.

Catch up: Phoenix approves overhaul of water standards for new construction amid water shortages

The point: The city's water department says the regulation will foster a water conservation mindset and help reduce water use without enacting harsh, one-size-fits-all restrictions that may not make sense for every development.

Why it's happening: Phoenix relies heavily on the Colorado River to supply water customers, but the river is shrinking due to severe drought, which experts say results from climate change. That's led all river users, not just in Phoenix, but around the Valley and in neighboring states, to cut back and think more about efficiency.

Phoenix City Hall building.

What to know: Where does Phoenix's water come from?

Does it go far enough? The ordinance isn't guaranteed to save a set number of gallons of waters, nor does it enact specific restrictions. Instead, the requirements are more subjective. The "water conservation plan" is defined as deploying best practices to use water "as efficiently as is practicable." But city officials say the rule is flexible by design: Maybe developments will save more water by developing their own plan than the city could have thought possible. On the other hand, the diversity of developments makes it hard to regulate, they say.

Who determines if the user's conservation plans are strong enough: The city's water services director.

Any penalties? Large water users have to submit estimates of monthly water use to the city and lay out technologies that will ensure efficiency. If the user doesn't deploy promised technology or consumes more than 120% of expected water use, there are penalties:

The city's water director may suspend services to a user.

200% charge for the first violation and if the violation lasted less than a year.

500% charge for the second violation or if the violation lasted between one to two years.

1,000% charge for the third violation or if the violation lasted between two to three years.

2,000% charge for the fourth violation or if the violation lasted between three to four years.

Who it affects: Few companies use 250,000-plus gallons of water per day, but some big water users include the technology sector, hospitals and the beverage industry. The ordinance, however, will only affect future developments or developments that request larger water meters to upscale use. It will not be applied retroactively.

Will semiconductor plants drain AZ?: That theory is overblown

What Mayor Kate Gallego said: "This new policy will ensure we are balancing our economic development priorities with the critical need to secure our water supply for generations to come. Phoenix will continue to lead the way both in policy and practice to ensure we sustain our most precious resource.

Another point of view: Phoenix mayor concerned about 'sensational' reporting of state's groundwater shortage

Taylor Seely covers Phoenix for The Arizona Republic / azcentral.com. Reach her at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or by phone at 480-476-6116.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: New Phoenix rules require businesses with high water use to conserve
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  An Oregon dog has hopped into the semifinals for chocolate brand Cadburys sixth annual Bunny Tryouts.

The chocolate brand first launched its search for the 2024 Cadbury Bunny in late February. For the first time, the company has implemented a March-Madness-style bracket system in which a portion of semi-finalists will be eliminated during each 24-hour voting period.

Washington Sen. Cantwell accuses Boeing of stonewalling door plug investigation

Kona  a one-eyed, 3-year-old chihuahua  was named a semifinalist among 31 other animals on Wednesday morning.

Oregon chihuahua Kona was named a 2024 Cadbury Bunny semifinalist. (Courtesy Jenna Van Valen)

Oregon chihuahua Kona was named a 2024 Cadbury Bunny semifinalist. (Courtesy Jenna Van Valen)

Oregon chihuahua Kona was named a 2024 Cadbury Bunny semifinalist. (Courtesy Jenna Van Valen)

Oregon chihuahua Kona was named a 2024 Cadbury Bunny semifinalist. (Courtesy Jenna Van Valen)

She was rescued by Seattle nonprofit Saving Great Animals after her previous owner died. The organization then arranged an enucleation to resolve Konas eye injury before moving her into a foster home.

The dog was officially adopted by her new owner Jenna Van Valen in December 2023. The Pacific-Northwest-based photographer told KOIN 6 she said goodbye to her 18-year-old chihuahua the month prior, but she was immediately smitten with Kona when her husband shared a photo.

Tillamooks sharp cheddar wins top slots in category at 2024 World Championship Cheese Contest

According to Van Valen, Kona enjoys toys and chewies  but doesnt perform any tricks except being adorable. The dog also loves to wave her front paws at people for attention, play with her fellow rescue dogs and a special-needs kitty companion at home.

Kona is playful, excited to meet everyone, and as polite and loving as can be, Van Valen added. We love our senior and special needs rescues  and think spreading the word about these amazing animals is so important! She would make such a wonderful Cadbury Bunny  she already has the giant bunny-looking feet! And shes sweeter than chocolate.

Voting opens on Cadbury USAs Instagram on Monday, March 11. There will be five rounds, with the last scheduled for Friday, March 22.

KOIN 6 names Ken Boddie as political director

The spring season is a special time for our Cadbury team, but the Cadbury Bunny Tryouts are perhaps the best part of all, Natalie Shuntich, senior associate marketing manager at The Hershey Company, said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
TechCrunch

Elon Musk's xAI has open-sourced the base code of Grok AI model, but without any training code. In a blog post, xAI said that the model wasn't tuned for any particular application such as using it for conversations. Last week, Musk noted on X that xAI intended to open-source the Grok model this week.
Anneisha Williams, third from right, Imelda, second from right, and Laura Posos, right, demonstrate during a three-day strike to protest alleged wage theft at a Pizza Hut in Los Angeles. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

At a Pizza Hut restaurant in Historic Filipinotown, west of downtown Los Angeles, a slip of paper was taped Wednesday to the glass storefront announcing STORE CLOSED and EMPLOYEES ON STRIKE.

A handful of workers rallied outside with organizers from a new union for California fast-food workers to protest what they allege is ongoing wage theft by the Pizza Hut franchise owner.

Six current and former workers are staging a three-day strike to bring attention to their cause, and with help from the new union, five of them filed a complaint with the state labor commissioners office Wednesday alleging that store management skimmed hours from their paychecks, required training and overtime work while refusing to pay for it, and declined to pay for sick leave  amounting to some $81,443 in back pay and penalties.

Julieta Garcia goes on a three-day strike to protest alleged wage theft at a Pizza Hut in L.A.'s Historic Filipinotown, west of downtown. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

The complaint also alleges store management enforced "abusive and chaotic scheduling," with changes to workers' schedules multiple times a week; workers at times have been sent home at the beginning of their shifts without prior notification or pay.

"Management is subjecting us to nearly every form of wage theft," the complaint reads.

The Pizza Hut store's management did not respond to a phone call requesting comment.

Southern California Pizza Co., the franchisee operating the Pizza Hut restaurant, also did not respond to a phone call requesting comment.

Read more: The battle brewing over California workers' unique right to sue their bosses

Although the number of workers involved in the labor action is small, the accusations of wage theft illustrate a pervasive problem in restaurant and other low-wage industries, labor advocates say.

Forms of wage theft can include violations such as failure to pay for all hours worked, paying workers less than minimum wage, refusing to pay overtime, denying workers meal breaks or rest periods, and requiring employees to finish tasks before or after their shifts. The Economic Policy Institute said in 2014 that wage theft costs American workers as much as $50 billion a year.

The strike comes as part of a broader push from the newly formed California Fast Food Workers Union for improved work standards as well as predictable and stable scheduling for workers.

The union, inaugurated early last month, is a unique effort that seeks to pave the way for more than half a million workers at fast-food chains across the state to bargain as a single sector as a member of California's Fast Food Council.

Problems have plagued the Pizza Hut on Temple Street since a new store manager took over about six months ago. Franchise owner Southern California Pizza Co. announced the day before Christmas that it would be laying off delivery drivers, said workers and union representatives. Workers protested the layoffs and what they describe as abusive scheduling during a one-day strike on Jan. 26.

Read more: California fast-food workers form an unusual union in a bid for higher wages, better working conditions

Shwetha Ganesh, a spokesperson for the union, said when two Pizza Hut franchisees in California announced they were laying off delivery drivers and would rely on gig delivery services, analysts blamed the layoffs on the new $20 pay floor. But Pizza Hut began working with those services more than a year ago  not to save money but because management could not hire enough drivers, she said.

Three workers who walked off the job in the most recent strike Wednesday said they were intimidated by bosses to not take lunch breaks or take paid time off they were legally entitled to. Two said their hours had been cut in retaliation for speaking out about their concerns.

Store management recently hired three new employees, even though current employees aren't getting enough hours scheduled to pay their bills, workers said. The store has about a dozen workers total.

Pizza Hut workers and their supporters begin a three-day strike by marching. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

"Were on strike because we are asserting our rights. We want to get paid, and we want our old schedules back," said Kimberly Oliva, 20, who has worked as a cook at the Pizza Hut for about a year.

Oliva said she used to be scheduled about 46 hours per week; now, she gets only 16. The dramatic cut in hours has strained her wallet. She has been forced to borrow thousands of dollars from her aunt and uncle.

Oliva lives with her dad and two siblings, and helps pay for rent, food, gas, clothing and car insurance as well as sending money regularly to her mom in Guatemala.

Oliva said the loss of income and antagonistic attitude from the store manager have taken a toll. Last week, when Oliva asked for time off because her grandma had died, her manager shut her down, threatening to lay her off, she said.

"I'm very worried, I'm sick, I'm stressed. My nerves are really tense to the point where I have eye problems," she said. "I have never felt so sick."

Read more: California Pizza Hut franchises to lay off more than 1,100 delivery drivers ahead of wage hike

Julieta Garcia, a cook at the Pizza Hut who participated in the protest, said in her statement to the labor commissioner's office that she had to miss work Dec. 3 and 4 after going to the emergency room for a muscular lesion, and requested paid sick time. But a shift manager told her the store manager said paid sick time was not yet available to Garcia.

Garcia said in her written statement that she realized she had been lied to when she spoke with organizers with the California Fast Food Workers Union who told her she is legally entitled to paid sick time after being employed for 90 days; at that point she had been working at Pizza Hut for some seven months.

Garcia said in an interview that stress at work and heavier workloads have aggravated her health issues. She had to visit the emergency room again in February because she was experiencing severe headaches, and she was once again denied paid sick time. In addition to her responsibilities as a cook, she is now also expected to sweep, mop and wash dishes  all duties that delivery drivers used to take care of, she said.

I feel stress, I feel headaches, I get migraines  I need my paid time off, Garcia said.

Ganesh, the union spokesperson, said problems Garcia and other Pizza Hut workers are facing are widespread in the fast-food industry. Ganesh pointed to a report published by the union on Wednesday finding that 88% of California fast-food workers do not know their rights on the job and broadly lack information about essential benefits and programs.

The report, co-authored by the Step Forward Foundation, an immigrant advocacy group providing free legal services, also found that 73% of California fast-food workers do not know how much additional pay they are entitled to if they are forced to work through a meal break or rest breaks.

The union has called on local officials in Los Angeles and San Jose to draft and approve "fast-food fair work ordinances" securing paid time off provisions, predictive scheduling tools and mandatory know your rights training for workers.

Daniela Soto, a shift manager at the Pizza Hut who opened the store Wednesday morning, was working when workers and Service Employees International Union organizers gathered outside for a noon protest.

Soto hadn't originally planned to participate in the strike, but she closed the store to show solidarity and joined the protest. Staff from a nearby Pizza Hut location arrived about 30 minutes later to reopen the store, she said.

"I am upset about what they did to the drivers," Soto said. "I got involved in the strike because Im seeing a lot of unfairness there."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Last month was the planets hottest February on record, marking the ninth month in a row that global records tumbled, according to new data from Copernicus, the European Unions climate monitoring service.

February was 1.77 degrees Celsius warmer than the average February in pre-industrial times, Copernicus found, and it capped off the hottest 12-month period in recorded history, at 1.56 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

Its yet another grim climate change milestone, as the long-term impacts of human-caused global warming are given a boost by El Nino, a natural climate fluctuation.

February joins the long streak of records of the last few months. As remarkable as this might appear, it is not really surprising as the continuous warming of the climate system inevitably leads to new temperature extremes, Carlo Buontempo, director of Copernicus, said in a statement.

Even in the context of back-to-back months of unprecedented temperatures, February has been extreme.

Global temperatures in the first half of the month in particular were exceptionally high, according to the analysis. Four consecutive days, from February 8 to 11, were 2 degrees warmer than those same days pre-industrial times.

Restricting global heating to well below 2 degrees was a centerpiece of the Paris Agreement that almost every country signed up to in 2015. While scientists are much more concerned with longer-term warming, these temporary breaches are a clear and alarming sign of accelerating heating.

Global ocean temperatures were also off the charts last month, hitting 21.06 degrees  the highest average for any month on record, according to the Copernicus data, beating the previous record of 20.98 degrees set in August 2023.

Experts have expressed shock at just how hot the oceans have been, especially the North Atlantic, which has set a new daily temperature record every day since March 5 last year, according to Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School.

At times, the records have been broken by margins that are virtually statistically impossible, McNoldy told CNN.

Record ocean heat has significant global impacts. Not only is it dangerous for marine life but it also fuels extreme weather, including scorching heat waves, intense rainfall and ferocious hurricanes.

The Copernicus data tells a familiar story of warming temperatures and shifting patterns of weather, said Hannah Cloke, a climate scientist and professor at the University of Reading in the UK. It is entirely consistent with what scientists have predicted would happen as greenhouse gases continue to build up in our thin, life-giving atmosphere, she told CNN.

It provides yet more evidence that the world needs to reduce emissions drastically and immediately, Cloke said.

If this evidence is ignored, Cloke added, our childrens generation, and all those that follow, will be justified in pointing to the people who lived in 2024 and cursing our reckless stupidity.

CNNs Derek Van Dam contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
KORZENIEWO, Poland  Polands president says the government stands ready to defend Lithuanian territory in the eventuality of an attack, following comments made by Lithuanias prime minister implying Polish laws may prevent it from protecting the Baltic state.

The presidents of Poland and Lithuania made a surprise appearance here on the last day of a waterway crossing at the Vistula River, which took place as part of the Polish-led Dragon exercise. Both countries soldiers were involved in the training.

Today, I am talking about collective defense. We are ready, and rest assured that Lithuania can count on us if there was such a need, [that] Polish troops would stand shoulder to shoulder with Lithuanian forces to defend every inch of territory against an enemy attack, Polish President Andrzej Duda told his Lithuanian counterpart during a news conference. And that means not only Polish territory but also Lithuanian and the territory of the other Baltic states, if necessary.

Dudas reassurances were made amid a broader debate that erupted in Lithuania in recent days, following a cryptic statement made by Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte. In an interview with a local television program, the prime minister said she had knowledge of existing legal restrictions in Poland that do not provide for the obligation to deploy troops abroad even during a war, which would also apply if Lithuania came under attack.

She did not clarify which specific legal acts or limitations this was in reference to.

According to the state-run media organization LRT, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called Simonytes words a misunderstanding.

Lithuania and Poland share the same understanding of security threats, and we will continue to work together to strengthen the security of our countries and the entire NATO eastern flank, Nauseda told reporters during the March 5 news conference here.

During the Vilnius Security Forum held Feb. 23, Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, a former commander of U.S. Army Europe, reminded attendees that NATOs Article 5 says an attack on a member state is considered an attack on the alliance, but that each allied country should also be ready to defend itself.

Several European nations are concerned that Russias ambitions will spread beyond Ukraine, upon which Moscow launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Among the organizations that took part in the Polish leg of the exercise was NATOs Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, whose lead is being assumed by the U.K. this year.

In an interview with Defense News, Brig. Gen. Guy Foden, commander of the force, said very high readiness entails that troops are ready to deploy within [a matter] of days, but depending on where youre going it can take shorter or longer periods of time.
SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah (ABC4)  Two men were charged Tuesday after allegedly breaking into a Salt Lake County home with a shotgun and machete.

Christopher Devon Jackson, 35, of South Salt Lake, was charged with burglary of a dwelling, a second-degree felony; purchase, transfer, possession, or use of a firearm by a restricted person, a second-degree felony; and possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor.

Sim Elijah Vavao, 30, of Salt Lake City, was charged with burglary of a dwelling, a second-degree felony; and purchase, transfer, possession, or use of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a third-degree felony.

2024 Super Tuesday results: Utahns vote as expected after rocky caucus process

In January 2021, officers with the Unified Police Department responded to reports of a Salt Lake County home burglary. When the officers arrived at the scene, they said they could see a man inside and demanded the two suspects come out with their hands up, charging documents state.

Officers identified the men as Jackson and Vavao and detained them.

The residents were reportedly home at the time of the burglary. They told police the day before Jackson had come over and accused one of them of taking his money, charging documents state. Jackson then allegedly threatened to light her on fire.

On the day of the incident, police said Jackson and Vavao knocked on the back door of the home. The residents allegedly shut the blinds and told the men to leave, but Jackson broke the window and the suspects walked inside, charging documents state.

Police said Jackson was carrying a shotgun and Vavao had a machete.

Jackson reportedly demanded the woman give him money. The woman said she told the men to leave, which is when officers arrived and detained the pair, charging documents state.

Upon talking to officers, Jackson allegedly said he came to the house with the intention of getting his money back.

Officers said they took possession of the weapons and the meth found with Jackson.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Opinion articles written in the style of their author. These texts are to be based on verified facts and must be respectful towards people, even though their actions may be criticized. All opinion articles written by individuals from outside the staff of EL PAIS shall feature, along with the authors name (regardless of their greater or lesser renown), a footer stating their office, academic title, political affiliation (if any) and main occupation, or the occupation related to the topic being assessed

From the desert landscape of Australias deep south, to the green, remote rural Ireland, Elliot and Helens long journey, in which they hope that the amnesiac protagonist recovers his memory, is the basis for the six episodes of the second season of The Tourist.

Rarely has Mies Van der Rohes motto of less is more found a better interpretation than in the two seasons of Elliot and Helens adventures and misadventures. A minimal Ireland with scattered houses and farms reveals more violence than one would imagine in such places.

This superb series, created by Harry and Jack Williams and available on Netflix, transcends the two essential components, violence and beer, framing them in the story of a deadly rivalry between two families, a hatred that spans two generations and in which Elliot becomes involved shortly after returning to his native Ireland. Someone had suggested in Australia that perhaps returning to his home country would help him regain his lost memory, as well as escape the cruel Billy Nixon (Olafur Darri Olafsson), whose pursuit, as he suspects, is a settling of scores from his past as a mobster.

The action also includes a few hints of Greek tragedy and 19th-century melodrama that, however, are not excessive and flow with a certain logic. To this we should add a series of colorful secondary characters, like the local psychopathic police officer, Elliots mother and the matriarch of the clan, or the patriarch of the rival family, characters that allow us to distance ourselves from the hero and the lady, portrayed by a couple of excellent actors in a little-known Ireland, where the viewer can confirm that unleashed passions are universal.

Worlds apart from Furies, the French series created by Jean-Yves Arnaud and Yoann Legave (Netflix) in which violence is constant and the plot that tries to justify it is banal. It proposes an immersion in a hypothetical Parisian underworld where two tough ladies roam, giving and receiving incredible beatings. It is unclear whether this preponderance of female roles is the result of a misunderstood Me Too, or the frivolity of a few screenwriters who only aspire to epater la bourgeoisie.
Police are asking for the public's help to identify a man they say has been repeatedly damaging wildfire-detection equipment in open spaces in Irvine.

Irvine police on Wednesday released images on Facebook and Instagram showing a man who they said tampered with the fire detection devices on at least two different occasions.

"These devices are critical to keeping our community safe," the statement read.

A man who allegedly has damaged wildfire-detecting equipment is sought by Irvine police. (Irvine police)

Police did not specify when the devices were tampered with but said the fire detection equipment had been damaged and disabled.

The man seen in the images is wearing cargo shorts; in one he rides a black bicycle.

The motive for his alleged actions are unclear. Based on his clothing, he's a fan of nature: In one of the images, he wears a white shirt with a bear and text that reads, "national parks."

Police are asking anyone with information about the individual to contact police at ipdpio@cityofirvine.org.

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A Rome landlord was arrested for stalking after police say he harassed her and contacted her approximately 175 times between January and February this year.

On March 4, a Floyd County police officer responded to Sunny Heights Drive about a report from a tenant who said her landlord put a lock on her water meter, preventing her from having water in her home for seven days.

The officer spoke with the victim, who said her landlord, James Robert Roach, 64, had intentionally cut her water off and had called and left her numerous voicemails to the point where she blocked him on Feb. 27.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

She told the officer that Roach was stalking her and had more than a professional interest in her.

She said Roach would watch her home from his property and once followed her best friend who came to visit her.

She said she believed he followed her female best friend because he thought the person visiting might have been a man.

She told police she believed Roach was interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with her.

The victim allowed the officer to listen to her voicemails.

There were approximately 175 voicemails from Roach on her phone.

On Feb. 27, the day she blocked him, Roach left 21 voicemails to her.

The officer said when he listened to the voicemails, it became apparent that Roach was pursuing a relationship with her.

The officer asked the woman if she had ever been in a relationship with Roach and she said she had not.

She told the officer that she did tell Roach that she loved and cared for him as a friend, but was adamant that she was never involved with him in an intimate relationship.

TRENDING STORIES:

The officer notified the water department about the lock on the womans water meter.

The water department said Roachs water was cut off on Feb. 27 for lack of payment.

The water department sent an employee out to inspect the lock to determine if it belonged to them or not.

Police secured a warrant for stalking for Roach, which is a misdemeanor charge.

He was arrested by the Floyd County Sheriffs Office on March 4.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
The Metropolitan Police is appealing for help in finding a wanted man believed to be hiding in west London.

The force said Jake Muir of Feltham is wanted after having been recalled to prison, and he is thought to be in the Feltham or Hanworth areas.

The 27-year-old is also wanted for alleged possession of an offensive weapon and theft of a motor vehicle.

The Met has described him as "dangerous", and is warning the public that he should not be approached.

Muir is about 6ft 3ins (1.9m) tall, with black hair, a bushy beard and a tattoo on his right arm which says "Freedom", the Met said.

"He is believed to be more dishevelled than he appears in the photo with longer hair and an unkempt beard," a Met spokesperson said.

The force is urging anyone with information to contact them.

Anyone who spots Muir is asked to call 999 immediately, the spokesperson said.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk
Investigators on Thursday identified the victims of a murder-suicide who were found in a room at a popular hotel in Boston in late February.

Officers responding to the Moxy Boston Downtown at 240 Tremont Street in the Theater District shortly before 12:30 p.m. on February 26 found a woman and man suffering from gunshot wounds, according to the Boston Police Department.

Aanya Vinay, 25, of Brookline, and Keith Ashby, 43, of Boston, were both pronounced dead in a room on the 13th floor, where a hotel worker found their bodies.

Police said an investigation into their deaths revealed that Ashby fatally shot Vinay before turning the gun on himself. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Vinays death a homicide and Ashbys death a suicide.

According to the Sex Offender Registry Board, Ashby was registered as a Level 3 offender at the time of his death after being convicted of three counts of aggravated rape, kidnapping, and assault while in possession of a machine gun in 2007.

In that case, Ashbys ex-girlfriend told police about the brutal attacks and how he threatened, Im going to kill you if you dont stay with me. Police also found an AK-47 and dozens of rounds of ammunition in his apartment, court documents showed.

The victim told police that they started having problems but Ashby would not move out of her apartment.

Ashby told her she had a choice to make and if she had the wrong choice he would kill her, the documents showed. At one point, Ashby is said to have fired his weapon when the victim tried to grab the barrel of the gun.

Ashby had his finger on (sic) the trigger when the Victim grabbed the gun, and a volley of gunfire erupted, the report stated.

Ashby was sentenced to 15 years for that crime and was then registered as a sex offender. Most recently, his address was 39 Boylston Street in Boston, the St. Francis House homeless shelter. Although his other address was where Vinay lived at an apartment in Brookline.

Court documents indicated that Vinay had also posted bail for Ashby in the past.

Boston police reminded the public that emotional support resources like the Boston Neighborhood Trauma Team are available 24/7.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) On Wednesday around 6:25 p.m., officers are searching for a man who they say committed a robbery at American 1 Credit Union in Jackson on E. Michigan Ave.

Officials say the suspect entered the credit union and gave a note that ordered the teller to turn over the money to him. The suspect then showed the teller his gun that was in his waistband.

Jackson County Police Department

Officials also say the suspect has not been identified but can be seen clearly in the photo above. The suspect is believed to have worn a wig and had fake facial hair.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Anyone with information about the identity of the suspect or anyone involved can contact Thomas Tinklepaugh at (517) 768-8637 or may report information anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (855) 840-7867.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.
UINTAH COUNTY, Utah (ABC4)  The Uintah County Sheriffs Office is seeking help from the public in the search for a missing or runaway 16-year-old who was last seen on Feb. 27.

Ashbey Eckinger was last seen around 8:30 p.m. near Jensen, Utah, on Feb. 27, 2024, according to a post from March 6 on the Sheriffs Office Facebook page. She was discovered missing the next morning, on February 28.

Officials are looking for 16-year-old Ashbey Eckinger. She is said to be about 57 tall, weigh around 150 pounds and have brown hair and brown eyes. However, officials said she may have dyed her hair black. (Courtesy Uintah County Sheriffs Office)

Officials are looking for 16-year-old Ashbey Eckinger. She is said to be about 57 tall, weigh around 150 pounds and have brown hair and brown eyes. However, officials said she may have dyed her hair black. (Courtesy Uintah County Sheriffs Office)

LEARN MORE: What should you do if someone goes missing?

Ashbey is said to be about 57 tall, weigh around 150 pounds and have brown hair and brown eyes. However, officials said she may have dyed her hair black.

Ashbey has ties to Colorado, Texas, and South Carolina, officials wrote on social media. She was also interested in reuniting with her mother whom she believed to be in Mexico.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Uintah County Sheriffs Office at 435-789-2511 or call Central Dispatch at 435-789-4222.

What to do when speaking to law enforcement

More than 600,000 people go missing each year in the United States, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

Here are some suggestions to keep in mind if someone you know goes missing.

Utah officials suggest taking notes on interactions with law enforcement to keep track of details such as officer names, dates and times of interactions, the case number and what the officers say.

When working with local law enforcement to report a missing person, it is recommended one shares as much information as possible about the missing person, including but not limited to:

Full name or nicknames.

Recent photos.

Date of birth and age at the time they disappeared.

Gender/sex.

Detailed physical description (including unique scars or tattoos).

Date of disappearance.

Medical conditions.

Last known location.

Social media accounts.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Boston police officers and Massachusetts State Police troopers made dozens of arrests during a protest that shut down traffic in Dewey Square near South Station on Thursday morning.

Jewish protestors and allies rallied to perform disruptive civil disobedience in the area of Summer Street and Atlantic Avenue, demanding that President Biden use his power to ensure a lasting ceasefire in Gaza and end the unconditional military aid to Israel.

As long as Biden lends support to genocide, they will say, his administration will be unable to make its message heard or pursue other governing priorities, the group If Not Now said in a statement. On the morning of the State of the Union address, President Biden must hear that voters will not be pacified with meager humanitarian aid, temporary pauses in fighting, and equivocation. We demand an end to the flow of tax dollars for genocide. We demand a lasting ceasefire now.

Video captured by a Boston 25 News photographer showed law enforcement officers placing a number of the protesters in handcuffs and escorting them away from the area.

In a post on X shortly before 9 a.m., officials wrote, Boston Police have made several arrests after todays protest. Traffic has reopened.

The names of those who were arrested werent immediately available and it wasnt clear if theyll face charges.

After the protest was dismantled, IfNotNow claimed that more than 50 of the 300 protesters who took part in the demonstration had been taken into custody.

The protesters were spotted holding large banners that said, Biden: Lasting Ceasefire Now and Our Safety is Intertwined: No Money for Gaza Massacre, among other messages.

The action caused massive gridlock for an hour in one of Bostons most congested transportation hubs, where Atlantic Avenue, Summer Street, Federal Street, Purchase Street, and the JFK Surface Road intersect with the Central Artery and connect to MBTA train lines and interstate bus and train routes.

IfNotNow said protesters handed out flyers to commuters that linked to an open letter explaining their decision to block traffic.

In that press release, IfNotNow member Dalya Lessem Elnecave stated, We are blocking traffic because we are livid. Its been five months since October 7, Israels massacre is ongoing and over 130 hostages are still held in Gaza. That Biden has not called for a lasting ceasefire with a hostage exchange deal to end this massacre is outrageous.

Fellow IfNotNow member Nathan Foster added, We know this protest is inconveniencing a lot of people, but the situation is far beyond the level of polite letter-writing or leaving voicemails for our senators. Biden will be unable to make his message heard or pursue other governing priorities during a genocide paid for with our tax dollars and perpetrated with American weapons.

IfNotNow said similar protests were planned for other parts of the country.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Police in Haiti have been subject to repeated attacks since unrest broke out last week. (clarens SIFFROY)

Haiti's main port was forced to close Thursday as chaotic gang violence engulfed the Caribbean nation and the United States told the absent Haitian prime minister to enact "urgent" political reform.

The Haiti government extended a state of emergency by one month in the west of the country, which includes the capital, as prisoners sprung from two jails earlier in the week swelled the ranks of gangs enforcing their control of much of the nation.

Caribbean Port Services, the sole operator of the port in Haiti's capital city Port-au-Prince, cited "malicious acts of sabotage and vandalism" as it announced the decision to suspend all services.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry to ask for an "urgent" political transition, said a US official.

Blinken spoke with Henry about "the urgent need to accelerate transition to a broader, more inclusive government today," said Brian Nichols, the top US diplomat for the Western hemisphere.

Blinken pressed on "the need for a more inclusive government that includes many more political forces and has the breadth to take the country through the electoral period," Nichols said at the Council of the Americas trade group.

Gangs again targeted police late Wednesday by setting fire to a headquarters in Bas-Peu-de-Chose, a neighborhood in the capital. Officers escaped before the attack, which also destroyed several police vehicles, according to Haiti's police union Synapoha.

- No elections, no president -

The criminal groups went on the offensive last week while Prime Minister Henry traveled abroad, beginning with an assault on two prisons that allowed the majority of inmates to escape.

Synapoha said that 10 police stations have been destroyed, and at least 15,000 people are estimated to have fled the worst-hit parts of Port-au-Prince.

The UN Security Council met in New York on Wednesday to discuss the "critical" situation.

Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier, an influential gang leader in Haiti, has warned of civil war and mass bloodshed unless Henry resigns.

As well as the state of emergency, the capital is under a nighttime curfew to try to foster peace, but the gangs are often better armed than the security forces.

In power since the 2021 assassination of president Jovenel Moise, Henry was due to leave office in February but instead agreed to a power-sharing deal with the opposition until new elections are held.

When the latest unrest broke out, Henry was in Kenya to negotiate a UN-backed multinational police mission to stabilize his country.

He has not commented on the surge in unrest and was last confirmed to be in the US territory of Puerto Rico as gang violence at Haiti's main airport made his return risky.

United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said Wednesday the violence was "beyond untenable" with 1,193 people killed countrywide this year by gangs.

The United States urged Henry to hold fair elections, but added it was not calling on him to resign -- a key demand of Haiti's gangs.

Nichols called for greater assistance from the world.

"We've got to do more urgently. The crisis in Haiti has the humanitarian proportions that demand a global response, the way the international community is responding to the challenges in Ukraine or in Gaza," he said.

Haiti, the Western hemisphere's poorest nation, has been in turmoil for years, and Moise's assassination plunged the country further into chaos.

No elections have taken place since 2016 and the presidency remains vacant.

str-gma/bjt/bgs/tjj/caw
President Joe Biden has been victorious in the primary elections across the country  including Utah  but his approval rating continues to languish at record lows.

Only 38% of Americans approve of his job performance, according to Gallup, a low not seen since President Jimmy Carter was in office. Voters are frustrated with his handling of immigration, and theyre worried about his age and fitness for office.

He also has received some blowback at the ballot box, particularly from Arab Americans and progressives who are angry at his handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Biden lost more than 13%, or 88,000, of the vote to uncommitted voters in Michigan, while more than 168,000 voters in Massachusetts, Minnesota, Colorado, Alabama, Tennessee and Iowa also marked no presence or uncommitted on their ballot.

Still, after Super Tuesday, its clear Biden will be the Democratic nominee and former President Donald Trump the Republican nominee, even though most Americans dont want a Biden-Trump rematch.

But the question is, if, for some reason, Biden were to step aside in favor of a different Democratic candidate, is there an obvious second choice? In the latest Harris X/Deseret News national poll, voters responded to a hypothetical question  if Biden doesnt run again, who would they pick instead?

Former first lady Michelle Obama was one of the top choices in the survey, with 13% support across the board, and 19% among Democrats.

The poll was conducted Feb. 26-27 among 1,007 registered voters, with a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points. The sample of self-described Democrat voters was 339.

Graphic-After Biden1

But Obama has, time and again, said she doesnt have an interest in running for the White House.

The former first ladys office recently told NBC News she will not be running for president, and will support Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris re-election campaign.

Sources said while she plans to aid the Biden campaign, Obama isnt interested in returning to political life full time.

Ive never expressed any interest in politics. Ever, she admitted in her Netflix documentary, The Light We Carry: Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey.

I mean, I agreed to support my husband. He wanted to do it, and he was great at it. But at no point have I ever said, I think I want to run. Ever, she said.

Politics is hard, the former first lady added. Its just like marriage, its just like kids  youve got to want it. Its got to be in your soul because it is so important.

As Mackey Smith, a political strategist with consulting group Sugarhouse Strategies, said, Americans who hope Obama will jump in the race is reminiscent of Republicans looking to find the next iteration of President Ronald Reagan. For Democrats, she taps into a sense of nostalgia for the Obama presidency, he added.

While garnering the same percentage of support among all voters as Obama, Harris performed better among Democrats with 21%. But its tough to overlook her approval ratings, which have been steadily declining since she took office, partly because she was made the face of the thorny southern border issue.

House Speaker Emerita Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., defended Harris in a September appearance on CNN, saying she doesnt think people give her enough credit.

People say to me, Why isnt she doing this or that? I say because she is the vice president, thats the job description. You dont do that much, Pelosi said.

In recent months, Harris has ramped up efforts to engage with the Biden reelection campaign, stepping into the spotlight and saying she is ready to serve, while brushing off concerns about the presidents age.

But even though she earns the highest support from Democrats in the HarrisX/Deseret News poll, Smith said for a Democratic nominee replacement, the party bosses might skip her due to her low favorability numbers.

To him, the only other politician the party could potentially bypass (Harris) for would be Gavin Newsom. Smith noted Newsoms dress rehearsal version of a presidential campaign with his appearances on Fox News  including a televised debate with former Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida  and international trips to China and Israel. He hit the campaign trail for Biden, traveling to South Carolina and Nevada in January.

In 2022, the California governor rented out billboards in red states to call out conservative policies on guns and abortion, which fueled his budding national name recognition. At the same time, he denies any intention of running for president in 2024.

Hes basically saying, If (Biden) cant go, Im in the wings ready and able to jump in, said Smith.

Newsom is also trying to reposition his brand to become the voice of common sense, stepping away from progressivism, Smith said, adding, Anyone in California knows that Newsom is a true liberal. But I think hes going to try to market himself to the Midwest ... to win.

Now, you cant have Kamala and Gavin on the ticket together, he said. One of them would have to change their residency because the Constitution doesnt allow the president and vice president to be from the same state.

He added he doesnt see either of them leaving California, nor does he see Democrats embracing a Harris-Newsom ticket for their 2024 playbook.

Plus, by kicking Kamala to the curb, Democrats would be abandoning the strategy that won them the White House four years ago, referring to the higher voter turnout among African American and women voters.

The political consultant doesnt see former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton coming back either, because I dont think the party bosses would want to risk losing.

With 8% support from Democratic voters and 6% from all voters, Clinton is still relevant.

She retreated away from political life, busying herself with writing projects and the Clinton Foundation, following her defeat to Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

Theres a wing of people who feel like she should have won, said Smith. But, its not the rank-and-file feeling anymore.

New York Magazine recently reported Clintons comeback to politics. She isnt involved in any policymaking but is actively coalescing friends and political allies around the Biden-Harris ticket. She has also evolved to become a mentor to Harris. Working mostly behind the scenes for now, Clinton hasnt shown an interest in taking on a leading role in the campaign or running for the White House.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., garnered numbers identical to Clinton. He, too, like many others on this list, has been crystal clear about not running for president again. But he is contemplating running for reelection to the Senate.

At 82, he is the second oldest senator in office, but he still manages to command a room, and even scold his colleagues when necessary, as seen during a November hearing when he yelled at two senators engaged in a confrontation to respect the decorum of the Senate.

Sanders has ruled out a third-party run, consistently throwing all his support behind Biden. He even offered Biden, his one-time rival for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, some advice, like focusing on the economy and big pharma  issues that he believes deeply resonate with Americans.

Only 3% of all voters and 4% of Democrats backed Rep. Dean Phillips, who failed to win a primary contest against Biden and dropped out of the presidential race on Wednesday morning, a day after Super Tuesday primaries.

Leading up to the primary, Phillips had been largely ignored by the Democratic Party. Smith said they took a page out of what the Republicans did in 2020, where Trump didnt face competition for the Republican nomination and kept his eyes laser focused on the general election.

If Biden were to clear out, the fact that Dean Phillips has been in the race the longest wouldnt help him at all, especially since he polled in single digits, said Smith.

Democrats in the survey also threw single-digit support behind Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, 5%; Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, 4%; Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, 3%; Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, 3%; Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, 3%; Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, 2%; Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, 2%; and Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, 2%.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore received less than 1%. Roughly 35% of all voters and 13% of Democrats responded they didnt know who should be the nominee if Biden bowed out, while 2% of all voters said someone else.
Poor Things has now arrived on Disney+ in the UK ahead of the Oscars where it is nominated for 11 awards.

Yorgos Lanthimos' critically-acclaimed movie starring Emma Stone is available to watch right now for all Disney+ subscribers.

If you're not a subscriber, you can even take advantage of a limited-time deal. Disney is offering new and eligible returning customers a three-month subscription for the lower price of 1.99 per month.

The deal, which is running until March 14, is for the Disney+ Standard with Ads plan which usually costs 4.99 per month.

If you're in the US, Poor Things is available to watch now on Hulu for all subscribers.

Searchlight Pictures/Yorgos Lanthimos

Sign up for Disney+

An adaptation of the book of the same name by Alasdair Gray, Poor Things stars Stone as protagonist Bella Baxter, a young woman saved by scientist Godwin 'God' Baxter (Willem Dafoe) after she jumps off a bridge.

God replaces Bella's brain with that of her unborn child, leading to a unique rebirth for the protagonist, now hungry for adventures, Portugal's pasteis de nata, and sexual experiences.

Speaking with Digital Spy about taking the role of Bella, Stone (who also serves as producer) explained how the character has had a profound impact on her.

"There really is something that does happen with certain characters where you do find  I can be a little more forthright since playing Bella because she doesn't really understand why she shouldn't be able to say what it is she needs or thinks," the actress said.

"Maybe that's also just getting older, but there's something so inspiring about how every moment is fascinating to her, and the good and the bad hold equal weight."

Searchlight Pictures/Astushi Nishijima

Related: Emma Stone gives promising update on Cruella 2

Poor Things has racked up several accolades since it premiered at Venice International Film Festival (where it won the Golden Lion) last September, including two Golden Globes and one Critics' Choice Movie Award to Stone.

Up for 11 categories at the upcoming Academy Awards, Lanthimos' film also stars Ramy Youssef, Mark Ruffalo, Jerrod Carmichael and Christopher Abbott.

Poor Things is available to watch on Disney+ in the UK and on Hulu in the US.

You Might Also Like
August 14 will mark 30 years since Elias Canettis death ((1905-1994) and the embargo on his confidential papers at Zentralbibliothek in Zurich will be lifted. After an initial purge by Canetti, he kept 30 boxes of letters and diaries from October 21, 1941, to December 30, 1986. What new insights will these personal documents offer?

Canetti, who wrote in German, made a distinction between notes (Aufzeichnungen), diary notes (Merkbucher) and diaries (Tagenbucher). Keeping a diary enabled him to have unfiltered conversations with an imaginary  and often harsh  inner self. He believed that to understand the darkest aspects of humanity, one should not fabricate flattering stories about oneself: How dare you write such nonsense about yourself just because it feels good? In his diaries, he penned all the conversations that could never happen in real life due to their potentially explosive nature  the raw, disrespectful words that we often hold back.

Conversely, intense self-reproach for wrongs committed by others can reveal ones true character. Regardless of private thoughts, the actions one takes are the most crucial thing. Do away with the arrogance  youre not that interesting, he would say. Will you publish them? Canetti was asked in 1965. No, no, they are secret, very secret... A diary that is not a secret is not a diary. But he left the door open. When I am old and wise, I will decide whether I will make it all disappear, or whether I will hide it in a secret place where it may be discovered by chance in some innocuous future.

The time has come, and he didnt make it all disappear. The place wasnt secret either. Nor was his writing as deep as he wanted people to think. Its a simple shorthand thats easily understood. Canettis biographer, Sven Hanuschek, is among the few whove seen his personal archives. Of course, he says, in his unpublished diaries there will be much more gossip and many more notes about personal and marital crises, such as his first wifes suicidal delusions. Canetti called her a co-dependent terror who would often berate him for being lazy and inept  Youre no artist. This was a young woman with a terminal illness, angry at the whole world, and obsessed with death.

A handwritten page from Elias Canetti's personal archives. Zentralbibliothek Zurich

Hanuschek noted that Canettis archives show a clear intention (especially after his second marriage) to write a human comedy about lunatics  eight novels in all. He only wrote one, Auto-da-Fe. Another planned novel was The Enemy of Death, about madman who would be struck and killed by a meteorite at the end. Canetti adopted the characters stance over the years and never wrote the novel because the enemy of death was not allowed to die, even in fiction.

The lifting of the embargo will reveal, according to Hanuschek, other very interesting aspects of Canettis legacy, such as deleted passages from autobiographical books. Not because they were bad  he just wanted to protect the people mentioned in them. The Canetti Foundation is planning to publish new editions that include the deleted passages. The first book is set for release this autumn, followed by an annual release of one book each year commencing in 2025.

The first re-release will be The Tongue Set Free, which Hanuschek says will be dramatically different. It will tell how the book came about and include Canettis initial attempts. His childhood narrative will start earlier, delving into family history with new episodes, such as his great-grandfathers dramatic life. Another book, The Voices of Marrakesh, will include several deleted chapters about Canettis friend, Aymer Maxwell, the film producer who invited him to travel around Morocco with a film crew. The libretto for Die Affen-oper (The Monkey Opera, in English) will also be published for the first time. Its a follow-up to Kafkas short story, A Report to an Academy, and is about the power of the masses and how populist authoritarians seduce their people, the blindness of their followers, and the manipulations of capital. In this work, a trained circus monkey absconds with two suitcases full of stolen money. Disguised as a human, he freely hands out the money to the people he meets and a new Messiah is born.

Elias Canetti reads from 'The Comedy of Vanity' in the Swiss canton of Ticino; 1935.

You have to read a poet, not know him, said Canetti. Advice he didnt heed, as he chose to fictionalize his own life and craft a morally superior literary persona. The authors reputation took a hit in 2003 with the publication of his London diaries, which were inexplicably omitted from the embargo. Canetti, the guardian of metamorphoses and herald of arts capacity to transform us and experience empathy, revealed himself to be a jealous, cruel and resentful manipulator. It was an image corroborated in biographies and in the correspondence of his wife, Veza, his lovers (Marie-Luise von Motesiczky, Frieda Benedikt) and, above all, Iris Murdoch. Biographer Peter Conradi linked Canetti to several Murdoch characters: Mischa Fox (The Flight from the Enchanter), Julius King (A Fairly Honorable Defeat) and Charles Arrowby (The Sea, the Sea). Conradi described Canetti as a venomous, hate-filled dwarf who insulted everyone, and a fame-hungry satyr with power over countless women.

Still, Hanuschek defends the private Canetti. In his unpublished notes, he frequently critiques himself, struggles with his behavior, and must reconcile with himself in solitude. From this viewpoint, Canettis bilious diary from England, penned when he was a jobless migrant feeling humiliated and ignored by a classist society, holds special significance. Its a memoir that Canetti never published. In fact, he burned it and later attempted to reconstruct it from his shorthand notes. The chapter on Iris Murdoch resembles diary entries. When something bothers him, he writes it down to release the anger. Its not about justice, but about releasing emotions, so those writings cant be viewed as his true opinions of others.

There is no misogyny in Canettis unpublished notes, says Hanuschek. In his antisemitic and misogynistic book Sex and Character [1903], Otto Weininger portrayed women as inferior beings, morally and mentally degenerate, flawed and good for nothing. In Auto-da-Fe, Canetti humorously mocks Weiningers degrading portrayal of women, depicting a mad housekeeper as a caricature of this monstrous image. Canetti himself, though easily offended, was not misogynistic. He even supported women authors, like his wife Veza, with whom he worked closely before her depression forced her to stop writing. When a literature scholar uncovered Veza Canetti as the author behind her pseudonyms, Canetti chose not to disclose this information so her work could stand on its own merits. As an old man, Canetti was content with this arrangement, showing no hint of insincerity in his notes on the matter.
FILE - Pope Francis holds his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, on March 6, 2024. Pope Francis sought Thursday to encourage his child protection board to continue helping victims, as new developments underscored that the Catholic Churchs clergy sex abuse scandal isnt going away anytime soon. At the Vatican, Francis met with his Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which is expected to soon release the the first-ever audit of safeguarding procedures and policies church-wide. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

ROME (AP)  Pope Francis sought to encourage his child protection board on Thursday to continue helping victims, as new developments outside the Vatican underscored that the Catholic Churchs clergy sex abuse scandal isnt going away anytime soon.

Francis met with his Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which is expected to soon release the first-ever audit of safeguarding procedures and policies church-wide.

But as that report is being compiled, church officials in Switzerland reported a surge in victims coming forward since the September publication of a bombshell report that found over 1,000 cases of abuse since the mid-20th century in a country with a relatively small Catholic population.

The diocese in northwestern Basel, for example, reported that more than half of the suspected 183 cases in the last 13 years emerged in the last six months. Swiss news agency SDA-Keystone reported at least 70 other cases across four other dioceses since the report was issued.

Closer to home, a criminal court in Sicily handed down an important verdict this week against a priest whom the Vatican apparently exonerated on a technicality even after one of his victims wrote to Francis, begging for him to intervene.

The case was being closely watched since Italy's Catholic hierarchy has only recently and reluctantly begun confronting its legacy of abuse in a country where the issue is still somewhat taboo.

The verdict by the tribunal in Enna sentenced the priest, the Rev. Giuseppe Rugolo, to four and a half years in prison for attempted sexual violence and violence-related charges against three minors. The court also held his diocese, Piazza Armerina, Sicily, responsible for paying civil damages and legal fees, according to the sentence on Tuesday.

Piazza Armeria Bishop Rosario Gisana was caught on intercepted wiretaps confessing to having covered up for the priest. But a lawyer for the diocese, Gabriele Cantaro, stressed in a statement Thursday that the liability didn't stem from the actions of Gisana or his predecessor, but merely from the diocese's general responsibility for the actions of its priests.

According to the newspaper Domani, which covered the case closely, the Vaticans sex abuse office shelved the case on technical grounds because Rugolo was only a seminarian when the abuse occurred. The Vaticans in-house norms at the time only called for canonical sanctions against priests who abused minors, not seminarians.

Il Messaggero newspaper reported in 2021 that one of Rugolos victims wrote to Francis directly, begging him to intervene after he and his parents had spent years trying to get the church to take action against Rugolo, who was sent to a diocese in northern Italy after the accusations were raised.

Amid Italian media coverage of the case, Francis on Nov. 6 heartily praised Gisana when the bishop led a group of pilgrims to the Vatican.

This bishop is great. He was persecuted, calumnied but hes been firm, always correct, a correct man, Francis said in remarks that outraged victims' advocates.

Francis told his child protection advisers on Thursday that listening to victims was crucial to helping them heal.

In our ecclesial ministry of protecting minors, closeness to victims of abuse is no abstract concept, but a very concrete reality, comprised of listening, intervening, preventing and assisting, he said in remarks read by an aide as Francis continues to recover from the flu.

___

Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
In early November 2023, the Exxxotica Convention took over the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison, New Jersey. Its an opportunity for porn performers like Blake Blossom to interact with her fans in persona much more intimate way than from behind a computer screen.

Blossom, surrounded mostly by male fans fawning over her, told The Daily Beast that these conventions are increasingly more important as an avenue to engage with fans in an authentic way. The reason: the growing prevalence of artificial intelligence.

The AI boom is creating a minefield for adult performers. Do they embrace it or fight it? Monitor for deepfakes and react when bad actors make content without consent or compensation or accept it as part of the new reality?

I feel like I dont know enough about it and I am worried about what it means for me and my work, Blossom said.

Deepfake images are progressively getting much more sophisticated and harder to distinguish from reality. That means that for adult film actors AI could limit work opportunities in the future. Blossom said shes even concerned that consumer-driven AI alternatives could give her physical enhancements that she worries could hurt her self confidence.

A performers body is their likeness. Their likeness is their income stream. For years, protecting their image has essentially been a game of whack-a-mole. Models have been impersonated online using their image to catfish unsuspecting consumers.

Blake Blossom presents the award for the 2023 Best New Starlet during the 2023 Adult Video News Awards at Resorts World Las Vegas on January 07, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Meanwhile, there are groups even within the sex work industry that exploited performer likeness for their financial gain. Blossom and other performers who spoke to The Daily Beast said they found that the company pornhint.com made sex dolls of them without their knowledge or consent, and without any financial compensation. Blossom said she has not yet contacted them or sent a cease-and-desist, but added that her pending trademark will allow me to sue them in the future though.

Contract Disputes

Major production companies in the porn business quietly introduced contract clauses that allows them to use a performers likeness to create AI-generated content without a pre-disclosure warning. Sixteen performers told The Daily Beast that they found such clauses in their contracts. These have included major porn studios like Brazzers, Naughty America, Letsdoeit, and several others.

Porn stars and porn directors will become redundant with the advent of AI in porn, former Brazzers director Vic Lagina told The Daily Beast. From a companys standpoint, I can see it being easier, cheaper, and more streamlined to create AI porn without the liability that is a concern on traditional porn production shoots. He added that concerns about consent and about a performer not being of sound mind during production would be alleviated too.

Unfortunately, much of the time those contracts go unread. This means that performers might not even be aware of how studios can use their likeness in this way. Its really standard in our industry to sign your thing [contract] so you can get your money and go home, performer Alison Rey told The Daily Beast.

Inside the Glitchy and Horny World of AI Porn

We are not like mainstream performers who have a manager on set, she added. Most of us do not have a lawyer on retainer to send these things to get advice. It can be a little bit predatory in that way. A lot of it is filled with legal jargon that an 18- or 19-year-old just wont understand.

Performer Penny Barber echoed Reys sentiment. Barber said she found such a clause in her contracts twice.

They can have my AI rights for $2 million but theyre not going to pay me that. I dont know why I would give a company something so valuable, Barber told The Daily Beast.

However, in every instance shared with The Daily Beast, production companies removed the clause upon request. Performers asked The Daily Beast not to specify which studios they had these challenges with out of concerns of potential professional repercussions.

Lean In

While its not clear how studios would ultimately use ones image, the precedent is financially treacherous. For years, porn stars have struggled to get royalty payments for their work. Its industry standard for performers to be paid a one-time fee for a scene.

This is on top of the external pressures performers face. Major banks have closed bank accounts for performers. AI is also an easy and manipulative tool for potentially nefarious users.

In an email shared with The Daily Beast, a photo-processing company called MagicPhoto asked Rey to be an ambassador for the company. According to the email, MagicPhoto allows users to upload photos of any girl and undress them.

If Im understanding correctly, you are asking Alison to promote a service where users can create deepfakes of any girl undressed without their consent? Reys representative asked in response to the inquiry. The company spokesperson responded, Yes.

Microsoft Tweaks AI Tool After Explicit Taylor Swift Fakes

The Daily Beast reached out to the company for comment but they did not respond.

Performers otherwise have limited recourse to protect themselves from the existential threat of AI. That means that in some cases performers want to get ahead of nefarious actors who may use their content to undermine them or make them do actions they wouldnt otherwise consent to.

However, not all are AI-averse. Actress Stephanie Love told The Daily Beast that she said she has already worked with an AI company called Stripper Coin to make her into an AI model.

Its already going to happen. I feel like even posting a picture on Instagram someone can take that and make an AI [version of me] out of it now so if I can get paid ahead for it thats what I am going to do, Love told The Daily Beast.

Actress Hime Marie also shares that sentiment. At first, I was not too excited about the idea of AI. The fact basically anyone in the world could duplicate me or deep-fake a video of me saying something abhorrent is concerning, Marie told The Daily Beast.

At this point Im trying to get ahead of it, if Im not going to do it somebody else will do it, Marie said, adding the more I think about it I see it as a blessing in disguise, especially for people like me who are trying to cut back.

Ultimately, the concerns of the porn business are the same as other creative-leaning professions. AI has been a key driver behind the Writers and Screen Actors Guild strikes. But the challenges for the adult business comes alongside the a slew of other challenges including financial censorship and pre-existing stigma of sex work.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Adding to his lengthy record of prior sex crimes, 28-year-old Port Royal resident Jaquan Duvall Barnes has been charged with sex trafficking of a minor after Hardeeville police pulled him over and found an underage girl in his car. Officials say Tuesdays arrest marks the first time this specific sex trafficking charge has been applied in the region.

Receiving a local tip Tuesday about a suspect wanted for sex trafficking in Georgia, patrol officers pulled over Barnes vehicle near the U.S. 17/I-95 junction in Hardeeville around 11:30 that morning. Barnes attempted to run and climb a nearby fence, but he was pulled down and arrested, said Hardeeville Police Department spokesperson Chief Sam Woodward.

Inside the car, police found an underage girl who was acquainted with the suspect and had been reported missing from Beaufort County. They also found marijuana in Barnes pockets, charging him with simple possession.

Woodward would not give additional details on the sex trafficking allegations made against Barnes, although South Carolina law defines the felony offense as the transportation of a person for the exchange of sexual acts. When the victim is less than 18, perpetrators could be punished by up to 30 years in prison.

A search of records dating back to 2016 showed no other instances of sex trafficking of a minor in South Carolinas 14th Judicial Circuit  which includes Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties  according to Jeff Kidd, a spokesperson for the 14th Circuit Solicitors Office. The charge did not exist in state law until 2018, when a rewrite of the sex trafficking statutes added harsher penalties for cases with underage victims.

A spokesperson from the S.C. Attorney Generals Office could not be reached Thursday afternoon to verify that the charge was the first of its kind in the area.

That incident was far from Barnes first sex crime charge: In 2015, he pleaded guilty in Beaufort County court to two counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, an offense for the possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or child pornography.

And in Fulton County, GA, Barnes had previously been charged with pimping a minor and trafficking a person for sexual servitude. Both counts stem from a May 2018 incident in Sandy Springs, a city north of Atlanta: While conducting surveillance for a prostitution investigation in the area, police reportedly saw Barnes bring an underage female into a Marriott hotel.

As officers approached Barnes outside the hotel, he attempted to drive away, crashing into two patrol cars in the process. Two policemen opened fire, with one round striking Barnes in the hand. He faced a flurry of felonies after being released from the hospital  but he failed to appear at a court proceeding in September, leaving the charges pending in Fulton County court.

Barnes also reportedly shot a man twice in Conway, S.C. during a January 2018 drug deal, while he was already wanted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) for aggravated assault charges. While his charges of attempted murder and illegal weapons possession were dropped, he pleaded guilty in 2019 to armed robbery and received a prison sentence of about three years.

Judicial records from 2013 to 2015 show Barnes has nearly a dozen additional convictions in Beaufort County, primarily for theft: two counts of felony larceny, five counts of larceny from a vehicle, one for tampering with a vehicle, possession of cocaine and two burglaries, one violent and one non-violent.

Sgt. Bonifacio Perez of the Bluffton Police Department says his agency has three outstanding arrest warrants for Barnes related to fraudulent checks.

Barnes was in custody at the Jasper County Detention Center as of Thursday afternoon. He will likely be transported to the Beaufort County jail and into Georgia for his outstanding warrants, although a timeline for his extraditions was not immediately clear.

The charges brought forth Tuesday will be prosecuted by the 14th Circuit Solicitors Office.
PORTSMOUTH  Leaders of Portsmouths VFW Post 168 have expressed interest in leasing the former South Meeting House from the city for a new headquarters and club.

The VFW has offered to pay the city as much as $500,000 to bring the historic building at 280 Marcy St. up to code in exchange for a 17-year lease of the property, and its associated parking, according to a letter from Commander Josh Denton and Senior Vice Commander Jonathan Day.

The Portsmouth VFW is trying to lease the city's South Meeting House, the Marcy Street building which was formerly home to Portsmouth Public Media TV and previously the Children's Museum.

Denton, who is a city councilor, recused himself from any discussion or votes on the issue during this weeks City Council meeting.

If the VFW reaches a deal with the city, it intends to use the property in the citys South End as a meeting location, office and private club, they said in the letter. But they also want any license agreement reached with the city to allow us the opportunity to do affordable housing for veterans at the location as well, states the VFWs letter of interest to City Manager Karen Conard.

Affordable housing for vets a significant need

Portsmouth's VFW Commander Josh Denton said the organization is trying to work out a lease with the city for the former South Meeting House on Marcy Street.

In an interview Wednesday, Denton, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, said it would be amazing if the VFW were able to lease the property from the city.

That would be particularly true, Denton said, if the VFW was able to help contribute something to veterans to address the affordable housing crisis in the city.

He noted that there is currently a 40-person waiting list for veterans seeking housing from the Portsmouth Housing Authority, which provides subsidized housing in the city.

Its something Portsmouth would greatly benefit from, Denton added.

The VFW could potentially put two of three apartments on the second floor, he said.

Hes been working on the idea to do two things at once with Day, an Air Force veteran who also served in Iraq, Denton said.

He noted too that if approved the VFW would be one of several nonprofits leasing from the city, including The Players' Ring theater.

The prospect of leasing the building is super exciting, and I think the prospect of any nonprofit going there would be great, Denton said.

Portsmouth desperately needs affordable housing and being able to help just one or two veterans coming home from service would make the whole thing worthwhile, he said.

Denton acknowledged the VFW sending its letter of intent to the city marks just the start of the process.

The VFW sold its former headquarters at the corner of Deer and Bridge streets in 2018, and has been looking for a new location since. It has been unable to find a new building that works, especially with the desire to add at least a couple of veteran housing units, Denton said.

He recalled returning to Portsmouth after serving in Iraq in 2007 and having to wait tables to be able to afford housing.

It would have changed my life, if the type of veteran units the VFW is seeking to create had existed then, he said.

VFW's $500,000 proposal

The Portsmuth VFW is trying to lease the property which was origninally the South Meeting House and for years was the Portsmouth Children's Museum and then PPMTV on Marcy Street.

Denton and Day first met with Conard earlier this year about their idea, he said.

Instead of paying rent, they suggested they could write a check to the city for $500,000 from the proceeds of the sale of their former building, Denton said.

That $500,000 is the amount of improvements it would need to bring it up to code, Denton said. Its a significant amount of work.

He acknowledged the VFW might have to raise additional monies to complete the housing units as the second phase of the project.

South Meeting House won't have a bar, Denton says

The former South Meeting House site was most recently home to Portsmouth Public Media TV, which recently moved out, and before that, the Childrens Museum, which moved to Dover years ago.

Denton stressed that the VFW will not open a bar, which is called a canteen by veteran organizations, or a restaurant on site.

Theres not going to be a late night bar there, theres no sale of alcohol or food being proposed on site, he said. Were looking for a place to meet, where members can go and play pool, relax or watch a movie."

Like other private clubs in Portsmouth, he believes VFW members will be able to bring alcohol there if they want.

There will be a key card system, Denton said.

Neighborhood opposition in Portsmouth's South End

Several residents attended this weeks council meeting to raise concerns about the VFW proposal.

Manning Street resident Chris Brodeur said we want to make sure this isnt railroaded through and theres proper review and that abutters get an opportunity to speak against this.

We are in fact against this, said Brodeur, a veteran himself.

Marcy Street resident Jeff Dorow said his son served in the Army and recently spent some time in an intensive care unit because of injuries he suffered.

He stressed that he respects the VFW and all veterans who served.

I do know that VFWs are open late at night, the South Meeting House, which is surrounded by streets that only one car can drive by, you cant have two-way traffic, he said. It is historic, it is a family neighborhood and it is absolutely the wrong place for a VFW to be.

Portsmouth North End construction boom: Condos, micro units and more, all at once

Portsmouth leaders say other nonprofits would get chance to make bids

During Monday nights council meeting, City Councilor John Tabor made a motion to send the letter from Denton and Day to the city manager for a report back on the process for which the city would consider lease or sale of the property.

Conard stated a sale or lease of the property would be a universal process, meaning other nonprofits can express interest in the property.

The council voted unanimously to approve the motion.

City Councilor Kate Cook said its really important that we include and make sure that the neighbors are informed of any process moving forward.

She lives near the former Meeting House and said its a very sensitive subject in the neighborhood.

Over the last year Ive heard from numerous neighbors about this building and the need to improve its current status as far as upkeep and also to consider neighborhood appropriate usage for the building, Cook said.

City Councilor Vince Lombardi said hes heard from a couple of nonprofits who might be interested in that space too.

Mayor Deaglan McEachern added the ongoing process wont be directed to the VFW.

Having a large military history, it would be great to see them there, but I know that that process can only happen if  we could satisfy the neighbors in the larger process, he said.

Before the unanimous vote, Cook also noted neighbors have very eagerly reclaimed parking spots that used to be occupied by (Portsmouth Public Media TV) because there is a shortage of parking in the neighborhood.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth VFW eyes South Meeting House for club, housing
Nick Read is under investigation for his conduct at a committee hearing last week - House of Commons/UK Parliament

Nick Read has been accused of supplying misleading evidence to MPs as pressure intensifies on the beleaguered Post Office chief executive.

A report into compensation schemes for Horizon victims described the organisation as unfit for purpose in administering them and called for the Government to end the Post Offices involvement in redress.

It is the latest bad news the Post Office has endured as it continues to deal with the ramifications of the Horizon scandal.

More than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongfully prosecuted after they were blamed for non-existent shortfalls produced by faulty Fujitsu software.

Mr Bates vs The Post Office, an ITV series which dramatised sub-postmaster Alan Bates fight for justice, reignited a call for victims to be fully financially compensated when it aired earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the Post Office also had to deal with claims made by its former chairman Henry Staunton, who revealed Mr Read was under investigation for his conduct at a committee hearing last week.

The business and trade committee report, published on Thursday, also noted that Mr Read had supplied misleading evidence to MPs.

The chief executive was previously asked at a committee meeting in January whether he had hired a public relations firm to handle the crisis after the airing of the ITV drama.

At the time, Mr Read said: No, we havent.

Yet in February, the Telegraph revealed the Post Office had contracted out PR firm TB Cardew at a rate of 15,000 a month.

When quizzed on the report at another committee meeting last week, Mr Read said TB Cardew had begun working for the Post Office in 2019 and then again in 2022 when its contract was renewed.

He also confirmed the company had put a briefing pack together for him ahead of the hearing, with biographies of MPs as well as suggested questions they might be asked.

Evidence given by Mr Read on gagging orders has also come into question  with the chief executive previously writing to MPs to state that any offer letters to sub-postmasters were marked with Without Prejudice and were therefore confidential.

When Liam Byrne, the committee chairman, suggested that the chief executives letter was not a perfect reflection of the facts, Mr Read followed up the meeting with a letter stating: We have now made it clear that we have no expectation of confidentiality from postmasters who have received offers from us; even those which were labelled Without Prejudice.

In Thursdays report, the committee wrote: We note that Mr Read has supplied misleading evidence to the Committee on at least two counts, relating to the Post Offices use of, first, non-disclosure agreements and, secondly, public relations firms.

Hypothetically, chief executives found to have lied at a committee meeting could be found to be in contempt of Parliament and were likely to lose their right to hold their position.

However, the process would involve a number of votes and stages and has never been completed in practice

Not fit for purpose in running redress schemes

In a damning indictment, the Committee stated: The Post Office is not fit for purpose to administer any of the schemes of redress required to make amends for one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history.

The Post Office runs two financial redress schemes: the Horizon Shortfall Scheme, often used by sub-postmasters who used the money to make up for fictitious losses, and the Overturned Convictions process, which deals with victims who were wrongfully convicted.

MPs noted the organisation also plays a key role in the Group Litigation Order scheme because it has to disclose evidence to sub-postmasters that they are required to submit a claim.

Yet lawyers are waiting for up to seven months for the Post Office to send these disclosure reports and only 55 per cent have been issued so far, the Committee heard last week.

A spokesman for the Post Office confirmed it would have no objection to relinquishing its role in administering redress.

The report also said Post Offices leadership remains in disarray noting that its chairman, Mr Staunton, had been dismissed and that Mr Read was under investigation.

Mr Byrne said: The spectacle of the battle between the Post Office chief executive and its former chairman light up a simple truth; that the top of the Post Office is in utter disarray and not fit for purpose to run the payouts to former sub-postmasters.

Its involvement in running Post Office redress schemes has to end and ministers must create a new, independent body set up that will genuinely help victims through their every stage of their compensation claims.

Compensation delays

In total 1 billion has been set aside to compensate victims of the Horizon scandal.

Yet the report stated that just a fifth of this sum had been paid out so far, which Mr Byrne described as a national disgrace.

It read: We identified unacceptable delays to delivering redress across all schemes. As a result, only 20 per cent of the budget set aside for redress has been paid out.

The report also took note of the claims made by Mr Staunton about being told to slow down compensation payments ahead of the General Election.

MPs noted how Mr Read told them that categorically neither he nor his team had received such instructions.

The report added: We note for the record that, under oath, Mr Staunton stood by his claims.

Toxic culture

MPs also noted that they heard how the Post Office still suffers from a toxic culture and a complete lack of trust between the company and sub-postmasters.

Former sub-postmasters who gave evidence told the Committee that the culture of the Post Office had not changed and were unable to identify any aspects of the Post Office that have changed positively, the report read.

The document also quoted Mr Bates himself, who gave evidence last week.

He told the Committee: The [culture] has not changed; it has been the same for donkeys years. It will not change and you cannot change it.

Alan Bates welcomed the findings saying 'the sooner' the Post Office is removed from the schemes 'the better' - Lucy North/PA Wire

Batess call for payment deadlines

The Committee also recommends a suggestion proposed by Mr Bates himself, that hard deadlines be set for payments being issued.

It recommends that the Government includes in forthcoming legislation legal timeframes for each stage of a compensation claim, with financial penalties awarded to the claimant for failure to meet those deadlines.

Mr Byrne added, To guarantee this scandal drags on no longer, we have to enshrine into law an idea proposed by Mr Bates, of legally binding timetables for payouts.

Mr Bates welcomed the recommendation, and told The Telegraph: I was very keen that there has to be some kind of compensation for delays in payments.

Commenting on the proposal to remove the Post Office entirely from the schemes, he added: The sooner it happens the better, I dont see how we can move forward while the Post Office is involved.

A Government spokesman said it was working tirelessly to get compensation into the hands of those wronged by the scandal and that it would consider the report carefully and respond in due course.

He added: Were speeding up compensation, with approximately 179 million already paid, and legislation is being brought forward to overturn the convictions of those who were wrongly prosecuted, with 600,000 in compensation also available.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Health officials in New Jersey are investigating a possible outbreak of the mumps.

A cluster of cases of the contagious virus quickly spread among an eight-person family in Hunterdon County, the state department of health said Tuesday.

The original infection could be tied to recent international travel, officials said.

No other details about the case were released due to privacy laws.

People with the mumps quickly start exhibiting symptoms, including fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness and loss of appetite.

After several days, the salivary glands can swell, causing puffy cheeks and other discomfort in the face. It can also cause swelling of the brain, testicles, ovaries or breast tissue, which could lead to a number of other complications including brain inflammation, infertility or deafness.

The New Jersey Department of Health advised residents to get vaccinated against mumps, measles and rubella if they hadnt done so already.

These viruses are incredibly contagious, so if you suspect you may have measles, mumps, or rubella, it is important to call ahead before visiting any health care provider or facility so they can take special precautions, acting health commissioner Dr. Kaitlan Baston said in a statement.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of mumps cases fluctuates year-to-year. There were 436 cases reported in the country last year.

As a physician and as a mom, I understand what it is like to try to keep your kids and your family healthy, Baston said. The best way to keep you and your loved ones safe is to get the MMR shot. If you or your family have not gotten the shot, now is the time.

_____
The power supply has been restored to all the settlements that were cut off following a Shahed UAV attack in Khmelnytsky Oblast.

Source: Khmelnytskyi Oblast Military Administration

Quote: "Electricity has been restored to all the settlements that had lost power as a result of the overnight attack."

Background: An infrastructure facility in Khmelnytskyi Oblast was damaged in a Russian Shahed UAV attack on the night of 5-6 March, leaving several settlements without power.

On the night of 5-6 March, Russian forces attacked Ukraine with five S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles and 42 Shahed loitering munitions. Ukrainian air defences shot down 38 Shaheds.

Support UP or become our patron!
Super Tuesday was an anticlimax. It only confirmed what we already knew was coming: a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. It also showed how strongly both parties voters are forming ranks in anticipation of the coming battle.

Biden is not popular and trails Trump in almost every public poll. Even those who generally approve of his tenure  the New York Times editorial board comes to mind  have qualms. Many polls say that Democrats think he is too old to run again. One released right before Super Tuesday even said Democrats were split on whether he should be their partys nominee.

Yet when faced with a choice between Biden and the nobodies who challenged him, Democrats backed him to the hilt. Biden received 80 per cent or more in all but two states on Tuesday, showings typical of re-election efforts by presidents far more popular than he. Democrats may have misgivings, but they arent anywhere close to tossing him over the side.

Trump had a similarly dominant evening. Yes, he lost one state, liberal Vermont, to Nikki Haley, but in all others he won by landslide margins. Haley was a serious contender who raised tens of millions of dollars and received copious amounts of media coverage. She nonetheless broke 40 per cent only in heavily Mormon Utah, losing the rest of the states by tremendous margins of up to 7-1. Republicans like or love Trump and dont want a more conventional alternative even if that person stands a better chance to win in November.

The few cities and counties that Haley won portray the breadth of Trumps support. She lost every county in nine states. In Colorado and Virginia, Haley only carried places where Joe Biden won in 2020 with at least 61 per cent of the vote. By the end, her bastions were the homes of Americas elites  wealthy suburbs, college towns, and ski resorts. Thats about as far from todays working-class-centric GOP as you can get.

These complementary trends dont mean there arent faint warning signs for both candidates. Trumps weakness in these areas reminds us that he still fails to connect with college-educated, moderate independents. Those voters comprise small but significant shares of the electorate in every swing state. Their distaste for Trump is why he doesnt run even farther ahead of Biden in the polls.

Biden has two small warning signs. His support dropped noticeably in areas with high numbers of Muslims, such as Dearborn, Michigan or the Somali areas in the Minneapolis metro area. White progressive strongholds also provided smaller margins for him, although even they backed him with large majorities. With the prospect that a horde of minor party candidates could be on the ballots in key states, Bidens team will try to make sure these voters come home in the fall.

The immigration crisis is a larger challenge for Biden, and Texas results show that remains a huge problem. Bidens vote share plummeted in a series of heavily Latino counties on the hard-hit Rio Grande border with Mexico. He got only about 66 per cent in the three largest such counties, and below 50 per cent in Starr and Zapata counties. This is indicative of how many people flunk his handling of the unprecedented influx of undocumented migrants to the United States.

The race is now set barring either elderly candidate suffering a serious health reversal. Eight months of non-stop, sharply negative campaigning is in store, all designed to whip partisans into a frenzy and force the undecided into making a choice they desperately want to avoid. Whatever transpires will leave lasting scars on American politics for years to come.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
DENVER (KDVR)  A record 4.7 billion people will fly this year, according to the International Air Transport Association, raising the potential for increased travel nightmares.

So what can travelers do to avoid problems? Travel experts and consumer advocates told FOX31 that early planning and options like trip insurance can help reduce the impact of cancellations, delays and lost luggage.

2 Colorado myths that persist through the years

The Colorado Public Interest Research Group, or CoPIRG for short, monitors travel issues that affect consumers.

Unfortunately, last year we saw a record number of complaints, Executive Director Danny Katz told FOX31.

What are the best flights to book?

Katz recommends that travelers be strategic when booking flights to protect against the impact of delays.

The kinds of flights you should be looking for would be morning flights. And flights that dont have connections  to the extent that you can make that happen  that just reduces the risk, Katz said.

Protect your flight costs

Check refund policies if using a third-party website to book a trip. Using a credit card can offer more protection when it comes to disputes with the airline.

Stay informed of any changes by downloading the airlines app to communicate with customer service and receive immediate notifications of cancellations and gate changes.

Travelers collect bags at the Southwest Airlines baggage claim area in Denver International Airport Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Keep track of your luggage  and your stuff

Luggage nightmares can ruin a vacation. Katz said using a tracker can provide extra security.

They sell these trackers online  you can find them between $14 or $28, some good trackers. If you put that in the bag, if the airline loses your bag, you at least know where it is, Katz said.

Did you know this Colorado city was planned as a utopia?

Before closing up the bag, document belongings.

Take a picture of everything right before you put it in your bag, because youre entitled to $3,800 worth of refunds if they lose your bag. But youre going to have to document it, Katz said.

Does the airline have to refund a canceled flight?

In the event of a flight cancellation, it is important to know your rights.

No matter what reason a flight is canceled, you are entitled to a refund. Now, they may choose to rebook you, and if you accept that, then you are waiving that refund, Katz said.



Complaints should be submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Submitted complaints will require the airline to respond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden faces a pivotal State of the Union address Thursday as he looks to silence skeptics about his ability to keep serving, convince restless Americans of a strong economy and reestablish the stakes of a likely rematch against Donald Trump.

In what could be his final State of the Union address, the moment could not be much bigger for Biden, who is saddled with challenges at home and abroad.

Biden hears heckling regularly from pro-Palestinian protesters as he tries to navigate the U.S. role in the Israel-Hamas war without further alienating his liberal base. He's been unable to assuage concerns about his age and ability to effectively serve another four years. Despite a booming stock market and historically low unemployment, Biden isn't getting credit for an economic rebound. His approval rating, already hovering in the low 40s for two years, dipped even lower in recent weeks.

And stirring anxieties among Democrats, Biden's fundamental reelection message  that the "battle for the soul of America" isn't over  hasn't clicked yet for the majority of voters: Trump leads Biden in most polls nationally and in battleground states that will decide the election.

"What he needs to try to do is begin to shape a narrative about the upcoming election because right now he's on his heels. This is an opportunity to push back," said William Howell, a political scientist at the University of Chicago.

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with his Competition Council in the State Dining Room of the White House on March 5, 2024 in Washington, DC. Biden announced new economic measures during the meeting.

Speech to set tone for general election against Trump

The outcome on Super Tuesday  and subsequent withdrawal of Nikki Haley from the Republican primary  all but guarantees a Biden-Trump November rematch, making this week the unofficial start of the general election.

Speaking to what will be his largest television audience until the party convention in August, Biden has a prime opportunity at the State of the Union to set the stage for the next eight months of the campaign, fleshing out contrasts with Trump that haven't crystallized among voters.

Biden spent a long weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat preparing for his State of the Union address, which will be the first with House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson presiding over a joint session of Congress. Biden worked on the speech with top White House aides Anita Dunn, Steve Ricchetti, his speechwriter Vinay Reddy and Bruce Reed, deputy chief of staff.

President Joe Biden speaks to members of the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 1, 2024, to travel to Camp David, Md., for the weekend.

Biden left for Camp David last Friday holding a book that seemed to reflect the tests he faces: Possible: How We Survive (and Thrive) in an Age of Conflict," written by William Ury and released last month. The book is billed as a guide of "time-tested practices that will help readers unlock their power to constructively engage and transform conflict."

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden "will outline an agenda that is about continuing to build on the progress that we've made over the last three years."

"The president has always been an optimistic person, as you all know, and even in the face of challenges that we have in front of us, he will share why he is hopeful about this country's future," Jean-Pierre said.

Not surprisingly, Biden will make protecting American democracy and restoring women's reproductive rights major themes of his remarks, according to the White House. Biden has blamed Trump's three Supreme Court nominees for overturning Roe v. Wade's constitutional right to an abortion and cast Trump, who tried to overturn the 2020 election, as a continued threat to democracy.

Biden will have a chance to renew his call for Congress to pass bipartisan border legislation that congressional Republicans killed at the urging of Trump. Last week during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, Biden challenged Trump to "join me" in pushing for the bill, which includes some of the strongest border enforcement measures intact in a generation.

President Joe Biden, second from the right, looks over the southern border, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas. Walking with Biden are from l-r., Peter Flores, Deputy Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Jason Owens, Chief, U.S. Border Patrol and Gloria Chavez, Sector Chief, U.S. Border Patrol.

Biden looks to unite a frayed Democratic coalition

Biden is expected to tout historic job growth under his watch and frame his record in bold terms "accomplishing more in three years than most presidents have in two terms," the White House has started saying.

Biden will discuss the need to "protect" his agenda on infrastructure, lowering prescription drug prices and domestic manufacturing, the White House said. And he will position himself on the side of the working class by emphasizing efforts to take on so-called "junk fees," lower health care premiums and making corporations "pay their fair share" of taxes.

"I think it's a huge moment and even more so than a run-of-the-mill State of the Union," said Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginias Miller Center. "This is sort of the kickoff of the real campaign. And he's got the whole world looking, and he's on national television, and he needs to hit it out of the park."

To win in November, Biden must unite a fraying Democratic coalition, with polling showing softening support from core constituencies such as Black, Latino and young voters.

A poll released Saturday by the New York Times/Siena College, which had Trump ahead of Biden 48%-43% among registered voters, underscored Biden's base struggles: 97% of Americans who voted for Trump in 2020 said they will vote for him again in 2024, but only 83% of Biden voters from 2020 say they will vote for Biden this fall.

Even though the State of the Union isn't a campaign event, Perry said Biden should not shy away from engaging with Trump directly.

"What's he got to lose? He's already lost the votes of the people who are bound and determined to vote for Donald Trump," Perry said. "He needs to enthuse those in his party who are clearly unenthusiastic about him to some degree and are concerned about his age."

Silencing concerns about age

For all the policy talk in the speech, Biden's first order of businesses is much more fundamental: convincing a public wary of his age that he's up for the job for another four years.

Concerns about Biden's octogenarian status amplified last month after a report from Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Hur into Biden's handling of classified documents portrayed the 81-year-old president as "a well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."

"Most important will be him," Julian Zelizer, a history professor at Princeton University, said of Biden's speech, pointing to voters' concerns about his age and performance and Democrats' anxieties about Biden's ability to "withstand the Trump onslaught" of the campaign.

"The State of the Union is his best opportunity to just show by speaking and show through his presence that he can handle this," Zelizer said. "If there's a kind of doubt about that that comes out in the speech, it will clearly be a problem."

The Biden campaign downplayed national polling against Trump in a memo the day after the Super Tuesday, saying it "confirms what we know to be true: this will be a very close general election contest."

The memo, written by campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon and campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, also said "upwards of 10% of voters" remain undecided, a share of the electorate "much larger than the current margin between Trump and Biden in polling." They said these voters overwhelmingly support Biden's policies and the Biden campaign plans to "aggressively engage" them.

Biden plans to make a post-State of the Union travel blitz to the Philadelphia area on Friday and the Atlanta area on Saturday, taking him to two battleground states, Pennsylvania and Georgia, that could decide the election.

The Biden administration is also dispatching Cabinet members and other top officials across the country to amplify the message.

The Biden campaign has long maintained Biden's struggling poll numbers don't accurately reflect where things will stand in November when voters have a clear choice  and consider the consequences of a second Trump presidency.

"If he can shape the terms of the debate, if he can shape this public sense about what's at stake in this upcoming election, he'll be able to recover some advantage that right now is slipping," Howell said.

But it's up to Biden to make the case  beginning Thursday night.

Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2024 State of the Union: Biden faces massive stakes during address
Infinity, a leading renewable energy and electric vehicle charging provider in Egypt, has announced a strategic collaboration with SIAC Assets & Facilities Management (SIACFM) for deployment of its sustainable solutions.

Announcing the deal, Infinity said as part of the collaboration, SIACFM has endorsed the group as its preferred partner for all environment-related products and solutions including the installation and management of electric vehicle chargers at its sites.

Its collaboration with SIAC Assets & Facilities Management aligns with the group's comprehensive vision to pioneer sustainable solutions and foster environmental responsibility in Egypt, it stated.

As a trailblazer in the Egyptian EV charging industry since 2018, Infinity boasts the country's largest and fastest-growing EV charging network.

It harnesses different resources for power generation  solar, wind and waste-to-energy, and develops other technologies such as green hydrogen, water desalination and EV charging grids and solutions, as well as complementary technologies such as battery storage and transmission grids.

In 2020, Infinity along with its partner Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), established Infinity Power, which is now the worlds fastest growing and Africas largest pure play renewable energy provider  focusing on solar and on-shore wind technologies.

This partnership with SIACFM marks another milestone in Infinity's journey, reaffirming its dedication to advancing environmentally friendly practices across various sectors, it added.

"This is a significant step forward in our commitment to promoting electric vehicle (EV) solutions in Egypt. This partnership seamlessly aligns with our larger mission to create a cleaner and greener future for all," remarked Shams Abdel Ghaffar, the Managing Director of Infinity EV Division, after sealing the deal with Engineer Sherif Ahmed, the Chief Executive Officer of SIACFM.

"Through this collaboration, we aspire to further extend the impact of our EV initiatives, fostering positive environmental change and contributing to the long-term well-being of communities across the nation," he noted.

Ahmed pointed out that its collaboration with Infinity reinforces SIACFM's commitment to delivering cutting-edge FM solutions and maximizing value for its clients.

"Through this collaboration, we aim to unlock a new level of efficiency and sustainability for our clients' facilities. By combining our expertise with Infinity's innovative solutions, we will offer enhanced operational efficiency and improved occupant well-being for our clients' facilities," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
FILE PHOTO: A screen displays the trading information for New York Community Bancorp on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., January 31, 2024.

Embattled New York Community Bancorp announced a lifeline of more than $1 billion from a group of investors on Wednesday, after seeing its stock plunge by more than 80% this year.

Shares of the bank, has which has been hammered by weakness in commercial real estate and growing pains caused the recent buyout of another distressed bank, were sent on a wild ride. New York Community Bancorp lost nearly half of its market value Wednesday on rumors that it was seeking cash, then jumped toward its best day in nearly a year on news of the capital infusion, then quickly gave up all those gains.

The deal will bring four new directors to NYCBs board, including Steven Mnuchin, the former U.S. Treasury secretary under President Donald Trump. Joseph Otting, a former comptroller of the currency, will become the banks CEO.

Under the deal, which the bank said still needs finalization of definitive documentation and regulatory approvals, the bank would get investments of $450 million from Mnuchins Liberty Strategic Capital, $250 million from Hudson Bay Capital and $200 million from Reverence Capital. Cash from other institutional investors and some of the banks managers will take the total over $1 billion, the banks aid.

The investors will receive stock in the company valued at $2 per share, along with convertible preferred stock that could pay dividends every three months.

The stock had tumbled 42% to $1.86 earlier Wednesday, before its trading was halted in the afternoon, pending news. A report from The Wall Street Journal earlier in the day had said the lender was considering raising cash through the sale of stock in order to shore up confidence in it.

After news of the $1 billion investment NYCBs stock immediately erased those losses and jumped 18%, which would have been its best day since March 20. But the stock gave up the gains and then swiveled between losses and gains. It was up 4.3%, with a little less than an hour remaining before the closing bell.

Stocks of other regional banks, which have been caught up in the same anxieties that have afflicted NYCB, also wobbled. An index of regional bank stocks went from a loss of 3.1% before the announcement to a slight gain and back to a loss of 0.1%.

NYCB was a relatively unknown bank until last year, when it bought the assets of Signature Bank at auction on March 19 for $2.7 billion. Signature was one two banks crumbled in last years mini-crisis for the industry, where bank runs also sped the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

The sudden increase in size for NYCB meant it had to face increased regulatory scrutiny. Thats been one of the challenges for the bank, which is trying to reassure depositors and investors that it can digest the purchase of Signature Bank while dealing with a struggling real-estate portfolio.

NYCB said last week that it had found significant weakness in how it internally reviews loans, caused by ineffective oversight, risk assessment and monitoring activities. That caused it to delay filing its annual report and report a bigger loss for the latest quarter. It also replaced its longtime chief executive officer.

Pressure rose further on the bank after credit agencies cut NYCBs rating.

Industry analysts still say NYCBs troubles appear unique to the bank and downplayed the risk of contagion in the banking sector.

Its very interesting that they ended up being an amalgamation of a few bank acquisitions that seems to just not worked out, said Chris Caulfield, a banking industry consultant and analyst with West Monroe, who focuses on mid sized banks.

But weakness in commercial real estate is a looming challenge for all kinds of banks, as changes in how people work following the pandemic leave many office buildings with more vacancies.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
President Joe Biden will address the nation Thursday night in his State of the Union address before both chambers of Congress, starting at 9 p.m. EST. File Pool Photo by Jacquelyn Martin/UPI

March 7 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden will address the nation Thursday night in his State of the Union speech, where he is expected to reflect on his achievements, outline his agenda for the future and convince the American people he is ready for a second term.

Biden will speak before both chambers of Congress starting at 9 p.m. EST. The address is mandated in the Constitution, requiring the president "from time to time to give to the Congress information of the State of the Union."

"You will hear the president lay out the historic achievements he has delivered on for the American people and his vision for the future," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday, as she previewed Biden's speech.

"Looking at what President Biden faced when he came into office and where we are now, it is clear he has gotten more done in the first three years than most presidents have accomplished in two terms," she said.

Biden will focus on his successes, such as infrastructure and lower drug prices, while laying out his plan for a second term.

"That includes lowering costs for Americans and giving people more breathing room, lowering healthcare premiums and taking on Big Pharma to lower the cost of prescription drugs, making the wealth and corporations pay their fair share in taxes, saving our democracy and protecting our democratic institutions, protecting women's reproductive health in the face of relentless attacks from Republican elected officials, making progress on his Unity Agenda, ending cancer as we know it, delivering on the sacred obligation to veterans, tackling the mental health crisis and beating the opioid and overdose pandemic," Jean-Pierre said.

Several notable guests, invited by Democrats and Republicans, will be in attendance to highlight ongoing issues in the United States and around the world.

Those guests will include the families of American hostages being held in Gaza. The families will be in the chamber to highlight the plight of their loved ones who have been held by Hamas since Oct. 7, as Israel continues its war in the Palestinian territory.

Two New York Police Department officers who were attacked in January in Times Square will attend, as well as several Border Patrol agents, to highlight illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Abortion rights will also be front and center with the attendance of two women who fled their states for the procedure following the reversal of Roe vs. Wade. Kate Cox, who will attend as first lady Jill Biden's guest, was more than 10 weeks pregnant when she learned her fetus had fatal anomalies. Cox sued Texas for the right to terminate the nonviable pregnancy and later left the state to receive abortion care.

An Indiana doctor who provided abortion care for a 10-year-old girl after she was raped and was denied an abortion in Ohio will also attend.

Elizabeth Carr, the first person to be born via in-vitro fertilization, said in a recent statement that she will draw attention to the "many people in-vitro has helped build the family of their dreams." Carr's appearance comes as IVF clinics shut down in response to the Alabama Supreme Court's ruling last month that frozen embryos are people and are subject to wrongful death of a minor.

The parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will attend "to shine a spotlight on the unjust detention of their son" in Russia on espionage charges, House Speaker Mike Johnson said.

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was invited, but will not be able to attend, according to the White House.

Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska is also unable to attend. Congress has stalled in passing more aid for Ukraine in its war with Russia since Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky's last visit to Washington in December.
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  Nikki Haley is dropping out of the race for president following a bruising Super Tuesday defeat.

Donald Trump won all but one state, Vermont.

Tuesday nights results boil the race down to just two frontrunners and tees up a 2020 rematch between former president Donald Trump and President Joe Biden in November.

In all likelihood Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee when our party convention meets in July, Haley said.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump bragged about his Super Tuesday victories, but Democrats say Tuesdays results should be a warning sign for Republicans.

Joe Biden did much better in the primary as a percentage against his opponents than Donald Trump did against his opponent, said Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.).

Haley stopped short of endorsing the former president Wednesday. She says Trump must now convince moderate Republicans to vote for him in November.

An Associated Press survey shows as many as 76% of Haley supporters in early primary states like New Hampshire and South Carolina say they would not vote for Trump in November, but on Capitol Hill, Republicans are uniting behind Trump.

It will be a rematch, and we like that rematch, said House Speaker Mike Johson (R-La.).

Even the holdouts, most notably Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) whos had a rocky relationship with Trump endorsed him.

I said I would support the nominee for president, even if it were the former president, McConnell said.

President Biden is hoping to woo some Haley supporters. In a statement Wednesday, he praised the former governors campaign and said there is a place for her supporters in his campaign.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
It is understood that Robin Simcox, the counter-extremism tsar, believes police should consider placing tougher restrictions on demonstrations - Henry Nicholls/AFP

Pro-Palestinian protests are turning London into a no-go zone for Jews, the counter-extremism tsar said as he warned that extremist groups have gone unchallenged for too long.

Writing for The Telegraph, Robin Simcox, the Home Offices independent adviser on extremism, said the Government and its agencies had powers to combat extremism but had failed to tackle groups that lurked just below the threshold of being terrorists.

He issued the warning after Rishi Sunak urged protesters last week not to let the extremists hijack your marches, and with Michael Gove preparing to announce a broader definition of extremism.

Mr Simcox said the permissive environment for radicalisation developing in the UK meant that activities such as pro-Palestinian protests, which he said leave parts of the capital off-limits to Jews, had become normalised.

He warned that the same applied to Irans sponsorship of British schools and mosques, the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamass support for British charities and extremist TV channels operating on UK soil.

We have not betrayed democracy if extremists are no longer able to operate television channels, he said. And we will not have become an authoritarian state if London is no longer permitted to be turned into a no-go zone for Jews every weekend.

All these things and more have become normalised in the UK. It is why I have warned of a permissive environment for radicalisation developing that needs urgently addressing. These groups have gone unchallenged for too long, and have used their time well. They are now embedded and influential among communities.

Robin Simcox

Extremist acts have been normalised in Britain

Read more

He made the comments in the lead-up to Mr Goves announcement next week of a new definition of extremism to enable the Government, universities, councils and other bodies to ban funding for, and engagement with, Islamist and far-Right groups if they are judged to be promoting extremist ideology that undermines British values.

It is understood that Mr Simcox believes police should consider placing tougher restrictions on demonstrations, and that such a move would not signify authoritarian desire to crush the protests but a recognition that the heart of London could not indefinitely host large and intimidating protests.

One option he is understood to have canvassed would be whether the protests could be held in a different part of the city or could be restricted to being static, as has been required of demonstrations by the far-Right English Defence League.

Mr Sunak has urged police to take a tougher stance on protesters, telling officers that we will back you when you take action.

Sir Mark Rowley, the Met Police Commissioner, subsequently defended his forces handling of protests, saying that we have to police the law as it is, not as others would wish it to be.

However, Mr Simcox said extremist groups could be shut down or curbed by ministers and regulatory agencies such as the Charities Commission, Ofcom or the Department for Education, but had not been.

Government has more power to tackle extremism than it sometimes thinks, he said. The Iranian government does not have an inalienable right to run schools and mosques in our capital city. It is not an unalterable democratic principle that Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood must be allowed to run a multitude of charities.

Robin Simcox said the Government 'has more power to tackle extremism than it sometimes thinks' - Jeff Overs/BBC/PA

Mr Simcox said the Government needed to be bolder and move faster in tackling extremist groups, even if they were highly litigious in challenging any attempt to crack down on them.

That means the Government be willing to accept higher legal risk if it means implementing policies that keep us safer, he added. This is particularly pertinent when it comes to disrupting the activities of those groups who propagate extremist narratives but who lurk just below the terrorism threshold.

It is understood he believes that universities could take a tougher approach by banning extremist speakers or shutting down events, and that the Government could do more to refuse visas to hate preachers on speaking tours of the UK.

It cannot only be Government who stands up to these extremists  be it Islamist, extreme Right-wing, extreme Left-wing or other ideological manifestations  but it has the most resources and must take a leading role, he said.

The Government is not expected to publish a list of the extremist groups that could be caught by the new definition, which encompasses any group or individual that promotes an ideology that undermines the rights or freedoms of others.

However, it is understood that ministers are likely to use parliamentary privilege to name the groups in the Commons.

It is non-statutory, not a new criminal definition, so would only affect who government bodies, officials and ministers could engage with and fund.

It would define extremism as the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on intolerance, hatred or violence that aims to undermine the rights or freedoms of others, and would include those who seek to undermine or overturn the UKs liberal system of democracy and democratic rights.

Any groups or individuals intentionally creating a permissive environment for either of these would also be banned from working with government bodies.

In his speech outside Number 10 last Friday, Mr Sunak said the Government would introduce a new robust framework this month to tackle extremism in the UK and redouble support for the Prevent programme, which is designed to tackle radicalisation.

He said Britain must face down extremists, accusing them of deliberately trying to undermine the UKs multi-faith democracy.

Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, invoked similar language to Mr Simcox last week as she urged Mr Sunak to introduce emergency laws to tackle extremism.

Parts of London have become no-go areas for Jewish people, she said. That is totally unacceptable. Weve seen anti-Semitism skyrocket.

It comes after official figures showed that anti-Semitism hit an all-time high last year in what was described as an explosion of hatred.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
A super PAC aligned with former President Trump debuted an ad Thursday that attacked President Biden over his age and questioned whether he could survive a second term in office.

Make America Great Again Inc. aired the aid, titled Jugular, on MSNBC on the morning of Bidens State of the Union address.

The ad opens with a clip of Bidens press conference on the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. It includes a moment where Biden, after recounting how Trump suggested hed let Russia attack NATO allies, took a lengthy paused before saying he should clear his mind and not say what Im really thinking.

We can all see Joe Bidens weakness. If Biden wins, can he even survive to 2029. The real question is, can we? a narrator says in the ad.

The 30-second spot is interspersed with clips of Biden stumbling as he walks on stage at an event and tripping up the stairs onto Air Force One.

Ammar Moussa, a Biden campaign spokesperson, slammed the ad as a sick and deranged stunt from a broke and struggling campaign that cant defend Trumps extreme Project 2025 agenda to ban abortion, separate families, raise costs on the middle class, repeal health care, and sow chaos and division.

Trump tried this strategy four years ago and got his ass kicked by Joe Biden  he should tune in tonight alongside tens of millions of Americans to see why President Biden will beat him again this November, Moussa added.

Bidens age has been a persistent issue for the White House as he seeks reelection. Biden is 81 and would be 86 at the end of a potential second term. Strategists have said Biden can use Thursdays State of the Union to help calm concerns about his age with a strong, vigorous speech.

A recent New York Times/Siena College poll found 73 percent of registered voters said they either strongly or somewhat agree that Biden is too old to be an effective president.

Trump is 77 and would be 82 at the end of a potential second term if he wins in November. He has faced some scrutiny for his own verbal slips, such as when he confused former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Nikki Haley, his GOP rival.

Trump has largely avoided attacks direct attacks about Bidens age, instead arguing the president is incompetent.

Biden, meanwhile, has sought to neutralize questions about his age with self-deprecating jokes and by arguing its more relevant that Trumps ideas on abortion and other issues are old.

Updated at 10 a.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON)  San Francisco voters are poised to pass Proposition F, a city ballot initiative that will require drug addiction screening before certain people can receive local cash welfare benefits.

The proposition, called Illegal Substance Dependence Screening and Treatment Assistance, had racked up 63 percent of votes as of Wednesday.

Mayor London Breed wrote on X Tuesday night, We cant just keep giving people money to overdose and die on our streets  we have to do more. Thank you to the voters for passing Prop F to bring more treatment and accountability to San Francisco. Breed, a champion of Prop F, is seeking re-election.

Opponents acknowledged the measure is likely to pass, and described the outcome as deeply disturbing.

Jennifer Friedenbach, director of the Coalition on Homelessness, said, It is deeply disturbing that in the middle of an unprecedented overdose epidemic, voters got a misleading and performative ballot issue that demonizes welfare recipients rather than helps them. San Francisco deserves better. Those suffering from addiction deserve actual solutions and real opportunities for treatment, not false promises and election year politics.

California 2024 Primary Election Results

An average of 1-2 people die daily in San Francisco from overdoses. A homeless crisis is happening in parallel with the overdose epidemic, and Proposition F falls in the middle of both issues.

People sleep in the doorway of the American Conservatory Theater on May 11, 2023 in San Francisco. (Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

Under Prop F, single adults without dependents on local welfare  about 9,000 people a year  must be screened for illegal drug use. If they are found to be using drugs, an addiction specialist and the recipient would agree on treatment options that include residential care, a 12-step program, and replacement medication. There is no sobriety requirement, only that a person make a good-faith effort to participate in treatment if they want to receive cash assistance.

Opponents pointed out low California Primary Election voter turnouts.

This was an exceptionally low voter turnout election and we know that low turnout electorates skew conservative, said Laura Guzman, director of the National Harm Reduction Coalition. Its difficult to say that this electorate was representative of San Francisco.

Guzman said even more people will become homeless in San Francisco because of Prop F. Some people will be denied welfare benefits if they addicted to illicit narcotics and refuse treatment options.

Guzman said, Whats unfortunate is that residents are likely to see an increase in the unhoused population in the city if Measure F is implemented as described by supporters of the measure.

Nearly 8,000 people are experiencing homelessness in San Francisco, the citys most recent census shows. During one outreach operation by the city, the majority of people who were offered city shelter services refused to leave the streets, according to the mayor.

Leaders who are for and against Prop F disagree on solutions that will stem soaring overdose numbers and help a large homeless population. Opponents said the citys affordable housing crisis is driving drug overdose deaths.

The public suffering we continue to witness on our streets is the result of Mayor Breeds failure to address housing affordability and homelessness all of which help drive the overdose crisis, said Jeannette Zanipatin, California State Director of Drug Policy Alliance.

Zanipatin added, Unfortunately the likeliest result of Measure F will be more people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco and less people getting the treatment they need. Together with local partners, we will be monitoring any developments with regard to Measure Fs implementation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
Restricted traffic rights granted by African governments to airlines limit the number of direct routes and the frequency of flights (Michele Spatari)

Travelling 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) by air between two capitals on the same continent does not seem like a challenge. But it can be one in Africa.

Take Libreville and Bangui for instance. The journey takes a minimum of nine hours, requires passengers to change planes and shell out $1,000 -- an example of the challenges facing Africa's aviation sector because of high taxes and protectionist policies.

In comparison, a flight between Paris and Madrid -- which crosses an equivalent distance -- takes two hours and costs five times less.

Unlike Europe, "travel on the continent is very difficult", said Moses Munga, a 27-year-old construction consultant on his way to Ghana from Nairobi.

Like Munga, who told AFP that work took him to West Africa several times a year, civil engineer Ahmed Mekewi said he was a frequent business traveller.

But he confided: "I would have difficulty travelling on my own."

"The cost of travelling in Africa is very challenging," the 29-year-old said.

Unlike Europe, which liberalised its aviation sector in the 1990s, Africa does not have "a unified... market", an expert in the sector told AFP.

"In Europe, Air France for example can make as many flights as it wants, to Germany, Belgium, Spain or Portugal. This freedom... does not exist within Africa" for African carriers, he said, requesting anonymity because of the nature of his work.

Restricted traffic rights granted by African governments to airlines limit the number of direct routes and the frequency of flights, and make journeys longer across the 54-nation continent, he added.

According to a study conducted in 2021 by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for the African Union, out of the 1,431 possible connections between each of the bloc's member states, only 19 percent had a weekly direct flight.

- 'Protectionist mechanisms' -

"Protectionist mechanisms favouring local airlines such as charging foreign companies more for flying over or operating inside their territory... hampers competition and drives prices up," said Linden Birns, an aviation consultant based in South Africa.

As a result, "air traffic is so expensive in Africa (that) it isn't really growing. Routes are very thinly served," said Guy Leitch, aeronautical analyst and publisher of the South African magazine SA Flyer.

According to IATA, "Africa is the region where airfares are by far the highest".

In addition to government restrictions, the price of intra-African air travel is also affected by "very high" taxes and the cost of aviation fuel, said Robert Lisinge, head of the energy, infrastructure and services section at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

Africa's low refining capacity means that aviation fuel is largely imported and "often 30 percent more expensive than elsewhere, including in... oil-producing countries," said the expert source.

The Yamoussoukro Decision -- a 1999 treaty intended to pave the way for the liberalisation of Africa's aviation sector -- was followed by the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) project in 2018.

But such ambitions have struggled to take off.

"The whole idea is that if you liberalise the market, it will increase connectivity and it will reduce costs," Lisinge told AFP.

But bilateral air service agreements between countries mean that many companies are unable to operate flights "as many times as they want, using the planes of whichever capacity they choose", he added.

- Economic gains -

A 2014 IATA study covering 12 African nations said liberalisation would cause air traffic to jump 81 percent between these countries.

Removing market barriers between just a dozen countries would generate $1.3 billion in additional economic activity and help create 155,000 jobs, the study concluded.

For now, "regional travel across the continent is very challenging and makes business hard", said construction consultant Munga.

"Once you get a client and are drawing up your quotation, you must consider the costly cost of travel," he said, adding that high airfares sometimes made a contract too expensive for certain customers, forcing him to abandon business opportunities.

For UNECA's Lisinge, the continent stands to lose out on crucial economic gains unless air travel is made easier.

"Africa is a vast continent, connectivity by road is relatively poor," he pointed out.

"Air transport is necessary to move the perishable goods, the traders, the expertise that will be required for intra-African trade".

burs-ayv/dyg/sva/amu/ho/bp/mca
In 2005 David Chick was cleared after climbing the London Eye

A fathers' rights campaigner who has spent 20 years climbing public structures dressed as a superhero has been jailed for a year.

David Chick, 57, had a stand-off with emergency services after climbing a crane in Milton Keynes on 9 September.

On Thursday, a jury at Aylesbury Crown Court convicted him of intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance.

Chick, of Bozeat, Northamptonshire, was also convicted of possessing an imitation firearm in a public place.

Chick had also been cleared after climbing a crane near Tower Bridge, London

The Hillside Close resident was cleared of having an an article with a blade or point.

In 2004, Chick was cleared of causing a public nuisance after he spent six days on a 150ft (46m) crane, dressed as Spider-Man.

At the time he said he was protesting at not being allowed to see his daughter.

In 2005 he was cleared of causing a public nuisance after spending 18 hours on top of the London Eye.

Chick had told police, in a statement written before that protest, his demonstration was in accordance with his rights under the Human Rights Act.

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp 0800 169 1830
Dozens of angry ralliers braved heavy rains outside the Brooklyn Museum Wednesday to protest antisemitism in public schools  which they claim Chancellor David Banks has done nothing to prevent.

About 35 protesters bearing large Israel flags and Educate Against Hate signs showed up for the Hey Chancellor Banks: What about Brooklyn rally, an organized call for the city Department of Education to follow through on its promise to eradicate antisemitism from its schools.

The protest was announced just days after The Post published an exclusive story on rampant antisemitism at a Brooklyn high school whose students have allegedly tormented their Jewish teachers and peers since the outbreak of the Hamas-Gaza war in October.

About 35 protesters rallied outside the Brooklyn Museum to condemn antisemitism in public schools. Desheania Andrews / NY Post

How are we back in a time where antisemitism is not just openly accepted, but also taught? The only answer I can give is that we missed the signs, said Lisa Liss, a Brooklyn parent who pulled her kids from the public schools last year over concerns of antisemitism.

Antisemitism is and always has been a warning sign of a sick and broken society, a society largely devoid of truth. This means that antisemitism is not like any other form of hate or discrimination and to continuously say that it is an immediate failure at addressing it.

The ralliers demanded that Banks take action to protect Jewish students in Big Apple public schools, who they claimed have increasingly become targets in the months following the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israelis.

Last month, Banks unveiled the three-pronged approach that focused on education, safety and engagement to target hate within schools. The plan included tangible consequences for students and training and support workshops for educators and parents.

The plan, however, has done little to quell the prejudice among students  particularly in Brooklyn.

Chancellor Banks youve done nothing. We havent heard from you. We havent seen any improvement and we see things even going into more disarray every day another horrific story coming out of these public schools, Michelle Ahdoot, the director of programming and strategy at End Jew Hate, which organized the event, said.

The rally was organized days after a Brooklyn teacher filed a lawsuit alleging that her students have been terrorizing Jewish students and staff. Desheania Andrews / NY Post

Chancellor Banks enough is enough. We need answers. We dont know whats going on. Is it incompetence, is it Jew hatred? I think its a little bit of both, but we need some answers.

Marty Weinstein, the retired superintendent of District 19, accused Banks of malpractice and of neglecting his basic charge as an educator.

Student Gabriel, a Jewish senior at an unidentified Brooklyn high school, told the small group of protesters that his teachers have peddled biased information in class and expressed hope that Hezbollah would reign victorious over Israel.

Chancellor David Banks unveiled the three-pronged approach last month to target antisemitism in schools. Desheania Andrews / NY Post

When Gabriel tried to push back against the rhetoric, the teacher allegedly shot him down and said he wouldnt allow political discussions in his classroom.

Chancellor  You are failing at your job. And by ignoring my experiences and my brothers experiences and many other Jewish students and teachers you are helping to propel antisemitism, the teenager said.

Antisemitism has been a longstanding issue at New York City public schools that has largely stayed under the radar until the outbreak of the Middle Eastern war, some of the ralliers argued.

Retired District 19 superintendent Marty Weinstein accused Banks of malpractice. Desheania Andrews / NY Post

Origins High School in Sheepshead Bay was one school known to locals for its subtle hate until global history teacher Danielle Kaminsky filed a lawsuit claiming the students terrorized their Jewish teachers and classmates.

Shortly after the war broke out in October, dozens of teens stormed through the hallways chanting Death to Israel and Kill all the Jews, according to Kaminsky.

The city DOE said it was investigating her claims, but has so far not found any evidence.

The city DOE said it was investigating claims of rampant antisemitism at Origins High School, but has not yet found any evidence. Desheania Andrews / NY Post

Theyre laughing theyre not taking us seriously, said Luke Moon, the Deputy Director of Christian advocacy group Philo Projects, adding that he knew of students who transferred from Origins in the past to escape its rampant hate.

And the good thing about that school by the way, theres a lawsuit coming that is major a violation of state law and everything else, they dont know whats gonna hit them.

During the rainy rally, three anti-protesters stood outside the Brooklyn Museum with signs that read I am a Jewish Parent and I support our teachers and NYCPS Alliance stokes hate that makes our kids and teachers feel unsafe.

When asked for comment by The Post, the trio declined, saying they did not believe the Post would get their message across.

A brief yelling match between the groups ensued but ended when the anti-protesters walked away from the rally.
Protestors in Mexico used a pickup truck as a battering ram to break down the doors of Mexico Citys National Palace, video shows.

In the video, masked protesters cheer as they slam a pickup truck owned by the Comision Federal de Electricidad, Mexico's state electrical company, to break down the palace's wooden doors.

According, to NBC News, the palace is where Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrado, lives and hosts his daily press briefings.

After entering the building, multiple media outlets state the protestors were chased out of the historic building. Reuters reports police used tear gas to disperse the protestors.

According to local media, some of the people responsible for breaking down the door were arrested.

This is not the first time the doors were demolished by protestors. ABC 7 reports that demonstrators burned down the doors last year on International Women's Day.

On the brink: Mexico city faces severe water shortage

The president's reaction

ABC News states Mexico's president said the protestors had sledgehammers and blow torches.

This is a movement against us, Lopez Obrador said. The plan is to create a provocation.

But, he also said it was "nothing" and downplayed the situation.

The door will be fixed. It's nothing," he stated.

The president said he believes protestors were manipulated by human rights groups.

Sept. 23, 2022: Demonstrators protesting the disappearance of 43 college students throw explosive devices toward soldiers and police during a protest outside of a military base in Mexico City, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, days before the anniversary of the disappearance of the students in Iguala, Guerrero in 2014. One week prior, Mexican authorities said they arrested a retired general and three other members of the army for alleged connection to their disappearance.

What were they protesting?

Demonstrators were there to protest the 2014 disappearances of 43 students who went missing in the city of Iguala, Guerrero, in south-central Mexico.

The BBC states that more than 60 male students from the Ayotzinapa teacher training college boarded buses to go to an annual protest in Mexico City. But as the buses left, the passengers saw roadblocks and shots were fired.

Police surrounded the buses and attacked. Then, 43 students vanished in the chaos that ensued. According to AP News, only three of their remains were identified.

Luz Maria Telumbre's son, Christian, disappeared with the others nine years ago.

"It's not like when a person dies and you say, well, at least I know where they are," Telumbre told the BBC.

The BBC reports that four years ago, Telumbre and her husband received a fragment of Christian's right foot that weighed just over an ounce.

In a BBC documentary, Disappeared: Mexico's Missing 43, Telumbre's husband told the media outlet that his struggle will continue while he does not have his son's whole body.

In 2022, a government truth commission called it a "state crime" and found that local, state and federal authorities teamed up with a local drug gang that seemingly murdered the students and burned their bodies, reports AP News.

This isn't the first protest

People have been protesting the disappearances for years and demanding to know what happened to the missing students.

AP News reported on a protest from September 2023, where protesters chanted from one to 43 while marching in Mexico City.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mexico City protestors break into Presidential Palace
MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  Public health leaders are reporting an alarming trend with Monkeypox in Mecklenburg County.

Since the start of the year, Mecklenburg County health officials said the number of reported Mpox cases has risen steadily.

Health officials said theyre very concerned about the growing number of people, including children, who were potentially exposed to those with active Mpox infections.

Its important to note the only Mpox transmission thus far has involved close physical/sexual contact, Mecklenburg County health officials said. However, residents should take precautions even when the risk is low or intermediate.

Photo: Mecklenburg County Public Health

There have been 10 confirmed cases of Mpox among Mecklenburg County residents reported in February, up from six in January. Health officials said nearly 120 residents, including some children, were potentially exposed to those 16 confirmed cases.

The following are common symptoms of Mpox:

Fever and/or chills

Headache and/or body aches

Swollen lymph nodes (tender lumps near the neck, jaw, armpits, and groin)

Exhaustion

A skin rash on any part of the body, including the genitals, with lesions (sores)

The rash can be as small as one or two bumps or cover the entire body

Lesions can look like bumps, warts, pimples, sores, or scabs

Vaccines are available at no cost and are effective at reducing the risk of Mpox infection and disease severity, county health officials said. Vaccines are available by appointment by calling Mecklenburg County Public Health at 704-336-6500 or walking into a Public Health clinic

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
The obstacles that Israel has imposed on the delivery of humanitarian aid by land to a starving Gaza and the limitations of airdrops (as several countries have done, most recently the United States) have prompted the consideration of a third alternative: a humanitarian corridor through the Mediterranean Sea. This Friday, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will travel to Cyprus, the EU country closest to the Gaza Strip (some 320 miles away), to study the project, her spokesman, Eric Mamer, said Wednesday. Our efforts are aimed at making sure that we can provide assistance to the Palestinians [...]. We all hope that the opening [of this corridor] can take place very soon, he added. A Cypriot government spokesman told Reuters that von der Leyen will visit the infrastructure related to some phases of the plan with the countrys president, Nikos Christodoulides.

On Tuesday, U.S. National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said that Washington is exploring other channels to get aid into Gaza, including a maritime route. To that end, we are looking at both military and commercial options to move assistance by sea.

The maritime plan has gained new momentum in the wake of the deaths of over a hundred Gazans last week when they chased an aid convoy and Israeli soldiers opened fire on unarmed civilians. The images of despair, the injured and bloodstained food have heightened international concern about the humanitarian crisis, caused mainly by Israels decision to use famine as a weapon of war. This event that shocked the world has led the United States to join in the airdrop of food, a controversial measure because the quantities are smaller, and it is considered a last resort. Jordan, France and the United Arab Emirates have already used this method. Any entry of aid into Gaza requires the green light from Israel, whether it comes by land from Egypt (which first checks the shipments and vetoes some supplies), by air or by sea, since it has controlled Gazas air and sea space since before the war.

A new failed overland delivery attempt to northern Gaza has highlighted the gravity of the situation. The U.N. World Food Program made another attempt on Tuesday, three weeks after announcing the stoppage of deliveries because two consecutive convoys and a driver had been assaulted by a mob, making them too dangerous.

The U.N. agency said the Israeli army forced the convoy of 14 trucks to turn back after three hours of waiting at the Wadi Gaza checkpoint, which marks the border between the northern area from which the Israeli army forcibly displaced most of the population at the beginning of the invasion. The trucks were then redirected to another area and later stopped by a large crowd of desperate people, who looted the food, taking around 200 tons from the trucks, it said in a statement. Asked by this newspaper about the episode, the Israeli army replied that it is investigating the incident.

The only option

The World Food Program has stated that road routes are the only option to transport the large quantities of food needed to avert famine in northern Gaza, where hunger has reached catastrophic levels in the north of Gaza where children are dying of hunger-related diseases and suffering severe levels of malnutrition. It noted that Gazans looted some 200 tons from Tuesdays convoy. The same program airlifted aid that day, with the help of Jordanian military aviation. The supplies did not exceed six tons.

The EU is looking into the possibility of indirectly joining the airdrop deliveries, Crisis Management spokesman Balazs Ujvari said. We are looking at this possibility very closely, with the constraint that the EU does not have the means to carry it out and it will have to be done through organizations on the ground or member states, through the Civil Protection Mechanism, he said.

This Tuesday, the World Health Organization decried the unprecedented deterioration of the state of nutrition in the Gazan population during the four months of war: the rate of acute malnutrition  which causes irreparable emaciation or wasting away  in children has risen from 0.8% to 15.6%. The situation is most serious in the north, where hundreds of thousands of people remain. Israel keeps the bulk of the work of humanitarian organizations concentrated in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
Emma Caldwell murder was one of Scotland's best known unsolved cases

An independent public inquiry into the police handling of the Emma Caldwell murder investigation has been confirmed by the Scottish government.

Last week Iain Packer, 51, was jailed for life after being found guilty of strangling the 27-year-old in 2005.

Packer was interviewed a month after her body was found but it took 19 years to bring him to justice.

Emma's family said they now hoped to create a legacy for her and other victims of sexual violence.

Emma Caldwell had become a sex worker to fund her heroin addiction when Packer drove her to remote woods, 40 miles from Glasgow, and killed her.

Last week he was found guilty of her murder and offences against a total of 22 women including 11 rapes was sentenced to serve at least 36 years in prison - the second longest sentence ever handed down by a Scottish court.

During the first investigation into Emma's murder, former detectives have revealed they were prevented from detaining Packer by senior officers who refused to treat him as a suspect, focusing instead on a group of four other men who were later cleared.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance confirmed that a judge-led inquiry would take place in a statement to the Scottish Parliament.

Ms Constance said she recognised that a statutory public inquiry was a "very significant undertaking".

She added: "Nonetheless given the gravity of this case, the length of time that it took for justice to be served, the horrific extent of the sexual violence suffered by the victims and survivors and the suffering endured by their families, the case for holding a public inquiry is clear and compelling.

"It is time to apply fresh scrutiny to this case, to understand what went wrong to ensure that lessons are learned for the future and to provide answers to all victims and survivors in this case."

The announcement comes after both First Minister Humza Yousaf and the justice secretary met Emma's mother, Margaret Caldwell, earlier this week.

Asked for her reaction to the inquiry announcement, Mrs Caldwell said: "It's not finished yet, I'm still going on."

In a statement read by the family's lawyer Aamer Anwar, she said: "For a mother, today is a chance for a legacy for Emma Caldwell and for the victims of sexual violence.

"Emma's family hope her name will live on long after her killer's name has turned to dust."

Mr Anwar described the handling of the murder investigation as "the worst scandal to ever hit the Scottish legal system", and said he hoped a judge from outside Scotland would lead the inquiry.

He added: "Strathclyde Police and Police Scotland brought shame on their uniform, they betrayed their duty to protect life, they sabotaged the case against Iain Packer, and they have blood on their hands. The individuals who are responsible must now face justice."

Ms Constance confirmed she would update parliament when the chairperson has been chosen, and said it was important to choose someone who has the confidence of Emma's family.

The Lord Advocate has also confirmed that an external police force will be brought in to investigate the conduct of officers involved in the original inquiry.

Analysis - What will we learn from the inquiry?

By their very nature, public inquiries are time consuming, enormously expensive and tie up resources in a legal system that's still trying to cope with the backlog from the pandemic, writes BBC Scotland home affairs correspondent Dave Cowan.

Four are already under way in Scotland at a cost so far of 122m. Today's announcement means two more are in the pipeline.

The Scottish government will have considered what an inquiry into the Emma Caldwell case might achieve. What would it tell us, that we don't already know.

Let's look at that.

On the face of it, this case involved some of the most serious failures in the history of Scottish policing.

We don't know why Strathclyde's senior detectives refused to treat Iain Packer as a suspect.

The trial judge, Lord Beckett, said Packer preyed on the vulnerable and caused "extreme and enduring suffering for so many women and their families"

We don't know why they chose to disregard evidence that he was a sexually violent user of sex workers, who had attacked Emma the year before she died and admitted taking her and other prostitutes to the remote woods where her body was found.

We don't know what, if anything, was done about the evidence linking him to Emma's murder after the case against four other men collapsed.

We don't know, what if anything, was done about the allegations that he had sexually assaulted other women.

Police Scotland has apologised for the failings of Strathclyde Police and said it has learned lessons from its own actions, particularly over its pursuit of journalists who brought this scandal to light in 2015.

Scotland's prosecution service, the Crown Office, says an investigation into the actions of senior detectives found "insufficient evidence of criminality" for action to be taken but another investigation involving a force from outside Scotland is to look at that again.

Over 19 years, the Emma Caldwell police inquiry examined more pieces of information than the inquiry into the Lockerbie bombing, the worst terror attack in UK history.

There have been major changes to the investigation of homicides since she was murdered in 2005.

Her family endured nearly 19 years of tortuous uncertainty until Packer was convicted, and in the intervening years he attacked at least 15 other women. Some of them were raped.

They deserve answers to these questions and the Scottish government has decided the best way to get them is a public inquiry, no matter the cost or how long it takes.

Watch on iPlayer banner

You can watch Catching a Killer: The Murder of Emma Caldwell on iPlayer now.

Watch on iPlayer footer

Listen on Sounds banner

You can listen to the podcast series Who Killed Emma? on BBC Sounds.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Champion Real Estate Company recently announced that it had acquired Salisbury Campus Apartments, the five-building student housing community near Purdue University.

Champion, a real estate company out of California, purchased 85 units  a total of 290 beds  throughout the 300, 310 and 318 Salisbury Street and 229 and 235 Littleton Street locations in West Lafayette for an undisclosed amount.

The company will be rebranding the apartment complex to Victory on Salisbury.

Champion will continue to honor the master lease that was originally agreed upon with Purdue University and is expected to expire in 2025.

However, its unclear if the apartments will still be offered to students via Purdue Universitys residences system after 2025, or if Champion will operate the residential complex as a private Realtor.

We havent fully made that decision yet. We look forward to talking with the university and seeing if we could work something out, Parker Champion, the chief operating officer and partner at Champion Real Estate Company, said in an interview with The Journal & Courier.

It will still be student housing whether we re-up with the university or take it more private. That decision is left open until we can further those discussions with the university.

A photo of the Salisbury Campus property located Salisbury Street.

However, once the original master lease expires, Champion plans to renovate the properties. The company plans to repaint the exterior of the apartment complexes and install vinyl plank flooring, cabinetry, quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances and modern fixtures. All the bedrooms will be fully refurnished and offer students new televisions and soundbars.

The company did consider completely redeveloping the property but found out that it would not be able to build an equal density of housing due to current West Lafayette zoning ordinances. After learning this, the company opted to revamp the current property, Parker explained.

If the company is able to negotiate a deal with Purdue University, Parker explained that instead of closing the whole complex for a portion of time to conduct the renovation, it will instead conduct several rounds of renovations in hopes of reducing its impact on the local housing stock for students.

Occupancy and demand have never been greater at student housing communities that support premier educational institutions like Purdue University," said Garrett Champion, executive vice president of Champion Real Estate Company, in a press release announcing the sale.

"We will continue to make strategic student housing acquisitions at Tier 1 universities with supply constraints and strong fundamentals."

When asked how much Champion planned on charging for these new housing units, Parker explained that those prices have not been determined and will be determined if the company can make a deal with the university.

The company currently owns and operates 15 student housing communities encompassing more than 4,300 beds at eight different universities.

Noe Padilla is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email him at Npadilla@jconline.com and follow him on X at 1NoePadilla.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Salisbury Campus Apartments acquired by California company
A business owner who took part in a kickback scheme to get a lucrative contract at a Kentucky steel mill has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison.

The sentence for Antoine Tony Berenyi includes a $50,000 fine.

In addition, U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning ordered Berenyi to forfeit $396,500 to the government and pay $753,625 in restitution to the owner of the mill, according to court records.

Berenyi founded Berenyi Inc., a company in Charleston, South Carolina, that provides engineering, architecture and construction services, according to its site.

The company received a contract to provide construction management services on an expansion of the Nucor Steel Gallatin LLC plant in Northern Kentucky.

Jaymin Vinson, who was once an engineer at the plant, said in a court document that at a meeting at a casino in 2017, Berenyi proposed paying him in secret to help Berenyi get the $14.9 million job.

Vinson said Berenyi ultimately paid him $425,125, building the kickbacks into charges to Nucor without the companys knowledge.

Berenyi argued that Vinson was behind the kickback scheme and shook him down for payments, but the jury convicted Berenyi on one charge of honest services wire fraud, 14 counts of wire fraud and 10 charges of money laundering.

The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney James T. Chapman, said in a sentencing memorandum that the Nucor job was the largest contract Berenyis company had ever worked on.

Berenyi committed these crimes out of pure greed  he saw a contract opportunity bigger than he had ever seen, and the potential to continue in similar high-cost projects with Nucor in the future  and he cheated  he rigged the system  to ensure he got on board with the mill expansion, the prosecutor wrote.

Bunning sentenced Berenyi March 1, ordering him to report to prison on April 2.

One of Berenyis attorneys did not respond to an inquiry on whether he plans to appeal.

Vinson pleaded guilty to fraud but has not been sentenced.
Vladimir Putin sits in a cockpit of a flight simulator at the Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots in Krasnodar, Russia - Mikhail Metzel/Reuters

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, will continue to be a threat for the rest of Europe if he is not stopped in Ukraine, Moldova has warned.

If the aggressor is not stopped, he will keep going, and the frontline will keep moving closer. Closer to us. Closer to you, said Maia Sandu, the Moldovan president, as she signed a defence and cooperation agreement with President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

Ms Sandu said that Russia was renewing its efforts to destabilise her country, adding: Europe must therefore present a united front. Aggression must be repelled by a strong force.

Her warning of Russian expansionism echoes that of Gabrielius Landsbergis, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister, who earlier today stressed that Russia will continue to intensify instability in the world and provoke new conflicts if it is not stopped in Ukraine.



Without deterrence, the Kremlin will continue to expand the zone of instability and foment new conflicts. This war must be won, and won decisively, he said in a meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission chief, in Bucharest.



This is not only a European war, it is a challenge to the international order, which, although imperfect, aims for our borders and sovereignty to be defined by law, not military power, he said.

Follow the latest updates below

03:19 PM GMT

Thats all for today

Thank you for tuning in to todays live blog. Well be back tomorrow bringing you all the latest updates from the Russia-Ukraine war.

Key moments from today:

A drone strike has hit a major Russian steel factory, causing an explosion, Russian media reported.

A major fire has broken out at a Russian school used to train future tank commanders.

Moscow has summoned the US ambassador and warned her against attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the Russian Federation.

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has the resources to fight on in Ukraine at the current intensity for at least two years, Lithuanian intelligence reported, in a bitter warning to the West.

Joe Biden, the US president, is attempting to tap into US army funds to provide short-term assistance to Ukraine, Bloomberg reported.

A shopping centre has caught fire in Nikopol, Dnipro, after Russian shelling, Ukrainian media reported.

Ukraines plans to launch a counter-offensive this year must be pushed back because of a shortage of Western aid, a leading think tank has warned.

Sweden is set to finally join Nato today, meaning that the security alliance has nearly encircled the entire Baltic Sea.

The conflict in Ukraine could escalate into a full-scale war in Europe, a senior Russian military officer has warned.

03:12 PM GMT

Moscow kills Belarusian spy

A Belarusian man who was allegedly planning an act of terrorism on behalf of Ukraine was shot and killed by Kremlin security services, Russian media reported.

Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti claimed that the alleged spy, who was shot dead in the republic of Karelia near Finland on March 7, was recruited by Ukraine.

According to Russias federal security service (the FSB), the man planned to blow up an administrative building in the town of Olonets, around 200 miles from the Finnish border, on the orders of Ukrainian intelligence, and had acquired a cache of weapons and explosives.

He was previously affiliated with the Belarusian Kastus Kalinouski regiment that has been fighting on the Ukrainian side against Russian forces, the FSB has said.

03:04 PM GMT

Drone strike causes explosion at Russian steel factory

A drone strike has hit a major Russian steel factory, causing an explosion, Russian media reported.

The strike occurred at the Severstal factory in the city of Cherepovets, 1000km inside Russian territory, with the local governor reporting there were no casualties.

Local residents heard an explosion at around 5.40am in the morning, while plant employees said one blast furnace is completely out of order, Ukrainian MillBloggers reported.

If confirmed, the drone strike is the third such attack on a Russian metal factory in recent weeks, with the military targeting an iron ore facility in Kursk yesterday and a steel factory in Lipetsk last month.

Raw materials from this enterprise are used to manufacture Russian missiles, artillery, drones. Therefore, it is a legitimate goal for Ukraine, a Ukrainian source told Reuters after the Kursk attack.

02:41 PM GMT

Pictured: Ukrainian soldiers run training drills

Ukrainian soldiers participate in a military training drill - Jose Colon/Getty Images

Ukrainian servicemen fire an RPG rocket launcher during training - Getty Images/Jose Colon

02:10 PM GMT

Major fire at tank training school in Russia

A major fire has broken out at a Russian school used to train future tank commanders.

Footage posted on social media shows billowing smoke and flames engulfing the roof of a building reportedly in Kazan.

The fire broke out at the Higher Tank training college, where future tank commanders and crew learn their skills, Tass news agency said.

Firefighters localised the fire in a utility room of one of the buildings of the Kazan Higher Tank School, the military told Tass. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Preliminary reports suggest the cause of the fire was an electrical wiring fault, Tass added.

However, online there was speculation that it was the result of partisan Ukrainian activity. Kyiv forces last month struck a Russian military training ground in Kherson, killing and wounding dozens of troops.

01:41 PM GMT

Former French president discounts EU troops fighting in Ukraine

Francois Hollande, the former French president, has discounted the idea of European troops fighting in Ukraine.

His comments come after his successor, Emmanuel Macron, generated consternation last week by refusing to rule out the dispatch of Western ground troops to combat Russias invasion.

The only possible response is to show that we are with the Ukrainians in total solidarity, that we are giving them all the support they need, without taking part in any combat ourselves, Mr Hollande said.

The two French presidents met at the Elysee Palace on Wednesday as Mr Macron urged the countrys main political parties to support providing increased support to Ukraine.

01:03 PM GMT

Pictured: Putin rides a flight simulator

Vladimir Putin tries on an aviation headset - Reuters/Mikhail Metzel

Putin admires a flight simulator - MIKHAIL METZEL/AFP

12:27 PM GMT

Woman killed in missile strike amid surge in Russian offensives

A Russian missile strike on Kharkiv killed a 40-year-old woman and left another woman injured, local police reported.

The woman died from a direct hit on her house in a residential area of Vovchansk, Kharkiv, the police chief posted on Telegram, with images from social media showing the building completely demolished.

The strike comes amid a flurry of Russian assaults in the last 24 hours, with Moscow launching 20 attacks on the Avdiivka front in a day that saw a total of 76 clashes between Moscow and Kyivs forces, Ukraine reported.

Photos by the Emergency Service of the aftermath of the Russian bomb strike on Kharkiv's Vovchansk pic.twitter.com/FzsjWvfYCy  Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) March 7, 2024

Russian forces yesterday carried out 75 airstrikes and five missile strikes in addition to launching 65 rockets, the Ukrainian armys general staff posted on social media.

In response, Ukrainian fighter jets carried out seven airstrikes on Russian troops over the course of the day, while Artillery brigades struck an ammunition storage point and four artillery systems.

Besides Avdiivka, the other principal battlegrounds are the fronts around Lyman, Bakhmut, Novopavlivka and Orikhiv in south-eastern Ukraine.

The Orikhiv sector is becoming an intense battleground, Dmytro Lykhovii, a spokesperson of the Ukrainian Tavria group forces, said. The enemy is trying to cut off the Robotyne salient in the area.

Russia last attempted a surge around Robotyne in mid-February which was repelled by Ukrainian forces, the Institute for the Study of War reported.

11:50 AM GMT

China offers to hold Ukraine peace conference

China has offered to hold an international conference to resolve the crisis in Ukraine, Ukrinform reported.

Speaking at a press conference, Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, said Beijing supports holding a peace conference at which both Russia and Ukraine are invited to discuss peace plans.

All our efforts are aimed at achieving one goal - to pave the way to the end of the armed conflict and the start of peace negotiations, Wang Yi said.

Despite Chinas purported ambitions for peace, the super powers state-owned defence firms have shipped navigation equipment, fighter jet parts and other technology to Russia that have supported Putins war effort, according to US intelligence.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian presdient, has recently expressed interest in a neutral country hosting a peace summit in the coming year, with Switzerland named as the likely candidate.

11:32 AM GMT

Pictured: Russian troops go to the polls

Russian servicemen attend voting at an improvised polling station during early voting in the Russian presidential elections in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region - AP

11:02 AM GMT

Moscow threatens US ambassador with expulsion

Moscow has summoned the US ambassador and warned her against attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the Russian Federation.

The Russian foreign ministry handed Lynne M. Tracy, the US ambassador to Moscow, a note demanding that she stop any assistance to three American NGOs recognised as undesirable in Russia, Russian state-owned news agency Tass reported.

It released a statement saying it would look out for what it called subversive actions and the spread of information related to the election and what the Kremlin calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

It added that such behaviour would be firmly and resolutely suppressed, up to and including the expulsion as persona non grata of United States Embassy staff involved in such actions.

10:06 AM GMT

Russia can fight on in Ukraine for at least two years, says Lithuania

Putin has the resources to fight on in Ukraine at the current intensity for at least two years, Lithuanian intelligence reported, in a bitter warning to the West.

High oil prices, sanctions evasion and state investment helped Russia bolster its battle-torn army last year, the report claimed, adding that Moscow is on track to expand its military capabilities along its border with Nato.

Moscow is able to evaluate the lessons learned and improve its combat effectiveness, the Lithuanian intelligence agencies said.

The agencies added that Russian intelligence is working hard to evade Western sanctions. In addition to Iran and North Korea providing arms, China has become its largest supplier of microchips and the yuan has become the main currency for Russias international transactions, Lithuanias agencies said.

09:38 AM GMT

Biden considers redirecting US army funds to support Ukraine

Joe Biden, the US president, is attempting to tap into US army funds to provide short-term assistance to Ukraine, Bloomberg reported.

Drawing on Pentagon funds would free up around $200 million in aid to Ukraine, a source familiar with the matter said.

The proposal comes as a US aid bill providing $60 billion of critical weapons and equipment to Kyiv remains tied up in Congress.

A final decision on whether to draw upon the army funds has not yet been made, Bloomberg said.

09:20 AM GMT

Five dead in Odesa attack that nearly hit Zelensky

At least five people were killed in a Russian missile strike that struck near a convoy carrying Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president.

Mr Zelensky was on his way to meet the Greek prime minister in Odesa when the missile landed very close to the president, Kyriakos Mitsotakis told reporters.

Ukraine has launched an investigation into the attack, which took place around 10.40am yesterday, and the total number of casualties is still being determined, a Ukrainian military spokesman said.

Russia MilBlogger Rybar reported that the strike was not a deliberate attempt to target Mr Zelensky, but rather a coincidence.

You see who were dealing with. They dont care where they strike, said Mr Zelensky. I know there were casualties today. I dont know all the details yet, but I know there were casualties  dead and wounded.

09:08 AM GMT

Watch: A shopping centre on fire in eastern Ukraine

A shopping centre has caught fire in Nikopol, Dnipro, after Russian shelling, Ukrainian media reported.

Footage emerged online showing a large building ablaze with flames and black smoke billowing into the air.

The fire covered an area of four thousand square metres, United24 Media said.

No casualties were reported.

 Russian troops hit one of the shopping centers in Nikopol, fire engulfed 4 thousand square meters. pic.twitter.com/jM5RQY04p4  UNITED24 Media (@United24media) March 6, 2024

08:50 AM GMT

US aid delays to set back Ukrainian counter-offensive

Ukraines plans to launch a counter-offensive this year must be pushed back due to a shortage of Western aid, a leading think tank has warned.

Delays in crucial assistance will force Ukraine to make difficult decisions over whether to go on the offensive or defend against Russias advances, the Institute for the Study of War said.

The institutes analysis comes as US congress continues to drag its feet over passing a bill that would provide around $60 billion in aid to Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that Kyiv is preparing a counter-offensive effort to start in late May or the summer, despite Russia being on the front foot at the moment, advancing around Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks.

08:29 AM GMT

Sweden joins Nato in boost to Baltic Sea security

Sweden is set to finally join Nato today, meaning that the security alliance has nearly encircled the entire Baltic Sea.

The sea is home to one of Russias fleets, as well as a key oil trading route, and has long been seen as a weak point in European defences.

The Baltic Sea becomes a Nato lake, Krisjanis Karins, Latvias foreign minister, told the Financial Times. The entire security of the region is made stronger because it makes the eastern Baltic less vulnerable.

In becoming the 32nd member of the US-led alliance, Sweden brings with it the mid-Baltic island of Gotland  dubbed a giant aircraft carrier  which makes defending Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia easier.

Russia has vowed countermeasures over Swedens entry into Nato, especially if the alliances troops and assets deploy in the country.

08:10 AM GMT

Pictured: Ukrainian combat divers train to lay mines

Ukrainian military divers ready their equipment - Kostiantyn Liberov/Getty Images

Ukrainian divers take part in a training exercise on board a dinghy - Kostiantyn Liberov/Getty Images

08:06 AM GMT

Ukraine conflict could escalate into full-scale European war, says Russia

The conflict in Ukraine could escalate into a full-scale war in Europe, a senior Russian military officer has warned.

Vladimir Zarudnitsky, the head of Russias military academy, said the probability of Moscows forces becoming involved in a new conflict is increasing significantly.

The possibility of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine - from the expansion of participants in proxy forces used for military confrontation with Russia to a large-scale war in Europe - cannot be ruled out, he told Russian state media.

The likelihood of our state being purposefully drawn into new military conflicts is significantly increasing.

General Zarudnitskys saber-rattling comes amid heightened tensions between the West and Russia following Frances president Emmanuel Macrons appeal to send EU troops to Ukraine.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Evghenia Gutul, the governor of Gagauzia, an autonomous region of Moldova, has spoken about her meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during an unannounced visit to Russia.

Source: Evghenia Gutul on her Telegram channel, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Gutul said she had discussed "complex regional and geopolitical issues" with Putin, "with the region being at the epicentre".

"I informed Vladimir Vladimirovich about the lawless actions of the authorities in Moldova, who are taking revenge on us for our civic position and loyalty to national interests," Gutul said, alleging violations of "legal rights" and "destabilisation in Gagauzia and the whole country".

She added that Putin had "promised to support Gagauzia and the Gagauz people in defending our legitimate rights, powers and positions in the international arena".

Evghenia Gutul was sworn in as the Baskan (Governor) of Gagauzia in July 2023. The official ceremony was held with numerous breaches of procedure, and neither Irina Vlah, Gutul's predecessor, nor the Moldovan leadership were present.

Gutul, who has been in Russia since at least 1 March, has met with Valentina Matviyenko, Head of the Federation Council (the upper house of the Russian parliament) to ask for "help" from Moscow.



Support UP or become our patron!
Queen Camilla with the winners and celebrity readers at a presentation for the BBC's 500 Words competition

Queen Camilla has praised a group of young prize-winning writers for their talents as she announced the winners of the BBC's 500 Words competition.

The contest had been on hiatus for three years and 44,000 entries were sent this year.

The Queen praised the young writers for their ability to "conjure magic with your pens" and said it was "a huge pleasure" to have the competition back.

The winners were announced on The One Show on World Book Day.

Entrants were split into two age categories - five to seven-year-olds and eight to 11-year-olds - with the Queen presenting gold, silver, and bronze awards to the winners.

The young finalists had their entries read in the Buckingham Palace ballroom by a group of celebrities who included actors Tom Hiddleston, Luke Evans and Hugh Bonneville.

"In the three years that we have been without this wonderful competition, I think we have realised how much we have missed it," she said during her speech.

"You are here for the same reason that geniuses like Quentin Blake and Julia Donaldson were invited to the Palace - because each one of you is a brilliant writer, with the power to conjure magic with your pens and lead us on escapades with your keyboards."

Queen Camilla at a podium for the BBC's 500 Words competition

She said that since the competition was held, half a billion words have "been typed typed, scribbled and tumbled onto thousands of pages by children across the UK", read by volunteers and sent to Oxford University Press to form the biggest collection of children's writing in the world.

"That means that between you, you have created more than a million stories of thought-provoking adventure for future generations to study and enjoy. Thank you to everybody who has taken part in 500 Words - it is a huge pleasure to have you back."

The Queen is a patron of a number of literary organisations and has been supporting the children's writing competition since 2015.

The competition was first launched in 2011 by Chris Evans on BBC Radio 2's breakfast show in 2011, the popular UK-wide contest continued with his successor Zoe Ball until 2020.
ST. LOUIS  A Washington, Missouri, man is awaiting trial for the rape of an autistic woman.

According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Departments probable cause statement, the rape occurred on Sept. 11, 2022, in the citys Northampton neighborhood.

Police claim Waylon Poggas, 20, met a 19-year-old woman at a mall and began communicating via Instagram afterward. At one point, the woman asked Poggas if she could come over, and Poggas sent an Uber to pick her up and bring her to his residence in the 3300 block of Regal Place.

After she arrived, they watched television until Poggas told her to undress. The woman said no multiple times, and Poggas threatened to not give her a ride home.

Close

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Daily News

The woman told police she had no money, her phone wasnt working, and she had no other way to get home.

Police claim Poggas removed the victims clothes and had nonconsensual contact with her. He again attempted to have sex with the woman, and again she told him no. Poggas disregarded that and forced himself on her while threatening not to get her a ride home.

Eventually, Poggas stopped and called the victim an Uber to go home.

The St. Louis Circuit Attorneys Office charged Poggas with second-degree rape and second-degree sexual abuse. He remains jailed without bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
Ffion says security staff witnessed a lot of abuse from her then boyfriend and should have intervened

A sexual violence survivor says if university staff had been specially trained, she may not have been raped.

Campaigners and experts believe universities are not keeping an adequate record of the widespread level of sexual violence.

They said this data was vital to provide adequate support and services.

A three-month BBC investigation has revealed that fewer than half of UK universities could provide up-to-date sexual misconduct data.

Freedom of Information requests (FOI) to all 142 public universities showed that they categorise these reports in different ways. Some use sexual misconduct as an umbrella term, while others had more specific labels like rape, sexual assault and harassment.

In Wales' eight universities, more than 1,000 reports of sexual misconduct were recorded in the past six years.

But many people choose not to report and so are not reflected in this FOI data.

One of the people who is not included in the figures is Ffion, whose name we have changed to protect her identity.

When the 25-year-old began studying at Swansea in 2017 she said she felt isolated and began dating another student who physically and emotionally abused her, and then raped her.

Ffion said accommodation security witnessed behaviour from her boyfriend which should have led them to act, such as "trashing" her room regularly and "threatening suicide" when she tried to break up with him.

Ffion says she wants to prevent others from experiencing what she did

She said: "I think if the security staff were taught about bystander training, I think that would have made a difference - there would have been help at recognising the signs."

Bystander training teaches people to spot unacceptable behaviour and intervene in a safe way to prevent violence.

"Intervention should have started earlier from when he was physically abusive and I think that would have prevented me staying with him and possibly would have prevented him from having sex with me without my consent," she said.

Ffion told a lecturer about her experience in 2020 when studying for a Masters. He "was very supportive" but did not signpost her to any available resources.

She made a police report, but they were unable to take her case forward. Instead she was referred to specialist support.

Swansea University said it took "all allegations of sexual assault seriously and has robust processes in place".

It added that security personnel were "identified as key staff members" who interacted with students and so "are trained as bystanders and mental first aid trainers to be able to recognise signs of distress and provide appropriate support".

It is implementing the recommendations of a review into its handling of sexual misconduct and is seeking to drive culture change through the delivery of bystander intervention and consent training

Why is there so little data?

BBC Wales sent all 142 public UK universities FOI requests asking how many reports of sexual misconduct they have had from 2013 to 2023. A total of 42 did not respond, 33 refused and 67 were able to provide only partial data.

Several of the universities had deleted information after a certain period of time in line with their data retention policy.

For example, the University of South Wales said it did not hold sexual misconduct data before 2017/18 as it was deleted six years after the last action on the case.

Rhian Bowen Davies, the Welsh government's former national adviser for violence against women, said there should be a "requirement on universities to regularly, consistently collate data".

Rhian Bowen Davies is concerned universities are using low reported numbers as a "smokescreen"

Ms Bowen Davies said: "Without knowing the extent of the issue, how do we develop services and responses that best meet the needs of survivors and hold the perpetrators of these offences accountable?"

She said she questioned how willing universities were to understand the extent of the issue as the results may affect their business.

Her views were echoed by Prof Rachel Fenton, a law academic at the University of Exeter, who presented her research to the cross-party Equality and Social Justice Committee in the Senedd - Welsh Parliament.

She said: "Universities are acting very autonomously and the experience for female students is qualitatively different depending on where they go."

Prof Fenton said students were particularly vulnerable to sexual violence for a "whole host of reasons", such as being away from home and forming new relationships.

She said we cannot expect students "living away from home for the first time to necessarily know how to navigate the systems that are in place".

Hannah, which is not her real name, is studying at Aberystwyth University and said she was "dismissed" by her academic tutor when she was sexually assaulted twice by another student.

She said the academic did not help her get an extension for coursework, and nor was she referred to the university reporting system.

The 23-year-old decided not to report it to police but did disclose it to the university's reporting system after another student told her about the service.

She said the system was helpful and staff were kind.

"The teachers, and especially the personal tutors that each student is assigned, should have training in how to respond to it - know this is the help that they can give, know they can be a support for the students."

Hannah says she was "dismissed" by her academic tutor when she told them about being assaulted twice

She said this could "make a huge difference."

Aberystwyth University said it had "an accessible reporting system, Report and Support", managed by an anti-harassment and violence team and sexual violence liaison officers.

An independent sexual violence adviser has also been recruited, the university said, and it wanted to ensure "effective, swift and compassionate care".

Universities can delete data

The results of the 142 FOI requests show that three universities publish data online every few years.

Retention policies mean universities can delete data after a certain period of time, which several gave as reasons they could not respond.

Some universities refused because they said low reported numbers could identify individuals.

Others provided partial data, but for years where there were fewer than five reports, they refused to give exact numbers.

Some said they would have to manually go through student files as they did not hold the number of reports in one accessible database, which would exceed the 18-hour time limit for answering FOI requests.

Ms Bowen Davies questioned whether these refusals were a "smokescreen" to avoid providing information which could impact them as businesses.

Emily Carr, 23, who previously shared her experience of sexual violence, is a member of the student-led campaign Time To Act Cardiff.

She said universities should be "mandated" to provide the number of sexual violence reports annually to "a national database which is controlled by an independent body".

Emily Carr says knowing the numbers are vital if universities are going to change

"Universities have to declare their finances but they don't have to declare when they have potential rapists they are bringing into society.

"Numbers aren't everything, but when you're coming up against these multimillion-pound institutions, unfortunately there is a reliance upon numbers."

Ms Carr said the campaign group had been contacted by students across the UK concerned about their universities.

"Everyone benefits when survivors win," she said.

Jo Grady, University and College Union (UCU) general secretary, said one in 10 staff experienced sexual violence, in addition to students.

"This shows a shocking level of institutional failure," she said. For bystander training to work "it must be properly resourced and part of a wider systemic change," she added.

The Welsh government said it expected students to be able to pursue their studies free from harassment, discrimination or victimisation.

It added that specific incidents were a matter for each university as they were independent of government.

Universities Wales said "while progress has been made" it knows "there is more to do" and said it "will continue" work within the sector to make sure students and staff have the "experience they deserve".

If you or someone you know has been affected by the issues raised in this report, you can find information about the support available at BBC Action Line.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is seeking to remove Ray County Sheriff Scott Childers from office, alleging he wrongfully allowed prisoners to leave jail, perform work for friends and acquaintances and smuggle in drugs, alcohol and other contraband.

The Missouri Attorney Generals Office on Wednesday filed a petition for quo warranto  essentially a lawsuit seeking Childers removal  in Ray County Circuit Court on Wednesday. A judge later ordered Childers relieved of duties, though its unclear from court documents which judge issued the order.

The petition, signed by Assistant Attorney General Ted Bruce, says Ray County residents who are crime victims have been subject to needless fear and emotional distress upon seeing the perpetrators of their crimes out of jail and freely walking in public.

Respondent has allowed these detainees to drive vehicles, make purchases at local stores, leave the State of Missouri, and generally move about Ray County without proper supervision, the petition says.

Calls to a phone number for Childers and to the Ray County Sheriffs Office werent immediately answered on Thursday.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The Stars Bill Lukitsch and Kacen Bayless contributed reporting
HENRIETTA, Mo.  The Ray County, Missouri, sheriff has been removed from office after a court order this week.

Multiple law enforcement officers were on scene Thursday at the Ray County Sheriffs Office and Courthouse.

Inmates escape highlights Ray County Jail deficiencies, sheriff says

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a civil suit Wednesday after Ray County Sheriff Scott Childers, alleging the sheriff knowingly allows detainees to leave the county jail.

I will always work to protect Missourians, Bailey said in a statement Thursday. As attorney general, it is my duty to hold accountable those who refuse to do their job as required by Missouri law. To that end, I am moving for the removal of the Ray County sheriff.

The lawsuit says Ray County judicial and elected officials have informed Childers that this is illegal, but Bailey alleges the sheriff continues to release inmates.

Baileys suit also accuses Childers of inappropriately using inmates to work on his and his friends properties  including people who have contributed to his campaign. The lawsuit says the sheriff has even posted about it on social media.

Wyandotte County director discusses comments made on recent podcast

The lawsuit alleges during this time, the inmates are unsupervised, driving around the county and even making purchases at local stores.

Childers has also not taken any steps to make sure the inmates havent obtained any contraband while out of confinement, according to the lawsuit. Its led to drugs, alcohol and cellphones inside the jail.

Since July 2021, Childers has been telling FOX4 about the issues with the county jail. Its why he wanted voters to pass a sales tax to fund a new building. That vote failed.

County commissioners have agreed the jail has been a big issue for many years and need to be addressed.

Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android

The Ray County Circuit Court ruled in favor of Baileys request to remove Childers from office, but he will have 10 days to file a petition.

Pending further court orders, Childers is not allowed to engaging in any activity as the Ray County sheriff or enter the sheriffs office, courthouse or jail.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Haiti is descending into chaos. It is a surprisingly long road, which the country is taking step by step, sometimes slowly, sometimes at a faster pace. The past week has been one of the more accelerated ones. In the space of a few days, Haitians have witnessed the escape of more than 3,000 prisoners from various jails, attacks on the airport of the capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as gun battles between the military, police, and gangsters. Among all this, the eye-catching press conferences held by one of the most media-friendly criminal leaders of recent years: Jimmy Cherizier, alias Barbecue, now an aspiring guerrilla commander.

On Tuesday, Cherizier attended to the press in Delmas 6, a neighborhood not far from downtown Port-au-Prince. He did so as if he were an activist for change, master of a markedly political discourse. Over his clothes, however, he wore a bulletproof vest and, slung over his shoulder, he carried an AK-47-type rifle with a double magazine. Next to him, as advisors, two boys with their faces covered were carrying machine guns. All this took place with Port-au-Prince turned upside down due to the running battles of recent days, half-pending the state of emergency decreed by the government.

It was one of the images of the week in Haiti: while the prime minister and acting head of government, Ariel Henry, was looking for a way to return to the country after a trip overseas, Barbecue  accused of carrying out massacres in the capital in recent years  played the role of the opposition. He criticized Henry, as he has done many times over the years: If Henry does not resign, if the international community continues to support him, we are heading for a civil war, which will lead to genocide.

Barbecue (right) in Delmas 6, a neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, this Tuesday. Ralph Tedy Erol (Reuters)

Not that Cheriziers statements came as a surprise. Within the complex universe of criminal groups that hold sway over more than half of the capital, according to the United Nations, the federation he heads, G-9 Family and Friends, is one of the most powerful. Its voice has appeared with some assiduity in the media over the years, in interviews and impromptu press conferences in the neighborhoods it dominates, near downtown and the port terminal. More surprising, however, is the tone of the threats directed at Henry after the chaos of the previous week, with prison break-outs and battles in the streets.

The situation is gradually worsening in the Caribbean country. All its crises are becoming entangled. About 1,200 people have been killed since the beginning of the year, according to the U.N. Henrys own situation shows how precarious it all is. Last week, the prime minister, who has been in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021, traveled to Nairobi, to try to give a final push to a cooperation agreement with the Kenyan government that would involve sending 1,000 policemen to Haiti, with the financial support of the United States and Canada. The agreement seemed to finally be close to fruition.

But then the latest battle for Port-au-Prince began. It is not clear which of the dozens of gangs that roam freely in the capital participated in the assault on the prisons, or whether Cherizier himself led the attack. What is certain that he later claimed responsibility, again occupying the role of guerrilla leader. Barbecue had no qualms in saying that his intention was to capture the head of the Haitian police, Frantz Elbe, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing Henrys government.

Henry made his way back, but his return trip was equally chaotic. The prime minister boarded a plane in Nairobi, bound for Port-au-Prince, but landed in Puerto Rico instead. The riots at the capitals airport made his landing impossible. It was curious that Henry did not divert to the Dominican Republic, Haitis neighbor, but on Wednesday, the Dominican government said that it could not allow the prime ministers plane to make an indefinite stopover in the country. The response fueled the long history of friction between the two nations, always with the border at the center of the dispute.

The instability makes it difficult to foresee the development of events in the medium term, or even in the short term. The Miami Herald reported the U.S. government and Caricom, the organization of Caribbean States, are trying to force Henry out of government in an attempt to channel the discontent of sections of Haitian society. The calling of elections and the arrival of a mission to support the countrys security forces have been put forward as the main points of any path to future stability.
Reacher season three has added four new cast members, including Expats star Brian Tee.

According to Variety, the actor will play a "physically imposing and intimidating" lieutenant colonel named Quinn, who Alan Ritchson's titular character Jack Reacher investigated years ago.

Tee is perhaps best known for his role as Dr Ethan Choi on NBC medical drama Chicago Med - which he starred in from 2015 to 2022 - while he recently appeared opposite Nicole Kidman in Prime Video's limited series Expats.

CHARLY TRIBALLEAU - Getty Images

Related: Reacher star's new movie lands fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating after first reviews

Joining Tee in Reacher's upcoming third season is Dog Gone actor Johnny Berchtold, who will play college student Richard Beck.

Richard is the son of formidable businessman Zachary Beck, played by recently announced cast member Anthony Michael Hall.

Meanwhile, Roberto Montesinos has been cast as DEA agent Guillermo Villanueva, who is "on the verge of retirement" and serves as a "mentor/father figure" to fellow agent and newcomer Susan Duffy (Sonya Cassidy).

Finally, For All Mankind's Daniel David Stewart takes on the role of Steven Elliot, described as "a rookie DEA agent who is fresh-faced and new to the job".

Prime Video

Related: Reacher star Alan Ritchson explains why he missed out on Thor role

Filming for season three is currently underway, with Ritchson recently teasing that it's taking place in Maine.

Taking to Instagram, the actor posted a photo of a lobster  which Maine is known for  along with the caption: "Details matter season 3 of Reacher... especially at crafty."

This appears to suggest the upcoming season is based on Lee Child's seventh Jack Reacher novel, Persuader, which is set in Maine.

"Ten years ago, a key investigation went sour and someone got away with murder. Now a chance encounter brings it all back. Now Reacher sees his one last shot," the book's synopsis reads. "Some would call it vengeance. Some would call it redemption. Reacher would call it... justice."

Reacher streams on Prime Video.

You Might Also Like
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner speaks during a news conference after the first practice session at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, March 7, 2024. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be held on Saturday, March 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

The Red Bull Racing Formula 1 employee whose complaint sparked an investigation into alleged misconduct by team principal Christian Horner has been suspended, a person with information on the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The person requested anonymity because Red Bull hasn't revealed details of the investigation.

Red Bull Racing's parent company didnt immediately answer a request seeking comment.

Last week, the teams parent company dismissed a complaint of alleged misconduct by Horner toward a team employee. At the time, the company said the employee had a right of appeal.

Horner declined to comment on the suspension Thursday when he spoke at a news conference in Jeddah ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend.

Im afraid that I cant comment on anything thats confidential between an employee and the company, so I cant offer you anything on that," he said.

A day after the complaint was dismissed, a file alleged to contain evidence against Horner was emailed to nearly 200 people in the F1 paddock, including Liberty Media, F1, the FIA, the other nine team principals and multiple media outlets. That occurred during practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The authenticity of the files has not been verified by the AP; the file came from a generic email account.

Also Thursday, Horner expressed confidence that champion driver Max Verstappen would not leave Red Bull. That followed criticism of Horner from Verstappen's father, Jos, who warned last week the team would explode if Horner stayed in his post, in comments to The Daily Mail. Verstappen said Wednesday that his father was not a liar, but the Dutch driver also indicated he had no reason to leave the team where he has won his three titles.

Asked if Verstappen would see out his Red Bull contract, Horner said: Im certain that he will. Hes got a great team around him, hes got great faith in that team and weve achieved an awful lot together, so hes committed to an agreement till 2028. We know from the teams side, from Maxs side that were determined to build on the success that weve achieved already.

Horner added that discussions were held following Verstappen's victory at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix last week, but he didn't give details.

I spoke to Jos following the Grand Prix and obviously congratulated him on his sons performance, and I think its in everybodys interests collectively that weve agreed to move on, to focus on the future, Horner said.

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Since rebranding itself in 2020, Reform UK has become a formidable force on the political scene

Founded in 2021 as a relaunch of the Brexit Party, Reform UK has surged to as high as 14 percentage points in the opinion polls and is costing the Conservatives significant support among voters on the political Right.

Richard Tice and Nigel Farage announced the Brexit Party would become Reform on November 1, 2020 in an article for The Telegraph published at the start of the second Covid lockdown.

Mr Tice and Mr Farage used the joint article to declare lockdowns dont work and instead advocated a policy of focused protection for the most vulnerable. They also called for sweeping reform of major institutions beyond the pandemic.

In March 2021 Mr Farage, who had led the Brexit Party for the previous two years, resigned from frontline politics and handed the reins over to Mr Tice, who remains Reforms leader.

Reform stood candidates at the London Assembly, Scottish Parliament and Senedd elections in 2021. Though failing to pick up any seats, the party gathered just over 42,500 supporters across all three elections.

The same year it won two council seats in the local elections, both in Derby.

The partys backing in the polls remained largely static throughout 2021, averaging around three percentage points, although it had risen to an average of six per cent by the end of 2022 amid growing public frustration with the Conservative Party in the wake of the deposition of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

Mr Tices fortunes improved vastly during 2023 and the early months of 2024, with average support for Reform almost doubling from six per cent in January 2023 to 10.1 per cent at the start of March.

The rise of Reform can be attributed to a combination of the partys policy offer and fortuitous circumstances.

On the economic front, it has promised sweeping cuts to levies including corporation tax and inheritance tax at a time when Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are overseeing the countrys highest tax burden since the Second World War, with a further peak projected later this decade.

Despite successive Conservative governments promising to cut immigration, net migration reached record levels in 2022 and Mr Tice has cited this betrayal by the Tory government of its past manifesto pledges as a driving force behind his partys success.

Research from the More in Common think tank in February 2022 found that immigration was the main reason 2019 Tory voters were defecting to Reform, with around one in five of those who backed Boris Johnson and his party at the last election expected to support Mr Tice.

Reforms promises on border control include net zero immigration, leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)  a demand made by many Tory backbenchers, and a popular idea among the partys grassroots  and declaring illegal immigration as a national security threat.

Mr Tice has also vowed to abolish the Governments flagship net zero targets, claiming that the green push is doing more damage to the British economy than anything else.

There was a further bounce in support for Reform following Mr Sunaks November reshuffle, in which Suella Braverman was sacked as Home Secretary over her criticism of pro-Palestinian protests, which she dubbed hate marches.

The same reshuffle took Westminster by surprise with the return of Lord Cameron as the new Foreign Secretary, a move that angered many on the Tory Right as the former prime minister is widely perceived to be on the liberal wing of the party.

Mr Tice told GB News at the time: The truth is our server has almost exploded with fury at whats happened today with the return of David Cameron. Lets remember this is the gentleman who campaigned against Brexit, and almost everything he did on foreign policy was wrong.

Mr Tice recently reinstated the Brexit party as a Reform slogan, recalling the populist appeal of its precursor, led by Mr Farage.

As a result of its outflanking of the Conservatives on the Right in many policy areas and channelling the disillusionment of traditional Tories with its rhetoric, the party may well have an even greater impact at the next general election than in 2019, when it stood aside from seats held by Mr Johnsons Tory candidates.

Now commanding the support of around one in ten voters, the party could block Mr Sunak from winning in dozens of seats he may otherwise retain.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
(FOX40.COM)  Over the last week CAL FIRE units across the Sacramento region have conducted training in areas like high-angle rope rescue, water rescue and structural firefighting.

Firefighters with the Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit and Placer County Fire completed a four session training on:

 Structural and commercial firefighting drills

 Fireground command

 Hazardous materials response

 EMS recertifications

 Rope rescue training

CAL FIRE newest C-130s almost ready to start fighting wildfires

Training was carried out at the Roseville Training Tower, Grass Valley Training Tower and the Auburn Training Center.

Many thanks to Sierra College, Roseville FD, and all of our cadre members who made this important training possible., said Fire Chief Brian Estes.

CAL FIRE AEU

CAL FIRE Butte

CAL FIRE NEU

CAL FIRE NEU

CAL FIRE NEU

CAL FIRE NEU

Further north in Butte County, CAL FIRE/Butte County Fire Technical Rescue Team went to Magalia, north of Paradise, to conduct high-angle rope rescue training.

Such exercises are vital for ensuring the ongoing proficiency of our first responders in safeguarding the citizens of Butte County, the fire agency wrote in a news release.

Former professor pleads guilty to starting wildland fires near firefighting crews

Closer to the Sacramento Area, firefighters with the Amador-El Dorado Unit underwent an eight-hour course on first responder river and flood rescue.

The training was conducted along the Mokelumne River in Amador County where teams had hands-on training focused on water rescue fundamentals, shore-based rescue techniques, and the command and control of river and flood emergencies.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) Local and area high school students interested in discovering the nursing field are invited to participate in the Angelo State University Summer Nursing Discovery Camp 9.0 from June 9 through June 14.

The universitys Department of Nursing will host the camp for students entering 9th grade in August.

During the camp, instructors and supervisors made up of ASU nursing faculty, staff and students will lead and interact with students. Students who attend will be housed in ASUs award-winning Plaza Verde residence hall and meals will be provided and served in The Caf, according to ASU.

ASU Handball Club brings home three national titles

Campers will get the chance to:

Learn from ASU nursing faculty and students.

Interact with practicing RNs and other healthcare professionals.

Explore nursing and patient-care skills.

Interact with state-of-the-art human patient simulators.

Participate in virtual anatomy lab dissections.

Complete CPR and First Aid training.

Activities during the Summer Nursing Discovery Camp will include:

Rock-wall climbing and swimming

Game and movie nights

Recreation and social time

Prep for a successful 9th-grade year

ASU shared that the cost for the camp is $425 per student. This cost includes tuition and fees, housing meals and swag. Registration is required and will end on May 1. For more information about this camp or to register, visit the ASU website.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ConchoValleyHomepage.com.
President Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society general president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, addresses the European Union Parliament in anticipation of International Womens Day in Brussels on Monday, March 4, 2024. President Johnson offered remarks titled, Empowering Womens Freedom of Religion and Belief.

In front of the European Union Parliament last week, President Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society general president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, invited leaders to consider what could happen if every woman felt empowered within her sphere of influence to live out the full measure of her special gifts and propensities for nurture, care, healing, teaching and leading.

President Johnson delivered a keynote address titled, Empowering Womens Freedom of Religion and Belief.

Speaking from her capacity as the leader of one of the worlds largest and oldest womens organizations, President Johnson said shes seen firsthand what can happen when nearly 8 million women are united in faith and are able to live out their religious beliefs. I have seen women elevate one another in the midst of poverty. I have seen women care for, feed and nurture children who are not their own. I have seen women stand to protect others from the ravages of war.

Just a few days prior to her Brussels visit, President Johnson spoke with the Deseret News and expressed her hope to convey to the EU Parliament that the grassroots efforts of the Relief Society, where we bless not just our members but others in our community, are because we have the freedom of belief.

The conversation took place in President Johnsons office across from the Salt Lake Temple. On her desk is a statue of the Prophet Joseph Smith and Emma Smith, and her bookshelves alternate between a variety of gospel-related titles and various historical tokens of past Relief Society figures. She sat at a nearby table with Minerva Teicherts Christ in a Red Robe behind her. The original, when not on display, hangs downstairs welcoming visitors to the Relief Society Building.

President Johnson spoke in anticipation of the 182nd anniversary of the Relief Society. The Church of Jesus Christ will have a worldwide devotional on March 17 with messages from the faiths prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, and the Relief Society general presidency, including President Johnson and Sisters J. Anette Dennis and Kristin M. Yee.

The Church also announced this week the purchase of the Red Brick Store, the Nauvoo, Illinois building where the Relief Society was first organized on March 17, 1842. At that first meeting Emma Smith, the first general president of the Relief Society, said We are going to do something extraordinary ... we expect extraordinary occasions and pressing calls.

President Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society general president, shows a copy of the Book of Mormon that she is reading in her office in the Relief Society Building in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024.

The quote is a favorite of President Johnsons. One of those pressing calls, she said, is to bless the lives of women and children around the world.

182 years of the Relief Society and our objective hasnt changed, President Johnson said. Were still looking for extraordinary occasions and pressing calls and were still providing the Saviors relief.

The Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ is helping do that through specific initiatives and programs, she said, including maternal and neonatal care, child nutrition, immunizations and education for children worldwide.

In her office, President Johnson picked up a bright, colorful bowl from her desk. She has it from her nine-day trip with UNICEF to northern Uganda  the distinct privilege of a lifetime. The Church of Jesus Christ and UNICEF have a longstanding humanitarian partnership. Together the organizations have collaborated on efforts to provide more than 115,000 refugee children with better educational opportunities. And in recent years the Church has donated tens of millions of dollars to UNICEF and others organizations to alleviate food insecurity and decrease maternal and neonatal mortality.

President Johnson went to Uganda to see the distribution of a ready-to-use therapeutic food made out of peanuts, milk powder, vitamins, oil and minerals. All across the world, UNICEF distributes this food to malnourished children. From her vantage point, President Johnson said she can see those extraordinary occasions and pressing calls close at home and around the world.

But I know that whats happening is a one-by-one effort.

Women the world over respond in their own grassroots actions, just as the way the Savior served and loved and took care of people one at a time.

President Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society general president, poses for a portrait in her office in the Relief Society Building in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024.

Our sisters, from my perspective, are finding hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ and knowing that when theyre engaged in service to others, when theyre providing that relief that has been critical to the formation and foundation of the Relief Society from the very beginning, that they will find their own relief in Jesus Christ, President Johnson said.

President Johnson emphasized that every sister in the Relief Society is needed no matter what point of life they are at.

Therell be seasons and times in our lives when we have to exercise our executive ability. We have responsibilities in that regard, President Johnson said. Sometimes theres seasons in our lives where nurturing is the most important skill, the most important natural attribute that we need to employ. And it doesnt have to be all those things at once.

President Johnson practiced law for nearly 30 years at the law firm of Snow, Christensen & Martineau eventually serving as the firms president. Shes the mother of three children and served alongside her husband Douglas Johnson who was called as a mission president in the Peru Arequipa Mission.

Referencing President Nelsons 2015 general conference talk A Plea to My Sisters, she invited women to pick a gift whether it be teaching their children or defending the family or cultivating leadership abilities and then decide how youre going to employ that attribute to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Savior.

If women feel discouraged during this process, President Johnson said, we keep moving the ball forward by doing the things that we know bring us peace, that bring us happiness, that bring us hope and that keep us in touch with the Spirit.

While walking the halls of the Relief Society Building, which also houses offices for the Primary and Young Women general presidencies, President Johnson stopped by a display of ornate porcelain dishes. She then spoke energetically about how women from around the world donated these, and many other keepsakes, to aid in the construction of the building.

The donations symbolized one message President Johnson shares as she is traveling: every sister is necessary.

President Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society general president, shows donated porcelain figurines in the Relief Society Building in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. Lots of small donations helped fund the building of the Relief Society Building.

When she asked President Nelson what message he would like her to share to the sisters around the world, she said, he responded: Please tell them that theyre loved, please tell them that theyre precious and please tell them that they are necessary.

Part of the beauty of the Relief Society, she continued, is that women from all walks of life  single, widows, married with children  come together bound by covenants to help each other draw closer to Jesus Christ and take care of each other.

Theres this unity of purpose, this sisterhood that happens when we come together, President Johnson said. Respecting one anothers differences, celebrating those differences in life status and saying how we can help and love and serve one another is what helps the Relief Society bloom.

Standing before the EU Parliament she told these political leaders that when women feel empowered to live their religion and express their conscience in private and public life, the whole world benefits from their inspired actions.

It may be that theyre caring for an elderly parent. Youre part of a global cause because youre helping someone in need. Youre caring for those in need. It may be that youre teaching a refugee child how to read, or maybe the refugee childs mother who doesnt know how to get to the grocery store. Youre part of the global cause, President Johnson said.

Sometimes the relief women will bring to the world will be temporal and other times itll be spiritual. But at all times, were acting as the Saviors hands and his feet, his lips, his ears, President Johnson said. We are all family. When President Johnson speaks to people who arent familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ, she always makes an effort to explain that Latter-day Saints refer to each other as brother and sister.

President Johnson recalled an instance when Emmeline B. Wells, the fifth general president of the Relief Society was asked to start a grain program growing and storing wheat. It proved to be a huge blessing to those sisters  sisters uniting around a common cause, an extraordinary occasion and pressing call.

President Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society general president, poses for a portrait in the Relief Society Building in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024.

Not only did the wheat bless the Relief Society sisters, President Johnson said they were able to give it to the survivors of an earthquake in San Francisco and later sell some of it to the U.S. government when wheat was scarce. The wheat program later became part of the Church of Jesus Christs welfare program. The exterior of the Relief Society building has golden wheat adornments as a reminder of this.

Now just think about this for a minute, President Johnson said, We started humbly gleaning wheat, storing wheat, raising wheat. The sisters rolled up their sleeves as part of a global effort to bless lives.

And now look where weve come.

In the words of President Johnson before the EU Parliament in Brussels the Relief Society has helped sparked a global sisterhood.
Rep. Ilhan Omar didn't vote in Minnesota's presidential primary this week. But she told Politico that she understood where the scores of voters were coming from when they marked their ballots "uncommitted" on Tuesday.

Nearly 46,000 Minnesotans voted that way, many to protest President Joe Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war, which has seen massive civilian casualties. Progressive activists originally set a goal of earning about 5,000 votes in the uncommitted column before blowing past that figure.

"People are angry and frustrated and sad. They want the president to change his policies," Omar told Politico. "They've tried marching. They've tried writing letters. They've tried calling and now they're using their voice at the ballot box."

The uncommitted movement originated in Michigan, where more than 100,000 citizens cast such a ballot, representing about 13% of the turnout in the Democratic contest. Here in Minnesota, the share of uncommitted voters represented about 19% of turnout in the DFL's presidential primary.

Omar's Democratic colleague in the Minnesota delegation, U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, dropped out of the presidential race after earning 8% of the primary vote in his home state. Phillips endorsed Biden soon after.
WASHINGTON  Instead of impeaching President Joe Biden, Republicans may settle for telling the Justice Department to prosecute his son.

House oversight committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.), who has led Republicans investigation of Bidens alleged involvement in his son Hunters foreign business deals, suggested Wednesday that the end result of the probe would be criminal referrals to the Justice Department, not the toppling of a president.

The purpose of this investigation was to get the truth to the American people and then hold people accountable for wrongdoing, Comer said on Fox News.

Were gonna do what we can to hold them accountable, Comer continued. At the end of the day, what does accountability look like? It looks like criminal referrals. It looks like referring people to the Department of Justice.

Since launching the investigation last year, Comer has repeatedly said that his committee would refer the presidents son, Hunter Biden, for prosecution by the Justice Department. Hes also said he would draft legislation addressing influence-peddling by presidential family members.

But even before Republicans formally voted to make Comers investigation an impeachment inquiry in December, it was clear that impeachment was their ultimate prize  payback for the two impeachments Democrats lodged against former President Donald Trump.

As Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) put it last month: You got Joe, and then you got Donald Trump, and then Joe says, Donald, youve been impeached twice, man, youre a bad, bad hombre. And then Donald says, Joe, youve been impeached once, if you can remember.

The facts of the case, however, havent cooperated with Republicans plans, and a vote on articles of impeachment against Biden seems unlikely due to skepticism from a number of GOP lawmakers.

Comer and House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) have sifted through thousands of pages of bank records and conducted hours of witness interviews without turning up evidence that Joe Biden participated in his sons deals with foreign nationals from Ukraine, China, Romania and Kazakhstan.

Former partners of Hunter Bidens have said he talked to his father daily and would occasionally put him on speakerphone in the company of their business associates, but the older Biden only offered pleasantries and didnt talk shop. Witness after witness have said they never saw the then-vice president involve himself directly in his sons work, though some said Hunter Biden used his famous last name to open doors.

Republicans also pursued an allegation from an FBI informant who said a Ukrainian oligarch talked about bribing Biden  until the Justice Department arrested the informant last month and accused him of making the whole thing up.

On Thursday, Comer insisted his goal was never to impeach the president.

I had told you a gazillion times: The goal of the investigation is to get the truth to the American people and to pass and influence-peddling legislation, the Kentucky Republican told a reporter at the Capitol.

Comer ignored a question about his plans for a Justice Department referral for Hunter Biden. He previously said he would recommend charging the presidents son for as many as ten criminal violations, including money laundering, wire fraud, racketeering, transporting prostitutes across state lines and failing to register as a foreign agent.

The Justice Department has been investigating Hunter Biden for years, including for some of the same crimes Comer mentioned. Prosecutors have already charged Biden for failing to pay his taxes on time and for illegally owning a gun when he was addicted to crack cocaine in 2018, and theyve said more charges are possible. Many of the former Hunter Biden associates Republicans have interviewed have also been previously interviewed by the FBI.

When the House or Senate or a congressional committee refers someone to the Justice Department for prosecution, the referral basically amounts to a non-binding suggestion  one that the department is likely to ignore when it comes from the political party that opposes the president.

Comer told Fox News that if the Biden administration wont prosecute Hunter Biden more aggressively, maybe a future Trump administration will. (Nevermind that the prosecutor overseeing the Biden case, David Weiss, was appointed by Trump, left in his position, and was later elevated to special counsel status by Attorney General Merrick Garland so that he could finish the job.)

If Merrick Garlands Department of Justice wont take any potential criminal referrals seriously, then maybe the next president with a new attorney general will, Comer said.

Related...
Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida filed an election interference complaint Wednesday against Jack Smith, accusing the Special Counsel of conducting a "witch hunt" against former President Donald Trump, while arguing Smith's efforts "to speed up the trial" violate federal law. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

March 6 (UPI) -- Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida filed an election interference complaint Wednesday against Jack Smith, accusing the special counsel of conducting a "witch hunt" against former President Donald Trump.

Gaetz filed the complaint in a letter to Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz, arguing that Smith's actions to expedite the Trump case violate federal law.

"The witch hunt against President Trump by Attorney General Garland and Special Counsel Smith is a partisan exercise, and the American people know it," Gaetz wrote.

"The actions of the Special Counsel Smith to speed up the trial against President Trump violate the DOJ's rules and the law. His public comments and his office's briefs before the Supreme Court demonstrate that he has no reason for his actions other than to unlawfully interfere in the 2024 presidential election," Gaetz added.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to four charges of orchestrating an alleged "criminal scheme" to overturn the 2020 election results. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Trump's presidential immunity claim in the case with oral arguments scheduled to begin April 25.

Special Counsel Jack Smith has not responded to a complaint filed Wednesday by Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz requesting an investigation by Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz into alleged election interference. File photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

Smith -- who has not responded to the complaint -- requested the Supreme Court quickly take up the immunity question in December, but that was rejected. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled against the immunity claim before the Supreme Court agreed last month to take up the issue.

"Were there a legitimate, non-election related purpose for this request, these attorneys, who have filed in appeals courts many times, would have listed such," Gaetz said.

Michael Horowitz, Inspector General of the Department of Justice, has not responded to a request by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to investigate Special Counsel Jack Smith for allegedly trying to "speed up the trial against President Trump" before the November 2024 election. File pool photo by Graeme Jennings/UPI

"There can only be one conclusion: Special Counsel Jack Smith sees it as of paramount importance to hold a trial before the November 2024 election, but he is unable to explicitly say so, as such a justification is in violation of departmental policy and law," Gaetz added.

"It is indisputable that we are already in an election season. However, the Justice Manual does not set hard dates."

Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump is claiming presidential immunity in his election interference trial. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Trump's immunity claim with oral arguments scheduled to begin April 25. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

According to the Justice Manual, law enforcement officers "may never select the timing of any action, including investigative steps, criminal charges, or statements, for the purpose of affecting any election, or for the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party."

Gaetz is asking Horowitz to investigate why the DOJ has failed to comply with oversight requests from Congress.

"The precise scope of an investigation may be as narrow as interviewing the Special Counsel, and determining that he has a lawful purpose in seeking the expediting of his case against Donald Trump, and determining that he did not have the purpose of keying a trial date to the election calendar."
In the final days before Tuesdays municipal election, a leaked report purportedly exposing systemic failures of Los Angeles citys anti-camping law reignited a heated debate among the law's supporters and opponents on the City Council.

The report, prepared in November by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, said only a small fraction of homeless people who were relocated from encampments had obtained permanent housing  and that hundreds simply moved back, in some cases more than were initially there.

The report, which had not been released to the public, was leaked to news organizations late last week, prompting foes of the law, known as Municipal Code 41.18, to say they had been vindicated.

"We've known for years that shuffling people from block to block with 41.18 doesn't work, and now there's city data proving it," Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez said. "We know that encampments swept with 41.18 nearly always return, and we spend millions of dollars every year on this ineffective criminalization of homelessness."

A homeless man eats dinner at an encampment under the 101 Freeway on Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood on Feb. 22, 2024. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

To gauge the present conditions of the camp locations, The Times on Friday and Monday surveyed all 25 spots identified in the report as being "repopulated" by 20 or more people. At most of the locations, there were no tents or makeshift shelters, or only one or two, within the 500-foot radius buffer zones where camping is prohibited.

The conditions offered a much more complicated picture than the LAHSA report about what happened in the anti-camping zones created by the council.

Council President Paul Krekorian, a supporter of 41.18, blasted the report as "clearly faulty and incomplete at best, and perhaps even deliberately misleading."

Krekorian also sharply disputed a Friday report on the digital news site LAist that suggested the city was keeping the report "in the shadows" because of "widespread anxiety and fear about releasing the findings."

Krekorian said the report's flaws made it unsuitable for guiding policy. LAHSA, he said, is only one of several agencies providing information for an overall analysis of 41.18 requested by the council.

"Too often, half-baked information based on faulty data and assumptions has been the basis of bad policymaking and demagoguery, and the council must demand information that the public can count on," he said.

Council President Paul Krekorian, pictured in June, is a supporter of 41.18 and blasted the LAHSA report as "clearly faulty and incomplete at best, and perhaps even deliberately misleading." (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

On Tuesday, the advocacy group Los Angeles Community Action Network released its own report, Separate and Unequal, urging the council to revoke the law and return to "compassionate, community-driven and non-coercive outreach."

Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who pushed for the assessment of the anti-camping law last year, will withhold comment until the city's chief legislative analyst completes her report, said Yaroslavsky's communications director, Leo Daube.

"The LAHSA analysis is just one piece of the final CLA report," Daube said. "We are looking forward to seeing the final CLA report when it comes out and hope it comes out quickly."

Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso, who is reviewing the LAHSA report, told The Times in an email that she was "seeking some clarifications" on the information provided by LAHSA and was "still working thru it."

LAHSA issued a statement saying it stood by its report and had cooperated with the city in answering questions.

Assessing the effectiveness of the anti-camping law is complicated by the fact that council members had two separate goals for the law: restore access to public spaces and move encampment residents into housing.

The City Council voted in 2021 to amend its anti-camping law to allow the council to designate specific areas  senior centers, freeway overpasses, homeless shelters and other locations  as off-limits to tents.

To counterbalance the primary goal of clearing people from those sensitive areas, and to preempt constitutional challenges, the council also established a street engagement strategy requiring outreach to offer shelter or housing to everyone being ordered to leave.

The following year, the council expanded the law, barring encampments within 500 feet of any school or day-care center. That change sparked furious protests from homeless advocates, who repeatedly attempted to shut down council meetings where the law was being considered.

Paula Faith, 41, left, and Alicia Johnson, 27, at their homeless encampment on Variel Avenue in Chatsworth on Feb. 16, 2024. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The report characterized the law as failing to meet the housing goal because only 16.9% of the nearly 1,900 people counted in the camps were placed into housing. That was almost exactly the rate for LAHSA's outreach efforts in general. Only two people obtained permanent housing and more than half of those who went into a shelter later left and were presumed to have returned to the street.

In contrast, Mayor Karen Bass' Inside Safe program, designed to induce people to leave encampments voluntarily, has moved more than 2,100 people indoors, with nearly 400 receiving permanent housing and more than 400 falling back into homelessness, according to LAHSA figures from last month.

When assessing the law's primary goal of clearing encampments, LAHSA said its analysis was hampered by inadequate data, which it blamed on the city's lack of universal tracking standards. LAHSA acknowledged that it could not determine when enforcement occurred at designated locations or if the encampments there had, in fact, ever been cleared.

Nonetheless, the report described the law as "relatively ineffective" because more than 80% of those encampments "repopulated" with people who were previously there or came from another encampment. The accompanying data file showed that nearly 40% of the 174 locations studied had repopulated with more than the number of people initially there.

That conclusion did not reflect the present condition at the sites. Rather, it was based on the total of all outreach contacts made in the zone in and around each designated site after no-camping signs were posted and the 14-day notice period ended.

City Council President Paul Krekorian and Mayor Karen Bass speak with Faith Pennington, who has been living at Alexandria Park Tiny Home Village for almost two years, on Jan. 24, 2023. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

The Times' visits to 41.18 locations over the last week found that most were either entirely free of encampments or had substantially fewer than the period before anti-camping signs were installed.

Several of the sites have also been targeted by the mayor's Inside Safe program, leaving unclear which program was responsible for success or failure at certain locations.

In some cases, people with firsthand knowledge said the computer-generated numbers did not match their experience on the ground.

Three locations still had entrenched encampments. One, an area downtown where five enforcement zones largely overlap (significantly multiplying the apparent number of repopulations), has had persistent encampments despite both enforcement under the anti-camping law and outreach under Inside Safe.

The Times found 51 tents and shelters there Monday, two-thirds in areas where Inside Safe operations have been conducted.

In Yaroslavsky's Westside district, several tents occupied the Expo Line right-of-way and the nearby Pico and Exposition boulevard underpasses at the 405 Freeway. People staying there said police do not bother them as long as they remain orderly. It's one of many sites designated as a no-camping area by Yaroslavsky's predecessor, Paul Koretz.

Yaroslavsky has not designated any new sites and has not pursued enforcement at the location, Daube said. That could change this fall, he said, after the opening of the district's first interim housing facility for the general homeless population.

Daube said Yaroslavsky's concern is that enforcement of 41.18 "pushes people from block to block," but that she would support the no-camping ordinance "when it makes sense and when there are beds to offer."

A homeless man sleeps on a sidewalk on Hampton Drive in Venice and was counted during the 2024 homeless tally on Jan. 24. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

At another persistent encampment, 29 tents remained along a dirt road near Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park in Harbor City, a significant drop from five years ago when some 100 homeless people were reported living in the area.

That location was also targeted by the mayor's Inside Safe program last year.

Further confounding the picture, five of the no-camping locations were centered on shelters where people often congregate, either hoping to obtain a bed or after being evicted for violating rules.

Stephanie Klasky-Gamer, president and chief executive of LA Family Housing, said she doubted, but could not contest, the report's finding that 60 people had populated the zone around the organization's North Hollywood headquarters after it was designated for no camping, or that 84 people had since been in the area.

"One tent goes up, then five more," she said. "Then it gets cleared."

On Friday, there were no tents on the sidewalk behind the building, where they usually turn up. Seven tents were scattered along two blocks of the power line right-of-way one block to the west.

Klasky-Gamer, who does not support the anti-camping law, said it had no bearing on whether encampments occurred there or were cleared.

"We didnt invite people to be outside our building, but if they were they were treated with respect," she said. "We never had to use the threat of 41.18. We just used the resources that already existed."

The most effective, she said, was outreach coupled with CARE Plus, the city Sanitation Bureau operation that allows people to return to an area after it's cleaned.

A stretch of San Fernando Road in Krekorian's Northeast Valley district illustrates the difficulty of measuring the effectiveness of the anti-camping law.

In April 2022, when The Times first surveyed 41.18 locations, it was occupied by an almost uninterrupted row of dilapidated RVs. LAHSA's report said it was populated by 31 people when designated for enforcement and was subsequently repopulated by 21.

On Friday, only two RVs remained on the mile-long border of the Metrolink tracks. Much of the road's dirt shoulder was blocked by concrete barriers and the rest was empty. But the transformation was not a result of 41.18 enforcement, Krekorian communications director Hugh Esten said.

That stretch of San Fernando Road had long been posted for no overnight parking, a rule that was not being enforced. When the date for a scheduled resurfacing of the road arrived, people were told they had to leave. Some RVs left, and those that remained were towed.

Esten contested the report's finding that only one of the 31 people had been housed. The council office and LAHSA had engaged 23 people and found shelter for 14, he said.

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
One name stands out in the current negotiations between Hamas and Israel over a ceasefire. It represents one of the keys to another exchange of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails: Marwan Barghouti, 64, who has been in prison in Israel since 2002 serving five life sentences. I am optimistic, Fadwa Barghouti, his wife, said Tuesday in Ramallah, the administrative capital of the West Bank, with a smile and without offering any further assessment.

The leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, has called for the release of the best-known Palestinian prisoner, despite Barghouti representing Fatah, the formation that competes with the Islamist movement in the Palestinian power structure. For the Israeli authorities, Barghouti is a terrorist. For many Palestinians, he is a hero capable of uniting the different factions  secular or religious  of a people shaken by the war and the resignation of a government in crisis. His cellmates, now released and who have provided their testimony in this report, go even further: they directly idolize him. Not in vain, some consider him the Palestinian Nelson Mandela.

The Israeli prison authorities are holding Barghouti in solitary confinement while maintaining contacts in Paris, Cairo, and Doha to agree on a new ceasefire. His family estimates that this decision became effective in mid-December. My father has been kept for 12 days in one of those isolation cells in Rimonim prison, with bright lights and loudspeakers blaring, spouting slogans in Hebrew, denounces Arab Barghouti, 33, the youngest of the four sons. The restrictions also come in the form of less food, less water, less hygiene or less clothing, he says during an interview with EL PAIS in front of a large portrait of his father next to another of Mandela.

Abdelfatah Doleh, Marwan Barghouti's former cellmate and spokesman for a faction of Fatah, on March 5 in Ramallah. Luis de Vega

Israels Minister of National Security, the controversial ultranationalist Itamar Ben-Gvir, took responsibility and boasted of the tightening of conditions on Barghouti. Today they transferred Marwan Barghouti from Ofer prison to solitary confinement due to reports of a planned riot, he said on social media on February 14. That alleged call for violence, to which some Israeli media referred, did not come from his father, says Arab Barghouti. From Ben-Gvir we expect nothing, he concludes.

In Ofer prison, his hands were cuffed behind his back and he injured his arm a few weeks ago, adds Arab. In almost three months of isolation, his fathers movement between Israeli prisons located both in Palestine and Israel has been constant, his son says: From Ofer to Ramleh, then Rimonim, back to Ramleh, then Maggido, according to the latest information the family has. Arab has had no direct contact with his father for 22 years and his wife, Fadwa, has not been allowed to visit him for over a year. His lawyer was able to spend some time with him at the end of January. Nevertheless, the family remains optimistic as it follows the negotiations behind the scenes but the priority is to stop the genocide in Gaza and the release of all political prisoners, not just his father, Arab says.

Abdelqader Badawi, 29, was imprisoned by Israeli authorities as a teenager for resisting the occupation in the streets. He was behind bars from 2012 to 2019, and between 2016 and 2018 spent several periods in solitary confinement in a cell with Barghouti. He has had a great influence on me. He is a human being, a teacher, a friend... He welcomed me in prison with a smile. He is a sea of generosity, he says while showing a photo of the two taken in prison in 2017.

Thanks to Barghouti, whom he calls the doctor, and his insistence that they should be educated, Badawi recalls, he earned his high school diploma and two degrees from Al Quds University. Marwan Barghouti is certainly the solution. I believe he can achieve a unity government with all factions and political tendencies, he says from his office at Madar, the Fatah-linked think tank where he works.

The war that broke out on October 7 has shaken the earth at all levels. On that day, Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2006, killed some 1,200 people in Israel in the worst attack in the countrys 75-year history. The Israeli armys response has already resulted in the deaths of over 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza alone. Domestically, Hamas popularity has steadily increased to the detriment of the Palestinian Authority (PA), whose interim government, since the former administrations resignation on February 26, is led by Fatah.

Future president?

But Barghouti remains the most highly rated figure in a possible presidential race, whether he faces incumbent President Mahmoud Abbas or Ismail Haniyeh, according to the latest poll published in December by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR).

After nearly two decades without a vote, there has to be a presidential election and the Palestinians have to choose who they want as their leader, says Arab Barghouti. The impact that Marwan Barghouti can have is that he can be a symbol for unity, the fight against corruption and against the occupation, he adds, criticizing the internal division, the bad reputation surrounding the Palestinian leadership and the Israeli yoke. But he acknowledges that he is not sure whether his father would put himself forward in the race for the Palestinian leadership at this time.

Barghouti, who attempted to launch a candidacy from his prison cell in the 2021 elections that were eventually not held, was on the list of prisoners to be released when, in 2011, Israel exchanged over 1,000 Palestinian inmates for the soldier Guilad Shalit, who had been held hostage in Gaza for five years. In the end, he was left out of the agreement, but Yahya Sinwar  today the head of Hamas in Gaza and Israels most-wanted man as the mastermind of the October 7 attacks  was released.

Abdelqader Badawi laughs and remains silent when asked about the current president, Abbas, who is increasingly under fire. Im not going to answer, he says. We need a leadership that will take us on the path of rebuilding the PA because unfortunately, politics has had no steam in the last two decades. He notes that the circumstances today are very different from those that landed Barghouti in jail in 2002 at the height of the second Intifada, in which he was even accused of carrying out assassinations. Today, Badawi says, the focus must be on ending the bloodbath in Gaza.

If it depends only on Israel, Barghouti will not get out, but we have to watch the negotiations and how Hamas plays its cards, says Abdelfatah Doleh, who was imprisoned between 2006 and 2011, a period in which he also shared a cell with Barghouti. If Hamas thinks about the good of all Palestinians, it needs Barghouti, adds Doleh, spokesman for one of the Fatah factions and another of those who places the most famous Palestinian prisoner on a pedestal.

Hamas needs Barghouti because there is a lot of pressure on the Islamists at the international level after October 7 and it knows that after the war it will be very difficult to manage and lead Gaza again and rebuild it, so Barghouti can be of help, says Sari Orabi, a political analyst and writer who, as a member of Hamas, spent five years in Israeli jails and three in PA prisons. Now in the neutral zone and without direct contact with the leadership of the Islamist movement to avoid going back to prison, Orabi believes that it was the upper echelons of Fatah who closed the way to Barghoutis release in 2011 and who tried to corner those who supported him in 2021 with the formation he was planning to present in the elections.

Haifaa Qudsia, a 68-year-old Fatah activist, next to a poster with the image of Yasser Arafat. Luis de Vega

Barghouti is for many the solution, but not for me. Nashaat Aqtash, professor at Birzeit University and collaborator in the Hamas electoral campaign in the most recent elections, in 2006, goes against the grain with the rest of those consulted for this report. He sees Barghouti as having many supporters among the new batch of Fatah members, but not among the veteran leaders. He believes that, despite the war, international pressure against the Islamists, and the polls, neither Abbas nor Barghouti would win a presidential election against a Hamas candidate.

Surrounded by posters of the late President Yasser Arafat in one of Fatahs headquarters, veteran activist Haifaa Qudsia, 68, fears that Israel will want to exile Barghouti overseas once he is released, but believes that he will still maintain his leadership role. The only way out for Hamas in the current circumstances is Marwan Barghouti, she says. Others, like Abdelqader Badawi, cling to sentences learned as a mantra behind bars from his teacher and cellmate: The last day of occupation will be the first day of peace.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)  Thursday, safety Tyrann Mathieu and the New Orleans Saints agreed to a new two-year contract that would lower the teams cap hit for the 2024 season and keep the St. Aug product in New Orleans another year.

The news was first reported by Nick Underhill.

Mathieu signed a three-year, $28.2 million deal with the New Orleans Saints in May of 2022. He was set to count $12 million against the cap in the 2024 season.

His new deal, reportedly worth $12 million will lower that hit to $5.5 million for the upcoming league year.

In two years with the Saints, Mathieu has played in all 34 games. Hes recorded 166 tackles and 7 interceptions during that span.

Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter.

Latets Posts

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGNO.
Faculty and students can reenter buildings on Suffolk Universitys campus Thursday evening after the all-clear was given following a bomb threat scare.

A Boston 25 news crew was caught police taking down crime scene tape and reentering Sargent Hall around 5:30, just over an hour and a half after buildings first emptied.

According to Boston Police, the reported bomb threat was made at 120 Tremont Street just after 4 p.m.

The bomb squad responded to the scene and could be seen blocking off the area near the bookstore with yellow tape.

Suffolk University evacuated its Sargent Hall and canceled evening classes following a bomb threat, according to a university spokesperson.

The safety of our students, faculty, staff, and the broader community is always our highest priority, said the university. We will update the community once more information is made available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
The GOP-led House Budget Committee on Thursday voted to advance a budget resolution that includes ambitious proposals aimed at cutting federal spending, beefing up work requirements for social programs and the establishing a special commission to tackle funding threats to entitlements.

The committee voted along party lines to advance the proposal after an hours-long markup hearing that began early Thursday.

While the resolution wont be signed into law, Republicans hope it will serve as a blueprint for spending for the coming fiscal year as Congress works to wrap up its fiscal 2024 funding work this month.

Republicans say the proposal seeks to reduce the nations projected deficits by $14 trillion over the next decade, while achieving the partys goal of balancing the federal budget in the same time frame  but not without proposed cuts that have already run afoul of Democrats.

Among the proposals Republicans are recommending as part of the plan are measures to beef up work requirements for Medicaid and reduce annual government spending, while targeting previous economic policies passed when Democrats last had control of Congress.

The resolution also recommended implementing House Republicans signature border bill, known as H.R. 2, which would boost wall construction and the hiring of border agents and restrict access to asylum, among other measures.

Today, President Biden will try to convince Americans that the State of the Union is good and that our lives are better, committee Chair Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said at the top of Thursdays hearing. For the sake of our country, I wish it were so, but unfortunately, it couldnt be further from the truth.

After three years of one self-inflicted crisis after another, President Biden will not only not be able to suspend reality, but he also wont be able to convince the American people of his words because of his recent actions.

The vote occurred just hours ahead of the presidents scheduled State of the Union address later on Thursday, in which he is expected to outline his plan to crack down on wealthy individuals and corporations.

The coming address provides a potential glimpse into what to expect when the president unveils his budget proposal for fiscal 2025 next week, which White House officials have already said includes plans to cut projected deficits by $3 trillion over the next decade.

The forthcoming plan is likely to arrive in direct contrast to proposals sought by Republicans.

As part of the resolution advanced on Thursday, Republicans also call for a bipartisan fiscal commission to explore ways to shore up solvency for Social Security and Medicare, as well as equalizing Medicare payment between hospitals and doctor offices.

Another portion of the resolution also calls on lawmakers to look for opportunities to strengthen measures related to employment, integrity, and health for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the food stamps program.

The mention comes after Republicans previously pushed for SNAP changes sought as part of the negotiations aimed at ensuring recipients were using benefits to buy nutritional foods, while also limiting access to items to foods like soda and candy. The party also pushed for tougher work requirements to the program last year as part of a partisan debt limit bill.

Democrats railed against the budget resolution for much of the hearing, offering a series of amendments aimed at protecting Social Security and Medicare while rejecting GOP-backed cuts to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funding that Democrats and budget hawks say could add to futures deficits.

This budget is a road map to making life worse, not better, for middle class families. We need a vision that looks to the future, not the past, Rep. Brendan Boyle (Pa.), the top Democrat on the Budget Committee, said on Thursday. And thankfully, we will get to hear that vision when President Biden addresses the nation tonight.

Nathaniel Weixel contributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A young female North Atlantic right whale recently washed up dead on a Martha's Vineyard beach, and research scientists blame the Maine lobster industry.

What is happening?

Researchers had previously identified the young whale as being in serious trouble, but they were unable to reach it.

The whale was found entangled in a rope with purple markings, indicating that it had come from a Maine fishery, according to The Washington Post. The researchers said it had been entangled in the rope for much of its brief life, causing intense pain and exhaustion.

The Maine Lobstermen's Association (MLA) did not deny the researchers' findings but instead attempted to deflect with an official statement saying: "We know that entanglement in Maine gear is extremely rare. MLA remains committed to finding a solution to ensure a future for right whales and Maine's lobster fishery."

"For several decades now, the Maine lobster industry has been on a campaign of denial," Jane Davenport, a senior attorney for the advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife, told The Washington Post.

Why is this concerning?

While the death of any marine creature as a result of human negligence is concerning, North Atlantic right whales are extremely endangered, making this death especially tragic.

There are currently an estimated 356 North Atlantic right whales in the wild, with only about 70 reproductively active females, according to data from the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, published in a New England Aquarium statement.

"Human activities are killing as many whales as are being born into the population, creating an untenable burden on the species," said Heather Pettis, a research scientist in the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium and the executive administrator of the Consortium.



"It's tragic to lose any North Atlantic right whale," Pettis added. "But when we lose a female, we know that we're losing not just her but all of her future reproductive potential."

What is being done about it?

As the Associated Press detailed, environmental groups recently sued the federal government in an attempt to get the government to finalize a new speed limit for boats to protect whales.

However, the issue of the whales becoming entangled in ropes from Maine fisheries may be even more difficult to address, as Maine politicians recently passed a provision protecting the lobstermen from any new rope rules until 2029, per The Washington Post.

The lobstermen themselves have signaled that they are unwilling to revise their practices on their own recognizance. Until those rules change, it is a near-certainty that more of these critically endangered whales will become entangled.

Join our free newsletter for cool news and cool tips that make it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
The Kharkiv Oblast Defence Council has issued an order to mandatorily evacuate families with children from 18 settlements of the Velykyi Burluk and Vilkhuvatka hromadas located on the Kupiansk front [hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories  ed.].

Source: Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast State Administration, on Telegram

Details: The official said 161 children live in these settlements. Children will be transported with their parents, persons in loco parentis or other legal representatives. Accommodation facilities for evacuees have been prepared.

In addition, Syniehubov noted that the Council decided to carry out a compulsory evacuation of residents from 57 settlements.

Syniehubov noted that people can leave not only for other settlements in the oblast but also outside it. For this purpose, free travel, including by rail, will be provided. Temporary accommodation will be arranged as well.

Quote: "We have to protect families with children from the Russian terror of the civilian population living in Kharkiv Oblast to the greatest extent possible!"

Background: On the morning of 5 March, Russian troops struck the village of Kurylivka in the Kupiansk district (Kharkiv Oblast), killing a woman, 67.

Support UP or become our patron!
Pinellas County has ordered dozens of residents in a frequently flooded mobile home park to elevate their homes to nearly 11 feet or leave by the start of hurricane season in June.

Residents of Twin City park, which is in the Gandy area, say it makes no sense to spend as much as $50,000 to elevate homes that are valued at half that amount  or less. Some have nowhere to go and plan to stay as the summer deadline approaches. Others say they intend to move out of Florida because of hurricanes, sea-level rise and flooding.

Ive done it for 10 years, said Douglas McVey, who replaced the floors in his home five times after storms. Im done.

In October, Pinellas County sent letters to residents of 82 Twin City homes, including McVey, requiring that they elevate or evacuate their homes by June 1. Its the first time in at least five years that the county has issued the notices of temporary occupancy, county officials said. Twin City residents were the only people to receive the letter from the county after Hurricane Idalia.

The county participates in the National Flood Insurance Program, which means it has adopted federal flood-plain regulations in exchange for having flood insurance available to the community.

The elevation notices sent to Twin City help keep the county in line with those federal guidelines so it doesnt lose this source of disaster assistance funds, county officials said.

They say residents of the park, which was built before Pinellas County put those requirements in place, need to comply with changing flood-plain maps consistent with projected sea-level rise.

The countys flood-plain manager, Lisa Foster, said its in residents best interest to elevate or relocate before next hurricane season.

The premise of the requirements are logical, she said. Were trying to protect people  ultimately thats the end goal  because we dont want them to repetitively flood. Especially these individuals. They have more trouble than others, in some cases, to be able to get back up on their feet after a flood.

Foster said its really too early to tell what would happen to people who dont leave. There are no plans to condemn the homes or compensate homeowners in Twin City, according to a county spokesperson.

Its very unfortunate, Foster said. Were working toward identifying potential long-term solutions, but this is not going to be an easy fix.

While the county is ordering residents to leave their homes, officials say they wont push out owners unless their structures are deemed uninhabitable.

County code enforcement can only condemn a property if it is dangerous to human life, said David Connor, a county spokesperson. In Twin City, thats not the case, he added.

We dont evict people, and we cant speculate what will happen, Connor said.

Instead, the county hopes to work with residents who dont leave to make their homes safe from future storms.

Since the notices were sent, the county says it has helped residents apply for low-interest disaster loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration and individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Five months after the countys order, Pinellas planning and building records show no permits have been pulled to elevate structures in Twin City.

Residents, many of whom have already spent their FEMA money after flooding last year in Idalia, say they havent received any updates from the county since they received the letter last year. Some tenants agree that living at sea level in the park has become inhumane, but many in the low-income community say they have nowhere to turn.

I think the government should do more to help those residents, said Zhong-Ren Peng, a University of Florida researcher who studies how climate change affects disadvantaged households in Pinellas County. It would be a good idea for the county to provide some financial assistance to help those residents to move to higher ground.

Its a nightmare

Shortly after McVey bought his mobile home in Twin City, he fell through the floor.

A builder by trade, he tore out the brittle particle board and replaced it with a thicker layer of the same material. At the time, McVey didnt realize this would be the first of many remodels to his low-lying, 826-square-foot home.

He paid $1,500 for the structure, which was built in 1966, and estimates he put more than $60,000 into his labor of love, most of which went to repairing its floors.

McVey didnt know the mobile home park was prone to flooding when he moved here. The community sits less than a mile from Riviera Bay, with Old Tampa Bay to the east.

Maybe I was naive 10 years ago, he said.

Floodwaters in 2017 were a wake-up call. McVey found his home leaning on one side after a storm washed away the support underneath. He replaced the waterlogged floors with vinyl planks.

Just two weeks after he finished renovations, Tropical Storm Eta in 2020 brought him back to square one. This time, McVey sank extra money into custom hardwood flooring.

Last year, when Hurricane Idalias surge buckled the mobile home and left its floors sagging in the center, McVey decided enough was enough.

He and his wife, Tabitha Vavrick, hauled their belongings to Pennsylvania, her home state, and lived with relatives and in hotels and Airbnbs.

When he returned to Florida with plans to sell the mobile home, McVey was met with the letter from Pinellas County public works in his mailbox. It outlined three options: replace your home and elevate it, move your home or move to a new home.

Their mobile home sits at 5 feet of elevation, meaning the county is requiring they raise it about 5 feet. The couple says thats impossible.

Its been flooded numerous times with salt water, brackish water. So, the frame under there, its still kind of there but its not, Vavrick said. It cant be lifted that far up and still have integrity. The home is going to collapse on itself.

Vavrick called their home her oasis. But never-ending repairs and mounting anxiety about rising seas pushed the couple to move out.

We just need to get something so that we can get back on our feet  so we can move on and just be done with this, Vavrick said. Its a nightmare.

Last year, nearly $400 million was dispersed to Florida homeowners through the My Safe Florida Home program to help them harden their homes against storms. The program was brought back by Gov. Ron DeSantis during a 2022 special legislative session.

This years version of the program will only allow low- and moderate-income households to apply during a 60-day window after July 1. They can receive up to $10,000 on home improvements like hurricane windows or new roofs.

Thats too little and too late for Twin Cities residents facing an early summer deadline from Pinellas County.

While FEMA offers assistance for residents who want to raise their homes, it is fairly uncommon in Florida.

Only 274 homes have been elevated through federal grants since 1995, with Pinellas County being home to 60 of them, according to federal data. In St. Petersburg, 13 homes have been elevated since 1996.

In 2019, a Shore Acres resident paid $217,000 to raise his home in the flood-prone St. Petersburg neighborhood. New hurricane-proof mobile homes cost about that much off the lot.

McVey says that elevating a mobile home would be much cheaper but estimates of $50,000 are still out of reach for him and many Twin City neighbors.

He had hoped Pinellas County would condemn his home and give him the assessed value, which the county appraised at $8,395.

Instead, he listed his home for $27,000. It sold in December for $1,000 and the couple moved to Pennsylvania for good.

There are many circumstances that pushed McVey out of Florida  he named the insurance crisis, low wages and lack of affordable housing as a few of them  but more intense hurricanes was the deciding factor, he said.

I dont think anybody should be living this close to the coast, not even people thats got a couple million dollars, he said. Its just foolish.

McVey said sea-level rise and coastal erosion are likely to blame for the intensifying floods hes seen in the mobile home park.

Its going to get worse, he said. And I think the county realized that this time.

County grapples with rising threat

Pinellas County cited changing flood plains due to rising seas and risk from hurricanes as the main reasons behind the decision to mandate that Twin City homes be raised.

By 2040, the county expects sunny-day flooding to inundate coastal areas in the Gateway District, which includes Gandy, according to a sea-level rise and storm surge vulnerability report. In fewer than 20 years, Twin City would be under at least a foot of water at high tide by some estimates.

A study published last year in environmental publication Earths Future found that the Gulf Coast is in a state of constant retreat due to sea-level rise.

Davin Wallace, one of the studys authors, said Floridas coastline has been stable over the last 3,000 years, meaning the shoreline was growing at a steady rate. But over the last few decades, sea-level rise, exacerbated by climate change, has slowed this growth, he said.

The importance of that is that beaches and shorelines and these kinds of environments where people live and have businesses are in trouble, he said. And its something that we are seeing pretty dramatically already.

In 2020, Tropical Storm Eta brought about 2 feet of surge to homes in Twin City, according to a Tampa Bay Times analysis of National Hurricane Center data.

Firefighters waded through knee-deep water to load residents onto boats after the storm. Again, three years later, prolonged flooding from Idalia pushed park residents into boats and onto paddleboards.

They floated atop flooded streets that glimmered with spilled chemicals, waiting for the water to recede.

A Pinellas County spokesperson said staff have been in contact with Twin City park management and worked alongside the parks owners to coordinate an October outreach event that brought Feeding Tampa Bay and other local nonprofits to help residents. Since then, the county says it has worked closely with owners to determine the parks future.

But residents who spoke with the Times say they havent heard any new information from Twin Citys management company. Multiple calls and emails from a Times reporter to representatives for the mobile home park owners, Lakeshore MHC, went unanswered.

Emails requested by the Times between Lakeshore managers and county staff show correspondence between the two started in July. Thats when county staff asked property managers for a list of homeowners in the park that could be shared with emergency services ahead of the next big storm.

That big storm came in August with Idalia.

In September, the county conducted damage assessments on the property. The letters arrived the next month.

Foster, the county flood-plain manager, said the fate of each mobile home in Twin City will be decided case by case. If the homeowners can show they are in talks with a contractor about elevating their house or that they have applied for flood insurance money, they may be granted an extension.

We just really want to work with these residents and try to find resources for them so that we can get them into safe structures, Foster said.

Peng, whose research focuses on climate gentrification, says thats not enough.

Low-income residents are more vulnerable to flooding and dont have the resources to prepare for future sea-level rise, he said. This means local governments have an obligation to help residents who can no longer stay where they live.

There is a cost to the county to relocate or provide assistance to local residents who are currently most vulnerable to the flooding, of course, he said. You have to think about the long run  if you continue to flood in those areas, the cost will be even higher.

And time is running out, he added.

June from now is only three or four months away, Peng said. If you want to apply for money, you have to do it right now.

Erin Roth, a longtime Twin City resident, said the community isnt prepared for its summer deadline.

A lot of these people dont understand the severity of the situation were all about to face, she said. 100-and-some people  families  are about to lose probably the only thing they can afford.

I cant handle it anymore.

Anytime a thunderstorm approaches, Roth, 43, panics.

It rains and Im on the edge of the couch, she said. If I could never see water again in my life, I would be happy.

Roth bought her home for $6,500 in 2009. The wheels that once supported her trailer have since rusted. Moving her home out of the park isnt an option. Like McVey, she said raising her home isnt possible either.

When Idalia rendered her home unlivable, Roth and her 14-year-old daughter hopped back and forth from her mothers Tarpon Springs home to an Airbnb in Largo. McVey helped her rebuild and she moved back near the end of October.

Like many others in the park, neither have flood or home insurance. When McVey tried to get money to rebuild his home through a small business loan, he was told his home must be insured before he is approved.

A county spokesperson said there are a few National Flood Insurance Program policies written for Twin City properties but could not get into specifics to protect homeowners privacy.

During a December storm that brought flooding to Twin City, Roth fled to Seminole with her daughter and their pets in tow. The water made it up to her porch but didnt get inside. A few of her neighbors cars were totaled by the flooding.

In October, the county appraised Roths home at $11,000 but said it would cost $83,000 to replace. She received $26,000 from FEMA and spent it all on repairs. Now, Roth said she regrets doing that.

Faced with the countys looming deadline, she wished she had used the money to permanently relocate.

Roth said she would stay if she could. She moved there shortly after her daughter was born.

I had a stable home  meaning we never moved  and I wanted that for her, Roth said. Is it the best place ever? Absolutely not. I moved here because I could afford it.

I guess were leaving. I mean, what choice do we have?
Campaigners say the area and its properties are unsuitable for asylum seekers

Plans to turn a number of empty properties into homes each for use by up to five asylum seekers are being opposed in County Durham.

Campaigners say they worry the buildings are not fit for purpose as Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and fear an effect on crime levels as well as a reduction in the number of homes available for residents.

Mears Group, which has been contracted by the government to provide the accommodation, said it had "paused" its plans for the unconfirmed number of properties and was looking at "other options".

Durham County Council said it would continue to work with its partners and residents' groups to ensure Peterlee was a "safe and welcoming place for everyone".

A protest has been held outside the authority's headquarters at County Hall, in Durham.

The campaign is being led by Peterlee town councillor Mary Cartwright, who said: "We're already supposed to be a town with high stats for violence, sexual assault, burglaries and arson.

"All the residents here feel that it's just going to get worse."

Peterlee councillor Mary Cartwright suggests the accommodation scheme would have an impact on crime levels

Ms Cartwright also raised concerns for the people who would be moving into the properties.

"These people who have been suffering from war-torn countries are going to be living in box sizes of four metres, sharing a bathroom, with four to five people in a house.

"That cant be good for them. It cant be good for anyone's mental health."

Cora Hall, who lives near one of the recently developed properties, said there had been four months of "hammering, knocking and banging".

She said she had lived in the area since 1976 and was "terrified" at the thought of new tenants moving in.

"I've been told they're going to be five male asylum seekers and we don't know if they've been vetted, who they are or anything," she said.

Matt Tough is another Peterlee resident who has been campaigning

Another resident, Matt Tough, said he was worried about how the new tenants themselves would be protected.

"How can the police ensure the safety, not only of the residents, but of these prospective tenants whom we understand to be vulnerable and coming from potentially horrific circumstances to begin with?

"The creation of HMOs is not keeping in line with the housing strategy for the area which assured cheap, affordable family housing.

"This isn't cheap, affordable family housing. It's making it a lot harder for that to ever be a reality."

Mary Frankland, from Stockton, on Teesside, has volunteered to help refugees and asylum seekers for 17 years and provided accommodation in her own home.

She believes there are huge rewards if people are "supported and given encouragement".

"Once youve got to know people are human beings, as you and I, then there is a lot of good," she said.

"People have escaped from some terrible, terrible situations, that inevitably will have an effect on the mental health of somebody and I can understand somebody getting concerned about that."

Mary Frankland, from Stockton, has volunteered with asylum seekers for 17 years

Mears said County Durham was a "dispersal area for asylum accommodation" and it was required to find places for both families and single people.

"We are, however, aware of concerns about specific accommodation sites we were considering using in Peterlee and can confirm that we have paused those plans and are looking at other options, it added.

Durham County Council said it would "ensure the landlord fulfils the conditions of the licence and takes the necessary actions to rectify any breaches" such as safety issues or anti-social behaviour.

The Home Office said it "continually reviews" the appropriateness of asylum accommodation sites and was trying to "reduce the unacceptable use of hotels which cost 8.2m a day.
Crystal says its around-the-world cruise in 2026 will sail to 72 ports in 27 countries.

Luxury travel company Abercrombie and Kent acquired Crystal in 2022 following the latter's tumultuous demise.

Crystal's first world cruise following its revival and rebrand departed in February.

Recently relaunched luxury cruise line Crystal wants to woo you back. How does a 135-day around-the-world sailing sound?

In 2026, Crystal says one of its two ships will sail from Los Angeles to Rome on a 4  -month cruise. Along the way, travelers can expect to see 72 ports in 27 countries, from Australia's recognizable Sydney Opera House to Monaco's legendary Grand Prix.

On January 11, 2026, the cruise line says its Crystal Serenity will head west from California to Pacific Islands like Bora Bora.

Crystal says its 2026 world cruise will stop at Dubai. Lu ShaoJi/Getty Images

Then, it's off to New Zealand and Australia before hitting destinations like Hong Kong, Mumbai, and Bali, Indonesia.

Lets not forget stops in Athens, Greece, and the Mediterranean before an exciting call in Monaco.

The luxury cruise line says its 2026 world guests will arrive in Monaco for the Grand Prix. Dan Istitene - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images

From there, about 4  months at sea later, the global journey would finally conclude in Rome on May 26, 2026.

Bookings for a double occupancy cabin will open on March 19 at $84,000 per person.

Throughout the journey, travelers will get to luxuriate in Crystal Serenity's venues, which include a piano bar and cognac and cigar club.

The Crystal Serenity has 8 restaurants, an "ice cream bar," and venues like a library Crystal

Active guests can spend their afternoons at the putting green or pickleball court.

Travelers seeking a relaxing vacation can instead head to the spa or sip on afternoon tea at the floor-to-ceiling window-lined lounge.

The only thing more dramatic than this global cruise? The journey Crystal took to get here.

The Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony recently underwent a $150 million refresh. Crystal

It wasn't always smooth sailing for the luxury cruise line. In early 2022, Crystal, then Crystal Cruises, made a big splash  and not the good kind.

At the time, the company  then owned by Genting Hong Kong  was facing bankruptcy, the sudden shutdown of its US operations, and the arrest of two of its cruise ships over millions of dollars in unpaid fuel bills.

A few months later, luxury travel group Abercrombie and Kent acquired the cruise line and its previously arrested ships.

Abercrombie and Kent uses a custom Boeing 757 with 48 first-class seats for its global "air cruises." Abercrombie & Kent

Abercrombie and Kent, like the luxury travel company that organizes around-the-world trips via private jets.

Not the clothing store that smells like cologne (that's Abercombie and Fitch).

These days, Crystal and its ships look a bit different.

The Crystal Serenity's refurbishment gave it larger suites, a new spa, and pickleball courts. Crystal Cruises

Like your best friend post-breakup, Crystal has taken on a new identity: The company dropped "cruises" from its name and spent $150 million refreshing its two ships, the Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony. Both resumed service in 2023.

In February, the companys first world cruise since its revival departed San Diego on a 125-night sailing.

Travelers on the Crystal Serenity have plenty of opportunities to relax under the sun. Crystal

The Crystal Serenity is now traveling around the globe with almost 200 guests, a company spokesperson told Business Insider. (Baby steps: The ship has a guest capacity of 740, though the company points out that some segments of the around-the-world itinerary have actually been fully booked.)

However, the spokesperson said bookings for its 2025 around-the-world sailing are "even stronger, with a significant portion" of its 2024 world cruise guests having also booked the 2025 itinerary.

Crystals upcoming sailings currently start at five nights long.

The Crystal Serenity resumed service in 2023. Crystal

But like other premium operators, it looks like Crystal will continue leaning into its around-the-world itineraries, as signaled by its recently announced 2026 global sailing.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., on Wednesday gave a bizarre answer when asked about flying on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epsteins private plane.

Comedian Andrew Schulz during a podcast asked Kennedy about his meetings with Epstein, on whose plane he flew twice.

Kennedy said that as a New York resident, he would run into everybody.

I mean, I knew Harvey Weinstein. I knew Roger Ailes. I knewOJ Simpson came to my house. Bill Cosby came to my house, Kennedy continued.

Weinstein, a longtime Hollywood mogul, was convicted of rape. Ailes was ousted as the head of Fox News after former anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him. Simpson, who was acquitted in a double murder case, later served a nine-year sentence for armed robbery and kidnapping. Cosby was serving a three- to 10-year sentence for sexual assault before a court overturned his conviction in 2021.

Kennedys bizarre response sparked a lot of attention on social media.

Quite a guest list! tweeted CNNs Jake Tapper.

Quite a guest list! https://t.co/jKGkNeu6PG  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 7, 2024

This somehow keeps getting worse with every single word that he says, tweeted political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen.

I hosted sexual predators in my house, isn't the flex you think it is, wrote Joshua Eakle, the founder of Project Liberal.

Kudos to RFK Jr for name dropping Epstein, Weinstein, OJ, Bill Cosby, and Roger Ailes in one sentence. Wheres Ted Bundy? quipped Dan Pfeiffer, a former Obama administration adviser and Pod Save America co-host.

Schulz during the interview interjected to ask, You also knew good people, right?

I did know a lot of them, Kennedy replied. But you dont know these people are swamp creatures until all this stuff comes out.

Kennedy went on to compare Epsteins plane to that of Donald Trump and claimed Epstein essentially admitted to financial crimes when they first met.

I did see creepiness immediately, Kennedy said of Epstein.
Home rule is on the ballot in Richton Park, triggering a battle between Realtor groups that say this will be used to increase taxes while village officials promise more development.

Local governments with fewer than 25,000 people have many of its powers restricted but can pass a home rule ballot measure to gain greater flexibility on issues of local finances  building, zoning, sanitation, and certain criminal offenses, according to the Illinois Municipal League.

More and more communities are electing to become home rule communities, said Village President Richard Reinbold, citing Mattesons recent adoption of the measure. For Richton Park, we are now, for the most part, surrounded by home rule communities and that puts us at a competitive disadvantage.

University Park, Park Forest and Matteson also have adopted home rule, according to the Illinois Municipal League. Reinbold argues Richton Park loses out on projects because it has less negotiating ground with prospective developers.

For example, the president said land owned by a municipality without home rule cannot sell that lot unless the developer buys the land for at least 80% of its appraised value.

With home rule, Reinbold said you can negotiate a much lower price if the municipality feels that the business coming in is beneficial to the village in terms of creating jobs and sales tax.

But Realtor groups have historically fought home rule and are doing so in Richton Park. A website paid for by Realtors in Opposition to Home Rule specifically asks Richton Park residents to vote no, warning that a yes vote grants the town the ability to increase property and sales tax without voter approval.

Reinbold rebutted the groups qualms and said the Village Board has committed to not impose a sales tax.

I would argue that they dont know Richton Park. They are from Springfield, Illinois, they live in Springfield, Illinois, he said of the opposition group. Its just a kind of a canned opposition approach.

Reinbold and Richton Park leaders are hoping to coax voters into a vote for home rule by promising to not unilaterally impose a sales tax, to cancel park fees for residents and freeze property tax and water fees.

Despite his promise that leaders do not want to impose a sales tax, another referendum on the ballot opens the door for a sales tax. It asks if the village should dedicate sufficient funds it receives from a home rule sales tax for investments in its public infrastructure., Reinbold said this is a poll of whether voters want to have a new sales tax.

The board is committed to not doing a home rule sales tax. But if we were to do a home rule sales tax would you want us to spend money on what was listed? Reinbold said of the nonbinding referendum. We dont think we need it right now. But if our residents were to give us the feedback that says hey, no we should do that, we would be irresponsible if we didnt go back.

A third referendum, also nonbinding, asks residents whether the village should implement policies and actions to enhance public safety, economic development and beautification.

The opposition group said these two advisory referendums open the door to impose more taxes. They write the ballot has three ballot questions that  if Home Rule passes  allows the Village to immediately implement a Home Rule sales tax and implement vaguely defined public safety, economic development and beautification efforts for the Village.

Reinbold said he believes passage of home rule will decrease costs for residents by increasing development, thereby growing revenue without relying on property taxes and other taxes and fees on residents.

Were just trying to get the pulse of the community to say hey, are we on the right track?

hsanders@chicagotribune.com
Two realities will collide during this election year in Venezuela. The Chavista administration, which controls the countrys governmental and judicial systems, is heading into the July 28 presidential elections with the certainty that it will once again win and continue in power, as has been the case since 1999. The ruling party has made sure that President Nicolas Maduro will not meet any obstacle when it comes to reelection, with which he would exceed the number of years that the legendary Hugo Chavez spent in power. His opposition understands the countrys free and fair elections as a myth, but even so, its not giving up easily. In the coming months, opposition forces will roll out a campaign that has the support of the international community and will demand that the Chavistas respect the electoral process, even if it seems as though this election is a forgone conclusion.

Maduro, who has a very low approval rating, has been campaigning for months. The president led a referendum to claim part of neighboring Guyana for Venezuela, an attempt to promote a nationalist mood that might improve his image as leader. The plan did not succeed. Venezuelans hardly showed up to vote on the issue, which was clearly not keeping them up at night. They did, however, head to the polls to support opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado in October of last year. Machado prevailed over a field of anti-Chavistas in a primary whose turnout exceeded all expectations, including those of Chavista leaders. There were queues at polling places and Machado won handily, with more than 90% of votes. It was evident that Venezuela was witnessing the birth of a viable alternative to Chavismo.

But the government was not about to allow her to challenge Maduro under any circumstances, even if Machado was leading in polls between the two candidates. The challenger has been banned from elections for 15 years based on allegations that she supports U.S. sanctions on Venezuela, and her backing of Juan Guaido as interim president after Maduro began a second term following elections considered fraudulent by the United States and the European Union. In January, Machado said that she was not aware of that she had been disqualified, but the Supreme Court responded by clarifying that she had been barred from holding any public office.

The opposition leader is convinced that if she is not allowed to participate, the election will be invalid. I received a mandate, a mandate to lead this country to clean and free elections. I am committed to go all the way with this, she said after learning the date of the election, which was announced on the anniversary of Chavezs death and will coincide with the anniversary of his birth, in case there was any doubt as to whose followers were running the show. Just as they got out of negotiations, she continued, now they want to get out of the electoral process, because they are afraid. My commitment is to achieve clean elections, and with the strength of the people, we will make that possible.

Institutional and economic crisis

At least publicly, Machado still puts his trust in the democratic path that the international community has long supported. The United States, Brussels, France and Colombia have tried to convince the Chavista administration that the best way to solve the serious institutional and economic crisis in which the country finds itself is to reach an overarching nationwide agreement that includes Chavismo and the opposition. The first step of this plan was to hold competitive elections in which opposition parties stood a real chance. Maduro seemed to have agreed to this strategy when he signed the Barbados agreements in October 2023, in which he committed to holding elections in the second half of 2024, in addition to allowing opposition candidates to participate, such as Machado or Henrique Capriles, who once came close to defeating Chavez in his day.

It seemed that the dialogue was working. United States President Joe Biden went even further, temporarily lifting U.S. sanctions on oil and gold. That allowed the Venezuelan government to participate in the free market, which had been previously prohibited. In turn, Caracas released five political prisoners. Venezuelan politics had seen more change in 24 hours than during the previous year and a half. Two months later, the United States released Alex Saab, Maduros alleged ally who had been arrested and imprisoned. But in the end, all these moves now seem to have been for naught.

Venezuelas government has not and will not allow Machado to face off against Maduro under any circumstances. Chavista higher-ups have proven inflexible on the matter. In fact, theyve gone so far as to arrest a series of opposition leaders, activists and even ordinary citizens. What are they charged with? An alleged attempt to assassinate Maduro in hopes of a coup detat. The White House has announced that its sanctions will return, given that Caracas has reneged on its commitment to democracy, which at this point hinges on holding fair and competitive elections.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
As President Joe Biden is set to deliver his state of the union address on Thursday, lawmakers will be making political statements with who they decide to bring as their guests.

For U.S Senator Rick Scott, hes decided to bring a South Florida mother whos been an advocate for the hostages taken by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack in Israel.

According to Scotts website, Nathaly Haratz Kaswan has been raising awareness about the hostages through the Milk Carton Project, an initiative between nonprofit organizations Kidnapped from Israel and Loving Moms United. The project exhibited 10-foot-tall milk cartons across Miami and Miami Beach that had photos and information about the hostages, emulating the tactic from the 80s when photos of missing children were put on milk cartons.

Scott said in a statement on X that hes honored to have her as his guest.

Following the October 7th attack when Iran-backed Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and killed more than 1,400 innocent people, including at least 32 Americans, and taking an unknown number of Israelis and Americans hostage, Nathalys group answered the call to stand up against terrorism, said Scott.

Haratz Kaswan said shes grateful for the work that Scott has done to bring attention to the issue.

Hamas has launched a brutal attack against my Jewish brothers and sisters, and I wont stop fighting to raise awareness until every hostage taken by Hamas is safely back home, said Haratz Kaswan.

Scott said that he has his own milk carton from the project on display at his office in Washington and that he will continue to call for action on the situation until its resolved.

I am proud to see Floridians like Nathaly fight for them every day. Ill never stop talking about these hostages until they are home, and I urge the President to follow our lead and do the same, said Scott.
An Ontario rideshare driver has been arrested after a woman was struck by a hit-and-run vehicle in Costa Mesa and died two days later.

The woman, whose identity has not been released, was struck at about 12:25 a.m. Sunday at the intersection of Newport and Harbor boulevards, the Costa Mesa Police Department said in a news release.

The 47-year-old, whose last known address is in Costa Mesa, sustained a life-threatening head injury and was taken to a local hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday.

Investigators discovered that the vehicle that hit the woman was operating as a rideshare vehicle, and also on Tuesday, police arrested 43-year-old Thomas Loranze Henry of Ontario, police said.

He faces charges of vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run, authorities said.

According to a CMPD spokesperson, Henry is in custody at the Orange County Jail and is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

If he does not make bail, Henry could be in court as soon as Thursday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
While the Minneapolis City Council voted to boost pay for Uber and Lyft drivers in the city Thursday, the people who use the apps regularly are wondering if it's about to get harder to get home.

The council met for the final vote on a measure meant to raise pay for rideshare drivers. It passed 9 to 4, a veto-proof majority. Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed a similar measure last year, but the council majority has tipped further to the left since then.

Uber and Lyft have amped up a campaign against the measure, taking steps to signal they intend to pull out of Minneapolis on May 1.

The departure of rideshare services would impact greatly impact Maggie Leese's commute to work, she said Thursday after the council vote. In her experience, she said, it's much more affordable than parking in an expensive parking garage. Plus Uber also allows pets, she said, as she patted her dog Luna.

"Our friends that we work with a live a couple blocks away, we share a car (ride share)," Leese said. "I think it'd be more problematic than anything if there are no companies."

Late Wednesday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, incoming travelers monitored the location of their drivers by phone while waiting in the airport Uber/Lyft pickup zone.

Mark Phelps, of Eden Prairie, said he frequently uses both Lyft and Uber to travel in and out of Minneapolis. He looks at both apps for the cheapest ride and if one is up he uses the other, he said.

"We've taken a cab from the airport, but otherwise calling a cab? I haven't done it in years," Phelps said, calling the prospect "a pain."

The Minneapolis council's plan would boost pay for ride share drivers who say they've seen less income in recent years and that they struggle to make enough to cover more than their expenses.

The plan would pay drivers a minimum of $1.40 per mile and 51 cents per minute while transporting riders on any trip within the city limits. Lyft and Uber have defended their pay as fair.

Jen Lenzmeier typically drives to the airport, but she and her husband opted for rideshare on Wednesday after returning from a long international trip. And the Chisago City couple goes for rideshare any time they head into the city.

"When we're in Minneapolis, when we come spend the night and go out, we always Uber," Lenzmeier said.

Ellie Thurston sat atop her suitcase in the pickup bay while waiting for her ride to Northfield, Minn. Without rideshare apps, what is already a 40-minute car ride would turn into an hours-long complicated bus trip, she said. While it's unclear how an Uber and Lyft pullout from Minneapolis would affect the greater region, Thurston noted that the two companies have a large amount of sway in an area that still lacks plentiful transit options.

"They are practically holding the city hostage," she said.
RIO RANCHO, N.M. (KRQE)  Rio Rancho Public Schools says a social media threat targeting V. Sue Cleveland High School was not credible. The school received word Tuesday morning that the potential shooting threat appeared on the app STOPit

New Mexico Military Institute students head to DC to compete in National Science Bowl finals

While police and school security determined it was not credible, the district says versions of that threat continued to surface on social media throughout the night. They say students caught making threats will face severe consequences.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
Plans for electric vehicle company Rivian to build a $5 billion plant in Georgia have hit a bump in the road.

Founder and CEO R.J. Scaringe announced on Thursday two new vehicles, the R2 and R3.

The R2 was initially planned to be built at the Georgia plant, but production will now be focused at its existing facility in Normal, Illinois, according to a news release.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Construction for the Morgan County facility was initially scheduled for early 2024.

Under the deal, which has been in the works since 2021 and was finalized in November, Rivian was set to invest $5 billion to build the facility and create 7,500 jobs, according to officials.

In addition to the facility and expanding its charging network, Rivian previously announced an apprenticeship program, recruiting an initial group to support future industrial maintenance needs through a 24-month, in-depth training period to support the Georgia operation, according to the site announcement.

Rivians Georgia plant remains an extremely important part of its strategy to scale production of R2 and R3, the release read, in part.

RELATED STORIES:

They say the timing for resuming construction on the Georgia facility is expected to be later.

The company says launching production in Illinois will save them an estimated $2.25 billion.

Production of the R2 is slated to begin in 2026.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton Counties released a joint statement on Thursday that read,

Rivian has restated its commitment to Georgia, and the State and JDA are in steady communication with Rivian regarding its manufacturing plans at Stanton Springs North.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN RELATED NEWS:
UPDATE 10:46 PM ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) The Roanoke County Police Department reports Vickey Butts has been located.



ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) The Roanoke County Police Department is currently asking for the publics help in locating a missing woman.

The police department says Vickey Butts was last seen in the Tanglewood area in the early morning hours on Wednesday, March 5. She was reported missing later in the afternoon following a well-being check at her residence where her keys, phone, and purse were found.

Three arrested for alleged armed robbery on Peters Creek Road

Anyone with information about Ms. Butts is asked to call the Roanoke County Emergency Communications Center at (540) 562-3265.

WFXR News will update this story as further information is released.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
Ronnie Campbell: he was formerly the National Union of Mineworkers' Secretary of the Bates colliery, which closed in 1986 - Camera Press

Ronnie Campbell, who has died aged 80, was for 32 years the Left-wing Labour MP for Blyth Valley in Northumberland, widely respected for his work combatting drug addiction locally.

An ex-miner twice arrested during the strike of 1984-85, Campbell rated Blyth one of the biggest drug centres in the North-East, with dealers pressing their addicts to steal for them. In 1995, after 11 overdoses there in a year, he told the House that selling rave drugs over the counter would ruin the dealers.

Campbell opposed both Gulf wars (one of his sons was a Royal Marine), the EU, compulsory ID cards, and  being a Catholic  abortion. In 1987, when he considered following party policy and opposing David Altons Bill to tighten abortion controls, his wife, a local councillor, threatened to denounce him.

He reckoned himself a royalist, but confessed he would no longer be after when the Queen died, as I dont think there will be anyone worth supporting.

Though he supported radical Arab states, Campbell described British Muslims interned at Guantanamo as mercenaries who had given no thought to the passengers on the airliners hijacked in the 9/11 attacks.

Ronnie Campbell with John Prescott in Blyth in 1992 - Trinity Mirror/Alamy

By the time he was elected in 1987, working-class Labour MPs were the exception; Campbell was one of the very few with an old-style tattoo. He always spoke his mind, irking Speaker Betty Boothroyd with his sedentary interventions.

While he complained that under Tony Blair Labour was taking up Thatchers ideas, he kept his leader supplied with local breadcakes known as stotties.

Ronald Campbell was born in Tynemouth on August 14 1943, one of eight children of Ronald Campbell, a joiner, and the former Edna Howes. While an MP, he was reunited with a half-brother who had been adopted.

He left Ridley High School, Blyth, at 14 to work at Bates Colliery. He stayed until the pit closed, spending 14 years at the coalface.

By the strike, Campbell was NUM branch chairman. He took the lead on the picket line, being fined 75 for seizing a policeman who had grabbed his jacket. He took four other pickets out in a boat to intercept the tanker Granville before it could deliver 1,000 tonnes of oil to Blyth power station  a quantity the NUM considered excessive. They managed to speak to the crew, but the delivery was made.

Ronnie Campbell, second from left, leading the Bates colliery walk-in on March 6 1985 during the national miners' strike - Trinity Mirror/Alamy

In 1986 Bates closed, with 29 million tonnes of coal unmined. Campbell signed on the dole, and until his election a year later, supported himself, his wife and four school-age children on 96 a week.

He was elected to Blyth council in 1969 and its Blyth Valley successor in 1974. He chaired its environmental health committee and was vice-chairman of housing.

Labour politics locally were poisonous. In the wake of the Poulson affair Blyths MP, Eddie Milne, had been deselected after alleging corruption within the party machine.

In February 1974 Labour fielded Britains future UN ambassador Ivor Richard, only for Milne, standing as Independent Labour, to trounce him. That October the party improbably chose the fox-hunting barrister John Ryman, who squeezed home by 78 votes.

Ronnie Campbell with, left, Arthur Scargill outside the Cowpen and Crofton Welfare Club, 1981 - Trinity Mirror/Alamy

Campbell started a Ryman supporter, but when in 1986 Ryman announced that he would not stand again, the NUM nominated Campbell for the seat. Ryman claimed that the Militant Tendency was involved and demanded that Labours national executive (NEC) intervene.

Campbell always denied any connection to Militant, despite calling for the rehabilitation of Trotsky. When the NEC endorsed him, Ryman threatened to precipitate a by-election. Eddie Milne was a good constituency MP, Campbell commented. John Ryman has become a bit of a joke.

Ryman did not stand at the 1987 election, but with Labour out of sorts Campbell scraped home by 853 votes over the SDP.

He insisted on living on a miners pay, the rest of his salary funding an office in the constituency. Before finding a flat on London, he lived for two months in a Catholic hostel for homeless teenagers.

In the Commons he joined the hard-Left Campaign Group, omitted the customary tribute to his predecessor from his maiden speech, and supported non-payment of the poll tax.

After Saddam Hussein annexed Kuwait in 1990, Campbell and his fellow Left-wingers Dennis Canavan and Bob Parry flew to Baghdad to make Iraqs strongman see sense. They did not get to see Saddam, but returned hopeful that some Britons held hostage would be freed.

Ronnie Campbell in Blyth, 1992 - North News/NNP

In February 1992 he harangued John Major over a constituent with arthritis facing a 15-month wait for treatment. Major was offering to look into her case when Campbell crossed the floor and handed him the correspondence.

He was active in the campaign to block the Maastricht Treaty, accusing Paddy Ashdown of treachery for refusing to side with Labour.

When the Home Office decided to deport an Asian family  one of only five in Blyth  for overstaying their visas, he organised a 24-hour watch on their shop.

After Labours leader John Smith died, Campbell accused the BBC of trying to make Blair leader by keeping Gordon Brown off the air. When Brown decided not to run, Campbell backed John Prescott. Early in Blairs leadership, he accused him of conning the people and trying to dismantle the party, then apologised.

In the Labour landslide of 1997, Campbell increased his majority to 17,736 despite the NUM withholding financial support. Soon after, he was banned from the Commons for a day for calling the former Tory minister Michael Jack a hypocrite; in 1999 he was one of 67 Labour rebels against the means-testing of incapacity benefit.

Campbells election that year to chair the Northern group of Labour MPs did not mellow him. He asked the armed forces minister John Spellar why he had not tested depleted uranium in his own constituency, and was reproved for shouting Bollocks! at Michael Heseltine during a debate on pit closures.

Ronnie Campbell campaigning with Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in June 2017 - SCOTT HEPPELL

In January 2002, he was acquitted of assaulting a constituent in an Indian restaurant. The man claimed that one of Campbells sons had broken his nose and cheekbone for taunting his mother about a past affair with the leader of the council.

When the Government nationalised Northern Rock in 2008, Campbell declared it the Peoples Bank and opened an account there. During the MPs expenses scandal exposed by the Telegraph, he agreed to repay more than 6,000 claimed for furnishings in his London home.

Campbell nominated Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership when Ed Miliband stood down in 2015, and was one of the few Labour MPs to call for Brexit before the following years referendum.

In September 2016, he underwent chemotherapy for stomach cancer. He was back the next April to be one of 13 MPs to vote against Theresa May calling a snap election  at which he was re-elected by 7,900 votes.

Campbell had intended the 2015 Parliament to be his last, and he retired when Boris Johnson won the December 2019 election. The Conservative Ian Levys 712-vote defeat of Campbells successor Susan Dungworth at Blyth Valley was one of the most spectacular breaches of Labours Red Wall.

Ronnie Campbell married Deirdre McHale in 1967; they had a daughter and five sons.

Ronnie Campbell, born August 14 1943, died February 23 2024

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), joined by a bipartisan group of lawmakers from Florida, asked the Biden administration on Wednesday for at least $725 million to be included in his fiscal 2025 budget.

The money would help fund the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration (SFER), a program aimed at restoring the states Everglades and reestablishing natural water flow, which was disturbed over a century ago when drainage efforts negatively affected the ecosystems health.

In a letter dated March 6, Rubio and eight House lawmakers from Florida pointed to recent environmental incidents in the Sunshine State, including the dumping of fertilized water into some of the states rivers.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started discharging nutrient-laden water into various Florida rivers and lakes around the Everglades last month in the wake of the unseasonably high level of Lake Okeechobee prompted by El Nino weather conditions, the lawmakers stated.

The rising water levels of Lake Okeechobee and other water conservation areas, however, are restricting the ability to send major volumes from the lake toward Everglades National Park.

Despite the abundance of water, incomplete infrastructure acts as a bottleneck preventing much of it from reaching [Everglades National Park] where it would hydrate wetlands, balance salinities in the coastal zone, and recharge south Floridas aquifer, the lawmakers wrote.

The lawmakers argued completing the Everglades restoration projects will increase the flexibility of water management, prevent water shortages and lessen the need for discharges that can kill wildlife and decrease overall quality of life in southern Florida.

The lawmakers said they expect a substantial amount of the SFER funding to go toward the construction of the Everglades Agriculture Area (EAA), which they called the single most important Everglades project to decrease the volume and frequency of harmful discharges. Its expedited construction will require about $3 billion, per the letter.

Rubio and others also called for the approval of an incremental funding clause for the EAA to ensure the seamless continuation of the project.

Biden will release his fiscal 2025 budget next Monday. The Hill reached out to the White House for comment.

Other lawmakers on the letter include Reps. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Brian Mast (R-Fla.), Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), John Rutherford (R-Fla.), Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) and Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.).

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Ahead of construction in Northern Ireland, a team of archaeologists conducted a very complex excavation.

Looking at the site before we started, it was clear that this was an area that could have good archaeological potential, Chris Long, who works for Gahan & Long Archaeological Services, which oversaw the excavation, told The Irish News. However there was always the belief that the former factory may have removed everything.

As the team explored the site, their suspicions were confirmed when they uncovered a remarkable discovery, according to a March 5 news release from the company.

Archaeologists unearthed 146 skeletons  including 120 complete skeletons. The remains belonged not only to men, but to women and children too.

Uncover more archaeological finds

What are we learning about the past? Here are three of our most eye-catching archaeology stories from the past week.

 Emerald green artifact 'ignored' for 80 years was 'rare' 500-year-old find

 2,400-year-old underground discovery stumped experts for decades  until now

 Stone sarcophagi went unopened for 600 years  until now. See what was found inside

This diverse mix of individuals adds a fascinating dimension to the discovery, the company said in its release.

As an archaeologist, this is the best, Long told ITV News. Its a medieval site, its old and its really exciting  so all the days standing out in the wind and rain make it worth it for something like this.

Most of the remains were buried in the Christian tradition with an east-west orientation, but some were buried unusually north-south, Long told The Irish News.

This may reflect the burial of executed criminals from nearby Gallows Green, who would have been denied a full Christian burial, he said.

Experts believe the skeletons are remains of people who were buried in the cemetery of the Abbey of the Holy Cross, also known as Woodburn. The discovery marks the first time physical remains of the medieval abbey have been found.

The church was built in 1326 and was partly demolished in 1558, according to historical records, The Irish News reported. It was fully destroyed by the early 1600s.

What makes this discovery truly unprecedented is that it is the first time any physical remains of the Abbey or its complex have been found. This breakthrough opens up new avenues for research and understanding of this historical site, the archaeological service said.

The skeletons are the only physical evidence discovered from the medieval abbey, according to experts.

This site was long known to have been home to Holy Cross Abbey but as it had been erased there was no evidence, Mary Connolly, a member of the Carrickfergus Historical Society, told the Irish News. It is wonderful that this excavation has uncovered such a wealth of information.

The church played a central role during medieval life, Andrew Gault, the Department for Communities senior inspector of historic moments, told ITV News.

During the 14th and 15th century this would have been one of the most important ecclesiastical site in the medieval earldom of Ulster, Gault said, according to the outlet. Going forward well hopefully work with the developer to see if the location of the Abbey can be marked in some way to commemorate the Abbey and the people who were buried there.

Carrickfergus is in northeastern Northern Ireland, about a 12-mile drive from Belfast.

Remains of ancient wooden coffins  holding babies and children  unearthed in Hungary

700-year-old church  teeming with rare religious artifacts  discovered. See finds

Someone lost a gold ring 500 years ago. It was just found  in nearly new condition
U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Montana, speaks to a crowd in Helena on Jan. 27, 2024, as part of his "Truth Tour" with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. (Photo by Blair Miller, Daily Montanan)

U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Montana, speaks to a crowd in Helena on Jan. 27, 2024, as part of his "Truth Tour" with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. (Photo by Blair Miller, Daily Montanan)

The ol journalism adage still holds true: If your mother says she loves you, check her source.

Most journalists know the famous phrase, borrowed from a Chicago newsroom, and what it means: Report what you know, not what you think you know. Or what everyone says.

Ronald Reagan (of all people) put it another way: Trust but verify.

And thats exactly the situation the Montana media has faced when dealing with rumors surrounding Matt Rosendales personal life. The media cannot even talk Rosendales high-profile exit from the Senate race without being damned one way or another.

I am going to do my best to avoid any specifics about the rumors because journalism isnt a practice in what we think we know, its job is to ascertain what we truly know, based on facts, evidence and often, a written record. And right now, thats virtually nothing.

The Daily Montanan, like many other media outlets, had folks sending us rumors that speculated Rosendale was pulling out of the U.S. Senate race because of turmoil in his personal life. To be clear: As of the writing of this column, not a shred of evidence has surfaced to prove any of it true. The rumor was damning enough that even the mention of the specifics would have tainted his reputation without credible evidence.

Taking a stroll through the swamp of social media reveals that the animus against Rosendale is rivaled only by the publics frustration that few, if any, of the details have been introduced in the reporting. People are turning on the media, believing we have an obligation to report the rumors. They have turned to conspiracy to explain the silence. The reasons for that range on a spectrum from journalistic incompetence to conspiracies and pay-offs.

But inasmuch as we read social media and are wonderful at gossip, this situation is the perfect example of what differentiates the media from social media. Social media is the collection of opinion, rumor and fact. Trying sometimes to separate all them is akin to picking out the flour in an already-baked chocolate chip cookie.

Journalism, practiced by some in the media, is chasing these rumors and half-truths to find out whats true and whats merely a good, but fact-free, story. And facts are something that is verifiable.

Most of the time, the truth about any situation comes out. Eventually. Sometimes, the rumors take years. Sometimes, they dissipate into the electronic aether of social media.

We have looked into these rumors and so far, nothing has materialized. Because of that, we, like most other Montana media, have remained silent.

For some thats enough evidence of a cover-up, but the reality, its evidence of journalism.

You could probably run the most basic of searches and find columns in which I have been harshly critical of Rosendale. And, I stand by those opinions. Its also fair to say that I probably disagree with Rosendale on most issues. But a disagreement of opinion doesnt give any journalist license to repeat unsubstantiated claims that could destroy him as well as his family.

So while some look at the situation and see evidence of conspiracy, laziness or ineptitude, I, instead, see another example of journalism in Montana being small, but still mighty.

Rosendales sudden exit out of the race that hed been talking about for years was indeed shocking. Its even more perplexing because his stated reasons  being short on cash and not being the favored candidate of Trump  were known before he even filed paperwork for the Senate.

But, theres nothing more insincere than a newsman griping about big news, so Id say thats very definition of news: What you think will happen doesnt always come to pass.

If there is something real, provable and verifiable to cover, well chase it. Until then, the only difference between the gossip mill and social media is the speed and breadth at which those same rumors fly.

Meanwhile, Rosendale himself has traced the rumors back to a talk-show where former Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp seemed to all but confirm the truth of the rumors without specifics. In response to those, the Rosendale camps vowed legal action and a defamation suit against her.

Those have yet to materialize.

That will be the real tell, of course: Whether Rosendale and his lawyers truly go after Heitkamp may help voters understand the merit of those rumors. Threats are just that. But if Rosendale actually brings a defamation lawsuit, that will be the real measure of the rumors veracity because that will include the tools of the court which includes discovery and subpoenas.

Right now, it is nothing more than a vicious rumor  a prelude to what promises to be a brutal election season.

The post Rumors, Rosendale, and the difference between media and social media appeared first on Daily Montanan.
Central America knows how to set trends. At least in politics. The year 1954 is a clear example, because that is when a coup detat took place against the president of Guatemala, Jacobo Arbenz, who had stood up to the interests of the powerful Guatemalan oligarchy and American companies, mainly the United Fruit Company. That military mutiny marked the beginning of an era of legitimization of political violence to eliminate populist leaders, write Maria Esperanza Casullo and Harry Brown, authors of El populismo en America Central (Populism in Central America), which analyzes the rise of radical leaders like Nayib Bukele in El Salvador, another political demagogue whose heavy-handed measures to eradicate violence have sparked a wave of admiration across the continent, from Panama to Argentina.

Central America and the Caribbean in no way follow the political trends of their southern (or northern) neighbors, but, on the contrary, often inaugurate them or mark milestones, the authors state in their book. For Casullo, who hails from Argentina, and Brown, who is from Costa Rica, the events taking place in that strip of land that joins the continent together help understand the populist advances in the region and its consequences for democracy. Both authors discussed this global phenomenon through a video call. Populism is a warning about what has gone wrong in democracy, warns Brown.

Bukele is in the media spotlight due to his great popularity. The controversial president of El Salvador has won re-election with 85% of the votes and maintains control of Congress and the justice system; despite his heavy-handed policy and authoritarian drift, his project is supported by the vast majority of Salvadorans. Why is the young president so attractive to voters? Because populism is effective, replies Casullo, who has a doctorate in government studies from Georgetown University. It generates enthusiasm and mobilization at this historical moment, when doing normal politics is running into many difficulties because this is a time of great uncertainty and polarization, she adds. Furthermore, says Casullo, Latin America has problems that governments have not been able to solve, such as inequality, poverty and organized crime, and that is why politicians choose the populist strategy, because it is effective, it generates political identity, that is, it generates a mobilized and convinced we.

Leaders like Bukele or Argentinas Javier Milei have been able to read this discontent and attract those who feel prisoners of injustice, and in this way create a common enemy at which to direct their discontent, which can be political parties or the traditional elites (the caste, as Milei has called it), multinational organizations such as the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank, civil organizations or activist groups such as feminists, the media, or external powers, be it the United States or the European Union. When this populist myth clicks, very deep identification processes are generated. This allows for action, because very profound reforms can be passed, the Constitution reformed, the criminal policy of a country completely transformed, based on this myth, says Casullo.

Harry Brown and Maria Esperanza Casullo.

Radical populists

In their book, the researchers define Bukele as a radical populist, even though the leader of the small Central American country sells himself as a modern man, an efficient CEO, someone capable of transforming and improving the great company that has been handed to him; a cool and friendly young man who moves the masses through his effective use of social media. His actions, however, imitate the old tricks of Latin American authoritarianism, which include messianic overtones and claiming to be anointed by God. Bukele became a dissident after coming from within the system; he dared to leave the system and point his finger at it, and I believe that this is an attitude in which a good part of the population can see itself reflected, warns Harry Brown, who has a doctorate in political science from the Complutense University of Madrid.

What Bukele did was blame the problems on a political event that for Latin American and Central American democrats is almost sacred, which are the Peace Accords, calling them a pact between the corrupt. One of the findings of the book is that in Central America the enemy that populists point to are precisely those pacts, which they call agreements between elites that do not allow access to new actors who could presumably solve the countrys problems. And Bukele, with his attitude and way of presenting himself, embodies the possibility of a future that Salvadorans had been unable to find, adds the author.

Costa Rica, considered a solid democracy, has not been spared from this new populist wave. The country elected Rodrigo Chaves, a technocrat who channeled anger toward the elites, as its new president. The case of Costa Rica draws a lot of attention, because it has been and continues to be one of the most solid democracies in Latin America, and now they have a president with very strong populist traits. The big difference in the Costa Rica case is that the populist myth looks to the past, because it is the only country in Central America, and one of the few in Latin America, that once had a small welfare state. Costa Ricans are really aware that they used to live better, and part of President Chaves campaign was focused on the idea of once again being the happiest country in the world, explains Brown.

In their book, the authors pay attention to an element that is already defining democracy in the region, which is the collapse of traditional party politics. It is seen in El Salvador, with the collapse of ARENA and the disappearance of the leftist FMLN from popularly elected positions, but also in Costa Rica, where the parties have fallen into a deep crisis. Political parties in Central America have never been very strong, but it is true that the accumulation of demands points directly towards those responsible for the political systems. The paradox of all this is that in order to build new regimes, which is what some populists propose, organization is needed, which is why they do not necessarily wish to put an end to political parties, but often end up organizing them, because they need them to mobilize and unite a population that may not be united through class or ethnicity, as is the case in Bolivia, but needs an institutionalized body to articulate the mobilization of the population, says Brown.

The populist wave

Populists like Bukele or Milei generate great attraction at the regional level, and their measures generate popularity and are followed by politicians in the region, in what seems to be a new political paradigm in Latin America, from Colombia to Paraguay. Populism always operates like this, by imitation of repertoires. There is no ideology, there is no Mao Red Book or a populist Fourth International. They are presented as successful examples that are adapted and copied in other contexts, explains Casullo. We South Americans dont look much at Central America, but what we are seeing now in countries like Argentina are very similar processes. For example, in Rosario, which has a very big drug trafficking problem, we have seen photos in a prison in the same style as El Salvador, and I think we are going to continue seeing that at least in the medium term, she adds.

Can the regions democracies survive this populist wave? Yes, totally, says Casullo. The best resource for action is strategic patience and betting on political action. These types of governments have internal cracks, they can be successful, so to speak, in reducing poverty or in reducing crime, but it is very costly to maintain this constant antagonism, and society, which at first may feel enthusiastic and mobilized, over time wants to return to having a more or less normal life, she adds. There is hope, says Brown. This populist moment should serve as a warning of what has been going wrong in democracy and I hope that the elites will take note and become more aware of what needs to be reformed and what needs to be corrected, because the move from populism to authoritarianism It is exceptional, it is not the rule.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition




Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old conservative media mogul, is engaged for the sixth time, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.

News of his engagement to Elena Zhukova comes just months after the Fox boss effectively handed over the reins of his conservative media empire to his son, Lachlan Murdoch.

The wedding is set for June at his California estate and vineyard, called Moraga.

PHOTO: Rupert Murdoch, co-chairman of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc., arrives for the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, July 10, 2018. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Multiple recent media reports describe Zhukova as a 66-year-old retired scientist. Reports also say her daughter was married to Roman Abramovich -- who the U.S. government has described as a Russian oligarch, seizing his yacht.

Last April, news broke that Murdoch's engagement to his previous fiancee, Ann Lesley Smith, had been called off after just two weeks.

A spokesperson confirmed the latest engagement.

Rupert Murdoch engaged for 6th time at 92 originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis is convinced that Russia will continue to "intensify instability" in the world if it is not stopped now.

Source: Landsbergis at a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Bucharest

Details: Landsbergis stressed that a hesitant response only gives Russia more courage.

"Without deterrence, the Kremlin will continue to expand the zone of instability and foment new conflicts. This war must be won, and won decisively," he said.

Landsbergis added that the war unleashed by Russia has become a challenge to the international order.

He also said that Ukraine should be guaranteed long-term defence support.

Background:

Landsbergis warned earlier that Russia could launch a sudden attack on NATO countries.

He also believes that Europe needs to find a creative solution to help Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Support UP or become our patron!
Lithuanias intelligence has said that Russia has enough resources to continue fighting Ukraine at current levels of intensity for at least two more years.

Source: a joint report by the State Security Department and the Military Intelligence and Security Service of Lithuania, published by BNS

Details: Lithuanias intelligence noted that Russia has sufficient financial, human and logistical resources to continue combat operations of this intensity, at least in the "near term". Their estimates indicated that this meant a period of up to two years.

The report says Russia was allocating huge resources to the war in Ukraine and showed no inclination to de-escalate the conflict, although it was failing to achieve its operational goals.

"At the same time, the Russian Federation is preparing for a long-term confrontation with NATO, in particular in the Baltic Sea region, and to this end is gradually expanding its military capabilities in the west of the country," the intelligence service says.

The report indicated that the Kremlin had launched a large-scale reform of its armed forces that would expand Russia's military potential in the Baltic Sea region. The planned structural and command changes have already begun, and some of these are being implemented in Kaliningrad and Russias west.

"This reform is a long-term project that will require a lot of resources and will last at least several years, perhaps up to a decade," Lithuanias intelligence says.

They also said that the overall pace and scope of the Russian reform would directly depend on the course, duration, and outcome of their combat operations in Ukraine.

The report also says that the war in Ukraine had cost Russia much more than it planned last year, and in the first half of 2023, military spending already exceeded the amount officially allotted for the whole year. And this year at least a third of the states budget - 102 billion - has already been allocated to the military.

"The real amount is undoubtedly higher, given the classified expenses in budget reports. The war effort and the military-industrial complex are becoming the driving forces of the Russian economy, attracting financial, material and human resources of the country at the expense of other sectors of the economy," the intelligence notes.

Lithuanian intelligence services also pointed out that Belarus was developing the capability to deploy nuclear weapons under Russian control. They said that the country was modernising and equipping its nuclear weapons storage infrastructure facilities.

Background:

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that he had called for a "strategic leap forward" by raising the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine and warned the allies against "a lurking spirit of defeat".

Macron said last week that he "could not rule out" the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine. He later added that his words had been carefully thought through.

At the same time, Macron's statements provoked a negative reaction from the governments of allied countries, whose leaders were quick to state that they would not send troops.

While most NATO countries have ruled out sending troops to Ukraine  including major players such as Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States  Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said he was grateful for the debate initiated by Macron.

Moscow reacted angrily to Macron's remarks, warning that the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine would inevitably lead to a conflict between Russia and NATO.

Support UP or become our patron!


Turret of a destroyed Russian tank is seen near the front line village of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia region

By Andrius Sytas

VILNIUS (Reuters) - High oil prices, sanctions evasion and state investment are providing Russia with enough resources to fight on in Ukraine at the current intensity for at least two more years, Lithuanian intelligence agencies said in a report on Thursday.

Russia reformed and strengthened its battle-torn army in Ukraine in 2023 and is on track to expand its military capabilities along its border with NATO, including next to Finland, which joined the alliance last year, the agencies said in their annual assessment of threats facing the Baltic country.

"Moscow is able to evaluate the lessons learned and improve its combat effectiveness, the Lithuanian agencies added in the report that was embargoed for release on Thursday morning.

The joint report is the work of two agencies: the counter-intelligence State Security Department and the military's Defence Intelligence and Security Service under the Ministry of National Defence.

Russia's defence minister said on Tuesday that the country has strengthened its military forces in the north and west of the country in response to a perceived build-up of NATO forces on its borders.

Lithuania, neighbour to both Russia and its ally Belarus, was once ruled from Moscow but is now a member of NATO and the European Union.

The agencies wrote that Russian intelligence is driving efforts to evade the sanctions imposed on the country's defence industry after it invaded Ukraine.

While Russia is openly supplied with weapons and ammo by only Iran and North Korea, China has become its largest supplier of microchips and the yuan has become the main currency for Russia's international transactions, Lithuania's agencies said.

They added that since Russia deployed military warheads in Belarus in 2023, it has been steadily building infrastructure for their use there.

The report said Russian and Belarusian intelligence agencies have increased their efforts to recruit Lithuanians crossing the border and Lithuania detained several of its own citizens in 2023 whom it accused of providing data for Belarus intelligence for cash.

Turning to China, the agencies said the country increased its spying efforts in Lithuania in 2023, following Lithuania's decision to allow Taiwan to open a de facto embassy on its soil in 2021.

The report said that cyber actors "affiliated with China" have been found regularly probing Lithuanian government institutions for vulnerabilities "with the aim of penetrating their networks and exfiltrating data".

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy on Thursday, warning Washington not to interfere in the nations upcoming elections.

The ministry accused three U.S. nonprofit governmental organizations, including the American Councils for International Education, of employing anti-Russian programs and projects to recruit agents of influence.

Russian officials said in a statement that Tracy was handed a note demanding she halt any assistance to the organizations.

They also demanded she remove from the U.S. Embassy website any reference to projects and programs used by the groups that are aimed at promoting those alien to Russian society and values.

It is especially emphasized that attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the Russian Federation, including subversive actions and the spread of disinformation in the context of elections and a special military operation, will be strictly and resolutely suppressed, the ministry said, warning that Moscow could expel U.S. Embassy employees in violation.

Russia refers to the war in Ukraine as a special military operation.

There was no immediate word from the U.S. Embassy in Russia on the confrontation.

Russias presidential elections will begin March 15 and last until March 17. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to win the election with ease, as opposition candidates have all been removed from eligibility or are in jail.

Putin, 71, has amended the Russian Constitution to allow him to stay in power until 2036.

It wasnt clear what Russia is accusing the U.S. nonprofit groups of doing to interfere in the election. The American Councils for International Education, for example, run educational and study programs in Russia and other countries.

The U.S. accused Russia of interfering in the 2016 American presidential election in a systematic method.

U.S. officials are on guard for attacks on this years elections from both actors in Moscow, China and other foreign adversaries.

The Hill has reached out to the nonprofit governmental organizations for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The Russians lost another 1,160 soldiers, 51 armoured combat vehicles, 42 artillery systems, and 17 tanks in the past day alone.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook

Details: The total combat losses of the Russian forces between 24 February 2022 and 7 March 2024 are estimated to be as follows [figures in parentheses represent the latest losses  ed.]:

421,430 (+1,160) military personnel;

6,695 (+17) tanks;

12,779 (+51) armoured combat vehicles;

10,350 (+42) artillery systems;

1,009 (+1) multiple-launch rocket systems;

701 (+0) air defence systems;

347 (+0) fixed-wing aircraft;

325 (+0) helicopters;

7,963 (+42) strategic and tactical UAVs;

1,919 (+1) cruise missiles;

26 (+0) ships and boats;

1 (+0) submarines;

13,532 (+53) vehicles and tankers;

1,647 (+5) special vehicles and other equipment.

The data is being confirmed.

Support UP or become our patron!
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on March 7 that it had summoned U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy and warned against "attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the Russian Federation," ahead of Russia's presidential election.

Russia will hold a presidential election between March 15 and March 17, in which President Vladimir Putin, who has been in power since 1999, is expected to secure his fifth term in office.

Tracy was among the Western diplomats who attended the funeral of Alexei Navalny, Putin's main political opponent, on March 1.

The Russian Foreign Ministry claimed that Tracy had been summoned due to the U.S. Embassy's support to three NGOs that carry out "anti-Russian programs and projects" under the guise of "educational and cultural exchanges."

The U.S. Embassy must stop supporting these NGOs or else it will be considered to be violating Russian law, the Foreign Ministry alleged.

The Foreign Ministry threatened to expel Embassy employees who "spread disinformation" in the context of the upcoming elections or the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The news comes days after the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned German Ambassador to Russia Alexander Lambsdorf and threatened German journalists with expulsion amid heightened tensions following the leak of the audio from a meeting of German military officers.

Read also: Bloomberg: EU to propose new sanctions against Russia over Navalnys death

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian foreign ministry said on Thursday it had summoned Lynne Tracy, the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, to warn her it would expel U.S. diplomats it deems to be interfering in its internal affairs.

Moscow issued the warning ahead of a March 15-17 presidential election, which President Vladimir Putin, Russia's paramount leader for over 20 years, is certain to win bar an unexpected development.

The foreign ministry said in a statement it would look out for what it called "subversive actions and the spread of information" related to the election and what the Kremlin calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

It said such behaviour would be "firmly and resolutely suppressed, up to and including the expulsion as 'persona non grata' of United States Embassy staff involved in such actions."

A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy said they had no immediate comment.

The foreign ministry also demanded that the U.S. Embassy cease supporting three American nonprofits that it said were running "anti-Russian programmes" in the country aimed at "recruiting 'agents of influence' under the guise of educational and cultural exchanges."

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
A Russian airstrike on Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast wounded three civilians, the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor's Office reported on March 7.

Toretsk, which is located less than eight kilometers (five miles) from the front line, had a population of around 31,000 before the start of the full-scale invasion.

The Regional Prosecutor's Office said that the three civilians, a 47-year-old man, a 63-year-old man, and a woman of the same age, were talking on the street when Russian forces dropped a guided aerial bomb on the town at around 11:10 a.m. local time.

Several houses were damaged, and a fire broke out in one home. The injured civilians received medical attention, the Regional Prosecutor's Office said.

The Regional Prosecutor's Office said it has started an investigation into the war crime of attacking the civilian population.

Russia carried out an aerial bomb attack on two mines in Toretsk in December 2023, killing three men.

Read also: Ukrainian soldiers near Kupiansk prepare for potential Russian offensive

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Opinion articles written in the style of their author." These texts are to be based on verified facts and must be respectful towards people, even though their actions may be criticized. shall feature, along with the author's name (regardless of their greater or lesser renown), a footer stating their office, academic title, political affiliation (if any) and main occupation, or the occupation related to the topic being assessed

Spain was one of the first countries that I had the honor of visiting at the beginning of my third term as president of Brazil. This was an important step in my countrys return to the world stage. And, on March 7, Brazil will have the opportunity to receive a visit from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Spain is the second-largest country of origin of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Brazil. The volume of investments is around $60 billion, with an annual flow of about $3.3 billion in recent years. However, theres no other economic partner with which we share so many cultural and political affinities.

Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards have contributed to forging the Brazilian national identity. We have essential values in common, such as the defense of democracy and human rights, the promotion of socially-inclusive policies, the commitment to sustainable development and the fight against the climate crisis. These are fundamental efforts at a time when were experiencing profound changes in the international order, which challenge our sense of humanity.

In a world that spends $2.2 trillion a year on weapons, peace remains the privilege of some, while wars cause destruction, suffering and the death of innocents. In a world that produces wealth worth $105 trillion each year, more than 735 million people still have nothing to eat.

In recent decades, an exclusionary economic model has concentrated wealth among the very few and has widened disparities. Inequality has become fertile ground for extremism. When democracy fails to guarantee the well-being of citizens, figures who sell simplistic solutions to complex problems thrive, sowing distrust in the electoral process and political institutions.

We are facing a worrying rise in support for the extreme-right and its traditional tools to accelerate social disintegration: authoritarianism, violence, economic precariousness, climate denialism, hate speech, xenophobia, racism and misogyny. Fortunately, some of our societies have opted for governments that believe that the key to responding to attacks on democracy is to improve peoples lives.

This year, Brazil, once again, appears among the 10 largest economies in the world. The Brazilian economy grew by 2.9% over the past 12 months, while unemployment fell to 7.6%, the lowest rate since 2015. We expanded income transfer programs for the most vulnerable citizens and reestablished the minimum wage policy. We approved a tax reform that will finally correct the distortions that have been burdening those who have the lowest incomes with the highest taxes.

We were inspired by Spain to write a bill which guarantees workers rights: it was sent to the National Congress of Brazil this week. We reduced Amazon deforestation by 50% since my term began in January 2023, while supporting Spains efforts in the fight against desertification. At the national level, our governments are doing what needs to be done at the international level.

During the Brazilian presidency of the G-20, we will launch a Task Force for a Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, to mobilize resources for the implementation of policies that have proven effectiveness. We will defend the creation of a global tax on billionaires. We will propose initiatives to guarantee decent jobs. We will promote a just transition towards a low-carbon economy, so as to guarantee that the COP30  which we will host in the heart of the Amazon  results in effective solutions for the planet.

Rarely in history has solidarity among the worlds progressive forces  such as the alliance we maintain with Spain  been as necessary and urgent as now. Its our responsibility to work together, so that indifference doesnt prevail over humanism. We must ensure that injustices that spread within and between countries give way to cooperation.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is the president of Brazil. Translated by Avik Jain Chatlani.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
Russian attacks against Ukraine over the past day killed at least seven people and injured at least 15, with children reported among the casualties, the authorities said on March 7.

Civilian casaulties were reported by regional officials in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Kherson oblasts.

In Odesa, the military reported that five people had been killed and several others injured after Russia targeted the city's port with a missile during a visit of President Volodymyr Zelensky and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

"(The attack) is in no way connected to a specific visit, but it is related to the terror that (Russia) is very methodically carrying out," said Nataliia Humeniuk, a spokesperson of Ukraine's Southern Operational Command.

Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast was targeted three times during the day, according to Governor Serhii Lysak.

An attack drone injured an elderly woman, and a large fire broke out when a Russian artillery attack targeted a shopping center. There were no victims, but the fire spread to cover over 4,000 square meters.

Russian attacks in Donetsk Oblast killed one person in the village of Netailove, Governor Vadym Filashkin reported.

One attack injured two people in the village of Kleban-Byk, and another attack injured a person in Pokrovsk, according to Filashkin.

In the village of Borova in Kharkiv Oblast, a Russian missile strike killed a 70-year-old man and injured seven others.

"A woman was rescued from the rubble, her five children were injured, as well as a man from a neighboring house," Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on Telegram. The strike damaged 12 houses in the village.

Overnight, Russian forces attacked a training ground used by the State Emergency Service. The drone attack set fire to the building, destroying the site.

There were no casaulties, according to the State Emergency Service.

In Kherson Oblast, four people were injured, and 16 homes were damaged over the past day as a result of Russian attacks, according to Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

Among the injured were a 59-year-old man and 58-year-old woman, who are husband and wife. They suffered blast injuries when a drone dropped an explosive onto their home in the city of Beryslav.

In the city of Kherson, Russian attacks damaged an educational institution, a gas pipeline, a car, and port infrastructure.

Sumy, Mykolaiv, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts also came under attack over the past day, but no civilian casaulties were reported.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Russia launches missile strike at Odesa during Zelensky, Greek PM visit, killing 5

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
A Russian airstrike on the city of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast around 10:00 a.m. local time on March 7 killed a 40-year-old woman and injured a 67-year-old woman, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

Civilians in Kharkiv Oblasts settlements are subjected to frequent attacks by Russian forces due to their proximity to the front line and the border with Russia.

The guided aerial bomb destroyed at least 12 homes and caused a fire, which the governor said had been contained.

The woman was killed after the bomb directly struck her home, and the wounded woman suffered light injuries and did not need hospitalization, according to Syniehubov.

Synehiubov said that first responders were at the site of the attack, and more information was being gathered.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Russia launches missile strike at Odesa during Zelensky, Greek PM visit, killing 5

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
A Russian drone strike in Sumy during the early hours of March 6 injured four people and caused damage to multiple homes, schools, and medical centers, the local military administration reported.

The administration first reported that Russian Shahed drones had struck the city at around 2:30 a.m. local time on March 6.

Four civilians were injured in the attack. Authorities said all injured persons received medical attention.

One drone reportedly struck a courtyard between two apartment buildings, shattering windows and destroying cars. The administration said that 235 apartments sustained damage.

The attack also damaged a kindergarten, a school, a medical college, a library, and two medical facilities. Authorities said that 589 windows were broken. Emergency workers are still at work clearing debris and attending to the damage.

Smaller towns along the Sumy Oblast border were also targeted in Russian attacks throughout the day on March 6. Russian forces attacked seven border communities, causing nearly 100 explosions in the area.

The communities of Khotin, Yunakivka, Znob-Novhorodske, Bilopillia, Krasnopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, and Seredyna-Buda came under fire.

Russian forces reportedly dropped four aerial bombs over Seredyna-Buda, including one that contained cluster munitions.

No casualties or damage from the border attacks were reported.

Sumy Oblast lies on Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia and is regularly targeted by daily Russian attacks.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Russia launches missile strike at Odesa during Zelensky, Greek PM visit, killing 5

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned Lynne Tracy, US Ambassador to Russia, and warned her of the possible expulsion of US diplomats who "attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the Russian Federation."

Source: Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Details: It is noted that on 7 March, the Russian Foreign Ministry informed Tracy that three US non-profit organisations (American Councils for International Education, Cultural Vistas and the Institute of International Education) were declared undesirable in the Russian Federation, supposedly being aimed at "recruiting agents of influence under the guise of educational and cultural exchanges".

Tracy was handed an official note demanding that she cease any support for the activities of these NGOs.

Quote from the Russian Foreign Ministry: "It is especially emphasised that attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the Russian Federation, including sabotage actions and the spread of disinformation in the context of the elections and the special military operation [as the Kremlin propaganda calls the war against Ukraine  ed.], will be firmly and resolutely suppressed, up to the expulsion of the US Embassy staff involved in such actions as persona non grata."

Background: Nominal presidential elections are scheduled for 15-17 March 2024 in the Russian Federation, in which Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to win again.

Support UP or become our patron!


A Belarusian man who was planning an "act of terrorism" was shot and killed by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) in the Russian republic of Karelia on March 7, the Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti claimed, citing the FSB's press service.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims. Ukrainian officials made no comment.

The FSB alleged that the man was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence and was previously affiliated with the Belarusian Kastus Kalinouski regiment that has been fighting on the Ukrainian side against Russian forces.

According to the FSB, the man planned to blow up an administrative building in the town of Olonets on the orders of Ukrainian intelligence and had acquired a cache of weapons and explosives.

Olonets is located to the east of Lake Ladoga, some 350 kilometers (217 miles) south of the Finnish border.

The FSB alleged that the suspect opened fire on FSB agents during his attempted apprehension and was shot and killed.

RIA published a video showing FSB agents entering a building and ordering a man to come out before opening fire.

Read also: Russia claims it foiled assassination attempt in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
A missile fired by Russian forces at Odesa on 6 March exploded just 500 metres away from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during a visit.

Source: CNN with reference to its source

Details: The source said that the convoy of Zelenskyy and Mitsotakis felt the impact of the strike and the group saw a "mushroom cloud" of smoke.

CNN noted that Zelenskyy often makes risky trips to the front line and has welcomed dozens of world leaders to Ukraine in more than two years of full-scale war with Russia, but Wednesday's attack could be one of the "closest calls for the president."

In addition, the proximity of the attack to Mitsotakis, the leader of a NATO member state, also underscores the danger of such visits and the "potential global repercussions of the conflict."

Mitsotakis said that Zelenskyy gave him a tour of Odesa before they heard the air-raid warning.

Quote from Mitsotakis: "Shortly after, as we were getting into our cars, we heard a big explosion. I think that for us [it] is the best, most vivid reminder that there is a real war going on here. Every day there is a war, which not only affects the front, the soldiers, it affects our innocent fellow citizens."

Background:

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he had witnessed the Russian attack on Odesa on the morning of 6 March, as he was in the city at the time, along with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He also noted that the Russian attack resulted in civilian casualties.

The air-raid warning was issued at 10:41 in Odesa Oblast, followed by a loud explosion. At 10:45, the Air Force reported a threat of ballistic missile use in the oblasts where the air-raid warning was issued.

It is known that five people were killed in a Russian strike on Odesa's port infrastructure on 6 March.

Support UP or become our patron!
A Russian oligarch's seized megayacht is costing US taxpayers $922,000 a month, a court filing says.

Officials said last month it costs $600,000  but there's also insurance and dry-docking fees.

Another Russian billionaire is claiming ownership of the yacht and opposing attempts to sell it.

A Russian oligarch's megayacht is costing taxpayers almost $1 million a month after the government seized it, court filings say.

US officials say the $300-million Amadea is owned by Suleiman Kerimov, a sanctioned Russian billionaire. It has a helipad, a swimming pool, and a movie theater on board.

The 348-foot vessel was first seized by authorities in Fiji in April 2022. It's now docked in San Diego, but the government wants to sell it due to huge maintenance costs.

Last month, an assistant chief in the US Marshals Service said the Amadea was costing the government about $600,000 a month.

That's made up of $360,000 for crew salaries; $75,000 for fuel; and $165,000 for maintenance, waste removal, food for the crew, and miscellaneous expenses.

But a Friday court filing seen by Business Insider says there are actually even more costs that bring the total monthly bill up to $922,000.

It costs $144,000 to insure the megayacht, and dry-docking fees of $178,000 a month, the filing says.

Crew members on the Amadea in June 2022. EUGENE TANNER/AFP via Getty Images

The legal battle over the Amadea involves another Russian billionaire, Eduard Khudainatov, who claims he, not Kerimov, is the owner of the yacht.

Lawyers for Khudainatov, who is not sanctioned, have objected to the government's attempts to sell the Amadea.

According to CNBC, which first reported on Friday's filing, Khudainatov has offered to reimburse the government for the $20 million it has already spent maintaining the yacht if it's returned to him.

However, as long as the government continues trying to sell the Amadea, he won't pay the costs, CNBC reported.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Destruction in Sumy Oblast as a result of Russian attacks. Stock photo: Sumy Oblast Military Administration

The Russians carried out 19 attacks on the territory of Sumy Oblast, using unguided missiles, air-dropped mines, and launching guided bombs, over the past 24 hours.

Source: Sumy Oblast Military Administration

Details: In total, there were 91 explosions observed during the day. Khotin, Yunakivka, Bilopillia, Krasnopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Seredyna-Buda and Znob-Novhorod hromadas came under Russian fire [a hromada is an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories  ed.].

The Russians launched four aerial guided bombs, causing three explosions in Seredyna-Buda hromada. One bomb was used for remote mining of the territory with submunitions (cluster munitions).

19 air-dropped mines were used on Velyka Pysarivka hromada.

The Russians launched an airstrike, using rockets, on Bilopillia hromada (10 explosions) and opened fire from mortars (six explosions).

Khotin hromada came under mortar fire (10 explosions).

There were also attacks with mortars (three explosions) and artillery (five explosions) on Yunakivka hromada.

The Russians deployed mortars (12 explosions) and multiple-launch rocket systems (eight explosions) to attack Krasnopillia hromada.

Znob-Novhorod hromada came under attack from multiple-launch rocket systems (10 explosions) and artillery (four explosions).

Support UP or become our patron!
Roman Shukhevych Museum, destroyed by the Russians on 1 January 2024. Photo: Maksym Kozytskyi on Telegram

Ukraine's Ministry of Culture and Information Policy has published updated statistics on damage to cultural landmarks caused by Russian aggression as of 25 February 2024. The ministry reported that 1,946 cultural infrastructure objects were damaged by Russias actions in the two years of the full-scale war.

The ministry's press service reported that 317 of them (or 16%) were completely destroyed.

The majority of landmarks damaged or destroyed by Russians are local cultural institutions, accounting for 48% of the total.

Amongst the affected facilities are:

933 cultural club establishments;

695 libraries;

151 art education institutions;

113 museums and galleries;

38 theatres, cinemas and concert halls;

13 parks, zoos, natural reserves;

3 circuses.

Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts as well as the city of Kyiv suffered the most damage to their cultural infrastructure.

The Ministry of Culture also stated that because almost the entire territory of Luhansk and significant parts of Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Kherson oblasts are under temporary occupation, it is impossible to accurately calculate the number of cultural sites that were damaged.

The ministry reported in October last year that 1,702 cultural infrastructure facilities had been damaged in Russian aggression in Ukraine.

In mid-February of this year, UNESCO reported that according to its calculations, Russia inflicted US$3.5 billion worth of damage to Ukrainian culture in almost two full years of a full-scale war. It will take about 10 years and US$9 billion to rebuild all the damaged cultural and historical sites after the full-scale invasion.

Support UP or become our patron!
The Russians dropped a KAB-500 bomb on a residential neighbourhood in Toretsk, Donetsk Oblast, injuring three people.

Source: Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office

Details: The investigation stated that the Russians launched an airstrike on Toretsk at 11:10 on 7 March. Once again, they used KAB-500s against the civilian population.

The bomb hit a street in a residential area where three neighbours were standing at the time  a 47-year-old resident and 63-year-old man and woman.

They were provided with medical assistance for a concussion, an arm wound and a fracture.

Several houses were damaged, and a fire broke out in one of them after a munition exploded.

A pre-trial investigation into the criminal cases over the violation of laws and customs of war has been initiated.

Support UP or become our patron!
Opinion articles written in the style of their author. These texts are to be based on verified facts and must be respectful towards people, even though their actions may be criticized. All opinion articles written by individuals from outside the staff of EL PAIS shall feature, along with the authors name (regardless of their greater or lesser renown), a footer stating their office, academic title, political affiliation (if any) and main occupation, or the occupation related to the topic being assessed

We are the captives of their mistakes, their dishonesties, their indiscretions, large or small. I have had this thought frequently in recent months, while candidates around the world, and also incumbent leaders, make decisions with the sole criterion of saving themselves from things they did before. Trump may have many reasons for running for election for a second non-consecutive term, which is a rarity in U.S. history, and one of them may be his excessive narcissism; but the most important one right now is so simple that it is moving, and it also portrays the postmodern populist leader in full: Trump wants to be president because being president is the only way not to end up in jail. That is what the most influential democracy on this continent has been reduced to: its position of greatest dignity and nobility has been reduced to the card in the board game that allows the player to get out of jail.

I see it everywhere: with different nuances and different intensity, the same thing is happening in Venezuela, in Brazil, in Nicaragua. In Venezuela, a corrupt regime that violates human rights every day has to stay in power at all costs, because Maduro and his kleptomaniacs know that some form of justice will await them with its mouth open as soon as they lose an election, and that is the best incentive not to lose any, even if it is through cheating, intimidation and persecution. What is happening in Nicaragua is even more obscene, if possible, but basically it is the same: what really prevents the ridiculous couple in power from getting off their tiger is the certainty that the tiger would devour them immediately, as Churchill said happens to dictators, if only because of the damage they have done while in power: the suffering they have caused, the lives they have destroyed in front of the blind gaze of their accomplices (and in front of the conniving nonsense of a certain Colombian ambassador who marched in favor of Ortega).

The same thing is happening in Brazil: the reason why the attempted coup detat in Brasilia took place, inspired in such diverse  and even caricaturesque  ways by the January 6 riots at the Capitol in Washington, may have gone deeper than Bolsonaros profound antipathy for democracy when the left has won. What Bolsonaro has done since then, whether it be his massive marches (with the invaluable support of evangelical superstition and collective blindness) or the implausible proposal that his wife should run for president, has one main intention: guaranteeing his impunity. Guaranteeing, in other words, that he will never be tried. Tried for what? For the coup attempt in Brasilia. Like Trump, Bolsonaro wants to be president so as not to be imprisoned. Of course, he also wants to be president to assure his accomplices that they wont go to jail either. And with good reason: because it was one of his closest accomplices, Lieutenant Mauro Cid, who got fed up with his four months in jail and decided to speak out. And what he said is what has got Bolsonaro in a tight spot, summarized in 135 pages of a serious, credible and dangerous judicial accusation. Dangerous for Bolsonaro, of course.

Power for what? [The 20th-century Colombian political figure] Dario Echandia famously asked this question after Jorge Eliecer Gaitans murder. Bolsonaro or Trump would answer: for impunity. The problem is what societies pay when they become hostages to the guilt of their leaders: they pay first for the excesses of those leaders, and then they pay for what the leaders must do to avoid the consequences of their excesses. This is how we Colombians were for years. Much of the politics of recent years has been done or not done with a single horizon in mind: protecting Alvaro Uribe. And this is how we have all seen ourselves, hostages to the destiny of one man, choosing prosecutors and approving laws and sabotaging peace processes that could have changed the lives of millions, all with the sole purpose that a former president should not have to deal with justice. If anyone had laid a finger on Uribe this country would have gone up in flames, Francisco Santos obscenely said in 2014. We have been in this situation for 10 years. And we are still there: If they touch Petro, they touch us all, said Gustavo Bolivar with his teenage gang rhetoric.

And that is worrying because President Gustavo Petro makes mistakes frequently, and he has already shown us his way of moving the chips to cover up his own mistakes. The appointment of Benedetti to a position that did not exist is so transparent in its purpose, and so downright cynical, that it is not necessary to comment on it again, at least not to say what so many have already said. It is the same old story: our democracy, our taxes, our diplomacy, the stability that we have not known for years: everything is put at the service of covering the gaps left by error, dishonesty, small or large slip-ups. And as it is now, so it will be later. I am already beginning to make a list of the mistakes that Bukele and Milei will make due to clumsiness or incompetence or drunken power, and that will later lead them to new excesses designed to cover up or correct or protect them from the previous ones. We are captive to all that, Ive been thinking these days, or our democracy is, and I cant see how we can free ourselves.

Juan Gabriel Vasquez is a writer.
The Russians landed drone strikes on a State Emergency Service training ground in Kharkiv Oblast on the night of 6-7 March, damaging an administrative building and causing a fire.

Source: State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) on Telegram

Quote from SES: "A single-storey administrative building at the training ground at one of the educational institutions within the State Emergency Service system was partially destroyed as a result of the attack. Additionally, structural elements of the floor and roof of this building were on fire. The area of the fire amounted to approximately 150 square metres."

Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine

Details: Two fire-and-rescue service crews on water tenders were deployed to extinguish the fire.

The firefighters promptly extinguished the blaze, preventing its spread to other buildings and the coniferous forest.

Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine

No casualties or injuries were reported.

Support UP or become our patron!
Democrats in the United States House of Representatives have launched an investigation into SpaceX CEO Elon Musk following reports that Starlink is being used by Russian troops.

Source: The Washington Post citing a letter from Democrats

Quote: "Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) sent a letter Wednesday night demanding that the company report complaints about potential illegal acquisitions of Starlink terminals, including in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine.

The lawmakers said they were alarmed by Ukrainian intelligence officials allegations that Russian forces deployed the companys terminals in eastern Ukraine, potentially running afoul of U.S. sanctions.

The lawmakers warned SpaceXs president, Gwynne Shotwell, that Russias alleged use of Starlink poses a serious threat to Ukraines security, Ukrainian lives, and U.S. national security."

Details: In a letter received by the publication, lawmakers inquired about SpaceX's efforts to eliminate security vulnerabilities that Russia could exploit to illegally acquire Starlink terminals, as well as how the company works with other US regulators to prevent illegal trade in satellite terminals.

According to the Washington Post, lawmakers are only beginning their investigation, but they intend to contact the Pentagon and other relevant departments.

"It remains critical that Russia be deprived of any trade that empowers its military," the lawmakers wrote.

Background:

On 11 February, Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) confirmed that Russian occupying forces were using Starlink satellite communications systems on the battlefield. DIU stressed that the scale of Russians' use of Starlink terminals in the war was growing and "is becoming systemic".

The Ukrainian military began to publish footage of the destruction of Russian Starlink terminals on social media.

Musk stated that reports claiming the company sells Starlink terminals to Russia are "categorically false". Musk also tweeted that Starlink satellites "will not close communications in Russia," in response to a question from user on Twitter (X) about whether the company would know if the terminals were active in Russia.

Support UP or become our patron!
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has reported on 7 March that its officers had "taken out" a Belarusian citizen, 49, who purportedly "supported the Armed Forces of Ukraine and was preparing a terrorist attack" in Russia's northwestern region of Karelia.

Source: Radio Liberty's Ukrainian and Belarusian services

Details: The Russian secret service claimed that the man had resisted arrest and opened fire on FSB officers.

Telegram-based news outlet Astra identified the man as activist Mikalaj Aliaksiejev, who attended the 2020 rallies in Belarus to protest against the official results of the so-called presidential election, which declared the victory of authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko. The circumstances under which Aliaksiejev ended up in Russia are unknown.

Astra reports that the activist was killed on 6 March.

One of Mikalaj's sons, Vlad, 24, confirmed his father's death to the Belarusian newspaper Nasha Niva. Aliaksiejev was the father of four children.

Support UP or become our patron!


After just two-and-a-half hours of deliberations, a New Mexico jury found Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter over a fatal on-set shooting that killed the movies cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins.

Gutierrez-Reed appeared stunned by the decision, with her lawyer, Jason Bowles, at her side. Another attorney, Monnica Barreras, patted her back as the courtroom bailiffs led her out of the room.

She faces up to three years in prison when she is sentenced.

After the verdict, attorneys Gloria Allred and John Carpenter, who are representing Hutchins parentsOlga Solovey and Anatolli Androsovychand Halynas sister, Svetlana Zemko, said the family have always wanted everyone who is responsible for Halynas death to be held accountable.

They added, with a nod to Alec Baldwin without referencing his name directly: Today was the first trial and conviction in the criminal justice process. We are satisfied that the jury, based on the evidence, found Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty beyond a reasonable doubt for her part in the taking of Halynas life. We look forward to the justice system continuing to make sure that everyone else who is responsible for Halynas death is required to face the legal consequences for their actions.

Rust Armorers Lawyer Opens Trial by Laying Blame on Alec Baldwin

The jurors, made up of seven women and five men, delivered their verdict after a two-week trial that sought to determine Gutierrez-Reeds culpability in the 2021 tragedy. Hutchins, 42, was shot dead by Baldwin, the films star, when he fired a prop gun that was supposed to discharge blanks but somehow ended up with a live round in the chamber. Director Joel Souza was wounded in the incident but survived.

Gutierrez-Reed, who was 24 at the time of the shooting, was responsible for firearms safety during production of the Western, on which Baldwin also served as a producer. From the beginning, she denied any wrongdoing. Gutierrez-Reed was acquitted of evidence tampering for allegedly handing off a small bag of cocaine to an associate so as to avoid additional scrutiny by police investigating the shooting.

During closing arguments Wednesday, prosecutor Kari Morrissey said Gutierrez-Reed accidentally brought live rounds onto the set because she was careless, describing constant, never-ending safety failures that ended in disaster.

This was a game of Russian roulette every time an actor had a gun, Morrissey told the jury.

She said the case was in pursuit of justice for Halyna Hutchins.

Hannah Gutierrez failed to maintain firearms safety, making a fatal accident willful and foreseeable, Morrissey argued.

She emphasized that she wasnt accusing Gutierrez-Reed of intentionally bringing live rounds on set. Rather, Morrissey said, Gutierrez-Reed was negligent, careless, and thoughtless.

To the contrary, defense attorney Jason Bowles said during his closing arguments, Justice for Halyna does not mean injustice for Hannah.

Alec BaldwinYet AgainFaces Charges in Rust Shooting

Gutierrez-Reed was made into a convenient scapegoat by the productions higher-ups, including Baldwin, Bowles said. They want to lay the complete blame on her.

Bowles said that the prosecution had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Gutierrez-Reed was solely responsible for bringing the live rounds on set. He pointed the finger at Baldwin as the one to blame, not his client.

I submit to you what caused her death is Mr. Baldwin going off script, Bowles said. No one ever knew there would be a live round on set. The only act is the pointing of the weapon. Ms Gutierrez didnt point that weapon.

Baldwin is charged with a single count of involuntary manslaughter over his alleged role in Hutchins death. His trial is scheduled to begin in July.

Assistant Director David Halls pleaded no contest last year to one count of negligent use of a deadly weapon. He admitted he did not check the gun thoroughly enough after Gutierrez-Reed handed it to him, and before he gave it to Baldwin for the doomed scene. Halls was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation, was required to take a firearms safety course, to perform 24 hours of community service, and pay a $500 fine.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Hannah Gutierrez was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter over the deadly shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of 'Rust,' a budget Western movie where she was the armorer (Eddie MOORE)

The armorer who loaded the gun that killed a cinematographer on the set of the Alec Baldwin movie "Rust" was convicted Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter.

A jury in New Mexico took just over two hours to find Hannah Gutierrez guilty over the death of Halyna Hutchins in October 2021 during filming of the budget Western.

A 10-day trial heard how Gutierrez had been ultimately responsible for the use of live rounds on set -- a red line across the industry.

The court had also heard how she had repeatedly failed to adhere to basic safety rules, leaving guns unattended, and allowing actors -- including Baldwin -- to wave weapons around.

"This is not a case where Hannah Gutierrez made one mistake and that one mistake was accidentally putting a live round into that gun," prosecutor Kari Morrissey told the jury in her closing argument Wednesday.

"This case is about constant, never-ending safety failures that resulted in the death of a human being and nearly killed another."

Hutchins was hit by a live round fired from the Colt .45 that Baldwin was holding for a scene inside a wooden church on the New Mexico set. Director Joel Souza was wounded by the same bullet.

Baldwin has repeatedly denied responsibility, insisting he did not pull the trigger.

Ballistics experts have dismissed the claim, saying the gun could not have discharged any other way.

His own involuntary manslaughter trial is expected in July.

The tragedy sent shockwaves through Hollywood and led to calls for a complete ban on the use of weapons on movie sets.

Industry insiders, however, insisted that rules were already in place to prevent such incidents, and that those working on "Rust" had not followed them.

- 'Russian roulette' -

Morrissey said on the day Hutchins was shot, the armorer, who is also known as Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was characteristically haphazard with her supervision of the more than 20 guns the production was using, and was not present as Baldwin and the crew prepared the scene.

"She left the gun in the church, contrary to all the industry standards for armorers on movie sets," Morrissey said.

"As you heard from many witnesses, she would leave guns unattended all the time. There was nothing unusual about October 21," the day of the fatal shooting.

Hutchins, who was 42 at the time of her death and the mother of a young child, was standing near the camera that would be used to film the scene.

The bullet passed through her chest and hit Souza, the director.

Hutchins was airlifted to a hospital but declared dead that day, having suffered massive bleeding.

Investigators found a total of six live rounds on the set.

Gutierrez, Morrissey said, did not perform basic checks to ensure the dummy rounds she thought she was loading into guns were inert, including shaking them to hear their characteristic rattle.

"Folks, if she's not checking the dummy ammunition... to make sure that those rounds... are in fact dummy rounds, this was a game of Russian roulette every time an actor had a gun," she told the jury.

Gutierrez, 26, showed no emotion as the verdict was read.

The judge remanded her in custody ahead of her sentencing, which is not expected before next month.

She faces up to 18 months in prison.

The jury found Gutierrez not guilty of a separate charge of evidence tampering, relating to the alleged disposal of cocaine in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.

Dave Halls, the film's safety coordinator and assistant director who handed Baldwin the loaded gun, agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors last year and was sentenced to six months' probation.

Hutchins' parents welcomed the verdict against Gutierrez.

"We look forward to the justice system continuing to make sure that everyone else who is responsible for Halyna's death is required to face the legal consequences for their actions," they said in a statement released through their Los Angeles-based lawyer.

Filming of "Rust" was halted by the tragedy, but completed last year on location in Montana.

The cinematographer's widower, Matthew Hutchins, who has already settled a wrongful death suit with "Rust" producers, served as an executive producer.

No release date has been set for the movie.

hg/caw
TORONTO (AP)  Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 54th goal at 4:20 of overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night.

Matthews took Mitch Marners feed from behind the net and beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen high to the blocker side.

William Nylander also scored for Toronto and Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves, the best when he gloved Tage Thompsons shot in overtime. The Maple Leafs are 10-2-0 in their last 12 and 36-18-8 overall.

Sabres trade forward Casey Mittelstadt to Colorado for defenseman Bowen Byram

Victor Olofsson scored for Buffalo. Luukkonen stopped 25 shots.

Buffalo failed to get a shot on goal for the first 14:50 on the scoreless first period.

Nylander opened the the scoring at 2:29 of the second period with his 34th. Olofsson tied it at 6:31 of the second.

UP NEXT

Sabres: At Nashville on Thursday night.

Maple Leafs: At Boston on Thursday night.

WIVB Sports

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.
Sacramento voters did more than reject a business operations tax on Tuesdays ballot in the form of Measure C.

They rejected how City Hall disregarded them by putting Measure C on the ballot without properly notifying the public.

Measure C at first looked like a sleeper on the city ballot. Mayor Darrell Steinberg and friends had their statement of support. Nobody was seemingly opposed, with no argument against a business tax increase of over 70 percent in the coming years.

Opinion

When a big tax increase is on the ballot without an argument against it, something is smelly about an election process. Measure C reeked. It was a rush job, a botched process compounded by the arrogant defiance of the city clerk and the city attorney, who refused to admit a mistake. The mayor did so on their behalf. But in the end, it didnt matter.

The No on Measure C campaign, a coalition of doctors and other health care workers, has declared the measure defeated given the wide margin of opposition throughout election night. Learning about Measure Cs existence from The Bee Editorial Board, the coalition said it conducted a blitz of 168,000 phone calls and 94,000 texts.

More ballots remain uncounted as of Wednesday. The margin of its defeat appears to be the only remaining question.

This should have been so easy for the city to get this right. This tax on businesses, big landlords and professionals like dentists and attorneys has not been changed since 1991. The city staff and City Council had 32 years to make changes with the thorough engagement of those impacted by a business tax increase, a process with no surprises for anybody. And they simply couldnt do it.

The City Council instead placed Measure C on the ballot when the election deadlines were fast approaching, in the week before Thanksgiving. Anyone against the measure had to file the opposition statement by the Monday after Thanksgiving. When Sacramento attorney Tiffany Clark tried to about two weeks later, she was told she was too late.

Clark didnt know that the city was in the process of blowing its own deadline to notify the public about Measure C.

As The Bee Editorial Board has repeatedly detailed, the city had 10 days from the Nov. 14 council vote to notify the public of Measure C in the citys official newspaper. That is the requirement in the City Charter. But this City Hall couldnt manage the simple act of public notification on time. It failed to publish news about Measure C until Feb. 7, more than two months after the citys deadline and only after the Bee repeatedly asked for a copy.

City Clerk Mindy Cuppy and City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood claimed they had done nothing wrong. They claimed that the city charter requirement to give notice of election ordinances is essentially null and void due to previous court cases that, at face value, have nothing to do with the contemporary issues at hand. What kind of city leaders dont embrace a fundamental duty to comply with the citys own rules?

The Howard Jarvis Association blasted the citys handling of the measure and said the election was a waste of taxpayer dollars. The doctors and other professionals emerged to oppose the measure.

This sad situation demonstrates the need, at the very least, for election reform. Changes to the charter, among other steps, can ensure all future elections provide the public ample notice and time to file statements in support or opposition of a future ballot measure.

Sacramento City Hall should take this opportunity to change its ways to heart to avoid another debacle like Measure C.
Climate change is global but the actions we take here in Sacramento play a role in shaping our environmental future. The Sacramento Bee is undertaking a collaboration with you to examine and celebrate bold and ambitious climate actions that have yielded evidence that theyre making progress here and elsewhere. The goal is to engage you and your neighbors in a hopeful discussion about how we can face climate change with urgency and equity.

David Kaldor began using shared Chevy Bolts during a rough patch. Kaldor, a 31-year-old Sacramento State student, lost his vehicle in a crash. The Gig Cars offered him needed independence. He could run important errands and even take his new girlfriend on a date.

Kaldor was disappointed by the companys decision to leave Sacramento early last year. He felt he was losing his transportation safety net.

To express his desire to see Gig return someday, he gave the company a call.

I just said, Hey, thank you so much, Kaldor recalled telling a Gig representative. This was a very helpful service for me and probably a lot of other people. I hope you guys make a profit in the areas youre still operating and come back.

Gig, which is still running in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, was deployed to Sacramento in 2019 by Volkswagen to make amends for the scandal known as Dieselgate, when the company cheated to pass vehicle emissions testing. Now $44 million and four years later, the cars are gone and the city is back to square one.

A Gig electric car awaits rental in downtown Sacramento in 2019, soon after the services introduction. The all-electric Chevy Bolts disappeared from city streets in February 2023. Autumn Payne/Sacramento Bee file

Gig left last February, but city officials are still recuperating from the sting of its loss. They say the city ultimately became a testing ground for a project that, when the subsidies dried up, left people without basic services they came to rely on.

Now local governments, car-sharing companies and nonprofit organizations are raising a key question: Can car-sharing services in a city like Sacramento  and more rural parts of the Central Valley  be sustainable long term?

What happened to Gig in Sacramento?

Vehicle sharing has been hailed as a key climate solution to reduce planet-warming pollution for years. Gas-powered cars account for roughly 80% of carbon emissions in the U.S. transportation sector. In California, cars and trucks make up 38% of all emissions.

In 2017, the Air Resources Board designated Sacramento as a Green City, that would receive $44 million from Electrify America, a subsidiary of Volkswagen. It was created to spend $2 billion in settlement money across the nation to promote EVs following the VW diesel emissions scandal.

One of ZipCars Chevy Bolt electric vehicles charges at Sacramento Valley Station in January. The company offers a small fleet of commercial car-sharing vehicles in Sacramento, and also operates the citys existing carshare program focused on disadvantaged communities. Nathaniel Levine/nlevine@sacbee.com

Electrify America hired Gig Car Share, whose parent company is roadside assistance giant American Automobile Association (AAA), to operate a fleet of 260 shared EVs in Sacramento, considered the largest of its kind in the country.

When it launched in May 2019, Gig was celebrated as a way to expand EV access beyond Californias wealthiest households in Sacramento. For a while, it did. The program was convenient, affordable and relatively easy to use.

Gig offered one-way point-to-point rentals, letting users pick up a car in one place and drop it off anywhere within Sacramento. They were responsible for charging the dozens of cars, which were mostly Chevy Bolts.

All drivers had to do was download an app, find a car and pay $2.50 for the first five minutes plus 40 cents an additional minute. The City of Sacramento did not sign a contract with Gig or Electrify America, but simply granted the cars special parking permits.

After three years of Gig cars zipping around the Sacramento area, the company announced it would leave in February 2023, offering few specifics beyond high operating costs and low demand.

John Treanor, a spokesperson for AAA, said Gig operated at a loss since its Sacramento launch in 2019 and was unable to expand market usage to the level needed to sustain the business, he added in a written statement.

Electrify America spokesperson Tara Geiger said in a statement that Gig attempted to stay beyond its three-year contract by expanding service beyond the downtown core and introducing multi-day rentals.

Both companies did not respond to requests for an interview or detailed questions about Gigs operating budget.

Fedolia Sparky Harris, principal planner for the Sacramento Department of Public works, said he was caught off guard by Gigs decision to leave. They were under the impression the company was working to stick around.

I asked what we could do to keep the program and was hoping to start a conversation to talk about solutions, but that didnt happen, Harris said.

Local officials were perhaps most vexed by the cars. Under the contract, Gig owned them outright and simply moved them to San Francisco or Seattle.

The cars disappeared and there was no recourse, said Raef Porter, program manager for the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District. The fact that we had no leverage to keep them here longer than they wanted to is a downside. Were all still smarting from that.

Speaking to state regulators at the Air Resources Board in August, Sacramentos climate action lead Jennifer Venema called Gigs departure a shame that will set the city back on EV access and car-sharing.

Gig was a hugely successful program and its a big loss for us that its gone, she told the board, which oversees the Electrify America settlement. The harder, long-term issue is to ensure these types of investments are sustainable for disadvantaged communities so theyre not just test beds for services to come and go.

Sacramento is not the first case of a car-share company abruptly removing cars from a California community that needs it. Cantua Creek, a small community north of Fresno whose residents primarily work in the fields, were given shared Teslas through a state grant only for them to disappear months later.

Now, air district officials are planning to expand an existing car-share program, Our Community Carshare. It is focused on disadvantaged communities and operates on a vastly smaller scale. Its run by ZipCar, a company that oversees a small fleet of commercial car-sharing in Sacramento that has worked with local agencies since 2017.

Currently, 16 total cars are shared from 10 locations mostly near community and low-income housing developments  including in South Sacramento and Del Paso Heights. The regional air quality district said that by spring, it hopes to add at least one other car to a new charging/pick up site at Colonial Heights Library.

Is nonprofit the answer?

Companies like Gig appear to be finding more success in higher-income urban areas with transit. Elsewhere, subsidized programs often disappear when the money runs out, leaving the people most in need of transportation in the lurch and without core services.

Yet a handful of nonprofit programs in the Central Valley are successfully expanding EV access and offering car-sharing opportunities in lower-income communities with a goal to stay the course long term.

Green Raiteros in Huron has been sustainably offering rides for its members since 2018. And Miocar, a membership-based car-sharing service, operates close to 50 vehicles in Stockton, Richmond and Tulare/Kern counties.

Elizabeth Owens, 51, started using EV car-sharing as a way to reach far-off doctors appointments in Modesto. Unemployed due to a disability, shes raising her son and two young grandchildren in low-income housing in South Stockton.

Miocar customer Elizabeth Owens said in December that she has used the ride sharing electric vehicles 15 times since October and loves the convenience of the nonprofit service. She picks up the cars at a Stockton parking lot. Paul Kitagaki Jr./pkitagaki@sacbee.com

Now she uses a Miocar Chevy Bolt at least once a week for errands and trips with the kids. Without these cars, Owens said basic errands would be more stressful.

Id have to get a ride or take my own car, which I prefer not to do. My car has issues and breaks down a lot, she said at a car pickup station on Grand Canal Boulevard in December. Its a treat for the kids because its a brand new car. They always want to use it.

One of Miocars Chevy Bolt electric vehicles awaits a customer in Stockton in December. The ride sharing company provides service for low income customers in the Central Valley. Paul Kitagaki Jr./pkitagaki@sacbee.com

The cars run on a point-to-point system, meaning cars are picked up and dropped off at designated locations  at $4 an hour or $35 for the day. And now Miocar is expanding, planning to add another 30 cars this year. Staff say 90% of its members live in low-income households.

Gloria Huerta, the organizations chief operating officer, said Miocar does not have concrete plans to come to Sacramento but is certainly open to expanding to the city if city agencies or community organizations are looking for a new partner.

Miocar fleet manager Fernando Gonzalez stands next to ride sharing electric cars ready for customers in Stockton in December. The nonprofit provides service for low income customers in the Central Valley. Paul Kitagaki Jr./pkitagaki@sacbee.com

Caroline Rodier, associate director of the Transportation Center at UC Davis, authored a study on more than a dozen car-sharing programs across the U.S. since the early 2000s. She said nonprofits or publicly-run programs serve low-income or marginalized populations more effectively.

We have these for-profit car-sharing services that arent interested in under-served areas. But Miocar, for example, doesnt have the pressures of a for-profit business, Rodier said. Theyre subsidized by grants and constantly looking long term.

But Rachel Heckl, director of strategic expansion at Miocar, said that doesnt mean longterm finances are simple. The organization is currently funded primarily by the state resources board, but Heckl said the team is exploring future revenue opportunities.

One option the organization exploring is partnerships with outside companies, such as healthcare providers, to offer bulk memberships for workers or patients. They have been consulting on that model other nonprofit car-share operators serving drivers whose transportation needs have historically gone unaddressed.

These are the things were asking right now and we should absolutely be thinking about it, Heckl said. Because we wont be able to be subsidized forever.

This story is made possible, in part, with support from the Solutions Journalism Network.
A "sadistic" man who filmed the brutal torture, mutilation and killing of dozens of wild animals has been jailed.

Nottingham Crown Court heard Daniel Taylor made shocking videos of his dogs ravaging deer, badgers, foxes and pigeons he had hunted.

Skulls, tails, antlers and decomposing heads were found at his property during a search by police.

The 32-year-old, from Nottinghamshire, was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison on Thursday.

Warning - this article contains distressing content.

Taylor, of Shrewsbury Road, Worksop, was found with more than 140 distressing images and 84 videos of him encouraging his dogs to kill between August 2021 and February 2023.

Some of the animals could be heard screaming in pain, the court heard.

Prosecuting, Jon Fountain said that in one video, which shows a dog gripping a fox in its jaws, Taylor could be heard swearing at the animals and shouting: "That's why I love him [the dog]; finish him buddy boy. Good lad; kill him!"

In another video, he said: "Only been out for two nights, looks like a morgue!"

PC Mark Holland, who was among the officers who carried out the search of Taylor's home, said it was "some of the most distressing and vile" footage he had seen, according to Mr Fountain.

Many of the videos were filmed around Clumber, Thoresby and Welbeck estates in the county.

Mr Fountain told the court that attached to Taylor's property was a makeshift and "unhygienic" butchers' workshop, equipped with a hoist, hooks and a trough, the court heard.

A police warrant at Taylor's address found a hoard of 15 deer skulls, 14 fox tails, two deer heads, two sets of antlers, and a bag of wire snares.

Lamping equipment and a blood-stained quad bike, which he used to catch the animals, was also recovered by police.

After being arrested, Taylor, who defended himself in court, initially claimed to officers that his only hunting consisted of rabbiting for food.

He later accepted what he had done when was shown the video evidence.

Mr Fountain told the court: "This was not hunting at all. Rather the defendant gaining pleasure from using his dogs to inflict the most horrendous suffering on wild animals."

Taylor had previously pleaded guilty to four charges of causing unnecessary suffering to protected animals after being arrested on 24 February last year.

He told the court he no longer took part in such activities.

He said: "I went out hunting and I took it a bit far. I'm here today to deal with the consequences. I don't do it no more."

Sentencing him, Judge Mark Watson said Taylor "revelled in the suffering" of the animals and called his behaviour "sadistic".

He also disqualified Taylor from owning, keeping or controlling dogs for life, while his dogs and quad bike were also permanently seized from him.

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.
An Australian man has been charged with murdering a woman who was last seen leaving her home a month ago.

Samantha Murphy has not been seen since she went out from her home in Ballarat, Victoria, for a run on 4 February.

Her disappearance led to a huge search, but police have still found no trace of the 51-year-old mother of three.

A 22-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday at his house in Ballarat, about 115km (70 miles) northwest of Melbourne. He is yet to enter a plea.

On Thursday police said he had deliberately attacked Ms Murphy on the day of her disappearance in a bushland area where she was known to exercise, near her East Ballarat home.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton told reporters that the suspect had not disclosed the location of Ms Murphy's body, and that detectives did not believe he was previously known to her.

Mr Patton described it as a "tragic outcome" for her family.

Just before she went missing, Ms Murphy was seen on security cameras in her driveway wearing a maroon running shirt and black leggings.

After she failed to return that afternoon, authorities began scouring nearby areas and examining thousands of hours of CCTV footage.

Ms Murphy's phone, Apple watch and headphones - which she was carrying at the time - have still not been located.

Police thanked the local community on Thursday for their help with the case.

"I know that Samantha's disappearance has had a profound impact on the Ballarat community," Det Acting Supt Mark Hatt said.

In a plea to the public last month, Ms Murphy's family described her as a strong woman who would be determined to return home.

"Mum we love you so much and we miss you. We need you at home with us. Please come home soon," her daughter Jess Murphy said.

Police had previously warned it was unlikely that Ms Murphy was still alive.
History was made on March 8, 2020, when the women of Latin America and the Caribbean made International Womens Day their own, organizing one of the largest mobilizations of people in the region in recent times. From Mexico to the Argentine Patagonia, millions of women came together in protest to demand equal opportunities. Ironically, the clamor of this protest was overshadowed by the Covid-19 pandemic emergency that was declared that same month.

Today, four years later, it is clear that the profound impact of the pandemic and the confinement imposed to mitigate it has, in some cases, led to the worsening of inequalities, and to the reversal of many of the gains made in terms of gender equality in the region. In the first place, women in Latin America and the Caribbean continue to face more job restrictions at the workplace than men, with 34 percent of women employed in vulnerable jobs that are often less productive and offer lower wages, explains Paola Buitrago, Economist at the World Bank. In addition, there is clear inequality in the distribution of unpaid household responsibilities, on which women spend more than twice as much time as men, she adds.

One of the clearest post-pandemic lessons for public policy formulation is the imperative need to address gender inequalities comprehensively in the region. Moreover, it is now recognized that economic and financial crises, armed conflicts and the increased intensity of natural phenomena due to global warming are not gender-neutral issues. Women bear the brunt of multiple global crises.

Field visit of the Specific Dedicated Mechanism for Indigenous peoples and local communities in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Jessica Belmont/Banco Mundial

Against this background, Urska Zrinski, Senior Public Sector Specialist at the World Bank and an expert in gender-responsive budgeting, stresses that right now, the stakes are high and the commitment to gender equality needs to be reflected in national budgets. Zrinski points out that although inequality between men and women persists, the truth is that, as a region, Latin America and the Caribbean has made significant progress in womens empowerment in recent years. This is corroborated by the World Economic Forums 2023 Global Gender Gap Report, which places the region as third highest on the gender equality index, after Europe and North America.

A gender-responsive budget is one that recognizes the differential impacts of public entities expenditure and revenue policies on women and men, and leverages this approach to help create more inclusive societies. As indicated in a report prepared by the World Bank, several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have made significant progress in integrating gender considerations into public budget planning.

Mexico, for example, has one of the most developed gender-responsive budgeting approaches globally. Countries with active policy initiatives in this area, such as Argentina, Guatemala and others, recognize the impact of closing gender gaps and promoting womens financial empowerment and have already started integrating gender considerations in their budgets. Despite this progress, there are still challenges to be overcome in the areas of implementation, political will and monitoring mechanisms.

Zrinski also highlights other notable practices in the region. Countries such as Guatemala, Argentina and Colombia make provision for labeled expenditure, which is a tool in the expenditure budget that guarantees the allocation of specific resources to meet womens needs. This helps assess the amount of public spending needed to achieve gender equality goals and promotes transparency and accountability, she notes. Another good practice can be found in Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras and Uruguay, where institutions are subject to gender audits, the results of which can help enhance policy evaluation and the identification of areas of opportunity.

On another note, the gender-responsive budgeting approach is particularly important for Caribbean countries, as they are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It is imperative to budget for equity and equality in natural disaster risk management, as natural disasters have been shown to disproportionately impact women, children, persons with disabilities, ethnic and racial minorities, Indigenous peoples, and other marginalized communities, adds Zrinski.

In this regard, the World Bank is also providing support to Caribbean states for the development of gender-responsive budgeting with a broad-based approach, including the aspect of gender-responsive public procurement.

In relation to this issue, Manjola Malo, a senior procurement specialist, explains: According to recent data, women own 34% of small and medium enterprises globally, but their share of the public procurement market varies between 1% and 5%. It should be noted here that the purchasing power of governments has an enormous influence on markets and has the potential to lay the foundation for economic and financial inclusion in the Caribbean. This is why we are analyzing the available data and current legislation to explore the different entry points in public procurement processes in the Caribbean that could allow more women access to public tenders.

Lastly, it should be noted that, in addition to promoting inclusion, gender budgeting brings other benefits, such as accountability in different aspects of public spending, as it allows access to the requisite information on budget performance. This is the case for both Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, two countries that implement a financing framework for gender equality that allows for better monitoring of results and for the identification of gaps in areas such as health and labor market participation, concludes Zrinski.

By considering social inclusion in the budget process, governments can ensure that the needs of the other 50 percent of the population are taken into account. In the face of a complex reality of multiple crises, gender budgeting is a tool that has the potential to generate multiple solutions to the challenge of inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
Voters have passed a controversial San Francisco ballot measure requiring drug tests for most welfare recipients, a sign of a rightward political shift in the historically progressive city.

As of Wednesday, Proposition F, backed by Mayor London Breed, had about 63% support. The measure will require people receiving monthly payments from the citys cash assistance program for the poor to undergo drug testing if they are reasonably believed to be dependent on illegal drugs.

If they then refuse to comply or accept treatment for drug use, they will be deemed ineligible for the benefits.

People with young children and or who are over 65 years old are exempt.

We want people to seek treatment and many people do, but the reality is others are not willing or able to do so, Breed, whos up for reelection in November, said in a statement. Prop F will help get people into care. We are also sending a message that we are a city that offers help but not a city where you can just come and do whatever you want on our streets.

More than 5,700 San Franciscans currently receive benefits, which can be as much as $712 a month in a notoriously expensive city.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed celebrated the passage of Prop F, saying "we are a city that offers help but not a city where you can just come and do whatever you want on our streets." Anadolu via Getty Images

The citys Human Services Agency will be tasked with implementing the drug testing policy in the coming months.

Prop F had strong opposition from health care providers, including from Health Right 360, a San Francisco-based drug treatment center that offers services in nearly a dozen California counties, and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

I have seen addiction and overdose worsen when people lose support systems, and that is what Proposition F threatens to do, Dr. Marlene Martin, director of the Addiction Care Team at the University of California, San Francisco, said at a press conference last month.

Prop F only layers on punishment, shame and social isolation while stripping people of resources to survive, Gary McCoy, vice president of policy and public affairs for Health Right 360, said at that same press conference.

The San Francisco Democratic Party also came out against the measure.

San Francisco is in the midst of a major drug epidemic, with synthetic opioids like fentanyl flooding the streets. Last year was the citys deadliest year on record for drug overdoses, according to a tracker by The San Francisco Chronicle.

It wasnt the only conservative-leaning measure San Francisco voters backed on Tuesday. Prop E  a measure authorizing police use of drones and surveillance cameras, limiting reporting requirements for use-of-force incidents and expanding when police may pursue suspects in vehicles  also passed. It too was backed by Breed.

Need help with substance use disorder or mental health issues? In the U.S., call 800-662-HELP (4357) for the SAMHSA National Helpline.

Related...
The campaign ad begins with creepy piano music and scenes from Trump rallies and the Jan. 6 insurrection. The far right has brought their brand of violent chaos and bigotry into our schools, a narrator says, before members of the Proud Boys flash on screen.

Proud Boyswho belong to a male-dominated extremist groupare also pictured at the election night party of Bridget Ziegler, the Florida school board member whose three-way sex scandal has spotlighted the hypocrisy of her anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.

Enough is enough, the video concludes. Its time to bring sanity back to our schools.

The School Sanity Project launched this advertisement on Tuesday ahead of yet another board meeting that attracted protests against Ziegler, a Moms for Liberty co-founder, and demands for her resignation.

Bridget Zieglers Gay Ex-Friends Are Sad About Who She's Become

Organizers of this new political action committee told The Daily Beast that theyre coming forward to battle not only Ziegler, whose term ends in 2026, but her colleagues extremist ties. Her ally Karen Rose is up for re-election this fall, as is the boards lone liberal member Tom Edwards, who is openly gay and faced hate speech from right-wing residents.

For some parents, Zieglers scandal served as a tipping point against the conservative boards policies, including a redistricting and near approval of a district contractor associated with a private Christian college. On Tuesday, the board green-lit a new for-profit charter school in a 4-1 vote despite public opposition, saying they didnt want to risk legal fees and their hands were tied since the company met criteria for approval.

Kay Mathers, a Sarasota mom and volunteer organizer, said she and other parents contacted political strategists behind another group, Agenda PAC, which helped to defeat Moms for Liberty-backed candidates last fall in Pennsylvania.

Were up against a massive professional machine, Mathers told The Daily Beast. And youve just got a bunch of moms running around with their hair on fire, because they dont know what to do.

We thought if they could do it, she added of Agenda, we could do it here.

This led Mathers to political consultant Samantha Pollara, who helped form the Project. The groups incorporation records also list officers as Democratic strategist and Agenda PAC adviser Ted Bordelon and Fort Lauderdale lawyer Jason Blank. (Bordelon, who has helped set up PACs across the country, has no other involvement, and Agenda PAC is a separate organization from the Project.)

People are just fed up, and particularly with Bridget Ziegler, Pollara told The Daily Beast. The hypocrisy just became overwhelming.

Pollara expects the PAC to fund a full-fledged campaign north of six figures to clobber right-wing candidates. The Proud Boys and Michael Flynn have become a huge presence in the community, she said. In some ways, [Sarasota] is the nexus of Republican politics.

We want to put power back in the hands of Sarasota parents and to some degree fight fire with fire.

So far, one of the Projects tactics includes parking a billboard truck outside school board headquarters with Zieglers face and the words Stop the school board scandal.

Pollara says the far right did something similar in 2022, when someone rented a billboard truck calling the opponent of conservative board member Robyn Marinelli a baby killer because she once worked for Planned Parenthood.

Marinelli ran on a right-leaning ticket that year with Ziegler and Tom Enos, leading supporters to dub them ZEM. The candidates, who were supported by Gov. Ron DeSantis, flipped the ideology of the once-liberal board. (Rose was elected in 2020.)

Soon after ZEM took office, Rose began the process of firing the districts superintendent Brennan Asplen, who was in some residents crosshairs over mask mandates. At a public meeting on his termination, he warned, Im telling you right now, whether Im here or not, you have to get the politics out of this school district.

Meanwhile, Ziegler pushed the board to hire consulting firm Vermillion Education, whose founder worked for Hillsdale College, a private conservative Christian campus in Michigan that inspired DeSantis in his takeover of New College.

We all know this proposed Vermilion contract is part of a long-planned, political, profit-driven effort to undermine and destroy public education at tax-payer expense, one Sarasota resident fumed last year at a tense board meeting over the proposed contract.

Rose and Ziegler, whose children do not attend public schools, were the only members who voted in favor of it.

When you get to this point of extremism, you need all hands on deck, said mom and longtime activist Paulina Testerman, who is helping the School Sanity Project.

We need ideas to figure out how to play this election back to the center because that pendulum swung really hard and fast to the right, Testerman told The Daily Beast.

Christian Ziegler Told His Wife to Hunt For Sex Partners

Testerman points to Rose and Marinellis 2021 appearance at the Hollow 2A, a stomping ground for far-right groups and Trumps former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, where they hobnobbed with local Proud Boy James Hoel.

Its not like were saying, I dont like that candidate. They voted for pencils and I wanted pens. These are people who want to destroy public education and theyre just saying the quiet part out loud now, Testerman told The Daily Beast.

During the Hollow 2A event, which Hoel emceed, Rose told the crowd she wanted to abolish the U.S. Department of Education.

As far as Im concerned, and have been this way for a long time, totally and completely highlight and delete the federal Department of Education, it has no place and its against the constitution, said Rose, who was an educator in Sarasota for 28 years.

Video from the gathering shows that when an audience member asked Rose whether she supported the Marxist agenda, she replied, Im a freedom fighter, Im a rebel, and Im an independent, and I dont want anybody to tell me what to do or what to say.

This persona is perhaps why, since December, Rose has resisted cries from residents during the boards public comment period to take action on Ziegler.

In late November, a local watchdog revealed that police were investigating Bridgets husband, ex-state GOP chair Christian Ziegler, for the alleged rape of their female threesome partner. Cops didnt pursue sexual assault charges but referred a video voyeurism case to the state attorney, who has declined to prosecute.

The news upended the MAGA couples family values image and especially plagued Bridget, who is credited with paving the way for Floridas Dont Say Gay law.

While Rose introduced a resolution asking Ziegler to resign, she and fellow members refused Edwards request to contact DeSantis and demand her removal.

As long as Bridget sits on that board, were saying its OK shes a bigot, and its not OK, said Mathers, a former Republican who left the party after Trumps election. She ruined lives, and its just not OK. And we cant just move on.

Other groups entering the fray are the nonprofit Support Our Schools and youth-led SEE Alliance, which stands for Social Equity through Education.

Before Tuesdays board meeting, the SEE Alliance and its executive director Zander Moricz held a We Deserve Better Rally with a coalition of LGBTQ and public education advocates.

Moricz told The Daily Beast the Ziegler scandal has unified the Sarasota community, bringing together both Democrats and Republicans and people who havent been politically engaged. Thats also what we need to recognize about extremism within our school boards, Moricz said. That is not what people want.

The response youre seeing here in Sarasota is directed at Bridget Ziegler, but its representative of the way communities feel about the entire model of putting politics before students in our schools, Moricz said. Communities everywhere across the country are starting to turn out against their Moms for Liberty candidates.

During the meetings public comments, dozens of speakers bashed Ziegler over her refusal to step down and turned their ire on her colleagues too. They played up Marinellis remarks at a prior February meeting, when she suggested critics were trying to change the narrative in the district and asked whether teachers didnt feel supported by this board.

Liz Ballard, an eighth-grade history teacher who received applause, said, I am here to tell you that I, as a member of the instructional staff, do not feel supported by a majority of this current board.

Bridget, you have lied about what is going on in our classrooms and how teachers are groomers and indoctrinating students, Ballard added. Support is not going on Fox News to insinuate you pulled your child from the Sarasota County Public Schools because she got in your car and asked you what white privilege was. Never happened.

Several speakers brought up Nex Benedict, a bullied 16-year-old non-binary student in Oklahoma who died after classmates beat them in a girls bathroom. Jason Champion told Ziegler, We find ourselves mourning another young life lost: Nex Benedict. We now live in a society that you have helped curate that is hateful and intolerant.

When it was her turn, Ziegler sounded off about her detractors, saying theyd mischaracterized her policies including the Dont Say Gay legislation. She singled out LGBTQ rights organization Equality Florida for creating unnecessary fear.

There is a lot of intentional fearmongering, Ziegler said, and there was something talked about profiting off ofthis is where people are able to raise money off of that. Thats just how it works. It is totally political. Theres no question about it.

But if you want to talk about fear, it is because there is [sic] a lot of headlines out there that are filled with false narratives.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
SAUGATUCK  One year after Saugatuck City Council gave City Manager Ryan Heise a stellar performance review, he signed his name on an agreement to resign in exchange for nearly $100,000.

That's according to a resignation agreement obtained by The Sentinel through a Freedom of Information Act request.

According to the agreement signed by City Clerk Jamie Wolters on March 4, Saugatuck will pay Heise a lump sum of 10.25 months of his annual salary, or $98,650, in exchange for his resignation.

Heise will receive 144 hours of pay for unused vacation time, and will keep insurance benefits through Dec. 30.

Under his original contract, Heise was required to give a month's notice before resigning. Under the new agreement, that was waived.

Downtown Saugatuck, MI.

Heise also agreed not to re-apply for employment with the city unless asked to do so in writing, and the city agreed not to provide more than his dates of employment and job title to prospective employers unless Heise signs a written request.

It wasn't immediately clear why the agreement was made. A request for comment was left with councilmembers by The Sentinel on Thursday.

The document doesn't jive with the city's version of events submitted to media on Feb. 27. The release announced Heise's resignation, but omitted mention of what the city paid in return.

According to the release, Heise cited personal reasons and opportunities for professional development in his letter of resignation.

Mayor Lauren Stanton pointed to a planned relocation.

It became widely known six months ago that Ryan had intentions to relocate his family to the Stillwater, Minnesota, area where his wifes family resides and was considering new opportunities to grow in his career," she wrote in the release.

Heise left office well before his official resignation. Saugatuck City Council held a special meeting Feb. 6 naming Director of Planning, Zoning and Project Management Ryan Cummins acting city manager. At the time, no reason for the change was given.

Cummins will remain in the role while the city conducts a search for a new manager. A possible $1,000 weekly stipend is up for consideration Monday, March 11.

Heise received glowing reviews from the city in February 2023 during an annual performance review. He met or exceeded expectations in all categories and was given a 10% raise.

"Ryan is the right manager at the right time for our city," council wrote in the review.

The vote to approve a resignation agreement with Heise came during the final minutes of a lengthy workshop on Feb. 21, following a closed session. Neither the closed session nor the vote on the agreement appeared on the meeting's agenda. Neither motion included the name or position of the employee referenced.

Subscribe: Get all your breaking news and unlimited access to our local coverage

When asked why council took an official vote during a workshop, when residents typically don't expect decisions to be made, Stanton said:

"The public meeting you are referencing was very well attended by many members of the public (in-person and virtual) who came to share their beliefs with the council about the short-term rental regulations.

"Councils vote at the end of that meeting reflects a decision to timely respond to the development of the change in leadership as it occurred, while still having given substantial time that night to ensure all those who attended and desired to speak on the issue of short-term rentals could do so in a timely manner, and not have to wait through a closed-session personnel discussion.

"The purpose of the later-issued release was to officially relay to the public that a change in city management would be occurring, because we believed the public should be informed about that through more than just a vote at the meeting."

Stanton did not respond to a follow-up question asking why the details of the resignation agreement were not included in the release.

 Contact reporter Austin Metz at ametz@hollandsentinel.com.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Report: Saugatuck City Manager was paid nearly $100K to resign
San Franciscos liberal voters just endorsed drug screenings for welfare recipients. Washingtons progressive City Council passed a crime package Tuesday that will keep more people in jail while awaiting trial. And New Yorks governor on Wednesday ordered hundreds of National Guard troops to deploy inside the citys troubled subway system.

The countrys biggest, bluest cities are embracing tough-on-crime policies that would have been politically heretical just a few years ago  ratcheting up criminal penalties and expanding police power amid fear and anger over a rash of brazen crimes like carjackings and retail theft.

These Democrat-led policy changes mark a stark reversal from 2020, when the growing influence of progressives fueled a national effort to curb police powers and scale back law enforcement budgets following the murder of George Floyd.

Now the left is in retreat on criminal justice.

I dont believe its progressive to allow people to get assaulted on the streets at night. I dont believe its progressive to allow people to sleep in tents, Mark Farrell, a moderate Democrat challenging San Francisco Mayor London Breed, said on Tuesday. This is not the city I grew up in. Its not a city I recognize right now.

Blue cities are pushing these harsher policies even as crime has ticked down significantly nationwide, following big spikes during the pandemic  although that trendline has been slower to emerge in some major cities like Washington and San Francisco. Its the perception of increased crime that is driving many of these changes as Republicans continue to pillory Democrats as weak on law enforcement in the run-up to the presidential election.

What we're seeing now is a recognition that we have to lean in and do more as government to provide for the safety and well-being of our residents, said Democrat Brooke Pinto, the Washington councilmember who championed the crime package. We didnt do a complete 180 from where we were, but instead we looked at the practical realities on the ground and sought to right-size many of those reforms.

California has epitomized the ebb and flow of criminal justice politics. After championing stringent penalties for decades that filled prisons to capacity, the state has spent the last several years swinging in the other direction as its politics and urban centers became ever-more Democratic.

This weeks election results mark a shift back to the center.

In San Francisco, voters passed Breeds ballot initiatives to lift restrictions on police operations and screen welfare recipients for drug use  two traditionally conservative proposals that nevertheless resonated with an overwhelmingly Democratic electorate, illustrating voters frustration with public drug use.

Youre saving the Democratic Party from itself, San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, a moderate Breed ally, told activists at the mayors election-night party on Tuesday.

Breed and Democratic San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan have also endorsed a statewide referendum, intended for the November ballot and backed by prosecutors, that would increase penalties for drug and property crimes. That would roll back a 2014 sentencing-slashing ballot initiative that passed thanks in part to broad support from Democratic officials.

You get these kinds of corrective or over-corrective acts. Some of its political, said Tori Verber Salazar, a progressive former San Joaquin County District Attorney. Youve got a mayor thats in big trouble, likely not going to be mayor again, so shes throwing some hail marys out there.

In Los Angeles, progressive District Attorney George Gascon is limping into his reelection bid. Four years ago, Gascon channeled a racial justice upsurge to topple an incumbent on a platform of reducing incarceration and prosecuting more police officers. His win was a signal victory for a national movement to elect liberal prosecutors.

But his standing has eroded badly since then, and in a Tuesday primary packed with challengers Gascon won around a fifth of the votes counted so far  a dismal showing for an incumbent. He will match up with former prosecutor Nathan Hochman in a replay-in-miniature of the states 2022 attorney general race, when Hochman challenged progressive incumbent Rob Bonta.

And in Alameda County, where Oaklands crime woes have prompted a state intervention, embattled progressive District Attorney Pamela Price is likely to face a recall election before her first term is up  an echo of the 2022 ouster of then-San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

Democrats on the East Coast are also distancing themselves from progressive policies viewed as soft-on-crime.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday she is deploying the national guard to New York City's subway system after a violent string of transit attacks, including one instance where a subway conductor was slashed in the neck while on the job.



Hochuls announcement, which also includes increasing the numbers of state and Metropolitan Transportation Authority police in the subways, comes two days after she doubled down on her commitment to fighting crime.

On Monday, the governor lauded state officers for increasing gun seizures and driving down violent crimes and carjackings upstate.

This is not just a one off; this is the type of aggressive policing that our state police has been engaged in every single day, Hochul said.

During that announcement, she firmly separated herself from changes to bail laws passed by former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, which were used by Republicans to cast Hochul as soft-on-crime during her 2022 gubernatorial election.

That race proved to be surprisingly  and, for Democrats, embarrassingly  competitive. Hochul beat former Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin by the smallest margin of victory in three decades of any New York governors race.

As she looks toward her 2026 reelection, Hochuls campaign told POLITICO they are keen to continue promoting her work to strengthen bail laws and drive down crime.

I cannot have people that committed a crime being turned out again because we don't have the standards in place, Hochul said Monday.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams  a former NYPD captain who ran a tough-on-crime campaign for office  is making similar moves to crack down on crime in the countrys largest transit system, which saw a 45 percent spike in serious incidents in January, largely driven by theft.

In response, the Democratic mayor flooded stations with more officers who have focused on boosting arrest numbers to historic levels. Over the course of February, transit crime subsequently fell 15 percent compared to the year before.A heavier police presence, Adams argued, is also key to changing perceptions about crime that do not always align with the statistics.

Nothing encourages the feeling of safety more than having a uniformed officer present from the bag checks when you first come into the system to watching them walk through the subway cars to the platforms, he said during a Wednesday interview on FOX 5.

The aggressive moves by New York officials to address subway crime quickly sparked denouncements from progressives.

These heavy-handed approaches will, like stop-and-frisk, be used to accost and profile Black and Brown New Yorkers, ripping a page straight out of the Giuliani playbook, New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman said in a statement responding to Hochuls announcement.

The nations capital has also been beset by angst over crime, including the highest number of murders in more than two decades last year. A series of high-profile crimes in recent months have further heightened anxiety.

In October, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) was carjacked at gunpoint just blocks from the U.S. Capitol. Then last month, Mike Gill, a former city election official who served in both the Obama and Trump administrations, was shot and killed while picking up his wife in downtown Washington.

The headline-grabbing incidents have led to Republican denunciations of the citys purportedly lax criminal justice policies.

No section of this city can be considered safe anymore, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Arizona) said during an October congressional hearing. The Washington, D.C., City Council has passed laws that emboldened criminals and hamstrung the police.

While city officials dismiss such characterizations as baseless fear mongering, theyve nonetheless dramatically changed their approach in recent months. Most significantly, that included passing a major criminal justice package on Tuesday  with all but one member of the City Council backing the bill  that toughens penalties and expands police powers.

Theyre responding to constituents who are fed up with the citys crime problems. Two members of the City Council  Charles Allen and Brianne Nadeau  are facing recall campaigns, spurred by anger over their support for liberal crime policies. Both backed the crime package on Tuesday.

A collective sigh of relief I think is the sense that Im feeling from people who are reaching out, City Council member Pinto, the chief sponsor of the Secure D.C. package, said of the response. I have heard from so many residents in the last 24 hours who feel like finally their calls for action and change have been heard and we will start to have a safer and more secure city.

Joe Anuta and Dustin Gardiner contributed to this report.
GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA)  By a vote of 86-33, the South Carolina House adopted a measure allowing adults to carry loaded handguns openly with no permit or training. Guns would still be banned in the same places they are now, like schools and hospitals.

In Greenville, Sheriff Hobart Lewis said its a victory.

I am certainly an advocate for constitutional carry, the constitution allows us, affords us the ability to carry a firearm, so thats a good thing, said Lewis. Its about time legislators recognize that. I do think our concealed weapons program for many years here has been very successful with the training programs weve had in place.

At Mauldin Arms, a store specializing in selling guns, owner Jeff Tomlinson said he disagrees because of the way training would not be required.

Needs to be training, somebody needs to be certified to carry a weapon, said Tomlinson. Its a big responsibility to carry a weapon and you need to have the training to be able to do it.

Concealed weapon permits would no longer be required to carry a handgun under this proposal, so the bill offers millions of state-funded dollars for free gun training.

The committee behind this version of the bill also approved tougher penalties for gun violations by convicted felons or anyone caught with a gun where they are prohibited.

Lewis said while hes a fan of the bill, citizens would need to step up.

People who choose to carry a firearm assume an enormous amount of responsibility, and its up to that individual person now to seek out training to make sure they know what they are carrying, and know when they can use it, said Lewis.

Tomlinson said he will continue to run his business the way he does now, by getting to know each customer personally and learning why they want to purchase a gun, to make sure theyre ready.

Making that decision is between me and the customer and its getting the idea you know, hey maybe youre not readymaybe come back next week and lets talk about this, said Tomlinson. This is a big deal, even if you take someone out to the range and theyre scared of it, its a new experience, getting them more comfortable with it where they can carry it everyday, its the most important thing out there.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
A South Carolina man was arrested following an extremely violent assault, and rape, according to the Irmo Police Department, which said it believes he might have attacked more victims.

On Wednesday, 35-year-old Irmo resident Daquan M. Williams was charged with kidnapping, first-degree criminal sexual conduct (forcible rape), first-degree assault and battery, in addition to possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, police said in a news release.

Officers became involved around 7 a.m. Wednesday, when they responded to a call about a rape, according to the release.

The victim told the officers about being hit in the face by a man who then held a knife to their throat and threatened to kill them, while being sexually assaulted, police said. There was no word about where the attack occurred.

The victim was taken to a local hospital, according to the release. Further information about the victims condition was not available.

Based upon the victims statements and physical evidence gathered at the scene, officers identified Williams as the attacker, police said. After getting arrest warrants, officers took Williams into custody shortly before 5 p.m., according to the release.

Williams was booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, police said. No bond has been set and Williams remains behind bars, jail records show.

I am extremely proud of our patrol, community services, and investigations divisions. Their hard work and cooperation resulted in the swift apprehension of an extremely dangerous person today, Irmo Police Chief Bobby Dale said in the release. The Town of Irmo as well as surrounding areas are safer tonight because this individual will not be walking around our streets.

Police said they believe Williams might be connected to similar cases in the area and have reached out to surrounding law enforcement agencies as part of an on-going investigation.

Anyone with information about Williams is asked to call police at 803-781-8088, CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit an online tip.
South Carolina Republican state lawmakers on Thursday asked to use their congressional map for this years elections as the Supreme Court sits on the lawmakers appeal.

The lawmakers map is currently shelved after a lower court struck it down as a racial gerrymander, but no remedial map has been drawn as the Supreme Court reviews that decision this term.

The justices heard oral arguments in October, but despite a request to rule by Jan. 1, they have yet to hand down an opinion.

With South Carolinas June 11 congressional primary fast approaching, the state lawmakers now have returned to the lower court, arguing the clock has run out and that their original map must be re-implemented despite it being ruled a gerrymander.

At this juncture, the only appropriate course is to grant a partial stay and allow the 2024 elections to proceed in Enacted District 1, regardless of the Courts view of the merits of Defendants appeal, the lawmakers attorneys wrote in their 13-page motion.

Their map cements the GOP tilt of Rep. Nancy Maces (R) seat, which was a longtime red-leaning district until a Democrat narrowly pulled out an upset in 2018. Mace arrived in Congress after narrowly flipping the district back in 2020, and the new lines provide her with a more comfortable margin.

Allowing the design to stand for this years elections would aid Republicans in holding that seat as they aim to maintain control of the House.

A three-judge panel struck down the map in January of last year, ruling that race was the predominant factor behind shifting some 30,000 Black Charleston-area residents out of Maces district.

The South Carolina Republican lawmakers insist the boundaries were changed for partisan reasons, which the federal courts cannot review under Supreme Court precedent. The lawmakers appeal appeared to gain traction with a majority of the justices during oral arguments.

With no ruling issued yet, the state lawmakers are now citing a Supreme Court doctrine that courts should not change election rules too close to an election. That principle automatically mandates the lawmakers map be put back into effect, no matter the outcome at the high court, they argue.

Thursdays motion indicated the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, which brought the map challenge, opposes the motion. The Hill has reached out to their legal team for comment.

South Carolina held its presidential primaries last month, but the congressional primary for both parties is scheduled for June.

At this date, there is simply no realistic way that a remedial process could be completed in time for the 2024 election cycle, let alone by the March 16 opening of candidate filing, the April 27 commencement of absentee voting, or the June 11 primary election, the lawmakers attorneys wrote.

Delaying the election, the lawmakers argued, is unworkable and unduly burdensome on the State.

They asked for a ruling by March 14.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
According to scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, most of the coral surveyed off the Florida Keys are dead after last year's record heatwave that caused prolonged warm ocean temperatures.

What happened?

Scientists with the NOAA's Mission: Iconic Reef program surveyed five reefs around the Keys and found that less than a quarter of nearly 1,500 staghorn coral in a study set were still alive  and that was only at the northernmost corals off the coast of Key Largo, as reported by Axios.

At one of the study sites in the lower keys, none of the surveyed corals were found alive.

Axios noted that the scientists have not yet completed their surveys of all reef areas.

In 2023, Florida experienced a record heatwave, but it wasn't just on land. Ocean waters around southern Florida and the Caribbean were more than five degrees Fahrenheit above normal. As a result, scientists created three new alert categories, including a Level 5 classification that indicates the risk of "near complete" coral mortality.

As Axios explained, when water is too warm, a coral expels algae that live in its tissue and provide the coral with the nutrients it needs to live. This turns the coral white, known as coral bleaching, and it is a very bad sign. Bleaching leaves the coral more susceptible to the heat and can lead to its death.

Some of the coral was bred on land and planted between 2020 and 2022, but it was only bred to withstand temperatures about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, according to CNN.

Why is it concerning?

Thousands of species of fish call coral reefs home, but the reefs are equally important to the state's economy. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says that the reefs bring in an estimated $1.1 billion a year and are responsible for 71,000 jobs in South Florida.

Healthy reefs also act as a barrier against large waves caused by extreme weather, protecting against coastal erosion and damage to property.

What's being done to save the coral?

Scientists with the NOAA are doing all they can to save the coral. They removed in-water nursery corals, placed them in nurseries on land, and then re-planted them once ocean temperatures cooled down, Axios reported. That isn't viable long term, though, especially if the planet continues to warm and summers like 2023 become more common.

But saving the coral reefs isn't just up to the scientists. Every day people can do their part by limiting their contribution to pollution that's harmful to the planet. Even if you're not in a position to buy an electric vehicle or install solar panels on your home, taking public transit or doing something as simple as unplugging your devices when they're not in use can go a long way.

Join our free newsletter for cool news and cool tips that make it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
Thawing Thwaites

The Thwaites "Doomsday" glacier is melting. At about the size of Florida, the ice shelf in Western Antarctica contains so much water that it will cause sea levels to rise by two feet on its own if it were to collapse.

Fearing that current efforts to slow global warming won't be enough, geoengineers led by John Moore, a glaciologist at the University of Lapland in Finland, have proposed a grandiose and perhaps desperate plan to prevent the Thwaites from melting: surrounding the glacier with enormous, 62-mile-long curtains to keep out the warm water.

The research is still in its early stages, but it's already clear that such a proposal would be a monumental undertaking, costing a staggering $50 billion, Moore estimates.

"It sounds like a hell of a lot," Moore told Business Insider. "But compare the risk-risk: the cost of sea-level protection around the world, just coastal defenses, is expected to be about $50 billion per year per meter of sea level rise."

Frozen Curtain

What's primarily causing the doomsday ice sheet to melt is the warming of the ocean currents that batter it, rather than the ambient temperature of the region. 90 percent of global warming, in fact, takes place in the ocean.

Moore had previously proposed building a wall in the surrounding Amundsen Sea to divert the warm currents. Since 2020, however, he's favored "seabed anchored curtains" because they could be cheaper to implement, and most of all, reversible should they have unexpected consequences.

"Any intervention should be something that you can revert if you have second thoughts," Moore told Business Insider.

Moore and a team of researchers at the University of Cambridge are currently testing a three-foot-long prototype in water tanks. In about two years, the goal is to scale up to a 33-foot-long curtain that they will test in a Norwegian fjord.

"We want to know, what could possibly go wrong? And if there's no solution for it, then in the end, you just have to give up," Moore told Business Insider. "But there's also a lot of incentive to try and make it work."

Glacial Pace

The proposal has been met with criticism from scientists in the past. In general, they argue that it's a band-aid solution that distracts from addressing the ultimate problem of reducing greenhouse gas emissions  never mind the logistical challenges of building such a colossal structure.

But Moore argues that action needs to be taken now. In his view, we won't be able to reduce emissions quickly enough to save the pivotal ice sheet. Research has shown that massive cracks that are appearing in the Thwaites glacier could accelerate its melting, meaning its collapse could come sooner than we thought.

"The glacier doesn't really care anymore about what humans want to do about their emissions," he told Business Insider. "At that point, that's when you need these other tools in the box."

More on climate change: Man Charged With Smuggling Greenhouse Gases
A screenshot from an Indian movie has been shared thousands of times in social media posts with a false claim it shows a Hindu woman kidnapped in West Bengal by a member of the state's ruling party. The posts surfaced amid sexual harassment allegations against the party's members in February 2024, but the movie was released more than a decade ago in 2006.

"Sandeshkhali-West Bengal: A Hindu woman kidnapped by TMC goons. This jihadi goon is making a victory sign," reads in part the Hindi-language caption of a post sharing the screenshot here on X on February 16, 2024.

The post also contains a picture of a distressed woman standing next to a bare-chested man flashing a victory sign.

Screenshot of the false post taken on February 19, 2024

The false claim surfaced as protests erupted in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali village demanding the arrests of members of the state's ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) party over alleged sexual harassment and land grabs (archived link).

Supporters of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and India's National Commission for Women have accused the TMC and the West Bengal government of being complicit in crimes against women in the area.

Indian news website Hindustan Times reported on February 29, 2024 that TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan has been arrested for the case (archived link).

The screengrab has been shared with the same false claim elsewhere on Facebook here, here, here, and on social media platform X here and here.

However, the claim is false. The picture actually shows a scene from a Telugu-language movie released in 2006.

Movie scene

A Google reverse image search found a video uploaded on YouTube on September 7, 2019 showing the same scene at the 2:14 mark (archived link).

The three-minute, 18-second video is titled "Pratighaat Scene".

Below is a screenshot comparison of the screengrab shared in false posts (left) and the video uploaded on YouTube (right):

Screenshot comparison of the screengrab shared in false posts (left) and the video uploaded on YouTube (right)

A keyword search found that "Pratighat (Revenge)" is a Hindi-language dubbed version of the Telugu movie "Vikramarkudu" released theatrically in 2006 (archived link).

AFP has reviewed versions of the movie available on streaming platforms and found the scene appears at approximately the 1:27:33 timestamp.

The person passed off as a TMC politician in the viral post is actually Amit Tiwari, who plays a villain in the film (archived link).

AFP cannot find credible media reports that Tiwari is linked to the TMC.
Spains privacy watchdog has ordered for Worldcoin, the company created by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman that scans eyeballs to make digital IDs in exchange for crypto, to cease its operations in the country for three months amid concerns over what it is doing with users personal information.

The stated goal of Worldcoin is to give people a form of identification that could never be stolen or duplicated. It says the way it can do this is by creating a World ID by scanning someones eyeballs through orbs  a device that captures an image of their irises, the colored parts of the eyes.

In exchange, people who sign up get Worldcoin cryptocurrency.

Spains Agency for Data Protection told Worldcoins parent company Tools for Humanity Corporation on Wednesday to stop collecting personal data and keep hold of all information already collected.

The agency said in a statement that it had received various complaints against the company that range from gathering the personal information of minors to not allowing for people to withdraw their consent to sharing personal data.

People have lined up at points where these orbs are placed in cities like Madrid and Barcelona in recent months. More than 360,000 people in Spain have signed up for Worldcoin, according to the most recent company data from November.

While Worldcoin argues that the data is used to create a unique, secure form of identification, privacy experts have concerns that the company may use the information in other ways, like personalized marketing.

That has led other countries to investigate Worldcoins operations, including France and Germany.

The Kenyan government has likewise suspended new sign-ups for Worldcoin as it investigates whether peoples information is being properly protected.

Worldcoin responded that their operations preserve privacy.

The Spanish data protection authority (AEPD) is circumventing EU law with their actions today, which are limited to Spain and not the broader EU, and spreading inaccurate and misleading claims about our technology globally, Jannick Preiwisch, Worldcoins data protection officer, said in a statement.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
(WFRV)  A 29-year-old Colorado man was sentenced to life with the opportunity of parole for the murder of his grandmother after she agreed to sell the family farm in Wisconsin.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Philip G. Schmidt-Way, 29, from Loveland, Colorado, was sentenced to life on Wednesday with the ability to petition for extended supervision after 20 years.

Medical examiner says two Wisconsin inmates died of fentanyl overdose, stroke

Last month, co-defendant Aric Way, father to Schmidt-Way, was sentenced to life in prison without the opportunity for parole for his role in the homicide.

With this sentencing, we now know that both of the defendants involved in this extensively planned and despicable homicide will be behind bars for a long time, said Attorney General Josh Kaul. Thank you to everyone who helped ensure that the exhaustive and thorough work of investigators in this case led to the conviction and sentencing of the defendants.

Court records show that on July 19, 2021, the victim was found dead in her Dodgeville, Wisconsin home. An autopsy report showed she died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The grandmother had recently agreed to sell the family farm, which Schmidt-Way would have inherited upon the victims death.

The evidence at the trial showed there was no obvious source of the elevated levels of carbon monoxide in the home. Way purchased products that are known to react together to create carbon monoxide.

Police K9 dies after being hit by a vehicle on a Wisconsin highway

Schmidt-Ways phone record data placed his phone in the same area as Ways Google data during the purchase of a product on July 17, 2021. Additionally, Schmidt-Ways phone showed he arrived in Wisconsin on July 16, 2021, after leaving Colorado on July 15, 2021.

Schmidt-Ways vehicle was also seen on camera at the victims home on the night of her death.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
The Bibb County Sheriffs Office Gang Unit and U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force have arrested a second suspect in connection with the deadly shooting of a man in 2022 in a Walmart parking lot.

On August 5, 2022, Ronnie Albea, 41, was killed in the parking lot when two teens approached his fiance and demanded the keys to their car.

Investigators said Albea reportedly got into an argument with the suspects while refusing to give them the keys and was shot.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Albea was taken to the hospital, where he later died.

In April 2023, the sheriffs office along with U.S. Marshals arrested Elijiah Dewayne Gray, 18, in connection with the shooting.

Authorities found Gray in a home in the 200 block of Clisby Place.

He was charged with murder and is facing two counts of terroristic threats in an incident not related to the murder.

He is being held without bond.

On Wednesday, deputies and U.S. Marshals announced the arrest of a second suspect in the killing.

Mycco Vachion Gray, 20, was arrested.

He was arrested after a brief foot chase at a home on the 70 block of Short Street.

TRENDING STORIES:

Mycco Gray was taken to the Bibb County Law Enforcement Center.

He is charged with murder and hijacking of a motor vehicle.

He is also being held without bond.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
Counter-intelligence officers of the Security Service of Ukraine exposed and detained a resident of Odesa recruited by the Russians who was helping them plan another missile strike on the citys civilian infrastructure.

Source: Security Service of Ukraine (SSU); the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine

Quote: "To 'circumvent' Ukrainian air defence systems during the strike, the occupiers instructed their accomplice to identify the locations of anti-aircraft systems in the regional centre. The aggressors were primarily interested in the possible coordinates of anti-aircraft missile systems in the coastal area of the city."

Details: Reportedly, the Russians also attempted to determine the presence of military vessels equipped with air defence systems in local ports.

SSU said that the information obtained from the agent was planned to be "evaluated" by the Russians during the planning of new attacks on Odesa, involving the use of cruise missiles and Shahed drones.

It was determined that the resident of Odesa had been involved in intelligence activities since 2024. The detained agent relayed the information to her handler in occupied Sevastopol using the codename "Woodman."

The SSU systematically documented the criminal actions of the Russian agent from the start, allowing them to inform the command of the Defence Forces about the new threat of air strikes well ahead of time and prepare defences.

Currently, the woman is in custody, facing potential life imprisonment.

Support UP or become our patron!
The ex-USS John F. Kennedy was the last conventionally-powered carrier built for the Navy.

The aircraft carrier was also the site of one of the greatest military pranks.

After nearly 40 years of service, the flattop was retired and sold to scrap dealers for a cent.

The ex-USS John F. Kennedy, the retired first-in-class aircraft supercarrier, is headed to the scrapyard following a nearly 40-year service.

Its legacy will live on in a new supercarrier and stories of the insane prank that once happened on its decks.

First-in-class

USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) underway during carrier air wing qualifications in the northern Puerto Rican operations area. Naval History and Heritage Command

The Kennedy was a variant of the Kitty Hawk-class carrier and designated CVA-67 for attack aircraft carrier.

After undergoing a series of modifications, the Kennedy's classification was changed to CV-67, the only ship of its class, denoting that the carrier was capable of supporting anti-submarine warfare aircraft like the S-3 Viking.

The last conventionally powered carrier built for the US Navy

A side view of the decommissioned ship USS John F. Kennedy moored at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. US Navy Photo by Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Jayme Pastoric

It was the last conventional aircraft carrier built for the Navy, which the Navy has replaced with the nuclear-powered Nimitz- and Ford-class carriers.

The Kennedy was propelled by eight conventional boilers and four steam turbines, allowing it to reach speeds of 34 knots.

As tall as a 25-story building from keel to mast

An HH-60H Seahawk helicopter crosses the bow of John F. Kennedy as the carrier battle group arrived in the Mediterranean Sea. US Navy photo by Photographers Mate 1st Class Jim Hampshire

The massive carrier measured nearly 200 feet in height and more than 1,000 feet in length  if stood on end, it would reach the 84th floor of the Empire State Building.

As wide as a World War I destroyer was long

Two F-4 Phantom II fighter aircraft are being readied for launch from the flight deck of USS John F. Kennedy in the Mediterranean Sea. National Archives & Records Administration

The flight deck was as wide as a World War I destroyer was long: more than 250 feet at its widest point.

Armament

A NATO RIM-7 "Sea Sparrow" missile leaves its launcher during a live fire exercise aboard USS John F. Kennedy. US Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Jim Hampshire

Its armament included two launchers for Sea Sparrow missiles, an automated close-in weapon system, and two Rolling Airframe Missile launchers.

Deployment

Laser-guided bombs line the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) in preparation for air strikes against Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. LCDR Dave Parsons/Released

After its maiden voyage to the Mediterranean, the Kennedy participated in 18 official deployments in its 38 years of service.

Notably, the warship participated in Operation Desert Storm after Carrier Air Wing 3, then aboard the Kennedy, carried out airstrikes against Iraqi forces in 1991.

During a six-month deployment supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, aircraft aboard the Kennedy directed more than 64,000 pounds of firepower at Taliban and al Qaeda targets in October 2001 following 9/11.

The greatest military prank of all time

Aircrewmen, not the ones involved in the prank, are lifted from the flight deck of USS John F. Kennedy by an HH-60H "Seahawk" helicopter. US Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Jim Hampshire

Apart from its history-making service and features, the Kennedy also was the setting of one of the greatest military pranks of all time.

In 1986, the Kennedy was set to relieve the Kitty Hawk-class supercarrier USS America after a six-month deployment in the Mediterranean.

What was meant to be a common change of command quickly turned into a hilarious practical joke, as aviators aboard the America dropped off an unusual payload on the new arrivals: three greased pigs dyed with red, white, and blue food coloring.

Brian Christoff, an aircrewman with the HS-11 helo squadron aboard USS America, shared a video of the event in a since-deleted post on Facebook in 2023.

"We were at the end of a 6-month deployment to the Indian Ocean/Mediterranean Sea," Christoff wrote. "We were being relieved by the USS Kennedy. The fighter jet jocks got with us and came up with this slant, on an age-old tradition, of releasing a greased pig, onto the deck of the relieving ship."

"Three pigs painted with Red, White, and Blue food coloring and lathered in grease," he continued. "The Kennedy never seen it coming!"

It's #NationalPigDay! Dating back to the early 60s, a prank played by carriers in the Mediterranean was to surprise their relieving carrier by releasing greased pigs on the flight deck. This 1986 video is of a helicopter from USS America dropping off pigs on USS John F. Kennedy. pic.twitter.com/LL6UHnfk0V  U.S. Naval Institute (@NavalInstitute) March 1, 2022

Plagued by budget cuts

A 25-foot Defender-class safe boat from Coast Guard Station Little Creek maintains a security zone around the USS John F. Kennedy. US Coast Guard Photo by PA2 John D. Miller

In 2005, the Kennedy was proposed to retire due to upkeep costs, freeing up more than $1 billion in the Defense Department's budget at the time.

Two years later, the ship was formally decommissioned "with dignity and honor" and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in October 2009.

Sold for a cent

Coast Guard Station Boston crewmembers, aboard a 25-foot Defender Class boat, enforced the Naval Protection Zone and provided a security umbrella as USS John F. Kennedy transited into the port of Boston. USCG photo by PA3 Lisa Hennings

In 2021, years after it had been decommissioned, the iconic warship was sold to a Texas-based ship-breaking firm for just a cent due to how costly it is to tow and recycle the vessel.

USS Kitty Hawk, which was also sold to International Shipbreaking Limited for a cent, arrived at the scrapyard in Brownsville, Texas, in 2022.

The Kennedy was set to follow in mid-December 2023, but Robert Berry, vice president of International Shipbreaking Limited, said the ship has yet to make an appearance  and he has no idea why.

"I wish I did. I really do. I have a few thousand people poking at me about it, and I just don't have a date," Berry told local Texas newspaper, The Monitor, in late December. "Until the Navy puts out something and tells us something, I don't have anything."

"Anything I say is probably going to be wrong," he added. "By contract, I can't say that much anyway. I really thought we were going to see it in December, but it didn't happen."

'Crying over a rusted piece of metal'

Officers render honors during a 19-gun salute at the decommissioning ceremony of USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67). Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (AW) Regina L. Brown

A group of veterans who sailed on the Kennedy during the Vietnam War mourned the ship's impending scrapping. Don Russo, one of the group's founding members, recalled his time serving aboard the supercarrier.

"We were on the same ship at the same time, same division. We worked together, drank together," Russo told local newspaper Grant County News. "I can't tell you all the other stuff  our wives are here."

The group, dubbed "Our Division," toured the decommissioned carrier in an emotional final visit last year.

"Five of us, crying over a rusted piece of metal," they said.

The next JFK

The aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy is the second ship in the Gerald R. Ford class, the Navy's newest class of nuclear aircraft carriers. US Navy photo illustration courtesy of Newport News Shipbuilding/Released

Though CV-67 is destined for the scrap yard, another ship of its name is already at sea. USS Kennedy (CV-79) is the second in the Gerald R. Ford class of nuclear power aircraft carriers.

Officially launched in 2019, the Navy's newest warship touts a hefty $11 billion price tag  albeit $2 billion shy of $13 billion USS Gerald R. Ford.

The carrier recently tested its new electromagnetic aircraft launch system last month, launching heavy cars into the James River to make sure it can handle catapulting actual fixed-wing aircraft.

Read the original article on Business Insider
President Joe Bidens plans to deliver widespread student debt relief were dealt a serious blow last year when the Supreme Court struck down his one-time student loan forgiveness program. But he has still managed to cancel more federal student loan debt than any other president.

As the November election gets closer, Bidens team is eager to tout what hes done to address student loan debt  with the administration recently sending congratulatory emails to 153,000 debt-relief recipients  even if his actions fall short of some Democrats expectations.

Since taking office, Bidens administration has approved the cancellation of about $138 billion in federal student loans  wiping out debts for about 3.9 million borrowers  by using a number of existing programs that aim to offer debt relief for certain groups of struggling borrowers.

The amount Biden has canceled is equal to nearly 9% of the $1.6 trillion of federal student loan debt currently held by borrowers.

Its about one-third of the amount of student loan debt that would have been canceled by his broad forgiveness program. About $430 billion would have been forgiven last year if the Supreme Court had allowed that program to take effect.

How Biden is canceling student debt despite the Supreme Court ruling

The Supreme Court ruled that the executive branch does not have the authority to implement Bidens broad forgiveness program, which would have canceled up to $20,000 for borrowers who make less than $125,000 a year.

The one-time cancellation program would have benefited millions of people, but it drew some criticism because it would not have helped future borrowers or addressed the larger issue of the rising cost of college.

What Biden has been doing  before and after the Supreme Court ruling  is using existing student loan forgiveness programs to deliver relief to certain groups of borrowers, like public-sector workers (through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program) and borrowers who were defrauded by their college (through the borrower defense to repayment program). His administration also made discharges for borrowers who are totally and permanently disabled.

None of these programs expire, meaning they will help qualifying borrowers now and in the future. In some cases, Bidens administration has expanded the reach of these programs, making more borrowers eligible.

And in other cases, it has made an effort to correct past administrative errors made to borrowers student loan accounts by conducting a one-time recount of borrowers past payments. This effort helps make sure people receive the loan forgiveness they may already qualify for by having made at least 20 years of payments in an income-driven plan, which calculates monthly payment amounts based on a borrowers income and family size, rather than the amount owed. The recount is expected to be completed by July.

Many of the Biden administrations actions have helped chip away at a backlog of student loan forgiveness applications left over from the Trump administration, which tried to limit some debt-relief programs and slowed processing of applications.

Last year, the administration created a new income-driven repayment plan. Known as SAVE, the new plan offers the most generous terms for low-income borrowers. Those who originally borrowed $12,000 or less will see their remaining debt canceled after making payments for at least 10 years.

Will Biden get political credit?

It remains to be seen if Biden will get a political boost from his student debt cancellation efforts in Novembers election.

In a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in January, 46% of US adults said Biden has the best approach to lowering student debt burdens, compared with 22% who said Donald Trump does.

But Bidens actions have fallen short of what other Democratic leaders  like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren  repeatedly called for when he came to office. They wanted the president to cancel $50,000 of student loan debt per borrower  an amount Biden argued was too high.

Still, the Biden administration is working on implementing another path toward a broad student loan forgiveness program, this time relying on a different legal authority in hopes that this attempt holds up in court. This proposal is currently making its way through a lengthy rulemaking process and has yet to be finalized.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) boasts a substantial lead in Indianas Republican gubernatorial primary, polling released Thursday shows, weeks out from the states May contest.

The Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey of Indiana voters found Braun the clear leader in the gubernatorial GOP race, with 34 percent support among likely primary voters.

His rivals  including Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch; former Indiana Commerce Secretary Brad Chambers and Eric Doden, a former appointee of ex-Gov. Mike Pence  each got 7 percent or less.

Notably, a plurality of voters, or 43 percent, are still undecided.

Brauns primary support is roughly 10 points higher among men than women, noted Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling  and 51 percent of women are undecided.

Republican primary voters who think immigration is the top issue facing the state break for Braun at 48 percent, Kimball said.

After just one term in the Senate, Braun is looking to succeed Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, who is term-limited. The GOP has controlled the governors mansion in the Hoosier State for nearly two decades.

The Indiana senators gubernatorial bid leaves his upper chamber seat open in 2024, and hes endorsed Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) to replace him.

At the top of the ticket, President Biden and former President Trump are leading their respective parties  and GOP candidate Nikki Haley dropped out Wednesday, after the poll was conducted, to set Trump on a clear path to the nomination.

In a hypothetical general election match-up, 55 percent of registered voters in Indiana back Trump, while just 34 percent pick Biden  and another 12 percent are undecided.

Braun last month said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) should bite his tongue and endorse Trumps reelection bid, which the GOP leader did Wednesday.

Donald Trump is the GOP nominee to defeat Biden and save America  there is no third option and if you are a Republican elected official who refuses to support Trump then you are helping Joe Biden and hurting America, Braun wrote in a recent social media post.

Trump has endorsed Braun for governor.

The Indiana poll was conducted March 2-5 among 1,000 registered voters, with a credibility interval, similar to a polls margin of error, of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Among the subgroup of 526 likely Republican primary voters, the credibility interval was plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
FIRST ON FOX: Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee are expanding their investigation into the sheltering of migrants at airports in "sanctuary" jurisdictions  seeking information from two additional port authorities on how many migrants have been kept at airports, how it is being funded and the potential risks it may pose.

In letters to the Port Authorities of New York/New Jersey and Massachusetts, the lawmakers, led by Ranking Member Ted Cruz, ask for more information about the sheltering of migrants  specifically at John F Kennedy International Airport and Boston Logan International Airport.

In New York, where migrants are kept in Building 197, the housing was in the spotlight in February when an Ecuadorian national ran past armed security into a secured area and was arrested with a box cutter and a pair of scissors.

ILLEGAL MIGRANTS ARE SLEEPING IN TERMINALS OF BOSTON AIRPORT ON DAILY BASIS AS CRISIS OVERWHELMS SHELTERS

In Logan Airport, the lawmakers cite reports that migrants are sleeping on the floors of Terminal E, where migrants are being seen on a "daily basis."

"Frankly, what youve seen at Logan has been the situation, and this is why I said months ago that we are reaching capacity here," Gov. Maura Healey said in January.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The lawmakers quizzed Chicago on the matter earlier this year, and have warned that federal assistance to airports are conditioned on the airport and facilities being made available for public use as an airport. The lawmakers say the sheltering of migrants brings that into question.

"Housing illegal aliens at airports is unprecedented and far beyond the scope of the FAAs vision for a nationwide system of airports," they say in the letter to New York and New Jersey. "FAA policy prohibits the use of aeronautical facilities on airport property for non-aeronautical purposes."

SENATE COMMERCE REPUBLICANS PROBE MIGRANT SHELTERS AT CHICAGO AIRPORTS

They describe the sheltering of migrants as a "warped repurposing of Americas aviation system" and link it to "open border policies" pursued by the far-left and the Biden administration, as well as "sanctuary" policies embraced by those states.

They cite statistics showing that ICE detainers  requests to transfer an illegal immigrant charged with crimes  are frequently ignored in New York, NYC, Massachusetts and Boston  including those charged with assault, rape, sexual assault and other violent crimes.

The lawmakers sent lengthy lists of questions to both port authorities, seeking copies of licenses and waivers, requests for numbers of migrants living or sheltering in the facilities, information regarding security breaches and information about any consultation with ICE or other federal authorities. Fox reached out to both port authorities. NY/NJ said it was reviewing the letter.

CHICAGO'S O'HARE AIRPORT USED AS A MIGRANT SHELTER AS CRISIS OVEWHELMS CITY: LIKE A SCENE FROM MAD MAX

They also ask about funding and whether the authorities have been reimbursed, whether taxpayer funding has been used and whether elected officials directed or encouraged the housing of immigrants at the airport. Senators on the letters include Cruz as well as Sens. Ted Budd, R-N.C., J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, Todd Young, R-Ind., and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska.

The letters come as the three-year border crisis remains a fiery political topic, and comes days after both President Biden and former President Donald Trump visited the southern border.

Republicans blame the border crisis on the policies of the Biden administration, including reduced interior enforcement, the reversal of Trump-era policies and releases into the interior.

Biden has called on the Senate to pass a bipartisan bill that includes funding and resources to the border, as well as limits on entries into the U.S. But conservatives say it would normalize an excessive level of crossings.





Original article source: Senate Commerce Republicans expand probe into airports in sanctuary jurisdictions sheltering migrants
Donald Trumps dominating victories on Super Tuesday cemented his lock on the Republican presidential nomination, but Senate GOP leaders are reluctant to fully embrace the former president given his tendency to alienate college-educated women and other swing voters.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) finally announced his endorsement of Trump on Wednesday, the same day Nikki Haley dropped out of the presidential race.

But McConnell indicated to reporters that his views of Trump  and his doubts about his palatability with moderate and independent voters  remain unchanged.

McConnell, when asked about his endorsement in light of the excoriating denunciation of Trump he delivered on the Senate floor at the end of his second impeachment trial, told reporters Wednesday that he was always planning to support the GOP nominee for president in 2024, even if it was Trump.

On Feb. 25, 2021, shortly after the attack on the Capitol, I was asked a similar question and I said I would support the nominee for president, even if it were the former president, he said.

When then pressed whether he felt comfortable about Trump being the nominee given the 91 felony counts he faces in four different criminal prosecutions, McConnell simply said: I dont have anything to add to what I just said.

He obviously is going to be the nominee of our party, he said.

McConnells endorsement of Trump earlier in the day didnt include much praise for the former president, and instead framed the decision as motivated by duty to party more than anything else.

It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for president of the United States, he said. It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support.

Other Senate Republicans are dutifully endorsing Trump but are not embracing him.

Im going to support the nominee for president. Ill say it that way right now, said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), who initially backed Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) for president.

Rallying around Trump raises a variety of awkward questions for Senate Republicans  such as whether to support his claims that President Biden and Democrats stole the 2020 election, a debate that played out prominently in 2022 and only hurt Senate GOP candidates.

Senate Republicans will now have to play defense on Trumps other controversial claims and pledges, such as his promise in November to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Trumps first effort at repealing former President Obamas signature law famously failed in 2017 when GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and the late John McCain (Ariz.) voted against it.

Collins and Murkowski will still be in the Senate next year, having won reelection in 2020 and 2022, respectively.

Trump has vowed to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate President Biden and his family, wage war on drug cartels, close the Department of Education and totally obliterate the Deep State.

Republican senators have largely ignored Trumps comments at campaign rallies and havent paid much attention to his policy agenda for a second term, either.

My impression is each senator sets their own agenda. Its not like we have a single agenda as a conference or caucus, said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), one of Trumps most vocal GOP critics.

I think theres a few things hes made clear. One that hed end the war in Ukraine on day one. I dont know what he wants to do on Israel and Hamas and Gaza. Thats probably something wed learn, he said. Hed indicated what he wants to do on tariffs, so a few things hes made clear.

Trump has called for slapping a 10 percent tariff on all imports and raising fees on Chinese imports by between 40 and 60 percentage points.

Many Senate Republicans arent ready to embrace Trumps campaign agenda as their own but say they want to collaborate with him if hes elected president, especially on renewing his landmark Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which expires at the end of 2025.

I think we are a separate branch of government, and so I do think we should have a level of independence, said Senate Republican Policy Committee Chair Joni Ernst (Iowa), who waited until Wednesday to endorse Trump.

Senate Republican leaders didnt coordinate with Trump when they pursued a bipartisan border security deal with Senate Democrats and the White House.

That decision came back to bite them when Trump flexed his political muscle by derailing the legislation. Trump told allies on Capitol Hill that he didnt want to give Biden a political win and urged GOP lawmakers to oppose it.

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), who negotiated the border security deal, said letting presidential politics dominate the Senate agenda would likely mean little gets done on immigration reform or anything else before the election.

To actually make law, you actually have to work with the current White House, he observed. But obviously if we have a bunch of folks saying, Hey we dont want to do anything until we have the election to be able to determine it  then in some ways were stuck.

Senate conservatives last month blasted McConnell and his leadership team for negotiating with Democrats to reform asylum laws and give the president limited emergency powers to close the border instead of following Trumps lead.

I think Senate leaderships handling of that was very unhelpful, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told The Hill on Wednesday.

Cruz and other Trump allies are calling on the Senate Republican leadership to embrace Trump closely, even though the likely Republican presidential nominee remains controversial with large swaths of voters, including large minorities of Republican voters who supported Haley in Colorado, Massachusetts, Virginia, Utah and other states Tuesday.

We should be working with President Trump  who will be the nominee and who I believe will be the next president  and I think its important for both current leadership and whoever the next leader is to be able to work closely with the president, he said.

Cruz said there certainly doesnt appear to be any cooperation between the current Senate Republican leadership and the Trump campaign.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) has gone even further by calling for an election to replace McConnell in the next few weeks so a new Senate Republican leader can actively campaign with Trump.

We got to get somebody now whos going to energize our base all across the country for Senate Republicans and also going to be able to get on that airplane with Trump and stand up at a rally and say, Listen, we need President Trump to win, and be very truthful about it, he told The Hill last week.

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), a first-term senator who voted against McConnell as GOP leader in the last race, said he wants to see much closer coordination between the Senate GOP leadership and Trump.

I do think its important for us to be rolling [in] the same direction. Theres a lot at stake in this election, he said. Youve got the record of the failed policies under Joe Biden and a lot of success under President Trump. So if we want to bring that back, I think it would be smart for us to work together.

Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who are both running to succeed McConnell as leader, have pledged to colleagues they will work closely with Trump if he is elected president.

Both Thune and Cornyn have raised questions and doubts about Trumps policy judgments and electability in the past, before he dominated the rest of the GOP field in this years presidential primary.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Senate passed a stand-alone bill to extend and expand a 30-year-old law compensating Americans exposed to radiation by the federal government in a 69-30 vote.

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), first enacted in 1990, compensates Americans exposed to radiation by World War II-era nuclear testing and Cold War-era uranium mining. However, it is set to expire in June and does not cover several categories of people exposed to radiation, including those downwind of the 1945 Trinity atomic bomb test and uranium miners exposed to radiation after 1971. It also does not cover Sen. Josh Hawleys (R-Mo.) constituents in the St. Louis area who were exposed to contaminated water from uranium production at Mallinckrodt Chemical Works.

An amendment expanding and extending RECA, sponsored by Sens. Hawley, Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) passed the Senate with 61 votes last year as part of the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). However, the amendment was stripped from the final version. Hawley has vocally blamed outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for the removal of the amendment.

The bill, passed Thursday, expands coverage of RECA to Missouri, Idaho, Montana, Guam, Colorado, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alaska, as well as to miners exposed between 1971 and 1990, and reauthorizes the law for a further five years.

Hawley has said votes on the bill will be a factor in whom he backs as the next leader of the Senates Republican caucus. The two top contenders for leadership, Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), both voted against the measure. McConnell, meanwhile, voted in favor of it.

In floor remarks before the vote, Hawley called the beneficiaries of RECA the people who won World War II, won the Cold War and built this country, and are now waiting on us to help them.

We have not done right by those good people  we have turned our back on them, Hawley added. It is time to rebuild these communities, it is time to finish the work in the United States of America, it is time to turn to the men of women who have borne the brunt of the battle.

Lujan specifically invoked this weekends Academy Awards telecast, where Christopher Nolans biopic of Manhattan Project scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer is the favorite to win best picture, and called on honorees associated with the film to help highlight the survivors struggle.

Theres a lot of incredible actors and actresses that will be recognized because of the story they told with Oppenheimer [but] that story left out an important part, the families were fighting for today, Lujan said. I hope none of those actors and actresses forget about these families, and the same advocacy that Ive heard from many of these incredible artists, I hope one of them is willing to say something.

The White House has already signaled President Biden would sign the bill if it reaches his desk, saying in a statement Wednesday that the President believes we have a solemn obligation to address toxic exposure, especially among those who have been placed in harms way by the governments actions.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  Sen. Sean Ryan disclosed Thursday that his team is working with New York City authorities to rehouse roughly 500 asylum seekers stuck in hotel rooms in Western New York.

Ryan said he is unaware of any plans by New York City officials to transport more asylum seekers to the region, in addition to those bussed here in the spring and summer of 2023 to live in hotels.

Inmates 2023 death caused by water intoxication, death certificate reveals

Somehow in the last 24 hours, rumors have been flying around, Ryan said. I dont know where its coming from, because we are no closer to an agreement today than we were a month ago. But I just wanted to clarify the substance of what we are talking about  it would be a NYC-funded program that instead of paying hotels a very high rate, we could pay local landlords that money, get that money into our economy, and put people into stable housing.

Ryan said New York City is spending an astronomical amount of money to house asylum seekers in hotels, when it could save money if it worked with local nonprofit agencies to rehouse them in vacant apartments in Western New York.

Ryan said during a Zoom interview with reporters that hotels are not set up for long-term occupation by families, and it makes no economic sense for New York City to keep paying hotels, when it can be done cheaper by working with local organizations and landlords.

More from News 4 Investigates

We dont have a contract, we dont have an agreement, but we would like to get one to move people out into stable housing, Ryan said.

Dan Telvock is an award-winning investigative producer and reporter who has been part of the News 4 team since 2018. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.
IFZA, Dubais most dynamic free zone community, today announced the opening of its latest office in Franfurt, Germany as part of its ambitious global expansion plans. The move strengthens the robust ties between UAE and Germany and aims to facilitate the growth of business and investments between the two countries.

IFZAs new office was opened with a special ceremony attended by Khalfan Al Matrooshi, Deputy Head of Mission, UAE Embassy in Berlin, IFZAs CEO Jochen Knecht, and a number of leading German business figures who spoke of the strong business relationship and trade ties between Germany and UAE.

Launched as part of IFZAs ongoing international expansion plans, the office will support the interest of German companies looking to establish trade relations with Dubai. Having a physical presence in Germany will enable IFZA to provide on-the-ground support, and establish direct connections with entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors and IFZA Partners.

Meaningful relationships

Knecht said: We believe that having a presence in Germany is crucial for building meaningful relationships. Our German office represents the next phase in our growth journey and will allow us to work more closely with key stakeholders in the country. It will also help us to utilise our core business expertise to enhance economic cooperation and drive investment to the UAE.

In addition to supporting small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany looking to establish themselves in Dubai, IFZA will bridge the gap between the two markets by sharing investment intelligence and connecting businesses to potential partners. The Frankfurt office will serve as a central point for IFZA to interact with the German business community, showcasing the ease of doing business and the unparalleled opportunities that Dubai offers for German companies seeking to expand to the UAE and beyond.

According to the World Investment Report 2023, the UAE ranked 1st in the Mena region, accounting for 32.4% of total FDI inflows, amounting to $70.2 billion. As the most dynamic and truly international free zone community in the UAE, IFZA optimises the country's strategic location and world-class infrastructure to attract international investors and contribute to the countrys economy.

Authorised partners and consultants

IFZA's global presence extendls beyond Frankfurt, with offices already established in Spain, Switzerland and China. The company boasts a network of 1,500+ IFZA Authorised Partners and Consultants worldwide, specifically trained to support business owners in the IFZA Way.

Partners and Licensees benefit from IFZAs multinational approach through its multilingual staff, representing more than 50 nationalities. As part of its continued expansion, IFZA aims to open additional offices in Austria, the UK, India, Africa and Latin America this year.--TradeArabia News Service
Hunter Biden (C), son of US President Joe Biden, leaves after a closed door interview as part of the Republican-led House of Representatives impeachment inquiry in Washington, DC, February 28, 2024.

House Republicans have invited Hunter Biden and his former business associates to appear at a public hearing later in March as part of the next step in their lengthy impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee announced it will hold a hearing on March 20 that is expected to include an appearance by the presidents son and three former associates.

The 14-month investigation into the Biden family has primarily focused on Hunter Bidens overseas work in countries such as Ukraine and China. While lawmakers have unearthed ethically questionable behavior by the presidents son and other family members, Republicans have yet to produce evidence of misconduct by Joe Biden while in public office.

Hunter Biden and his lawyer had insisted late last year that he appear for a public hearing instead of the private deposition he sat for last week that lasted more than seven hours, citing concerns that GOP lawmakers would distort his interview. The two sides ultimately agreed to a sit-down testimony first, followed by a public hearing.

It remains unclear whether Hunter Biden or any of the others have agreed to this proposed date by Republicans.

A request for comment from Bidens representatives was not immediately returned Wednesday.

GOP Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, chairman of the Oversight and Accountability Committee, said he expects Hunter Biden to appear, given the presidents sons repeated calls for a public hearing.

The transcript of Hunter Bidens deposition provided a preview of what is surely to come if or when he appears for a public hearing. Biden was defiant throughout the private interview as Republican questions touched on business matters and his personal life, which has included times of addiction and turmoil.

It seems to me that the Republican members wanted to spend more time talking about my clients addiction than they could ask any question that had anything to do with what they call their impeachment inquiry, Abbe Lowell, Hunter Bidens attorney, told reporters last week.

Hunter Biden denied under oath that his father ever financially benefited or participated in any of his sons business work.

Republicans were undeterred by Hunter Bidens repudiation of their investigation and the lack of a direct evidence to Joe Biden from anything that younger Biden did in his financial affairs.

Comer justified holding a public hearing later this month by saying that during the deposition that Hunter Biden made several statements that were contradictory to testimony from his former business associates.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A senior Russian military officer has warned that the conflict in Ukraine could escalate into a full-scale war in Europe and said the probability of Moscow's forces becoming involved in a new conflict is increasing "significantly."

Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, head of the Russian army's Military Academy of the General Staff, made the comments in an article for "Military Thought", a defence ministry publication, the state RIA news agency reported on Thursday.

"The possibility of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine - from the expansion of participants in 'proxy forces' used for military confrontation with Russia to a large-scale war in Europe - cannot be ruled out," RIA cited him a saying.

"The main source of military threats to our state is the anti-Russian policy of the United States and its allies, who are conducting a new type of hybrid warfare in order to weaken Russia in every possible way, limit its sovereignty and destroy its territorial integrity," he was quoted as saying.

"The likelihood of our state being purposefully drawn into new military conflicts is significantly increasing."

The war in Ukraine has triggered the deepest crisis in Russia's relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and President Vladimir Putin has warned that the West risks provoking a nuclear war if it sends troops to fight in Ukraine.

Putin has cast his decision to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022 as a special military operation designed to secure Russia's own security against an increasingly hostile U.S.-backed Ukrainian leadership. Kyiv says it is defending itself against an imperial-style war of conquest designed to erase its national identity.

Zarudnitsky's comments come at a time when the West is scrambling to help Ukraine with more arms and financing after Kyiv's failed counteroffensive last summer and after Russian forces regained the initiative on the battlefield.

Zarudnitsky advocated a number of changes in the way Russia organises its military and security, RIA added, including placing greater emphasis on relying on what he called friendly countries to ensure Russia's own security and consolidating the whole of Russian society around its defence needs.

(This story has been refiled to fix a typo in paragraph 9)

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
A senior official at the US State Department who was heavily involved in US-Ukraine policy and earned Moscows wrath as a result is stepping down in the coming weeks, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Victoria Nuland was the agencys Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and previously served as assistant Secretary of State for Europe; in both positions, she was a fervent advocate for US support of Ukraine while drawing from her deep professional history of working in Russia.

Ms Nuland departed from the State Department when Donald Trump took office in 2017 but returned under his successor Joe Biden.

In a statement, the secretary of State wrote that Ms Nulands leadership on Ukraine will be a decision which diplomats and students of foreign policy will study for years to come.

Her efforts have been indispensable to confronting Putins full-scale invasion of Ukraine, marshalling a global coalition to ensure his strategic failure, and helping Ukraine work toward the day when it will be able to stand strongly on its own feet  democratically, economically, and militarily, said Mr Blinken.

In both Moscow and pro-Trump circles in the United States, Ms Nuland has long been accused of being the orchestrator of the 2014 protests in Ukraine which resulted in the ousting of the countrys pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych.

In reality, Mr Yanukovychs ouster was the result of months of protests which began after he rejected a major agreement with the European Union in a bid for closer ties with Russia. His removal from office was followed by Russia invading and annexing Ukrainian territory, and Mr Yanukovych fleeing to Russian territory.

Her departure was celebrated by one of the architects of the cloud of conspiracies that constantly emanate from Trumpworld, former White House chief strategist and Breitbart editor Steve Bannon.

On his War Room podcast, Mr Bannon advised Ms Nuland to lawyer up and warned that a second Trump administration would investigate her for being the Fountainhead of everything about this Ukraine situation.

Mr Trump has not explicitly said that he would end arms supplies to Ukraine as it continues to resist a full-scale Russian invasion, though many of his closest political allies are vocally opposed to further aid. The former president himself has largely stuck in public comments to baseless boasting regarding how he supposedly could have stopped Vladimir Putin from launching the Russian invasion.

Trumpworld as a whole also still seems to treat any criticism of Russia in general with suspicion, likely a result of continued bitterness stemming from the months-long investigation into whether Mr Trumps 2016 campaign colluded with Russian agents as well as the embarrassment of his first impeachment in 2020  a result of Mr Trump pressuring Ukraines president into opening a politically-damaging criminal investigation into his rival for the presidency, Joe Biden.

Ms Nuland was further drawn into those far-right conspiracies about Ukraine in 2022 after she testified in Congress that the US had funded labs in Ukraine working on preventing the spread of harmful pathogens  a project that conspiracy-mongers on the right spun into fanciful tales about secret bioweapon labs.

Her role is set to be filled at the State Department by Under Secretary for Management John Bass until a permanent replacement is selected.
The head of US Africa Command warned Congress on Thursday that Russia is aggressively working to expand its footing among African countries, leaving several at the tipping point of falling under its influence.

[A] number of countries are at the tipping point of actually being captured by the Russian Federation as they are spreading some of their false narratives across Libya and from a strategic answer piece, access and influence across the whole Maghreb, Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley told the Senate Armed Services Committee. That is NATOs southern flank. We need to be able to have  maintain access and influence across the Mahgreb, from Morocco all the way to Libya.

There are hundreds of US service members in Africa, according to AFRICOM. US officials have warned for years now that both Russia and China are working to tighten their grips on the continent. The former head of US Africa Command, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, said in 2019 that Russia was using mercenaries and arms sales to gain access to natural resources in Africa.

They want to have influence on the continent, Waldhauser told Congress at the time. Langley said Thursday that the US has been drowned out by Russian disinformation in previous years, leading to Russias success in stoking a lot of the instability across the Sahel.

I would say the Russian Federations narrative drowned out the US governments in the past years. They were excelling, Langley said. The Russian Federation  not just through Wagner  stoked a lot of the instability across the Sahel. They did this through misinformation, disinformation campaigns.

Langley called for more resources to combat Russias narrative, particularly more resources for US information operations. But it wasnt just Russia Langley warned of; both Russia and China, he said, have long-range plans on the continent.

They want that ground. They want power projection capabilities.  But I think at accelerated pace, the Russian Federation is really trying to take over central Africa as well as the Sahel, he said.

Langley also made the case on Thursday for more seats for African military partners in US military education programs, saying leaders in Morocco, for example, keep asking us for more seats because the United States doesnt offer enough.

That is also competing with the Russian Federation. Theyre beating us 12-to-1, Langley said.

Langley emphasized that the US maintains a significant advantage over both countries with its state partnership program, which pairs US state National Guard units with foreign militaries. There are currently National Guard partnerships with 18 African countries, according to AFRICOM, including Kenya, Niger, Liberia, Djbouti, Burkina Faso, Rwanda and Tunisia.

That program is unrivaled, Langley said Thursday, and is a significant advantage over Russia and China on the continent. He and the National Guard Bureau Chief, Gen. Daniel Hokanson, have been laying out a plan into the rest of the decade that would develop more strategic partner programs across the continent.

Heres how it helps: In our overall competition with the PRC and Russian Federation, they cant match that, Langley said. The way we build and partner with our countries, build with our African partners, builds capacity and capabilities, and it also gives them an appreciation for the rule of law, law of armed conflict, in working with their partners and makes them even more resilient.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Taiwan's new de facto ambassador to the US, Alexander Tah-ray Yui, and his wife Karen Lo arrive to meet with lawmakers at the US Capitol (Mandel NGAN)

A top US lawmaker said Wednesday he would visit Taiwan for the inauguration of President-elect Lai Ching-te, a year after his last trip to the self-governing democracy provoked anger from China.

Representative Mike McCaul, who leads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, spoke alongside Taiwan's representative in Washington and lawmakers from both parties at an event in the US Capitol marking 45 years since a landmark law to support Taiwan.

"I'll be leading a delegation to Taiwan to celebrate the president's inauguration," McCaul said of the ceremony set to take place on May 20.

McCaul last visited Taiwan in April 2023 to meet President Tsai Ing-wen. China responded with a show of military force and later imposed sanctions on McCaul, a Republican from Texas.

"The last time I visited Taiwan, I was greeted very warmly by President Tsai but not so warmly by the CCP," McCaul said, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.

"It's an illustration in terms of the aggression that we're seeing out of China right now," he said.

China claims Taiwan, where the mainland's defeated nationalists fled in 1949. It has since grown into a competitive democracy and leading high-tech economy, although Beijing has not ruled out using force to "reunify" the two.

China has voiced anger at any hints of official independence for Taiwan. It staged a massive show of force in 2022 and cut off areas of cooperation with the United States after a visit by then US House speaker Nancy Pelosi, who again showed support for Taiwan at Wednesday's event.

US-China relations have stabilized since then, with President Xi Jinping visiting California in November following visits to Beijing by top US officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

China has previously lashed out at President-elect Lai, who is Tsai's vice president and has historically emphasized Taiwan's separate identity.

But US officials were cautiously upbeat about containing tensions over Taiwan's January election, saying that Beijing's actions have not broken any past precedents.

US President Joe Biden sent an "unofficial" delegation of two former senior officials to Taiwan to meet Lai shortly after his election.

- Bipartisan support -

The United States switched recognition in 1979 from Taipei to Beijing. Only 11 countries plus the Vatican still recognize Taiwan.

The US Congress responded to the move in 1979 by passing the Taiwan Relations Act, which requires the United States to provide weapons to Taiwan to defend itself and ensures that Taiwanese representatives in the United States are treated as foreign diplomats in all but name.

Taiwan's de facto ambassador Alexander Tah-Ray Yui, who recently took over after his predecessor Hsiao Bi-khim was elected vice president under Lai, voiced gratitude to the United States over the assurances.

The law provides Taiwan with "security and the political space to create a vibrant democracy and a system that respects human rights, the rule of law and market-based economic principles," Yui said.

Unusually in polarized Washington, Taiwan has enjoyed broad bipartisan support, with Republicans warning of threats from China and Democrats hailing the status of human rights in Taiwan, Asia's frontrunner in LGBTQ equality.

Representative Ted Lieu, a progressive Democrat born in Taiwan, said that there was consensus in Congress "to have Taiwan be able to defend itself."

He urged Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, to allow a vote on a $95 billion package passed in the Senate that would authorize assistance to Taiwan alongside Ukraine and Israel.

Johnson has sought to tie the bill to calls led by Republican presidential contender Donald Trump to take tougher action against migrants seeking to enter the United States.

sct/caw
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL)  Several communities in the Northeast Tennessee region are receiving grant funding to help with the long-term planning of their water and sewer systems.

Governor Bill Lee and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) announced nearly $11 million is being distributed to 50 localities statewide as part of the Infrastructure Planning Grant (IPG) program.

Ensuring all Tennesseans have access to clean water starts with investing in the right infrastructure, said Gov. Lee. I thank our General Assembly for funding this program and commend the 50 grantees for stepping up to help our communities strengthen local infrastructure and plan for the future.

Eastman, Food City unveil new recycling bins in Kingsport

According to a release from the TNECD, the IPG program supports utility systems in the state that serve distressed counties and rural communities on the financially distressed utility system referral list.

The release states that systems make the referral list based on comptroller eligibility. The utility companies are referred due to criteria like their net position, non-revenue water or high levels of debt.

When utility systems receive this funding, they can be used for projects such as water system mapping and modeling, water system analysis, sewer system mapping and modeling, sewer system analysis, asset management-related activities and regionalization studies, the release said.

Without strong infrastructure, communities cannot grow or attract business and industry, said TNECD Commissioner Stuart McWhorter. I congratulate those receiving funding through the IPG program and look forward to seeing how these 50 projects will spur future economic growth.

A list of the communities in the region that received funding, and how much they were awarded, can be found below:

Bean Station Utility District $190,000 Blountville Utility District $430,000 City of Jefferson City $200,000 City of Newport $339,150 Cross Anchor Utility District $141,000 First Utility District of Carter County $334,115 Roan Mountain Utility $58,353 South Elizabethton Utility District $165,000 Town of Mountain City $55,000 Town of White Pine $218,500

More information on the Infrastructure Planning Grant can be found at TN.gov.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
The biggest abortion rights case since Dobbs, which the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on March 26, is based around a simple narrative: A group of doctors represented by the professional organization Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine say the drug mifepristoneone of two drugs used for medication abortionis dangerous and illegal to dispense by mail, and wants the drug pulled from the market. This, at least, is the story told by AHMs legal filings.

In reality, however, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine is a newly incorporated anti-abortion group, hastily established in 2022 following the Dobbs decision in a jurisdiction that would be favorable to their case, where it was all but certain to go before an anti-abortion judge. Their purported scientific claims fall apart under scrutiny; studies they cite in their legal filings have been retracted. And the real force behind the case, known as Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (which is now consolidated with a case involving drug manufacturer Danco Laboratories) is the Christian-right law shop Alliance Defending Freedom, which also won the Dobbs case overturning Roe v. Wade and which, last term, prevailed in its case 303 Creative v. Elenis.

The 303 Creative case involved the flimsy premise of a plaintiff who wanted the right to turn down same-sex-wedding website clients, even though she had never made a same-sex-wedding website. (The same-sex-wedding website request she claimed to have received, as The New Republic reported last June, came from a same-sex couple who do not exist.) Now, in an analysis of tax filings reported for the first time, it looks like Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration is in fact built on similar lines. But instead of bringing a case with a real plaintiff and fictional injury, this time Alliance Defending Freedom has brought a case involving a plaintiff who seems to exist largely as a piece of paper filed in Amarillo, Texas, about 300 feet from the courthouse where they would bring this case. The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, on closer examination, is less a distinct professional organization than a shadow group composed of other anti-abortion groups, including several that ADF has cultivated over many years. Of AHM and its five member organizations contacted by TNR, none responded by publication to detailed questions sent by The New Republic for this piece. The query sent to one of its member organizations was forwarded by that organization to ADF for response. ADF did not provide answers to any of the queries.

Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine is nothing more than a brand name that Alliance Defending Freedom used to shop this abortion pill case up to the Supreme Court, said Caroline Ciccone, president of Accountable.US, the watchdog group that analyzed AHMs tax filings. Its deeply concerning that Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine could exist as such a flimsy group on paper and achieve such far-reaching consequences as the ones presented by this case.

The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine is a group composed not of individuals but rather of member groups, three of which are listed as co-plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case. (Four individual doctors are also listed as co-plaintiffs. Three of these doctors are in turn members of AHM member-groups.) Bureaucratically speaking, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine came into being on August 5, 2022, when the groups articles of incorporation were filed. The address listed by the group is shared by an Amarillo law firm, although AHMs activities in Amarillo appear limited to this specific case. The case filed three months later, in November, was guaranteed by virtue of being filed in Amarillo to be decided by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and specifically by Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, who had previously served as counsel for First Liberty Institute, another Christian anti-abortion law group that ADF has funded in the past. (Kacsmaryk also had two law clerks from ADFs intern program for law students.) AHMs subsequent application for nonprofit status with the IRS in January 2023, which Accountable.US located and shared with TNR, stated that it did not anticipate raising more than $50,000 annually for the next three years. The 1023-EZ form used to apply for this nonprofit status also showed a change in AHMs first four months of legal incorporation: Now its address was listed as being in Bristol, Tennessee. Google Street View shows the address as being directly off the highway on a short road blocked with a gate, where there is a plaque reading, Christian Medical and Dental Association, or CMDA. That group is a member of AHM and a co-plaintiff in the case.

Sure enough, when AHM reported its income for 2022, it reported an annual income of $50,000 or less. And again, on this form, its address remains listed in Tennessee at the location of CMDA. These tax forms were filed under the name of the groups board chair, Donna Harrison. Until March 2023, Harrison served as the CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, or AAPLOG, one of AHMs member groups and another co-plaintiff in the case. Harrison, an obstetrician-gynecologist who was still heading AAPLOG at the time Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration was filed, has not practiced medicine since 2000the year mifepristone was first approved by the FDA.

In summary, AHMs paper trail shows it incorporated in Texas weeks after the Supreme Courts ruling in Dobbs, quickly filed its challenge to mifepristone in Texas, and by 2023, saw its case headed for the Supreme Court. How is AHM able to afford this major, high-profile litigation, given that it reported raising no more than $50,000 the year it brought the case? It doesnt appear to be raising funds publiclybread and butter work for any nonprofit. It could be collecting member dues, but if it does, they do not amount to much, given its reported income. Besides, according to the 11 documents the group lists on its website as its advocacy efforts, the groups membership has shrunk from 50,000 members in 2021, as it cited in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee opposing the Equality Act (before there are any formal filings as to the groups legal existence), to 20,000 members cited in a press release opposing Ohios abortion rights ballot initiative in April 2023. These 11 documents posted to AHMs websiteposition statements, press releases, and a few letters to Senate committeesappear to be the only public record of any activities undertaken by this organization that it wishes to highlight, aside from its role in the Supreme Court case.

Even the name is misleading: The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine does not practice Hippocratic medicine. It pledges to honor the Essential Hippocratic Oath, which includes the words, I will not help a woman obtain an abortion. In purity and holiness I will maintain the utmost respect for human life from the moment of fertilization until the moment of natural death, carefully guarding my role as a healer. This is at odds with the traditional Hippocratic Oath, which involves respect for patient autonomy and a pledge to do more good than harm.

AHM, then, has little existence of its own. Primarily it serves as a brand name its member organizations can use when issuing public statements. As to what else it is doing, aside from lending its name to this Supreme Court case, the answer may lie with two of its member organizations and co-plaintiffs, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American College of Pediatricians.

Like Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, on its face, the American College of Pediatricians, or ACPeds, resembles a professional organization of doctors, with a name very similar to that of the largest professional association of pediatricians in the United States: the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is nonideological and was established nearly a century ago. But ACPeds is nothing like the American Academy of Pediatrics. In fact, based on the groups financial records and internal documents, ACPeds would be more accurately described as a religious, anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ rights group that happens to be composed of some physicians. In contrast to AHMs minimal public footprint, ACPeds, which is also a client of ADF, has a more substantial paper trail that offers a window into how it operates. As an ADF attorney told the group, according to an ACPeds document, It was best that the College was not religiously affiliated in order to provide maximum benefit for our message. Similar to AHM, ACPeds doesnt seem to have enough money to account for its profile. A nonprofit accounting expert noted the discrepancy to Mother Jones last year, saying that it was surprising they would have a national footprint given their relatively tiny annual budget of around $180,000.

In recent years, as ACPeds influence in state legislatures and courts has grown, ADF has lent it a range of support. In 2021, ADF and ACPeds signed a contract in which ADF agreed to legally represent ACPeds free of charge. This contract was among more than 10,000 documents inadvertently published by ACPeds in a public Google Drive, first reported by WIRED last year. The magazine described the contract as stipulating that ADFs ability to subsidize expenses incurred during lawsuits would be limited by ethical guidelines; however, it could still forgive any lingering costs simply by declaring [ACPeds] indigent. ADF also offered direct funding to ACPeds: In 2019, a senior ADF attorney spoke with ACPeds executive director about having the group apply for a $10,000 grant from ADF to produce a white paper that refutes current standards of gender-affirming care for trans people. Ultimately, ACPeds sought $15,000 from ADF for this Special Project, as its board meeting minutes noted. The minutes further stated that ADF request this white paper for use in litigation and should also benefit many other allies at State and Federal Level. That is, ADF commissioned research with a predetermined outcome, in order to help it prevail in court.

Even if ACPeds werent a nakedly ideological organization and were doing legitimate research, this kind of funder relationship with ADF would give ACPeds, a report by Southern Poverty Law Centers Hatewatch publication observed, a potential financial motive for complying with ADFs anti-trans research requests. (SPLC has also designated ACPeds a hate group.) At least one federal official appeared to have also understood the nature of ACPeds and ADFs circular relationship; when Trump-appointee Roger Severino was head of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights in 2019 and asked ACPeds to submit a letter on Freedom of Conscience as part of his offices move to permit doctors to deny care to transgender patients and patients who have had an abortion, he acknowledged that the ACPeds letter would be written by ADF, according to meeting minutes describing his request.

Both ACPeds and the other AHM member group listed as a plaintiff, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, host an annual conference at which attendees can be trained as expert witnesses. AAPLOG offers additional such trainings multiple times each year across the United States and online; some of the trainings, like a series immediately following Trumps election, have been led by ADF. The trainings mobilize AAPLOG members, as Mother Jones has reported, with AAPLOG doctors serving as expert witnesses in legislative hearings to educate lawmakers on anti-abortion bills they are considering, as well as testifying and submitting briefs in court when those laws are inevitably challenged in court. It was a role AAPLOG played in a prior anti-abortion case, June Medical Services v. Russo, filing an amicus brief in support of the anti-abortion law at the heart of the case and writing op-eds in support.

Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine has a briefer lifespan and leaner finances than its member organizations and co-plaintiffs. But both ACPeds and AAPLOG have received funding from ADF in addition to having been represented by ADF before, though not in any case as high profile as this. Its likely, according to Accountable.US, that ADF is offering its legal services to AHM for freeas it did to ACPeds. In that case, then, since AHM has no comparable resources to speak of, ADFs pro bono legal representation would be AHMs largest source of outside support.

AHM was incorporated in a state in which it does not seem to perform any programmatic activities, aside from its appearance at a U.S. district court in which it filed its legal challenge to medication abortion. This is not a legal advocacy group organizing everyday Americans in a class actionthese are ideological organizations masquerading as legitimate medical associations essentially registering a website and using it to roll back reproductive rights, observed Ciccone from Accountable.US. The group targeted a district where a friendly, anti-abortion judge is guaranteed. If this tactic is successful, whats to stop Amarillo from becoming the new home for every right-wing group with a fringe idea for a lawsuit and the money to register a PO box? Thats in addition to the immediate implications: Should AHM prevail at the Supreme Court, access to mifepristone could be significantly limited in every stateincluding those where abortion is legal.
A southbound orca surfaces off of Point Loma Monday Jan. 29, 2024, in San Diego. In a new study published in the African Journal of Marine Science, scientists revealed new footage of a lone orca hunting and killing a great white shark off the coast of South Africa. | Denis Poroy

Great white sharks have a new predator: the orca. Also known as the killer whale, orcas are changing from their traditional prey (such as seals) to unnatural prey. In this case, the great white shark.

Scientists have noticed this change and theres a new video released by researchers that shows a lone orca whale hunting and killing a great white shark. And its surprising scientists.

Traditional orca habits

Orca hunting habits are well known to scientists. Orcas normally hunt in groups, called pods, and use echolocation to find their prey, according to Smithsonian Magazine. If orcas in the Antarctic Ocean find a seal on an ice floe, theyll create their own waves in an effort to wash the seal off the ice, per Smithsonian Magazine.

Another common hunting habit orcas use is intentional stranding, where orcas will beach on coastlines, grab their prey and drag it back into the ocean, per Smithsonian Magazine. Mothers teach this to their young by forcing them onto the beach and repeating it until their young can return to the water on their own.

So when scientists found out a lone orca killed a great white shark, it went against everything they knew about orcas hunting patterns.

Why the change in hunts

In a new study published in the African Journal of Marine Science, scientists revealed new footage of a lone orca hunting and killing a great white shark off the coast of South Africa. The orca managed to kill the shark in less than two minutes.

The team of researchers had been following a pair of orcas, known as Starboard and Port, when they noticed a juvenile shark approach the surface of the water, followed by Starboard, per The Guardian. The scientists watched, as did a group of tourists doing shark cage dives nearby, as Starboard grabbed one of the sharks fins before ripping out its liver.

Scientists have several hypotheses as to why orcas are now killing sharks. One hypothesis is that Starboard and Port are part of a group of orcas that normally stay in the open ocean, but fishing is depleting their natural food source so theyre forced to come closer to shore, per National Geographic.

One of the lead authors of the study, Alison Towner from Rhodes University, told CNN, While we dont have solid evidence on the specific drivers, the arrival of the killer whale pair could be linked to broader changes in the ecosystem. Its clear that human activities, such as climate change and industrial fishing, are stressing our oceans. To fully grasp these dynamics, additional research and funding are essential.

The co-author of the study, Primo Micarelli, told The Guardian, Despite my awe for these predators, Im increasingly concerned about the coastal marine ecology balance.

This change in hunting habits can cause a major imbalance in the ecosystem. Towner told BBC, Disruptions in the balance of apex predators can affect other species too. Endangered African penguins could face increased predation by cape fur seals (if the fur seals are not being eaten by) white sharks.

Great white sharks are at risk

According to National Geographic, shark populations have been declining in South Africa and overfishing has increased a threat against great white sharks. Orcas have also been known to scare off shark populations, but researchers arent sure where those shark populations go, per CNN.

One such example of sharks fleeing is in the Farallon Islands off Californias coast, according to Smithsonian Magazine. This area is a hot spot for great white sharks to come feed on elephant seals, but its been noted that if an orca appears in the area, great white sharks will flee and not return for at least a year.

Shark corpses have been spotted on beaches without their livers since 2015, according to National Geographic. In South Africa, sevengill sharks have disappeared, along with great white sharks, and are being replaced as top predators by other species such as the copper shark.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) has raised $5.7 million in the first two months of the year amid a contentious race as he tries for reelection to the Senate, his campaign announced.

The Friends of Sherrod Brown campaign now reports having $13.5 million on hand as three Republicans vie in the primary to take on the Democratic incumbent in November.

Businessman Bernie Moreno, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan are all battling for the GOP nod in a state seen as a top target by Republicans, who are trying to break Democrats razor-thin Senate majority.

The gaggle of out-of-touch rich guys vying to take on Sherrod is no match for the thousands of supporters behind his reelection, said campaign manager Rachel Petri.

According to year-end Federal Election Commission filings, Brown ended last year with more than $14 million in the bank, dwarfing LaRoses $771,000, Morenos $2 million and Dolans $4.8 million.

Moreno has appeared to rise to the top of the GOP fight ahead of Ohios March 19 primaries.

Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), the chair of the Senate GOP campaign arm, has said all the GOP candidates in the Ohio race are capable of beating the third-term incumbent, and the body is staying neutral in the state. But Daines also cautioned earlier this year that Republican contenders in Ohio and elsewhere face some very strong incumbent Democrat senators who know how to win in red states.

Former President Obama won Ohio in 2008 and 2012, while former President Trump won in both 2016 and 2020  and Decision Desk HQ/The Hills polling averages of the battleground state show Trump, the GOP front-runner, with an 11-point lead over President Biden in a hypothetical 2024 match-up.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Attorneys made their initial arguments, and a survivor shared the worst moments of her life, on the first day of James Crumbleys trial Thursday. His son killed four classmates at Michigans Oxford High in 2021.

Crumbley faces four counts of involuntary manslaughter  the same charges on which his wife, Jennifer Crumbley, was convicted a month ago. She was the first parent in America to be held criminally accountable for a school shooting. Their son Ethan Crumbley is serving a life sentence.

An all-white jury of nine women and six men  three of whom will be designated as alternates before deliberations begin  was seated Wednesday.

Prosecution: Nightmare was preventable

Assistant prosecutor Marc Keast began his opening statements by talking about the massacre.

Oxford High School students Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Tate Myre, 16, at top, and Justin Shilling, 17, and Hana St. Juliana, 14, were killed in a school shooting on Nov. 30.

On November the 30th, 2021, James Crumbleys 15-year-old son walked out of a boys bathroom holding a 9mm handgun ... he pointed. He aimed ... and fired that weapon at teachers, at students and teachers. Killed four. Wounded seven, Keast said. That nightmare was preventable.

James Crumbley bought that gun, Keast said, and failed to secure it, even though he knew his son was in distress and had been in a downward spiral.

The students would still be alive today if Crumbley had seized on any small opportunities to prevent the shooting, Keast argued: The shooter didnt snap. The shooting was foreseeable, especially to his father.

Keast introduced perhaps the most damning evidence: the troubling drawing Ethan Crumbley drew on a math worksheet the morning of the shooting. It depicted a gun, a bloody human body and the words: The thoughts wont stop. Help me.

It took that counselor all but 20 minutes that parental involvement was required, Keast said. But when the parents arrived, James Crumbley never mentioned the gun they had purchased four days earlier, or that their sons best friend had just moved away. Rather, the parents left their son at school and went back to their jobs. For Crumbley, that was a DoorDash run.

Two hours later, after an active shooter alert went out, Crumbley went home to check for the gun. Keast asked the jury to consider that no other school parent that day is known to have gone home to check for a gun.

Keast stressed that Crumbley is not accused of knowing what his son would do that day: There is no claim that James Crumbley gave him that gun hoping he would kill four students.

Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Marc Keast presents photos to the jury during opening statements, of James Crumbley at left at a shooting range with his son Ethan Crumbley with the SIG Sauer gun purchased by James Crumbley for his son, during James Crumbley's trial in the Oakland County courtroom of Cheryl Matthews on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

Rather, Keast said, Crumbley is accused of engaging in gross negligence, for failing to use ordinary care. Looking at the drawing in the counselors office, his failure to act, right there, is his willful disregard of danger.

Defense: Crumbley didnt know

Defense attorney Mariell Lehman acknowledged to jurors that the shooting undeniably wrecked families.

But this case is not about what happened inside of Oxford High School, she said in her opening statement. This case is about what happened outside of Oxford High School.

The prosecution, she said, alleged that Crumbley knew that his son was a danger to others; that he knew his son could and would hurt other people; and that he failed to take steps to protect others.

That simply is not true, she said.

James Crumbley, left, stands with his attorney Mariell Lehman as Oakland County Judge Cheryl Matthews swears in the jury before Crumbley's trial. Crumbley is being tried on four counts of involuntary manslaughter Thursday, March. 7, 2024.

Crumbley did not purchase the gun knowing his son might use it against other people, Lehman said. He did not know that his son could potentially harm other people, he did not know what his son was planning. He did not even suspect his son was a danger.

Access to the firearm was not allowed, she said, and Crumbley was not aware that his son had access to it.

Lehman told jurors that the prosecution repeatedly asked them to follow the law and said she was asking them to do the same. If they do, she argued, they will find James Crumbley not guilty.

He was aiming to kill me

The shooter exchanged tens of thousands of messages with a friend in the months before the massacre, said Edward Wagrowski, who worked in the county sheriffs computer crimes unit.

Among them: In April 2021, the shooter wrote that he had asked his father to take him to the doctor but he just gave me some pills and told me to suck it up.

In August, he sent a video with him holding a handgun, with a round in the chamber. My dad left it out so I thought, Why not lol, the shooter wrote to his friend.

The friend abruptly left the state for care in October, and after that the shooter communicated with hardly anybody at all, Wagrowski testified.

Wagrowski, choking up, described reviewing the surveillance footage from the day of the shooting, describing how the shooter exited the bathroom with a proud chest and started firing.

But the most dramatic moment of the morning unquestionably was the first witness, a teacher who was shot in the arm and came eye-to-eye with the gunman during his rampage.

Through tears, her voice shaking, Molly Darnell detailed the horror as it started to unfold. According to her testimony:

Confused, Darnell saw a rush of students go past her office door. She was confused. The principal announced over the PA, Were headed into lockdown. This is not a drill.

Then a pop pop pop.

Then doors slamming  so she closed her door as well and grabbed a night lock to secure the door when through a window she saw someone in a hoodie, mask and skull cap. She saw his eyes.

I realize that hes raising a gun to me. I remember thinking in my head, Theres no orange tip on that gun, she said, meaning it wasnt a BB gun.

Darnell felt as if she had been stung by hot water  the bullet hitting her arm. She crawled to the door, put the night lock in place, then pushed a rolling cart in front of the door.

She felt blood going down her arm and used her cardigan as a tourniquet. She texted her husband to say I love you, and her daughter to say she was barricaded and safe.

When police arrived and took her to a hospital, she saw nurses and doctors lining the hallways.

They were prepared for a disaster, she said through tears, adding: He was aiming to kill me.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: James Crumbley trial begins in Oxford High school shooting in Michigan
Those going in and out of Riverbank may have noticed a new sign over the last few weeks. Welcome to Riverbank reads the sign welcoming drivers into city limits. Just below that, a new sign reads SISTER CITIES: Tamazula, Jalisco, Mexico and Fuyang, China.

It is this sign that has some residents wondering what it means.

Since 1959, the non profit Sister Cities International has helped cities across the country to connect with cities around the world. According to the website, the goal is to create and strengthen partnerships between communities in other countries.

Riverbank City Council Member Luis Uribe explains: Sister City is an agreement with Tamazula De Gordiano, Mexico, and Fuyang, China. The goal is to learn each others history, culture, and art. This benefits all three cities as we learn what the needs are in each city the committee has worked on helping meet those needs.

Largely inactive for the last few years, the program was reactivated in 2023 with an event to raise funds for new fire equipment for the fire department in Tamazula.

Last year we were able to acquire gently used firefighter equipment, boots, and helmets donated by the Consolidated Fire Department. I drove the equipment to Long Beach and delivered it to the Mayor of Tamazula, Lalo Guiterrez, says Uribe.

That was the first of planned projects by the sister cities committee and residents will get the chance to participate in another fundraiser during Founders Day Carnival on Saturday, April 27 at the Community Center Park. City Council members and the mayor have all volunteered to participate in a dunk tank in an effort to sponsor a Riverbank student and their parent on a goodwill visit to Tamazula.

A recent post on Nextdoor had residents concerned about taxpayer funds being used for international efforts and signage, but Uribe explains the program is all volunteer based and funded with donations.

Sister cities efforts are not new in this area. Modesto has maintained an active sister cities program and recently had a delegation from Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine visit Modesto. Modesto also lists Vernon, Canada; Laval, France; Kurume, Japan; and Aguascalientes, Mexico as sister cities.

The signs touting the Sister Cities were revealed on February 9 and there is a plan to add more at various points around town. Residents interested in joining the program can contact council member Luis Uribe at LUribe@Riverbank.org. The next meeting will be on March 22 at 6:00 pm. at Perkos Cafe in Riverbank.
Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips speaks to the media as he arrives at Londonderry High School during U.S. presidential primary election, in Londonderry, NH, January 23, 2024.

U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota ended his long-shot 2024 Democratic presidential bid on Wednesday after failing to win a primary contest against President Joe Biden. Phillips told WCCO Radio in Minneapolis that he was endorsing Biden.

Phillips, a 55-year-old multimillionaire who is among the richest members of Congress, built his White House bid around calls for a new generation of Democratic leadership while spending freely from his personal fortune. But the little-known congressman ultimately failed to resonate with the partys voters.

Phillips was the only elected Democrat to challenge Biden for the presidency. Phillips failure to gain traction is further proof that Democratic voters are behind the 81-year-old Biden even if many have misgivings about his age or his reelection prospects.

The president has long cast himself as uniquely qualified to beat Republican Donald Trump again after his 2020 win, and his reelection campaign largely ignored Phillips except to point out that the congressman voted with the administration nearly 100% of the time in Congress.

Phillips often argued Biden was too old to serve a second term. But in a social media post Wednesday, Phillips noted that Biden had once visited his home while serving as vice president and that his decency and wisdom were rarities in politics then, and even more so today.

We only have two of them, Phillips told WCCO. And its going to be Donald Trump or Joe Biden. And while indeed I think the president is at a stage in life where his capacities are diminished, he is still a man of competency and decency and integrity. And the alternative, Donald Trump is a very dangerous, dangerous man.

Phillips endorsement of Biden appears to foreclose running as a third-party challenger on a potential No Labels ticket.

A centerpiece of Phillips campaign to upset Biden was in New Hampshire, where he campaigned hard, hoping to capitalize on state Democrats frustration over a new plan by the Democratic National Committee, championed by Biden, reordering the partys 2024 presidential primary calendar by leading off with South Carolina on Feb. 3.

But instead of pulling off a New Hampshire surprise, Phillips finished a distant second in the states unsanctioned primary, behind a write-in campaign in which Democrats voted for Biden despite his name not appearing on the ballot.

After that defeat, Phillips pressed on to South Carolina and the primarys formal start. But the DNC didnt schedule any primary debates, and some states Democratic parties, including North Carolina and Florida, are not even planning to hold primaries  making it even more difficult to challenge the sitting president. Phillips lost South Carolina and every other state in which he competed.

Before Minnesotas primary on Super Tuesday, hardly any of nearly two dozen Democratic voters interviewed in Phillips congressional district mentioned his presidential campaign. James Calderaro of Hopkins knew Phillips was a candidate but dismissed him as a distraction. Calderaro and others said they were backing Biden for the best chance of stopping Trump in November.

Phillips has already announced hes not seeking reelection in his suburban Minneapolis congressional district. He is heir to his stepfathers Phillips Distilling Co. empire and served as that companys president, but he also ran the gelato maker Talenti. His grandmother was Pauline Phillips, better known as the advice columnist Dear Abby.

Driving a gelato truck helped Phillips win his first House campaign in 2018, when he unseated five-term Republican Erik Paulsen. While Phillips district in mostly affluent greater Minneapolis has become more Democratic-leaning, he stressed that he is a moderate focused on his suburban constituents.

While running for president, however, Phillips moved further to the left, endorsing fully government-funded health care through Medicare for All.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
AKRON, Ohio (WJW)  During the April 8 total solar eclipse, more than 100 hospitals in Ohio will be in its expected path.

The way its projected with the center line and the totality and where things are going to be completely impacted, its a pretty big area of our state going all the way from Dayton through the Cleveland area, but its impacting about 114 hospitals, said John Palmer of the Ohio Hospital Association.

The ones that are really in the center line area of the totality is about 14, its about nine counties, but about 14 hospitals, so thats a pretty significant phenomenon that will be occurring, he added.

The Ohio Hospital Association has been making preparations for the event since 2022, helping hospitals across the state prepare for even unforeseen challenges and scenarios on April 8.

As a hospital, you are looking to provide the care to the patients, but in situations like this, being responsive to any other kind of community needs, said Palmer.

Cleveland Clinic to test magic mushrooms as treatment for this

One of the hospitals that expects to be in the path of totality is Akron Childrens Hospital.

Its chief operating officer says their planning has taken on a three phased approach working closely with a regional preparedness group that includes other regional hospitals.

The first piece is as a healthcare provider we never close, so we are running all of our operations. All of our appointments are open, we are here for the families and kids who need us all of the time, said Lisa Aurilio.

The second thing is the number of visitors that are going to be coming to Northeast Ohio during that time, and we know that many of those visitors are going to bring children with them to be able to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event, and we know that unfortunately sometimes kids have injuries and kids get sick unexpectedly, said Aurilio.

The hospital is also promoting its online access to a provider.

We are also working on, we want all of our young patients to be able to experience this and remember this, so any patient who comes for a well child visit in the two weeks leading up to the eclipse in any of our pediatric offices we are going to give them solar eclipse glasses and we are going to teach them about eye safety leading up to the big day, she added.

Concerns about large numbers of people visiting the area and congesting traffic on the day of, and in particular after, the eclipse are also prompting hospitals to have plans for delays that might happen for hospital staff getting to work.

The worst of the traffic congestion, based on experience from previous eclipses elsewhere, is expected to come after the eclipse is over, when large numbers of people are leaving all at the same time.

Study: A man got 217 COVID shots. Heres how it affected him

For the ride home after a shift, Akron Childrens Hospital is urging its employees to have a full tank of gas.

With so many schools closed for the day, the hospital is also advising its employees to have a Plan B in case delays interfere with picking up their kids from child care.

They are also cautioning employees to plan for cell phone challenges in case cell towers are overwhelmed.

The Ohio Hospital Association also knows that patients will continue to need access to important care.

Hospitals are also relying on some of the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic in their preparations.

The planning has been substantial, but now that we are kind of within just a month we are going to see that really amp up a little bit, Palmer said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage)  A new skate park is under construction at Mountain View Park, thanks to Skate Angelo and multiple sponsors.

Skate Angelo took to social media on March 6, to share signs are being put up and pieces are getting put in place just in time for warmer weather to hit in San Angelo. Thanks to Chris Adams of Lucky Hands Tattoo and Black 17 Skate Co., a mini wrap is being set up along with a 10-foot grind box, extra rails and ramps with the help of Kevin Little.

PREVIOUS: Skate park set ablaze after city approves fundraising for new equipment

The post shared a grand opening of the new park at 3031 Freeland Ave. will be announced soon. Once the park is open, skaters can enjoy the new equipment from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Those under the age of 12 must have an adult accompany them.

Anyone who wishes to help contribute to the new skate is encouraged to contact Skate Angelo at skateangelotx@gmail.com or through social media. To view photos of the incoming skate park, click here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ConchoValleyHomepage.com.
A San Luis Obispo County man broke out into a profane tirade as victims testified at his sentencing hearing, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorneys Office said in a news release.

On Dec. 18, a jury found Edgar Nolverto Guevara, 44, guilty of 11 counts of child molestation and eight counts of forced sex acts on four separate child victims. He was was sentenced to 645 years to life in state prison on Wednesday.

The jury heard evidence that Guevara was convicted of committing a sex crime on a minor in 2007, the release said, and found Guevara was convicted of criminal threats in 2001, a strike under Californias Three Strike Law.

The four victims, who testified in the trial, were under the age of 14 at the time they were assaulted between 2004 and 2022, the news release said.

For years this defendant used manipulation, force and fear to sexually assault four children, San Luis Obispo Deputy District Attorney Danielle Baker said at the time of Guevaras conviction.

At the sentencing hearing, Guevara broke out into a profane tirade as the four survivors recounted the impact Guevaras crimes had on them. He had to be removed from the courtroom.

Today, the defendant loses his freedom, Baker said in the release. At the same time, I hope our four survivors have regained their sense of freedom knowing he can never hurt another woman or child because of their profound bravery.

The case against Guevara was investigated by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office with assistance from the District Attorneys Offices Bureau of Investigation, and prosecuted by Baker and Deputy District Attorney Bianca Aguayo, the release said.

Under Californias sentencing laws, Guevara wouldnt be eligible for parole for 430 years, meaning he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
MURRAY, UTAH (ABC4)  A smartphone app may soon begin screening for jaundice in newborns, replacing blood tests as the current method of spotting the condition.

Intermountain Health and Picterus AS, a Norwegian health technology company, are looking into a way to make testing for jaundice in newborns easier. Theyre teaming up to study a new application that can detect the condition with a simple method  a smartphone camera.

Jaundice is not uncommon in newborns, but if left untreated, can cause brain damage or hearing loss. The condition can look like yellowing of the skin, which comes from increased levels of bilirubin, a yellow substance formed during the bodys normal process of breaking down old red blood cells.

In a statement, Intermountain Health said they test every baby born in their facilities for jaundice, which is about 33,000 each year. These tests are typically done with blood draws, which Intermountain Health officials say could require repeat draws while in the hospital and even after some babies are sent home.

READ NEXT: Mega model under development will shape the Great Salt Lakes future



The hope is that the app would provide an inexpensive and painless way for measurements to be taken at the hospital and pave the way for families to test for jaundice at home.

When using the app, a laminated calibration card is placed on the babys chest. Then, about six pictures are taken of the card and baby, loaded onto a server, evaluated, and then sent back to the phone with measurements. Intermountain said they will be conducting a study to test the apps accuracy.

Tim Bahr MD Using Jaundice App March 2024

Tim Bahr MD demonstrating Picterus App 2024

Demonstration done on baby doll of new technology to measure jaundice.

Bassinet with Bilirubin Lights and Doll

This technology is exciting to us because it makes it possible to measure the bilirubin in a baby without taking blood. Right now, the only way to measure bilirubin levels in babies is to take them to a laboratory and draw blood, said Tim Bahr, MD, an Intermountain Health neonatologist, who is leading the study. By having this technology available on a smartphone, we will eventually empower parents to make these measurements without having to leave their homes with an easily accessible and affordable tool.



The study will test bilirubin in babies using both the new technology and blood draws. Intermountain will study the app on about 300 term babies at Intermountain Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, Intermountain McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden and the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray.

Intermountain Health says that about 150 of these babies will have a second measurement within two to five days after discharge when jaundice typically peaks. One hundred babies born pre-term will also be measured with the new technology.

Bilirubin and jaundice management have long been based in the hospital and the clinic, said Dr. Bahr. Taking a newborn to the clinic or laboratory for frequent blood tests in the first days of life can be a huge inconvenience and burden on families. We hope to simplify this care and move more of it into the home. This is a win for families and for our healthcare system.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Special counsel Jack Smiths team slammed a series of arguments from former President Trump seeking to toss his case involving mishandled classified records at his Florida estate, rebuffing claims he is immune from prosecution and that the documents were his personal property.

The prosecutions five briefs come after Trump last month fired off as many motions seeking to topple the case, rehashing his claims of presidential immunity, which are now set to come before the Supreme Court, as well as others more specifically tailored to the 40-count indictment.

Smiths team argues Judge Aileen Cannon has little to consider in weighing Trumps claims he should be immune to prosecution for actions he took as president, noting he took all the documents after exiting office.

The Superseding Indictment does not charge Trump for any acts that he undertook as President, let alone an official presidential act, prosecutors wrote.

Even though Trump lost the authority to possess documents containing national defense information after his term as President ended, he nonetheless willfully retained such documents.

Prosecutors also spent ample time reviewing Trumps claims that the charges should be dismissed as a selective and vindictive prosecution  a path that requires showing prosecutors did not bring charges against similarly situated defendants.

But Smith dismissed Trumps claims the lack of charges for President Biden means he was unfairly targeted, noting the cases have only superficial similarities.

Trump, unlike Biden, is alleged to have engaged in extensive and repeated efforts to obstruct justice and thwart the return of documents bearing classification markings, which provides particularly strong evidence of willfulness and is a paradigmatic aggravating factor that prosecutors routinely rely on when making charging decisions, prosecutors wrote.

They also noted that special counsel Robert Hur said he failed to find evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Biden intentionally kept the records.

Additional distinctionsrelating to the volume, sensitivity, and storage of the classified documentsfurther confirm that the two cases are not nearly identical and that there are legitimate reasons for viewing them differently,' they wrote.

Trump is charged with violating the Espionage Act, which prohibits the willful retention of national defense information, as well as obstruction of justice and other charges related to his efforts to conceal them from investigators.

Smith was also dismissive of claims from Trump that the more than 300 classified records found among a significant tranche of other records from his presidency constitute personal records under the Presidential Records Act.

The charged documents are indisputably presidential, not personal, and Trump offers no basis to conclude otherwise, his team wrote.

Finally, Smiths team attacked Trumps arguments that he is facing an unconditionally vague prosecution.

Trump is charged with the unauthorized possession and willful retention of national defense information. The statutes prohibitions are clear. And as a former President, Trump could not have failed to understand the paramount importance of protecting the Nations national-security and military secrets, including the obligations not to take unauthorized possession of, or willfully retain, national defense information, prosecutors wrote.

Trumps actions are paradigmatic violations of [the Espionage Act] and there is nothing vague about the application of the statute to him.

The filings come as the court is likewise weighing a rescheduling of the May 20 trial.

Trump has asked to delay the trial until after the November election, while Smiths team suggested a July trial.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE)  After calling for artists in 2023, Albuquerque is installing a new sculpture at Alamosa Park. The 3-foot tall bronze sculpture is called Stalking Her Prey.

The sculpture is a mountain lion created by New Mexican artist Reynaldo Sonny Rivera, born in Mesquite in 1938. The artist has other bronze sculptures around the city  for example, Rivera co-created the Onate explorer sculptures outside the Albuquerque Museum.

Valles Caldera scientist retires after two decades of service

The latest sculpture at Alamosa Park was chosen by a selection committee and will get an on-site dedication soon.

This sculpture by Sonny Rivera is a glowing symbol of our commitment to the beautification of the Southwest Mesa, Jeanette Baca, president of the Alamosa Neighborhood Association [ANA], said in a press release. The artworks installation is a result of the collaborative efforts of the City and ANA. We are extremely proud to have this addition to our park and our community.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
Famed drummer and musician Ralph Rolle owns Soul Snacks Cookies, a Black-owned cookie shop in the Bronx, New York. For nearly 30 years, he has provided customers with various sweet treats and continues to give back to the community that raised him.

Rolle spoke with News 12 about growing up in the Bronx River Houses and how he started baking dessert items before launching Soul Snacks Cookies in 1996.

I was just a shy kid that wanted to meet girls, and I didnt have any swag like my friends, so I would bake cookies and give them. It worked, he told the outlet.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Soul Snacks  (@soulsnacks)

Rolle added, When I first started, it was just order by order to friends. And then it got so busy that we had to move out of the space we were in to a bigger space, and thats how we ended up here.

In 2012, he relocated his kitchen to East 134th Street and has continued delighting customers with his baked goods.

Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson recently stopped by to try some of Rolles cookies, and its safe to say she enjoyed it.

I was like, Let me taste these cookies, and oh, my God, the coconut custard Gibson raved.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Soul Snacks  (@soulsnacks)

Soul Snacks Cookies offers nearly 20 flavors, and Rolle, known as the Cookie Man in the Bronx, said he gained inspiration from his late mother, Rose, and his grandmother, Leola, as they taught him to dream big and give back to his community, according to PIX 11.

I take her message of community and family, and move that, and pay it forward, Rolle said of his mother to the outlet.
At left, a single-family home on St. Louis Boulevard was the first sold through the community land trust established by the Northeast Neighborhood Revitalization Organization. Appraised at $500,000, it sold for $105,000. The neighboring home sold for nearly $700,000.

SOUTH BEND  A unique homeownership arrangement in the Northeast Neighborhood that keeps prices affordable to lower-income buyers is poised to grow.

The University of Notre Dame on Tuesday announced it donated several plots of land south of campus where the Northeast Neighborhood Revitalization Organization will build a single-family house and two duplexes as part of a new community land trust  the first of its kind in Indiana.

Upon agreeing to become members of the land trust, lower-income folks can buy an inexpensive house while paying a small fee to lease the land on which it sits. By paying only to lease the land, entry-level buyers can afford to live in an area where real estate prices have soared among the wealthier Notre Dame crowd.

The land is owned collectively by trust members, who form a nonprofit corporation with other community leaders to keep down prices in perpetuity.

The neighborhood organization will partner with South Bend Heritage Foundation to build the new homes, which will sit along the east side of the 700 block of Turnock Street, near South Bend Avenue.

Eligible buyers generally must earn less than 80% of the area median income, or about $66,000 a year for a family of four. If they choose to sell the home, they must agree to do so at a restricted price, claiming only the value of improvements to the structure itself.

SBHF will also build a small fourplex to serve as affordable rental housing on a fourth lot on Turnock Street. SBHF previously partnered with the NNRO to build the Triangle Neighborhood, a mixed-income development east of Eddy Street with more than 50 homes.

South Bend Heritage Foundation Executive Director Marco Mariani speaks during an open house Friday, May 20, 2022, at Hoose Court Homes in South Bend.

Marco Mariani, SBHF's executive director, said the idea for the land trust arose when the neighborhood organization could no longer compete with private-market bids for land near campus. With developers lured by home sales prices that routinely exceed $1 million, acquiring lots for affordable housing became difficult.

"Because of that proximity to Notre Dame, people are willing to pay a premium to be there," Mariani said. "There are certain private developers who have tried to seize on that energy."

But by using federal and state money allotted to support lower-income housing developments, Mariani said, SBHF will build new homes and sell them at a discounted price to entry-level buyers. The lots on Turnock Street will go to five new land trust households.

Last year, the NNRO sold its first home through the land trust on St. Louis Boulevard, a block west of the lots on Turnock.

The 3-bedroom single-family home was sold for only $105,000, though it cost $300,000 to build and its appraised value was roughly $500,000. A larger home next door recently sold for about $700,000.

Nobody's getting rich in this," Mariani said.

Mariani said land trusts "counteract the private market-impulse to get as much as you can on a home sale transaction." In turn, neighborhoods become more socially and economically diverse.

Everybody deserves a chance to be a part of what's great about a community and what's great about a neighborhood," Mariani said, noting that the Northeast Neighborhood is within walking distance of campus, downtown South Bend and Eddy Street Commons. "That should not just be available to people that make a certain amount of money."

Notre Dame last year donated four other lots along Turnock Street and $250,000 to Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County, another organization that sells homes to lower-income buyers. Together, the gifts could allow Habitat to build as many as seven new homes in the neighborhood over the next five years, according to a Notre Dame press release. Two homes are nearly finished and are owned by single fathers from South Bend.

The NNRO worked with a California-based consultant called the Grounded Solutions Network to establish the community land trust.

There are about 250 such land trusts across the U.S., according to the consultant. The arrangements aim to create communities that are permanently affordable for generations of lower-income families, who are often priced out as growing neighborhoods attract wealthier residents.

Email South Bend Tribune city reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on X: @jordantsmith09

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend's community land trust is first in Indiana
Two spots in the greater Jacksonville area have been named as the best waterfront towns in Florida and Georgia.

Southern Living revealed the results of its Souths Best Awards 2024 and St. Augustine was named the best waterfront town in Florida, while St. Simons Island received the same honor for Georgia.

St. Augustine received the honor because of its attractions that are near the ocean, the river, and the bayfront, Southern Living said:

Cultural sites and natural wonders abound alongside stretches of sand and plenty of nearby Atlantic beachfront as well as access to the Tolomato River, Matanzas River, and Salt Run.

RELATED: St. Augustine is Southern Livings Best Small Town in Florida for 2024

St. Simons Island, which is part of Georgias Golden Isles, was recognized because of its fishing and shopping options along the water:

Youll find a great many interesting spots here, including the St. Simons Island Lighthouse Museum and Christ Church Episcopal Church, as well as beaches, a fishing pier, and several shopping hubs.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

Best Waterfront Town in Florida wasnt the only recognition that St. Augustine received from Southern Livings Souths Best Awards. The Ancient City was also recognized as the Best Small Town in Florida.

Southern Living also shared the 22 Best Things To Do In St. Augustine and the 17 Best Things To Do in St. Simons Island, including places to eat, stay, and visit.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Heres how Southern Living got the results for its Souths Best Awards:

An online survey was conducted by third-party agency Proof Insights among Southern Living consumers, asking them to rate their favorite places across the South for the Souths Best Awards 2024. The survey was fielded from July 12 to August 23, 2023, and had over 20,000 respondents.

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
In recent weeks, Senate budget writers investigating a large accounting mistake that led to the resignation of the states top accountant, are now looking into how the state accumulated nearly $2 billion in unspent money without lawmakers knowing.

A year ago, former Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom admitted his office had inflated the states cash resources by $3.5 billion.

The error might have been larger if not for an additional $1.8 billion of unspent money sitting in a clearing account set up by the treasurers office.

How did the $1.8 billion get there?

When budget writers allocate money through the annual spending plan, cash is credited to each state agency, but the funds arent necessarily sitting in an account waiting for the agency to spend the money. Instead the Treasurers office, like a bank, will invest the money to generate interest and additional revenue for the for the state.

When an agency needs to formally carry out an expense, such as when the Department of Natural Resources buys equipment, the treasurers office will make sure enough money is in an agencys account to cover the cost.

The $1.8 billion has sat in a flow-through account, but the money really belongs to other accounts. But this clearing account started in 2017 when the state transitioned to a new accounting system and ran two separate books for two years to make sure accounts balanced properly.

This one account was like the catch-all account where that unaccounted cash went in but was never credited back to the proper accounts, said state Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, who oversees a Senate Finance subcommittee investigating the accounting error.

The account initially started with $18 billion during the accounting system conversion and state officials knew which state agencies all but $1.5 billion belonged to, said state Treasurer Curtis Loftis.

It could possibly just be owned by the General Fund, and thats just the state itself and the state can just reclaim that money and spend it, Loftis said Wednesday.

An additional $324 million was moved into the account at a later date at the request of the comptroller generals office, Loftis said.

How was the money discovered?

Comptroller General Brian Gaines, who was appointed to finish former Comptroller General Richard Eckstroms term, discovered the $1.8 billion when his office put together the states annual comprehensive financial report.

Gaines ran into issues with some accounts that didnt seem right, Grooms said.

The governors office was notified last year about the account.

Loftis said outside auditing firms, the state auditors office and treasurers were aware of the existence of the cash.

Because Im the bank, Im happy where the money is, Loftis said. Its in exactly the right place. Im not going to move it until somebody tells me to move it. And that would be the comptroller general or the general assembly.

What will lawmakers do with the $1.8 billion?

The $1.8 billion may not exactly be a windfall to the state or, more precisely, legislative budget writers who may want to use the money.

State Sen. Sean Bennett, R-Dorchester, suggested lawmakers set aside the money for tax relief.

I consider this to be an opportunity, Bennett said on the Senate floor last week. I think theres an account established that would be a great place for that $1.8 billion. That would be in the tax relief trust fund.

Grooms argued setting the money aside for that use may not be possible.

These monies have been obligated by the general assembly. It is my belief they rightfully belong to thousands of other accounts, Grooms said. Thats why we need to identify the origin of the accounts, need to identify how much money belongs to each of the accounts, and then the general assembly can make a decision as to whether we re-obligate those monies or not.

Whats happening now?

Senators proposed the $1.8 billion be transferred into a hold account and remain there, accumulate interest, and not be touched by the general assembly until the origins of the money are identified.

A formal audit has yet to be requested, but the state auditors office has brought the issue to the attention of lawmakers.

We need to lock it up, we need to continue to identify where these monies rightfully belong, Grooms said.

But an investigation into the money will lead to questions of Loftis, Grooms said.

Loftis in an interview said he needs assistance from the comptroller generals office and potentially an outside consultant to determine who has ownership over the cash.

My job is clear: its to protect the money of the state and Im going to protect the money the state, Loftis said. This money is safe. Its where it needs to be until the owners are established.

Last year after Eckstrom disclosed the $3.5 billion error, an investigation began and he eventually resigned from the job.

This is the peoples money. Every dime of it. We ought to know where it is, where its going, why its going there, Gov. Henry McMaster told reporters last week. We want to know when it gets if its used for what its supposed to be used for. So it is clear we need to be more careful and perhaps there our some new procedures that need to be invoked or perhaps theres some that are existing that have not been fully exercised, but have have this kind of accounting, call it an accounting error. So far as we know, its not a misspending. So far, its just an accounting error, is not acceptable.
Police officers investigate a shooting at a subway station in the Bronx on February 12. BRENDAN MCDERMID (REUTERS)

A series of violent incidents on the New York subway, the worlds largest network of tunnels and stations, has prompted the states governor, Democrat Kathy Hochul, to approve the deployment of 750 National Guard agents in the citys subway system. Concern among the authorities and the public is contradicted by the subway users daily experience of an efficient and generally safe means of transport at any time of the day. Once again, that has been called into question due to a series of widely publicized shootings.

Hochul will send 1,000 officers to the subway: the 750 National Guard officers along with 250 personnel from state transit police forces and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, she announced Wednesday. The officers will conduct random checks of passengers bags and plans are underway to install more security cameras, the governor said. The practice of a random search of bags and backpacks by agents has made many New Yorkers uncomfortable, judging by reactions on social media. Organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the countrys largest civil rights group, have long warned that the measure is illegal without a search warrant.

In New York City, police are required by law to let you know when theyre asking for your consent to a search and to let you know that you have the right to say no. If you do consent to a search, it can affect your rights later in court. If the police say they have a search warrant, ask to see it. If they dont, say I do not consent to this search. Police cannot arrest or ticket you simply for refusing to consent to a search, the New York ACLU explains on its site.

The current round of tightening security measures comes after several shootings in January and February shocked subway riders. Two months ago, a man was fatally shot on a Brooklyn 3 train after attempting to quell a dispute over loud music being played by a commuter (large stereos without headphones are not uncommon on subways, in the streets and in parks). Another man was shot dead on the Bronx 4 train on February 12, when an argument between two groups of teenagers turned violent. The victim was a Mexican immigrant who had not been involved in the fight and worked constantly to send remittances home. In addition, a man was killed in a dispute with other passengers on a Bronx D train on the morning of February 23.

Banning access to violent convicts

Anyone looking to do harm or spread fear on our subways, you will be caught, plain and simple, the state governor declared. There will be consequences. This has to end. New Yorkers deserve no less. To those who are feeling anxious whenever they walk through those turnstiles, we will stop at nothing to keep you safe, you and your family members, and restore your peace of mind.

On X (formerly Twitter), Hochul specified some of her plans to improve security on the subway: We will increase security personnel, introduce laws to protect riders and workers, add security cameras, boost collaboration to hold criminals accountable, and expand SCOUT [Street Conditions Observation Unit Team] teams. The allusion to workers safety refers to the assault of a subway conductor, who was attacked in the neck by a passenger, two weeks ago without facing any consequences. The episode led his fellow conductors to strike in protest of the risk posed by their work.

Within weeks, Hochul intends to amend legislation to allow the courts to ban those convicted of violent crimes from using the public transport system. She will also allocate an additional $20 million to increase the staffing of mental health teams working in the subway to remove those suffering from mental health problems from the system and take them to specialized centers  even against their will. This issue is a reality evident everywhere from lobbies to platforms to cars. The previous reinforcement of uniformed officers at stations contributed to a 17% reduction in the crimes committed on the subway in February, demonstrating the systems acceptable level of security, except for incidents that grab the spotlight and garner headlines.

The debate about the New York City subways safety  or lack thereof  is a recurring theme. After a series of tragic events involving homeless people with serious mental problems  a dramatic reality on New York streets  Mayor Eric Adams (D) adopted a series of effective measures to guarantee peace on the subway (the only possible home for many homeless people).

In his fight against common crime, the mayors most newsworthy initiatives were the new joint police-social services patrols to deal with the most serious cases, and a friendly robot to patrol Times Square station. Initially accompanied by a couple of officers as tutors, the autonomous robot Knightscope K5, or AK5, was withdrawn from circulation a month ago after it was found that it could not go up and down stairs, as had been warned previously. The mayor once compared the machine to a Roomba vacuum. Civil liberties advocates and police reform activists have questioned the need for this and other high-tech devices, such as the police robot dog Digidog, another of Adams big initiatives, for possible data capture.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
FIRST ON FOX: South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Thursday signed permitless carry into law, marking the second Republican-led state in two days to adopt constitutional carry gun laws.

"This new law will provide strict increased penalties for illegal gun use and possession by criminals. Now, law enforcement, prosecutors and judges can keep career violent criminals behind bars where they belong, where they can no longer hurt innocent South Carolinians," McMaster said this week of the legislation.

The National Rifle Association (NRA)-backed bill allows eligible citizens 18 and older to carry a firearm in public without gaining approval and a permit from the government. The state Senate passed the bill Wednesday in a 28-18 vote, while the state House passed the legislation the day prior, with lawmakers voting 86-33.

The bills primary sponsor, Republican state Rep. Bobby J. Cox, told Fox News Digital that the signing of the legislation marks "a long and hard-fought victory for South Carolina."

LOUISIANA BECOMES NATION'S 28TH STATE WITH CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY LAW ON THE BOOKS: 'LANDMARK VICTORY'

"Gov. McMaster and my colleagues across both chambers of the Legislature have sent a resounding message: South Carolinians should never require government permission to defend themselves, their families, and their communities. Our God-given right to self-defense, as enshrined in the Second Amendment to the Constitution, is unequivocally affirmed, just as our founding fathers intended. Thank you to my fellow NRA members, gun owners, and patriots throughout South Carolina who have tirelessly worked to make this day a reality," he said.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

McMaster is the second Republican governor this week to sign such legislation into law, following Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry approving his states version on Tuesday.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster is the second Republican governor this week to sign such legislation into law.

NRA interim Executive Vice President and CEO Andrew Arulanandam applauded the NRA and its supporters securing constitutional carry in a second state in a matter of roughly 48 hours.

"Thanks to the unwavering support of our members, in about 48 hours, the NRA has secured Constitutional Carry victories in two states, Louisiana and South Carolina, bringing the total to 29 states that have enacted this critical legislation  13 since Joe Biden took office," Arulanandam said in an exclusive comment to Fox News Digital.

CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY: 2023 SAW NEW MILESTONE FOR GUN RIGHTS

"The NRA is here to stay, relentlessly fighting across this entire nation. Make no mistake, doubting the NRA and our members is a sure path to defeat, as history has consistently shown that challenging the NRA's resolve results in a loss every time."

South Carolina is the 29th state in the nation to enact constitutional carry into law. Florida had the honor last year to tip the U.S. as a permitless carry-majority nation, when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed his states legislation in April.

Under South Carolinas law, carrying a firearm is still banned in certain locations, such as schools, courthouses and polling places on election days. Residents can still obtain a permit if they wish to do so. The bill also increases penalties against those who are barred from carrying a firearm, such as convicted felons, if they are found with a gun, and establishes penalties against those who repeatedly carry a firearm in restricted areas.

GEORGIA GOV. SIGNS MAJOR CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY BILL INTO LAW

"The NRA celebrates another significant milestone as South Carolina becomes the 29th state to enact the landmark NRA-backed Constitutional Carry legislation. This pivotal move ensures South Carolinians are no longer required to obtain permission to defend themselves and their families, reinforcing the fundamental right to self-defense," NRA-ILA Executive Director Randy Kozuch told Fox News Digital in an exclusive comment.

"Governor McMaster honored his commitment by swiftly signing this vital legislation into law, doing so less than 24 hours after its passage by the South Carolina Legislature. This prompt action has garnered widespread praise from the NRA's millions of members," Kozuch continued.

DESANTIS SIGNATURE TIPS US INTO MAJORITY 'CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY' NATION WITH NEW FLORIDA GUN RIGHTS LAW

He thanked Cox for advocating for the bill as its primary sponsor, alongside state lawmakers such as Speaker G. Murrell Smith Jr., Sens. Shane Martin and Wes Climer, and Reps. Jason Elliot and Micah Caskey, for their "collective dedication" which "has been instrumental in advancing the right to self-defense in South Carolina."

"Most importantly, thank you, NRA members, because without you, none of this would be possible."

Critics of the bill argued it could drive crime and gun-related deaths as more people will likely carry firearms.

"With all of the killings, in South Carolina and in America, why do we want to promote, what we consider to be the Second Amendment right, why wont we put restrictions on it, why are we going to allow people to carry more guns and this time without a CWP," Democratic state Sen. Margie Bright Matthews argued this week.

"This is something Im deeply troubled were doing," Democratic state Rep. Seth Rose told House members this week. "I have friends and citizens from both political parties... come up to me and say What are yall doing? What are you thinking?"

Republican state Sen. Shane Martin, who supported the legislation, told Fox News Digital that the law is "about nothing more and nothing less than our God-given Constitutional rights."

"I have sponsored Constitutional Carry legislation for more than a decade. I am proud and pleased that my perseverance on this fundamental question now means that law-abiding South Carolinians no longer must ask the government to exercise their freedoms," he said.

"I appreciate Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey for working with me to prioritize this bill in 2024, and I thank Senator Brad Hutto for his work on our conference committee. I was proud to lead this successful fight for our rights, and we need them now more than ever."

Robin Evans, founder and operator of a boutique self-defense training company catering to women called Chicks with Triggers, told Fox News Digital that the new law will further empower citizens, especially women, who are taking their safety into their own hands.

"As a dedicated firearms instructor in South Carolina, I have the honor of empowering thousands of women, many of whom have survived rape, domestic violence, stalking, and other unspeakable acts of violence. My mission is to equip these resilient women with firearms training and self-defense skills, ensuring they can protect themselves and their loved ones," Evans, an NRA instructor, told Fox News Digital.

Evans launched Chicks with Triggers during the pandemic. She told Fox News Digital in an interview late last year that she started the business thinking it would be her "little side hobby" to help equip women to fight threats through gun safety and self-defense lessons. The business quickly boomed, with Evans holding classes of between 25 and 30 women each weekend in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia.

The South Carolina State House in Columbia on May 16, 2023.

Evans said McMasters signature on the bill is a "monumental victory for South Carolina" and the women she trains to defend themselves from criminals.

"Criminals dont wait for permission to arm themselves illegally, and neither should the courageous women I stand with. We demand the right to self-defense without barriers. Today, we celebrate a monumental victory for South Carolina, making it the 29th state to recognize this essential freedom. On behalf of Chicks With Triggers and the fearless women we stand for, we thank Gov. McMaster, Rep. Cox, and the NRA for their unwavering dedication to securing this life-affirming law," she said.

"Together, we are rewriting the narrative, from victims to victors," Evans added.

The law took effect upon the governors signature Thursday.

The full list of states with constitutional carry laws now includes Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.





Original article source: South Carolina becomes 29th state in nation with constitutional carry law: 'Hard-fought victory'
(Bloomberg) -- South Korea will increase compensation for hospitals that kept emergency rooms running during a staff crunch caused by a doctors walkout and is advancing a plan to boost medical school enrollments, which sparked the labor action.

Most Read from Bloomberg

President Yoon Suk Yeols administration is looking to increase fees for emergency room visits and some complex surgeries, which it sees as being set too low, to help pay for staffing costs, a senior official said at a government meeting Thursday.

Collective action by trainee doctors has continued for more than 15 days, said Lee Han-kyung, head of the Disaster Safety Management Office of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Cases of damage are also occurring. However, the emergency medical care system is still being maintained without major disruptions.

The Heath and Welfare Ministry said the government will inject 188.2 billion won ($141.5 million) a month into national health insurance finances to increase compensation during the walkout for doctors at emergency centers and those who look after patients in intensive care units.

Yoons government has said it will not budge on its plan to increase to annual enrollment at medical schools by 2,000 from the current 3,058 to alleviate a doctor shortage that ranks among the most acute the developed world. It argues the number has not risen for nearly three decades and needs to increase to help the country cope with the medical needs of a rapidly aging population.

It has also started to put together a committee to allocate the seats at medical schools across the country from the next academic year, Yonhap News reported government officials as saying.

About 9,000 of the countrys 13,000 trainee doctors, who are similar to medical residents, have defied a governments deadline to return to work by the start of March, according to Yonhap. The walkout has led to about a 50% reduction in surgeries and decreased staffing levels at emergency rooms, the government said.

The doctors contend the plan to increase enrollments wont fix fundamental problems such as a concentration of doctors in urban areas and a lack of specialists in fields seen as risky and lower paying. They want to see changes to the malpractice system that give more protection to physicians.

Yoons government has threatened to revoke the licenses of doctors for leading a labor action it says violates medical laws. It is also looking at suspending the licenses of thousands of trainee doctors for three months for defying the return-to-work order, a move that could set them back on their career paths and affect employment prospects.

The president said at a cabinet meeting Wednesday the country would mobilize all necessary resources to prevent any gaps in medical care, allocating 128.5 billion won for measures such as providing support for patient transfers and hiring more staff at health-care providers.

To cope with the staff shortage, the country has opened emergency rooms at its military hospitals to civilians and allowed telemedicine nationwide. Nurses have been authorized to perform CPR and dispense medication at emergency rooms from Friday, Yonhap said.

Polling indicates the public is siding with the government, seeing the reform as a way to cut waiting times for health care. South Korean doctors rank among the best paid among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries in comparison to average wages, which has led to criticism the labor action may be more about protecting the earning power of physicians rather than improving the health-care system.

--With assistance from Seyoon Kim.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Southwest is onboarding a brand new look with re-designed cabins featuring larger bin space, device holders, power outlets, and premium aircraft seats -- but despite the much-needed enhancements, travelers were quick to criticize the upgrades after noticing a potential flaw -- a lack of legroom.

The Dallas, Texas-based budget airline first announced the changes in February, teaming up with transportation design firm Tangerine to enhance the seating experience based on customer research and product testing.

The changes are set to rollout in 2025.

VIDEO: The controversy over Southwest Airlines new seats (ABCNews.com)

"Southwest flies above our competition with industry-leading flexibility and our legendary Hospitality," Tony Roach, senior vice president and chief customer officer at Southwest Airlines, said in a statement at the time. "Our redesigned cabin interior significantly enhances our inflight Customer experience and will complement the amazing service that our Crews provide."

Mark Hiller, CEO of RECARGO Aircraft Seating, said, "Our new seat will be a great addition to the Southwest Customer Experience, as its durable design and comfort features will serve Passengers well."

However, enthusiasm has been delayed for the redesign and new seating, with nearly 20,000 negative comments on a TikTok video revealing a first-look at the new RECARGO seats, many of them criticizing the lack of space.

One user wrote that the cushions look like "Ozempic seats," referring to the weight loss medication.

Another wrote, "Why not just put wooden benches in -- they'd be just as comfy."

Travel expert and airline editor for Going.com Katy Nastro told "Good Morning America" that upon first impression, "I sort of felt like they were a trim, more slimmed-down version of what we currently know when we fly Southwest."

To some, the seats are a far departure from what the airline described back in February as "an intuitively designed seat for ultimate comfort while maximizing seat width and overall support." The seats are also said to feature "a multi-adjustable headrest cushion for enhanced head and neck support."

Other comments on TikTok questioned whether there are more rows and less legroom, but Southwest confirmed to ABC News that the new seats will still have the same width and legroom as the current ones.

A representative for the airline told ABC News that the "original images were 2D renderings to show the cosmetic look of the seats and were not scalable for illustrating seat comfort," and provided 3D photos of the RECARGO seats showing a bit more padding.

"But rest assured, we have our customers' back-even when they give us flak," the airline representative added.

British Airways is also upgrading seats in its Airbus Narrowbody fleet of planes rolling out this May.

Nastro explained that the post-COVID-19 air travel climb is still real, with many companies winging it to see what sticks.

"Each airline is sort of investigating where they can [to] differentiate themselves," Nastro said, "whether it's free Wi-Fi or updated cabins or ways that they can still retain and grow their customer loyalty."

Southwest defends new seat redesign after social media backlash originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
BOCA CHICA, Texas  Space fans are preparing for the excitement of yet another SpaceX Starship Super Heavy test flight from East Texas.

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said teams are preparing for the third test flight of the company's 400-foot-tall reusable spaceship, Starship and the Super Heavy booster. Starship could launch as soon as Thursday at 8 a.m. ET from the company's launch site in Boca Chica, Texas.

During the most recent test flight in November, Starship made it to the edge of space before its automated termination system triggered a self-destruct of the spaceship.

The FAA closed the mishap investigation into the November test flight in February. SpaceX and the FAA identified 17 corrective actions needed before the company receives a modified launch license for its next orbital flight test. SpaceX said it has been implementing hardware changes and making other upgrades to prepare for the upcoming flight.

On Wednesday, the FAA issued the updated launch license the company was waiting on to fly Starship again.

SpaceX said the second test flight achieved several milestones, and the company expects to expand on those with this next flight.

The first test flight in April ended with an epic explosion 24 miles over the Gulf of Mexico when SpaceX launched Starship for the first time. Previous test "hops" were completed in Texas  some also explosive  before SpaceX tried to launch the spaceship and booster together.

SpaceX's Starship rocket launches from Starbase during its second test flight in Boca Chica, Texas, on November 18, 2023.

SpaceX said the 110-minute launch window opens at 8 a.m. ET (7 a.m. CT). The company said a live webcast of the flight test will go live on X, formerly Twitter, about 30 minutes before liftoff.

Ahead of the launch, SpaceX shared photos of the massive launch "stacked for flight" on the pad in Texas.

With the third flight, SpaceX will be taking a different trajectory with Starship and testing a new set of "ambitious objectives, including the successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starships payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stages coast phase, the first ever re-light of a Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry of Starship."

The previous two tests were set to land in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii. Neither of the last two vehicles survived the ascent to make a water landing. SpaceX said the third test flight will culminate with a splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

"This new flight path enables us to attempt new techniques like in-space engine burns while maximizing public safety," the company said.

NASA managers continue to follow the testing and development of Starship, which will be used to land NASA Artemis astronauts on the Moon in 2026. However, SpaceX still needs many more test flights before the vehicle flies people.

SPACEX MAKES CHANGES TO STARSHIP AFTER LESSONS LEARNED' FROM TEST FLIGHT

Eventually, Starship and Super Heavy will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Musk said the spaceship is designed to be "caught" by the launch tower arms, making a controlled landing at the same location where it launched.

This month, SpaceX and the Air Force are conducting public meetings throughout Brevard County  home to KSC and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station  to seek comments on a potential launch site for Starship north of Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 37.

Private citizens also have signed up for flights on Starship, including businessman Jared Isaacman's Polaris Program. Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa plans to bring eight individuals with him on a Starship flight around the Moon.





Original article source: SpaceX cleared for third Starship test flight from Texas
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain will give the United Nations' Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA an additional 20 million euros ($21.88 million) in aid, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Thursday.

This will be on top of the 3.5 million euros the country has already pledged in February.

The new funds are aimed at "supporting the organisation in its humanitarian work in Gaza and meeting the food, education and health needs of the nearly six million Palestinian refugees in the region," Albares said after meeting UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini in Madrid.

Several countries, including the United States and Britain, paused their funding to UNRWA after accusations by Israel that a dozen of its 13,000 staff in Gaza took part in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

($1 = 0.9142 euros)

(Reporting by Pietro Lombardi, editing by Andrei Khalip)
SPANISH FORK, Utah (ABC4)  Spanish Fork High School was put on lockout out of precaution after four individuals were involved in a physical altercation on campus.



In a press release, the Spanish Fork Police Department said this happened around 10:25 a.m. Thursday, March 7.

SLCPD searching for missing, at-risk 16-year-old

According to police, three juvenile suspects, who are not students at Spanish Fork High School, came to the school and started a fight with a student there. They said it was reported that one of the individuals grabbed at his waistband, as if he may have a gun, however a gun wasnt seen.

Police said by the time they responded, all those involved in the fight fled the scene.



Police determined there is not a credible threat at the school. The lockout was lifted at 11:53 a.m. There is still an ongoing investigation.



In a statement sent to ABC4, Nebo School District said:

Spanish Fork High School was placed into secure protocol (lockout) this morning while police searched for an individual involved in an altercation on school grounds. The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority, and we respond to incidents as quickly and cautiously as possible.

We want to thank school staff, law enforcement, students, and families for their support during this situation. Nebo School District

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is urging GOP lawmakers to maintain decorum when President Biden delivers his State of the Union address Thursday night, after Republicans had a number of outbursts during last years speech.

Johnson made the request during a closed-door GOP conference meeting Wednesday morning, three Republican lawmakers who attended the gathering told The Hill.

Decorum is the order of the day, Johnson told members, according to one lawmaker.

He said we should carry ourselves with good decorum, another member said.

The plea from Johnson came one day before Biden is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address to a divided Congress that includes many of his foremost Republican critics.

That dynamic was on full display last year, when some GOP lawmakers heckled the president throughout his speech in the House chamber. Cries of secure the border were heard at one point during the speech, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called Biden a liar when he was discussing potential cuts to Social Security and Medicare as part of a deal on the debt limit.

The heckling about Social Security and Medicare led to an unusual back-and-forth between Biden and his Republican critics, which prompted an agreement from individuals in the room that the two programs should remain intact.

Well, Im glad to see  and now, I tell you, I enjoy conversion, Biden said, prompting laughs.

Lets all agree  and we apparently are  lets stand up for seniors, he later added.

Heckling from political opponents during the State of the Union address is not uncommon. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) notably shouted you lie at then-President Obama in 2009.

Republicans, however, said Johnson is urging his members to break that tradition and maintain appropriate etiquette in the chamber for Bidens address Thursday.

He just said, Lets have the appropriate decorum, a third GOP lawmaker told The Hill. We dont need to be shrill, you know, we got to avoid that. We need to base things upon policy, upon facts, upon reality of situations. Let them do the gaslighting, let them do the blaming. I think the American people know who is responsible for the many worldwide crises that we have.

Some lawmakers, though, are skeptical that members will be able to fight the urge to heckle Biden.

Will they do it? Somebody asked me that earlier and I said, Does the Baptist Church got a bus? Of course they will because hes gonna say some very offensive things, hes gonna attack us, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said.

I think we just need to try to be a little classy, he added. Consider where were at, let the other side do that. You know, they did it to Trump, and nobody said boo, but when we do it were gonna get made an example of it.

Nick Robertson contributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A north Louisiana native will be a guest at the 2024 State of Union on March 7.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson will be hosting Jonathan Wheelis, Operations Manager for Chesapeake Energy Haynesville.

Im extremely grateful to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be Speaker Johnsons guest at tomorrows State of the Union address," said Wheelis.

Jonathan Wheelis, Chesapeake Haynesville Operations Manager will attend the 2024 State of the Union, March 6, 2024.

He continued by saying, "I am honored to represent the proud women and men from Louisiana and beyond who work tirelessly to extend Americas energy reach and answer the call for the affordable, reliable, lower carbon energy the world needs.

Wheelis is a longtime employee of Chesapeake Energy and is dedicated to providing reliable energy.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson visits Chesapeake Energy in Mansfield, La., Friday morning, Feb. 23, 2024.

Johnson said, When America leads the world in producing and exporting energy, our economy is strengthened, our security is ensured, and our allies benefit. President Bidens assault on energy weakens America and threatens the livelihood of thousands of hardworking people in Louisiana and throughout our country. I am proud to host Jonathan Wheelis  a longtime employee of Chesapeake Energy and north Louisiana native  as my guest at the State of the Union.

More: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson tackles hot button issues

Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Who is Mike Johnson's guest at the State of the Union? Chesapeake Energy
Donald Trumps efforts to thwart a federal investigation into his hoarding of national security secrets set him apart from other political figures whove faced allegations of mishandling classified information, including President Joe Biden, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Mike Pence and James Comey, special counsel Jack Smith said in a court filing Thursday.

Rather than serve as evidence that Trump is being singled out by politically motivated prosecutors, Smith contends that the long list of figures  most of whom never faced any charges  underscores the egregiousness of Trumps conduct, which was aggravated by his monthslong refusal to return the documents.

While each of them, to varying degrees, bears a slight resemblance to this case  none is alleged to have willfully retained a vast trove of highly sensitive, confidential materials and repeatedly sought to thwart their lawful return and engaged in a multi-faceted scheme of deception and obstruction, prosecutors argued in a 29-page brief. There is no one who is similarly situated.

Smith painted Trump as a notorious exception to the rule in an effort to rebut arguments from the former presidents lawyers that hes being unfairly singled out for prosecution in the pending criminal case in Florida that threatens to disrupt Trumps bid to return to the White House.



Judge Aileen Cannon is currently mulling whether to start a trial of the former president this summer on charges of willful retention of national security information, obstruction of justice and scheming to mislead investigators, or whether to put any trial off until after the November election.

Also pending before Cannon are a series of motions from Trump asking the judge to throw out the case altogether. Smiths brief was one of several filings Thursday in which the special counsel responded to those motions.

The other prominent officials whove landed in hot water in connection with classified records, the special counsel argued, often cooperated with investigators and invited FBI scrutiny.

Smith conceded that Bidens handling of classified materials has superficial similarities to Trumps actions. Both men stored classified documents in cardboard boxes at their personal residence. And both allegedly shared classified materials with ghostwriters. But Trump stashed his documents at his social club accessed by hundreds of patrons, the prosecutor wrote, and then engaged in a campaign of deception to prevent investigators from recovering them.

In the same filing, Smith also sharply rejected the suggestion that Biden had any role in causing the criminal case to be filed against his archrival.

Trump appears to contend that it was President Biden who actually made the decision to seek the charges in this case; that Biden did so solely for unconstitutional reasons; and that this decision was somehow foisted on the Special Counsel through a newspaper article, a press conference, and an interview that each preceded the Special Counsels appointment, Smith writes. That theory finds no support in evidence or logic. Indeed, the very sources Trump relies on undercut his claim.

The brief is Smiths most forceful attempt to date to distinguish Trump from the many political figures he has often invoked to suggest he is being treated unfairly.

Smith also noted that Trumps own words on social media show that he was well aware that he had the materials after he left the White House. Trump, for instance, claimed on Truth Social that he did so openly and transparently and that he had declassified them.

There appears to be no evidence beyond Trumps public statements that he took any steps to declassify the materials in question.

If he persists in these declassification claims, that, too, would provide additional evidence that he knowingly possessed the documents, Smith argued.

Smith also swatted down Trumps effort to claim he was immune from the charges because of his role as president, a contention the special counsel called so wholly without merit that it is difficult to understand it except as part of a strategic effort for delay.

An appeal by Trump on the immunity issue has waylaid Smiths other criminal prosecution of the former president: a case charging him with conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Trumps presidential immunity claims in that case struck out with lower court judges, but the Supreme Court recently agreed to hear his arguments on the issue late next month. Trumps trial in that case is postponed until the high court rules.

In the flurry of filings in the classified-documents case Thursday, Smith also rejected claims that his own appointment by Attorney General Merrick Garland was invalidand pushed back on Trumps argument that the Presidential Records Act authorized him to stash the classified materials at his home by designating them personal.

In fact, Smith contended, Trump never made such a designation while he was president, and his decision to return 15 boxes of material to the National Archives after months of negotiations proves he didnt view the records as his personal property.

Trump compared the records he allegedly refused to return to a set of audiotaped interviews that former President Clinton kept in a White House sock drawer. National Archives officials acquiesced in an apparent decision by Clinton to deem the recordings personal and not part of his official presidential records.

Prosecutors contended that Trumps comparison is absurd and that the discussions Clinton had on the tapes with author Taylor Branch were considered akin to diaries that government officials have traditionally been permitted to retain after leaving office, while the documents Trump allegedly kept at Mar-a-Lago included detailed war plans, nuclear secrets and more.

Trump did not create them, they do not reflect his personal thoughts, they came into his possession only through his official duties, and (except for one charged document) bear classification markings. They have no resemblance to diaries, Smiths team wrote.

Shortly after Smith submitted his filings, Cannon announced she plans to hold a hearing next Thursday on Trump's motion to toss out the case due to the Presidential Records Act and on another motion claiming the willful retention of classified documents charges against him are unduly vague.
Spotify said on Thursday it will raise its subscription prices in France in response to a new tax designed to support the nations music industry. The company wrote an open letter denouncing the tax, which Frances government passed in late 2023. The streaming service hasnt yet said how high the price hike will be, other than teasing, French users will now pay the highest subscriptions across the European Union.

Frances CNM tax imposes a levy on music services that earn over 20 million euros ($21.9 million) in the country: Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer. (Apple Music and Deezer have opposed the tax but havent announced similar price hikes.) The companies pay the new 1.2 percent charge on all streaming revenue generated in the country. Social media companies licensing music, including TikTok and Facebook, are also subject to the tax. The fees will go to the nations Centre National de la Musique (CNM), a public institution supporting and promoting the French music industry.

Spotifys initial response in December was to pull financial support from French music festivals Francofolies de la Rochelle and Printemps de Bourges. The company threatened to pull its services from Uruguay when a similar tax was announced there but ultimately backed down when the Uruguayan government said streaming services wouldnt have to cover any costs.

Spotify hasnt made similar threats to exit France, likely because the country is much more crucial to its bottom line. Instead, its waging a public pressure campaign, including the music service painting the tax as an unnecessary government money grab that only partially funds the music industry.

This tax will generate approximately 15 million euros, when the CNMs administrative budget (office fees, personnel, capital expenditure, media monitoring or professional training etc.) sits at 20.2 million euros, the company wrote in the public letter. Our concern is that possibly less than half of its overall 146.9 million euros budget will find its way toward effectively aiding music.

Other than listing the CNMs administrative budget, Spotify didnt provide any evidence that the fees wouldnt go toward aiding music.

Spotifys revenue grew 16 percent year-over-year to 3.7 billion ($4.05 billion) in Q4 2023, in what it described as a very strong quarter. Its CEO sold $57.5 million in stock in February, following a $64 million stock sale in October 2023.

As we have long said, we simply cant absorb any additional taxes, Spotify wrote. Even after making the difficult decision to reduce our artist marketing budget and support of French music festivals  which is an essential vehicle for Spotify to continue to drive hundreds of millions of euros to the music industry  it still continues to impede our ability to operate in France. Accordingly, over the coming weeks and months, well need to make changes to our price plan in France.

Spotify says French subscribers will learn more about the price hike in the coming weeks.

Update, March 7, 2024, 3:08 PM ET: The story has been updated to attribute Spotifys open letter to the company, not CEO Daniel Ek (as the previous version stated).
His campaign has only just begun, but no event on his path to re-election will be of greater consequence than the speech President Joe Biden is scheduled to give this Thursday in Washington before a few hundred people. It will take place on Capitol Hill, and he will be delivering his annual State of the Union address to both chambers of Congress. In it, Biden will take a gamble before millions of viewers in the United States and around the world.

It will be a long speech, long enough to give him time to sell his administrations accomplishments and give those who doubt Bidens fitness to serve  he is an 81-year-old man, who would be 86 upon leaving office if he is reelected  the opportunity to assess whether what special prosecutor Robert Hur said about him is true. Hur was tasked with investigating Bidens handling of confidential papers he retained from his years as Barack Obamas vice president, but the former decided to also put on his geriatricians hat and add an unsolicited diagnosis of the presidents poor memory. Hur said that Biden forgot dates, some as significant as the death of his son Beau, who died of a brain tumor in 2015.

Hovering over the event  over which Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson will preside and before both chambers of congress and famous and anonymous guests of the president  is the question of Bidens performance, particularly whether he is too old to lead the worlds major power at a time of great geopolitical instability. It is a significant challenge, especially for a man who has never been particularly comfortable with giving speeches and who has tended to avoid contact with the press over the past three years.

According to the White House, Biden was putting the finishing touches on the text over the weekend at Camp David, aided by teleprompters, six assistants and a historian from the school of optimists, Jon Meacham, along with tea designed to, ahem, soothe the throat.

It is such an important speech, especially in this election year, that his aides began working on it in December. Its content is being kept secret. As a result, it is unclear whether his address will mention his opponent, Donald Trump, although it is certain that Biden will talk about Ukraine, Israels war in Gaza, China, abortion and immigration.

Healthcare and the economy

In calls with journalists, Biden administration officials detailed two of the most important issues that the president will address on Thursday during his prime-time speech (9:00 p.m. EST; 6:00 p.m. PST). In regard to health care, they said he plans to ask Congress to work to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, including setting a cap on the price of widely used medicine.

On the economic front, Biden plans to focus on prioritizing the middle class in the U.S. economy, according to White House economic advisor Lael Brainard. Among other measures, he will talk about raising the corporate tax to 28% [from the 21% tax set by the Trump administration in 2017], as well as his fight to reduce taxes on working families. Brainard added that none of their policies will mean higher taxation for anyone making less than $400,000 a year. Republicans in Congress want to cut taxes even further for the wealthy and large corporations, which will mean adding more than $3 billion to the debt. President Biden has made it clear whose side hes on. He is also expected to promise to tax massive wealth at 25%.

The State of the Union address comes a day after Americans confirmed a situation that, according to the polls, they wanted to avoid at all costs: a repeat of the 2020 showdown between Biden and Trump. Both scored comfortable victories on Super Tuesday. Biden reached that date with the Democratic nomination guaranteed, as befits an incumbent president running for reelection. Trump cleared his final hurdle a few hours after the polls closed in Alaska. Nikki Haley, his last remaining challenger, announced that she was suspending her campaign, clearing the way for the tycoon to pursue a second presidential term just over three years after dishonorably leaving the White House following the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Tradition dictates that the opposition party respond to the presidential address. And that they do it far from the Capitol. On Thursday, Alabama Senator Katie Boyd Britt will deliver the response to the State of the Union. She has only been in office for one year and, at 42, is the youngest of the 100 U.S. senators. As such, she represents the future of the Republican Party. At this decisive moment in our countrys history, its time for the next generation to step up and preserve the American Dream for our children and our grandchildren, Britt said in a statement to congressional leaders in which she confirmed that she would give the response.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
Spring Lake Police Chief Dysoaneik Spellman has been fired, Mayor Kia Anthony confirmed Wednesday night.

Our police chief is no longer with the town of Spring Lake," Anthony said. "Because of North Carolina personnel laws, its a confidential matter and something Im not allowed to speak on."

His last day with the town was Wednesday, she said.

A statement from Anthony's office Thursday said only that Spellman's dismissal "aligns with internal protocols and respects the confidentiality required in personnel matters."

Attempts to reach Spellman for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.

"During his tenure, Chief Spellman has been an integral part of the Spring Lake community, dedicating over eight years to the Police Department, with the last period in the role of Police Chief. His efforts to ensure the safety and security of Spring Lake's residents have been commendable," the statement said. "The Town expresses its gratitude for Chief Spellman's service and contributions and extends our best wishes to him in his future endeavors."

Spring Lake Police Chief Dysoaneik Spellman is no longer with the town, Mayor Kia Anthony said Wednesday.

Interim town manager Jason Williams said Wednesday evening there are about 22 officers in the department. He noted the ranks are short about seven.

"The Police Department is actively addressing its staffing needs to continue providing exemplary service to the community. The search for a new Police Chief will begin promptly, ensuring a smooth transition and sustained leadership within the department," the news release said, noting "experienced senior officers" will oversee operations until that time.

Spellman had served as the top law enforcement officer for Spring Lake since August 2022 and was interim police chief from May 2021 to August 2022, after former Chief Troy McDuffie retired.

According to a 2023 Fayetteville Observer records request for salaries, as chief, Spellman earned a salary of $80,325.

Previous reporting: Spring Lake interim police chief announced as the town's newest top cop

"The Town of Spring Lake is committed to transparency and will provide updates on the appointment of a new Police Chief as information becomes available," the release said.

Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Why was Spring Lake, NC Police Chief Dysoaneik Spellman fired?
After St. Paul police officers fatally shot a womans neighbor, officers put her in the back of a squad car for three hours, though her lawsuit said she wasnt accused of anything and she asked to leave.

The St. Paul City Council approved a $210,000 settlement Wednesday to Jill Mollner, which will end her lawsuit alleging the city and its officers violated her constitutional rights to be free from unlawful imprisonment.

In December, the City Council signed off on a $380,000 settlement to Cordale Handys fiancee, Markeeta Johnson-Blakney, in the same lawsuit.

Immediately after officers shot Handy, police grabbed Markeeta Johnson-Blakney and Jill Mollner and forced them into the back seats of police cars, their attorney, Paul Bosman, said in a Wednesday statement. Jill and Markeeta were not criminals, just witnesses to a police shooting. Despite their requests to leave, St. Paul Police held Jill and Markeeta incommunicado against their will for the rest of the night.

With the city agreeing to pay $590,000 in total to the two women, we hope that SPPD will start to show respect for the basic civil rights of the people of St Paul, Bosman said.

St. Paul City Attorney Lyndsey Olson said they settled Mollners lawsuit to avoid the costs and unpredictability of continued litigation.

The city remains dedicated to protecting the rights of all persons through respectful service, she said in a statement.

Civil jury found officer wrongfully caused death

On March 15, 2017, St. Paul officers responded to a 911 call about Cordale Handy, 29, in Daytons Bluff. Officers Nathaniel Younce and Mikko Norman reported they saw Handy fall down backward, lower a gun and raise it briefly toward Norman. The officers said Handy raised the gun toward Norman a second time and they both shot him.

The officers were not criminally charged. Handys mother, Kimberly Handy-Jones, filed a federal lawsuit and it went to civil trial last year. A jury found that Younce, who fired just before Norman, violated Handys constitutional rights by using excessive force and that he wrongfully caused Handys death. They did not find Norman civilly liable.

The jury awarded $1.5 million in punitive damages and $10 million in compensatory damages. Last month, a federal judge reduced the compensatory damages to $2.5 million. Handy-Jones mother has until March 15 to decide whether to accept the new award or seek a new civil trial focused only on compensatory damages.

Lawsuit: Officers wouldnt let woman leave squad

When the officers responded to the apartment building where Mollner, Handy and Johnson-Blakney lived, they spoke briefly with the two women. Johnson-Blakney told them Handys gun was broken.

Younce and Norman didnt know before they shot Handy that hed fired 16 gunshots at a couch in his apartment. Handy, who had taken a stimulant drug, was seeing people who werent there and thought they were hiding in the apartment, Johnson-Blakney testified during the civil trial. Handy wanted help, a Handy-Jones attorney said.

A citizen calling for help should not have to pay the price Ive had to pay, Mollner said in a Wednesday statement. Likewise, those we trust to protect and serve us should not have stolen the life of Cordale Handy, the young man who needed their help and protection that morning.

Mollner and Johnson-Blakney followed the officers outside and witnessed them shoot Handy about 2:20 a.m.

Another officer arrived and police put Mollner in the back of a squad at 2:29 a.m., squad video showed. The back doors of squad cars cannot be opened from the inside.

Mollner was dressed in a flimsy robe, her lawsuit said. She asked an officer at 2:35 a.m. to allow her to go to her apartment to get a tampon; he said she could not.

Another officer told her at 2:36 a.m. she had to go downtown to make a statement. He returned at 2:38 a.m. and offered to go to her apartment to get clothes, saying she couldnt go with him or have her cell phone.

The officer returned at 2:44 a.m. with clothing and a tampon. She was forced to change and put in a tampon in the back of a squad car, the lawsuit continued.

Video from the squad showed Mollner weeping and rocking as Handys body was in the street outside. Mollner asked an officer to cover his body. He told her he couldnt but offered to move her to his squad car around the corner, and he did.

Another squad camera showed Mollner exited a squad at St. Paul police headquarters at 5:20 a.m. She appeared on a camera in an interview room at 6:07 a.m. and left the room at 6:49 a.m.

Past lawsuits

St. Paul spent nearly $1.5 million in settlements or judgments involving the police department last year, not including the settlement to Johnson-Blakney, according to city attorneys office records. That compares to $17,500 in 2022; $70,000 in 2021; $121,000 in 2020; and $24,000 in 2019.

The largest amount in a year since 2013, not including the jury award in the Handy case, was a total of $2.3 million in 2017, the records show.

Olson, the St. Paul city attorney, noted that no lawsuits arose from police actions with protesters in St. Paul after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. Minneapolis has settled lawsuits arising from the protests, including one alleging journalists were subject to police harassment and hurt while covering protests and another from a St. Paul man who said police shot him with a marking round and beat him.

Related Articles
The St. Paul City Council voted 7-0 on Wednesday to approve a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, ending their collective silence five weeks after protesters began filling council chambers with signs demanding action.

Council Member Cheniqua Johnson, who authored much of the language, read a two-page resolution into the record that called for the states federal delegation and U.S. President Joe Biden to work toward halting Israeli military strikes that have killed upwards of 30,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians.

The lengthy resolution, which took five minutes to read aloud, also called for Hamas to free dozens of Israeli hostages held since the Oct. 7 attacks that killed more than 1,100 Israelis, which the council condemned, and for an end to discrimination against Arabs, Palestinians, Muslims and Jews alike. Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., Canada and the European Union.

Read the full text of the ceasefire resolution

The resolution also called for the U.S. to discontinue unconditional military aid to Israel absent clear guarantees for civilian safety.

This is a time for our president to be brave, said Council President Mitra Jalali, noting similar resolutions have been approved in Minneapolis, Hastings, Columbia Heights and more than 70 cities across the country. The Twin Cities stand for a ceasefire.

Council Vice President Hwa Jeong Kim spoke at length in support of the language, concluding her remarks with the statement, Free, free Palestine.

A resolution approved by the Minneapolis City Council this year was vetoed by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey but reinstated by the council, which overrode Freys veto in February. On Wednesday, a spokesman for St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carters office said Carter would not stand in the way of the St. Paul resolution, which was sponsored by Jalali, Kim, Johnson, Anika Bowie and Nelsie Yang.

A difficult process

The St. Paul council meeting was heavily attended by members of the Anti-War Committee, Jewish Voice for Peace and other pro-Palestinian groups, as well as members of the St. Paul Jewish Federation.

At times interrupted by hecklers on either side of the crisis, each council member took the microphone on Wednesday to deliver lengthy, emotional words about the loss of life in Gaza and the difficult, time-consuming process of crafting a resolution that could be supported by all seven members.

Thats unity, thats cohesiveness, said Johnson, acknowledging that completing the resolution language took longer than some members of the public had wanted. When we look at what that conversation can look like, its not just a yes or no, often.  It wasnt one way or another.  We have to answer to over 40,000 constituents.

Johnson and three other members of the seven-member council were newly elected in November and sworn into office in January, and their introduction to consensus-building has been breakneck. Bowie said she once considered the war in Gaza a far-off concern that had no business before the council, which focuses on day-to-day issues of importance to everyday city residents.

Bowie said she had since had a change of heart.

This is not an issue that we chose to ignore. This is not an issue that did not matter, said Bowie, noting she has held a United Nations Human Rights-People of African Descent fellowship that provided key insights into the history of global diaspora. This is an issue that needed time to process.

There are human beings who did not sign up for war who should not be casualties of war, Bowie added. There are people who came here with signs saying this is a local issue. There is truth to that.  This is not a stance on Israel or Gaza. This is a stance for humanity.

Disagreement among council members

Yang, who had been the sole proponent of a ceasefire resolution two weeks ago, noted to widespread applause that the final resolution was missing historical context (about) the 75-year displacement of Palestinians, but she would support it anyway.

She thanked the council members for coming around, but said the process was troubling. Jalali blocked Yangs attempt to introduce a ceasefire resolution a week ago, and then struck Yangs proposed resolution from the council agenda late last week.

I want to ask us to not have a repeat of what happened in the past five weeks, Yang said. A huge learned lesson is that silence doesnt make the issue go away. Its actually whats going to be what energizes people, because people are looking for clarity.

Following the vote, pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside the council chambers for rousing words from organizers. On Tuesday, about one-in-five Democratic voters  some 45,000 voters in the Minnesota primary  chose to vote uncommitted rather than cast their support to President Joe Biden for re-election, a sizable protest of the Israeli-Hamas war.

Protester Salah Abu arrived with a sign critical of Jalali for seemingly dragging her feet on a ceasefire resolution.

Five weeks is way too long, Abu said. It didnt start on Oct. 7. It started in 1948 with the forced displacement of Palestinians.

Jalali, prior to this week, had told protesters she was in personal support of a ceasefire but did not have sufficient votes lined up for a resolution.

Council President, you and I have disagreed on this and other issues, and you do not deserve to have your name up on those signs right now, said Council Member Rebecca Noecker, addressing Jalali before the vote. Noecker noted that a former instructor who had taught in St. Paul at her childrens school had been killed in the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7.

I continue to believe that passing resolutions on international matters is not what we were elected to do, added Noecker, while calling the final language by far more fair, nuanced and justified than any that I have seen to date. We have done this our own way. We have done this the St. Paul way.

Related Articles
Related video: A Florida family gets shot at over curly fries in a Jack-In-The-Box drive-thru.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA)  A St. Petersburg man was arrested earlier this week after he intentionally rammed his vehicle in a Culvers drive-thru, striking a victim, according to an affidavit.

On Monday, the St. Petersburg Police Department responded to a Culvers restaurant, located at 1451 34th Street North, where officials said Sean Michael Drake, 37, intentionally rear-ended a vehicle multiple times while in the drive-thru.

The affidavit said Drake became frustrated with the car in front of him and began yelling at a woman and her boyfriend who were in the car, leading him to rear-end the car.

Florida woman broke into exs home, threw Sprite, pickled pork at him and his sofa: affidavit

The boyfriend got out of the car and walked to Drakes car. The suspect accelerated, then struck him with the front of his vehicle, who landed on the hood of the car and dragged him across the Culvers parking lot.

The victim fell off the hood of the car before Drake drove onto a major roadway, striking a pedestrian and leaving them with minor injuries, before he fled the scene, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit said Drakes vehicle had scratches on the front drive-side bumper and the victims vehicle had crimping to the driver-side rear bumper.

2 women accused of stealing thousands worth of baby formula from Florida Publix stores

When officials arrived at Drakes home and went to arrest him, he tensed up, yelled No and then tried to run from authorities. Drake was tased and tried to hide his hands underneath his body before he was placed into handcuffs. He also refused to provide a breath test after officials noticed his bloodshot and watery eyes.

Drake is facing charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest. The affidavit said alcohol appeared to be a factor.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Freddie Scappaticci once told one of his captives that if he had his way he would be hung upside down in a cowshed and no-one would hear him squeal as he was skinned alive.

The would-be victim Sandy Lynch was rescued from IRA execution by the security forces.

The year was 1990 and Mr Scappaticci's double life as an agent within the IRA was approaching an end.

But it would be a further 13 years before he was unmasked as Stakeknife.

Mr Scappaticci, who died last week aged 77, was for a long period the British Army's "golden egg" within the IRA.

"Scap", as he was known, was born to an Italian family which came to Belfast in the 1940s.

A bricklayer by trade, he was interned without trial between 1971 and 1974.

A few years later he became a paid spy for the Army, reportedly crossing over after being beaten up by the IRA following a row with a senior member.

By the 1980s he was operating at the heart of the IRA, within its internal security unit.

It was known as the "nutting squad" because the informers it uncovered were shot in the head - the nut - and their bodies dumped after interrogations involving torture.

Access to IRA secrets

He has been linked to at least 18 murders, all while he was on the state payroll, and some of the victims were fellow agents.

His position gave him access to IRA secrets - his unit was known as the Clapham Junction of the organisation, according to one former IRA member, because everything went through it.

His life as an agent - and involvement with the IRA - ended when its suspicions grew after the incident involving Sandy Lynch.

But it was not until 2003 that Mr Scappaticci was outed by the media as the agent codenamed Stakeknife.

He denied it and left Northern Ireland a year later when a recording surfaced of him talking to journalists about senior republicans, including Martin McGuinness.

His death almost two decades later has robbed victims' families of the prospect "of some semblance of justice", according to Kevin Winters, the solicitor representing many of them.

All eyes are now focused on the publication of a report into Stakeknife's activities.

It is in the process of being compiled by Jon Boutcher, the former chief constable of Bedfordshire Police, whose Operation Kenova investigation has cost 37m.

Operation Kenova has investigated historical crimes in Northern Ireland, covering murder and torture, and the role of the state, including MI5.

Mr Boutcher has said the report into Stakeknife's activities will be released sometime this year - and not before the Cabinet Office checks whether its contents will be "contrary to the public interest or prejudicial to national security".

Will it spill any secrets which went to the grave with Mr Scappaticci?
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  The U.S. Postal Service on Wednesday unveiled a new stamp that commemorates former first lady Betty Ford.

First lady Jill Biden and Betty Fords daughter, Susan Ford Bales, joined the U.S. Postal Service during the stamps reveal.

A new Forever stamp commemorates former first lady Betty Ford. (Courtesy U.S. Postal Service)

Today, the Postal Service and the American people pay tribute to a women of extraordinary courage and candor, her daughter shared. To a transformative first lady and to a devoted wife. And in doing so they honor a woman that today and in every tomorrow, I am so proud to call my mom.

Learn about Grand Rapids women legends through walking tour

She said the stamp, set to be issued on April 5, is beautiful.

Mom would be so happy with it, she added.

Betty Ford, who married former President Gerald Ford in 1948, was the first lady from 1974 to 1977. She was born in Chicago but grew up in Grand Rapids, graduating from Central High School.

She returned to Michigan after studying modern dance at Bennington College in Vermont, according to a biography from the White House.

After undergoing a mastectomy in 1974, she worked to raise awareness for breast cancer and encouraged women in the country to get mammograms. She was also open about her struggles with pain killers and alcohol and was an outspoken supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.

A statue of the first lady sits just outside of the entrance of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI)  Starbucks is welcoming the upcoming spring with the addition of a new floral flavor to its menu: lavender.

The coffeehouse giant announced two new drinks Thursday, both containing notes of lavender.

The new iced lavender cream oat milk matcha beverage features smooth and creamy matcha served over ice, topped with lavender cream cold foam for sweet and subtle floral notes.

For people who prefer an espresso beverage, the iced lavender oat milk latte might be a good option. According to the Starbucks mobile app, the drink combines Starbucks Blonde Espresso with oat milk and scoops of lavender powder.

The new items are available in the U.S. and Canada for a limited time while supplies last.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
Floridas Old Capitol and New Capitol, viewed from the Leon County Courthouse on March 21, 2022. Credit: Michael Moline

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

Politics broke out on the floor of the Florida Senate Thursday as the chamber took up a $117.46 billion for the fiscal year that begins on July 1, with senators grousing about the governors power over spending and what one senator considered skullduggery.

The Appropriations Act (HB 5001) is the only bill the Legislature absolutely has to pass during its 60-day regular session, which is scheduled to wrap up on Friday. Thats when both chambers will vote its final passage. The bill represents a consensus by House and Senate negotiators, on the floor yet.

Members of the Appropriations Committee and its various subcommittees offered the document as providing historic advances in health care, prison conditions, environmental protection, and more.

State Sen. Doug Broxson, a Panhandle Republican representing Escambia and Santa Rosa counties and part of Okaloosa County. Credit: Florida Senate

The document makes historic investments that will keep us in touch with every Floridian, Appropriations Chairman Doug Broxson, a Republican from the western Panhandle, told his fellow senators.

But Democrat Victor Torres complained that the hard work the negotiators put into the budget  and the line items for things like local amenities prized by individual lawmakers  will soon be prey to the governors veto pen.

Im not worried about us here. Im worried about when it goes to the governors office. Thats what Im worried about. We fight for this money for our counties, and its so hard to get the appropriations because everybodys got bigger counties, smaller counties, and then in the end youll see that list come out that its been vetoed, and it hurts, Torres said.

Leaf blowers

Meanwhile, Democrat Jason Pizzo, representing parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties, complained the budget would sneak in a state preemption of proposed bans on noisy and polluting gas-powered leaf blowers.

The state budget document states that: $100,000 in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund shall be used by the Department of Environmental Protection to conduct a life cycle analysis of leaf blowers powered by an internal combustion engine or motor compared to other electric or battery-operated alternatives. The department must submit a report, including results and recommendations,

by January 1, 2025.

Pizzo claimed Jason Brodeur, chairman for Agriculture Environment, and General Government Appropriations, was trying to sneak a substantive law change improperly through the Appropriations Act.

How is that not cheating by just throwing on something fiscal to it? Pizzo asked.

Brodeur replied that advocates of the local ordinances were engaging in virtue signaling without regard to the scientific data. Without better information, we dont know if thats a good idea, he said.

We are spending money to do a study to find out whether or not we have good information with regard to how were powering these things in our homes, Brodeur said.

Part of this process?

When the House took up the budget that evening, Black Democrats lamented that theyre being shortchanged in terms of projects for their district, such as support for museums and food programs for children.

Dianne Hart of Hillsborough County estimated the budget contains $80 million in projects for members of the Black Caucus.

That is sad. That amounts to $5 or something per person, she said.

Bruce Antone of Orange County asked pointedly: What do we have to do to be a part of this budget process?

Emergency fund

Next years spending levels would compare with $117 billion during the existing fiscal year. The new bill includes $10 billion in reserves against emergencies.

The bill would pay down $500 million in state debt. It provides a 3% pay raise for state employees, according to a budget summary crafted by the House and Senate.

Of the total, $30.1 billion would go into education, including K-12 to the university system. That includes s $1.8 billion for K-12 funding, a 6.73% increase over existing spending, or $8,958.59 per student. The bill would provide $1.05 billion for student financial aid.

State Sen. Jennifer Bradley. Credit: Florida Senate

The bill contains $243.2 million for private colleges, including $46.4 million for historically Black colleges and universities.

The health care budget would amount to $717.1 million, including $245.7 million in increased reimbursement for Medicaid providers and $134.6 million to care for new mothers and babies.

Theres $7.3 billion for criminal justice, including much-needed improvements to state prisons.

This funding will be used to add additional inmate housing units, fix and replace aging roofs and windows, update electric and plumbing, and begin to add air conditioning to dorms where feasible, said Jennifer Bradley, a Republican from northeast Florida who chairs the Criminal Justice Appropriations Subcommittee.

The effect, Bradley said, would help modernize our facilities, create a more humane prison environment, and continue to enhance safety and security for our officers.

Affordable housing

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement would get $494.9 million, including $1.3 million to tackle a backlog in forensic testing. Theres $1.3 million to continue DeSantis bonus program for police recruits.

Senate President Kathleen Passidomos Live Local housing initiative would get $258 million to encourage construction and preservation of affordable housing,

The budget would give $15.7 billion to the Florida Department of Transportation, including nearly $14 billion for actual roads, bridges, and the like.

The Department of Environmental Protection would get $3.4 billion, including $702 million for Everglades restoration, $1.7 billion for water quality improvements, and $528.6 million for acquisition of endangered lands.

The post New state budget advancing as FL Legislature prepares to end its session for the year appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
From some, international travel is a go-to experience.

I go to Mexico every year, and then British Virgin Islands over to Europe, said traveler Lauren Schultes.

No matter where you go, the U.S. State Department outlines four levels of travel advisories that range from taking normal precautions to do not travel at all.

In recent weeks, the agency issued new and updated ones for popular spring break destinations. Mexico and the Bahamas have warnings to use extra caution.

But for some countries like Jamaica, it warns you should reconsider your plans.

Read: The final chapter: Orlando brewery announces upcoming closure

Make sure that youre aware of local law, transportation, crime issues, things like that, so that you can keep yourself your family safe on what should be really fun and wonderful vacation, said Assistant Secretary Rena Bitter from the U.S. State Department.

The agencys recent advisory for Jamaica says violent crimes like sexual assaults, armed robberies and home invasions are common.

What we issued for Jamaica was a regularly updated travel advisory to make sure that everything that we were telling the American people was true and still up to date, said Bitter. Overall advice for Jamaica did not change.

Bitter said these travel advisories are based on a variety of factors.

Read: Person taken to hospital with burns after fire engulfs mobile home in Orange County

Crime statistics, things like that, information that we know about the healthcare system, even things like natural disasters, the use of that information that we get from our embassies and consulates overseas, she said.

If youre traveling overseas for the first time, Bitter suggests keeping your loved ones updated about your trip.

Really stay in touch with your family and friends and make sure people know where you are where youre going. Take a photo of it page of your passport, you can send it to them, said Bitter.

Travelers at the airport Wednesday said they have their own methods for staying safe too.

Read: Supreme Court will hear Trump immunity case April 25

Doing your research before you go on the trip, finding out where are the safest areas to stay in the particular city, said Schultes.

I dont carry my wallet, my pocket. I usually have it like in a breast pocket or something like that, just to avoid being pickpocketed, said traveler John Goltz.

The U.S. State Department has this list of travel tips before your next trip abroad:

Research Your Destination: Before departure, familiarize yourself with the laws and customs of your destination. Visit state.gov to review our country information pages for your destination. Laws and customs vary from country to country. For example, some foreign countries laws have harsh penalties for possessing certain substances such as cannabis, bringing ammunition into the country, even by accident, or posting certain content on social media. Even unintentional violations can lead to serious legal consequences.

Save the local U.S. Embassys Contact Information: Write down the nearest U.S. embassy or U.S. consulates contact details by visiting state.gov and always keep it with you. This information can be invaluable in emergency situations. Take pictures of your passport and other important documents and store them online or send them to relatives for safe keeping.

Understand Your Health Insurance Coverage: Understand which medical services your health insurance will cover while abroad. Consider purchasing travelers insurance to ensure coverage for unexpected medical expenses, including medical evacuation, which can cost upwards of $100,000 depending on location and condition. Medicare/Medicaid do not cover you outside the United States.

Check your U.S. Passport : Review your U.S. passport and renew early if necessary. Many countries require at least six months of passport validity to enter their country. Visit state.gov/passport to plan your travel with the latest passport guidance and processing tips in mind.

Enroll in STEP: Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) at state.gov to receive important safety and security updates, and to make it easier for the U.S. embassy or consulate to contact you in an emergency.

Stay Connected: Follow @TravelGov on social media for real-time updates, travel advisories, and helpful tips. Let your family and friends know your travel plans and stay in touch with them throughout your journey.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Editors note: The name of Cati DeLaPena was originally misspelled in the article. It has since been corrected.

AUSTIN (KXAN)  On Wednesday, State Rep. Vikki Goodwin provided more details on new water safety measures in place under Catis Act as a way to minimize drownings of children under 12 through stricter water safety measures.

Goodwin and State Sen. Judith Zaffirini hosted a press conference Wednesday morning ahead of spring break to spark a discussion on the importance of Catis Act between community leaders, water safety advocates as well as legislators, a news release from Goodwins office said.

Catis Act was passed during the last session and was named after Cati DeLaPena, who died at 6 years old after she drowned at summer camp in Cedar Park in 2019.

Bill to protect children from drowning heads to governor

Catis Act is a vital step towards safeguarding our children in water environments. It embodies our collective resolve to enhance water safety and prevent drowning incidents, Goodwin said in the release. This law is a clear demonstration of our commitment to protect our youngest and most vulnerable citizens.

The legislation will require children to have a written statement of a childs swimming ability from guardians and use U.S. Coast Guard-approved flotation devices for those who need assistance, the release said.

In support of the new legislation, Kathy Kuras, President & CEO of the Greater Austin YMCA, said Catis Bill is a common-sense step that will save the lives of young swimmers at summer camps.

Kuras said the YMCA is the largest provider of swim lessons and summer camps in Texas and that the company is grateful to legislators for passing it into law.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on the set of the movie Rust, starring Alec Baldwin, was found guilty Wednesday of the involuntary manslaughter of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The jury in Santa Fe, New Mexico, released its verdict on the tragic events that occurred on October 21, 2021, during the filming of the western. That morning, Gutierrez-Reed, the inexperienced daughter of a seasoned weapons consultant, was in charge of the revolver with which Alec Baldwin accidentally shot director of photography Hutchins during a rehearsal. Gutierrez-Reed, who could be sentenced to up to 18 months in prison, will appeal the ruling, her lawyers indicated. Baldwin, who was also a producer of the movie, faces a trial in July on charges of involuntary manslaughter.

Gutierrez-Reed, 26, is the second person to be convicted in the Rust case after David Halls, the assistant director, last year accepted a charge of negligent handling of a firearm. She had earlier pleaded not guilty to the crime of reckless homicide. The prosecution had also charged her with tampering with evidence for allegedly hiding a bag of suspected drugs. The jury, which deliberated for two and a half hours, acquitted her of that charge. In addition to the sentence, Gutierrez-Reed was fined $5,000.

The two-week trial focused on Gutierrez-Reeds role in handling the gun. The weapon, a replica of an 1873 Pietta revolver, was chambered with a real bullet. Jurors told the press that the then 24-year-old gunsmith failed to respect safety protocols. [She] never checked the rounds, to pull them out to shake them. I mean, if shed have done that this wouldnt have happened, Alberto Sanchez, one of the 12 jurors, told reporters outside the courthouse.

Dozens of experts and witnesses provided testimony for the prosecution. Joel Souza, the films director, who was wounded by the same bullet that killed Hutchins, gave his version of events for the first time in public. I knew something had got me, he recounted. Souza was rushed to a hospital, but told medical staff that he ruled out the damage had been caused by a live round. Hollywood prohibits live bullets on set, he said. I kept saying, You dont understand. No, no, no, this was a movie set. Thats not possible. You dont get it, and, Its just not possible. Its just not possible theres a live round, he said from the stand in an account broadcast on Court TV. Doctors subsequently showed Souza an X-ray of a bullet lodged in his back.

Throughout the trial, the prosecution blamed Gutierrez-Reed for allowing live bullets to arrive on set. The prosecution, led by Kari Morrissey, showed a picture of the gun shop in the early days of filming, before the supplier sent the main shipment of blanks to the set, to prove it. This point was dismissed by the defense, who relied on testimony from an FBI agent, who pointed out that real bullets cannot be distinguished from fake ones with the naked eye. Police found at least six live bullets on the set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico. This was a game of Russian roulette every time an actor had a gun with dummies, Morrissey told the jury during closing arguments. The prosecution, however, did not prove how the real bullets found their way onto the set.

The strategy of Gutierrez-Reeds defense focused on blaming those responsible for the production. Jason Bowles, her attorney, denied that his client had carried the bullets to the set. He argued that it was not her responsibility, as a 24-year-old working on her second production, to enforce safety protocols for the entire crew. Testimony painted a chaotic shoot where several responsibilities fell on one person to allow the producers to stay within budget. Gutierrez-Reed also had to supervise tasks related to props.

Bowles blamed Baldwin for Hutchins death. The actor has publicly denied pulling the trigger of the weapon until filming the sequence in which the accident occurred. Gutierrez-Reeds attorney indicated in his closing arguments that the armorer could not have foreseen that the star would fire the revolver. It was not in the script for Mr. Baldwin to point the weapon. She didnt know that Mr. Baldwin was going to do what he did, he asserted. The courtroom was shown a video of another moment during the shooting when the 30 Rock star empties a gun. The final shot was fired after Souza yelled cut! Baldwins trial in the Rust case is scheduled for mid-July.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
State officials are pointing fingers after four suspects arrested in connection with body parts found throughout Long Island over the past week were freed without bail on Wednesday.

Maybe the DA should have done a more thorough investigation and brought murder charges or conspiracy-to-commit murder, or even assault charges, because all of [those charges] are bail-eligible, Gov. Hochul told FOX 5s Good Day New York on Thursday.

Steven Brown, 44, Jeffrey Mackey, 38, Amanda Wallace, 40, and Alexis Nieves, 33, were charged with hindering prosecution, tampering with physical evidence and concealing a human corpse  then set free on supervised release while awaiting trial. They have not been charged with killing the victims.

Their arrests followed the discovery of arms, a leg, a head and other remains from two victims in Babylons Southards Pond Park last Thursday. Body parts believed to belong to the same victims  identified only as a 53-year-old man and 59-year-old woman  were also located Tuesday in a wooded area of West Babylon and in Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale.

Prosecutors later said they had significant evidence to support their case against the suspects, including meat cleavers, butcher knives and blood, but did not specify where the weapons and blood were found.

After the suspects were sprung, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney blamed the New York State Legislature for 2019 bail reform that prohibited law enforcement from holding the foursome, since charges related to the mutilation and disposal of murdered corpses are no longer bail-eligible.

Hochul fired back that might not be the case if the district attorneys office had been more aggressive in pursuing the charges she recommended.

I encourage the DAs office to go back and build your case, because if you bring any of those charges, which I think would be appropriate, thats absolutely bail-eligible, she said. Those people would not be out on the street.

But the DAs office took exception with the governors claims.

Gov. Hochul is either completely clueless or being deceitful about how the criminal justice system works, Tierney wrote in a statement on Thursday. Prosecutors have a duty to bring only charges that are supported by evidence. Anything else would be unethical.

Tierney defended his office and investigators for quickly taking the four suspects into custody and collecting evidence as prosecutors continue to solidify their case.

It would be helpful if the governor confined her comments to subjects she knows something about, the DA said.

Hochul claimed proper execution of the states new bail reform laws requires an education process that includes judges and prosecutors learning to adapt to the changing landscape.

Louis Civello, vice president of the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association, also took issue with the governors comments.

Does the governor truly believe you should be able to conceal a human head in a park where children can find it and walk out free? his office asked. Instead of using this opportunity to fix New Yorks reckless bail reform law, the governor decided to attack law enforcement.

Hochul earned her law degree from the Catholic University of Americas Columbus School of Law in 1983 and worked at a Washington, D.C., law firm before going into politics. She became New Yorks first female governor in 2021.
NEW YORK  State officials are pointing fingers after four suspects arrested in connection with body parts found throughout Long Island over the past week were freed without bail on Wednesday.

Maybe the DA should have done a more thorough investigation and brought murder charges or conspiracy to commit murder, or even assault charges, because all of [those charges] are bail-eligible, Gov. Kathy Hochul told local media, according to a transcript posted online by the governors office.

Steven Brown, 44, Jeffrey Mackey, 38, Amanda Wallace, 40, and Alexis Nieves, 33, were charged with hindering prosecution, tampering with physical evidence and concealing a human corpse  then set free on supervised release while awaiting trial.

Their arrests followed the discovery of arms, a leg, a head and other remains from two unidentified victims in Babylons Southards Pond Park last Thursday. Body parts believed to belong to the same victims were also located Tuesday in a wooded area of West Babylon and in Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale.

After the suspects were sprung, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney blamed the New York State Legislature for 2019 bail reform prohibiting law enforcement from holding the foursome on charges related to the mutilation and disposal of murdered corpses.

Hochul fired back that might not be the case if the district attorneys office were more aggressive in pursuing the charges she recommended.

I encourage the DAs office to go back and build your case, because if you bring any of those charges, which I think would be appropriate, thats absolutely bail-eligible, she said. Those people would not be out on the street.

But the district attorneys office took exception with the governors claims Thursday.

Governor Hochul is either completely clueless or being deceitful about how the criminal justice system works, the DA wrote in a statement. Prosecutors have a duty to bring only charges that are supported by evidence. Anything else would be unethical.

Tierney defended his office and investigators for quickly taking the four suspects into custody and collecting evidence as prosecutors continue to solidify their case.

It would be helpful if the governor confined her comments to subjects she knows something about, the DA said.

Hochul claimed proper execution of the states new bail reform laws requires an education process that includes judges and prosecutors learning to adapt to the changing landscape.

Louis Civello, vice president of the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association, also took issue with the governors comments.

Does the governor truly believe you should be able to conceal a human head in a park where children can find it and walk out free? his office asked. Instead of using this opportunity to fix New Yorks reckless bail reform law, the governor decided to attack law enforcement.

Hochul earned her law degree from The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law in 1983 and worked at a Washington, D.C. law firm before going into politics. She became New Yorks first female governor in 2021.
He did make a promise, and he has done everything he can to keep that promise, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre of the presidents 2020 commitment to Black voters.

President Joe Biden will deliver what will likely be the most important and watched speech of his political career on Thursday evening as he gives his third and final State of the Union address of his first presidential term.

In the backdrop of his televised primetime remarks, Biden, 81, is seeking reelection as he stares down a likely competitive rematch against former President Donald Trump, 77, in November.

Black voters, who played an outsized role in the Biden-Harris administrations historic 2020 victory, will undoubtedly be watching and listening to hear from the president about how he has had their backs, as he promised he would when delivering his victory speech nearly four years ago after thanking them for their support.

As polls and anecdotal reporting suggest, some Black voters are disillusioned with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and feel their administration hasnt sufficiently delivered on the promises made in 2020. To combat that, Biden, Harris, and cabinet officials have zigzagged across the country to share what they see as the good news of what has been done to improve the economic and social conditions for Black communities. The White House hopes the presidents address will also penetrate the American public, particularly Black Americans.

Its a beautiful story. Were talking about an economy thats created almost 15 million new jobs, said Stephen Benjamin, a White House senior adviser and director of the Office of Public Engagement.

Weve seen significant investments in HBCUs, noted Benjamin, who said there will be new announcements coming out on the already record $7 billion invested in historically Black colleges and universities.

While listing a number of the presidents achievements, the White House official continued, Weve seen record African-American business startups  the lowest African-American unemployment ever recorded in history. He said Biden has made strategic investments in housing, businesses, and financial institutions that are servicing Black and brown communities.

White House senior adviser Stephen Benjamin (right) said the Biden administrations achievements tell a beautiful story. Above, he takes part in an August 2023 news briefing with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

While White House officials have been reluctant to preview precisely what Biden will say in his State of the Union address, they have made clear that he will tell the story of what he has achieved for Black Americans and all of America.

This is why the State of the Union is going to be so critical, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre when asked about the SOTU being an opportunity for Biden to tell Black Americans what hes done for them since taking office. She told theGrio, He did make a promise, and he has done everything he can to keep that promise.

Some of Bidens promises to Black voters were halted due to a divided Congress or court rulings, most notably the U.S. Supreme Court that struck down the presidents broad-based student loan debt relief program, which would have eliminated $430 billion for millions of Americans. Jean-Pierre said that despite those setbacks, Biden took action with his limited executive powers as president. He unilaterally canceled more than $130 billion in federal student loan debt. Currently, his administration is formulating a new plan to provide widespread student debt relief for borrowers who have faced financial hardship.

When you think about voting rights, the first couple of days of this administration, he put forward an executive action to do everything that he could on the federal level  to deal with that issue, Jean-Pierre said. He took executive action when Congress could not move on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

The presidents address happens to fall on the 59th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery march, also known as Bloody Sunday. Protesters, including civil rights icons like John R. Lewis, were nearly beaten to death by police officers while marching for the right to vote.

While it is not confirmed, the president is expected to acknowledge the significance of the date and what he has done to protect voting rights despite Congress failure to pass federal protections after key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were clawed back by the Supreme Court.

There has not been a Democratic president to deliver for the Black community like this president has since Lyndon Johnson, said U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., a confidant of the president whose endorsement notably saved Bidens 2020 campaign. He told theGrio, People can misrepresent all they want to, but the facts are very clear.

Clyburn, 83, expressed incredible frustration with the media, accusing the press of not reporting about the Biden-Harris administrations key achievements like improving access to benefits for Black veterans, expanding health care through former President Barack Obamas signature Affordable Care Act, and reducing the cost of drugs for Medicare recipients.

(Left to right) Rep. Jim Clyburn said President Joe Biden has delivered for Black Americans. Above, the two attend a January campaign event in Charleston, South Carolina. (Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

The media are being very unfair to Joe Biden  and nobody wants to admit it, he said.

Clyburn told theGrio that if he were writing the presidents speech, he would address actions taken by Republican governors and local school boards to censor Black history and ban books about race.

I would go directly after what theyre doing in Florida. I would go directly at Moms For Liberty and what theyre doing in South Carolina and Georgia, he explained.

Benjamin, meanwhile, when asked about the mood of the White House as Biden and his staff work on tonights address, told theGrio, The energy is high. He explained, Theres a whole bunch of ideation, looking at different ways to innovate how you share the message, Benjamin added. Its been enjoyable because it gives you a chance  not in 120 characters or 30 seconds or less  to really be able to tell a story on a day in which most people are watching or paying attention.

As director of the Office of Public Engagement, Benjamin has facilitated hundreds of meetings at the White House, including with civil rights organizations and Black leaders about various policy issues. The former mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, said Bidens speech and the coming days and months will be about articulating a very clear vision of what finishing the job means as it relates to our collective future.



He added, As we approach the summer and certainly as the fall kicks off, post-Labor Day, were going to have an opportunity to aggressively tell the story.

Standing at the White House press briefing podium on Wednesday, Jean-Pierre said when it comes to the contrast between what some Black Americans feel Biden has done or not done, its complicated in terms of what the American people have gone through the last few years, given the challenges of recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

There was an economy that was in a tailspin, she recalled. Some Americans are trying to still figure out where we are, and whats going on and what this administration has done.

Its gonna take some time for everyone to see  what this president has been able to do, Jean-Pierre added. The State of the Union is a perfect opportunity  to lay that out.

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.

Never miss a beat: Get our daily stories straight to your inbox with theGrios newsletter.

The post At State of the Union, Biden gets chance to tell Black America how hes had their backs appeared first on TheGrio.
By David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden vowed Thursday to raise taxes on wealthy Americans and large companies, announcing plans in his State of the Union address to hike corporate minimum taxes and cut deductions for executive pay and corporate jets.

Biden previewed the steps that will be part of a proposed fiscal 2025 budget released next week that aims to decrease the federal deficit by $3 trillion over 10 years while cutting taxes for low-income Americans and aiding middle-class homebuyers.

He proposed a new tax credit that would help Americans buy first homes or trade up to larger ones by providing the equivalent of $400 per month for the next two years to offset high mortgage rates. Biden also called for the elimination of title insurance on refinancings of federally backed mortgages, a move that can save homeowners $1,000 or more.

The tax plans are expected to form a core part of the Democratic president's re-election campaign, contrasting with Republican candidate Donald Trump, who signed a 2017 law that slashed taxes on companies, the wealthy and many middle-class Americans.

"I'm a capitalist. You want to make a million, or millions of bucks? That's great. Just pay your fair share in taxes," Biden said, adding that the Trump-era tax cuts "exploded the federal deficit."

Most of Biden's tax proposals have little chance of enactment unless Democrats win strong majorities in both chambers of Congress in November, a sweep that polls suggest is unlikely.

In addition to previous calls to raise the corporate income tax rate to 28% from 21% currently, he called for an increase to "at least 21%" for the 15% corporate minimum tax that he won as part of 2022 clean energy legislation. The tax applies to firms reporting over $1 billion in profits.

Biden administration officials also told reporters he wants to quadruple the 1% tax on corporate stock buybacks approved in 2022.

TAX BREAK CURBS

Biden also urged Congress to approve far stricter limits on business income deductions for executive pay, limiting them to $1 million for any given employee.

Current law prohibits deductions on compensation for chief executive officers, chief financial officers and other key positions. White House officials said the new proposal would cover all employees paid more than $1 million, and raise more than $250 billion in new corporate tax revenue over 10 years.

Biden also called for Congress to go after business income deductions for the use of corporate jets, an area already targeted for audits by the Internal Revenue Service. This includes extending the depreciation period for corporate jets to seven years, the same as commercial aircraft, from five years currently, reducing annual deductions, an administration official said.

Biden renewed his call for a "billionaire tax" that would impose a 25% minimum tax on income for those Americans with wealth of more than $100 million, saying it would raise $500 billion over 10 years to help fund benefits such as child care and paid family leave.

The average American worker paid about a 25% tax rate in 2022, the OECD reported. Biden said the average tax rate for some 1,000 billionaires was 8.2%, adding: "No billionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a teacher, a sanitation worker, a nurse."

He pledged to extend Trump-era tax cuts for those earning under $400,000 and revive a COVID-era expansion of the Child Tax Credit and increase a tax credit for low-wage workers.

Biden's latest proposals drew a sharp rebuke from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has made preserving the 2017 Republican tax cuts a top priority.

Biden's policies "would actually result in lower economic growth, fewer new business starts, less job creation, and fewer choices for American families," said Neil Bradley, the Chamber's chief policy officer.

But Chuck Marr, who heads tax policy at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said Biden's "course correction" would make the U.S. tax system fairer.

President Biden's tax proposals recognize that the 2017 Trump tax law - as exemplified in the corporate tax rate cut - was skewed to the wealthy, expensive, and failed to deliver on its promises," Marr said.

FIGHTING 'JUNK FEES'

As consumers continue to face high prices, Biden also said his administration would continue to crack down on "price gouging" including "junk fees" added to stated prices, and smaller package sizes - the "shrinkflation" bemoaned on Monday by Sesame Street muppet Cookie Monster in an X social media post.

After a move this week to cap credit card late fees at $8, Biden said this would save Americans $20 billion and banks were "mad" about it.

"I'm not stopping there. My new administration is proposing rules on cable, travel, utilities, online ticket sellers, telling you the total price upfront. So there are no surprises. It matters," he added.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Heather Timmons, Will Dunham and Stephen Coates)
By Jeff Mason, Gabriella Borter and Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden on Thursday laid out his case for re-election in a fiery State of the Union speech that accused Donald Trump of threatening democracy, kowtowing to Russia and torpedoing a bill to tackle U.S. immigration woes.

In a 68-minute address to Congress, Biden, a Democrat, drew sharp contrasts with his Republican rival and gamely challenged Trump's supporters in the chamber during a speech that was watched as much for the 81-year-old president's performance as it was for his policy proposals.

Biden charged Trump, his Republican challenger in the Nov. 5 election, with burying the truth about the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol assault, bowing to Russian President Vladimir Putin and blocking a bill to tighten restrictions at the U.S. border with Mexico.

On the Middle East, the president said he had been working for an immediate ceasefire to last six weeks between Hamas militants and Israel, and he warned Israel against using aid to Gaza as a bargaining chip.

The greater thrust of his remarks focused on Trump, though Biden did not mention him by name.

Biden opened by declaring democracy under threat at home and abroad and criticizing Trump for inviting Putin to invade NATO nations if they did not spend more on defense.

"Now my predecessor, a former Republican president, tells Putin, quote, 'Do whatever you want,'" Biden said. "I think it's outrageous, it's dangerous and it's unacceptable."

Biden, who pressed Congress to provide additional funding to Ukraine for its war with Russia, also had a message for Putin: "We will not walk away."

Trump, in a response on his Truth Social platform, responded with criticism of Biden. "He said I bowed down to the Russian Leader. He gave them everything, including Ukraine," he said.

The speech gave Biden, who is suffering from low approval ratings, a chance to speak directly to millions of American television viewers about his vision for another four-year term.

He used the opportunity to draw contrasts with Trump over abortion rights and the economy, and he directed several barbs at Republican lawmakers in the chamber with off-the-cuff banter that appeared designed to assuage concerns about his age and mental acuity.

Biden was directly challenged by Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who heckled him over Laken Riley, a woman recently killed, allegedly by an immigrant in the United States illegally.

Biden acknowledged Riley - and then, in a reference to efforts to reduce gun violence, referred to greater numbers of people killed in incidents unrelated to migrants in the country.

BIDEN ASSAILS TRUMP, REPUBLICANS ON JAN. 6 RIOT

Biden accused Trump and Republicans of trying to rewrite history about the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot by the former president's supporters seeking to overturn Biden's 2020 victory.

"My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about January 6. I will not do that," Biden said, a signal that he will emphasize the issue during his re-election campaign. "You can't love your country only when you win."

He knocked Republicans for seeking to roll back healthcare provisions under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and driving up deficits, and jibed them for taking money from legislation they had opposed.

Biden faces discontent among progressives in his party about his support for Israel in its war against Hamas, but the mood among Democrats in the chamber was rapturous. They greeted Biden with cheers and applause, prompting him to quip that he should leave before he even began.

Trump, meanwhile, sent a steady stream of messages blasting Biden on Truth Social. "He looks so angry when hes talking, which is a trait of people who know they are 'losing it,'" Trump wrote. "The anger and shouting is not helpful to bringing our Country back together!"

Opinion polls show Biden and Trump, 77, closely matched in the race. Most American voters are unenthusiastic about the rematch after Biden defeated Trump four years ago.

Trump, facing multiple criminal charges as he fights for re-election, says he plans to punish political foes and deport millions of migrants if he wins a second White House term.

Biden emphasized his support of abortion rights and pledged to make them the law of the land if Americans voted in enough Democratic lawmakers to do so.

He also renewed his quest to make wealthy Americans and corporations pay more in taxes, unveiling proposals including higher minimum taxes for companies and Americans with wealth over $100 million. Any such tax reform is unlikely to pass unless Democrats win strong majorities in both houses of Congress in the November vote, which is not forecast.

Biden proposed new measures to lower housing costs, including a $10,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers - an acknowledgement of consumers' distress over high mortgage interest rates - while boasting of U.S economic progress under his tenure.

The U.S. economy is performing better than most high-income countries, with continued job growth and consumer spending. But Americans overall give Trump better marks in polls for economic issues.

BIDEN OUTLINES PLAN FOR GAZA PORT

Biden sought to cool anger among many Democrats over his support for Israel's offensive in Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. He announced that the U.S. military will build a port on Gaza's Mediterranean coast to receive humanitarian assistance by sea.

"To the leadership of Israel I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority," he said.

The president's wife's guests for the speech include Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who was in Washington as Sweden formally joined NATO on Thursday, two years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Biden closed his speech with a reference to his age, saying he had been told during his career that he was both too young and too old. "Whether young or old, Ive always known what endures," he said. He highlighted Trump's age being close to his. "Now other people my age see it differently," he said, referring to their differing visions about America.

U.S. Senator Katie Britt of Alabama, who delivered Republicans' formal response to Biden, attacked him over immigration and the economy.

The true, unvarnished State of our Union begins and ends with this: Our families are hurting. Our country can do better, she said.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason, Gabriella Borter, Idrees Ali and Steve Holland; additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Patricia Zengerle, Nandita Bose, Jarrett Renshaw and David Lawder; Editing by Heather Timmons and Howard Goller)
President Joe Biden arrives to board Air Force One on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, in Hagerstown, Maryland. The President is traveling to Washington, D.C. Alex Brandon via Associated Press

Goodbye, Nikki. See you later, Dean. Its down to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, starting with Thursday nights State of the Union address  the biggest chance Biden will get to impress voters before the Democratic National Convention in August.

Biden begins the heart of his re-election campaign trailing Trump in public polling by generally steady but not insurmountable margins. He has a tepid approval rating and a majority of voters questioning whether he is simply too old to be president. Hell have other advantages, particularly financial. His campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and super PACs backing him have already committed more than $700 million to defeating Trump.

A good portion of the cash will go to the same cause. Biden is likely to commit a significant amount of time during the State of the Union to reminding voters  or perhaps convincing them  of what hes actually done during his time in office, something his campaign and the White House have largely failed to do so far. It may be the central challenge facing Bidens re-election campaign over the next eight months.

The Biden administration has a really hard time breaking through, and its not for a lack of effort or trying, said Danielle Deiseroth, the executive director of Data For Progress. Theyre sending the cabinet, theyre sending the president, out into the world, and folks are just not getting it.

On Wednesday, Data For Progress released polling showing just how few voters give Biden credit for things he has unambiguously accomplished and which the voters themselves unambiguously support. While Biden and his administration have repeatedly discussed the $550 billion in additional infrastructure funding Congress passed under Bidens watch in 2021, it has not reached voters. Only 41% of voters said Biden increased funding for infrastructure, while 42% said he had not.

For other accomplishments  bringing down crime rates, investing in health care, reducing the unemployment rate  the numbers were even worse. Even on abortion rights, arguably the central plank of Democratic messaging, Desieroth said many non-college-educated women did not yet blame Trump for overturning Roe v. Wade.

Democrats increasingly see a lack of recognition for Bidens accomplishments, most of which are popular in public surveys, as the root of many of his problems. Young voters, for instance, often dont know Biden passed major legislation on two of their top priorities, climate change and gun control. And some internal Democratic polling has suggested concerns about Bidens age drop as voters learn more about his accomplishments, suggesting two of his biggest problems may be intrinsically linked.

The concerns around his age are reinforced by the perception voters havent heard of anything hes accomplished, said Navin Nayak, the executive director of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. And that feeds into the story that MAGA and Republicans want to tell, that hes not able to do the job.

Nayak said the problem is a reason for optimism for Biden: Thats not reality. Hes had one of the most productive first terms of any president in the past 50 years.

The White House has signaled that it plans to use the State of the Union to double down on some of Bidens most popular accomplishments, including proposing further tax increases on the wealthiest Americans, raising the corporate tax rate to 21%, ridding corporations of the ability to use tax breaks to pay salaries of more than $1 million, and expanding his proposals to limit the cost of prescription drugs.

President Biden has made clear whos side hes on, Lael Brainerd, the director of the National Economic Council, said Wednesday night on a phone call with reporters. Every day, we see him fighting for the middle class.

There were also new proposals. Though details were scarce, White House aides indicated Biden would also roll out plans to expand the supply of housing and make it more affordable for families.

Trump, meanwhile, has promised to counterprogram the State of the Union as he looks to press his advantages over Biden on key issues, including the economy and immigration.

I am pleased to inform you that tomorrow night we will be doing a LIVE, Play by Play, of Crooked Joe Bidens State of the Union Address, Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. I will correct, in rapid response, any and all inaccurate Statements, especially pertaining to the Border and his Weaponization of the DOJ, FBI, A.G.s, and District Attorneys, to go after his Political Opponent, ME (something never done before in this Country!).

We did this once before to tremendous success - Beating All Records, he continued. It is important for the Country to get the TRUTH!

After the State of the Union, the Biden campaign plans a tour of swing states. The president is set to campaign in Pennsylvania and Georgia this weekend. This will be the start of a long effort to improve his political standing.

Deiseroth and Data for Progress originally ran the numbers on how many voters recognized Bidens achievements six months ago, only to see the conflict in Gaza eat up most of the nations political attention. She said that Biden still has time to turn things around, but not that much more time.

If I run this question again three months from now, she said, and I see the same result, Im going to be marginally more freaked out.

Related...
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  President Joe Biden will deliver his State of the Union address to the American people and a divided Congress just months before the next presidential election.

This wont be your normal State of the Union address. President Biden is looking to build a case for his re-election in November, when hes expected to face a heated challenge from former president Donald Trump.

He will share why he is hopeful about this countrys future, said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre.

The White House says the president will talk about his vision for the economy and hell also focus on mental health and reproductive rights.

 Protecting womens reproductive rights in the face of attacks from Republican elected officials, said Jean-Pierre.

The president will be greeted by the new leader of the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, who has been a major critic of the Biden administration.

Our economic strength is in decline. Everyday goods are more expensive. People can barely afford the cost of living now, said Johnson (R-La.).

Ohio Democrat Senator Sherrod Brown says he wants the president to talk about lowering costs for families.

Weve done, I think, a good job on keeping the price of insulin at $35. I want to limit the out-of-pocket costs for seniors. Were moving in that way, said Brown.

Alabama Senator Katie Britt will give the official Republican response tonight.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Thursday's State of the Union address will be President Joe Biden's last before he runs for re-election in November

When President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address on Thursday night, he will be speaking to more than just the high-ranking US officials seated before him.

Invited by the White House and members of Congress, dozens of notable guests - carefully chosen by policy advisers - will be in attendance to highlight key issues ahead of the November election.

Mr Biden is expected to use his speech, which will air in a primetime slot across all major US networks, to emphasise his political priorities ahead of a likely rematch with Donald Trump.

Based on his invited guests, it appears his speech could centre on access to abortion and fertility treatments and the need to address US foreign policy concerns.

House and Senate members are also allowed guests. Republican leaders, for example, have chosen a number of people associated with border security - a key priority for the party.

Here is what to know about some of the notable attendees this year.

Women who fled Republican-run states for abortions

Kate Cox's case found national attention, after senior Texas officials fought to prevent her accessing abortion services

Democrats hope that abortion will serve as a wedge issue in 2024 after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade two years ago, ushering in restrictions to the procedure across the US.

First Lady Jill Biden has invited Kate Cox to the high-profile speech to illustrate that point. The mother of two sued the state of Texas last year for the right to terminate her pregnancy.

Ms Cox's unborn baby had been diagnosed with a chromosomal anomaly that almost always leads to miscarriage, stillbirth or death of the infant.

She had had two previous Caesarean sections, and the pregnancy could have threatened her life and future fertility, according to a lawsuit she filed.

Ms Cox was initially granted an exemption to a state law broadly prohibiting abortions, as it provided exceptions for pregnancies that were "life-threatening" or that could cause "substantial" harm.

But she left Texas to terminate the pregnancy after the state's Supreme Court blocked the exemption at Attorney General Ken Paxton's request.

Also in the audience will be Kayla Smith, an Idaho mother who was denied an abortion after learning at 19 weeks that her foetus "had serious and fatal foetal anomalies". She had to move to a neighbouring state for an abortion.

First person born from IVF

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine has invited Elizabeth Carr, the first person born via in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) in the US.

An Alabama court sent shockwaves across the US last month after it ruled that frozen embryos are considered children and threw the future of IVF treatments into doubt.

The decision meant a person could be held liable if a frozen embryo was destroyed, and it forced many healthcare providers to suspend the service.

Democrats have sought to frame the decision in a state dominated by Republicans as a fresh attack on reproductive rights.

Ms Carr, born in 1981, said she was "honoured" by Senator Kaine's invitation and that she would serve as a "representative of how far IVF technology has come in this country".

The parents of jailed reporter Evan Gershkovich

The parents of reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained by Russia for almost a year, will attend the address

House Speaker Mike Johnson has invited the parents of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter who has been detained in Russia on espionage charges for almost a year.

The Biden administration has maintained that the journalist was unjustly arrested. Moscow has reportedly rejected several US offers to secure his release.

"By hosting Evan's parents, Congress will shine a spotlight on the unjust detention of their son," Mr Johnson said in a statement. "The United States must always stand for freedom of the press around the world, especially in places like Russia, where it is under assault."

"The administration must bring Evan home," he added.

Mr Biden also invited Yulia Navalnaya - the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who he met with last month - to the address. She declined the invitation, citing fatigue and stress, according to media reports.

Another failed White House invitation went to Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska, who reportedly cannot attend due to a scheduling conflict.

A new Nato leader

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will also be a guest of First Lady Jill Biden for the event.

Mr Kristersson is currently visiting Washington to formalise Sweden's sign-up to Nato - a military alliance of more than 30 Western nations which includes the United States.

Nato membership has grown since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 - with Sweden's own accession following that of its neighbour Finland.

Previously, both countries followed a non-alignment policy.

Relatives of US citizens killed or taken hostage by Hamas

Speaker Johnson, Democratic House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries and other members of Congress have invited 17 relatives of Americans killed or taken hostage by Hamas during the 7 October attack that triggered the Israel-Gaza war.

Freed hostage Mia Schem and the families of six Hamas kidnapping victims, who are thought to be alive, will attend.

Ms Schem, a 21-year-old French-Israeli tattoo artist, was kidnapped while attending the Nova music festival near the Gaza border and freed after 50 days. She will be a guest of Speaker Johnson.

Other guests of the Speaker include Orna and Daniel Neutra, the mother and brother of Omer Neutra - an American serving as an Israeli tank commander who went missing on 7 October.

Mr Jeffries has invited Andrea Weinstein, whose family members - Judy Weinstein Haggai and Gad Haggai - were both killed by Hamas.

But other Democrats have invited guests to underscore the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza and put pressure on Mr Biden. Cori Bush has invited Intimaa Salama, a St Louis graduate student whose family remains trapped in Gaza.

Republicans focus on the border

The crisis at the US southern border, which millions crossed illegally last year, is a key issue ahead of November's election.

Speaker Johnson has invited two New York police officers - Zunxu Tian and Ben Kurian - who fought a group of men outside a migrant shelter in Times Square in January.

The family of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was killed by an illegal migrant from Venezuela, have declined an invitation from Georgia congressman Mike Collins. The seat reserved for his guest will remain empty in her honour.

Meanwhile, Elise Stefanik, a Republican congressional leader who is reportedly among those being considered to be Mr Trump's running mate, has invited Brandon Budlong - a US Border Patrol officer and union leader.

Mr Budlong, an officer with the force for 16 years, said he was "honoured" to be Ms Stefanik's guest, whom he hailed "for her unwavering commitment to securing our border".

Rapper and healthcare advocate Fat Joe

Fat Joe, who won fame in the early 2000s as a rapper and host of MTV's Pimp My Ride International, will be the guest of California congresswoman Nanette Barragan to highlight a push for price transparency in the healthcare system.

He met lawmakers last year as part of a drive to tackle the spiralling level of healthcare debt affecting US citizens. A February analysis says that 8% of Americans carry some amount of medical debt, and government data shows that people in the US owe at least $220bn due to the cost of medical care.

Ms Barragan hailed the rapper as an "incredible advocate" for healthcare price transparency and said she was "proud to be in this fight with him to make healthcare affordable for all American families".
AUSTIN (KXAN)  If youre one of the tens of thousands of people traveling to Austin for South By Southwest (SXSW), odds are youre staying in a short term rental (STR) that doesnt have the permit required to operate in the City of Austin.

Despite Austin City Council members expressing the need to regulate STRs better, thousands of them remain without a city-required license, according to the Citys Development Services Department.

For Austinites, it means the city is missing out on millions of dollars in fees, and city staff have said it makes cracking down on nuisance properties much more difficult.

When we checked in with the Development Services Department, there are only 2,236 active STR licenses in Austin, well short of the total number of listings.

While the City of Austin said it doesnt have an accurate way of tracking all short term rentals in the City, AirDNA  which has been used by the City to provide estimates to City Council previously  estimates there are just short of 10,000 total short term rentals in Austin, according to the latest data.

During major events like ACL and SXSW, that number swells to well north of that, Austin staff have said previously.

We are actively looking at revising our STR policies in the coming months to make sure they address bad actors and better serve our community, Austin City Council Member Zohaib Zo Qadri said.

What gives?

Part of the issue, as KXAN has previously reported, has been legal challenges to STR ordinances nationwide. In December of 2022, Austin City Council passed a resolution aimed at cracking down on those rentals, but legal challenges in other cities forced staff to shift gears.

Court rules Austin short-term rental ordinance unconstitutional

A federal judge also ruled against the City of Austin last year after a Houston couple filed a lawsuit aimed at the citys STR ordinance prohibiting people from operating one without living at the property. That has further complicated the citys efforts.

Matt Curtis, the founder of Smart City Policy group, just so happened to be in a heavy tourist town in Pennsylvania when we reached out this week, at a conference talking about short term rentals. He says this issue is not unique to Austin, and has plagued other major U.S. cities.

The bigger challenge with Austin currently is were kind of at an in between point, where we had created some rules that showed some degree of compliance, we change those rules and the state contested some of the rules that we had, Curtis said. It seems like the city is primed to come back and readdress creating some local rules that will meet the goals of the community.

City staff say they also struggle to pinpoint where those short term rentals are.

The most significant challenges associated with taking enforcement action against unlicensed short-term rentals is having a reliable way to establish their location and the lack of platform accountability. This could be resolved through greater transparency with partners who can confirm location and up-to-date contact information so STR staff could work with property owners, a spokesperson for the Development Services Department said.

Whats the solution?

The Austin Tourism Commission recommended the following to city council in a meeting last month:

Maintain a database of STR licenses

Focus on underreported Hotel Occupancy Taxes

Enhance transparency and streamline licensing by simplifying the application process

Implementing platform fees and holding platforms accountable for non-compliance

According to the City of Austins Development Services Department website, applying for a short term rental license costs $863.80. That includes a $45 notification fee and a $1.81 Development Services Department technology fee.

That license has to be renewed annually, which costs $490, according to the Development Services Department website.

One solution other cities have implemented to get more property owners on board  drop the cost of entry.

Now theres other ways to create revenue from this activity, including greater fine structure, but having a lower fee will get more people into the program, Curtis said.

One city Curtis has worked with thats seen success  Galveston, Texas. There, the city brought together destination marketing teams and the short term rental operators to restructure the citys rules and to educate the public, he explained.

We really worked hard to weed out any bad actors by putting in place really strict rules. But we also made it easy for people to get regulated and enter the program, Curtis said.

As a result, Galveston went from about 2,200 registered short term rentals to roughly 5,100 today, Curtis said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Former White House chief of staff and conservative commentator Steve Bannon said former President Trump does not need an endorsement from former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley now that she has dropped out of the 2024 GOP primary.

Screw Nikki Haley. We dont need your endorsement, Bannon said on his War Room show this week.

Bannon, a top Trump ally, mocked Republicans who have said, Oh, weve got to get to Nikki Haley voters.

Theyre all Democrats that are going to vote for Biden anyway, the conservative commentator said. The exit polls show that. We dont need her donors. Donors arent going to give Trump any money, so lets not  raise her profile by doing that.

As she dropped out of the race following Trumps sweeping victories on Super Tuesday, Haley did not endorse Trump and said Wednesday it was up to the former president to earn her supporters votes.

Trump is widely expected to soon win enough delegates to officially claim the GOP nomination for president and square off with President Biden in a rematch of the 2020 election.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
For two years, Steve Bannon has refused to pay the half-million dollars he owes his former lawyer. Now, his refusal to settle his debts has exposed him and his current attorney to potential sanctions.

Bannon, with the aid of his counsel, has, for months , done nothing but intentionally stall and delay plaintiffs enforcement of its valid money judgment, the law firm that previously represented him wrote to a New York state judge last month, employing an underline to show their heightened frustration.

Bannon, who was once Donald Trumps White House chief strategist and played an active role in the former presidents Jan. 6 coup attempt, is already trapped in a precarious position. Hes a convict trying to avoid serving his four-month prison sentence for ignoring a congressional subpoena that sought to question him over his role in the MAGA insurrection. And the Manhattan District Attorney is putting him on trial in May for duping nativist donors to We Build The Wall who wanted to support a privately built U.S.-Mexico border barrier.

But now hes making it even worse on himself.

Its been seven months since a New York state judge ordered the conspiracy-spewing right-wing political agitator to pay the $484,197 he owed the defense lawyer he stiffed, Bob Costello.

Steve Bannon Admits Bank Account May Have Evidence of Fraud

But since then, according to court filings, Bannon has been dodging the ordered judgment and ignoring follow-up subpoenas. That has put the aggrieved New York City law firm of Davidoff Hutcher and Citron in the awkward position of asking the judge to intervene yet again, citing what they called a last ditch effort concocted by Bannon to game this court.

In its attempt to get a readout of Bannons personal finances and his ability to pay the bill, the law firm tried to question him under oath and sent subpoenas to learn more about his businesses and whats in his personal bank accounts. Emails show that Bannons new lawyer, Harlan Protass, initially agreed in November to schedule a deposition and turn over materialsprovided that they first sign a simple and straightforward confidentiality agreement.

But as the months went by, nothing happened.

Then, in January, Bannon suddenly put up resistance and claimed he couldnt possibly answer questions or turn over bank records. Doing so would potentially reveal evidence of fraud that could ruin his attempt to overturn his federal conviction or even bolster the Manhattan DAs case.

DHCs taking of post-judgment discovery from Mr. Bannon poses a significant risk of compromising Mr. Bannons Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, Protass wrote in court filings.

It was an unwelcome surprise. On Feb. 6, Costellos law firm told the judge that Protass has been toying with them and engaging in a feeble attempt at stalling. Joseph N. Polito, a senior counsel at Costellos firm, wrote that the excuse is beyond any and all logic.

Steve Bannons Lawyer Sues Him Over Unpaid Bills

Polito then took the relatively rare and aggressive approach of asking that New York Supreme Court Justice Arlene P. Bluth hit the right-wing influencer and his lawyer each with $10,000 sanctionsthe highest allowable fine for engaging in intentional dilatory litigation tactics.

Bannons intentional bad faith conduct has left plaintiff with no other choice but to seek civil contempt and sanctions. Without this relief, Bannon will be further emboldened to continue his dilatory tactics that have, and continue to, severely prejudice plaintiff in its efforts to satisfy the substantial money judgment that remains outstanding, Polito wrote.

But Polito went even further, asking the judge to also tack on the cost he incurred for having to address Bannons frivolity, an eloquent insult used to describe the hours hes wasted chasing down the conservative media figure.

Protass did not respond to a request for comment, but he is expected to file a formal reply in court records later this week. Polito did not reply to an email asking about the case.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Stone tools that are about 1.4 million years old have been found in Ukraine. Archaeologists claim that these tools are the oldest in Europe.

Source: Research published in the journal Nature, which not only discusses these artefacts but also lifts the veil on how our ancestors got to this region

In particular, thanks to this discovery, scientists were able to confirm the theory that various species of early hominids migrated to Western Europe via the east, probably along the valleys of the Danube River.

"So far, there has been no strong evidence of East-West migration. Now we have it", says study co-author Roman Harba, an archaeologist at the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague.

Archaeological Site of Korolevo

Photo: Roman Harba

The tool was found in the Ukrainian village of Korolevo near the border with Romania back in the 1980s. But until now, scientists have not been able to determine the exact age of these artefacts.

Archaeologists from the Czech Academy of Sciences used a dating method based on osmogenic nuclides (trace amounts of specific elements created by the interactions of solar radiation and materials present on earth) to determine how long ago the tool was buried. The team estimated it to be 1.4 million years old.

In Europe, there are only two finds older than 800,000 years that confirm the presence of early humans. These are fossils and stone tools found in Spain and France. Both are between 1.1 and 1.2 million years old.

Dating the tools unearthed in Korolevo leads researchers to suggest that the ancestors of the humans who made them were the only archaic humans living outside of Africa about 1.4 million years ago.

Archaeologists also note that artefacts from Korolevo are similar to tools found in the Caucasus Mountains, which are dated to about 1.8 million years ago.

However, there are no fossilised human remains in the oldest layer of sedimentary deposits in the Ukrainian settlement, so it is impossible to say for sure that the tools were made by Homo erectus.

The village where these stone tools were found has been dubbed a treasure trove of prehistoric remains, according to Vitalii Usyk, the co-author of the study and an archaeologist of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

The Korolevo site is relatively safe and was not damaged during the war, although the area is now overgrown with vegetation.

Support UP or become our patron!


This story, part of a series of investigative reporting projects by Military.com on service member and veteran health, was supported by the Pulitzer Center.

Danny Sebeck was shaving on an August day in 2022, when he spotted a lump on his neck he hadn't noticed before. It was probably nothing, he thought.

Later that month, he was talking with a close friend who said he had noticed a similar bump, too. The two had served together at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, as missileers -- a high-stress job in which young officers are stationed below ground in launch control centers to keep careful watch over and, if called upon, fire America's nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles.

While Sebeck was feeling OK, his friend was experiencing fatigue, night sweats and swollen lymph nodes and decided to go to his doctor. Shortly after, his friend learned he had non-Hodgkin lymphoma, an aggressive form of cancer that can be fatal to nearly one-third of those who receive a diagnosis, according to the American Cancer Society.

Read Next: Here Are Soldiers' Top Choices for First Duty Stations

Sebeck was worried and quickly sought out doctors of his own. The 42-year-old husband and father had never been sick, never broken a bone, never had stitches, never spent a night in the hospital. But he'd heard the rumors.

For years, it was an open secret among missileers that the Cold War-era missile alert facilities and launch control centers where they'd spend days sleeping, eating and staying on alert in case of nuclear armageddon were filled with things that might get them sick -- carcinogens such as PCBs, lead paint, asbestos and tainted water. And every missileer veteran had at least one close friend who was battling a form of cancer.

"In the back of my mind, I was like, 'I bet I have the same cancer this guy has,'" Sebeck told Military.com. "There was too much in common with this. We're about the same age; we both worked at the same bases and places."

His gut feeling was right, and the next month, in September 2022, Sebeck was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Military.com spent the past year reporting on missileers and their struggle with cancer. Read more about that work here.

Sebeck, an active-duty Space Force officer, began researching other cases of missileers diagnosed with cancer, an effort that eventually culminated in "The Malmstrom Initiative" slides, a presentation he crafted that outlined alarming indications of cancer clusters in the community. When the presentation leaked to the press, it kicked off a scramble to figure out what is making so many missileers sick, including a major new study now underway by the Department of the Air Force.

A monthslong investigation by Military.com that included government record requests, a two-day site visit to one of the nation's nuclear missile bases, and dozens of interviews with current and former Air Force missileers, as well as the relatives of some who have passed away, found that the U.S. government has overlooked evidence of cancer clusters. Two separate small studies of missileer cancer clusters in the early 2000s failed to recognize the growing problem in the community, with that lack of recognition making it difficult for some missileers to prove to the Department of Veterans Affairs that their illnesses were related to military service, a precursor to securing some benefits.

The military branches also appear to have failed to properly account for contaminants that have been linked to cancer for decades, particularly PCBs, which are still prevalent at unsafe levels in some missile facilities, according to testing done in the wake of the Sebeck presentation.

Instead, the Air Force spent decades telling service members that it was safe, that they could descend into the ground to serve their countries without undue risk, while it was simultaneously aware that threats were present: Official documents are littered with references to the dangerous chemicals and substances that would surround airmen.

John Heiser, who had been stationed at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota for four years as a missileer, immediately thought of the old manuals he'd leafed through as a young officer when he was diagnosed at 30 years old with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Those manuals had warned about the strange, sticky oily substance -- polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs -- which seemed to be in a lot of the equipment in the launch control center.

"Everything had warnings all over the place about pieces of equipment," Heiser told Military.com.

The Toxic Substances Act of 1976 outlawed many carcinogens, including asbestos and PCBs, both of which were used in the construction of missile systems and facilities. Nearly two decades later, in a 1994 Government Accountability Office report, the military services, including the Air Force, admitted they had not done enough to clean up those sites or follow the Environmental Protection Agency's guidelines.

"Although the Toxic Substances Control Act has been in existence for more than 15 years, DoD installations are still not meeting the EPA requirements regarding monitoring, storing, labeling, and disposing of PCB items," the 1994 report says. "In some cases, installations have not corrected problems even when cited by EPA or other monitoring agencies for violations, such as not performing periodic inspections or not cleaning up spilled PCB material."

These issues seemed to boil over in 2001, when the Department of the Air Force was notified that three service members at Malmstrom had been diagnosed with lymphoma, prompting an environmental study. Possible toxins ranging from diesel fuel, PCBs, contaminants from burnt paper tapes, biological exposure from standing water and sewage backup, pesticides, herbicides, chlorophenols and carbon dioxide were cited in the report.

"I remember discussions about previous missileers and a history of people being diagnosed with cancer," said Marie Naidas, a missileer who served at Malmstrom during the 2001 study. She said many missileers eagerly awaited the results. "It was something we knew about back then."

But officials proclaimed all was well.

"Extensive air, water and soil sampling indicates that the workplace is free of health hazards," the 2001 report detailed. "We consider the work area to be a safe and healthy environment for your personnel."

In a follow-up memo in 2003, Air Force officials pitched the idea of a long-ranging epidemiological study. It never happened. Two years later, another study doubled down once more. "We believe that there is not sufficient evidence to consider the possibility of a cancer clustering to justify further investigation," officials wrote.

For decades, the problem went ignored, and those concerns were relegated to watercooler talk for missileers who'd warn colleagues about friends and former airmen diagnosed with cancer at a young age.

More than two decades after the initial 2001 study, in January 2023, Sebeck's "The Malmstrom Initiative" started circulating online.

The presentation detailed 36 cases in which missileers who had been stationed at Malmstrom were diagnosed with a type of cancer. Ten of the airmen who had received cancer diagnoses, according to Sebeck's research, developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Two developed Hodgkin lymphoma, and 24 developed other forms of cancer. Overall, eight of the 36 missileers with cancer diagnoses, the majority of whom served at Malmstrom sometime between 1997 and 2007, had died.

It sparked a major issue for the Space Force, which was created in late 2019 and relies heavily on transfers from the other services to fill its ranks. A fair number, roughly 400, of the service's current officers are former missileers.

A few weeks after Sebeck's slide deck was published online, Air Force Global Strike Command authorized a new wide-ranging study -- one that looked at all three of the nation's intercontinental ballistic missile bases, as well as all jobs related to protecting, maintaining and supporting them, to determine their risk.

It's a widespread study, which is pulling from multiple Department of Defense, VA, national and state databases to examine electronic medical records, cancer rates, and cancer and death indexes.

Col. Tory Woodard, commander of the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, who is heading up the new research into cancer clusters, was hesitant to speak to any possible shortcomings of the 2001 and 2005 studies, saying that "the team at the time used the data they had available to them."

"The studies that were done in 2001 and 2005, the [Pentagon] did not have a large electronic medical record; there was just some data limitations. We didn't have access to the national databases, cancer rates and things that we have available to us now and with the speed and efficiency that we can look at those," Woodard said, adding that the new study will have the benefit of a number of new resources.

But the toxic dangers of PCBs have been known for 47 years, and the congressional watchdog's recognition that the service was not properly labeling, storing or identifying the carcinogens was well known for about 30 years. Even when it was reported a little more than 20 years ago that airmen were getting sick and it could potentially be connected to elements in the missile facilities, officials did not deem further studies to be warranted.

Sebeck, who spoke to Military.com under the condition that he would share stories about his personal health and was not expressing viewpoints on behalf of the Space Force, Department of the Air Force or the Department of Defense, said that the warnings he received from other missileers when he was a young officer didn't resonate until he got his diagnosis and did his own research.

"I knew 20 years ago. People would talk to me and say, 'Hey, some of these guys have cancer.' And now I know all those guys' names and I know their families and their stories," Sebeck said.

A Log of the Past

In the wake of Sebeck's presentation, a grassroots organization called the Torchlight Initiative was created by a group of former missileers. They started a website to tell personal stories, like Sebeck's, and began collecting data for a registry of self-reported cancer diagnoses from those who have served at America's nuclear missile bases.

As of February, the Torchlight Initiative found that 87, or about 25%, of the 347 registered missile community cancer cases at that time in its registry were blood cancers such as lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma. By comparison, of cancer diagnoses in the U.S., 10% are blood cancers, according to a fact sheet from Yale Medicine, the Ivy League university's medical school.

On a recent January day at Paul Hunke's Colorado Springs home, the former missileer sat in his living room thumbing through a miniature composition journal, the pages and cover of which have become frayed and faded with time.

It's a detailed personal diary that logs every assignment he had as a young missileer, 60 feet under the Montana soil. As he thumbs through it, his fingers pass over a name: Capt. Brad Trent.

They had worked together on his 61st alert as a missileer. Trent was his commander when he went underground at the Juliet Missile Alert facility located in the vast and remote Montana plains.

Trent died at the age of 40 from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Elevated levels of PCBs were found at Malmstrom, and one contaminated site was the Juliet Missile Alert Facility where Hunke and Trent worked together.

Hunke's journal, which once evoked nostalgia, now inspires dread. He was there in 2005 when the Air Force conducted its follow-up cancer study at Malmstrom, and officials proclaimed in their report that "sometimes, illnesses tend to occur by chance alone."

He felt like they weren't taking the probe seriously.

"I bet they're going to just tell us everything is fine, everything is safe," Hunke recalled saying to his fellow airmen at the time. "Yet you would look down into the bottom of the capsule ... and you'd see raw sewage sitting down there. You can just smell all of the chemicals that are going on, and so we're all kind of, like, skeptical."

Dozens of former missileers who have spent days at a time in the enclosed launch control centers recounted similar experiences to Military.com.

A Torchlight Initiative report detailed that maintenance dispatches, technical orders and warning labels at launch control centers show that "PCBs were present in the battery charger capacitors, filter monitors, power supply units, light ballasts, and in many electronic filter boxes and electrical capacitors used throughout the WS-133A-M and WS-133B Minuteman weapon systems."

Many troops would handle potentially PCB-coated components without gloves or other protective equipment.

PCBs have been linked to many health concerns involving the liver, skin, reproductive, endocrine, neurological and immune systems, according to research from the National Institutes of Health. They have been present in the launch control centers and launch facilities for all variants of the Minuteman weapon system since 1962.

Exposure could have happened when crews removed or replaced certain components or when water seeped into PCB-contaminated electrical boxes. Crew members could have walked through PCB residue, tracking it onto the launch control center's carpet -- or even into their own vehicles and homes.

When PCB oil dries, it creates a dust that can be inhaled or absorbed through skin.

Despite undergoing a brand-new study where they promised to look at new data, officials still refuse to say they missed the mark in addressing those cancer concerns.

"We all have hope, and we pray that the Air Force is going to do the right thing and be honest and forthright about everything," Hunke told Military.com. "It seems like they are but, boy, we were all skeptical."

Hunke told Military.com that he has become a "paranoid hypochondriac" since the news of a potential cancer cluster spread. He's constantly feeling for lumps on his neck, frequently calls his doctor, and every ache and pain brings him immediate concern.

He also carries some guilt.

Hunke's son, Benjamin, decided to join the Air Force and wanted to work as a missileer, just like his father. He arrived at his first duty station this year, Malmstrom Air Force Base, in the same squadron. Hunke is proud of his son and is honored by his service to the country but, as a father, he's concerned.

Hunke wants the Air Force to act fast, to ensure the next generation feels safe in their jobs.

But Hunke worries that the reputation may already be tainted. He was going out to dinner with his son and his classmates when they graduated from technical school at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and overheard discussion among them.

"All of those students were sitting around a table, it was the night after graduation, and one of them said, 'you know, we're all getting cancer, so it doesn't matter.'"

Hunke replied, "Guys, don't joke about that, because you don't know how real that is."

Going on Alert

Last year, Malmstrom and Minot both found levels of PCBs above the Environmental Protection Agency's threshold of 10 micrograms per 100 square centimeters. F.E. Warren Air Force Base also detected the carcinogen but below that threshold, the service said.

It was the first acknowledgment by military officials that dangers lurking in the launch control centers and missile alert facilities might be creating hazardous conditions for service members.

At F.E. Warren, a concrete bunker sits at the bottom of an elevator shaft that descends 60 feet beneath the frozen Great Plains soil. There, in January, two fresh-faced Air Force officers in their 20s were waiting and prepared, at a moment's notice, to unleash the nuclear missile buried underground with them.

Capt. William Young and 2nd Lt. Trevor Straub were in a launch control center for a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, located about an hour from the base. They sat in pilot chairs overlooking a massive computer terminal filled with switches, keyboards, screens and phones reminiscent of a 1970s television studio. The room is outdated and small, complete with a bathroom like those found on commercial airplanes and a small bed covered by a curtain.

Loud beeps from the computer terminal filled the small space, sending the two young men scrambling. They drew a curtain to keep their work out of view of this reporter and, a few clicks and a phone call later, the noise stopped. It could have been a test or a false alarm, but it clearly wasn't nuclear war -- at least not this time.

The job of guarding, operating and repairing the Minuteman III ICBM missile looks mostly the same at F.E. Warren in Wyoming, Malmstrom in Montana or Minot in North Dakota. The same as it has for decades.

It's a 24-hour mission, often followed by 48 hours off, that requires the young men and women to be ready at a moment's notice. They may need to fix electrical components, keyboards and more to make sure they are prepared at all times, despite substances that might be lurking in the equipment.

Col. Jared Nelson, the commander of the 90th Operations Group, which oversees missileers such as Straub and Young at F.E. Warren, said that, when he was a young missileer stationed at Minot, he "didn't really know to even ask the question" whether he had been exposed to anything during his service.

But he said those concerns shouldn't weigh heavily on his missileers' minds.

"I think it's not something that every day we're walking around moping around and going on and wondering, 'Do you have cancer? Do I have cancer?' That's not worth thinking about," Nelson said. "We don't believe day-to-day we're still in this environment that's going to kill us."

For the young officers in their 20s who are spending their days under the Great Plains, that mentality seems to carry over. They're not thinking about their future health, they're thinking about their current duties.

We accept some of the inherent risk," Straub said when asked whether he was concerned about the ongoing cancer studies. "We have a mission to finish."

In response to those risks, Gen. Thomas Bussiere, the Air Force Global Strike commander, ordered cleanup efforts, no matter the amount, at all three of the bases.

"I want a deep understanding of any potential risk there is or could be to our airmen and Guardians and to the force," Bussiere said in a press release. "This is not about one base, one AFSC, or one rank. It's about all airmen of all [Air Force Specialty Codes] that support our mission and about all of our locations and operating environments."

In response, the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine and the Defense Centers for Public Health collected air and swipe samples from launch control centers and launch control equipment buildings at all three ICBM bases.

Soon, other bases will also be screened for environmental carcinogens.

Air Force officials said Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, which does rocket launches and missile tests, is also being reexamined. In mid-February, air, water, radon and PCB sampling was done, and those results are being analyzed.

"We will use the environmental sampling results from Vandenberg, historical documentation and a review of current operations to help us define what, if any, environmental sampling should be done at the [launch facilities]," Woodard, the commander of the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, told Military.com in December.

A third round of environmental sampling is scheduled for this spring, according to service officials. But in addition to examining more air, water, soil and surface samples in and around missile alert facilities and launch control centers, a larger health study is also ongoing.

"The study is not looking at only non-Hodgkin lymphoma," Woodard said. "So, we're really, as we do this, we're looking for 14 common cancers to make sure that we look at all those rates of cancers."

A town hall presentation from Air Force Global Strike Command shared with Military.com in December showed the service is also aiming its study at other generations of veterans who served at older Titan II and Minuteman II bases, the earlier variants of the ICBMs used as part of America's nuclear arsenal. That includes veterans who served at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota; Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona; Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota; Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri; McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas; and Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas.

Maj. Gen. Stacy Jo Huser, the commander of the 20th Air Force, which oversees ICBM operations, told Military.com in an interview at F.E. Warren that it's clear this study is personal.

"If you're a missileer, you have a best friend that has [non-Hodgkin lymphoma]," Huser said.

Retired Col. Jim Warner, a former missileer and the executive director of the Association of Air Force Missileers, told Military.com that his group has been closely following the issue and is helping the Air Force with its investigation. He also wonders how widespread the potential cancer cluster might be.

"Is it limited to operators or does the impact go into the maintenance, security forces, and support career fields? Is this a Minuteman problem or does it go back to Atlas, Titan and Peacekeeper?" Warner wrote last year. "I will defer to the Air Force to provide the answers. Sadly, this issue will be with us for many years to come."

Last year, when asked about the specific details of the cleanup and mitigation efforts, including whether missileers would be displaced from their routine workspaces, an Air Force Global Strike Command spokeswoman did not provide specifics, saying policies and procedures were being implemented by the workforces at those bases.

Since then, extensive cleanup efforts happened at Malmstrom and Minot but have not yet happened at F.E. Warren. Charles Hoffman, an Air Force Global Strike Command spokesman, told Military.com that service members assisted in those initial cleanup efforts and cleaning continues.

"Military bioenvironmental engineer teams have been conducting cleaning operations where mitigatable PCBs had been discovered," Hoffman said. "Using appropriate personal protective equipment and under the oversight of and partnership with bioenvironmental engineers, a small number of volunteer service members and civilians conduct the cleaning operations."

But he added that "in the future, PCB contractors will conduct cleaning operations" and said Air Force Global Strike Command is in the final stages of "securing a contract to clean PCBs at all missile wings."

Nelson, the commander of the 90th Operations Group at F.E. Warren, said he trusts that leadership is doing all they can to clean and mitigate carcinogens. He hopes missileers understand that people were building those facilities in the 1960s "in good faith" with what turned out to be toxic substances.

He said the job implicitly requires risk.

"I'm not saying there's an acceptable level that we have now, but I'm just saying that we come into this wearing the uniform, knowing that sometimes we're in an environment where risk is," Nelson added. "That's what you do in order to get the mission done. ... I'm not looking for a job with zero risk."

Grappling with Grief, Fighting for Benefits

Many missileers who have been diagnosed with cancer have had difficulties applying for and receiving VA benefits. This is due, in part, to a large number of them not believing they were eligible. Some have been told their illness or injury was not connected to service or that their diagnosis occurred long after separation.

Under the passage of the 2022 PACT Act, millions of sick veterans obtained health care and disability compensation for a variety of environmental exposures abroad. It was one of the largest expansions of VA benefits in the history of the agency.

But that act didn't cover compensation for most toxic exposures within the U.S. beyond health care, leaving these missileers behind.

As a newlywed stationed at Malmstrom, Jenny Holmes watched her husband Mark pull dozens of alerts in the missile fields, never speaking of his experiences, problems or frustrations.

She remembers him once saying, "The job is awful," but he didn't go into detail about it. She remembers him stripping out of his flight suit after he'd been underground for 24 hours on alert, shedding the uniform, which smelled strongly of chemicals, in the garage and running into the house to shower and put on fresh, clean clothes.

She remembers him believing deeply in the mission and wanting to follow in the footsteps of his father, who was also a missileer.

She remembers in 2018 when her husband was struggling with deep fatigue and started to have night sweats and some weight loss. In 2019, she saw his eyes turn yellow and learned that his liver, spleen, gallbladder and lymph system on his right side were all covered in cancer. Mark was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

He began losing weight, losing his ability to focus, losing his ability to be the active dad for their three children. On May 12, 2020, after 16 months of treatment, he died at the age of 37 -- 30 years younger than the average patient diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

"Our children have lost an incredible dad, a dad who read them bedtime stories and snuggled with them. He chased them for hours," Jenny Holmes told Military.com in an interview at her home in Colorado Springs. "But more importantly, they lost a future of making memories with him."

Since 2021, 10 months after his death, Jenny Holmes has been grappling with her grief and fighting with the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has repeatedly denied death benefits related to her husband because, at the time of his diagnosis, he was a reservist who was not on active orders.

She has been trying to secure compensation for his death, as well as expanded GI Bill education benefits for her family, which would offer her peace of mind and financial security as she raises their children alone.

She and Mark's father, Dan Holmes, have emailed lawmakers, spent countless hours on the phone, and worked tirelessly to share their story.

"With all that Jenny has gone through, her claim with the VA to get the benefits for her and their three kids that they deserve is an unnecessarily painful and more than frustrating process, and has gone on for over a year now," Dan Holmes, a retired lieutenant colonel and former missileer himself, told Military.com in an email.

A few former missileers have had success after advocating for VA benefits connected to possible toxic exposure during their service.

One of them is a former missile combat crew commander at Malmstrom named Jackie. She was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2018 at age 42.

In 2020, after a long fight, Jackie was able to secure benefits, in part, because she held onto a copy of Air Force Form 55, the Employee Safety and Health Record she signed in 2001, which warned her about exposure to chemicals, fuels, rodents, asbestos, PCBs and lead, among other contaminants.

"Navigating the VA claims processes, especially 12 years after military separation, is not for the faint of heart," Jackie wrote on Torchlight's website.

Jenny Holmes is grateful that a community like Torchlight exists, not just to help support her through her grief and the complicated VA benefits process, but also to spread awareness to current and former missileers.

But, if she had her way, and if the Air Force had paid attention to past warnings and concerns, Jenny Holmes believes a support system like that would have never been necessary in the first place.

"With all of that said, I do believe this community could have been prevented," she told Military.com. "While it is a blessing, I wish I wouldn't have to be part of it, and I certainly don't want any more members."

Related: Air Forces Missileer Cancer Study Now Looking at 14 Different Cancers and Environmental Risks at Other Bases
Baroness Stowell has tabled an amendment to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill to create the new powers - JEFF GILBERT

Rishi Sunak has been urged by a Tory peer to back new laws that would give Parliament a veto on the UAE-backed takeover of The Telegraph.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Baroness Stowell said the principle of our news media being free from government control or interference is in jeopardy and warned that public trust in the media risked being damaged.

She vowed that if he did not support the amendment she had tabled, which would give Parliament a veto over any sale to a foreign state, she would force a vote on it next week to show the strength of feeling in the Lords.

More than 100 MPs have pledged, in a letter to the Culture Secretary, to back the amendment to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill, which would create the new powers.

Ministers and officials are holding discussions on whether to support it. Labour is also considering whether to back the amendment.

In her letter, Lady Stowell, a former leader of the House of Lords and former chairman of the Charity Commission, wrote: Freedom of the press is a key pillar of our democracy. Public trust in news, Parliament, and the political class has fallen significantly in recent years.

Allowing foreign governments to own such a critical and sensitive part of our nation would damage public confidence yet further.

The proposed takeover of The Telegraph is currently in limbo pending investigations by Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

RedBird IMI, a fund 75 per cent backed by Abu Dhabis Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the vice-president of the United Arab Emirates, has positioned itself to take control of The Telegraph in a complex 1.2 billion debt deal with the Barclay family, which values the company at 600 million.

In her letter, Lady Stowell wrote: On more than one occasion in recent weeks, peers from all sides of the House of Lords have expressed concern that the principle of our news media being free from government control or interference is in jeopardy

She said her amendment had garnered the support of a number of peers, including Labours Lord Robertson, a former defence secretary and Nato secretary general, and Lord Forsyth, the Tory former Scottish secretary.

The amendment would prevent the acquisition of a UK news media organisation by a foreign government without the explicit approval of Parliament, she said. If passed, it would provide an additional and vital barrier of protection for press freedom in this country.

We will be debating my amendment next Wednesday 13th March and I strongly urge the Government to support it. If not, I wanted you to know that based on the widespread and growing support from all benches across the House of Lords, I will call a division.

Calling a division means that there will be a physical count of all members in favour or against, with the names of all those voting each way recorded. Often this does not happen, with amendments accepted or rejected simply on the basis of people shouting yea or nay.

Lady Stowell also praised the decision by Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, to instruct Ofcom and the CMA to investigate.

This demonstrates that the Government has recognised the well-evidenced concerns about the potential for editorial influence and the risk of censorship by the UAE government, she wrote.

Ofcom is scheduled to deliver its report to Ms Frazer by March 11. She would then be able to block the deal following further investigation by the CMA of its potential threat to press freedom.

However, Lady Stowell added: But my concern, and that of many other peers, isnt just about the potential acquisition of those important newspaper titles.

What this situation has exposed is that  in law  there is nothing that clearly prohibits the acquisition of a UK news organisation by a foreign power or organisations under significant foreign government control.

Indeed, the Governments failure in 2019 to intervene successfully in the sale of 30 per cent stakes in the Independent and Evening Standard (quoting similar grounds for wanting to intervene in that case) is evidence of the weakness in our current legal framework.

At a time when some parts of the UK news media face significant economic challenges, we cannot be complacent.

In 2019, the Government launched an investigation into the sale of stakes in the Independent and the Evening Standard to an investor with strong links to Saudi Arabia.

The then culture secretary ordered the competition and media regulators to look at the sale of 30 per cent holdings in the newspaper by Evgeny Lebedev, the Russian owner.

He had sold 30 per cent of Lebedev Holdings to a Saudi businessman with ties to the countrys state owned bank for 25 million. In the end, the deal was allowed to go ahead.

RedBird IMI has pledged to protect editorial independence with legally binding undertakings that the UAE will be a passive investor only and that management of The Telegraph will be the sole responsibility of RedBird, the US private equity firm providing a quarter of the purchase price.

The Barclay family remain owners of The Telegraph but are barred by law from exercising any control.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
DENVER (KDVR)  After a record settlement with Suncor Energy was announced last month, Colorado environmental regulators have issued a strengthened water permit that requires reduced pollution from the Commerce City refinery, including a limit on so-called forever chemicals.

The facility is located along the bank of Sand Creek near the South Platte River and has faced years of concerns from the community for possibly leaking unsafe amounts of benzene and other chemicals into the environment. The state has issued fines for environmental issues surrounding the refinery for years.

Denver Auditor says DIA is leaving money on the table with lax vendor contract oversight

Thanks to a robust and collaborative community engagement process, weve developed the most protective water quality permit Colorado has issued for Suncor, Nicole Rowan, water quality control division director for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said in a release on Wednesday.

The newly released permit is designed to increase the transparency of Suncors site operations, implement monitoring requirements and limit dozens of toxic metals and chemicals, according to the public health department. It also includes limits to long-lasting PFAS chemicals for the first time.

Suncor's facility in Commerce City as seen from SkyFOX

Forever chemicals to be limited at Suncor refinery

PFAS is short for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are long-lasting and widely used chemicals, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and studies point to the chemicals causing harmful health effects in humans and animals.

Suncor was fined $10.5 million in February for air pollution from the oil refinery. In 2019, the facility was fined another $9 million, with $2.6 million to be funneled back into the impacted community.

According to Colorados public health department, the new water permit is more protective than Suncors previous permit and will further protect Sand Creek and downstream waters for recreation, aquatic life, agriculture, and drinking water supplies. It includes:

Requirements to inspect the facility more often and send text notifications when spills occur to those signed up for their text notification program

Conditions to prevent future spills and exceeding the permit limits for pollutants

Limits on PFAS chemicals to protect drinking water providers and reduce public exposure

Limits on salt and arsenic to protect downstream agriculture and drinking water providers

Updated conditions for metals, temperature and selenium to help protect the environment, including aquatic animals

The permit will ensure Suncors facilities operate effectively while holding the facility accountable and ensuring cleaner, safer water in the surrounding community, Rowan, with the health department, said. This is a big environmental win for Colorado, and were grateful for the strong stakeholder-driven work that went into this victory.

FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox

Along with Suncors proximity to Sand Creek, the Burlington Ditch also runs through the property and is an important source of drinking water for communities north of Denver.

The federal Clean Water Act and the Colorado Water Quality Control Act require state regulators to ensure Sand Creeks water is safe for drinking and farming and to protect animals in the water, like fish and insects, according to the state health department.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
Sunshine Week is a nationwide initiative aimed at shining a light on the importance of open government, as well as educating citizens of the duties and responsibilities of government agencies.

In recognition of Sunshine Week, from March 10-16, Orange County Clerk Tiffany Moore Russell wants to remind residents of Floridas commitment to open government and let people know that your local clerks of court play an important role in preparing documents for the public.

Sunshine Week is an event we look forward to at the Clerks Office, said Clerk Tiffany Moore Russell. It is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our ability to manage court records efficiently and provide access to public information. It is also a chance for us to educate the public on the resources we offer that allows them to exercise their right to know easily and conveniently.

Read: Aldi completes deal to buy Winn Dixie, Harveys Supermarket

Clerks work daily redacting documents, ensuring that public records, including court and official records, are made accessible to the public as quickly and efficiently as possible while protecting confidential information.

According to a news release, the Orange County Clerk of Courts Office maintains more than 67 million digital court documents for the 9th Judicial Circuit Court.

While Sunshine Week is only once a year, The annual event reinforces the right of citizens to inspect or request copies of court records or public information, every day of the year.

Read: Does what you eat make you attractive? Researchers say they think so

Here are some resources to check out on reviewing and requesting records in Florida and Nationally:

Read: Aww shucks!!! Oyster recycling program reaches major milestone

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
March 5 was Super Tuesday in the political primary season, with the Democratic and Republican parties across multiple states and territories voting for their preferences for the November presidential election and candidates for state governors, Congressional representation and more. Overall, Tuesday produced largely expected results for the presidential election while elevating some new faces for other important races around the country.

Setting up a Biden Trump

As expected, Super Tuesday brought overwhelming victories for President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, who have long been presumed to be their parties nominees for the 2024 general election. Biden won all 14 Democratic primaries. Despite having no serious challengers in the Democratic Party, his overall strong showing has been crucial to the Biden-Harris campaign as it has dealt with questions about the presidents age and the administrations stance on various controversial domestic and foreign policy issues.

Trump continued to dominate the Republican primary system, winning 14 of the 15 states that voted. Trumps near sweep on Tuesday was enough to push out his final rival, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who also served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under Trump. Haley announced on Wednesday morning that she was dropping out of the race; she did not endorse Trump as other Republican candidates did, leading to Trump and Biden reaching out to her supporters.

Warning signs for both presidential candidates

Despite winning comfortably on Tuesday, the contests were not clean sweeps for either Trump or Biden. Haley, who defeated Trump in the Washington, D.C.s presidential primary on Sunday, earned another victory when she defeated Trump in the Vermont Republican primary. More generally, Haley gained significant numbers of Republican voters in many states where she lost, including those who claimed they would not vote for Trump in the general election.

Biden, meanwhile, lost one contest on Super Tuesday  a Democratic caucus in the small territory of American Samoa. With less than 100 ballots cast in that race, Baltimore businessman Jason Palmer  a virtually unknown candidate  edged out Biden 51-40. More troublesome for Biden is the number of voters in states like Minnesota and Massachusetts who cast their ballots for the no preference or uncommitted option, which has primarily been a protest against the administrations policy on the war in Gaza. Even though Biden won large majorities in every primary state so far, the election against Trump is expected to be close, and even a small number of Democrats staying home because of Gaza or other sources of unhappiness could tip things for Trump in key swing states.

State races and new faces

Beyond the presidential election, Super Tuesday set the stage for several key races nationwide. In California, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey won their primaries for the Senate race to replace the late Dianne Feinstein; Sen. Laphonza Butler was appointed to replace Feinstein but did not run to retain the seat permanently. Schiffs win in the Democratic primary knocks out longtime Rep. Barbara Lee, who would have become the third Black woman senator from California after Butler and Vice President Kamala Harris.

In North Carolina, Mark Robinson, the states first Black lieutenant governor, won the Republican primary to be his partys nominee for governor in the November election. Robinson has sparked multiple controversies in his career, including quoting Hitler, using dehumanizing language against LGBTQ+ individuals and making questionable comments about slavery and reparations. In Texas, Democratic Rep. Colin Allred won the Democratic Senate primary race and will now face off against Sen. Ted Cruz. If elected, Allred would be the first Black person to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate and the first Democrat to win a statewide election in Texas in 30 years.

With a Biden versus Trump rematch all but certain now, Super Tuesday has pushed the election cycle into a new gear. And with many key races and diverse candidates around the country, this political season is poised to be one the most hard-fought political contests in recent memory.
Nearly 28 years ago, Benjamin Netanyahu reached the pinnacle of Israeli political power. Fresh off a razor-thin general election victory over the incumbent prime minister Shimon Peres, the 46 year old Netanyahu flew to Washington, DC for his first official visit with Bill Clinton. According to an account by Aaron David Miller, a veteran Middle East policy official for six US secretaries of state, the confab didnt go well. Venting to aides after the meeting, Clinton asked: Whos the fing superpower here?

Fast-forward to today and the same exact question rings true. But it seems doubtful Joe Biden has the good sense to even ask it.

From the moment Hamas burst through the southern border fence into Israel, slaughtered 1,200 people and stole more than 250 hostages from their homes, Biden has pledged his support for Israels war every step of the way. Three days after the October 7 attack, he delivered a nationally televised address from the White House stressing that Israel had the right and indeed duty to respond militarily in self-defense.

On October 19, Biden upped the ante and tied Israels campaign against Hamas with Russias ongoing war in Ukraine, categorising both as an existential struggle between peace and mayhem. The Biden administration declared a national emergency not once, but twice, to expedite weapons supplies to Israel without having to wait for congressional approval. Through it all, Biden has taken flak from core constituencies in the Democratic Party who are infuriated by his seemingly tough stance.

Netanyahu is no fan of Biden, however. He has disregarded Washingtons advice, turned a deaf ear to the presidents protestations about civilian casualties in Gaza and objected strongly to the notion that Israel isnt doing enough to alleviate the humanitarian situation there. Bidens foreign policy has left the US looking increasingly like an enfeebled partner in this decades-long relationship.

This isnt supposition, but fact. Early in the war, the Biden administration came around to the idea that humanitarian pauses were absolutely essential to surge aid supplies into Gaza. But it took nearly two months for the first, short-term truce to be hammered out, a consequence not only of Hamass intransigence on the issue of hostage releases but also because Netanyahu wasnt eager to provide the terrorist group with a pause.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He appears to be having things very much his own way in dealings with US President Joe Biden - Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

In November, US officials went on record opposing another mass displacement of Palestinian civilians in southern Gaza. The hope was that Israel would be more methodical as it pressed its military campaign against Hamas strongholds in the south. As one administration official told reporters at the time, You cannot have the scale of displacement that took place in the north replicated in the south.

Yet this is precisely what occurred as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) moved toward Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.

In December, the Biden administration emphasised that it would object to any proposed buffer zone inside Gaza since it would shrink the amount of territory Palestinians could access. Netanyahu was unmoved. Hundreds of buildings on the Gaza side of the Israel-Gaza border have since been demolished in what Israeli military officers call a necessary security measure to ensure the horrific events of October 7 wont be repeated.

But it was Netanyahus post-war Gaza plan, unveiled late last month, that was the biggest slap in Bidens face. Throughout the war, the White House has reiterated several red-lines: no Israeli re-occupation of Gaza, no reduction of Gazas territory, no expulsion of the Palestinians who live there and ideally Palestinian Authority control over Gaza after the war is over.

The Israel premiers post-war scheme is essentially a public renunciation of Bidens position. For example, the Israeli military would retain operational control over Gaza for as long as necessary. No reconstruction of Gaza would be permitted until the entire territory was de-radicalised. Governance and administrative tasks would be left to local stakeholders who arent connected to what Netanyahu views as a Palestinian Authority laced with terrorist sympathizers.

Bidens dream of establishing a sovereign and independent Palestinian state appears increasingly ludicrous. Netanyahu is not only dismissive of the idea but has pledged to Israelis of all political stripes that hes the only politician in Israel who will dare stand up to America and prevent such a thing from happening.

Netanyahus strategy has paid off. The US, after all, refuses to condition military aid to Israeli policy changes in Gaza and continues to veto UN Security Council resolutions pressuring Israel to sign onto a ceasefire. As the election looms closer, the presidents poor attempts at diplomacy arent convincing voters.

At least Bill Clinton had the Oslo Peace Process to brag about.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
A wise chief officer in the fire service once told me when speaking about firefighting inside a working structure fire, if you do it right, others will follow. Getting others to follow you into unknown and potentially fatal circumstances is an extremely daunting task to say the least. Amazingly, it is done every day throughout the United States by well trained and skilled fire officers who lead by example, those who know you have already prepared for their best interest. House Bill 1051 and Senate Bill 1082 (which address migrant housing) attempt to follow this wisdom but, unfortunately, have fallen short.

Emory Rowdy Howard

In 2023, the Florida Legislature attempted to pass a bill aimed at unfettered migrant housing with the appearance of being an Ag Bill which met its ultimate demise. Now, in 2024 we are again faced with an Ag Bill that seeks to tie the hands of local governments, allowing unfettered migrant housing while also opening it to workers who are not under the federal H2A program.

Hendry County officials recognize the need for H2A housing and work daily to protect and serve our agricultural entities while also looking out for our residents who call Hendry County home year-round. Unfortunately, this proposed legislation would preempt the local governments ability to ensure these housing units are located in suitable areas.

For most Floridians, their home is probably the single most important financial investment they will ever make. With HB 1051 and SB 1082, that investment will be in jeopardy. This legislation preempts a local government from regulating how, when, and where migrant housing is placed. Hendry County cannot support a bill that prevents our local officials from managing and enforcing common sense planning and zoning so the ordinary homeowner is not at risk of losing significant home value because migrant housing had a negative impact on their property value.

Another serious part of both bills is the definition of an Agricultural Worker. Right now, in Florida and across America, legitimately legal foreign nationals are brought into America via the federal H2A visa program to harvest and care for commodities we grow and produce. Under these bills, the definitions have been crafted and watered down to the point it will allow many of those crossing the border illegally to be participants in this proposed program. That is because, pending adjudication of their immigration claims, they have legal status and the authority to work in Florida. This is an untenable consequence which will allow foreign nationals to cross the borders and these bills are an open door for them to come to Florida and work and live in migrant housing.

The H2A program has served Florida agriculture so well for years and is at risk of become obsolete. I believe HB 1051 and SB 1082 should die on the vine as did the bills in 2023. Agriculture and local government must sit at the same table and craft a bill that supports the labor needs of agriculture and also allows local government to protect the investments of all constituents.

Emory Rowdy Howard is Hendry County District 2 commissioner.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Supporting agriculture and property rights for all residents
From the The Collision on The Dispatch

Welcome once more to The Collision. We will complete the status report from last week with an overview of the legal issues dogging President Joe Biden, but before that, well dive into the Supreme Courts big decision earlier this week on the 14th Amendment case facing Donald Trump.

The Docket

Mark your calendars for April 25, when the Supreme Court has scheduled arguments for Donald Trumps immunity claims. This comes after the court announced last week it would review the unanimous ruling from the panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that rejected Trumps claim of presidential immunity from criminal prosecution.

Theres been no resolution on a new start date for Trumps classified documents trial in Florida, which had initially been scheduled to begin May 20. Judge Aileen Cannon, who had said she was willing to make adjustments to the trial date given Trumps other legal issues, made no decision following a hearing last Friday. In attendance were both Trump himself and special counsel Jack Smith, and both sides presented Cannon with proposals for when to start the trial. Cannon did not indicate when she would make any decisions about a new date, according to reporting from the New York Times.

Its been a few weeks since the hearing, but Judge Scott McAfee is still considering the motion to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting the election interference case involving Donald Trump and more than a dozen co-defendants in Georgia. But there have been some developments in the case involving Willis and Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor with whom Willis had a romantic relationship. First, last week attorneys for Trump submitted phone data records to demonstrate that Wade had on 35 occasions visited the Willis neighborhood before both lawyers had testified their personal relationship began. At the heart of the question before McAfee is whether Willis and Wade began their relationship before or after she hired Wade to help prosecute the Trump case.

Then on Wednesday, the defense attorney who made the initial motion to disqualify Willis and dismiss the case testified in front of Georgia state senators as part of a committees own investigation into Willis. Ashleigh Merchant, who represents Republican operative Michael Roman, repeated her arguments that Willis and Wade were in a romantic relationship earlier than both prosecutors had previously testified, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

SCOTUS Rejects Colorados 14th Amendment Arguments

Bottom line up front? It looks increasingly likely that Donald Trump will be on your ballot come November.

In a unanimous ruling this week, the Supreme Court held that Colorado could not use the 14th Amendments Insurrection Clause to disqualify Trump from its ballot. The court didnt weigh in on Colorados determination that Trump had engaged in an insurrection on January 6, 2021, or whether the president was an officer of the United States according to the text of the amendmentboth issues that had been in question before the oral argument. Instead, all nine justices agreed that a state could not enforce the 14th Amendment against candidates for federal office.

So who can enforce the amendment? That was not unanimous. A five-justice majority held that only Congress could disqualify a candidateand can do so only through legislation. Members of Congress could not, for example, disqualify him by refusing to certify election results. It also means that federal courts could not determine that Trump had engaged in an insurrection and disqualify him that way. In short, a majority of both the House and Senate would have to pass a lawwhich, lets be clear, is not going to happen.

The other four justicescoincidentally, all the women on the courtwould have just decided that Colorado didnt have the authority to disqualify Trump and not answered the question about who else might be able to, as their two separate concurring opinions outline. I agree that States lack the power to enforce Section 3 against Presidential candidates, Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in her concurrence. That principle is sufficient to resolve this case, and I would decide no more than that.

In an interesting side note, in its rush to get the opinion out before Super Tuesday, the court forgot to delete whats called the metadata in the document that lets us peek behind the curtain. It turns out that the other concurrencesigned by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jacksonwas at one point only written by Sotomayor and was a partial dissent. We cant know for sure, but that is strong evidence that there was at one point some discussion about an 8-1 outcome in the case on the narrower grounds without Sotomayor.

In the end, after much ink had been spilled, we are in the same place we were before this idea was ever floated. And whether he is convicted in New York next month or not, the stubborn fact remains: There is no one neat constitutional trick to prevent Donald Trump from becoming president.

Status Report on Biden Investigations

Last week, with an eye toward the general election, we caught you up on the status of all of Donald Trumps legal cases. We also joined Jonah on the Dispatch Podcast for a fun discussion of our write-up.

Well finish the job here with all of those lingering legal issues facing President Joe Biden.

Hunter Bidens legal woes.

The only living son of President Joe Biden is in some serious trouble.

Hunter Biden is facing multiple felony and misdemeanor federal charges, including several counts of tax evasion and making false statements during a gun purchase. Theyve all been brought by a special counsel, David Weiss, appointed last year by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Hunter has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and has already made multiple motions to dismiss the gun charges. Its not clear when he might go to trial on the gun charges in Delaware, but the judge overseeing the tax charges in California has set a tentative June 20 trial date, with pretrial motions set to begin later this month.

The charges are bad, but the details contained in the indictments about Hunters drug-addled playboy lifestyle added insult to injury. He spent millions of dollars over a few years on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, the December 2023 indictment on tax charges reads, in short, everything but his taxes.

This story of Hunters sordid extracurricular activities is embarrassingbut is also, as Dispatch Politics has reported, long known to the public and is likely to be a nonfactor politically for President Biden. Hunter is a grown man who has made some bad personal decisions while addicted to drugs and is facing some legal consequences as a result.

More notable is that a Justice Department run by his own father brought charges at all against Hunter. As we have previously reported in The Collision, its likely that a combination of Republican-led congressional oversight and concern from law enforcement about the optics of not prosecuting the son of the sitting president got Hunter here.

The Biden impeachment flame out.

Weiss has made clear that his investigation into criminal wrongdoing by Hunter Biden is still ongoing, and thats brought plenty of speculation from Republicans that Hunter could still be charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Actthe federal law that governs disclosure rules for anyone engaging in lobbying and advocacy on behalf of foreign governments and entities.

All those millions he spent while failing to pay taxes? That money came from Hunters foreign business dealings in the waning years of the Obama administration and the years after. And its Hunters remunerative attempts at influence peddling that have driven the ongoing impeachment inquiry by House Republicans into President Biden.

The theory of the House GOPs case is that the president may be guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors by way of his involvement in Hunters foreign business and that, perhaps, official U.S. policy was influenced by Hunters business concerns. Reps. James Comer and Jim Jordanchairmen of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees, respectivelyhave spent a great deal of time on cable news arguing that a number of subpoenaed documents and communications offer evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the president. The single public hearing held on impeachment last fall was largely a bust on the GOPs own terms.

House Republicans have unearthed plenty of questionable communicationsincluding dozens of emails between then-Vice President Biden and one of Hunters business associates. None, however, show a direct link to Biden either selling his access through Hunter or to Hunters business influencing Biden to alter Obama administration policy. And its been clear that Joe Bidens own blanket denials of his knowledge of Hunters business activities are dubious at best.

But whatever the merits to some of the Republican claims, the effort to identify actual impeachable offenses and produce articles for the House to vote on and the Senate to hold a trial on was undercut last month by a particularly inconvenient indictment. A key fact witness for House Republicans, longtime FBI source Alexander Smirnov, was indicted by the special counsel, Weiss, for lying about the Bidens. Go read our recent Collision on the subject for the details.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team continue to stand behind the impeachment inquiry, but even the closed-door testimony of Hunter last week does not seem to have substantially changed the trajectory of the investigation. Its looking increasingly unlikely the House brings any articles of impeachment against Bidenthough you can never say never.

The Biden documents case.

We covered the investigation into President Bidens retention of classified documents in last weeks issue, particularly the effect the report from special counsel Robert Hur would have on Donald Trumps own pending classified-documents case.

But Hurs report and the initial backlash to it from Democrats are not the end of this story. Hur is scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on March 12. Expect Republicans to press Hur for more details of his perception of Bidens mental capacity, and perhaps some pointed questions on Hurs recommendation against prosecuting Biden for his retention of those documents. Democrats on the committee are likely to dismiss the hearing as a fishing expedition by Republicans.

Whatever he says, Hurs testimony could directly influence how Americans perceive Bidens age issues. It will be one to watch.

Read more at The Dispatch

The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free.
KYODO NEWS - Mar 7, 2024 - 21:45 | All, Japan

A court on Thursday rejected a lawsuit seeking to halt the operation of a nuclear reactor in western Japan amid safety concerns, finding that the earthquake and volcano risk assessments conducted by the plant operator were reasonable.

In the ruling delivered by the Oita District Court regarding the operation of Shikoku Electric Power Co.'s No. 3 unit at the Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture, Presiding Judge Maiko Takechi said the court does not see any "specific danger" that threatens the lives of the plaintiffs in Oita Prefecture, which faces Ehime across the Seto Inland Sea.

The plaintiffs filed an appeal against the district court judgement with the Fukuoka High Court the same day.

The case is among a series of similar lawsuits filed against the reactor -- the sole operating reactor at the plant -- despite it meeting the country's strengthened safety standards introduced in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Injunctions were issued against the reactor by the Hiroshima High Court in 2017 and 2020 in two petitions filed by residents including from Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures, but the same court subsequently reversed the decisions.

The Oita lawsuit was filed in 2016 by residents who called for in-depth surveys to find out whether there are active faults in the vicinity of the Ikata plant and to conduct a more thorough analysis of the possible impact of a massive eruption of Mt. Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture, which is located about 130 kilometers away.

Shikoku Electric has said its sonic prospecting has not showed the existence of an active fault near the plant, while dismissing the need for a three-dimensional survey to look into the underground structure as requested by the plaintiffs.

The power company has also played down concerns that pyroclastic flows would reach the reactor even in the event of a catastrophic eruption of Mt. Aso.

The Ikata complex had three reactors in operation before the Fukushima nuclear disaster, which was triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan in March 2011.

The plant operator has decided to scrap the No. 1 and 2 units, while the No. 3 reactor has passed the post-Fukushima disaster safety screening process and was put back online in 2016.

Related coverage:

Court rejects case opposing restart of Miyagi Pref. nuclear plant
Burglary suspect arrested while on the toilet in Lakewood home

DENVER (KDVR)  The Lakewood Police Department was involved in a unique arrest when they caught a suspect while he was using the restroom.

You know the ol adage caught with your pants down?' Thats what Lakewood police tweeted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Feb. 29 when they caught a burglary suspect.

According to the department, agents were called to a property after a verified burglary alarm went off. The agents used drones to locate the suspect, and unfortunately, he was caught in an inopportune position.

While we see a lot of things in the line of doody, we had no clue what awaited us this time! said Lakewood police.

This Colorado city was planned as a utopia

Body camera footage posted to X shows two agents with their guns drawn preparing to open a door to a restroom. When the door opens, the agents were met with the suspect who was using the toilet.

The suspect was taken to jail. Lakewood police added that he was arrested after pulling his pants up.

The man is being held on second-degree burglary charges.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
BABYLON, N.Y. (WPIX)  Four people charged in connection to severed body parts found scattered across Long Island have been freed without bail, according to Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine.

This is outrageous, and completely unacceptable in a civilized society when our prosecutors are handcuffed and those charged with this heinous crime are mandated by the state to go free, a statement from Romaine read.

Last Thursday, a student discovered a severed arm of a 53-year-old man at the eastern end of Southards Pond Park in Babylon, police said. More body parts belonging to the man and a 59-year-old woman were also found in the park, according to authorities.

More human remains were found on Tuesday in a wooded area across from 103 Lakeway Dr. in West Babylon as well as at Bethpage State Park, police said.

Torso found in Bronx apartment building

By Wednesday morning, four suspects  Steven Brown, 44, Jeffrey Mackey, 38, Amanda Wallace, 40, and Alexis Nieves, 33  were charged with concealment of a human corpse, hindering prosecution, and tampering with physical evidence.

In the courtroom, prosecutors said the four defendants hacked the two bodies to pieces in a home on Railroad Avenue in Amityville. They said the house was uninhabitable after investigators searched the plumbing for blood and other evidence.

Sources indicated the crimes were not gang-related.

Less than an hour after being arraigned, all four suspects were released from custody without bail.

Unfortunately, due to Bail Reform passed by the New York State Legislature in 2019, charges relating to the mutilation and disposal of murdered corpses are no longer bail-eligible, read a statement from Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney. This is yet another absurd result thanks to Bail Reform and a system where the Legislature in Albany substitutes their judgment for the judgment of our judges and the litigants in court. We will work with the Suffolk County Police Department to resolve this investigation as soon as possible and implore our Legislature to make common sense fixes to this law.

The Suffolk County Medical Examiner and the police have identified the 59-year-old woman whose body parts were found, and officials have tentatively identified the 53-year-old male. Police did not publicly release their names.

Cameras will be installed in conductor cabins after subway slashing: Gov. Hochul

None of the suspects have officially been charged with murder. However, sources expect the addition of murder charges soon, following a grand jury presentation.

Several of the defense attorneys spoke following the arraignments.

He maintains hes not guilty and just because the district attorney and police say that it is so, does not mean that it is so, said the attorney for Mackey.

He did not kill anybody, said the attorney for Brown. As far as I can see from the get-go, this case is based upon a lot of assumptions and we will see what they claim is their evidence.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
The first chair Nicky Morgan had to sleep in at Morriston Hospital

A patient who said he was left waiting in a hospital chair for five days has described his "nightmare" experience.

Nicky Morgan, 42, went to Morriston Hospital, Swansea, on Saturday night with severe headaches and was told he had a potentially serious condition.

But he said he was told there were no beds and has slept on a chair in a room next to A&E since being admitted.

Swansea Bay health board apologised and said with "exceptional demand, waits are much longer than we would like".

Mr Morgan, from Swansea, said he was told he would have to stay in hospital as he had hypercalcaemia - a condition where the calcium levels in the blood are too high - which can be life-threatening in some cases.

Nicky Morgan says he had heard other patients describe the hospital as a "warzone"

"When I came in on Saturday night I was told the wait was 13 hours but because I was quite unwell I got seen in about three hours," he said.

"It was OK for the first six to eight hours, but by Sunday it was quite clear there was no plan about how they were going to see all these patients."

Mr Morgan said there were people with "bloody injuries" and other patients who were "unwell with heart problems" also left to sleep in chairs or on the floor.

He said: "Over the last few days I've heard people describing it as being in a warzone here, with people on the floor, people needing treatment and not getting it.

"At one point there was about one nurse looking after about 20 patients.

"The staff are doing their best but they're so far stretched. If you push people that far it's inevitable people are going to make mistakes.

"It's been really horrible to see and experience the situation the NHS is faced with."

Mr Morgan, an IT service manager, said he had not been told what his treatment plan was, and was worried about how long he would have to stay in hospital.

The second "slightly comfier" chair that Mr Morgan was moved to after four days

Speaking on Wednesday, he said: "They haven't had enough time to explain what's wrong with me, or with anyone else here.

"I'm just overthinking what's wrong with me, am I going to be OK? When will I be able to go home?

"On Sunday I was told they would start the treatment but it still hasn't started."

Mr Morgan said he slept on the same chair from Saturday to Tuesday, and was moved to another "slightly comfier" chair on Tuesday night.

"I think I had about 30 minutes sleep during the first four days. It's been a nightmare."

Morriston Hospital in Swansea says it is under extreme pressure

In a statement on social media on Wednesday, the health board said Morriston Hospital was "under extreme pressure with high numbers of acutely unwell patients needing treatment and beds".

It said: "As a result, we are at our highest level of escalation - a business continuity incident.

"Staff are working extremely hard. But waits are much longer than we would like, especially for those who attend our Emergency Department (A&E) with less serious and non-life threatening illnesses or injuries."

It said people should not visit the emergency department "unless absolutely unavoidable" and those with minor injuries such as broken bones or dislocations should visit the Minor Injury Unit at Neath Port Talbot Hospital.

Responding to Mr Morgan's experience, the health board said it was "very sorry".

A spokesperson added: "We do not want anyone waiting a long time for a bed.

"Here at Morriston Hospital we have undertaken a significant amount of work around our front door, which is designed to offer the right care to the right patient in the right setting, enabling those who can do so safely to go home sooner and, for those who need one, to be admitted to a bed as soon as possible.

"But we are currently experiencing exceptional demand which means that, despite our best efforts, waits are much longer than we would like."
Sweden applied to join the military alliance after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine

Sweden has officially become the 32nd member of Nato after it completed its accession process in Washington.

The handover of documents took place at a ceremony two years after Sweden applied to join the military alliance following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that "unity and solidarity" would be Sweden's "guiding lights".

Nato today "is stronger than ever," US President Joe Biden said.

"Nato stands more united, determined, and dynamic" the US leader said, adding that "together with our newest ally Sweden - Nato will continue to stand for freedom and democracy for generations to come."

"This has been a little bit of a road but we've known from day one that we would be here one day," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg posted on X that Sweden brings with it "capable armed forces and a first-class defence industry" and that the alliance had become "stronger and safer".

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky also welcomed Sweden's accession to Nato, saying "one more country in Europe has become more protected from Russian evil."

Russia has vowed to take unspecified political and military measures in response to Sweden's move.

Sweden applied to join the defence alliance after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 - but its request was blocked by two members.

Turkey initially withheld approval in a row over what it called Sweden's support to Kurdish separatists. It eventually lifted its veto in January of this year.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused Sweden of being hostile to it and delayed its approval until last week, when the Hungarian parliament eventually voted to ratify the bid.

All Nato members are expected to help an ally which comes under attack.

Mr Blinken recalled Sweden's 200-year policy of non-alignment which lasted until Russia invaded Ukraine, saying that Nato expansion was not "foreordained" or "foreseeable".

Mr Kristersson said: "We are humble, but we are also proud. We will live up to all expectations."

"We share burdens, responsibilities and risk with other allies."

He added that security situation in the region had not been this serious since World War Two, and added that Sweden was joining Nato both to provide and to gain security.

Finland formally joined in April last year, doubling the length of the alliance's border with Russia.

On Monday a flag-raising ceremony to mark Sweden's accession will take place at the Nato headquarters in Brussels.

Map illustrating Nato's European expansion since 1949
(Bloomberg) -- Sweden became the 32nd member of NATO, completing the defense alliances historic enlargement into the Nordic region, nearly two years after Russias invasion of Ukraine prompted the membership bid.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson handed Swedens accession document to Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the US State Department on Thursday, marking its formal entry into the alliance. The countrys flag will be raised over the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations headquarters in Brussels on Monday.

We will live up to the high expectations from all NATO allies, Kristersson said. We will share burdens, responsibilities and risks with other allies.

Swedens addition comes 11 months after Finland completed its accession, despite the nations submitting a joint bid. The hold up was due to objections from both Turkey and Hungary. Turkey ratified in January after securing a deal to acquire fighter jets from the US, while Hungarys parliament approved entry on Feb. 26, 21 months after the Nordic country applied for membership.

Good things come to those who wait, Blinken said. None of this was easy, none of this was obvious. Its taken nearly two years of tireless diplomacy.

Read More: How Russia Pushed Finland and Sweden to Join NATO

Having Sweden and Finland in the alliance cements NATOs position in the Baltic Sea and allows it to better defend the Baltic nations. The only land connection between those smaller countries  Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania  and the rest of NATO is the narrow Suwalki Gap, often considered the alliances weakest spot. The Baltic countries have been flagged as a potential target for Russian aggression.

As a full member, Sweden benefits from NATOs Article 5 mutual defense commitments  meaning allies are bound to come to its aid if its under attack  and the Nordic country will have to defend other allies, too. Sweden can help facilitate the transit of troops and equipment from Norways North Sea ports to the east. Its island of Gotland can help secure control of critical naval routes and air space.

Still, Sweden is joining NATO at a time when the alliance is grappling with growing uncertainty about the USs commitment to European security. Donald Trump, who could return to the White House after Novembers elections, has suggested letting Russia attack members that dont meet NATOs spending goal. Even the current administration under President Joe Biden is facing difficulties passing aid for Ukraines defense against Russia, and the US has in recent years been shifting its focus away from Europe toward Asia in response to Chinas increasing military power.

This starts a new chapter in the history of the Kingdom of Sweden, Ebba Busch, deputy prime minister, told reporters in Stockholm. Now we will build security, peace and freedom together with others. NATO membership strengthens the protection for our democratic values and for our way of life.

--With assistance from Natalia Drozdiak and Ott Ummelas.

(Updates with comments from Kristersson and Blinken from third paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
March 7 (UPI) -- Sweden on Thursday officially became the 32nd member of NATO after a nearly two-year delay and a longstanding policy of nonalignment.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson delivered the NATO Instrument of Accession to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, who accepted it as the depositor of the treaty, finalizing its entry into the military alliance.

"This has been a little bit of a road but I think we've known since day one that we would be here today and now we are," Blinken said, acknowledging the controversies that slowed Sweden's formal acceptance into NATO. "This is a historic moment for Sweden. It's historic for our alliance. It's historic for the trans-Atlantic relationship."

Kristersson said Sweden is humbled to become a member of NATO and is prepared to take on the responsibility of working with fellow member nations in keeping the region secure.

"We will live up to high expectations from all NATO allies, united we stand," he said. "Unity and solidarity will be Sweden's guiding light as a NATO member, where we share burdens, responsibilities and risks with other allies."

Today, @SwedishPM Ulf Kristersson deposited Sweden's instrument of accession to the United States - the official documentation that completes Sweden's entry into @NATO. pic.twitter.com/ssQZ04qPya Department of State (@StateDept) March 7, 2024

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in comments Thursday that Sweden is taking its "rightful place" among many of its European neighbors who are already part of the alliance to help shape NATO's policies and decisions.

"After over 200 years of non-alignment Sweden now enjoys the protection granted under Article 5, the ultimate guarantee of Allies' freedom and security," Stoltenberg said. "Sweden brings with it capable armed forces and a first-class defense industry.

"Sweden's accession makes NATO stronger, Sweden safer and the whole alliance more secure."

Sweden's flag will be raised for the first time along with other members at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday.

Sweden and Finland asked for admittance into NATO shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, but Sweden's application was slowed by Hungary, who kept ties with the Kremlin, and Turkey, which was concerned about Sweden's response to Islamophobia there.

President Joe Biden on Thursday issued a statement welcoming Sweden into NATO and calling the admission a reaffirmation of "our shared democratic values -- and our willingness to stand up for them."

"When Putin launched his brutal war of aggression against the people of Ukraine, he thought he could weaken Europe and divide NATO," the statement read. "Instead, in May 2022, Sweden and Finland -- two of our close partners, with two highly capable militaries -- made the historic decision to apply for full NATO membership."

The United States will host the 2024 NATO summit, marking the organization's 75th anniversary, July 9-11 in Washington, D.C.
Semafor Signals

Insights from Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter, and Foreign Policy

The News

Sweden officially joined NATO on Thursday, ending an almost two-year long process delayed by internal divisions within the alliance, in a move that shores up the blocs military power in the Baltic region.

Good things come to those that wait, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference welcoming Sweden into the alliance.

Today is a truly historic day for Sweden, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said. It is a major step, but at the same time a very natural step.

Sweden had maintained a policy of neutrality since the early 19th century, but after Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the country quickly changed tack. In 2023 Swedish lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to join the alliance, signing off on the countrys application in a 269-37 vote.

While Sweden initially hoped to join the alliance rapidly alongside Finland, this timetable was derailed by Turkey and Hungary, who dragged the process out until the Hungarian Parliament finally ratified Swedens bid at the end of February.

Sweden entering NATO is going to substantially increase the bang for buck in defence and deterrence in northern Europe, the former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt told the Financial Times.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Swedish membership boosts NATOs Baltic presence

Sources: Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter

Swedens membership will be especially important for bolstering NATOs presence in the Baltic region, which has long been a weakness for the alliance. According to one analysis by the RAND think tank in 2016, Russia could overrun Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania within 36 hours. Sweden brings with it a strong naval force designed to operate in the shallows of the Baltic Sea and one of the largest air forces in Europe. Especially important is the Swedish island of Gotland, which one Swedish soldier called an unsinkable aircraft carrier in the middle of the Baltic, the Financial Times reported. Without access to Swedish territory, it is difficult to meet NATOs defense plan for the Baltics and impossible to meet the defense plan for Finland, a Swedish defense expert told Dagens Nyheter, a Stockholm-based newspaper.

Stockholm has been preparing to join the alliance

Sources: Foreign Policy, Italian Institute for International Political Studies

Despite the drawn-out accession process, Sweden has made the most of its time in the cold. The country has begun to link its communication systems with the NATO standard command-and-control system, Foreign Policy reported, and a flagpole has long stood ready for Swedens blue and yellow standard at NATOs military headquarters in Belgium. Even before applying for membership, Sweden already had a high degree of cooperation with NATO, which has prepared the country for almost instant operational readiness within the alliance, Minna Alander of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs wrote for the Italian Institute for International Political Studies.

A legacy of neutrality may cause teething problems within the alliance

Sources: Expressen, Carnegie Europe

Swedens government has vowed to boost its defense spending by almost 30%, but some Swedes have said that the country remains (peace-damaged)  naive about its own security after two centuries of peace. Strong anti-nuclear sentiments and calls for dialogue with Russia could lead to tensions with other NATO states in the years to come, the Danish security expert Sten Rynning wrote in Carnegie Europe. On the military front, Swedens preference for domestically-produced Gripen fighter planes may hamper plans for a joint Nordic air defense, as the rest of NATOs Nordic members use U.S.-made F-35 planes, Rynning added.
Sweden officially joined NATO on March 7, almost two years after it applied to join the alliance.

Sweden and Finland applied for membership in 2022, abandoning their non-alignment policy in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine. Both countries' accession was held up by objections from Turkey and Hungary.

While Finland joined in April 2023, Turkey ratified Stockholm's bid only in January 2024. Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok signed the bill on Sweden's accession on March 5, clearing the final hurdle.

The remaining steps of the accession process occurred on March 7, when Hungary formally submitted its approval. Following this, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg officially invited Sweden to join, and the Swedish government convened to give the go-ahead.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson then handed the so-called "instruments of accession" to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington.

"Sweden is now a NATO member. Thank you all Allies for welcoming us as the 32nd member. We will strive for unity, solidarity and burden-sharing, and will fully adhere to the Washington Treaty values: freedom, democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. Stronger together," Kristersson wrote on X following the announcement.

Stoltenberg congratulated Sweden on accession on X, saying that the country is taking "its rightful place at our table."

"Swedens accession makes NATO stronger, Sweden safer, and the whole Alliance more secure," he added.

Sweden's flag will be raised at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on March 11.

The move was a reversal of 200 years of formal Swedish military neutrality.

It would also effectively turn the Baltic Sea into a "NATO lake," in which Russia is surrounded by alliance members.

Read also: Finnish president-elect: Ukraines NATO membership just a matter of timing

Given Russia's supposed justification of its full-scale war against Ukraine as a pushback against NATO expansion, Sweden's accession to the alliance has been widely characterized as a "strategic blow to Moscow."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova threatened in February 2024 that there would be a Russian response to the move but did not clarify what it would entail.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made similar vague threats to Finland after it joined the alliance, saying in December 2023 that Finland is "now going to have problems" because it joined NATO.

NATO militaries have strengthened their capacity and preparedness since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While the prospect of the war escalating to an all-out clash between the alliance and Russia has so far been averted, there are concerns that the West has not truly accepted that it may still be a possibility.

Several NATO commanders and other alliance leaders have warned in increasingly stark terms in recent months about the dangers of such a war and what impact it could have across Europe.

Ukraine applied for a fast-track NATO accession on Sept. 30, 2022, after Russia claimed the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions. Ukraine's prospects of joining the alliance while the full-scale war is ongoing remain low.

Read also: Volker: West has made a lot of mistakes in Russia-Ukraine war

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (R), applaud during the NATO ratification ceremony at the US State Department, as Sweden formally joins the North Atlantic alliance, in Washington, DC, on March 7, 2024. Credit - ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDSAFP/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON)  Sweden on Thursday formally joined NATO as the 32nd member of the transatlantic military alliance, ending decades of post-World War II neutrality as concerns about Russian aggression in Europe have spiked following Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided at a ceremony in which Swedens instrument of accession to the alliance was officially deposited at the State Department.

This is a historic moment for Sweden. It's historic for the alliance. It's historic for the transatlantic relationship, Blinken said. Our NATO alliance is now stronger, larger than its ever been.

Kristersson wrote in a social media post that we are therefore a safer country.

Later Thursday. Kristersson will visit the White House and then be a guest of honor at President Joe Bidens State of the Union address to Congress.

Lon Tweeten for TIME

The White House said that having Sweden as a NATO ally will make the United States and our allies even safer.

"NATO is the most powerful defensive alliance in the history of the world, and it is as critical today to ensuring the security of our citizens as it was 75 years ago when our alliance was founded out of the wreckage of World War II, it said in a statement.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg described it as a historic day.

Sweden will now take its rightful place at NATOs table, with an equal say in shaping NATO policies and decisions, he said in a statement.

The Swedish flag will be raised outside the military organizations headquarters in Brussels on Monday. Stoltenberg underscored that the Nordic country now enjoys the protection granted under Article 5, the ultimate guarantee of allies freedom and security.

Article 5 of NATOs treaty obliges all members to come to the aid of an ally whose territory or security is under threat. It has only been activated once  by the U.S. after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks  and is the collective security guarantee that Sweden has sought since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Swedens accession makes NATO stronger, Sweden safer and the whole alliance more secure, Stoltenberg said. He added that the move demonstrates that NATOs door remains open and that every nation has the right to choose its own path.

Sweden, along with Finland, which joined NATO last year, both abandoned long-standing military neutrality that was a hallmark of the Nordic states Cold War foreign policy after Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022.

Biden, in his speech to Congress, is expected to cite Swedens accession to NATO as evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putins intent to divide and weaken the alliance has failed as a direct result of the Ukraine invasion. And, the Democratic president is expected to use Swedens decision to join to step up calls for reluctant Republicans to approved stalled military assistance to Ukraine as the war enters its third year.

Biden and his NATO counterparts have vowed that Ukraine will join one day, too.

Swedens membership had been held up due to objections by NATO members Turkey and Hungary. Turkey expressed concern that Sweden was harboring and not taking enough action against Kurdish groups that it regards as terrorists, and Hungary's populist President Viktor Orban has shown pro-Russian sentiment and not shared the alliances determination to support Ukraine.

After months of delay, Turkey ratified Swedens admission earlier this year, and Hungary did so this week.

___

Cook reported from Brussels.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's government will on Thursday make a formal decision for the country to join NATO, it said in a statement, giving a green light to its foreign minister and prime minister to hand accession documents to U.S. officials in Washington, D.C.

The Swedish handover of documents is expected to take place at a ceremony in Washington later on Thursday. Sweden will immediately become NATO's 32nd member when it deposits the formal documentation.

(Reporting by Nordic reporters, editing by Terje Solsvik and Anna Ringstrom)
Police on site after an explosion in Tyreso, Sweden, Thursday March 7, 2023. Swedens Security Service said Thursday it had arrested four people on suspicion of preparing terrorist offenses with links to Islamic extremism and organized crime. Several houses were searched in the operation. (Anders Wiklund/TT via AP)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)  Swedens Security Service said Thursday it had arrested four people on suspicion of preparing terrorist offenses with links to Islamic extremism and organized crime.

The service did not say where or when the alleged attacks were to have taken place, but in a brief statement it added that it had worked on the case for a long period of time.

Several houses were searched in the operation. which involved violent Islamist extremism with connections to serious organized crime, the statement said.

Sweden media reported there was a major police operation in Tyreso, south of Stockholm, and public broadcaster SVT said there was a powerful explosion in a clubhouse" but it was unclear what caused the blast.

In August, the security service, known as SAPO, raised its terror alert to the second-highest level following the public desecrations of religious texts.

The security situation has deteriorated in recent months following Quran burnings in the country and protests in the Muslim world, both of which have negatively impacted the Nordic nations image.

The burning and desecration of religious books in Sweden, and ongoing disinformation campaigns on social media and elsewhere, have negatively affected Swedens profile.

The image has changed from a tolerant country to a country hostile to Islam and Muslims, where attacks on Muslims are sanctioned by the state and where Muslim children can be kidnapped by social services, the agency said last year.

The desecrations were carried out under the freedom of speech. Sweden does not have a law specifically prohibiting the burning or desecration of the Quran or other religious texts. Like many Western countries, it doesnt have any blasphemy laws; Swedens were abandoned in the 1970s.

The arrests came on the same day that Sweden became the 32nd member of NATO, ending decades of post-World War II neutrality.
The Council of States of the Swiss Parliament has approved a proposal on 7 March that could allow the use of frozen sovereign Russian assets in the country to finance military reparations for Ukraine.

Source: European Pravda with reference to the AFP agency

Details: Twenty-one members of the upper chamber of the Swiss parliament voted in favour of exploring the mechanism for using Russian assets; 19 opposed it; and three abstained from voting. The lower chamber of the Swiss parliament adopted these proposals last year.

Now, the Swiss Federal Council (government) can work on creating an international legal framework for using frozen assets of the aggressor state to pay reparations to countries that have been attacked.

Such a mechanism would entail that the frozen funds of the aggressor countrys central bank or the assets of its state-owned companies could be legally transferred to the country that was attacked.

"The facts are very clear indeed. Russia has seriously violated international law. It must therefore repair the damage caused.International discussions are under way regarding compensation mechanisms and Switzerland is participating with its knowledge, its skills and all its history in this area," Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said.

Background:

Over US$8.8 billion of assets related to Russia are frozen in Switzerland.

However, Switzerland rejected a proposal for the country to join the G7 working group to search for the assets of Russians who came under sanctions the previous year.

Support UP or become our patron!
The increasingly bitter union negotiations over Tallahassee firefighter salaries will move on to a magistrate after City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow's motion to appoint County Commissioner Bill Proctor was instantly shut down by Mayor John Dailey.

Proctor volunteered his expertise Tuesday morning saying he could help bring an end to negotiations between the city and the Tallahassee Professional Firefighters Association which have been ongoing since last March.

County Commissioner Bill Proctor voices his opinion of the Northeast Park during a Blueprint meeting on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023.

"I'm at a loss," Matlow said. "I'm willing to try anything no matter how unorthodox it is to get us there."

But the city is standing firm with its choice of representation: Mike Mattimore, a local attorney with expertise in bargaining agreements and mediation.

"I can't think of anyone better representing the city of Tallahassee to work with your team and the city manager on this particular issue," Dailey said.

Mayor John Dailey speaks during a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the inaugural JetBlue flight on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024.

The firefighters declared impasse, so now, by law, there is a process that must be followed, Mattimore said.

"We're well along in that process," he said.

In three weeks, a hearing will be held for the city and the firefighters to present their positions to a magistrate who will then recommend an order to resolve all the issues in dispute, he said.

"We feel confident with the data that we have that we have a fair and right proposal on the table," Mattimore said.

The most recent offer to the firefighters was an 8.6% increase, but Matlow said this isn't true because across-the-board increases are at 0% for lieutenant, captain and battalion chief ranks.

City Manager Reese Goad fired back and said the 8.6% increase is a fact and is "mathematically correct," and to say otherwise "is inappropriate."

Daily had the last word urging the firefighters union to take the city's offer to its membership for a vote.

"I think that is a great place for us to be right now," Dailey said. "I have complete confidence in the process and I know that we will come to a resolution."

In other business: City passes two resolutions

Before discussions about the negotiations with the firefighters ensued, the city commission passed a resolution apologizing for the city's history of slavery and racism, following suit with the county which was the first to pass a resolution.

City Commissioner Jack Porter made a motion at the last commission meeting to have staff draft a resolution. The city's resolution passed unanimously Wednesday afternoon without discussion.

"The City acknowledges and apologizes for its historical role in the perpetuation of slavery, Jim Crow, and all forms of discrimination against African Americans," the resolution states, while pledging to "continue working toward eliminating racial prejudices, injustices, and discrimination from our society."

The commission also unanimously passed, without discussion, a resolution defending its Citizen Police Review Board, which is being threatened by two bills standing before the state legislature.

"The Tallahassee Citizen Police Review Board benefits the community by enhancing trust between the Police Department and the community by creating an unbiased panel of citizens to review completed Department internal affairs reports, cases, and issues relating to law enforcement that are of importance or of interest to the community and the city," the resolution says.

Legislation removing such boards "does not protect or enhance the safety and welfare of citizens in the State of Florida," the resolution says.

Hours later, a bill passed the Legislatthat limits boards to advising on law enforcement policies and procedures rather than weighing in on the actions of individual officers.

Breaking & trending news reporter Elena Barrera can be reached at ebarrera@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @elenabarreraaa.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee officials apologize for slavery, stand firm with firefighters
The Treasury is taxing retirees like never before. Over the past decade, pensioners have been pummelled by high rates and frozen allowances, forcing millions to pay more income tax.

Since the Tories came to power in 2010, a pensioner with a private retirement income equal to the state pension has seen their average tax rate more than doubled from 3pc to 8pc, analysis shows.

The average income tax bill for retirees has risen by 400 over the same period, making the current cohort of pensioners the most taxed in history.

It comes after the Chancellors snub to pensioners in Wednesdays Budget. Jeremy Hunts 2p cut to the headline rate of National Insurance (NI) will save the average worker 450, and follows a previous 2p cut in the autumn.

But those aged 66 and over do not pay NI, meaning they have been denied 900 of tax giveaways in six months.

Both the Conservatives and Labour have committed to standing by the triple lock, which ensures that the state pension rises every year by the highest of inflation, wage growth or 2.5pc. The 8.5pc rise in April will push the state pension to 11,502.

Viewed in isolation, the triple lock is a cushy deal for pensioners. But when coupled with the Tories deep freeze on tax thresholds it starts to look a lot less generous.

The personal allowance  the amount that anyone can earn without paying income tax  is set to stay stuck at 12,570 until 2028.

It means that for millions of pensioners, a large slice of their triple lock pay rise will be eaten up by income tax.

The proportion of over-65s who have to pay income tax has risen from 50pc in 2010/11 to 68pc last year, according to analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a think tank.

In April, an extra 650,000 pensioners could be forced to pay tax on their income thanks to the 8.5pc increase.

The state pension is expected to breach the personal allowance threshold by 2028, according to OBR forecasts, meaning even the poorest pensioners will be dragged into the tax net.

Currently, any retiree paid anything over 180 from their private pension each month will trigger a tax bill.

Analysis for Telegraph Money by pensions consultancy Lane Clark and Peacock (LCP) shows that in 2010/11, a pensioner with an average state pension, plus the same amount again in private pension income, paid an average tax rate of around 3pc. In 2024/25, this rate will have risen to 8pc.

Baroness Altmann, a former pensions minister, said she is very disappointed that no changes were made to tax thresholds in the Budget.

She said: Increasing [thresholds] would have helped lower income pensioners especially who are in danger of straying over the tax threshold just with the state pension, who will have to fill in a tax return for the first time in a long time and be penalised if they dont.

The Budget is a stark departure from the generous giveaways for pensioners that characterised the era of David Cameron and George Osborne, who wooed a generation with promises of inheritance tax cuts and the introduction of the triple lock.

Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister and partner at LCP, said there has been a dramatic shift in the tax rates faced by different groups since 2010.

He said: Workers have benefited from the increase in tax-free personal allowances during the Coalition years and most recently from the significant cuts in National Insurance.

But pensioners have seen their extra tax-free allowances abolished and many more are now dragged into the tax net because of the freezing of allowances. They do not benefit from the multi-billion pound cut to National Insurance rates.

Without any real discussion or debate, millions of pensioners have become taxpayers, whilst many more have seen big increases in the rate of tax which they pay.

Ms Altmann added: Wealthy pensioners will be concerned that although theyve faced a significant rise in the amount of tax they pay, they are not benefiting from any of the tax reductions.

The main message of this Budget is that the Chancellor wants to boost growth and productivity by getting more people into work.

The difficulty for core Tory vote is that if youre focusing on pensioners, they dont tend to work and in many cases  rightly  arent expected to.

The Chancellor could have done better to show that he cares about them too.

The backdrop to the tax raid is a generation of pensioners struggling to make ends meet.

A single retiree now needs a post-tax income of 43,000 to afford a comfortable retirement, 5,800 more than last year  a record annual jump of 15.5pc  according to the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), a trade body.

Less well-off retirees also face higher costs. For a single person to cover their basic needs, they would need 14,400 a year  more than the new state pension, and 12.5pc more than last year.

Joanna Elson, director of charity Independent Age, said the Budget was a missed opportunity to help tackle financial hardship among retirees.

She said: Pensioner poverty has been steadily rising since 2012. Bills are still astronomically high, and our helpline hears daily from older people rationing themselves to just one meal a day and washing in cold water to save energy.

Sadly, nothing announced today will reverse this alarming trend.

Thats why we need a cross-party review to establish an adequate minimum level of income needed to avoid poverty in later life. Until that happens, we risk seeing more older people fall into financial hardship.

Caroline Abrahams, of charity Age UK, called the Budget a non-event for older people.

She said: The reductions in National Insurance will be welcomed by people in their fifties and early sixties who are in employment but do nothing for anyone working beyond their state pension age.

They can be forgiven for feeling hard done by as a result, especially since many of them are working in their late sixties and beyond not because they want to, but because they simply cannot afford to retire.

Nor will it help retired people with modest pensions that take them over the tax threshold who will face an increase in income tax rise because personal allowances remain frozen.

Cutting NI will also have a more direct impact on pensioners, as the tax, at least in theory, is the mechanism for funding state pensions and other benefits.

Steven Cameron, of Aegon, said that while the further 2p cut to NI will be a welcome boost for workers, it will undermine state pension funding.

He said: It calls into serious question the approach to funding the state pension.

Theres no magic money pot to pay state pensions  theyre funded by the NI of todays workers There is now far less money from NI to pay state pensions.

The Treasury needs to confirm how they intend to plug the gap and if this will rely on a transfer from broader tax receipts.

The Government was approached for comment.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Taylor Swift fans raise money for Tampa bride who planned on selling autographed guitar to pay for wedding

Vide above: Couple gets engaged at Taylor Swifts concert in Tampa

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  There will be no teardrops on this Tampa brides guitar, all thanks to the help of Taylor Swifts loyal fans, Swifties.

Devoted Swifite and future bride Emily Harris planned on selling her Swift-signed guitar to help pay for her upcoming wedding, but some very nice and hardcore Swifites were against the sale.

Taylor Swifts new album includes track called Florida!!!

Swifites instead proposed Harris create a GoFundMe so they can help raise funds for her November wedding.

We are so excited to celebrate together this November, and in order to make sure our family and friends can be together with us, there are expenses that continue creeping up. I was hoping to find someone who would benefit from this signed guitar as much as I can use the sale to pay for our wedding. Countless fans told me to start a Go Fund Me instead, so here we are! Harris wrote on GoFundMe.

After creating her GoFundMe, donations from Swifites began to pour in, with amounts ranging from $13 (Swifts famous lucky number) to $333, and sure enough, Harris goal of $1,813 was quickly met.

Image courtesy of Emily Harris

From one Swiftie to another, I hope your wedding meets your wildest dreams! a donor wrote.

Another coined a line from Swifts hit Paper Rings, saying, Im sure you two would marry each other with paper rings, but maybe enjoy some shiny things too.

Review: Taylor Swift brings out surprise guest, leaves Tampa speechless after second sold-out performance

Keep the guitar. The wedding is one moment. The marriage and the love you share is forever. May it grow into many beautiful gestures of love like the gift of that guitar. Your father is setting a great example of demonstrating love by finding meaningful moments for you. Keep that kind of love throughout your marriage and you will have the best Love Story! another Swiftie added.

Harris, a board-certified behavior analyst who specializes in non-speaking children and teens with autism, said she and her fiance Jake have been engaged since April 2023 and have been excitedly planning their wedding ever since she said Yes!

This is a very, very kind suggestion and we will definitely pay it forward when we can, she said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  A teenager has been arrested for a deadly shooting at a Madison apartment complex last month.

According to the Metro Nashville Police Department, Jakari Pirtle, 16, was arrested for criminal homicide in connection with the Feb. 25 death of 22-year-old Emanuel Scott. The fatal shooting was reported at Charter Village Apartments along Rio Vista Drive.

PREVIOUS: Man dead following shooting along Rio Vista Drive

Pirtle was taken into custody on Wednesday, March 6 after detectives jammed his vehicle at the intersection of 11th Avenue North and Johnston Avenue, officials said. Two guns were recovered from the car.

Jakari Pirtle (Source: Metro Nashville Police Department)

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

Both Scott and Pirtle reportedly lived at the apartment complex. The investigation showed that Scott was shot during an apparent robbery, according to police.

The investigation is still ongoing regarding other potential suspects.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
MURRAY, Utah (ABC4)  The teenager who was injured in a shooting over the weekend died, officials with Murray City Police Department told ABC4.com.

Kristin Reardon, public information officer with Murray Police, confirmed on Wednesday evening that the teenager passed away after being in the hospital in the days following Saturdays shooting.

PREVIOUS: Man arrested in Colorado in connection to shooting of teenager in Murray

According to police, the shooting took place in a McDonalds parking lot in Murray on Saturday, March 2, with police responding to an incident at 4500 South 500 West after 6 p.m.

The victim was taken to the hospital in extremely critical condition after the incident, according to police. The teenager died just days after a 20-year-old man was arrested in Colorado because of his suspected connection to the shooting on Saturday night.

Officials said Jhon-Alvaro-Alarcon Paredes, 20, was taken into custody by the Mesa County Sheriffs Office in Colorado. Detectives with Murray Police were able to track Paredes after he reportedly fled the scene following the shooting, according to a press release from Monday.

Officials said there were three individuals in the vehicle at the time of the shooting, and they were all believed to be friends. It was also initially believed that they were all juveniles, but police later confirmed that at Paredes was 20 years old at the time.

Paredes evidently crossed state lines, and was awaiting extradition back to Utah on possible Attempted Homicide charges, Murray Police said on March 4.

Reardon told ABC4.com that she did not have any further updates on Wednesday, but did say that the case is still active.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Clutching a photo of her son to her heart, Yael Alexander made a familiar plea this week: "He needs to come back home. He needs to come back home to his sister and his brother."

The mother of Tenafly's Edan Alexander, a hostage captured in Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attack, spoke at a news conference in Washington this week ahead of Thursday night's State of the Union Address. She and other relatives of the roughly 100 remaining captives reiterated calls for their loved one's release.

Yael Alexander and her husband Adi were scheduled to be in the House chambers Thursday night, guests of New Jersey's congressional delegation, as President Joe Biden delivers his annual address. The Alexanders and other families said they were hoping for some word on negotiations to free those still believed to be held in Gaza.

"I am just hoping that people won't forget my son and all of the hostages," Yael Alexander said.

Tenafly's Yael Alexander, mother of Hamas hostage Edan Alexander, will be a congressional guest at President Biden's State of the Union address Thursday night, along with her husband Adi.

Congress members often invite notable people who they want to honor or whose stories they want to highlight at the State of the Union. Yael was to be the guest of U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross of South Jersey, while her husband was officially hosted by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, the Bergen County Democrat. Nearly 20 relatives of other hostages were to be on hand as well.

"For more than 150 days, these families have been living in fear as their loved ones, Americans, remain captured. It blows my mind that this isn't talked about every single day in this country," Gottheimer said at the Wednesday news conference. "As a father, I cannot even begin to comprehend what they have been going through for the past five months. No family should ever have to experience this unfathomable pain," he said.

Biden seeks cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas

The Biden administration has been in contact with the families of the American hostages and has been trying to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas to release them.

The president signaled a week ago that an agreement could be close. But negotiations appear to have stalled with tensions running high on both sides. That means Biden will deliver his speech at the five-month mark of the war without any political victory to tout.

Instead, he will announce an emergency military mission to establish a port on the Gaza coast to receive large ships carrying water, medicine and temporary shelters. His aides have said he will continue to work towards a cease-fire and said the onus is on Hamas to agree to conditions, including the release of hostages.

Gottheimer also said he was hosting Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen. Among the other American hostages whose families were to be represented are Itay Chen, Omer Neutra, Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Keith Siegel.

More: In Tenafly, weekly march keeps focus on Edan Alexander and other Hamas hostages

Edan Alexander's status still uncertain

Edan Alexander, 20, graduated Tenafly High School in 2022 and volunteered to join the Israel Defense Forces in his parent's native country. He was stationed at the Gaza border on Oct. 7 when Hamas stormed Israel's borders.

Yael Alexander recalled the chaotic day during Wednesday's news conference. She was visiting Tel Aviv Oct. 7 when her son called her early in the morning to tell her there was an attack. She recalled hearing a lot of noise in the background, she said.

"He called me right before they kidnapped him," she said. "He said `Mom it's like a war here. We are getting bombed non-stop. I'm seeing terrible stuff, Mom.' I didn't understand what was going on. It was Saturday morning at 7 a.m. That was my last phone call with him."

There has been no word of his condition or whereabouts since. Hamas has said it cannot provide a list of hostages who are still alive and that they are scattered around the war zone.

Of the 240 people originally kidnapped, about 100 were released during a cease-fire late last year; Israel has said it believes another 30 were killed while in captivity and their remains have not been returned.

State of the Union 2024 guests

Other New Jersey representatives also announced guests for the State of the Union:

Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr.

Pascrell (D-9) invited Marie Duplak, president of the North Jersey chapter of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. Pascrell "proudly represents one of the largest Ukrainian communities in the nation," the Paterson Democrat noted in a statement.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill

Sherrill (D-11) said she would host Communications Workers of America State Director Franceline Ehret. The union represents about 40,000 state workers, 15,000 county and local government workers and more than 70,000 New Jersey families, Sherrill's office said.

Rep. Tom Kean Jr.

Kean (R-7) announced Westfield High School sophomore Francesca Mani would be his guest. Mani was the target of bullies in her school who used artificial intelligence to create deepfake images of other students. She "reached out to Congressman Kean to advocate for possible solutions at the federal level, to prevent such incidents from happening again," his office said.

Sen. Cory Booker

The Democrat said his guest would be Roshni Kamta, "a Jersey City native whose breast cancer diagnosis at 22 years old led her to freeze her eggs and inspired her advocacy for wider access to fertility treatments on behalf of breast cancer patients and women of color."

This article includes reporting from USA Today.

Deena Yellin covers religion for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to her work covering how the spiritual intersects with our daily lives, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: yellin@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ parents of Hamas hostage will be State of the Union guests
Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz are in Israel's war cabinet together, but are deep political rivals (Abir SULTAN)

Israel's war cabinet, seen as a symbol of national unity in the war against Hamas, has been shaken by political rivalry between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist Benny Gantz, analysts say.

A former military chief and ex-defence minister, Gantz visited Washington Monday before heading to London on Wednesday for high-level talks in a trip which was not authorised by Netanyahu.

It served to highlight the deep divisions between the two men as international pressure mounts on Israel over the growing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, with the war entering its sixth month.

Gantz's visit to the United States -- Israel's staunchest ally -- shows that "his level of trust in Netanyahu is very low," said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute think tank.

It demonstrates he wanted to present an alternative view to Washington, he added.

Gantz, who left the political opposition to join the war cabinet after Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attacks in southern Israel, has been at odds with Netanyahu on how to win the release of hostages and draw up an exit strategy from the conflict.

But his trip to Washington has raised attention in Israel, and drew strong criticism from ministers of Netanyahu's right-wing party Likud.

"It looks like some kind of subversion," said Transport Minister Miri Regev, adding Gantz is "working behind the prime minister's back."

Dudi Amsalem, Israel's regional cooperation minister and Netanyahu ally, said that Gantz had joined the wartime government "to create unity in an emergency, not to be a Trojan horse".

- 'Hate each other' -

"Tensions were always there," between these "two people who hate each other," said Reuven Hazan, a political science professor at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

Five members make up the war cabinet, with Netanyahu, Gantz and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant seen as the main players.

Hazan said Gantz travelled to Washington and London in a bid to demonstrate that he has the right profile to be a potential future prime minister.

He met with US Vice President Kamala Harris a day after she delivered some of the most stinging US criticism of Israel since the war began calling for an "immediate ceasefire".

She also voiced the US administration's concerns over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and "urged Israel to take additional measures" to increase the flow of aid.

Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas after its unprecedented October 7 attack that resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Israel has also said it believes 130 of the original 250 captives taken by Hamas in the attack remain held in the besieged territory, but that 31 have been killed.

The withering Israeli bombardment of Gaza has left more than 30,700 people dead in five months of war, and caused widespread destruction. UN agencies have also warned of the growing threat of famine as aid has struggled to reach those in need in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden and Netanyahu are in an "open conflict" as the White House presses the Israeli leader not to "continue with a massive civilian casualties in Gaza" and "without knowing what to do the day after" the war, said Hazan.

- Gantz 'comfortable counterpart' -

"Gantz is not where Netanyahu is, he is closer to the American position" on the war's aftermath, said Hazan.

He's a "more comfortable counterpart" for Washington, "is more open to dialogue with moderate partners in the region" and over the role that the Palestinian Authority could play in Gaza after the war, Plesner added.

Last week Gantz applauded Gallant's proposal to reform military service in order to include ultra-Orthodox Jews, who are currently exempted for religious reasons.

But the announcement shook Israeli politics to its core and was perceived in some Israeli media as a challenge from Gallant to Netanyahu, with both belonging to the same party.

The proposal was a political bombshell and forces the prime minister into a tight corner, as the two main parties representing ultra-Orthodox Jews could topple his precarious coalition at any moment.

Netanyahu is working on "avoiding an early election" that would benefit Gantz at any cost, said Plesner.

Recent polls suggest that if there is an election, Gantz's party will win the largest number of seats.

"If there is one issue that might get out of hand and lead to a collapse of the coalition (it) is the issue of recruitment of ultra-Orthodox", Plesner said.

Gantz has to time his exit from the government in a way that makes Israelis feel he is "looking out for Israel's interests" and create a perception that "Netanyahu is only looking at his personal interests," said Hazan.

mg/cf/lba/rsc/jd/jkb/mca
KYODO NEWS - Mar 7, 2024 - 21:43 | All, Japan

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party agreed Thursday to revise its rules to strengthen governance, saying it will move away from factions as vehicles for securing funds and allocating key government and party posts for lawmakers.

The new rules, which are set to be approved at its annual convention later this month, allow factions to continue as "policy groups," while urging its lawmakers to fulfill their accountability when they are alleged to have been involved in a political funds scandal.

The LDP has come under intense scrutiny amid allegations that some of its factions, including the largest one formerly led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, neglected to report portions of their incomes from fundraising parties and created slush funds for years.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been asked by the ruling party to decide on the details of some amendments of the internal rules, lawmakers said.

Kishida said at a party meeting on Thursday that the situation the LDP is facing is "truly serious and we must make a fundamental fresh start without being bound by precedent or custom," emphasizing the importance of bolstering compliance.

The proposed rules stipulate that the party can call on its members to leave the LDP, if an accountant of their political group is arrested or prosecuted in violation of the political funds control law, the lawmakers said.

Currently, the regulations only cover provisions for lawmakers themselves being arrested or indicted in a criminal case, with no mention of those involving accountants.

Related coverage:

Japan LDP No. 2 may have tried to hide massive political funds usage

Japan upper house ethics panel arranging LDP funds scandal hearings

Ex-PM Abe proposed his faction end slush fund practice: lawmakers

==Kyodo
One of Tesla's futuristic Cybertrucks on display in Buena Park last year. (Richard Vogel / Associated Press)

Tesla describes its Cybertruck as a durable and rugged vehicle that can go anywhere, but one Nevada man learned this week that's not always the case after his truck became stuck on a state beach in Monterey County.

The incident occurred on Monday at Marina State Beach when the owner of the Cybertruck drove over a curb and sidewalk and past a posted sign stating "no vehicles on beach or dunes," according to Douglas Johnson, information officer with the California State Parks.

"The Cybertruck soon got stuck," he said. "With assistance from the Marina Fire Department the vehicle was able to get out by releasing air from the tires."

KSBW Action News 8 posted a video on its TikTok account. The video was taken by a woman at the beach and shows a state park officer talking to three men near the Cybertruck. In the video the woman and others laugh as the men push the truck out of the beach. Johnson said the driver was fined $280.

The incident happened just a day after a Tesla Cybertruck crashed into the front sign of the Beverly Hills Hotel on Sunday night, prompting social media responses from the hotel and Tesla founder Elon Musk.

A user of X, formerly Twitter, had joked in a post that the hotel valet had crashed his friend's Cybertruck. Musk responded to the post: Cyberbeast is faster than a Porsche 911, but looks like a truck, so perhaps the valet wasnt expecting so much acceleration."

The posts prompted the hotel to clarify that the hotel's valet was not involved in the incident.

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Cars belonging to employees of the Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg parked outside the factory. Production at the Tesla car factory in Gruenheide is at a standstill due to a power outage following an arson attack on a high-voltage pylon. The police are investigating suspected arson following a power failure on 5 March morning. Patrick Pleul/dpa

US electric carmaker Tesla has rejected allegations of causing ecological damage around its major production site near Berlin, in particular with respect to water consumption and the felling of woodland.

The Gigafactory's water consumption came in at 2.28 cubic metres of water per vehicle, against an industry average of 3.68 cubic metres, Tesla manager Rohan Patel posted on X on Thursday.

"We recycle up to 100% of our industrial water. We have over 8 MW of installed solar capacity and source renewable electricity," Patel said.

A German media report last month pointed to phosphorus levels in waste water above the permissible limit. Tesla responded that concentrations were higher because the factory in Grunheide was saving water.

A report on Thursday by Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel said that Tesla had consumed 451,654 cubic metres of water over the past year, well under the amount agreed with the local water authority.

Water is a major point of conflict, as the factory lies partly in a water conservation area. Tesla aims to increase production, but without consuming more water. It also plans to extend the production site, although a majority of Grunheide residents have indicated their opposition.

Production at the huge factory was halted by an arson attack on an electricity pylon on Tuesday, with a shutdown set to continue to the end of next week.

Leftist activists in the Volcano Group claimed responsibility, accusing Tesla of polluting groundwater and consuming huge quantities of scarce drinking water.

The factory has a staff complement of around 12,500. Patel listed a string of benefits  both ecological and social  that the Gigafactory was bringing to the region.
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) is urging President Biden to call for a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas during the State of the Union address Thursday evening, citing war crimes on both sides.

I believe that Hamas had committed war crimes on Oct. 7. I think its become very clear that Israel has now committed war crimes. They are intentionally starving people, and there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people who are starving, Castro said early Thursday on CNN, highlighted by Mediaite.

So the president should absolutely call for a cease-fire tonight. The United States and the president and the Congress are either going to stand up for human rights, what the United States professes to believe in, and we do  or were going to stand down and do nothing and let these people starve, he continued.

Biden will address both chambers of Congress on Thursday evening at a critical time for his campaign, ahead of a likely rematch with former President Trump in the general election.

He has faced increasing backlash from Democrats on his handling of the war in the Middle East. Progressives have criticized Biden for months for not calling for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

More than 45,000 Democratic primary voters in Minnesota selected uncommitted on their primary ballots, as did more than 100,000 Democrats in Michigan, as a way to protest Bidens actions since October.

In the interview, Castro said he hopes Biden will call for a cease-fire and push back as hard as he can on Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Texas Democrat said that he believes Hamas committed war crimes on Oct. 7 after having watched the footage, but he argued the starvation of children and the suffering that has gone on during Israels retaliatory campaign in Gaza is also a war crime.

Benjamin Netanyahus government is committing war crimes right now, and we have to face that, Castro said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)  The Abilene Regional Airport is serving as a refueling and resupplying hub for the Texas A&M Forest Service in its efforts to fight the Panhandle wildfires.

Wildfires in the Texas panhandle have destroyed more than a million acres of land. The Smokehouse Creek Fire, the largest of these wildfires, has only been contained up to 44%. Efforts from all over the country have come together to help extinguish this fire, and one of these entities is currently stationed at Abilene Airport.

Smokehouse Creek Fire in Hutchinson, Roberts County burns 1,059,570 acres, 44% contained

The Texas A&M Forest Service currently has half a dozen aircraft housed here in Abilene. These aircraft have made repeated runs to drop water and a flame-retardant solution onto these fires. Air Tanker Base Manager Mike Pedersen explained the process of fighting fires across Texas and the importance of the dedicated personnel involved.

Were here to support any time there is fire danger. We start bringing in resources. We will have aircraft available here, as well as single-engine air tankers closer to where the fires are at seat bases, and we provide coverage throughout the state, Pedersen said.

Our neighbors to the north are currently facing a dangerous enemy  the blazing wildfires. However, some good news has arrived in the form of military support from the California Air National Guard. Nathan Southwick, the Aircraft Commander, described the specialized equipment used in his C-130J and the unique challenges of these types of flight missions compared to the aircrafts usual routine.

Basically, the system is loaded on the ground with 3,000 gallons of retardant. We pressurize it with air, and its essentially a giant super soaker. In a firefighting environment, we typically drop about 150 feet above the ground at about 120 knots, which is much different than going A to B at 25,000 feet, Southwick shared.

How Big Country residents are assisting fire efforts in the Panhandle

In these situations, time is of the essence, and Mike Pedersen commends the Abilene Regional Airport and its staff for their assistance in facilitating their mission.

Its about 30 to 45 minutes to get to the fires that are up there, and we can get them turned out of here pretty quickly so that we are providing as much retardant as we can on the ground. We get so much support from these people here. Theyre the best fuelers in the country, Pedersen said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com.
Texas man accused of trying to scam George Santos, Danny Masterson by offering to get charges dropped: DOJ

A Texas man attempted to scam disgraced former Republican Congressman George Santos, actor Danny Masterson and other well-known people in an effort to commit wire fraud, federal prosecutors said.

Hector Medina Jr., who represented himself as "Michael Soto," sent text messages to Santos's phone saying he could get criminal charges against him tossed in exchange for large sums of cash, the Justice Department said in a court complaint.

"You dont know me but, I wanted you to see a face and trust me on what Im about to tell you," Medina allegedly said in a July video message sent to Santos. "I work with prosecutors and, uh, judges throughout the United States, and I want to give you the opportunity to offer my services."

"I was contacted by some people to reach out to you and see if you wanted to cut a deal," he allegedly continued. "Uh, this only stands for today. If youre interested, I can get everything dropped, evidence that is on you removed, disappeared. Reach out to me if youre interested. Its simple yes or no. Thank you."

FORMER REP. GEORGE SANTOS SUING JIMMY KIMMEL FOR SOLICITING BROADCASTING CAMEO VIDEOS: COMMITTED FRAUD

A Texas man is accused of trying to scam former U.S. Rep. George Santos and actor Danny Masterson, the Justice Department said.

In one message, he asked Santos to wire him $900,000 and included a bank routing number, authorities said.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Medina, who lives in El Paso, turned himself in to authorities, The Hill reported. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Eastern District of New York, where Medina is being prosecuted.

"I am currently in the early stages of my representation of Mr. Medina in this matter," Medina's attorney, Joseph Veith, told Fox News Digital. "Mr. Medina looks forward to confronting the allegations against him through the formal legal process."

DANNY MASTERSON INCARCERATED AT MAXIMUM-SECURITY PRISON THAT HOUSED CHARLES MANSON

Meanwhile, Santos faces charges of wire fraud and other charges but is not accused of any wrongdoing in the Medina case.

The complaint doesn't indicate whether Santos fell for the alleged scam.

The New York Republican was elected to the House in 2022 when he flipped a blue district. He was expelled from Congress in December after being accused of a number of financial misdeeds, including using campaign funds on a number of luxury goods and treatments such as botox.

Danny Masterson was convicted of two counts of rape with force in September.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Medina also tried to allegedly scam Masterson, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison following his rape conviction, prosecutors said. He allegedly messaged Masterson in June 2023.

"I can get the case thrown out or a reduced sentence very low but my people are asking for a $1 million fee," the message allegedly stated.

Other people targeted include an unnamed professional athlete, prosecutors said.





Original article source: Texas man accused of trying to scam George Santos, Danny Masterson by offering to get charges dropped: DOJ
Texas largest charter school network has been placed under conservatorship by the Texas Education Agency after a years-long investigation into improper spending within the system of 143 schools.

The arrangement, announced Wednesday, is part of a settlement agreement between IDEA Public Schools and the TEA. IDEA had been under investigation since 2021 following numerous allegations of financial and operational misconduct.

It was revealed that IDEA officials used public dollars to purchase luxury driver services as well as $15 million to lease a private jet, just two weeks after promising TEA it would be strictly enforcing new fiscal responsibility policies put in place in response to ongoing investigations, as reported by San Antonio Express-News.

The revelations led the district to conduct an internal investigation, resulting in the firing of JoAnn Gama, former superintendent and co-founder of IDEA. Gama later filed a lawsuit against IDEA claiming wrongful termination. IDEA came to a $475,000 settlement with Gama in January. This followed co-founder and CEO Tom Torkelsons departure in 2020; he was given a $900,000 severance package.

The charter school district serves about 80,000 students in K-12. The schools are independently run but publicly funded with state dollars, having received about $821 million in state funding in 2023-2024 school year.

Under conservatorship, the conservators will have the authority to oversee and direct any action of the district, facilitate a needs assessment, conduct onsite inspections and support the creation of a plan to address corrective action concerns. They will also report back to the agency regarding the district's progress in completing necessary corrective activities.

The conservators will not fully take over the governance of the district. But if the district doesnt make the necessary corrective measures that the conservators outline for them, a takeover could be possible in the future.

In a statement, IDEA said that its pleased to have reached a settlement agreement  to resolve compliance issues our organization self-reported to regulators after an internal investigation in 2021.

The district also stated that it would be returning $28.7 million in grant and formula funding to the U.S. Department of Education, stating that these funds were reserved in a prior fiscal year to ensure repayment has a negligible impact on IDEAs students and staff.

The news follows the TEA takeover of Houston Independent School District in June following years of poor academic performance at a single campus within the district, among other factors.

Marlin Independent School District recently began the process of resuming local governance after seven years of state oversight due to five consecutive years of failing accountability ratings.

Austin Independent School District avoided being placed under conservatorship last year after the TEA and the district agreed on an alternative plan to respond to a report that found the district had repeatedly failed to serve the needs of students receiving special education.

Disclosure: IDEA Public Schools has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

We cant wait to welcome you to downtown Austin Sept. 5-7 for the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival! Join us at Texas breakout politics and policy event as we dig into the 2024 elections, state and national politics, the state of democracy, and so much more. When tickets go on sale this spring, Tribune members will save big. Donate to join or renew today.

Correction, March 6, 2024 at 8:50 p.m. : An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the Texas Education Agency placed the Austin Independent School District under a conservatorship. It avoided the measure after the TEA and the district agreed on an alternative plan.
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) will welcome a Texas student who was suspended for his hair to President Bidens State of the Union address Thursday.

Darryl George, a Black student at Barbers Hill High School in Mount Belvieu, has spent months serving in-school suspension for refusing to cut his locs. Though the school says Georges hair is in violation of its policy, George and his family have argued the policy violates the states CROWN Act, which went into effect last September.

The CROWN Act is intended to ban discrimination based on natural hair textures and styles. CROWN stands for Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair.

There is no sound justification for the way the Barbers Hill Independent School District is treating Darryl George, said Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), chair of the CBC.

Darryl is a young student who just wants to go to school and receive an education. Darryl, and any student, should be allowed to go to school in a safe environment, free from this sort of bullying and mistreatment by the school system.

In 2019, California became the first state to enact the CROWN Act. Since then, 22 other states have passed the CROWN Act, including Texas.

But Feb. 22, Texas District Judge Chap Cain III ruled in favor of the Barbers Hill Independent School District, saying its policy is not discriminatory and does not violate the Texas CROWN Act.

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), the lead primary sponsor for a federal CROWN Act, said the treatment George has experienced over the last six months is indicative of why Congress must pass a federal CROWN Act.

Using in-school-suspension for this long, months, and over a civil rights dispute is atrocious, Watson Coleman said. Theyve told this young man, Your hair, the hair God gave you, is wrong. You must change the hair God gave you to conform to what we want to see. At this point theyre not trying to punish him, theyre trying to break his spirit. God bless him, they havent yet.

Horsford said George has the full support of the CBC.

The CBC stands in full support of Darryls personal right to wear his hair the way he chooses, and we are calling for the Barbers Hill Independent School District to end this discriminatory farce and immediately allow him to return to the classroom and receive his education, Horsford said.

Updated at 5:05 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A group of Texas students have asked the US Supreme Court to intervene in a campus ban on drag shows, alleging that the schools president is infringing on their First Amendment rights.

Spectrum WT, a student-led LGBT+ organisation at West Texas A&M University, as well as two of its student leaders, claim that the public universitys president Dr Walter Wendler engaged in viewpoint-based discrimination when he suddenly cancelled the groups planned charity drag show event last year.

The plaintiffs, represented by Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, allege Dr Wendler invoked his personal opinion of drag shows to prevent them from putting on the event, just 11 days before it due to take place on campus.

Dr Wendler sent a 700-word email to the campus community barring drag shows because they stereotype women in cartoon-like extremes and are deceive, divisive and demoralizing, the students say.

Now, theyre asking Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to pause the ban immediately so that they can host the on-campus event this 22 March and to also limit public college and university officials from censoring expressions based on personal opinion.

The First Amendments promise of neutrality is at its zenith at Americas public colleges and universities, where students must always remain free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding; otherwise our civilization will stagnate and die, the plaintiffs say in their lawsuit.

The case arrives at a time of heightened political tensions on school campuses across the country. Over the last few years, schools on every level from elementary to higher education have had to address or make rules on social issues due to the current climate.

A growing conservative moment is pressuring schools to diminish teaching or speaking about race, gender, sexual orientation and more. Higher education institutions are being pushed to end or prevent diversity and inclusion programs and a lawsuit challenging affirmative action recently made its way up to the Supreme Court.

Separately, anti-drag rhetoric and legislation have become mainstream among conservatives. Last year, Florida unsuccessfully tried to enact a law barring children from attending drag show performances, in part, thanks to an unsubstantiated claim that it indoctrinates children.

A similar law was declared unconstitutional in Texas last year as well.

A Drag Queen performs during a show at the Swan Dive nightclub on March 20, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Getty Images)

Spectrum WT and its students claim that in preparing to host their drag show they enacted policies to make it less controversial, like prohibiting the presence of minors without a parent or guardian, instructing performers to avoid profane music or lewd conduct and making the show appropriate for those over 13 years old.

But Dr Wendler insisted a drag show was discriminatory toward women and that it was impossible to put together a harmless drag show.

Though the students ended up holding the event off-campus they still sued in the district court. The court declined to pause the ban saying they had not clearly established that all drag shows are inherently expressive.

The students submitted an expedited appeal to the Fifth Circuit but the appeals court declined to hear the case quickly, only agreeing to hear oral arguments the week commencing 29 April.

Now, the case lies in the hands of the Supreme Court.

Justice Alito has asked West Texas A&M to respond to the students application by 13 March.

West Texas A&M has declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.
Rafael Govea Romero, the suspect in Texas 16-year-old Lizbeth Medina's December 2023 murder, is set to be arraigned Thursday in Jackson County.

Romero, a 24-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico, is accused of stalking the high school cheerleader and aspiring nurse before allegedly striking her over the head and stabbing her in the Edna apartment that she shared with her mother.

A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told Fox News Digital that ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Houston "lodged an immigration detainer with the Jackson County (Texas) Sheriffs Office on Rafael Govea-Romero, 24, Mexico, following his arrest for capital murder."

ICE ERO lodges immigration detainers against noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity and taken into custody as part of the agency's mission to identify and arrest removable illegal immigrants, according to ICE.

MOM OF TEXAS TEEN ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT CALLS FOR CHANGE AFTER LAKEN RILEY MURDER

The Edna (Texas) Police Department announced the arrest of Rafael Govea Romero, an "undocumented male" who officials believe is "the person responsible for the death of Lizbeth Medina" in Schulenburg.

Romero had a criminal background in Texas and was on probation at the time of his arrest in connection to Lizbeth's murder, Edna Police Chief Rick Boone told Fox News Digital.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

TEXAS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT INDICTED ON CAPITAL MURDER CHARGE IN CHEERLEADER'S BEATING, STABBING DEATH

Edna police said the investigation into Lizbeth's murder is ongoing and authorities are taking particular care in releasing information to the media "to protect due process, follow ethical rules and avoid trial by press conference."

The murder suspect was reportedly on probation for a burglary in Schulenburg, Texas , about 60 miles from Edna, in 2022, as the Fayette County Record first reported. Edna police believe Romero may also be tied to a burglary that occurred at Lizbeth's home about a month before her killing.

A Jackson County grand jury in February indicted Romero on a capital murder charge in connection with Lizbeth's murder.

Jacqueline Medina came home to find her daughter, Lizbeth "Liz" Medina, dead in the bathtub of their residence after she had not seen or heard from the 16-year-old that afternoon.

Edna police initially arrested Romero in Schulenburg, five days after Lizbeth was found dead in the bathtub of her apartment with "smeared blood on the sides of her and what appeared to be a stab wound to the upper stomach area," according to a police affidavit previously obtained by Fox News Digital. Police were able to locate the suspect thanks to cellphone data and other evidence tying him to the crime scene.

LAKEN RILEY'S MOTHER SPEAKS OUT ABOUT AVOIDABLE TRAGEDY AFTER DAUGHTER'S FUNERAL

The victim's mother, Jacqueline Medina, had left their apartment early on Dec. 5 for work. Her daughter typically left for school afterward, but that day she neither made it to school nor the Christmas parade that her cheer team was supposed to be practicing for.

Jacqueline went to the parade, expecting to see her daughter, but when she couldn't find Lizbeth anywhere, she began reaching out to friends and family for help tracking down the 16-year-old. Later that evening, Jacqueline found her daughter dead in their bathtub.

LAKEN RILEY FUNERAL IN GEORGIA COMMEMORATES NURSING STUDENT ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT

The grieving mother, who lived in Nebraska before moving to Texas for work, said neither she nor her daughter knew Romero but noted that their house had been burglarized on Nov. 13, about a month before the teenager's murder. Edna police officers believe Romero may have been involved in the burglary and may have stalked Lizbeth before allegedly attacking and killing her .

Jacqueline Medina found her daughter, Lizbeth "Liz" Medina, dead in the bathtub of their residence at the Cottonwood Apartments after she hadn't seen or heard from the 16-year-old that afternoon.

"I believe the burglary from 11/13/2023 could have a connection with the murder suspect," an Edna officer wrote in the affidavit. "I believed the suspect of this murder was at large and a present danger to the community. I was especially concerned that the person believed to be the murder suspect was texting other high school students, leading me to believe the suspect was targeting students."

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"Furthermore, I believe the public was in danger due to the stalking-like behavior displayed by the suspect via the potential connection of the 11/13/2023 burglary and driving through the apartment complex on 12/4/2023."

Romero's arraignment is scheduled for Thursday. Fox News Digital reached out to his defense attorney for comment.





Original article source: Texas teen Lizbeth Medina murder: What to know about illegal immigrant suspect Rafael Romero
A 6-year-old boy from Texas is getting ready to have his wish come true in Central Florida.

RJ Benton and his family received a big surprise from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The Bentons, along with 20 other families, are flying to Orlando for a six-day Walt Disney World vacation.

Read: Walt Disney World releases newly designed Florida license plate benefiting Make-A-Wish

Its a much-needed break for them, as RJ battles a brain tumor.

I just want RJ and the family to be able to have a great time no doctors, outside of everything, just be able to have fun, said RJs mom Amber Benton.

Watch: Make-A-Wish fulfills dreams of dozens of sick children with a trip to Disney World

Since 1980, Disney and Make-A-Wish have granted wishes to more than 150,000 children worldwide.

Make-A-Wish officials said one out of every two wishes granted in the U.S. has been a Disney wish.

Watch: Disney and Make-A-Wish surprise Central Florida elementary student with Disney Princess experience

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
By Antonio Guterres, KYODO NEWS - Mar 7, 2024 - 09:18 | Feature

The fight for women's rights over the past 50 years is a story of progress.

Women and girls have demolished barriers, dismantled stereotypes and driven progress towards a more just and equal world. Women's rights were finally recognized as fundamental and universal human rights. Hundreds of millions more girls are in classrooms around the world. And pioneering leaders have smashed glass ceilings across the globe.

But progress is under threat. And full equality remains light years away.

Billions of women and girls face marginalization, injustice and discrimination, as millennia of male domination continue to shape societies. The persistent epidemic of gender-based violence disgraces humanity. Over four million girls are estimated to be at risk of female genital mutilation each year. Discrimination against women and girls remains perfectly legal in much of the world. In some places, that makes it difficult for women to own property, in others, it allows men to rape their wives with impunity.

Meanwhile, global crises are hitting women and girls hardest. Wherever there's conflict, climate disaster, poverty or hunger, women and girls suffer most. In every region of the world, more women than men go hungry. In both developed and developing countries, a backlash against women's rights, including their sexual and reproductive rights, is stalling and even reversing progress.

New technologies -- which have such potential to dismantle inequalities -- too often make matters worse. That can be because of unequal access, algorithms with baked-in bias, or misogynistic violence -- from deep fakes to targeted harassment of specific women.

At our current speed, full legal equality for women is some 300 years away; so is the end of child marriage. This rate of change is frankly insulting. Half of humanity can't wait centuries for their rights. We need equality now. That means accelerating the pace of progress. And that relies on political ambition, and on investment -- the theme of this year's International Women's Day.

We need public and private investment in programs to end violence against women, ensure decent work, and drive women's inclusion and leadership in digital technologies, peacebuilding, climate action, and across all sectors of the economy. We must also urgently support women's rights organizations fighting against stereotypes, battling to make women's and girls' voices heard, and challenging traditions and cultural norms. Currently they receive a paltry 0.1 percent of international development spending. That must change.

Investment may sound far removed from women's everyday lives. But it takes investment to give schoolgirls the same opportunities as schoolboys. It takes investment to provide digital education and develop skills. It takes investment to provide the childcare that enables caregivers, who are mainly mothers, to do paid work outside the home. And it takes investment to build inclusive communities and societies with the full participation of women and girls of all backgrounds.

Putting money behind equality is the right thing to do, but it also makes financial sense. Supporting women to enter formal labor markets grows economies, boosts tax revenues and expands opportunities for all.

Securing the investment we need in women and girls requires three things.

First, increasing the availability of affordable, long-term finance for sustainable development, and tackling the debt crisis strangling many developing economies. Otherwise, countries simply won't have the funds to invest in women and girls. We need immediate action to provide breathing space for countries with unbearable debt repayments looming, and to encourage multilateral development banks to leverage far more private finance at affordable costs. Over the long term, we must reform the international financial architecture and make it far more responsive to the needs of developing countries.

Second, countries must prioritize equality for women and girls -- recognizing that equality is not only a matter of rights but the bedrock of peaceful, prosperous societies. That means governments actively addressing discrimination, spending on programs to support women and girls, and ensuring policies, budgets and investments respond to their needs.

Third, we need to increase the number of women in leadership positions. Having women in positions of power can help to drive investment in policies and programs that respond to women and girls' realities. I am particularly proud that since early in my tenure -- and for the first time in history -- we have equal numbers of women and men in senior management across the entire United Nations system.

Equality is overdue. Ending the patriarchy requires money on the table -- it's time to cough up.

(Antonio Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister and U.N. high commissioner for refugees, is the ninth secretary general of the United Nations. He took office in January 2017 and began his second term as the U.N. chief in January 2022.)

Related coverage:

FEATURE: Japan feminist Ueno's books resonate with struggling Chinese women
Phuket is one of Thailand's most popular hotspots

Thailand has revoked the visa of a Swiss man who faced growing backlash after reports that he allegedly kicked a local woman sitting on the steps near his villa in Phuket.

Urs Fehr and his Thai wife Khanuengnit said they thought she was intruding on their property. They later apologised.

Hundreds of angry locals later gathered in front of their seaside villa on Sunday demanding Mr Fehr's expulsion.

More than 100,000 foreigners are estimated to have settled in Phuket.

The island is one of Thailand's most popular hotspots, with millions of tourists visiting each year.

According to local reports, the incident on 24 February unfolded after 45-year-old Mr Fehr, the managing director of an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, kicked Thandao Chandam in her back while she and her friend sat on the steps outside their rented villa.

Ms Khanuengnit also allegedly berated Ms Thandao, who works as a doctor in Phuket.

Mr Fehr said he believed Ms Thandao and her companion were intruders, and accused them of trespassing on his property. He also claimed that he did not kick Ms Thandao but had slipped while walking towards her, according to Bangkok Post.

The incident sparked an angry backlash amongst locals, with many urging authorities to revoke Mr Fehr's visa and also demanding the restoration of public access to the beach near his property.

"It turns out that foreigners are occupying too many areas. Please resolve this," Bangkok Post quoted one of the protesters as saying.

An investigation later found that the villa's steps were built illegally on public land. Authorities have ordered for them to be removed.

The doctor has filed a complaint with police over the incident, and authorities said on Wednesday that he has been charged with assault.

Immigration officials said they will detain Fehr, but he can remain in Thailand for the time being to defend himself in the assault case.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said after the incident that he has instructed the police and tourism ministry to step up measures to ensure foreigners comply with Thailand's laws.
Haiti is on the brink of a civil war as an alliance of gangs threatens genocide to citizens there and has compromised the countrys infrastructure. The U.S. Embassy in Haiti has issued two alerts this week urging American citizens in the country to leave immediately. Heres why Haiti is in a state of emergency and what Americans there should know.

 Whats happening

The Haitian government says that gang violence has created a deterioration in security in the countrys capital, Port-au-Prince. Armed gang members have assassinated and kidnapped peaceful citizens and carried out gruesome attacks on government institutions.

Gangs have reportedly killed at least five police officers and set fire to Port-au-Prince police stations since the end of February. The latest target was a police station in the Saloman market, an open-air spot with heavy foot traffic. They have also set fire to a peace court in Croix-des-Bouquets.

On Saturday night, two Haitian government officials told ABC News, thousands of inmates escaped Haitis largest prison, the National Penitentiary, after a planned attack by armed gunmen. They said that out of about 4,000 inmates, less than 100 remained at the facility.

Another prison was under siege the same night in Croix-des-Bouquets, an area that the Haitian National Police says is under gang control.

The location of Croix-des-Bouquets Prison. (Elmurod Usubaliev/Anadolu via Getty Images)

On Sunday, Haiti declared a 72-hour state of emergency and imposed a curfew to try to restore the order and to take appropriate measures in order to regain control of the situation, according to a press release. The state of emergency has now been extended by a month.

On Monday, gang members tried to seize control of Toussaint Louverture International Airport, Haitis main airport, before being thwarted by security forces.

That same day, the U.S. Embassy in Haiti issued a security alert advising Americans to leave Port-au-Prince immediately. On Wednesday, the embassy issued the same security alert in response to the violence.

Also on Wednesday, the National Human Right Defense Network reported that more than 20 other buildings in Haiti have been set on fire or looted.

 Whats causing the violence?

Gang leader Jimmy Barbecue Cherizier and his men in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Tuesday. (Clarens Siffroy/ AFP)

Mondays alert was triggered by violence that escalated on Feb. 29, the day Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry left for a regional summit in Kenya to push for the United Nations to deploy multinational police reinforcements to quell the violence.

Haiti is still reeling from the July 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise. The country has not had any parliamentary or general elections since then. Henry became prime minister with international support after Moises death but was supposed to leave office in February and relinquish his power to newly elected officials.

Instead, he agreed to a power-sharing deal with political opposition groups and vowed to hold general elections by mid-2025.

But Jimmy Barbecue Cherizier, an ex-police officer and gang leader of G9  an alliance of several gangs  has threatened a civil war among Haitians that will lead to genocide if Henry does not leave his position.

Today, we announce that all armed groups are going to act to get Prime Minister Ariel Henry to step down," Cherizier said in a video posted on social media, according to CBS News, right before the latest round of attacks.

We will use all strategies to achieve this goal, he said. We claim responsibility for everything thats happening in the streets right now.

According to CNN, the U.S. is pushing for urgent movement toward a political transition. The Miami Herald said that the U.S. tried to persuade Henry to step down midflight Tuesday as he was returning to Haiti.

 How can American citizens leave Haiti?

While the U.S. Embassy in Haiti called for U.S. citizens to depart the country as soon as possible by commercial or other privately available transportation options, the embassy said it cannot help private U.S. citizens with air travel. Instead, it advised people to call airlines that fly in and out of Haiti. But many commercial airlines have suspended their flights. The embassy has also encouraged people to keep checking its website for alerts that may give options for leaving the country.

The alert says that if you do have to travel, avoid crowds, keep a low profile, stay alert, travel by day, carry proper ID, and prepare to shelter in place for an extended time period.

The State Department, which in July issued a do not travel warning for Haiti, echoed the U.S. Embassys advice to U.S. citizens in its own security alert on X on Wednesday.

Monitor local news and information on security conditions from commercial transportation providers and arrange to leave Haiti when security conditions and commercial transportation options permit doing so, the post read.
FILE - People with the group No Labels hold signs during a rally on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 13, 2013. The third-party presidential movement No Labels plans to meet on March 8, 2024, amid fierce pressure on donors and potential candidates from Donald Trump critics who fear the deep-pocketed group would help the former president return to the White House. No Labels Chief Strategist Ryan Clancy says no candidates will be selected at the meeting. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

WASHINGTON (AP)  The third-party presidential movement No Labels is planning to move toward fielding a presidential candidate in the November election, even as high-profile contenders for the ticket have decided not to run, two people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

After months of leaving open whether the group would offer a ticket, No Labels delegates are expected to vote Friday in favor of launching a presidential campaign for this fall's election, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the group's internal deliberations.

No Labels will not name its presidential and vice presidential picks on Friday, when roughly 800 delegates meet virtually in a private meeting. The group is instead expected to debut a formal selection process late next week for potential candidates who would be selected in the coming weeks, the people said.

Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trumps romp on Super Tuesday all but ensured a November rematch of the 2020 election. Polls suggest many Americans dont have favorable views of Biden or Trump, a dynamic No Labels sees as an opening to offer a bipartisan ticket. But Biden supporters worry No Labels will pull votes away from the president in battleground states and are critical of how the group won't disclose its donors or much of its decision-making.

No Labels officials would not publicly confirm plans for Friday's meeting. In a statement, senior strategist Ryan Clancy said only, We expect our delegates to encourage the process to continue.

The two people familiar with the group noted that No Labels' plans could change ahead of the vote. But they said there has been enthusiasm across its regional chapters for running a candidate, giving momentum to the idea of a vote on Friday.

The group has been weighing what it would present as a unity ticket to appeal to voters unhappy with both Biden and Trump. No Labels strategists have said theyll give their ballot line to a bipartisan ticket with a presidential nominee from one major party and a vice presidential nominee from the other if they see a viable path to victory.

Group officials have said they are communicating with several potential candidates but have not disclosed any names.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has said she's not interested in running as a No Labels candidate. After Haley dropped out of the Republican race on Wednesday, No Labels in a statement congratulated her for running a great campaign and appealing to the large swath of commonsense voters."

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat who is not seeking re-election this year, has said he will not seek the presidency. Republican former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who had been involved with No Labels, is instead seeking a U.S. Senate seat in November.

No Labels has stockpiled cash from people it has declined to name, including former Republican donors who have become disenchanted with the party's direction in the Trump era, and worked to secure ballot access in every state.
Farmers with their tractors take part in a protest against EU agricultural policies and the failed negotiations with the Czech government to further support farmers. ulova Kateina/CTK/dpa

Thousands of farmers in the Czech Republic have protested against the agricultural policy of the government and the European Union.

One farmer unloaded a huge pile of manure in front of the seat of government on the banks of the Vltava river in Prague on Thursday. According to the police, he was temporarily detained and now faces charges for an administrative offence.

"Desperate people do desperate things," the Czech Agricultural Chamber president, Jan Dolezal, told Radio Prague International.

The demonstrators drove through the Czech capital in around 700 tractors and other agricultural vehicles causing traffic disruption for cars and public transport.

Among other things, the farmers are demanding a reversal of the recent property tax increase and the creation of jobs in the countryside through targeted social security benefits.

They also criticized the EU's Green Deal, which aims to make Europe a climate-neutral continent by 2050, as well as import breaks for Ukrainian agricultural products.

Police officers stand guard where farmers with their tractors protest against EU agricultural policies and the failed negotiations with the Czech government to further support farmers. imanek Vit/CTK/dpa

Farmers with their tractors take part in a protest against EU agricultural policies and the failed negotiations with the Czech government to further support farmers. ulova Kateina/CTK/dpa

Farmers with their tractors take part in a protest against EU agricultural policies and the failed negotiations with the Czech government to further support farmers. imanek Vit/CTK/dpa
Armed rebels of the Iran-backed Houthi militia take part in a demonstration. A Houthi missile attack on a Liberian-owned cargo ship off southern Yemen resulted in the deaths of three crew members and injuries to four others, the US military said on Wednesday. Osamah Yahya/dpa

A Houthi missile attack on a Liberian-owned cargo ship off southern Yemen resulted in the deaths of three crew members and injuries to four others, the US military said on Wednesday.

This marks the first fatalities among a commercial shipping crew since the militants began launching their attacks last year.

The vessel was hit and damaged by an anti-ship ballistic missile on Wednesday south-west of the port city of Aden, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

The crew of the Barbados-flagged True Confidence abandoned ship. The bulk carrier is now adrift at sea.

"The multinational crew reports three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition, and significant damage to the ship," CENTCOM said in a statement.

The Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen quickly claimed responsibility.

This was the fifth anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Houthis in the last two days, CENTCOM said.

The command also said that later on Wednesday it struck "two unmanned aerial vehicles in a Houthi controlled area of Yemen that presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region."

For months the militants have been attacking ships in the Red Sea in what they say is retaliation for Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip.

"The Houthis have killed innocent civilians by continuing their reckless attacks against international commercial shipping, which impacts countries throughout the world," White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.

The White House and US military clarified that the ship was owned by a Liberian-registered company - not by a US firm, as the Houthis initially claimed.

The Houthis say they want to force an end to the Israeli attacks in Gaza, which followed the unprecedented massacre by the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas in Israel on October 7 last year.

Major shipping companies are now avoiding the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe and sailing around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope.

Several Western countries, including the United States and Britain, have launched operations to protect ships in the region.

The European Union has also launched a military operation to secure merchant shipping in the Red Sea.

The Red Sea is one of the most important shipping routes for world trade, as it connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal in Egypt.

Earlier this week, US military forces hit targets in Yemen linked to the Houthi movement after the militants directed their fire toward a US Navy ship in the Red Sea.
FAYETTE COUNTY, WV (WVNS)  Three people were convicted of felony drug crimes in Fayette County.

Two people arrested in animal cruelty investigation in Raleigh County

49-year-old Christopher M. Carver (left), of Bluefield, West Virginia, 45-year-old Demetran D.D. Gray (middle), of Oak Hill, and 44-year-old Michael L. Grimmett (right), of Russellville were convicted of drug related felony offenses after a two-day jury trial.

Gray and Carver were found guilty of the felony offense of conspiracy to possess

with the intent to distribute between five and fifty grams of methamphetamine, and Carver, Gray, and Grimmett were convicted of the felony offense of possession with intent to distribute

methamphetamine.

Both Gray and Carver face 20 years in prison for the conspiracy conviction, and Grimmett, Carver, and Gray each face one to fifteen years in prison for possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Carver and Gray have had previous drug related felony convictions, which means that their sentences could be doubled. Grimmett was found guilty of misdemeanor conspiracy and faces one year in prison.

Florida man arrested in Fayette County

According to a press release, a member of the Fayetteville Police Department held a traffic stop on U.S. Route 19 during the evening hours of January 21, 2023 when they noticed a car driving without registration lights or taillights on. Carver was the driver of the car, and could not give the officer a drivers license, registration, or proof of insurance.

Further investigation from the officer revealed that Carver did not have a valid drivers license and that Carver was in possession of drugs. Carver also admitted to the officer that other drugs were in the car.

Demetran D.D. Gray and Michael L. Grimmett were passengers in the car, and when officers performed a pat down for safety, more than $1,800 in cash and drugs were found on Gray, and drugs and digital scales were found on Grimmett.

Stolen Mountaineer statue recovered successfully

When the car was searched, officers found another set of digital scales, a small amount of suspected methamphetamine, suspected marijuana, and packing materials. The discovery led to the arrest of all three men in the car, and a large amount of suspected methamphetamine was discovered after searching Gray. Lab tests later revealed that more than 43 grams of methamphetamine were seized by the officer.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
A severe weather mix of thunderstorms and hail is forecast to move into the Wichita area starting as early as Thursday afternoon.

That weather is expected to move in around 4 p.m. or a little before that, National Weather Service Wichita meteorologist Scott Smith said.

A National Weather Service Hazardous Weather Outlook describes strong to severe storms, up to a half-dollar sized hail and the chance for a brief tornado for Wichita and other areas of south central and southeast Kansas.

Thursday afternoon stands at a 40 percent chance for showers and thunderstorms. That increases to a 60 percent chance at night, according to a detailed NWS forecast.

Storms are expected to taper off at around 11 p.m. and mostly move into southeast Kansas, but expected to linger into Friday, Smith said.

Storms may redevelop this afternoon and evening across mainly south central and southeast Kansas. The stronger storms will be capable of quarter to half dollar size hail. A brief tornado cannot be ruled out. #kswx pic.twitter.com/sPoKR6lEfe  NWS Wichita (@NWSWichita) March 7, 2024

The NWS said no severe weather is expected Friday, which is forecast to have a high of 48 with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms.

Just lingering showers and storms for tomorrow, Smith said. Until finally that all clears out for the weekend.

Saturday is expected to see a sunny high of 51 and Sunday a sunny high of 63, a forecast shows.
Buddhist monks walk down a street in McLeod Ganj near Dharamsala on February 18, 2024

The Dalai Lama, wrapped in red and yellow robes, urged chanting monks and nuns in his latest public prayers to help heal the world with their "compassionate heart".

"Being a good human being is everybody's responsibility," he said, weeks ahead of Sunday's commemorations of the failed Tibetan uprising against China that saw him flee into exile in neighbouring India.

"I urge all of you to strive towards it."

The 88-year-old Buddhist leader says he has decades yet to live, but Tibetans who have followed him abroad are bracing for an inevitable future without him.

China says Tibet is an integral part of the country, and many exiled Tibetans fear Beijing will name a rival successor to the Dalai Lama, bolstering control over a land it poured troops into in 1950.

Tibet has alternated over the centuries between independence and control by China, which says it "peacefully liberated" the rugged plateau and brought infrastructure and education.

But Tsultrim, a sprightly 95-year-old Tibetan former CIA-backed guerilla, offers a warning from the past.

He recalls how he took up a gun when Tibetans rose up against Chinese forces 65 years ago on March 10, 1959, in a revolt whose crushing forced the Dalai Lama across snowy Himalayan passes into India.

Tens of thousands followed.

"We were asked to rise up to resist the invading Chinese army and to escort the Dalai Lama to exile," Tsultrim told AFP, dressed in a black puffer jacket, still with a soldier-like manner with close-cut grey hair and a strong handshake.

Today, he is among the last of a generation to remember what he calls a "free Tibet", and tells younger Tibetans not to trust Beijing.

"Before Tibet lost its independence, we were herders and farmers," said Tsultrim, who uses only one name and is based in the Dalai Lama's adopted hometown of Dharamsala in northern India.

"Life was good, and our living was good... We had nothing to do with money, the herders sold meat and butter and farmers sold grains."

- The past -

Tsultrim later joined Tibetan insurgents based in Nepal's mountainous kingdom of Mustang in 1960, trained and supplied with rifles and radios by the CIA.

For more than a decade they snuck into Tibet to lay ambushes, including blowing up Chinese army trucks.

"We were volunteers with our own horse, and carried our own rifle and food," he said. "We kept waging war."

Washington used the 2,000-strong force as a covert Cold War proxy.

But after the CIA cut funding, and the Dalai Lama in 1974 urged fighters to lay down arms and follow his call for a peaceful solution, Tsultrim left for India.

After working as a farm labourer for decades, he retired to an old people's home near where his leader lives.

"I came to see the Dalai Lama before dying," he said.

His comrade Ngodup Palden, 90, clings to a fading dream.

He became a paratrooper in India's special Tibetan force for 24 years, seeing combat in the China-India war of 1962.

"Before we lost our country, we lived a comfortable life," he said, staring out at the snow-capped Himalayan peaks that divide him from his homeland.

"It is my hope to return to a free Tibet during my lifetime," he said, prayer beads clicking through his fingers.

"I have some hope in my heart, to be back in my homeland, my happy homeland."

- The present -

Those coming from Tibet today say Palden's hope is fantasy.

While once thousands fled to India annually, fewer than a dozen escaped last year, Tibet's exiled government says.

Activists say Tibetans' movements in their homeland are monitored, and that many fear arrest or retaliation against relatives should they make it out.

"I feel like a bird that has been caged for a long time and is now free to flap its wings and fly," said 37-year-old Tsering Dawa, a former bank manager from Tibet's main city Lhasa.

He abandoned his middle-class life in 2020 fearing re-arrest after contacting journalists about China's "vocational training centres".

UN experts say the centres are used to "undermine Tibetan religious, linguistic and cultural identity" -- charges Beijing denies.

Dawa said he had been detained without trial in 2015 for nearly a year after messaging an exile group to report passport restrictions for Tibetans.

He said his detention included a brutal beating and interrogation that pushed him to "the brink of insanity".

"I told my mother that if we stay in Tibet, we are bound to die," he said, warning her she would be punished if he left without her.

"If we leave, there is a 50 percent chance of making it."

With routes across the mountains to Nepal barred by China's security forces, he packed a bag and posed with his 68-year-old mother as "tourists heading on holiday".

Swallowing their terror, they smiled and snapped photographs at Lhasa airport, starting a journey that would eventually bring them to India.

In his cramped one-bedroom apartment he described leaving behind 600,000 yuan ($83,000) in his account, two houses and a car.

"The reason I got out was because of my willingness to sacrifice it all."

- The future -

Younger generations who grew up in exile fear threats ahead.

"China is hell-bent on appointing their own Dalai Lama once he passes away," said Tenzin Dawa, a 31-year-old activist.

Born in India, she heads the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.

She worries that the younger generations have lost hope of seeing their ancestral home.

"We grew up stateless in India... and, we never know what might happen when His Holiness the Dalai Lama passes away," she said.

"That's why we're seeing a lot of emigration of Tibetans to Europe and North America."

Tens of thousands of Tibetans have left India since 2011, according to Indian government figures.

"It is a big concern," the activist added. "The younger generations, it is they who have to carry on the movement."

str-pjm/slb/ser
Semafor Signals

Insights from The New York Times, Financial Times, and CNN

The News

A House committee unanimously advanced legislation that would force ByteDance to divest the social media app TikTok, despite congressional offices being bombarded with calls from TikTokers who were urged by the platform to call their representatives to protest the bill.

Let Congress know what TikTok means to you and tell them to vote NO, a pop-up message on the app said, imploring users to stop a TikTok shutdown.

Aides from multiple congressional offices told Semafor that they were getting flooded with calls pushing back on the legislation Thursday. Some offices reported getting as many as 50 phone calls. One office received a message from a caller threatening suicide if the app was taken down, a Politico reporter posted on X.

But later Thursday afternoon, the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously advanced the legislation in a 50-0 vote. The bipartisan House bill introduced Tuesday would force ByteDance to sell off TikTok or face it being banned in the United States, over national security concerns associated with Chinese ownership of the app, which TikTok says is used by 170 million Americans. House majority leader Steve Scalise said the bill would come to the floor for a vote next week.

This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States, a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement. The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression. This will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.

The bill was proposed by Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), the top lawmakers on the House select committee on China, and quickly received support from the White House and Speaker Mike Johnson.

Here you have an example of an adversary-controlled application lying to the American people, and interfering with the legislative process in Congress, Gallagher said in response to the calls. In a weird way it almost proves the point that weve been making here.

The phone campaign may be backfiring as it has enraged legislators who were previously undecided, Politico reported.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Conservative groups and human rights organizations alike back the bill

Sources: The New York Times, Semafor

The legislation has received support from a broad coalition, ranging from conservative lobbying groups to human rights organizations. Heritage Action, an offshoot of the Heritage Foundation  one of the most influential Republican lobby groups gave its backing on Thursday. We strongly encourage your boss to support this bill in committee today as an important step toward addressing the root problem and getting the [Chinese Communist Party] out of the pockets of hundreds of millions of Americans, Heritage said in a letter sent to legislators that was shared with Semafors Kadia Goba. Human rights groups who are focused on abuses by the Chinese government have also backed the bill, Semafors Morgan Chalfant reported.

Will Congress be able to pass TikTok legislation this time around?

Sources: The Guardian, Financial Times, CNN

Previous efforts to ban TikTok last year came up short, after some lawmakers raised concerns that a ban would infringe on free speech, something congressional aides told the Financial Times this bill was aimed at circumventing. The barrage of calls to Congress  many of which are from teenagers who would otherwise not engage in national-level politics  may be just the first round of Gen Z discontent about the bill. I think its very much going to be taken personally, Annie Wu Henry, who ran Senator John Fettermans popular TikTok account, told New Republic last year. The bill also comes after President Joe Bidens reelection campaign started using TikTok last month  despite both the Biden administration and the Trump administration have described the app as a national security risk.

US officials have long warned of national security concerns over TikTok

Sources: Associated Press, Texas Monthly, ABC News, Financial Times

Many top national security officials have voiced concerns about the popular video sharing application. FBI Director Chris Wray warned that China could control the apps algorithm, which allows them to manipulate content, and if they want to, to use it for influence operations. A top Pentagon official called the app a potential threat vector, citing concerns that the app could be used for surveillance or information operations. TikTok has strongly denied the accusations, and has said it has made efforts to keep all American user data on servers in the U.S. We dont have smoking-gun evidence, one expert told ABC News, but added that if the Chinese government requested data from TikTok, they would be compelled to provide it and we also probably wouldnt know if they did. ByteDance has previously admitted to using the app to spy on journalists who were reporting on the app.
When some American users opened TikTok on Thursday morning, they were met with a full-screen message encouraging them to call Congress and say no to a TikTok ban.

"Speak up now -- before your government strips 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression," the screen says. "Let Congress know what TikTok means to you and tell them to vote NO."

Below the message, users can click a red "call now" button.

TikTok users received a pop-up about the potential ban

Image Credits: TikTok screenshot obtained by TechCrunch

TikTok has been under scrutiny in the United States for a while. Last year, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before Congress for five hours, addressing lawmakers' concerns about Chinese authorities accessing American data (TikTok, an American company, is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company). Chew has repeatedly stated that TikTok and ByteDance are not conduits for the Chinese government. There is no evidence that the Chinese government has accessed Americans' TikTok user data, but in a separate incident, ByteDance employees were fired for gaining access to the IP addresses of journalists to track their location.

TikTok is banned on government-issued phones in dozens of states. This week, the app's struggles in the U.S. government escalated when a bill was introduced that would give the president the ability to identify social media apps that are threats to national security, which would remove them from app stores. The bill's sponsors are urging TikTok to sever its ties with ByteDance to avoid this fate, or else it could lose its 170 million American users.

TikTok confirmed to TechCrunch that this message appeared for users 18+ in the United States, but based on our own testing, not all users in that demographic received the pop-up.

The platform has previously tapped its community to support its battles in Congress. When Chew made his first appearance in Congress last year, TikTok invited a group of creators, including Vitus Spehar (UnderTheDeskNews), to go to D.C. to lobby on the app's behalf.

Congress made clear that they dont understand TikTok, they dont listen to their constituents who are in the community of TikTokers  and are using this TikTok hysteria as a way to pass legislation that gives them superpowers to ban any app they deem unsafe in the future, Spehar told TechCrunch at the time.
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), one of the worlds largest aluminium smelters, held its 14th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Thursday (March 7) at Al Dana Hall in Alba.

The AGM gave approval to the distribution of cash dividends to shareholders at fils 29.18 per share or 29.18% of the paid-up capital (inclusive of the interim dividend of fils 13.28 per share which was already distributed to shareholders on 31 August 2023), which is BD41.314 million for the year ended 31 December 2023, and the transfer of BD76.71 million to the retained earnings.

The meeting was led Board Chairman Khalid Al Rumaihi with attendance from the board members, companys executive management, Alba shareholders, and representatives from regulatory bodies.

During the AGM meeting, the shareholders approved the appointment of Khalid Al Rumaihi as the Chairman of Albas Board of Directors. Moreover, minutes of the previous AGM held on February 26, 2023 were reviewed and approved. The meeting also discussed and approved the report of the board of directors for the companys business/activities along with the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023.

The discussion also covered the Corporate Governance Report for 2023, and the meeting approved the re-appointment of Ernst & Young as the company's external auditors for the fiscal year 2024. In addition, the shareholders approved the re-appointment of SICO to provide market-making services to Alba by utilising, at any given time, a maximum of 3% of Albas issued share capital over a three-year period and subject to the approval of Central Bank of Bahrain.

Al Rumaihi, said: I want to start by expressing my deepest gratitude to the Board of Directors and our Executive team. Their exceptional leadership and unwavering dedication throughout the past year have been instrumental in delivering strong performance despite a challenging market environment. This success is a true reflection of the talent, commitment, and collaborative spirit that permeates every level of Alba.

As we look forward, I am confident that our well-defined vision, robust strategy, and the unwavering dedication of our team will continue to drive long-term value for our shareholders and cement our position as an industry leader.

During the Extraordinary General Meeting, the minutes of the previous meeting held on February 26, 2023 were reviewed and approved. Approvals were also given to the amendment and restatement of the companys memorandum and articles of association in accordance with legislative decrees no. (3) of the year 2022, no. (20), (63), and (64) of the year 2021, and no. (28) of the year 2020, subject to the approval of regulatory authorities.  TradeArabia News Service
By Maya Kaneko, KYODO NEWS - Mar 7, 2024 - 18:06 | World, All

China's top diplomat Wang Yi criticized the United States on Thursday, saying Washington continues to have a "wrong perception" of the Asian country and employs measures to suppress Beijing's development through trade restrictions despite recent improvement of bilateral ties.

Although U.S. President Joe Biden sought to assure his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that Washington does not seek to suppress or contain China's development during their talks near San Francisco last November, commitments made by the United States at the summit "have not been truly fulfilled," Wang told a packed press conference.

"If it only wants itself to prosper but denies other countries' legitimate development, where is international fairness?" Wang asked at the press conference on the sidelines of this year's session of the National People's Congress.

The top diplomat said the United States should take "an objective and rational view" of China, adding that Beijing upholds peaceful coexistence with Washington as a principle, and warned the country will "eventually harm itself" if it is obsessed with suppressing China.

Wang was referring to U.S.-led efforts to tighten restrictions on Beijing's access to cutting-edge technologies such as semiconductors.

On Taiwan, which Beijing regards as part of its territory, he emphasized that the self-ruled island "will never be allowed to split from the motherland" and warned against providing any international assistance to those seeking "Taiwan independence," saying supporters will "get burned for playing with fire and taste the bitter fruit of their own doing."

Wang said separatist behavior is "the most destructive factor" for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and dismissed the victory of Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing views as an independence advocate, in the island's January presidential election, saying the poll results will not change the historical trend of unification.

Taiwan and Communist-ruled China have been governed separately since they split in 1949 due to a civil war. Beijing regards the island as a renegade province to be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

As for tensions in the South China Sea, where Beijing's sweeping territorial claims overlap with those of neighboring countries, Wang said differences should be "properly managed and resolved through dialogue" between the nations directly involved.

He stressed that China will respond to unwarranted provocations with legitimate countermeasures in the South China Sea and advised countries outside of the region "not to stir up trouble," in a veiled reference to the United States. His comments came after the latest clash between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the waters earlier this week.

Wang also expressed concern over recent flare-ups of tension on the Korean Peninsula, with North Korea boosting its war preparedness amid U.S.-South Korea joint drills, calling for dialogue between all parties and the promotion of a political settlement.

The top diplomat warned that anyone undermining peace and stability on the peninsula will "pay a heavy price," in reference to the United States. Meanwhile, Wang said China will seek deeper and more substantial trilateral cooperation with its neighbors Japan and South Korea.

Wang said Beijing will continue to deepen strategic cooperation with Russia, adding that Sino-Russian relations are "of great value" in maintaining global stability.

The two countries have been strengthening ties in a move to jointly oppose the U.S.-led international order. China is against Western sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine war.

The top Chinese diplomat also expressed his eagerness to boost cooperation with the European Union, arguing "autonomy" is a key value, in a bid to prevent it from being part of a U.S.-led bloc.

He announced that China will adopt a new unilateral visa-free policy for Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg on a trial basis, starting March 14.

Despite touching on a wide range of topics during the press conference, Wang did not mention Sino-Japanese ties, which have deteriorated recently due to the release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea and Beijing's detention of Japanese nationals over allegations of espionage.

Related coverage:

U.S., China agree to hold follow-up talks on North Korea, Middle East

China's top diplomat warns U.S. against Taiwan independence
Tim Scott says Biden should start apology tour at State of the Union address

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said President Biden should begin an apology tour at Thursdays State of the Union address.

I hope  President Biden starts tonight is an apology tour, Scott said in an interview on CNBCs Squawk Box with host Joe Kernen. Apologizing for Bidenomics, it has devastated average Americans. Apologizing for the chaos and the crime in our streets. Apologizing for the open border that has led to deaths untold throughout this country.

Scott is speculated to be a front-runner for the role of former President Trumps running mate. The South Carolina Republican also made a bid for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination himself but dropped out of the race in November.

He ran, and he was OK, Trump said about Scott at a rally in South Carolina last month. Hes a respected guy. But he ran, and he did fine, and then when he got out, he endorsed me, and hes a surrogate. Hes the greatest surrogate Ive ever seen.

In the CNBC interview, Kernen asked Scott if he knew anything about possible choices for Trumps running mate, to which Scott responded he had no inside information.

I certainly hope he picks a vice president who will be strong on our border, good for our economy, who understands the inner workings of our government, and frankly, who puts the American people above American politics, Scott responded.

Scott also posted a clip of his interview on CNBC on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Tonight, at his State of the Union address, President Biden should apologize for Bidenomics, for the crime in our streets, and for the wide open border, Scott wrote in the post.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  A northern Michigan timber harvester has been jailed after taking a plea deal for allegedly embezzling money from his customers.

The Michigan Attorney Generals Office announced Wednesday that 57-year-old Norman Kasubowski, of Indian River, was sentenced to 45 days in jail this week by an Otsego County judge.

Kasubowski operated two timber harvesting companies in the northern Lower Peninsula and was accused of embezzling more than $20,000 by underreporting the amount of timber he harvested from his customers property.

He had previously been bound over for trial on six felony counts of embezzlement. However, Kasubowski took a plea deal with the state, instead pleading no contest to two misdemeanor counts of embezzlement and two counts of disorderly conduct. He must also pay full restitution to his six victims.

Sign up for the News 8 daily newsletter

Defrauding Michigan residents out of their assets and on their own land is not a successful business model, its a crime, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. My office will continue to hold crooked business agents accountable for unfairly treating their customers and those they contract with.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
Authorities have launched a homicide investigation after a man who was sitting in his truck was shot to death outside his friends apartment in Randolph late Wednesday night.

Officers responding to a report of shots fired at the Castle Village Condominiums on Highland Glen Drive just before midnight 32-year old Deandre Jones, of Boston, suffering from serious injuries inside his bullet-riddled pickup truck, according to Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey.

Jones was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 1 a.m.

The victims outraged mother, Shawannika Jones, told Boston 25 News that her son was ambushed by a masked gunman shortly after he got out of work.

They say some guy in a mask did it to him. Thats a coward type of move, Shawannika said. You should have shot him without your mask because what goes around comes around.

Shawannika said her son worked hard every day as a local breeder of French bulldogs and that he was preparing to celebrate his 33rd birthday on Friday.

He had two more days to be 33. They killed him before his birthday, Shawannika said. Whoever did that, theyre going to pay.

She also said that her son lived at Castle Village with his girlfriend and 14-year-old son.

Courtesy photo

Randolph police officers and investigators from Norfolk District Attorneys Office were spotted scouring for evidence in the tree line before the victims blue pickup truck was towed away.

Detectives were working through the night, collecting evidence and processing the scene, Morrissey said in a statement. The vehicle was towed to the Randolph Police Station for forensic processing.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is expected to conduct an autopsy as early as today.

State troopers assigned to Morrisseys office are assisting Randolph police with the investigation.

There have been no arrests made in the shooting.

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
Former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Toobin said Wednesday he is concerned former President Trump could try to seek out foreign sources to pay the massive legal fees that are putting a strain on his finances.

In a discussion on CNN, Toobin said he expects Trump to have difficulty finding any banks that would loan him money, citing his strained history with Deutsche Bank.

Prosecutors in Trumps recent civil fraud case in New York argued that the bank lost out on almost $170 million in interest because of the former presidents false valuations of assets. Trumps team has argued, however, that the money was all repaid.

I think the most interesting question about that is, what if he goes to foreign sources? What if he goes to Azerbaijan? He has a lot of business overseas. What if he goes to Russia? Toobin said. What if he goes and gets hundreds of millions of dollars from overseas?

What does that mean if a candidate for president is is on the hook for multiple, multiple millions of dollars to a foreign source? Because that, it seems to me, is the most likely source, he continued. Banks, at this point, dont want anything to do with him. Deutsche Bank has lived a nightmare for decades now because theyve been associated with Trump.

Toobin added, So I think foreign is his only option. And that raises a very big can of worms.

Billionaire Elon Musk reportedly met with Trump and a few wealthy Republican donors Sunday in Florida as the former president tried to secure his finances ahead of a likely 2024 rematch against President Biden. Reports of the meeting surfaced Tuesday, and Musk said Wednesday that he would not donate to either candidate.

Just to be super clear, I am not donating money to either candidate for US President, Musk wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Trump was ordered to pay columnist E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million for defaming her in 2019 after she publicized accusations that the former president sexually assaulted her. Trump, who denies the accusation, asked the judge to rescind the verdict.

A separate jury had already found Trump liable for sexual battery in the case, and he was ordered to pay $5 million for defamation.

Trump previously asked the judge to delay enforcement of the judgment  or at least permit a reduced bond amount  in anticipation of his post-trial motions, insisting they will get the amount entirely tossed or heavily reduced.

His delay request also follows a penalty of more than $454 million, with interest, against him in his New York civil fraud case. The judge in that case determined Trump and top executives at the Trump Organization were liable for fraud and conspired to alter the former presidents net worth for tax and insurance benefits.

Each day the judgement goes unpaid, it increases more than $111,000 in interest.

Trumps net worth is estimated by Forbes and Bloomberg to be between $2.6 billion and $3.1 billion, but its unclear how much cash the former president has on hand to pay the legal fees.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung took a swing at Toobin in a statement to The Hill.

Is this the same Jeffrey Toobin that was caught masturbating in front of his co-workers on a video call? he wrote, referencing a Zoom incident in 2020 when the former legal analyst was accused of exposing himself to his colleagues at The New Yorker magazine.

Toobin, who was fired from the magazine due to the incident, apologized at the time, saying he didnt realize his camera was on.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Melika Gorgianeh said she received death threats as a result of Baroness Jacqueline Foster's comments

A Conservative peer has paid "substantial damages" and apologised to a student who she accused of antisemitism following an appearance on University Challenge.

Baroness Jacqueline Foster, 76, reached a settlement with Melika Gorgianeh after posting a series of tweets calling for her to be "arrested".

Ms Gorgianeh said the accusation had led to her receiving death threats.

Baroness Foster said she accepted her comments were "completely false".

The Liverpool-born former MEP sent the tweets after Ms Gorgianeh and three colleagues from the University of Oxford's Christ Church College appeared on the BBC quiz show on 20 November 2023.

Baroness Foster appeared to take exception to the group having an octopus stuffed toy as a mascot, and also claimed Ms Gorgianeh was wearing colours representing the Palestinian flag.

The peer claimed the octopus represented an antisemitic trope referring to the power supposedly wielded by Jewish people, which appeared on Nazi propaganda posters.

The BBC said at the time it "utterly condemned" the "abuse" directed towards Ms Gorgianeh.

The broadcaster said the octopus mascot was "one of many" chosen by the team during the series and was "one of their favourite animals".

A spokesperson also clarified the episode was filmed in March, 2023, before the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in October.

Solicitors representing Ms Gorgianeh pointed out that the "young Muslim woman" was only one of four members of the panel, and that her jacket was navy blue, orange and pink windbreaker bought from high street retailer Zara.

On Wednesday Baroness Foster posted a public apology on X (formerly Twitter) saying: "I made a grave mistake in making those posts and I should not have done so."

She wrote that she had also apologised in a private letter to Ms Gorgianeh and paid her "substantial damages and costs".

'Death threats'

In statement issued through her solicitors, Ms Gorgianeh said the impact of Baroness Foster's comments had made her afraid to leave her house.

She said: "The false allegation of antisemitism has had a profound and deeply damaging impact on my life.

"I was a student appearing on my favourite TV quiz show. All of a sudden, lies told about me, and only me, led to me receiving death threats and to my mental health deteriorating."

Ms Gorgianeh's solicitor, Zillur Rahman of Rahman Lowe Solicitors, said the Baroness's comments had been "deeply disturbing".

He added: "Baroness Foster's apology, and her payment of substantial damages, goes some way to healing the damage that she has caused to our client."

Baroness Foster did not respond to a request for comment.

Why not follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk
Visitors will be banned from entering private alleys in Kyoto's famous geisha district, a local representative said on Thursday, as the ancient city tackles overtourism after the pandemic.

Kyoto residents have long expressed frustration with tourists behaving badly, especially in the city's Gion district, home to teahouses where "geiko" -- as geisha are locally known -- and their young "maiko" apprentices, perform.

In December, a Gion district council comprised of residents urged Kyoto City to tackle the issue, saying their neighbourhood "is not a theme park".

One member previously told Japanese media about an instance of a maiko's kimono being torn and another who had a cigarette butt put in her collar.

With the problem ongoing, the council decided to step up its response.

"We will ask tourists to refrain from entering narrow private streets in or after April," Isokazu Ota, an executive member of the council, told AFP.

"We don't want to do this, but we're desperate," he said, adding that they will put up signs.

Gion's main Hanamikoji Street, which is public, will remain open to tourists.

Ota said groups of tourists sometimes "act like paparazzi" when geisha emerge from narrow streets, which are just one or two metres (3-6.5 feet) wide.

In 2019, the Gion district council put up signs saying "no photography on private roads" warning of fines of up to 10,000 yen ($67 at today's rates).

Despite common misconceptions, geishas are not prostitutes, but rather entertainers and raconteurs highly skilled in traditional Japanese dance, musical instruments and games.

Tourism to Japan has been booming since pandemic-era border restrictions were lifted, and other major attractions are also taking steps against overtourism.

This summer, hikers using the most popular route to climb Mount Fuji will be charged $13 each, with numbers capped to ease congestion and improve safety.

nf/kaf/lb
Veterans Affairs health care has announced that all Veterans who were exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving the country, home or abroad, are now eligible for VA hatch care.

VA is expanding health care eligibility to millions of veterans who served in the Vietnam War, Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan or any other combat zone after 9/11.

The company said millions of veterans can enroll directly in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits.

Read: The final chapter: Orlando brewery announces upcoming closure

The insurance has eliminated the phase-in approach called for by the PACT Act, meaning millions of veterans are eligible for VA health care up to eight years earlier than written into law.

VA encourages all eligible Veterans to visit the PACT Act website to learn more.

Read: Moving Florida Forward: FDOT gives update on multi-billion-dollar I-4 overhaul plan

Veterans can apply for VA health care:

On the VA health care website

By calling a toll-free hotline at 877-222-8387, available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

By mailing a completed Application for Health Care Benefits to: Health Eligibility Center2957 Clairmont Rd., Suite 200Atlanta, GA 30329

Visiting a the nearest VA medical center or clinic

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Sixty years after it first spluttered into life, East Germany's little communist-built Trabbi 601 car, which shot to fame when the Berlin Wall came tumbling down, is a sought-after classic. Prices are rising fast. Jens Buttner/dpa

Foreign visitors to communist East Berlin used to smile at the smelly little Trabant motor cars that later came to symbolize the fall of the Berlin Wall. But enthusiasts are now paying out large sums of money to buy one.

"The average price of a well-kept Trabbi 601 has risen to around 7,300," said expert Gerd Heinemann from the consultancy firm BBE Automotive "and they just keep going up in value".

It is a remarkable turnaround for a fragile car which was once a global laughing stock for its puny two-stroke engine and the clouds of smelly blue exhaust fumes it belched forth.

The Trabant 601 became an icon to Germans in 1989 when hundreds of the cars started rolling across the border between what was then East and West Germany in 1989.

Many car enthusiasts will perhaps find it hard to work up much enthusiasm for the Trabbi, with its 23 horsepower, air cooling, a heady top speed of 100 km/h and a body made of plastic instead of sheet metal.

Yet the appeal lies in the two big, round headlights which give it a cheeky, cartoonish look compared to large SUVs and complex modern cars.

Metal was in short supply so the makers opted for a plastic called Duroplast which is similar to Bakelite. It is made of recycled material such as cotton waste and phenol resins.

In early March 1964, the VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke presented the Trabant 601 to an international public for the first time at the Leipzig Spring Fair.

It was a revamped version of the more rounded version Trabbi which first rolled off the production line in 1957.

The Trabbi 601 went on to sell more than 2.8 million units and was produced until 1991. In typical pastel blue, polar white or green it could be seen in action from East Berlin to the northern island of Rugen. One even made it to the North Pole.

There have also been movies about the car, where it is shown as an underdog in races and when holidaying abroad with little-travelled East Germans enjoying their new-found freedom  rather like the US movies about "Herbie" the striped Volkswagen Beetle.

Figures from Germany's Motor Transport Authority show that the number of registered Trabant 601s has been rising for around 10 years.

There were a good 32,300 in 2014, the 40,000 mark was broken last year - just under 32,000 of them in the East and a good 8,300 in the West.

The fact that there are more Trabants in Germany again is also due to re-imports, explains expert Heinemann. Many of the cars have been brought back from former communist countries like Poland and Hungary where they were also once common.

Above all the design appeals today to home mechanics and those nostalgic for the days of simpler motoring.

The car can be easily fixed and a good set of tools will suffice to cope with anything that breaks.

Frank Hofmann runs the company Trabantwelt (World of Trabant) in Zwickau. He opens the door of a garage container to reveal a gleaming Trabant 601 estate in Panama green. "My son rebuilt it almost completely and then drove it to his college graduation ball."

Not everyone shares the enthusiasm shown by Trabant fans. The German environmental organisation Deutsche Umwelthilfe is concerned about the exhaust fumes from two-stroke engines.

The car runs on an environmentally unfriendly mixture of oil and petrol and has defied attempts by environmentalists to ban it. It has no catayltic converter to burn off harmful emissions.

The main issues are incompletely burnt hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. "We are calling for a driving ban on both old and new vehicles without effective exhaust gas purification," the organisation said in a statement.

This is because drivers of Trabants and other classic cars registered as historic vehicles can also drive in low emission zones in large cities where normally strict air purity regulations apply.

This is not justifiable, "as they contribute to air pollution and thus to health hazards," criticises the environmental organisation.

Meanwhile shoals of Trabbis can also be regularly seen in the streets of modern Berlin where a rental company in the centre near the former Checkpoint Charlie border crossing rents them out to tourists.

A brief spin recalls those heady reunification days in November 1989 when the cars and their astounded owners were warmly welcomed throughout western Germany. The Berlin Wall came down amid clouds of acrid smoke puff out of the finger-thin exhaust pipe and the "Reng-Teng-Teng" of the tiny engine.

Decades after its heyday, tens of thousands of Trabbis can still be found on German streets. East Germany's spluttering car, used by the first people crossing from East into West Berlin in 1989 before the fall of the wall, is highly sought after. dpa

Frank Hofmann stands on the premises of his company Trabantwelt next to a faithfully rebuilt Trabant P 601. The online retailer offers all parts of the Trabant as spare parts. Jan Woitas/dpa

Above all the design appeals today to home mechanics and those nostalgic for the days of simpler motoring. Peter Gercke/dpa
Azerbaijan's biggest arms supplier has been Russia but it will likely acquire jets from elsewhere.

The rumored deal suggests the longtime ally is detaching more from Moscow, a defense analyst said.

Russia's answer to America's F-22 and F-35, the Su-57, has severe shortcomings.

The small, oil-rich South Caucasus country of Azerbaijan has big plans to upgrade its modest fleet of fighter jets over the next decade. However, rather than turn to Russia, its traditional arms supplier for decades, Baku will likely acquire modern fighters from Pakistan and Turkey.

The turn away from Russia shows that longtime allies like Azerbaijan are finding effective arms sellers who aren't afflicted by the problems of Russia's newest fighter jets.

Unconfirmed reports in Azerbaijani and Pakistani media surfaced in late February claiming Azerbaijan reached a deal with Pakistan to buy an undisclosed number of JF-17C Thunder fighter jets for $1.6 billion. Azerbaijan officially joined Turkey's TF Kaan fifth-generation fighter program last July, strongly suggesting it will acquire that jet. The Kaan made its maiden flight in February.

Russia previously marketed the 4.5-generation Su-30SM, Su-35, and MiG-35 fighters to Azerbaijan in the late 2010s. Azerbaijan's president said in 2018 that his country had spent $5 billion on Russian military hardware. But now it doesn't seem likely Baku will turn to Moscow for 4.5-generation aircraft. Azerbaijan is even less likely to invest in Russia's troubled 5th-generation Su-57 or Su-75 "Checkmate" jets.

Russia has been Azerbaijan's largest arms supplier until recent years, said Frederico Borsari, a defense expert at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

"However, things have progressively changed as Russia launched a reckless war of aggression against Ukraine and started to lose influence among countries in the Caucasus amidst growing difficulties in Ukraine and financial constraints," Borsari told Business Insider. "Turkey, among others, has exploited this situation from a security standpoint and started to expand its military cooperation with Baku, including through weapons sales."

Consequently, Turkish sales to Azerbaijan began increasing in 2017, while Russian arms exports halted around 2019.

"Against this backdrop, the rumored JF-17 purchase from Pakistan further consolidates this trend of progressive detachment from Moscow's fold and may also be the result of the poor performance of Russian aircraft (and the air force overall) in Ukraine," Borsari said.

Sebastien Roblin, a widely published military-aviation journalist, says it is understandable if Azerbaijan decides to use its oil wealth to overhaul its manned fighter fleet until the Kaan begins rolling off production lines "in quantity" around 2033.

"Given close relations with Turkey and ambivalent ones with Russia, its preference for the latter is understandable, particularly given Russia's own problems bringing Su-57s into service," Roblin told Insider.

Roblin noted that Azerbaijan faces "tricky considerations" when weighing a "politically reliable vendor" for new fighters.

"Neither Russia nor Western democracies are ideal suppliers, even though Russia has historically sold arms to Azerbaijan," Roblin told Insider. "Pakistan and Turkey, and through Pakistan, China, may seem like more reliable partners for Baku unlikely to cut off deals due to upset over human rights issues or future potential wars with Armenia."

Borsari said Azerbaijan's participation in the Kaan project is "first and foremost the natural consequence of a long-standing and growing security partnership" between Ankara and Baku that stems from their close political and diplomatic ties. Turkey provided training and arms that enabled Azerbaijan to defeat Armenia's armed forces in the 2020 war over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.

"For both countries, this appears to be a win-win solution," Borsari said. "This choice would allow long-term and robust cooperation that ensures the sustainability of Baku's air force in terms of logistics, training, maintenance, etc, with a close ally while providing Turkey with a long-term contract and client in the defense sector."

The CEPA analyst noted that "prospective problems" in the Russian military aircraft industry, the "huge disappointment surrounding the Su-57," and the "poor performance" of other Russian fighters in Ukraine are other possible factors that pushed Baku "to opt for Turkey's project."

While Russia has promoted the Su-57 as its answer to America's F-22 and F-35, the fifth-generation fighter has exhibited some severe shortcomings. Analysts have noted it lacks fifth-generation engines, and its body panels are not placed tightly enough together to reduce the aircraft's radar cross-section  a key feature in any stealth aircraft.

An Azerbaijani acquisition of the JF-17, which the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and China's Chengdu Aircraft Corporation jointly developed, would also be significant.

A Sukhoi Su-57 jet fighter performs during the MAKS 2021 air show in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, Russia, July 25, 2021. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva

Azerbaijan's neighbor and rival Armenia acquired four Su-30SMs in 2020. The Su-30SM is more advanced than Azerbaijan's MiG-29s, although they did not face off against each other in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.

"The JF-17 is a modernization of the MiG-21/J-7 airframe with 4th-generation technology," Roblin said. "It doesn't outmatch the bigger, faster, heavier-payload lifting Su-30 twin-engine fighter in terms of raw performance and maximum radar search range."

Nevertheless, the Block III version Azerbaijan is set to acquire has significant advantages. Roblin noted its newer systems could give it an "electronics edge" over the Su-30SM, especially its powerful and purportedly jam-resistant KLJ-7A active electronically scanned array radar. Furthermore, if paired with China's PL-15E air-to-air missile, it could match Russia's equivalent.

"So, while not strictly an overmatch, JF-17Cs could hold their own against Armenian Su-30SMs to the extent that it would depend on tactics and training used by both sides in the event of an air war," Roblin said. "By contrast, Azerbaijan's Soviet-vintage MiG-29s purchased from Ukraine, while sound aircraft broadly speaking, have older electronics than the Su-30SMs and much inferior radar."

These latest rumors of Azerbaijan's interest in the JF-17 signal that Baku wants the former aircraft to replace its aging MiG-29s and serve as a stopgap solution until the Kaan is available.

Read the original article on Business Insider
KYODO NEWS - Mar 7, 2024 - 22:24 | World, Japan, All

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and her Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar pledged Thursday to boost cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, amid China's increasing military and economic clout.

During their meeting in Tokyo, Kamikawa, who in September 2023 became Japan's first female foreign minister for around two decades, and Jaishankar also agreed that the two countries will deepen bilateral relations in the economic and security fields.

"We affirmed Japan and India will further step up collaboration to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific," Kamikawa said at a joint press event after the talks, referring to a vision advocated by Tokyo in a veiled bid to counter China's assertiveness in the region.

Kamikawa underscored Tokyo and New Delhi "share fundamental values including democracy and the rule of law," saying they will "proactively promote" defense equipment transfers and technical cooperation in outer space and cybersecurity.

The two nations have strengthened security cooperation in recent years through bilateral military drills alongside being part of the four-way dialogue framework known as the Quad, involving the United States and Australia. The Quad is considered to be a counterweight to China.

Tokyo also sees its ties with New Delhi as a key for ramping up relations with emerging and developing economies collectively dubbed the Global South, among which India is widely viewed as a leading power.

India, meanwhile, is part of the BRICS forum along with nations such as Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa. It has also traditionally maintained amicable ties with Moscow even after the launch of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In tandem with other Group of Seven members and like-minded countries, Japan has imposed economic sanctions on Russia, but India has refrained from joining the punitive measures as it is dependent on Moscow for military and energy supplies.

The two foreign ministers met at a time when Tokyo and New Delhi are in the process of arranging a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Japan by the end of this year, sources close to the matter said.

Modi visited Japan to participate in the G7 summit in Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's home constituency of Hiroshima in May as a guest. India was the chair of the Group of 20 in 2023.
MILWAUKEE - A Washington County man and a Milwaukee woman have been charged with sex trafficking and assaulting a teenage girl for years.

Deep within a quiet neighborhood in Slinger lies disturbing details of extended child abuse.

Police say 55-year-old Todd Blehovde and 33-year-old Anne Carlson had a relationship that turned sexual in 2020 and detectives say, the following year, Carlson brought a 13-year-old girl to Blehovdes home. Over time, both adults convinced the teen to perform sexual acts on him.

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

A six-page criminal complaint revealed that Blehovde paid the teenage victim and Carlson $50 for each sexual encounter. Prosecutors said the teen gave Carlson a cut of that money.

The abuse paused for two years, but restarted last month, when the victim was 16, according to police.

Washington County Jail

After she spoke with detectives, police arrested Blehovde. His list of charges includes second-degree sexual assault of a child, sexual intercourse with a child 16 or older and trafficking of a child.

Carlson is facing similar charges and police have warrants out for her arrest.

Emmy, founder of organization Laceys Hope Project, is a survivor of human trafficking. She said trafficking happens throughout the state, and many times to children groomed as young as 13, who are scared to upset the adults recruiting them.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android.

"Trafficking, it doesnt discriminate," Emmy said. "It happens all day and all night. They dont want to disappoint, because as children were looking to the adults in what to do."

She gives tips on what to look out for with children.

"Youre going to be looking at a difference in their normal routine," she said. "Who they talk to, who they hang out with, what they do."

Laceys Hope Project

Emmy said the demand side of trafficking needs to be addressed and that speaking up can be a true lifesaver.

"If you see something, say something," she said. "Call local law enforcement, get someone involved."

Human trafficking resources can be found on the Lacey's Hope Project website.
The founder of a Washington, D.C., non-profit that served homeless LGBTQ youths  particularly Latin transgender people  has been charged with stealing $150,000 in taxpayer-backed pandemic relief funds  two years after fleeing the U.S. to El Salvador amid swirling questions about the groups finances.

Ruby Corado, 53, the founder of Casa Ruby, Inc., was arrested by FBI agents at a hotel in Laurel, Maryland, on Tuesday after unexpectedly returning to the U.S.

Corado sold her home in Prince Georges County two years ago and fled to El Salvador when questions were being raised about financial irregularities at the non-profit. The non-profit had shuttered its transitional housing, failed to pay its employees and faced eviction from multiple properties for failure to pay rent.

Ruby Corado, the founder of the non-profit Casa Ruby, has been charged with stealing $150,000 in taxpayer-backed pandemic relief funds  two years after fleeing the U.S. to El Salvador.

HOUSE GOP RELENTS ON LGBT CENTER FUNDING IN $460B PACKAGE AS DEMS CHEER LACK OF 'POISON PILLS'

Casa Ruby effectively ceased operations in July 2022.

Corado appeared in U.S. District Court on Wednesday to face charges of defrauding the Paycheck Protection and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs and money laundering.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Corado allegedly diverted at least $150,000 of $1.3 million in taxpayer-backed emergency relief funds, intended for Casa Ruby, to private bank accounts in El Salvador for personal use, which were hidden from the IRS.

Fabiola Caal Choc, left, speaks to Ruby Corado, the founder of Casa Ruby in 2019. The non-profit cared for Latin transgenders.

NONPROFIT GROUP CALLS ON FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO STRIP PBS FUNDING IN RESPONSE TO NETWORK'S 'LGBTQ+ PROPAGANDA'

Prosecutors hit Corado with charges including bank fraud, wire fraud, laundering of monetary instruments, monetary transactions in criminally derived proceeds and failure to file a report of a foreign bank account. Corado is being held pending a detention hearing on Friday.

Fox News Digital reached out to Corados attorney for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Corado, a transgender woman, founded the non-profit in 2012 in a Latino LGBT community center in Columbia Heights. The organization ran a 50-bed emergency housing program across seven locations and a drop-in center, according to the Washington Post. It also has a satellite office in El Salvador.

By 2019, Casa Ruby had grown to nearly $3.5 million in annual revenue, while in 2020 it had 127 employees and almost $4.2 million in annual revenue, according to the Washington Post.

Transgender male Charlie Thompson, left, talks with and transgender female Mariah Hill outside Casa Ruby, an outreach center for LGBT people in Washington, D.C., on July 20, 2016.

Between 2016 and 2022, Casa Ruby received $9.6 million in grants from city agencies to serve the needs of the Districts Latino and LGBTQ youth communities, while Corado earned $260,000, The Washington Post reports.

Corado came to the U.S. at 16 and worked as a sex worker for several years and at times was homeless. Corado eventually evolved into an LGBT activist with an emphasis on Latin transgender people.

The Washington Post reports that a court-appointed receiver has also sued the groups board, alleging that it did not provide oversight. It allegedly enabled Corado to embezzle more than $800,000 and open an office in El Salvador, all without board approval.





Original article source: Transgender non-profit founder stole $150K pandemic funds before fleeing to El Salvador: prosecutors
A large Hollywood Boulevard homeless encampment that residents say is a hotspot for selling and buying drugs, a trash-strewn tent city they say took the city three months to clear, has sparked continued concern as unhoused residents are already returning to the location.

The encampments are a persistent problem plaguing neighborhoods not just in Hollywood but across greater Los Angeles.

It starts with one tent and then they basically become a whole line of maybe five or six tents combined, Hollywood resident Asko Akopyan told KTLAs Rachel Menitoff. Actually, they become structures.

Another resident who lives close to what was a sizable encampment on Hollywood Boulevard and Taft Street, just east of the 101 Freeway, likened the area to what people might see in a post-apocalyptic film.

Pre-clean up, it was pretty dystopian, Marth Burr said. It was like a Mad Max movie.

Longtime resident Brian Winchell, who described that particular encampment as the worst, said that while he empathizes with those down on their luck, those living in the tent cities are stealing electricity from nearby buildings, leaving behind mounds, causing disruptions at all hours of the night and bring violence and the drug trade to the neighborhood.

Winchell places much of the blame on city leaders.

We pay their paychecks, thats my big beef, he said. They have failed miserably to provide a safe to have my house, to have my dwelling. Ive worked hard for it and so have my neighbors and we all dont feel safe walking to the 7-Eleven. We are scared that we are going to step on a used syringe or theres human [excrement] everywhere.

A homeless encampment in Hollywood on Mar. 2024. (Viewer photo)

A homeless encampment in Hollywood on Mar. 6, 2024. (KTLA)

A homeless encampment in Hollywood on Mar. 6, 2024. (KTLA)

Caution tape seen placed on around a Hollywood homeless encampment as city crews attempt to clean up the area in March 2024. (Viewer photo)

Akopyan captured video of city crews attempting to clear the tents and trash earlier this week. Caution tape now surrounds the sidewalks, but the trend seems to be that within a day or so, the encampment returns and begins tormenting neighbors yet again.

We call 311 and all the politicians in this district and its really very slow to respond with any kind of action, Akopyan said.

Burr, who has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years, said there is a criminal component to the encampment and that her elderly neighbor was attacked and mugged by a person living on the tents.

Burglary crew busted in Southern California after multiple heists

She hopes police will take more of an active role in patrolling the area.

I mean, if we see them smoking crack and selling drugs continuously, I just wonder why police couldnt do a little bit more to keep an eye on them.

Asked for comment, L.A. City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinezs office, whose district the encampment is in, said that regular cleaning to the site will continue. Officials also said they referred all those living in on the corner into housing as soon as beds become available, though when that will be is unclear.

There are an estimated 3,000 unhoused people in the district and only 400 beds to accommodate them.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
QUESTA, N.M. (KRQE)  The trial for a Questa teenager accused of murdering one of his friends has ended in a hung jury. Prosecutors say 14-year-old Porfirio Brown was hanging out with some friends at his home in August of last year when he shot and killed 13-year-old Amber Archuleta.

Man convicted of rape in Clovis sentenced to 30 years in prison

Prosecutors say Brown was able to obtain the gun because his father, William Brown, was not safely storing them which gave Porfirio unsupervised access to them. That gun has still not been located.

Porfirio Brown was charged with second-degree murder, among other charges, but a jury was not able to come to a unanimous verdict on Tuesday. According to Browns lawyer, the jury came to a 8-4 vote. Prosecutors are still allowed to bring the case to trial again if needed.

William Brown is also facing charges under Bennies Law related to the shooting. His trial is scheduled for later this month.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
KILGORE, Texas (KETK)  The Kilgore Police Department said a trial date has been set for three people accused of murdering a pregnant woman in 2016.

Police: Marshall man sentenced to 7 years for pointing firearm at officer

Picture of Sheryia Grant

Sheryia Grant was eight months pregnant when she went missing in August 2016. Police began a search for Grant when they recovered a suspects vehicle and began to fear the worst. Authorities reportedly interviewed dozens of people, drained ponds, searched in the woods and wells.

After police said they had enough evidence, they arrested Allen Lamont Sutton, his girlfriend Laneshia L. Young and a juvenile from Arp on a related felony charge.

The Office of the Attorney General of Texas has taken on the murder case and will be handling the upcoming prosecution. Suttons trial date is set for February 2025 and Youngs for June 2025. The juvenile, who is now an adult, has a trial date set for August 2025.

Mugshots of Allen Lamont Sutton and Laneshia L. Young, Courtesy of Longview PD

According to an indictment, Sutton, Young and juvenile killed Grant and her baby by hitting her with a blunt object and setting her on fire with an accelerant in Aug. 20, 2016.

The indictments also said the three were possibly trying to kidnap Grant or commit arson.

In March 2017, Sutton, Young and the juvenile were arrested in connection to Grants death and charged with tampering or fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair a human corpse.

Tennessee man arrested in Nacogdoches County after police find 2 lbs of meth

This case has been very difficult to bring to trial without all of her remains, but our staff stayed steadfast and worked diligently to ensure those responsible for her death were brought to justice, Kilgore PD said.

Sutton pleaded not guilty to criminal solicitation to commit capital murder in December 2019. Sutton was booked on capital murder of multiple persons and had a bond set at $2 million and was released in July 2023.

Young pleaded guilty to two counts of assault causing bodily injury in November 2017.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com.
While the majority of the attacks targeting U.S. troops in Iraq, Syria and Jordan from October into February didnt result in casualties, some of those were just lucky near-misses, the head of U.S. Central Command said Thursday.

Several of the 173 attacks by Iran-backed militias would have injured or killed troops, if not for fortunate snags, CENTCOMs commander, Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Kurillas comments Thursday reinforced the harrowing nature of some of these attacks to a degree not previously disclosed.

Incidents where [an air drone] is coming into a base, hit another object, got caught up in a netting, or other incidents where, had they hit the appropriate target that they were targeting, it would have injured or killed service members, he said.

Between Oct. 17 and Feb. 5, the majority of the attacks did not result in any injuries, as the militias only successfully struck U.S. troops a handful of times.

Still, three U.S. troops were killed on Jan. 28 in a drone attack on a U.S. base in Jordan known as Tower 22 and nearly 200 more have been injured.

Pentagon press officials have said repeatedly over recent months that most of the militia mortars, missiles and drones missed their intended targets, but they have not mentioned any close calls.

So I think its important that while we did see a spate of attacks against our forces, they were largely not successful with minor damage to infrastructure, Sabrina Singh told reporters in December.

Januarys fatal attack on Tower 22 ramped up the Pentagons response.

The impact of those [attacks] on our bases have not been significant until what happened at Tower 22, Singh said last month.

After Jordan attack, Pentagon weighs options to bolster base security

Asked whether any military measures could have prevented those attacks, Kurilla pointed to eight U.S. strikes in Syria and Iraq designed to target militia leadership and destroy stored weapons.

What would really help, he added, would be for Congress to pass a $118 billion national security appropriation introduced last year, specifically to field more equipment to detect and shoot down air drones.

I have $531 million in counter-[drone] technology that I need to get forward into the theater, that will save lives, he said.
Prosecutors in Arizona have issued grand jury subpoenas to multiple people involved in Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign.

The subpoenas are reportedly the latest move in the effort to indict individuals involved in the former president's "alternate elector" scheme. The gambit would have involved states in which Mr Trump lost  but where Republicans controlled the state house  assigned an "alternate" slate of electors to issue the state's electoral college votes. Their jobs would have been to vote for Mr Trump, defying the will of the state's voters in the process.

Mr Trump and 18 of his allies are currently facing racketeering conspiracy charges in Fulton County, Georgia, for similar alleged scheming.

The fresh subpoenas in Arizona were first reported by Politico. Six people, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the subpoenas to the outlet.

It is currently unclear if Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, is going to attempt to charge Mr Trump's national campaign or if her investigation is primarily focused on Arizona Republicans who falsely presented themselves as electors in 2020.

She did tell CNN in November that her investigation is "robust".

Several of Mr Trump's 2020 allies in Arizona also are involved in the state GOP or hold office.

Kelli Ward is a former GOP chairwoman, and both Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern are state senators. All three are among the 11 Republicans who posed as electors in 2020.

Arizona is not the only state to explore possible charges against Mr Trump's fake electors.

Attorneys general in Michigan and Nevada have also charged Republicans who posed as electors in 2020.

Kenneth Chesebro, one of Mr Trump's former attorneys, has pleaded guilty to his role in the fake elector scheme in Georgia. He has since agreed to assist prosecutors in Nevada, Michigan, and Wisconsin in investigations into the plot.

Late last year he also agreed to speak with prosecutors investigating the fake elector plot in Arizona.

Special counsel Jack Smith has also brought charges against Mr Trump for alleged attempts to disenfranchise millions of voters.

Joe Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win in Arizona since 1996. The revelation that Arizona  long a Republican stronghold  had voted for Mr Biden caused chaos for Fox News, where analysts called the state's results before any other outlet, upsetting Republican voters across the country.

Ms Mayes only narrowly won her position as attorney general by 280 votes, and Kari Lake, a news anchor turned unflinching Trump coat-rider, lost her gubernatorial race in the state to her Democratic opponent.
Nikki Haley's voters must decide whom to support next - but are not enamored by the alternatives (Joseph Prezioso)

More than three million Americans voted in the Republican primary for Nikki Haley to be their candidate to fight the 2024 presidential election -- before she conceded this week to Donald Trump.

That leaves a significant portion of the party with no champion to back, and the choice of staying at home or switching loyalties to Trump or even Democratic President Joe Biden.

AFP spoke to four Haley supporters about their plans for November.

- Reluctantly Trump -

Adam Caldwell was so impressed with Haley's candidacy that he drove hours on his birthday to attend the 52-year-old former UN ambassador's campaign launch in February 2023.

"To me she represents where the future of the party should be headed," says the tall, dark-haired North Carolina businessman.

But after watching his candidate lose virtually every Republican nominating contest to Trump, 77, he knew she would need a "miracle" to maintain a credible challenge through "Super Tuesday" -- this week's 15-state voting night.

Caldwell says he was turned off by Trump due to the events of January 6, 2021, when supporters of the former president ransacked the US Congress to halt the peaceful transfer of power to 81-year-old Biden.

But voting for Biden in November is out of the question, he says.

"I've been a Republican all my life," he shrugs, acknowledging that this means he will have to hold his nose and vote for Trump.

"I just hope Donald Trump knows how to welcome Nikki Haley's supporters," he huffs to AFP.

- Biden, for abortion -

Mallory Macon is also a Republican, but this South Carolina nurse "will probably vote for Biden" in the presidential election.

"I'm strongly against Trump being president again," says the 28-year-old, although she voted for the tycoon in 2020.

Explaining her enmity, the young mom points to the Supreme Court gutting federal protections for abortion access after Trump appointed three justices to the bench.

She said she appreciates that Biden, despite being a practicing Catholic, continues to support free access to abortion.

- 'Lesser of two evils' -

As an independent, 59-year-old Lisa's vote is coveted above most others.

Independents could tip the balance for either Biden or Trump in an election that looks set to be decided by a few hundred thousand votes across a handful of swing states.

For Lisa, Trump's criminal exposure -- he faces 91 felony counts across four jurisdictions -- makes him unfit for office and she supported Haley in New Hampshire's primary in January.

She says she will now shift her support to Biden -- "the lesser of two evils.

"I cannot vote for Donald Trump," the lawyer told AFP. "He's a threat to democracy, he's horrible. He's a criminal."

- Too old -

Of the four voters who spoke to AFP, Mary Rickert was the least certain about which way she will turn.

The septuagenarian, who works on a ranch in northern California, says she's "not sure yet" who to support on November 5.

"I'm not really excited about either option," she confides, a little dejectedly.

Her main concern? The age of both candidates.

"I'm in my 70s also and there's a certain amount of stamina and clarity of thinking that's needed, so that's a concern of mine," she says.

She says she has resolved to "wait and see what happens."

cjc/ft
Former President Trump, who skipped out on the GOP primary debates, is calling on President Biden to face him on stage as the two gear up of for a rematch in November.

It is important, for the Good of our Country, that Joe Biden and I Debate Issues that are so vital to America, and the American People. Therefore, I am calling for Debates, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE! Trump wrote Wednesday evening on Truth Social.

The Debates can be run by the Corrupt DNC, or their Subsidiary, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). I look forward to receiving a response, he added. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

His urgency comes after former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) announced she would suspend her White House bid following decisive losses to Trump in the early primary and Super Tuesday contests.

Trump declined to participate in any of the Republican primary debates, even as the field shrunk to just two candidates. He repeatedly pointed to polls showing him with a commanding lead over the pool of candidates as a reason why he should not take the stage against his GOP rivals.

The former president said during a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt in December that he looks forward to debating Biden and suggested 10 debates. Trump also said last month that he would debate Biden as many times as necessary, because theres an obligation for the two party front-runners to do so.

When asked about those comments last month, Biden told reporters, If I were him, I would want to debate me, too.

Hes got nothing else to do, the president said at the time.

The Biden campaign dismissed Trumps call for debates as a way to seek attention.

I know Donald Trumps thirsty for attention and struggling to expand his appeal beyond the MAGA base  and thats a conversation well have at the appropriate time in this cycle, Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement to The Hill. But if hes so desperate to see President Biden in prime time, he doesnt have to wait!

He can join the tens of millions of Americans who will tune in to watch the State of the Union tomorrow night, the statement added. He might even learn a thing or two about bringing people together and actually delivering for the American people.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A federal judge on Thursday denied Donald Trump's request to delay enforcement of the writer E. Jean Carroll's $83.3 million verdict in her recent defamation case.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan adds to pressure on the former U.S. president to line up an acceptable bond by Monday so he can appeal.

In the Jan. 26 verdict, jurors agreed with Carroll, a former Elle magazine advice columnist, that Trump had defamed her in June 2019 by denying he had raped her in the mid-1990s in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan.

Kaplan made the verdict official on Feb. 8, and gave Trump 30 days to post a bond or cash during his appeal, which is expected to challenge the jury's finding of liability and the amount of damages.

Trump had sought to delay enforcement of the verdict until Kaplan ruled on his motions to throw it out, which he filed on Tuesday.

But the judge said Trump should not have waited 25 days after the verdict before seeking a delay.

He also said Trump failed to show how he might suffer "irreparable injury" if required to post a bond.

"Mr. Trump's current situation is a result of his own dilatory actions," the judge wrote.

Kaplan has yet to rule on Trump's request for a reduced bond.

Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump's presidential campaign, said Trump "filed a timely motion to stay the ridiculous judgment," and that many courts recognized the importance of temporary stays to consider such motions.

"We look forward to continuing to litigate the case and to complete vindication of the truth," Cheung said.

Carroll's lawyer Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to the judge, declined to comment.

MULTIPLE JUDGMENTS

In seeking to avoid posting a big bond, or any bond at all, lawyers for Trump rejected Carroll's claim that his finances were strained.

They assured that Carroll was "fully protected," and said a $24.5 million bond would be more than enough to "secure any minimal risk" to her.

Carroll disagreed. She said Trump's finances were opaque, called Trump the "least trustworthy of borrowers" and said his request "boils down to nothing more than 'trust me.'"

Trump's financial flexibility deteriorated last month, when the judge who found him liable in New York Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud case ordered him to pay $454.2 million.

He offered to post a $100 million bond in that case, but James said any bond should cover the entire judgment.

An appeals court judge on Feb. 28 denied Trump's request to delay enforcement during the appeal.

Asked on March 5 if he could pay what was owed or post bond in both cases, Trump told Fox News: "I have a lot of money. I can do what I want to do. ... I don't worry about the money."

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Stephen Coates)
KYODO NEWS - Mar 7, 2024 - 13:46 | World, All

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has visited a major army base and guided units on maneuvers, state-run media reported Thursday, with Pyongyang denouncing South Korean-U.S. military drills that started earlier this week.

During his Wednesday visit to the western operational training base, Kim stressed that the Korean People's Army should intensify war drills "to contain the constant threat of the enemies with overwhelming force," according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

North Korea's official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, also ran photos that showed Kim meeting with soldiers and encouraging them.

South Korea and the United States began their joint military exercise on Monday to prepare for an emergency on the Korean Peninsula, the South Korean military said, following a series of cruise missile firings by North Korea since late January.

North Korea called the drills "provocative" and urged the United States and South Korea to stop them, KCNA reported Tuesday, citing a defense ministry spokesman's statement.

In the joint exercise to be held for 11 days through March 14, the two countries will double the number of field drills compared with last year, given North Korea's rapidly advancing nuclear and missile technology, according to the South Korean military.

Related coverage:

South Korea, U.S. begin military drill amid North Korea missile threat

North Korean spy satellite apparently not working: S. Korea
Donald Trump has challenged Joe Biden to TV debates, as the rivals hurtle towards a White House rematch following their sweep of the Super Tuesday votes.

The Republican said he would take part in a TV forum with the Democratic president "anytime, anywhere, anyplace" posting online in all capital letters.

Mr Biden's campaign said Mr Trump was "thirsty for attention and struggling to expand his appeal".

No debates have so far been agreed ahead of November's election.

Mr Trump's challenge came hours after his last Republican rival, Nikki Haley, dropped out of the race to be the Republican nominee for the White House.

"It is important, for the Good of our Country, that Joe Biden and I Debate Issues that are so vital to America, and the American People," Mr Trump posted on his social media website, Truth Social, hours after Ms Haley's departure from the race.

He added that such debates could be run by the Democratic National Committee, or the Commission on Presidential Debates, which has overseen presidential debates for the last 30 years.

Mr Trump said the debate commission - which declares itself non-partisan, but is accused by conservatives of bias - was a "subsidiary" of the Democratic party.

Mr Trump, 77, has repeatedly claimed Mr Biden, 81, is too old and forgetful to debate him. Mr Biden has in turn suggested it is Mr Trump who is senile.

The White House press secretary was asked earlier on Wednesday whether refusing a debate could cast doubt on Mr Biden's "acuity". She suggested the reporter speak to the president's re-election campaign.

The Biden campaign did not say whether he would participate in a debate against Mr Trump, and instead suggested that the Republican tune in to the president's Thursday evening State of the Union address to Congress.

"That's a conversation we'll have at the appropriate time in this cycle," said Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler.

"If he's so desperate to see President Biden in primetime, he doesn't have to wait! He can join the tens of millions of Americans who will tune in to watch the State of the Union tomorrow night," he continued.

On Wednesday, Mr Trump also said that he would watch the State of the Union and "will correct, in rapid response" Mr Biden's speech.

Mr Trump was fiercely criticised after he refused to take part in TV debates with his Republican rivals for the party's White House nomination this election cycle.

He argued at the time that he had nothing to gain from such forums, citing his wide lead in the polls.

Mr Biden and Mr Trump debated each other twice during the 2020 election.

More on the US election
Trump has choice to make when it comes to Haley voters

Former President Trump has a choice to make after Nikki Haleys exit from the primary race: Try to win over the former South Carolina governors supporters or just ignore them?

Trump won all but two primary contests before Haley dropped out, a sign of his dominance within the party.

But exit polls found significant percentages of Haley supporters in states such as New Hampshire, Virginia and North Carolina were cool to the idea of backing Trump in November.

Thats given some hope to Democrats worried about President Bidens weaknesses. They think Trump will struggle to unify Republicans and win the support necessary to defeat Biden in the Electoral College.

Haley did not endorse Trump as she suspended her campaign Wednesday, saying the former president had to earn the votes of those who did not support him.

There was no immediate olive branch from Trump or his team, with the former president blasting Haleys support as largely driven by Democrats before inviting Haley supporters to back his White House bid.

Trump allies downplayed the need for any direct outreach to Haley voters, but in a general election that both sides agree will likely be close, the former president can ill afford to alienate swaths of moderate Republicans.

The primaries told us that both Biden and Trump have serious vulnerabilities within their respective parties that weaken them in November, said Doug Heye, a former Republican National Committee spokesperson.

Trump may have the steeper climb because he told a lot of Republicans to pound sand, and a lot of them might do that, he added.

Haley never seriously threatened Trumps path to the nomination, even as she made the case she was a surer bet to defeat President Biden in November. Some of her best showings came in states including New Hampshire and Vermont, which make it easier for independents to vote in a GOP primary.

Still, exit polling has shown some warning signs for Trump since the beginning of the primary, and Super Tuesday was no different. NBC News found 31 percent of primary voters in Virginia and 34 percent in North Carolina said they would not vote for the GOP nominee regardless of who it is.

Haley also won a majority of self-identified moderate or liberal voters in North Carolina and Virginia. Trump won a majority of women voters in both states, though by a smaller margin than he won male voters.

A majority of Haley voters have consistently said in primary exit polling that Trump would not be fit to serve as president if he is convicted of a crime. He is facing 91 felony charges across four separate cases, with his trial over an alleged hush money scheme set to begin later this month in New York City.

It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him, and I hope he does that, Haley said Wednesday. At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people. This is now his time for choosing.

Trump lost the 2020 election and will need to grow his coalition beyond his fervent base of supporters to flip at least a handful of states in November.

But Trump was largely dismissive of Haleys support as she dropped out of the race.

Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion, despite the fact that Democrats, for reasons unknown, are allowed to vote in Vermont, and various other Republican Primaries, Trump wrote on Truth Social. Much of her money came from Radical Left Democrats, as did many of her voters, almost 50%, according to the polls.

Vermont has an open primary, meaning all registered voters in the state can choose to cast a ballot in either partys race.

Senior Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller called any outreach from Haley to Trump meaningless and instead pointed to several other 2024 candidates who dropped out and backed the former president.

Miller also dismissed the Haley campaigns suggestion that Trump needed to appeal to the GOP primary voters who indicated they are concerned about his candidacy, calling it just plain wrong during a Fox News interview.

A Decision Desk HQ average of national polls shows Trump with a roughly 2 percentage point lead over Biden at the national level. Polling averages also showed Trump leading Biden in key swing states including Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Nevada.

A New York Times/Siena College poll published last weekend found Trump winning 97 percent of voters who said they backed him in 2020, compared with Biden winning 83 percent of those who supported him in 2020.

Trump lost the 2020 election, but he would only need to flip a few states to get the 270 electoral votes needed to win in 2024.

Right now, Id rather have Donald Trumps hand than Joe Bidens hand in terms of the Electoral College, the states that are in play, as well as the issues that are driving the electorate right now, Republican strategist Ford OConnell said. This was always going to be a tight race irrespective of who the nominees were because of this iteration of the Electoral College.

The Biden campaign argued in a Wednesday memo that Trump was a vulnerable general election candidate, as evidenced by the primary results.

Top Biden campaign officials wrote in a memo that Trump is greatly underperforming with the voters who will decide the election in November, noting the former president underperformed in suburban counties in Michigan, Virginia and North Carolina, while only winning roughly a quarter of moderate voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Biden campaign officials are not planning to make persuading Republican voters a core part of their strategy with eight months left until Election Day, but the president himself made clear Wednesday he would welcome moderates disillusioned by Trump with open arms.

Donald Trump made it clear he doesnt want Nikki Haleys supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign, Biden said in a statement.

I know there is a lot we wont agree on, he added. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to Americas adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Former president Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference gathering at the Gaylord Hotel in National Harbor, Md., Feb. 24, 2024. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)

Donald Trumps daunting level of Republican support helped him vanquish a field of presidential primary rivals in under two months.

But he still hasnt won over one small but crucial group of voters  the men and women who cost him a second term in 2020.

His overwhelming primary victories, including more than a dozen Tuesday that pushed Nikki Haley from the race, have masked his long-term problems with voters who live in the suburbs, those who view themselves as moderates or independents, and Republicans who backed Joe Biden in 2020.

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times

On Tuesday, Trump lost suburban precincts in Virginia despite carrying the state by a staggering 28 percentage points. In North Carolina, his 51-point victory was tempered by much narrower margins in the highly educated and affluent suburbs around Charlotte and Raleigh.

While many Republican strategists anticipate that most Haley voters will eventually support the partys nominee, Trumps failure to bring these voters into the fold less than four years after they helped block him from a second term in the White House raises pressing questions about what he can do in the next eight months to win them over.

He has not seemed especially concerned about this challenge, recently threatening to excommunicate his rivals donors from his political movement. On Wednesday, he posted on social media that Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion, even as he invited all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in the history of our Nation.

Trumps inability to broaden his support stands among the biggest threats to his partys efforts to reclaim the presidency. Notably, Haley appeared to be a stronger November candidate: Polls including a recent New York Times/Siena College survey suggested that she would have had an easier time unseating Biden.

But Republican voters arent resisting Trumps electoral risks. Theyre running toward them.

Throughout the Republican primary race and in this weeks Super Tuesday contests, Trump amassed blowout winning margins. Voters rallied around him even as he accumulated 91 felony charges in four criminal cases and looked past their partys disappointing elections under his leadership in 2018, 2020 and 2022.

His victory last month in Iowa, the first nominating contest, was declared before many caucusgoers had even weighed in, a fitting metaphor for the air of inevitability he proudly carried into the race. The Republican primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina drew record turnout, thanks mostly to Trump voters, and he swept every Super Tuesday state except Vermont, where Haley won thanks to the tiny states large percentage of college-educated voters.

Thats the big lesson from the primary states so far: There are a significant number of Republican voters who wanted a choice in this primary process, and they are people the former president has to win over by the time November comes around, said Rob Godfrey, who served as a top aide to Haley when she was governor of South Carolina and as a senior adviser to Gov. Henry McMasters reelection campaign in 2022. He can do it if he runs a disciplined campaign on policy and not personality, and one that focuses on the perceived failures of his opponent.

Trumps campaign expects to focus heavily on turning out supporters but will look for ways to reach out to disaffected Republicans. The former president has been looking to again calibrate his position on abortion rights, with Republicans still feeling the backlash of the overturning of Roe v. Wade by a conservative Supreme Court majority he helped usher in.

Two Unpopular Nominees in Waiting

Biden, for his part, is struggling to hold his winning 2020 coalition together. He is significantly less popular than he was four years ago, and polls show that Democrats are skeptical of his second campaign.

Just 83% of voters who backed Biden in 2020 said they would do so again this year, a stark contrast from the 97% of Trump voters planning to stick with the former president, according to the Times/Siena poll released last week.

Bidens age, his support for Israel in its war in the Gaza Strip and lingering economic unease have chipped away at his support among young Democrats, Black voters and progressives.

We can learn a little bit from these primaries  for one, Trump has reenergized his base, said Adam Geller, a longtime Republican pollster who has worked for past Trump campaigns and super political action committees. But beyond that it remains to be seen, because all the public polls show that moderate general-election voters arent ready to give a bouquet of roses to either Trump or Biden quite yet.

But while many of Bidens challenges revolve around policy, Trump faces more persistent doubts about his personality and temperament that have trailed him for years.

Cory Barnett, 48, a physician in Nashville, Tennessee, who usually backs Republicans, said he would rather see a second term for Biden than for Trump. He voted Tuesday for Haley even though he knew the former president was on a clear path to the nomination.

I actually feel like Im throwing away my vote today, he said. Its just a personal statement, I guess.

Shying Away From Trump in the Suburbs

Trump has repelled suburban moderates since his takeover of the Republican Party in 2016. He has yet to draw them back.

In the suburbs, Trump split the vote with Haley in Iowa and New Hampshire, even though he won both states with ease. He carried the suburbs in South Carolina, but by a smaller margin than his overall victory in the state.

Those trends continued Tuesday in Virginia, where Haley won suburban precincts by 1.8 percentage points despite losing the state by 28 points.

In North Carolina, where Trump scored an easy victory by 74% to 23%, he finished only 7 points ahead in Mecklenburg County, home to Charlotte and its suburbs. Haley also cut heavily into his edge in Durham, Orange and Wake counties, highly educated, affluent suburban areas where Democrats see an opportunity to compete in the state.

Trump cant expand his reach beyond the MAGA base, two of Bidens top campaign aides, Jennifer OMalley Dillon and Julie Chavez Rodriguez, wrote in a memo Wednesday. In exit poll after exit poll, he has consolidated support only among the most conservative voters.

In Minnesota, where Trump won by 40 points, Haley finished within 10 points of him in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, which include Minneapolis, St. Paul and the first ring of the cities suburbs.

Trumps loss in 2020 was driven in part by independent voters, who soured on him after helping him win his 2016 campaign. The most recent Times/Siena poll showed independent voters split, 42% to 42%, in a rematch between Biden and Trump, but primary results signal persistent struggles for the former president with these voters.

In New Hampshire in January, Haley won independents by 58% to 39%, according to exit polls. On Tuesday, she narrowly won independents in Virginia by 49% to 48%.

Lillard Teasley, 60, a small-business owner in Nashville who calls himself a conservative, said he was not supporting Trump on Tuesday but suggested that could change in November.

Im anybody but Biden, he said.

Disagreement on Abortion and the 2020 Election

A small yet significant share of Republicans continue to express concerns about Trumps criminal cases, which remain pending after several financially damaging setbacks for him in civil suits.

CNN exit polls Tuesday found that 1 in 5 Republican primary voters in California and nearly 1 in 3 in North Carolina said Trump would not be fit for the presidency if he were convicted of a crime. An overwhelming majority of these voters backed Haley on Tuesday.

There are a lot of Republicans and independents voting against Trump, even though they know hes going to win, said Sarah Longwell, an anti-Trump Republican pollster. That tells me there is a real weakness in the party for Trump.

The Super Tuesday results highlighted other softness for Trump. He lost to Haley among Republican primary voters in Virginia who oppose a nationwide abortion ban, an issue that has driven independents and even some moderate Republicans to Democrats, exit polls show.

The same polls found that she also won Republican primary voters in California, North Carolina and Virginia who said Biden had fairly won the 2020 election and those who said immigrants in the country illegally should be given a chance to apply for legal status. A majority of the party disagreed that Bidens victory was legitimate and preferred deportation as an immigration solution. Trump carried both groups by overwhelming margins.

Republican strategists expect most of the partys primary voters to support Trump in the general election, pointing to exit polls that found that 4 in 10 of Haleys voters in New Hampshire and South Carolina had backed Biden in 2020.

That data point, however, could also underscore Trumps weaknesses.

In 2020, roughly 9% of Republicans said they had voted for someone other than Trump for president. That was about double the share of Democrats who said they had backed someone other than Biden in that election.

On Tuesday, roughly 1 in 3 Republican primary voters in California, North Carolina and Virginia told pollsters they would not commit to supporting the partys nominee in November.

Roughly three-fourths of those voters backed Haley.

c.2024 The New York Times Company
Proud Navy veteran and former White House doctor Representative Ronny Jackson appears to have smudged some of the details of his military record.

On his congressional website, the Texas Republican describes himself as a retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral with nearly three decades of military service. But that leaves out one big omissionthat Jackson was demoted from the senior naval flag rank to captain in July 2022.

That move came after the Pentagon inspector general released a scathing report on Jacksons behavior while serving in Donald Trumps White House, including that the doctorwho had retired from the Navy in 2019berated, drank with, and sexually harassed subordinates while serving as the director of the White House medical unit. Jackson was also accused of popping Ambien throughout the workday.

Those revelations came with a $15,000 cut in annual pension payouts for a 24-year veteran like Jackson, as well as social stigma within the ranks.

The substantiated allegations in the [Department of Defense inspector general] investigation of Rear [Adm.] (lower half) Ronny Jackson are not in keeping with the standards the Navy requires of its leaders and, as such, the secretary of the Navy took administrative action in July 2022, Lt. Cmdr. Joe Keiley, a Navy spokesman, told The Washington Post.

Jackson casually dismissed the report in his July 2022 memoir, Holding the Line, conveniently skipping over the part where he was formally demoted.

If I had retired and not gotten into politics, this investigation would have never gone anywhere, Jackson wrote. This was happening because I am a perceived threat to the Biden administration and because a few political appointees in the Department of Defense want to make a name for themselves.

Jackson has played a key role in Trumps 2024 campaign, helping the presumptive GOP presidential nominee shrug off concerns over his age by affirming that Trump is of sound mind and body, despite his increasingly routine mental glitches.
(Bloomberg) -- New York jurors in Donald Trumps first criminal trial will have their names, addresses and other personal information kept secret to protect them from any tampering or backlash over their role in the politically charged case.

Most Read from Bloomberg

State court judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the trial set to start March 25, on Thursday ruled Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had demonstrated that the former president has an extensive history of publicly and repeatedly attacking trial jurors and grand jurors.

Prosecutors made a compelling argument and demonstrated Trump has an extensive history of publicly and repeatedly attacking trial jurors and grand jurors, Merchan said.

Bragg charged Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for allegedly directing his former lawyer Michael Cohen to make hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier. Prosecutors say Trump claimed the funds were for legal fees. Trump has pleaded not guilty.

It isnt the first time the identities of Trump jurors have been withheld. In two federal lawsuits filed by New York writer E. Jean Carroll, the juries were anonymous to protect their privacy and safety. In one case, they found Trump liable for sexual abuse and ordered him to pay Carroll $5 million. In the other, a defamation claim, he was ordered to pay her $83.3 million.

Merchan said he hasnt yet decided a separate request for a gag order preventing the former president from making statements about the case outside of the courtroom. In their Feb. 25 request, the district attorneys office cited Trumps history of inflammatory comments issued on social media that had resulted in death threats for prosecutors.

On Thursday, Merchan reminded Trump and his lawyers of the judges earlier warning to refrain from making comments or engaging in conduct that has the potential to incite violence, create civil unrest or jeopardize the safety or well-being of any individual.

At Trumps arraignment on April 4, Merchan told the former president, If you become disruptive to such a degree that it affects my ability to preside over this case, I do have the authority to remove you from the courtroom and continue in your absence. Do you understand that?

I do, Trump said.

(Updates with details of judges ruling beginning in third paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Donald Trump was alleged to have received 'golden showers' from Russian prostitutes - Rebecca Blackwell/AP

Donald Trump has been ordered to pay at least $382,000 (300,000) in costs after losing a UK court case against the former MI6 agent behind the Steele dossier.

In February, High Court judge Mrs Justice Steyn threw out the data protection claim Mr Trump brought against Christopher Steele and his company Orbis Business Intelligence, saying it was bound to fail.

The explosive dossier, published just before Mr Trumps 2017 presidential inauguration, alleged he had received golden showers from Russian prostitutes, participated in St Petersburg sex parties and had been compromised by the countrys FSB security service.

Mr Trump, 77, angrily denied the allegations contained in the report, which had been commissioned by Democratic consultants before the 2016 presidential election.

The dossier, which also claimed that the former president had been cultivated by Vladimir Putin, underpinned the investigation by Robert Mueller, the US special prosecutor, which concluded that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election but found no evidence of collusion with the Trump election team.

Mr Trump sued Hillary Clinton, his 2016 opponent, Democratic party leaders and Mr Steele, who had run MI6s Russia desk, in the US.

Christopher Steele (centre) had Mr Trump's case against him thrown out - Aaron Chown/PA

In the UK, he claimed Orbis had unlawfully processed his personal data and sought unspecified compensation for serious distress and reputational damage.

Orbis denied responsibility for the dossiers publication.

In an order on Thursday, Mrs Justice Steyn said the Republican front-runner would pay Orbiss costs of the entire claim, adding that Orbis has estimated them at more than 600,000.

Mr Trump was ordered to pay 300,000 before the total is decided by a specialist judge.

Mr Steeles lawyers accused Mr Trump of pursuing a vendetta against Mr Steele. The former president described Mr Steele as a lowlife and sleazebag who produced a total phoney con job.

The judge said Mr Trump had allowed several years to pass by before attempting to vindicate his reputation in the UK.

Her ruling is the latest legal blow to the 2024 presidential hopeful who, according to the Federal Election Commission, has paid $76 million (60 million) in legal fees over the past two years.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing former President Donald Trumps criminal trial on charges that hush money payments made in 2016 to cover up an alleged extramarital affair violated tax and campaign finance laws, rules that Trump and his lawyers can learn the names and addresses of the jurors in the case but cannot make that information public. In a separate New York case, Trump hands over a $91.6 million bond so that he can appeal the judgment in his defamation trial brought by columnist E. Jean Carroll. Here are the latest developments in the legal cases involving the Republican frontrunner for president in 2024.

New York hush money

Judge allows Trump and his lawyers to know juror names

Key players: Judge Juan Merchan, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, adult film star Stormy Daniels, former Playboy model Karen McDougal, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen

Merchan ruled Thursday that Trump, his attorneys, prosecutors, jury consultants and legal staff will be allowed to know the names of the jurors who will serve in the hush money trial of the former president that begins on March 25, the Associated Press reported.

Citing Trumps extensive history of attacking jurors in other cases, and on a Georgia grand jury that voted to indict him, Braggs office had sought to keep those names hidden from Trump.

But Trumps lawyers countered that prosecutors had not provided a single example where President Trump mentioned  let alone attacked or harassed  any juror by name.

Trump is charged with 34 felonies stemming from hush money payments arranged by Cohen to Daniels and McDougal in order to hide alleged extramarital affairs. Made during the 2016 presidential election, the payments violated New York State tax and campaign finance laws, according to Braggs indictment.

Merchans ruling is a compromise of sorts, allowing Trump and his attorneys to know the names and addresses of the jurors but forbidding them from making that information public.

If Trump or his lawyers do reveal any names or other information about the jurors, the judge said he would revisit his decision.

Merchan has yet to decide on a prosecution request to issue a gag order on Trump to try to keep him from publicly attacking jurors, witnesses and courtroom staff.

Why it matters: Just as he did in the E. Jean Carroll defamation trials and the New York financial fraud case, Trump has repeatedly expressed displeasure at the judges rulings in the hush money case. Merchans rulings have not all gone against Trump, however, and the judge said Thursday that the courtroom will remain open during jury selection and throughout the trial.

E. Jean Carroll defamation

Trump posts $91.6 million bond as he appeals judgment

Key players: Judge Lewis Kaplan, columnist E. Jean Carroll

One day after Kaplan refused to allow Trump to delay paying the full amount of his bond while he appeals the jurys judgment in January in the Carroll defamation trial, Trump posted a $91.6 million bond, CNN reported.

The money goes into an escrow account pending a ruling in Trumps appeal.

In January, a Manhattan jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in damages, finding that Trump had repeatedly defamed her by denying he had ever met her, let alone sexually assaulted her in the changing room of a Manhattan department store in 1996.

In May, a second jury found that Trump had sexually assaulted and defamed Carroll and awarded Carroll $5 million.

Why it matters: With the bond amounts coming due, Trump is being forced to hand over nearly a half billion dollars in order to pursue his appeals in two civil lawsuits. That comes as he is also seeking to be reelected to the White House.

Recommended reading

Fox 5 Atlanta: Fulton County DA Willis: Board of Ethics will not hear complaint

Slate: The Trump effort to infiltrate voting systems was worse than we knew

______________________

Thursday, March 7

_____________________

Judge Lewis Kaplan denies former President Donald Trumps request to temporarily delay paying an $83.3 million bond required by New York state while he appeals the judgment in the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial. Trump now has until Monday to come up with that sum. As Trumps trial on felony charges that he violated New York state tax and campaign finance laws by paying off two women to keep them from sharing their accounts of extramarital affairs with him looms, his lawyers move to keep Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohen from testifying. In response, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs team calls that request totally meritless. Here are the latest legal developments for the Republican presidential frontrunner seeking to be reelected to the White House.

E. Jean Carroll defamation

Judge denies Trump request to delay payment of $83.3 million bond

Key players: Judge Lewis Kaplan, Trump lawyer Alina Habba, columnist E. Jean Carroll

Kaplan denied a request by Trumps lawyers for a three-day delay to post an $83.3 million bond required as he pursues an appeal of the jury decision awarding Carroll that sum, ABC News reported.

Mr. Trumps current situation is a result of his own dilatory actions, Kaplan wrote in his order late Thursday. He has had since January 26 to organize his finances with the knowledge that he might need to bond this judgment, yet he waited until 25 days after the jury verdict ... to file his prior motion for an unsecured or partially secured stay pending resolution of post-trial motions.

Habba had stated in a court filing that paying the full bond amount would result in irreparable injury to Trump, but Kaplan rejected that argument.

The expense of ongoing litigation in the absence of a stay does not constitute irreparable injury in the relevant sense of that term, Kaplan wrote.

Trump now has until Monday to pay an $83.3 million bond into an escrow account. If he is unable to pay it, Carrolls lawyers can seek to force him to liquidate his assets.

Trump will owe even more money later this month, when the $454 million bond amount comes due as he seeks to appeal the judgment in his civil financial fraud trial.

Why it matters: During his financial fraud trial, Trump said he had more than $400 million in cash available. An appeals court judge stayed a ruling by the judge in that case that prohibited him from asking for bank loans to cover the shortfall. With both the Carroll and fraud trial bonds coming due, he may indeed need help from outside sources.

New York hush money

Prosecutors call Trumps attempt to keep Cohen from testifying totally meritless

Key players: Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, adult film star Stormy Daniels, former Playboy model Karen McDougal, Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles, Judge Juan Merchan

On Tuesday, prosecutors on Braggs team responded to a legal filing by Trumps lawyers seeking to disqualify Cohen from testifying in the hush money case, saying the defense arguments were intentionally inflammatory and totally meritless, the New York Post reported.

In their filing, Blanche and Necheles described Cohen as a serial liar and asked the judge to block him from taking the witness stand in order to protect the integrity of this court and the process of justice.

In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress while under oath. He was sentenced to serve three years behind bars, but was released early due to the coronavirus pandemic. Cohen, a former vice president with the Trump Organization, also testified against Trump in the New York civil financial fraud trial.

Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts stemming from payments made during the 2016 presidential election to keep Daniels and McDougal from publicly sharing their accounts of extramarital affairs they had with him.

In their response to Trumps filing, prosecutors said that Cohens testimony about the hush money payments would be backed up by corroborating evidence and that Trumps lawyers were welcome to cross-examine his assertions.

To the extent that defendant nonetheless believes the jury should disbelieve Cohens testimony at trial, he may challenge Cohens credibility by cross-examining him about a variety of topics, including his previous guilty pleas, prosecutors said, CNN reported.

The first of the four criminal trials in which Trump is charged is scheduled to begin on March 25.

Why it matters: It is unlikely that Merchan will rule that Cohen is not allowed to testify in the hush-money case. If he does, Trumps lawyers will do their best to portray him as an unreliable witness, even though his conviction for lying to Congress came when he was trying to protect the former president.

______________________

Wednesday, March 6

_____________________

The United States Supreme Court announces it will hear arguments on April 25 about whether presidential immunity protects former President Donald Trump from being prosecuted for attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. After two stinging court losses, attorneys for Trump ask for a new trial and for a much lower judgment than the combined $88.3 million two juries awarded to E. Jean Carroll. Trumps lawyers also ask the judge in the New York hush money criminal trial to deny Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs request to impose a gag order intended to keep Trump from attacking witnesses and courtroom staff. Here are the latest developments in the legal cases facing the Republican looking to be reelected to the White House in 2024.

Jan. 6 election interference

Supreme Court to hear presidential immunity arguments on April 25

Key players: United States Supreme Court, Special counsel Jack Smith, Judge Tanya Chutkan, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals

On Wednesday, the high court announced that it would hear arguments on April 25, the last day of hearings for the current term, on whether the concept of presidential immunity protects Trump from being prosecuted for his efforts to overturn his loss to Biden in 2020.

Chutkan ruled in December that although Trump was president when he set about trying to block the transfer of power to Biden, he was not protected from being prosecuted by Smith.

A three-judge federal court of appeals panel concurred with Chutkan.

In late December, Smith asked the high court for an expedited ruling on the immunity question, but the court declined.

Why it matters: Though the Supreme Court is widely expected to uphold the lower court rulings that immunity does not shield Trump in this case, the court's delay on hearing arguments has cast doubt on whether Smiths case will go to trial before the 2024 presidential election.

E. Jean Carroll defamation

Trump asks for a new E. Jean Carroll trial

Key players: columnist E. Jean Carroll, Trump lawyer Alina Habba, Judge Lewis Kaplan

Trumps lawyers filed papers Tuesday with federal court requesting that he be granted a new trial following two losses in sexual assault and defamation cases brought by Carroll that resulted in a combined judgment of $88.3 million, the Guardian reported.

The motion filed by Habba and Trumps other attorneys contends that Kaplan erroneously instructed the jury and that his ruling striking some of Trumps testimony about his state of mind when denying Carrolls claims of sexual assault was prejudicial.

This Courts erroneous decision to dramatically limit the scope of President Trumps testimony almost certainly influenced the jurys verdict, and thus a new trial is warranted, Trumps lawyers wrote.

Last May, a jury found that Trump had sexually assaulted Carroll in 1996 in a changing room at Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan, and it awarded her $5 million for his denying the encounter took place and having said he had never met her.

In a second trial, earlier this year, a second jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million for Trumps denials made when president and his persistent pattern of defamation since then.

In Tuesdays filing, Trumps lawyers also said the damages awarded to Carroll should be significantly reduced.

Why it matters: Carrolls lawyers are pressing Kaplan to force Trump to pay the $88.3 million judgment against him. While Trumps lawyers said in their filing that it is likely the award will not be upheld on appeal, the federal court could simply deny him a new trial.

New York hush money

Trump lawyers: Gag order would inflict injury on tens of millions of Americans

Key players: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Judge Juan Merchan, adult film star Stormy Daniels, former Playboy model Karen McDougal, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen

In a Monday filing to Merchan, Trumps lawyers said that a gag order proposed by Bragg intended to keep Trump from attacking witnesses and court staff in the hush money case would inflict injury on the former presidents supporters, Business Insider reported.

A restriction on President Trumps speech therefore inflicts a reciprocal injury on the tens of millions of Americans who listen to him, Trumps lawyers wrote, adding, American voters have the First Amendment right to hear President Trumps uncensored voice on all issues that relate to this case.

Trump is charged with 34 felony counts in the case that stems from his payments made to Daniels and McDougal that prosecutors say were designed to keep them quiet about extramarital affairs with Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Cohen paid Daniels $130,000, bank records show, and plans to testify during the criminal trial that begins on March 25.

Bragg contends Trump violated New York tax and campaign finance laws by making what he described as hush money payments.

Why it matters: If Merchan imposes a gag order in the first of Trumps criminal cases to go to trial, it will come as Trump is poised to win his partys presidential nomination. That offers the first clear test of how courts will handle the unprecedented conflict of how to enforce limits on speech for a person who is also once again seeking the highest office in the land.

__________________

Monday, March 4

__________________

Former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg surrenders to prosecutors Monday and pleads guilty later to lying in a deposition with New York Attorney General Letitia Jamess office in former President Donald Trumps financial fraud trial. Weisselberg was fined $1 million by Judge Arthur Engoron as part of the massive judgment against Trump, his adult sons and members of the family business. As expected, the Supreme Court rules that Congress, not individual states, is the only authority that can bar candidates who engaged in insurrection from holding office again. Here are the latest legal developments involving the former president hoping to be reelected to the White House in 2024.

New York financial fraud

Allen Weisselberg pleads guilty to committing perjury

Key players: Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, Judge Arthur Engoron, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg

On Monday, Weisselberg pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury relating to a deposition he gave to Jamess office in the financial fraud trial of Trump, his adult sons and their family business, CNN reported.

Weisselberg surrendered to prosecutors Monday morning. Under the terms of the deal, he will be sentenced to five months in prison.

For weeks, Weisselberg had been negotiating the deal with Manhattan prosecutors, but in exchange for pleading guilty, he will not have to testify against Trump at his upcoming trial on campaign finance and tax violations.

In 2022, Weisselberg, 76, pleaded guilty to 15 counts of tax fraud. He was sentenced to five months in jail but served only 100 days at Rikers Island prison.

After learning that Weisselberg may be negotiating a plea deal with Bragg, Engoron asked lawyers in the fraud case to supply him with any knowledge they may have had regarding Weisselberg lying on the witness stand.

As part of his judgment against the defendants, Engoron fined Weisselberg $1 million plus interest and barred him from ever working for the Trump Organization in any financial capacity.

In a statement, the Trump Organization said Weisselberg is now being used by the Manhattan District Attorney as a pawn in a scorched earth attempt to harm the former President.

Why it matters: On the witness stand, Weisselberg tried to convince the judge that he had not overinflated Trumps personal and business assets to obtain favorable loan and insurance rates. The plea deal is just one more bit of evidence that will be used to counter Trumps appeal of Engorons massive $464 million judgment against the former president and his company.

Jan. 6 election interference

Supreme Court halts Colorado, Illinois, Maine and other states from kicking Trump off ballot

Key players: U.S. Supreme Court, Colorado Supreme Court, Cook County Circuit Judge Tracie Porter, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows

As expected, the United States Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Colorado Supreme Court had overstepped its authority when it ordered that Trump be removed from state ballots, Yahoo News reported.

Colorados Supreme Court, Porter and Bellows had all cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits those who have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution but later engaged in insurrection from holding office, and concluded that Trump was not eligible to be on their states respective primary ballot.

In its decision, however, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates.

Because the court found that Congress and not the states is the arbiter of Section 3, that effectively puts an end to all state attempts to ban Trump from ballots.

Trump celebrated the ruling with a post on his social media network that read, BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!

Why it matters: While legal scholars and some conservative former judges filed amicus briefs with the court arguing that Section 3 could be applied to prevent Trump from holding office again, the case was mostly viewed as a long shot. The same can be said of a sharply divided Congress finding that Trump violated the Constitution when he attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
A New Jersey politician is facing calls to step down from his own party after he was accused of falsely claiming to have been a Navy SEAL.

Sussex County Commissioner William Hayden, a Republican and fervent Trump supporter who is in his first term, was called out by the Sussex County Republican Committee in a scathing statement last week.

Commissioner Hayden has not been forthright regarding his military service and has demonstrated a lack of integrity in dealings with his supporters and colleagues since his election, the committee said, accusing him of having tarnished the GOPs reputation.

After confirming various accounts from individuals who have known him for years, family relations through marriage, and our own direct experiences where he informed Sussex County Republican leaders, numerous volunteers, and elected officials, and claimed in public meetings to have combat experience, we found freedom of information act requests showing he was never a Navy SEAL or served in the Naval Service. We conclude that he has disrespected all veterans and misrepresented himself to our party and the public, the committee said.

Haydens tax returns showed hed also sought a tax exemption on the basis of military service, the committee alleged, suggesting that may have met the criteria for stolen valor.

The commissioner has denied the claims and his attorney, Robert Kovic, was quoted as telling NJ Advance Media that the tax documents cited by the committee appear to be fraudulent. Kovic said Hayden had been advised to keep his mouth shut until the probable crimes against him can be investigated and determined.

Hayden did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast.

The allegations against Hayden came at a time when he was already at odds with other members of the Republican Party and other Sussex County commissioners, four of whom voted to censure him last month for inflammatory behavior and allegations of stolen valor.

Hayden has likened himself to a whistleblower and claimed the friction is part of a retaliatory smear campaign against him for exposing the mishandling of funds for a county food pantry.

Doing to me, what they did to Trump, he wrote on Facebook after the censure vote last month.

His alleged Navy SEAL claims appear to have been made in private, with the New Jersey Globe quoting family members and former friends who recounted wild tales about secret missions.

He told me that he didnt have a Purple Heart because it was a secret mission, and he doesnt appear on the Internet because of what he did was a secret, a former girlfriend was quoted as saying about a claim that he played a role in the killing of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. He told me he was afraid of Escobars son, so he liked to keep a low profile, she said.

His stepson also reportedly said he and his wife had heard Bill mention on numerous occasions his time in the military. He has mentioned on numerous occasions his time in the SEALS.

Another source was quoted as saying Hayden had spoken of being wounded in combat and going on a secret mission in Mogadishu.

The U.S. Navy told the news outlet it had no record of Hayden serving as a SEAL.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. President Trump attends a hearing on a criminal case linked to a hush money payment, in New York City

By Andrew Goudsward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Thursday accused Donald Trump of bringing a frivolous claim of presidential immunity in the criminal case accusing him of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House.

The move by Special Counsel Jack Smith is an effort to block the former president from using an immunity claim to delay trial, after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments next month on his claims of immunity in a separate case accusing him of trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

"Because Trump advances an entirely meritless claim that could not provide him any relief even if correct, the Court should deny his immunity claim," Smith argued in a court filing. "That frivolous claim is offered for one transparent purpose  to delay the trial."

Immunity claims, unlike other legal issues addressed before a trial, can usually be immediately appealed. Trump's immunity appeal in the election-related case has caused months of delay.

Smith said all the conduct charged in a 40-count indictment against Trump occurred after he left the White House in January 2021 and would not be covered even if presidents are entitled to protection against criminal prosecution for official actions.

Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, has argued that the charges stem from official decisions he made in his final days as president, including a purported move to designate certain records as personal rather than belonging to the U.S. government. Prosecutors have said the documents related to issues including nuclear weapons capabilities and U.S. vulnerability to military attack and could not be construed as personal records.

Smiths filing came as he responded to an array of legal motions to dismiss the case brought by Trump and his two co-defendants, personal aide Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, a property manager at Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort.

Prosecutors responded to Trumps not-yet-public filing alleging Trump was selectively targeted because other former U.S. officials, including Democratic President Joe Biden, were not charged for mishandling classified information after leaving office.

A different special counsel, Robert Hur, last month concluded that there was evidence Biden willfully retained national security information after he left the vice presidency in 2017, the same offense facing Trump. But Hur opted not to bring criminal charges, noting Biden had cooperated with the investigation and a conviction would be difficult to obtain.

Trumps filing remains sealed while Cannon determines whether some portions should be redacted.

Smiths prosecutors acknowledged superficial similarities between the two cases, but said Trumps alleged repeated and flagrant obstructive efforts distinguished his case from Bidens.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone and Daniel Wallis)
Former President Donald Trump delivers remarks during his primary night rally alongside Eric and Lara Trump at the Sheraton on January 23, 2024 in Nashua, New Hampshire. Trump wants his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to take over as Republican National Committee chair. The leadership shakeup has some RNC members nervous.

Former President Donald Trumps impending takeover of the Republican National Committee could give him access to a big new pile of cash at a time when he is beset by legal bills, making some committee members nervous.

Limiting Trump's access to the RNC's coffers is a touchy subject, and an effort to pressure his team on spending restrictions failed. But it serves as another example of the pockets of Trump resistance that persist within the GOP.

Trump pushed RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel to resign from the job after seven years, and wants his daughter-in-law Lara Trump and another loyalist, North Carolina Republican Party Chair Michael Whatley, to serve as co-chairs. Top Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita would be chief operating officer.

RNC members are meeting in Houston on Friday to consider the leadership change.

Its not uncommon for the RNC to be tightly integrated with the campaign of the Republican presidential nominee, a title Trump clinched after Nikki Haley dropped out of the race Wednesday. But there are some unusual aspects of Trumps campaign that continue to worry some Republicans.

A top concern is Trumps mounting legal bills, and whether he could try and get the party to pay for them. Some committee members supported a failed resolution that aimed at prohibiting the RNC from picking up Trumps legal tab.

The overhaul of RNC leadership also has critics.

Ive been told by other people that its fairly common for a presidential candidate and the RNC to integrate but I feel right now whats happening is not an integration, its something between a purge and a takeover and thats a concern for me, said RNC member and Vermont GOP Chair Paul Dame.

Trump moves to put Lara Trump, other loyalists in key roles

Trump is known to surround himself with family members: in business and in politics. One of the ways that Trump managed his first term at the White House was by appointing family to key roles, including daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

For Trump, it's the only way to guarantee the utmost loyalty.

Having the partys national organization dominated by one personality bothers Dame, who said he worries about what happens once Trumps gone, and about the RNC taking on some Trump characteristics he finds troubling, such as vindictiveness.

One of my concerns is that Trumps cooperation with the other Republicans has been very dependent on his perception of their loyalty to him and thats an element if it makes its way into the RNC becomes very difficult, he said.

As for not paying Trumps legal bills, that should be a slam dunk, Dame said.

Dame said the RNC traditionally pays for a lot of things that help all Republican candidates, such as turning out low propensity voters, adding he believes thats what most donors want. Paying for Trumps legal bills only helps Trump, he said.

Trump is facing 91 felony charges across four criminal cases, along with multiple civil lawsuits. His campaign and associated political committees already have spent tens of millions paying the lawyers defending Trump. He also was ordered to pay $83.3 million in a defamation case brought by the writer Jean Carroll, and $453.5 million including interest in a business fraud case.

LaCivita has said repeatedly that RNC money wont be used to pay Trumps legal bills.

"I've made it perfectly clear... we would not be paying legal bills," LaCivita said Tuesday at Trump's Super Tuesday election night party in Palm Beach.

Some RNC members wanted the commitment in writing, though.

Henry Barbour, the Republican national committeeman from Mississippi, sponsored the resolution prohibiting the RNC from paying a candidates legal bills. He said it would've helped reassure donors.

I suspect if people thought a contribution to the RNC was going to legal bills that have nothing to do with the 2024 cycle they might be less likely to contribute to the RNC, Barbour said.

RNC discussion of legal bills 'still very much alive'

Barbour's resolution needed support from 10 states, each with two co-sponsors, to force a vote Friday but only obtained eight. It was non-binding. A formal rule change would need to be approved at the Republican National Convention in July.

While the resolution failed, Barbour said "the discussion is still very much alive."

The RNC has one job and thats to win elections," Barbour said, adding that paying a candidate's legal bills. Has nothing to do with winning elections.

The concerns surrounding Trumps RNC takeover are another sign of the discomfort his campaign has elicited in some corners of the party, as evinced by Nikki Haley drawing a significant slice of the GOP primary vote through Super Tuesday despite polls showing for months that Trump was almost certain to be the nominee.

Trumps campaign continues to give plenty of Republicans heartburn, and they registered their discontent with protest votes in primary after primary. Haley won two primaries - Vermont and the District of Columbia - and topped 30% of the vote in a number of other states. Some states are still counting votes from Super Tuesday.

The majority of Republicans feel differently, though, and Trump's picks for RNC leadership are expected to easily win the election.

Many Trump supporters are cheering on his RNC takeover. McDaniel has been under fire for years from GOP activists.

Steve Bannon, a longtime Trump ally who served as his chief strategist in the White House, said on his podcast this week that Barbour's resolution was "spitting in President Trump's face."

"This is another outrage at the RNC and we thought the whole thing was dealt with," Bannon said. "We gotta see the building purged... all the building's gotta be purged - 100% purged."

Bill Palatucci, the Republican national committeeman from New Jersey, said he doesnt have a problem with the nominee putting their imprint on the committee.

The important factor is senior staff, and Chris LaCivita in my experience is a pro and understands the role of the RNC in the presidential cycle, Palatucci said in an email. From there, it is the responsibility of the Executive Committee and the Budget Committee to insure that the spending is appropriate. 

Stan Pate, a Trump supporter from Alabama who gave six figure contributions to the main super PAC supporting Trump, said that McDaniels departure will make him more likely to support the RNC, and hes fine with his money being used to pay Trumps legal bills.

Im fixing to write him another big check quite frankly, said Pate, a real estate developer and investor. I can tell you this: If he dont win were all in trouble so Ive got an opportunity to hopefully have some impact in that.

Zac Anderson is Campaign 2024 reporter covering Donald Trump and Republicans for USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: RNC, Trump legal bills: Why some in GOP nervous about Trump RNC purge
CAIRO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Egypt has joined an international operation to airdrop humanitarian aid to the Palestinian Gaza Strip which is currently facing ongoing Israeli siege and bombardment, the Egyptian military said in a statement on Thursday.

"Members of the Egyptian Air Force participate in the international coalition to airdrop aid into Gaza from Jordan," the statement said, noting that Jordan, the United States, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium also took part in the operation.

The "urgent humanitarian and relief aid" targets the affected areas in northern Gaza, according to the statement.

Adjacent to the besieged Palestinian enclave, Egypt has been a major aid supplier to Gaza via the Rafah border crossing during the ongoing Israeli attacks. The aid is donated by Egypt and other countries as well as local and international organizations.

Egyptian officials say Egypt has contributed to the delivery of over 80 percent of the total relief supplies sent to Gaza.

Israel launched a massive campaign on Gaza after the Gaza-ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) attacked Israeli towns on Oct. 7 last year, killing about 1,200 Israelis and taking over 200 as hostages.

Since then, Israeli attacks in the enclave have killed 30,800 Palestinians and wounded 72,298 others, according to the latest data released by Gaza's health ministry on Thursday. 
Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will debate President Joe Biden "anytime, anywhere, anyplace" as the two men turned their attention toward a general election rematch a day after dominating Super Tuesday primaries.

"It is important for the Good of our Country, that Joe Biden and I Debate issues that are so vital to American, and the American people," Trump wrote on the Truth Social media platform. "Therefore, I am calling for Debates, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE!"

Follow live coverage here.

Trump declined to take part in Republican primary debates and has been critical of general-election candidate matchups hosted by the long-standing Commission on Presidential Debates. But on Wednesday, he said he would go toe-to-toe with Biden in commission debates  or even debates hosted by the Democratic National Committee  if the president will agree.

Biden has not yet said whether he will debate Trump before the November election. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre deflected a question from Fox News earlier Wednesday about whether dodging debates would cast doubt on Biden's "acuity."

"Talk to the campaign," Jean-Pierre said.

In a statement, Biden campaign spokesperson Michael Tyler declined to address whether the president would debate, suggesting that's a discussion for later date.

"I know Donald Trumps thirsty for attention and struggling to expand his appeal beyond the MAGA base  and thats a conversation well have at the appropriate time in this cycle," Tyler said. "But if hes so desperate to see President Biden in prime time, he doesnt have to wait! He can join the tens of millions of Americans who will tune in to watch the State of the Union tomorrow night. He might even learn a thing or two about bringing people together and actually delivering for the American people.

Biden and Trump debated twice in 2020, when the middle meeting of three scheduled debates was canceled following Trump's refusal to conduct it virtually due to Covid-19.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Former President Trump on Thursday encouraged a longtime political aide to run for an open congressional seat in Georgia.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he would support Brian Jack if he launched a campaign in Georgias 3rd Congressional District to replace Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.), who announced in December he would not seek another term.

Brian has been thinking about running to succeed Drew, as he has always sought to accomplish incredible things for Georgia and our Country, Trump wrote. I encourage Brian, a Fayette County native, to go for it, pursue his dream, and run for Congress.

He represents a New Generation of Leadership, and he will be a GREAT Congressman, working closely with me and other Republicans to fix the damage Joe Biden has done to our Country, he added. Brian is a man of Loyalty, Honesty, and Integrity, and will never let the fabulous people of Georgias 3rd Congressional District down. Should he decide to run, Brian Jack has my Complete and Total Endorsement!

Jack has not announced whether he will seek office. He worked on Trumps 2016 campaign, served as White House political director, and is an aide on Trumps 2024 campaign.

Ferguson, 57, has represented Georgias 3rd District since 2017.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A New York judge has ruled that the jury in Donald Trumps hush-money trial should be kept completely secretexcept, of course, to Trump and company.

Both parties and their attorneys, staff, and consultants in the case will have access to the names of jurors, though other details will be kept more secret, according to Judge Juan Merchan. Residential addresses and places of work will be kept strictly confidential and shared only with attorneys and away from Trump, Merchan noted, citing the potential for harassment in the high-profile case of the volatile former president as reason for the safeguards.

The Court further finds good cause  that there is a likelihood of bribery, jury tampering, or of physical injury or harassment of jurors, Merchan wrote, adding that Trump has an extensive history of publicly and repeatedly attacking trial jurors and grand jurors.

It remains to be seen if that precaution will be enough to keep Trump from targeting the batch of private citizens conducting their civic duty.

Trumps habit of lashing out at those around him in the courtroom became abundantly clear during a couple of his legal trials last year. During his New York fraud trial, for example, he repeatedly smeared Justice Arthur Engoron as crooked and baselessly asserted that one of the judges law clerks was having an affair with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. He has extended similar treatment to other court staff doling out his judgment, including special counsel Jack Smith, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Judge Tanya Chutkan, and countless others, sometimes defying court-ordered gag orders in order to do so.

And his rabid followers took that a step further in his Fulton County case, during which far-right conspiracy theorists doxxed a grand jury, circulating their full names, ages, and addresses and ushering a deluge of hate and violent threats their way.

Defendants conduct in this and other mattersincluding his extensive history of attacking jurors in other proceedingspresents a significant risk of juror harassment and intimidation that warrants reasonable protective measures to ensure the integrity of these proceedings, minimize obstacles to jury selection, and protect juror safety, prosecutors wrote in their motion to Merchan.

About a third of Trumps 91 criminal charges stem from the hush-money case, in which Trump is accused of using his former fixer Michael Cohen to sweep an affair with porn actress Stormy Daniels under the rug ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

It wouldnt be the first extraordinary measure taken to keep a jury safe from the ire and scrutiny of Trumps followers. Jurors were kept fully anonymous and partially sequestered in E. Jean Carrolls defamation case, with Judge Lewis Kaplan citing Trumps behavior as reason for the extreme measures.

Shortly after the jurors handed down the verdict, Judge Kaplan warned them to never disclose that they were on the jury, out of concerns for their safety.
Donald Trump is suing the Pulitzer Prize Board for awarding coverage of his ties to Russia.

The board said two independent reviews concluded the prizes should stand.

In depositions, his lawyers are seen hunting for the identities of those anonymous reviewers.

In an overlooked lawsuit, Donald Trump's lawyers are exhibiting a habit from his White House days: Hunting for anonymous sources.

In transcripts of four depositions obtained by Business Insider, Trump's attorneys had the opportunity to question journalists about a mystery that has vexed them for years: Who are the anonymous consultants who reviewed the Pulitzer Prizes awarded to The New York Times and The Washington Post for their coverage of Trump's connections to Russia?

The depositions were taken last year for a lawsuit Trump brought in December 2022, suing the Pulitzer Prize Board, which administers American journalism's highest honors. He accused the board and its 18 members of defaming him by awarding the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting to The Washington Post and The New York Times for their coverage of Russia's interference in the 2016 election and the country's connections to Trump's presidential campaign and administration.

In his lawsuit, Trump complained that journalists and the Pulitzer board conspired together as part of a larger "Russia Collusion Hoax," which the former president claimed was "fully debunked."

In reality, investigations from Robert Mueller and a US Senate intelligence committee found numerous connections between Russian efforts and the Trump campaign, even as they did not conclude that Trump personally fostered them.

Much of Trump's lawsuit focuses on a July 2022 statement from the Pulitzer board, where it announced the prizes would stand after Trump called on it to rescind the awards.

The board announced that it commissioned "two independent reviews" of the work submitted by the Times and the Post that won the 2018 prize, which "were conducted by individuals with no connection to the institutions whose work was under examination, nor any connection to each other."

Each review independently concluded the prize-winning stories were not "discredited by facts that emerged subsequent to the conferral of the prizes," the board said.

To this day, the Pulitzer board has not disclosed who did the reviews and what they consisted of. Nor have its members explained why they are keeping the information a secret.

Trump's lawyers are trying to get to the bottom of it. In the depositions Business Insider obtained, Trump's lawyers question the defendants  all journalists  about what they describe as their "use of anonymous sources" with the Pulitzer statement.

"Without identifying those individuals, I guess we have no way to verify the truth of the statement," Trump's lawyer R. Quincy Bird asked investigative journalist Katherine Boo in her deposition, taken in August 2023. "So Ms. Boo, I'll ask it directly, who conducted the external review?"

At each turn, a lawyer for the Pulitzer Board members stopped their clients from answering.

The hunt for the identity of the Pulitzer board's reviewers demonstrates how some of Trump's attitudes toward media  an obsession with anonymous sources and paranoia of supposed shadowy figures he claims to believe are conspiring against him  have leaked beyond the political arena and into his lawsuits.

Chad R. Bowman, an attorney at the law firm Ballard Spahr, said in a deposition transcript that the identities of the people who conducted the reviews for the Pulitzer board were subject to "First Amendment privilege to protect sources."

"I'm going to instruct the witness not to answer on the basis of First Amendment privilege," Bowman said in the deposition.

Trump's lawyers indicated they disagreed with Bowman's assertion, but haven't yet filed any court motions asking the judge to force the defendants to identify the reviewers  a step normally taken when lawyers don't get the answers they want during a deposition.

Marjorie Miller, the administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

"We are not at liberty to discuss this case," she told Business Insider.

The journalists whom Trump's lawyers deposed did, however, offer some characterization of the "consultants" who conducted the reviews. Miller, who sat for a deposition on May 23 last year, testified the people were "widely recognized as leaders" in American journalism.

Boo told Trump's lawyers that she was not involved in the first review, which took place in 2019. She said she had confidence in the results of the second review, which took place in 2021, and took additional information into account.

"It was a person who had no relationship and person who had the stature and, I believe, ethical clarity and the moral rigor to be frank with the board should problems with those submissions be submitted," Boo said.

The depositions shed light on the Pulitzer's secretive reviews

Trump's attacks on journalism remain a pillar of his political message. And he has extended his language railing against a "witch hunt" against him to include his many legal problems  including four separate grand jury criminal cases  as he runs in the 2024 presidential election. In 2023, a PAC Trump controls gave over $260,000 in donor money to Weber, Crabb, & Wein, the law firm representing him in the Pulitzer case, according to a Business Insider analysis of disbursement records.

The Pulitzer Prize Board is hosted by Columbia University, in Manhattan, which manages the small organization's payroll and offers institutional support. But Trump brought his lawsuit in Florida, arguing the state has jurisdiction in the defamation lawsuit because he lives at Mar-a-Lago.

His lawsuit also points out that the Pulitzer board includes Neil Brown, a Florida resident who serves as the president of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies and worked as the top editor at the Tampa Bay Times.

A judge overseeing the case blocked Trump's lawyers from issuing subpoenas for depositions and records for the merits of the case, allowing only jurisdictional discovery.

The defendants  which include New Yorker editor in chief David Remnick, USA Today editor in chief Nicole Carroll, former Columbia University president Lee Bollinger, former Los Angeles Times executive editor Kevin Merida, and novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, among others  all submitted paperwork describing their lack of connections to the state of Florida.

Associated Press Vice President and Global Enterprise Editor Marjorie Miller stands for a portrait in the news agency's New York City headquarters, Tuesday, Mar., 29, 2022. On Thursday, March 31, 2022, the Pulitzer Prize Board and Lee C. Bollinger, president of Columbia University, which hosts the prestigious journalism awards, announced Miller has been named as the new administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes. AP Photo/J. David Ake

Trump's lawyers deposed Miller, along with three board members who served as cochairs when the 2022 statement was issued: Katherine Boo, New York Times opinion columnist Gail Collins, and Associated Press standards editor John Daniszewski.

Those depositions were supposed to focus on obtaining information to bolster Trump's jurisdictional arguments. But his lawyer's questions frequently went outside those lines, Bowman complained during them.

During Miller's deposition, for instance, Bird attempted to ask questions about how the Pulitzer board came to hire her in the administrator role.

"Counsel, I don't want to engage in argument with you," Bowman snapped. "I disagree that you can ask any question whether or not it's relating to jurisdiction because it has some tie to a document."

Though the Pulitzer board members declined to identify who conducted the reviews, their depositions shed some light on the process.

Daniszewski said the Pulitzer board had "engaged two outside consultants" toward the end of the tenure of the administrator who preceded Miller, the publisher Dana Canady, to consider "five or six complaints" about the prizes. Some of those complaints were about historical issues, and one was about Trump's complaint about the prizes to the Times and the Post.

"They recommended to the board that no action be taken and that the basis for the complaint was unfounded," Daniszewski said in his deposition.

As more complaints from Trump rolled in, the Pulitzer board debated whether to conduct another review. Boo, Miller, and Daniszewski all said the board gets occasional complaints and doesn't always find them worth addressing, but the Pulitzer board took Trump's criticism seriously.

"Not everyone on the board agreed that the facts in the case warranted external review, and there was a debate, and the majority decided that it did warrant external review," Boo said.

2018 Pulitzer Prize winners pose for pictures during the awards luncheon and ceremony at Columbia University in New York. AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews

Because Trump and his lawyers had explicitly demanded that the Pulitzers rescind the prize  and made a series of specific complaints in a series of letters  the board decided to commission a reexamination of the articles.

"Even though we believed that we had already looked at it, we thought we should do our diligence and reexamine the question because it was coming from him," Daniszewski said.

The board members said that the people who conducted the two independent reviews of the Times' and Posts' Pulitzer submissions did not live in Florida, nor did they have an affiliation with the Times or Post. Collins said she recused herself from the 2018 deliberations for the national reporting prize because the Times was in contention, and had been recused from the subsequent discussions about independent investigations.

"You get up, you sit in the hallway for a very long time, but that's what I did basically," Collins recalled in her deposition, recounting the 2018 board meeting where they deliberated the awards.

"At some point, somebody opens the door and says come on back in, we've awarded the prize to 'X,' and then you come back and the next series comes up," she later added.

Trump's other lawsuits over 'Russiagate' have failed

Trump filed an updated version of the suit in December 2023, further arguing he was subsequently vindicated by Justice Department Special Counsel John Durham, who investigated the roots of the FBI's investigations into the 2016 Trump campaign's links to Russia.

Lawyers for the Pulitzer board members asked the judge to dismiss the case, noting that a different judge dismissed a separate "Russian collusion hoax" suit Trump filed against Hillary Clinton and James Comey and issued nearly $1 million in sanctions against the former president's lawyers in that case.

"It is a petty effort by one of the most powerful men in the world to silence speech he dislikes, filed in a county where neither he nor any of the defendants lives or works or has any meaningful connections whatsoever," they wrote.

The lawyers filed a separate motion for Brown, arguing the judge should dismiss the suit because the awards were simply not defamatory.

Bird didn't respond to multiple requests for comment. Chad Bowman, a Ballard Spahr attorney representing the Pulitzer board members, directed Business Insider to court filings.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives at a Super Tuesday election night party at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Trump has also previously filed separate lawsuits against the Times and Post in the United States over opinion articles about his 2016 campaign's ties to Russia, as well as a UK lawsuit against Christopher Steele, who wrote a dossier he falsely claimed formed the basis of Mueller's inquiry. All of those lawsuits have been dismissed by judges as meritless.

Bird also demonstrated familiarity with the vast universe of media criticism about press coverage of the so-called "Russiagate" scandal. He asked about former Times journalist Jeff Gerth's four-part examination in the Columbia Journalism Review of the coverage, which argued that the media organizations misused anonymous sources and withheld information in ways that misled readers. Daniszewski said he was familiar with the critique, and that Gerth was not one of the prize reviewers.

The depositions sometimes touched on other subjects, such as the perennial debate of whether aspiring journalists should go to graduate school. While some of the four journalists obtained master's degrees, none went to graduate school for journalism.

"I will say as an aside, it is remarkable the  I guess the achievement of several people that we've deposed that have not gone to J-school have found themselves on the board is interesting to me," Bird mused in one deposition.

The journalists also had a chance to reflect on the experience of being deposed.

"I appreciate your time," Bird told Boo at the end of her deposition. "You've now had your first deposition, I hope you look upon it fondly."

"Hopefully it's my last," Boo said.

Disclosure: Ballard Spahr represents a coalition of over 30 media organizations, which includes Business Insider, in media access litigation in Donald Trump's criminal cases in Florida and Washington, DC.

Read the original article on Business Insider
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's Kizilay (Red Crescent) is sending its biggest aid shipment yet to Gaza via Egypt, with a ship carrying some 3,000 tons of food, medicine and equipment leaving for the Egyptian port of Al-Arish on Thursday.

Turkey, which has harshly criticised Israel for its military offensive in Gaza and backed measures to have it tried for genocide at the World Court, has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and warned of consequences if calm cannot be achieved by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, starting on Sunday.

"This aid, which will be delivered to Gaza with the support and cooperation of the Egyptian Red Crescent, will keep the hopes of Palestinians alive on the eve of Ramadan," Turkey's ambassador to Cairo, Salih Mutlu Sen, said on social media platform X.

Kizilay head Fatma Meric Yilmaz told broadcaster CNN Turk that the ship would make two trips to Egypt to deliver the aid, largely collected through donations.

It will then be transported in around 200 trucks to the border town of Rafah in Gaza, where more than one million people have taken refuge, she added. The aid includes flour, hygiene products, ready-to-eat meals, ambulances, and portable kitchens.

"We have almost enough aid collected to fill the second ship too," she said. "Once the ship returns here, we will fill it up again and the ship will then go again around the 26th (of March) near the middle of Ramadan."

Turkey has already sent thousands of tons of aid to Egypt for delivery to Gaza.

Unlike its Western allies and some Gulf nations, NATO member Turkey does not view the Palestinian group Hamas, which runs Gaza, as a terrorist organisation. It was an attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that prompted the current Israeli military offensive, now in its fifth month.

In Gaza, the humanitarian situation is worst in the north of the enclave, which is beyond the reach of aid agencies or news cameras. Whole swathes of the territory are cut off from food, with the already curtailed aid supplies to the rest of Gaza dwindling to barely a trickle over the past month.

Last week, the United States started dropping aid on Gaza by air, with the Netherlands, France, and others contributing. Turkey has not voiced eagerness to join the air drops so far. A Turkish defence ministry official told reporters on Thursday that Ankara's aid efforts for Gaza by air would continue via Egypt and Jordan in line with needs and demands.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Two Alabama fertility clinics that paused in vitro fertilization services last month expect to resume them now that state lawmakers have passed a bill to protect doctors and clinics that discard embryos as part of routine IVF services.

The bill "provides the protections that we need to start care  or resume care, really," said Dr. Janet Bouknight, an IVF provider at Alabama Fertility, which suspended IVF services Feb. 22 after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are considered unborn children.

Bouknight said the clinic does around 10 egg retrievals and 10 frozen embryo transfers per week, so around 40 patients may not have received promised care during the pause in IVF services.

Dr. Warner Huh, chair of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said in a video statement that the bill "provides some protections and will therefore allow UAB to restart in vitro fertilization treatments, also known as IVF."

"While UAB is moving to promptly resume IVF treatments, we will continue to assess developments and advocate for protections for IVF patients and our providers," he continued.

But the Center for Reproductive Medicine at Mobile Infirmary  the fertility clinic involved in the lawsuit that led to the Alabama Supreme Court decision  said it will not resume IVF services.

"We are not reopening until we have legal clarification on the extent of immunity provided by the new Alabama law," the center and its affiliate health care system, Infirmary Health, said in a statement on Thursday.

They added that "at this time, we believe the law falls short of addressing the fertilized eggs currently stored across the state and leaves challenges for physicians and fertility clinics trying to help deserving families have children of their own."

After the court ruling on Feb. 16, IVF providers were concerned that they could face legal repercussions for getting rid of embryos  a common part of IVF, because some embryos have genetic abnormalities or are no longer needed. That prompted three Alabama clinics to suspend IVF services.

After that, legislators from both parties called for legal safeguards to protect IVF providers in the state.

The bill that passed Wednesday evening offers civil and criminal immunity" to doctors, clinics and other health care personnel who provide IVF. Gov. Kay Ivey signed it into law before midnight Wednesday.

Meghan Cole, a patient at Alabama Fertility, had been planning to start a family via a surrogate because she has a blood disorder that prevents her from safely carrying a pregnancy. But the planned embryo transfer procedure was canceled after the clinic paused its IVF services.

Now that the clinic intends to start offering IVF again, Cole said, she wants to move forward with the transfer.

The last few weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions, she said, from being completely devastated to having hope and now being excited to continue the journey.

But Cole worries about what might happen in Alabama in the future.

While this is a win for us right now and a Band-Aid to get us back on track, were still planning to move our embryos out of the state, she said. I dont trust what the states going to do and dont want to have to either keep my embryos in storage in perpetuity or not be allowed to discard them.

The law passed on Wednesday says that no action, suit, or criminal prosecution for the damage to or death of an embryo shall be brought or maintained against any individual or entity when providing or receiving services related to in vitro fertilization.

However, it does not specify whether frozen embryos created via IVF have the same rights as children under state law. For that reason, some legal experts and reproductive rights advocates worry it does not go far enough.

"While we are grateful for the actions of Alabama legislators, this legislation does not address the underlying issue of the status of embryos as part of the IVF process  threatening the long-term standard of care for IVF patients," Barbara Collura, the CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, said in a statement.

The bills Republican sponsors characterized the legislation as a quick fix to allow IVF clinics to resume normal operations.

Bouknight said legislators understood "the pressing need to get this fixed and to have a lasting solution."

The bill may make companies that store and ship embryos more comfortable to operate in Alabama. At least one major embryo shipping company, Cryoport, paused operations there after the court decision. The company did not respond to an inquiry about whether it will resume services in Alabama.

Brad Senstra, the CEO of ReproTech  a company that offers long-term storage for embryos  said the company had been in talks with Alabama clinics about helping them with embryo storage before the ruling. After the state Supreme Court decision, he said, the company restricted employees from picking up embryo shipments from Alabama clinics in person.

But Handling of embryos and storing them for patients is definitely providing services related to in vitro fertilization, Senstra said, so he feels comfortable lifting the restriction.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A fisherman fell off his boat and drowned days after another man died in a similar incident at the same Georgia lake, authorities said.

The body of Lorenzo Reed, 60, was found in West Point Lake on Tuesday, March 5, according to the Troup County Sheriffs Office.

Authorities were called around 4:45 p.m. after Reed, from Cobb County, went fishing on March 4 but never returned, deputies said. The 911 caller also said the 60-year-old wasnt answering his phone.

Deputies found Reeds truck and boat trailer, then began looking for his boat, according to a news release. They found the vessel anchored in a boat slip at Highland Marina, but Reed was still missing.

Investigators said they found his body around 7:30 p.m.

Though there were no witnesses to what happened to Mr. Reed, investigators believe at some point Mr. Reed fell off his boat and drowned, the sheriffs office said.

Its the second reported death at the lake in less than a week, according to deputies.

On March 2, deputies responded to a possible drowning after an 83-year-old from Carrollton went overboard, they said. The mans wife and bystanders pulled him from the water and began CPR.

Unfortunately lifesaving measures were unsuccessful and the victim died on scene, deputies said.

Troup County is about a 70-mile drive southwest from downtown Atlanta.

Lightning cuts through sailboat, leaving crew sinking in remote Atlantic, officials say

16-year-old drowns while fishing on family camping trip, Georgia officials say

Man in airboat shoots at repair crew working on bridge, Florida cops say. Hes charged
UPDATE: The victims in this shooting have been identified as 19-year-old Kalob Ruth and 17-year-old Carlos Gonzalez.



KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Early Thursday morning, Kansas City police went to a local hospital to investigate what appeared to be a double shooting.

KU Hospital staff told the officers that around 12:45 a.m. Thursday, two men came into the emergency room with gunshot wounds, and both of them died at the hospital, according to police.

Police say suspect in custody after deadly downtown Lawrence shooting

Officers believe the shooting happened in a wooded area somewhere within Kansas City, Missouri, city limits.

Officers took one man into custody for questioning and say they arent looking for anyone else at this time.

The case is ongoing and is currently being investigated as a homicide.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Two House Democrats cast votes against the six-bill spending package the chamber passed Wednesday to avert a partial government shutdown, with both citing a GOP-backed gun-related provision.

Reps. Maxwell Frost (Fla.) and Mark Takano (Calif.) voted against the minibus legislation Wednesday that funds a slew of agencies and departments through the end of fiscal 2024.

The legislation cleared the House with a 339-85 vote, with 207 Democrats and 132 Republicans voting for the measure. It now heads to the Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the upper chamber will vote on it ahead of the Friday partial shutdown.

Frost, a first-term lawmaker who rose to prominence as a gun control advocate, said the measure has a lot of good in it but also features the greatest rollback of the background check system since it was created.

A provision in the bill would allow veterans determined unable to manage their benefits to be able to purchase guns.

This rollback would allow veterans that have been deemed by the Veterans Administration to be mentally incompetent to buy guns. These are folks that the VA no longer trusts to manager their own benefits. Veterans who are also unfortunately, at a high risk of suicide, Frost wrote Wednesday on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Takano, the ranking member on the Veterans Affairs Committee, praised the legislation during his Wednesday speech on the House floor, saying it has many good things, but also said it comes at the expense of the most vulnerable U.S. veterans.

I am anguished over it for one simple reason, veterans lives are on the line, Takano said Wednesday.

Takano also added during his remarks that he was not urging his colleagues to vote against the bill.

The gun-related provision may also get some pushback on the Senate side.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Wednesday he would not vote for the legislation because of it.

On Wednesday, 83 Republicans also voted against the bill. Conservatives had panned its price tag, the exclusion of policy priorities they had advocated for, and the process Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) used to move the bill through the chamber.

The $450 billion package allows funding for the departments of Commerce, Energy, Justice, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Interior, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs.

The bill, now on its way to the Senate, would complete half of the appropriations bill process for the fiscal 2024. The other six bills are due March 22 and are expected to be tougher to hurdle for appropriators.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The two men in charge of a small boat that capsized on the Hudson River in 2022 were charged Thursday in the deaths of two people onboard.

Richard Cruz, 32, and Jaime Pinilla Gomez, 25, were accused of neglecting their duties and causing the deaths of Lindelia Vasquez, 48, and her 7-year-old nephew, Julian.

Cruz and Gomez made a slew of reckless decisions, all of which combined to cause the disaster, according to federal investigators. They were arrested Thursday in Elizabeth, N.J., and hauled to Manhattan Federal Court.

The two men recklessly disregarded safety protocols, operated the vessel at an unsafe speed in hazardous conditions and overloaded the vessel with too many passengers onboard, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a press release.

Cruz owned the boat that capsized on July 12, 2022 near 50th Street. He bought the vessel, named Stimulus Money, in April 2022 and began offering paid tours on the Hudson shortly after, according to the feds.

Even offering the tours was illegal, as Cruz never had the boat inspected by the Coast Guard, investigators said. Such inspections are required when charging people for boat rides.

On the day of the wreck, the ship was overloaded with people, feds said. The 24-foot 2020 Yamaha AR 240 had a maximum capacity of 12 people, but a total of 13 were onboard when the speedboat capsized.

Gomez, an inexperienced mariner, was driving the boat, while 12 people were riding as passengers, according to investigators. Cruz was following behind on a jet ski.

Cruz and Gomez additionally ignored a small craft advisory from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which warned of high winds and rough seas that would be dangerous for the Stimulus Money.

The Vasquez family tour group met Cruz and Gomez at a boat launch in Carteret, N.J. around 11 a.m. on the day of the wreck, investigators said. The tour of the Statue of Liberty and other sites was completed with little issue, and the group then headed back to Carteret.

The Stimulus Money was traveling at 25 to 35 knots when it encountered swells near Manhattans Pier 90, investigators said. According to video footage reviewed by police, Gomez decided to take those swells head-on.

When that didnt work and the boat took on water, Gomez brought it to a stop, then pushed the boats right-side engine to full throttle, causing it to capsize to the left, according to Coast Guard investigators.

All 13 people onboard were thrown into the water. Gomez and 10 passengers were rescued by other boats on the Hudson at the time.

Julian and Lindelia Vasquez were found dead about 25 minutes after the boat flipped. They had been trapped under the vessel.

There were about four people on top of the bottom of the boat screaming, Raidy Garcia, a witness on the New Jersey shoreline, told the Daily News at the time. I couldnt make out anything other than their screams.

The vessel came equipped with an emergency kill switch lanyard, designed to shut down the engines if the operator suddenly leaves the captains position. However, Gomez was not wearing the lanyard when he accelerated the right-side engine.

If the lanyard had been attached to Gomez properly, the engines may have been stopped as Gomez was shifted from the helm due to the vessel beginning to turn towards its port side, the feds wrote in charging documents. Therefore, if Gomez had been wearing the lanyard, the vessel may not have overturned.

Federal prosecutors laid out four specific reasons they believed Cruz and Gomez were to blame for the disaster: the overloaded boat, the boats speed in choppy waters, ignorance of Coast Guard inspection and Gomezs dangerous operation of the boat.

This case demonstrates the deadly consequences of illegal passenger operations, Rear Adm. John Mauger said in a statement.

According to prosecutors, if Cruz and Gomez had bothered to have the boat inspected, it would have failed and been barred from carrying paying customers.

Cruz and Gomez were each charged with one count of misconduct and neglect of a ship officer resulting in death. They both face a maximum of 10 years in prison.
BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China will deliver on its commitment to upholding justice and advance win-win cooperation, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

In 2024, China will stay committed to an independent foreign policy of peace and firmly safeguard its national sovereignty and dignity, Wang said at a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress.

Reviewing China's diplomatic work in 2023, Wang said the country has taken steps to promote international solidarity and cooperation, offered solutions to various crises and challenges, and contributed to world peace and development, breaking new ground in China's diplomatic theory and practice.

China will maintain stable relations with major powers, join hands with its neighboring countries for progress, and strive for revitalization with the Global South, Wang said, adding that the country will practice true multilateralism and promote democracy in international relations.

China will strive to provide more Chinese solutions to both regional hotspots and global issues, creating new opportunities for the world with its own development, Wang said. 
A federal appeals court has dismissed a child labor case against major tech companies including Apple and Google.

The ruling, released Tuesday, ruled in favor of the tech companies  Google parent company Alphabet, Apple, Dell Technologies, Microsoft and Tesla  and rejected an appeal by former child miners.

The former child miners argued that the major companies knowingly engaged in forced labor when purchasing cobalt, which is used in producing lithium-ion batteries for electronics.

The lawsuit was filed in Washington, D.C., by nongovernmental organization International Right Advocates. It alleged that two mining companies, British company Glencore and Chinese company Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, supplied cobalt to the companies.

The tech giants that purchased the cobalt were aiding and abetting the cruel and brutal use of young children in Democratic Republic of the Congo mines.

The three-judge panel ruled Tuesday that the plaintiffs have standing to pursue their damages claims but the companies that purchased an unspecified amount of cobalt through the global supply chain is not participation in a venture under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008.

Circuit Judge Neomi Rao said the former child miners couldnt prove that the tech companies had the power to stop the use of child labor in the mining process and that the tech giants had anything more than a buyer-seller relationship with the cobalt supply companies.

As alleged in the complaint, the participants in the cobalt market intentionally use a murky supply chain to obscure the extent to which they rely on forced labor, Rao wrote in the ruling. This allows the Tech Companies and their suppliers to avoid formal association with forced labor, yet everyone in the venture knows the global supply chain includes cobalt procured by forced labor.

Terry Collingsworth, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told Reuters that his clients might appeal further. The decision Tuesday proves that there is a strong incentive to avoid any transparency with their suppliers, even as they promise the public they have zero tolerance policies against child labor.

The Hill has reached out to Collingsworth for further comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
U.S. government officials have grown alarmed that the Haiti National Police could begin to crumble within hours  and that a long-planned multinational mission led by Kenya to provide reinforcements may not be enough to save the country from a complete descent into gang control.

Outgunned Haitian police have been battling a united front of gangs and losing key firefights. Now, a potential power void and a collapse of the Haitian government that had already faced a skeptical public risks undermining whatever morale is left among the police forces.

The government could fall at any time, a U.S. official told McClatchy, speaking on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss the government assessment. If the HNP dissolves as an effective counterforce, if we see the airport or the presidential palace fall, its over.

The Biden administration is moving urgently to expedite the deployment of a Multinational Security Support mission, or MSS, that has been in the works for over a year and a half. Kenya has pledged to lead the mission and committed 1,000 police officers to the effort last fall.

But the force size of the Haiti National Police is orders of magnitude less than required, the U.S. official added. Adding 1,000 more boots on the ground  even if they are well-armed, well-trained, and deployed immediately  is unlikely to meet the demands of the crisis.

The Biden administration has ruled out contributing U.S. forces to the mission, with Pentagon leadership fiercely opposed to any deployment.

The situation in Port-au-Prince remains extremely fragile as sporadic attacks have continued and all flights in and out of Haiti remain canceled, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Wednesday. The Secretary-General reiterates the need for urgent action, including financing for the Multinational Security Support mission, to tackle the security needs of the people of Haiti.

Dujarric said the United Nations has not been given a time frame for the arrival of the force.

Whenever the MSS does arrive, it remains unclear how Kenyan forces and leadership  who speak English and Swahili will operate with a French and Creole-language Haitian force. And it has yet to be determined whether the Kenyan-led forces will take static positions at key sites, freeing Haitian police forces to battle gang members elsewhere, or if the Kenyans would fight alongside their Haitian partners.

It is not even clear whether the MSS, in partnership with the Haitian police, is large enough to reclaim any of the critical infrastructure already under gang control or neighborhoods across the capital that have led to more than 314,000 Haitians being displaced from their homes.

Though the total force size of the MSS has been quoted at roughly 2,500, neither the U.N. nor the United States has given a tally of how many police officers would be involved in the entire operation. And forces are not expected to deploy all at the same time. U.N. officials said last week that five countries, in addition to Kenya, have confirmed they will send personnel.

A State Department official told McClatchy the entire Biden administration had been seized with this issue on Wednesday, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken joining meetings with leadership at the White House and National Security Council.

How much time do we have to do this? This was urgent two years ago. Its incredibly urgent now, a senior administration official told McClatchy and the Miami Herald. The situation in Haiti is as critical a humanitarian and security crisis as were facing around the world.

Every day is too long, the official added. We have to move faster. Thats all I can say. Weve got to move as quickly as possible.

The state of Haitis U.S.-financed police force has long been a concern of the United Nations and other international partners. Some have expressed concern that the police may be less determined to keep fighting if they do not know who is in charge.

The U.N. Security Council met behind closed doors on Wednesday to discuss the rapidly deteriorating security crisis. Diplomats focused on the coordinated attacks that have forced U.N. officials to reposition aircraft, and consider an air bridge with the neighboring Dominican Republic should the situation further deteriorate. But the countrys political crisis also came up.

Biden administration officials and Caribbean leaders have been pushing for Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who recently finalized an agreement for the MSS, to cede power to a transitional government and resign.

Dujarric, the spokesman for Guterres, told reporters in New York on Wednesday that Haitis health infrastructure is on the brink of collapse.

Port-au-Princes main public hospital has closed due to violence and the inability of staff to actually get to the hospital to support the people who need help, he said. The main hospitals receiving wounded civilians are overloaded, partly due to the number injured. There is an urgent need for blood products in the country.

Push for political transition

White House and State Department spokespeople pushed back against a Herald report published Wednesday morning that revealed the administration had asked Haitis prime minister to resign as part of an expedited transition of power.

A U.S. government document obtained by the Herald and shared with Henry on Tuesday proposed, among other things, that he step down as interim president and prime minister when the new governing structures have been established and the prime minister appointed or the MSS has deployed, whichever is first.

Linda Thomas Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., acknowledged to reporters later in the morning that the administration had asked Henry to move forward with the formation of a transitional council  a mechanism that would involve the appointment of an interim prime minister to replace Henry, compelling his resignation.

What weve asked the Haitian prime minister to do is move forward on a political process that will lead to the establishment of a presidential transitional council that will lead to elections, Greenfield said. We think that is urgent.

The senior administration official confirmed to McClatchy that the State Department had proposed Henry agree to step down after a presidential transition was in place or the MSS was deployed. Were asking him to do that at a future time, he said, while noting the administration is pressing for the MSS to deploy as soon as possible  perhaps in a matter of days.

Bidens team has lost faith in Henrys ability to lead after repeated, pointed conversations with the prime minister over his unwillingness to cede real power in a democratic transition, the official added. Asked whether the administration could envision a scenario in which Henry remained in authority, the official said, I find that unlikely.

Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry, left, speaks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, September 22, 2023 ahead of a meeting on Haitis security.

READ MORE: Rushing home on a rerouted jet, Haitis prime minister is pressured by U.S. to resign

The issue of Henrys fate and the Herald report were raised in the U.N. Security Council meeting, where several countries expressed support for the prime minister  as well as concerns about the timing of the U.S. proposal and whether it might complicate the MSS deployment.

We continue to deal with Mr. Henry as the prime minister of Haiti, Dujarric said ahead of the three-hour meeting. I think, as we said, it is important that everyone in Haiti  all stakeholders, everyone, political actors and others  work towards first of all restoring safety, and supporting Haitian institutions.

The transition plan, requiring Henrys ouster, had been presented by Caribbean leaders to Henry in Guyana last week. Henry rejected it at the time, before the Biden administration endorsed it.

The plan is similar to a proposal drawn up by opposition figures in Haiti and by three former Caribbean prime ministers, a group referred to as the Eminent Persons Group, charged with finding a solution to the political impasse.

Caribbean leaders had requested Henrys presence in Jamaica on Wednesday, where he was expected to accept the proposal.

Henry would empower a High Transition Council to negotiate a transitional government under the plan, either with an expanded council or a presidential college representing political parties, private sector and civil society. At the same time, Caribbean and U.S. officials were holding talks with Haitians to find an agreement on the finer details of who would compose the new structure.

On Wednesday, Guyana President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, who currently chairs the 15-member regional bloc known as CARICOM, acknowledged that efforts to find a consensus among key Haitian players still had not succeeded.

We have been working on this around the clock for the last three days, he said in a video. Despite many, many meetings, we have not been able to reach any form of consensus between the government and the respective stakeholders, the opposition, the private sector, civil society and religious organizations.

It remains unclear whether Henry will accept the proposal to resign. He had been working on a plan of his own, which involves staying on as prime minister, but enlarging the High Transition Council with a presidential panel to participate more in the decision-making.

For now, he remains in Puerto Rico, while commercial flights into his country remain suspended.

We are going to continue to work with CARICOM  because I think its important to make clear that its not the United States acting alone with this regard, its the United States in consultation with partners in the region having these conversations, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday. And what we are saying to the prime minister is that he needs to expedite the transition to empowered and inclusive governance, including the appointment of a transition council. So thats what well continue to discuss with him.

Though Caribbean leaders initially called for Henry to step aside, they ultimately offered him a compromise in Guyana last week. They took note of his commitment to hold elections no later than August 2025, and said they would work with international partners, including the United Nations, to do so. They also called for a consensus among Haitians.

That was last Wednesday. On Thursday, as Henry was arriving in Kenya to sign a deal for the MSS, gangs launched their attack.

CARICOM reverted to its old plan within a week  a move seen as a betrayal by those close to Henry. This time, the United States was on board.
The U.S. House on Thursday, March 7, 2024, passed immigration legislation tied to the murder of a Georgia student who was murdered on the campus of the University of Georgia at Athens. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

WASHINGTON  Hours before President Joe Bidens State of the Union address, the U.S. House Thursday passed the Laken Riley Act, named after a Georgia college student whose murder has been blamed by conservatives on White House immigration policies.

On the 251-170 vote, 37 Democrats voted with Republicans who pushed for the legislation.

Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University, was reported missing by her roommate when she did not return home after a run on the campus of the University of Georgia at Athens. Local police found her body and shortly afterward arrested a 26-year-old man from Venezuela for her murder  an immigrant who had been previously arrested in Georgia on a shoplifting charge.

According to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, 26-year-old Jose Ibarra allegedly entered the country illegally in 2022.

The nine-page messaging bill, H.R. 7511, is not likely to advance in the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim majority.

It would require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to detain immigrants charged with local theft, burglary or shoplifting. It would also grant states the authority to bring civil lawsuits against the federal government for failure to enforce immigration law, House Rules Chair Tom Cole of Oklahoma said during a markup of the bill Tuesday.

Together these authorities will ensure that what happened to Laken Riley wont happen to anyone else in the future, Cole, a Republican, said.

Republicans timed debate and approval of the legislation to come the same day that Biden, who will face former President Donald Trump in November in a reelection campaign already heavily focused on immigration, will speak to the nation.

Georgia lawmakers

Following Rileys death, the Georgia state legislature is moving a bill that would penalize law enforcement agencies that do not notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, of an arrest if an undocumented immigrant is in custody and found to be in the U.S. without authorization.

U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican who represents the Athens district, wrote on X that he invited Rileys parents to the State of the Union as his guests, but they have chosen to stay home as they grieve the loss of their daughter.

Therefore, the seat reserved for my guest will remain vacant to honor Laken and all American victims of illegal alien crime, he said.

During debate on the U.S. House floor Thursday, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, accused Republicans of exploiting her death, and demonizing immigrants.

Republicans like North Carolinas Dan Bishop argued that the bill was necessary, so there are no other victims of the Biden border crisis.

Allowing this criminal to freely roam our communities is absolutely unacceptable, Georgia GOP Rep. Rick Allen said on the House floor Thursday.

Maryland Democratic Rep. Glenn Ivey argued that the U.S. Supreme Court already ruled last year that the Biden administration has the authority to determine its deportation policy.

DHS cannot detain everybody, so the executive branch, not the states, have to make choices, Ivey said. This bill would not give DHS the resources to change that.

House GOP Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana said during a Wednesday GOP press conference that Republicans planned to vote on the bill ahead of the State of the Union to criticize the Biden administration for its handling of immigration at the southern border.

A crisis that has had a devastating impact on families like Laken Rileys, Scalise said.

Democrats decried the bill and accused Republicans of politicizing a young womans murder.

Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, said what happened to Riley was a tragedy and that his own daughter is 22, the same age Riley was when she was killed in late February.

I am appalled that we have people in Congress and in this committee who are using such a horrible crime to score political points, McGovern said. Were here because you want to try to campaign off this horrible tragedy.

House Republicans have clashed repeatedly with the White House over immigration, such as passing on a party line H.R. 2, a bill that would reinstate Trump-era immigration policies, and walking away from a bipartisan deal in the Senate to give the president executive action at the southern border.

Most recently, House Republicans voted to impeach U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in early February.

The post U.S. House approves immigration bill linked to murder of Georgia college student appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
The U.S. House on Thursday, March 7, 2024, passed immigration legislation tied to the murder of a Georgia student who was murdered on the campus of the University of Georgia at Athens. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  Hours before President Joe Bidens State of the Union address, the U.S. House Thursday passed the Laken Riley Act, named after a Georgia college student whose murder has been blamed by conservatives on White House immigration policies.

On the 251-170 vote, 37 Democrats voted with Republicans who pushed for the legislation.

Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University, was reported missing by her roommate when she did not return home after a run on the campus of the University of Georgia at Athens. Local police found her body and shortly afterward arrested a 26-year-old man from Venezuela for her murder  an immigrant who had been previously arrested in Georgia on a shoplifting charge.

According to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, 26-year-old Jose Ibarra allegedly entered the country illegally in 2022.

The nine-page messaging bill, H.R. 7511, is not likely to advance in the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim majority.

It would require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to detain immigrants charged with local theft, burglary or shoplifting. It would also grant states the authority to bring civil lawsuits against the federal government for failure to enforce immigration law, House Rules Chair Tom Cole of Oklahoma said during a markup of the bill Tuesday.

Together these authorities will ensure that what happened to Laken Riley wont happen to anyone else in the future, Cole, a Republican, said.

Republicans timed debate and approval of the legislation to come the same day that Biden, who will face former President Donald Trump in November in a reelection campaign already heavily focused on immigration, will speak to the nation.

Georgia lawmakers

Following Rileys death, the Georgia state legislature is moving a bill that would penalize law enforcement agencies that do not notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, of an arrest if an undocumented immigrant is in custody and found to be in the U.S. without authorization.

U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican who represents the Athens district, wrote on X that he invited Rileys parents to the State of the Union as his guests, but they have chosen to stay home as they grieve the loss of their daughter.

Therefore, the seat reserved for my guest will remain vacant to honor Laken and all American victims of illegal alien crime, he said.

During debate on the U.S. House floor Thursday, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, accused Republicans of exploiting her death, and demonizing immigrants.

Republicans like North Carolinas Dan Bishop argued that the bill was necessary, so there are no other victims of the Biden border crisis.

Allowing this criminal to freely roam our communities is absolutely unacceptable, Georgia GOP Rep. Rick Allen said on the House floor Thursday.

Maryland Democratic Rep. Glenn Ivey argued that the U.S. Supreme Court already ruled last year that the Biden administration has the authority to determine its deportation policy.

DHS cannot detain everybody, so the executive branch, not the states, have to make choices, Ivey said. This bill would not give DHS the resources to change that.

House GOP Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana said during a Wednesday GOP press conference that Republicans planned to vote on the bill ahead of the State of the Union to criticize the Biden administration for its handling of immigration at the southern border.

A crisis that has had a devastating impact on families like Laken Rileys, Scalise said.

Democrats decried the bill and accused Republicans of politicizing a young womans murder.

Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, said what happened to Riley was a tragedy and that his own daughter is 22, the same age Riley was when she was killed in late February.

I am appalled that we have people in Congress and in this committee who are using such a horrible crime to score political points, McGovern said. Were here because you want to try to campaign off this horrible tragedy.

House Republicans have clashed repeatedly with the White House over immigration, such as passing on a party line H.R. 2, a bill that would reinstate Trump-era immigration policies, and walking away from a bipartisan deal in the Senate to give the president executive action at the southern border.

Most recently, House Republicans voted to impeach U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in early February.

The post U.S. House approves immigration bill linked to murder of Georgia college student appeared first on Arkansas Advocate.
A 1,050-page package of spending bills approved by the U.S. House on Wednesday, March, 6, now goes to the Senate, where lawmakers are expected to vote on it before the end of the week. President Joe Biden is then expected to sign it into law. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON  U.S. House lawmakers cast a broadly bipartisan vote Wednesday to approve a six-bill government funding package, marking one of the few consequential votes on major legislation that chamber has taken since Republicans took the majority more than a year ago.

The $468 billion package includes half of the annual spending bills for the fiscal year that began back on Oct. 1, with lawmakers hoping to wrap up agreement on the other six before a March 22 deadline so as to avert a partial shutdown.

The 1,050-page package, which was approved 339-85, now goes to the Senate, where lawmakers are expected to vote on it before the end of the week. President Joe Biden is then expected to sign it into law.

Two of the eight members of Colorado House delegation, Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert and Ken Buck, voted against the measure.

Most conservative bills in history

House Appropriations Chairwoman Kay Granger, a Texas Republican, encouraged lawmakers to support the measure, saying it increased defense funding and made targeted cuts to other programs.

With the odds stacked against us, House Republicans made progress in how we fund the government, Granger said. We drafted the most conservative bills in history.

House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, said she was pleased that Democrats and Republicans in both chambers of Congress were able to negotiate a final agreement on the six bills.

This legislation does not have everything either side may have wanted, but I am pleased that many of the extreme cuts and policies proposed by House Republicans were excluded, DeLauro said.

Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy spoke against the package, saying it spends too much money and doesnt include enough changes to policy that conservatives pressed for in the Houses original spending bills.

All of this is a shell game, Roy said.

Money for agencies, earmarks

The spending package includes funding for the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Transportation and Veterans Affairs.

It also provides funding for numerous agencies, like the Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA, National Science Foundation and military construction projects.

The package includes $12.655 billion for more than 6,600 projects that members requested through the earmarking process thats often called community project funding or congressionally directed spending, according to two people familiar with the totals.

The six bills include discretionary spending, which Congress approves annually and can fluctuate, as well as some mandatory spending, which is required by laws that Congress has approved.

Discretionary accounts, which make up about one-third of federal spending each year, are subject to the spending caps agreement that House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, and Biden agreed to in January.

That compromise set defense discretionary funding at $886.3 billion and domestic discretionary spending at $772.7 billion.

U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks during a news conference after a weekly Republican conference meeting in the U.S. Capitol Building on Nov. 14, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WIC gets a $1 billion boost

The Agriculture-FDA spending bill would provide $211 billion in total spending, with $26.2 billion of that classified as discretionary.

The legislation would boost spending on the Special Supplemental Nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, by $1 billion, bringing the total mandatory spending on that program to more than $7 billion. That increase was needed to avoid states having to establish waitlists for the program.

The bill would add the U.S. secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and provide $2 million in funding to ensure the secretary can notify the CFIUS when agricultural land is sold to entities that may pose a risk to national security.

The bill specifically mentioned purchases by China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.

Georgia Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop, ranking member on the Agriculture-FDA spending panel, said during floor debate the elements in the bill will affect the lives of every single American whether they live in a rural, suburban or urban area.

The bill is free from almost all of the extreme policy riders in the previous versions and it rejects interference with Americans health care, reproductive freedom, as well as attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion training, Bishop said.

While the bill is not the best, Bishop said, it brings us closer than the earlier version to meeting the needs of the American people.

Reversing Second Amendment overreach

The Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill totals $68.5 billion in discretionary spending, with $37.5 billion going to the DOJ, $24.9 billion for NASA, $10.8 billion for the Commerce Department and $9.1 billion for the National Science Foundation.

Those spending levels are all decreases from current funding levels. The Federal Bureau of Investigation would need to account for a $32 million cut to its $10.6 billion salaries and expenses budget, while the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms will need to address a $47 million cut to its $1.6 billion budget for salaries and expenses.

House Republicans said in their summary of the bill the spending cuts would reverse the ATFs Second Amendment overreach and hold the FBI accountable for targeting everyday Americans.

Lawmakers urged the FBI to allocate the maximum amount of available resources toward arresting people selling fentanyl and opioids, according to an explanatory statement that accompanied the bill.

Members of Congress received millions in earmarks in the Commerce-Justice-Science bill to address fentanyl in their home states. That directed funding included a $3 million request by Louisiana Republican Rep. Garret Graves for the East Baton Rouge Sheriffs Office task force on fentanyl and violent crime.

Washington state Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell secured slightly more than $1 million for the drug and fentanyl task force of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. And Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville received $200,000 for the city of Fairhope to address fentanyl.

Tough but fair talks

Kentucky Republican Rep. Hal Rogers, chairman of the CJS subcommittee, said during floor debate that tough but fair bipartisan negotiations led to a strong bill.

The fiscal situation facing the nation requires Congress to make significant spending reductions while maintaining strong commitments to the safety, security and wellbeing of the American people, Rogers said.

The Energy-Water funding bill would get $52 billion, with that funding divvied up between the Energy Department, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Energy Department would get $50.2 billion with nearly $33 billion going to its defense programs, much of which are devoted to nuclear weapons, and $17.3 billion going to its non-defense programs, such as nuclear energy.

The Interior-Environment spending bill would provide $41.2 billion in funding, a cut of $1.5 billion compared to current levels, according to a summary of the bill from House Democrats.

The legislation would reduce funding for the National Park Service by $150 million to a total funding level of $3.3 billion.

Funding for the Bureau of Land Management would be cut by $81 million to $1.38 billion.

Spending on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would drop by $51 million to $1.7 billion.

And appropriations for non-fire activities at the U.S. Forest Service would total $3.8 billion, a reduction of $157 million.

Wildland fire management would receive $6.1 billion in spending for this fiscal year.

Idaho project blocked

Idaho Republican Sen. Mike Simpson, chairman of the Interior-Environment spending panel, said during debate that cutting funding is never easy but with a national debt in excess of $34 trillion we made tough choices in this bill to rein in spending.

Simpson touted that the legislation would block the Lava Ridge Wind Project in his home state from advancing until the secretary of the Interior, in consultation with local officials and stakeholders, looks at alternative plans to reduce the harmful impacts of this project.

The Military Construction-VA appropriations bill includes nearly $330 billion in total funding, with $172.5 billion going to mandatory accounts and $135.25 billion in discretionary spending.

Military construction would receive $18.7 billion in spending for more than 160 major projects. That money would be divided up between numerous accounts, with $2 billion for housing, $336 million for child development centers and $293 million for the NATO Security Investment Program, among several other line items.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical campus in Rapid City, South Dakota. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

The VA would receive $134.8 billion in discretionary funding for everything from $3.1 billion for veterans homelessness prevention to $16.2 billion for mental health to $343 million for rural health.

Womens health would receive $990 million, efforts to address opioid misuse would get $715 million and prosthetic research would receive $943 million.

Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the ranking member on the Military Construction-VA spending panel, said she was so pleased to work with others on the committee to end harmful VA research on dogs, cats and non-human primates within two years.

Background checks and veterans

The package would bar the VA from reporting any veterans who receive assistance managing their finances to the Federal Bureau of Investigations National Instant Criminal Background Check System without the approval of a judge or magistrate that the veteran is a danger to himself or herself or others. The NICS system is supposed to be used to run background checks ahead of gun purchases.

That provision was added to the Senates original Military Construction-VA spending bill after Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy and Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran introduced it and senators voted 53-45 in October to adopt it during floor debate.

Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee and a member of the Military Construction-VA appropriations subcommittee, said at the time he supported the Kennedy-Moran amendment.

It is not right that a D.C. bureaucrat at the VA could take away veterans legal rights to their firearms simply because they need assistance in managing their finances, Tester said during floor debate in October.

Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jacky Rosen of Nevada voted for the amendment, as did independent Sens. Angus King of Maine and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

The House voted 228-206 in July to adopt a similar amendment, sponsored by House Veterans Committee Chairman Michael Bost, an Illinois Republican, during floor debate on its original version of the bill. That proposal didnt have the possibility of a judge approving the information to go to NICS.

Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Mary Peltola of Alaska, Marie Perez of Washington state and Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico voted to adopt the amendment.

California Democratic Rep. Mark Takano, ranking member on the Veterans Affairs Committee, said during floor debate Wednesday that when a veteran applies for benefits theyve earned, they are screened to make sure that they are competent to use those benefits to avoid veterans being taken advantage of.

If a veteran is determined to be mentally incompetent, they are appointed a fiduciary and by law they are reported to the  NICS, Takano said, adding that those determinations are due to severe mental illnesses like dementia or schizophrenia.

Takano said he could not and would not support the legislation changing that reporting requirement, since 68% of veterans suicides involve a firearm and there are very serious reasons why a person with those conditions should not be able to purchase a firearm.

Veterans lives are on the line and I will not agree to legislation that will cause more peoples lives to be lost to gun violence, Takano said.

Added air traffic controllers

The Transportation-HUD funding bill would get about $97.5 billion in discretionary funding with nearly $27 billion for transportation and $70.1 billion for HUD.

Within those funding levels, the Federal Aviation Administration would receive $19.9 billion, which would allow for an additional 1,800 new air traffic controllers and continues to support modernizing the legacy systems in our National Airspace, according to a summary of the bill from Senate Republicans.

A view looking west of Denver International Airport in November 2022. (Photograph provided courtesy of Denver International Airport)

HUDs funding would go toward several programs, including $32.4 billion for tenant-based rental assistance, $16 billion for project-based rental assistance, $4.1 billion for homeless assistance grants and $3.3 billion for Community Development Block Grants.

Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole, chairman of the Transportation-HUD spending panel, said during debate that lawmakers worked really hard on safety first for people flying, traveling by rail, or driving.

The bill, Cole said, also maintains the safety net for people using public housing and includes historic gains for Indian housing programs and Indian road programs.

We all know what has happened with the cost of rent and housing, Cole said. And frankly we didnt want to put anybody out of their home and we avoided doing that.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post U.S. House passes $468 billion spending package that would stave off shutdown appeared first on Colorado Newsline.
The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Jane Norman of States Newsroom).

WASHINGTON  U.S. House lawmakers cast a broadly bipartisan vote Wednesday to approve a six-bill government funding package, marking one of the few consequential votes on major legislation that chamber has taken since Republicans took the majority more than a year ago.

The $468 billion package includes half of the annual spending bills for the fiscal year that began back on Oct. 1, with lawmakers hoping to wrap up agreement on the other six before a March 22 deadline so as to avert a partial shutdown.

The 1,050-page package, which was approved 339-85, now goes to the Senate, where lawmakers are expected to vote on it before the end of the week. President Joe Biden is then expected to sign it into law.

Most conservative bills in history

House Appropriations Chairwoman Kay Granger, a Texas Republican, encouraged lawmakers to support the measure, saying it increased defense funding and made targeted cuts to other programs.

With the odds stacked against us, House Republicans made progress in how we fund the government, Granger said. We drafted the most conservative bills in history.

House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, said she was pleased that Democrats and Republicans in both chambers of Congress were able to negotiate a final agreement on the six bills.

This legislation does not have everything either side may have wanted, but I am pleased that many of the extreme cuts and policies proposed by House Republicans were excluded, DeLauro said.

Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy spoke against the package, saying it spends too much money and doesnt include enough changes to policy that conservatives pressed for in the Houses original spending bills.

All of this is a shell game, Roy said.

Money for agencies, earmarks

The spending package includes funding for the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Transportation and Veterans Affairs.

It also provides funding for numerous agencies, like the Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA, National Science Foundation and military construction projects.

The package includes $12.655 billion for more than 6,600 projects that members requested through the earmarking process thats often called community project funding or congressionally directed spending, according to two people familiar with the totals.

The six bills include discretionary spending, which Congress approves annually and can fluctuate, as well as some mandatory spending, which is required by laws that Congress has approved.

Discretionary accounts, which make up about one-third of federal spending each year, are subject to the spending caps agreement that House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, and Biden agreed to in January.

That compromise set defense discretionary funding at $886.3 billion and domestic discretionary spending at $772.7 billion.

WIC gets a $1 billion boost

The Agriculture-FDA spending bill would provide $211 billion in total spending, with $26.2 billion of that classified as discretionary.

The legislation would boost spending on the Special Supplemental Nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, by $1 billion, bringing the total mandatory spending on that program to more than $7 billion. That increase was needed to avoid states having to establish waitlists for the program.

The bill would add the U.S. secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and provide $2 million in funding to ensure the secretary can notify the CFIUS when agricultural land is sold to entities that may pose a risk to national security.

The bill specifically mentioned purchases by China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.

Georgia Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop, ranking member on the Agriculture-FDA spending panel, said during floor debate the elements in the bill will affect the lives of every single American whether they live in a rural, suburban or urban area.

The bill is free from almost all of the extreme policy riders in the previous versions and it rejects interference with Americans health care, reproductive freedom, as well as attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion training, Bishop said.

While the bill is not the best, Bishop said, it brings us closer than the earlier version to meeting the needs of the American people.

Reversing Second Amendment overreach

The Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill totals $68.5 billion in discretionary spending, with $37.5 billion going to the DOJ, $24.9 billion for NASA, $10.8 billion for the Commerce Department and $9.1 billion for the National Science Foundation.

Those spending levels are all decreases from current funding levels. The Federal Bureau of Investigation would need to account for a $32 million cut to its $10.6 billion salaries and expenses budget, while the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms will need to address a $47 million cut to its $1.6 billion budget for salaries and expenses.

House Republicans said in their summary of the bill the spending cuts would reverse the ATFs Second Amendment overreach and hold the FBI accountable for targeting everyday Americans.

Lawmakers urged the FBI to allocate the maximum amount of available resources toward arresting people selling fentanyl and opioids, according to an explanatory statement that accompanied the bill.

Members of Congress received millions in earmarks in the Commerce-Justice-Science bill to address fentanyl in their home states. That directed funding included a $3 million request by Louisiana Republican Rep. Garret Graves for the East Baton Rouge Sheriffs Office task force on fentanyl and violent crime.

Washington state Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell secured slightly more than $1 million for the drug and fentanyl task force of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. And Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville received $200,000 for the city of Fairhope to address fentanyl.

Tough but fair talks

Kentucky Republican Rep. Hal Rogers, chairman of the CJS subcommittee, said during floor debate that tough but fair bipartisan negotiations led to a strong bill.

The fiscal situation facing the nation requires Congress to make significant spending reductions while maintaining strong commitments to the safety, security and wellbeing of the American people, Rogers said.

The Energy-Water funding bill would get $52 billion, with that funding divvied up between the Energy Department, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Energy Department would get $50.2 billion with nearly $33 billion going to its defense programs, much of which are devoted to nuclear weapons, and $17.3 billion going to its non-defense programs, such as nuclear energy.

The Interior-Environment spending bill would provide $41.2 billion in funding, a cut of $1.5 billion compared to current levels, according to a summary of the bill from House Democrats.

The legislation would reduce funding for the National Park Service by $150 million to a total funding level of $3.3 billion.

Funding for the Bureau of Land Management would be cut by $81 million to $1.38 billion.

Spending on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would drop by $51 million to $1.7 billion.

And appropriations for non-fire activities at the U.S. Forest Service would total $3.8 billion, a reduction of $157 million.

Wildland fire management would receive $6.1 billion in spending for this fiscal year.

Idaho project blocked

Idaho Republican Sen. Mike Simpson, chairman of the Interior-Environment spending panel, said during debate that cutting funding is never easy but with a national debt in excess of $34 trillion we made tough choices in this bill to rein in spending.

Simpson touted that the legislation would block the Lava Ridge Wind Project in his home state from advancing until the secretary of the Interior, in consultation with local officials and stakeholders, looks at alternative plans to reduce the harmful impacts of this project.

The Military Construction-VA appropriations bill includes nearly $330 billion in total funding, with $172.5 billion going to mandatory accounts and $135.25 billion in discretionary spending.

Military construction would receive $18.7 billion in spending for more than 160 major projects. That money would be divided up between numerous accounts, with $2 billion for housing, $336 million for child development centers and $293 million for the NATO Security Investment Program, among several other line items.

The VA would receive $134.8 billion in discretionary funding for everything from $3.1 billion for veterans homelessness prevention to $16.2 billion for mental health to $343 million for rural health.

Womens health would receive $990 million, efforts to address opioid misuse would get $715 million and prosthetic research would receive $943 million.

Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the ranking member on the Military Construction-VA spending panel, said she was so pleased to work with others on the committee to end harmful VA research on dogs, cats and non-human primates within two years.

Background checks and veterans

The package would bar the VA from reporting any veterans who receive assistance managing their finances to the Federal Bureau of Investigations National Instant Criminal Background Check System without the approval of a judge or magistrate that the veteran is a danger to himself or herself or others. The NICS system is supposed to be used to run background checks ahead of gun purchases.

That provision was added to the Senates original Military Construction-VA spending bill after Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy and Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran introduced it and senators voted 53-45 in October to adopt it during floor debate.

Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee and a member of the Military Construction-VA appropriations subcommittee, said at the time he supported the Kennedy-Moran amendment.

It is not right that a D.C. bureaucrat at the VA could take away veterans legal rights to their firearms simply because they need assistance in managing their finances, Tester said during floor debate in October.

Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jacky Rosen of Nevada voted for the amendment, as did independent Sens. Angus King of Maine and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

The House voted 228-206 in July to adopt a similar amendment, sponsored by House Veterans Committee Chairman Michael Bost, an Illinois Republican, during floor debate on its original version of the bill. That proposal didnt have the possibility of a judge approving the information to go to NICS.

Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Mary Peltola of Alaska, Marie Perez of Washington state and Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico voted to adopt the amendment.

California Democratic Rep. Mark Takano, ranking member on the Veterans Affairs Committee, said during floor debate Wednesday that when a veteran applies for benefits theyve earned, they are screened to make sure that they are competent to use those benefits to avoid veterans being taken advantage of.

If a veteran is determined to be mentally incompetent, they are appointed a fiduciary and by law they are reported to the  NICS, Takano said, adding that those determinations are due to severe mental illnesses like dementia or schizophrenia.

Takano said he could not and would not support the legislation changing that reporting requirement, since 68% of veterans suicides involve a firearm and there are very serious reasons why a person with those conditions should not be able to purchase a firearm.

Veterans lives are on the line and I will not agree to legislation that will cause more peoples lives to be lost to gun violence, Takano said.

Added air traffic controllers

The Transportation-HUD funding bill would get about $97.5 billion in discretionary funding with nearly $27 billion for transportation and $70.1 billion for HUD.

Within those funding levels, the Federal Aviation Administration would receive $19.9 billion, which would allow for an additional 1,800 new air traffic controllers and continues to support modernizing the legacy systems in our National Airspace, according to a summary of the bill from Senate Republicans.

HUDs funding would go toward several programs, including $32.4 billion for tenant-based rental assistance, $16 billion for project-based rental assistance, $4.1 billion for homeless assistance grants and $3.3 billion for Community Development Block Grants.

Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole, chairman of the Transportation-HUD spending panel, said during debate that lawmakers worked really hard on safety first for people flying, traveling by rail, or driving.

The bill, Cole said, also maintains the safety net for people using public housing and includes historic gains for Indian housing programs and Indian road programs.

We all know what has happened with the cost of rent and housing, Cole said. And frankly we didnt want to put anybody out of their home and we avoided doing that.

The post U.S. House passes $468 billion spending package that would stave off shutdown appeared first on Daily Montanan.
The United States is formally asking Haitis prime minister to step aside and allow for a political transition of power as the havoc being wreaked in the capital by an alliance of heavily armed rebel gangs threatens to escalate into full-on civil war.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry, 74, remained stranded abroad on Wednesday after his plane was diverted in the midst of an attempt to return home from a diplomatic mission to Kenya a day prior. According to a report in the Miami Herald, he backtracked and landed in Puerto Rico after the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, refused him permission to land.

Mid-flight, U.S. officials called and urged him to step aside, the Herald reported. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, confirmed only that the government had asked Henry to move forward on a political process that will lead to the establishment of a presidential transitional council that will lead to elections, according to The Washington Post.

We think that its urgent that he moves forward in that direction and start the process of bringing normalcy back to the people of Haiti, she added.

Henry, a neurosurgeon who ascended to become the nations de facto head of state after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, was supposed to step down last month. He has thus far resisted calls to form a transitional government, one person familiar with the diplomatic proceedings told The Wall Street Journal.

Jimmy Cherizier, the crime lord known as Barbecue who heads a powerful gang alliance, told reporters on Tuesday that the coordinated violence that erupted last week while Henry was out of the country would only worsen should he remain in office.

If Ariel Henry doesnt resign, if the international community continues to support him, well be heading straight for a civil war that will lead to genocide, the former police officer said at a press conference. Either Haiti becomes a paradise or a hell for all of us. Its out of the question for a small group of rich people living in big hotels to decide the fate of people living in working-class neighborhoods.

Six days ago, after Henry announced that long-promised elections wouldnt occur until at least next year, Cherizier and other gang leaders came together with the explicit mandate of ousting Henry. They laid siege to Port-au-Prince over the weekend, attacking police stations and attempting to violently wrest control of the citys international airport. On Sunday, Haitian officials declared a 72-hour state of emergency after the alliance launched an assault on two major jails, loosing thousands of inmates out onto the streets.

Violent skirmishes between rebels and police continued through Tuesday evening, but a police administrator told the Journal that the airports perimeter had been secured, though the facility itself remained closed and under guard. The Journal reported the capital was calm on Wednesday, though resources remained scarce and medical facilities overwhelmed.

We cant hold on much longer, Jean Philippe Lerbourg, medical director of the university Hospital La Paix, told the Post on Wednesday. Were running low on blood, and were short-staffed because many cant reach the hospital.

Henry has been silent and out of sight since Friday, when he was photographed in Nairobi signing a formal agreement with the Kenyan government to proceed with its offer to spearhead a United Nations-backed multinational police force to restore law and order in Haiti. The agreements status on Wednesday was unclear, with the U.N. Security Council set to hold an emergency meeting on the matter on Wednesday.

A U.S. State Department spokesman denied that they were actively pushing Henry to step down. We are not calling on him or pushing for him to resign, but we are urging him to expedite the transition, Matthew Miller said.

But Ronald Sanders, the ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the U.S., told the Post on Tuesday that the State Department had sent Henry a message that included language that the embattled politician could use while announcing his resignation. A Haitian politician who participated in recent discussions with Haitian leaders and the Caribbean Community bloc, which held its own emergency meeting on Tuesday, told the newspaper that Henrys resignation was inevitable.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
WILLIAMSBURG, Brooklyn (PIX11)  A game of bingo unlike any other will be played in Brooklyn.

Bongos Bingo is a rave bingo experience coming to Williamsburg in April. The website advertises the event as a crazy mix of traditional bingo, dance-offs, rave intervals, audience participation and plenty of surprises.

NYS parks hosting events for April solar eclipse

Organizers announced they added a new show after the first three New York City events sold out.















The next event will be April 4 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets going on sale on Friday.

Jonathan Rizk is a digital journalist who has covered local news in the New York City and Washington D.C. areas. He has been with PIX11 since August 2022. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Grant Shapps, the UK Secretary of State for Defence, arrived in Ukraine on 7 March and has already met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Source: Zelenskyy on Twitter (X), as reported by European Pravda

Details: The president stated that he and Shapps had discussed "continued defence cooperation between Ukraine and the United Kingdom".

Quote from Zelenskyy: "Our primary focus was on bolstering Ukraine's air defence and long-range capabilities, as well as meeting other urgent needs for weapons and ammunition and developing joint weapon production."

Today, I hosted the UK Secretary of State for Defense @grantshapps to discuss continued defense cooperation between Ukraine and the United Kingdom.



Our primary focus was on bolstering Ukraine's air defense and long-range capabilities, as well as meeting other urgent needs for pic.twitter.com/vBO253sSY3  Volodymyr Zelenskyy /   (@ZelenskyyUa) March 7, 2024

The visit had not been officially announced by the UK.

Background:

Shapps has already visited Ukraine as UK Defence Secretary, in September 2023.

Shapps recently commented on the destruction of the Russian patrol ship Sergei Kotov, which was attacked by Ukrainian surface drones.

Read Grant Shapps' speech on why 2024 will be critical for Ukraine and the world.

Support UP or become our patron!
UK Foreign Secretary Sir David Cameron will discuss strengthening support for Ukraine and efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza in talks with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in Berlin on 7 March.

Source: Reuters, citing Cameron, as reported by European Pravda

The foreign ministers of the two countries will discuss further military assistance to Ukraine and ways to increase pressure on Russia during the second annual UK-Germany Strategic Dialogue.

They will also address progress towards a ceasefire in Gaza, assistance to the Palestinian enclave, and measures to prevent illegal migration.

Quote: "We need to build up our defences, stay close to our strongest friends, such as Germany, and reach out to new allies," Cameron said in a statement.

Reuters noted that it is quite likely that during the meeting with Baerbock, he will also address the leaked conversation of German military leaders regarding Taurus missiles for Ukraine.

Background:

Former German Ambassador to the UK, Miguel Berger, has accused former UK Foreign Secretary Ben Wallace of "falling into the Russian trap" over the recently leaked conversation of German military leaders discussing Taurus missiles for Ukraine.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that the interception of classified information on the supply of Taurus missiles to Ukraine occurred because one of the Bundeswehr officers joined the conversation via an unprotected line.

Berger stated that the German government "has no need" to apologise, and that early investigation results into the leak indicate that the breach occurred due to an individual error by one of the officers.

Support UP or become our patron!
Hang Kan (R) introduces the history of Yungang Grottoes to tourists at the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, north China's Shanxi Province, Feb. 25, 2024.

Hang Kan is head of the research institute of the Yungang Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage site featuring over 50,000 stone Buddhist sculptures.

Yungang Grottoes was built during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534). It is considered a pinnacle of Chinese Buddhist art and represents the highest level of sculptural artistry in the world during the 5th century.

In Hang's view, preventive protection and more investment in science and technology are crucial for the Yungang Grottoes.

In 2023, Hang was elected a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC). He has been actively promoting the scientific research and personnel training of Yungang Grottoes, hoping to explore the historical connotation of exchanges among ethnic groups behind the works of art and enhance the sense of community for Chinese nation.

Hang believes that protecting and making good use of cultural heritages requires not only archaeology, but also a wider range of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge and research such as museums, ancient architecture and art. He suggests that measures should be taken to provide more talents and academic support for the protection and utilization of China's cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Zhan Yan)

Hang Kan (L) communicates with a colleague about the measures of porcelain restoration at the research institute of the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, north China's Shanxi Province, Feb. 25, 2024.(Xinhua/Zhan Yan)

Hang Kan (C) and his colleagues exchange ideas about the preservation scheme of 3D printed model of Cave No. 12 of the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, north China's Shanxi Province, Dec. 29, 2023.(Xinhua)

Hang Kan (L) communicates with a colleague about the design of cultural and creative products at the research institute of the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, north China's Shanxi Province, Feb. 25, 2024.(Xinhua/Zhan Yan)

Hang Kan (2nd R) talks with tourists and learns about their requests at the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, north China's Shanxi Province, Feb. 25, 2024.(Xinhua/Zhan Yan)

Hang Kan (3rd L) communicates with colleagues about the measures of mural restoration at the research institute of the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, north China's Shanxi Province, Feb. 25, 2024.(Xinhua/Zhan Yan)

Hang Kan (R) talks with tourists and learns about their requests at the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, north China's Shanxi Province, Feb. 25, 2024.(Xinhua/Zhan Yan)

Hang Kan is pictured at the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, north China's Shanxi Province, Feb. 25, 2024.(Xinhua/Zhan Yan)

Hang Kan (C) and his colleagues exchange ideas about the collection scheme with digital technology of the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, north China's Shanxi Province, Dec. 29, 2023.(Xinhua)
UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has announced the allocation of 325 million (about 380 million) to purchase over 10,000 drones for Ukraines Armed Forces during his visit to Kyiv.

Source: European Pravda

Details: During his third visit to Ukraine, Shapps, accompanied by Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Chief of the UK Defence Staff, met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Defence Minister Rustem Umierev.

There, he stated that the UK is allocating 325 million, 125 million (about 146 million) more than previously announced, to supply over 10,000 drones, including mostly FPV drones, 1,000 combat UAVs, as well as reconnaissance drones and uncrewed surface vessels.

Background:

The UK and Latvia lead the international drone coalition, formed within the framework of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meetings.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, during a visit to Kyiv in January, announced that the UK would allocate 200 million to manufacture various drones for the Ukrainian military.

Earlier, Martin Harris, UK Ambassador to Kyiv, said in an interview with European Pravda that UK-sponsored drones for Ukraine would be produced on the territory of both countries.

Support UP or become our patron!
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has raised the issue of supplying Ukraine with long-range weapons, probably including Taurus, at a meeting with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in Berlin.

Source: ministers at a joint press conference, as quoted by Sky News, European Pravda writes

Details: Cameron told reporters that he and Baerbock had discussed supplying Ukraine with "long and medium range missiles". He pointed out that this is a "sovereign decision for every country", but stressed that the weapons provided by the UK allowed Ukraine to help push back Russian troops.

Quote: "You get peace by strength, you get peace by demonstrating that Putin cannot win, you get peace by helping the Ukrainians deliver what they need on the battlefield," the UK Foreign Secretary said.

Cameron also touched on warnings about the "escalation" of the war in Ukraine, reiterating that the supply of other new types of weapons has not led to this.

Quote: "If what you're doing is helping a country defend itself from illegal and completely unjustified aggression then there is nothing to stop you helping Ukraine win its territory back," he added.

The German foreign minister evaded a direct answer to the question about Taurus missiles, saying that there are "subjects you do not discuss in public" and that Berlin will continue to work with partners to provide Kyiv with "a range of weapons".

Background: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is categorically opposed to providing Ukraine with Taurus missiles, as he has repeatedly stated in public. Meanwhile, the opposition is initiating a new vote in the Bundestag on a resolution to supply Kyiv with these long-range missiles.

Support UP or become our patron!
UK Defence Intelligence believes that the current goal of the Russian occupying forces is to capture the town of Chasiv Yar (Donetsk Oblast), but they are unlikely to be able to mount an offensive.

Source: UK Defence Intelligence review dated 7 March on Twitter, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The UK MoD stated that Russian troops are currently conducting attacks to expand their control over the town of Bakhmut, which they occupied in May last year.

UK Defence Intelligence noted that Russian forces have advanced and occupied the eastern parts of the village of Ivanivske and are also assaulting Ukrainian positions in the settlement of Bohdanivka.

Russia's immediate operational goal in this area is likely to be the capture of Chasiv Yar, located about 5 km from the line of direct contact.

"Despite some gradual tactical gains, it is highly unlikely that Russian forces are currently able to attempt a full-scale assault on the town," the review stressed.

Background: In a previous review, UK Defence Intelligence analysed Russia's losses in the Black Sea region over the past five weeks.

UK intelligence also stated that Russia attempted to attack regional energy facilities in Ukraine in February 2024, but the Ukrainian power grid maintains stable operation despite the bombardments.

Support UP or become our patron!
The U.K. will allocate 325 million pounds ($416 million) to purchase over 10,000 "cutting-edge" drones for Ukraine, Defense Secretary Grant Shapps announced on March 7.

The newly announced aid will further boost the 200-million-pound ($256 million) drone package unveiled in January during U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks visit to Kyiv.

Shapps made the announcement after meeting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov during a visit to Kyiv on March 7.

The majority of the drones will be highly effective first-person view (FPV) drones. The package will also include 1,000 one-way attack drones, researched and developed in the U.K., as well as surveillance and maritime drones.

Shapps said that more than 100 million pounds ($128 million) from this aid package will be spent on Ukraines maritime capabilities, allowing Kyiv to "continue to turn the tide in the Black Sea."

"I am ramping up our commitment to arm Ukraine with cutting-edge new drones coming directly from the UKs world-leading defense industries  straight from the factory floor to the front line," Shapps said in the press release published by the U.K. Defense Ministry.

"I encourage international partners to join the UK in this effort."

The U.K., along with Latvia, co-leads a drone coalition that aims to bolster Ukraine's arsenal.

Drones have been a key tool in Ukraine's defense against Russia's war. Zelensky said that surpassing Russia in drone operations is one of the top priorities in 2024.

Zelensky also signed a decree on Feb. 6 creating a separate branch of Ukraine's Armed Forces dedicated to drones. It will reportedly focus on creating special drone-specific units, increasing production, ramping up training, and pushing innovations.

Read also: Ukraine pins hopes on home-made drones to counter Russia

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has urged the Lords to pass the Rwanda bill (Leon Neal)

Controversial plans to send migrants from the UK to Rwanda will return to the House of Commons this month after parliament's upper chamber recommended several changes to the scheme, the government announced on Thursday.

Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's flagship plan to "stop the boats" of asylum seekers crossing the Channel from France has suffered 10 defeats in the unelected House of Lords in recent days.

Lawmakers in the elected lower chamber will debate and vote on those amendments on March 18, Commons leader and Tory MP Penny Mordaunt told parliament.

The announcement sets the stage for a period of legislative "ping-pong", where a bill gets batted back and forth between the two chambers until agreement is finally reached on its wording.

Sunak has made slashing irregular migration a key plank of his bid to defeat a resurgent Labour opposition in a general election due to be held later this year. His party trail badly in the polls.

He insists the much-stalled scheme is needed to deter tens of thousands of migrants arriving on Britain's shores each year aboard rudimentary vessels.

As of Wednesday, 3,208 people have made the crossing this year, according to an AFP tally based on published government statistics.

- Sunak under pressure -

The deportation proposal has been mired in controversy and legal challenges since it was first unveiled by then-prime minister Boris Johnson in 2022. No migrants have been sent to Rwanda yet.

The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill is Sunak's answer to a UK Supreme Court ruling late last year that deporting asylum seekers to Kigali is illegal under international law.

The legislation seeks to compel judges to treat Rwanda as a safe third country.

It would also give UK ministers powers to disregard sections of international and British human rights legislation.

The Lords amendments restore the jurisdiction of domestic courts regarding the safety of Rwanda and enables them to intervene.

They also rule that parliament cannot declare Rwanda to be safe until a separate treaty with Kigali over promised safeguards is fully implemented.

The amendments pose a headache for Sunak. He is under pressure from Tory right-wingers to put migrants on planes before the election and withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has said it would cost British taxpayers more than 500 million ($640 million) to send the first 300 asylum seekers to Rwanda.

pdh/phz/jj
FARNBOROUGH, England  Mining rare minerals on the moon could mark a new area of competition in space, though its too early tell whether the prospect would entail military involvement, according to the U.K.s top military officer for space.

A scenario of nations jumping on lunar mining to refill their dried-up, terrestrial stocks has the potential for gray zone conflict, the kind of amorphous contest that transcends traditional notions of two warring parties shooting at each other, Air Vice-Marshal Paul Godfrey said at the Space Comm Expo trade show here.

For now, there is no commercial proposition for what Godfrey likened to a science fiction version of the U.S. Gold Rush of the nineteenth century.

The cost of getting to the moon, creating a lunar base, extracting the minerals and getting them back to earth probably far outweighs mining precious minerals on the Earth, he told Defense News in an interview.

Its also still unclear exactly what types of rare-earth metals, critical in producing high-tech components, exist under the lunar surface. On Earth, China is a critical supplier of such ingredients. European and NATO nations are eager to diversify their supply chain as they view Beijing as an unreliable partner politically.

Godfrey characterized developments toward lunar mining as purely commercial, but, by raising the matter, made clear it has started to pop up on the radars of armed forces, with very practical questions emerging.

Do you ring-fence your particular area on the moon if you strike gold, so to speak? Godfrey asked.

Whether moon mining will become feasible one day depends on key technologies and ensured access to space for all, he said, adding that proliferating space debris could make the journey impossible for everyone at some point.

Reducing the cost of space launches and advancing the field of on-orbit manufacturing also are stepping stones to the vision of moon mining, Godfrey added.
Semafor Signals

Insights from the BBC and The Wall Street Journal

The News

Ukraine is bracing for a fresh offensive by Russia. As spring approaches, and following Russias successful seizure of the city of Avdiivka last month, Ukrainians are preparing for a new onslaught along the wars eastern front.

Western aid has stalled, and Kyiv has scrambled to pull together enough ammunition for its troops.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Russia takes hold of more cities after Avdiivka capture

Source: BBC

Russia has pushed further west after its success in Avdiivka, taking more towns along the front. Donetsk, a region in the east that is home to about 4 million Ukrainians, has seen the crux of the fighting and has come under heavy bombardment in recent weeks. Residents face near-constant shelling, the BBC reported. Those who have stayed in the area said theyve lost hope that the West will provide the support they need to remain. Should its Russian invaders gain more momentum in the Donetsk region, the question of where they will stop will be increasingly difficult to answer, the BBCs James Waterhouse wrote.

Ukraine digs trenches in hopes of fending off advance

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Ukrainian troops have been fortifying their frontlines with trenches in an attempt to stave off Russias advancements. The government has allocated about $800 million for the construction, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Ukrainians are trying to replicate the complicated obstacles that the Russians constructed last year  a network that effectively stymied Ukraines planned counteroffensive. So far, however, the plan hasnt gone far enough to stop Russian forces from progressing. The lack of layered defenses along the front line should be of some concern for Ukraine, one defense analyst told the Journal. The situation will get quite critical for the Ukrainian forces.
Residents of the Donetsk region like Mariya realise they must flee the approaching Russian forces

In eastern Ukraine, the tide of this war hasn't just changed - it's coming in fast.

"We know what's coming," says Mariya as she packs up the TV in her flat in Kostyantynivka. She's having it delivered to Kyiv before making the journey there with her son.

"We're tired all day [and suffer] moods and panic attacks. It's constantly depressing, and we're scared."

In February, Russia captured the strategic town of Avdiivka. Since then, the invaders have advanced further west, and taken several villages.

Ukraine says its forces are "holding on". But Russian troops are now attacking in five areas along the 1,100km (700 mile) front line.

And it's here in the eastern Donetsk region that Ukraine's defenders are being tested the most.

People in cities like Pokrovsk, Kostyantynivka and Kramatorsk are now facing a fast-approaching front line, and even occupation.

Mariya and her mother Tetyana are finding life increasingly difficult as the Russians advance closer.

Tetyana is refusing to leave Kostyantynivka. "I've already left twice, what's the point?" she says

Their city is littered with signs of the approaching threat 30km (19 miles) away.

Almost every street has a damaged building. Workers replace gold panels on a church after they were blown off by a missile strike on the neighbouring train station, now destroyed.

Anxiety fills the cold air in this town, once part of the industrial heartland of the former Soviet Union. Russia slowly destroys Ukraine's cities as it tries to take them. That's what is feared the most here.

Mariya explains that her mother Tetyana is staying, but she's confident she'll follow her eventually.

"I've already left twice, what's the point?" says a defiant Tetyana from her apartment around the corner. She gives us slippers to wear around her home, which explains why it's spotless.

"It's scary everywhere. The whole country is on fire."

Her eyes moisten. It's one thing to stay in your home for as long as you can, it's another to risk death or Russian occupation.

While the whole of Ukraine is a war zone, the Donetsk region - along with four others - is a battlefield. When you weave through its dense forest and expansive, rugged terrain, you always feel like you're approaching the coal face of this conflict.

Kostyantynivka's train station, once a major front-line hub, was hit by a Russian missile in February

You can hear heavy fire from as far as 40 km away, so the distant sound of artillery is constant. From one vantage point you can see the erosion of Ukrainian territory.

Plumes of smoke come from the directions of Avdiivka, a town Russia has recently taken, and Horlivka, which it's controlled since 2014.

Russia is using its size, air superiority and deeper ammunition reserves to keep pushing, at a time when Western military aid to Ukraine is running low or being held up by domestic politics.

Nearby lies a wide valley with several reservoirs. It's this natural landscape which Ukraine says will allow its forces to "stabilise" the front line.

Perhaps after chaotic withdrawals in the past, Ukrainian generals are willing to temporarily concede territory in the hope it can be liberated in the long term.

Across the front line there is a small minority of people labelled as "Zhdun" by the Ukrainians. It's a derogatory word which means "waiters", referring to those who are pro-Russian and waiting to be occupied.

It doesn't apply to everyone who ignores offers of evacuation. Some just refuse to abandon their homes and have got used to the constant danger.

Valeriy isn't one of them. After his home in the village of Toretsk was almost shelled twice, he's taking his belongings and grandson Denys to a pickup point.

Valeriy (left) and his grandson Denys have left Toretsk with the help of Ukraine's White Angels police evacuation squad

With the Russians just 5km away, their neighbours wish them well but still refuse to leave. The pair then board an armoured police vehicle.

"I've lived my life already," the 67-year-old tells us at the other end of his journey in Kostyantynivka. "But I need to save the little one."

"I worked in the mine for 20 years so I'm not afraid of anything, but I'm worried for him," he adds.

Denys, who's 14, nods approvingly. "My last friend left three weeks ago," he says.

Evacuation from front-line settlements is compulsory for families with children. Despite that 15 children still remain in Toretsk.

Anton Pron from the White Angels police evacuation squad, who helps evacuate people away from front-line towns, tells us the situation is worsening every day.

"There's constant shelling and artillery," he says. "The enemy's aviation is working all the time. The Russians drop bombs only on residential houses."

These days, the train station in the nearby city of Kramatorsk is the last stop for arriving troops and increasingly, departing civilians laden with bags.

Freight carriages are lined up on the platforms at Kramatorsk station to provide cover from Russian attacks

Distant rumbles of artillery serve either as a sobering welcome or a reason to leave. Couples hold long embraces on a platform flanked by freight trains which provide protection in case of a missile strike.

At least 61 people were killed by one here in 2022. Shrapnel marks are still scorched onto the pavement.

We meet Alla, who's waiting for her train to Kyiv. "A year ago, we thought we'd get help from the West and that our counter offensive would work, but not anymore," she says.

"People used to believe, but not now."

Ukraine hopes its eastern lands will one day be somewhere safe to live again. Right now it's unclear what these departing passengers will be returning to.

Should its Russian invaders gain more momentum in the Donetsk region, the question of where they will stop will be increasingly difficult to answer.

Additional reporting by Hanna Chornous and Scarlett Barter
Key developments on March 7:

Pavel: Allies collect required funding to purchase 800,000 shells for Ukraine

UK pledges $416 million to buy 10,000 drones for Ukraine

Governor announces mandatory evacuation from Kupiansk area

Media: Indian men coerced into fighting for Russia

Lithuanian intelligence: Russia can fight Ukraine 'at a similar intensity' for at least 2 years

Czech President Petr Pavel said on March 7 that after Norway had joined the Czech-led initiative on purchasing 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine, the required funds were collected, Czech outlet CT24 reported.

As $60 billion in aid for Ukraine from the U.S. remains stalled in Congress, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to face critical ammunition shortages.

Prague launched its military aid initiative in February, as it had found 500,000 155 mm shells and 300,000 122 mm shells outside Europe that could be sent to Ukraine after the necessary funds were allocated to the initiative.

Pavel said 18 countries participated in the Czech-led allied initiative, and "within weeks," Ukraine would get the ammunition.

Norway was the last contributor, allocating 1.6 billion Norwegian kroner ($153 million) to the initiative. Other contributors, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Latvia, and Canada, had publicly committed to the initiative earlier.

"Now everything will depend on our companies and the defense ministry's abilities to speed up the whole process (of delivering aid)," Pavel said.

Amid the ammunition shortage, Ukraine has already withdrawn from Avdiivka, a key front-line city in Donetsk Oblast, on Feb. 17 and from other nearby villages weeks later.

Read also: Pavel: Allies collect required funding to purchase 800,000 shells for Ukraine

UK pledges $416 million to buy 10,000 drones for Ukraine

The U.K. will allocate 325 million pounds ($416 million) to purchase over 10,000 "cutting-edge" drones for Ukraine, Defense Secretary Grant Shapps announced on March 7.

The newly announced aid will further boost the 200-million-pound ($256 million) drone package unveiled in January during U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks visit to Kyiv.

Shapps made the announcement after meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov during a visit to Kyiv on March 7.

The majority of the drones will be highly effective first-person view (FPV) drones. The package will also include 1,000 one-way attack drones, researched and developed in the U.K., as well as surveillance and maritime drones.

Shapps said that more than 100 million pounds ($128 million) from this aid package will be spent on Ukraines maritime capabilities, allowing Kyiv to "continue to turn the tide in the Black Sea."

"I am ramping up our commitment to arm Ukraine with cutting-edge new drones coming directly from the UKs world-leading defense industries  straight from the factory floor to the front line," Shapps said in the press release published by the U.K. Defense Ministry.

"I encourage international partners to join the UK in this effort."

The U.K., along with Latvia, co-leads a drone coalition that aims to bolster Ukraine's arsenal.

Drones have been a key tool in Ukraine's defense against Russia. Zelensky said that surpassing Russia in drone operations is one of the top priorities in 2024.

Zelensky also signed a decree on Feb. 6 creating a separate branch of Ukraine's Armed Forces dedicated to drones. It will reportedly focus on creating special drone-specific units, increasing production, ramping up training, and pushing innovations.

Read also: Zaluzhnyi appointed as Ukrainian ambassador to UK

Governor announces mandatory evacuation from near Kupiansk



Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov announced on March 7 that local authorities would conduct mandatory evacuation of residents living in communities near Kupiansk.

Kupiansk is a crucial strategic city in Kharkiv Oblast that was temporarily occupied by Russian troops in 2022. Kupiansk has recently been under heavy attacks as Russia intensified assault attempts in the area.

All residents will be evacuated from 57 settlements, Syniehubov said.

Ukraine's Khortytsia Operational and Strategic Group reported on Feb. 26 that Russia continues to concentrate its forces near Kharkiv Oblast's Kupiansk.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) earlier warned that Russia could replicate its successful tactics in Avdiivka on a larger scale if the West continues to delay military assistance.

Read also: Ukrainian soldiers near Kupiansk prepare for potential Russian offensive

Media: Indian men tricked, coerced into fighting for Russia

Multiple cases of Indian men coming to Russia for work or tourism before being coerced to join the war against Ukraine and, in some cases, dying in battle have appeared in the media in the past few days.

Russia's war against Ukraine resulted in heavy casualties for the Russian military. Seeking to limit unpopular conscription among the domestic population, Moscow has been attracting foreign recruits from countries in Central or South Asia and elsewhere.

Seven young men from the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana appealed to Indian authorities for help earlier this week in a video shared on the social platform X.

The group of men, dressed in military-style attire, claimed they left for Russia on Dec. 27, 2023, for the New Year's celebrations. Their travel agent offered to take them to Belarus without visas, where he subsequently abandoned them, an Indian man talking in the video said, according to the NDTV news channel.

Local police allegedly handed them over to Russian authorities, who made them sign documents and join the military to fight in Ukraine, NDTV reported on March 6.

"They were forced to join the army there since the documents which they signed in Belarus were in the Russian language. It said they either accept imprisonment for 10 years or join the Russian army," a relative of one of the men in the video claimed.

According to NDTV, nearly two dozen Indians are reportedly stranded in Russia or on the front line in Ukraine, all saying they had been tricked into military service. Other estimates say that the real numbers go into the hundreds.

Some Indian citizens have even been reportedly killed in battle. Hemil Mangukiya, a 23-year-old from the Indian state of Gujarat, left for Russia to look for work last December, The Guardian reported on March 7.

The man's family said that early this year, they had received a call that Mangukiya was killed in a missile strike in Ukraine.

Another Indian, Mohammad Afsan, also reportedly died on the front line after traveling for a job in Moscow last November.

"He had no idea he was being sent to a war zone," said his brother Mohammad Imran, according to The Guardian.

Read also: Zelensky signs decree on transferring some conscripts to reserve in spring 2024

Lithuanian intelligence: Russia can fight Ukraine 'at a similar intensity' for at least 2 years

High oil prices, military industry investments, and sanctions circumvention give Russia enough resources to continue the war against Ukraine at a similar intensity for at least two years, according to a Lithuanian intelligence report said published on March 7.

The Russian full-scale invasion, which recently entered its third year, shows no signs of relenting as Moscow's troops ramp up pressure along the front. Ukraine finds itself in an increasingly precarious position, namely due to delays in U.S. assistance.

"Russia has financial, human, material, and technical resources to continue the war at a similar intensity in at least the near term," the report drafted by the counter-intelligence State Security Department (VSD) and the military's Defense Intelligence and Security Service said, clarifying that the "near term" denotes six months to two years.

Aggression against Ukraine is now leading Russia's foreign policy as the Kremlin seeks to stop support for Kyiv with blackmail and threats, the brief read.

Moscow also continues expanding its network of companies to help the country avoid Western sanctions, looking for intermediaries to secure equipment needed for the war.

The West has been intensifying efforts to crack down on Russia's ability to dodge sanctions via third-party countries. Entities in Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, and other states continue to supply Moscow with computer parts, drones, and other materials that help the country fuel its defense industry.

The Lithuanian intelligence agencies warned that if the war against Ukraine freezes or stops for some reason, Moscow will focus on developing its military capabilities in the western direction.

Even as Russia keeps allocating huge resources to war against Ukraine, it also keeps preparing for a long-term confrontation with NATO, including in the Baltic Sea region, the report said.

Several NATO officials have recently warned that the alliance should prepare itself for the possibility of an open clash with Russia in the coming years.

"Russia... has embarked on a major reform of its Armed Forces," although its "full implementation will take from at least several years to a decade," according to the brief.

Read also: Military: Russian forces intensify attacks near Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and Rustem Umierov, Ukraines Defence Minister, have met with UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps and Chief of Defence Staff Tony Radakin.

Source: Umierov on Facebook

Quote: "We discussed the priority needs of the Ukrainian Defence Forces.

Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi briefed them on the situation at the front and the latest enemy actions."

Details: Umierov thanked the United Kingdom for its comprehensive support, including the supply of Storm Shadow missiles, which are making a difference on the battlefield.

Support UP or become our patron!
The second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisory body on Thursday held its second plenary meeting of the annual session.

Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, attended the meeting.

During the meeting, 14 members of the CPPCC National Committee shared their views.

Ning Jizhe said more policies should be rolled out to maintain steady economic growth, calling for making every effort to expand domestic demand.

Chen Qun said it was necessary to give enough room for a free-exploration style of basic research, and encourage researchers to find valuable scientific or technological issues.

Yi Gang called for the promotion of high-level opening up in the financial sector to safeguard the country's financial and economic security.

Sima Hong said the high-quality development requires the support of a modern industrial system, highlighting the need to build an industrial system with sci-tech innovation as the guide and advanced manufacturing as the backbone.

Describing the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta as a major undertaking, Che Jun said efforts should be made to further synergize regional strategies and promote the construction of demonstration zones.

Wang Lu shared his views on boosting the industry of new materials. He highlighted the need to speed up the forming of a sci-tech innovation layout covering the main categories of new materials and clusters of key industries.

Other political advisors shared their views on agricultural modernization, new types of consumption, grain production, sci-tech financial system, education, private enterprises, elderly-care services, and childbirth services. 

Ning Jizhe, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), speaks at the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

Chen Qun, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), speaks at the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

Yi Gang, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), speaks at the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

Sima Hong, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), speaks at the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

Che Jun, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), speaks at the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

Wang Lu, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), speaks at the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

Shen Yueyue presides over the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

Nan Cunhui, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), speaks at the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)

Ma Jiantang, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), speaks at the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)

Xia Jie, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), speaks at the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)

Tao Zhi, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), speaks at the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)

Zhao Jing, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), speaks at the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)

Lan Shaomin, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), speaks at the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)

Kong Changsheng, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), speaks at the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

Xu Xiaolan, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), speaks at the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)

The second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

The second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Jianhua)

The second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li He)

Members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) attend the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

The second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

The second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)

The second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li He)

The second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li He)

This photo taken on March 7, 2024 shows the Great Hall of the People ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)

Members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) walk towards the Great Hall of the People for the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Jianhua)
Ukraine's President Zelenskiy and UAF Commander in Chief Zaluzhnyi pose for a picture during a meeting in Kyiv

(Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that he had approved the candidacy of former army chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi as ambassador to Britain.

Zaluzhnyi, widely seen as a national hero for overseeing Ukraine's war effort throughout Russia's full-scale invasion, was replaced last month by ground forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.

"Today, I approved the candidacy of our country's ambassador to the United Kingdom, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. "General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi spoke to me specifically about pursuing that direction -- a diplomatic direction."

Zelenskiy said Ukraine's Foreign Ministry had sent the request for approval and that "our alliance with Britain is set to strengthen further".

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told national television that the president "had long sought" a suitable candidate "and one of the key requirements was an understanding of the military context.

"Britain is one of the leaders in military help for Ukraine. It is a country which has a vision of military strategy. The new ambassador therefore had to have a deep military background," Kuleba said.

Ukraine has not had an ambassador in Britain since Zelenskiy dismissed former envoy Vadym Prystaiko in July 2023 after he publicly criticised the president.

Zaluzhnyi's dismissal as army chief was the focal point of a shakeup of senior positions in Ukraine's armed forces. It followed weeks of tension and speculation about possible disagreements between the president and his top commander.

Zaluzhnyi had written in a published article last November that the now-two-year-old war against Russia had entered a stage of attrition, and he called for technological advances.

Zelenskiy did not respond directly to the comments, but denied any suggestion that the war had entered a stalemate.

Zelenskiy on Thursday met British Defence Secretary Grant Shapps in Kyiv and said he had expressed gratitude for Britain's "tangible leadership" in providing support for Ukraine and working together to counter Russian actions.

A British government statement said Shapps announced a 325 million pound ($417 million) package of military aid for Ukraine, including delivery of more than 10,000 drones. A British aid package in January also provided for drones and was valued at 200 million pounds.

In his remarks, Zelenskiy said priority areas of cooperation were boosting air defences, long-range weapons, and artillery and joint production of weapons, and bringing Russia to account.

"We have already reached a historically unprecedented level of cooperation with Britain," Zelenskiy said, referring to Britain as the first of several countries to sign an accord extending security guarantees to Ukraine.

(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Elaine Hardcastle, Ron Popeski and Leslie Adler; editing by Diane Craft)
Nataliia Humeniuk, Head of the Joint Press Centre for Defence Forces of Ukraine's South, assures that the defensive structures on the right (west) bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast are equipped in such a way that the Russian army will not be able to approach them.

Source: Humeniuk in a comment to Radio Liberty

Direct speech: "The Dnipro River is widely regarded as the primary point of contact in our geographical region. Therefore, it is extremely important for us that the enemy cannot move, land, or even approach the right bank.

First, it is landscaped higher than the left bank. This is the first challenge for the enemy that is almost impossible to overcome. Because our guns are located at the highest level, they establish fire control over the water as they approach the shore."

Details: Humeniuk stated that Ukrainian defensive structures are equipped to account for the changes in landscape following the destruction of the dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant.

According to her, this is why the Russians strike first, particularly with drones and artillery from the left bank. That is, they focus on defensive structures and their destruction with counter-battery tactics.

Quote: "However, in the arrangement of defensive structures, which has now been targeted by a wave of Russian propaganda, particularly in Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa oblasts, we do not start from scratch; rather, we strengthen what was prepared and improve what was, at the time of the full-scale invasion, perhaps unfinished, because it had already been done in powerful combat conditions."

Support UP or become our patron!
Ukrainian border guards have stopped a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group (SRG) from infiltrating Sumy Oblast in the country's north.

Source: Ukraine's State Border Guard Service (SBGS)

Quote: "Border guards detected several individuals of an enemy SRG moving from the territory of the aggressor country to Sumy Oblast last night."

Details: Ukrainian soldiers reportedly engaged the SRG right away. The Russians retreated, returning fire with small arms and grenade launchers. Information on Russian losses is currently still being gathered.

Background: On 3 February, traffic on stretches of road within a 5-kilometre zone of the border with Russia was banned in Sumy Oblast.

On 4 February, soldiers of Ukraine's Territorial Defence Forces stopped a Russian SRG attempting to infiltrate Sumy Oblast.

Support UP or become our patron!
It is possible that the Russian missile strike on the port of Odesa on 6 March was intended to target the delegation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Source: Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Office of the President, quoted by Reuters

Quote: "It really was less than 500 meters from us. What was that? ... You cannot exclude it was directed at the delegation of my president or the delegation of foreign guest," Zhovkva pointed out.

Details: Zhovkva stated that the missile was launched from Crimea, which Russia occupied in 2014.

The missile arrived at the port of Odesa in less than three minutes.

"Have we had enough air defence, this ballistic missile could have been intercepted," he asserted.

Background:

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he had witnessed the Russian attack on Odesa on the morning of 6 March, as he was in the city at the time, along with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He also noted that the Russian attack resulted in civilian casualties.

The air-raid warning was issued at 10:41 in Odesa Oblast, followed by a loud explosion. At 10:45, the Air Force reported a threat of ballistic missile use in the oblasts where the air-raid warning was issued.

It is known that five people were killed in a Russian strike on Odesa's port infrastructure on 6 March.

NN with reference to its source stated that the missile fired by Russian forces on Odesa on 6 March exploded just 500 metres away from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during their visit to the city.

Support UP or become our patron!


A Russian court in Rostov-on-Don has handed a 20-year prison sentence in a maximum-security facility to Dmytro Yevhan, a Ukrainian servicemember who was captured defending the Azovstal steelworks plant in Mariupol.

Serving in the 36th Marine Brigade, Yevhan lost both his hands during the fighting in Mariupol. He faced charges under multiple articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, including mistreatment of prisoners of war, attempted murder, teaching terrorist activities, and violent seizure of power.

The accusations also involved Yevhan allegedly wounding and then mocking a captured officer in Russian-occupied Donetsk Oblast, Viktor Lupatis. Yevhan admitted to wounding Lupatis and apologized, and Lupatis did not end up pressing charges.

Yevhan refuted terrorism allegations, asserting he was acting in defense of his country and fulfilling military duties.

The prosecution sought a 24-year term, but Yevhan received a 20-year sentence. Since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, judges in Russia have been doling out increasingly harsh and long prison sentences.

Ukrainian prisoners of war have been subjected to rough conditions and systemic torture in Russia, according to POWs who have been been returned through swaps.

Read also: 20 Days in Mariupol can win an Oscar. Will it make the world care about Russian war crimes in Ukraine?

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
LONDON (Reuters) - British foreign minister David Cameron will discuss boosting support for Ukraine and efforts to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza in talks with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in Berlin on Thursday.

The pair's meeting comes days after Russian media last week published an intercepted online call between senior German military officials about Ukraine, which included details of Britain's operations in the country.

At the second UK-Germany annual Strategic Dialogue on Thursday, the two foreign ministers will discuss further military assistance for Ukraine and how to put more pressure on Russia.

They will also discuss progress towards a ceasefire in Gaza, aid for the Palestinian enclave and preventing illegal migration.

While Cameron called for "strength, resilience and unity" in a statement trailing his talks with Baerbock, it is likely that he will also bring up the embarrassing leak in the pair's meeting.

"We need to build up our defences, stay close to our strongest friends, such as Germany, and reach out to new allies," Cameron said in a statement.

Germany said Russia had leaked the call to create divisions between it and its allies.

In it, German officials mention the deployment of British personnel in Ukraine and how Britain's Storm Shadow missiles were deployed there.

(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Jan Harvey)
CHICAGO, Ill. (WCIA)  Nursing and engineering researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Illinois Chicago have discovered how to use ultrasounds to predict premature births in pregnant women.

The Centers for Disease Control says more than 10% of pregnancies in the U.S. resulted in premature births in 2022. Currently, there is no way of knowing whether a woman who is pregnant for the first time is at risk of having a premature delivery. This is because the only way to know if a woman is at risk, is if she has previously had a preterm birth.

Now, researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Illinois Chicago have discovered a new risk assessment method to help pregnant mothers and their doctors prepare for a potentially early delivery.

Using acetaminophen while pregnant may lead to less focus in children: U of I study

The new method uses quantitative ultrasound to measure changes in the microscopic structure of a womans cervix. Quantitative ultrasound is different from the traditional ultrasound you might think of, where data helps produce a picture of a baby in the womb. Quantitative ultrasound data is not used for in-utero baby photos, but for measuring tissue characteristics as determined by ultrasonic waves.

This data can predict premature birth risks as early as 23 weeks into a pregnancy. Researchers said this approach allowed them to accurately predict preterm births after a study was done on 429 women who gave birth without induction at Chicagos UI Health hospital.

The research on this new approach began in 2001 when UIC nursing PhD student Barbara McFarlin reached out to Bill OBrien, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. McFarlin had previous experience as a midwife and sonographer, where she noticed that the cervix in women with premature births looked different than the cervix in women with timely births. At the time, OBrien was studying quantitative ultrasound data and how it could be used in health research.

Playground torn down at Meadowbrook Park

22 years later, the duo and a team of coauthors  including UIC nursing PhD student Michelle Villegas-Downs, U of I statistics PhD student Mehrdad Mohammadi, statistics professor Douglas Simpson, and engineering professor Aiguo Han at Virginia Tech  have established that preterm deliveries can be predicted through quantitative ultrasound and its detection of changes in the cervix.

Now, the question is how to prevent premature births. This is the first time that medical professionals will be able to assess risk so early, so proactive interventions have yet to be studied. Researchers said they hope studies will begin soon on how to best delay or avoid preterm deliveries, but for now, they believe their findings will help to better prepare expecting mothers.

The research on this new method is published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology Maternal Fetal Medicine.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
Supporters of the Sudanese armed popular resistance, which backs the army, ride on trucks in Gedaref in eastern Sudan on March 3, 2024 (-)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Thursday for warring parties in Sudan to agree to a ceasefire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, warning that the country's humanitarian crisis is reaching "colossal proportions."

"In just days, the holy month of Ramadan will commence. So from this chamber today, I am making an appeal. I call on all parties in Sudan to honor the values of Ramadan by honoring a Ramadan cessation of hostilities," he told a Security Council meeting.

Deputy British Ambassador James Kariuki announced a draft Council resolution calling for an "immediate ceasefire before the holy month of Ramadan and urging all parties to allow for unhindered cross border and cross line humanitarian access."

He said he hoped for a vote on Friday.

Sudan has been rocked by a brutal war that has killed thousands -- including up to 15,000 in a single Darfur town, according to UN experts -- and displaced millions since last April.

The war between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, has also destroyed infrastructure and crippled Sudan's economy.

It has also uprooted more than eight million people, in addition to two million who had already been forced from their homes before the conflict -- making it the world's largest displacement crisis.

The UN's World Food Programme had warned on Wednesday that the nearly 11-month war risks triggering the world's largest hunger crisis.

"The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is reaching colossal proportions," Guterres told the Council on Thursday.

Some 25 million people, half the population, need life-saving assistance, he said.

"Water and sanitation systems are breaking down. Diseases are multiplying. Hunger is stalking Sudan. Some 18 million people are acutely food insecure. This is the highest number ever recorded during a harvest season, yet numbers are expected to surge even higher in the coming months," he continued.

"We are already receiving reports of children dying from malnutrition."

He repeated fears about civilians mobilizing, and new armed groups entering the fray, and cited reports of systemic sexual violence including rape, gang rape and human trafficking.

"All these dangerous developments are pouring fuel on the fire for an even more serious fragmentation of the country, a deepening of intra- and inter-communal tensions, and more ethnic violence," he said.

abd/st/bgs
GENEVA (Reuters) - Patent filings slipped last year by nearly 2% in the first fall in 14 years amid economic uncertainty, the U.N. patent agency said on Thursday, in a move it described as "concerning".

The World Intellectual Property Organization, which oversees a system for countries to share recognition of patents, reported 272,600 filings in 2023 which was a 1.8% decline from the previous year.

The top two countries China (69,610) and the United States (55,678) both reported fewer filings than 2022, falling 0.6% and 5.3% respectively. In the case of China, it was the first drop since 2002.

"I think it is really a broader reflection of what's going on in the innovation economy. And I think to some extent, it is concerning...," WIPO chief economist Carsten Fink told reporters.

"Innovation, technological progress is what generates future economic growth, future jobs, and I think, policymakers need to make sure that there is an innovation ecosystem that is vibrant and...generates the, the seeds of future growth."

Japan and Germany, number 3 and 5 in the rankings, also filed fewer applications in 2023 although South Korea which is ranked fourth had a slight increase.

The Patent Cooperation Treaty which has 157 signatory states allows inventors to seek patent protection simultaneously in a large number of countries. It accounts for around 60% of non-resident patent applications, WIPO said.

(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Madeline Chambers)
This official photo of Congressman Dean Phillips of the U.S. state of Minnesota is posted on the website of the U.S. House of Representatives for public use. (Credit: https://phillips.house.gov/)

"I ask you to join me in mobilizing, energizing and doing everything you can to help keep a man of decency and integrity in the White House. That's Joe Biden," says Dean Phillips.

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Congressman Dean Phillips of the U.S. state of Minnesota on Wednesday announced that he is dropping out of the Democratic presidential primary, after making no progress in establishing himself as an alternative to President Joe Biden.

Phillips' decision came after Super Tuesday, when Biden and former President Donald Trump swept to victory in their respective party's presidential primaries in over a dozen states.

"It is clear that alternative is not me," Phillips said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Phillips, 55, initiated his campaign to challenge Biden in October 2023, saying that he felt compelled to run against his party's leader because he believed Biden would be defeated by Trump in the November presidential election.

In his brief statement, the three-term congressman endorsed Biden.

"I ask you to join me in mobilizing, energizing and doing everything you can to help keep a man of decency and integrity in the White House. That's Joe Biden," he said.

He also reached out to supporters of former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who dropped out of the Republican race earlier Wednesday.

"Let's use invitation, not confrontation, to welcome Haley supporters, Trump supporters, and uncommitted supporters to get this done," Phillips said. 
The construction sector is responsible for one-fifth of global emissions (Daniel LEAL)

France warned Thursday that the world's construction sector was not on track to decarbonise by 2050 as it co-hosts with the UN Environment Programme the first ever conference aimed at reducing the industry's impact on climate change.

Some 1,800 government officials, investors and industry representatives from 50 countries are gathering in Paris for the Buildings and Climate Global Forum, which ends Friday.

The meeting is also aimed at adapting buildings to withstand storms, floods and heatwaves and other extreme weather which is becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change.

The stakes are high as global temperatures keep rising, with February marking the ninth straight month of historic high temperatures across the planet, according to Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

The buildings and construction sector's global greenhouse gas emissions are continuing to rise, the French ecological transition ministry said.

"The sector is not on the right path to decarbonise by 2050," the ministry said.

"It is therefore crucial to fundamentally rethink the way we build and use our buildings in order to ensure that national climate policies succeed and the Paris Agreement on climate is respected," it said.

The buildings and construction sector is responsible for one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. It also accounts of 34 percent of energy demand and half of global consumption of raw materials, according to the forum.

The UN expects the global building floor area to double by 2060.

The UN says the world must reach net-zero emissions by 2050 in order to meet the Paris accord's ambitious goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Coming on the heels of the UN's COP28 climate summit in Dubai, the Paris forum in Paris is expected to produce a joint statement that has been negotiated for months.

Officials from the United States and China, the world's top economies and top emitters of greenhouse gases, are attending the forum.

The event also brings together architects, engineers, property developers, among others, along with international organisations.

"We must both decarbonise and adapt" the sector, said Julie Prigent of the French Environment and Energy Management Agency.

While using local and bio-sourced materials to reduce a building's emissions and energy costs, "it is sometimes not enough", she said.

"Buildings must also be able to withstand climatic risks, which are increasing," and adapt to avoid having to be demolished, and thus emit twice as much CO2, she specifies.

- Hemp and raw earth -

Cement companies are attending the forum along with research centres such as CRAterre, based in the French city of Grenoble, which promotes the use of raw earth, a compound of clay and other natural mineral.

Since the earthquake that levelled Haiti in 2010, some 15,000 construction projects have been carried out based on CRAterre's recommendations in wood frames and limestone filling, said Philippe Garnier, architect-researcher at CRAterre.

The Federation of International Hemp Organizations (FIHO) shared a stand with the BBCA association of construction and real estate professionals at the forum.

"We clearly feel that there is growing international awareness of the impact of buildings on global warming," FIHO secretary general Frederic Vallier told AFP.

"Hemp grew around the world until World War II and has since been replaced by nylon and synthetic materials, but the world is rediscovering its extraordinary possibilities for agriculture and decarbonising construction," he said.

im/abb/lth/cw
The construction sector is responsible for one-fifth of global emissions (Daniel LEAL)

France and the UN Environment Programme co-host a two-day conference starting Thursday to find ways to cut the sizeable carbon footprint of the construction sector, a major contributor to climate change.

Nearly 2,000 government officials, diplomats, industry representatives and members of civil society from 50 countries are gathering in Paris for the Buildings and Climate Global Forum.

The buildings and construction sector's global greenhouse gas emissions are continuing to rise, the French ecological transition ministry said.

"The sector is not on the right path to decarbonise by 2050," the ministry said.

"It is therefore crucial to fundamentally rethink the way we build and use our buildings in order to ensure that national climate policies succeed and the Paris Agreement on climate is respected," it said.

The UN says the world must reach net-zero emissions by 2050 in order to meet the Paris accord's ambitious goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Coming on the heels of the UN's COP28 climate summit in Dubai, the Paris forum in Paris is expected to produce a joint statement that has been negotiated for months.

The buildings and construction sector is responsible for one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The forum is being attended by government officials from the United States and China, the world's top economies and emitters of greenhouse gases.

The event also brings together architects, engineers, property developers, among others, along with international organisations.

im/abb/lth/ach
UNC-Chapel Hill is moving forward with installing license plate readers on campus, following the university canceling an agreement to do so last year.

The university entered into a new contract with Flock Safety, a private company, in late February to install 23 license plate reader cameras around campus, UNC spokesperson Kevin Best confirmed to The News & Observer Wednesday.

The initial decision to order license plate readers from Flock had been made before the Aug. 28 killing of professor Zijie Yan on campus last year, but the deal was not final by the time of the shooting, UNC Board of Trustees member Marty Kotis previously told The N&O.

UNC Police Chief Brian James in September said the technology was one step the university would take to improve security following the killing. The readers would help his department better secure campus, James said.

The cost of the readers and installation will be $83,950, Best said. The university will also pay an annual fee of $69,000 in each of the following two years for the technology, making for a total cost of $221,950, he said.

The safety of our campus community is our top priority, and installing a license plate reader system is one tool among many we are implementing to continue to enhance safety on our campus, spokesman Best said.

Flocks battle with state licensing board

Flocks automated devices are already in use by police departments, sheriffs offices and homeowners associations in North Carolina.

Prominently marketed as a deterrent to crime and a tool to solve everything from car theft to child abductions, the devices keep records of passing traffic. Law enforcement can query that data to search for license plates or vehicles of interest to them.

A heavy law enforcement and first responder presence is seen on South Street near the Bell Tower on the campus of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. Monday afternoon, Aug. 28, 2023 after a report of an armed and dangerous person. Kaitlin McKeown

The company has been criticized, notably by the American Civil Liberties Union, for the vast amount of data it collects and the lack of regulation surrounding the technology.

UNCs new contract with Flock is its second agreement with the company in six months. After signing an initial contract in mid-September, the university canceled it in early October after learning that Flock was not licensed to do business in North Carolina.

The state Alarm Systems Licensing Board sent a cease-and-desist letter to Flock demanding the company stop advertising, installing and maintaining security alarm services in the state in January 2022. Last October, a Wake County judge temporarily barred the company from installing additional camera systems or maintaining its current devices unless it uses a third-party vendor licensed by the board.

Flock spokesperson Holly Beilin told The N&O Wednesday that, since the October ruling, the company has partnered with a vendor that is licensed to supervise or perform such installations or service.

Flock is honored to be working with UNC-Chapel Hill to keep students, faculty, and visitors safe on and around campus, Beilin said.

UNC initially refused to release contract

Flock technology allows police to search for any license plate for up to 30 days after plates are logged.

Police say Tailei Qi, a graduate student charged with killing professor Yan, drove to campus on the morning of the shooting and then fled by foot after the shooting, leaving his car in place. He was later arrested in a residential area off campus.

Along with confirming the university had entered into a new agreement with Flock, Best on Wednesday provided The N&O with copies of the universitys original contract and agreements with the company that were signed last September.

The N&O had asked the university for the initial contracts on multiple occasions prior to this week. UNC staff refused to provide them, saying there were no existing or responsive University records subject to disclosure under state public records law, until Raleigh attorney Mike Tadych contacted the university last week on behalf of The N&O and asserted that the records were public.

Best on Wednesday said the university would provide a copy of its new contract with Flock as soon as it is reviewed.

The university has hired the CNA Corporation, an independent research and analysis organization, to conduct an after-action review of the shooting and the universitys response. A report generated from that review, which will include recommendations for how the university can improve its campus safety and its response to emergencies, among other areas, is expected to be released by the end of the spring semester.

Reporter Tyler Dukes contributed.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  An unclaimed lottery ticket worth over $30,000 is set to expire next Thursday, according to the Florida Lottery.

The FANTASY 5 is the tickets top prize, worth $30,063.49. This game is won by players matching 5-of-5 winning numbers drawn in any order. Players can also win cash prizes or a free ticket by matching two, three, or four numbers.

Taylor Swift fans raise money for Tampa bride who planned on selling autographed guitar to pay for wedding

The winning numbers were 12, 31, 24, 30, and 16, and were drawn on Sept. 16, 2023.

Players who purchased the winning, free Quick Pick ticket from Publix, located at 1478 West Granada Boulevard in Ormond Beach, are encouraged to check their tickets from Sept. 16.

According to the Florida Lottery, the deadline to claim the top prize is on March 14 at midnight and it must be claimed at a Florida Lottery District Office.

For additional information, players can visit the Florida Lotterys website or app, or by calling their Customer Service Department at 850-487-7787.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
It is doubtful whether many people in this country were aware of the existence of Equatorial Guinea before March 7, 2004, let alone able to point to it on a map.

But the oil-rich African nation became the centre of international attention that day. A team of British mercenaries were arrested at Harare airport, Zimbabwe for plotting a coup financed, in part, by Sir Mark Thatcher.

Twenty years on, fresh details about the failed coup are still coming to light, including claims that Sir Mark, son of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, was more deeply involved in the scheme than he previously admitted. The plotter who led the mercenaries, former SAS officer Simon Mann, believes the truth should be told about what really happened, and has now provided The Telegraph with access to emails and unpublished parts of his memoirs that shed new light on the affair.

Sir Mark has always maintained that he was a minor investor and that he thought the money he provided was for a helicopter that would be used as an air ambulance. But after his arrest in South Africa, he pleaded guilty in 2005 to helping finance the plot, agreeing the helicopter might be used for mercenary activity. He was given a four-year suspended jail sentence.

Sir Mark Thatcher leaves the Magistrate's Court in Wynberg, Cape Town 26 November 2004 - AFP

Previously unpublished emails show that Sir Mark negotiated a profit-sharing arrangement. Mann claims that Sir Mark intended to base himself in the Equatorial Guinean capital, Malabo, once its president, Teodoro Obiang, had been deposed.

Mann also claims that Sir Mark even discussed the intended coup with Lady Thatcher herself, who asked him how our money was going to be spent.

Mann, now 71, served four years in a Zimbabwean jail before being extradited to Equatorial Guinea, where he was sentenced to 34 years in prison, although he only served a little over a year before cutting a deal with Obiang and being released in 2009 on humanitarian grounds. Now living in North London, Mann retains a simmering resentment towards his fellow plotters, having previously accused them of hanging him out to dry when the coup went spectacularly wrong.

In his eyes, Sir Mark is less culpable than some of the other conspirators like the late Ely Calil, a Lebanese businessman who hired Mann for the job and discarded him afterwards.

The plot begins

The coup plot was seeded in August 2003, when Calil summoned Mann to his grand mansion in Chelsea. Mann had made fortunes running private military companies in Angola and Sierra Leone, and Calil had been approached by Severo Moto, the exiled opposition leader in Equatorial Guinea, who wanted to overthrow the tyrannical Obiang.

Mann claims Calil told him that King Juan Carlos of Spain, of which Equatorial Guinea is a former colony, and the then-prime minister of Spain Jose Maria Aznar, knew about the coup and approved of it.

As a reward, Mann would have access to oil rights once Moto was in power. Mann was also attracted by the danger and adventure that the plan involved, and believed that removing a despotic dictator would justify the ethics of the job. He told Calil he would do it.

Lebanese businessman Ely Calil, who helped organise the 'Wonga' coup - Julian Simmonds

First, though, he needed money. Putting together a team of mercenaries  armed with guns, rocket launchers and mortars  to carry out the coup would cost $2.5 million, he calculated, but Calils funds were frozen due to a criminal investigation in France. Mann needed to find the money elsewhere.

Calil introduced Mann to a businessman who would become a silent partner in the scheme, but Mann had become unnerved by a series of broken promises from Calil and decided to look for additional sources of funds. He knew just the man.

Sir Mark Thatcher was an old friend; a close neighbour in Cape Town, where both men had homes; and something of an SAS groupie. During a walk on Table Mountain, Mann briefed Sir Mark on the plot and asked if he would invest.

Mark was incredibly enthusiastic, recalled Mann. But he was not just keen to share the spoils of our adventure in Equatorial Guinea  he wanted to play an active role in [planning] the operation.

Mann needed a helicopter for the fast movement of supplies and troops and Sir Mark, an accomplished helicopter pilot, had the connections and the cash to source the required aircraft.

Mark and his mother

In December 2003, an excited Sir Mark met Mann in London and explained that his personal wealth was managed by an offshore trust set up by his mother. He agreed to invest $300,000 in an Alouette helicopter but needed strict confidentiality.

Mark was too high profile and so we helped him stay under the radar, recalled Mann. Super secure. Thatchers money would come in via a false joint business venture with our pilot Crause Steyl and his company. If his involvement was known, the project would be screwed.

According to Mann, two days later, in full battle dress, he was escorted by Sir Mark to meet his mother at her house on Chester Square, in Londons Belgravia. She was told that the main party of mercenaries would arrive by sea with others arriving by air.

Jolly good, said Lady Thatcher. I am sure its going to work. She then asked how our money would be handled. Mann reassured her that the $300,000 would be channelled through a fake air ambulance joint venture  separately from the other investors.

The former prime minister then reminisced about the Docklands redevelopment in London in the 1980s. Everything had to be razed to the ground first, she said. Its the same in Equatorial Guinea. What is needed is a fresh start.

As Mann was leaving, Lady Thatcher asked: Have you met Sancho yet?

Sancho was the London link man for a group of wealthy Venezuelan businessmen opposed to the corrupt president, Hugo Chavez. Mann had agreed to help them once the coup in Africa had been taken care of.

Good, well I hope that goes well too, said Lady Thatcher. We must always look after our friends, Simon, as Im sure you know.

In Cape Town at Christmas the same year Sir Mark called Mann and told him: Come to the house for breakfast. Its important.

Mann had just been to the gym and was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. As he walked into the house, he was stunned to see Lady Thatcher sitting by the swimming pool at a table set for only two people. This is an ambush, thought Mann.

Lady Thatcher told him: I know what is going on and you SAS chaps need to get a move on, dont you.

Emails from the time show that Sir Mark was consolidating his role in the planned coup.

On New Years Day 2004, Mann emailed the helicopter pilot Steyl to say: Your new investor (M) has asked that you sign a profit-sharing agreement with him.

The next day Steyl emailed Sir Mark to say: We are standing by the profit-sharing agreement, and on Jan 12 that year Sir Mark emailed Steyl saying: I will be doing the revenue-sharing agreement as soon as I have a minute.

Channel 4 News showing Crause Steyl speaking about the coup attempt

By February 2004, Mann had recruited a troop of South African former special forces men, arranged to buy arms from the state-owned Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI) and found a Boeing 727 to transport his men.

As insurance, he met Sir Mark one last time. If it goes wrong, I want you to rescue those of us still uncaptured, he said, and provided the coordinates, pre-agreed radio frequencies, locations, times and dates  all in code. You are a pilot, a sailor and have the political connections, he added. I expect you to rescue us.

Sir Mark noted down the data and the codes and, according to Mann, said: I will be there for you, no matter what, Simon. They shook hands.

There was one other catch: Mann had agreed to carry out the coup before Spains general election in March. If Aznar lost, the new regime would not recognise Moto as the new ruler of Equatorial Guinea.

The fallout

By March 7 everything was in place and the Boeing 727 carrying more than 60 mercenaries flew from South Africa bound for Equatorial Guinea. The plan was to collect Mann and the arms in Harare, then fly to Equatorial Guinea, secure the airport, take over key installations and storm the presidential palace with the help of an advance party inside the capital.

By dawn there would be a new regime which would be recognised by Spain within days.

But the operation was a catastrophe. While Mann says Spain, the UK, South Africa and other countries were aware of the plot and were happy for it to play out, the then-president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, was not. Mann was arrested at Harare airport while waiting for his private soldiers to arrive, Zimbabwe intelligence officers inspected the crates and the weapons were discovered. The aircraft was impounded and the men arrested and thrown in jail.

Sentenced to seven years in Zimbabwes maximum-security prison, Mann was held in solitary confinement. He slept on the floor of a tiny cell which was unbearably hot in the summer and freezing in the winter. He kept his body and mind active by walking up and down the seven paces of his cell but boredom and the fear of losing his sanity tormented his daily existence.

Some of the alleged mercenaries, including former British SAS officer Simon Mann, outside Chikurubi prison in 2004 - AP

Meanwhile, Manns friends were covering their tracks. The day after his arrest, Calil telephoned Manns wife Amanda at her home in Hampshire. Destroy everything, he shouted. Burn down Simons office if you have to. Amanda refused.

On March 21 2004, Mann wrote to his wife: Our situation is not good. They (his lawyers) get no reply from Smelly (Calil) and Scratcher (Thatcher) who asked them to ring back after the Grand Prix was over!

What we need is maximum effort  whatever it takes. It may be that getting us out comes down to a large splodge of wonga. Of course, the investors did not think this would happen. Do they think they could be part of something like this with only upside potential  no hardship or risk of this going wrong?

When the contents of the letter became public, the fiasco was dubbed the wonga coup by the media.

Mann accused Calil, Sir Mark and Calils businessman friend of abandoning him, his family and his soldiers.

They deserted the men, he said, and that put my life in danger because the men blamed me for their situation. I did not expect the funders to endanger themselves but I expected something.

Back in London, Calil denied he was connected to the coup and bizarrely claimed the allegations were a set up to entrap Moto in a sting operation. He later admitted funding Moto but never accepted that he was a co-conspirator in the coup before he died in 2018.

As for Sir Mark, his arrest came on August 25 2004 for funding an illegal coup in breach of the Foreign Military Assistance Act.

Mark Thatcher speaks to the media outside the High Court in Cape Town, 13 January 2004 - AFP

He agreed to a plea bargain that involved admitting to lesser charges and paying a fine but escaping jail time. He pleaded guilty to wrongfully and unlawfully attempting to finance mercenary activity and was fined 3 million rand (then worth 265,000).

Thatchers guilty plea had repercussions for Mann. He could no longer deny the existence of a coup plot, and after serving four years of his sentence, his position took a turn for the worse. He was extradited to Equatorial Guinea where Obiang  who serves as the nations president to this day  accused him of being a terrorist.

Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has led the country for 45 years - AFP

He was sentenced to 34 years in prison, and survived by assisting the regime to identify his fellow conspirators who would have betrayed Obiang had the coup succeeded. Mann was released early in 2009. After arriving at Luton airport, his wife Amanda drove him home to Hampshire.

While in the car, he received a joint message from Calil and Sir Mark  via a lawyer. It stated they were happy he was free and looked forward to his account of what happened, but claimed that the two businessmen had not knowingly played a role in the coup.

The couple hooted with laughter. I dont know which section I laughed at more, he recalled. Was it their cringe-making lie or asking me to lie for them?

Back to reality

Today Mann cannot forgive Calil and his associates. They commissioned him to undertake a high-risk operation without proper funding and let him rot in jail.

But remarkably he has forgiven Sir Mark on the basis that Mann approached him for assistance, and not the other way round.

Asked why he embarked on such a dangerous escapade, Mann says now: I wanted to remove a brutal tyrant and bully and knock him off his perch while making a lot of money at the same time.

In the original draft of his memoirs, he adds that he wanted the craic.

Since his release in 2009, Mann has not been idle. As part of the deal he negotiated with President Obiang for his release, he advised Equatorial Guinea on its security and its international image (a tricky assignment, given its horrific human rights record). He also cooperated with Scotland Yards investigation into the UK-based funders of the coup.

His lust for adventure still burned bright: in 2013 he came up with what he called a wizard scheme to lead a band of mercenaries into Mali to oust Islamic militants, until France invaded and did the job for him.

Today he leads a more conventional lifestyle. Last September he became chairman of a green energy company, Hydrogen Utopia International plc, which turns plastic waste into hydrogen and synthetic gas.

Sir Mark, now 70 and a grandfather, has kept a low profile ever since the wonga coup. In 2008 he married his second wife, Sarah-Jane, in Gibraltar, and in 2013 he returned to London to lead the mourners at Lady Thatchers funeral in St Pauls Cathedral.

When he was contacted by The Telegraph, Sir Mark said: Simon can say what he wants. Im really not going to comment on any of that.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
An inmate in a Wisconsin county jail is accused of breaking the sprinkler system in his cell and causing $1,500 in damage, according to a criminal complaint obtained by FOX 6.

Charles Virgil, 32, was charged with interfering with a fire alarm system and criminal damage to property after an incident inside the Waukesha County Jail on March 1.

According to a criminal complaint, Virgil was "upset that he was not being released." Correctional officers claimed he "tore up numerous pieces of toilet paper" and then hit the sprinkler with a blanket.

Prosecutors stated that water flowed out of Virgil's cell, carrying the toilet paper with it to a nearby drain that then clogged and flooded the area.

FULTON COUNTY JAIL INMATE FACES ARSON CHARGES AFTER ALLEGEDLY SETTING CELL ABLAZE

Charles Virgil, 32, was charged with interfering with a fire alarm system and criminal damage to property inside the Waukesha County Jail on March 1.

The incident caused the sprinkler system to be disabled for about five hours Friday and an estimated $1,500 in damage, the complaint said.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

FAST-FOOD WORKERS USED CUSTOMERS' MONEY TO BAIL OUT JAIL INMATES: POLICE

An inmate in a Wisconsin Jail is accused of breaking the sprinkler system in his cell and causing $1,500 in damage.

Court records show Virgil is in jail for separate cases related to battery and resisting an officer. He was last in court on March 4, according to records.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Waukesha County Jail did not immediately respond to Fox News Digitals request for comment.





Original article source: 'Upset' Wisconsin inmate breaks jail sprinkler, causes over $1K in damage: report
The US military will establish a temporary port off Gaza's coast to bring in desperately needed aid, President Joe Biden announced Thursday, in a major operation as Israel holds up deliveries on the ground.

Announcing the initiative in his annual State of the Union address, Biden pleaded with Israel to let more assistance into the blockaded territory even as he defended its military operation against Hamas.

"Tonight, I'm directing the US military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments carrying food, water medicine and temporary shelters," Biden told the joint session of Congress.

"A temporary pier will enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting in Gaza," Biden said.

While led by the US military, the operation will not put US troops on the ground in Gaza, he said.

The aid operation comes after the United States carried out several days of airdrops of aid into Gaza, coordinated with Israel. Such massive operations generally take place in hostile or cut-off regions and have little precedent in territories controlled by a close partner and top recipient of US military aid.

Biden, whose motorcade left the White House for the Capitol after protesters demanding an end to the war gathered in nearby streets, pleaded with Israel to do more.

"To the leadership of Israel I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority," Biden said.

Biden also defended his record as a supporter of Israel, telling lawmakers that "no one has a stronger record" -- and again defended Israel's right to respond to the October 7 attack by Hamas.

The war was triggered by an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, Israeli figures show.

After the attack, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas which has ruled Gaza since 2007. More than 30,000 people have died, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.

- Screening through Cyprus -

The temporary port will feature a pier that will "provide the capacity for hundreds of additional truckloads of assistance each day," a senior Biden administration official said.

In a key factor for Israel, the shipments will be screened by the United States and partners in European Union member Cyprus, not an Arab country. Egypt and Israel share the only land borders with Gaza.

Gazans are facing dire shortages of food, water and medicine, with the United Nations warning of the risk of famine. The entire population of 2.2 million is in "crisis" or worse levels of food insecurity, according to the World Food Program.

The UN aid coordinator for the Palestinian territory, Sigrid Kaag, told a Security Council meeting on Thursday that air and sea deliveries cannot be a "substitute" for land deliveries, which were halted after October 7 and have only gradually resumed.

In the third airdrop into Gaza in less than a week, American and Jordanian C-130 cargo planes dropped more than 38,000 meals, US Central Command said.

A statement from Jordan's military said Belgian, Dutch, Egyptian and French planes also took part in the airdrop.

The United States launched its first airdrop of food into Gaza on Saturday, providing more than 38,000 meals then also, and dropped more than 36,000 on Tuesday.

But the number of people in need of aid in Gaza is much greater than could be fed by airdrops alone.

wd-sct/sms
NASHVILLE, Tenn.  A U.S. Army soldier from Fort Campbell was indicted on charges of selling national defense secrets to China, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Henry C. Leventis announced Thursday.

Korbein Schultz was an army intelligence analyst with the First Battalion of the 506th Infantry Regiment at Fort Campbell, Leventis said. He was arrested earlier Thursday.

The indictment charges Schultz with six counts, including conspiracy to unlawfully communicate defense information, unlawful export of defense articles to China and bribery of a public official, Leventis said.

"He traded our national defense information for cash," Leventis said. He received $42,000 over 14 payments.

Today, Sgt. Korbein Schultz was arrested for conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information, export of technical data related to defense articles without a license, conspiracy to export defense articles without a license, and bribery of a public official. pic.twitter.com/WAPXLLVYeg  Army Counterintelligence Command (ACIC) (@Real_ArmyCI) March 7, 2024

FILE- In this May 16, 2018, file photo, a U.S. F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jet lands as South Korea and the United States conduct the Max Thunder joint military exercise at an air base in Gwangju, South Korea.

The indictment alleges that starting in June 2022, Schultz collected and shared with a co-conspirator in China information about U.S. military operations, including advanced military helicopters, high-mobility artillery rocket systems, defensive missile systems, and Chinese military tactics, as well as the Tactics Techniques and Procedures manuals for the F22-A fighter jet and intercontinental missiles.

According to the indictment, Schultz told a conspirator in August 2022 that he "'wished he could be 'Jason Bourne.'" A month later, he stated that he thought about "moving to Hong Kong and working for you in person," according to the indictment.

The conspirators drew Schultz in with promises of wealth and racing-related perks, which Schultz appears to hold an affinity for, according to the indictment and a review of his social media.

U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Henry C. Leventis give a statement to the press about U.S. Army soldier Korbein Schultz, from Fort Campbell, was indicted on charges of selling national defense secrets to China, at Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 7, 2024.

On May 20, 2023, a conspirator told Schultz that he would "like to meet him at a Formula 1 race overseas," according to court documents, and make Schultz a "senior partner" with a "big signing bonus."

Schultz replied, "Oh snap!"

Indictment outlines details of conspiracy

According to the indictment, the conspirator's first request for Schultz was to provide information on the "lessons that could be learned from Russia's war with Ukraine," and with that, "what the United States could and should do to help defend Taiwan from an attack."

After Schultz sent the conspirator a draft document pertaining to his request, Schultz was paid $200 on July 6, 2022, according to the indictment. Two days later, Schultz told the conspirator that he would like to turn their relationship into a "long-term partnership."

Shortly after Schultz began transmitting information to in June 2022, the conspirator informed Schultz that if documents were classified, Schultz could receive more money.

According to the indictment, the conspirator then went on to instruct Schultz to acquire more "sensitive" military information, including information on "hypersonic equipment, studies on future development of U.S. military forces, studies on major countries such as the People's Republic of China, and summaries of military drills/operations."

The conspirator and Schultz also discussed how to hide their activities, debating  among other things  describing their online financial transactions as being related to "car customizations."

An F-22 departs Langley Air Force Base, Va., on Sept. 11, 2018.

On Aug. 4, 2022, the conspirator told Schultz that if a document the sergeant shared contained any classified information pertaining to the Philippine Sea, the conspirators would "pay [Schultz] more money," according to the indictment. Schultz responded, "I hope so! I need to get my other BMW back!"

Family confused, shocked

Kolby Weldon, Schultzs second cousin who lives at the familys brick ranch home in Clarksville, Tennessee, said he was woken by his dog barking as agents entered the home Thursday.

Weldon said in an interview that it was a jarring experience and a complete surprise for the family.

All we knew was he was writing papers (on the computer), he said.

Weldon, who also served in the U.S. Army at Fort Campbell, said he and Schultz shared a bond and the charges hurt on a deeper level.

It really pisses me off, Weldon said.

Who is Korbein Schultz?

Schultz, originally from Wills Point, Texas, is a sergeant in the U.S. Army. His Facebook page shows he lives in Clarksville with his family.

Schultz, 24, has been in the Army since November 2018, according to Lt. Col. Ruth Castro, an Army spokesperson. His awards include the Army Good Conduct Medal.

According to an Army-produced video, Schultz was stationed at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin in August 2021, though public records also place him at Fort Cavazos, formerly known as Fort Hood, in 2019.

According to the indictment filed against him, Schultz was on an overseas deployment in September.

Schultz case latest case involving military secrets

Leventis made the announcement Thursday in Nashville. He was joined by FBI Special Agent in Charge Douglas DePodesta.

A spokesperson from Fort Campbell confirmed to The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network, that Schultz was assigned to the Clarksville post, but provided no further details.

We can confirm that the individual is assigned to Fort Campbell, said Lt. Col Tony Hoefler, spokesperson for Fort Campbell. We have and will continue to cooperate with the US Attorneys Office.

The arrest comes shortly after a civilian U.S. Air Force employee in Nebraska was arrested for allegedly sharing classified information on a foreign dating website with a person claiming to be a Ukrainian woman.

David Franklin Slater, 63, was arrested on March 2 on charges of conspiring to transmit and transmitting classified information about Russias war in Ukraine over a three-month period in early 2022, at the beginning of Russias invasion.

A Navy sailor out of San Diego was similarly sentenced to 27 months in federal prison in January after being charged with selling sensitive information to China.

Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, pleaded guilty in October 2023 to one count each of conspiring with an intelligence officer and receiving a bribe while serving at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme.

Contributing: Tennessean reporters Craig Shoup and Kirsten Fiscus, USA TODAY reporter Tom Vanden Brook

Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EvanMealins.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Korbein Schultz, US Army Sgt. accused of selling secrets to China
The US military will build a temporary port on the coast of Gaza to increase the flow of aid to Palestinian civilians in the enclave.

Joe Biden will announce the move in his State of the Union speech on Thursday night as tension grows between Washington and Israel.

The temporary port will be used to handle aid sent into the region via Cyprus.

Mr Biden said he expected American allies to be involved in the effort to get aid into Gaza and it is understood US officials have been discussing the move with their British counterparts in recent days.

We know the aid flowing into Gaza is nowhere near enough and nowhere near fast enough, an administration official said.

The president will make clear again this evening that we all need to do more and the United States is doing more.

US officials said the operation will not require that US troops be on the ground to build the pier.

The officials did not provide details about how the pier would be built. One noted that the US military has unique capabilities and can do things from just offshore.

Israel fully supports the facility

On Thursday, an Israeli official said the country welcomes the plan to deliver humanitarian aid by sea and will coordinate the development of the project with the US.

Israel fully supports creation of such a facility, the official said on condition of anonymity.

UNRWA, the UNs agency for Palestinian refugees, says Gaza needs at least 400 to 500 trucks a day to meet the most basic needs of its citizens.

Gaza used to receive roughly 500 trucks with supplies daily before the war when the enclave still had local sources of fresh water and agricultural products.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) earlier this week reported that at least 15 children have died of malnourishment and dehydration at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, an area worst affected by fighting.

WHO screenings at health facilities in the north found one in six children under the age of two to be acutely malnourished.

US frustrated by lack of Israeli co-operation

Mr Biden has pleaded with Israel, which has effectively sealed off Gaza, to make it easier to bring aid trucks into the stricken areas.

Frustrated by an apparent lack of cooperation, the US has carried out two airdrops of aid over the past week and Israeli cabinet minister Benny Gantz, who met vice-president Kamala Harris on Monday, said he was surprised how angry the US was over the impasse in Gaza.

Experts warned the aid effort will be challenging.

This is a huge military undertaking for the US, fraught with risks at sea and at delivery in Gaza, and its a step being taken to effectively break a siege enforced not by an enemy, but an ally, Charles Lister, a Middle East analyst, wrote on X.

The Biden administration is coming under strong domestic pressure to restrain Israel and step up humanitarian support for Palestinian civilians who have borne the brunt of Israels military response to the Oct 7 attack by Hamas.

Democrat strategists fears that Mr Biden could pay dearly at the ballot box appeared to be confirmed on Super Tuesday when around 100,000 people in the crucial swing state of Michigan voted uncommitted in the Democratic Primary.

Joe Biden on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, DC on Friday

Struggling in the polls already, Mr Biden can ill afford to lose the support of young and black voters who made up the coalition that swept him to power in 2020.

Over the weekend Kamala Harris, the vice president, called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza when she spoke in Selma, Alabama.

The Gaza crisis has threatened to overshadow Mr Bidens State of the Union speech on Thursday evening in which he will seek to press his case for re-election in November with a raft of eye-catching domestic initiatives.

In the televised speech, which is one of the key events in the US political calendar, the president will hail that the US avoided the recession that had been predicted by economic forecasters.

Seeking to draw a distinction between his vision and that of Donald Trump, Mr Biden will announce more green investment paid for by raising taxes on the ultra wealthy and corporations, who will see the rate increase from 21 to 28 per cent.

But voters remain sceptical about Bidenomics, with Mr Trump enjoying a healthy lead in the category of which candidate can best handle the economy.

In an attempt to burnish his image, Mr Biden wrote on X that he had taken advice on how to deliver the State of the Union speech from actors who have portrayed the president on screen including Morgan Freeman and Michael Douglas.

You may have heard Ive got a big speech coming up, Mr Biden wrote So, I thought I would hear from some folks who have done the job before  sort of.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The United States Congress may begin collecting signatures this week to bring a bill to help Ukraine and other partners to a vote in the House of Representatives bypassing House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Source: Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick on Wednesday at a press briefing at the Capitol; quoted by Voice of America, The Hill; as reported by European Pravda

Details: Fitzpatrick claims that if Johnson does not put the project to a vote, the signature collection process will begin.

Quote: "This is a pressure point, to try to apply pressure to force something to the floor."

The congressman stated that if the House of Representatives cannot reach an agreement on the bill, "the alternative cant be that Ukraine fails and our border remains open".

Fitzpatrick said that he is working with Johnson's office to bring the package before the House of Representatives.

The congressman added that he was "very confident" the initiative could get the 218 signatures needed to pass.

Fitzpatrick announced last week that he was preparing to bypass Speaker Mike Johnson in order to secure approval for Ukraine aid.

Read also: An interview with US Congressman Jim Costa on the future of Lend-Lease, funding for Ukraine's Armed Forces, and a lack of confidence in victory

Earlier, Mike Johnson, Republican Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, stated that the bill for supplementary funding for Ukraine will be considered as soon as the federal government's financing issues are resolved.

Support UP or become our patron!
Palestinian workers bury bodies at a grave for victims killed in the Hamas-Israel conflict in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 7, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 30,800 since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict on Oct. 7, 2023, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Thursday. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)

GAZA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 30,800 since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict on Oct. 7, 2023, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Thursday.

Israeli army killed 83 Palestinians and wounded 142 others during the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 30,800 and injuries to 72,298, the ministry added.

Palestinian medical sources said that the bodies of at least 45 Palestinians and dozens of injured people were transferred to the Al-Aqsa Hospital in the city of Deir Al-Balah during the past 24 hours.

The sources said most of the victims were children and women, noting that some of the casualties remain trapped under debris.

The sources reported that a large number of injured people died due to the lack of medical resources in the hospital.

The Israeli army announced in a statement on Wednesday that a soldier was killed and 13 others were injured, with six of them sustaining serious injuries, in the ongoing battles in the southern Gaza Strip.

The death toll of Israeli soldiers has risen to 587, with 3,053 others injured since Oct. 7, 2023, according to data released by the Israeli army on Wednesday.

Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage. 

Palestinian workers bury bodies at a grave for victims killed in the Hamas-Israel conflict in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 7, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 30,800 since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict on Oct. 7, 2023, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Thursday. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)

A Palestinian boy squats by a grave for victims killed in the Hamas-Israel conflict in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 7, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 30,800 since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict on Oct. 7, 2023, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Thursday. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)

Palestinian people attend a mass funeral for victims killed in the Hamas-Israel conflict in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 7, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 30,800 since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict on Oct. 7, 2023, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Thursday. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua)
Two Democrats in Congress opened an investigation into businessman Elon Musk's SpaceX company, demanding information on Russia's alleged usage of the Starlink satellite internet terminals, the Washington Post reported on March 7, citing a letter written by Congressmen Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia.

Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov told the Wall Street Journal in February 2024 that Russian forces were using thousands of Starlink terminals in Ukraine, echoing earlier assertions by the military intelligence and media outlets.

The letter by Raskin and Garcia warned SpaceX's president, Gwynne Shotwell, that the alleged use of Starlink by Russian forces represented "a serious threat to Ukraine's security, Ukrainian lives, and U.S. national security."

The congressmen wrote that they are "concerned that (SpaceX) may not have appropriate guardrails and policies in place."

Musk has denied that SpaceX has sold any Starlink units to Russia and said that Starlink would not connect to any devices there.

Both military intelligence and media reports said that Russian forces connected Starlink in occupied Ukraine, not on Russian territory.

Despite Musk's denials, Ukraine's military intelligence said that Russia has allegedly been purchasing Starlink terminals from "Arab countries," citing intercepted communications.

It did not specify which countries it referred to.

The congressmen's letter also said that Russia may be using third-party countries to illegally purchase Starlink, and requested answers on how the company is working to prevent the unauthorized trade of the terminals.

The letter said the investigation is in its early stages, and the congressmen plan to contact the Pentagon and other relevant agencies.

SpaceX began providing the Starlink terminals to Ukraine shortly after the Russian full-scale invasion in February 2022.

In June 2023, the Pentagon confirmed that SpaceX had won a contract from the Defense Department to provide Ukraine with Starlink satellite services.

Read also: Russian military uses Starlink inside Ukraine, intelligence confirms

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Pro-Ukraine House Republican Brian Fitzpatrick may start gathering signatures as early as March 8 to bypass House Speaker Mike Johnson and force a vote on a Ukraine aid bill, the Voice of America (VoA) reported on March 6.

The so-called "discharge petition" is one of the tools that pro-Ukrainian U.S. lawmakers can use to push forward the $95 billion foreign aid bill, allocating $60 billion for Kyiv. The petition needs to gather at least 218 signatures to hold the vote, meaning it has to find support among both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

The U.S. Senate passed the foreign aid bill in February, but Johnson, Fitzpatrick's colleague from the Republican Party, has so far refused to put it to a vote in his chamber, despite the pressure from the White House and other members of Congress.

Fitzpatrick said he keeps working with Johnson's office to hold a vote through regular channels but will start collecting signatures to bypass the speaker if he does not comply.

"If the House cannot come to a consensus on a bill to be put on the floor, the alternative can't be that Ukraine fails and our border remains open," Fitzpatrick said during a briefing in Congress on March 6.

The move would potentially undermine Johnson's control of the House, which Fitzpatrick has said he does not intend to do.

At the same time, some Democrats in Congress have already voiced their opposition to the move on the grounds it does not contain humanitarian aid, which was included in the Senate bill.

"I find the absence of humanitarian assistance to be quite frankly, cruel and offensive," said Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern.

McGovern added that the only guaranteed way to bring the aid to a vote would be for Johnson to schedule it himself.

Despite the hurdles, Fitzpatrick said he was "very confident" he could gather the required 218 signatures.

Discharge petitions are rarely successful and have only resulted in a positive outcome two times since 2002, according to CBS News.

Read also: Bloomberg: Biden considers tapping into US Army funds for temporary Ukraine aid

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
A Ukrainian soldier uses Starlink equipment near the front line of the war in February 2024

House Democrats are demanding answers from Elon Musk's SpaceX amid claims that its technology is being used by Russian forces in Ukraine.

Kyiv released intercepted communications last month indicating Russia had obtained Starlink terminals.

Mr Musk recently denied that any terminals - which are key to Ukraine's army operations - were sold to Russia.

But in a letter seen by the BBC, two senior Democrats said they were "concerned" by the recent allegations.

In the letter sent to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell on Wednesday, Reps Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin wrote that it was "alarming" that Russian troops might have obtained Starlink technology in violation of US sanctions.

"We are concerned that you may not have appropriate guardrails and policies in place to ensure your technology is neither acquired directly or indirectly, nor used illegally by Russia," the men, who serve on the US House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, wrote.

The oversight committee has the power to instigate investigations and hold public hearings.

Starlink's satellite system is one of the few technical solutions for providing internet access in places affected by natural disasters, very remote locations or - as in the case of Ukraine - war zones.

Use of the system requires a Starlink terminal, and SpaceX began shipping the terminals to Ukraine within hours of the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.

There are now tens of thousands of terminals in the country, including up to 500 purchased by the US Department of Defence in June 2023.

Last month, Ukrainian military intelligence officials alleged that Russian forces were also using the Starlink system. The country's Main Directorate of Intelligence said it intercepted conversations between Russian forces talking about units using the terminals in occupied territory in Donetsk.

"Yes, there have been recorded cases of use of these devices by the Russian occupiers. This is starting to take on a systemic nature," intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov told local media.

Providing Starlink equipment directly to Russia is illegal under US sanctions, but Ukraine suspects Russia is obtaining the terminals from third countries, or that they have been captured on the battlefield.

When reports began to surface in February, Mr Musk posted on X: "To the best of our knowledge, no Starlinks have been sold directly or indirectly to Russia."

A spokesman for the Kremlin also denied that Russian troops are using Starlink.

The Democratic lawmakers sent SpaceX a list of questions and asked the company to provide information about any reports or complaints it has received about possible illegal use of its technology.

The congressman also asked about policies and actions that SpaceX has taken to comply with US sanctions against Russia.

Use of Starlink by Russia's invasion force "poses a serious threat to Ukraine's security, Ukrainian lives, and US national security," the lawmakers wrote.

The BBC has contacted SpaceX for comment.

Last year, SpaceX alleged that Ukrainian forces were using Starlink to guide military drones - which have been a key element in the war - in violation of the company's terms of service.

"We know the military is using them for comms, and that's ok," Ms Shotwell said at the time. "But our intent was never to have them use it for offensive purposes."
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. military aid to Ukraine, blocked by Republican leaders in Congress, is needed to provide a bridge until European nations can ramp up their own defense production, a senior Ukrainian official said on Thursday.

Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, said it was critical to U.S. credibility to provide such aid and if it withdrew from its leadership role it would take time to develop European capacity.

Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, has refused to schedule a vote on an emergency spending bill that includes $60 billion in aid for Ukraine, much of it for Kyiv to buy U.S. weapons and military equipment.

"If we're speaking (about) this year, the decision on military support for Ukraine is vital for the credibility of the United States as ... the major player of the global arena," Stefanishyna said in a video appearance from Ukraine with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank.

U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has backed military aid to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, while his likely Republican opponent in the Nov. 5 U.S. election, former president Donald Trump, has a more isolationist streak.

Without naming Trump, a Republican who opposed the $60 billion aid for Ukraine, Stefanishyna alluded to the possibility Washington may abandon its post-World War Two role in seeking to protect Western Europe against aggression by Moscow.

"The U.S. has been the major military power of the global arena and disengagement from that also requires a transition, if this decision is taken," she said, saying Washington had been the "major guarantor of the peace" in the last 75 years.

"You cannot change the reality ... within one day," she said. "That requires a transition, and that requires a transition to build a stronger European capacity."

(Reporting By Arshad Mohammed and Jonathan Landay; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; editing by Diane Craft)
Semafor Signals

Insights from The Economist, Center for Economic and Policy Research, and The New York Times





The News

The United States has authorized more than 100 separate weapons sales to Israel since the Oct. 7 attacks, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, a stark addition to the publicly announced sales of arms during the Israel-Hamas war.

Members of Congress were told in a classified briefing of the arms sales, which included thousands of precision-guided munitions, small diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid, according to the Post.

Previously, only two approved weapons sales authorized by President Joe Biden had been made public. The Biden administration bypassed Congress to initiate $253.5 million in sales of tank ammunition and components needed to make 155 mm shells.

Washington is continuing to aid Israels war efforts despite widespread public pressure for a ceasefire and internal frustration over Israels inability to minimize civilian casualties and supply humanitarian aid, leading Biden to authorize an airdrop of food aid last week.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

White House increasingly uneasy over war, but wont relent on military aid

Source: The Economist

The Biden administration inherently believes in Israels right to defend itself but is also exasperated by mounting casualties and political fallout from the war, according to The Economist. Still, the White House has declined to use Americas leverage more directly by pausing arms sales to Israel, a move that would be similar to Ronald Reagans blocking of weapons to the country in the 1980s, the paper reported. But the White House is making its unease over Israels actions in Gaza more overt, granting Benny Gantz, a centrist in Israels staunchly right-wing administration, a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In meeting with Gantz, Washington is warning Netanyahu that Biden may yet put his thumb on the scales of Israels unsteady politics, The Economist wrote.

Most Americans oppose sending more arms to Israel, but theres a partisan divide

Sources: Center for Economic and Policy Research, The New York Times

Just over half of Americans said they agreed with stopping weapon shipments to Israel until its attacks on Gaza stop, according to a recent poll by the Center for Economic and Policy Research. There is a stark divide along partisan lines, however: 62% of respondents who voted for Biden in 2020 agreed with halting the arms deliveries, compared with only 30% of respondents who voted for Trump. The polarizing conflict is becoming a particular headache for Bidens reelection campaign as powerful progressive factions of the Democrats decry the presidents firmly pro-Israel policy: in states including Minnesota, a significant number of Democrat voters in the recent primary elections voted uncommitted in protest, meaning they are voting for state delegates who are not obligated to nominate Biden on the ticket. The campaign to shun the president over the Israel-Hamas war has Democratic strategists worried about a lower voter turnout in the November general election, which would benefit former President Donald Trump.
Matthew Miller, Spokesperson for the US Department of State. Stock photo: Getty Images

The US State Department has commented on the missile strike on Odesa during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Source: European Pravda, citing Matthew Miller, Spokesperson for the US Department of State, at a briefing

He emphasised that this strike, in particular, serves as a reminder that Ukraine needs missile interceptors for air defence systems.

Quote: "Its a reminder of Ukraines need for air defence interceptors, and its a reminder that the United States Congress needs to take action, as we have called on them to do, to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression," added the State Department spokesperson.

Background:

On 7 March, the Greek Prime Minister said that at the time of the attack, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was with him in the port, and the explosion occurred very close to them. No one from the Greek delegation was harmed.

Top officials of the European Union reacted to the incident almost immediately. Charles Michel, President of the European Council, described the Russian attack as "reprehensible and below even the Kremlins playbook," while the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called it vile.

Support UP or become our patron!
(Bloomberg) -- US businesses may re-examine their stance on Zimbabwe following the adoption of a new sanctions program which places only three entities and the nations top leaders including Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa under restrictions.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Its an opportunity for businesses to reexamine their de-risking models and look at the Zimbabwe market, David Gainer, assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of States Bureau of African Affairs, said in an online briefing on Thursday. US policy on Zimbabwe has not changed and there has only been a change in the sanctions tools it uses, Gainer added.

Mnangagwa was placed on the so-called Global Magnitsky Program, joining a long list of other prominent figures including Angolas former richest woman, Isabel dos Santos, and South Africas three Gupta brothers. The program allows the US to target foreign officials implicated in alleged corruption or human rights abuses.

Read More: US Sanctions Zimbabwe President Mnangagwa Over Human Rights

The Zimbabwe government late Wednesday condemned the latest sanctions program for targeting the nations leaders, describing it as an escalation of hostilities. Speaking for the first time in public Thursday after the announcement by Washington on March 4, Mnangagwa said the southern African nation will not accept anything less than a total removal of sanctions.

The sanctions are unlawful, Mnangagwa said. All sanctions must be removed in total.

The US, which also announced a pause in its involvement in talks on the restructuring of Zimbabwes $18 billion debt due to a lack of progress in democratic processes, according to Gainer. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said talks would continue despite the US exit.

Read More: Zimbabwe Talks on $18 Billion Debt On Track Despite US Exit

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
A US Army intelligence analyst was arrested at Fort Campbell for allegedly providing national defense information to China (LUKE SHARRETT)

A US Army intelligence analyst was arrested on Thursday for allegedly providing national defense information to China.

Sergeant Korbein Schultz, who held a top-secret security clearance, was taken into custody at Fort Campbell, a military base on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Schultz's indictment did not identify the country he was allegedly supplying with sensitive military information, but press reports identified it as China.

According to the indictment, Schultz, since June 2022, provided a contact in Hong Kong with documents, maps and photographs relating to US national defense.

Schultz was allegedly paid a total of $42,000 for the information.

The Justice Department said it included information about potential US plans in the event that Taiwan came under military attack.

It also included documents related to fighter aircraft and helicopters, hypersonic equipment, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and studies about the US and Chinese military.

Asked on Friday about Schultz's arrest, as well as that of a Chinese software engineer held this week for allegedly stealing artificial intelligence technology from Google, Beijing said it was "not aware of the specific circumstances" of the cases.

But spokesperson Mao Ning said in reference to the Google case that "China has consistently attached high importance to and actively protected intellectual property rights".

"At the same time, we also oppose the United States abusing its national power to groundlessly suppress Chinese enterprises and Chinese citizens," she told a regular briefing.

Schultz's indictment also comes shortly after the arrests in California of two US Navy sailors on charges of spying for China.

Petty officer Wenheng Zhao was sentenced to 27 months in prison in January after pleading guilty to charges of conspiring with a foreign intelligence officer and accepting a bribe.

Zhao and another US sailor, Jinchao Wei, were arrested in August.

cl-oho/mca
(Bloomberg) -- The US is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to develop maritime capabilities in Southeast Asia as nations face growing pressure from Beijing in the disputed South China Sea, a senior US official said.

Most Read from Bloomberg

We spend a great deal of time effort and money investing in building the maritime capacity of our partners, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink said during an online press briefing from Washington on Wednesday evening following a five nation swing through the region.

The more countries are able to understand what is happening in their maritime domains and defend their own interests in their maritime domains, the further we promote stability across the region, he said.

The remarks follow a collision between coast guard vessels from China and the Philippines this week during a resupply mission in the disputed waters. Manila said four of its sailors were injured during the incident after the Chinese ship turned its water cannons on one of its supply boats.

The Peoples Republic of China has taken a number of steps in the South China Sea that both run counter to international law, but that also utilize coercion to intimidate partners in ways that we find deeply unacceptable and destabilizing, Kritenbrink said.

China earlier accused the US of sowing discord, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning calling on the US to refrain from using the Philippines as a pawn to destabilize the South China Sea.

Asked about whether he has noticed any improvement in the alliance between the US and Thailand under Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, Kritenbrink said he came away very bullish following his trip.

Security cooperation is probably more robust than ever, he said. I think you could argue across the board that the US-Thai alliance is as strong as its ever been.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
MOSCOW, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing NATO Steadfast Defender military exercises escalate tensions and undermine global stability, said Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev.

The large-scale war game going on in Europe is a way for NATO to rehearse "a scenario of armed confrontation with Russia," said Patrushev, cited by Russian media on Thursday.

"The destructive role of the United States in recent history is evident. No other country has staged so many wars and military conflicts, or provoked so many economic crises," he said.

According to Patrushev, NATO has become "an important instrument of Washington's influence" as the alliance continues to expand toward Russia's western borders.

He also noted that the bloc has plans to further increase its presence in the Asia-Pacific and Arctic regions.

Patrushev said NATO member states have continued to raise defense expenditures in 2024, which reflects its "growing aggressive nature."

The Steadfast Defender 2024 military drills began in late January and are scheduled to run through May. With some 90,000 troops participating, it is the largest war game in Europe in decades. 
The US Department of State and the German Marshall Fund are joining forces to contribute to the rebuilding of Ukrainian cities.

Source: United States Department of State

Quote: "The United States Department of State and the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) announced the creation of the Ukraine Cities Partnership (UCP) for Sustainable Urban Recovery, a new public-private partnership to help Ukrainians redesign and rebuild sustainable, inclusive, and resilient cities."

Details: The US Department of State says that they will collaborate with the German Marshall Fund to engage stakeholders, technical experts, and funding partners in the efforts under the UCP project. The initiative aims to involve the business and the private sector, non-governmental organisations, and foundations.

The plan is to announce the three-year initiative during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin in June.

Support UP or become our patron!
By Humeyra Pamuk

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. and Turkey are set to kick off comprehensive talks on Thursday to discuss if the NATO allies can move beyond deep rooted disagreements over issues such as Syria and Ankara's close ties with Russia.

Senior U.S. and Turkish officials are set to meet at the State Department for several rounds of talks focusing on topics spanning Syria, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, defense cooperation, energy, counterterrorism and the Israel-Hamas war.

The conversations, dubbed the Strategic Mechanism, will set the stage for a meeting on Friday between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Ties between the U.S. and Turkey have drifted away from a strategic partnership in recent years as disagreements between the two long-standing treaty allies have widened.

Turkey's 2019 acquisition of Russian S-400 defense missile system triggered U.S. sanctions on Ankara and led to its removal from the F-35 stealth fighter jet program. Meanwhile, Turkey has remained deeply troubled over U.S. support in northern Syria to Kurdish militia that it sees as an extension of the PKK, a militant group it considers as a terrorist organization.

The U.S. was also annoyed by Ankara's 20 month-long delay in approving Sweden's NATO membership, which took place in January. The U.S. Congress has since approved the $20 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, long sought by the Turkish government.

Since then, U.S. officials have begun describing a desire on both sides to deepen conversations in areas where the two sides can cooperate.

"This is probably going to be the meatiest and most positive strategic mechanism that weve had in years," a senior U.S. official said of the upcoming conversations.

In late January, U.S. Senators from President Joe Biden's Democratic Party Jeanne Shaheen and Chris Murphy visited Turkey and met with Erdogan. Murphy then said there was now "significant momentum" in the bilateral ties.

In an interview with Reuters, Shaheen described their visit as "quite positive in terms of the potential to reset U.S.-Turkey relations going forward."

TOUGH CONVERSATIONS

However, there is no illusion the two-day visit will solve all long-running strains between the two allies and some tough conversations are expected.

The hardest talks will likely take place on the way forward in Syria and Ankara's strong economic ties with Russia, which Washington says has helped the Kremlin circumvent some U.S. sanctions on Moscow.

Shaheen said she discussed with Erdogan Ankara's relationship with Moscow, arguing it is not in Turkey's interest to have Russian President Vladimir Putin "feel like he can take over whatever country he would like", an apparent reference to its invasion of Ukraine.

"The potential is much greater for the United States and Turkey to work together than for Turkey and Russia to work together," Shaheen said.

Ankara opposes Western sanctions on Moscow even as it has criticised Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It has managed to maintain close ties with both Moscow and Kyiv throughout the conflict.

It held early talks between the sides and helped broker a deal for grain shipments from Ukraine.

In the meantime, its trade with Moscow boomed before a U.S. executive order in December complicated some Turkish payments for Russian oil as well as Russian payments for a broad range of Turkish exports.

Senior U.S. officials repeatedly traveled to Turkey to warn Turkish companies against the risk of running afoul with U.S. sanctions.

"I think we're seeing a lot better cooperation there," U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake said in the same interview.

On Syria, any breakthrough will likely remain elusive after years of disagreements.

Washington's Syria policy is focused on fighting against Islamic State remnants and training partnered forces.

Spearheaded by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and including Arab fighters, the Syrian Democratic Forces militia has been a major partner for the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State over the last decade.

Turkey wants the U.S. to stop its support for the Kurdish militia.

"Obviously we see things different in some respects but...our interests align when it comes to defeating ISIS," Flake said. "We're trying to build on the areas that we have a collective interest despite some differences we have there."

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Salt Lake City mayoral candidate Michael Valentine poses for a portrait at his shop Six Sailor Cider in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. A bar owned by Valentine announced it wont serve Zionists, in a politically charged social media post that called for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

A bar owned by a former Salt Lake City mayoral candidate announced this weekend it wont serve Zionists, in a politically charged social media post that called for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The post drew responses from leaders in Utahs Jewish community, and from the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services on Wednesday, which said in a statement it notified the Utah Attorney Generals Office so it may conduct an investigation on whether the business is violating discrimination laws.

Salt Lake Citys Weathered Waves, 158 S. Rio Grande, posted on Instagram that Zionists are banned from its establishment.

The bar is owned by Michael Valentine, who ran in Salt Lake Citys recent mayoral race in which incumbent Mayor Erin Mendenhall won.

Valentine says hes also running in this years Salt Lake County mayoral race. Salt Lake County Clerk Lannie Chapman said Valentine has not officially filed a form to be on the November ballot, but she added that the deadline for unaffiliated candidates is June 18 and write-in candidates is Sept. 3.

Business announces ban on group

No Zionists allowed. We are a business but we are also human. We dont make and sell cider for robots. We work so hard for Utah and Salt Lake, to build a community, the Instagram post said.

The business went on to say it is horrified by the ongoing genocide in Gaza and even more horrified to see so many Americans ignore and rationalize ethnic cleansing. That is why we are pleased to announce we are banning all Zionists forever from our establishments.

Zionism is hate speech, it is white supremacy and has nothing to do with the beautiful Jewish faith. We forever stand firm with the people of Gaza and humanity. We dream of a free and prosperous Palestine, the post said.

As of Wednesday, the post remained pinned to the business Instagram page  meaning the business has elected to keep it at the top of its page. It also had a note in its caption that it was edited, saying it will block any further Zionist (expletive) posted on this thread.

Zionism is the movement and ideology to reestablish and support the existence of a Jewish state in the biblical land of Israel, the American Jewish Committees website states.

Valentine also appeared at a Feb. 6 Salt Lake City Council meeting along with several other mostly pro-Palestinian supporters who showed up to ask the City Council to pass a resolution calling on a cease-fire in Gaza.

This is not about being anti-Jewish, this is about Zionism. This is about genocide, he said. Please stand on the right side of history.

The City Council ultimately approved a resolution a few weeks after that. The city took a delicate stance on the issue, simply calling for peace in the Middle East.

The American Jewish Committee says Zionists support Jews right to self-determination in their historic homeland and Israels right to exist. The group contends that antisemitism is often cloaked in the claim that someone is anti-Zionist.

Notably, anti-Zionism  the belief that the Jewish people do not have the right to a national home in their ancestral homeland (e.g., that the state of Israel should not exist)  is itself widely believed by Jews and non-Jewish allies to be a form of antisemitism, the American Jewish Committee says.

State agency responds

The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services released a statement Wednesday that said it is aware a licensed bar shared messages on social media stating it will deny service to Zionists. The agency added that people had contacted the department with concerns. The statement did not directly name the bar.

Today, the department notified the Utah Attorney Generals Office so they may conduct an investigation on whether the business is violating discrimination laws. At the same time, the department is reviewing its statutory obligations and legal options for responding to discrimination at (department) licensed establishments, the department said.

It added that it takes allegations of discrimination seriously. Safety is always the departments top priority for everyone who interacts with licensed establishments, including patrons, employees and owners.

In response, Weathered Waves called the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services statement shortsighted and claimed it was defamatory and slanderous.

Banning hate speech in any and all forms is not discrimination. Its actually the opposite of that, the bars post reads. The bar says Zionism is not a protected class but an ideology, and the bar bans people with the ideology to keep patrons safe.

We expect a full retraction of this shortsighted statement as banning hate speech, being anti-genocide increases the safety of our establishment, and is not illegal in any way whatsoever, the bars post said.

And for the record, we are banning Zionists, not Jews. The exact same way we ban neo-Nazis and white supremacists and not Christians. Being religious is not an excuse or open license for racism, hate speech, and xenophobia. We have zero tolerance for it and wont abide, the bar said on Instagram Monday.

Things are getting worse for Jews in Utah

The United Jewish Federation of Utah said in a statement it is alarmed by the escalation of events in Utah that have normalized hate speech, exclusion and intimidation of the Jewish community in Utah. Things are getting worse for Jews in Utah.

The group said the bars social media comments about banning people based on national, ethnic, and ideological lines is a violation of civil rights laws at all levels. It said it reported the business to law enforcement.

In the guise of anti-Zionist rhetoric, this business owner is demonizing those who believe in the right of existence of a Jewish state as well as applying a double standard to Israel and our community. The results of these acts have led to direct threats upon members of our community, the United Jewish Federation of Utah said.

Utah Rabbi Avremi Zippel also responded on X, saying he had enough people reach out to him privately that he decided to acknowledge the issue and said the bar is probably breaking a buncha laws. Heck if I care.

He went on to say the Yalla Kosher Food Truck is open to food lovers of every stripe and color. And especially Zionists.

Trust me, youd rather have some of our Shayetet 13 Shawarma, than some sexual assault sympathizing seltzer he added, seemingly referring to a recent U.N. report Monday that said there are reasonable grounds to believe Hamas committed rape, sexual torture and inhumane treatment of women during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that left about 1,200 people dead, and continues to commit sexual violence.

Israels war against Hamas has since laid waste to the Gaza Strip, killing more than 30,000 people, according to Gazas Health Ministry. The U.N. says a quarter of Gazas 2.3 million people face starvation, according to The Associated Press.

In a subsequent post, the bar said Nazis, Zionists, racists, transphobes, homophobes, sexists and white supremacists are not allowed in the bar.

Contributing: Carter Williams
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) will be celebrating TCM Day, which is described as the longest-running student tradition, Friday, March 8.

TCM Day is celebrated on campus every March in observance of St. Patricks Day. It is an annual rite of passage to initiate new student engineers and geologists into the Order of St. Patrick, the patron saint of engineers, according to UTEP.

UTEP says the tradition began in 1920 when UTEP was known as the Texas College of Mines and Metallurgy, or TCM.

Additionally, the daylong series of events includes the whitewashing of the M from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. on the mountain north of Sun Bowl Stadium and the Team Mining Challenge from 12:30 to 1:35 p.m. at Magoffin Auditorium.

You can visit the TCM Day homepage for more information.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
A utility provider said Thursday that the largest wildfire in Texas history may have started at its facilities.

Xcel Energy said its facilities appeared to have been involved in the starting of the Smokehouse Creek fire, which has burned through more than 1 million acres of land in the Texas Panhandle.

Texas officials have said as many as 500 structures may have been destroyed in a string of wildfires, including the Smokehouse Creek fire, that ignited last month.

Xcel Energy has been cooperating with the investigations into the wildfires and has been conducting its own review. Based on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire, the utility provider said in an update.

Other electric utilities have also claimed responsibility for wildfires in recent months, including the deadly wildfires that ripped through the Hawaiian island of Maui last year.

Xcel Energy disputes claims that it acted negligently in maintaining and operating its infrastructure; however, we encourage people who had property destroyed by or livestock lost in the Smokehouse Creek fire to submit a claim to Xcel Energy through our claims process, the statement said.

We will review and respond to any such claims in an expeditious manner, with a priority on claims from any person that lost their home in the Smokehouse Creek fire, it added.

The Smokehouse Creek fire in Hutchinson County is about 44 percent contained, Texas A&M Forest Service said Wednesday. Texas officials said they are still investigating the cause of the fire, The Associated Press noted.

The Associated Press contributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Felicia Martinez, left, and Evadulia Orta, right, both whose children were among 19 children killed in the massacre at Robb Elementary, embrace after speaking at a special city council meeting in Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Almost two years after the deadly school shooting in Uvalde that left 19 children and two teachers dead, the city council met to discuss the results of an independent investigation it requested into the response by local police officers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

UVALDE, Texas (AP)  An investigation Uvalde city leaders ordered into the Robb Elementary School shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers defended the actions of local police in a report released Thursday, prompting shouts of cowards during a City Council meeting and causing several family members of the victims to angrily walk out.

The report acknowledged wide failures by police during the 2022 attack and reiterated rippling missteps that the Justice Department and state lawmakers have previously laid bare. Nearly 400 law enforcement agents, including Uvalde Police Department officers, rushed to the scene of the shooting but waited more than an hour to confront a teenage gunman armed with an AR-style rifle.

But an investigator hired by Uvalde officials found that the city's officers did not violate policies, and in some cases, praised their actions during one of the deadliest classroom shootings in U.S. history. The presentation prompted an eruption of anger among some of the victims' family members, who also scolded the investigator for leaving the room before they had a chance to address him.

You said they did it in good faith. You call that good faith? They stood there 77 minutes, said Kimberly Mata-Rubio, whose daughter was among those killed in the attack, after the presentation ended.

Jesse Prado, an Austin-based investigator and former police detective who made the report for the Uvalde City Council, began his presentation by describing the failures by responding local, state and federal officers at the scene that day: communication problems, poor training for live shooter situations, lack of available equipment and delays on breaching the classroom.

There were problems all day long with communication and lack of it. The officers had no way of knowing what was being planned, what was being said, Prado said. If they would have had a ballistic shield, it would have been enough to get them to the door.

The city's report is just one of several probes into the massacre, including the Justice Department report in January that criticized the cascading failures of responding law enforcement.

Law enforcement took more than an hour to get inside the classroom and kill the gunman, even as children inside the classrooms called 911, begging police to rescue them.

But Prado said his review showed that officers showed immeasurable strength and level-headed thinking as they faced fire from the shooter and refrained from shooting into a darkened classroom.

They were being shot at from eight feet away from the door, Prado said.

Prado also said the families who rushed to the school hampered efforts to set up a chain of command as they had to conduct crowd control with parents trying to get in the building or pleading with officers to go inside.

At times they were difficult to control, Prado said.  They were wanting to break through police barriers.

Family members erupted when Prado briefly left after his presentation.

Bring him back! several of them shouted.

Prado returned and sat and listened when victims families cried and criticized the report, the council and the responding officers.

My daughter was left for dead, Ruben Zamorra said. These police officers signed up to do a job. They didnt do it.

A criminal investigation by Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchells office into the law enforcement response in the May 2022 shooting remains open. A grand jury was summoned earlier this year and some law enforcement officials have already been asked to testify.

Tensions remain high between Uvalde city officials and the local prosecutor, while the community of more than 15,000, about 85 miles (140 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio, is plagued with trauma and divided over accountability.

Uvalde City Council member Hector Luevano said he was embarrassed and insulted by the city's report.

These families deserve more. This community deserves more, Luevano said. I dont accept this report.

The city report comes after a nearly 600-page report by the Department of Justice in January found massive failures by law enforcement, including acting with no urgency to establish a command post, assuming the subject was barricaded despite ongoing gunfire, and communicating inaccurate information to grieving families.

Had law enforcement agencies followed generally accepted practices in active shooter situations and gone right after the shooter and stopped him, lives would have been saved and people would have survived, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said when the federal report was released.

The DOJ reported that 48 minutes after the shooter entered the school, UPD Acting Chief Mariano Pargas continued to provide no direction, command or control to personnel.

The city report notes the agencys SWAT team had not trained consistently since before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Three UPD officers who were present in the hallway during the shooting were the leadership of the SWAT team and had the most experience with Uvalde PD."

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott initially praised the law enforcement response, saying the reason the shooting was not worse is because law enforcement officials did what they do. He claimed that officers had run toward gunfire to save lives.

But in the weeks following the shooting, that story changed as information released through media reports and lawmakers findings illustrated the botched law enforcement response.

At least five officers who were on the scene have lost their jobs, including two Department of Public Safety officers and the on-site commander, Pete Arredondo, the former school police chief. No officers have faced criminal charges.

____

Associated Press writers Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City, Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, Juan A. Lozano in Houston and Anita Snow in Phoenix contributed to this report.
UVALDE, Texas (Nexstar)  Families of children killed at Robb Elementary School walked out of a Uvalde City Council meeting Thursday as the city unveiled a report that recommended all Uvalde police officers be exonerated of wrongdoing in their response to the shooting.

The independent investigation commissioned by the City of Uvalde left families demanding accountability for officers who waited over an hour to intervene as a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers.

Former Austin Police Department detective Jesse Prado examined the actions of each Uvalde police officer as they responded to the deadliest school shooting in Texas history on May 24, 2022.

The report recommends that each police officer should be exonerated, stating in most of their cases: No evidence of serious acts of misconduct in direct violation of Uvalde Police Departments policies was found in his behavior in response to the incident. I find that (this officer) acted in good faith.

But the matter-of-fact report, prepared in anticipation of litigation, was appalling to families who have demanded the city terminate officers who waited for over an hour to breach the classroom in which their children were dead and dying.

We keep getting kicked while we are down, said Kim Rubio, whose daughter Lexi was killed. No policy change will eliminate their fear and their hesitation to do what is right in the positions they serve.

The meeting often erupted into frustrated screaming, the crowd chanting coward directed toward Prado as he left the room shortly after his remarks. Pressure from the crowd brought him back, in which he spent about an hour listening to families lambast his report.

Theres kids dead, teachers dead. Children who survived in the class bleeding, teachers who are never going to be the same. And youre going to tell me nobody did anything wrong? Shame on you. Shame on you, said Laura Garza, the aunt of young victim Amerie Jo.

The investigation comes months after the Department of Justice released its review of the shooting, in which it found cascading failures of the nearly 400 law enforcement officers who responded to the scene that day. While officers from several local, state and federal agencies rushed to the scene, they waited more than an hour to breach the classroom and take down the the 18-year-old gunman.

The DOJ report is one of several investigations into the shooting, and cited themes of leadership failures in response to the shooting  citing lack of communication and failure to establish a command post on-scene. The federal governments findings followed similar themes to a summer 2022 Texas House Committee investigation into the shooting. The Houses 77-page document uncovered the miscommunication among officers which led to a delay in stopping the shooter.

Prados report comes to similar conclusions, finding department-wide failures in communication, leadership, and preparedness.

It also comes amid an ongoing criminal investigation by Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchells office. A grand jury was summoned earlier this year and some law enforcement officials have already been asked to testify, according to the Associated Press.

Former Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin commissioned the third-party investigation in June 2022, citing frustrations with other agencies reviewing law enforcement action, like the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Uvalde County District Attorneys office.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
The Van Gogh is one of the stars of the show (Nick Gammon)

A rare early work by Vincent van Gogh and a record-selling masterpiece by Wassily Kandinsky will be up for sale when one of the world's largest art fairs opens its doors this weekend.

From Saturday until March 14, visitors at The European Art Fair, better known as TEFAF, will be able to marvel at a treasure trove of paintings, sculptures and jewellery -- all up for sale -- in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht.

Among the many pieces up for grabs, which include famous names like Manet, Rubens and Rodin, the undisputed stars of the show are two paintings: Van Gogh's "Tete de paysanne a la coiffe blanche" and Kandinsky's "Murnau mit Kirche II".

Also known as "Head of an Old Peasant Woman with a White Cap", Van Gogh's early work, painted around 1884 has been put up for sale by M.S. Rau, one of the largest and best known galleries in the United States, based in New Orleans.

"Van Gogh is such an incredibly timeless artist," said the gallery's vice president of acquisitions Rebecca Rau.

"There is bound to be a lot of interest" from buyers, she told AFP.

Van Gogh made the painting while living with his parents in the southern Dutch town of Nuenen the year before he painted his other famous work from the period, the 1885 "The Potato Eaters".

M.S. Rau's president Bill Rau told AFP the asking price for the painting -- which goes on sale on Thursday -- was 4.5 million euros ($4.9 million).

"We knew that this would be a star at the fair," Rau said. "But we had no idea how excited people would get just walking by."

- Record Kandinsky -

Painted in 1910, Kandinsky's "Murnau with Church 2" was sold by Sotheby's in London last year for a record $45 million.

A colourful vision of the German village of Murnau with its church spire stretched like the peaks of the Bavarian Alps, heralded the Russian master's move towards abstraction.

The oil work once adorned the dining room of the Jewish couple Johanna Margarethe Stern and Siegbert Stern, founders of a textile company.

At the heart of Berlin's cultural life in the 1920s, counting Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka and Albert Einstein in their circle, they built up a collection of around 100 paintings and drawings.

Siegbert Stern died of natural causes in 1935.

His wife fled to the Netherlands but died in Auschwitz in May 1944 after being captured by the Nazis.

"Murnau Mit Kirche II" was identified only a decade ago in a museum in the Dutch city of Eindhoven, where it had been since 1951.

It was returned in 2022 to the heirs of the Sterns, whose 13 survivors shared the proceeds of the sale.

Art dealer Robert Landau bought the painting at auction from Sotheby's last year for around $45 million, the most expensive Kandinsky ever sold.

Landau did not want to disclose a selling price but told AFP the painting was recently valued at "100 million euros."

"But I have nothing to say about the price. The world knows what we paid for it and we will only sell it to someone we like, and who will keep it in a nice place," Landau said.

Both paintings may not be seen by the public for the foreseeable future, should they land in the hands of a buyer for a private collection.

But said Rebecca Rau: "The way I feel about most of the masterpieces, many of which are in this building at the moment, is eventually they will likely end up in a museum."

bur-jhe/ric/jm
Is there a secret to becoming a social-media influencer? To building a brand that develops a significant following on TikTok, or Instagram, or YouTube, or Facebook  or all of the above?

The answer is ... not necessarily the same for everyone.

But we asked five local influencers with hyper-Charlotte-specific accounts to share some thoughts on the niches theyve carved out for themselves; on the posts that helped them break big; about why they think their content has connected with audiences; and about what makes Charlotte such a great place to try to do what they trying to do.

Tha Daily Special guy: Cory Wilkins

Cory Wilkins of the Instagram account Tha Daily Special.

Who he is: A 34-year-old native of small-town Georgia who moved to Charlotte to work in the software development field in 2017. The following year, he created a website that he intended to use to remind himself and his friends when and where to take advantage of daily specials at local restaurants and bars ... but he eventually shifted his focus to social media  and to a different concept.

Socials: @thadailyspecial on Instagram (144,000 followers) and TikTok (141,000 followers).

Goal: I created the Instagram to go with the website, and originally the Instagram was gonna be me posting, Go here for 50-cent wings on Wednesdays, or, Go here for Taco Tuesday for $2 tacos. But it turned into me posting where I was eating ... and people would be responding and engaging and sharing out the posts a lot. Because the places I liked to go werent being covered a lot by traditional Charlotte media. A lot of Black-owned places. A lot of minority-owned places in general. ... (So the goal became) creating food content and just letting people know where to go eat.

Growth spurt: (In July 2021), The Premier Chef then was right up the street from Camp North End. He just had a grill in a parking lot, and there were maybe five people in line. I was there and saw him open up the grill, pull off a turkey leg in foil, and unwrap it; then as he picked it up, the meat fell straight off of the bone, with no effort. I was like, Hey, let me record you doing that. So I did. And thats when I was first starting to do videos. I didnt even know what I was doing. But I put together a video, and it went super-viral on TikTok. At the time, I had maybe 200 followers on TikTok. I think that video ended up with 2 million-plus views.

Preferences: As a consumer, I like TikTok better, because their algorithm is better at feeding me what I want to see. But as a creator, I like Instagram better for its consistency. That comes into play with working with brands, because I know most of my posts on Instagram will do, say, at least 50,000 views, versus on TikTok, it might do a thousand, or it might do 50,000, or it might do 500,000. You just never know. On TikTok, its a shot in the dark.

Sweet spot: The cool thing about North Carolina is it is so nutrient-rich, and has so many farm-to-table options. We have a ton of farmers here, different soil types, everything from high elevation to sea level. So North Carolina gets to grow a ton of different things, which makes the local food scene flourish and be very unique. And then the growth of Charlotte in general has allowed so many new restaurants to come.

 Theoden Janes

[READ NEXT: Food is about community: Charlotte Black bloggers strive for connection through cuisine]

The real estate girly: Maceon McCraken

Maceon McCraken, a local TikTok influencer who posts real estate content in the Charlotte area.

Who she is: A 28-year-old broker Realtor in the Charlotte area for The Allen Tate Company who describes herself as a Charlotte tour guide and your real estate bestie.

Socials: @maceon.mccracken on TikTok (73,000 followers)

Goal: A good portion of my content is about real estate in the Charlotte market, specifically, and then another part of it is kind of tips for real estate agents. So I kind of serve two different communities. Id say probably half my followers are real estate agents across the country and then the other half are people local to Charlotte, so that kind of drives the content that I make. I kind of try to hit both of them and sprinkle in some personal things, here and there.

Growth spurt: I didnt set out to make TikTok to be something. I just kinda started doing it during the pandemic  I made a video and I was honestly complaining about the real estate market and how crazy it was back in 2021 when my client was making a crazy high offer on a house in Plaza Midwood and it took off. It had 1.6 million views. Then I started to get leads from it and I was like Wow, okay. I didnt anticipate this to be a lead generation source for me but thats kind of what its turned into.

Preferences: TikTok is really the main form of social media that I post on and that I market to  I just think that TikTok has a lot more power in the fact that you can show your personality  I think its just made a difference for me in providing the value upfront before people reach out to me for business.

Sweet spot: From the real estate perspective, theres so many people that are moving here from out of state and thats what is really cool about the power of TikTok is that it allows me to market outside of this area. In making TikTok videos, its almost like a video resume of what I know and my experiences. So, Ive had clients that reach out to me that I havent talked to before and theyre like Oh hey. Ive been following you on TikTok for a long time. Ive followed you on your house-buying journey, you know, I followed you through this event, your wedding, all this stuff and so they know my life story before Ive even had a conversation with them, but I think it like helps build rapport on the front end instead of just reaching out to somebody you saw on a Google ad.

 Chyna Blackmon

The newsman: Joe Bruno

Joe Bruno of WSOC-TV Eyewitness News.

Who he is: A 31-year-old reporter for WSOC-TV Eyewitness News (Channel 9) in Charlotte.

Socials: @JoeBrunoWSOC9 on X, formerly known as Twitter (53,000 followers); @joebrunoclt on TikTok (13,000 followers).

Goal: To keep people informed about what is going on in and near Charlotte. If they have a question about what is happening in their backyard, or what is happening with a major project or news story, I want them to be able to come to my Twitter and find reliable, accurate, easily presented information.

Growth spurt: (On X), I grew my following pretty quickly through covering the 9th District congressional election fraud scandal in 2018, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, when I was helping people get access to vaccines. ... My TikTok following shot up by the thousands overnight because of my Shanquella Robinson coverage. But I dont use TikTok as often as I probably should.

Preferences: I like words, and thats why I feel like I do better on Twitter than maybe TikTok or Instagram, where you have to be thinking about your visuals, or shooting, or doing all these different things.

Sweet spot: It seems like Charlotte is a very online city. Very well-connected. It feels like the millennials of Charlotte  even if they are not consuming news in the most traditional way  are very interested in what is happening in their communities ... and I think Charlotte is a good city to be an influencer in because they are interested in that kind of content. Theres a ton going on, whether it is news, or openings of restaurants or businesses, and the city has shown it will support digital startups and digital platforms and digital creators. It doesnt feel like were over-saturated yet, either. It seems like theres room for growth.

 Theoden Janes

The foodie fashionista: Jessica Hodnett

Jessica Hodnett of the Instagram account @thesweetseoul.

Who she is: A 41-year-old (in her words, 23 plus shipping and handling) lifestyle content creator and lover of food, fashion and fun.

Socials: @thesweetseoul on Instagram (25.5k followers)

Goal: I started my page in 2016. My fiance and I just moved from New York City and I wanted to start an Instagram page and post about what Im passionate about. When we started exploring all the different areas around the city, I was like, Wow, I have to post about these hidden gems and see where it takes me. There are so many phenomenal businesses that need to be highlighted. I dont gatekeep anything, I want the people to know.

Growth spurt: I cant think of any specific post that went viral. I have a lot of posts that do well with a lot of high engagement and comments, reshares and saves. I dont post my content to go viral. I want to impact my audience and show them my experiences with honest reviews and highlight local businesses that I love. Posts going viral is great and all. If they do, awesome. If not, I know Im still making a huge impact for local businesses and my followers and thats what is most important to me.

Preferences: My favorite platform is Instagram. Its still great, but I loved it more back in the day when it was simple and the algorithm wasnt annoying. The real value in Instagram to me is the ability to access authentic info quickly. Rather than Googling a business and sifting through the polished presentations, I prefer to see a real consumer experience. If Im going to make reservations at a restaurant for the first time, I check out their Instagram page as a starting point. I look at dishes, the menu options and itll tell me in 3 seconds if I want to try this spot out or not.

Sweet spot: I think Charlotte is an amazing city and the acceleration of growth means there is always somewhere new to explore. The rapid expansion continues to increase opportunities for new and old influencers alike . When I first started my page back in 2016, there were only a few influencers in the city. Now, it seems that everyone wants to be a social media influencer and the space is more exciting than ever before. I think Charlotte is such a diverse city, that there are a lot of unique accounts for all audiences.

 Chyna Blackmon

The spooky dude: Jason Tapp

Jason Tapp of the TikTok account SpookyCLT.

Who he is: A 31-year-old Huntersville resident, horror fan and history buff who by day works a job in property management.

Socials: @spookyclt on TikTok (14,000 followers) and Instagram (6,500 followers).

Goal: To chronicle all things paranormal and spooky and different about Charlotte. When I started it five or six years ago, I just wanted to do a deep dive into everything that makes Charlotte spooky and see what else there was to find. I had no idea how much there was. And spooky is really an overarching thing. Its not just ghosts and ghouls. Its unique dark history. True crime is very popular right now. ... Theres no way Im alone in wanting to learn about Charlotte history and lore.

Growth spurt: I made a TikTok about the history of Bank of America Stadium, and how it was built on top of what used to be Good Samaritan Hospital, which was an all-Black hospital  and even the site of, unfortunately, one of the only recorded lynchings that happened in Charlotte. I posted a video of the historic marker outside of it and kind of did an official timeline ... and got 400,000 views overnight.

Preferences: Im not a social-media person overall. I actually like how unpolished a lot of my stuff looks, because its just me doing stuff on my phone.

Sweet spot: Charlotte is a small town that has all the workings of a big city. And its an old, historic city. You talk to a lot of people and its just repeated incessantly that Charlotte has no history. But unless youre taking the time to learn the history, dont tell me that. It does have history. Its right in front of us  and its only lost if people stop talking about it.

 Theoden Janes

And while youre here, well offer shameless plug for our accounts  wed love to connect!

For restaurant and food news and the best things to do: @cltfive on Instagram and TikTok.

For daily news about Charlotte and its surrounding areas: @charlotteobserver on Instagram and @thecharlotteobserver on TikTok.
Interlink Metals and Chemicals, a leading supplier of titanium products based in Switzerland, has secured the Golden Licence from Bahrain Economic Development Board (Bahrain EDB) for setting up its production facility in the kingdom.

Established in 1992, Interlink Metals & Chemicals has developed into one of the worlds largest distributors, traders and users of various titanium products.

A first-of-its kind facility in the region from Interlink Metals and Chemicals, the Bahrain Titanium (BTI), will operate an electron-beam (EB) and a vacuum-arc (VAR) furnace, for the production of commercially pure titanium and titanium alloys, with a capacity of 4,000 tonne/per year of titanium ingot and slab.

Interlink's new subsidiary BTI will also build a ferro-titanium (FeTi) facility to utilise scrap that does not meet specifications for ingot production. The EB, VAR and FeTi facility will be fully operational by mid-2025.

The Golden Licence was awarded to Igor Raykhelson, Chairman of Interlink Metals & Chemicals, at a special ceremony held in Manama where three other investors - Ali Fardan, the General Manager of National Bank of Kuwait in Bahrain; Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, the Chairman of Beyon and Khalid Najibi, the Chairman of Bahrain Marina Development - were granted their licences.

Swiss titanium giant said in the long run it was looking to expand into tubed, forged and rolled products, as well as specialised products for critical applications.

The new BTI plant will supply both Middle East and western markets, said a company spokesman.

"We have already received a letter of intent from the AMIC-Toho Titanium joint venture sponge plant in neighbouring Saudi Arabia for supply of titanium sponge as feedstock," he stated.

In Europe and the US, titanium manufacturers in industrial and aerospace industries are facing a supply shortfall after Russia pulled back from western markets.

Bahrain's free trade agreement with the US means US imports from Bahrain will not be subject to the 15% duty that otherwise applies to normal trade relation countries, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
A group of refugees is seen at Gorom refugee settlement in Juba, capital of South Sudan, on Dec. 7, 2023. (Photo by Denis Elamu/Xinhua)

The war in Sudan, which has shattered millions of lives and created the largest displacement crisis, risks triggering the world's largest hunger crisis, World Food Program (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain warned on Wednesday.

JUBA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The war in Sudan, which has shattered millions of lives and created the largest displacement crisis, risks triggering the world's largest hunger crisis, World Food Program (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain warned on Wednesday.

Over 25 million people across Sudan, South Sudan, and Chad are trapped in a spiral of deteriorating food security, said McCain, who just concluded a visit to South Sudan, where she met families fleeing violence and an escalating hunger emergency in Sudan.

"The consequences of inaction go far beyond a mother unable to feed her child and will shape the region for years to come," she said in a statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

"Today, I am making an urgent plea for the fighting to stop, and that all humanitarian agencies must be allowed to do their life-saving work," McCain said.

She said 20 years ago, Darfur was the world's largest hunger crisis and the world rallied to respond. "But today, the people of Sudan have been forgotten. Millions of lives and the peace and stability of an entire region are at stake."

The WFP said it is unable to get sufficient emergency food assistance to desperate communities in Sudan who are trapped by fighting because of the relentless violence and interference by the warring parties.

Displaced people receive food donations from the World Food Programme (WFP) at Akuom Boma, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, South Sudan, on Feb. 28, 2024. (Photo by Denis Elamu/Xinhua)

Right now, 90 percent of people facing emergency levels of hunger in Sudan are stuck in areas that are largely inaccessible to the WFP, it said.

According to the United Nations agency, humanitarian assistance has been further disrupted after authorities revoked permissions for cross-border truck convoys, forcing the WFP to halt its operations from Chad into Darfur. More people flee into South Sudan and Chad, and the humanitarian response is at breaking point.

McCain said she traveled to Renk, in eastern South Sudan, where almost 600,000 people have crossed from Sudan in the last 10 months.

She said newly arrived displaced people in South Sudan make up 35 percent of those facing catastrophic levels of hunger -- the highest possible level -- despite them accounting for less than 3 percent of the population.

One in five children at the transit centers at the main border crossing is malnourished, noting that with current resources, McCain said, noting that the WFP is struggling to keep pace with the significant level of need.

"I met mothers and children who have fled for their lives not once, but multiple times, and now hunger is closing in on them," she said. 
Vegan protesters, led by Joey Carbstrong, accuse the RSPCA of be complicit to the 'abhorrent, barbaric, and cruel' torture of pigs - MARK JOHN FELLOWS/CALVIN TASKER PHOTOGRAPHY

Vegan activists have accused the RSPCA of supporting the use of gas chambers to stun and slaughter pigs.

Dozens of protesters descended on the charitys headquarters in Horsham, West Sussex, on Thursday, with placards reading RSPCA Is The Meat Industry and Pigs Are People.

A member of the public is believed to have punched one of the female activists and squirted water in her face.

Sussex Police have been approached for comment.

Joey Carbstrong, an Australian animal rights campaigner who led the protests, claimed the RSPCA was complicit in the abhorrent, barbaric, and cruel torture of pigs through its welfare branding on pork products.

RSPCA Assured is a sticker used on products to prove that a farm, abattoir, hatchery or haulier complied with animal welfare standards.

Activists have been protesting outside the RSPCA headquarters in West Sussex - Calvin Tasker Photography

Mr Carbstrong claimed many pork products marked with the badge are from abattoirs where carbon dioxide is used to stun pigs before they are slaughtered.

The practice involves pigs, normally in groups of around half a dozen, being stunned using a 70 to 90 per cent carbon dioxide concentrate. Abattoir workers then slit the pigs throats within 15 seconds before they regain consciousness.

The RSPCA has repeatedly criticised the use of CO2 to stun pigs, with a spokesman saying: We urge the UK Government to follow the European Unions lead to seek a phase-out by investing in research to find a more humane alternative as a top priority.

In 2018, the RSPCA wrote a joint letter to the government with Compassion in World Farming, an animal rights lobbying group, calling for the practice to be banned by 2024.

Mr Carbstrong argued that this did not go far enough and urged the charity to tell people not to buy pork altogether.

He said: They know it is egregiously cruel, these chambers, they are complicit in animal torture. CO2 has been known for decades to be abhorrent, barbaric and cruel. He added that 90 per cent of pigs in the UK were killed in what he described as gas chambers.

Mr Carbstrong, said the use of RSPCA Assured was false advertising and misleads the public, who associate the charity with animal welfare.

He denied the choice of the terms gas chambers was inflammatory, calling it an accurate description and adding: They are being tortured and slaughtered in farms in chambers filled with gas.

The National Pig Association, the trade association for pig farmers, has admitted the practice is not perfect but remains the best, most humane and efficacious commercially available option.

Protesters oppose the use of CO2 as a means of stunning pigs before slaughter - Calvin Tasker Photography

An RSPCA spokesman said: Every animal matters to us, and we are working hard to improve the lives of farmed animals by successfully lobbying for laws to protect them  such as banning battery cages for hens, sow stalls for pigs and ending live exports.

We are also actively campaigning to raise awareness of the huge problems nearly a billion meat chickens suffer every year in the UK  another crucial welfare issue the world needs to tackle.

We set up RSPCA Assured, a non-profit, welfare-focused assurance scheme, to work with farmers, supermarkets and food businesses to continually drive-up standards. Without the RSPCAs work, farmed animal welfare standards would be lower, not just here in the UK but around the world.

It is difficult to think about the killing of farmed animals, and it is critical that this process is as humane as possible. We share the concerns about using CO2 gas, and our welfare standards have requirements which reduces the negative experience for the animals involved.

We agree more humane alternatives need to be developed as a matter of urgency and we urge the UK Government to follow the European Unions lead to seek a phase out by investing in research to find a more humane alternative as a top priority.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
(Bloomberg) -- Venezuelas decision to hold presidential elections in July has sent shock waves through the opposition, which now has less than three weeks to find a challenger to Nicolas Maduro.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Facing a March 25 deadline for candidates to register, the opposition is fractured over how to proceed with leading contender Maria Corina Machado banned from participating in the election. Some support Machados continued attempts to fight her disqualification by a government court, while others want to move on and pick a replacement.

Machado, who received more than 2.3 million votes in her October primary victory, is committed to participating, according to Pedro Urruchurtu, her international affairs coordinator.

Maria Corina has the legitimacy, Urruchurtu said in an interview. It is about enforcing the mandate she received, and to propose anything else is to betray it.

Machado has held out hope that a unified opposition will sustain the momentum her primary win created and force Maduro to allow her to participate. But the rushed electoral timeline follows the contours of previous Maduro attempts to catch his opponents off guard and spark disputes among them  in 2018, his decision to hold elections months sooner than originally planned similarly threw the opposition into chaos.

The Tuesday announcement that this years election would take place on July 28 was likely meant to put any debate about Machados status to rest for good, said Benigno Alarcon, director of the political studies center at Andres Bello Catholic University in Caracas.

The main goal of setting the election date is to turn the page on Maria Corinas disqualification, Alarcon said. It is about closing that chapter as soon as possible.

Read More: Venezuela Calls for July Election Amid Increased Repression

Maduro is under international pressure to reverse the ban: The US reinstated sanctions on the countrys state gold producer after the decision was ratified in January, and threatened further action on oil and gas production if banned candidates werent allowed to run and political prisoners were not released by April. The EU Parliament in February said it would not recognize the legitimacy of the contest unless Machado is allowed to run.

But not everyone agrees with her strategy. The opposition needs to make a decision now, former governor and two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said in a social media post after the announcement, adding that under no circumstances can people be left without a choice.

Moderate opposition leaders believe an alternate candidate should be appointed by a coalition known as the Unitary Platform, to which Machado does not belong, people familiar with the developing talks said, requesting anonymity to discuss internal matters.

Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also called on the opposition to pick a new candidate. The leftist Lula, a longtime ally of Venezuelas socialist governments, on Wednesday compared the situation to his arrest ahead of Brazils 2018 election, saying that instead of crying he nominated an ally to run in his place.

Machado blasted the comments, saying in a social media post that Lula was validating the abuses of an autocrat.

I am fighting to assert the right of millions of Venezuelans who voted for me in the primaries and the millions who have the right to do so in a free presidential election in which I will defeat Maduro, she said. The only truth is that Maduro is afraid to confront me because he knows that the Venezuelan people are in the street with me today.

Read More: Machado Slams Lula for Validating an Autocrat in Venezuela

Even if the opposition does pick a replacement, there is no guarantee that the person they choose wont face the same fate as Machado.

In late 2021, a court banned then-opposition candidate Freddy Superlano after he secured a rare triumph in the Chavista stronghold of Barinas, a cattle-raising state in western Venezuela. It then barred two alternate governor candidates appointed later, including his non-politician wife. Sergio Garrido, a fourth choice from the oppositions oldest party, was finally allowed to run and defeated the ruling partys candidate.

The Biden administration hasnt reacted yet to Maduros most recent move. The State Department didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, has stressed that the military background of Valerii Zaluzhnyi, former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, will become an advantage in the position of Ukraines Ambassador to the UK.

Source: Kuleba on air during the national joint 24/7 newscast

Details: Kuleba stated that he had had several conversations with Zaluzhnyi, which convinced him that "our respected general, former commander-in-chief, is eager to do diplomatic work".

Quote: "Moreover, he even has a profile education  it seems to me he obtained a master's degree in international relations in 2020. So I think this is a very logical step.

As a minister, I am undoubtedly interested in a powerful ambassador to London. The president has evaluated all factors and decided that Valerii Zaluzhnyi is the most suitable candidate for this position, so this will definitely strengthen our system."

Details: Kuleba added that one of the key requirements for the ambassador to the UK was an understanding of the military context. London is also one of the most important capitals in the world, where the embassies of the Global South countries are present.

Quote: "We dont send just anybody there. London is an extremely important destination for any country, and after talking to the ambassadors who work in London, I am convinced that Valerii Zaluzhnyi will be one of the most respected public figures, and he will be useful not only from the point of view of bilateral relations with the UK but also of behind-the-scenes diplomacy with the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America."

Background:

On 7 March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved the candidacy of Valerii Zaluzhnyi, former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has sent a corresponding request to the UK.

Zelenskyy stated in his evening address that Zaluzhnyi had spoken to him specifically about a move to diplomacy.

Support UP or become our patron!
State Board of Education member Patricia Hardy lost the Republican nomination for the seat to youth pastor Brandon Hall during Tuesday's primary elections. Credit: Eddie Gaspar for The Texas Tribune

A 20-year Republican member of the State Board of Education lost her partys nomination to a challenger who promises to fight for Christian conservative values and two other Republican incumbents are headed into a runoff, potentially foreshadowing a continued shift to the right for the body that sets the states educational standards.

Pat Hardy, a former teacher and a veteran representing District 11, which covers parts of Fort Worth, lost her seat to challenger Brandon Hall, a youth pastor.

Unfortunately, today, young Texas students have a broken public education system that's ranked near last in the nation, Hall said on his Facebook page three days before Election Night, promising to be the first line of defense against these issues. They also face an onslaught against their innocence from [critical race theory], obscene library books, and sexualized agenda.

Another incumbent, Tom Maynard of District 10, which includes Williamson and Bell counties, will go into a May 28 runoff against Round Rock school board member Mary Bone, who describes herself as a conservative champion for Texas kids.

Maynard, who received endorsements from Gov. Greg Abbott and former Gov. Rick Perry, campaigned touting his years of experience in the SBOE, time in which he said he has fought for conservative values, parental empowerment and fiscal responsibility. His opponent listed similar priorities but she also campaigned under the promise of ending woke culture in public schools.

In District 12, which covers parts of North Texas, the incumbent, Pam Little, faced off against three challengers and is now headed to a runoff against Jamie Kohlmann, a former Miss Texas who received an endorsement from U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.

I am thrilled to share that weve made it to the runoff election with a remarkable 10% lead, Little said in a statement posted on her campaign page. Your support and dedication have shown that District 12 will not let special interest groups take over our State Board of Education. Together, weve sent a powerful message: our community values education that puts our children first, not the agendas of outside influences.

But her challenger is equally optimistic, saying that her making it to the runoff shows voters are not satisfied with Little.

Our consistent conservative message hit a chord with voters. Were in lockstep on the issues and have an aligned vision for what Texas kids need to succeed, Kohlmann posted on her Facebook page. Much remains  and we have a solid team and plan in place to bring Patriotism, Phonics, and Parental Rights back to the [SBOE].

Hardy, Bone and Kohlmann couldnt be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon. Hall and Maynard responded but did not share a comment on the election results before publication.

Kohlmann, Hall and Bone, the candidates challenging the incumbents, received support from Texans for Educational Freedom, a political action committee that has railed against critical race theory, seeks to remove sexually explicit materials from schools and criticizes what it perceives as a liberal bent in public education.

I believe I had three people run against me to make it a runoff, and they succeeded, Little said. The same thing happened with Maynard. With Hardy, I believe, they knew she didnt have a lot of funding, so they threw a lot of money behind an inexperienced opponent, and unfortunately, it worked.

Little said she believes most voters may not be fully aware of who their elected SBOE members are, what they do and what they stand for.

I think many people just vote for a name on the ballot because they come to the polls for a different campaign. I would say about 40% to 50% of the votes are just people picking a name, Little said. That will be different in the runoff because they will be voting for a purpose, specifically this race.

However, interest in the 15-member board has intensified in recent years as parents and political leaders have become more vocal about what should be taught in Texas 1,200 public school districts. The board is responsible for determining standards for what Texas 5.5 million students must learn in the states public schools.

The pandemics impacts on school closings and mask mandates  as well as disagreements over how students should be taught about sexuality and Americas history of racism  have made SBOE races much more visible. Many have focused their attacks on critical race theory, an academic discipline that looks at how racism is embedded in institutions. Conservatives have used the term as a shorthand to criticize how race is taught in schools.

A big part of the Republican primary this year has been party members going after each other for not being conservative enough, and Little said she witnessed this trend happening with the SBOE races.

I hate that kind of language, Little said about the accusation that she is not conservative enough. We are all conservatives who want the best for Texas. Just because we dont agree on every vote doesnt make someone more conservative than the other.

The board currently has 10 out of 15 members who identify as Republican, but this hasnt stopped calls for a more conservative vision.

Two former Republican SBOE members, Jay Johnson in District 15 in the Panhandle and Sue Melton-Malone in District 14, covering parts of North Texas, lost their primaries in 2022 to candidates who promised to get critical race theory out of classrooms. A third incumbent, Matt Robinson, didnt seek reelection in District 7, which covers part of the Gulf Coast, because he didnt think he could beat his challenger, who made critical race theory a central part of the campaign.

Emily Witt, a spokesperson for the Texas Freedom Network, a left-leaning state watchdog organization that supports public education and religious freedom, said the results of the Republican primary confirm the idea that conservatives are going to continue their effort to push public education further to the right.

The incumbents I wouldnt call moderate. They are very conservative and hostile to telling the truth, too. But I think its a trend that we will see continue as the religious right becomes more and more radicalized and it seems they have made education their battleground, she said.

The new state board will significantly influence potential changes to the states social studies curriculum. In 2022, the SBOE decided to delay updating the statewide social studies curriculum standards until at least 2025. The boards decision came after conservative lawmakers and parents testified that the proposed updates were influenced by critical race theory and didnt include enough American exceptionalism or Christianity.

The board updates the statewide standards for the states 5.5 million students of all grades about once every decade.

Most recently, the board rejected many textbooks because of how they described climate change, approved new school library rules amid a discussion over inappropriate books and delayed various study debate courses on different races and ethnicities.

I hope that as Texans see how radicalized the board is becoming, it will make them pay attention to these elections, Witt said.

Dan Keemahill contributed to this story.

Disclosure: Facebook and Texas Freedom Network have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

We cant wait to welcome you to downtown Austin Sept. 5-7 for the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival! Join us at Texas breakout politics and policy event as we dig into the 2024 elections, state and national politics, the state of democracy, and so much more. When tickets go on sale this spring, Tribune members will save big. Donate to join or renew today.
A Columbus Waffle House employee who was the victim of a machete attack Wednesday shared her story in Columbus Recorders Court Thursday morning, saying that a stack of dishes saved her from having a hand cut off.

The attack, which left Crystal Lawrence with non-life-threatening injuries, occurred around 10 p.m. on Sunday at the Waffle House located at 6751 Veterans Parkway in North Columbus next to McAlisters Deli.

Lawrence said her attacker, Michael Green, had been in the restaurant that night and she asked him to leave. She said Green continuously comes in and sometimes sleeps at her tables.

She said in testimony Thursday that prior to the attack, she had asked him to leave and he uncharacteristically cooperated nicely.

Lawrence said Green left and walked down the side of the restaurant to the back.

After customers left, Green came back in swiftly and swung a machete at Lawrence, striking her wrist, according to Lawrences testimony.

After testifying, Lawrence told the Ledger-Enquirer Green was standing near the restaurant when she arrived for her shift. Green later came in and Lawrence asked if he was going to eat anything about 30 minutes later. He said he wasnt going to, and she told him he needed to leave, she said. She saw him out of the corner of her eye when he came back into the store, Lawrence said.

As soon as I looked up, he looked at me, the most evil look anybody has ever looked at me, said Lawrence.

She said Green grabbed the stool for leverage to lift himself up higher and aimed for her face.

Lawrence said she shoved herself away from the counter.

Had he not hit the stack of dishes I had right there, I wouldnt have a hand right now, she said.

Lawrence said she was so in shock she didnt realize Green had hit her. She told the Ledger-Enquirer shes having anxiety attacks and is paranoid. She said she feels like somebody is going to attack her out of the blue for no reason.

Cpl. Christina Lombardo with the Columbus Police Department said Green told police after the attack he cut himself on some dishes.

Maiya Mcgowan, another Waffle House employee, was also working that night. She testified in court that she called out for the cook, who was also in the restaurant during the attack. Green left at that point, she said.

Lombardo said police dispatched to the area found Green in the parking lot of a nearby business wielding the machete. She said Green didnt make any statements on the scene.

Green is charged with aggravated assault and possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime, according to police. Judge David Ranieri found probable cause and bound the case over to Superior Court.

A public defender argued for bond to be set for Green, but the request was denied after after both Lawrence and Mcgowan expressed concern for their safety.

Green had previously appeared in Columbus Recorders Court but had his case delayed twice. He waived his appearance in court Thursday.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  After a restaurant in Northeast Portland was forced to shut down due to a complaint about its smell, Vietnamese-American lawmakers are expressing concerns about the citys odor code.

The restaurant, Pho Gabo, is one of three restaurants in the Portland metro area owned and operated by Eddie Dong. Last week, Dong told KOIN 6 he was forced to close down the shop at Northeast Fremont Street and 73rd Avenue after a neighbor made a complaint about the smell.

How much do homebuyers need to earn to buy a typical house in Portland? New Zillow report released

As elected leaders within the Vietnamese community, we believe the closure of Pho Gabo sets a dangerous precedent and sends a troubling message about the value placed on cultural diversity within Portland, the legislators wrote.

Dong said the sign posted on Pho Gabos front door said the business needed to be shut down because of the citys and the neighborhoods complaints about the smell of the food that we grill and the foods that we serve customers.

Tillamooks sharp cheddar wins top slots in category at 2024 World Championship Cheese Contest

But five state representatives  Daniel Nguyen of Lake Oswego and Southwest Portland; Hai Pham of South Hillsboro and West Beaverton; Thuy Tran of Northeast and Southeast Portland; Hoa Nguyen of Damascus and East Portland; and Khanh Pham of outer Southeast Portland  all say that was not a good enough reason.

We believe that, as currently written and enforced, the citys odor code is discriminatory and not

objective by any known standards, leaving out certain, minority-owned small businesses, they said.

The statement issued Wednesday said the lawmakers support Commissioner Carmen Rubios decision to pause all action on restaurant odor complaints until the code is reviewed and amended to ensure this discrimination is taken into account.

Abandoned motorcycle, several crashes lead to severe traffic on Highway 26

Chief of Staff Jillian Schoene says the commissioner is very concerned and is raising serious questions about the negative impacts of this policy.

Upon learning about this issue, her office has met with the impacted business owner, and has since directed the Bureau of Development Services to put in place an immediate pause on odor complaints tied to food establishments, and launched an immediate evaluation of the relevant code to make recommendations on changes, Schoene said.

According to Schoene, Commissioner Rubio hopes to see these code changes as soon as possible  though it will need to go through an extensive review process.

Stay with KOIN 6 as this story develops.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
A vendor walks in an alley decorated with national flags ahead of the upcoming elections in Hanoi

HANOI, Mar 7 (Reuters) - Communist Party-ruled Vietnam upgraded ties with Australia on Thursday, in the latest success for its "bamboo diplomacy", after it boosted relations last year with the world's top powers, as it tries to navigate rising global tensions.

After a string of deals in recent months, the Southeast Asian country's top partners now include the United States, China, India, South Korea and Russia, which for decades has supplied most of Vietnam's military equipment.

Below are details of Vietnam's increasingly dynamic foreign policy approach and its most important diplomatic agreements over the last months.

WHAT IS 'BAMBOO DIPLOMACY'?

A regional manufacturing powerhouse, Vietnam is an increasingly strategic player in global supply chains.

To bolster this position, the country's most powerful figure, Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, used in 2021 the imagery of "strong roots, stout trunk, and flexible branches" of the bamboo plant to describe Vietnam's foreign policy approach of having "more friends, fewer foes".

CHINA

Vietnam and China agreed in December to build a community with a "shared future" during a visit to Hanoi by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The two nations signed 36 cooperation documents in areas such as transport infrastructure, trade, security and digital economy, and published a joint declaration with wide-ranging commitments.

China is Vietnam's largest trading partner and a vital source of imports for its manufacturing sector, but the two communist countries have been for years embroiled in disputes in the South China Sea - the latest in May. Tensions have subsided somewhat more recently as Beijing's attention has focused on another claimant in the waterway, the Philippines.

UNITED STATES

Vietnam and the United States elevated in September their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the highest level in Vietnam's ranking, and announced closer cooperation on semiconductors and critical minerals during a visit to Hanoi by U.S. president Joe Biden.

The United States, which is the top importer of Vietnam's goods, pushed for the upgrade as part of its strategy to secure uninterrupted access to global supply chains and to contain China in the South China Sea.

JAPAN

Vietnam and Japan in November upgraded their relations to Vietnam's top tier during a visit by Vietnamese president Vo Van Thuong to Tokyo, agreeing to boost security and economic cooperation.

Japanese multinationals, including Canon, Honda, Panasonic and Bridgestone, are among the largest foreign investors in Vietnam.

SOUTH KOREA

Vietnam and South Korea elevated their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in December 2022 during a visit to Seoul by then Vietnamese president Nguyen Xuan Phuc, focusing on trade, investment, defence and security.

South Korea is the largest source of foreign investment in Vietnam, with Samsung Electronics being the largest single foreign investor in the country where it assembles half its smartphones.

In June the two countries signed 17 additional agreements, including on security and critical minerals during a visit to Vietnam by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

VATICAN

Vietnam and the Vatican agreed in July to have the first post-war resident papal representative in Hanoi during a visit to meet Pope Francis by Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong. The representative was appointed in December.

Home to nearly 7 million Catholics, Vietnam broke relations with the Vatican after the Communists took over the reunited country at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Talks to appoint a papal representative had started in 2009.

TRADING HUB

Vietnam is part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic union and has free trade deals with the European Union, Britain, Chile and South Korea. In July it added Israel to its list of free-trade partners.

It is also a member of wider trade pacts, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which includes Canada, Australia and Mexico, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which includes China and Japan.

(Reporting by Khanh Vu and Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor and Michael Perry)
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY)  A civil rights organization is investigating the wrongful arrest of a Navy wife in Virginia Beach.

VBPD releases internal investigation into arrest of Navy wife

The Virginia Beach chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, is looking into a complaint filed by Jacqueline Alcita Smith.

Jacqueline A. Smith was arrested on Joint Expeditionary Base (JEB) Little Creek-Fort Story in the early morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 17. She was jailed in Virginia Beach for two days, then later be released on a $5 bond.

Smith told 10 On Your Side she was wrongfully arrested.

Now the identities have been blurred, which is thats whats so concerning to me, said Smith during an interview with WAVY last week.

Previously: Navy wife wrongfully arrested, jailed in Virginia Beach

Jacqueline A. Smith shares the same first and last name as a woman wanted in Baltimore, Maryland.

Maryland court records confirm there is an active warrant for Jacqueline Renee Smith, born on July 25, 1987. The misdemeanor assault charge stems from a domestic violence dispute on August 27, 2015.

Following media reports, the Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD), launched an internal investigation. The conclusion of the VBPD internal investigation states the morning of Feb. 17, police entered the name and social security number into the FBIs National Crime Information Center, or NCIC. The query on the SSN revealed an open warrant for felony aggravated assault out of Baltimore County, Maryland.

VBPD releases internal investigation into arrest of Navy wife

The VBPD press release said that the date of births on the return have both the exact month and day of birth with a slight difference in the year.

10 On Your Side clarified with VBPD and Baltimore County Police Department (BCPD), that the year of birth is off by three years.

Jacqueline A. Smith told WAVY.com that in addition to birthdate concerns, a mugshot was provided to the VBPD officers from BCPD.

Following the internal investigation press release, a VBPD spokesperson confirmed to WAVY.com that the arresting officer had a mugshot of the wanted woman from several years ago. The mugshot was not released to WAVY-TV 10. The booking photo and fingerprints are not available as the warrant is still open, said a BCPD spokesperson.

Other Concerns

Court documents obtained by 10 On Your Sides investigations team outlined inconsistencies with fingerprint returns, according to a magistrate.

On Sunday, Feb. 18, a Virginia Beach magistrate said that after the arrest, Virginia Beach Police began to have concerns about the identity of the person that was the subject of the underlying  warrant as it relates to [the] identity of the arrestee. A Virginia Beach Police officer said there were inconsistencies of fingerprint returns, and said based on the new information, the bond should be adjusted to its lowest level sufficient for release.

However, the VBPD press release writes, Smith was fingerprinted, and fingerprints confirmed that the person in our custody was the same individual wanted out of Maryland.

WAVY inquired about the inconsistencies referenced in the paperwork, a police spokesperson maintains there were no fingerprint inconsistencies.

Legal Opinion

Happy OBrien with Sheppard & OBrien Law Firm, calls the case a perfect storm.

Its just, in my opinion, a terribly unfortunate situation that you have a young lady with a very common name who gets picked up on a Saturday from an out of state jurisdiction warrant and [that] things couldnt be handled right away. They had to take the time. The process had to work its way out. It looks like, at least at this point, things are working out so that shell be able to clear her name, said OBrien. In the future. Shes got to make sure that that mistake doesnt happen again because theres obviously been some sort of blurring or merging of her vital information with the accused vital information.

OBrien believes an outside agency is at-fault for the identification inconsistencies.

OBrien adds, This is where we have the balancing act, [of] a persons freedom, their liberty is one of the most important things that we try to protect in this country. We dont want to arbitrarily scoop people up and put them in jail if theres no good reason. At the same point as a society, we want our police. We want law enforcement to interact with one another to help other agencies to get the bad people. Thats what the Virginia Beach police were trying to do in this situation.

Smith is now working to a different law firm to clear her name. As she must correct court documents in Virginia and appear in court in Maryland to address the recent arrest.

Virginia Beach NAACP President Dr. Eric Majette issued the following statement about this case:

The VB NAACP is continuing to gather information on the arrest of Mrs. Jacqueline Alcita Smith by the Federal Police, Virginia Beach Police Department and the Virginia Beach Sheriffs Department. The misidentification of Mrs. Smith as well as the inconsistencies of the reports and possible mistreatment of Mrs. Smith are of the upmost concern of the VB NAACP. It is important that all citizens are properly identified, and treated with the care and compassion due each and every human being. We look forward to updates from all three entities as they continue to look into this incident and ensure that these situations are not the common practice but that this is an isolated incident.

Virginia Beach NAACP President Dr. Eric Majette

Check with WAVY.com for updates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
Although failed GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has endorsed presumed nominee Donald Trump, it seems Ramaswamys support only goes so far.

Based on what Ramaswamy told Fox News Neil Cavuto on Wednesday, Trump shouldnt be waiting for any big cash donations from the Ohio entrepreneur anytime soon.

The Trump campaign is reportedly cash-strapped, not just because of the expenses of funding a presidential campaign but also because the GOP front-runner is facing hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties from a business fraud case and E. Jean Carrolls defamation trial.

So, naturally, Cavuto repeatedly asked Ramaswamy if he plans to donate money to Trumps campaign, noting that the former president has even reportedly asked Elon Musk for a cash infusion.

Im just wondering if he were to go to you and say, All right, can you loan my campaign some money? What would you say? Cavuto asked.

Ramaswamy tried to avoid answering the question, saying, Donald Trump is not in need of anybody elses help or anything else. Hes in the pole position to do this well.

He does need money, Vivek. Every campaign needs money, Cavuto replied.

In response, Ramaswamy suggested that Trump rely on grassroot supporters, adding, Thats actually been the character of the America First movement. It isnt a movement of just big check writers, as it is for much of the Democratic Party and the establishment wing of the Republican Party.

Cavuto finally managed to get Ramaswamy to admit that the limit of his Trump support will be strictly cheerleading.

Im going to be a vocal supporter, Neil, Ramaswamy said. And, you know, each of us has a lot of businessmen on the sidelines. Im focused on the front lines, and some of us have chosen to get in the arena, and thats where Im playing.

Got it, Cavuto replied.

Trump took nearly $30 million donated by his grassroots supporters and gave it to his lawyers, not his campaign, according to documents filed in January with the Federal Election Commission.

Cavuto asks Ramaswamy if he would lend Trumps campaign money. Ramaswamy responds by stating he will be a vocal supporter pic.twitter.com/BYbkQF9fU5  Acyn (@Acyn) March 6, 2024

Although Ramaswamy tried to be cagey during the exchange, many people on X, formerly Twitter, seemed to intuit what he was really saying.

Vivek not ponying up $$$ for the Don?! https://t.co/46FTVvzGK2  Barbara Comstock (@BarbaraComstock) March 6, 2024

Ramaswamy continues to not have a fucking clue. Im surprised his creators havent powered him down so he can dream of electric sheep already. https://t.co/sPSZfgEG0x  Richard Newby - New Account (@NewbyRichard3) March 6, 2024

Ramaswamy knows that Trump wont repay him !!! https://t.co/Q4oOPXTnkA  CoilPod LLC (@COILPOD) March 7, 2024

Related...
MOGADISHU, March 7 (Xinhua) -- At least two children were killed and more than 18,000 people displaced in central Somalia following two weeks of military offensives against al-Shabab by allied forces, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Thursday.

The UNHCR said that seven children have been separated from their caregivers or families and many people were injured following the Feb. 11-27 military operations against al-Shabab militants in several villages in the Harardhere district of the Mudug region.

"As of Feb. 27, two deaths, along with the injury of two children and many people from the same community, were reported to (UNHCR-led) Protection and Return Monitoring Network monitors from Camara villages targeted by the air and ground bombardment," the UNHCR said in a report released in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

It said the security situation in the area remains unstable, which increases the risk of further displacement occurring in nearby villages.

The military offensives against the al-Shabab extremist group were launched by Somali government forces backed by its international partners.

According to the UNHCR, the families who have been recently displaced are facing a shortage of essential services, such as food, healthcare, protection, water and sanitation, and education.

It said there have also been reports of various health issues, including measles, fever, and acute watery diarrhea at a time when the district has a limited humanitarian presence.

Pro-government local militia dubbed Ma'awisley has also intensified its attack against al-Qaida-linked militants who have lost a huge swathe of territory that they controlled a decade ago. 
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, speaks at the European Parliament. The conservative European People's Party (EPP) nominated European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as its lead candidate for June's European Parliament elections on Thursday. Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa

The conservative European People's Party (EPP) nominated European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as its lead candidate for June's European Parliament elections on Thursday.

Addressing the EPP before the vote, von der Leyen thanked her party colleagues for their trust and support and said that it was "the honour of a lifetime to serve" the European Union.

The EPP officially selected von der Leyen to lead the campaign at the party congress in Bucharest. The commission president did not face any opposing candidates.

Von der Leyen is seeking a second term as president of the European Commission and is leading the EPP campaign as part of her bid. The party that performs best in the European Parliament election as a rule appoints the next president.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, speaks at the European Parliament. The conservative European People's Party (EPP) nominated European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as its lead candidate for June's European Parliament elections on Thursday. Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa

The conservative European People's Party (EPP) nominated Ursula von der Leyen as its lead candidate for June's European Parliament elections on Thursday, as she seeks a second term as president of the European Commission.

Addressing the EPP before the vote, von der Leyen thanked her party colleagues for their trust and support and said that it was "the honour of a lifetime to serve" the European Union.

The EPP officially selected von der Leyen to lead the campaign at the party congress in the Romanian capital Bucharest. The commission president did not face any opposing candidates.

Von der Leyen is seeking a second term as president of the European Commission - the EU's executive arm - and is leading the EPP campaign as part of her bid. The party that performs best in the European Parliament election as a rule appoints the next president.

Currently the EPP commands a strong lead in the polls and von der Leyen stands a strong chance of securing a second term as a result.

Von der Leyen became the first women to lead the European Union's executive arm when she was appointed to the post in 2019, a job which places her in charge of about 32,000 EU employees as well as much of the bloc's political agenda.

Some members of the European Parliament remain sceptical of von der Leyen, in part because she was nominated for the post in 2019 by the leaders of EU countries despite not having stood last time as a lead candidate in the European elections.

As commission president, she frequently represents the bloc at almost all major international summits, such as the G7 and G20. The US magazine Forbes recently named von der Leyen the "most powerful woman in the world."

Von der Leyen's four years at the helm of the commission have been marked by the war in Ukraine - which saw the EU provide lethal military aid for the first time in its history - and the Covid-19 pandemic.

She also wields significant influence over EU trade, competition and environmental policy, and has backed efforts to make the bloc climate-neutral by 2050.

Before becoming commission president, von der Leyen held a series of ministerial posts under former German chancellor Angela Merkel, including family, labour and defence.

Von der Leyen, a trained physician and the mother of seven, was relatively unknown outside Germany when she was catapulted to the top job in 2019

The centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in Germany unanimously backed von der Leyen's bid for a second term last month.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  San Francisco voters showed strong support for a pair of controversial public safety ballot measure that expand police powers and compel treatment for adult welfare recipients who use illegal drugs, two efforts Mayor London Breed said would crack down on crime and the citys drug crisis.

Proposition E grants police greater leeway to pursue suspects in vehicles, authorizes the use of drones and surveillance cameras and reduces paperwork requirements, including in use-of-force cases. Proposition F makes drug treatment mandatory for adult welfare recipients if they use illicit substances, or else they can be denied cash assistance.

Breed, who placed both measures on the ballot, claimed victory Tuesday night as both measures had commanding leads in partial returns, though it was not clear how many votes were left to count. Opponents acknowledged the measures were likely to pass and said they will not make the public safer.

We want people to seek treatment and many people do, but the reality is others are not willing or able to do so, Breed said in a statement. We are also sending a message that we are a city that offers help but not a city where you can just come and do whatever you want on our streets.

Opponents of the measures accused tech billionaires of trying to buy the election and peppering voters with misleading information. They bemoaned low voter turnout.

What is disheartening is the record low turnout for this presidential primary, said Celi Tamayo-Lee, executive director of San Francisco Rising, which advocates for working-class and minority communities.

What has been counted is not the voice of all voters, they said.

Breed, a centrist Democrat, is in a tough reelection battle and faces three serious opponents this year who say her administration has failed to deal with drug crimes, vandalism and theft. There is no primary in San Francisco  voters will rank all the candidates by preference in the November election.

Supporters of the two propositions far outspent opponents. They include tech-backed civic advocacy groups and CEOs like Chris Larsen of the cryptocurrency firm Ripple and Jeremy Stoppelman of Yelp.

Along with its other changes, Prop. E reduces the powers of the citizen police oversight commission, which the mayor says is micromanaging the department. The change regarding vehicle pursuits modifies the current policy, which allows them only in cases of a violent felony or immediate threat to public safety.

Opponents of the measure say the loosening of paperwork requirements will mean less transparency and the use of technology will allow greater secret surveillance. Meanwhile more vehicle pursuits will lead to more bystander deaths and injuries in a city as dense as San Francisco, they add.

Under Proposition F, single adults without dependents on local welfare  about 9,000 people a year  must be screened for illegal drug use. If they are found to be using drugs, an addiction specialist and the recipient would agree on treatment options that include residential care, a 12-step program, individual counseling and replacement medication.

There is no sobriety requirement, only that a person make a good-faith effort to participate in treatment if they want to receive cash assistance, which maxes out at just over $700 a month. Supporters include recovery advocates, who say it is far too easy for people to get and use illegal drugs in San Francisco and there are not enough options to help them become sober.

Critics say the measure is punitive and there are not enough treatment beds as it is for those who want help.

San Francisco resident Bernice Casey voted against both measures.

People who are receiving aid should not be drug tested, and I think the police need more accountability, not less, said Casey, a city government worker.

Charley Goss, who voted for both, said police need more tools and voters deserve a new approach to crime and drug use.

Theres a lot of drug abuse on our streets and it manifests itself on lots of issues from public safety to quality of life, said Goss, who works for a landlords association.

Both measures were very popular with fed-up voters, said Kanishka Cheng, executive director of TogetherSF Action, the political arm of TogetherSF, a civic advocacy group she co-founded at the start of the pandemic with billionaire venture capitalist Michael Moritz.

Even if the measures are not perfect, she said, people are so frustrated, theyre willing to try something different. Thats the sentiment I hear from voters every day.

Democratic leaders in liberal cities across the U.S. have had mixed results as they struggle to balance progressive criminal justice reforms with fed-up voters. In San Francisco, retail theft, record fentanyl overdose deaths, and the struggle to bounce back from the pandemic have frustrated residents and drawn negative attention from national media outlets.

Voters ousted progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin in a heated recall election in 2022, saying he was too lenient toward criminals. Across the San Francisco Bay in Oakland, progressive Mayor Sheng Thao faces a potential recall election amid a crime wave that has prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to send in California Highway Patrol officers and state prosecutors to help.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
Two men criticized for their failures to challenge the Uvalde school shooter and rescue children and teachers trapped in the carnage won support from voters to continue as law enforcement leaders in the Texas community.

The results stunned and upset families of victims who feel there has been little accountability for the delayed law enforcement response that could have possibly saved lives.

Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco came top in his Republican primary election with 39% of votes and is set for a runoff, according to unofficial results published by the county. Constable Emmanuel Zamora won his Republican primary on Tuesday. Neither has a Democratic opponent.

Both men were named and shamed in a Department of Justice report that aimed to give a full, official accounting of what happened on May 24, 2022, when a teenage shooter opened unlocked doors to get into two 4th grade classrooms, opened fire with an assault-style rifle and was left alone with dead, dying and traumatized victims for more than an hour before he was stopped. Nineteen children and two teachers were killed in the Robb Elementary massacre.

Another officer named in the DOJ report, Constable Johnny Field, came second in his Republican primary to Max Dorflinger, whom unofficial results show just cleared the 50% barrier to avoid a runoff. An officer with the Uvalde Police Department, Dorflinger also responded to the school shooting and body camera footage shows him going in and out of the building carrying boxes of supplies.

Tuesdays election highlights the splits in the Uvalde community, where families of survivors and those killed have called for law enforcement officers who failed to stop the massacre to be fired while their neighbors supported them at the ballot box.

Shooting survivor, Khloie Torres repeatedly called 911 from Room 112 begging for police to help and giving clear information about where she was and how there were dead and injured classmates and teachers with her. She and her mom sent a voice message about the election to CNN. Im just mad, Khloie said.

Who would vote for officers who didnt want to save kids? How does that go through their mind? How do they live every day knowing that those kids died and they voted for the cops that should have saved them? I physically do not know what those people who vote for those police officers were thinking whenever they did it. And especially the officers  theyre told, they literally said on their contracts whenever they signed to be a police officer, Im going to serve and protect.

Kassandra Chavezs son AJ was shot through his thigh and had to wait with Khloie for help. When officers finally entered his classroom, he was hustled out with other students and loaded onto a school bus to get to the hospital as ambulances could not get through to the school.

Im very upset because this whole town knows that they failed the kids and the teachers and they still voted for these people, Chavez said in a message to CNN on Wednesday. She said she hoped there would be some challengers in the November general election. I pray that we get some good candidates to run up against them, she wrote.

Chavez also posted an emotional public message to her son on Facebook: Im so sorry baby boy the system won again tonight  these men that didnt have balls that day dont deserve to be holding a badge but yet others say they do!!

As elected officials, the only way to remove the sheriff and constables is by voting. Their elected status was also why the Department of Justice chose to name Nolasco, Field and Zamora, along with then school police chief Pedro Pete Arredondo and then acting chief of the Uvalde Police Department Lt. Mariano Pargas.

The damning DOJ report said officers had many opportunities to intervene to stop the bloodshed far earlier. Instead, it took 77 minutes from when the shooter walked into the school until he was taken down.

The law enforcement leaders came in for particular criticism in the 575-page report.

On the day of the incident, no leader effectively questioned the decisions and lack of urgency of UCISD PD Chief Arredondo and UPD Acting Chief Pargas toward entering classrooms 111/112, including within their respective agencies and agencies with concurrent/overlapping jurisdiction (e.g., Uvalde County Sheriff Nolasco, Constable Zamora, Constable Field, TX Ranger 1), the report said.

Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco is seen on body camera footage on May 24, 2022. - Uvalde County Sheriff's Office

Body camera footage and interviews by investigators obtained by CNN show Field, at one end of the school hallway, was frequently on the phone with Arredondo, at the other end. Zamora was also one of the earliest responders to reach the hallway. He spent time looking for keys that were not needed and even tried to pry a door lock with a knife. The report also noted how he tried to bring some order to the chaos in the hallway after the gunman was killed, calling for medics to be let through the crowd of officers to see what help the victims needed.

The DOJ analysis confirmed CNN reporting that Nolasco knew the name of the gunman when he arrived at the school and that the teenager had shot his grandmother in the face earlier that morning.

Sheriff Nolasco did not seek out or establish a command post, establish unified command, share the intelligence he learned from (the shooters) relatives, nor did he assign an intelligence officer to gather intelligence on the subject. At one point, Sheriff Nolasco and UPD Acting Chief Pargas were within 10-15 feet of each other outside the exterior door of the northwest hallway; however, they were not coordinating with one another and continued to act independently, the Justice Department report said.

It added bluntly: Uvalde County Sheriff Nolasco, despite being the chief law enforcement officer for the county, lacked leadership and incident command training and did not demonstrate adequate command leadership during the incident by not coordinating the resources from the Sheriffs Office or helping to establish a unified command.

Nolasco has declined to respond to most questions from CNN, but in November 2022 he did answer when asked if he thought his response was adequate: Yeah, he said. I do.

Little has been resolved even as the two-year mark since the killings approaches. Local District Attorney Christina Mitchell  unopposed in her own Republican primary and with no Democratic challenger  has begun presenting evidence to a special grand jury but there is no public timeline for when she may announce if there could be criminal charges for any of the first responders who waited in the hallway.

A report into the actions of Uvalde Police Department officers is set to be released this week. Former Mayor Don McLaughlin, who commissioned the report, said it had been long delayed because Mitchell would not share evidence with the citys independent investigator.

In June 2022, Mitchell told CNN she did not want records or videos released while investigations were ongoing.

The school board fired Arredondo after he was blamed as the de facto incident commander. He has said he never considered himself to be in charge. Pargas chose to resign from the Uvalde Police Department under threat of being fired after CNN revealed he was told children were injured in the classroom and he did not organize a rescue. Pargas was reelected to his county commission seat less than six months after the tragedy, defeating three write-in candidates who included Javier Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter Jackie was killed in the massacre. Jackie had a pulse when she was finally brought out of the classroom but died later that day. Kimberly Mata-Rubio, whose daughter Lexi, aged 10, was also killed, lost her bid to be the citys mayor last year.

CNNs Andy Rose and Matthew J. Friedman contributed to this story.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Alan Cummings has worked on the Voyager mission for over 50 years.

Since their launch, the two Voyager spacecraft have made breakthrough discoveries that keep Cummings engaged.

Cummings thinks they will continue traveling for a billion years.

The twin Voyager spacecraft launched almost five decades ago, and there's no reason they shouldn't keep going for a billion years, one of its scientists, Alan Cummings told Business Insider.

Cummings started working on the Voyager mission when he was a graduate student at Caltech in 1973, about four years before the two spacecraft launched.

Now a senior research scientist at Caltech, Cummings has seen the program dwindle from over 300 people to fewer than a dozen.

Alan Cummings has worked on the Voyager project since 1973. Alan Cummings

Voyagers 1 and 2 have traveled over 10 billion miles into space, further than any human-made object. Cummings said being a part of this historic mission for so many decades has been the backbone of his career.

"The Hubble Telescope is a great mission," he said. "JWST is a great mission, but I think Voyager's in that kind of category."

Voyagers' endurance

The Voyager mission has been gathering groundbreaking data and photos since the beginning.

The first time Cummings saw Jupiter's moon Io in 1979, for example, he thought it was a joke. "It looked like a poorly made pizza," he said.

Its colorful, volcano-covered surface looked so different from Earth's gray, pockmarked moon. "This can't be real," he said, "and it was real."

Image of Jupiter's moon Io as seen from Voyager 1. NASA/Voyager 1

The Voyagers offered us a new perspective on our outer solar system, unlike anything we could have imagined.

They discovered Saturn wasn't the only planet with rings  Jupiter has them too. They revealed new moons around Jupiter and Saturn.

In total, the two spacecraft snapped 67,000 images of our solar system, the final of which was the "pale blue dot" photo made famous by Carl Sagan who said:

"To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world."

Earth appears as a pale blue dot in this image from Voyager 1 taken when the spacecraft was 3.7 billion miles from the sun. NASA/Voyager

"It rewrote the textbooks," Cummings said of the mission.

Both Voyagers were initially planned as five-year missions, but Cummings said, from the beginning, he expected the spacecraft to last at least 30 to 40 years.

"A remarkable engineering team has kept this thing going," Cummings said.

Engineers work on the Voyager 2 spacecraft in the 1970s. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Now, as the two spacecraft approach their 50th anniversaries, they're running low on fuel.

Engineers have had to shut down different instruments to keep them going and the data coming in.

Cummings said once the Voyagers lose power and communication, they'll continue traveling. "I think it's going to go for a billion years," he said. "There's nothing to stop it."

Joining Voyager

An illustration of one of NASA's Voyager spacecrafts drifting through space. NASA

If it weren't for an unfortunate accident, Cummings may never have joined the Voyager mission.

Before Voyager, Cummings was part of an experiment to measure cosmic rays using a balloon.

For several summers, he had released the balloon from northern Manitoba, Canada.

But during its final flight, the balloon didn't descend as expected and ended up over Russia, instead.

By the time Cummings got to Russia, the instrument was destroyed.

"It was very fortunate for me," he said, because he was able to then join the Voyager mission.

He put his cosmic ray experience to use, working on telescopes for the mission's experiments.

"I have my little initials scratched on one of those" telescopes he said, "so I guess I'm going to be immortal."

Interstellar space

A collage of Jupiter and its four moons from images taken by Voyager 1. NASA/JPL

Cummings has worked on other projects over the decades, but Voyagers' continual transmission of new data has kept him excited and involved.

"There's always some new phenomenon that you see," he said.

In fact, Voyager's data has become increasingly more interesting to Cummings in recent years because the two spacecraft are now in interstellar space, the region of space beyond our sun's influence.

After passing by the four giant planets of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus, many of the instruments were still in working order. So, the spacecraft transitioned to an interstellar mission.

This illustration shows the position of NASA's Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes, outside of the heliosphere, a protective bubble created by the Sun that extends well past the orbit of Pluto. NASA/JPL-Caltech

In 2012, Voyager 1 became the first human-made spacecraft to enter interstellar space and Voyager 2 followed six years later.

"That is really what I was most interested in anyway," Cummings said, since cosmic rays are his field of expertise and in interstellar space, those rays aren't disrupted by the sun, Earth, and other obstructions in our solar system.

Voyager is "making its most interesting measurements in some ways right now," he said.

Currently, Voyager 1 is having issues with one of its onboard computers that could compromise the mission.

Cummings hopes the Voyagers can hang on a little longer, especially since interstellar space is a long way off for any other spacecraft.

Read the original article on Business Insider
BLACKSBURG, Va. (WFXR)  A Virginia Tech event highlighting the universitys history, 1872 Forward: A Celebration of Virginia Tech, was awarded a bronze medal in the Education, Art, and Culture: Community Engagement category of the Anthem Awards.

This years Anthem Award winners were selected from a pool of over 2,000 submissions from 44 countries by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. The purpose of the awards is to honor the work of the people, companies, and organizations worldwide in seven core causes: Diversity Equity & Inclusion, Education Art & Culture, Health, Human & Civil Rights, Humanitarian Action & Services, Responsible Technology, and Sustainability Climate & Environment.

1872 Forward: A Celebration of Virginia Tech presented by the Council of Virginia Tech History and More Than a Fraction Foundation was held on March 22-24, 2022, and brought to life how the past shapes the present and eventually leads the university into the future.

Virginia Tech breaks records for Giving Day 2024, raises over $13M

The events centered on the 150 years of Virginia Techs History and the land it stands on. This includes the communities of Native Americans who call the land home, descendants of Africans who were enslaved on the land, descendants of the European Americans who once owned the land, and the experiences of students, staff, and alumni who have made Virginia Tech what it is today.

I am very proud of the work the Council on Virginia Tech History has done and is continuing to do, said Menah Pratt, vice president of strategic affairs and diversity. The council was initially established to create projects and events to help celebrate Virginia Techs sesquicentennial; however, our group always saw that as just the beginning. Many great works came out of this three-day event, and we are excited to continue building upon those outcomes.

Throughout the week, the council carried out a free and open dialogue about Virginia Tech as an institution and as a community. Participants were able to share stories and histories about experiences that may not have been widely known, denied, or misunderstood. The event was able to open deeper conversations within the university community and beyond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) on Wednesday signed into law legislation that raised annual purchase limits on over-the-counter (OTC) cold and allergy medicine.

The bill, SB688, applies to three ingredients found in many decongestants and cold medicines: pseudoephedrine, often sold under the brand name Sudafed; ephedrine, sold under brand names including Akovaz and Corphedra; and phenylpropanolamine, which is found in some formulations of Alka-Seltzer, Dimetapp, Robitussin and Contac.

Previously, purchase limits were set at 48 grams per person annually, estimated to last roughly 6 1/2 months. The new law nearly doubles that purchase limit  raising the cap to 86.4 grams per person, a full 12-month supply.

The bill was bipartisan and passed by strong margins in both chambers of the state Legislature.

West Virginia state Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo (R) said that the state has proven its commitment to combating the illegal diversion of pseudoephedrine through its adoption of NPLEx, ensuring law enforcement and pharmacists on the front lines of this fight have the tools they need to crack down on criminals.

Im pleased to have sponsored this legislation, which will give West Virginians increased flexibility to care for their allergy symptoms year-round, Takubo said.

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) released a statement embracing the new law.

OTCs are a core attribute of our health care system, providing accessible, affordable, safe, and effective solutions. Without them, 82% of people would seek professional medical attention for minor ailments, including allergies, further straining our already overburdened healthcare system, said Carlos Gutierrez, CHPAs vice president of state and local government affairs, in a statement.

CHPA thanks Governor Justice, Senate Majority Leader Takubo, and Delegate Summers for prioritizing legislation that will not only increase access to the beneficial self-care products West Virginians depend on for relief but will alleviate undue burdens caused by costly and unnecessary doctor visits, Gutierrez continued.

The Hill has reached out to the governors office for further comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Washington state lawmakers passed a $1.3 billion supplemental capital budget Wednesday, providing funding for some new projects and renovations in and around Thurston County.

The budget includes funding for several big ticket items in the Olympia area, including:

The states capital budget pays for construction, maintenance and acquisition of buildings, schools, parks and other assets. The $1.3 billion approved this week is added to the nearly $9 billion capital budget the legislature approved last year.

The supplemental capital budget passed to finish out the 2023-25 biennium also invests in statewide K-12 school construction, behavioral health facilities, housing and natural resources.

Some of those big investments include:

$127.5 million for the Housing Trust Fund;

$115 million for the Small District and Tribal Compact Schools Modernization program;

$82.7 million in grants for community behavioral health projects throughout Washington.

$68.2 million for career and technical education projects at skills centers and technical schools, which include the Tri-Tech Skills Center in Kennewick.

$45 million on improvements to indoor air quality and energy efficiency, with most of the funding for school districts with less than 3,000 students.

$26.6 million to expand affordable childcare access through the Early Learning Facilities grant program.

$22.2 million to the Brian Abbott Fish Barrier Removal Board;

$11.1 million to the Estuary and Salmon Restoration Program.

Approximately $130.5 million of this years supplemental capital budget is funded with general obligation bonds.

The budget, in the form of Senate Bill 5949, will now head for Gov. Jay Inslees desk to be signed.

The state legislative session was scheduled to adjourn Thursday night.
BARNSTABLE  A 30-year-old Hyannis man accused of holding his mother at knifepoint on Wednesday and keeping Barnstable police at bay for about seven hours entered not guilty pleas in court.

Justin Moreira was held without bail after a Thursday dangerousness hearing that same day at Barnstable District Court.

"This is a very serious case," his attorney Nat Carney told media outside the courthouse. "The first thing I'm going to do is speak with my client. I'll be guided by what he tells me."

Moreira was arraigned on charges of kidnapping, nine counts of firearm-armed assault to murder, intimidation of a witness, three counts of carrying without a license, and nine counts of assault with a dangerous weapon (firearm).

Justin Moreira, center, looks out into the audience from the prisoner docket during his arraignment Thursday afternoon in Barnstable District Court.

He is also charged with assault with a dangerous weapon (knife), firearm use in felony, firearm-armed assault to murder, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, and ammunition without FID card possession.

When did the standoff in Hyannis start?

Around 7:41 a.m. on Wednesday, Barnstable police officers were called to 24 St. Francis Circle after receiving a report that Moreira was holding his mother at knifepoint, according to police. The caller told the dispatcher he, his mother and another female had barricaded themselves in a basement bedroom, and Moreira, who was likely armed, was somewhere inside the house, according to police.

Officers were able to evacuate the three people out of the home through a window.

Moreira previously charged with allegedly threatening to shoot up a school in May 2022

Moreira's mother told a police lieutenant that her son was scheduled to attend a court date at Barnstable Superior Court that morning. The court appointment was related to an indictment stemming from charges that he had allegedly threatened to shoot up a school in May 2022.

She was in the living room when he allegedly approached her with a knife demanding the keys to her gun safe. Moreira's mother has an active license to carry permits, according to prosecutors.

"He stated to her that 'The Feds are going to get me, I am going to get killed' at which point he grabbed her phone," reads a police report, which also alleges Moreira threatened to stab his mother.

The Cape Cod Regional SWAT Team was called to the scene and took over command of the police response.

Police said Moreira shot the armored SWAT vehicle seven times

As police and the SWAT team established a perimeter around the house, Moreira allegedly opened the front door and was seen holding a firearm. He retreated into the house at which point "several rounds were fired by Moreira from inside of the residence toward perimeter officers."

Police later found that Moreira had struck the armored SWAT vehicle that was in front of the house with at least seven rounds while one additional round was found lodged in the front yard tree.

Over the course of the standoff, Moreira allegedly made statements such as "I've shot eight rounds at it, there must be no one in the SWAT truck, I've been shooting at it. I want them dead."

He also allegedly stated, "Thirty minutes to get me a car or I am going to start taking people out."

When he was advised he was going to Cape Cod Hospital, he allegedly responded, "No, I have already fired shots."

Justin Moreira, 30, of Hyannis, was arraigned Thursday in Barnstable District Court. He pleaded not guilty to charges of firearm-armed assault to murder after an hours-long standoff with police Wednesday.

Police sent in a robot dog to convince Moreira to come out

At one point, Massachusetts State Police sent a robotic dog inside the home to try to find and convince the man to come out of the home, but he allegedly shot the robot and partially disabled it.

Later in the standoff, the SWAT team deployed a form of pepper spray into the house, but the man remained inside. Finally, a specialty ballistic vehicle with an attached demolition tool arrived on the scene and was used to "forcibly encourage (the man) to exit the residence," according to police.

Moreira does not have a license to carry

Records show Moreira does not possess a license to carry, according to authorities, and is not eligible for a license to carry because of his criminal convictions in Massachusetts.

Moreira also has 41 entries on his adult Board of Probation record, including charges of carrying a dangerous weapon. He was on federal probation for being a felon in possession of a firearm and silencer and being a felon in possession of ammunition.

Barnstable District Court Judge Edward Lynch speaks to Justin Moreira on Thursday in Barnstable District Court as he tries to say something during his arraignment.

"So essentially you have an individual who has made a number of threats to hurting the police, hurting individuals, with firearms, and that's exactly what he tried to do yesterday," said Second Assistant District Attorney Tara Cappola.

Negotiations with Moreira continued until he was placed into custody at 4:03 p.m. on Wednesday.

When police later searched the crime scene, they found 37 shell casings from three different firearms.

Moreira's next court date is April 4.

Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at zrazzaq@capecodonline.com. Follow her on X @zanerazz.

The Cape Cod Times mobile app gets you to the heart of the matter  fast. Whether breaking news, sports, entertainment or weather get succinct, personalized coverage along with award-winning videos, captivating photography, and interactive user features. Download the app.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Hyannis standoff: What we learned at Justin Moreira's court appearance
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Washington state Senator Maria Cantwell is accusing Boeing of stonewalling a federal investigation into the door plug that flew off of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 after taking off from Portland International Airport in January and is calling on the company to cooperate with investigators.

Cantwells demands come after Wednesdays National Transportation Safety Board Senate hearing, in which NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy testified that Boeing has not provided access to information  including Boeings protocols, documents on the removal and reinstalment of the door plug, and the names of the 25 personnel assigned to the door plug team.

We have gone through emails, weve gone through texts, weve looked at pictures to begin to get a picture of the date in mid-September, the two dates in mid-September that we believe the work occurred, Homendy testified. We havent received that information directly from Boeing. We also believe we know what shift it occurred on. But we still  there is one team  that deals with the doors, of 25 people. Why we dont have those names today, two months later, is really disappointing.

How much do homebuyers need to earn to buy a typical house in Portland? New Zillow report released

Well, its beyond disappointing, Sen. Cantwell responded. We have an entire economy that depends on people getting this right. And I thought that the CEO said that they would cooperate to the fullest. So, it seems like this information is now stymieing your investigation, and it seems that its knowable, and that you should at least be able to talk to the individuals there.

Additionally, Homendy noted the NTSB has not received information on Boeings procedures for storing and retrieving quality records and has not been able to verify if Boeing has a procedure for maintaining documents on when work is performed  including when door plugs are opened, closed, or removed, raising concerns about quality assurance, quality management, safety management systems within Boeing.

Where it becomes a concern for us is when employees and others dont feel safe to speak to us, Homendy added.

Push back, petitions arise amid PGEs unaffordable proposed rate increase

After the hearing, Cantwell sent a letter to Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, calling for the companys full cooperation with the investigation and is giving the company two days to provide the NTSB with the requested information.

Please provide this investigative information to the NTSB within the next 48 hours so they can conduct their investigation, Cantwell wrote. If complying with this demand is not possible for some reason, please provide me with a thorough explanation of why not within the same time period We cannot delay the important work of federal safety investigators.

In response to the testimony, Boeing said We have deep respect for the NTSB and the critical role they play in aviation safety. Since the first moments following the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident, we have worked proactively and transparently to fully support the NTSBs investigation. Our team works tirelessly with the NTSB team to respond comprehensively to all NTSB information requests and bring information to them that would be relevant to their investigation.

Portlands downtown drug hub sees staggering improvement in less than a week

Early in the investigation, we provided the NTSB with names of Boeing employees, including door specialists, who we believed would have relevant information. We have now provided the full list of individuals on the 737 door team, in response to a recent request. With respect to documentation, if the door plug removal was undocumented there would be no documentation to share. We will continue to cooperate fully and transparently with the NTSBs investigation, Boeing continued.

The hearing comes after the NTSB released a preliminary report in February that found the four bolts needed to secure the door plug were missing before the airplane was delivered to Alaska Airlines.

The bolts were initially removed to make repairs to five damaged rivets on the Boeing 737 MAX 9s edge frame, which were discovered near the door plug on Sept. 1. However, a photo taken by a Boeing employee on Sept. 19 shows that the two vertical movement arrestor bolts and two upper guide track bolts, which prevent the door plug from moving upward, were not replaced following the repairs made by Spirit AeroSystems, the report states.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
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 Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, joins the deliberation with deputies from the Taiwan delegation at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Senior Chinese leaders Wang Huning and Ding Xuexiang, both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Thursday attended deliberations at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature.

Wang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, joined the deliberation with NPC deputies from the Taiwan delegation.

During the deliberation, Wang said under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the Taiwan-related work was effective over the past year in safeguarding general stability in the Taiwan Strait and strengthening the strategic initiative for China's complete reunification.

He emphasized the importance of unswervingly advancing the cause of national reunification, and firmly opposing separatist moves toward "Taiwan independence" and interference by external forces.

Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang on Thursday joined deliberations of delegations of NPC deputies from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Macao SAR, respectively.

Noting that new major progress has been made in the implementation of "one country, two systems," Ding said Hong Kong has entered a new stage in which it has restored order and is set to thrive, and both Hong Kong and Macao have maintained good momentum in their stable development.

Ding said that the legislation of Article 23 of the HKSAR Basic Law is a constitutional duty of the HKSAR, and should be completed as soon as possible. He urged efforts to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests and ensure the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.

As this year marks the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland, it should be taken as an opportunity to further advance the practice of "one country, two systems" with Macao characteristics to yield new positive results, Ding said. 

Ding Xuexiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese vice premier, joins the deliberation with deputies from the delegation of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

Ding Xuexiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese vice premier, joins the deliberation with deputies from the delegation of the Macao Special Administrative Region at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)
CLEVELAND (WJW)  The FOX 8 I-Team tracked down members of the Cleveland Department of Fire command staff with a camera rolling as we asked about fire safety inspections not being done.

Weve exposed gaps in safety inspections even at the citys busiest and tallest buildings.

Wednesday, we found some of the fire department top brass walking through Cleveland City Hall.

Recently, we reported, the city has no records of regular safety inspections in maximum risk buildings such as high-rises. At least, for the last two years. Other records the city gave us included reports dating back to the 1940s.

Watch: Inspectors pressed on hazards in Warehouse District bar where woman fell

We approached two assistant chiefs Wednesday, leaving a city council public safety hearing.

We said, Weve been trying to get some answers about fire inspections, and fire inspections not being done. Wanted to see what light you could shed on that.

Asst. Chief Bradley Englehart said, No comment.

We confirmed through the mayors office that Englehart serves as chief of staff in the fire department and his duties include overseeing the Fire Prevention Bureau.

We followed up our initial inquiry with, Arent you over the Fire Prevention Bureau?

Englehart, again, answered. No comment.

In addition to uncovering the gaps in inspections, we also revealed fire inspectors making massive amounts of overtime. Records show members of the Fire Prevention Bureau, last year, raked in up to $80,000 in overtime.

Meantime, weve also done more digging into inspections at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Travelers we met expect an airport to keep up on fire safety.

We found, the citys fire department had no records of inspections at Hopkins for the last four years.

Then, the city referred us to the Airport fire unit.

The city sent us records showing many fire systems at the airport get checked by private contractors. These records show a sprinkler system inspection late last summer revealed a list of repairs needed. We did not get records showing those repairs were done. But, the airport says repairs did get made, and the system is operational.

Records also show another fire protection system checked by airport firefighters was last inspected in 2022. But, the airport says that system is in the process of being, completely, replaced.

The Cleveland fire chief has refused to talk to us on camera about any of this. We first began inquiring as far back as late last year.

I-Team: Is Clevelands ShotSpotter system making a difference?

Now, we see the chiefs command staff avoiding questions, too.

We ended our conversation with Asst. Chief Englehart, saying, Talking to you in a public building after a public meeting. Asking a question of importance to the public. So, thats your message to the public?

He answered, Yeah, no comment.

We plan to continue to ask questions about the safety inspections.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
Bunnell, Florida, police caught themselves in the middle of a brawl involving more than 50 people, and called the Flagler County Sheriffs Office to help control the situation Saturday night.

The Flagler County Sheriffs Office said that deputies, with help from the jail's corrections officers, responded to South Anderson Street in Bunnell just after midnight on Saturday.

Before deputies arrived, Bunnell police were called to a verbal disturbance between a large group of people.

After making an arrest, the disturbance intensified, and deputies reportedly saw between 50 and 60 people becoming physically aggressive with one another, as well as with police.

FLORIDA PARENT, JUVENILE ARRESTED AFTER FIGHTING OTHERS AT SCHOOL BUS STOP: VIDEO

Andrea Armster booking photo

During the brawl, the sheriffs office said, one deputy was pushed, and another was punched, though neither sustained serious injuries.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

One woman, 41-year-old Andrea Armster of Bunnell, started yelling at deputies and interfering with the arrest. She then pushed one of the deputies.

Despite being warned several times to step away from the scene, Armster refused orders and continued to yell at law enforcement officials, police said.

FLORIDA WOMAN, 34, ACCUSED OF VIOLENTLY ROBBING 73-YEAR-OLD DATE IN ROMANTIC SCHEME WITH EX-BOYFRIEND: POLICE

The Bunnell Police Department and Flagler County Sheriff's Office responded to a brawl on Saturday involving 50 and 60 people.

Armster was ultimately arrested for battery on a law enforcement officer, disorderly conduct and disorderly intoxication, after police said she showed signs of intoxication.

Her criminal history includes 16 felonies and 16 misdemeanors, including aggravated battery, child neglect, aggravated assault and other narcotic-related charges.

FLORIDA FLOODS SPRING BREAK HOT SPOTS WITH STATE TROOPERS IN UNPRECEDENTED CRACKDOWN ON MAYHEM

The Bunnell Police Department and Flagler County Sheriff's Office responded to a brawl Saturday night involving 50 to 60 people.

Six other people were arrested during the incident. Five of the six were arrested for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, while the sixth was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"When citizens attempt to interfere with an investigation or law enforcement presence, it puts everyone in danger," Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said. "What should have been a simple investigation into a disturbance turned violent in a matter of minutes. Fortunately, our men and women are well-trained to quickly diffuse this situation."





Original article source: WATCH: Florida police break up large brawl after calling for extra help
Read the full story on The Auto Wire

Watch Police Hold Nothing Back To Chase Down A Cop Killer

Murdering a cop in the line of duty is a horrible thing to do. Not surprisingly, police take that super personally, almost like every time they put on the uniform and walk out the house, they dont know if its the last time they see their family. When a drug dealer shot and killed a New Mexico State Police officer, the whole force and cops from nearby agencies went hard to take him down.

Watch what happens when a security guard allegedly tries pulling over an off-duty cop.

Officer Darian Jarrott pulled a white pickup truck driven by Omar Felix Cueva over just outside of Deming, New Mexico. He was ill-prepared for the repeat offender and drug dealer who was armed and ready to kill.

With their colleague dead, all law enforcement in the area pulled out the stops, going hard to find the cop killer.

Pulling out all the stops apparently involves a Camaro from a local police department leading the chase. We dont see too many police Camaros these days and when we do, just like the police Mustangs theyre usually unmarked with the lights embedded in the grille, headlights/taillights, etc. This one instead has roof lights, which is just super weird to see on a sixth-gen.

Whats even better is seeing the muscle car do a PIT maneuver on Cuevas truck. Since the Camaro is low to the ground, and were assuming its outfitted with a push bar on the nose, it can pull off a TVI with amazing precision. This makes us wonder why more departments havent been using Camaros for chases.

Cueva reportedly was ready for a fight. What police didnt know was he had a bulletproof vest on. You see in the dashcam footage right after the PIT the officer in the Camaro gets out, gun drawn, and immediately is shot by Cueva who rushes at him.

Thats when multiple other law enforcement officers open up on Cueva. Despite having many of his vital organs covered by the vest, he still was killed in the hail of gunfire.

Image via NM Bodycam/YouTube

Follow The Auto Wire on Google News.

Join our Newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube page, and follow us on Facebook.
The River Thames in south west London appeared to be full of sewage near a popular spot for wild swimming and water sports.

A video taken by a resident near Richmond, south west London, purported to show clumps of waste and scum across the surface of the water.

Sarah Olney, the local MP, said that the footage showed the river to be in a disgusting state and called it a complete environmental hazard.

Sharing the video on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park, said: This is the disgusting state of the river full of sewage down at Teddington Lock this morning.

She asked Thames Water and Steve Barclay, the Environment Secretary: How much longer are you going to let this disgusting practice continue?

This is the disgusting state of the river full of sewage down at Teddington Lock this morning.



This is a complete environmental hazard.



How much longer are you going to let this disgusting practise continue @thameswater and @stevebarclay? pic.twitter.com/oP06zDgn1S  Sarah Olney (@sarahjolney1) March 6, 2024

Team sent to investigate

Water companies are permitted to release sewage into rivers and seas under certain conditions to stop it backing up into peoples homes. Many sewage overflows are automatically triggered during times of heavy rain, and figures show that at least 72 billion litres of sewage has been discharged into the River Thames since 2020.

A spokesman for Thames Water said that the video had not been officially verified but that the organisations overflow map suggested that the sewage treatment works in nearby Esher have been impacted by heavy rainfall in recent days.

It is understood that Thames Water is sending a team to investigate and take samples of the water course, and that Environment Agency specialist officers are also looking into it.

It is also understood that the Environment Agency considers the video to show natural foam and not sewage pollution.

Peter Morris, 65, who filmed the video, said that he had been crossing the bridge over the water at midday on Wednesday when he saw the state of the river.

He told The Telegraph: I was just walking across the bridge and I just noticed a whole bunch of stuff floating in the water.

I know not what the constituent parts were but Id say looking at the picture, it didnt really convey as much as was there because of the light. But it was really quite shocking to see it.

He added: In years gone by I really dont recall having gone across that bridge and seen anything like that.

Mr Morris said that the area was popular for water sports, and added: If a kid is canoeing, and they do a lot of canoeing round there, and then turn over they could be in serious trouble, I suspect. Im not an expert on water quality, but just looking at that, it seems impossible that that could be a healthy river.

Improving the health of rivers is a focus for us

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: We are looking into an online report of white foam on the surface of the River Thames at Teddington.

A specialist officer will visit the scene to determine the cause of the discoloration and take appropriate next steps.

A spokesman for Thames Water said: Taking action to improve the health of rivers is a key focus for us and we want to lead the way with our transparent approach to data.

We remain the only company to provide live alerts for all untreated discharges and this near real-time data is available to customers as a map on our website and is also available through an open-data platform for third parties, such as swimming and environmental groups to use.

The spokesman added: We are working hard to make these discharges unnecessary and have published plans to upgrade over 250 of our sewage treatment works and sewers to treat the high volumes of incoming sewage and reduce the need for overflows during wet weather, including plans to upgrade our Esher and Gerrards Cross sites.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
A few months ago, a co-worker who had come from out of town made coffee at the office in Inez where Mikeala Marcum works.

Marcum asked if she had used tap water to make the coffee. When the woman said she had, Marcum had her pour it out.

You cannot drink Martin County water, Marcum said.

The manager of the Martin County water system argues that is not correct  that the system meets all water-quality standards and the water is safe to drink.

But after many years of shortfalls in water quality in the system under prior operators, insufficient investment to keep the system running well and poor management that left the district on the verge of collapse, many residents dont drink the water, buying bottled water instead.

Some even buy jugs of water for their pets.

There have been improvements in recent years under outside, professional management that the Kentucky Public Service Commission ordered.

But the district still experiences frequent line breaks that shut down service to residents. It loses more than half the water it treats because of leaks, water theft and faulty meters, and is past schedule to upgrade its raw-water intake.

On top of that, it hasnt been able to overcome a pervasive belief among residents that they cant trust the water.

Customers complain

That belief is rooted in longstanding problems.

From July 2013 to July 2017, for instance, the water system failed to comply with limits on the disinfection by-products (DBPs) in the treated water it sent to customers, according to a January 2018 report from BlueWater Kentucky, a consultant.

From December 2018 to December 2019, researchers from the University of Kentucky and a group called Martin County Concerned Citizens took part in testing tap water at 97 homes around the rural, mountainous county.

The results showed that 47% of samples had at least one contaminant that exceeded safe drinking water guidelines, most commonly DBPs, which Jason Unrine, a UK professor who took part in the study, said are associated with problems including bladder cancer and developmental birth defects.

The tests also found coliform bacteria in 13% of samples, which could indicate the presence of harmful bacteria. The tests did not find E. coli, which is linked to fecal coliform, however.

More than 70% of the people who responded to a survey reported low water pressure at times, while 66% reported a bad odor, 51% said the water was sometimes discolored, and 24% said it irritated their skin.

Only 12% said they drank it.

Inez, Ky., photographed on Monday, March 4, 2024.

The system had frequent water outages, and even when the water was on, customers complained it sometimes flowed out of the tap brown because of sediment.

In 2019, state regulators said the system was deep in debt and near collapse. For years, management had made little effort to repair or replace aging infrastructure such as pipes and meters and hadnt kept adequate financial records, the PSC said.

Customers complain that the water, when it is available, smells and is sometimes dirty. Customers rely on bottled water for drinking, washing dishes, and bathing, the PSC said in an order. Martin District managers and commissioners historically refused to seek sources of revenue, including reasonable rate increases, to fund the periodic replacement of aged infrastructure.

In another order in 2020, the PSC said that over a 20-year period, the district failed to resolve financial and operational mismanagement despite multiple investigations and plans for improvement, which the district never implemented.

The agency made the district hire an outside management company, Missouri-based Alliance Water Resources.

Nothing wrong

There have been improvements since Alliance began management in 2020.

The company has worked to better map the system, improved leak detection and made a number of line replacements, for instance, said Craig Miller, the on-site manager for Alliance.

Repairs and other work by the system are done correctly under Alliance management, instead of just cobbling things together as in earlier times, said Nina McCoy, a member of the water board and head of Martin County Concerned Citizens, which has pushed for improvements for years.

The system also has reduced the amount of water it loses.

Water loss in the system averaged 72% in 2022 but was down to 67% for 2023, Miller said, cutting the amount of water the system paid to treat but lost by tens of millions of gallons annually.

The system maintains good water quality, Miller said.

The Curtis Crum Reservoir in Martin County, Ky., is photographed Monday, March 4, 2024.

The latest report available from the district shows that in 2022, the level of one disinfectant by-product called triholamethanes was detected at ranges above the maximum level allowed at some sites, but the average overall was within the acceptable range and the system met all water quality standards.

Theres nothing wrong with the water in Martin County, Miller said.

Intake problems

Even with the improvements, however, the system still faces challenges.

Miller said the system, which has 230 miles of lines serving about 3,500 customers, was badly designed and built. In some cases contractors laid lines without proper support under them, increasing the potential for leaks.

Workers have fixed more than 800 leaks since the end of 2022, more than Miller had seen in more than a decade of working in other systems, he said.

The leaks and need for repairs cause interruptions in service to some customers.

The district has been approved for $11.2 million from various sources, including abandoned mine land funding and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, for a variety of projects, though not all the money has been disbursed.

Several projects are in the works, but in some cases, the district has had to scale back the scope of the original plans after bids came in higher than the amount of money available.

Nina McCoy, left, head of Martin County Concerned Citizens, and Ricki Draper, with LiKEN Knowledge, process samples taken in a project to test water quality.

For instance, a project to replace water lines to hundreds of homes in the Warfield area was scaled back to a fraction of that, McCoy said.

One reason is that costs for materials and labor have gone up since projects were OKd.

The district also hasnt been able to complete a project to improve its raw water intake, which Miller describes as the worst intake in the nation.

The system uses a pump on the riverbank to pull raw water from the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River, piping it over a mountain to a reservoir near the water treatment plant.

The new intake should have been up and running at least 18 months ago, Miller said, but the project has hit various delays.

McCoy said the district got two pumps, but one got flooded and workers dropped the other one while unloading it, damaging it and causing a delay.

We do need help

In late February, the water district was waiting on a part needed for the system to raise the intake pump during times when the Tug Fork floods to keep it from being damaged.

Until that project is done, the water district is renting a diesel pump to use at the intake, at a cost of more than $50,000 a month for the pump and fuel, Miller said.

It will likely take until the end of April to finish the project, Miller said.

Even with the improvement in water loss from 2022 to 2023, the amount of water the district treats and loses before it gets to homes and businesses is staggering.

Inez, Ky., photographed on Monday, March 4, 2024.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in one report that the average loss in water systems around the country was 16%, and the Kentucky Public Service Commission said in a November 2019 report that unaccounted-for water loss over 15% on an on-going basis was cause for concern.

Some of its distribution lines in the system are more than 60 years old, Miller said.

He has estimated it would take $60 million to replace lines and fix all the other problems the district has now.

That doesnt include the cost to replace the dilapidated treatment plant, he said.

Much of that will have to come from federal or state sources. After two rate increases since 2018 that raised the minimum water bills a total of 84%, residents say they cant afford higher rates.

We do need help with funding, Miller said.

Way more work

Whatever improvements the water system has seen in recent years havent erased the distrust many residents have in their tap water.

After many years in which people felt like they were lied to or not given adequate information about water quality, financial conditions and other issues in the system, it will take complete openness to restore trust, McCoy said.

The main thing that we need here is total transparency, she said.

Some residents are concerned that even if the water is good quality when it leaves the treatment plant, it could pick up contaminants along the way to their homes.

Madison Mooney, Liken Knowledge community engagement coordinator, holds a map of Martin Countys water system on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, in Inez, Ky.

Some also said they feel the water is heavy on chlorine.

Some mornings it smells like you dipped yourself into a pool the chlorine is so high, Anna Wolf said one recent day as she waited on customers at a tobacco store in Warfield.

Wolf said she buys bottled water for drinking and cooking and to give to her dogs.

I dont trust it, she said.

As he walked out of a grocery store with two gallons of bottled drinking water recently, Steve Kilburn said uses water from the Martin County system in his window-washing business, but doesnt drink it.

Sometimes I refer to the water as caustic, he said.

Marcum, 28, said her parents and grandparents told her growing up not to drink the water. These days she sends bottled water to school for her 8-year-old son, Miles, to drink and gives bottled water to their dog and guinea pigs.

Its sad, she said. Everyones told not to drink it.

Another resident, Boonie Fletcher, said he spends about $50 a month for bottled water, on top of his $80 bill for water and sewer service.

It makes a lot of people mad because they have to pay a high-dollar water bill and buy water at the store, Fletcher said.

Miller said it has become ingrained in the culture of the county to criticize the water system, but people should know the water system is headed in the right direction.

This is not gonna happen quickly . . . and were gonna hit snags, he said. We have a bunch of challenges.

At a recent community meeting about the water system held by LiKEN Knowledge  which works for environmental and social justice  community engagement coordinator Madison Mooney asked participants to list their concerns about the water.

The responses included What it is doing to our skin; Running out of bottled water and cant drink the water at our home; What health problems is it causing over time; and kids accidentally getting it in their mouth while bathing which should be fine but isnt.

Mooney, who works to help residents understand what is going on with the water system, said she has seen improvement.

But, she said. Theres still way, way more work that needs to be done with our system.

Madison Mooney, Liken Knowledge community engagement coordinator, is photographed Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, in Inez, Ky.
The Emmy Award-winning "CBS News Sunday Morning" is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. "Sunday Morning" also streams on the CBS News app beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET. (Download it here.)

Hosted by Jane Pauley

WATCH THE FULL MARCH 10 BROADCAST!

Correspondent Tracy Smith with SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher. / Credit: CBS News

COVER STORY: After the strikes: Fran Drescher on the outlook for labor in Hollywood | Watch Video

Last year, actors and writers walked off the job after contract talks with film and TV producers broke down. Fran Drescher, president of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, spearheaded the negotiations that ended up winning huge concessions from corporations in Hollywood. Drescher talks with correspondent Tracy Smith about what studio bosses learned about her over the course of the strike  and what she learned about herself.

For more info:

SAG-AFTRACancer Schmancer Movement





COMMENTARY: Luke Burbank on taking "spring ahead" to the next level | Watch Video

It's that time of year, when Daylight Saving Time costs us an hour of sleep, but gifts us another hour of light at the end of the day. Correspondent Luke Burbank is ready for more.

A scene from the short film

MOVIES: The art of "Gruff," a film that's handmade (Video)

A new short film called "Gruff" features extraordinary artwork by filmmaker Julian Curi. But it's not computer animation. Curi drew all of his characters and backgrounds by hand on paper, manipulated his drawings like puppets before the camera, and used computers to erase the wires, giving his film a uniquely intimate feel. The film centers on the relationship between its heroine, Hazel, and her emotionally distant father, Abuelo, a character loosrly based on Curi's own father. Curi talks with correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti about creating his unique film, which got its start via crowdsourcing on GoFundMe.

To watch "Gruff" click on the video player below:

For more info:

Julian Curi/Righteous RobotFollow Julian Curi on Facebook and Instagram



ALMANAC: March 10 (Video)

"Sunday Morning" looks back at historical events on this date.

Correspondent Seth Doane with actress Marcia Gay Harden. / Credit: CBS News

TV: Marcia Gay Harden on a role you may not know: herself | Watch Video

Since breaking out in the Coen Brothers' "Miller's Crossing," Marcia Gay Harden has won an Oscar (for "Pollock") and a Tony Award, and says she's appeared in more movies than she can count. But the self-described workaholic is much more comfortable being known as an actress than a celebrity. She talks with correspondent Seth Doane about her TV series, "So Help Me Todd," her interest in pottery, and how her three kids inspired her LGBTQ+ activism.

For more info:

"So Help Me Todd," on CBS and streaming on Paramount+Faenza Art Ceramic Center, Faenza, ItalyCafe au Clay, Vancouver, Canada



PASSAGE: CBS News veteran E.S. "Bud" Lamoreaux III (Video)

"Sunday Morning" host Jane Pauley remembers E.S. "Bud" Lamoreaux III, whose long career at CBS News included writing for Walter Cronkite and producing off-beat stories for "CBS Sunday Morning."

For more info:

"Once Upon a Time on Sunday Morning: When Charles Kuralt Gave Us the Real World" by E.S. Lamoreaux III (Headline Books), in Trade Paperback format, available via Amazon



PASSAGE: In memoriam (Video)

"Sunday Morning" remembers some of the notable figures who left us this week, including singer Steve Lawrence, who died last week at age 88. He was best known as part of a duo with wife Eydie Gorme.

Don't want tense industrial synth music waking up the kids? Watching TV with the captions

MOVIES: Read all about it: The popularity of turning captions on | Watch Video

Whether you have lousy TV speakers, are hard of hearing, are distracted by the kids, or are watching a film with actors who mumble, chances are you are using the captions option while watching TV, even if they're not translating a foreign language. Correspondent David Pogue talks with Oscar-winning sound mixer Tom Fleischman, who explains  despite technological advances in audio  why films may be getting harder to hear. Pogue also sits down with Jeff Tashige, whose closed-caption work for Netflix has gone viral.



COMMENTARY: Josh Seftel's mom on adjusting to fame (Video)

Filmmaker Josh Seftel has regularly interviewed his mother, Pat, for "CBS News Sunday Morning," so much so that she is now frequently recognized in public as "the mom." She talks about how becoming a celebrity has changed her life, even if she's not Taylor Swift-level famous.

For more info:

seftel.com

Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney. / Credit: CBS News

TV: Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney on preparing for Oscar's big night | Watch Video

The host and the co-head writer of late-night's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney, share more than a job; their marriage colors their humor. And now, they're responsible for Hollywood's biggest show, when Kimmel hosts and McNearney executive-produces the 96th annual Academy Awards. They talk with "Sunday Morning" senior contributor Ted Koppel about how much is too much when making fun of celebrities, and share some jokes you won't hear at Sunday's Oscar ceremony.

For more info:

The 96th Academy Awards will be broadcast live on ABC Sunday, March 10 beginning at 7 p.m.

VIDEO: Why the i's have it (Video)

Is there a physiological reason why we say "tick tock" rather than "tock tick?" Why does the "i" get first position in all of our i/o word combinations (as in "ping pong")? Writer and narrator Robert Krulwich explores the phenomenon in this "CBS Sunday Morning" video essay, featuring animation by Nate Milton and music by Buck St. Thomas.

For more info:

Created by Robert Krulwich and Nate Milton. Animation by Nate MiltonMusic by Buck St. Thomas



HARTMAN: Community rallies to give legally blind man rides to work (Video)

In Cabot, Arkansas, store janitor Bill Moczulewski would walk five miles, in any weather, to work the overnight shift at the local Walmart. A couple years ago, Christy Conrad saw Moczulewski out walking and offered him a ride. When she found out Moczulewski is legally blind, she started a Facebook group, Mr. Bill's Village, so that others could offer him a ride, too. Steve Hartman reports on the overwhelming response.

For more info:

Mr. Bill's Village (Facebook Group)



NATURE: Elk at Point Reyes National Seashore (Extended Video)

We leave you this Sunday Morning with majestic Tule Elk at Point Reyes National Seashore, in California. Videographer: Lance Milbrand.



WEB EXCLUSIVES:

The Oscar nominees for best picture:

ACADEMY AWARDS: Behind the scenes with the best picture Oscar nominees

Watch scenes from the films nominated in the category of best picture at the 2024 Academy Awards, as well as interviews with the Oscar-nominated filmmakers.

Also:

Best actor Oscar nomineesBest supporting actor nomineesBest actress nomineesBest supporting actress nominees

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Bill Geist attends the Oscars of celebrity impersonators (Video)

"Sunday Morning" correspondent Bill Geist visited a red carpet, not in Hollywood, but in Las Vegas, site of the Reel Awards, which honors excellence in the field of celebrity impersonators. Geist meets a galaxy of fake stars, fake singers and fake presidents, and talks with Janna Joos, who runs a talent agency for faux celebrities. Originally broadcast on "Sunday Morning" March 7, 2010.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Mo Rocca on Oscar acceptance speech do's and don'ts (Video)

What do you say when someone hands you an Academy Award? Correspondent Mo Rocca offers his tips on how to be graceful, moving or funny  and if you're going political, nothing tops hiring an actress to play a Native American to refuse your Oscar for you. Originally broadcast on "Sunday Morning" February 22, 2009.

GALLERY: Notable deaths in 2024

A look back at the esteemed personalities who've left us this year, who'd touched us with their innovation, creativity and humanity.

The Emmy Award-winning "CBS News Sunday Morning" is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. Executive producer is Rand Morrison.

DVR Alert! Find out when "Sunday Morning" airs in your city

"Sunday Morning" also streams on the CBS News app beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET. (Download it here.)

Full episodes of "Sunday Morning" are now available to watch on demand on CBSNews.com, CBS.com and Paramount+, including via Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Chromecast, Amazon FireTV/FireTV stick and Xbox.

Follow us on Twitter; Facebook; Instagram; YouTube; TikTok; and at cbssundaymorning.com.

You can also download the free "Sunday Morning" audio podcast at iTunes and at Play.it. Now you'll never miss the trumpet!

Home buying might be cheaper for millions soon as realtor association settles lawsuits

Jim Gaffigan raises a glass to bourbon

Proposed California bill would ban Flamin' Hot Cheetos in schools
Honk if you're excited for spring break, sun, sand and surf! Thousands of students are swarming across the state in search of fun, relaxation and escape from the winter climes. You may have a lot of questions about what to do and where to go, but some questions you shouldn't wait to ask in the moment.

Like, can I turn right on red here? Are U-turns legal? Do I need to move over for parked cars on the highway?

Here's a quick look at driving laws in Florida and what you need to know before you cross the border.

What are Florida's drunk driving laws?

Let's get this out of the way first.

Florida considers you to be a drunk driver and legally impaired if your blood alcohol or breath alcohol level (BAC) is 0.08 or above. Depending on your body weight that can be as few as a couple of drinks and that's at least a $500 fine on the first conviction and at least $1,000 if your BAC was 0.15 or more or if there was a minor in the vehicle with you. You may also see possible jail time of up to 6-9 months, revocation of your license for at least 180 days, and impoundment of your ride.

Other DUI penalties can include an ignition interlock device, mandatory classes and community service. It gets much worse if there is property damage or injury and much, much worse if someone is seriously injured or killed.

That's for the first offense. It goes up fast from there.

Also, the legal drinking age in Florida is 21 or older. Possessing alcohol if you're under the legal age is a second-degree misdemeanor and that's more court fees, fines and other legal issues.

Not a drinker? Driving while impaired by drugs is also illegal and subject to the same penalties as driving under the influence of alcohol.

The Florida Highway Patrol and local law enforcement will be out in force, watching for impaired drivers. Gov. Ron DeSantis is sending 140 state troopers and 24 members of the Florida Highway Patrol Quick Response Force team to spring break hot spots to help back up the local cops.

'Never Drive Impaired': Florida Highway Patrol targets spring breakers with safety, don't drive impaired campaign

Can I text or use my phone while driving in Florida?

Texting while driving is prohibited in Florida.

Not only is texting while driving illegal and a primary offense in Florida with a base $30 fine plus court costs and fees, you can't pick up your phone at all while driving through school zones and active construction zones. Florida law prohibits manual typing or reading on a mobile device while the car is in motion (you can text if parked or if fully stopped at an intersection).

Hands-free operation is fine, and you're allowed to use your phone for emergency calls or for GPS operation.

Can I turn right on red in Florida?

Yes, provided that:

You come to a stop first

There are no signs prohibiting it

You wait for any pedestrians or other vehicles already in the intersection

Are U-turns legal in Florida?

Yes, as long as you obey traffic lights, give right-of-way to vehicles already in the intersection and there are not signs that say you can't.

What is Florida's Move Over law?

Florida's "Move Over" law requires you to move over a lane, when you can safely do so, for a variety of things on the side of the road:

Stopped law enforcement

Emergency, sanitation, utility service vehicles, tow trucks or wreckers

Maintenance or construction vehicles with displayed warning lights

Any disabled motor vehicles

If you can't move over or you're on a two-lane road, you should

Slow to a speed 20 mph less than the posted speed limit

Slow down to 5 mph if the posted speed limit is 20 mph or less

Violating the Move Over law will result in a fine, fees, and points on your driving record, according to the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Do I have to stay out of the left lane on Florida highways?

Not this year but soon, thanks to a law passed this year. HB 317/SB 258, the Interstate Safety bill (aka the left-lane bill) makes it illegal to cruise in the left lane of highways. You may only use the far left lane:

To overtake and pass another vehicle.

When preparing to exit the road, street, or highway.

When otherwise directed by an official traffic control device.

The new law takes effect Jan. 1, 2025.

Can I turn on my hazard lights when it rains in Florida?

Drivers are now allowed to use hazard lights while driving in heavy rain or fog that lowers visibility, but only on highways with speed limits of 55 mph or more.

Before 2021, no. After the Florida Legislature changed the law that year, yes.

But you can only turn on your flashers on highways with speed limits 55 mph or over, and only when conditions such as fog and heavy rain create extremely low visibility.

Can I get a ticket for driving too slowly in Florida?

If you drive so slowly that you "impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic," yes, according to .Florida Vehicle Code Sec. 316.183(5). However, you also can get a ticket in Florida for driving the posted speed limit if conditions make that unsafe.

The basic Florida speed limits, according to the website floridacarlaws.com, are:

20 mph : school zones

30 mph : urban district or street

55 mph : all roads and highways unless otherwise posted

60 mph : two-lane sections of highways and freeways

70 mph: freeways, interstate highways, and other roads if posted

Every municipality, county, town or specific road can have different regulations and restrictions so watch carefully for signs.

Can I drive on the beaches in Florida?

Beach driving is legal in some areas of Volusia County.

Florida is famous for beach driving, although it's become more and more limited over the years. Daytona Beach especially became celebrated worldwide for it.

But not on all beaches, and you must observe all local restrictions on times, safe driving lanes, and wildlife. Here's where you can hit the sand in the Sunshine State. You may only enter the beach at designated ramps and there may be access fees. Check your planned spring break destination for specifics.

Mark H. Bickel, Fort Myers News-Press, contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Spring break: Texting while driving in Florida, drunk driving explained
The Labour-run Welsh Government brought in different pandemic rules for the sake of it, a former UK Cabinet minister has told the Covid Inquiry.

Simon Hart, the former Welsh Secretary, said that Mark Drakefords Government in Cardiff introduced alternative rules to England during the pandemic for the sake of being different.

Mr Hart, now the governments Chief Whip, said the decision to have different rules in Wales than in England was potentially dangerous.

The Covid Inquiry is currently sitting in Wales as it examines decision making in the nation during the pandemic. Baroness Hallett, the Inquiry chair, has already visited Scotland and will go to Northern Ireland next month.

The Inquiry confirmed on Thursday, that Mr Drakeford, the outgoing First Minister of Wales, would appear next week as well as Vaughan Gething, the Minister for the Economy and former Minister for Health, and favourite to be the next leader of Welsh Labour.

During Thursdays evidence Mr Hart, who was Secretary of State for Wales from December 2019 to July 2022, criticised the Welsh Governments response to the pandemic.

Mr Hart was asked by Tom Poole KC, lead counsel to the Welsh phase of the Inquiry, about his witness statement where he said that increasingly, over time he was left with the feeling that Welsh ministers actively sought differentiation in their approach compared to the UK Governments in England.

Asked if he thought Wales was being different for the sake of being different, he replied: More in sadness than in anger, I do believe that to be the case.

He added: It was difficult to see any evidence which suggested that the outcomes were going to be, or were, any different a a result of some of the divergent policies which were emerging ...You could make some perfectly reasonable differentiations based on population dynamics and that sort of thing.

Simon Hart said he was 'sad' rather than 'angry' at the way the Welsh Government sought to be different to the Westminster Government in its handling of the pandemic - Shutterstock/Tayfun Salci

During the pandemic communities living on both sides of the border found themselves falling under different rules despite living on the same town or being on the same street in some cases and Mr Hart said there was frustration that people didnt know the difference in the rules.

Anything which led to confusion, anything that led to contempt, anything that led to sort of a lack of confidence in the process, that was potentially dangerous in my mind, he added.

I dont say it with any sense of glee, in a moment of national, international emergency as this was, the risk of that being the only conclusion could reach was heightened and what genuinely worried me was that if what people were thinking then their enthusiasm for complying with the rules was going to be compromised and that would ultimately be bad for everyone, Mr Hart said.

Earlier the Inquiry heard how Mr Drakeford believed the UK Governments handling of the coronavirus pandemic was a threat to the future of the union.

Jane Runeckles, the Welsh first ministers most senior adviser, told the Inquiry that it was felt that the actions of Boris Johnsons government could lead to a breakdown of the UK.

I believe that the First Minister had a genuine, sincerely held concern that some of the actions of the UK government in relation to the way they had handled some of the earlier period was a genuine threat to the future of the UK, she said.

Mark Drakeford believed the UK government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic was a threat to the future of the union - Getty Images/Matthew Horwood

Ms Runeckles said that contact between Mr Johnson and Mr Drakeford was described as infrequent, which led to divergence in policy between the four nations of the UK.

Mr Johnson said in previous evidence to the inquiry that he had deliberately not met the first ministers of the devolved nations to avoid giving the impression that the UK was a federalised country.

Ms Runeckles said: The tensions between the actions taken by the Welsh government and the actions taken by the UK government became more and more obvious, and once we reached the point through the beginning of May, the fact that the Welsh government were taking decisions in a different way to the UK government just meant that there was very little for us to talk about.

The Inquiry continues on Monday when it will hear evidence from Mr Gething.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Newsweek names Wentworth-Douglass among Best Hospitals in U.S.

DOVER  Wentworth-Douglass Hospital has been named among the best hospitals in the United States for the fourth straight year, according to Newsweeks 2024 Worlds Best Hospitals rankings published Wednesday.

Wentworth-Douglass was ranked 180th of the 412 American hospitals rated on the publications US-based list  its highest ranking ever. The hospital was ranked 189th in 2023, 191st in 2022, 217th in 2021, and 196th in 2020. Wentworth-Douglass was the only Seacoast hospital on the list and one of just two in the state of New Hampshire. There are currently 6,129 hospitals in the USA according to the American Hospital Association.

"We are deeply honored to find ourselves among Newsweek's Top 200 yet again," said Darin Roark, president and chief operating officer, "Every accolade we receive is a tribute to the unwavering dedication of our staff to our patients and community. Their steadfast commitment deserves every bit of acclaim they receive and I couldn't be prouder of their achievements."

You can see the full rankings online: https://www.newsweek.com/rankings/worlds-best-hospitals-2024

Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire CEO Johanna Beliveau selected for prestigious health system management fellowship

Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire (VNH) President and CEO Johanna Beliveau has been selected to the prestigious Academy GE Fellows Program, a nationally competitive health executive fellowship program.

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt.  The Health Management Academy has selected Johanna L. Beliveau, DNP, MBA, RN, CEO and president of Dartmouth Health member Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire (VNH), to take part in the Academy GE Fellows Program. The two-year, nationally competitive program is designed to prepare the next generation of health system executives from leading health systems like Dartmouth Health.

Leading VNH through the COVID-19 pandemic, an ongoing clinical workforce shortage, and the financial headwinds facing the rural healthcare industry have been a crash course in executive healthcare leadership. And while Im proud to say the tides are turning in our favor, there remains several challenges on the horizon that will require effective and innovative leadership to navigate, said Beliveau. I look forward to the opportunity to strengthen my skills and equip myself with a robust toolset of best practices through this exciting program. I am grateful and honored to be selected.

Beliveau will start the Academy GE Fellows Program in April, with a combination of in-person conferences and virtual meetings.

The program will prepare Beliveau and other fellows with essential healthcare knowledge, leadership skills and business acumen to take on C-suite positions in leading health systems. Selected from new C-suite leaders as well as high-potential administrative, finance, nurse and physician senior leaders, fellows will learn to lead through collaboration, drive innovation and practice adaptive and predictive thinking. 

Beliveau joins fellow Dartmouth Health system leaders Martin Thomas Tom Manion, president and CEO of New London Hospital and recently named COO of Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, who will graduate from the administrative fellowship in spring 2025, and Joseph L. Perras, MD, president and CEO of Cheshire Medical Center who is a recent graduate of the program.

Beliveau has served as president and CEO of VNH since June 2018. She is an experienced healthcare leader with 28 years in nursing practice, and 25 years in progressive leadership roles. Prior to joining VNH, Beliveau served in multiple roles within the Dartmouth Health system, most recently as Director of Quality, Patient Safety and Compliance for Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center in Windsor, VT, and as Associate Chief Nursing Officer at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and Clinics.

March Prostate Cancer Support Group meetings

STATEWIDE  The Prostate Cancer Support Group of New Hampshire announces not one but two meetings in March. On Saturday, March 23, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the group will host urology specialist Dr. Robert Mitchell of Concord Urology as its special guest speaker in its first ever in person meeting. The meeting will be held at the brand new Grappone Mazda Community Resource Room on Manchester Street in Concord with questions and discussion from the entire group. An RSVP by email to dbraiterman@outlook.com with name, address, and phone number for this meeting is requested to reserve your space.

On Wednesday of March 13, the group's regular Zoom meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. This meeting will feature a webinar replay from the Prostate Cancer Foundation, "Early Prostate Cancer Screening" with open discussion among the group after. Send an email to dbraiterman@outlook.com or look on the group's Facebook page for a link to this Zoom meeting.

Dartmouth Health member CEOs recognized in national ranking of top rural hospital executives

From left to right are Joseph L. Perras, MD, Susan E. Mooney, MD, MS, FACOG, and Thomas A. Dee, FACHE.

LEBANON Three Dartmouth Health chief executive officers were recently named to Beckers Hospital Reviews list of 110 rural hospital and health system CEOs to know for 2024. Joseph L. Perras, MD, CEO and president of Cheshire Medical Center; Susan E. Mooney, MD, MS, FACOG, CEO and president of Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital; and Thomas A. Dee, FACHE, CEO and president of Southwestern Vermont Health Care, were among those honored by Beckers for their commitment to expanding hospital service lines, renovating and improving their facilities, and hiring talented team members.

Dartmouth Health is a national leader in excellence in rural healthcare delivery, and this is reflected in the leadership of some of our most rural member hospitals, said Joanne M. Conroy, MD, CEO and president of Dartmouth Health. Dr. Mooney, Dr. Perras and Tom have led their teams through an especially challenging period in healthcare in the last four years without sacrificing the quality of care our patients have come to rely on. Im very proud that their efforts have been recognized by Beckers, and am grateful for their invaluable leadership.

Beckers noted that the CEOs on the list take on a variety of responsibilities to ensure rural communities have access to top-tier healthcare. Although many rural hospitals have struggled due to COVID-19 and national staffing shortages in recent years, the leaders included on Beckers list have created sustainable models for continued success. To view the full list, visit https://bit.ly/431G4ls.

Innovation Challenge kicks off  Top prize up to $100,000

CONCORD  The HealthForce NH team at the Foundation for Healthy Communities today announced the launch of its Innovation Challenge, designed to promote and support innovative ventures in the health care workforce space in New Hampshire.

The online application for this multi-stage, competition-style event series can be found at https://healthforcenh.org/innovation-challenge/. Applications are due by Thursday, April 4, at 8 p.m. Proposals may be focused on talent pipeline and recruitment, pathways, education and training, equity, public policy, data, technology, leadership, sustainability and retention, or something else that helps to bolster the health care workforce in the Granite State. Monetary awards will be up to $100,000 for first place, up to $60,000 for second place and up to $40,000 for third place.

The competition is open to individuals, established organizations, or new organizations within any industry. All proposals need to reflect original thinking or original adaptations and applications of existing programs, changed to be unique. We are seeking out partners  from health care, education, business, and a dynamic cross-sector of industries  to invest in them as they create unique new ways to help solve the workforce challenges facing the health care industry in New Hampshire, said Luczko.

Health care is the fastest growing employment sector, projected to add almost 10,000 jobs to the economy by 2030; however, NHs health care workforce is not poised to grow enough to fill these jobs. HealthForce NH recognizes the effort to grow, retain and sustain a robust health care workforce is going to require thinking outside-the-box, said Luczko. Creative, high-impact strategies are needed to address the workforce shortage, and the Innovation Challenge is just part of an overall effort by HealthForce NH to launch bold, innovative projects to address the issue. Were excited about the possibilities and the great new partners we will bring to the table with the Innovation Challenge.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Wentworth-Douglass among Best Hospitals, Innovation Challenge: Seacoast health news
The administration of US President Joe Biden will continue to work with Congress to approve a funding package for Ukraine as well as considering other measures to support the nation.

Source: John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House, in an interview with Voice of America

Details: In addition, Kirby said that the United States would work with allies regarding possible contributions.

"And of course, we're looking inside our own system, inside our own government, and across the administration to see if there's anything else that we might be able to do to support Ukraine. But we've got nothing. None of those efforts are going to be able to replace the volume, the scale that the [bill currently being held up] would provide us," Kirby noted.

When asked whether the administration might have a plan B, Kirby replied: "We have never not looked at what other opportunities we might have before us. But whatever they are, they're not going to be as good as the [aid bill]."

He also said that it is "difficult to say with any certainty" whether the House of Representatives will approve this bill, and it depends on Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House.

"We know  and Speaker Johnson knows  that if you put that to the floor, it'll pass. There's plenty of bipartisan support for that; both sides of the aisle in the House. No question about that. The question is really: Will he put it to the floor? And only he can answer that question," Kirby added.

Background:

The Biden administration is reportedly exploring the possibility of diverting about US$200 million in US military funding to support Ukraine.

After meeting with other congressional leaders and President Joe Biden at the White House on 27 February, Mike Johnson said that he continued to prioritise US border security.

Support UP or become our patron!
PHNOM PENH, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has recorded a significant rise in the number of Chinese tourists to its famed Angkor Archaeological Park in the first two months of 2024, according to the state-owned Angkor Enterprise's report on Thursday.

The report said 16,074 Chinese holidaymakers visited the Angkor during the first two months this year, up 140 percent from 6,690 over the same period last year.

China was the fifth largest source of international tourists to the Angkor after South Korea, the United States, France, and Britain, it added.

According to the report, a total of 235,850 foreigners from 169 countries and regions toured the ancient park in the reporting period, up 50 percent from 156,951 in the same period last year.

Officials hope that the 2024 Cambodia-China People-to-People Exchange Year starting in January would help bring Chinese tourists to Cambodia, especially to the Angkor.

"I'm strongly confident that the 2024 Cambodia-China People-to-People Exchange Year will become a new driving force to attract more Chinese tourists and investors to Cambodia," Cambodian Tourism Minister Sok Soken said at the launching event held at the Terrace of the Elephants in the Angkor complex.

Secretary of State and Spokesperson of the ministry Top Sopheak said Cambodia is eager to see more Chinese tourists to come, especially to the Angkor, saying their presence has significantly contributed to the kingdom's tourism development, economic growth and poverty reduction.

He is confident that the Chinese-invested Siem Reap Angkor International Airport, which officially launched its commercial operations in November 2023, would help attract more international tourists, especially from China.

Located in northwest Cambodia's Siem Reap province, the 401-square-km Angkor Archeological Park, inscribed on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1992, is the most popular tourist destination in the kingdom.

The Angkor is home to 91 ancient temples built between the 9th and the 13th century. 
An Israeli woman taken hostage by Hamas in Gaza has described the hell of being held captive, after her husband and daughter were murdered, telling CNN her captors would not allow her surviving young children to cry and tried to convince them they had been forgotten.

Chen Almog Goldstein, who was kidnapped with her surviving children during Hamas October 7 attacks on Israel, said they were held in tunnels and an apartment in Gaza until their release after 51 days.

They humiliated us, sometimes mocking us, she told CNNs Christiane Amanpour. They told us that we had been forgotten, that the only important thing for Israel was fighting.

We were not allowed to cry, they wanted us to be happy  If we cried, we had to snap out of it or hide it, she said. Its a kind of emotional abuse that they didnt let us cry.

Almog Goldstein witnessed her husband Nadav and her oldest daughter Yam murdered by Hamas gunmen, who broke into their home near the border with Gaza on October 7.

I took Yams large teddy bear, the size of a human, and put it on top of us to protect us from the shooting, she told Amanpour. Within a few seconds, five of them came into the safe room, screaming, (and) as I turned around Nadav was shot in the chest, point blank.

Moments later her daughter was shot in the face, and Almog Goldstein was bundled into a family car along with her three surviving children, and driven across the border. She recalled the two Hamas militants in the car taking selfies as they drove back to Gaza.

Hamas attacks on October 7 killed around 1,200 Israelis, with more than 200 people taken back to Gaza as hostages. Israel believes that 99 people are still being held in Gaza, along with the bodies of 31 dead hostages.

Almog Goldstein and her surviving children were released in late November, as part of a swap for Palestinian prisoners in Israel during a four-day truce in the war.

While in captivity, she said the family survived on little water and food each day. They tried to provide us with food. There was more in the beginning, but there was less later, she said.

She said they feared they would be killed either by their captors or in the incredible bombardment on Gaza by Israeli forces.

And she described intense supervision by the familys captors. Agam used to sit down and stare, and they would say, what are you staring at? What are you thinking? There was no personal space.

Almog Goldstein described the "emotional abuse" she was subjected to while in captivity. - CNN

You need to understand they took our identity; it was extremely difficult for us.

They talked to us about Gilad Shalit [the captured soldier held by Hamas for five years] and laughed, she said. They told us that we had been forgotten, that the only important thing for Israel was fighting.

Almog Goldstein said she and her children discussed religion with their captors and tried to keep the relationship amicable. Sometimes we saw them crying, worried about their wives, and writing letters to their wives.

She urged the release of the remaining hostages, asking Amanpour: (Are) we, as a society and the world, doing everything for them? I can testify that it is hell there.

More than 30,000 people have died in Gaza since Israel waged war against Hamas five months ago, but recent efforts to bring about a ceasefire that would allow the release of the remaining hostages have been frustrated.

On Thursday two American officials agreed that the prospects are not promising of Israel and Hamas agreeing to a temporary truce by the start of Ramadan early next week. Hope is fading, one US official said.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Police have started a murder investigation after a man who was found with serious injuries in west Belfast died in hospital.

The man has been named locally as Joseph Brennan from the Poleglass area of the city.

The incident happened in Cupar Street, off the Springfield Road, just after 20:00 GMT on Wednesday.

Officers had previously said they were at the scene of a serious assault.

A 35-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in custody, they added.

Police cordons around the scene were lifted by Thursday morning

Police said the victim was found unconscious after officers were notified of an altercation outside a bar.

"Our enquiries continue, and I'm keen to take the opportunity to appeal to anyone with information to get in touch," Det Insp Sean Armstrong said.

"Did you witness the events leading up to the altercation? Might you have captured footage of the actual incident? Please contact our detectives."

Sinn Fein MP Paul Maskey said he was "deeply saddened" by the news of the death and appealed for those with information to come forward.

"I would like to express my condolences with the man's family and friends as they come to terms with this terrible loss," he added.

"I would appeal to anyone with information on this death to immediately bring it forward to the police to assist with their inquiries."
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN)  If you want to win North Carolinas 13th Congressional District, you have a lot of ground to cover.

The district expanded from four counties to eight in a new congressional district map. Its also gone from a toss-up in 2022 to a solid Republican win. The current representative is the democratic winner of that election, Rep. Wiley Nickel.

Nickel said he is not running in 2024.

North Carolina Republicans have rigged the system to favor themselves and I dont have a path to run for Congress in the 13th district, Nickel told CBS 17 back in December.

Rep. Wiley Nickel wont seek reelection after redraw of congressional lines, makes plans for U.S. Senate in 2026

The newly drawn map is a guaranteed seat for Republicans. The person who wins the primary is essentially the next person who goes to Congress.

Its been a whirlwind, we were thrilled to get into this runoff, said candidate Brad Knott, former federal prosecutor.

Knott managed to get the coveted number two spot behind the number one voter choice Kelly Daughtry. No candidate reached the 30 percent plus one vote threshold to avoid a second primary.

14 people were on Tuesdays GOP primary ballot. Knott needs Daughtrys votes in order to win the May 14 primary runoff.

This race for me has always been about what Ive seen and the idea that I have to fix the problems that I dealt with as a prosecutor, said Knott. And of course the stakes are high, you know Im not a politician really, Ive never run before and my focus is to just talk to as many voters as I can.

The race is expected to cost more with less voter turnout, since runoffs tend to have less turnout. Runoffs dont tend to rally as many people to the polls. Extending an already expensive primary for another 10 weeks means more fundraising for Knotts campaign. Daughtry has mostly remained self-funded.

Knott plans to keep relaying the same message that he believes has given him a second chance.

Im going to use my experience to serve the American people in Congress to take on spending, to take on illegal immigration and take on the open border, and that message resonated with a lot of voters and we think as we continue to run it will only resonate more, he said.

The 13th District includes northern and southeastern Wake County and most of Granville County. It includes all of Harnett, Lee, Johnston, Person, Caswell and Franklin Counties.

CBS 17 has reached out to Kelly Daughtrys campaign but has not yet received a response.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com.
FILE - Electric Time Co. employee Walter Rodriguez cleans the face of an 84-inch Wegman clock at the plant in Medfield, Mass. Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008. Once again, most Americans will set their clocks forward by one hour this weekend, losing perhaps a bit of sleep but gaining more glorious sunlight in the evenings as the days warm into summer. There's been plenty of debate over the practice but about 70 countries  about 40 percent of those across the globe  currently use what Americans call daylight saving time. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

DALLAS (AP)  Once again, most Americans will set their clocks forward by one hour this weekend, losing perhaps a bit of sleep but gaining more glorious sunlight in the evenings as the days warm into summer.

Where did this all come from, though?

How we came to move the clock forward in the spring, and then push it back in the fall, is a tale that spans over more than a century  one that's driven by two world wars, mass confusion at times and a human desire to bask in the sun for a long as possible.

There's been plenty of debate over the practice, but about 70 countries  about 40% of those across the globe  currently use what Americans call daylight saving time.

While springing the clocks forward kind of jolts our system, the extra daylight gets people outdoors, exercising and having fun, says Anne Buckle, web editor at timeanddate.com, which features information on time, time zones and astronomy.

The really, really awesome advantage is the bright evenings, right?" she says. "It is actually having hours of daylight after you come home from work to spend time with your family or activities. And that is wonderful.

Here are some things to know so you'll be conversant about the practice of humans changing time:

HOW DID THIS ALL GET STARTED?

In the 1890s, George Vernon Hudson, an astronomer and entomologist in New Zealand, proposed a time shift in the spring and fall to increase the daylight. And in the early 1900s, British home builder William Willett, troubled that people weren't up enjoying the morning sunlight, made a similar push. But neither proposal gained enough traction to be implemented.

Germany began using daylight saving time during World War I with the thought that it would save energy. Other countries, including the United States, soon followed suit. During World War II, the U.S. once again instituted what was dubbed war time nationwide, this time year-round.

In the United States today, every state except Hawaii and Arizona observes daylight saving time. Around the world, Europe, much of Canada and part of Australia also implement it, while Russia and Asia dont currently.

INCONSISTENCY AND MASS CONFUSION

After World War II, a patchwork of timekeeping emerged across the United States, with some areas keeping daylight saving time and others ditching it.

You might have one town has daylight saving time, the neighboring town might have daylight saving time but start it and end it on different dates and the third neighboring town might not have it at all, says David Prerau, author of the book Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time.

At one point, if riders on a 35-mile (56-kilometer) bus ride from Steubenville, Ohio, to Moundsville, West Virginia, wanted their watches to be accurate, they'd need to change them seven times as they dipped in and out of daylight saving time, Prerau says.

So in 1966, the U.S. Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, which say states can either implement daylight saving time or not, but it has to be statewide. The act also mandates the day that daylight saving time starts and ends across the country.

Confusion over the time change isn't just something from the past. In the nation of Lebanon last spring, chaos ensued when the government announced a last-minute decision to delay the start of daylight saving time by a month  until the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Some institutions made the change and others refused as citizens tried to piece together their schedules. Within days, the decision was reversed.

It really turned into a huge mess where nobody knew what time it was, Buckle says.

WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE IF WE DIDN'T CHANGE THE CLOCKS?

Changing the clocks twice a year leads to a lot of grumbling, and pushes to either use standard time all year, or stick to daylight saving time all year often crop up.

During the 1970s energy crisis, the U.S. started doing daylight saving time all year long, and Americans didn't like it. With the sun not rising in the winter in some areas till around 9 a.m. or even later, people were waking up in the dark, going to work in the dark and sending their children to school in the dark, Prerau says.

It became very unpopular very quickly," Prerau says.

And, he notes, using standard time all year would mean losing that extra hour of daylight for eight months in the evenings in the United States.

A NOD TO THE EARLY ADOPTERS

In 1908, the Canadian city of Thunder Bay  then the two cities of Fort William and Port Arthur  changed from the central time zone to the eastern time zone for the summer and fall after a citizen named John Hewitson argued that would afford an extra hour of daylight to enjoy the outdoors, says Michael deJong, curator/archivist at the Thunder Bay Museum.

The next year, though, Port Arthur stayed on eastern time, while Fort William changed back to central time in the fall, which, predictably, "led to all sorts of confusion, deJong says.

Today, the city of Thunder Bay is on eastern time, and observes daylight saving time, giving the area, just delightfully warm, long days to enjoy in the summer, says Paul Pepe, tourism manager for Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission.

The city, located on Lake Superior, is far enough north that the sun sets at around 10 p.m. in the summer, Pepe says, and that helps make up for their cold dark winters. Residents, he says, tend to go on vacations in the winter and stay home in the summer: I think for a lot of folks here, the long days, the warm summer temperatures, it's a vacation in your backyard."
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands inside an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing to consider an appeal against his pre-trial detention on espionage charges in Moscow, Oct. 10, 2023. Credit - Evgenia NovozheninaReuters

There are two moments in Charlotte Alters cover story on the unjust imprisonment of American journalist Evan Gershkovich that I cant get out of my head.

The first is a phone call between Wall Street Journal editor Emma Tucker and Paul Beckett, then the Journals Washington bureau chief, at the time of Gershkovichs detention. The shock running through that moment, which Charlotte includes in her retelling of the hours that followed Gershkovichs arrest, speaks volumes about the unreality of his abduction into the Russian judicial system. Even after Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Gershkovich had continued to report from Russia regularly. Hed told his parents not to worry; after all, he was a journalist accredited by the Foreign Ministry. Gershkovich thought that status would protect him, even as he knew life there had changed. Reporting on Russia is now also a regular practice of watching people you know get locked away for years, he wrote on Twitter, now X, in July 2022.

Illustration by Kevin Sprouls for TIME

On March 29, 2023, Gershkovich joined that number, which includes fellow American Paul Whelan, a former Marine serving a 16-year prison sentence on false charges of spying. The recent death of activist Alexei Navalny in a Russian penal colony only underscored the precarity of their situationand negated the possibility of a prisoner exchange that could have included all three, Charlotte reports.

The second moment in the story that I cant forget comes at the end. This one made me hopeful. Anyone who reads Charlottes story will see clearly that Gershkovich appears to have lost neither his sense of self nor his sense of humor. Even behind the walls of Lefortovo prison, he has found ways to share his love for others.

Read the cover story here: The Fight to Free Evan Gershkovich

Gershkovich saw reporting in Russia as a calling, one made all the more important because the freedom of Russian journalists had been almost entirely curtailed. That silencing is only one example of the pressures the press has faced in the past decade. Six years ago, we recognized the courage and threat that journalists like Maria Ressa of the Philippines Rappler face by selecting as Person of the Year a collection of reporters and editors under firea group we called the Guardians. Their courage has not relented, but neither have the threats: according to a December 2023 report from the Committee to Protect Journalists, Gershkovich was one of 320 journalists around the world who are imprisoned for their work. That is the second highest number since the organization began counting in 1992.

At TIME, we hope our journalism leads to action. We set out to tell the story of Gershkovichs arrest and imprisonment, and its impact on his family, friends, and co-workers in the hours and months to follow. We know that hundreds of people are fighting today to free Gershkovich. In October, he turned 32 in his jail cell. And on March 29, it will have been a full year since his arrest on false charges of espionage. We join the journalists and their supporters at the Wall Street Journal, as well as our colleagues across our industry, in calling for his release. We look forward to the day when Gershkovich is free, back with his friends and family, back doing the work he loves.

Write to Sam Jacobs at sam.jacobs@time.com.
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  When Glenn Rawson heard the news Tuesday that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had purchased the Kirtland Temple, tears welled up in his eyes.

I know the stories, I know what happened there, said Rawson, a church historian and tour educator. To be able to take people there now and tell those sacred, special stories where they actually happened brings me so much joy.

PREVIOUS STORY: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints buys Kirtland Temple, artifacts

But for someone who isnt steeped in church history, the significance of the acquisition  which was in the ballpark of $200 million  might not be immediately apparent. So why does the Utah-based faith care so much about the building roughly 20 miles outside of Cleveland, Ohio?

As Rawson explained it, the Kirtland Temple was the first temple in the churchs history, constructed under the direction of Joseph Smith, the faiths founder. The origins of the churchs practices and ceremonies began there in the 1830s, before the migration to Utah.

Its foundational to our doctrine, our belief, Rawson said. Its a place that we hold sacred.

Speaking at a Wednesday news conference, Matt Grow, managing director of the churchs history department, said that in Latter-day Saint theology, the Kirtland Temple was one of a few places where the divine touched earth.

Jesus Christ himself appeared, ancient prophets appeared, he said. Those sites where heaven and earth came together, for us, continue to be sacred ground.

The historic Kirtland Temple in Ohio. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the purchase of the temple from the Community of Christ on Tuesday, Mar. 5, 2024. (Courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

The LDS church acquired the Kirtland Temple from the Community of Christ, which was formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This group had held the legal title to the building since the early 1900s.

For decades, the Community of Christ stewarded the temple, preserving it as a historical site. But on Tuesday, the LDS church bought the temple, as well as several artifacts and other historical sites, in a $192.5 million deal. The temple has since been closed to facilitate the transfer.

Like the LDS church, the Community of Christ also traces its origins back to the teachings of Smith, who published the Book of Mormon. But after Smiths death in 1844, his following splintered, with different groups backing different leaders.

While the majority of the churchs members followed Brigham Young to Utah, smaller groups stayed in the Midwest, forming their own religious communities. One of these would later become the Community of Christ.

READ NEXT: High-profile tithing case against LDS church set to be reheard in June

According to Grow, there was animosity and tension between the LDS church and the Community of Christ for decades. But starting in the 1960s and 70s, the relationship softened, and the churches began to share documents and artifacts, chiefly for historical research.

It was a love of the shared heritage by those who loved history in both churches that broke down those barriers, Grow said, adding that now both churches hold a respectful, friendly relationship.

With the LDS churchs acquisition of the Kirtland Temple, the Utah-based faith plans to offer free public tours starting on March 25. Under a specific arrangement, members of the Community of Christ will be able to hold special meetings at the temple.

For Rawson, the tour educator, he has plans to visit. While hes been to the Ohio temple many times, hes excited to be able to teach and share stories from inside the building for the first time.

Theres nothing quite like standing on the ground where these wonderful, historic events occurred, he said. You cant get that in a classroom, you cant get them in a textbook.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
North Carolina public schools are clamoring for more funding to help provide female students with free menstrual hygiene products to help keep them in school.

The state Board of Education approved a report Thursday showing that the state Department of Public Instruction was only able to fund a third of the requests last school year for pads, tampons and period underwear for students.

Some of that demand will be eased by how state lawmakers doubled the funding for the grant program to $500,000 a year as part of the most recent budget.

Expansion of the program would allow DPI to provide more PSUs (public school units) across the state with grants for feminine hygiene products, according to the report that will be presented to the General Assembly.

An increase in grants could have the potential to make an even greater impact on chronic absenteeism, academic success and outcomes, and the overall mental and physical health of students across North Carolina.

The state has been funding the Feminine Hygiene Products grant program for schools since 2021.

Addressing period poverty

The goal is to reduce the effects of period poverty, or not having access to menstrual products, sanitation or education about periods, The News & Observer previously reported.

A 2021 national survey of teens who menstruate, funded by period underwear company Thinx and advocacy group PERIOD, found that one in four couldnt afford menstrual products and four in 10 felt they couldnt do their best school work because they didnt have them.

In 2019, more than four in five students surveyed nationwide had missed class during their period or knew someone who had.

Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia require schools to provide menstrual products to students, according to the Alliance for Period Supplies.

Products keeping students in school

For the 2022-23 school year, North Carolina school districts and charter schools could ask for grants of $5,000. The $250,000 that was available was gone within a week, according to the report.

DPI was able to fund 64 of the 149 requests..

As many grantees indicated, there is a direct link between student academic success and the provision of hygiene products in school, according to the DPI report. When students know that they can access hygiene products at school and do not experience anxiety and fear of not knowing when or where they will have the products they need, they are able to learn better and are more likely to stay at and come to school during their periods.

Vance County Schools received a $5,000 grant.

We are seeing students enter puberty at a much younger age than in years past, a Vance County school nurse said in the districts grant application. Therefore, the needs for menstrual education and feminine hygiene products reaches a much larger group of students within all of our elementary, middle, and high schools.

The availability of such products is not always guaranteed to our students at home due to cost or ability to obtain the products, but being able to meet their health and well-being needs here at school allows them to feel comfortable, confident and also reduces absences related to soiled clothing or not attending due to lack of access to proper hygiene products.

Instead of $250,000 a year, the state is providing $500,000 this school year and next school year for the program.
Semafor Signals

Insights from Euronews, The Nation, and Tech Policy Press

The News

Pornhub and two other adult sites are challenging the European Union over the blocs move to impose age verification measures on users, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

The EUs Digital Services Act (DSA) came into effect last August, targeting very large online platforms that the bloc believes could pose a systemic risk to society.

The landmark content moderation law targets sites with over 45 million monthly users (about 10% of the EUs population) that primarily rely on ad revenue, requiring them to protect minors from harmful content, including misinformation and graphic images.

Pornhub is arguing that its European traffic falls below the 45 million monthly user threshold that would make it obligatory for the site to put in place age verification measures, like showing ID cards.

The platforms covered by the DSA, which include Amazon and Facebook-owner Meta, are required to pay the EU a supervisory fee for assistance in moderation and face steep fines if they fail to comply with the legislation.

The lawsuits have fueled wider discussions on the extent of the new law and the EUs fight to combat harmful digital content, which could have free speech implications beyond the EUs borders.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Big Techs anti-DSA lawsuits are about prioritizing profits over users

Sources: Euronews, The Verge

Its not just Pornhub that has sued over the EUs law: tech giants like Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Tiktok are undermining the blocs tech rules by suing over the DSA, Jan Penfrat of the European Digital Rights network, a not-for-profit association promoting rights and freedoms online, wrote for Euronews. Amazon, for instance, claims it does not fall under DSA regulations because its site does not primarily rely on ads for revenue, while Meta is challenging the fees paid to EU regulators, saying it is unfair that loss-making companies dont have to pay, The Verge reported. While legal fees are just pocket money for these companies, Penfrat wrote, their defiance over regulations aimed at protecting the online public reveals how they protect profits at the expense of their users, adding that It is time for Big Tech corporations to stop pouting and live up to their responsibility.

What impact will the new law have beyond the EU?

Sources: Drexel University, The Nation

Because most of the companies impacted by the DSA are headquartered in Silicon Valley, researchers agree that the new law will have an effect on tech policy beyond the EUs borders  but what that impact will be is disputed. On the one hand, the DSA is pushing the conversation around the safe and ethical creation of online technologies, said Drexel University law professor Jordan Fischer, adding that platforms may decide to apply its protections to all users. On the other, companies such as Meta have already publicly said that DSA-compliance changes will only be seen by EU users. Both Meta and YouTube have slowed the labeling and removing of political misinformation in the U.S., apparently in retaliation for enhanced content moderation requirements abroad. Big Tech is almost gleefully embracing these calls for deregulation of content, content policing, content moderation that are being espoused by folks like Elon Musk, one propaganda researcher told The Nation.

Content moderation laws seen as threatening freedom of speech

Sources: Politico, American Principles Project, Tech Policy Press

Moves by the United States and the EU to tighten regulations around who can access perceived harmful content have drawn the ire of free-speech activists, who say the rules endanger users rights. At least seven states have now passed age-verification requirements for accessing online pornography, with Politico describing the requirements as the most bipartisan policy in the country  in one poll, 77% of respondents in swing states supported them. However, rather than comply with the laws, Pornhub is pulling service in many of these states. Pornhub says the rules violate freedom of speech, while The American Civil Liberties Union told Politico that the laws will burden adults access to speech that is protected and they have every right to engage with and to access.

By targeting online disinformation such as Russian propaganda in Europe, the DSA could inadvertently create excessive and unintended restrictions in other areas, two free speech researchers wrote for Tech Policy Press, a tech policy site. Investigative outlets like Bellingcat rely on access to such content for their reporting, they argued, and a ban would hinder their efforts to inform the public about covert Kremlin campaigns, for example.
In the aftermath of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Americans woke up to the terrifying potential for social media to be harnessed by foreign powers to interfere with our domestic politics. A 2018 indictment brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller detailed the ways in which Russian interests manipulated Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram to rally support behind hashtags like #Hillary4Prison, #IWontProtectHillary and, at the other end of the spectrum, #MAGA and #Trump2016.

We are entering the 2024 election cycle with a far more direct threat. TikTok, which has over 170 million monthly active users in the U.S.more than half the total U.S. population of any ageis owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance. We need to take that very seriously, not only because TikTok is generally influential with young Americans, but because weve already seen it drive political sentiment, especially on college campuses.

Fortunately, theres still time to act. On March 5, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), along with 18 others, introduced the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which would prevent TikTok from being distributed in the U.S. unless it severs ties with Bytedance. This article makes the case for that legislation and why its so critical to the future of American democracy.

Why TikTok matters

According to Pew, 32% of Americans aged 18-29 say they regularly get news from TikTok, up from 9% in 2020. This makes it one of the top news sources for Gen Zand weve already seen its potential for real-world impact.

After the October 7 attacks by Hamas against Israel, the Anti-Defamation League recorded a 10x increase in antisemitic incidents on U.S. college campuses. This coincided with a surge of pro-Palestinian content on TikTok: at peak, 98.6% of US views on TikTok of content related to the Israel-Hamas war carried a pro-Palestinian hashtag.

Social media is understood to be a mirror, reflecting back what people believe and engage with. However, TikToks view ratio does not map to public opinion, even among young people. A Pew poll published on December 8 showed a roughly even split among respondents aged 18-29 on the question of whether Hamas (46%) or the Israeli Government (42%) bears a lot of responsibility for the Israel-Hamas war. Clearly, the TikTok algorithm does more than reflect pre-existing sentiment.

TikTok says users decide whether to post and engage with content on #FreePalestine rather than #StandWithIsrael. But, content moderation decides what posts stay up, what gets taken down, and what accounts get banned from the platform. And its TikToks algorithm that decides what circulates and what doesnt.

For anyone who doubts the causal link between TikTok and the rise in antisemitic incidents weve seen on U.S. campuses: a November 2023 study conducted by Generation Lab, which I helped to organize, showed that people who spend 30 minutes per day on TikTok are 17% more likely to agree with anti-semitic statements like "Jewish people chase money more than other people do."

This connection to antisemitism is far more pronounced among TikTok users than those of other major social media platforms. This is likely because TikTok shows a higher concentration of pro-Palestinian content, but could also be because TikTok amplifies more sensationalist content. Unlike Instagram and X, where content reach is influenced by an account's established follower count accumulated over years, TikTok allows even new users to achieve widespread visibility if their posts receive above-average engagement.

Events since October 7 underscore the potential for TikTok to drive sentiment on divisive political issues and to have real-world consequences.

We have reason to believe China has its thumb on the scale

In December 2023, the National Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) published a study showing that TikTok suppresses content inconvenient to China while amplifying content consistent with its foreign policy objectives. Sensitive topics like #FreeTibet, #FreeUyghurs and #FreeHongKong are significantly underrepresented on TikTok compared with Instagram.

Conversely, topics like #StandWithKashmir, which aligns with China's geopolitical goal of undermining stability in India, is disproportionately amplified on TikTok.

To prove its independence from China, TikTok points out that its headquarters are in Singapore and Los Angeles and that ~60% of ByteDance, TikToks parent company, is owned by American investors. However, ByteDances other main asset, Douyin (Chinas TikTok), operates at the pleasure of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As Didi Global and Ant Financial both discovered, the CCP is increasingly flexing its power to identify regulatory violations and competition concerns to assert its agenda. For Douyin to remain in the CCPs good graces, TikTok may be required to do the CCPs bidding.

A January 30, 2024 report in the Wall Street Journal also casts some doubt over the robustness of efforts to silo US TikTok data.

TikTok has reduced, rather than increased, transparency

After the NCRI published its December 2023 study, TikTok quietly removed access to the metrics that groups like NCRI had been using to explore trends on the platform. This limited outsiders' ability to monitor what topics were spreading on TikTok, making it hard to scrutinize which topics TikTok might be amplifying or suppressing.

TikTok told the NYTimes it removed access because those metrics were being used to draw inaccurate conclusions. It also claimed that NCRIs method of analyzing hashtag activity is severely flawed and misrepresentative of the activity on TikTok. However, this is a method TikTok itself used at the outset of the Israel-Hamas war to set the record straight with facts.

A path forward in Congress

The data shows that TikTok has a history of suppressing content, amplifying content, and sowing division, all in ways that serve the CCP's interests. And when this was highlighted, they removed key tools used to scrutinize activity on their platform.

This leaves two potential paths forward: TikTok either needs to be sold off from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, or banned outright in the U.S. India has already reached this conclusion, making the decision to ban TikTok in June 2020.

The March 5 bill introduced by Reps. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi would achieve exactly those outcomes. In the words of Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), a co-sponsor of the bill: In this day and age, we all know about the vast benefitand vast risksof our most popular social media platforms. Ensuring that foreign adversaries do not have the ability to control what we see and hear online is an important piece of what should be a bipartisan effort to make social media safer for all Americans.

2016 was the warning shot. Lets make sure we learn the lesson.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
NEW YORK (WPIX)  Hundreds of New York National Guard members will be heading to the New York City subway system, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday. Thats just one part of a series of changes coming to the citys trains after a string of high-profile crimes across the New York City subway system  including two back-to-back shootings that killed two people in the Bronx and a slashing in Brooklyn.

Hochul, a Democrat, said she will deploy 750 members of the National Guard to the subways to assist the New York Police Department with bag searches at entrances to busy train stations.

For people who are thinking about bringing a gun or knife on the subway, at least this creates a deterrent effect. They might be thinking, You know what, it just may just not be worth it because I listened to the mayor and I listened to the governor and they have a lot more people who are going to be checking my bags,' Hochul said at a news conference.

Good positive ending: Bodycam shows K-9 find missing 3-year-old

The deployment of the National Guard would bolster an enhanced presence of NYPD officers in the subway system. The governor said she will also send 250 state troopers and police officers from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a state agency, to help with the bag searches.

Police in New York have long conducted random bag checks at subway entrances, though passengers are free to refuse and leave the station, raising questions of whether the searches are an effective policing tactic in a subway system that serves over 3 million riders per day.

The newest effort is part of a multi-pronged approach to subway safety announced by Hochul Wednesday, which will include bag checks in busy New York City subway stations, new legislation and expanded mental health outreach.

Additionally, cameras will be installed in conductor cabins across New York Citys subway system after a conductor was slashed in Brooklyn. Cameras facing conductor cabins will also be installed on platforms, Hochul said.

If a camera had been positioned on Alton Scotts conductor cabin last Thursday, we probably would have already apprehended the person who slashed his neck  or maybe, they wouldnt have done it at all if they knew there were cameras watching their every move, Hochul said.

Two years ago, Hochul announced that surveillance cameras would be put in all subway cars  the rollout of which has been sped up to address recent crimes. The MTA has already installed 15,000 cameras in subways, according to MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber.

I passed away: Jamie Foxx speaks on medical complication that left him hospitalized last year

Hochul said she will introduce legislation to allow judges to ban people convicted of violent crimes on the subway from riding for at least three years. Similar legislation already exists but has only been used three times since 2020, she said.

Basically, if you assault someone on the subways, you wont be on the subways, Hochul said.

Overall, crime has dropped in New York City since a spike during the COVID-19 pandemic, and killings are down on the subway system.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
MEXICO CITY, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Protesters on Wednesday smashed a door to Mexico City's National Palace, where Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was holding his daily press conference.

Protesters were reportedly angered by the slow pace of justice in the 10-year-old Ayotzinapa case, involving 43 missing students in the southern state of Guerrero in September 2014.

The president, who was in an interior hall speaking to reporters, described the incident as a "provocation."

According to the president, the activists were incited by lawyers and people close to the families of the students who disappeared in southern Guerrero state on the night of Sept. 26, 2014.

He pledged to meet with the parents of the missing students in 15 or 20 days, once he has more evidence surrounding the case.

In January 2019, the Mexican government set up a commission to help investigate the disappearance of the 43 students.

The students from Ayotzinapa have been listed as missing since September 2014, after police from Iguala detained them while they were travelling on buses.

Local media reported that the government's hypothesis is that the students were abducted by the police, who then handed them over to members of the organized crime gang "Guerreros Unidos" ("United Warriors"), who suspected that the students belonged to a rival organization.

According to statements made by alleged criminals arrested as part of the case and an expert survey, members of "Guerreros Unidos" killed and cremated the young people in a rubbish dump in the neighboring municipality of Cocula.

The parents of the students rejected this assumption. Two forensic studies conducted by experts from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team ruled out this possibility, as it would be impossible to light a fire capable of completely burning 43 bodies in this rubbish dump. 
Wichita police say officers fatally shot a man who opened fire on them in the area of 21st and Arkansas on Wednesday evening.

Wichita police spokesman Andrew Ford said preliminary evidence indicates the man fired multiple rounds after officers deployed less-lethal means to try to subdue him. Before the shooting, the man had failed to heed police commands to drop a gun he was carrying while walking toward the busy intersection, Ford told media at the scene Wednesday night.

Police were sent to the area after someone in a home in the 2300 block of North Fairview called 911 at about 7:43 p.m., saying the man had a gun and was pointing it at another person in the house. Officers were dispatched at 7:46 p.m., Ford said.

As officers were en route the suspect ... left the residence and started walking down the street with a dog, a flashlight in his hand and a gun pointed at his own head, Ford said.

Officers quickly found him and followed for several blocks ... while that suspect had the gun to his head, he said.

The man yelled at the officers, who were giving loud, verbal commands using the loud speakers in patrol cars in an attempt to deescalate and tell the suspect to put the weapon down, Ford said.

As police were trying to convince the man, he charged at the officers several times, Ford said.

Several cars and pedestrians were in the area during the exchange, raising the risk that members of the public might be harmed, he said.

The officers gave multiple commands trying to get this gentleman to drop the weapon, but he refused to comply, Ford said.

Ford said the man continued yelling at officers as he approached 21st Street and Arkansas.

The officers responded by deploying less-lethal means to try to get him to drop the gun.

When the officers deployed the less-lethal, it struck the suspect. However, immediately the suspect then turned and ... evidence at this time indicates the suspect fired multiple times at the officers, Ford said.

Officers returned fire, killing the man, Ford said.

He was pronounced dead by emergency medical services staff at around 9 p.m. Wednesday.

The mans name or age was not immediately released.

This is a developing news story. It will be updated when more information becomes available.

OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTING:

21st and Arkansas. We are on scene of an officer involved shooting. Media brief forthcoming. @KSNNews pic.twitter.com/ruo2Z7YkiO  Wichita Police (@WichitaPolice) March 7, 2024
The parents of a Wichita infant who became unresponsive while at a Walmart have been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder after an autopsy showed he died of a fentanyl overdose, records show.

Wilma Faye Presley, 36, was booked into jail Wednesday in the Oct. 31 death of 1-year-old Kaiden McCullough. Kaidens obituary says he turned one on Oct. 17 and that he had seven brothers and sisters.

Brijin M. McCullough has been in jail since Jan. 5 on several charges related to drugs and fleeing from police. Suspicion of first-degree murder was added to his arresting charges Wednesday.

Neither parent has been formally charged in connection with the boys death, according to court records.

On Oct. 31, first responders tried to resuscitate the boy after his mother reported him unresponsive as she shopped with him at the Walmart at Pawnee and Broadway in south Wichita.

First responders were called at 9:53 p.m. The boy was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said at the time that there were no signs of foul play and an autopsy would conclude what happened.

In the autopsy, the coroner wrote that Kaidens father stayed in the car while his mother took him inside.

It is unknown how long he was unresponsive before his mother noticed, as she reported that she thought he was sleeping when they entered the store, the coroner wrote. Kaiden had been residing with (his) maternal aunt, as he was removed from his parents care at birth when he tested positive for methamphetamine, but was very recently returned to his mothers care.

The coroner added: Notably, review of the (EMS) records, and hospital records for the resuscitation period did not show any medical administration of fentanyl.

The cause of death was ruled accidental from fentanyl.

Neither parent took questions from the medical investigator, the coroner wrote.

Presley was also arrested on drug charges and a driving violation.

McCullough, who is on parole, was arrested Jan. 5 and has been charged in that case with multiple counts of possession of opiates, opium, narcotic or certain stimulant, criminal possession of a handgun, fleeing or eluding officers and driving with a suspended license. Court records say the drugs include fentanyl and cocaine. McCullough also has convictions for aggravated burglary, criminal possession of a firearm by a felon, a drug charge and theft, according to Kansas Department of Corrections records. All of those convictions happened in Sedgwick County.

He was last released from prison in February 2023.
WICHITA, Kan. (KNSW)  The Wichita Police Department is hosting another Second Chance Thursday. It will be from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on March 28 at the Carl G. Brewer Recreational Center, 1329 E. 16th St. N.

Second Chance Thursdays allow the WPD to get people new court dates for City of Wichita traffic warrants, environmental court warrants, notice-to-appear warrants and probation violation warrants. The WPD will not be able to assist with Sedgwick County warrants or criminal warrants. They are still bookable.

The DMVs drivers license bureau will be there to assist with suspended licenses and license reinstatement. They will not be able to help with recovered drivers licenses.

Watch: KHP trooper hit by alleged distracted driver in Sedgwick County

The Kansas International Drivers Licence School will have Spanish-speaking certified drivers Ed to help ESL drivers get their drivers licenses in Kansas.

The Wichita Municipal Court will be there to help with payment plans and with any questions about scheduling future court dates.

Next Step will also be in attendance to help citizens who are currently on parole or probation with education and job opportunities.

Spanish-speaking employees will be in attendance to assist.

For more information, email jatondo@wichita.gov.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  A Tennessee mother of five died during a Brazilian butt lift that was performed by a Miami doctor who was not allowed to operate on patients, according to NBC News.

Erica Russell, 33, went to Seduction Cosmetic Center in Coral Gables, Florida, in June 2021 for the surgery, which was performed by John Sampson. During the procedure, Sampson allegedly punctured her liver, bladder, and intestines.

More than a dozen stranded at sea rescued by worlds largest cruise ship

Just over two hours later, Russell died following a cardiac arrest, according to the lawsuit.

Attorneys for Russells family said Sampson was not certified to perform surgery on patients, alleging the Cosmetic Center provided him with false paperwork stating otherwise, according to NBC News.

The suit says Sampson was designated as a physician in an application the center submitted to the Florida Department of Health, not a surgeon. Sampson allegedly submitted a letter to the health department saying he does not perform surgical procedures at the defendant Seductions facility.

Despite this, the suit claims Sampson performed seven procedures on patients on June 16, 2021, including on Russell.

Sampson is no longer allowed to perform these types of procedures, which is a (very) small step in the right direction, said Stewart Tilghman Fox Bianchi & Cain, P.A., the law firm representing the Russell family, in a Facebook post. We should not accept this type of conduct in our community. Our firm looks forward to moving this case forward and holding these defendants accountable for their actions.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
A Pennsylvania woman survived a close encounter with four black bears on Tuesday after she was attacked by a mama bear.

The woman spotted the family of four in her backyard in Butler County, north of Pittsburgh.

John Hays, chief of the Butler Township Police Department, told the Erie Times-News, part of the USA TODAY Network, the incident happened around 8:30 p.m. in Butler Township.

The bear went after the dog and she went out of her house to save the dog and the bear went after her, Hays told the Times-News. It swatted her and knocked her down.

Are black bears dangerous? Here's what to do if you see one in the wild

Hays said the woman had bites on her arms and back of her head, but was able to get her dog to safety.

In an attempt to flee the scene, the bears ran up a nearby tree. The Pennsylvania Game Commission responded and euthanized the 250-pound mama bear. The 90-pound cubs were trapped and removed from the location.

The woman was taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The dog also escaped the scary encounter.

In this file photo, a bear walks through the autumn leaves with three cubs in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. A woman was attacked by a bear that had three cubs Tuesday evening in Butler County.

Hays said this is the first bear encounter in the area

Hays, who has worked for the department for 44 years, said this incident was an unusual report.

Its kind of rare, he said.

Hays said the department typically doesn't receive calls about someone getting hurt by wildlife.

This is the first bear attack weve had in our area, its a pretty rare incident, Hays said.

There are bears that live in or pass through the township.

We get reports of bears quite often in the spring and the fall. I wouldnt say we have a high concentration of bears, but they do come through, Hays said.

Cubs are released back into the wild

The black bear trio have been safely released back in the woods on Thursday.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission released the three bears at State Game Lands 282 in Warren County.

How rare are attacks by black bears?

Dr. Lynn Rogers, a biologist who studies wild black bears, has gained an understanding of the often misunderstood creatures.

After studying bears in the wild for over 50 years, Rogers claims that the bears are just like humans in some aspects: territorial. Rogers said that bear attacks occur mostly when they are afraid.

"Most attacks by black bears are defensive reactions to a person who is too close, which is an easy situation to avoid," Rogers wrote in a blog post on North American Bear Center. "Injuries from these defensive reactions are usually minor."

Rogers also adds that black bears usually don't make the first move.

"Offensive attacks are very rare and include all of the killings by black bears. These are generally unprovoked predatory attacks in remote areas where bears have the least contact with people," Roger wrote. "Bears that visit campgrounds, bird feeders, and garbage cans almost never kill people, even though these bears have by far the most contact with people."

Of the 750,000 black bears in North America, Rogers said the bears kill less than one person per year.

How often do attacks occur yearly?

According to the North American Bear Center, an average of one bear attack happens per year.

While bear attacks are rare, NPS warns that everyone should keep their distance when encountering these huge animals.

Things to remember if you're attacked by a bear, according to the NPS:

Brown / Grizzly Bears: If you are being attacked by a brown or grizzly bear, play dead. Lay still on the ground until the bear leaves the area. Do not fight back unless the bear attack persists. Remember to strike the bear in the face to gain the upper hand.

Black Bears: Do not play dead if you are attacked by a black bear. Run to the nearest building or vehicle that can be locked securely. If you don't have a place to hide to avoid the attack, ght back. With force, punch and kick the bear in the face and muzzle.

The NPS also suggests that people that like to go to the woods, always bring bear pepper spray.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pennsylvania woman escapes black bear attack, saves dog
Mayuko Kashiwazaki (2nd R) gets into costume before a dress rehearsal for 'Dojoji', a drama about the revenge of a betrayed woman (Richard A. Brooks)

Kimono-clad Mayuko Kashiwazaki delivers her lines in guttural tones and transforms into an evil snake in the lead role of a Japanese Noh play where, unusually, most of the cast are women.

Noh, with its elaborate layered costumes and hand-crafted masks, is one of the most ancient surviving forms of theatre, with origins dating back to the eighth century.

Unlike kabuki, another type of classical Japanese theatre, or sumo wrestling -- both steadfastly male -- Noh has been open to performers of both genders for over a century.

But women are still a rarity in the traditional Noh world, where fathers often pass the vocation to their sons.

Women represent just 15 percent of the 1,039 actors and musicians registered with the professional Nohgaku Performers' Association.

And their opportunities to appear on stage are "relatively limited", 43-year-old Kashiwazaki told AFP.

"One reason is that Noh audiences are generally older, and often see Noh as a masculine art form," she said.

But now it's time "for women to reflect on their future in Noh, and to play a role in building that future".

Kashiwazaki acted the principal part in "Dojoji", a famous drama about the revenge of a betrayed woman, at Tokyo's National Noh Theatre last weekend.

Twirling a fan, and wearing a heavy kimono embroidered with a crane motif, the masked actor belted out her lines in an archaic, warbling style as the story slowly unfolded.

After hiding under a prop representing the bell of a Buddhist temple, she emerged transformed as a demonic serpent character with wild, fiery tufts of red hair.

- 'Beauty and power' -

Kashiwazaki, encouraged by her Noh mentor, tried to find as many women as possible to participate in the production.

"'Dojoji' is an extremely important piece for Noh actors," Kashiwazaki said, and "you have to be very lucky to get a chance to perform it, even once in your life".

"Because I was lucky enough to have this opportunity, I thought it would be great to stage it with other female Noh actors."

Yoko Oyama, who played a handheld drum in the show, said it was unusual to see "so many women in the chorus and among the musicians on stage".

"It's not only the fact that they are women, but also that most of them are young for Noh performers, which makes the show even more special," she said.

However, for some parts, including the supporting actor or "waki" in Noh -- often a monk or priest character -- there were no women to fill the role, so it was played by a man.

"There are no women performing waki... it has always been that way," Kashiwazaki's mentor, 72-year-old Yasuaki Komparu, told AFP.

While Komparu is the scion of one of five prominent Noh families that have bred generations of actors, Kashiwazaki first discovered Noh as a student.

She was charmed by its lyrical dramas and the heavily stylised acting in a minimal setting. A painting of a pine tree behind the stage is usually the only decoration.

"I was fascinated by how cool this Japanese art form looked, and thought I could only truly understand it by taking part myself," she said.

- 'Vicious cycle' -

Kashiwazaki's first mentor tried to dissuade her from becoming a Noh actor, having experienced herself the difficulties women face in the ancient art.

Now recognised by UNESCO as "intangible cultural heritage", Noh developed towards its current form in Japan's Muromachi era from 1336-1573, a period when the performers included women among their ranks.

In the Edo era from 1603 to 1868, patronage from shoguns helped Noh's popularity grow.

But women were banned from the stage under government morality rules that repressed individual liberties.

Only at the end of the 19th century were women once again allowed to act in Noh, but they had to wait until 1948 to be recognised as professionals.

"There are extraordinary Noh actors, men and women, but the public tends to seek out a particular type of Noh, with a fixed idea of what it should be," Kashiwazaki said.

That lack of opportunities creates a "vicious cycle" because actors can't build up the experience to progress their careers, she said.

After Saturday's show, audience member Kazuaki Ieda, 40, said he was "very interested and excited" by the performance.

"I think this may be the future of Noh in Japan," Ieda said.

mac/kaf/stu/sn/smw
Shyamoli, 50, a local doula, holding hair she believes she has lost as a result of bathing in pondwater contaminated by salt water and farming pesticides (WaterAid/Fabeha Monir)

Women in south Asia are becoming silent victims of an alarming side effect of the climate crisis as sources of clean water for drinking and bathing become more and more scarce  the loss of their hair.

In the coastal regions of Bangladesh, where over half of the water is tainted with salt and pollutants, women are walking back-breaking distances to fetch slightly safer water for drinking.

But with clean water being such a precious resource, women are bathing in hard water, which is not just leading to infections but is also causing them to lose their hair, laying bare the deeper wounds inflicted by the climate crisis.

In the Satkhira region in southwestern Bangladesh, where residents rely solely on rice crops and fishing for their livelihood, women say they are losing hair at an alarming rate. Some are worried about premature baldness, while others are selling their hair to vendors in an attempt to make ends meet.

Women in the Satkhira region are living without the basics of clean water, decent toilets, and good hygiene, and the climate crisis is making it worse, Anindita Hridita, programme lead on climate resilience at WaterAid Bangladesh, tells The Independent.

They say continued exposure to contaminated water sources is not only causing dangerous waterborne diseases but also robbing them of their hair, an added layer of injustice in an already dire situation.

Hridita and her team travelled through the region for days, collecting stories from women in the villages of Satkhira who are suffering through the multifaceted effects of the climate crisis.

The water I bathe in causes my skin to get very dry, and I often get blisters, shares Shyamoli Munda, a rice and fish farmer from Bhetkali village in Satkhira. The blisters sometimes get so dry they bleed.

Shyamoli says she has lost so much hair in recent years that she fears going bald.

Every day I am getting lots of hair falling out, almost a handful, she says. It comes out whenever I comb my hair. As a woman, hair is everything to us, so whenever I lose hair, I feel insecure about going bald or something.

Shyamoli Munda brushing her hair, Bhetkali, Satkhira, Bangladesh (WaterAid/Fabeha Monir)

Scientific studies show that hard water makes hair and skin dry and weak. However, the extreme exposure these women have daily to saline water is causing more severe effects.

In Satkhira, where salinity is higher, women who move in from other areas see more rapid hair loss. Hridita says the women who had moved to the village after marriage told her that, if earlier they were losing one handful of hair, now they lose double the quantity.

We use pondwater for showers and washing. The water is not good, but there is no alternative, says Jhorna Munda, a 22-year-old resident of Bhetkhali, Satkhira. Im scared that I wont have any [hair] eventually.

Jhorna, 22, and her daughter Obonita, 3, in front of the pond they use for washing (WaterAid/Fabeha Monir)

The narrative of hair loss extends beyond aesthetics, holding deep cultural and personal significance. Hridita says the issue deeply relates not just to womens mental health, but also to their standing in society and even their future.

In south Asia, before arranged marriages, the grooms family comes to see the potential brides, and the women are showcased with all their beauty and confidence, Hridita says. It is very important to have hair.

While the issue affects men, too, Hridita says they did not seem as bothered as the women about their hair falling out. But for women, it represents a loss of their identity.

The issue is not limited to Bangladesh; in the arid regions of Uganda, women are facing similar challenges. Since we get water from far away, I only use a little water to wash my hair. As a result it is not thoroughly washed clean at times, says Lina Lokol, 30, a mother of six who lives in Ariamaoi village in the Karamoja region of Uganda.

My hair keeps breaking because of my daily household chores. I keep my hair clean and neat to fit in[to] society. Here in Karamoja, if a woman has shabby hair, people laugh at her; they may think she is a madwoman. And if you shave off your hair, people may think you have lost your husband.

Lina Lokol, 30, getting ready to carry a 20 litre jerrycan full of water back home from River Nataa, Ariamaoi village, Nabiratuk District, Karamoja region, Uganda (WaterAid/James Kiyimba)

When I have unattended hair, I become a disgrace to my husband, and he may even abandon me for other women who are more beautiful and have well-plaited hair.

In most houses in rural Bangladesh and Uganda, women are responsible for fetching the water. They are undertaking arduous journeys, covering long distances to collect drinking water for their families. With whatever they fetch in their jerrycans, household chores take priority, and their personal hygiene and hairwashing take a back seat.

When I go to collect water, I take a kolosh (jug), which holds 10 litres of water. Im afraid of the walk, says Lina. The roads are not very safe and Im afraid Im going to trip and fall, especially when its dark.

I find the walk very physically straining. The kolosh has to be carried on my side, over my hips, so its very straining on that part of my body.

Some women have also started selling their fallen hair. South Asia has long been a hub for the hair trade. But hair, which was once obtained as a donation, has now become a way for Bangladeshi women to make some money.

Im selling my hair to buy groceries, says Shyamoli, a mother of three, whose rice crops have been suffering due to extreme weather. I feel bad about it, but what can I do? There is no other way to get the groceries. I sell my hair for 600-700 Taka (4-5) each time.

Hridita says that this has become common practice in the community. If these women had access to clean water their lives could have been a lot easier.

She says her team at Water Aid is helping women to collect water through rainwater harvesting, but a lot more work needs to be done to make clean water available to women, who are often the last people in their families to be allowed to use it despite being the ones who fetch it.
Under the blazing Kenyan sun, Maasai women patrol the vast plains in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, determined to tackle poachers and patriarchal prejudices.

As the unarmed members of Team Lioness move stealthily across the land bordering the famous Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya, one of them signals to the others to stop.

Just then, a giraffe appears, head bobbing above the trees, followed by a second.

One of the rangers grabs a walkie talkie: "We saw 28 antelopes, 18 zebras and six giraffes."

Keeping track of wildlife and fighting poaching is their main responsibility.

"In 2022, we arrested a man... who just butchered a giraffe," says Purity Lakara, who heads the team.

But for many of the rangers, battling age-old prejudices within the Maasai community, semi-nomadic herders living in southwest Kenya and northern Tanzania, is no less difficult than tackling poaching.

While Maasai men no longer need to kill a lion to prove their virility in a coming-of-age ceremony, many other patriarchal traditions, such as child marriage and female genital mutilation, are still practised, despite being illegal.

- 'Change the perception' -

"My community believes that a woman cannot do a physically demanding job," said Lakara, 27, listing the duties commonly assigned to Maasai women.

"A woman is only supposed to be staying at home, giving birth, milking the cows and goats, going for firewood and water," she told AFP.

"I wanted to become a ranger to change the perception of my community," she said.

Most members of Team Lioness told AFP they faced a tough time convincing their family to support their ambitions.

Sharon Nankinyi, 23, said her parents told her it was "impossible", urging her to find contentment in household chores and motherhood.

But Nankinyi persevered, along with the other women.

"We came back to the community and we proved (it to) them because they saw us with the uniforms, they saw us as we walked long distances," she said, describing herself as "a brave lady, a Maasai, who has become a ranger".

Naiswaku Parsitau, a 70-year-old Maasai community leader, told AFP she had doubts when the idea was first floated in 2019, but has since changed her mind.

Looking at her herd of goats grazing outside Risa, a small village of around 500 inhabitants, Parsitau said she had seen hyenas roaming nearby -- a source of sleepless nights.

"When we have those issues, we call the rangers and they patrol at night to protect the animals," she said.

"They help us a lot and they can inspire other women."

Fellow herder Saitrbru Kimakori, 39, told AFP he initially "doubted that the girls could succeed".

"We believed only men could deal with lions, elephants, and incidents at night," he said.

But he conceded: "They have been showing up even when called at 2:00 am at night, following up when told that lions have crossed a road or told that a cow has gotten lost somewhere."

- 'A role model' -

The 17 women are not part of the government-run Kenya Wildlife Service. Team Lioness was created by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), which pays the rangers' salaries.

"At the beginning, there was resistance, men did not want to see women in uniforms, and it was a mountain to climb to prove that they were capable," said James Isiche, director for IFAW Africa.

But in the tiny Maasai village of Endoinyoenkai, gender stereotypes are slowly being banished, with community leader Kenneth Saei, 56, loudly proclaiming his support for the initiative.

"In every profession, there are women," he told AFP.

"In engineering there are women, in law there are women, even the pilots who shoot (at) other countries, there are women -- so why not this profession?"

At 21, Sharon Mumbi, the "only female ranger" from the village, was the cynosure of all eyes as she swapped her khaki uniform for traditional Maasai garb.

She told AFP she wanted other women to follow her path and live a "more empowered" life.

"I can say I am a role model," she smiled.

dyg/amu/bp/ach
More than 1,000 middle school students from more than a dozen local schools visited Southeast Technical College for a unique Women in Science event Wednesday.

The campus visit allowed them to hear from dozens of exhibitors, try hands-on experiments and science activities, and learn more about technical career paths. Presentations included a Who Dunnit? by the Sioux Falls Police Department, medical career options from college students, and others by Avera, Sioux Falls Fire Rescue, Game Fish and Parks, and more.

Women in Science has held these types of events for almost 20 years in the Sioux Falls area. Organizer Mary Lou Lacey, a retired soil scientist, said the events give young girls an opportunity to see what kinds of career paths are available to them.

Sioux Falls detectives Melina Mitchell and Morgan Black discuss a hypothetical crime scene on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 inside The Hub at Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls.

She said shes also heard from teachers and parents over the years whose students went into a science field because of the experience they had at a Women in Science event.

Kyndle Paquette, an eighth-grader at Brandon Valley Middle School, said she liked learning about new medical techniques, jobs and procedures she might need to know in the future. While shes not sure what she might want to do for a career, she said shes always liked medical stuff and that it was cool to see the options available at the event.

Middle school student Kyndle Paquette gets her blood pressure taken by Health Connects Executive Director Fran Rice on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 inside The Hub at Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls.

Her teacher, Amanda Ringling, said shes taken her students to this event each year since it began and that it opens up girls to science careers they may not be aware of, including computer-powered graphic design careers for creative students.

A lot may not have realized they can apply their art in a scientific way, Ringling said.

Mallory Hoekman, a middle school teacher at Sioux Falls Christian, said she loves bringing students to events like this one because it allows them to do more with science than they can do in her classroom.

Middle school students extract DNA from plant cells at the Augustana University table on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 inside The Hub at Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls.

Lisa Schramm, an assistant director of admissions at South Dakota State University and a volunteer with Women in Science, said science, technology, engineering and math fields are historically male-dominated, so introducing girls and women to those fields early on can give them more exposure before they dismiss or discount those career fields as options.

Students who visited STC for the event came from Sioux Falls Christian, Chester, Whittier, George McGovern, Dakota Valley, Brandon Valley, Tea Area, O'Gorman, Garretson, Sioux Falls Lutheran, Parker, Marion, Colman-Egan, Madison, Edison, Harrisburg North, Harrisburg South, Viborg-Hurley, Lennox, Tri-Valley, Canton, Howard and West Central middle schools.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Southeast Tech holds Women in Science event for middle school girls
Ada Deer (Photo/File Photo)

During the month of March, in recognition of Women's History Month, Native News Online will feature various Native American women who have contributed to the betterment of Indian Country.

Ada Deer (August 7, 1935 - August 15, 2023)

Ada Deer, a towering figure in Native American advocacy and the first woman to serve the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, made indelible marks throughout her life.

Never miss Indian Countrys biggest stories and breaking news. Click here to sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning.

Born in Kashena, Wisconsin, Deers early years were spent in poverty on the Menominee Indian Reservation, where her upbringing instilled in her a deep sense of purpose and a commitment to social justice.

Deers journey was marked by groundbreaking achievements and unwavering commitment to her community. She shattered barriers by becoming the first Menominee to earn an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and later, in 1961, the first Native American to receive a Master of Social Work from the Columbia University School of Social Work.

Her lifelong advocacy came to the forefront in the 1970s when her tireless efforts led to the passage of the Menominee Restoration Act of 1972, which restored federal recognition to the Menominee Tribe. This historic achievement not only reinstated the tribes sovereignty but also paved the way for Deer to become the first woman to chair the Menominee Tribe.

Deers political activism extended beyond tribal boundaries. She ran for Wisconsin Secretary of State in 1978 and 1982 and made history in 1992 as the first Native American woman in Wisconsin to run for U.S. Congress.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed her as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, where she oversaw the BIA and played a pivotal role in shaping federal policy for over 550 federally recognized tribes.

During her term in office, Deer advocated for tribal sovereignty and worked tirelessly to secure federal recognition for numerous Native American communities, including 226 Alaska Native villages and tribes in Michigan and California. Her advocacy earned her the respect and admiration of tribal leaders across the country.

Because of her fighting for our federal recognition, we benefited greatly because of the aid that comes to us as recognized tribes,Cheif Mike Williams of the Akiak Native Community in Alaska told Native News Online. She was a fighter for sovereignty. In our conversations, we always talked about the restoration process. She fought so hard to have the Menominee tribe, her tribe, restored to full federal recognition status.

Deers impact extended beyond politics. She forged a deep and enduring friendship with Gwen Carr, Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House, who fondly recalls Deers unwavering support and belief in her abilities.

She always believed in me a lot of times when I didn't believe in myself. She took that incredibly wonderful quality about her and applied it in many different places. And in many different ways, Carr told Native News Online. The Creator gave her many gifts but the biggest one was her faith in the good. And her ability to stand for what was right in the middle of what was wrong. Not lose her footing and not lose her vision ever.

In addition to her political and advocacy work, Deer served on the board of directors for the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), where she continued to fight for the rights of Indigneous peoples.

Ada Deer was a great leader. We represented her when she led the Menominee tribal restoration movement back in the 1970s. She later served on our Board of Directors and became the Board Chairwoman. And, of course, she later became the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior where she did great things for Native Americans, John Echohawk, Executive Director of NARF, told Native News Online.

As an educator and social worker, Deers was an influence to the next generation of Native American leaders. She taught classes at the UW-Madison School of Social Work and served as the director of the American Indian Studies Program, inspiring countless students to carry on her legacy of activism and advocacy.

Deers life was a testament to the power of resilience, determination, and unwavering faith in the pursuit of justice. Her legacy will continue to inspire generations of Native Americans and all those who strive for a more just and equitable society.

Ada walked on while in hospice care in Fitchburg, Wisconsin on August 15, 2023, at the age of 88.

About the Author: "Kaili Berg (Aleut) is a member of the Alutiiq\/Sugpiaq Nation, and a shareholder of Koniag, Inc. She is a staff reporter for Native News Online and Tribal Business News. Berg, who is based in Wisconsin, previously reported for the Ho-Chunk Nation newspaper, Hocak Worak. She went to school originally for nursing, but changed her major after finding her passion in communications at Western Technical College in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. "

Contact: kberg@indiancountrymedia.com
CANBERRA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday urged Washington to cooperation with China for peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific.

"I believe that Malaysia and Australia have a duty to try the utmost to encourage the United States, China, and other major players in the Asia-Pacific to conduct themselves in a manner that is conducive to the enhancement of regional cooperation and economic integration," Anwar, who was in Melbourne for a summit of Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), was quoted by the Australian ABC News broadcaster as saying in a speech at the Australian National University.

Expressing empathy toward China, Anwar said he regarded negative reactions to China's rise as an "attempt to deny its legitimate place in history," ABC reported.

Anwar said that the United States has become more "transactional," using rewards and punishments to achieve aims with other countries and the U.S. politicians are showing "a preference for leaders who are more transactional with the rest of the world."

It is not realistic to expect the Western perspectives on the future of global order be embraced universally, said Anwar.

Earlier on Monday, Anwar said that the United States and some of its Western allies should not preclude Malaysia from being friendly to China.

"Right now China seems to be the leading investor and trader into Malaysia," Anwar told a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, saying that his country is "fiercely independent" and does not want to "be dictated by any force."

"And if they (the United States and some of its Western allies) have problems with China, they should not impose it upon us. We do not have a problem with China," he said.

Last month, Anwar condemned the so-called "China-phobia" among the United States and some of its Western allies in an interview with the London-based Financial Times.

Anwar took office as Malaysia's prime minister in November 2022. Calling China an important neighbor, Anwar has said his government will give priority to enhancing relations with China in the fields of trade, investment and culture. 
Chicago Cafe has endured two World Wars, myriad financial swings and more than a centurys worth of changing palates. After 121 years  maybe  its experiencing its moment in the sun.

The dive on Woodlands Main Street may be the United States oldest enduring Chinese restaurant, UC Davis law school professor Gabriel Jack Chin announced in late January.

Chin leads the universitys Asian Exclusion Research Project, an interdisciplinary group that digs into Asian Americans tales of prejudice and perseverance. The group found solid evidence that Chicago Cafe has been operating since at least 1910, though owners Paul and Nancy Fong give a date of 1903.

Either way, Chicago Cafe is now believed to be Californias oldest Chinese restaurant, eclipsing the famous Sam Wo Restaurant in San Franciscos Chinatown. It would be the longest-running Chinese restaurant in the U.S. if founded in 1903, longer than Pekin Noodle Parlor in Butte, Montana, which was founded in 1909 or 1911.

First time customer Dick Williams, left, sits at the counter with Felix Cano who has been coming to the Chicago Cafe for 55 years on Feb. 23, in Woodland. Generations of families have been coming here and UC Davis recently confirmed that Chicago Cafe is the oldest Chinese restaurant in California. Paul Kitagaki Jr./pkitagaki@sacbee.com

UC Davis study and subsequent media coverage brought a deluge of new customers to Chicago Cafe, staffed only by the Fongs and longtime server Dianna Olstad.

Bay Area residents Susan Chew and Rose Fua had never heard of the restaurant before it was written up in the San Francisco Chronicle last month, despite the first-generation Chews constant search for Chinese food while attending UC Davis veterinary school in the 1980s.

The friends stopped by for chop suey and paper-wrapped chicken on their day trip to see the regions almond blossoms. Sitting at the counter next to Edward Tafoya, 74, they represented a shift in Chicago Cafes clientele.

Tafoya lives in the nearby town of Yolo and started coming to Chicago Cafe in the late 1960s to celebrate the weddings of his high school peers. He ate his usual chicken-fried steak that Friday, having secured a rare empty seat during the lunch rush.

Its way too crowded now. I even came in early so that I could get something to eat, Tafoya said.

Chicago Cafe is popular, but its next steps remain murky after three generations of family ownership. Paul and Nancy Fong are 76 and 67, respectively. The restaurants refrigerator is plastered with photos of their children, who have carved out careers outside the restaurant industry, and young grandchildren.

If somebody took over, I can retire, Paul Fong said. Ill still run it until somebody takes over and I can play with the grandkids.

For the time being, Chicago Cafes owners are racing to meet demand and capitalize on their restaurants newfound fame. Overhearing Fuas comment that the owners needed to hire more staff, Olstad responded, Itll never happen.

Chicago Cafe is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday-Sunday. Its open until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, and closed Thursday.

Take a look inside the Chicago Cafe, Californias oldest Chinese restaurant

What Im Eating

Mother is back, and its better than ever.

Michael and Lisa Thiemann and Ryan Donohues acclaimed vegetarian restaurant reopened in September, a dozen blocks east on K Street from the downtown Sacramento location where it previously stood. Chef/co-owner Robb Venditti (formerly of Pangaea Bier Cafe and Mulvaneys B&L) has joined the crew as well.

Mothers new midtown space is brighter, more colorful and less rushed than its predecessor, which became a lunchtime favorite and earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand before closing in January 2020. An expanded kitchen gives Venditti and Thiemann more room to stack the expanded, ever-changing menu with seasonal dishes as well as classics.

The oyster mushroom poboy sandwich ($18) that made Mother famous still stands out a decade after its creation. Fried mushrooms explode out of soft torpedo rolls, joined by crunchy iceberg lettuce, coriander pickles and an acidic remoulade, with a side of housemade potato chips.

There are small plates as well, including cozy Grass Valley grits ($9) from Early Bird Farm & Mill, topped with sweet molasses butter and served in a skillet. Marinated baby beets ($10) are another pleasant shareable, sitting in half-teardrops atop a pistachio crumb ricotta spread with lavender oil and watermelon radish slivers.

Thiemann wedding lasagna ($27) is a hit entree with a romantically practical backstory: Michael made it for his and Lisas reception, guests raved that it was the best they ever had and it landed on Mother 2.0s menu. Stuffed with spinach, green tomatoes, grilled crookneck squash and ricotta, it was surrounded by a tart tomato coulis and baked to a crispy top.

Mother

Address: 2319 K St., Suite B, Sacramento.

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday.

Phone: None, theyre proud to say.

Website: https://www.mothersacramento.com/

Drinks: Local beer, wine and a cinnamon-housemade jamaica called the Jamichael as a tribute to Michael Thiemann.

Vegetarian options: Everything. Vegan and gluten-free items are marked on the menu, as are dishes made with tree nuts or seed oils.

Noise level: Medium-loud.

Openings & Closings

 Little Morocco Cafe is downtown Sacramentos newest restaurant, now open at 716 7th St. Jamal Kabbajs breakfast-and-lunch concept makes halal Morocccan specialties such as kofta tajine or shredded lemon chicken sandwiches with crinkle-cut fries.

 Seapot opened its first Sacramento-area location (and 12th planned or running overall) on Sunday in Florin Towne Centre at 6009 Florin Road. The 8,000-square foot restaurant and bar presents all-you-can-eat hot pot and Korean barbecue dishes on conveyor belts.

 Yoshi Ramen began its soft opening Feb. 24 in The Marketplace at Granite Bay shopping center. The Japanese restaurant at 6869 Douglas Blvd. is owned by Josh Gurbazar and Pearl Amgalanbaatar, who also own Sushi House in Roseville, and specializes in tonkotsu ramen.
An active manhunt is underway in Worcester for the alleged gunman who took the lives of a mother and her 11-year-old daughter, who were found shot inside a bullet-riddled SUV on Tuesday afternoon.

Worcester homicide detectives are not publicly speculating on a motive in the daylight killings of a little girl and her mother in the area of Englewood Avenue in the citys Columbus Park neighborhood. A family member identified the victims as Chasity Nunez and her 11-year-old daughter, Zella.

Police released a photo Wednesday night of one suspect, 27-year-old Dejan Belnavis, who they say is wanted in connection with the deadly double shooting.

27-year-old Dejan Belnavis is currently at large and considered armed and dangerous. He faces the same charges as Mangual. Worcester PD shared this photo of Belnavis from 2021. @boston25 pic.twitter.com/zrxuf87aNU  Ryan Breslin (@ryanjbreslin) March 7, 2024

Belnavis is described as 5 feet, 11 inches tall, and about 160 pounds.

Police say Belnavis is wanted on charges of armed assault with intent to murder and possession of a firearm without a license.

Worcester police have already arrested Karel Mangual, 28, of Worcester, in connection with the murders.

Mangual is slated to be arraigned Thursday on charges of armed assault to murder and carrying a firearm without a license.

NEW DETAILS: Worcester Police say 28-year-old Karel Mangual was arrested last night in connection to the murders of Chasity and Zella Nunez. He is charged with Armed Assault to Murder and Carrying a Firearm without a License. Police are looking for another suspect. @boston25  Ryan Breslin (@ryanjbreslin) March 7, 2024

Police noted that he also had a preexisting arrest warrant.

Court documents obtained by Boston 25 News indicate there is a security video in existence that shows the victims vehicle parked on the side of the road when two people walk up to the car and start shooting at the vehicle. Those two people then run down the street toward a parked white car.

The criminal complaint alleges that the registered owner of the car had let Belnavis use the vehicle for about a year. Investigators were also able to locate the vehicle in Hartford, Connecticut, using the connected car system.

Documents also show that Belnavis phone was pinged in the area of Englewood Avenue at the time of the shooting.

It wasnt immediately clear whether the shooting was random or if the victims were targeted.

Police say he is considered armed and dangerous, asking anyone with information to call authorities at 508-799-8651. Anonymous tips can also be left here or by texting 274637 with the phrase TIPWPD.

The SUV was towed away from the crime scene with more than a dozen bullet holes in the drivers side windows.

Sgt. Sean Murtha, Public Information Officer for the Worcester Police Department, said a fairly high number of shots were fired into the SUV.

This kind of thing is unusual for the city in general, this was a very violent act, Murtha said.

Zella is a student at Worcester Public Schools, and district officials say counselors were made available to students affected by the tragedy on Wednesday. Families were also notified by school officials about the incident.

There are no words to describe the pain this students family and school community are feeling as a result of this terrible tragedy, Worcester Public Schools Superintendent Rachel Monarrez said in a statement. We offer them our deepest condolences as they endure this unimaginable grief.

Zellas godfather, Tyrae Sims says there are no answers that will undo the awful outcome.

I just want them to be remembered as the beautiful people that they were. just happy full of life, said Sims.

Sims tells Boston 25 that Chasity Nunes leaves behind a younger daughter  who will now grow up without a mother or an older sister.

The criminal complaint alleges the registered owner of that car had let Belnavis use it for about a year. Investigators were also able to locate the vehicle in Hartford, CT using the connected car system. @boston25  Ryan Breslin (@ryanjbreslin) March 7, 2024

Documents also say Belnaviss phone was was around Englewood Ave at the time of the shooting via cellphone tower. @boston25  Ryan Breslin (@ryanjbreslin) March 7, 2024

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
Ukraine's campaign to build fortifications has not yielded significant results, and Ukrainian troops assigned to combat missions are forced to dig trenches, often under bombardment.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Quote: "Ukraine in November announced a campaign to build an extensive network of fortifications along the front lines, especially in the areas near Avdiivka. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for accelerated construction and urged private companies and donors to get involved.

... But Western officials and Ukrainian soldiers say that the campaign hasnt yielded significant results, and the absence of progress is proving a liability for Ukraine as Russia steps up its assaults. In recent days it has pushed Ukrainian forces out of a string of villages west of Avdiivka, although hills and bodies of water a little further west can serve as natural obstacles for Kyiv that are easier to defend.

Moscow knows Ukrainian units are short on fresh soldiers and ammunition. The U.S. and Europe are failing to rearm Kyiv quickly.

Ukrainian officials and military commanders say Russias current tactic of probing attacks is meant to take advantage of Moscows battlefield initiative before what they see as a likely major Russian offensive as early as this spring."

Details: The WSJ notes that the capture of Avdiivka is Moscow's most significant battlefield victory in almost a year.

The newspaper writes that the Ukrainian military is trying to fight back by stockpiling ammunition and looking for opportunities to strike at Russian troops on the move, an approach known as active defence.

Quote: "Soldiers in the area (in the Avdiivka sector  ed.) say troops assigned to combat missions are being forced to dig trenches, often under fire. The complexity of the task means manpower alone wont suffice.

... Building physical defences is now vital for Ukraine, not least because it is also struggling to mobilise troops.

The country has so far pursued an unusual policy of only conscripting men 27 and over and exempting anyone below that age.

Fathers of three or more children, carers for disabled people, and workers in critical sectors are exempt. In most countries, military service is more common for men or women starting around age 18."

Support UP or become our patron!


Ukrainian troops are building fortifications in expectation of a Russian offensive in the spring, though some worry that the progress is not fast enough, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on March 7, citing Western officials and Ukrainian soldiers.

Since late 2023, multiple observers have noted lackluster progress in fortification efforts as Russia began taking the initiative in some parts of the front.

After Russia captured Avdiivka and several nearby villages in the past few weeks, Ukrainian officials expect a more formidable offensive in the coming months.

"What's happening right now is what Russia has spent a long time preparing for. It has gathered enough forces and resources to pressure various axes all at once," Maksym Zhorin, the deputy commander of the Third Assault Brigade, told the WSJ.

Bracing themselves for the coming assault, Ukrainian troops are building trenches and antitank ditches, hoping to replicate Russian defenses that stalled Ukraine's counteroffensive last year.

Ukrainian soldiers reportedly have to build trenches themselves, even under fire, the WSJ wrote.

"In the circumstances we're in, we have to dig, entrench, and build by ourselves," Zhorin said.

"The lack of layered defenses along the front line should be of some concern for Ukraine," defense analyst Franz-Stefan Gady told the WSJ.

"The situation will get quite critical for the Ukrainian forces."

Speaking at a press conference last December, President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed the importance of building up defenses, urging government authorities, businesses, and the military to join their efforts.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said earlier this week that Ukraine has already earmarked more than Hr 30 billion (almost $790 million) for fortifications.

Read also: Ukrainian soldiers near Kupiansk prepare for potential Russian offensive

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
(Bloomberg) -- WuXi AppTec Co. tumbled after a US Senate committee advanced a bill that may ban Chinese biotech firms from accessing federal contracts and largely cut off the biopharmaceutical company from the market that generates more than half of its revenue.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Shares of WuXi AppTec plunged as much as 24%, while its sister company WuXi Biologics Cayman Inc., which is also named in the bill, dropped 23%. Both stocks have lost more than 40% so far this year, making them the worst performers on the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

The legislation adds to the geopolitical risk faced by Chinese stocks, already weighed down by the countrys sluggish economy. The bills passage would add to Chinas mounting frustration over the US imposition of trade curbs in their battle for supremacy in advanced technology, such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence and biotechnology.

The frustration boiled over Thursday as Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi blasted the US for its tactics. If the US is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself, Wang said.

Geopolitical tensions also continue to weigh on Chinas stock markets, which recently have shown some signs of life after a year of deep downturn. The two companies dragged down the Hang Seng Composite Indexs healthcare gauge as much as 5.3%.

The US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs mark-up Wednesday sends the bill to the Senate for a floor vote. The bill  which would bar some biotechnology firms of concern with alleged ties to a foreign adversary from federal contracts  still must pass both chambers of Congress and get the presidents signature before becoming law.

US Market

We believe the decision of the Senate committee may adversely impact Chinas CROs, Jialin Zhang, head of China healthcare research at Nomura International HK Ltd, wrote in a note, referring to contract research organizations. The US is a vital market for Chinese CRO.

If the rare bipartisan legislation goes through as currently crafted, drugs already in short supply, from the blockbuster GLP-1 agonists to advanced cancer treatments, will become even harder to produce.

WuXi AppTec, which gets about 66% of its revenue from the US, said in disclosures that it works with the worlds 20 largest pharmaceutical companies. And many of its customers, including Eli Lilly & Co., produce drugs purchased in bulk by the government health care insurance programs in the US, such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Read more: Weight Loss Drugs Threatened by US Effort to Contain China

After the Senate markup, WuXi AppTec said in a statement Thursday that it doesnt have a human genomics business, and promised to continue engagement with relevant stakeholders involved in the bill. WuXi Biologics also reiterated in a statement Thursday that it doesnt pose any national security risk to the US or any other countries.

Senator Gary Peters from Michigan, the bills sponsor and chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is considering revisions that would allow existing contracts to remain in place, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Other options include removing the names of the Chinese biotechnology companies from the legislation.

Read: JPMorgan EM Equity Exits Wuxi Biologics, Buys More MediaTek

US drugmakers could try to separate their supply chains from Chinese biotech companies just on products involving government or US contracts, but that would be arduous and uneconomical. WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics both have manufacturing facilities that have been approved by US regulators.

Geopolitical uncertainties triggered by the US biosecure bills may weigh on near-term valuations in this US election year, Morgan Stanley analysts Sean Wu and Daisy Cheng wrote in a note dated March 4.

--With assistance from Michelle Fay Cortez and Madison Muller.

(Updates with company statements 10th paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Texas Panhandle (The Texas Tribune)  Xcel Energy acknowledged its involvement in the ignition of the Smokehouse Creek Fire Thursday.

Based on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire, the company said in a statement Thursday.

Gov. Abbott says Texas wildfires may have destroyed up to 500 structures

Xcel said its has been cooperating with investigations into the wildfires and conducting its own review of the incident since it started. However, the company disputed claims in the same statement that the company acted negligently in maintaining and operating its infrastructure.

However, we encourage people who had property destroyed by or livestock lost in the Smokehouse Creek fire to submit a claim to Xcel Energy through our claims process, the statement says.

According to Xcel, a claim form and instructions for submission can be found by visiting www.xcelenergy.com and scrolling to the bottom right-hand side of that page, to the Claims Process link under Customer Support Claims Services | Customer Support | Xcel Energy.

Last week, Xcel Energy revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that attorneys asked the company to preserve a fallen utility pole near where the fire may have started.

In the SEC filing, Xcel Energy said that investigations into origin, cause, and damage of the wildland fires burning in or near the service territory of SPS, including the Smokehouse Creek Fire, are underway. The company also said it is working with emergency responders to assist those impacted by the fires.

Wildfire raging in Texas Panhandle is now largest in state history

A lawsuit filed last week by homeowners accused the power company of neglecting to maintain power lines.

Homeowner Melanie McQuiddy filed the initial lawsuit against the company in Hemphill County on Friday, claiming that a splintered pole ignited the fire when it fell. On Saturday, Canadian businessman Salem Abraham told The Texas Tribune of his plans to file a suit this month against Xcel and Osmose Utility Services over the pole for damages to his ranch and his brothers land.

The company also mentioned the Windy Deuce fire, the second large fire threatening the Panhandle last week. Xcel said they do not believe their facilities caused that fire and are not aware of any allegations.

Abrahams lawyer Kevin Isern, of the Amarillo law firm Lovell, Isern & Farabough told the Tribune the firm is finalizing a suit against against Minneapolis-based electric utility Xcel Energy, which generates, sells and delivers power in the Texas Panhandle and Osmose Utility Services, a Georgia-based company that Isern said inspects Xcel Energy equipment in Texas.

[Xcel] did not maintain their electric poles and their electric equipment to sustain the winds and to prevent a fire from happening, Isern said.

Xcel Energys subsidiary Southwestern Public Service Company serves the area where the fire is burning, according to the SEC filing. The location is outside of the jurisdiction of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the power grid that provides electricity for most of the state.

According to Xcels statement, 47 homes in Hemphill County and up to 17 homes in Roberts County were destroyed by the fire.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at www.texastribune.org. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans  and engages with them  about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ripped into Congress for failing to secure more aid for Ukraine in its war against Russia, calling the inaction nothing short of a gift, for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In remarks delivered Thursday before a meeting with German economy minister Robert Habeck, Yellen called on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to pass the Senates $95 billion foreign aid package, which includes $60 billion for Ukraine.

As the House continues to stall, Russia is gaining ground and Ukraine is being forced to ration ammunition and supplies, Yellen said, adding later, Congressional inaction is nothing short of a gift to Putin, Iran and other adversaries that stand against America and its allies.

Iran has sold arms and ballistic missiles to Russia in recent months.

She pointed to the recent death and controversy surrounding Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died last month in a remote Arctic penal colony. One of the most vocal critics of Putin and the Kremlin, many Western leaders have blamed the Russian president for his death. He was serving a 19-year sentence for extremism charges and was recently moved from a different prison to the highest-security facility in Russia.

Last week, we witnessed the courage of thousands of Russian people who stood up to Putin and took to the streets to mourn the death of Alexei Navalny. The House must act and show the strength of the U.S. support for Ukraine in the face of Putins aggression, Yellen said, referencing the hundreds of people arrested in Russia while mourning Navalny.

Aid for Ukraine has stalled in Congress for more than a year due to increasing division among lawmakers. Congress has not passed a bill with funding for the Eastern European nation since the end of 2022, when a Democratic majority passed its fourth aid package for the country.

In an attempt to meet the requests of several Senate Republicans who argued any aid to Ukraine must be tied with border security, Senate negotiators spent months hammering out a bipartisan deal, which eventually failed amid opposition from Republicans and former President Trump.

With funding in limbo, the Senate passed the $95 billion supplemental and sent it to the House, where Johnson has indicated he would not put it up for a vote as it lacks border security measures demanded by House GOP members.

As Ive said before, U.S. direct budget support for Ukraine benefits from an unprecedented level of robust oversight and transparency  an issue of great importance to Congress and the Administration  and additional support would be conditioned on Ukraine making essential reforms, Yellen noted Thursday.

The Hill reached out to Johnsons office for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Juan Orlando Hernandez was president of Honduras from 2014 to 2022 (ANDY BUCHANAN)

A New York jury began deliberations Thursday in the trial of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez on charges of drug trafficking, including the transfer of hundreds of tons of cocaine through his country to the United States.

The 55-year-old Hernandez was extradited to the United States in 2022, accused of aiding drug smugglers in return for millions of dollars in bribes.

The jury received instructions from Judge Kevin Castel late Thursday afternoon after hearing more than two weeks of testimony.

If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Hernandez, whose 2014 to 2022 stint as president was plagued by allegations of corruption, is accused of having facilitated the smuggling of some 500 tons of cocaine -- mainly from Colombia and Venezuela -- to the United States via Honduras since 2004, starting long before his presidency.

US prosecutors say Hernandez turned Honduras into a "narco-state" by involving the military, police and civilians in drug trafficking.

Hernandez used the drug money to enrich himself and finance his political campaign, and commit electoral fraud in the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections, prosecutors allege.

As president, Hernandez worked closely with the administration of former US president Donald Trump, winning Washington's praise for his government's work in drug seizures and the fight against organized crime.

But according to the prosecution, that work was all a facade.

"He arrested people who had no ties to him, but he protected others," former US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Mikel Vigil told AFP before the trial started.

Hernandez has insisted he is innocent and the "victim of a vendetta."

During the trial, the defense cast doubt on the testimony of witnesses -- most of whom were drug traffickers cooperating with US prosecutors in exchange for reduced sentences -- saying their version of events could not be trusted.

Two of Hernandez's co-defendants, former Honduran police chief Juan Carlos "Tiger" Bonilla and ex-policeman Mauricio Hernandez, pleaded guilty last month to drug trafficking.

If found guilty, Hernandez would follow in the footsteps of other former Latin American heads of state convicted in the United States, like Panama's Manuel Noriega in 1992 and Guatemala's Alfonso Portillo in 2014.

af/arb/ube/caw/md
IRVINGTON, N.Y. - Matt Maillet loves books. He loves music. And he loves libraries.

At 31 with dual developmental disabilities, autism, and Prader-Willi Syndrome, Matt goes with his caregiver or parents to local libraries for children's programs. A favorite has been the West Harrison Library. Their activities provide him entertainment and socialization opportunities.

But, Kayla Brown, who supports Matt, said during a recent visit to the children's room at West Harrison, she was told Matt could not be in that area. A librarian said he would need to be in the adult section, and the library would provide children's books for him to browse there.

This and similar age-restriction issues are likely to be faced by more families. One out of 36 children and 1 in 45 adults in the U.S. has autism, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Daniel Maillet, Matt's dad, called the restriction unacceptable. "I called the director and explained the issues," he said, adding that West Harrison has wonderful kids programs. But he said the librarian didn't budge. "It was abrupt and it was callous."

A change.org petition seeking support for Matt and other adults with disabilities, posted by Brown, was approaching 200 signatures by Wednesday. "We feel that the rules should be carefully changed to allow IDD disabled individuals with close monitoring by an aide to be able to participate," the petition states.

Dan and Dodie Maillet spend time with their son Matt, 31, in their Irvington home March 6, 2024. Matt, who has autism and Prader-Willie Syndrome, enjoys going to libraries, and especially likes a music program at the West Harrison Library. The library has informed his aide that because he is an adult, he is not allowed in the childrenOs room at the library. His parents are hoping that the library will change their policy and allow Dan to attend programs in the childrenOs library.

What library rules say

Harrison Library Director Galina Chernykh and Harrison Library board President Andrea Mignone Viehe-Naess declined to comment about the situation, citing patron privacy.

However, in communication about the issue with Barbara Mahoney, an Irvington neighbor of the Maillets, Chernykh said that the library offered adult programs that are designed to be inclusive and accessible.

"Your understanding in this matter is greatly appreciated as we navigate the delicate balance between inclusivity and adherence to policy," Chernykh wrote in a March 5 email.

West Harrison is a branch of the Harrison Public Library. According to the library's website, children's room regulations specify that the room and programs are for children ages 12 and under and those accompanying a child; someone accessing material only available in the children's room; or someone developing curricula or researching children's literature.

The Children's Room at the West Harrison Public LIbrary, photographed March 6, 2024. The library has informed an aide for Matt Miller, a 31-year old adult with autism, that he is no longer allowed in the children's room at the library, where he enjoyed attending a music program. His parents are hoping that the library will change their policy and allow Dan to attend programs in the childrenOs library.

"All other patrons must only use the other areas of the Library," the website states.

The children's room rules acknowledge that children, "by nature can cause some disruption."

There are no restrictions for attending library events.

"However, children (whether with a caregiver or not) who are deemed too disruptive by the Library staff will be warned that if they do not settle down they will be asked to leave the Library. Extreme or repetitive disruptive behavior, in the sole judgment of the Library staff, may result in immediate expulsion from the Library."

Matt Maillet, 31, reads a childrenOs book at his home in Irvington March 6, 2024. Matt, who has autism and Prader-Willie Syndrome, enjoys going to libraries, and especially likes a music program at the West Harrison Library. The library has informed his aide that because he is an adult, he is not allowed in the childrenOs room at the library. His parents are hoping that the library will change their policy and allow Dan to attend programs in the childrenOs library.

Peter Zummo, a retired lawyer in Erie County and a parent of a 25-year-old with autism, said the legal and practical questions are not necessarily the same.

"If the rule is enforced across the board, it may be legal. Segregating by age is not inherently illegal," said Zummo, who serves on the executive committee of the New York Alliance for the Developmentally Disabled. "But it's not a good look."

'He's such a sweet guy'

Matt Maillet is nonverbal and has limited communication skills. He likes to thumb through picture books and is especially partial to Elmo. He's attended various children's programs at his church, St. Barnabas Episcopal in Irvington.

The Maillets have arranged one-on-one support for Matt through the Self-Direction program, facilitated by the state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities. Before the COVID pandemic, Matt had participated in day programs, but the Maillets said the one-on-one support works best for their son.

Brown, a former nanny, started working with Matt this year. She said library visits help keep Matt engaged, especially in the winter, when outdoor activities are limited.

She was unaware of any families complaining about Matt's presence in the children's room. "Hes such a sweet guy."

Dan Maillet said that the library rules should consider more than just chronological age. "Its not their physical age, it's their mental age. As long as they have aides with them."

Dan Maillet said even if nothing changes at the library, he hopes Matt's circumstance will start a discussion about the needs and comfort of those with developmental disabilities.

"I've been advocating for 30 years," Dan Maillet said. "If somethings not right, I call it out."

Nancy Cutler writes about People & Policy for lohud.com and the USA TODAY Network New York. Reach her at ncutler@lohud.com; follow her at @nancyrockland on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Threads.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: New York library restricts man with autism from children's programs
ADEN, Yemen, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A total of 177 Yemeni citizens who were stranded in Sudan due to the ongoing conflict there safely returned to Aden in southern Yemen on Thursday, a government official said.

Abdullah Qaed Karaoun, the director of security at Aden International Airport, said they arrived at the airport aboard a Yemeni Airlines flight from Port Sudan. The returnees, comprising elderly individuals, women, and children, received a warm welcome at the airport and were provided with financial assistance from the Yemeni government and a local businessman.

Karaoun stated that the flight marked the final evacuation of Yemeni nationals from Sudan, following last year's repatriation efforts aimed at bringing back those caught in the Sudanese conflict.

Hundreds of Yemeni families have fled to neighboring countries, such as Sudan, to seek refuge from the violence that erupted in their homeland in late 2014. However, their hopes for a peaceful haven were shattered when war broke out in Sudan in mid-April 2023, leaving them once again in a precarious situation. 
Semafor Signals

Insights from The Hill, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal

The News

Republicans have tapped a freshman senator from Alabama to deliver the rebuttal to President Joe Bidens State of the Union speech on Thursday, hoping to introduce the rising GOP star to a national audience.

Sen. Katie Britt, 42, is an outspoken critic of the Biden administration mooted by some as a possible pick for vice president on former President Donald Trumps ticket. Ahead of the speech, she called Biden out of touch and off the pace.

The Republican Party is the party of hard-working parents and families, and Im looking forward to putting this critical perspective front and center, Britt said in a statement. There is no doubt that President Bidens failed presidency has made America weaker and more vulnerable at every turn.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Republicans seek to contrast Britt with Biden

Sources: The Hill, Speaker Mike Johnson

Republicans have been quick to note the stark contrast Britts speech will pose to Bidens: The youngest-ever Republican woman senator following remarks from the countrys oldest-ever president. Shes young, female and full of energy  opposite of everything Joe Biden is, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), a fellow member of the Senate GOPs freshman class, told The Hill. The contrast between the two, its so different.

The party also sought to emphasize that Britt is the mother to two teenagers, with Speaker Mike Johnson noting that as the only current Republican mom of school-aged kids serving in the Senate, Katie is fighting to preserve the American Dream for the next generation.

Democrats put the focus on reproductive rights

Sources: AL.com, The New York Times

Britts address comes weeks after Republicans scrambled to respond to the Alabama Supreme Courts bombshell ruling that frozen embryos are legally children. The senator, who has described herself as 100 percent pro-life, came out in support of IVF, though she has previously said that life begins at the point of conception. As they seek to center reproductive rights as a top issue this election year, Democrats have painted Britt as an anti-choice extremist.

Republicans have been running, dodging and hiding their extreme position against IVF. all week, but today they chose to catapult their anti-freedom extremism to center stage by tapping anti-choice extremist Katie Britt to deliver their State of the Union response, said Alex Floyd, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee.

Britt has been floated as a possible Trump vice president

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The New York Times

Britt has been bandied about as a possible vice-presidential pick for GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported, making this national appearance all the more important for her political future. Britt endorsed Trump in a December op-ed, a year after he announced his campaign, writing that despite the dark clouds that haunt our countrys horizon, I believe with every fiber of my being that our nations best days are yet to come.

However, The New York Times noted on its list of possible vice-presidential picks, there is little indication Britt has been mentioned inside Mar-a-Lago as a possible running mate.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former commander-in-chief, has been approved by President Volodymyr Zelensky to be the next Ukrainian ambassador to the U.K., Ukraine's Foreign Ministry announced on March 7.

The Foreign Ministry sent a request to the U.K. in order to finalize the appointment.

Zelensky appointed Oleksandr Syrskyi as the new chief commander on Feb. 8, following months of speculation about a rift in Ukraine's leadership. Zaluzhnyi had led the country's military since July 2021.

Zaluzhnyi's dismissal followed multiple reports by Ukrainian and foreign media outlets, citing anonymous sources in the government, that Zelensky was set to fire the chief commander.

The decision sparked an emotional public debate, as Zaluzhnyi is widely popular with both the military and the population due to his role in leading the resistance against Russia.

Shortly before officially announcing the dismissal, Zelensky thanked Zaluzhnyi for his service in a Telegram post, adding that the ex-chief commander would remain a "part of the team."

Read also: Zelensky grants Hero of Ukraine award to Zaluzhnyi, Budanov

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on March 8 in Turkey, the Turkish Presidency said on X.

The two leaders will discuss Russias war, the Black Sea grain deal, and bilateral relations, according to the announcement.

The grain deal, first brokered by Turkey and the UN in July 2022, allowed Ukraine to export its grain even amid the ongoing full-scale Russian invasion. Moscow unilaterally terminated the deal in July 2023.

Ukraine launched a new Black Sea corridor in August without Russia's participation.

Erdogan visited Sochi on Feb. 4 to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and discuss the grain deal along with other issues. At the joint press conference after the meeting, Erdogan shared the expectations of reaching a solution to restore the deal "in a short time."

Ankara previously said it "was working with all relevant players" to restore the Black Sea grain deal, considering the possibility of accepting some of Russias conditions, such as reconnecting the Kremlin-owned bank to SWIFT.

During the full-scale invasion, Turkey tried to maintain good ties with both Kyiv and Moscow. Ankara has provided Ukraine with aid and supported it in territorial integrity talks while also opposing sanctions on Russia.

Read also: The economic toll of 10 years of Russias war against Ukraine in charts

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Ukraine in August 2023, after Volodymyr Zelensky's last visit to Turkey (STR)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Istanbul on Friday for talks with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the war against Russia and Black Sea navigation, the Turkish presidency said.

The two leaders will meet at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, with a news conference scheduled for 7:00 pm (1600 GMT), the presidency said on Thursday in a message on X, formerly Twitter.

"The situation between Ukraine and Russia and the latest contacts regarding the restarting of a secure corridor in the Black Sea" will be at the centre of their meeting, the ministry added.

Zelensky last visited Turkey in July 2023 when he held lengthy talks with Erdogan, who also has close ties with Moscow.

When he returned to Kyiv, Zelensky brought back five top commanders from the Azov regiment who were supposed to have remained in Turkey until the end of the conflict under a prisoner exchange deal with Moscow.

Members of the regiment played a key role in defending the city of Mariupol until it fell to the Russians in May 2022.

Ukraine has repeatedly appealed for more weapons to help them fend off Russian forces, who have made recent gains on the ground.

French president Emmanuel Macron hosted a video conference of 28 countries including Ukraine on Thursday to follow up on the initiatives discussed at a summit he hosted last week.

- Turkey's mediating role -

Turkey, which is highly dependent on Russia for energy supplies, has shied away from joining sanctions against Moscow and is regularly accused by the West of circumventing them.

But Ankara, with the United Nations, brokered a deal between Russia and Ukraine that allowed the export of Kyiv's grain through the Black Sea until Russia pulled out in July 2022.

Ukraine started using an alternative route for its grain along the coasts of Bulgaria and Romania in August, a month after Russia quit the landmark deal.

Turkey has been lobbying hard for an agreement to ensure cargo ships can once again navigate those waters in safety.

Last Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Turkey, meeting his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan at a diplomatic forum.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ankara has carefully maintained ties with its two Black Sea neighbours.

Turkey still hopes to revive a 2022 peace effort when top negotiators from the rivals met in Istanbul.

ach/jj/bc
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has approved the candidacy of Valerii Zaluzhnyi, former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has sent a corresponding request to the UK.

Source: Ukrainian Foreign Ministry website; Zelenskyys evening address; European Pravda

Quote: "The president of Ukraine approved the candidacy of Valerii Zaluzhnyi as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Thursday, 7 March 2024. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has sent the relevant request for agrement to the UK."

Update: Zelenskyy noted in his evening video address that Zaluzhnyi had spoken to him specifically about a move to diplomacy.

Quote: "Today, I have also approved the candidate for the position of our country's ambassador to the UK. General Valerii Zaluzhnyi told me that this is the direction he would like to take  diplomacy. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has sent a corresponding request for agrement. Our alliance with Britain should only get stronger."

Details: A European Pravda source within the government had previously mentioned that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was positive about Zaluzhnyi's appointment as an ambassador to the UK, but they had advocated waiting a few months so that he could improve his English language skills.

"He [Zaluzhnyi] could be very successful in the UK because he will be well-suited to all the clubs, and that's how politics is done in the UK," the source said.

Previously: The previous ambassador was former Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko, whom Zelenskyy appointed on 20 July 2020. He was dismissed in July 2023 when Zelenskyy made a sarcastic comment after UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace remarked that Ukraine ought to show more gratitude to its allies.

Background:

On 8 February, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree dismissing Valerii Zaluzhnyi from his position as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

President Zelenskyy later appointed Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Mykhailo Podoliak, Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said that the need to review military tactics and prevent stagnation on the front was among the reasons Zaluzhnyi had been dismissed.

Asked why General Valerii Zaluzhnyi and key leadership of Ukraine's Armed Forces had been dismissed, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was a reboot, restructuring and change of military command management.

Support UP or become our patron!
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has presented another 30 housing certificates to soldiers who received the title of Hero of Ukraine and to the families of fallen heroes.

Source: Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Telegram

Quote: "Today I have the honour to present housing certificates to 30 more Heroes of Ukraine and families of fallen heroes. These are soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, our National Guard  sergeants, senior lieutenants, captains, majors, lieutenant colonels, colonels."

Details: The president also thanked all those who fight for the sake of the state and every family of Ukrainian Heroes.

Background:

On 5 December 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that all those who received the title of Hero of Ukraine from the beginning of the full-scale invasion will receive housing from the state.

Support UP or become our patron!
Erdogan and Zelenskyy at the assembly of the Ukraine-NATO Council during the NATO summit in Vilnius on 12 July 2023. Photo: ODD ANDERSEN/AFP  Getty Images

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, will go to Turkiye on a visit and hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Source: Turkish Presidents administration, as reported by European Pravda with reference to Reuters

Details: During the meeting, Zelenskyy and Erdogan will discuss the course of the Ukraine-Russia war, the Black Sea grain deal and bilateral relations.

"The situation between Ukraine and Russia and the latest contracts on the re-launch of a safe corridor in the Black Sea" will be the main topics on the agenda, as stated by the Turkish Presidents administration.

The meeting between Zelenskyy and Erdogan will be held after Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Hakan Fidan insisted on the necessity of holding negotiations on a ceasefire in Ukraine as soon as possible.

Earlier, Erdogan stated that Ankara continued supporting the peaceful regulation of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine and was ready to provide the platform for corresponding "negotiations".

Support UP or become our patron!
In his evening address on 7 March, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned the completion of the procedure for Sweden's accession to the North Atlantic Alliance.

Source: European Pravda

Details: The head of state, speaking about the completion of procedures for Sweden's accession to NATO, noted that "one more country in Europe has achieved greater protection from Russian evil."

Quote: "Now, at a time of Russian aggression against everything that has made Europe peaceful and united, everyone sees how important it is to maintain alliances and partnerships, to strengthen our own security and to take care of the security of neighbours," he added.

Zelenskyy recalled that Ukraine has always fundamentally supported Sweden's NATO membership, and thanked Sweden for its support, adding that "there will come a day when Sweden will be able to congratulate Ukraine on joining the Alliance as well."

Background:

Sweden officially completed the process of obtaining full NATO membership on 7 March. Sweden expected to complete it with Finland, but it took more than a year.

Initially, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan stood as the main challenge, formally claiming that Sweden was providing political asylum for his political opponents and Kurdish leaders, but the real reason was Erdogan's bargaining with the United States to acquire F-16 fighter jets.

Then Hungary unexpectedly became an obstacle, even though Budapest did not put forward specific demands. Despite repeatedly promising not to be the last in the ratification process, Hungary completed the process after Turkiye and even then, it found a way to further delay Sweden's eventual accession to NATO.

Support UP or become our patron!
During the Cold War, the U.S. stashed nuclear wasteor accidentally dispersed itin several sites around the world.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released an update on three of those sites in Spain, Greenland, and the Marshall Islands.

Two of those sites are currently under threat from climate change in the form of either melting ice or rising sea levels, which could eventually reveal these dump sites deadly contents.



During the Cold War, the U.S. and Soviet Union had the bright idea to irradiate the planet with nuclear bomb testing.

Of the 67 U.S. nuclear tests during this period, Castle Bravoconducted on the Marshall Islands on March 1, 1954was the biggest of them all. This denotation, along with all the others, came with an ecological and human toll on the surrounding area. And now, during the era of climate change, the specter of the most dangerous era of the nuclear age is haunting the world once again.

A new report by the Government Accountability Office (GOA) re-evaluated three sites around the world contaminated by U.S nuclear waste. One of these sites included Palomares, Spainin 1966, a U.S. B-52G bomber carrying four thermonuclear bombs collided with a KC-135 tanker in the area. The collision didnt cause the bombs to explode (you probably wouldve heard about that one time we accidentally bombed Spain) but it did disperse a lot of radioactive material. The report finds that the U.S. and Spain continue to monitor the contamination to this day.

However, the nuclear waste sites in Greenland and the Marshall Islands are currently a more direct threat to the world due to climate change. Entombed in ice under Greenland is roughly 47,000 gallons of radioactive waste produced by the Portable Mobile-2A (PM-2A) reactor, which powered the city under the ice known as the U.S. Camp Century base. Although the reactor was removed, the waste was left behind. Simply put, engineers at the time never thought itd be exposed, but climate changea term that wasnt even coined yet when the base was built in 1960is slowly melting the ice cap, which could reveal the radioactive waste hiding below.

The scientists concluded that the contaminants should remain entombed in the ice at least through 2100, the report reads. The radioactive isotopes will continue to decay while entombed in the ice sheet and, as a result, will be less of a threat to human health the longer they remain locked in the ice.

However, of most pressing concern is the nuclear waste currently impacting the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Runit Island houses a nuclear coffin that contains 110,000 cubic yards of radioactive contaminated soil and 6,000 cubic yards of contaminated debris, and its already been documented that rising sea levels are impacting this coffin. Nuclear radiation can also be measured at several atolls as well, including swimsuit, Enewetak, Rongelap, and Utrik Atolls.

The U.S. Department of Energy and the RMI have disagreed over the impacts of the U.S.s past nuclear testing on the people of this island, and the GOA believes that a new communication strategy could help alleviate mistrustwhich isnt exactly what the Marshallese people want to hear.

What we need now is action and implementation on environmental remediation, Ariana Tibon, chair of RMIs National Nuclear Commission told the environmental website Grist. If they know that its contaminated, why wasnt the recommendation for next steps on environmental remediation?

In other words, it's time for the U.S. to stare down the ghosts of its nuclear past.

You Might Also Like
The House Republican who represents Uvalde, Texas, and broke with his party to vote for a gun safety bill after the school shooting there will face a runoff election in May against a popular gun YouTuber.

Rep. Tony Gonzales failed to surpass the 50% threshold Tuesday in the Republican primary to avoid a runoff in the states 23rd District, which covers a vast rural area from the west region of Texas to the San Antonio suburbs and includes much of the U.S.-Mexico border along the Rio Grande. Gonzales, who is seeking a third two-year term in Congress, got 45.1% in unofficial results, while challenger Brandon Herrera came in second among five candidates, with 24.7%.

Gonzales and Herrera will compete in a runoff May 28, with the winner advancing to face Democrat Santos Limon in November. Limon, a civil engineer, won 58.6% in the Democratic primary Tuesday.

Herrera is part of a large gun culture on YouTube featuring people sometimes known as gunfluencers or guntubers, who post videos of themselves firing weapons. Herrera has risen to popularity on the platform, where he has 3.2 million subscribers and has posted 485 videos since 2014. His videos about weapons have gotten 557 million views on such topics as grenade launchers, Nazi machine guns and the gun used to kill Abraham Lincoln. He also makes and sells Kalashnikov-style rifles through his website and goes by the nickname The AK Guy, a reference to the infamous Russian family of machine guns that includes the AK-47.

On his campaign website he describes himself as an entrepreneur, Second Amendment activist, and social media personality.

Texas is done with RINOs. The war starts now, Herrera said late Tuesday on X, using a common conservative abbreviation for Republican in name only.

The memorial to the victims of the massacre at Robb Elementary School on April 25, 2023 in Uvalde, Texas. (Jordan Vonderhaar for NBC News)

At issue in the race is a 2022 law passed after the Uvalde shooting, in which 19 students and two teachers were killed.

The bipartisan law provides grants to states for red flag laws, which allow judges to take firearms away from people who pose imminent danger to themselves or others. The law also enhanced background checks to include juvenile records and closed the boyfriend loophole by keeping guns away from non-spouse dating partners convicted of abuse.

Gonzales supported the law, saying in 2022 that it would protect innocent lives and not infringe on the Constitution. He was one of 14 House Republicans voting with Democrats to pass the bill 234-193.

Months later, the Texas Republican Party voted to censure him for that vote and others.

Herrera has attacked the 2022 law as Joe Bidens gun control bill. He says that red flag laws are unconstitutional and that the law violates veterans Second Amendment rights. He said Wednesday that the leadership of local law enforcement should be held accountable for the shooting in Uvalde.

In addition to his stand-alone YouTube videos, Herrera has several multivideo series, including one in which he critiques people for improper or unsafe handling of guns and another in which he mocks fans of AR rifles. AR rifles are notorious for their lethal impact in mass shootings, and Herrera says AR users arent as tough as users of AK rifles.

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images file)

Herreras campaign didnt immediately respond to a request for an interview Wednesday. He has also criticized Gonzales stances on immigration and vaccines.

Gonzales said Wednesday that he was focused on finding solutions to the districts biggest challenges.

Words mean nothing if they arent followed by actions, he posted on X. He didnt directly address Tuesdays results or the runoff.

Gonzales campaign also didnt immediately respond to a request for an interview.

Gonzales had sought to shore up his conservative credentials in the days leading up to Tuesdays primary. He released an ad attacking Biden on immigration, saying blood was on Bidens hands after a truck driver who was smuggling 11 immigrants killed a 7-year-old and her grandmother in a crash.

Herrera, capitalizing on his first name, has embraced the anti-Biden meme Lets go, Brandon! in his campaign.

He has kept posting videos even while he has been running for Congress, including nine he has uploaded since Jan. 1.

YouTube didnt immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Limon, the Democrat in the race, also didnt immediately respond to an interview request.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
CANBERRA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Australia and Vietnam have upgraded their relationship by signing a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday announced at a press conference that Australia and Vietnam have elevated their ties by signing a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Additionally, Albanese announced new agreements between Australia and Vietnam's science and maritime agencies to monitor the impact of climate change on marine environments and a new arrangement that will allow 1,000 Vietnamese workers to fill labor shortages in Australia's agriculture sector. 
The North Dakota National Guard was called out to deal with an ice jam on the Missouri River.

Ice jams can cause rivers to rise, causing local flooding.

The Guard used Black Hawk helicopters with water buckets to break up the jam, saving the nearby community from the threat of flooding.

Assault helicopters from the North Dakota National Guard were called out to deal with an unusual threat: a buildup of river ice. In response, the Guard called out two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, which took turns dumping more than two tons of water on the ice until it broke free. While this operation was carried out entirely without explosives, there are plenty of instances outside the U.S. in which governments are all too happy to simply bomb Mother Nature into submission.

Flood Risk

North Dakota National Guard

In late February, ice jams began to form in the Missouri River near the city of Bismarck, North Dakota. Ice jams are caused by chunks of ice blocking the flow of a river. This causes icy water to build up behind the jam that could spill the banks of a river and flood nearby communities. On February 29, the river exceeded the minor flood stage , rising to a height of 14.92 feet.

The flooding was considered serious enough that the state began working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to lower ice levels and get the river moving again. As a result, two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters of the North Dakota National Guard were dispatched to the flood zone. Each carried a  Bambi Bucket a collapsible bucket slung underneath a Black Hawk capable of carrying up to 660 gallons of water. The buckets are typically used for firefighting, with helicopters dipping the buckets into a body of water from a hover position, scooping up a bucketful, and then releasing the water over a wildfire.

Water weighs eight pounds per gallon, so every time a helicopter with a Bambi Bucket drops its load, it releases up to 5,280 pounds of water at once. The North Dakota National Guard hoped that repeatedly dropping two and a half tons of water on the jam would act like a watery piledriver, pummeling the accumulated ice and getting the river flowing again.

It worked. According to the North Dakota National Guard, a 20 by 20-foot section of ice was dislodged on the first pass. Around 6 p.m., progress was made, and the ice began to move down the river. One hundred and eighteen buckets dropped over 70,000 gallons of water in 4 hours. As of Friday, March 1, the Missouri River is moving on its own again and the emergency has passed.

They do it differently in Russia and China

Xinhua News Agency - Getty Images

Ice jams are an issue in many countries, especially those in the northern latitudes, including China and Russia. Both feature vast swathes of territory with rivers that freeze and governments that take aggressive actions to fix problems like these. The result: bombs instead of Bambi Buckets.

In 2010, Chinas Peoples Liberation Army Air Force used H-6 bombers to break up ice jams on the Yellow River. Six H-6K strategic bombers from the 28th Air Regiment , each carrying eight conventional high explosive bombs, made bombing runs on the river that is often considered the cradle of Chinese civilization. Although the H-6s basic design dates to the 1950s and it is vulnerable on todays battlefield, it suited ice-breaking quite well and the Chinese government considered the mission a success. The method was repeated in 2014 .

NurPhoto - Getty Images

In 2016, the Russian Aerospace Forces bombed the Sukhona River, located approximately 250 miles north of Moscow. Two Su-34 Fullback tactical bombers from Voronezh Malshevo Air Base carried out the mission. The bombing was also considered a success. Russia might have more difficulty executing another strike today, howeversince the countrys 2022 invasion of Ukraine, it has lost roughly twenty percent of its Su-34 fleet to enemy fire .

You Might Also Like
West Midlands Police trialled a voice assistant powered by artificial intelligence (AI) in a bid to deal with rising volumes of non-emergency calls.

Sensitive technical details of the plan were erroneously published online in a document seen by the BBC.

It set out potential risks of the AI, including whether the system, dubbed "Amy101", would understand local "Brummie" accents.

West Midlands Police has insisted "robust safeguards" were in place.

Based on the tech behind Amazon's popular voice assistant, Alexa, the trial explored how AI could help the force cope with increasing volumes of calls, and potentially offer new services such as responses in different languages.

A document detailing the plan was mistakenly posted online by the office of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC). The document, marked "official sensitive" and with warnings that it was "not to be publicly disclosed", has since been removed.

Amy101 was designed to speak or text-chat in order to deal with callers' inquiries and was expected to handle about 200 calls per day.

The project, a two month proof-of-concept trial, was nationally funded.

It was - the document suggested - the first such project where an AI-powered tool would speak to callers, though other forces were also exploring uses of the tech.

Amy101 had the ability to prioritise vulnerable callers, by looking out for certain keywords - such as those referencing domestic violence - and ensuring they were next-in-line to be dealt with by a human call operator, the document says.

Through speech or text chat it could direct calls, provide advice on issues such as reporting criminal damage, or requesting a crime update.

West Midlands Police told the BBC the trial began on 19 December 2023 and had now concluded.

Its director of commercial services, Peter Gillett, said - by the time the trial started - the force had already improved and was now "one of the top-performing police forces for managing emergency and non-emergency calls".

'Brummie' bias

The document - prepared for an ethical oversight committee that advises the PCC and Chief Constable - reveals the potential problems that might arise with Amy101, including whether the tech could cope with the local accent.

"Bias will naturally occur within the "Amy" system based on accents/localisation - for example can she understand "Brummie" accents? And are they treated with equal weighting to different accents in English?" the document asks.

Because Alexa is used globally - coping with a range of accents and languages - it was hoped that this type of bias had been removed. And if calls were not understood they would be transferred to the queue for a human operator.

Mr Gillett said the force recognised that technologies capable of understanding ordinary language were "not flawless", and therefore may struggle with accents.

As a result the force used a "large-scale" system "to mitigate this bias".

Potential issues around safeguarding data were also flagged, including the risk calls would be used to help train the Amazon AI system, called Lex V2, behind Amy101.

Some calls could include personally identifiable information. The document provides the example, "My name is Marc and I want to report my house was broken into..".

The police can, however, opt-out of this kind of training and will do this "where viable", the document says.

The ethics committee also had a number of questions, recorded in its minutes, about Amy101, such as the voice and "gendered name" of the tool. The force responded arguing "humanisation" was needed.

It also suggested officers requested further analysis from Amazon on potential issues "such as regional accent recognition and bias testing".

It is not clear whether the concerns raised in the document ever materialised, though police struck a positive note about the outcome of the trial:

"AI (Artificial Intelligence) does present some potential opportunities for providing a more efficient and robust service", Mr Gillett said.

Now the "proof-of-concept" trial is over, the force would be "sharing the results and outcomes at a national scale", he added.

According to the document the government was also interested in the trial - it said a Home Office team was "keeping a close eye" on it with a view to wider uses.
The US government has sanctioned Intellexa Consortium, the company which developed and sold the notorious Predator spyware.

The group consists of Intellexa S.A. (Greece), Intellexa Limited (Ireland), Cytrox AD (North Macedonia), Cytrox Holdings ZRT (Hungary), and Thalestris Limited (Ireland).

Among the sanctioned individuals are Tal Jonathan Dilian, the groups founder, as well as Sara Aleksandra Fayssal Hamou, a corporate off-shoring specialist providing managerial services.

Targeting Americans

Commercial malware is usually sold to government agencies around the world, who use it to target political opponents, journalists, human rights activists, and dissidents, the Treasury Department reported.

In late May 2023, researchers analyzed a sample of the malware, and discovered that it can record audio from phone calls and VoIP apps, and steal data from chat apps such as WhatsApp or Telegram. Although not confirmed, the researchers believe the malware also allows for geolocation tracking, access to camera apps, and tricking the user into thinking the device is powered off (for easier use during the off time).

The researchers also said that the list of features is not conclusive and that Predator could be capable of a lot more. The Department of Treasury sanctioned the group mostly because, as it said in the press release, Predator was used to target US government officials, journalists, and activists.

The sanctions mean all assets belonging to both designated individuals, and companies, are blocked, and must be reported to the Department of Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Furthermore, US citizens and companies are not allowed to transact, or do business with, the blacklisted organizations.

The US government has sanctioned multiple companies and individuals involved in the development of commercial spyware, most notably NSO Group, an Israeli start-up that was blacklisted in late 2021 for building Pegasus.

More from TechRadar Pro
This article is part of "Build IT," a series about digital tech and innovation trends that are disrupting industries.



Nearly four years ago, at the start of the pandemic, Bouchaine Vineyards in Napa, California, needed a new business strategy.

The company's president and winemaker, Chris Kajani, wanted to stay connected with customers and distributors amid shutdowns and social-distancing practices.

In March 2020, Kajani started reworking her operations, hosting virtual tastings, keeping in contact with members of the vineyard's wine club, and meeting with distribution partners using a Cisco videoconferencing platform.

Mixing technology with traditional winemaking was commercially successful and popular with Bouchaine's customers. For Kajani and Cisco, it was a sign that they could do more  specifically in the vineyard.

Over the past few years, extreme weather events and unpredictable conditions have affected grape harvests, and consumer demand for wine is down. Vintners are seeking solutions and finding some success in technologies designed to reinvigorate the production process.

Technology is increasingly important in viticulture

In 2021, Bouchaine Vineyards expanded its partnership with Cisco and installed Cisco's industrial Internet of Things, or IoT, sensors across the vineyard. The sensors allow Bouchaine's winemakers to visualize data about temperature, humidity, soil moisture, and wind speed. Sensors inside fermentation tanks can help detect leaks, monitor the fermentation process, and show temperature trends.

Kajani told Business Insider that tracking this data allowed winemakers to "dial in" to different parts of their vineyard and address vine blocks individually. Though winery employees do the cultivation work, like pruning or leafing, by hand, data helps them know which blocks need special attention.

"Not just using one recipe across an entire vineyard, I think, just allows us to grow better grapes and also stops us from wasting any resources," Kajani added.

Chris Kajani, the winemaker and president of Bouchaine Vineyards, is using technology to improve harvesting. Bob McClenehan

Visually identifying signs of mildew, mold, or dryness on individual vines helps growers monitor grapevine health, predict harvest time, and develop flavor  but it's time- and labor-intensive. Using sensor technology can help save resources and lead to a better wine.

Grapevines are "not like houseplants," Kajani said. "They don't want all the fertilizer. They don't want all the water. You have to starve them a little bit to really concentrate flavor and get the development that you want in the berry."

Wine tech can improve sustainability across the industry

Embracing sustainability has never been more important for vintners. Rising temperatures and extreme weather events are contributing to decreasing crop output and could devastate wine production.

For Alexandre Remy, the managing partner and winemaker at Atlas Wine Co. in Somerset, California, fewer warm days in September meant pushing back the harvest time.

Remy has worked at Atlas Wine Co. for over 10 years. Jyotsna Bhamidipati for BI

Instead of cultivating his grapes in mid-September, as he did in 2022, he had to wait until mid-October to try to match the flavor profile of the wine. "Being a winemaker every year and making the best wine possible is very, very challenging because every year it's changing," he said.

It's essential for vineyards to keep sustainability top of mind during each step of the winemaking process. At Bouchaine, for example, sensor technology is helping preserve valuable resources like water.

Vaughn Walton, an entomologist and researcher at OSU's Oregon Wine Research Institute

The winery uses a process called dry farming, through which vintners take advantage of established root systems and clay soil, forcing the vines to use water already in the ground. Drought conditions across California mean supplementary irrigation is inevitable, but sensor technology helps the crew be judicious about where and when to add water.

"You do the same thing every year, but you do it so differently depending on what Mother Nature throws at you," Kajani said.

Technological developments in pest management could also help reduce chemical contamination due to pesticides and enhance biodiversity.

Remy at Atlas Wine Co.'s vineyard in Somerset, California. Jyotsna Bhamidipati for BI

Vaughn Walton, an entomologist and researcher at Oregon State University's Oregon Wine Research Institute, told BI that while pests native to vineyards, like treehoppers or stink bugs, could spread viruses that negatively impact berry quality, spraying pesticides to kill these bugs could be equally ruinous.

Walton said that spraying pesticides can sometimes kill insects that support vineyard growth, like pollinators, and not actually affect unwanted bugs. "We are spraying ourselves with toxic compounds, spraying ourselves deeper into trouble," he added.

Walton is part of a team at OSU developing an AI- and solar-powered robot designed to disrupt the mating patterns of vineyard pests with vibration. Treehoppers and stink bugs are just two examples of insects that use vibration to find each other.

The robot, called the Pied Piper, emits the same vibrational signals insects use in mating to lure and capture them to be removed from the vineyard.

OSU's Pied Piper robot helps remove vineyard pests without the use of toxic chemicals. Vaughn Walton

The Pied Piper is equipped with a microphone to sense when an insect communicates with it, and it replays the signal to create what Walton called a "duet."

"So now you have a computer talking to an insect, and the insect comes to the computer," Walton said. "You as a human being cannot hear the vibrational signal, other insects are not affected by it; only that one specific species is sensing it and is reacting to it."

Walton said he believes that the environmental and market pressures to produce crops in a cleaner way will push growers to try new green technology.

"This is what a lot of growers want. They're very progressive, and they have the long view in mind," Walton said. "This is the technology that has that long view in mind."

AI is helping winemakers find the right blends to market

As younger people gravitate more toward hard seltzers, cocktails, or beer, winemakers are rethinking their marketing.

Remy said the drop in popularity might be due to the complexity of the market. Finding ways to make wine more approachable could help drive growth.

Remy tests different wine creations to find a winning recipe. Jyotsna Bhamidipati for BI

Remy, a former wine technical consultant, said that buying wine without knowing what's good can be overwhelming.

"The consumers feel like there's roadblocks instead of opportunities," Remy said. "For the new generation in America, you really have to be comfortable with what you're buying."

AI-powered tools are making headway in the commercial wine market by helping vineyards find optimal wine blends.

Katerina Axelsson, the CEO and founder of the wine-tech company Tastry

Nearly all wines are considered blends . Concocting blends allows vintners to create unique flavor profiles and let the best of each wine shine through in the final product.

But because consumers have different palates, spending money trying to find the perfect blend can be risky for vintners.

Katerina Axelsson, the CEO and founder of Tastry, a California tech company that uses AI and chemistry to create wine-blending recipes, said her software is designed to reduce some of the uncertainty.

Tastry's CompuBlend software uses a database of consumer palate preferences and the chemical flavor matrix of wine samples sent by a winemaker. It then determines the composition of the most balanced wine the winery can make and predicts which blends will sell best.

Remy uses the Tastry program for testing wines. Jyotsna Bhamidipati for BI

"The chemistry is really good at figuring out how to balance the features of the wine," Axelsson said. "A balanced wine is inevitably a higher-quality wine."

Traditionally, vintners have done this by having groups of winemakers try different blends and decide which is best. But Axelsson said this could lead to an issue called "house palate," where the winemakers' preference differs from the customer's palate.

"There's such a disconnect between what the winemaker wants and what the consumer wants," Axelsson added.

Remy told BI that using Tastry's software has helped him market his wine with less risk and given him options he wouldn't have considered. He said he uses the technology to create all of his wines such as the Omen Origins Zinfandel, which has cherry and vanilla notes.

The Omen Origins Zinfandel is one of Atlas Wine Co.'s red wines. Jyotsna Bhamidipati for BI

The pressure to use wine tech is too strong to ignore

Though AI and IoT are relatively new for the industry, Walton and Axelsson said viticulture has always been interested in using technology to help farmers operate more efficiently.

Axelsson said she believes that as AI tools become more ubiquitous, the business case for adopting them will become too strong to ignore.

"If you're not using AI in your business, you are going to be left in the dust," she said. "You kind of have to, to stay competitive."

Walton added that vintners are also businesspeople who have to adopt technology to remain competitive, especially when the technology can help solve environmental, market, and industry problems at the same time.

"It is in the culture of agriculture to try new things," Walton said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Biden will announce a plan for a temporary port on Gaza's coast to increase flow of humanitarian aid

President Joe Biden will announce a plan in his State of the Union address to establish a temporary port on the Gaza coast to boost humanitarian aid for the beleaguered territory
China looks forward to jointly creating shining "South moment" in global governance: FM
By P.J. GLISSON

[email protected]

Bessemer  At their most recent meeting last week, the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners delivered a hard no to any attempts to retain the 2024 fair at the county fairgrounds.

The agenda included two items: 1. Reconsideration of the boards Oct. 11, 2023, vote to close this years fair at the fairgrounds, along with any other major events there; and 2. Subsequent action to consider a revised proposal by county Fair Board members, who have been pushing for a smaller version of the fair that would address immediate repairs and safety concerns on the grounds.

Commissioner Joseph Bonovetz made the motion to rescind last falls vote, which was considered a necessary prelude to any other action as he had made the original motion.

When we made that decision, we made it without any of the discussion or information or passion that weve had since then, said Bonovetz of the Oct. 11 vote.

Commissioner James Byrns, who also chairs the Fair Board, seconded the motion.

They both voted to support the motion, but Chairman James Lorenson and commissioners Daniel Siirila, Thomas Laabs and Robert Orlich all voted no. George Peterson III was absent.

After the vote, the second agenda item on the fair board proposal then remained in the receive and file mode to which it already had been delegated in a previous meeting.

The controversy regarding whether to schedule the 2024 fair at the fairgrounds began after last years planned demolition and an unexpected Sept. 26 fire resulted in the loss of five buildings.

It has been the ongoing contention of Lorenson, who also is a fair board member, that pending construction at the fairgrounds will pose related safety concerns.

There may very well be construction there this summer, said Lorenson to The Globe after the meeting. Im still going to err on the side of safety.

Moreover, he said that delaying construction to accommodate this years fair would only increase costs.

But he said that the boards action relates only to this year and the county has continued to move forward with plans to pursue grants and to address the fairground losses, in terms of repairing damaged buildings and replacing lost ones.

I feel bad for the kids, said Byrns after the meeting in relation to the boards vote.

But he also emphasized the boards focus on the needed revitalization of the fairgrounds and reminded of the many steps involved: collection of grant or insurance funds, engineering plans, building inspector approvals and bid processes.

Byrns hopes that those steps will, hopefully, lead to the fair then returning to the county fairgrounds by 2025.

In line with making improvements, Fair Board member Thomas Hampston said in the meeting that he has volunteers to repair horse barns under the supervision of a licensed contractor at no cost to the county except materials.

He said that the Fair Board and Friends of the Fair will pay most expenses.

Lorenson asked him to provide a proposal in writing to the boards Economic Development and Capital Improvements Committee.

During the meetings public comment session, the board received both support and criticism.

Jaylee Somero of Ironwood Township, who was the countys 2023 Youth Volunteer of the Year, spoke of how committed 4-H members are to working each year to prepare the fairgrounds for the fair.

We enjoy every minute of it, she said.

But she asked that board members understand how much area youth will lose by not having a fair at the fairgrounds.

As one example she said, it could be the last year that a graduating senior has a chance to show an animal before departing for college.

Youre taking away our chance to make lifetime memories, she said.

Erwin Township Supervisor Larry Grimsby said he was speaking as a private citizen.

I farm in that area, said Grimsby. Im very supportive of the 4-H program.

He added that his own family members have been active in the program.

Nevertheless, he said, When attorneys make a suggestion, theyre really telling you what to do.

Grimsby was referring to recent advice from the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority, which is the countys insurer and which recently advised not holding a 2024 fair at the fairgrounds.

Lorenson, who initially supported the Fair Boards revised proposal, said that advice was what caused him later to retract his support.

Grimsby suggested the Iron County Fairgrounds as a viable alternative that could be a win-win for both counties.

Katie Nelson of Ironwood Township, who said she was horrified at that suggestion, added that special testing would be required of any animals crossing state lines.

Fair Board Member Linda Nelson urged board members to gather more input before pursuing fairgrounds construction. We truly are not on the same page as to what needs to be done, she said.

She added that construction should be delayed until after this years fair, which would negate any safety concerns in holding the 2024 fair on the fairgrounds.

The fair is not only important to the Fair Board, but also to the community and even to people who do not live in this region, said Nelson.

Jim Gribble of Bessemer, who is president of the Friends of the Fair, agreed that a lack of major construction  combined with addressing immediately needed lesser repairs  would allow for safe use of the fairgrounds.

Marc Behrendt of the Aurora Club said the mild winter already has damaged the local economy and added that not having a 2024 fair would hurt many businesses and organizations.
CARACAS, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela denounced the U.S. government Wednesday for maintaining sanctions against the South American country.

The White House "has opted to continue applying its economic terrorism through its more than 930 measures against our country," the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

U.S. President Joe Biden decided on Tuesday to extend Executive Order 13692, which was issued in 2015 under former President Barack Obama and declares "a national emergency with respect to the situation in Venezuela," for another year, saying that Venezuela continues to "pose an unusual and extraordinary threat" to the United States in a press release.

The executive order has been used to "justify a sustained campaign of aggression against the Venezuelan people, in violation of every norm of international law, constituting a case of collective punishment," the Venezuelan statement said.

The decision is "unnecessary, absurd and hostile," and indicates that the United States "is not capable of designing a coherent foreign policy that is not based on coercion, extortion or disrespect," it said.

"Regardless of what the United States does, Venezuela is a country determined to be free and it will prevail," the ministry said.

In late January, Biden also reimposed sanctions on Venezuela targeting its oil and gas sector, saying the move was in response to the decision by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government to ban a leading opposition candidate from running for president. 
By P.J. GLISSON

[email protected]

Watersmeet  A history of the Anishinaabe people is the focus of a traveling exhibit called The Seventh Fire, running from March 11-22 at the Ottawa National Forest Visitor Center in Watersmeet.

Anishinaabe means the original people and also refers to the Ojibwe, who compose Watersmeets Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.

The word is pronounced ah-nish-i-NAW-bee.

Organizers of the exhibit report that it will include a timeline of the Anishinaabe, as well as videos that show the many different perspectives on decolonization and Anishinaabe culture, including foodways, education, sovereignty and the challenges of living in a colonized world.

Im really excited about it, said Charly Loper, public relations director for the Ottawa National Forest office in Bessemer.

By phone on Tuesday, Loper said that one important focus of the exhibit will be the acknowledgment of the past use of boarding schools in relation to Native Americans in Michigan.

The Walking Together: Finding Common Ground Traveling Exhibit Project was developed by the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan in conjunction with the Great Lakes Peace Center.

Along with the Peace Center and the Diocese, the following parties worked together for several months to develop The Seventh Fire exhibit: Beumier U.P. Heritage Center, Center for Native American Studies at Northern Michigan University, and the Native American Student Organization.

Those parties report that The Seventh Fire title is from the Seven Fires Prophecies, which are integral to the Anishinaabe culture.

The exhibit will be open to members of the Lac Vieux Desert Band on March 11, followed by an opening to the general public from March 12-22.

Open times will be Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Ottawa National Forest Visitor Center is located at E 23979 U.S. 2 in Watersmeet.
By P.J. GLISSON

[email protected]

Bessemer  Members of the Finance, Budgeting and Auditing Committee of the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners voted last week to accept and file a written proposal to help initiate a new drug treatment and mental health center in the U.P.

Commissioner Joseph Bonovetz said the proposal that Houghton County Administrator Ben Larson submitted to the Upper Peninsula Coalition for Area Progress.

Larsons proposal says that there is U.P.-wide support to establish a U.P. Drug Treatment and Mental Health Crisis Stabilization Unit Center.

No location for the proposed center was yet mentioned.

According to Bonovetz, who is a member of the UPCAP board, the thought is that such a facility could be established if all 15 U.P. counties provide some of the opioid settlement monies that are being distributed as part of a national settlement with various drug companies.

He said that proponents of the idea believe that such a center could reduce the number of such patients who now are transferred to facilities outside of the U.P.

These are involuntary transfers, and they go through the courts, said Bonovetz.

This facility, if possible, could be made available to Upper Peninsula residents in need, and provide a local option to keep our citizens in their own community to receive timely and appropriate care, said Larson in his proposal.

It has been proven that keeping citizens in their own communities is always best, and having our citizens in treatment 9 hours away in places such as Kalamazoo, Caro or Dearborn is not ideal, he said. Many of the patients in treatment come from families that are not wealthy and this limits them from seeing their loved one in treatment with the distance, time and travel costs that are prohibitive for many downstate facilities.

In addition, wrote Larson, As every county can attest, the current system of transporting the patients is very costly for us all. We are wearing out our police cars and transport vehicles, paying for increasing overtime hours for our Sheriff Department employees, and the trend is sadly showing that this dilemma is growing and not shrinking at the current time.

Larson said, as a result of ongoing opioid funds, the U.P. will receive around $13 million directly paid to county governments, with additional funds possibly also sent to cities, townships and Native American tribes.

Each county would agree to contribute 50% of their opioid settlement funds, said Larson. Some will have more to give, and some would have less to contribute.

Bonovetz said he is not certain if restrictions on opioid funds would allow for them to be spent in the way Larson proposed.

Larsons proposal reported opioid funds usage as follows: 85% of funds must be used for opioid remediation, with 70% being used for future opioid remediation. The final 15% of funds is unrestricted.

Larson added that Michigan legislators also believe grant funding may be available for the proposed facility, and he plans to call a meeting soon with U.P. counties, tribal representatives, mental health officials, state and federal legislators, hospital partners and representatives of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

In other news at the Feb. 28 meeting, committee members also voted to advertise three open seats on the board of directors for the Gogebic County Community Mental Health Authority in Wakefield.
Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business.
Nicolae Ciuca raspunde atacurilor USR: Nu PSD si PNL au blocat Alianta Dreapa Unita

Pot sa va spun ca decizia luata de judecatorii care au analizat aceasta solicitare spune tot. Nu PSD si PNL au blocat aceasta Alianta. Probabil pentru ca nu au reusit sa puna la dispozitie toate documentele necesare astfel [citeste mai departe]
Retinut la Constanta: Un tanar s-a aventurat in trafic. Nu avea permis, era beat, iar masina avea numere false

Un tanar de 19 ani a fost retinut de politie, potrivit informatiilor puse la dispozitie de IPJ Constanta. Acesta este banuit de savarsirea infractiunilor de conducerea unui vehicul [citeste mai departe]
Infiniti Middle East, a subsidiary of Nissan Middle East, has named Manahil International, a Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Company, as an authorised dealer in Saudi Arabia.

The selection of Manahil International, finalised in August 2023, signifies a major achievement in the brand's ongoing expansion within the luxury automotive market of the Middle East, the company said.

Through this partnership, Infiniti and Manahil International will aim to provide its customers across the kingdom with world-class service, while adhering to Infinitis values of excellence. This move aligns with Infiniti's vision to deliver modern Japanese luxury experiences for daring and unique individuals who pursue distinction in their lives, styles, and vehicles.

"We are excited to welcome Manahil International into the Infiniti family as an authorised dealer in Saudi Arabia," said Thierry Sabbagh, President, Infiniti Middle East and Nissan Saudi Arabia, Managing Director, Nissan Middle East.

"Celebrated for its distinction in luxury automotive, Manahil International's deep understanding of the Saudi Arabian market and commitment to offering customers an elevated experience, are elements that make for an ideal partner to expand our presence in the Kingdom.

Mohamed Yousuf Naghi, Chairman of Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Group, expressed his excitement about this partnership, stating: "We feel deeply honoured to have been selected as an authorised dealer for Infiniti in Saudi Arabia. This collaboration opens an extraordinary opportunity to provide Saudi Arabian customers with an unparalleled standard of luxury and innovation in the automotive sector.

With Manahil International as an authorised dealer of Infiniti in the Kingdom, we believe that our customers will be treated as honoured guests, said Albert Khreiche, Managing Director, Infiniti Middle East. Thoughtful hospitality, is a core principle of the brand, and we are confident that this partnership will flourish to express just that. - TradeArabia News Service
A new meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation will be held in autumn in Beijing where Chinese and African leaders will discuss future development and cooperation and hold in-depth exchanges of governance experience, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.
The fresh newsletter for the International Community in Hungary - described by readers as a "Great read each week" - is now available for your interest and use via the link below.

You can see the new edition of the Xpat E-Magazine here:

https://xpatloop.com/newsletters/2024/7-march.html



1. First up is an invitation for you to the third UK Education Event in Budapest:

Exceptional educational opportunities, complimentary drinks, food & networking.

To confirm your attendance please click here to register asap!



2. You can see example events happening these days below and in Xpat Calendar:

E.g. 'Terribly Funny' Show, Expat Rugby, Choreographic Workshop, 'Restaurant Week'.



3. Also for your interest there are new Movies & Specials, + News, Information & Inspiration:

E.g. Home Sales Exploded, Forint Down Dramatically Vrs Euro, New Route of Tour de Hongrie Revealed.



Now we hope you like what's in it for you below.

Yours with best wishes, Team XpatLoop



Photo: Budapest from above - Pixabay.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Shortcut Links:



Latest News / Interviews / Directory / Calendar / New Movies / Sponsorship



Notes:



You're in good company together with thousands of expat readers + high-level locals = a cosmopolitan group of internationally-minded folks, known as the Xpat Community.



Feedback:



Your feedback is always welcome. Here are a few examples:



Brett Penny, Director, American International School of Budapest:

"Two thumbs up on XpatLoop's website and newsletter. A really great resource for us expats. Easy to navigate and loads of excellent ideas on what's on in Budapest, plus activities for the weekend. Keep up the good work!"



Sandra Knibbs, Principal at Dance Craze Academy:

"XpatLoop - great work informing us about the most compelling events in the city!"



Ephie Christodoulides, Client Manager at KPMG:

"I just wanted to say thank you for all the work you are doing on the site".



Warren Conolly, Professional Educator.

"As a fellow expat here in Hungary, I thought to say how great XpatLoop is for the community as a whole."



Dennis A. Diokno, CEO & Founding Partner, FirstMed

Thanks to XpatLoop for an excellent working relationship of over 20 years!



Frank Hegedus, Chaplain, St. Margaret's Anglican Church

Thank you for your important service during these troubling times.



John Hart, Principal, International School Of Budapest

Just a short note of deep appreciation to you all at XpatLoop. At these difficult and potentially solitary times your mailings are doing a wonderful job at keeping us expats in the loop, and ensuring that we still feel part of the vibrant community which is Budapest.



Rough Guide To Budapest, the most knowledgeable & entertaining guidebook:

"For Arts & Entertainment: The best online listings are provided by XpatLoop.com"



Lonely Planet, the worlds largest guide book publisher:

"XpatLoop: What the foreign community in Budapest is thinking and talking about."
Hungary-Serbia relations are at their historic best, as ethnic Hungarian communities beyond the borders represent a resource in cooperation with neighbouring countries, the foreign minister said.

The ministry cited Peter Szijjarto telling a press conference after meeting Balint Pasztor, head of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (VMSZ), that ethnic Hungarians were a focal point for Hungarys foreign policy.



This is why an ethnic Hungarian community leader gets invited to the meeting of ambassadors every year, which has been the case also this year, the minister said.



He congratulated Pasztor on his partys performance at the elections in Serbia in December and said the results represented a great achievement, especially in the current period full of challenges.



Serbia, Vojvodina and the VMSZ prove together that it is a correct foreign policy strategy to develop as good relations with neighbouring countries as possible, said Szijjarto.



Because the better the relations are with a neighbouring country, the better the situation of ethnic Hungarians living there will be, he added.



Vojvodina Hungarians are proof that it is correct to consider Hungarian communities beyond the borders a resource in building good bilateral relations, Szijjarto said.



He said that in planning its foreign policy strategy, the government always gives priority to building good relations with neighbouring states and always stands up for ethnic Hungarian communities living there.



The minister highlighted VMSZs role in developing Hungarian-Serbian cooperation, pointing out the alliances proposal on a comprehensive economic development programme in Serbias northernmost region.



He noted that the Hungarian government has so far supported 14,000 local businesses with 80 billion forints (EUR 203m) that has generated investments worth 170 billion forints, and pledged the continuation of the programme.



Szijjarto said that cross-border infrastructure also played an important role in bilateral relations, which is why on VMSZs request a decision had been made to keep the Roszke-Horgos 2 border crossing open 24 hours a day.



Additionally, the development of a border crossing at Hercegszanto will be started in the near future, with the help of Interreg resources, he said. Szijjarto also said that during its upcoming EU presidency, Hungarys government will focus on speeding up EU enlargement and fighting illegal migration.



Hungary has always stood on Serbias side when it comes to EU enlargement, and would like to have Serbia as a member of the EU as soon as possible, which would also serve the interests of Vojvodina Hungarians, he said.



Meanwhile, Szijjarto Hails Hungary-Mongolia Cooperation

Cooperation between Hungary and Mongolia is close despite the geographical distance between them, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Facebook.



Szijjarto noted that Hungary had donated vaccines to Mongolia during the coronavirus pandemic, adding that the two countries also cooperate actively in the areas of agriculture and water management, which last year led to a record trade turnover.



Hungary offers the most university scholarships to Mongolia relative to the size of its population, he said, noting that 903 students had applied for the 200 available scholarships this year.



He said the two countries had concluded their talks on an air transport agreement, which had been made all the more important by Mongolia having scrapped the visa requirement for Hungary.



Szijjarto noted that Hungary and Mongolia will mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties next year.



He said boosting bilateral cooperation presented an even greater opportunity given that Mongolia has the worlds second-biggest reserve of rare-earth elements.



********************************************************************************************

You're very welcome to comment, discuss and enjoy more stories, via our Facebook page:

Facebook.com/XpatLoopNews + via XpatLoops groups: Budapest Expats / Expats Hungary



You can subscribe to our newsletter here:

XpatLoop.com/Newsletters



Do you want your business to reach tens of thousands of potential high-value expat customers?

Then just contact us here!
Five stages, 854 kilometres, almost 8,000 metres of climbing, 10 categorised climbs, two bunch sprints and two iconic summit finishes await the participants of the 45th Tour de Hongrie. The official route of Hungarys biggest cycling race was presented on 5 March at Budapest Music Center with live national TV coverage.



Some interesting facts about the route:

* The five-day-long ProSeries event includes two flat stages, one hilly stage, one medium-mountain stage and one mountain stage.

* In addition to the capital, the competition covers nine counties: Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok, Hajdu-Bihar, Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen, Heves, Pest, Fejer, Somogy, Tolna and Baranya.

* The caravan will cross 81 municipalities: 9 of them will host a stage start or finish, while 12 of them will host intermediate sprints.

* There will be 10 categorized climbs along the route. Besides the 1st category climb of Kekesteto, cyclists will have to tackle four 2nd and five 3rd category climbs.

* Over the 854 km of the race, the riders will have to face 7871 m of elevation  the most since the races return to the international calendar in 2015! Its the same as the height of the 20th tallest mountain in the world.



The 45th edition of Tour de Hongrie will feature eight WorldTeams, eight ProTeams, three Continental Teams and the National Team of Hungary.



You can find the list of the participating teams here.



8 May 2024  Stage 1

Karcag  Hajduszoboszlo (170 km, flat stage)

The field of the 45th Tour de Hongrie will start from Karcag, the capital of Nagykunsag, on 8 May 2024. The caravan will pass Lake Tisza and Hortobagy National Park before arriving to Hajduszoboszlo, where it will complete three laps of a circuit of almost 20 kilometres. The stage includes 3 intermediate sprints, but almost no elevation gains. The first yellow jersey of the race will most likely belong to a sprinter.



Karcag has already welcomed the Hungarian Tour ten times - most recently in 2022, when the second stage started from the largest town in Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok county. Karcag has hosted two stage finishes in its recent history, with German Manuel Porzner winning in 2015 and Lithuanian Gediminas Kaupas in 2016.



Hajduszoboszlo, the city of spas, is a returning guest in the history of Tour de Hongrie, and this year it is a special participant of the event. This is the fifth time since 2018 that a stage will be held in the town of the , with the winners so far being Andriy Bratashchuk (2018), Alois Kankovsky (2019), Jakub Mareczko (2020) and Fabio Jakobsen (2022).



9 May 2024  Stage 2

Tokaj  Kazincbarcika (162 km, flat stage)

The second stage starts from the heart of Hungary's most famous wine region. After the start in Tokaj, the peloton turns first to Zemplen and then to Kazincbarcika. The stage includes two categorised climbs and 1,000 m of ascent.



The hilly terrain provides excellent attacking opportunities for breakaways, but the biggest favourites of the stage will again be the sprinters.



Tokaj will host a stage start for the first time in 30 years. The last time the peloton rode past the confluence of the Tisza and Bodrog rivers was in 2022, when Fabio Jakobsen won one of the most exciting echelon stages in the races history.



Kazincbarcika will be a well-established participant in the Hungarian Tour with its sixth stage finish since 2006. Due to the proximity of the Slovakian border and the participation of Peter Sagan, the organisers are expecting many Slovak fans in the city of colours.



10 May 2024  Stage 3

Kazincbarcika  Gyongyos-Kekesteto (183 km, mountain stage)

The Queen Stage of the race starts where we left off: in Kazincbarcika. The riders will pass through Eger before arriving to the foot of the Matra Mountains and finishing at the top of Kekesteto after 2700 metres of elevation. On Hungary's most iconic climb, the GC favourites will battle it out for victory.



For the fifth time, Kolorcity will be the home of a stage start and a finish in the same year. The last time this happened was in 2022, when Dylan Groenewegen triumphed on the streets of the city. Kazincbarcika will host the Tour for the twelfth time in total.



Kekesteto is the most well-known and most difficult climb of Hungary. From Matrafured, the 11 km, 5.5% climb will be tackled for the thirteenth time in our races history. The exceptionally steep last three kilometres gave us many historic moments in the last few years, including the last-minute overtake of Antonio Tiberi against Eddie Dunbar in 2022, or Attila Valters frenetic victory in 2020.



11 May 2024  Stage 4

Budapest  Etyek (166 km, hilly stage)

A particularly tricky stage awaits the peloton on 11 May. From Heroes' Square, the caravan will head towards Andrassy Avenue, Chain Bridge and Varkert Bazaar before leaving the capital and heading towards the hills of Etyek via the Budapest-Balaton Cycle Route. Three categorised climbs, 1500 m of elevation and a slightly uphill finish will make the stage unpredictable.



The capital of Hungary will host a stage start for the 39th time  a unique record in the history of Tour de Hongrie. The local fans will be able to observe the first kilometres in Budapest, before the race heads towards the Heart of Pannonia.



Etyek is the only new finishingcity this year, but that doesnt mean it hasnt already had a taste of the Tour: GPMs and intermediate sprints were held here in 2022 and 2023. The final 1,8 km; 5,5% climb can be a problem for the pure sprinters, but its too easy for the climbers, making this finish especially exciting.



12 May 2024  Stage 5

Siofok  Pecs (173 km, medium-mountain stage)

Tour de Hongrie 2024 will be decided on the mountains of Mecsek. The riders will start the stage from Siofok, before climbing more than 2300 metres of elevation and arriving in front of Zoo Pecs  just like in 2023. The riders must tackle the infamous Barany road (1,9 km; 11%) three times before the winner of the General Classification is crowned.



The City of Summer on the shores of Lake Balaton, Siofok will host the caravan for the 19th time. The race has passed the foot of the famous Water Tower three times during Grand Departs: the first stage of Tour de Hongrie started here in 2018, 2019 and 2021.



Tour de Hongrie returned to Pecs in 2023 after an absence of almost twenty years, and in no uncertain terms: the stage that ended with Marc Hirschi's victory was one of the highlights of the race in every aspect. The final circuit will be shorter this time, but the most important part will remain the same: Barany road will be a worthy home for the final chapter of the 45th Hungarian Tour.



More:

Tour de Hongrie 2024



********************************************************************************************

You're very welcome to comment, discuss and enjoy more stories, via our Facebook page:

Facebook.com/XpatLoopNews + via XpatLoops groups: Budapest Expats / Expats Hungary



You can subscribe to our newsletter here:

XpatLoop.com/Newsletters



Do you want your business to reach tens of thousands of potential high-value expat customers?

Then just contact us here!
BENEDICT  The York County Sheriffs Department has released the name of a man killed by a forklift on Tuesday in Benedict.

According to a press release from the department, Ponciano Nimaja-Gutierrez died after being accidentally run over by a forklift.

Around 11:44 a.m. on Tuesday deputies were called to a workplace accident near the intersection of Road 22 and Road H in rural York County.

First responders from the York Fire Department transported Nimaja-Gutierrez, 24, to York General Hospital and a helicopter transported him to Lincoln, where he was pronounced dead, according to the press release.

Upon arrival, it was determined a 24-year-old male was accidentally run over by a forklift, Hildebrand said in a Wednesday release.

The driver of the forklift and Nimaja-Gutierrez were coworkers employed by an agriculture business, Hildebrand told the News-Times.

Nimaja-Gutierrez was from Guatemala, the press release said.

He was living in the Fremont area at the time of his death, Lieutenant Hildebrand said.

His next of kin were notified before his name was released.

The York County Sheriffs Department continues to investigate.
Posters|Chinese foreign minister on foreign policy, relations

   2024-03-07 18:49

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a press conference Thursday on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress. Take a quick look at the answers on China's foreign policy and foreign relations.

Source :Yangcheng Evening News




From the powerful Helen Black in Audibles 'Marvel's Wastelanders: Black Widow,' voiced by Kareena Kapoor Khan to the fearless Sehmat in 'Raazi,' on Prime Video, each of them captures the audiences with their indomitable spirits.

Their stories, filled with courage and resilience, serve as a beacon of inspiration, just like this years theme of accelerating progress and encouraging women to embrace their strength and forge ahead. Whether they're fierce warriors or brilliant minds, these women smash stereotypes and teach us how to be badass and stand out on our own. Here are ten remarkable ladies from whom we can draw inspiration this Women's Day!

Helen Black voiced by Kareena Kapoor Khan and Lisa Cartwright voiced by Masaba Gupta

Podcast: Marvel's Wastelanders: Black Widow

Platform: Audible

Meet Helen Black, a powerful woman bestowed with the power to save the universe voiced by Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Lisa Cartwright, the genius mastermind voiced by Masaba Gupta, who play the role of robust female characters in this podcast series. Helen, a fierce, powerful, and intelligent character clashes with Lisa who doesnt take herself seriously but is uniquely intuitive and smart. Both the ladies take the lead in their distinct charms assuming the roles of a superhero and spy respectively. A one-woman deadly fighting force, Helen makes her moves smartly throughout the series, giving the audience a distinct audio experience.

Ash voiced by Prajakta Koli

Podcast: Marvel's Wastelanders: Hawkeye

Platform: Audible

With a tale of justice, resilience, and hope, Ash, voiced by Prajakta Koli, plays the role of Hawkeyes estranged daughter. Her life takes a tragic turn when she loses the love of her life in a sudden accident. Driven by her youth and impulsiveness, she becomes motivated to seek justice, vowing to finish whoever is responsible. Turning to her father for help, she soon discovers that he, too, has a mission of his own. Pooling their motives of hope and vengeance, the series shows the heartwarming relationship between father-daughter duo Ash and Hawkeye as they collaborate to put an end to those manipulating this emerging dystopian era. Tune into this immersive experience of justice only on Audible!

Zarah Kaul voiced by Kubbra Sait

Podcast: Aakhri Sawaal: Interviews Before Execution

Platform: Audible

To discover unspoken revelations with the fearless Zarah Kaul, don't forget to tune into the riveting series of Aakhri Sawaal: Interviews Before Execution on Audible. The story revolves around the character of psychologist Zarah Kaul who seeks to complete her late father's unfinished book, Interviews Before Execution. With immense bravery and gratitude towards her father, she interviews condemned murderers on death row single-handedly, unravelling the mysteries behind their crimes.

Jenabai voiced by Kalki Koechlin and Gangubai voiced by Radhika Apte

Audiobook: Mafia Queens of Mumbai

Platform: Audible

Meet the strong and resilient Mafia Queens, Jenabai and Gangubai, the female dons and masterminds narrated by Kalki Koechlin and Radhika Apte respectively. They bring to life the unforgettable tales of influential women in Indian history. Despite enduring the trauma of sexual assault, in this Audible show, you will know how Jenabai who was the first mafia queen of the Mumbai underworld, climbed her way up in a predominantly male-dominated society; while Gangu finds the inner strength to stand tall and ensures her voice is heard, being a source of inspiration for countless women today.

Kavya Kulkarni voiced by Mithila Palkar

Podcast: Little Things: Jab Dhruv Met Kavya, Season 1

Platform: Audible

Kavya, a down-to-earth girl, faces life's challenges with grace and unwavering determination, refusing to compromise on her deeply held values. The podcast narrates the chapters of Kavya and Dhruv's lives before their paths intertwined, tracing the story of their initial meeting and the journey that led them to become inseparable soulmates. Kavya, narrated by Mithila Palkar, undergoes a remarkable evolution from a nervous individual to a mature and grown-up woman, catalysed by her encounter with Dhruvthe love of her life. As their paths intertwine, Kavya's character unfolds, revealing layers of patience, love, and newfound wisdom, painting a vivid portrait of her growth into a more self-assured and empowered version of herself.

Amrita Sabharwal played by Taapsee Pannu

Film: Thappad

Platform: Amazon Prime

In a powerful story, Amrita, a survivor of domestic abuse, bravely refuses to stay silent. When her husband crosses the line by slapping her at a party, she takes a stand for justice. Choosing equality above all, Amrita fearlessly presses charges against him, firmly rejecting his oppressive actions. Her unwavering strength becomes a beacon of inspiration, showcasing the resilience and determination of women who refuse to yield to injustice.

Sehmat Khan Syed played by Alia Bhatt

Film: Raazi

Platform: Amazon Prime

Introducing Sehmat Khan, a fearless force of courage and sacrifice, where her name becomes synonymous with extraordinary! Once an ordinary college-going girl, she willingly set aside her dreams, youth, and college life to embark on a mission. Her selfless dedication involved providing crucial and confidential information to the Indian Agency, transforming her into a symbol of resilience and unwavering commitment to a greater cause. Her role highlighted her utmost sacrifice and dedication to her country.

Vaishali Singh played by Bhumi Pednekar

Film: Bhakshak

Platform: Netflix

The fearless investigative journalist Vishali Singh brought to life by Bhumi Pednekar in the vibrant city of Patna, brings in her due diligence. In her relentless pursuit to uncover the truth, she faces numerous challenges, from police interference to obstacles posed by child welfare authorities. Undeterred, Vaishali showcases unwavering resilience, refusing to back down until she exposes a horrifying crime within a girls' shelter home in Muzaffarpur, Bihar.
China supports Palestine in becoming a full member of the United Nations (UN), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.




New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana that aims to provide free electricity up to 300 units every month for One Crore households.

The rooftop solar scheme provides a CFA of 60% of system cost for 2 kW systems and 40% of additional system cost for systems between 2 to 3 kW capacity. The CFA will be capped at 3 kW. At current benchmark prices, this will mean Rs 30,000 subsidy for 1 kW system, Rs 60,000 for 2 kW systems and Rs 78,000 for 3 kW systems or higher.

Households will be able to access collateral-free low-interest loan products of around 7% at present for installation of residential RTS systems up to 3 kW.

PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana: How Much Money Can You Save In Uttar Pradesh? Check Solar Rooftop Calculator

We have chosen Uttar Pradesh in the state bar, Category is Residential and the assumed estimated Your Average Monthly Bill as Rs 2,000.

Solar Rooftop Calculator Comes As The Following

Estimated Project Cost: Rs 1 Lakh

Estimated Consumer Share: Rs 40,000

Subsidy: Rs 60,000

Rooftop Area: 200 square feet or 19 square meter

Electricity Generation: 8.64 kWh/day or 3153 kWh/year

Financial Savings: 25.92/day or 9460/year

Emission Savings (in 25 years): 57 Tonne CO2

Payback Period: 5.47 Years

Return on Investment: 26 percent

PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana: How To apply for subsidy

The households will have to apply for subsidy through the National Portal and will be able to select a suitable vendor for installing rooftop solar. The National Portal will assist the households in their decision-making process by providing relevant information such as appropriate system sizes, benefits calculator, vendor rating etc.
New Delhi: From a woman with indomitable strength to a young lady who defies the many challenges to come out tops in her profession. From a young woman leading an independence movement to a badass detective who takes on the corrupt political machinery, K-dramas have always given us strong female leads. Here are 5 K-dramas that celebrate the spirit of women.

Search: WWW

Workplace rivals turn into each others biggest support. Swords are drawn when Bae Ta Mi (Im Soo Jung) director at a leading internet portal company, takes the fall for her principles and clashes with her mentor-turned-boss Song Ga Kyung (Jeon Hye Jin). Bae Ta Mi joins a rival company and aligns with the dynamic Cha Hyun (Lee Da Hee), her sole aim is to supersede her former organization. But, life throws curve balls and they realise instead of fighting they need to align together to drive home a point. The three are very relatable women, well in their mid-thirties, trying to fight patriarchy in the workplace and also not lose themselves in their relationships. Female bonding is at its best, as these three empower each other and call the shots.

Where To Watch: Viki



Mr Sunshine

Set in the early 19th century, starring Lee Byung Hun as Eugene Choi and Kim Tae Ri as Go Ae Shin, Mr Sunshine is an epic masterpiece. Eugene Choi was born a slave runs to the United States and returns to his home country as a Captain of the Marine Corps. He has conflicted feelings for the country, which he feels abandoned him, but is also intensely driven to protect it. He meets Ae Shin a Joseon noblewoman, who is also a rebel against the authorities. The two fall in love despite their starkly different backgrounds and ideologies. Kim Tae Ris Ae Shin is one of the strongest female characters in dramaland, and she is unforgettable in her portrayal. The passionate love story between Ae Shin and Eugene Choi is searing.

Where To Watch Netflix



Extraordinary Attorney Woo

Woo Young Woo (Park Eun Bin) is a genius lawyer who is on the autism spectrum. She has an innate knack for memorizing law books from a young age, which leads her to get a job as an attorney in a law firm. Though Young Woo has a team of very supportive colleagues who like her believe in getting justice to those who deserve it. But, then some doubt her abilities as well. She finds a close friend in her co-worker Lee Jun Ho (Kang Tae Ho) and we see the cutest romance blossom between the two. This drama is a celebration of the human spirit as Young Woo overcomes her various obstacles, through sheer grit and determination, it also inspires one.

Where To Watch: Netflix



My Name

I sacrificed my future and name for revengeits a chilling statement by Yoon Ji Woo (Han So Hee) in My Name, which sets the template of the show. Driven to avenge her fathers death whatever the stakes, Ji Woo realizes her two handicaps: her gender and being overly emotional. Taken under the wing of Choi Mu Jin (Park Hee Soo), her fathers friend and the head of the biggest drug cartel, the meek Ji Woo transforms into the ruthless Oh Hye Jin, an undercover cop and a mole to Mu Jin, as she tries to get up close to her fathers killer. However, as she joins the narcotics team, she has another hurdle to cross: her brusque and upright senior, detective Pil Do (Ahn Bo Hyun) who is leading the drug investigation and is hot on the heels of Mu Jins cartel, and Oh Hye Jin needs to face some home truths.

Where to Watch Netflix

Strong Girl Do Bong Soon

Do Bong Soon (Park Bo Young) c called the force, since this petite young woman has superhuman strength, and can take on people twice as well as thrice her size. But the caveat is that she can only use her superpower for a good cause. So its no surprise when she finds herself hired as a bodyguard to the charming and goofy Ahn Min Hyuk (Park Hyung Sik) the CEO of a gaming company. What she does not know is that her boss has a crush on her which goes back to their childhood days, when she had saved his life. It seems to protect him is indeed her full-time job, and it does not take long before cute romance blossoms between the Strong Woman Do Bong Soon remains a fan-favourite for many. A wholesome entertainer, it scores with its strong female lead who drives the narrative and is graciously supported by the men in her life.
In a boost for the National Democratic Alliance, the BJP and Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) are all set to join hands 15 years after they had a fallout over the seat-sharing deal in 2009. This will be yet another setback for the Congress-led INDIA block as coming together of the BJP and the BJD would result in a stronger alliance in Odisha which has 147 assembly seats and 21 Lok Sabha seats. Senior BJP leaders met top BJP leadership yesterday and discussed the way forward. After the meeting, the BJD issued a statement saying the party will take decisions that will be beneficial for the state.

BJD's Statement After Meeting With BJP

The BJD said that an extensive discussion was held under the leadership of BJD President and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik with the senior leaders of the Party regarding the strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. "In the discussions, it was resolved that since by 2036, Odisha will complete 100 years of its statehood and BJD and CM have major milestones to be achieved by this time, BJD will do everything towards this in the greater interests of the people of Odisha and the State," said the BJD.

BJD vice president Debi Prasad Mishra said that any decision that will be taken will be conducive to the development of Odisha. He said that party president Naveen Patnaik has put forth several milestones since Odisha will be celebrating 100 years of statehood after 12 years. BJP MP from Odisha Jual Oram said that discussion has taken place on all seats including the 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Vidhan Sabha seats.

Possible BJP-BJD Seat-Sharing Deal

Since the two old friends are coming together after 15 years, the BJP and the BJD have reportedly agreed on a reverse seat-sharing deal for the assembly and Lok Sabha polls. While the BJD will play the big brother role in assembly polls, the BJP will have a larger seat share in the Lok Sabha. Of the 21 parliamentary constituencies in the state, the BJP may contest 12-14 seats while the BJD on 7-9 seats. On the other hand, in the 147-member assembly, the BJP may contest around 40-50 seats while the BJD may contest around 100 seats if the deal gets finalized.

2019 Polls Result

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won 12 seats, the BJP bagged 8 seats, and the Congress won just one seat. In the Assembly polls, the BJD swept the state winning 113 seats while the BJP came a distant second with 23 seats, followed by the Congress with 9 seats.

BJD-BJP Alliance History

The alliance between BJD and BJP was established for the first time in 1998, led by senior leaders Bijay Mohapatra and the late Pramod Mahajan. The alliance won the 2000 and 2004 assembly polls while emerging victorious in the 1998, 1999, and 2004 parliamentary polls. However, failed seat-sharing talks saw the collapse of the alliance. Despite sitting in opposition in Parliament, the BJD had on different occasions supported the NDA government helping it in getting passed crucial bills in the Rajya Sabha where the NDA lacked a majority.
New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir's Capital Srinagar has become a fortress as stringent security arrangements have been put in place to ensure an incident-free visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday. The city has been declared as a Temporary Red Zone for the operation of drones and quadcopters, as per the Drone Rules, 2021. Anyone violating the rules will face legal action, the Srinagar Police said. Marine Commandos (MARCOS), CRPF, J&K police and snipers have been also deployed in Srinagar.

Prime Minister Modi will address a public rally at Bakshi Stadium, which has been drapped in tricolors. He will also unveil development projects worth over Rs 6,400 crore for the union territory. PM Modi will also participate in the 'Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir' programme and dedicate to nation about Rs 5000 crore worth programme for boosting agri-economy in Jammu and Kashmir.

High Alert In Srinagar

Security forces have been deployed in large numbers along the routes that the prime minister will take during his stay in Srinagar. Barricades have been set up at many places to restrict the movement of the people during his visit, the officials said.

Surveillance devices such as drones and CCTV cameras have been installed to monitor the situation. Security forces have also intensified foot patrolling in a two-kilometre radius around the rally venue.

Marine commandos (MARCOS) have been stationed in Jhelum river and Dal Lake to thwart any possible attacks from these water bodies, the officials said.

Political Significance Of PM Modis Visit

Prime Minister Modis visit to the valley, his first after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, has a political significance as well. With the Lok Sabha elections approaching and the opposition parties demanding the restoration of statehood and assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, the prime ministers speech may address these issues.

The Centre had scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 on August 5, 2019 and split the former state into two union territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Several schools in Srinagar have been shut for Wednesday and Thursday due to the prime ministers visit. Board exams scheduled for Thursday have also been postponed till next month.

The prime minister will also launch tourism-related projects worth more than Rs 1,400 crore under the Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD schemes, including a project for the integrated development of the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar.
NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah will launch the National Cooperative Database on Friday here in the National Capital-- another important initiative of the Ministry of Cooperation to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of "Sahakar se Samriddhi". The Minister will also release the 'National Cooperative Database 2023: A Report'. Under this initiative, the Ministry of Cooperation has recognized the imperative need for a robust database to capture vital information about India's vast cooperative sector.

Collaborating with state governments, National Federations and stakeholders, a National Cooperative database has been developed to foster a cooperative-centric economic model, said the Ministry of Cooperation. Around 1,400 participants including Secretaries and other senior officers of central ministries and departments, additional chief secretaries and principal secretaries of cooperation from states and UTs, Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCSs), cooperative societies, and cooperative federations and unions across the country will attend the event. A technical workshop will be organized in the forenoon session to brief and enlighten the participants about the use and application of the National Cooperative Database (NCD) and its potential to improve the cooperative landscape in India.

The launch of the National Cooperative Database (NCD) will be a milestone in the cooperative sector. The growth of cooperatives in rural areas holds the promise of addressing economic, social, and community challenges, empowering individuals, alleviating poverty, and contributing to the overall well-being of rural communities. This initiative signifies a positive transformation at the grassroots level, aligning with the vision of a prosperous and 'AtmaNirbhar Bharat.

The data of cooperatives was collected on the National Cooperative Database in a phased manner from the various stakeholders. In the first phase, mapping of about 2.64 lakh primary cooperative societies of three sectors such as Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS), Dairy and Fisheries was completed.

In the second phase, data of various National Federations, State Federations, State cooperative banks (StCB), District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs), Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs), State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank (SCARDB), Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank (PCARDB), Sugar Cooperative Mills, District Unions and Multi State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) were collected and mapped.

In the third phase, data of more than 5.3 lakh primary cooperative societies was mapped from all the remaining other sectors through the office of state, UTs RCS, and DRCS offices. National Cooperative Database is a web-based digital dashboard wherein data of cooperative societies including national, state federations have been captured. The data of cooperative societies have been entered and validated by states Nd UTs nodal officials at RCS and DRCS offices and data of federations have been provided by various national and state federations.

The National Database has collected and mapped information of about eight lakh cooperatives with collective membership of more than 29 crores spread across various sectors in the country. The information collected from cooperative societies are on various parameters such as their registered name, date, location, number of members, sectoral information, area of operation, economic activities, financial statements and status of audit.

National Cooperative Database serves as a crucial tool for efficient communication between the central ministry, states, UTs, and ooperative societies, benefiting all stakeholders in the cooperative sector. Database provides comprehensive contact details for registered societies, facilitating smooth communication between government entities and these societies.

"National Cooperative Database offers a myriad of benefits that contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of the cooperative sector like single point access, comprehensive and updated data, user-friendly interface, vertical and horizontal linkages, query-based reports and graphs, Management Information System (MIS) reports, data analytics and Geographical Mapping. The success of this initiative relies on effective collaboration, accurate data collection, and strategic utilization of the database to identify the sectoral gaps and accordingly make suitable policy and informed decision making for filling the vacuum. Overall, Database promotes transparency and collaboration within the cooperative sector," the Ministry said.
Kolkata: In a fiery retort to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent critique of her government's handling of the Sandeshkhali unrest, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dismissed all allegations on Thursday and boldly proclaimed that Bengal is the ''safest place for women.'' Addressing the Prime Minister's comments without naming him directly, Banerjee questioned his silence during past atrocities against women, citing instances from Manipur to Hathras. She also invoked the memory of Bilkis Bano, challenging the BJP's stance.

#WATCH | West Bengal CM &TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee addressing TMC Mahila Wing Rally in Kolkata says, "...I challenge BJP and say that Bengal is the only place where women are safe..." pic.twitter.com/PO2DmgkfZ1  ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2024

Rallying Women's Power: Mamata Leads The Charge

Defiant in the face of criticism, Mamata Banerjee took to the streets of Kolkata, leading a spirited rally of women supporters. Notably, women from Sandeshkhali, where allegations against local Trinamool leaders have surfaced, joined the march, amplifying the message of women's rights and solidarity. Under the banner of "Mahilader Adhikar, Amader Angikar" (Women's Rights, Our Commitment), the rally epitomized Banerjee's signature style - a foot march with her at the forefront, backed by prominent Trinamool leaders including Sushmita Dev and Shashi Panja.

#WATCH | Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee along with her nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, participates in the party's Mahila Wing Rally. pic.twitter.com/RhStSe7m1u March 7, 2024

Banerjee's Counter-Attack On BJP

Banerjee didn't mince words, calling out the BJP's tactics and highlighting the recent defection of former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay to the BJP. She questioned the integrity of justice under a BJP-affiliated judiciary, emphasizing the need for impartiality.

Recognizing the pivotal role of women voters in Trinamool's stronghold, Banerjee has nurtured their support through various welfare schemes. However, the Sandeshkhali controversy threatens to disrupt this alliance, prompting Trinamool to bolster its defences.

Battle Of Words: BJP Vs Trinamool

In a tit-for-tat exchange, Prime Minister Modi labelled the Trinamool government as "anti-women," citing the Sandeshkhali incident as evidence. The BJP's accusations against Trinamool strongman Sheikh Shahjahan and subsequent actions stirred a political storm, with Banerjee hitting back at the BJP's selective outrage.

TMC's Challenge To PM Modi: Questioning BJP's Track Record

Derek O'Brien, representing the Trinamool, fired back at Prime Minister Modi, questioning the BJP's commitment to women's empowerment. Highlighting statistics and past allegations against BJP leaders, O'Brien challenged the Prime Minister's moral high ground.

Trinamool's decision to include Sandeshkhali women in the rally aimed to counter the Prime Minister's recent engagement with a select group from the island. The move underscored Trinamool's determination to reclaim the narrative and defend its stronghold.
Karnataka, particularly its capital city, is currently grappling with a severe water shortage, a consequence of inadequate rainfall experienced in 2023. The Indian Meteorology Department has linked this scarcity to the El Nino phenomenon.

The seriousness of the situation is evident as water tankers have been observed at the residence of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Kumarakrupa Road in Bengaluru.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the borewell in his house in Sadashivanagar in the state capital has gone dry for the first time. This happened despite the fact that Sadashivanagar is located next to Sankey Lake.



Water tankers running frequently on the Bengaluru roads have become a common sight now. On normal days, the water suppliers used to charge Rs 700 to Rs 800 per tanker but due to excess demand, they are charging somewhere between Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,800 per tanker, according to Shivakumar.

Water Tanker Prices In Bengaluru

Witnessing the surge in the prices of water tankers amid crisis, the government is also mulling over fixing the rate for water per tanker. The administration in Bengaluru have also capped the prices of water tankers in the silicon valley of India

For delivery areas within a 5 km range

- A 6000-liter tanker will be priced at up to 600.

- An 8000-liter tanker will cost up to 700.

- A 10,000-liter tanker will cost up to 1000.

For delivery areas between a 5 km to 10 km range

- A 6000-liter tanker will cost up to 750.

- An 8000-liter tanker will cost up to 850.

- A 10,000-liter tanker will cost up to 1200.

The office-bearers of the Residents' Welfare Associations (RWA) in the city are facing the brunt of its members for doing nothing to save them from water crisis.

"We are a family of six members. A tanker of water lasts for five days even if we use it judiciously. It means we need six-tankers of water a month, which will cost us about Rs 9,000 a month. How long can we spend money like this?" Sharaschandra, a resident of Uttarahalli in Bengaluru, told PTI.

Deputy CM Shivakumar, who is in charge of Bengaluru Development, announced taking over private tankers and private borewells to meet the water demand in Bengaluru. Even milk tankers will be used to supply water.

Talukas Declared Dought-Affected

Siddaramaiah reports that out of 136 Taluks in Karnataka, 123 have been officially declared as drought-affected, with 109 facing severe impact.

In response, the Karnataka government has announced plans to establish Taluk-level control rooms and helplines to tackle water-related challenges.

Additionally, Taluk-level task forces, overseen by local MLAs, have been formed to guarantee water distribution and ensure an ample supply of fodder for livestock.

Summer Arrived Early In Bengaluru

According to IMD scientist A Prasad, there was an El Nino effect last year, which is moderate this year too but is likely to decline, reported PTI. Its effect was evident as summer set in the third and fourth week of February, which otherwise happens only in March in Bengaluru, he explained.

Bengaluru recorded 36 degree Celsius temperature on Wednesday (March 6), the officer said. "36 degree Celsius was not the highest. There were occasions when temperatures went up to 37.3 degree in March, 1986 but that happened towards the end of the month. We still have 24 days to go this March," Prasad pointed out.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) as well as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike are under pressure to provide water to people.

A BWSSB official said the situation is grim because the Krishnaraja Sagar Dam in Mandya district from where Cauvery water is supplied to Bengaluru does not have adequate water due to summer.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Tejasvi Surya warned of protests in front of Vidhana Soudha if the Congress government in Karnataka failed to address the drinking water crisis in Bengaluru soon.

Following a meeting with Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) chairman Ram Prasath Manohar, Surya said that if the water problem is not resolved within a week, the Karnataka BJP brass would lead protests at Vidhana Soudha.
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday summoned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to appear before it on March 16 after the Enforcement Directorate approached the court against non-compliance of its summons by the CM. The ED had issued multiple summons to the CM in an alleged money laundering case related to an excise scam. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra instructed the Delhi Chief Minister to appear before the court on March 16.

According to the ED, the latest complaint pertains to the Aam Aadmi Party national convenor not honouring fresh summons sent to him under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Earlier, ED had filed a case in the local court to prosecute Kejriwal for not attending summons issued to him in the money laundering case connected to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.

In its sixth charge sheet filed in the case on December 2, 2023, naming AAP leader Sanjay Singh and his aide Sarvesh Mishra, the ED has claimed that the AAP used kickbacks worth Rs 45 crore generated via the policy for campaigning during the Goa assembly polls in 2022.

The excise policy was aimed at revitalizing the city's flagging liquor business and replacing a sales-volume-based regime with a licence fee for traders. It promised swankier stores and a better buying experience. The policy introduced discounts and offers on the purchase of liquor for the first time in Delhi.

Two senior AAP leaders, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, are already under judicial custody in the case. Sisodia, who was the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26 following several rounds of questioning. On October 5 last year, the ED arrested Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena's move to order a probe into alleged irregularities in the regime prompted the scrapping of the policy. The AAP has accused Saxena's predecessor, Anil Baijal, of sabotaging the move with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.
NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR: Srinagar witnessed an extraordinary moment as a Kashmiri youth Nazim Nazeer's dream materialized on Thursday, capturing a selfie with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who affectionately dubbed him a "friend." Nazim's journey, marked by the establishment of a thriving beekeeping unit, earned him recognition among a select group invited to engage with PM Modi after his public address at Bakshi Stadium. Expressing his aspiration, Nazim sought a memorable snapshot with the PM, which materialized into a shared selfie promptly shared on social media.

The Prime Minister later posted a tweet along with the selfie with Nazeer. A memorable selfie with my friend Nazim. I was impressed by the good work hes doing. At the public meeting, he requested a selfie and was happy to meet him. My best wishes for his future endeavours, PM Modi wrote on X.

A memorable selfie with my friend Nazim. I was impressed by the good work hes doing. At the public meeting he requested a selfie and was happy to meet him. My best wishes for his future endeavours. pic.twitter.com/zmAYF57Gbl  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 7, 2024

Harbinger Of 'Sweet Revolution': PM

PM Modi, acknowledging Nazim's exceptional contributions to the beekeeping sector, praised him for instigating a "sweet revolution." Reflecting on Nazim's narrative, PM Modi commended his transformative impact, likening it to the green and white revolutions. We have heard of green revolution and white revolution but you have brought about sweet revolution, PM Modi said after listening to Nazeers story.

Entrepreneurial Triumph

Narrating his entrepreneurial voyage, Nazim disclosed his modest beginnings with two bee boxes evolving into a lucrative enterprise, propelled by strategic government support and financial assistance. His expansion, from 25 to 2000 boxes, alongside empowering fellow youths, underscores his commitment to growth and community development.

Shaping Nation's Trajectory

PM Modi's counsel to Nazim, urging exploration of Central Asian beekeeping methodologies, underscores a commitment to continuous learning and innovation. Emphasizing the pivotal role of youth leadership, PM Modi commended Nazim for shaping the nation's trajectory and lauded his contributions.

Empowering Women Entrepreneurs In J&K

In a poignant exchange, PM Modi engaged with a group of young women entrepreneurs, celebrating their resilience and determination in establishing a bakery post acquiring food technology skills. Their success story, buoyed by government initiatives like streamlined clearances, exemplifies empowerment and self-reliance.

Amidst PM Modi's visit to Kashmir, his first since the abrogation of Article 370, political implications loom large. The event, perceived as a prelude to impending general elections, unfolds against the backdrop of the region's evolving socio-political landscape. "Whenever I came here after 2014, I have always said that I am working hard only to win your hearts and I am seeing that I have been able to win your hearts. I will keep trying hard. This is Modi ki guarantee and you know that 'Modi ki grantee' means, there is a guarantee of fulfilling the guarantee," PM Modi said while addressing a public gathering in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.

Nazim's encounter with PM Modi signifies more than a mere photo opportunity; it epitomizes aspiration, innovation, and community empowerment. As Kashmir navigates a complex political terrain, narratives like Nazim's serve as catalysts for change, embodying the essence of resilience and opportunity in the Valley.
New Delhi: Former Calcutta High Court judge Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay on Thursday joined the BJP in the presence of state party president Sukanta Majumdar, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and others. Gangopadhyay, who resigned from his post on Tuesday, had declared that he will join the BJP on 7th March. Justice Gangopadhyay sent his resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu, with copies to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and the Chief Justice of the Calcutta HC TS Sivagnanam.

On Gangopadhyay's arrival, West Bengal BJP Chief Sukanta Majumdar says, "As a State President of BJP I welcome former Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay to our party, to the family of Narendra Modi. I believe the way he has worked as a Justice for deprived, exploited victims of Bengal, he will carry forward that work with the leadership of the BJP."

#WATCH | Kolkata, West Bengal | Former Calcutta High Court judge Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay joins the BJP in the presence of state party chief Sukanta Majumdar, LoP Suvendu Adhikari and others. pic.twitter.com/hOPGX9p33j  ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2024

Majumdar also claimed that Bengal's politics will take a sharp turn in the coming future. "This is the right time for the educated youth of Bengal to come forward and contribute to turning the politics of the state for good, he added.

Talking to news agency ANI, Gangopadhyay on Monday indicated his political ambitions and said he wants to go to the larger people, larger area. The Calcutta High Court Judge also observed that in court, a judge deals with the matters that are brought to him by someone who files a case. But in our country and also in our state, West Bengal, there are many helpless people who I have seen who cannot come to the court.

Also, implying that he might join politics, Justice Gangopadhyay said So I have thought that only the political field can give people who want to work for those helpless people an opportunity to act for them.

Earlier in February, the Supreme Court linked Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjees petition to take action against Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay for his alleged continuous politically motivated interviews related to sub-judice cases.
China's policy on the Taiwan question is clear, which is to continue striving for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday.
NEW DELHI: As the political battlefield heats up in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is poised to solidify yet another crucial alliance, this time setting its sights on Andhra Pradesh. Sources reveal that Chandrababu Naidu, the chief of Telugu Desam Party (TDP), is expected to arrive in Delhi on Thursday evening, coinciding with the presence of Pawan Kalyan, chief of Jana Sena Party, in the national capital. The stage is set for a late-night meeting among the BJP, TDP, and JanaSena, marking a significant step towards the formation of a powerful Andhra Pradesh NDA alliance. BJP's state unit chief D Purandeswari is also in Delhi to meet the party's high command. She is likely to help decide on the number of seats the party will contest.

BJP-TDP-Jana Sena Alliance Possible

There has been talk of a triparty alliance between the regional parties and BJP for some time. The leaders of TDP are enthusiastic about the alliance as it would give it a renewed vigour to fight the YSR Congress in the elections. Though several meetings were held between the parties, they have yet to iron out creases. Last month, Naidu met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda in Delhi to discuss the electoral alliance but no decision was taken.

Seat-Sharing Dilemma

Sources reveal that the BJP has outlined its requisites, seeking 30 seats in the Assembly and a formidable presence with seven seats in the Lok Sabha from Andhra Pradesh. Intriguingly, the negotiations also factor in the inclusion of one or two seats for Pawan Kalyan, indicating a delicate balancing act of political interests and aspirations.

BJP's Southern Strategy: Charting New Territories

In the negotiation process, the BJP has put forth its demands, requesting 30 seats in the Assembly and seven seats in the Lok Sabha from Andhra Pradesh. Additionally, sources hint at the allocation of one or two seats for Pawan Kalyan. This strategic move aligns with the BJP's persistent efforts to strengthen its presence in the southern states, where its influence has historically been less pronounced, with Karnataka being the exception.

BJP Eyes 84 Weak Seats

Analyzing the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, where the BJP secured only 29 out of 127 seats across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, and Lakshadweep, the party has identified 84 'weak' category seats in South India as a key focus. Winning these seats is deemed crucial for the BJP's larger goal of achieving 370 seats, with the NDA eyeing a formidable 400+ seats.

BJP-BJD Alliance On Cards

In the backdrop of these developments, speculations about the BJP's efforts to form alliances extend to other states, particularly in Odisha. Reports suggest that negotiations between the BJP and Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) are in the final stages, awaiting a formal announcement.

If successful, this alliance would mark the return of BJD to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold after 15 years, following the rupture in ties in 2009 post the Kandhamal riots in 2008. The political landscape is in flux, with alliances being forged and political equations redefined as the country hurtles towards the upcoming elections.

As the curtain rises on crucial deliberations between Chandrababu Naidu and BJP leadership, the outcome of these discussions holds the potential to reshape the political contours of Andhra Pradesh and reverberate across the national stage. With alliances taking shape and electoral strategies evolving, the stage is set for a high-stakes political drama in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday addressed a public rally in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar. Hundreds of people thronged the Bakshi stadium in Srinagar, the venue of the rally to hear PM Modi, who is on his first visit to the valley since the abrogation of article 370. PM Modi said that the "feeling of coming to the heaven on earth is beyond words." He also called Srinagar "the new hub of India's tourism industry."

"Whenever I came here after 2014, I have always said that I am making all these efforts, to win your hearts and I am seeing that I have been able to win your hearts. I will keep trying hard. This is Modi's guarantee," PM said while addressing the crowd. Ahead of his address, PM Modi announced a slew of projects related to tourism and agriculture.

#WATCH | J&K: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says "I have been told that 1 lakh people from 285 blocks have joined us virtually. I want to thank the people of Jammu and Kashmir. It is that new J&K for which we have been waiting for decades. It is that new J&K for which Dr Syama pic.twitter.com/j6n7GUQQ3J  ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2024

PM Modi also launched 53 projects worth more than Rs 6,400 crore ahead of his address and distributed appointment letters to nearly 1,000 newly recruited government employees in J&K. He also interacted with the beneficiaries of various central schemes, including women achievers, farmers and entrepreneurs.

Welcoming their leader, BJP workers draped in party flags were seen chanting 'Baar Baar Modi Sarkar'. People expecting PM Modi to announce a development package for the valley were seen heading to the venue early in the morning.

This is PM Modi's second visit to the Jammu and Kashmir in more than two weeks. In February 20, PM Modi during his visit addressed rally in Jammu.

The visit comes at a time when regional parties like Farooq Abdullah's National Conference and Peoples' Democratic Party led by former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti have been pressing for holding simultaneous polls in the Union Territory
NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday delivered a resolute message to the world, particularly to China, asserting India's capability and readiness to defend its sovereignty. In a powerful address at a private event, Singh made it clear that while India has always been a nation of peace, it will not hesitate to respond firmly to any challenge to its territorial integrity.

A Firm Stand Against Aggression

Singh's words echoed India's steadfast commitment to its principles. He emphasized that India has never been an aggressor, nor has it encroached upon the land of other nations. However, if provoked, India stands prepared to deliver a resounding response.

Whether from land, air, or sea, if anyone attacks India, our forces will respond stronglyWe have never attacked any country nor have occupied even an inch of anyone's land. But, if anyone bats an eyelid at us, we are in a position to give a befitting reply, he said at the event.

Singh's statement comes against the backdrop of the ongoing border tensions with China, which have persisted for almost four years, particularly in the eastern Ladakh region.

India's Strides In Defence

Highlighting the significant strides made by India in bolstering its defence capabilities, Singh underscored the remarkable transformation witnessed in the country's defence sector over the past decade. He pointed out the government's unwavering focus on self-reliance and indigenous production of defence equipment, a vision embodied by initiatives such as the establishment of the Department of Military Affairs and the appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff.

India's Path To Self-Reliance

Since assuming power in 2014, the Modi government has placed defence high on its agenda, with a clear emphasis on fostering self-reliance. Singh emphasized that while previous administrations had also made efforts in this direction, the current government's vision and unwavering faith in India's capabilities set it apart. This commitment has not only strengthened India's defence apparatus but has also positioned the nation as a significant player on the global stage.

Strengthening India's Defence

Singh reiterated the government's dedication to fortifying India's defence forces, emphasizing the synergistic approach that integrates national vision with indigenous capabilities. This approach, he emphasized, has not only bolstered India's defence architecture but has also reinforced its identity and stature on the world stage.

India's Growing Military Prowess

As India continues its journey towards self-reliance and global prominence, Singh expressed confidence in the nation's trajectory. He envisioned a future where India emerges not only as a developed nation but also as a preeminent military power globally.

"Today, not only is the Indian defence system strong, but India is also emerging strongly on the global stage. And the day is not far when India will not only emerge as a developed nation, but our military power will emerge as the supreme military power in the world" the Defence Minister added.
New Delhi: A crucial meeting of the Congress's Central Election Committee (CEC) was held at the AICC Headquarters in Delhi to finalise the party's candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, said reports on Thursday. It has now emerged that Rahul Gandhi's name has been confirmed from Kerala's Wayanad seat for Lok Sabha Elections during the CEC meeting.

Key Figures in Attendance

The meeting was attended by prominent figures including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Sonia Gandhi, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, and several other senior leaders.

#WATCH | Delhi | Congress CEC meets to select candidates for Lok Sabha elections pic.twitter.com/eqLkbakWkm  ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2024

Key States In Focus

The crucial CEC meeting focussed on the selection of candidates for multiple states, spanning Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Telangana, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur, among others.

Regarding the Congress CEC meeting, the party's General Secretary (Communications), Jairam Ramesh earlier said, "CEC will discuss all seats. Final decisions will be taken wherever possible. CEC is the highest body that deliberates on and finalises candidates."

According to sources, deliberations for the Amethi and Rai Bareli constituencies were excluded from today's agenda. There are intense speculations regarding the potential candidature of Rahul Gandhi from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Rae Bareli, constituencies previously held by Sonia Gandhi. Both seats are considered strongholds of the Gandhi family, and local Congress units have urged the scions of the family to contest from there, according to news agency PTI.

Union Minister Smriti Irani has voiced surprise at the prolonged delay in candidate announcements, suggesting it indicates a lack of confidence within the Congress, particularly in traditional bastions like Amethi.

Irani, who defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 elections from the Amethi seat, said, "Why are people who say that Amethi is the Gandhi family's bastion taking so much time to announce a candidate? Their lack of confidence tells that Amethi is no longer the Congress' stronghold."

Congress Manifesto Preparations

Meanwhile, the Congress manifesto committee, led by former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, has finalized a draft manifesto, awaiting review by the Congress Working Committee before becoming the party's official document. "We have prepared the draft manifesto. Now it will go to the Congress Working Committee. They will finalize the manifesto then it will become the Congress party document. Tomorrow we will hand over this draft to the Congress President," he said.

While the Congress is yet to unveil its candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, speculations suggest an imminent release of the first list to commence election campaigns. The BJP unveiled its initial list of 195 candidates for the polls last week.

Seat-Sharing Arrangements

In Uttar Pradesh, as part of the seat-sharing agreement within the INDIA bloc, the Congress is slated to field 17 candidates out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats. With the Lok Sabha polls projected for April-May this year, the political landscape is poised for dynamic shifts as parties strategize and finalize their contenders for the electoral battle ahead.
NEW DELHI: A special court in Mumbai on Thursday acquitted underworld don Rajendra Nikalje, also known as Chhota Rajan, in connection with the murder of Sayyed Sohail Makbul Hussain in 1996. The court cited a lack of evidence as the reason for Rajan's acquittal. However, the court found Rajan's former associate, Ijaz Lakdawala, alias Azzu, guilty in the case, who was present with the shooters during the incident.

Life Sentence For Lakdawala

Special Judge AM Patil sentenced Lakdawala to life imprisonment. He is facing charges in more than a dozen cases. In this particular incident, Lakdawala and another associate of the Dawood Ibrahim gang allegedly entered Hussain's shop and mistakenly shot his brother. The incident occurred in 1996, at a time when Rajan and Dawood's gangs were at loggerheads on the streets of Mumbai.

What Happened Back Then?

During the incident, Lakdawala and another accused fired at Hussain inside the shop. Lakdawala's pistol suddenly jammed, resulting in a misfire, and he accidentally shot himself in the right leg. Injured, Lakdawala attempted to flee, but the police managed to apprehend both shooters.

Hussain had lodged an FIR at Pydhonie Police Station on October 7, 1996. The police had registered cases under Section 307 (attempt to murder), Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with certain sections of the Indian Arms Act.

Hussain's statement proved crucial in the case, which the police recorded just before his death at the hospital. After Hussain's demise, the police added the charge of murder to the case. During the investigation, it was revealed that Chhota Rajan, who was already abroad at the time, had allegedly ordered Lakdawala to carry out the attack.

Arrest And Extradition

After his arrest, Lakdawala managed to escape in 1998. Subsequently, with the help of Interpol, he was extradited from Canada after his whereabouts were traced. Rajan himself was deported from Bali. He is currently serving a life sentence in Delhi's Tihar Central Jail for another case.

Missing Gun Supplier

The whereabouts of Ajay, the person who supplied the gun in this case, remain unknown even after so many years. Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat admitted during the trial that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) lacks evidence to link Rajan directly to the case. Therefore, the court acquitted Chhota Rajan in this case.
In a big breakthrough, Punjab Police conducted an intelligence-based operation in which it arrested two terrorists of the Babbar Khalsa International terror module, averting a possible target killing. Sharing the details on X, Punjab Police said that the module was being operated by the USA and Pakistan-based terrorists. It also said that the group was working to radicalise youth.

"In an intelligence-based operation, Punjab Police averts possible target killings with the arrest of 2 members of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI)-backed terror module. The module was operated by USA-based Harpreet Singh @ Happy Passian, a close aide of Pakistan-based terrorist Harwinder Singh @ Rinda, along with his associate identified as Shamsher Singh @ Shera presently based in Armenia," said Gaurav Yadav, DGP, Punjab Police.

In an intelligence-based operation, Punjab Police averts possible target killings with the arrest of 2 members of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI)-backed terror module



The module was operated by #USA based Harpreet Singh @ Happy Passian, a close aide of #Pakistan based pic.twitter.com/Ab9FNk2xtf  DGP Punjab Police (@DGPPunjabPolice) March 7, 2024

The Punjab Police further said that as per preliminary investigations, Happy Passian was working in connivance with Rinda & Shamsher to radicalise the youth by motivating them to carry out anti-national activities in the state.

"Recovered 2 pistols along with 4 magazines & 30 live cartridges. FIR has been registered under the UAPA & Arms Act at State Special Operation Cell (SSOC), Amritsar," said the police. The Punjab Police added that it is committed to demolishing organised crime in Punjab.
Washington: Sweden joined NATO in Washington on Thursday, two years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine forced it to rethink its national security policy and to decide that support for the alliance was the Scandinavian nation's best guarantee of safety.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson handed over the final documentation to the U.S. government on Thursday, the last step in a drawn-out process to secure the backing of all members to join the military alliance.

"Good things come to those who wait," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said as he received Sweden's accession documents from Kristersson. "This is a historic moment for Sweden, for our alliance and for the transatlantic relationship," Blinken said.

For NATO, the accessions of Sweden and Finland - which shares a 1,340 km border with Russia - are the most significant additions in decades. It is also a blow for Russian President Vladimir Putin who has sought prevent any further strengthening of the alliance.

Sweden will benefit from the alliance's common defence guarantee under which an attack on one member is regarded as an attack on all.

Hakan Yucel, 54, an IT worker in the Swedish capital, concurred, said: "Before, we were outside and felt a little bit alone ... I think that the threat from Russia, it's going to be much less now."

The Nordic country would add cutting-edge submarines and a sizable fleet of domestically produced Gripen fighter jets to NATO forces and be a crucial link between the Atlantic and Baltic.

Russia has threatened to take unspecified "political and military-technical counter-measures" in response to Sweden's move.

"Joining NATO is really like buying insurance, at least as long as the United States is actually willing to be the insurance provider," said Barbara Kunz, a researcher at defence think tank SIPRI.

While Stockholm has been drawing ever closer to NATO over the last two decades, membership marks a clear break with the past, when for more than 200 years, Sweden avoided military alliances and adopted a neutral stance in times of war.

After World War Two, it built an international reputation as a champion of human rights, and since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, successive governments have pared back military spending.

As recently as 2021, its defence minister had rejected NATO membership, only for the then-Social Democrat government to apply, alongside neighbour Finland, just a few months later.

"I guess [Sweden] had to take a stance really and I'm happy that we actually did and that we are safeguarded by NATO, because the tension with Russia has been growing for a couple of years," said Carl Fredrik Aspegren, 28, a student in Stockholm.

While Finland joined the alliance last year, Sweden was kept waiting as Turkey and Hungary, which both have cordial relations with Russia, delayed ratifying Sweden's accession.

Turkey approved Sweden's application in January. Hungary delayed its decision on Sweden's accession until Kristersson made a goodwill visit to Budapest on Feb. 23, where the two countries agreed a fighter jet deal.
New Delhi: International Women's Day is celebrated every year on 8 March to honor the remarkable contributions of women and to advocate for equal opportunities for all genders. There are many ways to celebrate International Women's Day. One way is to send a gift to a woman in your life. Whether you know her personally or have never met her before, sending a gift can show her appreciation and make her feel happy.

Here are some last-minute gift ideas for your 'pasandida aurat'!

Gadgets

Purchase the stunning Diva Smartwatch by Crossbeats and receive complimentary premium earbuds! This unbeatable deal is available for just two days, March 7th and 8th, exclusively on Crossbeats website.

Sneakers

This International Women's Day, give the gift of style, comfort, and convenience with Blinc sneaks by Yoho lifestyle. Blinc is the go-to choice for individuals who value trendsetting designs without compromising on comfort.

Skincare

A balancing, hydrating and gentle exfoliating clay mask by Aminu. Contains Manicougan Clay - hand harvested in Canada from the site of an asteroid crash, brightening licorice and plant polysaccharides. The mask is high in essential minerals, antioxidants, and plant compounds. Also, you can try Foxtale's The Oasis moisturizer, which is formulated with provitamin B3, Niacinamide, olive leaf extract and saccharide isomerate. Lakme Glycolic Illuminate Serum is also a good option, it is an enchanting elixir, crafted to sweep away dullness and reveal the radiant glow beneath, making every day a celebration of love for your skin.

Shower Gel

The shower gel by LOccitane cleanses and gently perfumes the skin. Used also as a foaming bath, it transforms into a rich and smooth foam, releasing the fresh and delicate Cherry Blossom fragrance. Contains a cherry extract from Luberon, Provence.

Hair Care

Indulge in a pampering haircare routine with LOreal Paris Total Repair 5 Shampoo, because nothing says confidence like healthy, luscious locks. Formulated with advanced technology, it tackles the 5 common hair problems like hair fall, dry hair, rough hair, dull hair and split ends. Also, you can try the Wella Elements Range, consisting of a calming shampoo, a renewing mask, a renewing leave-in spray, and a calming serum.

Hamper

This Women's Day, elevate the art of self-care and gifting with Wellessentials, where empowerment seamlessly intertwines with wellness including Empowerment Herbal Tea, Harmony Herbal Tea, Vitality Herbal Tea, and Radiance Herbal Tea. You can also try Arva Maya by Sadhev -The Magical Gift Box comes with the best-selling products from Sadhev that will impart refresh your skin with a natural glow.
New Delhi: 7th Pay Commission Latest update on DA hike -- In what may come as a bumper festive bonanza ahead of Holi, the union government might make big announcement regarding Dearness Allowance. As per reports in the Economic Times, government may announce to hike DA for lakhs of central government employees to 50 percent.

The Union Cabinet is slated to meet today, during which it is expected to take decision on DA hike, several news media outlets have reported. The Economic Times has also said that government also likely to extended the LPG subsidy scheme by another year.

As per the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, once the DA reaches 50 percent, there will also be an increase in the house rent allowance, children's education allowance, transport allowance etc. due to the Central government staff, which will further raise their take-home pay packet.

When implemented, the increase in DA and DR will be effective from January 1, 2024, along with arrears for the previous months that the government employees are entitled to get.

The dearness allowance for Central government employees is calculated based on the latest Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW). The Labour Bureau, a wing of the Ministry of Labour, publishes the CPI-IW data every month.The Union government usually revises the dearness allowance twice a year, in January and July.

In October 2023, the Union Cabinet announced a 4 percent hike in Dearness Allowance to 46 percent. The government announced a 4 percent DA hike from 42 percent to 46 percent. The recognised formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission, is being followed in order to raise DA.

"The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved to release an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners w.e.f. 01.07.2023 representing an increase of 4% over the existing rate of 42% of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate against price rise. This increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission," said an official release.

The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief would be Rs.12,857 crore per annum. This will benefit about 48.67 lakh Central Government employees and 67.95 lakh pensioners.
New Delhi: As March unfolds, it's essential to be aware of the bank holiday schedule to manage your financial transactions effectively. Indian banks will remain closed on various days throughout the month, including both national and regional holidays. Read on to find out the holiday details.

Are Banks Closed On Mahashivratri?

Banks will be closed on multiple occasions, starting with Mahashivratri on March 8, 2024. (Also Read: Pune E-Stock Broking Limited IPO Opens Today: Check Price Band, Face Value, Lot Size, GMP, And More)

National Holidays

In addition to Mahashivratri, several other national holidays will be observed in March. These include Chapchar Kut on March 1, Holi on March 25, and Good Friday on March 29, among others. (Also Read: 7 Fresh IPOs Set To Hit Market This Week: Check A-Z Of Upcoming Offerings)

Regional Observances

It's important to note that some states will observe specific regional festivals and holidays, leading to closures in those areas. For example, Bihar Diwas will be celebrated in Bihar on March 22.

Online Services Availability

While regular bank branches will remain closed on specified days, online banking services will continue to operate nationwide. This ensures that customers can access banking services seamlessly through online platforms and ATMs, even during holidays.

For the unversed, the bank is closed on the 2nd & 4th Saturday and every Sunday of each month.
SEOUL, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Four domestic and foreign carmakers in South Korea will voluntarily recall some 69,000 vehicles for manufacturing defects, the transport ministry said Thursday.

Hyundai Motor will recall 22,803 vehicles of three different models, including EQ900, for a poor durability in engine oil supply pipes as well as 13,457 units of Porter II to fix a poor bolt design in engine drive belt tensioner, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Kia Corp. will recall 11,569 units of two models, including K9, due to the lack of durability in engine oil supply pipes as well as 7,653 units of Bongo III for the defective bolt design in engine drive belt tensioner.

BMW Korea will recall 12,607 units of 34 models, such as BMW X7 xDrive40i, to repair manufacturing defects in the integrated braking system, while Stellantis Korea will fix software error of coolant heater on 955 units of two models including Jeep Wrangler PHEV.

Vehicles owners can visit repair and service centers to replace the faulty parts free of charge. 
How Putin is Destabilizing Moldova and How it Threatens Ukraine

Vladimir Putin and Eugenia Gutsul  EPA-EFE/MIKHAIL METZEL/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL Author Volodymyr Kravchenko Columnist of the International Politics Department at ZN.UA

Following Transnistria, Gagauzia also asked Russia for help against oppression by Chisinau. The head of the autonomy, Eugenia Gutsul, announced this the other day during an unannounced visit to Moscow with the chairwoman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, Valentina Matvienko.

Such appeals cause concern not only in Chisinau but also in Kiev, as they show that the Kremlin is upping the ante. Although Putin did not mention Transnistria or Moldova in his annual address to the Federal Assembly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke of the regime that has settled in Chisinau and which is following in the footsteps of the Kiev regime, sweeping away everything Russian, discriminating against the Russian language in all spheres.

Seeking to restore the Russian empire, Vladimir Putin looks at Moldova as a territory that belongs to Moscow by right of history. His goal is to sway the situation in this country so that pro-Russian politicians come to power. This will not only prevent Moldovas movement to the European Union and take control of transport routes, but also create a new hotbed of tension in the region. For Ukraine, such a scenario means an increased threat on its southern borders, which will disperse the forces of both our country and the West in countering Russias aggression.

The Kremlin hopes to achieve its goal by hybrid means: given the geographical conditions and the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian front, Moscow has no need to resort to military aggression. There are favorable prerequisites for the Russian security services to work successfully in stirring up the situation in the country: Moldova is experiencing serious economic problems, pro-Russian sentiments are strong in the country, and the rating of pro-European parties is falling.

Moldova will hold presidential elections in autumn. Observers expect the current president, Maia Sandu, to win. Apparently, Moscow is not too concerned about such a prospect, as it has placed its bets on parliamentary elections. After all, Moldova is a parliamentary republic, where the functions of the president are very limited: the head of state represents the country in the international arena, but the government, which is appointed by and responsible to the parliament, is in charge of day-to-day activities.

As of today, the rating of the pro-presidential party is lower than that of Sandu. And next year Moldova has a chance to get a pro-Russian parliament that will be able to freeze any decision of the head of state, the deputy executive director of the Foreign Policy Council Ukrainian Prism, Serhii Herasymchuk, explained in a commentary to ZN.UA. At the same time, the expert does not rule out that Moscow will work to downgrade Sandu by presenting her as a president of war.

The risks of such an outcome of the parliamentary elections in Moldova are obvious to us Ukrainians. After all, in Ukraine in 20062007, during the Yushchenko presidency, Viktor Yanukovych was prime minister, relying in parliament on a coalition formed with the participation of the pro-Russian Party of Regions, Socialist and Communist parties.

Working systematically to destabilize the country, the Russians are actively capitalizing on Transnistria and Gagauzia, where pro-Russian sentiments are strong and local authorities have close political and business ties with Russia, as instruments of pressure on Chisinau.

Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin says that Russia has a plan to destabilize the situation in Moldova and southern Ukraine through Transnistria. However, it seems that the threat emanating from Comrat may be even greater for Chisinau than from Tiraspol: although the Russians control the situation in the two regions, but while Transnistria is formally independent, Gagauzia is part of Moldova and can influence political processes from within, playing the card of center-region confrontation.

Now it is a potential threat, which Chisinau keeps under control, using political, economic, counterintelligence and police methods. Thus, Sandu, under the pretext of an open criminal case against Eugenia Gutsal, did not include her in the government, although according to the Constitution, the bashkan (head) of the autonomy is ex officio a member of it. It should be recalled that Gutsal is supported by Ilan Shor, a Moldovan oligarch and fugitive closely linked to Russia.

Last autumn, the parliament shifted the obligation to refund VAT to economic agents to the budget of the autonomy. Previously, the tax was refunded from the state budget. (A similar measure was taken in relation to Transnistria.) This decision by Chisinau severely narrowed Comrat's financial possibilities. Not surprisingly, the authorities of the autonomy protested. And they succeeded: this week, the Moldovan Constitutional Court declared the amendments to the Tax Code unconstitutional.

But Chisinau, having practically no contacts with Comrat, also does not work with voters in Gagauzia: representatives of the pro-presidential party are poorly represented in the autonomy. It is indicative that the ruling party did not even field candidates in the autonomy in last year's local elections. At the same time, Sandu herself stated that a large-scale propaganda campaign by Moscow is taking place in Gagauzia, directed against the country's leadership and the benefits of EU membership.

And what will happen if Russian agents liven up?

Although pro-Russian sentiments are strong in Gagauzia, there is no separatism. But the situation in Gagauzia can be sharply rocked by saboteurs and provocateurs, as it happened in 2014 in Donbas. The Russians have enough money and resources to help the Gagauzians to take to the streets. And this may frighten Moldovan society, which has been watching Russia's war against Ukraine with horror, and play against the current pro-European government and president, Serhii Herasymchuk believes.

Scenarios can be different, and they are not limited to the promotion of protest moods through Russian television, the church and social networks  TikTok and VKontakte, large-scale hacker attacks... For example, Transnistria and Gagauzia can be actively pumped with weapons, military specialists and representatives of Russian special services in order to "blow up" the situation in Moldova at the Zero hour and create another source of destabilization on the border of Ukraine and the NATO member country Romania.

Moldovan intelligence intercepted a record level of activity by Russian intelligence services in 2023, and this year has seen new plans of action by Russia, according to the head of Moldova's Information and Security Service (ISS), Alexandru Mustjatse. We have information that attempts are being made to disrupt the referendum on European integration, to interfere in the presidential election, as well as to discredit government institutions and politicians who support Moldovas accession to the EU, Mustjatse said.

As the presidential and parliamentary elections and the referendum on the country's accession to the European Union approach, the situation in Moldova will only become more heated. Russia, acting more and more aggressively, will constantly create new crises, testing the readiness of the Moldovan authorities to respond to them and testing Chisinau's readiness to respond toughly to threats.

Share

Noticed an error? Please select it with the mouse and press Ctrl+Enter or Submit a bug
BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A new meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in autumn in Beijing where Chinese and African leaders will discuss future development and cooperation and hold in-depth exchanges of governance experience, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

Wang said that through the FOCAC summit, China and Africa will carry forward traditional friendship, deepen solidarity and cooperation, and open up new space for accelerating the common development of China and Africa.

In response to a question on China-Africa relations at a press conference held on the sidelines of the ongoing session of the national legislature, Wang highlighted a tradition that Chinese foreign ministers choose Africa as the first destination in their annual overseas visits.

This tradition, having lasted for 34 years, is "both unique and unparalleled" in the history of international exchanges, because China and Africa are brothers treating each other with sincerity and sharing a common future, Wang said.

"We have fought shoulder to shoulder against imperialism and colonialism. We have supported each other in pursuit of development. We have always stood for justice in a changing international landscape," he said.

Noting that China and Africa have entered a fast track in building the China-Africa community with a shared future, Wang said China has been Africa's biggest trading partner for 15 years and that China-Africa cooperation has grown larger with the people-to-people bond further enhanced.

As African countries have realized that they need to explore a development path that suits their national conditions and hold their future in their own hands, China will continue to stand firmly with Africa and support an Africa that is truly independent in thinking and ideas, Wang said.

China will assist Africa in building capacity for self-driven development and support faster modernization in the continent, he added.

Wang said that China has always maintained that Africa should not be marginalized. "We hope that all parties will, like China, pay greater attention to Africa and increase input to support Africa's development with real actions," he said. 
DAMASCUS, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army foiled an attack by a rebel group in the northwestern province of Idlib on Thursday, resulting in casualties among the attackers, the Syrian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

In the southern countryside of Idlib, the Syrian army confronted what it described as a "terrorist group," thwarting their attempt to breach and strike a military position. The encounter led to several casualties among the insurgents, with one militant captured by the army.

Syrian forces also destroyed three drones, thereby averting potential aerial assaults on Idlib's countryside and the southern province of Quneitra, the ministry statement said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, also noted heightened tensions in the region on Thursday, with clashes between the Syrian army and various rebel factions.

According to the Observatory, the army was subjected to sniper fire from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group in southern Idlib, which claimed the life of one soldier. The report further mentioned artillery barrages by military forces on rebel-held areas in the villages west of Aleppo province and the Jabal al-Zawiya region in southern Idlib. Artillery exchanges also occurred in northern Latakia between Syrian forces and rebel factions.

The Observatory reported that since the beginning of 2024, the conflicts in northwestern Syria have killed 96 people, including 11 civilians, with injuries reported among both military personnel and civilians. 
BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- All conflicts have to end at the negotiating table and the earlier the talks start, the sooner peace will arrive, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday over the Ukraine crisis.

"All our efforts point to one goal, that is, to pave the way for ending the conflict and starting peace talks," Wang told a press conference held on the sidelines of the ongoing session of the national legislature.

Past experience shows that a conflict, when prolonged, tends to deteriorate and escalate, even to the extent unthinkable for parties concerned, and that in the absence of peace talks, misperception and miscalculation will accumulate and may lead to an even bigger crisis, Wang noted.

China supports the holding in due course of an international peace conference that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine and ensures the equal participation of all parties and fair discussions on all peace plans, he said.

China also looks forward to an early return to peace and stability on the European continent and stands ready to continue to play a constructive role to that end, he said. 
MOSCOW, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy to notify that three U.S. NGOs have been declared undesirable in Russia.

The NGOs, supported by the embassy, "implementing programs and projects that aim to recruit 'agents of influence' against Russia under the guise of educational and cultural exchanges," the ministry said in a statement.

In a note to Tracy, the ministry demanded the U.S. embassy to stop supporting these NGOs, said the statement.

Under Russian law, the NGOs identified as undesirable may have their assets seized, offices closed and operation banned.

The ministry also warned that any attempts to interfere in Russia's internal affairs, including subversive actions and the spread of disinformation related to the election and the ongoing special military operation in Ukraine, will be "severely and decisively suppressed, up to and including the expulsion as 'persona non grata' of U.S. embassy employees involved in such actions." 
ADDIS ABABA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African bloc, on Thursday called for urgent action to avert ecological disaster from a sunken cargo ship.

IGAD said in a press release that it is extremely worried about the looming ecological disaster posed to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden areas caused by the sinking of the cargo ship Rubymar off the coast of war-torn Yemen.

The eight-member bloc also said the cargo ship was loaded with more than 21,000 metric tonnes of ammonium phosphate fertilizer and fuel on board when it was hit by missiles.

Leaking fuel could devastate marine life, destroy coral reefs and marine life, jeopardize hundreds of thousands of jobs in the fishing industry, and cut off coastal states from food and fuel supplies, the IGAD statement warned.

The statement also warned that the ecology of the Red Sea area would need more than 30 years to recover from the consequences of the sinking of the Rubymar cargo ship.

IGAD called upon all stakeholders to invest in peaceful options to address the looming environmental disaster in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden areas. It also called for the cessation of attacks on ships passing through those areas.

On Saturday, the internationally-recognized Yemeni government reported that the British-owned, Belize-flagged cargo ship Rubymar, which was struck by Houthi missiles on Feb. 18, had sunk off the coast of Yemen. It is the first vessel lost since the Houthis began their offensive at sea last November.

The Houthis have stepped up their attacks on ships linked to Israel, the United States, and Britain since mid-November last year, saying they were in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza who faced intense Israeli attacks. 
PHNOM PENH, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has achieved remarkable progress in promoting human development, said a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) report released here on Thursday.

Between 1990 and 2021, Cambodia's income per capita increased fourfold, life expectancy rose by more than 14 years, and mean years of schooling grew from 2.4 to 5.1 years on average, said the 2024 Regional Human Development Report for Asia and the Pacific.

"As a result, Cambodia's Human Development Index (HDI) increased by 56.9 percent, placing the country in the medium human development category," the report said.

Speaking at the report's launching event in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister Vongsey Visoth said the Southeast Asian country is on the right track to promote human capital development with adaptability and agility for both public and private sectors.

"Yet, it requires more concerted efforts from all stakeholders, including development partners, and effective central coordination mechanism to ensure its effective and efficient implementation," he said.

UNDP Cambodia's Resident Representative Alissar Chaker said human development is essential for socioeconomic progress as evidenced by the trajectory of developed countries.

"Human development places people at the core of economic thinking and acknowledges that development is more than economic growth or a mere income measure," she said.

"As Cambodia gears up to implement the Pentagonal Strategy, it stands to gain from a more integrated development approach that puts people first," she added. 
Honeywell has announced that it will be the first gas detector manufacturer to join the Made in Saudi initiative, demonstrating the companys commitment to supporting localisation and economic diversification in Saudi Arabia.

Honeywell will assemble and calibrate three different gas detection solutions locally at its Dammam site. The Honeywell BW Max XT II is a portable multi-gas detector that workers carry with them when entering hazardous areas to help detect gasses such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide.

In addition, the Honeywell BW MicroClip Series is one of the most popular portable gas detectors for industrial operations as it is lightweight, can detect multiple gasses and runs for an entire 12-hour shift.

The XNX Universal Transmitter provides real-time visibility and advanced diagnostics for devices in the field that monitor toxic gases.

Yiannis Bessiris, General Manager of Honeywell Industrial Automation for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa said: With a long-standing presence in the region and a deep understanding of its economic objectives, Honeywell supports the Kingdoms goals of localisation of world-class technology and talent. As a leader in digital transformation and worker safety across the Middle East, we are proud to be assembling Made in Saudi technologies and will continue to help shape the future of the Kingdom.

Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) in collaboration with Honeywell have worked together on identifying suitable opportunities in the market which align with the companys broad profile.

MISA Deputy Minister Saleh Al-Khabti said: We are excited about the scale of the opportunities for companies like Honeywell in Saudi Arabia. Our domestic market is the largest and fastest growing in the region and we are strategically located with access to regional and international markets. Through the National Industrial Strategy, the Kingdom is aiming to quadruple the industrial sectors contribution to GDP from $88 billion to $377 billion by 2035. With a growing number of high-quality investors like Honeywell we are well on our way to growing and developing strategic value chains in Saudi Arabia and deepening our base of skills, talent and technology. --OGN/TradeArabia News Service
CANBERRA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A majority of young Australian women suffer from loneliness according to a new survey.

Conducted by the government-funded national youth mental health foundation "headspace", the survey found that 67 percent of Australian females aged 12-25 said they felt left out often or some of the time, 62 percent lacked companionship and 61 percent said they felt isolated from others.

Women aged 18-21 were more likely to experience loneliness than any other group of young Australians and the least likely among all women to seek support from a mental health professional.

The results of the survey were released on the eve of International Women's Day on March 8.

Nicola Palfrey, head of Clinical Leadership at the "headspace", said the findings reflect the impact of major life changes on young people as they gain greater independence, move out of home and start careers.

"These are all major life transitions, which can feel exciting and full of potential, but they can also feel overwhelming and stressful," she said in a media release.

"There are a variety of reasons why young adult women may feel lonely. The same survey told us that young women and people in this specific age range were more likely to display problematic social media use. Social media bombards us with images of people having a great time, surrounded by friends, which can make us feel lonely, or like we're missing out."

A separate survey published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in September 2023 found that 25 percent of females aged 15-24 reported often feeling very lonely in 2021, up from 15 percent in 2008. 
BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China supports Palestine in becoming a full member of the United Nations (UN), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

Noting that the failure to end the humanitarian disaster caused by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict today in the 21st century is a tragedy for humanity and a disgrace for civilization, Wang called on the international community to act to give priority to an immediate ceasefire.

The foreign minister said the Palestinian people have the right to live in the world, calling for the release of all those held captive.

Restoring justice to the Palestinian people and fully implementing the two-state solution is the only way to break the vicious circle of Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, Wang said.

"We support Palestine's full membership in the UN, and urge certain UN Security Council member to stop laying obstacles to that end," Wang said, adding that China calls for a more broad-based, more authoritative, and more effective international peace conference to work out a timetable and road map for the two-state solution. 
Chinese State Councilor and President of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) Shen Yiqin addresses a reception to mark the International Women's Day in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A reception in the run-up to International Women's Day, which falls on March 8, was held in Beijing on Thursday.

Chinese State Councilor Shen Yiqin, also president of the All-China Women's Federation, addressed the event and extended greetings to females both at home and abroad.

Noting the endeavor of Chinese women in building China into a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization, Shen said China will work together with other countries to advance the global agenda of gender equality and strive to build a better world for all women and all people.

The event was attended by over 1,000 guests, including officials from relevant central Party and government departments, female lawmakers and political advisors at the country's ongoing "Two Sessions," female representatives from various sectors and ethnic groups, as well as from Hong Kong and Macao, diplomatic envoys, international organization representatives and foreign female experts. 

A reception to mark the International Women's Day is held in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)
TAIYUAN, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A healthy North China leopard was recently spotted in the wild in Shanxi Province, further confirming the increasing population and expanded activity range of this rare species.

The North China leopard is one of the world's nine subspecies of leopards. Its population is mainly distributed in northern China, with the total population across the country estimated to be fewer than 400.

In the past, the North China leopard was widely distributed in the Taihang Mountain area. However, today, populations are fragmented, with each cluster containing fewer than 50 individuals, facing a high risk of extinction in certain regions due to poaching, environmental changes and human interference.

As a flagship species in the forest ecosystem, the rare leopard has specific habitat requirements. Fortunately, recent population trends indicate steady restoration, showcasing encouraging progress in the local ecological environment.

Thanks to a series of ecological protection initiatives in China, such as the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program (TSFP), a large-scale afforestation project, and the natural forest resource protection project, the ecological quality of the Loess Plateau, home to Shanxi Province, has greatly improved.

The apex predator of the local ecosystem, these leopards have been increasingly spotted in Lyuliang Mountain, Taihang Mountain, and other nearby mountain ranges in recent years.

In 2019, North China leopards were spotted in Chengde in Hebei Province, only 100 km north of Beijing.

Another key factor contributing to the continuous rise in North China leopard population is the harmony between humans and wildlife, according to Song Dazhao, one of the founders of the Chinese Felid Conservation Alliance (CFCA), a non-profit organization specializing in the protection of wild cats in China.

With the expansion of human activities, wildlife habitats are inevitably encroached upon, Song explained, noting that in some cases, local villagers have resorted to retaliatory hunting against wildlife due to past instances of predation on their livestock.

To help address the problem, the CFCA launched a project named "Buy Steak for Leopards" in Shanxi in 2015.

"When the leopard faces the threat of retaliatory hunting, ecological compensation is the most direct way to solve these problems and reduce the risk of such hunting," Song said. The project not only protects the property of local villagers but also provides sanctuary for the North China leopard.

In order to further strengthen biodiversity protection, Shanxi Province, where the North China leopard is frequently sighted, is striving to enhance the diversity, stability and sustainability of its ecosystem.

The provincial department of ecology and environment plans to establish and improve the province's coordination mechanism for biodiversity protection, and work with other related departments to promote the comprehensive protection of ecosystems, biological species and genetic resources, thus accelerating the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature. 
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a press conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a press conference Thursday on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress.

Wang is expected to answer questions of journalists from home and abroad on China's foreign policy and foreign relations. 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a press conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a press conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a press conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a press conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a press conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a press conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a press conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Yuguo)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a press conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Yuguo)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a press conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends a press conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Yuguo)

Journalists raise hands to ask questions at a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, answered questions of journalists from home and abroad on China's foreign policy and foreign relations during the press conference on Thursday. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

A journalist with Xinhua News Agency raises a question at a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, answered questions of journalists from home and abroad on China's foreign policy and foreign relations during the press conference on Thursday. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

Journalists work at a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, answered questions of journalists from home and abroad on China's foreign policy and foreign relations during the press conference on Thursday. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

Journalists work at a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, answered questions of journalists from home and abroad on China's foreign policy and foreign relations during the press conference on Thursday. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

A journalist raises a question at a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, answered questions of journalists from home and abroad on China's foreign policy and foreign relations during the press conference on Thursday. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)
Members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Lu Ye)

Members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)

Members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)

Huang Baorong, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li He)

Zheng Jun, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li He)

Zhang Haihua, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Lu Ye)

An Ting, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li He)

Tang Xudong, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li He)

Shu Yong, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li He)

Members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Journalists raise hands to ask questions during an interview attended by members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Journalists work during an interview attended by members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Mei Yu, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li He)

Deng Lin, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li He)

Mei Yu, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li He)

Deng Lin, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li He)

Dawa Toinzhub, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), is interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Li He)

Members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

Members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are interviewed ahead of the second plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)
BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China will take justified actions to defend its rights in accordance with the law, and respond to unwarranted provocations with prompt and legitimate countermeasures in the South China Sea, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday.

The Chinese people have lived and worked in the South China Sea for generations, and the Nanhai Zhudao (islands in the South China Sea) have long been under the jurisdiction of the Chinese government in accordance with law. Today, the South China Sea is the busiest, safest and freest shipping route in the world, Wang told a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress, China's national legislature.

The most important experience China and ASEAN countries have drawn in maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea is adhering to the following two principles.

"First, differences should be properly managed and resolved through dialogue, consultation, or negotiation between states directly involved. Second, peace at the sea should be upheld by China and ASEAN countries working together," said Wang, adding that the principles are also the central tenet of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) signed in 2002.

China and ASEAN countries should continue to implement the DOC, and accelerate the negotiation of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC), he stressed.

"We will work with ASEAN countries to strive for an early conclusion of the COC and to ensure that the South China Sea remains a sea of peace and cooperation," he said. 
Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, takes part in a deliberation with his fellow deputies from the delegation of Qinghai Province at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Thursday called for efforts to turn the Chinese modernization blueprint into reality.

Cai, also a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks while attending a deliberation with his fellow deputies from the Qinghai Province delegation at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature.

He said the past year was an extraordinary one that saw the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core rally and lead the nation in overcoming multiple difficulties and challenges, leading to a successful completion of main goals and tasks.

Building China into a stronger country and rejuvenating the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization is the central task of the Party in the new journey, and all work should be focused on this task, Cai said.

He called on Qinghai to give priority to high quality development and deliver new achievements on pursuing modernization.

Cai also asked the province to enhance patriotic education among the public to forge a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation and promote exchanges and interaction among various ethnic groups. 
TRIPOLI, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, renewed his call to expedite efforts for a compromise to reach a political settlement in Libya.

Bathily made the remarks during a phone call on Wednesday with Aguila Saleh, the speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives, the parliament.

"We exchanged views on the current state of the political process and I renewed my call to expedite efforts towards a compromise," Bathily tweeted on Thursday.

The two officials have agreed to continue consultations to advance a political settlement for elections, and ensure unity, stability and sustainable peace in Libya, Bathily added.

Libya failed to hold general elections in December 2021 as previously scheduled, due to disagreements among the Libyan parties over election laws.

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 unrest. 
BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China's policy on the Taiwan question is clear, which is to continue striving for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday.

"Our bottom line is also quite clear: We will never allow Taiwan to be separated from the motherland," said Wang at a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress.

In response to a media query about the cross-Strait situation after the leadership and legislature elections in Taiwan, Wang said the elections are local elections of China and the results will not change the fact that Taiwan is part of China, nor will they change the historical trend that Taiwan will return to the motherland.

"There will be a family photo of the whole international community in which all members uphold the one-China principle. It is only a matter of time," he said.

Noting that the one-China principle has become a consensus in the international community, he warned that those who still connive at and support "Taiwan independence" are challenging China's sovereignty and those countries insisting on maintaining official relations with Taiwan are interfering in China's internal affairs.

Separatist activities seeking "Taiwan independence" remain the most destructive factor to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, he said.

"The stronger the commitment to the one-China principle is, the greater the guarantee for peace across the Strait will be," he said.

Whoever engages in "Taiwan independence" on the island will be held accountable by history and whoever in the world connives at and supports "Taiwan independence" will get burned for playing with fire and taste the bitter fruit of their own doing, he noted.

Wang called on all people of Chinese descent to uphold the overall interests of the Chinese nation, jointly oppose "Taiwan independence," and support peaceful reunification. 
WIKA Group, a global industrial measurement technology company, has commissioned a state-of-the-art plant in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, thereby strengthening its position as a local manufacturer.

The factory enables WIKA to serve customers in Saudi Arabia and in the region even more extensively. In the future, products for measuring pressure, temperature, level and flow will be manufactured there on a total area of 3,000 square metres.

This includes diaphragm seals, instrumentation valves and thermometer thermowells for connecting measuring instruments to critical processes.

Another focus is the implementation of IIoT solutions to support customers in the digitalisation of their processes. The range of services is also being expanded.

WIKAs expansion in Saudi Arabia will create more than 100 new jobs over the next few years. It, thus, makes an important contribution to the local job market. In the new plant, German top technology is implemented by a qualified team with in-depth knowledge of the local market. This ensures that customers are supplied with high-quality instrumentation solutions tailored to their specific needs, emphasised CEO Alexander Wiegand at the inauguration ceremony.

WIKA sees itself as a partner in Saudi Arabias economic development, especially on the way to expanding promising economic sectors alongside oil and gas. The group of companies has been present with sales subsidiaries in the Kingdom for over 20 years.

At the inauguration, the German ambassador, Michael Kindsgrab, also recognised the WIKA Groups investment in Dammam. It would further deepen the close relationship between Germany and Saudi Arabia.

The ambassador cited the new plant as an example of the opportunities opening up for German companies in the country.--OGN/TradeArabia News Service
LONDON, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese electric cars sell better than U.S. "inferior" ones due to their better performance and affordability, the Financial Times reported, citing the head of a global battery material producer.

Chinese vehicles are "simply good cars and people buy them," Mathias Miedreich, CEO of Umicore headquartered in Belgium, was quoted by the British newspaper as saying.

American producers "seem to struggle to bring good electric vehicles" to the market, he said in an interview.

The sales of electric cars in China are surging, while the market in the United States is small, said the report.

Miedreich said that U.S. carmakers were also pulling back on factory expansion plans for electric vehicles because of weak demand.

The new energy vehicle market has witnessed robust expansion in China over the past years thanks to the country's accelerated push for green development and a rapidly growing auto market. In 2023, electric passenger cars accounted for 69 percent of the country's sales, while plug-in hybrids gripped 31 percent. 
BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The United States should take an objective and rational view of China's development, and match its words with actions to honor the commitments on China-U.S. relations, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday. 
The Global CEO of Saudi Alat Amit Midha poses during an interview at the LEAP Tech Conference 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 4, 2024. The Global CEO of Saudi Alat Amit Midha has emphasized the importance of partnering with China in Saudi Arabia's ambition in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and smart industries. (Xinhua/Wang Haizhou)

RIYADH, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Global CEO of Saudi Alat Amit Midha has emphasized the importance of partnering with China in Saudi Arabia's ambition in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and smart industries.

Alat, chaired by the Saudi crown prince and owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, is an innovative company focused on transforming the global electronics and industrial sectors and creating a world-class manufacturing hub in Saudi Arabia.

In an interview with Xinhua during the LEAP Tech Conference 2024, which kicked off early this week in Riyadh, Midha said Alat plans to build more partnerships with Chinese companies.

"We choose the right technology partner with a shared vision of AI, sustainability, innovation, and geopolitical resilience," he told Xinhua, noting that the company has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China's Dahua Technology Co., Ltd, an AIoT solution and service provider.

"We'll partner with the right companies and have partners worldwide that help us build an electronics hub and a smart industry," Midha added.

Referring to China's Shenzhen as a digital factory for the world, the CEO, who had worked in China, said the Asian country has many innovative companies in relevant industries.

"My experience in China has helped me sort of get on my feet here in the Kingdom," he recalled, highlighting that Alat would also benefit from Chinese expertise.

"As Alat is a global company ... We have a lot of talent from the United States, Europe, Singapore and China. We'll continue to find the best talent," Midha said.

According to the CEO, Alat focuses on manufacturing products in seven areas: advanced industries, semiconductors, smart appliances, smart health, smart devices, smart buildings, and next-generation infrastructure.

Talking about the advantages for Saudi Arabia to develop cutting-edge industries, Midha said that "we have a tremendous amount of natural resources and capital, and ... from a geopolitical perspective, we can provide resilience and all energy surplus."

Regarding future plans, he disclosed that the initial batch of factories is set to launch this year, with the Kingdom investing 3.2 trillion U.S. dollars by 2030.

During such a process, Midha said, Alat aims to create 39,000 direct jobs in Saudi Arabia and achieve a non-oil GDP contribution of 9.3 billion U.S. dollars. 
ARUSHA, Tanzania, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian Vice President Philip Mpango said on Thursday that the country's financial sector has remained stable against the backdrop of prevailing global aftershocks.

Speaking at the 21st Conference of Financial Institutions organized by the Bank of Tanzania in cooperation with other bankers, Mpango said Tanzania's financial sector has posted a stellar performance, growing by 22.2 percent in 2022/2023 compared to almost 10 percent growth in 2021/2022.

Mpango urged the more than 1,000 delegates gathered in the northern city of Arusha to strongly deliberate on areas that are threatening and challenging the financial sector amid global business disruptions caused by logistical supply chains, geopolitical conflicts, and climate change.

"There are still a lot of headwinds globally; hence, you should continue to revisit laws and regulations to enable the sector to excel," he said.

Mpango paid tribute to the leadership of all financial sector institutions for making the sector strong and resilient by increasing creativity and the ability to adapt to the current environment. 
by Murad Abdo

ADEN, Yemen, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Red Sea witnessed a deadly escalation on Wednesday as Yemen's Houthi group launched a missile attack on a commercial cargo ship, claiming the lives of three crew members.

This marks the first reported fatalities since the group commenced targeting maritime traffic in November 2023.

The attack resulted in a fire onboard the Barbados-flagged bulk carrier "True Confidence," and adds to a string of assaults by the Houthis on both commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea, which the group claims as a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The Houthis have executed over 60 attacks utilizing anti-ship missiles and remote-controlled explosive boats, leading to a decline of more than 40 percent in commercial maritime traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

In response to Houthi provocations, the United States and the United Kingdom initiated punitive airstrikes and cruise missile attacks against rebel targets in Yemen on Jan. 12.

However, rather than deterring the Houthis, this military intervention has catalyzed an escalation, with the rebel group broadening its targeting to include U.S. and British naval vessels operating in the Red Sea.

PERSISTING RED SEA CRISIS JEOPARDIZES REGIONAL PEACE

Local Yemeni experts are raising alarms over the deepening crisis in the Red Sea region, highlighting its profound implications for global trade and regional stability.

Adel Dashela, a Yemeni political expert, expressed skepticism regarding the efficacy of the United States' strategy in asserting its role as a guardian of security in the region, positing that such an approach is liable to backfire.

He underscored the Houthi group's ability to replenish its arsenal, evidenced by its sustained attacks on shipping lanes despite daily U.S. airstrikes.

While Dashela noted the United States' reluctance to engage in a ground war in Yemen thus far, Yemeni political analyst Abdul-Raqeeb Hadiyani cautioned that the U.S. is veering towards military confrontations in the volatile waterway.

Hadiyani was also scathing in his criticism of U.S. policies in the Middle East, claiming its reputation in the region is "at rock bottom" due to the pursuit of "unjust" policies.

"The United States is singing human rights while supporting the starving and killing of thousands of Palestinians," said Hadiyani, adding the superpower has lost its moral ground in handling affairs in the Middle East.

NEED FOR POLICY SHIFT IN CRISIS RESOLUTION

Muqbel Naji, an Aden-based political observer, contended that establishing a durable ceasefire in Gaza and facilitating unimpeded humanitarian aid entry to address the dire circumstances facing starving populations are pivotal for defusing tensions in the Red Sea region.

He also argued that a lasting resolution necessitates a fundamental shift in U.S. policies, often perceived as exacerbating conflicts and fueling instability across the region.

Without a reassessment of Washington's interventionist approach, the expert warned that the Red Sea crisis risks further escalation, potentially drawing in regional actors and transforming the crisis into a broader conflagration with grave consequences for the entire Middle East.

Meanwhile, Dashela also stressed the imperative of halting the protracted war in Yemen and bolstering the Yemeni government to fulfill its legitimate responsibilities in politics, security, and military affairs, thereby safeguarding its territorial waters. 
WASHINGTON, March 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden will announce in his State of the Union address that the U.S. military will build a temporary port in Gaza for the delivery of additional humanitarian aid to civilians, senior U.S. administration officials said Thursday.

"Tonight in the speech, the President will announce that he's directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a port in the Mediterranean, on the Gaza coast, that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine, and temporary shelters," one of the officials said during a call with reporters.

The official added that the project, "the main feature of which is a temporary pier," is expected to become operational in "a number of weeks," at which time it "will provide the capacity for hundreds of additional truckloads of assistance each day."

U.S. forces involved in the mission "are either already in the region or will begin to move there soon," the official said.

The officials didn't provide much detail about the plan, with one noting that it won't require "U.S. troops on the ground" to build the port. Instead, the U.S. military will work "from just offshore," collaborating with partners and allies and "working on commercial options."

The plan is another indication of Biden's growing frustration with the way Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is carrying out the military operation in Gaza to root out Hamas. It shows a shift of U.S. strategy away from solely counting on Israel's willingness to allow more aid into Gaza, at a time when the humanitarian crisis becomes more dire day by day for the Palestinians amid Israeli offensive. 
SANAA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Fighter jets of the U.S. and British navy forces stationing in the Red Sea launched four airstrikes on Yemen's port city of Hodeidah on Thursday, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.

The television said the strikes hit the areas of Hodeidah International Airport, Ras Issa, and al-Jabbanah without further details.

Residents in Hodeidah confirmed that there were multiple airstrikes in and around the city on Houthi sites.

The coalition has yet to comment on the alleged strikes.

On Wednesday, the Houthi group said it attacked a U.S.-owned cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden with multiple missiles.

The U.S. Central Command said the Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles killed three sailors, injured four others and caused significant damage to the ship.

Despite U.S.-British airstrikes almost on a daily basis against Houthi targets, Houthis have vowed their attacks against ships will continue until Israel stops its offensive against the Palestinian militant Hamas. 
UNITED NATIONS, March 7 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Thursday called on the international community to promote a political solution to the conflict in Sudan.

Continued conflict has caused massive civilian casualties and a grave humanitarian crisis in Sudan. The international community should work together to seek a political settlement and bring about peace at an early date, said Dai Bing, the charge d'affaires of the Chinese mission to the United Nations.

Fighting has erupted in many parts of Sudan recently, leading to inestimable losses and growing spill-over effects. The most urgent task now is to end fighting as soon as possible, he told the Security Council.

"We call on the relevant parties to work with each other to de-escalate the situation as soon as possible and to create conditions for peace talks," he said. "We call on the international community, especially traditional donors, to continue to increase their assistance to the country and help Sudan and regional countries in humanitarian relief."

In the meantime, as Sudan's conflict has triggered a grievous humanitarian crisis, it is critical to ensure humanitarian access, he said.

Regional mediation efforts must be supported, said Dai.

China welcomes the mediation efforts of the African Union (AU), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and Sudan's neighboring countries. The international community should continue to support those regional efforts, respect Sudan's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and avoid the imposition of solutions from outside, he said.

The UN Security Council should strengthen coordination with the AU and other regional organizations and work in synergy with regional mediation efforts. The council's actions should be conducive to diplomacy and avoid exacerbating tensions, he said.

The United Nations should continue to play a constructive role in Sudan. The UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) has just completed its withdrawal from Sudan. However, as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said, the withdrawal does not mean the end of cooperation between the world body and Sudan. China hopes that the United Nations and Sudan will have candid communication to explore cooperation that can meet the country's actual needs. It is also important to draw lessons from UNITAMS' experiences so as to further mutual trust in future cooperation with Sudan and provide tangible support for its peace and development, said Dai. 
BAGHDAD, March 7 (Xinhua) -- An Iraqi Shiite militia on Thursday claimed responsibility for a drone attack on an Israeli airport.

The militia, named Islamic Resistance in Iraq, said in an online statement that its fighters launched an explosive-laden drone Thursday evening to attack a military base in Rosh Pina Airport in Israel without giving details about casualties.

The statement added that the attack came "in solidarity with the people of Gaza," stressing the continuation of attacks to destroy "enemy strongholds."

Since the onset of the Gaza conflict on Oct. 7, 2023, Islamic Resistance in Iraq has launched numerous attacks on Israel and U.S. bases in the region. 
Haji Gallery, a leading distributor of global sanitaryware brands in the Kingdom of Bahrain, has signed an agreement with Gulf University, College of Engineering for the launch of its unique university support programmes.

The birth of the idea emerged out of the managements strong belief in the importance of giving back to the community and the industry the company operates within, said a statement from Haji Gallery.

The programme offers university students from different majors with tailored opportunities intended to enhance their exposure and skills.

These include practical training/internship opportunities, competitions, group invites, global engagement, manufacturers' visits abroad, and interactive workshops with brand representatives, said the statement.

Founded in 1975, Haji Gallery has grown into becoming the leading name for prestigious, affordable and world-renowned brands such as Hansgrohe, Duravit and Porcelanosa for tiles, furniture, faucets, showers, sanitaryware, kitchens, and bathroom accessories in the kingdom.

The MoU with the Gulf University, College of Engineering is aimed at supporting its programmes such as Interior Design Engineering Programme, in addition to two hosted programmes in collaboration with Northampton University, UK.

"These programmes will strengthen the students hands-on and practical experience," stated Mohamed Haji, the chairman of Haji Gallery said after signing the deal with Dr Osama Yaseen Al Rawi, the Dean of College of Engineering.

"Corporate social responsibility has always been an integral part of our strategic plan, and we are proud of signing the agreement with the Gulf University which brings our vision of supporting Bahrain education to life," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
RAMALLAH, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates on Thursday condemned the deaths of 27 Gaza prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Earlier the day, the Hebrew newspaper "Haaretz" reported the deaths of the prisoners who were arrested after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year in camps near Beersheba and Jerusalem.

According to the report, the Israeli army did not provide information about the causes of the deaths.

"The crime is part of the genocide being committed in the Gaza Strip, as well as forced disappearance, extrajudicial execution, deliberate destruction, and starvation as a weapon of war," the Palestinian foreign ministry said in a statement received by Xinhua.

The Israeli army has arrested hundreds of Palestinians during its ongoing ground operation in the Gaza Strip, according to local sources and Palestinian human rights organizations. 
A cargo ship carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip leaves the port of southern Mersin province, Turkiye, on March 7, 2024. Turkiye sent Thursday a ship to the Gaza Strip carrying 2,737 tonnes of humanitarian aid, a collaborative effort of Turkish organizations led by the Turkish Red Crescent. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

ANKARA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Turkiye sent Thursday a ship to the Gaza Strip carrying 2,737 tonnes of humanitarian aid, a collaborative effort of Turkish organizations led by the Turkish Red Crescent.

The aid will reach Egypt's Al-Arish port, and then be loaded onto trucks for Gaza, Turkish Red Crescent President Fatma Meric Yilmaz told reporters in the port of southern Mersin province.

The aid includes food parcels, clothes and hygiene items, as well as shelter materials and medical equipment, among others.

Turkiye had previously sent humanitarian supplies in 12 planes and six ships after war erupted between Israel and Hamas in October last year.

The country has also received more than 300 wounded and sick from Gaza for treatment since the onset of the conflict. 

A cargo ship carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip leaves the port of southern Mersin province, Turkiye, on March 7, 2024. Turkiye sent Thursday a ship to the Gaza Strip carrying 2,737 tonnes of humanitarian aid, a collaborative effort of Turkish organizations led by the Turkish Red Crescent. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)
JERUSALEM, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Israel's military said on Thursday it launched an internal investigation into the failures that led up to Hamas's attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which caught Israel off guard and resulted in the deaths and kidnapping of hundreds of Israelis.

The attack "began with a surprise that resulted in a difficult outcome and a significant loss of civilian and soldier lives," the military's Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi wrote in a letter to commanders. He acknowledged that the security forces failed in the mission to protect human lives.

The investigation would review the defensive capabilities at the onset of the attack and the events preceding it. This includes the lack of intelligence on the large-scale attack and the absence of preparedness on the eve of the attack.

Thousands of Hamas-led militants raided Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures, marking the highest tally in a single day since Israel's statehood in 1948. A total of 253 individuals were taken hostage. 
GAZA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli army on Thursday warned currency exchange owners in the Gaza Strip not to engage with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a statement posted on his X account that Hamas is using the currency exchange owners to "finance its military activities."

He added that Hamas uses these funds to establish "military infrastructure for terrorist purposes such as tunnels, military command centers, and weapons."

According to the spokesman, the Israeli army recently targeted several infrastructures used by Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip and Rafah to complete currency exchange transactions "for terrorist purposes."

Adraee asked currency exchange owners to contact the Israeli army when any party reaches them for a financial transfer.

He noted that "the Defense Army and the General Security Service will work to prevent any party from transferring funds to terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip." 
DAKAR, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Senegalese President Macky Sall has set March 24 as the new date of the first round of the presidential election, said a press release of the Council of Ministers published Wednesday evening.

The announcement came after the Constitutional Council ruled Wednesday evening that any date for the presidential election after April 2 is contrary to the Constitution, and noted that the current president's term cannot exceed this date.

During the meeting of Council of Ministers, Sall also announced the dissolution of the government and appointed Sidiki Kaba as the new prime minister, replacing Amadou Ba. 
MOGADISHU, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Deputy heads of two United Nations agencies arrived in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Thursday for a three-day mission to galvanize continued global support for Somalis suffering the effects of hunger, conflict, and climate change.

The deputy heads of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are due to meet people on the front line of the climate crisis, government officials, donor partners, and aid workers, seeking to scale up response efforts, the two UN agencies said in a statement.

OCHA Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Joyce Msuya and FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol will also underline the importance of prioritizing and empowering women affected by the humanitarian crisis in the country.

"We have to equip farmers and communities to prepare for and respond to these crises, and to recover quickly from them -- we have to help them build resilience. We know these approaches can work, especially when we empower women," Bechdol said.

According to the UN, nearly 7 million people in Somalia need life-saving assistance, and 1.7 million children are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2024.

While in Somalia, both Bechdol and Msuya will celebrate International Women's Day on Friday with Somali women, including farmers, who have been displaced by recurrent climate shocks, conflict, and insecurity.

Msuya said Somali women have withstood a cascade of crises that are not of their making. "The international community must honor their resilience with decisive action to help them recover and rebuild."

Somalia experienced its worst drought in decades in 2023 while ending the year with a once-in-a-lifetime heavy flood brought on by El Nino and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole phenomenon.

According to the UN, the climate crisis continues to drive humanitarian needs in a country that has endured decades of conflict, with one in five Somalis still facing high levels of acute food insecurity. 
MANILA, March 6 (Xinhua) -- ASEAN leaders, senior officials, and experts have voiced their opposition to being compelled to pick sides in the rivalry among major powers.

During the 2024 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit held in Melbourne, Australia, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that the United States and some of its allies should not preclude Malaysia from being friendly to China.

"We do not have a problem with China," Anwar told a joint press conference where Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was also present.

In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Anwar denounced what he deemed rising "China-phobia" among the United States and some of its allies, questioning why Malaysia would "pick a quarrel" with its largest trading partner, in response to U.S. criticisms of Kuala Lumpur's ties with Beijing.

"My reference to China-phobia is because (of) the criticism levied against us for giving additional focus to China," Anwar repeated in Melbourne's presser.

The Malaysian leader stressed his country is "fiercely independent" and does not want to "be dictated by any force."

"So, once we remain to be an important friend to the United States or Europe and here in Australia, they should not preclude us from being friendly to one of our important neighbors, precisely China," Anwar said.

Meanwhile, ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn also told Australian media that the regional bloc will never pick a side in a competition between major countries.

"Whether you call it strategic dynamics, strategic competition or strategic rivalry, all of us would like to see the U.S. and China improve their relations," Kao was quoted by The Australian Financial Review as saying.

"There's always competition there but how we manage the relationship strategically is very important," he said on the sidelines of the summit, stressing that ASEAN could not take peace and prosperity for granted.

Mussolini Lidasan, director of the Al Qalam Institute at Ateneo de Davao University in the Philippines, expressed a similar sentiment.

In an interview with Xinhua, Lidasan said ASEAN states should not be forced to take sides with any major power.

"ASEAN nations have traditionally followed a policy of neutrality and non-alignment in major power competition. This approach has allowed them to maintain good relations with various countries and avoid being directly drawn into conflicts," the political analyst said.

Instead of forcing ASEAN countries to take sides, it would "be more beneficial" to advocate for diplomatic efforts, multilateral cooperation, and adherence to international law to address disputes, Lidasan said.

"This approach can help safeguard the interests of all parties involved and contribute to a peaceful and sustainable resolution of disputes in the region," he said. 
ULAN BATOR, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's total imports and exports expanded by 11.5 percent year on year to 3.8 billion U.S. dollars in the first two months of this year, official data by the Mongolian Customs General Administration showed Thursday.

The Asian country registered a surplus in foreign trade balance as exports exceeded imports by around 644.4 million dollars, mainly due to a significant increase in the exports of mining products, the administration said.

Mining products such as coal and copper accounted for over 90 percent of the mineral-rich country's total exports in the above-mentioned period, it said. 
SEOUL, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday instructed the country's armed forces to ramp up actual-war drills and war preparations in a visit to a major operational training base in the western area of the Korean People's Army, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Thursday.

During the visit to inspect training facilities and guide actual maneuvers, Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, called on the military units to intensify practical actual-war drills to ensure victory in a war, the KCNA report said.

He stressed the need for the military units at all levels to intensify war preparations in line with the requirements of the prevailing situation, in order to "contain the constant threat of the enemies with overwhelming force," the report added. 
SYDNEY, March 7 (Xinhua) -- An Australian soldier has died after sustaining injuries in a parachuting accident at a military base in Sydney, the Australian Department of Defense confirmed on Thursday.

Just after 6:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday, the accident occurred at a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base in Richmond, approximately 50 kilometers northwest of Sydney's central business district.

After receiving first aid at the scene, the soldier was taken to a hospital but later succumbed to his injury. Authorities identified the victim as Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon, son of former Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon.

Speaking at a media conference on Thursday afternoon, Australian Defense Force Acting Special Operations Commander Brigadier James Kidd revealed that members of the Second Commando Regiment have paused their training at the base.

"It is of course too early to speculate about what may have gone wrong in that parachuting incident overnight. It was part of a routine military training exercise that was conducted around the Royal Australian Air Force base there in Richmond," said Kidd.

The defense department has initiated a formal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident. 
Bringing Aegean luxury to the shores of the UAE, Anantara Santorini Abu Dhabi Retreat has opened its doors to guests.

Located on the coast, approximately halfway between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the intimate adult-only property offers 22 luxurious guest rooms and suites in coastal tranquillity, with an effortless grace inspired by the eponymous Greek island.

Anantara Santorini Abu Dhabi Retreat is poised to redefine the concept of a UAE escape, a haven where every detail has been thoughtfully crafted to elevate the senses.

Captivating views

Captivating views of the Gulf stretch from each spacious room, suite, and sun-soaked terrace, inviting guests to become immersed in the splendid azure waters of the infinity pool and sea. The accommodation boasts soft furnishings in neutral colours in a soothing style which is reflected throughout the public areas of the resort.

The retreats architecture mirrors the timeless design of its namesake island, with low-lying white buildings blending into the beach. A curated experience is offered for groups, combining privacy, modern comforts and traditional Anantara hospitality, complemented by a 24-hour butler service.

The resort is available for exclusive buy-out, ideal for intimate group getaways, team retreats or bijou celebrations with an unspoilt backdrop.

Culinary experiences

Indulgent culinary experiences are available at Anantara Santorinis two signature restaurants. Oia Oasis is a celebration of Arabic cuisine, from fragrant morning coffee and sweet pastries to afternoon and evening banquets of tapas and mezze. Offering an elegant dining space, including a sea-facing terrace, at Oia Oasis ordering off-menu is not just permitted, but encouraged.

In a sophisticated and flowing venue perched overlooking the sea, Thalassa ensconces diners in the refined beauty and joyful hospitality of the Mediterranean. Classic dishes from Greece and beyond are conjured from the freshest fish, mouthwatering meats, and colourful farm-to-fork produce as gentle harmonies float through the natural space.

Beyond the restaurants, Anantara Santorini guests are invited to savour unforgettable moments at private and personally curated Dining by Design occasions with a choice of spectacular resort locations, or to enjoy the finest foods delivered directly to their door with 24-hour gourmet in-room dining.

Serene infinity pool

Inside the property, a serene infinity pool and lavish facilities offer perfect distractions, in addition to pampering therapies at Anantara Spa. In this blissful wellness sanctuary, wisdom from the East and West is fused to create a menu of traditional rituals and cutting-edge treatments, alongside a plunge pool, a Himalayan salt sauna, a Moroccan hammam and a spa bath designed for total relaxation.

Anantara Santorini is an idyllic escape for groups seeking serenity between two emirates. For exclusive gatherings, however, it is unrivalled. Combining the beauty of the Mediterranean with the guaranteed heat of the Middle East means events hosts can say I do to any occasion and know the setting will be immaculate from the warmth of the waves to the spotless sky, while flawless Anantara service will make every event not only memorable, but magical.--TradeArabia News Service
VIENTIANE, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Lao Airlines will start operating flights between Lao's Vientiane and Cambodia's Phnom Penh, hoping that direct air travel between the two capitals will bring more tourists and investors to Laos.

International travel and tourism industry is booming, especially in the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) region, with air travel being tourists' preferred means of transport, Managing Director of the Lao national carrier Khamla Phommavanh was quoted as saying by the Lao National TV in a report on Thursday.

Market research showed increased demand for travel between Laos and Cambodia, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic, so the decision was made to launch direct flight service between the two capitals, according to the report.

The flight service will start on March 19, with departing from Wattay International Airport in Lao capital Vientiane three times a week. The flight takes one hour and 20 minutes and will be served by A320 aircraft.

"If passenger demand increases, we will consider adding more flights in the future," said Khamla.

The Lao government and tourism-related businesses are making every effort to raise the country's tourism industry standards to attract visitors.

The government has launched the Visit Laos Year 2024 program, opening the Southeast Asian country to visitors from around the world in the hope that more people will discover the wonders of Laos.

The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism expects to see more than 6 million Lao and foreign travellers in 2024. 
BERLIN, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Production at the German Gigafactory Tesla will be interrupted until the end of next week, a longer delay than previously expected, according to the U.S. electric car manufacturer.

On Tuesday, unknown perpetrators set fire to a high-voltage pylon in a field close to the Tesla factory, cutting off the plant and nearby villages from power supply.

Shortly afterward, the left-wing extremist group Vulkangruppe claimed responsibility for the attack in a 2,500-word letter. The group claimed the factory was consuming too many natural resources, which was not sustainable.

"Our state security service considers this letter of confession to be authentic because it contains various details of the attack that can only be known by those who carried it out," Brandenburg's Interior Minister Michael Stuebgen told Deutschlandfunk on Thursday.

Vulkangruppe, meaning volcano group, carried out a previous attack on a power cable at Tesla's construction site in 2021, and several attacks on railroad cable ducts in Berlin, according to Stuebgen.

"The arson attack has cut off power to entire towns, even hospitals, and put people in great danger," said Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Wednesday on social platform X. "The security authorities are taking decisive action against the scene."

Meanwhile, the extended halt in production is also likely to increase the economic damage for Tesla. The company recently cited damages of several hundred million euros. However, this figure referred to a possible restart of production next Monday.

Despite considerable resistance from environmentalists and local residents, Tesla is seeking to expand its Gigafactory in Gruenheide, which began operating two years ago. Tesla aims to double production from the current interim target of 500,000 cars per year to one million.

In a local referendum, almost two-thirds of citizens rejected Tesla's planned expansion of the plant, which also involves clearing forests. Environmentalists have set up a protest camp in the forest near the plant and erected tree houses. 
KIEV, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday signed a decree to discharge conscripts of compulsory basic military service.

The conscripted soldiers, whose term was extended due to martial law, will be transferred to the country's military reserve in April and May, according to the decree published on the presidential website.

"At the request of the military command, a few weeks are needed for preparatory procedures -- for replacing people in terms of defense tasks, and from April, the conscripts will be sent to the reserve," Zelensky said on Telegram.

Some of the conscripts have already signed a contract to serve in the defense forces, he added.

Under the current legislation, Ukrainian men aged between 18 and 27, who were called up for compulsory military service, have not participated in the conflict with Russia.

This month, the Ukrainian parliament is expected to vote on a new mobilization bill.

The Ukrainian parliament imposed martial law in the wake of the conflict with Russia on Feb. 24, 2022, and extended it several times since then. 
OTTAWA, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The Canadian federal government said Wednesday it will drive innovation in wheat sector to improve production.

At the 2024 Canadian Crops Convention, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada said in a news release it will provide up to 11.2 million Canadian dollars (8.3 million U.S. dollars) in funding while ensuring profitability and sustainability.

The investment will be used to explore the best management practices and new genomics tools to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, accelerate breeding, and increase wheat production resilience in response to evolving threats like pests and diseases associated with climate change, the release said.

The majority of wheat produced in Canada is exported and between 2014 and 2023, 60 percent of Canadian wheat and durum was exported, the release said.

In 2023, Canada was the third largest wheat exporter and the largest durum exporter globally, exporting 9.5 billion Canadian dollars (7 billion U.S. dollars) in wheat and 6.1 billion Canadian dollars (4.5 billion U.S. dollars) in durum respectively. 
OTTAWA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Canada's merchandise imports decreased 3.8 percent, while exports fell 1.7 percent in January, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

Total imports decreased to 61.8 billion Canadian dollars (45.9 billion U.S. dollars), the lowest level since February 2022. On a year-over-year basis, imports were down 6 percent in January. In real, or volume, terms, total imports fell 4.1 percent in January compared with the previous month, the national statistical agency said.

Total exports decreased to 62.3 billion Canadian dollars (46.3 billion U.S. dollars) in January, a third consecutive monthly decline. Exports were down 7.5 percent in January compared with the same month in 2023, when exports reached a peak. In real, or volume, terms, total exports fell 1.8 percent in January 2024 compared with December 2023, the agency said.

With international trade in goods and services combined, exports decreased 1.7 percent to 79.3 billion Canadian dollars (58.9 billion U.S. dollars) in January, while imports fell 2.6 percent to 80.1 billion Canadian dollars (59.5 billion U.S. dollars), Statistics Canada said. 
In a daring rescue operation, the Indian Navy successfully saved 21 crew members, among them one Indian national, from the Barbados-flagged Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence. The vessel was reportedly struck by a missile in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday. The operation was conducted by the Indian Navy warship, INS Kolkata, deployed for Maritime Security Operations, utilizing integral helicopters and boats.

The incident occurred amidst heightened tensions in the region, with the US military confirming casualties after a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels hit a bulk carrier in the same area. The attack resulted in three fatalities and at least four injuries. The crew faced critical injuries, prompting them to abandon the ship.

Indian Navy, through its official communication platform, X, formerly Twitter, provided updates on the rescue mission. They stated, "INS Kolkata deployed for Maritime Security Operations, arrived on location... and rescued 21 crew, incl one Indian national... Critical medical aid provided to injured crew." The rescued crew members were subsequently evacuated to Djibouti for medical attention.

The Houthis, backed by Iran, have been targeting merchant vessels in the Red Sea trade route for months. However, Wednesday's attack marks the first fatalities resulting from such an incident. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported that an anti-ship ballistic missile struck the True Confidence, causing significant damage to the ship and resulting in casualties among the crew.

The attack comes amid a series of aggressive actions by the Houthis, with the Philippine government confirming casualties among its nationals. Two Filipino crew members were killed, and two others sustained severe injuries in the assault.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that the True Confidence was targeted with multiple missiles after the crew disregarded warning messages from the rebels.

The Indian Navy's swift and decisive action in rescuing the crew members underscores the importance of maritime security operations in safeguarding vessels navigating through volatile regions.

Yemen Missile Attack: Bulk Carrier Hit in Gulf of Aden, 3 Dead and 4 Injured

Israel war Day 152: Israeli Forces Kill Civilians in Gaza Attack

US and UK air strikes hit 18 Houthi targets in Yemen
This article looks at the 15 best places to retire if you have no savings. If you want to skip our detailed analysis on why a wealth of experience is not enough and how your American dollars might be your gateway to a comfortable retirement, go to 5 Best Places to Retire If You Have No Savings.

Is a wealth of experience enough?

As the demographic landscape of the United States shifts, marked by the Baby Boomer generation entering retirement and Millennials contemplating their financial futures more earnestly, the conversation around retirement is more relevant than ever. Particularly pressing is the topic of the best places to retire if you have no savings, a reality for a significant portion of the population. According to a troubling statistic from the National Institute on Retirement Security, approximately 40% of Gen Xers have no retirement savings whatsoever. This stark number underscores the critical importance of planning for financial sustainability in later life, especially against a backdrop where the cost of living continues to climb. In this environment, identifying the best places to retire involves a delicate balance between manageable living expenses and access to essential services like healthcare. The increasing cost of living and healthcare expenses across the country bring these considerations to the forefront of retirement planning for financially under prepared Americans. As we step into 2024, retirees are facing a mixed financial landscape, marked by slight improvements in Social Security benefits but countered by rising healthcare costs and pressing concerns about the adequacy of retirement savings. The latest data from the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) reveals that Social Security recipients now have a 3.2% increase in their monthly payments, thanks to the 2024 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). This adjustment raises the average retirement benefit from $1,848 to $1,907, a modest but welcome $59 boost per month that reflects attempts to keep pace with inflation, albeit at a slower rate than the previous year's 8.7% increase. However, this financial relief is somewhat tempered by the news from the Medicare sector. According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, after a 3% decrease in 2023, the standard premiums for Medicare Part B are up for a 6% climb starting 2024, with the monthly premium reaching $174.70. This increase, combined with the raised annual deductible for Medicare Part B to $240, may erode the benefits of the COLA adjustment for many beneficiaries. The healthcare and insurance sectors play critical roles in this evolving scenario. Companies like UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), a leading healthcare public company, and Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM), a prominent insurer, are at the forefront of addressing these challenges. Both UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) and Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) have a significant influence on how healthcare services and insurance products adapt to meet the needs of an aging population, particularly as these companies work to manage the balance between coverage and cost.

Story continues

"Given all the stresses in the world today, such as natural disasters and geopolitical events, Americans continue to confront challenging times in our economy". -Kevin Barry, the President of Workplace Investing at Fidelity.

This statement lays the groundwork for understanding the financial backdrop against which retirees are navigating. According to Clever, a real estate data company, an alarming 37% of retirees report having no savings set aside for retirement, with the average retiree holds $170,726 in savings, a noticeable decline from $191,659 in 2022. This reduction in savings, coupled with nearly 48 % of retirees fearing they will outlive their retirement funds and 71% carrying non-mortgage debt averaging $19,888, paints a concerning picture. Barry's words serve as a crucial reminder of the multifaceted pressures compounding the financial insecurities faced by today's retirees, underlining the urgent need for strategic planning and support to navigate these challenging economic waters. In response, companies like UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) and Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) are pivotal in developing healthcare and insurance solutions that strive to alleviate some of the financial strains on retirees. Their efforts to offer comprehensive healthcare plans and insurance products that cater specifically to the needs of the elderly can play a vital role in helping manage the dual challenges of rising healthcare costs and insufficient retirement savings. As 2024 unfolds, the importance of strategic financial planning and the support of the healthcare and insurance sectors becomes increasingly clear. Given the economic landscape, the search for the best places to retire if you have no savings is more than just a financial consideration; it's a question of how to maintain a dignified, comfortable lifestyle on a limited budget. This search necessitates looking beyond traditional retirement paradigms, exploring locales where the cost of living aligns more closely with fixed incomes typical of Social Security benefits.

15 Best Places to Retire If You Have No Savings

Methodology

In our quest to uncover the best places to retire if you have no savings, we embarked on an extensive research process, leveraging data from sources such as Nomadguide, Think Advisor, and VivEurope. This foundational step was critical in pinpointing cheap places to retire that promise not only affordability but also a high quality of life for retirees aiming to maximize their post-work years. Our methodology centered on key determinants crucial for those looking to retire with no savings: living costs, safety, healthcare quality, and healthcare costs. To ensure our recommendations for the best places to live with no savings were accurate and comprehensive, we sourced living cost and safety index information from Numbeo, enriched further by insights from International Living and Livingcost.org. Recognizing that financial viability extends beyond mere living costs, our analysis included a thorough review of taxation policies and retirement visa availability. This step was paramount in identifying cheap places to retire where retirees can enjoy both fiscal benefits and legal residence without depleting their savings. By aggregating scores, we were able to objectively highlight destinations that offer an optimal blend of cost-efficiency and quality living conditions for those looking to retire with no savings. Scores were summed up and places have been ranked in an ascending order from the lowest to the highest scores. By the way, Insider Monkey is an investing website that tracks the movements of corporate insiders and hedge funds. By using a similar consensus approach, we identify the best stock picks of more than 900 hedge funds investing in US stocks. The top 10 consensus stock picks of hedge funds outperformed the S&P 500 Index by more than 140 percentage points over the last 10 years (see the details here). Whether you are a beginner investor or a professional one looking for the best stocks to buy, you can benefit from the wisdom of hedge funds and corporate insiders. Here are the best places to retire if you have no savings:

15. Ljubljana, Slovenia

Insider Monkey Score: 12 Ljubljana, Slovenia's charming capital, beckons retirees with its blend of historic grace and modern living, all in a compact, walkable city. Living here offers an enriching lifestyle for about $1,000 to $1,500 monthly, combining affordability with a high quality of life. Ljubljana is renowned for its excellent healthcare services, English-speaking medical professionals, and safe, clean environment, making it perfect for leisurely exploration. The city's green spaces, cultural events, and vibrant cafe culture offer endless leisure opportunities. Slovenias favorable tax regime also ensures a straightforward financial situation for foreign retirees. Ljubljana embodies a peaceful, community-focused lifestyle, offering a picturesque setting that fuses urban conveniences with natural beauty, ideal for retirees seeking a serene, European living experience.

14. Boquete, Panama

Insider Monkey Score: 13 Nestled in Panama's cool highlands, Boquete offers retirees an affordable, tranquil lifestyle amidst natural beauty. The Pensionado visa requires a minimum monthly pension of $1,000, making residency straightforward for expatriates. With living costs allowing a comfortable existence on about $1,100 to $1,500 per month, Boquete is attractive for its cost-effective lifestyle. The area boasts modern healthcare facilities, English-speaking doctors, and a safe environment perfect for exploration. Its year-round mild climate highlights its lush landscapes and vibrant community.

13. Cuenca, Ecuador

Insider Monkey Score: 13 Cuenca, nestled in Ecuador's Andean highlands, offers retirees a blend of old-world charm and contemporary convenience in a city celebrated for its cultural heritage and natural beauty. Ecuador's retirement visa, requiring proof of stable income, makes settling in Cuenca an attractive option. With monthly living expenses ranging from $800 to $1,200, Cuenca stands out for its affordability without sacrificing quality of life. The city is applauded for its healthcare system, accessible and staffed by English-speaking professionals, ensuring peace of mind for expatriates. Cuenca's temperate climate, welcoming community, and vibrant arts scene, along with its historic architecture and tranquil rivers, create a perfect backdrop for a relaxed retirement. Moreover, its favorable tax conditions offer financial benefits, making Cuenca an ideal destination for retirees seeking a rich cultural experience combined with the ease of urban living and the tranquility of nature.

12. Atenas, Costa Rica

Insider Monkey Score: 13 Atenas, Costa Rica, acclaimed as the best place for retirement with no savings, offers an affordable, idyllic lifestyle amidst stunning natural beauty. Welcoming expatriates through Costa Rica's retirement visa for those with stable income, Atenas promises a cost-effective living, with monthly expenses of around $1,000 to $1,500. Its reputable healthcare system, featuring English-speaking professionals, adds to the towns allure. Known for the "world's best climate," Atenas couples a warm, friendly community with a vibrant expat scene, making it an unbeatable choice for retirees desiring a tranquil yet enriching retirement without needing a hefty savings account.

11. Iloilo City, Philippines

Insider Monkey Score: 14 Iloilo, Philippines, is another solid choice for retirees, thanks to its unbeatable combination of low living costs, friendly visa policies, and appealing taxation for expatriates. With monthly expenses hovering around $800 to $1,200, covering housing, healthcare, and essentials, Iloilo is perfect for retirees looking to stretch their pensions further. The Philippines offers retiree-friendly visa options that facilitate long-term stays, making it easier for expatriates to call this vibrant city home. Iloilos healthcare is both cost-effective and staffed by English-speaking professionals, ensuring peace of mind for healthcare needs. The countrys taxation policy is also favorable, typically exempting foreign-sourced income from local taxes. Coupled with its rich cultural heritage, welcoming community, and scenic landscapes, Iloilo promises a fulfilling and stress-free retirement without the worry of savings, embodying the essence of tropical tranquility and affordability.

10. Banyuwangi, Indonesia

Insider Monkey Score: 14 Banyuwangi, Indonesia, emerges as one of the best places to retire with no savings, blending low living costs with mesmerizing natural beauty. With living expenses between $700 to $1,000 a month, it appeals to those seeking an economical retirement lifestyle. Expatriates are drawn to its straightforward visa policies and the availability of English-speaking staff within an accessible healthcare system. US citizens receiving social security income are particularly favored due to no taxation policy, enhancing Banyuwangi's attractiveness. The region is celebrated for its diverse ecosystems, from beaches to the majestic Ijen Crater, enveloped by a hospitable community and a perpetual summer climate. Banyuwangi stands as a peaceful sanctuary for retirees wishing to savor nature's splendor while benefiting from favorable taxation on their social security income.

9. Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

Insider Monkey Score: 14 Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, offers retirees an enchanting blend of historical charm and modern comforts, along with cost-effective living. With monthly costs of around $1,000 to $1,500, this UNESCO World Heritage site is a magnet for those seeking a picturesque yet affordable retirement. Uruguay's welcoming visa policies and efficient healthcare system, staffed with English-speaking professionals, add to its appeal. Importantly, Uruguays favorable taxation stance means that US citizens can enjoy their social security income without local taxation, providing financial relief. The city's cobbled streets, riverside vistas, and vibrant community promise a relaxed lifestyle, making Colonia del Sacramento an ideal choice for retirees looking to maximize their social security benefits in a serene, culture-rich setting.

8. Debrecen, Hungary

Insider Monkey Score: 15 Debrecen, Hungary, offers retirees an idyllic mix of cultural richness and affordable living, with costs ranging from $1,000 to $1,400 a month. This city, Hungary's second largest, combines the amenities of urban life with the charm of Eastern European heritage. Its healthcare system is remarkable, with highly qualified, English-speaking professionals easily accessible. For U.S. citizens, Hungary's taxation policies are particularly favorable; a tax treaty between Hungary and the U.S. helps prevent double taxation on social security income, enhancing Debrecens appeal. From its vibrant cultural scene to its tranquil parks, Debrecen provides a serene yet stimulating environment for retirees seeking a peaceful, cost-effective retirement.

7. Oradea, Romania

Insider Monkey Score: 15 Oradea, Romania, stands as a burgeoning haven for retirees, offering an exceptional blend of affordability, cultural heritage, and natural beauty. Living expenses in this picturesque city hover around $800 to $1,200 monthly, making it a highly cost-effective option for those aiming to maximize their retirement savings. Romania's healthcare system is both modern and accessible, with several English-speaking healthcare professionals available. For U.S. citizens worried about taxation on their social security income, Romania's tax agreements with the U.S. ensure that double taxation is avoided, providing additional financial peace of mind. Oradea is acclaimed for its stunning Art Nouveau architecture, thermal springs, and vibrant community life, crafting a perfect setting for retirees seeking a tranquil, yet enriching European lifestyle.

6. Da Nang, Vietnam

Insider Monkey Score: 15 Da Nang, Vietnam stands out as one of the best place to retire if you have no savings, offering retirees an affordable, picturesque setting. With living costs as low as $1,000 a month, it combines ease of living with scenic beauty and a warm community. The healthcare system is both accessible and staffed by English-speaking professionals, enhancing the city's appeal for expatriates. Da Nang's beautiful beaches, cultural richness, and vibrant expat scene make it an unparalleled destination for those seeking a fulfilling retirement without a hefty savings account. Click to continue reading and see the 5 Best Places to Retire If You Have No Savings. Suggested Articles:

Disclosure: none. 15 Best Places to Retire If You Have No Savings is originally published on Insider Monkey.
In this article, we will take a look at the top 15 Countries With Most Bumble Users. If you want to skip our overview of the global dating industry, you can take a look at our top picks of Top 5 Countries With Most Bumble Users.

The digital world has changed our lives in many ways. As many aspects of interaction go digital, there is an increasing number of people looking to find love online. In the United States, online dating is the most common way of meeting potential partners for people under 30, as this report by ASU indicates. In the last few years, the interest in dating apps has increased greatly, which means that the dating industry is a fast-growing one. These trends are projected to have an upward trajectory in 2024 according to Enterprise Apps Today as the dating industry continues to boom. However, Bumble Inc.'s (NASDAQ:BMBL) average revenue per user slightly decreased to $22.64 from $23.01 in Q4, 2023.

In a short 9 years, Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ: BMBL) has gone from a promising dating app to an instant success in the industry. Today, it is available in 190 countries throughout the world, leading to 42 million worldwide users. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it has 700+ employees according to a report by Bizzjournals. Reports by Cascade show an average of 23 million matches per week across the globe. So what really is Bumbles selling point? What makes it successful when there are already so many dating apps available?

For one, its the way the app works, which is different from mainstream dating apps. It gives women greater control over their dating lives and activities. They can take the first step in initiating conversations. They have to send the first message, which means that they are not bombarded by messages from men. When two people match, the woman has 24 hours to respond before the match expires. As a dating app made for women, it has attracted widespread attention, even though nearly 66% of its users continue to be male according to this article by roast.dating. It has a base version which is free to use, while extra features like Superswipe require premium access and a subscription fee.

Story continues

Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ: BMBL) is fast growing as one of the biggest dating platforms in the world. It currently has the second-highest share in the dating market after Tinder. According to a report by Backlinko, Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) claimed a 19% share of the US dating app market. The same report shows how Bumbles market share has increased from 17% in 2019 and has nearly doubled since 2017 (when it stood at 10%).

Bumble has not just restricted itself to dating options. By diversifying the services it provides, it has expanded its customer base. In 2016, it introduced Bumble BFF, which can be used to find and make new friends. In 2017, Bumble Bizz was introduced, offering networking opportunities with the same model of women making the first move, improving its revenue by nearly 240 million USD, according to an article by Business of Apps. It is constantly updating and modifying its features to improve the customers experience. Recently, it has introduced a privacy detector that can alert the user and automatically blur inappropriate content. Unwanted users can be reported and blocked. At the same time, it is looking to launch Deception Detector, an AI tool that will be used to weed out fake profiles and make for safer use overall.

Bumbles commitment to growth and innovation in the dating world seems stronger than ever. In January 2024, Bumble CEO Lidiane Jones hired three high-level employees who had formerly worked at Slack, demonstrating a dedication to taking the app a step further. This is part of its shuffling exercise in the top management, which heralds the next chapter of growth for the company. This is to be marked by an intense focus on product, innovation, and the brand.

15 Countries with Most Bumble Users

Photo by Rene Ranisch on Unsplash

Our Methodology

Given the wide variety of dating apps, Bumble is important and stands out for several reasons. It has strong privacy and safety options. It is a better option for women. Our article looks at Bumble usage in countries based on monthly traffic.

For this article, we measure country-wise Bumble usage based on monthly traffic, the data for which was gathered from sources like SimilarWeb, Semrush and others. For countries not listed, monthly traffic and data were estimated from net revenue figures. These numbers were estimated from sources including Similarweb and Hit. So lets get right into it. Here are the top 15 countries with the most Bumble uses.

By the way, Insider Monkey is an investing website that tracks the movements of corporate insiders and hedge funds. Using a similar consensus approach we identify the best stock picks of more than 900 hedge funds investing in US stocks. The top 10 consensus stock picks of hedge funds outperformed the S&P 500 Index by more than 140 percentage points over the last 10 years (see the details here). Whether you are a beginner investor or a professional looking for the best stocks to buy you can benefit from the wisdom of hedge funds and corporate insiders.

15 Countries With Most Bumble Users

15. Thailand

Monthly Traffic In January 2024: 0.31 Million

15th on our list is Thailand, a major tourist destination. Bumble is the 2nd most commonly used dating app in Thailand according to Similarweb. This high number of users can be attributed to Bumbles convenient interface and high demand.

14. Japan

Monthly Traffic In January 2024: 0.36 Million

Bumbles market in Japan continues to grow. In December 2023, it generated a revenue of 1.3 million USD, according to JapanDev. It is 14th on our list of 15 Countries With Most Bumble Users.

13. United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Monthly Traffic In January 2024: 0.43 Million

13th on our list is the United Arab Emirates. The global, cosmopolitan UAE has recently started making inroads into the dating industry. Bumble is a great option for speed dating, which means that its popularity in the UAE is fast growing.

12. Italy

Monthly Traffic In January 2024: 0.45 Million

12th on our list of 15 Countries With Most Bumble Users is Italy. It has made significant inroads in Italys local dating scene. Italy contributes to nearly 2.4% of online dating usage for Bumble.

11. France

Monthly Traffic In January 2024: 0.55 Million

Busy lifestyles and a growing reliance on technology have made online dating a popular choice for individuals seeking romantic relationships. France, housing the city of love, is high in terms of traffic from dating sites. While Bumble is not the most commonly used dating app in France, it still attracts a significant audience, making up 1.7% of Bumbles global traffic according to Similarweb.

10. Singapore

Monthly Traffic In January 2024: 0.6 Million

Bumbles women-oriented approach has also reached Singapores borders. According to a report by DatingAdvice.com, The app is extremely common among Singaporeans and was the most commonly used dating app in the country with 10.55k monthly downloads on average.

9. Australia

Monthly Traffic In January 2024: 0.9 Million

Bumble is showing no signs of slowing down in Australia. Therefore, Australia is placed 9th on our list of 15 Countries With Most Bumble Users. More than 2 million people in Australia are currently registered on Bumble, as of February 2024 according to Hit. It had 55.7k monthly downloads in 2023, according to this report by AppMagic.

8. Mexico

Monthly Traffic In January 2024: 1.20 Million

Eighth on this list is Mexico, where a significant percentage of the youthful population uses dating apps. The average monthly traffic that Bumble gets from Mexico stands at 1.20 million, making it one of the countries with the most bumble users.

7. Brazil

Monthly Traffic In January 2024: 1.29 Million Compared to most parts of the world, Brazil has a high number of Bumble users. Specifically, Brazil is one of the landscapes where Bumble is a top-grossing app.

6. Canada

Monthly Traffic In January 2024: 1.40 Million

Canada, although a significantly smaller market for online dating than its neighbor, still accounts for around 6% of Bumbles monthly users according to Semrush.

Click to continue reading and see 5 Countries with Most Bumble Users.

Suggested Articles:

Disclosure: none. 15 Countries With Most Bumble Users is originally published on Insider Monkey.
In this article, we look at 15 militaries with the most armored fighting vehicles in the world, and discuss some of the leading manufacturers of armored combat vehicles and ongoing trends in the industry to enhance survivability of these vehicles. You can skip our detailed overview and head over directly to the 5 Militaries with the Most Armored Fighting Vehicles in the World.

Armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) are partially or completely protected with armor and guard against incoming bullets, shells, and projectiles. The AFVs can move with wheels or continuous tracks, and have several classifications. The principal armored fighting vehicle is the tank, while infantry fighting vehicles, troop carriers, and amphibious vehicles are commonly used as well for military purposes.

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) is one of the leading companies in the industry and designs some of the best land combat machines available today, including wheeled and tracked vehicles, armored fighting vehicles, and battle tanks. In October 2023, it was reported that General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) beat Wall Street Journals third quarter estimates as demand for its artillery and combat vehicles surged amid the war in Ukraine.

The eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicle, Stryker, and M1 Abrams battle tanks have been instrumental in Ukraines ongoing resistance efforts against Russia. An aid package announced by the United States in January 2023 for Kyiv included a fleet of 90 Stryker armored fighting vehicles. These were delivered in March and were first seen in action in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast in August.

Later that year in October, Ukraine also received 31 M1 Abrams tanks worth $400 million from the US. These third-generation American battle tanks of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) are the most powerful tanks in the world, equipped with advanced electronics, improved self-defense systems, and powerful weapons.

The US military is also working on integrating combat vehicle protection systems to keep warfighters in armored vehicles and tanks safe from threats in the battlefield. Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) in 2021 was awarded a contract to provide Modular Active Protection System base-kits to test on Bradley, Stryker, and Abrams armored vehicles. These Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) kits integrate vehicle sensors which detect and defeat incoming threats like rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank guided missiles.

Story continues

Moreover, in April last year, the US Army also announced that Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) would fit electronic and cyber warfare kits on Stryker armored vehicles to provide soldiers improved situational awareness on the battlefield. The deal is valued at $73 million.

Another company working on enhancing the survivability of armored fighting vehicles is RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX), which in January this year received a $154 million contract to equip Bradley combat vehicles with advanced Commanders Independent Viewer (CIV) systems that come with FLIR cameras and sensors to deliver a 360 degree view of the battlefield. The production of these units by RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX) will take place in McKinsey, Texas, with delivery due in 2026.

RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX) has partnered with the US military on increasing the lethality, survivability, and battlefield awareness of the M1 Abrams tanks as well, and in July 2023 signed a $117.5 million agreement to install advanced targeting sensor systems in Americas main battle tanks.

15 Militaries with the Most Armored Fighting Vehicles in the World

Methodology

Militaries with the most armored fighting vehicles in the world are ranked in ascending order of their fleet size. Data has been sourced from our recent article, 25 Countries with the Strongest Armies in the World.

If interested, you can also take a look at 15 Countries with the Most Attack Helicopters in the World.

By the way, Insider Monkey is an investing website that tracks the movements of corporate insiders and hedge funds. By using a similar consensus approach, we identify the best stock picks of more than 900 hedge funds investing in US stocks. The top 10 consensus stock picks of hedge funds outperformed the S&P 500 Index by more than 140 percentage points over the last 10 years (see the details here). Whether you are a beginner investor or professional one looking for the best stocks to buy, you can benefit from the wisdom of hedge funds and corporate insiders.

Lets now head over to the list of countries with the most armored fighting vehicles in the world.

Top 15 Militaries with the Most Armored Fighting Vehicles in the World:

15. Israel

Armored Fighting Vehicles: 43,407

Israel has a large fleet of over 43,000 armored fighting vehicles. The countrys defense ministry this month has announced to buy another 200 more AFVs to deploy in the Gaza border towns amid its ongoing armed conflict with Hamas. The purchase is likely to cost $41 million. Details about where Israel intends on procuring the new AFVs from were not disclosed.

14. Brazil

Armored Fighting Vehicles: 44,044

Next on our list of militaries with the most armored fighting vehicles in the world is Brazil. With the size of its economy surpassing the $2 trillion mark, the country has begun efforts to leverage its financial strength to upgrade its military. Brazil is equipped with more than 44,000 AFVs. In December 2022, it decided to select Italian armored vehicle Centauro II to replace its aging fleet of EE-9 Cascavel. 98 of these tank destroyers have already been ordered.

13. Pakistan

Armored Fighting Vehicles: 50,523

Pakistan is among militaries with the most armored fighting vehicles in the world, with a fleet size of over 50,000 AFVs. These include about 3,800 M113 armored personnel carriers made by the FMC Corporation in the United States, along with thousands of other locally manufactured infantry fight vehicles such as Viper IFV, Al-Hamza and Lazar 3. The country also has several Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, including at least 600 MaxxPro, 300 Casspir, and 300 Kirpi. These were procured from the US, South Africa, and Turkiye, respectively.

12. Turkiye

Armored Fighting Vehicles: 55,104

Next up is Turkiye, which has a sizable fleet of armored fighting vehicles  most of them being locally produced. The country is also a major exporter of these combat vehicles. Estonia in October last year placed an order for 230 armored vehicles with Turkish manufacturers Otokar and Nurol Makina in the aftermath of Russias invasion of Ukraine. The deal is set to cost $211 million. Hungary also received ten of its Ejder Yalcin armored vehicles from Turkiye in 2021, out of a total order of 50.

11. Greece

Armored Fighting Vehicles: 57,030

Greece is among countries with the most armored fighting vehicles in the world, with a fleet size in excess of 57,000 vehicles. The primary infantry fighting vehicles used by the Hellenic Army are the BMP-1A1 Ost and Marder-1A3  both of German origin. In March 2023, the US approved the sale of 300 Bradley M2A2 armored vehicles to Athens. The monetary terms of the contract are not known. Greece has a significant number of armored anti-tank guided missile carriers as well in the American M901 ITV and M113 TOW. It also has several thousand armored personnel carriers.

10. Italy

Armored Fighting Vehicles: 61,892

Italy has one of the largest fleets of armored fighting vehicles in the world, which is set to grow further as Rome considers launching a $5 billion program aimed at building another 1,000 armored combat vehicles to replace the aging Dardo vehicles. The government plans on inviting companies to study the feasibility of the program very soon, according to a recent report.

9. Iran

Armored Fighting Vehicles: 65,765

Despite being under sanctions for several decades now, Iran has one of the largest fleets of armored fighting vehicles in the world  most of them being wheeled armored personnel carriers, which can be further equipped to carry out critical fire support missions, according to analysts. The country currently operated over 65,000 AFVs for various military purposes.

8. South Korea

Armored Fighting Vehicles: 66,492

South Korea finds a place in the list of militaries with the most armored fighting vehicles in the world, with a fleet size well in excess of 66,000. Its wide range of AFVs ensure the countrys security in the face of external threats, emanating particularly from North Korea. The K1 88 and K2 Black Panther battle tanks are the backbone of the countrys armored combat forces, while the K21 is the primary infantry fighting vehicle used by South Korea.

7. Egypt

Armored Fighting Vehicles: 77,596

Next up is Africas most powerful military Egypt, which has a fleet size of over 77,000 robust and diverse armored fighting vehicles. These help safeguard the countrys national security and also enable it to deal with security-related challenges in the MENA region. Egypt has the third most number of battle tanks in the world (5,340) - which include over a thousand M1 Abrams. The country also operates a considerable number of M113 armored personnel carriers and BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles.

6. Germany

Armored Fighting Vehicles: 79,317

Germany is on sixth spot in our list of militaries with the most armored fighting vehicles in the world. According to the Bundeswehr, Leopard 2 is the main battle tank of the German armored forces, while the Marder and Puma infantry fighting vehicles are the primary weapons systems used by the German military when it comes to AFVs. All vehicles combined, Germany has a fleet size of nearly 80,000 armored fighting vehicles.

Click to continue reading and see the 5 Militaries with the Most Armored Fighting Vehicles in the World.

Suggested Articles:

Disclosure: None. 15 Militaries with the Most Armored Fighting Vehicles in the World is originally published on Insider Monkey.
Explainer: Why the world remains optimistic about China's economic prospects?

Xinhua) 08:22, March 07, 2024

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 1, 2024 shows the Yangpu Economic Development Zone at sunrise, south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu)

The world's confidence in China is rooted in China's economic strategic consistency, said Khin Maung Soe, former advisor of Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International.

BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- China set its economic growth target for 2024 at around 5 percent again, according to a government work report submitted Tuesday to the national legislature for deliberation.

Experts and business insiders worldwide have voiced their optimism about the target and expressed confidence in China's long-term economic growth, saying the target is in line with the reality of China's economic development and demonstrates the Chinese government's rational, objective, and pragmatic economic governance.

"This growth target is well suited to China's national conditions: China has designed a high-quality economic development model for the current stage, advocating green economy and high-tech development. This will inject strong vitality into the world economy," said Luis Fernandez, senior researcher at the World Economic Research Center of the University of Havana.

The goal, which is the same as that of 2023, the previous year's growth target, shows China's commitment to high-quality development despite uncertainties at home and abroad.

Jeffrey Sachs, a professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, said that China's technological advances are very rapid and "these advances put China in a strong global position for the coming years."

To achieve the economic growth target, this year's government work report proposes modernizing the industrial system and accelerating the development of new quality productive forces, which create a better economic landscape as seen this year.

"The concept of 'new (quality) productive forces' is a good response to the immense potential that lies in the latest scientific and technological developments, such as artificial intelligence, to increase our productivity while making it more sustainable and environmentally friendly and reducing the use of human labor," said Michael Schumann, head of the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade.

According to the Global Innovation Index 2023 released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, China, ranking 12th, is the only middle-income economy within the top 30, and close to the top 10.

"China has achieved leadership in the new energy industry and smart car manufacturing. Such industries still have huge potential," said Yan Li, senior lecturer at Nanyang Business School of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, adding that with the new quality productive forces, China will further enhance its position in the global industrial chain.

This undated file photo shows a displaying area of the Modular Electric Drive Matrix at Volkswagen Anhui. TO GO WITH "Economic watch: China's emerging industries become new magnet for foreign investment" (Xinhua)

One highlight of the government work report is the proposal to promote high-standard opening-up, align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, steadily expand institutional opening-up.

To attract foreign investment, this year's government work report put forward a series of specific measures such as continuing to reduce the negative list for foreign investment access, completely removing restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing sector, and relaxing market access for services such as telecommunications and medical care.

Executive Vice President of Panasonic Corporation Tetsuro Homma said the business environment in China is desirable and Japanese companies regard China as an important market and they have been actively expanding businesses in China.

The Japanese tech company will continue to delve into the Chinese market, Homma told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Alexis Perakis-Valat, president of the L'Oreal Consumer Products Division, said he is "very excited about the future of China" as China has a large middle class and upper middle class.

"The prospects of growth of L'Oreal in China are very high," he said, adding that "we are convinced that the next China is China."

According to the International Financial Forum, China contributed 32 percent to the global economic growth in 2023 and remains the largest engine of world development.

Faster growth in China has positive spillovers on the rest of the world. A one percentage point increase in China would, on average, increase the level of output in other economies by 0.3 percent, the International Monetary Fund's research shows.

The world's confidence in China is rooted in China's economic strategic consistency, said Khin Maung Soe, former advisor of Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International.

Similarly, Jean Christophe Iseux von Pfetten, chairman of the Institute for East-West Strategic Studies in Britain, noted that good decisions such as nurturing and strengthening the private economy are welcomed not only by the Chinese themselves but also by the foreign entrepreneurs.

The Chinese market remains attractive to foreign investments due to its size, the growing middle class, and government support for key industries. China's efforts to deepen reforms and expand openness demonstrate a commitment to sustainable growth and integration into the global economy, said Joseph Mutaboba, a Rwandan expert in international relations and diplomatic affairs.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Shutterstock.com

Theres good news for retirees heading to the Sunshine State to kickstart their retirement years. Youve got your pick of affordable Florida cities to choose from if you plan on retiring this year.

To determine which Florida cities offer retirees the most affordable total cost of living, GOBankingRates used the U.S. Census American Community Survey to find Florida cities and their median household income for ages 65 and over. Factors found in each city included the January 2024 average single family home value, average mortgage rate, average expenditure costs (using cost-of-living indexes for groceries, healthcare, utilities and transportation). Total monthly cost was calculated by adding the average mortgage and average expenditure costs and the livability index was also included.

From No. 25 to No. 1, these 25 Florida cities offer retirees the cheapest cost of living.

Read More: Net Worth for Retirees: How To Tell If Youre Poor, Middle Class, Upper Middle Class or Rich

Check Out: 6 Unusual Ways To Make Extra Money (That Actually Work)

RobHainer / Getty Images/iStockphoto

25. Eagle Lake

January 2024 average home value: $278,668

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $43,250

Average mortgage: $1,652

Average expenditure costs: $1,493

Livability: 76

Total monthly costs: $3,144

Be Aware: Social Security: What Bidens Updated Payment Plan Means for Your Money

Learn More: Cutting Expenses in Retirement: 9 Things To Downsize (That Arent Your Home)

Sponsored: Protect Your Wealth With A Gold IRA. Take advantage of the timeless appeal of gold in a Gold IRA recommended by Sean Hannity.

lunamarina / Shutterstock.com

24. Holly Hill

January 2024 average home value: $219,487

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $39,419

Average mortgage: $1,301

Average expenditure costs: $1,478

Livability: 73

Total monthly costs: $2,779

For You: Retired and Bored? These Places Want To Hire You

csfotoimages / Getty Images

23. Lake Panasoffkee

January 2024 average home value: $207,562

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $29,560

Average mortgage: $1,230

Average expenditure costs: $1,430

Livability: 73

Total monthly costs: $2,660

Story continues

anouchka / Getty Images/iStockphoto

22. Inverness

January 2024 average home value: $244,819

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $31,037

Average mortgage: $1,451

Average expenditure costs: $1,429

Livability: 64

Total monthly costs: $2,880

Discover More: 8 Signs Youll Retire Wealthy

peeterv / Getty Images/iStockphoto

21. Graceville

January 2024 average home value: $159,781

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $33,750

Average mortgage: $947

Average expenditure costs: $1,448

Livability: 66

Total monthly costs: $2,395

Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com

20. Bronson

January 2024 average home value: $245,286

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $52,143

Average mortgage: $1,454

Average expenditure costs: $1,530

Livability: 64

Total monthly costs: $2,984

View More: 8 Cheap Places To Retire in Europe Where Residents Speak English

Ebyabe / Wikimedia Commons CC-BY-SA-3.0

19. Titusville

January 2024 average home value: $283,864

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $41,822

Average mortgage: $1,683

Average expenditure costs: $1,467

Livability: 82

Total monthly costs: $3,149

csfotoimages / iStock.com

18. Avon Park

January 2024 average home value: $205,074

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $37,533

Average mortgage: $1,216

Average expenditure costs: $1,452

Livability: 70

Total monthly costs: $2,667

Thats Interesting: Im a Retirement Planning Expert: These 4 States Top Florida and Arizona

Art Wager / Getty Images

17. Springfield

January 2024 average home value: $204,007

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $39,453

Average mortgage: $1,209

Average expenditure costs: $1,460

Livability: 59

Total monthly costs: $2,669

felixmizioznikov / Getty Images

16. Sebring

January 2024 average home value: $240,343

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $34,058

Average mortgage: $1,425

Average expenditure costs: $1,427

Livability: 65

Total monthly costs: $2,851

Explore More: Heres the Cost To Retire Comfortably in Every State by Age

Shutterstock.com

15. Frostproof

January 2024 average home value: $206,498

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $44,632

Average mortgage: $1,224

Average expenditure costs: $1,477

Livability: 69

Total monthly costs: $2,701

RiverNorthPhotography / Getty Images

14. Bascom

January 2024 average home value: $161,985

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $38,250

Average mortgage: $960

Average expenditure costs: $1,449

Livability: 63

Total monthly costs: $2,409

Read Next: 7 Ways Shopping at Costco Helps Retirees Stick to a Budget

gnagel / Getty Images

13. Alford

January 2024 average home value: $193,492

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $40,476

Average mortgage: $1,147

Average expenditure costs: $1,455

Livability: 59

Total monthly costs: $2,602

Rob Hainer / Shutterstock.com

12. Panama City

January 2024 average home value: $272,489

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $42,190

Average mortgage: $1,615

Average expenditure costs: $1,455

Livability: 68

Total monthly costs: $3,070

Try This: 3 Ways Upper Middle Class Retirees Stay Rich in Retirement

BSPollard / Getty Images

11. Beverly Hills

January 2024 average home value: $237,883

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $35,736

Average mortgage: $1,410

Average expenditure costs: $1,426

Livability: 64

Total monthly costs: $2,836

Wirestock / iStock.com

10. Floral City

January 2024 average home value: $265,045

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $42,208

Average mortgage: $1,571

Average expenditure costs: $1,450

Livability: 66

Total monthly costs: $3,021

Find Out: How a Trump Win in 2024 Could Impact Your Retirement Savings

Bryan Pollard / Getty Images

9. Welaka

January 2024 average home value: $254,485

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $52,188

Average mortgage: $1,508

Average expenditure costs: $1,493

Livability: 56

Total monthly costs: $3,001

Sean Pavone / Getty Images/iStockphoto

8. Lake Wales

January 2024 average home value: $250,127

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $48,704

Average mortgage: $1,483

Average expenditure costs: $1,470

Livability: 66

Total monthly costs: $2,953

See More: 9 Things Frugal Retirees Never Waste Money On

benedek / Getty Images

7. Callaway

January 2024 average home value: $256,815

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $50,852

Average mortgage: $1,522

Average expenditure costs: $1,480

Livability: 63

Total monthly costs: $3,002

BDphoto / Getty Images

6. Milton

January 2024 average home value: $275,125

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $59,896

Average mortgage: $1,631

Average expenditure costs: $1,493

Livability: 78

Total monthly costs: $3,123

Read More: 9 Ways Frugal Retirees Spend Their Social Security Checks

Michael Warren / Getty Images

5. Lake Butler

January 2024 average home value: $258,729

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $81,473

Average mortgage: $1,534

Average expenditure costs: $1,589

Livability: 65

Total monthly costs: $3,123

Michael Warren / Getty Images/iStockphoto

4. Greenwood

January 2024 average home value: $151,487

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $53,125

Average mortgage: $898

Average expenditure costs: $1,451

Livability: 66

Total monthly costs: $2,349

Be Aware: You Can Get These 3 Debts Canceled Forever

traveler1116 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

3. Hastings

January 2024 average home value: $267,122

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $70,478

Average mortgage: $1,583

Average expenditure costs: $1,487

Livability: 68

Total monthly costs: $3,070

Sean Pavone / Getty Images/iStockphoto

2. Babson Park

January 2024 average home value: $225,942

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $75,833

Average mortgage: $1,339

Average expenditure costs: $1,497

Livability: 75

Total monthly costs: $2,836

Trending Now: Im a Bank Teller: Here Are 10 Mistakes You Are Making With Your Banking

Rob Hainer / Shutterstock.com

1. Parker

January 2024 average home value: $219,248

Median household income (ages 65 and over): $75,227

Average mortgage: $1,300

Average expenditure costs: $1,461

Livability: 65

Total monthly costs: $2,760

Photo disclaimer: Photos are for illustrative purposes only. In many cases, the closest major city outside of the city/county mentioned it the article was used.

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed the cities across Florida to find affordable options if you are retiring in 2024. GOBankingRates started by finding the cities in Florida and their [1] median household income for ages 65 and over as sourced from the U.S. Census American Community Survey. For each city in Florida, a number of factors were found, including; [2] average single family home value for January 2024 as sourced from the Zillow Home Value Index, the [3] grocery cost-of-living index, [4] healthcare cost-of-living index, [5] utilities cost-of-living index, [6] transportation cost-of-living index, [7] miscellaneous cost-of-living index, all sourced from Sperlings BestPlaces, [8] livability index as sourced from AreaVibes, [9] the 30-year fixed rate national average mortgage rate as sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data, and the [10] national average expenditure costs for people ages 65 and over, as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey. Using the fixed rate and the Zillow Home Value Index, and assuming a 10% down payment, the average mortgage for each city can be calculated. Using the cost-of-living indexes and the national average expenditure costs, the average expenditure cost of living for each city can be calculated and, by combining it with the average mortgage, a total cost of living can be calculated. The top 100 places with the cheapest total cost of living were kept for this study. The average mortgage cost was scored and weighted at 1.00, the average expenditure cost was scored and weighted at 1.00, the median household income was scored and weighted at 1.00. All the scores were combined and sorted to show the most affordable cities in Florida to consider if you are retiring in 2024. All data was collected on and is up to date as of March 1, 2024.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 25 Affordable Cities in Florida To Consider If Youre Retiring in 2024
In this article, we will be navigating through the 25 countries with the largest coal reserves in the world. If you wish to skip our detailed analysis, you can move directly to the 5 Countries with the Largest Coal Reserves in the World.

Global Coal Industry: An Overview

As reported by the International Energy Agency, coal consumption remained high in 2022. While coal demand was minimal in the European Union due to the expanded use of renewable energy sources such as nuclear and hydropower, Asian economies saw strong growth in coal use for both power generation and industrial applications. You can also read about the countries advanced in renewable energy.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the coal market has been returning to more stable conditions. Regional trends from 2022 continued in 2023. In the first half of 2023, coal demand fell by 24% in the US and by 16% in the EU. During the same period, demand in China and India grew by more than 5%. On January 18, Reuters reported that in 2023, electricity generation from coal around the world reached a record high. Simultaneously, thermal coal exports exceeded 1 billion metric tons during the year for the first time. Through October 2023, coal-fired electricity generation was recorded at 8,295 terawatt hours which surpassed the 2022 levels.

Region-wise, Asia still dominates the use of coal in power generation and exports while many European and North American regions have limited the use of coal. Approximately 82% of the global coal-fired electricity generation took place in Asia during 2023. Despite the limits imposed worldwide, coal exports and its consumption in power plants have been on the rise. In 2023, Indonesia ranked as the top thermal coal exporter nation, accounting for more than half of the total thermal coal shipments in the year. Australia, Russia, and South Africa were also among the prominent exporters. On the other hand, major coal-importing nations included China, India, Japan, and South Korea.

Story continues

Companies Involved in Coal Mining

Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. (NYSE:AMR), Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ: ARLP ), and CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CEIX ) are some of the companies involved in coal mining. Lets take a look at what these firms have been up to.

Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. (NYSE:AMR) is a coal mining company that operates underground and surface mining complexes across Central Appalachia. On February 26, the company reported strong earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2023. Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. (NYSE:AMR) reported earnings per share of $12.88, beating EPS estimate by $3.81. The companys revenue for the quarter amounted to $957.13 million, up 16.56% year-over-year and ahead of revenue consensus by $160.48 million.

Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:ARLP) serves as the largest coal producer in the Eastern US and shipped 34.4 million tons of coal in 2023. On January 16, the company reported that its wholly-owned subsidiary Matrix Design Group, LLC signed an agreement with Infinitum. Under this partnership, Infinitums motor technology will be incorporated into the mining equipment of Alliance Resource Partners, L.P.s (NASDAQ:ARLP) operating subsidiaries. This motor technology from Infinitum tends to be lighter and smaller as compared to traditional, heavy iron-core motors. This agreement will deliver efficient and higher-performing production equipment for the mining industry.

CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CEIX) initiated its first active mining operations in 1864. The company operates the Pennsylvania Mining Complex, the Baltimore Marine Terminal, and claims to control more than 1 billion tons of undeveloped reserves. On February 6, CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CEIX) reported its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2023. The company reported earnings per share of $5.05 for the quarter. Revenue for the three months ended December 31, 2023, was recorded at $649.44 million which surpassed the revenue consensus by $40.54 million.

Now that we have reviewed the global coal market, lets move to the 25 countries with the largest coal reserves in the world.

25 Countries with the Largest Coal Reserves in the World

25 Countries with the Largest Coal Reserves in the World

Our Methodology:

In order to compile a list of 25 countries with the largest coal reserves in the world, we sourced data from the Energy Institute. The total proved coal reserves in the countries have been selected as our metric. The most recent statistics have been cited from 2020. We have also mentioned the latest total coal production in the respective countries from 2022. The countries have been ranked in ascending order of their total proved coal reserves.

By the way, Insider Monkey is an investing website that tracks the movements of corporate insiders and hedge funds. By using different consensus approaches, we identify the best stock picks of more than 900 hedge funds investing in US stocks. The top 10 consensus stock picks of hedge funds outperformed the S&P 500 Index by more than 140 percentage points over the last 10 years (see the details here). Whether you are a beginner investor or a professional one looking for the best stocks to buy, you can benefit from the wisdom of hedge funds and corporate insiders.

25 Countries with the Largest Coal Reserves in the World

25. Uzbekistan

Total Proved Reserves: 1,375 Million Tonnes

Uzbekistan ranks among countries with the largest coal reserves in the world. As reported by the Energy Institute, the country held total proven coal reserves amounting to 1,375 million tonnes in 2020. Furthermore, Uzbekistan produced 5.4 million tonnes of coal in 2022.

24. Bulgaria

Total Proved Reserves: 2,366 Million Tonnes

Bulgaria is another country with large coal reserves. In 2020, the country had 2,366 million tonnes of proven coal reserves. Coal production in the country was recorded at 35.6 million tonnes in 2022.

23. Mongolia

Total Proved Reserves: 2,520 Million Tonnes

Coal production in Mongolia was reported to be 39.3 million tonnes in 2022. The country held 2,520 million tonnes of proven coal reserves as recorded in 2020.

22. Greece

Total Proved Reserves: 2,876 Million Tonnes

Total proven coal reserves in Greece were recorded at 2,876 million tonnes in 2020. Greece ranks among the countries with the most coal reserves in the world.

21. Hungary

Total Proved Reserves: 2,909 Million Tonnes

Hungary ranks as another country with large abundant reserves. As reported by the Energy Institute, the country had 2,909 million tonnes of proven coal reserves in 2020.

20. Pakistan

Total Proved Reserves: 3,064 Million Tonnes

As recorded in 2020, Pakistan held proven coal reserves amounting to 3,064 million tonnes. In 2022, the country produced 9.9 million tonnes of coal.

19. Vietnam

Total Proved Reserves: 3,360 Million Tonnes

Vietnam produced 49.8 million tonnes of coal in 2022. The total proven coal reserves in Vietnam were recorded at 3,360 million tonnes in 2020.

18. Czech Republic

Total Proved Reserves: 3,595 Million Tonnes

In 2020, total proven coal reserves in the Czech Republic stood at 3,595 million tonnes. Hence, the Czech Republic ranks as one of the countries with the most coal reserves in the world.

17. Colombia

Total Proved Reserves: 4,554 Million Tonnes

The 25 countries with the largest coal reserves in the world include Colombia. In 2020, the country held 4,554 million tonnes of proven coal reserves. Coal production in Colombia was last reported to be 57.5 million tonnes in 2022.

16. Canada

Total Proved Reserves: 6,582 Million Tonnes

Canada is another country with a high share of coal reserves in the world. The country held 6,582 million tonnes of proven coal reserves in 2020. Furthermore, Canada produced 45.1 million tonnes of coal in 2022.

15. Brazil

Total Proved Reserves: 6,596 Million Tonnes

Brazil has one of the largest coal reserves in the world. In 2020, the country held total proven coal reserves that amounted to 6,596 million tonnes.

14. Serbia

Total Proved Reserves: 7,514 Million Tonnes

In 2020, Serbia had 7,514 million tonnes of proven coal reserves. The countrys coal production was last recorded at 35.1 million tonnes in 2022.

13. New Zealand

Total Proved Reserves: 7,575 Million Tonnes

In 2022, New Zealand produced 2.6 million tonnes of coal. The country has one of the largest coal reserves globally. Total proven coal reserves in New Zealand were recorded at 7,575 million tonnes in 2020.

12. South Africa

Total Proved Reserves: 9,893 Million Tonnes

South Africa is another country with large coal reserves in the world. In 2020, the country held 9,893 million tonnes of proven coal reserves. Coal production in South Africa was recorded at 225.9 million tonnes in 2022.

11. Turkey

Total Proved Reserves: 11,525 Million Tonnes

As recorded in 2020, Turkey held 11,525 million tonnes of proven coal reserves and has one of the largest coal reserves globally. In 2022, the country produced 96.1 million tonnes of coal.

10. Kazakhstan

Total Proved Reserves: 25,605 Million Tonnes

In 2022, coal production in Kazakhstan was recorded at 118.0 million tonnes. The country held 25,605 million tonnes of proven coal reserves in 2020 and ranks among the countries with the largest coal reserves in the world.

9. Poland

Total Proved Reserves: 28,395 Million Tonnes

Poland produced 107.5 million tonnes of coal in 2022. As recorded last in 2020, the country holds one of the largest coal reserves globally, amounting to 28,395 million tonnes.

8. Ukraine

Total Proved Reserves: 34,375 Million Tonnes

Ukraine ranks as another country with the largest coal reserves in the world. In 2020, the country had 34,375 million tonnes of proven coal reserves. This equated to 3.2% of the global coal reserves.

7. Indonesia

Total Proved Reserves: 34,869 Million Tonnes

In 2020, Indonesia had 34,869 million tonnes of proven coal reserves. Coal production in the country was recorded at 687.4 million tonnes in 2022.

6. Germany

Total Proved Reserves: 35,900 Million Tonnes

Germany produced 132.5 million tonnes of coal in 2022. The country also holds one of the biggest coal reserves globally. In 2020, proven coal reserves in Germany amounted to 35,900 million tonnes.

Click to continue reading and see 5 Countries with the Largest Coal Reserves in the World.

Suggested articles:

Disclosure: None. 25 Countries with the Largest Coal Reserves in the World is originally published on Insider Monkey.
Meta House Inc. is planning a $30 million residential substance abuse treatment center for what's now a parking lot at 3901 W. Bluemound Road.

A $30 million residential substance abuse center for women will be built in Milwaukee's Piggsville neighborhood under a new ruling from city officials.

Meta House Inc.'s development, at 3901 W. Bluemound Road, received two special use permits Thursday from the Board of Zoning Appeals.

Meta House plans to begin construction in June and have the facility completed by the end of 2025.

"We're excited to show we can be good neighbors," Meta House President and Chief Executive Officer Valerie Vidal told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel after the vote.

The four-story building will be developed on what's now a parking lot for a former Miller Brewing back office building  just south of the Wisconsin Avenue viaduct.

The 4.8-acre site will house Meta House's administrative offices, outpatient treatment facility and residential treatment operation with 100 beds for recovering women and their children.

That will be an expansion of Meta House's longtime base at 2625 N. Weil St., which will move to the Piggsville site. Those Riverwest operations include 35 beds for residential treatment.

Expansion needed to combat Wisconsin's opioid crisis

More space is needed because of the devastating effects of opioid addiction in Milwaukee and other Wisconsin communities Meta House serves, according to the nonprofit group and its supporters.

Piggsville residents are split on the development.

Opponents cite concerns about more traffic  with the new facility to house 140 employees working three shifts. They fear an intrusion on their privacy, an increase in litter and harmful effects on housing values.

Supporters say Meta House's investment would help combat illegal dumping, drug buys and prostitution in Piggsville  a neighborhood bordered roughly by Interstate 94, West Wisconsin Avenue, North 35th Street and the Menomonee River.

"I'm really sad it's divided the neighborhood," said Ald. Michael Murphy, whose district includes Piggsville.

Facilities such as Meta House are badly needed, Murphy said, in an interview. But Piggsville is a small neighborhood, with around 300 residents, that will be getting another 100 residents with the new center, he said.

Story continues

Mayor Cavalier Johnson's Department of City Development recommended approval. Meta House's plans meet the special use criteria of protecting public safety and health, and do not raise concerns about nearby property values or traffic impact, according to the department.

Board members agreed, with Lindsey St. Arnold Bell saying Meta House would have a positive impact on the neighborhood.

Murphy asked the zoning board to set the term for the special use permits for fewer than the 30 years sought by Meta House.

Murphy said a four-year term would give neighborhood residents a better chance to raise potential concerns when the permits come up for renewal.

The board set the term at 15 years.

"We can work with that," Vidal said.

The development's financing includes $4.9 million Meta House received from the state's share of a 2022 opioid lawsuit settlement; a $775,000 grant from University of Wisconsin's School of Medicine and Public Health via American Rescue Plan Act funds; private philanthropy, and federal New Markets Tax Credits  which help finance new commercial buildings in lower-income neighborhoods.

Meta House's annual revenue in 2022 was $9.4 million, according to its latest annual report filed with the Internal Revenue Service. That included $4.4 million in government grants, $2.8 million in private grants and $1.4 million in Medicaid payments.

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, X and Facebook.

Subscribe to get the BusinessWatch email newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee's new substance abuse center is response to opioid crisis
(Bloomberg) -- Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. is advancing plans for a new liquefied natural gas export project, making it the latest company looking to capture a share of the growing market later this decade.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Adnoc is preparing to reach a final investment decision on its Ruwais LNG project in the first half of 2024, according to people with knowledge of the plan. The company had previously said it wanted to begin exports from 2028.

The UAE and the Gulf nation of Qatar are betting tens of billions of dollars that cleaner-burning natural gas will be needed as a bridge fuel to transition to renewables, while others say the outlook isnt so rosy. The International Energy Agency expects gas demand to peak in all forecast scenarios by 2030.

While Adnoc has sold some supply from the Ruwais project under long-term deals, most remains uncontracted, according to BloombergNEF data. Lining-up customers is usually a crucial requirement for banks to provide financing. Instead, Adnoc aims to use its own funds to back the plan, the people said, similarly to how Qatar is supporting its expansion.

Adnoc declined to comment.

The plan coincides with a US pause on approving new permits for LNG exports, which threatens to delay proposed projects in the late-2020s. That is providing a potential opening for building gas infrastructure elsewhere.

The Ruwais unit will more than double Adnocs LNG export capacity as part of a wider effort by the state-run company to expand its trading business. So far, Adnoc has signed sales pacts with Chinas ENN Natural Gas and GAIL India Ltd for supply from the new plant.

Story continues

--With assistance from Ruth Liao and Anthony Di Paola.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Singapore, Singapore--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - AGII, a leading Web3 AI platform, reaffirms its commitment to community value with a significant token burn. On February 8, 2024, AGII executed the burning of 5 million tokens, optimizing the token supply and reinforcing its long-term value creation dedication. This strategic move follows the initiation of a monthly token burn strategy announced on January 3, 2024.





Unlock the power of AI with AGII  the gateway to a smarter, more connected future.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8833/200764_13.jpg

The recent token burn is a crucial step in AGII's strategy to enhance community value, creating a deflationary environment that rewards token holders and potentially increases demand.

J.King Kasr, CEO of KaJ Labs, expressed enthusiasm about the token burn, stating, "This significant token burn is a testament to our commitment to responsible tokenomics and delivering value to our community."

AGII operates at the nexus of AI and blockchain technology, providing innovative solutions for content generation, coding, and NFT creation. With a user-centric approach, AGII empowers individuals, developers, and creators in the rapidly evolving tech landscape.

The transparent and verifiable nature of the token burn transactions, available on the Binance Smart Chain, underscores AGII's commitment to responsible tokenomics and fostering a sustainable ecosystem for long-term growth.

AGII's strategic token burns are part of a broader effort to enhance the project's value proposition and maintain a robust, sustainable ecosystem. The company remains dedicated to its mission of leveraging blockchain and AI to create a more innovative and inclusive digital future.

About AGII:

AGII is a pioneering AI platform for the Web3 era, offering cutting-edge tools for content generation, coding, and NFT creation. With a user-centric approach, AGII empowers users to bring their visions to life in the evolving digital world.

Story continues

About KaJ Labs:

KaJ Labs is a decentralized research organization focused on the convergence of AI and blockchain technology. Committed to innovation, KaJ Labs supports projects that emphasize decentralized products and services, contributing positively to society and the global community.

Media Contact:

Dorothy Marley

KaJ Labs

+1 707-622-6168

media@kajlabs.com

Visit us on social media:

Instagram

Twitter

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200764
Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions, Inc.

Momentum Building in 1st Month of Fiscal Year

Detroit, Michigan, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Robotic Assistance Devices (RAD), a wholly owned subsidiary of Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions, Inc., (the Company) ( OTCPK:AITX ), is eagerly anticipating the opportunity to showcase its groundbreaking AI-powered security and safety solutions to diverse audiences at 2 upcoming regional conferences and one online webinar. From an exclusive IAHSS Great Lakes Chapter Meeting to the 2024 Healthcare Safety & Security Symposium, RAD is poised to present the transformative potential of its technology in shaping the future of security services. With a focus on Autonomous Remote Services and advanced Firearm Detection technology, RAD remains committed to delivering innovative solutions that address the evolving challenges faced by organizations across various sectors.

Steve Reinharz, CEO/CTO of AITX and RAD commented, As RAD engages with esteemed members of the security industry and healthcare professionals, we are continuing to foster meaningful discussions and sharing insights that contribute to a safer, more secure future. We look forward to demonstrating how our solutions empower businesses and institutions to enhance their security posture efficiently and cost-effectively.

With the momentum gained from these events, RAD will be poised to make a significant impression at ISC West, where it will have the opportunity to amplify its reach, strengthen relationships, and unveil its latest advancements to a broader audience. ISC West's reputation as the premier security trade event in the U.S. aligns perfectly with RAD's mission to drive innovation and shape the future of security technology. At ISC West, taking place April 9-12 in Las Vegas, RAD will be participating in 3 discussion panels, 1 educational presentation and exhibiting in booth #20131.

Mark Folmer, CPP, PSP, FSyI, President of RAD, added, As an industry disruptor in the security services space, its important for us to get in front of our peers and show them that the future of security is right now with RAD. I am very excited about the events we have on the calendar for the next few months.

Story continues

Reinharz added, We appreciate the support and invitation from industry leaders like Allied Universal, IAHSS, SIA and Security Today magazine to help spread the word and share RADs success stories with the public.

RADs upcoming conferences and webinars are:

IAHSS Great Lakes Chapter Meeting at the REX (RAD Excellence Center)

Date: March 15, 10:00 am - 12:30 pm ET

Location: The REX (RAD Excellence Center) in Ferndale, Michigan

Hosted By: The Great Lakes Chapter of IAHSS and RAD

Description: This hands-on event is by invitation only and closed to the public. The event, hosted by the Great Lakes Chapter of IAHSS in collaboration with RAD, will focus on "Security in 2024: The Impact of Automation and Robotics." Experts from RAD and IAHSS will discuss the transformative power of security automation and robotics, including trends, innovative solutions, and future directions in security services.

2024 Healthcare Safety & Security Symposium

Date: March 22, 8:00 am - 2:00 pm ET

Location: 1 Hotel Nashville in Nashville, Tennessee

Hosted By: Allied Universal and RAD

Description: This symposium is by invitation only and closed to the public. It will address workplace safety and security in 2024, with a focus on recognizing and responding to workplace violence. Healthcare executives, facilities and risk management professionals, healthcare public safety and police departments, security-related departments, and security leaders are invited to attend.

Webinar: Enhancing Campus Safety: Practical Approaches to Advanced Firearm Detection Technology

Date: March 26, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm ET

Hosted By: Security Today Magazine and RAD

Location: Online, register at tinyurl.com/rad-firearm-detection/

Description: This webinar is open to the public. It will introduce cutting-edge advancements in firearm detection technology tailored for campus environments. Steve Reinharz, CEO of RAD, will discuss practical and affordable strategies for implementing and optimizing these solutions. Troy McCanna, RADs Chief Security Officer and former law enforcement officer with 23 years in the FBI, will provide insights into integrating advanced firearm detection within campus security protocols. Moderated by Ralph Jensen, publisher of Security Today and Campus Security & Life Safety magazines, the webinar aims to equip attendees with actionable strategies and best practices for strengthening campus security measures.

The Company proudly distinguishes itself by openly sharing its upcoming event schedule with the community and extending invitations to investors to follow the Company's activities. With a commitment to transparency and engagement, AITX recognizes the importance of keeping stakeholders informed about its strategic initiatives, industry engagements, and developmental milestones. By providing visibility into its event calendar, the Company aims to foster trust and transparency with investors while demonstrating its proactive approach to communication and investor relations. As a testament to its dedication to shareholder engagement, AITX invites investors to stay connected and informed about the Company's progress as it continues to drive innovation and growth in the security technology sector.

AITX, through its subsidiary, Robotic Assistance Devices, Inc. (RAD), is redefining the $25 billion (US) security and guarding services industry through its broad lineup of innovative, AI-driven Solutions-as-a-Service business model. RAD solutions are specifically designed to provide cost savings to businesses of between 35%-80% when compared to the industrys existing and costly manned security guarding and monitoring model. RAD delivers this tremendous cost savings via a suite of stationary and mobile robotic solutions that complement, and at times, directly replace the need for human personnel in environments better suited for machines. All RAD technologies, AI-based analytics and software platforms are developed in-house.

RAD has a prospective sales pipeline of over 35 Fortune 500 companies and numerous other client opportunities. RAD expects to continue to attract new business as it converts its existing sales opportunities into deployed clients generating a recurring revenue stream. Each Fortune 500 client has the potential of making numerous reorders over time.

About Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions (AITX)

AITX is an innovator in the delivery of artificial intelligence-based solutions that empower organizations to gain new insight, solve complex challenges and fuel new business ideas. Through its next-generation robotic product offerings, AITXs RAD, RAD-M and RAD-G companies help organizations streamline operations, increase ROI, and strengthen business. AITX technology improves the simplicity and economics of patrolling and guard services and allows experienced personnel to focus on more strategic tasks. Customers augment the capabilities of existing staff and gain higher levels of situational awareness, all at drastically reduced cost. AITX solutions are well suited for use in multiple industries such as enterprises, government, transportation, critical infrastructure, education, and healthcare. To learn more, visit www.aitx.ai, www.radsecurity.com , www.stevereinharz.com, www.radgroup.ai, www.raddog.ai, and www.radlightmyway.com, or follow Steve Reinharz on Twitter @SteveReinharz .

CAUTIONARY DISCLOSURE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The information contained in this publication does not constitute an offer to sell or solicit an offer to buy securities of Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions, Inc. (the Company). This publication contains forward-looking statements, which are not guarantees of future performance and may involve subjective judgment and analysis. The information provided herein is believed to be accurate and reliable, however the Company makes no representations or warranties, expressed or implied, as to its accuracy or completeness. The Company has no obligation to provide the recipient with additional updated information. No information in this publication should be interpreted as any indication whatsoever of the Companys future revenues, results of operations, or stock price.

###

Steve Reinharz

949-636-7060

@SteveReinharz




Anonymous social apps are in for a reckoning. Yes, again. This week, University of North Carolina (UNC) System President Peter Hans announced a plan to block the use of popular anonymous social apps on campus, including Yik Yak, Fizz, Whisper and Sidechat. The ban would impact the 16 universities, like UNC Chapel Hill, NCSU, UNC Charlotte, and others, as well as one public residential high school that comprises the UNC system.

In remarks shared in a letter with the UNC Board of Governors, Hans explains the reason for the ban, noting that these small, hyper-local platforms have "shown a reckless disregard for the wellbeing of young people and outright indifference to bullying and bad behavior."

The apps also turn a blind eye to other problems, like sexual harassment, racial insults and drug dealing, he noted.

If you're not familiar with these apps, you're probably not the target demographic.

Anonymous social apps tend to appeal to younger users and are often used for bad behavior like bullying, harassment and online abuse. Or as Hans colorfully puts it, the apps are "the modern equivalent of scrawling cruel rumors on the bathroom wall, except now with a much larger audience."

Many of the modern versions of the anonymous social set also narrowly target young people by operating within a five-mile radius of a college or university campus. That leads to large adoption among college students but, because of their use case, they're often overlooked by college administrators. Hans, for example, admitted he had never heard of any of these apps until a group of study body presidents brought them to his attention.

The anonymous social trend, unfortunately, is not new. It seems every few years -- and no matter how many times anonymous apps like these fail -- someone, somewhere builds yet another anonymous social platform. It's the cockroach category of social media.

Yik Yik, in fact, is on its second life. The initial version shut off access to U.S. middle and high school students amid bullying and threats of violence in 2014, then shut down for good in 2017 as its co-founders headed off to Square (now Block) in an acqui-hire style acquisition. But in 2021, the app resurfaced -- or at least, one bearing its same name and branding but under new ownership. (See what I mean about cockroaches?)

Story continues

No matter how many times this trend is tried, standalone anonymous social apps aimed at consumers rarely lead to a sustainable business. The cost of becoming a home to so much toxic content ultimately does them in, whether because of consumer backlash over their failure to address the cyberbullying (RIP Secret), app store bans (RIP Sarahah), de-platforming and lawsuits (RIP Snap's anonymous social developer partners), regulation (RIP Ask.fm) or, as in the case of the earlier version of YikYak, numerous campus-wide bans impacting its target market.

With UNC's move to ban the apps from operating on its network, the beginning of the end for this current set of apps could be nearing. Already, among this group there were turf wars and consolidation -- Sidechat quietly acquired Yik Yak last year, for instance. Now, these apps are surfacing on the radar of those who have the ability to hurt their adoption and usage.

While the UNC ban doesn't mean university students won't be able to access these apps -- they could still use these apps over their cellular plan or other Wi-Fi networks -- it's at least an attempt to steer students away from these platforms and the risky behaviors they inspire.

"My hope is that this action, admittedly a small step, will prompt deeper reflection about how were encouraging our students to spend their time, engage with their peers, and cultivate a public square thats worthy of a public university," wrote Hans.

The UNC System president said he was inspired to take action after listening to a public lecture given by NYU social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, who pointed out that our current relationship with technology and online life is a choice, and we could make different choices.

"We used to prescribe opium to children, [Haidt] noted, and we stopped when it became clear that we were doing terrible harm," Hans said." I think were approaching a similar moment of clarity when it comes to the digital meds freely dispensed to them for the last fifteen years," he added.

Yik Yak, Sidechat, Whisper and Fizz were asked for comment using public email addresses published on their websites and in their terms of service. None of the companies responded and some of their published emails don't work, even though the apps are up and running. Attempts to reach Fizz through a previous PR rep also failed. Sidechat quietly acquired Yik Yak in 2023.

The apps today have a small foothold among younger users. According to data from app intelligence firm AppFigures, Yik Yak is the largest of the group, with over 3.5 million iOS installs since 2021, almost entirely in the U.S.. Sidechat has roughly 334,700 iOS installs (92.8% are in the U.S.); Whisper has 761,044 Android installs (and 4.2M since 2017); and Fizz has 583,318 iOS installs.

Some of the apps have caught the attention of universities before. In addition to the original Yik Yak, Harvard reached out to Sidechat in January over student reports of antisemitic posts on its platform, asking the company to do more to moderate its content. Florida State University also included Fizz in its 2023 ban on apps that threatened personal privacy and national security, alongside TikTok, WeChat, and others as did Florida A&M.

The four anonymous social apps Hans referenced aren't yet banned on UNC campuses. However, Hans asked the legal and IT teams to develop a plan to block the apps from the UNC System infrastructure. He did not share a timeline as to when the blocks would be in place.

Sarah Perez is reachable at sarahp@techcrunch.com or @sarahperez.01 / 415.234.3994 on Signal.
University of Marylands Smith School of Business has unveiled an AI job mapping tool. Courtesy photo

It could be the next big thing to help MBA students and grads find jobs in AI: A new AI job mapping tool out of the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland goes beyond using a simple keyword search, pinpointing which regions have the most jobs available and in which sector.

Incredibly, it operates at a rate of 90% accuracy  much higher than similar tools designed to perform the same function.

Other similar tools have been found to be 70% inaccurate, mostly because they are using a keyword search, says Professor Anil Gupta, one of the professors behind the tool Maryland LinkUp AI Maps.

Professor Anil Gupta  courtesy photo

SEARCHING FOR A RICH POND TO FISH IN

What we did at UMD is, we fine-tuned a large language model that actually reads the job posting the way AI would read any text, Gupta tells Poets&Quants, and that determines with a very high degree of accuracy if the job needs AI skills or not.

The tool was designed not just for MBAs but for any users  from companies to policymakers to non-business graduates. Gupta says the tool proves itself a great resource for searching for a rich pond to fish in for those seeking AI-skilled jobs.

Gupta, who has been with Maryland since 1986, has a background in business strategy. Behind the scenes with him in the creation of the AI Map are his faculty colleagues Siva Viswanathan and Kunpeng Zhang, Ph.D. student Hanwen Shi, and a few masters students. The Smith team has partnered with Outrigger Group and LinkUp to gather their most recent data, sourced exclusively from company career pages.

Gupta says they chose LinkUp because half of the companys clients are hedge funds that rely heavily on accurate and top-tier data sourcing. He notes there are three main buckets that AI work can be sorted into: those creating the technology, policymakers who handle the ethics and governance of AI, and those who are interested in AI and the economy.

Story continues

REVEALING NEW FINDINGS IN THE AI JOB MARKET

Our work falls in the third bucket, Gupta says. We think our contribution lies in providing hard data on one important aspect  AI and the economy.

Gupta and the Maryland Smith team update the site monthly, releasing new information mid-month. He and his colleagues have published a white paper to help share their findings, called From the West to the Rest. Based on the data, California is at the forefront of AI jobs and will likely continue to dominate as the leading region for AI jobs for the foreseeable future, Gupta says. Following closely behind is the Washington, D.C./Maryland/Virginia area, with the NY/New Jersey region not far behind. Texas ranks fourth, with New England claiming the fifth spot.

The Maryland Smith team intends to publish more findings every few months, and their next paper will explain whats happening across sectors and industries to determine which have adopted AI more, which have adopted AI less, and at what speed.

A screenshot of Maryland Smiths AI job mapping tool

THE MOST UNEXPECTED FINDINGS

The most unexpected finding from the data lies in the D.C. region. The share of all jobs is about 6%, while their share of AI jobs accounts for a whopping 12% of all AI jobs. Gupta comments that he knew intuitively that AI is exploding and going viral, but what he didnt know was the extent to which it is expanding.

Ive been in D.C. for a long time, says Gupta, and I knew that this is a highly educated community. But I didnt know how things were playing out in terms of the AI jobs.

He reached out to a few of his contacts who serve as chief data officers in various agencies to discuss these findings, and much to his surprise, they were not surprised. They had seen the industry trending this way over the past five years.

Looking ahead, Gupta says he and his team plan to broaden their focus to include new sectors and potentially integrate compensation data. We see this as a live dynamic and ongoing project, he says.

The post Attention MBA Job Seekers: Maryland Smith Unveils An AI Jobs Map With 90% Accuracy appeared first on Poets&Quants.
SINGAPORE / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Fairbanc, the Singapore and Silicon Valley based technology platform that enables B2B Embedded Finance for micro-businesses in Indonesia in collaboration with large consumer brands like Unilever, Danone, Nestle, and Xiaomi just secured $13.3M in off balance sheet debt financing from the Indonesian State Backed Pegadaian's digital lending arm that operates under the aegis of state owned largest Indonesian Bank, Bank Rakyat Indonesia. The startup was already financing over 200K merchants and was about to become profitable. The funding will further boost its profit as it scales up its operations with off-balance sheet financing through its new BNPL Gateway. This new financial backing comes on the heels of recent investments from the likes of Vertex Venture, Asian Development Bank, East Venture, Lippo Group, 500 Global, Accion Venture Labs, and Indonesian billionaire Michael Sampoerna.

Fairbanc-Pegadaian Signing Ceremony / Photo credit: Fairbanc

Fairbanc's ability to extract outlet level Big Data by connecting with major brand's ERPs and derive credit score using AI and Machine Learning were the key synergies highlighted by Pak Mulyono, the Chief of Transformation Office of Pegadaian who led the signing ceremony which was also attended by Teguh Ismanto, the Head of Digital Lending and Muhammad Ikhsan, SVP, Digital Lending.

The Digital Transformation Team: Pak Mulyono, the Chief of Transformation Office, Teguh Budi Ismanto, the Head of Digital Lending and Muhammad Ikhsan, SVP, Digital Lending. / Photo credit: Pegadaian

PT Pegadaian, a subsidiary of Bank Rakyat Indonesia, is mainly engaged in lending through a pawning system. Pegadaian , one of the most iconic companies of Indonesia, began its history in 1746 during Dutch colonial era, now serves over 21 million customers with over 4,000 branches throughout the country and has over $4.8B USD (73T IDR) of assets under its management.

Story continues

Pegadaian's long-term vision is to "act as the catalyst to help SMEs grow their income by offering working capital through a scalable digital platform like Fairbanc that can easily credit score FMCG retailers by analyzing their order and payment history by seamlessly connecting with the ERP systems of major consumer brands that sell to these retailers" says Muhammad Ikhsan, SVP of Digital Lending.

"Through Fairbanc platform, we empower SMEs to purchase more inventory on credit at the point of purchase to fuel sustainable growth. This synergy between finance and technology not only streamlines our lending operations but also positions Pegadaian as a key partner in the SMEs' journey towards resilience and success in the digital era." added Mr. Ikhsan who played a critical role in securing the partnership with the Silicon Valley based startup Fairbanc,.

Fairbanc, founded in 2019 by Mir Haque, a Wharton MBA who previously worked for many of the well-known global companies including Google, Adobe, McKinsey, and Deutsche Bank was recently shortlisted for the Cannes Lions Awards for Sustainable Development. According to a survey conducted by Unilever, 80% of the Fairbanc's beneficiaries are unbanked and around 70% are women merchants who were able to increase their sales by an average of 35% - thanks to BNPL enabled by Fairbanc's technology. Fairbanc's founding team also includes many FinTech veterans like the former CTO of Kiva, a San Francisco based microcredit platform that operates in 77 countries and disbursed $1.4B in microloans, and Thomas Schumacher who co-founded California based emerging market microloan giant Tala that recently closed a funding round at $800M valuation.

With its new capital, Fairbanc plans to make a bigger push into Indonesia, a country that hosts the fourth largest unbanked population globally, with 95 million adults still lacking a formal account at a financial institution. However, with a growing middle class, an increasingly tech-savvy youth population, and a regulatory environment encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship, Indonesia is now home to the most billion-dollar tech start-ups in Southeast Asia (including Bukalapak, Go-Jek, Tokopedia, and OVO), boasting a range of e-commerce, ride-sharing, media distribution, and financial services.

Mir is convinced that Indonesia offers Fairbanc the right backdrop to bring about a scalable solution that can be replicated in many other emerging countries to address one of the greatest challenges and opportunities of the century: providing the millions of merchants with the basics of credit to help fuel economic revitalizations in order to uplift millions of poor merchants out of dire poverty. Mir is already exploring expansion opportunities into Vietnam and the Philippines in partnership with Unilever.

Media Details

Company Name: Fairbanc

Business Mail: mir@fairbanc.app

City & Country: Singapore, Singapore

Website: https://fairbanc.app/

SOURCE: Fairbanc





View the original press release on accesswire.com




Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

What could it be? An IRA, 401(k)? Nope. In an Us Weekly interview, Barbara Corcoran said that travel was the best investment to make before you turn 30.

Read More: Suze Orman: Parents, Get Roth IRAs for Your Kids So They Can Retire Millionaires

Find Out: One Smart Way To Grow Your Retirement Savings in 2024

If youre wondering why, heres what she said about traveling, why she thinks its one of the most important things to invest in while youre young, and whether this advice still holds up  according to financial advisors and planners.

Sponsored: Protect Your Wealth With A Gold IRA. Take advantage of the timeless appeal of gold in a Gold IRA recommended by Sean Hannity.

Travel Is the Best Money Youll Spend

According to Corcoran, people should invest in at least one good trip before they turn 30. It doesnt have to be an international vacation either. It could simply be a weekend trip to someplace youve always wanted to go. But regardless of your destination, you shouldnt be afraid to spend money on it.

Think of where you most want to go and blow a lot of money on itThe one thing the world cant take away from you is a phenomenal memory of where you were, and how much laughing you got done when you were there, away from your homefront, Corcoran said.

Unlike material items, Corcoran pointed out that travel is also one of those things that you get to keep forever  or at least the memories you got from your trip. And the experience itself is something that can make a difference in who you are and who you become.

Check Out: Im a Financial Advisor: Id Invest My First $5,000 in These 6 Stocks

Traveling Can Be a Great Investment  If You Can Afford It

Corcorans advice about choosing travel as your No. 1 investment while youre young has its merits. But not everyone can afford it.

For many of us, travel has a great return on investment in the memories we make. Traveling when you are young may be formative in your perspective on the world and figuring out what is truly important to you, said Jay Zigmont, PhD, CFP, founder of Childfree Wealth. The challenge is, when you are young, you are less likely to have the extra cash for traveling.

Story continues

Not only that, but Zigmonts advice is to focus on paying down any debt before blowing money on travel. Once thats done, you might want to start saving up.

If you are in debt, you need to focus on paying off that debt prior to traveling, he said. You also dont want to take out new debt to travel.

So, what if you dont have any debt and still cant save up enough money to travel? There may be ways to afford it even then.

The best bet is if you can get someone else to pay for your travel, Zigmont said. Look for jobs or volunteer opportunities that come with planned travel. Many businesses will allow you to tack on extra time to a business trip for pleasure if you cover the hotel and food. In just a few years, my wife and I were able to tack on trips to China, France, and Spain, all by leveraging work opportunities.

Travel Could Be the Way to True Wealth

Young adulthood is also the time to discover what it means to build true wealth, and this is something you could discover through travel.

My true belief is travel allows us to understand different cultures, which ultimately brings us to understand who we truly are. Once you know who you truly are, it allows you to align and build your true wealth,' said Stoy Hall, CFP, CEO and founder of Black Mammoth.

Our industry gets investing all wrong, Hall continued. We focus on ROI and what the stock market is doing; we need to focus on experiences and balancing investing back into ourselves, both mentally and physically. Once you have aligned your mental, physical and financial health, your wealth truly grows!

Hall did recommend starting small or with local trips and working your way to bigger or more expensive trips. Unlike Corcoran, who advised splurging on the trip, he also suggested setting a realistic travel budget and adding to it each month as you would to any savings or investment account.

Travel May Be a Great Expense Rather Than a Wise Investment

For some people, travel could be a good investment in themselves, their life experiences and their personal growth. But for others, especially those who might want to start a family, it might be a good expense instead.

I would probably refer to travel as an absolutely good expense rather than an investment, said Chris Urban, CFP, RICP, founder at Discovery Wealth Planning. If you are considering settling down and starting a family, I highly recommend doing as much travel as possible before this phase of life begins.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Barbara Corcoran Recommends Making This Investment Before Turning 30  Is She Right?
Before diving into a grim earnings call detailing how debt, lawsuits, and loss of exclusivity on key drugs would delay restructuring plans, pharma group Bayers CEO opened the proceedings with a fairly morbid account of the time he broke his leg skateboarding in 2021.

I had a freak fall, and I broke my right femur in four places, Bayer chief Bill Anderson said of the injuries he sustained from a hobby hes been doing for 40 years.

I was face down in the street, no friends or family with me, and my leg was bent almost 90 degrees, and I was on the edge of unconsciousness from the pain, Anderson added, before concluding that he was still able to keep working while being affected in every other part of his life.

The point of this over-the-top war story? Anderson sees similarities between his injured body and the current state of the $25 billion German company.

Anderson, who took charge of Bayer in June last year, was using the metaphor of his broken leg to ask investors for patience as he shelved plans to split the group into three separate parts for up to three years.

We are a high-impact, mission-driven life science company with three strong businesses, but we're badly broken in four places, he said.

Broken Bayer

Bayer, the group that patented Aspirin, has had several issues come to a head at once after suffering from years of decline. The company is worth a quarter of its $122 billion peak from nine years ago, while shares in Bayer dropped by more than half in the last year.

Sales declined by 7% last year to 47.6 billion ($51.7 billion), according to the groups latest annual financial report. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to 10.6 billion ($11.5 billion), and is expected to fall again in 2024

The pharma group has been hammered by a wave of litigation since buying Monsanto, the parent company behind the controversial weedkiller Roundup, for $63 billion in 2018 in what is now seen by some analysts as one of the worst acquisitions in history.

Story continues

Bayer has already been ordered to pay out billions of dollars in damages to former customers who claimed years of using the weedkiller had contributed to them developing cancer, and has thousands more cases to defend in the pipeline.

The group has enjoyed some victories in this space more recently, however. Last week, a California judge slashed a $332 million fine by 90%, while Bayer had another lawsuit against it dismissed this week, Bloomberg reported.

Bayer is also contending with the looming expiry on the exclusivity of some of its most important drugs, expirations that are expected to place a significant strain on revenues.

Blood-clot medication Xarelto, Bayers best-selling drug, is set to see its exclusivity expire in 2026, which chief financial officer Wolfgang Nickl projects will cause a double-digit decline in sales of the drug.

These issues have contributed to a debt pileup of 34.5 billion ($37.5 billion), not much less than the companys annual sales.

Ratings agency Fitch downgraded Bayers outlook to negative in August amid the groups mounting challenges.

Bayer has pledged to bring down debt in the coming years through profitability in its core businesses while cutting its dividend to the legal minimum over the next three years, equivalent to a 95% reduction.

Anderson resists split

Amid this sea of obstacles, investors have been urging Bayer to split the company into three distinct groupsbased on its pharmaceutical, consumer health, and crop science divisionsto inspire a turnaround in fortunes.

Unlike his now-healed femur though, Anderson is resisting calls from investors to break up the pharma group into separate entities, indicating it will take up to three years of steadying the ship before that can happen.

In short, on the question of structure, our answer is not now. And this shouldn't be misunderstood as never, Anderson said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Big banks have been pressing US regulators to reconsider a controversial rule requiring them to hold greater buffers against future losses, and this week they got what they wanted.

Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell and FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg both said Thursday they anticipate changes to the rule following pushback from lenders, community groups, Republicans, and even some Democrats.

Powell told Senate lawmakers that "I expect there will be material and broad changes," and "we wont hesitate" to re-propose the rule if that makes sense  repeating a point he made to House lawmakers Wednesday.

Gruenberg told reporters separately "I certainly think we anticipate making changes in the final rule based on the extensive comments that we've received."

The concerns about the capital rule  the most aggressive change to how banks are regulated since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis  range from harm it could do to the US economy to ways in which it would reduce access to mortgages for disadvantaged home buyers.

The willingness of regulators to change what they already proposed highlights the increased sway that big banks have in Washington, a sharp contrast to the harsh political scrutiny they received in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

"We also see this as potentially marking an important inflection point whereby the regulatory burden levied on the largest banks" after the 2008 crisis "could be nearing a peak," Ebrahim Poonawala, a bank analyst for Bank of America, said in a note this week.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Thursday accused Powell of flip-flopping on tougher capital rules after pledging last year to be more aggressive with supervision following the failures of several mid-sized lenders such as Silicon Valley Bank.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) (Tom Williams via Getty Images)

"You have gone weak-kneed on this," she told Powell during a Senate Banking Committee hearing.

Powell said the capital rule  known as Basel III  is not directly related to what happened to Silicon Valley Bank and that the Fed is taking other steps to heighten supervision of specific banks.

Story continues

You will see I am doing exactly what I said I would do, Powell said.

At issue are higher capital requirements that were unveiled last summer by Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr. Those requirements focused on the amount of capital that banks must have in reserve to protect themselves from insolvency.

Regulators have said the proposal would result in a 16% increase in capital levels and a 20% increase in risk-weighted assets for big banks.

In the months since, the banks have launched a campaign to roll back the new rules  or scrap them entirely. Many banks submitted letters to the Fed listing the many problems they have with the rules ahead of a deadline for those comments that ended Tuesday.

The banks have contemplated suing if the rules dont get changed. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CFO Jeremy Barnum openly discussed that possibility with reporters in January.

Suing the banks own regulator "is never a preferred option," he said, but "it cant be taken off the table."

The Bank Policy Institute, a trade group representing JPMorgan and other big banks, has reportedly hired a lawyer to prepare a lawsuit if the rules dont get changed, according to a report by Semafor.

One big bank lobbyist, Financial Services Forum president and CEO Kevin Fromer, said he was "encouraged" by Powells assurances this week.

"We agree: Broad and material changes are needed to the proposal to avoid significant harm to the economy, businesses of every size, and American households," he said.

"To achieve that, we continue to believe that a re-proposal is the best approach to giving the public a well-justified and data-based rule that is consistent with the plans of other jurisdictions."

Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
FILE - Fans sit under a TikTok ad at a baseball game at Yankee Stadium, April 14, 2023, in New York. A bill that could lead to the popular video-sharing app TikTok being unavailable in the United States is quickly gaining traction in the House. Lawmakers advanced legislation against TikTok Thursday as they voiced concerns about the potential for the platform to surveil and manipulate Americans. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)

WASHINGTON (AP)  A bill that could lead to the popular video-sharing app TikTok being unavailable in the United States is quickly gaining traction in the House as lawmakers voice concerns about the potential for the platform to surveil and manipulate Americans.

The measure gained the support of House Speaker Mike Johnson and could soon come up for a full vote in the House. The bill advanced out of committee Thursday in a unanimous bipartisan vote  50-0.

The White House has provided technical support in the drafting of the bill, though White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the TikTok legislation still needs some work to get to a place where President Joe Biden would endorse it.

The bill takes a two-pronged approach. First, it requires ByteDance Ltd., which is based in Beijing, to divest TikTok and other applications it controls within 180 days of enactment of the bill or those applications will be prohibited in the United States. Second, it creates a narrow process to let the executive branch prohibit access to an app owned by a foreign adversary if it poses a threat to national security.

Its an important, bipartisan measure to take on China, our largest geopolitical foe, which is actively undermining our economy and security," Johnson said Thursday.

Some lawmakers and critics of TikTok have argued the Chinese government could force the company to share data on American users. TikTok says it has never done that and wouldn't do so if asked. The U.S. government also hasnt provided evidence of that happening.

Critics also claim the app could be used to spread misinformation beneficial to Beijing.

Former President Donald Trump attempted to ban TikTok through executive order, but the courts blocked the action after TikTok sued, arguing such actions would violate free speech and due process rights.

TikTok raised similar concerns about the legislation gaining momentum in the House.

This bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it. This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs," the company said in a prepared statement.

Story continues

The bill's author, Rep. Mike Gallagher, the Republican chairman of a special House committee focused on China, rejected TikTok's assertion of a ban. Rather, he said it's an effort to force a change in TikTok's ownership. He also took issue with TikTok urging some users to call their representatives and urge them to vote no on the bill.

The notification urged TikTok users to speak up now  before your government strips 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression. The notification also warned that the ban of TikTok would damage millions of businesses and destroy the lives of countless creators around the country.

TikTok users responded by flooding the offices of lawmakers with telephone calls. Some offices even shut off their phones because of the onslaught. A congressional aide not authorized to speak on the matter publicly said that lawmakers on the committee voting on the bill Thursday as well as others were inundated with calls.

"Today, it's about our bill and it's about intimidating members considering that bill, but tomorrow it could be misinformation or lies about an election, about a war, about any number of things, Gallagher said. This is why we can't take a chance on having a dominant news platform in America controlled or owned by a company that is behold to the Chinese Communist Party, our foremost adversary.

The bill comes about one year after TikToks CEO was grilled for hours by skeptical lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee concerned about data security and the distribution of harmful content. That same committee met Thursday to debate and vote on the bill.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the committee's Republican chair, said TikTok's access to so many Americans makes it a valuable propaganda tool for the Chinese government to exploit. She also noted that its parent company ByteDance is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for surveilling American journalists.

Through this access, the app is able to collect nearly every data point imaginable, from peoples location, to what they search on their devices, who they are connecting with, and other forms of sensitive information," Rodgers said.

To assuage concerns from lawmakers, TikTok has promised to wall off U.S. user data from its parent company through a separate entity run independently from ByteDance and monitored by outside observers. TikTok says new user data is currently being stored on servers maintained by the software company Oracle.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other free speech advocacy groups urged lawmakers to reject the TikTok bill, saying in a letter to the Energy and Commerce Committee's leadership that passing this legislation would trample on the constitutional right to freedom of speech of millions of people in the United States.

Bidens reelection campaign has opened a TikTok account as a way to boost its appeal with young voters, even as his administration continued to raise security concerns about whether the popular social media app might be sharing user data with Chinas communist government.

Jean-Pierre said the White House welcomes lawmakers' efforts on the TikTok legislation, but lawmakers need to continue work on it.

Once it gets to a place where we think .. its on legal standing and its in a place where it can get out of Congress, then the president would sign it, she told reporters on Wednesday during the daily White House briefing.

She also defended the White Houses efforts to limit the dangers of TikTok, even as the president engages with influencers on the social-media platform and his campaign hosts a TikTok account.

We are going to try to meet the America people where they are, Jean-Pierre said. We are trying to reach everyone. The president is the president for all Americans .. it doesnt mean that were not going to try to figure out how to protect our national security.

___

Associated Press staff writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report and staff writer Mae Anderson contributed from Brooklyn, New York. Hadero reported from Jersey City, New Jersey.
Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that Telekom Malaysia Berhad (KLSE:TM) is about to go ex-dividend in just four days. Typically, the ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date which is the date on which a company determines the shareholders eligible to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade takes at least two business day to settle. In other words, investors can purchase Telekom Malaysia Berhad's shares before the 12th of March in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 29th of March.

The company's next dividend payment will be RM00.105 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of RM0.25 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Telekom Malaysia Berhad has a trailing yield of 4.2% on the current stock price of RM05.94. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

Check out our latest analysis for Telekom Malaysia Berhad

Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Telekom Malaysia Berhad paid out more than half (51%) of its earnings last year, which is a regular payout ratio for most companies. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. Fortunately, it paid out only 44% of its free cash flow in the past year.

It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.

Story continues

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. It's encouraging to see Telekom Malaysia Berhad has grown its earnings rapidly, up 64% a year for the past five years. The current payout ratio suggests a good balance between rewarding shareholders with dividends, and reinvesting in growth. Earnings per share have been growing quickly and in combination with some reinvestment and a middling payout ratio, the stock may have decent dividend prospects going forwards.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. It looks like the Telekom Malaysia Berhad dividends are largely the same as they were 10 years ago.

Final Takeaway

Should investors buy Telekom Malaysia Berhad for the upcoming dividend? We like Telekom Malaysia Berhad's growing earnings per share and the fact that - while its payout ratio is around average - it paid out a lower percentage of its cash flow. It's a promising combination that should mark this company worthy of closer attention.

So while Telekom Malaysia Berhad looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Telekom Malaysia Berhad (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you ought to be aware of before buying the shares.

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.
(Bloomberg) -- As lawmakers and advisers meet in Beijing this week for the nations biggest political gathering of the year, the Chinese Communist Partys official Peoples Daily newspaper released a list of the events buzzwords.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Tracking slogans and phrases from government and party documents has become an important way to gain insight into Chinese policymaking, especially as the country has increasingly restricted access to information. This year, Li Qiang will be the first premier in three decades to not hold a press briefing at the National Peoples Congress, removing a rare platform to engage with one of the most senior officials in the country.

Here are the key terms that can help better understand Chinas priorities for the upcoming year.

New Three ()

Premier Li noted during his work report that exports of the new three growth drivers of electric vehicles, batteries and solar products grew by 30% last year. While the focus on the three sectors helps in the de-carbonization push, they are far from enough to replace traditional economic drivers such as the property sector. Chinas push into high-end manufacturing is also already raising tensions with trade partners. The term hearkens back to the old three pillars of Chinese manufacturing, including household appliances, furniture and clothing.

Read more: Xis Solution for Chinas Economy Risks Triggering New Trade War

Ultra-Long Special Central Government Bonds ()

Li announced the countrys plan to issue 1 trillion yuan ($139 billion) of ultra-long special central government bonds as authorities ramp up fiscal stimulus. Its only the fourth such sale in the past 26 years, with the most recent one in 2020 when authorities issued the same amount of such bonds to pay for pandemic response measures. The amount was in line with expectations, but analysts say China will need a lot more if it is to meet its aggressive growth target of around 5% this year.

Story continues

Read more: China Plans $139 Billion Special Ultra-Long Debt for Economy

Consistency of Macro Policy Orientation ()

The phrase gained prominence during a Politburo meeting in December and then featured again at the Central Economic Work Conference later that month. The government has called for the stronger coordination of fiscal, monetary, employment, industrial and regional policies. Investors have complained about policy whiplash which has led to stock market swings, such as when harsh gaming curbs sparked a multi-billion dollar rout late last year.

What Bloomberg Economics Says ...

The 5% target for 2024 sets a high bar, given a more challenging base than last year  hitting it will require more stimulus. The stronger-than-expected budget plan is consistent with the ambitious goal. The strategy may be to make an immediate fiscal push to boost growth. To succeed, policymakers will need to avoid a repeat of 2023, when spending fell behind schedule and additional stimulus was dispensed only slowly.

 Chang Shu, David Qu and Eric Zhu, economists

Read the full report here.

New Productive Forces ()

The term was introduced by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in September during an inspection trip to the countrys northeast. The official Xinhua News Agency said it means advanced productivity freed from traditional economic growth models, featuring new growth drivers that are high technology, high efficiency and high quality. State media has said these growth drivers include everything from the tourism industry to Chinas new three. Leaders including Xi have recently stressed that traditional industries can also become productive forces, perhaps reflecting concerns about whether an overemphasis on new sectors could lead to a contraction in older ones. For now, the buzzword is being embraced: The chairman of one of Chinas largest spirit companies called the liquor industry an important vehicle for new productive forces because it embraces technological innovation, local media reported.

Read more: Xi Wants New Productive Forces to Fit Local Conditions

Worry-Free Consumption ()

A government drive to get consumers spending by focusing on issues with food safety, refund policies and disputes between buyers and sellers has been underway since at least the summer of last year. However, economists say that measures such as worry-free buying and trade-in programs highlighted in the government work report fall far short of the types of stimulus and confidence-boosting measures that will be needed to get consumers spending again. There are already plenty of signs of consumption downgrading due to the persistent property slump and slowing economy.

Read more: China Calls for New Appliances, More Vacation to Revive Spending

Future Industries ()

Li pledged to formulate development plans for the industries of the future, name-checking new fields such as quantum technology and life sciences. He also pledged to strengthen coordination and planning to prevent overcapacity and redundant development. The central government said it would increase spending on scientific and technology research by 10% in 2024, and pledged to harness the entire nations resources to drive tech advances.

Read more: China to Mobilize Nation as It Fights US for Tech Supremacy

Invest in China ()

Li said China would increase efforts to attract foreign investment and build the Invest in China brand. Foreign direct investment slumped to a 30-year low in 2023 on concerns over Chinas long-term growth prospects and as geopolitical tensions rise. A widening yield gap with the US also meant investors moved money offshore in search of higher returns. Though the government has vowed to improve the business environment and released a list of 24 points last year to achieve these ends, it may be too little for executives who believe the risk-reward trade-off of doing business in the country has fundamentally changed.

Read more: Xis Mixed Messages Leave Whiplashed Investors Wary of China

Nationally Unified Computational System ()

Chinese officials have said they see computing power playing the same key infrastructure role that waterways and electricity grids have in the past, and set goals last year to build of a national computing network. As part of an effort to make a more digital economy, China already has an East Data West Computing plan, which involves building huge data centers in poorer western provinces to hold data generated by internet companies based in the east. The unified system would be able to better allocate computational power and storage, according to state media.

Read more: US Said to Consider Limits on Cloud Computing For China

AI Plus Initiative (+)

Li announced China would launch the AI Plus Initiative this year. While details are scarce, AI is a core area of competition between the US and China. State media cited an academic at a government-linked think tank as saying that the initiative would promote the in-depth integration of AI and the real economy by deepening the research and application of AI technology.

Read more: Chaotic Markets Give US an AI Edge Over China: New Economy

--With assistance from Junyi Wu, Fran Wang, Jing Li and James Mayger.

(Updates with Chinese language version of buzzwords, businessmans comments on new productive forces.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Key Insights

The projected fair value for Mary Chia Holdings is S$0.012 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

Mary Chia Holdings' S$0.011 share price indicates it is trading at similar levels as its fair value estimate

Peers of Mary Chia Holdings are currently trading on average at a 388% premium

Does the March share price for Mary Chia Holdings Limited (Catalist:5OX) reflect what it's really worth? Today, we will estimate the stock's intrinsic value by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present 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. 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 Mary Chia Holdings

Crunching The Numbers

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. Seeing as no analyst estimates of free cash flow are available to us, we have extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the company's last reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

Story continues

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (SGD, Millions) S$366.1k S$288.6k S$247.6k S$224.6k S$211.3k S$203.9k S$200.1k S$198.7k S$199.0k S$200.4k Growth Rate Estimate Source Est @ -31.10% Est @ -21.16% Est @ -14.19% Est @ -9.32% Est @ -5.91% Est @ -3.52% Est @ -1.85% Est @ -0.68% Est @ 0.14% Est @ 0.71% Present Value (SGD, Millions) Discounted @ 8.8% S$0.3 S$0.2 S$0.2 S$0.2 S$0.1 S$0.1 S$0.1 S$0.1 S$0.09 S$0.09

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = S$1.6m

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 2.1%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 8.8%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = S$200k (1 + 2.1%)  (8.8% 2.1%) = S$3.0m

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= S$3.0m ( 1 + 8.8%)10= S$1.3m

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 S$2.9m. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of S$0.01, the company appears about fair value at a 11% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

dcf

Important Assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the 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 Mary Chia Holdings 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 8.8%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.473. 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 Mary Chia Holdings

Strength

Debt is well covered by earnings and cashflows.

Weakness

No major weaknesses identified for 5OX.

Opportunity

Has sufficient cash runway for more than 3 years based on current free cash flows.

Current share price is below our estimate of fair value.

Lack of analyst coverage makes it difficult to determine 5OX's earnings prospects.

Threat

Total liabilities exceed total assets, which raises the risk of financial distress.

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. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. For Mary Chia Holdings, there are three additional items you should further examine:

Risks: For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Mary Chia Holdings (3 shouldn't be ignored) you should be aware of. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing! 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.
(Bloomberg) -- Global buyout firms including Carlyle Group Inc. and KKR & Co. have shown preliminary interest in a potential takeover of Samsonite International SA, according to people familiar with the matter.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Other private equity firms making early assessments on a potential bid for the Hong Kong-listed luggage maker include Bain Capital and CVC Capital Partners, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. China-focused DCP Capital Partners, a minority shareholder in Samsonite, is also evaluating coinvesting with other bidders, the people said.

The investment funds may consider teaming up and forming a consortium if Samsonite decides to move forward with a plan to go private, the people said, adding that more bidders could emerge.

Samsonites shares erased losses following the Bloomberg News report, jumping as much as 2.3% after the mid-day trading break in Hong Kong. Theyd fallen 1.9% in the morning session.

The fragmented ownership structure of Samsonite, which has headquarters in Massachusetts and Luxembourg, may create some hurdles for any take-private deal as it would take only a few opponents to block a plan, the people said.

Talks are preliminary and the parties may decide against pursuing a deal, the people said. Representatives for the buyout firms declined to comment. A Samsonite representative didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Samsonite has been weighing its options after receiving takeover interest from private equity firms, Bloomberg News reported in late February. Some buyout firms have been considering acquiring the company and relisting it elsewhere later, people familiar with the matter said at the time.

Story continues

Samsonite has a market value of about HK$43 billion ($5.5 billion). Its shares surged as much as 18% on Feb. 27 following Bloombergs report on the company considering options, and the stock has risen a further 10% since.

Samsonite, which traces its roots back to 1910, was bought by CVC for about $1.7 billion in 2007. It went public in Hong Kong four years later as consumer-goods makers looked to capitalize on Chinas increasing affluence. The company also sells luggage and travel accessories under brands including American Tourister, Tumi and High Sierra. Samsonite has studied the possibility of a second listing in the US, Bloomberg reported previously.

--With assistance from Swetha Gopinath and Cathy Chan.

(Adds share price move in the fourth paragraph and updates eighth paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Gov. Maura Healey and others attend a breakfast event at the AC Hotel by Marriott Worcester Thursday morning. The event was hosted by the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.

WORCESTER  Gov. Maura T. Healey, at a business breakfast gathering Thursday, stressed that the solution to the states housing crisis is more construction and renovation, while praising Worcester for the progress made toward the mitigation of housing issues.

In a gathering hosted by the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce at AC Hotels by Marriott, Healey reiterated that her focus remains to make the state competitive, affordable and equitable.

We need to build more housing, said Healey. Some of that is new construction, some of that is looking at old factories, old buildings and state property and turning that into housing.

I want to credit Worcester for its tremendous efforts. There's no community city or town in Massachusetts where there is more opportunity for more housing and in need for more housing.

Housing a top issue

Healey reiterated how the housing crisis in the state remains her administrations priority, touting the $4 billion package announced Oct. 18 as the Affordable Homes Act, a bond bill defined as a package of spending, policy and programmatic actions.

The largest proposed investment in housing in state history, the package consists of capital spending authorizations, 28 policy changes or initiatives, three executive orders and two tax credits with the intention of reducing barriers to producing and preserving housing.

In November, Healey visited Worcester to tour the Courthouse Lofts on Main Street, a $53 million mixed-income housing project with 118 studio and one-, two- and three-bedroom units that converted the former Worcester County Courthouse.

Worcester, like much of Massachusetts, is experiencing an affordable housing crisis where demand for housing has outpaced supply.

The city has become a hub for life science manufacturers over the years, with biomedical and pharmaceutical production companies heading toward the city. Healey said the growth of that sector goes hand in hand with housing developments.

Story continues

Biomanufacturing projects in recent years include the development of The Reactory, a 46-acre property along Belmont Street by the nonprofit Worcester Business Development Corp. at the former location of Worcester State Hospital.

Regarding housing developments, a 228-apartment building on Madison Street called the Revington opened last year, while a developer is targeting a pair of empty downtown parcels for two seven-story retail and residential buildings, among other projects.

'Worcester...this incredible ecosystem'

Were encouraging so many companies to set up shop in Worcester, said Healey. Worcester has become this incredible ecosystem of research and academic institutions and now, life sciences industries who are not only doing the research here but also doing the manufacturing here.

"We need people to be able to live here and afford to live here.

City Manager Eric D. Batista echoed Healey, saying Thursday how the city needs to increase its production of housing as a solution to the housing crisis.

Batista also touched on how the city is at capacity for life science companies, stressing how theres a need for development to grow in that sector as well.

There's more demand of people wanting to come to the city which means that we need to increase our production, said Batista. We need to develop more spaces for life sciences to be competitive in the workforce, to be able to build more housing, to bring people to work.

It's one of those things, What comes first the chicken or the egg? and that's what we're strengthening right now.

On Thursday, Healey also touched on focusing on education and literacy across the state, while also singling out the safety of school children.

She did so while reflecting about a double killing that rocked Worcester Tuesday, in which an 11-year-old girl and her mother were gunned down on Englewood Avenue.

The young victim was a Worcester Public Schools student.

"Members of the Worcester Public Schools community are with us, and while I know they must be shaken themselves, they are continuing to help students process this frightening and senseless loss, said Healey. "There's nothing more important than giving our young people the foundation and a strong start that they need while assuring safety from violence and trauma."

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Gov. Healey speaks at meeting of Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce
(Bloomberg) --

Most Read from Bloomberg

Chinas foreign minister blasted the US for imposing a bewildering level of trade curbs on the Asian nation, as President Joe Bidens efforts to block Beijing from advanced tech undermine a steadying of ties between the worlds two largest economies.

The US has been devising various tactics to suppress China and keeps lengthening its unilateral sanctions list, reaching bewildering levels of unfathomable absurdity, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at an annual press briefing in Beijing on Thursday.

If the US is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself, Wang added, warning Washington against trying to keep his country at the bottom of the value chain.

The top diplomats comments come as the Biden administration is pressing allies including the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea and Japan to further tighten restrictions on Chinas access to semiconductor technology. The US says its sweeping controls on Beijings ability to obtain sophisticated chips are based on national security concerns that such technology could be used to bolster Chinas military power.

Sino-American tensions were also a focus for stock investors on Thursday, with a benchmark of onshore Chinese shares erasing early gains during Wangs briefing. WuXi AppTec Co. was the worst performer on the CSI 300 Index after a US Senate committee on Wednesday advanced a bill that could ban Chinese biotech firms from accessing federal contracts and cut the company off from the market that generates more than half its revenue.

Wang said that while tensions with the US have improved since President Xi Jinping met Biden in California last November, the US had failed to fulfill all the promises it made during that summit, without elaborating.

Story continues

The nuclear-armed superpowers are still at odds over Russias war in Ukraine, Beijings territorial claims over Taiwan and trade, despite the recent but fragile stabilization. Access to advanced technology has stood out as a major sticking point as China seeks to become a leader in high-end chips to ensure long-term growth for its ailing economy. Chinas announcement this week of an approximately 5% growth target for 2024 was met with broad skepticism, underscoring the challenges policymakers face in the months ahead.

Wang stated that blocking China from artificial intelligence could have historical consequences, and said Beijing will submit a proposal on strengthening international cooperation in this field to the United Nations General Assembly.

Tensions between China and the US began to ease after the November summit, leading to a resumption of high-level military-to-military ties and the launch of a working group to curb the flow of the drug fentanyl to the US. They also promised to increase people-to-people interactions between the two nations, including a plan proposed by Xi to invite 50,000 young Americans to come to China within the next five years to take part in exchange and study programs.

But last month Beijing called on Washington to lift sanctions and end what it said was harassment of some Chinese nationals traveling to the US, a reminder of the diplomatic challenges that remain.

A member of the 24-seat Politburo, Wang returned to the foreign minister post after Qin Gang was ousted in July without explanation, just seven months into the job. At the same press conference last year, Qin warned that soaring US-China tensions risked blowing past any guardrails in the relationship. That briefing came just weeks after an alleged Chinese spy balloon derailed what was then a nascent rapprochement.

During Wangs 90-minute briefing, he vowed China would continue to deepen its diplomatic support of Russia as President Vladimir Putins war in Ukraine grinds into its third year. He also blasted the European Unions characterization of China as a competitor and systemic rival as jarring with reality, amid the blocs stepped-up scrutiny of trade with China.

Despite that, the foreign minister announced a trial program offering visa-free access for more European countries, including Austria and Hungary, starting from March 14, as China tries to attract more foreign investors and tourists.

Read More: China Allows Visa-Free Travel From Four More European Countries

Tensions have been rising between Beijing and the European Union, as the bloc made clear it wont separate trade from security issues. Brussels has opened a probe into Chinese electric-vehicle manufacturers and Beijing launched an anti-dumping investigation into EU liquor products.

The European Commission, the EUs executive arm, said this week it has found sufficient evidence that the imports of new battery electric vehicles from China received subsidies including direct transfer of funds, tax breaks, or public provision of good or services below market prices.

Wang also repeated the Communist Partys long-stated position that Taiwan is a part of China and will never be allowed to split from the motherland. Wang dismissed a poll held on the democratically run island in January, which brought to power a man Beijing has branded a troublemaker, as a local election in China.

Whoever in the world connives and supports Taiwan independence will get burned for playing with fire, he added.

--With assistance from Jing Li and Josh Xiao.

(Updates throughout with more details and market reaction)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Sergei Guneyev/AFP via Getty Images

China's export volumes jumped 7.1% in the first two months of 2024, far exceeding expectations of a 1.9% increase.

Exports to Russia climbed 12.5% as the two countries look to deepen ties.

To the alarm of the West, the two countries have strengthened ties since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Chinese export volumes have shot past estimates so far this year, boosted by deeper trade ties with Russia and other emerging markets, the Financial Times reported.

Volumes rose 7.1% in the first two months of 2024, eclipsing a Reuters poll forecast of 1.9%. It's a good sign for Beijing, whose economy was hit with weak export earnings last year, amid other struggles.

Closer trade ties with Russia helped drive the pickup. Through January and February, Chinese exports to the country rose 12.5%, while bilateral trade hit a total of $37 billion.

"China and Russia have created a new paradigm of major-country relations," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during the National People's Congress meeting. "The two sides' political mutual trust continues to deepen. Russian natural gas is reaching households in China, while Chinese cars are driving on the streets of Russia."

To the alarm of the West, the two countries have strengthened ties since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with bilateral trade hitting a record $240 billion last year.

Trade with China has offered Russia some breathing room amid a wave of war-related sanctions, providing it with a new market to unload energy products that have otherwise been rejected by the US and its allies.

On China's end, its latest spike in exports may also signal a shifting growth strategy. As the country looks to reduce its massive reliance on property sector growth  an industry currently in default  emphasis is instead growing on manufacturing.

More production means that exports are likely to rise, which China Beige Book CEO Leland Miller noted could lead to international tensions and trade wars in 2025.

Story continues

In the meantime, China's trade with the US rose 0.7% so far this year, and Wang acknowledged that Beijing's relationship with Washington remained "critical."

However, he argued that the US has an obsession with restraining China: "It is unacceptable that certain countries are at the table while others are on the menu," he said.

In part, that may be as the US is pursuing tighter enforcement of its sanctions against Russia, a strategy that has come to encompass Chinese entities. Fear of secondary sanctions has caused three of China's four state banks to halt payment transactions with Russian institutions.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that conflict between China and the United States would have "unimaginable consequences" when he faced the world's media on Thursday.

In a press conference during the "two sessions" - the annual meeting of the national legislature and top political advisory body - he fielded more than 20 questions on global issues ranging from Taiwan and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza as well as the relationship between the two superpowers.

Here are some of the key takeaways from his hour-and-half appearance.

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.

Wang told the press conference: "If there is conflict or confrontation between two major countries like the US and China, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Although he said relations have improved since the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Joe Biden in California last year, Washington's misperceptions about China still linger and its promises have not been fulfilled.

"The US has been devising various tactics to suppress China," he said. "If the US says one thing and does another, where is its credibility as a major country? If it gets jittery whenever it hears the word China, where is its confidence as a major country?"

He also responded to recent comments by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken - who told a security conference in Munich that "if you're not at the table in the international system, you're going to be on the menu" - by saying Beijing cannot allow "a few big countries to monopolise international affairs".

On this most sensitive of issues, Wang repeated Beijing's mantra that it would strive for peaceful reunification, but warned that those who support Taiwanese independence will "get burned for playing with fire".

Story continues

The status of the island is a major source of contention with the US and Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring it back under its control. The US, in common with most countries, does not recognise Taiwan as independent but opposes any forcible change to the status quo.

Wang said China's partnership with Moscow has been moving forward on a "high-level", with deepening trust and fresh opportunities ahead. He stressed that deepening this relationship was "not targeted at any party".

Wang repeated Beijing's calls for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Photo: AP alt=Wang repeated Beijing's calls for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Photo: AP>

In response to a separate question about the Ukraine war - now in its third year - he said China has an objective and impartial position, and supported the idea of holding a peace conference involving both Moscow and Kyiv. "The earlier the talks start, the sooner peace will come," Wang added.

He said differences in the disputed waters should be properly managed through dialogue and that disputes should be resolved by negotiations between claimant states.

China claims most of this key international waterway, but several other countries have competing claims, and Wang's comments follow a series of recent clashes with the Philippine coastguard centred on the Second Thomas Shoal.

Wang did not not mention any specific country in his response but warned that countries outside the region should not become disrupters in the South China Sea.

Wang called for a broad-based and authoritative international peace conference to come up with a road map to end the crisis.

He called on the international community to act promptly to promote an immediate ceasefire and repeated China's support for a two-state solution.

He said China and Europe should be "defenders of multilateralism", adding that cooperation should define their relationship.

One of the main questions in the mind of many observers beforehand was the fate of the previous foreign minister Qin Gang, who was abruptly removed from his post last year just months after succeeding Wang. To little surprise, Wang did not take any questions or offer any explanation about Qin's disappearance.

Although Wang fielded 21 questions there was nothing that touched specifically on two of China's biggest neighbours India and Japan, with more focus on China's relations with developing nations in other parts of the world.

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  2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
CNH Industrial N.V.

New automated guided vehicles at Zedelgem plant_7_detail_2

The new AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles), which transport the combine around the plant, improve safety by preventing operators from approaching the station while the combine is in motion.

New Holland combine entering the in-line test booths at Zedelgem plant_4

A New Holland combine entering the in-line test booths. These modifications help to enhance flexibility of our operations and ensure quality throughout the manufacturing process.

New_Holland_CR11 in the field_1

The new CR11 out in the field. The next generation flagship combine harvester from our New Holland brand epitomizes the integration of innovative tech and great iron. It features real-time machine learning, automated predictive adjustments, intelligent fuel management, and unique sensors to understand the crop's nutrient composition, which in concert deliver more efficient and productive harvesting.

Side view of new automated guided vehicles at Zedelgem plant_6

The new AGV system offers greater flexibility and better ergonomics, showing how CNH invests to put its people first.

CNH Zedelgem: Where big farm machinery meets cutting edge tech

Basildon, March 7, 2024

At CNH we deliver customer inspired innovation, integrating great iron and advanced tech. The result: industry leading products that make farming more productive, efficient and profitable.

Our photo series gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse of where modern harvesting comes to life. Discover our Harvesting Center of Excellence  Zedelgem, Belgium  home of the award-winning New Holland CR11 combine.

Founded in 1906, our New Holland Harvesting Center of Excellence produces the industry leading CX and CR combine harvesters. It is also the birthplace of Europes first self-propelled combine harvester.

We recently announced the latest developments for the site, a 150 million five-year investment plan to expand both research & development and production capabilities. This plan focuses on further enhancement and production of the new CR11, our New Holland brands next generation flagship combine harvester. This machine uses advanced artificial intelligence technologies to deliver the high productivity and yield our customers demand. Real-time machine learning, automated predictive adjustments, intelligent fuel management, and unique sensors to assess crop nutrient composition are just a few of its extraordinary features.

Automation to drive productivity is at the heart of the CR11 combine, and this principle holds true for its production as well. The assembly and logistics area will be completely redesigned using lean principles. Automated guided vehicles will move the combines through the assembly line, creating a safer, more efficient, and more flexible process. The combines will be comprehensively tested and inspected in the four new inline test stations, ensuring the highest build quality.

Story continues

To find out more and view the photo gallery, visit: bit.ly/BreakingNewGround_en

CNH Industrial (NYSE: CNHI) is a world-class equipment and services company. Driven by its purpose of Breaking New Ground, which centers on Innovation, Sustainability and Productivity, the Company provides the strategic direction, R&D capabilities, and investments that enable the success of its global and regional Brands. Globally, Case IH and New Holland supply 360 agriculture applications from machines to implements and the digital technologies that enhance them; and CASE and New Holland Construction Equipment deliver a full lineup of construction products that make the industry more productive. The Companys regionally focused Brands include: STEYR, for agricultural tractors; Raven, a leader in digital agriculture, precision technology and the development of autonomous systems; Hemisphere, a leading designer and manufacturer of high-precision satellite-based positioning, and heading technologies; Flexi-Coil, specializing in tillage and seeding systems; Miller, manufacturing application equipment; Kongskilde, providing tillage, seeding and hay & forage implements; and Eurocomach, producing a wide range of mini and midi excavators for the construction sector, including electric solutions.

Across a history spanning over two centuries, CNH has always been a pioneer in its sectors and continues to passionately innovate and drive customer efficiency and success. As a truly global company, CNHs 40,000+ employees form part of a diverse and inclusive workplace, focused on empowering customers to grow, and build, a better world.

For more information and the latest financial and sustainability reports visit: cnh.com

For news from CNH and its Brands visit: media.cnhindustrial.com

Media contacts:

Rebecca Fabian Alex Ellis North America United Kingdom Tel. +1 312 515 2249 Tel. +44 (0)758 106 1696

mediarelations@cnhind.com

Attachments




(Bloomberg) -- Three more women asked to join a sexual misconduct lawsuit against hedge fund manager Crispin Odey and his eponymous former firm, alleging there was a consistent pattern of behavior for almost three decades of assaulting women over whom he had power.

Most Read from Bloomberg

A judge on Thursday ruled that the claims need to be filed separately. The original suit was filed last year by two alleged victims of Odey in the wake of the scandal that unraveled his empire and saw him kicked out of his own firm.

The women allege that they were sexually assaulted or harassed by Odey on various dates between about 1995 and 2023, their lawyers said. All three new women seek to bring claims against Odey personally.

Calls and an email direct to Odey were not answered. Emails to his lawyers and his ex-law firm also werent responded to. In response to previous allegations lawyers for Odey said he strenuously disputed the claims. In the court filings prepared for Thursdays hearings Odeys lawyers didnt respond to any of the allegations.

Odey Asset Management was plunged into turmoil last year after the Financial Times published multiple allegations of sexual harassment and assault by Odey, who founded the firm in 1991 and earned a reputation for making contrarian bets that put him among some of Britains richest hedge fund investors.

Several banks cut ties with his firm and investors raced for the exits in the weeks following the investigation, forcing the company to shut funds and suspend several others.

Having kept a low public profile since the allegations resurfaced months ago a recent company filing suggests Odey could be planning something of a comeback in finance.

Story continues

Odey assaulted women under the guise of helping them or discussing business matters, their lawyers said in the court documents. The abuse suffered by each of the victims was part of a consistent pattern, which included luring women to his home on false pretences, they alleged.

The documents detail several instances over three decades when Odey allegedly invited the victims to his London home, pub or an office and assaulted them, the lawyers alleged.

One of the claimants alleges that after a business lunch Odey drove to his home under the pretext of fetching something. Once they were inside his home, Odey had gone into another room and then reappeared in a dressing gown before raping her, the lawyers said.

The claims do not raise any common issues and must be decided on a case-by-case basis, Odeys lawyers said in court filings. They relate to alleged assaults on vastly different dates in completely different circumstances.

Joining all claims will limit the stress faced by the victims during the trial, Claire Glasgow, a lawyer representing the women in the case, said in an email. Claimants should not have to deal with such intimidatory tactics, she said, referring to Odeys opposition to the request.

--With assistance from Jonathan Browning and Shelley Robinson.

(Updates throughout)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Cummins CEO Jennifer Rumsey has dealt with myriad challenges in her first 20 months leading the engine maker. (Photo: Cummins)

COLUMBUS, Ind.  Cummins Inc. CEO Jennifer Rumsey is moving the engine-maker and power distribution company forward after paying a record civil fine for emissions cheating that she said brought some over-the-top federal criticism.

Cummins in December settled a 4 -year-old case by paying a civil fine of $1.675 billion to the Environmental Protection Agency. About 1 million engines in Ram pickup trucks  Cummins biggest-selling engine program  contained data-defeating emissions software. The company in January agreed to pay California $175 million in the same case.

Together, the fines amounted to the second largest for Clean Air Act violations in history. Cummins fine trailed a $2.8 billion criminal penalty assessed of Volkswagen AG over the Dieselgate scandal.

I am disappointed, frankly, at the number and some of the tone given how we did try to work through this, Rumsey said Tuesday in an interview at company headquarters. But were moving forward. We havent slowed down on our strategy.





In a Dec. 22 news release, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland effectively said Cummins put its customers health at risk.

Defeat devices on some Cummins engines have caused them to produce thousands of tons of excess emissions of nitrogen oxides. The cascading effect of those pollutants can, over long-term exposure, lead to breathing issues like asthma and respiratory infections, he said.

In many cases, such comments get attributed to lower-ranking Justice Department officials.

Balancing strategy between legacy and future products

Rumseys strategy is balancing its legacy business as the worlds largest maker of diesel engines with funding advanced powertrain systems that can run on a range of alternative fuels and standing up an internal unit called Accelera focused on zero-emission technologies.





A 25-year Cummins veteran, Rumsey was named the companys first female CEO in July 2022. She is just the seventh CEO in the companys 105-year history. Rumsey became board chair in August.

Story continues

I think about the first two years as CEO, and I came into the role really clear with a focus on purpose, people and impact. That really was the centering driver for my career.

The past 20 months have been busy. From ingesting the $3.7 billion acquisition of Meritor Inc. announced in February 2022, five months before she took over from her predecessor  and mentor  Tom Linebarger to rebranding the former New Power division into Accelera in March 2023 and recently completing the spinoff of a successful but ill-fitting filtration business, Rumsey didnt exactly ease into the job.

Fuel-agnostic rebranding

Cummins is investing $1 billion in manufacturing upgrades and branding as HELMS its next-generation X15 engine platform. The same fuel-agnostic strategy applies to a new X10 engine family that replaces nine- and 12-cylinder engines.

HELMS stands for High Efficiency, Low Emission Multi fuel. These are going to be really innovative products that meet our customers diesel needs today with higher efficiency and let them move to these alternate fuels, Rumsey said.

HELMS starts with a natural gas version that boasts fewer emissions. A diesel version compliant with 2027 EPA standards for smog-forming nitrogen-oxide emissions follows. A hydrogen fuel iteration comes in 2028. The fuel-agnostic approach also applies to the X10 family.

Were seeing a lot of interest in the natural gas engine. [But] its not going to be a broad replacement for diesel, she said.

Pressing a natural gas advantage

Cummins is the natural gas leader in North America today, she said.





It has made natural gas engines on its own since buying out joint venture partner Westport Fuel Systems for $20 million in February 2022. A 10-year partnership ended in December 2021. In that time, Cummins sold about 70,000 units. Already, the X15N has sold about 40,000 units in China, where it debuted in 2020.

That market grew faster than we anticipated in part because of the differential between diesel and natural gas, Rumsey said.

The X15N was always planned for North America, where major fleet operators like UPS and Walmart are among companies that have tested it. Launch partner Paccar Inc. delivered the first X15N engine in a Class 8 Kenworth T680 in February. Cummins could build 3,000 of the engines this year in Jamestown, New York, earmarked for $452 million of the $1 billion in new engine investment.

Cummins is also building the natural gas ecosystem. It purchased 50% equity in Momentum Fuel Technologies from Rush Enterprises in January 2022 to make Cummins-branded natural gas fuel delivery systems for commercial vehicles.

It also is working with Chevron and Trillium, the natural gas subsidiary of Loves Travel Stops, to boost production of renewable natural gas (RNG) made from dairy waste and other nonpetroleum sources. RNGs emission profile can reach negative net-zero carbon.

The abundance of natural gas, both compressed and RNG, gives it a price advantage over diesel, offsetting in about 18 months the high cost of a natural gas-powered system.

Global challenges

While China proved a successful launch site for the X15N, Cummins 50-plus years of engine-building joint ventures there has had to hold on for the ride as the country careened from pandemic to recovery to lockdown to a real estate bubble that has weakened the once-thriving economy. Along the way, China implemented tougher engine emission standards.

We did an incredible job of continuing to operate even with the lockdowns to meet the demand that was there, Rumsey said. The China market is the hardest one for us to predict. So far, weve called the market gradually improving with replacement cycles and natural gas driving some demand.

Russia is another matter. Cummins suspended operations, took a $158 million charge against earnings and broke off its joint venture in March 2022, the early days of Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine. There may be no going back.

Were out of business in Russia today, Rumsey said. And unfortunately I dont see any signs of that conflict resolving anytime soon.

To hear the full Rumsey interview, tune into Truck Tech on Wednesday, March 13, at 3 p.m. EDT on the FreightWaves YouTube channel.

Related articles:

Cummins names Jennifer Rumsey to succeed Tom Linebarger as CEO

Cummins replaces 2 legacy engines with new X10

New Power division rebranded as future tech-focused Accelera

The post Cummins CEO moves company forward after record civil emissions fine appeared first on FreightWaves.
DUBLIN, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Cyclohexylbenzene Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2019-2029F" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Research and Markets Logo

Global Cyclohexylbenzene Market was valued at USD 365.12 million in 2023 and is anticipated to grow in the forecast period with a CAGR of 5.33% through 2029. The global cyclohexylbenzene market has witnessed significant growth over the past year, driven by various factors such as increasing demand from end-use industries, evolving consumer preferences, and technological advancements.



A pervasive trend in the chemical industry is the growing emphasis on sustainability and green chemistry. As environmental awareness intensifies, the cyclohexylbenzene market is expected to witness a shift towards more sustainable production processes and eco-friendly applications. Manufacturers are likely to invest in technologies that reduce environmental impact, meeting the rising demand for sustainable chemical solutions.



Innovation in manufacturing technologies, including process intensification and smart manufacturing, is expected to play a pivotal role in the cyclohexylbenzene market. Automation, artificial intelligence, and Industry 4.0 technologies will likely be adopted to enhance production efficiency, reduce costs, and ensure consistent quality, fostering a more competitive and agile market landscape.

The cyclohexylbenzene market is expected to witness exploration into novel applications, driven by research and development efforts. As industries seek new ways to integrate cyclohexylbenzene into their processes, the compound may find applications in areas beyond its traditional uses, opening up new growth avenues and diversifying market potential.

Asia-Pacific is poised to dominate the Global Cyclohexylbenzene Market due to a confluence of factors that position the region as a key player in the industry. The robust industrialization and economic growth in countries such as China, India, and Japan have fueled an escalating demand for Cyclohexylbenzene across various applications, ranging from chemicals to plastics. The region's strategic geographic location, coupled with well-established manufacturing capabilities, facilitates efficient production and distribution of Cyclohexylbenzene to both domestic and international markets.

Story continues

Additionally, Asia-Pacific benefits from a burgeoning consumer base and increasing urbanization, driving the demand for products that utilize Cyclohexylbenzene, such as plastics and specialty chemicals. The proactive approach of governments in the region towards fostering a business-friendly environment, coupled with investments in research and development, further propels Asia-Pacific's dominance in the global market. As a result, businesses operating in the Cyclohexylbenzene sector are well positioned to capitalize on the vast opportunities presented by the dynamic and expanding markets within the Asia-Pacific region.



Segmental Insights

Product Type



Based on the category of Product Type, Standard is poised to dominate the Global Cyclohexylbenzene Market as the preferred product type due to its unparalleled quality, consistent performance, and widespread industry acceptance. With a proven track record of meeting and exceeding international standards, Standard has garnered the trust of manufacturers and consumers alike. Its reliability in various industrial applications, coupled with stringent quality control measures, positions it as the go-to choose for businesses seeking a reliable and consistent source of Cyclohexylbenzene.

Furthermore, Standard's commitment to research and development ensures that its product remains at the forefront of technological advancements, providing clients with cutting-edge solutions. As the global demand for Cyclohexylbenzene continues to rise, Standard's market dominance is not only justified but also sustainable, making it the strategic choice for businesses aiming for long-term success in the dynamic global market.



Application Insights



Plastics are poised to assert dominance as the primary application in the Global Cyclohexylbenzene Market owing to their pervasive presence across diverse industries. The versatility of plastics makes them integral to sectors such as packaging, automotive, construction, and consumer goods. Cyclohexylbenzene, as a key raw material, plays a pivotal role in enhancing the performance and durability of various plastic formulations. The demand for lightweight, durable, and eco-friendly plastics continues to surge globally, aligning with the inherent properties that Cyclohexylbenzene imparts to these materials.

Moreover, the increasing emphasis on sustainability and environmental considerations bolsters the use of Cyclohexylbenzene in the production of recyclable and biodegradable plastics. As industries strive to meet evolving consumer expectations and regulatory standards, the strategic significance of plastics in conjunction with Cyclohexylbenzene is set to propel their dominance in the global market, ensuring sustained growth and relevance.

Competitive Landscape



Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Cyclohexylbenzene Market.

Schwartz Chemical Corp

Biosynth Ltd

Henan Tianfu Chemical Co., Ltd

Changsha Easchem Co., Ltd.

Hefei TNJ Chemical Co. Ltd.

Jiangsu Zhongneng Chemical Technology Co., Ltd.

SAGECHEM LIMITED

XINGRUI INDUSTRY CO., LIMITED

Syntechem Co.,Ltd

Nanjing QiSheng Chemical Industry Co., Ltd

Report Scope:



Cyclohexylbenzene Market, By Product Type:

Standard

High Purity

Cyclohexylbenzene Market, By Application:

Plastics

Paints & Coatings

Adhesives

Cyclohexylbenzene Market, By Region:

North America

United States

Canada

Mexico

Europe

Germany

United Kingdom

France

Italy

Spain

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

India

Australia

South Korea

South America

Brazil

Argentina

Colombia

Middle East & Africa

South Africa

Saudi Arabia

UAE

Kuwait

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/d8qa3t

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.



Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg

Cision

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cyclohexylbenzene-industry-report-2024---global-market-size-share-trends-opportunities-and-forecasts-2019-2029-302082002.html

SOURCE Research and Markets
Lex Greensill giving evidence during a live steam of a Treasury Select Committee hearing into the collapse of his company in May 2021 - Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

An Australian businessman who once worked with David Cameron is at risk of disqualification as a director after the Government launched proceedings to strike him off.

Lex Greensill is facing action from the Insolvency Service on behalf of Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, who is seeking to bar him from running British companies.

Details of the claim have not yet been made public. A spokesman for Mr Greensill said he intended to fight the action.

Greensill was at one point valued at $3.5bn (2.75bn), raising hundreds of millions of dollars from investors including Japans SoftBank, and employed Lord Cameron as a part-time adviser.

The specialist lender allowed businesses to pay their invoices early, effectively loaning them money. Its loans were then packaged up and sold to investors.

However, as the pandemic hit, the companies began defaulting on their loans. One of Greensills key insurers failed to renew its cover and it was unable to repay a loan of $140m (109m) to Credit Suisse.

Greensills collapse triggered a lobbying scandal after it emerged that Lord Cameron, now the Foreign Secretary, had pushed for the business to gain access to the Covid-19 loans scheme.

The peer had an unpaid role at Greensill and share options in the business. He was found by MPs on the Treasury Select Committee not to have broken any rules.

A spokesman for the Business Department declined to comment. A spokesman for the Insolvency Service said: We can confirm that the Insolvency Service has commenced director disqualification proceedings against Alexander (Lex) Greensill to have him disqualified from running or controlling companies for a period of up to 15 years in respect of his conduct as a director of Greensill Capital.

The filing comes days after Mr Greensill sued the British Government over alleged misuse of his private information.

A spokesman for Mr Greensill said: Lex Greensill recently issued proceedings against the Department of Business and Trade in the High Court as a result of the Insolvency Services conduct during the investigation that led to this action.

Mr Greensill rejects this action as wholly without merit and will robustly address it.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Strengths highlight Brown-Forman's robust brand portfolio and financial health.

Weaknesses underscore challenges in market diversification and cost management.

Opportunities emphasize potential in emerging markets and product innovation.

Threats include intense competition and potential economic downturns.

On March 6, 2024, Brown-Forman Corp (NYSE:BF.B) filed its 10-Q report, offering a snapshot of its financial performance and strategic positioning. As a leading manufacturer of premium distilled spirits, Brown-Forman boasts a strong presence in the whiskey category, with its flagship Jack Daniel's brand, alongside Woodford Reserve and Old Forester. The company's financials reflect a stable sales figure of $1.4 billion for the quarter, consistent with the previous year, and a slight increase in sales to $4.1 billion for the nine-month period. Despite facing currency headwinds, as evidenced by the net losses recognized in earnings from currency derivatives, Brown-Forman has managed to maintain its sales momentum. The company's balance sheet remains robust, with inventories valued higher at current costs and a strategic divestiture of Finlandia vodka enhancing its financial flexibility. This SWOT analysis delves into the nuances of Brown-Forman's operational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, as revealed by its latest SEC filings.

Decoding Brown-Forman Corp (BF.B): A Strategic SWOT Insight

Strengths

Brand Power: Brown-Forman Corp (NYSE:BF.B) wields considerable strength in its brand equity, particularly with its Jack Daniel's label, which commands a significant share of the global whiskey market. The brand's iconic status and loyal customer base provide a competitive edge and pricing power, contributing to the company's stable sales figures. The recent acquisitions of Gin Mare and Diplomatico brands further bolster the company's premium portfolio, diversifying its offerings and enhancing its market presence.

Story continues

Financial Resilience: The company's financial health is a testament to its operational efficiency and strategic management. With a consistent sales performance and a prudent approach to acquisitions and divestitures, Brown-Forman maintains a strong balance sheet. The divestiture of Finlandia vodka, resulting in a pre-tax gain of $90 million, exemplifies the company's ability to optimize its brand portfolio for financial gain.

Weaknesses

Market Concentration: While Brown-Forman enjoys a dominant position in the whiskey category, this focus also presents a risk of over-reliance on a single product segment. The company's sales are heavily skewed towards the American whiskey category, potentially limiting its ability to capitalize on trends in other spirits categories or geographic markets.

Cost Pressures: The company faces challenges in managing costs, particularly in the context of currency fluctuations. The net losses recognized in earnings from currency derivatives, although reduced from the previous year, indicate ongoing exposure to currency risk. Additionally, the higher current cost of inventories, if not managed through LIFO accounting, could pressure margins in a volatile market environment.

Opportunities

Emerging Markets: Brown-Forman has significant opportunities for growth in emerging markets, where rising incomes and changing consumer preferences could drive demand for premium spirits. The company's established presence in key markets like Mexico, Poland, and Brazil positions it well to capitalize on this potential.

Innovation and Expansion: The company's recent acquisitions demonstrate a commitment to innovation and brand expansion. The integration of Gin Mare and Diplomatico into its portfolio opens avenues for product innovation and cross-category appeal. Additionally, the planned sale of the Sonoma-Cutrer wine business suggests a strategic refocusing on core strengths and potential expansion into new product lines or markets.

Threats

Competitive Landscape: The spirits industry is highly competitive, with new entrants and consolidations posing a constant threat to established players like Brown-Forman. The company must navigate aggressive marketing, pricing strategies, and product innovations from competitors to maintain its market share.

Economic Sensitivity: Brown-Forman's performance is susceptible to economic cycles. Adverse economic conditions, such as recessions or reduced consumer spending, could negatively impact sales of premium spirits. The company's reliance on discretionary consumer spending makes it vulnerable to economic downturns and shifts in consumer behavior.

In conclusion, Brown-Forman Corp (NYSE:BF.B) exhibits a strong market position with a powerful brand portfolio and sound financials. However, it must address challenges related to market concentration and cost management. The company's opportunities in emerging markets and through strategic acquisitions are promising, yet it must remain vigilant against competitive pressures and economic headwinds. Brown-Forman's ability to leverage its strengths, mitigate its weaknesses, seize opportunities, and counteract threats will be crucial in sustaining its success in the dynamic spirits industry.

This article, generated by GuruFocus, is designed to provide general insights and is not tailored financial advice. Our commentary is rooted in historical data and analyst projections, utilizing an impartial methodology, and is not intended to serve as specific investment guidance. It does not formulate a recommendation to purchase or divest any stock and does not consider individual investment objectives or financial circumstances. Our objective is to deliver long-term, fundamental data-driven analysis. Be aware that our analysis might not incorporate the most recent, price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative information. GuruFocus holds no position in the stocks mentioned herein.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


Plans to scale platform to more than 30 sites globally by the end of 2024

AUSTIN, Texas, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR), the largest global provider of cloud- and carrier-neutral data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions, announced today the expansion of Apollo, its in-house artificial intelligence (AI) platform, to Asia Pacific. This strategic move aims to enhance energy efficiency across the company's global portfolio.

Digital Realty

Digital Realty built its Apollo AI platform leveraging facility-level data to support data-driven decision-making, enabling the business to make energy efficiency improvements across its portfolio. The initial Apollo pilot commenced in late 2019 with two European sites, and it is now deployed to 16 sites across six countries in Europe. Digital Realty plans to double Apollo's footprint by the end of 2024. Notably, this expansion marks the platform's debut in Asia Pacific, with one site in Melbourne and one site in Singapore.

"We're delighted to expand the usage of our Apollo AI platform to the Asia Pacific region," said Digital Realty Chief Technology Officer Chris Sharp. "We're dedicated to continually improving the energy efficiency of our data centers in order to reach our global science-based emission reduction targets. Apollo helps us to achieve these goals while also supporting our customers' sustainable growth and scalability targets."

The AI platform has already demonstrated its effectiveness, identifying approximately 18 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of expected and realized energy savings across the 16 sites, the equivalent energy usage of approximately 1,600+ U.S. households over the course of a year1. Apollo's ability to autonomously detect anomalies such as clogged filters and leaky valves, and to suggest optimizations to operational settings without human intervention, enhances the effectiveness of Digital Realty's site managers and engineers.

Story continues

Apollo uses machine learning to provide a comprehensive dashboard that lists optimization opportunities at each facility, prioritized by potential megawatt-hour savings. The platform's self-learning capabilities aggregate findings, which are then audited and applied to newly onboarded facilities. This ensures that every new site contributes value to the platform, benefiting the entire portfolio.

Digital Realty's expansion of the Apollo AI platform to the Asia Pacific region underscores its dedication to leveraging technology to drive sustainable growth and operational excellence, in addition to aligning with future energy efficiency targets. Digital Realty's focus on energy efficiency and continuous improvement remains at the forefront of the data center industry, delivering value to customers and contributing to a greener future.

About Digital Realty

Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL, the company's global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data meeting place and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges. Digital Realty gives its customers access to the connected data communities that matter to them with a global data center footprint of 300+ facilities in 50+ metros across 25+ countries on six continents. To learn more about Digital Realty, please visit digitalrealty.com or follow us on LinkedIn and X.

For Additional Information

Media Contacts

Will Reynolds

Digital Realty

+44 7469 695775

wreynolds@digitalrealty.com

Investor Relations

Jordan Sadler / Jim Huseby

Digital Realty

+1 737 281 0101

InvestorRelations@digitalrealty.com

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially, including statements related to the company's growth prospects, expected growth in digital transformation, company strategy, customer demand for the company's products and services, the Apollo AI Program, sustainability goals and strategy and potential impact from sustainability initiatives. For a list and description of risks and uncertainties, see the reports and other filings by the company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

1 Based on statistics provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Cision

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/digital-realty-expands-ai-powered-energy-efficiency-platform-to-asia-pacific-302082701.html

SOURCE Digital Realty
First reseller and implementation partnership in Egypt to drive SaaS transformation and institutional success

CAIRO and RESTON, Va., March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ellucian, the leading higher education technology solutions provider, today announced a new strategic partnership with ITWorx Education, an established leader in education technology solutions in the Middle East and North Africa region with more than 4.5 million users around the globe. This partnership will broaden Ellucian's reach in Egypt, introducing best-in-class SaaS products and services, leveraging ITWorx Education's deep expertise in the region. Together, Ellucian and ITWorx will support the transformation of higher education institutions in Egypt to enhance the student experience, optimize business operations and improve technology capabilities.

"Ellucian's mission is to power higher education so institutions can empower student success, and this strategic partnership with ITWorx Education will accelerate the SaaS transformation across higher education in Egypt to enhance and optimize the student journey," said Jeff Dinski, Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer, Ellucian. "The Ellucian SaaS Platform delivers advanced capabilities, improved business continuity, and future-ready innovation to institutions so that they can focus on what is most important  educating students and improving learning outcomes."

Ellucian's innovative SaaS solutions enable higher education institutions to focus on delivering high quality education to students by eliminating complex registration, enrollment and administrative processes. And with a modern user experience, students and staff are able to quickly find all of the information they need, all in one place. The Ellucian SaaS Platform also allows for greater insights and transparency across an institution, empowering data-driven decision-making for administrators.

"Our partnership with Ellucian represents a new era in digital education in Egypt. Leveraging Ellucian's innovative SaaS platform, we aim to enhance the educational journey of millions of students by providing integrated, user-friendly, and efficient technological solutions," said, Mr. Ali Jaber Al Yefei, Divisional CEO United Technology Holding, parent company of ITWorx. "This collaboration is a testament to our commitment to educational excellence and digital innovation in the region."

Story continues

For more information on Ellucian solutions and services, visit: https://www.ellucian.com/emea-ap (for Europe, Middle East and Asia-Pacific) or https://www.ellucian.com.

ABOUT ITWORX EDUCATION

ITWorx Education is a pioneering provider of education technology solutions in the Middle East and North Africa. With a focus on innovation and excellence in digital learning, ITWorx Education serves a wide range of educational institutions, empowering educators and students through technology. The company's solutions impact over 4.5 million users worldwide, contributing significantly to the digital transformation of education in the region. For more information on ITworx solutions and services, https://itworx.education/.

ABOUT ELLUCIAN

Ellucian powers innovation for higher education, partnering with more than 2,900 customers across 50 countries, serving 22 million students. Fueled by decades of experience with a singular focus on the unique needs of learning institutions, the Ellucian platform features best-in-class SaaS capabilities and delivers insights needed now and into the future. These solutions and services span the entire student lifecycle, including data-rich tools for student recruitment, enrollment, and retention to workforce analytics, fundraising, and alumni engagement. Ellucian's innovative solutions, vast ecosystem of partners and user community of more than 45,000 provides best practices leading to greater institutional success and achieving better student outcomes.

Media Contact

Jess Weston

Jess.Weston@Ellucian.com

Goher Ali Rizvi

Goher.rizvi@itqan.ae

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ellucian-partners-with-itworx-education-in-egypt-to-accelerate-higher-education-transformation-302081686.html

SOURCE Ellucian
Investors are often guided by the idea of discovering 'the next big thing', even if that means buying 'story stocks' without any revenue, let alone profit. Sometimes these stories can cloud the minds of investors, leading them to invest with their emotions rather than on the merit of good company fundamentals. A loss-making company is yet to prove itself with profit, and eventually the inflow of external capital may dry up.

So if this idea of high risk and high reward doesn't suit, you might be more interested in profitable, growing companies, like Y.S.P. Southeast Asia Holding Berhad (KLSE:YSPSAH). Now this is not to say that the company presents the best investment opportunity around, but profitability is a key component to success in business.

Check out our latest analysis for Y.S.P. Southeast Asia Holding Berhad

Y.S.P. Southeast Asia Holding Berhad's Earnings Per Share Are Growing

Generally, companies experiencing growth in earnings per share (EPS) should see similar trends in share price. Therefore, there are plenty of investors who like to buy shares in companies that are growing EPS. Impressively, Y.S.P. Southeast Asia Holding Berhad has grown EPS by 19% per year, compound, in the last three years. As a general rule, we'd say that if a company can keep up that sort of growth, shareholders will be beaming.

One way to double-check a company's growth is to look at how its revenue, and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins are changing. While we note Y.S.P. Southeast Asia Holding Berhad achieved similar EBIT margins to last year, revenue grew by a solid 6.2% to RM355m. That's a real positive.

In the chart below, you can see how the company has grown earnings and revenue, over time. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.

Since Y.S.P. Southeast Asia Holding Berhad is no giant, with a market capitalisation of RM333m, you should definitely check its cash and debt before getting too excited about its prospects.

Story continues

Are Y.S.P. Southeast Asia Holding Berhad Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

Seeing insiders owning a large portion of the shares on issue is often a good sign. Their incentives will be aligned with the investors and there's less of a probability in a sudden sell-off that would impact the share price. So those who are interested in Y.S.P. Southeast Asia Holding Berhad will be delighted to know that insiders have shown their belief, holding a large proportion of the company's shares. To be exact, company insiders hold 67% of the company, so their decisions have a significant impact on their investments. This makes it apparent they will be incentivised to plan for the long term - a positive for shareholders with a sit and hold strategy. In terms of absolute value, insiders have RM222m invested in the business, at the current share price. That's nothing to sneeze at!

It's good to see that insiders are invested in the company, but are remuneration levels reasonable? A brief analysis of the CEO compensation suggests they are. For companies with market capitalisations under RM946m, like Y.S.P. Southeast Asia Holding Berhad, the median CEO pay is around RM496k.

Y.S.P. Southeast Asia Holding Berhad's CEO only received compensation totalling RM98k in the year to December 2022. This could be considered a token amount, and indicates that the company does not need to use payment to motivate the CEO - that is often a good sign. CEO remuneration levels are not the most important metric for investors, but when the pay is modest, that does support enhanced alignment between the CEO and the ordinary shareholders. It can also be a sign of good governance, more generally.

Does Y.S.P. Southeast Asia Holding Berhad Deserve A Spot On Your Watchlist?

You can't deny that Y.S.P. Southeast Asia Holding Berhad has grown its earnings per share at a very impressive rate. That's attractive. If that's not enough, consider also that the CEO pay is quite reasonable, and insiders are well-invested alongside other shareholders. This may only be a fast rundown, but the key takeaway is that Y.S.P. Southeast Asia Holding Berhad is worth keeping an eye on. You still need to take note of risks, for example - Y.S.P. Southeast Asia Holding Berhad has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

Although Y.S.P. Southeast Asia Holding Berhad certainly looks good, it may appeal to more investors if insiders were buying up shares. If you like to see companies with insider buying, then check out this handpicked selection of Malaysian companies that not only boast of strong growth but have also seen recent insider buying..

Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Key Insights

The projected fair value for Rapid Synergy Berhad is RM0.61 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

Rapid Synergy Berhad's RM0.71 share price indicates it is trading at similar levels as its fair value estimate

Industry average of 134% suggests Rapid Synergy Berhad's peers are currently trading at a higher premium to fair value

Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of Rapid Synergy Berhad (KLSE:RAPID) by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward.

Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model.

See our latest analysis for Rapid Synergy Berhad

Is Rapid Synergy Berhad Fairly Valued?

We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. Seeing as no analyst estimates of free cash flow are available to us, we have extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the company's last reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:

Story continues

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (MYR, Millions) RM11.2m RM10.1m RM9.53m RM9.24m RM9.14m RM9.17m RM9.29m RM9.47m RM9.70m RM9.97m Growth Rate Estimate Source Est @ -15.61% Est @ -9.87% Est @ -5.84% Est @ -3.03% Est @ -1.06% Est @ 0.32% Est @ 1.29% Est @ 1.96% Est @ 2.44% Est @ 2.77% Present Value (MYR, Millions) Discounted @ 16% RM9.7 RM7.5 RM6.1 RM5.1 RM4.3 RM3.7 RM3.2 RM2.8 RM2.5 RM2.2

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = RM47m

After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 3.5%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 16%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = RM10.0m (1 + 3.5%)  (16% 3.5%) = RM81m

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= RM81m ( 1 + 16%)10= RM18m

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 RM65m. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of RM0.7, 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.

dcf

The Assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Rapid Synergy Berhad as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 16%, which is based on a levered beta of 2.000. 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.

Next Steps:

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. 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 instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For Rapid Synergy Berhad, we've put together three additional factors you should consider:

Risks: You should be aware of the 5 warning signs for Rapid Synergy Berhad (2 are a bit unpleasant!) we've uncovered before considering an investment in the company. 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 Environmentally-Friendly Companies: Concerned about the environment and think consumers will buy eco-friendly products more and more? Browse through our interactive list of companies that are thinking about a greener future to discover some stocks you may not have thought of!

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.
General Motors hourly workers  who've been waiting since November to learn when they might take advantage of a $50,000 retirement program  will get some answers on Monday, according to a letter from United Auto Workers Vice President Mike Booth sent to union locals Thursday.

Additionally, the Detroit Free Press has learned that the first phase of the buyout program is expected to start March 14.

The letter, which was obtained by the Detroit Free Press, also said that on Monday, GM and the United Auto Workers will start communicating the process for which eligible employees, who once worked at GM's Lordstown Assembly plant in Ohio, can transfer back to that area to work for Ultium Cells LLC, the battery cells manufacturing joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution.

A worker wears a face mask while building GMs full-size pickups at Fort Wayne Assembly plant in Indiana on Jan. 7, 2021.

"The union was successful in negotiating the staffing of all represented positions within Ultium Cells facilities with direct employees of GM being leased employees to Ultium Cells," wrote Booth, UAW vice president for the GM Department, in the letter. "This agreement also provides for transfer rights for certain eligible former Lordstown Assembly Complex members to return to Warren, Ohio, to work at the Ultium Cells facility."

The contract states that those eligible to return to Lordstown will receive the same pay and benefits they earn at the locations where they presently work.

Several hundred employees from Lordstown Assembly accepted transfers to other GM facilities when GM permanently idled the plant in 2019. Many who relocated have family in the Lordstown community and have said they want to return.

Developing a plan

In reaction to the letter, GM spokesman Kevin Kelly emailed the following statement to the Free Press: "We will begin rolling out details of our Special Attrition Program and Lordstown/Ultium Cells LLC transfer opportunities to employees next week. Our focus will be to share details on these opportunities with employees first.

Booth thanked members in the letter for their patience while the union and GM worked out both programs. His letter did not provide specific dates or details of exactly when the first phase of the Special Attrition Program will start. But two people familiar with the plan said there is a brief training period for human resources personnel early next week, then the plan is expected to open to eligible members on March 14. The people cannot be identified because they are not authorized to disclose that information publicly.

Story continues

UAW Vice President Mike Booth speaks during Detroit's March for Workers' Rights and Economic Justice at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit on on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023.

"The International Union, UAW and General Motors will jointly develop a communications plan designed to explain to eligible employees their options," wrote Booth. "Beginning this Monday, March 11, 2024, communications, and details to Phase 1 of the (Special Attrition Program) offering will start being communicated to the membership."

Booth said the program will offer three time periods from January 2024 through the life of the contract, which ends in April 2028, a $50,000 lump sum pretax retirement incentive for traditional employees, who, "at the time of the (Special Attrition Program) offering, must meet the normal or early retirement eligibility requirements."

Delay is 'unacceptable'

Prior to each of the three time periods, GM and the union will agree on the "timing, size, and scope of the offering," according to the contract.

The news is welcomed by UAW members. As the Free Press reported last month, some union members were growing impatient with holding off on retirement to find out when GM would open up the bonus program. Meanwhile, GM's crosstown rivals Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis have already started their programs.

Stellantis, which makes Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and Fiat vehicles, and Ford also agreed to a $50,000 buyout provision in their respective contracts with the UAW. In January, the Detroit Free Press reported the UAW-represented employees at Stellantis began receiving buyout offers and eligible employees have until Dec. 31 to accept the offer. Another lump sum deal will be offered in 2026.

Tony Totty, president of UAW Local 14 which represents the workforce at General Motors Toledo Propulsion Systems plant, wants to know the details of GMs special attrition retirement program because he estimates about 200 of the local unions membership there would like to retire

Likewise, the Free Press reported on Jan. 23 that UAW-represented workers at Ford also began receiving $50,000 buyout offers. The window for eligible employees to sign up for that program was slated to run through March 1.

UAW Local 14 President Tony Totty, who represents the workforce at GM's Toledo Propulsion Systems plant, estimates about 200 of the 1,500 people there want to retire. On Thursday, he told the Free Press in a text message that Booth's letter was good news but that the information "took entirely too long" to get to members.

"We deserve an explanation on why there was such a big difference between Ford, Stellantis and GM's rollout," Totty said. "This delay is unacceptable!"

According to Booth's letter to union leaders last month, he said the holdup with GM was due to an accounting rule that may penalize the pension fund if too many people retire at once.

When asked about an accounting rule being the holdup, Kelly told the Free Press last month: "We are being thoughtful in how we execute the program to ensure we can continue to adhere to GAAP accounting rules related to our pension fund and meet our contractual obligations. We have no more details to share at this time."

More: The impact of GM's return-to-office policy for businesses inside Detroit's landmark

More: Repeated fires at a GM EV plant have Detroit fire officials demanding changes

Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: More info to come on GM's $50,000 buyout program for union workers
Willful violations are the most serious citation given by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Minnesota OSHA has issued them for seven fatal accidents since 2017.

Federal OSHA, which covers Wisconsin, cited 3M for two willful violations connected to a 2023 fatal accident. Minnesota runs its own OSHA program and has issued several willful violations for fatalities in recent years.

E-T Cleaning Service, Minneapolis

Accident date: June 16, 2022.

What happened: An employee trimming trees from the basket of an aerial lift died after hitting a power line with a chainsaw.

Number of willful citations: Two, each for $58,000.

Reason for willful citations: Unqualified employees were not trained in electricity safety work practices. Aerial lift did not maintain a clearance of at least 10 feet from power line.

Status: Case open and contested by employer

Dive Guys, Wayzata

Accident date: June 3, 2022.

What happened: One of four employees drowned while scuba diving to remove weeds from Lake Minnetonka.

Number of willful citations: Two, each for $50,000.

Reason: Dive team members didn't have training and experience or training in using equipment for their job. Employer didn't develop a safe-practices manual for divers.

Case status: Open and contested by employer.

HyLife Foods, Windom

Accident date: March 10, 2021.

What happened: Employee was struck by a semitrailer truck and killed while walking through a driveway to a parking lot after her shift ended.

Number of willful citations: Three, each for $70,000.

Reason: Employer didn't ensure that hazardous conditions on walking surface were corrected or repaired. Employees exiting the plant weren't shielded from hazardous truck loading area. Exit routes not adequately lit.

Status: Open and contested.

Qa1 Precision Products, Lakeville

Accident date: Aug. 12, 2019.

What happened: Employee working on production line for driveshafts was pulled by her hair into a running machine, suffering fatal injuries.

Story continues

Number of willful citations: One for $44,100.

Reason: Inadequate machine guards.

Status: Contested and settled with "willful" reclassifed to "serious," retaining $44,100 fine. Also, two other serious citations for an additional $50,300.

Willmar Logistics and Willmar Poultry Farms

Accident date: July 2, 2019.

What happened: A truck driver loading feed into his trailer stepped off a catwalk onto a small bridge to remove feed spilled on the trailer. He lost his balance and fell to his death.

Number of willful citations: One for each company at $50,000 a piece.

Reason: Inadequate fall protection.

Status: Contested and settled with willful citations for both companies reclassified, each to $25,000 serious violations. Willmar Logistics paid an add $25,000 serious citation for inadequate fall-protection training.

Meadowlands Farmers Coop, Lamberton

Accident date: May 18, 2018.

What happened: Employee working inside of a silo, shoveling grain into a chute. He slid into the chute and was covered by grain, dying of suffocation.

Number of willful citations: Six for a total of $375,000.

Initial penalty: $375,000

Reason: Employees entered stored grain silo without body harness or lifeline. Employer had not completed a permit for employees entering silo. No observer  equipped to provide assistance  was stationed outside the silo as required.

Status: Contested and settled, with four willful citations remaining. Fine for each was reduced by 29% for a total of $200,000. Two willful violations were reclassified to "serious" with fines totaling $32,000.

Gateway Building Systems, Tenney, Minn.

Accident date: Oct. 5, 2017.

What happened: An employee of Gateway, a West Fargo, N.D., construction company, was on a platform at the top of a grain elevator in a small western Minnesota town. He fell 125 feet and was killed by impact.

Number of willful citations: Six for a total of $323,000.

Reason: Inadequate decking on work platform.

Status: Contested and settled for two willful citations at $50,000 each; another willful was reclassified to serious with a penalty of $43,000.

Workplace deaths are up in recent years

Workplace fatality rates have trended downwards for decades as employers have improved safety and the number of manufacturing and mining jobs has declined. But they have risen a bit in recent years.

The U.S. fatal work injury per 100,000 full-time workers fell from 4.2% in 2006 to a low of 3.3% in 2012, before climbing up a bit since then, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2022, the fatality rate crept up to 3.7%, the BLS said in December, the highest in 14 years.

The 5,486 worker deaths in 2022 were the highest in 15 years, with the rising number of workplace homicides accounting for 62% of fatalities.
Fidelity Investments

ETF issuers are getting behind an effort to create exchange-traded funds from existing mutual funds, in hopes the move will upend decades of standard process and pull billions of dollars into the industry.

Firms from Dimensional Fund Advisors to Morgan Stanley, as well as First Trust Advisors, Fidelity Inc. and most recently this week Guinness Atkinson, are seeking exemptions from the Securities and Exchange Commission to roll out ETF share classes of already existing mutual funds. If the exemption is granted, firms could issue ETFs as a share class of a previously existing mutual fund, allowing mutual funds to gain the tax efficiency of an ETF.

The unique structure was previously exclusively available to asset management giant behemoth Vanguard. The SEC gave Vanguard exemptive relief from regulations in the Investment Company Act of 1940 in 2000, which then allowed the firm to issue ETF shares of its already existing mutual fund. The firm was the only one to use that structure from when they patented it in 2003 to when that patent expired last May.

The U.S. ETF industry's assets have surged to $11.6 trillion in part by pulling money from traditional mutual funds, which have been shedding assets over the past few years. Exchange-traded funds have proven to be a more nimble investment than mutual funds, with tax and other advantages over their older cousins. Cerulli Associates in September said the mutual fund industry's assets had shrunk to $17 trillion.

The SEC may not be willing to grant the relief again. Many see the move as forcing ETF investors to subsidize mutual fund investors, by making ETF customers pay the higher capital gains associated with mutual funds, according to ETF analyst at Morningstar Bryan Armour.

Its a complicated issue for the SEC, said Armour. He said the ease at which ETFs can be traded compared with mutual funds, along with their different tax structures, may make it hard for the SEC to legislate a new share class that would benefit ETF and mutual fund shareholders equally.

Story continues

Regulatory Saga

Ben Slavin, Global Head of ETFs at BNY Mellon, said at the ETF Exchange Conference in Miami that exemptive relief was a key issue he was discussing with clients in the firms asset servicing business, and added he saw it was a when, not if in terms of the SEC eventually approving the vehicles.

Yet not everyone is as optimistic. For the ETF share class, we are evaluating that space, but its not immediately obvious to me that its going to get approved, its also not immediately obvious to me that is changes something substantially, said Bryon Lake, Head of ETF Solutions at J.P. Morgan Asset Management in an interview at the ETF Exchange Conference with etf.com on Feb. 12.

Issuers emphasized that they see this as a long-term regulatory process. Armour gave the odds of eventual approval a 50/50 chance. There is no deadline for the SEC to make a decision.

One significant benefit of having ETF share classes instead of mutual fund to ETF conversions or simply launching a copycat mutual fund strategy in an ETF structure, is that ETF share classes could be a part of mutual funds that already exist in 401k retirement strategies. Currently, 401ks are not able to hold ETFs.

I think by far the biggest advantage for the asset managers is the fact that adding on an ETF share class allows them to maintain their funds that exist in retirement plans, while also adding the ETF to the strategy, said Armour.

More applications for the exemptive relief are undoubtedly coming, analysts and executives say. If the structure is approved for one or more firms, a flood of issuers may rush to issue the conversion. Still, issuers expect a drawn-out regulatory process.

Another option issuers are utilizing is to convert mutual funds into ETF, a move many firms, including Franklin Templeton and Dimensional, are already implementing.

Contact Lucy Brewster at lucy.brewster@etf.com





Permalink |  Copyright 2024 etf.com. All rights reserved
Reed Intelligence

The global home decor market is booming, driven by rising disposable income, urbanization, and real estate growth, particularly in Asia-Pacific (led by China and India) and North America. Europe, with a focus on high-end and eco-friendly products, is also showing steady growth. While LAMEA (Latin America, Middle East, and Africa) is still in its early stages, the increasing middle class and disposable income offer promising prospects for future expansion.

New York, United States, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Furniture and fabrics for home decor are used in various situations, including spas, offices, clean rooms, restaurants, campgrounds, outdoor spaces, libraries, and retail establishments. Furniture, home textiles, and floor coverings are just a few examples of the products used for home decor. Depending on the intended application, furniture designs can be altered using machine-based and handcrafted techniques. Currently, the expansion of the global home decor market is being driven by the real estate sector. Additionally, the increase in small-sized homes has promoted the usage of products with greater storage capacity and improved the aesthetic appeal of dwellings.

Download Free Sample Report PDF @ https://straitsresearch.com/report/home-decor-market/request-sample

Increase in Consumer Interest Toward Home Decor Drives the Global Market

According to Straits Research, The global home decor market revenue was valued at USD 665,917.5 million in 2021. It is projected to reach USD 939,637.2 million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 3.9% during the forecast period (2022-2030). Globally, consumer interest in home decor has increased significantly in recent years. According to research, consumers in the United States are currently focusing on home improvement. The real estate market has grown tremendously in developing nations like China and India. Customers in these countries have demonstrated a willingness to spend money on home furnishings, textiles, and floor coverings, which has fueled the growth of the global market.

Story continues

Increasing Disposable Income and Improvement in Lifestyle Creates Tremendous Opportunities

Across the world, people's discretionary money is increasing. According to the Office for National Statistics, the gross disposable household income (GDHI) per person has increased throughout the UK (ONS). Additionally, people's disposable income has grown in North America and Asia-Pacific. Therefore, increasing personal disposable income is anticipated to spur market expansion. Additionally, due to a surge in construction activities and customers' wealthy lifestyles, as well as the fact that furniture, textiles, and floor coverings have evolved into crucial elements of contemporary living, demand for these products is rising. A rise in customers' propensity to spend more on home decor items is anticipated to create profitable opportunities for expanding the global market as these products enhance the visual appeal of homes.

Regional Analysis

Asia-Pacific's home decor market share is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.2% during the forecast period. The increase in disposable income and the quick urbanization of Asian nations like India, China, and Vietnam are driving the expansion of the Asia-Pacific market. China now holds the top rank in the Asia-Pacific area for furniture sales due to the growth of the middle class and the local real estate industry. The way people's lives have changed in Asia has had an impact on consumer purchasing trends. Additionally, the area's real estate market is growing, fueling the market growth. An improvement in lifestyle, a rise in disposable income, and a rise in home remodeling projects are key factors fueling the market's expansion.

Europe is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 3.8%, during the forecast period. In Europe, residential applications make up the majority of uses for home decor, followed by the commercial sector. Spain now dominates global home decor in terms of income due to the increased usage of items for residential applications. Government regulations also mandate that hospital furniture be specially created and produced. Additionally, there is a significant need for adaptable furniture in the area due to a lack of space.

The United States controls the global market for home decor items due to the high domestic demand. By implementing cutting-edge manufacturing and marketing techniques, offering quicker delivery, more specific product offers, and higher-quality artistry, the big manufacturers will attempt to regain the North American market. In the US, it is illegal to sell flooring products that include dangerous substances. Due to rising environmental consciousness, consumers' predisposition for eco-friendly products also drives up demand in North America for eco-friendly and organic home decor. Manufacturers are under pressure from tight government regulations to produce eco-friendly home decor items in countries like the US.

Key Highlights

Based on product type, the global home decor market is bifurcated into home textiles, floor covering, and furniture. The floor covering segment is the highest contributor to the market and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.1% during the forecast period.

Based on distribution channels, the global home decor market is bifurcated into supermarkets and hypermarkets, specialty stores, e-commerce, and others. The specialty store segment owns the highest market share and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.7% during the forecast period.

Based on price, the global home decor market is bifurcated into premium and mass. The mass segment is the highest contributor to the market and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.7% during the forecast period.

Based on income group, the global home decor market is bifurcated intolower middle income, upper middle income, and higher income. The higher income is the highest contributor to the market and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.9% during the forecast period.

Asia-Pacific is the largest shareholder in the global home decor market and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.2% during the forecast period.

Competitive Players

The global home decor markets major key players are Inter Ikea Systems B.V., Forbo International Sa, Armstrong World Industries, Inc, Mannington Mills Inc, Mohawk Industries Inc, Shaw Industries Group, Inc, Herman Miller Inc, Ashley Furniture Industries Ltd, Kimball International, and Duresta Upholstery Ltd.

Market News

In July 2022, Armstrong World Industries, Inc. and Price Industries, two leading innovators in the commercial construction industry, announced an expanded partnership focused on accelerating the development of holistic solutions to promote healthy indoor spaces.

In September 2022, IKEA to launch the OBEGRANSAD collection in collaboration with the Swedish House Mafia in the fall of 2022.

Global Home Decor Market: Segmentation

By Product Type

Home Textile

Floor Covering

Furniture

By Distribution Channel

Supermarkets and Hypermarket

Specialty Store

E-commerce

Others

By Price

Premium

Mass

By Income Group

Lower Middle Income

Upper Middle Income

Higher Income

By Regions

North America

Europe

Asia-Pacific

LAMEA

Get Detailed Market Segmentation @ https://straitsresearch.com/report/home-decor-market/segmentation

About Straits Research Pvt. Ltd.

Straits Research is a market intelligence company providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision-makers. Straits Research Pvt. Ltd. provides actionable market research data, especially designed and presented for decision making and ROI.

Whether you are looking at business sectors in the next town or crosswise over continents, we understand the significance of being acquainted with the clients purchase. We overcome our clients issues by recognizing and deciphering the target group and generating leads with utmost precision. We seek to collaborate with our clients to deliver a broad spectrum of results through a blend of market and business research approaches.

For more information on your target market, please contact us below:

Phone: +1 646 905 0080 (U.S.)

+91 8087085354 (India)

+44 203 695 0070 (U.K.)

Email: sales@straitsresearch.com

Follow Us: LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter




Reed Intelligence

A rise in demand for diesel-electric locomotives, owing to its benefits such as less maintenance, high efficiency, ease of use, sustainability, reliability, and less fuel utilization over conventional locomotives, is expected to drive the growth of the hybrid train market during the forecast period.

New York, United States, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A hybrid train is a railway vehicle or locomotive which employs alternate fuels for the propulsion and powering of internal systems of these vehicles. Energy storage systems are positioned between the prime mover of the diesel engine and the transmission system connected to the wheels. Primary energy sources utilized in accelerating trains are diesel, hydrogen, fuel cells, CNG, and others. Additional energy created during acceleration and regenerative braking is saved in energy storage systems. This energy is further utilized to improve the transmission systems and speed. This application of energy storage systems reduces energy consumption, lessens environmental pollutants, and generates cost savings. In the future, the demand for hybrid trains is anticipated to increase due to their advantages over conventional trains, including their reliability, cost-effectiveness, sustainability, and environmental friendliness.

Download Free Sample Report PDF @ https://straitsresearch.com/report/hybrid-train-market/request-sample

Advantages Associated with Hybrid Trains over Conventional Trains Drives the Global Market

According to Straits Research, The global hybrid train market size was valued at USD 18 billion in 2021. It is projected to reach USD 32 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 6.8% during the forecast period (2022-2030). Hybrid trains have several advantages over conventional trains, including achieving zero emissions, economic benefits, the flexibility to run on alternative fuels, and power generation via regenerative braking, all of which contribute to market expansion. Moreover, hybrid trains are superior to traditional trains in terms of travel time and safety due to their capacity to generate regeneration power by applying brakes. In addition, battery-powered trains have reduced costs, fewer pollutants, less maintenance, and more straightforward operation, which are expected to increase demand in the coming years. In addition, the advent of hydrogen gas-powered trains, which do not release carbon emissions, consume less energy than diesel fuel, and create minimal noise and vibration, is anticipated to drive market expansion during the examined period.

Story continues

Government Initiatives and Investment Toward Alternative Fuel-Powered Hybrid Trains Creates Tremendous Opportunities

Government measures promote using alternative fuels such as biofuels (bio-ethanol, bio-methanol, bio-DME, and bio-LPG), solar, hydrogen, gasoline, and other renewable energies to power hybrid trains to increase research and development in this industry. In addition, rising investments in solar-powered hybrid trains in emerging economies such as China, India, Japan, Germany, and France are anticipated to create lucrative prospects for market participants. Additionally, critical potential advantages of alternative fuels, such as reduced carbon emissions, cost benefits, less maintenance, biodegradability, and low toxicity, are the primary elements that draw investments and government support for the use of alternative fuels in the railway industry. Consequently, it is anticipated that these factors will aid the expansion of the global market throughout the forecast period.

Regional Analysis

Europe is the highest revenue contributor and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% during the forecast period. The market for hybrid trains has expanded in Europe due to significant market trends, including the increasing deployment of the hybrid locomotive in some regions of Germany. Asia-Pacific is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 7% during the forecast period. Recent industry trends like introducing the new hybrid electric train in the Philippines have accelerated Asia-Pacific market growth. In addition, the main driver of the market expansion in Japan is the rise in the use of hybrid locomotives by railway freight firms.

North America is the third largest region. The major growth factor in North America is the development of a hybrid railcar that uses an internal combustion engine and hybrid electric batteries to run the train. In the United States, this hybrid railcar is utilized for local transportation since it uses less fuel and emits fewer emissions. Another driver of market expansion is the existence of numerous federation bodies that offer incentives for switching trains to hybrid trains.

Key Highlights

Based on propulsion type, the global hybrid train market is categorized into electro-diesel, battery operated, hydrogen-powered, gas-powered, and solar-powered. The electro-diesel segment is the highest contributor to the market and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% during the forecast period.

Based on application, the global hybrid train market is bifurcated into passenger and freight. The passenger segment is the highest contributor to the global hybrid train market and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.7% during the forecast period.

Based on operating speed, the global hybrid train market is fragmented into less than 100 km/h., 100-200 km/h, and more than 200 km/h. The 100-200 km/h segment is the highest contributor to the market and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7% during the forecast period.

Europe is the highest revenue contributor and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% during the forecast period.

Competitive Players

The global hybrid train markets major key players are Alstom SA, Ballard Power Systems, Inc., Bombardier, Inc., China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., Siemens AG, Stadler Rail AG, Toshiba Corporation, Hyundai Rotem Company, and Wabtec Corporation. Other players operating in the hybrid train market are BNSF Railway Company, Etihad Rail, Vivarail, AVL, and L&T Construcciones Y Auxiliar De Ferrocarriles (CAF).

Market News

June 2022- Siemens AG launched an open digital business platform, Siemens Xcelerator, to accelerate digital transformation and value creation for customers of all sizes in the industry, including buildings, grids, and mobility. The business platform makes digital transformation more accessible, faster, and scalable. Siemens Xcelerator includes a curated portfolio of internet of things (IoT) enabled hardware, software, and digital services across Siemens and certified third parties, a growing ecosystem of partners, and an evolving marketplace to facilitate interactions and transactions between customers, partners, and developers.

June 2022- Siemens, a leader in industrial automation and software, infrastructure, building technology, and transportation, and NVIDIA, a pioneer in accelerated graphics and artificial intelligence (A.I.), today announced an expansion of their partnership to enable the industrial metaverse and increase the use of AI-driven digital twin technology that will help bring industrial automation to a new level.

Global Hybrid Train Market: Segmentation

By Propulsion Type

Electro-Diesel

Battery Operated

Hydrogen Powered

Gas Powered

Solar Powered

By Application

Passenger

Freight

By Operating Speed

Less than 100 km/h

100 - 200 km/h

More than 200 km/h

By Regions

North America

Europe

Asia-Pacific

LAMEA

Get Detailed Market Segmentation @ https://straitsresearch.com/report/hybrid-train-market/segmentation

About Straits Research Pvt. Ltd.

Straits Research is a market intelligence company providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision-makers. Straits Research Pvt. Ltd. provides actionable market research data, especially designed and presented for decision making and ROI.

Whether you are looking at business sectors in the next town or crosswise over continents, we understand the significance of being acquainted with the clients purchase. We overcome our clients issues by recognizing and deciphering the target group and generating leads with utmost precision. We seek to collaborate with our clients to deliver a broad spectrum of results through a blend of market and business research approaches.

For more information on your target market, please contact us below:

Phone:

+1 646 905 0080 (U.S.)

+91 8087085354 (India)

+44 203 695 0070 (U.K.)

Email: sales@straitsresearch.com

Follow Us: LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter




(Bloomberg) -- Chinas ambition of delivering the worlds largest clean energy deployment in remote deserts and interior regions will face challenges without more focus on boosting grid capacity, according to an official in a key region for the developments.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Existing power passageways will not fulfill the demand from the massive additions of solar and wind generation, Luo Qing, head of the Xilingol League region of Inner Mongolia said Wednesday at a provincial delegation meeting during Chinas National Peoples Congress. I plead more attention and support from the national level.

Read More: Chinas Deserts Show COP28 How to Triple Clean Energy By 2030

President Xi Jinping in 2021 outlined plans to add a total of 455 gigawatts of turbines and panels  more than currently installed in any country outside China  in a network of projects, mainly across interior areas of regions including Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi and Qinghai.

A first phase of the strategy was largely completed last year and is able to utilize existing ultra-high voltage lines to transport electricity from inland sites to power-hungry urban centers in central and eastern China. In the next phase of the roll-out, about 235 gigawatts of projects will require entirely new UHV lines, BloombergNEF analysts including Xiangyu Chen said in a December report.

If UHV lines are not commissioned in time, the progress of the second and third batch megabase projects will also be delayed, the analysts said.

Read more: The $300 Billion Plan to Bring Clean Power to Chinas Megacities

Though some new UHV lines are under construction, more infrastructure spending is required to ensure future renewable projects can be fully utilized, Luo said.

Story continues

The pace at which transmission infrastructure is being built will likely act as a limit on the expansion of Chinas overall renewable growth this year. Solar capacity additions more than doubled in 2023 to a record 216 gigawatts, and are forecast to stay at about the same level this year as a result of constraints on land and grid availability.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
The Helium IoT Network expands into the maritime domain, supporting SkyNet IoTs existing customers in the Netherlands and expansion into Boca Raton, Florida

SAN FRANCISCO, March 07, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Helium Foundation, stewards of the Helium Network, the worlds first and largest decentralized wireless network powered by blockchain, today announced SkyNet IoT, a LoRaWAN multi-network hosting and roaming provider, is integrating with the Helium Network. The Dutch-based company is expanding its IoT solutions to South Florida in 2024, leveraging the Helium Network in the U.S.

SkyNet IoT hosts and facilitates seamless roaming across multiple LoRa networks. One of their key sensor deployments focuses on the North Sea, which lacks reliable Internet connectivity despite its heavy maritime traffic and commerce. The decision to build solutions on the Helium Network signifies a major expansion of SkyNet IoTs network and continues to broaden Heliums reach beyond terrestrial areas into the maritime sector.

"We are thrilled SkyNet IoT is integrating to roam on Helium to connect the unconnected regions across the world," said Abhay Kumar, Helium Foundation CEO. "The permissionless, ubiquitous, and affordable nature of the Helium Network has lowered the barriers to entry, empowering more businesses and ultimately, consumers, to benefit from IoT solutions and the products they enable."

The Helium Network, which has expanded global LoRaWAN coverage significantly, opens the door to countless IoT applications that will provide valuable insights about conditions in the water and on land. SkyNet IoT has already deployed thousands of sensors transmitting data over the Helium Network and has plans to install several hundred more in South Florida this year. Sensors onboard marine vessels provide real-time intelligence on water detection, tank contents, inclination angles, accelerations, vibrations, forces on cables, temperature and gas levels.

Story continues

The expansion of SkyNet IoT into South Florida is expected to further propel the regions technological and economic growth with key sectors such as agriculture and maritime safety through collaboration with local municipalities, port authorities and businesses.

"The synergy of SkyNet IoT and the Helium Network strengthens our position as leaders in advancing IoT connectivity on a global scale," said Remy De Jong, SkyNet IoT Founder. "We are building much-needed wireless infrastructure along the major coasts and harbors to gather real-time intelligence that ensures the safety of the people who live and work in these areas."

The Helium Network was launched in 2019 with the mission of delivering a decentralized, open-source, accessible, and secure wireless network. Hundreds of thousands of Hotspots power the Helium Network thats used by people around the world, including businesses, governments, and municipalities.

About The Helium Foundation:

The Helium Foundation (formerly the Decentralized Wireless Alliance) is a US-based 501(c)(6) global not-for-profit dedicated to the proliferation of a secure, cost-effective Internet. As the governing and community steward for the Helium Network, the worlds first decentralized wireless network, the Helium Foundation exists to benefit the wireless industry and its stakeholders as a driver of ecosystem development, network governance, and public education. For more information, visit https://www.helium.foundation/.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307676524/en/

Contacts

Media

Aarti Utwani

press@helium.foundation
Total Generated Premium (TGP) : Grew by 40% YoY, reaching over $1.1 billion in 2023.

Revenue : Increased by 80% YoY to $64 million in Q4 2023.

HHIP Accident Period Loss Ratio : Improved by 24 percentage points YoY to 64% in Q4.

Adjusted EBITDA : Loss decreased by 53% YoY in Q4 2023.

Financial Strength : Year-end cash and investments stood at $491 million.

Net Loss: Q4 GAAP net loss attributable to Hippo decreased by 33% from Q4 2022.

On March 6, 2024, Hippo Holdings Inc (NYSE:HIPO) released its 8-K filing, detailing a quarter marked by robust growth and operational improvements. The home insurance group, known for its innovative approach to homeowner protection, has reported a year of strategic advancements and financial strengthening.

Hippo Holdings Inc (HIPO) Reports Significant Top-Line Growth and Improved Loss Ratios in Q4 2023

Company Overview

Hippo Holdings Inc is redefining the home insurance space with a customer-centric approach that includes comprehensive coverage for modern households. Its offerings cater to a wide range of needs, from electronics to water backup, ensuring homeowners are well-protected against various risks.

Performance Highlights and Challenges

The company's TGP saw a significant increase, with the Insurance-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Services segments driving growth by 39% and 20% YoY, respectively. This mix-shift towards more predictable and profitable business lines is a strategic move that underscores the company's focus on sustainable growth. However, the company faced challenges with higher-than-expected Loss and Loss Adjustment expenses due to severe weather events in the second quarter. These challenges highlight the inherent risks in the insurance industry and the need for effective risk management strategies.

Financial Achievements

The substantial growth in revenue and the improvement in the HHIP Accident Period Loss Ratio are significant achievements for Hippo Holdings Inc. These improvements reflect the company's ability to monetize insurance risk more effectively and demonstrate progress towards its profitability goals.

Story continues

Financial Metrics and Importance

Key financial metrics such as the 80% YoY revenue increase and the 24 percentage point improvement in the HHIP Accident Period Loss Ratio are crucial indicators of the company's performance. These metrics highlight the company's ability to grow its top line while managing risk effectively, which is vital for long-term success in the insurance industry.

Analysis and Future Outlook

Hippo's strategic actions, including raising deductibles and non-renewing policies in high-risk areas, are expected to significantly reduce exposure to catastrophic losses. The company's shift towards a more traditional excess of loss reinsurance structure is also expected to align net earned premium with risk retention more closely. These initiatives, coupled with disciplined cost management, have positioned Hippo for a brighter 2024, with expectations of continued revenue growth and a path to positive Adjusted EBITDA in the second half of the year.

The company's leadership remains optimistic about the future, as expressed in a letter from President & CEO Richard McCathron. With a focus on Generation Better customers and a commitment to providing the best policy options, Hippo is poised to capitalize on its core markets and customer segments.

For a more detailed analysis and to stay updated on Hippo Holdings Inc's financial journey, visit GuruFocus.com.

Explore the complete 8-K earnings release (here) from Hippo Holdings Inc for further details.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


It looks like Congress will squeak past yet another shutdown deadline this year.

The House on Wednesday approved a package of six bills that will fund parts of the federal government that could shut down at midnight on Friday. The roughly $460 billion package now heads to the Senate, where its expected to pass before the deadline, though there could be hiccups along the way.

The House vote on the funding package was 339 to 85, reflecting robust support from Democrats, 207 of whom backed the legislation, with just two voting no. The Republican vote was more divided, 132 to 83, as dozens of hardliners opposed the bill due to its size and lack of conservative policy wins. Opposition from conservatives, along with the tight deadline, forced House Speaker Mike Johnson to use an expedited process for the legislation requiring a two-thirds majority to proceed.

Republican House leaders celebrated what they claimed was a major win. With the odds stacked against us, House Republicans made progress in how we fund the government, Appropriations Chair Kay Granger said. We drafted the most conservative bills in history. Members submitted over one thousand amendments. We considered house bills individually on the floor, and we avoided a massive omnibus measure.

Still, conservatives complained that the package, which holds spending largely at current levels, failed to make any significant cuts and jettisoned policy riders that would have restricted abortion and trans rights, among other things. And while it may have cut the typical 12-bill omnibus in half, a six-bill minibus is hardly the legislative product conservatives wanted to see when they demanded regular order for all legislation.

Despite giving Democrats higher spending levels, the omnibus ... punts on nearly every single Republican policy priority, the House Freedom Caucus said as it called on Republicans to oppose the package, which it insisted was really an omnibus after all. Worst of all, the omnibus surrenders Republicans leverage to force radical Democrats to the table to truly secure the southern border and end the purposeful, dangerous mass release of illegal aliens into the United States.

Story continues

Democrats portrayed the vote as a win of sorts. The bill certainly doesnt have everything that we may have wanted, but I am very proud to say we successfully defeated the vast majority of the extreme cuts and hundreds of harmful policy riders proposed by the House Republicans, said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.

What comes next: The minibus will be taken up by the Senate, where it will require an agreement by all 100 members to proceed on an expedited basis. Republicans are expected to demand votes on amendments, none of which are likely to pass.

Assuming the first minibus goes through, lawmakers must then turn to the second batch of spending bills, which could be more difficult to hammer out since they include contentious areas such as defense and homeland security.

Senate Majority Leader said he was confident that lawmakers could reach an agreement before the shutdown deadline for those parts of the government later this month. Passing these bills will give us much-needed momentum to finish the next package of spending bills by the March 22 deadline, he said. But as Ive said repeatedly, it will take bipartisan cooperation to finish the job.

Like what you're reading? Sign up for our free newsletter.
(Bloomberg) -- Kristalina Georgieva is interested in a second five-year term as head of the International Monetary Fund and is poised to secure sufficient support, according to people familiar with the matter.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Georgieva, a Bulgarian economist whose term started in 2019 and runs through the end of September, needs the backing of major European nations and the US to ensure the success of any potential bid.

Her pursuit of a second term would be with the understanding she has the support of France and Germany, the two largest economies in Europe, said the people, who asked not to be identified describing private conversations.

The leader of the Washington-based fund has always been a European national picked by European nations, a post-World War II understanding with the US, which in turn chooses the president of the World Bank.

Meetings of Group of 20 finance ministers last week in Brazil focused attention on the issue, with French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire saying that Georgieva is doing a great job and that his country would back her if she sought another term.

A German senior official signaled to Bloomberg News on Thursday that Finance Minister Christian Lindner is sympathetic to appointing Georgieva for another term, but that a formal confirmation is still at least a few days away.

When asked whether shes interested in a second term in recent weeks, Georgieva has repeatedly deflected, saying that shes focused on her current term.

At a press briefing on Thursday, IMF spokeswoman Julie Kozack declined to say whether Georgieva is interested in serving a second term, calling it really a question for the managing director herself. Kozack referred to the IMFs rules for choosing the chief, who officially is chosen by the funds 24-member Executive Board, with the objective to reach a selection by consensus.

Story continues

Georgievas support from the US, the funds biggest voting member, wavered following accusations in 2021 that she improperly influenced a World Bank ranking of Chinas business climate.

The IMF and its sister institution, the World Bank, emerged from World War II as key pieces of the US-led order, focused, respectively, on helping countries recover from financial crisis and providing loans for development projects.

Georgieva, 70, led the funds efforts to aid indebted countries through the pandemic and has more recently warned about the global economic impact of trade fragmentation caused by worsening US-China relations.

She hasnt publicly signaled her intentions after her term ends. No candidates have yet been publicly proposed.

EU leaders are set to partake in another round of horse-trading over top jobs later this year, including for the posts atop the European Commission and NATO, which requires striking a balance between different political, geographic and strategic interests.

While the funds executive board elects the leader in a vote, the support of Europe and the US  together accounting for around half of all voting shares  would make it tough for other candidates to surmount.

Georgieva moved from the World Bank to take the top IMF job in 2019, a position she won in part because she was from an Eastern European nation, a region typically underrepresented in top institutional positions.

--With assistance from Alessandra Migliaccio and Flavia Krause-Jackson.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Crude oil tanker Getty Images

Refiners in India are reportedly cooling to the prospect of long-term deals with Russian oil firms, Bloomberg reported.

Three Indian refiners were in talks to receive 500,000 barrels a day from Rosneft.

Sanctions on its oil trade have made it tougher for Russia to do business with friendly nations.

Top oil refiners in India are reportedly backing away from long-term contracts for crude oil from Russian suppliers amid intensifying US sanctions.

Bloomberg reported that three of India's state-owned oil refiners had been in talks with Russian energy giant Rosneft to lock in 500,000 barrels a day, about equivalent to one-third of India's daily imports.

The report from Bloomberg said India's largest state-owned refiner, Indian Oil, is considering slashing crude supply from Russia under its long-standing term supply, while two other big firms, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, have not committed to long-term contracts with Russian suppliers. Contracted deals would reduce dependence on one-off purchases, which are more expensive, Bloomberg said.

The move away from long-term deals for Russian crude comes as sanctions from the West crack down on Russia's oil trade, with India buying more from other nations like Saudi Arabia in February.

Though Russia is still the country's biggest supplier of crude oil, Indian refiners are increasingly turning to Middle Eastern nations like Iraq, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. The shift dragged the country's Russian oil imports to the lowest level last month since January 2023.

Sources told Bloomberg that in the upcoming fiscal year starting April 1, state refiners plan to meet 40% of their crude needs through spot deals, indicating a large volume of Russian oil will still flow to India.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Highlights include increased focus on sustainable manufacturing, packed Axiom Space keynote, technical advancements in patient care interfaces and the strategic formation of the West Coast Device Alliance.

ANAHEIM, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / IME West, the nation's largest advanced design and smart manufacturing event welcomed more than 13,000 manufacturing professionals earlier this month to the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. Attendees gathered from more than 40 states and 30 countries to take part in the three-day conference and expo.

IME West, which hosts five co-located shows, including Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) West, WestPack, Automation (ATX) West, Design & Manufacturing (D&M) West and Plastec West, convened representatives from more than 1,700 exhibiting companies to showcase the newest products and innovations from across the advanced manufacturing production lifecycle, including leading solutions providers 3M, Nexeo Plastics, Bosch Rexroth, Canon USA, Hitachi Industrial Solutions, and Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence.

"IME West continues to serve as the premier destination for all things smart manufacturing, and the response from the audience far exceeds our expectations," exclaims Adrienne Zepeda, Group Event Director, IME West. "The growth of this year's event is a testament to the dedication of our community and our commitment to serving as the premiere comprehensive platform, driving the essential conversations and connections that promote positive impact and progress across the advanced manufacturing ecosystem."

The future of advanced manufacturing was a key theme at this year's event, as both keynote sessions and on-site events highlighted how manufacturers are seeking new ways to inform, innovate and inspire the next generation of advanced manufacturing technology and talent.

Jana Stoudemire, Director of In-Space Manufacturing, Axiom Space, lead a distinguished panel of academic and industry experts from Cedars Sinai-Medical Center, The University of Connecticut, United Semiconductors and LambdaVision in a discussion on the potential of microgravity manufacturing to address and mitigate many of the most pressing challenges for manufacturers today including defect management, quality control and more.

Story continues

Presented on the second day, Jennifer Samproni, Chief Technology Officer, Health Solutions at Flex , shared the importance of human and machine interfaces (HMIs) as part of the future of patient care from building and designing more intuitive prototypes using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to simplify treatment for the growing elderly population.

The final day of the event culminated with the return of the Emerging Engineers Student Summit. Coordinated in partnership with The Diversity Org, over 250 students from high schools across Southern California gathered for a day of informative career panels, networking sessions and on-site demonstrations to learn more about future career opportunities in product design, robotics, packaging and medical device technology.

Of the milestones at IME West, the West Coast Device Alliance announced a strategic partnership with founding companies Eagle Medical, Pacific BioLabs, WESTPAK, Steri-Tek and Blue Line Sterilization Services on-site. Additionally, Informa Markets Engineering shared the inception of the first-ever North American Sustainable Manufacturing Expo to co-locate with the IME West event next year. IME West will return to the Anaheim Convention Center, Feb. 4-6, 2025.

The biennial southern Informa Markets Engineering event, IME South, will take also take place this year, June 4-6 at the Charlotte Convention Center in North Carolina with registration now available. To stay up to date on the latest information on Informa Markets Engineering and Manufacturing events, visit www.imengineeringwest.com .

About Informa Markets Engineering

Informa Markets' Engineering portfolio is the leading B2B event producer, publisher, and digital media business for the world's $3-trillion advanced, technology-based manufacturing industry. Our print and electronic products deliver trusted information to the engineering market and leverage our proprietary 1.3-million-name database to connect suppliers with buyers and purchase influencers. We produce more than 50 events and conferences in a dozen countries, connecting manufacturing professionals from around the globe. The Engineering portfolio is organized by Informa, the world's leading exhibitions organizer that brings a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, please visit www.informamarkets.com .

About Informa Markets

Informa Markets, a subsidiary of Informa plc (LON:INF), creates platforms for industries and specialist markets to trade, innovate and grow. Our portfolio comprises more than 550 international B2B events and brands in markets including Engineering, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Infrastructure, Construction & Real Estate, Fashion & Apparel, Hospitality, Food & Beverage, and Health & Nutrition, among others. We provide customers and partners around the globe with opportunities to engage, experience and do business through face-to-face exhibitions, specialist digital content and actionable data solutions. As the world's leading exhibitions organizer, we bring a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, visit www.informamarkets.com .

Media Contact

Informa Markets Engineering

EngineeringPR@informa.com

SOURCE: INFORMA MARKETS - ENGINEERING





View the original press release on accesswire.com




DNY59 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

One common criticism of Social Security is that Americans would be much better off financially if the money they paid into the retirement program through payroll taxes were instead invested into private investment accounts. That same argument is applied to Social Security checks  seniors would have much more wealth if they invested their checks as soon as they got them.

Check Out: 10 Valuable Stocks That Could Be the Next Apple or Amazon

Read Next: 6 Genius Things All Wealthy People Do With Their Money

There is truth to that theory, based on typical investment returns. An analysis from GOBankingRates found that if you invested all of your monthly Social Security checks in the S&P 500 over the past decade, your nest egg would have grown by nearly $20,000.

That kind of return should bring cheer to financial gurus, like Dave Ramsey, who recommend applying for Social Security retirement benefits as early as possible (age 62) and then immediately investing every monthly payment.

Theres just one problem with that reasoning, however: A large percentage of seniors dont have the financial ability to put their Social Security checks into stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, real estate, crypto or other investments. They need the money to pay the bills.

For about half of U.S. seniors, Social Security provides at least 50% of their overall retirement income, according to research from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. For about one-in-four seniors, Social Security provides at least 90% of income. These folks have a hard enough time making ends meet, let alone tossing their Social Security checks into various investments that might or might not pay off.

Learn More: Im a Financial Advisor  Id Invest My First $5,000 in These 6 Stocks

Sponsored: Protect Your Wealth With A Gold IRA. Take advantage of the timeless appeal of gold in a Gold IRA recommended by Sean Hannity.

How Much Would You Have Made If Those Funds Were Invested?

But for those who can afford to invest all of their Social Security checks, the potential payoff is considerable. The following table shows how much profit you would have made if you invested every Social Security check over the past 10 years into the S&P 500, from 2014 through 2023.

Story continues

The numbers include the average Social Security check by year as previously reported by GOBankingRates. They also include the average annual return of the S&P 500 from 2014-23, as cited by Macrotrends (other sources might reflect different returns).

A couple things to keep in mind: The figures below are based only on yearly averages, which means they dont include month-to-month fluctuations that happen with the stock market. They also dont include other types of investments  such as crypto holdings or real estate  that would have produced very different returns.

Year Avg. monthly SS check Total SS payments for year S&P 500 return Profit/loss for year 2014 $1,328.58 $15,942.96 +11.39% +$1,815.90 2015 $1,341.77 $16,101.24 -0.73% -$117.54 2016 $1,360.13 $16,321.56 +9.54% +1,557.08 2017 $1,404.15 $16,849.80 +19.42% +3,272.23 2018 $1,461.31 $17,535.72 -6.24% -1,094.23 2019 $1,455.22 $17,462.64 +28.88% +5,043.21 2020 $1,489.30 $17,871.60 +16.26% +2,905.92 2021 $1,517.98 $18,215.76 +26.89% +4,898.22 2022 $1,615.96 $19,391.52 -19.44% -3,769.71 2023 $1,696.35 $20,356.20 +24.23% +4,932.31 Total profit/loss +19,443.39

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: If You Invested Every Social Security Check for 10 Years, How Rich Would You Be?
HSINCHU, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Amidst the restructuring of global supply chains, Thailand, often referred to as the Detroit of the East, has rapidly emerged as a key player. It serves as both the hub of Southeast Asia's automotive market and the manufacturing and export center for various brands in the region. ITRI officially inaugurated its Southeast Asia Office in Bangkok, Thailand on February 28. ITRI's Southeast Asia Office has collaborated with the Thai-Taiwan Business Association, signing an agreement with the aim of forging strategic partnerships with Taiwanese businesses and fostering increased exchanges and partnerships between Taiwan and Thailand industries.

The inauguration of the ITRI Southeast Asia Office marks a significant step in strengthening industry ties between Taiwan and Thailand.

Chuan-Neng Lin, Vice Minister of Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, emphasized the increasing significance of Southeast Asian countries on the global stage. He highlighted that Taiwan's New Southbound Policy will further stimulate trade and investment between Taiwan and countries in the region. Lin expressed confidence that the establishment of the ITRI Southeast Asia Office will bolster industrial collaboration between Taiwan and the countries included in the policy and promote partnership with international industry, university, and research entities to develop a robust and dependable supply chain system.

ITRI President Edwin Liu remarked that Thailand 4.0, as envisaged by the Thai government, represents a pivotal moment for Thailand to emerge as a regional economic powerhouse. With the establishment of the ITRI Southeast Asia Office, the focus will be on pivotal areas such as achieving net-zero emissions, fostering smart manufacturing, advancing smart healthcare, and promoting smart agriculture. This aims to broaden and deepen interdisciplinary research and development efforts while offering technological solutions and facilitating talent exchanges in Thailand. On one front, it supports Taiwanese enterprises in Thailand, while on the other, it assists Taiwanese manufacturers in expanding their footprint in the Southeast Asian market, leveraging the robust industrial ties between Taiwan and Thailand. This collaborative endeavor aims to promote diverse economic growth for both parties and accelerate Thailand's innovative transformation. Additionally, it is expected to unlock new business opportunities and untapped markets, fostering bilateral collaboration between Taiwan and Thailand.

Story continues

Services offered at the ITRI Southeast Asia Office encompass promoting exchanges with local academic and research institutions to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration across professional domains, thereby expanding the tech talent pool. Additionally, the office assists enterprises in acquiring updated industry insights and nurturing relevant talents to meet market demands through industrial training.

About ITRI

Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) is one of the world's leading technology R&D institutions aiming to innovate a better future for society. Founded in 1973, ITRI has played a vital role in transforming Taiwan's industries from labor-intensive into innovation-driven. To address market needs and global trends, it has launched its 2035 Technology Strategy and Roadmap that focuses on innovation development in Smart Living, Quality Health, Sustainable Environment, and Resilient Society.

Over the years, ITRI has been dedicated to incubating startups and spinoffs, including well-known names such as UMC and TSMC. In addition to its headquarters in Taiwan, ITRI has branch offices in the U.S., Europe, and Japan in an effort to extend its R&D scope and promote international cooperation across the globe. For more information, please visit https://www.itri.org/eng.

Media Contact

Alex Chang

Office of Marketing Communications, ITRI

+886-3-591-8165

changAC@itri.org.tw

(PRNewsfoto/Industrial Technology Research Institute)

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/itri-establishes-southeast-asia-office-to-foster-taiwan-thailand-collaboration-302082557.html

SOURCE Industrial Technology Research Institute
Bernard Arnault is once again the world's richest person. ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/Getty Images

Bernard Arnault is the CEO and cofounder of the luxury conglomerate LVMH.

Bloomberg lists his fortune at $197 billion, putting him at the top of its billionaires index.

The title often bounces between Arnault, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk.

Bernard Arnault, the CEO of LVMH, has once again been ranked by Bloomberg as the world's richest person, with a reported fortune of $197 billion, snagging the title from Jeff Bezos.

The former Amazon CEO spent just a few days at the top spot, a title he regained for the first time since 2021. As of Thursday, his fortune has been eclipsed by Arnault by $1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, which is updated daily.

The title of richest person often alternates between Arnault, Bezos, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Until last week, Bloomberg listed Musk as the world's richest person, but his fortune has since dropped to $189 billion as Tesla's stock has declined. Preliminary data from the China Passenger Car Association indicated that the company had achieved its lowest month of sales in China last month.

Arnault serves as the CEO and chair of the French luxury conglomerate LVMH.

Since he cofounded the company in the 1980s, he's built his fortune by amassing a range of luxury companies across fashion, jewelry, watches, perfume, and alcohol, including well-known brands such as Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co, and Dom Perignon.

His 97.5% stake in the luxury fashion house Christian Dior accounts for most of his fortune, per Bloomberg.

In 2023, he appointed his daughter, Delphine Arnault, as the CEO and chair of Dior, and his four other children also work for LVMH and its brands.

In 2022, Arnault, who is 75 years old, convinced LVMH's board to raise the company's mandatory retirement age to 80, giving him another five years to decide who will take over his luxury empire.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Science behind Companys Skin Health & Beauty brands, including Neutrogena, Aveeno and more, demonstrates commitment to advancing everyday skin care

SKILLMAN, N.J., March 07, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kenvue Inc. ("Kenvue"), the worlds largest pure-play consumer health company by revenue, will share new data demonstrating how its iconic brands are contributing to the advancement of everyday skin care at the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Association Annual Meeting, set for March 8-12 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California.

In findings from the 22 data sets detailing new Kenvue skin science research, industry experts will present evidence confirming the clinical effectiveness of Neutrogena and Aveeno formulations in moisturizing skin, improving skin barrier, protecting against UVA sun damage, and rapidly reducing facial acne. Kenvue will also offer hands-on experiences in exhibit-floor Booth 2511, featuring products that are household names, including those from the Neutrogena, Aveeno, NeoStrata, Lubriderm, BAND-AID Brand and Rogaine1 portfolios.

"This is our first time presenting as Kenvue at the annual AAD meeting, allowing us a great opportunity to meet with leaders across dermatology and share our latest category-defining research that supports the value of our iconic brands as a part of everyday care," said Adam Ricciardone2, Head of R&D, Global Skin Health & Beauty and Head of R&D North America. "This evidence illustrates our ongoing commitment to delivering science-backed, care-forward experiences that are loved by consumers and recommended by healthcare professionals and experts."

In six new clinical studies being presented at AAD, Kenvue investigators found that oat-containing moisturizers developed by Aveeno and Neutrogena scientists made the skins microbiome more resilient in a variety of populations. These include young children predisposed to eczema, women with dry skin, adults with mild to moderate eczema, and adults receiving immunobiological treatment for psoriasis.

Story continues

Across these studies, findings showed that consumers enjoyed improved quality of life while using the moisturizing formulations  and, in many cases, for days afterwards or even longer. Specifically, product users experienced less itchiness, scaliness and self-consciousness about their appearance  or, in the case of the infants, improvements to the skins microbiome associated with a decreased risk of eczema.

Additional data to be presented at AAD demonstrates the benefits of Kenvues formulations for skin hydration, sun protection and acne control.

Studies presented will include:

Novel Natural Moisturizing Factor and Lipid-Containing Face Cream Induces Aquaporin-3 and Filaggrin Expression Associated with Barrier Improvements and Sustained Clinical Hydration in Extra-Dry Skin; Bernhardt KT, et al.

Demonstrating the Clinical Effectiveness of Mineral Sunscreens in Protecting the Skin Against Ultraviolet A (UVA) Radiation-Induced Pigmentation; Shyr TC, et al.

The Science Behind a Viral Trend: Demonstrating Tolerance and Efficacy of Hydrocolloid Patch for Facial Acne; Kosmoski G, et al.

On Friday and Saturday, Kenvue experts and key opinion leaders will also host R&D Theater presentations in the booth. See here for a full list of topics and times.

Kenvues exhibit-floor Booth 2511 will offer ongoing education and experiences. On Friday and Saturday, Kenvue experts and dermatological key opinion leaders will also host 10 R&D Theater presentations in the theater section of the booth, covering a variety of skin concerns, new formulas, and data. Other product and ingredient experiences to engage dermatologists include "tiny mic"-style interviews, oat-science trivia presented by Aveeno, and Neutrogena conversations with SkinU scientists and a mega influencer.

About Kenvue

Kenvue is the worlds largest pure-play consumer health company by revenue. Built on more than a century of heritage and propelled forward by science, our iconic brands  including Aveeno, BAND-AID Brand Adhesive Bandages, Johnsons, Listerine, Neutrogena, Tylenol and Zyrtec  are recommended by health care professionals and can be trusted by consumers who use our products to improve their daily lives. Our team members share a digital-first mindset, with an approach to innovation grounded in deep human insights and work every day to earn a place for our products in consumers hearts and homes. At Kenvue, we believe everyday care can not only make people well; it can make them whole. Learn more at www.kenvue.com.

Cautions Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding data being presented at the American Academy of Dermatologists Annual Meeting. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "plans," "expects," "will," "anticipates," "estimates" and other words of similar meaning. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of Kenvue Inc. ("Kenvue") and its affiliates.

A list and descriptions of risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Kenvues filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings, available at www.kenvue.com or on request from Kenvue. Kenvue and its affiliates undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or developments or otherwise.

____________________________

1 Neutrogena, Aveeno, NeoStrata, Lubriderm, Band-Aid Brand and Rogaine are brands of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., a subsidiary of Kenvue.

2 Adam Ricciardone is an employee of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., a subsidiary of Kenvue.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306523598/en/

Contacts

R&D Media Relations

Meghan Harding

mhardin1@kenvue.com



Media Relations

media@kenvue.com
Demonstrators participate in a "water-in" on March 1 at the Cafe Fig restaurant in the Hotel Figueroa in support of workers not retained when the new operator took over. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Two days after the food hospitality operator at a fashionable downtown hotel shuttered its restaurants and laid off its food and beverage employees, a new third-party management company moved in and hired a whole new set of workers, according to a complaint filed with the Los Angeles city attorneys office.

The laid-off food and beverage laborers had attempted to unionize months earlier. They allege that Hotel Figueroa and hospitality operator the Botanical Group left them out of the hiring, potentially violating a city "right to return" law that requires that new hotel owners or new operators retain the sites employees for a transitional period, according to the complaint.

A Feb. 21 letter addressed to the city attorneys office asks for an investigation. A spokesperson for the office confirmed receipt of the complaint but wouldn't comment further on the matter.

The company closed without retaining workers in violation of the recall law, said Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, which is aiding the hotel workers in their effort. It is beyond outrageous to see wealthy companies  treat their long-standing workers like they are disposable.

Read more: Restaurant workers wanted to unionize at this L.A. hotel. Now the restaurants are closing

The hotel is denying the premise of the workers' complaint.

In a prepared statement, a spokesperson for Hotel Figueroa said its ownership is acting in accordance with the Los Angeles Hotel Worker Retention Ordinance, which requires that new hotel owners or operators retain the sites employees for a transitional period. The 2006 ordinance initially applied only to hotels in the LAX corridor. In 2022, a new hotel worker protection ordinance expanded the existing law to include all city hotels with more than 50 guestrooms.

The retention rule is intended to protect laid-off hotel workers so that if a hotel undergoes a change in control, the successor hotel employer is required to hire previous employees for a 90-day transition period and may not discharge these employees without cause.

Story continues

Pastor Mike Kinman, right, walks out of the Hotel Figueroa after demonstrating in support of restaurant workers who were laid off. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

The Hotel Figueroa spokesperson said there isnt a new food and beverage operator in place, but that they are instead working with a consultant to provide limited F&B [food and beverage] service. Several former staff members of the former third-party management group returned to the hotels food and beverage outlets, she said, and they expect more will return in the next few weeks.

When asked how many non-managerial staff had been hired back, the spokesperson said the company wouldnt comment further.

The Botanical Group did not respond to emails and message for comment.

The 2006 retention ordinance was drafted in response to mass firings that occurred in 2000 at a Wyndham hotel near LAX. The hotel closed and laid off more than 200 employees. The hotel reopened as the Radisson Hotel LAX about a year later but did not hire all of the former Wyndham workers, even though more than 100 of them submitted applications.

Since then, the law has been invoked a handful of times, said Maria Hernandez, a spokeswoman with Unite Here Local 11.

On a recent Friday afternoon, a bartender at the reopened Bar Magnolia said he and the other bartenders present were new to the job, as well as other non-management employees. The space once occupied by Sparrow Italia, which served coastal Italian dishes and cocktails in an indoor-meets-outdoor setting, remained closed.

A dishwasher, line cook and prep cook interviewed previously about Hotel Figueroa also said they had been laid off and not rehired by the new operator.

Rev. Edgar Rivera Colon, left, exhorts patrons to support the rehiring of more than 100 workers who lost their jobs. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Workers sought to organize

Tension between the former hospitality group Noble 33 and its employees at Hotel Figueroa started soon after the third-party management took over food and beverage operations for the hotel in 2021, according to workers and union organizers who spoke with The Times.

Workers said they were forced to take on multiple tasks without more pay as their colleagues left and management failed to back-fill positions.

On Dec. 8, back-of-house food and beverage workers who worked for Noble 33 notified their management that they intended to form a union, and submitted cards to do so.

Six days later, hospitality operator Noble 33 announced it would close Sparrow Italia, Cafe Fig, Bar Magnolia, the Cafeteria and La Casita at Driftwood at the famed hotel, a historic building in downtown L.A. that for the last two decades built a following for its Mediterranean-inspired space and stylish dining rooms.

Read more: Helping Indigenous restaurant workers in the languages they speak

Rev. Andrew Schwiebert, center, talks with diners as he and dozens of others participate in a "water-in" at the Cafe Fig. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Noble 33 followed through on the closure. On Feb. 11, the company laid off an estimated 100 non-management employees and closed the Hotel Figueroas restaurants.

Maria Ibarra, a cook for Noble 33 at the hotel, said she was laid off and not rehired. She now faces unemployment.

The owners thought they could just replace us overnight and that we would give up and walk away, Ibarra said. My co-workers and I will not do that. We have rights.

Wednesday, Unite Here Local 11, workers and religious leaders called for a boycott of the hotel and hospitality group, at a morning press conference in front of Hotel Figueroa.

The group also delivered a letter signed by nearly 500 people demanding that the hotel bring back the laid-off workers.

"We call on you to immediately offer to return the workers to their employment at the hotel and compensate them for time missed," the letter said.

The boycott is just the latest move taken by workers and the union.

On Friday, nearly 40 people picketed at Hotel Figueroa  seven of them hotel housekeepers alongside about 30 community members and religious leaders with Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, a faith-based advocacy group based near downtown. They shouted "Bring them back" and held a sign that read "Bring back the Fig 100."

Sign up for our Tasting Notes newsletter for restaurant reviews, Los Angeles food-related news and more.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Lufthansa Cargo has 17 Boeing 777 cargo jets and an additional one on the way. (Photo: Lufthansa Group)

Sharply lower yields due to excess capacity from passenger flights combined with higher costs led to an 86% plunge in Lufthansa Cargos operating profit in 2023, underscoring how challenging the year was for the entire air logistics industry.

Lufthansa Group (DXE: LHA) on Wednesday reported its third best financial results in history, but the cargo subsidiary was battered by lower demand and rates as the global economy returned to more normal patterns following the COVID crisis. With more predictable supply chain activity and weak economic growth in Europe, there was less need for faster transportation options.

Lufthansa Cargos adjusted operating profit tumbled to 219 million euros ($239 million) from $1.7 billion in 2022, behind a 37% drop in core transportation revenue to $3 billion. The profit margin was cut from 34.6% to 7.4%.

Global airfreight volumes, writ large, decreased 2% year over year in 2023 on the heels of an 8% decline in 2022, according to the International Air Transport Association. Yields fell 32%.





Lufthansa management forecast a slight increase in demand for 2024, with profit levels staying about the same, despite robust airfreight volumes across the industry so far this year. Market researchers report air cargo volumes jumped about 14% in January and an additional 11% in February compared to the same periods in 2023.

A major headwind for cargo was the companys injection of more passenger flights, which raised the amount of cargo capacity across the network by 7% and weighed on pricing. In fact, volume of 7.5 billion freight ton-kilometers was 3% higher than the previous year, while yields fell 39.3%  an indication the top line was most harmed by falling rates. Increased capacity was reflected in a 1.9-point drop in the cargo load factor, meaning less than 60% of available cargo space was filled.

Despite the reduced year-over-year performance, yields were still better than prior to the pandemic.

The company doesnt break out expenses for the logistics segment, but across the entire group they increased 14% to cover higher labor and maintenance costs. Lufthansa Cargos profits undoubtedly were impacted by the higher costs. On Thursday, Lufthansa ground staff walked off the job, while on Wednesday cabin crew voted to strike as they seek a 15% wage increase, a potential harbinger of further profit erosion, Reuters reported.

Story continues





Lufthansa Cargo is the 16th-largest cargo airline in the world by shipping activity. It operates 17 Boeing 777 freighters on long-haul routes and four Airbus A321 converted freighters for same-day e-commerce customers within Europe, and is scheduled to receive an additional 777 factory freighter from Boeing in the first half of the year. Supply chain delays briefly kept two of the narrowbody cargo jets out of service earlier this year.

Eleven aircraft are operated by Lufthansa Cargo crews under the Lufthansa Cargo brand. Six aircraft are chartered from AeroLogic, a joint venture with DHL, and operated by AeroLogic on behalf of Lufthansa Cargo. Lufthansa Cargo also manages the belly cargo for Lufthansa and all sister airlines besides Swiss International.

Revenue for Lufthansas logistics segment, which includes Lufthansa Cargo, the 50% stake in Aerologic, airfreight container specialist Jettainer, on-demand logistics provider time:matters, e-commerce service Heyworld and a customs brokerage unit, was $3.2 billion.

Lufthansa is a bellwether for the air cargo logistics sector, and its results show that even well-managed companies werent immune from the global downturn in freight activity. Logistics giant Kuehne+Nagel, for example, reported revenue in its air logistics division fell 41% last year and that operating profit dropped 61%. Expeditors International said overall operating income fell 40%. Cargo revenue at the big three U.S. international airlines  American, Delta and United  dropped more than 30%. And Air Canada, which also has freighter aircraft, saw cargo revenue decrease by 27%.

Infrastructure and service upgrades

Lufthansa is investing about $544 million to modernize its cargo hub in Frankfurt, Germany, with the goal of enabling faster handling speeds and service capabilities for specialty product lines such as pharmaceuticals. About 80% of Lufthansa Cargos global traffic flows through Frankfurt. Cross-border e-commerce is the fastest growing airfreight product.

Construction of the new high-stacking warehouse, including an automated transport system, began last year. In addition to the new building, Lufthansa will upgrade existing buildings and warehouses at the Lufthansa Cargo Center. The project is expected to be completed by 2030.

Lufthansa Cargo recently introduced a new ultra-expedited service offering for time-critical freight called td.Zoom that can shave nearly a day off transit time for an intercontinental shipment compared to td.Pro. It also expanded digital capabilities in the past year, offering direct system interfaces to its booking system to key accounts.

Overall, Lufthansa Group more than doubled net profit to $1.8 billion behind a 15% hike in revenues related to strong travel demand. Group airlines include Swiss International Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Discover Airlines and newly founded Lufthansa City Airlines. Lufthansa is also working with the European Commission to finalize taking of a 41% stake in Italys national carrier ITA Airways.





Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

Sign up for the weekly American Shipper Air newsletter here.

RELATED READING:

Lufthansa Cargo profits wiped out in Q3

The post Lufthansa Cargo profit tumbled 86% last year appeared first on FreightWaves.
By Joanna Plucinska and Ilona Wissenbach

LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Lufthansa warned on Thursday its operating losses in the first quarter will widen and gave a subdued outlook for 2024 as the German airline struggles with costly labour disputes, offsetting the travel boom.

The airline said operating results this year would be on par with 2023, but Chief Financial Officer Remco Steenbergen said there was "no hard commitment" to meet a target for operating margins to hit 8% for the year. They were 7.6% in 2023.

Steenbergen said the company would try to get "as close as possible" to the 8% target, and would broadly keep the target even if Lufthansa doesn't achieve it this year.

Adjusted EBIT margins will fall to 6.9% this year from 7.6% in 2023, according to a company-provided analyst poll.

Europe's airlines have benefited from unprecedented demand after the pandemic, allowing them to raise prices, but higher labour and maintenance costs have limited earnings growth.

Lufthansa in particular has agreed to new, higher pay deals to end strikes, which analysts and investors say threaten its 2024 operating margin target.

On Thursday, Lufthansa ground staff walked off the job, while on Wednesday cabin crew voted to strike as they seek a 15% wage increase, a potential harbinger of further profit erosion.

The strikes are likely to contribute to a larger-than-expected operating loss in the first quarter of 2024, the company said, with the second and third quarters set to be strong.

Shares were down 1.4% at 0922 GMT.

Despite the flat operating result expected in 2024, the company said its results were strong enough to propose issuing a divided of 0.30 euros a share, to be voted on at the annual general meeting on May 7.

The group has not issued a dividend since 2019.

The results come almost two weeks after the airline announced the surprise departure of Steenbergen, which knocked its share price and rattled investor confidence.

Story continues

Operating profits for 2023 were up 76% from 1.5 billion euros ($1.63 billion) in 2022. Revenues of 35.4 billion euros ($38.58 billion) were up almost 15%, but were lower than the 36.3 billion euros expected in a company-issued poll.

CAPACITY

Analysts pointed to Lufthansa's slower growth in capacity compared to its rivals, with the group struggling with some plane groundings tied to RTX's Pratt & Whitney engine issues.

"We continue to see a more cautious pace of capacity restoration at Lufthansa versus other European peers," Bernstein analyst Alex Irving said.

The carrier's shares have outperformed European rival flag carriers Air France-KLM and IAG since early 2022 as the region's travel industry recovered from disruption caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week, results from Air France and British Airways owner IAG put the spotlight on challenges for the industry from high prices of jet fuel, to geopolitical flashpoints, problems at plane makers and wage talks.

Lufthansa shares trade at five times forecast earnings over the next 12 months, compared to four times for IAG and three for Air France-KLM.

($1=0.9175 euros)

(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Gerry Doyle and Ros Russell)
Assyrians in Iraq Still Fearing Insecurity

The Vatican News

Three years after Pope Francis' Apostolic Journey to Iraq, Chaldean Archbishop Michael Najeeb of Mosul and Aqra, says to Vatican News that the fruits of that historic visit are slowly beginning to show in the Muslim-majority nation, despite ongoing difficulties for Christians.

On March 5, 2021 Pope Francis embarked for his historic Apostolic Journey to Iraq, marking the first visit of a Pontiff to the Middle Eastern nation.

During his four-day stay the Pope visited Baghdad, as well as the Plain of Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, and the cities of Najaf, Nassiriya, Erbil, Mosul, and Qaraqosh, where he met with Christian communities, and political and religious leaders.

The central aim of the journey was to bring his closeness and spiritual support to the dwindling Christian communities in Iraq, still reeling from four years of persecution by the so-called Islamic State group (ISIS), and to encourage interreligious dialogue and understanding.

Iraqi Christians still victims of persecution

In a country of around 40 million people, the Christian population has been steadily declining for decades, from around 1.4 million in 2003 to about 250,000 today.

Archbishop Najeeb explained that, though Pope Francis brought them comfort and encouraged expatriated Iraqi Christians to resettle following the military defeat of ISIS in 2017, many still hesitate, and several families even continue to emigrate from the Nineveh Plain and Iraqi Kurdistan, due to ongoing insecurity.

He detailed that Christians in the region continue to endure intimidation and potential violence from local militias fighting each other, and that most of their houses which were destroyed during the ISIS occupation are still in rubble. "These families don't want to restart their life in a place that is still unsafe for them and that the government can't control".

Meeting with of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani the most positive outcome of the visit

One of the highlights of Pope Francis' visit was his meeting with Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and the statement on fraternity which complemented the Abu Dhabi Document the Pope signed in February 2019 with Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Sunni Grand Imam of al-Azhar.

According to Archbishop Najeeb the event was one of the most positive outcomes of Pope Francis' visit to Iraq and a further step towards mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims, also in light of the fact that Shiites represent between 60% and 65% of the Muslim population in the country.

"It was a beautiful encounter that dispelled many misunderstandings", he said. "We are no longer seen as enemies", but "as brothers in humanity."

Islamist terrorism abuses religion

Finally, asked about Iraqi Muslim leaders attitude towards Islamist extremists today, Archbishop Najeeb explained that Muslims came soon to realize that ISIS radical Islamist views did not represent true Islam and opposed it. "This form of Islam advocated by ISIS has, on one hand, disfigured the friendship between Sunni and Shiite Muslim communities, and on the other hand, Islam has also been used to distort interreligious friendship," he noted.
Delegation from the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg visits Pony.ais office in Fremont, California, March 6, 2024 (Photo: Business Wire)

FREMONT, Calif., March 07, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pony.ai, a leading global autonomous mobility company, held a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony today with the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg ("The Government") to advance the development of autonomous mobility in Luxembourg. The MoU was signed by Pony.ai Co-Founder and CEO Dr. James Peng and Luxembourgs Minister of the Economy Lex Delles. This MoU represents a collaborative partnership between Luxembourg and Pony.ai, with the objective of fostering the research, development, and deployment of autonomous vehicles in Luxembourg.

As a global leader in innovation and technology, Luxembourg presents an excellent opportunity for Pony.ai to further develop its leading autonomous mobility technology in Europe. Pony.ai, with the support of Luxinnovation and local stakeholders, intends to set up a regional hub in Luxembourg, which will serve as a center for Pony.ais cutting-edge research and development of autonomous vehicle technology. Pony.ais Luxembourg-based hub will be pivotal in driving technological advancements and tailoring solutions for the European market. In addition, the Government and Pony.ai aim to develop a robust local network to support operational capabilities in Luxembourg. Pony.ai looks forward to building strong local partnerships to support this effort.

Pony.ai co-founder and CEO Dr. James Peng said: "As a leading global autonomous vehicle company, Pony.ai is delighted to partner with Luxembourg as we continue our global expansion. We aim to bring to this partnership our cutting-edge AV technology, comprehensive training programs, and a commitment to establish a regional hub in Luxembourg as we continue our global expansion."

Luxembourg Minister of the Economy Lex Delles said: "The intelligent mobility sector is one of our priorities with regard to the diversification of Luxembourgs economy. Our aim is to make the Grand Duchy a pioneer in the field of autonomous driving on a European scale. As such, I am very pleased with the signature of an MoU with Pony.ai, a leader in autonomous mobility technologies and services. The signature today formalizes our collaboration and is an important step towards creating a synergy between the technical expertise of Pony.ai and the Luxembourg government's political strategy. The latter aims to promote research and technological development, job creation and sustainable economic growth."

Story continues

Pony.ai is a leader in autonomous mobility and in the commercialization of autonomous driving, operating Robotaxi, Robotruck and Personally Owned Vehicle (POV) business units, developing the safest autonomous driving capabilities on a global scale. Pony.ai is excited to continue its expansion into Luxembourg and the European market. For the past year, Pony.ai has engaged in detailed conversations surrounding robotaxi deployment use cases and opportunities with local stakeholders in Luxembourg and believes the country is an exciting and innovative region to introduce Pony.ais leading autonomous vehicles.

About Pony.ai

Leading global autonomous driving company Pony.ai, Inc. ("Pony.ai") is pursuing an ambitious vision for autonomous mobility. We aim to bring safe, sustainable, and accessible mobility to the entire world. We believe that autonomous technology can make our roads exponentially safer for travelers. Founded in late 2016, Pony.ai has been a pioneer in extending autonomous mobility technologies and services at a rapidly expanding footprint of sites around the world. Pony.ai has formed partnerships with leading OEMs, including Toyota, SAIC, SANY, FAW Group, GAC Group, etc. To date, Pony.ai has driven over 30 million autonomous testing and operation kilometers (over 18.6 million miles) on open roads worldwide.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306928526/en/

Contacts

Adam Steinberg

Media@pony.ai
TAIPEI, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Nestled in the heart of Phuket's bustling landscape, M Social Phuket has always been renowned for its exceptional service and unparalleled guest experiences. However, to stay ahead in Thailand's competitive hospitality industry, the hotel embarked on a journey to integrate innovative technology into its operations.

M Social Phuket has integrated Aiello Voice Assistant (AVA) to enhance the guest experience.

From the moment guests step foot into M Social Phuket, they are greeted by Aiello Voice Assistant (AVA), their personalized AI concierge. Seamlessly integrated into the hotel's ecosystem, AVA effortlessly assists guests with a wide range of inquiries, from room service requests to frequently asked questions. With its intuitive interface and multilingual capabilities, AVA ensures that guests feel right at home, no matter where they're from.

But AVA's impact extends far beyond simple guest interactions. It also allows guests to control IoT-enabled lighting, air conditioning and smart TVs by simply using their voice.

For M Social Phuket, AVA has transformed its operational efficiency by automating routine tasks and streamlining communication between staff members. Housekeeping requests are now promptly answered, restaurant reservations are seamlessly managed, and guest preferences are effortlessly recorded  all thanks to AVA's cutting-edge AI technology.

"Our collaboration with Aiello has revolutionized the way we interact with our guests and has positioned M Social Phuket as a leader in hospitality innovation," said Mr. Pjey Mayandi, General Manager of M Social Phuket. "We are committed to leveraging technology to create unforgettable experiences for our guests, and Aiello Voice Assistant has played a pivotal role in achieving this goal."

As M Social Phuket continues to set new benchmarks in hospitality excellence, AVA remains at the forefront of its success story. With its seamless integration, personalized service, and unmatched efficiency, AVA has truly redefined the guest experience at M Social Phuket, setting a new standard for luxury hospitality in Phuket and beyond.

Story continues

Media Contact:

Amy Lai

+886 935791008

amy.lai@aiello.ai

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/m-social-phuket-elevates-guest-experience-with-aiellos-voice-ai-technology-302082626.html

SOURCE Aiello International (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad (KLSE:PCHEM) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 4 days. The ex-dividend date is usually set to be one business day before the record date which is the cut-off date on which you must be present on the company's books as a shareholder in order to receive the dividend. 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. Therefore, if you purchase PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad's shares on or after the 12th of March, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 26th of March.

The company's upcoming dividend is RM00.05 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of RM0.10 per share to shareholders. Last year's total dividend payments show that PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad has a trailing yield of 1.4% on the current share price of RM06.94. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

Check out our latest analysis for PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad paid out 61% of its earnings to investors last year, a normal payout level for most businesses. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. Over the last year it paid out 69% of its free cash flow as dividends, within the usual range for most companies.

It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Story continues

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with shrinking earnings are tricky from a dividend perspective. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. With that in mind, we're discomforted by PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad's 19% per annum decline in earnings in the past five years. Such a sharp decline casts doubt on the future sustainability of the dividend.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad's dividend payments per share have declined at 9.8% per year on average over the past 10 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.

Final Takeaway

Is PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad worth buying for its dividend? While earnings per share are shrinking, it's encouraging to see that at least PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad's dividend appears sustainable, with earnings and cashflow payout ratios that are within reasonable bounds. It's not that we think PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad is a bad company, but these characteristics don't generally lead to outstanding dividend performance.

Although, if you're still interested in PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad and want to know more, you'll find it very useful to know what risks this stock faces. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 1 warning sign with PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.
Neighborhoods in Moore are in a national spotlight again, and for once it's not because of a huge storm  although rebuilding from past disasters could have something to do with the new attention.

Realtor.com reports the Oklahoma City suburb is one of the top housing markets in the country for first-time homebuyers. Based on numerous criteria, and a cap of one city per metropolitan area "to allow for a greater diversity of options," Realtor.com ranks Moore as the No. 8 market for first-timers in 2024.

"It says a lot for our community. We work hard to make it a good place to live. We're a great little community," said Melissa Hunt, Ward 2 Moore City Council member.

A sign marks a home for sale sign Wednesday in Moore along Broadway. Realtor.com reports the Oklahoma City suburb is one of the top housing markets in the country for first-time homebuyers.

"Little" is relative.

With a population of 62,793 at the 2020 census, Moore is the seventh-largest city in Oklahoma. And the growth in national chain stores along Interstate 35 the past two decades has made it one of the strongest retail markets in the metro area, according to OKC's Price Edwards & Co..

Retail follows rooftops. In other words, stores locate where people live. Could the nature of those rooftops make Moore more inviting to first-time homebuyers?

Moore, Oklahoma, has selling points for homebuyers, not just first-timers, Realtor says

A home at 720 SW 3 in Moore has three bedrooms, one bath and 1,210 square feet. It is offered for $150,000 by Legacy Real Estate Group.

Moore has good selling points for young homebuyers and former renters, said Monty Strickland, a Realtor and broker/partner at Realty Experts Inc. in Moore.

Moore and south Oklahoma City are great for people looking for their first home, he said. People looking for their first property can find a variety of sizes and price ranges, and its convenient to get to downtown, to Norman and even to the Tinker Air Force Base area.

"Moore/south Oklahoma City" usually come in the same breath because of the Moore school district, which falls across south OKC. The city of Moore is only about 23 square miles, Strickland said, and the school district is nearly 160 square miles.

Across the area, he said, homes are worth anywhere from less than $100,000 to more than $3 million. The key for attracting first-time buyers is on the lower end. And that's where the storms and tornadoes come in.

Story continues

Tornado-ravaged neighborhoods in Moore, Oklahoma, get rebuilt for the market

Whenever a tornado strikes Moore  and by now, after 10 strikes in 25 years, including deadly record breakers in 1999 and 2013, it does seem to be a question of when, not if  some homeowners build back on their tornado-swept lots.

But builders and developers also come in, buy up swaths of lots and build for the booming post-storm market.

After the EF5 tornado of May 3, 1999, many builders started adding anchor bolts to better secure exterior walls to foundations, hurricane clips to better secure roofs to walls, heavy-gauge garage doors, and other "hidden extras" to improve wind resistance. After the 2013 tornado, the city of Moore enacted stricter building codes requiring extra measures to make homes safer.

A home at 129 SE 1 in Moore has three bedrooms, three baths and 1,040 square feet. It is offered for $150,000 by Metro Mark Realty.

After a disaster, rebuilding usually means speculative homes, although they get snatched up quickly, and that means starter homes. Plus, Strickland said, house sizes are limited by older, smaller lot sizes.

In Moore, "There are a lot of smaller homes," Strickland said.

Realtor.com's criteria for its top 10 markets for first-time homebuyers for 2024

Realtor.com ranked 2,738 cities and places with a population of more than 5,000 located within the 100 largest metro areas. The rankings were based on the following criteria:

The share of 25- to 34-year-old homeowner households among all households.

The availability of homes for sale, measured by active listings per 1,000 existing households in the past 12 months, to ensure that homebuyers have a good amount of choice in their search.

A measure of affordability, estimated by the ratio of listing prices to gross household incomes of 25- to 34-year-olds in that city for the past 12 months.

A measure of job opportunities, estimated by the forecast unemployment rate of the citys surrounding metro area.

The average commute time to work.

A measure of the culture and liveliness of an area, estimated by the count of restaurants, cafes, bars, shopping establishments, and other lifestyle businesses such as theaters, comedy clubs, and arts classes as listed on Yelp in November 2023.

Forecast metro-area home sales and home price growth in 2024, as new buyers may want to ensure they locate to a healthy market, which will support equity growth and an easy transition when they have outgrown their home.

Monty Strickland, broker/partner with Realty Experts Inc. in Moore.

Top 10 Markets for first-time homebuyers for 2024, according to Realtor.com

Realtor.coms Top 10 Markets for First-Time Home Buyers for 2024 are:

Irondequoit, New York

Benton, Arkansas

Winterset, Iowa

Newington, Connecticut

Council Bluffs, Iowa

Cheektowaga, New York

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Moore, Oklahoma

Mattydale, New York

Riviera Beach, Maryland

This three-bedroom, one-bath, 850-square-foot home at 716 SW 2 in Moore is offered for $149,000 by Prime Realty Inc.

Sign Up: Weekly newsletter Real Estate with Richard Mize

Senior Business Writer Richard Mize has covered housing, construction, commercial real estate and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com since 1999. Contact him at rmize@oklahoman.com. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Real Estate with Richard Mize. You can support Richard's work, and that of his colleagues, by purchasing a digital subscription to The Oklahoman. Right now, you can get 6 months of subscriber-only access for $1.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Moore a top 10 market first-time homebuyers: are tornadoes a cause?
By Krystal Hu and Sheila Dang

(Reuters) -Elon Musk said on Wednesday that his social media platform X could soon receive approval for a money transmitter license in New York, putting the platform a step closer to offering payment features.

While speaking at the Morgan Stanley technology, media and telecom conference, Musk also said X could receive its license in California in the next month or so, while getting the New York approval could be "a few months away".

Since acquiring the company formerly known as Twitter in 2022, the billionaire has sought to turn it into an "everything app" like Tencent's dominant WeChat app in China, with features beyond social media, including the ability to send money to other X users.

To offer services across the U.S., experts say X will need a money transmitter license in each state, and Musk has previously said that approval in New York and California would be the most consequential. Those populous states are also known for relatively lengthy approval processes.

Some other states including Pennsylvania and Utah have already granted money transmitter licenses to X.

During the conference, the billionaire who also runs Tesla and SpaceX said X was considering removing the number of likes and reposts that are currently visible on each post.

The information could visually clutter content on the platform, he said.

(Reporting by Krystal Hu and Sheila Dang; Editing by Sandra Maler and Jamie Freed)
ATLANTA, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- National DCP (NDCP), the $3 billion supply chain management company serving Dunkin' franchisees, has announced its 2024 Board of Directors Officers. An active working board committed to advancing the needs of fellow Dunkin' franchises, NDCP's Board members are elected by their peers within a designated regional area (Series).

Sanjay Jain, National DCP Chairman of the Board

National DCP's 2024 Board Officers include:

Sanjay Jain, Chairman of the Board  Jain, owner of a large network of Dunkin'/Baskin Robbins stores in Queens and Long Island, New York, was re-elected Chairman of the Board for a historic third year in a row. He brings 35 years of Accounting, Finance, and Information Technology experience with Fortune 500 companies to the supply chain management cooperative. Active within Dunkin's Brand Advisory Committee and numerous regional leadership groups, Jain joined the NDCP Board in 2016, representing its Series C. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, the former financial executive and certified public accountant served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Internal Auditor of Abovenet Inc., and Audit Director at Ernst & Young and BDO Seidman in the Metro New York area. Jain has a Management Information Systems degree from the University of Hartford, a Master of Business Administration degree from Dallas Baptist University and a Master of Commerce degree from the University of Rajasthan in India.

Matthew Doyle, Vice Chairman  A Dunkin' franchisee for nearly 25 years, at one point his business operated 100 Dunkin' stores in Rochester, New York, Cleveland, Ohio and Worcester, Massachusetts. He resides outside of Worcester, Massachusetts and owns and operates Worcester Building Systems, which caters to commercial retail/medical/industrial /mixed use construction. Over the years Doyle has constructed, developed, and managed over 350k SF of real estate of various commercial uses. He previously served on the Northeast DCP regional Board of Directors from 2009  2011 before the merger that formed the National DCP. A member of NDCP's board since 2014, he represents Series B. Doyle is a graduate of Assumption College and served several years on their Board of Trustees.

Story continues

Shams Charania, Treasurer  With over a decade of experience as both a Dunkin' and Baskin Robbins franchisee, Charania owns 37 restaurants throughout the southeast as well as a CML. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, he represents Series E. Previously active within Dunkin's Brand Advisory Committee and regional leadership groups, he served as a member of the Southeast DCP Board prior to the merger that founded our organization in 2012. Charania has an undergraduate degree in Accounting from Georgia State University as well as an MBA from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Vishal Shah, Secretary  A representative of Series D, Vishal Shah has been a member of NDCP's Board of Directors since 2021. He owns Dunkin' and Baskin Robbins restaurants in Illinois and Iowa. The second-generation franchisee has been in the business since 1991. A member of Dunkin's national franchise leadership committee, he graduated from Northern Illinois University. In 2011, Shah was one of three franchisees profiled in a CNBC "Behind the Counter" story in 2011.

In addition, other National DCP Board members bring a strong business perspective and long tenure of service to the organization. Besides the Board officers, the 2024 roster includes:

Neal Faulkner - Representing Series B, Neal Faulkner first joined the National DCP Board in 2014. He has been a Dunkin' franchisee since 2000, serving as the President of a team that operates 28 stores throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Faulkner previously served as Board Vice Chairman and has chaired numerous committees. A current member of Dunkin's Brand Advisory Committee, he also served on the brand's IT committee. Faulkner has both a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts from Southern Methodist University in Business and History. In addition, he received an MBA degree from Babson College.

Dipak Patel - A founding Board member of National DCP, Patel served as the Chairman of the Board four times and has chaired nearly every NDCP committee. He has been a Dunkin' franchisee since 1989, with 90 stores located in North and Central New Jersey. A prominent figure in the franchise community, Patel has served on a multitude of Dunkin' committees, including the BAC, RAC, DAC, Enterprise Advisory Council, Marketing and Mid-Atlantic DCP committees. His education includes receiving a bachelor's degree in chemistry, another bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and a master's degree in industrial engineering. In 2022 and 2020, he was honored as the New York Market Franchisee of the Year and in 2021 Patel won the Above and Beyond Award. He represents series C.

Dharmisth Patel - Representing Series D, Dharmisth Patel has been a member of the franchisee community since 1992 with Dunkin' restaurants primarily located in the western suburbs of Chicago. He previously served as Board Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer throughout his long tenure and has chaired numerous board committees.

Amish Patel - With 28 Dunkin' restaurants located in Palm Beach, Brevard County, and Orlando, Florida, Amish Patel has been a Dunkin' franchisee for 17 years. Representing Series E, he has chaired numerous NDCP Board committees and has been an active regional leader in Dunkin's franchise community. Patel graduated from the University of Central Florida with a degree in Finance.

Christian Charnaux - As the Dunkin' representative from Series A, Christian Charnaux serves as Chief Growth Officer of Inspire Brands, a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 32,000 Arby's, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin', Jimmy John's, and SONIC Drive-In restaurants worldwide. He leads Inspire's growth efforts, including the identification and integration of strategic additions to Inspire's multi-brand portfolio, as well as Inspire's Development, International, and Supply Chain functions. Prior to Inspire, Charnaux held leadership positions with Hilton Worldwide, the Boston Consulting Group and J.P. Morgan. Charnaux is an alumnus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree, with Highest Distinction, in History and Political Science and was a Morehead Scholar. He also received an MBA, with Distinction, from Harvard Business School.

Dennis Baker - Dennis Baker currently serves as an Independent Director on NDCP's board. A former Marriott International executive, Dennis created the vision for spinning off Marriott's procurement division, known as Avendra, and after launching the entity was appointed President and CEO. Avendra is now a leading procurement services provider serving the hospitality industry across North America. He served as a member for the Board of Directors of Avendra from 2001 until 2014 and was actively engaged in the Audit and Compensation Committees. Dennis's past leadership roles include serving as Chief Financial Officer of Classic Brands, a public manufacturing and distribution company, as well as previous accounting and finance roles with Fairchild Industries. Dennis also served as an advisory board member of Boston University's Hospitality Program.

Stephen Down  With more than thirty years of outstanding financial and corporate leadership experience in the foodservice and distribution sectors, Stephen Down serves as Chief Executive Officer of National DCP, leading the company's overall business strategies focused on transformation, effective processes, and sustainable growth. Prior to joining NDCP, Down served as the Chief Financial Officer of Shamrock Foods Company, Inc., a $5 billion foodservice distribution, dairy, and food manufacturing company and also held the positions of Senior Vice President, Broadline Finance for U.S. Foods, Inc., and Chief Financial Officer of The Martin-Brower Co. Down earned an M.B.A. in Finance and Corporate Accounting and a B.A in Economics from the University of Rochester.

About National DCP, LLC (NDCP)

National DCP, LLC (NDCP) is the $3 billion global supply chain management company serving Dunkin' franchisees. The organization supports over 10,000 quick service restaurants in the U.S. and distributes products to more than 40 countries. NDCP's expertise includes strategic sourcing of food and non-food items, equipment services, distribution, business services, supply chain and full visibility, traceability, continuity, and sustainability of supply. Each year, its extensive distribution network makes 700,000+ deliveries of over 86+ million cases, driving more than 30 million miles. Innovative practices with strategic sourcing, inventory, warehousing, transportation, and program management have allowed NDCP to generate more than $2 billion in cumulative savings for Dunkin' franchisees. Headquartered in metro Atlanta, Georgia, the award-winning company has nearly 2,000 employees nationwide at its nine distribution centers and 30+ logistics hubs. For more information, visit www.nationaldcp.com.

National DCP, the $2 billion supply chain management company serving the franchisees of Dunkin' Donuts, was ranked 28th on the 2016 InformationWeek Elite 100 List.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-dcp-announces-2024-board-of-directors-officers-302083048.html

SOURCE National DCP, LLC
AB Novaturas

Novaturas informs about the ruling of the Court of Appeal of Lithuania of 7 March 2024 in the case of Novaturas v. GetJet Airlines regarding the circumstances related to the performance of the charter contract of 3 December 2018. The Court of Appeal of Lithuania upheld the judgment passed by Vilnius Regional Court on 11 September 2023.

It should be noted that in its judgment of 11 September 2023 Vilnius Regional Court partially upheld the claim of Novaturas and the counterclaim of GetJet Airlines. Although the court declared the termination of the contract by the company as of 28 December 2020 unlawful, it upheld the claim of Novaturas that the contract should be terminated by the court judgment as of 1 January 2021.

The court also reduced the penalties claimed by GetJet Airlines to EUR 1.65 mln. As GetJet Airlines had already used EUR 500 thsnd. of the deposit paid by Novaturas to cover the penalties, the company was ordered to pay EUR 1.15 mln. in penalties, in addition to interest at the rate of 8% per annum calculated from 1 January 2021.

The judgment will not have a significant impact on the operations and financial results of Novaturas. In 2023, the company accrued an amount for the fulfilment of the obligations imposed by the court and has also secured full payment of the remaining part.

The ruling of the Court of Appeal of Lithuania and the judgment of Vilnius Regional Court have entered into force as of 7 March 2024 and shall be enforceable. Both parties shall have the right to file cassation appeals against the ruling of the Court of Appeal of Lithuania with the Supreme Court of Lithuania within three months. Filing of a cassation appeal per se will not suspend the validity of the ruling of the Court of Appeal of Lithuania and the judgment of Vilnius Regional Court. Novaturas will analyse this judgment and the arguments related to it and then decide on possible further actions.

About the company

Novaturas Group is the largest and the only charter flights local tour operator in the Baltic States, offering summer and winter trips to more than 30 destinations worldwide and more than 100 tours. In 2023, Novaturas Group recorded revenues of EUR 209 million and served 259 000 passengers in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.




By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Boeing on Wednesday provided U.S. regulators with the names of employees on its 737 MAX door team after lawmakers and a federal safety official sharply criticized the planemaker's failure to do so at a Senate hearing.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy had said earlier on Wednesday that Boeing had failed to supply the employee names and some key records sought in the agency's ongoing investigation into the Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 mid-air cabin door plug emergency.

Homendy said at the Senate Commerce Committee hearing that investigators sought the names of the 25 people who work on door plugs at a Boeing facility in Renton, Washington, and had begun a week of interviews on Sunday. "It is absurd that two months later we don't have it," she said.

Boeing said on Wednesday that soon after the incident it had provided the NTSB with the names of some of its employees, including door specialists it believed would have relevant information.

After Homendy's comments on Wednesday, Boeing provided the employee list, a NTSB spokesperson said, saying the agency received the names around 2 p.m. ET (1900 GMT).

"We have now provided the full list of individuals on the 737 door team, in response to a recent request," the planemaker said in a statement, adding, "if the door plug removal was undocumented there would be no documentation to share. We will continue to cooperate fully and transparently with the NTSBs investigation.

Before Boeing issued its statement on Wednesday, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell fired off a letter to the company's CEO, Dave Calhoun, telling him to give the NTSB those employee names within 48 hours. Cantwell on Wednesday reiterated she plans to call Calhoun to testify at a future hearing.

"It's beyond disappointing," Cantwell said. "We have an entire economy that depends on people getting this right."

Story continues

SEEKING MORE INFORMATION

Homendy said the NTSB had sought documentation related to opening and closing of the door plug and removal of key bolts that were missing and requested documentation related to the door plug "numerous times over the past few months." She also said the NTSB has been unable to interview the manager of the door team who has been out on medical leave.

A spokesperson for Homendy said she stands by her testimony.

Separately, she told Reuters the NTSB plans to hold a multiple-day investigative hearing into the MAX 9, likely in late summer, which will include testimony from staff at Boeing and fuselage manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems.

Homendy confirmed that inspections of all other MAX 9 planes in service found no other missing bolts.

The planemaker has scrambled to explain and strengthen safety procedures since the January mid-air incident that led to the FAA grounding the MAX 9 for several weeks. The company has been the subject of increased scrutiny from regulators and airlines concerned about the quality of jet production.

Homendy said the NTSB does not know which employees removed the bolts and failed to reinstall them, she said.

"The NTSB needs to interview the employees," she said. "We are not about blame at the NTSB. This is the only way we ensure safety is to find out what happened, what was done, what was not done, what policies are in place."

Homendy said she was not suggesting any malfeasance on Boeing's part. "What I'm saying is we've requested the information. We don't have the information."

Senator Ted Cruz, the top Republican on the Commerce Committee, called it "utterly unacceptable" that the NTSB was not receiving full cooperation from Boeing and asked for an update from Homendy within a week.

Homendy also confirmed that the MAX 9 door plug had moved during prior flights, citing markings on the door.

There were 154 prior flights by the Alaska Airlines MAX 9 jet before the Jan. 5 flight.

"There were very small movements until it eventually came out," Homendy said, adding that testing showed "you could see a bit of a gap towards the end" but that it was not clear how noticeable it was.

Federal Aviation Administrator Mike Whitaker said last week Boeing must develop a comprehensive plan to address "systemic quality-control issues" within 90 days following an all-day meeting with Calhoun on Feb. 27.

An FAA audit of 737 production found "non-compliance issues in Boeings manufacturing process control, parts handling and storage, and product control," the agency said Monday

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Jamie Freed)
A Branch of New York Community Bank in Yonkers, New York

(Reuters) - New York Community Bancorp disclosed on Thursday it held deposits of $77.2 billion, down roughly 7% from the $83 billion it had on Feb. 5, sending its shares down 3.3% before the bell.

The lender also said its strategic initiatives for the year include lowering its commercial real estate exposure.

NYCB on Wednesday said it had raised $1 billion from investors including former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's Liberty Strategic Capital and named a former Comptroller of the Currency its new CEO.

(Reporting by Manya Saini and Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
FILE - A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of the controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. The head of the National Transportation Safety Board told Congress Wednesday, March 6, 2024, that decision to blow open five tank cars and burn the toxic chemical inside them three days after a Norfolk Southern train derailed in Eastern Ohio last year wasn't justified. But NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said the key decision makers who feared those tank cars were going to explode never had all the information they needed. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

The decision to blow open five tank cars and burn the toxic chemical inside them after a freight train derailed in Eastern Ohio last year wasn't justified, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board told Congress Wednesday. But she said the key decision-makers who feared those tank cars were going to explode three days after the crash never had the information they needed.

The vinyl chloride released that day, combined with all the other chemicals that spilled and caught fire after the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, have left residents with lingering fears about possible long-term health consequences.

Experts from the company that made the vinyl chloride inside those tank cars, Oxy Vinyls, were telling contractors hired by Norfolk Southern railroad that they believed that no dangerous chemical reaction was happening, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said. But Oxy Vinyls was left out of the command center.

They informed them that polymerization, they believed polymerization was not occurring, and there was no justification to do a vent and burn, Homendy said. There was another option: let it cool down.

However, that information was never relayed to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and the first responders in charge, she said.

Some of this information came out at NTSB hearings last spring in East Palestine. Homendy's comments Wednesday were the clearest yet that the controversial vent-and-burn action wasn't needed. But the agency won't release its final report on what caused the Feb. 3, 2023, derailment until it holds another hearing this June.

DeWine's spokesperson Dan Tierney said it's frustrating to hear now  more than a year after the derailment  that it wasn't necessary to blow open those tank cars.

The only two scenarios that were ever brought up were a catastrophic explosion occurring, where shrapnel would be thrust in all directions to a one mile radius or averting that through a controlled vent and burn, Tierney said. Nobody ever brought up a scenario where if you just did nothing, it wouldnt explode.

Story continues

East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Drabick has said the consensus in the command center was that releasing and burning the chemicals was the least bad option.

But Homendy said they never heard Oxy Vinyls' opinion that the vinyl chloride was stable. Instead, the decision-makers relied on contractors who were alarmed by the limited temperature readings they were able to get, combined with the violent way one of the tank cars released vinyl chloride with a roar from a pressure release valve after hours of calm. Drew McCarty with Specialized Professional Services testified last spring that the tank car frankly scared the hell out of us.

Republican Sen. JD Vance, who questioned Homendy at Wednesday's hearing, said he wasn't trying to criticize Drabick, DeWine and the other officials who made the decision.

I think its a criticism of the people on the ground who provided inadequate information  and provided inadequate information, I think, to the great detriment of the community on the ground," Vance said. "This is extraordinary work by your team, but this is a really, really troubling set of circumstances.

Norfolk Southern defended the decision again Wednesday and said the plan had nothing to do with trying to get the trains moving again more quickly.

The top priority of everyone involved was the safety of the community, as well as limiting the impact of the incident," the railroad said. "The successful controlled release prevented a potentially catastrophic uncontrolled explosion.

Krissy Ferguson, 49, has not been able to return to her home that sits on top of one of the creeks that was contaminated since the derailment. She said she was heartbroken to hear the latest updates from the NTSB.

Is our government going to allow a corporation to get away with it or are they going to act on it? Or is it going to be swept down the polluted creek like everything else is? Ferguson said.

Misti Allison, who lives with her family about a mile away from the derailment site, said the findings reaffirm what she believed to be true all along: that the vent and burn did not need to happen.

The only justification was greed, and that Norfolk Southern was putting profits over people to get the train tracks up and running as fast as possible and to destroy whatever evidence was left, Allison said.

And most questions about the potential long-term health effects remain unanswered.

We need to make sure that health care is available to everybody, not just those who want to participate in a study, she said.

The NTSB has said that it appears an overheating bearing on one of the railcars caused the derailment. Several trackside detectors spotted the bearing starting to heat up for miles beforehand, but the temperature didn't reach a high enough level to trigger an alarm until right before the crash. That meant the crew didn't have an opportunity to stop the train.

Many residents of East Palestine are eager to move forward once the cleanup of the derailment wraps up later this year, but some are still experiencing respiratory problems, rashes and other health concerns.

Norfolk Southern has said that its response to the disaster and the aid it has offered the town has cost it more than $1.1 billion. Now an investor group that's critical of the railroad's response and the disappointing profits it has reported over the past several years is pushing to fire CEO Alan Shaw and take control of the railroad.

___

Associated Press writer Patrick Orsagos contributed to this report from Columbus, Ohio.
Hope for 'Great Revival' of Christianity in Iran

St Zayya Assyrian Church in Gug Tappeh, north-western Iran. Assyrian and Armenian Christians are the only Iranian Christian communities recognised by the constitution. ( Mar Sharb/Creative Commons) Six of every 10 Iranians are prepared to become Christians, an exiled Iranian church leader has claimed.

Bishop Edward Hosvepian-Mehr, leader of the non-denominational Iranian Church in Europe, said underground Christian evangelists in Iran had provided the statistics.

"We hope that very soon a great revival will come to Iran," he told The Tablet, comparing the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to "John the Baptist" preparing the way for Christ.

The bishop prayed for Iran's persecuted Christians at the launch on 20 February of a new report on violations of Christians' rights in Iran.

According to "Faceless Victims: Rights Violations against Christians in Iran", 166 Christians were arrested last year in Iran and 103 detained on charges including propaganda against the state. Of these, 21 are now in prison.

Many arrested Christians now choose not to reveal their identities in public, hence the report's title.

Co-authored by the charities Middle East Concern, Article 18, Open Doors and Christian Solidarity Worldwide, the report notes that nine Christians were released from prison in 2023. Many reported being subsequently forced to attend Islamic re-education sessions.

Others freed from prison report telephone harassment from their former interrogators, losing jobs because of their faith, and digital surveillance.

Some were asked to spy on fellow Christians for the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence. One released Christian had previously been flogged for drinking Communion wine.

In 2023, an Iranian delegation told a UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom and Belief the country "respected and protected freedom of religion and belief for all" and "embraced tolerance and diversity", reported Mervyn Thomas, the founder of Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

"If you read this very well-researched report, you'll find that is nonsense," he said at the report's launch in Westminster's Portcullis House, chaired by Fiona Bruce MP, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB).

The report claims Christian converts from Islam are "numerically the largest Christian community in Iran".

According to a 2020 survey conducted by a secular research group based in the Netherlands, there could be as many as 800,000 Christians in Iran. Of these, approximately 50-80,000 are ethnic Assyrian or Armenian Christians, the only Christian communities (save for a small expatriate community) recognised by the Iranian Constitution. The remainder are believed to be converts from Islam.
Pacific Prime Dubai won Cignas Top Producer 2023 Individuals Award at the Middle East Annual Brokers Award 2023. Standing from left to right in the photo is Leah Cotterill, David Hayes, Micheal Lavelle, and Jerome Droesch. (Photo: Business Wire)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 07, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Global health insurance brokerage Pacific Prime Dubai has been awarded Top Producer 2023 Individuals with Cigna for their excellent performance in Dubai under the category of Individual Brokers.

The award was presented by Leah Cotterill, Chief Distribution Officer of Cigna, and Jerome Droesch, CEO of Domestic Health & Health Services, Cigna International Health, at Vida Dubai Marina & Yacht Club on Thursday, February 22, 2024. After presenting the award, Leah Cotterill stated, "Congratulations to Pacific Prime on winning this well-deserved award. Your dedication has been key to expanding healthcare access and improving community health. This win underscores the strength of our partnership and collective impact. Thank you for your ongoing trust and commitment to our shared vision of enhancing the health and vitality of the people we serve."

Present at the award ceremony were representatives from Pacific Prime, including Head of Individual Sales Michael Lavelle, Corporate Client Services Lead Chris Allen, Regional CEO of Pacific Prime Dubai David Hayes, and Head of Corporate Business Development Middle East & Africa Mark McClelland. Upon receiving the award, David Hayes gave his response: "Pacific Prime Dubai will keep doing what it does best: prioritising clients' needs above all else. The dedication and hard work of our team in Dubai have been recognized with this award, and I am excited to watch them continue their success. I would also like to thank Cigna for our long-standing partnership; together, we will continue to go above and beyond to meet client expectations, creating a better future in the health insurance industry."

About Pacific Prime

Established in 2000, Pacific Prime is an award-winning global insurance brokerage and employee benefits specialist that offers individual and corporate insurance solutions. With a USD $750 million premium under management, Pacific Prime is now the third largest employee benefits broker in the Asia Pacific after acquiring CXA Groups brokerage arms in 2021. The brokerage has over 1,000 employees and 15 offices worldwide, including Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Thailand, Malaysia, the UAE, Indonesia, the UK, the US, Mexico, the Philippines, and Australia.

Story continues

To learn more about Pacific Prime, please visit: https://www.pacificprime.com/corporate

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240306117612/en/

Contacts

Stephen Ho

Chief Marketing Officer

Pacific Prime

+852 3589 0508
(Bloomberg) -- Pantera Capital, the $5.2 billion crypto-focused asset manager, is raising money from large investors to buy deeply discounted Solana tokens from the estate of bankrupt digital-asset exchange FTX.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Pantera is seeking funds for the Pantera Solana Fund, which has an opportunity to buy up to $250 million worth of SOL tokens from the FTX estate, according to marketing materials from February sent to prospective investors and seen by Bloomberg. In return for the option of buying SOL at 39% below a 30-day average price or at $59.95, investors must agree to a vesting period as long as four years.

Proposals like Panteras would allow FTX liquidators led by John J. Ray III to offload SOL and free up funds for creditors without putting immediate pressure on the tokens price. The estate holds 41.1 million SOL coins according to Panteras pitch document, worth $5.4 billion at Wednesdays close and equivalent to roughly 10% of the total supply. The price of SOL jumped as much as 14% on Thursday.

The FTX estate declined to comment. An email sent to Panteras communications department didnt yield an immediate response.

SOL has soared almost 650% in the past 12 months as the crypto bull market gathered pace, creating an opportunity for the FTX estate to raise money for repaying creditors. The coin is trading at almost four times its price when FTX imploded in November 2022. FTXs co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer Sam Bankman-Fried, who is awaiting sentencing on multiple counts of fraud, was a major backer of the Solana network.

Pantera was aiming to close the fund by the end of February, according to the investor pitch. The Menlo Park, California-based firm raised some money by the deadline, a person with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be named discussing confidential information. The person declined to provide a dollar figure.

Story continues

The trade-off for investors  who must put in at least $25 million each to participate  is that the SOL tokens will initially be locked and will vest gradually over four years. Pantera plans to charge a management fee of 0.75% along with a performance cut of 10%, the materials show.

Pantera isnt the only outfit spotting an opportunity. Phoenix Digital LLC, founded by former Jefferies Financial Group Inc. credit trader Tian Zeng, has set up a similar vehicle and is seeking to buy SOL from the FTX exchange at $64 apiece, or a 51% discount to Wednesdays close, according to marketing materials dated March 2 and seen by Bloomberg.

Currently, [the FTX estate] is auctioning off Locked Solana OTC at a discount to spot price because of the large size and illiquidity of this block, the Phoenix pitch deck said.

Investors in the vehicle, Phoenix Digital Series 2, are subject to a vesting period similar to Panteras. The locked-up tokens would be staked  a method of earning rewards for validating transactions on the Solana blockchain  to deliver an annual yield of around 7%.

Besides holding large amounts of the SOL token, FTX and its sister firm Alameda Research also invested heavily in startups focused on Solanas wider ecosystem. FTXs venture arm and Solana Ventures, together with Lightspeed Venture Partners, announced a $100 million blockchain gaming fund in November 2021.

Read more: SBFs Family, Friends Fight Evil Freak Image in Leniency Pleas

Launched in 2020, Solana is a rival to the Ethereum blockchain and supports a range of crypto-centric apps. The number of monthly active addresses on the network topped 20 million in each of the past three months after a stretch of suppressed activity dating back to FTXs bankruptcy, according to The Block Research data.

--With assistance from Olga Kharif.

(Corrects the spelling of Phoenix Digitals founder in the eighth paragraph of a story originally published on March 7.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Allied Analytics LLP

The demographic shifts, regulatory shifts, and the growing emphasis on sustainable and responsible investing, driven by increasing awareness of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are expanding the market reach of pension funds.

Wilmington, Delaware, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, Pension Funds Market by Fund Type (Defined Benefit Pension Funds, Defined Contribution Pension Funds, and Others), and End User (Government, Corporate, and Individuals): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2032. According to the report, the global pension funds industry generated $64.1 trillion in 2022, and is anticipated to generate $109.1 trillion by 2032, witnessing a CAGR of 5.5% from 2023 to 2032.

Request Research Report Sample & TOC: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/A241404

(We are providing report as per your research requirement, including the Latest Industry Insight's Evolution, Potential and COVID-19 Impact Analysis)

123  Tables

45  Charts

400  Pages

Prime determinants of growth

As populations age globally, the demand for pension products rises, compelling funds to adapt their investment strategies for long-term sustainability. Regulatory changes, aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability within the pension industry, push funds to adopt more sophisticated risk management practices. However, economic uncertainties and low-interest-rate environments act as significant restraints, challenging funds to generate sufficient returns to meet obligations. On the contrary, technological advancements present opportunities for innovation and growth. Artificial intelligence and data analytics enable funds to enhance investment decision-making, optimize portfolio management, and personalize retirement solutions.

Report coverage & details:

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20222032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 $64.1 trillion Market Size in 2032 $109.1 trillion CAGR 5.5% Segments Covered Fund Type, End User, and Region. Drivers Demographic shifts and regulatory changes Tax deduction for contributions Opportunities Technological advancements Restraints Economic uncertainties Non-transferable pension funds

Inquiry before Buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/A241404

Story continues

The defined benefit pension funds segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

By fund type, the defined benefit pension funds segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for nearly three-fourths of the global pension funds market revenue, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. This is attributed to the fact that these funds guarantee a fixed amount of income to retirees, typically based on their salary and years of service. However, the defined contribution pension funds segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 9.0% from 2023 to 2032. This is attributed to the fact that in these funds, individuals contribute a portion of their salary to their pension account, and the funds are invested on their behalf. The eventual retirement income is based on the performance of the investments and the contributions made over time.

The government segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

By end user, the government segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for more than two-thirds of the global pension funds market revenue, and is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 6.2% from 2023 to 2032. This is attributed to demographic changes, such as aging populations, increasing the demand for sustainable retirement solutions, prompting governments to expand their pension offerings. Furthermore, regulatory reforms aimed at strengthening pension systems and enhancing governance further propel market growth by encouraging greater participation and increasing contributions.

Buy This Report (400 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures) @

North America to maintain its dominance by 2032

By region, North America held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2022, accounting for more than one-third of the pension funds market revenue and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. This is attributed to the robust economic growth and favorable investment conditions which contribute to the accumulation of pension assets and drive pension funds market growth. Moreover, technological advancements enable pension funds in North America to adopt innovative investment strategies, optimize portfolio management, and enhance operational efficiency, further fueling market expansion. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 8.4% from 2023 to 2032. This is attributed to the rapid economic development and urbanization across many countries in the region that have led to increased wealth accumulation and a growing middle class, driving demand for retirement savings and investment schemes. Moreover, demographic trends, including aging populations and rising life expectancies, are creating need for pension solutions to ensure long-term financial security for retirees.

Leading Market Players: -

BlackRock, Inc.

Deutsche Bank AG

Wells Fargo

The Vanguard Group, Inc.

Bank of America Corporation

UBS

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

FMR LLC

State Street Corporation

BNP Paribas

The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global pension funds market. These players have adopted different strategies such as new product launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.

Key Benefits for Stakeholders

This report provides a quantitative analysis of the market segments, current trends, estimations, and dynamics of the pension funds market analysis from 2022 to 2032 to identify the prevailing market opportunity.

The market research is offered along with information related to key drivers, restraints, and opportunities.

The Porter's five forces analysis highlights the potency of buyers and suppliers to enable stakeholders to make profit-oriented business decisions and strengthen their supplier-buyer network on the pension funds market outlook.

In-depth analysis of the pension funds market segmentation assists to determine the prevailing market opportunities.

Major countries in each region are mapped according to their revenue contribution to the market.

Market player positioning facilitates benchmarking and provides a clear understanding of the present position of the market players.

The report includes the analysis of the regional as well as pension funds market trends, key players, market segments, application areas, and market growth strategies.

Avenue is a subscription-based repository containing an extensive database of global market reports, offering comprehensive insights into the world's largest emerging markets. With quick and easy e-access to a wide range of industry reports, Avenue provides registered members with a convenient single gateway to fulfill all their business needs. From detailed insights on various industries and economies to analysis of end user trends worldwide, Avenue ensures that its members have access to all-inclusive business intelligence. - @ https://shorturl.at/tDEF4

Pension Funds Market Key Segments:

By Fund Type

Defined Benefit Pension Funds

Defined Contribution Pension Funds

Others

By End User

Government

Corporate



Individuals

By Region

North America (U.S., Canada)

Europe (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Rest of Europe)

Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea, Rest of Asia-Pacific)

Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Rest of Latin America)

Middle East and Africa (Gcc Countries, South Africa, Rest of Middle East And Africa)

Trending Reports in BFSI Industry (Book Now with 10% Discount + Covid-19 scenario):

Crowdfunding Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report by Type, by Investment Size, by Application: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2031.

Balanced Funds Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report by Investor Type and Distribution Channel: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2031.



Mutual Fund Assets Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report by Fund Type, Distribution Channel and Investor Type: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2027.



Angel Funds Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report by Type and by End User : Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032.



Pension Fund Management Software Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report by Application, by Deployment Mode, by Enterprise Size, by End User and by Companies covered: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032





About Us:



Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Wilmington, Delaware. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports Insights" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.



We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

Contact:

David Correa

1209 Orange Street,

Corporation Trust Center,

Wilmington,

New Castle,

Delaware 19801 USA.

Int'l: +1-503-894-6022

Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285

UK: +44-845-528-1300

India (Pune): +91-20-66346060

Fax: +1-800-792-5285

help@alliedmarketresearch.com

BFSI Blog




Planforge provides universities with free access to standards-based PPM tool (Photo: Business Wire)

New global "Education Partner" program empowers schools and universities to deliver more hands-on project management education.

GRAZ, Austria, March 07, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As industries navigate unprecedented challenges, the demand for qualified project managers equipped with up-to-date methodologies and strategies is greater than ever. As a result, the importance of professional project management training in higher education has increased significantly in recent years.

Planforge, a leading provider of project and portfolio management (PPM) software, is addressing this challenge with its newly launched Education Partner Program, offering students free access to its platform.

Planforge Education Partner Program

Planforge's new Partner Program is designed to actively support more practice-oriented project management education. The partnership provides schools and universities with unlimited, free access to Planforge's on-premises PPM software as well as limited, free on-request access to the vendor's cloud platform based on available resources.

"Due to our standards-based approach to PPM, we have been in contact with schools and universities since early on," said Gerald Aquila, founder and CEO of Planforge. "Now we want to take the pilot projects we have in a few organizations here in Europe to the next level."

Case Study with FH CAMPUS 02

One of the first organizations joining the Education Partner Program has been the University of Applied Sciences FH CAMPUS 02 in Graz, Austria. The Department of Accounting and Controlling uses Planforge for a more practice-oriented education of all students attending IPMA-based project management courses. The organization's curriculum ranges from project planning and controlling to resource management and progress tracking.

"What appeals to us is that Planforge is based on international standards, supports more than just planning, and is in sync with the best practices taught by our project management experts," says Rene Thaller, R&D and Transfer Coordinator at FH CAMPUS 02. "The tool is also easy to use  for a real PPM application  so the onboarding is not a big challenge for our students."

Story continues

Partner Program Availability

Planforge's Education Partner Program is now available to higher educational institutions offering project management training. For more information about the Partner Program visit the website or contact info@planforge.io for partnership inquiries.

About Planforge

Planforge is a leading provider of hybrid program and portfolio management software. By integrating cross-functional processes from Jira and enterprise agile planning (SAFe) to resource management, the web-based PPM solution closes the gaps between information silos. Planforge empowers your organization to adapt to changing environments faster, turn strategy into action, and make better value-based decisions.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240307875210/en/

Contacts

Planforge GmbH

Kerstin Gaar

press@planforge.io

www.planforge.io
PANAMA CITY, PANAMA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Quartier proposes to improve the current vacation rental regulations in Panama by balancing market needs and government regulations.

Legal Restrictions and Control Measures on Vacation Rentals in Panama in 2024

In the current landscape of vacation rentals in Panama, legal restrictions, specifically in the Panama District, have created a challenging environment. Article 21 of Law 80 from November 8, 2012, prohibits leases of less than 45 days without a public tourism accommodation permit, laying the foundation for the control and regulation of unauthorized temporary lodgings.

In response, local authorities have implemented active measures to shut down and penalize these clandestine lodgings. Fines, ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 US dollars, are applied proportionally to the severity of the infraction and the recurrence of the landlords.

Vacation Rental Companies and Their Regulatory Proposals

Vacation rental companies have been key players in this scenario, facing criticism from the hotel industry for contributing to unfair competition. The exponential growth of such companies has intensified the debate over regulation and market fairness.

Facing this situation, the proposed regulation suggests replacing the 45-day rule with a 10% tax on rentals through these platforms in Panama City. This tax aims not only to control the market but also to raise funds for the international promotion of Panama as a tourist destination.

Hotel Industry vs. Sharing Economy

The hotel industry advocates for greater international promotion as a solution to improve occupancy, while vacation rental companies like Airbnb, Vrbo, or Quartier defend the sharing economy and the offer of unique experiences at various prices. This divergence of perspectives raises questions about the appropriate balance between regulation and market diversity.

Quartier, the vacation rental company mentioned earlier, continues to fight for a solution tailored to current realities and visitor behavior. Its business model attracts both tourists and professionals coming to Panama for business, many of whom prefer the freedom of an apartment without giving up hotel comforts. They argue that market freedom should be accessible to companies that can offer an alternative to better meet the needs of those visiting Panama.

Story continues

The Future of Vacation Rentals in Panama

The future of vacation rentals in Panama remains uncertain, facing regulatory challenges but also presenting opportunities for constructive dialogue. How these issues are addressed will determine the future of the vacation rental industry in the country.

Contact Information:

Joaquin Roca

+507-64728600

Presidente del Grupo Quartier

jroca@quartierpanama.com

SOURCE: Quartier Home Suites





View the original press release on accesswire.com




(Bloomberg) -- Rivian Automotive Inc. is halting plans to build a new multibillion-dollar factory in Georgia, an abrupt reversal aimed at cutting costs while the company prepares to launch a cheaper electric vehicle.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The decision will save the automaker more than $2.25 billion in capital expenditures, the company said in a filing Thursday. Shifting planned production of the forthcoming R2 model to an existing facility in Illinois will allow Rivian to begin deliveries in the first half of 2026, earlier than expected. The surprise announcement plunges the high-profile factory project into uncertainty, but Chief Executive Officer RJ Scaringe said it remains important to the company.

Shares of the automaker jumped after the announcement and closed up 13% on the day for their biggest gain since December. The stock had fallen more than 50% this year through Wednesday on concerns over Rivians cash and consumer demand for its products.

Rivian in 2022 secured a $1.5 billion package of state and local incentives  the biggest in Georgias history  to build the massive plant outside Atlanta. The company pledged at the time to create 7,500 jobs by the end of 2028, winning praise from local lawmakers.

Read More: Rivian to Issue Up to $15 Billion of Debt for Georgia Plant

The retreat comes two weeks after Rivian announced job cuts and said it would keep production flat this year, falling well short of expectations and triggering a heavy selloff in the shares. The company has struggled to transition to mass production since going public in 2021, and the high prices of its models have been a hard sell as overall demand for EVs fades. Rivian has never made a profit and it lost more than $40,000 on every vehicle it delivered in last three months of 2023.

Story continues

The new model helps fortify Rivians unique brand identity, but the financial implications of a lower-priced EV remain murky for the company, Tom Narayan, an RBC Capital Markets analyst, said in a note.

Currently, R1 is losing money, he said. The critical question is how will Rivian be able to produce R2 profitably at the $45,000 price point?

Also on Thursday, Scaringe unveiled the long-anticipated R2, a mid-sized electric sport utility vehicle that will start at around $45,000. Thats about $30,000 less than Rivians existing SUV and just under the US average new car sticker price of more than $48,000.

The two-row SUV will be available in two battery pack sizes, with the larger option offering a range of more than 300 miles on a single charge. Customers can chose from one, two or three motor variants of the SUV. Rivians also giving the vehicle more advanced autonomous technology with a sensor suite made up of 11 cameras and five radars.

Read More: Rivian Aims to Recreate Teslas Model 3 Magic With New R2: BNEF

Rivian, one of the few pure-play EV makers manufacturing in America, is trying to grab market share from Tesla Inc. with the new model, its first aimed at the mass market. The effort highlights a push by automakers to bring down costs in an environment of slowing demand for EVs, with manufacturers from Tesla to Ford Motor Co. to Chinas BYD Co. cutting prices.

Scaringe also surprised investors with a prototype of a future crossover EV called R3. Rivian said this model would be priced lower than the R2, without giving a dollar amount or timeline for when it might be built.

Rivian currently makes two consumer plug-in EVs, the R1T pickup and R1S SUV, and a commercial van primarily for Amazon.com Inc., its biggest shareholder. All are built at the plant in Normal, Illinois.

(Updates for closing share price and chart from the third paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2024 / Forbes magazine has mentioned San Sebastian as a tourist destination for 2024, a place for which the vacation rental company, Always Easy, offers various accommodation options.

Forbes Magazine has mentioned San Sebastian as a tourist destination for 2024. In its recent acknowledgment, Forbes has highlighted San Sebastian as one of the most outstanding tourist destinations for the year 2024, a distinction that underscores the city's unique appeal. San Sebastian stands out not only for its stunning natural beauty but also for its vibrant rich culture and exceptional culinary offerings, elements that together make the tourist experience satisfying.

The Origins of Tourism in San Sebastian and its Opening to the International Public

Since the 1980s, coinciding with the arrival of democracy and Spain's opening to the outside world, San Sebastian experienced an increase in the influx of international tourists, contributing to its consolidation as an elite gastronomic destination that attracts chefs and global gourmets. This period also saw the proliferation of pintxos, tiny tapas made with fresh, quality ingredients, which emerged as a distinctive symbol of the city's culinary offerings

Factors Driving Gastronomic Tourism

Boosting the boom in gastronomic tourism in San Sebastian, the gastronomic heritage is highlighted by a rich and centuries-old Basque culinary tradition, complemented by the abundance of fresh ingredients the region provides, such as fish, seafood, meats, and vegetables. This is added to the innovation of Basque chefs, known for their culinary creativity, and a deeply rooted culture of hospitality towards visitors.

Impact of Gastronomic Tourism

The tourist impact of San Sebastian, significantly driven by international visitors, is clearly reflected in the expansion of the vacation rental market. This phenomenon underscores the city's position as a globally attractive destination, where the demand for accommodations that combine authenticity and comfort shows tourists' preference for more personal experiences and closer to local life.

Story continues

The vacation rental company Always Easy indicates that since they started their activity in 2014, the demand for gastronomic tourism in San Sebastian has continued to grow given the significant local gastronomic variety we find. This causes the supply of rental accommodations in San Sebastian to be abundant and welcomes both national and international tourists, and that these vacation rental companies strive to guarantee the quality of tourism in San Sebastian.

Other Tourism Awards for San Sebastian Forbes Magazine is not the only one to mention San Sebastian as a tourist destination. In the past 2023, it received 3rd place in the Traveller Review Awards as the most welcoming city, behind Polignano a Mare (Italy) and Hualien City (Taiwan). All these recognitions reaffirm San Sebastian's position as a tourist destination for 2024.

Contact Information:

Nerea Ibanez Rollan

+34 663 80 94 76

Directora General

direccion@alwayseasyrental.com

SOURCE: Always Easy





View the original press release on accesswire.com




Scope 3 emissions are not the latest SEC rule on emission reporting. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Tracking the full impact of greenhouse gas emissions down the supply chains of publicly traded companies will not be required by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency decided Wednesday.

Scope 3 emissions are those generated by a company in the supply chain two steps away from the reporting company, though it would not be dealing directly with those companies. The initial rule proposed by the SEC would have required publicly traded companies to report their scope 3 emissions in public disclosures.

But the SEC pulled back on that rule even as it approved a broad reporting rule that still will require the vast majority of publicly traded companies to report scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. The rule was approved 3-2, with three Democrats voting yes and 2 Republicans voting no.

Scope 1 emissions are those coming directly from a facility or equipment of the reporting company, like a manufacturing plant or a truck fleet. A company required to report scope 2 emissions would need to report, for example, on the carbon footprint of a supplier of raw materials to a manufacturing operation.





But if the requirement went out to scope 3 emissions, the emissions profile of the suppliers of such things as electricity to the raw material provider would need to be reported to the SEC and by extension to the investment community for publicly traded companies.

Comments received in opposition to scope 3

The more than 800 pages detailing the SEC rule had an extensive recap of the thousands of comments received by the SEC on the proposed rule, which was first released in 2022.





A significant number of commenters raised serious concerns about requiring Scope 3 emissions disclosures, the SEC said. Some asserted that the Commission lacks the authority to require disclosures of information that may come largely from non-public companies in registrants value chain; others questioned the value of Scope 3 emissions disclosures for investors, citing their concerns about the reliability of the metric; others focused on their view of the costs and burdens of gathering, validating, and reporting the information.

Story continues

Lindsay Azim, a director at Gartner Inc. (NYSE: IT), which does extensive consulting on supply chains, said the excising of the scope 3 emission requirement was expected. But she emphasized that the passage of the broader SEC rule is a big step.

Climate risk is financial risk, Azim said, and the rule drives that point home. But she added that all the risk is in scope 3. So there is a huge blind spot there.

For a manufacturing company, knowing the level of emissions in scope 1 and scope 2 is important, but we know that 90% of the climate risk is in their value chain. Information that omits that is not telling the whole story, she added.

Azim conceded that the burden of producing scope 3 emissions data is huge. That is why no one is surprised by the SEC action.

But U.S. companies are not entirely out of the woods regarding scope 3 emissions disclosure.

California and Europe are still out there





Most prominently, California has enacted legislation that will require scope 3 emissions reporting from companies doing business in the Golden State.

The law firm of Dentons, in a blog post from October, said estimates were that 8,000 companies would fall under the California scope 3 emissions requirement. Specific requirements from the California Air Resources Board have not been released yet, but Dentons said reporting requirements would be expected to begin in 2027.

There also are reporting requirements in Europe under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). According to consulting firm Oliver Wyman, that requirement could pull in close to 12,000 companies worldwide..

In addition, some companies have set emissions targets and standards that will require carbon footprint information from parties it deals with regardless of the SECs action.

In an interview on FreightWaves Drilling Deep podcast last year, Laura Rainier, the senior research director in the talent and sustainability team at Gartner and a colleague of Azim, talked about the private sector trend toward requiring emissions reporting beyond anything a government might require.

I think were seeing a lot of momentum around organizations reporting on their greenhouse gas emissions, because their customers are asking them for this type of data, Rainier said. So even if its not part of your values, its certainly starting to become required as a kind of a player in a major value chain.

Mindy Lubber, the president and CEO of Boston-based sustainability nonprofit Ceres, also emphasized that the SEC decision is not the death knell for scope 3 emissions disclosure.

For most companies and financial institutions, indirect emissions throughout a companys value chain represent the largest source of a companys transition risk, Lubber said in a statement on the Ceres website. While we are disappointed the rule does not include key provisions from their 2022 proposal, including the mandate of the disclosure of Scope 3 emissions, investor demand for the disclosure of Scope 3 emissions continues to grow and many companies will be required to disclose this data in other jurisdictions.

For publicly traded companies in the supply chain, the rule adopted by the SEC still has plenty of specifics beyond simply reporting scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. Some of the other required disclosures will be:

Climate-related risks that have had or are reasonably likely to have a material impact on the registrants business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition.

Information on what a company is doing to mitigate or adapt to a material climate-related risk.

A wide range of information that all ties back to disclosing how the company is at risk for climate-related occurrences.

Financial estimates on what weather-related incidents might do to the reporting company.

More articles by John Kingston

Dispute over ESG policies leads to a director departure at Werner

ACF spurs small gain in zero-emission drayage trucks at Port of Long Beach

BMOs Q1 earnings show more credit deterioration in trucking industry

The post SEC backs off on requiring companies to report scope 3 emissions appeared first on FreightWaves.
More than two months in to 2024, and markets are posting solid gains year-to-date, with the S&P 500 up by 7%, and the NASDAQ up just over 8.5%. These are good returns, but returns can always run higher  and one way to ensure that is to buy into high-yield dividend stocks. The best dividend payers offer a combination of reliability and high yield, that give investors a steady income well above the prevailing rates of inflation.

Div payers come in lots of flavors, and some offer more attractive sets of attributes than others. One less-common place to look for solid dividends is in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). These medical facilities are designed for long-term care with patients who require close monitoring; think nursing homes and long-term rehabilitation hospitals.

And the link to dividends? A number of real estate investment trusts (REITs) focus their business activities on SNFs. These companies are benefiting from the aging demographics in the US. As the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers grow older, the over-65 population will increase from ~16% now to 22% or higher by 2050.

Wells Fargo analyst Connor Siversky is following this line of thought, seeing SNF-focused REITs as a solid play. He writes, We are more positive on REIT SNF portfolios as operating metrics continue to improve. In our view, higher rent coverage should justify multiple valuations that are closer to, albeit still behind Pre-COVID levels.

Getting into specifics, Siversky is suggesting 2 dividend stocks to buy, that offer investors up to 8% yields. With help from the TipRanks databanks, lets take a closer look at them, to see just where theyre likely to go from here.

Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI)

The first stock well look at is Omega Healthcare. This REIT got its start in 1992, and since then has built a remunerative portfolio based on SNFs, as well as assisted living facilities (ALFs) and memory care and behavioral care facilities. Omega operates as the owner of its portfolio properties, with the facility operations and management handled by the outside firms that hold the leases. The outside parties receive careful vetting, and Omega leases its properties mainly on the long-term triple-net lease model. In addition, Omega will provide financing on some of its properties, for fixed-rate mortgage loans.

Story continues

Omega has prioritized stability in its portfolio. The company sets its typical lease agreement for 10 years, and makes extensions available to the leaseholders. This is conducive to creating a steady income stream from the portfolio. And  Omegas portfolio is extensive. The company works in 42 US states and the UK, and bases its business on 862 properties. These properties boast a total of 84,125 beds, and are operated by 69 leaseholder firms.

Getting down to the brass tacks, we find that Omegas business generated $239.3 million in total revenue in the last reported quarter, 4Q23. This was up a robust 65% year-over-year and beat the forecast by $32.7 million. Omega realized an adjusted FFO, or funds from operations, of $173 million  68 cents per share, a figure that was a penny better than had been expected. FFO is a key metric in the REIT industry, as it covers the dividend.

On the dividend, Omega last paid out on February 15. The payment went out at 67 cents per common share, fully covered by the adjusted FFO. The annualized rate of $2.68 per common share gives a yield of more than 8.5%, enough to ensure a real rate of return.

When we check in with Wells Fargos Siversky, we see the analyst bullish on the stock, noting that Omega can afford its dividend and has solid prospects to increase the funds from operations. He writes of the company, Importantly, 2024 guidance suggests that the dividend will be covered in the back half of the year. Rent coverage improvements should be reinforced by the impact of rate increases that should reflect in 1Q24 numbers, and should justify a higher AFFO multiple vs. current levels. Maplewood remains a concern in our view, but is balanced by forthcoming resolutions related to Guardian and LaVie.

Siversky goes on to quantify his stance with an Overweight (Buy) rating, and he sets a price target of $35, implying an upside of 13% for the next 12 months. Adding the dividend yield to that, and this stock could return as much as 21.5% over the next year. (To watch Siverskys track record, click here)

The consensus view from the Streets analysts shows this stock is a Moderate Buy, based on 11 recent reviews, including 3 Buys and 8 Holds. The companys shares have a current trading price of $30.93, and their average target price of $32.10 suggests a modest one-year increase of 4%. Once you factor in the div yield, that becomes a more appealing ~12%. (See Omegas stock forecast)

National Health Investors (NHI)

The second stock well look at today is National Health Investors, another SNF-focused REIT. This company has been in business since the early 90s, and its specialties are sale-leaseback, joint-venture, mortgage, and mezzanine financing of various medical facilities, particularly discretionary and/or need-driven senior housing. The company has built up a portfolio of various medical-housing communities, including independent, assisted, and memory care housing facilities, skilled nursing facilities, and entrance-fee communities, as well as specialty hospitals and general medical office buildings.

Looking at some numbers, we find that National Health operates in 33 states, where it has a total of 192 properties. Like Omega above, these properties are operated and run by outside parties; 29 such parties work with this REIT to run and maintain the property operations. Nationals portfolio breaks down to 104 senior housing facilities, 72 skilled nursing facilities, and 15 SHOPs (senior housing operating portfolio), plus 1 regular hospital.

Weve just moved past the 4Q23 reporting season, and so have recent results to look at for NHI. The companys top line, total revenue, came to $79.47 million in the quarter, beating the forecast by almost $2.5 million and growing 12.5% year-over-year. At the bottom line, National reported an FFO per diluted common share of $1.09, a result that beat the estimates by two cents per share, and compared favorably to the 85-cent result reported in the prior-year period.

For dividend investors, the key point here is that the FFO fully covers the companys dividend payment. The dividend was most recently declared on February 20 for a May 3 payout, and set at 90 cents per common share. The payment annualizes to $3.60 per share, and yields a rate of nearly 6.2%.

When we check in again with analyst Siversky, we find that he likes this stock  particularly the companys ability to work with its tenants and to build a solidly remunerative portfolio. Siversky says, NHI has made significant progress in working through tenant issues, and has clearly messaged expectations for Bickford, Discovery, and NHC. With a robust SHOP NOI (net operating income) ramp in play to bolster internal performance, we believe NHI is positioned to set its sights on building an investment pipeline, and leveraging a strong liquidity profile to drive external growth.

Putting this into some concrete recommendation for investors, the analyst rates the shares as Overweight (Buy), and sets a $63 price target that indicates potential for an 8% gain in the next 12 months. Combined with the dividend yield, this stock has a total one-year return potential of more than 14%.

The Buys and Holds here are evenly matched, showing 3 of each, and all culminating in a Moderate Buy consensus rating. With a current trading price of $58.26 and an average price target of $60, the analyst consensus expects the shares to remain rangebound for the time being. (See NHI stock forecast)

To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
Miami, Florida and Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 7, 2024) - Sekur Private Data Ltd. (OTCQB: SWISF) (CSE: SKUR) (FSE: GDT0) ("Sekur" or the "Company"), a leading Swiss hosted secure and private communications platform, outlines the need for greater online data privacy in the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI) data harvesting.

Big technology companies are accumulating huge amounts of personal data these days, often without users' informed consent or knowledge, to train their Large Language Models.

Large AI models collecting user data can expose individuals to several online privacy risks. Firstly, the harvesting process might unintentionally capture sensitive information like names, locations, or opinions.

Additionally, even seemingly unrelated data points can be analyzed by AI models to infer personal characteristics, potentially revealing aspects users wish to keep private. Biases present in the harvested data can lead to discriminatory outcomes, as AI models might make decisions or recommendations based on assumptions about users derived from biased information. Finally, there's always the risk of data breaches or misuse, where the harvested data could be compromised or used for purposes beyond the user's consent.

While Sekur supports innovation, it also believes individuals and companies should take steps to better secure their data through encryption, privacy tools, and careful online behavior that are essential to maintaining control over private information and communications, such as email and messaging.

Alain Ghiai, the CEO of Sekur Private Data Ltd., commented, "In the age of AI and Big Tech, our data footprints are becoming increasingly complex. Securing your online data and communications is no longer a choice - it's the cornerstone of safeguarding your digital identity and future whether you are an individual, a small business or a large organization. At Sekur we strive to maintain your privacy and security above everything else."

Story continues

SekurRelay Enterprise Email Solution is part of the Sekur Enterprise solution, allowing corporate executives and management to "split" their company email domain in two, benefiting from SekurSend/SekurReply feature and other Swiss-hosted privacy and security solutions SekurMail offers, without having to migrate the entire company employees, eliminating a huge roadblock to mass adoption of SekurMail by large corporations and government agencies.



SekurVPN uses its own proprietary infrastructure and does not use any hyperscaler or Big Tech hosting providers, unlike most other VPNs. SekurVPN offers Swiss hosted VPN with Swiss IPs only, hosted on its private Swiss cloud infrastructure. This guarantees that it is using only SekurVPN's own servers and routing. Other VPNs offer hundreds of locations and are using Big Tech providers, compromising users' privacy. FADP Swiss privacy laws designate your IP address as your private property. This renders data harvesting a criminal offence under Swiss laws.

SekurMessenger comes with a proprietary feature and technology called "Chat-By-Invite." This feature allows a SekurMessenger user ("SM user") to invite via email or SMS a non-SM user, or a group of non-SM users, to chat in a fully private and secure way without the recipient ever having to register to SekurMessenger or download the app. Additionally, SekurMessenger uses a strict vetting system that prevents non vetted users from spamming and hacking your account, as it does not collect the user's phone number and does not harvest any data or phone contact from SekurMessenger users.

Sekur's Data privacy solutions are all hosted in Switzerland, protecting users' data from any outside data intrusion requests. In Switzerland, the right to privacy is guaranteed in article 13 of the Swiss Federal Constitution. The Federal Act on Data Protection ("FADP") of 19 June 1992 (in force since 1993) has set up a strict protection of privacy by prohibiting virtually any processing of personal data which is not expressly authorized by the data subjects. The protection is subject to the authority of the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner.

Under Swiss federal law, it is a crime to publish information based on leaked "secret official discussions." In 2010, the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland found that IP addresses are personal information and that under Swiss privacy laws they may not be used to track internet usage without the knowledge of the individuals involved.

About Sekur Private Data Ltd.

Sekur Private Data Ltd. is a cybersecurity and Internet privacy provider of Swiss hosted solutions for secure and private communications. The Company distributes a suite of encrypted e-mails, secure messengers and secure communication tools. Sekur Private Data Ltd. sells its products through its own website, https://www.sekur.com , approved distributors and telecommunications companies worldwide. Sekur Private Data Ltd. serves consumers, businesses and governments worldwide.

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sekurprivate

On behalf of Management

SEKUR PRIVATE DATA LTD.

Alain Ghiai

President and Chief Executive Officer

+1.416.644.8690

corporate@sekurprivatedata.com

For more information, please contact Sekur Private Data at corporate@sekurprivatedata.com or visit us at https://www.sekurprivatedata.com



For more information on Sekur visit us at: https://www.sekur.com

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "project" and similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes or that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guaranteeing future performance. Sekur cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Sekur's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the future of the Company's business; the success of marketing and sales efforts of the Company; the projections prepared in house and projections delivered by channel partners; the Company's ability to complete the necessary software updates; increases in sales as a result of investments software development technology; consumer interest in the Products; future sales plans and strategies; reliance on large channel partners and expectations of renewals to ongoing agreements with these partners; anticipated events and trends; the economy and other future conditions; and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in Sekur's prospectus dated May 8, 2019, filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available on www.sedarplus.ca. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Sekur undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/200815
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks after touring the General Motors 'Factory ZERO' electric vehicle assembly plant in Detroit

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Three Senate Democrats from auto manufacturing states on Thursday urged the Biden administration to hike import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to address national security risks, the latest push by lawmakers to protect the U.S. auto sector.

"Allowing heavily subsidized Chinese vehicles to enter the U.S. marketplace would endanger American automotive manufacturing," said the letter first reported by Reuters, from Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

"Artificially low-priced Chinese EVs flooding the U.S. would cost thousands of American jobs and endanger the survival of the U.S. automotive industry as a whole."

Auto industry officials told Reuters last month Biden is considering hiking tariffs on Chinese EVs and the letter is the latest in growing pressure on the White House to take further steps to prevent Chinese vehicle imports.

The letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai urged "additional action this year to combat the economic and national security threat presented by Chinas efforts to infiltrate our U.S. market."

The senators also asked Commerce to focus on the threat from potential imports of "highly connected Chinese vehicles and high-risk China-controlled connected and autonomous technologies."

USTR did not immediately comment.

Last week, the Commerce Department opened an investigation into whether Chinese vehicle imports pose national security risks and could impose restrictions due to concerns about "connected" car technology.

Raimondo told Reuters on Thursday the administration is deeply concerned about the issue.

"We are going as fast we can to identify the risks and take any actions we think are national security concerns," Raimondo said, adding U.S. auto executives flagged the issue to her last year. "If China is subsidizing the vehicles in a way that puts American workers at a disadvantage we have to do something about that."

Story continues

In recent days, two Republican senators have proposed legislation seeking to hike tariffs on Chinese-made vehicles, though relatively few Chinese vehicles are imported into the United States.

"China's policies could flood our market with its vehicles, posing risks to our national security," President Joe Biden said in a statement last week. "Im not going to let that happen on my watch."

The Chinese embassy in Washington has rejected calls to hike tariffs, saying China's automobile exports "reflect the high-quality development and strong innovation of Chinas manufacturing industry."

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in November urged U.S. Trade Representative Tai to boost tariffs on Chinese vehicles.

Tai said in January the Biden administration is closely reviewing "China's non-market policies and practices in its automotive industry" and reviewing current tariff levels.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Nia Williams)
(Bloomberg) -- Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. trimmed its stake in Indian phone carrier Bharti Airtel Ltd. by selling about S$950 million ($710 million) in stock, gaining funds to invest in areas such as data centers.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The sale, to US investment firm GQG Partners, decreases Singtels stake to 29% from 29.8%, it said in a statement Thursday. Singtel will book a gain of about S$700 million, and its remaining holding in Bharti Airtel is valued at an estimated S$33 billion, it said.

Southeast Asias biggest telecom operator has been streamlining its portfolio as it focuses on 5G operations and seeks new growth engines such as data centers. Its been a backer of Bharti Airtel for more than 20 years and previously sold a S$2.54 billion stake in the carrier in 2022.

Singtel said its asset restructuring effort has allowed the group to fund the growth of its data center and IT services, as well as reduce net debt.

Shares of Singtel rose 0.9% in Singapore, while those of Bharti Airtel advanced 0.5% in Mumbai.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
A significant chunk of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address this evening will be focused on lowering costs  issues such as drug prices, airline fees, and "shrinkflation"  as well as calls for higher taxes on corporate America and the richest Americans.

Biden is trying to highlight a range of different issues in the speech  before one of the largest audiences he will command before November's election  in the hopes of reversing sagging personal polls to show skeptical voters he is fighting for them.

The White House's focus has already been evident this week in a barrage of social media posts and a series of events leading up to Biden's 9 p.m. ET speech.

The remarks have included updates to Medicare drug price negotiations, news that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will cap credit card late fees at $8, and the announcement of a "strike force" to target corporations that the White House says are hiking prices illegally.

Read more: Credit card fees explained: 8 types you should know

Biden aides also rolled out new details about how the president will discuss taxes tonight.

On the business side, the president will call for raising the corporate tax rate to 28% and increasing the minimum corporate tax from 15% to 21%. He will also unveil a novel plan to crimp skyrocketing executive compensation by denying corporations a tax deduction when they pay over $1 million to any single employee.

Proposals focused on individual taxpayers include a renewal of Biden's call to require billionaires to pay at least 25% of their income in taxes and a push to increase the child tax credit.

"The president will also lay out his vision to make our tax code fairer and to lower the deficit by making big corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share," said Lael Brainard, the director of Biden's National Economic Council, in a preview of the State of the Union message.

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with his Competition Council at the White House on March 5. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images) (Nathan Howard via Getty Images)

"This is an opportunity for the president to have the singular focus of 20 million plus Americans  who are likely pretty engaged if they're staying home on a Thursday night to watch the State of the Union  and to really tell his narrative," PIMCO's head of public policy, Libby Cantrill, said in a recent Yahoo Finance Live appearance.

Story continues

What remains to be seen is whether any amount of time spent on subjects like hidden airline fees can move voters.

The administration has been trying to tout these themes for months and has found Americans resolutely focused elsewhere, with immigration recently becoming the top overall concern in polls.

A recent survey by the New York Times and Siena College also found Biden trailing Donald Trump and facing deep deficits on issues like his leadership and the nation's direction.

'Voters just want to hear that he gets it'

The White House will be pressing these themes, with President Biden headed to Philadelphia and Atlanta in the days after the speech and a wave of other travel and media appearances by cabinet officials.

The effort is designed to "reach Americans where they receive the news with the president's message about whose side he's on," said communications director Ben LaBolt.

Prescription drugs and those junk fees are set to receive prominent play.

Eight-foot-tall steel fencing was put up around the Capitol ahead of President Biden's State of the Union address. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images)

The new "strike force on unfair and illegal pricing" announced Tuesday is also sure to be prominently mentioned. It will be co-chaired by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission and be focused across an array of sectors from healthcare to groceries to housing to financial services.

"President Biden will highlight that lowering costs for working families is his top economic priority," said Brainard.

One figure on the left who sees an opportunity for Biden on these lesser-known issues is Evan Roth Smith. He's the head pollster of a left-leaning group called Blueprint Polling. He has been making this case in briefings directly to White House aides and Democrats more generally.

One of Blueprints recent polls found that 78% of respondents said they believed that investing in agricultural supply chains to reduce food prices would benefit them personally.

It was their top-performing issue, followed by other concerns like drug prices.

"Even though it seems sort of silly to say the president should go out and talk about agricultural subsidies to bring down food prices, voters just want to hear that he gets it and that he's doing something," he said.

A focus on corporate America

A clear component of this week's message is a tone that many are likely to take as anti-big business.

Much of the pressure will also be on "shrinkflation," the phenomenon where companies charge the same price for slightly smaller goods. It's been a prominent feature of Biden's message, down to a social media post reposting Sesame Street's Cookie Monster account on the issue.

C is for consumers getting ripped off.



President Biden is calling on companies to put a stop to shrinkflation. https://t.co/4bkX8o3irI  The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 4, 2024

A recent surge in merger activity is also likely to come up after a series of aggressive antitrust efforts from the administration in recent years.

Just this week, JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines scrapped a $3.8 billion merger agreement in the face of anti-competition concerns from the Biden administration.

Biden quickly touted the cancellation, saying that blocking the merger would save Americans money and give them more choices.

Biden himself has only made a few appearances this week after a long weekend at Camp David, where he worked on crafting the speech, which is expected to be revised all the way up until the president arrives on Capitol Hill tonight to speak to the assembled dignitaries.

Asked by reporters earlier this week, he offered little on his thinking, saying, "Youll hear me on Thursday."

This post has been updated.

Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.

Click here for politics news related to business and money

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
DGLimages / Getty Images

Several states have enacted automatic worker contributions to individual retirement accounts (IRAs). To ensure their residents have a path to financial security in retirement by providing a simple, low-cost way for workers to invest in their futures.

Explore More: Retired and Bored? These Places Want to Hire You

Find Out: One Smart Way To Grow Your Retirement Savings in 2024

According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, state auto-IRAs have helped more than 800,000 workers save over $1 billion in retirement assets since 2017.

Auto-IRAs have provided a way for workers whose employers dont offer a workplace retirement savings plan, self-employed individuals, and others who want an uncomplicated way to save money for their retirement.

The concept isnt new. As Georgetown Universitys McCourt School of Public Policy noted, since 2015, plenty of states have created voluntary payroll deduction IRA plans, multiple employer plans (MEPs) and Health Insurance Marketplace plans.

As of January 2024, 15 states have some automatic IRA programs in progress, but only eight have active programs, per USA Today.

Sponsored: Protect Your Wealth With A Gold IRA. Take advantage of the timeless appeal of gold in a Gold IRA recommended by Sean Hannity.

Benefits of Automatic IRAs for Workers

Opponents would rather see employees open their retirement accounts without having part of their earnings automatically siphoned into IRAs. Supporters of auto-IRA plans would, too, but most workers who arent enrolled in a company 401(k) dont take the initiative on their own.

Youre 15 times more likely to save for retirement if you have the option to save at work through payroll deduction, said Kim Olson, a senior officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts. If you have to do this on your own, the chances are very low that youll follow through.

State-enacted auto-IRA plans are voluntary so an employee can stay enrolled automatically or opt-out. Workers who are wary of joining can always rejoin the auto-IRA plan at a future date. For those who choose to participate, there are several benefits:

Story continues

State-legislated, employer-facilitated, and privately-administered auto-IRAs are retirement investment plans that require little effort from the employee and at no cost.

Once your employer registers for the program, workers are automatically enrolled at a default contribution rate (5% seems to be the norm). Some plans have customizable contributions to meet the needs of their employees.

Importantly, the state savings plans are portable. If you change jobs, your money and IRA account go with you.

Retirement savings accounts are set up as Roth IRAs, which offer several benefits, including tax-free growth, tax-free withdrawals in retirement and no required minimum distributions (RMDs).

States That Have Auto-IRA Plans

Oregon was the first state to pilot an auto-IRA program in 2017. Seven other states have followed suit since, including Maine, which created its Maine Retirement Investment Trust (MERIT) program for the roughly 200,000 employees with no retirement savings plan.

Here are the eight states that have set up automatic IRAs for its workers:

California  CalSavers

Colorado  Colorado SecureSavings

Connecticut  MyCTSavings

Illinois  Illinois Secure Choice

Maine  Maine Retirement Investment Trust (MERIT)

Maryland  Maryland$aves

Oregon  OregonSaves

Virginia  RetirePath Virginia

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: All of the States That Set Up Automatic IRAs for Workers
(Bloomberg) -- The United Steelworkers met with Nippon Steel Corp. on Thursday in a meeting that the union said yielded no progress and ended in less than an hour.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The in-person meeting in Pittsburgh included Nippon Steel executive vice president Takahiro Mori and USW President David McCall, union leaders said in a letter posted on its website.

It marked the first such meeting between the top officials since the company announced it agreed to buy United States Steel Corp. for $14 billion. The union said that while the steelmaker offered promises and commitments, the company didnt provide anything enforceable.

Nippon has still not earned the trust of the USW, and we remain convinced that the company does not fully understand its obligations to the union, McCall and Negotiating Committee Chairman Mike Millsap said in the letter. We also continue to be concerned about issues involving national defense, critical infrastructure and supply chains.

Read More: US Steel Takeovers Fate May Hang on the Words of a Union Boss

Nippon Steel said in a statement to Bloomberg News that the company provided the union with specific commitments and said it addressed the USWs concerns about capital investment, job security and technology sharing. The company said it expects the commitments to be memorialized in legally binding documents once the two sides reach an agreement.

(Updated with comments from Nippon Steel in final paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Art Share 002

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER STATE OR JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (596/2014/EU).

PR REF: PR/04 2024





Successful completion of the initial offering on the iconic artwork from Francis Bacon 'Three Studies for Portrait of George Dyer, 1963

Closing of the Offer Period and Trading on the ARTEX MTF to commence on Friday 8 March 2024

Luxembourg, 7 March 2024

The offering of 550,000 class B redeemable shares (the  Class B Shares  or the  Offered Shares ) of Art Share 002 S.A. , a public limited liability company (societe anonyme) governed by the laws of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, having its registered office at 16, rue Eugene Ruppert, L-2453 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and registered with the Luxembourg register of commerce and companies (Registre de Commerce et des Societes de Luxembourg) under number B273672 (the  Company  or  Art Share 002 ) (the  Offering ) in Francis Bacons iconic artwork 'Three Studies for Portrait of George Dyer, 1963 (the  Artwork ) was successfully completed (and oversubscribed) by way of a private placement to qualified and/or professional investors located in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland.

As per the terms of the Offering, 412,500 Class B Shares corresponding to 75% of all the Class B Shares issued by the Company were subscribed and shall, subject to lock-up arrangements, be admitted on to the ARTEX MTF as from Friday 8 March 2024 (the  Admission ).

The price per Class B Share was fixed at EUR 92.20 for an aggregate value of EUR 38,032,500, equivalent to USD 41,250,000 by applying the exchange rate as published by the European Central Bank at 16:00 (CET) on 4 March 2024 of USD 1 = EUR 0.9220.

Trading of the Class B Shares on the ARTEX MTF shall commence with an opening auction commencing at 12:50 PM CET and then into contiunous trading from 1:00 PM CET under symbol BAC1EU (ISIN: LU2583605592).

Story continues

The final offering memorandum detailing the terms of the Offering, together with the pricing statement, was published by the Company on 7 March 2024 and is available to view on its website at www.artshare002.com (the Offering Memorandum).

Admission Highlights

On Admission, the Company will have a market capitalisation of approximately EUR 50.7 million, equivalent to USD 55 million and have 550,000 Class B Shares in issue.

Zeus Capital Limited, a UK Investment Bank regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK, acted as sole bookrunner for the Offering. Linklaters, LLP acted as legal advisers to the sole bookrunner.

Security details as follows: Ticker Symbol: BAC1EU ISIN: LU2583605592 WKN: A3D7ZH Bloomberg Ticker: BAC1EU AW EQUITY







H.S.H. Prince Wenceslas of Liechtenstein, co-founder and Chairman of ARTEX MTF, commented:

"We are very proud to announce the success of this final step towards the trading of a work of art, a first in art history. The strong interest shown by qualified investors over the last couple of weeks is a major mark of confidence in our new regulated and accessible art focused multilateral trading facility."

Yassir Benjelloun-Touimi, co-founder and CEO of ARTEX MTF, added:

"The enthusiasm generated by this offering is excellent news for all those who believe in the potential of democratising investment in art. From 8 March, everyone will be able to trade in art on the ARTEX MTF, paving the way for the development of a new asset class. This admission is the first ever listed masterpiece, and we are now excited to bring other masterpieces we have in the pipeline.



Francis Bacon, Three Studies for Portrait of George Dyer, 1963  The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved, DACS 2024 / Photo by The Makers Photography

The Admission is expected to take place on ARTEX MTF AG, a public limited liability company (Ak-tiengesellschaft), incorporated under the laws of Liechtenstein, having its registered office at Wuhrstrasse 6, 9490 Vaduz, Liechtenstein and registered with the trade and companies register of Liechtenstein under number FL-0002.682.571-2, being a multilateral trading facility regulated and supervised by the Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority (ARTEX MTF).

* * *

About Art Share 002 S.A.

Art Share 002 is a public limited liability company (societe anonyme) incorporated under the laws of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg existing as securitisation undertaking (organisme de titrisation) within the meaning of the Luxembourg law of 22 March 2004 on securitisation, as amended (the Securitisation Law). It has been set-up to issue shares, tracking the economic risk associated with the Artwork and any other associated risk within the meaning of article 53 of the Securitisation Law, financed, inter alia, by the issuance of the Class B Shares.

Art Share 002 was established to facilitate fractional investment in the Artwork through the issuance of the Class B Shares (i.e., undertaking a securitisation transaction of the Artwork).

The principal activity of Art Share 002 is to hold and securitise the Artwork, as well as assuming risks, existing or future, relating to the holding of the Artwork. Its principal activities to date have been limited to organisational activities, including entering into certain agreements (i) for the acquisition of the Artwork and (ii) those necessary for the preparation and execution of the Offering and the Admission.

It is intended that the Artwork to be displayed, on loan to cultural institutions such as museums to enhance accessibility to the public. This will add a unique social impact dimension to the transaction and contribute to the goal of the democratisation of iconic artwork.

Art Share 002 is managed by a board of directors who are Mrs Ursula Schmidt, Mr Edouard de Burlet and Mr Ronan Le Bouc.

Art Share 002 does not expect to generate revenues or cashflows from lending, for free, the Artwork to cultural institutions such as museums. It will not conduct any business activities except for activities relating to the ownership, maintenance and promotion of the Artwork and, as such, these activities shall be limited to a passive administration of the ownership of the Artwork.

The Companys strategy will be to display and promote the Artwork in a manner designed to improve public understanding of it.

Press contacts

France and Global

Alienor Miens | Alienor.miens@margie.fr | +33 (0)6 64 32 81 75

Bertrand Chambenois | bertrand.chambenois@margie.fr | +33 (0)6 11 84 34 92

Bookrunner

Zeus Capital Limited

Ben Robertson (Head of ECM)

ben.robertson@zeuscapital.co.uk

125 Old Broad Street, 12th Floor, London, EC2N 1AR

www.zeuscapital.co.uk

Art Share 002 S.A

Please contact Alienor Miens as indicated above.

DISCLAIMER

This publication is an announcement and not a prospectus for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (the Prospectus Regulation), and as such does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase securities of Art Share 002.

These materials do not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for, or otherwise invest in, securities in the United States. The securities mentioned herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the Securities Act). The securities may not be offered or sold in the United States (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act) except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. There will be no public offer of securities in the United States.

In any member state of the European Economic Area, this communication is only addressed to and is only directed at qualified investors in such member state within the meaning of the Prospectus Regulation, and no person that is not a qualified investor may act or rely on this communication or any of its contents.

In so far as forecasts or expectations are expressed in this investor relations news or where our statements concern the future, these forecasts, expectations, or statements may involve known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or developments may vary, depending on changes in the operating environment. Art Share 002 does not assume an obligation to update the forecasts, expectations or statements contained in this release. The information contained in this announcement is for background purposes only and does not purport to be full or complete. No reliance may be placed by any person for any purpose on the information contained in this announcement or its accuracy, fairness, or completeness. This announcement is not for publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into Australia, South Africa, Canada, Japan, New Zealand or the United States (including its territories and possessions, any State of the United States) or any other jurisdiction where to do so would constitute a violation of the relevant laws of such jurisdiction. The distribution of this announcement may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions and persons into whose possession any document or other information referred to herein comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restriction. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The Offered Shares may not be offered or sold in the United States unless registered under the Securities Act except pursuant to a transaction exempt from, or not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. The Offering and sale of the Offered Shares has not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or under the applicable securities laws of Australia, South Africa, Canada or Japan and New Zealand. Subject to certain exceptions, the Offered Shares may not be offered or sold in Australia, Canada or Japan, New Zealand or to, or for the account or benefit of, any national, resident or citizen of Australia, Canada, or Japan. There will be no public offer of the Offered Shares in Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United States.

In the United Kingdom, this announcement is being distributed only to, and is directed only at, persons who: (A) (i) are investment professionals specified in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") and/or (ii) fall within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (and only where the conditions contained in those articles have been, or will at the relevant time be, satisfied); and (B) are qualified investors within the meaning of Article 2 of the Prospectus Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2017/1129) as it forms part of retained EU law as defined in the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons").

In the European Economic Area (the "EEA"), this announcement is addressed only to and directed only at, persons in member states who are "qualified investors" within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation (Regulation ((EU) 2017/1129) ("Qualified Investors"). This announcement must not be acted on or relied on (i) in the United Kingdom, by persons who are not Relevant Persons, and (ii) in any member state of the EEA, by persons who are not Qualified Investors.

Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement relates is available only to: (i) in the United Kingdom, Relevant Persons; and (ii) in any member state of the EEA, Qualified Investors, and will be engaged in only with such persons. For the avoidance of doubt, no offer to the public will made in the United Kingdom and no application will be made for the Offered Shares to be traded on a regulated market in the United Kingdom.

The Company has not authorised any offer to the public of securities in Switzerland. With respect to Switzerland, no action has been undertaken or will be undertaken to make an offer to the public of securities requiring publication of a prospectus in Switzerland. As a result, the Offered Shares may only be offered in Switzerland to any legal entity which is a professional investor as defined in article 4(3) of the Swiss Federal Financial Services Act of 15 June 2018.

This announcement may include statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements may be identified by using forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "estimates", "plans", "projects", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "may", "will" or "should" or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy, plans, objectives, goals, future events or intentions. Forward-looking statements may and often do differ materially from actual results. Any forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current view with respect to future events and are subject to risks relating to future events and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to the Company's business, results of operations, financial position, liquidity, prospects, growth, and strategies. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Each of Art Share 002 and Zeus Capital Limited, expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update, review or revise any forward-looking statement contained in this announcement whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. Any subscription or purchase of the Offered Shares in the possible Offering should be made solely on the basis of information contained in the Offering Memorandum. The information in this announcement is subject to change. Before subscribing for or purchasing any Offered Shares, persons viewing this announcement should ensure that they fully understand and accept the risks which set out in the Offering Memorandum when published. No reliance may be placed for any purpose on the information contained in this announcement or its accuracy or completeness. Neither this announcement, nor the references herein to the Offering Memorandum, shall form the basis of or constitute any offer, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for any Offered Shares nor shall it (or any part of it) or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract thereof. Art Share 002 may decide not to go ahead with the Offering and there is therefore no guarantee that the admission will occur. You should not base any financial decision on this announcement. Acquiring investments to which this announcement relates may expose an investor to a significant risk of losing all of the amount invested. Persons considering making investments should consult an authorised person specialising in advising on such investments. Neither this announcement, nor the Offering Memorandum referred to herein, constitutes an investment recommendation concerning the Offering. The value of the Offered Shares can decrease as well as increase. Potential investors should consult a professional advisor as to the suitability of the Offering for the person concerned. None of Zeus Capital Limited or any of its affiliate or any of its or their affiliates' directors, officers, employees, advisers or agents accepts any responsibility or liability whatsoever for/or makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information in this announcement (or whether any information has been omitted from the announcement) or any other information relating to Art Share 002, its subsidiaries or associated companies, whether written, oral or in a visual or electronic form, and howsoever transmitted or made available or for any loss howsoever arising from any use of the announcement or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith.

Information to distributors in the EEA

Solely for the purposes of the product governance requirements contained within: (i) EU Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments, as amended (MiFID II); (ii) Articles 9 and 10 of Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2017/593 supplementing MiFID II; and (iii) local implementing measures (together the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements), and disclaiming all and any liability, whether arising in tort, delict, contract or otherwise, which the Company, in its capacity as manufacturer for the purposes of the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements may otherwise have with respect thereto, the Offered Shares have been subject to a product approval process, which has determined that such Offered Shares are: (a) compatible with an end target market of retail investors and investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties, each as defined in MiFID II; and (b) eligible for distribution through all distribution channels as are permitted by MiFID II (the Target Market Assessment). Notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, distributors (for purposes of the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements) should note that the price of the Offered Shares may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment; the Offered Shares offer no guaranteed income and no capital protection, and an investment in the Offered Shares is compatible only with investors who do not need a guaranteed income or capital protection, who (either alone or in conjunction with an appropriate financial or other adviser) are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of such an investment and who have sufficient resources to be able to bear any losses that may result therefrom. The Target Market Assessment is without prejudice to the requirements of any contractual, legal or regulatory selling restrictions in relation to the Offering, including the selling restrictions described in Notice to Investors (Selling Restrictions). Furthermore, it is noted that, notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, the financial intermediaries acting as placement agents (the Placement Agents) will only procure investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties. For the avoidance of doubt, the Target Market Assessment does not constitute: (i) an assessment of suitability or appropriateness for the purposes of MiFID II; or (ii) a recommendation to any investor or group of investors to invest in, purchase, subscribe for, or take any other action whatsoever with respect to the Offered Shares. Each distributor is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the Offered Shares and determining appropriate distribution channels.

Information to distributors in the UK

Solely for the purposes of the product governance requirements of Chapter 3 of the FCA Handbook Product Intervention and Product Governance Sourcebook (the "UK Product Governance Requirements"), and/or any equivalent requirements elsewhere to the extent determined to be applicable, and disclaiming all and any liability, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise, the Company, in its capacity as manufacturer (for the purposes of the UK Product Governance Requirements) may otherwise have with respect thereto, the Offered Shares have been subject to a product approval process, which has determined that the Offered Shares are: (a) compatible with an end target market of retail investors and investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties, each as defined in Chapter 3 of the FCA Handbook Conduct of Business Sourcebook (the U.K. Target Market Assessment). Notwithstanding the U.K. Target Market Assessment, "distributors" (for the purposes of the UK Product Governance Requirements) should note that: the price of the Offered Shares may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment; the Offered Shares offer no guaranteed income and no capital protection; and an investment in the Offered Shares is compatible only with investors who do not need a guaranteed income or capital protection, who (either alone or in conjunction with an appropriate financial or other adviser) are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of such an investment and who have sufficient resources to be able to bear any losses that may result therefrom. The U.K. Target Market Assessment is without prejudice to the requirements of any contractual, legal or regulatory selling restrictions in relation to the Offering. Furthermore, it is noted that, notwithstanding the U.K. Target Market Assessment, the Placement Agents will only procure investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties for the purposes of the U.K. MiFIR Product Governance Rules. For the avoidance of doubt, the U.K. Target Market Assessment does not constitute: (i) an assessment of suitability or appropriateness for the purposes of Chapter 9A or 10A respectively of the FCA Handbook Conduct of Business Sourcebook; or (ii) a recommendation to any investor or group of investors to invest in, or purchase, or take any other action whatsoever with respect to the Offered Shares. Each distributor is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the Offered Shares and determining appropriate distribution channels.

Information for Swiss investors and distributors in Switzerland

The Offered Shares can only be offered and placed with the following categories of professional clients that are also qualified investors in Switzerland:

Professional clients according to article 4 para. 3-5 Financial Services Act (" FinSA ") that do not wish to make use of their right to opt-in to be considered as retail clients.

High-net-worth retail clients and private investment structures created for them according to art. 5 para. 1 FinSA who have declared that they wish to be treated as professional clients (opting-out), for whom a prudentially supervised financial intermediary provides portfolio management in accordance with art. 10 para. 3ter Collective Investment Schemes Act ("CISA"), and these investors have been informed that they are deemed qualified investors and have been ex-plained the risks that this entails and have been informed that they have the option of declaring that they do not wish to be deemed qualified investors and have not made use of this option.

Accordingly, the Offered Shares will neither be offered to retail clients nor to non-qualified investors and no prospectus will be drafted under the FinSA. In the case where Art Share 002 would qualify as a foreign collective investment scheme under the CISA, no approval by FINMA and no appointment of a Swiss representative and paying agent are required due to the restriction to place the Offered Shares exclusively to per se qualified investors in Switzerland as described above.

Distributors in Switzerland must observe these selling restrictions.




(Bloomberg) -- Swedens entry into NATO can help solve a critical problem for military planners mapping out the alliances defenses against a potential Russian attack: how to rapidly shuttle troops, weapons and other provisions to a front anywhere from the Baltic to the Arctic.

Most Read from Bloomberg

After months of delays, the green light for Swedens membership means the Nordic nation can finally be woven into the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations intricate defense plans, which designate Russia as a primary threat.

The move is more pressing with Russian troops starting to advance in Ukraine again. With Russian President Vladimir Putins expansionist ambitions apparent, European officials have started warning about the prospect of an attack on NATO within the next few years.

We know that our eastern neighbor is highly unpredictable and also unfortunately very aggressive, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said in an interview. But Sweden knows, and we also tell Sweden, that as members of NATO we are stronger together.

After decades of non-alignment, Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO within months of the Kremlins full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, fearing they were vulnerable to Putins aggression.

Finland became a member of the alliance in April, while Sweden was left in limbo by Turkey and Hungary.

Budapest was the last of the 31 allies to back Swedens accession with the parliament signing off in late February, after the two nations sealed a deal to ship four additional Swedish Gripen fighter jets to Hungary.

Swedens membership was completed as remaining paperwork was submitted on Thursday. Its flag will be raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday.

Story continues

In some ways, the move is simply a rubber stamp. After years of training with NATO allies and defense plans forged with its Nordic neighbors, Sweden is already well-integrated into the alliance. For most of the past two years, it also took part in almost all NATO meetings as a guest.

NATO membership is the logical continuation of the security policy that Sweden, in reality, has been following for many decades, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told his nation in a speech Thursday.

Where Sweden would turn in case of war has never been in doubt, he said. During the Cold War, military cooperation was sensitive and often secret. Now, we can cooperate openly and honestly as allies.

Becoming a full member removes any ambiguity about whether NATO would defend Sweden in the event of an attack, and vice-versa, said a senior alliance official with knowledge of NATOs defense plans. That means Russia couldnt persuade Sweden to look away or side in its favor, the official added.

Along with its strong navy and formidable air power, Swedens geography will play a crucial role in helping NATO deter any Russian attack  be it in the Baltics, along the Finnish border, or in the Arctic, officials say.

Given the central part logistics play in sustaining a war, Swedens roads and railways are often the fastest routes to traverse the curving Scandinavian peninsula, including from one point in Norway to another in the same country.

In the Baltic, long seen as NATOs Achilles heel, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will be able to rely on more immediate help and new routes for supplies from Finland, but also now from Sweden. Swedens island of Gotland, often referred to as an unsinkable aircraft carrier, cements NATOs position in the region, locking in control of critical naval routes and airspace.

With Sweden and Finland on board, the vulnerability of the Suwalki Gap is also lessened. Thats a stretch of land between the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and its ally Belarus which Moscow could cut off in a conflict. Allies in the past would have needed to squeeze through the gap to reinforce the Baltic nations.

Sweden has already said it aims to bolster NATO presence in Latvia by sending troops to the Canadian-led forces there. There are no current plans to station alliance troops in Sweden, but the matter will be discussed, the senior NATO official said.

Perfect Fit

The Nordic country is in the process of rebuilding its armed forces after decades of downsizing following the end of the Cold War, during which Swedens government freed up resources for other needs while also reducing debt to one of the lowest levels in Europe.

While Sweden will this year reach NATOs goal to spend at least 2% of gross domestic product on defense, the history of underspending is displayed in part in its navy. The branch is viewed as a strong asset to allied forces but is small, with five submarines  plus two more due for delivery by the end of the decade  as well as five stealth corvettes and as many minesweepers.

We have the longest Baltic Sea coast and one of Europes longest coastlines so in relation to the environment we operate in, the navy is very small, Navy chief Ewa Skoog Haslum said in an interview.

But, she added, we are one of few nations that are fully able to handle this environment, especially when it comes to the subsea dimension.

Unlike allies submarines, Swedens are tailored to function in the shallow waters of the Baltic Sea and can play a significant role in monitoring undersea critical infrastructure, according to a recent report by the Atlantic Council.

Thats a vital capability amid recent sabotage incidents on subsea systems, episodes that are likely to become more frequent. With Russias land forces bogged down in Ukraine, Moscow could turn more to such relatively cheap tactics to stir chaos among NATO allies.

At a conference in Sweden last year, General Christopher Cavoli, NATOs supreme allied commander for Europe, pointed to Swedens capabilities and other elements that will allow the nation to be compatible with allies from day one of joining.

It should be a perfect fit, easy, Cavoli said. And its good if its easy, because I think the future looks hard.

--With assistance from Christopher Jungstedt, Ellen Milligan, Jeremy Diamond and Gina Turner.

(Updates with comments from Swedens prime minister from 10th paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg) -- Telecom Italia SpAs shares plunged the most ever on Thursday as investors expressed skepticism about the phone carriers plans for reducing debt.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The company said on Wednesday it foresees reducing debt to 1.6 to 1.7 times Ebitda from its current ratio of 3.8 times on a pro forma basis. Analysts said the debt ratios werent consistent with the companys previous guidance to achieve certain debt targets in 2024.

Milan-based Telecom Italia outlined its business plan for the first time since it agreed to sell the landline business, its most valuable asset, to KKR & Co. last year for as much as 22 billion ($24 billion). The deal was aimed at slashing the companys debt pile.

The shares fell 24% in Milan to close at 0.21. The move wiped out about 1.4 billion of market value in just one day.

Chief Executive Officer Pietro Labriola noted that trading volume was 12 times higher than usual. Thats anomalous; well review that situation, he said in video call with journalists.

Read More: Italy Clears Telecom Italias 22 Billion Grid Sale to KKR

The former Italian telecom monopoly also projected compound annual sales growth of 3% through 2026, a significant increase from analysts average estimate for revenue growth of 1.2% this year and 1.1% in 2025. It sees compound annual growth in adjusted domestic earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization after leases of 9% to 10% from 2023 to 2026.

The company said it expects positive free cash flow after lease costs within three years in its home market and in Brazil, as its struggling domestic consumer market stabilizes.

Story continues

Telecom Italias new Free to Run plan, outlining the midterm outlook for the rump service companies, looks too confident on profit-growth potential, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Erhan Gurses said in a note, citing tough competition in the Italian market and the landline network sale as reasons the target will be hard to achieve.

Telecom Italias largest shareholder also objected to the plan. French media conglomerate Vivendi SE Chief Executive Officer Arnaud De Puyfontaine said the new plan in form and substance doesnt have our support. The share decline has made KKRs offer substantially low compared with the assets value, he said in a call with journalists to discuss earnings.

The board approved Telecom Italias 2023 results this week. The company posted a loss of 1.44 billion, about half of what it lost the previous year, according to a separate statement.

--With assistance from Benoit Berthelot.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Tesla said on Thursday it is quitting Australia's major auto lobby and resigning from its board, accusing the group of misleading consumers over the government's proposed fuel efficiency standards and the potential impact on car prices.

In a letter addressed to Australia's Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), Tesla said the country's biggest auto industry body "has repeatedly made claims that are demonstrably false."

"Tesla is also concerned that it is inappropriate for the FCAI to foreshadow or coordinate whether and how competitor brands implement price changes in response to environmental regulations," the U.S. electric vehicle market leader said.

Tesla said it has requested Australia's competition regulator to investigate FCAI's comments.

The FCAI, which includes top leaders of major car brands, did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment. Tesla said it would cease to be a member in June.

Until recently, Australia was the only developed country apart from Russia to either not have or be developing fuel efficiency standards.

The current centre-left Labor government, which won power in 2022, plans to develop a fuel efficiency model that aims to limit the average carbon emissions of new vehicles sold from next year.

That could prompt manufacturers to send more EVs to Australia and further boost adoption, putting the country in line with standards adopted in most other developed economies.

The FCAI on Wednesday said the government had opted to impose a fuel efficiency standard with "extremely aggressive targets and severe penalties to be effective on very short notice" from Jan. 1, 2025.

This could cause significant disruption for large sections of the industry, and result in fewer choices and higher prices for consumers, FCAI said.

The government has closed consultations on its preferred model and is aiming to introduce legislation later this year.

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Indian equity markets have been on an upward trajectory, with the Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex reaching new record highs amid robust economic growth and positive domestic sentiment. In this environment, investors may look for stability and consistent returns, making dividend stocks with a minimum yield of 2% an attractive option for those seeking to balance growth with income generation.

Top 10 Dividend Stocks In India

Name Dividend Yield Dividend Rating EPL (BSE:500135) 2.35%  Narmada Gelatines (BSE:526739) 2.60%  Vinyl Chemicals (India) (BSE:524129) 2.71%  Castrol India (BSE:500870) 3.57%  Swaraj Engines (NSEI:SWARAJENG) 3.87%  Balmer Lawrie (BSE:523319) 3.12%  Indian Oil (NSEI:IOC) 2.82%  Ruchira Papers (NSEI:RUCHIRA) 3.89%  Sun TV Network (NSEI:SUNTV) 2.44%  Power Grid Corporation of India (NSEI:POWERGRID) 3.85% 

Click here to see the full list of 61 stocks from our Top Dividend Stocks screener.

We'll examine a selection from our screener results.

Simply Wall St Dividend Rating: 

Overview: Glenmark Life Sciences Limited is a pharmaceutical company based in India, specializing in the development, manufacturing, and supply of high-value non-commoditized active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for chronic therapeutic areas, with a market capitalization of approximately 94.36 billion.

Operations: Glenmark Life Sciences Limited generates its revenue primarily through the sale of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), which amounted to 23.68 billion.

Dividend Yield: 3.1%

Glenmark Life Sciences (GLS) offers a dividend yield of 3.06%, ranking in the top quarter of Indian market payers, supported by a payout ratio of 53.1% and cash payout ratio of 85.5%. With earnings forecasted to grow by 11.17% per year, dividends appear sustainable given current earnings and cash flow coverage. However, recent board resignations may raise governance concerns, potentially impacting future performance despite robust sales growth reported for Q3 with revenue reaching 5.74 billion and net income at 1.19 billion.

Story continues

NSEI:GLS Dividend History as at Mar 2024

Simply Wall St Dividend Rating: 

Overview: Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited is an Indian company engaged in the production and sale of fertilizers, serving both domestic and international markets, with a market capitalization of approximately 143.19 billion.

Operations: Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited generates its revenue primarily through the manufacture and distribution of fertilizers across India and beyond.

Dividend Yield: 2.1%

Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals' dividends, with a yield of 2.09%, stand above the Indian market average. Despite a sporadic history, current earnings cover dividends at 24.5%, and cash flows are robust with a 3.2% payout ratio, indicating sustainability. The stock trades at 58% below estimated fair value, suggesting attractive valuation relative to peers. A recent share buyback for 7 billion reflects confidence in capital structure efficiency, while Q3 reports show revenue of 44.44 billion and net income growth to 4.59 billion from last year's 3.24 billion, signaling positive financial health.

NSEI:CHAMBLFERT Dividend History as at Mar 2024

Simply Wall St Dividend Rating: 

Overview: Karnataka Bank Limited is a financial institution based in India, offering a diverse range of banking services with a market capitalization of approximately 88.41 billion.

Operations: Karnataka Bank Limited generates revenue primarily through Treasury Operations and Corporate/Wholesale Banking, contributing 16.47 billion and 30.89 billion respectively, alongside a smaller segment in Other Banking Operations at 4.28 billion.

Dividend Yield: 2%

Karnataka Bank, celebrating its centenary, is expanding with 15 new branches and a digital push. The bank's dividend history is marked by volatility but maintains a low payout ratio of 13.2%, suggesting sustainability. Analysts project a stock price increase of 30.4%. Despite concerns over bad loans at 3.6% and recent shareholder dilution, the bank's Price-To-Earnings ratio at 6.2 is attractive compared to the market average of 31, and its dividend yield ranks in the top quartile at 2.04%.

NSEI:KTKBANK Dividend History as at Mar 2024

Make It Happen

Dive into all 61 of the Top Dividend Stocks we have identified here.

Already own these companies? Bring clarity to your investment decisions by linking up your portfolio with Simply Wall St, where you can monitor all the vital signs of your stocks effortlessly.

Join a community of smart investors by using Simply Wall St. It's free and delivers expert-level analysis on worldwide markets.

Searching for a Fresh Perspective?

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
(Bloomberg) -- A top Republican lawmaker said hed seek a House vote next week on a bill that would force TikToks Chinese parent to sell the app or face a ban in the US, injecting new momentum into a congressional push to curtail Beijings influence over the video-sharing service.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The legislation, which was advanced by a key committee on Thursday, would block internet service providers and app stores such as those run by Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.s Google from offering the platform unless TikToks Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd. sells it within six months.

After the Energy and Commerce Committee voted to approve the bill by a vote of 50-0, Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the number two Republican in the House said he would bring it up for a vote on the House floor. Scalise said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the measure would force TikTok to sever their ties with the Chinese Communist Party.

Previous legislative attempts to restrict the app nationwide have failed, and this one would still have to clear legislative obstacles in the House and Senate, where it doesnt have a sponsor. But lawmakers say this latest effort has been months in the making, fueled partly by renewed security concerns that China is surveilling Americans.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that he was talking with my chairs and caucus about the legislation. I will listen to their views on the bill and determine the best path.

TikTok mounted a last-minute effort to counter the bill, which was unveiled Tuesday, by urging its users to call congressional offices to protest the bill via a message that greeted them when they opened the app. Congressional offices were flooded with calls, drawing the ire of House China Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher.

Story continues

Lawmakers said their phones were ringing off the hook last night, Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican, told journalists outside the Capitol on Thursday. The intimidation tactics, the disinformation has to stop, he said later in a video message.

In the end the campaign was unsuccessful, at least in preventing lawmakers from taking the first step toward enacting the legislation.

Read More: TikTok Can Keep Bad Lip-Sync, Lawmakers Seeking Sale Say

Both Democrats and Republicans have long expressed national security concerns over TikToks ties to ByteDance, citing risks of the Chinese government collecting personal data from Americans and spreading propaganda on the app. The platform has been under a national security review since the Trump administration. The Biden administration has signaled cautious support for the proposal, with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying Wednesday that we would want to see this bill get done.

TikTok has consistently denied that it has or will share any US user data with Beijing and has tried to assuage US concerns by spending more than $1.5 billion to isolate its US operations and agreeing to oversight from American partner Oracle Corp. TikTok said in a statement that the legislation would trample First Amendment free speech rights and deprive millions of small businesses of a platform on which they rely.

The app is already emerging as an important place for conversations in a presidential election year. President Joe Bidens reelection campaign has even created an account on the app ahead of Novembers vote. More than 170 million Americans scroll the app every month, making its users an important asset.

After the vote, TikTok said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the new bill has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States.

Divesting TikTok from its Chinese parent would be a complicated, though perhaps not impossible, maneuver. ByteDance developed the technology at the foundation of the viral video service and its engineers also support a twin service for the China market called Douyin.

Earlier: TikTok Threat to Amazon Emerges With $20 Billion Shopping Pilot

If forced to proceed by US lawmakers, ByteDance might try to separate the US business of TikTok while retaining the business in the rest of the world. TikToks US business could be valued at $40 billion to $50 billion, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Mandeep Singh and Damian Reimertz estimated last year.

Any outright sale however faces strong opposition from Beijing, which could try and block such a deal. The Chinese government has been sensitive to leakages of data abroad, particularly when they involve giant internet firms such as ByteDance.

In 2020, under pressure from the Trump administration, ByteDance went through extensive negotiations to separate the American operations and turn them over to either Oracle or Microsoft Corp. While the Chinese company picked Oracle, the deal was ultimately called off as the Biden administration took over and opted not to impose a ban.

(Updates with Schumer statement, in fifth paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
A Turkish oil terminal decided to halt Russian imports amid pressure from US sanctions, Reuters reported.

The Dortyol terminal, operated by Global Terminal Services, decided to "cut all possible connections to Russian oil."

The move comes after the US announced 500 new sanctions on Russia in late February.

A Turkish oil terminal has ceased business with Russia amid broadening US sanctions.

The Dortyol terminal  operated by Global Terminal Services (GTS)  announced that it will not be accepting any more Russian products, Reuters reported on Wednesday. GTS said it decided to "cut all possible connections to Russian oil."

Turkey is one of the countries that began buying cheap Russian crude after Western sanctions went into effect following the invasion of Ukraine. The GTS terminal in particular purchased 11.74 million barrels of Russian crude in 2023, Reuters reported citing Kpler data.

Last year's crude and fuel imports from Russia alone marked a sevenfold increase from the total amount the terminal imported in the year before the Ukraine war began.

But broadening US sanctions on Russia pushed GTS to step back.

On February 23, the anniversary of Russia's invasion and following opposition leader Aleksei Navalny's death, the US announced an additional 500 sanctions on the Kremlin, many of which were targeted against individuals and companies connected to Russia's financial and defense sectors. It was the largest sanctions package passed by the Biden administration to date.

According to GTS, it has been in full compliance with US sanctions including the G7's price cap. The current decision is just an "additional measure," they told Reuters.

The terminal will still accept Russian cargoes nominated before GTS implemented the ban in late-February.

Read the original article on Business Insider
(Bloomberg) -- The US government is pressing allies including the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea and Japan to further tighten restrictions on Chinas access to semiconductor technology, a controversial effort thats drawing resistance in some countries, according to people familiar with the matter.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The Biden administrations latest push is aimed at plugging holes in export controls its levied over the past two years and restraining Chinas progress in developing domestic chip capabilities, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. For example, the US is urging the Netherlands to stop ASML Holding NV from servicing and repairing sensitive chipmaking equipment that Chinese clients purchased before limits on sales of those devices were put into place this year, said the people.

The US also wants Japanese companies to limit exports to China of specialized chemicals critical for chipmaking, including photoresist, they said. Japan is home to several leaders in photoresist, including Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. and Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co.

Tokyo and The Hague have responded coolly to Washingtons latest push, arguing that they want to assess the impact of their current curbs before considering tighter measures, some of the people said. US Commerce Department officials raised the issue in Tokyo during a meeting on export controls last month, according to one of the people.

Representatives at ASML, the Dutch trade ministry and Japans Ministry for Economy, Trade and Industry declined to comment. In Washington, the National Security Council and the US Commerce Department also declined to comment.

Story continues

Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi blasted the US for imposing a wide range of trade curbs on the Asian nation.

The US has been devising various tactics to suppress China and keeps lengthening its unilateral sanctions list, reaching bewildering levels of unfathomable absurdity, Wang Yi told reporters in Beijing on Thursday. If the US is obsessed with suppressing China, it will eventually harm itself.

On Thursday, Tokyo Ohka Kogyo dropped the most in almost five months, shedding 5.1%. Shin-Estu Chemical fell the most in six weeks, closing down 1.9% in Tokyo.

The Biden administration has taken aim at Chinas semiconductor industry since 2022, imposing sweeping controls on the export of advanced chip-making machines and sophisticated chips like those used to develop artificial intelligence. Japan and the Netherlands, the two key countries where chip-making equipment is developed, joined the US effort last year.

But holes still remain, particularly in the ability of Japanese and Dutch engineers to continue doing some equipment repairs, and in the flow of spare parts that are used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

US officials got a shock last August when Chinas Huawei Technologies Co. unveiled a smartphone powered by a homemade chip that is more than a generation ahead of where the US had sought to halt the Asian countrys progress.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has vowed to take the strongest possible action following the Huawei breakthrough, while Republican lawmakers have called for a complete block of Huawei and its chipmaking partner Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.s access to US technology.

The latest US push includes an effort to tighten existing limits. ASML needs a license to service and repair restricted gear in China, but the Netherlands has been somewhat lax about approval, according to one of the people. The US wants the Netherlands to take a more stringent approach, the person said.

The US also wants to draw more countries into its export-control blockade. The Biden administration is trying to bring Germany and South Korea into an agreement that already includes Japan and the Netherlands, since all four countries are home to key firms in the semiconductor supply chain, according to the people.

For Germany, one of the critical players is Carl Zeiss AG, a specialized glass maker that supplies ASML with the optical components necessary for advanced chip production. The US wants Germany to get Zeiss to pull back from shipping such components to China, the people said.

Dutch officials also hope that Germany will join the export control group, according to the people, and the Biden administration is pushing for an agreement before the G7 summit in June.

Read more: Netherlands Proposes Stronger EU Export Control Coordination

Berlin last year mulled over whether to restrict exports of chip chemicals to China, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is slated to visit China in April, has not yet taken a stance on the issue, according to the person. Scholzs deputy Robert Habeck, meanwhile, is visiting the US this week and will meet Raimondo during his trip.

In addition, the US has held talks with South Korea on chip export controls, given the countrys leading role in producing chips and supplying spare parts for chip-making equipment. The two countries launched a structured dialogue in February after US officials asked their counterparts in Seoul to join the multilateral group last year, according to some of the people.

--With assistance from Yuki Furukawa, Takashi Mochizuki, Yoolim Lee, Kamil Kowalcze and Jennifer Jacobs.

(Updates with China Foreign Minister comments and share movement. A previous version of this story corrected the spelling of the German chancellors name in the second-to-last paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
eric1513/Getty Images

The US Treasury Department is making unused COVID funds available to support housing projects.

The State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds has around $40 billion in unspent money, Reuters said.

The Treasury will also step up efforts to understand the impact of climate risks on housing supply.

Billions of unspent pandemic dollars have been made available for housing projects as the federal government steps up efforts to tackle the shortage of affordable homes.

The US Treasury announced Tuesday that unused money from State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds can be deployed for housing projects, freeing up about $40 billion, Reuters calculated.

These funds are eligible for developments that will house families earning 120% the area's median income, a jump from the prior 65% threshold. Otherwise, they can be spent on federal housing programs, or federally-supported initiatives to house essential workers.

Meanwhile, leftover funds from the Emergency Rental Assistance program can be rerouted towards low-income housing initiatives, including land acquisition, pre-development, construction and rehabilitation.

The program primarily served to prevent COVID-era evictions. According to Reuters, around $6.9 billion was unused by June 30, 2023.

"While the ERA program has already made more than 12.3 million household payments to keep renting families in their homes, these changes will build out the pipeline to bring additional rental units onto the market," the Treasury announcement said.

The department also indefinitely extended backstop financing for a risk-sharing program between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and local financing agencies. The program will "dramatically" lower capital costs for low-risk developments, the Treasury said.

Since the pandemic, US housing prices have sharply appreciated as homebuilders play catch-up with demand. High mortgage rates have kept homeowners off the market, decreasing the number of existing properties available for sale.

Story continues

Meanwhile, the department is also taking a closer look at how climate risks may impact housing stability, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo outlined in a related blog post.

"We are working with federal and state regulators studying rising insurance costs and decreasing insurance coverage so that we can understand the impact of lack of affordable insurance on housing supply in different parts of the country," he wrote.

At the moment, the Treasury lacks granular data on where homeowners are being hit hardest, and where insurers are pulling back, he said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Great River Energy now has a plan to make the electricity it sells 90% carbon-free by 2035.

The plan approved Thursday by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission represents a major transition from the current energy mix of the coal-heavy Maple Grove-based cooperative, a wholesale electricity provider.

The cooperative estimated its power mix last year would be 35% carbon-free, with much of its energy coming from a massive coal-powered plant in North Dakota.

Great River provides electricity for roughly 1.7 million people through 27 mostly rural cooperatives, ranging from northeast Minnesota to the Iowa border.

At the heart of Great River's plan  which stretches until 2037  is its relationship with Coal Creek Station, which it sold in 2022 to Rainbow Energy Center. Before the deal, Great River had planned to close the unprofitable plant. Instead, it struck a deal to buy from Rainbow much of the power Coal Creek produces. North Dakota officials viewed the potential closure as a big economic hit given the plant and an adjacent coal mine together employ hundreds of people.

Still, Great River plans to follow existing contracts that slash the amount of power it buys from Rainbow over time until its agreements expire in 2031. The plan approved Thursday would replace the power through buying energy from wind farms, and adding battery storage and solar plants.

While the Public Utilities Commission passed the plan unanimously, with support from trade unions and the Minnesota Department of Commerce, there were concerns raised.

The Sierra Club wanted Great River to also retire its Spiritwood Station coal and natural gas plant, also in North Dakota, and use tax breaks and other federal funding to invest in more clean energy to ensure a hard break from Rainbow.

In filings with the PUC, Sierra Club said the proposal was possible when accounting for tax breaks and other federal funding  like $970 million Great River could win through what's known as the New Era program.

Story continues

Under state law, the PUC plays an advisory role on resource planning for cooperatives like Great River, giving it less oversight compared to private utilities like Xcel Energy. These utility plans cover 15 years but must be filed every few years.

The state Department of Commerce said in an August filing with the PUC that the cooperative had some financial risk from relying on purchases in the open energy market that can be expensive when energy demand is high. But the agency said it was generally fine with Great River's plan and that reserve power should theoretically provide enough cushion to shield its customers.

However, Commerce also noted Rainbow might be out of compliance with some federal rules including one tied to disposal of ash from the Coal Creek plant, which could pose risk to Great River and its customers.

PUC commissioner Hwikwon Ham, an independent on the five-member board, said he had considered rejecting the energy plan because of those issues.

Instead, the commission directed Great River to check back in should any federal rule significantly impact Coal Creek and the energy it provides the utility.

Great River said in PUC filings that it owns and maintains $2.9 billion in assets, including nine power plants that run on gas, diesel, coal and fuel. The coop also buys power from eight wind farms.

In November, the PUC approved a Great River plan to convert a natural gas plant in Cambridge to also run on fuel oil. The coop said it could help deliver reliable and cheaper power during winter storms.

Commission member Joseph Sullivan, a Democrat, said he "would feel a lot better about where the world is going" if every utility were slashing their carbon emissions by as much as Great River.
MEXICO CITY, March 07, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VAV Lipids, one of the worlds leading lipid manufacturers, has announced its foray into Latin America. The company will supply its high-purity lipid ingredients to pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmetics manufacturers through reputed local distributors in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Colombia.

VAV Lipids is headquartered in Mumbai, India and is among the worlds leading manufacturers of phospholipids and lecithins. The biopharmaceutical company manufactures plant phospholipids (LECIVA), egg phospholipids (LIPOVA), synthetic phospholipids and neutral lipids, APIs and specialty proteins.

VAVs high-grade phospholipids and lecithins are functional ingredients in developing novel drugs and biologics delivery systems (NDDS) for vaccines, anesthesia and formulations, cancer therapy based on liposomes, and for treating several diseases.

VAV Lipids will introduce its entire range of products through the companys distribution network in Latin America. The company will provide intense technical and marketing training to its distributors. Customers will get end-to-end technical support including technical assistance in selecting the proper grade of lecithins or phospholipids and guidance on formulations, applications, analytical procedures and stability.

Arun Kedia, Managing Director of VAV Lipids, said, "Our expansion into Latin America will boost our global presence significantly. It will also benefit the local pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and cosmetics industries. The Latin American market is huge and is presently underserved. VAV Lipids will cater to this unmet demand for high-quality ingredients."

Kedia estimates the potential for VAVs products in the LatAm market to be over USD 50 million. He added the company aims to grow aggressively in this market to occupy a 40% market share in the next five years.

Presently, VAV Lipids exports 80% of its products to North America, Europe, and Asia.

Story continues

VAVs lipid production facility is EU GMP certified and conforms to the best global practices and world-class standards. The company follows the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards and is on track to achieving Net Zero emissions status.

The company meets necessary standards and certifications in Latin America. These include Pharma- EU-GMP, Nutra -FSSAI (Food Safety & Standards Authority of India), Cosmetic- COSMOS (Ecocert) and All - ISO 22000, Export Inspection Agency. VAV Lipids recently received a certificate of appreciation from United States Pharmacopeia (USP) for contributing to the standards-setting activities in lipid manufacturing.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240305790753/en/

Contacts

Aloma Carvalho

aloma@isensepr.com
Company Logo

Vietnamese Cloud Based Infrastructure as a Service Market

Vietnamese Cloud Based Infrastructure as a Service Market

Dublin, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Vietnam Cloud Based Infrastructure as a Service Market, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Hanoi, Vietnam - A Recent Market Analysis Highlights Expanding Opportunities in Vietnams Cloud Based IaaS Sector

A comprehensive market research report has been added to our extensive collection, detailing the evolving landscape of the Vietnam cloud based infrastructure as a service (IaaS) market. The report forecasts a significant compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the market between now and 2028. Vietnam's burgeoning digital economy, coupled with the increased adoption of cloud services, is setting the stage for a transformative period in the industry. The report segments the Vietnam cloud based IaaS market by type, solution, organization type, end-user industry, and region, offering detailed insights into various facets of the market.

The Rising Demand for Cost-Effective Cloud Solutions Drives Market Growth

Public and Private IaaS: Differentiation of service delivery models catering to various needs of businesses. Comprehensive Solutions: Including network as a service, disaster recovery as a service, and managed hosting services among others. Organization Type Inclusivity: Coverage of both small & medium businesses and large enterprises, reflecting the widespread adoption potential of IaaS. Diverse End-User Industries: From IT & telecom to healthcare and education, indicating the widespread applicability of cloud IaaS solutions. Regional Insights: Analysis inclusive of Central Vietnam, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam, indicating the geographic nuances in cloud adoption.

The report identifies major drivers fueling the Vietnam cloud based IaaS market such as the preference for cost-effective solutions and the scalability of cloud services, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Furthermore, the study highlights how the adoption of cloud computing is being catalyzed by the nation's increased internet and smartphone penetration.

Story continues

Supportive Government Initiatives and Digital Transformation Pave the Way

Vietnam's initiatives to digitally transform its economy provide a conducive environment for the cloud based IaaS market growth. The shift towards digitization across industries such as government, finance, and healthcare aligns with the market's upward trajectory.

Market Players and Competitive Landscape



The report assesses the competitive landscape, featuring major industry players who are setting the bar in the Vietnam cloud based IaaS market. Through their strategic operations, including product launches, mergers, and partnerships, these companies are crucial to the market's dynamic growth.

Strategic Market Insights for Stakeholders



Business leaders, investors, policymakers, and other stakeholders stand to gain from the extensive data and analysis provided in this report. These insights will assist in strategic decision-making and in identifying areas of investment and innovation within the Vietnam cloud based IaaS market. Implications for the Future With detailed forecasts and analyses, the Vietnam cloud based infrastructure as a service market report is an indispensable tool for understanding the current trends and future directions of cloud computing in Vietnam. Its findings are vital for businesses looking to capitalize on the numerous opportunities within this fast-growing market. As the digital landscape in Vietnam continues to evolve, the demand for cloud-based solutions is set to rise, potentially reshaping the economic and technological contours of the region in the years to come.



Key Attributes

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 90 Forecast Period 2023 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $0.78 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $2.02 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 17.2% Regions Covered Vietnam

A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes

Amazon Data Services Vietnam Pvt Ltd

Apollo Global Management Vietnam Pvt Ltd

MICROSOFT VIETNAM CORPORATION PVT LTD

Dell Vietnam Pvt Ltd

IBM Vietnam Pvt Ltd

Netmagic Solutions Pvt Ltd

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Pvt Ltd

NTT Communications Pvt Ltd

Cisco Systems Vietnam Pvt Ltd

VMWare Software Pvt Ltd

Key Topics Covered

Service Overview Research Methodology Executive Summary Voice of Customer Vietnam Cloud Based Infrastructure as a Service Market Outlook South Vietnam Cloud Based Infrastructure as a Service Market Outlook North Vietnam Cloud Based Infrastructure as a Service Market Outlook Central Vietnam Cloud Based Infrastructure as a Service Market Outlook Market Dynamics Market Trends & Developments Policy & Regulatory Landscape Vietnam Economic Profile Company Profiles Strategic Recommendations About the Publisher & Disclaimer

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/oqwja2

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Attachment

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




Vilkyskiu Pienine

VILVI GROUP launches the largest investment project in its 31-year history. The preliminary plan is to invest around 50 million EUR in new cheese production capacity in Bauska, Latvia, on the territory of the Group's company SIA Baltic Dairy Board. The project is planned to be completed by 2027, new work places are planned.



The project is financed with own resouces and loans from Citadele Bank. The Latvian Government, through the Latvian State Development Finance Institution, will contribute 8.5 million EUR to the project.

VILVI GROUP is one of the largest dairy processing groups in the Baltic States, with a historical export share of around 90%. The main export markets are the European Union countries, Group exports also to Asia and other continents. The Group consists of Vilkyskiu pienine, Modest, Kelmes pienine, Kelmes pienas, Pieno logistika and Baltic Dairy Board in Latvia.

According to preliminary unaudited data, the net profit of VILVI GROUP was 14.6 million EUR in 2023, or 15% more than in 2022, when the net profit was EUR 12.7 million. The Group's EBITDA amounted to EUR 21 million, an increase of 9.1% compared to the previous year.





Gintaras Bertasius

Director General

Phone: +370 441 55 330




If you purchased bags of citrus or weighted meat items from Walmart since 2018, you may be eligible to get your share of money back as part of an ongoing $45 million class-action lawsuit against Walmart.

Heres what you need to know and how to find out if youre eligible for payment.

What is the Walmart settlement about?

You may be eligible to file a claim in a class-action lawsuit against Walmart.

Filed in October of 2022, Kukorinis v. Walmart Inc., claims that Walmart overcharged for clearance items, charged more for weighted items such as seafood and poultry than shelf prices indicated and falsely mislabeled the weight on bagged grapefruit and oranges.

Walmart denies the allegations and any wrongdoing but has agreed to a settlement, according to the settlement website, which will be approved or denied by the U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida on June 12.

Meet 2nd Wave Coffee owner: 2nd Wave Coffee owner is making small-business dream come true in Berlin. Meet her here.

Who can submit a claim in the Walmart settlement?

A trickle of customers wearing masks head in and out of the Walmart in Georgetown during the COVID-19 outbreak on Wednesday, April 29, 2020.

Ahead of the court hearing on June 12, all Walmart shoppers who purchased the items in question between Oct. 19, 2018, and Jan. 19, 2024, can submit a claim to receive cash payment.

The deadline to exclude yourself from the settlement or to object or comment on the settlement is May 22. The deadline to submit a claim is June 5.

To submit a claim, you file a form electronically or download a form and mail it in. To fill out and submit the claim form, visit www.walmartweightedgroceriessettlement.com/submit-claim.

Ocea City crime by the numbers: Ocean City crime by the numbers: 2023 annual report tracks assaults, sex offenses and more

What items are included in the Walmart settlement?

According to settlement documents, the following items are eligible to be claimed due to customers having paid more than the lowest in-store price advertised for those products:

Certain sold-by-weight meat, poultry, pork and seafood products (referred to as weighted goods by Walmart).

Certain organic oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and navel oranges sold in bulk in mesh or plastic bags (referred to as bagged citrus by Walmart)

Story continues

A list of Walmarts weighted goods and bagged citrus items can be found online. More information about eligible purchases can be found by visiting FAQ No. 5 on the settlement website.

The settlement only includes items purchased in-store at Walmart locations. Online and resale purchases are not applicable.

Unity Square gets completion date: When will downtown Salisbury's Unity Square be completed? Yes, the end is in sight.

How much money will claimants receive in the Walmart settlement?

Claimants in a class-action lawsuit against Walmart could be in for cash payments if the settlement is approved.

FAQ No. 8 on the settlement website states the amount of money awarded to all Walmart customers who file a claim depends on if the settlement is approved in court and the number of claims filed.

If the amount of the approved claims exceeds the total settlement amount, the money awarded to each customer based on their claim amount is subject to a decrease on a pro rata basis.

While store receipts are not needed to file a claim, proof of purchase or other documentation showing your eligible purchases and prices allows you to get back 2% of the total cost up to $500. If you do not have a receipt, you might be able to find your purchase history on Walmarts Receipt Lookup.

If you dont have a receipt or other records of your purchase, the following payment guidelines apply:

Customers claiming to have purchased up to 50 eligible items are entitled to $10.

Customers claiming to have purchased between 51 and 75 eligible items are entitled to $15.

Customers claiming to have purchased between 76 and 100 eligible items are entitled to $20.

Customers claiming to have purchased 101 or more eligible items are entitled to $25.

All settlement payments will be made electronically, according to the settlement website, and each approved claimant will have the option to receive their cash payment through Venmo, Zelle, ACH or a virtual pre-paid MasterCard. Claimants can request paper checks if they are unable to receive electronic payments.

Electronic settlement payments do not have restrictions, limitations or expiration dates attached to the claimants use of it.

Got a tip or a story idea? Contact Krys'tal Griffin at kgriffin@delawareonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Walmart groceries settlement could end in payout for customers
Walmart says it is expanding its same-day delivery options to include early morning hours. The move comes as online retailers compete to meet consumers' growing demand for speed and convenience.

Starting in mid-March, customers who place an order online starting at 6 a.m. can get clothes, home appliances, outdoor supplies or baby essentials delivered within 30 minutes, Walmart said Thursday. Customers will pay $10 for immediate delivery or $5 to have their items delivered within a three-hour window, a Walmart spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch. The service will be free for Walmart+ members, the company added.

"With Walmart's on-demand early morning delivery and a suite of other convenient options, we're making sure you have what you need, when you need it, so you can reclaim your time no matter what the clock says," the company said Thursday in a statement.

Executives at Walmart said the early morning feature is among a list of delivery options the retail giant is launching in hopes of increasing sales. Walmart in September began offering a late-night delivery option, which allows customers to get orders placed by 9:30 p.m. delivered by 10 p.m. The company also has on-demand delivery, where customers can select a specific day and time to have an item delivered.

Those delivery options have been "a key source of share gains among upper-income households and is also the most productive channel for acquiring Walmart+ members," Chief Financial Officer John Rainey said during Walmart's most recent earnings call last month.

Walmart's move comes just days after rival retailer Target announced an unlimited free same-day delivery service called Target 360. Target said its service will deliver items to customers in as little as an hour for orders above $35. Hoping the speedy delivery option will help boost sales, Target said its offering the 360 service for a promotional price of $49 a year to new members who sign up between April 7 and May 18 (after which the price goes up to $99).

Story continues

Amazon, which was the first to offer same-day delivery back in 2015, today charges its Prime members $14.99 a month, or $139 a year, for the service. Best Buy, Sam's Club and Whole Foods (acquired by Amazon in 2017) also offer same-day delivery.

With Target and Walmart stepping up their delivery games to also include faster, more convenient delivery service, it's clear that customer expectations have changed, retail experts said. Many consumers find it an inconvenience to have to wait a few days to receive a product they ordered online, making delivery speed a huge factor in choosing where to buy.

A 2023 retail trends report from Shopify found that 60% of consumers expect same-, next-, or two-day delivery when shopping online while 58% of those shoppers expect free next-day delivery. Likewise, a 2022 survey of about 500 retailers in the U.S., UK, Canada, Germany, France and Italy found that 99% of those retailers said they will offer same-day delivery by 2025.

Simply Recipes announces winners of the inaugural "Freezies" awards

New York governor deploys National Guard to subways following string of violent attacks

Election dynamics unfold as Nikki Haley suspends campaign following Trump victory
FILE - The West Virginia Capitol is seen, May 4, 2023, in Charleston, W.Va. West Virginia's Republican-controlled state House of Delegates voted Thursday, March 7, 2024, to ban smoking in cars when children are present. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  West Virginia, which has the highest rate of adult cigarette use in the nation, could become the 12th state to ban smoking in vehicles with children present under a bill that won final legislative passage Thursday.

The Republican-dominated House of Delegates passed the bill on a 66-33 vote without debate. It now goes to Republican Gov. Jim Justice, who has not indicated whether he would sign the bill. The GOP-supermajority Senate approved the bill last month.

Violators could be fined up to $25, but only if theyre pulled over for another offense. Smoking with children present cannot be the main reason a driver is stopped.

The legislation narrowly made it through the House finance committee earlier in the week after Republican Del. John Hardy called it just another big government bill.

The next step is your home. The next step may be your business. Where are we moving this to? Hardy said. This is the most un-Republican bill that Ive ever seen in my life.

About 22% of West Virginia smoked in 2021, the latest year available, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

Republican Del. Dana Ferrell said sometimes the government has to intervene for the safety and well-being of children.

When he and his siblings were younger, Ferrells parents smoked in the car. He recalled the kids trying to hide in the back seat near the floor in an attempt to shield their faces.

It may seem trite to some, but Ive been there. Ive experienced that, Ferrell said. Its a horrible situation I wouldnt wish on any other child.

The bill originated in the Senate, where the majority leader, Tom Takubo, is a lung doctor. Takubo has said he made a promise long ago to a patient whose father was a heavy smoker that he would try to get such legislation passed. Takubo has made it almost an annual effort since 2017 to introduce the legislation.

___

Associated Press writer Leah Willingham contributed to this report.
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, WIS. - Trisha Jones worked at 3M's factory in Prairie du Chien for 23 years, but she dreamed of opening her own cafe after she retired.

She had already picked the location, right near her home.

Jones, 57, died on the job last spring in the second fatal accident at a 3M factory within 15 months. The deaths were similar. Like Jones, a worker at 3M's Alexandria, Minn., plant in 2022 was caught and crushed in the rollers of a running machine.

After the Alexandria accident, 3M did a corporate-wide review and determined that machine rollers were hazards needing safety improvements  "compounding" the misfortune of Jones' death, according to federal workplace regulators.

In November, they slapped 3M with two rare "willful" safety violations, which are reserved for the most egregious infractions. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issues willful citations only when it believes a company shows "intentional disregard" or "plain indifference" to worker safety.

"There is a major stigma that goes along with a willful citation," said Jordan Barab, deputy assistant secretary at OSHA during the Obama administration. "It's one of OSHA's most valuable tools."

Employers will almost always contest willful violations given the reputational taint they carry, he added.

Maplewood-based 3M is no exception.

"Though we seek to amicably resolve this matter with OSHA, we do not agree with its characterization of the situation as 'willful,' as well as other aspects of its proposed citations and details of its public statements on this matter," 3M said in a statement about the Prairie du Chien accident.

The company also said it "continues to make safety-related improvements and investments designed to prevent similar incidents in the future."

Howard Jones, Trisha Jones' husband, said 3M "redid a lot of things at the plant" after the accident.

Story continues

He continues to struggle with grief.

"Every day you pay for it," he said. "Her dying like that  I just can't seem to get over it."

The early morning accident

Trisha Jones was known as a hard worker, a "workaholic," as her obituary stated.

"She did a lot of waitressing  the Marquette Cafe and Bar, the Old Rossville Store," Howard said. She ran the Pines Cafe in Harpers Ferry, Iowa, a tiny town on the Mississippi River where she and Howard long lived.

Trisha and Howard owned a property in Harpers Ferry and she aimed to make it into a cafe when she turned 62 and retired from 3M.

"Right up to the day she died, that was her dream, to get that restaurant going," he said.

In the early 1990s, Trisha landed a coveted job at 3M, one of the largest employers in the area and only a 20-minute drive from Harpers Ferry.

"3M used to be the going place to get job," Howard said. "You wanted to work at 3M because that's where you could make a decent living."

3M's Prairie du Chien plant makes a host of products, from vinyl matting to carpet care chemicals. "Trisha worked the belt, the winder  she worked three or four different jobs over the years," Howard said.

At 6:30 a.m. May 9, Trisha was helping to set up a plastic extrusion machine, guiding material through rollers by hand, according to an OSHA report. As designed, the machine's rollers were moving at a slow speed during the set-up.

There's a safety gate, but it's open when plastic material is guided into the machine. Trisha, who was in training, got caught between the plastic and the rollers. Other workers rushed to cut the plastic fibers, freeing her from the machine. But she had suffered traumatic head injuries.

Howard, a welder, was at work that morning when his boss beckoned him: "There was an accident at 3M," Howard recalled. "It's your wife." Howard rushed to the 3M plant, but Trisha had already died on the shop floor.

"They wanted to explain it to me," he said. "I said, 'I don't want to hear it.' You couldn't even describe what it was like to walk out of that building."

Trisha Jones had two adult children and four grandchildren. She was a great cook and baker, frequently bringing treats to work at 3M. Howard said a lot of Trisha's co-workers came to her funeral; 3M covered its costs.

"We are deeply saddened by the tragic incident that took place last year at Prairie du Chien,'" 3M said in a statement. "Tragedies like this impact the families and loved ones of those involved, as well as every person working in the plant and all 3Mers."

Plant had good safety record

3M's Prairie du Chien plant had no work safety violations in at least a decade before the accident, OSHA records indicate.

But four months after Jones' death, a complaint was lodged with OSHA over an isocyanate spill at the plant. Isocyanates are chemicals used to make polyurethane products. Overexposure can affect the respiratory tracts of some people, causing asthmalike symptoms.

OSHA fined 3M $73,668 for six "serious" safety violations in connection with the spill. The case has been informally settled with three serious citations for $49,112.

OSHA citations for "serious" safety violations are common. But only 1.2% of 38,979 federal OSHA citations were "willful" in the government's fiscal year 2022, according to an AFL-CIO analysis of the most recent OSHA data.

Several states, including Minnesota, run their own OSHA programs. From October 2012 through January 2024, Minnesota OSHA said only 52 of the 36,353 citations it issued were for willful safety violations.

Minnesota incident 'serious'

Minnesota OSHA tagged 3M with a "serious" citation for inadequate machine guards after the 2022 accident that killed Dale Skillings, a worker at its Alexandria plant. The fine was $25,000, a nonnegotiable minimum penalty under state law for serious violations linked to fatal accidents.

Skillings, a National Guard member, worked full time for 36 years at Camp Ripley before starting a job at 3M in 2013. In February 2022, the 63-year-old Long Prairie resident died while tending a sandpaper processing machine.

A reel of sandpaper on one side of the machine was being unwound through a series of rollers and then wound onto a cardboard tube on the machine's other side, according to a Minnesota OSHA report. About 40 feet of the 50-foot roll had been run when Skillings got caught in the machine.

3M's engineering department examined the machine to determine what could have caused the accident. Engineers found a "control logic issue in the computer system," according to a Minnesota OSHA investigation report. "It was not determined whether 3M created the computer's control logic or if a third-party vendor created it."

Due to the issue, the machine's safety features didn't function correctly when it switched speeds, a Minnesota OSHA report said.

Following Skillings' death, 3M assessed its equipment in its U.S. and Canadian plants, according to OSHA.

"The tragedy of another employee's death in Wisconsin is compounded by the fact that 3M completed a corporate-wide review and determined power rollers were hazards in need of safety improvements," federal OSHA Regional Administrator Bill Donovan said in November when the willful citations were announced.

OSHA cited 3M for two willful violations for the Prairie du Chien accident: one for inadequate machine guards; the other for insufficient procedures for controlling "hazardous energy" when workers were setting up the plastic extrusion line. OSHA fined 3M $156,259 for each willful violation, the highest amount allowed.

3M, one of the nation's largest manufacturing companies, tallied $32.7 billion in sales last year.

"To 3M, that fine is a drop in the bucket," Howard Jones said. "I would like to see some money that would put the hurt on them."

Barab, the former OSHA administrator, said OSHA penalties have become significantly higher in recent years, but they are still relatively low  particularly for large companies. OSHA fines rarely top $1 million, while penalties assessed by federal environmental regulators are routinely in the millions of dollars, he said.

But for many employers, the tarnish of a willful violation is more important than fines, work safety experts say.

"It's not about the money," said Rick Gleason, a former OSHA inspector and emeritus professor in occupational safety and health at the University of Washington. 3M "would pay the full amount if OSHA reclassified the citation to 'serious' or 'repeat.'"

3M has a prominent brand, safety experts point out, and it's a big force in the industrial safety market, selling a bevy of products including respirators, protective eyewear and fall-protection guards.

"Usually, 3M is the epitome of safety and health," Gleason said.
(Bloomberg) -- Chinas vaguely-worded plan to foster new growth engines is spawning a guessing game among investors over which stocks to bet on.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The so-called new productive forces are meant to offer high technology, efficiency and quality. With industries from electric vehicles to hydrogen power, space flight to quantum technology mentioned this week, investors are speculating that Beijing will focus on artificial intelligence, chipmakers and automation.

My guess would be artificial intelligence, digital economy, electric vehicle, semiconductor and other innovation industries, said Kerry Goh, chief investment officer at Kamet Capital Partners Pte.

Stock traders have been left searching for bright spots from a largely disappointing annual gathering of the National Peoples Congress, with little specifics offered by Beijing on how the nation will achieve an around 5% annual growth target. Chinese benchmark gauges have staged a tentative recovery in the past month, aided by state-fund purchases, and investors are looking for drivers to sustain future gains.

Read More: Decoding the Buzzwords at Chinas Key Political Meeting

Electric vehicle producers have been a favorite, but companies including BYD Co. are mired in a price war, intensifying the need for investors to find new bellwethers for a Chinese portfolio.

Beneficiaries may include chip industry leaders such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. and Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd. The former has jumped almost 17% in Hong Kong since February, outpacing the 11% gain in the citys tech index.

Other potential gainers include companies developing humanoid robots, according to Abrdn Asia Ltd.

Story continues

Raising productivity and moving up value chains means increasing use of automation, said Xin-Yao Ng, an investment director at abrdn. A big investment opportunity might be humanoid robotics, though I wouldnt say its very new. Perhaps thatll gain traction.

Robotics companies rallied following the release of the government work report on Tuesday. Miracle Automation Engineering Co. jumped by the daily limit of 10% in the following two trading sessions, while UBTech Robotics Corp Ltd. more than doubled. President Xi Jinping was seen observing a walking robot at an exhibition during his Shanghai visit in November.

Still, some investors want to see Beijing come up with a detailed plan on promoting its new growth engines.

The plan is short of specifics and actions, Goh said, adding that hes expecting to see more details on the amount of money Beijing is willing to put into those industries.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg) -- Argentinas biggest oil and gas producer, state-run YPF SA, said its sweeping plan to divest aging oil fields will free up hundreds of millions of dollars to invest in its shale push in the heralded Vaca Muerta formation.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Exiting some of our mature conventional fields will release around $800 million in capex to be reallocated primarily to shale oil activity, Horacio Marin, the companys new chief executive officer, said in his first earnings call.

YPF is hiring a bank to manage the divestments, with the sales process set to start at the end of the month, Max Westen, head of strategy and business development, said on the call. The company unveiled the divestiture plan in early February.

Read More: YPF Plans Sweeping Asset Sale to Focus on Argentina Shale

YPF will add three more drilling rigs in the Vaca Muerta this year as it narrows its focus on the shale patch in a bid to spur a 24% year-on-year jump in shale oil production, Marin said. YPFs shale oil output last year was almost 100,000 barrels a day.

The company has been sharply hiking fuel prices at the pump to help fund its $5 billion investment plan this year. Some $3 billion of that is earmarked for Vaca Muerta, mainly to drill for crude. Marin underscored current industry efforts to increase oil pipeline capacity as key to YPFs shale targets, since that has been a major bottleneck.

The new management  much of which has come from the Techint oil and steel empire of Italian-Argentine billionaire Paolo Rocca  also updated analysts on the companys shale gas ambitions, where it is analyzing a liquefaction export terminal with Malaysias Petroliam Nasional Bhd. It would like to bring in new partners for that project and will be ready to make a final investment decision by as soon as mid-2025, Westen said.

Story continues

Our goal is to become a global LNG player through the massive monetization of our shale gas resources, Marin said.

Read More: Natural Gas Firm TGS Eyes Next Steps for Argentina LNG Plant

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
A first-time home buyer grant could be the essential element you need to buy a new home. Thankfully, Texas first-time home buyer grants offer big savings if you know where to find them. Learn about how to get assistance to overcome two of the biggest financial barriers to homeownership: down payments and closing costs.

What are first-time home buyer grants?

First-time home buyer grants are cash assistance programs designed to help first-time buyers pay for the upfront costs of buying a home, such as the down payment and closing costs. Many first-time home buyer programs offer helpful tools to save money on your first home, such as 0% interest loans. However, the unique benefit of first-time home buyer grants is that you do not have to repay them.

Whether you have to pay back the grant money is a key factor to look out for while researching first-time home buyer grants. Some programs are listed as grants, but they are really no- or low-interest loans you must repay eventually. In this article, we will only focus on first-time home buyer grants in Texas that you dont have to repay.

Learn more: First-time home buyer programs in Texas

Dig deeper: Everything first-time home buyers should know in 2024

Who offers Texas first-time home buyer grants?

Texas has two statewide organizations that provide grants to first-time home buyers. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) is the state agency that oversees affordable housing programs, while the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation (TSAHC) is a nonprofit organization created by the Texas Legislature to serve as an affordable housing provider. Neither organization provides the loans directly. Instead, they work with approved private mortgage lenders.

You can also find local first-time home buyer programs at the county and municipal levels through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments website.

Types of Texas first-time home buyer grants

TDHCA My First Texas Home program

The My First Texas Home program offered by TDHCA is for first-time home buyers and veterans. It includes down payment assistance worth up to 5% of your original mortgage amount. This down payment assistance comes in the form of a forgivable 0% interest second mortgage, so you dont have to make monthly payments or repay the second mortgage at all.

TSAHC Home Sweet Texas program

TSAHCs Home Sweet Texas program offers two down payment assistance grants, both worth up to 5% of your original mortgage.

The first option is a direct grant that you can only use along with a government-backed first mortgage, such as an FHA, VA, or USDA loan. This grant allows you to receive 2%, 3%, 4%, or 5% of the mortgage amount for your new home. If you stay in the home for more than six months, you dont have to repay the loan. Since this is direct cash assistance, you dont even have a second mortgage lien on the home.

The second option is a three-year deferred, forgivable second mortgage you can use with government-backed or conventional loans. Instead of direct cash assistance, you receive the funds for down payment assistance in the form of a 0% interest loan you do not have to make payments on. If you live in the home for more than three years, the loan is forgiven, so you never have to make a payment on it. This loan is available for 2%, 3%, 4%, or 5% of your first mortgage amount to cover down payment or closing costs.

TSAHC Homes for Texas Heroes

The Homes for Texas Heroes program offers the same grant options as the Home Sweet Texas program, but they are reserved for home buyers with certain public service jobs.

You must have a job in one of these categories to qualify:

Professional educator in a Texas public school district (school teacher, teacher aide, school counselor, school librarian, or school nurse)

First responder (firefighter, police officer, or EMS personnel)

Public security officer

Corrections officer or juvenile corrections officer

Nursing or allied health faculty

Veteran or active military member

Do I qualify for Texas first-time home buyer grants?

It is important to note that these first-time home buyer grants are not stand-alone programs. They are parts of larger programs that include qualifying for and receiving 30-year mortgages from TSAHC and TDHCA. To qualify for the grants, you must also receive your original mortgage from the same program.

First-time home buyer definition: Both TSAHC and TDHCA define first-time home buyer as someone who has not owned a home in the last three years.

Credit score: The minimum credit score required for all of the programs listed above is 620, except for TSAHC HFA conventional loans, which require a 640 credit score.

Debt-to-income (DTI) ratio: TDHCA requires a maximum DTI ratio of 45% to 50%, depending on how much money you have in reserves. TSAHC may have DTI requirements on government-backed loans based on your credit score and the lenders underwriting methods.

Income level: Each program has specific income limits based on the median income of the area where you are buying.

Sales price: Each program has specific sales price limits based on a variety of factors. For example, TSAHC lays out its income and home price limits by county, family size, and more.

Educational courses: All programs require you to attend a home-buyer education course.

How to apply to Texas first-time home buyer grants

Both TDHCA and TSAHC have relatively simple application processes you can complete with your chosen mortgage lender.

TDHCA application process

TDHCA outlines three steps to apply for one of its programs:

Educate yourself: TDHCA offers a free online home-buyer education course to learn about the home-buying process before you start house hunting. Get prequalified: Choose from a list of TDHCA-approved lenders that can both prequalify and preapprove you for a mortgage with TDHCA assistance as part of the loan package. You dont even have to fill out an application directly to TDHCA. Work with a real estate agent to find a home: A real estate agent can help you find a home you can afford based on the loan amount you qualify for. Theyll also work with TDHCA and your lender to finalize the deal.

Learn more: The best mortgage lenders for first-time home buyers

TSAHC application process

The TSAHC application process has four easy steps:
Elizabeth Carr would not be alive if not for in vitro fertilization. In fact, in Norfolk in 1981 she became the first person in the United States to be born from the procedure.

More than four decades later, Carr, a Massachusetts resident, will be U.S. Sen. Tim Kaines guest Thursday night at President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address at the U.S. Capitol.

Carr grew up as an occasional media fixture as the world learned more about the then-new reproductive procedure  Kaine, D-Va., recalls it seeming like science fiction at the time  but now her step back into the spotlight serves to remind people of the role IVF plays in family planning.

Alabamas Supreme Court ruled Feb. 16 that embryos are people. In the weeks since, some fertility clinics have paused the procedure as lawmakers in Alabamas state legislature have proposed bills to protect access to it.

Carr said she has run the gamut of emotions in recent weeks  disappointment, heartbreak, anger.

I just feel like there was not any consideration for the ramifications of this ruling and thats really disappointing, Carr said.

Before Carr was born, her mother, Judith, endured several ectopic pregnancies and eventually needed to have her fallopian tubes removed.

Judith Carr and her husband, Roger, who lived in Massachusetts, eventually applied for a program at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk where Elizabeth would become the first person born in the United States from IVF.

"I've been an advocate in this realm, you could argue, since birth," Elizabeth said.

She recalls that as soon as she was old enough to learn and understand her birth story, she was intrigued by what science afforded her parents and other families.

With an inquisitive nature from early on, she grew up to work as a journalist at The Boston Globe. She once worked an internship at the Virginian-Pilot, based in Norfolk.

Helping people 'know about their options'

More than reporting on stories, she kept finding that she was the story. Outlets around the country have interviewed Carr over the years. Eventually she knew she wanted to work within the reproductive health care industry. Carr now works at a company that does testing on embryos created for IVF.

From her work with the company to speaking out in support of IVF, Carr said she likes helping people "know about their options."

"Whether you decide to use something or not is totally up to you, but you should at least know what is available in the landscape in order to make an informed decision," she said.

'It's not just infertility'

It's why she finds the Alabama ruling troubling. She wonders what arguments it would open up and whether options will disappear.

Its not just infertility, Carr said. There are implications for if you need a surrogate, if you are a same-sex couple, if you want to screen for a genetic disease.

"Or, if you are going through cancer treatment and want to preserve your eggs so that after youre done and you want to conceive, you can use IVF.

The Alabama ruling is part of the ever-shifting national landscape around reproductive health since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections in 2022.

(Alabama) is not going to say what the law is in Virginia, but it may be that courts in (Republican-leaning) states would entertain something like this, said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond.

The Alabama ruling stemmed from an initial lawsuit brought by couples in Mobile whose frozen embryos were destroyed during a break-in at their fertility clinic. The state Supreme Courts ruling grants the families the right to sue the clinic for wrongful death of a minor. It hinges on a 2018 amendment to the states constitution to recognize the rights of unborn children.

The personhood finding at the core of the ruling has been an essential argument for opponents of abortion. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade  which had federally protected abortion longer than Carr has been alive  abortion advocates suspected it was only a matter of time before personhood was applied to other areas of reproductive health like IVF and contraception.

Jamie Lockhart, director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, said she was not surprised by the Alabama ruling. She has monitored legislative proposals in Virginia  including defeated measures asserting that life begins at conception  and concluded they would affect more than abortions.

I've said these bills have implications for IVF and I think people haven't believed me, she said. But weve known for a long time that this could be the case.

Advocating in uncertain territory

While Carr has always been an advocate for the procedure that brought her into the world, she now feels shes advocating in a new and uncertain territory.

When I was born Roe was still on the books, so this is the first time in IVF history that we do not have that protection, Carr said.

While Alabamas constitution factored into the IVF ruling, Democratic lawmakers are hoping to amend Virginias. This year they introduced resolutions they plan to pursue next year in an effort to enshrine reproductive freedom. In Virginia a proposed state constitutional amendment must pass the legislature two years in a row with a House of Delegates election in between, then gain final approval in a state voter referendum.

Lockhart believes the proposed constitutional amendment could be applied to things like IVF and contraception, as well. Maines attorney general said that a similar proposal the state is considering would also protect IVF.

Lockhart thinks its worth discussing other ways to protect the procedure sooner.

For instance, this year a right to contraceptives bill has cleared Virginias legislature and awaits action from Gov. Glenn Youngkin. So does a same-sex marriage bill, which if signed, would protect such unions in the interim before Democrats seek a separate constitutional amendment to repeal a 2006 Virginia amendment that barred same-sex marriage. (In 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court granted same-sex couples nationwide the right to marry.)

Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, a co-patron on Virginia's proposed constitutional amendment on reproductive rights, said that her party is open to discussions about a focus on IVF.

Federal effort seeks to protect IVF

Meantime, Democrats in Virginias congressional delegation have supported the Access to Family Building Act. Last week its key Senate patron, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., sought to fast-track the bill.

The measure failed as Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., objected. She called the bill a vast overreach and stressed that Alabamas court ruling "doesnt ban IVF."

The bill could still progress through Congress if it has the votes.

Kaine said that its important to codify protections. He referenced Carr in a floor speech and said to his GOP counterparts: what could be more pro-life than in vitro fertilization?

Gov. Glenn Youngkin, refers to himself as a pro-life governor and he unequivocally supports it.

Governor Youngkin will always protect access to IVF and fertility treatments that Virginians rely on to realize their dream of building a family, his spokesperson Christian Martinez said in a statement.

Kaine said Virginias current abortion law might suffice for now. It allows most abortions up to 26 weeks of gestation, with limited exceptions for later abortions. While fetuses and embryos have been subject to personhood debates, Kaine thinks current law could settle the matter in Virginia for the time being.

It may be that as long as those laws don't change, IVF is somewhat protected in the commonwealth, Kaine said in a recent call. But it wouldn't be bad to clarify that  and I imagine the legislators are contemplating it.
Local residents and students at Fremont High School will get a dose of Russian history peppered with song and dance this week, as the FHS annual spring musical kicks off Thursday night.

This years performance is Anastasia: The Broadway Musical, said Mark Harman, director of the high schools vocal music department. The musical begins with a Thursday night performance at 7:30 p.m.

There are additional shows at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 8, and Saturday, March 9. The final presentation is at 2:30 p.m., Sunday, March 10. Tickets can be pre-purchased or bought at the door. Adult tickets are $12 ahead of a show and $15 at the door. Student tickets cost $6 in advance and $10 at the door.

Anastasia: The Broadway Musical is about the Russian royal family, the Romanovs, Harman said.

For those not up to speed on Russian royal history, the Romanov Imperial dynasty was the last of the Russian royal leaders  the kings were called tsars  before the communist revolution swept the nation in the World War I time period.

The last royal family  consisting of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, and their five children: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei were captured in 1916 and imprisoned in several locations before being slaughtered by Bolshevik soldiers in July 1918.

A long-held conspiracy theory is that Anastasia survived the attack and was rescued by sympathetic people who took her into hiding as a simple peasant.

Harman said that tragic incident is the beginning of the musical, and while the version Fremont theatergoers will see this weekend does not depict graphic violence of the familys killing, the massacre is alluded to on stage and with a video montage played on a big screen behind actors.

The main character of the musical is Anya, who is supposed to be Anastasia as an adult. The musicals plot involves two charlatans  Dmitry and Vlad  who are shucksters attempting to find a woman to pretend to be the real Anastasia and then transport her to France where they can financially benefit from their ruse.

The legend is their youngest daughter  Anastasia  survived. (The musical) tells the story of her life from the overthrow, Harman explained of the production. (The musical) starts with the killing of the Russian royal family and then fast forwards to years later where the audience meets Anya, who has no memory of her past. (Vlad and Dmitry) are trying to convince somebody to be Anastasia so the can take her back to Paris and introduce her to the remaining royal family members.

The cast of the musical includes 55 student thespians, and another 20 or so students are involved in the production of the musical. Students Rachel Grenier plays the role of Anya, while actors Jack Larsen plays Dmitry and Matt Canales plays Vlad.

Aside from the direction of the production he does, Harman said he is joined in directorial duties by musical choreographer Kathy Lackey and assistant director Dustin Everitt.

On Tuesday night, March 5, more than 100 parents and supporters were present at the Fremont High School s Nell McPherson Theater to see a special parents night production of the musical. They were treated to a dazzling light display, orchestral tunes and elaborately costumed student actors dancing and singing their way through the musical.

Harman said he chose the musical for two main reasons, one being that the musical is relatively fresh to audiences but also secondarily due to the historical lessons the production has in light of the current war between Russia and Ukraine and the discussion surrounding the more than two-year-old conflict.

We are really excited about (the musical). It is new for us. We do a musical every year, and weve been doing musicals each spring for at least 70 years. When you can find something new no one has seen before, you jump on it, he said.

As for the Russian history lessons, Harman said while the Ukraine-Russian war is not a direct talking point with the students involved in the production, the topic of the musical has led to history lessons.

(The topic) was something that I felt ... that this is a conversation we can have, he said.

The musicals four-day run starts Thursday with three straight evening performances. On Saturday, a special meet the cast event will take place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the lobby in front of the high school theater, where audience can meet student thespians who will be in costume and even take pictures with the cast.

The musical is a graded class project and Harman said the entire more than 75-person cast and crew has been both passionately committed to the production over the prior eight weeks of rehearsals, but also just fun to work with.

We have great students in the musical, he said.
Colorado House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese and a fellow Republican legislator on Wednesday called on the chamber's Democratic speaker to bring to the floor a resolution to impeach Secretary of State Jena Griswold, arguing that Griswold's "partisan political ideology" has prevented the Democrat from carrying out her duties.
Amid unique ballot circumstances this year, voter turnout in El Paso Countys presidential primary Tuesday hit average levels, just trailing the almost 43% it hit in the 2020 primaries.

Thats despite a down-to-the-wire ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court allowing Donald Trump to remain on Colorados ballot and some confusion over a slew of listed candidates who no longer were in the running by Election Day, Clerk and Recorder Steve Schleiker said.

Just over 40% of El Paso Countys 470,432 active, registered voters returned Republican and Democratic primary ballots, he said Wednesday morning. Voters weighed in on their preferred candidates for this Novembers presidential election.

He expects that number to grow some as his office continues processing more than 50,000 ballots returned by 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Over the next eight days, county elections officials will also process ballots from military and overseas voters as well as some ballots that must be cured to be counted because voters initially forgot to sign the ballot envelope, the ballot signature does not match the signature on file, or they need to provide necessary ID.

I thought this was an extremely successful election here in El Paso County, Schleiker said.

Voters were motivated to help select the Republican and Democratic nominees for the Nov. 5 presidential election, he said. Democratic President Joe Biden and former President Trump, a Republican, became their parties presumptive White House nominees on Super Tuesday, the biggest primary day of the year.

In El Paso County, Biden won 84.3% of the Democratic vote and Trump took 66.5% of the Republican vote, according to unofficial returns.

The Super Tuesday turnout is in line with the average turnout for presidential primary elections, which is typically in the low 40% range for El Paso County, the clerk said.

Featured Local Savings

Thats notable because there were some particular situations surrounding the ballot this year.

Both major parties ballots were crowded, but most of the listed candidates suspended their campaigns by the time Colorados 3.8 million active, registered voters began receiving ballots in the mail nearly three weeks ago. It confused some voters who were unsure which candidates were still in the race, Schleiker said.

Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ruled to keep Trump on the state ballot.

The decision from the nations highest court overturned a contrary December ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court that removed Trump under a constitutional provision barring candidates who have engaged in an insurrection. The federal ruling removed a question over what would happen with votes cast for Trump if the U.S. Supreme Court found him ineligible to hold office.

Nearly 30% of El Paso County voters who participated in the primaries cast their ballots on Election Day.

This is stuff weve never dealt with before and some voters were confused or holding onto their ballots and waiting until the last minute, Schleiker said.

Schleiker expects voter turnout in the Nov. 5 General Election eight months from now  where El Paso County residents will cast their votes for federal, state and county offices, including the nations president  will hit around 85%.

Data from the Colorado Secretary of States Office show El Paso County voter turnout in the last presidential election in 2020, in which Trump lost his bid for reelection and Biden won his first term as president, was just over 84%.
China urges U.S. to stop using Philippines as a pawn to destabilize South China Sea

Xinhua) 08:35, March 07, 2024

BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- China urges the United States to refrain from using the Philippines as a pawn to destabilize the South China Sea. The Philippines also needs to refrain from being manipulated by the United States, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Spokesperson Mao Ning made the remarks at a daily news briefing when answering a query on the inappropriate remarks made by the U.S. side concerning the recent collision between Chinese and Philippine boats in the South China Sea.

Mao noted that Ren'ai Jiao is part of China's Nansha Qundao. China has indisputable sovereignty over Nansha Qundao and its adjacent waters, including Ren'ai Jiao. This is established in the long course of history, and complies with international law, including the UN Charter.

China Coast Guard took necessary law enforcement measures in accordance with law against the infringement and provocative moves by Philippine vessels at Ren'ai Jiao. The measures are justified, lawful, professional, restrained, and beyond reproach, she said.

"Who is the trouble-maker making provocation behind this incident? Who breaks international law and endangers the peace and stability in the South China Sea? The fact and truth is crystal clear," Mao said.

The U.S. Department of State who disregards the fact and confuses right with wrong has made baseless attacks against China's legitimate and lawful actions to safeguard its rights. The U.S. has arbitrarily threatened China by resorting to the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty to embolden the Philippines and endorse its acts of infringement and provocation. China firmly opposes it, Mao said.

The so-called arbitral award on the South China Sea arbitration that the Philippines and a handful of countries regard as a benchmark goes against international law including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and it is completely illegal, null and void, Mao said.

Ren'ai Jiao is a bilateral issue between China and the Philippines. The United States or any third party should not exploit the issue to sow discord, still less make interventions. China has unwavering determination and will in safeguarding its legitimate rights. The Philippines' attempt of making infringements and provocations will not succeed, Mao stressed.

Mao urges the United States to refrain from using the Philippines as a pawn to destabilize the South China Sea. "The Philippines also needs to refrain from being manipulated by the United States. Lessons from history tell us that a pawn will only end up being abandoned," she said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
At a glance, crime committed by Colorado juveniles has taken a significant downswing  dropping 29.7% between 2008 and 2022. But, the amount of violent crime has seen a concerning upturn, according to a new study by the Common Sense Institute, a Denver-based think tank.

While property crimes, like theft and vandalism, have seen a reprieve among Colorado minors over the past 15 years, violent crimes like murder and aggravated assault have jumped.

Since 2010, murder committed by juveniles in the state has increased 210%. Aggravated assaults rose by 17% and robbery by 12.3%.

The following are rates per 100,000 people for those crimes committed by people under 18

Murder: .2 in 2010, .5 in 2023

Aggravated assaults: 151.2 in 2010, 254.3 in 2023

Robbery: 5.6 in 2010, 6.3 in 2023

Unfortunately, we are seeing significant increases in violent crimes involving juveniles, Paul Pazen, former Denver Police chief and member of the Common Sense Institute said in a news conference regarding the study.

If we were to pick one of these, we would prefer to have a reduction in violent crime. This increase in violent crime impacts not only Colorados vibrancy and economy, but it impacts Colorado individuals.

Weve seen a massive increase in the use of firearms and crimes by juveniles as young as 12, said Chris Noeller, chief of police for the Pueblo Police Department.

Pazen believes that the climb in brazen crimes might be connected to lower incarceration rates among juveniles between 10 and 17, stemming from new state statutes and bills since 2010, he said.

Featured Local Savings

For example, House Bill 12-1139, passed in 2012, requires juveniles in pre-trial detention for criminal offenses to be held in facilities specifically designed for juveniles.

Noeller said that having enough beds for these arrests are causing other juvenile criminals to be put back out on the street, perpetuating the problem that has led to a 7% increase in overall violent crimes since 2010.

The problem we struggle with is bed space in Public Youth Corrections, he said. When we arrest an individual for murder, often times in order to get them into a facility like PYC, theres a necessity to release somebody else that did something a little less minor like shoot up a house in a drive-by.

In Pueblo County, according to Noeller, there are only nine beds for arrested juveniles. He estimated that the county might need three times that amount.

He calls the moving of juveniles around facilities a shell game, not allowing troubled youth to receive the rehabilitation they need.

These crimes have led to a significant economic impact for Colorado, as well. According to the study, juvenile crime cost the state $3.31 billion in 2023, or $566 per tax payer.

This overall sum includes tangible and intangible costs. Tangible includes things like stolen or damaged property, medical expenses and the cost of police, courts and correctional institutions. Intangible expenses include quality-of-life losses.

Both expenses categories were added for police-reported and non-police reported juvenile crime.

In asking for more bed space at youth detention facilities, Pazen said: We dont want to overincarcerate young people involved in nonviolent crimes.

They just want enough space to be able to adequately detain and supervise the individuals involved in violent crimes, he said.

The Common Sense Institute describes itself as a nonpartisan research organization dedicated to the protection and promotion of Colorados economy.
A 15-year-old has been arrested following a crime spree including armed robberies at two Colorado Springs convenience stores on March 4.

Police say the call came in at the first convenience store in the 2400 block of Arlington Drive around 3 a.m. with reports that the robber threated an employee with a firearm.

The second call came in soon after that morning from another convenience store in the 1200 block of East Pikes Peak Avenue, where the robber again threatened an employee with a handgun.

At both robberies, the suspect was seen fleeing in a silver sedan. Police found the abandoned vehicle, which was stolen, in the surrounding neighborhood.

After the CSPD Robberies Unit took over the investigation, the teen suspect into custody on March 5 without incident.
By Maya Gebeily and Anthony Deutsch

BEIRUT/THE HAGUE (Reuters) - An Israeli tank crew killed a Reuters reporter in Lebanon in October by firing two shells at a clearly identified group of journalists and then "likely" opened fire on them with a heavy machine gun in an attack that lasted 1 minute and 45 seconds, according to a report into the incident published on Thursday.

The report by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) - which was contracted by Reuters to analyse evidence from the Oct. 13 attack that killed visuals journalist Issam Abdallah - found that a tank 1.34 km away in Israel fired two 120 mm rounds at the reporters.

The first shell killed Abdallah, 37, and severely wounded Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Christina Assi, 28.

A Reuters investigation in December covered TNO's preliminary finding that a tank in Israel had fired at the journalists. In its final report on Thursday, the institute revealed that audio picked up by an Al Jazeera video camera at the scene showed the reporters also came under fire from 0.50 calibre rounds of the type used by the Browning machine guns that can be mounted on Israel's Merkava tanks.

"It is considered a likely scenario that a Merkava tank, after firing two tank rounds, also used its machine gun against the location of the journalists," TNO's report said. "The latter cannot be concluded with certainty as the direction and exact distance of (the machine gun) fire could not be established."

Reuters could not independently determine if the Israeli tank crew knew it was firing on journalists, nor whether it also shot at them with a machine gun and, if so, why.

Neither of the two surviving Reuters reporters or another AFP journalist at the scene remembered the machine gun fire. All said they were in shock at the time.

In response to Reuters questions about the TNO report, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it responded to attacks from Lebanese militants Hezbollah on Oct. 13 near Hanita with artillery and tank fire to remove the threat, and subsequently received a report that journalists had been injured.

"This incident will continue to be examined by the General Staff's Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism, which is an independent, expert body, responsible for examining exceptional events that take place during war," it said in a statement.

"The IDF deplores any injury to uninvolved parties, and does not deliberately shoot at civilians, including journalists. The IDF considers the freedom of the press to be of utmost importance while clarifying that being in a war zone is dangerous," the IDF said.

International humanitarian law bars attacks on journalists as those in the news media have the full scope of protection granted to civilians and cannot be considered military targets.

"We condemn, in the strongest terms, the attack on a clearly identifiable group of journalists, working in the open. The attack killed our colleague Issam Abdallah and injured several others. We reiterate our calls on Israel to explain how this could have happened and to hold those responsible to account," Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni said.

IDENTIFIED AS PRESS

AFP Global News Director Phil Chetwynd reiterated his call for a thorough and transparent investigation by the Israeli military.

"If reports of sustained machine gun fire are confirmed, this would add more weight to the theory this was a targeted and deliberate attack," he said.

Ihtisham Hibatullah, Al Jazeera's manager of international communications, urged the Israeli government to disclose the findings of its own investigation.

"This incident strongly indicates intentional targeting, as confirmed by investigations, including by TNO," he said.

Lebanon's Minister of Information did not respond to a request for comment.

To read the 70-page TNO report, which explains how the independent research institute in The Hague triangulated the firing point of the tank rounds and analysed the audio of the machine gun fire, click here.

TNO noted that the seven journalists were wearing blue flak jackets and helmets, most with "PRESS" written on them in white letters. They had been filming cross-border shelling from a distance in an open area on a hill near the Lebanese village of Alma al-Chaab for nearly an hour before the attack.

Video footage of the aftermath of the attack also showed a black car belonging to Reuters marked "TV" in large yellow letters made out of tape on both the hood and the roof.

TNO said there was a clear line of sight from where the tank rounds were fired to the scene of the attack. In the live TV feeds ahead of the attack, one or more drones can be heard and an Israeli helicopter was also visible overhead in some footage.

The institute was able to determine exactly where the two tank rounds came from because it had video of the second round's muzzle blast and flight, in addition to audio files recorded at the scene of the incident.

TNO's analysis of the machine gun fire showed that the "only reasonable match" was for a 0.50 calibre weapon fired from 1.34 km away - the same distance as the tank rounds - but the audio recordings were not sufficient to determine the firing point.

However, the fact the bursts of bullets came so quickly after the tank rounds, coupled with the analysis, led TNO to conclude it was "likely" they came from the same place. The independent institute did not offer any other scenario for the origin of the machine gun fire.

About 30 seconds after the second tank round, there was a burst of some 25 shots from a machine gun, followed by bursts of nine and 12 shots. Just over 30 seconds later, there were three shots, then a single shot and a metallic ping, which may have been the bullet hitting a low wall near the camera, TNO said.

Reuters photographer Thaier Al-Sudani, 47 cameraman Maher Nazeh, 53, as well as two journalists from Al Jazeera and another from AFP were also wounded in the attack.

FULL INQUIRY

Several of the experts who reviewed the TNO report at the request of Reuters expressed divergent views about whether the tank crew had deliberately targeted journalists.

"The TNO report does conclude that it was likely, in addition to the two tank rounds, that machine gun fire came from the same location, and that adds to, or compounds the, deliberateness with which they seem to have been targeted, directly," said Jessica Dorsey, an expert in international humanitarian law at Utrecht University.

"And I think that that, from a legal perspective, if this ever got to a courtroom, makes even more of a compelling argument that this was indeed a war crime," she said.

However, Nick Kaufman, a British-Israeli lawyer who served in the IDF Military Advocate General's Corps and has defended high-profile clients against war crime charges at international criminal tribunals, said it was still unclear why the tank had fired on the reporters.

"On the basis of the TNO report alone, it's not possible to conclude that this was intentional targeting of journalists as opposed to the pursuit of a legitimate military objective which went awry," he said. "One would need to have a full inquiry and understand the military intelligence which underlay the deployment of the two rounds."

The day after the attack, Israel's military said it had visuals of the incident and it was being investigated. No results have been made public.

(Reporting by Maya Gebeilly in Beirut, Anthony Deutsch in The Hague and David Clarke in London; Additional reporting by James Mackenzie in Jerusalem; Writing by David Clarke; Editing by Daniel Flynn)
By Laurie Chen

BEIJING (Reuters) - Xinjiang's top Communist Party official said on Thursday that the "Sinicisation" of Islam in the Muslim-majority region in northwestern China, where Beijing is accused of human rights abuses, is "inevitable".

"Everyone knows that Islam in Xinjiang needs to be Sinicised, this is an inevitable trend," regional party chief Ma Xingrui told reporters at a largely scripted briefing on the sidelines of China's annual parliamentary sessions in Beijing.

Rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses of Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority that numbers around 10 million in Xinjiang, including denying Uyghurs full religious freedoms. Beijing vigorously denies any abuses.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly called for the "Sinicisation" of religions including Islam, Buddhism and Christianity, urging followers to pledge loyalty to the Communist Party above all else. About two-thirds of mosques in Xinjiang have been damaged or destroyed since 2017, according to an Australian think-tank report.

During the news conference, Ma and other regional officials praised Xinjiang's economic development, refuted U.S. allegations of forced labour and cultural genocide, and tried to paint the region as open to foreign tourism and investment.

Ma, a high-flying former governor of prosperous Guangdong province who was transferred to Xinjiang in 2021, stressed the need to "coordinate security and development".

"The three forces are still active now, but we cannot be afraid (to open up) because they exist," said Ma, using a political slogan referring to "ethnic separatism, religious extremism and violent terrorist forces" in Xinjiang.

Beijing in 2017 launched a harsh security crackdown in Xinjiang after a spate of violent ethnic protests, which saw over a million people from several Muslim minorities detained in re-education camps, rights groups allege.

"We have carried out a severe crackdown on terrorist activities, promulgated and implemented anti-terrorism laws to ... combat various forms of terrorism," senior Xinjiang parliamentarian Wang Mingshan said.

But the briefing was largely focused on Xinjiang's economic development, tourism potential and what the officials described as cultural preservation.

Last year Xinjiang received 565.7 billion yuan ($78.5 billion) in central government transfers accounting for 72.7% of local government spending, as well as over 19 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) in fiscal aid from other provinces, the region's chairman Erkin Tuniyaz said.

Ma was flanked by two Xinjiang officials sanctioned by the United States over human rights abuses in Xinjiang - Tuniyaz and former regional chairman Shohrat Zakir.

Officials claimed that over 4,390 foreigners visited Xinjiang in 2023, and that last year's newly installed renewable energy capacity totalled 22.61 million kilowatts, bringing the total installed in the region to 64.4 million kilowatts - nearly half of Xinjiang's electricity capacity.

Xinjiang is a major base for solar cell production, which has been tainted by allegations of forced labour.

(Reporting by Laurie Chen; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations will assess on Thursday how it can use an Israeli military road bordering the Gaza Strip to deliver aid to hundreds of thousands of desperate civilians in the north of the Palestinian enclave, a senior U.N. aid official said.

The U.N. has warned that at least 576,000 people in Gaza  one-quarter of the population  are on the brink of famine.

Jamie McGoldrick, U.N. aid coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said the U.N. had been pushing Israel for weeks to use the Gaza border fence road and had received much more cooperation from Israel in the past week.

Palestinian officials say more than 100 people were killed last Thursday trying to reach an aid convoy near Gaza City, most of them shot by Israeli troops. Israel's military, which had been overseeing the private aid deliveries, said most of them died in a stampede.

"Since the incident last week, I think Israel saw quite clearly how difficult it is to deliver assistance," McGoldrick told reporters, adding that the U.N. had seen "much more cooperation from Israel as a result of that realization."

Aid can currently reach Gaza in the south via the Rafah crossing from Egypt and Kerem Shalom from Israel. McGoldrick said the plan was for aid convoys to be inspected at those crossings, then escorted through Israeli territory along a military road to the Israeli border village Beeri.

"Once we go inside Gaza, we will be then left to go on our own," he said, adding that the U.N. would do an assessment of the possible new route on Thursday to check the state of the roads within Gaza to ensure there is no unexploded ordnance and to identify suitable distribution points for the aid.

ROAD VS AIR

McGoldrick said that using this route to reach northern Gaza allowed aid convoys to avoid congested roads and insecurity within the enclave. The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) paused its deliveries to northern Gaza on Feb. 20 due to safety concerns with its convoys exposed to attacks by hungry mobs.

McGoldrick said other avenues for aid - including Israel's Ashdod port and air drops by the United States and Jordan - were "helpful but these are not going to address the significant needs, which can only be done by road transport."

The U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA has said that during February an average of nearly 97 trucks were able to enter Gaza each day, compared with about 150 trucks a day in January - well below a target of 500 trucks a day.

Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy on Wednesday that there are no limits on the amount of aid that can enter Gaza, urging donors: "Send the aid, we'll get it in."

"Israel's crossings are able to scan 44 trucks an hour combined," Levy told reporters. "The problem is distribution. The U.N. is struggling to distribute aid at the pace that Israel is letting it in."

He said Israel was "working on new strategies together with the private sector inside the Gaza Strip to get aid to the people who need" and that on Wednesday more than a dozen food trucks traveled to northern Gaza in coordination with Israel.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel retaliated by initially imposing a "total siege" on Gaza and launching an air and ground assault has since killed around 30,000 Palestinians, health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave say.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Diane Craft)
The White House is aware of the significance of the State of the Union address, acknowledging it as a high-stakes moment for President Joe Biden.

Biden is approaching a rematch with former President Donald Trump in November with a persistently low job approval rating. Thursday's address offers an opportunity for the president to address voter concerns regarding his age and lay out his agenda for a second term, which some question if he can carry out.

White House chief of staff Jeff Zients expressed to multiple outlets that Biden is prepared to rise to the occasion during his address.

States of the Union are big moments, Zients told Politico. You could argue that this is a particularly big moment, and I think theres no one better at handling high stakes than President Biden.

Youre going to see a very energized president, he added. This is a big moment. And this president rises to those big moments.

Biden is set to touch on several topics that have left his base dissatisfied and damaged his reputation in national polling.

Zients laid out three urgent items Congress needs to act on, including spending bills, immigration, and delivering foreign aid.

Featured Local Savings

We can not have a shutdown of the government waiting around the corner every few weeks, Zients told Punchbowl News.

Second: We need to support Ukraine, Israel and the Palestinian people, Zients added.

Biden and Republicans have blamed each other for the border crisis, and Zients took a jab at the GOP ahead of the address.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Congress needs to provide the resources to manage the border. We do not have enough border patrols, we dont have enough asylum officers and immigration judges. And we need to fund the border so we can manage the border and also make changes to the policy so that we can secure the border, Zients said.

Some Republicans I think prefer the chaos at the border, the political issue rather than actually doing the right thing, Zients added.
Former Florida Republican Party Chairman Christian Ziegler, who was removed from office amid a sex scandal, will not face any charges related to an alleged sex tape, the state attorneys office said in a memo on Wednesday.

The state attorneys office said there was not enough evidence to support a criminal charge of video voyeurism  it would have to be proven that the sex tape was filmed without the woman in the videos knowledge.

The woman in the video previously claimed she was unaware the video was being made but later told the state attorneys office she could not remember if she had consented to the taping. The video was also not filmed in a way that proved the camera was hidden, assistant state attorneys S. Ethan Dunn, Kate Metz, and Brian Chambers said in the memo obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.

Sexual battery charges against Ziegler were dropped in January after the Sarasota Police Department said the actual sexual acts in the video were likely consensual.

The new dismissal ends the monthslong investigation into Ziegler, which resulted in his ousting as party chairman. Ziegler and his team have claimed the charges were politically motivated, but the memo stated there was no apparent evidence that the victim in this case had any financial, political, or malicious personal motivation to report this incident and initiate a police investigation into [Ziegler].

Featured Local Savings

Ziegler was also censured by the state Republican Party, which claimed he engaged in conduct that renders him unfit for the office of Chairman ... [and] has injured the good name of the Republican Party of Florida.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The investigation also required an acknowledgment of previous sexual encounters with the woman, from Ziegler and his wife Bridget, who also had sexual encounters with the woman. Bridget Ziegler sits on the Sarasota School Board and the tourism board overseeing Walt Disney World. Bridget Ziegler was not facing any criminal charges.

The Sarasota School Board has called for Bridget Zieglers resignation over the sex scandal, but she has not resigned from either board.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis's case against former President Donald Trump could end up crumbling despite her record of success in turning his former allies against him.

A Georgia state Senate panel provided a platform for a defense attorney to discuss allegations regarding Willis's relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

The Republican-led committee heard more than three hours of testimony on Wednesday from defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who represents Trump co-defendant Mike Roman and brought to light allegations of a romance between Willis and Wade in January court filings.

Last week, a Georgia judge heard closing arguments over removing Willis in the case against Trump, and Merchant reiterated several of the most shocking revelations on Wednesday.

Midnight visits

Defense attorneys highlighted Wade's cellphone data in multiple hearings over the past weeks, claiming the data show he made several visits, including some in the middle of the night, to the area Willis was living at the time in late 2021, before the pair testified to starting their relationship.

Wade and Willis have said their relationship started in early 2022, after Willis picked him in November 2021 to lead the 2020 election investigation into Trump and his Republican allies.

"It's pinging from his house all the way down to the condo at midnight, 1 a.m. And then he calls her when he gets there," Merchant said. "And then it goes silent for four or five hours. And then, you know, early in the morning hours, he starts pinging again, driving back, and then he texts her when he gets home."

Trump's attorney Steve Sadow filed a motion in February, claiming several visits were proved by cellphone data obtained by a private investigator via cell tower data and information from Wade.

Double-or-nothing salary

Records revealed in January showed Wade was paid over half a million dollars more than other special prosecutors on the case against Trump. An attorney for Roman, a former White House aide who is one of 18 allies charged by a Georgia grand jury with allegedly trying to overturn state election results, said Wade's substantial salary was a result of his relationship with Willis.

Public records from Fulton County show Wade's firm has received more than $650,000 in public funds since November 2021. Special prosecutor Anna Cross's firms earned around $91,000 in 2022 and 2023 from the district attorney's office, while special prosecutor John Floyd's law firm earned about $73,000 between 2022 and 2023.

Wade is the lead prosecutor in the Georgia election interference case against Trump, and his arrangements with the district attorney's office under his contract are likely different from those of his fellow special prosecutors.

Featured Local Savings

Cash reimbursements

Willis has been accused of financially benefiting from the relationship when Wade used his income from work to pay for trips. Wade and Willis said she reimbursed him for trips, paying cash for hotels and other travel expenses.

Last week, Merchant asked the Fulton County district attorney if she had any "proof" she reimbursed Wade in cash for trips.

Willis, who testified she always pays in cash when she travels, claimed she reimbursed Wade for vacations to Napa Valley, California, Aruba, the Bahamas, and Belize. Wade also said she "paid for the excursions, so the expenses sort of balanced out" and, on at least one occasion, paid him back for flights and other expenses.

Merchant pressed Willis over her reimbursement claim, asking for additional proof, but Willis argued that "the testimony of one witness is enough to prove a fact" and was not able to provide further proof.

Meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris

Merchant provided the Georgia state Senate panel White House records showing Willis and the Atlanta mayor had a meeting there on Feb. 28, 2023. The meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris was held months before Willis indicted Trump and his allies in August.

"My understanding is that it's highly regulated who can access the White House  so you have to apply ahead of time," Merchant said. The White House records displaying the meeting are open to the public.

Merchant claimed Willis might have obtained information from the White House used in Georgia's indictment against the former president but was unable to provide any other context about the meeting.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Willis's logged visit, shown in a screenshot, lists her among a group of about 450 people logged at the "side lawn/tent" at the vice president's residence.

A spokesperson for the district attorney's office told CNN the meeting was not a secret and that Willis was there to attend a Black History Month event at the Naval Observatory with hundreds of others, only seeing Harris onstage from a distance.
A hearing before members of the Georgia Senate on Wednesday brought new details over the effort to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from Donald Trump's election subversion case, including information about her meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who first raised allegations about Willis's relationship with a special prosecutor on her team, Nathan Wade, testified before a state Senate hearing about what she has learned about the prosecutors seeking to indict her client, Mike Roman, in the sweeping racketeering case. The hearing panel comprised six Republicans and three Democratic state lawmakers.

Merchant shared publicly available White House records during the hearing that showcased Willis's meeting with Harris took place on Feb. 28, 2023, just months before a special grand jury handed up an indictment to Willis's office in August of that year.

During the roughly three-hour hearing, Merchant noted that the Mayor of Atlanta, Andre Dickens, was present for the meeting at the White House.

"My understanding is that it's highly regulated who can access the White House ... so you have to apply ahead of time," Merchant said, adding the White House records showing the meeting are open to the public. The attorney also said she was not aware of any information as to why the meeting took place.

Willis has been facing allegations of impropriety from several attorneys in the Trump election interference case, which initially charged the former president and 18 others with conspiring to overturn the election results in the Peach State.

Merchant first revealed that Willis and Wade had a romantic relationship in a January motion to dismiss the district attorney from the case. Wade has been paid more than $650,000 for his work on the case, and Merchant emphasized that Wade often capped his monthly billing limit and listed vague details about the work he was billing for, such as eight-hour team meetings for $2,000 each meeting.

Anthony Michael Kreis, a constitutional law professor and political scientist at Georgia State University College of Law, indicated that Wade's pattern of billing was concerning.

"I remember doing draft billing exercises in a civil procedure legal writing course in law school and if I tried to bill like Nathan Wade did, I would have failed the class," Kreis posted to X.

The crux of Merchant and other defense attorneys' complaint against Willis is that she improperly benefited financially from the relationship because Wade made travel expenses for trips the pair partook in together using the money he earned from his salary. Willis has said she paid him back in cash but did not have any records proving she paid back Wade for the expenses.

At one point, Democratic state Sen. Harold Jones asked Merchant, "How is your client harmed?" after Merchant suggested that Willis would have avoided a conflict of interest had she come forward about her relationship with Wade before defense attorneys raised their complaint in January.

Featured Local Savings

"How much does Ms. Willis make?" Jones asked.

Merchant responded that Willis is paid roughly $200,000 per year.

"Your argument is that a person who makes $200,000 a year is setting up prosecutions to go on a trip that costs $3,500," Jones said. Merchant responded, "That's not our argument," saying there were additional payments that she did not include in her brief, such as purported Uber rides that Wade paid for during his recreational travels with Willis.

Jones also mentioned that Roman, Merchant's client, was offered misdemeanor probation for a plea in the case. Notably, Roman turned down the offer of probation to make his motion alleging impropriety by Willis and Wade, and sources close to Roman previously told the Washington Examiner Roman would never take a plea

Nothing during the committee's hearing on Wednesday is admissible for the record in the Fulton County Superior Court proceedings over whether to remove Willis from the case. However, the committee could look to subpoena Willis or other prosecutors as they investigate whether the district attorney misused taxpayer funds.

Both Willis and Wade contend now that they were in a relationship but that it started in 2022, after she hired him for the Trump case, and ended in the summer of 2023, before the special grand jury handed up the indictment.

Willis issued a court filing on Tuesday telling Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee that defense attorneys have failed to prove an actual conflict in the case. Defense attorneys say that there are still other witnesses that they can bring forward that they say can show Willis and Wade lied about the origins of their relationship, suggesting there are witness accounts that their romantic relationship sprouted at the very least before 2020.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

McAfee said during a hearing last Friday that he would need up to two weeks to decide whether to remove Willis, Wade, or the entire district attorney's office from the case. If they are disqualified, the case could be reassigned to a different prosecutor.

Trump and several of his allies, including Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, are accused of joining a criminal enterprise to undo President Joe Biden's victory in the state. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the 13 counts he faces.
Podcast host Megyn Kelly criticized MSNBC hosts Jen Psaki and Rachel Maddow for their comments mocking Virginia voters for expressing concern about illegal immigration on Tuesday.

Kelly made the criticism over Psaki and Maddow discussing the results of the Virginia primary election, in which Psaki was perplexed as to why immigration was "the No. 1 issue" among voters in an exit survey. Maddow joked that Virginia "does have a border with West Virginia," calling it a "very contested area."

"You've got three of the faves," Kelly said in describing Psaki and Maddow's segment. "You've got Joy Reid, Rachel Maddow, and Jen Psaki scoffing, I mean, just sneering at this notion that Virginia voters are going to vote based on immigration or care about immigration."

Kelly argued that Virginia voters were right to be concerned about illegal immigration, citing the recent news of a 14-year-old girl in Virginia who was sexually assaulted by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. Kelly also pointed to the death of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia who was killed by a Venezuelan immigrant arrested in 2022 for illegally crossing the border.

Featured Local Savings

"Her family is still mourning," Kelly said. "That grave is freshly dug, and they are out there sneering about how migrants don't commit crime."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Psaki and Maddow's comments also drew the attention of 2024 independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., who said "the Democratic Party elite" were ridiculing concerned voters. He argued that members of the press, and politicians, ought to listen to voters instead of mocking them.

Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) and Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) have also knocked the MSNBC hosts for their comments against Virginia voters. The representative introduced the Laken Riley Act in Congress on Tuesday to press for stricter laws against illegal immigration and invited Riley's parents to President Joe Biden's State of the Union speech, though Collins said they "understandably" declined.
Former President Donald Trump is in the throes of his now-uncontested campaign for the Republican presidential nomination while at the same time juggling criminal and civil litigation against him.

Trump is facing enormous costs of legal bills and penalties, the prospect of trials tying him up during valuable campaign days, and the possibility of being convicted, which could affect the public's perception of him right as he is working to win their vote and could eventually result in jail sentences.

Trump, in all, is facing 91 criminal charges that carry a total maximum sentence of more than 700 years in jail, though he is unlikely to be penalized to that extent based on sentencing standards. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

Below is a look at what lies ahead for Trump in seven of his legal cases.

Jan. 6 case

The criminal case brought by special counsel Jack Smith in Washington, D.C., is paused while the Supreme Court weighs Trumps argument that he is protected by presidential immunity for allegedly illegally attempting to overturn the 2020 election before he left office. Smith has charged him with four felonies in the case.

The special counsel has acted with urgency to move the proceedings along, pleading with the Supreme Court to rule quickly and noting in filings that he is seeking a prompt resumption of the case.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments about Trumps immunity claim on April 25. Many legal experts expect the high court to issue a decision in May or June. If the justices decide in Trumps favor, the case will be dismissed. If they do not, the case immediately resumes at the district court level in Washington.

There, Judge Tanya Chutkan will likely provide a few months of pre-trial activity, setting up a potential trial date for late summer or early fall. Smith and Trump have signaled through their filings that the trial could last two or three months, meaning a conviction would not necessarily come before Election Day on Nov. 5. Trump, should he win the election, could also make an unprecedented attempt to pardon himself of charges when he takes office.

Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, warned a conviction ahead of Election Day could shift the race in Bidens favor, and he argued that was the underlying reason for Smiths urgency.

This is an election that will be won on the margins. Even one criminal conviction could bleed away the margin for victory in a razor-thin election, Turley said. Special counsel Jack Smith is making the impact on the election a driving force in his prosecution. He has relentlessly pushed for a trial before the election as the overriding priority in trial and appellate filings.

Classified documents case

The criminal case brought by Smith in Florida is still in its pretrial phase. Trump faces 40 felony counts over allegations he willfully retained national defense information and obstructed the federal investigation into him. Judge Aileen Cannon has not settled on a trial date, but her decision could come at any moment because she heard arguments from both parties last week over when the trial should begin. Smith has asked for a July trial date. Trump is aiming to push the trial out past the election, but when pressed on coming up with a second option, he proposed this coming August.

The preparation for the trial has been a drawn-out process because it involves what Cannon has described as an unusually high volume of discovery that includes classified material.

Trumps attorney, according to a report from the hearing last week, estimated the trial could take roughly five weeks. Like in the Jan. 6 case, any trial start date could be disrupted by pretrial appeals. Also similar to the Jan. 6 case is the possibility that Trump could attempt to pardon himself if he wins the election.

Hush-money case

This trial is set to begin in the New York State Supreme Court on March 25, and Judge Juan Merchan will oversee the proceedings. Trump appeared at a few hearings before the trial, but his presence will be required every day at this trial, which will take place four days per week and is expected to last several weeks.

Featured Local Savings

Bragg has charged Trump with 34 low-level felonies over allegations he illegally used campaign funds in 2016 to silence porn star Stormy Daniels.

Critics have argued Bragg's case is the weakest of the four criminal cases Trump is facing. They point to how the Department of Justice never pursued charges against Trump despite investigating and prosecuting Trump attorney Michael Cohen over the same matter.

But some legal experts have begun to express confidence in the charges. Karen Agnifilo, a New York-based attorney who worked in top positions in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for more than a decade, said Bragg's case is actually a run-of-the-mill, routine case for the Manhattan DAs office." Legal analyst Norm Eisen, who served as special counsel for congressional Democrats during Trump's first impeachment, predicted the case is very likely to result in 34 felony convictions.

Georgia election interference case

The racketeering case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis took a stunning turn in January when a co-defendant revealed that Willis had engaged in an undisclosed romantic relationship with a prosecutor she hired to help with the case.

Willis had been well on her way to a trial against the former president and 18 co-defendants. She secured guilty pleas from four of them and had asked the judge for a late summer trial.

Now, Willis has instead found herself waiting for Judge Scott McAfee to determine whether her relationship resulted in a conflict of interest that tainted the case to the point that she should be disqualified from it.

McAfee said Friday he will make a decision on the matter within two weeks. If he disqualifies her, some legal analysts have said it would permanently derail the case. If he rules in Willis's favor, the schedule for the prosecution has now been delayed by nearly two months and could push a potential trial back to beyond November.

Civil fraud and E. Jean Carroll cases

Both of these cases have concluded, but Trump is now involved in arguments about when and how he will pay penalties from them.

Judge Arthur Engoron awarded New York Attorney General Letitia James, an elected Democrat, a massive $350 million in damages after Engoron found in a nonjury trial last month that Trump, his two adult sons, and his company had committed business fraud by overstating Trump's wealth for years. Trump has appealed the verdict, but in the meantime, Trump is obligated to pay the damages plus interest, which totals to $454 million. The sum is also accruing an additional daily interest. Forbes estimated that Trump has about $413 million in cash but that his overall net worth is more than $2 billion, meaning Trump could sell some of his assets to afford the bill.

Separately, Judge Lewis Kaplan awarded former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll $83 million in a defamation case. A jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the 1990s, and Kaplan found that Trump defamed her for remarks he made about Carroll during his denials of the allegation. Trump has until next week to pay that amount, but in the meantime, he has filed a request in federal court for a new trial and asked Kaplan for more time to make the payment. Kaplan has not yet ruled on Trump's requests.

14th Amendment case

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that states do not have the constitutional right to remove Trump from presidential primary ballots in response to Colorado cutting Trump from its ballots. The decision overrode the decision of the Colorado Supreme Court, which found that Trump's actions on Jan. 6, 2021, violated the 14th Amendment and that he was therefore ineligible to run for president.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The Supreme Court's decision effectively shut down other states' attempts to follow Colorado's suit, but the high court left open the ability for Congress to act on the matter instead.

This led to Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) vowing to introduce legislation to ban anyone who "[engaged] in insurrection" from serving in federal office. Passing such legislation in a divided government is unlikely, but Democrats could put forth their legislation quickly once the new Congress begins in early January 2025 if Democrats win control of both chambers. Legislation aside, Trump's detractors have also floated the idea of congressional Democrats doing what they aggressively criticized Republicans for doing in January 2021: voting against certifying the 2024 election results.
A student group at West Texas A&M University is asking the Supreme Court to rule that they have a First Amendment right to host charity drag shows on campus after the president of the college banned such performances from campus.

Spectrum WT and two student leaders of the LGBT group filed an emergency petition on Wednesday with the Supreme Court asking to allow drag performances at the university. College President Walter Wendler has not allowed such performances on campus for over a year, according to court records.

The lawsuit has been pending for nearly a year and was initially filed ahead of a scheduled drag performance last year, which was later hosted at an off-campus site.

The group has scheduled an upcoming benefit show for March 22 and defends its shows in court filings as "PG-13" performances that are appropriate for minors if accompanied by an adult.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of former President Donald Trump who previously ruled to limit access to a controversial abortion drug, ruled in September that Spectrum WT was not entitled to hold drag performances on campus.

"When children are involved, the calculation changes. Here, Plaintiffs expressly contemplate and even advertise the involvement of children," Kacsmaryk wrote on Sept. 21.

Featured Local Savings

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a pro-free speech group, argued that Wendler has come forward since banning drag performances on campus and admitted "the law of the land appears to require that he allow it, according to a press release.

"Whether prayer meetings or drag shows, students at state universities have a right to free expression," FIRE posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The Supreme Court asked West Texas A&M to respond to the suit by March 13.

Earlier this week, the justices declined to wade into a dispute surrounding a lawsuit against a "bias response team" at Virginia Tech that petitioners claimed was silencing free speech on campus. The court declined to take up the case because the college had disbanded the response team after a lawsuit was brought against the school.
Sweden became the 32nd member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Thursday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a statement.

Sweden is now a NATO member, Kristersson posted to X. "Thank you all Allies for welcoming us as the 32nd member. We will strive for unity, solidarity and burden-sharing, and will fully adhere to the Washington Treaty values: freedom, democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. Stronger together.

The declaration comes after Hungary approved the bid last month, and after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg invited the European country to join the military alliance.

The last step in joining the 32-member alliance occurred Thursday when Kristersson deposited the Swedish instrument of accession at the U.S. State Department in a ceremony Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided over.

This is a historic moment for Sweden, Blinken said during the ceremony, according to the Associated Press. Its historic for the alliance. Its history for the trans-Atlantic relationship. Our NATO alliance is now stronger, larger than its ever been.

Featured Local Savings

The White House also celebrated the union in a statement, claiming Swedens entrance would make the alliance safer and stronger, in part because of its powerful military arsenal.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

NATO is the most powerful defensive alliance in the history of the world, and it is as critical today to ensuring the security of our citizens as it was 75 years ago when our alliance was founded out of the wreckage of World War II, according to the White House.

Kristersson will join President Joe Biden as a guest at the State of the Union address to Congress later Thursday.
As President Joe Biden prepares to deliver his third State of the Union address on Thursday night, all eyes will be fixed on him as he addresses pressing topics such as the economy and foreign relations in a chance to promote his mental acuity.

Biden's past State of the Union addresses have fallen in line with those of his recent predecessors in terms of length, but his reelection campaign has been grappling with multiple gaffes, which have raised questions about cognitive decline.

During his first three years in office, Biden gave fewer interviews to news organizations than former President Donald Trump, but the American Presidency Project recently pointed out that Biden has given 14 solo conferences, in which the president responds to questions from the media, compared to Trump, who gave nine during his first three years.

While his past addresses have been over an hour, his recent blunders have seemingly received more attention in the last year. From confusing the names of world leaders to mixing up the wars in Ukraine and Iraq, Thursday's address will be a test for the president to move past his latest fumbles.

The shortest State of the Union address came from President Richard Nixon, who spoke for less than 29 minutes in 1972, and the longest came from President Bill Clinton, at nearly an hour and a half in 1995 and 2000, per the American Presidency Project.

Featured Local Savings

Biden's speech to a joint session of Congress in 2021, which wasnt a State of the Union address, lasted an hour and five minutes, while his first official State of the Union address in March 2022 lasted about an hour. He discussed Russias invasion of Ukraine, which started less than a week before his address, the countrys path to recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economy.

One notable misstep from Bidens speech two years ago occurred when he pledged his support for Ukraine but accidentally referred to Ukrainians as Iranians.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Biden spoke for an hour and 13 minutes during the 2023 State of the Union address, the longest of his three addresses, according to the American Presidency Project from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

He spoke to the House chamber before a deeply divided Congress last year, similar to the political climate presently, and he was repeatedly heckled by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). This year, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has reportedly asked for decorum during the State of the Union address.
Special prosecutor Nathan Wade made late-night visits to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis's condo prior to his hiring, an attorney for one of former President Donald Trump's co-defendants said.

The trial surrounding Willis's hiring of Wade has faced frequent twists and turns, with attorneys and witnesses claiming to have knowledge that would directly contradict their testimony under oath. Attorneys seeking to forbid Willis from prosecuting Trump in his Georgia racketeering trial floated the claim about midnight condo visits before, pointing to cellphone data showing Wade was in Willis's residence's vicinity. However, Wednesday's offered them a different venue to reiterate the point.

"It's pinging from his house all the way down to the condo at midnight, 1 a.m. And then he calls her when he gets there. And then it goes silent for four or five hours. And then, you know, early in the morning hours, he starts pinging again, driving back, and then he texts her when he gets home," defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant said, referring to geolocation data from Wades cellphone.

Last month, state attorneys argued that geolocation data is unreliable as evidence, but Merchant noted that the state is "currently using the same data in another courtroom to prosecute someone, but in their defense in ours was that it's not reliable."

Merchant outlined the argument during a hearing in front of the Republican-controlled state Senate on Wednesday.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The hearing is separate from the actual trial, and nothing during the committees hearing on Wednesday is admissible for the record in the Fulton County Superior Court proceedings. However, the committee could look to subpoena Willis or other prosecutors as they investigate whether the district attorney misused taxpayer funds.

Allegations of an improper affair between Willis and Wade first emerged in January and has since been admitted to by the pair. The area of contention is the timeline of the affair, which Trump and his codefendant's attorneys argue began before Willis hired Wade, presenting a conflict of interest.
Mike Lowney is the president of Delta Defense, the service provider to the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, and the board chairman for U.S Concealed Carry Association for Saving Lives Super PAC.
Mollie is a joyful Corgi with a heart full of love. She is also a certified therapy dog and the face of Mollie's Mission, a local nonprofit dedicated to helping North Iowans in need to care for their pets.

Mollie has a way of knowing when someone needs a gentle nuzzle or a small, warm cuddle. She visits senior care centers, preschools, and those who may just need a pick-me-up along with her devoted owner, Linda Siems.

And Siems has a way of knowing that sometimes pet owners need a hand when it comes to caring for their fur babies, which is why she established the organization in 2019.

She realized how difficult it can be to make financial choices that benefit both owner and pet, and didn't want anyone to feel they were letting their companions down.

Now, Mollie's Mission offers food, fostering and friends as its core mission.

The organization also offers fostering for veterans who have been deployed, folks undergoing surgery, or those who just need to take time to care for themselves. Mollie's Mission believes that no one should have to sacrifice the comfort and love of a companion animal due to unforeseen circumstances.

Mollies Mission works closely with social service agencies such as Elderbridge, Prairie Ridge, and North Iowa Community Action to reach people in need. To qualify for pet food, a resident needs to have a referral from a local service agency or receive federal benefits such as Social Security Disability Insurance, veteran's benefits. SNAP eligibility may or may not qualify people for Mollie's Mission.

Currently, Mollie the Corgi is competing for the title of America's Favorite Pet. Winners of the contest will be featured on the cover of Modern Dog or Modern Cat magazine and receive a $10,000 prize. First-round voting ends at 7 p.m. on March 7.

Siems said the prize money would be a boon to the local nonprofit which takes in as many as 100 requests each month. "We're able to fulfill about 75% of those. We're lucky to have Target, Fleet Farm and Tractor Supply as suppliers. They've been really great to us," she said.

About 95% of the mission's clients are returning. "A majority of these people will likely be with us until their pets pass," Siems said.

The organization also offers training classes for puppies and beginners. More advanced classes for agility and rally are also available. Rally is an opportunity to work side by side with a dog on varying skills, and agility is a competition in which dogs must navigate an obstacle course.

Mollie's Mission uses monetary donations to purchase nutritious food for pets. Many donors choose to have pet food shipped directly from online retailers to the charity for the sake of ease.

"We love getting those big deliveries from UPS, even if the UPS man doesn't like how heavy they are," said Siems with a smile.

Now through the end of April, anyone can donate to "The Power of One" campaign. The campaign was founded to raise money to refurbish the Quonset building located at 500 Third Street NE in Mason City. Kim Pleggenkuhle, owner of the location, has arranged for Siems to use the space for storage and distribution.

"We need heat and lighting to get it in shape for use," said Siems. "One dollar at a time can become 10. Ten can become one hundred and and one hundred can become one thousand."

Individuals can apply for pet food for up to two animals online at molliesmission.com.
In a news release, the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club accuses Summit Carbon Solutions of falling behind on thousands of dollars in reimbursements to Hancock and other Iowa counties related to its proposed CO2 pipeline.

The Iowa Sierra Club said its investigation has uncovered that the Delaware-incorporated company has accrued nearly $60,000 in unpaid bills, several months old, that are owed to more than a half dozen Iowa counties. Most of the delinquent invoices relate to preparatory work completed by county inspectors, which Summit is required to repay.

Citing one example, the Iowa Sierra Club said it found Summit had an outstanding bill of $15,000 to Webster County. It maintains this failure to compensate local communities appears to contradict Summits recently stated claim that its proposed carbon pipeline project would provide economic benefits to Iowa counties, which Summit had said would help schools, improve the area, and support the local townships.

Weve said all along that Summit lacks ethics and integrity, but this is just another slap in the face, said Dan Tronchetti, a landowner facing the threat of eminent domain. During a time where many Iowans are struggling just to survive, there is no excuse for a purported multi-billion-dollar corporation to not pay its bills on time."

Summit's permit application in Iowa is still under review by the Iowa Utilities Board.
The winner-take-all Republican primary for the U.S. House Sixth District is headed to a runoff with voters choosing between Addison McDowell, the endorsed candidate of former President Donald Trump, and former three-term U.S. Rep. Mark Walker.

In complete but unofficial results, McDowell held onto an early lead with 26% of the vote, followed by Walker with 24%. Walker has called for a runoff.

Christian Castelli, the 2022 GOP nominee for the district, was third at 21%, while Bo Hines was a distant fourth at 14%, High Point mayor Jay Wagner was fifth with 9% and Dr. Mary Ann Contogiannis of Greensboro was sixth at 5.2%.

According to the N.C. State Board of Elections, the top candidate who receives more than 30% of the vote in a primary wins their partys nomination.

If no candidate receives more than 30% of the vote, the candidate who receives the second-highest vote total may call for a second primary that would be held May 14. Only the top two vote-getters would be on the ballot for a second primary.

The Sixth District primary is likely to be among the most intriguing U.S. House races nationally with political analysts saying it would serve as a defining Super Tuesday measuring stick of an endorsement from Trump.

The passage of the controversial GOP-drawn congressional map for North Carolina led Democratic Rep. Kathy Manning to decide not to run for a second term in the Sixth. With no other Democrat filing, the winner of the GOP primary will be the next 6th representative.

The new Sixth has a 57% to 43% Republican advantage, according to an analysis by Michael Bitzer, a political science professor at Catawba College with an expertise on congressional races.

It is the most Triad-centric of the four U.S. House districts representing the region.

The district includes Kernersville, Walkertown and the southern Forsyth border with Davidson and Davie counties through the 2030 general election barring a successful legal challenge.

The Sixth portion of Guilford forms a loop shaped like a backward C around the countys suburban communities and High Point. Also included is all of Davidson, Davie and Rowan and about 20% of Cabarrus County.

In December, Trump surprisingly endorsed a relative newcomer in McDowell  who has ties to U.S. Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C.  over three previous congressional candidates, including Castelli who was the districts Republican candidate in 2022.

Hines, who Trump endorsed for the 13th District in 2022, and Walker, who served the Sixth from 2015 to 2021, prominently featured photos standing with Trump on their campaign websites.

McDowell, a health-insurance industry lobbyist for Blue Cross Blue Shield N.C., was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., who served three terms in the U.S. House before winning his Senate seat in 2022. McDowell worked as a constituent liaison in Budds congressional office.

Walker declared his candidacy for the Sixth shortly after the legislative passage of the new congressional map.

He had struggled for months to gain traction in his aborted campaign for the 2024 Republican governor nomination against front-runner Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, as have state Treasurer Dale Folwell and Bill Graham.
David Corn, Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones, recently described House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), as a hardcore conservative cultural warrior, motivated by a Christian fundamentalist belief, who has fiercely opposed gay rights (comparing homosexuality to pedophilia), called for a total nationwide ban on abortion, proposed the end of no-fault divorce and urged a return to 18th century values.

Whether David Corn respects Johnsons Christian fundamentalist belief (he doesnt appear to) is irrelevant. Americans are free to adopt whatever religious, political, ethical and social dogma they find compelling.

Johnson and other conservative Christians are free to believe that America is a Christian nation, and that climate change is a thing of the devil. (Corn says that Johnson said on a Canadian podcast last year that sinister elites were responsible for orchestrating climate change as an issue to achieve global control.)

Johnson also is free to encourage people who believe as he believes to elect political candidates who reflect their convictions.

And he is free to base his political and moral convictions on what he perceives to be biblical truths.

It is when he, a lawmaking member of the U.S. House of Representatives, starts talking about biblically sanctioned government, as he did when he led a seminar at a Baptist church in Haughton, La., that I begin to get concerned.

The Bible, Johnson told attendees, is the owners manual for how things are supposed to operate in the political sphere as well as in individual believers lives.

Having been a minister for 35 years and having taught in religion departments at a couple of universities, it has been my experience that adapting biblical principles to complex 21st century political and social realities is not as simple as saying, as Johnson said in a Fox interview, Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. Thats my worldview.

For starters, there are no democracies in the Bible, no duly elected presidents or prime ministers, only divinely appointed kings and dictators.

First century believers living under Roman rule were not encouraged to be sure to register to vote and to exercise their citizenship by running for office. They were encouraged to pray for their nonelected officials and to obey them. They were told to live quiet and peaceable lives and not to cause trouble because that would bring unwanted attention to the church.

To be sure, certain biblical principles, for example, that governments are responsible for serving and protecting the poor, can find expression in contemporary political systems.

But any attempt to shoehorn current political complexities into some perceived biblical model, if that is what biblically sanctioned government means, will inevitably result in a hybrid that is strong on contemporary cultural biases and weak on serious biblical understanding.

There is another issue that concerns me: What will a legislator who is committed to a biblically sanctioned government do when the will of the people is at odds with what the legislator believes is the will of God?

Suppose a legislator believes that the commandment, Thou shalt not murder, prohibits abortion and allows no exceptions. What will that legislator do when he or she discovers that, according to a Gallup poll, just 13% of Americans agree with him or her, 61% think that the Dobbs decision was a bad thing and 63% are in favor of keeping the abortion pill mifepristone on the market?

According to Corn, Mike Johnson acknowledged the problem to the seminar attendees in Haughton: Sometimes what your constituents want does not line up with the principles God gave us for government.

His disturbing solution: You have to have conviction enough to stand (up) to your own people in a town hall and say, I know you feel that way, but this is what youre missing. 

When political leaders govern according to their own idiosyncratic religious views, even when those views contradict the clear will of the people, call it what you will  call it theocracy if you like  but do not call it democracy.
The United Mine Workers of America issued a statement Tuesday opposing a proposed landfill in Russell County.

A private entity is seeking permission to establish a landfill on a former mining location in rural Russell County, near Carbo. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to conduct a public hearing on the issue March 8 at 7 p.m.

We adamantly oppose the Moss 3 landfill, and we call upon every member of our community to stand firm in saying no to this outrageous proposal, UMWA International President Cecil Roberts said in the statement. Join us in preserving the sanctity of our history and the legacy of those who fought tirelessly for workers rights.

The union is urging community residents to attend the boards Friday night meeting and express their opposition to the project.

Roberts said the site represents an historic event in the history of the labor union.

For anyone acquainted with the profound history of the United Mine Workers, the Moss 3 Prep Plant was a pivotal site in the Pittston coal strike of 1989. A strike, I believe, marked a turning point in the fight for workers rights in America,  Roberts said in the statement.

The Moss 3 Preparation Plant witnessed a four-day takeover by UMWA members during the strike, a bold move that galvanized the labor movement across the country.

Local community members formed a human shield around the plant, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to the cause and embodying the spirit of solidarity. Just a short distance away was Camp Solidarity, housing over 1,000 supporters who provided shelter and sustenance for strikers and visitors.

The lessons of this historic strike, particularly the Moss 3 takeover, extend far beyond the borders of Southwest Virginia. It is etched into the broader labor movements narrative, serving as an example of unity and resilience. This strike, marked by its length and the sheer magnitude of civil disobedience, set a modern template for protecting the rights of working families across the world, Roberts said in the statement.

A January informational meeting attracted a crowd estimated at 300, many of whom opposed the proposal for a variety of environmental and health concerns.

To even contemplate placing a landfill on this historic site is not only disrespectful to UMWAs legacy and the labor movement but an outright travesty against the community that rallied during the strike to safeguard their families well-being, he said.

Fridays meeting will be at 7 p.m., at the Russell County Government Center in Lebanon.
Iredell Sheriff Darren Campbell said a stolen handgun was recovered during a traffic stop on Feb. 28 on Business Park Drive.

Tamyaa Altavia Holland, 22, of Buffalo Shoals Road, Statesville, was charged with felony possession of a stolen handgun and misdemeanor carrying a concealed weapon. A magistrate set bond at $3,000.

Campbell said Deputy James Kent with the Aggressive Criminal Enforcement team (ACE) stopped a vehicle on Business Park Drive at Salisbury Highway for a registration violation.

After speaking with the driver, deputies searched the vehicle and located a loaded 9-millimeter handgun under the passenger seat, Campbell said.

Holland, a passenger in the vehicle, told deputies the weapon was hers, Campbell said. She did not have a concealed handgun permit, he said.

A check of the serial number on the firearm revealed that it had been reported stolen from Hickory, Campbell said. The Hickory Police Department was contacted about the weapon.

Holland was arrested at the scene.
A man found himself in handcuffs Monday afternoon after police say he took items from the Lowes Hardware in Morganton.

Jonathan Wesley Mays, 40, of 2001 Walt Arney Road, Lenoir, was charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon on Monday after an incident Saturday at Lowes Hardware on Burkemont Avenue, according to a release from the Morganton Department of Public Safety.

The charges came after public safety officers were dispatched to Lowes shortly after 3 p.m. on Saturday for a reported larceny, the release said.

Officers determined Mays had stolen items from inside the store and pulled a pistol from the waistband of his pants after he was approached by an employee, the release said.

The employee backed away when Mays pulled out the gun and Mays got into a car and left the scene, the release said.

Investigators from the citys criminal investigations division responded to the scene and a warrant was issued. Mays was arrested by the Lenoir Police Department on Monday, the release said.

Mays has previous convictions of habitual breaking and entering, felony breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering, obtaining property by false pretenses/cheats/services, possessing stolen goods, larceny over $1,000 and larceny of a motor vehicle, according to records from the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.

Mays was being held at the Caldwell County Detention Facility under a $100,000 secured bond, the release said.
Would it shock you to learn that a regulatory bill enacted in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis ended up hurting some of the very households lawmakers were trying to help?

I didnt think so. By now it should be clear to everyone that even the best of intentions are no guarantee of good outcomes.

The Dodd-Frank bill, enacted by Congress in 2010, made many changes in how financial firms and products are regulated. Craig Richardson, the Truist Distinguished Professor of Economics and director of the Center for the Study of Economic Mobility at Winston-Salem State University, has studied how these changes affected the market for small-dollar homes  that is, single-family units or condos under $100,000 in value.

Despite the recent run-up in property values, you can still find many such homes right here in North Carolina. Some are in rural areas and small towns. Others can be found in older neighborhoods of our urban areas. Not surprisingly, Richardson chose to examine the housing market in the community where he teaches, Forsyth County.

Before 2010, it wasnt unheard of for prospective buyers to get modest loans to help acquire or renovate such low-dollar properties. But as Richardson pointed out in a recent cover story for Regulation magazine, originations for mortgage loans between $10,000 and $70,000 dropped by 38% over the past decade. Loans between $70,000 and $150,000 fell by 26%, while the volume of high-dollar mortgages went way up.

One reason for these disparate trends in mortgage lending, Richardson speculated, was that the higher regulatory burdens imposed on lenders by Dodd-Frank  more disclosures, more financial-stress tests, more paperwork  made small-dollar loans unattractive to lenders.

If its going to cost a certain amount of time and money to issue a compliant loan, it makes more sense for firms to focus on larger loan amounts. Otherwise, even for trustworthy borrowers, theres just not enough revenue flow over the course of the loan to justify the expense of making it. One effect of fewer loans available for small-dollar homes is that fewer buyers will be in a position to make offers on them, thus reducing what current owners can expect to get from selling them.

Moreover, the community banks that specialize in such small-dollar mortgages will bear a disproportionate amount of the regulatory burden, weakening their competitive position versus larger financial institutions that can spread overhead costs over a larger universe of customers, depositors and employees.

Thats the theory, anyway. Does it hold up in practice? To test his hypothesis, Richardson and his WSSU colleague Zachary Blizard looked closely at housing prices in Winston-Salem, which is roughly bisected by U.S. Highway 52 running north to south. As of 2022, three-quarters of all houses on the east side of town had assessed values of $100,000 or lower. In the parts of Winston-Salem west of the highway, only 27% of homes were worth $100,000 or less.

In the immediate aftermath of the Great Recession, property values declined for several years across Winston-Salem. Then they rebounded, though the upswing was much larger on the west side than on the east side.

After adjusting for other factors, Richardson and Blizard found that since 2010, nominal property values in lowincome East Winston have dropped by over 40% relative to the rest of the county, driven by a measured drop in smalldollar loans as well as a wider constriction of economic activity.

Were there many Americans who needed federal protection from unscrupulous mortgage lenders in 2010? Perhaps  but surely federal agencies and lawmakers could have come up with a better response than squashing the market for small-dollar home lending.

By uniformly increasing overhead costs across the industry, Richardson wrote, DoddFrank penalized or eliminated many community lenders who had the most local knowledge and were most likely to issue small mortgages, business loans, and home improvement loans. Not surprisingly, the legislations effects have hit lowerincome communities the hardest  a product of the law of unintended consequences.
Adam Maltz Vienna-based Daniel Adam Maltz will present a fortepiano concert on Wednesday, March 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Hope College in the Concert Hall of the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts.

The public is invited. Admission is free.

The fortepiano is the instrument with which composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn both performed and composed.

Maltz specializes in Wiener Klassik (Viennese Classicism)  especially the works of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, performed on the Viennese fortepianos of their time. Called master of the Viennese fortepiano, Maltz is praised for his extraordinary precision and lightness (The Common Reader). Critics applaud his very sensitive phrasing and marvelous dynamic contrasts (Marblehead Current) featuring broad warmth and lavish but tasteful playing (Classical Sonoma).

Maltz is devoted to performing on Viennese fortepianos  utilizing the vast range of tones and colors familiar to the composers. He studied fortepiano performance at the Universitat fur Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna and the Royal Academy of Music in London. He refined his command of historical practices through private study with Andreas Staier and Ingomar Rainer. Maltz made his debut at Carnegie Hall (Weill) at age 22 and is a sought-after soloist, Lieder accompanist, and clinician.

In a fortepiano, the range is much smaller and the action is profoundly different than todays pianos. The touch is about 10 times lighter than modern pianos and the key dip is much shallower. However, the light action on these pianos also makes them extremely unforgiving and demands greater accuracy from the fingers for dynamic and articulation control.

To inquire about accessibility or if you need accommodations to fully participate in the event, please email accommodations@hope.edu. Updates related to events are posted when available at hope.edu/calendar in the individual listings.

The Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts is located at 221 Columbia Ave., between Ninth and 10th streets.
SALISBURY  Five students from Catawba College participated in a statewide Ethics Bowl, an annual event organized by the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU). The event was held Feb. 9-10 at the North Carolina Legislative Complex in Raleigh.

Representing Catawba College this year were Jennifer Carbajal, Rachel Davis, Margaret Thurman, Claire Vinskus, and Damir Zababuryn. The team was supported through the generous sponsorship of IMA Financial Group. Thanks to sponsors generous support, the NCICU Ethics Bowl experience is fully funded, with no expenses for the students or the college.

This years team experienced considerable success, ending the event with a record of 3-1. The sole loss came in a round where Catawba representatives tied their opponent on points, losing on a 2-1 split decision across the three judges. This round reflected the high level of parity and close competition that the teams campus coordinator, Dr. Norris Feeney, associate professor of politics and the associate director of the Catawba Honors Program, found notable about this years event.

The 2024 NCICU Ethics Bowl theme was Ethics in Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity. In the event, two participating teams of four students receive a case study with a question to answer in each of the four initial rounds. They then offer competing opening statements before having an opportunity to direct questions to one another before formulating closing arguments. Cases argued by Catawba this year addressed the use of ChatGPT, AI-generated art, hardware and software developers obligations to cooperate with government investigators requesting access to data on users devices, and the obligations of potential whistleblowers discovering a data breach in their organization. Additional cases examined the challenges faced by independent cybersecurity researchers who discover illegal content during their work, and the question of who should have the primary role in determining how AI can be used.

Dr. Feeney and the Catawba College team congratulate the Queens University of Charlotte team for repeating as Ethics Bowl champions this year.
Calvary Lenten retreats

A second Lenten Retreat will be held at Calvary Lutheran Church from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 23.

All are welcome to attend this first of two Lenten Retreats as we learn about incorporating healing actions into our lives.

Calvary Lutheran Church is at 950 Bradley St., Concord. Refreshments will be served.

New GriefShare program

A GriefShare program will be hosted by Cold Springs Global Methodist on Sundays through April 21, from 3:30-5 p.m. for those dealing with life stresses following the loss of a loved one. For more information and to register, go to griefshare.org/findagroup or call the church office at 704-782-1811.

Oak Grove starting GriefShare program

GriefShare Support Group spring sessions will be on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Oak Grove Baptist Church, room 23, through May 11. Register at GriefShare.org, use ZIP code 28075. The church is located at 200 Sims Parkway, Harrisburg. For more information, call 704-455-2763.

Fishers of Men barbecue

Fishers of Men barbecue will be held at Rodgers Park Baptist Church on Saturday, March 9, from 10:30 a.m. until sold out.

Prices are whole pork rack for $22,  pork rack plate for $15, beef rib plate for $18, and chicken quarter plate for $8. All plates come with homemade potato salad. Smoked beans, soda and sliced cake (based on availability).

The church is located at 309 E 24th St., Kannapolis.

Lowesville Gospel Concerts

Lowesville Gospel Concerts will hold their next concert Saturday, March 9, at 5 p.m. and will feature Texas Star, a quartet from Weatherford, Texas. They follow the rodeo circuit with the gospel in song and are artist residency at the Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth.

Texas Star is comprised of Jeremie Hudson, J.D. Meeker, Matt Felts and Justin Terry. The group is quite recent in its formation, having launched in 2022. Individually, the members of the group have been in such musical acts as the Imperials, the Blackwoods and the Dixie Melody Boys. They have won numerous awards; been inducted into multiple halls of fame; and enjoyed dozens of hit songs. Together, they make up a vocal supergroup.

Our blind friend Doug Hudson from Columbia, South Carolina, will open the program.

All our concerts are no admission cost, so bring a friend and come enjoy. Everest Grill will be open to serve you before or after the concert.

The concert will be at Vineyard Church, 1062 NC-16 Business Highway, Stanley (Lowesville).

Center chicken barbecue dinner

Center United Methodist Church will hold its chicken barbecue on Saturday, March 16, from 4 p.m. until sold out.

The cost is $12 per plate which includes 1/2 chicken, beans, slaw, roll and a dessert., Brunswick Stew will also be available. Dine in or carryout.

Center United Methodist is located at 1119 Union St. S, Concord. Call 704-782-1785 for details.

Barbecue chicken dinner

On Saturday, March 16, New Gilead Reformed Church will have a barbecue chicken dinner fundraiser from 11 a.m. until sold out.

Dine in or carryout. Plate includes: half barbecue chicken, beans, slaw, roll, chips, drink, and dessert for $11, whole chicken: $9, and quart of slaw: $5.

The church is located at 2400 Old Salisbury-Concord Road, Concord.

Mt. Mitchell hot dog sale

Mt. Mitchell Global Methodist Church will be holding a hot dog sale on Wednesday, March 20, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The church is located at 6001 Old Salisbury-Concord Road, Kannapolis. For more information, call 704-933-0155.

Apocalyptic Bible study

James Fore hosts Uncovering Apocalyptic weekly Bible study every Monday at 1:30 p.m. in the parlor at Calvary Lutheran Church, Concord. All are welcome.

How Great Thou Art drawing class

James Fore leads a weekly drawing class, How Great Thou Art, every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall at Calvary Lutheran Church, Concord. All are welcome. Bring paper and pencil. Call the church office at 704-782-6923 for more details.

Fresh produce and more

The Bulb Market at Grace Lutheran Church is open every Friday from 3-4 p.m. with fresh produce for the community.

Cabarrus Rowan Community Health Center will be offering primary care and basic health screenings on-site at the church on the second Friday of each month. Grace Lutheran is at 58 Chestnut Drive, Concord.

Sportscenter weekly Bible study

Join Calvary Lutheran Church for its Sportscenter weekly Bible study. Pastor Debbie Frye hosts the study every Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at the Sportscenter, 233 Country Club Drive NE, Concord.

Centering Prayer weekly via Zoom

This Centering Prayer Group meets every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. All are welcome. For the Zoom link, check the Calvary Lutheran Church Facebook page or website http://www.clconcord.org, or call the church office at 704-782-6923.
All Peoples Church of Jesus Christ

Worship at 11 a.m. Sunday at American Legion Post 172. Pastor: Prophet Roland Jordan delivers the message.

Ann Street United Methodist Church

335 Ann St., Concord. Pastor: Rev. Randy L. Wall. In person and Facebook Live worship at 11 a.m. Sermon: A Word of Hope to the Hopeless. Scripture: Luke 23:39-43.

Bethpage United Methodist Church

109 Fellowship Ave. at West C St., Kannapolis. 704-932-5296. Pastor: Rev. McKenzie Sefa. Christian Education at 9 a.m. Worship at 10 a.m.

Bogers Chapel United Methodist Church

1775 Flowes Store Road East, Concord. Pastor: Pastor Eric Shaver. Sunday school 9 a.m. Worship service 10 a.m. (In person or Facebook). Opening Scripture: Numbers 21:4-9. Sermon: What Eyes Do You Look Through? Scripture: John 3:14-21.

Calvary Lutheran Church

950 Bradley St., Concord. 704-782-6923. Pastor: Rev. Debbie Frye. In-person worship at 8:30 a.m. (casual worship) and 11 a.m. (traditional worship with Childrens Church). Coffee/Cookie Social 9:30-11 a.m. Sunday school for all ages 9:45 a.m. Childrens Area and Nursery available at all times. All services live-streamed and available anytime on the Calvary Lutheran Concord Youtube channel  easy access through our website www.clconcord.org or church app Calvary Lutheran ChurchNC. All are welcome. Sermon Series: For the Healing of the World. Sermon theme: Invitation to Believe and Be Healed Through the Son.

Center United Methodist Church

1119 Union St. S, Concord. Pastor: Rev. Brian Crady. Sunday school for In Betweens and young adults at 9 a.m. Worship at 10 a.m. Nursery is provided during the worship service. Website is www.centerumcconcord.org. Look forward to you joining us for our service! Sermon: Grace, Faith and Life. Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-10.

Cold Springs Global Methodist Church

2550 Cold Springs Road, Concord. Pastor: Rev. Cliff Wall. Worship at 10 a.m. on Sundays. Visit online at https://youtube.com/@coldspringschurchconcord.

Crossroads Church

220 George W. Liles Parkway, Concord. Pastor: Lowell McNaney. Live worship streamed on Facebook, Crossroads Concord Church app or mycrossroads.co website at 9:30 a.m. and 11:11 a.m.

Crown Pointe Baptist Church

703 Tennessee St., Kannapolis. Pastor: Rev. Doug Crawley. Sunday school at 9 a.m. Worship at 10 a.m. in the sanctuary, or view online at our Facebook page.

Eastside Missionary Baptist Church

199 Elgin Drive, Concord. Pastor: Rev. Stephen Burrow. In person services: Sunday school 9:30 a.m. Worship services 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Recorded worship services and other information at EastsideMissionaryBaptist.org. You will be welcomed. Practice social distancing.

Epworth United Methodist Church

1030 Burrage Road NE, Concord. Pastor: Rev. Dennis Marshall. Sunday school at 9 a.m., followed by worship at 10 a.m. We welcome all to join us in person, or you may livestream or watch the recorded service at our website at www.epworthnc.com.

First Presbyterian Church

201 Vance St., Kannapolis. 704-938-4623. Pastor: Eddie Spencer. Coffee fellowship 9:30 a.m. Sunday school 10 a.m. Worship service 11 a.m. in person and also live streamed on YouTube. www.firstpresb.org.

Forest Hill United Methodist Church

265 Union St. N., Concord. Senior pastor: Rev. Mandy Jones. Associate pastor: Rev. Wes Judy. We are open for in-person worship. Contemporary worship, 9 a.m. Sunday school/small groups, 10 a.m. Traditional worship, 11 a.m. Both the contemporary and the traditional worship services will also be live-streamed at foresthillumc.org or facebook.com/foresthillumc, in case you dont feel like being here in person.

Grace Church of Concord  A Global Methodist Community

28-B Branchview Drive NE, Concord. Lead Pastor: Michael Dominick. Worshipping every Sunday at 10 a.m. Sermon: At Pilates Hall. Scripture: Matthew 27:11-26. Series: Places of the Passion. Topic: At Pilates Hall, Jesus is unjustly found guilty. We are delighted to invite you on a special journey with us during this Lenton Season, as we explore the profound significance of the journey towards Easter Sunday, through Paster Mikes sermon series Places of the Passion. To learn more about the church visit www.graceconcord.org where you will find links to our Sunday Morning LiveStream and more.

Harmony Church Concord

101 White St. NW, Concord. Pastor: Rev. Thad Brown. Our Sunday school begins at 10 a.m. followed by our worship service at 11 a.m. Sermon: The Seven Woes. Scripture: Matthew 23:2-4, Matthew 23:3-14, Matthew 23:15, Matthew 23:16-17, Matthew 23:23-24, Matthew 23:33-36, Matthew12:45, Revelation 22:7, Revelation 22:10-11. We welcome Everyone to come worship with us! Our service is broadcast live on Facebook.com/HarmonyUnitedMethodistChurch. For more information, you can call 704-791-2883 or 704-467-0179.

Jackson Park United Methodist Church

715 Mable Ave., Kannapolis. Pastor Laurie Knoespel. Adult Sunday school 9:30 a.m. Worship at 10:30 a.m. Nursery will be provided during worship service.

Kirkwood Presbyterian Church

900 Klondale Ave., Kannapolis. Pastor: Rev. Dennis B. Craft. Worship at 11 a.m. in church sanctuary on Sundays. No mask restrictions.

McGill Baptist Church

5300 Poplar Tent Road, Concord, in-person services. Pastor: Rev. Steve Ayers. McGill will stream a worship service Sunday at 10 a.m. on www.facebook.com/mcgillbaptistchurch/ and on YouTube. The services will be live and also available on recording afterwards. Fourth Sunday in Lent. Sermon: How to Love the World. Scripture: Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21.

Midway United Methodist Church

108 Bethpage Road, Kannapolis. Pastor: Rev. Craig Allen. Come join us on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. for Sunday school and 10:30 a.m. for worship. Our service is also livestreamed on the web at midwayunitedmethodistchurch.org or facebook.com/midwayUMC. Fourth Sunday of Lent. Worship theme: The Light brings us closer (Jn 3:21). Sermon: You See, Its an Invitation. First Reading: Numbers 21:4-9. Second Reading: John 3:14-21. Suggested Hymns: TFWS 2074, Shout to the Lord, UMH 365, Grace Greater than Our Sin.

Mt. Mitchell Global Methodist Church

6001 Old Salisbury-Concord Road, Kannapolis. Pastor: Joel Locklear. Office phone: 704-933-0155. Office hours: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday school at 9:45 a.m. (Adult and children classes.) Worship at 11 a.m. in person or Facebook. Nursery for children up to 5 years old. Sermon: Loving the Light. Scripture: John 3:14-21.

Multiply Church Concord

150 Warren C. Coleman Blvd. N, Concord. Pastor: Rev. Douglas Witherup. 8:30 a.m. service held at 280 Concord Pkwy S, Suite 15, Concord. Services at 150 Warren C. Coleman Blvd. N, are worship and sermon at 9:30 a.m. and worship and sermon at 11:15 a.m.

New Gilead Reformed Church

2400 Old Salisbury-Concord Road. 10 a.m. Sunday school followed by 11 a.m. worship in the sanctuary or worship live on YouTube. We hope that you can connect with us online if you cant be with us in person.

Oak Grove Baptist Church

200 Sims Parkway, Harrisburg. Pastor: Rev. Franklin D. Watkins. 10 a.m. In-person worship service. Also available on Facebook Live and YouTube Live.

Rodgers Park Baptist Church

309 E. 24th St., Kannapolis. Weekly message from KJV Bible, by Pastor Joel Ervin. Sunday school at 9:45 a.m. Worship at 10:45 a.m. Facebook Live at 11 a.m.

Second Presbyterian Church

1578 Dale Earnhardt Blvd., Kannapolis. Pastor Sue Black, minister. Assistant minister, Rev. Aaron Price. Sunday school at 10 a.m. Worship at 11 a.m. Sermon: Do You Want To Get Well? Scripture: John 5:1-15.

St. Johns Reformed Church

901 N. Main St., Kannapolis. Pastor: Rev. Chris King. Sunday school for all ages, 9 a.m. Worship service, 10:30 a.m. Website  www.ourstjohns.org. Email/Phone  ourstjohns@gmail.com / 704-932-3656. Sermon: Death Comes to All. Scripture: Ecclesiastes 9.

Trinity United Church of Christ

38 Church St., Concord. Pastor: Rev. Nathan King. Worship at 11 a.m., in person or Facebook (live or watch later). Website: commachurch.com. Youre invited!

Information for Sermon topics must be submitted by 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

Email your topic to jstamey@independenttribune.com.
GUEST OPINION Inspiring inclusion is leading by example - doing and not just saying it - by offering equal access to opportunities and resources for all, including those who might otherwise be excluded or marginalised. When you really believe in inclusivity, and demonstrate it through actions, it can inspire others and other organisations to do the same.

Tell us about a specific action or initiative youve taken to inspire inclusion in your workplace or industry

In 2023, we proudly partnered with the UNSW Women In Engineering Society, actively contributing to the empowerment of women in an industry where their representation has historically been limited. Our collaboration provided an avenue for mentoring students within the group, offering professional guidance during career fairs and networking events.



Weve also provided career support for our female colleagues by sponsoring their participation in Women Rising, a career empowerment and leadership development program that uplifts women. Weve seen this programs positive impact on the professional development of our female colleagues.



However, our commitment to diversity extends beyond initiatives. When recruiting, our focus remains on identifying the most qualified individuals for each role, irrespective of their background, race, or gender. Notably, we've observed an impressive calibre of female applicants in the technology sector. Despite the fact that only 10% of our applicants are female, our team boasts a gender ratio with over 45% females, comprising talented individuals from diverse backgrounds.

This inclusive approach enriches our work environment and fosters diversity, where each team member brings unique perspectives and experiences.



We recognise that a diverse team is not only reflective of our values but is also instrumental in collaboration, innovation and success.

What would you like to see happen in to further promote female inclusion in the industry?

To encourage more women to enter the industry and balance ratios, female scholarships, educational programs and initiatives promoting STEM fields and visibility campaigns to highlight women in data professions can inspire the younger generation.



Other ways that the industry can further promote female inclusion is through wider implementation of diversity and inclusion training in workplaces, inclusive recruitment practices, gender equality practices, as well as female empowerment and leadership development programs and mentorship programs.

What do you believe in the one thing that governments should support in terms of inclusion for women?

I believe the government should drive more educational initiatives and invest in educational programs that encourage girls to pursue careers in traditionally male-dominated fields, such as STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

Share an example of how someone elses inclusivity towards you has impacted your career or inspired you to be more inclusive yourself.

Despite my family's male-majority composition, all of us were encouraged to pursue our professional goals with equal support. This inclusive environment significantly influenced my belief in the value of providing everyone, irrespective of gender, with the same opportunities to thrive in their chosen careers.

In my professional journey, I have been fortunate to have strong role models, guidance and mentors who played a pivotal role. Their inclusive approach fostered an environment where merit and potential were the primary considerations. This experience has not only shaped my career but also inspired me to champion inclusivity in my professional interactions.

Recognising the impact of inclusive practices, I'm committed to fostering a similar environment at Data Army. I actively promote equal opportunities, mentorship, and support for individuals regardless of gender. This stems from the belief that everyone deserves a fair chance to succeed, and inclusive practices contribute not only to individual growth but also to the overall success of teams and organisations.

Inclusivity is not just a personal value, but a principle that I strive to uphold and promote for the benefit of all.
COMPANY NEWS: Appian announced immediate availability of Appian Case Management Studio, an AI-powered modular case management designer with which users can quickly configure case management applications for their business operations. Case Management Studio helps line of business teams connect case data, systems, and teams to optimise common case management workflows, such as internal operations, customer service management, employee onboarding, regulatory compliance, and more.

Effective case management supports innovation and customer experience. The efficiency of our operations team, and harnessing insights to inform improving our processes and customer interactions are vital, said 3E senior director product, internal applications Dylan Fulmer. We are proud to be an early adopter of this technology and are excited about the impact Appian Case Management Studio can have on our employees and our operations.

Appian Case Management Studio offers intuitive tools for rapidly building custom case management applications on the Appian Platform. With drag-and-drop form creation, simplified data modelling, and simple workflow controls, this case management as a service (CMaaS) approach helps users swiftly launch apps for complex casework.

Advanced AI and automation capabilities assist at every stage of the case, helping business users streamline their workflows by managing routine case management tasks like case note and document content summarisation, case linking, and AI-powered search and duplication resolution. Case Management Studio also solves operational problems by connecting departments, identifying existing inefficiencies, and providing business leaders with automated insights for continuous improvement and process excellence.

Organisations can use Appian Case Management Studio to:

Accelerate application delivery . Appian Case Management Studio includes a robust set of essential features that cover 80% of typical case management needs right out of the box, with additional modules available, such as Appian Portals, integration with enterprise systems, Appian RPA, and Appian AI Skills. This modular approach accelerates deployment and increases flexibility, ensuring a faster time to value and a quicker path to ROI.

. Appian Case Management Studio includes a robust set of essential features that cover 80% of typical case management needs right out of the box, with additional modules available, such as Appian Portals, integration with enterprise systems, Appian RPA, and Appian AI Skills. This modular approach accelerates deployment and increases flexibility, ensuring a faster time to value and a quicker path to ROI. Empower business users . Case Management Studio puts the business user in control of their casework with intuitive configurations and visual workflow design. Business technologists are empowered to easily create forms, data models, workflows, and reports as well as modify case types without IT involvement. This intuitive, self-service approach democratises development, allowing faster adaptation to business needs and decreased reliance on IT.

. Case Management Studio puts the business user in control of their casework with intuitive configurations and visual workflow design. Business technologists are empowered to easily create forms, data models, workflows, and reports as well as modify case types without IT involvement. This intuitive, self-service approach democratises development, allowing faster adaptation to business needs and decreased reliance on IT. Assist users with AI . Case Management Studio gives users advanced AI capabilities to summarise and search for cases, identify and resolve overlap, and automate repetitive work. All of this leverages Appians private AI approach to ensure the protection and privacy of sensitive data and algorithms.

. Case Management Studio gives users advanced AI capabilities to summarise and search for cases, identify and resolve overlap, and automate repetitive work. All of this leverages Appians private AI approach to ensure the protection and privacy of sensitive data and algorithms. Improve workflows. Case Management Studio uses Appian's data fabric and process mining capabilities to unify systems across departments and improve process performance. With an out-of-the-box audit component, AI-driven root-cause analysis, and process improvement suggestions, business users can quickly and easily facilitate continuous process improvement.

Appian Guarantee for Case Management Studio

The Appian Guarantee for Case Management Studio is a unique service that leverages our decades of experience building case management solutions. In as little as six weeks, customers can be up and running with a fully customised case management solution delivered by Appian Customer Success.

By letting business technologists tailor their case apps to fit specific needs without heavy reliance on IT, were putting the power to improve how casework is done directly in the hands of the people doing the work, said Appian chief technology officer Michael Beckley. Caseworkers are further assisted by AI, which is embedded throughout to increase understanding, enhance productivity, and help them complete tasks more efficiently.

To learn more about Appian Case Management Studio, attend our webinar, Case Management Studio: The Secret to Fast, Flexible Apps for Enterprise Casework, 4 April 2024.

About Appian

Appian is a software company that automates business processes. The Appian AI Process Platform includes everything you need to design, automate, and optimise even the most complex processes, from start to finish. The world's most innovative organisations trust Appian to improve their workflows, unify data, and optimise operationsresulting in better growth and superior customer experiences.
GUEST OPINION: Like many organisations worldwide, companies with operations in Australia and New Zealand face the critical challenge of keeping pace with technological advancements and evolving business models, including changes to travel and expense (T&E) practices. Recent research by SAP Insights reveals a concerning trend: a significant portion of organisations (32% globally) express dissatisfaction with their ability to keep current with technology, invest in new equipment, and enhance automation levels. (1)

A reluctance to move away from established business structures further compounds this problem. According to the same research, 40% of executive leaders worldwide identify the difficulty of letting go of existing business models as a primary barrier to innovation. SAP Concur suggests that this resistance to change exposes companies in Australian and New Zealand to substantial risks, especially in T&E management.

Jonathan Beeby, managing director, SAP Concur Australia and New Zealand said, Not modernising T&E practices could lead to inefficiencies, increased costs, non-compliance with evolving regulatory frameworks, and a potential loss of competitive edge in a global market. Ultimately, organisations must adapt and innovate their T&E practices not just to stay current but as a crucial step towards ensuring long-term resilience and success.

Fabian Calle, managing director, small and medium business, SAP Concur Australia and New Zealand said, While some businesses show reluctant change, important lessons emerge from companies that have already revolutionised their T&E management leading to success and greater organisational resilience. Importantly, resilient businesses share three characteristics that others should strive to achieve, including their use of intelligent technologies, openness to innovation, and willingness to adapt and change.

The use of intelligent technologies and automation drives growth in the competitive modern market landscape. In T&E management, this translates into more effective finance management. Automation and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled solutions streamline processes, reducing the risk of human error and ensuring compliance. This is especially useful in industries where staff members are frequently on the move, as it guarantees the accuracy and efficiency of expense claims and invoice submissions. By adopting these technologies, executive leaders can maintain a clear understanding of their financial situation, avoiding unforeseen penalties due to procedural lapses.

Another hallmark of resilient companies is their openness to innovation. In the T&E sector, AI has revolutionised operations, especially in areas relating to value-added tax (VAT). These regulations, such as the goods and services tax (GST) in Australia and New Zealand, vary across jurisdictions and often suffer from incomplete or incorrect documentation, making them complex to manage. However, AIs capability to aggregate and analyse new regulations, scrutinise documents, and streamline workflows significantly enhances VAT recovery processes. By integrating these tools, organisations can more effectively navigate international tax regulations to ensure compliance and maximise financial returns.

Willingness to change and adapt processes is also essential, and a key factor to the resilience of successful companies. This is evident in the shift towards environmentally friendly business travel practices as, although many organisations aspire to sustainability, the path to achieving it can be unclear. Intelligent T&E solutions support this journey, providing workers with essential information during the booking process to make sustainable choices and empowering managers to optimise travel programs through advanced reporting and analysis.

Jonathan Beeby said, Each of these traits contributes to more resilient companies; however, they also lead to improved forecasting and decision-making in T&E management. Having access to the latest data lets T&E teams make more informed decisions and align their strategies with business values and traveller preferences. Organisations that exhibit these traits often experience significant revenue growth.

Effective T&E management hinges on clear oversight of data, and tracking spending without appropriate tools presents a formidable challenge, as T&E managers grapple with disparate data sources. Companies that facilitate easy access to data by prioritising smart technology investments are best positioned to address current and future challenges. Policies should also be realistic and adaptable, while accounting for diverse employee needs. This means that addressing skills shortages and preparing staff members for advanced technologies is crucial, and organisations that are proactive in training and communicating changes to their workers find their teams more ready to embrace new technologies and workflows.

Fabian Calle said, By prioritising data accessibility, improving technology, and adopting smart business processes, T&E managers can navigate turbulent times more effectively. There has never been a better time for companies to start adopting a future-ready approach, ensuring their resilience in the face of ever-evolving challenges and opportunities.

Reference:

(1) https://www.sap.com/insights/research/formula-for-business-resilience.html
GUEST OPINION: Cybersecurity is the collective responsibility and shared obligation of all members of a business, from top-level executives to the frontline workforce. While advanced technical safeguards such as firewalls, secure email gateways, and endpoint security systems form essential barriers against cyber threats, they are not infallible.

Ilan Rubin, chief executive officer, Wavelink, said, No single technical measure can completely thwart all forms of cyberattacks, which is why building a human firewall through cyber awareness education is important. It provides employees with the tools, techniques, and best practices to identify potential threatsfor example, the difference between an unsafe and legitimate emailand take the appropriate action to mitigate the threat.



For cyber awareness initiatives to be truly impactful, they must be implemented as part of a broader change-management strategy. This requires genuine commitment from the executive leadership. Organisations should consider the following best practices to seamlessly integrate cybersecurity awareness into their broader company culture and operations:



1. Leadership commitment and vision

Crafting a clear program vision and communicating this often, along with the documentation of relevant metrics, is paramount. Staff members must comprehend the objectives and significance of the initiatives to become engaged participants rather than passive recipients.

Leaders should actively participate and be well-versed in how policy impacts operations across different sectors, such as sales and finance, and how these operations affect policy adherence. The leaders understanding and proactive stance on cybersecurity set the tone for the businesss approach to cyber threats.

2. Customising training content

Training materials must reflect the unique cyber challenges faced by various departments. For example, finance teams should be trained in recognising and responding to financial cyber frauds, while IT teams require in-depth knowledge of technical aspects of cybersecurity. Regular updates to the curriculum in response to evolving certifications and industry standards ensure that the training remains relevant and effective.

3. Continuous learning and adaptation

Cybersecurity training should be part of a workers career development path, with regular updates and refreshers. This approach might include annual training updates, regular cybersecurity newsletters, and ongoing access to cybersecurity resources and learning tools. Encouraging a culture of self-education in cybersecurity matters is also crucial for keeping pace with advancing threats.

4. Engaging training methods

Incorporating real-world scenarios and case studies into training makes the content more relatable and applicable. For example, analysing recent cyberattacks can help employees understand the implications of breaches and the importance of adhering to security protocols. Role-playing exercises and cybersecurity simulations also offer hands-on experience in dealing with cyber incidents.

5. Diversity and inclusion in cybersecurity

Diversity in cybersecurity teams brings varied perspectives to threat analysis and problem-solving. Initiatives should focus on recruiting from diverse talent pools and creating inclusive workplace cultures where different viewpoints are valued and leveraged. Highlighting the successes of diverse teams in detecting and mitigating cyber threats can reinforce the value of these initiatives.

Ilan Rubin said, Cybersecurity awareness education is critical in mitigating organisational risk, and it should be considered a change-management initiative rather than just a training program. Establishing a vision and articulating goals are essential for gaining buy-in from all. Regular communication of this vision, especially during company-wide meetings, can enhance the programs value.

This mindset shift is crucial in creating a successful initiative that strengthens the businesss security posture. As cyber threats evolve, so must defence strategies used by organisations. Treating cyber awareness education as a comprehensive change-management initiative can turn potential vulnerabilities into robust defences by equipping workers with the knowledge and attitude necessary to combat cyber threats effectively.
Claroty says the funds will contribute to accelerated vertical and regional expansion, product innovation, and strategic partnerships.

Participants in the financing include lead equity investor Delta-v Capital, as well as AB Private Credit Investors at AllianceBernstein, Standard Investments, Toshiba Digital Solutions, SE Ventures, Rockwell Automation, and Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank.

Combined with Clarotys existing $635 million in funding to date, this new financing further establishes the companys leadership position in the critical infrastructure cybersecurity market, notes Claroty.

The funds will be used to scale Clarotys platform approach to cyber-physical systems (CPS) protection across key verticals including the public sector and heavily regulated critical infrastructure industries, expand in emerging regions across the Americas, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific, fuel research and development for core and adjacent technologies including secure remote access, and double down on new and existing strategic partnerships.

The past year has brought unprecedented geopolitical, macroeconomic, and regulatory changes that have created new trends and challenges for those charged with protecting the worlds critical infrastructure, said Yaniv Vardi, CEO of Claroty. With our deep domain expertise, unmatched technological capabilities in our comprehensive platform, and extensive partner ecosystem, Claroty is uniquely equipped to help CPS defenders navigate these changes. This new investment reinforces our leadership position in the CPS security market and propels us forward on our journey to ensure the cyber and physical worlds can safely connect to drive progress, improve productivity, and support our lives.

Claroty notes that the financing comes shortly after a momentous year for the company, which now works with 20% of the Fortune 100, and recent growth milestones and industry accolades include:

Revenue: Surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) during 2023

Customers: Achieved over 300% growth in number of customers since 2020

Partners: Established strategic technology alliances with industry leaders such as CrowdStrike, ServiceNow, and AWS; added several Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) including IBM, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, NTT Data, and eSentire to its FOCUS Partner Program

Product Innovation: Enhanced its SaaS offerings with new vulnerability and risk management (VRM) capabilities, further empowering security teams to evaluate and strengthen their organisations CPS risk posture

Threat Research: Team82, Clarotys award-winning research team, has discovered and disclosed over 550 CPS vulnerabilities to date

Analyst Recognition: Named a leader or relevant vendor in numerous industry analyst reports, including:

KLAS Research, Best in KLAS for Healthcare IoT Security, four years in a row

Everest Group, Operational Technology (OT) Security Products PEAK Matrix Assessment 2023  Leader

Westlands Advisory, 2023 IT/OT Network Protection Platforms Navigator  Leader

Quadrant Knowledge Solutions, SPARK Matrix: Operational Technology (OT) Security Q4 2023  Leader

Quadrant Knowledge Solutions, SPARK Matrix: Connected Medical Device Security Solution, Q4 2023  Leader

Gartner, 2023 Market Guide for CPS Protection Platforms  Representative Vendor[1]

Forrester, The Operational Technology Security Solutions Landscape, Q1 2024  Notable Vendor

Awards: Named to the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 for three years in a row, the Forbes Cloud 100 for two years in a row, and the inaugural Fortune Cyber 60

Leadership: Added considerable talent to its leadership team with the appointments of Derek Phillips as Chief Revenue Officer, Shira Bar Yosef (Weizman) as its first-ever Chief Customer Officer, and former U.S. National Cyber Director Chris Inglis and Amtrak CISO Jesse Whaley as advisory board members

The lines between the digital and physical worlds are blurring, which means that cyber attacks and incidents are having more physical, real-world impacts such as power outages, fuel shortages, and disruptions to medical care, said Dan Williams, Partner at Delta-v Capital. Claroty has demonstrated a unique ability to address critical infrastructure organisations most pressing security needs, and we believe its platform approach to CPS protection is strongly aligned with where the market is headed for years to come. We are excited to join such an important mission and look forward to supporting Clarotys continued growth and success.

As our world becomes more digitally connected, cybersecurity becomes an increasingly urgent priority, especially when critical infrastructure is involved, said Lewis Leavitt, Director at AB Private Credit Investors.

Claroty has proven that its talented leadership team, advanced technology, and go-to-market strategy comprise the key ingredients for long-term growth, and we are delighted to come aboard at such an exciting time in the companys journey, said Alex Barry, Managing Director at AB Private Credit Investors.

The New York Corporate Banking team is excited to support Claroty with this new strategic growth financing, said Sameer Paul, Director of Silicon Valley Bank. We have witnessed the companys impressive success and strong growth while providing critical needs for the cybersecurity market. The Claroty team shows true professionalism and are the type of strong operators SVB loves to support. We look forward to partnering with the company as they continue to grow and scale.

1] Gartner, Market Guide for CPS Protection Platforms, 29 June 2023, Katell Thielemann, Wam Voster
Superloop Limited has appointed Dean Tognella as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), a role he has acted in since 23 October 2023.

Superloop says Tognella - whose appointment was effective on 6 March - was identified as being the preferred candidate to support the continued success of the companys Double Down strategy.

With more than 25 years' experience in telecommunications and technology companies, Mr Tognella has previously held senior roles within SingTel, Optus, NBN Co, IBM and PwC, notes Superloop.

Mr Tognella is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and holds an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management (UNSW) in Sydney and a Bachelor of Business from Swinburne University of Technology.

Paul Tyler, Superloop Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer said, The Board and I want to thank Dean for his incredible enthusiasm and impact whilst in the Acting CFO role. During this time, Dean led the 1H FY24 results process, demonstrating his deep knowledge of the business and industry, strong leadership and financial acumen, contributing significantly to the Company's financial success and growth.

Superloop notes that as announced on 23 October 2023, Dean Tognellas previous role as Group Executive Business & Wholesale was assumed on an acting basis by Daisey Stampfer, Superloops Group Executive Strategy & Transformation, who has been appointed to the Group Executive Business & Wholesale role on a permanent basis, also effective today.

Ms Stampfer has more than 15 years experience in technical and non-technical leadership roles in tier 1 organisations such as Bosch, Thales, Telstra and more recently, NBN Co where she was the GM of Sales Enablement and Client Services for business service delivery. Leveraging her education in Robotics Engineering, Computer Science, Software and Law, Ms Stampfers passion lies in solving business challenges with Superloops modern day solutions, enabling customers to succeed in their pursuits, concluded Superloop.
Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews likened the internal conflict to "fighting terrorism" and expressed bafflement that "the regular guy in the country" can't stand the coastal elite. "It's a weird thing," he remarked.

During their Super Tuesday broadcast this week, MSNBC managed to insult the residents of two entire states. Jen Psaki mocked Virginia voters who stated that immigration was their top concern. Co-host Rachel Maddow joked, "Well, Virginia does have a border with West Virginia ... build the wall!"

Meanwhile, Tablet magazine published "My Mother's Secret," written by Justine El-Khazen, whose mother had worked as a Middle East analyst for the CIA. On her deathbed last December, El-Khazen's mother begged her not to raise her children Jewish, for their own safety. (El-Khazen's mother was not Jewish; her father was.) This dying wish perplexed El-Khazen. But she was frankly shocked by the comments of her mother's colleagues in the CIA when asked about the source of her mother's views.

One told El-Khazen that "Israel is the only reason for antisemitism in the Arab world." Former CIA Director John Brennan told her the Hamas terrorists responsible for the Oct. 7 attack on Israel were just "high on drugs." Brennan and other CIA operatives insisted the real threat of antisemitism comes not from the Middle East but from "right-wing" movements, "including the antisemite of the whole world, Trump."

This is absurd. For decades, the Left's party line about hostility to the world's Jewry is that it originates on the "far right." But the abbreviated term "Nazi" comes from the German "Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei," or "National Socialist German Workers' Party."

Fascists and communists have much in common, including virulent antisemitism.

Hitler hated Jews, but Karl Marx, the founder of Marxism, despised them just as much. In his essay "On the Jewish Question," he asks rhetorically, "What is the worldly religion of the Jew? Huckstering. What is his worldly G od? Money." Marx's socialist and communist followers justify attacks on Jews because they are seen as the personification of capitalism. In his 2015 article "Karl Marx's Radical Anti-Semitism" in The Philosopher's Magazine, author Michael Ezra gives a pointed example:

"Ulrike Meinhof of the [German] Marxist Red Army Faction ... stated the opinion that 'Auschwitz means that six million Jews were murdered and carted on to the rubbish dumps of Europe for being that which was maintained of them  Money-Jews.' As far as she was concerned, hatred of Jews was actually the hatred of capitalism and hence the murder of the Israeli Olympic team, at 1972 Munich Olympics, was not only justified but something that could be praised."

Marx despised Christians almost as much as Jews, if only because he believed religion to be a delusion, and viewed mankind's only hope of freedom to be tied to the destruction of all religions.

It should therefore come as no surprise that the rise of leftism, secularism and globalism in the United States and elsewhere is accompanied by increased antipathy for Jews and Christians. The loathing of today's leftists for Jews and Judaism is reflected in their sympathy for movements in the Middle East determined to wipe Israel off the map. And their war against Christians (at least those devoted to preserving the natural law foundations of the United States and its Constitution) is on display daily.

Reading Jewish commentary is compelling if at times bemusing. It's clear some of its distinguished writers are struggling with what they view as betrayal by those they thought were their ideological allies on the Left, as well as with the difficulty of concluding that they have allies among such an unlikely cast of characters as evangelical Christians, working-class Americans, Trump voters and Donald Trump himself. Both Tablet's editor Liel Leibovitz and Justine El-Khazen provide  at best  only a passing acknowledgment of the Abraham Accords signed while Trump was president. That and his decision to move the United States' embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem show significant support for the Jewish state separate and apart from arming it to defend itself against aggression by its neighbors in the Middle East.

One must also ask why ideologies that encompass such hostility to Jews and Christians appear to be so tolerant of members of the Muslim faith? In some instances, it's just a reflection of the "oppressor versus oppressed" neo-Marxist worldview that characterizes America, Christians (regardless of their color or ethnicity), Israel and Jews as "privileged" and Muslims as victims. This of course ignores that Muslims have dominant political control in most countries in the Middle East, and that those governments often restrict the rights not only of members of other faiths but of women, homosexuals and children.

In other cases, it may be that, despite all their blather about Jewish or Christian "extremists," Western leftists do not truly fear violent activism by either group, but they do fear retaliation by Islamic fundamentalists.

But even the most rigid of political ideologies cannot explain the visceral attacks upon Judeo-Christianity or the refusal to acknowledge the countless improvements to the human condition that have been conceived, developed and implemented over centuries under it. It appears at times as if those who wage war against Jews and Christians are shaking their fists at the G od of both faiths, rejecting the absolute truths and corresponding personal obligations that belief in Him requires.

They cannot prosecute a war against this G od. But they can certainly attack His followers.

(COMMENT, BELOW)

Laura Hollis is an attorney and academic. She resides in Indiana with her husband and their two children.


 David Neal, 52, is the night manager at the 4th Avenue South Hilton Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee -- or he was, until a bizarre incident.

WKRN-TV reported that around 5 a.m. that day, Neal allegedly made a key card to enter an occupied room and suck on the toes of the sleeping guest.

When officers arrived at the hotel, Neal admitted entering the room but said he had done so because he smelled smoke and wanted to check on the occupant.

He was arrested at his home and charged with aggravated burglary and assault. [WKRN, 5/8/2023]  A cyclist and a hunter came to the rescue of a 51-year-old man who had been tied to a tree near the German town of Bueckburg, KRQE-TV reported.

The situation was the unfortunate outcome of a sex game he had been playing with a woman; he told police that after she tied him up, she got a phone call and suddenly fled.

He was fully dressed and had pantyhose over his head when he was found, but the box cutter he had brought "for such situations" was unreachable.

The man was unharmed and refused to identify the woman for authorities. [KRQE, 5/5/2023]
SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here.

A franchise operator that runs Starbucks outlets in the Middle East and North Africa region said Tuesday that it will lay off 2,000 workers amid calls for boycotts of the American coffee giant linked to the ongoing war in Gaza.

"As a result of the continually challenging trading conditions over the last six months, we have taken the sad and very difficult decision to reduce the number of colleagues in our Starbucks MENA stores," the Kuwait-based Alshaya Group said in a statement, using the acronym for the Middle East and North Africa. The news was first reported by Reuters.

"Alshaya Group has been the licensed partner for Starbucks in MENA for over 25 years and we are extremely proud of the business we have built, with over 1,300 coffee shops and 11,000 colleagues," the company said, adding that the affected employees will be provided with support.

The American coffee giant became embroiled in boycott calls on TikTok after it sued Workers United, a union of Starbucks employees, in October for trademark infringement over a since-deleted social media post from the unions account that retweeted an image of a bulldozer breaking through the barrier between Israel and Gaza. The post added the comment, "Solidarity with Palestine!"

The company said it condemns violence in the region and described the post as "reckless and reprehensible." The union has countersued.

Calls for the boycott of companies associated with or seen as aiding Israeli policies, particularly in the occupied West Bank, have found renewed support amid Israels punishing war in Gaza, where local health officials say more than 30,000 people have been killed.

In an earlier statement, Starbucks had said neither the company nor its former chairman or CEO provide financial support to Israels government or army, highlighting that it works with partners in the region to provide thousands of jobs to locals. "Starbucks has been and remains a nonpolitical organization," it said.

But some customers, particularly in Muslim-majority countries, have heeded these boycott calls.

The Starbucks franchise operator in Malaysia is also feeling the heat.

"I think all those who are boycotting should know that Starbucks Malaysia is owned by BFood, which is a Malaysian company. We dont even have one foreigner working in head office or stores. So, I think this boycott doesnt benefit anyone," Vincent Tan, founder of the conglomerate that owns Berjaya Food Berhad, said this week.

Local media had reported a 38 percent decline in the companys revenue in 2023 from a year ago on the heels of the Starbucks boycott sentiment.



(COMMENT, BELOW)




DANVILLE  A Mattoon native was killed Saturday evening when he was struck after exiting his crashed car on Interstate 74 at Fithian.

Vermilion County Coroner Jane McFadden said the collision killed 22-year-old Dylan L. Clark, a Mattoon native who most recently had been residing in Danville. McFadden said her office and the Illinois State Police are continuing to investigate this fatal collision.

ISP Troop 7 in Pesotum reported in an earlier press release that its officers were dispatched at 7:43 p.m. Saturday to I-74 westbound milepost 199 in response to crashes with a pedestrian involved. The coroner's office later reported that Clark was the pedestrian.

According to the information from authorities, the incident began when Clark lost control of his orange Chevrolet Cobalt and it crashed before coming to rest in the far-left lane. Clark was standing in a traffic lane near his car when it was hit by a white Lexus, and Clark was fatally injured in the collision.

ISP reported that both occupants of the Lexus were taken to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. Officers temporarily shut down I-74 while investigating the crash scene.

Common conditions that can affect driver safety Common conditions that can affect driver safety Speeding is a factor in nearly 1 in 5 car crashes that result in death The vast majority of weather-related crashes involve wet pavement Rain is related to more than twice as many vehicle crashes than snow
Truliant Federal Credit Union said Thursday it has acquired P1 Finance Holdings, a 37-year-old premium finance company based in Norcross, Ga.

Terms were not disclosed on a transaction that went into effect Feb. 1. The company will operate as a division of Truliant.

P1 Finance, founded in 1987, focuses on property and casualty insurance premium finance services. The company is authorized or approved to do business in all 50 states.

The premium finance industry coordinates lending to commercial businesses and, in some cases, individuals to cover the cost of insurance premiums through a network of agents and brokers. Premium finance typically is used in the purchase of excess and surplus policies when the annual premium is due at purchase.

For the past five years, P1 Finance operated as a division of a smaller Georgia-based credit union.

As loan demand increased from our treasured network of agency, intermediary and carrier partners, we were simply hitting the prior institutions capacity limits, Bill Villari, president of P1 Finance, said in a news release.

Truliant surpassed the $5 billion milestone for total assets in December  a byproduct of its accelerated branch growth in the Triad, Charlotte and upstate South Carolina areas. The financial institution was at $5.1 billion as of Thursday.

Partnering with the larger Truliant ensures we meet rapidly growing loan demand, especially related to our large insured-borrower clients, Villari said.

Todd Hall, Truliants president and chief executive, said P1 Finances lengthy experience make it a great fit for the straightforward, service-oriented financial solutions we provide.

Villari said that P1 Finances new loan production is reaching more than $500 million annually, making P1 one of the larger premium finance companies in the United States.

Truliant, based in Winston-Salem, required little more than a year to go from $4 billion to $5 billion in total assets. Thats compared with needing 53 years from its 1952 founding to reach $1 billion as well as 11 years to $2 billion in 2016.

This achievement demonstrates the loyalty of our members and their trust in Truliants ever-expanding menu of services, Hall said. We plan to keep working hard to ensure our members needs are met and to help our communities thrive.

At $5.1 billion, Truliant is running even with Coastal Federal Credit Union for second in terms of asset size among North Carolina-based credit unions. Coastal had $4.9 billion in total assets as of Sept. 30.

The State Employees Credit Union is the largest in North Carolina, and second nationally, at $50.6 billion as of Sept. 30.

Truliant also credits its asset growth to significantly expanding its mobile and digital services as well as personal and commercial insurance services.

Truliant has 36 branches in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. That includes three in Winston-Salem, one each in Clemmons and Kernersville, and 17 altogether in the Triad.

Truliant had about 920 employees, including about 720 in the Triad, after about a 100-job hiring expansion this year.

Almost a year ago, the credit union opened its operations hub in the three-story, 154,000-square-foot former Macys store. Truliant spent $8 million on the property in June 2019 that included 10 acres and 712 parking spaces.
The runoffs for the Republican nominations for U.S. House 6th District and N.C. lieutenant governor will come down to the candidates ability to attract the majority who didnt vote for them Tuesday, according to political analysts.

According to the N.C. State Board of Elections, if no primary candidate receives more than 30% of the vote, the candidate who receives the second-highest vote total can call for a second primary set for May 14.

Mark Walker and Forsyth County District Attorney Jim ONeill requested a runoff in the 6th District and lieutenant governor races, respectively, shortly after Election Day results reached completion and unofficial status. Voting canvases are set to be completed March 15.

The biggest challenge facing both second-place finishers is that the typical primary runoff turns out about 10% of voters. By comparison, 24% of voters participated in Tuesdays primary.

In Forsyth County, there will be early voting only at the county Board of Elections office.

The 6th District is winner-take-all with no Democratic opponent in the November general election.

Addison McDowell (26.1% of the vote), who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, and Walker (24.1%) combined for just more than 50% of the vote out of the five candidates.

Their runoff campaigns will run through convincing supporters of Christian Castelli (21.1%), Bo Hines (14.4%), High Point mayor Jay Wagner (9.2%) and Dr. Mary Ann Contogiannis (5.1%) to show up to vote for them.

Meanwhile, the challenge is larger in the lieutenant governor runoff since Hal Weatherman (19.6%) and ONeill (15.8%) combined barely gained 35% of the vote in the 11-candidate field.

Can either candidate convince their own supporters to turn out again in May? Can either candidate convince supporters of the other candidates to return to the polls? asked Mitch Kokai, senior policy analyst with conservative think tank John Locke Foundation.

The Trump endorsement helped push Addison McDowell into the top two, but it wasnt enough to bump him over 30% to secure an outright win.

Now, hell have to find a message that will attract people who voted for the other candidates.

Kokai said Walkers path will require appealing to at least some of the Castelli voters, even though their candidates supporters hit him hard.

The likely low runoff turnout makes it more difficult to figure out who will get out to vote, said Martin Kifer, political science professor at High Point University.

In a race like this (6th District), outside money could impact the outcome as well.

6th District

The 6th District runoff is among the most intriguing U.S. House races nationally with political analysts saying it would serve as a measuring stick of an endorsement from Trump.

It is the most Triad-centric of the four U.S. House districts representing the region.

The district includes Kernersville, Walkertown and the southern Forsyth border with Davidson and Davie counties through the 2030 general election barring a successful legal challenge.

The 6th portion of Guilford forms a loop shaped like a backward C around the countys suburban communities and High Point. Also included is all of Davidson, Davie and Rowan and about 20% of Cabarrus County.

In December, Trump surprisingly endorsed a relative newcomer in McDowell  who worked as a constituent liaison in U.S. Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C.,s congressional office  over three previous congressional candidates.

That included Castelli, who was the districts Republican candidate in 2022, Walker, who served the 6th from 2015 to 2021, and Hines, who Trump endorsed in the 2022 13th District race.

McDowell is a health-insurance industry lobbyist for Blue Cross Blue Shield N.C. McDowell could not be reached for comment on the runoff.

He posted on his X webpage that the fight for #NC06 continues!

The so-called experts said I had no shot in this race, but you proved them wrong last night. We won overall, but we cant get complacent.

We have to keep our foot on the gas and secure a victory so we can fight like hell with President Trump in Washington. You have my word: Im going to work tirelessly to win this thing on May 14. Onward!

Walker declared his candidacy for the 6th shortly after the legislative passage of the new Republican-drawn congressional map.

He had struggled for months to gain traction in his aborted campaign for the 2024 Republican governor nomination against Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who handily defeated state Treasurer Dale Folwell and Bill Graham on Tuesday.

Walker could not be reached for comment by the Journal.

He posted on his Facebook campaign page that I extend my sincerest thanks to each of you for your unwavering support. Your generosity, hard work and faith have brought us this far. ... But, we still have more work to do.

Lieutenant governor

Neither ONeill nor Weatherman could be reached for comment by the Journal.

ONeill is in his third bid for a statewide Council of State seat.

In 2016, ONeill lost in the Republican attorney general primary. In 2020, he was defeated narrowly by incumbent Democrat Josh Stein. ONeill lost by 13,622 votes statewide and lost by 22,844 votes in Forsyth County.

Weatherman said on his Facebook campaign page thank you to the people who turned out, voted and delivered us a first-place finish.

Onward to the May 14 runoff. We will not be outworked and will settle for nothing, but all-out victory!

Although the lieutenant governors role is mostly ceremonial with limited authority, it has served in the past as a stepping stone to running for governor.

Democrats Luther Hodges, Bob Scott, Jim Hunt and Beverly Perdue all served as lieutenant governor before winning election as governor.

Robinson is facing Stein in what is projected to be one of the nations most expensive and heated governor races.

GOP post-mortem

Theres a post-mortem aspect to the Republican primaries as well.

The most noteworthy was Hines fourth-place finish in the 6th District race.

Hines primary opponents, particularly Castelli and Walker, attacked him over exploring in 2022, running in three different congressional districts  none of which were the 6th. Hines lost to Democrat Wiley Nickel by a 51.6% to 46.4% margin in the 2022 13th District race.

Hines general election loss in 2022 in the winnable 13th District probably set him back with Republican voters, Kokai said.

Plus, he was up against better-known alternatives with closer ties to the district this time around.

His political future certainly has taken a hit, Kokai said. He might need to think about building up a resume of accomplishments before taking on his next campaign.

State Rep. Jon Hardister, R-Guilford, and of Whitsett, lost his bid for the Republican nomination for state Labor commissioner to replace a retiring Josh Dobson. Luke Farley won with 36.9% of the vote, followed by Hardister at 28.1%.

Kokai said among the factors in Farleys win may have been the endorsement of former Labor commissioner Cherie Berry.

I suspect most Raleigh insiders would have pegged Hardister as the likely winner in the Republican labor commissioners race, Kokai said.

An endorsement from the elevator queen (Berry) and a willingness to travel to many conservative and Republican events across the state appear to have made the difference for Farley.

Catherine Truitt lost her reelection for state Superintendent of Public Instruction by a 52.1% to 47.9% margin to far-right newcomer Michele Morrow. Truitt was the only incumbent Council of State member seeking re-election to be defeated.

One lesson from Tuesdays primaries is that voters did not put much value on governing experience, in the sense that in a number of races candidates lacking governing experience outpolled candidates with a lot of governing experience, said John Dinan, political science professor at Wake Forest University who is a national expert on state legislatures.

This was a theme in several Council of State races, where Michele Morrow defeated incumbent Catherine Truitt in the biggest surprise of the night, and Luke Farley defeating long-serving state legislator Jon Hardister for the Republican labor commissioner nomination.

Dinan said the same theme carried over to the U.S. House 6th and 10th District cases.

Pat Harrigan, who had Robinsons endorsement, held off four-term state Rep. Grey Mills of Iredell County in the 10th District by a 41.2% to 38.9% margin.

In all of these races, candidates without governing experience prevailed over candidates who have held public office, perhaps signaling more generally that public office-holding is not valued by primary voters in the way that once was the case, Dinan said.

Dinan said the other noteworthy story from Tuesday featured challenges from progressive groups to incumbent Democratic legislators who were seen as too moderate and too willing to side with Republicans on key votes.

These challenges had a mixed record and were partly successful in some cases in defeating Michael Wray and Mike Woodard, but unsuccessful with Cecil Brookman (of Guilford County) narrowly fended off a serious challenge from James Adams.
Alexis Ratcliff, an 18-year-old self-proclaimed social butterfly and a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic, has a simple hope.

Long term, I want to find a loving, patient, caring Christian home that I can make into my place, Ratcliff said.

Ratcliff comes across wise well beyond her years, yet fully embracing her playfulness. Her ventilator leaves her voice a mixture of youthfulness and rasp.

Ratcliff, from Mount Airy, was severely injured in a car accident at 18 months old caused by her mother. She requires around-the-clock care.

Both of her parents, who struggled with drug use, have died, including her mother in January.

Ratcliff achingly wants to leave the ICU unit at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, where she has lived since being admitted in January 2019 as part of a court-ordered housing solution after family options could no longer meet her needs.

Baptist administrators want Ratcliff to leave, too, but into out-of-state skilled-nursing housing arrangements that she intensely opposes.

In September, Baptist filed a lawsuit in Forsyth Superior Court that requested a permanent mandatory injunction to compel Ratcliffs departure and a determination that she is trespassing according to state law. The lawsuit was filed about six weeks after Ratcliff turned 18 in August.

A Surry Superior Court order has blocked Baptist from involuntarily discharging Ratcliff.

On Thursday, Baptist announced unexpectedly it will file to dismiss the lawsuit.

Baptist said in a statement Thursday that we continue to work with all parties, including her attorneys and North Carolina Medicaid, and are seeking resolution through mediation, to ensure a safe and appropriate long-term care plan for Ms. Ratcliff.

That has included the potential for a foster care or adoptive resolution with a Surry County family.

Joonu-Noel Andrews Coste, a Disability Rights NC attorney representing Ratcliff, said Thursday following the Baptist statement that Alexis is happy the hospital dropped the case against her, and DRNC is still working through the legal details.

Since the filing of the lawsuit, Ratcliff has lived each day knowing she could be forced to leave and move to a housing setting signed off on by Baptist, but not of her approval.

Ratcliff said in a Zoom interview with the Journal that it was a very big shock when she learned about the lawsuit. Baptist declined to give her attorneys with Disability Rights NC permission to conduct an in-person interview.

The lawsuit left her confused and questioning how a hospital whose medical staff have been so warm  including celebrating her graduation from North Surry High School in June and her 18th birthday on Aug. 2  can have an administrative side so cool to her future that it would sue to compel her eviction.

So, youre suing me? Believe me, I want to get out of Baptist, too, but its not my fault, and not my decision, to be here at age 18, Ratcliff said. Its really stressed me out a lot.

Coste said Baptist administrators have told her that since she turned 18, she will not be re-admitted if she leaves the hospital  there was no maybe about it.

Coste said her group views Baptists stance on Ratcliff leaving hospital grounds as giving the appearance of being highly retaliatory.

As a result, Ratcliff has not been outside the hospital since late last fall.

Ratcliff said that some people may think, well, shes been there (in Baptist) five years, but its not like Im a typical patient, and this has become a second home to me.

I want to get out of the hospital and not come back to the hospital unless I am sick and knocking on deaths door, she said. Thats just where I am at now.

Why Baptist ICU is necessary

All parties acknowledge there is no current medical necessity for Ratcliffs ICU-level care outside it is the only properly equipped area within the hospital for a ventilator-dependent patient.

Baptist claims in the lawsuit that by Ratcliff refusing to leave and accept the placement that the hospital arranged at a Bestian, Va., skilled-nursing facility, she is trespassing and denying a potential patient an ICU room.

Ratcliff said she refuses the Baptist placement because she prefers an independent residential setting in Winston-Salem, the Triad or close to her Mount Airy roots, but definitely not out of state.

When asked if Baptist was ending its efforts to compel Ratcliff to leave, the hospital said Thursday that everything else in our previous statement (submitted Wednesday to the Journal) stands.

Baptist administrators want court permission to require Ratcliff to accept transfer to the next available skilled-nursing facility placement that the hospital determines is safe and appropriate for (her) care needs.

Baptist said in the first statement sent to the Journal that none of the three appropriate skilled nursing facilities in North Carolina have been willing to accept Ms. Ratcliff.

Unfortunately, we had no choice except to take legal action consistent with the processes outlined by the laws of North Carolina.

That difficult decision was necessary because Ms. Ratcliff was discharged by her physicians, refused all skilled nursing facility placement options, provided no residential placement options and refused to leave the hospital.

Ratcliff counterclaim

The main dilemma in Ratcliffs housing limbo is that no agreement has been reached on a safe and 100% electricity-reliant residential setting between Ratcliff, her attorneys, Surry DSS and Baptist.

Such a setting in particular in North Carolina has proven frustratingly hard to secure.

Ratcliff said her preferred short-term housing solution is accommodations that would allow her to be a full-time, on-campus student at Salem College, where she has a full academic scholarship as a freshman.

In the Disability Rights NC counterclaim, filed in November, her attorneys said that after Ratcliff turned 18, Baptist has consistently pressured her to leave the state and has purported to discharge her knowing that discharge endangers her access to NC Medicaid and her ability to pursue community-based services.

If another state doesnt accept NC Medicaid, Ratcliff would be dropped from NC Medicaid and placed in that states program.

She has made (Baptist) aware of her need to remain at the hospital until such time as an appropriate option is identified in North Carolina or a viable out-of-state option that would not deprive her of NC Medicaid eligibility, according to the counterclaim.

The counterclaim accuses Baptists social worker unit of intimidation and making threats in an attempt to coerce her to relinquish her property rights to NC Medicaid.

Coste considers the Baptist lawsuit as a system default.

Its really psychologically impacted her because none of us anticipated a lawsuit was the direction the hospital was going.

She was not ready or willing to consent to the hospitals plans to send her to Virginia until her questions were answered, and very quickly thereafter they filed their lawsuit.

Making lemonade

Ratcliff said she has been making lemonade our of lemons most of her life.

Its just part of being a social butterfly, as well as a coping mechanism for the darker element of her childhood.

Alexis room at Baptist, both while within Brenner Childrens Hospital and now in the adult ICU, have been filled with personal items meant to provide rays of cheer and sunshine.

They include an array of stuffed animals, photos, makeup, hair and beauty supply accessories, dream catchers and a Nutcracker Mickey Mouse.

Normal is not really a word I would use to describe me or anything about my life, Ratcliff said.

My surroundings are normal in that what I have done in this room is what I would have in an apartment or dorm. I look at this as my hospital dorm room.

I just want to live the best life I can, Ratcliff said.

Ratcliff accepts her physical limitations, but doesnt allow herself to be bitter or defined by them. She uses her voice to communicate with her iPad for her online studies at Salem College.

Everything happens for a reason, Ratcliff said. Im thankful for the opportunities that I have had and I am getting.

Has this situation been ideal? No. Would I have chosen this for myself? Probably not.

But, it has made me into the person I am today, so I guess I wouldnt choose it any other way.

Her background

Ratcliff spoke limitedly about her childhood, in particular the car accident that left her a quadriplegic. Ratcliffs attorneys said her parents struggled with drug use.

Her mother, Anna Marie Crim, was driving when the car accident occurred in February 2008. Crim was 22 at that time.

In a June 9, 2011, report in the Journal, hours before Crim crashed her car with Ratcliff inside, she had taken methadone to treat her drug addiction, smoked marijuana and taken Xanax and Klonopin pills, according to Forsyth Superior Court records.

Crims boyfriends sister told authorities that on Feb. 26, 2008, Crim, who was seven months pregnant, slurred her words, stumbled when she walked and nodded off while standing.

The behavior concerned the sister so much that she begged Crim to leave Ratcliff with her. Crim refused.

Ratcliff was moving from her unsecured car seat as Crim was driving north on Main Street in Kernersville when she veered off the road and hit a parked car. The toddler was crushed between the dashboard and her father, Dustin Ratfcliff, according to Crims attorney. The crash did not affect Crims pregnancy with her daughter, Apple.

Besides becoming a quadriplegic, Ratcliff began suffering from lung infections, pneumonia, seizures and suffers from scoliosis, which is curvature of the spine. As of the time of her mothers trial, doctors said it was not clear what was Ratcliffs life expectations.

Crim pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, assault inflicting serious bodily injury and misdemeanor driving while license revoked. Judge Todd Burke sentenced her to 24 to 38 months in prison after consolidating the misdemeanor into the assault with a deadly weapon charge

My daughter was so full of life, and Im so sorry this car accident has taken this away from her, Crim said during the trial.

It kills me for Alexis to be in the condition she is in. I love Alexis with all my heart.

She told Burke she wished that she  not Alexis  had been injured in the accident.

Dustin Ratcliff was not charged in the incident. Forsyth District Attorney Jim ONeill said prosecutors charged Crim because she was the driver and bore the ultimate responsibility in making sure her child was safe.

After Crim was released from prison, mother and daughter found a way to reconcile at Alexis Ratcliffs urging before Crim died in January at age 37. Ratcliff said her mother had returned to some old friends and relapsed.

Meanwhile, Dustin Ratcliff died a few years after the car accident.

Alexis Ratcliff lived with family, in particular her paternal grandfather, until 2019, going to school in-person in elementary and middle schools.

However, her grandfather became unable to care for her as he developed severe health issues that required going into an assisted-living setting.

With no other family able to provide suitable accommodations, she was placed into Baptist in 2019 through a court order secured by Surry DSS.

From December 2021 to June 2022, she was placed into a foster care setting, but went back to Baptist after developing health conditions that required rehospitalization.

Baptist perspective

Baptist said in the lawsuit there is no step-down from the ICU to a less-intensive care setting within the hospital.

Such patients must be discharged to a skilled nursing facility capable of providing care and maintenance.

By refusing to vacate the ICU room, Baptist claims she is taking up a bed ... and preventing admission of other patients with critical medical needs who actually require the ICU level of care.

Multiple benefits would be provided to Ms. Ratcliff if she moves to a skilled nursing facility, Baptist said. These benefits include increased independence and opportunities for social interactions that cannot be provided in a hospital.

Baptist claims Ratcliffs attorneys have instructed her to not speak with us about discharge planning and who have not provided us with specific discharge plans.

We have gone so far as to offer to contribute financially toward a private home option where Ms. Ratcliff could live with a caregiver, but her attorneys declined to respond to this offer.

Unfortunately, we had no choice except to take legal action consistent with the processes outlined by the laws of North Carolina.

Baptist said it appreciates how Ratcliff has faced unbelievable challenges.

We truly want her to live a fulfilling and rewarding life in an environment that can provide safe and appropriate ventilator care, offer her greater independence and social activities and help her reach her goals.

That environment is not in a hospital ICU.

Ratcliff attorneys response

Coste and Ratcliff acknowledge that a hospital is not a place you want to live for non-medical reasons.

She does not want to continue to live in the hospital any longer than she has to.

She was placed there as a 13-year-old and had no choice since the court in Surry County ordered her to stay in the hospital. Until she turned 18, the hospital didnt have a choice.

Coste said one of her main irritations with the status of Ratcliffs case is that it just strikes us that with everyone knowing she was turning 18 and could have the option to leave for suitable housing that the hospital didnt try to get ahead of it, but rather chose to try to force her to go somewhere she didnt want to go.

We have been hopeful that at anytime they would shift their stance, but it hasnt happened yet.

Coste said that even though Ratcliffs plight has gotten media attention, Baptists position on trying to force her to leave has not changed, and we are continuing to litigate this case.

We are, and have been, open with the hospital about how we can work together to move her into the community.

Coste said that skilled nursing facilities in North Carolina that have beds wont take her because of her specific trachea tube and valve that she uses.

Citing her previous foster-care situation that left Ratcliff becoming quite ill and requiring hospitalization out of medical necessity, Coste said unfortunately, we know that people with significant disabilities (that) decisions can be made that do not value their lives as much as we would hope.

Her big fear, which we can all understand, is living in another state, having a medical emergency and not have anybody she knows around her, Coste said.

Salem College role

Salem College has been lovely to work with with Ratcliffs freshman online studies, Coste said.

They have said that when she determines which classes she wants to attend in person, they will place them in classrooms accessible to her.

Unfortunately, because their dorms are so old, they wont be possible. They have directed us to some apartment dwellings that their students use.

Jennifer Borrero, the colleges interim Dean of Students, said that at this point, after conversations with Ratcliffs legal advocate Kirby Morrow, we explored our on-campus housing (and) determined that Salems on-campus housing was not suitable for Alexis.

Diane Lipsett, Ratcliffs academic adviser at Salem College, said her course materials and assignments are accessible online.

She is warmly supported by Salems disability services coordinator and her professors, Lipsett said. As her academic adviser, I meet with her in person weekly.

As we would for other students with disabilities, Salem can schedule Alexis classes in accessible classrooms and would provide related accommodations.

The college said it cannot comment on whether it can accept funding from Baptist or other sources toward providing housing accommodations.

We have not been approached about funding or support from any source, the college said.

DHHS role

DHHS, citing privacy healthcare policies, said it cannot comment on specifics of any case, regardless of a patients permission.

DHHS did provide a synopsis of how the N.C. Medicaid program under its supervision ensures people are receiving the best care possible in the least restrictive setting possible.

Medicaid, in situations as described, partner with the beneficiary, their families and providers taking a person-centered approach to balance what is important for the individual with the best available care.

Once the appropriate setting of care and services are determined, NC Medicaid will leverage available programs: state plan programs such as private duty nursing and personal care services, and (federal) waiver programs for disabled children and adults.

DHHS said those programs provide wraparound services, like home and vehicle modification, limited care transition and home delivered meals.

If needed, initiatives like the Money Follows the Person program provide funding for security deposits for housing and groceries for someone transitioning from institutional care to community living.

Most importantly, a care transition coordinator to offer support pre- and post-transition.

DHHS stressed that each care transition is unique, and identifying the most appropriate option can be complicated because the age of an individual, the complexity of their care needs and the personal goals and aspirations of the individual and their family.

Room to grow

When Ratcliffs attorneys filed their response in November to Baptists lawsuit, they indicated another foster care home setting in Surry may be possible if the potential adoptive family can modify their home to meet her needs.

Coste said Baptist is aware of that potential residential solution.

Coste said Ratcliff needs living space that is modified to allow for a wheelchair, to provide access for her to a bathroom, a lift to get in and out of bed, and most importantly, a back-up power source.

The other key factor to independent life for Ratcliff is dependable and accessible modified transportation to get her to and from Salem College, Coste said.

Coste said that getting Ratcliff qualified for CAP/C takes time, but it will provide all the resources for the care that she needs and the staff wherever she is.

CAP/C is part of the state Medicaid Home and Community-based Services program  authorized by the federal Social Service Act  thats overseen by NCDHHS.

It assists children determined to be medically fragile and medically complex from birth until age 21, at which point she would transfer to the adult waiver version of CAP/C that Coste described as a well-oiled machine.

Beneficiaries are determined to require a level of institutional care under the N.C. Medicaid State Plan, including needing at least one or more CAP/C home-and community-based services based on a reasonable indication of need assessment that must be coordinated by a CAP/C case manager.

Those services can include attendant nurse care, in-home aide services, care coordination, community integration and transition services, coordinated caregiving, financial management services, home accessibility and adaptation, goods and nutrition service, non-medical transportation, respite care, specialized medical equipment and supplies, training, education and consultative services, and vehicle modification.

We continue to have more stakeholders coming to the table, but we cant do anything until we know where shes going to live, Coste said.

It would not be an obligation of that housing provider to pay for those things, Coste said. We have the ability through Medicaid to get those things done.

Whats next?

Before Ratcliff turned 18, Coste said she couldnt move into anywhere that wasnt a foster-care setting without Surry DSS approval

Now that shes 18, more options are possible, Coste said.

That includes working with the Childrens Home Society for being adopted since we know there are families out there willing to take a young person like Alexis into their home.

Her entire world is in Winston-Salem and Mount Airy, although she would be good in Greensboro or somewhere geographically close by where her aunt or her sister could be called in if something happens to her, Coste said.

When people come forward asking how they can help Ratcliff, Coste said that while she has many needs, the foremost is securing proper housing because everything else feeds out of that.

Ratcliff said she has aspirations of becoming a lawyer providing legal services for those with disabilities like herself.

Even though it seems I have changed my mind a million times. I would love to go to law school, though, she said. I have been helping with N.C. Adapt for a number of years.

While this state is one of the best for people with disabilities, I want to make this state the best it can be for people like myself to thrive.

I do know I want to be the face of that change, the voice of that change, because there are so many disabled people who are in their right mind, but they just have physical limitations.

Ratcliff stressed that having a disability doesnt mean you shouldnt be able to live your life to the fullest of your abilities.

Something better is coming. I dont know what that is yet, but Im hopeful.
The sounds of Journey are coming to Lincoln again  albeit in a different form than when the band played Lincoln's Pinnacle Bank Arena last March.

The Black Jacket Symphony is set to recreate the San Francisco band's diamond-certified album "Escape"  featuring hits like "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Who's Crying Now"  at its "Journey: Escape" show at the Rococo Theatre on Friday.

The cover band, formed in 2009, has toured the country performing rock's most famous albums, including seminal records from Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles.

It promises to recreate the Journey album "note for note, sound for sound" at Friday's show, which begins at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m.

"The group of hand-picked musicians changes based upon the album being performed  and no sonic detail is overlooked, with the musicians doing whatever it takes to reproduce the album," the band said on its website.

In the past, Black Jacket Symphony has recreated such classics as "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Hotel California."

Its time now for Journey, which has had such a resurgence thanks to TikTok, movies, television shows and more, Black Jacket Symphony producer Jason Rogoff told the Spokesman Review last month. We look for albums that span generations. Journeys Escape is definitely one of those albums that reaches many music fans. The album is so solid from the start and has their biggest songs and the band just doesnt stop. Pun intended."

Tickets are $41 for dance floor, orchestra and loge seats and $36 for third-floor general admission balcony seats. More ticket information is available at rococotheatre.com.

Top Journal Star photos for March 2024
A former Lincoln police officer fired two years ago is the latest to file a lawsuit against the city alleging sexual harassment and retaliation within the department.

Laura Stokey worked at LPD from July 2018 until her termination Jan. 11, 2022, and currently works as an officer at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

"While working for LPD, Laura experienced sex discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation. After filing an internal EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) complaint about the hostile work environment, Laura was investigated and subsequently terminated," her attorney, Kelly Brandon, wrote in the complaint filed in Lancaster County District Court.

City Attorney Yohance Christie declined to comment Wednesday, saying the city doesn't comment on pending litigation.

Laura Stokey is one of seven current and former officers who have publicly alleged systemic harassment, discrimination and retaliation within the department for reporting it.

In the lawsuit, Brandon said the discrimination started in 2019 after Stokey rebuffed a coworker's romantic advances and it got worse after she was transferred in the spring of 2021 to the Northeast Team, where the other officer worked.

When Stokey was fired, then-Police Chief Teresa Ewins sent out a department-wide email tying her decision to a May 30, 2021, incident where Stokey had forgotten to log into evidence a bullet that she had found on a suspect.

Brandon said Stokey had mistakenly left it in the pocket of her uniform pants, which she had left in her work locker.

When the error was discovered five days later, she logged it into evidence and wrote a report about what had happened.

Her supervisor, then-Sgt. Angela Sands, wrote her up for it.

But that wasn't the end of it.

Brandon said the other officer who Stokey had rebuffed had continued to harass and spread rumors about her and, despite Stokey's complaints, LPD failed to investigate it.

Before leaving LPD, the employee told coworkers she was "going to stir the pot" and alleged to a captain that Stokey had lied on her report about the missing bullet, according to Brandon.

She said Ewins ordered a second Internal Affairs investigation, where the officer said Stokey had washed it in her uniform pants and covered it up with Sands' help.

Both women deny it.

Stokey told the IA sergeant that the officer who made the allegation had long been on a campaign of hostility toward her, and this was just the latest attempt to smear her reputation, according to the lawsuit.

In a little over two months, despite the IA investigation finding that the alleged dishonesty had not been sustained, Stokey and Sands were fired and Ewins told their former coworkers the two had conspired to cover up the mishandling of evidence.

LPD submitted a report about Stokey with the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center that "locked" her ability to be a police officer and sent out a "Brady-Giglio" letter to various federal and state agencies, which raised questions about her trustworthiness.

Stokey later received a letter from the training center that her law enforcement certification was no longer locked, based upon their review of her termination from LPD, and found no probable cause to revoke her law enforcement certificate.

In the lawsuit, Brandon alleged members of LPD's command staff were aware of the discrimination that was going on and failed to take appropriate steps to deal with it.

She said the unwelcome and offensive conduct was based on Stokey's sex or sex stereotypes for rebuffing advances of a coworker and because she was bold enough as a female police officer to speak out against the harassment, which had been by a female officer.

"The unwelcome and offensive discriminatory conduct combined with LPDs negligence in failing to correct and end the harassment created a hostile work environment at LPD," she said.

Stokey is asking for a jury trial.

Sands previously filed a lawsuit that included similar claims, as has Erin Spilker, Sarah Khalil, Melissa Ripley and Sarah Williams.

Luke Bonkiewicz also has alleged he was retaliated against for reporting harassment to his superiors at LPD but has not filed a lawsuit.

To date, the city has only settled one of the lawsuits out of court, giving $65,000 to Williams, who left to work at the Omaha Police Department.

In January, the city paid to settle lawsuits filed by two female firefighters who made similar allegations of discrimination at the Lincoln Fire and Rescue. They paid Amanda Benson $650,000 and Jessie Lundvall $250,000.

Top Journal Star photos for March 2024
Lincoln Mayor Leiron Gaylor Baird on Thursday announced a new partnership between the Lincoln Emergency Communications Center and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Lincoln becomes the first city in Nebraska to partner 911 services with 988's mental health services, which Gaylor Baird said will boost the number of mental health calls serviced.

"The 911/988 partnership enables our 911 emergency dispatchers to connect people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress to the 988 lifeline, to trained mental health professionals and resources," she said.

Calls received by 911 dispatchers that are deemed mental health crises will be transferred to trained professionals with 988.

Nebraska's 988 number had a soft launch in July 2022 and since then, the call center located in Boys Town has received more than 42,000 calls, chats and texts from people experiencing crises caused by mental and behavioral issues, substance use or suicidal thoughts, said program manager Kyle Kinney.

The organization's goal is to provide the correct services at the right time, allowing police and other emergency services to respond to other calls.

"Since implementation, 97% of calls to 988 Nebraska were able to successfully de-escalate the situation," Kinney said.

When someone communicates with 988, they speak with counselors who help people find resources and follow up to ensure their needs are being met.

Lincoln Emergency Communication Center manager Jessica Loos said the center is eager to begin working with 988 to help identify calls that may be better handled through the new partnership.

In the last six months, the communication center has answered just under 6,000 calls from people experiencing a mental health crisis.

"Each of those times, we were limited to sending a law enforcement officer when officers were available to respond," Loos said. "Most of these calls were ones in which the expertise of a crisis counselor would be more effective in addressing the callers' needs."

Research shows that when officers make contact during a mental health crisis, the chances of a situation escalating increase, as does the likelihood of someone ending up in jail.

Certain circumstances may still result in officers being called to a scene of a mental health crisis. For example, if someone is threatening to not only harm themselves but also others, police will be called.

The number of calls to 988 is expected to increase, with 911 calls in Lincoln being connected quickly to the service line. According to Kinney, the average wait time is under 10 seconds.

If the call volume becomes too great for the current staff at 988, the organization will look to hire to fill the necessary gaps.

The Department of Health and Human Services funds 988 Nebraska and will work with the organization to maintain a satisfactory service level if additional funding for staffing becomes necessary.

Staffing has steadily increased since the beginning of the program, Kinney said.

Gaylor Baird touted Lincoln's continued dedication to increase public safety.

"We are so pleased to be piloting this program here in Lincoln as we work to become the safest and healthiest capital city in the country," Gaylor Baird said.

Top Journal Star photos for March 2024
A 19-year-old Lincoln man was charged Wednesday after allegedly leading Nebraska State Patrol troopers on a 45-minute chase.

At about 4 p.m. Tuesday, a trooper saw someone speeding on a motorcycle, later identified as Jack Henry, on U.S. 77 in west Lincoln. The rider exited at Van Dorn Street, and the trooper attempted a traffic stop, a State Patrol news release said.

Police say Henry started to flee east on Van Dorn Street, swerving between vehicles stopped at a red light.

The trooper stopped chasing Henry when the State Patrol helicopter took over pursuit from the air.

The motorcycle fled through Lincoln and began traveling south toward Adams.

Henry eventually stopped near the intersection of South 148th Road and East Cedar Road in Gage County, according to the news release.

He was taken into custody without further incident and was lodged at the Lancaster County jail.

Henry was charged with operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest, reckless driving, driving when license is revoked and no proof of ownership  all misdemeanor charges.

Judge Laurie Yardley set Henry's percentage bond at $10,000, meaning he would have to pay $1,000 to be released.

Top Journal Star photos for March 2024
Former Scottsbluff Police Captain Brian Wasson has pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the theft of drugs and money from police evidence.

The Nebraska Attorney Generals Office said in a news release that it filed charges Tuesday in Scotts Bluff County District Court, bypassing the filing of charges in county court and other proceedings.

Wasson, who previously served as a police captain for the Scottsbluff Police Department, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of theft by unlawful taking in excess of $5,000. The first count alleges that between March 2021 and April 15, 2023, Wasson stole controlled substances in excess of $5,000. The second count alleges that between those same dates he also stole currency in excess of $5,000.

Wasson surrendered himself, according to the Nebraska Attorney Generals Office. He was booked in the Scotts Bluff County Detention Center, but had reportedly already posted bond.

Wassons sentencing is scheduled for April 23 in Scottsbluff.

Wasson resigned from his position at the Scottsbluff Police Department, where he had served for 25 years, on Sept. 6, according to a change of status form filed with the Nebraska Crime Commission, and he voluntarily surrendered his law enforcement certification in October.

Top Journal Star photos for March 2024
The University of Nebraska signed its first top recruit under a new scholarship program aimed at keeping the state's best and brightest close to home.

On Tuesday, Pender High School senior Caleb Kelly, who scored a perfect 36 on the ACT college entrance exam, announced his commitment to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln this fall, becoming the first President's Scholarship recipient along the way.

Kelly signed his intent to attend UNL this fall alongside his parents, Jeff and Melissa, six younger siblings, grandparents, as well as NU President Chris Kabourek and Regent Jim Scheer of Norfolk.

"I am thrilled that Caleb has decided to sign with Team Nebraska and that our President's Scholarship helped Nebraska compete for one of our best and brightest," Kabourek said. "I couldn't be happier for Caleb, his family and the amazing teachers and staff at Pender Public Schools who have guided him along the way."

The program seeking to lure high-performing students to NU's campuses was announced by Kabourek and Gov. Jim Pillen in February.

"This is awesome to see  homegrown Nebraska talent staying right here in Nebraska," Pillen said in a statement. "I'm proud that we competed to keep Caleb here."

Along with covering the full cost of attendance  tuition, fees and room and board  at NU's undergraduate campuses in Lincoln, Omaha and Kearney, the President's Scholarship also provides students with a $5,000 annual stipend.

In all, the total value of the scholarship for students with perfect ACT scores runs to nearly $30,000 and is funded through a $5 million endowed fund supported by private donations.

Across Nebraska, there were 31 perfect scores on the ACT in 2023, and 44 in 2022. Only about 20% of those students ended up attending NU.

Pillen, a former NU regent, said he hopes to keep roughly 80% of those students in-state, which would make them more likely to put down roots in launching a career and starting a family.

Other NU leaders also said they were excited to have Kelly, who plans to major in computer science and physics at UNL's Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management, stay in state for college.

"Caleb's commitment to UNL and the Raikes School is evidence that this scholarship program is enhancing our ongoing recruitment of Nebraska's best and brightest students," UNL Chancellor Rodney Bennett said. "Our state's future depends upon highly successful young scholars like Caleb attending, graduating and staying in Nebraska."

"I look forward to seeing more talented and hardworking Huskers joining Caleb at UNL," Bennett added.

Top Journal Star photos for March 2024
A proposal to end the death penalty in Nebraska failed to advance from the Legislature's Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

The measure (LR17CA) from Omaha Sen. Terrell McKinney would have put the issue before Nebraskans once again less than a decade after voters reinstated it.

The Legislature voted to abolish the death penalty in 2015, overriding a veto from then-Gov. Pete Ricketts to do so.

But a petition, funded largely through Ricketts' family, got the measure before voters in 2016, who overwhelmingly voted to put the punishment back in state statute.

Less than two years later, the state executed Carey Dean Moore, marking it the first execution to take place in more than two decades. No one on Nebraska's death row has been executed since.

On Wednesday, the proposed constitutional amendment failed to advance on a 3-4 vote, with McKinney, Omaha Sen. Justin Wayne and Sen. Wendy DeBoer casting their votes in favor.

Sens. Teresa Ibach of Sumner, Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln, Barry DeKay of Niobrara and Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue voted against it.

Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue, who abstained from voting, said she personally opposes the death penalty, but her District 3 constituents overwhelmingly voted to reinstate it in 2016.

The committee also did not advance a bill (LB1092) from Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil that would prohibit adult websites from showing pornographic content to users unless they first showed identification proving they were over the age of 18.

Murman designated LB1092, which was backed by national and local organizations that advocate for religious and family values, as his personal priority bill this session.

It was modeled off similar legislation that has been passed in Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

During the committee's deliberations, several senators said they found the bill's language defining what adult material would be subject to the law as problematic, and said they were skeptical adult websites or third-party vendors they use to verify the ages of users would be able to protect personal information.

The bill failed to advance on a 2-2 vote, with DeKay and Wayne voting in favor and McKinney and Blood voting against.

Ibach, Holdcroft, Bosn and DeBoer abstained from voting on the bill.

Another Murman bill (LB371) prohibiting individuals under the age of 19 from attending a drag show, also failed to advance from the committee on Wednesday.

The measure, which was introduced last year and carried over into the 2024 session, would have made anyone who brought a minor to a drag show subject to a Class 1 misdemeanor.

It also prohibited state tax dollars from being used to host drag shows at public colleges or universities, or in public libraries.

DeKay was the only senator to vote in favor of advancing the bill. McKinney, Wayne, Blood, Bosn, and DeBoer voted against, while Holdcraft and Ibach abstained.

Top Journal Star photos for March 2024
A group of conservative legislators led by Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar brought lawmaking to a halt in Lincoln on Wednesday, spending hours filibustering a proposal that would provide Nebraskans the right to a jury trial in eviction cases and allow some eviction court records to be sealed from public view.

Slama declared war early Wednesday against the proposal from Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, taking issue with a provision in the bill that would seal court records when eviction cases filed against tenants end in dismissal  which is already the practice for criminal court cases in the state.

The initial draft of the bill (LB175) would also allow tenants to petition a court for so-called "clean slate relief" if they had eviction judgments against them that were later reversed or vacated or their eviction was never carried out.

Dungan's bill, too, would allow evicted tenants to seek a clean slate three years after their eviction so long as they have paid outstanding balances.

The Legislature's Judiciary Committee  made up of four conservative and four liberal senators  voted 8-0 to send the bill to the full Legislature last month, adding to it an amendment that established the right to a jury trial in eviction cases in Nebraska, which is one of eight states in the U.S. that has banned such trials.

Nebraskans could seek a jury trial in eviction cases up until 1995. And in a concurring opinion last year, Nebraska Supreme Court Justice Jonathan J. Papik said a moot eviction case had raised "a potential constitutional problem in taking away that right.

"The U.S. Supreme Court has found that you have the right to a jury trial for evictions, along with Alabama, Georgia, Maine, West Virginia, Florida  all of those have already reached the decision that this is, in fact, a legal issue and you have the right to a jury trial," Dungan said Wednesday, later adding: "We need to act now."

Slama, though, called the proposal "a big government bill" and "an attack on property rights" as she led an hourslong filibuster Wednesday that is expected to spill over into Thursday  marking a stoppage in lawmaking that few expected after the bill arrived on the floor of the Legislature with bipartisan support from the often-divided Judiciary Committee.

"I don't think the landlord-tenant law is the place where we should be tilting things so far in favor of the tenant that it doesn't even make sense for landlords to rent out properties anymore," Slama said. "In its essence, I see LB175 as the government forcing landlords, again, to subsidize housing for tenants that are bad actors."

Joined by a group of fellow conservative lawmakers  including some senators who are landlords or who draw incomes from property management or real estate  Slama and company cast the bill as the first step on a slippery slope that, they warned, would eviscerate landlord rights.

"Nobody wants to evict a model tenant, but you can't evict a bad tenant fast enough," said Sen. Mike Jacobson of North Platte, the president of a commercial bank who serves as an officer for a limited liability company called North Platte Properties, according to public financial disclosure filings.

"If they're cooking meth, if they've got vicious dogs, if they're tearing up the property  a whole list of things out there," he continued. "We just seem to be chipping away at landlord rights forgetting about the fact that we're capitalists."

Sen. Brad von Gillern of Elkhorn, who draws income from a real estate holdings company called von Gillern Properties, suggested the bill would harm "blue-collar millionaires" like firefighters and tradespeople who build equity as landlords, banking their retirements on rental properties.

And Sen. John Lowe of Kearney, who owns at least three residential rental properties in the Buffalo County city, said proposals like Dungan's are "the reason" he became a lawmaker.

"This is the reason why I came down here  to try to stop government from taking over little bits at a time," he said. "Little nibbles. Little nibbles away from our freedom. And that's what this bill does."

The group's staunch opposition to the proposal "perplexed" Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, a registered Republican who urged her conservative colleagues to trust the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee who had supported the proposal.

"We made sure we had four conservative votes on that committee," she said. "Four conservatives. A prosecutor, even. ... They decided this is a good idea, and I'm very, very proud of them. Because they have stuck to it. Because they actually know a lot more about this than any of the rest of us. But, somehow, we're not listening to them."

Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln  the former prosecutor who serves on the committee  told her colleagues that there was "such a small number" of eviction jury trials when Nebraska allowed for such proceedings that she didn't expect a significant change if lawmakers passed Dungan's bill.

"Whether you like it not, you have the constitutional right to the jury trial," she said.

In an attempt to strike a compromise Wednesday afternoon, Dungan axed the provision of the bill that would have restored the right to a jury trial in evictions and replaced it with a separate proposal from Sen. Robert Dover of Norfolk allowing eviction notices to be delivered electronically if tenants consent to e-notices.

"There simply aren't the votes in this body to address the issue of whether or not we should reinstate the right to jury trial for evictions," said Dungan, who later said he was "frustrated" by how the debate played out Wednesday.

But the Lincoln senator's bid for compromise was met with indifference from Slama, who continued to filibuster the bill even after the Legislature voted 32-11 to adopt the watered-down amendment that allows for e-notices and for tenants to seek a clean slate only once  two fewer times than the initial draft of the bill called for.

"It's a clear slippery slope that we're going down," Slama said. "And I'm not gonna vote for it."

Three of the 11 lawmakers who voted against the amendment  including Lowe, Sen. Mike Moser of Columbus and Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard  personally own rental properties, according to their latest financial disclosure filings.

The Legislature is set to resume debate on the underlying bill Thursday, which will mark Day 39 in this year's 60-day legislative session.

Top Journal Star photos for March 2024
After eight hours of debate across two days, a bill that initially would have expanded tenant rights and privacy in Nebraska eviction cases failed to overcome a filibuster Thursday, effectively killing the proposal that faced unexpected opposition from a group of conservative lawmakers.

When the Legislature first took up the bill (LB175) Wednesday morning, it would have provided Nebraskans the right to a jury trial in eviction cases and allowed some eviction court records to be sealed from public view.

But by the time lawmakers voted Thursday afternoon on the bill  which was introduced by Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln and prioritized by Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Bennington  it had been significantly watered down in an attempt to appease conservatives who had cast the proposal as "an attack on property rights."

In an effort to strike a compromise Wednesday afternoon, Dungan had reduced the number of times tenants could seek a "clean slate" following certain eviction proceedings under the bill and axed the provision that would have restored the right to a jury trial in evictions, replacing it with a separate proposal allowing eviction notices to be delivered electronically if tenants consent to e-notices.

The Lincoln senator's efforts to reach a consensus proved fruitless.

Even after the Legislature adopted an amendment narrowing the scope of the bill Wednesday, Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar continued to lead the filibuster of the bill that proponents of the measure failed to overcome Thursday.

The Legislature voted 30-16 to shut off debate on the bill, a procedure that requires 33 votes to succeed.

"I mean, I'm disappointed that it went the way it did," Dungan said, pledging to "keep fighting" for tenant rights in the Legislature.

Slama, a fierce fiscal conservative who declared war against the bill early Wednesday, repeatedly characterized the proposal as "a big government bill" that, she and other conservatives argued, would mark the first step toward the erosion of the rights of the state's landlords.

She accused the bill's proponents of "gaslighting" members of the Legislature to believe the initial draft of the bill would address a "constitutional crisis" Wednesday before shifting their argument and claiming Thursday that the bill would actually be helpful to landlords.

"LB175 is a clear first step down the road of continuing to erode landlords' property rights," Slama said. "And there's no other way around it. It's a very simple bill. You're either in support of big government getting involved and forcing landlords to subsidize bad actors who rent from them, with one free shot for renters to misuse and abuse property that they don't own.

"Or, you're a conservative who supports small government and landlords being able to talk about the actions they had to take against the tenant."

Still, many of the Legislature's conservatives supported the bill.

The Legislature's Judiciary Committee  made up of four conservative and four liberal senators  voted 8-0 to send the bill to the full Legislature last month, adding to it an amendment that established the right to a jury trial in eviction cases in Nebraska, which is one of eight states in the U.S. that has banned such trials.

Nebraskans could seek a jury trial in eviction cases up until 1995. And in a concurring opinion last year, Nebraska Supreme Court Justice Jonathan J. Papik said a moot eviction case had raised "a potential constitutional problem in taking away that right  an alarm that the bill's supporters repeatedly sounded amid debate Wednesday before ditching the jury trial measure.

The bill ultimately failed to overcome the opposition led by Slama and bolstered by several senators who are, themselves, landlords. Three of the 16 lawmakers who voted against the bill  Sens. John Lowe of Kearney, Mike Moser of Columbus and Steve Erdman of Bayard  personally own rental properties, according to their latest financial disclosure filings.

Midway through debate Thursday, Dungan seemed to chide some of his colleagues to their inattention to the bill because of the filibuster, which at times played out with few senators left in the chamber to listen in.

The fact that were coming up on a vote in maybe an hour and a half or so and Im still explaining to people what this does  despite the fact that Ive gotten on the mic now multiple times to explain what this does  is a little bit frustrating, so I apologize for my tone, he said. But if people have questions, come talk to me. I would have liked to have been talked to before this filibuster happened.

Debate derailed around noon Thursday after Sen. Mike Jacobson of North Platte suggested that some of the Judiciary Committee members said to have voted for the bill in committee didnt remember doing so, casting doubt on the committees report that members voted 8-0 to send the bill to the floor for debate and angering Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, the committees chairman.

Its OK to play games. Its OK to change your vote. Its OK to say, I no longer support something for whatever reason  whether I think its a valid reason or not, Wayne said Thursday, after placing the body under call to ensure the entire Legislature was in the room to hear his fiery speech.

Whether its the governor influencing somebody and we dont have three separate branches of government  I dont, thats fine. Its your decision, he continued. But when you implicate my staff, who dont get paid a whole lot, to say that were making up stuff, that you dont recall  that is outrageous and disrespectful and it undermines the entire body!

I thought we were better than this, he added. I thought it was gonna be different this year. But I see these last 20 days might be very long.

The committees seven other members all confirmed either on the floor of the Legislature or directly to the Journal Star that they had, in fact, all voted to advance the bill from committee. And all eight members of the committee ultimately supported the failed effort to overcome Slamas filibuster Thursday afternoon.

Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, said the vote was absolutely 8-0 but acknowledged that he had not explicitly said so when asked about the bill days later.

Well, I did get a question a few days afterwards and the question came like, Did you vote for that bill? and I didnt remember voting for the bill, Holdcroft said Thursday. Thats what I said: I dont remember, because we had done so many. But, no, I  we voted, as Sen. Wayne explained, we voted, we had the (executive session) and it came out 8-0.

DeBoer, who had used her personal priority designation on Dungans proposal to help ensure it would be taken up by the full Legislature, said the episode had amounted to a telephone game that blossomed out of a misunderstanding  one that did no favors for a bill that supporters expected would become law.

It is gutting to see support for a bill dwindle, she said.

How they voted

A vote to shut off debate on LB175 failed Thursday, effectively killing the bill. Thirty-three votes were needed.

Voting yes (30): Arch, Blood, Bosn, Bostar, Brandt, Cavanaugh, J., Cavanaugh, M., Conrad, Day, DeBoer, DeKay, Dorn, Dover, Dungan, Fredrickson, Holdcroft, Hughes, Hunt, Ibach, Jacobson, Linehan, McDonnell, McKinney, Raybould, Riepe, Vargas, von Gillern, Walz, Wayne, Wishart

Voting no (16): Aguilar, Albrecht, Ballard, Bostelman, Brewer, Clements, Erdman, Halloran, Hansen, Kauth, Lippincott, Lowe, Meyer, Moser, Murman, Slama

Excused, not voting (3): Armendariz, Hardin, Sanders

Top Journal Star photos for March 2024
The formerly malnourished horses involved in a Gage County case will be auctioned off Tuesday, and veterinarian Jennafer Glaesemann will not face any criminal charges, according to an agreement reached Wednesday that will be filed with the Gage County District Court.

In a release from County Attorney Roger Harris, he said the presence of the parvovirus in some of the horses made it difficult to discern without reasonable doubt that any abuse occurred.

As part of the agreement, Glaesemann will be prohibited from owning horses in Gage County for two years.

In the release, Harris said the decision was made after considerable review of the case and extensive discussions with the defense counsel, Clarence E. Mock. No one answered at Harris office late Wednesday.

This virus can result in a condition that is sometimes deadly to equine, the release said. Experts in animal husbandry have differing opinions about the diagnosis, cause and treatment of this virus, making it very difficult to prove animal abuse by proof beyond a reasonable doubt. This is one of the reasons the county attorney agreed not to pursue criminal charges against Dr. Glaesemann as part of the stipulation.

Five horses had parvo antibodies in their system, according to Lin Guyton of Epona Horse Rescue, which has been caring for the animals for nearly seven months. No animals at the rescue became ill.

The release said another major obstacle to resolving the matter was the misinformation and inappropriate attempts of certain individuals to influence the decision-making process of the prosecutors office and the full investigation of the case.

The objective of protecting the horses has been accomplished, the release said, and everyone will be given the opportunity to provide new homes for the horses through the auction.

The auction will be held at the Palmyra Livestock Market at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

We want to thank the volunteers who helped care for the horses, Harris said in the release, and we realize not everyone will agree with the decisions that have been made. Hopefully, they will realize that it was a difficult decision based upon the investigation reports we had, a decision that was required by professional prosecutorial ethics and one which was not based upon social media or personal agendas.

Glaesemann must provide to the Palmyra Sale Barn all registration, pedigree and other documentation relevant to the sale and ownership of the horses.

Proceeds will go for the cost of the sale of the horses, expenses for the care of the horses, the holder of any lien or security interest of record and to the owner of the horses.

The estimated cost of the sale of the horses by the Palmyra Livestock Market is $20 a head, and 5% of the proceeds of the sale of the 37 horses involved.

Guyton said about $52,000 has been raised in a GoFundMe account to buy the horses to ensure they go to good homes.

Its the biggest miscarriage of justice ever, Guyton said of Glaesemann not being charged. She murdered these innocent animals.

An estimated 17 or so horses died before the other horses were taken from her care last fall.

Top Journal Star photos for March 2024
The kitchen table isnt far from the altar in Kathy and Tim Johnsons home. A comfortable recliner and cozy couch share the living room with a wooden pew. Stained-glass windows cast colorful shadows across their bedroom.

Other people walk in and they stop and they just go, wow, Kathy Johnson said.

We just kind of forget that it was a church.

After more than a century of worship, Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Benedict closed its doors in January 2020. Seven months later, the Johnsons bought it.

This house of worship turned home is one of a number of Nebraska churches that, amid rising costs and falling attendance, have found second lives filling gaps in their local communities. Churches are becoming apartments, community centers and places to preserve history and foster the arts.

In early February, the Lincoln City Council signed off on a proposal to turn the former Southminster Methodist Church into offices and apartments.

Cadre Architecture and Design is set to buy the church for $350,000 after New Visions United Methodist Church decided to merge into one building and sell their two remaining properties in Lincoln.

A Baptist congregation bought the first, while the latter, awaiting a religious buyer, received only secular offers. Other proposals included a gym and an art gallery.

We were focused on selling the buildings to other churches, but it doesn't have to be that way, New Visions board chair Beth Baldwin said.

New Visions had a front-row seat to what Rick Reinhard calls the great mismatch.

Aging congregations no longer have the resources or numbers to fill and maintain large and, in some cases, deteriorating buildings, said Reinhard, an urban planner and consultant who spent four years assessing United Methodist Church properties across the U.S.

He points to four factors that have contributed to the mismatch: declining membership, rising property expenses, virtual livestream options and COVID-19.

There was hope that someday we would get back to being three separate churches after the pandemic, but it just became so obvious that something needed to be done, said the Rev. Doyle Burbank-Williams, pastor at New Visions.

Americans participation in organized religion has declined in recent decades, multiple surveys have shown.

A study by the Public Religion Research Institute found a combined 56% of respondents in 2022 said they either seldom or never attend religious services  up from 43% in 2013.

That tracks with research by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research that found median attendance at weekly worship services decreased from 137 attendees in 2000 to 65 attendees in 2020.

The Omaha Archdiocese, which spans from Omaha to Sioux City, told the Flatwater Free Press that only 25% of Catholics in northeast Nebraska attend Sunday Mass and there's been a 42% decline in mass attendance since 2003. Fifteen churches in the Archdiocese have closed since 2000.

The United Methodist Church Great Plains Conference, which includes Nebraska and Kansas, has seen 81 churches close since 2014.

Three other Christian religious authorities in Nebraska contacted by the Flatwater Free Press either did not respond or said they did not keep records of closures to confidently report.

Part of the mismatch, Reinhard said, lies in the fact that many churches were constructed at a time when they needed to be within walking distance of parishioners.

Well, not only do we have motorized vehicles, now we have the internet, he said. So if I want to watch the Archbishop of Canterbury service in London, all I need to do is to click the mouse.

Churches are also expensive to operate. The International Facility Management Association estimates that it costs $7 to $10 per square foot annually to run a church.

Rising maintenance costs factored into the decision to sell the First Baptist Church in Wayne in 2021, according to Matt Ley.

Ley bought the property for $175,000 after seeing the listing on Facebook. At one point, he said, the congregation was considering selling the church windows, demolishing the building and selling the lot. He thought that would be a mistake.

You cannot build that building the way it is now for less than $4 million these days, Ley said.

He renovated the church into six apartment units, which now rent for between $1,000 and $2,000 a month.

I really just wanted to save one of the most beautiful buildings in town and provide different housing options.

Nebraska hasnt been immune from a nationwide housing shortage. A 2022 report by the Strategic Housing Council of Nebraska found a statewide shortage of 32,230 rental units for extremely low-income households. The report noted the shortage extends to housing at all price points across the state.

Kathy and Tim Johnson sold their home in York and moved into the former church in Benedict out of a desire to live closer to family without the burden of a mortgage.

They bought and renovated the 5,100-square-foot church for less than $100,000, most of which was used to build a kitchen, add plumbing upstairs and update the wiring.

Overall, the structure was basically sound as far as not needing any repairs, Tim Johnson said.

The Johnsons were initially concerned about the utility bills, but theyve turned out to be manageable.

If you dont want to be in debt, go buy a church in a small town, said Kathy Johnson, a former member of the church she now lives in.

While housing is a common use for a churchs second act, its not the only one.

The First Presbyterian Church in Madison was sold for $5,000 and turned into a nonprofit arts center in 2007; the former Immanuel Lutheran Church in Snyder was converted into a museum in 2018; and the Seward Chamber of Commerce bought and repurposed a local Presbyterian church to become the Olde Glory Theatre in 2013.

In Pilger, St. Peters Lutheran Church managed to survive a pair of devastating tornadoes in 2014. But it ultimately couldnt survive falling attendance and a lack of volunteers, said Gene Willers, a former member of St. Peters.

The church closed in January 2023 and the congregation donated the building to the Stanton County Historical Society, which now runs a museum out of the former church.

With only one Lutheran church remaining in town, Willers said most people drive to Norfolk or Wisner to attend religious services.

Its just a hard adjustment, he said.

In the Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod district that covers all of Nebraska, minus the panhandle, 35 churches have closed or disbanded since 2000.

When the Rev. Scott Alan Johnson became bishop of the Nebraska Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 18 months ago, one church was in the process of closing. Another went through from start to finish and a third has begun.

Closures can be emotional experiences, especially for families who have deep connections to a church, said Rev. Johnson, who noted that some properties can also include a cemetery.

There has not been any pushback, but is there grief? Yes, he said.

Some Nebraska churches are choosing to restructure their congregations rather than sell or donate their properties.

In 2022, the Omaha archbishop grouped 134 Catholic churches into 33 families across eastern Nebraska. The change allows parishes to better coordinate resources that can address declining attendance, population changes and shifting cultural attitudes, said Riley Johnson, Omaha Archdiocese communications director.

No parishes have made a decision to merge or close since the restructure.

Johnson said the archdiocese wants to shift its attention from maintaining buildings to the mission that we're all called as Christians to carry on, which is to go out and to bring the hope of the Gospel to our neighbors.

Burbank-Williams at New Visions in Lincoln shared a similar message.

The closing of the other two churches gave this one life, he said.

Money from the sales funded renovation projects at their current location, including a new sign, handicap parking, and environmental updates to the building, according to Burbank-Williams. These sales will also help replenish New Visions reserves after years of losses.

There are churches like us that have given themselves permission to not do things the way they've always been done, he said. And those churches I think are growing.

The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraskas first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.

Photos: Inside Lincoln's beautiful houses of worship Westminster Presbyterian St. Patrick's St. Thomas Aquinas Church and Newman Center First-Plymouth stars St. Mary's St. Joseph Catholic Church First Christian Church First Presbyterian Church Sabah Mosque St. Luke United Methodist St. Teresa's Zion Church Salem Baptist Saint Paul United Methodist North American Martyrs St. John the Apostle First United Methodist Church Christ Temple St. Thomas Aquinas Church and Newman Center Compline at First-Plymouth Tifereth Israel Synagogue St. Joseph Catholic St. Patrick's First Presbyterian Zion Church St. Thomas Aquinas Church and Newman Center Saint Paul United Methodist First-Plymouth St. Patrick's Churches Mount Zion Baptist Church First Plymouth Church
UNION GROVE  Tiny Hooves Sanctuary is hosting its second annual Mission of Compassion Gala on Saturday, March 23, to raise money for rescuing, rehabilitating and providing a forever sanctuary to unwanted farmed animals.

Beca Thompson started the nonprofit in 2015 with 11 animals at a small farm in Kenosha and now has a 33-acre farm in Union Grove that is home to 189.

Working in the animal rescue world, Ive seen horrific things happen to all animals, but the animals that have zero rights are farmed animals, food animals, she said.

Through Tiny Hooves Sanctuary, Thompson said she has rescued more than 400 farmed animals.

Providing a forever home

Tiny Hooves Sanctuary, 1117 N. Britton Road, is home to 14 species, but its specialty is goats.

Fifty-eight goats call Tiny Hooves home, as do cows, horses, mini horses, mini donkeys, mini mules, sheep, pot-bellied pigs, farm pigs, ducks, geese, chickens, peacocks, pigeons, guinea pigs, and some dogs and cats.

Roosters and pigs, specifically pot-bellied pigs, are the top two discarded farmed animals, Thompson said.

The farm has a 30-stall barn, 15 pastures and is surrounded by a wildlife refuge, which means surrounding land cannot be built on.

Mission of Compassion Gala

The gala, being hosted at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center, 509 W. Wisconsin Ave., will include cocktail hour appetizers, a vegan three-course chefs dinner, music and dancing.

General admission tickets are $100 and VIP admission  which includes meeting one of the sanctuarys resident goats, a champagne cocktail station and a swag bag  is $180.

There also will be an auction of items donated by local businesses.

The money raised will benefit the sanctuarys special species educational programs, land conservation programs and vegan cooking classes, Thompson said.

The need for money is never-ending, she said. But the point of the gala is to highlight our mission of compassion, what we do, what the sanctuary means to us and how it impacts our community.

The last day to buy tickets is March 9, and attendance has been limited to 250 people. Tickets are available at https://www.tinyhooves.org/gala.

Donations also can be made by mail to 1117 N. Britton Road, Union Grove, WI 53182 or at https://www.tinyhooves.org/howtohelp.
RACINE  The teenager accused in connection to a fatal shooting on Packard Avenue last September pleaded not guilty during a preliminary hearing Wednesday.

Bernard Edwards III, 18, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide with a dangerous weapon in the death of 56-year-old Byron Beadles.

Officers from the Racine Police Department responded to a report of a shooting in the 1700 block of Packard Avenue on Sept. 1. Beadles was reportedly found suffering from a gunshot wound to the face and was taken to the hospital, where he died.

RPD Detective Kevin Klinkhammer testified Wednesday that none of the witnesses were able to identify the person who allegedly shot Beadles, but all gave a similar description of the shooters build and clothing.

Six people, including Beadles and Edwards, were at an apartment at the time of the shooting, according to Klinkhammer.

Everyone stated that nothing was wrong, and then the gun was fired and the victim fell, Klinkhammer said.

Klinkhammer said witnesses told investigators that the bullet came from behind them, and that Edwards was the only person standing there, but no one saw Edwards fire a gun.

One witness reportedly told investigators that he knew the alleged shooter went by the nickname Mister and that his last name was Edwards, but did not know his first name, according to the criminal complaint.

The witness later identified Edwards from a photo, Kinkhammer said.

Klinkhammer also testified that a person who matched the witness descriptions was seen on surveillance video leaving the apartment and putting something into a sewer basin.

Investigators checked the basin and reportedly found a 9mm semi-automatic handgun. A single 9mm casing was found at the scene, according to testimony from Klinkhammer.

Edwards attorney, Robert Lee Taylor, moved to dismiss the charge because he said there was not enough evidence to identify Edwards as the shooter.

If you shoot a nine-millimeter in the living room  you would turn your head instantly and youd look at that person, Taylor said.

Court Commissioner Alice Rudebusch found probable cause and bound Edwards over for trial.

Edwards is scheduled to appear in court April 22 for a status conference.
Vice President Kamala Harris focused on union laborers role in building the countrys economy in a visit to Madison Wednesday, highlighting the administrations goal of bolstering Democrats blue-collar support in the battleground state.

Speaking at a federally funded Madison construction site that will hold the citys electric buses, Harris announced that President Joe Biden intended to sign an executive order to expand apprenticeship opportunities and encourage federal agencies to provide more contracts to companies with apprentices. The Biden administration has spent over $440 million to expand apprenticeships, according to the White House.

The work that is happening here really is a wonderful example of so many of our administrations priorities, including the important collaboration between the federal level and leaders at the local level, said Harris, who was joined by Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, Labor Secretary Julie Su and several union workers.

Its part of an effort by Democrats to win back the support of blue-collar workers, who have shifted more Republican since 2010  many drawn by the populist appeal of former President Donald Trump.

But that effort faces clear headwinds. That was exemplified, in part, by a union member working just outside of the site where Harris spoke, who was standing next to her SUV festooned with Trump flags on both sides.

The union member, who asked not to be named because of possible repercussions from her employer, said her co-workers likely lean more conservative than liberal, and that many are frustrated with the current administration.

Somethings got to change, she said. Any Democrat, any liberal, any Republican, anybody can see that. This is not doing well. Our borders are terrible. I have nothing against anybody coming in and wanting the American dream and working for a living and paying taxes. But not the way its happening now. Its not fair to rest of us.

Speaking with reporters in a Zoom meeting after Harris visit, Brian Schimming, chair of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, summed up the vice presidents visit to the Democratic stronghold as a rescue mission to counter polling that has shown lagging voter enthusiasm among liberals heading into the 2024 presidential election.

Biden is in big trouble in Wisconsin and the ticket knows it, Schimming said. Thats why she is here in the base of Democratic voters trying to get them reengaged in this ticket.

The visit was Harris sixth to Wisconsin since she was sworn in and the second in two months. In late January she visited suburban Waukesha County for a speech focused on abortion rights. Wisconsin is one of just a handful of swing states likely to decide the election in November.

Unions have taken a hard hit in Wisconsin since former Republican Gov. Scott Walkers 2011 Act 10, which effectively ended collective bargaining for most public employees. Just 8.4% of workers in Wisconsin are represented by a union, according to federal labor statistics, just above an all-time low. In 1989, over 20% of Wisconsin workers belonged to a union.

Wisconsins unemployment rate was 3.4% as of December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and employers statewide have been struggling to find workers. And there will be 130,000 fewer working Wisconsinites by 2030 if recent migration patterns continue, according to the Wisconsin Counties Associations nonpartisan research arm Forward Analytics.

Dead heat

The visit comes one day after Super Tuesday, which solidified Bidens and Trumps standing as their parties likely nominees, and the same day Republican challenger Nikki Haley announced she was suspending her campaign. Biden and Trump remain deadlocked in Wisconsin, according to a Marquette Law School Poll released in February, although the poll was taken when Haley was still a candidate for the Republican nomination.

The poll found both Trump and Biden receiving support from 49% of registered voters, with 2% saying they had not yet decided. The results mark a slight shift from Marquettes November poll, which found Biden holding 50% support among registered Wisconsin voters to Trumps 48%, well within that polls margin of error.

Of respondents who are very enthusiastic to vote, Trump holds a 19-point lead over Biden. However, Biden has more support among respondents who said they were somewhat enthusiastic, as well as those who are not very and not at all enthusiastic to vote.

State Journal reporter Mitchell Schmidt contributed to this report.

Photos: Vice President Kamala Harris visits Metro Transit Satellite Bus Facility
Environmental regulators cant unilaterally force polluters to clean up contamination from so-called forever chemicals without going through the Legislature to establish specific limits on the compounds, a state appellate court ruled Wednesday.

The 2nd District Court of Appeals decision all but eliminates the Department of Natural Resources authority to unilaterally mandate reporting PFAS contamination in groundwater and force responsible parties to clean it up. If the decision stands, the DNR will wait for legislators to impose groundwater limits on PFAS through state law or an administrative rule. Both approaches can take years. Environmental advocates also fear that the ruling could slow the DNRs response to other emerging forms of pollution.

The state Justice Department represented the DNR in the case. Attorney General Josh Kaul said the agency will ask the state Supreme Court to review the decision.

Safe and clean drinking water shouldnt be a luxury. It should be accessible to every Wisconsinite, Kaul said. This decision would dramatically weaken our ability to protect Wisconsinites from PFAS and other emerging contaminants.

PFAS, the abbreviation for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are manmade chemicals that dont easily break down in nature. Theyre found in a wide range of products, including cookware, firefighting foam and stain-resistant clothing. The chemicals have been linked to health problems including low birth weight, cancer and liver disease and have been shown to make vaccines less effective.

Communities across Wisconsin are grappling with PFAS contamination, including Marinette, Madison, Eau Claire, La Crosse, Wausau and the towns of Peshtigo and Campbell.

The case in question revolves around Leather Rich Inc., an Oconomowoc-based dry cleaner. According to court documents, the business learned in 2018 that its property was contaminated with various potentially hazardous substances.

State statutes collectively known as the Spills Law require polluters to notify the DNR of a hazardous discharge and minimize the effect on the environment. Leather Rich was working on clean-up with DNR oversight in early 2019 when the agency posted a message online saying that it now considered PFAS chemicals a hazardous substance under the Spills Law.

The agency ordered the dry cleaner to test its groundwater for PFAS but didnt tell the business which PFAS compounds it needed to test for  PFAS is a broad term for a group of thousands of different chemicals  or what levels would be considered dangerous.

The dry cleaner along with Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the states largest business group, sued the DNR in 2021. They argued the agency lacked any basis in state law or rules to impose such mandates. The DNR countered that it could unilaterally force testing because the Spills Law gives the agency broad authority to protect the environment.

Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren sided with the dry cleaner in 2022, saying the DNR needs to impose limits on PFAS through the rule-making process. He ordered that the ruling be stayed until all appeals are exhausted.

The 2nd District Court of Appeals upheld Bohren, ruling 2-1 that the clean-up mandate is effectively an an administrative rule that was improperly promulgated.

Today, for the first time since the statute was enacted, the court holds that the DNR must promulgate rules identifying certain substances as hazardous before the Spills Law applies to discharges of those substances, Judge Lisa Neubauer wrote in dissent.

Drafting rules typically takes state agencies years. When the language is settled, the regulations still need legislative approval  a tall task given that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers controls the executive branch and Republicans run the Senate and Assembly.

The DNRs policy board in February 2022 adopted limits on PFAS in surface and drinking water. The Legislature did not block the standards and they went into effect in June of that year.

The DNR spent most of 2023 working on standards for groundwater, the source of drinking water for about two-thirds of Wisconsin residents.

But Evers said in December the agency had to stop because compliance costs for industrial facilities and wastewater treatment plants that discharge to groundwater were projected at $33 million over the first two years the standards would be in effect. A Republican-authored state law requires state agencies to obtain legislative permission to continue working on regulations that could cost at least $10 million. So far lawmakers havent given the DNR the green light to continue.

Scott Rosenow, executive director of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerces Litigation Center, said Wednesdays decision protects peoples right to know what theyre required to do about pollution.

Were pleased with the outcome of this case and will continue our fight to protect the public from government overreach, Rosenow said.

The appellate ruling did not address Bohrens stay order, which means the decision will have no effect until the state Supreme Court refuses to take the case or releases its own ruling.

Rob Lee is an attorney with environmental law firm Midwest Environmental Advocates, which filed briefs in the case on behalf of a group of environmental and public health organizations, including Citizens for a Clean Wausau, the River Alliance of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Environmental Health Network.

He said the groups were disappointed with the ruling but the stay will protect Wisconsin residents living with PFAS and they expect the DNR will ultimately prevail.
This photo taken on May 1, 2023 shows a view of the Taoxichuan Ceramic Art Avenue at night in Jingdezhen, east China's Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua)

With masterful precision, Allan Denis Naymark breathed life into the shapeless clay on his potter's wheel. As he worked his magic, a teapot emerged, ready to be decorated with his signature algae pattern.



After finishing his work, the 33-year-old American left Jingdezhen for Hainan for a winter vacation. "I will be back to the studio in Jingdezhen and restart my work there in April."

Jingdezhen, a city in east China's Jiangxi Province, is known as the world-famous "porcelain capital." Its history of ceramic craftsmanship spans over 2,000 years.

Naymark came to Jingdezhen nine years ago from New York. "I found the origin of ceramic culture here," he said. The city inspired him to start his career as a ceramics designer.

He gave himself the Chinese name Ni Deming. The Chinese character "Ni," which is pronounced similar to the "Nay" in his name, means clay, the main component in ceramics.

In a village on the outskirts of Jingdezhen, Naymark owns a studio in a former farm house. He is in good company as there are more than 200 such studios in the vicinity.

Driven by a passion for ceramics, more than 30,000 people have migrated to Jingdezhen, a city with a population of less than 900,000, in recent years. During the peak period, there is one foreigner among every six migrants.

The foreigners, which come from around 60 countries and regions, are compared to migratory birds, as they flock to Jingdezhen annually. Some even stay longer.

"This year we have already got a record of more than 1,000 foreign artists applying for on-site work here," said Wu Hao, head of Taoxichuan International Art Center.

The center has run the three-month Taoxichuan Art Center Residency Program every year since 2015, inviting art institutions of over 50 countries and regions to recommend artists to join the program. All expenses are covered; the only request is that each artist should leave one third of the work.

The recent decade has witnessed over 3,000 "migratory" artists working at Wu's international art center. Some even come every year.

Ceramicists are attracted to the porcelain hub for its ceramic culture, while the city's industrial chain of handmade porcelain allows them to enter the market at low cost.

According to a Dutch designer who only gave his name as Johannes, a porcelain mould that would sell 2,000 euros in the Netherlands cost just one eightieth of the price in Jingdezhen. "From ceramic clay, glaze, tools to kilning, I can handle everything simply by making a phone call here," he said.

"You can innovate boldly thanks to the more inclusive market here," said Japanese ceramist Takayanagi Ayao, adding bowls made in Jingdezhen have richer color and sells at a higher price.

Livestreaming has also helped boost the sales of porcelain in Jingdezhen. There are over 10,000 livestream hosts engaged in the ceramics industry. According to the local government, last year the sales of porcelain via livestreaming exceeded 7 billion yuan (about 985.54 million U.S. dollars), accounting for almost 70 percent of China's e-commerce market share in ceramics industry.

Yoo Si-hyoung, a ceramist from the Republic of Korea who has lived in Jingdezhen for eight years, said that Jingdezhen enables people to translate creations into reality with good sales.

Naymark told Xinhua that although he lives in a relatively remote area, he has seen more and more foreigners in recent years, including sculptors and historians from countries like Italy, Egypt and Russia. Locals, already used to seeing outsiders, are happy to talk with any newcomers about ceramics and local cuisine.

Apart from designing ceramics, Naymark also enjoys the slow life there, drinking tea, admiring porcelain, hiking, and visiting the Changjiang river, which passes through the city.

He said that he loved the ubiquitous artistic atmosphere and the warm, delicate, and free living environment of Jingdezhen. "I will continue working and living here," he said.
1. Yes. It will be convenient and the fares are cheap. I plan to use the transit system often.

2. Yes. I have a vehicle, but I may still use the service now and then, especially in bad weather.

3. No. I dont use the current bus service, and I dont plan to use the micro-transit service either.

4. No. It may be fine in town, but it still involves a transfer for longer trips. That wont work.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say. It depends on how well the service works once its in place.

Vote

View Results
MINDEN  Don Phillips, one of the co-directors of the Minden Community Players latest production, Four Old Broads, describes the show as a humorous, who-dun-it about four residents living in a nursing home  as someone mixes up their medications to sell the pills on the black market.

The four old broads take it upon themselves to find out who is selling their pills, Phillips said. The show is very humorous and probably adult humor because there is some mild language in it. And we also have a retired Elvis impersonator who lives at the home. Its a scream.

The comedy, written by Leslie Kimbell, premiered in March 2017. The show, presented by the Minden Community Players, now comes to central Nebraska for a three-week run at the Minden Opera House. The show opens on Friday and continues through March 24. Admission to the performances is $15.

I tell people that this is one of those shows that youll laugh until you might pee your pants, Phillips said.

The cast includes:

Beatrice Shelton  Kelle Hunt

Eaddy Mac Clayton  Jeanne Jons

Imogene Fletcher  Judy Anderson

Pat Jones  Leta Vahl

Maude Jenkins  Brenda Gilmore

Sam Smith  Dave McCroden

Ruby Sue Bennett  Rebecca Dahlgren

The four old broads are getting ready to take a cruise, Phillips said. One of them is always praying for everybody and another used to be a stripper. Of course one thing leads to another. Instead of getting their medication, they are getting breath mints, baby aspirin and some recalled drugs. It causes short-term memory loss.

Phillips considers the show as a situational comedy. The humor comes from the characters and the problems that arise in their living situation.

Theres one gal who is exchanging all the medicine, so to speak, and that leads to a lot of humor, the co-director said.

To spice up the plot, theres a mystery to solve.

It keeps it interesting, Phillips said. Its a very good show.

For Phillips, community theater has been an avocation for many years.

It used to be a way to release the stress from business, he said. We sold our business last fall but Im still kind of working with the new owners. Theater is a way for me to just get away from the normal, everyday routine. I enjoy making the sets and making things look real, even though when you get up close, they arent.

Phillips said the most enjoyable part of community theater is the reaction from the crowd.

We do a lot of shows and I feel that we do a good job, he said. Ive probably been in more than 40 productions over the years. I started in 1986 and Ive been involved with most of the shows produced by Minden Community Players, but not all of them.

Having access to the Minden Opera House allows the group to stage elaborate shows.

The opera house is a real gem for us, Phillips said. When we first started, back in the 80s, we were using the high school facility and stage. We always dreamed about using the opera house. At that time it was just a big, open room. You could see where they had a little portable stage that they moved around for whatever activity they had going on.

The Minden Opera House opened in 2000 after extensive renovation.

The next thing we know, here they are working on it, Phillips said. And it is great. Its a fun facility to work with. Its a blast.
As part of its broad efforts to bolster domestic consumption, China has set its sights on encouraging the trade-in of consumer goods, including automobiles, household appliances and home furnishings, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said Wednesday.

China will also intensify its efforts to broaden service consumption, Wang told a press conference on the sidelines of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress, China's national legislature.

Wang said that China's automotive, household appliance and home furnishings markets are large in size, with a significant portion of products reaching a relatively old age, resulting in high energy consumption and emissions. Additionally, some of these products pose safety risks due to prolonged use.

"It is fair to say that a concentrated period of potential demand for replacements has emerged," he said.

According to Wang, promoting the trade-in of consumer goods, based on voluntary participation, serves as a powerful measure to enhance the current economic growth momentum and consolidate the trajectory of recovery, while also serving as a long-term strategy for promoting high-quality development.

Wang stated that efforts will be made to establish an efficient mechanism that encourages consumers to find it easier to replace old products and be more willing to purchase new ones.

Regarding service consumption, Wang highlighted the rapid development witnessed in recent years. From 2013 to 2023, the proportion of per capita consumption expenditure directed toward services increased by 5.5 percentage points, rising from 39.7 percent to 45.2 percent, he said.

"The potential for further growth in service consumption remains immense in the foreseeable future," he said.

Looking ahead, Wang outlined the Chinese government's plans to expand the service sector, through strengthening the coordination of policy measures, expanding opening up in the service sector, enriching the supply of services, and building relevant platforms and innovating service consumption scenarios.

This will involve broadening market access in service areas including telecommunications and healthcare, and taking full advantage of both domestic and international markets to increase the supply of services, according to the minister.
For nearly 40 years, the Wisconsin Womens Business Initiative Corporation has been opening doors for those overlooked by traditional financial systems. Focusing on women, people of color, veterans, and individuals in rural or low-wealth communities, WWBIC provides access to financial capital and educational resources to build equity, economic self-sufficiency and community growth. And they couldnt do any of it without social capital.

Kara Schuster is WWBICs southwest regional director.

What common obstacles do women business owners face when seeking financial capital?

Women seeking financial capital today face several common obstacles that can make accessing funding more challenging than their male counterparts. These challenges include:

1. Gender Bias and Stereotypes: Women often encounter gender bias from investors and lenders, leading to doubts about womens capabilities and impacting the decision-making process of investors and lenders.

2. Limited Access to Networks: Women may have limited access to these networks, which are often male-dominated, making it harder to find mentors, advisors, and potential investors.

3. Lower Levels of Investment: Studies have shown that businesses founded by women tend to receive significantly less investment than those founded by men.

4. Expectations of Higher Proof of Concept: Women entrepreneurs often must provide more evidence of their businesss viability and success to secure funding than their male counterparts.

5. Balancing Business and Personal Life: Women are more likely to face challenges balancing business commitments with personal and family responsibilities, lessening their time to network and grow their businesses.

6. Limited Access to Collateral: Women may have limited access to collateral due to historical disparities in asset ownership, affecting their ability to secure traditional bank loans.

7. Discrimination in Funding Processes: Whether conscious or unconscious, discrimination can affect various stages of the funding process as women may face more skepticism or different expectations than men.

What role did social capital play in bringing WWBIC into existence?

By raising awareness about the challenges faced by women and minority business owners, WWBIC galvanized support from a broader spectrum of the community and decision-makers. This advocacy work helped secure funding, influence policy, and create a more favorable environment for small business development. Overall, social capital was not just an incidental aspect of WWBICs emergence; it was a deliberate strategy that leveraged human connections, trust, and collaborative networks to foster economic empowerment and entrepreneurship. By building and nurturing social capital, WWBIC created a supportive ecosystem that has helped thousands of entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. WWBIC came out of the womens economic empowerment movement and the micro-lending movement. Through social capital, weve grown in depth and breadth for our 36 years of true impact in the Coulee Region.

How are women entrepreneurs changing the face of Wisconsin business?

For decades, women-owned businesses have surpassed the start-up and growth rates of their male counterparts. As we know, women usually start businesses rather than buy existing businesses and often employ more women and underserved individuals than male-owned businesses. Women entrepreneurs growing presence and success have not only contributed to the states economic diversity and growth but have also led to the development of more inclusive and innovative business environments.

Women entrepreneurs are often at the forefront of adopting and implementing innovative business practices, including sustainable business models, social entrepreneurship, and digital transformation. Their approach to problem-solving and emphasis on collaboration and community engagement often lead to novel solutions that address both market needs and societal challenges.

Many women entrepreneurs are also deeply committed to their local communities and often design their business models to give back to these communities. Whether through charitable initiatives, local sourcing, or community-based services, these businesses contribute to the social and economic well-being of their areas.

Overall, women entrepreneurs are making significant contributions to the vitality and character of Wisconsins business environment. Their achievements enhance economic growth and innovation and lead to more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable business practices. Through their efforts, they are reshaping the narrative around entrepreneurship and leadership in the state.

The overall sales of women-owned businesses speaks for itself. NOW, women-owned businesses are truly a key part of our overall economic growth and vitality in our nation.